The Kings' Travels

A Question of Timing

2011-08-16T22:27:00.001-04:00

As I mentioned in the last post, our timing for a visit to Australia was not the best as tourist destinations were crowded because of the school break. It was also the wrong time of year since the seasons are reversed in the Southern Hemisphere and Australia was in the middle of their winter. We knew this and expected Perth to be cool (and it was - and rainy too) but thought the temperatures would warm up as we drove north. After all, we were destined to drive across the Tropic of Capricorn four times so most of our time in Australia we would be in ‘the Tropics’.
Didn’t quite work out that way. The first night at Cervantes was very cool (13 C) and the house had only one small, portable heater. We had to move it around from room to room, depending on what we were doing. Getting a shower was a challenge as the heater was easily out-worked by the bathroom exhaust fan which came on with the light. Nice choice - shower in the dark but keep warm or see what you’re doing and shiver.
Even in Coral Bay, though the days were nice, the nights were very cool. Too cool to sit around outside without a sweater or jacket. We hadn’t packed for fall-like temperatures. And, though walking the beaches was very pleasant, it was too cool to get in the water so we didn’t get to snorkel here. As for the manta rays at Point Maud and the reef sharks at Bateman Bay - familiar refrain - ‘wrong time of year’. Heard that again when we checked out Eagle Bluff at Shark Bay Marine Park.
Our biggest disappointment awaited us at Exmouth when we learned that the whale shark season had pretty much run its course and sightings in recent weeks had been few and far between. The excursions were too expensive to undertake with no guarantee we’d be able to snorkel with these creatures. It’s a good reason to come back. Other than this disappointment, Exmouth was a very interesting area and well worth exploring. We did get to snorkel at Oyster Stacks and Turquoise Bay while we were in Exmouth so we didn’t have a complete wash-out with regard to the Ningaloo Reef.
There were some great drives in the Cape Range National Park. Yardie Creek Gorge was not quite as ‘spectacular’ as the guide book indicated but Charles Knife Canyon drive was way better than expected. Vlamingh Head Lighthouse offered spectacular views and a nice, if crowded, sunset spot. Doreen loved the tide pools at Surfer’s Beach and the sunset here was even better with surfers in the water trying to catch that last wave.
On the drive back, we stopped in Denham for a couple of nights and checked out the dolphin feedings at Monkey Mia. It was somewhat underwhelming, probably because we’ve been lucky enough to swim with large pods of spinner dolphins on several occasions in Hawaii. After you’ve been in the water with dozens of these creatures, watching 8 or 10 come close to shore to be fed doesn’t really cut it. Nice, but.
We also stopped at Kalbarri National Park and checked out the views. ‘Nature’s Window’ was spectacular - well worth the visit - Hawk’s Head was great and the Z-Bend was interesting. Wish we had allowed more time to explore the park. Especially since, when we got to Perth, it was cold and rainy and our plans for a walking tour of the downtown area of the city got shelved. We spent our last afternoon in a motel room out by the airport watching the rain hit the parking lot. You might say our Australian adventure ended with a whimper.

Wandering in Western Australia

2011-08-15T22:52:00.003-04:00

The first thing you need to understand is that Western Australia is big - really big. On a comparative basis, it’s almost twice as big as Alaska and almost four times as big as Texas. In Canadian terms, it’s almost three times as big as our largest province, Ontario. We flew into Perth on July 11th , picked up a rental, drove as far north as Exmouth and then back to Perth to begin the trip home on July 21st. At one point, I checked the GPS we’d rented and it showed our destination some 700+ kilometers down the road with a right turn coming up in 340 klicks. You don’t want to run out of gas here or have any kind of breakdown–not a lot of traffic.
In ten days we drove 3600+ kilometers and used 244 liters of gas at an average cost of $1.62 AUS/liter (that’s $6.14 AUS/gallon) with the price peaking at $1.708 in Exmouth. The cheapest gas we found was in Perth - $1.395/liter ($5.28/gallon). And we think we’re paying a lot for gas. And in all that driving, we saw live kangaroos exactly twice - a single just outside Cape Range national Park and a double on a side road in Greenough after we’d missed our turn.
Everything in Western Australia is expensive. The economy is booming and prices have risen accordingly. And Australians love to travel and see their country. And we were there during a school break when families are also on the move. The result was a dearth of available accommodations at the budget level. We spent $100/night for a hostel room with bunk beds and no private washroom facilities in Coral Bay and slightly more for a cabin in Denham where the washroom facilities, though private, were in a separate building.
Eating and buying groceries followed the same trend. Think $20 for take-out fish and chips and $4.25 for a small coke to go along with that. Or, how about $13/kg for bananas? At home, people get upset when the price of bananas gets to 99 cents per kilogram. The sticker shock was exacerbated by the fact that we’d just come from Bali where we could have a lovely lunch in the Lemon Grass Café for just 100 000 RP (about $12 Canadian).
Driving in Australia requires certain adjustments. Because the driver sits on the right of the vehicle, I wanted an automatic - changing gears on a manual transmission with my left hand was more than I wanted to try. Hard enough to remember left hand for wipers and right hand for turn signals. Surprisingly, I had little trouble with that in Australia this time (some problems in 2000) but, in the first week I was home, I had several instances where I used my right hand to signal a turn. Go figure.
The driver sits on the right of the car and you drive on the left side of the road so the driver is closer to the middle of the road. That also takes a little getting used to - it’s like a mirror image of the North American road and that changes the perceptions. Doreen never quite felt comfortable and had a tendency to drive very close to the shoulder of the road. The sparseness of traffic made it easier to settle in and allowed leeway for mistakes.
The main highways in Western Australia were basically two lanes (one in each direction) with a paved shoulder and semi-frequent passing lanes to allow you to get past road trains and slow moving campers and trailers. The speed limit on these highways was 110 km/h - a little faster that the 401 in Ontario. When you got off the main highway, the paved shoulder disappeared (so did the passing lanes) but the speed limit only dropped to 100/km. When the road became too narrow for a center line, the speed was dropped to 80/km. And everywhere there were warnings to be careful about wildlife on the road.
Outside the urban area, Australians don’t seem to believe in stop signs. Even in urban areas, they rely on round-abouts to facilitate traffic flow. You just have to remember to look right as you approach the round-about. In the north, they just leave it to the driver to watch for traffic. This grabbed me one day as we drove back to Exmouth from a snorkel trip to Turquoise Bay. As we approached the intersection with the main highway, our speed limit dropped to 90 and I began to brake in anticipation of a stop before entering the highway. Surprise! No stop sign - not even a yield sign - just make a right turn and continue on your way. Definitely wouldn’t work around here.

On the Road to Bali

2011-08-14T11:02:00.001-04:00

That’s the worst thing about Bali - the roads or, more precisely, the traffic on the roads. It was horrendous. It took forever to get anywhere. We hired a car and driver on three of the days we were in Bali. Each time we laid out an agenda that we thought was doable based on the guide books and maps and each time we found that we had to pare our schedule because we were crawling along in traffic and it was taking much longer to get from point A to point B - no matter where those points were.
We stayed in a small hotel just outside Ubud - a lovely spot and one that gave you a sense of what Bali could be and probably was, twenty years ago. We’re just too late. We heard that the northern part of the island is still relatively unspoiled so that would be our target should we be fortunate enough to return. And we would like to return. For all its maddening traffic, Bali is magical. When you get away from the urban, tourist areas, it’s hard to imagine a more beautiful island. And, it’s populated with the nicest people - the native Balinese, not the invading hordes of Indonesians.
We arrived in Bali late on Sunday night. Wednesday was the start of Galungan, a ten-day festival held in Balinese temples to celebrate the triumph of good over evil. The Balinese believe that all the gods come down to earth for the festivities. Every village has three temples and every family complex has its own temple. Walking around Ubud on Monday and Tuesday we would see people getting ready. Every house was being decorated and offerings were placed everywhere. Of course, the birds and the monkeys, no respecters of religious intent, were having a field day. (To a lesser extent, so were the dogs.) Our hotel was just down the street from Monkey Forest so the neighborhood was crawling with monkeys.
On Wednesday morning, we decided to walk down Nyuhkuning Road and were treated to a steady parade of Balinese dressed in their Sunday best and headed to the local temple with their offerings. It was a wonderful experience and we took lots of pictures. Later on the walk, we passed another temple behind the Dangin Lebak Community Hall and found the same, large, happy, colorful crowds of temple goers. On Saturday, we visited Pura Luhur Batakan while there was a ceremony in progress. We were allowed to enter the temple grounds (wearing sarongs) but not the temple itself. It was magical and colorful
In contrast to the serenity and sense of purpose that pervaded these temples, our experiences at several of the major temples were not as memorable. On Saturday we also visited Pura Dalem Batur and on Sunday we went to Tanah Lot and Ulu Watu. To say that these temples are tourist attractions would be a major understatement. They’ve really become tourist traps - they’re crawling with tourists, touts and tacky souvenir stands. All in all, major disappointments.
Speaking of touts, one gets the feeling that at least half the men in Bali are taxi drivers. You can’t walk ten steps in Ubud without having someone ask if you want a taxi. We found the same thing in Denpasar when we visited there on Sunday morning. Doreen was looking for some batik and had decided to check out the fabric stores on Sulewesi Street. First, we got waylaid by a tout in the market area where we’d parked and then we kept attracting them as Doreen browsed for her fabric. She finally got fed up and we left without any batik.
Two things stand out about Bali - the quality of the light and the shades of green. Early morning light was great for picture taking. I can understand why Anak Agung Rai uses the term ‘Golden Hour’ in reference to his morning walks. Good thing we had gotten into the habit of early rising on the boat. It came in handy here. Rice fields in Bali, especially in the Jatiluwih and Sidemen areas, offer endless picture possibilities. The only other place I can recall having as many shades of green was Kauai.
The one thing we did in Bali that I regret was the bicycle tour. It sounded so good - a chance to see the countryside up close, a downhill ride so not a physical challenge. The guide was very good, breakfast and lunch were terrific and we were with a nice group of people. I even had a new bike. So, what was the problem? In a word, the roads. The back roads we traversed were not well maintained. I was concentrating so hard on avoiding the potholes and not running into other traffic that I saw very little of the countryside. Also, who would have believed that sitting on a bike for a couple of hours with little pedalling could be so tiring. My legs were cramping by the time the ride was over. We saw much more from the cars we hired.
We had made a conscious decision to concentrate on the Ubud area and rural Bali and avoid the beaches. We did want to see the Kuta area and thought we’d be able to spend a couple of hours there on the way from Tanah Lot to Ulu Watu. Traffic conditions made that impossible. The only beach we visited was in Jimbaran where we overnighted because we had an early flight to Perth. It was a gorgeous beach but rain was threatening and we didn’t spend a lot of time. Another reason to go back!

