sarah's trip

Caribbean Union of Teacher's Conference and more of Barbados

2011-08-12T09:52:00.004-04:00

This photo shows team Grenada on the left and team Dominica on the right at the Caribbean Union of Teacher’s Conference. Both are the Unions I worked with for Project Overseas.

It has been another great week in the islands. The weather is great, people fantastic and I have had lots of neat interactions and again opportunities. The Caribbean Union of Teacher’s Conference is on this week and I attended as an invited guest for the first couple of days. I was at the Caribbean Union of Teacher’s Women’s Conference as well. It was an honour to be included. I had made the connections with the Union in Grenada but once arriving there I also knew the Union members from Dominica as I had worked with their teachers in 2008 with Project Overseas. It really was an honour to be so warmly welcomed and there on behalf of the Canadian Teacher’s Federation. It was a historical year too as they welcomed with a unanimous vote the island of Guadeloupe into the Union.

My guest house is excellent and I think I could literally write a bestselling novel with the stories I have from its occupants. It has been great fun and most interesting learning about my houseguest’s comings and goings. It will have to be a story over a drink sometime that I share with you. Unfortunately I can’t write it publicly this way, but let’s just say it has been a memorable group of people and a great place to stay. One would think with the amount of action going on here it wouldn’t be quiet but it is when you need to sleep you can and when you want to join someone for a trip to the beach, restaurant or just chat all are available.

I was at Selvi and Eddie’s last night for dinner. It was an amazing Malaysian meal. Selvi is an incredible cook. She even lined the dishes with banana leaves from their backyard. It was delicious and we too had a great time chatting.

Off to Oistins Friday Fish Fry tonight. Always great fish, music, dancing, karaoke, you name it, lots of good people watching and then back to our lovely country.

You can check out the pictures at the following link;
Click on this link for photos from the Conference and more from the Barbados

Rihanna Concert in Barbados

2011-08-07T21:21:00.002-04:00

Well it has been another world wind past few days. I thought I was just chilling on the beach for this part of the trip. Not always the case. On Friday four of us headed out to Crane Beach voted one of the top ten beaches in the world. We took the local bus for a dollar. The beach had lots of seaweed as it has been washed up with the storms. It was still good. We then took a visit to The Crane Hotel and used the facilities, swimming in their pool and washing the salt water off. I did smash into the rocks on a walking path there and my camera, knee and banana took the brunt of the fall. All are still in working order though. It was just a scratch this time on the outside of the camera Carol.

In the evening we headed down to the Oval for the Rihanna concert. Rihanna is from Barbados and this was her first concert at home after making it big. I had no intension of going to the concert and was just going to people watch and listen from outside the oval as it was an outdoor venue. But we were able to get $50 tickets, which was less than the original price so we went in. It was packed 30 000 people in there. The women were dressed to the nines in “prom” dresses and five inch stilettos. We were on the grounds in the standing area and as luck would have it I ended up right beside a fellow PVNC employee Donnalynn Paquette. Without the aid of technology guiding us to each other, i.e. no texting, I just looked over and was literally standing right beside her. The concert was good and I was surprised at how many songs I actually knew. It was mayhem trying to get a taxi after the show but again this time you just people watch and watch those women limping away carrying the shoes.

Today we headed out to Bathsheba which is on the East Coast of the island and about an hour bus ride away again for a dollar. It is a surfer’s paradise.

Tomorrow starts the Caribbean Union of Teacher’s Conference and I will attend tomorrow’s session which should also be interesting. It just happened that I am here while the conference is on so I have been invited to attend.

Click on this link for photos from the Rihanna Concert and Barbados

A wet Barbados Crop Over

2011-08-02T09:01:00.004-04:00

All is well in the Barbados. It has been a nice time so far with relaxing on the beach, reading and liming (a Caribbean term which means chilling out). Sunday was an interesting day. I have a quote; “a good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.” That sums it up. I took the bus to church in the morning. The music down here is great. They always welcome the visitors and wish Happy Birthday and Anniversary to those celebrating during the week. I note this as it is a welcoming thing to do. On my way back “home” I saw that Selvi and Eddie’s vehicle was in the driveway so I got out at the next stop and walked back to their place. I surprised them they didn’t know I was on the island. So three bottles of wine later (and I don’t usually drink wine) and good conversation we were caught up. Five minutes later and I would have missed them as Eddie was going to pop into work. Needless to say he didn’t go in that day and limed with me. My other friends Helen and Carl just left the island after living here for six years, three weeks ago and small world, Helen is going to teach in Hong Kong at the school I have visited where Christine Bucholtz used to work. It is a crazy small world.

August 1 is the main day of Crop Over the biggest celebration of the year on the island. There was a parade through the town with people dressed scantily clad marching through the town drinking, dancing and having a real mash up (another Caribbean term that means a great time or blast). I love this parade can you imagine having a big transport truck at the front of each group blasting out the tunes, followed by the booze truck, followed by the coke, mix truck, two hundred people roped in in their costumes dancing and drinking through the streets and then the truck with the porta potties and then it repeats and repeats and repeats as there are 21 groups. It sure is a sight and today it rained on them but they didn’t let this bug them. It just kept them a little cooler I guess.

When I was here for Crop Over in 2008 it was one of the hottest days I have ever experienced with the sun beating down, it was all we could do to keep hydrated with water and this year we were saturated to the bone as it ended up pouring rain. We were soaked right through and stayed that way for hours.

You can check out photos from Crop Over at the following link;
Click on this link for photos of Barbados Crop Over 2011

As I post this I realize I have not taken any photos of the lovely white sand beaches here, I never take my camera to the beach as it is just one more thing to worry about. Over the remaining days I will have to take some for you.

It is a really long post but worth the read, with two links for photos at the end

2011-07-28T20:20:00.009-04:00

The three legged race, sniffing cocoa beans, my participants all decked out in red and white for Canada Day and my smelly feet in the cocoa beans.

Well again it has been another amazing week. Our workshops came to a close on Friday with a morning full of incredible participation by the Grenada Teachers in our Canada Day festivities. You could feel the excitement in the air as everyone was decked out in red and white, dripping in sweat and participating in the three legged race, bowling with coconuts, curling with coconuts, a hockey shootout, the lima bean blow, limbo, floating islands, quiz, quiz, trade, duck, duck, goose, standing long jump, Frisbee throw, keep the beach ball up activity and a free Canada stuff table. We ran it like a good old fashion play day with five minute stations and the old school bell ringing to move you to the next group. It was an extremely hot day. I was covered in sweat, I felt as if I had taken a shower in sweat as I was dripping from head to toe. It didn’t matter though these people were troopers and it was awesome.

Our closing ceremonies were lovely too. With each group presenting a cultural song or a song about what they had learned or something related to their subject. The math group sang their Math Olympics theme song. It is to the tune of “We will rock you” but has lines like we will add you, we will multiply you etc. I cannot say enough about the incredible participation. Certificates were awarded, emails exchanged and goodbyes said. Another amazing opportunity to meet and work with great people. Thanks CTF (Canadian Teacher’s Federation) and GUT (Grenada Teacher’s Union) for the opportunity. We were also presented with GUT union teachers shirts and made honourary members.

I should also tell you about Kanisha (one of my participants) trying to teach me to whine. Not that kind of whining the kind of whining that is part of the Caribbean dance moves where you have to move your hips in a circular fashion to the beat. It sure was a lesson. I didn’t know it but Roxann was filming it, so you can have a laugh at my expense when you see me try to do this.

The team finished the day with another special occasion at The Special Education School in St George’s Grenada. We planted an avocado tree to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Project Overseas, teachers teaching teachers. A tree was planted in Ottawa at our orientation and around the world trees will be planted to commemorate the 50th anniversary. A poster was created with the names of all of the last 50 years participants on it. It is pretty neat. The font is small but if you look closely the blue background is actually names and the tree is made up of pictures from over the years. We brought a copy with us and were able to have it with us at the tree planting.

We had a great night out with our co tutors at a place right on the water as the sunset. It was an enjoyable night of fellowship and who knew that you hunt a tattoo (armadillo) by chasing it into a hole in the ground and catch it my putting your finger up its anus to make it not be so aggressive so you are able to pull it out of its den. There were many stories shared as we played games like two truths and a lie to get to know each other. As it turns out the Union President Mr. Kenny James is a hunter of tattoo (armadillos) and this is how you hunt them. You chase them with dogs into the hole and then pull them out my placing your finger up their anus.

We also visited the University of St Georges. It is an American University right on the south coast of the island known for its medical school and veterinarian school. It just makes me think again of the incredible opportunities that exist, who said you have to go to school in Ontario? Imagine University in the Caribbean, or what about those countries like Finland where you don’t even have to be a citizen to go for free. It is worth investigating.

Now we are on holidays. Betty, Kathrin and I are in Petite Martinique. It is a beautiful island. I have been fortunate to have travelled to the Caribbean a lot but I had no idea there was as many islands as there are. A great future trip would be to just island hop. We took a two hour ferry ride from Grenada to Petite Martinique. Grenada is made up of three islands, Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique. So let me now tell you about this little piece of heaven. The island is less than 600 acres and for the next few days the population has increased to 703 while we are here. Can you imagine a Caribbean island with a population of 700? Oh it is awesome. We are in one of the two guest houses and right on the water. There is one road with three stores on it in people’s homes for your shopping. Nothing is open on Sunday, but we knew this and brought food provisions for the day and cooked them in the communal kitchen. We are the only guests in the building that has about 15 rooms. The beach is rustic with boats pulled up on shore and fishing nets at the edge. It is a fishing community and an authentic experience. I recommend it for those that like the islands but want seclusion and away from that all inclusive resort experience. Our room is about $50 a night. The principal of the schools family owns it and that is how we found out about it. There is one primary school on the island. The high school students have to take a boat each day to Carriacou for high school, about a 20 minute ride.

A half a mile away in plain view is another island called Petite St Vincent as I type this in our room and I look out the open door I can see it. It is a private island owned by two people that’s rooms are $1000 a night or you can rent the whole island for $35 000 a night. I am just as happy with ours thank you very much.

Well now it is Tuesday evening and today was another incredible day, but the evening has been action packed, stay tuned. This morning we took the ferry at 5:30am from Petite Martinique to Grenada. Once arriving back around 8:30am Betty and I set out on our adventure travelling up the island by local bus, our destination, the chocolate factory. Well what a day it was. I was walking on chocolate beans in my bare feet. The bus driver (van driver) was kind enough to take us off the main road and drop us off at the chocolate factory. Once there I walked into an empty room and yell hello, upstairs there were three women. Two were sorting cocoa beans while another was packing cocoa powder. They are working in a two story building that is maybe 10 feet by 10 feet. They say that they don’t do tours anymore and I could see why, no more than the two of us would fit in there. They said they could get fired but still continued to let us have a look and then she said come quick and we got to check out the machines and the process downstairs. Then she hands us a fresh chocolate bar that goes for $10 here to try. It was awesome, both the chocolate and their hospitality. They told us to go a mile down the road and check out the plantation and the estate. So we did, we hemming and hawed but ended up going and it was the highlight of my day. At the cocoa plantation they have huge trays of beans drying and the women walk in the beans every 30 minutes to turn them over. So they let me do it. I said my feet are dirty and they stink but he said don’t worry Sarah it will be all right. Each bean is encased in a shell that comes off later in the process. So I got in there and had to dig my feet down under the beans and kept walking around the tray. It was so cool oh yes and the aroma in this area was amazing, not my feet the chocolate in the air, ahhh.

The plantation was really cool. It is owned by a Grenadian family. It was one of 81 plantations that use to be on the island. The family that now owns it acquired it in 1944. The man made his fortune in nutmeg. During the war no one was exporting nutmeg but this man still bought it from the farmers and stored it. Once the market was reopened he sold it and made millions. He bought the plantation for 35 000 pounds in 1944. In 1778 the property was valued at 30 000 pounds, yes that is the right century, 1778.

So this evening we are coming back on the bus and hear the news on the radio start up. I note to Betty hey this is the first time I have heard any news. So what is on the news? Liat airlines cancelled flights today do to employees not receiving their pay. So the first news I hear and that is it. We are to fly with them tomorrow at 6am. So we get back to our house and call to confirm our flight and they say no it is cancelled. It is 6:40pm the night before our flight but they say can you get here for 8:30pm? We have a flight then and don’t know about any for tomorrow. So we throw our stuff in our suitcases call Glen our ride to the airport to see if he can come now and take us and he can so now we are in the airport waiting for the now delayed flight to head to the Barbados.

What a day it has been and it is not over yet.

We have arrived in the Barbados and made out fine. Within four hours of finding out the flight was cancelled to getting to the airport and then onto the flight we arrived in the Barbados. Wow what a world wind day.

We stayed at a nice hotel for the night where two other Project Overseas leaders were staying for a five day holiday. So we had a great visit and now Kathrin and Betty are in the air home.

There are tons of photos here, two separate links as they all wouldn’t fit on the same account.

Click on this link for lots more photos from Petite Martinique, Grenada and Project Overseas

Click on this link for many MORE photos from Petite Martinique, Grenada Chocolate Factory and Project Overseas

2011-07-17T22:13:00.006-04:00

I am having an absolutely fabulous time. My team mates are great, my participants are excellent and we are on the beautiful island of Grenada. We had a little bit of a change to the team this week. Poor Owen had to fly home as his father in-law was hospitalized and Dave left Team Grenada to take Owen’s place on team Carriacou. Grenada consists of three islands, one being Carriacou where Owen and Melissa were conducting leadership and management workshops. So now team Grenada consists of the three ladies. It was a bit of a world wind day as we found out about the changes at lunch and at 6pm we met Owen getting off the ferry and sent Dave away on the ferry back. We wish Owen’s father in-law a speedy recovery.

My math workshop is going really well. I have an amazing group of enthusiastic teachers to work with. You should have seen their participation the other day in the math Olympics. The other sessions were envious of our events. We paraded the “athletes” through the courtyard singing a Math Olympic song about hoping you brought your meter stick and get ready for the cotton ball put and the paper plate discuss throw or the lima bean blow all to the tune of “we will rock you” and then they did a Calypso version. It was evident that the math participants were having fun while learning.

It’s been straws made out of fractions, fractions using paper folding, MATHO, sandpaper numbers and much more. My group consists of teachers from kindergarten to grade 12 so that makes things interesting when it comes to planning.

We were fortunate to visit the fish fry Friday night and witness the local calypso competition. Saturday we had an island tour and we were able to swim at a waterfall.

There are tons of photos to check out and there are a variety of themes within hit the slideshow option and sit back and enjoy. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Click on this link for lots more photos from Grenada and Project Overseas

Project Overseas Team Grenada

2011-07-12T22:19:00.006-04:00

This is a photo of our team chatting with the Prime Minister of Grenada as we wait for the ferry.

I am currently in Grenada having a wonderful time doing Project Overseas. Project Overseas is in its 50th year of offering aid to teachers around the world. I am one of 52 teachers who have been sent to one of 13 countries this summer to teach teachers. I am on a team with three other members. One is from Whitehorse while the others are from Calgary and the Ottawa Valley. We met on July 2 in Ottawa for an orientation session and flew to Grenada on July 6.

We are offering workshops on mathematics, special education, visual arts, reading, leadership and management, HIV and Aids, workshop facilitation and gender equity. It is an honour to be working with such amazing people.

The people of Grenada are wonderful and we have had a warm welcoming and our sessions are going extremely well. There are about 20 teachers in my mathematics workshop. We are having a lot of fun.

Our team met with the Deputy Minister of Education the other day for an informal meeting, we have been interviewed by the local news and had the privilege of meeting the Prime Minister as we shared the same ferry back from Carriacou. He was a nice man and did not have an army of security officers with him. He warmly greeted us, thanked us for our work and wished us well. Grenada consists of three islands, Grenada, Petite Martinique and Carriacou. We took the ferry to Carriacou to drop off Owen and Melissa as they are running workshops there, a satellite campus if you will. Gorgeous little island (13 square kilometers) with maybe one guest house and very few tourists. A really neat spot. I will have to return. It was an hour and a half ferry ride that was quite rough but all of my cookies stayed down. We had to pass over an underwater volcano and that area is always very rough. It is an inactive volcano but it is where the two oceans meet therefore causing rough seas.

We are very lucky our apt is 500m from the beautiful Grand Anse Beach. I think I have hit the water everyday but one so far.

You can check out the photos from our training in Ottawa and our first few days in Grenada at the following two links.

Click on this link for photos from our orientation in Ottawa

Click on this link for photos from Grenada and Carriacou

The Royals and Canada Day in Ottawa

2011-07-03T23:05:00.005-04:00

Canada Day on Parliament Hill, wow, what another great experience to add to the many I have had, did I ever luck out. I arrived in Ottawa June 30th in the evening and went for a walk of the town. I ended up on Parliament Hill to watch the rehearsal for the Canada Day festivities. I was able to sit (key word here, sit) right up front in the VIP section. A woman sitting beside me said, oh this is the only way to see the show, or the best way. There were maybe a couple of hundred people there opposed to the five hundred thousand the next day. There were two shows on Canada Day that were great. I was literally in the front row for the evening show and in the afternoon 100 – 150 meters back from the Royals. You will have to check out the photos. The entertainment was awesome, Great Big Sea, Sam Roberts Band, Dan Mangan, Jenn Grant and really cool acrobatics. Did you see me on TV? The camera guy came right up to me and had the camera on me for awhile. Dan Mangan came right out to the barricade and sang for us there.

The Royals did a surprise visit in the evening and because I was in the front row you should have seen the RCMP everywhere. There were the ones in plane cloths, the ones in all black uniforms and the ones in their regular uniform. Just before Will and Kate arrived the number of RCMPs quadrupled in the area and they brought in a bomb sniffing dog that went around the perimeter followed by two officers scanning the perimeter with two different bomb scanners. In the evening they Royals were maybe 25 meters from me.

It was something to see the sea of red and white and be part of our Nations Birthday. I was so excited to actually be in Ottawa for Canada Day. What a great experience.

Check out the photos at the following link;

Click on this link for photos from the Royal's visit in Ottawa and the Canada Day festivities on Parliament Hill

San Gil and a very hospitable Colombian family

2011-06-07T21:10:00.006-04:00

Have you tried fried ants? They are delicious and a delicacy in Bucaramanga. All along the highway there are people with bags of them for sale.

Saturday June 4, 2011: I am currently in San Gil Colombia on Ana Maria’s father’s farm. It is in the middle of the mountains and though it is only about a 100km from Bucaramanga it took all afternoon to get here. You have to go up and down and weave your way around the canyons and there are roads washed out. There was one really cool spot where a humongous bolder had come down the mountain in an avalanche. The boulder was about the size of five vehicles put end to end and if you stacked three vehicles on top of each other it would be about that high. It had come down and taken out a bridge in its path.

The ranch style house here is really neat. It is an open concept and can accommodate a lot of people. The kitchen is on an outdoor patio and it reminds me of one of the picnic shelters at the zoo with its high open beam ceiling. Different construction when you don’t have winters to contend with.

Yesterday was one of Juliana’s friend’s birthdays and we went to the chain Archie’s for lunch. It was excellent. One of the girls had a two year old with her. The staff took him with them to their children’s prep kitchen and gave him an apron and hat to wear and helped him cook his own pizza. He even ate it at the work station as the staff was caring for him. We were on the patio. I don’t even think the mother remembered she brought him with her as we hardly saw him for the three hours we were there. They even entertained him too with balloon animals and various creations. I was extremely impressed with their service and the attention they pay to the children. I thought it was an excellent idea having a prep area for kids to roll out their dough and make their pizzas.

Monday June 7, 2011: Colombian people are so generous they will even loan you their pajamas.

Sunday was Ana Maria’s great nephew’s Christening and Stephan was the Godfather. The celebration was something! Wow did I ever have a true Colombian family experience. Ana Maria is one of 12 kids so you can imagine the amount of people participating in the festivities. It was an excellent time. There must have been close to a hundred people at the restaurant for lunch. Fresh fried fish was my choice for the meal and I was not disappointed. I also tried the fried ants, cow tongue and stomach.

The booze was a flowing and these people were having a good time. It was a beautiful setting on a pond where large fish were being caught by the patrons. In the evening the party continued to the couple’s house where I was told they live in a typical Colombian house this is what we do in the evening and these are typical Colombian vehicles. I think it could have been in reference to the fact we did come into this small town and turn some heads in the BMW. Not the typical car around there, anyway totally not the point. The 26’s were a flowing and the men were enjoying their whisky straight and many, many a bottle was consumed. They welcomed me with open arms and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The music was a pumping and they were dancing in the street. Our late evening meant that it was too difficult and dark to get back down the mountain road to the farm and we were farmed out to sibling’s houses in San Gil. So I was dropped off and told we will pick you up in the morning. Hence my opening statement: a Colombian will give you anything even their pajamas. All of my clothes were at the farm so this lovely sister who only met me that day lent me a pair of pajamas and a bed for the night.

The family was so good to me and I was a novelty at the experience that was for sure, so I got to try my conversational Spanish out with them all and they “tried” to teach me some of their dance moves. I took a ton of pictures for them and you can have a look at them at the following link:

Click on this link for photos from San Gil Colombia

A little hiatus as I return home for a few weeks. Check back at the beginning July when the journey continues.

Having a relaxing time in Bucaramanga

2011-06-01T18:31:00.004-04:00

This is a photo of Zammy, Juliana, Cristian and Ana Maria, my hosts while in Bucaramanga Colombia.
Thanks Carolina for letting me stay with your family. Wow what an incredible relaxing experience I am having. I wish you were here to enjoy it too. For the last few nights I have stayed with Juliana and Zammy (Carolina’s sister and brother in-law). They also live in Bucaramanga but on the mountain looking down onto the town. It is a neat setup. To access the mountain road you need to have a swipe card to enter the gated mountain communities. If your school uses the swipe cards for weekend access that is the kind of card it is. You drive up and around the mountain and there are 25 – 28 gated sub divisions with large homes. There are about a 1000 houses on the mountain and maybe 5000 people living up here. Juliana and Zammy have a lovely new home that they built a year and a half ago. They have two maids, one live in and one that comes six days a week. The house is spotless and constantly being cleaned. Today they took the area rugs outside and washed them by hand. The meals they make are excellent and at each meal there is a different kind of freshly squeezed juice. South American’s are big on their fresh juice. I am being treated like a queen.

The sub divisions are around an 18 hole golf course. Yesterday Ana Maria and I went to the clubhouse and had massages and a steam bath. Then in the afternoon Juliana’s tennis lesson was cancelled so I went and rallied with her. I have not rallied in years, but I did a good job and who couldn’t when you have a ball boy to run around retrieving all the balls. That sure makes tennis enjoyable.

