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British Columbia, North America, Update

2014: Travel Retrospective

Wow, 2014 was a year of travel near and far. A year that was busy and fulfilling, was also a year of change for the site, though the migration to self-hosting is still not complete!  Maintaining a writing focus, while working full-time (sometimes more than full-time), and managing a household is a struggle of a balancing act.  Sometimes, it’s more about living the experience, than writing it all down for y’all.  Sorry, but it’s true.

Looking back on all of the mini-trips, visitors and experiences we had over the year, I thought I’d put together a recap of sorts.  So here it is folks, your 2014 Travel Retrospective.

WINTER

January was a month of lingering cough and cold that felt like it was never, ever going away!  Finally, we were well enough to travel, and made it to Mexico to visit Andrew.  The Mayan Riviera, though not normally my go to vacation scene, was a great little getaway. (You can read about it HERE.)

February was a quiet month for travel because we had visitors here for a sporting event.  There was plenty of time for card games, snacking and catching up between their beloved curling games.  (FYI:  You couldn’t pay me to watch curling. It’s BORING!)

Bombardier Dash 8-300 prop
The Bombardier Dash 8-300 purrs like a kitten

March gave me the opportunity to go to Edmonton to visit Jessie.  We spent a few days chatting, shopping, and touring some of the most hideous Dream Lottery homes ever built.   Driving to Edmonton is always a laborious task, but well worth the scenery.  However, for this trip, I hopped the 1 hour flight.  SO. MUCH. BETTER.  On the flight home, I connected with my sister-in-law and nephew in Calgary, and we were all able to fly home together.  Little Ben flew like a champ. (His mom did too;  anyone who can fly with a toddler deserves a prize!)

SPRING

April and May kept us closer to home.   We had a couple of day trips to Vancouver & Kelowna.  Vancouver is always a nice getaway even during spring showers.  For a change we chose not to drive through the city, and take the Sky Train instead.

Vancouver SkyTrain Map
Thanks for the SkyTrain map Wikimedia commons!

I’ve LOVED the SkyTrain since Expo ’86.  And, traveling like a tourist in your own backyard is kind of fun once in a while.   We spent the day shopping with my Aunt; I purchased a fab little backpack that has been one of my favorite gear purchases this year.

Then, the most shocking event in the history of our friendship with Andrew occurred in June.  HE. GOT. MARRIED!  This from the guy who has been an opponent to marriage and monogamy for as long as I can remember, not that he’s for being single, unfaithful or promiscuous either, he’s just never been pepped up about marriage.  Well, Andrew met his match in his wife, and we couldn’t be happier for them.  We travelled to Golden for the festivities.  Catching up with old  friends and laughing until our sides hurt made for a super fun weekend.

SUMMER

Moose Crossing SignOddly, I visited the Columbia River Valley twice in less than 30 days.  Once for the aforementioned impromptu wedding, and once for a “camping” trip with Jessie and her family for the first week of July.  (Q: Is it still technically classified as camping if you’re sleeping in a double bed, have air conditioning and a DVD player?)

Fort Steele
Fort Steele, BC

We “camped” near Radium Hot Springs, at Redstreak Provincial Campground. One of the days we drove through to Cranbrook and Kimberly.  Along the way we stopped at Fort Steele, a heritage town with a sweet little steam engine train.

Seven Parks in the  Canadian Rockies share a UNESCO designation.  Driving through the beauty of Rogers Pass to the Burgess Shale, it’s easy to understand why.

My friend  Stacey came home from Alberta in August, and it was nice to catch up with her for a quick visit.    Jon and I stayed pretty close to home for the most part.  We made a few trips to the Lake.

Seymour
Seymour. She’s a beauty when she doesn’t smell like wet dog.

Lake days are always filled with long hours at the beach, way too many snacks, and pseudo-competitive card games–mix that up with some sun screen, and a couple of wet dogs, and you’ve got the full package.  We brought our niece with us for one of the trips.  She’s quite the car dancer.  The kid has moves even while buckled into a car seat.

FALL

Our new little nephew was born the first week of September…while we were waiting for a flight in Toronto.  Yep, we missed his arrival because we were traveling to Spain.   Jon and I spent two weeks touring through Spain visiting some gorgeous historic sites.  More on that adventure to come.  Trust me, I’ll be very busy writing over the next couple months.