Raja Ampat Revisited

2011-08-13T16:14:00.002-04:00

I may have titled the previous entry “Raving about Raja Ampat” but, after re-reading it, I realize I did little raving. So, time to rectify that. Raja Ampat deserves better.
This snorkel trip had been on our wish list for several years. We had read accounts and seen pictures and it sounded and looked too good to be true. Besides which, it was hellishly expensive for two retired teachers who try to maximize the value of their budget travels. This year, since we aren’t getting any younger (or healthier), we decided to bite the bullet and pony up the money when spots were available on a charter being organized by Wendy in California.
We’ve had a fair amount of snorkeling experience though we certainly wouldn’t be considered much more than dabblers. A couple of years ago, we had our best day ever when we signed up for a snorkel tour in Palau. We were the only ones on the boat and the guy took us to six of the best spots in Palau–the German Channel, the Ngemelis Drop-off, the Blue Hole, the Blue Corner, Turtle Cove and Cemetery Reef. The sites ranged from great to terrific to awesome.
We have fond memories of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and Mana and Waya Islands in Fiji. We’ve always liked the turtles in Maui. The single greatest experience was being in the water with a pod of a hundred plus spinner dolphins one morning in Lanai–a magical hour that left us with sore necks from all the gaping. Maui was also the place where we watched eagle rays swim a racetrack course and where we heard whale song while we snorkeled. And you can always count on ‘Turtle Town’.
Palau had blown all these previous experiences away. Now I was reading that Raja Ampat would make Palau pale in comparison. You could say I started this trip with a certain amount of skepticism. I expected the snorkeling to be good but how much better than Palau could it realistically get. I’d settle for as good as.
We were on the boat for twelve days and managed to snorkel twenty different spots. Dave and Din do a masterful job of finding these places–Batanta Dayang, Alyui Bay, Wofoh, Wayag, Dantecastreaux, Firwin , Penemu, Kri, Tear Drop Bay, the Spooky Channel. Batang Pele would have joined the list but, just after we anchored for the night with snorkeling planned for the next morning, one of the crew spotted a saltwater crocodile–no snorkel here!
So, how did the snorkeling go? I wasn’t a big fan of the visit to the mangroves but it was interesting enough that I’m glad I did it. However, having done it once, I would pass on a second visit. All the other spots followed a fairly predictable routine–Din and/or Dave would check the current, the boat would drop us off, we’d start snorkeling over the coral and, 90 minutes or so later, we’d make our way back to the dinghy. In all that time, we’d not had to backtrack but kept exploring new territory with prolific coral and fish life.
I gradually came to realize how great this was. There was no one, single moment like my jaw-dropping experience at Ngemelis, just a seemingly never-ending procession of wondrous sights. Even in Palau, we’d gone back to the same (great) sites each time we went out on a boat. The cumulative effect here was outstanding. This goes to the top of the list of adventures I’d like to re-do. Where are my winning lottery numbers when I really need them?
Part of the reason why this was such a great trip had to do with the professionalism and personal touch of Din and Dave. They were beyond great. Part of the reason had to do with the other members of the tour. Usually we’re either on our own or with a couple of friends like Anker and Arlene or Laurie and Sandy. Here, we were in the company of eight other enthusiastic snorkelers who were all experienced travelers with a diverse range of previous travels. Lots of cameras to record the underwater world. Lots of discussion on the boat afterwards and sharing thoughts and pictures.
Generally, I’m interested in coral and fish. Throw in the odd turtle, dolphin, ray, shark, octopus, eel and such and you up the satisfaction level. We saw lots of corals - both hard and soft - most of it in pristine condition. And we saw lots of fish - so many at times that you were overwhelmed - so many new species that we lost track. We didn’t see as many of the ‘specials’ as I would have liked but we did see our first wobbegong shark. That was different.
Doreen generally has the same interests. But, as the week progressed, she found that she was becoming fascinated with nudibranchs and other small elements that we had previously overlooked. Some of that was a result of the ability of Din and Dave to spot the little critters and some was because of the enthusiasm of Jeff, a marine science teacher in a California high school, who was only too willing to share his knowledge. Might there be macro photography in her future? Not me–even with a prescription mask, my vision isn’t good enough that I want to search out a nudibranch.
Lest I give the impression that this was a perfect trip, let me end on some weather notes. When we first boarded the boat on Wednesday, Dave told us that the rainy season had already begun - a month early. Indeed, we had lots of rain that Friday and some again on Saturday. Rain isn’t a real problem when you’re snorkeling (you’re already as wet as you’re going to get) but it does affect visibility. More importantly, the gear doesn’t dry between snorkels. Everything was soaked. Putting on a wet ‘wet suit’ isn’t a joy. But we survived. And then the sun came out.
The weather kicked up again on our last full day. After a morning snorkel near Tuluk Kabui, we were headed to the Dampier Channel for our final outing. However, the wind picked up, the seas started running heavy and Dave decided to head straight to Sorong, our start/finish point. The boat was really rocking in the open sea and the spray was flying. When we woke up the next morning, we were anchored in the harbour and our adventure was over. Sitting around the boat until it was time to leave for the airport was kind of anticlimactic.
But we’re left with a ton of memories, hundreds of pictures and a burning desire to do this again.

Raving about Raja Ampat

2011-08-12T20:15:00.002-04:00

Sensory overload. In spades. The snorkel tour through the Raja Ampat Islands was everything we’d hoped for, and more. We had a couple of days in Kuala Lumpur and saw a little of the city. There was a great park just across the street from our hotel behind the KL Convention Center. It had a large wading pool/wet area (free for kids - adults only to supervise) and a huge selection of playground equipment with lots of areas for kids to expend energy.
The park also gave us our first views of the Petronas Towers, KL’s signature building, an impressive sight. We also had a good look at the Towers from the infinity pool at our hotel. Later we had lunch at the revolving restaurant atop the Menara KL Tower which provided great views of downtown KL - like seeing Toronto from the CN Tower. KL isn’t a great city for walking since sidewalks are constantly closed for construction sites. I’ve never seen so many building cranes in one city before.
Then we were off to Indonesia. We flew into Makassar for an overnight stay and then on to Sorong. We got a chance to eat lunch in a local bakery in Makassar while on a stroll to the waterfront area. We were somewhat of a curiosity as the only Westerners in the place. Language is a problem and we’re not always sure what it is we’re ordering. So far it’s worked out.
We met up with the American contingent at the airport in Makassar the next day as we waited for our flight to Sorong. They had just flown in from Jakarta. Once we arrived in Sorong, things went smoothly. We were met by Din, the hostess for the boat we were chartering. She’s a young lady, originally from Germany, who’s been organizing things for the Shakti (the boat) for the past four or five years. She had everything under control and we were quickly off to the harbour where the Shakti was anchored.
Under Din’s direction, the crew quickly ferried us and our luggage out to the Shakti where we met the skipper, Dave - a transplanted Scot. Cabins assignments were made and, while we unpacked, Dave raised the anchor and our adventure began.

The Longest Day

2011-06-18T10:33:00.002-04:00

The Longest Day

We had everything packed up and ready to go before lunch. After that, it was just a case of whiling away time until the limousine pick-up at 4 o’clock. A quick drive to the airport, a speedy check-in, a last sandwich at Tim Horton’s and we’re off on our journey. The flight to Vancouver was uneventful other than the disappointment that the Canucks lost the hockey game. Interesting to be able to watch game seven while in flight. How things have changed.
We arrived in Vancouver by 9 pm and it was surprising how dead the airport terminal was. Nor a lot of people moving and not a lot of joy. We did get to hear and see incessant reports of the violence in downtown Vancouver until our flight to Beijing left at 3 am. Not sure how bad the situation really was and how much was media hype in the immediate aftermath. There certainly was no mention of it around the Beijing terminal and Saturday’s Malaysian newspaper didn’t have any coverage either. ;-)
The flight to Beijing was long but uneventful. Sleep eluded me but I was able to watch four movies–‘Unstoppable’, ‘RED’, ‘The Social Club’ and ‘Secretariat’. Pretty neat since the Air China plane was equipped with personal video screens so I could watch the movies at my own discretion. Not sure why we had to pass through Chinese immigration in Beijing (and, again, later in Hong Kong) since we were just transiting through and didn’t get out of the airport terminal. However, one doesn’t question (especially when you can’t speak the language and especially in China).
Another 3 hour wait in the Beijing terminal and we pick up another Air China flight to Hong Kong - a 3 ½ hour flight this time. Real good introduction to being a visible minority - there were only about 4-5 Caucasians on the plane - with English announcements secondary and heavily inflected. A constant barrage between Doreen and I of ‘What did she say?’ On the other hand, the food’s been good so far and the service, while somewhat lacking in personality, has been very professional.
We had a six-hour layover in Hong Kong and had debated whether we could take the tram ride to the top of the mountain. Good thing we hadn’t made any commitments. We spent the bulk of the time schlepping our bags from Terminal 1 (where we arrived and departed) to Terminal 2 (where Air Asia’s check-in counter was). It’s only a 10 minute walk but it’s a pain with a luggage cart. Turned out the Air Asia ticket/check-in counter doesn’t open until about 2 hours before flight time. Were we the only flight they had that day?
By the time we finally checked in and got rid of the big bags, we barely had time to grab something to eat before our flight left. Air Asia is a low-cost airline and we hadn’t paid for a meal. As it turned out, we had some extra time as the flight was delayed due to non-arrival of the aircraft. When we did get on-board, we found that the travel board complaints about Air Asia were well justified. The seating was seriously cramped. Not a good way to be ending this journey. I’m beginning to feel the effects of so many time zones traveled.
We had a long wait at Malaysian immigration - picked the wrong line again. The agent was slow and picky and there were a couple of suspicious ladies ahead of us who were subjected to extensive questioning before being taken aside. Malaysia is apparently having some serious problems with illegal immigration. When we finally reached the counter, we were quickly processed and fingerprinted.
Then it was off to collect our luggage, pass through Customs and pick up a voucher for a taxi to take us to our hotel. It was an hour’s ride to the Hotel Impiana, which looks like a nice place. Check-in was smooth and quick. We finally get to our room and have barely enough energy to slip into some pj’s and fall into bed. Unpacking can wait till tomorrow. It’s 1 am on Saturday - that’s 43 hours total transit time since we left for the airport in Toronto. Are we crazy?

