Egypt and U.K. 27/9/2009-2/11/2009

We have been back from our 38 day trip into Manchester, northern Wales, England, Egypt (3.5 weeks), 2 days in London and home. After a week at home, I am over jetlag and have already booked a flight for Japan with my old, dear friend Trish - 15 minutes talking after a one day hike 2 years ago and about 20 years before that when we went with young children to Windermere. After calling her by mistake and chatting, it was agreed that we would ski in January. So already I am planning the future and have not recorded a few thoughts about our great trip to Egypt and the U.K. So here goes before I forget - already it seems a long time past. So the brain is working in the past or the future. I guess that I prefer present and future as the past is already 'done' so to speak. But I do smile when I think of how many amazing and wonderful experiences we had on our most recent trip. So I will write something and try to start near the beginning.






We enjoyed several days in Northern Wales. We managed
a few pints - Clive is always happy with a 'good cup of coffee' in the morning and a pint or 'real beer' later in the day. We managed some walking in Snowdownia - I went further than Clive when we went on a real hike - we did enjoy walking together most days, eating and a pint at the end of the day. Snowdownia and the Brecon Beacons both allow one to see for miles. It is grazing land for sheep and/or cows and there are footpaths about. All the reading says to be careful - weather changes, etc. But I felt safe and could see so far. However looking at the looming grey sky while a long way up Snowdownia made me think that fog as thick as peasoup might make it hazardous. Today it stayed in the distance and I got down safely. Going up some of the rock steps and the openness (though not the lack of steepness) took me back to Nepal for a few moments.

It was great to see everyone (almost everyone). It is wonderful to reconnect with family each time we go. We value each of the interactions and time with each one. There are lots of family members. As we get older and the children have children, the numbers fan out. It seems only yesterday we were having kids and now the kids just about have teens (some of them). It seems like we get a snapshot to be renewed and updated each time we go. We are getting older as I guess that we all are and we enjoy our good health on a daily basis. It was fun to watch cousins being with cousins and so on.




Next off to Heathrow and the tension of finding the right road to drop the car off at. Heathrow always seems a long way - Reading, Slough, Didcot and then still more miles yet.
Then a nice relaxing time with latte and sunshine at the airport and then a wonderful flight with KLM on to Amsterdam and then Cairo. I love airports and travel and this was especially good in all aspects. I felt like I was at the beach here. The food and drink on the plane were even good! And then of course, I met an interesting university Egyptian student sitting beside me. This guy was returning from making a film in some Eastern block country, his dad a journalist and someone who apparently writes black comedy and says what he wants?? He suggested that I watch AlJazeera, an Egyptian movie. The name means island and he knew the star from his most recent shooting. It was a West Side Story kind of theme but what a lot of machine gun and the role of the subordinate female. These things show up every day in the Egyptian culture.

As we arrive at the airport in Cairo we see a big poster in English about H1N1 and staff with masks on and papers for us to fill out. Then there is the long line for customs and immigration and no sign as to where to get a visa. So we found a side counter to buy the visa and got back into the long line - we're about at the end and it is 3 or 3:30am. Enjoyed chatting with the young Eastern Canadian living in Jasper and off on his first venture with the love of his life - a young Oriental girl. She had not told her mother that she was going to Egypt - as she would worry too much. They had fake wedding rings - as they thought this would be better for travel (I am sure that is true in this society) and he so wanted to give her a positive experience. All this talk of growing up and travelling and thinking of someone else's needs above his own. Kind of fairy tale stuff and I loved it all....finally got through customs and got a cab to our hotel...such as it was.

The multi-level highways going into Cairo at this time of the morning and no traffic. The hotel was a disappointment - so much staff and doing nothing.... no room cleaning, no vacuuming,no changing sheets for new guests, etc. It was booked by the tour company and by our next visit here, we refused to stay again. Finally the tour guide realized that the hotel was not up to snuff - others complained as well. All the other hotels were great... or at least clean and fine.

We had 2 days at the beginning and two days at the end to explore Cairo. That was great fun, lots of walking, managing directions, finding out entertainment, getting taxis, finding restaurants and all that good stuff.
We enjoyed most aspects of the tour. We enjoyed that they had everything organized for us. They have all of the transportation issues sorted, the hotels are all booked and then they give you options to take advantage of in say an hours time. So it makes incredibly efficient use of your time and it takes no energy. So when I got back home this time, I did not need that time to recover by being in my cocoon for a few days as I usually am - I was pretty ready to pick up life here - except for maybe a little jetlag. and so I have not paused to reflect on our trip and written until now. I will definitely go on a tour again - it is just so easy. This was a pretty basic tour - I liked everything - almost - maybe one night sleeping out in the desert is enough (not two) and one night on a felucca (not two) is enough. This is where the food is not as good as when we are in 'real hotels'. However, it does allow some amazing countryside and great experiences. This is way better than the option of too much culture.