October was ridiculously busy month for me work wise.  A co-worker was diagnosed with cancer, so we lost an integral member of the team while she left to focus on getting herself well.   I missed our annual tradition of visiting the pumpkin patch.  Jon was able to go, and had a great time with the kids.  Later in the month, we were able to sneak away for an afternoon to visit the Adam’s River Salmon Run.  Our niece and nephew were so excited to see all of the fish.  We’ll have to make it an annual tradition too.

Salmon Run
Adam’s River Salmon Run, BC

In November, Fazh decided to go to Denmark.  He asked me to plan the trip about a week before he decided he was leaving.   For so many reasons the task was nearly impossible!  Through some divine intervention, I was able to find his Danish friend on the internet, and he ended up having a once in a lifetime trip.    And now, Fazh too must focus on getting himself well.

December, while frazzling, has updated/reinforced my outlook that the “small stuff” shouldn’t even be a blip on the radar.  There are so many more important ways to spend time than focusing on trivial matters.

That brings us back to January.  Our newest nephew was born on the 2nd.  Fortunately, we were in the same city for his arrival.   At present we just wait to hear from surgeons, so that they get Fazh fixed up.

We’ve had so many wonderful adventures this year; Thanks to everyone who was a part of them.

Here’s to 2015,

~j

Europe, Spain

Update from Sevilla

We are winding down to the last few days in Spain. Tomorrow we leave Sevilla for Cordoba, and finally end up in Madrid for the last 2 nights. Then we fly home to meet our new nephew who was born the day we left!

Sevilla has been really fun. It is a nice change from La Linea which was a very utilitarian, border town, by the sea. Most of the buildings were in disrepair, and nothing special to look at. ‎ However, it was the most convenient place to stay for traveling to The Rock of Gibraltar. And, the hotel room was deluxe by our standards–room service, bidet, pool and all!

‎Today we are taking it easy. We tracked down some really beautiful street art, and then had some lunch aka fed some birds in the Plaza Nueva which is near by.

Tomorrow will be an early start.
~j

Israel, Middle East

Masada: The Mountaintop Fortress

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Masada UNESCO designationMasada is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and one of Israel’s most popular attractions.  For our first night in Israel, we stayed at the Masada Youth Hostel and Guest House.  FYI: The Hostels in Israel are like no other.  This place was more like a convention centre!   We visited the ruins of this mountaintop fortress that overlooks the banks of the Dead Sea.

There is a cable car to get to the top of Masada. (There is also a switch-back pathway to the top, but it looked BRUTAL, and it was HOT in the desert!)  Masada has the ruins of one of  the palaces of Herod the Great at the top of the mesa, as well as the remains of Roman camps at the base of the fortified hill.

Israeli Flag Masada Israel
View of the Dead Sea from Masada
View of the Dead Sea from Masada Israel
Columbarium to hold urns of ashes, Masada Israel
Archway ruins Masada

I didn’t know much about the history of Masada prior to visiting, and actually found the site rather informative.  In 73AD Masada had been under Roman siege for two years as one of the last Jewish strongholds when it was finally taken.  Rather than succumb to Roman rule and slavery, the Jews of Masada chose to commit mass suicide.

Judaism prohibits suicide, so the men of Masada drew names, and killed each other down to the last man who would commit suicide.  There was a whole exhibit showing pieces of the clay shards with names found on the site.   Almost 1000 people were killed.

The synagogue at the top of Masada is thought to be one of the oldest in Israel.  While we were at the site, there was a group singing in the synagogue.  It was simultaneously eerie and beautiful.

From Masada we made our way to the Tiberias.  Stay tuned…
~j

Asia, Cambodia

Sua s’dei Siem Riep

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Just about half way through the trip, we left Vietnam for Cambodia.  The flight out of HCMC was delayed, our gate was changed 3 times, and then the power went out to the entire airport–pitch black, power outage.  It. Was. Out.  After an hour or so, the power came back on, and our gate was changed back to the one we started at…seriously?!?!

Eventually we landed in Siem Reap.  We arranged to be picked up at the airport through the guest house we were staying at.  SO AWESOME!  Our tuk-tuk driver introduced himself as Batman, and we were off!The Siem Reap Garden Inn was a tiny little piece of paradise. (The pool is new since we were there.)  Everyone we dealt with seemed genuinely interested in making our experience the best possible which is not something found everyday.  The level of service was probably something we won’t see again.