On the Eve of Raja Ampat

2011-06-15T11:25:00.002-04:00

On the Eve of Raja Ampat (but, hopefully, not the Eve of Destruction)

Hard to believe I haven’t posted to this blog since Cuba in June, 2010. We’ve been on the go a lot - mainly trips to Atlanta to spend time with the grandkids or to visit Doreen's sister in Virginia. We did get back to Cuba with Laurie and Sandy in January - two weeks at Brisas Trinidad del Mar. Don’t know why I didn’t have any commentary on that except that Internet access in Cuba is the pits. We also did spring break in Florida with the grandkids. That was a great week.
Now, we’re sitting around waiting for the limousine to take us to the airport this afternoon. Doreen has worked hard to put together an amazing trip. We’re going to spend 12 days on a live-aboard snorkel boat in the Raja Ampat Islands of Indonesia which are reputed to be among the world’s best snorkeling sites. Should be wonderful. We’re hooked up with a group of Americans from the San Diego area who did this trip last year and are back for an encore.
We’ll have a few days in Kuala Lumpur at the beginning and end of our trip. After the snorkel tour, we have a week to explore Bali (and for Doreen to check out the batiks). Then we do Western Australia for a week to snorkel the Ningaloo Reef. A few more items off our bucket list.
The only drawback is that these places are half-way around the world. We leave here this afternoon and arrive in Kuala Lumpur at 10 o’clock on Friday night (a day lost to the Date Line). Along the way, we have a 6 hour layover in Vancouver, a 3 hour layover in Beijing and a 6 hour layover in Hong Kong. We should be able to sleep by the time we get to our hotel in Kuala Lumpur. ;-)
We have the same thing on the way back since we leave Kuala Lumpur at 7 on Saturday morning and arrive in Toronto at 6 on Sunday morning (having regained our day at the Date Line). This time the Hong Kong layover is also 6 hours, Beijing is 2 ½ and Vancouver is 3 ½. Interestingly, we leave Beijing at 11:30 pm and arrive in Vancouver at 7:30 pm that same day. How’s that for screwing up your body?

You Can't Go Home Again, or to Jibacoa

2010-07-01T21:07:00.001-04:00

As Thomas Wolfe’s protagonist, George Webber, discovered, time passes and things and places change. We had really enjoyed Jibacoa in January despite the early weather problems. We found the people (staff and guests) at Chameleon Villas Jibacoa friendly and interesting. And, once the ocean settled down, the jellyfish disappeared and the weather warmed up, we found the snorkeling among the best we had done in the Caribbean. So, when we had a chance at a last-minute, cheap week in June, we jumped at it. Didn’t quite work out.
The first big change was that we opted for the upscale Breezes Resort rather than a return to CVJ. Breezes was bigger and therein lay some of the problems. The room was larger and better furnished with nicer facilities, the food at the buffet dining room was generally better, the ‘a la carte’ restaurants were definitely better, the pool was better, and the evening entertainment was better (especially the aqua ballet and magic shows). It was nice to be able to brew tea/coffee in our room because, just as at CVJ, they weren’t available at dinner.
What wasn’t better was the overall ambience of our stay. The staff didn’t connect with the guests (except in rare cases) and didn’t seem to find any joy in their jobs. One bartender at the beach bar didn’t crack a smile (that I saw) the whole week. On the other hand, the cook who prepared omelets at breakfast was a delight. As good as the food was, lunch and dinner became nearly indistinguishable as the week went on. Thank the powers that be for the two ‘a la carte’ dinners we were allowed - both were excellent (even if I had to wear long pants at Martino’s).
Because there were so many places to hang out, the guests never seemed to connect with each other either but, instead, kept to their little groups. At CVJ, you saw the same people at meals, at the bar, on the beach, in the lobby - it was like a large, extended family and conversations were the norm. At Breezes, I don’t think we sat next to the same people for two meals the entire week. People we saw in the dining room, we didn’t see on the beach and people we saw on the beach, we didn’t see in the dining room. Or, maybe we did and just didn’t recognize them because they were ‘dressed’ for dinner.
We had really enjoyed the snorkeling in January and were looking forward to the warmer water which would allow us to stay in longer and range farther afield. We had seen lionfish, flounders, a barracuda, an octopus, an eel, several rays, a couple of worms and lots of beautiful corals and colorful fish. About the only thing that lived up to expectations was the warmth of the water - I never once felt chilled. Visibility was another matter. Didn’t see the lionfish, flounders, barracuda, octopus, etc. Of course, most of the time visibility was only three or four feet and, sometimes, much less than that. There was an incredible amount of sediment in the water. Even the fish and corals that you could see looked dull and drab.
For the entire week, I took only 42 pictures, 18 in the water. That’s less than one day’s production on a normal trip. That includes duplicates and before eliminating pictures that didn’t quite work out. I haven’t run them through PSE yet but I don’t think I’ll have enough to bother posting. I was in the water about six or seven times over the span of the week (the beach was red-flagged two days because of high waves and strong currents) and took pictures only twice. The last two days I didn’t even turn on my camera because the visibility was so poor.
Doreen had even worse luck. Our first snorkel on Sunday afternoon she forgot her camera but wasn’t too upset because it wasn’t a great snorkel. Our second snorkel, on Monday morning, had to be cut short so we could attend the orientation meeting with the tour rep. However, we were in the water long enough for Doreen get water in her camera. Bye, bye picture taking. Bye, bye camera. After the orientation meeting, we went for a walk on the beach and Doreen cracked a toe on her left foot when she smacked into a rock under the sand. She hobbled for the next few days, unable to tolerate putting on her fin so no more snorkeling for her.
By Thursday, she was feeling better and ready to give it another go but the red flag was flying. We went to visit with some of the workers at CVJ that we had met in January. Just as we got there, it started to rain and Doreen slipped on the wet tile and wrenched her left foot again. Back to square one. She was still hobbling when we got home and the x-ray confirmed the break.
Now, we’re torn. Would we go back? If we do, it would definitely be CVJ rather than Breezes. Is there a time when we could have the warmth of June with the visibility of January? And, without the jellyfish?

Jibacoa Redux

2010-06-29T10:53:00.002-04:00

We’ve picked up a relatively cheap, last-minute trip to Cuba so we’ll be returning to Jibacoa for a week of sun, sand and snorkeling. This time we’ll be staying at Breezes, the resort next door to the Chameleon Villas Jibacoa (CVJ). Breezes is much larger and is rated a couple of stars higher. The price difference was so small that we decided on the posher resort even though we had really enjoyed ourselves at CVJ in January. We’ll see.
Nothing like getting off to an early start. The flight to Varadero leaves at 6:30 am so we’re up at 3:30 to get to the airport, park the car and take the shuttle to the terminal for our 4:30 check-in. Surprising number of cars on the road even that early in the morning. Check-in is no problem though our bags are pushing the weight limit (How much do you need for a week?)
Security throws up a roadblock. Doreen has packed a sewing kit in her carry-on luggage and it includes a pair of ‘snips’ for cutting threads. This deadly weapon brings out the red flags - the blades are extremely sharp and at least as long as a fingernail - she can’t be allowed to carry this onto the plane. (I guess they’re afraid we’ll highjack the plane to Cuba - oh, wait, that’s where we’re headed.) Since she paid $30 for these ‘snips’, Doreen isn’t prepared to throw them away. She has to take them back outside the secure area where she’s faced with two choices - either mail them to the house (at a cost of $15) or put them in storage at the airport until we return next week (at a cost of $12).
The flight itself was uneventful. We arrived in Cuba and passed through their security check with no problems. I’m determined not to lose my visa card this time so I’m extra careful with the paperwork. Our ride to the resort is delayed - something about the bus driver being sick (I think that’s what was said) - so we stand around in the blistering heat for almost half an hour. I don’t think we’ll be hearing the word ‘frio’ much this week.
There were four other couples on the bus but there wasn’t much interaction or conversation. Lots to look at on the ride to Breezes as we’d done this ride in the dark in January. We were able to check-in early but had to drag our own bags to the second-floor room (one strike against the four-star rating). Nice, large room but not a lot of places to hang things. Lunch in the dining room was okay but nothing special - very similar to CVJ.
Got some sun after lunch and then prepared for our first snorkel. Major disappointment - the visibility was terrible. The wind is blowing, the sea is roiled up and there’s a lot of sediment in the water. Not much picture taking here. The beach bar does serve terrific lemon slushes though - the Cuban answer to Hawaii’s shave ice, I guess.
Great ending to our first day. An excellent meal at the Cuban Restaurant with a great wine followed by an interesting Aqua Ballet Show at the pool. By then, we’re ready to fall into bed - it’s been a long day.

