Epilogue

Every trip has its more challenging, but often at the same time interesting, moments. In Bhutan those moments often related to our accommodations or the food. The long bus rides were in most respects the most challenging and interesting, however.

Our departure presented its own issues. We walked around Paro (our entry and departure point for Bhutan) in the morning and photographed. Nothing too memorable except that Giules counted over 90 stray dogs in a three to four block radius. In Bhutan this is not unusual. We did, however, get wifi to check our email on our iPhones by standing outside an Indian hotel.

As we met up with our bus to take our group to the airport, one of the Bhutan guides approached me, concerned. Giules bought a beautiful silk kira the day before en route to Paro. She had admired it when we stopped there four days earlier. She was thrilled it was still there. The woman dressed her in it (see photos on flickr), including using a beautiful silver and gold clip and a belt. She refused payment for the accessories and sent us on our way.

The guide explained that the woman had not intended that the clip and belt go with the kira and that the clip was a family heirloom. Although that was not consistent with what the woman said at the time of the sale, Giules photographed the clip and gave it and the belt back to the guide to return to the woman. She was somewhat heartbroken, however, since she adored the clip, which doubles as a necklace.

Given the delay in our flight from Paro to Calcutta, we assumed we would miss our connection from Calcutta to Delhi, but fortunately for us, it too was delayed for two hours. There were two flights leaving Calcutta from our gate and much chaos and crowding and pushing to get on both of them. All of the fracas was overseen by a very pretty young woman from the Indian army who checks passports (there were five passport checks before getting on the plane) and the carry-on luggage tags to make sure they are stamped with the day’s date stamp. Despite the confusion, we made it on board and to Delhi.

Delhi was easy. The terminal is a vast, modern airport that replaces the dilapidated Delhi airport I had last seen three years ago. We had an airline club lounge visit for our last taste of real Indian food (enough reason alone to go to India), went through security again at the gate (required for all U.S. bound flights) and then were off, headed home on another full flight.

Fourteen and a half hours later, Continental deposited us a Newark for the connection home to Burlington.

We had a great time, learned a lot about photography and took about 15,000 images between the two of us. We have deleted a few thousand images, but that leaves around 10,000 images to edit . . . . See both of our Flickr accounts for each of our highlights.

Our group leader, John Isaac is wonderful teacher, friend and mentor. We hope to travel with him again and even have him visit Vermont. John is a former photo journalist for the United Nations and is an exquisite photographer. You can see his work at http://johnisaac.com/

Bhutan is a fantastic place to visit – once. It is a very small and lovely country and we have seen much of it. India, however, seems limitless and we look forward to returning in the future.

Monkey Business

Hi All, Giules here!

We are now back in Paro and getting ready for our last dinner as a group - tomorrow (Friday) we fly to Calcutta, then Delhi, then Newark, then Burlington! If all goes perfectly, it will take us about 34 hours of travel to get home. This does not include the 9 hours of fun and frolic in the bus today as we returned from Tronsga to Paro.

Today is an auspicious day for the Bhutanese, as the king and queen were married today. The entire country is adorned with colorful prayer flags, people are all wearing pins with the royal couple's picture and there are portraits of them everywhere. The atmosphere is very festive and every restaurant that has a TV is showing the royal wedding. But where, I ask you, is Pippa Middleton and her slinky dress? This king, unlike his father, will apparently take only one bride... very modern. His father has 4 wives - - all sisters. hmmmm.

Our journeys since Tuesday have taken us to more monasteries and dzongs and we have taken many pictures - - - at some point we hope to have an internet connection that is fast enough to post them. In one monastery we participated in a blessing for long life. The Lama and several monks set up in a small candlelit sanctuary and one by one we filed in, drank what tasted like wine, then holy water, then eat something akin to sweet dough. During this time we pass by holy writings and figurines. The monks and the Lama bless each person and give us a small red cord to wear around our necks. It appears that the entire village is there to be blessed, adults and children alike.

On our drive west (still on the only east/west road in the entire country) we saw some amazing monkeys on our path and in the trees. These monkeys have a white crown and mane and are brown in the face and body. Apparently they are almost extinct, but we managed to see a few and even take a few pictures - - I will definitely include those in my flickr pictures. They were very cool and definitely worth stopping for on the hairpin road of rocks and ditches (we've seen so many cows, horses, goats and yaks that they are not worth mentioning anymore)

Also on our drive we picked up a beautiful silk kira. This is essentially a large handwoven rectangular tapestry that the women here wrap around themselves and wear. This one is particularly gorgeous and I will probably use it as a bedspread, however when in Rome... So the woman at the shop taught me how to wear it and I wore it to the bus and again when we arrived in Paro. Jerry will be posting a picture - - I only wish there were some occasion at home to wear something like this - - perhaps the OKG holiday party? (haha!)

Our accommodations and dining options have greatly improved since Bumthang, but we have learned not to take electricity, hot water or even a double bed for granted! It will be great to be home, drink fresh water, take a good shower and do lots of laundry, but this has been an amazing adventure and we are still having a wonderful time in our last few days here.

Why we became vegetarians—at least while in Bhutan.

We have done well in our hotels until we arrived at our present quote resort, unquote. We have been here for three nights. There are some memorable parts of Bumthang, but our hotel is not amongst them. The power goes out frequently as Giules mentioned. We tried to read in bed last night but gave up after the power went off, then back on five times. I should have been reading from my iPad, not my Kindle.

While power has been an issue, regularly, the food has been the most mediocre so far. This morning was fried eggs, white toast and porridge—the latter not bad, but that was it.