Today Zammy, Juliana and I road mountain bikes up and down and around the mountain checking out the different subdivisions and then followed it up with a trip to the clubhouse for another steam bath and massage. Today’s masseuse was amazing she got right up on the table and worked my back and ass. It was the best massage I think I have ever had and she exfoliated me too. We returned back to the house and Stephan and Ana Maria joined us for lunch. Then this afternoon I took the golf cart over to the supermarket to buy myself some more toothpaste. Not that you care, but the idea of driving the golf cart over is pretty cool.

So again thanks Carolina and Ralf for this experience.

For some more photos you can click on the following link:
Click on this link for more photos from Bucaramanga Colombia

Giron Colombia

2011-05-30T23:33:00.003-04:00

Today Ana Maria, Pedro and I took a trip to Giron. It is a colonial town just outside of Bucaramanga and the buildings are all original from the colonial period. The town is complete with cobble stone streets. My hosts are more than hospitable. We are having a great time and Pedro (Carolina´s uncle) went a little camera happy with the personal photos, so hope you don´t mind the numerous ones of me.

Click on this link for photos from Giron Colombia

Bucaramanga Colombia

2011-05-30T22:59:00.002-04:00

Would anyone like a little meat?
Friday May 27, 2011: I arrived to the airport today at 8am for my 9:30am domestic flight. I was waiting around for the check in counter to open and still at 8:50am there was no one around. I was able to find an information person who started looking into things for me. The departures board said my flight and posted it as going at 9:30am. The woman said the airport did not know anything about the flight and tried to call the companies office but did not get anyone. I thought it was a little odd that the airport was so segregated that they would not know if a flight was cancelled, coming, not here, whatever. Finally a woman showed up to the airport Easy Fly (that is the airlines name) office and with her little English and my little Spanish I figured out that the flight had been changed to 12:05pm. I could see on her computer that was name was on the list of flyers so that was good.

I am flying to Bucaramanga where my neighbor from Peterborough’s mom lives. Carolina is from Colombia and invited me to stay with her mom while I am in South America. I feel bad because her mom Ana Maria was inconvenienced by the late arrival. It was a little weird to be standing in a check in line with no one around you and no one working the desk and the flight to “leave” in 30 minutes. But it has all worked out.

I would say Colombia is an up and coming holiday destination for backpackers and all inclusive travelers alike. A lot of it is uncharted and beautiful. It is a gem of a place to come. The sites are spectacular, people extremely friendly; there is beautiful scenery and the sea. It is neat to because there is not much English around which makes me work harder and practice my Spanish. In the airport usually anywhere in the world they say things over the loud speaker in the native language first and then follow it up in English, but that is not the case here.

Sunday May 29, 2011: I am in Bucaramanga Colombia at Ana Maria and Stephan (Carolina’s mom and brother’s) apartment. They are lovely people and we are getting along nicely with the little English and Spanish that we each know. They are extremely hospitable and truly lovely people. It is great to have a real Colombian experience living with a Colombian family. Their apartment is a new large three bedroom apartment on the 10th floor that looks out onto the city. They have only been in it for two months. They have their master bedroom with ensuite set up as their guest room so I am living quite the life of luxury.

People’s preconceived conceptions of Colombia can be let at the airport it is a fabulous prospering country with good education, jobs, nature, history and tons to offer tourists and its citizens alike.

I have met Carolina’s sister and her husband and her uncle and cousin have spent the last couple of days touring about with us. Today we went to Chicamocha National Park. It is amongst a canyon with beautiful panoramic views. I took a 20 minute cable car ride down one side of the canyon and up the other. At the top of the other side there are then many amusement park attractions. We were there with some big shot from the government and he was pretty heavily guarded by men with subtle guns on their hips. We didn’t make the connection until later so they probably didn’t appreciate me walking in and out of them as they were not moving too fast and I was trying to get by them.

Stephan is a lawyer, Ana Maria works in insurance and her sister owns her own boutique clothing shop. We can see Stephan’s office from the balcony and the clothing shop is a few blocks away. I cannot believe how first world it is here.
You can check out the photos from Bucaramanga and area at the following link;

Click on this link for photos from Bucaramanga Colombia

Cartagena Colombia

2011-05-27T00:10:00.004-04:00

Check out his catch from the beach in Caragena.

Cartagena is great. The Old Town is lovely and the cobble stone streets and balconies are great to check out. Today I spent the day at the beach. The water was so warm it was like entering a big bathtub. It was over 30 degrees today but not muggy so you weren’t melting.

At the beach there were some fisherman collecting their catch. They must have pulled in a net for 30 minutes and we were excited because we thought they were going to pull in a huge swordfish like I had seen the other day when I didn’t have my camera with me, but it turned out to be shrimp and small fish they had caught. They were working pretty hard pulling so we were sure it was a swordfish but no such luck.

We have been visiting the Café Del Mar pub on the wall each night it is a magical setting. They make the best strawberry daiquiri I have ever had.

I was able to take some cool photos of locals today. Have a look at the following link.

Click on this link for photos from Cartagena Colombia

Taganga and Cartagena Colombia

2011-05-25T17:54:00.003-04:00

This is a photo taken in Taganga Colombia
It is mighty hot now. I feel sometimes like I am melting it is so warm. The cloths I have with me are not for this type of muggy hot weather so today I chose to wear my bathing suit and shorts to walk around town. It did the job. I am currently in Cartagena which is a lovely town. It is large 1.1 million people living here. I am staying in the Old Town which dates back to the 1600’s and is walled by a huge stone wall. It is full of lovely balconies, nice flowers and cobble stone streets, a great place to roam around in this heat.

I spent four nights in Taganga a little fishing village of 5000 people prior to this and hung out on the beach. It rained one day I was there so I spent two and half hours swimming in the sea as it was warmer to stay in the water and really what else was there to do. I had a $2.50 massage on the beach the nice day and had a great shrimp cocktail delivered to my towel by a guy selling shrimp snacks from a cooler for $5. These Colombian girls befriended me and were having them so they let me try their “beach meat” instead of “street meat” and I liked it so I got my own Styrofoam cup full of shrimp and sauce and two soda crackers to go with it and presto. I didn’t get sick either.

In transit between Taganga and Cartagena the minivan/bus I was on had a little bit of a drama and the four hour road trip turned into six hours. It was a tourist minivan that cost $21 and was supposed to be locked at all times. It wasn’t however and when we were driving slowly through some flooded streets from all the rain we heard the back door open and shut and in that split second a bag was stolen from the back of the van. An older Colombian couple had their bag taken and it contained all of their documents. They were not pleased. We stopped two police officers that were close by but basically they said it was gone. The people were really mad because like I said they had basically paid a huge price for the security of a locked vehicle and didn’t get it.

Cartagena has the reputation of being the prettiest city in Colombia or South America and it sure is. It is a lovely place to stay. There are huge all inclusive places on the coast and hostels the like. The Old City and the wall are incredible. It is interesting to see the poverty and wealth right next door to each other.

Last night I went out with a few people from the hostel and we ended up at a pub on top of the wall looking out at the sea on two sides, big hotels on the other and the Old City on the other side. It was magical and as we came upon it the one guy had an interesting comment. There is corruption at work here with a pub being placed right on top of the wall. I thought it was interesting. You have to remember this wall is centuries old and then to place a bar on top of it just doesn’t seem right. But like I said a magical setting.

Here is the link for photos from Taganga and Cartagena Colombia. PS Cartagena was a port stop for those fans of the Love Boat.

Click on this link for photos from Taganga and Cartagena Colombia

The Cloud Forest in Nanegalito and Quito Ecuador

2011-05-19T17:45:00.003-04:00

Wednesday May 18, 2011: Well she was an early start this morning. Not that the last week hasn’t been early each morning starting around 6am, but today it was 4am. There were seven of us left from our boat who decided that we would not sleep in on our last official day together but that we would get up early and drive to the Cloud Forest in Nanegalito Ecuador. A two and a half hour drive from Quito. It was great though. There were no clouds for us today though, which made for wonderful views of the surrounding volcanoes and mountains. The drive there was interesting. You have got to love the Hyundai minivan that took the seven of us plus the driver and guide and it actually had other seats and could have accommodated 12 people, four rows of three.

In the cloud forest we were able to bird watch. I have to say I really am not a birder, but they are cool to check out and there were tons of them and the sounds were excellent. I thoroughly enjoyed the vibrating sounds of the hummingbird’s wings. There were great hikes there through extremely thick vegetation a rainforest or jungle like natural setting. You know what? You can tell I am not a birder by my lack of camera lenses and the fact that my camera is not over two feet long.
Did you know that Ecuador has over 4650 different kinds of orchids? Also I think I forgot to tell you about when I landed in the airport and was coming through customs. I stopped twice and smelt two huge bouquet of roses and then after I did it and did the ah sounds after doing it I realized the old cheesy saying that we are to stop and smell the roses and that is exactly what I did.

We also saw a village today that exists inside a volcanic crater that was pretty neat to see. The crater has a diameter of 8km and is lush with vegetation.
My body is having a hard time adjusting to being back on land. I woke up in the middle of the night and felt like I was walking on a lean still. It is probably a combination of the boat and the altitude. So I feel a bit dizzy and off balance and so do the others. We would share our ailments and the others would say yes I am feeling that way too, or we would bend over too quickly and have a head rush and a woozy spell.

Thursday May 19, 2011: Well today has been an interesting day on a couple of fronts. I am in Quito Ecuador which is located 2850m above sea level so I am suffering a bit today from Altitude sickness. It really has interesting effects on your body. I woke up with a nasty headache and tingling lips and fingers. The tingling lips are the craziest sensation. I think because I flew in from sea level and didn’t have the gradual incline like in the bus that is why I have been affected this time.

You know some days when you just have a feeling something is going to happen, well today was one of those days for me. I just didn’t have the greatest vibe today. I headed out to the Old Town to see the sites with my day backpack and didn’t feel right about taking it, but I did it anyway. I had my camera in it and didn’t take it out very often as I just had this feeling I shouldn’t have my camera out in public so it stayed away for most of my walk in the area. The cab driver on the way to the Old Town had also given a warning about taking care of your camera and holding on to it tight. So I was standing out front of a park in front of the Basilica and I had liquid shit thrown on the back of me. Yep, it was a lovely aroma. I did nothing though. I felt and heard the liquid hit me and just remained in the same position not attempting to see what it was. A guy pointed to my back and the sky trying to indicate a bird did it. There were no birds in the air. Anyway I still remained calm with my hands in my pockets and didn’t move to see what was on me or attempt to take the bag off my back and kept a watch on the area and people attempting to come and wipe it off which I knew could happen, but it didn’t. Then a nice looking woman comes up to me and says “senorita banos” and points to across the street and attempts to walk me to a washroom. To which I just continue to stand there and say “no gracias.” This is their ploy to help you clean it off and rob you while they do it. I hailed down a cab and returned to the hotel where they said I was very smart and lucky to have done what I did. As soon as they saw me they said did they rob you this is what they do to rob you? I took my bag and cloths to get washed and for $5.50 it will be delivered back in three hours. So I guess that feeling I had was for real but I was alert to the fact something might happen. I will just chalk that one up to another experience I have now had.

Tomorrow morning will be another early start with a 4am cab to the airport. I am flying to Santa Marta Colombia at 6:20am. It is on the coast and the Caribbean Sea; I hope to enjoy a little rest and relaxation on the beach.

You can click on the following link for pictures from The Cloud Forest in Nanegalito Ecuador and the few I took in Quito.

Click on this link for photos from The Cloud Forest in Nanegalito and Quito Ecuador

The Amazing Galapagos Islands

2011-05-18T20:15:00.005-04:00

Friday May 13 2011: Galapagos Islands – North Seymour Island (Happy Birthday Frances)

Highlights of my day today: Swimming with a sea lion and a shark. I was right over top of a shark and a sea lion was right beside me. What an amazing place. I love when you have no expectations and then are pleasantly surprised. That was the case for me today. I don’t know much about the Galapagos Islands and it really wasn’t a place that I thought I need to go there but upon learning more about South America I learned Galapagos is on many people’s wish list so given the opportunity to come here I took it and wow I am so happy I did. I make this statement so you know that I was oblivious to the incredible wildlife that is here. Today we snorkeled and went on a walk around North Seymour Island. I am usually not much of a bird person either, but wow the birds were huge, colourful and so close they were awesome to see. The Blue Footed Boobie being many a person’s favorite. It is mating season so we got to see lots of courting and dancing rituals. It really is just wildlife everywhere. It is hard to take it all in it is so abundant.

The boat was also circled by a large shark this evening that they said was not the friendly type so that was pretty cool to see. It was about 3m long. There is a deck that does a full circle around the boat so we were literally running around the boat pointing it out to everyone else. Yelling there it is, she it, right there.

Saturday May 14, 2011: Galapagos Islands –Rabida Island, Santiago Island and just docking off of Chinese Hat Island

Today’s quote or phrase is look out don’t step on an iguana. Santiago Island is full of huge marine iguanas that blend into the lava rock. There are also brilliant red and orange crabs that distinctly stand out against the lava rock. There literally were thousands of these big iguanas and crabs everywhere. A highlight for me today was seeing a large lobster in the water and the Galapagos Hawk. Today it was like swimming in an aquarium. There were schools of fish by the thousand and great vegetation all around.

I am able to type this now as the boat has stopped a rock’n and the anchor is down. The water was a little rough this evening with huge swells that made your stomach turn like that spot that you speed over on Lily Lake Rd to make your stomach do summersaults.

Each day consists of at least two walks and two snorkeling sessions. The experience has been fantastic and I highly recommend coming here.

Sunday May 15, 2011: China Hat and Bartolome Islands

Another amazing day today’s highlights were seeing penguins, swimming with the penguins and two sharks. Each day we take the two dingy boats from the main boat to the shore or go snorkeling from the dingy. So today we were heading to the shore and saw two penguins on a rock cliff right at the edge of the water so we went up to have a close up look. There are tons of Iguanas on the islands some are marine and can therefore dive while others are land Iguanas. There are also lots of crabs everywhere and they are a brilliant red/orange colour against the black lava rocks which is incredible. We went snorkeling on Bartolome Island and then went into the beach where it was extremely windy and it was like getting sandblasted with the sand from the beach. At the end of each excursion or activity you have to be hosed down by the captain so that species are not spread from island to island as each Island is so unique. Jean had been lying on the beach and she has really short hair and her scalp was covered in sand the captain had a trying time trying to wash that off on the back of the boat.

On Bartolome Island there is a gangplank walk that goes up to the top of the island for an incredible view over the islands. It was amazing to see. There are many volcanic craters you can see, some on land and some under water.

Monday May 16, 2011: South Plazas and Santa Fe Islands

Well the best snorkeling was saved for last. I haven’t mentioned much about the fish, but the fish schools are massive and the colours incredible. The snorkeling is spectacular. We went to South Plazas Island by dingy into a beach full of sea lions and saw huge sea turtles as we were coming in and a couple of groups of Eagle Rays mating at the surface. The turquoise water here was beautiful. We went for a walk on the island and me in my typical gracefulness fell into the water trying to get back into the dingy and soaked my running shoes that were in my hands and my cloths. Luckily my camera was in a waterproof bag and Jean was carrying it. But I did go into the shallow water where all the sea lions were and I could only imagine what was in that water, gross. Oh well, all in good fun and not a problem. We went snorkeling further out in the bay after the mishap and two sea lions came swimming head first into me. It was really cool. We chased huge sea turtles all over the bay, spotting them in different parts and hurriedly swimming over to see them. Then we saw the rays which were so cool. It was awesome.

The crew had a little cocktail party for us as it was the last official night on board for part of the group which was also a good time. Then in the evening we went into Puerto Ayora for a look around town. It was crazy to be back in civilization and society. I had the spins in town. It was interesting because I didn’t suffer from the spins when we would go onto an island for a walk but in and out of the shops and the overhead lighting, spins. Not a pleasant feeling so headed back to the boat by a water taxi and all was well again. I am getting good use out of my Gravol pills as the boat has been a rocking but I can say I didn’t actually get sick which is a bonus.

Tuesday May 17, 2011: Santa Fe Island, Puerto Ayora and Baltra Island

I don’t think I mentioned that there were 16 people on the boat and you share the cabin with a roommate. We had bunk beds and there were eight cabins for us. There was also separate living quarters for the crew which consisted of eight men from the Galapagos Islands and they were excellent at their job and extremely jovial.

The last excursion was a trip to the Darwin Research Station with another early start our visit started at 7am and we had to get there from the boat. The Research Station was really neat. Tons of huge tortoises were there. We got to see Lonesome George the last of his saddle back species. They are trying to mate him with similar species but have had no luck. As it turns out they had him with a hybrid female tortoise for years that could not reproduce. He has two new wives and they are hoping for success in this July’s mating season.

There were also huge dome shell tortoises there too. They were really neat to check out. It would be interesting to see all of the different research studies that are going on there and how many people are employed there.

It was an amazing experience living on the water, walking twice a day on different islands, snorkeling twice a day, eating like a queen and having an excellent, nonthrowing up experience. Ah the life. The Galapagos Islands were amazing and I feel like it was just a drop in the bucket for a future visit.

Check out the amazing and numerous pictures at the following link.

Click on this link for many photos from The Galapagos Islands in Ecuador

Visiting the Equator in Ecuador

2011-05-18T18:27:00.003-04:00

The blog site was down and then I was on a boat in the Galapagos Islands so here is the post from May 12 2011: This is a picture noting my success at balancing an egg on top of a nail at the Equator. I received a certificate and everything; two as a matter of fact because I was able do it twice. Today I visited the Equator and it was really fun. I went with two women from my Galapagos group. We took the local bus out the Equator for 40 cents and had a blast on the bus. There are forever people getting on and selling stuff. My favorite was the ice cream guy with his 25 cent cones. It was an easy adventure with two bus changes and no problems. There are people selling $45 US tours, I think ours was great with 80 cents spent on transport and $6 spent to climb the tower and visit two museums at the “center of the world” as they like to call it.

At the one museum we got to try different experiments. One was the spinning water test. In the northern and southern hemispheres the water spins as it goes down the drain and right on the equator the water goes straight down the drain with no clockwise or counterclockwise movement. It was cool to just move a portable sink 1m each way off the equator to test this. Then we did the balance an egg on a nail in which I was the only one able to do it and I did it twice. Then there was the sobriety test. You have to close your eyes and try to the walk the line. The forces pulling your body and making you wobble feel incredible.

You have also got your discrepancies with where the actual line is and then lots of different photo opportunities with different things in the background along the line. You have your GPS equator line and your tourist equator line. There were also lots of school groups at the equator, what a cool class trip, sign me up.

Well it is an early 5:30am start tomorrow with an early morning flight to catch the boat to the Galapagos Islands. So I should get packing.

Check out the cool photos from the “middle of the world” at the following link.

Click on this link for photos from the middle of the world, or the Equator

PS Ecuadorian chocolate is to die for. Oh I am in heaven.

Quito Ecuador

2011-05-12T00:13:00.000-04:00

Well I have just arrived in Ecuador after a couple of days in transit and what a drive it was from the airport. I witnessed a poor motorcyclist being thrown from his motorcycle after the car ahead of us hit him. I instantly jumped out the vehicle to help him and could see his scared eyes but was told it was dangerous get back in and other people were running over to him. We drove on up the road to aid in blocking in the vehicle that hit him with another motorcycle and remained there until the police came at which point the driver tried to deny that he hit him. An interesting start to the next leg of the journey. Luckily the motorcyclist had a helmet and gear on so I hope he will be ok. He was on the job as he was a delivery motorcyclist, probably delivering someone’s dinner.

I added more pictures to the last Easter Island photos so if you are not sick of statues and want to see some more there are more there.

Click on this link for lots of photos from Rapa Nui, Easter Island

I am starting a boat tour to the Galapagos Islands in the next couple of days so stay tuned for those experiences.

Also who knew Ecuador uses American money as their currency? Not I but that is interesting. So off I will go to the ATM tomorrow and get some good old American cash and then take a couple of local busses that should cost me less than a dollar in total to the equator.

More Easter Island

2011-05-06T18:24:00.004-04:00

Easter Island (Rapa Nui) is incredible. I know that is what I keep saying, but it is. There are about 5000 people who live on the island and all in the undeveloped town. Which I told you has one main street a couple of blocks in length. Yesterday I toured all around the island and the coast is just open fields and coastline. There are no houses out there and this prime real estate, I know it always comes back to real estate is just out there for the wild horses and cattle to graze on. I was told there is only electricity and water in the town.

Today I took a taxi inland to Ahu Akivi, a site where seven statues are. It is the only place where the statues face the water. I took the taxi there and then wanted to walk the coastline back to town. Unheard of (with the locals) everyone wanted to make sure I was ok to walk back and I kept getting asked at sites along the way if I would like a ride back to town, lovely and very nice of the people to ask, but I just wanted a little exercise, fresh air and the beautiful coastal view. I got it. About a six or eight kilometer hike. I think most people are rushed for days on the island and rent a car, scooter or driver. I have lots of time and that was my plan for the day, walk the coast. On the way back to town I passed the dive shop and signed myself up for a dive tomorrow morning, then maybe the beach.

Click on the following link for tons of pictures from Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui.

PS: It is seven bucks a kilo to get your laundry done here typically I would weigh in with five kilos but luckily now I don't need my warm cloths washed (as it is hot here) and only had one kilo. Just a price point for you.

Click on this link for more photos of Easter Island

Easter Island

2011-05-04T13:35:00.002-04:00

Easter Island is incredible. Coming here was a big wish for me so to be here is awesome. It is a small island 3800 km off the coast of Chile with one main street and everything shipped in. It has red dirt and beautiful coastal walks. I hiked up to a volcano on my own, a five hour around trip expedition with incredible views and a good workout. It did rain so that red dirt turned into mud and covered my shoes and legs. The temperature averages about 75 degrees here so the rain was refreshing. I was caught in a downpour a couple of times yesterday and overnight it poured rain. I wish I had dad’s rain gauge to calculate how much actually fell. So today is a catch up day and a day of staying out of the continuous rain. I cannot complain this is my first day of rain and it looks like it is braking just in time to grab something to eat.
It is low season so there are not many people around even though the plane was full coming over and it was a large plane. At the top of the volcano there is a National Park and a neat “Birdman ceremonial village” to visit. I ran into two people once I made it to the top of the volcano. The serenity is incredible here.
Now Easter Island and it’s Moai (statues) that is why I am here. They are incredible, huge things all along the coast. They are so cool. Here is a taste of the ones just around where I am staying. Stay tuned for more to come.
Click on this link for some of the photos from Easter Island

Machu Picchu Peru and Area

2011-04-29T11:13:00.003-04:00

Wow Machu Picchu what an incredible place. The sites are amazing and those Inca people were so talented. It is hard to believe that they created these sites in the 1300’s. The engineering and mathematics behind it, let alone the man power, sheer strength and ability, mind baffling. What they are building over here today is nowhere near the quality of these buildings. Machu Picchu is huge and on top of a mountain. The hiking was incredible the views amazing and sheer drop offs spectacular. I can see now why they scan your passport and get all your info from you before when you buy your ticket in the event that you don’t come out they know who went missing, not that they would find you if you went over the cliff the growth is dense but there are trails that you have to sign in and out of. There is an incredible amount of people coming each day to see Machu Picchu but it was not over crowded, it is massive and most of the tour groups are there only until 2pm and I stayed until 5pm when it closed.