Final thoughts

2010-01-29T19:56:00.001-05:00

Can’t say much about Nolitours’ schedule for our final day. Room check-out is at 12, lunch is served at 1, the bus leaves for the airport at 4:30 and the flight is scheduled for 8:15. (Actually departed at 9:30) Spent a lot of the day sitting around watching our luggage. Did get to work on my picture files in the resort lobby and at the airport terminal. Got a new visa card at the airport so I could leave (and didn’t have to pay the $16 fee we’d been warned about). Doreen had a hard time (not) figuring out how to spend that extra money as we didn’t want to take home any Cuban pesos.
When is an all-inclusive not an all-inclusive? We’ve only done this all-inclusive thing a couple of times. In the past, we’ve usually left our wallets in the safe and left tips for various staff people at the end. That’s not the way it works here. You need to carry a pocketful of pesos all the time. People seem to tip at every meal and with every drink at the bar. You begin to feel you need to tip the maid every day and even when you exchange towels at the pool. The staff are terrific and the ‘tip’ vibe doesn’t seem to be coming from them. It’s just the way everybody seems to do it and you find yourself falling into the routine. It’s very strange.
Almost had a problem with Customs at the Toronto airport. Doreen had used the extra money to pick up another bottle of liqueur and that put us over the limit. Seems the 1.5 liters we were counting on only refers to wine. Liqueurs count as liquor and the limit is 1.14 liters. One agent pointed this out to us but the final check point didn’t bother charging us any extra duty.
How come our bags are never the first off the plane? Somebody has to be first but it’s never been us. By the time we picked up luggage, checked through Customs, picked up the car and drove home, it was almost 2:30. Need to eat something before we can get to sleep. No snow on the ground but it sure is colder than Cuba. Oh, well.

A better second week

2010-01-29T12:02:00.001-05:00

Other than a downpour Sunday afternoon, our second week was much nicer than our first. The weather stayed warm (verging on hot) and the jellyfish generally stayed away. We snorkeled every day (except Wednesday) and it ranged from good to great. No further sighting of the lionfish but lots of great coral and fish. Thursday morning was so clear and calm we got a good look at some worms and even a nudibranch. Unfortunately, Sandy got hit by a jellyfish on her way in from our last snorkel session on Saturday morning. She’ll have an uncomfortable plane ride tonight.
We took a taxi into Matanzas on Wednesday and spent some time roaming around the city. Like Havana, there’s a lot of crumbling infrastructure but the city is basically clean (old and dusty but not garbage-strewn, at least in the main areas). We browsed through the local market and that was a lot more interesting than the touristy market in Havana. Then it was off to the stadium and a taste of Cuban baseball. The best part of the experience was watching and listening to the local fans argue baseball. Sure wish we could understand what they were saying. Their enthusiasm and passion overrode language barriers, however.
Thursday night we headed into Havana for the show at the Tropicana–spectacular. We had great seats, the dancing was fabulous and the costumes were magnificent. Laurie got some great videos with his camera. The circus acts which were interspersed to give the dancers time to change costumes were terrific. All-in-all a great (if late) night. We gifted our driver, Jorge, with the bottle of rum we hadn’t consumed.
The only drawback to the week was an influx of new guests and, suddenly, the resort seemed over-crowded with long lines for meal times. Surprisingly, this sense of over-crowding did not extend to the spacious grounds, the beach or the pool.

Snorkel, snorkel, snorkel

2010-01-28T19:13:00.001-05:00

Our first venture into the water did not have a promising beginning. The water was cooler than expected and there was a lot of garbage. We went to the left of the buoy to check out the drop-off area. We finally got out far enough to see some nice coral. Not a whole lot of fish but some interesting species. Saw (and avoided) only one jellyfish. Lasted less than an hour before the cold seeped in and we started back. On the way in I spotted a nice peacock flounder and then a moray eel. Yes!! Doreen was annoyed that she’d missed them.
It was quite cool when we exited the water. The facilities for rinsing gear/bodies was woefully inadequate so we headed back to the room to use the shower to rinse off and warm up. (The hot water here is really hot.) Later we did some beachcombing before enjoying the outdoor barbeque. Tried to get some sun by the pool after lunch but the wind picked up and the sun disappeared. No second snorkel this afternoon.
We got our second snorkel in on Friday morning (joined by Sandy and Laurie) and it was even better. We did the same area but there was a lot less garbage in the water. But the wind changed and, by afternoon, the beach was red-flagged because of the jellyfish–several people had been stung earlier. It’s warmed up nicely so I sunned by the pool while Doreen and Sandy went beach combing.
The beach was still red-flagged on Saturday morning so we walked around the corner to the next cove and snorkeled there. No problem with jellyfish but hardly worth the effort. In the afternoon we snorkeled the area in front of the pool and found a great patch of coral and some interesting fish. Much better than the morning snorkel.
On Sunday morning we decided to try the area to the right of the buoy. On the way out, Doreen spotted a fairly large octopus and we watched it for awhile. Once we got across the boat channel, the visibility cleared up. The coral was great and, as the guy in the dive shop had said, there were lots of big fish. Then, to top things off, I drifted over the edge of the coral and there were two lionfish–the first time we’ve seen lionfish outside an aquarium. What a thrill!!

We're off to see the city

2010-01-28T11:39:00.001-05:00

Three days of cool, windy weather has exhausted the supply of optional activities. We’ve hiked up and down the shore, we’ve explored the local roads, there isn’t much else to do. Thank God for Laurie and Sandy, a couple from British Columbia, who have turned out to be our travel doppelgangers. Laurie’s a transplanted Aussie and a retired teacher/principal who met Sandy while studying at UBC. Conversations with them have helped alleviate our frustration and pass the time.
Wednesday we’re off to Havana on a tour bus. Not our usual style but we wanted to see the city and hadn’t done any serious research to facilitate independent travel so we opted for the group. Andy, the guide, tried to make the hour-long ride into the city interesting but, having to give his spiel in both French and English tended to make things drag. We made a couple of stops in ‘Old Havana’ (mainly geared to tourists gawking) before lunch at the Zaragoanza Restaurant for a nice lunch.
At the Plaza d’Armes, we got a chance to roam on our own and had a look at the cathedral and then wandered down a few side streets. There was a group of photogenic street musicians at the back of the plaza. (Not sure how musically talented they were but they had interesting faces.) Lots of amazing architecture, most undergoing some degree of repair. Wish we had better language skills.
After lunch we drove through ‘New Havana’ for a quick look at Revolution Square, the site of Fidel’s speeches. Then it was off to the rum factory for a tour (entertaining host) and a taste (not nearly enough) but I did get a bottle of 7 year-old rum to take home. Enjoyed watching the street life while we waited for the group to re-form and the bus to return. As we left, we got a middle-finger salute from a little boy who was underwhelmed by the handout he hadn’t received.
The final stop was a market designed to provide tourists with their Cuban souvenirs. Definitely not our cup of tea. We did exchange some Canadian money for Cuban pesos and then wandered outside and had a look at the neighborhood. Beautiful stained glass windows at the former Cathedral de San Francisco de Pueblo but we couldn’t get inside to really appreciate them.
The ride back was a bit of a drag but at least the temperature is warming up. Now, if only the jellyfish would disappear, we might get a chance to check out the snorkeling.

C is for Cuba, C is for cold

2010-01-27T21:27:00.001-05:00

We’re not off to a good start here. Cuba is having the same kind of abnormally low temperatures as the southeast part of the US. The most common phrase we’ve heard from the locals (both resort workers and townspeople) is “mucho frio”. We didn’t bring enough warm clothes for an extended period of chilly weather. The sweater, jacket and long pants were only supposed to get me from the car to the plane.
We had an uneventful flight from Toronto to Varadero (slight delay re departure time) and a hour-long taxi ride to the resort. Couldn’t see much of the countryside in the dark. Check-in went quickly except that I had lost my visa card at the airport. (I’ll have to pay $16 Cuban for another card if I want to leave the country.)
Our oceanfront room was quite small, with only a narrow aisle between bed and desk to get from one side of the room to the other. Very awkward. Slept well in a very chilly room. Certainly didn’t need the a/c. After breakfast, we requested a room change. The new room is larger and quieter (mountain-view) but we had to settle for twin beds.
The food is adequate (we won’t starve) but I think we’ll be eating the same thing for the next two weeks. Good thing we’re not gourmands. My biggest gripe is that there’s no hot water available at dinner so I can have tea only at breakfast. Guess I won’t be using all my tea bags. Didn’t like the Nolitours rep’s comments about things disappearing if left on the beach while swimming or snorkeling or left hanging outside to dry. Heard several stories later of people losing things though we didn’t have any such problems ourselves.
Because the weather was so cool and windy, we spent the first few days hiking and walking the shoreline. Not much danger of sunburn so far. Interesting to turn on the television and watch the CTV news from Toronto (the same newscast we watch at home). The news from Haiti put a damper on things.