When meat is available here, it is pork, with lots of fat. We have seen fish a time or time from India, but so boney as to be inedible. Fortunately, we are going somewhere else tonight for dinner—as we did last night. However, that is why we are vegetarians while in Bhutan.

One constant at every meal except breakfast is a cheese and peppers dish. It is very hot from a spice perspective. I usually take a little of the sauce and add it to the rice, but that’s it. Otherwise, I could start fire across the room by breathing out.

Today (Tuesday) we went to a local festival, the prime reason why we traveled for 16 ½ hours to get here. It was a bust. The festival in Thimphu, the capital, was great, in a large arena type space. Here, it was at about three miles along a dirt road in the courtyard of a monastery. While both events consisted of singing and dancing, this one was so packed with tourists that it was nearly impossible to get good photos – always a tourist in the background and usually one with a loud color and a still or video camera.

When we tried to leave early we found our way blocked by other parked vehicles. We did manage to maneuver out after an hour, went to a monastery, were purified by the monks and then had a picnic lunch—the one we had planned to have at the festival.

The highlight of the day arguably was our trip to the Red Panda brewery, a small place that produces the best beer in Bhutan. Short tour and Red Panda beer; good combination.

Despite the disappointment of the festival I managed to shoot 489 photos today, however, that will edit down to around 350. Many were of young monks when we went to a second monastery. It was just boys being boys.

I hit over 1400 photos one day (way too much editing too do). I will post more if we can ever get a decent internet connection. No, it will not be anywhere near 1400 images.

This is coming to you via the wifi at the resort at which we are staying as we sit outside the building that generates the wifi that is locked, but we have the code . . . . However, it’s slow.

Dancers and Mountains and Nuns, Oh My! (Oct 6-10)

Thursday and Friday - Thimphu is the capital and they know how to throw a festival! We’re still not entirely sure of what the four day long festival is for, but we joined in all the same. In the Dzong or fort of every city, the monks live and the festivals are held. The courtyard fills with dancers in colorful costumes and wild masks. They spin like whirling dervishes and leap in the air as they enact religious or historical events. There are several men dressed as humorous demons and they dance around mocking the dancers and playing with the audience – kids love it and they are clearly the jokesters. One of them wields a huge wooden penis and teases people with it. Even the monks are laughing. More on that later.

We spend the morning there and return the following morning but it has become too crowded to see. We estimate that there are 16,000 to 20,000 people attending by the second – and they’re all wearing their most colorful silk finery. When we get a better internet connection next week we’ll post some really fun pictures.

And that brings me back to penises. Oh boy do they love ‘em here! There are statues of them everywhere – door handles, wooden carvings, post cards, pictures, paintings – you name it! In fact, as we go from town to town we have noticed large paintings and prints of penises on the outside of just about every house! Apparently this is their symbol of prosperity and everyone in this rather modest country loves it. Go figure.

Saturday - Our next adventure took us on a wild ride from Thimphu to Bumthang. That’s “boom – tahng” to you. What a journey! We awakened at 4:45 a.m. and boarded the bus at 6:00 for what was supposed to be a 10 hour drive. Almost 17 hours later, over the most treacherous winding mountain paths (I can hardly call them roads as there was, in many places, no pavement and only rocks, ditches, stones on one side and cliffs on the other.) we arrived in Bumthang. We traveled (survived) about 190 miles of the only eastbound road in north-central Bhutan during which we covered three substantial mountain passes, all above 9000 feet. The first was spectacular – we took many photos. The second was cold. We looked from the bus. The third was in the mud and rain and dark of night and we ignored it altogether. 16.5 hours of hairpin turns around mountains with rockslides left us queasy and tired.

At 10:30 pm we arrived at our hotel. We are no longer in 5 star luxury. In fact, as I write this, we have no power and are using tall skinny candles for light. There is some hot water and we had them push our twin beds together, but that’s about it for creature comforts.

Sunday - We spent today going to some local monasteries and a local home where some monks were doing a ceremony. We were invited to watch and photograph the ceremony in which the monks were seated around a room chanting from Tibetan scriptures. I sat down in the middle of them all, put my camera away and shut my eyes. Their voices swirled around me. It was an incredible experience.

After several hours - and a candle light dinner during which we all toasted Thomas Edison - the power finally returned – but only sporadically and on alternate floors. We are lucky – our floor has light. Time for quick showers before it goes out again! Tomorrow we will go to a nunnery, which should be very interesting. All in all, quite an adventure!

Monday - And so today we went to the nunnery and what fun! We arrived to see young girls (with the same red robes and shaved heads as the monks) playing badminton in the courtyard. They were also skipping rope and doing yoga. A number of us joined the yoga class and had a wonderful and welcomed stretch! The atmosphere was quite different than the monasteries with all the boys. The girls and women are more animated and excited to see us. It is much easier to interact with them. I spent a good deal of time photographing a young girl of about 8 or 9 who, by the end of our visit threw herself in my arms to hug me. Jerry says I cannot bring her home -same with the puppy from Calcutta and the kitten at the restaurant - but now I think I will try to bring home a baby yak).

Tonight we have a photo critique and then on with the adventure tomorrow! I am trying to post more pictures on Flickr but we have little internet access so it may still be a few days.

Bhutan

Well, we almost did not make it here. We were enjoying Kolkata and were ready to head for Bhutan, but there was this sticky problem that the Government of Bhutan, which is very picky about to whom it issues visas, had not actually issued the visas to our group, but they had let us book our flights.

We all finally agreed to head for the airport in Kolkata Tuesday morning at 5:30, try to get on the flight and sort it out when we landed. Well, it worked. We got on to the flight and once we were on the ground in Paro, Bhutan, the bureaucracy took about 20 minutes to get its act together, and here we are.