Luxor Temple

We enjoyed the cultural experiences from the pyramids in Cairo down to Luxor and Aswan for the other cultural experiences. We then enjoyed the more active things like walking in the desert, snorkelling in the Red Sea and climbing up Mt. Sinai and then visiting Siwa desert and going on a 4x4 and swimming in oases of different temperatures. We enjoyed that we could join the group for dinner if we wished when in bigger places or go out on our own. It is a more authentic experience when you go out on your own. You are open to the people around you and less involved with your own group. So we did a bit of both. The group was ok but we did not really connect all that much with them. So we enjoyed bits of them and then did our own thing. Of course, we like to find the restaurants in the Lonely Planet or some recommended eating place. There was another Canadian couple that seemed to view the tour the same as us. Take all the stuff you want - transportation, accommodation, tours and then do some of your own exploring for meals and drinks. The guide did not always choose the best - probably where he had the best kickback. But hey, we did not have any perfume factory, carpet factory or other junk like that pushed on us.



Food
Clive always started by finding a local coffee shop and having a turkish coffee. By the end of the trip, I managed to order a few. Training of a sip each day and finally I order my own muddy coffee! The food was not outstanding. However, we did manage a lot of good stuff. I loved the breakfast (unlike most Westerners) - it was always lots of tomatoes, cucumbers, feta cheese and fresh pita bread. Actually I could have eaten this for every meal. Then turkish coffee or some kind of tea in the morning at a coffee shop. I loved the pizzas - Egyptian pizza or Italian both were exceptional. The Egyptian was similar to phyllo pastry and the nice strong soft cheeses and fresh green pepper and tomato encased in a package. I hate to think of the calories. The Italian had amazing crusts as well and great cheese topping and vegetables as well - or chicken, etc if you wanted. I stayed away from the canned mushrooms and opted for fresh stuff.
Dinner often started with appetizers like hummous, babgnsh (spelling?), or other oil based spreads and fresh pitas. Main course always had tomato and cucumber, often grilled chicken and rice and more pita if you wanted. We also enjoyed fish in Alexandria. We had lots of interesting experiences and by the second day in the desert enough of that.
We discovered the fast food of Egypt - pretty tasty and cheap. It is a bowl of noodles, mostly curved and a couple of spaghetti strands thrown in, then ground up beans on top (I thought it was ground beef looking at it), and then dehydrated roasted onion strands on top, with a small container of flavoured tomato sauce on the side (we had ordered extra of this). You stir this together and then add the liquid in a container at the table - it is vinegar or lemon based liquid (instead of gravy, I guess to moisten it up) and then a salt mixture that appears a little brown (I assume stock particles and salt together). So we enjoyed the fast food sometimes.
The food is really very good - the shortcoming - as usual is the variety of vegetables - but hey, I love tomato and cucumber and tomato and cucumber - sliced or diced and lots of it. So better than some countries where they don't even have the tomato or cucumber.
We ate at the best fish restaurant twice in Alexandria - choose your own fish and look out over the harbour. We found a few special places - one a wonderful house with each room into another eating area - the first time we tried there the electricity had gone out so we came back the next day. Then in Dahab by the Red Sea all of the great starters and again choosing your fish. Then those great pizzas like the one in Aswan or the taverna in Alexandria. By Alexandria we wanted to eat 5 times a day as there was so much good stuff. We tried desserts and lattes and beer. There was a shortage of beer (alcohol) in lots of places as Egypt is a Muslim country and thus socializing involves coffee and not alcohol. We enjoyed the lager beer when it was available.




Religion
Being a Muslim country (90% Muslim and 10% Christian) means that one should cover one's arms and legs. Clive even opted for long pants in the city. Lots of women have covered heads but not all in Cairo. Outside of Cairo, covered heads were really the norm. In the Siwa desert most women had everything covered - gloves on the hands and black mesh to see out and otherwise opaque black - heavy and hot in this climate. When the young girls get married out here (or anywhere) that is when the covered head and face,etc may come into place. In the Siwa desert there is less modernization though this somewhat remote area is going to change a lot in the coming years as a major highway from Cairo is being built and westernization will change things.

Coptic Christianity is the kind practised in Egypt. It is a Christianity that is ruled from within Egypt rather than outside nations. It seems that the Copts are often (from what I read) a wealthy or educated segment of the population). There is a Coptic area in Cairo and we visited a wonderful Coptic monastery on our trip to western Egypt.





Christened Baby on Saint's coffin for blessing

Children here were climbing on the case that contains the dead body with skin intact under all the coverings and robes - so the monks say. On a certain day each year, the monks oil the body and say that the skin is in good condition. The monk with his cotton robe and hat with a string under his chin was so revered by all his visitors. They kissed his hands and he touched their heads...all the while giving us a personal tour (for nearly an hour) and not letting anything go by. We had to see old relics, learn about the alphabet - Demotic - Ancient spoken Egyptian but with 7 Greek letters added to the old hieroglyphics, try chanting and making noise with the triangle and stuff. It was very interesting to see so much life in such an old place - and this climbing on the clear plastic encased saint was different than one usually sees.