Home again, home again, jiggity jig

2009-03-24T12:36:00.001-04:00

Only it wasn’t exactly ‘jiggity jig’. Rather it took almost twenty-nine hours to travel from Manila hotel to southern Ontario house. That included three flights–about 14000 km total distance and about 17 hours flying time (that doesn’t include the short hop from Dumaguete to Manila on Wednesday). The rest of the time was waiting in airports.
We got our wake-up call at 3:45 a.m. on Thursday morning, checked out of the hotel and went to the airport. Finally found a working ATM at the ‘Arrivals’ level of the terminal so we were able to get the 1500 pesos we needed for our departure tax as well as a little extra to cover breakfast. We didn’t have any excess baggage problems this time and our bags are checked through to Toronto. Immigration and security screening went smoothly but there weren’t many food options inside the secure area (none at all outside it). Doreen used the last of our money to buy a couple of bottles of water as she finds dehydration a real problem.
When we finally found our gate, we discovered a second set of security screens. We were told that the first screening had been ‘airport security’ and this was now ‘Northwest Airlines security’. The whole rigamarole again–computer out, shoes off, belt off, liquids on display in their plastic bag, etc. The upshot was that Doreen lost the water she’d just bought. Talk about ticked! The waiting area left a lot to be desired but we had a smooth flight to Tokyo.
We got off the plane in Narita and had to go through security again even though we haven’t been out of a secure area since Manila. We had a three-hour wait in Tokyo for our connection so Doreen used the time to browse the shops and buy some Japanese candies and other stuff. We’re back in the commercial world where we can use our credit cards. Hoorah! We found our gate, finally got our seat assignments straightened out and settled in to wait for boarding. Just as boarding should have commenced, they announced a gate change. When we got to the new gate, there was no plane so we waited a little longer.
Twelve hours later we’re in Detroit. It was a pretty good flight (very good meals) made even easier by a great flight attendant, Melody. We had to collect our luggage in Detroit and go through US Customs even though we were only transiting. The process has really slowed now with the requirement to fingerprint and photograph visitors (as Canadians, we were excluded). Then, once again, we were subjected to the screening process. This is getting ridiculous. We haven’t been out of a secure area since the Manila terminal and we’ve been screened four times. I guess nobody trusts the other guys to do an adequate screening job.
The easiest part of our trip was the drive from the Toronto airport. We landed in Toronto at 7:20 p.m. so we missed the rush hour traffic and our limo driver cruised. We were home by 8:30 p.m. Now all we have to do is reset our internal clocks–we also had to reset all the house clocks as Ontario has moved into ‘Daylight Saving Time’ while we were away.

A tale of two hotels

2009-03-23T15:20:00.000-04:00

We spent most of our four weeks on the road in five resorts, two in Palau and three in the Philippines. However, because of the timing of our travel arrangements, there were a number of nights when we needed some place for just an overnight stay. Sometimes that worked out well. Sometimes, not so well.
Our flight from Palau back to Manila arrived about 9:30 p.m. but by the time we cleared customs and immigration, claimed our luggage, waited for the hotel pick-up, drove to the hotel and checked in, it was nearing midnight. We have an eight o’clock flight the next morning so Doreen had selected a hotel close to the airport. We were impressed with the staff and the room and decided to stay there on our return to Manila from Dumaguete. The alarm went off at 5:30 a.m., we grabbed a quick bite in the hotel lobby and then off to the airport and our flight to Tagbilaran City. We left with a wonderful impression of the Hotel and were looking forward to our return there.
Two weeks later, we’re back but where’s the real Nichols Hotel? The desk people were inattentive and the lobby had been re-arranged to be used as a dining area while the coffee shop is under renovation. We were told, as far as I could understand, that our former room (rated a superior room) was unavailable and we had been upgraded to a deluxe room. That’s not what we saw when we walked into room 458. It was small and dingy and every time we moved something another bug went scurrying. After several trips to the front desk to complain we were moved to room 372–a larger, cleaner, nicer-looking room but with an inadequate shower. Not a patch on the room we’d had on our first visit. This time the alarm is set for 3:45 a.m. as we have to check in for an international flight.
We had better luck with the Metro Center Hotel in Tagbilaran. The Isla Hayahay driver dropped us off there to await our pickup by Balicasag, we liked the look of the place and booked a room for Wednesday night. When we got back from Balicasag Island, we found ourselves in an large, airy, nicely-appointed room. The hotel also had an indoor pool, a workout room, a games room and a sauna–all small but serviceable. More importantly, the hotel’s business center offered free wi-fi service and the restaurant provided decent food at affordable prices. And it was only a short ride to the ferry dock.

The curse of the excess baggage

2009-03-22T15:04:00.001-04:00

We never travel lightly (see a previous post about our packing). We tend to use the airlines’ restrictions as our guide and we’re always near, or slightly over, their limits. This trip was no exception and we knew going in that there would be some excess baggage fees. We were fine with the major carriers–Northwest Airlines for Toronto to Manila and return, and Continental for the trip from Manila to Palau and back. Their guidelines are fairly generous.
The first problem would be our flight from Manila to Tagbilaran City on Philippines Air Line. They restrict checked luggage to 15 kg and carry-on luggage to 7 kg. We had run into this problem last year and had built the extra cost into our budget. When we checked in on Thursday morning, we had to pay an extra 612 pesos. No problem. However, when we tried to go through the security checkpoint, the lady decided that Doreen’s carry-on was too heavy and sent her back to pay an additional fee. Doreen was already stressed over our inability to find an ATM that would accept our Canadian bank card and we had very little money on hand.
Once we got past that hurdle, we thought we were home free. Our next transit was by ferry from the island of Bohol to the island of Negroes. One of the reasons Doreen had chosen this route was to avoid another trip on PAL with their baggage limits. Little did we know that the ferry system had similar restrictions. When we showed up at the ferry dock the following Thursday, they weighed all our luggage and assessed an extra fee of 400 pesos plus tax. In addition, we then had to pay another 150 pesos for the porter to put the luggage on the ferry as you’re not allowed to carry it yourself. (Hope Marine Atlantic doesn’t catch on to this scheme.)
Our final trip on PAL was a flight from Dumaguete to Manila the following Wednesday. We had figured that excess baggage would not be a problem by that time as we would have either consumed, or would leave behind, many of the consumables (sun screens, food stuffs, etc.) we had packed. Doreen had brought her luggage scale and things looked good when we weighed our luggage at the resort before departing for the airport. And then we checked in with the airline. According to their scale, we were heavier than when we’d started on our trip–more than 13 kg over the limit. In addition, since our last trip just two weeks ago, they’d increased their fees (more than doubling the cost/kg).
We were hit with an excess baggage fee of more than 1400 pesos and, at the Dumaguete airport, they didn’t accept credit cards. We had to use the 1500 pesos we’d set aside for the departure tax. If we don’t find a functioning ATM in Manila, we won’t be able to get out of the country.

Some final thoughts

2009-03-17T21:34:00.000-04:00

Security - There is an ongoing insurgency in the southern part of the country and we’ve been getting frequent e-travel alerts since we started planning this trip. We’ve mainly ignored them because we weren’t traveling to those areas. Here, on the ground in the Philippines, it’s a different story as there’s always the possibility that the insurgents will attack unsuspecting targets. We were surprised when we arrived at Balicasag Island Dive Resort and found an armed guard patrolling the grounds–it’s a small island with less than seven hundred villagers.
While we were in Tagbilaran City awaiting the ferry to Dumaguete, we went looking for a bank to get some pesos (PHP). We hadn’t had any luck with ATM’s up to now, we couldn’t cash any travelers’ cheques and few places were taking credit cards. We finally found a bank which accepted our North American bank card (the Bank of the Philippine Islands). The interesting thing as we wandered the street was that all the banks had several, seriously-armed guards outside their doors and they were checking all customers (and my computer back-pack). Several of the pawnshops and other stores had armed guards as well.
While we were at El Dorado, we decided to take the shuttle into Dumaguete and have a look at the town. Doreen had read some comments on the Web about things to see so we took a break from our snorkeling. It turned out to be not as depressing as it had seemed last year but, on the other hand, not as interesting as we had hoped. One of the places we wanted to see was the university campus but the entire area is fenced, you enter/exit through security check-points where you must leave your ID. Since the only ID Doreen was carrying that day was her camera warranty card, we were refused entry.
Snorkeling - We’ve done two trips to Apo Island with dive groups and, both days, the ocean was less than cooperative. A serious current and noticeable wave action have put a crimp into our picture taking. It’s hard enough to capture the moving fish when you’re able to hover and frame the shot. It’s almost impossible to do when you’re bobbing and drifting. Thank God for digital cameras (just delete, baby). At least coral and anenome fish tend to stay where they are. The ocean conditions also meant that we could only dive/snorkel sites on the protected side of the island. It was still good snorkeling (but not quite Palau) and well worth the wet ride back to the resort.
We’ve also done two days at Dauin Reserve, a 20 minute walk down the beach. It’s as good as we remember from last year. The first morning we were faced with an incoming tide and a noticeable drift but the next afternoon we were in ‘hover heaven’, Doreen’s preferred form of snorkeling. The anenome fish were still here and Doreen had a functioning camera so she was happy. Lots of big fish, plenty of colorful coral, a small entry fee - life is good. Too bad we have to go home now (on the other hand, we’re ready to go home and tired of living out of a suitcase).
It’s interesting to compare our reaction to snorkeling in the Philippines this year to our impressions last year. Then, we were coming off some disappointing ventures in Thailand and Malaysia and the Philippines were awesome. This year, we’re coming off lots of incredible snorkeling in Palau and the Philippines are still very good but not quite as awesome. I think we’re snorkeled out for now. I’m sure it will take only one snow fall to change that perspective again.