I should add that landing in Paro is a thrill. You come in over the mountains and swoop down to the runway, but, again, it worked.

We visited a monastery after arrival and got in lots of photos the young monks, who were only too glad to pose for the tourists. Our Flikr acounts show some of the images. By the way . . . you can get to the Flickr accounts at any time by clicking on the boxes below the photo of us at the top of this blog.

We spent our first night in a pleasant but somewhat basic tourist hotel. Our hot water was not working well, but food was good and we survived.

This is a very friendly country, as is India, with a population of about 625,000, roughly the size of Vermont. Its average altitude is 7500’ and it is quite mountainous. The roads tend to be very windy because of the terrain.

Today we hiked to the Tigers’ Nest, http://www.cs.unm.edu/~shapiro/BHUTAN/MIDSIZE/tigersnest.html

We were led to believe it was an easy hike – no need to take along our trekking poles. Not so. It was a three hour strenuous hike, particularly with our photographic gear. We should have had less photographic gear and more food and water. Three of the eleven in our group dropped out. Giules and I were in the group of three who made it to the monastery first. The only real frustration is that we were not allowed to photograph inside.

We started the hike at 8,000' and at the monastery we were at 10,240'.

You will see some of the images from today on our Flikr accounts. However, there are only just so many images of a monastery you really want to post.

The hike was great, ultimately, but the real hit of the day is the resort at which we are staying. The place we were supposed to stay for three nights was damaged in an earthquake two weeks ago, so we were rebooked into a five star resort nearby. Our room is about the size of our residence.

There is a problem with the booking for tomorrow night because of the festival that is in town and so we are getting only four rooms instead of nine tomorrow night. However, the women in the group would not dream of our leaving this place a minute sooner than necessary, so we will work it out.

Tomorrow, Thursday, is the first of three days of a festival here in Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan. We are off to it bright and early . . . .

You say Calcutta, I say Kolkata . . .

and here we are in one of the most vibrant and alive cities on the planet!

Kolkata (the new and official name) is a melange of everything you can think of - lights, food, colors, art, culture, gorgeous old buildings in various stages of dilapidation, decay or rebirth, parks, rivers, cows, goats, dogs, cats, monuments, markets, festivals (Durga Puja begins today to celebrate the goddess Durga, and is going on all night, every night this week!), tuk tuks, rickshaws, and people! Oh the people! 22 million of them!

If all you thought about when you thought of Calcutta was Mother Theresa and orphans with flies around their eyes, think again. Yes there is incredible poverty - most of the city is impoverished - but it is not an angry culture. It is welcoming and friendly and musical and vibrant.

We came in last night to the beginnings of the week long festival - strings of lights everywhere, music and singing, bands and performers on every block - young and old all out and about for the all night party. This morning we went to the flower market at sunrise - - the current of humanity, flowers and bees seemed to flow and take us along with it. We ended up at the edge of the river where, to the beat of many drums, men young and old bathe in the mornings. You can see some of the pics on my Flickr page http://www.flickr.com/photos/33339594@N06/sets/72157627660248443/ Jerry will post some soon. The men scrub themselves with soap and mud balls - the boys climb on top of each other in the water to make human pyramids and mug for the camera, the old men bathe to the side, some of them clasp their hands in their morning prayer. all wear sarongs or underwear. The women watch, laugh, do Hindu prayers and the whole shebang feels like a strange pool party.

This afternoon we explored a sprawling local market that spanned numerous streets and alleyways. We started out in the fish and poultry section - and by poultry I mean live chickens - - you pick it, they kill it . . . fortunately we did not see this happen. The vendors, hundreds and hundreds of them, sell everything from beauty supplies to string and rope to spices and vegetables of every imaginable kind. Photography was tricky in there given the darkness from the overhead tarps. Breathing was even trickier due to the 90's plus temperature and humidity and the many smells.

Tonight we dined on local Bengalese food - Jerry loved all of it but I am staying on the vegetarian plan for now. Still some lovely flavors. We also learned that we may not have visa clearance to enter Bhutan tomorrow as planned. Our guide and group leader is working on the problem (we are still not sure what that problem is) and as of now we are planning to head to the airport, cross our fingers and try to get on the plane....

Stay tuned - we may be writing from Kolkata again tomorrow night.

The Taj Mahal Days

Saturday and Sunday Oct 1 and 2 – the Taj Mahal days

We decided these two days were both best wrapped up, for the most part, into one entry – about the Taj Mahal for the most part.

I offered to build Giules a Taj Mahal (I never specified the scale). All she had to do was bear me 14 children in 19 years as did the wife of the king who built the Taj Mahal for the mother of his 14 children. No deal. Probably best for both of us.

It’s about a six hour drive from Delhi to Agra, the industrial city that has an interesting fort, the Taj Mahal and not a great deal else (although it has a population of 3 million – not a large city by India’s standards).

The drive is an exercise in viewing the Indian state of driving. The congestion and horn beeping was worst coming out of Delhi and passing through some of the suburbs. Dead stop, horns honking, every imaginable type of vehicle on the road.

Although we were on a divided highway for the most part, it was not unusual for drivers to be coming at us in our lane, usually on the shoulder. At no point did we see a police officer. The most we saw were a few traffic control officers in the stands at a few intersections coming out of Delhi. Otherwise, it is chaos that somehow works.

Horn beeping is almost constant as drivers tell each other where they are and ask others to move. In fact, the back of many vehicles, trucks especially, have painted on them “horn please.” No please is needed. Horns sound constanly.

Oh yes, and lanes mean nothing. Three vehicles driving abreast in two lanes is a frequent sight.

