Feel free to scroll through this page or use the links below to jump to a particular journal:

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 5^th 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 15^th 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
 

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 2^nd Century BC to the 9^th 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
 

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
 

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
 

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
 

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
 

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
 

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
 

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 11^th 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
 

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
 

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
 

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
 

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
 

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
 

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
 

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
 

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
 

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
 

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.
 

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
 

Suphan Buri Province Travel Notes

I arrived at Bangkok a little before midnight on October 10^th 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 12^th. 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 13^th a relaxing day and plan to explore further North en route to Lop Buri on October 14^th.

See pictures from Suphan Buri Province.
 

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.
 

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 find my way to the bus station. I crossed the road in front of the hotel and began waiting for a local bus to the Sukhothai bus station. After waiting for some time, I hailed down a motorcycle powered open air tuk tuk to get to the bus station. As we arrived at the Sukhothai bus station, I was greeted by a man in the parking lot who asked me where I was going. I told him the Si Satchanali Historical Park and he directed me to a local bus that was ready for immediate departure. I boarded the bus and we continued North on Highway 101 stopping along the way for any people who flagged the bus down. Approximately 90 minutes later, the bus conductor informed me that I had arrived at my stop.

As I departed the bus, I was greeted by a lady who informed me that I was at the southern end of the historical park area and that she had bicycles and motorbikes for rent to ride in the park. I rented a bicycle for 20 Bhat and headed off toward the park. A rickety narrow wooden plank suspension bridge across the Yom River was my first challenge and I finally figured that it worked best to pedal across the wooden planks rather fast. After crossing the river, I found the ancient temple Wat Phra Si Ratanna Mahatat Chaliang immediately in front of me. It was a marvelous temple and had a pillar atop the main gate which had heads sculptured similar to those found at Angkor Wat in Cambodia. This temple is in the ruins of Chaliang which is about 1 km South of the Si Satchanali Historical Park proper.

I continued North and arrived at the main portion of the Si Satchanali Historical Park. Ancient temples on the level ground that were the main attraction included Wat Suan Keaw Utayan Noi, Wat Suan Keaw Utayan Yai, Wat Nang Phraya, Wat Chedi Ched Thaeo, and Wat Chang Lom. Wat Chang Lom was unique in that the square base had elephants all around and had Buddhas in niches along the square upper level. Wat Chang Lom had a bell-shaped chedi at the top. According to the “DK Eyewitness Travel Guide – Thailand,” bell-shaped chedis are of Sri Lanka influence. The three-tiered base symbolizes hell, earth, and heaven – rings on the spire represent the 33 levels of heaven.

After pedaling the one-speed bicycle for several kilometers, I came to a stairway of hewn rocks that led up the hill to two more temple complexes. The stairs were a bit of a challenge after my cycling but I made it to the top where Wat Khao Phanom Phloeng was to my right. After a bit of a hike along the hilltop to my left and another flight of steps, I arrived at Wat Khao Suwankhiri. Both of the hilltop temples were well worth the visit.

I descended the steps and headed back to return my bicycle. Of course the last challenge awaiting me was that same rickety narrow wooden plank suspension bridge across the Yom River. The local bus arrived within an hour and I continued back to Sukhothai where I caught the local new city/old city bus to my hotel.

The following morning, October 19th, I caught the local bus in front of my hotel to the Sukhothai Historical Park which is designated as a World Heritage Site. The site is quite large and has about 40 temple complexes that are spread over an area of about 28 square miles. Due to the sheer size of the park and surrounding areas, I hired a tuk tuk to drive me among different temple complexes.

The main temple at the park is Wat Mahathat and it is quite beautiful with the highest point being a Lotus-Bud chedi atop the temple at the epicenter of the complex. Wat Mahathat is large and impressive. Wat Si Sawai is nearby Wat Mahathat and has Kymer-style prangs with some beautiful relief stone carvings. We visited a number of the temple complexes within the main area of the park and each complex was unique.

We departed the park and continued west to a hilltop temple called Wat Saphan Hin. The steps up the hill consisted of medium-to-large rocks – the rocks had not been sculpted into steps so each step was upper shape of the individual rock. From here we continued to temple complexes to the North of the park – Wat Si Chum and Wat Phra Phai Luang. These temples were well worth the journey.

My last stop was at Wat Chang Lom which is situated to the East of the park. This temple was similar to Wat Chang Lom at the Si Satchanali Historical Park. It was smaller – it did not have the second tier with Buddha niches but it had elephants around a square base and also had a Sri Lankan bell-shaped chedi on top.

I would definitely recommend visiting both Sukhothai Historical Park and Si Satchanali Historical Park for anyone who is traveling to Sukhothai Province.

See pictures from Sukhothai Province.
 

Chiang Mai Travel Notes

I traveled by the local bus from the hotel to the Sukhothai Bus Station on October 20th. I purchased a bus ticket on a local bus to Phitsanulok where I caught the train to Chiang Mai. In retrospect, I should have thrown away my train ticket from Phitsanulok to Chiang Mai and taken a bus directly from Sukhothai to Chiang Mai. I stayed at the Suriwongse Hotel within the old city adjacent to the Night Bazaar market. The location was superb and the hotel accommodations were fine.

Although the old city walls were mostly destroyed during World War II, the old moats are still intact. I visited the ongoing reconstruction of the Tha Phae Gate, one of the old city gates. I also explored the Wororot Market which is the daytime market and also wandered about the enormous Night Bazaar market in the evening.

I restricted my exploration to within the old city area and visited Wat Phra Sing, Wat Chiang Man, and Wat Chedi Luang. I enjoyed Wat Chiang Man in particular because of the old chedi with elephants protruding from the square base. I had visited this temple complex many years ago and it was still quite impressive. The ruins at Wat Chedi Luang were also well worth the visit.

On October 23rd, I will fly to Phuket where I plan to send some time snorkeling at Phi Phi Island which is one of my most favorite travel locations.

See pictures from Chiang Mai.
 

Phi Phi Island Travel Notes

On October 23rd, I took a nonstop flight from Chiang Mai to Phuket. It was raining when I arrived at the Phuket airport and I spent two nights at Patong Beach prior to taking the ferry to Phi Phi Island on October 25th. The rain continued while I was at Phuket and the rain also continued during the ferry trip to Phi Phi Island. I stayed at the Phi Phi Hotel in Phi Phi Village where I stayed last year when I came here. Unlike my prior visits to Phi Phi Island where I would have sunshine with an occasional rain shower, this time I encountered rain showers the entire time I was there.

I booked a longtail boat on the morning of October 26th to go to Mosquito Island to snorkel. Mosquito is one of my favorite snorkeling places – it is not on the map that the boat people in Phi Phi Village use to book trips so it has fewer visitors.

As I walked out of my hotel, a Thai man approached me with his map and asked me if I wanted to book his longtail boat. I told him that I wanted to go to Mosquito Island and he obviously didn’t understand my request for a location that was not on his map. A couple of more boat people came over and we walked to a dive shop where the person at the dive shop told them in Thai that I wanted to go to Mosquito island and pulled out a map that had Mosquito on it. Now that we had the destination confirmed, the only other detail was the cost in Thai Bhat. Since I had booked that same snorkel trip about a year ago, I already knew approximately what the cost should be – we agreed on 1,200 Bhat.

I returned to my room and gathered up my snorkeling gear and returned to join my longtail boat driver. At first he started to turn to the right toward where many longtail boats were moored and then turned to the right and motioned for me to follow him. We ended up at spot along the beach where he instructed me to wait while he went to get the boat. While I was waiting I was amused by a young Thai boy who was standing up in a yellow kayak and using a pole to maneuver it.

After a short time, the man returned with a longtail boat and I climbed aboard. He had some difficulty in getting the motor to start but once started, we headed off toward Mosquito Island. Of course the weather was cloudy with no visible sunshine. As we continued toward Mosquito, both Krabi and Lanta Island were visible off in the distance between rain showers. As we were approaching the west end of Mosquito Island, the motor on the boat shut down and the man exclaimed accident, accident. We were approximately 500 meters from Mosquito Island and were now slowly drifting to the west away from Mosquito Island.

After many failed attempts to start the motor. The boat person who would not speak English prior to this occurrence, managed to explain in English that the motor had a problem. He called someone on his mobile phone and then began to try to perform some different types of maintenance on the motor as we continued to be adrift in the sea. The boat had a toolbox under the area where he normally would stand to drive the boat. After many attempts at trying to fix the motor, he called again on his mobile phone and a friend of his came out to our rescue. While we were adrift for nearly two hours until his friend arrived with another boat, he explained that he rented the boat for the day. He also showed me photos of his family – his wife and seven children. I told him that I would hire him again the following day if he would meet me at my hotel. After his friend arrived, in another longtail boat, he towed us toward the shore of the north end of Phi Phi Don Island where they tied the disabled boat to a mooring buoy.

He waved good-bye as his friend took me back to Mosquito Island where I managed to get in a couple of hours of good snorkeling. The water was a little more cloudy than I remembered it from last year. Some sunshine would have made the fish and coral more beautiful but I had a very good time and managed to get some pretty good underwater photos.

His friend and I departed Mosquito Island and returned to the disabled boat where we threw him a rope and towed him back to Phi Phi Village docking area. Upon our arrival at the village I paid him the agreed upon sum. We also agreed to meet again the following morning to make a second snorkeling trip to Mosquito Island.

The following morning, I left my hotel to look for yesterday’s boat driver but I was unable to find him. Several other people said that he was at home sleeping. Although it was raining, I booked another longtail boat to return to Mosquito Island.

It rained most of the way to Mosquito and today neither Krabi nor Lanta Island was visible. In fact, some of the time Bamboo and Mosquito Islands were obscured by the heavy rain. On the way to Mosquito, he tried to tell me that a snorkeling site on the way to Mosquito Island was Mosquito but I managed to convince him to continue to the correct destination. I snorkeled for about 1½ hours but the water was near high tide and was much more cloudy than it was yesterday. As we returned to Phi Phi Village, the rain became very heavy at times. While we had very heavy rain continuing most of the afternoon, I spent time working on my snorkeling photos.

I have booked passage on the morning ferry back to Phuket where I hope to see some occasional sunshine prior to returning home on November 1st.

See pictures from Phi Phi.

Back to Top
 

Click here for a quick guide to my 2007 trip around the world
 

Buenos Aires was really hot and humid with temperatures in the high eighties and a forecast of showers that never seemed to materialize. The Buenos Aires IX Tango Festival began on the Friday that I arrived. Unfortunately I had taken a nap and strolled along Avenida Florida and the rejuvenated waterfront instead of taking in the big tango kickoff concert Friday night that I read about in the paper the next morning. A small consolation was that quite a few tourists that I talked to also read about the concert in the paper after the fact. Anyway, I had the hotel concierge print out the festival schedule for Saturday and I went to a couple of tango classes that were being held – one at the La Rural Pavillion Orce and another at the Plaza de Mayo. The classes were pretty cool to watch.

My originally scheduled nonstop Aerolineas Argentinas flight to Ushuaia that I booked last July turned out to include a stop at Trelew en route to Ushuaia. Trelew was a tiny town on the Atlantic coast midway between Buenos Aires and Ushuaia. The surrounding countryside appeared to be mostly desert and to my surprise, many passengers got off there and many others boarded the flight from there to Ushuaia. Ushuaia was shrouded in clouds which detracted from what could have been a dramatic scenic approach over the mountains. As it was, the lights of Ushuaia and the runway were spectacular as we made a left turn over the Beagle Channel on our approach to Ushuaia. The weather was much cooler here at Ushuaia.

This morning I woke up to the sound of howling wind and driving rain. Suddenly it looked like winter was closing in fast. By mid day, there were some breaks in the clouds and I walked up the hill to Kaupe restaurant. I booked a dinner reservation for tonight. The Europa appears to be moored at the dock and it sure looks tiny compared to the large cruising ships which are also moored there. The weather continues to be marginal with scattered showers and broken clouds. One more day here at Ushuaia and then I will be able to board the Europa. I am really looking forward to the voyage from here to Cape Town.

