Revisiting Past Travels is Fun!

Tour of Peru

June 15-28, 2010

I figure that the easiest way to document this trip is to start from their itinerary and add my own comments, observations, and pictures. My stuff is in black.  Theirs is in blue.

Day 1/June 15: Travel to Lima, Peru.

My day started around 3:30 am. My flight from Atlantic City left at 6 am, so I had a cab scheduled for 4:30 am. Spirit Airlines were on strike, but I was flying AirTran, so the airport was about half as busy as it normally would be at that time. I checked my main bag to Miami because I would be transferring to LAN there and was flying from AC on a separate ticket. Going in through Security was a breeze.

I figure that the easiest way to document this trip is to start from their itinerary and add my own comments, observations, and pictures. My stuff is in yellow. Theirs is in gray.

When I got to Miami I had to find my suitcase. Miami airport is one of the worst I have ever seen for signage telling you where things are. It felt like I walked all over the baggage claim area to find the AirTran baggage claim. This was not a major problem as I had about a 14 hour layover! But the problem was that having left the secure side of the airport, I was stuck on the unsecure side until I could check my bag back with LAN because I could not take my checked bag through the checkpoint security… What a pain. There were few services on the unsecure side: rest rooms, and a small place to eat that had pre-packaged plastic sandwiches, small bags of junk at prices you’d pay for a full-sized bag, and bottled drinks. Unfortunately, they had recommended that we abstain from alcohol to assist in acclimating to the altitudes, so I couldn’t even enjoy that!

I got in line as soon as the LAN counters opened around noon and stood for a quite a while until the line rusher notified us that they would not be processing the Lima passengers until 3:30! So off I went for a while longer. Decided to get back in line at 2:30 figuring that by the time I got to the front of the line it would be 3:30, but this lady was serious and kicked all of the Lima passengers out of the line! When I went back later, it turns out that they had a Lima flight around 7:30 pm (my flight was more like midnight!) and I was afraid they’d kick me out of line again, but they took my bag and finally I could go over to the secure side of the airport, find a restaurant, and enjoy a sit-down meal!

Around 10 pm I went to the departure gate and started meeting others on the tour. Harry, the tour representative for this segment of the tour – 84 years old, white haired, really sweet – had additional ribbons for our bags to make sure we looked like a group and also a list of roommates. He said that they tried to have roommates sit together on the plane, but we couldn’t identify my roommate at all. I had a middle seat, but the woman next to me, Susan, asked if I would mind changing with Rene so they could sit together. Since he had an aisle seat, I was delighted!

Day 2/June 16: Morning flight from Lima to Cusco and then drive to the Urubamba Valley, the Sacred Valley of the Incas, with high peaks of the Andes surrounding it. The Incas' belief was that the gods lived in these mountains. Take the rest of the day to relax, acclimate, and enjoy the beautiful surroundings. A welcome buffet lunch, then introductions of staff and meeting with Gregg Braden in the late afternoon.

We had about a 4-hour layover in Lima because they wanted to ensure that we have ample time to pick up our checked luggage, take it through custom’s ourselves, recheck it to Cusco, and pay our airport tax. Going through custom’s was interesting. A woman looked at our passports and forms and directed us to push a green button. Pushing the button caused one of two arrows to light up. One sent you to the search area to have your bag searched; the other sent you straight through without search. My bag did not get searched.

Once our bags were rechecked and our airport taxes paid, several of us went to a quiet gate area hoping to get some more rest. But we encountered a very friendly – or very bored – Peruvian lady who wanted to talk. My Spanish – almost non-existent at that point except for being able to ask directions to a hotel and order either red or white wine – was better than anyone else’s so I got to try to decipher what she was saying, translate, and try to respond. Good practice! But not very restful. Among other things she told us her daughter was a dentist and her son a lawyer. Daughter lives in Switzerland, etc. Then she had me tell one of the younger woman – 40-ish maybe – that she should be married and she should look for a European or a Peruvian guy… Fortunately, shortly after that her plane was called, otherwise we were afraid she’d try to fix us all up!

Flight to Cusco was uneventful, except that I switched with Rene again. Bus ride from Cusco to the Urubamba valley was gorgeous. The buses were spacious and comfortable and included washrooms.

