England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland

We arrived sometime in the after noon at London’s Heathrow airport on the second of October.  We picked up our car and headed across town to find our accommodations.  After settling in we set out on foot to explore the city.  London is a great town with so much to see and do, and the metro system (The Tube) is easy to use, so easy if fact we left our car parked the entire time (3 days) we were in London.  First stop was the Westminster area, which has the Parliament houses, Big Ben, the London Eye and tops on my list, Westminster Abbey.  We visited this area several times both during the day and at night where the feel is distinctly different.  The Abbey is spectacular, and we were able to catch a service there as well, in which the quire and organist played out an ominous tune reminiscent of a Halloween haunting.   We also rode the London Eye (a big Farris wheel, once claimed to be the biggest in the world, now second to the Singapore Flier) to gain perspective on this city of over seven million people.  We also visited other parts of the city like Buckingham Palace and Piccadilly Circus, a bustling shopping district with a carnival like vibe.  We also paid a visit to the Tower of London and the famous Tower Bridge, to whet our appetite for many more castles to come.

 

Before we get to the castles part of England, we needed to drive south to see that funky pile of rocks called Stonehenge.  The tour books belittle the arrangement of rocks as hardly worth seeing, due to its close proximity to major freeways.  It is true that there are a juncture of roads converging on this sight, but major roads they are not.  The English Heritage (a government conservatory) is so worried about the bad press, that they have plans of relocating the roads and tunneling around the site where necessary to protect the solitude of the site.  Funny thing is that the roads are not that big (single lane each way) and not busy enough to warrant such drastic measures (If they do move them, hats off).  The place by far exceeds the expectations painted by Lonely Planet, and that of our own, and falls in the must see category for those who have not been.  While we were in the area we spent some time in Salisbury and took in the magnificent Salisbury Cathedral.

 

Much to my family’s dismay (and embarrassment), I am a huge Jane Austen fan, and that led us straight to Bath, England.  Bath is the setting of several of her novels, and so vividly described within, that I needed to see for myself.  We dedicated two days to the exploration of her town, including the famous bathhouses that date back to the Romans in 72ad (the Romans built these lavish bath houses as a gesture of kindness for taking over the country).  The baths are still fed by a natural hot spring, and make for a great photo op.  We also visited the Royal Crescent, Bath Abbey and walked the streets, alleys, and riverbanks to experience the fullness of this city.  The Jane Austen House was however closed as we passed by on that rainy evening, leaving happy smiles on my children’s dampened faces.  As a side note, I don’t like Shakespeare’s works, and so a trip to Stratford upon Avon would prove superfluous, but the castles of Wales were calling.

 

Ah the welsh and their Celtic charm.  Our first stop in Wales was Cardiff, a wonderful seaside town with tons of stuff to explore.  The hotel reception staff was a wonderful wealth of knowledge, and directed us to some fabulous sights.  One of the little surprises in Cardiff was a small village of period buildings and houses, all painstakingly disassembled moved and reassembled to their original glory in this mock village of the ages.  Each street represented a different time period in history.  On site were blacksmiths, shopkeepers, a leather tannery, Pottery spinners and other rural village displays for a unique look back in time.  Along side this village was a small Castle, a 17^th century remake of an earlier fortification that once stood there.  The gardens and ponds were spectacular but the castle structure was a little on the uninspiring side.  Later on we

Found our way to the Cardiff Castle, which was absolutely fantastic.  Walking the grounds, one gets the feeling of days gone past.  Climbing the steep stone steps to the upper most reaches of the keep provides an unrivaled view of the surrounding city and the port, which made Cardiff worth fighting for. 

 

We were still craving more castles and Wales has no shortage.  For good measures we wandered thru in Tintern Abbey, before heading north to see Beaumaris Castle and Conwy Castle.  Both of these were spectacular and in partial ruins, which made them all the more interesting to explore.  We visited several other castles along the way and found our way to the shops in each of these little towns.  It was only fair, if I got to see my castles and Abbeys, then the kids got to shop. Tristi and I always love walking the historic districts of these little (and some not so little) towns.  There are always interesting little shops with equally interesting shop owners and other locals that make the experience special.   

 

From the north of Wales we headed back into England proper.  It was hard to pass up Liverpool (home to the Beatles), yet with such a tight schedule we needed to head straight to York.  York is a picturesque medieval walled city that has a history spanning well over a thousand years.  Our draw to this walled city was York Minster, the 900 plus year old masterpiece of stone and stained glass.  It’s not just the Minster that makes this area so beautiful, but the setting in which it lies.  The manicured lawns and gardens, towering trees turning a multitude of autumn colors, and the narrow cobbled alley ways lined with wonderful old buildings give this place it’s uniquely English character.  During our time in York, we ventured outward to visit the Howard Castle with it’s outstanding gardens (the castle is set on over 13000 acres) and one of my favorites Fountains Abbey.  This Abbey, which is in a state of partial ruins, is also set on nice acreage, with a river flowing thru a forested setting, with several lakes and numerous walking paths in and around the grounds.  Within this ruinous structure, stands one of the tallest fortified towers ever built in an abbey type of setting.  The tower however is proportionate to the massive structure that once housed the religious center, an incredible building in it’s own rights. 

 

From the York area we headed north to Durham for a look at another great walled city.  The Durham area offers several great castles, Warkworth and Alnwick, both worth paying a slow and easy visit to.  The Alnwick castle, had a great area set up just for kids, where they could dress up in period costumes, do copper plate etchings, sword fight with evil Knights (really a kids interactive game with a wooden sword, that scored the number of kills) play chess on a life sized board, and even get beheaded by a guillotine (ah, the magic of mirrors).  Further into the castle, there was a really creepy haunted castle, where you could get vertigo in the spinning bridge walk (very cool) and the house of mirrors maze where you can actually get lost.  As you find your way out of the house of mirrors we were attacked by a fire-breathing dragon, which actually congratulates you for your bravery (of course the dragon has a wonderfully charming English voice) in making it out with your wits and your life.  The kids had a wonderful time (big kids included) and then the castle tour begun.  Unlike many of the castles we visited this castle was well preserved and lavishly appointed in proper English style.  The entire experience at this castle was top notch and worth the heavy toll collected at the drawbridge.

 

Still further north we found ourselves in Newcastle upon Tyne (Yes, the birthplace of my favorite beer).  Aside from the Beer, we came to see Hadrain’s wall.  This is a wall separating the north (just south of Scotland) from the south (England).  It spans from sea to sea and at one time had great fortifications built every 5 miles along the 73.5 miles wall.  We drove about half of the wall and visited several of the ruins along the way.  This fortification however was built long before the English Scottish battle.  Who else, besides the Romans, could have built such massive fortifications that would last over two thousand years?  Being a wall guy, I enjoyed the remains of once great work, as for the kids, rolling down grassy hills and chasing unsuspecting grazing sheep proved to be much more entertaining.  If you are short on time, skip the wall and Newcastle for that matter (the brewery is no longer in Newcastle) as there is little other than a modest cathedral and a hand full of historic buildings to take in.

 

It was time to head north into Scotland, and visit the granddaddy of all castles, Edinburgh.  This massive structure graces the rocky hilltop of the town by the same name.  The castle had its beginnings over a thousand years ago, and has had many additions throughout the centuries.  It is quite evident in some cases as the choice of stone and building styles reflect the period architecture and building techniques.  This is not however so bad, as the castle is so large that it feels like a city and architectural variance in this setting perhaps even adds to it’s charm.  No visit to the castle is complete without paying a visit to the crown jewels.  Aside from Mary, Queen of Scots’ crown and some really cool swords, lies the royal coronation stone.  This stone is used as a resting place for the bum of the to be crowned king or queen as they receive their honors.  This stone has been used for nearly every crowning event in England’s 900+ year history of Kings and Queens.  Edinburgh the city, and its lively Scottish heritage are not to be missed.  A night on the town walking the shops, and a quick visit to a pub or two will give you a taste of the people that make Scotland so special, and truly different from it’s mother, England.

 

England, Scotland and Wales may technically be under the same rule, yet each is so very unique onto itself.  The people, the culture and even the language tell you that these are three totally separate countries, but they are all subjects of the queen (well at least part of earlier conquests).  Even more odd is the occupation of Northern Ireland and the longstanding issues this has posed.  Sorry I digress, lets not review the Queens other real estate holdings around the world, instead lets get back to our journey.  Ah yes, Ireland.

 

We flew into Belfast, Northern Ireland on the morning of the 16^th (October).  We took a quick spin around Belfast and then headed south into the heart of Ireland, Dublin.  There are only 3 things Dublin is famous for, Guinness (my second favorite beer), Pubs serving Guinness, and Irish dancing.  We only had two days to fit in all of the pubs and tour the Guinness factory, but somehow we managed.  The tour was just OK but the fresh from the tap Guinness was the best I’ve ever had (it almost became number one).  I wanted to be sure that it was not just the excitement of being in Dublin or being in the factory, so we set out across town to sample some other pints just to be sure.  All of the pints sampled went down with ease, and the Irish music made them taste that much sweeter.  The following morning we headed south to Kilkenny to visit the Kilkenny castle.  It was hardly worth the time, so we headed to the pub for a pint.  Just kidding, we waited to go to the pub until we reached Cork, several hours later.   Tristi and I parked the kids at the hotel and headed out to see some Irish dancing at a great little pub just a short walk from where we were staying. 

 

It is hard to describe the Irish pub experience when the dancing breaks out, yet dare I try.  We are sitting at a small table in just about the center of the room, when the staff starts moving all of the tables and guests (mostly all locals) to either side of the room to make space for the dancing.  The room fills with excitement as the crowd waits for the dancing to commence.  Two gals and a guy come out and start a basic routine, with their tap shoes in perfect synchronization, the music keeping time and the patrons clapping to the beat.  The dancing progresses with people joining in and the pub becomes fully charged with energy.  There are cheers and laughter filling the last of the audible space in the room, and you find yourself somewhere swirling in the mix.  Time is of no consequence in this four dimensional experience.  It is something that only those who experience it, can fully relate.   The following evening we wanted to take the kids so they could share in the experience.  Nika and Noah still had ill memories of seeing the bar life in Santorini, Greece and opted to stay in again at the hotel and order up some more pay for view movies (yes the channels were on parental lock).   It was a Sunday evening and the three of us headed out to find an Irish pub.  It was not hard to find, as they are more common than gas stations, yet we must have looked in at least a dozen before finding just the right one.  Sunday is live band night, so Irish dancing is not to be found.  The band we saw was really good, and the crowd was not bad either, but it was missing the magic that Tristi and I enjoyed the night prior.  I guess Sara will have to return some day to have the full Irish experience. 

 

The following day we headed out to see Blarney castle.  Earlier I mentioned three things that Dublin is famous for; if you expand this list to cover all of Ireland, then there are four.  If you come to Ireland you must go to the top of the blarney castle, hang upside down and kiss the Blarney stone.  Aside from the stone, the castle is set along side converging creeks and lush grounds.  The intensely green moss covered rocks, stand sentinel around the castle, and disguise the entryway into the caves at the base.  The castle proper is in partial ruins (just the way our family likes best), which tells the story of time itself, and allows imaginations to run wild.  It is for this reason we relish the state of the castle.  Our Ireland trip was short, but we take with us many great memories, especially the people, who’s celebration of life is visited frequently at O’ Connell’s Pub somewhere around five.    

 

From Swiss Miss to Miss Amsterdam

Switzerland to Netherlands

 

Somehow we wandered too far north and ended up in Lucerne Switzerland.  The European leg of our journey was left loose so we could add or subtract sights as we saw fit.  It is a great feeling to pick a spot on the map and just go there.  Everything in Europe is an hour or two away.  On my master list of things to see, I have about 30 to 40 countries that got passed up on our final selection of where to go and what to see.  Switzerland was one of those on the list.  We used a few days of our Italy time to catch a few other interesting sights.  Lucerne in particular was highly recommended by our friend Leigh who places this little lakefront village on the top of his list of world travel.  As we headed north thru Italy, the Alps began to dominate the horizon.  Originally we were going to spend a few days in the lake Como area, which has similar appeal to that of Lucerne but we wanted to have the Swiss experience as well.  It was a great call.  Switzerland is now the most picturesque country we have experienced to date, passing up New Zealand. 

 

From Switzerland we headed east to Liechtenstein, a small little country sandwiched between Switzerland and Austria.  Speaking of sandwiches we stopped in for lunch and a few hours of shopping.  It was a neat little country but we decided to keep going and headed east to Innsbruck, Austria.  Innsbruck is famous for the winter Olympics; especially it’s downhill skiing.  Unfortunately the season wasn’t in full swing yet, but the quaint little shops and restaurants managed to keep us quite busy and entertained.  The setting of this town is at the base of the Alps and has this Marry Poppins kind of charm.  At this point we were tempted to keep going east and visit Vienna and then up to Munich for October fest, but I thought that this would add a lot of extra driving and, well you know, driving and October fest are not a good combination.  But seriously we had such a tight schedule that we needed to keep somewhat on track.  We headed back to Liechtenstein for lunch, and continued west to Zermatt, Switzerland, home to the Matterhorn, another target on the Cohen family bucket list.

 

As we were following the often misguided advice of our Garmin GPS device, She delivered us to the base of the Matterhorn only to be met by the Swiss Army.  Well they were more like Police or Zermatt special enforcement officers.  We were stopped and given the fifth degree about entering a restricted zone with our car.  We apparently drove past a sign, posted in four languages, advising us not to travel by car any further up the mountain.  That little oops cost us one hundred thirty Euros ($200USD) in cash on the spot.  I insisted that we go to the station to pay the fine but these guys were adamant and agitated that the fine is to be paid on the spot.  In America and most other countries we call this a payoff or extortion, but here we just chalked up to experience and headed back down the hill.  In most places the ranger would have looked at the tourist and simply advised the person to turn around and find parking down the hill, no harm no foul.  But not the Swiss.  Now we did get to see the Matterhorn while we were up there but this was a very expensive peek.  We were extremely put off by this corrupt activity, and even though we never saw the sign indicating no further travel up the mountain, it did seem more obvious, once we came back down, that most of the people were walking or taking the train up the mountain.  Yes there were cars up the mountain, and yes there were many hikers but somehow we should have known better.  In any case, we parked and rode the train to the uppermost lookout area for a wonderful view of the Matterhorn and a beautiful panorama of the Swiss Alps.  While up top we saw several glaciers and it even began snowing while we were there.  This majestic view and serine snowfall was almost enough to get our overheated distain for the local law enforcement, a chance to cool down.  We really had a great time up there and might even return someday.  The town of Zermatt was a cool little tourist trap in spite of its’ apparent flaws.  After getting a chance to experience Switzerland and its’ beautiful Alps, one can get a feel for its magic.  The hills are alive…

 

There was only one place we had not covered in Switzerland yet, and that was Lake Geneva.  Geneva is famous for conventions (well at least one very important one) and the United Nations.  The old part of town is very charming as are the parks and small lakefront B&B’s.  We stayed on the lake just a short stroll from the historic center. Most of our time was spent walking the town and lounging on park benches looking out at all the sailboats, and wind surfers as they tacked the windy waters.  The backdrop for the lake is a beautiful mountain range, and clusters of old estates dotting the distant hillsides.  The historic center, and marina are one as they meet the shore near the westerly edge of the lake.  Geneva has grown into such a large city that some of its charm has been cleared for progress.  However there are still many spots where you can absorb yourself in its timeless beauty, with just a little effort.  Overall, the Swiss experience was somewhere between spectacular and amazing, and this is without even getting to try the skiing, but as always something new is calling, something just a few meters to the west, oui oui… it is France.

 

As we pulled out of Switzerland and heading northwest towards Dijon, France, the beautiful countryside splashed us with her splendor of rolling grassy hills, mature hardwood trees, and sprinkles of shimmering sunlight, as the golden leaves of autumn fell from the sky.  The majestic stone farm cottages and the occasional grand Chalet broke the splendid code of nature, by adding the element of harmonious human development in a seemingly perfect countryside setting.  As we approached Dijon the balance of stone houses to trees tilted towards that of city, by then we were mesmerized with the medieval heart of the Mustard capital of the world.  Dijon’s Crest proudly displays an Owl as its shielded symbol.  As was so fitting, my mom has a great collection of Owls, and so shopping here was a breeze.  Dijon also has a great trail of Owl symbols leading visitors from one sight to the next on an exciting old city tour.  We visited about half of the buildings on the tour and wandered the shops for the balance of our time.  We all really enjoyed the town, especially experiencing our first French pastries and croissants.  They were so good that we ate to excess and those jelly filled, chocolate drizzled, powered sugared little gems made up the entirety of our lunch feast.  We could have stayed a week in Dijon, as the people were very warm and friendly, far from the snobby image that is so vividly portrayed about the French.  Now this was only our first town and the big city of Paris would be the true test to see if the French live up to their snobbish reputations.

 

We had another wonderful ride thru the countryside on our way to Paris.  We were filled with anticipation as the Eiffel Tower and the Louver are tops on our list.  We arrived in what felt like the evening, mostly because the skies were full of dark menacing clouds and the streets were dressed in an eerie misty fog.  It was powerfully exciting as we were able to catch a glimpse of the Tower as we headed to our accommodations.  Now, while we are traveling thru Europe we have tried several campsites and Hostels where the average double room exceeds one hundred Euros or one hundred fifty USD.  We always need two rooms minimum, so three hundred USD for a run down shanty is out of the question.  The hostels usually have private rooms for six persons, with ensuite facilities and breakfast included usually to the tune of one hundred twenty to one hundred fifty per night.  Some hostels we have had to share bathrooms and showers (yes private stalls) with other guests on the same floor, not too bad, but sometimes not as clean as we would have hoped.  This is not to say that the hotels are any better.  We have paid as much as three hundred for similar quality hotels at times.  Many hotels and hostels in Europe are in centuries old buildings and come with that unique old building smell.  On the bright side, we belong to Accor Hotels group and Holiday Inn group and get great rates as a travel agent, when they are in the town we are in and when not fully booked.  The accommodations are of small consequence to us as we spend most of our time exploring the towns and cities we are in.

 

Back to Paris.  We checked in to our hostel, and four of us immediately headed out to grab a metro train into the heart of Paris.  Sara stayed behind and was diligently working on her assignments.  She is taking online classes at BYU and also Prima Vera HS.  She has been very busy now that the heat is on to finish her classes.  She has been pulling mostly A’s in her online studies.  Go Sara!  As we hopped off the metro and came up the tunnel, and around the corner, there she was.  The Eiffel Tower.  It was well lit and totally mesmerizing.  We grabbed some Crepes with chocolate, bananas, and whipped cream and greedily snacked on these culinary delights as we took in the full Paris experience.  We did a little shopping that night before retiring to our hostel.  The following morning we arranged for tickets to the Louver, and paid a visit to the famed Notre Dame Cathedral.  After visiting many of Italy’s Basilicas, Notre Dame was not as powerfully inspiring as I had anticipated but spectacular nonetheless.  The interior is well done and the Gargoyles are most spectacular.  There are over three thousand three hundred carved pieces of art on this building and it is really something to see.  We were at the right time and the right place to catch evensong service at the cathedral.  The musical ensemble dominated by the massive organ, was perfectly balanced among the heavenly French quire voices that reverberated from the masterful groin vaulted ceilings sending me back a thousand years in time.

 

The following day started early with a visit to the Louver.  This place is loaded with gems from around the world.  From Venus De Milo to Mona Lisa and Michelangelo, renaissance art abounds.  Within its majestic walls, are magnificent displays of ancient Greek and Roman pieces, to Egyptian treasures including the Rosetta stone.  So much to see so little time, we spent four hours admiring the art and the balance of the day was consumed with shopping the streets of Paris.  The following morning was devoted to seeing Versailles.  This Palace and its grounds were magnificent.  It is full of statuary and art works, ceiling frescos and tapestries, period furnishings and stunning chandeliers.  The sculpted gardens and fountains were particularly striking and demanded equal time from us.  I really liked the drive from Paris to Versailles, especially the majestic tree lined village on the approach to the Palace.  This rounded out our time in Paris and began our drive to Luxembourg.  Like the other little L country, Luxembourg was a perfect place for lunch and a stroll.  We did a little shopping and found a quaint little B&B to call home for the night.  There was a misty little rain that made the cobbled streets glisten as reflections from the old brick and stone buildings and their soft lighting, sent inverted images of life’s’ canvas upward, tantalizing my optic sensors.  As I take in the unfocused view of the village lying upon the cobbled streets, I imagine what life in this small village was like in years past.  Sometimes it is in a small village on the way to nowhere, that makes me realize how special the world is and how unique every little nook and cranny can be.