Beng Mealea road signSiem Reap is one of the most welcoming places we’ve ever been to.  It is an oddly dichotomous place in that is a major tourist hub with a 100% tourist related enterprise as the main focus.  And, then there are obviously Cambodians going about their day to day business.  Kind of like Las Vegas – there’s the Las Vegas strip, which most people from Vegas would avoid like the plague, and then there’s normal Las Vegas where people live, work, go to school etc.   We were lucky enough to see both sides Siem Reap.

As we had limited time in Cambodia, we had a lot of ground to cover.  Our first day was spent with Ta from Peace of Angkor tours.  This has got to be one of the most memorable vacation days we’ll ever have.  He took us to Kompong Khleang and along the Tonle Sap.  We also visited Beng Mealea, and climbed along the walls of the ancient temple.  Ta was fortunate to be one of first people to “rediscover” the temple, and said at the time, there were actually tigers on the temple grounds.

As promised quite a while ago, here are some of the photos from our day with Ta.

Cashew fruit and nut
The kids were super excited to have their photos taken.  This grandmother wanted hers taken as well.  Just before she posed for the camera, she was hacking away at the edge of the bowl with a machete.  At 78 years old, she was still sharp as a tack.  We had a great time visiting Kompong Khleang.  The stilt houses were absolutely fascinating.  The residents were insanely hospitable to us.  Due to Ta’s kindness, we were invited inside a stilt house to roast cashew nuts picked right from the tree.

We were privileged to see a wedding, where they asked us in closer to take photos of the bride and groom.  And, we also saw/followed a funeral procession for a while.  Richard, a person we were with, said we almost had “hatches, matches and dispatches,” covered.

We had an extraordinary tour through one of the villages outside of Siem Reap, and we were fortunate enough to float on the Tonle Sap River (which in itself is a crazy thing–yep, I’m a nerd!).  None of this experience would have been logistically possible for us without our guide, Ta.  He really made the day one we’ll never forget.

The second half of the day we were at another UNESCO Site, Beng Mealea.  This temple has collapsed walls, and jungle-ish overgrowth that gives it an appeal unlike the other temples we saw in Cambodia.  We were able to climb on the walls and take pathways that would definitely not have been acceptable in the bubble wrapped North American tourism sector.  It was pretty fantastic.  See for yourself…

Asia, Vietnam

Ha Long Bay: Sung Sot Cave & Ti Top Island

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We signed up for a 2 day 1 night trip through Ha Long Bay. Getting to the Karst islands, we had to sail through shipping lanes of the South China Sea. I was not expecting to see massive freighters in wide open ocean, but we did. There were also several ships that were dredging silt from the sea floor (to be used in making concrete was the explanation received.) As we traveled, we checked out our cabins, and the deck areas, and enjoyed the company of our fellow passengers. Then, we were served a crazy lunch. Who eats 10 courses for lunch?!? I will make an entirely separate post for the food on board the junk.

Shipping Lane South China Sea
Ha Long Bay Symbol
Ha Long Bay Junk

 After lunch, we visited the Sung Sot caves, which seemed a little too touristy, but still interesting to see. The grottoes have walkways set out, and lights to feature all sorts of formations. The entrance to the caves is about 25m above the water. Just to give you a feel for the size of the cave, we probably walked about 1.5km throughout the site and didn’t see all of it. There were probably a few hundred people in the cave, and it was not crowded by any means.

Sung Sot Cave, Vietnam
Sung Sot Cave, Vietnam

We also climbed to the pagoda on top of Ti Top island. I wasn’t too keen on this little side adventure because I felt hideous from the drive still, but I did it anyway. The history of the island is kind of interesting if you’re into the nerdy stuff. On November 22, 1962, a Soviet Cosmonaut, Gherman Titov visited the island with Ho Chi Minh. In remembrance of the visit, Ho Chi Minh named the place Ti Top Island.

Top of Ti Top
View from Ti Top

The only thing missing from our Ha Long Bay adventure was blue skies for the photos. We had white washed out sky the entire time. The scenery was still amazing. We took a smaller boat through to a grotto. Apparently there are monkeys that live on the cliff walls, but we didn’t see any. We did see a little fishing village and some locals out on boats. All in all a good experience. Yay for crossing off another UNESCO site.

Bird Ha Long BayThroughout Vietnam, I felt like a dollar sign rather than a person, and I haven’t felt that way in any other country. But, I experienced that feeling a lot in Vietnam. It is indescribable the aggressive level of service shop keepers try to give in the hopes of making a sale because the competition is so fierce. If the neighbouring shop is selling the same thing, they have to capture every dollar they can. This deterred me from buying in the bigger cities, Hanoi and HCMC. There were a few negatives of the trip, and that was one them for sure.