People
We found the Egyptians very pleasant, helpful and pretty communicative on this trip. Of course, language issues affect this a lot and sometimes a few words are all that are possible. We had fun in the markets and found the cab drivers fine to negotiate with. We found everyone friendly and helpful. Thirteen years ago when we were here, we found them to be extremely aggressive and we were reluctant to look at anything that they might sell then. At that time, they would chase the tour bus and hold the wares up to the window. Not this time. One could usually talk to them and enjoy the interaction and not feel too much pressure. The wares were mostly in the bazaar outside the attraction. I did notice some people at the pyramids had a tough time with the sellers however I guess that we just avoided eye contact and did not respond to them and they lost interest in us.

Clive even got on an all female streetcar (with me - so does that make him more harmless) in Alexandria and no one set him straight. We figured it out later that some cars are female only but I guess that the rule did not apply to a foreigner. When we told our guide that we got on the wrong streetcar, he was horrified.

Our guide also let us know that he did not have to do the mandatory serving in the army because he is an only son. I then asked if women were in the army and he was absolutely aghast at such a suggestion. So the gender gap is definitely wider there than here! The coffee shops are a place for men only pretty much - even the one that we visited with younger people (students) had no females there. At the coffee shops, there are lots of people smoking from water pipes. You can order various tobaccos with flavors such as apple. You then get a little charcoal fire with a small metal plate of tobacco that burns. Then you inhale through a water pipe connected to it all. I did try a suck when near the pyramids one day when chatting to a young Egyptian and again one puff with our tour guide. I was more concerned about the hygenics of the equipment than the prospect of liking smoking (at my age!).

I was also embarrassed to see some tourists inappropriately dressed. After 3 weeks of longs sleeve and long pants, I was also staring at little tank tops and wondering how people can show so little respect for the local culture.

Roads and construction
The roads in Egypt are amazing. Good paved highways everywhere that we went and usually not too busy. On some routes there are lots of checkpoints where you go over 'sleeping policemen' (road bumps) and around barriers and then through the lift up barriers. Of course, they usually wave you through but sometimes they check the destination and credentials and chat to the driver.

I saw two construction sights that amazed me. Someone was digging a big trench with a shovel so one man was pushing the shovel down into the dirt and three more were the weight of the shovel out with a rope attached to the stick of the shovel. Ingenious!!
On a building construction site, we saw a team of two getting the bricks from the ground up to the next floor. The one on the ground throws the brick up and reaches for the next while the guy above catches it and puts it down. The next brick is in the air whilst the guy on top is still stacking the last one! It was such a synchronized manoeuvre. They carried on and looked at us as we watched them. Just such a team operation!

Driving
Driving in Cairo and Alexandria was nuts! There is always more lanes of traffic than there are painted lines on the road. As soon as the density of the traffic increases the cars shift a little to the left or right and create more lanes. Insane. I don't know how you drive with so little space - and such precision. If the traffic decreases in volume, then you might go in the painted lanes. As I watched the traffic from the balcony of our room in Alexanria (a lovely old building restored with high high ceilings and mouldings) and a view of the harbour - I found myself more interested in the traffic patterns. The number of vans that are stuffed to the gills that stop and start also make up a large percentage of the traffic.

In Cairo, we road in a cab that blasted on empty highways in the middle of the night. Then another evening going to Islamic Cairo for our evening at the wonderful only mosque (they are everywhere), we sat in a cab and sat in the traffic for a very long time. I could never be a cab driver - or driver for that matter. The traffic is constantly at a stop or snail's pace for a very long time. There seems to be constant traffic everywhere in Cairo. If you time it right, it can be less. I found myself feeling sorry for anyone that was trying to get anywhere in a hurry in a car.
There is a metro line in Cairo and I guess that it will expand one day ...still pretty car dependent.
The layers of highways in Cairo reminded me of roads that I had seen in Texas.
Turning left or right on major roads required an experienced driver. Somehow to keep the traffic flowing, you always end up going backwards and making some huge loop to somehow enter the road going a different direction. Very complex, but still moving.



The Red Sea (Dahab is where we stayed) was extremely relaxing and the snorkelling amazing. I saw a lion fish twice - one each day - something immediately different from any fish that I have ever seen before. After the first time, I mentioned it to a tour company where I saw it in a poster. The 20 year old salesman showed me his scar from this fish. I couldn't have caught it anyway... but after my encounter with a stingray a couple of years ago, I have learned to look and not touch. I was pleased to see the same beautiful species of fish the next day at the blue hole - about 8 inches long and brown in color with white stripes and lots of fins at the front and back. I totally enjoyed the eel garden - I didn't even recognize it the first time that I saw it. I went back to shore and asked from women with babies (local tourists) where the eel garden was. They then explained what to look for. It looked like single strands of grass on the sandy bottom of the sea. When I dove towards them, they disappeared into the sand. When I looked carefully, I saw an eye at the top that turned around a bit. It was so cool. I had so much fun renting the equipment, talking with locals and tourists and then the fun part of snorkelling just finished off my experience. ....thank goodness for the Lonely Planet.... the tour guide was not interested in giving any information about this, none of the others on our bus were interested in going with us (because we were going tomorrow to the blue hole). I ask you, how can you be at the Red Sea and not go snorkelling or diving especially when the water is like glass. So that is the kind of thing we could do on our own instead of sit at the hotel pool.