 

From Luxembourg we drove east into Germany and on into Bonn.  Bonn, Germany is the birthplace of Beethoven.   We decided to visit Bonn for a more modern person, someone who is held in higher esteem to our family.  One of Sara’s good friends from high school, Cameron, moved here from North Scottsdale, as her dad took on a project with his company, that took them to this part of the world.  We spent an evening out, at a wonderful local German restaurant, which boasts of a world famous chef.  The meal was fantastic, as was the local beer, but the company of friends made the evening special.  The following day we visited sights around the city and the girls did the same, yet we only crossed paths once.  We met up in the evening and said our goodbyes as it is off to Cologne.  We made quick work of Cologne, picking up a wonderful Gothic cathedral, and some shopping before retiring to our place for the night.  We enjoyed our quick diversion to Germany, but missed out on its ever-famous castles and the full-blown beer party called October fest.  

 

From Germany we headed west to Brussels, Belgium.  This quirky little city is full of great architecture, splashed about in haphazard eclectic form.  On the surface, one would think this confused city is nothing more than a rebellious party city for the forgotten youth and endless supplies of tourists.  Underneath its rough skin is a smoother layer of aged culture best experienced in the old Grote Markt. This has all of the old world charm, exuded from many of Europe’s fine cities, yet adds a modern vibe within the businesses that call these fantastic old buildings home.  It was here that we experienced our first real Belgium waffles.   Oh so good, with whipped cream and strawberries, Belgium chocolate and a fine sprinkling of powdered sugar, we found ourselves in heaven.  There are two types of waffles, traditional, as we know it, or the local’s favorite caramel glazed.  We tried both, several times in our travels around Belgium.  One of the other local specialties are chips, or French fries (really potato wedges) smothered in a choice of over 16 different deliciously flavored sauces.  So why do we call them French-fries if they originated in Belgium?  I’ll leave that for you to Google, but one thing is for sure, this simple little treat leaves you craving for more! 

 

It is off to Bruges to sample one of Europe’s finest medieval towns, Belgium style.  One of the oddest features of this picturesque little town is that many of the true medieval buildings had been destroyed during the second world war, and yet these people chose to rebuild their home “as it was” to it’s original Grandeur.  Well not entirely, but wandering these streets, not knowing it’s history, the place feels as if it were still half a millennium old.  A closer look reveals more modern brick and stone work techniques, but perhaps only slightly noticeable to those in the trade.  Between Brussels, Bruges and Antwerp, Bruges is by far my favorite.  Perhaps it was the people and the atmosphere, or the layout of the town, or the beer and the chocolates, but there is something about this place that renders an outstanding, well-rounded European experience.  We enjoyed our stay in Belgium, walking the streets, meeting the people, sampling the local culinary delights, and spending quality time with each other.

 

From Antwerp, we headed north into Holland, or is that Netherlands?  Our first point of interest was to see the windmills, and the best place to experience them is in a small town called Kinderdijk.  This is also a great place to get a true sense of Dutch life in the countryside (not to be confused with the Dutch party animals of Amsterdam).  Speaking of confused, why are they called Dutch?  And why is Holland called Netherlands?  Perhaps it is all of the cannabis sativa that is being consumed?  The history is quite intriguing; it’s worth a read, or at least a Google or two.   There is however no confusion on this country’s unique beauty, and what better a way to experience this than by walking its canals and riding old fashion bicycles down country lanes.  But lets face it, everyone comes to see the crazy party life that is uniquely Amsterdam.  Drugs and prostitution, gay marriage and assisted suicide (all legal), and a party atmosphere that thrives in this city of sins.  Like most follies and spectacles, even the moral right stops in to look at life on the wild side.  We found our way to the red light district as well, finding a tamer than expected atmosphere.  Yes there were sex shops and peep shows, and scantily dresses girls shaking their stuff in storefront windows, but for having a world-renowned reputation for fun, one would expect something more.  The biggest attraction is in how the behaviors are treated legally.  I suppose if I were in the market for some fun with a complete stranger, or felt like smoking some grass at a coffee shop, then all of this would make more sense to me.  One of our strangest encounters while in Amsterdam, was when we walked into a store that was selling pot and hash seeds.  The girl in the store was stoned out of her mind, yet was able to hold a conversation about the different products she had on offer.  Tristi and I had never experienced a store clerk clearly impaired during work hours, and wondered if this was the norm for the Netherlands.  Of course it is not, the vast majority of people are normal, and I might add, friendly and fun, but this girl made us question the principal of legalizing drugs, especially how this might play out in America.  I am a big advocate of less Government, but there are times when proper application of law is paramount.

 SORRY GUYS NO PICTURES HERE!

We spent some time in Kinderdijk, checking out windmills and farms, time in Den Haag, a neat little coastal town, and finished up (without a bang) in Amsterdam.  The Netherlands were worth a few days of our attention, and as always we enjoyed the aimless strolls down the cobbled streets, and the feel of old works of architecture filling the city centers, but what was most treasured, was the time we spend together.  I really cherish spending all of this time with Tristi and the kids, we have learned so much about each other, personalities, likes, dislikes, how each responds to different stresses and excitements, how each takes in the different experiences we have had thus far, and what this journey means to each of us.  Each of my children are amazing human beings, with beautiful hearts and well-equipped brains ready to take on the world.

Italy…The El Dorado of Marble

Italy… The El Dorado of Marble

 

Due to some time constraints we decided to stay in Naples and not to take our connecting flight to Palermo Sicily.  We did this so that my sister Sioux could catch all of the major stuff in Italy on her first trip, and that she is booked to fly out of Venice on the 8^th of September, giving us hardly enough time to linger at any one place.  I guess we will just have to return to catch Sicily next year, darn it all!  Well we arrived at the car rental counter to pick up our car and found that the one we reserved had not arrived from Rome as of yet.  They gave us 2 cars to use until the one we ordered was ready.  This was fine except that both were stick shift cars and Tristi has never driven anything except automatics.  It was a good thing Sioux had driven sticks before.  Bad news is she hates to drive in tight, congested, winding roads, with suicide motorcyclists often borrowing your lane to pass another car.  There are no rules to driving in Italy and the signage is merely a suggestion on how to drive or where to go.  Well she did just fine, but commented later that she has never been so stressed in her life.  OOPS…Sorry Sioux!  With the above description of the roads, some of you may have had thoughts of the Amalfi Coast, and the Cliffside driving that the place is famous for.  You would be correct, we dropped our bags at our place in Sorrento and headed directly to the Amalfi Coast for a meandering look at the place.  The driving is crazy (not Rome crazy) but the views are spectacular.  There are many places where the road was built off the side of a cliff, I mean hanging on the side of the cliff, projecting out into thin air, like a cantilevered balcony.  It is an amazing piece of engineering.  What is even more incredible are the old buildings rising from the cliffs on ancient stone foundations, and the caves dug from solid rock, now used as parking spaces.  We made it to the town of Amalfi unscathed and ready for gelatos.  We took a visit to the Amalfi Basilica, which gave Sioux and the kids their first look at a real Italian piece of artwork.  Compared to the others that they will see, this is a minor sight but it was great to watch their eyes as they drooled over the marble work adorning the walls and the ornate groin vaulted ceilings covered with frescos.  It is cool to know that they get much better, but I held this a secret, so when they arrive at the others they will share the same experience Tristi and I had as we viewed these amazing buildings. 

 

We spent the first couple of days warming up to Italy, doing Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast, like anyone needs time to warm up to Italy.  From the moment Sioux set her eyes on Italy, she was in love.  It happens to everyone!  There is something about the old boot that calls to everyone; you must come back time and again even if you don’t throw the coin into the Trevi.  Italy has become Noah’s favorite country as well as of course, yours truly.  Ever since I visited two years ago, I could hardly stand to be away from the place.  And so goes another romantic visit to my home away from home.  From Sorrento, we went to Pompeii, the ancient city buried during the eruption of mount Vesuvious in 62 AD.  Now this is a place that even non-building freaks will be amazed with.  A complete ancient city, unburied and ready to explore.  You need days to cover it all, but one full day will give you a good sense of it’s layout and what life must have been like back in the heyday of the Roman empire.  One of the most sobering displays there is the mummified corpse of several of the town’s people that were on display.  It gives perspective to the tragedy that took place nearly two thousand years ago. 

 

Following Pompeii was Rome, the crazy madhouse I like to call the El Dorado of marble.  Even the streets are paved with marble (yes many are paved with asphalt and or stone pavers, but the marble is everywhere).  It is something to see, even the curb and gutter is hand carved marble, street drains, delineation markers, and the buildings, oh the buildings (can you see the lust in my eyes).  Where do I begin…  Ok, we stayed in an eleventh century castle about twenty minuets north of Rome, in the peaceful rolling hillsides dotted with cypress and olive trees.  The history of the castle is a story in itself, of which I will spare you, but the fresco covered walls, and inlaid stone floors, accent the ancient stone tower and expansive layers of stone walls added over the centuries, until you now have what is called Castillo de Castaluccia.  Needless to say, she has the attention of my affections.  Oh yea Rome, each day we took down a different piece of Rome, visiting over twenty different sights.  We are talking about Basilicas lying all over the place.  Palaces, villas, museums, galleries, ancient ruins, the Pantheon, the Coliseum, the Vatican, the Sistine chapel, the forum, and countless buildings with amazing detail.  Did I say twenty, try perhaps over thirty.  I was like a kid in a candy store, only worse, I had no parent telling me to stop, only my family’s poor little feet calling an end to each days explorations.  Oh yah, I have been to many of these places before, but they are so beautiful and so detailed that you could see them a hundred times and never get the same view twice. By the way, Basilica is short for Big ass Church, and St. Peters at the Vatican is the Crème de la Crème (my favorite is in Siena… More on that later).  In my last Blog I vowed not to go into too much detail about the buildings, so I will not tell you about the intricate hand carved marble floors walls and ceilings, the beautiful inlayed mosaic masterpieces, the countless marble carvings that artfully imitate life, mind blowing eye popping multi colored frescos offering three dimensional perspective, and the many other secrets that fill every square inch of these buildings.  There are so many colors of marble, that Crayola could double their pallet if they dared.  As I was saying, we did Rome in 3 days and headed north to visit the small hill towns of Umbria and Tuscany.

 

First it was off to Orvieto (in Umbria) a wonderful hill town filled with stunning hand painted ceramic pottery.  Last time I came here (2007) I saw several pieces that were perfect for my house, but could not part with the money.  These pieces are priced similar to gallery artwork, and it is hard to imagine paying that sort of price for dishes and pots.  It was interesting to note that I had many thoughts of those colorful pieces of art during the two years since I have been here last and knew that I must get something this time around.  I looked around quite a while before finding something that really caught my eye.  I looked the pieces over for some time, got the gal to give me a decent discount, figured in shipping and all, and again I could not part with that kind of money.  Granted it’s not like buying a car or anything (maybe more like a Rolex) but it is crazy money for a couple of pots.  I walked around town enjoying the wonderful atmosphere and beautiful medieval buildings lining the streets, all the while thinking about the beautiful pottery I was denying myself of.  I just hated the thought.  I wandered into another store and looked around, but didn’t like the artist’s style nearly as much as the ones I had picked out earlier.  My sister Sioux was across the way looking at some gift Items at another pottery store and I decided to join her.  I was browsing the plates and found one that I really liked.  I went thru my mind to see where I would be able to display the plate in my house (I know exactly where the pots would go).  After some concerted thought I came to realize that two pieces were needed and in differing sizes.  I looked around for a while and then the lady pointed me to a large piece she had by the same artist in the same color scheme.  Immediately, I knew that these were going to look great together.  I didn’t want to know the price so I kept on shopping.  I picked out a few things for the kitchen while I was at it, and soon there was no room left on the counter.  All the while I am still thinking about the pots I had picked out earlier, and walked away from (I really wanted those as well) but need to get a hold of myself.  Now I am not a shopper, but I must admit I think I was getting the hang of it.  I pulled out the plastic and spent some absolutely stupid money on a pile of ceramic stuff.  I liked it!  While I was in the mood (spending the kids college money) I stopped back by the other store for one more look at the other pieces I picked out.  It was a damn good thing both hands were full, because those vases were really looking sweet about this time.  Reality set in as I met back up with Tristi and the kids who saw me toting several large bags, they knew right away what I had done.  All of the stuff I bought was wrapped so they never got a chance to see what I bought, and won’t until January when we return to the states.

 

It was a good thing we didn’t stay any longer in Orvieto, or I might be sending the kids to Hamburger University to work at Mc Donald’s.  Well the next little hill town was not much better as it demanded its share of our money as well.  Montpulciano is famous worldwide for its wineries.  We arrived in the evening, but were wanting to walk the streets of the old city and get a feel for it’s unique vibe.  The host at the place we were staying had recommended a great little restaurant, in the old walled city, that was situated inside a cave.  The ambiance was spectacular, as was the food and of course the wine.  Housed within this cave was a wine cellar and cheese aging room, a very nice touch.  The following day we continued our sampling of the wines, cheeses and aged salamis, all of which commanded some attention from my already warmed up credit card.  We visited several wineries outside of town, for quality control purposes only, and found the wines very suitable.  In our search for great culinary delight we managed to pick up a fine collection of wines, a round of spiced and precisely aged cheese, and some “to die for” hard salami.  In this round of shopping I picked up a magnum bottle (five liters) of Sangovisi (a full bodied red – and I’m not talking Italian women here) that I had sampled at the winery only moments earlier.  This is crazy because there are six of us and twelve large bags, now ten bottles of wine plus one giant magnum, all of my ceramic collections, and what ever else Sioux and the kids bought.  We had to pack all of this in our European Station Wagon.  Tristi was the only one who had not bought anything, yet.

 

From Montpulciano, we headed to the heart of Tuscany, Siena.  This little hill town has it all.  The wine, cheese, salami, spices, pizza and gelatos.  It has churches and Basilicas, towers and city walls, crusty old buildings and cobbled streets, the arts and music are well represented, as is the annual horse races in July 2/August 15.  There are parades with marching bands, led by the township (17 rival townships in Siena) that won the palio (horse race) and has earned divine bragging right for the entire year.  This is the place where dolce vita (the good life – also translated as the art of doing nothing) was invented.  I love to sit in the Piazza del Campo and people watch.  It is a place where the whole world passes you by and time is of no consequence.  It is a place where you can eat, rest and even take a siesta if you please.  You can climb to the top of the bell tower and look out over the city and look at all the Siena colored rooftops.  By the way, a cool piece of trivia… The artist colors of Umber, burnt umber, Siena and burnt Siena all come from the soil colors of Tuscany and Umbria as noted by the roof tiles of the respective areas.  Oops, did I just talk about buildings again?  While I’m on the subject I did say I would mention the Basilica in Siena, just a little.  Some people are taken back by its striking black and white marble exterior, as the two tones fight each other all the way up to the top of the highest ridge.  It looks as if the church is dressed in a jail uniform.  I think we may find a piece of Irony here.  One will either love it or hate it as the black and white marble also dominates the interior including the intricate inlaid marble floors.  The contrast in marbles really accentuates the groin-vaulted ceilings and delivers an eyegasmic sense of overwhelming beauty.  The stained glass panels and mosaic works give stability to the crazy black and white striped base that dominates the structure.  There is so much going on in this one masterpiece that you need to stop every few feet and regain your composure, lest you miss many less obvious works within the body.  This place is so fairytale that perhaps Dr Seuss had stopped for prayer and found answers within.  It is hard to describe the feelings one gets while walking this place (no, not the neck-ache from looking up) but for me it evokes a disconnect from reality, a kind of fantasy land, a spiritual place but not in the sense of holy religious belief, the feeling is cool beyond description.  It is not like driving a Ferrari, or jumping from a plane, nor is it like riding a bike with the wind in your face.  It’s not like the peaceful serenity of diving, or the intimate heart pounding feeling of a first kiss.  No, it’s different, but takes elements from all of these and delivers something uniquely Tuscan.  I know already, it’s just a building!

Ok, where was I?  Oh yea, Siena, ah beautiful Siena.  By now many of you must think I am crazy, off my rocker, and a crazed lunatic building loving fanatic!  But then again many of you already know this.

 

Now it’s off to my favorite little hill town (well I really can’t say that for sure because there are so many hill towns that I have not discovered as of yet).  San Giminano is the home of the Smiths and Joneses of medieval Italy.  During the peak of tower building there were over 70 towers built in this tiny little hill town.  As the story goes, a family would build a tower (a fortification) as part of their home for security and protection from Invaders, as well as a sign of wealth or status within the community.  As you walk the cobbled streets you can envision the Little Fiat tower or the bold and dominating Lamborghini Tower or perhaps the sleek and sexy Ferrari Tower each competing for their slice of the skyline.  Today there are only fourteen remaining towers and one hundred percent of the original medieval charm that makes up this town.  One of the little noticed details of this city is the ornate Iron horse rings attached to many of these wonderful buildings.  I guess there is something I find intriguing about nine hundred-year-old hitching posts.  The streets whisper a thousand years of Tuscan life, and each of those buildings hold the soles of those whispers.  The past is so very present in this town of towers.

 

We chose to Stay just outside of town at a small winery and farmhouse.  The view of the towers from our place was great.  The guy who checked us in walked me thru the winery and gave me a bottle of his finest.  Tristi and I enjoyed a nice romantic evening at this well-appointed little villa.  In the morning we walked the vineyards and checked out all of the Prechuto on the hoof.  There were pens of wild hogs, angora rabbits as well as some chickens.  We were the only guests there and were greeted by those who tended the animals and grapes, on this peaceful Tuscan morning.  The Italians call these places Agriturismo, as they give tourists the chance to experience life in the Tuscan countryside.  We really enjoyed our stay but as always had a full plate of sights to see.  After finishing up in San Giminano we headed for Pisa to see some crazy Architecture. 

 

Pisa was one of those sights we had passed up on during our last trip because we only had ten days on the ground.  I felt it was a lesser sight to the others we were visiting, but this time we needed to at least see the tower.  I am glad that we stopped in to see the leaning tower of Pisa, as it was much better then imagined.  It is strange that the tower was started in the early twelfth century and soon began to fail structurally.  Instead of fixing the building foundation, they chose to leave it as it was and build the upper floors on a new basis of level.  It continued to lean thru the years and finally had to be structurally corrected in the twenty first century to keep it from reaching critical center of balance.  As it stands today, the tower is a beautiful work of art, that receives huge attention because of its off center camber, but is worthy of viewing even if it was never given its unique non vertical positioning.  The Basilica just opposite of the tower is well worth a visit as well.  Most of all it is just a fun town to visit and the kids loved the shopping in and around the piazza.  I had to pull the kids away from the shops because Florence was next on the list and offers some great shopping as well. 

 

Besides shopping, Florence offers some of the finest art works in all of Italy and perhaps the world.  The Uffici Gallery is filled to the brim with all of the masters of both stone and brush, and Galleria de Academia holds the David and the prisoners by Michelangelo, as well as rooms of other wonderful works not to be missed.  There are many other galleries across this great city but the buildings are calling for my attention.  The Duomo is the beautiful red dome dominating the Florence sky, which calls to you from all corners of the town.  The Basilica is one of the most ornate and beautifully decorated buildings in Italy and holds its own with Saint Peters at the Vatican and Saint Marks in Venice.  Aside from the Duomo, there are several other great Basilicas to visit while in town.  The hardest part of any tour to Florence is not getting glazed eyes from staring at all of the beauty around you.  It is easy to miss some fabulous buildings when running from one masterpiece to the next.  Along many side streets are incredible buildings with ornate details and wonderfully decorated walls and ceilings that go completely undiscovered mainly because of all of the top rated stuff.  The same is true of statues and reliefs.  While the crowds are running to the masters, there are sometimes far more stunning pieces by lesser artists that get little to no attention mostly due to the critics and guide books directing our attention to the masters.  What I am saying is that there are so many incredible pieces that many get passed up without notice.  I think all of the lesser pieces should be moved to my house where they would be admired every day. 