The other negative was the exploitation of the environment–ie: fishing with electricity which just kills EVERYTHING, or fishing and not throwing anything back so that the juvenile fish cannot grow or reproduce, or fishing with explosives, or fishing with lights at night. (We saw almost all of those taking place, not the explosives method, but it happens.*) I did try to ask the guide, as he was fishing for tiny squid with a spot light at night, if there were limits or regulations, and he looked very puzzled that something like that could be in place.
I’m certain there has to be some sort of regulatory body, but clearly it isn’t followed. This also makes one think before booking with a company that uses these practices. We look for reputable, safe, eco-conscious companies to support, and this instance was not in line with those values. The guide caught 1 palm-sized squid that was eaten in its entirety by the crew.
*Aside from the spot light fishing, all of the other methods were observed while on the Mekong River–NOT in Ha Long Bay. And, the captain of our Mekong boat called out the people fishing with electricity, but they paid no mind.
Asia, Vietnam

Hanoi to Ha Long Bay

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Ha Long Bay was an amazing experience, and frightening as well. Let’s start with the trip from Hanoi to Ha Long…

Rice Field Vietnam
Rice Field Vietnam
I don’t think I have ever felt that carsick in my entire life. I don’t get carsick. I don’t get sea sick. I was carsick for 3 days. The drive was about 3 hours through idyllic rice fields. Imagine a stereotypical setting with green rice fields, a woman wearing a conical hat, she’s walking along the berm between sections, and there is a water buffalo wandering around. Seriously, we saw that. Then a few minutes of the skinniest row houses and businesses, and then back to idyllic movie scene Vietnam, then back to dust bowl village of skinny row houses.
Rice Field Vietnam
Vietnamese Row House
As we were driving, I noticed several tombs in the middle of the fields. The best explanation I received was that this was the burial custom. A deceased person is buried along side their home or field, with their possessions, and the alter is created to have that person ever present. As sort of an Ancestor Worship. Our driver said, “In your country, big big people with tiny grave site, in our country, tiny people with huge grave site!” He also said that all possessions of the dead person still belong to that person, so nothing is passed on to someone else lest the dead person come back and ask why you are using their stuff.
Tomb in Rice Field Vietnam
Tombs in Rice Field Vietnam

Once we arrived at the water, we met some of the people we were going to be onboard with. We met Pierre, an Australian traveling home from the UK via India and Asia. He was very interesting and passed along his Lonely Planet Vietnam to us. (We didn’t bring any guide books–too heavy! But, it was nice to have for the remainder of the trip. Just add it to the 50+ travel guides we already have.) We met a German physicist and his family, and a solo female traveler from Finland who we named Elsa, because she never did tell us her name.

You may wonder why I said the trip was frightening. A few weeks before we were set for our trip, one of the junks sank in Ha Long Bay. Passengers died because they couldn’t evacuate the boat properly in the middle of the night. New safety standards were put into place, and our room came equipped with a flashlight and a hammer to smash out the window if need be. We slept just fine aboard the boat. I don’t know the exact circumstance that caused the ship to sink, but the junk we were on appeared well maintained, and the weather and water were both calm for us.

Stay tuned for more photos from Ha Long Bay.
Happy Travels,
~j
Asia, Vietnam

We’ve arrived?

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Before we left for Asia, I was nervous traveling to a country where I couldn’t easily ask for directions or piece together some semblance of a sentence. I don’t speak Spanish well, but I knew I could muddle through some basics for when we were in Peru. But, I only know one word of Vietnamese (thank-you), and I most certainly can’t read it. When we’re traveling, I don’t generally mind getting lost, or changing plans, but our first experience at Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi was a little over the top.

We landed after over 28 hours travel time. Having only carry-on, we by-passed baggage claim (FANTASTIC!), and moved on quickly to get our travel Visas at the airport. The girl behind the counter was singing Backstreet Boys and Air Supply songs the whole time she processed our passports.

It was the wee hours of the morning, and the arrivals exit was swarming with taxi drivers. Mobs of shouting taxi drivers make me freak out. It is irrational for the most part, but with no sleep, anxiety kicks in. I prefer to choose my own taxi driver rather than have someone approach me. In the irrationality, it seems safer to me to pick someone rather than be mobbed. Anyway, I couldn’t deal with it, so we sat down for a few minutes, and the lights in the airport went out, and then the exit doors locked. Yep.