Photos from Buenos Aires
 

The weather gradually improved on Monday and I went for a stroll around Ushuaia. There are now two chocolate stores – Laguna Negro which we frequented when we were here in December 2005 and a new store with a theater-like marquee sign announcing Chocolates. I had a cappuccino at the new place but I believe the original store is better.

By dinner time, the weather had again deteriorated to wind and rain. The local taxi telephone lines were all busy and since the hotel could not summon a taxi, I suited up and walked up the hill to Kaupe. I ordered the King Crab and Spinach Chowder appetizer and the beef fillet with three pepper sauce for dinner and finished off with a hot fudge sundae. The service was impeccable and when I told the owner that the food was as good as I remembered from our prior visits, she replied that she had not changed husbands so the chef remains the same.

Yesterday, I walked along the waterfront and around to the old airport in hopes of getting some better photos of the Europa moored at the dock. The city of Ushuaia is filling in a portion of the waterfront about 100 meters from where the shoreline was when we were here last. I guess they see it as progress but I believe that it is having a detrimental effect on the charm of Ushuaia – the seafood restaurants that were at the waters edge are now about 100 meters inland, and the memorial to the Falkland Islands war is being dismantled. I hope that they are planning to relocate it.

After returning to the hotel, I decided to walk toward the dock to get closer to the Europa. Ushuaia has relocated the passenger control point toward the city so that access to the ships along the dock that we walked past are now beyond the passenger control checkpoint. I gave the agent my passport and once he confirmed that I was a passenger on the Europa, he granted me access to the dock. With access granted, I went to the Europa where I met Captain Klaus. He allowed me to take a few photos on board the Europa, and I am really excited about boarding today for the voyage to Africa via Antarctica.

The weather is overcast with light rain today. I will take my luggage to the ship this morning and then the passengers will board at 5 p.m. for the voyage.

Photos from Ushuaia
 

We have just departed Ushuaia – the voyage has begun. 35 passengers & 14 crew.

I share a cabin with two men from Holland.

Photos from Aboard the Europa
 

Hello from Larry Fogg aboard Europa

I am doing well and am really enjoying the cruise. I am so busy with the watches and keeping warm that I don't have much free time. 

The Antarctica peninsula was very interesting to visit this time of year – there is
much less snow on the ground than when we were here during December 2005. It is also amazing how fast the penguin chicks grow in just a few weeks – they have grown to be bigger than many of the adult penguins.

We should arrive South Georgia sometime Sunday evening.
 

Aboard at Ushuaia
The voyage from Ushuaia, Argentina to Cape Town, South Africa began by boarding the Europa at Ushuaia on 28 February 2007 at 5:00 p.m. After boarding, we were assigned to our cabins and we met our cabin roommates. I shared a four person cabin with two men from Holland. We had a total of thirty-five passengers and fourteen crewmembers on the ship. The passengers were split up into three watch teams – red, blue and white. I was assigned to the blue watch team. The watches are work details that assist the crew in sailing the ship and the duties consist of helping to set and furl the sails, steering the ship by the wheel, and providing lookout from the decks. The blue watch duty schedule was around the clock while we were sailing at sea and was as follows: 

Day 1. 4:00 a.m to 8:00 a.m.
           2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Day 2. 12:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m.
           12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
           8:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. 

Day 3. 8:00 a.m to 12:00 p.m.
           4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Day 4. 4:00 a.m to 8:00 a.m.  (begins repeating the watch duty schedule)
           2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

The red and white watch duty cycles are the same and are offset by four-hour intervals to fill in the remainder of the twenty-four hours in each day. The watches were suspended while we were at the South Shetland Islands, the Antarctica Peninsula, the South Georgia Islands, and Tristan da Cunha, but nightly anchor watches are in effect during anchorage at these locations. The anchor watches were staffed by two volunteers for each two hour duty cycle between 8:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.

The Drake Passage 
On the morning of March 1^st the ship took on the fuel load for the voyage and a pilot from Argentina boarded the ship for our departure through the Beagle Channel. As we were sailing out of Ushuaia, we assisted the crew in setting sails to begin our journey across the Drake Passage to the Shetland Islands. Unfortunately I strained something in my right hand while we were assisting in setting the sails and this injury continued to hamper my ability to handle the ropes associated with the sails. The pilot departed the ship at approximately 11:30 p.m. as we exited the Beagle Channel and entered the Drake Passage. 

Our crossing of the Drake Passage took four days and we arrived at the South Shetland Islands and anchored in Discovery Bay at Greenwich Island on the evening of March 5^th. The blue watch team began the watch duty cycles with the 4:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. watch on March 2^nd.  By the time morning arrived, quite a few people on the ship were suffering the effects of seasickness and elected to remain in their bunks. The weather during our blue watches varied from cold, windy, and overcast with occasional rain, snow, and salt spray to cold and clear. I soon found that I was using nearly all of my layers of clothing to keep warm and dry during the watches. The waves in the Drake Passage were considerable but they did not seem quite as violent as the waves that I remember from when I had crossed the Drake during December 2005. We had a couple of marvelous sunrises and sunsets and a few occasional periods with the full moon appearing during the night watches. 

The South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula
We arrived at the South Shetland Islands during the afternoon of March 5^th and passed Table Island at approximately 4:30 p.m. Due to the high winds, we passed Aitcho Islands and anchored at Discovery Bay on Greenwich Island. The winds were reported as gusting to 80 knots during the night but had calmed down by morning. We sailed back to Aitch Island for our first landing. Our first landing was at Aitcho Island on March 6^th where we observed gentoo penguins, chinstrap penguins, a weddle seal, fur seals, elephant seals, skuas, and giant southern petrels. There was an abundance of lichens and some portions of the island with a northern exposure looked like green pastures from a distance. It was interesting to compare the conditions between this trip and my prior visit during December 2005. In 2005 the penguin chicks were just beginning to hatch and the adults were minding the nests. This visit was approximately ten weeks later in the season and many of the ten week old penguin chicks were already larger than the adults and most of the nests were no longer recognizable. In addition, some of the penguins were molting. I was also surprised at how little snow remained on the ground. After dinner we began sailing through the Bransfield Strait toward the Garlache Strait.

The morning of March 7^th was clear and we encountered humpback whales near Trinity Island – they put on quite a show for us beside the ship. The ship anchored at Trinity Island and we took zodiac cruises between Spert Island and Trinity Island. We observed marvelous sedimentary rock/volcanic landscapes, a few small icebergs, fur seals, a leopard seal, and some Antarctic terns.

We departed Trinity Island at 4:00 a.m on March 8^th and we continued sailing in the Garlache Strait towards Cuberville Island. The weather was cloudy and cold but we enjoyed seeing several very nice icebergs. We sailed through Graham Passage which is situated between Bluff Island and the Antarctic continent, but the weather prevented us from being able to fully appreciate the scenery. The sun came out around noon and we had wave mist over the starboard side. As we passed Enterprise Island, we had bright sunshine and we could observe the shipwreck Gouvermoren, an old whaling shipwreck. We also passed the Andrea, an ex Norwegian cruise ship, which was sailing in the opposite direction. From Enterprise Island, we crossed Wilhelemina Bay and entered the Errera Channel at approximately 9:00 p.m. We spent the night anchored just North of Cuberville Island.

During the morning of March 9^th we sailed to Neko Harbor which is situated in the Andvord Bay. There was much less snow at Neko Harbor this trip than I encountered during my December 2005 visit. However, there was much more ice in the harbor area than on my prior visit. As we were making landings at Neko Harbor through the ice, two leopard seals swam around the zodiacs during the first landings as if they were stalking us. They were much larger than I had imagined and they appeared to be nearly as long as the zodiac when they swam alongside. While we were at Neko Harbor we observed gentoo penguins and the spectacular adjacent glaciers. From some vantage points on shore, it was easy to imagine that the Europa appeared to be entrapped in the ice. I was also lucky enough to observe three avalanches and one glacier calving during our landing. We departed Neko Harbor and sailed to Paradise Harbor where zodiac cruises around the harbor were offered – since I had been to Paradise Harbor in 2005 and it was cold, windy, and cloudy, I declined to take a cruise around Paradise Harbor. We anchored opposite the Argentine Base Almirante Brown to spend the night.

As we began sailing from Paradise Harbor on the morning of March 10^th, there were light scattered clouds with sunshine and the mountains and glaciers reflected in the mirror smooth water in the harbor. As we continued sailing, an iceberg ahead of us on the starboard side calved and the top began to slowly rotate in the opposite direction of the calving. As it continued to rotate, melted water on top of the iceberg created a small waterfall that continued as we passed by. I presumed that the iceberg would flip over before very long. We passed by many icebergs in the Ferguson Channel and we observed a leopard seal swimming next to one. The clouds continued to increase and we could observe heavy clouds beyond the Ferguson Channel exit en route to Port Lockroy. We passed a research ship in the channel between Trent Island and Wienecke Island and by 9:30 a.m. the weather had deteriorated to snow flurries. When we reached our furthest point South, Latitude 64 degrees 57.8 minutes, the Captain summoned everyone aboard to participate in a toast of Oude Friesche Genever (old gin). We arrived at Port Lockroy in the Neumayer Channel at 2:30 p.m. We were offered two landings at Port Lockroy – a tour of the British Base A Museum and a landing at a site with a reconstructed whale skeleton together with a hike up the slope for a view of the surroundings. Since the weather was very cold and windy with snow flurries, I took the tour of the museum and declined the second landing. The museum also has a post office but since the caretaker/postman had departed on holiday the day before we arrived, we left our postcards on the table in the museum with some money in hopes that he will post them when he returns next November. We saw gentoo penguins and some white sheet bills while we were at the museum. We anchored at Port Lockroy for the night and I participated in an anchor watch from 10:00 p.m. to midnight. That evening there was no visible sunset but the fresh snow on top of the Seven Sisters mountain peaks in the twilight was enchanting.

We departed Port Lockroy at 7:45 a.m. on March 11^th and sailed Northeast through the Neumayer Channel en route to Deception Island. We had sunshine and scattered clouds with magnificent scenery on both sides of the channel including one seal on an iceberg and several blue-eyed shags. We re-entered the Garlache Strait at 10:15 a.m, and during the afternoon, we had two encounters with humpback whales which put on spectacular performances around the ship. We also encountered a pod of Orca whales just before sunset and eventually came within one hundred meters of them. The Captain sailed the ship northbound through the Graham Passage so we could enjoy the spectacular scenery that we missed out on when we sailed southbound through it a couple of days earlier. We continued sailing through the night. 

We arrived at Deception Island at approximately 8:00 a.m. on March 12^th. As we approached Deception Island, one ship was just leaving and a Russian ship that was ahead of us waited for us to enter the caldera through Neptune’s Bellows – the place where the Norwegian ship ran aground several weeks ago. We proceeded to Pendulum Cove while the Russian ship went to Whalers Bay. Our ship selected Pendulum Cove because they said that the water there is much hotter than at other areas of Deception Island – approximately 35 degrees C adjacent to the shore. Many of the people on the Europa landed at Pendulum Bay and went swimming in the warm water. Since I had gone swimming at Whalers Bay in 2005, I declined the landing. I also decided not to trek in my rubber boots around the beach and over some hilly terrain to Whalers Bay – I stayed on board the ship which would sail to Whalers Bay to meet the hikers. After the Russian ship departed, we sailed back toward Whalers Bay and stopped to pick up the hikers who were unable to climb the hilly terrain due to icy conditions. We landed at Whalers Bay where the British Base B station was evacuated and damaged by mudslides from glacier melting during the volcano eruption during the 1969-1970 timeframe. I spent my time ashore exploring the British Base B remains which included the aircraft hangar, power plant building, oil storage tanks, and a cemetery. I saw one lone gentoo penguin and two fur seals on the beach area near Base B. We set sails and departed Deception Island at 4:00 p.m.