Mt. Sinai





This was another amazing experience. We arrived by noon and had the afternoon free in this small town in these rocky, barren, semi-smooth surfaces. I loved it. Clive and I wandered the town and found ourselves sitting with and enjoying a group of 9 young people from the Czech Republic. So vibrant and enthusiastic and polite. They all seemed to be into mountain hiking and were travelling with some sponsorship on a shoestring. The trip of a lifetime for them, I am sure. Most seemed to be ski or outdoor instructors or something related. They seemed to meet at university and some had very good English. Their 2 vehicles were filled to the gills - they had dehydrated stuff for the Sudan and other areas. They plan on hiking Kilimanjero, Mt. Kenya, some mountain in Ethiopia and Mt. Sinai later today - so that they can sleep up there and be there for the sunrise while the rest of us hike up early in the morning.
We started our hike up Mt. Sinai at 3 or 4 in the morning. It was dark and the headlamp was useful. So many people going up - just like in Nepal, Taiwan, Chicen Itza. All over the world it seems there is a place to hike up in the early morning and watch the sunrise. I love the sunrise but I see the throngs of people as part of the experience. Not quite the same as a quiet morning in the Rockies. Mind you at sunrise here, it is too cold for me to be up and instead I enjoy my warm sleeping bag. So in far off places, I leave the comfort of my hotel room and walk with the masses. I do like the aerobic workout. Clive does not. So this time, he went part way up and stopped. I do admire that he knows when to stop. Then I boogied all the way up and loved it all. I love the sun and the rocks, I loved the walk down through the towering rocks, I love the fresh air, and again I do love rocks - my souvenir from every holiday (heavy and cheap)! I like feeling healthy and confident in my footsteps and breathing in that air.
I met the Czechs up top and they were all toasty in their sleeping bags. One was pretty annoyed at all the people and the experience. He offered me schnapps from their yogurt bottle - I didn't understand initially but then I got it. Those east Europeans and drink - so different from the Muslim country that we are in. I enjoyed photographing and I enjoyed feeling the warmth of the sun as the day came. So imperceptible is it the change from night to day. There was no moon to speak of this night. I was glad for all of my warm clothes during the trek up and waiting for morning at the top. I know how to dress for altitude!






Donkey taxi rank Siwa in the Western desert




Old town/fortress Siwa. Abandoned in 1920's after earthquake


The desert was another interesting experience. I loved to wander off on my own and see how the waves in the sand resemble the waves left from the sea. I like to see it in the changing light and I like the wind on blowing on me and the sun shining or going down or coming up. This is when I prefer being on my own as opposed to following the rules of the tour director. Stay with us - don't wander off. I like to go up and down the hills and look around. We did this in Eastern Egypt between the Red Sea and Mt. Sinai and then again in the west at Siwa.




Islamic Cairo - Mosques, narrow streets and markets





Cairo Street market






Step Pyramid - the First Pyramid built










Sufi Dancers in Cairo













Buskers in London

Cruising from Santiago to San Diego

Just a few minutes to reflect on the past 3 weeks of - firstly going to Toronto and visiting the Egglestones there and then on to Santiago direct for four days land touring before a 15 Royal Caribbean Cruise on Radiance of the Seas with Clive and Mom. What a trooper Mom is at 82 and going strong!!! Up and down the streets of Santiago and then really up and down the hills of Valparaiso before the luxury and convenience of the cruise with all its five star dining, shows, music, pools, a deck to walk round and for me the steamroom! Not to mention advanced bridge lessons for three who are - well pretty well not advanced bridge players. Definite learning to be done in this game.

Mom managed the trip so well in spite of a fall in Toronto after a hottub. Thankfully the hospital made her a half-cast that she wore for the first 10 days. Then thankfully Mom could again cut her own meat and wash her own hair. It must have hurt and been a frustration having me tie her shoelaces and such! But alas that didn't stop Mom or anyone from scoffing down and enjoying several courses at each meal. I do love all of those chilled fruit soups and for someone who doesn't eat dessert, I didn't miss one on the ship! But no in-between meal snacks for me and then a little jogging around the deck or yoga to earn another eating experience.