 

Florence is to art as Venice is to Architecture.  Now this is a place that gives equal attention to all of its buildings.  But here I am again exercising adjectives normally reserved only for Paris fashion runways.  I said I would try to keep the building talk to a minimum and true to my word I will not mention anything else about these timeless beauties for the rest of this Blog. 

 

Venice was the highlight of our trip because we had my sister visiting with us as well as our dear friends from Arizona, the Covells.  Yes we toured the B things and looked at the art stuff, but best of all we spent our sunny afternoons just strolling the streets and making small talk in a town of timeless beauty.  We took a vaporetti to Murano, caught a glass blowing show and did some aimless meandering down dead end streets.  I vowed to spend some stupid money on a gondola ride, and we found a gondolier we liked.  We wandered off to get some lunch and never returned to take the ride, something I now regret.  All of the motorized watercraft were banned from the canals after two in the afternoon due to a special parade and rowing race scheduled for the afternoon.  It is a rare occasion when the canals are smooth and quiet, and we let this opportunity slip away.  We had a nice Italian dinner with our friends and family, a fitting end to our time in Venice.

 

The following morning we dropped Sioux at the airport and said our goodbyes.  She hated to leave, almost as much as we hated to see her go.  It was great to be able to spend nearly a month with my sister, where work and the daily grind of life was not a competing issue on our time together.  From Venice, we headed to Milan where we sampled the city, and made plans to see the rest of Western Europe.

My Big Fat Greek Nightmare

My big fat Greek Nightmare

 Our flight to Greece was uneventful, but as we arrived in the airport, without reservations or a plan, in high season, things became fun.  First stop, the ATM to get some Euros so we could buy some Gyros.  It was around 11:30 pm so we were rather hungry and tired, but we needed to get a car and a plan.  We checked 5 rental car companies who were fresh out of cars, and the one remaining window, Hertz was packed.  We waited in line as the cars were flying off the shelf, hoping to find a car big enough for 5 with all of our bags.  Sure enough, the last available car was a wagon that was fit for us.  The price however was not such a good fit.  I was able to get a 20% discount with my travel agent card (yes I became a travel agent with Global Travel International last year, and it has paid off pretty big so far) but the price was still out of this world!  We tried booking in advance, but many companies will only give agents a discount over the counter so this is why we tried winging it.  We headed off to our hotel in downtown Athens and crashed out.  We were right by the Acropolis but promised my sister Sioux we would wait to see the sights in Athens once she arrives.

Corinth 

Our plan was to drive from Athens to the Pelopenese where there are many famous ruins and some nice beaches to Basque upon.  First stop on the list was Corinth, home of the Corinthian column and some fantastic ruins showing off their many uses.  For me, Greek and Roman architecture are among my favorite of any period architecture, not withstanding Gothic period works.  The use of symmetry, grand entries, Columns (both smooth and fluted), capitals (Doric, Ionic and Corinthian), the use of ornate reliefs and dental work, detailed freezes, and the multitude of other detailed statuary used on and around the structures make these buildings enormous hand carved pieces of art.  I could write a book on the Architecture of Greece and Rome and so I will try not to make these next several Blog pieces solely about the buildings, but then again, what else is there! While we were in Corinth we visited the Corinth Canal, a really cool piece of modern engineering.

Corinth Canal

From Corinth we headed south to Nafplio, a very charming small port town dressed in Venetian architecture.  We spent a few days here exploring the cobbled alleyway shops and restaurants, walked the pier area admiring the multitude of sailboats and private yachts floating in the bay, and ate and drank beside the locals in perfect Greek style.  The Greeks sleep in late, don’t eat breakfast, have a lunch/siesta from 2:30 to 5 pm every day, and begin the dining ritual around 9 pm and extending into the wee hours of the morning.  Greeks are not big on working and find eating and family time the main purpose of life. 

 

Noah and I spent some time shooting hoops in a local park just inland from the bay.  A young Greek kid stopped by and joined us for some fun.  Soon after I sat out and let the boys do their thing.  It was amazing to see two kids communicating thru sign language as neither kid knew a single word of the others language, they played and signed for quite some time before we headed back to find the girls and get some dinner.  We enjoyed our time in Nafplio, and I resisted the temptation to go to the top of the hill and visit an old castle perched on the edge of a near vertical cliff, overlooking the bay.

Floating Castle in Nafplio

Castle on the cliff Nafplio

From Nafplio, we ventured east to visit the birthplace of the Olympic games, Ancient Olympia.  Within its walls is a city center where business was conducted, government was run, and people gathered to watch human competition in many sportly activities including the famous discus throw, as depicted by many Greek statues.  On the far end of town was the Olympic stadium where all of these races and competitions had their beginning.  It was something special to stand on the track, looking back in time and imagining what this place must have felt like during the games.  Nika and Noah staged a mock Olympic race of their own to live the feeling I was living in my minds eye.  I especially enjoyed walking silently thru the now overgrown grassy ruins of the city center and conjuring up an intellectual debate with Socrates as children ran past on the cobbley streets of days past.  I find myself wandering the streets of my mind, rebuilding the ancient cities I visit, and relive the lives of past architects and builders as they created these wonderful stone and marble masterpieces.

 

The Kids Hanging out in Olympia

We spent the last few days roaming around the Peloponnese by visiting the beach town of Katakolo, being seduced by the soft, warm, west coast Mediterranean breezes and glowing mandarin orange sunsets.  But there were sights to see and ruins to explore, so it is off to Delphi on the mainland, for yet another Ancient Greek masterpiece.  This is a must see sight if you dare to visit Greece, as the location of this ancient city is set high on a hill and the views from the ruins are breath taking.  The puzzling thing about the location is that if the city were built 90 degrees clockwise around the same mountain they would have enjoyed the shared view of the beautiful valley with the added benefit of spectacular ocean views.  Just perplexing, must be a Greek thing! 

The girls at Delphi 

After some great coverage of the mainland we were longing to dive into the Greek islands.  We chose to explore the close by island of Aegina, where most Athenians choose to get away for their summer vacations.  We found a quiet little spot on the lower west coast of the island, and happened upon a wonderful self service apartment complex right on the beach.  It was a family owned business and we quickly made friends with the owner.  Nick is a Greek Californian who understands both the local culture as well as the American culture, and was a blast to talk with and learn from.  I think I spent as much time talking with Nick as I did enjoying the beach.  Aside from doing the beach thing, we took a taxi to a beautiful hilltop on the northeast side of the island, for a distant view of Athens and most importantly, to take a stroll thru the ancient village where the most complete Parthenon building sits.  It is like going 2 and one half millennia back in time and if you have an unabated imagination, such that, the likes of a child’s mind you can drink their wine and feast on their platters of fine foods.  You must rebuild the buildings to their original grandeur, place the masses of people in fine white linen and calf high lacy leather sandals, and if you were really good you would place a wreath of olive branches upon their heads (for full effect).  Life delivers what you ask of it!

 

We took an early morning taxi back to the port where we departed for the mainland where we were to meet my sister at the Athens airport around 10:30 AM.  We took the train into Athens city center where I dropped the family off and continued on both busses and trains to meet Sioux at the terminal.  I arrived (after 2+ hours) just around the time she was landing.  Her plane was early, so I didn’t have to wait long for her to get thru customs and collect her baggage.  It was the first time that I have ever picked my sister up from an airport (we have traveled many times together as kids) and especially from one on foreign soil.  I think it was really cool for both of us; we hugged as if we had not seen each other for years.  Both of us were very excited to begin our adventures together, something we used to talk about as children.  We got out of the airport in a hurry and took the public transportation back to city center where the family was waiting.  Now remember we had not seen the Acropolis as of yet, and were dieing to see it.  I knew Sioux would be dealing with jet lag, but she is like me, and hates to waste a minute of precious life on things like sleep, so we headed straight for the sights.  We hit the Acropolis hard, walking every nook and cranny, exploring all of the trails and snapping pictures of everything in sight.  The kids stuck to aunt Sioux like bees to honey, and everyone had a great time.  Once we finished the Acropolis, we grabbed some dinner, did some walking around town and headed in for some sleep.  The following morning we picked up the New Athens Museum, where we saw most of the finest Greek treasures collected over the last three thousand years.  I am a statue fanatic and this place delivers.  All I will say is this is a must see Museum. (I won’t bore you with my over passionate descriptions of these chiseled chunks of marble)  We wandered the streets and did some window-shopping, and I think Sioux and Sara each added something to their collections.  We completed our tour of Athens and made a beeline for port.  What’s next?  Santorini.

Sister Sioux with the kids at Acropolis.  

We had an early morning ferry set up from Piraeus to Santorini, which took four and a half hours.  We sat in business class (the only tickets still available) with a herd of very rude Greeks (more on the Greeks later) on some sort of business trip.  Even the staff was rude, to both us and another family from Canada.  In any case, the ride was very nice and we stopped at several islands to pick up and drop off passengers.  Each Island has it’s own charm, and slightly different look and feel.  We only experienced three of the many available choices during our time in Greece.  We arrived in Santorini around mid-day, had no place to stay and no car to get around in.  We like the spontaneity and sense of adventure that this brings.  We knew the area that we wanted to be in and had researched the transportation system, so we were confident we would find a good place to stay.  As we waded thru the crowd, a boisterous Greek man approached us for rooms to let.  We had walked passed several other touts for rooms and somehow were attracted to this guy.  (We read that there would be plenty of rooms for rent and that these owners would meet you at port and sell you a room, it was pretty neat.)  He pitched us on his place right near the beach (we were figuring this guy meant miles from the beach) and all of the shopping etc.  We bartered for rates on a family suite and were happy at the final agreed on price.  He took us from port to his place right by the beach.  It was every thing we had hoped for and more, clean rooms, a sparkling pool, and close to the beach and shopping, and just far enough away that we did not hear the night life right on the beach.  We stayed on the east side of the island where the water is calmer and the beaches are dressed in beautiful black sand.  The water was calm and warm and the sun was shining every day.  We rented a car for the day to explore the island, and had a blast.  Santorini is a collapsed caldera, whose Cliffside edges are sprinkled with beautiful white buildings and deep blue doors and trim.  The stark contrast with the white buildings on black soil and deep blue seas is truly striking.  It is for this reason alone that Santorini is famous worldwide.  We really enjoyed our time exploring and relaxing on the island and set high expectations for our next jewel, Mykonos.

Black sand beaches of Santorini

Santorini 

Our host delivered us from the hotel back to port so we could catch our ferry to Mykonos.  After a lengthy wait, our ferry arrived (2+ hours late) and we finally boarded.  After looking for our seats, which were again in separate places on the boat, we settled in for the ride.  It was not long after taking off that the winds started picking up and white caps were dominating the ocean view.  The seas actually got very rough and there were loads of people getting seasick.  The Greeks are funny that way.  As the seas picked up, the crowd of people would let out a woo sound like children on a roller coaster, but as the ride got rougher there was one lady in particular who got so dramatic that she was screaming and praying at the same time.  People were running to the heads and the back of the boat to blow chunks.  I have never experienced rough seas (not that I thought it was all that rough) and especially this many people getting sick all at once.  I would have expected the Greeks to be used to traveling by boat as there are over fourteen thousand islands (160+- that are occupied) and water travel is a way of life in Greece.  The crying and complaining was nearly overwhelming, and other than Noah getting freaked out by the smell and sound of vomiting all around, none of us got sick.  We were all (including some other tourists) very surprised at the behavior of the Greeks.  Sioux was at the back of the boat and got some great footage of the episode on her camera. 

 

Finally we arrived in port and began our search for a place to stay.  We passed on many touts as we got off the ferry and found a quiet little spot to gather our luggage and our thoughts.  We knew where we wanted to stay and started talking to several of the touts.  We were very surprised at the crazy high rates that were on offer and blew off all of them.  Soon the streets were empty and we had no room and no transportation.  Even the transportation service seemed to be on siesta as there were no busses or taxis in ready sight.  We talked with several travel agents in the port area without luck and finally tried calling one of the room touts back to see if we could get a room from her.  She jacked her price up another thirty euros and we hit the roof.  There was an old guy milling around who had a room for rent and the price seemed reasonable, but the location was not close to anything.  At this point we were ready to settle for anything and decided to go with him.  He took half of us and half of our bags and then returned for the other half on a second trip.  As we arrived he revealed our rooms to us.  They were old and run down, and had a nasty musty smell to them.  It was now about six PM and we are hungry and worn out from the full day travel experience, so we decided to brave it for the night.  I could spent the next few pages describing the place to you, just know it was by far the worst place we have stayed in for the entire trip.

 

The next morning Tristi and I walked into town and found a car to rent, picked up the troops and got out of Dodge.  We spent the next 3 hours driving around checking out different beaches and areas all around the island.  Every place was way overpriced and hardly worth half of what they were asking.  We were blown away!  I am happy to pay three hundred a night for the Bellagio, Ritz, or Four Seasons but not for a shack on a rocky piece of beachfront.  After the fruitless search we grabbed the best place in the best location and ponied up the bucks.  It was a good thing we were only staying for two more nights, as the entire Mykonos experience was a drag.  The entire time we were there it was extremely windy (every place on the island) and there was not much to see.  The kids tried going to the beach but they got pelted with rocks, yes rocks, there was no sand left on the beach only pebbles and rocks and they were whipping up a storm.  The best part of the island (besides leaving) was finding a Starbucks where we were able to buy a seven-dollar cup of real coffee.  By the way the six-dollar Greek coffee at our hotel was nasty.  The Greek coffee is as bitter as the Greeks themselves.  

 

My Big Fat Greek Nightmare

 

While I’m on the subject of Greeks, I digress here for a moment; they are some of the rudest and most unhappy people on the planet.  Even the Greeks hate the Greeks.  They will tell you that they are very disgruntled, love to complain, always going on strike, and are in general unhappy.  The strangest thing is, as the Greek you are speaking with, complains about his fellow Greeks, he might add how unhappy he is with the political system and what ever else he feels like complaining about.  The funniest thing is that when a Greek bags on his people, they will always talk in third person as if they are excluded from the Greek population when bagging on them!  The system and the people are so disgruntled, besides never smiling (including most of the children) they seem to light the entire country on fire every summer in protest of the government and each other.  There are as many as 100+ fires going at any one time, during the summer, it is a phenomenon hard to describe and almost beyond belief (until you see the billowing smoke).  We did however meet a few nice Greeks (thank you Nick) and always tried hard to meet the locals and talk whenever we were given the chance.  Those who were willing to make small talk were quick to point out that they did not like Americans (multiple times I was directly informed of the anti American sentiment shared by Greeks) and thought we should be doing more to improve the lives of Greeks and less time consuming the worlds resources.  Interesting perspective, and I assume that this is just a minority opinion, but seeing all those glares and arrogant attitudes makes me believe it is the majority who assumes this opinion.  I hope I am wrong, but feelings are sometimes the strongest indicator of truth.  I wish I could say that it was my lack of trying or that we were not there long enough to get the true Greek experience, granted 3 weeks is not a lot of time to form an opinion, but our family has a resoundingly strong opinion of those we did interface with.  This is not to say that that the sights were bad (they were extremely historically rich) but the overall experience was jaded by the vary people who desperately rely on tourism for their survival.  The Greeks need to take a lesson from the Egyptians or Balinese on how to make a guest feel welcome to their country.

Middle East Experience

Middle East Experience

 

We arrived in Cairo early morning, after an overnight flight from Cape Town, South Africa.  We were full of excitement, yet very surprised at the extremely poor air quality.  At first I thought we were descending thru clouds on our way in, and all of a sudden we were just over the tops of the buildings and the runway.  It was one of the strangest sights I have ever experienced.  It was actually a sandstorm, mixed with city smog.  As our travel plans dictated, there were only 9 days to see Egypt, so I hooked up with a travel agent (Ms. Hend) in Cairo and arranged for a complete tour.  There were several reasons for this.  One, she was a local on the ground, two, she was in the fledgling stage of starting her own company, three, she was a certified Egyptologist with 4 yrs. College education, 4 years in research and also has many years as a tour guide.  The best part was that she was very organized and well spoken in English and came highly recommended by other travel professionals in the states.  Her collogues, that accompanied us through out the tour were also certified and very knowledgeable as well.  In Egypt it is possible to travel independently, but there are so many restricted areas where you must be accompanied by a tourist police officer, that by time you get it all arranged, haggle for hotel prices, and all of the necessities, you come out even or ahead by using an agent.  Be warned, Egypt is not cheap.

 

As soon as we departed the plane and picked up our bags, we were met by a driver, a guide, an armed (heavily armed, full auto machine gun) security officer as well as Hend herself.  The entourage was impressive, however the officer was a surprise, so Hend explained that this was a formality required by the Egyptian Government for all foreign guests.  Although we were exhausted from our overnight flight, the adrenalin was high, as we were excited to see the pyramids and Sphinx, and whatever else she had in store for us.  We spent the next 2 days touring around, checking out the many sights around Cairo, including the Cairo museum, which was fantastic.  Aside from the treasures from King Tut’s tomb, the mummy exhibit was a mind blower.  When you looked at the dozen or so kings displayed in glass cases (you could rest your face on the glass if you wanted) they were so well preserved that you were able to tell exactly what they looked like (except thinner and dried out a little…. well a lot) at time of death.  Ramsis II (Pharaoh during the time of Moses’ exodus as we were taught, and Tutmoses III (pharaoh who is now believed by some to be the ruler during the exodus) were both there and looking good after 4,500 years.  These are a must see.  One of the best ways to finish a day of touring in Cairo is by enjoying the light and sound show at the Pyramids and Sphinx; it was a truly magical night.  

 

The next day we went to the pyramids and had a chance to walk around and ponder these ancient works of engineering and building wonder.  To be standing among these magnificent structures is awe inspiring, and in terms of size and human effort expended, these top the temples of Ankor Wat and now stand in my book as the most amazing structures of the ancient world.  During our time at the pyramids, the kids rode camels thru the desert, while Tristi and I walked the sand dunes admiring the setting.  We stopped for a traditional Egyptian lunch, which was delicious, did some shopping, and headed off to the train station for the overnight train to Luxor.  This train ride is better done during the day, as the ride has some cool scenery as it hugs the Nile for most of the journey.  Sleeping was not easy on the train and most of the views were hard to make out, yet there was a beautiful moon that reflected off the Nile from time to time, bringing a tranquil feeling over the desert oasis.

 

Luxor delivers big time on the sights!  The Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens were impressive, yet under-played by our guide.  Karnack, with it’s avenue of Sphinx’s was the most impressive of any the building complexes in all of Egypt.  The series of massive columns and oblique, statues and monuments, buildings and walls, leave those who visit awe struck.  The Luxor temple and Ramsis II Temple were both amazing as well.  Luxor is very high on the list of favorite places we have visited thus far, especially for the kids, who all rate Egypt among the top places to see/experience as far as ancient buildings are concerned.  I think that it was a combination of sure size and grandeur, along with the ornate hieroglyphics that tell stories of the past, like a child’s picture book, yet carved into every stone that makes up these wonderful edifices. 

 

After baking our brains out in the Egyptian mid-summer’s heat, we took a cruise on the Nile, over to Banana Island, where we walked the island, had some cool water and sampled the fruit of the island.  We walked the plantations and wandered upon an old mule drawn water well, and a covered fishpond complete with several young Nile crocodile.  After enjoying the island, we made our way back to town for the evening Light and Sound show at the Karnack Temple.  We took horse drawn carriages to and from the show, fit in some shopping in the local bizarre on our way, and called it a fitting end to a wonderful time in Luxor. 

