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Australia HMB Endeavour August 2011

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August 2011 Australia Travel Notes

I arrived at Sydney, Australia, early on the morning of 10 August 2011 before continuing on to Darwin, Australia. I went to the Australian National Maritime Museum to see the new exhibit on Scott’s last expedition to Antarctica. The exhibit was very well organized and I was particularly impressed by the shoes for the sled dogs and the snowshoes for the horses. While I was at the museum, I was also able to see the replica of the Dutch sailing ship Duyfken which was visiting the museum. The VOC Jacht, Duyfken (Little Dove), is a replica of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) ship that made the first recorded European visit to the Australian continent. Commanded by Willem Janszoor, who made the first chart of the mainland of Australia, she landed on the west coast of Cape York in April 1606. The replica was built in Western Australia and launched in 1999. Europa I flew to Darwin on August 12 to be in position to board the HMB Endeavour for the Darwin to Broome, Australia, voyage segment as part of the Australian National Maritime Museum HMB Endeavour Around Australia 2011-2012 Voyage. The HMB Endeavour is a replica of Captain James Cook’s 18th century sailing ship which I visited while at Australian National Maritime Museum, Sydney Australia, during 2009 and 2010. Endeavour was constructed in Freemantle, Western Australia, between 1988 and 1994, at a cost of 17 million Australian dollars and is considered to be Australia’s Flag Ship. The overall length is 109 feet 3 inches, the breadth is 29 feet 2 inches, main mast height is 127 feet 11 inches, fore mast height is 109 feet 10 inches, mizzen mast height is 78 feet 9 inches, and has a displacement volume of 550 tons. Since I was required to transport my sailing clothing as airline checked baggage, I made certain that I allowed plenty of time in the event one of the airlines misplaced or lost my bag. Fortunately, my checked baggage arrived with me, and I had several days to explore Darwin. I arrived at Darwin during the afternoon and began exploring the neighborhood near my hotel. I continued walking in the direction of the wharf area and spotted the Endeavour off in the distance. I gradually made my way down to the Stoke’s Hill Wharf area and walked to where the Endeavour was moored. She had been open for public tours earlier in the day but was closed by the time I arrived. I spent some time talking to the security guard and decided to return the following day when she would again be open to the public. The wharf area has recently been developed to include the Darwin Convention Centre, a wave pool, and new high-rise housing units. I returned to my hotel before 6:00 PM and was amazed that most of the stores were already closed – pubs and restaurants were pretty much all that remained open and many restaurants were closed before 9:00 PM. I returned to the Endeavour the following day and spent several hours there visiting with people and taking the public tour of the ship with all of the museum exhibits on board. I was informed that the Darwin to Broome voyage was so popular that it was completely sold out. They said that the ship would be open to the public for one more day and that they would remove all of the museum exhibit materials from the ship on Monday, August 15, in preparation for crew boarding on August 16. After leaving the Endeavour, I visited the World War II Oil Storage tunnels on my way back to my hotel. These were oil storage tunnels that were constructed between 1943 and the end of the war to protect Darwin’s oil supplies from enemy bombardment during wartime. Two of the tunnels are open to the public with Darwin wartime photos displayed on the tunnel walls. Several areas of Darwin have permanent exhibitions commemorating the bombing of Darwin by the Japanese during February 1942. On the morning of August 14, I continued my explorations of Darwin on foot. I explored Bicentennial Park from the Parliament House to the Aquascene at Doctors Gully and many other Darwin points of interest including Lyons Cottage, Smith Street Mall, the Old Town Hall Ruins, Survivors’ Lookout, the HMS Beagle Bell Chimes, and Government House. Masked Lapwings and Orange Footed Scrubfowl were among some of the interesting birds that I observed in Bicentennial Park. The Lyons Cottage was built in 1925 as accommodation for the Darwin Cable Company management staff and their families. Although the bombing destroyed most of Darwin City, the Cottage survived intact and was occupied by the United States Army between 1943 and 1945. The Cottage suffered damage during Cyclone Tracy and was restored to post-1942 exterior while the interior reflects the period between 1926 and 1942. A telegraph pole statue marks the site where the First Overland Telegraph (OT) Pole was erected on 15 September 1870. The OT Line which stretched 2,000 miles from Port Darwin to Port Augusta in South Australia, was finally linked to Java via a submerged telegraph cable on 27 August 1872. The OT Line provided the first permanent means of communication between Australia and the rest of the world. I also went to an aboriginal art exhibition that was being held at the convention centre and visited the Indo Pacific Marine Exhibition. The Indo Pacific Marine Exhibition has more than thirty marine displays including living marine coral reef ecosystems. The proprietor said that he has one of only three natural living coral reef ecosystems with his being self-sustaining and self-stabilizing with no water filtration for the past eighteen years – Okinawa and the Smithsonian Institute are the locations of the two other living coral reef ecosystems. I found the exhibits with living coral to be fascinating when viewed through magnification provided by the proprietor. On August 15, I decided to try my luck with the Darwin public transportation system and I took the No. 8 bus to the Aviation Heritage Centre at Winnellie. This museum has numerous helicopters, homebuilt aircraft, aircraft engines, and fixed wing aircraft. The fixed wing aircraft include a Boeing B-52G bomber, an MK VIII Spitfire replica, a CAC Sabre Jet Fighter, a Dassault Mirage fighter, and a Tiger Moth WW II training airplane. I took the No. 8 bus back to Darwin and then took the No. 4 bus to the Fannie Bay Gaol (jail) which first opened in 1883. Following the bombing raid on Darwin in February 1942, the prisoners were released and the military took control of all of the buildings. The jail resumed operations after the war until it was closed in 1979. The gallows inside the Old Infirmary were used for only two executions in 1952. The Gaol suffered damage during Cyclone Tracy in December 1974. An aboriginal art exhibit was open in a portion of the old medium security section during my visit. I then took the No. 4 bus from the jail to the Northern Territory Museum and Art Gallery which had a number of exhibition galleries including a Cyclone Tracy Exhibit and the Colin Jack-Hinton Maritime Gallery. I returned to downtown Darwin via the No. 4 bus and began packing to checkout the following day to board the Endeavour. I boarded the Endeavour on the morning of August 16. Most of the day was spent with orientation, training, and ship safety. The Endeavour had a professional crew of 16 people, a maximum voyage crew of 36 people, and supernumerary (gentlemen sailor) crew of 4 people. The voyage crewmembers sleep in hammocks in the 18th century deck area which they set up at approximately 8:40 PM and stow in the morning at approximately 7:15 AM. The voyage crewmembers are required to perform all voyage crew duties including watches, sail handling, anchor rope handling, galley duty, daily shipboard cleaning, helm duties, and lookout duties. Each supernumerary crewmember is assigned to one of four private cabins which are replica cabins of the gentlemen sailors who accompanied Captain Cook aboard the Endeavour between August 1768 and July 1771. Each Supernumerary has the option to choose individual shipboard watch activities in which he or she wishes to participate. The supernumeraries also have access to a separate toilet and shower facility, which they share with the Captain, and have complete access to the 18th century officers’ mess area as well as the great cabin. I booked my passage as a supernumerary and was assigned to the Mr. Joseph Banks cabin. This cabin is a replica of the cabin occupied by the botanist and member of the Royal Society, Joseph Banks, when he sailed with Captain Cook. The first day was spent with assignment to watch groups, assignment of climbing harnesses and reflective vests, safety orientations, climbing orientations, and familiarization of the ship, onboard rules, and protocols. The modern galley and food service area as well as two large separate areas containing modern toilets, lavatories, showers, and clothing storage lockers for the voyage crewmembers are located on the 20th Century deck – the 20th Century deck is located beneath the 18th Century deck and is accessed via a stairway between the decks. The voyage crewmember and supernumeraries were assigned to three separate watch groups: Fore Mast Watch, Main Mast Watch, and Mizzen Mast Watch. I was assigned to the Mizzen Mast Watch along with Greg Keays, another supernumerary. The watch groups rotated through the ships watches – Afternoon (1200-1600), 1st Dog (1600-1800), 2nd Dog (1800-2000), Evening (2000-2400), Middle (000-0004), Morning (0400-0800) and Forenoon (0800-1200). As supernumeraries, Greg and I opted to perform watch duties between 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM which included climbing the mast and yards, sail handling, lookout duties, and steering the ship at the helm. The other two supernumeraries were Cliff Pulling, who was sailing on the voyage with his son, and John Boulton, a pediatrician who currently specializes in providing medical care to the Aboriginal population in the Kimberly. John, Greg, and I spent quite a bit of time together and became very good friends during the voyage. I would like to travel with them again on some future visits to Australia. Since the Captain decided to wait for high tide before departing Darwin, we departed Darwin at 7:00 PM on August 16. A Scottish bagpipe played on the dock amid a crowd of people who came to see us leave, and we fired one of Endeavour’s 17th Century cannons as we departed. We sailed northeast and anchored in Shoal Bay for the night. The following morning we hoisted the anchor and set sails on a westerly course as we began day 2 of our voyage to Broome. We continued sailing on a northwesterly course while we were waiting for favorable winds. I took my turn at the helm during our watch periods. Unlike the Europa, where one person steers the ship from the helm, the helm on the Endeavour requires two people: one person, called the “brawn,” positions the helm wheel pursuant to instructions from the “brain,” who determines the proper position of the helm wheel. The Endeavour employs three methods of steering: following precise instructions from a professional crewmember; steering a course based on the ship’s compass; and steering “Full and By” which is based upon watching the wind in the sails. Most of my times as “brain” at the helm involved steering by compass although I got an opportunity to steer “Full and By” on one afternoon en route to Careening Bay. During watch on August 18, I got an opportunity to climb to the fore mast top gallant spar and out to the starboard end of the top gallant yard-arm to release and unfurl the sail. I also got an opportunity to climb about half-way out on the bowsprint during forward lookout duty. We also saw a few sea birds, several humpback whales, and a large yellow sea snake as we continued to wait for more favorable winds. Throughout the voyage, I was amazed at how few sea birds we encountered. The winds came up on August 19 and we were finally sailing in excess of 8 knots. Of course the increased winds created waves and several crewmembers succumbed to sea sickness. During mid-afternoon, we crossed into Western Australia and continued our course toward Cape Londonderry. On August 20, the ocean began to change to a dirty greenish color as we encountered silt from the Ord River and during late afternoon we passed Cape Londonderry. Members of our watch hauled out the anchor rope in anticipation of anchoring sometime during the night. The anchor rope is a rope approximately three inches in diameter and coated in pine tar as a preservative; handling the anchor rope is a rather messy job. The Captain decided to anchor overnight at Napier Broome Bay just west of Cape Talbot because we would be approaching very strong tidal currents, hazards, and sand banks in the dark. I saw several Lesser Frigate birds at sunrise at Napier Broome Bay on August 21. Departing Napier Bay, we sailed in a northerly direction at speeds in excess of 7 knots. We changed course mid-afternoon and sailed between Troughton Island and Cape Bouganvile to shorten up our course to Bigge Island which was our first tentative shore landing. I helped stow away the anchor rope during our afternoon watch and it took lots of heavy duty soap to remove the tar from my hands and arms upon completion. En route to Bigge Island I observed several Brown Boobies, a type of Gannet bird, and Roseate Terns. We sailed overnight and arrived at Wary Bay on the west side of Bigge Island early morning on August 22. The Captain wanted to anchor and have shore excursions so that we could explore the rugged coastal landscape and see indigenous rock art created by the Wunambal people on cave walls at Wary Bay. Unfortunately the Gods were against us and, after three unsuccessful attempts to anchor at Wary Bay, we moved farther north and attempted one more time to anchor. This anchorage initially looked to be successful but, while the zodiac boat was being deployed, the anchor began dragging and we were forced to abandon our shore excursion between 12:30 and 1:00 PM. The Captain sailed south and successfully anchored at Boomerang Bay on the southeast end of Bigge Island at 2:30 p.m. in hopes of trying to anchor again at Wary Bay the following day. Since the following morning brought high winds and strong currents, the Captain canceled attempting a shore landing at Wary Bay and instead motored to a position to sail a southwesterly course. At roughly 3:00 PM on August 23, we sailed east of Lemark Island en route to Careening Bay. It was during this afternoon watch that I got my opportunity at the helm to steer using the “Full and By” method – watching the sails to ensure that they are catching the maximum wind before losing full sail due to the wind moving in front of the sails. We observed whales and dolphins en route and arrived at Careening Bay at approximately 9:30 PM. The Captain anchored quite a distance form the beach at Careening Bay due to the 3.6 meter draught of the Endeavour. During the morning of August 24, we began the shore excursions using the zodiac boat and transporting five people per trip to the beach to see the famous Boab Tree. In 1820 the cutter ship, HMC Mermaid, spent sixteen days at Careening Bay while repairs were carried out on the keel, stern post, rudder connections, garboard strak,e and fasteners. While the ship was being repaired, members of the crew carved “HMC Mermaid 1820” into the trunk of a very large Boab tree. This site has since become a UNESCO World Heritage site and we were fortunate to be able to stop and see it. Greg and I were aboard the first zodiac trip to the beach at approximately 9:30 AM and visited the Boab Tree and hiked to view the landscape and other vegetation including “dinosaur trees.” We also observed an eagle-like bird soaring above us while we were on the beach. Since there was virtually no shade on the beach, Greg and I returned to the ship at approximately 11:15 AM. While the Endeavour was anchored at Careening Bay, a large tourist ship, Oceanic, arrived at approximately 1:00 PM and also began to do shore excursions with large shore parties. A couple of other ships sailed past us at anchor and our last shore party returned to the ship at 4:30 PM. After hauling in the anchor, we motored back out of Careening Bay and set sails sometime before dawn. On August 25, we sailed southwest to the west of White Island and began motoring during the late afternoon. Between 6:00 PM and 7:30 PM, I managed the helm by myself during our watch while the sails were being furled. We motored all night and most of the following day, and we were observed sea snakes, a school of feeding dolphins, Brown Boobies, and whales. We set the sails at 3:30 PM and then observed a very large pod of whales. At least some of the whales were sperm whales. The Captain navigated the ship around for a course to better observe the whales. Several of the whales breached and one whale did a long high breach above the water – the “Air Jordan” of the pod. The Captain once again reversed course and we returned to motoring en route to Broome. We sailed alongside Cape LaVesque at 7:14 AM on August 27 and observed the red cliffs, white sands, and the lighthouse. We saw many whales and several sea snakes during the afternoon. After our afternoon watch, Greg and I obtained permission to climb to the top of the main mast watch to take some photographs. Some of the shroud lines had just been re-coated with fresh pine tar which made the climb from the main mast course platform to the top gallant area messy and gooey, requiring extra-special attention to our climbing. We each left one of our cameras with watch members on the main deck to take photos of our climb to the top and took other cameras to the top with us. Greg and I photographed each other at the main course platform halfway up the mast and at the top gallant platform at the top. Since this was the next to the last night aboard the ship, the supernumeraries were treated to a private dinner with the Captain served in the Great Cabin. The Captain wore his uniform to dinner and the best that I could do was to put on clean traveling clothes for dinner. It was a very nice dinner with a large platter of appetizers followed with the main course and dessert. We once again motored overnight in order to be on schedule for our arrival at Broome the following day. Our last day of sailing was August 28. As we got closer to Broome, we observed sea snakes, turtles, whales, a school of skipjacks, Lesser Frigate Birds, and Brown Boobies. We sailed into Cable Beach, which is a northern suburb of Broome, and anchored at approximately 1:35 PM. While some members of the crew went swimming alongside the Endeavour, I worked on downloading photos that I had taken during the voyage. Quite a few people sailed out to get a better look at the Endeavour, and I enjoyed looking at the different types of ships sailing past us at anchor. Of particular interest was a Pearl Lugger ship of the kind used for pearl diving years ago; pearl diving was a large industry at Broome prior to World War II. At 6:00 PM, an “all hands dinner” was held in the 18th Century area where the permanent crewmembers served a steak dinner to the voyage crewmembers and supernumeraries. After dinner an amateur hour talent show was put on by the permanent crew and the three watches. The show was wonderful and highlighted how many talented people were on our voyage. After breakfast on the morning of August 29, we turned in our reflective vests and climbing harnesses. We completed packing our personal gear and had our final “all hands” voyage crew meeting where the Captain passed out certificates of participation on the voyage and the voyage chart that Greg had prepared during the voyage. We disembarked from the ship into a small boat to be ferried to Cable Beach and our luggage followed once all personnel were ashore. While waiting for our luggage, John and I were interviewed by a local TV station regarding our voyage. When asked why I came all the way from Los Angeles to sail on the Endeavour, I said that I had seen her at the Australian National Maritime Museum during 2009 but could not get on board because a mast was being replaced. When I returned to the museum in 2010, I was able to tour the ship and signed up for E-mails. When I returned home to Los Angeles, I told my wife that I wanted to sail on the Endeavour but that I was too old to “sling a hammock” and would want to sail only as a supernumerary with a cabin. Shortly thereafter, when I received an E-mail from the museum announcing the 2011-2012 Endeavour Around Australia voyage, I immediately signed up as supernumerary for the Darwin to Broome voyage segment. John had arranged for one of his associates to bring his four wheel drive vehicle to Cable Beach and he transported Greg to his hotel and me to the Bay House B&B. John took a slight detour to check out picturesque Minyiir Gantheaume Point where people can hike down the rocks at low tide to observe dinosaur footprints on some of the rocks. I checked into Bay House and was greeted by the owners, Paul and Shary’n, who said that they had sailed past the Endeavour the prior afternoon at Cable Beach. They said that they had been in the hotel business previously and had also had a McDonalds franchise before moving to Broome. I spent much of the afternoon repacking my sailing clothes for my upcoming flights to Sydney and onward to Los Angeles before going for a walk to explore the neighborhood. I met up with many of our shipmates at Matso’s, a bar and restaurant, near my B&B for dinner. After dinner, Greg drove me back to Bay House in the car that he had rented and we agreed to meet at 5:30 AM the following morning to try at low tide to see the wreckage of some of the seaplanes that had been bombed in Roebuck Bay during World War II. Greg picked me up at 5:30 AM on August 30, and we drove to the point where we should have been able to see some of the wreckage in the distance at very low tide. We hiked down to the exposed ocean floor and started to walk out toward the wreckage which was far away – we soon abandoned our hike as the ocean floor was very muddy. We cleaned off our shoes and decided to drive to Minyiir Gantheaume Point to try to see some of the dinosaur footprints. The point was beautiful at sunrise, and we hiked down toward the water and found a large rock with some dinosaur footprints. We also ran into John and several other people hiking along the rocks. On the way back to the car, we passed the lighthouse with a pair of nesting Goshawks about halfway to the top. We could also see Cable Beach and the Endeavour at anchor off in the distance before returning me to Bay House. Back at Bay House, as I was eating breakfast, a couple came down the stairs and asked me if I had sailed in on the Endeavour. When I said yes, they said that they saw me being interviewed the prior evening on the local TV station. Since I was scheduled to fly from Broome that evening, I showered and packed up for my flight. I checked out of my room and stored my things in the office. Paul and Shary’n gave me a key to Bay House to use during the day and said that they would drive me to the airport for my evening flight. I then began exploring Broome on foot with my first stop being the Broome Historical Museum which occupies the old Broome Customs House. The museum is a treasure trove of the early days of Broome and the pearl industry. It also has a section devoted to the bombing of Broome with some recovered wreckage from the airplanes destroyed by the Japanese in Roebuck Bay. Although no photographs are allowed within the building, photos of the artifacts in the outside area are allowed. I took some photos of a Wright Cyclone radial engine that was recovered from one of the Dornier seaplanes destroyed in the bay during the bombing and had a long discussion with the gentleman in charge of the aviation wreckage. I continued walking toward downtown Broome and ran across Greg as he was arriving at Matso’s. Greg gave me part of a small bottle of Eucalyptus Oil that I brought home and which completely removed the tar from my hat and clothes. I joined Greg and some other shipmates for lunch and took a photo of our group as I said good-bye to explore more of Broome on foot. I walked through some public parks and along many of the picturesque streets of downtown Broome. There is one set of statues commemorating the pearl divers with a large statue of a hard hat pearl diver and plaques honoring pearl industry people. The Sun Pictures movie theater was originally built in 1916 by pearling master Ted Hunter and screened it’s first talkie, “Monte Carlo,” in 1933. The picture garden with deck chairs both undercover and open-air is still original. It still shows motion pictures every night. At the present time, many people in Broome and aboriginal people in particular are protesting attempts by one or more large corporations to establish a large $30 billion production plant to process natural gas from the offshore Browse Basin project – building a huge industrial complex at James Price Point on the coast north of Broome. Some people in Broome have erected protest signs at their homes which I walked past as I explored Broome. I returned to the point overlooking Broome Roebuck Bay and took some late afternoon photos before returning to Bay House. After a short rest, Paul drove me to the airport to catch my flight to Perth where I connected to Melbourne and again connected to Sydney, arriving Sydney on the morning of August 31. I spent the night in Sydney and flew back to Los Angeles on September 1. See pictures from Australia Back to Top

June 2011 Thailand Travel Notes

I arrived at Chiang Rai, Thailand, on 9 June 2011 with scattered rain, intense heat, and over-the-top humidity. Although I didn’t have any specific itinerary for this journey, I wanted to return to the Oup Kham Museum to talk to them about the special green tea that I had been served when I visited the museum during January 2011. This special green tea comes from the tea plantation that is owned by the owner of the museum and is served to people who visit the museum. Although I was told that it sells for a very high price in China, museum visitors could purchase it at the museum. When I returned to the museum on June 10, Ms. Kai, the same lady who was there in January, greeted me and we had a nice chat over a pot of the tea. She referred to it as the tea of Chinese royalty and I purchased a package from the museum for 600 Thai Bhat. She made out a receipt to me for the purchase and listed it as Thai tea. The following day, when I called the mobile phone number for the museum to try to get a proper name for the tea, the museum owner answered. He was very patient with me as I rambled on and on about the tea and my purchase the day before. He told me that the tea is called “The Emperor’s Tea.” The following day, I hired a tuk-tuk taxi to go to the Tum Phra Buddha Cave adjacent to the Mae Kok River several kilometers west of Chiang Rai. Several monks live in the cave which contains small stone Buddha statues dating back several hundred years. Although I have been in many Buddha caves in Thailand, this cave was well worth the drive outside the city. As we returned to the city, we stopped along the road near the Tum Tu Pu cave complex to photograph some of the images on the rocks beneath the hillside cave entrance. I flew from Chiang Rai to Khon Kaen before continuing on to Roi-Et by bus to explore some new places in Northeast Thailand. Roi-Et has a beautiful 200,000 sq.m. lake known as Bueng Phalan Chai in the center of the city. It is blessed with a relaxing atmosphere, with an island decorated with a large flower garden. It is also the home to the city pillar shrine, the sacred shrine that is highly revered by the people of Roi Et. The city also has some beautiful canal-like waterways. The very tall golden standing Buddha statue situated within the Wat Buraphaphiram complex is a major landmark within Roi-Et city. Although the literature mentioned eleven wonderful city gates, I am not sure that I saw any of them. Within Roi-Et city I also visited the Roi-Et National Museum and the Roi-Et Municipal Aquarium. Each time that I visit an aquarium in Thailand, I am amazed at the unique varieties of fish and marine life on display. Other tourist sites that I visited in the vicinity of Roi-Et city included Ku Phra Kona, Ku Ka Sing, Ku Phon Ra Kang, Phrasat Nong Ka/Prang Ku, and Ku Noi Bann Yang Ku. These are all ancient temples and archeological sites. Ku Phra Kona had a unique charm whereas Ku Ka Sing was the largest and had an on-site museum. I traveled by bus north from Roi-Et to Kalasin. Within the city of Kalasin I visited Wat Klang and attempted to visit the Kalasin Museum which I found was closed to the public. I visited tourist sites in the vicinity of Kalasin including Muang Fadaet Songyang, the Sirindhorn Dinosaur Museum and Dinosaur Park, Phu Khao, the Phufaek National Park (Dinosaur Footprints), and Phu Po. Muang Fadaet Songyang was registered as a national historic site in 1936 and the Phrathat Yakhu or Ka Ku is the biggest Chedi (Buddhist stupa) in the site. Phu Khao is a temple complex at the top of Phu Sing Hill that may be best known for a two meter long inclining Laying Buddha. There is a legend that this Buddha image was built more than 2,000 years ago by Phra Mokkhallana, an apostle of Lord Buddha. The complex is quite large with many peafowl wandering about the temples and forested grounds. I also saw a deer among the trees as I walked along a path. Phu Po is a monastery situated at a the top of a hill with two inclined Buddha images that were carved out of the rock cliffs by Dvaravati artisans – one image at the bottom of the hill and the other image near the top of the hill. Phu Po was somewhat difficult to find and, in spite of the hot afternoon, I climbed to the top of the hill where the scenery was spectacular. I also visited the Sirindhorn Museum project which was started in 1995 due to the discovery of dinosaur fossils at Wat Sakkawan. The museum is the first dinosaur fossil museum in Thailand established for the purposes of study and research, preserving fossils as references, and geological tourism. The literature also states that fossils found are of new species and kinds. The museum has a research building and an exhibition building. Replica statues of many different dinosaurs are located in garden-like display areas outside the museum called the Dinosauria. This was one of the highlights of this trip to Thailand. After Sirindhorn, I visited Phufaek National Park where in November 1996 two girls and their guardians went for a picnic and found strange footprints in a rocky open space by the Huai Ngao Stream at the foot of Phufaek Hill on the Phuphan Mountain Range. They notified geological authorities who traveled to the site and discovered that there are seven footprints of Therropod Dinosaurs, classified in carnivorous Karnosaur. These footprints are 140 million years old. At Phufaek National Park, I saw some petrified wood and hiked to the site of the dinosaur footprints. When I arrived at the site, I found several Thai families there enjoying a picnic. They were surprised to see a Californian visiting the site and offered to have me join their party. The dinosaur footprint fossils were fantastic and may well have been the highlight of my trip. I traveled by bus from Kalasin back to Khon Kaen. Khon Kaen City also has a beautiful large lake called Bueng Kaen Nakhon with an area of 603 rai and a shady park around the lake. The magnificent Phra Mahathat Kaen Nakhon or 9-storey stupa is adjacent to the lake and the Khon Kaen City Museum is also near the lake. Each floor of the 9-storey stupa is unique with murals, carvings and artifacts – relics of the Lord Buddha are housed on the 9th floor. Other sites within Khon Kaen that I visited were Sala Suk Chai where the city pillar shrine is located and an interesting adjacent temple complex. Tourist sites that I visited in the vicinity of Khon Kaen included the King Cobra village of Thailand, Ku Prapha Chai, and Phrathat Kham Kaen. Ku Prapha Chai is a Khmer ruins archeological site of a hospital built during the reign of Jayavarman in the 13th century. Phrathat Kham Kaen is located in Wat Chetiyaphum and is believed to be the origin of Khon Kaen City since ancient times. The King Cobra Village, Ban Khok Sa-nga in Tambon Sai Mun is famous for its strange pets, king cobras, kept at every house. For a long time the villagers earned extra income by selling herbal medicines while traveling around through villages. By 1951, a local doctor, Ken Yongla, initiated a cobra show, which was successful in attracting his clients to the village. Since a cobra show was too dangerous because a cobra can spit its poison for two meters making a man blind, he changed the show to be conducted with king cobras together with the snake handling skills of the villagers. Today in the village, a snake show is held at Wat Si Thamma with villagers performing different series of shows such as python snake dancing, and boxing between king cobra and man. Exhibitions of king cobra and other reptiles, mammals, and birds are located on either side of a large pond adjacent to the snake show arena. I arrived in the morning and there were just a few other Thai people visiting the village. My driver and I went from cage to cage to look at the different cobras, snakes, birds, and mammals – there was no admission charge to visit the village and look at these. One lady had a large python and wanted me to photograph the snake for a fee, but I declined. After viewing the snakes in the cages, I was invited into the large tent-like arena where the snake show was performed. I asked when the show was scheduled to begin and was told in just a few minutes. A few minutes later, the other five or six Thai visitors arrived and the show began. The first performance was two Thai ladies each dancing with a python over their shoulders and for the finale, they each inserted the head of the python in their mouth as they danced. The following shows all featured king cobras. Several Thai men boxed with the cobras and one man kissed the head of a cobra. A small boy played with a smaller king cobra and barely missed being bitten by the snake on numerous occasions demonstrating his snake-handling skills. Donations were solicited after the performances. After the show and before we could leave, the lady with the python greeted us and held out the python for someone to handle. Since none of the Thai people would take the snake, I gave my camera to one of the Thais and took the python from the lady. The Thais seemed to be enamored by me and the python as photographs were taken. When the lady asked me to put the snake’s head in my mouth like the lady dancers had done during the show, I refused and returned the python to her. On the way back to the car, I stopped and purchased a Thailand King Cobra Village shirt and decided that my visit to the cobra village was another highlight of the trip. After we departed the King Cobra Village, we passed a group of Thai men in the process of having a party while butchering a large pig beside the highway. We stopped and I asked permission to take some photos. The men agreed, asked me to join their party, and offered me a beer. I flew from Khon Kaen back to Chiang Rai, and visited several tourist sites North of the city including, Mae Sai City, Wat Phra That Doi Wow, Wat Phra Doi That Tung, Sathop Doi Chang Moup, and Doi Tung. Mae Sai City borders on Myanmar's Tha Khi Lek market by the Mae Sai River with a bridge spanning both sides. Although foreign visitors are allowed to cross over to the Tha Khi Lek market by presenting their passports and paying a fee at the Mae Sai Customs House immigration checkpoint, I decided not to enter Myamnar. There is alao a very large market area within Mae Sai which we drove through to get to Wat Phra That Doi Wow which is situated on a hilltop within Mae Sai. Wat Phra That Doi Wow is also known as the scorpion temple and has an impressive statue of a scorpion overlooking the city. Mae Sai is an interesting city in which I might like to spend more time during a future trip. I had selected several sites along highway 1149 in the mountains near Mae Sai that I wanted to visit when I contracted with my car and driver. My driver missed the road to highway 1149 within Mae Sai and headed back toward Chiang Rai on highway 1. I finally got his attention and after he stopped to ask directions a couple of times and made a couple of calls on his mobile phone, we found a road to take us to highway 1149. Once we arrived at highway 1149, we had to backtrack on it toward Mae Sai to visit my selected sites. Highway 1149 is a narrow and winding road in the mountains which was very scenic. We visited Wat Phra That Doi Tung which is situated near the top of Doi Tung Mountain, the highest mountain in Chiang Rai Province with an elevation of approximately 2,000 meters. Wat Phra That Doi Tung was constructed in the 10th century and was renovated by Chiang Rai's most famous ruler King Mengrai during the 13th century and by the famous Chiang Mai monk, Khru Ba Siwichai, at the turn of the 20th century. The temple complex is comprised of twin Lanna style chedis, one of which is said to contain the left collarbone of the Lord Buddha. Throughout the year, the holy relic draws devout Buddhists from all over Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar. The pedestrian walkway up to the temple is lined with large bells on each side which most people ring as they pass each bell – I had never seen so many bells at one location. A tree within the complex also had hundreds of smaller bells suspended from the lower branches. As we continued driving to Sathop Doi Chang Moup which is a sacred archeological site higher up on the mountain, my driver was complaining about the difficulty in getting there. However, once we arrived and hiked to the site which is centered around a rock that resembles an elephant, he became very excited and will probably take more tourists there. It was a very serene and peaceful place which would be quite good for meditation. We continued our journey back along highway 1149 toward Chiang Rai and stopped to look at a portion of the Doi Tung Development Project established by the late Princess Mother in 1987. Phra Tamnak Doi Tung, the royal villa, is situated on the slopes of the adjacent Pa Kluay Reservoir and was built to serve as a royal winter retreat for the Princess Mother, who passed away in 1995. It was originally built on the theory that the local hill tribes would be honored by the royal presence and thereby cease their opium cultivation. The main attraction for visitors to Phra Tamnak Doi Tung is “Suan Mae Fa Luang,” the beautiful landscaped gardens filled with hundreds of different kinds of plants and flowers, named in honor of the Princess Mother. Since Thailand was scheduled to hold its National election on July 3, many election posters were set up along every road that I traveled within Thailand during this trip. I guess the total number of political election posters along the roads in Thailand was probably in the millions. I returned to Bangkok on June 24 and continued my flights back home to California on June 25. See pictures from Thailand Back to Top