Random thoughts from the Philippines

2009-03-11T04:19:00.001-04:00

Traffic - You couldn’t pay me to drive in the Philippines. The traffic is horrendous and rules of the road seem to be non-existant. Palau wasn’t too bad even though the steering wheel was on the right side of the car and we drove on the right side of the road. It was different for the driver to be close to the edge of the road and the passenger to be closer to oncoming traffic. Doreen was uncomfortable with the arrangement–could it be she doesn’t trust my driving? At least we weren’t driving a standard transmission so I didn’t have to worry about constantly shifting gears with my left hand. I even managed to signal turns without switching on the windshield wipers.
We overnighted in Manila in transit from Palau and left the hotel for the airport shortly before 6 a..m. The streets were already clogged with traffic–both pedestrian and vehicular. We landed in the small town of Tagbilaran City and the traffic was just as bad. Things quieted down when we got out into the countryside but never totally petered out. There are all kinds of rigs on the road–everything from two wheels, to three, four, six and more. Some are pedal power, some are small motors–all go at different rates of speed. Nobody signals lane changes for passing (actually did find one driver who used his signal lights–the chap who drove us to the boat to Balicasag Island). Many of the small rigs have no lights so night time is particularly dangerous. Our driver at Isla Hayahay, Harold, told me you have to watch for hand signals (local variety)–another problem for night driving. Despite the seeming chaos, we haven’t seen a single accident (we’ve heard of one).
There don’t seem to be any limits on number of passengers. We’ve seen motorbikes with four and five people–mom, dad, the kids and all the groceries they’ve just bought at the local market. There’s a helmet law but it’s not enforced and only a small minority of riders bother with a helmet. The jeepneys are something else, especially with their wild colors. When all the inside space (sitting and standing) is taken, people start hanging on the outside, standing on the bumpers and in open windows and sitting on the roof. It’s an incredible sight.
Housing - There’s a wild variety of house styles in the Philippines. All you need are a few concrete blocks, a little wood, some corrugated metal, maybe some pandanus thatch and, presto, you can build a house. In the small villages we traversed, it seemed every second or third house was a little store. Or else they were using the advertising signs as a replacement for siding on their houses. Many of the houses look like they couldn’t stand up to the ‘big, bad wolf’ let alone a tropical storm. But people take pride in their property, sweeping up morning and afternoon, and planting flowers everywhere.
Tourism - There’s a charge for everything it seems. You want to see the old church? Pay here. You want to see the tarsiers? Pay here. You want to see the ‘Chocolate Hills’? Pay here. It’s almost like Niagara Falls charging a fee to everybody who comes to see the Falls. The fees are fairly small but they’re constant. And everywhere there are souvenir sellers and hawkers. Some of them are more than a little persistent. From their viewpoint, I guess they’re simple showing initiative and working hard to supply a life for their family. You get a different perspective when you get a chance to talk to some of them, like our guide for the Isla Hayahay tours, Benjamin. He’s worked for government boards for years, wants to be a teacher and supplements his income with his guiding.
Poverty - There are simply too many people for the resources the islands have. Most of the people work hard and take pride in their country but there isn’t enough to go around. By our standards, many of the people live in third-world conditions. Despite the bright colors (especially the buses and jeepneys), everything looks dingy and drab. One thing we noticed was the overwhelming presence of cell phones. The kids might not have a good shirt or pair of pants but they have a cell phone. Benjamin confirmed this but noted that he could afford only to use his cell phone for texting, rather than talking, and he had to share his cell phone with his daughter.
Accommodations - We lucked out with Isla Hayahay, a small resort on the island of Pangangan which is connected to Bohol by a community-built causeway (3.5 km of unpaved, very bumpy road–it takes 10 minutes to drive). We were the only guests in residence so were catered to–what time would you like breakfast, etc. The staff were very personable and committed to ensuring we enjoyed our stay. We had one day on the water and one day for a land tour and both were enjoyable. We weren’t as lucky with the Balicasag Island Dive Resort, a government-run facility. There aren’t any divers in residence so we haven’t been able to book any excursions. We’ve had to settle for snorkeling from shore. It’s a marine reserve so it’s been pretty good but, I think after the wonder of Palau, anything would be anti-climatic. The staff seem to be coasting with minimal effort to see to guests’ concerns and no attempt to anticipate guests’ needs. The marine reserve is very popular, with many people coming on day trips from nearby islands. The place is being loved to death–lots of dead coral because people walk on it. Somewhat reminiscent of the bad, old days at Hanauma Bay.

Still rocking in Palau

2009-03-03T20:15:00.000-05:00

Just when you think things can’t get any better, they do. At least they do here in Palau. Remember that old saying when you were enjoying something, “I’ve died and gone to Heaven”. Well, from now on, I’m thinking, “I’ve died and gone to Palau”. How do you top two great days on the water? You book another snorkel tour with Sam’s Tours. When we showed up on Sunday morning, we learned that we were the only people on the boat (their business is hurting or they never would send a boat out with only two people).
We gave our guide, Jimmy, some simple instructions: we’ve already been to Jellyfish Lake and the Milky Way so just take us to those snorkel spots you think we shouldn’t leave Palau without seeing. Did he ever fill the day with wonder! We hit the German Channel, the Big Drop-off (just as impressive the second time around), the Blue Hole, the Blue Corner, Turtle Cove, the inner reef and finished at Cemetery Reef (this time without crowds). By the time we climbed aboard the boat after Cemetery, we were beat. That’s the most snorkeling we’ve ever done in one day and the sites ranged from great to terrific to awesome.
The German Channel is another drift snorkel but the current is stronger than at the big drop-off. Jimmy drops us off at one spot and tells us the boat will pick us up ‘down there’, just let the current carry us along. As soon as we step off the boat, there’s a 6-8 foot shark just off to my right. Thank god, he’s headed in the opposite direction. I don’t really want to drift along with a shark. A while later, I spot another, slightly smaller shark (4-6 ft.) ahead, on a course perpendicular to mine. The question is ‘who will get to the intersection spot first?’. Slow down, current. The shark wins the race and crosses about six feet in front of me.
The only bad thing about the day is that I don’t have a functioning camera. My camera uses two rechargeable AA batteries and I usually carry a plentiful supply on any trip. For this boat ride, I stupidly decided to rely on the batteries in the camera and took only four spares with me. I took a few pictures at the marina before we left and got a battery warning from the camera. In go the first set of replacements. When we got into the water at the German Channel, I took about four pictures and got another ‘change batteries’ warning. When I went for the third set, I discovered that one had fallen out of my pocket (either in the chair at the hotel or in the bus on the way to the marina). The camera won’t work with one good and one bad battery so no more pictures. Too late to swing by the hotel and get all of those good batteries that are sitting in my camera case. Will I ever learn?
One interesting thing I noted. Without the camera, I probably saw more as I was constantly looking and never had to stop and concentrate on lining up a fish. Sorry but I can’t share my mental pictures with you. Doreen has some good shots which we’ll post.
We rented a car for our last three days and thought we’d drive around and see some of the land area, particularly the large island of Babeldaob. The road was good but the views weren’t as interesting as we’d hoped and the signage was almost non-existant. We missed most of the points of interest we set out to see. Doreen thinks the land tour companies have conspired and exerted political pressure to protect their business. She plans to note her complaint with the Palau Visitors Center. Oh, well, the ocean activities have made this the trip of a lifetime.

The Rock Islands rock

2009-03-01T06:03:00.000-05:00

We’ve just spent two of the best days we’ve ever had on a trip. On Thursday, we booked a Planet Blue kayak trip with Sam’s Tours. On Friday, we got together with a German couple we’d met on the beach at the Palau Pacific Resort last week and, along with their friends who arrived on Wednesday night, we chartered a boat to take us to some snorkel spots. Both trips were expensive (by our standards) but it was money well spent. Today we need a down day to rest up from sensory overload. Tomorrow we’re booked with Sam’s for another snorkel tour.
Wednesday morning we checked out Riptide, a small beach from which you could snorkel. We walked there from Sam’s where we had booked our tour for Thursday. We were the only ones in the water. The snorkeling wasn’t very good because the water was murky (probably from all the rain on Tuesday), there was a noticeable lop on the water and there weren’t a lot of fish. It wasn’t a total loss as there was some nice coral and we did spot an octopus. We watched him for a while but he wouldn’t move out of the rocks for us. We ate lunch at the Riptide Restaurant where the food was so-so and the service was very slow.
Sam’s picked us up at 7:45 on Thursday morning but the tour didn’t leave until about 9. They did a good job of explaining the plan for the day and showing us the map of the area we’d be exploring. There were only five of us along with two guides (Sheft and Sean), a boat driver and a boat driver’s assistant. The boat took us to the Risong Bay area of the Rock Islands, where we unloaded the kayaks and set out on our trek. Our first destination was Shark Bay, an area where baby sharks hang out and develop their survival skills until they’re ready for the open ocean. Then it was on to check out the sunken Japanese boat (one of many remnants of WW2 in this area).
We took our first break at Lee Marvin Beach where we parked the kayaks and snorkeled an area known as Blue Devil Gardens. It was mostly sea grass with little coral but there were tons of the blue damsel fish. We had a chance to explore the island before it was back to the kayaks. We followed the shoreline and marveled at the colors and the clarity of the water. We met up with the boat in a small cove, linked the kayaks together and had lunch on shore. After lunch we explored the area which had been a big cave until the roof had collapsed and snorkeled for a little while.
The afternoon’s paddling culminated in our arrival at Mandarin Fish Lake, where we jettisoned the kayaks and had our final snorkel. Sheft showed us where the mandarin fish were hiding (they’re so small they’re easy to miss) and Doreen got some great pictures. That made the trip for her. We spent an hour snorkeling the lake and saw some great coral and lots of other fish, including several that we hadn’t seen before. All too soon it was time to head back to the boat and back to the dock. What a great day!!!
As good as Thursday was, Friday was even better. We took a taxi to the Landmark Hotel and met up with Jo and Monika and their friends, Margit and Manny. The trip didn’t start out well as it began to rain just as we pulled away from the dock. Between the rain and the waves splashing, it didn’t take long for everything to get soaking wet. Our first stop was the Milky Way, a lake when the limestone deposits on the bottom provide for a mud bath. We then settled in for a long boat ride out to the Ngemelis Wall where we would snorkel an area known as ‘the big drop off’. It’s one of the world’s premier dive spots with the wall going down hundreds of feet.
We got our gear on and jumped into the water. And were instantly transported. We were over some beautiful coral, there was more everywhere you looked and the place was teeming with fish of all colors and sizes. And off to the left was this yawning blue abyss. Oh my gawd! It’s a wonder I didn’t drown with my jaw having dropped so much and my mouth hanging open. Where to look next. There’s a strong current so it was to be a drift snorkel with the boat picking us up at the end. We drifted along taking pictures galore (including some passing sharks). It was the most amazing snorkel we’ve ever done. Two more sharks at the end just as we headed for the boat were the icing on the cake.
We had lunch at Ngermeaus Island. After lunch we did a little beach combing before jumping in the water to watch some sharks. Then it was off to Jellyfish Lake, the wonder that had first sparked our interest in Palau. It’s a bit of a hike into the lake, up hill and then down hill, but, with the help of the installed ropes, we managed. The jellyfish in the lake follow the sun so we had to hunt for them. First you see the odd one (no tentacles), then several at a time, then groups, then you’re surrounded by hundreds of jellyfish. It’s surreal. They’re surprisingly soft and surprisingly heavy. Our guide, Veronica, even managed to find a large moon jellyfish. Jellyfish Lake more than lived up to our expectations.
We did a quick snorkel at Clam City but it wasn’t very exciting (pales by comparison??) and the seas were rough so we moved on. Our final destination was a spot called ‘Cemetery Reef’. This is another great area with beautiful coral and lots of fish. We even saw a Napoleon wrasse. I finally called it a day when I’d exhausted the batteries in my camera. Lots to see but no more pictures. We took the scenic route back through the Rock Islands to the marina (I don’t think there is anything other than a scenic route no matter which way you go).
If we win the lottery, we’re coming back here to do this again.