View from the Bus Window.

We stopped about half way there so that Gregg could switch buses and so that we could stretch our legs and get better photos of the scenery. There was also a “shopping mall” i.e., some people with textiles, jewelry, and assorted knick-knacks set up on blankets on the ground. Shopping opportunities abounded on this trip for those who just could not pass up a “bargain!” (Fortunately, not me. I was able to restrain myself and came home with the same suitcase I left with…)

Rest Stop on the Way to the Urubamba Valley.

In the Urubamba Valley we stayed at a converted monastery and I finally got to meet my roommate, Louise, a lovely Danish woman.

Louise, My Roommate.

The grounds were lovely, with many courtyards and gardens. This is the view from our balcony, overlooking a fountain, another shopping mall, and the monastery church. I have some great photos of a woman picking flowers to arrange in the fountain, but this will be incredibly long if I include all of them… The strings around the flower beds are not to keep people out. They covered the beds completely with tarps overnight to prevent the flowers freezing!

Monastery Church.

Monastery Market.

Monastery Wireless Zone: I’m not sure if this was ironic or factual!

Day 3 will come next week...

Sometimes Adventure happens when you aren’t looking!

Last week we had a major thunderstorm in the middle of the night.  Lots of wind, rain, lightning, and thunder.  Fortunately for me, I am not one who quails in thunderstorms, so I was able to enjoy marveling at the frequency and brightness of the lightning and also count the seconds between the lightning flashes and the sound of thunder – an indication of how close the lightning strike was to you.  (For those of you who are afraid of thunder, I hate to burst your bubble.  By the time you hear the thunder, the strike is grounded and over.  The one that will kill you will be one you won’t hear at all!)

Anyway, the strikes were so fast and furious that I gave up counting as it was too hard to figure out which lightning flash caused which thunder clap.  I did hear what sounded like a thump on my front deck and looked out the window that overlooks it.  I thought perhaps one of the plants I had put out that morning might have fallen off the table, but nothing looked out of place.  So I decided that the folded up lounge chair leaning against the railing might have been blown a bit forward by the wind and then just settled back against the railing without falling.  I went back to bed and eventually back to sleep.  We lost power around 3 AM, but it was back on by the time I got up.

In the morning, I opened my east-facing front door to greet the day to see this:

First Sighting!  View from the House.

I was able to walk around the limb to see if there was any damage to my car.  There was none.

View of Limb from the Car.

It was clearly not something I was going to be able to clean up by myself, but the trees are the responsibility of the development I live in.  All I needed to do was report the downed limb and wait for them to clear it.

Apparently the Limb Just Dropped Straight Down from the Tree.

It was amazing to me how the tree deposited its limb as neatly as possible right between the house and the car without damage to either.  I didn’t see any other downed limbs in my travels that day, although other people did report both downed limbs and some damage.

Could Have Been So Much Worse!

Hong Kong, Day 2

Hong Kong

March 11&12, 2012

Monday, March 12, 2012

Today I had no particular plans, so looked at the map provided to us to see where to go and what to do.  Someone had mentioned the jade market and I thought that would be interesting.  I also saw the Fook Tak Temple and Kowloon Mosque both adjoining Kowloon Park.  Then I noticed that the jade market was listed as being just a block or so away from the park, so I headed in that direction.  On the way, I came across the King George V Memorial Park with this sign on the fence…

King George V Memorial Park

I did not see any people who looked homeless, but the sign implies that they are there…  The park also had play equipment for children and benches for others.  It was quite pleasant, although rather small.  So I continued on to where I thought the jade market was.  I found a street with lots of stalls selling clothes and various other things.  The openings of the stalls were in the street and the street was not blocked off from traffic, so you had to keep an eye out for cars while you shopped.  I only found one jewelry store selling jade and they kept making me too-good-to-be-true offers:  “If the first person who comes into the shop buys some lavender jade, we will have good fortune.”  So we'll give you this amazing price – 50% off; below cost; etc. – just to have the good luck.  I didn’t buy.  The stuff I liked was shown at over $800.  They would sell it for $400.  Still too rich for my blood, especially since I would not know if they were selling real jade or not.  (And somehow, I suspected, not.)