March/April 2011 Sri Lanka & Thailand Travel Notes

Jan and I arrived at Bangkok at about midnight on Tuesday, March 22nd, and spent the next three nights at a hotel near the Bangkok International Airport before continuing on to Sri Lanka. We spent March 23rd relaxing and acclimating to the time change. My Thai friends, Pam and Sit, met us at our hotel on March 24th for a sightseeing day trip to Kanchanaburi. Although we had originally asked Pam and Sit to help in booking a car and driver for the day trip, they graciously volunteered to drive us in their car and to join us. I had compiled a tentative itinerary for the day trip in advance and we did our best to try to visit all of the places on my list. I had been to several of the places on a prior trip to Thailand and I wanted to make sure that Jan got an opportunity to visit the Tiger Temple and to experience being with the tigers. I also wanted to visit Hellfire Pass further to the North, if possible. Pam and Sit picked us up at our hotel and we drove northwest of Bangkok to the Sai Yok Noi Waterfalls where we visited a World War II Japanese Locomotive that is on display in a pass cutting that was part of the Death Railway, the Burma-Thailand Railway, built by the Japanese using thousands of Allied prisoner of war laborers. This railroad crossed the River Kwai and was the subject of the movie “Bridge on the River Kwai.” There are several Allied Prisoner of War Cemeteries in the immediate area. We continued further north to visit the Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum. Unfortunately, in order to visit the Tiger Temple, we did not have time to hike through the famous “Hellfire Pass” cutting which got its name from the fires used to illuminate the cutting throughout the nights as the prisoners of war were forced to cut the pass through the mountain. Our next stop was at the Tiger Temple, a refuge sanctuary for tigers operated by Buddhist monks. The adult tigers exercise during the morning and have a rest period in a canyon during the early afternoon. Beginning at 1:00 PM, visitors to the temple can interact with the tigers under supervision of temple staff. Jan got the opportunity to hold and be photographed with adult tigers and later with a couple of baby tigers. Other animals at the temple included deer, cattle, water buffalo, horses, goats, and pigs which were allowed to wander about the sanctuary unrestricted. On our way back to Bangkok, we stopped at another section of the “Death Railway” at the Thamkrasse Bridge, a wooden trestle bridge beside the River Kwai. As we approached the bridge, a train had just crossed the bridge and we walked across the bridge to the next train station and visited the Krasse Cave in the mountain beside the bridge. Steel rails from the original Burma-Thailand Railway remain on the bridge between the rails used for the current railway operations. Before returning to our hotel we stopped for a wonderful dinner at Tang’s Bug, one of Pam & Sit’s favorite Thai restaurants. It was a long day trip as well as a very long way for them to drive and we appreciate very much their spending the day with us. Pam and Sit also picked us up at our hotel the following morning and drove to the Klong Suan 100 Year Old Market located in the Samut Prakan Province. This is a traditional Thai market that dates back to the reign of King Rama V. Since sweet mangos were in season, we ate sweet mangos and sticky rice and other Thai sweets as we toured the market. We also visited the famous Wat Sothan Warawihan Temple in Chachoengsao Province along the west bank of the Bang Pakong River. This temple currently enshrines the famous Luang Por Sothon Buddha statue in the temple’s new orientation hall which took fifteen years to construct. Construction began in 1988 and the orientation hall was officially opened to the public in 2004. The hall extends to a height of 84 meters and features a five-tier golden umbrella which weighs exactly 77 kilograms. I believe that this may be the largest temple in Thailand. We also visited the Rong J Wat Sothon Chinese Buddhist temple which is a part of the Wat Sothan Warawihan complex. Since we had been snacking on Thai sweets that Pam purchased, we were too full to stop for lunch. We returned to our hotel and said good-bye to Pam and Sit – they really went out of their way to make our time with them special and we remain grateful to have such good Thai friends. After a late checkout from our hotel, we went to the airport and checked into our evening flight to Sri Lanka. We arrived at Colombo, Sri Lanka, at about 12:15 AM on March 26th. After clearing customs, we found ourselves unable to locate our driver to our hotel. It began to feel like my travels to India where my pre-arranged drivers frequently do not show up at the airport. A nice man from one of the car rental booths came over and asked me if I was having a problem. When I said that I was unable to locate my driver, the man asked me for the phone number of our hotel and called our hotel on his mobile phone. He said that our driver had been stuck in traffic and that he would arrive shortly and would meet us at the car rental booth – what a nice first impression of Sri Lanka! Our driver, whose name is Gamini, arrived and drove us to the Garden Guest House, the bed & breakfast hotel (B&B) where we had a reservation for the remainder of the night. Gamini was a friend of the owners of the B&B and stayed while we checked in and offered to drive us to our hotel in Sigiriya in his van. We took him up on his offer and arranged to visit the Elephant Orphanage at Pinnawala en route to Sigiriya Breakfast at the Garden Guest House was very nice and the owner said that she makes a slightly different breakfast daily. She also said that she had been operating as a B&B for nearly 28 years. We also had reservations at the Garden Guest House for our last nights in Sri Lanka when we were scheduled to return to Colombo before returning to Thailand. Gamini picked us up in his van and we drove northbound toward Sigiriya. The traffic and drivers in Sri Lanka appeared to be much more disciplined than what I have experienced while traveling in India. People appeared to drive slower than in most other Southeast Asian countries. As we traveled from Colombo to Sigiriya, most of the roads were two lane highways that appeared to be in need of repair. In addition, the local buses seemed to stop at nearly every bus stop along the highway forcing the vehicles behind them to wait for the loading and/or unloading of passengers. The residents along the highways also appeared to enjoy a higher standard of living than comparable people in India. We arrived at the Elephant Orphanage shortly before the elephants were scheduled to go to the river as part of their daily routine. We observed the herd of elephants and saw some very young baby elephants – Jan bottle fed a young elephant and got an opportunity to interact with some of the elephants. We then followed the elephants to the river and ate lunch at a restaurant overlooking the elephants in the river. We insisted that Gamini join us for lunch and we ordered the same rice and curry lunch that he ordered even though he was sure that it would be much too spicy for our palates. Lunch convinced him that we really did like very spicy food and that we would be right at home with the traditional spicy Sri Lanka cuisine. During the drive to Sigiriya, we hired Gamini to be our driver/tour guide for the remainder of our time in Sri Lanka. We arrived at the Hotel Sigiriya just before dusk and would spend four nights there. The hotel is situated in the jungle and has a wonderful view of the famous Lion Rock of Sigiriya, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We had a nice room with both an overhead ceiling fan and a thermostatically controlled air conditioner unit. The hotel restaurant offered a large buffet breakfast that was included with the room. The restaurant also offered a large buffet dinner each evening as well as individual choices from the menu. Since we were still full from our rice and curry lunch, we each ordered a bowl of soup for dinner. The three following nights, we opted for the buffet dinner and really enjoyed the traditional food from the Sri Lanka table. Gamini picked us up at the hotel early on the morning of March 27th for a full day excursion to the ancient city of Anuradhapura. Anuradhapura was founded in 380 BC and was both the capital of Ceylon and the sacred city of Buddhism on the island. The sacred city was established around a cutting from the “tree of enlightenment,” the Buddha’s Bodhi Tree (Bo Tree), brought there in the 3rd century BC by Sanghamitta, the founder of an order of Buddhist nuns. With the exception of the period of invasion of the Tamil princes, at the beginning of the 2nd century BC, Anuradhapura remained the religious capital of Ceylon for approximately ten centuries. The Tamil invaders were expelled in 161 BC. by Dutthagamani who re-established Buddhism in place of Brahminism and endowed Anuradhapura with extraordinary monuments. Anuradhapura was sacked and taken by the Pandyan kings during the 9th century and then returned against the payment of a ransom. The city never recovered after its destruction in AD 993 and having lost its position of capital, it was deserted in favor the new capital city of Polonnaruwa. Gamini tended to avoid the main roads and elected to drive us on many local back roads to our destinations. It later became apparent that the local back roads with little or no traffic were faster than the main roads with heavy traffic and the local busses. Anuradhapura is a huge UNESCO World Heritage site and Gamini drove us to the individual sights that we wanted to visit. Our first stop was to visit a couple of ancient cave shelters before continuing to the Isurumuniya Temple and archaeological museum. The Isurumuniya rock temple at Anuradhapura was built during the 3rd century BC and was very impressive. The moonstone is a widespread architectural characteristic in Sri Lanka. It is found at the base of a short staircase and is in the shape of a half-moon. Two balustrades flank the sides of the staircase and terminate with two large vertical stones called “guard stones.” The moonstone and guard stones at the Isurumuniya Temple were intricately carved and served to welcome visitors. The small Isurumuniya Archeological Museum contains the famous rock carving known as the “Isurumuniya Lovers” in addition to many other rock carvings and exhibits. While at Anuradhapura, we visited the Sri Maha Bodhi, the Sacred Bo Tree (Ficus religiosa), that was brought to Sri Lanka from India by Princess Sanghamitta, a Buddhist nun. The Sri Maha Bodhi is considered to be the oldest recorded tree on earth and was a sapling of the Bo tree in Budda Gaya in India under which Prince Siddhartha attained Buddhahood. We visited several stupas including Ruwanweliseya or the “Great Stupa” which stands 300 feet tall and is regarded as the most important monument at Anuradhapura. Gamini said that this stupa is white-washed once every year. The Jethavana Stupa was the central ritual monument of the Jethavana Monastery which was established in the 3rd century BC. This stupa is the tallest brick structure in the world – at the time of the collapse of the Roman Empire, this stupa was the third tallest structure in the world with only Pyramids 1 and 2 in Egypt being taller. Other highlights at Anuradhapura included the Kuttam Pokuna, or twin ponds; the Samadhi Buddha; and the moonstone at the entrance of the Abhhayagiri monastery ruins considered to be the finest moonstone in Sri Lanka. During our drive back to our hotel, we detoured to visit the massive reservoir at Kalavewa that was constructed during the 4th century AD and to visit the 13 meter high Aukana Buddha statue carved out of solid granite dating back to the 5th century AD. Although the literature recommended visiting the Aukana Buddha during the morning when the sun is shining on it, we made the most of our late afternoon visit. Gamini picked us up at the hotel early on the morning of March 28th to go to the Lion Rock of Sigiriya UNESCO World Heritage Site. This fortress-citadel was founded 1,500 years ago by King Kassapa (447-495 AD). The king transformed this 600-foot high rock into an impregnable fortress after he displaced some forest dwelling monks which relocated to another large rock nearby. Sigiriya was re-discovered in 1853 and offers visitors a gallery of 5th century paintings coupled with landscaped gardens and paintings of 23 women, mostly in pairs and usually consisting of a lady and her maid. The maidens in the Sigiriya murals have been identified as ladies in the court of Kassapa and included his queens, daughters, maid servants, and concubines. The Lion Terrace is situated half way up the rock and guards the entrance leading up to the summit. The main palace was situated on the summit and overlooked the gardens and surrounding area. There are more than 1,000 steps to the summit and it was a very invigorating morning climb. As we descended from the summit, we came across a snake charmer who showed off his skills at charming a cobra in exchange for some money to allow us to take photographs. After lunch, we embarked on a two-hour jeep safari in the Hurulu Eco Park, a Sri Lanka Government protected wild elephant sanctuary. The dirt roads in the park had deep ruts from the prior rains and required four-wheel drive vehicles. In addition to several beautiful birds and quite a few wild elephants, we saw a Sri Lankan Jackal and a couple of mongooses. The Sri Lankan Jackal is a species of the Golden Jackal found in southern India and Sri Lanka – spotting and photographing it was the highlight of our wild elephant safari. In addition, the safari offered us an opportunity to see some of the Sri Lanka scrub jungle and natural elephant habitat. Gamini picked us up at the hotel the following morning to embark on a day trip to Polonnaruwa, the second capital of Sri Lanka. Polonnaruwa was the seat of government from the middle of the 11th century to the 13th century. While Anuradhapura extended over an area of 18 square miles, Polonnaruwa can be divided up into four main zones. The Parakrama Samudra, sometimes called the “Sea of Parakrama,” is an enormous irrigation reservoir that was built by King Parakramabahu I. It covers 5,940 acres, can irrigate 18,500 rice paddies, and bears witness to Polonnaruwa’s glorious past. Upon arriving at Polonnaruwa, we drove along the dam that forms the Parakrama Samudra to the Potgul Vilhara complex where the large 12th century statue carved out of a giant rock, and often referred to as “The Sage,” is situated. Nearby the statue were the ruins of several buildings, one of several at Polonnaruwa that once housed the sacred Tooth Relic from the Buddha – the Tooth Relic of Buddha is currently housed in the Tooth Temple at Kandy. Our next stop was at the Polonnaruwa Archaeological Museum and the adjacent Dipauyana (Island Park) palace grounds which included King Nissanka Malla’s lion throne, his council chamber, the remains of his summer house, and bathing ponds. The third area that we visited was much larger and was accessed alongside a road several kilometers long. This area contained the ruins of King Parakramabahu’s seven story palace, his council chamber, and royal baths. Other very notable structures included a 7th century Circular Relic House; the Thuparama image house; Atadage, the first Tooth Relic Shrine in Polonnaruwa built in the 11 century; Hatadage, the second Tooth Relic Shrine built in the 12th century; and the Gal Pota or “Stone Book” inscribed in a single piece of granite measuring eight meters high and 4.25 meters wide. The area also contained some Hindu shrines that have been restored. Further away is the Gal Vihara which is described as one of the finest group of sculptures in the world. It consists of four sculptures of the Buddha carved from a huge single granite rock – two seated, one standing, and one reclining. One seated Buddha is within an artificial cave and is surrounded by various deities including Brahma and Vishnu, an interesting combination of Buddhist and Hindu sculpture. The standing Buddha is seven meters tall, and the reclining Buddha is fifteen meters long. We continued on to the Lotus Pond and to the Tivanka Image House. It is called Tivanka (meaning three bends) because the giant Buddha image inside is bent at three places, namely the shoulder, the hip, and the knee. It is also famous for its 12th century paintings that depict certain incidents from the Jataka stories and the life of Buddha. On the way back to the hotel, Gamini drove us past the large white statue of Buddha in Sigiriya which we had seen from the top of Sigiriya Rock the day before. After checking out of our hotel on March 30th, Gamini drove us to Dambulla where we climbed to the principal shrine 600 feet above the plains, known as Rangiri Dambulu Viharaya, or the golden cave temple. The facade of the caves was constructed in 1938 and has five cave temples. The cave temples are spectacular with paintings and many Buddha images. As we continued on toward Kandy, we stopped at a small house beside the road where the resident family demonstrated a multitude of uses and products that are derived from the coconut. We also stopped at a spice garden where we saw many different spice plants – before leaving, our guide treated us to a personal showing and sales pitch for many spice products and medicinal spice products. En route to Kandy, we visited the Naranga Temple, another UNESCO World Heritage site. This temple was reconstructed during 1975. It is situated beside a large reservoir and is said to be at the center of Sri Lanka. We arrived at Kandy mid-afternoon and checked into the Queen’s Hotel in downtown Kandy. This hotel was one of the original colonial hotels in Sri Lanka and is associated with British royalty. In spite of the sloping second story hallway and creaky room floors, the Queen’s Hotel was a wonderful place to spend the night. Shortly after checking into the hotel, we met Gamini in the lobby and went to visit the Kandy National Museum. The museum was interesting and the caretaker, once he realized that I had paid extra for the privilege of taking photos in the museum, took an extra special interest to make sure that we saw all of the very best exhibits. After the museum, we struck out on our own to explore downtown Kandy and to search for an Internet café. We visited a combination Buddhist and Hindu temple where Jan received a blessing from a Buddhist monk. That evening we took Gamini to dinner at a local Kandy restaurant of his choice where we watched some of the semi-final Cricket match when India beat Pakistan. After a buffet breakfast at the hotel, Gamini took us to the Dalada Maligawa or Temple of the Tooth Relic of Buddha for the morning offering ceremony on March 31st. Access to this temple is currently controlled by elevated security measures since it was bombed by the Tamil Tigers terrorist attack in 1998. We visited the museum on one of the upper floors of the temple complex prior to the start of the offering ceremony. The ceremony was very elaborate and we joined the procession of people who walked past the window that is opened only during the offering ceremonies to view the Tooth Relic. Following the ceremony, Gamini took us to see the famous temple elephant that was preserved after he died and remains on display in a separate building. After checking out of our hotel, we drove to a popular viewpoint overlooking downtown Kandy. We also stopped at a two different tea plantations en route to Colombo. The first was a small building adjacent to a hillside with tea plants and the second was at the Geragama Tea Factory. The tour of the tea factory was very interesting, especially the methods by which the same tea leaves produce many different types of tea – we sampled a cup of English breakfast tea before we continued on our journey to Colombo. We arrived back at the Garden Guest House B&B during the late afternoon and, after freshening up, we went to the home of some friends who live in Colombo, Wilfred and Cynthia. Wilfred is a professor in Colombo and Cynthia is a medical doctor in Colombo – they are the parents of one of our friends back in Los Angeles. After we enjoyed a very nice visit and appetizers at their home, Wilfred took us to visit the Cricket club to which he belongs and where he once was a player. He picked up Cynthia and we all enjoyed a wonderful Sri Lanka rice and curry dinner at the club. After breakfast on the morning of April 1st, Gamini picked us up for a day of sightseeing in Colombo. We visited the Kalyani Institute for Buddhist Studies and toured the temple complex. The inside walls and ceilings of the main temple were adorned with wonderful paintings and Buddha images. We also enjoyed the different sculptures on the exterior of the temples. Another very colorful and elaborate temple complex that we visited was Gangaramaya Temple and we were fortunate to be invited into a special museum section of this temple by its caretaker. Other Colombo sights included the Independence Hall, the historic Dutch reformed Church, Viharamahadevi Park, downtown Colombo, and a drive along the Indian Ocean. We enjoyed a wonderful Sri Lanka buffet lunch at the restaurant in the Grand Oriental Hotel overlooking the harbor. We returned to the B&B, packed and rested up for our flight back to Bangkok that departed after midnight. Gamini picked us up for the last time and drove us to the airport where we thanked him for his wonderful service – for anyone who might wish to employ him in the future as guide and driver, his name is Gamini Jayasinghe and you can contact me for his email address. Our flight to Bangkok was uneventful and after clearing customs at Bangkok, we checked into our flight to Phuket. After checking into our hotel at Patong Beach on April 2nd, Jan determined that given the lack of effective Internet service and unexpected events at her office, she really needed to cut her trip short and return home. The following morning I was able to re-book her flight from Bangkok for April 4th and booked a flight for her to Bangkok that evening. She left for Bangkok that night and returned home. I took the early afternoon ferry to Phi Phi Island on April 4th and spent two nights at Phi Phi with a snorkeling trip to Mosquito Island on April 5th. Each time that I snorkel at Mosquito Island, the coral has deteriorated from my prior visits – too many tourists have extensively damaged the coral and it was the last good snorkeling site at Phi Phi Island. This may well end up being my last snorkeling trip to Phi Phi Island. I took the ferry to Ao Nang on April 6th to be in place for Nhong, my tour guide, to pick me up for my trip to the far south of Thailand the following morning. I was amazed at how much Ao Nang was built up since my last visit several years ago. Before, there was an abundance of Indian tailors; this time, there was an abundance of Indian restaurants. Fortunately for me, the dinner buffet at Bernie’s Place was still operating and had not changed over the years – dinner at Bernie’s was just like old times. Nhong arrived at the hotel with a van and driver as I was finishing breakfast on April 7th. The driver’s wife, a school teacher in the Manang district of Satun province, also accompanied us as we set off for Satun Province. Our first stop was at the picturesque Wang Sai Thong Waterfalls in the Manang district of Satun. Here water cascades down the slopes of limestone mountains where the water forms plunge pools at the bottom of the mountain. The unique thing about the Wang Sai Thong Waterfalls is that pools of water cascading into each limestone basin appear as if the lotus has bloomed. It also appears as if you were inside a cave with the roof of the cave open to the sky. These waterfalls are off of the tourist beaten path and difficult to get to without someone familiar with the area. After the waterfalls, we visited Phu Pha Pet Cave in the Manang district of Satun. This is the largest cave in Thailand, the third largest cave in the world, and has only recently been open to the public. We paid our fees, rented our cave headlights, and climbed the 335 steps to the cave entrance. We obtained a local cave guide at the cave entrance who accompanied us on our tour of the cave. Access to the cave requires crawling through a small cave entrance after which the cave becomes enormous. Out of the entire 18 acres and seven floors of caves here, only two floors are open to the public for exploration. Stairs lead to different levels of the cave and one of the most interesting sights is the giant Jade Rock or Stone of Phuphaphet in a chamber which is illuminated by daylight from an opening near the ceiling of the chamber. Although this cave is not one of the more beautiful caves that I have visited, it was well worth the visit. Our third and final stop for the day was at Rim Varee Bungalows where we hired a couple of river kayak canoes for a river canoeing trip down the Jed Kod River through the Jed Kod Cave. Nhong and I shared a canoe while our driver, his wife, and the guide shared the second canoe. Nhong had never been river canoeing and we managed to capsize our canoe on two separate occasions: once before we reached the cave, and once more when we ran into a bamboo tree that had fallen across the river after we had exited the cave. Nhong lost her camera into the river when we first capsized, and the canoe people managed to recover it from the river bottom the following day after we had departed for Tarutao National Park. The portion of the trip through the cave was in total darkness, required cave headlights, and was much longer that I had anticipated. We were picked up by the canoe people at a bridge several kilometers downstream from where we began our trip. We spent the night at the Rim Varee Bungalows and continued on to Pak Bara the morning of April 8th to take a speedboat to Kho Lipe (Lipe Island) which is one of the islands in the Adang Archipelago of Tarutao National Park. The speedboat made several stops en route to Pattaya Beach, Koh Lipe’s main village area, where we transferred to a longtail boat that took us to the opposite side of Koh Lipe to the Andaman Resort. We had somewhat primitive fan-cooled bungalows at the resort and moved the following day to slightly better bungalows that faced the beach. My main purpose for going to Tarutao National Park was to snorkel some of the islands which were touted as still having some very good coral. On the morning of April 9th, we hired a longtail boat for the day and set off to do some snorkeling. Our first stop was at the island of Koh Hin-ngam which has a beach covered with small black rocks. From the beach we snorkeled along the east side of the island and viewed some spectacular coral and marine life. Our second stop was at Jabang where beautiful colorful soft corals could be observed. Our third stop was at Koh Hin-son (sometimes spelled Koh Hin-sorn) and then on to Koh Rokroy (sometimes spelled Koh Lokloy) where we ate lunch. After lunch, we visited Koh Rawi where we snorkeled back toward Koh Rokroy and enjoyed some more very good coral. Our last stop was at Koh Yang but the coral there was extensively damaged and therefore a huge disappointment. On the morning of April 10th, we hired the same longtail boat for a half day and left early to go back to Jabang – we were the first boat there, the water was very clear, and the soft coral was beautiful. From Jabang we went back to Koh Hin-ngam and snorkeled along the west side of the island where the coral was not as spectacular as along the east side but where we saw large numbers of different species of fish. Our last stop was along the west side of Koh Adang where the coral was once more a disappointment having been extensively damaged. We returned to the resort and packed up to return to the mainland. Our longtail boat took us back to Pattaya Beach where we transferred to a speedboat and returned to Pak Bara. Nhong and our van delivered me to the Hat Yai airport for my evening flight to Bangkok. I spent much of April 11th drying out my clothes and snorkel gear to prepare for my long flights home the following day. I believe that my future snorkeling trips to Thailand will most likely be confined to Mu Koh Surin National Park and Tarutao National Park. See pictures from Sri Lanka and Thailand Back to Top

February 2011 Sofia, Bulgaria Travel Notes

For the past four years when Europe winter airfare goes on sale, I have booked a trip to Europe sometime during February and this year was no exception. I arrived at Sofia, Bulgaria, during the afternoon of Friday, February 15. The airport at Sofia is nearly new and I hired a taxi to take me to the Best Western City hotel which was situated in downtown Sofia. The roads from the airport to the city center were very good and there was not very much vehicular traffic. The pedestrians in Sofia always have the right-of-way and the vehicular drivers were very courteous. The downtown area has some wonderful architecture and was fun to explore on foot. The Sofia weather forecast called for rain and snow during the weekend. Since the weather was overcast with no rain, I decided to immediately explore some of the outdoor sites that I planned to visit and save the museums for a day of inclement weather. My hotel was within two blocks of the Seveta Alexander Nevski Cathedral and the Basilica of St. Sofia. Since the cathedral, with its golden domes, is a highly visible center city landmark, exploration on foot was quite easy. During that first afternoon I was able to visit the Russian Church of St. Nikolai, the Rotunda of St. George, Seveta Petka Church, and the Central Hali Shopping Center. I was also able to observe Syndol Palace, the Military Club, the statue of Saint Sofia, the Central Synagogue, the Banya Mosque, several city squares and parks with interesting statues, the Archeological Museum, the National Art Gallery, the National Assembly, and numerous other architecturally pleasing structures. Although the streets were very good, many of the sidewalks were paving stones that were uneven. While crossing a street via an underground tunnel, I walked passed the Eastern Gate and part of the old city wall. It was getting dark by the time that I returned to my hotel and, due to some wireless Internet difficulties, had to move to another room. After making the move and getting a shower, I set off to find a restaurant for dinner. I finally settled on the Taj Mahal Restaurant near my hotel. The restaurant was packed and I enjoyed a wonderful Indian dinner. It snowed during the night which changed to intermittent rain in the morning. I decided to visit the Archeological Museum and the National Art Gallery. The Archeological Museum is housed in a former mosque and contains some of the best ancient gold and bronze artifacts that I have ever seen – the gold artifacts from the 6th and 5th centuries BC were superb. The National Art Gallery is housed in the former royal palace and the building itself is a wonderful showplace for the art. I also walked to the National Theater building and then visited the Natural History Museum. On the way back to the hotel, I visited both the Seveta Alexander Nevski Cathedral and the Seveta Alexander Nevski Cathedral Crypts, which have been converted into a gallery displaying old Bulgarian religious art. I returned to the hotel and located a restaurant for dinner with Bulgarian food which was delicious. It snowed Saturday night and I was greeted by a winter wonderland on Sunday morning. After breakfast, I took a taxi to the Boyana Church which is situated in a wooded area about ten kilometers from Sofia. The fresh snow made the church and woodlands very beautiful. It is a UNESCO World Heritge site and the frescoes are magnificent. When I left the church, I took a taxi to the nearby National History Museum. Once again I was treated to magnificent 6th to 4th century BC artifacts. Some of the most spectacular artifacts included a gold wreath from a royal grave from the mid-4th century BC and the Panagyurishte Gold Treasure from the 4th century BC – simply amazing! Since there were no taxis at the museum, I asked a group of people which way I should walk to find a taxi. A young Bulgarian lady said that she was going to catch a bus and that I could go with her to the bus stop. When she realized that there were no taxies nearby the bus stop, she called for a taxi on her mobile phone before she boarded the bus – eventually the taxi arrived and transported me back to my hotel. The following day I checked out of the hotel and went to the airport to begin my journey back home, having just completed my fourth annual long winter weekend somewhere in Europe. See pictures from Sofia Back to Top

January 2011 India/Thailand Travel Notes

After spending three nights in Bangkok to help adjust to the time zone changes en route to India, I arrived at the Mumbai International Airport at Mumbai, India at about 10:00 PM on Thursday, January 20. Of course, my car and driver arranged by my hotel was nowhere to be seen. After circling the arrivals area several times just to make sure that my car and driver were not there, I went to the “Prepaid Taxi” booth and hired a taxi to my hotel. I was instructed to follow a person to find my taxi and we finally located my taxi car number, a tiny rather old taxi. After tipping everyone who played any part at all in getting me to my taxi, it didn’t take long in the local street traffic to realize that I was back in India. The following day, I flew to Aurangabad and was pleasantly surprised to see a man holding up a sign with my name in large letters. At least my mobile phone SMS text messages to the hotel recommended travel office had indeed secured my hotel transfer. As I walked toward the car, another gentleman came up and introduced himself to me as Majad, the travel agency owner. After checking into my hotel and prior to going to my room, Majad and I settled on a small car with driver to be provided each day for my stay in Aurangabad. We also discussed the tourist attractions that I wanted to see with all of the costs negotiated and agreed upon. My driver would meet me in the hotel lobby at 9:00 AM the following morning to go to the Ellora Caves and to the Daulatabad Fort. On Saturday morning, my driver arrived about ten minutes late and we proceeded to the Ellora Caves which are about 34 kilometers from Aurangabad. I usually ride in the front seat with my driver and the traffic in India is incredible – traffic lanes painted on the roads appear to be of no concern to the drivers. After a while watching my driver dart in and out of tiny spaces in traffic, creating multiple lanes out of a single traffic lane, and managing to just miss and to just be missed countless other vehicles; I began to feel comfortable with his driving skills. After all, I am back in India! Since I was having some concerns about being able to visit both the caves and the fort in one day, I instructed my driver to go to the caves first. Upon arriving at the Ellora Caves, I bought my entry ticket and got the mobile phone number of my driver to be able to send an SMS if I needed to contact him. I declined the services of a guide to the caves and purchased a small guidebook to both the Ellora and Ajanta caves from a young boy who also wanted to sell a large well-illustrated book. Another man who came to be known as Samad, was persistent in trying to sell me a carved elephant and followed me as I walked from cave to cave. The Ellora Caves are rock cut caves and number thirty four (34) in total. The caves were all excavated from the mountain by hammer and chisel. Caves 1 to 12 are Buddhist caves; Caves 13 to 29 are Hindu caves, and Caves 30 to 34 are Jain caves. The Buddhist caves were excavated from 500 to 700 AD; the Hindu caves from 757 to 900 AD; and the Jain caves 900 to 1100 AD. The caves contain elaborate sculptures as well as beautiful columns. Several of the caves have some remnants of beautiful paintings that are still visible. I started at Cave #1 and proceeded to visit each of the other caves in order, Cave 2 through Cave 34. Nearly all of the caves contain beautiful sculpture panels on the walls. Cave 16 is by far the most interesting from an architectural viewpoint. It is named Kailas and is the highest peak of cave architecture in the world. The giant cutout which was carved out of the solid mass of rock to create this largest cave temple has no parallel in the world. The carving work was started out at the top and ended with the completion of the ground floor. While carving, the huge middle mass of the rock was preserved for the temple, providing vacant surrounding space for the multi-storied side galleries. It is difficult to imagine that this marvelous creation was carried out with only chisel and hammer. While visiting Cave 32, a caretaker came over to me and took me to see some of the beautiful paintings on the walls and ceilings – most of the tourists who visit this cave probably don’t realize the paintings exist in some of the dark shadowy areas of the cave. I am very appreciative for his assistance in making my visit to Cave 32 special. By the time I finished my visit to Cave 34, it was nearly 3:30 PM. Needless to say, I had no time left to visit the fort and would have to put it off for another day. The original plan was to go to the Ajanta Caves on Sunday, January 23. The Ajanta Caves are about 120 kilometers from Aurangabad and the typical driving time is roughly two hours. Because my driver arrived at the hotel nearly an hour late on Sunday morning, Majad and I were forced to change my itinerary – I would visit the Daulatabad Fort today and postpone the Ajanta Caves until Tuesday. The fort was magnificent. It is a combination of the Ground fort and the Hill fort which my guidebook says is rarely found in India. According to my guide book, some historians believe that the Rashtrakut Kings who built the world famous Kailas Cave of Ellora, might have also built this fort. The earliest recorded history of this fort dates from 1187 AD. Originally this fort was known as Deogiri, a hill of gods. In 1327 Mohmmed Tughlaq, Sultan of Delhi, made this fort the capital of India and renamed it as Daulatabad, a city of fortune. The fort is constructed on an isolated pyramid-shaped natural mountain peak 200 meters above sea level. The rock around the fort has been chiseled so skillfully that climbing the fort was almost impossible. The fort has two moats – one around the fort which was dry and another around the citadel which was always filled with water. The fort is surrounded by three ramparts which are known in India as Kots. The first is Amberkot which surrounded the old town. There are two more Kots on the way to the citadel, Mahakot and Kalakot. The Mahakot has eight gates which do not oppose one another meaning that the age-old practice of breaking doors open by the use of elephants was impossible here. The creation of the wet moat for entering the citadel was a unique strategy as the water level could be raised to flood the v-shaped crossing steps. After crossing the moat there was another strategy of dark passage (known as Andhari) with a zig-zag rock cut passage-way with stairs in darkness for entering the citadel. The guide book describes the citadel as invulnerable and invincible and that it was conquered only by treachery. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at the Bibi-ka-Maqbara, a miniature replica of the Taj Majal. It is the only example of Mughul architecture of its kind in the Deccan plateau. It was built in 1679 by Aurangzeb’s son in a tribute to his mother, Begum Rabia Durani. It is situated within the city of Aurangabad and is a landmark. It is currently undergoing some exterior renovation and, while it is well worth a visit, it lacks much of the splendor of the famous Taj Majal in Agra. On Monday morning, a new driver and I went to the Aurangabad Caves which are situated just outside of Aurangabad. They consist of nine rock cut caves, believed to have been excavated between the 2nd and 6th centuries. Several of the caves have intricate carvings and sculptures. Cave 4 is supported by twelve columns carved with scenes depicting stories from the Jataka tales. Cave 7 has stunning carvings of women adorned with jewels. The main attraction is the sculpture of a “Bodhisatva” praying for deliverance. While returning to the hotel, we stopped at Panchakki, a 17th century water mill. The name has been derived from the mill that crushed grain for the pilgrims. It also houses a garden with several fish tanks which had way too much algae to be considered picturesque. I spent the balance of the afternoon resting some sore muscles in anticipation of hiking the Ajanta Caves the following day. Tuesday, January 25, was my last chance to visit the Ajanta Caves and Majad had assured me that my driver would pick me up at the hotel at 8:00 AM. I was surprised when the hotel front desk called me at 7:30 AM as I returned to my room from breakfast, to inform me that my driver was waiting for me. I grabbed my backpack and went to the lobby to meet my driver. My second surprise was that I had another new driver – he was an older man who spoke very limited English. I became more reassured after I showed him a picture of the Ajanta Caves and he nodded and said yes. Although his small car appeared to have seen better days, I was determined to make the two hour journey to the caves. His driving style was very different from my previous drivers – he drove a little slower but the traffic near-misses were still a part of driving in India. The journey to the Ajantra Caves took approximately two hours and thirty minutes over some of the worst highway conditions that I have ever encountered on any major roads. The roads were paved, or had been paved at some time, with some good sections that changed abruptly into sections littered with countless potholes, some which could better be described as miniature sink-holes. We transversed many deep potholes that impacted the suspension of the car so violently, I began to wonder if the car was durable enough to even make it to the caves. My only concern at the moment was just to make it to the caves – I could always manage to get back to my hotel after visiting the caves. I guess the huge trucks manage to rapidly damage the highway surfaces. Although the roads were designed to be two lane highways, the Indians somehow manage to squeeze them into three, four, and sometimes five lanes of congestion with the motorbikes, oxen carts, tractor & wagons, auto-rickshaws, small cars, trucks, buses, and enormous trucks. The old saying that “missing by an inch is as good as missing by a mile” certainly applies on the streets and highways in the vicinity of Aurangabad. As we rounded a bend in the road along the top of a mountain, my driver pointed off in the distance to a large complex on the valley floor and said “Ajanta Visitor Center.” After arriving at the center, it became a challenge to try to figure out how to hook up with him when I would be ready to return to Aurangabad. Previously, I had gotten the car identification numbers and the mobile phone numbers of my drivers and would send an SMS message for them to meet me. This time, when I sent a test SMS to my driver, I saw it arrive on his phone but he did not know how to access the SMS and his English impaired our communications. A young Indian man who spoke very good English came to my rescue and told me in which car park my driver should park in and directed me to the special pollution-free buses for the four kilometer drive to the caves. He said that he operated shopping stall #47 in the visitor complex and asked me to remember him as #47. Whereas the Ellora Caves belonged to the Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain religious faiths, the Ajanta Caves are all Buddhist caves. In addition, the Buddhist caves at Ellora belonged only to the Mahayan sect of Buddhism. Both the Buddhist Hinayan sect and Mahayan sect have separate caves at Ajanta. The Ajanta Caves are estimated to have been excavated from the 2nd century BC to the 6th century AD and were lost for many centuries until accidentally discovered in 1819 – John Smith, a British captain, caught a glimpse of Cave 10 during a hunting trip from the present site of View Point. It is believed that Siddharth as Bodhisattva had passed through several rebirths before he attained the highest position called Buddha. All of the stories related to his past births are called Jatak Katha. Whereas the Ellora Caves are famous for their rich sculpture-panels depicting Jatak Katha, the Ajanta Caves are famous for colorful paintings depicting Jatak Katha. After arriving at the caves and purchasing my admission ticket, I began my hike to the caves. Although there are 30 caves in total, only 26 caves numbering 1 through 26 can be visited. I started at Cave 1 and proceeded to Cave 26. Flash photography is banned at the caves and the caves have special low intensity lighting installed to gently illuminate the magnificent wall and ceiling paintings within the caves. Caves 1, 2, 16, and 17 are entirely painted, including the walls, ceilings, pillars, and corners. Although I was able to capture a few existing-light photos, I purchased a couple of books on Ajanta for the beautiful photographs of the paintings. After visiting Cave 26, I hiked down the floor of the canyon, crossed the river and hiked up the opposing side of the mountain to an overlook point to view a panorama of all of the caves. The Ajanta caves are along one wall of a horseshoe shaped canyon with the Waghora River running through the canyon. At one end of the canyon, the river flows down seven waterfalls from the mountain plateau to canyon floor. I walked along the edge of the plateau to get a better aerial view of the river, the waterfalls, and the caves before returning by special bus to the visitor complex. As I walked into the visitor complex, #47 was there to greet me and to show me his shop. I purchased a pair of small rock carved elephants out of my gratitude for his assistance to me and then he accompanied me to the parking lot where we found my car but no driver. I waited at the car for a few minutes while he managed to locate and return with my driver. The drive back to Aurangabad took nearly three hours over the same miserable highway conditions. Shortly after departing Ajanta, a car which had passed us a few minutes earlier and another jeep-like vehicle were pulling off the road in opposite directions – apparently they had some sort of traffic side-swipe mishap. Fortunately my excursion to Ajanta ended well and my driver’s car was a little bit more dilapidated than when we began our journey about nine hours earlier. Majad met us at the hotel and I settled my account with him. I also expressed my appreciation for the car and driver service that he provided to me. On Wednesday afternoon, Majad sent a car to take me to the airport to catch a flight back to Mumbai. There are very few flights to and from the Aurangabad airport and there are a very large number of airport security people employed. Consequently the security screening process was intense and my carry-on bag with my computer, cameras, mobile phones, and associated electronics was x-rayed and then emptied with the contents x-rayed again. After repacking my carry-on, it was hand searched two additional times before I finally boarded my flight to Mumbai. Perhaps the large number of security people need to demonstrate intense screening to justify all of the people employed. After arriving at the Mumbai Domestic Terminal and claiming my one checked bag, I located the “Prepaid Taxi” counter and gave the young lady a copy of my Holiday Inn Mumbai International Airport confirmed reservation. She appeared to be having some difficulty as she consulted with an associate and then gave me my pre-paid receipt. I finally located my taxi and on the way to the hotel the taxi driver was insistent in taking me to the Mumbai International Airport. It turned out that the young lady was not familiar with the Holiday Inn hotel and simply routed me to the international airport. The taxi driver insisted that the pre-paid fare was insufficient to go beyond the international terminal. I finally convinced the taxi driver to take me directly to the hotel for which I gave him an extra 200 Rupees. As I was departing from the Holiday Inn the following evening, I learned that the hotel was nearly brand new, having been open only nine months. That might explain the difficulty that the young lady at the taxi stand was having. My return flight to Bangkok was uneventful and I planned to spend some time in the far north of Thailand before returning home. I flew to Chiang Rai and booked into the Starbright Hotel which is situated in the city center near the Night Bazaar. I spent some time walking in the vicinity of the hotel to become familiar with the local neighborhood. Chiang Rai Province is situated in the far northeast and includes the Golden Triangle of Thailand. Chiang Rai city is very relaxed and laid back compared to Chiang Mai, with relatively little automobile traffic on the smaller streets. The Night Bazaar is situated adjacent to the bus station and draws large numbers of the local population as well as tourists. It has two food courts with very reasonable prices and is a very popular dining area for the locals – I ate all of my evening meals at the Night Bazaar. I hired a tuk tuk to visit Chiang Rai city local tourist attractions. Wat Rong Khun, the white temple, is located 5 kilomerers south of Chiang Rai and was spectacular as it glistened in the morning sunshine. Although it may well be the most popular local attraction, I was really impressed by my visit to the private museum Oub Kham Museum. This museum is an Ancient Lanna Heritage Conservation Center founded by Mr. Julasaak Suriyachai to preserve the precious heritage of the ancient Northern Lanna Kingdom. In addition to the marvelous precious artifacts, I loved the architecture and statuary of the museum. The museum website is www.oubkhammuseum.com. The Hilltribe Museum and Education Center is described as the best place to learn about tribal people of Northern Thailand. It is operated through the Population and Community Development Association (PDA) headquartered in Bangkok. The PDA recommends that tourists visit the Hilltribe Museum before booking a tour to tribal villages. I found the museum to be well worth a visit. The King Megrai Great Memorial celebrates the king who founded the Lanna Thai Kingdom in 1296 – Lanna, land of a million rice fields. King Megrai was the ruler of Nakhan Hiran Ngnen Yang (an ancient town on the bank of the Mekong River around Chiang Sean). The hilltop City Naval Pillar was erected in 1989 to commemorate King Megra’s declaration during 1262 of the hill to be the city navel or spiritual center of the city and dependent country. I visited many local Buddhist temples in Chiang Rai. The Wat Phra Kaew complex stood out as one of the most interesting. It houses Phra Chedi which dated from the founding of the temple and is where the famous Emerald Buddha was discovered in 1434. It also houses Phrachao Lan Tong, the largest, most beautiful Palawa style Buddha in Thailand. It also houses Hong Luang Saengkaew, built to preserve the heritage of the temple complex, and contains a very nice museum. Other local temples that I visited included Wat Jed Yod, Wat Klang Wiang, Wat Phra Singha, Wat Phra That Doi Chom Thong, and Wat Ming Muang. They were all beautiful and are well worth a visit. For a one-day trip, I booked a car and driver to visit the ancient city of Chiang Sean on the bank of the Mekong River and then to the famous Golden Triangle where the countries of Myanmar (Burma), Laos, and Thailand all come together. The drive to Chiang Sean took about an hour and we visited the hilltop temples of Wat Phra That Chom Kitti and Wat Chom Chang. My driver parked at the base of the hill and there are 388 steps up the hill to reach the top. Both temples were worth the hike and the view toward the Mekong River was quite good. Part way up the hill, I came upon the ancient temple of Wat Shan Seanuk. We continued north to the Golden Triangle. I was impressed with just how beautiful the tourist complex was on the bank of the Mekong overlooking the Golden Triangle – so many photo opportunities! After eating lunch at the Golden Triangle, we drove back to Chiang Sean to visit the ancient temples of Wat Chedi Luang and Wat Pak Sa. Both of these ancient temples were well worth visiting. The ancient city of Chiang Sean had once been surrounded by an old city wall and moat – a portion of which was visible adjacent to Wat Pak Sa. Before returning to Chiang Rai, we also stopped at the Chiang Sean National Museum which was interesting but was not as impressive as I had been led to believe from tourist brochures. I returned home via a short stopover in Bangkok and plan to return to explore more of the far northern region of Thailand in the near future. See pictures from India and Thailand Back to Top