It was a beautiful ship with all of these glass elevators to watch the music of the sea if you chose to ride the elevator. We had a room with a large window (instead of our usual inside room) so we knew the time of day by the light and took a guess at the weather. Mom enjoyed her room up on deck 8 with the balcony where we all enjoyed our ritual before dinner wine - the colossal amount of Chilean wine that we had picked up in Valparaiso that we were obliged to drink. We took it onboard in our suitcases since it is against cruise policy to supply your own drinks. Needless to say we all really enjoyed Chilean wine more than before we left home (a bit like our attitude towards South African wine and even Portuguese). Needless to say I really seem to enjoy it all - or the social situation that is there. I also really enjoyed the evening shows in the theatre. There is music all over but after a while it loses my interest. I prefer the daylight hours of food, exercise, relaxation (including my almost daily steam) - hardly enough hours in a day to do all of that relaxing stuff.

The evening dinner table is always with the same group of people though we sat in different seats each night though each couple always stayed together - no risk there - so always the same but different?. We were at a large table in the centre of the centre of the dining room! Three couples and us - and so typical if there is such a thing. A retired teacher (70 years young) on this cruise from Toronto and his wife who have cruised on many lines and several times with RCI; a couple from the midWest who were on there 34th cruise with RCI and a couple from Florida (he being 68 and a practising real estate attorney and she a retired banker)who have done numerous cruises everywhere and then us - relative neophytes in the cruising world. Hard to have a joke when such impeccable service is required! One gentelman here pointed out to the maitred' in a very serious tone the gravity of having a tablecloth with a tiny cut in it - since indeed the captain might one day eat here and heaven forbid the damaged tablecloth. This same gentleman had us moved from a huge table to the empty captain's table next to us since it was even huger and then we could have more room for our elbows - or do knees project? Then we can really try to shout across the table to connect - or maybe talk to who might be beside you. Unfortunately the captain did dine one evening and we squished into a table meant for six. Then there was the day where the same gentleman kept a wire or hair-like object at his sideplate until the maitred' could take it away and create havoc in the kitchen with it. Twice he would not let the waiter take it. Oh well, he tried to get Clive to say that he wanted him to take our photo with the captain dining behind us (his back facing us)for memory. Of course Clive responded that "Who is going to believe (or care) that is the captain behind me?" Not one to give up, he got my attention and I agreed that if he wanted he could take our picture so if it arrives in our email I will put it up for all to admire - with envy! And then the couple from the midWest on their 34th and counting cruises. After all, you get a gold brooch (worth something) when you cruise this much! Lovely people but the old guy didn't like much conversation and gazed down a lot. His wife was enjoying the beading classes for the multi-time cruisers that come "free" and she was not on the class list early enough she spent an hour or more waiting in a hallway to get into the class. Then she tells me about the occasional grabbing for the coveted beads. I walked through one day - kind of the long way to bridge class and at that point I didn't know much of what was going on. Anyways though ALL of the staff and ANY of the staff are always so polite to the 'guests' this teacher was not impressed by my walking through and taking a peek. Then the third couple from Florida staying in a suite with a bathtub that really is a little too narrow (she was skinny and didn't like showers) but managing with 2 washbasins and one toilet. Really a sweet couple and he an avid ball player trying to heal his shoulder with acupuncture and exercises from the sports trainer. Interesting! And the perfect waiters who took ever comment ever so seriously - Clive tried a joke but between cultures, languages and their previous experiences that was not going to work.

I can really enjoy a cruise but I am also a cynic. So I enjoy the good stuff and try to ignore some of the stuff that I don't like - treating the 'guests' like gods - everyone must greet you as they pass and overpriced land tours that I don't take (with a lot of guests that prefer the 5star version to a little spontaneous interaction and maybe the occasional glitch or decision to make). Maybe when I am even older I might like this more - or be unable to do it my way. So Mom was a trooper and opted to come with us - gee with my attitude did she have a choice?... She walked tons and participated like a teen. By the end, I think that she was coming home to recover from her vacation. I am so grateful to have had this experience with Mom. My goal this year was to have a holiday with Mom and it is only May and we have been! How lucky I am!! May we all learn, love, and understand each other more each day. Time changes and time passes but thank you for today and the opportunity that I had to spend time with my Mom - and Clive, of course. Namaste.

Seim Reap, Koh Chang, Bkk and Home!

Angkor Wat Cambodia




Well, it has been interesting and there are differences in different countries and even within the country.
Siem Reap, the home of Angor Wat - one of the wonders of the world was a series of temples,palaces and possibly even mausoleums built anywhere from about 1000-1400AD. It covers a vast expanse of land, and feels not unlike Stanley Park with its big trees and spaces of green grass and occasional roads through especially when you are out on the bicycle just enjoying the atmosphere. We visited ruins for 3 days - 2 on tuk-tuk and one on a bike. The irony of how man puts so much effort to make such magnificent structures reaching up and detailed carvings of life in stone. The decay caused by the environment - including trees growing up through some of this, and the effect of elements on the outside wearing it down as well as intentional destruction during the era of Pol Pot and his reckless idealistic regime to create 'the perfect agriculture based society including no money and no intellectuals' through genocide.... Nature and mankind -so much effort and how they conflict with each other. Angor Wat is a world heritage sight and now much there is much effort to restore it. Also the town is sprouting 5star hotels and numerous guesthouses every month. More and more people are travelling and visiting right now. It was refreshing to see that some of the blind and disabled are forming musical groups and trying to eke out a living. Also people selling trinkets and postcards, etc. There are so many people missing limbs in Cambodia and so many challenges. Tourists are coming, things are changing, organizations are trying to make a difference. Education is progressing - though not as much as Vietnam (in my estimation) and some people are very successful and enterprising. Still difficulties for a long time yet...