Anyway, on to the Taj Mahal.

We visited the Taj twice, to catch the evening Sunday on Saturday and the morning sun on Sunday (up at 5 a.m.). Even at that, it was crowded.

It is what it purports to be, one of the most beautiful buildings in the world, accentuated by the beautiful evening and morning light. It was well worth the journey.

Of course we then had to drive back to Delhi to catch our flight to Kolkata (the revised name from the old Colonial name of Calcutta) at 6 pm. Ok Giules, take it from here . . . .

A Day Without Giules

Friday Sept. 29 - Delhi.

This was not to be Giules’s day. Today was the day that the great Indian food laid her low. Rather than go out and shoot photos today, she stayed at the hotel, skipping lunch, ending up by the pool reading and having a hot stone massage. Not a single photo today.

I on the other hand shot 874 images over five hours in Old Delhi.

Our guide and I started out in the train station, through which 1.1 million people a day pass. I was getting some good images until security came along and said, no more photos – the result of the terrorist bombings in India. We tried an appeal to the stationmaster, but to no avail.

However, the teeming streets of Old Delhi again beckoned. We head out through the streets near the train station, which are pandemonium with train users, freight on hand carts and being towed by bicycles, as well as small taxis, rickshaws, cattle pulling wagons - you name it.

There were many great photo opportunities on the street and then we headed to the spice market—shop after shop after shop of spices. Many colors, textures, people, but when we went upstairs in one of the blocks to the wholesalers, we met out match – so many spices in the air that we began to cough a bit. Some chai tea helped but the breathing problems did not go away until we went back to the crowded streets.

I never thought I’d be over spiced without putting it on my food. Today was such a day.

Massages at the hotel, catching up on photo editing and writing, dinner at the hotel and then off to sleep.

Off by car on Saturday to Agra, the home of the Taj Mahal.

Photo postings from the day are at Jerry's flickr page. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jfon24/sets/72157627657291275/.

BYO Head scarf

Thursday, 9/29. Our first full day in Delhi.

Breakfast in the hotel was a feast of Indian goodies - - we had the option of eating from the Japanese buffet, the British buffet, the Chinese buffet or the Indian buffet - and guess where we went? We had a choice of southern and northern dishes and enjoyed them both - - different and delicious. By the end of the meal we were ready for a nap, but our guide was ready to take us out for our first day on the town!

Delhi is full of sights, sounds, people, crowds, colors, and amazing food. We set out with our guide to walk throughout the streets of Old Delhi. Every alley, no mater how small, was teeming with people, cars, rickshaws, tuk tuks, motor bikes, bicycles and vendors and shops of all kinds. And each street had a theme. We wandered streets of vendors of wedding products, car parts, coins, silver and jewelry, and, of course, food of all kinds. With the help of our guide, Sanjeev, who chose wisely, we even sampled a few tidbits! Of course, the people are the most interesting part of the street life - school children mug for our cameras and the men work constantly in the stores or transporting things. There are even men who will clean your ears on the street, for a small price. They almost had me going for the clean white q-tips, but then I thought better of it. There are very few women out and about - our guide says they are at home or at work, but not this kind of work. We saw a few other tourists being toted about in rickshaws but how can they take pictures?? On foot, Jerry and I found this area to be a photographer's paradise!

Our morning included a visit to a Sikh temple. We had to fight our way through a thicket of enthusiastic folks in yellow hats championing Cardiac Health and Awareness Day and getting people to sign up for free cardiac screenings. Passing on that opportunity, we found ourselves in a small lobby of the temple along with the doctors who were doing the screenings. We left our shoes, donned our head scarves and walked outside (oh yes) in bare feet (ugh) to enter the temple through a stream of holy water. We walked through the holy water, still out on the street, where others were kneeling. Some were touching the water to their heads, others were taking sips (more ugh, but perhaps one builds up immunities?).
The inside of the temple was fascinating, with a prayer area and a huge cooking complex and dormitory for visitors, pilgrims or anyone who needs a place to stay. It is an interesting religion about which I knew very little except that they don't cut their hair and wear turbans... We know a great deal more now - they seek (pun intended) to devote themselves to caring for, feeding and housing all in need - but if you come to eat or stay, you must also take part in the work and wash your own dish. It was all very egalitarian, including the fact that women are considered equal to men. Pretty impressive for an ancient religion, but despite the best efforts of our guide, I decided not to convert. Jerry did not even consider it as he refuses to let his hair grow long enough to fill the mandatory turban.

We lunched at a local restaurant. I cannot do justice to the amazing food we have had here. The flavors are varied and intense, the spices are fragrant and every meal brings a new surprise (even the offerings we ate as we left the Sikh temple). By surprise, I mean GOOD surprises - delicate deserts, interesting vegetables we have never seen before. After lunch we visited Gandhi's house and place of assassination - a museum of tranquility amidst the crowded streets. Lots of info there. You already know a lot of it - no need to give a history lesson here. Our guide was a true Gandhi fan and tried tirelessly to get us to visit more Gandhi sites, but this was plenty.

We had dinner with Abhi, our guide for the photo trip we will be begin on Monday, and his lovely girlfriend, Sikha. They took us to a modern and upscale Indian restaurant after inquiring whether we wanted Japanese, Italian or some other cuisine. We are here but for a few days, so when in India... you get the picture (and it's a delicious picture).

Travel to India

Who would have thought that traveling in a full coach cabin with 270 of your nearest and dearest most recent friends, surrounded by children under four for 14 hours could be such fun. Well, it wasn’t, in part because the children cried (moaned might be a better way to put it) for much of the trip. However, with the help of ear plugs it was fine. The children were just reacting to being jammed into a small space the same way everyone else was.