October 2010 Thailand Travel Notes

I arrived at Bangkok, Thailand, on 8 October 2010 and stayed four nights at a hotel in the Chinatown section of Bangkok. Since this was the first time that I had been to Chinatown, I decided to explore the area which also happens to merge into a "Little India" section. I spent much of the first day meandering through different shopping areas, and food courts and becoming familiar with the local neighborhoods. In addition, while I was searching Chinatown tourist sites on the Internet, I came across references to Bangkok unusual attractions which included the Bangkok Corrections Museum and Chinatown's Wat Pathum Khongkha. Since the Bangkok Corrections Museum was located a couple of blocks from my hotel, it was my first place to visit on my second day. It is a museum that depicts and preserves gruesome aspects of Thai prison history and the brutal prison life before reforms were made to the penal system. The old penal system was based on retribution through severe punishment and suffering – the exhibits utilize life-size figures to depict the tools for brutal punishment of prisoners. It is currently situated on the site of a former maximum security prison built in 1890 on Maha Chai Road. In 1987, the Thai government decided to demolish the Maha Chai Road while preserving three blocks, a cellblock, a side of the prison wall, and two watchtowers to accommodate the prison museum. The remainder of the area occupied by the prison was converted into a public park – Romanni Nart Park was officially opened on 7 August 1999. Wat Pathum Khongkha is best remembered as being used as an execution site for members of the Royal Family in the early Rattanakosin period. Several members from the first and third regimes were disposed of on execution stone at the temple. In accordance with ancient traditions, dictating that no royal blood should touch the ground, the victim was placed in a red velvet sack and beaten to death with a scented sandalwood club. I visited the temple grounds but the temple buildings were padlocked. I walked from Wat Pathum Khongkha to visit the Chinatown Gate. Wat Tramit is a very large and beautiful temple complex across the street from the Chinatown Gate and is certainly well worth a visit. I took a taxi from Wat Tramit back to my hotel and in retrospect I wish that I had walked back to the hotel to have better experienced Chinatown. I decided to take a bus to Koh Chang, an island south of Pattaya in the Gulf of Thailand. The bus ride lasted several hours before we finally arrived at the ferry terminal for the ferry to Koh Chang. Thailand had been experiencing periods of heavy rains with considerable flooding. The road from the ferry to my Koh Chang hotel at White Sands Beach clings to the side of mountains and the rains had caused landslides which had eliminated half of the road in several places. It also continued to rain while I was on the island, but I was able to explore portions of the island between intermittent heavy rains. I did take a pickup truck taxi to Bang Bao at the southern tip of the island where the landmark white lighthouse is located. The road to Bang Bao and from my hotel to the ferry reminded me of the Road to Hanna in Maui, Hawaii. Heavy rain continued all night before my early morning hotel checkout. Fortunately the road back to the ferry remained passable with several delays in the areas of the landslides. The rain continued throughout the bus trip back to Bangkok. I spent the night at a hotel near the Bangkok International Airport to catch my flight to Phuket. I spent some time at Phi Phi Island and at Koh Lanta before returning home on October 31. See pictures from Thailand Back to Top

September 2010 Egypt Travel Notes

Jan and I flew to Cairo, Egypt, on September 16, 2010, to join the Viking River Cruises Pharaohs and Pyramids Tour. We arrived at Cairo on the afternoon of September 17 and were escorted to the Sofitel El Gezirah hotel where we would spend our first three nights in Egypt. This hotel was situated on an island in the middle of the Nile River near the Egypt Opera House. We settled into the hotel and since we were on our own for dinner, we decided to eat dinner at the Sofitel Kababgy Restaurant which specializes in kebab dishes. After admiring the dinner that was served to the couple seated at a nearby table, we asked our waiter to provide the same dinner for us – an Egyptian cold appetizer special and a hot mixed grill special. While we were enjoying the array of cold appetizer dishes, our waiter brought a portable grill to our table to keep the grilled chicken and lamb hot while we ate them. This was one of the best dinners that we had while in Egypt. After a short orientation on the morning of September 18, we boarded our bus and our first stop was at the Saqqara monuments (Saqqara is also frequently spelled as Sakkara). This is the home to the Step Pyramid and tombs of several Egyptian high priests. Our guide, Ahmed Wasfat, told us that the Step Pyramid is probably the oldest pyramid in Egypt. While visiting the pyramid, several local vendors had Jan pose on a donkey and had me pose on a camel with the pyramid in the background – they also took marvelous photos of us with Jan’s camera for which we had to tip them handsomely. While at Saqqara, we also visited the tomb of the high priest Ka-Gmni Oyn VI and admired the colorful inscriptions within the tomb. Upon leaving Saqqara, we stopped at a “carpet school” to see how Egyptian carpets are woven and of course, visited the carpet sales showroom where several people purchased some carpets. We then continued to a local restaurant for lunch and I was impressed by the mechanical driven spits above a large bar-b-que pit. After lunch, we continued to Giza Plaza to visit the Great Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. We all had the opportunity to ride camels while viewing the pyramids and also more photo opportunities. We made two stops at the pyramids and a final stop close to the Sphinx. The Three Great Pyramids of Cheops, Chephren, and Mykerionos are the last of The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World to remain standing, and we were thrilled to finally visit them. We returned to the hotel and decided to skip an optional light show at the pyramids in favor of a buffet dinner at the hotel as part of the tour package. The dinner and buffet breakfasts that we had at the hotel as part of the tour package were all quite good. We departed the hotel early on the morning of September 19 to visit the Citadel and the Mosque of Mohammad Ali which is situated within the Citadel. The Citadel is a prominent structure that was fortified by Saladin and his successors in the 12th century to protect against attacks by crusaders. Today the Citadel houses more than 60 mosques and the most famous among these is the Mosque of Mohammad Ali, built during the first half of the 19th century. It is sometimes called the Alabaster Mosque. Our bus took us from the Citidel to the Cairo Museum of Ancient Antiquities. The museum was our last scheduled tour stop for the day and was truly magnificent – a person could easily spend a couple of days wandering through it. Although we had previously seen two King Tut exhibitions at the Los Angeles Museum of Art, those exhibits only displayed a tiny portion of the entire King Tut exhibit in Cairo. The King Tut exhibit was phenomenal! The other highlights of the museum were the two rooms with the Royal Mummies on display – the tour did not provide tickets to see the Royal mummies so we paid for our own admission. We rank the Royal Mummies as a display that should not be missed. In order to have more time at the museum, we abandoned our tour bus and chose to walk back to our hotel. It was an interesting walk along the Nile in scorching heat and the hotel air conditioning was our reward at the end. That evening we elected to take the optional visit to the Khan el-Khalili Souk (bazaar) and to have an Egyptian dinner at a local restaurant within the bazaar. The meal at the restaurant was just average but the bazaar provided a wonderful unique look at Cairo and also should not be missed when visiting Cairo. We received our wake-up call at 4:00 AM on the morning of September 20 in order to fly to Luxor and arrive there in time to do some serious temple tours. Upon arrival at Luxor, our bus took us to visit the Dendara Temple. Ahmed told us that many tour groups do not visit this particular temple and that Viking added it as an extra visit. We were impressed by the carvings and colors within the temple. The Egypt Air inflight magazine had a feature article on this temple as part of the celebration of the Egyptian New Year 6252 which began around September 11. One carving on the ceiling of a small second story temple structure is the Dendara Zodiac – it is a circular rock carving that contains the signs of the zodiac alongside another carving of a lady who swallows the sun each night and gives birth to a new sun each morning. Another small ceiling near the back of the ground floor cubicles depicts this lady and the sun in vivid colors. This temple exceeded my expectations for the temples along the Nile and set the stage for many exquisite temple visitations to follow. After leaving the Dendara Temple, we proceeded to our cruise ship, the Movenpick M/S Royal Lily to check in to our cabins and to have lunch. Viking River Cruises currently has its own ship being constructed on the Nile and booked space aboard the M/S Royal Lily which was operated by Movenpick Hotels for our Viking cruise from Luxor to Aswan. Although Movenpick hotels are usually pretty good, the “good ship Movenpick M/S Royal Lily” proved to be a bit of a disappointment as the dining room staff appeared to be inexperienced and not properly trained and with some of the food being of marginal quality. Aside from the food service situation, life aboard the Royal Lily was pleasant. After lunch we visited the Temple of Karnak and the Luxor Temple. Both of these temples are spectacular and are must see temples. We woke up early the following morning in order to meet the 5:10 AM optional hot air balloon excursion to the West Bank. We boarded a small ship which took us downstream on the Nile and across to the West Bank where we boarded small vans that transported us to the hot air balloon launch site. The hot air balloons were very popular and soon quite a few balloons were in the air gliding over the Luxor Valley on the West Bank with several temple sites including the Hatshepsut Temple visible below. We watched the sun rise over the Nile and landed on a small road a relatively short distance from where we initially ascended in our balloon. The balloon ride was interesting and the baskets were rectangular so that every participant had an unobstructed view over the side – it was well worth the extra cost. After successfully landing the balloon and paying the tips to the local people who were photographed by the balloonists, we boarded the small vans and were driven to a parking lot adjacent to the statues of the Colossi of Memnon where we rejoined our Viking tour bus. We then visited the Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Hatshepsut, and the Medinet Habu before returning to the ship for lunch. Cameras and photographs are forbidden within the Valley of the Kings but some very nice books are available for sale by the local vendors. Although our admission ticket included entry to three of the tombs within the valley, we had time to visit only two tombs due to long entry lines. The interiors of both tombs that we entered were magnificent and photos just do not do justice to these masterpieces. We left the Valley of the Kings and continued on to the Temple of Hatshepsut, built for one of Egypt’s female rulers, and which has largely been reconstructed. The last temple visitation at Luxor was Medinet Habu, the mortuary temple of Ramses III, and it was spectacular. The carvings and colors within the temple were superb. At 1:30 PM on September 21 we set sail up the Nile to Edfu and sailed through a lock during late afternoon. We reached Edfu sometime during the night and after breakfast on the 22nd, we boarded a bus to visit the Temple of Horus at Edfu. Large crowds of people beat us to the temple and we had to contend with crowd gridlock within the inner temple sanctuaries. This temple was also superb with magnificent rock carvings. A highlight of this temple is a rock carved boat within the inner sanctuary that must be viewed through a doorway – this doorway was nearly impossible to reach during our visit due to the masses of people within the temple. Back on the ship, we continued sailing upstream to Kom Ombo while a tour of the ship’s bridge, engine room and kitchen was offered before lunch for interested passengers – Jan took the tour and I passed on it. We arrived Kom Ombo mid-afternoon and had a shore excursion where we walked to the double temple of Kom Ombo dedicated to Sobek, the crocodile god, and Horus, the falcon god – another spectacular temple. That evening the ship had a Galabya party and a belly dancer – Jan wore her new white Galabya to the party (purchased from vendors who threw them onto the ship from small boats). We reached Aswan during the night and after breakfast on September 23, we took a small boat to the island of Phila where the Temple of Isis had been relocated and reconstructed during the construction of the Aswan High Dam during the 1960s. By then we had come to expect that our temple visitations would only occur at the finest temples in the region, and the Temple of Isis was no exception – it was a splendid temple. The small boat traffic and docking congestion made this temple excursion somewhat unique. Our next stop was at the Aswan Nubian Museum which presented a good overview of the Aswan High Dam construction, the affected area to become Lake Nasser and the relocation efforts by many countries world-wide to relocate temples to high ground that would otherwise have become submerged by the rising waters of Lake Nasser. In fact, all of the temples that we would visit alongside Lake Nasser had been relocated to higher ground. The museum also had some wonderful statues and other Egyptian artifacts on display. Later in the afternoon, we were taken to a dock on the Nile below the old low dam constructed by the British in 1902. We boarded a Felucca sailing ship for a short sailing voyage to experience a traditional wooden sailing ship of the Nile. The voyage took us around several small islands in the Nile river and Ahmed pointed out several landmarks including the famous Old Cataract Hotel and the Mausoleum of Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of Ismali Muslims. For our last night aboard the Royal Lily, the ship hosted a “Nubian party” with entertainment provided by local Nubians – the entertainers were very good and of course, they pulled in some members of the audience for added participation. We disembarked from the Royal Lily on the morning of September 24 and flew to Abu Simbel aboard a DC-9-31 aircraft operated by Air Memphis with our tour group as the only passengers on board. After arriving at Abu Simbel, we boarded our Lake Nasser cruising ship, the Movenpick M/S Prince Abbas – a somewhat older vessel than the Royal Lily. Our Prince Abbas cabin was smaller than our Royal Lily cabin but the Prince Abbas food was by far superior and the food service was much more professional compared to the food service aboard the Royal Lily. After lunch, we walked to the Temples of Abu Simbel which were relocated and reconstructed on higher ground during the construction of the high dam. The Abu Simbel temples were simply amazing and are dominated by the great Temple of Ramses II with the 60 feet tall statues of Ramses with his queen and daughters at his feet at the front of the temple. The original temple was situated such that on two days every year it would capture the rising sun’s glow as it reached the interior of the temple sanctuary – the relocated temple is similarily situated to continue to capture the sun’s glow on February 22 (Ramses II’s birthday) and October 22 (his coronation day). Photography within the temples was forbidden. We opted to go to the optional sound and light show that evening and the temples at night were magnificent. The following morning, September 25, the captain of the Prince Abbas sailed in front of the temples to provide us with the ultimate photo opportunity of the Abu Simbel temples glistening in the early morning sun. We then set our course to the north and sailed to view the temple of Qasr Ibrim, perched on top of a small island where landings have been prohibited by the Egyptian Government – our “temple sail-by” provided ample views of this small temple. We continued sailing to Amada and, after lunch, we visited the two temples at Amada via a small motorboat and walked to the temples. These temples exceeded our expectations and after visiting the second temple several local people appeared with a couple of small Nile crocodiles. I couldn’t resist the possibility to get my hands on a crocodile and one of the locals placed the larger crocodile in my outstretched hands. While people were busy photographing me with my crocodile the other person amused himself by placing the smaller croc first on top of my hat and then over my left shoulder – I was not intimidated by the second croc over my shoulder and it provided people with a few good photos. We continued sailing and the ship had a Nubian show that evening which Jan attended while I was catching up on some much needed sleep in our cabin. We arrived at Wadi El Sebua sometime during the night. After breakfast on September 26, we visited two temples at Wadi El Sebua via a small motorboat. Once ashore, we walked to the first temple and had the choice of walking about one mile to visit the second temple or taking our last opportunity to ride a camel to the second temple – Jan and I opted for the camel ride. Both temples also exceeded our expectations and as we walked back toward the beach to board our motorboat to return to the ship, a local person arrived who had a Nile crocodile for folks to view. It was somewhat larger than the bigger crocodile that experienced the day before at Amada. Once again, I reached out and the crocodile was given to me. After people took a few photographs, I passed the crocodile to Jan who after some photos passed it to Mayuri from Florida for the photo finale. It would be our last encounter with Nile crocodiles during our cruise on Lake Nasser. As we continued sailing southbound, we viewed the film “Documentary film on the Nubian Monument Salvation” which documented the enormous undertaking by many countries world-wide to relocate many of the Nubian temples that would soon be gobbled-up by Lake Nasser during the 1960s. Ahmed gave a lecture about the Muslim religion and Egypt which was very good followed by a lively question and answer session. We arrived at Aswan that evening to complete our cruise of Lake Nasser. On the morning of September 27, we made our final temple visit by taking a small motorboat to the Temple of Kalabasa which was the largest free-standing Nubian temple – it was dedicated to Isis and the Nubian solar and fertility deity, Madulis. Construction began on this temple in 23 AD by the Roman Emperor Octavius Augustus. It was also relocated here from its original location in the village of Kalabasa about 30 miles south when the High Dam was constructed. This temple complex presently overlooks the High Dam and was very impressive. We returned to the ship via our motor boat and disembarked for a bus ride across the High Dam with a tourist stop mid-way across the dam en route to the Aswan airport for our flight back to Cairo. After arriving back at Cairo we spent our last night at the Intercontinental City Stars hotel and had our last Egyptian buffet dinner at the hotel. After precious little sleep, on Tuesday, September 28, we departed Cairo at 5:54 AM on a flight to Frankfurt, Germany, to begin our long journey back home. See pictures from Egypt Back to Top

July 2010 Sydney, Australia Travel Notes

I flew to Sydney, Australia, on July 6th for a long weekend visit primarily to hopefully tour the tall ship HMB (Her Majesties Bark) Endeavour which is normally docked at the Australian National Maritime Museum at Darling Harbour in Sydney. The current HMB Endeavour is a replica of the original circa 1780s HMB Endeavour, the vessel that Captain James Cook sailed during his famous world-wide voyages. I had visited the Endeavour during July 2009 but was unable to tour the ship because it was undergoing a refit program to replace one or more of the masts.  I arrived at Sydney early morning on July 7th and took the train from the airport to Central Station. Since it had been raining, and rain continued to look imminent, I elected to hire a taxi to the Holiday Inn Darling Harbour hotel. I chose this hotel because it was located nearby most of the places that I intended to visit. Since my room would not be available for several hours, I checked my luggage with the hotel concierge and walked to the Australian National Maritime Museum to verify that the Endeavour was in port and returned to the hotel as it began raining once again. The rain continued most of the day and into the evening. The following morning was cloudy as I returned to the maritime museum and was finally able to board the Endeavour. The ship is magnificent and the museum has volunteers stationed at different parts of the ship to give historical information and to answer questions from the visitors. According to the museum brochure, there are 18 miles of rope, 750 wooden blocks, and 28 sails spreading 10,000 square feet of canvas. The foremast is 119 feet, 11 inches; the main mast is 127 feet, 11 inches; and the mizzen mast is 78 feet, 9 inches, all made from Douglas Fir. The windlass with its two red carved sailor heads raises and lowers the anchors – the two largest anchors weigh nearly one ton each. The ship’s bell marked time and was struck each half hour. Eight bells started and ended each four-hour watch. The lower deck extends the full length of the ship. The firehearth area is situated below the foredeck area and near the forward end of the lower deck. It contains the huge iron stove (firehearth) that was state-of-the-art in 1768 where all of the food was cooked. The cabins and workshops around the firehearth belonged to the carpenter, boatswain, and sailmaker. The crew’s mess deck, with swinging tables and hammocks, was situated just aft of the firehearth area. Each sailor had just 14 inches in which to sling his hammock at night – these were taken down and stowed each morning. Today, 36 voyage crew sail with the ship, relaxing and sleeping here in their numbered hammocks just as Cook’s men did in the 18th century. The midshipmen/mates’ mess and officers' cabins are situated aft of the crew mess deck area and extend to the stern of the ship. The after deck was situated directly above the lower deck area occupied by the midshipmen/mates’ mess and officers cabins. The after deck contains the great cabin, the captain’s and gentlemen’s cabins. The area between the cabins was the commissioned officers’ mess. The quarter deck was at the stern of the ship and was the preserve of the captain and officers. There is a large capstan (a vertical winch) that was used to hoist heavy spars and yards and to maneuver the ship at anchor. Ten wooden bars are inserted and pushed around by up to thirty sailors – this still operates by muscle power today. The wheel (helm) is manned by two helmsmen, one on each side. It is connected to the tiller by ropes which run around the large wooden drum and through a set of blocks. Pens for sheep, pigs, and poultry were kept at the stern. Some areas of the ship were not accessible during my tour. These included the hold at the bottom of the ship and modern additions such as the engine room and the 21st century deck with showers and marine toilets. The sun actually came out while I was touring the ship and then the clouds began to reappear as I entered the maritime museum to have a look at the new temporary exhibits that were not present last year. As I left the museum to walk back to my hotel, light misty rain began to fall. Shortly after I arrived back at my hotel heavy rain resumed and continued for the remainder of the day. Saturday morning was once again cloudy so I decided to walk to the Powerhouse Museum – the museum for science and design. It is advertised as one of the most popular museums in Australia. One of the highlights was a vast collection of steam powered devices including the first locomotive in New South Wales, the Boulton & Watt engine, a steam powered carousel, stand alone steam engines, and many industrial machines from the age of steam power. I was intrigued by a huge box kite that appeared to be used for flying a person to altitude. The air and space section had replicas of a Russian lunar surface explorer, space capsules, and a weightless laboratory that visitors could enter and experience an illusion of being weightless. Another of the museums favorite attractions is the Strasburg Clock model built by a Sydney clockmaker, Richard B. Smith, at the age of 25 as a centenary ‘gift’ to the state of New South Wales. He began work on Australia Day in 1897 and three years later the clock was on display at the Technological Museum (as the Powerhouse Museum was then called). I returned home on Sunday, July 11th. See pictures from Sydney Back to Top

May 2010 Maui Travel Notes

I flew to Maui, Hawaii, on May 27th for a weekend visit. I rented a car and drove to my hotel, the historic Best Western Pioneer Inn, at Lahaina. It was originally built in 1901 and the addition to the hotel in the 1960’s maintained the original design. It has the distinction of being the oldest continuously operated hotel in Hawaii. I had a room with a balcony that overlooked the square where the Lahaina Banyan tree grows. The banyan tree was planted in the early 1900’s and has grown over the years to be nearly one acre in size – truly a Maui landmark. I also enjoyed walking around Lahaina and admiring the architecture and sculptures. While at Maui, I visited the Maui Ocean Center which is a very nice aquarium. I particularly enjoyed the reef fish exhibits which displayed the different kinds of fish found at various depths of the reefs. I also drove the road to Hana with its 617 curves and 56 one-lane bridges while managing to enjoy some of the gorgeous scenery along the way. I drove to the summit of Haleakala National Park which is 10,023 feet above sea level. The summit area was above the clouds and I had to drive thru the clouds to reach it. The multi-color views of the volcano crater from the Kalahaku Overlook and from the summit area were spectacular. I would like to return to the park and hike some of the trails within the crater. Another highlight of my brief visit was the Iao Valley State Park which is a valley that contains a rain forest and is not very far from the Maui airport. The main attraction is the Ioa Needle (Kuka‘emoku) which is a geological formation that rises to an elevation of 2250 feet above sea level and is covered with lush vegetation. Prior to returning home on May 31st, I also explored the coastlines of West Maui and South Maui. My favorite beach area was Honokohau Bay along the West Maui coast which I would like to explore with snorkeling gear on a return trip next year. See pictures from Maui Back to Top

March-April 2010 South America - Ushuaia to Chile aboard the Europa Travel Notes

I booked a reservation as a crew trainee aboard the tall ship Bark Europa for the voyage from Ushuaia, Argentina, to Valparaiso, Chile, as part of the tall ships South America Bicentennial celebration. The Europa was scheduled to join the celebration at Ushuaia after completing her scheduled Antarctica voyages. The Chilean Government was in charge of the Chilean segment of the celebration and the tall ships were to sail around Cape Horn Island and then sail through the Canal Beagle (Beagle Channel) from East to West. The ships would then continue to sail through the fjords into the Strait of Magellan to Punta Arenas, Chile. The ships were to continue from Punta Arenas through the Chilean fjords to Talcahuano. After exiting the fjords, there was to be a tall ships race to Valparaiso, Chile. Due to the earthquakes in Chile, the tall ships scheduled visit to Talcahuano as well as many of the Chilean on-shore festivities were cancelled but the ten tall ships drew huge crowds of people who came out to view and to tour them at Punta Arenas and at Valparaiso. I arrived at Buenos Aires on March 18th and spent two nights at the Jacaranda Studio & Suite B&B situated in Palermo Soho. I had the studio apartment and Lillian, the owner, made me feel right at home. Just a few doors away on the other side of the street is the Efimero Festin restaurant which I found to be superb – Carolina, the co-owner and chef, prepared a special salad for me as well as her wonderful curry with rice main course. After spending a couple of days in Buenos Aires, Argentina, I flew to Ushuaia to board the Europa. While waiting to collect my checked baggage, I met four other passengers from the plane who were also joining the Europa. The tall ships were docked along the pier and were a spectacular sight from the taxi en route to my hotel. Although I had been to Ushuaia several times before, I had never taken the Beagle Channel (Canal Beagle) boat tour to the penguin island to see the Magellan Penguin colony. After I checked into my hotel, I booked a reservation to go to the penguin island the following morning. The trip to the penguin island took most of the day and, after returning to the dock, I walked along the pier to view some of the tall ships. I boarded the Europa and renewed some acquaintances with some of the permanent crew from my prior voyages – some were leaving after the last Antarctica voyage and some others were just arriving for the current voyage. I made arrangements to bring my luggage aboard the following morning prior to the official afternoon boarding time. I boarded the Europa at 4:30 PM on March 22nd at Ushuaia, Argentina, and settled in for the voyage. That evening Ushuaia put on a large fireworks display on the pier as part of the final evening celebration for the tall ships. The Europa departed Ushuaia on March 23rd at 11:20 AM as part of the Parade of Tall Ships with a military band playing for us as we departed from our position at the dock. This would be my fourth voyage aboard the Europa. The crew consisted of regular crewmembers and crew trainees like me. After shipboard indoctrination, the crew trainees were divided into four watch teams – Red, White, and Blue. I was assigned to the Blue watch team. The Red, White, and Blue watch teams were assigned watch schedules covering twenty four hours per day. The watch duties consisted of stationing two people on the forward bow deck as lookouts and having one person steering the ship from the helm. In addition, any available crew trainees were requested to assist the regular crew with configuring the sails during the voyage. When the ship was anchored, the watch members performed anchor watch duties. The initial rotation schedule for the Blue watch was as follows: March 23 – 2 PM to 4 PM March 24 – midnight to 4 AM March 24 – noon to 2 PM March 24 – 8 PM to midnight March 25 – 8 AM to noon March 25 – 4 PM to 8 PM March 26 – 4 AM to 8 AM March 26 – 2 PM to 4 PM when the Blue watch continued to repeat the above schedule rotations for the remainder of the voyage. The final Blue watch was on April 13th from 4 AM to 8 AM and occurred as an anchor watch just prior to sailing into position for the Parade of Tall Ships sailing into the Valparaiso Harbor on April 13th. The weather during our Blue watches in the fjords was generally cold with occasional rain showers which provided many spectacular rainbows. The weather warmed up as we approached Acud and we had an occasional star filled night. During the voyage we experienced many magnificent sunsets, sunrises, moonrises, and moonsets. I enjoyed being able to occasionally see the Southern Cross with the two pointing stars and to try to estimate our heading before confirming the course with the ship’s compass. Two Chilean pilots boarded the Europa at Ushuaia to oversee our voyage to Cape Horn and then through the fjords North to Acud, Chile, where the Europa entered the open Pacific Ocean to sail as part of the tall ships race to Valparaiso. We were fortunate to have had Jordie Piana on board as a guide. Jordie currently resides in Chile and has been doing marine research in the Chilean fjords for the past several years. Jordie was able to negotiate a special course with the pilots and Chilean Government for the Europa that included zodiac landings and special fjord glacier visits that were in addition to the regular tall ships itinerary with the caveat that the Europa would join the other tall ships at specified times and places. We sailed eastbound from Ushuaia in the Beagle Channel (Canal Beagle) and then south through other channels to Cape Horn Island. We sailed around Cape Horn Island early in the morning of March 23rd and the Chilean Government took photos of the tall ships sailing past Cape Horn. After sailing around Cape Horn, we sailed back to the Beagle Channel and continued sailing westbound past Ushuaia. We made our first zodiac landing at Holland Glacier situated near the entrance to the north fork of the Beagle Channel. We hiked up a mountain for a better view of the glacier and to see the native vegetation. We continued sailing westbound in the north fork of the Beagle Channel and then sailed northbound up the Garibaldi Inlet (Seno Garibaldi) to the Garibaldi Glacier where we made a zodiac landing at a cave adjacent to the glacier. We returned to the Beagle Channel and continued westbound exiting the Beagle Channel and continuing to sail northeast bound through other Chilean channels. We entered Ainsworth Bay (Bahia Ainsworth) where we bartered with some local fishermen for some fish and a large sack full of scallops. We made a zodiac landing at Bahia Ainsworth where we viewed some elephant seals and hiked to an area to see several beaver dams. We continued sailing northeast through the channels and into Almirantazgo Inlet (Seno Almirantazgo). We anchored overnight at the entrance to Parry Bay (Bahia Parry) on March 27th so that we could sail into this uncharted channel early the following morning. We began sailing southbound in Bahia Parry and sailed all the way to the end where five glaciers feed into the bay. We returned to Seno Almirantazgo and sailed eastbound to Albatross Island which is situated near the end of the inlet. Jordie has been doing research on a Black Browed Albatross colony that was discovered on the island during 2003 when they named the island Albatross Island. We made a zodiac landing and were fortunate to find several young albatross chicks still remaining on their nests – we were the only group other than researchers to have visited the island with Jordie. We sailed back to the entrance of Seno Almirantazgo and then northbound to the Strait of Magellan where we rejoined the tall ships at Punto Arenas on March 29th. We spent a couple of days at Punta Arenas where I visited the cemetery, the Maggiorino Borgatello museum, and walked around exploring the downtown area. We departed Punta Arenas on March 31st as part of the Tall Ships Parade of Sail and continued westbound through the Strait of Magellan past Cape Forward which is the southernmost portion of land on the continent of South America. Upon exiting the Strait of Magellan, we sailed northbound through the Chilean channels. As we continued northbound through the channels, we made a zodiac landing at the Fairway Island Lighthouse where we met the lighthouse keeper and his family. As we continued northbound, we entered into Amalia Inlet (Estero Amalia) and sailed eastbound to the end to view the Skua Glacier. After sailing back out of Estero Amalia we continued northbound through the channels to our next zodiac landing which was at the village of Puerto Eden. We continued northbound through some very narrow channels and made our last zodiac landing at Locos Island (Isla Locos) where we viewed many South American fur seals – these fur seals are a different species than the Antarctic fur seals that I had seen on prior trips to Antarctica. We continued northwest to Acud where our Chilean pilots disembarked on April 6th, and we rejoined the other tall ships to prepare for the tall ships race to Valparaiso. Soon after we began sailing northbound out of Acud, we encountered quite a few blue whales with several surfacing near the starboard bow of the Europa. Encountering the blue whales was really exciting since sighting blue whales is a relatively rare experience. Klass, the Europa Captain, said that in his over forty years of sailing, this was only the third time that he has been fortunate enough to see blue whales. The tall ships race was postponed for a couple of days due to lack of wind and the ships continued sailing further north hoping for better wind conditions each following day. The race was finally started at 9:00 AM on April 10th, and the Europa crossed the finish line at 2:06 AM on April 11th. After finishing the race, we anchored at Green Lagoon (Laguna Verde) just south of Valparaiso. On April 13th at 7:00 AM, the Europa sailed into position for the Parade of Tall Ships sailing into the Valparaiso Harbor. Each of the ten tall ships was greeted at the dock by a military band playing music and by people in local costumes dancing. Thousands of people came to the dock every day to view and to tour the ten ships until they sailed away as another Parade of Tall Ships on April 18th. In addition, during the voyage, Jordie prepared an electronic Europa Voyage Logbook that each crewmember received upon disembarking at Valparaiso. Since I believe that it sets a new standard for voyage logbooks, I have attached it here (it is a large PDF file, so please be patient while it downloads). I disembarked from the Europa during the morning of April 16th and took a taxi to my hotel, the Harrington B&B. After washing a few shirts, I continued exploring Valparaiso and vicinity. Valparaiso is a picturesque and colorful port city on the western coast of Chile that encompasses many large hills somewhat similar to Lisbon, Portugal. Although the hillside and hilltop neighborhoods are accessible by roads, many have funiculars which transport passengers up and down the hills to the level portion of the city between the coastline and the hills. The port of Valparaiso is now home to a huge container ship operation and is adjacent to the oldest part of Valparaiso (old city). Much of the picturesque old city remains in a state of disrepair. Many buildings in the old city are vacant and some have only the original exterior walls remaining while the city hopes to eventually restore much of the old city. The old city was one of my favorite places to explore but some people are occasionally victims to purse snatchers, camera snatchers, and such. One of my favorite Valparaiso restaurants was the Mariscos Anita restaurant that was situated on a corner in the middle of the old city – I frequently met Paul Hicks, another Europa sailor, there for lunch. Paul and I frequently teamed up to explore many parts of Valparaiso, Vina Del Mar, and Limache. I found the architecture of Valparaiso to be extremely interesting. Many of the older buildings were fabricated from corrugated steel which was transported to Valparaiso by ship. It was a strong construction material that was very easy to stack in large quantities for shipment to Valparaiso. Valparaiso has more than a dozen funiculars. Although some tourists aspire to ride all of the funiculars, I only rode three of them. The first was Funicular Artilleria (Assensor Artilleria) to the top of Artillery Hill (Cerro Artilleria) which directly overlooks the container port and the Bateria Esmeralda. The Bateria Esmeralda is the Chilean Navy port where the tall ships were docked for the bicentennial celebration festivities. Cerro Artilleria is home to the Chilean Naval Museum and the “blue house” which is visible from much of downtown Valparaiso. I enjoyed visiting the naval museum and the surrounding hilltop overlook area with street vendors. Instead of returning by the funicular, I walked the winding streets from Cerro Artilleria to the downtown old city in order to explore the local neighborhood. The second funicular that I rode was Assensor Concepcion to the top of Cerro Concepcion which was the hilltop area where my B&B was situated. It was a charming and colorful upper class neighborhood which overlooked the Turri Clock, the bay, and a newer downtown portion of Valparaiso. It was from this hilltop overlook that I watched as the Parade of Tall Ships sailed away from Valparaiso on April 18th to continue the bicentennial celebration regatta. The third funicular that I rode was Assensor Espirita Santo from Victoria Plaza area to the top of Cerro Bellavista. This area is one of the most colorful areas in Valparaiso and is the home of the Open Air Museum where murals have been painted on retaining walls and on buildings. Cerro Bellavista was one of my favorite areas to explore. Avenue Brasil is one of the main streets in Valparaiso that runs parallel to the shoreline. It goes past several picturesque plazas and has several monuments situated in the center median of the avenue. The largest plaza in Valparaiso appeared to be Plaza Sotomayor which is home to the Lost Heroes Monument and appeared to separate the old city from the newer parts of Valparaiso. It is where I observed a large collection of old restored automobiles on display one afternoon and a military band in concert in the evening. Paul and I took the train for a day trip to visit Limache and Vina Del Mar – the train runs from Valparaiso to Limache. Limache is a small inland city which was colorful and fun to explore. It is located in an area that has been irrigated and where local farmers grow large amounts of produce. Vina Del Mar is an upper class city to the north of Valparaiso and appears to be more modern that Valparaiso. My main objective at Vina Del Mar was to visit the archeological museum (Museo de Arquelogica) which reportedly has a large collection of original items from Easter Island. When we arrived at the museum, we found that it had sustained earthquake damage and was closed for repairs. We found that unlike Valparaiso which is built mostly on rock, Vina Del Mar was built on softer ground and consequently suffered more extensive earthquake damage than structures at Valparaiso. We took a taxi from the museum to the Naval Artillery School (Escula de Armamentos) which overlooks the ocean and then walked several kilometers along the shoreline back to Vina Del Mar. We stopped along the way at Castillo Wulff, a landmark structure on the coast which is now an art gallery. I took the bus from Valparaiso to the main bus station in Santiago on April 19th and then took a taxi to Caso Moro, my bed & breakfast hotel. It was situated on a residential street near a university and also very near to the central downtown area. Walter and Marcelo operate this wonderful B&B and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. In fact, one evening they prepared a wonderful traditional Chilean dinner for the guests at the B&B – complete with appetizers, pisco sours, dinner, wine, coffee or tea, and desert. That was the best meal that I had while I was in Chile. While in Santiago, I walked around much of the downtown area as I explored central Santiago. One of my most memorable visits was to the Pre Columbian Art Museum – it has an amazing collection of artifacts on display. I visited the Plaza de Armas where I entered the Cathedral of Santiago and observed many monuments. The Palacio La Moneda is the presidential palace and it faces two huge plazas that are home to many monuments. I ate lunch one day at the Central Seafood Market and explored the old train station (Estacion Mapocho) which is now an art gallery. I also explored the neighborhood in the vicinity of the La Vega Produce Market. I thoroughly enjoyed walking around downtown Santiago and admiring the architecture and picturesque buildings. I was also amazed at the number of open area parks in the downtown area. One morning I took the subway train to the Santiago Sculpture Garden which was very enjoyable to explore. I then took the funicular to the top of San Cristobal Hill to visit the statue of the Virgin Mary that overlooks Santiago. The funicular stops approximately half way up the hill at the entrance to the Santiiago Zoo for people who are visiting the zoo. After visiting San Cristobal Hill, I walked through Parque Forestal from the Plaza Italia back to the central downtown area. Parque Forestal is a very long park that contains sculptures and monuments as well as the Bella Artes Museum which also houses some wonderful sculptures. I very much enjoyed my time at Santiago and would like to make a return visit at some future time. I flew from Santiago to Buenos Aires on April 22nd and spent a couple of nights back at the Jacaranda Studio & Suite B&B. While in Buenos Aires I re-visited the Efimero Festin restaurant where Carolina greeted me by name as I entered the restaurant and prepared two more wonderful meals for me. I flew home from Buenos Aires on April 24th. See pictures from the Europa and South America Back to Top