So I gave up on the market idea and headed back to find Kowloon Garden.  The map just showed a large green space with no real detail marked on it.  But what an amazing place it turned out to be.  I entered what looked like a raised paved area where I could see some trees and thought it was just going to be a disappointment.  That turned out to be a swimming pool building.  It was too cold for people to be swimming although the building looked large enough that there might have been an indoor pool in addition to the outdoor one.

Beyond that there were paved areas and planters and fountains.  But then I got into the park proper.  I did not see any maps so wandered for quite a while.  I saw school children walking with their teachers.  Some were seated on sheets of plastic, drawing whatever was in front of them.  I saw a Canadian totem pole.  And incredible trees.  Many of the trees had number signs on them and many had identifying signs in front of them.  There were also many college age people wandering around with clip boards.  The appeared to be studying the trees, so may have been a college botany class.

Children and Teachers in Kowloon Park

Path in Kowloon Garden

There was also an aviary with many large colorful birds, but those pictures did not turn out well.  Also waterfalls and ponds with turtles and fish.  Many striking vistas.  I did see the Mosque, but did not see an easy way in and was not sure about the etiquette so did not go in.  I did finally find a “you are here” map which showed all the park features.  I was particularly interested in the “Long Life Garden” and the “Color Garden.”

The Long Life “Garden” turned out to be a fountain, not plantings, honoring organ donors.  And the color garden was entirely a rose garden with gorgeous blooms – too many to show.

One of Many Roses in the "Color Garden"

I finally left the garden to go in search of the Fook Tak Temple on the way back to the ship.  I found what I think was the entrance, by asking one of the girls who was shilling for a health-type place.  She told me the doorway was very small and told me which side of the road to be on.  I found what looked appropriate and went in.  Just inside the archway was an old woman selling incense, which would be typical for a temple.  I went in a little further and found a tiny shrine with loads of statues, some bamboo and other greenery that appeared to be growing, a ladder leaning against the whole thing, with a cat sitting on a styrofoam cooler!

Fook Tak Temple?

This whole shrine was out in the “open” in a dingy little alley.  I did go a little further in, but it looked more like the entrance to a Chinese restaurant.  There was a table with a tea pot and some little cups facing the “door,” and a hallway to the left with a man sitting at the end of it.  So I backed out...  Just down the street from the temple was the Haiphong Road Temporary Market, which looked anything but temporary.  It looked like the Hong Kong version of a food court, with a few small tables and chairs for each “booth” selling prepared foods.  As it was lunch time, it was rather full and busy.  I decided to get my lunch on the ship rather than trying to experiment there on my own.

Bottom line is that I enjoyed Hong Kong more than I thought I would as I am basically not a big city person…

Response was so great to the Easter Island post that today’s post will be about Hong Kong.

Hong Kong

March 11&12, 2012

Sunday, March 11, 2012

The sail in to Hong Kong harbor is supposed to rival the sail in to Sydney, but unfortunately, we arrived on a cold, foggy, dreary day. So the scenery was quite dim with cloud-shrouded peaks.

Hong Kong Harbor

I signed up for an 8-hour tour because the 4-hour tour with similar stops was sold out. Our first stop was to the Lantau Link Visitors Centre - not one of the stops I cared about. They are very proud of the suspension bridges they have built to accommodate the airport on Lantau Island which services Hong Kong. The eye-opener to me was not the bridges, but the beauty of the viewing point. It was wonderfully landscaped with many planters in addition to the loads of azaleas blooming on the hillsides.

Lantau Link Visitors Center

We only stayed there long enough to look at the vistas, mainly because it was rather wet. They also had bridge elements scattered around with descriptive text about what you were looking at. I did not bother going into the shop as none of the stuff visible through the wrap-around windows looked enticing.

Our next stop was the Tai O fishing village on Lantau Island. It is considered a tourist attraction showing a fast-disappearing way of life and our visit showed why! The guide told us that the houses of the fishermen are built on stilts. I pictured the sturdy pilings used under some of our

Tai O Fishing Village

New Jersey seaside construction, assuming a language disconnect. But he was right! The underpinnings really look like stilts. Note the potted plants and the roof antennas.