There were several families consisting of a young mother, three young children and grandmother, all trying to keep it together. The older children must have been in school because it was only the little ones on the flight – and lots.

Continental has you shut the shades after take off (8:30 p.m.) so that as you over Northern Europe four hours after take off you can continue to sleep or at least relax. It works well and keeps everyone a little more calm. Great on demand movie selection and the Kindle made the time pass reasonably rapidly.

We arrived about 45 minutes early into Delhi and its new airport. This one is a modern, top quality airport, which contrasts sharply with the old airport that was every developing world and inadequate.

Whatever the issues about flying over, we cannot be heard to complain. We each got 4-5 hours of sleep and traveled 7500 miles in just a few hours.

Our hotel is fully adequate for our purposes, a business hotel run by a Dubai company with great Indian cuisine. We enjoy the Indian cuisine any chance we get, skipping over the English, Continental and Chinese offerings. We are very popular with the Indian chefs who oversee the breakfast buffet because we inquire about the Indian foods. They are happy to help us make choices amongst the delicious Indian options.

A few of Jerry’s first day photos are up at http://www.flickr.com/photos/jfon24/sets/72157627657291275/.

Giules’s photos can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/33339594@N06/sets/72157627660248443/

The good news is that we are posting a smaller number of photos each than we did on the last trip.

Getting Ready for the Next Adventure!

India and Bhutan, here we come! Stay tuned for details and photos!

-Jerry and Giules

Eat, Pray, Love! Reprise

EAT – Oh boy did we eat! I look back at the pictures from our post on March 8^th (Lord of the Dance) and figure that I’ve gained about 4-7 lbs. And you know what? It was worth every calorie and carb! Thai food was our favorite, with Indonesian running up a close second. Cambodian food was neck and neck with Indonesian and all three far outweigh the stale bagel I am currently gnawing here at the LA airport. Suffice it to say that the culinary aspect of this trip did not disappoint.

That brings me to the final Gala dinner. This event, held under the stars at the Mandarin Oriental was, as Jerry put it, an extravaganza. Exotic dishes to taste, dancers performing, more votive candles set out on the green than any US Fire Marshall would ever allow, and the sky lit up with the paper balloons we released (emerging nations have not caught on to modern environmental practices). It was a lovely, elegant and perfect way to end the trip. Weigh-in takes place tomorrow at o-dark hundred.

PRAY – Bali, Cambodia and Thailand are very spiritual places – especially Bali. There are temples everywhere and flower offerings at virtually every doorstep and street corner. Buddhism is the predominant religion in the area and the people seem imbued with a deep sense of peace and happiness. Hmmm.

Another form of praying took place the night of the earthquake . . . . While Jerry and a few hearty Californians went back to the rooms and slept, the rest of us hunkered down in the parking lot to ride out the aftershocks in relative safety - but no need to revisit the one terrifying moment in an otherwise wonderful vacation. Again.

LOVE – These last 3+ weeks have been some of the most fun and interesting we’ve ever had. Our last day in Hawaii marked the launch of what was, in effect, a honeymoon of sorts (see blog post March 13, I (still) do). In addition to enjoying the travels and the adventures, we met some lovely people along the way – people with whom we dined, laughed, climbed ancient ruins, ate and drank exotic foods, and yes, slept in the parking lot. I am sure we will remain friends and travel together in the years to come.

PHOTOGRAPH – ahhh yes! Of this we did a great deal. Although this was not a photography trip, per se, we both brought along our cameras and made the most of being in the far east. While others were packed on a bus, we were exploring markets and back streets, meeting people and having a blast with our cameras. The wonder of digital photography never ceases to amaze me. We take pictures and the next moment we are sharing them with you on our Flickr pages! Although relatively new to the digital world, I must finally acknowledge that my film days are behind me, and all my darkroom equipment will, sadly, continue to live quietly in the garage.

Epilogue: We arrive home on a beautiful, crisp, early spring day. Jerry’s bag arrives, too. Mine is, apparently, still in LA. That’s OK – I won't need summer clothes again for at least another few months!

Post epilogue (is there such a thing?): I get on the scale no less than 5 times this morning (mostly to see if it's broken. . . . It's not): I have not gained a single pound!

Jerry's Ruminations

As we prepare to leave Thailand after our visits to Thailand, Cambodia and Bali (Indonesia), a few odd ruminations (would you expect less).

Thailand is beautiful, the food is great, prices are reasonable and Thais are a warm and wonderful people. The cities, and the countryside are clean for the most part. Thailand clearly has a solid middle class and is country moving up rapidly from being a developing nation.

Bali is wonderful in all respects, but not quite as clean and with less of an established middle class.

Cambodia is a little hard to read. We saw only one place, Siem Reap, where Angkor Wat is located. This is a developing nation with plenty of poverty and cleanup work to be done. Siem Reap is booming with man large hotels under construction due to the presence of Angkor Wat.

Three million people visit Angkor Wat a year now. The government is putting in a new international airport to accommodate flights from outside Asia (we flew in and out of the existing regional airport from Thailand).

So who controls access to Angkor Wat? Two private companies. If you look on the back of your entry pass (which contains your photo, taken as they issue the ticket), you see a passing reference to the companies. I asked our guide about it and he confirmed my theory. The Government lacks the money, so they have an arrangement with the two foreign companies to in effect operate Angkor Wat as a tourist attraction. The same is true of the existing airport and the planned new airport.

We talked with one of our guides in Cambodia about where he learned English. No, not in school (although that is a common way to learn it) and not by travel abroad. He learned to speak English through YouTube. There apparently are many language lessons on YouTube. New one on us.