February 2010 Bucharest Travel Notes

I arrived at Bucharest, Romania, during the afternoon of Friday, February 5, 2010. After clearing Romanian Immigration, I found an ATM and procured some Romanian new Lie to pay for expenses in Bucharest. The weather was partly cloudy and cold with lots of snow on the ground. I took a taxi from the airport to my hotel and rested up after my long flights from Los Angeles before leaving the hotel in the evening to explore the local neighborhood. I stayed at the Hotel Venezia which faces the Piata Mihail Kogalniceanu in central Bucharest about one km from the main downtown intersection at piata December 1989. It was cold and dark when I left the hotel and I was amazed to find that the sidewalks were covered with snow and ice which made walking difficult – nearly everyone was slipping and sliding as they walked along the sidewalks. I walked to the Piara December 1989 and explored the University subway station and admired the architecture of the buildings. I returned to my hotel and made a list of the tourist attractions that I most wanted to see the following day.  After breakfast on Saturday, February 6, I got a tourist map and directions to the nearest subway station from the hotel front desk and braved the snow and ice covered sidewalks to the subway. I purchased a ten trip subway ticket and headed off to Piata Romana (Romana Square) to see the 5th Century B.C. bronze Lupa Capitolina (Capitoline Wolf) statue that was cast in the Tiber Valley. It is approximately life-size and depicts the she-wolf suckling a pair of infant human boys, representing the legendary founders of the city of Rome, Romulus, and Remus.   I located the 331 Bus and made my way to the 27 meter tall Arcul de Triumf (Arch of Triumph). The first wooden triumphal arch was hurriedly built after Romania had gained its independence in 1878 so the victorious troops could march under it. Another temporary arch, built on the same site in 1922 after World War 1, was demolished in 1935 to make way for the current triumphal arch which was inaugurated in September 1936. After walking around the intersection at the arch, I took the bus back to Piata Romana and then took the subway to Piata December 1989. I admired the statue of Michael the Brave and, with some help from a bus ticket salesperson, I took another bus to the 42 meter tall Foisorul du Foc (Fire Observation Tower). It was used by the firefighters until 1935 when it became ineffective as more high buildings were being erected in Bucharest and the telephone reduced the need for a watchtower. It was turned into a Firefighters’ Museum in 1963.   I walked from the Fire Observation Tower to the Templul Elen (Hellenic Temple) which is also known as the Greek Church. It was built between 1893 and 1900 by the Greek Government for the Greek diplomatic representation in Romania. Since there was no nearby bus stop, I continued walking back toward city center and came to Piata Pache Protopopescu which had an interesting statue, presumably of Mr. Protopopescu. I continued walking until I reached a bus stop and took the bus back to Piata December 1989 and admired the Bucharest National Theater. I walked past the Sutu Palace and decided to walk along I. O. Bratianu toward Piata Unirii. I passed Piata St. Gheorghe and the beautiful church Bis. Ort. St. Gheorghe. I also passed the Roman Catholic church Bis. Rom.-Cat. Baratiei en route to the historical monument Templul Coral (Coral Temple) built in 1866, 1932 and 1945. When I arrived at the Coral Temple, it was once again undergoing renovation. As I continued on toward Curtea Veche (Old Princely Court) I came across a wonderful tiny church, Bis. Ort. St. Ioan, situated near Piata Uniril. The weather was deteriorating and snow grains were in the air as I arrived at Curtea Veche. Curtea Veche was reportedly built as a place of residence during the rule of Vlad the Devil in the 15th century. It is now an archeological site and operates as a museum which I decided to tour. A portion of the museum consists of underground excavations and the caretaker accompanied me as a guide.   After visiting the museum, I took the subway from Piata Uniril to the Izvor subway station at Parcul Izvor to explore the area of the historical old city that was demolished by Nicolae Ceausescu to make room for the Parliament Palace which is the world’s second largest building (after the US Pentagon) and formally named “Casa Poporudu” (People’s House). One-ninth of Bucharest was reconstructed to accommodate “Casa Poporudu” and its surroundings. Casa Poporudu, which was built in 1984 by Nicolae Ceausescu, spans 12 stories, has 3100 rooms, and covers 330,000 sq meters. The building has a vast collection of marble rooms, with 100 percent of the marble and all of the original decorations coming from Romania.  As I walked along B-dul Libertatii to Casa Poporudu the weather continued to deteriorate into blowing snow flurries. Casa Poporudu is so large that I had to cross over to Piata Constutiei in order to squeeze it into a single photograph. B-dul Unril is an enormous street that runs from Piata Constutiei eastward through Piata Unirii and beyond. I could only imagine how beautiful Casa Poporudu would be on a clear summer day as viewed from B-dul Unril during the afternoon when the sun would be shining on it. Since the weather continued to deteriorate, I walked back to my hotel and decided to try to visit several museums on Sunday.   Unfortunately, the snow increased into near blizzard conditions during the evening and heavy snow was still falling on Sunday morning. After breakfast, I decided to brave the weather and I walked through heavy snow to the Izvor subway station and took the subway to the University Station to go to Bucharest Municipal Museum in Palatul Sutu (Sutu Palace). Palatu Sutu was built between 1833 and 1834 in the Neogothic architectural style. The interior décor was very beautiful with a massive staircase to the second floor and a huge mirror behind the landing midway up the stairway. As one stands in front of the stairway from both the ground level and the second story, a clock has a prominent position on the reflection in the mirror – the clock runs backward and has a backward dial face so the reflection in the mirror depicts the correct time. The museum had quite a few objects relating to the history of Bucharest as well as some objects from prehistoric times.   As I departed from the museum, heavy snow was still falling with a strong wind blowing. I decided that it was not prudent for me to take long walks on the treacherous sidewalks to the other buildings and museums that I had planned to visit, so I returned to my hotel. That evening I requested a very early wakeup call and arranged for a 3:00 a.m. taxi to the international airport to catch my 5:40 a.m. flight to Frankfurt, Germany.   The taxi was on time and the snow continued falling. As we departed the hotel, the taxi nearly became stuck in the snow on one of the narrow streets. After regaining traction and successfully making it to a main street, we continued to the airport as fleets of snowplows were busy plowing snow. Large equipment was also being used to scoop up piles of snow and to load it into large trucks for transport to someplace away from the streets of Bucharest. Upon arriving at the airport, I was glad my journey through the snowstorm had been successful and that I was able to see most of my high priority sights during my long weekend at Bucharest. After checking into my flight, I actually looked forward to the long flights home. See pictures from Bucharest Back to Top

January 2010 India Travel Notes

I arrived in Mumbai, India, at about midnight during the night of January 6, 2010, after spending a couple of days in Bangkok, Thailand, en route from Los Angeles to India. After clearing Indian Immigration, I located my driver from the Renaissance Mumbai Hotel which is situated beside Lake Powai in North Mumbai. There was not much traffic between the international airport and the hotel that late at night and after clearing the various hotel security checkpoints, I checked into the hotel. Hotel security in Mumbai is very comprehensive following the November 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks. The Renaissance Mumbai hotel security routine consisted of the car being stopped at a remote checkpoint where the car and contents were searched by security personnel with a large dog, and a second checkpoint before entering the hotel. At the second checkpoint both me and my luggage were screened – my luggage was passed through a metal detector and also hand searched, I was directed through a metal detector and patted down by a security person. In addition, there was a tent at the checkpoint where women were screened by female security personnel. This was the usual routine for each time I would return to the hotel.  After breakfast the following morning, I arranged for a hotel car and driver to take me to South Mumbai to the Gateway of India to catch the ferry to Elephanta Island. Elephanta Island is situated eleven kilometers east of South Mumbai beyond the Mumbai Harbour. It is noted for the Elephanta Caves – beautiful rock-cut cave temples dedicated to the Hindu God Shiva. The literature dates these cave temples to a period between 600-635 AD, and the cave sculptures are most impressive. As we departed the hotel, this would be my first look at Mumbai in the daylight. The visibility was approximately 2.5 km visible with smoke in the atmosphere. The drive to the Gateway of India was approximately 30 km and took about one and one-half hours. I was immediately impressed by the large numbers of black and yellow auto-rickshaws and black and yellow taxis. My driver informed me that all of the black and yellow auto-rickshaws and taxis were powered by clean natural gas (CNG) – quite a contrast to the auto-rickshaws in Thailand (tuk tuks with their two-cycle always-smoking engines). I would estimate that nearly forty per cent of the automobile traffic that we saw were CNG black and yellow taxis and auto-rickshaws – so far ahead of the United States in clean motor vehicle energy!   As we continued our drive toward South Mumbai, my driver also told me that the population of Mumbai was about nineteen million people and that about forty per cent of them live in the slums of Mumbai. The slums can be found nearly anywhere and co-exist beside modern residential areas. My driver also said that the government builds large apartment complexes and gives them to people living in the slums and that many of these people later sell them and move back into the slums. After crossing the Bandra-Worli Sea Link Bridge which is still undergoing construction, we entered South Mumbai. My driver also informed me that auto-rickshaws are banned from entering South Mumbai. South Mumbai had a very different look with tree lined streets and abundant vegetation.  We drove past the Oberoi Trident hotel which was one of the hotels attacked in November 2008 and continued to the Gateway of India which was built in 1927 and is the city’s most enduring symbol. After parking the car, we walked past the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower hotel which is situated across the street from the Gateway of India and is still undergoing repairs from the November 2008 terrorist attack. I boarded a ferry to Elephanta Island and enjoyed the one hour boat ride to the island. The dock for the ferry is approximately one km from the island and people can either walk or take a small train along the new jetty to the island – I chose to walk. After reaching the island, it is approximately another km up a mountain to the caves via a very long rock stairway. Merchants lined both sides of the stairway from top to bottom selling souvenirs to tourists and a couple of restaurants were also situated alongside the stairway. Although I hiked up and down the stairs, it was possible to hire several people to carry you up and/or down the stairs in a chair supported by two long poles attached to the sides of the chair.   Upon reaching the top of the stairway, I paid my entrance fees and set off to explore the cave temples. There are at least seven cave temples on the mountain numbered #1 thru #7. Cave temple #1 is the largest and most elaborate and is the main attraction. I decided to pass up cave temple #1 and hike to the farthest away temple and then work my way back. After passing cave #5, I encountered a barricade and sign stating that Cannon Hill and caves #6 and #7 were currently closed to the public. I marveled at how much labor must have been expended chiseling these cave temples out of the mountain rock mountain and to also carve the beautiful and intricate deep-relief sculptures. I then explored cave temples #5, #4, #3 and #2 as I made my way back to cave #1. Cave #1 is truly spectacular. It is an unusually large excavation which is supported by rows of massive pillars – the main portion of the cave shrine has 26 supporting rock columns. The walls of the cave shrines have panels with spectacular deep-relief sculptured scenes. The temple faces to the North where one enters through a porch and there are two additional porches to the East and West, both of these leading to courtyards of subsidiary shrines.  After exploring the cave temples, I ate lunch at a restaurant about halfway down the mountain and then hiked back to the ferry dock. After another hour ferry ride back to the Gateway of India, I located my driver and returned to my hotel continuing to marvel at the large quantity of CNG black and yellow vehicles on the streets.  On the morning of January 8, I arranged for another hotel car and driver to go to the Kanheri Caves. The Kanheri Caves consist of 109 rock-cut caves near the top of a mountain in the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. The term Kanheri has been derived from a Sanskrit term “Krishnagin” which means “black in color.” The caves are situated about 1,500 feet above sea level and have been chiseled out of a gigantic basaltic rock mountain. The cave sculptures depict the Buddha in numerous forms. These caves are dated from the 2nd Century BC to the 9th Century AD, and many were the abode of Buddhist monks. The literature states that the Kanheri Caves are an excellent illustration which portrays the rise and fall of Buddhism in India. Exploring the area also allows the visitor to view many watercourses of the ancient water system and cisterns for the caves. The majority of the caves are small cells with a stone platform to serve as a bed. Several of the caves are quite large and have elaborate inscriptions and deep-relief sculptures.  After paying my entrance fees, the first cave that I came to was Cave #1. Caves #1, #2, #3 and #4 are situated side by side. Cave #1 remains unfinished and may have been intended to be two stories high. Cave #2 is larger and has two stupas with beautiful sculptures on the surrounding walls. The literature states that Chaitya Cave #3 is the largest and most architecturally elaborate cave at Kanheri. It is the most important cathedral or Chaitya of the Kanheri caves. The Chaitya is a Buddhist shrine and typically is a long hall with an arched ceiling with two rows of pillars that further divide the hall into a central nave and two narrow aisles on either sides of the nave in its longer axis. Almost at the inner extreme of the hall is a stupa with a hemispherical top, the object of worship in the Chaitya. Cave #3 is the second largest cave Chaitya in India, the largest being the Chaitya of Karla near Pune. In addition to an elaborate entrance and spectacular sculptured scenes, it has two gigantic figures of Buddha that are approximately 6 meters tall – these are some of the tallest images of Buddha in India. Cave #4 is a small cave with a stupa and the background of the stupa is carved with Buddha in different postures.  As I continued to hike toward additional caves I marveled at the stairs, terraces and footpaths that are all carved out of on the surface of the hard volcanic rock. I was also impressed at the Kanheri waterworks which included channels carved in the rock and cisterns. The views of the surrounding landscapes and caves were spectacular. Additional caves that I found to be of exceptional interest were Cave #34 which was a dark cave with some paintings of Buddha on the ceiling, and Caves #11, #41 and #67 which all had elaborate sculptures.  After hiking back to the parking lot, we drove to the Jain Temple that is situated adjacent to the entrance to the park. I briefly visited the temple and then we drove back to my hotel. I spent the remainder of the afternoon downloading and editing photos.  Since I had arranged for a late checkout on January 9, I arranged for another hotel car and driver for a half-day sightseeing trip of Mumbai. The hotel said that they would provide a guide for Mumbai sightseeing at no additional charge. I met my driver and Aziz, my guide, after breakfast and we set off to explore some of the tourist sights of Mumbai. Although the guide was no charge, he appeared to be employed by several high end stores geared for tourists that I would be required to visit during our sightseeing. As we departed the hotel, my guide asked me what was of particular interest for me to see and I gave him a list that I had prepared. I commented at how little traffic there was on the highway and Aziz informed me that there is much less traffic on a Saturday morning.   We crossed the Bandra-Worli Sea Link Bridge and entered South Mumbai to proceed to Dhobi Ghat. Dhobi Ghat is an enormous outdoor laundry employing over one thousand people where residents of Mumbai take their clothes to be washed and ironed professionally. Aziz informed me that the Dhobi Ghat laundry originally laundered the uniforms of the British soldiers stationed at Mumbai prior to India’s receiving independence from Great Britain. Aziz also said that somehow the laundry manages to keep track of each person’s individual items of clothing – an amazing sight indeed. Our next stop was at Mani Bhavan, the three story house where Mahatama Gandhi lived from 1917 to 1934. It is now a museum to the lifelong achievements of Gandhi.  We continued on to the Hanging Gardens situated on the crest of Malbar Hill. These are magnificent gardens above reservoirs constructed in 1921 to contain 30 million gallons of water as the municipal water supply of Mumbai. The Tower of Silence on Malbar Hill is adjacent to the Hanging Gardens and visibility of the tower is obscured by trees and foliage. The Tower of Silence is the open grounds where the Parsis leave the bodies of their dead to be eaten by vultures and only persons of Parsi descent are permitted entrance. As we descended from Malbar Hill, we drove beside the Tower of Silence compound and observed a large number of vultures circling above the grounds.  We continued our Mumbai tour by viewing sights that included the Rajabi Clock Tower, Wilson College, the Post Office, Town Hall, and the Police Headquarters. We also drove past the Leopold Cafe and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (also known as Victoria Terminus) – both of these locations were targeted in the November 1008 attacks. We also drove through the Dharavi slum district and then visited the St Thomas Cathedral, a very beautiful old church. We stopped at several of the tourist shops and stores required by Aziz.   Although I was not interested in tourist shopping, I was hoping to locate a guidebook to the Kanheri Caves that I had visited yesterday. Aziz took me to several bookstores and finally to the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower hotel. We checked out the hotel bookstore and then went to the hotel restaurant overlooking the Gateway of India. Aziz made several telephone calls and finally located someone with a used guidebook. While I ate lunch at the restaurant, Aziz left and returned with the used guidebook – I could hardly believe how hard it was to locate a copy of the guidebook but Aziz was persistent. After lunch, we met my driver and I said good-by to Aziz before we drove back to the hotel.   After returning to the hotel, I checked out of my room, went to the lounge and took a few photos of Lake Powai. I noticed a large crocodile sunning itself on the bank of the lake – cattle grazing nearby and less than a kilometer away several small boys were swimming in the lake. On the opposite side of the hotel large modern high rise buildings towered above an area of slums. Later in the evening, I took the hotel car to the International Airport to catch my flights back to Bangkok and onward to Phuket, Thailand.  I arrived in Patong, Phuket, Thailand, during the evening of January 10. I was planning to rest up at Patong for a couple of days and then continue on to either Phi Phi Island or to the Similan Islands for snorkeling with the fish among the beautiful coral. After dinner on January 11, I was hit by a motorcycle taxi with a paying passenger aboard as I was waiting to cross a road near my hotel. The motorcycle taxi was on the wrong side of the road, and I never saw the impact coming. I regained consciousness in the Patong Hospital Emergency Room while undergoing treatment. I received very good treatment for my injuries and, after I was discharged, I took a taxi back to my hotel. I spent the next several days resting and returning to the hospital where they changed the bandages for my wounds. I am fortunate that I did not see the impact coming and did not have time for my muscles to tense up which probably accounts for no broken bones. I flew home from Bangkok on January 20. My doctor in Los Angeles removed the stitches from my head and right ear after I returned home – the sprains to my left wrist and hand, left knee, right hand, and neck will probably take some time to mend, but all is well that ends well. See pictures from India Back to Top

November 15, 2009 Laos & Thailand Travel Notes

Subsequent to booking an airline ticket to Thailand, I sent an E-mail to Mr. Soulinga in Laos to see if he was still an official Lao Government approved tour guide and if he would be interested in accompanying me for travel in Laos during November. I had previously hired Soulinga to be my Government approved tour guide for my trip to Laos during April 2007. After a couple of weeks, I received a reply and we worked out a travel itinerary where he would provide transportation and would be my driver and tour guide for my visit to Laos. With the Laos travel in place, I decided to return to Phuket and Phi Phi Island while in Thailand before meeting Soulinga in Laos. I arrived in Thailand and spent a few days at Phi Phi Island and returned to Mosquito Island for snorkeling. The coral is still in decent shape at Mosquito Island and I was fortunate to spot a Leopard Shark approximately three meters long sleeping on the sea floor in relatively shallow water. I had seen small reef sharks in the Andaman Sea on prior occasions but his was the first large shark that I had seen. Although the shark tended to blend into the sea floor, I managed to get a couple of photos. The remainder of my snorkeling was relaxing among the spectacular coral and beautiful fishes. After Phuket, I spent a couple of days at Udon Thani, Thailand while coordinating final Laos travel details with Soulinga. I took a taxi from Udon Thani to the Friendship Bridge at 7:30 AM on the morning of November 8 and carried my luggage through Thai Immigration as I was processed out of Thailand. The Friendship Bridge spans the Mekong River between Nong Khai, Thailand, and Vientiane, Laos. I then boarded a bus which transported me across the bridge to the Laos Immigration station. After completing the “Visa on Arrival” procedures, I was processed into Laos. I was greeted by Soulinga as I exited Lao Immigration and we took my luggage to the mini bus that he had provided. Our first stop was to be at Phonsavanh to visit the Plain of Jars. During my April 2007 visit, we had driven Laos Highway 13 North to Vang Vieng and back to Vientiane. Highway 13 is the main Laos North/South highway and extends from southern Laos to the China border in the North. Although it is the main highway, it is a two-lane road that tends to be treacherous to drive as it snakes its way through the mountains in northern Laos. Of course, most of our travel would be on Highway 13 with the remainder on another two-lane road, Highway 7, from Phoukhoun to Phonsavanh. Highway 7 runs from Phoukhoun eastward to the Vietnam border and is equally treacherous as it also snakes its way through spectacular rugged mountains. Many small Lao ethnic hill-tribe villages are situated alongside of Highways 7 and 13. I was impressed by the number of satellite television dishes in the various hill-tribe villages. We stopped for lunch at Kasi which is situated north of Vang Vieng. As we continued north to Phoukhoun, the mountains became much more rugged and the mountain landscape was spectacular and our average speed was approximately 20 miles per hour. The only bridges on Highway 13 are to cross rivers and streams. When we reached Phoukhoun, Highway 13 veered to the left and we took Highway 7 eastbound toward Phonsavanh and the mountains became increasingly more rugged. As we approached Phonsavanh, the mountains became much less rugged and there were areas where large rice patties were possible. We arrived at Phonsavanh at about 5:30 PM, and I checked into the Vansana – Plain of Jars hotel. My first travel day consisted of more than ten hours traveling by taxi and my mini bus. Soulinga and I discussed my desire to visit Sites 1, 2, and 3 of the Plain of Jars in the morning before continuing on to Luang Prabang and we decided to leave the hotel at 7:00 AM. After a long travel day and with an early morning ahead of me, I opted to eat dinner at the hotel and went to bed early. The Plain of Jars is a large area that extends around the town of Phonsavanh from the southwest to the northeast where huge jars of unknown origin are scattered about. The jars were created from solid stone – most from a stone similar to sandstone but some were made from granite. Nobody knows the origin or purpose of the jars which are several thousand years old and weigh up to three tons each. Due to its proximity to North Vietnam, this area was situated on the “Ho Chi Min Trail” and was one of the most heavily bombed areas in Laos between 1964 and 1973. In addition, defoliant which was also dropped on the area during the Viet Nam war, eliminated large parts of the forest. I was reminded that children in Laos are injured daily from unexploded ordnance remaining after the carpet bombing campaign during the war. The tourist office in Phonsavanh has hundreds of different bomb casings and recovered ordnance in the courtyard in front of and alongside the tourist office/museum building. The Mines Advisory Group (MAG) Unexploded Ordnance Program (UXG) cleared the Plain of Jars 1, 2, and 3 between 27 January 2005 and 28 March 2005. It was a joint project with UNESCO, the National Tourist Authority of LAO PDR and the Ministry of Information and Culture with funding provided by nzaid. Square stone markers, one half red and one half white, designate the safe zone within the sites – areas between the white have been UXG sub-surfaced cleared and areas opposite the red designate areas that were not sub-surfaced cleared but only visually cleared of UXG on the surface. Bomb craters are still visible within the sites and visitors to the sites are advised to remain only in the areas indicated by white. Although Phonsavanh was shrouded in thick fog in the morning of November 9, Soulinga and I left the hotel at 7:35 AM and drove through the fog to Site 3. Our plan was to go to the furthest away site first and then stop at the other sites on the way back to Phonsavanh. Site 3 (Hia Hin Lat Khai) is situated about 35 km southwest of Phonsavanh on a hill-top near and is accessed by taking a 2 km hike along rice paddy dykes and up the hill. We completed the hike through the rice paddies and up the hill to Site 3 which has approximately 150 jars amid several bomb craters. Many of the jars suffered from bombing damage but I found the site to be fascinating. The lingering morning fog added some extra allure to the site. Site 2 (Hai Hin Phu Salato) is approximately 25 km from Phonsavanh and consists of two small sites on two small hills bisected by a dirt road. This site had approximately 90 jars, more bomb craters, and some large tree roots were entwined around and within a couple of the jars. Site 2 was a very photogenic site with the lingering morning fog. Site 1 (Thong Hai Hin) is the largest site with approximately 250 jars, most of which weighing 600 kg to one ton each. A small portion of the site is on a hill-top and the remainder is on a relatively flat area below the hill. The site also has another hill with a large limestone cave where people sought refuge during the bombings. The largest jar which weighs nearly 6 tons is situated on top of the small hill. Site 1 is 15 km southwest of Phonsavanh and is the one most often visited by tourists. After visiting site 1, I was very glad to have insisted on visiting Sites 2 and 3 which I found to be far more interesting than Site 1. After a brief stop in Phonsavanh at the tourist office where we visited the small museum and viewed the remnants of the bombing ordnance, we began to backtrack on Highway 7 toward Phoukoun at 9:51 AM. We ate lunch at Phoukhoun and turned northbound on Highway 13 to continue our journey to Luang Prabang. Highway 13 continued through spectacular mountains and through numerous hill-tribe villages to Luang Prabang and we arrived at my hotel, Villa Santi Resort Hotel, at approximately 5:30 PM. Since we had just finished another very long travel day, I elected to eat diner at the hotel. Soulinga met me at the hotel the following morning, November 10, and we visited several Buddha temples in Luang Prabang – Vat Xieng Thong was a very impressive temple that had an entrance overlooking the Mekong River. After visiting some temples, Soulinga chartered a boat for a 25 km trip up the Mekong to the Pak Ou Cave. Pak Ou is a well-known Buddhist site and is a place of pilgrimage. The cave contains thousands of statues and statuettes, in the traditional Luang Prabang style, mainly of Buddha. Rock stairs connect a second deeper cave higher up the mountain known as Tham Phum. We visited both caves and then ate lunch at a restaurant situated across the Mekong from the caves. The boat trip on the Mekong was relaxing and the scenery was superb. Later in the afternoon, we hiked up to the top of Mount Phousi – Luang Prabang’s holy mountain. The climb to the top entails more than 320 steps but the temples at the top are exquisite. The views from the top of the city and the Mekong are superb. Tourists gather at the top to watch the sunset over the mountains and we joined the others to wait for the sunset. We ate dinner in Luang Prabang and then visited the night market – the city blocks off several blocks of a main street to allow the people to set up the night market. The market was very colorful and a pleasure to walk through – the merchandise for sale was primarily food items and Lao handicrafts. We visited the Royal Palace on November 10. Luang Prabang was the original capital of Laos and after the Communist takeover on 1975, the king and queen were sent to re-education centers further north and disappeared. The new Communist Government moved the capital to Vientiane and converted the Royal Palace at Luang Prabang into a museum. Photography is prohibited inside the museum and the museum showcases the former kings and queens of Laos. After visiting the Royal Palace, we drove 37 kms south of Luang Prabang tto the Kung-Si Waterfalls. These waterfalls are very beautiful as they cascade over the limestone mountain and into turquoise pools of varying sizes. The hike along the stream beside small cascading waterfalls before reaching the much higher main waterfalls is very beautiful. An Asiatic Black Bear conservation project is situated adjacent to the entrance to the trail to the waterfalls. This is home to many rescued Asiatic Black Bears in their native habitat and tourist donations are solicited to help support the project. I took Soulinga to an Indian restaurant in Luang Prabang for dinner and learned that it was his first time to eat at an Indian restaurant – the food was quite good and was a diversion for the local Lao food that I had been eating for the past several days. We departed Luang Prabang at about 8:30 AM on November 12 and drove back to Vientiane. We drove through Phoukhoun at 11:45 AM and stopped for lunch at Kasi. We stopped for gasoline at Vang Vieng at 2:35 PM and arrived in Vientiane at 5:35 PM. Since nearly everyone in Laos cooks by burning wood and many people also burn rubbish in open bonfires, the air quality deteriorated rapidly during the last 37 kms before reaching Vientiane. Soulinga dropped me off at Lao Immigration at the Friendship Bridge at approximately 6:15 PM. I bid good-bye to Soulinga and I was processed out of Laos. I caught a bus across the bridge to Thai Immigration where I was processed into Thailand. I took a taxi from the Friendship Bridge to Udon Thani and was surprised to see Christmas decorations along the main street in Udon Thani. I flew back to Bangkok on November 14 and continued home the following day. See pictures from Laos and Thailand Back to Top