As we sailed to Elephant Island we reinstituted the watch duty system – the first blue watch began from 12:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. on March 13^th. The morning was cloudy to the Northwest and partly cloudy to the Southeast with numerous icebergs visible. The quantity and size of the icebergs were reminiscent of the 2005 voyage from Argentina Base Esperanza at Hope Bay in the Weddle Sea through the Bransfield Strait. The Captain announced during the afternoon meeting that the ship’s log entries being posted on the Europa web site would not be posted onboard the Europa but that we could access them via the Internet once we arrived at Cape Town – this was a disappointment to some of us. At 1:30 p.m. three islands were visible to the North and we were told that these were Aspland Islands and Gibbs Island. We were 29 miles from Elephant Island at 2:00 p.m. with the weather continuing to deteriorate. We were encountering very cold weather with sea water freezing on the deck at 6:00 p.m. The weather had deteriorated to the point that the Captain determined that landing at Elephant Island would not be possible and opted to continue straight to the South Georgia Islands. We passed by the Northeast end of Elephant Island between 8:30 and 9:00 p.m. during blue watch duty with the outside air temperature at minus 4 degrees C with a stiff wind – the temperature dropped to minus 5 degrees C by the end of the watch at midnight. Sea water freezes at minus 3 degrees C. 

Sailing from the South Shetland Islands to the South Georgia Islands
The voyage from Elephant Island to the South Georgia Islands took five days and we arrived at the northern end of the South Georgia islands in the evening of March 18^th. The weather during our blue watches varied from temperatures as low as minus 5 to minus 6 degrees C for several days, windy and overcast with occasional rain, snow, and salt spray to partly cloudy with bright sunshine and as high as plus 5 degrees C with mist and fog as we approached the South Georgia Islands.

We encountered icebergs in the Scotia Sea from the time we passed Elephant Island until the afternoon of March 17^th. The red watch said that during the night of March 13^th, we had a close encounter with a stealth partly submerged iceberg that passed within 20 feet of the port side of the ship and was first spotted abreast of the bow. They said it was about the size of a bus and was too small to be picked up by the ship’s radar. I counted 23 icebergs to the starboard side and 15 icebergs to the port side at one time during the afternoon of March 14^th. We collided with an iceberg at 12:44 a.m. on March 15^th – the iceberg was described as being about 15 feet in diameter. I awoke to the noise of the collision, felt a couple of structural shudders pass through the hull, and looked at my watch to make a note of the time. The ship’s lady figurehead from the bow was lost during the iceberg collision. I counted 14 icebergs to the starboard side and 10 icebergs to the port side at one time during the afternoon of March 15^th. We had a beautiful sunset on the evening of March 15^th.

During blue watch on March 17^th, after I acquired my adaptive night vision, I spotted some hourglass dolphins between 10:30 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. feeding on squid around the bow of the ship. The dolphins looked like torpedoes darting through the water and the squid were emitting blue-green fluorescent flashes in the water. We also saw some grapefruit-sized fluorescent flashes which were attributed to be from moon jellies. We also observed several wandering albatrosses during the voyage with a one young juvenile female flying from behind up to the stern and hovering there for a little while – I was at the wheel steering the ship and could not try to take a photo. We also saw numerous birds that included white-chinned petrels and light-mantled sooty albatrosses. We also saw many fur seals porpoising through the water similar to the way that penguins swim.

After arriving at the northern South Georgia Islands during the evening of March 18^th, we continued to sail East around the northern islands about 2.5 miles offshore in dense fog toward a suitable landing site on the eastern side of South Georgia Island. We could hear the sounds of the wildlife through the foggy mist during the blue watch from 12:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. on March 19^th. We anchored at Rosita Harbor during the morning of March 19^th.

Photos from Antarctica
 

South Georgia
South Georgia is a dependency of the United Kingdom and consists of a group of islands situated near Latitude 54 degrees S and approximately 1,270 miles East of Cape Horn and is within the Antarctic Convergence. The predominant island is South Georgia, and I was amazed at the abundance of wildlife present and the marvelous landscape of the leeward eastern coast. We did not sail along any portion of the windward western coast. The colonies of king penguins and the wandering albatross nesting areas made South Georgia my favorite destination of this trip to Antarctica and South Georgia. 

After arriving at the northern South Georgia Islands during the evening of March 18^th, we continued to sail East around the northern islands about 2.5 miles offshore in dense fog toward a suitable landing site on the eastern side of South Georgia Island. We could hear the sounds of the wildlife through the foggy mist during our watch from 12:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. on March 19^th. 

We anchored at Rosita Harbor in the Bay of Isles during the morning of March 19^th.  Soon after arriving at Rosita Harbor, we were greeted by many fur seals swimming toward the ship and they continued to swim near the ship in large numbers for quite some time. The weather was quite foggy with mist. After lunch, the weather began to improve. As the fog lifted we could begin to really appreciate the magnificent folded rock strata landscape of South Georgia. We took zodiac cruises around Rosita Harbor and observed an abundance of wildlife that included colonies of fur seals with pups, three king penguins, a gentoo penguin, blue-eyed shags, giant petrels, and several kinds of albatrosses.

The following morning was clear and sunny with fog shrouding some of the mountains. We arrived at the Salisbury Plain at 8:00 a.m. to see a very large colony of king penguins. The fog came back in while we were preparing to land at Salisbury Plain – you quickly learn that the weather at South Georgia can change quite suddenly. The beach and surrounding area had an abundance of fur seals, a colony of king penguins, and one lone gentoo penguin that I observed. The king penguin colony consisted of several thousand penguins and extended up the side of the mountain. The king penguins incubate their eggs on their feet similar to the Emperor penguins – some penguins had eggs on their feet waiting to hatch. Within the interior of the colony there were penguin chicks that were molting. Of all the penguins that I have seen, the king penguins are my favorite penguins.

The afternoon of March 20^th, we sailed to Prion Island where a group of wandering albatrosses breed. The small beach area of Prion Island where we landed was covered with fur seals. Many more fur seals were in the clumps of tussock grass on the sides of the mountains. We made our way among some aggressive fur seals as we hiked up the mountains on our way to the albatross nesting areas. We observed several wandering albatrosses nesting and one pair performing the wandering albatross courtship ritual. Several wandering albatrosses were soaring above the mountains as we were observing the nesting areas. This opportunity to visit the nesting sites was probably the highlight of my trip to South Georgia. As I was waiting for a zodiac back to the Europa, three king penguins came ashore and glistened in the sunshine. After Prion Island, we sailed to Prince Olav Harbor for anchorage. The entire day was magical with constantly changing weather patterns. 

We awoke to another foggy morning on March 21^st at Prince Olav Harbor which was once a whaling station. We took a zodiac cruise to the old whaling station and the shipwreck Brutus, a coal hauling ship. The whaling station was quite interesting with many buildings that were built using brick construction. We went ashore and hiked among tussock grass and some more aggressive fur seals to the top of a hill with the cemetery that overlooks the harbor and the whaling station. The wildlife at Prince Olav harbor included fur seals, gentoo penguins, giant petrels, and blue-eyed shags. We set sail and arrived at Fortuna Bay at approximately 2:00 p.m. The landscape at Fortuna Bay is incredible with the very old rocks twisted in many directions as South Georgia was formed. The Konig Glacier feeds one end of the bay and a second glacier feeds in from the Northeast side of the bay. Reindeer were visible on the hillsides from the ship by using binoculars. We made a landing on the beach among fur seals, king penguins, several gentoo penguins, and some elephant seals. There was an old sealers cave nearby and another colony of king penguins about one kilometer away. An occasional reindeer could be observed up on the hillsides. The reindeer were introduced to South Georgia by Norwegian whalers. We were told that South Georgia has relocated some of the reindeer to the Falkland Islands to preserve that reindeer strain and plans to eradicate the remaining reindeer in the near future.

The morning of March 22^nd was sunny at Fortuna Bay with fog visible out over the ocean. A group departed the ship to take a 5.5 kilometer hike to Stromness – described as very steep down the back of 300 meter high terrain. My left knee was marginal from the Prion Island and Prince Olav Harbor hikes over loose rocks in rubber boots so I declined to take this hike. The Europa sailed to Stromness which is the site of another old whaling station and is where Ernest Shackelton hiked to after he sailed to South Georgia following the loss of his ship, the Endurance. Lunch was served on the main deck after the hikers returned too the ship. After lunch, a zodiac cruise was provided around the beach area and the old whaling station for the people who did not go on the hike from Fortuna Bay. There was some interesting architecture in a few of the old buildings and there were elephant seals, fur seals, gentoo penguins, and king penguins on the beach. We set sail to Grytviken and anchored off shore at the King Edward Point British Research Base – this is the British Government headquarters for South Georgia. That night the sky was clear with many stars and raindrops falling on the main deck area even though there were no clouds evident.

After we docked at King Edward Point on the morning of March 23^rd, the British Officials boarded the Europa to check our passports and to clear us for visitation to South Georgia. I disembarked and hiked to the Ernest Shackelton Memorial at Hope Point amid some very aggressive fur seals. I also hiked to the old Grytviken whaling station and to the church where Shackelton’s funeral was conducted. The church has recently been restored and also contains the old Grytviken Library. Since a sign said that it was permissible to ring the church bells softly, I couldn’t resist the temptation to ring the bells. I also braved some more aggressive fur seals and hiked to the cemetery where Shackelton is buried – he was buried facing south and everyone else there was buried facing east. After lunch, I hiked up the mountain above the cemetery to the dam that forms the lake for fresh water for Grytviken and the British Research Base. The museum at Grytviken is superb.

On the morning of March 24^th, I signed up for a 9:30 a.m. lecture by the British Research Base personnel on the fishery program that they administer for South Georgia. We set sail for Godthul and sailed past a large rocky area where they said that the black and white spots were a colony of macaroni penguins – my zoom lenses were not powerful enough to distinguish a macaroni penguin. We sailed into Cobbler’s Cove, a tiny cove with magnificent scenery, and on to Godthul. We made a landing at Godthul which had a very narrow beach that was covered with whale bones from when a whaling ship operated there. There were also fur seals and a colony of gentoo penguins present. Behind the beach, there was an abundance of Tussock grass full of fur seals and further up the slope was a gentoo penguin rookery. A group hiked past the penguin rookery and explored the immediate area. We spent the night at Godthul and in the morning the Europa and the surrounding landscapes were covered with a couple of inches of snow – more of the changeable South Georgia weather. 

We set sail and arrived at Ocean Harbor in the morning of March 25^th. The shipwreck Bayard is at Ocean Harbor which was once the home to a whaling station which we were told had been previously relocated to Stromness. The Bayard had been built at Liverpool, England in 1864 and had been blown from its moorings at Ocean Harbor by hurricane force winds in 1911. A colony of blue-eyed shags now occupies the deck of the Bayard. There were elephant seals, fur seals, and some king penguins on the beach. After lunch, we took a zodiac cruise around a point to Penguin Cove where we landed between two groups of elephant seals – one group had several very large elephant seals. We spent time on the beach watching the elephant seals, fur seals, gentoo penguins, king penguins, and some more of the reindeer on the hillsides. We spent the night at Ocean Harbor.

We set sail at 4:30 a.m. on March 26^th and arrived at Cooper Bay at approximately 10:00 a.m. The landscape along the Southeast coast of South Georgia was spectacular with many glaciers going into the ocean. I saw some chinstrap penguins swimming near the ship as we sailed near Cooper Bay. We anchored at Cooper Bay with beautiful sunny weather and landed on the beach amid elephant seals and fur seals. We hiked up the hillside amid the tussock grass and more aggressive fur seals before arriving at a colony of macaroni penguins. Some of the macaroni penguins were nestled away in the tussock grass and difficult to see. From our hillside vantage point, we were able to look down onto a colony of macaroni penguins below on the rocks near the ocean. We also were treated to a circumsolar halo of the sun in the cirro-stratus clouds. Later we took the zodiac around near the rocks to get another look at the macaronis. This was our last stop at South Georgia and it was an incredible day. By the time we returned to the ship at approximately 2:30 p.m., the weather had deteriorated with increasing waves and wind from the wrong direction to begin sailing to Tristan da Cunha – the Captain decided to remain here until the following morning. We hoisted anchor at 6:00 a.m. and began sailing toward Tristan da Cunha on March 27^th.