From here to Koh Chang, an island in Thailand for relaxing by the beach. Again the theme of more tourists and consequently many new 5star hotels, guesthouses, restaurants and bars. One gal I met suggested that every 6 months that you would not recognize it from the previous 6 months. Maybe an exaggeration but everywhere in Vietnam, Cambodia and this beach in Thailand has indicated that tourism is an anticipated and real boost to the economies right now.
Again we stayed in a brand new small hotel. Here we enjoyed 4 days relaxing at the beach. I enjoyed a Thai massage (or workout?) each day - they are rather addictive for me - a place just off the beach. Clive even managed one massage (not Thai but rather oil where they do move the skeleton about but rather massage the muscles)! He wasn't running back for more - hey he had the experience though.
Here in Koh Chang it all seems a little more first world. Maybe not seeing all of the disabled persons any more just made it seem that way. I do like relaxing on the beach. By the time we have breakfast and I do my yoga it is nearly noon! So much to do in a day...find 3 meals - we never missed a meal the whole time that we were gone!, walk the beach, get a massage, feel the sunshine, beer at sunset. We did go snorkelling at several islands for a day and enjoyed that. The coral was pretty good and saw quite a few fish as well - a day on different beaches!

What a shame that the end is rushing towards us so fast. We had considered (or I had) the north of Thailand or even Laos but we just ran out of time. Two weeks before the end, I started to calculate what we could do without rushing too much. I think that Clive is ready for home - he is great when there are no hassles but finds home pretty comfortable. Knowing that home is in a deep freeze and I am in a dreamworld makes it good to go home but maybe a week or more on the beach would be lovely. ...such are the choices...

Another sunny day and a bus to Bangkok - sun every day all day since Dalat except for one or two short downpours in Saigon so the weather has been wonderful. Bangkok and Khao San Road, a hangout for younger people and holiday makers for two days. We zipped out to a couple of sights and wandered the hectic street for a couple of evenings. That was enough here. They are also building some pretty nice new hotels but occupany was down due to the troubles earlier in the month with the closing of Bangkok airport. We found a super taxi driver (I have his card) as so many drivers do not want to use the meters. Also the tuk-tuk (motor scooters with a trailer body to take passengers) is nearly extinct - just a few left to hassle the tourist and take them to shops and do their method of charging about 3times the taxi fare and unwilling to negotiate. Interesting... probably none will be there on our next trip to Bangkok. Also fewer street vendors than last time and more nice hotels.

Time for Clive and I to separate. Clive flew home through Seoul and I came via Singapore, LA. Had part of an afternoon and an evening to look around Singapore. What a place!! So many new skyscrapers, clean streets, interesting to wander - from the riverside and cool bridges to various temples including Hindu, Tao, Buddhist, Christian. The Singaporians (or the few that I met) seemed intensely proud of Singapore. They consider themselves tolerant of other religions and peoples. They provide some tertiary education to Asians from other countries, some immigrants from Asian countries are given the opportunity to immigrate. Pretty tough rules here - the death penalty for murder, drugs, possession of firearms and kidnapping with the intention to murder. More hangings here than anywhere else in the world. Also it was explained to me that people are forced to save (through deductions on salary) for accommodation so that the goal of home ownership can be achieved by most everyone. Interesting enforced savings and the rest of the western world tries to give youngsters credit cards. It seems that there are quite a few laws and the people so far seem to like the lifestyle that it has given them. As someone said to me - we have to be fiscally responsible and watch our debt (or lack of) as a nation since we are a financial centre.. This is a small island to support over 4 million people. I guess that they are finding ways to do it. They seem very proud that a big resort and casino is opening next month.
I enjoyed my experience in Singapore - but again it is a city and all brand new so probably only a stopover destination.
Then it was several flights and a long time to get home to central heating and freezing outdoors.