 

Next stop; Sharm El Sheikh.  Where the hell is Sharm, one might ask.  It is at the lowest point of the Sinai Peninsula, marinating in the warmth of the golden desert sands, and being caressed by the ocean breath of the dazzling Red sea.  As far as travel books go, this place is described as a place for world class diving.  I have to go one up on that though, because this was the clearest, cleanest, most spectacular diving we have yet to experience.  The water is warm, the soft corals boast every color of the rainbow, the fish are beyond compare (we saw several new species including glass fish, really cool) and the underwater landscape is varied and widely undulating, from slopes to walls, caves to open abyss, and all exceedingly healthy.  The water was so clear that it was nearly impossible to determine distance or depth.  As open water divers we are limited to 18 meters (60 feet deep) but we found ourselves as low as 32 meters (100 ft +-) and the sunlight was dancing among the corals as if we were only at 12 meters.  This made the dive surrealistic, and with the colors so vivid, it is hard to describe the experience, Wow!

 

We drove 3 hours north into the Sinai desert to St. Katherine’s Monastery to see the Burning Bush, where Moses received the Ten Commandments.  The Monastery was built around the Burning Bush, that adds to the intensely spiritual feeling one gets when approaching the site.  There is also a house of skulls in the monastery that holds the remains of monks from many years past.  Nika and I took a hike past the monastery, part way up Mt. Sinai, where we were away from all of the tourist action, and found quiet solitude among the gnarly rock outcroppings.  We sat silently in the intense desert heat and contemplated the past of our people, who occupied these lands, while making their way to the Promised Land.  In this same valley, on a hilltop not far from the burning bush, lies the tomb of Aaron, Moses’ brother.  In the tomb, on top of an altar, lies an embroidered cloth, written in Arabic, with a verse from the Koran, describing the passing of Aaron and his important place next to Moses (as it was described to me).  On first glance I thought the cloth was in Hebrew (this was my expectation) as it looks like the embroidered covering found in temple, covering the Torah.  I was wrong, and very surprised at the discovery of an Islamic shrine covering the tomb of this Jewish leader.  It is however, a hopeful sign that this cross celebration of these people by Muslims, Christians and Jews will hopefully bring peace to this region (at least among moderates if not all).  One can only hope!  We drove back to Sharm and finished our time in the Sinai, by taking a drive into the desert, and having dinner and dancing at a Bedouin camp.  As we watched the sun setting against the mountains, it reminded us of home, and the spectacular summer evening sunsets in our little desert paradise, Scottsdale, Arizona.

 

Our flight from Sharm El Sheikh to Cairo was quick, and the smoggy dust filled air, created the same strange landing experience as before.  We spent the last two days visiting the balance of sights in the area.  Our tour took us to Memphis, Saqqara and Dahsure south of the city, and old Cairo (Babylon).  I stayed back at the hotel (due to Pharaoh’s Revenge…. stomach bug) while the family saw the Coptic Museum, Hanging Church, St Sturgis and the old Jewish Temple.  It is amazing what a couple of hours and some Imodium will do for a wicked stomach.  I guess I was getting too comfortable with the fact that we have been to so many 3^rd world countries and had never been affected by the bug, and also that we were in 5 star accommodations in Egypt, that I never expected the surprise attack.   Everything was fine as we said goodbye to Egypt and hello to Israel.

 

It took just over one hour to fly from Cairo to Tel Aviv, but we were worlds apart.  Even though Israel is in the Middle East, it is a modern, westernized, clean country.   We rented a car and drove south of the city (45 minutes) to a small beach town called Bat Yam on the Mediterranean Sea.  The water was warm and the people were warmer.  We really enjoyed our relaxing time on the beach, chatting with those who spoke English, and listening to those who spoke Hebrew.  There were many families on the beach, and kids were everywhere.  Just up from the beach was a park area where children were playing on the swings and old men were sitting around playing chess, at the covered tables dedicated just for the game.  We watched the sun melt into the sea, where the calmness of the water seemed to stretch the glowing sphere into the shape of a hot air balloon as it fell behind the crimson blue waters and streaks of intensely orange light flickered off the wind ripples rolling across the otherwise still sea.

 

Jerusalem was our next stop.  Two days went by fast as we walked the different quarters of the old city.  We shopped in the Armenian and Jewish quarters, walked the Muslim quarter for comparative purposes, and took the pilgrimage walk thru the Christian quarter, to experience the final steps that Jesus took on the way to his crucifixion.  Most of our time was spent in the Jewish quarter, taking in the Kotel (the western or wailing wall).  It was a very spiritual experience, praying at the wall, the Schema came to me as if I had been here a thousand times before.  It is hard to describe the feeling I had being in Jerusalem (really all parts of Israel) among my people.  It is here that the Jewish religion is celebrated daily, as a way of life, like nowhere else in the world.  In other parts of the world, you can visit old Jewish settlements, mostly ghettos, where small remaining populations were forced to settle during times of persecution throughout the ages.  In the States there are small Jewish communities where one can feel a sense of belonging, but for the most part, it seems, Jews live a guarded life, protecting their Jewish identity.  Not in Israel though, here is a thriving community, where the Jewish people come alive, extend the warmest of hospitality, show a true love of life, open their homes and hearts, and openly share their love for a wonderful Jewish life.  As it is said in the closing prayers at Passover, “this year we celebrate here, next year may we celebrate in the land of Israel”.  I strongly recommend that all Jews make the journey to the Promised Land, at least once, to experience our thriving heritage, you will instantly feel as if you are home!

 

From Jerusalem, we set out to add another life experience to the Cohen list of things to accomplish.  We headed southeast, to the lowest section of landmass on the earth, En Geti, the Dead Sea.  I need to verify, but I believe that this place is 422 meters (1385 Ft. +-) below sea level.  It was at Nika’s request that we float on the Dead Sea for her birthday, as she saw people doing this on a Rick Steves travel video almost a year earlier.  This girl knows what she wants, goes after it, and usually gets it!  Floating in the Dead Sea is definitely a trip.  The water is somewhere between very warm and hot, and saltier than anything I have ever experienced.  The water is so bitter, and causes a tingly/stinging sensation to any cuts, scrapes, or freshly shaved parts of the body, it can even affect your privates as well if your not careful.  The best part is the feeling of being pushed up to the surface like a cork in the pool.  When standing upright, in a wading position, you must fight to stay vertical, or your legs will pop up to the surface, like a soccer ball being held under water and then released only to race to the top.  Swimming is a breeze, as the buoyancy factor helps to reduce the usual friction, such as a boat coming out of the water when at cruising speed.  Don’t, I repeat, don’t get the water in your eyes, as the very warm, extremely salty water, will fry those babies right out of their sockets.

 

From the Dead Sea, we headed south to Ellat where Israel meets Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.  Ellat is a beautiful port town on the Red Sea, filled with trendy little shops and restaurants, and bustling with friendly people from all parts of Israel, and abroad.  We too, came for the sun and sand, but most importantly we came for the trip to Petra, an amazing cultural site in Jordan.  From Ellat, we took a quick shuttle to the border and had our passports stamped out of Israel and into Jordan.  While the guide processed the passports, we tried the Jordanian coffee (Turkish coffee, made by Jordanians), exchanged some money, and did some quick shopping.  Soon we were on our tour bus to Petra, a three-hour drive to the central part of the country.  As we drove we were treated to some amazing mountainous and sculpted desert scenery.  We arrived in Petra, and began our hike into the valley where the burial shrines are located.  Along the way, we viewed many gravesites carved into the sandstone mountainsides.  After a 30-minute hike thru a deep water-carved, sandstone canyon, we arrived at the most intricate and architecturally complete examples of these tombs.  It is magical how the site reveals itself, piece by piece, as we emerged from the narrow winding canyon into a large open courtyard.  The lighting on the beautiful, multi colored sandstone carvings and natural walls was spectacular!  The work of these masters of chisel and hammer, will leave you in complete wonderment.  This architectural work of art, carved from a single piece of stone, stimulates the mind beyond compare.  Nowhere else on earth will you see such an incredible work of art carved in sandstone (based on it’s size, age and location).

 

On our way back from Petra we had a quick tour of Aqaba, the beautiful and bustling port city along the Jordanian slice of the Red Sea.  It seemed to be every bit as modern as Ellat, Israel and nearly as clean.  This is a very important port for many neighboring Arab countries, as it is their only access to the Red Sea, and international shipping.  We completed the tour and headed back thru the border, without incident.  We closed out our time in Ellat, with a nice Italian dinner in a trendy, extremely packed, pier-side restaurant (the food was just OK but the local wine was great). 

 

Over the next few days we crossed Israel from south to north, from east to west and south again back to Bat Yam.  In our travels we visited, Jericho and Bet Shean on our way to Tiberius on the Sea of Galilee, where we stayed the night.  We played on the beach, had a barbeque, and met an Israeli family who insisted we join them in their party celebrations.  We hated to leave, but as usual we had so much to see and so little time.  We headed north to the small Swiss village of Metula, which lies against the Syrian Border.  We drove up to the border fence, where it was sealed tight, so we were not able to pop in for a quick visit.  After taking in Metula, we headed west to the beach town of Rosh Hanikra (on the Lebanon border).  We spent an enjoying day, exploring the caves and learning the history of the area.  This place boasts of the steepest tram ride in the world, so we tried it.  Heading south, we took a quick peek at Jaffa and several other smaller beach towns on the way.  We viewed a 2000-year-old aqueduct in Kasarria, while passing thru, and I wished we had taken more time to wander the site and the ruins in the area, but the mood in the car was that of wanting to get to the beach in Bat Yam.  Fair is fair, because the kids have been so good about visiting ruins, tombs, temples, buildings, and all matter of historical nature, that I thought it fair to give them a couple days rest on the beach, and so we did.  Next stop….My big fat Greece!

Africa…Land of the wild and free!

 

 Africa…Land of the wild and free!

We departed Mumbai, India early morning on 6/20/09.   This whole day was a trip.  It actually started the night before, as we needed to make arrangements for the Safari.  We had been working with an agent in Colorado called Adventures Within Reach.  Now I know it is cutting it close but after 1 year of research we were still undecided on who to use for the trip and how we were going to make it work.  I was intent on seeing Tanzania’s Northern circuit, which includes all of the classic “Africa” areas.  Arusha National Park, Ngorongoro NP, Tarangire NP and the Serengeti NP.  During our early research we were told that no safari companies would take kids into the northern circuit area, as it was not considered safe.  I refused to believe this and so set out to find an outfit that would accommodate our family.  Most companies would not take children under 16, however I found one that would.  They wanted 25K to give us a 10-day safari (private vehicle) that would cater to kids.  I had a problem with this big time.  That is $2500 USD per day to go camping in a grassy plain.  I don’t care what you cook for me or what level of safari you provide, this is just f-ing insane.  The same goes for the lodges at $400 per person per day.  What the F@#$ could you possibly provide for $2000 per day for my family to possibly make this worth it.  And of course, as usual, Lonely Planet insists you should be able to exist on midrange accommodations for $50USD per day.  WWFFFF what are they smoking?  Oh yeah, they also say in a different section that most people join planned safari trips (no shit) and they should cost $200 per day per person for mid range lodges.  OK So what the F am I smoking????  Fast forward to last night.  We finally, agree on price and Itinerary with the above named Tour Company and set into motion the plan.  Mind you it is 1:30 am India time, our flight departs 5:30 am (remember this is India time, so nothing is ever on time) so we need to be there at 3:30 am for international check in.  I send my last email at 2:30 am trying to firm up details of where we are staying etc. and get a response that we will be staying at one of two hotels (whichever has availability) when we arrive. Ok, this is close enough for me.  I need to wake the kids and get our bags downstairs as the shuttle is ordered for 3:00am   Tristi and I both manage to shower and get the kids up and all bags downstairs by 2:55am.  Now I stayed awake working on our booking and updates for the Blog, as I was way behind on that and also knew we would miss our flight if I fell asleep.  As the hours passed and the same old Indian news droned on, an emergency bulletin popped up.  Russian Military Aircraft intrudes an Indian airspace and is brought down by Indian Military.  Where did they make the forced landing…  Mumbai of course.  The Airport was shut down and the Russian jet was surrounded.  I am thinking at this point, we are definitely going to be late into Ethiopia and miss our connecting flight to Kilimanjaro.   Reports kept coming out as to the situation.  It was determined that the jet was not carrying any bombs, weapons or ammunition, and they had began interrogations of the crew.  They reopened the airport for international flights around 1:30am.  I never did get any follow-up to the situation, as we were just a little busy.

 

As predicted the flight was delayed, not as a result of the Russian jet situation but just that of Indian Time.  Some flights were on time just not ours.  We stopped into a coffee shop and got some drinks and began making some PB and J’s when out of nowhere a rat runs across the shop floor.  The staff looked like the 3 stooges trying to catch the thing.  It bolted past them and right up on the set of chairs where Sara was sitting.  It was hilarious.  Sara jumped 3 feet in the air, let out a high-pitched scream and the jelly sitting on her lap crashed to the floor.  Everyone in the vicinity ran over to see what had happened.  It was absolutely one of those priceless moments.  Embarrassing as hell at the time but priceless nonetheless.

 

We finally arrived in Tanzania, figured out which hotel could accommodate us (Le Jacaranda) after checking both.  We settled in and finally were able to get something to eat and relax.  I do want to add a couple of side notes here.  On our flight in we flew over Mt. Kilimanjaro, it was spectacular.  Also of note, our drive in was very surprising, as the landscape was lush tropical flora.  There were banana trees and coffee plantations along with endless cornfields and beautiful flowering trees and plants all over the place.  The streets were clean and the sides of the roads groomed and looking very welcoming as well.  The weather is surprisingly cool being late June and so close to the equator.  As far as hotels go this was a 4.  No Heat or hot water, we asked for additional blankets and they brought us each one.  That’s one per room!  The kids had 3 beds and found it hard to share the blanket.  We had our lightweight sleeping bags with us so we managed, but that says a lot for service.  Of course we did not come to Africa to be pampered and there were no complaints from any of us.  After checking email (painfully slow, but at least available) we crashed out.

 

We woke at 6:15am and got packed up, woke the kids (which is always a chore) and managed to get to breakfast by 8.  We headed out on our first day of safari in Arusha National Park.  It wasn’t long past the gate and we had our first sighting.  We saw a family of baboons.  We watched the family interact for a while and then continued down the trail.  Off on our left side of the Jeep was a small group of giraffe.  We were tripping over ourselves to get a view of these long necked creatures.  It finally hit us; we are on safari in Africa.  How cool!  Seeing giraffe in the wild is much different than seeing monkeys, at least for us, as they were all over Southeast Asia, china and India.  As we drove on we saw water buffalo, zebra, warthogs, and impala.  We concluded our first day of safari, tired, hungry, and fully satisfied with our sightings in the field. That night the power shut down around 10:30 pm as the generator is always shut down at this time.  With no power, there were no lights, which means plentiful stars.  The Milky Way was ablaze, and the big dipper was still in sight but you could also clearly see the Southern Cross.  The star clusters are clearly thicker in the southern hemisphere, partly to lack of light pollution but also because there are more stars in the southern view.  It is a toss up between New Zealand and Africa to which view is better.  Both places we were able to view with no moon that makes viewing spectacular.  I do have a feeling that once we get out into drier savanna the moisture content in the air will significantly drop and allow for even better viewing.  It was a shame that we had a full moon cycle while in the Australian outback, because this may have truly been the best.  Soon after my viewing was over I crawled into bed and fell asleep.

 

Day two of safari started with breakfast at 7 and hitting the road by 8.  We had to stop into town and pick up some supplies, and hotel/lodge vouchers prior to hitting Lake Manyara National Park.  We finally arrived around 1:30 pm and got right into action.  We were able to see our first African elephants, Hippopotamus, wildebeest, gazelles, dik dik, blue mongoose, several varieties of hornbill, and a host of other really interesting wildlife.  Even though we started late we felt like we got a lot of action for those 5 wonderful hours.  We headed up to the top of the ridge where our hotel was waiting.  A wonderful staff greeted us and the hotel exceeded our expectations.  The meal was superb, as was the atmosphere.  The views are to die for.  We were overlooking the lake, and black skies offered spectacular views of the Milky Way and the Southern Cross.

 

Days 3, 4, and 5 were spent in the Serengeti, home of the Lion King.  We spotted a Cheetah hiding in the bush, and a leopard sleeping in a tree. There were a nice variety of lion, several hyenas, a monitor lizard, several crocodile, herds of Zebra, antelope, wildebeest, and much more.  One of the most spectacular sights was stumbling upon several spots in the park where the migration was in full play.  There were thousands upon endless thousands of animals covering the plains as far as the eye could see.  Now I wish I could say we were in the thick of it, but the massive herds we saw were actually the second wave of the great migration.  The primary wave was already north of the central Serengeti.  Day 5 brought us within short reach of the Kenya border but the herds were already north into Kenya.  We missed the migration; in it’s most concentrated form however what we saw was spectacular.  Day 6 was spent driving south, back to the center, and then continuing east towards Ngorongoro National Park.  On the way we saw many herds, some new species not yet on the list, and a very rare sighting of a mature pair of lions mating.  We apparently got the male pissed off as he charged the vehicle.  Our first experience, of up close, pissed off lion was not enough.  He stopped about 15 feet from the Land Cruiser after letting out some very serious grunting roars.  Our guide pulled the vehicle to safety just in time to thwart his mighty assault.  The lion casually strutted back to his female and lay down next to her.  The guide backed the vehicle up for us to take another watch at the happy couple.  After licking his mate several times he stood up and broke out in full stride toward the truck, this time with full repeated roars and his mane standing on end.  The guide dropped it in gear and tried speeding away, with one eye on the road and the other on the lion.  He swerved off the road and up an embankment and almost tipped the rig over.  We were all shitting ourselves, while all the time trying to take photos and video.  Had we dumped, we would all be dead.  This is an open roofed ride with sliding glass windows all the way around.  Lucky for us the guide was able to get back on the trail and speed away enough to hold off the lion until he got tired.  It was so close that I could not film him in the chase.  I was hanging out the top and trying to hold on and focus on the lion at the same time, without luck.  I reviewed the tape and only after we stopped, both the lion, and us, was I able to focus on him again.  It was an amazing experience.  I think this chase had more adrenalin than both skydiving and bungee jumping put together.  I have never been so scared and excited as I was staring down the snarling mouth full of teeth less than 5 feet from my face.  All he needed was a good leap and it would have been good-bye arm or face or worse he could have landed in the Jeep and tore us all to shreds.  The guide had never seen such aggression from any lion ever.  He was speechless for quite some time after leaving the area.  We drove for at least a half hour before he would really talk about it.  It was probably closer than we even realize.

 

Lion Love

Charging Lion!  This is why they are the king of beasts!

We arrived several hours later at Ngorongoro Crater, and checked into our lodge.  This place is located right on the rim of the crater and the views are spectacular.  This crater is actually a completely in tact collapsed calderas, or core of an erupted volcano. What we see today is all that remains of a once mighty mountain.  There is a lake at the bottom, some 600 meters below our lodge, and filled with thousands of resident game herds, 21 black rhinoceros, and the highest concentration of predators per land area of any place on earth.  Our 2 days in and around the crater proved to be just shy of spectacular.  We totally enjoyed the terrain and the flora both inside and outside the crater, but we were unable to see any leopard up close, and the real disappointment was that we only saw one rhino and it was from some distance.  The rhino are very shy and are usually hiding in the tall grasses during the windy times, as was the case while we were there.  We saw plenty of game and added a few new ones to the list, so we really shouldn’t complain.  We completed our afternoon game drive and headed up to our lodge.

 

Day 8 began with a 2-hour drive to Lake Eyasi where we dropped our gear at the Tented Camp, and headed out for an afternoon game drive.  Day 9 started very early as we went out on a hunt with the Wathadzabe tribe.  Noah and I prepared our bows and arrows and headed out with the men of the tribe.  The girls were able to follow, but not hunt as this is traditionally left for the men.  We ran thru the forest following one of the guys, as they all went different ways.  Our guy lost us so we hunted by ourselves.  I took one attempt at a squirrel, missed, and spent the next 20 minuets looking for that damn arrow that was made from the same sticks as those laying on the forest floor.  On my way back to camp I spotted a white face monkey (the tribes favorite food) and figured I was not close enough to take him out (also, I don’t think I could take out the monkey, even though the tribe would have been grateful) so I passed on the “shoot and search for arrow” routine.  The kids, decided to call me squirrel man for the rest of the day.  Unlike my hunt, the tribe was able to get one squirrel and one fat game bird, not enough to feed the tribe but better than I could provide!  We drove to the lake to watch the sun set and then went to our lodge.