September 23, 2009 Ireland Travel Notes

Jan and I arrived at the Dublin International Airport on the evening of September 12 and took the 747 city bus to downtown Dublin. Once we discovered that the bus stop was within three blocks of our hotel, we walked to our hotel. That evening we went for a walk to explore a portion of downtown Dublin and O’Connell Street near our hotel. The following Sunday morning was a beautiful day with bright sunshine. We walked from our hotel past the Customs House and the Famine Statues along the River Liffey to the tall ship barque Jeanie Johnston. The Jeanie Johnston was built during the 1990s and sailed to North America during 2003 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Ireland famine. It is a replica of the original barque Jeanie Johnston which was built in 1847 and transported over 2,500 people during 16 voyages from Ireland to North America. The ship is now a permanent part of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority and is operated as a sail training ship. We reversed direction and walked west along the River Liffey to St. Michan’s Church which was closed, and continued to the Old Jameson Distillery. After touring the distillery, we continued west to Heuston Station and on to the Kilmainham Gaol – the old city jail that was operational from 1796 until 1924. The tour of the jail was extremely interesting and was intimately connected with Ireland’s struggle for independence. After touring the jail, we continued walking east to the Guinness Storehouse museum – the home of the original Guinness brewery. We really enjoyed the Guinness tour and they taught me how to pour the perfect glass of Guinness. The view of Dublin from the top of the Guinness Storehouse was picture perfect. As we continued walking east toward our hotel, we passed the Christ Church Cathedral and ate dinner at an Indian restaurant in the Tavern Bar district of Dublin. On Monday, September 14, we met our bus on O’Connell Street for the Hill of Tara and Newgrange tour that I had reserved before arriving in Dublin. The bus tour was a day trip north of Dublin to County Meath which was terrain of the pagan High Kings of Ireland where the Hill of Tara, the ancient seat of the rulers of Ireland, and the neolithic burial tombs of Knowth, Newgrange, and Dowth are located. Our tour drove through the Boyne Valley past Slane Castle, the Hill of Slane, and the site of the Battle of the Boyne. We stopped at the Hill of Tara and at the Bru na Boinne Visitor Centre. We were transported by shuttle bus from the visitor centre to the 5,000 year old passage tomb of Newgrange for a guided tour. The guide speculated about the significance of the carved Entrance Stone of Newgrange before escorting us into the passage to the inner portion of the tomb. This passageway is illuminated by the rising sun during the winter solstice. These ancient passage tombs predate the pyramids in Egypt and have been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The visitor centre opened in 1997 and contains a museum with artifacts and has an audio-visual display. On Tuesday we checked out of our hotel and caught a taxi to the Budget car rental facility where we picked up our rental car – a Nissan Micra with manual transmission. We also rented a portable Garmin GPS navigation unit since many of the streets in Dublin have no street signs posted – we had never used a Garmin unit before. Our next stop was to be our hotel in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Budget assistant who took us to our rental car, programmed our Belfast hotel into the Garmin. When I asked for an instruction manual for the Garmin, he replied that they had instructions in Hungarian and other eastern European countries but did not have any instructions in English. As we drove away from the rental car facility, the “Garmin lady” instructed us when and where to turn. Since the attendant did not set up the Garmin to display the map, we were relying solely upon the verbal instructions of Ms. Garmin. All went well until we were north of Newgrange on the motorway and Ms. Garmin told us to bear left and to take a round-about. When we continued on the motorway, Ms. Garmin began to say “recalculating” at which point we realized that when she said to bear left, she really had meant for us to take the next exit on the motorway. She then recomputed our position and began to provide revised directions. We tried to follow her verbal instructions as best we could and we would soon get used to her saying “recalculating.” We finally entered Belfast and after many encounters with Ms. Garmin’s recalculating and arrived at our hotel in the early afternoon. After checking into our hotel, we decided to take the Hop On-Hop Off bus sightseeing bus tour of Belfast. The bus tour was very interesting and included the Titanic’s Dock & Pump-House where the Titanic was built and launched, Parliament buildings at Stormont, downtown Belfast, and past the wall murals along Shankhill Road and along Falls Road. As the tour bus passed the hockey arena constructed for the new Belfast hockey team, the tour guide joked that they decided not to name the team the “Belfast Bombers.” After completing the bus tour we walked to City Hall which unfortunately was closed for renovation. We continued on to the Crown Liquor Saloon, which is preserved by the National Trust, and ate lunch next door at Robinson’s Bars. We then walked back to our hotel which was located near the university. That evening, we experimented with the Garmin unit to program in the first stop for the following day and found that we were able to display the map function which proved to be most helpful. On Wednesday, September 16, we checked out of our hotel and drove north to Bushmills, the home of the Old Bushmills Distillery, which was licensed in 1608 and claims to be the world’s oldest licensed distillery. The distillery continues to operate as a distillery and the tour was very interesting. We then proceeded two miles east of Bushmills to the Giant’s Causeway, another World Heritage site. The Giant’s Causeway is a geological wonder consisting of more than 40,000 bassalt columns. These columns are mostly perfect hexagonals and were formed during the cooling of molten lava. Access to the columns is by either walking along a private roadway or by hiring a shuttle bus to the columns – we chose to walk along the road and enjoy the seaside views of northern coast. After visiting the Giant’s Causeway, we continued east along the coast to the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. This is a rope bridge over an 80-foot (24 meter) chasm to an island salmon fishery. Of course, I paid the fee for the privilege of walking across the rope bridge. Our last stop of the day in Northern Ireland was at the Dunluce Castle ruins on the northern coast to the west of Bushmills. The castle ruins date from the 14th century and stand on a black basalt cliff 30 meters above the ocean. The cliff is not hard columnar basalt like the Giant’s Causeway but is a softer type made up of round boulders which are prone to erosion. After eating lunch at the Dunluce Castle tourist center, we programmed the Garmin to the city of Athlone in central Ireland to be close to Clonmacnoise, one of Ireland’s most important monastic sites. As we drove toward Athlone, Ms. Garmin continued to not recognize new roads and road construction and we continued to go through the “recalculating” routines. The Garmin unit directed us onto some small roads in the direction of Athlone and dusk was upon us as we entered the town of Mullingar. We noticed the Granville Arms hotel on the main street in Mullingar and were able to secure a room for the night. The hotel had a wonderful ornate Victorian decor with stairways galore and no lifts. On Thursday morning, September 17, we programmed the Garmin to Clonmacnoise and we by-passed Athlone. Ms. Garmin directed us to Clonmacnoise via small roads. The monastic site of Clonmacnoise was beside the River Shannon and was very impressive. There was a small castle ruins nearby also overlooking the River Shannon. We reprogrammed the Garmin to the town of Kinvara on the west coast of Ireland. Once we arrived at Kinvara, we admired the Dunguaire Castle and secured a room at a bed and breakfast for the evening. We then programmed the Garmin as best we could to visit the Corcommroe Abbey ruins, the Burren and the Poulnabrone Dolmen, and the Cliffs of Moher. The Burren (which means great rock) is a national park and covers 200 square miles of lunar-like limestone formation. The Poulnabrone Dolmen is an ancient tomb that dates from 2500 BC and is situated on top of the Burren. Upon leaving the Poulnabrone Dolmen, the Garmin directed us along tiny back roads over the Burren to the Cliffs of Moher. The Cliffs of Moher tower roughly 650 feet above the ocean and stretch for five miles along the west coast of Clare. They are one of the most popular tourist destinations on the west coast, and the tourist facilities have recently been beautifully updated. On Friday, September 18, we drove to the Bunratty Castle and Folk Park near Limerick. The original Durty Nelly’s Pub is situated next to the castle and has been copied all over the world. After touring the castle and folk park, we continued to Limerick where we walked around the downtown area to visit the Treaty Stone, King John’s Castle, St. Mary’s Church of Ireland Cathedral, Bourke House and the Bishop’s Palace. We continued on to Cork and toured the famous Blarney Castle and gardens – of course we made a point of kissing the Blarney Stone. Since the Old Midleton Distillery was located nearby in Midleton, we toured the distillery and I was selected by our distillery tour guide to participate in a panel of eight people to taste test three different whiskeys: Jameson Irish whiskey, Jack Daniel’s bourbon whiskey, and Johnny Walker Black Label Scotch whiskey – the Jameson was the unanimous choice. The Old Midleton Distillery ultimately merged with Jameson which accounts for the Jameson in the samples taste test. We had planned to stop at the tourist office near the distillery after our tour but it closed while we were in the distillery. As we were walking to our car, a man was leaving his flat said “hello.” We talked for a couple of minutes and when I asked him if he knew of any bed & breakfasts nearby where we might spend the night, he said maybe. He said that his niece stayed at one recently when she visited him and he then went back into his flat to look it up. He called the bed & breakfast and they had a room available which we secured – another example of the nice people in Ireland. On Saturday, September 19, we admired the Lismore Castle as we drove through Lismore en route to Cahir. We walked around Cahir’s Castle at Cahir and continued on to Cashel to visit the Rock of Cashel and the remains of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. St. Patrick’s Cathedral was impressive and well worth a visit. We wanted to visit the Waterford Crystal factory in Waterford and drove some distance out of our way to squeeze it in. Much to our surprise, we found that the Waterford Crystal factory had been closed earlier this year and all that remained was a visitor center with a short audio-video presentation and crystal pieces on display with some pieces offered for sale – a major disappointment for us. Upon leaving Waterford, we programmed the Garmin to take us to the Jerpoint Abbey ruins near Thomaston. After many small back roads and several “recalculating” episodes, we arrived at Jerpoint Abbey. The abbey was very interesting with wonderful stone sculptures. We continued on to Kilkenney and parked near the river in downtown Kilkenney to hopefully locate a tourist office or somewhere to spend the night. After walking for several blocks along the main street, we found the tourist office and secured a bed & breakfast within walking distance of the downtown area. Before going to our bed & breakfast, we walked up to the Kilkenney Castle and visited the Kilkenney Design Center. We also stopped by a very ornate pub called the West Bank. After dinner we walked around Kilkenney in search of some Irish Celtic music but were not successful in finding any. On Sunday, September 20, we stopped by the Glendalough ruins on our way back to Dublin to return our rental car. The Glendalough ruins are nestled in the Wicklow Mountains and are part of popular day trips from Dublin. We continued on to Dublin and with the help of Ms. Garmin and many “recalculating” episodes. We finally found a gas station and then arrived at the rental car facility to return our car. Jan complained that the Garmin must have had outdated software, describing the frustrations of not having operating instructions in English and that the unit didn’t seem to recognize many of the main highways. The Budget car rental person checked out the Garmin and then apologized to us saying that a prior renter had the Garmin configured to avoid main roads and that Budget failed to properly check out the Garmin when we rented the unit – suddenly we knew why Ms. Garmin consistently wanted to take us on secondary and small back roads. Budget voluntarily reversed the charge for the Garmin. In retrospect, we probably saw a lot more Ireland via the secondary roads than we would have on the main roads. Dublin was crowded with people celebrating the all Ireland football playoff between Cork and Kerry – pubs were overflowing with people and throngs of people were making their way to the stadium. After the game ended with Kerry winning, the celebrations continued all over downtown Dublin well into the night. Since it was early afternoon, we caught the Hop On-Hop Off bus and took a sightseeing tour of the city. It was fun to watch the football fans from the upper deck of the sightseeing bus. Later, we walked to the Tavern Bar district to join in the festivities and to eat dinner. There were people everywhere and some really great street performers – truly a night to remember in Dublin. On Monday, September 21, the weather was overcast as we walked to Trinity College. As we entered Trinity College, we realized that it was the first day of the “freshie” rush week with booths set up and masses of students milling about. Once we located the entrance to the library where the famous Book of Kells is housed, we noticed that the line of people waiting to enter the library stretched a very long distance down the courtyard. Since the weather was starting to deteriorate into a light mist, we decided to skip the library and to walk to St. Patrick’s Cathedral. On the way to the cathedral, we passed the statue of Molly Malone and walked along several pedestrian-only streets admiring the Georgian architecture along the way. As we entered the St. Patrick’s Park adjacent to St. Patrick’s Cathedral, we visited the wall along Bride Street dedicated to Irish literary artists and admired the cathedral. The largest church in Ireland has stood at this location since 1191, close to the legendary well where St. Patrick is said to have baptized the first Catholics. We caught the Hop On-Hop Off bus at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and rode it to the stop near the Old Jameson Distillery to make a return visit to St. Michan’s Church to hopefully tour the famous crypts under the church. Since we arrived about an hour before the scheduled tour, we ate lunch at the Jameson distillery restaurant before touring the church and the crypts. St. Michan’s Church was said to have been founded by the Danes in 1095 and Handel is said to have rehearsed his Messiah on the clavier here in front of a vast audience. Burial crypts located below the church contain centuries-old natural mummies preserved by the limestone walls and the presence of methane gas. A very knowledgeable tour guide escorted us into the crypts and gave us the historical background of the crypts and mummies. He explained that the four famous mummies in one crypt consisted of two female mummies on either side of a male mummy approximately 400 years old in the foreground and a male mummy from the Crusades over 800 years old at the back of the crypt. Some of the crypts belong to individual families and can still be used by the family descendants for future interments if the family so desires. After departing the church, we walked eastbound along the River Liffey to the Ha’penny Bridge and crossed the river into the Tavern Bar District before returning to our hotel. After a short rest, we decided to go to Tavern Bar for our last dinner in Dublin – the festive crowds from the prior night’s celebrations were nowhere to be found and we ate a relatively quiet dinner at a local pub. A very early flight on Tuesday, September 22, began our return trip home with our fond memories of this trip to Ireland. See pictures from Ireland Back to Top

July 23, 2009 Boston to Halifax aboard the Europa Travel Notes

I arrived at Boston, Massachusetts, USA, on the evening of July 11 and took the hotel shuttle bus to my hotel. The tall ships from the Atlantic Challenge 2009 were moored in the Boston Harbor and were participating in the Sail Boston 2009 festival. The following morning, I took a taxi to the Boston Harbor and, as I walked through the archway at 50 Rowes Wharf, the tall ship Europa emerged into view in all of her glory. I checked in on board the Europa and placed my luggage in my cabin. This would be my third voyage on the Europa, and I was thrilled to find several regular crew members from my prior voyages on board. I was also looking forward to sailing again with two friends, Winslow and Julia, from my first voyage in 2007. I met Julia and Winslow at noon aboard the Europa and together with a friend of Julia, arranged for a small taxi boat to take us around the Boston Harbor to view all of the tall ships in the harbor – a great way to avoid the throngs of spectators on the waterfront. The weather was superb and the ships were picturesque. The USS Constitution was moored at her permanent location in the harbor but her upper masts had been removed due to deterioration – hopefully restored masts will soon be re-installed. She was moored aft of the United States Coast Guard tall ship USS Eagle which would sail with us onward to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. After our taxi boat ride around the harbor, we walked along the waterfront and found a nice place for lunch overlooking the harbor. We returned to the Europa for the official 5:00 p.m. boarding time. After an orientation briefing from Captain Klaas, we ate dinner on board and stowed our luggage for the voyage to Halifax as part of the Tall Ship Atlantic Challenge 2009 and to participate in the Nova Scotia Tall Ship 2009 Festival. The Sail Boston 2009 festivities continued well into the night at the harbor. The Europa departed Boston at about noon on July 13. The crew consisted of regular crewmembers and crew trainees like me. After another shipboard indoctrination, we were briefed on the abandon-ship drill which included a demonstration on the use of our one-size-fits-all bright red cold water exposure suits and life vests which were stored above our bunks. We also received climbing instructions and were fitted with climbing harnesses. The crew trainees were divided into three watch teams: Red, White, and Blue. I was assigned to the Red watch team. The Red, White, and Blue watch teams were assigned watch schedules covering twenty four hours per day. The watch duties consisted of stationing two people on the forward bow deck as lookouts and having one person steering the ship from the helm. In addition, any available crew trainees were requested to assist the regular crew with configuring the sails during the voyage. The rotation schedule for the Red watch was as follows: July 13 – noon to 2 p.m. July 13 – 8 p.m. to midnight July 14 – 8 a.m. to noon July 14 – 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. July 15 – 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. July 15 – 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. July 16 – midnight to 4 a.m. July 16 – noon to 2 p.m. July 17 – midnight to 4 a.m. As we sailed out of the Boston harbor, the Russian tall ship Kruzenshtern sailed off of our port side and the USS Eagle sailed behind us. Many other ships and small boats sailed nearby to wave at us and to take photographs. The Kruzenshtern is the second largest tall ship in the world and unfortunately the upper portion of her forward mast broke off during a storm near Bermuda. The weather was beautiful for the voyage to Halifax and I never needed to suit up in my foul weather sailing apparel. As we neared Halifax, the tall ship Concordia was off our starboard side and the USS Eagle remained behind us. The Halifax Harbour Pilot ship met the Europa at 11 a.m. on Thursday, July 17. As the Europa sailed into the harbour, all three watch teams assisted in furling all of the sails. In addition, a media person took a picture of the Europa sailing into the harbour which ended up on the front page of the Halifax Metro newspaper. The Europa was initially moored at Pier 25 to refuel before continuing to her assigned mooring location along the southern side of Purdy’s Wharf – situated between the Marriott Halifax Harbourfront hotel and the Casino Nova Scotia. The tall ship Picton Castle from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, was moored along the northern side of Purdy’s Wharf. After clearing Canada customs, each of us was given a crew badge which entitled us to special privileges during the festivities at Halifax. More than forty different ships participated in the tall ships festival and all were moored along the waterfront. In addition, Halifax expected the festival to attract approximately 80,000 tourists. The city of Halifax hosted a huge free party on Thursday evening for the crews from all of the tall ships at the festival. The party was at the Cunard Center, required presentation of our crew badges for admission, and included a BBQ buffet dinner with two beverages and live on-stage entertainment. Our crew badges also entitled us free admission to all of the tall ships that were open to the public, free or discounted admission to many Halifax attractions, and free passage on the Halifax Harbour ferries. After Winslow and I left the party, we walked along the waterfront and admired many of the tall ships moored there. The weather was overcast on Friday as I walked along the waterfront and toured more than twenty of the tall ships. The tall ship HMS Bounty, which was built in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, for MGM Film Studios’ 1962 movie “Mutiny on the Bounty” starring Marlon Brando, was extremely interesting – the ship’s figurehead is exquisite. Although the ship is supposed to be a replica of the original HMS Bounty, some of the ships interior dimensions were increased to accommodate the filming of the movie. The ship Bluenose II, also built at Lunenburg, was also very impressive. It is a replica of the original ship Bluenose which appears on the Canada ten-cent coin. The ship Captain Miranda had sails and canvas deck curtains that had been painted by an artist – a crew member graciously took a photo of me at the stern in front of one of the painted deck curtains. Some other spectacular tall ships included the Sagres from Portugal, the Cisne Branco from Brazil and the Kruzenshtern from Russia. I was unable to tour the USS Eagle on Friday and decided that I would try again on Saturday. A “Halifax heavy fog” enveloped the harbour during the night and remained all day Saturday. On Saturday morning, I was lucky enough to be able to observe a re-enactment of an invasion manned by people in colonial garb rowing small boats through the fog past the stern of the Europa. It was unfortunate that the fog probably obscured much of the spectacle from many people watching from along the waterfront. The fog remained and it was raining as I disembarked from the Europa at noon on Saturday to take a taxi to my hotel in Dartmouth – a city across the harbour from Halifax. I took the ferry on Saturday afternoon from Dartmouth to Halifax to tour the USS Eagle in the rain and fog and to also visit the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. The museum has a deck chair recovered from the Titanic disaster on display. Another interesting exhibit is a reconstructed deckhouse of the Nova Scotian coastal schooner Rayo as it would have appeared in 1940. A landscape painting outside of the cabin window moves as sounds of the ship creaking in the water are played – when a person enters the cabin, the brain is fooled into believing the cabin and the ship is actually moving. I met Winslow and Julia at the ferry terminal at 5:30 p.m. and we rode the ferry to Dartmouth where we ate dinner at my favorite restaurant in the Halifax area, the La Perla Dining Room. Of course, our dinner at La Perla was superb – great food, wonderful atmosphere, and good friends. As I departed Halifax on Sunday morning for my flights back to Los Angeles, I reflected on how wonderful it was to be a crew member of the Europa as we sailed into Halifax and to participate in the festivities at Halifax. See pictures from Boston to Halifax Back to Top

June 10, 2009 Sydney, Australia Travel Notes

I arrived at Sydney early in the morning of June 6 and took the train from the airport into the city to my hotel. To my surprise, the hotel had a room available when I arrived at about 9:00 a.m. After a short rest, I went for a walk, bought a bratwurst sandwich for lunch, and explored the neighborhood near my hotel. I gathered up some tourist brochures, set about planning my weekend activities, and was surprised to learn that Monday would be an Australian National Holiday. My first stop on Sunday was at Sydney Wildlife World located at Darling Harbour adjacent to the Sydney Aquarium. It is advertised to contain the largest variety of Australian plants and animals under one roof. It contains nine unique habitats spanning across three floors representing environments from all over Australia – these habitats are home to 130 different Australian species. Wallabies and wombats roam freely in the open air semi-arid grassland habitat. Visitors can walk through the upper level of the tropical rainforest habitat where they are surrounded by thousands of colorful butterflies. In addition to having marvelous nocturnal habitat exhibits with possums and quails, it also has a Cassowary bird, and a large variety of insects like the Giant Australian Cockroach. After leaving Wildlife World, I walked across the Pymont Bridge to visit the Australian National Maritime Museum. I was amazed at the size of the museum and the large number of vessels in its collection in the harbour. Although admission to the museum is free, there was a charge to tour the Daring class destroyer gunship HMAS Vampire, the Oberon class submarine HMAS Onslow, and the restored 19th century 3-masted barque tall ship James Craig. There is also an Attack class patrol boat HMAS Advance, which is a working ship and is not open to the public. The museum also has a fleet of ten small vessels, including the Commonwealth Lightship 4, CLS 4 Carpentaria, which is one of four unmanned light ships built at Coclatoo Island Dockyard, Sydney. The museum also has a magnificent replica of Captain James Cook’s famous discovery ship, HMS Endeavour. Since it was undergoing some refit repairs and the top masts were removed and down on the main deck, it was closed to the public until June 27. This ship is referred to as the best exhibit at the museum. In addition to the fleet of ships, the museum also has the Cape Bowling Green Lighthouse, which was built 70 km south of Townsville in 1874. It had been dismantled, moved to the museum, and reconstructed. The lighthouse was open to the public and the rotating light mechanism operated similar to a grandfather clock with a weighted chain serving to provide the momentum to drive the gears and rotate the lens assembly. A second Tasman Light lens assembly was on exhibit inside the museum building. The building that houses the museum is quite large and is filled with a myriad of nautical exhibits including aboriginal exhibits. In addition to the museum’s usual exhibits, the museum had a special “Charles Darwin – voyages and ideas that shook the world” exhibition on loan from the British Museum. This exhibition was celebrating the 200th anniversary year of Charles Darwin’s birth and 150 year anniversary of the publication of his famous evolutionary theory, “On the Origin of the Species.” The exhibit had a model of the ship, HMS Beagle, on which Darwin sailed around the world under the command of Captain Fitzroy. A replica of Darwin’s cabin on the Beagle was part of the exhibition. The collection at the maritime museum was so extensive that I made a return visit to the museum on Monday. In retrospect, I wish that I had explored the museum’s web site and become more familiar with the museum before going to Sydney.  I visited the Sydney Aquarium on Monday. I had visited the aquarium on a prior trip to Sydney so this was my second visit to the aquarium. I was interested in seeing the Dugongs again. The Dugongs are related to manatees and are similar in appearance and behavior but have a fluked tail like a whale. I was also interested in the Moon Jellies and the iridescent squids – both of which I observed late at night in the Southern Ocean while on watch during my 2007 voyage aboard the Europa. I believe that the water in the large tanks with the Dugongs and the large fishes was not nearly as clean as it had been on my prior visit. My last stop was at The Rocks Discovery Museum. The Rocks is the oldest part of the city of Sydney; it is next to the Circular Quay and at the base of the northern end of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I took the train to Circular Quay where the street performers had taken advantage of a beautiful sunny Monday afternoon to perform for bystanders. The discovery museum has exhibits depicting cultural and historical aspects of the area and the development of Sydney. One exhibit that fascinated me was an animated map of the world which depicted the exploration, conquests, and changes in the possessions of different countries in conjunction with major historical events up to the present time. The map display would change with each major historical event along with a brief description of the event such as the fall of Napoleon, European wars, and so forth. As I departed Sydney on Tuesday afternoon on my flight back to Los Angeles, I reflected on a marvelous three day weekend trip – sunny days, friendly people, and good museums and attractions to visit. See pictures from Sydney Back to Top

April 11, 2009 India Travel Notes

After spending two nights in Bangkok to help adjust to the time zone changes en route to India, I arrived at the new Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Hyderabad, India, at about 10:00 pm on April 8. The airport was immaculate and was so unlike the airport at Delhi that it was hard to believe that I was actually in India. After clearing immigration, I located my driver from the Marriott Hyderabad hotel and an ATM machine to obtain some additional Rupees – the ATM machine declined to give me any money which was reminiscent of the ATMs in Montevideo, Uruguay, last year. I figured that since I should be able to apply my airport transfer cost to my hotel bill, I would try to find another ATM the following day. Upon leaving the airport with my driver, I soon realized that I was, in fact, back in India – the roads and streets were in typical India poor condition, and the 21 km drive to the hotel took nearly one hour with little traffic. I encountered another surprise upon arriving at the Marriott hotel. Even though the Mercedes and the driver were from the hotel, we were stopped at a barricade as we turned into the property from the street, quite a distance from the hotel, where several security people surrounded the car, opened the doors and the trunk, instructed us to remain in the car, and had a big black dog sniff around and inside the vehicle. After passing the inspection and sniff tests, we drove up to another security checkpoint, also some distance from the hotel entrance, where I was directed through a metal detector, my luggage was hand searched, and I was patted down by a security person. After passing the second inspection, I was allowed to proceed to the hotel lobby to check into the hotel. Hotel security in India is a very serious matter, and I would be subjected to these same security procedures every time I returned to the hotel during my time at Hyderabad. After breakfast the following morning, I went to the hotel concierge to check out my options for hiring a car and driver for sightseeing around Hyderabad and for a possible side-trip to Warangal. The hotel had a range of vehicles for rent with driver included for what I considered to be quite reasonable – Ford Fiesta being the least expensive and Mercedes S Class being the most expensive. I immediately decided that the Ford Fiesta would be adequate. The concierge gave me a Hyderabad tourist map, and we determined how best to see the sights on my list. I reserved the Ford Fiesta for 10:00 am to go to the Golkonda Fort with a possible second stop at the Qutub Shali Tombs. The concierge also gave me directions to the nearest bank ATM relatively close to the hotel. The hotel is situated along the Eastern side of Hussain Sugar Lake along Tank Bund Road which runs on top of Tank Bund. Tank Bund is a dam on the Hussain Sugar Lake and is famous for statues of thirty-three eminent personalities. Hussain Sugar Lake was constructed in 1562 and is the largest lake in Hyderabad. One of the world’s tallest monolithic statues of Buddha which stands 17.5 meters high and weighs 350 kg, stands on the “Rock of Gibraltar” in the middle of the lake. The ATM was located along Tank Bund Road and I marveled at several of the statues as I walked to the ATM – the ATM was “Larry friendly” and gladly dispersed Indian Rupees to me. I also decided that I would try walk along Tank Bund to look at the statues one afternoon when the sun would be better for photographs. I met my driver with the Ford Fiesta at 10:00 am, and we drove to the Golkonda Fort. The hectic traffic in Hyderabad en route to the fort was typical India – trucks, buses, cars, auto-rickshaws, bicycle-rickshaws, motorcycles, motorbikes, bicycles, ox carts, hand carts, occasional cows, goats, etc., and nonstop horns as people jockey for position in the masses of traffic and somehow avoid injuring pedestrians. We arrived at the fort and, since I was amazed at how large it actually was, I decided to hire a guide who, in retrospect, was well worth the money. Golkonda is the second largest fort in India. It dates back to the 13th century and was built in a granite hill 120 meters high surrounded by massive crenellated ramparts constructed of large masonry blocks weighing several tons. It has an outer wall about 11 km long with 87 semicircular bastions, eight gateways, four drawbridges, royal apartments, halls, temples, and mosques. The massive gates were clad with metal and were studded with large pointed iron spikes to prevent elephants from battering them down. It is also renowned for its water system, ventilation system, and acoustic system – a hand clap at a central point below the dome in the entrance reverberates and can be heard clearly at the “Bala Hisar” pavilion, the highest point nearly a kilometer away. The hand clap served to warn the residents in case of danger. My guide demonstrated the reverberating hand clap at the entrance – later when we were at the Bala Hisar pavilion, my guide signaled to an associate at the entrance and we clearly heard the associate’s hand clap from entrance. The Golkonda Fort was number one on my list of sights and it exceeded my wildest expectations. A downside with seeing one of the very best attractions first is that the remaining attractions might be disappointing. Such was the case with the Qutub ShahiTombs. These are the tombs of the Qutub Shahi kings and are situated to the north of Goloconda. The tombs were built in Persian, Pathan, and Hindu architectural styles using gray granite with stucco ornamentation. They are said to be the oldest monuments in Hyderabad and the only tombs of their kind in the world where an entire dynasty has been buried at one place. Upon arriving at the tombs and paying the entrance fees, I was met by a man at the entry gate who asked to see my ticket. After he scrutinized my ticket, he directed me toward the first of many tombs and told me that it was the tomb of Queen Hayat Bakshi Begum, and that the two smaller adjacent tombs belonged to a singer and a dancer who were very close to the Queen. At this point, I realized that this man was a tour guide and that there would not be any way to dismiss him as a guide. As we continued on to another tomb, he demanded that I give him 300 Rupees which he would give to the three women caretakers at the tomb – this was allegedly to help compensate them for their work at the tombs. In retrospect, I believe that he probably walked over and spoke with the women and then pocketed the money himself. At another tomb, he asked for another 100 Rupees for a male caretaker and settled for 50 Rupees which he gave to the man. He then said that his job was done and demanded an exorbitant fee for his service as a guide, which I rejected and subsequently gave him a much reduced amount. A word of advice is to specifically reject the services of a guide at most attractions unless you really want a guide. I continued to walk around among the tombs for a little while longer noticing that with the exception of one small garden area, most of the area containing the tombs was parched earth with largely neglected tomb structures. After departing the tombs, my driver and the Ford Fiesta once again braved the endless Hyderabad traffic as we returned to the hotel. Upon arriving at the hotel, we once again embarked upon the extensive security procedures to gain admittance to the hotel. I finished my day by meeting with the concierge to schedule the Ford Fiesta and a driver at 7:30 am for a long side trip to Warangal the following day. Warangal is a historic city located about 160 kms northeast of Hyderabad and is reportedly mentioned in Marco Polo’s travel diaries. Major attractions at Warangal include the Thousand Pillar Temple and the Warangal Fort. In addition, the village of Kolanupaka is located about 80 kms from Hyderabad along the road to Warangal and is home to the famous 2000 year old Jain Temple of Mahaveer and to the Kolanupaka Museum. I met my driver at 7:30 am on Friday, April 10, for my side-trip to Warangal. Since we would have a long drive to Warangal in the Ford Fiesta, I decided to ride in the front seat with my driver. As soon as we entered the streets of Hyderabad, I realized that I would need to become accustomed to having the India traffic up close and personal – entrusting my personal safety entirely to my driver and the Ford Fiesta and becoming accustomed to spine-chilling-near-accident conditions. The map shows the road between Hyderabad and Warangal to be a major highway – it is mostly a two-lane road that is used as a three lane road by the drivers battling each other for positions in the traffic. The highway traffic was typical India where size matters – enormous overloaded trucks, buses, self-propelled combines, trucks, tractors and wagons, automobiles, auto rickshaws, motorcycles, motorbikes, bicycles, donkey carts, ox carts, bicycle rickshaws, hand-drawn rickshaws and carts, pedestrians, dogs, cattle, and goats. In addition, the police set up checkpoints along the highways where they randomly select vehicles to be stopped and searched – we were stopped and searched three times. We also passed three accidents during the side trip to Warangal. We arrived at Warangal at 10:15 am and at the Thousand Pillar Temple at about 10:30 am It is said to be one of the finest examples of Kakatiya architecture and sculpture. The Thousand Pillar Temple was built in 1163 by Ruda Deva in the style of Chalukyan temples, star shaped and triple shrined. The three shrines are dedicated to Lord Shiva, and it is said to be one of the finest examples of Kakatiya architecture and sculpture. The one thousand carved pillars and a majestic monolithic black basalt Nandi bull are said to be unique to this temple. Our next stop was at the ruins of the Warangal Fort which was completed in 1261 AD. As we approached the fort, we passed through four huge Sanchi-type gateways. This gateway was truly magnificent. Although most of the fort is in ruins, a section of the ruins contains delicate sculpture and stone work. I climbed up to the top of a large granite hill using steps that had been hewn out of the granite. The granite hill with several structures overlooked a beautiful lake and the entire area was occupied by the ruins of the fort. There were a few other areas of walls and temples remaining but, for me, the gateway and section with the delicate sculptures and motifs made the trip worthwhile. My driver accompanied me at most of the sites that we visited, and his presence seemed to prevent the local guides from approaching me. We departed Warangal at about 12:30 pm and headed back toward Hyderabad to Kolanupaka to see the famous Jain temple and the Kolanupaka Museum. My driver was getting sleepy as we got closer to Kolanupaka and stopped several times to ask for directions. We finally arrived at the Jain temple and my driver got a short nap while I visited the temple complex. Kolanupaka was the second capital town of Kalyani Chalukyas during the 11th century AD. During that period, the village was the religious center of Jains and ranks among other great Jain centers in Southern India. A twenty year long renovation of the 2,500 year old Sri Shwethambar Jain Tirth temple was recently completed. The renovation involved about 1,000 craftsmen, including stone cutters. No photography is allowed within the outer wall of the temple complex but the temple interior has marble inlays and sculptured marble that, in my opinion, rivals that of the Taj Mahal in Agra. In addition, the temple has beautifully carved statues of Tirthankaras. The temple complex is magnificent inside and out and should not be overlooked by tourists in the vicinity. Since my driver did not know where the Kolanupaka Museum was located, I asked the people at the Jain temple complex for directions. Of course, I couldn’t understand what they were trying to tell me, so I woke up my driver and they told him how to get to the museum. It was not easy as it involved locating a small unmarked dirt road nearby which ultimately led us to the Hindu Someswara Temple where the State Department of Archaeology and Museums established a sculpture gallery. This museum is very well done and was well worth the time it took to find. By now, my driver had gotten enough sleep to be able to continue on in the ever challenging traffic to our next stop – the Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple at Yaadagririgutta about 60 kms from Hyderabad. This temple complex is situated on top of the 300 meter high Yadagiri hill. We arrived about 40 minutes before the entrance to the temple was scheduled to open while a huge crowd of worshippers were waiting under large bamboo covered shaded areas. Since we were running short on time, I opted to walk around the outside of some of the temples and to take a few photos. We also opted to stop briefly at an attraction that appeared to be some type of amusement park that we had passed along the side road to the Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple. After taking a few photos we made our way through the ever-present traffic back to Hyderabad. After clearing the now very familiar security drills I entered the hotel at about 5:30 pm, a very worthwhile but exhausting ten hour day. I slept in on Saturday morning and met my driver with the Ford Fiesta at 11:00 am to go to several local Hyderabad attractions. Our first stop was at Charminar which was built in 1591 by Mohammed Quli Qutub Shah. It is a beautiful granite structure with four minaret towers in the four corners. It is situated within the old portion of the city of Hyderabad and is adjacent to the Mecca Masjid Mosque, which was constructed in 1694 and contains some bricks brought from Mecca. I climbed the stairs to the center level of Charminar and viewed the city from each of the four sides – Golkonda Fort was visible in the distance through the haze. My next stop was at the Chowmahalla Palace – the seat of the Asafjahi dynasty built by Nawab Nizam Ali Khan Asaf Jah II in 1780. The palace was huge and a movie set was being constructed in a courtyard in front of one of the large buildings in the center of the palace complex. There is a section of the palace that houses a collection of old automobiles dating from approximately 1906 to 1952. Other buildings have preserved furnishings, clothing wardrobes, and historical exhibits. As I entered the gate to the palace, a local guide approached me, but I turned him away telling him that I did not want or need a guide – I then explored the palace on my own. We continued on to the Salar Jung Museum which has over 40,000 objects and 38 galleries. Cameras and mobile phones are not allowed inside the museum and people are searched as they enter. I wanted to take a look at some of the exhibits focusing on India and of the famous sculpture “Veiled Rebecca” – a delicate marble statue of a woman seen through her veil. I visited the galleries from India and located the “Veiled Rebecca” which is truly amazing. On the way out, I stopped at the museum store and purchased a DVD which purportedly contains images of entire museum collection. Our next stop was to be at the Nizam’s Museum of which my driver was unaware. We located it on my tourist map and set out to find it. After asking directions and making several U-turns, we finally located the museum. Admission cost was 70 Rupees and I decided not to visit the museum after I realized that the photography charges were 50 Rupees per snap – an amount that I considered to be unconscionable. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped by the Bira Mandir temple built in sculpted white marble on top of a hill near the Hussain Sugar Lake. After taking a couple of photographs, we returned to the hotel and the ever-present hotel security routines. Since Sunday, April 12, was my last day at Hyderabad, I slept in and confirmed that my 6:00 pm late hotel checkout was still in place. I spent much of the day working on my travel notes and decided to take a 2:00 pm walk along Tank Bund to look at the 33 statues. I stopped at the concierge station to inquire about how many Rupees should be paid to an auto-rickshaw driver for a trip from the hotel to the far end of Tank Bund. I was told that a fair price would be about 20 to 30 Rupees and I decided that I would not pay one Rupee more than 30 Rupees. As I exited the hotel driveway, I was approached by an auto-rickshaw driver who requested 200 Rupees which I rejected out of hand and told him 30 Rupees maximum – his countered with 100 Rupees which I also rejected and continued walking. As I walked along Tank Bund I was approached by a second driver who wanted 100 Rupees – I continued walking and a third driver stopped and after some negotiation we settled on the 30 Rupee amount. As we drove along Tank Bund, he continued to try to entice me into going to additional places for 200 Rupees – when we arrived at the end of Tank B und, I exited the auto-rickshaw and gave the driver the 30 Rupees. I then walked back along Tank Bund in blistering hot weather, admired the monolithic Buddha statue in Hussain Sugar Lake, saw two boys riding a camel, and the 33 statues along Tank Bund – mission accomplished. After clearing the hotel security system for probably the last time, I entered the hotel and the folks at the concierge desk asked me if I took an auto-rickshaw. They were flabbergasted that I was quoted 100 to 200 Rupees but were impressed that I stuck to the 30 Rupee figure that they had given me earlier. Keep in mind that foreigners visiting India are frequently targeted for highly inflated prices, and bargaining seems to be a way of life. My last transaction with the hotel concierge was to book the Ford Fiesta and driver at 8:00 pm to take me to the airport to catch my overnight flight to Singapore and connecting flights to Bangkok and Phuket. When I departed the hotel, I was surprised to find a driver with a Toyota SUV instead of the familiar Ford Fiesta for my trip to the airport. See pictures from India and Thailand Back to Top