Sihanoukville - still

We have relaxed at this beach city for the past few days. Wonderful warm sunshine, clear blue water, fine sandy beaches....and then some contrasts. There are many peddlars and beggars on the beach selling manicures, pedicures, massages, sunglasses, fruit, bracelets, crayfish and so on as well as beggars that are without a limb or blind so it is kind of mixed. There is lots of development going on here and I understand that only 4 years ago that there were no cars here. Now the standard Lexus, BMW, Toyota and so on are here. It seems that the Russian mafia owns the Snake House - a restaurant with lots of glassed in snakes to view while eating. There were 3 Hummers in their yard. They are building a huge disco with an old plane in the centre that will have rooms to rent. Apparently they are building a bridge across to some islands and expect to build the most expensive resort in the world. Anyways lots of entrepeneurs here! Here from someone today who tells he that he is a retired CSIS person and he tells us that the police chief's wife has a brothel with 35 women employees. Sex trade is pretty highly developed here. Also there are so many charities working here and information for the tourist to buy only from children attending school, etc so hopefully there is a better alternative to begging. I had a massage from the Seeing Hands place today - they employ and train blind people to give a massage. They drive them to and from work and allow them to live doing trained work. These people lost their vision either from missiles or from disease and some were born that way.
A difficult society with such wealth and such poverty and such corruption - and so many people aiming to get in on the development from abroad. Hopefully it will maintain peace for time but it does not fill one with certainty. Quite a few people enjoying it here. As I say beaches and so on are great but then there is the ever present problem of the environment and garbage disposal and clean water and sanitation.

Sihanoukville, Cambodia

Well, we enjoyed the Mekong trip - the ricebasket of Vietnam. Clive did not enjoy the last day and the hard seat. For me it was long but the first 2.5days were relaxing and well organized.
Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, seems a great place. Big wide streets, great restaurants (do you detect a theme everywhere?) with the help of Lonely Planet - and cheap lager beer. It is easy to navigate and quite relaxing with a few sights to see. We did go to the Genocide Museum which was a school and then a prison. It documents some of the atrocities and gives stories and faces to a few of the people murdered during the Khmer regime of '75 - '79. Also a society that abolished money and education and many other things - but not the work of the proletariat! and then killing people for no reason. How many societies experience this horrific genocide! But then I guess people disagree at all levels - from war and international disagreements all the way down to friends and families. Some thread of disagreement and competition. The result nowadays is a society where there are lots of Lexus, BMWs and we even saw a Hummer; and then people without limbs or blind and begging everywhere. There seems to be lots of wealth and lots of poverty - in contrast to what we saw in Vietnam. There seems to be international aid and seemingly lots of corruption. Hopefully the average citizen will fare better as time goes on.

About the food.... some changes since Vietnam - missing the strong strong coffee with condensed milk, the tables always had soy sauce and hot sauce on them, the flavours were always pleasant and pretty mild - more upscale usually better cooked. Here in Cambodia there is a more Thai influence - last night we had fish with the lime juice, sugar, salt and pepper for a sauce. They use lots of coconut milk and the rice seems a little sweeter. These countries are not afraid to use sugar in their cooking. In the city the food seems better than at the beach - swings and roundabouts but we are enjoying.

Another thing that you see as soon as you enter Cambodia is lots of shrines, Buddhist temples and so on being constructed from cement. Trying to rebuild a devastated country.
The first night we could not understand the ATM and then we learned that everything is done in American dollars unless you get change for less than $1. Anyways that is so easy now. None of the l7,000 /vietnamese dong to the American dollar and 13,000 dong to the Canadian dollar.

Chau Doc, Mekong Delta

We are on a three day tour from Saigon to Phnom Penh so we go where we are guided. We have travelled with a bus company, Sinh and had good experiences so deliberated and checked a couple of others but in the end went with a company that we have had experience with. So it is working out great but the "blanket tour" is still part of the deal - ie stopping now and again at handicraft shops, etc. though there is much less of that as we go up the Mekong due to fewer tourists and tourism development here.

We zipped into and out of Saigon or HoChiMinh City. We did go on a tour of the tunnels that were used in the Vietnam War - pretty tiny and very well developed. Then with all of the noise,wide streets and unbelieveable traffic we decided to depart Saigon the next day on this tour to the Mekong. So we got up at 5:30 am and did our fast walk tour of some important buildings, went back for breakfast at 7 and left on the tour at 8. Sure we have been to Saigon. We visited and ate at 3 fabulous restaurants - that is great culture and education (of my stomach at least) and enjoyed the best sorbets and iced Vietnamese coffees as well.

The traffic is something that you could write a book on. The drivers honk on their horns quite lightly and often suggesting or sometimes trying to demand that some motorcycle move over. I tell you the bigger you are on the road the longer you should last...so pedestrians feel pretty low on the food chain... When an accident does happen the motorcycle stays put and it gets chalked out and measured after the police arrive - we have seen several and the victim is usually gone but the shoes or helmet are still at the scene. There is a technique for crossing the streets but it is tougher in Saigon than Hanoi. In Hanoi you go slow and it all works out. I'm not so sure that works quite as well in Saigon. And there are so many lanes to cross. There are traffic lights - eventually most pay attention but not if you just want to nip around the corner. There are 9 million people in Saigon and 6 million motorcycles and some fancy cars and some buses.