 

Day 10 was spent in the Tarangire National Park.  This is where they have the famous Raffiki Tree or bao bab tree (from Loin King).  There were also tons of different bird species to add to Nika’s game list.  The best part of Tarangire was that we got to see 3 different lion prides hunting Zebra.  None of the hunts ended in blood, as one would hope, but all 3 were near misses that definitely got our blood pumping.  Day 10 ended quietly, as we were tired from so much safari, and we are looking forward to 9 days of beach fun in Zanzibar, Tanzania, just a short plane ride away.

 

Zanzibar was a wonderful, restful and absolutely beautiful Island getaway.  We managed to rest a couple of days and found a full day snorkeling trip to Mnemba atoll and 2 days diving the reefs to occupy some of our time.  We also took a day tour of the famous Stone Town and it’s markets.  Take out some transportation time and this leaves us 3 days rest on the beach and in the hammocks in and around the resort.  We played some games and went for sunset walks along the beach, and even found our way to the pool once or twice.  In all we managed to log in 15 dives as a family, sleep in past 8am several days, and do absolutely nothing only one of the days.  Compared to our busy schedule of the last 6 months this was a welcome break.  It felt like a vacation not a journey.  Like all good things they must end, and so we flew into Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania for an overnight stay, before flying off to Livingston, Zambia and the “Smoke that thunders” Victoria Falls.  As many things we have come to expect while traveling, missing our flight was not one of them.  We keep an itinerary book, hand written, that tracks hotel reservations, airline flights and airport to hotel transfers.  Some how, when reading the printout for our flight, I gave Tristi the wrong flight time, from the connecting flight on the following day.  Most of our tickets were booked as single flights but this one, included the flight from Dar Es Salaam to Johannesburg, one-day layover (yes one day, these flights only happen once a day if you are holding your tongue just right) then to Victoria Falls, and back to Joberg and same day to Cape Town.  So we missed our flight to Joberg, that morning, (The plane was at the gate when we arrived, but customs, visa exit stamps, departure taxes to be paid, ticketing, baggage check, security screening, and the usual “I’m hungry” call from the kids, had to take place prior to boarding.  Needless to say we were SOL.  I went upstairs to check with South African Airlines to see if I could use our tickets for the following flight, same time tomorrow, same flight number.  The flights for the next two days were fully booked, but we could try to get 5 passengers on with standby status.  The gal that was helping me was very nice but offered little assurance of getting to Joberg anytime soon.  I contemplated purchasing hard tickets for the next available flight (three days later) but instead decided to take my chances.  We would have to pay for new tickets either way but our schedule that was already tight was now in panic mode.  If we chose to stay for three days we would miss Vic Falls (#3 of the worlds 7 natural wonders) but it is not up to us it is by the mercy of the airline gods, whether or not we would be denied the pleasures of the falls.  We headed back out with all of our luggage (10 large backpacks) and got a taxi back to the hotel we stayed at the night before, to see if they could give us another night.  That worked out, thankfully, and so Tristi and I walked back to the airport, the only place for miles that had any Internet, so we could re book our overnight layover in Johannesburg, and our 3 nights in Vic falls that just became 2, if we are lucky.  We got to the airport, tried two different Internet café’s, both of which were down, and also tried to hitch a ride on some airlines wi-fi signals also without luck.  We did have a phone number for the hotel in Joberg and called them, so they would not go to the airport and pick us up, as it is $45 one way.  I don’t believe I’ve told you before, but every thing in Africa is expensive.  While we were sitting there in the airport (actually outside in the airport, most of the airport, including waiting areas, and boarding ramps are outside) without internet we were thinking, what the hell do we need internet for anyhow, it’s not like we know when we will arrive in any of the places, and so who cares about stinking internet anyway.  We laughed (instead of crying) bought some more phone minuets, so we could check in with our families, and walked back to the hotel, where we left the kids behind.

 

5:25am comes very quickly, this is when we arrived at the airport, and checked in with the airline to see about standby status.  There were already 20 people ahead of us in line for check in, and finally at 6:15 I got up to the front to see what our chances were.  After much confusion, they told me to step aside and let them check in all of the other passengers, which were out the door by this time.  We all had a sinking feeling as we stood waiting for everyone to check in.  Nika was using the Secret to get us 5 seats on the plane, and I was somehow hoping that some family of 5 were equally late getting to the airport this morning, so we could get to go.  After most of the people were checked in I got back in line and waited my turn, at which time the man that was also in the office the prior morning, and knew our dilemma, called me over and told me that he thinks there are just exactly 5 seats open.  I quickly shelled out the cash (no credit cards accepted here) and got us checked onto the plane, with minuets to spare.  We still had to go thru all of the above-mentioned procedures, less food for the kids, and just made the plane.  We sat in different spots on the plane and had to keep our bags in our laps as there was no room in the stow away compartments.  We were just happy to be on board.  I squeezed in between a 2 gals, one with a baby (which I got to hold and play with on the flight) and the other happened to be a dive master that we dove with in Zanzibar (her parents own East African Diving).  Small world A. 

 

We arrive in Joberg, and are met by our driver who took us to the shuttle bus, and then ran me back in to the ticketing booth, to see if we could get on the next days flight to Vic Falls.  We did the waiting game, checked flight status, shelled out the bucks and got confirmed seats to the falls.  Funny how things work, sometimes.  We were supposed to be flying into Livingston, Zambia (as this was the preferred side, Zimbabwe’s economy collapsed and there are political issues here – No, Really?)  But the flight showed Victoria falls, Zimbabwe instead.  As it turns out, the place we tried confirming, but could not get a hold of by phone or Internet, just happened to be on the Zimbabwe side anyway.  So what, no ATM (hell, no banking system – they use USD, and also SA Rand), no Internet, no fuel, but at least the stores still have some food on the shelves (the food issue was recently resolved).  Who needs food, we were coming to see the falls!  We arrived at our hotel in Joberg (taxi cost $65, as he waited an extra hour for our ticketing fiasco) and headed across the street to the shopping mall.  Yes a mall, with real stores, something we have not seen in months.  As we walked thru the parking garage, we were surprised, BMW, BMW, BMW, Mercedes, Mercedes, Audi, Mercedes, BMW, Chevy? What?  Most of the cars were high-end luxury cars, and nearly all were new.  Lonely planet, warns us to take pre-arranged transport, never walk the streets, even in daylight watch you’re back, and so on.  WHAT?  The airport is first class, and the accommodation is high-end condo living, the mall has $100 Levi’s and mostly high-end retail, and did I mention the parking lot? So much for a scary layover in the armpit of Africa!  Will somebody check in with Lonely Planet and ask them WTF?  We prepared our own meal that night in our kitchen (we had Cesar salad, Italian bread dipped in oil and balsamic, and fresh cut fruit).  This is the first time in months that we were able to have salad and fresh fruit, as both of these are not sanitary in many of the places we have been (SE Asia, China, India, Most of Africa).  YES, I SAID MONTHS.  It was sooooo Goooood!  We are learning to appreciate the simple things in life.  Oh yea, we actually had 24-hour power in Joberg as well.

 

Victoria Falls

The next morning we catch our flight to Vic Falls, and grab a taxi to our Bed and Breakfast that we never were able to confirm.  We arrive around noon, the gate is shut and we are honking and banging on the gate to see if the place was even open.  As we are getting ready to hop back into our 2 taxies and find another place, the Stewart opens the gate, Tristi goes in and I wait with the kids.  She emerges several moments later with the all clear, we have rooms, and somehow everything works.  The balance of the day was spent shopping and lounging around the pool.  In the morning the chef prepared a wonderful breakfast, and the driver took us to the entry of the falls.  We strolled the stone paths and anticipation mounted as the roar of the water grew louder and louder.  The mist from the falls was showering down upon us as we walked thru the palm-lined path.  Soon the mist grew into a rain and the thunder was roaring, still obscured by the trees, we rounded the corner and into view came the far left side of the falls.  Never have I seen so much water flowing/falling in any one spot and any one time, and this was only the left edge.  As we walked around the park, the full immensity of the falls becomes evident.  The falls seem to stretch for miles and fall endlessly into the canyon below.  There is no doubt in our minds that this truly is one of the 7 natural wonders.  We spent nearly 3 hours just checking out different viewpoints and taking video and pictures every few minuets.  This was definitely one of those family high 5 moments.  We then walked from the park to the suspension bridge linking Zimbabwe with Zambia.  We went thru border control, and made our way across the bridge into Zambia.  We hung out on the bridge and watched the great Zambezi river flow far below, hung out and talked with the locals, as tourists were doing the bungee off the bridge.  We soon left as we had an appointment to get our fill of adrenalin as well.  The kids had scheduled three activities in the gorge that afternoon.  We hopped in the van and headed to the horseshoe bend area of the Zambezi. Where there were cables slung from Zimbabwe to Zambia.  First the kids did the Flying fox, a harness strapped to a cable and pulley where you run off the end of the cliff and Sail across the gorge and back again.  Next on the list of near suicidal acts was the zip line, where you drop off the edge of the cliff and reach speeds of 100 to 120 KMH as you are zinging across the gorge.  The third and final piece of body and mind torture was the bungee swing.  Unlike a bungee jump, this one combines vertical drop (freefall) with pendulum momentum, like a huge swing, the fear of a bungee with added forces on the body, pretty cool.  Sara dropped into the canyon using a handstand/flip approach; whereas Nika did the backward flip headfirst approach.  Sara screamed her brains out, while Nika was cool, calm and collected.  Both enjoyed the adrenalin junkies’ tour and wanted to repeat but the sun was getting ready to set and the crew wanted to go home.  We were especially proud of Noah for doing the flying fox, even he was bummed that there were no repeats that evening. 

 

The following morning we boarded a plane Back to Joburg and then on to Cape town, South Africa.  We picked up our rental car at the airport and while we were there, we picked up a GPS unit and a SA Sim chip for our phone.  It is interesting to note that the Car rental company (Thrifty) did not have GPS and we had to rent it from a cell phone company in the airport separately.  In any case our travels from Vic Falls to Cape Town Took all day (over 12 hours) and by time we got to our B&B we were wiped out.  We managed to waste the better part of the day sleeping in and eating, before setting out to see the city.  We went down to the Victoria and Albert Waterfront, which is an African version of the wharf in San Francisco, Ca.  When you think of Africa, The Lion King and the Savanna pop into your mind or possibly the Masai Tribal people dressed in animal skins.  Wrong Again… This is a modern city, filled with all of the finest shops, restaurants and amenities you can imagine.  Oh, did I mention Debars Diamonds.  One might think that while you are in South Africa (the diamond capital of the world) you would be able to pick up some great diamonds at a reasonable price.  What we found from our survey is that they were approximately twice as much as the US retail market but this was the first time I was able to find colored diamonds (at astronomical prices) anywhere.  Now we weren’t on a buying spree but the curiosity was nagging at me.  Several shops later we had found our answers.  Aside from shopping and eating, we walked along the piers and managed to spot a seal swimming among the barges in the wharf.  After watching this guy for some time, we headed to the Marine aquarium and spent 3 wonderful hours, looking at their many displays including the penguins.  The following day we drove south to a penguin rookery and sanctuary in route to the Cape of Good Hope.  It was really cool to see the Jackass Penguins so healthy and in such large numbers, enjoying the beach and it seemed as if they enjoyed our family visiting them as well (at least they didn’t mind). 

 

Now our visit to the Cape of Good Hope nature preserve was all about adding another first for our family.  This is on the southern most tip of Africa (there is one place even further south, more on that in a second) and is the place where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet.  On many days you can see distinct color variations between the two oceans, depending on tidal conditions and sun angle.  We were there late afternoon (around time for sunset) so the sparkle of the sunlight and the not so perfect tides, denied us of the clearly divisible line between the two.  We tried very hard to make them look different, without avail, however the two different oceans do tend to collide due to the opposing currents and big temperature differences.  We could actually see the waves crashing into each other perpendicular to the shoreline in one area (I think where the shelf comes up, but need to look this up) and that was enough to convince me this was the place where two seas meet.  We climbed to the top of the rocky cliff where the lighthouse stands, looked out over the two oceans, False Bay, and the setting sun, and for just one moment I felt as if I were floating above myself as I took in a deep breath of cool sea air. The park was closing so we had to race to the exit before they locked the gates on us.

Don Leino takes the bait! 

The highlight of the SA trip had to be the cage dive with the Great White sharks.  Our guide for the day was Mike the Shark man.  He has been on Animal Planet and shark week Discovery Channel, BBC, and a host of others.  Mike is the crazy bastard who free dives with these guys and he is just amazing.  He has such a sense for these creatures, and has studied them for so long that he knows where they are based on weather and time of day, and can find them every time.  We headed out to sea about 20 minuets or so and soon we were in the fish.  The crew lowered the cage into the water close to where mike had spotted a white breach the water.  We then circled the cage in a 50 meter or so birth and set the plastic seal in the water about 15 to 20 meters behind the boat.  Within minuets we had a full breach hit on the seal.  This huge white shot from the water holding the plastic seal in its powerful toothy jaws.  The sound of the teeth hitting the mannequin was sharp and loud!  BAM!  Several minuets later we had another breach.  Again… BAM!  And just for show we had a third hit by yet another shark.  This was shaping up to be a spectacular day!  We suited up and got ready to drop into the cage.  The Danish team got first dibs at the cage.  The crew chummed the water and set the tuna head out for bait.  Within minuets we had sharks checking us out.  The Danish team got about 20 to 25 minuets in the cage, a pretty long time, considering I heard that the average cage dive lasts between 7 and 14 minuets.  Next was the Cohen family and a wonderful lady from northern cal who was in constant competition with her son to do the craziest stuff.  Later that day she gave me her card, which announced her name and simply gave her title as Adventurer.  She was one of the coolest ladies I have ever met!  GO GIRL!  Back to the dive.  I hung close to mike and found the best spot in the cage to be for the close calls and best pics.  He got me in and started chumming the water like mad.  We got to stay in for 20 minuets and then he pulled a people switch.  He let me stay in and told the others I was filming!  Sweet!  Thanks Mike!  The balance of the morning he kept switching people in and out so every one got a turn and some got 2.  He left me in the entire time!  The crew was really working the chum and the bait hard.  The best one was when they were trying to pull the tuna head back in on the rope and a white took hold, thrashing back and forth hitting the cage and the shark actually touched me!!  I really wanted to reach out and touch one, and this cured me.  By the way, they have a similar feel to catfish or dolphin if you have had the chance to experience either (not scaly).  One minute they are docile silent creatures gliding thru the water, the next, very excited when feeding.  Well he took the tuna head right off the rope, and while the crew was preparing another chunk of bait we changed our shorts!  In all honesty, these fish are very majestic animals, and having been able to observe them for over and hour, I feel I better understand them, and how they hunt.  I hope someday to come back and get a chance to dive with them and Mike outside the cage, when South Africa allows.  Currently, open water shark dives are prohibited, even by permit, and Mike has more dives with them than any other researcher by a long shot.       

 

Mike and the crew pulled us from the water and then hoisted the cage on to the back of the boat.  He took us out to a small island covered in fur seals.  There is an estimated 50 to 60,000 seals on this island, and boy did it smell like it.  This is where the seals have their young and teach them to swim.  The fur seal is the Great White’s favorite meal, and after watching them swim thru the water and seeing the shark hitting them so hard as they did our plastic one, I can see why people can be miss taken as a seal.  Black wetsuit = fur seal.  This is why surfers are hit, moving thru water looking like a seal is not a good thing.  Most surfers are spit right back out though as this is not an intended food.  Ouch!  We finished our day with a short drive up the coast, following Mike and one of his friends, to a quiet little bay, where southern right whales are known to come close to shore.  As we pulled up Mike spotted a spout in the distance, and we watched as Mike checked other lookout points along the bay.  He came back and said this was the best spot.  He left us to watch the whales as they headed off to grab a beer or two and watch the sun set over the bay.  We stayed there for over an hour and were able to spot 3 whales, one of which came in close to shore and followed the shore line for about 15 minuets.  It was an amazing day!  As a side note the coastal route passes by the southern most tip of Africa, a point hardly recognized by anyone.

 

Next stop…. The Middle East!

Amazing India

Amazing India

 

We arrived in Delhi mid afternoon on June 4^th, after several hours delay in Kathmandu, Nepal.  We were pleased to be greeted by hot weather, as we were really missing the Arizona desert summers.  As with most airports we have used during our trip, many use the stairway to tarmac approach to greet its passengers.  Delhi was no different.  It is due to the fact that prop planes are smaller and don’t fit in standard airport gates (so they say).  We really enjoy the open feel of the tarmac, and enjoy the opportunity to view the planes before and after the flight.  We are able to take pictures of the planes as they take off, but some airports don’t allow this, so you must be quick on the draw and discrete as possible.  Where were we, ah yes, Delhi.  What can I say; Delhi is a big, and very dirty city.  We reserved only one day to see the city as this proved to be plenty.  We grabbed a car and driver (800 Rupees or 17 USD) per day.  We went to the Jama Masjid Mosque and had a view of the city, almost.  Visibility was about 100 feet, as the mixture of heat, dust, smog and humidity crushed the would be view.  After the Mosque, we took a tour of the Red Fort.  Both sites were nice to see but leave you wondering is this the best of Delhi.  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the fort, having been built in the 1600’s it is a place of historic significance, but the English had made changes to it in the 1800’s which affected it’s original charm.  The persistent street hawkers really diminish the experience as well.  As for the sheer size and beautiful architecture, this part deserves an A-.  From Delhi, we took a plane to Amritsar in the northwest part of the country.  This is where the Golden Temple structure lies. 

 

The Golden Temple is a highly ornate building covered in pure gold.  This had to be our favorite building in India, yes, even over the Taj Mahal.  The building is set in the middle of a lake and has a bridge crossing to the temple.  The outer edges of the lake are squared off by stone walls, and covered in marble walkways.  Outside of the walkway lies the inner wall that encloses the temple creating a giant courtyard.  The setting is perfect and the feel of the place, especially at night, is magical.  Noah could not take his eyes off of the place and must have taken 20 pictures of each side of the temple.  He especially liked how the near still water made the golden reflection twinkle.  We spent a few hours walking around the place and then headed back to our hotel.  The following day we went to the Pakistan border near Atari.

 

I know what you’re thinking; we must have some kind of death wish or something. Why would you want to go to Pakistan?  Well, we actually came to the border to watch the border guards from both countries perform a ritual marching and show of power and superiority towards one another.  It is really a competition of showmanship and country pride as opposed to a truly aggressive posture.  The crowds on both sides of the border start filling the stands about 45 minuets prior to show time.  Remember, this is summer and Indian desert so the heat comes with the show.  The Indian side begins with some music and chanting in a patriotic display, as the people are charged with excitement.  They begin to get up and dance in the streets and in the stands, yelling out some sort of national cheer, bringing the place to a wild frenzy.  The Pakistan side is cranking it up as well, but their turnout was substantially smaller than India, as their focus is now on internal matters.  There was however enough people and soldiers to offer a suitable challenge to make the showdown formidable.  The guards on our side started clearing the streets so the soldiers could begin their marching and display of dominance.  The show lasted about 30 minuets with formal opening of the gates on both sides, an exchange of challenges and then salutes prior to the closing of the gates.  It was all in fun as the guards from both sides know and respect each other.   After the show we were able to walk up to the gates and look to the other side, but not cross as we had hoped.  This whole day including the drive to a remote border crossing in the middle of the desert was really cool.  The next day we flew back to Delhi where we began our tour.