Cuzco is also a great town. It is the starting point of a visit to Machu Picchu. It itself has tons to check out and is a World Heritage site. The Cathedrals woodworking, frescos and oil paintings were spectacular. In the Cathedral they have a portrait of the last supper and it is famous for its offering of guinea pig, yup Charlie their last meal was guinea pig. It is also on every menu in the area, it and alpaca, so while you were having turkey or ham for Easter I was having alpaca.

I also visited the Sacred Valley which includes other little villages boasting an Inca Ruin or two. I tell you those Inca’s were incredible. I especially liked their terraces built into the side of the mountains for crop growth.

Agua Caliente, (The town of Hot Water) was a great town to stay in too. The town has one main street lined with restaurants and massage parlors looking for your business. So after a big day of hiking and walking I hit the massage parlor for a $15hour long massage followed by a trip to the hot springs for a soothing soak in the water for $4 and if you didn’t bring your suit, no need to worry, you can rent one for a dollar.

Here is the link for the photos, enjoy.
Click on this link for photos from Machu Picchu, The Sacred Valley, Cuzco and The Area

Lake Titicaca, Puno Peru

2011-04-24T16:46:00.003-04:00

Happy Easter from the rabbit I saw in the most desolate area of Bolivia and Happy Birthday to you Dad, Dennis and Aunt Anne. Sending you love and birthday wishes from Peru.

I have spent Easter Weekend at Lake Titicaca. Yup, I spelt that correctly and it sounds like it is spelt, so I had to come to this area to see what it is all about. Well it is another lovely area. I am now in Peru in the town of Puno which is on Lake Titicaca. I arrived on Good Friday and was able to witness a Good Friday procession. The statues used in the procession were interesting. My favorite was the last one of I believe Mary all in black and it was neat because it was only carried and surrounded by women.

I took a boat trip out to a couple of the islands on Lake Titicaca, (Uros and Taquile). The first one was really cool. It was a series of floating islands where a couple of hundred people live. Every two weeks they have to cover it with new reeds to keep it from rotting.

South America countries have really kept their traditions. When you visit these places the people are not dressed in their old traditional garb to entertain you, but are dressed that way because that is who they are. Women wear bowler hats with long dark braids in their hair and poufy skirts. On the second island I visited (Taquile) the men wear toques of solid red if they are married and red and white if they are single. The men knit the hats and women weave belts for them to wear. Each year the woman makes her husband a new belt and each year it has a different symbol added to it so it tells the family history, births, deaths, good harvests etc, really interesting. So the girls sell the tourists bracelets but it is really for them to practice their weaving skills so by the time they are an adult they can strive to make their husband a good belt. So nieces and nephews you are getting “practice” bracelets.

I made it to mass from Easter Sunday. It was a lovely church full of white flowers everywhere. I was surprised there were not too many people there and I was the only foreigner, but they did have lots of masses throughout the morning. Anyway at “peace time” the woman beside me gave me a hug and a kiss, not a handshake. I said my little thank you pray as for some reason I was up really early this morning and double checked with the hostel staff to see how much my bill was, as I needed money from the ATM. Upon doing this the woman called to confirm my bus ticket for the next day to find out that the busses would not be running for two days as there will be road blocks on Monday and Tuesday. She said I could get to Cuzco today or Wednesday. I said I needed to leave today as I fly from Cuzco on Sunday and would like as many days as possible for Machu Picchu and the area. She made some calls and got me on to a night bus that will leave tonight at 10pm hopefully missing the road blocks. I got the second last seat out of Puno, so I said my little prayer of thanks at church this morning. It was really random that we found out this was happening. I tried to get out Bolivia and their road blocks to avoid lost time and now it is happening again. This time it is because the government wants to set off bombs for testing and the miners don’t want them to do it as it will cause environmental damage. So they are protesting.

Here are the photos from Lake Titicaca, Puno, Peru.
Click on this link for photos from Lake Titicaca, Puno, Peru

Four Day Salt Flat Tour Bolivia and tons of photos

2011-04-24T16:41:00.003-04:00

Day 1: Today I started a four day Salt Flat Tour from Tupiza to Uyuni in Bolivia. Wow! There are seven of us in an old Toyota Land cruiser with bald tires. We have a driver/Spanish speaking guide, good thing the Mexican girl can translate for us, actually I understood a lot of what he was saying and a cook. She offered up a great picnic lunch in a field of lamas today and a great dinner. The other five of us include a French couple, the Mexican girl, Anne from England and myself. We left Harry today in Tupiza, he was going to do a two day horse trek. The landscape is incredible and it has been for the last couple of weeks. Around each corner it is different. Today we traveled by dirt road about 100km’s and it took eight hours. The views were spectacular. We climbed to 4550m above sea level and I (touch wood) do not have altitude sickness, nor the others in our group.

On the drive we passed through barren land and vast open spaces, no cities, just lamas, donkeys and an ostrich to be seen. We arrived in a little village with one block of houses and a school. This is where we are spending the night in San Antonio de Lipez. The village is full of children with lovely smiles and not a care in the world. They don’t care that there is dirt on their cloths, that their shoes don’t have soles, but they can offer you a smile and a fun time. As the sun was setting on the snowcapped mountain in the background I played catch using a tennis ball with three young girls. While we were playing there was another little gaffer keeping himself quite amused by wheeling a bicycle tire through my legs. The simple things in life are free, isn’t that what they say.

The people of Bolivia have incredible faces. They wear bowler hats with long black braids in their hair, wool skirts and either have their possessions strapped around them with a piece of cloth or a baby. They are very old fashioned looking and they are everywhere, in the cities, villages or in the hills with a whip swatting lamas to go in the right direction.

It is a little chilly tonight, I have had to put on my long johns and I have my toque out in case I need it tonight. You can be so hot during the day, the sun is intense here, but yet at night it can go down close to zero. We have an early start tomorrow, 4:30 am so I will sign off.

Day 2: It was an early start like I said 4:30am. It is crazy when your clothing for the day changes so many times. I started the day in long johns, a toque and mitts and by midday was in a swimsuit and then in between going from sweater to t-shirt and a skort to pants.

Today we learned we are the envy of the other tour groups with our 1997 Toyota Land Cruiser. You spend the night in a communal building with your group of five sharing a basic room, no showers, hot water and questionable electricity. At one of the sites we got talking to some fellows who said oh yes you guys are in the good vehicle with back windows that slide open and power windows that work. An added bonus is that the windows are tinted and keep some of the intense sun out. There older version does not have tinted windows or windows that go down, so they are roasting.
My tour is fantastic. They all get questionable reviews and it is a crap shoot as to who you choose to go with. It is basically the same tour and cost, but some have better vehicles, drivers, food etc. All of the mentioned are great with our company. The food is actually fantastic. I am having the most cooked vegetables I have had weeks and it is all sitting well and the altitude is only bringing on a minor headache which is easily treated.

So today we saw geysers spewing out the lovely sulfur odor. Beautiful mountains and a green lake that is green do to the lead and arsenic that are in it, volcanoes, hot springs, bogs and were at 5000m.

Day3: Well it is evening now and as I sit here clean from the hot shower I was able to have after two days of dust from the desert I listen to the military practice across the street. At this point they are chanting or singing some song. I figure we should be good and safe in this town as our accommodation tonight is a hostel and it is directly across from the military housing and zone where there is a guard on the corner. Tonight we are staying in Uyuni.

Well today we saw tons of flamingos. It was incredible they were in the lagoons. There was a lot more red rock. We saw a funeral procession in the middle of nowhere. I do not know how far they had to walk behind the body which was carried on a flatbed truck. For three days we have been in this vast land where we have maybe seen accommodation for a hundred people in total. There is nothing out there, but panoramic views at every turn.

So last night was a little chilly. It was rumored to have been -18 degrees C. I slept in my long johns, pants, socks, two shirts, my toque, neck warm and mitts. I was warm though and had a great night’s sleep. The room had electricity for a couple of hours in the evening, no form of heat or hot water, but comfy beds.
It will be another early morning tomorrow as we head out to make sunrise over the salt flats and therefore will be getting up between 4 and 4:30am.

Day 4: I believe I should really start taking pictures of toilets and washrooms around the world. Over the last four days we have had to use “mother nature’s” bathrooms and I have to say that is way better than the one I had to pay to use today.
Today I literally had to go from sun hat to toque. It is boiling hot in the sun and freezing cold in the shade. Layering is the way to go here.
So today was the end all and be all for the Salt Flat Tour. We went to the Salar de Uyuni, or the Salt flats of Uyuni. It was very cool. The area is huge and looks like it is covered in snow, but it is salt. The locals harvest it for table salt and other uses. It is interesting to think that we are driving over it and walking on it and it will end up in someone’s mouth. It is the end of the wet season here so we had to drive through a foot of water in parts. In a month it will be all dried up and there will be no water around. They make piles of the salt to dry it out and it is cool to see them harvesting it with shovels and old dump trucks, then you should see where they dry it. I haven’t said yet how primitive Bolivia is. I cannot capture it in a picture but wow does it have a long way to go as far as progression is concerned, or it will be interesting to see how long they can sustain their quality of life. I don’t want to dis it, I am not, it is incredible, but it is neat to see how unorganized and old the country is. Internet is not an option and if it is it might as well not be. But I don’t really even want to go to talk about the internet. If you are an electrician you would be cringing over here. Bare wires and tape holding things together and then only having electricity for a few hours a day is the way in many a place we stayed. Agua Caliente (hot water) I think not. I have had that before in other countries but they were hot destinations and in Bolivia the temperature goes to below zero.

In the middle of the Salt Flats there is a Salt Hotel. The Lonely Planet says to not stay there as it was built illegally and its waist is going right into the Salt Flats. So we show up at this place and I have to say I was expecting a posh place, but the walls are made out of salt and the roof has tarps on it that are kept down with tires. That is where we had our picnic breakfast as we were at the Salt Flats for sunrise. No one stays there anymore but the tour groups go inside and use the facilities for a place to serve up food.

I forgot to mention there was one ATM machine in Uyuni. At any given time there is a lineup of at least five tourists waiting out front to use it and your taking your chances on whether it is working or not. In Tupiza where I actually booked my tour there are no ATM machines and it is a tourist town with lots of activities that require cash. The Lonely Planet warns you to get cash before arriving here as there is not an ATM so when we were walking the town we saw one and thought the Lonely Planet is wrong. We asked the tour company about it and they said oh no you cannot use it, It is only for local cards and will keep foreign ones. Good thing we didn’t give it a try.

An incredible four days and a must see if you are in South America. The hospitality shown to us by our driver/guide (Santos) and cook (Eli) was incredible, lovely people, great sites, and an interesting country with incredible vast lands.

Now the bus out there was another story, oh my god. The trip from Uyuni to La Paz took 10 hours to go 536km on a night bus and I have never been on such a terrible ride in all of my life. My back still aches and I am in need of a massage. The Road for FIVE AND A HALF HOURS was like and accordion or washboard and was incredibly bumpy. Think of those massage chairs they have a home that you can sit in and now think of the deluxe one and put the thing on turbo and multiple it my a 100, that is how the ride was. The seat was vibrating like nothing I have ever felt and this went on for FIVE AND A HALF HOURS! I literally thought at one point my insides are going to come right out of me through my private parts (sorry but the feeling was like nothing else) and the sound of all the banging in the bus was so loud. I really thought we were going to break an axel or tire rod, or the side was going to fall off the thing. The totally body vibration was unbearable thank god that is over and I hope to never experience that again. The teacher blockades and strikes are over and so we were not held up with that which was nice.

Now for tons of photos, DON’T MISS THERE ARE TWO LINKS FOR PHOTOS, one is the Bolivian Boarder Crossing and the other is the Four Day Salt Flat Tour.

Click on the link for The Bolivian Boarder Crossing

Click on the link for tons of photos from The Four Day Salt Flats Tour

Bolivia Boarder Crossing

2011-04-17T13:44:00.002-04:00

I have arrived in Bolivia. All is well and it was a really easy and uneventful boarder crossing and drive to where we are staying. I am with Anne and Harry at this point. There is always talk amongst the travelers about Bolivia. Some hate it, some love it, some are afraid of it. Anyway our trip yesterday was great. We took the bus from Tilcara Argentina to the boarder town of La Quinta. Once we were there we hoped in a taxi for a $1 to get us to the boarder. Crossing was easy. I expected to have to pay $75 US to get in, but didn’t have to. Maybe it is only if you fly into the country? We are not sure. Once we were through the boarder crossing we walked straight into a Cambio, where you change your money. No problems there and we caught a taxi to the train station to go on to Tupiza. The train only runs certain days of the week so we stayed an extra day in Tilcara to be able to catch it. Not an issue thought I probably would have stayed another night anyway, but long story a little shorter. We get in this cab to take us to the train station in a broken Spanish conversation the cabby says he can drive us to Tupiza. So we look at each other, we all have a good vibe about the guy and say, yeah ok, what the hell. So we tell him we need to eat and he takes us to the place to eat and we are on the road, an hour before the train is “scheduled” to leave. The train takes close to three hours and we were able to drive there in an hour and a half. He was a cautious driver and we even had seatbelts. At one point we had to stop and wait as in numerous spots the road was under construction but it was fine. They had just blasted a new tunnel and were clearing the rubble, so that was neat to drive through.

We arrived at a great hotel that had rooms for three so that is what we had booked. The place even has a pool, it is luxury for $7 each a night. Who said Bolivia was a hard place to travel? Well I will touch wood as the next four days are going to be an overland Jeep excursion to the Salt Flats at high altitude, so here is hoping it goes smoothly and that I don’t get altitude sickness. I may be out of contact potentially for a week but at the end I should have a gazillion photos to upload. So here is the news and again the buzz with people, some afraid others are fine. The boarder was closed the other day between Bolivia and Argentina, we learned this after we crossed that it was the day before we crossed. There are protests throughout the country and guess who are protesting? The teachers, they are looking for a 15% pay raise. So people are talking about riots etc. some are just moving on as normal and others are trying to get out quickly. I will leave it up in the air.

The next four days are on this tour through the salt flats and then I can cross into Chile to go to Peru or go through Bolivia and cross into Peru. Basically I need to move a little quicker now as I fly out of Peru to Easter Island on May 1 and have to see Machu Pichu before that. Here’s hoping those teachers aren’t too rowdy.

Sorry I cann't get my photos to upload.

The seven colour hills, Purmamarca Argentina.

2011-04-15T17:39:00.002-04:00

Argentina is such a lovely place. It is so easy to get around the people, food and sites are fantastic. I am loving my time in Argentina. I love when you intend to spend a night in an area and it turns into a week. That is what happened in Salta. Thank god I didn’t move on, I would have missed some tranquil places in Cafayete, Cachi, Tilcara and Purmamarca, each have incredible landscapes. They are just my kind of places, little towns with great character.

I was able to do a great three kilometer walk around Purmamarca. It is where the seven colour hills are. Amazing colours that change as the sunlight hits the mountain, or hills. You might be sick of the rock photos but it is just amazing everywhere you turn there is something different and amazing to see. Hope some of those panoramic photos might give you a better perception.

So I met a guy Harry yesterday and as fate would have it we would have met on my scheduled Antarctica trip that I had to cancel. We were to be on the same boat, same dates and company. Interesting how we would now meet up in Northern Argentina as we each head to Bolivia. Kind of cool how random things happen. He loved his Antarctica trip. it is neat to talk to someone who has been there. So we gained another travel companion for a few days at least.

Click on the link for photos from The Seven Colour Hills in Purmamarca Argentina

Road trip between Salta and Cachi Argentina

2011-04-14T18:56:00.003-04:00

Good morning. I don’t know how successful I am going to be at typing this as I am on a bus which seems to not have any shocks and I am wondering if my breakfast is going to stay down as we bounce, bounce along. It is just a four hour trip today. It is kind of surreal though. I am sitting right at the front of the bus on the second level and because I can type without looking at the keyboard. I am just watching the beautiful scenery go by. It is kind of neat to be so productive (getting the blog caught up) and relaxed at the same time. No WIFI on the bus, that just seemed to be in Uruguay so I will write this now and post it later on.

I had another incredible day yesterday. The scenery in the Salta province is incredible. Esteban was Anne and my guide for the last two days. Anne is my new friend from England. On day two of our drives to check out the area we were the only ones in the car and therefore had a private tour. It was great. I knew it was going to be a fantastic day as we were driving through the green mountains with the tunes cranked rocking out to it’s a beautiful day by U2. At work they play music some mornings to get the kids moving to class and I love when it is this song, for me it is a great song to start the day with, so when it came on and we were driving through that beautiful landscape I couldn’t help but smile.

The landscape between the two days was so different and yet they are so close. One day was red mountains and the second day was green mountains. The way the sun was hitting the one area in the afternoon made the mountains look like they were covered in plush velvet and I just wanted to reach out and pet it. You know how I am with petting things being the tactile person I am.

Oh god, just a little pause and a prayer. We just came across carnage on the highway. There we two bodies spewed over two lanes of the highway going in the other direction. It must have just happened. Sorry for those families losses.

I am now a little distracted. We saw tons of cacti yesterday and at times there were cacti in the foreground and snow on the Andes in the background. We saw a condor which was really neat. Esteban has been trying to take a picture of one for three years so he was really excited about seeing it too. It was close to the road and it was huge. It looks almost like a big wooden bird. We watched it and its baby’s for awhile and then it took off in flight. They have a 10 foot wing span. We also saw wild donkeys that are prey for pumas and guanacos (they are kind of like a deer and an alpaca). We actually pulled over the car because we could see a tarantula crossing the road and didn’t want to hit it.

The people around here are also quite lovely. The hostel I was staying at in Salta had incredible staff. Each day was someone different but each one of them was extremely helpful. Traveling with no phone sometimes leads to a bit of a hassle but these people were always offering their phones and making calls for me. When I was trying to arrange the car to go around the area and Anne was staying in a different hostel they made the calls and arranged it for us. Then they called her hostel for me so I could tell her we were good to go etc. Anyway little things make me happy, right. Then this morning when I was checking out the guy who checked me in saw me and instantly said “Sarah, how are you? Where were you yesterday I worked from 8 – 7 and I didn’t see you, where did you go?”All this service for $12 a night and they also had the best breakfast, included. Today I had two eggs and each day there was fresh fruit out all day for your taking. A typical South American breakfast is white bread, which they had brown, dulce de leche, a carmel sauce which they are obsessed with and a croissant. Oh yeah and I got hot chocolate made with milk whenever I wanted it. All included in that $12 fee. Now it is no four star place, a six bed dorm room and not the greatest bathrooms, I definitely needed my shower shoes, but a great showerhead with pressure, which is sometimes hard to find and therefore sometimes it’s hard to get that shampoo out of my hair or the soap off your body for that reason.

Again lots of photos were taken some of them are quite cheesy as were we playing around to maybe make the shots a little bit more interesting for you.

One of my favorite things to see, Grace will make fun of me because it is red, but it was a field of drying chilies it was incredible to see this field of red.

Anne has an I-phone and can take panoramic view photos so I copied a few of her pictures on the bus today. They are really neat to see. Did I tell you this guy in Buenos Aires had an I-phone with him and he had an app on it that translated for him? He held the phone over a menu and it translated the print from Spanish to English. Oh how travelling is changing.

We arrived in Tilcara this afternoon; it reminds me of the wild, Wild West. It is a little town with a mix of authentic locals and backpackers in a hot dusty 20 square block area. It is a beautiful location though among the mountains and such a nice vibe to it.

We arrived at the hostel to suppose to be having a twin room but the room was rebooked by its previous occupants. So they gave us a two bedroom room with a bathroom and balcony that can sleep six for the same price of $11 each a night. I walked onto the private balcony that looks out onto the mountains and went ok this is cool. I can chill out and read and write on this for awhile.

Here is the link for the photos from Cachi Argentina.
Click on the link for photos from the drive from Salta to Cachi Argentina

Salta Argentina

2011-04-11T22:16:00.001-04:00

Wow! What an amazing day. You should see the scenery around Salta Argentina, amazing. I can see why Nancy Towns is a bicycle guide in this area. Too bad she is not around at this time, she is in Spain. But man did she ever have some good suggestions.
The road from Salta to Cafayate has incredible mountains and beautiful red rocks. You will see them in the many photos I took. It was amazing. I went in a car with a guide a girl I met on the 24 hour bus, Anne from England and another couple from Austria. I could see buying that BMW motorcycle and bringing it down here for a hell of a trip.
The other day I went to San Lorenzo by local bus, 30 cents. It is just a suburb to the city of Salta with a great forest and jungle. I hiked in there and did a zip line over the gorge after my hike. It was great to be out of a big city and back into nature.
Salta has a cable car to get up the mountain to check out the view of the city. So I did that and then walked back down the mountain for some exercise. It is nice to get moving again after days of sitting.
Part of today’s trip included visits to two wineries. The smell of the fermenting grapes was incredibly good.
Have you ever seen a tobacco fence? In tobacco country the road is lined with them as the farmers are drying out their product for export.
Click on the link for tons of rock and mountain photos from Salta, Argentina

Iguazu Falls Argentina and tons of photos

2011-04-06T18:12:00.002-04:00

Iguazu Falls Argentina. WOW! What a beautiful National Park. It puts Niagara Falls to shame. There are beautiful easy walking paths through the park that lead to lookouts along the way that just keep giving better and better views. The paths are through the jungle and easily followed. It sure beats the tacky tourist shops along the road in Niagara Falls. The sound of the rushing water is incredible.

A twenty minute $1.50 bus ride gets you out to the Falls from the quaint little city of Puerto Iguazu. Once there you pay your $25 admission into the National Park and hop on a little site seeing train that takes you to the walking paths. If you get your ticket stamped on the way out they will let you back in the next day for $12.50. I will be heading back for some more scenery, fresh air and exercise. You can do 8km walks or multiple 1km walks all giving excellent views of the falls. Iguazu Falls lies in both Argentina and Brazil. I was on the Argentinean side as I don’t have visa to get into Brazil.