It never rains in Southern California

2009-02-25T05:37:00.001-05:00

And it’s not supposed to rain in Palau this time of year. But, just our luck, Palau’s weather patterns are changing and this year has seen an inordinate rainfall during this, the supposedly dry season. Chalk up another one for global warming and its effects on the world’s weather. We make it to the beach on Saturday afternoon after checking into the Carolines Resort. We’ve been traveling since Wednesday morning so we need to relax and unwind. Lather on the sunscreen and get ready to soak up some rays. Maybe 26 seconds worth. Then the skies opened up and we got soaked. So much for our first day in this island paradise.
We didn’t have a whole lot of fun getting here either. We started with a short 45 minute hop from Toronto to Detroit. But only after an extra 30 minutes of de-icing thanks to our lovely weather. At least, we’ll be leaving winter behind. The second leg took us from Detroit to Tokyo, a distance of almost 19 800 km (probably the longest single flight we’ve ever taken - maybe surpassed only by Los Angeles to Sydney). We went north over Hudson’s Bay and passed over Russia before heading south to Japan. The flight seemed even longer because the electronics on the plane weren’t working properly and we lacked the constant updates of our progress on the tracking display. We just flew on and on and the sun kept shining. Two saving graces–we had an empty seat between us which made things comfortable and the airline did a good job of feeding us (a nice dinner, sandwich snack and breakfast).
After a three hour wait in Tokyo, we flew on to Manila (a mere 2200 km) where we overnighted at the Oasis Hotel. The taxi driver had some trouble finding the hotel so it was close to midnight (on Thursday night) before we were able to hit the sack. The flight to Palau doesn’t leave until ten o’clock on Friday night so we have a day to wander around and see some of Manila, particularly Rizal Park, the old walled city of Intromoros and the church of St. Augustin (easy to tell it was a Roman Catholic church as it shared many similar features with St. Patrick’s in St. John’s).
The taxi ride to the airport was an exercise in frustration for our driver. Traffic was horrendous and driving habits left a lot to be desired. Signaling lane changes must be against the rules. Drivers rely on accelerator, brake and horn. Check in was a breeze as were immigration and security. There was a second, much more thorough security check at the gate. The flight landed in Palau at 1:50 am, immigration, customs and luggage went quickly, the pick-up from Lehns Hotel was on hand and the hotel was only a short ride. Still in all, it was past 3 am when we finally closed the door of our hotel room. We’ll check in after we get some sleep.
Actually, we’ll check out at the same time as this was just an overnight rest. We’re off to the Carolines Resort, which has beach privileges with the Palau Pacific Resort. We’re in a bungalow up in the hills with a gorgeous view. The downside is that this ‘resort’ doesn’t have any facilities beyond the eight bungalows. The people are terrific but we’re dependent on the resort’s shuttle service to get back and forth to the beach and to the restaurants in town. The shuttle service used to be free but now it carries a small fee.
We spend the next two days at the PPR. The beach is adequate, the resort is beautiful and the prices for lunch are surprisingly reasonable. The snorkeling is generally very good with plenty of colorful fish and outstanding giant clams. We even see a ray, a turtle, an octopus and a sea snake (note the singular). Two things keep the snorkeling from the terrific category. There isn’t as much coral as we’d like to see, particularly the soft corals. The biggest drawback is the visibility factor. The water just isn’t very clear. Maybe the daily rains have something to do with this because there’s a lot of sediment in the water. It certainly isn’t coming from wave action stirring up the sand because this is about the flattest stretch of ocean I’ve ever seen.
On Tuesday morning, we have time for one last snorkel at the PPR before we check out of the Carolines. Just as we’re about to begin the transfer of our luggage to the shuttle, the skies open and it starts to pour. It’s still raining heavily when we check in (again) at Lehns. The rest of the afternoon swung back and forth between downpour and drizzle. At least we don’t have to worry about sunburn today. Incidentally, this is the closest we’ve ever been to the Equator and the sun is really strong (when it shines). I’m finding that even my 30 and 15 SPF lotions aren’t quite up to the challenge. Using an 8 gives me about fifteen minutes before I burn. I think I need to find some new sun screen before we begin taking some of these full day boat trips.

Packing for Palau

2009-02-16T23:07:00.002-05:00

It’s almost here. We leave for Palau on Wednesday. Of course, we don’t get there until Friday (it’s a long trip and we cross the International Date Line). It’s been a long time coming. We first started thinking/dreaming about Palau more than ten years ago when we learned about Jellyfish Lake. Just think–snorkel with jellyfish and don’t worry about stings. In 2002, we found our first magazine article with information and pictures and, in 2005, “Survivor” was sited in Palau’s Rock Islands. One of the rewards given to the winners of a challenge was a visit to Jellyfish Lake.
The big problem with Palau has always been its location. It’s out by itself in the North Pacific. You can’t just swing by on your way to somewhere else. You fly into Palau and then you fly back to where you started. For years, that looked like Hawaii to Guam to Palau. This trip we’re going Tokyo to Manila to Palau so we’ll stay over in the Philippines for a couple of weeks afterwards and check out a few more snorkeling spots.
But first we must get through the packing. I just love those magazine articles (and the Tilley catalogue) which suggest you can get all you need for an around-the-world trip into one little carry-on. Most times, we seem to travel with ‘the kitchen sink’. This year, I’m determined to travel light. Northwest and Continental both have generous baggage allowances but PAL has a 15 kg limit on their fights. So, I select my clothing carefully with an emphasis on mix-and-match and washability and I’m pleasantly surprised. I have a neat little pile laid out (emphasis on little). Maybe it will fit into one carry-on piece.
But, wait. I need to add my toiletries. And my shoes (how many pairs?). And my snorkel gear. Guess I will need a big bag. Have I forgotten anything? Oh, yeah, suntan lotions or I’ll be a lobster. Adaptors and such to accommodate the electrical system and plugs in Asia. My vitamins and pills (it was a lot simpler when I was younger). Some basic foodstuff just in case I don’t like the local cuisines. Tea bags, of course. And what would tea be without Carnation milk. A couple of books to read and some crossword puzzles to while away down time. Now, we’re into one checked bag and one carry-on. Two carry-ons, actually because I need to take my laptop if I’m going to keep blogging and posting pictures. Doreen’s having similar problems. Guess we’ll have to put excess baggage fees into our budget.
I bought a travel vest from Magellan’s last year and it’s many pockets will come in handy for all the left-over things–iPod, camera, Gorillapod, peppermint knobs, etc. Yes, sirree, I’m really traveling light this year.