 

Our car and driver were waiting at the airport for us; this was also a first time experience.  We are used to getting off the plane, grabbing our bags and finding our way into the streets of the city wherever we land.  The sign “Cohen Family” was held high by a tall, dark and very serious Indian man, wearing mirrored sunglasses.  We were thinking “oh great” what did we get ourselves into.  We hopped into the van and our driver introduced himself as Avinash or Avi, if you please.  He reassured us that we were in good hands and that everything would go according to plan.  We had laid out a bonsai run thru India in order to maximize our short stay there.  First stop was Agra, or home of the Taj Mahal.  We had booked all of our hotels in advance and did not know what to expect.  Some were good and some were not so good.  The Agra visit included a very nice hotel, as this was our wedding anniversary.  We wanted to be at the Taj, because this beautiful white marble palace was built as a tribute of undying love from Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan to his wife.  It is an incredibly beautiful building, and the grounds are well manicured, but the magic lies in the lighting.  Both sun rise and sun set are the best times to see the palace, so Tristi and I woke early to see the palace by morning light, a very romantic setting indeed.  We were surrounded by a crowd of hawkers on the way in, and once inside many guides needed to show us all of the best places on the grounds to take pictures, etc.  These persistent little buggers can ruin the best of times, and you can’t get them off of you.  I finally got nasty and warned the flies with bodily harm if they did not let us enjoy our anniversary morning together.  It worked and we did enjoy a few peaceful moments alone together, finally.  The bulk of the tourists began pouring in and we took off to our hotel, to wake the kids and take them back so they could see the palace.  From Agra we headed off to Jaipur, the Pink city.

 

We arrived in the afternoon and the lighting was great for pictures.  We carefully catalogued every building on film as we drove thru town.  It was funny to listen inside the car as 3 cameras and one video cam were working away.  This is how we do it, snap away and delete later.  It is amazing what you can capture (how many bad shots as well) when everyone is clicking away.  The people, the cows, the buildings and life as it happens in the city.  The pink city was not as pink as one would imagine, such as those of you who are now reading this.  The buildings are more of a salmon color, have not been painted for many years (barring the occasional stand out) and have all of the filth from the city, dust, dirt, mud, pollution and trash rubbing their finishes raw.  As with most, no all, of India, it is a filthy dirty polluted country, that is in a state of decay.  It is really sad to see, because there is so much wonderful architecture that needs protection and renovation, and the people are very nice (other than annoying hawkers, nice as people but pesky as horse flies) but the government has done little or nothing to preserve or improve the lives of the people or the treasures it holds. 

 

The following day we visited all of the major sites in the area, and then headed off to Bikiner, another desert town with forts, temples and many sights to see.  We only gave this town a day and night, as we needed to get to Jaislamir.  This is the furthest west settlement in Rajastan in the midst of the Thar desert.  We booked our rooms for 2 nights inside the fort, in one of the palace homes, turned boutique bed and breakfast.  This place was really nicely decorated and had commanding views of the city and surrounding desert.  We explored the many temples and palaces in the area and scheduled a camel ride outside of town, in a remote stretch of desert, near Pakistan.  This was a great experience; as we rode along thru the desert we were greeted by hawkers selling almost cold drinks, from wet camel hide bags that they carried across their chests and onto their hips.  Funny thing was, just before these guys showed up I was dreaming of an ice-cold beer on a camel in the middle of the desert, as the sun was setting.  My dream came true.  A while into our ride, the camel drivers offered for us to have a camel race up a set of sand dunes and around some flats.  We took them up on their offer, and two by two they took us for a sprint on their camels.  This was really cool, now we know what it’s like to be a camel jockey!

 

We parked our camels and sat in the sand, and watched as the sun sunk into nothingness.  What I am saying is that the sun never set, it just faded out long before it ever hit the horizon.  There was so much dust, sand and pollution in the air that as the sun gets near the horizon it becomes less and less visible, until you no longer see it.  There are no spectacular colors as in Arizona desert sunsets, not even the average evening glow, from the most mundane of sunsets.  This was more like a solar eclipse, as things just went dim as the sun disappeared behind the smog.  I was baffled at how they could even advertise the camel ride as a sunset tour, this was definitely a new experience, very trippy, but nothing like I was expecting (shame on those Arizona sunsets for setting the standard).  All in all it was a great experience.  The following evening we went to a sunset point at a Hindu funeral pyre outside of town.  The view of the fort on the hill was spectacular, as were the sacred buildings we were viewing, and faithfully the sun extinguished itself amongst the layers of particulates floating in the evening sky.

 

From Jaislamir we traveled to Judipur, spent 2 days there exploring more forts and temples, and then off to Udapur for more of the same, forts, temples, and palaces.  We rode elephants to the top of the palace, had a wonderful tour and looked out at the floating palace on the water that was nearly dry from the drought.  In all we viewed over 50 major sites in just over 10 days and needless to say we were templed and forted out.  Of most import about this trip were the people we met and the life and living conditions that we experienced during our time in the desert.  This is a hard life from any perspective, the homes of people, the living conditions, and the air and water quality, the food and medical care, internet and TV, 24 hour power, social services, government support, infrastructure and a host of other amenities we fail to even think about.  All of these are in serious jeopardy and this includes the major cities of Mumbai and Delhi as well.  Thru it all the nature of the Hindu Indian is laidback and friendly.  During our tour we got to know Avinash and grew to love and respect him.  His thoughts were always about our happiness and safety, making sure we had everything we needed, he was very professional, yet tried to joke and interact with our crazy family whenever possible and appropriate.  The people made this experience a warm one and our hearts go out to them.  It is my opinion that this country/government is on the brink of collapse and is fighting to hide it’s inequities.  There is little in the way of police or military presence anywhere, and where present, appear to be unfit to defend if necessary.  My mind goes to the Mumbai attacks and the total inaction of the government to take any decisive action and follow-up once the crisis abated.  Looking at the level of poverty, the crumbling infrastructure, the lack of any construction (I only saw 2 cranes working in the whole country, and a hand full of works in progress, some of which looked abandoned) the state of the postal service, government buildings etc. I get the feeling that collapse could be near.  When you look at what is happening to Pakistan (it is falling to the taliban) I fear for what could easily happen within India.  I pray that I am wrong, and that the resolve of the Indian people is strong enough to pull thru this crisis and come out on top.  We shall keep our fingers crossed and hope for good things to come!

Not your Ancient Chinese Secret

Not your ancient Chinese Secret?  What then is China?

China 4/24/09 to 6/3/09 

As we finished Southeast Asia and began our journey into Mainland China, we had a fitting transition, Hong Kong.  With all of the glitz of a mature economy, yet the raw bias of a developing nation, one’s senses can be easily overwhelmed.  This city, the financial capital of the east, has something on offer for all tastes.  As we arrived and settled in to our hotel, we immediately headed out into the streets.  The feel of the city from the moment you step foot into its beaten path, is mesmerizing.  Now granted we arrived at night, and were fed an extensive splash of neon, as a welcoming mat.  But, to deny the towering masses of buildings, and the spectacle of pulsating loads of people filling every wafer thin street between these giants, one can only be amazed.  Upon the light of day, you can experience the raw side of life in HK.  The pushing and shoving, the smoking, hacking and spitting, malodorous scents of sewer gas and worse, all causing a big city feel in raw contempt.  Thru it all the people managed to extend an occasional smile and, from time to time, a helpful tip.

 

We were able to navigate the city with minimal disruption.  Most places we visited were either within walking distance or accessible by taxi.  We only had three days in HK so we opted for the shopping/food districts, and took the cable car/train to the top of the world.  From the top of the world one is supposed to see the entire city and the beautiful bay that forces the buildings to halt their mind-boggling sprawl.  As it turned out, the fog had rolled in so thick it was hard to see much beyond the shiny polished aluminum rail that held the hordes of onlookers within the confines of the lookout tower.  The near vertical feel of the train combined with the illusion of strangely tilted high rises passing by and the historic background of the rail system, helped to make the foggin’ trip nearly worth the price.  We opted out of the bay cruise and dancing light show, as the weather showed no remorse for our plans.  It was no big deal, as we were scheduled to cross the bay via high-speed fairy as our departure to Macao was scheduled for the following day.

 

We enjoyed HK in spite of the rain and fog, but were excited to find our way to our next island.  The ferry trip was interesting in that there was so much water traffic, with tankers, cargo barges, ferries and fishing boats from commercial down to two man row boats.  It was craziness in its purest form; nonetheless we arrived without a hitch.  Upon arrival, a free shuttle bus took us to our hotel, the Venetian, Macao.  We spent two nights wandering the canals and shops, found some time to pull some Chinese slots (Tristi won 1250 Yuan  180USD).  We became bored with the isolation of this resort hotel located on a separate island and so we departed for the main city.  We booked another night in old Macao and had a blast, as we were in the heart of it all.  For those of you wondering, Macao is a want to be Las Vegas that seems to fall asleep around 10 pm.  If I didn’t know better I could swear I saw neon remnants from old Vegas hanging off the sides of old buildings like the Flamingo and Jockey club, same design and coloring, yet these signs were in Chinese.  Mainland China was calling, thus we headed north into Guangzhou.

 

Guangzhou is the manufacturing capital of China.  This city is large by US proportions and most of the city is at least 20 stories in the air.  Many were taller but it was hard to see just how tall, due to the pollution.  We found a nice hotel on a small island in the old city area that was developed by the British in the 1800’s.  The period architecture on the island was like no other in the city.  We spent several days walking around the island, meeting the locals, shopping for trinkets and just relaxing in the park.  In the evenings we would sit lakeside and enjoy the passing boats and light shows displayed on the buildings around the lake.  Guangzhou is located in the most southerly region of Mainland China and has a tropical feel, both flora and fauna.  Although we spent most of our time on the island, we ventured into the city to get a feel for life in the Chinese fast lane.  One of our most memorable experiences was our trip to the old markets to see how the locals live, eat and do business.  This old market is notorious for it’s live food, and local preparation methods.  The still blood stained streets, never revealed it’s secret identity to us, however we were treated to a spectacle of live and freshly prepared foods unlike anything we have ever seen.  There was the famous bucket system in use for displaying your meal of choice.  How about Peking (or was that peeking) duck with flies, cow organ meat with flies, chicken feet with flies, octopus or cuttlefish yes again with flies.  There were dried fish heads, seahorses by the thousands, starfish, pipefish, baked snails, dried fish bones, pig snouts, hooves, and various parts.  There were live turtles and scorpions, sea snakes dead and alive, fish, fish, fish live and dead laying all about.  Chunks of meat lying on open butchers blocks.  There were roots, seeds, nuts, spices, fruit, vegetables and numerous other items we could not even identify, all complete with flies, ants, and other crawling creatures.  Speaking of crawling creatures, I forgot to mention the grubs, crickets, ants, grasshoppers, water beetles, roaches and sundry other creatures for sale.  So what’s for dinner? 

 

From Guangzhou we flew to Hangzhou, home of the famous Westlake.  There are over 30 Westlake’s in China so you need to be choosy.  We booked a hotel on the Internet that none of the airport staff, tourist information center, or official hotel registry book, had ever heard of.  The taxi drivers did not know about this place either.  We could find no one who knew of this place and no one who could speak English.  There was no Internet available to look up the booking either, only a phone number of the booking agent (HolidayCity.com) who could not help either.  I asked for a map of the Westlake area, which was produced after much pointing and gesturing (using our lonely planet book for Chinese words and pictures – which worked great.  Thanks Lonely Planet!)  Once we had the map of Westlake (all in Chinese) I pointed to where the hotel was supposed to be according to the website.  I motioned to the taxi driver to go to his van and take us to Westlake.  We finally arrived, found the hotel after some driving around, and much to our surprise it was the nicest hotel in the entire area.  I think this was a 5 star rated place that Holidaycity.com booked as 3 star.  The hotel was very upset with the price we paid as there was must have been some problem with the website.  We felt bad for the hotel but we would have never booked the room at the rates they were asking.  The hotel was mostly empty so I assume they were at least happy to have some guests.  Upon departure they gave us some gifts, a pair of silver-plated bookmarkers engraved with the hotel name.  Very cool!

 

We spent 4 days and 3 nights in West Lake, just relaxing, shopping, and taking boat rides around the lake.  We spent a lot of time socializing with the locals and visitors from other parts of china.  This is one of the most popular travel destinations for many Chinese, but very sparse coverage from foreigners.  We were the only Americans there, and if not for a couple from Europe, we would have been the only foreigners.  Some people might feel uncomfortable in a situation like this, but we all seemed to enjoy the exclusitivity.  There was always someone who was interested in visiting with us, whether or not they spoke English.  The Chinese are polite, but have much closer personal boundaries than Americans.  Knowing this in advance is the key to enjoying our host countrymen and women.  Westlake is away from the city and people really relax there and are very friendly.  City life, just as in our country, brings smile-less faces and fast paces.  In all we really enjoyed our time in Westlake, but as always, after 3 days moss starts growing under our feet, so we had to move on.  Next stop, Shanghai.

 

We booked a bus from Hangzhou to Shanghai, as the train-ticketing booth was insane.  I stood in line for almost an hour; just to find out that the English speaking ticket agent did not speak English.  The lady motioned me to go stand in a different line, where my tickets were to be sold.  At this point I was so done with the non smoking train station, between getting no help, wallowing in spit, shit and at least 1000 smokers, puffing away in that insanely over crowded station, I had to give up on the idea of train travel.  We managed to get across the street to the bus depot and arrange a bus to Shanghai for the following day.  This transaction went much smoother, and the bus ride was surprisingly easy. 

 

As far as cities go, Shanghai is one of the largest and certainly one of the most important cities in China.  Shanghai is the financial capital and heartbeat of the country.  It, like all places in china is building its brains out, incredibly polluted, and the people are business as usual, and find it hard to smile.  Some how our family manages to drag out a few smiles from passer biers, although the task was daunting.  We made quick time of our sightseeing, by focusing on the Bund, a famous place in the city.  The river here divides the old colonial city from the sparkling new financial district.  We spent one evening walking the old side and the next checking out the new.  Our day time hours were spent walking the local markets and playing at the park At the Bund, we happened to meet, many Chinese tourists, visiting from other parts of the country.  Not only were they friendly, but also they loved taking pictures with our family.  We always enjoy spending time with the people, even if we can hardly communicate.  I suppose that’s what makes it so fun.  After a couple of days milling around the city we were ready to move on.  Our next destination, Tai an and it’s famous neighbor Tai Shan, china’s most sacred mountain. 

 

Tai Shan has got to be one of the most scenic and spiritual mountains we have encountered on our travels thus far.  And we have gotten to know quite a few.  There are over 100 temples and monuments on this mountain, and 6660 hand made stone carved steps leading you to the top of this beauty.  There are side trails all over the mountain leading you to other temples and view points, and if your not careful you could lose 20 pounds visiting this site.  All of the pain is worth the priceless experience.  We took 4 days to cover the area and used one of those days to take a bus down to Qufu, the birthplace of Confucius.  Here we found a huge temple complex, with many buildings and gardens, all laid out with great care, to provide harmony and flow.  Many of his famous teachings were presented to his pupils in this sprawling temple complex.  Most interesting of note was a very old knarley pine tree (for lack of more specific species name) said to have been planted by Confucius himself nearly 2500 years ago.  It looked believable (including the stone plaque, telling us so), but the skeptic in me raises the shadow of doubt.  This town was all about Confucius, including a wonderful museum, but I would have found it’s unique architecture to be worth the trip just as a stand-alone visit.  After a brutal assault on this area, we took our battle worn bodies yet further north into Beijing and another great challenge, The Great Wall.

 

We gave Beijing 5 serious days of attention, as there was so much to see.  First, we needed to see Tienimen Square, and sample the atmosphere there on the 20^th anniversary of the tragic event that took place within it’s boundaries.  It was surprisingly quiet as the Chinese people are still afraid of big brother and they fear the controlling hand of the people’s government.  There is a monument dedicated to the people of china in the center of the square, there are several gates (600 year old stone edifices) south of the square and to the north of the square lies the incredible forbidden city.  There were street markets and shopping malls to explore; there were walks into small old shanty villages interspersed among the modern buildings.  Our main objective here was to see the Great Wall, which can be found sprawling over 2000 miles of countryside.  We chose to visit the mostly restored section of wall, as it was the closest to town and also had the greatest variety of towers and wall sections in any one area along with some pretty nice flora and varied geologic terrain within a relatively small area.  This was perfect for our busy schedule, besides we were able to fit in the tour of the Ming Tombs on the same day.  The Wall is a spectacular piece of work, and a truly visual delight, and 10 times the workout of my dreaded tread mill that never seems to get enough attention.  The entire family agrees that this has been one of the highlights of the trip to date, and after doing some hiking on the wall, find the works within to be a feat of humankind, a tribute to ingenuity, dedication, hard work and some damn good masonry!

 

Speaking of masonry, our next destination was Ping Yao, a walled city built completely from Masonry.  This was no doubt my favorite place in china.  The walled city and all of its buildings were built from specially made local clay fired bricks.  The bricks have a deep charcoal color as opposed to red, due to the process of quenching the bricks with water as they are cooling and re firing them to further harden them.  The result is a fully in tact city that was built during the Ming dynasty.  The architecture is very uniform and the intricate woodwork adorning the buildings is icing on the cake.  The layout of the city is as precise as the buildings within and the charm of the people is what brings this walled city to life.  We made the most of our 2 days here and hated to leave, but Xi’ an and the Terracotta warriors were waiting. 

 

We took the overnight train into Xi’an and arrived early in the morning.  We met an English-speaking taxi driver who was very honest and trying to build his tour business.  We really liked him and decided to have him give us a tour of Xi’an.  We went to our hotel and rested up for a while, as you never get really good sleep on the sleeper trains.  The balance of the day was used to get some laundry done and do some Internet.  We got out the following day and checked out the government run Terracotta warrior factory to see how the replicas are made and visited a crafts store and museum.  We also visited an excavation site where they found a 6000-year-old civilization, and was complete enough to reconstruct the village.  There were pottery, tools and burial sites unearthed and on display for viewing.  We were pleasantly surprised with this part of the tour, because we had only one day, and planned on seeing the warriors only, before blowing out of town.  We did finally make it to the excavation site of the warriors, and had the honor of meeting the farmer who accidentally discovered the real terracotta warriors almost 30 years ago.  For those of you who are not up on your Chinese culture/history, the Terracotta warriors are life sized men and horses, made of fired clay, and were all buried (thousands of these guys each with different faces) underground around 2000 years ago by the ruling emperor of the time who’s tomb is on a nearby hill (I need to look this dude’s name up, as I forgot).  These warriors were all elaborately painted/decorated and arranged in full military battalion battle stance, for the sole purpose of protecting this emperor during his afterlife.  There was no record of why this guy built all of this, but it was clear that these were not meant to be discovered, but thankfully were.  The size of this secret project is still not known as there are still as many as 20000 warriors yet to be exposed and there could be other stuff there as well.  This is truly a must see piece of humanity.  After visiting the excavation sites, there is a museum where you can get up close to some of the warriors (behind glass no doubt) so you can get a feel for their size and different styles of uniform.  And as always, you can tour the pricey souvenir store that sell authentic reproductions of the warriors as well.  The warriors are made at the government factory (toured earlier) with clay from the actual excavation site where the real warriors are found.  I thought this was very cool so I had to buy one for myself. (Ouch).  We have spent all of this time in china and there is one thing we have yet to see.  Pandas.