We arrived in Puerto Iguazu in the morning and lucked out again with the hostel giving us our room early. We had taken a 12 hour night bus that brought us into town at 10am. It was a comfy bus with reclining leather chairs that would remind you of lazy boys. The bus trip cost $72 and included a hot supper with wine, coffee, tea or pop, breakfast, English movies with Spanish subtitles and a steward.

I am just back from day two of visiting Iguazu Falls, incredible views. The weather here is incredible too, blue skies and lots of hot sunshine. Yesterday I am sure it was around 35 it was really hot and today maybe 28 degrees Celsius.

I took different paths today at the National Park. One went over the river that led to the falls. You were able to get right up close and on top of it in places. If you are into birds then this place is a must for you and butterflies. I have never seen some many in one place, alive. (Mom and I saw lots of dead ones in Panama all pinned up.) Their wings are brilliant purple, blues and reds, but the photos I got are of yellow and orange ones.

The falls are very expansive and consist of numerous falls all put together. The section I saw today is similar in it’s horseshoe shape to Niagara, but there are large parts on each side that you cannot see in the pictures, therefore making it larger than Niagara Falls.

Click on the link for tons of waterfall photos from Iguazu Falls, Argentina
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Salto Uruguay

2011-04-03T19:10:00.001-04:00

Recheck the Montevideo pictures from the last post if you would like to see photos from the Barbeque, I added them after I did that post. Their hospitality was exceptional.

Last night the Aussies and I took a night bus to Salto Uruguay after the barbeque at the hostel. We arrived at 5am in Salto, hung out at the bus terminal for an hour and got a cab to the hotel. The hostel in this town is not open for the season yet and cancelled our reservations via email that we had made online. Still checking my credit card to see about getting that $7 deposit back  The hotel is a budget hotel I think it is rated one star. It is good though. Really good if you consider they gave us our room right away (before 7am) and we were able to grab a couple of hours sleep. It is $20 a night for a single room.

Today Shelley and I visited the thermal pools outside of Salto. We hopped on the local bus for 70 cents and went out to the thermal pools. It cost $3.50 to get into the pools. I expected a more natural setting than what the photo above shows, but whatever. The pools were filled with water from the hot springs and marked with their temperatures. They ranged from 37 – 39 degrees Celsius.

Not much is open in South America on Saturday or Sunday, but we did find an amazing bakery today and had a feast on little sweets. It was so fresh and yummy.

Off to Iguaçu Falls in Argentina tomorrow via bus. It should make for an interesting story as we can’t get a hold of the schedule because we will be getting the bus in Argentina not Uruguay and the bus originally starts in Buenos Aires (~13 hours away) and we can’t find out the time it will be where we need to get it until we get over to Argentina. So we will cross the boarder in a taxi and go from there. It could be good connections or a long day of waiting around.

Montevideo Uruguay and UPDATED photos

2011-04-02T18:35:00.003-04:00

This is a picture of the garbage pickers in Montevideo. Montevideo is the capital of Uruguay and it has very interesting areas. I mean some posh beach areas, not where I am staying and some interesting poorer areas. This hostel leaves a lot to be desired, but there are some lovely people at it. The hostel owners are having a barbeque in the street tonight so we bought some meat, ribs on their recommendation and sausages. Having a barbeque in the street is a dying tradition they said so they are trying to bring it back, remember this is the capital city and they have set up their barbeque in the middle of the road.
Click on the link for Montevideo Uruguay pictures

Colonia Uruguay

2011-03-31T10:57:00.005-04:00

I went horseback riding in Uruguay and I was the only one who was given a whip. Seems to be a theme happening here?
I am currently in transit between Colonia and Montevideo in Uruguay. I am taking a three hour bus between the two cities. The bus which is nothing posh, actually it is a little old has WIFI. Hence how I am updating the blog. The bus cost $10 for those who like to know prices.
Colonia is a UNESCO world heritage site and quite a quant town. It has lovely old buildings, cars, great food and people. Shelley and James my Aussies friends and I seem to be on the same path for awhile so we have booked our accommodations at the same place and are taking the same transits. Yesterday we went horseback riding in Uruguay. It was fun, but poor Shelley fell off her horse, but she is ok, just a little shook up.
Montevideo is the capital of Uruguay and that is the next stop. My carnivorous friends would love South America they are all about their meat and it is so big, good and cheap. $10 – 15 for a full nice meal at a fancy restaurant is typical.
Click on the link for Colonia Uruguay photos

Argentina is all about the meat

2011-03-28T19:37:00.005-04:00

Would you like to buy one of my whips? I am having a great time in Buenos Aires Argentina. I arrived to a four day national holiday. I am staying right in the heart of downtown and it has been interesting. Since today was not a holiday I got to see how busy things really are. Don’t get me wrong it has been busy the last few days with shops still open and people selling things or wanting to change your money everywhere but it was a nice reprieve from what it really is like. Buenos Aires is known for its Sunday markets so me and a few girls from my room took those in yesterday. They shut down streets and parks for kilometers. It took hours to just walk through part of it and I was with some shoppers. Leather is big here, so one girl got a new leather coat. I refrained. We had a nice lunch in a café surrounded by vines and greenery off the beaten track that had tango dancers to entertain us while we ate. There are tango dancers everywhere in Buenos Aires. I had to pose for a photo with the guy, thank god I didn’t have to dance with him and have him experience my lack of rhythm.
Today I took the metro to Tigre an hour outside of Buenos Aires with Shelley an Aussie girl. For the two of us our round trip cost $1, so 25 cents each way. So it was a cheap day. Tigre is where the city folk go to escape from the hustle and bustle. We walked the river and had a great steak lunch. You will have to check out the photo of the size of the hunk of meat. Argentina is known for its great meat cooked to perfection and cheap. Our lunch was on the upper scale as we ate in a restaurant with a nice location on the river for less than $15 for a huge steak, a salad, pop and bread.
I am off to Uruguay tomorrow by ferry with an Aussie couple I met. It is to be an hour ride and I will stay for a couple of days in Colonia.
Click on the link for more Buenos Aires photos
It is the same album there are just new photos added towards the bottom.

Ozzy Osbourne in Buenos Aires and the trip over

2011-03-25T21:11:00.004-04:00

So the adventure begins and what an adventure it has started out to be in more ways than one. I will just tell you how the last transit day has been. I have at least another 12 hours to go before I reach Buenos Aries, Argentina. At this point I will be arriving 8/12 hours later than expected and will have gone through five airports. I am in Peru. Peru you say, yes my flight was to go to JFK in New York, just touchdown and pick up more. We were three hours late leaving Toronto which made changes to this “pick up.” They sent them on another plane and made us wait about three hours there for another flight, and then another two hours on the tarmac. Then that flight went to Lima (Peru), where I am right now and then it goes to Santiago, Chile then Buenos Aries, Argentina. Oh my lord. So should have got into Buenos Aries Argentina at noon and will get in at 8:30pm at the earliest. If no more changes happen, but I won’t count on that as at every airport today there has been some delay.

At least there is free WIFI here there wasn't in New York. Oh yes and New York. On the walk to the plane after you have gone through the gate they had a sniffing dog and 10 undercover cops with their badges around their necks asking questions. Are you travelling alone? Please come here, passport. Do you know you can leave as much money as you like in the USA but not take as much money as you want out? How much money do you have on you? If one of us was to search you right now would the amount you said be correct? Ok, thank you, carry on. Crazy and they were completely undercover, not the clean neatest looking men. So that was a new experience.

35 ½ hours after leaving the Hubbard’s in Richmond Hill I arrived in Buenos Aries at the hostel. By the end with all the changes there were four of us left from the original flight from Toronto. We looked at each other after the carousel stopped moving and we didn’t have our bags yet, so I thought this is going to be another first, no luggage. A first that didn’t happen. Our bags came on a different flight and were at the under end of the airport sitting on the floor in a heap. Well at least they were there.
So today… I was site seeing just like Ozzy Osbourne. Yep Ozzy and I were at the Cementerio de la Recoleta today at the same time. I saw these guys with long curly hair and thought that is a little different then at the front of them was Ozzy. A must see in Buenos Aries, it is a very cool cemetery. The monuments are grand and something to see. Evita is buried there.
Click on the link for Ozzy Osbourne and Buenos Aires Argentina photos

A little change in plans...

2011-02-17T10:38:00.003-05:00

There has been a little change in plans. My dad was taken to the hospital the day I was to leave and is in Intensive Care (ICU) with pneumonia. He is getting great care and has come a long way since the day he was admitted but still has a long way to go. Please keep him in your prayers. For those wondering Antarctica will remain on my wish list.

Day by day he is getting better, so keep fighting dad.

"The Map" Summer 2010 Destinations

2010-08-26T05:33:00.011-04:00

View Larger Map

Scroll across the map using the arrows on the top to see all of the locations.

A) Beijing China B) Ulaanbaatar Mongolia C) Irkutsk Russia D) Listvyanka Russia E) Ekaterinburg Russia F) Moscow Russia G) St Petersburg Russia H) Helsinki Finland I) Tallinn Estonia J) Stockholm Sweden K) Oslo Norway L) Andalsnes Norway M) Bergen Norway N) Oslo Norway O) Copenhagen Denmark P)London United Kingdom

It was an awesome, expansive trip that covered a lot of land and I met numerous amazing people along the way. Until the next adventure, keep loving life.

The following link will get you all of this trips photo albums and some previous trips pictures.

Click on this link for the photo albums

Stonehenge and Bath England Photos

2010-08-24T19:03:00.002-04:00

I had another terrific day today. I went to the City of Bath and saw the Roman Baths and then on to Stonehenge for a private tour where we actually got to walk around in Stonehenge and not just around the perimeter of it. It was so cool. I booked a day trip from London out to both and it turned out to everyone’s surprise, even our guides that we had a private evening tour of Stonehenge that included going right up to the stones and checking them out as the sunset in the background. Most people have to do the loop around the outside so this was really neat, hence why I took so many photos because there was no one around and therefore no one to get in the way. It was closed to the general public at this point. There were 25 of us in our group and all day long there are tour busses upon tour busses there, but not for us. So this was really special.
Check out the photos at the following link;
Many Stonehenge and Bath Photos

London England, Photos

2010-08-23T18:07:00.002-04:00

The picture is taken with the Tower Bridge in the background.
Oh my word. I have had a sightseeing overload kind of day. There is just so much to see in London my head is spinning. I started the day at Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard with all of the other tourists and then I did the hop on hop off bus around London. It went to all the major sites and helped me get my bearings. Total tourist thing to do, but with the number of sites there are in this city it was well worth the 20 Pounds it costs. It even included a boat cruise and walking tours. I ended up at Westminster Abbey at mass time, so that saved having to pay over 10 pound to see the inside of the church, they can’t charge you to worship, so I went to mass. I saw Big Ben, the London Eye, Parliament, Trafalgar Square, The National Gallery (when it was raining outside, a good way to escape the rain), St Paul’s Cathedral, The Tower of London and the Tower Bridge to name a few things. The museums are free in London which is great. So that was a great way to escape the rain.
Check out the numerous photos at the following link;
Many London England Photos

Pub Crawl Clapham London England Photos

2010-08-22T07:19:00.002-04:00

Aug 20 2010 A little bit of a hiccup today that cost me $350. I missed my flight and had to buy another one. It was a stupid, costly mistake, but these things happen. I was on my way to the airport by train which was to take 20 minutes and the train was delayed. It was to arrive on track number two but in hind sight there was a regular train that comes on track number two at the same time and the one I needed must have come through second. The monitors didn’t indicate where this train was going and there were no workers around so I got on it. I guess I should have waited and maybe there was the correct train behind it? I wasn’t the only one who got on the incorrect train. We realized after about 30 minutes on it that it wasn’t going to the airport and had to get off and wait for another train. We got on the next train that was also to take 20 minutes to get to the airport. I and the other three people that made the same mistake got on the train only for it to go to Central Station and be delayed there for another 20 minutes or more making this train take 50 minutes. I made it to the airport as my flight was boarding and had to buy a new ticket. When I bought it the guy said you need to move as this new flight leaves in 50 minutes and you need to check in. It was funny because then this flight was delayed 25 minutes waiting at the gate and if that had have happened to the first flight maybe I could have made it. I will give the check in person credit they called the gate to see if I could board but they said I wouldn’t make it. So I am hoping these are my three things as you know things tend to happen in threes, ATM card eaten, wrong train and missed flight, hopefully the last two aren’t a combo unit and I still have a third thing to come.
So last night in the paper I read that SAS (Scandinavian Airlines), who I am flying with, has had 17 000 safety violations that they have flown with over the last seven years, so maybe I wasn’t suppose to make that first flight? Anyways these things happen and it is a good thing I still have a pay check coming through, a credit card to fall back on and a job to come home to. Off to London for the week to spend time with Karen and Tina my cabin mates from the Trans Mongolian/Siberian Railway.
I wasn’t the only one who missed my flight in the line boarding these two guys beside me were also belly aching that they had to get new flights and pay the difference etc. Another guy with them also had the same problem and he only has one hour to make it to his next flight in London and on to the States. I wish him good luck. I cannot see him making it.
Karen gives the most amazing directions. I made it to her flat without a problem. It took an hour and twenty minutes from the airport via the Underground or Tube with three changes and then a little walk. After the rest of the day I really appreciated her thorough instructions. I arrived to a lovely homemade pizza dinner with Karen, Tina and Bobbie (Tina’s mom) who are both visiting from Brisbane. Karen and Tina were my cabin mates on the train across Siberia.
The flat is huge so we all fit nicely. It is a two bedroom that she shares with another woman Kirsty, who happens to be in France at a wedding for the weekend. The flat has a good size kitchen a lovely bathroom with a nice tub and shower and a big living room. It is a pub that was converted into four flats. The guests are all in the basement and it is massive. We each have some form of double bed, a futon, blow-up or a mattress and there is still tons of room for all of our stuff and a few tables and even more floor space. It is great. The flat is in a great location too. Just off of High Street in Clapham Common.
So yesterday we headed out to check out the many Charity Shops on High Street and the Pound Store (Dollar Store) as it is so good and ended up on an old fashioned open top double-decker bus doing a pub crawl. As you do... We hit the Charity Shops along the way checking out the park and some of the sites and then had lunch at a pub and a couple of pints. We made it to the Pound Shop and then thought on the way back to the flat we would stop into another pub for a drink and happened upon this free pub crawl so we joined it with all of our shopping in hand. It was very random. We ended up having an awesome afternoon touring around in the open top bus and having a pint and some great food along the way, got to love spontaneity.
Check out the photos at the following link;
Pub Crawl in Clapham London Photos

More Copenhagen, Photos

2010-08-19T15:04:00.004-04:00

Well today was day two on the free bike in Copenhagen and my pelvis is suffering from it. You know the pain I am talking about, you have all had it. Man, oh, man it is raw. The bike was a great way to get around this city though. Today I met Kelly a girl from Nova Scotia in my room and we toured around together, you can cover so much more ground on the bike. It was fantastic and there was no rain today and the sun was a shinning, yeah. Kelly is like having your own personal photographer, I feel like there are many Sarah shots today. You can see for yourself;
More Copenhagen Denmark Photos

Copenhagen Denmark, Pictures

2010-08-18T15:27:00.004-04:00

This is a picture of one of the bike traffic lights in Copenhagen. They have a great transportation system for cars and bikes. There are bus lanes, car lanes, bike lanes and even turning lanes for bikes, all controlled by separate traffic lights.

I am currently in Copenhagen Denmark and having a great time. It has been raining for the last couple of days, but today it wasn’t until late in the afternoon and I had got most of the day in dry. Copenhagen has an awesome bike rental system, they are free for hire. You only need a 20 Kroner coin, $4 piece. You put it in the slot like we do at home with quarters for the grocery cart and you get it back when you return the bike to any spot around town. So I met a guy from Saskatoon in my hostel room this morning and we toured around together for the day. I walked a ton yesterday but with the bike I was able to cover more ground today. What an awesome system. Some other European cities have the free bikes but you have to use your credit card as a deposit and the systems are not the easiest to figure out when you put your card in, so this was easy. I am sure if they had these in our town they would be put to use late at night getting home from the bar and instead of the boys having to return shopping carts from the apartments it would be bicycles. I know I would be using them to get home.

We happened upon this interesting hippy part of town today called Christiania. There is a large arch way they says “Christiania” you can enter through and when you leave the other side says “You are now entering the EU.” I mention this because I am sure there are no rules in this little commune. There are pot plants growing freely along the pathways and in flower pots, drug paraphernalia for sale at large, as well as cheap food and drink and typical souvenirs. There are signs around that say “say no to hard drugs.” There are people wearing and selling “Safe Christiania “shirts. It is on prime harbor front real estate and there must be people wanting to demolish this little area. It has great housing complexes around it.
Went to the National museum and library today to get out of the rain for a bit and they both were very good. The library is very old and very new. Two well combined buildings.

You couldn’t take pictures in Hippy Ville so the ones I have of the outskirts don’t do it justice. You can check out all the Copenhagen pictures at the following link;

Copenhagen Denmark Pictures

Flam Railway Norway, Photos

2010-08-15T14:07:00.003-04:00

Check out this crazy (up until last year) two way road. At this point I am 12 hours into a 14 hour trip across Norway. Today’s journey consisted of three trains, a bus and a boat and is called “Norway in a Nutshell.” The trip takes you from one side of the country to the other. The day started with a packed, standing room only train that resembled more of a commuter train than a tourist trip. You could say it was over sold. At the next spot where you are to catch a bus there wasn’t enough of them, but things got figured out and more space was available as the day went on. I was one of hundreds doing this little excursion today. It is not a package deal, just sold as one so you have the right connections along the route. Enough about the logistics, it is all about the views and they are SPECTACULAR! I took the Flam Railway today which is known for its twists and turns up the fjord. It really is breath taking with huge rock cliffs, mountains, waterfalls, bridges, tunnels and random little villages. There was one tunnel that was over six kilometers long that I went through the other day. There are also locals on these modes of transportation too, but they are going to the fjord to climb it, or mountain bike up it. Good on them. The little towns and fjords are beautiful. If I come back here, or if I could suggested to anyone coming here, skip the big cities and head to the fjords, bring a good pair of hiking books and let your thighs ache with the rest of them. If you hit the right spots you can kayak, ice hike on a glacier and bike to name just a few things. I tried to take some photos but as you know they never capture the whole thing and really I just had to stop again and just take it all in. You can check out what I did get at the following link;
Pictures of The Flam Railway and crossing Norway by three trains, a bus and a boat

Bergen Norway, Photos

2010-08-13T14:31:00.002-04:00

The photo is taken in the Fish Market in Bergen Norway. Bergen is another lovely town, with great hiking paths a funicular up to the top of their large hill and neat old buildings. I took the funicular up and walked back down zigzagging through the forest, my thighs are getting a good work out. Again there were lots of people running up and down it for their exercise. They sure are active here.
Bergen is a town of rain, so I did a walking tour through the town in the rain today. It was quite cool so my scarf and sweater were needed today and then by 7:30pm the sun was out and I was working up a sweat in shorts and a t-shirt.
Check out the photos of Bergen at the following link;
Pictures of Bergen Norway

The Fjords of Norway, Photos

2010-08-12T18:07:00.006-04:00

Well I have just arrived in Bergen Norway after a journey that consisted of three busses, five ferries and 12 ½ hours of scenery. You may say, wow, you can keep that. But really it was WOW, WOW to the views. The journey wasn’t really that difficult. The busses went right onto the ferries and they were all pretty short crossings. The trip was from Andalsnes in the West Coast of Norway, to Bergen further south on the Coast. I can say that I don’t think a straight passage exists on a Norwegian highway or train track for that matter, as I spent the day before getting from Oslo to Andalsnes by train, also SPECTACULAR. Everything winds and bends around and through the mountains, fjords and lakes. Always one of the three to look at and then there is the road to check out. It weaves and winds up and down the Fjords and is extremely narrow in parts and when you come head on with a tractor trailer and just squeeze by each other on the side of a cliff you count your blessings and this just happens and keeps happening. The site of the trains zigzagging up, down and a across the fjords are something to see.

At one point today the bus drove by this large lake and it was the right time of day for the mountains and sky to be mirrored in the lake, it was awesome. There are many waterfalls and streams running down the Fjords that are excellent too. The pictures don’t do it justice and I just had to stop trying to capture it. I would recommend you come and see what Norway has to offer. Get out into the little towns and see it. Bring your wallet though, for your reference a can of diet Coke costs $6, she’s a little pricey in this fine country.

So after my train journey yesterday I went for a hike as you do in Norway up one of these fjords or mountains. Wow, let’s just say that is a little bit of a work out. Up, up, up, over the roots, through the roots, up rocks, down rocks, no sure footing and then you make it up there and just have to come down. It was just as bad coming down, worse on the knees actually. So as I am struggling up a buff Norwegian man with his shirt off and tight little shorts goes sprinting by me and like that wasn’t enough he lapped me coming down. There are competitions in town to see who can get up it the fastest. I would have to say if I lived in that little town I think I would get better at climbing in general, maybe even sprinting up as Andalsnes resembles a ghost town. But let’s not forget the views, once up that fjord the views were spectacular and it was worth the effort.

Check out the photos at the following link, some are through the train window so not the best quality but a little taste of Norway just the same.

Pictures of the Fjords in Norway

Uppsala Sweden, Oslo Norway, 2 sets of photos

2010-08-10T16:25:00.003-04:00

The picture is of me riding the statue at the Sculpture Park in Oslo Norway.

I visited Uppsala Sweden the other day. It is a lovely University town with a 190 000 people and 40 000 of them are students at the “oldest University in Scandinavia.” The University has a cool building with a copula on top. The copula is open to the main floor where dissections were done 300 years ago on prisoners. The room is a big cylinder with seats up and down the sides for observing. It was a quant town and easy to get around by foot. They had a reggae festival on, so I was a little out of place because I didn’t have my hair in dreads.

At the grocery store you have to see the tills they have. The cashier doesn’t even have to come up with how to make your change anymore. The machine literally passes out the correct bills and spits out the change. The cashier doesn’t have to put the money into the till either. They just have to place it on the corresponding number and the machine sucks it up.

I am currently in Oslo Norway, again another nice town. There are some beautiful neighborhoods here and lovely walking to do through the residential areas. Speaking of walking, yesterday Jessie (yet another Aussie traveler) and I walked over 20 km’s. It was great, you name it, we walked to it. We saw a Viking ship, the ski jump, the Opera house, the palace, the beach and the very cool sculpture park. We went to a free concert at the Cathedral which was amazing. It was put on by the Norway Youth Choir and they were excellent. There was also the Tour de Norway for kids, bike race today through the town.