Luckily we found a taxi driver that helped us find an unlocked door. We had a pre-printed address card for the hotel, but he took us to a random shop with a similar name, and tried to drop us off…in the dark…in the rain…with our stuff…in the middle of no where. We argued, and he realized we were at the wrong address. So, off we went again. He did find the hotel, and when we arrived there–it was pad locked shut.

I didn’t think it was possible to get weirder, but it did. The taxi driver phoned the hotel for us, and someone got up, from where they were sleeping on a mattress in the lobby, put some clothes on, and opened the door to check us in. Finally.
Asia, Vietnam

Standard Fare Really

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It isn’t raining, but it is overcast. I suppose I should be thankful that it isn’t scorching hot though because we climbed several hundred stairs, and covered a few kilometers hiking in caves today.The “junk” we are sailing is quite sweet. There are 8 passengers on board, with a total of 6 cabins. The cabins are cute–pretty much like the pictures on the website; the food on the other hand is INSANITY! We had 10 courses for lunch and then another 10 for dinner. I really hope the breakfast isn’t 10 courses or I might explode.

I took photos of most of the dishes. I tried most of the dishes, but just couldn’t stomach de-legging, de-heading and de-shelling steamed shrimp that were bigger than my thumb. And, the physical reaction to clams and oysters prevented those two dishes from being a gastronomic success. The stuffed crab, squid and seafood soup were all quite good though. I know you’re all wondering what Jon ate…we’ll tell you when we get back.

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Peru, South America

Know what I like? Llamas!

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On the second day in Arequipa we were picked up at our hotel for the Colca Canyon and Cruz del Condor tour. Because everything was arranged by the Casa de Avila, we didn’t really know what to expect. Our guide David (Dabeed) spoke both Spanish and English which was handy because we had about half and half for the people on the tour. There were people from Chile, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, USA, and us from Canada. We met a super nice couple from St. Louis – Jill and Jason. David was actually pretty awesome. He knew a lot of information about the people, culture and areas we drove through. I learned more than I expected.

Llama Crossing Sign
For the first day of the tour we drove from Arequipa to Chivay. We stopped several times at handy craft sites set up at strategic points along the route. (Pretty much every where you go there is someone trying to sell something.) We drove through the Salinas y Aguada Blancas National Reserve.

map-arequipa-to-cruz-del-condorThe reserve is home to thousands of Llamas, Alpacas and Vicuñas. Seeing the little camelids in fields on the side of the highway was sweet. I did feel like a total tourist taking photos of them–kind of like people taking photos of Big Horn Sheep on the highway in Banff or Jasper.   FYI:  The novelty wears off if you frequently see the animals on the morning commute.  In total tourist style, I took the photos!

The highest point along the route was Patapampa Pass at 4910m above sea level. (That’s over 16,000ft above sea level for you non-metrics.) We stopped for Coca tea and candies pre-trip. Neither of us had the tea, but both of us ate the candies. I don’t really know how they work, but they help with the altitude. The most we felt was a little short of breath and tight chests. I’m sure the Diamox helped negate any other symptoms we might have had. One poor lady on the tour was barfing from the altitude.  She was not doing well.

Mirador de Los Andes
Translation: Viewpoint of the Andes stretch of the volcanic mountain range in the Central Andes

It was pretty amazing to see all sorts of stone piles, similar to Inukshuk, all along the road. I asked David  for an explanation.  He explained that the  Apachetas are built as an offering to Gods. The people believe that high points are sacred, and try to emulate that with the stones. First they dig a little hole and bury something of importance, maybe their own hair, and then they build the Apacheta on top of the offering. There were literally thousands of Apachetas along the way.

Our stop over for the night was in Chivay, which is this dusty little dust bowl of a town. The Colca Inn was amazingly cute accommodation, especially since we didn’t even select it ourselves. We went out for dinner as a group with everyone from the tour. There was traditional music and dancing. It was all fun and games until we had to participate in the dancing. One dance around the restaurant and I felt as though I’d run a marathon. Score one for altitude that night.

Peru, South America

Casa de Avila

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We stayed at the cutest place in Arequipa. The Casa de Avila was more than accommodating for all of our requests. We arrived in Arequipa at 5am. They had arranged for a taxi to meet us at the airport, and to have our room available for early check-in. They also arranged for our 2 day Colca Canyon trip and our bus tickets from Chivay to Puno. The room was super cute too. Casa de Avila was within walking distance for everything we wanted to see and do in Arequipa which was a huge convenience. I love this little place!
Casa de Avila