 

It is off to Chengdu, home of the giant panda.  We were now in the groove of taking sleeper trains across china, and this leg of the journey was no different.  We did however, book seats instead of sleepers, as that was all that was still available for this leg.  Never, I repeat NEVER take an overnight train in China with the seat only option.  I stayed awake the entire night watching the family and the bags, as they aimlessly tried to sleep propped up on each other and against the train windows.  There were people laying all over each other and the lights were on the entire night.  I drank so much Jasmine tea that my teeth were floating, and I felt like my Chinese counterparts who were unable to sleep either.  It was a good thing that the trip was only 12 hours and our Chengdu hotel was already booked or we would really be in bad shape.  I momentarily digress here, and take some time to note that during our entire travels in china to date we have seen little to no foreign tourists, (several at the Great wall, and a few in Ping Yao of all places we are talking a dozen at most total) the entire time we have been about, however we have met nearly a billion Chinese, and kind of like this.  Back to the travels.  We arrived in Chengdu, made a mad dash to our hotel, had our taxi wait while we dropped our bags at the door, and raced across town to see the panda wildlife preserve.  We made it with time to spare, as the research center closed in 1.5 hours.  We raced around the park checking out the different kinds of pandas (yes there are others beside the great panda).  We checked out the cubs and the juveniles and had a blast watching the teenagers lumbering around and playing with each other.  We saw some adults sitting around and feeding on bamboo, this was cool as we were able to watch how they strip the outer husk and then chow the softer centers of the shoots.  Softer shoots, ya right, it still seems like they are eating rattan furniture to me.  They have some badass teeth and powerful jaws.  It was great watching these creatures close up, but our expectation was that this was going to be more like wild habitat than a zoo.  Big disappointment.  It is widely known that the Chengdu area of the Schezuan region of China holds the last of the wild pandas, and this is why we traveled so far.  Granted, it was better than a zoo but fell short of expectations.  It was still worth going, but if you are short on days you could miss Chengdu.  It is cute to see an entire city dressed up in panda spirit and making the most of their natural resources.  Chengdu is also the place where most flights to Tibet are staged and so this is where we are headed next.

 

       We landed in Lhasa, Tibet and were greeted by swine flu screening crews.  They held all passengers from Chengdu in a small confinement room and screened us one by one.  I was beginning to get a headache and feeling hot standing around waiting, and thought I might not pass the screening, and get put into Chinese quarantine.  My turn came to get checked out and it turned out that I was not showing a fever… YET.  We were met by our driver and taken to our hotel, where I began to feel very ill.  It felt like I had a terrible hangover or worse yet maybe the flu.  As I lay crippled in my bed one of the staff notified me that I was suffering from altitude sickness.  He made me some Ginger tea, a natural Tibetan remedy and suggested I get out and walk.  There was no way in hell I was going out in this condition, I tried sipping my special tea and laid around in agony, trying to sleep. The next morning our Tibet guide called and checked in with us and found that I was still out of commission.  He took Tristi out to a local pharmacist and got some more local potions for me to try.  I drank some extract of native flowers and took some pills made from other Tibetan plateau plants.  Amazing, within 2 hours I started feeling better.  I continued taking the medications for the balance of the day and by evening I was feeling better.  It was a good thing we booked 5 days in Lhasa, as it gave us (me) more time to adjust to the altitude, before ascending to Mount Everest Base Camp. 

 

In Lhasa there are some of the most incredible historic and spiritual buildings, temples and palaces of anywhere in china.  After all this is the home to the Dali Lama (actually he has been in exile in northern plateaus of India for nearly 50 years).  More specifically the Portola palace is the home of Dali Lama.  This complex built nearly 700 years ago is a Rembrandt of ancient works.  It is a must see for both it’s works as a building, and the spiritual feeling within it’s walls.  The smell of Yak butter candles and the mystic chant of the monks within its walls are experiences indelled in our minds forever.  Much of Lhasa has this wildly spiritual sense about it as you tour the temples and walk the streets, its people swirl in endless prayer, as they rub their beads, chant their mantras, and spin their prayer wheels.  For this is not an act, and not just on the holy Sabbath, but each and every waking moment of every day.  The Tibetan people are extremely spiritual, almost to a fault, and so unlike the Chinese who insist on ruling them, that it is a mind-blowing experience to walk among these people.  We had the honor of staying with a small group of Tibetans for the five days we were in Lhasa.  They sang us songs, showed us the ways of their culture, provided us with hours of conversation and insight into the dire conflict they face with the ongoing Chinese oppression.  This oppression is very visual as you walk the streets, as armed military march the streets of Lhasa, are posted at many street corners and snipers are perched on many rooftop buildings throughout the Tibetan city.  We found them in the temples and sacred buildings, they were everywhere.  It is no wonder that so few tourists were visiting, as the military presence was overwhelming.  We visited over 20 sites during our 5 days there and every place was overrun.  There is so much more could tell you about the Lhasa experience, but what I will say is, in spite of the military presence, Lhasa was a huge experience for us and we share a great fondness for it’s people and hope that freedom comes to these uniquely wonderful people.

 

As we moved from the capital city of Tibet, and into the more remote villages, we were further able to experience Tibetan life in its raw form.  The landscapes are varied, and the backdrop of the Himalayas is awe-inspiring, the Tibetan food dishes are not to be missed.  Bar none, the best food we have sampled thus far has got to be Yak Momo’s.  Yak burgers are up there as well.  Yak is similar to beef; yet it is more flavorful by a long shot.  The high plateau vegetation must give it its sweet delectable flavor, as the meat needs no seasoning.  They make some great flat bread as well.  Tibetans live a harsh life, besides preparing daily meals; many do farming or basic services as their means of survival.  The people live communally, looking out for each other’s needs, and helping one another with their daily work.  Each day we climb in elevation, as we work our way to Everest base camp. The villages we stay in have limited power and no hot water for showers.  It was day 7 of our guided tour, when we came over this pass at an elevation of 5233m or almost 17000ft.  Here we had our first glance of Mount Everest.

 

It was a sunny afternoon, and just a few degrees Celsius, (this is mid summer) and one of those rare days where there was a break in the cloud cover so that we could get a full view of Everest and 3 other major peaks.  We were scheduled to take a brief stop there and drive on, but I could not peel myself away.  I must have taken 50 shots of the range and stood in amazement as I looked at the massive mountain and pondered its size relative to our local mountain ranges.  Everest is 8 times as tall as the ranges that surround our area (Scottsdale Arizona).  It was a very humbling experience, I really had no idea how I would feel and had no pre disposed expectation as to what I should feel.  It was mesmerizing and I felt like I needed to stay there as long as the view would allow me to.  We got better than an hour before the clouds slipped over the majestic giant like a blanket.  There was one final moment were the peak popped out above the clouds and held our attention for that much longer.  One more day and we would be at base camp, it seemed like an eternity.

 

We spent 2 days at base camp, in a tent, powered by a battery and a solar panel and heated by a yak dung stove.  Our host was a young married Tibetan couple who took us in as family.  They made us tea, cooked us 3 meals each day, made sure we were comfortable and warm, and showed us some Tibetan culture.  While we were there we took several trips up as far as we were allowed (from that point forward you need special permits, climbing gear, shirpas, and $50,000USD).  As usual, the mountain was mostly covered in clouds, but gave us several totally clear views, a modest peek of what’s behind its cloak.  The most memorable time for me was when I got up at 2 am to take a look at both the mountain and the stars, and was treated to a near perfect sky.  I was able to take some timed exposures of the mountain and the stars together before the sub zero (Celsius) temperature zapped the juice from my battery.  I was nearly frozen as well and my stack of blankets were calling to me, so at 3:30 I pulled myself away.  Around 5am I woke and had to sneak another peek at the giant, but she was covered in snow, as was our tent. It was blizzarding, a condition which is unusual at base camp because the winds usually always blow so there is never snow on the ground, as well as most of the south face of Everest.  

 

We left base camp around 6:00 am (still pitch black) and began our journey to the Nepal/Tibet border.  We reached a small town along the way where we were held by the Chinese military for 9+ hours at a roadblock, while they finished paving the road.  They closed the entire road, not just one side like construction in the USA. Later that night we were again held by the military at another roadblock for 6 hours for no other reason than for display of complete control of Tibet.  We were released after I pleaded with one of the officers, that my son was Sick and needed to get into town (we were only 2km from the border town).  There were 32 vehicles in this roadblock and they finally released us around 1am.  It took us more than 19 hrs to cover this last 90km of china, a trip we will never forget.  .  It was a real test for the family, especially the kids who only had dry biscuits, chips and water to survive on.  This was a test of spirit in which they passes with flying colors.

 

PS.  While we were in Nepal Noah convinced me to take a chartered Jet flight of the Himalayas, in which we got to fly along the south side of the range and see many of the largest peaks including Everest.  Thanks Noah, for talking me into this, it was so cool getting to look at Everest from the pilot’s viewpoint, as they let Noah and I into the cockpit during the flight.  BTW Nepal rocks!

Southeast Asian Delight

 

It has been one busy month for the Cohen family.  In our last blog update we had just finished up with Bali Indonesia, and took a flight into Singapore.  Singapore is in a league of it’s own.  It is a City, a Country, and an Island like no other.  It is clean and modern on the surface, with hundreds of new buildings going up all over the city.  Noah and I counted 32 cranes just from our hotel window and hundreds more as we toured the city. Did somebody forget to tell them about the world recession?  There is also an older, historic side to the city, but you need to search, as the projected image is definitely modern.  We spent most of our time on foot, walking the riverside, and enjoying the Quays and all of its trappings.  There was plenty of shopping for the girls, and buildings galore for the boys.  It must be noted, that Noah has developed a soft spot for high rises as he now insists that he would like to build one some day.  Oh crap, it’s in the blood- lines now!  We greatly enhanced our view of the city when we took the Singapore Flyer for a spin.  This is the largest Ferris wheel in the world, surpassing the London Eye, according to locals.  The city lights are incredible from up top, as was the view of the harbor.  Did I mention that this is a clean city:  Our cab driver offered to pay us a dollar for every piece of trash we saw on our ride with him.  “Very clean city, ha, ha, ha, very clean, very clean” the driver was cracking himself up the whole ride… Very clean, ha, ha, ha.  We were all laughing our balls off, as our Chinese Singaporean driver gave us the tour, US embassy, very clean, ha, ha, ha.  Opera house, very clean, ha, ha, ha.  All the while, drifting between lanes, mostly in the center of two, and laughing in his local broken dialect of English.  It is moments like these, the people you meet that makes travel so memorable.  There is so much more I could tell you about the Singapore experience (the food, the people, the culture) but we must move on.

 

Malaysia, ah, beautiful Malaysia.  We took a bus from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur or KL as the locals would have it.  Along the way we saw miles and miles of palm tree plantations, banana trees and a variety of other crops.  The terrain is hilly and the weather is warm and moist.  The feel is tropical, however something was amiss.  Our first rest stop was not too far over the border (45 minutes), where we had our first chance to meet the people and get a feel for the country.  As we departed the bus, the balmy, thick air filled our lungs and the malodorous stench of raw sewage mixed with local cuisine, violated our olfactory senses.  Needing to relieve ourselves brought us to the origin of this Malaysian essence, where we discovered the ladle, spray nozzle and the absence of porcelain.  There was a hand mixed concrete canal for a urinal and hole in the floor for, well, you know.  No paper, and something that I think was for washing hands, a broken hose that did not work.  We are supposed to eat here, as the chef exits the bathroom; I wonder how this will play out.  As we walk around, we can’t help but notice the large number of dark brown/black eyes peering upon us from behind those black headscarves worn by these Muslim women.  I remember the feeling well.  We were the only westerners for hundreds of miles (or it would seem).  I thought, “What the hell did I get my family into” as the stares were intense, perhaps much more than the essence in the air, I did not feel welcome here.  Remember, these were only feelings, a perception, from western eyes, who never encountered/experienced a majority Muslim country before.  How much were my feelings guided by my expectation and or conceptual view of these people?  Was I carrying western bias into this experience?  Well, hell yes.  We were as much a threat to them as they were to us, none.  It is interesting to make assumptions based on bias, and not allow yourself to experience first hand what the world is like without bias.  Impossible?  Perhaps.  It is widely accepted that the Islamic world carries distain for westerners, but is that the case on the ground, face-to-face, one on one?  Only time will tell.

 

We managed to find a stall that had some potato chips, and some warm sodas, and waters, and we were off.  We arrived in KL, and haggled with a taxi driver, in the rain, to get 5 people and 10 bags to our hotel, that we had no idea where it was in relation to where the bus terminal was at.  We did ok, in spite of local conditions on the ground, and arrived safely in our hotel.  The kids have voted this hotel first on their list of places we stayed up to this point.  It was a 2-story house, with 2 large bedrooms, a full kitchen, living room, family room, formal dining room and several private balconies.  The house was furnished beautifully and there were 3 full bathrooms as well.  The nicest part was the lush gardens a la rainforest style just off the balconies.  I appreciated the $42 USD price tag that included maid service.

                            

 Kuala Lumpur is not about hotels though; it is a large city that grew up around mining.  We chose this stop as a gateway to the rainforest, but took in the city as well.  During our stay we visited a beautiful section of rainforest and walked the canopy on a suspended rope bridge nearly 100ft off the floor.  We climbed to a hilltop temple and toured the bat caves up top.  Tristi was most fascinated with the monkeys and filmed almost an hour of their childish antics.  Be on the lookout for Tristi’s animal planet presentation “The Life and Times of Malaysian Temple Monkeys”.  In the city we went to the Patronas Towers, a beautiful set of towers (one of my personal favorites) that were once famed for being tallest in the world.  We saw a water fountain show and did some shopping in the 6-story shopping mall inside the towers.

 

From KL we flew to Lankawi Island in the northern most part of Malaysia.  This Island is on the west coast and is famed for it’s spectacular diving.  From Lankawi we took a dive boat about an hour out to sea to another smaller island, basting in white sand, coral reefs, and covered in tropical foliage.  Our dive master Um (his name, yes Um) was fantastic, he took us to a remote part of the island that is rarely visited and we experienced some of the most spectacular coral reefs teeming with life.  On one of the dives Nika took down an orange and a mango to feed the fish.  We were surrounded by parrotfish, angels, triggers, wrasse and even a curious sea turtle.  We saw a grumpy looking Moray eel and a lazy scorpion fish along with a whole array of different fish I need to look up in my fish book when I return home.  When she ran out of fruit an angry parrotfish tried eating one of her brightly colored earrings!  While the rest of us were diving, Noah went snorkeling with his own personal guide, and got to swim with his first black tip reef shark (there were 3 actually) and a great barracuda.  We spent the day diving and snorkeling until we were thoroughly waterlogged and exhausted.  We spent our last day on Lankawi visiting with some of the locals and hotel guests from all parts of the world.  Our resort was on the beach, so most of our visiting was done on the beach.  As far as beaches go it was 5 or 6 on the list as this cove was protected from the open ocean by a sea wall that doubled as a road.  There was an attractive bridge spanning part of the sea wall that was located nearly ½ of a mile from the beach and competed with the sunset for some attractive photo opts.  There were no waves at all just a warm bathtub filled with sand and salt water.  The Malaysian sunset is the one thing that gave this beach its only redeeming quality.

 

We parted ways with Malaysia on an afternoon sea ferry to Satun Thailand.  We arrived in the evening and arranged taxi service to our hotel.  Satun was supposed to be a stopover point on our way to Phucket.  After arguing with hotel staff over our reservation and price we settled in for the evening.  We decided we were hungry and so ventured into the streets.  Lucky for us, there was a Thai restaurant next door from our hotel that was emanating pure Thai delight.  We sat down and looked at the menu, actually finding some dishes with English descriptions on them.  We all ordered something different, and passed the plates as they came out.  Sara ordered a spicy beef dish that was to die for.  Nika ordered a chicken dish that had pieces of the rest of the kitchen in it.  It had a great taste until you reached the octopus and squid.  Nika received bets across the table that she could not eat an octopus while pretending to savor the flavor.  Once the table managed to pony up 20USD she slurped up the creature and slowly chewed on it making the most precious savoring looks and sounds as she devoured the little beast.  We were in amazement.  I tried some just for the hell of it, very chewy but not overly offensive.  ..really bizarre for he who eats no seafood or fish dishes.  My curry chicken came as a thick green soup, a subtly I failed to pick up on from the Thai menu.  The flavor was excellent, and the chicken (all parts heads, butts, necks, feet, you name it goes in the meal) was chopped into chunks (bones and all) a new experience that has turned out to be the norm throughout Asia.  Tristi ordered another dish that turned out to be second favorite on the table, we think it may have been a chicken something or other.  After dinner the same street we were on was having a street fair (It was actually a major Thai celebration, the name of which escapes me now).  We were tired from traveling all day, but the lights and sounds and especially the smells were calling.  As we got into the thick of things, the excitement woke us all up.  We were being greeted by Thais everywhere.  We were once again in the celebrity lime light, pictures and poses for everyone was the soup de jour.  We were having a blast.  This was a local’s party, and everything was at locals pricing.  The vendors didn’t even know to jack up the prices for the tourists as I think we were so very foreign to this group.  Remember Satun is a small town with zero tourist attractions and no ability to service the foreign crowd.  Just the place we love to be.  This was real people, real life, and no pressure sales people, touting cheap garbage souvenirs.   We ate the food, we shopped the stalls, we rode the rides and played the games and ate some more.  After wearing out the streets, we managed to pull ourselves from the whole affair and retired to our rooms.  It wasn’t long and my head hit the pillow, drifting off to sleep with the sound of the fair rumbling in the distance.  With a knock on the door, my kids burst in to our room and beg to go back down into the fishes (Into the fishes or “In –the-Fish” refers to our broad concept of being among the people, or in the thick of our experience, as well as, of course being our standard term for diving the reefs.).  I was torn on the concept of being in the fish or finding a wonderful view of the back of my eyelids.  The kids worked me over something fierce, and I caved under the immense pressure.  I did make them agree to eat some grasshoppers as condition president to getting their way.  By time we got back in the fish, a music concert was in full swing and we decided to pop in.  Tickets were 70 baht each or around 2USD, a steep price compared to the bumper cars at 25 Baht, however we decided to pop for the event.  Once inside teams of dancers greeted us on stage.  With mesmerizing moves and alternating themes both men and women, we watched on as we were also being watched by the crowds around us.  We left the concert during a break as the kids wanted to play some more games, shop, and oh yes pick up a delicious bag of marinated grasshoppers.  On our way back to the hotel we stopped and chatted with some guys who had been their all evening throwing back shots of some form of Thai whiskey.  We tried to make out with the few words each other knew of the others language, with much hand waving involved.  The one universal language though is the raising of the shot-glass and mumbling something that sounds like cheers.  I obliged the tradition with several shots and then bid my new found friends a good night.  Upon returning to the room, we quickly got to the ritual of displaying the bag of grasshoppers spread out on a bag on top of the TV set as if we were viewing a main event.  We were careful to document the selection process (on video cam) and ultimately the creative tongue dances turned crunch fest.  They have a dry crunchy texture like perhaps chewing a dried leaf, and a barbequed soy flavor that was actually fairly pleasing.  I must say that there were no takers for seconds, and most of our friends ended up with a worse fate, the bottom of the trashcan.  It was a sad symbolic ceremony.

 

The next day we boarded a bus for Phucket (PH does not say F – sorry guys it is pronounced Poo-get) Thailand.  Bus rides are always an adventure, this one not withstanding.  We had rain, we had sun and we had beautiful scenery all of the way there.  We had our first face-to-face experience with chicken feet, when we stopped off on one of those semi planned rest/smoke breaks that Asian busses are famous for.  Nika and I decided to hang back on the bus while the gang got off to get some air and shake off the motion sickness.  As they were departing, a gal hopped on the bus with a plate of chicken and bags of sticky steamed rice.  The bus waitress (the gal that wandered in off the street) thrust the plate of chicken under Tristi’s nose to offer her some eats.  Tristi pushed back the plate, chicken feet dangling off the sides and all, and abruptly said no as she was ready to hurl and forced her way off the bus to avoid puking.  She made it off and I eagerly bellied up to the trough to feed.  I grabbed two pieces of chicken, and by western standards I could not call it breast or thigh, but is was a long stretched out wing, both pieces, and a section of body carved in such a way that it has no name.  It looked so good; I took two, and a bag of rice to go with it.  While I was working over my chicken, the gal was serving another bus mate two rows up from I, when all of a sudden a chicken foot hopped off her serving platter and landed in the isle between Nika and I.  I quickly brushed the piece aside, as I did not want to have my curious prize crushed under the weight of trampling feet.  When the timing was right I swooped up the lucky chicken foot and carefully mounted it on the seat back in front of where Tristi was sitting.  Upon her return several moments later, she settled in to her seat and discovered our newfound friend.  Now you must be thinking, and the answer is yes, my mother told me not to play with my food, but I just could not resist the temptation.   My entrepreneurial mind was thinking of perhaps marketing them as lucky chicken feet key chains, as our fascination with the famous chicken feet kept hopping up throughout Asia. 