For the next little while I will be moving around Norway doing a circle around to the north, west coast and back to Oslo to check out the scenery by, train, boat, bus and of course foot.

Check out the Uppsala Sweden pictures at the following link;

Pictures of Uppsala Sweden

Check out the Oslo Norway pictures at the following link;

Pictures of Oslo Norway

Stockholm Sweden, Pictures

2010-08-06T14:11:00.004-04:00

I love when you are presently surprised and that is how I felt on my boat trip from Helsinki to Stockholm. I had booked a ticket to come by ferry, but as it turns out the “ferry” was really a mini cruise ship, complete with entertainment. It is big business to go between the two places and people do it as a mini holiday. So here I was thinking I was going on a true “ferry” for the night and hoping I could get some sleep. I was told I had a bed, which was great as people told me you could have to sleep on the deck or on the restaurant floor once it is closed. So when I showed up and was given a key to a cabin it was great. I was waiting for the other three people to show up in the room as it could accommodate four, but nope, had it to myself. Even had a bathroom in the cabin and it was the best shower I had had in a week. So then I had to dawn a dress as it was a cruise boat and I went to watch a couple of bands play. It was great. Single girl on a cruise ship in a dress at the pub leads to some interesting individuals to entertain you for the night. I will leave it at that. All in all, it was a great evening.

So now I am in Stockholm. It is a lovely city with lots of water and islands. I have done tons of walking here and a little shopping in the neat boutique type shops in the old city. Really it has been eight hour days of walking and checking out the lovely buildings. Sorry Jack there is no Mats Sudin stuff around. They don’t realize how popular he is and how lucky they are to have him. All they care about is this princess who just got married, big deal, what about hockey?

Today I met my friend Michaela from the Serbia - Gun Train (see my post- guns, drugs, fireworks, cigarettes and a Serbian train) to refresh your memory.
Guns, drugs, fireworks, cigarettes and a Serbian Train

http://smoloney.blogspot.com/2009/07/guns-drugs-fireworks-cigarettes-and.html
She is great. She is just back from a one month train trip through Eastern Europe. So it was cool to chat about that. She is living in Uppsala, a University town, so tomorrow I will go and have a wander around there. It is a 40 minute train ride outside of Stockholm. While we were having a hot chocolate and latte at the café in the square we were entertained by a set of three female musicians. They were absolutely brilliant so I spent the afternoon listening to them. They did a wide variety of cover tunes and were excellent.

Check out the photos of Stockholm at the following link;
Stockholm Sweden Pictures

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Tallinn, Estonia Photos

2010-08-02T10:26:00.001-04:00

Took a little day trip across the Baltic Sea yesterday to Tallinn Estonia. As you can do in Europe, just hop over to another country for the day, so that is what I did. It was an hour and a half long ferry ride. Tallinn Estonia has a lovely “Old City” to mull about in. You can check out the photos at the following link.

Tallinn Estonia Pictures

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Helsinki Finland, Photos

2010-07-31T12:26:00.001-04:00

I spent the day today walking the streets of Helsinki. It is a nice small, big city it that makes sense. They have a great market square with lots of local hand crafts. I found a new job for Homer; making antler beer bottle openers and spatulas. There is a lot of fur here but not as cheap as Russia.
I met a really cool Aussie couple today, as I tend to do, but this pair were in their eighties. We shared a park bench and by the end of the conversation they were inviting me to their house in Brisbane if I ever go back. Like most Aussies. What was so neat about them was how worldly they were. In 1954 they bought a car in London and drove to Calcutta. Can you imagine? They said they felt like movie stars in some villages because they had never seen foreigners before. They were really neat to chat with. They have a son living in Sweden and they had taken a return boat cruise from Stockholm to Helsinki.
There was free jazz in the park today and the band was great. Oh yes and it was only 22 degrees C today, only the second day in a month that it has been less than 36 degrees C.
Check out the photos of Helsinki at the following link;
Helsinki Finland Pictures

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All is good in Finland

2010-07-30T14:46:00.002-04:00

Well all has worked out. I have Euro’s, yeah! It turned out to be an easy process. I was a little worried as I arrived after the banks closed for the day. But I was able to find a money changing place and with my passport and credit card they said they would give me the cash. How much did I want? So I am back in business.

Well what should have been a five hour journey today turned into a 13 hour trip. Thank goodness I am still in train mode and had my food bag still in order with snacks. The Russian boarder was nuts. Hurry up and wait, wait, wait and for no need whatsoever, so it was hours, upon hours. Oh well. Then once we made it to the Finish side, it was in and out in two minutes.

I felt like our bus driver was playing a game of Russian roulette today speeding in and out of traffic. I was thankful to have a seat with a seatbelt and tightened it up when we happened upon an accident between a car and motorcycle where the driver was slain across the road and covered with a towel. RIP.

How do I follow that last statement…? Helsinki has a very calming presence. I am staying on an island just a 15 minute ferry ride from the mainland called Suomenlinna. It is complete with a fortress. It is full of friends having picnics on every corner or patch of grass. There are cars, but very few and none on the roads, just cobblestone walking paths. It is quite quant. It is so calm, that there are no workers at the hostel. Just pick up your key from the mailbox and make your way about, it is very quiet and pay tomorrow when we open at 9am. Enjoy your stay.

It was interesting that the change between Russia and Finland was so evident as soon as we drove over the boarder. With all of the vast land in Russia you would think there would be farms and fields of crops, but there are none. We were told they are not encouraged to farm and if they do and sell their produce the mafia is in on it and therefore people are then able to buy imported produce cheaper.

Check out the photos of Suomenlinna Finland at the following link;

Suomenlinna Finland Pictures

Russian Bank Machines, Link to Pictures

2010-07-29T14:05:00.006-04:00

July 27, 2010 sitting in front of the fan, yeah! It took a few days but I now have one to keep a little cooler, 38 degrees Celsius today. I am getting to know this hotel well. This is my sixth room. Literally I went from a hotel room with a pull out couch, not a bed and a pull out, just a pull out couch, to a king size, to a single, you name it. Good thing I haven’t been unpacking everything and it is easy to move.

I took a hydro foil today to the suburbs of St Petersburg to the Summer Palace. It was a beautiful spot with over 200 fountains and lots of walking paths and gardens. It also gave a little reprieve from the heat as it is on the Golf of Finland and heavily shaded.
Russia is a fascinating place with all this grandeur and wealth, yet the babushkas (old women) have been left to survive on their own with the fall of communism. They will literally be trying to sell one beet root to make a bit of money to try to survive. They didn’t have to work before and had their accommodation paid for and now they have been left to fend for themselves with no skills. St Petersburg is very European and Moscow, Soviet and then Siberia is just barren with the odd wooden shacks along the rails. They sure have a mix of everything.

July 28, 2010 and just spent the day having bevies in the park and walking the streets of St Petersburg with Kim Doolittle. (She is a musician on a cruise ship currently travelling through the Baltic Sea.) Kim is in town for the next couple of days and as coincidence would have it, should also be in Helsinki when I move on to there. We had a great day chilling and hanging out chatting. She is an awesome person and loving life, as we all should. It was so great to see her.

July 29, 2010 so after the last three hours I have had, I am in need of a little stress relief.

So I was going to go to the Circus de Soleil tonight and needed money for it and the mini bus to Helsinki tomorrow. So I head to a back machine, only for the f-ing thing to eat my card. So with me having no Russian and the security guard having no English, I act out that my card has been eaten and this girl running the cell phone kiosk by the machine has a little English to tell him. He is nice enough and calls the number on the machine to be put on hold for at least half an hour. Anyway we figure out that they will not come to the machine until tomorrow and I am to leave at 7am tomorrow for Helsinki. So I figure ok no worries, I have two days left on the old VISA I can stay get my card and go on the 11pm mini bus. But this woman nearby says in Russian they will not give her her card back anyway. So I think, right. F***.

So I come back to the hotel and say I need your help, I need to make a collect call to Canada, to my bank. Have you ever tried to make a collect call out of the country before? It is not possible. Sure the banks say, call collect, there is no way out of country, calling zero for the operator doesn’t exist. So I come up to my room and figure with the WIFI I will Google how to make a collect call from Russia to Canada. Nothing. So I try the Skype I loaded on the computer before I left and tried the 1 800 number for the bank. It worked. Not sure if it was my first free call that worked, as the screen kept advertising first call for free with Skype or whether all 1 800 numbers are free. Anyway an hour and forty five minutes on the phone to the bank and my credit card and I am feeling more confident with the money situation, knowing I still have a month away with now no bank card. You would think this would be easily fixed because I have a credit card, yes, but with no pin. So two pieces of ID, thank god I brought my driver’s license and a MasterCard bank and they should be able to give me cash withdrawals. I transferred cash to the card from my account and should be able to get Euros now. Here’s hoping the banks don’t close early on Friday’s in Finland as I don’t arrive until 2pm. Luckily I have American dollars and am not completely out. What a pain in the butt. Needless to say I am having a beer as I type this and looking for that stress relief.

Thanks for letting me vent.

Check out the pictures of the Summer Palace and the last few days at the following link;

Summer Palace Photos and Pictures from the last few days

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More Pictures of St Petersburg Russia

2010-07-26T05:56:00.004-04:00

Got to love the Russian dolls, who says that men can not enjoy them too?

July 26, 2010 and still in St Petersburg, it is awesome. There is so much to see and do and you can just enjoy getting lost in the parks, streets and canals of the city. Well I am the last one now. I just said the final goodbyes to Paula, Catherine and Rebecca from team Intrepid. I will carry on here for a few more days and Kim is coming in on the cruise ship July 28 so we will try to meet up.

It has been an interesting weekend in St Petersburg. Yesterday was Navy day. The river was full of Navy ships and the streets were full of drunken sailors. It was interesting people watching and yes it is still very hot, so they were entertaining themselves in fountains around the city.

Last night Paula, Mike, Debbie and I went to a beautiful hotel for supper, the Bellevue. The restaurant was on the hotel’s roof and had spectacular views of the city. We enjoyed ourselves and had a nice leisurely five hour dinner, which included a fireworks show. It is light out until really late here, so needless to say it was the first fireworks show I have seen when it was still light out.

You can check out some more photos at the following link;

More Pictures of St Petersburg Russia

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St Petersburg Russia, Pictures

2010-07-23T10:52:00.002-04:00

St Petersburg is awesome but we have done so much, I have to say I am tired, so this will be short. We arrived at 7am yesterday, got a shower, yeah and went on a walking tour at 9am. We then climbed St Isaac’s Church to see the view and wondered the streets along the rivers and canals. I didn’t know this but St Petersburg is full of over 60 rivers and canals and they were going to call it New Amsterdam at one point. We then had dinner and got a little more cultured by attending the ballet, Swan Lake. Then we went on a river boat cruise to see the rising of the bridges which is done every night at 2am to let the ships and large boats through. Needless to say I am a little tired after that action packed day and oh yes, no air conditioning anywhere, yes none at the hotel and it is again over 40 degrees. But we are surviving; I am not saying that to complain, just making note of it for you. Then if that wasn’t enough we went to the Hermitage today and oh my god that place is the biggest museum I have ever seen, and I have been to the Louver. The Hermitage was built in the 17 century and is full of art work Catherine the Great collected. There are over 3 million exhibits in 400 halls and there are 20 times more than what you can see in vaults. But the buildings, oh my, they are enough on their own. The architecture, ceilings, crown molding, massive, massive rooms, and every floor having a different mosaic pattern of hardwood. I was happy to just check out the halls, let alone the art work on the walls by Picasso and Monet to name only a couple.
Check out the link for pictures from St Petersburg Russia
Pictures of St Petersburg Russia

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Ekaterinburg and Moscow Russia, Pictures

2010-07-17T13:25:00.006-04:00

July 18, 2010 and back on the train. This leg of the journey is from Ekaterinburg (Yekaterinburg) to Moscow, 24 hours. The train only gets better. I am very happy I chose to do from Beijing to St Petersburg and not vice versa. The trains have only improved and our timing has been impeccable with festivals and anniversaries along the route.
This time the train is modern and clean with automatic doors between carriages and attendants with disinfect wiping things down, the toilets are spot on clean and there is air conditioning. Not feeling so grubby and if anything feeling a little under dressed.
Yekaterinburg was excellent. It is an interesting well organized town of 1.4 million people. There was something about the place that gave you that inviting feel even though there were very few foreigners there, or any at all that we saw. It was only opened to foreigners in 1992, as there were and still are a lot of secret agencies there. There are a mix of rocket scientists and weapons of war producers around and brides and grooms on every corner and monument having their wedding photos taken.
We visited the site where the Romanov’s were murdered. It is now an Orthodox church, called the Church of the Blood. The Romanov’s were murdered on July 16 1918. We happened to be there on the anniversary and witnessed pilgrims at the church and a church bell ceremony.
Nicholas Romanov was a Tsar that was brutally murdered with his wife and children by the Bolsheviks. They have been canonized as martyrs by the Orthodox Church. They were shot and killed at close range in the basement of an engineer’s home. The women didn’t die right away as their metal corsets saved them. The family was transported to a rural area burned, covered in poison and thrown down a mine shaft in Ganina Yama (16 km’s from Yekaterinburg.) Four of us got a driver and went to the site, it was fantastic. There are seven wooden churches there now and again the pilgrims were there. There were all kinds of black and white photos around the perimeter showing the Romanov family. There was a calming presence that came over us there as we walked around and took it all in.
In Yekaterinburg we also visited the boarder between Europe and Asia. Our local guide had an interesting quote for us yesterday. She said that she read that spending just one day in a foreign city you can receive more information that you could get from reading about a place for 10 years, interesting thought.
The food in Russia has been excellent. They love to use dill and use it in everything. Even just minced up dill and olive oil on pasta or a salad was tasty. Let alone the meat. They love their meat. Our salad of cucumbers, tomato and peppers last night came with two strips of bacon on top of it. I know some boys that would say that is their kind of salad!
July 19, 2010 we are now in Moscow and staying at a huge hotel/apartment complex that housed Olympic athletes during the 1980 Olympics. Moscow is a beautiful city. We visited the Basilica, Red Square and Kremlin. The panoramic views are breath taking, you just don’t know where to look or what to take a picture of.
July 21, 2010 checked out the Military museum and Gulag Museum’s today in Moscow. Wow did I ever get an education. The Gulag museum was about work camps in Russia during the Soviet, Communist time. There were over 25 000 camps across Siberia and the torture these people were put through.
It is over 40 degrees in Moscow and Russia is not equipped for this type of heat. Our hotel is huge. We are on the 20th floor and there is no air conditioning. Needless to say we are a little warm.
Every day I seem to learn more and more and yet realize how little I really know. Man I know I am fortunate and appreciate the life I’ve been given.

Check out the Yekaterinburg pictures at the following link

Pictures of Yekaterinburg Russia

and the Moscow pictures at the following link

Pictures of Moscow Russia

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Mongolia and Lake Baikal Russia and Pictures

2010-07-16T05:03:00.004-04:00

July 12 2010 it is currently 36 degrees Celsius in our train cabin and Rosie one of my cabin mates is sitting across from me sewing paper cups and scraps together making her hat for the hat party tonight in our train car. Entertainment at its finest when you are on a 40 hour train journey. We are now in Siberia and finally through the boarder and its nonsense. We arrived at the Mongolian boarder at four in the morning and started the immigration stuff around eight. That then took until 11 am at which point the train moved and therefore the toilets opened again. Not too bad this time as we were allowed to get off the train at 7 am and pay to use the ones in the station. We then moved to the Russian side and the process started again and finally at 4:30pm we are on the move again. So now they would say we are on the Trans Siberian Trail leaving behind the Trans Mongolian trail.
Mongolia is fantastic. We were there for Nadaam a national festival where everyone is out in traditional garb. We went to the opening ceremonies and then watched some for the main events. They included archery, ankle bone toss, crazy but they throw ankle bones at a target, wrestling and there is also horse races. It was awesome, awesome.
In Mongolia there are two million people and half of them live in the capital city Ulaan Bataar. There are a total of five very small cities and then the rest of the people live nomadically. Unbelievable but there are gers (tent like structures) all over the country side and even in the suburbs of town. It is such an interesting country and such neat traditions. The infer structure needs work in this town, an engineering nightmare or challenge. It is a crazy town with no grid road system, drainage or good walking paths, but yet there is a Louis Vuitton and a Burberry shop that did 1 million in profits in the first three months. Crazy, if you are rich you are really rich they say and these people are few. They get their money from mining.
We went to a cultural show where they played very unique instruments and throat sang. You will have to look it up and interesting sound to say the least.
Everyone is buying a sheep or goat for their family to have during the festival, so there are herders at the edge of town where you can pick yours and have it skinned right there at the side of the road. We saw them slitting their throats and then selling the skin at the side of the road. You can get a “fresh” and I mean really fresh sheep skin at the side of the road for $2.
We went and stayed in a ger, it was an excellent experience. Our ger was in the national park and was not the most authentic location as I say we were in a ger trailer park, but still the real thing as far as accommodation. While there I went horseback riding through the hills and valleys, it was spectacular. Has a horse ever bit your knee? Well a Mongolian horse bit my knee. We were riding and one of the horses just reached over and chomped down on my knee cap, crazy thing. We had already nicknamed it Killer. It was a long way from the heart and I am fine.
July 15, 2010 we are back on the train again for another 40 hour trip and have one night in on the train already out of the two night journey. One would think a long ride like that would be daunting but we actually look forward to getting on the train. We have come up with some good entertainment. The hat party was excellent and everyone enjoyed their Russian Vodka that night. We were in a car with the Intrepid group for that journey too, so they joined in on the party, we are the Gap group. They have spent another night in Listvyanka so will miss our Christmas party tonight.
Groud is our tour leader and she is Thai. We played I have never the other night and she has never been to a Christmas party so hence the theme for tonight’s leg of the journey. We weren’t able to buy any real Christmas decorations so part of the day will be spent making the cabin festive with paper snow flake s and streamers. One would think this is all my doing, but I have met like minded people and they are all over this. It is a group effort. We even have the free socks from the airplane to use as stockings.
Moving on, in Listvyanka our group was split up into groups of 1, 2’s and 3’s and sent to a Russian home or apt for a home stay. It was great. Home cooked meals and we had the only host that spoke English so Rosie and I got them to do a little laundry for us. The others were so jealous, most want to burn their train cloths from the last 40 hour journey at 36 degrees Celsius and ours are nice and fresh and clean. Listvyanka is a small village on Lake Baikal. It was a gorgeous setting. We did lots of waking around the lake and ate some excellent fish that are only found in this lake. Lake Baikal has 22 % of the world’s fresh water in it. Our apt was an authentic Russian one. We stayed with an older woman and her daughter that is close in age to me. She is the one who spoke English. The apt was packed full of stuff and has that old charm to it. Not very modern, but their hospitality was excellent. The girl was actually a teacher, but doesn’t like teaching and she enjoys her job at the souvenir shop.
We went on a city tour of Irkutsk and saw some very interesting churches that during the communist time housed potatoes and onions and that is how they were saved.
Later the same day or I guess the early morning of July 16, 2010. Our Christmas party is just rapping up and it was a hit. Groud enjoyed herself as well as us. We had a stocking filled with goodies for her and we played a secret Santa pass the present game. The cabin was decorated to the nines with red and green balloons and a Christmas tree we made out of a sarong to name a few things.
Our train journeys are interesting. Our guide was concerned one night and told us to make sure we didn’t leave our car as during the night we would be losing cars and she was concerned we would be lost. Some legs of the journey don’t have a food car so we have to hit a supermarket and buy enough food to last us the 40 hours. There is hot water on the train so two minute noodles are a very popular item.
Today we have passed through three time zones. It is currently the 16th of July and we are 44 hours into a 46 hour trip that I thought was going to be 40 hours. No worries we have some interesting individuals in the rail car with us that we can chat about and some more scenery out the windows. This leg of the Trans Siberian has been interesting. There are forests upon forests of Birch trees and then the odd wooden shack that someone lives in. I can only imagine those shacks in the winter and how isolated those people are. In this 44 hour journey we have only passed through six cities and the rest has been this vast land of trees and greenery. We have now entered into the Ural region on our way to Ekaterinburg. Ekaterinburg was only opened up to tourists in 1992. It was or is a large military region and a big KGB area, thus they didn’t want any foreigners in. You can tell we are entering a military region as we just went by a couple of fields of tanks and had the longest cargo train we have seen pass us with military vehicles on it.

Click on the following links for photos

Pictures of Beijing, Mongolia and the Nadaam Festival in Mongolia

Pictures of Lake Baikal Russia and our train parties

“Yonder comes the train let’s catch ‘er on the fly!”

2010-07-08T18:30:00.005-04:00

This summer I am doing the Trans Mongolian Express from Beijing to St Petersburg covering over 7000 miles by train. Check out the picture for the route.

I am currently watching the sunrise over the Mongolian dessert at 5:20am July 8, 2010 from my train cabin as my three Aussie cabin mates sleep. I was a little under the weather with a stomach bug yesterday that allowed me to sleep most of the day and night on the train, so hence the early start. We are currently 21 and half hours into a 30 + hour train ride from Beijing to Ulan Batar (the capital of Mongolia). We will eventually make our way to St Petersburg Russia via the Trans Mongolian Train.

So with a little stomach bug that makes for an interesting train ride. The toilets get shut down when the train is not in motion and at the border crossing the wheels need to be changed, do to different track sizes in China and Mongolia. So the toilets were out of commission for six hours. I survived, but it was interesting. During this stop your passport is taken and returned to you two hours later while they take it into immigration/customs and you stay on the train. It is brought back to you and you move ahead a bit and they take it again for a couple of hours on the Mongolian side.

The wheel changing process is pretty interesting. At the border they jack the train up with the passengers in it still and change the wheels out from under you.

I am doing the Trans Mongolian Trail with eleven other people in our group and a guide. I have a net book for this trip, so I plan to be updating the blog when I am in Wi-Fi areas and type it on train trips or the like. I haven’t been able to update the blog yet as I couldn’t access it in Beijing. The Chinese sensor a lot of things and my blog was one of them. When I was here three years ago I could write the blog in China but could not see it myself. This time no such luck. Got to like communism, so hopefully in Mongolia I will be able to post this.

Our group is made up of lovely people, Irish (3), Aussies (3), Canadian (2), and (3) British. It is a combo of two teachers, a banker, three doctors, one unemployed consultant, two optometrists a lawyer and a nurse.