Photos from South Georgia
 

Sailing from the South Georgia Islands to Tristan da Cunha
The voyage from South Georgia to Tristan da Cunha took eleven days, and we arrived at Tristan da Cunha during the morning of April 7^th. Prior to departing South Georgia, the Captain reorganized the watch teams by moving some people among the three watch teams. The weather during my watches varied from temperatures as low as 3 degrees C to 8 degrees C for several days, windy and overcast, a large storm, occasional rain, hail, and salt spray to partly cloudy with bright sunshine and as high as plus17 degrees C as we approached Tristan da Cunha.

We hoisted the anchor at 6:00 a.m. on March 27^th and set sail from Cooper Bay to Tristan da Cunha – 1,400 miles northeast in the middle of the southern Atlantic Ocean. We were back on the watch system and were greeted by a magnificent sunrise as we sailed away from South Georgia. We continued to be surrounded by numerous icebergs until we crossed out of the Antarctic Convergence between 10:00 and 11:00 p.m. on March 29^th. We observed a unique iceberg which was blue with a dirty black portion on one side as we sailed past it on March 29^th. During several of the night watches, I was able to observe fluorescing squid and moon jellies near the bow of the ship. We were also able to observe numerous sea birds including numerous wandering albatrosses, black-browed albatrosses, sooty albatrosses, white-chinned petrels, greater shearwaters, and Antarctic terns.

During the evening of March 30^th and the early morning of March 31^st, we encountered a fierce storm which sent waves crashing over the main deck and at times portions of some waves were nearly up to the poop deck floor level. The weather was continually variable and could change from bright sunshine to high winds with rain in a matter of an hour or two. After the storm, water had condensed along the inside of the ship and was being sucked into my foam mattress which required drying out the following day – several other bunks also required drying out as well. Our watches continued around the clock throughout the voyage to Tristan da Cunha.

A large carton of hard boiled eggs was put in the deck house on April 6^th together with colored markers for people to decorate the eggs for an Easter egg decorating contest.  Most of us decorated an egg and the eggs were quite colorful.

Tristan da Cunha
We sailed along the coast of Tristan da Cunha and past the settlement of Edinburgh between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m. on April 7^th and arrived at our anchorage area at 9:45 a.m. Since the harbor at Tristan was closed due to the high waves, we remained aboard the Europa the remainder of the day. We observed numerous yellow-nosed albatrosses and Antarctic terns while we were anchored at Tristan. A couple of people fished from the ship and Kingsley from Australia caught a fish in excess of 90 pounds which some on board called a grouper but the Tristan locals said it was a sea bass. Some of the fish was used as sushi, some went into fish chowder, and the remainder was served as fillets. During the evening of April 7^th we had a BBQ on the main deck and a party that continued well into the night. We were hopeful that the weather would be good enough for Tristan to open the harbor so we could go ashore the following day. We also saw another small sailboat arrive near where we were anchored but they did not stay in the area during the night.

A wind shift on April 8^th once again prevented the opening of the harbor at Tristan. The Captain delayed our departure to Cape Town one more day and sailed to an anchor point closer to the Tristan harbor in hope that the harbor could open on the following day. Since my injured hand had gotten better, I was able to climb the forward mast to help unfurl the upper and lower top sails. The small sailboat less than 30 feet long that we had seen the night before returned to Tristan. We found out that they were en route from South America to Cape Town and that they lost their anchor and anchor chain when they attempted to anchor near us the night before. They sailed near us and they attached a heave line from the Europa to their sailboat to spend the night. We also celebrated the birthday for the first mate aboard the Europa that night.

Luck was with us on the morning of April 9^th and Tristan was able to open the harbor. Once the immigration formalities were completed we began zodiac landings at the harbor amid calm winds and very light swells. I landed at Tristan at 9:30 a.m. Tristan da Cunha is approximately at Latitude 37 degrees S and is approximately 1,500 miles East of Cape Town, South Africa. It has a long history and was evacuated after a volcano eruption in 1961, although many of the people subsequently returned. I believe that is a dependency of St. Helena which in turn is a dependency of the United Kingdom. It has a population of between 290 and 300 people and is referred to as the most remote inhabited island in the world. The population stems from seven family names and has a rock lobster freezing plant as their local industry. I was told by the Tristan radio operator that each family is allowed to keep two milking cows and I believe eight sheep within the settlement of Edinburgh. They have an orchard and potato patches outside of the settlement. They also have a herd of cattle and sheep on the other side of the island. They issue fishing permits for fishing vessels to fish in their waters, and the fishing vessels also serve to bring provisions to the island. They are also supplied by other provisioning vessels. Passengers may travel to Tristan aboard the fishing vessels but their return passage may be delayed because medical evacuation patients from Tristan have priority aboard departing vessels.

Once ashore, I went to the museum which has very nice historical exhibit. The weather ashore was magnificent, and I hiked up to the lava flow fields from the 1961 volcano eruption. The island has an Internet café which transmits and receives via satellite. The Internet is free to the local school children and I was able to use it as well. I went to the local pub where I had an Amstel beer and a tomato and cheese sandwich for lunch. The residents of Tristan knit gorgeous sweaters by hand and other articles for sale to the occasional tourist. I also went to the post office where I mailed home a post card. I am very happy that we got an opportunity to set foot on Tristan. In addition, some fishermen at Tristan gave a 10 Kilogram octopus to Sharon from Australia who brought it back to the ship – she cooked it for everyone on board while we were sailing to Cape Town. 

The previous harbor closures prevented us from traveling with a local guide to nearby Nightingale Island where yellow-nosed albatrosses nest and where we might have been able to observe rockhopper penguins. Perhaps the people who travel on the Europa during 2008 will get that opportunity.

Sailing from Tristan da Cunha to Cape Town
We heaved anchor at 5:30 p.m. and set sail to Cape Town on April 9^th – the voyage from Tristan da Cunha to Cape Town took eleven days. As we sailed from Tristan, we observed large flocks of yellow-nosed albatrosses nearby and later observed ordinary dolphins around the bow of the Europa. All sails had been set by 9:30 p.m. and we were back on the watch system.

On April 10^th we tacked the ship at 8:00 p.m. and during the process, we broke the royal yardarm on the forward mast. The broken yardarm was taken down the following day and repairs to it were initiated. The broken yardarm was shortened, repaired, and the forward royal sail reinstallation was completed on April 13^th.  

We continued to experience all types of weather as we continued sailing to Cape Town. On the morning of April 13^th we experienced a spectacular sunrise with a solar column visible in the clouds. 

On April 14^th we crossed the Zero Longitude Meridian at 12:15 a.m. and were summoned by the ship’s horn to a Meridian crossing party. The Captain served drinks of either Berenburgh or Schipper Bitter to celebrate the crossing. 

We observed large numbers of sea birds during the voyage to Cape Town and during the afternoon of April 17^th we were treated to an exhibition by a large number of pilot whales around the ship jumping and riding on the very large waves that we were experiencing. 

During the early morning of April 19^th we experienced clear sky, calm sea and a brisk wind so I climbed to the top of the forward mast, out to the end of the bow sprint and half way up the main mast to take some spectacular photos of the Europa and the sails. 

The temperature continued to be warm, and scraping, sanding, and varnishing of wood began. Once the skysail masts and yardarms had been varnished, the main mast skysail was installed on April 19^th – I helped hoist the skysail yardarm up into position to be installed on the main skysail mast. I was also able to help hoist the forward skysail mast up for installation at the top of the forward mast on April 20^th as we sailed along the coast of Africa. 

My last watch was from 4:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. on April 20^th, and I was able to experience my first sunrise over the African continent. I went to the bow to look at the sunrise which was initially bright pink and was drenched from head to foot by a wave over the bow just after I took a photo. I observed whales, dolphins, fur seals, and a sun fish as we sailed northbound along the African coast. The weather continued to clear and became a picture perfect day as we arrived at Cape Town in the early afternoon. The immigration process took a very long time and was not completed until later in the evening. I was given a temporary residence permit classified as a visiting crew transit yachtsmen and must depart Africa on my scheduled departure date of April 28^th to Victoria Falls. Once I return from Victoria Falls, I will be issued a standard tourist visa. 

After arriving in Cape Town, a large amount of fresh fruits and vegetables were boarded and we had a delicious salad bar dinner that evening. I departed the Europa after breakfast on April 21^st and took a taxi to my hotel. After a very long shower, I went back to the waterfront to purchase a local SIM card for my mobile phone. The Europa was in the process of leaving the dock to go over to the dry dock area of the waterfront for scheduled maintenance. I was asked to cast off the last heave line for the Europa. I felt a sudden tear-jerking moment as I cast off the line and the Europa left the dock without me on board. At that moment, I suddenly realized how much of an impact my 53 days on board the Europa had on my life. The Europa

Photos from Tristan da Cunha and Arrival at Cape Town
 

Arrived Victoria Falls Safari Lodge and our suite is amazing – it even overlooks a water hole used by wild animals. So far we've seen wild boar, buffalo, impala, banded mongoose, marabou stork, grey heron, and guinea fowl from our balcony.

Photos from Victoria Falls
 

We had a busy 6 days in Zimbabwe and Botswana – two nights each in Victoria Falls, Chobe, and the Okavango Delta.   

We arrived at the Victoria Falls Airport in Zimbabwe and were met by a driver who took us to the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge, where we were surprised to find that we had a beautiful split-level suite, complete with a huge 4-poster canopy bed with mosquito netting (not needed, since there were very few mosquitoes, but the staff nevertheless put down the netting every evening), a huge bathroom, and a balcony overlooking a watering hole. From the balcony we could see herds of buffalo and impala, as well as baboons, guinea fowl, banded mongoose, a marabou stork, and other birds. We went on a sunset cruise on the Zambezi River and observed Nile crocodiles, hippos, and various birds. The next day we went on a walking tour of Victoria Falls, one of the seven natural wonders of the world. Because of the volume of water, much of the Falls was shrouded in mist, and the clouds of mist could be seen from miles away. 

Our first evening in Victoria Falls, we had dinner at the “Boma Eating Place.” Each person was draped with a piece of African cloth knotted at the shoulder, and the buffet included barbequed warthog (surprisingly delicious!), kudu, springbok and ostrich, and the entertainment consisted of traditional African dancers and singers and a drum-along session where everyone had their own drum – everyone had fun. On our return to the hotel, we saw a spitting cobra devouring a smaller snake. 

We had no problem with Zimbabwe currency, which is suffering from hyper-inflation, since US dollars and South African rand were welcome everywhere.  

From Victoria Falls, we were driven to the Zimbabwe border (about 1-1/2 hours), where we crossed into Botswana. After the border crossing (including walking through a decontamination shoe bath), we were picked up by another driver, who took us to the Chobe Game Lodge, where we were given a busy itinerary of early morning and late afternoon game drives and a late morning cruise. We saw lots of elephants (they say there are over 45,000 elephants in the Chobe reserve), giraffes, zebras, baboons, monkeys, warthogs, hippos, impala, puku, kudu, sable antelope, mongoose, bushbuck, a pride of lions, black backed jackels, and many different birds. On the second afternoon game drive, we observed crocodiles feasting on a dead buffalo. 

We were picked up at the Chobe Game Lodge and taken to the Kasane airport, where we boarded a 7-passenger plane for a midday flight to the Okavango Delta. Unfortunately, it was a very bumpy ride and the pilot made two stops along the way, making a total flight of about two hours. Jan did not enjoy the flight. However, we were greeted very warmly by our host, Judy, one of the managers of Camp Okavango, and shown to our very comfortable “tent,” complete with king-size bed and full bathroom. Our itinerary included motor-boat and canoe rides through the Delta and a walking safari on one of the islands. While walking, we observed warthogs, red lechwe antelopes, buffalo, elephants, and lots of hippos. 