We have seen so much greenery throughout Vietnam. There are beautiful flowers, bushes, trees, arrangements everywhere - in traffic circles, town entrances, everywhere you see magnificent arrangements. This must take a ton of labour as everything much grow like weeds. We see gardeners everywhere.

We saw lots of badmintin and tennis in various schools and common areas as we came down the coast. Here in the Mekong we are seeing soccer and volleyball in the sandy areas that are empty.

The floors in the country are always so clean - the cleanest part. In fact at one rest stop yesterday they expected you to take off your street shoes and use their flip flops. That was an extreme example. But at a hotel the other day we went to rent bikes. We had to go through the kitchen area where they eat on the floor and so shoes off to go in and see the bikes. Every floor you could eat off of. This does not spread to the out of doors and spitting and throwing garbage everywhere. though a lot is picked up every night. It seems that recycling plastic bottles and cans is everywhere so that does help the garbage issue. The Mekong is experiencing problems with polluted water - wash yourself, clothes, drink, shit everything happens here and now the pesticides from the great 3 crop a year production are going in as well. So the great rice production (an exporter in recent years) due to private ownership will not last forever.

I am really loving the travelling and looking forward to seeing Cambodia in the coming days but I also look forward to coming home and seeing friends and family.

Mui Ne - a beach resort

We are gauging the weather and doing very well. Enjoyed our trip up to Dalat and the mountain air - caught a waft of the humid sea air first. We had so much fun on a motorscooter (automatic for all the twists and turns). It was a fun adventure using the Lonely Planet map and guessing at some of the signs. We visited Tiger Falls! named for the 30or 40 foot cement made tiger...and we were the only tourists down some muddy sometimes and potholed sometimes road. We visited the coolest house in Dalat called the Crazy House - the architect was the daughter of the successor to HoChiMinh. It was built like trees and a fantasy with rooms named after animals. After a while it lacked creativity but it was fun to begin with. My kind of culture! I sure do like being our own tour guide. You never quite know what might happen or who you might meet. It makes for gret adventuring - my style.

We have come to the coast and are loving the warm sea air and the beach type life today. You know - eat, walk, read, swim and generally laze about. Hope to carry on for a couple more days - expect to ride bikes tomorrow to explore and burn a few calories so that we can eat and drink more. We have sampled one bottle of local red wine and one bottle of local white wine. Think that we will stick to beer (lagers here and huge bottles) and Vietnamese coffee. Clive likes the hot coffee and I often prefer the ice. Interesting how every country has a way of making coffee. Here it is condensed milk in the bottom of the glass and then very strong coffee often passing through a fine filter slowly. Is it really that different from American coffee, latte and so on? Anyways we are enjoying.

We are getting used to things here and really enjoying - sunshine is great, food is great, prices are great -sometimes we are a little frustrated by the obvious cheating and misunderstanding but we are learning that is life here. So funny today we ordered a sandwich (a first) and asked about the bread for it. They show us a nice French roll and we nod that's great. The sandwiches arrived with plain white bread - they were tasty but interesting communication issue. Sometimes it seems that there is agreement but the communication has been lost somewhere - sometimes it seems kind of convenient for their business like minds. Anyways it is all small stuff and everything is working out well. Other travellers have similar experiences. It keeps you on your toes a bit.

Interesting to know that 50% of the population here is under 30years of age. No wonder we see hundreds and hundreds of kids on bikes every day (the terrain is usually flat) cycling to one of the many schools - all in their uniforms.

In the hotels there is always a poster mentioning that explosives are not allowed in the room, that valuables should not be left in the room and that prostitutes are not allowed. ...at dinner tonight we observed two old French guys with two young Vietnamese girls - not a word was spoken between the genders. One girl made shapes out of the napkins and the other covered her face. The guys chatted occasionally. ...Clive suggested for a moment that maybe they are related by business...pretty sad and obvious. The massage parlours all seem pretty much above board and so I enjoyed a massage this afternoon. Relaxing.

Interesting how they keep your passport at the hotels - I guess that they might do that in France as well - but you need to remember to get it before you leave and that is a new routine for us. People we met the other day forgot theirs and that was very difficult to get back since they had already moved on. One day we got a call from reception that they needed our passport as the police might come and inspect in the middle of the night.
Another day I was sitting on the front of a big boat and so were a couple of other passengers. Suddenly the guy steering the boat says "police, get to the inside of the boat". Like all good passengers we did - and one of the workers continued to sleep in his lawn chair. A good way to get us to move.... fear of the police...how we all respond to that....
Actually we did see the cops pulling over scooters when they were not wearing helmets - a bit like our speeding tickets.

Life does look pretty prosperous here. The roads outside of the city are in top shape. There are tons of schools and tons of hotels. I don't know how they make a business - everywhere that we have been there have been rooms pretty much everywhere. Are we out of season...or are less people coming (there are lots here)??

So a couple more days on the beach and then we will pull ourselves away as the visas run out at the end of the month.