We spent a few days in Beijing, what a great city and it has changed so much just in three years since I was here last. The city is very clean and very advanced. They are sure into their flat screen TV’s and have them everywhere. They are on the subway, in the busses at the gas station there was one bigger than a car giving off advertisements and then these two seem wrong. They had two in front of the monument on Tiananmen Square that had to be 500 meters in length, each, all just showing ads. Oh yes and after our hike on the Great Wall, which is one of my favorite places to be my roommate and I went to have a massage and even in that room they had a flat screen for us to watch as we received our massages in lazy boy chairs for $14. They did do a good job, but the TV was no babbling brook like at home.

We visited Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City with everyone else in Beijing, it was busy and extremely hot, my thermometer said it was 45 degrees C and 40 in the shade. The Great Wall was awesome again, I love it there. This time I visited a different part of the wall which was nice. It was quite the hike up to get to the wall. It had to be 2km’s of stairs straight up in that heat, wow she was warm. It was exciting to finally make it to the top and be on the wall. Once onto the top the heat didn’t bug me, even though it was direct sunlight. The Wall is just spectacular. We had a cool option of coming down from the wall on a sled through a kind of loge track that zigzagged down through the trees. It was also fun.

There are way more cars on the road in Beijing and fewer bicycles than the last time I was here. Everyday 1000 new cars are put on the road. There are over 4 million cars on the road in Beijing and 20 million people. They have restrictions that you can only drive your car on certain days of the week and it depends on your license plate number. For examples if yours start with a one you can drive on Monday and Wednesdays etc.

We went to a very cool acrobatics show, wow the things these little Chinese people and twist themselves into. When in China you have to try the crazy things they eat. So I tried scorpion, this time heavy on the shell and therefore very crunchy.

July 9, 2010 I am up at another ungodly hour today. I don’t think my body has quite switched over yet with the jet lag. I am 12 hours ahead of you at home and will be going through I think seven time zones.

We are currently in Ulaan Bataar the capital of Mongolia. Mongolia has a population of 2 million people and the capital houses 1.2 million of them. It is interesting country side, very vast, dessert and no trees. They say 40% of the population lives a nomadic lifestyle. So as you make your way through the country by train and there are nomads sprinkled throughout and then we arrived on the capital which is one of five larger cities in the country. It is an interesting town, a mix of old and new. Dodgy looking streets and buildings but then when you go in the building they are extremely modern and house major department stores.

We went from being soaked with our own sweat to being soaked with rain last night and it was much cooler in the low 20’s.

We went to a great cultural show last night. Really interesting instruments and they are throat singers. They can make crazy sounds deep in their throat. You will have to look it up. The Mongolian music was very nice. We then went for a Mongolian bar-b-q where you choose your meat and veggies and they grill it up on a huge grill in front of you. I had to go for the horse meat, mutton and chicken. I have to say the horse meat was the best and the chicken my least favorite. From my choices I think you can tell my stomach is feeling better.

Having a little trouble with internet connections and uploading pictures. Hopefully soon.

Panama and Chicago

2010-07-08T18:23:00.004-04:00

Just trying to update the travel blog, it’s been awhile. Mom and I went to Panama for the March Break and it was excellent. We stayed along the Panama Canal right in the rainforest in Gamboa. We had a plantation style apartment. It use to house the American military back in its day. It was excellent. It was very easy to get around, mom and I took the local bus, it was 65 cents and had a great tour around. This couple we met paid $120 for a taxi of the same tour! Central America is great. I would highly recommend checking it out. Click on the link to see the photos.

Click here for the Panama photos

Then at Easter I went to Chicago to visit my friend Subir that I met when I was in Egypt. We had a great long weekend and checked out many a cool place. The Millennium Park was a great place to people watch. We made it to a Bull’s game. The people in Chicago are extremely friendly. Everyone you meet on the street smiles and says hello. Thanks for the hospitality Subir. I visited the Sears Tower and stood out on the glass floor a hundred and thirty stories up over the road. It was freaky and I am not afraid of heights, usually. Check out the link for the photos.

Chicago photos

Links to the online photo albums

2010-01-03T20:21:00.003-05:00

Click on the following links to see all of the online photo albums.

One of two links for online photo albums

Second link for more online photo albums

Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, Pictures

2009-08-12T06:11:00.009-04:00

Luxembourg is a great city. The train ride here was beautiful. Through vineyards, hills, tunnels, along the Rhine with castles on hills in the distance. Very lovely. Then I make it to Luxembourg and see the gorgeous buildings, walls, bridges and old structures. It too is a workout up and down the hills, but really nice walking. There is a really nice park down in a valley where once you are in it you can not see any buildings and just the wall, water, trees and greenery.

A place always gets defined by the people you meet in it and I met a very nice man from The States last night in Luxembourg. We shared the walk through the park and a beer. He has an interesting story and it was great to hangout with him. He is a financial controller for NATO in Iraq and will now be working in Luxembourg for NATO. He was here for a job interview and got the job. His stories of Iraq (he has lived there for four years) and his experiences with the Navy living on a submarine and aircraft carrier were very interesting.

I went to the Casements. A UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is a series of underground tunnels created by Count Siegfried in 963. The casements offered shelter to 1000's at a time over centuries. The most recent being shelter during the world war. Originally they were made to protect the fortress. There is a very nice Abbey in town, many churches and walking paths.

There is money in Luxembourg. I had no idea it is as successful as it is. The highest income per capita in Europe. A real banking town and many a suit around.

Click here to see the pictures from Luxembourg

Weekend with Erin, Pictures

2009-08-12T05:42:00.007-04:00

You have got to love Europe. I have been hopping countries left right and center this weekend. I had the opportunity to have a last visit with Erin in Germany on the weekend so I took the train from Amsterdam to meet her on Saturday. It was a good visit. She also had a friend Julie from Vancouver staying with her for the weekend. We had an interesting little outing to a Retro Gaming place where you pay three Euro for unlimited gaming. You name it it is there, Packman, Pinball, Sega, etc etc. If you know me I am not a video game person and I sucked, but it was fun and I did improve.

Sunday we decided to go to France for lunch. You know, don't you just go to France for lunch? Got to love it. It was about an half and hour drive. We went to Wissembourg, a quaint town, walked around and took in the lovely flowers and buildings. Then we hit a man made beach at a quarry in France for some sun and swimming.

Monday I headed to Bonn Germany by train. I was to take a boat cruise on the Rhine to get there, but couldn't make the connection as there was "danger on the tracks" and trains were not running to the station I needed. This was a big walking day for me with my pack and extra bag I now have. I am feeling it in the legs. I had a 15 minute walk in the train station at the airport to switch from a long distance train to a regional train. It is all inside and part of the airport, up and down escalators and all around. Once arriving at the Regional Train area I was sent back to the Long distance trains and another 15 minute walk do to this "danger on the tracks." Anyway. Made it to Bonn, also a lovely town. It is where Beethoven was born. Once arriving in the town I continued my weighed down work out as the street the hostel was on was like no other I have seen before. It was really two streets far apart. Making kind of an L shape. I could find buildings 6 and 8 and odd numbers from 21, but not the 7 I was looking for. Finally I found it a good 10 minute walk from where 6 or 8 are and dropped off those bags. My shoulders were thanking me for that by this point.

From there I headed to Luxembourg because why not. It is lovely and I love when you are pleasantly surprised by a place. I didn't have any former knowledge or expectations and it is fantastic.

Click here to the pictures from the weekend with Erin

Brugge Belgium, Amsterdam Holland and Pictures.

2009-08-07T12:32:00.003-04:00

Visited Brugge Belgium and am now in Amsterdam. I am sure lots of you have seen the movie In Brugge. I will have to check it out once home.
Brugge is a lovely, quant town with many canals. They call it the Venice of the North, but they think Venice should be called the Brugge of the South as it is older. Anyway it is a great city with wonderful chocolate shops and architecture. Some of that Belgium chocolate got wasted today. It melted in my backpack and created a mess, what a waste.
Did you know that a bad smell can keep you awake? Well I learned this the other night. A guy came into the room at 3am and he was rank. Now you will think with booze. No. It was some other awful odor that two Aussies that were in the room too described as rotting road kill. They had his feet close to their heads and I had is bag, backpack, shoes and his stuff by my head. I got up and moved the shoes, but it was more than that. He needed to shower, do laundry maybe throw out socks, shoes or everything.
So carrying on with smells, Amsterdam… The smell of pot is prevalent. The Red Light district is interesting to say the least, quite the entertainment around here. No pictures of the ladies in the windows though. They will come after you and throw urine on you or smash your camera. I guess they keep cups of urine beside them in case, lovely. It is quite interesting to see the negotiations and coming and goings, 15 minutes and if you are not finished you must renegotiate. The Red Light district has existed since 1600. There is a church in the heart of the Red Light district. It was for the sailors to go to confession before they headed back out to sea and if they were going early in the morning they could have their confessions listened to in advance, for a sum. There are quite the interesting shows in this district too and the tricks they can do. G readers so you will have to ask specifics of me in person.
A lot of the buildings are on a lean towards the road and have a hook at the roof in Amsterdam. This was for merchants to get their shipments into the building without using the stairs. Still used for houses today, coaches, fridges etc.
Taxes in Amsterdam are based on how wide your house or building is. There is one house that is only as wide as the door.
The Frank’s hid out in Amsterdam during World War II and the site where Anne wrote her famous diary and took refuge with her family is now a museum in town.

Click here for pictures from Brugge Belgium and Amsterdam Holland.

WW I sites, Belgium, Pictures and Videos

2009-08-03T11:21:00.012-04:00

This picture is taken at the Memorial to John McCrae who wrote in Flander's Field. I have gone off the "backpackers" beaten track and come to Ypres a village in Belgium. So off the track there are no hostels here. I am staying in a B and B owned by a lovely old lady in a house from 1926 with 10' ceilings. I am so glad I came off the beaten track and visited Flander's fields. WOW! I was at the site today where John McRae wrote his famous poem back in 1915. Ypres is where the Last Post is played each evening at 8pm, so you know where I have been. There was so much destruction here during WW I it is hard to take it all in. Around every corner is another cemetery with some known and many only known to God soldiers gravestones. The Last Post is played at the Menin Gate each evening by buglers from the local fire brigade. There was a regiment from Eastern Belgium last night to partcipate in the ceremonies. Each day there is some type of ceremony. It was excellent. I videoed it and hopefully can post it for you to see. If you think you can use any of the pictures or videos for your purposes, as I know many a teacher is reading this, feel free. This area is so moving. At the Commonwealth Cemetery we saw two new graves that were where two soldiers were only laid to rest 10 days ago. There bodies were discovered by a farmer. On the way to the Cemetery we had to pull over to see shells that were at the side of the road. A farmer had uncovered them when plowing the field and put them at the side of the road for pick up. Three were still potentially live. It is a full time job, job for life, detonating shells. Over 200 tons are collected each year. I visited original support trenches from WW I and saw the Canadian Memorial at Vancouver Corner, where the first gas attack occurred. On a differnt note. Belgium has wonderful food, beer, chocoate and waffles. I have enjoyed trying all of these. The Kriek (Cherry) beer is great and I have been having lots for you Erin. (She cann't get it in Germany.) In Ghent on Saturday morning I walked past City Hall and they were lined up to get in and be married. It was interesting to watch the goings on of the corner all waiting to get in. One group of black people had the most life, throwing rice, dancing and singing in the street. Again the architecture is fantastic, but different in Belgium. I have found some new (old) dormer designs for the Moloney boys to incorporate into their many dormers. (They love putting dormers on places.) Well I am really enjoying my history lessons over here. I have always wanted to come to Flander's fields and I am so glad I am here. I must go the Last Post will be taking place soon.

Click here for Ypres WWI site photos and pictures from Belgium

D-Day Beaches, Pictures

2009-07-31T04:37:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I had an excellent opportunity to visit Caen and the Normandy beaches. Wow. It was a powerful experience. I took an early two hour train from Paris to Caen. I spent the day there and it could use a lot more time than that, next time.

I visited the museum for a few hours and then did a five hour guided tour of some of the beaches and areas were the allies landed. The Cemetery was unbelievable with the rows upon rows of crosses. Rick you would need a week at least to visit this area. He is a huge history guy and I know you would have loved the trip I did yesterday.

I have to add a thank you to those veterans. I am not doing this justice in this write up, but it was unbelievable.

Click on this link to see pictures of the D-Day beaches and some more of Paris.

Paris, Pictures

2009-07-29T05:54:00.007-04:00

Bonjour from Paris. All is wonderful. The sites are spectacular and especially at night. Last night I did an awesome tour by bicycle to see Paris all lit up. The Eiffel Tower was excellent and on the hour for five minutes they really make it sparkle. Our tour guide was terrific and we dominated the road. There were 22 people in our group, but Paris is really bike friendly with shared lanes for busses, taxis and bikes. Notre Dame Cathedral is quite the site. Part of the tour was an hour long boat cruise complete with red wine. It gave a really good view.

I went to the Catacombs yesterday. It is full of over 7 million bones. It was an underground mine used for mining limestone and when the cemeteries were full they filled it with bones. Creepy.

There are tons of buskers here and the streets really come alive at night. They are terrific as well, drawing big crowds. Only in Paris would a couple be all dressed up and busking by dancing.

Click here to view pictures of Paris

Austrian Adventures, Pictures

2009-07-25T12:29:00.006-04:00

This morning I donned a full piece wet suit, neoprene boodies, hiking books, a harness, helmet, drove up a huge mountain and repelled off a bridge into a glacial waterfall to start my day. Wow! I went cayoning today. I hadn't heard about the sport until two weeks ago but gave it a go today and I am hooked. It is a combination of hiking, rock climbing, swimming, sliding, repelling and abb-sailing. The glacial water was chilly to say the least, but it was awesome. We followed the flow of a waterfall down the mountain. We hiked through it, slid down it, jumped 5m into it, repelled 15m down it, it was awesome a great adventure and workout. I am tired now. I wasn't able to get any photos so I included a link to a video on the companies website. Hope it works for you. Look for Feelfree Canyoning and press "Hier starten" to see the video. It is towards the right of the page.

Click here for the link to a canyoning video. Press Feelfree Canyoning Hier starten to see the video. It is towards the right of the page.

It has been an adventure experience in Austria. Yesterday I went golfing at Olympia golf course. It has spectacular mountain views. I met a 17 year old girl at the club who is on the Austrian Junior Golf Team. She and her mother, (who worked at the club, maybe owned it, not sure) were lovely. The course was short but spectacular views. Then right across the road in the mountain is the Olympic Bob Sled track and yes I went for a couple of rides. It too was awesome. I have always wanted to go bob sledding and it was so cool. One minute and six seconds, 1270m, 14 curves and up to 95km/h. The gravitational force (not sure if that is the right name) on one of the curves was incredible. You sit upright but on the curve if felt like mine spine was being compressed from the skull down. It didn't last long but it was intense.

A company rents the track for three nights a week from 4pm - 6pm and does rides for 25 Euro. For the ride to go they need four people so one time there was only three to go and I got to go again but for free. I know it was a lot of money for a 1 minute and six second thrill, but when in Austria at an Olympic bob sled track... Today was way better bang for my buck, five hours of cayoning experience, a beer at the end, a shot of Schnapps, an Austrian lunch, 75 Euro. Great opportunities.

Now for the less thrill seeking activities but good experiences too. When in Salzburg I met a girl (Laura) who is a music teacher in Melbourne who is traveling for five months. We did the Sound of Music tour. I thought of you Sarah (Jones) Morrison the whole time. Sarah is a huge fan for those that don't know. The hills really were alive with the sound of music! Laura and I rented bikes for a day and rode around Salzburg. It was a nice way to get around. The parks were lovely and the mountain views were great. It was a hot, hot day so we wheeled those babies up to the Monastery for a pint. They make some of the greatest beer in Austria at the Augustine Monastery in Salzburg. It is huge and they have a great system for getting food. There is a hallway with different vendors and you can buy what you want and bring it to your seat. They have amazing roast chicken, fries and oh course beer out of wooden barrels.

It is hard to believe in this laid back, beautiful country that they would need Red Bull, but they do I guess. Did you know it was created in Austria? We saw their headquarters.

Innsbruck has hosted the Olympics twice and I can see the ski jump from by hostel. Austria is beautiful. I love those mountains. Having an amazing time. See you soon.

Click here to check out the photos from Salzburg and Innsbruck Austria.

Click here for the link to a canyoning video. Press Feelfree Canyoning Hier starten to see the video. It is towards the right of the page.

Czech Republic, Pictures

2009-07-18T17:20:00.011-04:00

The Czech Republic is fantastic. Prague was a wonderful city to tour around. Put lots of miles on there, tons of walking. I am now in Cesky Krumlov in the South and it is fantastic too. A great quaint little town to walk around and check out. Many castles and churches in this country. There are bears living around the perimeter of the castle in Cesky Krumlov.

Have ran into four people I met in previous cities in Prague. It is funny to run into people you know on the street and it is a huge city. One girl I met from Australia in Vienna ended up being my room mate, very small world. I was to stay in a five person dorm and it ended up being a two bed dorm and she my room mate.

I visited the town of Kutna Hora. It has a bone church. During the plague the cemetery ran out of room and a priest decided to decorate the inside of the church with bones. There are pyramids, a crest, strings of garland and chandeliers all made out of bones. I couldn't help but think it would be a great spot for a Halloween party. I will be using my photos from there for Halloween.

Went to a great micro brewery in Prague and sampled their beers. I am not usually a dark beer fan and I don't drink coffee but I have to say those were my two favorites.

I visited the Jewish Museum in Prague. It has a fantastic display of over 4000 pieces of children's artwork from Terezin Concentration Camp. A women taught art lessons there and this work was found in a couple of her suitcases after she was sent to Auschwitz, like the children. It was powerful to see how they depicted the times. It was done to help them deal with what they were living through.

Good food, views, cheap prices, good shopping and tons of sites to see here.

My hostel is pretty cool in Cesky Krumlov, I have a loft room with a girl I met on the bus coming here. But check out the hostel in Prague, it was the best yet. Click here for the link to the hostel in Prague.

Pictures from the Czech Republic.

Auschwitz-Birkenau, Pictures

2009-07-14T04:59:00.007-04:00

Wow! What a day yesterday. I visited Auschwitz-Birkenau. It is was powerful. It is hard to believe that this all went on not that long ago and that similar "problems" are happening in our world and that we are letting them happen.

You can not take pictures inside the buildings at Auschwitz so I don't have a picture of all the children's shoes. There was one room full of children's shoes. When I say the room was full I mean there were three regular walls and the forth wall was glass. It was filled from the top and therefore the contents of the room were meters deep. Children, old, crippled and anyone they saw not fit to work was told to undress "remember where they put their cloths." They thought they would be coming back for them and sent instantly to the gas chamber. Auschwitz was a death camp. You were sent there to die. When the people arrived by train they were told to line up and pointed in a direction either right or left. One direction was for heading instantly to the gas chamber and the other was to work for awhile before going to the chamber.

There was a room full of human hair (two tons of it). They shaved their heads and sold the hair to textile companys. The children's shoes as I mentioned. A room full of adult shoes, and others full of eye glasses, trunks and cloths. On the trunks they made them write their name and birthdate on the outside. Some that I saw were from children that were one year old and three years old.

Birkenau is three km's from Auschwitz. It had many wood buildings and Auschwitz had a lot of brick buildings. I noticed that both locations now are very lush and green. At the other camps I have visited (two others in Germany) they have been barren and grey. Survivors say there was no grass back then and only mud and dirt. If there was grass they would have eaten it they were so hungry.

This write up does it no justice, but it is something you need to experience for yourself.

You can see some photos from Auschwitz-Birkenau by clicking this link.

Krakow Poland, Pictures

2009-07-12T09:52:00.007-04:00

The pictures I have of Krakow do not do it justice. It is an amazing city. The buildings, parks, and the numerous churches are spectacular. The buildings were not destroyed during WWII like most of the other cities in Europe.

The food is good too. Lots of perogies.

I did a walking tour around the city yesterday. It was a bit chilly but good for checking out the sites. The walk was five hours. I went to the salt mine today. The mine is underground and was a working mine for over 700 years! It closed down operations in 1996 and now is a tourist attraction. It was very interesting. The salt is black. It is called green salt as the lighting wasn't good back then and they thought the black colour was green. There are fasinating sculptures made out of the salt and it was miners that created them. There are three chapels in the mine. One of the small ones is called Holy Cross Chapel and then there is this amazing one that is quite large and still holds weddings and special ceremonies. It was spectacular to happen upon. I knew nothing about this mine before going so I was pleasantly suprised with the whole visit. Did I mention there are churches everywhere? They also have more masses a day then we do at home, so yes I made it to mass and oh yes the former Pope is from Poland, so there are statues of him everywhere too. Even underground.

On the way to the salt mine I was on the public bus with a group of Scouts from Sweden. They were between the ages of 17 and 20 and were earning their "international adventure" badge. It sounded cool. They were dropped off in pairs around Poland and give seven maps. They knew the end location and had to figure out which map would work and where they were. They had 10 days to walk 160 km's with their gear. They had to carry camping gear, food, water etc. Around 20kg's of stuff each. They could stay with people along the way and eat with them but only if the people invited them. All of them earned their badge and were supporting new belts with a compass as the belt buckle. A present for finishing. Each year two countries are chosen as the adventure country. They said next year is Spain and Italy but that you can only do the adventure once.

At the mine I went through with a couple and his parents from England. They too were cool to talk with. It was his birthday and she suprised him with a trip to Krakow. She woke him at 2am and told him to get up. She didn't tell him anything, just get dressed and ready. At the airport she gave him a present to open and it was a guide book for Krakow. Then once at the hotel in Krakow they went for breakfast and there were his parents. They had flew in the day before. I have always wanted to be suprised with a trip, so if my future husband is reading, oh forget that. Anyone can do it. I have always wanted to be told to pack a bag for hot or cold weather and then taken on a suprise trip, hey they could even pack a bag for me like this woman did for her husband. They were having a great weekend away. Must be nice to jet set like that and go to Poland for the weekend.

Enjoying the city. I have to say it is fantastic.

Click on the following link for Krakow Poland pictures

Vienna Austria, Pictures

2009-07-11T01:48:00.005-04:00

Click on this link for pictures of Vienna Austria

Have spent the last few days checking out Vienna Austria with a lot of other tourists. The streets were full and lots of people at the attractions. There are many nice old buildings, churches, museums, shops and palaces to roam around and check out. Again lots of walking.

The hostel was huge but really nice, clean and close to everything. They even had instruments for people to borrow, piano, guitars etc. Mozart is from Vienna so I am not sure if they were going for a musical hostel or what but it had a great atmosphere and it was also full of local artists work on the walls for sale.

Just took an overnight train from Vienna to Krokow Poland, an eight hour journey in a nice, clean, modern cabin with three beds and I was the only one in my cabin which was a suprise.