The food at Camp Okavango was the best we’ve had so far, and our after-dinner conversations with the other guests and camp managers was most interesting, especially talking to Kuvos, the manager, who has a PhD in zoology, among many other talents.   

We had an early-morning flight from the Camp Okavango airstrip, and Judy kindly gave Jan a motion-sickness pill. The flight was much smoother than the previous one and flew directly to the Kasane airport, so Jan was in good shape. We were met at the airport by a driver who transferred us to the Zimbabwe border where we transferred to another driver who delivered us to the Victoria Falls airport. We flew back to Johannesburg, where we’ll spend two nights before our early-morning departure for our tour in Kruger National Park.

  Photos from Chobe and Photos from Okavango
 

We're having a great time on our Kruger Park safari. We had two nights at a camp called Pretoriuskop and tonight is our third and last night at Skukuza Camp. We've seen impalas, rhinos, elephants, impalas, giraffes, hippos, impalas, bushbuck, klinghopper antelope, hyenas, cheetah, impalas, kudus (i.e., LOTS of impalas!), etc.
 

Our safari in Kruger National Park exceeded our expectations. We spotted all of the "South Africa Big 5" – lion, buffalo, rhino, elephant, and, on our very last afternoon game drive, the elusive leopard. New species that we hadn’t seen before included cheetahs, hyenas, Tsessebe antelopes, Steenbok, Nyala antelope, Klipspringer antelope, leopard tortoise, bush baby, saddle-billed stork, and fruit bats. Each game drive brought at least one new sighting.

Our travel and accommodations, arranged by Siyabona Africa Travel, were excellent. We stayed two nights at Pretoriuskop camp and three nights at Skukuza. At both camps, we were housed in private air-conditioned bungalows with full inside bath and small outside kitchen. Impala and warthogs roamed freely throughout the Pretoriuskop camp. Vervet monkeys were present in both camps and were quick to steal any scraps of food from the garbage cans and from unattended campsite tables. Excellent meals were prepared over an open fire by the Siyobona chefs and served in the Siyobona base camp nearby. Our typical day was coffee, tea, and rusks at 5:45 a.m., a morning game drive from 6 to 9 followed by a full breakfast, leisure time until lunch at 2 p.m., afternoon game drive at 3, followed by dinner. At meals and game drives we were usually joined by two to four other safari participants. Both camps had outdoor big-screen nature-themed movies at 7:00.

While we were at Pretoriuskop, we heard the cries of the bush baby (like a child crying) and the fruit bat, both nocturnal animals, but we couldn’t see them in the dark. While at Skukuza, we were lucky that one of the Siyabona staff spotted a bush baby in a tree, since they are usually very hard to see. The fruit bats had nested under the roof of a thatched dining pavilion, and we could see them cuddling their young – very cute.

We thought we were going to have to go home without seeing a leopard, but on our last afternoon game drive, one of our fellow travelers, Sufang from Whittier, California (currently living in Hong Kong), gasped that she had seen a leopard. Our driver backed up and sure enough, it was still visible among the bush. We weren't able to get any still pictures, but we did get some video and a decent screen shot.

Photos from Kruger National Park
 

First Day at Delhi

I finally arrived at Delhi about 1:30 a.m. and got checked into my room at the Intercontinental Hotel at Nehru Place around 2:30 a.m. At about 11:30 a.m. I transferred to the Crown Plaza Delhi hotel where my original reservation had been booked for many months. The taxi driver between the two hotels was named Kaku, and I ended up hiring him as my car and driver for some afternoon sightseeing in Delhi.

The daytime traffic in Delhi requires the drivers to be aware of every inch of their vehicles as they jostle among the throng of other drivers, cyclists, pedestrians, and animals for positions on the streets. The cows still seem to have the right of way along the streets of Delhi.

The first stop was at the Fort of Tughluqabad and to Ghiyath-ud-Din's Tomb which he built for himself between 1321 and 1325. Originally, the tomb was built connected to the fort by a causeway which has been partially demolished for construction of a major road that now bisects the causeway.

The next stop was at the remains of the Quwwat-ul-Islam Masjid which is the earliest extant mosque in India. The Alai Darwaza formed the main access through the southern wall of the enlarged Quwwat-ul-Islam Masjid and is described as one of the treasured gems of Islamic architecture. Within the Quwwat-ul-Islam Masjid stands the Qutb Minar Tower which stands 72.5 meters high and is the tallest stone tower in India.

I decided to also hire Kaku for some more sightseeing tomorrow.

Photos from New Delhi
 

Second Day at Delhi

I met Kaku and his taxi in front of the Crown Plaza hotel at 9:00 a.m. and we headed out to see a few more sights in Delhi. We went to Old Delhi and, since taxis are not allowed in Old Delhi, we hired a rickshaw cyclist who pedaled us around. Our first stop was at the Jama Masjid Delhi mosque. Since it was not open to the public early in the morning, we viewed it from outside as we meandered around some of the local market stalls that were also being set up for business.

Old Delhi seemed to have a special character of its own and we had our rickshaw driver pedal us around through the bazaar markets. Kaku said that the early morning markets are wholesale markets and that we arrived as some of the wholesale markets were starting to close and some of the retail markets were starting to open. In retrospect, the streets of Old Delhi would be worth a return trip sometime in the future.

The Red Fort of Delhi is situated within Old Delhi and we made a visit to it. It was large and imposing but it could not compare with the Red Fort of Agra that I visited during my 2004 trip to India.

After the Red Fort, we drove through the gate that separates Old Delhi from New Delhi. The gate was very picturesque from the Old Delhi side but my camera was off and by the time it became actuated, we were through the gate and the New Delhi side was obscured by vegetation. With the traffic in Delhi, we elected not to attempt to turn around for a second try at a photo opportunity.

We continued to the India Gate which is at the opposite end of a large street that runs to the Government buildings. The Government buildings comprised the parliament building, government office buildings, and the President's residence.

The temperature continued to soar and the air conditioned taxi was barely keeping us from sweltering within the taxi. Our last stop was at Safdarjang's Tomb built during the mid-1700s. Kaku was very good as a driver and I will retain his local mobile phone number to be able to contact him if I return to Delhi in the future.

Next stop, Thailand.

Photos from Old Delhi
 

Sightseeing

I rented a small Toyota this morning and headed off West of Udon Thani to the Erawan Cave. It was a good drive along the major highway to the cave and a good way to get acclimated to the Thailand drivers and different types of vehicles. The Erawan Cave is situated about one half way up the side of a mountain and is visible from the side road leading to the parking area. The cave has a Buddha sitting in the entrance of the cave. It was quite a hike up to the cave entrance and then it was a cool hike through the cave to the other end which opens to a sheer cliff drop off.

The next stop was another cave with a wat integrated into it but I don't remember the name of the cave and at the wat, Thai language was the only description that I observed. It was a very interesting complex and it is situated between the Erawan Cave and the Phu Phrabat Historical Park.

The next stop was at the Phu Phrabat Historical Park which is located in the Baanphue district of the Udon Thani province. It opened to the public during 1992 as a sightseeing destination. The site contains some ancient rock paintings and some very interesting rock formations. The literature handout at the park states that the area is a sacred place for Buddhism and Hinduism religious ritual performances. Since my camera battery was running low, I took a limited number of photos. I will certainly re-visit the park in the future if I happen to be in the area.

The remainder of the afternoon was spent returning to Udon Thani and returning the rental car.

Tomorrow I head off to Vientiane, Laos.

Photos from Thailand
 

While I was exploring in the vicinity of Udon Thani, Thailand, I decided to take a side trip to Laos. The Austrian Government provided funding to facilitate the construction of the Friendship Bridge to span the Mekong River between Thailand and Laos. The bridge was completed in the early 1990s and is situated East of Vientiane, Laos and Si Chiang Mai, Thailand and provides the means the main border crossing point between Laos and Thailand in the vicinity of Vientiane. The bridge has railroad tracks built in for train service between Thailand and Laos but the train service has never been initiated and is not due to open "for a few years to come."

The first challenge was to determine exactly what was required on my part to obtain a tourist visa for Laos. I had been told that foreigners were required to obtain a Lao visa from the Lao embassy in Bangkok, but I had also been told that I could obtain a visa at the border crossing. I went to the local tourist travel agency across the street from my hotel and was told that it was possible to obtain an expedited visa at the Friendship Bridge border crossing customs office. They said that I could book a one day tour with them which would include a private car with driver and that they could also provide an English speaking guide. Since I really wanted to see more than just the local Vientiane sights and tourist markets, I inquired about a two day trip. They said that a two day trip could be arranged and that I could book into one of two hotels – the five star Don Chan Palace hotel that overlooks the Mekong River or at a four star hotel. Since I had seen the Don Chan Palace hotel from the Si Chiang Mai side of the Mekong a couple of years ago, I decided to stay there for one night. I booked the trip to depart for Vientiane on May 23rd and to return to Udon Thani on May 24th.

My next stop was at the local Internet café where I searched on Vientiane tourist attractions. I browsed several web sites and made a list of possible tourist attractions to check out while in Laos. One of the attractions that looked interesting was the Nin Khana Waterfalls which were North of Vientiane on Route 13. Route 13 turns out to be the main northbound highway in Laos between Vientiane and the China border.

My car arrived at the hotel at 7:00 a.m. with driver and guide. The car was actually a nearly new seven person air conditioned minivan. We set off northbound on highway A12 or route 2 from Udon Thani toward the Friendship Bridge. After going through the particulars about who pays for lunches, dinners, and gasoline for the van, the guide said that he would not be able to accompany me to the local Vientiane tourist attractions because he was not an official Lao tour guide. When I mentioned the waterfalls, he said that the car was a Thai tour car and was only authorized to stay within Vientiane. It was becoming clear that my car and driver and tour guide were probably operating somewhat illegally within Laos. Not to be deterred, I pressed on regarding the waterfalls and asked what was required to visit the waterfalls and attractions outside of Vientiane. Finally my guide said that to visit outside of Vientiane, they would need to hire an official Lao tour guide and to obtain special documents for the van at an extra cost. Since I was already on the road, I decided that the additional two thousand Thai bhat was a necessary extra charge for my excursion into Laos.

When we arrived at the customs and immigration area for my visa into Laos, I filled out the paperwork, gave my passport and $35 US dollars to the official in a booth, and was told to have a seat outside with a number of other travelers. I had been told that it could take up to an hour for them to process my visa but in about ten minutes, a window opened and a hand waved my passport to the crowd. I assumed that I must have filled out the paperwork incorrectly or something, but I found out that my visa had already been processed. Our next stop was to pick up our local Lao tour guide who spoke very good English.

From the moment he got on the van, my journey to Laos became a real joy. Our first stop was at the waterfalls that I had mentioned. The side road to the waterfalls was a narrow hilly dirt road and my driver navigated around some enormous potholes – I was glad that it was not raining. The river was barely flowing but the waterfalls and rock formations were interesting. There were a lot of butterflies along the side of the river as well as a group of school children on a day trip. We continued northbound on route 13 and stopped for lunch at Phom Nong. Lunch consisted of a rice noodle dish accompanied by free drinking water. My guide talked about trekking trips in the far North, home stay trips staying with Loa families, and other exciting possibilities – I have his card for my next excursion into Laos.

As we continued northbound on highway 13, I couldn't help but notice the poor condition of the roads in Laos. Highway 13 was a two lane road that was paved but in places had deteriorated to washboard gravel surfaces. Continuing North on highway 13, we passed countless logging trucks and other large trucks coming southbound fully loaded. We entered the mountains about fifty kilometers North of Vientiane and the winding narrow route 13 became more picturesque and more treacherous. We drove through some of the villages of the mountain tribes people and crossed numerous picturesque streams. We continued one hundred fifty kilometers North of Vientiane to the town of Vang Vieng where the landscape is dominated by massive limestone mountains. Two cement plants have been built by Chinese companies and are operating here – alas, more huge trucks on highway 13.