After crossing the bridge we walked through a dried fish market where an amazing, if unidentifiable, display of fish could be seen. And smelled! Our trek through the market led us to the temple of a war god whose name I didn't catch. Some of the statues looked more fierce than others. This is the main one, looking quite angry and martial. Can believe he would smite your enemies for you. If he liked you. Or if your offerings were acceptable.

War God (Behind Incense & Banners)

Back we went, through the fish market, which did also sell live fish swimming around in small tubs. Over the bridge where we stopped to watch a couple of boat crews practicing for the dragon boat races held in July. The boats looked more like our racing sculls, although they were paddled more like canoes and had no decorations which would lead one to assume they were dragon boats. As we watched, one boat went under our bridge, but another appeared to be approaching, then started to recede. We realized that the second boat was backing up without bothering to turn around. Everyone just started paddling backwards!

Our guide was very good about pointing out toilet facilities - and rating them. He called the ones at the Lantau Link Viewing Centre "5 star." Then before we boarded the bus again at Tai O Village, he said the ones there at the bus terminal were "3-star." Every other door in this facility had a symbol (I didn't think taking a picture appropriate so you're going to have to use your imaginations.) with two vertical lines connected by a horizontal line in the middle.

When one of the stalls became free, I pointed it out to the lady in front of me who was with our group and she said she was waiting for one of the symboled doors to open. So I went ahead. To find that the unsymboled doors hid a porcelain hole in the ground, so I'm guessing the others had a more western style of toilet. This is where my practice of spending a minute and a half a day in a full squat to keep my thighs strong finally paid off!!! They did offer a grab bar to help you get back up, but fortunately, I did not need to use it.

Back on the bus for another lengthy ride to "the Big Buddha." There are 300 (or 256, or 263, depending on who you talk to) steps to climb to get to the bottom of the Big Buddha. The tour listing said walking up the steps was optional, but because of the rain - and I suspect because he had assessed the hardihood of our group - the bus took us right to the bottom of the statue. It was so foggy that it was almost impossible to see him.

Fog Shrouded Big Buddha

We were hustled inside and up into a wonderful exhibit where we did not have nearly enough time to look at the beautiful carvings and paintings. Photographs were not permitted, but I figured they would not let us get out without going through the shop area. Wrong! It felt like B. T. Barnum's "This Way to the Egress!" which got people moving through his exhibits in record time. I followed the people in front of me and suddenly we were back at the bus again. Now, it was seriously raining at that point and I didn't have an umbrella, although my windbreaker was hooded and waterproof. Anyway, I probably could have gone back up to the gift shop, but did not.

We were then driven back down the length of the steps to the entrance to the monastery grounds where we were scheduled to have lunch. Another pit stop with those of us not needing it standing around in the rain waiting for those who did. Then on into the monastery. Our lunch was served at large tables with lazy susans in the middle. Tea was brought first and we all cradled our cups in our frozen hands. (Cold. Rain. No heat on the buses. Just air conditioning.) Then we got a platter of spring rolls followed by platters of various vegetarian delicacies, some of which were identifiable, but all of which were delicious.

Temple Exterior

 Following lunch we had time to wander around the monastery grounds in the rain. The temple itself was large with the monks having lunch on the ground floor and the "reception room" above them. This is a picture of the exterior of the upstairs of the temple. I did not take any photographs inside, but got lots of pictures of the incense burning outside. But those pictures are mostly rain and fog and smoke.

Incense Pot

When our group had collected again, we walked out to the plaza outside the monastery gates. The fog had lifted and we were treated to a view of the monastery gates, the Buddha, and the steps leading up to him. Our final stop was a shopping area, but there were no post cards. Not even of the Buddha. Then back in the bus and the other bus and back to the ship to warm up and get dinner.

Big Buddha After the Fog Lifted

Our ship was docked next to a huge elegant shopping mall, so after dinner I toddled out to look it over. It was very upscale with stores offering all sorts of goods I was not interested in buying, although I did see the most beautiful jewelry there. Eventually, I tired of the mall and returned to my little bed in my little cabin on the ship.