The guide already speaks Japanese. He is working to learn Italian and Spanish to make himself more marketable as a tour guide. He is part of the up and coming Cambodian middle class.

Back to Thailand. It’s a mystery to me why, for no apparent engineering or construction reason, there are so many small (2”) step ups that will trip you up. The same is true of stairs, where the rise varies between steps, making stairs and the little step ups genuine hazards.

We used the SkyTrain in Bangkok, a relatively new above ground rail system. I wondered why the overhead straps for those standing were hitting me in the head. Simple. Thais are short people, and, as it should be, the system was designed for them, not for taller westerners (and as we all know, I’m not all that tall).

Group travel is a mixed blessing and an interesting experience. There were roughly 50 of us in Bali and 102 of us in Thailand and Cambodia.

With a group, you have to allow more time for everything, so we arrived at all airports an hour earlier than we would normally need to arrive. However, we were for the most part whisked through visa lines, immigration and check in. In Bangkok, the travel agency even paid the airline to have two check in lines just for us.

There is the matter of the tours. Some of the tours took us to great sites and permitted us to bypass lines. However, some of the tours were for the purpose of creating shopping opportunities that we would have passed on—and when we could, we did.

On two evening in Thailand, part of the evening’s events included releasing large paper balloons, as they call them, which really are specially designed paper bags with a light metal frame and a flaming burner (which burns itself out after the fuel is exhausted). When lit, the heat causes the bag/balloon to rise. Simple physics. As a group, we launched 50 of them one night and 20 another. They are spectacular in the sky. In theory they should burn out and fall harmlessly to earth without causing a fire on the ground. However, they are an obvious environmental hazard in general, but also, you can be sure that some of them hit the ground lit, lighting something on fire. Beautiful, but not a great idea.

Then there are the departure parties we referenced in earlier positing (except for last night’s, which Giules will reference in her last posting), one each from Bali, Cambodia and Thailand. Think hotel luaus in Hawaii, but put it on a world class ancient temple ruin (Cambodia) or a Hindu temple with 250 villagers turning out to perform (Bali), dancers, food, music. Extravaganza is the term that comes to mind.

Jerry from Chiang Mai

It’s an hour bus ride from Chaing Rai, to our final Thailand destination, Chaing Mai, Thailand’s second largest city and the center of activity in Northern Thailand. Good roads through scenic countryside, but still four hours.

The Mandarin Oriental Dhari Dhevi (I put in its full name to make it sound important) is an over the top resort. We have a suite (suits and villas are all they have) that has literally almost as many square feet as our entire condominium. We don’t need this much space, including two bathrooms, but it gives you some idea of the place.

We arrive Saturday night and skip the Mandarin Oriental’s five restaurants in favor of going into town to a Thai restaurant. We were not disappointed. Great tastes and flavors, and about $100 a couple, including wine.

On Sunday morning Giules is not feeling well (head cold), so she stays behind while I go off temple-viewing with the group. Good temples with lots of people watching and photographs to take.

In the afternoon we have a luxurious couples massage for two hours. This is Thailand, so the rates are reasonable and the Lanna massage (this area was the Lanna Kingdom at one time) consists of a warm oil massage, tapping of the body with a special tool made from the bark of the tamarind tree and then hot compresses. After that, all we want to do is relax.

We had another dinner out with friends in Chaing Mai on Sunday evening at a Thai restaurant Giules found. More wonderful Thai food, inexpensive Australian wine, and then . . . on to the night market. This is a local equivalent market, i.e., not designed for the tourists. It’s full of clothing, jewelry, shoes, and food for consumption on the spot. These markets are always fun and colorful and this one is no different.

There are six of us. So how do we get back to the hotel? The type of cab that took us downtown is no where to be seen. One option it to use tuk tuks, the three wheeled sort of carts that are ubiquitous. However, we instead use the Chaing Mai version of a bus, in effect chartering our own, a small pick up truck with roof over the back and benches on both sides. We pile in and back to the hotel we go. It’s not very comfortable (or in the least bit safe), but it works.

On Monday, our last full day in Thailand, we skip the group trip to the hillside tribes with the women who have many rings around their long necks and instead go in to find the local market. We wonder amongst the shops and stalls for about two hours—being about the only westerners to be seen. It’s a street photographer’s paradise and we take in every minute of it.

Housekeeping

Hi again, G here

I have just uploaded my photos to my own Flickr account. You can see them at http://www.flickr.com/photos/33339594@N06/sets/72157626213266131/

They are a bit different from Jerry's pictures - from rather a different perspective - and many of different subjects.

You can also get to both of our Flickr pages by clicking on the links above, under our headline picture.

Enjoy!

Yesterday's Elephants

Earthquakes to Elephants

Here we sit with a direct view of the Golden Triangle and the three countries that meet here, Thailand, Myanmar and Laos. As we learned around 9 P.M. Thursday night local time, it also is an area that experiences earthquakes.

From a night spent partially outside with aftershocks that have continued for most of the next day, we moved on to elephants today.

The resort has a connection with an elephant rescue camp with about thirty elephants that reside on the resort property. Today we got to ride them, or at least Giules did. I passed on my allotted time because I knew how much she would love her time with the elephants, so here’s Giules to talk about it . . . .

Hi all - - - Yes, it’s true that I am no fan of BIG THINGS THAT RUMBLE underneath you… (thank you, mother nature for reminding us that you are more powerful than anything else), however I make an exception for riding elephants!

This had to be one of the most amazing and wonderful experiences of my life – and even though I had a sleepless night in the parking lot, I actually forgot about the quake for a few hours and had a blast.