We stopped at Vang Vieng to visit the Tham Tjang cave which is situated next to the Nam Song River. It is located as part of a resort complex funded by Chinese investors which was developing the immediate area. Please note that the term "resort" in Laos is not necessarily the same as "resort" elsewhere in the world. The cave entrance was part way up the side of a limestone mountain and had wonderful stalactites and stalagmites. There was a small river flowing from a cave entrance at the bottom of this same mountain and this small river joined the Nam Song River.

We continued along the Nam Song River into the town of Vang Vieng and walked across a bamboo footbridge to an island. We continued along the river to another cave but did not enter it. Back at Vang Vieng, we crossed a large paved area with some local markets and a bus station – my Lao guide said that the locals call it A4 since it was once a US Air Force runway. Since it was late in the afternoon, we headed back to Vientiane along highway 13 and arrived in time to have a sunset dinner beside the Mekong River near the Don Chan Palace hotel.

I spent the night at the Don Chan Palace which is the only five star hotel in the city. It was comfortable but would not be rated with five stars outside of Laos. My driver and Thai guide met me at the hotel lobby at 9:00 a.m. and we set off to see some local sights on our way back to Thailand. The first stop was at the Ho Phra Keo Museum which was originally erected by King Settathirat to conceal the emerald Buddha which is now in the Wat Phra Keo in Bangkok. My second stop was at Vat Sisaket which is the only temple to have survived Siamese invasions and is the oldest building in Vientiane. Continuing on, I stopped at the Pratuxay monument which was built during the 1960s and is the Arc de Triumphe of Vientiane. I climbed to the top of the monument to get a good panoramic view of Vientiane. My fourth stop was at Stupa That Luang which constitutes the national symbol of Laos. This large, holy Stupa is said to contain a hair from the Buddha. My fifth stop was at That Dam or the black stupa which is very old and according to legend, was the guardian of a seven headed dragon that would protect the city from Siamese invasion – because of lack of success in this respect, it is little worshipped. One final stop was at Vat Si Muang which is the most visited vat by the Lao people. It holds the "pillar" of the town which is why it is considered the center of the Ancient spirit of Vientiane. To my surprise, I came across a Marabou stork within the vat and was within one meter of it – we never got very close to Marabou storks while we were in Africa a few weeks ago.

Heading East along the Mekong River, we continued past the Friendship Bridge to Vat Xieng Khuan which is twenty seven kilometers from Vientiane. This is actually a Buddha Park where a monk built many statues including the Laying Buddha which is over one hundred fifty meters long. The monk hoped to unify Buddhism and Hinduism through the statues and built a similar place across the Mekong River at Nong Khai which I visited about a year ago. In my opinion, Vat Xieng Khuan is a must see if visiting the Vientiane area but unfortunately most of the Vientiane tours fail to include it in their trips.

A short backtrack along the river took us back to the Friendship Bridge where we exited Laos and entered Thailand. Once across the bridge, it was a short comfortable journey on Thailand’s very good multi-lane highway back to my hotel at Udon Thani.

Photos from Laos
 

More exploring of West Udon Thani

Rented the car again today and headed West on highway 210 to Loei Province and headed South on highway 2016. My first stop was at the Huay-lao National Forest Park (the road sign showed it as HUAI LAO FALL FOREST PARK). There is a stream that flows down the mountains with small waterfalls. Getting to the various waterfalls requires a 1.7 kilometer hike up the mountains and signs point to paths to at least 5 different waterfalls. I took the hike and went as far as waterfall number 5. The hike was primarily through a mixed growth forest with many very large bamboo trees and I realized that I don't remember ever hiking through a bamboo forest.

My next stop was at the Bodhisattva Cave situated less than thirty kilometers from the Huay-lao Park. It was an extremely interesting cave complex in that the top of the original cave is missing in most places and you hike through limestone formations with huge hanging roots from trees above and beautiful stalactites and stalagmites. The cave formations are within a small rainforest and a local guide is a necessity to explore the cave.

On the return trip to Udon Thani, I encountered a monster rainstorm which blew many huge trees down across highway 210. In addition to torrential rain, the fallen trees created some monumental traffic jams. The local Thai people got out of their vehicles and, with upwards of thirty people all working together, pushed the trees out of the highway. The rain subsided about half way back to Udon Thani and I encountered sporadic showers back to Udon.

I hope to explore to the northeast of Udon Thani tomorrow.

Photos from Huay-lao National Forest Park
 

Phu Thok

Yesterday, I went to Phu Thok which, according to the Internet, means "isolated mountain" in the Isam dialect. It is a sandstone mountain approximately two hundred meters high in northeast Thailand, east of Nong Khai near the intersection of highways 212 and 222. Temple Wat Phu Thok is situated part way up the mountain and is accessible by wooden stairs. The construction of the stairs began in 1969 and took five years to complete. The stairs/catwalk spiral around the mountain at several levels and transverse sheer cliffs. The Internet also stated that most tourists do not go to the upper level stairs/catwalk because they find them "horrifying and too dangerous." I accepted the challenge and explored every level of the stairs/catwalk and made it to the top of the mountain where I ran into a Thai man who took my photo at the trail's end. It was a long and very hot journey to the top and after returning to my rental car the air conditioning sure felt good.

I drove North on highway 222 to the town of Bueng Kan on the Mekong River where I ate lunch overlooking the river. During the drive back to Udon Thani, I encountered some scattered heavy rain and then it continued to rain as I entered Udon.

Today is a relaxing day and I plan to head back to Bangkok tomorrow.

Photos from Phu Thok
 

Last day at Bangkok

Went to the Tiger Zoo today. It was pretty commercialized but it is the only place where you can hold a baby tiger and an orangutan. Yep, I held the tiger and was surprised at how long and lean it was. The orangutan was a juvenile with its mother and it was cool to sit with the mother and hold the other one on my lap.

See pictures from this trip.

Back to Top

The Elephant Trek and Monkey Show

Today I went on an Elephant Trek to the waterfall. It was advertised as a two hour trip which included trekking by elephant through the jungle with a short hike to waterfall and a cave with a one hundred year old tree and return back by elephant. I booked the 11:00 a.m. trek with hotel pickup at 10:30. The driver arrived at my hotel about 10:45 and by the time we got to the starting point, there were no elephants available so they took me to a monkey show about a kilometer away from the elephant trek starting point and said they would do the elephant trek as soon as an elephant was available. The monkey show lasted about 20 minutes and then there was no driver to take me back to the elephant trek. So the waiting began in earnest and nobody spoke much, if any, English at the monkey show – also so remote that I had no mobile phone signal to call anyone. After waiting about 1 1/2 hours, I finally communicated that I would pay for one of the monkey show people to take me on his motor bike over the dirt road with a million ruts to the elephant trek. I finally got my elephant trek through the jungle – pretty cool trek and hiked to the waterfall and to the cave. The two hour trek turned out to be most of the day as I got dropped off at my hotel at 5:15 p.m.

Tomorrow I will do the 4 islands snorkeling trip. It is one of the trips that I took a couple of years ago and is was a great trip – includes lunch at Koh Kraden where I got my picture by the big log on the beach that we included in our Xmas card.

The weather has been hot and very hazy. I have never seen it this hazy down here. Got some rain at the hotel today while I was away elephant trekking – there are stars visible tonight but also some lightning in the distance so I don't know what the weather will be tomorrow.

See pictures from this trip.

Back to Top

Departing Perth

I am in the airline lounge waiting to board my flight to Bangkok. Perth was an interesting city but very much spread out. The tours that I took to the Pinnacles and to Wave Rock were very interesting and certainly covered a lot of ground both to the North and to the Southeast of Perth.
 

Departing Bangkok

I arrived Bangkok at about 7:30 am. I have a flight to Udon Thani at 12:55 pm, so I have another 4 hours until I board that flight – have spent a lot of time at airports during the last 24 hours. I am glad that I have Thai Airways lounge privileges when I fly Thai. 

The weather here is overcast – quite a switch from Perth where there were no clouds to be seen. Perth has the reputation of being the sunniest city in the world, with an average of 8 hours of sunshine 365 days a year. It is also the world’s capital city that is the farthest away from all other capital cities.
 

Last Day at Udon Thani

I arrived at Udon Thani and immediately went to sleep. The next day I went to Nong Khai and visited two wats which were quite nice – the one had a sculpture garden with a very large number of amazing Buddha statues carved out of rock and the second wat had murals all over the walls depicting much of the images from India that were similar to the stories associated with those at Angkor Wat. 

Yesterday was an excursion to the waterfall of seven colors, Chet Si Waterfall – a full days travel and it was also quite interesting. The food here has been quite good from street food vendors. Today has been a relaxing day getting ready to travel to Bangkok tomorrow morning. I am meeting the Bangkok travel agent and his wife tomorrow evening for dinner at the Amari airport hotel – he is the Thai travel agent that I met on my Similan Island snorkeling trip a few months ago.
 

En Route to Singapore

I am at the Singapore Airlines Lounge at the Bangkok airport waiting to board my flight to Singapore. I had a great time with Sit, the Thai travel agent, and his wife Pam yesterday afternoon and evening. They picked me up at the Amari hotel about 1:30 p.m. and took me to Ayuthaya and then to the King's Summer Palace. When they arrived at the hotel, they gave me a yellow polo shirt commemorating the 60th anniversary of the King's rule in Thailand – the shirts are very popular here in Thailand. After we returned to the hotel, I took them to dinner at the Thai buffet restuarant at the Amari hotel.
 

2nd Day at Singapore

I had black pepper tiger prawns at the outdoor food court on Scott Road – it has been remodeled and has a lot more people coming to it. The prawns were "out of this world good!" and I am planning on fish head curry later this afternoon when I go to Little India. 

I am currently wandering around the area where I believe the multi-storied building with all the electronics stores is located. I would like to replace my Sony polarizing filter that I purchased here several years ago. Last night I stopped by the Sony Gallery at one of the shopping complexes on Orchard Road and looked at the new Sony video camera with the 30 Gigabite internal hard drive – it is pretty cool but very expensive here at Singapore compared with New York prices (so far most electronics things in the shops seem to me to be quite expensive). I plan to continue to meander along toward Little India while I work up a good appetite for the fish head curry.
 

Heading Home

I am at the lounge in the Singapore airport waiting to go to the gate to board my flight to Narita.  

Fish head curry was quite good at Banana Leaf Apollo – they opened up another branch about 6 months ago and that is where I ate my curry late yesterday afternoon.

See pictures from this trip.

Back to Top

Antarctica

Well, we're back in Buenos Aires, leaving tonight for our flight home. The trip to Antarctica was amazing. The 2 day crossing of the Drake Passage was a bit rough, but once we got to the Antarctic Peninsula it was smooth sailing. The scenery was spectacular, and we were able to go on all 10 of our Zodiak boat excursions, which is almost unheard of. We did encounter some pack ice, wind and snow, but not enough to prevent any of the excursions. One of the highlights was a truly magical late evening sail through the Lemaire Channel...the water was so calm that the mountains and glaciers reflected as mirror images in the water, and it was still daylight nearly 24 hours a day. Even the crew were out on the deck taking photos. On our last couple of landings, the penguin chicks had recently hatched, and we were able to see the parents feeding them - really cute. The cruise was wonderful, with 170 crew members (for 175 passengers). The dozen or so expedition leaders included marine biologists, a glaciologist, other naturalists, and a historian who was a wonderful storyteller and who was amazingly knowledgeable about pioneering expeditions to the area that we visited. The food on the ship was wonderful, and we met a lot of very interesting people. Yesterday, we had most of the day in Ushuaia, and we were able to take the chairlift part way up to the Martial Glacier (it had been closed for repairs when we were there before), and then we hiked up almost to the glacier, which was pretty spectacular.

See pictures from this trip.

Back to Top

Arrived in Bangkok

I arrived in Bangkok on schedule and had a good night sleep at the Amari Airport hotel. I had the buffet breakfast this morning and went to the train station to check on trains to Nakhon Ratchasima. There are several trains tomorrow and I booked passage for the 11:47 a.m. train 2nd class air conditioned coach (no first class service from here to there) for 238 Thai Bhat with scheduled arrival at Nakhon Ratchasima at 15:23. Looks like the adventure will begin tomorrow.