March 25, 2009 Portugal Travel Notes

Jan and I arrived at the Lisbon International Airport during the afternoon of Friday, March 6 and procured a taxi voucher from the tourist office for transportation to our hotel. Our taxi driver was a well dressed man who spent a fair amount of time making sure that he knew how to get to our small hotel in downtown Lisbon. He escorted us out of the airport terminal and told us to wait by the curb while he got the taxi which turned out to be a very new Mercedes. During the ride to our hotel he tried to entice us into using him for future sightseeing in and around Lisbon – his argument was that while Lisbon public transportation was good, much time would be wasted using it to see the sights of Lisbon whereas he knew how best to see Lisbon and vicinity. I took his card, but remained determined to see Lisbon by walking and by using the public transportation system. Lisbon is described as a city constructed on seven hills. During the ride to the hotel, I began to fully appreciate the steep hillsides and the very narrow winding cobblestone one-way streets. Our hotel was in downtown Lisbon and was situated near the very top of the hill which is normally accessed by the Lavra Funicular. Unfortunately, the Lavra Funicular was undergoing repairs and was not operating which meant that we had to walk up and down the very steep hill using the narrow cobblestone sidewalks along the very steep narrow winding streets to get downtown or to any of the nearest metro stations. An alternative route consisted of steep cobblestone stairs and narrow cobblestone sidewalks that were adjacent to the Lavra Funicular tracks. In addition to walking around the different neighborhoods of Lisbon, we got a lot of additional strenuous exercise coming to and going from our hotel. It was dark outside by the time we checked into our hotel and we decided to explore the local neighborhood. The reception person at the hotel gave directions for getting to Rossio Square and some areas with restaurants for us to explore. In addition, she said that one of her favorite restaurants was a little neighborhood restaurant on the left side of the street down the hill from the hotel. We found the restaurant and some diners in the restaurant helped us to decipher the menu entrees – they said that the soup of the day is usually the vegetable course for Portuguese meals. After a very good and inexpensive dinner, we continued making our way down the winding streets to Rossio Square in the Baxia area of the city. The Baxia (lower quarter) is the hub of the of the city center and is a level area situated between the hilly Alfama area and the hills of the Barrio Alto and Chaido neighborhoods. We explored the immediate vicinity around Rossio Square before returning to our hotel. The climb back up the hill was our first endurance test of just how high up the very steep hill our hotel was located – the cobblestone pavements provided an additional challenge. We obtained our three day public transportation passes Saturday morning and took the metro to the Santa Apolonia station which is connected to the Santa Apolonia train station. After we purchased our train tickets for our side trip to Coimbra, we went back to Rossio Square to begin our first day of sightseeing in Lisbon by walking to and exploring some of the Alfama area of the city. Much of the city of Lisbon was destroyed by an earthquake in 1755 but the Alfama area and the Belem area escaped largely unscathed. The Alfama is hilly and is described as the birthplace of the city. The Alfama streets are very narrow, sometimes consisting of stairs from one level of the hill to another. With the help of some local people, we finally made our way through a myriad of small narrow cobblestone streets and stairs up the hill to the Castelo da Sao Jorge. The Castle of St. George is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Lisbon and we explored much of it. Upon leaving the castle, we continued making our way to a Tram 28 stop where we boarded the tram to go to the Monesterio da Sao Vincente de Fora. Tram 28 is one of the trolley lines in Lisbon and has a route that links several of the city’s historic districts. After a close encounter with a pickpocket on a very crowded Tram 28, we exited the tram and walked to the monastery. We continued past the monastery to the Church of St. Engracia which was designated as the National Pantheon in 1916. From the National Pantheon we continued down a number of winding streets until we once again arrived at the Santa Apolonia metro station. After a short metro ride and another climb up the hill, we arrived at our hotel for a late afternoon rest stop. That evening we once again descended to the downtown level area for dinner. On Sunday morning we purchased train tickets and took a day trip to Belem which is a district west of Lisbon adjacent to the River Tagus. Belem may be best known for Torre de Belem (Belem Tower) and the Padrao dos Descobrimentos monument – both are must see attractions. The Belem Tower was built in 1515 as a fortress to guard the city and became a prison under Spanish control in 1550. The Padrao dos Descobrimentos monument is made in the shape of a caravela ship as used by the early Portuguese explorers during the 15th and 16th centuries. It has statues along both sides of the monument which depict explorers, royalty, mathematicians, writers, and artists. Both of these attractions are situated along the river front bank of the Tagus River. A statue of the Fairey III-B biplane “Santa Cruz,” which was flown across the Atlantic Ocean in 1922, is located in the park adjacent to the Belem Tower. Parco do Imperio is a park located across the main road and railroad tracks from the monument and tower. Adjacent to the park stands the Mosterio dos Jeronimos and the Museo National de Arqueologia. We visited both the archeological museum and the monastery – the cloisters in the monastery are exquisite. After a short rest at our hotel we decided to once again ask the hotel receptionist for a neighborhood restaurant recommendation. I figured that we would stay in the neighborhood and didn’t bother to take my guidebook and map with me when we left the room. The receptionist recommended a restaurant in the Barrio Alto area and gave me a less than satisfactory tourist map with some sketchy directions. We headed down our hill to the Baxia and then up another hill to the Bario Alto neighborhood where I became disoriented on the winding streets – alas the map that I had lacked sufficient detail to figure out exactly where we were and which direction to go. We asked several local people and were given different directions by different people – it was reminiscent of our afternoon in Izmir, Turkey, when we were trying to find the archeological museum. I finally found a street name on the map which went in the correct direction and eventually we arrived at a park next to the Gloria Funicular which descended down to the Baxia at a location nearly opposite of the Lavra Funicular up to our hotel. This park and funicular were within a couple of blocks of the street where the restaurant was located – we finally arrived at our hotel after walking the hills of the Barrio Alto for well over an hour. The restaurant was nearly full and the food was very good but was considerably more expensive than we had been paying for meals – it was our night to splurge. After dinner we took the Gloria Funicular down to Baxia, then walked up the cobblestone sidewalks and stairs adjacent to the Lavra Funicular and continued to our hotel – a real short cut from the restaurant back to our hotel. On Monday morning we took the metro to the Terreiro do Paco station adjacent to the Tagus river and began exploring the Baxia. We visited the Praca do Comercio, the Arco do Triunfo, and walked along Rua Augusta and several other Baxia streets. We took the Elevador de Santa Justa (Santa Justa Lift) up to the exit adjacent to the Convento do Carmo e Museo Arqueologica. We took this opportunity to visit the archeological museum within the convent which has the walls still standing after the earthquake but instead of reconstructing the roof, it was left as a reminder of the devastation caused by the earthquake – a most impressive sight. After visiting the museum, we returned to the elevator and back down to Baxia. We continued walking around Rossio Square and Praca da Figueira, a small square to the east of Rossio. Since we did not visit the Se (Cathedral) during our stroll through the Alfama on Saturday, we walked over to the cathedral and observed two interesting pipe organs in the cathedral. When we left the cathedral, we took Tram 28 to the end of the line at Martim Moniz square where we exited and then returned to the tram and rode it all the way to the other end of the line in the Barrio Alto at Campo Ourique – Tram 28 passes through several of Lisbon’s historical districts. Once again we boarded Tram 28 and rode it back to the Baxia-Chiado metro station entrance adjacent to Café de Brazileria. A statue of writer Hernando Pessoa seated at a table with an empty chair is located outside of the café and provides a place for tourists to sit with him at the table – of course, I also got my photo with Hernando at the table. After another short metro ride, and another climb up the hill, we took another late afternoon rest stop at our hotel before descending back to Baxia for dinner. We checked out of our hotel on Tuesday morning, March 10, and took a taxi to the Santa Apolonia train station for our side trip north to Coimbra in central Portugal. We arrived in Coimbra in the early afternoon and were pleased that our hotel was in the downtown area adjacent to both the river and the old walled portion of the city. Coimbra is very hilly and has delightful narrow and winding cobblestone streets and sidewalks – access to most of the tourist attractions would require the now familiar strenuous hikes up the hills. It is also home to an ancient university which was built within the old walled portion of the city. We went to the nearby local tourist office to obtain a local map, tourist information, and specific instructions on how to go catch the bus to Conimbriga the following day – Conimbriga is home to Portugal’s most extensive excavated Roman ruins. Armed with a Coimbra tourist map, we decided to explore portions of the old walled city. Our first stop was the medieval Torre de Anto (Anthony’s Tower), which was a gate as part of the 12th century city wall. The tower houses a small museum which provides a virtual tour of the old city wall together with a model of the old city and a museum at the top of the tower portraying aspects of the Jewish community prior to the Inquisitions at Coimbra. This museum documented the areas outside of the old city walls occupied by the Jewish community and the location of the Patio of the Inquisitions – the curator of the museum said that no Jewish community currently resides at Coimbra. We entered the old walled city through the arch at the tower and continued up the hill toward the university. We passed the Se Velha (Old Cathedral), walked among some of the university buildings, and visited the Museu Machado de Castro which is housed in an old Episcopal palace. The palace, which had been constructed over the City’s Roman forum, was the residence of Coimbra’s early bishops. The museum today is reconstructing portions of the old forum and is only partially open to the public amid the ongoing construction. That evening we explored the narrow downtown streets in the vicinity of our hotel and finally found a neighborhood restaurant tucked away in the maze of streets and walkways that had many patrons and very reasonably priced meals – our dinner was superb. We also returned to this restaurant the following evening for dinner. We set the alarm clock on Wednesday morning to be certain that we would not miss our bus to Conimbriga and arrived at the bus stop in plenty of time. The fifteen kilometer bus trip to Coimbriga was a local bus with many stops along the way. On one occasion the bus driver encountered a parked automobile on a very narrow street and as he slowly approached the car, he reached out of his window to retract the mirror on the door of the car to obtain clearance as he passed the car. The last stop on the route was Museu Mongografico e Ruinas de Conimbriga. We spent the remainder of the morning exploring the museum and the archeological site. The Roman floor and pavement tiles at the site were exquisite. Upon returning to Coimbra, we decided to walk through the old Jewish neighborhoods and to visit the patio of the Inquisitions. The neighborhoods were easy to locate on our tourist map, but locating the Patio of Inquisitions required the assistance of several local people. We decided to take a taxi to the university to visit the Patio das Escolas (Patio of the Schools) within the Universidade Vella (Old University). The Old University was founded in 1290 and transferred to the Royal Palace in Coimbra in 1537. Taking the taxi saved us a lot of time and provided us with the opportunity to visit the Patio of Schools. People enter and exit the Patio of Schools through the Porta Ferrea, and we visited the Biblioteca Joanina which is reported to be one of the world’s most beautiful baroque libraries. The library was magnificent and was built in 1717 during the rein of King John V. Literature at the library detailed the measures used to protect the ancient books in the library including keeping bats in the library which feed at night on insects harmful to the books – the caretakers cover all of the tables at night and clean up after the bats each morning when they open the library. We also saw many Coimbra University students wearing black capes which, coupled with the university architecture, reminded us of the students in the Harry Potter movies. We also visited the Academic Prison; Capela do San Miguel (St. Michael’s Chapel); the Sala Grands dos Actos where degrees are conferred and ceremonies are held; and the Sala do Exame Room (Private Exam Room). Although it was getting late, we continued on to get a look at the Jardim Botanico (Botanical garden) adjacent to the university at the top of the hill and then walked the steep and winding narrow streets back downtown to our hotel – another full day. On Thursday morning, I hiked across the Ponte de Santa Clara Bridge to visit a couple of places located across the river while Jan relaxed at our hotel. I hiked up the very steep hill to visit the Mosterio de Santa Clara-a-Novia (New Santa Clara Monastery) – it has an exquisite baroque interior. I returned down the hill to the Portugal dos Pequenitos, which is a large outdoor museum that depicts miniatures about the architecture and history of Portugal and includes small-scale reproductions of traditional Portugese houses and monuments. It is reported to be a favotite attraction of children and there were several groups with children there when I was present. I continued walking along the river and re-crossed via the Ponte Pedonal Pedro e Ines Bridge to return to the hotel. We then took the train back to Lisbon to overnight before continuing with another side trip to Sintra. We took the train to Sintra and checked into our hotel in the heart of historic Sintra Vila at noon on Friday, March 13. We went to the tourist office and got information about the tourist bus schedule to the Moorish Castle and the Pena National Palace which are on top of two mountains overlooking Sintra – the buses were supposed to run every twenty minutes but were often much later. After lunch, we took the tourist bus up the narrow winding road to the stop near the top of the mountain for the Moorish Castle. We explored the Moorish Castle and then waited to re-board the next tourist bus. The next bus, filled with school children, did not stop, and we decided to walk on up another mountain to the bus stop for the Pena National Castle – needless to say there were many tourists who were very angry that two tourist buses had failed to stop for them. After we arrived at the Pena National Palace bus stop, we had to endure another strenuous hike up to the top of the mountain where the castle is situated. We explored the Pena National Palace and managed to catch the next bus which ended up being filled to capacity for our return to Sintra Vila. We took a late afternoon rest stop at our hotel and walked around the area looking for an inexpensive neighborhood restaurant for dinner – many restaurants in Sintra Vila are only open for lunch catering to day trip tourists from Lisbon. We walked back as far as the train station and failing to find any tempting neighborhood restaurant, we had a pizza in the train station. We walked along a winding road to the Regaleria Palace and Gardens where we spent much of the morning and thoroughly enjoyed exploring the gardens. It was another beautiful another day with bright sunshine and we realized that we’d had bright sunshine every day in Portugal so far – we would end our trip with every day being a bright sunny day. We walked back to Sintra Vila and looked at several fountains, the clock tower, Sintra City Hall, the Sintra pillary, the Anjos Teixeira Museum and the Sintra toy museum. That evening we stumbled upon a small neighborhood restaurant with relatively inexpensive fixed-price menus and very good food. We returned to Lisbon by train on Sunday, March 15, and when we checked into our Lisdbon hotel for the third time, we were greeted like old friends. We spent much of the afternoon walking from Rato to Barrio Alto neighborhoods, including a stroll through the Jardim Botanico (Botanical Gardens) which provided some welcome shade but which turned out to be nothing special. We returned to our hotel for another afternoon rest break and to try to decide what to do the following day – our last day in Lisbon. Since my tourist literature touted the Mercado da Riberia (also referred to as Mercado 24 de Julho) as a lively early morning (8:00 a.m. or earlier) must see meat, fish, fruit, vegetable, and flower market as being “ the very much the real Lisbon,” we decided to go there the next morning. That evening we returned to the little neighborhood restaurant down the street from our hotel for dinner. We set the alarm clock and headed off to Mercado da Riberia arriving there about 7:30 a.m. As we entered the market, we were amazed that it was nearly empty. The building has a restaurant and bar upstairs and a local artisans market – both of which were not scheduled to open until 10:00 a.m. We went for a walk and got some breakfast at a small snack shop nearby and returned at around 8:30 a.m. to find no real change. We then walked to the Bica Funicular and rode it to the top of the hill where we visited the Miradouro de Santa Catarina viewpoint. We then took Tram 28 back down to Baxia and once again returned to the market. The market seemed to have even fewer sellers and the upstairs artisan shop failed to open on time. It turns out that this was once the thriving wholesale market which in recent years has become a retail market after a new wholesale market opened elsewhere. This market was our most disappointing visit during our trip to Portugal. We then walked back along Rua Augusta where we shopped for some souvenirs at the small local retail stores. We continued on to Rato where we visited Parque des Amorias where a small portion of the city’s aqueduct towers above the park. We passed a synagogue, described as a rare find in Portugal, as we walked back to the metro station to continue to a popular all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant for lunch. After lunch we strolled back to our hotel for one last afternoon rest and prepared for a very early departure the following morning. Our taxi picked us up at the hotel at 4:00 a.m. on Tuesday, March 17, and took us to the airport to catch our flight to Frankfurt, Germany, and our additional connecting flights home. See pictures from Portugal Back to Top

February 28, 2009 Budapest Travel Notes

I arrived at the Budapest International Airport during the afternoon of Friday, February 20 and realized that nobody checked my passport upon entering Hungary since Hungary is now part of the European Union. While in the arrivals area of the airport terminal, I looked for an ATM to obtain some Hungarian Forinths but none was readily visible. I found an information counter and a lady informed me that the ATM was located in the far right corner of the terminal. I wandered toward the corner as she had directed me and as I arrived there I noticed a small area virtually out of sight from most of the arrivals terminal where an ATM was situated. I obtained my Hungarian Forinths and then set about to try to find out how to take the public transportation to my hotel in Budapest. I went to a tourist information counter and a very helpful young man gave me a map, a tourist book in English, and printed instructions on how to take Bus 200E from the airport to the M3 subway station. He was just getting off work and escorted me to the bus stop where he helped me purchase my ticket from the vending machine and showed me where to meet the bus. I always appreciate receiving extraordinary help from friendly people when visiting other countries. I rode the bus to the subway station and finally located the desk where I could purchase the three day public transportation ticket. The lady validated my 3-day ticket and I was now good to travel anywhere in Budapest for the duration of my weekend visit. As I entered the M3 subway car, I realized that it was probably Eastern European made during the occupation of Hungary by the Soviet Union – it was a very basic subway car. My first stop would be the interchange terminal at Deak Ter (Deak Square) where I would transfer to the M1 subway. I finally made my way to the M1 subway and continued to the Kodaly Korond station which was a couple of blocks from my hotel. The M1 subway cars were more luxurious than the M2 and M3 subway cars. The M1 subway was actually the first underground railroad to be constructed in continental Europe and all of the M1 subway stations have been maintained and preserved in their 130-year-old original designs – what a treat to be able to journey on the M1 subway! My hotel was close to the subway and the reception personnel were marvelous. They recommended a small Hungarian restaurant nearby and also suggested the downtown area in the vicinity of Vaci Utca (Vaci Street) as a place to walk around that evening. As fate would have it, snow flurries began as I departed the hotel and the small local restaurant was packed with no room for me. I walked to the subway and went downtown to explore the Vaci Utca neighborhood. The downtown area was beautiful at night, and the view of the Buda side of the Danube River was superb. There are many street scene statues all around the city of Budapest and I thoroughly enjoyed coming upon them as I walked around Budapest. After my exploratory walk in the continuing snow flurries and a fast food sandwich, I returned to my hotel for the evening. The snow had stopped by morning and I took the M2 subway to the Moszkva Ter station near the top of the hill near the Buda Castle complex. Once I got my bearings after exiting the station, I walked along Ostrom Utca to the Buda Castle complex. The architecture at the Buda Castle is superb and includes the Mathais Church, Fishermen’s Bastion, the National Gallery, the Mathais Fountain, the Budapest History Museum, and many squares and statues. Although scaffolding obscured the main tower of the Mathais Church, and the visitor’s entrance was closed when I was there, the church exterior was magnificent. As I walked around the Mathais church, I observed a man sitting on a bench with a very large falcon and later saw him again at a statue behind the church at Fishermen’s Bastion. The sun had come out and I was being treated to a picture perfect day in Budapest. Fishermen’s Bastion is a marvelous sight with flights of steps, terraces, a circular walkway, and seven turrets that resemble Magyar (Hungarian) tents. It offers superb views of the Danube and the surrounding area. I explored the castle complex and visited the Budapest History Museum before riding the funicular to Clark Ter at the bottom the hill at the entrance to the Chain Bridge. I walked across the Chain Bridge and then north along the west bank of the Danube toward Parliament. Before arriving at Parliament, I arrived at the monument erected in memory of the people that had been lined up along the river and then been killed by archers using crossbows during 1944-45. The monument consisted of two plaques in the sidewalk and sculptures of empty shoes along the concrete edge overlooking the Danube – a very somber monument. This monument was erected in April 2005 and did not show up in any of the Budapest tourist literature in my possession. I continued north along the Danube and then walked around the Parliament building. The Parliament architecture is beautiful as were the surrounding grounds and statues. An eternal flame atop a black monument with the inscription 1956 is situated in front of Parliament at Kossuth Ter – another somber monument. After exploring the area around Parliament, I walked south to the Basilica of St. Stephen which honors the 11th century saint, King Stephen. It is the largest church in Budapest and took over fifty years to build. The interior is beautiful and holds the greatest reliquary of the Hungarian people, the mummified right hand of King St. Stephen. I continued walking south past the Dohany Street Synagogue which was closed on Saturday; onwards past the Hungarian National Museum to Kalvin Ter; circled around the museum through the neighborhood; and finally walked west along Rakoczi Ut to the Blaha Luzjza Ter M2 subway station. I returned to my hotel to take a nap for a couple of hours. After my short nap, I went back to the Hungarian restaurant where I had been turned away the night before and this time there was ample space for me. I had a wonderful dinner consisting of a bowl of mushroom soup and paprika veal with dumplings. I then took the M1 subway to the Opera station and as I emerged from the station in front of the Opera House, the entire area was brightly illuminated, a large red carpet covered the sidewalk, many people among a large crowd of bystanders were waiting in a line to enter the building, and a there also appeared some ongoing police activity. I eased my way through the crowd and noticed a large concert in progress on a corner space across the street. I took a short walk through the neighborhood, made my way back to the subway station and then continued onward to downtown. I walked around the downtown area for about an hour and then returned to my hotel to plan my activities for the next day. I had hoped to be able to visit the Memento Park (Statue Park) situated on the outskirts of Budapest but realized that I would not have time during my weekend visit. This park displays mementoes of the communist era and is advertised as “a powerful reminder of the fall of tyranny.” The park presents “a collection of public statues and memorials that were removed from the streets of Budapest after the collapse of socialism in 1989-90.” I am looking forward to visiting the park on a return visit to Budapest. Sunday morning was another picture perfect morning and I returned to the Dohany Street Synagogue. It is the largest functioning synagogue in Europe and is described as the most beautiful in the world – it is the second largest in the world with the synagogue in New York City being the largest. The Dohany Street synagogue was constructed between 1854 and 1859. The construction of the synagogue is a unique oriental form with two slender minaret-like towers topped by onion domes and the interior somewhat resembles that of a Christian church. The synagogue has seating for 1,500 men on the ground floor and seating for 1,500 women in the galleries. There is an organ and choir installed above the ark and a Christian person is required to be hired to play the organ during the Jewish services. Because the Nazis placed a radio communications center in one of the minaret-like towers, the synagogue was heavily bombed during World War 2 (WW2). The restoration of the synagogue was not possible during the occupation of Hungary by the Soviet Union, and the restoration of the synagogue was only recently completed. In addition, the synagogue houses a Jewish Museum; a mass burial graveyard from the ghetto days of WW2; a stainless steel tree sculpture with the names of missing Jews who were deported during WW2 and never returned; and a monument to Raoul Wallenberg and other people who helped to protect Jews during WW2. After departing the synagogue, I explored Raday Utca which is reportedly one of the trendy streets for dining and nightlife in Budapest – it was mostly deserted on Sunday afternoon but I would like to explore it on a return trip to Budapest. I continued on by taking the subway to the City Park and Heroes’ Square. The City Park is adjacent to Heroes’ Square and contains the zoo, an amusement park, several museums, a lake, and open spaces. I walked through a small part of City Park and admired the architecture and watched as a large number of people were ice skating on a frozen outdoor skating area to music that was being played through loud speakers. I entered Heroes’ Square and was amazed by the monuments and the statues in the square – truly a sight not to be missed when visiting Budapest. Since it was late in the afternoon, I went back to the Opera House and walked along a couple of streets nearby that were described in the tourist literature as having trendy restaurants before returning to my hotel. After a short nap, I decided to try the restaurant a few doors down from the hotel for dinner. I had the soup of the day which was quite tasty, the paprika beef with roast potatoes, and a cup of cappuccino for dessert – my last meal in Budapest. I set a very early wake-up alarm for the following morning. It had begun snowing during the night and as I departed the hotel around 5:15 a.m., the snow on the sidewalks was nearly two inches deep. Fortunately I did not have far to carry my luggage to the now very familiar M1 subway station where I began my journey to the airport. After taking the M3 subway to the end of the line, I finally located the Bus 200E stop with the help of a nice Hungarian woman and continued onward to the airport. After checking in, I continued to the Lufthansa lounge where I ate some snacks for breakfast and waited for my flights to Frankfurt and home. The snow continued to fall the entire time that I was at the airport and I reflected on just how fortunate I had been to have gotten two picture perfect days for my winter weekend in Budapest. See pictures from Budapest Back to Top

January 29, 2009 Thailand Travel Notes

I originally booked a trip to Singapore with the intent to continue with a side trip to either Mumbai or Hyderabad, India. I subsequently found that I could not make the trip to India work within my travel dates and ultimately decided to book a side trip to Thailand instead. Consequently, I booked one night at the Airport Transit Hotel at the Singapore International Airport for the night of my arrival at Singapore with an early morning flight to Bangkok the next morning and a connecting flight to Phuket. I departed Los Angeles on the morning of January 6 on a flight to San Francisco connecting with the United Airlines flight to Tokyo and connecting onwards to Singapore. About halfway across the Pacific Ocean en route to Tokyo, the Captain made an announcement that, due to a passenger emergency, we were diverting to Anchorage, Alaska, where we would spend the night. The diversion to Anchorage was quite a surprise, but I was able to make the most of it. The weather at Anchorage was on of the coldest days that they have had; when we diverted, the pilot said that the temperature was twenty degrees below zero – I at least had my Marmot nylon windbreaker/outer shell raincoat to wrap up in during the bus trips to/from the hotel provided by United. It was a God send for me that we diverted to a USA destination because my MCI phone card was a very low cost way to handle the total collapse of my reservations at Singapore, Bangkok, and Phuket. I was able to cancel my reservation at the Airport Transit Hotel in Singapore with no penalty. United took care of my Singapore to Bangkok reservation on Singapore Airlines so that I would not lose my return flight from Bangkok to Singapore on January 22 and booked me directly into Bangkok (BKK) on the following day. I also called the hotel in Phuket where I had prepaid room reservations for the first two nights at Phuket – the hotel was very nice and shifted my reservation from January 8-10 to January 9-11. The only problem that I encountered was with my prepaid Air Asia flight from Bangkok to Phuket. I finally found a Thailand phone number for Air Asia on the Internet and when I called, the Air Asia reservations lady said that it would cost me 580 Thai Baht to change my reservation for the flight from BKK to Phuket (HKT) on January 8 that I would be missing. Then, when I told her that I wanted the early flight January 9, she told me that the company policy required that no schedule change could be made within 48 hours of departure and that I would need to purchase a new ticket for the flight to Phuket when I arrived at the Bangkok airport. I decided that I would not give any more money to Air Asia and I booked the early morning BKK-HKT flight on Thai Airways on the Internet from the hotel in Anchorage. Back at the Anchorage International Terminal the following morning, nobody quite knew what the procedure would be for the throng of passengers milling around the lobby. Workers were attempting to repair the inner set of automatically operated entrance doors into the terminal but were unsuccessful and every time someone approached the automatic outer terminal doors, a huge blast of Arctic cold air swirled through the terminal lobby where we were situated. I was on one of the first buses to arrive from the hotels, and after sitting for about an hour, I was getting cold so I got up and walked over to the area where they passed out vouchers the night before and stood against the counter in hopes of getting a little warmer. Katlin, a young American lady who teaches English in Japan, suddenly said that “Larry has started queue for check-in.” It was unreal – suddenly everyone in the area began forming a line behind me, and the line was about two hundred people long. I met many interesting people during the diversion, including the passenger who was sitting next to the lady who had a stroke that caused the diversion and a radiologist from San Francisco who had come forward when United asked if there was a physician on board. Soon my line was instructed to proceed to the US Customs area and we were processed back into the boarding area for our flight continuation to Tokyo. The flight to Tokyo was uneventful and my connecting flight to Bangkok proceeded on schedule. Since I arrived in Bangkok at midnight and my flight to Phuket departed at 7:30 am, I was contemplating just staying at the airport until check-in time for my Thai flight to Phuket. I was approached by a man in the lobby of the airport who offered me a room at a hotel about 5 minutes from the airport for 1500 Thai Baht, including transportation to and from the hotel. Since I was really tired, I took him up on the offer and was taken to an almost brand new hotel where I got a shower and a few hours of sleep before my wake-up call and return to the airport – what a good deal that was! After I checked into my Thai flight to Phuket, I had breakfast at the Thai airport lounge while waiting board my flight – all’s well that ends well. I spent a couple of days unwinding at Patong Beach and called my friend Nhong, a lady who had been a guide on my three prior trips to Mu Ko Similan National Park. The Similan Islands are situated South of the Surin Islands in the Andaman Sea. Nhong said that she was currently still doing day trips to the Similan Islands with Thaplamu Andaman Tours and could arrange a trip for me to Mu Ko Similan. She also advised that the wind had been out of the North for several days which was producing strong waves which precluded snorkeling at some of the better snorkeling areas. I had Nhong book a four day, three night trip to Mu Ko Similan. The trip to Mu Ko Similan ran like clockwork, and it was good to see Nhong again. I stayed in one of the air conditioned bungalows on the beach at Island 4. Since the strong winds continued from the North for three days, I took the opportunity to hike the two trails on Island 4 – the Sunset View Trail and the View Point Trail. These trails were well worth hiking and some of the scenery from the trails was spectacular. The Thai National Park Service runs the camping, bungalows, and restaurant operations at Island 4 and the camping and restaurant operations at Island 8. Although the food was quite good, some people, including me, became sick from one of the dishes that had been served at the restaurant the last night that I was on the island. I had to forego my last morning of snorkeling as I was fighting off being sick but had improved by the time we departed via the speedboat to return to the mainland. I was transported back to Patong where I spent several more days relaxing before returning to Bangkok. I flew back to Bangkok on January 18 and spent several days sightseeing in the vicinity of Bangkok. I was intent on visiting the Tiger Temple north of Kanchanaburi and hired a car and driver for a day trip. We departed Bangkok and drove northeast from Bangkok via Route 338 to Route 4 to Route 323 to Kanchanaburi Province – an area lying adjacent to Burma. Since Route 323 follows the River Kwai northward, there are many tourist attractions in the area, including the famous River Kwai bridge. Jan & I had been at the bridge several years ago so I decided not to stop there during this trip. I decided to visit the Prasat Muang Sing Historical Park, the Tiger Temple, and a portion of the Death Railroad constructed by the Japanese during World War II that runs adjacent to Kra Sae Cave. I also wanted to include a visit to Hellfire Pass which is situated along Route 323 some distance north of the Tiger temple, but we did not have sufficient time to go there. Our first stop was at Prasat Muang Sing Historical Park which is a Khmer temple complex and military outpost. The site is located on an elevated area high above the river Kwai. The temples were constructed during the Lopburi Period, 1157–1207. Muang Sing (City of Lions) marks the westernmost Cambodian advance of Cambodian power and provides testimony to their vast territorial claims. The Thai Government declared it a national historic park in 1987. There are two major temples that have been partially restored, a burial site and an exhibition hall. From here we continued on to the Tiger Temple. The Tiger Temple is situated about 40 km north of the town of Kanchanaburi on Route 323. The Tiger Temple is part of the Wat Pa Bua Yannasampanno Forest Monastery and was established 1994. It has gained the reputation as a wildlife sanctuary. The first tiger cub arrived in the monastery in February 1999 seriously ill and subsequently died. Just a few weeks after the first cub died, two tiny healthy male cubs a few weeks old were intercepted from poachers and brought to the monastery. A few months later, local villagers presented another two male cubs. Soon the border police intercepted four female cubs held by poachers and contributed them to the monastery. As the years went by, the tigers grew up and started to reproduce. During 2003, the monastery set aside land and began construction of a large open air enclosure where each tiger would be given 1 rai of land. Today, the monastery is home to many different species of rescued animals including wild boars, deer, water buffalos, tigers, and a leopard. Like most cat species, the tigers sleep through the heat of the day and become more active in the evenings when the temperatures cool off. All of the tigers have been hand-raised and imprinted to humans and therefore have no fear of people. The tigers have been regularly handled from a very early age and thus have become desensitized to being touched by people. This is why they are able to sleep while people sit next to them for photos. It was quite a thrill to be photographed with tigers sleeping with their heads on my lap. It also felt good to contribute donations to this monastery for all of the good work that they are doing to provide rescue facilities for so many animals. Upon departing the Tiger Temple, we determined that we lacked sufficient time to continue north to Hellfire Pass, so we backtracked a short distance to visit a portion of the Death Railroad. The section of the railroad that we visited was adjacent to the River Kwai and passed alongside the entrance to the Kra Sae Cave. Presumably, most of this section of railroad contains much of the original trestle from the original Death railroad that was constructed by the Japanese during World War II using Allied prisoners of war. We parked at the Lumsum station, and I walked along the railroad over the trestle structure past the cave to the Thamkasae station and then walked back to the car. There were sections where the side of the mountain rock had been hewn away to make the access route for the tracks and it was a bit sobering to reflect back on the terrible work conditions endured by the workers. There are a number or prisoner of war cemeteries nearby for some of the Allied soldiers that perished during the construction of the railroad. From here we returned to Bangkok after a full day of sightseeing. During my time in Bangkok, I decided to visit the Royal Barge Museum, which I had only seen from a distance while traveling on the Chao Phraya River. I was impressed by the number of barges that were in the museum including some remnants of barges that were damaged during the bombing of Bangkok by Allied forces during World War II. Some of the barges had gunpowder cannons installed in the figurehead portion of the bows and the intact barges were in immaculate condition. I also returned to the Grand Palace, the Bangkok National Museum, and Wat Pho. It had been more than eighteen years since I had visited the Grand Palace and Wat Pho, and they were both more magnificent than I had remembered. The National Museum, which was free when I was there several years ago, now has an admission charge and houses the Royal Cremation Carriages. The Royal Cremation for Princess Galyani Vadhana, an elder sister of King Bhumibol Adulyade, had been conducted during mid-November 2008 at the royal crematorium which had been erected in an open area near the Grand Palace. The royal crematorium had been specially constructed for the cremation and was in the process of being disassembled as we drove past the area on our way to the Grand Palace. The following web site link provides pictures and commentary on the royal cremation: In pictures: Royal Cremation Ceremony for Princess Galyani Vadhana - ThaiNewsLand - Thai News Review I flew from Bangkok to Singapore and spent a couple of days enjoying the food before returning home on January 24 – the fish head curry at the Banana Leaf Apollo restaurant on Race Course Road was superb as always. During the flights home, I upgraded to business class for the Tokyo to Los Angeles flight. On that flight, United Airlines Tokyo-based flight attendant, Katherine Frame, proved that it is actually possible to cook a marvelous filet mignon steak on a 747 airplane – thanks again, Katherine! See pictures from this trip Back to Top