Budapest Hungary, Pictures

2009-07-07T15:33:00.007-04:00

Budapest Hungary has the most talented masons and bricklayers of any city I have been to. I know it is a wierd starting sentence but it is true. Their work is fantastic. I could continually take pictures and they wouldn’t do it justice so I just took a few photos. There is so much to see architecturally I walked for 10 hours yesterday.

A must in Budapest is to visit the Thermal baths so that is how I spent the day today. A spa day. The thermal baths are hot pools filled with naturally ocurring hot water. They actually have to cool it down to use it. Their website says that "70 million liters of 21-78 degree C warm thermal water spring forth daily from 118 natural thermal springs." There are outdoor pools, a wave pool, indoor thermal baths and sauna areas. The corridors are vast and it is a large facility. I took advantage of the other services they offer and had a massage today. Not just any massage, a chocolate one. It smelt and felt great. I know you have a visual of being covered in chocoate sauce, I did too, but it was a chocolate cream or lotion. It was relaxing.

Click on this link for Budapest Hungary pictures.

Belgrade Serbia, Pictures

2009-07-04T15:29:00.002-04:00

The picture is of me at a kiosk on the street that was selling only pantyhose. I thought it was a little random as there were no other kiosks in the area.

Spent the day walking around Belgrade Serbia with Michaela from Sweden. Again pleasantly surprised. The guide books say “Belgrade is not a beautiful city.” Well I guess they comment on so many that some have to be “not so beautiful,” but it was good. Enjoyed walking around. Lots of nice buildings and a lot of people who speak English. Great markets, really cheap veggies and bakeries. Had a feed of yellow beans tonight mom, reminded me of you, dad and the garden. It was nice to use the hostels kitchen and cook a nice meal of yellow beans and pasta.

Not as an eventful day as yesterday.

We happened upon an international parade with people dressed in their traditional costumes. Not sure what it was about but then they broke into dances in the square. It was neat to see. Came across some Military buildings that were bombed during the war in 1999 and left the way they were hit. The largest Orthodox Church in the world is in Belgrade so we visited that too and a fortress. Overall a pleasant day.

Click on the following link for pictures from a day in Belgrade Serbia

Guns, drugs, fireworks, cigarettes and a Serbian train

2009-07-03T16:42:00.006-04:00

Guns, drugs, fireworks, cigarettes and a Serbian train. WOW! What an adventure.

Met Michaela from Sweden in the train station and sat with her all the way to Belgrade. We met Brian from Victoria on the train and I cann't help but stop smiling. I am on overload, we have seen so much today.

Brian saw one of the train employees put fireworks under the train and while he was standing in the hall a woman hid cigarettes behind his seat.

Michaela and I were in a six person (full) cabin and the fluorescent light fell out of the ceiling nearly missing us. We thought wow this is an old dodgy train. Good thing we didn't get electrocuted. An hour maybe passed with the light hanging by the wire until it gets better. The cop comes into the cabin and we just wait in the hall and doorway and doesn't he pull out of the ceiling two guns. Wow!

So at this point the train is stopped or has been stopped the whole time he searched. But I cann't believe we are still on the train. Right at his feet.

The cop checks a few more cabins but not thoroughly as they didn't get the cigarettes but a girl in our cabin says this happens daily. I guess cigarettes are expensive in Serbia so they smuggle them from Bulgaria.

So we were stopped for half and hour. Then we carry on and don't we see a guy right at our door get a pack of drugs out of the ceiling in the hall while the train conductor is standing 2m's away, watching.

They finally come to check our tickets and the two women in our cabin don't have tickets so they pay the conductor off with some smokes.

Then another guy takes the paneling off in the hall for more treasures. As we look around you can see screws out all around the paneling and windows.

Oh and the train toilets, god. The odour and filth. We went through a lot of hand sanitizer today. I have been in some bad toilets but todays have to take the filth cake.

It was a 10 hour train ride that was three hours late getting into Belgrade Serbia and I have to say that it was the best train ride I have ever had. What an adventure! The country side of Serbia was a lovely view too.

The train trip was documented with photos click on this link to check out the Serbian train ride.

Sofia Bulgaria, Pictures

2009-07-02T11:01:00.004-04:00

I am currently in Sofia the capital of Bulgaria. I love when you are pleasantly surprised with a country or city. I thought Bulgaria would be a little more dodgy than it is. It is way more modern then I expected. The train station is a bit old and dilapidated but the rest of the city has surprised me. I went on a walking tour with a guy from London England and a local guy. Lots of info and great architecture.

Crazy small world I met a couple of girls today from Canada, Edmonton and Toronto. So the girl from Edmonton's boyfriend is from Peterborough, Cavan really and yes we know people in common. It is a small world.

Click here for photos from Sofia Bulgaria

The hostel has a real positive vibe to it. You can feel the good energy and it is also great that it has the following for free; breakfast, internet, supper and with supper (spaghetti) you get a beer.

Thesaloniki Greece

2009-06-30T14:18:00.003-04:00

All is well in Thesaloniki Greece. It is in the north on the Aegean Sea. I have spent the first couple of days of school employees and students summer holidays on the beach in Greece working on my tan. I am staying at a pension/hotel across the road from the beach, 25 km's outside of Thesaloniki.

It is a quiet area. So quite I didn't see anyone guest or staff at the hotel until my third day at the hotel. The keys to my room were left in the mailbox outside of the hotel. For the first night I am not sure if anyone else was here. The hotel has 30 rooms. The second day in the evening I heard people in the hall but that was it and today I finally met the owner. He is a dentist in the town 25 km's away and has the hotel on the side. I have to say he left good instructions and I didn't mind the piece, quiet and sunshine. NIce locals at the beach. One old Greek lady sees me coming and starts smiling. She puts the sunscreen on my upper back. God love her.

Tomorrow I will take the train to Sofia the capital of Bulgaria. I hadn't planned on that stop but it looks good and why just pass through. It will also break up a potential 18 hour ride to Budapest Hungary. So the plan is for the next week or so, Sofia Bulgaria, Belgrade Serbia and then Budapest Hungary. All maybe for a few nights each.

Turkey to Athens, Pictures

2009-06-27T04:12:00.008-04:00

You have to love this picture of my Turkish little buddies and a couple of village women. These kids lived by my hotel and were great little gaffers. The hotels are right in the village and because I was there for so long I got to know the neighbours. I was invited into their homes for juice, tea and snacks. They loved me and I love them. It was sad to leave. I loved being immersed with the locals, thanks to Yasar and his friends too for my daily activities and socials. I think if I didn't have this rail pass already bought that you would find me in Turkey in August when I am suppose to come home. But there is still lots to see on my list, so need to get on the move.

I am currently in Athens. I arrived after the 11 hour over night bus from Goreme to Istanbul and then a day walking Istanbul with Jenny from BC. Then to the airport for my flight to Athens which kept getting delayed and was three hours late leaving which put me arriving at the hostel about 3am.

Toured around the Acropolis and main Athens sites yesterday. It was good and hot. Happened across a Polish catholic mass going on at the Acropolis so joined them for communion. The priest was with a group from Poland touring around and they were happy to have an Italian, Canadian and Argentinian join them.

Still trying to plan out the next seven weeks. Looks like I will travel to the north of Greece tomorrow spend maybe a couple of days and then on to Hungary.

Click on this link for a mixture of Goreme, Istanbul and Athens photos

Went to the Archaeological museum in Athens. It is pretty impressive and well done. While there a turtle walked through my legs when I was sitting down so that is a cool photo. I also went to a private museum that had the works of MC Escher at it and it was awesome. He is a great graphic artist with a huge math connection. I have some of his work up in my classroom so that was so cool to check out. I saw it listed in the airplane magazine and was able to find out that it was in Athens. So I was in luck.

Hamam, Turkish Bath

2009-06-23T09:01:00.003-04:00

Still hanging out in Cappadocia but I have set the plans for a move. I am taking a 12 hour overnight bus from Cappadocia to Istanbul on Wednesday night with Jenny a girl from BC. We will hang out for the day in Istanbul together and I will catch a flight in the evening to Athens for the next leg of the adventure.

Jenny is having a similar time to me in Cappadocia she too has local friends and like me doesn't know where the time goes during the day. We have become a little lazy and enjoy a scrabble game with our lunch and maybe a walk/hike and then evening entertainment with friends.

Last night I got another trip into the Hamam. Man they are fantastic and I am not sure why I haven't taken advantage of it more often. A little sauna, exfoliation with a big rubber mitt, shampoo, massage and last night was topped off with a jacuzzi. I have learned a little bit about the Hamam. People use to go to the Hamam, or bath house for their weekly bath and wash but now it is a luxury, relaxing thing to do here. I met some American peace core people who were in Morroco and used the Hamam for it's original purpose as their village didn't have running water. They didn't understand why it was so expensive here. I explained it is a luxury here. They were paying 50 cents and here it is anywhere from $20 - $50. Depends on if you get the tourist price or if you go with a local. The men are seperated from the women and men bath men and women, women. So now the whole muslim lack of covering, conservatism etc makes sense to me. The locals go as a social. Often going at the same time and day of the week to gossip with friends.

All is well and I figure the next bit will be moving through the countries quick using my rail pass. So I am enjoying the last few days of relaxation in Cappadocia with the great scenery and people.

Mt Nemrut Turkey, Pictures

2009-06-21T04:03:00.004-04:00

I have had an action packed last few days. I went on a three day, two night tour of Eastern Turkey. It was fantastic. It was a little hot. Lots of driving. 16 of us in the van with no air conditioning and a highway under construction so we were covered in dust by the end of the day. It was a bit of a battle to get the driver to keep his window down. He didn't like the wind blowing his comb over we think, but we were hot in the back. So too bad about the hair buddy.

The sites were spectacular. The second day started with a wake up call at 2:30 am followed by a twisty, steep drive up the mountain and then a hike for the sunrise at the big heads of Mt. Nemrot. When we left the hotel it was warm and I was thinking I didn't need my warm cloths, but thank god I took them. At the top of the mountain it was freezing and the wind was blowing hard. It was a full day that ended at 10 pm. We saw some more ruins, a Roman bridge, a dam, a local bazaar, Abraham's birth place and then drove to Harran at the south, 15 km's from the Syria boarder to see the first Islamic University and the beehive houses made out of mud and bricks. WOW!

While at the dam two fighter jets flew over and I couldn't help but think they must be going to Iraq. No worries for you though all is well and safe here. It just made me stop and think.

The air conditioning was fixed and made for a better 10 hour ride back.

I am back in Cappadocia now visiting my local friends and using today to figure out where to next. I was up at 6 am this morning for some reason and saw all the hot air balloons out my window so I decided to go for a walk and check them out. The balloons go out every day for sunrise.

Click on this link for lots of photos of Eastern Turkey

Goreme, Pictures

2009-06-17T10:10:00.002-04:00

Well I am back in Goreme. It is a small village in the heart of the Cappadocia region in the center of Turkey. I love this town. The views are spectacular, lovely people, great hiking and plenty to see. It is a funny little town. You can see a moped one minute going down the road, followed by a family on a tractor, or a family on a 4-wheeler, a Mercedes or a horse and buggy, anything goes. I have had the use of Yasar's moped so I can bop around to great hiking areas stop, walk, do a little reading and enjoy the scenery. It is fantastic.

Tomorrow I am doing a three day two night tour further east in Turkey. It should be great.

Click on this link for more Goreme, Cappadocia photos

Ayvalik Turkey, Pictures

2009-06-15T09:31:00.002-04:00

I had a great weekend with Mel and her boyfriend Alper in Ayvalik. Mel and I took the bus 2 1/2 hours to Ayvalik, on the east coast where he lives. It is a lovely town that has very different architecture than the rest of Turkey. There are some really neat old houses there. His place has a great balcony with a view of the water.

Ayvalik use to be a Greek town and after 1923 the Greeks had to go back to Greece and the Turkish that were in Greece had to come back to Turkey. So there is a lot of history and there are always references to that year and the swap of people. Some families had lived in the different countries for generations but were basically kicked out and sent back to where their ancestors came from.

In Ayvalik Alper runs a basketball school. So there was a brunch on Sunday for the players and their parents and we got to go. It was nice. I should get him in to help with my team. He played on the Turkish National team in his day.

We had a great time walking around Ayvalik and Cunda visiting cafes and taking in the scenery. Check out the pictures at the following like.

Link to Ayvalik pictures

I am now in Goreme again, back to the fairy chimneys, moped and more great people. I am in the Cappadocia area which is in the center of the country.

Pamukkale Turkey, Pictures

2009-06-10T07:32:00.006-04:00

I had an early start today. I was up and ready to go by 6:30am. I was awake so I got up and they said to see Pamukkale early in the morning or late in the day to avoid the tour groups. So I headed out. It was a fantastic morning. Turkey has so much to offer. I came to Pamukkale to see the travertine terraces. There is a spring in the area that has so much calcium in it that over 1000's of years it has left a white precipitate on the side of the hill/mountain. You can walk through part of the calcuim covered area and swim in the mineral pools. Over the years the amount of water in the area has depleted but it doesn't take away from this natural wonder. So if that wasn't enough. After I climbed the side of the hill there are Roman ruins at the top. Hierapolis is here, also spectacular. I spent over five hours exploring this area and finished with a dip in one of the mineral pools on my way back down. It was fantastic.

Hierapolis is where St Philip the apostle was martyred. I am humbled regularly by my lack of history knowledge. I am learning. There is an amazing Roman Theatre here complete with the original stage dating back to the second century. The Roman city is great too. I was visiting the basilica in the ancient city when I happened across an American high school group. They are traveling around Isreal and Turkey following five apostles routes. They broke out into Amazing Grace and it was beautiful. I made my way back to them and as they passed me I said how nice their singing was. There teacher explained what they are doing and that they were from Holland Michigan. It was a lovely group of really nice young people.

There were lots of poppies for me to check out while I was walking around too. I love how the poppies grow against the ruins.

Sorry I have ran out of photo space on the blog so I cann't put up a photo with my write up at the moment. I think I can link it with my other email account but the information at the moment is in Turkish so I cann't figure it out. Incase you haven't noticed the photos are coming from a different account now as that original album is full. So if you want to see any of these picture albums you can get them from this address.

http://picasaweb.google.com/getoutandhavefun

this was the original address

http://picasaweb.google.com/sarahemoloney

Click on this link to see the Pamukkale Turkey Photos

Greece for a day, Math Pictures

2009-06-08T12:32:00.003-04:00

I took a two hour ferry ride to the Greek island of Samos for the day today. Got to like the idea of going to Greece for the day. It is where the town of Pythagoria is and the math teacher had to visit there. They have a statue of Pythagorous and we use his theorem all the time at school. It turned out to be a national holiday in Greece so there were no busses running, tourism office was closed but I still made it to the other side of the island to Pythagoria, just had to go by taxi. So it was a bit of an effort and expense so that is why I took so many pictures of the statue and you may not like any of them from today. I hope to use them in future math lessons.

Pythagorous Pictures

Ephesus Turkey, Fıve Moloney's and Pictures

2009-06-07T12:28:00.006-04:00

Today I had the cool of experience of seeing family in Turkey. My brother Glenn, sister inlaw Shelley, niece Maddy and nephew Max came in on a cruise ship to Kusadasi and we visited Ephesus together. It was awesome to see them all. I was able to find them easily as I was staying in a hotel right across from the pier and there was only one ship in at the time so they were easy to spot. We hired a taxi for the day to take us to Ephesus the second best Roman City remaining after Pompeii which we also have all visited. Ephesus was neat with a lot of marble remaining and it was hot. The heat must radiate off of it or in the valley or something, it was intense sun. The library at Ephesus was the coolest for me with it's great marble columns. The library was built over Celsus' tomb by his son. Max has been learning about this era at school so also found the site interesting and Maddy was all set to pose for photos at any opportunity and had some great shots there. Glenn too liked standing on a column that is the same style as on his business cards, Ionic period we have determined.

We visited the Virgin Mary's house lit prayer candles, wrote prayers and placed them on a prayer wall, blessed ourselves with holy water from a spring there and ended the visit with a beer at the Virgin Mary's house. It was for dad, Glenn said he would think it was funny us having one for him at the Virgin Mary's house.

The Virgin Mary's house was an interesting discovery in the 19th Century. An invalid nun who had never left Germany wrote a book describing the site that she said had been visions given to her. Her descriptions led to it's discovery. It is thought that she came here after Jesus' death with John [I think that is correct, don't quote that, I don't have my book in front of me.]

My hotel room in itself is an interesting story. It has a great view, pool, no elevator and I had seen it listed in a book. I went to check it out, climbed at least 6 sets of stairs with all my stuff to the reception. Again a reception with a view. I was shown some rooms, all the same and finally they told me the price. 40 Euro, I said wow, way too much for me. So they said ok 35, 30. I said sorry no I was interesting in paying about 20 TL which is about 10 Euro. Fine he said, showed me another room, all of them are the same. So I guess some money was better than no money in his eyes, which was good. The place is empty and it is a big spot, they must be hurting, again those economic times.

I was able to see the gang off at the pier. They are off to Egypt and the pyramids next. The hotel had binoculars and I am pretty sure I saw Glenn out on the balcony. I watched the ship take off from the pool, of the life. It was so good to hand out with them for the day. I am glad we were able to meet up.

Click on this link to see our pictures of Ephesus

Dalyan and Kaş Turkey, Pictures

2009-06-05T10:48:00.002-04:00

Currently on the coast of Turkey in Dalyan. It is a nice small town centered around a river, lake and the sea. I took a 30 minute boat ride down the river today to the Med. Sea and spent the day at the beach. I should sleep tonight with all the sun I got. It was very plesant a nice breeze all day, so I am sure some wind burn or colour. Not feeling a burn yet.

I have been taking local busses here and I have to say they are great! It is a large coach bus, without bathrooms though, even though they are modern. They have stewarts on the bus that pass out water and the other day we got free ice cream! My kind of bus ride. I took one the other night for 10 hours to get from the middle of Turkey to the south coast and then had to switch to a mini bus, mini van for another four hours. All in all fine, except the big Turkish women I was sharing a seat with took up quite a bit of room and sat like a man with her legs seperated and her arm resting on mine made mine go to sleep from the weight. Anyway that is rude of me. The night bus was fine.

I should enlighten you on the Turkish bath or a Hamam. Wow! I went the other night and lets just say I cann't wait to go again. You start off with a sauna for 15 minutes followed by a massage on a large warm marble slab complete with exfoliation during the massage. Oh yes and the whole time you are douced with bowls of warm water. After a rinse and exfoliation come the bubbles. Your whole body gets shampooed with bubbles. The women has what looks like a pillow case that she dips in the shampoo she then waks it out making the bubbles and completely covers you in bubbles and then another massage and doucing with warm water. Then a dip in a swimming pool, shower and fresh squeezed orange juice. A lovely evening. I think it is very interesting that they have been doing this since the Romans, or before, I don't know in this muslim country that is very conservative. I have to dress very modest in the villages, pants during the day, shoulders cover etc to respect them, but then they go for these Turkish baths and you are pretty exposed. I guess it is a woman massaging a woman and a man a man and you can go as a couple or segregated by your sex. It is all interesting.

The hospitality in Turkey is wonderful and I am not rushing out of here anytime soon. I should be at least another couple of weeks here. The people are lovely and because I am learning some Turkish phrases they love me even more. They all want to know where I learned. I really know only a few but it is appreciated. It is really hard to retain.

Click on this link for pictures of Kaş and Dalyan Turkey

Izmir and Cappadocia Turkey Pictures.

2009-05-31T06:02:00.003-04:00

Having a wonderful time in Turkey. Man the scenery here is spectacular. I was able to visit with Melanie Paton from Peterborough for 5 days and will see her again in a couple of weeks. She has lived in Turkey for close to 10 years and is teaching English at a private Turkish school to grade one kids. There are two english teachers for each grade and four sections of each grade. She was awesome to stay with and took me in on little notice. I have to say thanks and then I wasn’t feeling the best so I was able to recoup a bit there. She is a fantastic person with tons of energy and life. Her apt inspired me to buy some Turkish items, it was so homey.

One day I went to a village where Paula, Melanie’s friend lives by bus, 20 minutes and spent the day with her. She is from Calgary and lives here with her husband. They built a stone house in the village and nieither of them speaks Turkish and the builder no English. A big accomplishment. Paula has a friend in Cappadocia, which is in the center of Turkey and she set me up with him so now I am here. You know, his uncle has a hotel and his cousin is a hot air balloon pilot, he is a guide and his friend will pick you up at the airport using the sign with your name on it! So lots of connections. Now I know how those people in Peterborough without my connections feel when we drive down the road and wave at everyone. It is the same here for Yasur. Even got to drive a moped through the scenery.

Oh the call to pray is currently on and it is so cool to hear billowing through the village.

Cappadocia is beautiful and not too be missed. I am so happy I made the effort to get here. It was created by volcanic ash and for my Egypt friends it reminds me of the Valley of Kings. There are huge, tall outcropings called Fairy Chimneys everywhere and people lived in the caves. Some still do and my hotel is in one of them. The town is not very busy and it is little so it is nice to walk around and the hiking in the valleys and craitors is spectacular. The colours of the rock are continually changing with the sunlight.

I went for a runrise hot air balloon ride this morning. The views were spectacular. I don’t know where all the people came from to fill the many balloons that were out, as I mentioned the town is not too busy. But I guess they must have come from the other three villages in the area. The ride was awesome and long. It was an hour and a half long and finished with champaigne. My body wasn’t right so I passed on that drink before 8am. I will tell you as you may have heard on the news, who knows? There was a balloon accident two days ago here and a man from England died and three others are in the hospital. I guess the balloons were too close and hit each other causing a problem. I still went, you know me if I die doing something I want to do I know I have had a good life.

I should be able to meet up with Glenn, Shelley, Max and Madison next Sunday as their cruise ship comes into port in Turkey and I will make the effort to get to there by then. So that will be neat to see them. For those that don’t know that is my brother, sister inlaw and nephew and niece.

Turkey is spectacular and there is so much to see. Click on the following two links for pictures.

Click on this link for Izmir Turkey pictures

Click on this link for Cappadocia Turkey pictures.

Istanbul and pictures.

2009-05-23T05:15:00.003-04:00

Having a good time walking around Istanbul. It is a huge city and there are tons of things to check out. The food is fantastic. However I was sick last night. Not fun.

We went for a cruise on the Bosphorus yesterday. It is the waterway linking Europe with Asia. Turkey is the only country on two continents and the town of Istanbul is on both parts. We went to the Spice Bazaar too.