The weather here upon arrival last night was cloudy with scattered showers and temperature of 88º F. It was raining earlier here this morning but we now have partly cloudy. I have no idea what the forecast is for tomorrow where I am headed.
 

I am getting ready to check out of the hotel this morning and try to catch my train. I have hotel reservations at the Rachaphruk Grand Hotel in Nakhon Rarchasima.
 

Arrived safely about 90 minutes late by train.  I am at the hotel and plan to hire a car and driver for tomorrow sightseeing.
 

Hooked up with my car & driver today and went to two Khymer temple ruins sites (Prasat Hin Phimai and Prasat Him Phanom Wan) – both were really quite nice and Phimai was pretty extensive. Also went to the Phimai National Museum which was very cool. Finally topped off the day with a brief stop at the Nakhon Ratchasima Zoo. I will share some more about the car (1970 Mercedes Benz) and driver when I get home.

Tomorrow the same car & driver will head southwest toward Cambodia and take in two more Khymer ruins sites. 

Tomorrow midnight – actually 1:00 am – I catch the train to Udon Thani arriving Udon Thani at 5-ish in the morning. I have hotel reservations at Udon Thani and they said they would have room available when I get there from the train.
 

Waiting for Train to Udon Thani Tonight   
 

I have finished the touring around Nakhon Ratchasima and am in the hotel lobby at the internet terminal. Today we went to a neighboring province and saw two more really cool Khymer ruins sites (Phanom Rung PHasat and Prasat Muang Tham). They were well over 100 kilometers away and Phanom Rung Phasat was built on top of and extinct volcano, so it was quite high similar to Machu Picchu. The other one was on the flat land not far away from the first one. 

I have a ticket on the 1:00 a.m. train to Udon Thani and a have hotel reservation at the Charoen Hotel.  I hope to catch some sleep after I arrive at the hotel tomorrow morning. 
 

Arrived Udon Thani   
 

The train departed the station about a half-hour late and consequently arrived late at Udon Thani at approximately 6:00 a.m. this morning. The 2nd class air conditioned car that I had last night was not nearly as nice as the one that I had from Bangkok to Nakhorn Ratchasima, and I was not able to get any sleep on the train – tried closing my eyes but the seat was cramped and uncomfortable. The hotel had a room for me when I arrived and then later switched me to my reserved room about 11:00 a.m. – I was able to get a buffet breakfast and then some sleep in the room and I am feeling bwtter. There is only one train daily from Korat to Udon Thani so there is no better schedule if you want to travel by train.

There does not seem to be very much to do here since the main Udon Thani province tourist attraction and museum is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays – oh well. Anyway, I have a car and driver lined up for all day tomorrow to travel North to the Mekong River and the Friendship Bridge that connects Thailand to Laos. Travel to Laos requires a special visa and travelers to Laos must be part of a tour group – individual travel within Laos is prohibited. I have met some really nice people this trip and a lot of Thai people want to get there pictures taken with me at the tourist attractions – I guess I am a tourist attraction for them. I plan to see some of the countryside along the Mekong River tomorrow. 

I have flights on Thai Airways from Udon Thani to Phuket via Bangkok on 12 October and plan to spend three nights at Phuket before catching the ferry to Phi Phi on the 15th.
 

Trip North to Mekong River

Today I met up with my car & driver and headed North to the border with Laos. We went to Si Chiang Mai which is across the Mekong from Vientiane, Laos and then drove East along the Mekong to Nong Khai where the Thai Friendship Bridge is situated. It was built by Austria and is a very cool bridge about 1,700 meters long. The border between Thailand and Loas is at the center of the bridge. We then continued East along the Mekong to Phon Phisai which has a market along the shoreline above steps along the bank of the Mekong similar to the steps along the Gangi at Varanasi. The river level is low since the rainy season here is between March and June. The population in the vicinity of Nong Khai is about 70 per cent Vietnamese and about 20 per cent Lao with the Thai people making up a very small percentage. On the way back to Udon Thani we stopped at Na Kha Village where they specialize in silk fabric and I was amazed at the number of shops selling silk cloth and clothing articles.

The last stop of the day was at the Udon Thani airport where I went to the Thai Airways ticket office and changed my flight to Phuket from the 12th to the 13th. I decided to stay the extra day here to go to the Ban Chiang National Museum which is a World Heritage Site.

Tomorrow I have another car & driver to go to Ban Chiang and maybe to the elephant cave if time permits.
 

Arrived Phuket

I flew from Udon Thani to Phuket today and arrived here about 1:00 p.m. this afternoon only to find that the area here at Patong near my hotel is in the middle of an electrical power failure. They said that they anticipate that the power will be restored by 4 p.m. but I will believe it when I see it. Without the electrical power and the air conditioning, my room is unbearably hot.

I walked along the beach to where Tan has her tourist agency stand and surprised her by just showing up. I purchased my ferry ticket to Phi Phi from her and we are planning to go to the Phuket FantaSea cultural illusion dinner and show tomorrow night – it was closed when I was here in April and it is supposed to be spectacular. I travel to Phi Phi on the 15th. 

Fortunately this Internet cafe is just outside the area with the power failure so it has air conditioning in addition to the computers – a real God send for me today.
 

Tomorrow I Take the Ferry to Phi Phi

Power came back on yesterday evening and the air conditioning in my room was wonderful. The show tonight was very good with elephants, water buffalo, great magic tricks and awesome costumes. It is rated as the best in Phuket.  

Tomorrow morning is another early morning with the transfer service to pick me up at the hotel about 7:15 a.m. to go to the ferry terminal. The Holiday Inn is supposed to meet the ferry to transfer me to the hotel. I am anxious to get to Phi Phi and back with the coral and beautiful fishes.
 

It is raining cats & dogs here this morning and I am at Phi Phi Village at an Internet place where the service appears to be very good. 

Yesterday, the ferry to Phi Phi was uneventful and I was greeted warmly by the hotel managing director as I arrived at the hotel. They gave me a bottle of red wine as a welcome back gift and everywhere I went I was welcomed back by the individual staff members. They had a very nice buffet lunch for 200 Bhat and both the spicy squid soup and the seafood red curry were extremely good. Immediately after checking in, I reserved my long tail boats for all day trips for each of the three days that I will be here.

The computer was in use at my hotel after lunch, so I tried to check E-mail at the Phi Phi Natural Resort but their software would not communicate with AOL. I returned to my hotel and although their computer was vacant, it was extremely slow and after about an hour of trying to get to my E-mail, I abandoned the effort.

They had low tide about 2:00 p.m. and I swam out to the coral about 3:30 p.m. and spent much of the next hour trying to navigate through the tight passages above the coral which was just below the surface. The coral remains beautiful and the fishes are still gorgeous – in fact I saw a small slender very bright iridescent chartreuse fish of a variety that I have never seen before – pretty cool. It rained while I was snorkeling and then continued raining into the evening.

After snorkeling, I tried the computer internet again and got my E-mail but it would not let me type a reply E-mail and I managed to send part of the E-mail that I tried to send earlier. The hotel had an Italian buffet dinner last night and there are quite as few tourists here. Tonight starts the big evening buffet service again according to one of the hotel staff members.   

I got my long tail boat in the rain at 10:00 a.m. and the first stop was here at the village. My next stop will be at Monkey Bay, where I have seen lion fishes in the past, and then on to Run Tree Bay and Mosquito Island. Glad that I brought my raincoat to keep me warm during the boat rides between snorkeling.
 

Second Day in Phi Phi

I had a very good day yesterday in the rain. We didn't go to Mosquito Island yesterday because the waves were too large. The boat drivers are used to driving boats in the rain. I saw another new fish yesterday – it was light gray and looks a little bit like an American catfish – it swam slowly and checked me out while I checked it out.

Today has been a good day also. It has not rained yet but is clouding up and may rain soon. Today I got to Mosquito Island and it was wonderful. I saw a white and black striped sea snake about three feet long – it was really cool as it came up from the bottom but it was also a little scary as it swam toward me. The very large sea snake was a first for me and it will probably be the highlight of my snorkeling adventure here. I splashed around a bit and it retreated back to the bottom within the coral. I also had a big trumpet fish swim along with me for a very long time at Run Tree Beach today. We went to Monkey Island on the way to the Village for me to check my E-mail and we actually saw a bunch of monkeys on the beach – another first for me since I have never seen a single monkey at Monkey Beach.

I have a long tail boat again tomorrow and then head off to Ao Nang on the 19th.
 

Third Day in Phi Phi

I am into my third day with the long tail boat and stopped at Run Tree Bay on the way to Ton Sai Village to check my E-mail. The water at Run Tree this morning was at high tide and was very cloudy today but the coral and fishes were good. 

I plan to finish up my E-mail here in a few minutes and then head off to do some more snorkeling today. 

Tomorrow morning, I have a 9:00 a.m. ferry from Ton Sai Bay to Krabi and will need to take a taxi to Ao Nang.
 

Arrived Ao Nang

I arrived Ao Nang early afternoon and have gotten checked into my hotel. The trip by ferry to Krabi town was uneventful and the taxi to Ao Nang worked out just fine.

I plan to spend most of the afternoon visiting with some friends here.
 

Arrived Back in Bangkok

We had rain showers both days that I was at Ao Nang but I had a good time visiting with friends. 

Today was another travel day and I am back at the Bangkok airport en route to the Amari Airport hotel across the street to check in for the next two nights. I plan to go to the Saturday Market tomorrow and have a couple of nights with the good Thai buffet dinner at the Amari hotel. 

Sunday is the scheduled travel day back home – I hope it is not an experience like the last flights home from here.
 

Last Day in Bangkok

I had a very good Thai buffet dinner at the Amari last night and am looking forward to another great buffet dinner there tonight for my last dinner in Thailand for this trip. 

I went to the Saturday Market for a while today (it is now called the Weekend Market) and is also open on Sunday – I seem to remember it only being open on Saturdays.

See pictures from this trip.

Back to Top

Arrived Ao Nang

Four Months after the Tsunami

I arrived Ao Nang Beach this afternoon and walked to the guesthouse that my friend John from Australia built. John was there and it escaped damage but there are very few tourists here on their own and he has not been able to rent many rooms to tourists since the tsunami last December. He is going to put the guesthouse in mothballs and return to Australia to try to make some money there to carry him through until the high season starting next October. There are tourists but they are coming with big tours with airfare, hotel, food, transfer and sightseeing all inclusive packages – nobody is making very much money and the independent small businesses are really hurting badly.

I purchased my ferry ticket to Phi Phi Island from the independent tour office that I corresponded with via E-mail. It was nice to see folks again that I haven't seen for a little over a year.  

I plan to do the bar-b-que at Bernie's Place tonight – it appears to be pretty much the same as it was last year when I was here – all-you-can-eat bar-b-que.
 

I slept in today and after breakfast I walked along the beach in a Southern direction and it was in pretty good shape. An older Thai woman came over to me as I walked along the beach and asked me if I would like a Thai massage on the beach for 200 Bhat – I took pity on her and got a nice massage overlooking the water. I then took a tuk tuk type taxi along the beach in the Northern direction where the tsunami damage occurred in this area and walked back along the beach to Ao Nang – the tsunami took out the entire sea wall that once existed there and hunks of large concrete sections of the wall were haphazardly scattered about. They didn't get the large devastation effect of the tsunami but it certainly gives a feel for the forces that were involved. It is really hot here and after my walk, I took a nap in my air conditioned bungalow and awoke to a thunderstorm which passed through within about an hour.

I just finished a buffet dinner at Bernie's Place – also ate there last night – it was very good. I have never seen so few tourists here at Ao Nang in the nearly three years that I have been coming here – I hope it returns to normal by October when the tourist high season begins again.

I think I will walk back to John's place and visit with him for a while and then pack up for the ferry trip to Phi Phi Island tomorrow. I have no idea what I will find the situation to be on Phi Phi Island.
 