October 26, 2008 South America Iguazu Falls Travel Notes

I took an Aerolineas Argentina flight from Buenos Aires to Iguazu on October 23. We were above heavy clouds for most for the flight and the clouds became broken as we got closer to Iguazu. A brief period of light sunshine peeked through the clouds as we approached Iguazu and the Iguazu Falls became visible on the right side of the airplane. The pilot made a circle so the passengers on the left side of the plane, including me, were able to take several aerial photos of falls illuminated by some sunshine. Upon arrival at the Iguazu International Airport, I hired a taxi to drive me to my hotel, Hotel Carmen. Raul, the taxi driver, gave me some tourist literature to review as we proceeded to the hotel. My hotel was more than ten kilometers from the Parque Nacional Iguazu entrance (Iguazu National Park) and several kilometers from Puerto Iguazu. Since no other taxis were to be seen anywhere near to my hotel, I decided that I would be well advised to hire him while he was present. After checking into the hotel, a few raindrops began to fall as I returned to the taxi, and Raul suggested that he take me to the Brazil side of the falls that afternoon and then to the Argentina side of the falls the following day. Although I had some concerns about Brazil visa requirements, I figured that Raul knew what he was doing as we headed off to Brazil. I gave Raul my passport and he cleared us out of Argentina and we headed into Brazil. As we crossed the Brazil border checkpoint, a Brazilian policeman stopped us and after a discussion with Raul, he requested my nationality and I gave him my passport. He spent time going through my passport and then had another long conversation with Raul. Raul explained that I would need to purchase a Brazil visa in the amount of one hundred twenty dollars US to continue onward. The cost of the visa for a three hour trip into Brazil was out of the question, and I instructed Raul to return to Argentina. Once again I gave my passport to Raul and he cleared us back into Argentina. The short trip into Brazil had consumed an extra hour and all that I had to show for it was a couple of additional Argentina stamps in my passport. We continued back to the Argentina Parque Nacional Iguazu where I would spend the remainder of the day and Raul would meet me at the park entrance at seven p.m. I entered the park and decided to try to hike the Circuito Superior (upper circuit) and the Circuito Inferior (lower circuit) trails. I was informed by a park ranger that I should take the train and get off at the first stop to get to the circuit trails. The train is powered by natural gas and is considered to be a green train by the park. By the time I got to the first stop, the intensity of the rain had increased to heavy mist and light rain showers. The Circuito Superior affords marvelous views of some of the northwestern portions of the falls from walkways along the side and across some portions of the falls. After I completed the Circuito Superior, I tackled most of the Circuito Inferior which affords marvelous views of some of the northwestern portions of the falls from trails and walkways at lower levels. After a brief period of very heavy rain, I hiked back to the train station and took the train back to the park entrance area where I got my admission ticket validated for a half price admission on the following day. As I waited for Raul, another driver approached me, asked if I was Mr. Larry, and introduced himself as a friend of Raul. He said that they were both employed by the same taxi company and that Raul had asked him to take me back to Hotel Carmen. After a hot shower, I decided to check out the hotel restaurant. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they had a dinner buffet for twenty pesos plus beverage. Dinner was wonderful and I retired for the evening wondering what the weather would be like the following day. The sound of thunder had been non-stop from the time I arrived at Circuito Superior until well into the evening and we had extreme thunderstorms for several hours during the night. By morning, the storms had passed and after breakfast, I called Raul to take me back to the park. I arrived at the park about 9:30 a.m. and took the train to the Estacion Garganta del Diablo where the eleven hundred kilometer catwalk takes people across the Upper Iguazu River out to the edge of Garganta del Diablo (the devil’s throat). This is the most spectacular portion of the Iguazu Falls. The river level was higher than normal and the views of the falls in the bright sunshine were fantastic. As I walked along the catwalk, remnants of prior catwalk constructions were evident and a portion of one earlier catwalk remained standing with a sign stating that the missing portion had been destroyed by a flood during 1992. I returned by train to the central station where I exited to revisit Circuito Superior and Circuito Inferior while we had bright sunshine. This time, I also took the lower trail down to the boat docking area where passengers are ferried over to Isla San Martin (San Martin island). The ferry to the island was closed due to the high water level in the river and I was unable to go to the island. I also decided to sign up for the Adventura Nautica (nautical adventure) offered by Safari y Adventuras. This is a boat ride on the river below the falls. The boat travels near the falls from the northwestern portion of the falls, including the San Martin Falls, around San Martin Island and part way into the Devil’s Throat Canyon portion of the falls. The boat ventures up into the heavy mist of the San Martin falls – the second most important of the Iguazu waterfalls. The tour operator provided dry bags for personal effects during the boat ride and I was glad that I had my watersport camera with me as we were being drenched by the sprays from the waterfalls. Although my raincoat offered some protection – my pants were soaked during the boat ride but had become dry by the time I returned to the park entrance. Once again I was met by Raul’s friend who drove me back to my hotel. Another great buffet dinner at the hotel brought my final day at Iguazu to a perfect close. In the morning I will fly back to Buenos Aires to be positioned to travel to Montevideo, Uruguay on October 27 in order to meet up with the tall sailing ship, Europa. Photos from Iguazu Falls

October 29, 2008 South America Montevideo Travel Notes

I took an Aerolineas Argentina flight from Buenos Aires to Montevideo, Uruguay, on October 27. The flight arrived Montevideo at dusk and the taxi driver took the scenic coastline highway to the city center. It was dark by the time we arrived at my hotel and after checking in, I went two doors down the street to a restaurant/bar which the hotel recommended for dinner – I had a mixed salad and grilled chicken. After dinner I obtained a map from the hotel front desk and was pleased to learn that the hotel was situated very close to the Plaza Independencia, the old city section and the harbor area. After breakfast, I set about exploring the old city sights and made my way to the harbor area where the Europa was docked. As I walked through the old city section, I was impressed by the large amount of trash that had accumulated along the streets. There were horse drawn carts loaded with refuse of all kinds. At first I thought that these people were collecting the garbage but it soon became obvious that they were sifting through the garbage for something of value to them. This is one way to recycle garbage, but it tends to result in a larger garbage mess by leaving the sifted garbage strewn behind. In general, I was unfavorably impressed by the garbage and litter nearly everywhere that I journeyed through the old city but the city has some beautiful architecture and plazas in spite of the litter. I finally made my way to the tourist information center adjacent to the entrance to the harbor where I obtained some additional maps and brochures. The lady at the tourism office also pointed out the pedestrian entrance to the docks. I went to the dock entrance and after I presented my Europa boarding documentation and my passport, I was photographed and presented with my harbor area identification. I then continued into the harbor area to where the Europa was docked. The Europa looked magnificent in the mid-day sunshine and I talked briefly with two of the permanent crewmembers – I will bring my luggage to the Europa on the morning of October 30 and then return around 5 p.m. to join the rest of the crew for the voyage to Ushuaia. The following day, I walked along the Ave 18 de Julio from the Plaza Independencia to El Oblisco. The walk was about two miles and there was much less litter along this street. There were large stores as well as local craft market areas and many small plazas with monuments. Beyond El Oblisco is Parque Battle which is a very large park with many sculptures present. After a brief stroll through a portion of the park, I decided to take a city bus back to Plaza Independencia and to spend the remainder of the day processing photos and writing a few notes on Montevideo. I am getting anxious for tomorrow to arrive so that I can rejoin the Europa for the ocean voyage to Ushuaia. Photos from Montevideo

November 15, 2008 South America Europa Travel Notes

I boarded the Europa at 4:30 p.m. on October 30 at Puerto de Montevideo and the Europa departed Montevideo during the early afternoon on October 31. The crew consisted of regular crewmembers and crew trainees like me. After shipboard indoctrination, we performed the abandon-ship drill – we suited up in our one-size-fits-all bright red cold water exposure suits and life vests which were stored above our bunks. After the drill, we repacked the suits and life vests and returned them to their location above our bunks where they remained for the duration of our voyage. These exposure suits and life vests had been added to the Europa this year. We also received climbing instruction and were fitted with climbing harnesses – these harnesses were much improved from the harnesses that we used during my 2007 voyage. An improved environmental control system had been installed during the extensive refit program this summer at Cape Town – this resulted in much improved cabin air and moisture quality. New shower drains and associated plumbing which had also been installed during the refit program, resulted in dramatically improved showers aboard the ship. In addition, enhanced navigation equipment including a navigation map display panel had been added in the wheelhouse since my 2007 voyage. It was nice to be able to view the ships current location by a glance at the map display. The crew trainees were divided into four watch teams – Red, White, Blue, and Day. I was assigned to the Blue watch team. The Red, White, and Blue watch teams were assigned watch schedules covering twenty four hours per day. The watch duties consisted of stationing two people on the forward bow deck as lookouts and having one person steering the ship from the helm. In addition, any available crew trainees were requested to assist the regular crew with configuring the sails during the voyage. Crew trainees also assisted in maintenance tasks which included sail repair, sail removal and installation, main deck table repair, and carpentry. The Day watch team initially had no specific watch duty assignments. The initial rotation schedule for the Blue watch was as follows: November 1 – midnight to 4 a.m. November 1 – noon to 2 p.m. November 1 – 8 p.m. to midnight November 2 – 8 a.m. to noon November 2 – 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. November 3 – 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. November 4 – midnight to 4 a.m. November 4 – noon to 2 p.m. November 4 – 8 p.m. to midnight The watch system was revised on November 5 to add the Day watch team to cover the watch duties from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily with the Red, White, and Blue watch teams covering the 4 p.m. to 8 a.m. watch duties. Under the revised watch system, the Blue watch schedule was as follows: November 5 – 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. November 6 – midnight to 4 a.m. November 6 – 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. November 7 – 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. November 8 – 8 p.m. to midnight November 8 – 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. The Blue watch continued to repeat the above schedule for the remainder of the voyage. The final Blue watch was on November 12 from midnight to 4 a.m. The weather during our Blue watches was generally relatively warm with some beautiful star filled nights and magnificent sunsets, sunrises, and moonsets. It was a treat once again to be able to see the Southern Cross with the two pointing stars and to try to estimate our heading before confirming the course with the ship’s compass. Our first cold watch with some misty rain occurred during the night watch on November 1 and the weather turned progressively colder as we continued south. The two forward lookouts were pulled back to the poop deck when the sea sprayed over the forward bow deck, and on one occasion the weather and waves required all persons on deck to wear safety harnesses. The final Blue watch occurred as we approached the entrance to the Canal Beagle and was bitter cold as we sailed into the cold headwind under the power of the two diesel engines – it reminded me of some of the many cold watches that I participated during my 2007 voyage from Ushuaia to Cape Town on the Europa. We were fortunate to have generally favorable winds for the voyage from Montevideo to Ushuaia which allowed us to sail without the assistance of the engines for most of the journey. During the voyage we saw whales, dolphins, seals, Magellan penguins, and numerous birds including Cape Petrels, Giant Petrels, Black Browed Albatrosses, Wandering Albatrosses, Antarctic Terns, Royal Cormorants, and a Fork Tail Fly Catcher. A Cuckoo bird which had apparently been blown out to sea, landed on the ship but was unable to survive. The sea became more turbulent after we left the Brazilian current and entered the Falkland current – this made the sailing more exciting for me. The times when we encountered strong winds accompanied by large waves, added to the thrill of sailing on the Europa. After the Europa passed through the Estrecho de Le Mare, the channel between the mainland and Isla de Los Estados, we furled the sails for the last time and continued under the power of the two 360 hp Caterpillar diesel engines toward the entrance of Canal Beagle where we dropped anchor to await the arrival of the pilot to continue on to Ushuaia. The pilot arrived at approximately 7:20 a.m. on the morning of November 13 and we arrived Ushuaia in the mid-afternoon. During our approach to Ushuaia we were greeted by strong winds and brief snow flurries to remind us that the weather here changes continually. It took about one hour to clear Argentinean immigration and we were free to leave the ship to explore Ushuaia. I took this opportunity to go to the Laguna Negrea Chocolates store to enjoy a cappuccino grande. I also phoned the Kaupe restaurant to make a dinner reservation for the following evening – Kaupe is one of my favorite restaurants in Argentina, and I always look forward to dining there. After deleting over 90 irrelevant E-mails at an Internet café, I returned to the Europa for the final Captain’s dinner and spent my last night aboard ship. I disembarked from the Europa during the morning of November 14 and took a taxi to my hotel. After washing a few shirts, I wandered about through downtown Ushuaia. Dinner at Kaupe on November 14 was once again marvelous – I had the King Crab and spinach chowder, the King Crab Kaupe main course, ice cream with chocolate sauce, and a cappuccino. During my last visit to Ushuaia, I observed a portion of the harbor frontage being filled in for development which turned out to be for construction of a large parking lot adjacent to the harbor – the quantity of automobiles continues to increase in Ushuaia. Even as tourism continues to increase, the city of Ushuaia still remains charming. Photos from the Europa

November 20, 2008 South America El Calafate Travel Notes

I took an Aerolineas Argentina flight from Buenos Aires to Montevideo, Uruguay, on November 16. The flight arrived at El Calafate about mid-afternoon at the relatively new El Calafate International Airport. The airport is situated adjacent to Lago Argentino and is approximately twenty seven kilometers from the town. Lago Argentino is the largest lake in Argentina and covers an area of approximately 1,466 square kilometers with an average depth of 150 meters. I was impressed by how desert-like the area was during the taxi ride from the airport into town. As we approached the town of El Calafate, the road abruptly turned into an abandoned airport runway and my hotel was located immediately adjacent to Runway 05 – until just recently, this was the El Calafate airport. After discussing many different tourist attraction options with the lady at the front desk of my hotel, I booked two glacier tours for my two days there – the Perito Moreno tour for November 17 and the Glacier Upsala boat tour for November 18. I then decided to spend the remainder of the afternoon exploring El Calafate which is also situated adjacent to Lago Argentino. The weather was very warm compared to Ushuaia, and the Lago Argentino was bright blue-green in the sunshine. Although my hotel was within walking distance to the city center, the trek into town included some gravel/dirt roads. Quite a few of the streets in El Calafate are gravel/dirt which adds lots of dust in the town. The main street was picturesque with trees down the center of the street as well as trees along one side of the street. There are shops all along the street that provide restaurants, shops, and a casino for the throngs of tourists that support the economy. After returning to the hotel, the receptionist at the front desk gave me my vouchers for the Perito Moreno tour and glacier boat ride for the following morning. After breakfast on November 17, my driver/tour guide picked me up at my hotel in a minivan with some additional passengers, and we started out to the Glaciar Puerto Moreno which was about 80 km from El Calafate. He gave a very good guided tour in both Spanish and English. He explained that the Round Bay adjacent to El Calafate is cut off from the lake this time of year and provides a nesting ground for a variety of birds including Flamingos, Black Faced Ibis, geese, and several varieties of ducks. He said that Round Bay is the only part of the lake that freezes during the winter when it becomes a large ice skating rink. The lake water level will again be high in February as the summer glacial melt refills the lake and Round Bay will once again become connected to the lake. At one stop near town to get a good view of the lake, we saw Crested Cara Cara birds sitting on fence posts. As we continued toward the glacier, he pointed out that the climate becomes more humid as we get closer to the Andes – much greener vegetation and trees. He also said we were very lucky to get such good weather where we could see the Andes off in the distance from El Calafate – the weather for several previous days had been cloudy with some rain near the glaciers. We also saw a Condor soaring at a low altitude above and in front of us – as our guide stopped the minivan for people to get a better look, it soared away into the distance. We took the road toward the south face of the Perito Moreno glacier and paid the Los Glaciares National Park entrance fees. El Glaciar Perito Moreno is the most famous glacier in the national park. It is 30 km long and has a surface area of 195 square km. The front of the glacier extends approximately 4 to 5 km and rises approximately 60 meters above the lake water – the front also extends nearly 180 meters below the surface of the lake. Our guide said that there were several reasons that it is the most famous including the fact that it periodically collides with Peninsula Magallanes and forms a dam which separates two portions of Lago Argentino. The intersection of the glacier with the peninsula also forms North and South faces of the glacier. Over a period of years the water level in the lake on the south side of the glacier rises due to the dam and the water pressure on the dam increases. Finally the glacial dam “explodes” as the water destroys the dam. Tourists flock to the glacier in hopes of seeing magnificent glacier calving or the random periodic “explosions.” The park service had constructed several kilometers of pathways with wooden railings and viewing platforms along the face of Peninsula Magallanes for the tourists to view the glacier. The old pathways are being replaced with galvanized steel catwalks with beautiful varnished wooden railings – this is the first season that the new catwalks are being used. Our guide said that the new catwalks provide views that are superior to the old pathways and that the grated floors are much less slippery than the old pathways. As we drove along the Brazo Rico channel of Lago Argentino, we stopped at a view point to have a look at the glacier before continuing on to the boat dock for close-up viewing of the South` face of the glacier. Our guide asked how many people wanted to take the 11:30 a.m. boat to the South face of the glacier and he made the reservations. During this stop, I showed my boat voucher to my guide and he said that I should give it to the person at the ticket booth. He dropped us off and said that he would return at 12:30 p.m. to pick us up. When I presented my boat voucher to the person in the ticket booth, I was told that it was not good for their boats. A man from Madrid named Paco came to my rescue and translated that the voucher was for another boat travel company. Since my guide had already departed, I purchased the required ticket and took the boat to the South face of the glacier. I soon became friends with Paco, his wife Berta, and two of their friends. Our guide returned at 12:30 and was very apologetic about not paying proper attention to my boat voucher and promised a refund to me. It turned out that his mistake worked in my favor as my voucher was for a boat ride along the North face of the glacier – the North face of the glacier was also included as part of the extensive boat trip that I had booked for the following day. We continued to the Peninsula Magallanes viewing area where we had an hour and a half to navigate the several kilometers of catwalks to see spectacular views of El Glacier Perito Moreno and to see spectacular glacier calving several times. During the afternoon, the sky was clear and the sunshine illuminated the glacier with white and deep blue colors. We headed back to El Calafate after a picture perfect tour and spotted a Black Crested Buzzard-eagle, some Flamingos, and some Black Face Ibis. The following day, I was picked up at my hotel by a big bus for the journey to Punta Bandera to board a boat for the Glaciar Upsala tour – the guide checked my boat ticket as I boarded the bus and confirmed that it was correct. To my surprise, Paco and Berta boarded the bus at the next stop. Instead of bright sunshine, the weather today was overcast with some occasional small breaks in the clouds and the Andes were not visible in the distance. During the ride to Punta Bandera, the guide informed us that the iceberg ice pack had been so heavy that the boats had not been able to go up the Brazo Upsala channel to the Upsala glacier for several days and that the boat captain would make a judgment call as we approached the channel. She also said that our boat ticket had a number from 1 to 4 corresponding to the boat to which we were assigned. My ticket was for boat number 3 – Paco and Berta also were on boat 3. Boat number 3 was the Catamaran ”Chonek” and was the same kind of boat as the Catamaran “Upsala Connection.” We paid the national park fees and then located the cue for boat number 3. We boarded the “Chonek” and headed across Lago Argentina and up the Brazo Norte channel toward Brazo Upsala. We began encountering icebergs of increasing size as we neared the entrance to Brazo Upsala. We followed the Catamaran “Quo Vadis” into the Brazo Upsala channel and inched our way among the icebergs until we cleared the ice pack and continued on the El Glaciar Upsala – it was a real thrill to actually make it through the ice to the glacier. The Upsala glacier has the largest surface among the Patagonian continental ice. It has a surface of 595 square kilometers and a length of 60 km. The width of the front is between 5 and 7 km and the height of the walls fluctuated between 60 to 80 meters – the depth of the lake in front of the glacier is about 1000 meters. Our next scheduled visit was to Ornelli Bay but the Brazo Ornelli channel was blocked by the iceberg ice pack. We continued up the Brazo Spegazzini channel to El Glaciar Spegazzzini the tallest glacier in the national park. It has a surface of 66 square kilometers and a length of 25 km. The width of its front is 1.5 km and the height of its front measures 80 to 125 meters in its highest point. After the Spegazzina glacier, we backtracked through Brazo Norte and continued on to Canal de los Tempanos to the North face of the El Glacier Perito Moreno. We got a brief moment of sunshine at Perito Moreno. After sailing along the North face of the glacier, we returned to Punta Bandera and ended a wonderful boat excursion among the glaciers thankful that we had made it through to the Upsala glacier. During the bus tip back to El Calafate, I observed a man on horseback with his dog riding on an Argentina ranch. Tomorrow will be another travel day from El Calafate to Buenos Aires with a free day before returning home. Photos from El Calafate See all photos from this trip Back to Top

May 12, 2008 London Travel Notes

The last time I visited London was during January 2006 for a long weekend. With limited time available, I booked an all-day tour that included Runnymead, Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, the Cotswalds, and Bath. The tour bus had very few people aboard and we had a lady tour guide who was fantastic – she kept us all alert with her charming stories based upon her extensive knowledge of English history. After the tour, while they were taking me back to my hotel, she said her name was Berdette or Bernadette; that she was a librarian; and that her library would soon move to new facilities on Kilburn High Road near my hotel. She said that not many tourists stayed in the neighborhood and recommended a nearby restaurant. Following her instructions, I walked passed many small, nearly deserted restaurants arriving at her recommended restaurant which was packed with people. The food was delicious and relatively inexpensive. After I booked another long weekend trip to London during May 2008, I decided to try to look up Berdette to say “Hello” and to see if she was still guiding weekend day tours. I located the address of the new Kilburn Library and Community Facilities on the Internet. Once I arrived at London Heathrow, I purchased a day pass for underground and took the train to my hotel in Fitzroy. After checking into my hotel, I took a quick walk through the neighborhood and then I headed off to buy a local London SIM card for my mobile phone and to find the Kilburn High Library. I arrived at the Kilburn High Library and a nice gentleman greeted me at the reception desk. As I was describing the lady tour guide with her vast knowledge of English history, he said that he knew who I was talking about, that her name was Berdette, and that she had died about a year ago from cancer. I was totally unprepared for that news and thanked him for his assistance. As I left the library, I decided to see if the restaurant was in business. It is called “Little Bay” and it was packed with local people – my late lunch was delicious. Since I had never been inside Westminster Abbey, I went there on Saturday morning. After waiting my turn to purchase admission tickets, I decided to take the “Verger Guided Tour” of the Abbey. There were seven people signed up for my Verger tour and two additional people joined us at the first stop. The Verger tour provided access to areas that are not open to the public, and I thought the tour was very well done. After the Verger tour, I went back through the Abbey to spend some more time soaking up the history. Photographs are prohibited within the Abbey proper but are permitted in the Cloisters, Chapter House, and St. Margaret’s Church. The oldest door in Britain is situated in the vestibule of the Chapter House, and Chapter House is magnificent with wall paintings, stained glass, and mosaic floor tiles. As I left Westminster Abbey to visit St, Margaret’s Church, I found that admission to the church ended several minutes earlier – I guess I will need another visit to London to enter St. Margaret’s Church. I continued on to the Wellington Arch and to the Marble Arch. Both of these arches were constructed between 1826 and 1830 to commemorate Britain’s victories over Napoleonic France. They were originally conceived as grand entrances to Buckingham Palace and were subsequently disassembled and relocated to their present locations. On Sunday morning, I went to the British Museum and spent quite a bit of time re-exploring the antiquities section. I was interested to note that the English collection contained considerably more Greek antiquities than antiquities from Turkey. It was interesting to find many Greek statues from around 500 BC that came from the ancient city of Didyma in Turkey – they once resided along a section of the ancient road that I visited in Didyma in March 2008. After exploring the British Museum for several hours, I went to the London Wall near the Tower Underground Station. The London Wall was built by the Romans as a defensive wall around “Londinium,” a strategically important Roman town on the River Tames. A statue of Trajan has been erected in front of a section of the wall that still remains today. The weather had been beautiful from Friday through Sunday and I headed out to Heathrow on Monday morning for my flight home. See pictures from London Back to Top

April 25, 2008 Thailand Travel Notes

Prior to departing for Thailand, I sent an E-mail to my friend Thanya, a lady who I have known for many years, advising of my travel to Thailand. I told her that I was hoping to return to the Mu Ko Surin National Park which consists of the Surin Islands. The Surin Islands are situated in the Andaman Sea to the West of Kuraburi Town and are the Northern-most islands in the Andaman Sea that belong to Thailand. Thanya replied that she had contacted Greenview Travel, that she could arrange a trip to Mu Ko Surin, and provided her new mobile phone number. She also said that she could arrange for accommodations at Patong Beach, Phuket. Since I was having difficulty trying to book a hotel in Phuket and booking a reasonably-priced flight to Phuket, I had booked two nights at Bangkok in order to have a free day to make additional travel arrangements after arriving at Bangkok. When I initially booked the trip back in January, I didn’t realize that I was arriving in the middle of the Songkran Festival, a big Thailand New Year national holiday. Songkran was the reason that it was nearly impossible to book last minute reasonably-priced hotel reservations at Phuket via the Internet. My flight from Tokyo Narita to Bangkok was delayed for nearly three hours due to a mechanical problem with the airplane – this put me into Bangkok at about 2:00 am on April 9th. After clearing customs and taking a taxi to my hotel, it was nearly 3:30 am when I checked into my hotel. After breakfast at the hotel, I booked a flight to Phuket for the following day through the hotel travel agency – nearly all of the flights from Bangkok to Phuket were sold out. Once I had my flight to Phuket booked, I called Thanya and requested that she find me a hotel at Patong Beach for two nights, reserve a bungalow at Kuraburi Town for one night, and book a five day/four night trip to Mu Ko Surin through Greenview Travel. She called back a little later and told me that she had arranged for a car to meet me at Phuket Airport and take me to a hotel in Patong Beach and that she had reserved the trip with Greenview to Mu Ko Surin. The following day, I caught my flight to Phuket and as I exited the terminal, I saw a lady holding a sign "LARR" – my car and driver were right on schedule. The lady’s name was Sud and she has a taxi service in Phuket. On the way to Patong Beach, she stopped at a travel agency where I booked my hotel accommodations for the next two nights at Patong Beach. Patong Beach was packed with tourists and folks celebrating the Songkran Festival from April 13th to 15th. In addition, Phuket Bike Week from April 10th to 13th is timed to coincide with Songkran festivities and bikers from all over Thailand converge on Phuket – of course there were many motorcycles and bikers at Patong Beach when I arrived. Still jet-lagged, I spent another day resting and relaxing before my journey North to Kuraburi Town on April 12th. As I sat down at an Internet café at Patong Beach, I tore my right pant leg, and since I travel light, I had a lady in a tailor shop next to my hotel mend the rip so that I could wear them to Mu Ko Surin. Prior to leaving Patong Beach, I called an old mobile number for my friend Nhong, a lady who had been a guide on my two prior trips to Mu Ko Similan National Park. The Similan Islands are situated South of the Surin Islands in the Andaman Sea. Nhong answered my call and said that she was currently doing day trips to the Similan Islands with Thaplamu Andaman Tours and could arrange a trip for me to Mu Ko Similan after my trip to Mu Ko Surin. Since I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to go to Phi Phi Island or to Mu Ko Similan this trip, I told her that I would figure out at my schedule and call her back. Later that evening, I decided to try to go to Mu Ko Similan for three days/two nights and to skip going back to Phi Phi Island during this trip. I had originally planned to have Sud drive me to Phuket Town to catch a bus to Kuraburi Town where Thanya would have a driver meet the bus to take me to my bungalow – Greenview would then pick me up early morning on April 13th. When Sud picked me up at my hotel, I decided to hire her to drive me to Kuraburi Town. I advised Thanya that Sud was driving me to Kuraburi – Thanya provided Sud with the name and address where she had made a room reservation for me. The drive to Kuraburi took several hours and we arrived at a new bed & breakfast situated outside of the town which had a room reserved for me – the resort was so new that the restaurant was not yet open. Since the restaurant was not open, the rate for the bungalow did not include breakfast. There was a local restaurant open a couple of doors down the road where I had lunch and since the sign indicated that they opened at 6:30 am, I planned to also get breakfast there in the morning. Later in the afternoon, I called Nhong and asked her to please make a reservation for a bungalow at Khao Lak for the evening of April 17th and that I would like to book a three day/two night trip to Mu Ko Similan departing on the 18th. In the morning, I packed for the trip to Mu Ko Surin and as I walked toward the local restaurant for breakfast, I realized that it was not open. Somewhat disappointed, I went back to my room to wait for Greenview to pick me up. In a little while, to my surprise, there was a knock at my door and a lady appeared with a tray bearing breakfast for me. She said that the cost was 70 Bhat which I considered to be most reasonable. Greenview arrived and took me to the pier at Kuraburi where I had hoped to see Thanya – she was not there and we only communicated by mobile phone. I left some of my luggage at the Grenview office and only took a small backpack and a dry-bag containing my snorkeling equipment with me to the islands. We went by speedboat out to the Mu Ko Surin where I camped on the beach in a Thailand National Park tent with a sleeping bag and foam rubber ground mat rented from the park service. My first tent had a large rip in the netting across the bottom of one side at the front entrance flap so I packed my gear next to the ripped area. The following day, I relocated to a blue tent further down the beach in an area near to where my tent had been two years ago. Both tents faced the beach and the view from each of the tents was superb. The monsoon season produces very rough seas and the Surin Islands are only open to tourists from mid-November to mid-May. The only full-time inhabitants are a village of sea gypsies who prefer to be called "Moken" people. The original Moken village was destroyed by the December 2004 Tsunami and the new Moken village has been rebuilt near the site of the original village. Since Mu Ko Surin is a very popular destination for Thai people and is especially popular with folks from Bangkok as a Songkran Festival destination, the campgrounds were packed with tents and tourists. Fortunately for me, my Greenview package ensured that I would be able to do morning and afternoon snorkeling trips every day that I was there. Most overnight trips to Mu Ko Surin are for three days/two nights and since my trip was for five days/four nights, I got the opportunity to meet several Thai families arriving and departing while I was there. I enjoyed spending some time with a family from Bangkok – Kitty, Oh and their son Sai. After my second night, most of the Bangkok folks celebrating Songkran departed and more that half of the campground tents vanished. The park was much less crowded for the remainder of my visit and was pure paradise with gorgeous coral and beautiful fishes. My watersport camera sprung a leak during the third day at Mu Ko Surin and stopped working – the memory card survived the leak, but I could no longer take underwater photos while snorkeling. After returning to the pier at Kuraburi, Greenview transferred me to my bungalow at Khao Lak. In the morning, I was picked up at my bungalow by Thaplamu Andaman Tours and taken to the pier where I was personally greeted by Nhong. It was great to see her again. Her day trips to the Similan Islands are very well organized and are very well run – she has a special talent for running snorkeling trips. We snorkeled at Island 9, stopped at the picturesque Donald Duck beach at Island 8, snorkeled along the back side of Island 8, and had lunch at Island 4. After lunch, I moved into a National Park bungalow on Island 4. The bungalow had a screened ceiling area with several holes in the screen, a fairly large gap under the door and a hole in the floor for the shower water to drain through. Sometime either during the second day or second night, some critter ate a hole about 3/8 inch in diameter through the left leg of my pants as they hung on the wall of the bungalow – sure was glad that they were the pants that were mended in Patong Beach and not my other good pair of pants. During the next two days, I had marvelous snorkeling at the back sides of Islands 7, 8 & 9; the southern end of Island 7; and the southwestern end of Island 4. I met Golf and Yok, a couple from Bangkok, during an afternoon snorkeling trip – the three of us were in a small boat operated by the National Park Service and the snorkeling was superb. In addition, Jurgen & Sabina from southern Germany came to the islands on the same speedboat as me, also stayed two nights and we all returned to the mainland on Nhong’s speedboat on the 20th. To my surprise, my mobile phone worked at both Mu Ko Surin and Mu Ko Similan. I called Sud and arranged for her to meet me at the pier to drive me back to Patong Beach on the 20th. Of course, she stopped at the same travel agency on the way to Patong and I made a hotel reservation for the next three nights. After arriving back at Patong, I returned to the tailor shop and had the lady mend the hole from the Similan Islands – now I have a pair of pants with patches for my next island overnight trip. Since everything that I had taken to the islands ended up damp, I spent the next couple of days at Patong washing clothes, rinsing off and drying out damp equipment, working on photos, reflecting on my eight days of snorkeling at the islands, and re-packing for the return to Bangkok and home. See pictures from Thailand Back to Top