Click on the link for more Istanbul pictures

Istanbul, pictures

2009-05-21T12:54:00.003-04:00

Erin and I are having a great time in Istanbul Turkey. There are lots of sites to check out, mosques to see, good food to eat and people to watch. I love hearing the call to prayer come over the loud speakers spreading over the whole city.

Click on this link to see the fire drink I had in Santiago de Compestela and Istanbul pictures

The image shown is of Erin and I with our head scarves on at the Blue Mosque in Istanbul.

Spain, pictures

2009-05-18T11:54:00.004-04:00

Barcelona won the Spanish Cup while I was here and I was at the celebrations and the "riot." As the picture indicates flares were going off, fireworks, horns, people yelling, screaming, hanging off of street lights, drinking on monuments and marching through the streets all night long. There were riot police everywhere and finally at 3:20 am I said we should get out of here and back to our hostel as the riot police were marching through the streets with their tear gas canisters in plain view ready to set them off. It was something to see, they sure love their soccer, sorry, football. The night I was flying out of Barcelona they won the league, which was an even bigger deal so that caused the streets to be closed again and taxis were hard to find and then I some how missed the bus to the airport which I was an hour early for. So I ended up paying a small fortune to get to the airport by cab at 4am. Luckly I was safe as it was a sketchy evening to be out, but it was a 6am flight from an airport 100km´s outside of Barcelona, getting the picture of the small fortune paid to get to the airport...

Barcelona was great. Gaudi was an amazing architech and his work in Barcelona is worth checking out. I learned where the phase "that´s so Gaudi" must have come from, but the man was a genious. I am not sure why they don´t use his techniques and ways of building now, oh yes, money and time. Only one of his projects was finished in his lifetime, but his ideas were really cool.

I flew to the west of Spain to Santiago de Compestela and was at mass and the church where all the pilgrams come to. That too was neat to experience. The church was packed and packed with backpacks, hippies, people in hiking and rain gear, not their Sunday best for sure, but I bet they were feeling their Sunday best. Two people at my hostel hiked 700 km´s to get there over 32 days. It was neat to see the pilgrams.

Checked out the beach in Barcelona for a couple of days with Alina from Romania. I could write a book about what we saw those two days at the beach, crazy people and their choices of what to wear or not wear at the beach. There was this one women on Friday afternoon who showed up in her work cloths and this is me saying what I think is going on in her head. "I worked hard today. I think I will go to the beach on my way home. What undergarments did I wear today? Oh it doesn´t matter." So she strips down to her thong see through lace underwear, no bra and proceeds to lay on the beach and get a message from one of the ladies offering this 5 Euro service on the beach. All day we heard "Coka, Fanta, Cerveza, massagi." I did get the 5 Euro massage on the beach and it was good, bathing suit stayed on for those wondering.

Click on the following link for pictures from Barcelona and Santiago de Compestela Spain

Off to Turkey tomorrow.

Nice France and Monte Carlo Monaco, pictures

2009-05-10T15:17:00.003-04:00

Have spent the last couple of days exploring Nice France and today went to Monte Carlo Monaco where they are having the formula one race in 10 days. We walked the track and saw the set up. Man there is a lot of money in Monaco. The houses and cars there, holy smokes. It is a crazy city to walk, up and down, tons of stairs, lots of exercise.

Monaco is the second smallest county in the world after the Vatican for your info. I am off to Barcelona tomorrow by train.

Nice France and Monte Carlo Monaco photos, click here

Canada Quarter Final Game; Pictures

2009-05-09T04:43:00.002-04:00

Went to the quarter final game and saw Canada win 4 – 2 against Lativja. This is such a hard keyboard to use. It did not know the French have a different layout. The a, ., z, q, etc are all in different places. It is hard to type. I am currently in Nice, France. I took a 10 hour train ride yesterday from Switzerland via Italy. I had to change trains four times. I met two guys from Saskatoon doing the same route so we stayed together and we will go on to Barcelona together in a few days. They are good fun. We got a bottle of wine each last night, once we got in and walked the city, got to love being able to have a beverage in public.

Click on the link for pictures of the quarter final game Canada vs Latvija

Paragliding in Switzerland, Pictures

2009-05-07T06:34:00.004-04:00

It is a beautiful day here, 24 degrees and I am just back from paragliding. I went to the top of a mountain and ran off of it. I was soaring through the air like a bird. It was awesome and such a smooth peaceful ride. The panoramic view was spectacular.

Click on this link to see my paragliding photos.

This hostel has great internet access and uploading capabilites unlike a lot of places I have visited, hence the photos being added so often and it is free. This is my last day here though. Off to the hockey game now. A great day. Paragliding and I get to go to the Canada Latvija game.

Boat ride and hike Switzerland, Pictures

2009-05-06T18:10:00.005-04:00

Today started out with no plan and was a full day that just kept getting topped. The woman at the hostel suggested a boat ride and walk along the lake. It was awesome. The colour of the glacial water is spectacular. The boat ride was an hour long with mountains on both sides and then we hiked about 8km along the water and through the woods always with the mountains in view. There were a pair of fighter jets that flew over at least four times during the walk.

It was funny before catching the boat we debated going to the grocery store and buying a sandwich as yesterday each village we visited was a ghost town and nothing was open and it was really hard to find food. So we thought we wouldn't get our selves into the same trouble as yesterday but it happened again. Looking on the map it looked like the town we were going to by boat would have shops and restaurants. No such luck. So we walked and ended up in a little town where again nothing was open. It is low season and the villages and cities are ghost towns. We found a restaurant with a sign saying open. We went in, greeted the guy, sat down and then 10minutes later he says oh you want food? Kitchen is closed. Even though the sign said open. So we walked on and found another one. At that place the guy was so rude that we left. We found a hotel and they said they would make us a sandwich. One piece of meat between two pieces of bread and nothing else, $7.50. Food just the same and really we should have learned from yesterday and we had bread and food at the hostel we didn't take.

After we got the sandwich we asked this guy at the information booth which I was suprized it was open, which way to walk to Interlaken? He laughed in a big berly laugh and checked our shoes, ok and pointed us on our way. We laughed too once we climbed the hill and realized the rest of the walk was up hill and just along the highway. So we caught the bus. Local busses are free in this town with our hostel voucher.

Once back in Interlaken we went to a chocolate show and we got to make chocolates and eat more than our fair share. For $14.80 we went to the show and with that price you get an $8 voucher for products. It was awesome chocolate. He said a Swiss eats 25pounds of chocolate a year. I wonder what a Moloney eats a year?

After the chocolate eating we went for dinner and ended up at this great restaurant with jovial guys working there trying to drum up business. I had a pork roast and mash potatoe dinner for $17.50 which is a really good price for here. We were given free salad and ice cream which was an added bonus. While we were eating the ice cream I heard this noise and then music. It was one of those big horns. The waiter said would you like to try it? I will bring it out. We were eating on the patio. So we got to play the horn too.

Then it turns out that the hockey game I bought tickets for the other day will be the Canada vs Latvija game. Which is another added bonus to get to see Canada play and Latvija has crazy fun fans. So watch for me on tv.

Click on this link for more photos of Switzerland

Hiking in Switzerland, pictures

2009-05-05T14:04:00.006-04:00

Click on this link for pictures from my hike in Switzerland.

Loving Switzerland. I went for a hike today through the mountains outside of Interlaken. Ben is also in this town and hostel so we went together. (He was the guy that went to his first hockey game the other day.) It was an awesome day with beautiful mountains, snow, waterfalls, trees, valleys, rivers, cows and few people. It is low season so many of the villages we went through were all closed up. We took the train out of town, then a gondola up, hiked, took another gondola, hiked again and then a bus and train back. The views were spectacular, the pictures don't do it justice. We circled up and down and around a mountain valley I tried to show you the route in one of the photos.

Will do a hike again tomorrow and then Thursday watch for me at the quarter final World Hockey Champhionship game as I will be there.

Germany vs Austria

2009-05-03T09:15:00.003-04:00

Click on this link for more photos
Made it to my second game of the World Hockey Championships. This game was Germany against Austria, Austria won, one nothing. I met a guy at the hostel from London England who had never been to an ice hockey game so we went together. He had lots of questions throughout the game that I explained for him.

This game was much cheaper. It was only 19 dollars for the same area I was in last time and not many people were at the game so we got to go right up to the front of the section. With your ticket there is free transportation in Switzerland until 12pm the next day. That works out for me as I was going to go to Interlocken tomorrow and the ticket itself to there was 26 dollars and I paid 19 for the game and it included the tram there and back today and the trip to Interlocken tomorrow.

Went to some great markets yesterday and have just been taking in the sites, flowers and smells of spring here. The lilacs are in bloom and smell awesome. The flowers at the market were breath taking too. They make great flower arrangements in Europe. I am getting a good work out from all the steep inclines too. I can feel it in my thighs and butt.

I am writing this blog post from a free internet bus out front of the arena. We have an hour or so until Switzerland plays Sweeden at the arena and we will watch the game in the tent on site.

Switzerland World Hockey Championships, pictures

2009-05-01T10:49:00.004-04:00

Well I made it to Switzerland yesterday at about 2:30 in the afternoon and found out the World Hockey Championships are on in Bern and Zurich. I am staying in Bern, the capital. I went to the tourist office and found a hostel and while there I was able to buy a ticket to the 4:15 game with Russia against Sweeden. When in Rome, why not. Oh yeah, I am not there anymore. The ticket was about 59 dollars. So I rushed to the hostel, down and up these huge inclines, dropped off my backpack, changed rushed back to the center caught the street car and went to the arena. It was an awesome game and I made it on time. I was in the standing area. Most people stand to watch the games here. They actually had to install seats especially for the tournament. The Russians won in overtime. It was a fantastic game and I met some extream Swiss fans while I was there. They dressed me up in their flag and sunglasses and bought me beers. There was a double header last night and they were staying for the Swiss game as well, so were in their Swiss gear. That game was sold out so I stayed at the arena and watched it and the Canada game going on in Zurich on the big screens in a tent/bar out front of the arena. After there was a band that played in the tent. It was such a cool experience. There were fans everywhere with flags, drums and anything that would make noise.

Switzerland is beautiful and the people are lovely. I think I will stay here for a few days, who knows I may make it back to the arena. My hostel has kept me with the fact that they serve a free breakfast complete with a machine that dispenses hot milk and they have awesome Swiss hot chocolate mix to put in it. Little things please me and especially chocolate.

Click on the link for the Switzerland pictures

Venice Italy, Pictures

2009-04-29T14:42:00.004-04:00

Another interesting day in Italy. Today I traveled by train from Florence to Venice. It was a three hour train ride. I arrived in Venice and took two busses to get to the "hostel." It is located in a campground close to the airport. I didn't know hostels could exist at a campground. You can stay in a tent for one, two or three or a "cabin" for three. I am in the cabin, luckly, as it was raining today. The "cabin" is a trailer with bunk beds and a bathroom. Interesting to say the least. I booked this place from my last hostel as they are the same company and at the last location it was bright, clean, spacious had a spa and indoor pool. So I thought what the hell. This should be equivalent. No, but it isn't bad it just makes me laugh that you could get anything from a massage to waxing at the last place and tonight I will be lucky if I am dry.

Venice is cool. I am actually 30 minutes outside of Venice so I took the two busses back into town once the rain stopped. It is something to see with it's many waterways, boats and people everywhere. I even saw three water ambulances and a police boat. I couldn't help but worry about children living in those houses right on the water. I would be afraid they would run out the front door and end up in the water.

It is a romantic city though. There were people taking gondola rides and lapping up the scenery. A gondola ride is 80 Euro for a half an hour ride, so I took the water bus for 6.50 Euro each way and took pictures of the people in their gondolas.

Click on the link for Venice Photos

Pompeii and Florence Italy

2009-04-28T14:32:00.003-04:00

Well I had an interesting train ride yesterday. I went from Rome to Naples, Naples to Pompeii and then Pompeii to Naples, had a hiccup in Naples and then on to Florence. So the hiccup or story comes after I have spent the day checking out the ancient Roman ruins in Pompeii. Which by the way were very interesting. The ruins were covered by volcanic ash and rock in 79 AD allowing the preservation of the Roman city. It was very cool to check out the city, stadium and streets.

The hiccup or story: I arrived at the train station via a subway train to head on to my next destination, Florence. I was to take a couple of different trains to get there with a switch in Rome. The train was to leave Naples at 4:30 pm following by a quick change in Rome and on to Florence. In Naples it was after 4:20 and the platform number was still not up on the screen. I went to customer care to ask about it. When I was there they informed me that the train was 15 minutes late. I indicated that that was not going to work for me as I had another train to catch in Rome and if we were late I would miss it. The man checked the computer, looked at a few schedules, talked to another person working there, got on his cell phone and talked to another, all in Italian, so I had no idea what was going on. This took more than 15 minutes and as it turned out the train was now going to be 45 minutes late. He said you no worry, no worry. Well someone was looking out for me. After all these conversations and a few new stamps and a note written on my ticket he personally escorted me to the platform and to the steward of a high speed train and told me no problem, direct train to Florence, high speed, first class, no charge, no worries. I got free drinks and a chocolate bar twice on the trip that took three hours as opposed to six hours and arrived in Florence when it was still light out. The man was so nice and a lovely little hiccup.

Florence is another city that you can walk around easily and see the many churches, museums and sites by foot. Needless to say my feet are sore and would love a massage from all those willing. So I and everyone else are walking Italy. I haven’t mentioned it, but there are people everywhere.

Click on this link for Pompeii and Florence Italy Pictures

Vatican, pictures

2009-04-26T12:22:00.005-04:00

Today I spent the day at the Vatican. It was a day full of long lineups and tons of people. I waited two hours to get into the Vatican museum. The line was two or three kilometers long. It was free today as it is the last Sunday of the month. It normally costs 14 Euro and for your information 1 Eruo is $1.77 Cdn at the moment. They say no matter the day it is a two hour wait.

I also went to St Peter's Basilica, the Vatican's main church. It was a 40 minute wait to get in and it was stunning. I made it for mass too. Father Bill gets more people for his masses at St Anne's. I thought it would be packed. It was 45 minutes long and in Italian.

There was a celebration at St Peter's square today as four new saints were named.

Click on the link for Vatican pictures

More Egypt and Rome, photos

2009-04-25T05:56:00.007-04:00

Click on this link to see more Egypt and Rome photos

Egypt was fantastic. I traveled with great people and made some excellent friends. We had a blast together and the history there was spectacular. We spent a day and a night on a fuluca, a wind powered boat. It was so relaxing. We went to Luxor and visited The Valley of the Kings where there are 63 tombs and the most recent one only being discovered seven months ago. We were able to go into three tombs while we were there. The craftmanship thousands of years ago was amazing. The angles and rectangular corridors are perfect. Then if you look at their current buildings they are slapped together brick buildings that leave a lot to be desired.

We spent three nights in Hurghada, a resort area that a lot of Europeans visit. It was good. A sickness went through some of us there and I was very sick one night, thank God it was only for one night. It was neat to see all of these people hanging on the Red Sea in the resort area and then you think behind this town in the same country is over 5000 years of history. It was nice to be able to experience both types of travel in the one trip.

I went scuba diving in the Red Sea. I saw a dolphin and a ray that was yellow with blue polka dots. There was beautiful coral cliffs over 15m deep.

I am currently in Rome and enjoying the history here too. Now the sites are all within walking distance and I have spent the day exploring the blocks. Around each corner is another beautiful building.

Hope you are all well. I sure am. Thinking of you all. Love Sarah

Abu Simbel Temple Egypt, Pictures

2009-04-16T04:40:00.002-04:00

Click on link for Abu Simbel Temple Pictures, Egypt

The day started with a 3:30am wakeup call followed by a 3:41am call to cancel the 4am convoy to Abu Simbel due to bad weather (a sand storm). We were to go back to bed and make sure we ate by 10am, meet at 10:30am to take the 11am convoy. We were part of 50 – 70 busses and vans traveling 3 hours through the dessert with police escort at the beginning, middle and end of the convoy. It was for protection incase of breakdown or thieves as there is nothing between Aswan and Abu Simbel, Egypt. There was the odd check point but no houses, service stations or people, just sand. Abu Simbel is 50 kms from the Sudan boarder.

Abu Simbel is two temples in the dessert. They were built in 1300 BC. The king made one for himself and another for his wife or wives. I think it was for his one special wife, but not sure. He had 85 wives and 155 children. The temples were very cool with amazing carvings and details. Each detail is of significance. The way the arms are crossed, royalty and it was made when they were dead. The stance, what's in their hands the headpieces every little thing has some special meaning.

Again this was another project that was moved from one area to another from 1964 – 1968 it was dismantled and moved at a cost of $40 million. It was moved because of this damn and the Nasser Lake. I don't know why they just didn't divert the water again, who knows.

We have been having excellent Egyptian food. I wouldn't normally choose where we eat or the food, but it has been fantastic. It is great to have the guide. For example the other day we entered one restaurant and at the entrance was raw meat strung all over the place and I am sure I heard a saw cutting bones while we were eating. But it is great food. We had a mixed barbeque of meats that day.

Off for a day on the Felucca, a wind powered boat that we will cruise 45km down the Nile in and sleep on tonight.

Pyramids, Egypt, Photos

2009-04-14T12:27:00.002-04:00

Click on the following link for the Pyramid pictures.

Link for Pyramid Photos

I had an Easter Monday to remember. I spent the day exploring the Pyramids. They were spectacular. I loved climbing around the Giza site. There were three at that location that are approximately 5000 years old! I also had a camel ride around the Pyramids.

I am traveling with a small group of six people around Egypt for the next couple of weeks. It is terrific, we have a guide and it has made life easy and hassle free.

After the Pyramids and camel ride we visited the Egyptian Museum. Man the history here. I am sorry but I knew nothing about Egyptian history before coming and it has humbled me. I am amazed at how old everything is. I will have to do some reading.

At the museum I went into the mummy exhibit. It was so neat. The mummies were from 2100 and 1000 B.C. (before Christ!). It was shocking for me. The mummies were in great shape with hair, skin, fingernails and the intricate wrappings on some of them.

I ate pigeon today. It had a lot of bones, not a lot of meat.

We took a sleeper train last night it was first class and way above my expectations. I am now in Ashwan Egypt at the south and going even further south tomorrow, within 50kms of the Sudan boarder.

Today we visited a Greek Roman Temple (Philae Temple). Again the history, it was from 230 B.C. and was moved from one island to another from 1970 – 1980 after being submerged in the Nile River. Each wall or pillar tells a different myth or story. The legends and stories are overwhelming. My brain is on overload. I also visited the Unfinished Oblisk today. It is a large phallic sculpture made of granite that cracked while being constructed. All of the granite for the temples comes from the area of Ashwan and is transported throughout all the Egypt. This all started thousands of years ago, before Christ.

I am having a spectacular time in Egypt, hope you are all well.

P.S. It was 46 degrees Celsius today in Ashwan!

Munich Germany, Pictures

2009-04-11T15:06:00.004-04:00

Click on the following link to see the Munich pictures.
Munich Photos
I have spent the last few days in Munich. It is a great city. I went to the BMW museum it was fabulous. Did you know they make a clay model of each vehicle or proto type? I learned they employ a ton of different artists above the typical engineers etc. In Munich alone BWM employs approximateley 35 000.

The BWM area was dominating. The buildings were works of art. They are big on creativity and solar energy. The BWM headquarters building is in the shape of four cylinders. Frank and all other auto teachers will have to take a class trip to Munich.

I went on a walking tour of the city, saw tons of churches, climbed one of the steeples for a panoramic view of Munich. Took part in the Good Friday procession while on the tour!

I went to Dacau Concentration Camp, wow! It was a beautiful warm day, but I couldn´t help but feel cold and chilled in the cells and gas chamber. Dacau was a concentration camp, not a death camp. The people were sent there to work. The sign on the gate indicates that work liberates. They were under the false pretences that if they worked hard they may be freed. Dacau is a place of learning and remembering. It was amazing to see a map indicating the number of concentration camps, subcamps etc. that existed. There was one memorial that said we must honor the dead and worn the living. It was about making people aware of what humans are capable of doing to each other. I cann´t do it justice, it was a powerful place.

BMW Z4, Germany, Pictures

2009-04-08T05:32:00.001-04:00

Well last night was an interesting night. I had emailed Olaf my friend that I met in Africa. He and I were truck buddies. We sat together for a month through Africa, poor guy. Anyway small world he lives within one kilometer of Erin. So we met up last evening. Erin was not feeling well so didn’t join us. When I met him it was funny, he said “have you ordered a drink?” I said “no.” He said “great lets go somewhere else.” So instead of walking he brought his new BMW Z4 convertible to take me for a rip. Remember I told you lots of nice sports cars in Frankfurt. So there we were. I got a tour of the historic sites of Frankfurt in the BWM with the roof down and then we had to take her for a rip on the autobahn (highway). Remember, no speed limit, you are only limited by the vehicle in front of you so we had it up to 200 km/h. It was great, we spent so much time together in Africa he knew I love cars and had to bring it and take me for a ride.

After our tour we met up with Carmel his girlfriend who is from Ireland and did dinner at a German pub. We sampled the famous apple wine (cider) and then visited a wine cellar that was literally an underground pub complete with a free musty smell. They have interesting versions of beer here to try. I have had the cola beer, banana beer and my favorite the grapefruit beer.

Check out the pictures at the following link.

More Germany Photos

http://picasaweb.google.com/sarahemoloney/MoreGermany#

Germany, Pictures

2009-04-06T11:42:00.002-04:00

Germany has been great I have to say a very big THANK YOU to Erin for letting me come. I came last minute on her when the malaria medication was playing havoc with me in India, thanks again Erin.

Erin has two great apartments here in Germany, one in Frankfurt, where she works at the Dow Jones as a Financial Journalist and another in Heidelberg with her boyfriend Thomas. They are both great. Frankfurt is a big city with lots of money and sports cars and Heidelberg is a very quant and calming area in the hills with lots of nice homes, gardens, lovely trees and flowers blooming.

I mention the sports cars because as I just learned Germany does not have a speed limit. I am not sure why more Canadian men do not visit Germany. You can rent a Porsche or a Ferrari and let her rip. Even I was feeling the need for speed and thought man, I would get one of those babies and red line her. My bothers would be happy that I can tell them I saw a new Corvette today. So if you want to see some nice wheels and you’re interested in seeing how fast they will go, visit Germany.

There were a lot of police around the other day when we were in Karlsruhe as Obama was in Baden-Baden which is not far from there. We must have seen a pack of 20 motorcycle cops followed by four police crusers.

The weather has been lovely here. No rain, nice sunny days with a high around 20 degrees Celsius.

Click on the following link for some pictures.

Germany Pictures

http://picasaweb.google.com/sarahemoloney/Germany#