We finally arrived in Phucket and found our way to our hotel, Kata Palm Resort.  We were greeted with a cold, refreshing glass of rice water and escorted to our rooms.  This place was very memorable, both for its attention to detail, and its architectural style as well.  The gardens and pools of fish throughout the grounds were amazing as well as the swimming pools, spas and restaurants.  Our rooms were large and had private balconies overlooking the pools and grounds.  The fine details followed us into our rooms, as the bed walls were mirrored and flanked with intricate woodcarvings in traditional Thai style.  The bed spreads, pillows and runners in patterned silk and intricate carved crown molding topped off the setting, and paradise was found.  Now you are thinking, two top floor adjoining suites, full breakfast, high-speed Internet and superb service must have cost a fortune.  Not!  How about slightly over $100 a night all in (taxes and fees included, tipping not expected, and can sometimes be awkward).   Yes, this was for both rooms and 5 people.

 

We spent 5 days in Phuket, swimming on the beach, shopping, touring the sights and taking in some of the activities.  We rode elephants, Visited a huge Budda (I will verify, but I recall this being the largest in all of Asia at over 65 meters high and covered in marble). Noah and I rode Quads thru the jungle and found a small dirt and mud track to make a mess and jumps and drops to catch some air on.  We visited the Gibbon rehabilitation center, and wildlife park where we got to hold an orangutan, pet some lion and tiger cubs, feed and play with a mother and baby elephant and ride on a short safari tour thru the parks Africa wildlife preserve.  One might ask, you went to Phuket but didn’t go to Ko Pi Pi Island to dive?  Sorry to say we didn’t, but we did travel by bus about an hour north to Kao Lak where we stayed 2 nights in beach bungalows.

 

Kao Lak is a small town on the west coast of Thailand that is completely covered in rainforest.  Our beach bungalows were 20 feet from shore but it was so thick you could not see the ocean, only smell and hear it.  We were able to snorkel from the shoreline as we played on the beach.  During our stay there we chartered a dive boat out to the Similan islands were we spent our time diving (snorkeling between dives) and playing on the white sand beaches.  The Similan dive experience was among the best that we have had, despite the tsunami damage of 2004.  It was so spectacular; I could not imagine what it looked like pre tsunami.  From Kao Lak we took an all day bus ride north and east to Sarat Thanni (sp).  Where in the world is that?  It’s in the central east coast of Thailand, where we hopped on board a freightliner for an overnight journey to Ko Tao.  This ship left port around 1am and arrived on the Island around 7am.  We slept in bunk beds in a galley room full of Thai’s, several backpackers from France, and one other lone American (who is a dive master on Ko Tao) named Amanda.  We took her out to dinner at this local restaurant on the pier, prior to setting sail.  We met her earlier on the bus heading north and she was showing us the ropes on life in Thailand, how not to get burned as a tourist.

 

We arrived at the island and got a rickshaw to our hotel, Ban’s Dive resort.  We threw our bags in the room and went straight to the beach.  The kids rented a sea kayak as I arranged for some afternoon dives for the 4 of us (Noah was not yet certified and still felt uncomfortable in the water…Until today!)  Nika and Noah were snorkeling off of their sea kayak in the bay just off shore.  This is where Noah truly became comfortable in the water with the fishes.  There was so much to see, that the beauty overwhelmed him and he forgot why he was hesitant to dive.  Noah came out with us that afternoon and went on a fun dive (a dive with a dive master, but not having his certification).  This dive went extremely well, and Noah asked to schedule his last open water dive class (4 dives required, he finished 3 in Arizona) for the following morning.  We all dove with Noah for his certification dive, in which he performed his SEESA (controlled assent without air – simulated) and underwater navigation, both of which he did perfectly.  Noah had plenty of air left in his tank so the dive instructor took him on a tour of the reef, where he just got certified.  Noah (and the rest of us) swam under a huge school of fish and then right up into the school where they circled us relentlessly.  The school was so large that it was almost dark when swimming under them.  Add that one to list of wild experiences.  After surfacing and returning to shore, we celebrated Noah’s accomplishment with Banana shakes all around.  Lucky Noah, he is the only one in the family to receive his PADI certification outside the states.  His proudly displays Thailand!  Many boat trips and 30 some dives later we had to say goodbye to our Island paradise.  It is amazing, that you never get tired of being in the fish and blowing bubbles in this pristine world under the sea.

Noah Gets Certified

 

On the morning of our departure we grabbed the hotel shuttle back to port, booked the speedboat back to the main land and hopped aboard the express bus to Bangkok… a very long day of travel indeed.  Bangkok is an animal onto itself.  It’s fast, crazy and mesmerizing, all wrapped in a very rough shell.  We visited temples, Cobra shows, floating markets, exotic animal zoos and a tour via long tail boat down the river transportation system.  There was Henry the travel agent, who made a month’s salary booking our trip to Cambodia, and our cabby turned tour guide who gave us the cashew and diamond tour, and the many other memorable moments, that indwelled the essence of Bangkok in our minds forever.  Our Bangkok experience could fill a chapter, good, bad and unique.  Of special note, we were stuck in stand still traffic, as the red shirts (people’s protest of the current government) marched down the street demanding the resignation of the newly elected prime minister.  We have great footage of the peaceful march, however the following day, the march turned violent, with the crashing of cars and trucks (set on fire) into govt. office buildings and the firing of hundreds of bullets into the prime minister’s car nearly killing him.  Fortunate for us we were on a bus from hell to Cambodia.

 

Saving you much pain in detail (that is what the book is for) the road from Bangkok to Siem Reap is beyond belief.  I will promise, you will laugh you ass off when you read about it.  However my favorite part was when we motored past a young boy (3’ tall, 40 lbs., maybe 10yrs old), dressed in rags, walking a huge water buffalo down the street (if you call it a street) in the rain.  It was a priceless Cambodian moment in time, which escaped our cameras (we were to slow to react, the windows were too muddy as well).  Sara and I both saw the photo op., turned immediately to each other and asked in unison “Did you get that” followed by much revelry in the moment that passed us by.  We will forever remember that moment.

 

We arrived at the bus depot some time in the middle of the night, paid 4 times the going rate for a pair of tuk tuk’s to our hotel, and finally arrived in one piece (I think).  The hotel Lin Rattanak was a warm welcome, and exceeded expectations for Cambodia.  We spent 5 nights there exploring the Wats (temples), walking the streets and having fun in the night markets.  I believe we viewed over twenty of the most important sites, and the top three stand out’s were Ankor Wat (without question) for it’s sheer size and detail work, Ankor Thom for its huge trees growing in and around the buildings, and the most fun was the sunset temple on top of the hill (Sorry, I forgot the name).  This temple was the most natural, offered good hiking/climbing, great views and was in partial ruin condition, which gave this Wat its unique charm.  Most of you are thinking “Cambodia?  What Wat?”  But if you have seen the Laura croft Tomb Raider movies then you have seen the 2 of the Wats!  In any case, these are extraordinary works, the detail, the layout, the sheer size; these are truly masterpieces, engineering marvels.  I had to visit some of them twice (much to the kids dismay) to get the full grasp of these amazing buildings.  The children of Cambodia stole our hearts, and will be a memory that lasts a lifetime, long after the last stone of Ankor Wat turns to dust.

 

In contrast to Siem Reap, Phnom Phen is a rough and dirty city.  Fortunately, the points of interest are outside of town and the experiences are extremely moving.  Take the Killing fields and the pyramid of human skulls projecting 60+ feet in the air.  Walk thru the graveyards where your guide’s family was brutally murdered and tossed into mass graves.  There are piles of teeth and bones on display in a box for you to view.  Or one can easily see bones protruding thru the soil you walk upon, clothing and more piles of bones, with a final resting place under a shady tree.  All the time you’re thinking, was that the bones of our guides family?  In all 3 million people died, 2 million by murder 1 million by starvation.  Walking thru these sites, invokes anger and sadness and an understanding for the people of Cambodia.  This was not some medieval movie set people… This happened in the early to mid 1970’s.  Truly unbelievable.  I was amazed (We were very worried about how the kids would react to this larger than life tragedy) to see the emotions of the children as they viewed, first hand, the remains of fellow humans, and the evidence of how these people were killed.  They did very well, and now have a real understanding of what took place so few years ago.  They saw a young population of Cambodians and now understand why there are so few elders among them.  They now understand poverty, cruelty and what a corrupt government can do to its people.  Yes, shocking but also moving, as you meet today’s people so full of hope and joy you become filled with inspiration and forever heart touched by their sweet smiling faces and loving chocolate brown eyes.

 

With only 3 days in Phnom Phen we were able to experience the history, visit a floating market, visit with the locals, and try a locals only, beer garden.  The waiter brought us all a couple warm beers each, kids included, and then some vodka cruiser like drinks, warm as well.  They did not have any soda pop and we were finally able to get some bottles of warm water for the kids.  All in all it was exciting, making hand gestures and exchanging smiles with those around us.  As for the beer, a cold Corona, or Newcastle is much preferred.  The following morning we headed for the airport, bound for Viet Nam and then to Manila, Philippines.

 

Due to visa problems, we had to stay in the airport in Ho Chi Mhin city, Viet Nam, during our layover.  We arrived in Manila around 8 pm.  We spent the following day in Manila, visiting the old walled city, and walking the local area around our hotel.  We played pool in the hotel bar until after midnight, and shot the bull with the bartender and waiter.  The next morning we took a flight to Legaspi, Philippines, and then a tuk tuk to the bus depot, to catch a mini bus to Donsol.  We arrived at our bungalows in Donsol, several hours later.  The ride was crazy, with winding roads, numerous bikes, trikes, trucks, people and water buffalo all flying by in this beautiful jungle type setting.  Many of the village houses along the road had finely manicured flower gardens on display, and brightly colored houses to match.  Perhaps it was lack of sleep, but I could swear that this was one of the prettiest settings I can recall along the many thousands of miles we have covered.  The setting at the bungalows was equally as beautiful.  From our bungalow we looked across the lush grounds out onto the ocean.  Now Donsol is on the west coast of the island, so the sunsets would prove to be legendary.  The funny part of this story is that we came here for only one thing…Whale Sharks!  We were pleasantly surprised with the tropical island setting to go along with the main goal of being able to swim with a whale shark.

 

That afternoon we registered to get our boat and guide, watched a video on whale shark interaction and conservation and get fitted with fins.  We returned to our resort, sipped tequila sunrises and watched the sun melt into the sea.  Morning came soon, however sleep did not come easy.  Our bungalow was without aircon, and the excitement of seeing these magnificent creatures in the wild was too much for my brain.  We woke early, had a hell of a time getting the kids up, and finally hit the restaurant for some banana pancakes and banana shakes before hitting the beach and waiting for our catamaran and crew to pick us up.  The suspense built as the boat neared the shore; we boarded and were greeted by the 3-crew members.  The 8 of us set sail (motorized rig) and soon the whale spotter headed up to his post.  We were all intently listening to the crew grunt back and forth as our guide was prepping us for how we were to prepare for and enter into the water in the event we should spot one.  The suspense was killing us, as a call went out the guide yelled left side.  Then he barked out “NOW!”  We all jumped in and swam away from the boat, looking frantically for some kind of shape in the water.  The guide was with us and he said, “Look Down” and there it was, bigger than life.  A 3.5 meter long whale shark.  We all swam after it loving every minute of it.  We were able to take video and stills with Nika’s underwater camera!  We were in heavenly bliss.  Soon the big fish dove out of sight.  Our crew circled around and picked us up, and we were all high-fiving each other and in total disbelief at what just happened to us.  The guide then informed us that this was a baby and he was directing the crew to another spot where he had some luck the day before.  Long story short, we were able to get 8 dives with the whale sharks, including an 8 to 9 meter (18 foot) one.  Needless to say we tipped the hell out of our crew, as this was one of the highest sighting rates of any boat all year.  Donsol rocks!!!   

 

Just a Baby

Well, Hello Bali

Last time in “Farewell to Aussie” we brought insight as to the people of New Zealand and Australia. This time the focus is on the people of Bali. Firstly, the Balinese are made up of approximately 95% Hindu 3% Muslim and 2% various others. The dominance of the Hindu religion, and their beliefs and practices creates a living breathing culture of wellness and happiness. Their belief in Karma and Reincarnation guides their every day lives, from prayer, to the service of others, the kindness and soft-hearted mannerisms forge the smiles they don. The Balinese live in an island paradise setting, yet are, for the most part too poor financially, to afford much more than the basics. Somehow they manage to live on 50,000 to 10,0000 Rupiah ($4.15 to $8.30US) per day. This is for a young family of 4. Most live in villages, outside of the tourist spots. We hired a personal driver Kumong, to take us around for the week, and we were able to spend one day with his brother Made (pronounced Marty – meaning second son) when Kumong needed to take care of some family business. The charge for the personal driver was 300,000 Rupiah ($25US), which included the minivan (2008, seats 8), the fuel, and all the knowledgeable friendly conversation, that only the finest tour guides can deliver. The tours would start between 8 and 9 (so we could sleep in, by the way he called us at 6am to make sure we would be ready) and would go until the same time at night. It was us who requested to retreat to our hotel room each evening, whereas Kumong would have been just as happy to keep on going. He was truly amazing.

Kumong took us to the typical tourist spots on the first day, not knowing exactly what we wanted to see. We did want to see the tourist spots, but we also wanted to get to know the Balinese lifestyle from the village out. He accomplished both! From the moment he picked us up, we were off and running. Our first stop was at Batubulan for the Barong and Kris dance. This traditional Balinese dance is a story containing 5 acts where the mythical creature Barong (good) and Rangda (bad) mythical monster wage an eternal fight without victor only bringing balance and understanding. The costumes were fantastically colorful and helped bridge the native tongue spoken throughout the different acts. After taking 100’s of pictures, we were whisked off to the many other sights begging our attention. We went to Celuk, the gold and silver processing and jewelry hand crafting center. Our next stop was Mas, the center of fine wood carving, where we saw the carvers hard at work. We were excited to see Gianyar, the center for hand crafted fabrics and Balinese clothing, and finally, Ubud, the center of the arts.

Over the next few days we took in the different sights such as the Batur Volcano/Batur lake from Kintamani, where we ate lunch and looked out over the lake and lava flows of the past 3 eruptions. We visited some of the 1000+ temples on the island, first was Tampaksiring the holy water temple, Besakih, the largest and highest, Tanah Lot, the rocky temple on the sea, Mengwi/Tamen Ayun, the royal family temple, and several others of historical interest. The most unique of the temples was Kusamba, or more commonly known as the Holy bat cave temple, where the temple was built around a large cave filled with bats- millions of them. Each night the bats begin to leave the cave around 7:45pm (usually between sunset and last light) this time of year, and stay out all night and feed until twilight morning time. Tristi and Noah were particularly curious about this temple, and spent considerable time simply observing the bats as they hung all over the walls, even right up to the entry. Uluwatu, or the cliff temple, was my favorite, if not for the spiritual feeling, the views of the ocean were equally as moving.

We visited the monkey forest, where Nika had a flower hair piece snatched right from her head, my water bottle was swiped as I was taking photos, and funniest of all was Sara who sat on a bench to rest, and had a monkey mount her head and show her some monkey love. Speaking of animals, we also visited the Bali Safari and Marine Park where we got to hold an orangatan, pet a lion cub and tiger cub both one year old. We also fed an Indonesian (Asian) elephant and her newborn baby calf (mom – age 20 baby – age 2 months). It was amazing to be up close and touching and feeding these animals. When we ran out of bananas mom got mad and let out a loud trumpeting groan right in my ear. When she was happy she had this very deep rumbling sound that she made, like the purr of a kitten. We caught the pirrana feeding and spent some time with the white tigers, before boarding the safari bus. We got up close with Hippo, rhino, lion, leopard, wildabeast, and all of the Sarangetti friends. It was a real treat to experience the animals one on one, to watch them eat, rest and play, and to be able to feel their skin and fur. Most amazing is to be able to look them in the eyes and have them look back, especially the orangatan who has human like features and a personality to match.

And there were the beaches. Uluwatu, where the waves were topping 12’ and the surfers were tearing it up amazed us with its beauty. It boasted white sand, formed from crushed coral, and schools of fish swimming in the tide pools. The kids went swimming while Tristi and I lounged on the beach. After a while we walked back up to the village where we grabbed something to eat and watch the sunset. The village girls/ladies were starting to gather as the smell of money was eminating from our pores. They had t-shirts, jewelry, dvd’s and movies for sale. We were doing good, not buying until the 6 for 50000Rp deal came out. The kids picked their favorite movies, while I was being seduced by a wonderful massage therapist (or is that “the rapist”). I kept saying no thank you to her, but my voice was getting weaker. Finally I said, yes, please, don’t stop. She had me! By this time I had finished my Bintang Beer and had placed another on order. I glanced up and noticed that Sara, Nika and Tristi had succumbed to the pressures of suggestive sales as well. Noah was the only to keep his guard up and hold off the Balinese girls. Our meal came and the girls retreated, as I sat there bare-chested and covered in massage oil, we ate our meals. Promptly after, the girls were back on the job, but this time insisted we lay down on the palm frond weaved bed mats for a complete massage. Who am I to deny these ladies of their chance to work their magic. So all of us are laying there, getting taken care of, while poor Noah is still resisting the pressure. Finally I talked him into getting his own massage instead of listening to us lay there and moan. I distinctly remember watching the sun taking it’s sweeet time setting as I lay there looking at the glowing orange wall of the bungalo and drifting in and out of paradise. I certainly hope that this is what heaven is like!

And then there was Nusa Dua, a long beach cove filled with boats. One might ask how this zoo of boats could be anything like paradise, until you look closer. As we get out of our car, we are escorted to a nice table complete with grass umbrella and are immediately offered free drinks and a menu. It was not your ordinary menu however. This was the menu of beach activities on offer. The list was complete from Parasailing to snorkeling, diving to banana boat rides. There were jet ski’s and glass bottom boats and even trips to Turtle Island. The waiter took out his tab and took our order. We took 4 orders of Coral reef Diving, 1 order of snorkeling, 2 orders of flying fox rides, 5 orders of parasailing, 5 orders of glass bottom boat, and 5 orders of Turtle Island. He rang us up and then we negotiated for the final package price. Kumong told us this practice was acceptable there, and the kids worked the waiter over something fierce. They were able to get the the package for just over 4 million Rp. or $375USD. I was amazed that the kids stuck to their guns, as they are given an activity budget, where they are free to choose how they are to spend the family money. If they choose one thing they forego something else. The same goes for their personal money, for gifts and shopping and even snacks. It is awesome to see them bartering so hard and really looking at the budgets, and inflicting self-control on their purchases. With that said they are still spending over budget considering the total duration of the journey. There will be many places along the journey that will help them to get back in budget and even get ahead. The activities are front loaded on the trip as there are no bungees in Europe and no skydiving in Africa. In any case I am proud of them for the way they are handling themselves, much is to be said about their personal growth in these first 2 months. I digressed. We worked over the list of activities in a flurry. We saved the Glass bottom boat and Turtle Island for last. This is where we got to hold Green sea turtles and go into their water to feed them. This was incredible, having green sea turtles surrounding you and chowing on fresh seaweed as we played with them. Also on the island was a giant bat, a tucan, a python and a komoto dragon, all of which we got to hold and take pictures of. We arrived back at the beach, in the late afternoon, where we dashed off to catch a temple and watch another Balinese sunset over the ocean.

Kuta beach was another of our favorites. Our Hotel was right on the beach, so we spent our non-touring hours there soaking in the surf and the sun. We rented a boogie board and had fun playing in the waves until sunset. The afternoons bring mobs of people around us as the locals love to take pictures with tourists (especially blonde ones) The kids would be literally mobbed by as many as 50 people, who would wait in line to take a picture with them. Even the ladies would ask to take their picture with me. Night time walks on the beach brought fireworks displays and hours of friendly conversation. . We had so much fun hanging with the locals, and swapping life’s stories with each other. These moments were priceless. It was truly sad to board our plane to Singapore, however we are excited for yet another great adventure.