March 16, 2008 Turkey Travel Notes

Jan and I arrived at Istanbul, Turkey on the afternoon of March 8. Our hotel was in Sultanahmet, the old part of the city. We took a short walk past the Blue Mosque, through the Hippodrome and past the Aya Sofya before finding a nice small restaurant for dinner. The following morning we visited the Blue Mosque, the Archaeological Museums and the Topkapi Palace. The Archeological Museum had some exquisite pieces from some of the ancient city archaeological sites on our itinerary for this trip. The highlight of the Topkapi Palace was the Treasures of Islam museum section which included the sword of the Prophet David, the rod of the Prophet Moses, the cup of the Prophet Abraham, the forearm and a portion of the skull of the Prophet John the Babtist, soil from Medina, and a tooth and hairs of the beard from the Prophet Mohammed. We took an early morning flight to Izmir on March 10 and rented a car. After finally finding the correct highway out of Izmir, we drove East to the archeological site of Sardis. Sardis is the site of one of the seven churches of the old Roman province of Asia that are mentioned in the Book of Revelation in the Bible – the other six churches were located at Smyrna (present-day Izmir), Ephesus, Laodicea, Pergamum (present-day Bergama), Thyaeria (present-day Akhisar) and Philadelphia (present-day Alasehir). The site is scattered around on both sides of the highway and we had to purchase entry tickets on both sides of the road. Our first stop was to visit the site of the Temple of Artemis which also had a small Byzantine church portion at the rear of the temple. Portions of the old Lydian City wall were evident at various places. Highlights of the site on the other side of the road included a Roman road, a well-preserved Byzantine latrine, a swimming pool, a “hava” (synagogue) restored by contributions from the Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles, and a marvelous two-story building called the “Marble Court of the Hall of the Imperial Cult.” We continued driving southwest to Pamukkale. We stayed at the Venus Hotel in Pamukkale Town and were greeted by Abraham who is the son of the owners. Abraham made our stay at the hotel special – including home-cooked Turkish meals cooked by his mother. He recommended that we visit the archeological site of Laodicae that first afternoon – the site of another of the seven churches. Laodicea had some impressive ruins that included an Agora, a Basillica Church, two theaters, and a Roman street. Abraham also provided information about the local area and was like a true friend by the time we departed the hotel. We got an early start to archaeological ruins of Aphrodisias on March 11. Aphrodisias is about one hundred kilometers from Pamukkale Town and is one of Turkey’s finest sites – frequently referred to as second only to Ephesus. After visiting Ephesus two days later, we concluded that we actually liked Aphrodisias better that Ephesus. The more impressive ruins at Aphrodisias included the theater, the Tetrapylon, the Aphrodite Temple, the stadium, and the Bishop’s Palace. The most important building of Aphrodisias was the Aphrodite Temple but the restoration of Tetrapylon, monumental gate, is probably the signature landmark today. The stadium, which could seat 30,000 spectators, was truly amazing. A visit to the Aphrodisias Museum completed our visit, and we took a very scenic drive through the mountains back to Pamukkale via Tavas and Denizli. Back at Pamukkale we walked from our hotel to the park-like area of the Pamukkale Travertines adjacent to the town. After breakfast, we checked out of the hotel, said good-bye to Abraham, and drove to the South entrance to the archaeological ruins of Hieropolis and the upper portion of the Pamukkale Travertines. The weather was cool and cloudy with possible rain in the forecast. We set about touring the archaeological ruins of Hieropolis using footpaths to try to avoid the large number of tourists already there. We trekked up the hill to the theater which had been so well restored that it could probably now be used for performances. While we were at the theater, we got a glimmer of sunshine and then the weather continued to deteriorate. We hiked across the hillsides and up to the Martyrion of Saint Phillip – built on the site where Saint Phillip was martyred. It is an octagonal on a square ground plan with stairs leading down toward the city center. We continued walking down to the main city center area and westward through a large agora to the very large Northern Necropolis – a graveyard with amazing tombs and sarcaphagi. While we were in the Necropolis, the wind came up and it began to sprinkle light rain as we continued eastward to the Pamukkale Museum which was built adjoining the former city baths. While visiting the museum, the rain came in earnest and we were glad that we had carried our rain gear along with us. After the museum, we walked in the rain between the Apollo Temple, the Plutonium, and the Basilica on our way to exit through the South Byzantine Gate. As we were exiting, busloads of tourists were arriving to begin their chance to explore Pamukkale and Hieropolis. We drove westward toward Kusadasi, our next destination. About eighty kilometers to the West, the rain subsided and became intermittent as we continued driving to Kusadasi. Since we did not have a detailed map of the Kusadasi area, we stopped at a Migros store to ask for directions. A lady at the customer service desk paged someone to help us. Another nice young lady said that she knew where our hotel was and took the time to draw a map to explain how to proceed to our hotel. Her map was a real godsend as we drove through the narrow streets and traffic of Kusadasi to our hotel. Our hotel was situated in Kusadasi city center facing the Esplanade and the Agean Sea – a great location for our next three nights. That evening we explored the immediate neighborhood in the vicinity of our hotel. Thursday morning, March 13, brought sunshine and we headed off to explore the archaeological ruins of Ephesus. Since Ephesus is touted to have the finest archeological ruins in Turkey and is frequently overrun by throngs of tourists, we were hoping to arrive early before Ephesus became too crowded. A couple of wrong turns trying to get out of Kusadasi ended our attempt to get an early start at Ephesus. The more impressive ruins at Ephesus included the Library of Celsus, The Gate of Mazeus and Mithridates, the Theater, the Houses on the Slopes, the Fountain of Treajan, Curetes Street, the Odeion, and the Temple of Hadrian. The Houses on the Slopes requires an additional substantial admission charge but the frescoes and mosaics were magnificent – truly a site not to be missed when visiting Ephesus. After we departed Ephesus, we drove to Selcuk where we visited the ruins of the Temple of Artemis consisting of one remaining column. Our next stop was to be the Museum of Ephesus but we ended up at the entrance to the ruins of The Church of Saint John – the tomb of Saint John is located here. The impressive Asyasoluk Fortress occupies the high ground above the Church of Saint John and had been closed to the public for some time. We finally found the Museum of Ephesus and the relics were quite impressive – the museum also included an exhibit relating to gladiators from Ephesus. Friday, March 14, was our last full day in the Kusadasi area and we decided to drive South to visit the archaeological ruins at Priene, Miletos, and Didyma. Priene was located high up on the side of a mountain. The more impressive ruins at Priene included the theater, the Athena Temple, the Large Church, the Bouleuterion (senate building), and the streets of Priene. The theater at Priene had several carved rock chairs in the front row, presumably for special people. Miletos was a very important harbor city until the sea receded. The more impressive ruins at Miletos included the theater, the Faustina Baths, the Large Harbor Monument, the Processional Road, the Ionic Stoa and the Temple of Serapis. A defensive fortress had been built on top of the theater and offered panoramic views from the fortress ruins. Much of this site is under water for part of the year and some portions remained partially submerged during our visit. Today the ruins at Didyma consist of the Temple of Apollo and the Sacred Road. The Temple of Apollo once had a large number of massive columns and there were quite a few column portions remaining at the front portion of the temple. Across the highway from the Temple of Apollo lies the remains of a portion of the Sacred Road and the site of the Temple of Artemis – we were told that nothing remains of the Temple of Artemis. The Sacred Road ran between the Temple of Apollo and Miletos and was closed to the public during our visit. During our drive back to Kusadasi on the main divided highway, a large group of protesters blocked the road about six kilometers south of Soke. After stopping traffic in the Northbound lanes, they walked in front of the cars (we were three cars in back of the group of protesters) for about one kilometer creating a monumental traffic jam. TV camera crews were filming the marchers and the traffic jam including us in our rental car – perhaps we were on the evening news. The protesters then crossed back to the Southbound lanes and began marching in the Southbound lanes. The remainder of our drive back to Kusadasi was relatively uneventful. Since we had a night flight from Izmir to Istanbul on Saturday, we decided to brave the city traffic in Izmir and visit some sites in Izmir. As we were departing Kusadasi, we turned one roundabout too soon and found ourselves headed toward Ladies Beach. Since Ladies Beach was described as an upscale beach, we decided to have a look. As we continued to Ladies Beach, the streets became increasingly narrower with a myriad of no turn signs. We finally asked directions on how to get back to Kusadasi city center and a nice gentleman told us to turn right, go up the hill to a church, and follow the minibus which passes there every five minutes to the the city center – what a great way to get driving directions. We found the minibus and were soon back on the highway to Izmir. Izmir was originally the ancient city of Smyrna and has some archaeological ruins dating from when Alexander the Great occupied the city. Alexander the Great refounded the city of Smyrna on Kadifekale (Mount Pagus) and built fortifications – the ruins of portions still remain today. Kadifekale was to be our first stop and in spite of much heavy traffic, narrow streets and with only wrong turns and lots of luck we finally arrived at Kadifekale. The next challenge was to find a parking place and we finally squeezed next to a wall and parked. Today the remains of the Velvet Fortress occupy much of the top of the mountain but portions of the ancient fortification walls still remain. In addition, portions of the ancient cistern that supplied water to the ancient Agora could also be seen. After visiting Kadifekale, we decided to visit the archaeological ruins of the Agora of Smyrna which were situated below Kadifekale. As we drove down from Kadifekale, we decided to follow a taxi hoping that he would lead us back to a main street toward the Agora. We finally got to the main street and soon spotted a sign to the Agora. A very quick right turn down a very narrow street brought us to the entrance but there was no parking to be found. We backtracked to the main street and tried going around the block when we found a large public car park. We were thrilled and parked on the fifth level. We then visited the Agora which had been built for Alexander the Great. It had been ruined by an earthquake in 178 AD and was rebuilt by Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius. Our last stop was the Archaeology Museum. Since it did not appear to be very far from the Agora on the map, we decided to leave the car in the car park and walk to the museum. After walking uphill for several hundred meters and asking people for directions only to find that nobody seemed to have heard of the Archeology Museum, we finally hailed a taxi. The taxi driver also seemed to have difficulty but we spotted the museum as he drove past and had him let us out. After the museum, we hailed another taxi to take us back to the public car park near the Agora. Back in our car, we started driving in the direction of the airport. As we approached a fork in the road, we missed the turn to the airport and spent a very long time heading in a southerly direction on the busy streets of Izmir until we finally came to a major highway. Of course we managed to get on the highway going the wrong direction until we reached the sea at Izmir and were able to finally get back on the highway in the correct direction, When we took the airport exit, traffic on the main road to the Izmir airport was nearly stopped due to highway construction. After a long convoluted detour through the town of Gaziemir we arrived at the airport and returned our trusty rental car. Driving the traffic of Izmir had truly been a challenge. We were also grateful that Turkish Airlines allowed us to catch an earlier flight to Istanbul. Sunday, March 16, was our last day to visit sites in Istanbul. Bright sunshine and clear sky enticed us to stop by the Blue Mosque to witness the splendor of the early morning sunlight coming through the stained glass windows. I think that the Blue Mosque is at its best with bright early morning sunshine illuminating the interior. Our next stop was at the Basilica Cistern for a quick visit and to photograph the two upside-down Medusa heads that support two columns to supplement photos from my 2006 visit. We continued on to the Aya Sofya (Hagia Sofia) in hopes that main dome would no longer be partially obscured by the scaffolding but the scaffolding that was there during 2006 still remained. We wanted to visit the Spice Bazaar and the Grand Bazaar but both are closed on Sundays. We hailed a taxi to go to the Suleymanye Camil (Mosque of Suleyman the Magnificent) which was described as the grandest Ottoman mosque. We arrived during prayers and visited the tomb of Sultan Sulleyman adjacent to the mosque while we waited for the mosque to open for visitors. Once inside the mosque we were surprised to find that the main portion of the mosque was sealed off and only a small outer portion adjacent to the entry was open – perhaps the main portion was undergoing refurbishment. We walked down a street alongside the Istanbul University and when we came to the end of the university, we encountered many Istanbul policemen in riot gear and trucks with water cannons blocking our path. A short detour around the area brought us to the ruins of the Forum of Theodosius Columns – not much there to see. We were alongside a street with streetcars and we decided to take a streetcar back to Sultanahmet. As we were walking back to our hotel, we noticed that the tomb of Sultan Ahmet I was open to the public. Since I had walked past the tomb many times before and this was the first time that I had seen it open, I decided stop for a visit – the interior was exquisite. We spent the remainder of the afternoon at the hotel and enjoyed our last Turkish dinner at a small restaurant close to our hotel. The dinner was superb and we headed back to the hotel to begin packing for our very early morning flight home. See pictures from Turkey Back to Top

February 26, 2008 Berlin, Germany Travel Notes

I arrived at the Berlin Tegel Airport during the evening of February 21. The Tegel airport is the airport that was used by the Allies to supply West Berlin during the Berlin Airlift. I wandered around the airport until I found an open tourist information desk to determine the best way to travel to my hotel in Berlin. The lady at the information desk said that the taxi would be the easiest way and then said that if I was up to the public transportation system it would be quite inexpensive. Of course I opted for the public transportation and was directed to the BVG desk where a nice man handed me a copy of the "Berlin S + U-Bahn-Netz 2008" pamphlet and showed me how to catch the bus from the airport terminal to the U-Bahn system. He also told me that the cost of the bus and U-Bahn to the station near my hotel would be 2.30 Euro. I walked outside to the bus stop and waited for either the X9 bus or the 109 bus to arrive. When the bus arrived, I boarded and was told by the driver to disembark and to wait. At this point a very nice German lady named Birgit asked me where I was going and explained that the driver needed to close out his arrival before passengers could board. She also confirmed that the fare would be 2.30 Euro and that I would need to first catch the U7 train at the Jakob-Kaiser Platz U-Bahn station and transfer at the Bismark U-Bahn station to the U2 train toward Pankow. She was most helpful and accompanied me as far as the Bismark U-Bahn station where I transferred to the U2 train. My hotel was on the East side of Berlin and turned out to be a short walk from the Eberswalder Strasse station. The weather was cold and damp but I found the short walk to be invigorating. I checked into my hotel and occupied a small but very clean room for the next few nights. The hotel had a small lobby with a coffee machine and a free Internet terminal for the guests. On Friday morning, February 22, I had breakfast at a small restaurant and walked back to the U-Bahn station to purchase a Berlin Welcome Card 72 hour public transportation pass. After a short stroll across the street from the station, I purchased my pass from a small shop with the now familiar yellow BVG sign above the entrance. Armed with my public transportation pass, I returned to the U-bahn station and caught the train to Alexander Platz to begin exploring Berlin. The tourist literature states that Alexander Platz has remained the hub of East Berlin. The weather was mild but overcast and looked like rain might be imminent, so I decided that I would explore the immediate vicinity including the famous museums nearby. Alexander Platz is quite large and has a huge department store complex in the esplanade between the U-Bahn and the S-Bahn stations. I walked toward the West past the Fernsenturm, the 1,200 feet high spire of the Television Tower, and continued to the Marienkirche. The Marienkirche, St. Mary’s Church, is one of Berlin’s few remaining medieval buildings. I explored the open areas with a very interesting fountain between the Marienkirche and the Rotes Rathaus, the "Red City Hall." I continued walking West along Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse past the Berliner Dom and arrived at the Museumsinsel Berlin, a complex of five museums situated on the island in the Spree River that were designated as a UNESCO world heritage site in 1999 – the Bode-Museum, Pergamonmuseum, Alte Nationalgalerie, Nuees Museum, and the Altes Museum. My first stop was at the Altes Museum which, to my delight, now houses both the Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection and a portion of the Collection of Classical Antiquities. The Egyptian Museum had just been relocated to the Altes Museum and I was fortunate that I arrived after the relocation had been completed. The Egyptian museum contained some of the best Egyptian artifacts spanning four millennia that I have ever seen including the green Berlin man and the fabulous "Bust of Queen Nefertiti" dating from 1300 BC. The Collection of Classics featured the bronze statue of the "Praying Boy" dating from 300 BC. Berlin's Collection of Classics is housed in two separate museums – the Altes Museum and the Pergamonmuseum. My second stop was at the Pergamonmuseum where the Collection of Classics displays relics from the ancient city of Pergamum (spelled Pergamon in German) including the Pergamon Altar which dates from 170 BC. The sculptured frieze at the altar is every bit as impressive as the Elgin Marbles at the British Museum. The literature states that the Pergamonmuseum contains over 100,000 items from German excavation sites in Babylon, Assur, Uruk & Habuba Kabirathe and that it is visited by more people than any other museum in Berlin. It also houses the Museum of the Ancient Near East and has architectural reconstructions of the Ishtar Gate and the Babylonian Processional Way from the time of Nebuchanezzar II dating from the 6th century BC. The Pergamonmuseum also houses a Museum of Islamic Art and contains the Mahutta façade which had been given to the German Kaiser from the Turkish Sultan. The Mahatta is a portal façade of a palace of Caliph al-Walid II of Jordan. My last stop of the day was a quick visit to the Bode-Museum. The majority of the displays were very early Christian era. Since the weather had continued to deteriorate and there was occasional misting rain, I walked back to Alexander Platz and took the train back to my hotel. Since Saturday morning greeted me with sunshine, I returned to Alexander Platz and walked back to the Berliner Dom. I purchased the tourist ticket and proceeded to climb to the top of the dome where the view of Berlin was spectacular. As I followed the tourist route through the church, it continued to an area below the nave that contained 90 Hohenzollum tombs including ceremonial coffins of Fredrick I and Sophie Charlotte. After the Berliner Dom I walked to the West along Unter den Linden, one of the most famous streets in Berlin, to the Brandenburg Gate. The Brandenburg Gate was the number one site that I wanted to see in Berlin and I was not disappointed. I continued walking South along Ebertstrasse and arrived at the Holocaust-Mahnmal, the Holocaust Memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe. I continued walking along Ebertstrasse and Stresemaninstrasse to the Stiftung Topographie des Horrors where the headquarters of the Third Reich (Gastapo, secret services, Waffen SS) stood until 1945. The foundations of underground cells were uncovered in 1987 and now house an exhibition. The largest intact section of the Berlin Wall in central Berlin is situated adjacent to the Stiftung Topographie des Horrors. Haus am Checkpoint Charlie, the site of the crossing point between the American and Soviet sectors is situated on Fredrichstrasse near Zimmerstrasse and is very close to the Stiftung Topographie des Horrors. I returned the following day to visit the Checkpoint Charlie Museum and to get a Checkpoint Charlie visa stamp in my passport. I also wanted to visit Siegessaule monument on Saturday. Since the clouds were moving in from the West and what was left of the sunshine would soon be gone, I decided to head back to my hotel and save the Siegessaule for Sunday. Sunday morning arrived with sunshine and I again headed off to Alexander Platz where I took the S-Bahn to Ostbanhof station and walked along the East Side Gallery. The East Side Gallery is a section of the Berlin Wall over 4,265 feet long and it has become the world’s longest art gallery. One hundred six artists from Berlin and all over the world used the east side of the wall to paint frescos in 1990. The original frescos have been damaged by weather and by tourists but the frescos are gradually being restored. I was fascinated by this section of the Berlin Wall and it may well end up being the favorite site of my visit to Berlin. After the East Side Gallery, I set off to the Checkpoint Charlie Museum and then on to the Siegessaule. The Siegessaule was a monument with a 194 feet high pedestal that was erected to commemorate Prussia’s victories over Denmark (1864), Austria (1866) and France (1871). In 1938, Hitler moved it to the present location in the middle of Strasse des 17 Juni. I climbed the stairs to the top of the Siegessaule hoping for a fantastic view toward the Brandenburg Gate but the view was somewhat obscured by wispy clouds and light fog that were moving in. Since Sunday was my last day in Berlin and I was running out of time, I took the U-Bahn to the KaiserDahm station and walked North along Schloss Strasse to Schloss Charlottenburg, the residence dedicated by Fredrick I to his wife Sophie Charlotte and enlarged in 1740 by Fredrick II. I did not have time to enter Schloss Charlottenburg but it was spectacular when viewed through the front gates. I continued on to the Museum fur Vor-und Fruhgeschichte which is situated at the West end of Schloss Charlottenburg and houses artifacts from the Paleolithic period to the Germanic Early Middle Ages. It also contains copies of the finest pieces from the treasure of Troy discovered by Schliemann – the original treasure was seized by the Russians in 1945. The sun was now getting low in the sky and I walked back along Schloss Strasse to the U-Bahn and returned to my hotel. Back at my hotel I realized that my long weekend in Berlin had exceeded all of my expectations. See pictures from Berlin Back to Top

January 27, 2008 Bali Bali, Indonesia Travel Notes

I took an evening Singapore Airlines flight from Singapore to Bali on January 25th. While waiting in line to purchase my “Visa on Arrival,” I was browsing through the racks of tourist information brochures. A man in line behind me said that the Bali Safari & Marine Park was quite good and that they had a new baby lion cub that you could hold. Recalling my opportunity last year to hold the baby tiger in Thailand, I decided to visit the lion cub while in Bali. I had booked my hotel with airport transfer on the Internet and I was hoping that the driver from the hotel would be waiting for my arrival. Upon completion of Bali immigration, I located my driver from the Bali Garden Hotel on Kuta Beach and I was amazed at the late-night traffic congestion on the way to the hotel – I would learn that heavy traffic would be the norm during my visit to Bali. The following morning, I hired a car and driver to take me to the Bali Safari & Marine Park. The drive to the park was my first daytime experience of the monumental traffic congestion consisting of large trucks, minivans of all sizes, cars, and countless motorbikes. Most of the highways on Bali are two lane roads with people continually attempting to pass slower vehicles. My visit to the park exceeded my expectations. The admission price included a photo opportunity with one animal and a safari ride among animals in the wild. My first stop was to play with and to get my photo opportunity with the baby female lion cub. She was very playful and I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity – the resulting teeth marks and small bruise on my left forearm added to the experience. They had a couple of small orangutans that people could hold for photographs. I was very much impressed with the white tigers at the park – they are magnificent animals. In addition to photographing the white tigers in the enclosure, I got an opportunity to sit with, pet and be photographed with an adult white tiger under the supervision of its trainer – the tiger was tame and it appeared to be napping but it would occasionally move its head and tail. I boarded the safari bus for the game drive through the animals in the wild. It was very well done with exceptional viewing with numerous species of animals from all over the world. The drive through a pond with large adult hippos was superb as they would surface near the bus. The park is still under construction and also offered a amusement fun area for the children, elephant rides, camel rides, and restaurants. After returning to the hotel, I called a local tour agency and booked a late afternoon private tour to the Uluwatu Temple (holy cliff temple). This temple is situated at the southern tip of Bali on a cliff approximately 200-meters above the Indian Ocean. The scenery in this area was spectacular and I hiked along the cliffs overlooking the ocean. We added a stop at the Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park after leaving the temple. This park is still under construction and is in an area with a large stone quarry and had enormous stone sculptures near the top of a mountain. This park has the potential to become a spectacular attraction upon completion. We stopped at the New Mathari Café on the beach at Jimbaron Bay where I consumed a beer at a table on the beach while watching the sunset – a Balinese band with a Balinese dancers were performing on a stage next to my table. The sunset was beautiful. The next morning, January 27th, I booked an all day private tour to visit four Balinese temples. On the way to the first temple, my guide told me that Bali has a population of approximately 3 million people and that approximately eighty per cent of the people are of the Hindu religion. The first temple was Goa Gajah Temple (elephant cave temple) constructed in the 11th century. The temple complex is situated on a hillside above a river and the primary temple is a cave carved into the rock cliff face. If you hike a trail down toward the river you will come across a Buddhist temple. Adjacent to the Buddhist temple is an area where a very large stone carving sheared off the cliff with the broken remains in a gully below. We continued to the Gunung Kawi Temple in the Bedula village and to the Tampaksiring Temple at Tampak Siring. I had the driver stop at an area overlooking magnificent hillside terraces at Tegallaiang to take a few photos – my guide said that they are the most beautiful rice terrace fields in Bali. Many of the hillsides that I observed in Bali were terraced for cultivating crops. My guide said that they usually get about three crops of rice each year. We continued driving up the side of the mountain toward Kintamani to a restaurant where a buffet lunch would be provided. The road had very steep grades with the ever present large and very slow trucks. I requested the driver to stop for a photograph of a statue at an intersection of two roads and noticed that it was beginning to rain. The restaurant at Kintamani was situated along the ridge of the volcano caldera with views on both sides of the ridge. Lake Batur and the Mount Batur volcano were prominent as I looked into the caldera and I overlooked Bali island in the opposite direction. The views were partially obscured by the clouds and as I ate lunch above the caldera, the views became obscured with clouds and rain. After lunch we drove down the mountain in rain which was quite heavy at times amid the ever present large trucks to Besakih. Besakih (mother temple) is the biggest temple on Bali and extends up the side of Mount Agung. We were besieged by people with umbrellas as we arrived at the temple parking lot. We had our own umbrellas, and I decided to tackle the temple in the rain. The rain subsided as my guide and I continued to climb up the mountain through the temple complex. We could see two additional temples further up the mountain and we decided to continue on to visit them as well. These temples were very beautiful and well worth the extra uphill hike. Of course the rain returned with a vengeance while we were at the uppermost temple and continued as a heavy downpour as we returned to the car. I was so impressed with my guide persevering with me in the rain that I booked a late afternoon tour with him for the following day. The return drive back to the hotel at Kuta took a couple of hours and the rain subsided about half way back to the hotel.

January 29, 2008 Bali Bali, Indonesia Travel Notes

My car and driver picked me up at my hotel on Jan 28th and we went west amid the ever present traffic congeastion to the Taman Ayun Temple (royal family temple) at Mengwi. This temple was surrounded by two moats and a causeway similar to temples at Angkor Wat in Cambodia. The temple grounds were very well maintained, and there was a large bell tower which contained large wooden bells. The view from the top of the bell tower was well worth the climb to the top. We continued from Mengwi to Tabanan where we visited the Monkey Forest. This is an area where a section of forest has been preserved adjacent to a temple. Upon arrival, each tourist and/or group of tourists is assigned a guide employed by the Monkey Forest concession. It is the home to three different groups of monkeys all expecting food from the tourists – a bag of peanuts cost 1,000 Rupiah. I opted out of feeding the monkeys but took some cute monkey photos as I accompanied my guide through the forest and around the temple. The forest is also the home to hundreds of very large fruit bats which hang in the treetops during the day – these bats have a wing span of approximately one meter. Our next stop was at the Tanah Lot Temple (temple high above the sea). This is a unique temple which sits on top of a large rock on the ocean. It is accessible to pedestrians only during low tide and this area is especially noted for viewing beautiful sunsets. There is another temple nearby on top of a rocky outcrop that is still connected to the mainland by a natural bridge. The coast in this area is spectacular during late afternoon sunshine. After Tanah Lot, we traveled east through the city of Denpasar to the town of Sanur on the eastern coast. The roads within Denpasar were wide and well maintained and resulted in a normal flow of traffic. This was quite a contrast to the normal narrow and poorly maintained roads that we traveled elsewhere on Bali. I was served a multi-course Indonesian dinner at a restaurant in Sanur. After dinner we braved the ever present large trucks and heavy traffic for the fifty minute drive back to my hotel at Kuta Beach. See pictures from Bali Back to Top

October 13, 2007 Thailand Suphan Buri Province Travel Notes

I arrived at Bangkok a little before midnight on October 10th and exited the Arrivals Door to look for my prepaid airport transfer to my hotel in Suphan Buri. After searching in vain for anyone holding a sign bearing my name, I called the booking agent and got an “after hours recording.” Fortunately a very nice man with a Hotel Intercontinental sign noticed my carry-on bag with the A&K logo and said that the A&K tour group meets at Arrivals Door A. I informed him that my A&K bag was from a prior trip and that I was looking for my transfer to Suphan Buri. He suggested that I try looking in the vicinity of Arrivals Door B. At this point, I realized that I had exited Arrivals Door C, thanked him for his help, and proceeded off to find the Arrivals Door B location. As I approached Arrivals Door B, I saw a man with the all important sign with my name and hotel. After a brief introduction, I was escorted to a very nice air conditioned van which transported me to my hotel in the city of Suphan Buri.  Suphan Buri is one of the provinces in Thailand, North of Bangkok, and the city of Suphan Buri is approximately 170 kilometers North of Bangkok. It was raining when I arrived in Bangkok and continued to rain most of the next day. When the rain subsided in the afternoon, I walked around the neighborhood near the hotel and went to the Suphan Buri Tower. The tower is situated in the middle of a public park and is described as being the “first and highest 4-story tower in Thailand.” The tower affords a marvelous panoramic view of Suphan Buri from the fourth floor. The public park was beautiful grounds. After returning to the hotel, I arranged for a car and driver for a sightseeing excursion for Friday, October 12th. I negotiated a full day trip with destinations of my choice and was again pleasantly surprised with a very nice air conditioned van. My driver’s name was “X” and we headed South about 43 kilometers to Wat Phai Rong Wua. I was amazed at the sheer size if the temple complex and the variety of the many temples and sculptures. Most noteworthy is the metal cast statue of Buddha – the largest in Thailand. There were countless other sculptures that depicted everything from the sublime to what I would describe as hell with humans being pursued and mutilated by demons.  The next stop was a Wat (phonetically spelled as Wat Tapgatdon) near the town of Ban Thap Kradap. It was interesting but was a minor stop along the way to the ancient city of U Thong. U Thong is situated Southwest of Suphan Buri and was an ancient city with archeological evidence dating back several centuries. The U Thong National Museum houses many of the ancient artifacts and is well worth a visit. We headed North from U Thong and stopped at a mountain named Khao Phu Thong which is approximately 233 meters high. There was a stairway up the mountain from the parking area with a seven-headed Naga on top of a wall on each side of the stairway and 130 concrete steps to the top. Concrete and rock stairs continued onwards as I hiked up the mountain. The very beautiful temples were situated near the top and the panoramic view was superb. These temples can also be accessed via a road from somewhere on the other side of the mountain. My driver said that he didn’t know where the other road was but my strenuous hike up made the mountain and temples much more rewarding to me. Another flight of concrete and rock steps continued onwards to another temple a little further up the mountain. We continued North and East to the town of Don Chedi.King Naresuan the Great defeated the King Maha Uparacha of Burma in single-handed elephant back combat in 1592 at Don Chedi. We visited a Wat at Don Chedi, which I did not figure out the name of, but it was very dim but beautiful on the inside with fighting elephant paintings around the ceiling. The next stop was the Don Chedi Monument which is a pagoda constructed by the royal command of King Naresuan the Great to commemorate his victory. A statue of King Naresuan the Great on the neck of a war elephant is situated in front of the pagoda. Continuing back to Suphan Buri, we stopped at Wat Pa Lelai which was built approximately 800 years ago. It houses a Buddah image 23 meters high named “Luang Pho To.” Our next stop was Wat Phra Si Rattana Mahathat on the West bank of the Suphan Buri River which houses a large U Thong style prang housing the Lord Buddha’s relics. We also visited Wat Khea and Wat Phra Non before driving along the ancient Suphan Buri moat. There once was an ancient city wall alongside the moat and a very short reconstructed wall section has been erected near one of the modern roadway bridges crossing the moat. I decided to make October 13th a relaxing day and plan to explore further North en route to Lop Buri on October 14th. See pictures from Suphan Buri Province.

October 15, 2007 Thailand Suphan Buri Province to Lop Buri Travel Notes

I hired a car and driver on October 14th and went North on Highway 340 to the Chawak Chalerm Phra Kiet Development Project. This project was constructed to celebrate His Majesty the King’s 50 Year Accession to the Throne. The project included a dam which created a lake of up to 10 million cubic meters of freshwater to irrigate 6,500 rais (10,400,000 square meters) of agricultural land with a Wildlife Extension Center, the Gardens of Indigenous Vegetables and the Exhibition Center for Aquatic Animals constructed along sections of the lake shoreline. My first stop was at the Aquatic Center which had an extensive collection of freshwater fishes, some reef fishes and a crocodile pond. I was amazed by the extensive varieties of catfish from around the world – the Mekong Giant Catfish was huge. The Wildlife Extension Center had a large aviary and many animal enclosures. One unique animal was a “Liger” which was a cross between a male lion and a female tiger. Since the weather was occasional rain, I opted to take the tram ride which included a tour through the garden complex. Continuing onward toward Lop Buri, we headed East and crossed into Sing Buri Province. We stopped at Khai Bang Rachan Park which had a large war memorial, a reconstructed wooden fort, and several wats. My next stop was at Wat Pikum Thong which had an enormous Buddha within a square walled enclosure. There were large metal gates in the middle of each side of the wall. Each of the gates had sculptures in the center depicting different animal scenes and there were statues of different species of animals outside the walls on opposite sides of the gates. The inner portion of the walls housed statuary of Buddha’s and other religious figures. Within the base of the enormous structure that supported the large Buddha, there were at least twenty very large murals. A few of the murals depicted paradise after death for the virtuous. A large number of the murals depicted various acts of inappropriate behavior and the corresponding punishment that awaited after death. These murals provided the connection for me with the statuary at Wat Phai Rong Woa that I had visited on October 12th in southern Suphan Buri Province. My last stop in Sing Buri Province was Wat Chaksi Reclining Buddha. There were more people here that at any prior Wat that I had visited thus far. The reclining Buddha was very large and there were many temples and items of interest including a woodcarving of tree trunks and poles. There were also beautiful display cabinets with inlays that contained precious statuary. We headed southeast into Lop Buri Province and onward to the city of Lop Buri where we stopped briefly at the Phra Kahn Shrine en route to my hotel. It was too late in the day to see the monkeys that occupy the temple grounds but tomorrow will be another day in Lop Buri. About mid-morning I caught a bus from my hotel toward the city center and stopped at an interesting monument that was in the center of a square with the bus station nearby. I inquired at the bus station about travel to Sukhothai and found out that there were no direct buses from Lop Buri to Sukhothai – the journey would consist of a bus to Phitsanulok and another bus to Sukhothai. I took a bicycle rickshaw onward into the city center and stopped at the Phra Kahn Shrine once again. This time there were monkeys everywhere and it was a real treat to see them. There was a movie called "Romeo and Juliet – a Monkey's Tale" which has a connection to Animal Planet, and this movie was filmed in Lop Buri. It was a love story about Juliet from the privileged Temple Monkeys and Romeo from the troublesome Market Monkeys across the street. It turns out that the Phra Kahn Shrine is where the Market Monkeys resided. I took quite a few photographs of the "Market Monkeys." The Phra Prang Sam Yot temple is situated across the railroad tracks from the Phra Kahn Shrine and I walked over to explore that temple which was the home of the Temple Monkeys in the film. I paid my admission fee and began to explore the temple grounds with the sun at my back for optimum photographs. I only saw an occasional monkey until I rounded the corner to the shady side and was greeted by many monkeys who were smart enough to avoid the direct sunshine. Of course I took many more photographs of the "Temple Monkeys." I then set out to find an Internet café and after several tries, I found one that would work for me. Next stop was the train station where I inquired about the best way by train and bus to Sukhothai – train to Phitsanulok and bus to Sukhothai. I purchased my train ticket for October 16th. As I walked to the train station, I passed Wat Phra Si Rattanamahathat which is a very large ancient temple complex across the road from the train station. After visiting Wat Bandi Hin, a small old temple next to the train station, I crossed the street and thoroughly enjoyed exploring Wat Phra Si Rattanamahathat. One last small old temple complex was visible across the railroad tracks, so I crossed the tracks for a quick visit before catching a bus and motorcycle taxi back to my hotel. See pictures from Suphan Buri Province to Lop Buri Travel.

October 19, 2007 Thailand Sukhothai Province Travel Notes

I traveled by train from Lop Buri to Phitsanulokon October 16th and transferred by Thai pickup truck taxi to the Phitsanulokbus station. I purchased my bus ticket and continued my journey into the Sukhothai Province to the city of New Sukhothai. After arriving at my hotel near the river in the new city, I discovered that the room was quite sparse for the cost and I decided to find another hotel with better accommodations. Early the next morning, I transferred to another hotel on the road between the old city, Sukhothai Historical Park, and the new city. The local bus service between the new city and the old city ran past the hotel approximately every 15 minutes. Since I was just a local bus ride away from the Sukhothai Historical Park, I began inquiring about the best way to make a day trip about 60 km north to the Si Satchanali Historical Park. This park is situated about 7 km south of the modern city Si Satchanali and is also within Sukhothai Province. I was informed that direct local bus service from the Sukhothai bus station went past the historical park. Bright and early in the morning of October 18th, I set out to f