We arrived at the elephant camp to get briefed and trained by the Mahouts – the elephants’ life long partners and trainers from a nearby tribe (being a Mahout is a profession passed from father to son for many generations). After being trained we got on our respective elephants and rode (think riding a large horse bareback, but sitting right behind the ears). We practiced steering, stopping, moving forward and backing up. I loved every moment of it and Jerry generously let me stay on for a second turn while he photographed.

The morning culminated in taking our elephants into the river for a swim. For this, the Mahouts rode with us (probably to fish us out of the river if we came off as the elephants dunked). My elephant had a blast blasting me with water from her trunk and soaking me from head to toe. I cannot imagine more fun!

This afternoon we went to see the elephant camp and had a great time playing with a mother and baby. You can see pictures of all of this on Jerry’s Flickr page.

Shaken, not stirred

The aftershocks come about once an hour with small rumblings in between. Jerry went up to the room around midnight - - I stayed outside with some other folks until after 2 a.m., then went up.

We are safe and the hotel is solid and still standing. We got a few hours of sleep and are now off to breakfast. Hopefully we will have less exciting adventures to report on the next blog entry - such as riding elephants.

Earthquake

As some of you may know, there was an earthquake here in Northern Thailand around 9 pm local time Thursday March 24. It apparently was a 7.0 about 65 km from where we are in Chiang Rai. It was a pretty good shock. We bolted out of the room, Giules wrapped in only a towel, and stood outside for about 45 minutes with all of the other resort guests. We are still feeling small aftershocks (one just hit), but things are fine. Photos are on Jerry's flickr link. Time for bed.

Angkor Wat

Up at 5:00 a.m. to see sunrise at the temple at Angkor Wat. In darkness we load onto the buses, drive to the site, unload and walk to where we will watch for the sunrise. We cross the moat on a bridge approximately a quarter mile long and proceed along a road. It’s dark, the road is uneven, the guide has the only flashlight for about 25 of us. Giules is using the flashlight application on her iPhone, to no avail.

We go off the road, down some very (and I do mean very) uneven and old steps (not a handrail to be seen anywhere in Angkor Wat), stumble, literally to our spot on the steps of an outbuilding to watch the sunrise.

Sunrise commences as scheduled (no surprise there), however, with the cloud cover, there is almost no color in the sky as it becomes more light. Therefore, we take images of the silhouette of the temple and enjoy the start to the day.

We have a very good guide, who takes us around the perimeter and in through the back of the complex. Along the way we see a building off in the jungle about a quarter mile away that is what Angkor Wat used to be –encased in the jungle.

We walk through the temples, admiring the carvings and the great work done by thousands of workers at a time. We are fortunate to be able to get close enough to touch the sculptures (which we do not do). Sooner than later this access has to end to preserve the site, however, for us, it’s great as we walk through the complex for nearly two hours.

Breakfast is a boxed affair from the hotel served at a restaurant/gift shop just outside the temple complex. It fits the need.

Hawkers are everywhere as we go to breakfast, leave breakfast, go to the buses. At every stop at a tourist destination, there are hawkers. Saying anything to them means they do not let you go; the only thing to do is to ignore them and keep on walking.

We head out next to another temple, Ta Pram; a temple held together, literally in places, by the giant roots of trees. The structures are in maze formation, so we stay with our guide. It also is in the process of being restored, but is at a much earlier stage than is Angkor Wat. The Indian government has contributed funds and expertise to help with the restoration, which is a massive undertaking. Watching it we can get a sense of what was involved in freeing Angkor Wat from the jungle, a Herculean task.

One poignant part of the tour through Ta Pram is the group of seven musicians playing by the side of the trail, under a tree, as we walk in. They are selling CDs and DVDs, and the music is quite pleasant. However, as you look more carefully at them you realize they are all missing a limb – they are all land mind victims.

Their CDs and DVDs are priced in dollars, as is most everything in this part of Cambodia, or at least what the tourists might be buying. Cambodia has its own currency, but we never saw it. All transactions were in U.S. dollars to Thai baht.

Lunch is at the hotel, a multi course, delicious lunch, followed by . . .a 90 minute couples massage, meaning that we are both in the same room getting our massages at the same time. Aaah.

We go out for a walk after the massage, just wandering the streets. People on bicycles, motorcycles and motorbikes are everywhere, transporting all manner of goods and people. Five on a motorcycle or motorbike is not unusual. It’s great for street photography.

Since it’s hot and humid (as it is everywhere on this trip), a swim in the hotel pool, shaped in the manner of the one at Angkor Wat, is a welcome respite.

The temples are all closed a night, however, for us . . . we have an extravaganza at Banyan Temple. It is lit from the outside as we sit on a wooden floor, put down for the occasion, with well decorated tables. The entertainment is Cambodian dancers. The food is from a catering kitchen brought in for the night, western to a large degree (steak imported from the U.S. and Atlantic cod). It is a memorable night, hopefully some of which shows up in the photos.

As we post this, we once again have a good an internet connection, so Giules has added some of her pictures to yesterday's Siem Riep post.

Cambodia - Everyone smiles

Where do I begin? (Hi, it's G again) We arrive to blazing heat – hotter than Bali but perhaps not as humid. Once again the ubiquitous busses take us to a very nice hotel – elegant and sleek, in contrast to Siem Riep which is dusty, bustling and colorful – filled with people, bicycles, cows being herded, markets, shops, tuk tuks, street performers, and lots hustle, bustle and color. Amputees (from stepping on land mines) are not uncommon. Everyone smiles.