Everyone out here that still has a job is thankful for the tourists that come and spend money to help keep them employed. 

I was talking with a couple on the ferry to Phi Phi this morning – they were coming from Katmandu and decided when they got to Bangkok to come down to the Andaman Sea and then to Phi Phi. They had a one way ferry ticket and no hotel reservations – I told them about the Holiday Inn and when the Holiday Inn long tail boat met the ferry when we docked at Bamboo Island to take me to the hotel, the other couple joined me to the holiday inn and the hotel had space for them. The staff at the Holiday Inn went out of their way to welcome us and to thank us for booking with them to help keep the hotel open and to help keep their jobs. The other couple told the staff that I had recommended the hotel to them.  

I swam out to the coral from the hotel and found it to be in pretty good shape. I swam along it for about one quarter of a mile at the edge where it drops off to deeper water – I was surprised at just how far I swam today. I will probably hire a long tail boat tomorrow and explore some of my other favorite snorkeling sites.
 

Long Tail Boat at Phi Phi

The hotel does not do the buffet dinner in the evenings since there are so few guests – they did have the seafood bar-b-que (beautiful seafood priced by the gram and salad bar, bread and fruit) and they had ordering individual items from the menu. I had the seafood bar-b-que – 2 very large prawns and a squid – it was pricy but good. June served me at dinner – she returned from a week-long holiday visit with family four days ago and was glad to see me. A lot of the staff personnel also remembered me.

I ate the buffet breakfast this morning and booked an all day long tail boat for 10:00 a.m. The first stop was Runtree and the snorkeling there was magical – I was the only person there for the two hours that I spent snorkeling. We continued to Ton Sai Bay (where Phi Phi Village was situated) and cruised past the village area but I did not want to stop today. We continued to Maya Bay where the current was strong and the water was cloudy – terrible snorkeling conditions but the beach was pretty and had very few people there. We continued to Lo Sama Bay where I saw a couple of large needle fish and the coral was about as I remembered it. As we left Lo Sama Bay the clouds were really ominous and they wind came up very very strong with white cap waves as we traveled from Phi Phi Li toward Phi Phi Don – it was a long tail boat ride that I won't forget. Visibility was so poor at times that we could not see Phi Phi Don and we were pummeled by hail as we continued our wild ride toward the western side of Phi Phi Don. The storm subsided as we continued North along the western side of Phi Phi Don and we then stopped at Yongasem Bay (Monkey Bay) where we saw the Lion Fish in March 2003 – the coral there was about the same as I remembered it and the bonus was that I saw another Lion Fish and floated around watching it for about twenty minutes. It was nearly 4:00 p.m. and I decided to call it quits for today. I will probably book another long tail boat tomorrow.

I am planning to order from the menu at the restaurant tonight. 
 

Second Day on Long Tail Boat at Phi Phi

I took another boat today – stopped at Phi Phi Village and walked around what is left of the places that I used to frequent while waiting to catch ferries from the island. The damage is quite extensive in the narrow part of the village. A lot of the debris has been cleaned up and some places are starting to reopen – fan room for 2 people at 300 Bhat per night. The village needs tourists to come there to spend money to help the small family business rebuild the economic infrastructure. Most of the coral snorkeling sites remain nearly undamaged and the media should get the message out that the area needs tourists to come and spend money. The remaining stops were for snorkeling and they were very good with the exception that there were larger than normal waves in the area between Phi Phi Don and Bamboo & Mosquito Islands. The snorkeling off of Mosquito Island was exceptionally good – it was an area that I had never beer to before.
 

Third Day on Long Tail Boat at Phi Phi

The first stop today was Phi Phi Village – since I noticed that I had substantial sunburn on ankles and backs of legs in spite of lots of Bullfrog sunscreen – I decided to wear long pants and to hike up to the viewpoint overlooking the village. I had never been there and it was a long hot climb but was worth the effort. The remainder of my trip was snorkeling at the better sites that I went to yesterday. It was a very good day and the sea was calmer this afternoon. It currently has a mirror-like surface which I had seen on prior visits but hadn't seen yet this trip.

Tomorrow is a travel day to Phuket – the hotel has set up the transfer for me so it may be the ship that stops here with tourists for the daily buffet lunch.
 

Arrived Phuket

Today turned out to be pretty much a travel day. Arrived at my hotel in Patong Beach at about 6:00 p.m. 

I called Tan and although she had gone home for the day, she came back to Patong Beach on her motorbike and took me to see where her shop had been. It was next to a restaurant operated by her brother and I treated her to dinner. The restaurant was nearly destroyed but they have rebuilt it enough to be open for food service. They showed me a bunch of photos of tsunami damage after dinner. Tomorrow she has booked a long tail boat for me, her and her friend to go to Paradise Island for lunch. I plan to walk around Patong tomorrow afternoon and she has booked tickets for the cabaret show tomorrow night.
 

Second Day at Phuket

Today I walked along Patong Beach and got a look at the tsunami damage. I went with Tan to Paradise Beach for lunch – the beach was not great but it was not crowded, it had trees & shade, and the lunch was very good. It rained a bit this afternoon and the temperature & humidity between showers were both high. 

The cabaret show tonight was truly spectacular – Thai lady boys put on the show and they were quite good – the theater was very nice stadium seating with a Bose sound system that was awesome and the stage sets were first class. It was the best value for the Bhat that I found this trip.
 

Arrived Bangkok

I believe that Thai lady boys are boys/men who have either had or are in the process of sex change to women. I picked up a brochure on the cabaret theater on the way out of my hotel this morning but haven't looked at it yet. 

I arrived Bangkok with only about a 30 minute delay getting into Bangkok. I plan to walk up the road to the local village area and look at the shops. I am also planning to eat at the Thai buffet dinner restaurant tonight before packing for the long flight home tomorrow.

I hope to get as much sleep as possible so I will be able to stay awake for the concert back home tomorrow night –  tomorrow will really be a long April 10th for me.
 

Flight Delayed

The flight today from Bangkok to Tokyo was delayed for one hour and, then later, it was delayed another four hours at which time, I decided to just have United re-book me on the flight tomorrow, Monday 11 April. One more day here is preferable to spending hours in horrendous lines among very angry passengers who don't understand airline delays and cancellations. 

United walked me back through Thailand Immigrations so I could re-enter the country –  it was an interesting experience – now my departure card says that I left today. I presume that I won't have immigration problems tomorrow when I depart Bangkok. United re-booked me back into the Airport Amari hotel and I am on my way back there.

I was looking forward to the concert tonight but it is just not in the cards. 
 

Back at the Hotel

I got checked back into the Amari hotel – United paid for tonight, lunch voucher & a dinner voucher good for today and a breakfast voucher for tomorrow morning. I had lunch at the coffee shop – a very good Thai buffet and spent part of the afternoon sleeping to try to catch up from the 4:00 a.m. wakeup time needed to catch the United flight at 7:00 a.m. I noticed that Thai Immigration stamped CANCELLED over my departure stamps from today on my departure card and in my passport – I guess I will get new stamps when I depart tomorrow.

I will do the Thai buffet again tonight at the hotel and get ready for the 4:00 a.m. wakeup call tomorrow morning.

See pictures from this trip.

Back to Top

Went to Rai Ley Beach yesterday and wandered around that location – it was cool with the cave structures and huge tree root systems. 

Today I took a five island day trip to Hong Island, Lading Island, Pakbia Island, Rai Island and Daeng Island. They are North of Krabi in the Andaman Sea and the scenery was exquisite.

The beaches were somewhat crowded with boats but there were not that many people in the water – the water at the first four beaches was cloudy from boat traffic and there was not much in the way of fish for snorkeling – good for beach people. The last stop at Daeng Island had some respectable coral and there were a lot of different fish – I actually saw a crab with two claws at that site. They served lunch and the total cost was less than $15 US.

I decided to cancel my rental car and I signed up for the fast boat to Koh Lanta tomorrow – I will check out Lanta and then decide where to go next. I have decided to take a 3 day 2 night trip to the Similian Islands when I finally get back here to Ao Nang before heading home.

I used my cell phone to cancel my car rental reservation before booking the boat to Ko Lanta. My cell phone works great out here.
 

The ferry trip to Ko Lanta went great and when I got off the ferry at the dock at Ko Lanta, I was pounced on by masses of people wanting me to book hotel space with them. It was quite an experience with them showing pictures of their facilities and their beach location – they said come look and if you don't like, they would return me back to the dock area. I don't think a free return to the dock would have happened if someone went with them and then decided not to book with them – I will never know since the one that I decided on is very nice. I am at the Lanta Sea House resort hotel and after looking at three rooms, I finally got one that I liked. The hotel is friendly and is appears to be family owned and operated – the wife knows me by my room number whenever I go to the counter for information or tour booking.

Yesterday afternoon I walked this beach and after seeing the other Lanta beaches from my speedboat today, I am convinced that mine is the best beach. Today I took a speedboat trip South to Trang Province Islands. We snorkeled at Ko Chuek and the snorkeling was superb with some rather large sponges and very nice coral. The next stop was Ko Muk (Ko Mook) where the Emerald Cave is located – swam through the cave to an interior lagoon – about 80 meters of the cave is in darkness with the boat people having flashlights – follow the light. The cave is completely submerged at high tide and at low tide a small long tail boat can make it through the cave – we were getting pretty close to high tide when we swam through the cave. Next stop was Ko Kraden where they served us lunch. I walked along the beach to some beach bungalows and talked to a lady who appeared to be the manager – I got information from her and would like to return there for a few days on a future trip. It is a lot like the Holiday Inn beach at Phi Phi but still primitive. She said their big electrical generator was broken and they currently only have electricity between 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. Long tail boats are available for snorkel trips to the nearby Trang islands. The next stop was at Ko Ma where I finally found a small area that was loaded with fish which made it a decent stop.

Tomorrow, I have a speedboat trip booked to the Ko Rok islands (also Trang Province islands) where the snorkeling is advertised as very good also. 

I will probably charter a long tail boat for a trip around Lanta the following day and then depart Lanta the next day.

The food out here has been very nice and the lunch today was superb.
 

Late yesterday afternoon I booked a long tail boat for a boat ride around Ko Lanta today since it was not possible to take any decent photographs from the speedboats. While talking to a German freelance dive instructor at the local bar next to my hotel, I invited the three young waitresses to join me for the boat ride if they wanted to get up for an 8:00 a.m. departure. Much to my surprise, they were on the beach at 8:00 a.m. and I think they had a really good time – it was the first boat trip for at least one of them. The trip around the island was very cool with a section through mangrove trees and then open ocean. The trip took nearly six hours to complete. In the mangrove area we saw monkeys and several bald eagles. We stopped at Bu Bu Island where the beach was interesting but no coral so I had a Coke and bought the girls a snack for their breakfast at the little restaurant there.

I used my cell phone to contact the travel person at Ao Nang Beach to make sure that the Similian Island trip for Saturday morning was possible and then called the place where I stayed in Ao Nang and reserved a room for tomorrow night. I plan to take the ferry back to Ao Nang Beach tomorrow afternoon and then take the 6:00 a.m. departure Saturday morning for the Similian Island trip. My cell phone is soooo cool out here.
 

I took the ferry back to Ao Nang and when the shuttle bus dropped me off across the street from Sanya House (the place where I have been staying at Ao Nang this trip) the nice Muslim Thai lady that reserved my room via cell phone yesterday met me as I crossed the street and handed me the key to my room. I put my luggage in the room and gave her 800 Thai Bhat for tonight and didn't even have to fill out any registration paperwork – I will leave the key in the room tomorrow morning when I leave to catch my 6:00 a.m. hotel pickup for the trip to the Similian Islands. Unfortunately I missed out on being able to stay in the bungalows so I will have to spend the next two nights on Island 8 in a tent – this trip is becoming a bit rustic.

I do not know whether there will be any Internet access on Island 8, so you may not hear from me via E-mail until I return to Ao Nang on Monday the 16th.