Our first venture was a river boat trip. We ride on a 30 person motor boat, with a guide pointing things out and his young son helping to man the boat. The river is a tributary of the Mekong, which is some 200 miles away. This is the dry season in Cambodia and the river is a low body of brown, filthy and very muddy water, surrounded by mountains of mud dredged by large backhoes. Along the sides of the river are shacks where people live in the most abject poverty. They fish, they scavenge for clams, their children run naked on the mud mountains, and they bathe in the filth of the river. It is a real and profound education in the dire poverty of this area and of how many people still live. Not everyone smiles.

Our river trip culminates at a small dock where we were initially accosted by many small boats containing mothers with very young children begging for “one dollar”. The young girls (2-4 years old) are draped in large live snakes around their necks so that we take pictures of them and then they can beg for money. It is rather jarring.

We end the day with a trip to the museum and museum store (more details on that when I get home) and a lovely dinner at our hotel, complete with gymnasts and fire dancers. Somehow the excess of food and opulence feels strange and disquieting given the contrast to the poverty. This is a nation of contrasts. Much to cry about and much beauty. Like the Balinese, the people here are genuinely lovely and happy to meet us. Everyone smiles.

Jerry and Giules combo entry

Sunday-

Jumping ship today instead of going with the group was one of our better moves. No need to see the world’s largest solid gold Bhudda. Instead, we went to the Bangkok weekend market—hundreds of stalls organized by what is for sale. All sorts of foods for consumption or to take home and merchandise of every sort, in addition simply to great people watching.

We took the Bangkok Sky Train to get there – clean easy to use and reasonably priced - it also gave us great views of the city and all the brightly colored taxi cabs!

We stopped at the Jim Thompson House on the way back. His home now is a museum. He was a former American OSS operative who set up in Bangkok after WWII and promoted the Thai silk business. His home is interesting, really five houses joined together on a small canal, with all kinds of art.

Adding to his mystique is the fact that while he was vacationing with some friends in the mountains in Malaysia he went for a walk in the jungle—and was never seen again.

Dinner was on the 62^nd floor of a building that was open to the sky. It was quite an experience, although the food was mediocre and vastly overpriced. We paid for the view.

Off to Cambodia and Angkor Wat for two days before we fly to Chang Rai in northern Thailand on Wednesday.

Great adventures!

Jerry writes from Bangkok

Bangkok bustles, but everyone knows that. It also is the land of temples (wats).

It is similar to Hong Kong in its level of sophistication and interesting places, and, unlike India, there are no beggars or street people.

We have a room with a balcony overlooking the river with all of its traffic, which is great simply to watch.

Saturday was a great day. They are having record cold temperatures for March, i.e., it was in the high 80’s but not nearly as humid as Bali—perfect for us.

We saw the Royal Palace, which is beautiful and interesting, however, our tour guide was very, and I do mean very, detail oriented. Fortunately, while she provided detail and other groups got ahead of us, we photographed.

After lunch with the group by the river, we stopped at a jewelry store and then abandoned the group and headed off on our own to Chinatown--as Giules put it--the cleanest Chinatown she’s ever seen. It’s full of all kinds of shops selling food and a great variety of products we never see. The flickr photos provide some illustration. It was our idea of nirvana—so many people and things to photograph!

Dinner was a boat ride across the river to a Thai restaurant with a performance by Thai dancers. Yes, it’s for the tourists, but great dancers and performances.

Today we are jumping ship by going out on our own and not with the organized tour group and Giules and I cannot wait to hit the streets.

Rice! Temple! Volcano! Dancers! Party!

And what do all these things have in common? Us - in our last day in Bali.

Rice - Ok, rice is a staple, THE staple in the Bali diet. It's everywhere and at every meal. And it's yummy. Our day started out being taken to see rice terraces and also to see how rice grows. It's actually rather sweet and soft before it ripens - we got to pick it in its green husk and taste it. It is grown in beautiful cascading terraces along the country side.From rice we went to temple. No, not Mt. Sinai , but a fantastic Buddhist temple hosting the start of a religious ceremony. We watched some of the ceremony preparation and the procession in which a high priest was led in and given various offerings. He looked to be a very gentle man and smiled warmly as we took his picture. The grounds were lush and tropical - as is everything in Bali - and there were tourists there from all over the world - - which leads me to my next topic - our new friends from temple!

As we were leaving we saw a group of about 15 tiny Muslim women - - - yes tiny.. And by tiny I mean not one was over 4'11. They first asked us to take their picture and then, like a tiny headdressed hurricane they swarmed around us gleefully wanting their picture take with us! They could not have been more excited and each one gave her camera to their guide to take their picture with us. One of them kept offering me her cheek and saying "kiss me! kiss me!" when the pictures were being taken. (Upon hearing this story one of our friends on the trip whispered to me, "you didn't tell them you were Jewish, did you?" I don't think it would have mattered - these women were just so happy to make new American friends!Our next stop was a spectacular buffet lunch overlooking a rather tired volcano. We made a few more stops where most of our group negotiated with vendors in tourist traps to buy souvenirs and Jerry and I wandered off to take pictures of real people.The day concluded with a trip to an ancient temple (1500's) where an entire village presented a dance and food extravaganza for us. The dancing, costumes and music were beyond anything we had seen before. We were met at the outside of the temple by the villagers in traditional celebratory costume.
They then adorned us and led us into the temple where they performed and served us dinner in a beautifully choreographed display. Unfortunately the evening and the final "fire dance" were cut short by a strong rain - but each of us was handed an umbrella to use as we hurried back to the bus!

The pictures you see here are mine - Jerry has posted more of his on Flickr (see link above) and I will be posting a Flickr link soon.
Next stop, Bangkok!

PS: did I mention the spider that was as big as my hand?