Reflecting on the past eight months

2009-01-13T23:23:00.001-05:00

Here we are in 2009, preparing for a return trip to the Philippines to see if we can find any more ‘Nemos’. That’s after we swim with the jellyfish in Palau. It seems like a long time since we were snorkeling at the Dauin Reserve and yet it seems like we’ve been constantly on the go. I think putting 20 000 kilometers on the car since mid-May has a lot to do with that.
We drove to Atlanta at the end of May to get a refill on time with the grandkids. A weekend of baby-sitting gives Travis and Wanda a chance to get away with friends for a short break. We have enough energy to get through the week-end (just barely) and it’s a great way to get to know the children. They’ve been a delight since the beginning and it just keeps getting better as they grow and change.
From Atlanta, we motored over to Virginia Beach. Doreen’s sister had finally decided to apply for her US citizenship. The naturalization ceremony was held in Colonial Williamsburg on a gorgeous late spring morning. What a wonderful setting! There was quite a diverse group, representing a multitude of countries. The US is indeed a ‘melting pot’.
We were back in Atlanta at the end of July for a birthday party. With actual birthdays at the end of June and August, the grandkids’ parties get caught up in the July 4th and Labor Day weekends when many of their friends are out of town. So, this year, Wanda decided to split the difference and have one joint party at the end of July. Everybody seemed to have a good time. The kids really enjoyed the idea as it expanded their gift-receiving opportunities. (Of course, there were still family birthday parties for each on the specific day.) What kid wouldn’t go for a second birthday party. We were really impressed with the strides both kids had made with their swimming lessons. They love going to the pool and they’re becoming little fish. Doreen can’t wait to take them snorkeling somewhere.
There aren’t any significant beaches in either Burlington or Atlanta so we took another trip to Virginia Beach instead of coming home. The beaches along the Chesapeake and the Oceanfront don’t rival the beaches of the Caribbean or the South Pacific but the combination of sun, sand and warmth does wonders for one’s psyche.
We were back in Virginia Beach in September for Curtis’ wedding. It was a chance to re-connect with some of Doreen’s family who came for the wedding and to get to know Adrienne. She and Curtis are an interesting couple and seem to bring out the best in each other. We’ve had fun tracking their blogs.
Halloween provided another excuse to visit Atlanta. The kids are currently into ‘Star Wars’ so Doreen made costumes–Princess Laia and Luke Skywalker. She also made a ‘Darth Vader’ costume for herself so she could accompany the kids on their foray through the neighbourhood. The costumes were completed with working ‘light sabers’. To be precise, the light sabers were working until one too many enthusiastic confrontation between the Jedi knights and the ‘Dark Forces’. It’s interesting to note that the kids have no trouble mixing new characters with the old set that Travis had retained in storage (in his Darth Vader case) since he and Stacy engaged in similar play when they were kids.
We did a final swing through Virginia Beach and Atlanta in December so we could have early Christmas celebrations with Bonnie and Dave and Travis and family. Bonnie was off to South Carolina to spend Christmas with her grand-daughter while Travis and family did their annual pilgrimage to St. John’s. We got back to Burlington just in time to join Stacy for a Christmas Eve get-together with Jim’s family and a Christmas dinner at John’s place in Newmarket.
And now 2008 has ended and a new year’s just begun. A couple of months of snow and cold weather to endure but we’ll shorten winter by taking our break to Palau and the Phillipines.

The Saga of the Photo Bank

2008-06-27T23:20:00.002-04:00

A few years ago, before our trip to the South Pacific, I bought myself a SmartDisk digital photo bank. It’s basically a 30 gig hard drive with slots for reading various digital cards. It offers a way to backup our pictures during travel and free up the cameras’ cards for additional picture taking. In a package about the size of two decks of playing cards, it is a lot easier to tote around than a laptop. (Of course, it doesn’t do anything other than store photos so it didn’t replace my laptop on this trip.)
I got into a routine of dumping pictures into the Photo Bank as we finished up each country, cleaning up the camera cards for our next outing. That seemed to work well for the first few weeks. However, we took a lot of pictures at the temples in Cambodia and, even though we were only there three days, our cards were nearly full. So, as soon as we settled in at the New Seven Story Hotel in Singapore, I decided it was time for another dump. Only one problem. I can’t find my Photo Bank.
The last time I remember using it was the night in Bangkok when I had copied all our Thailand pictures. I hadn’t used it in Cambodia and couldn’t remember seeing it so I can’t be sure if I left it at the Angkor Holiday Hotel in Siem Reap or at the Sananwan Palace Guesthouse in Bangkok. I sent e-mails to both hotels explaining the problem and asking if the Photo Bank had turned up when the room was cleaned.
The problem is that we’re now into the nomad part of our trip. We leave the next morning for Tioman Island in Malaysia and I don’t know when I’ll get a chance to check my e-mail again. As it turns out, wi-fi is available at the Paya Beach Resort and at a very reasonable rate. No e-mail replies that first night but we’re here for two more days so I’ll hope for the best. Unfortunately, for the rest of our time on Tioman, I’m unable to get on-line as their system is “down”. Now the rate doesn’t seem so reasonable and there’s no offer of reimbursement.
I don’t get back on line again until we’ve checked into the Golden Landmark Hotel in Singapore. No reply from either hotel. So, I fire off another e-mail (a little snarkier this time) asking for a reply even if they found nothing. This time I get a reply from the Angkor Holiday Hotel that they’ve found the Photo Bank in the room safe. They suggest I contact our temple guide, John Teng, to help with its return and John agrees to handle the matter. (In the meantime, I get a response from Bangkok that they found nothing in the room.)
John and I exchange e-mails trying to decide how to arrange the return of my Photo Bank. We’ll be leaving Singapore before he can ship it here and I have no idea how accessible Dumaguete is. We finally decide that the best thing for John to do is hang on to the Photo Bank until our trip ends and we’re on our way home. The only shipping company available in Cambodia is DHL and they’ve told John that it will take three days and cost $89 US. (I’ve already checked out replacements at Sim Lin in Singapore and I could get a similar item for $100 US.) John’s going to pay the costs out of his own pocket and trust us to reimburse him.
John sends me a tracking number so I can follow the progress of the package. It’s picked up in Cambodia on Tuesday morning (adjusting for the date line) but doesn’t leave Cambodia until 2 pm the following day. How can they deliver in three days? It leaves Hong Kong on Thursday night, goes through Wilmington, OH and arrives in Toronto at 8 am on Friday morning. It leaves Toronto at 1 pm on Friday afternoon and, since we’re about an hour outside the city, I’m sitting by my doorstep that afternoon. No such luck.
The package seems to have vanished into thin air. There’s no further record of it on the DHL web site and no answer at any of the phone numbers for DHL. On Monday morning, I check back with the DHL web site and find that the package arrived in Hamilton at 5:30 am Monday morning. Where do you suppose it spent the weekend? The web site also shows that the package left Hamilton at 8 am that morning. Hamilton’s just next door so I should have my Photo Bank by lunchtime. Right!
By that afternoon, I’d had it. An angry telephone call to DHL elicited the response that they don’t work on the weekends and 3 days means “3 working days”. Silly me, I thought three days from Tuesday morning would be Friday morning. I am assured that the package is on the truck. Shortly after I hang up the phone, the doorbell chimes and here’s the smiling DHL delivery person. It’s only taken 8 hours to get a package from Hamilton to Burlington (you could walk to the DHL warehouse from my place in about 90 minutes). It took longer to get the package from Toronto to Burlington than it took to get it from Cambodia to Canada.
Oh, well. At least I’ve got it. When I open the package it is obvious that someone has been checking out its contents. My first thought is “pictures from the area of Thailand - they’re checking for child pornography". Hope they weren’t too disappointed.
Now I just have to get John’s money to him. This is complicated by the fact we have only an e-mail address and web site for him. His family lives in Pnohm Penh and he just rents a room in Siem Reap for sleeping. He doesn’t have a mailing address so we arrange to send him the money through Western Union. I want to send him some extra as a thank-you but John insists on only the actual expenses. Of course, with the exchange rate and the Western Union fee it still costs me over a hundred dollars but the pictures are priceless. It’s a small price to pay for a senior moment.
Two weeks later the saga continues. I pick up the mail and there’s a bill from DHL for $30 for custom duties and processing of the package. I phone to complain about the idea of paying duty on an item I bought in Canada two years ago but I’m told that it’s now a Canada Customs and Excise problem and I should talk to them. DHL gives me a phone number to call but all I can get is a recorded message about their backlog and a suggestion that I visit their web site. When I check out the web site, I find that I can send Canada Customs an e-mail but I am not allowed to include any personal information or the e-mail will be automatically rejected. So, I can send them an e-mail about my problem as long as I don’t tell them who I am or specifically what my problem is. I don’t think that will work.
I check out the locations of the various Customs offices in the Burlington area but the only phone number available for any of them is the 800 number which I’ve already tried. I finally decide to drive out to the Hamilton airport to see if I can speak to a real, live Customs agent. I bring with me the documentation to show that I had bought the Photo Bank at Henry’s in Toronto. The lady listens to my story, takes my documentation and goes off to check with her superiors. Fifteen minutes later, she’s back to tell me the problem is the way DHL keyed in the information and I need to get them to fix the problem. She agrees I don’t owe any custom duties but suggests I’ll still have to pay the processing fee to DHL. Like hell!
Now it’s off to the DHL office in Burlington. I insist on speaking to the manager and I go through the routine again and show him the paperwork. He isn’t sure what to do and indicates he’ll forward the information to their head office. He still thinks it’s a Customs and Excise problem. I tell him I don’t care whose problem it is as long as it gets straightened up. I also tell him I have no intention of paying a processing fee for their mistake. I leave it at that.
A month later and I haven’t heard from DHL. Doreen still thinks we’ll be hauled into small claims court. Just think how much hassle I could have saved myself if I’d checked the room safe one last time before we left our hotel room.

The trip to Burlington or Out of Asia

2008-04-24T23:50:00.001-04:00

We got another early start on our last day in Asia with a 6 am wake-up call. The complimentary buffet breakfast provided by Mabuhay Manor hit the spot. (And it was set up in an enclosed room so no worry about more bug bites.) The cab ride to the airport was interesting as Manila seems to come alive early (much earlier than we’d seen in Tokyo). At 6:30 am, the streets were teeming with people going to work. There’s a strange sense of third-world here with tension high as life is tough. Even the cab driver seemed nervous and locked his doors when we stopped at lights.
The line-up for check-in was long and it took us almost 45 minutes to reach the counter. I can’t remember ever going through so many security checks on the way to our departure gate. The JAL flight to Tokyo was uneventful except for the realization that the space provided for each passenger (especially leg room) is not based on a North American model. Even as transit passengers, we had to go through security again at Narita before proceeding to the American Airlines departure counter. Fortunately, our bags have been checked through to LA.
Landed in LA early in the morning, made our way to the Travelodge LAX and tried to stay awake until a reasonable hour that night. With all the time zones we’ve crossed, we’ve been on the go for almost twenty hours but we built in the overnight in LA to help us adjust to this time change and we need to stay awake for a while longer. We had thought (in the planning phase) that we might take the complimentary shuttle to Manhattan Beach to kill some time but it was surprisingly cool in LA and we didn’t bother. I hadn’t thought I’d need my jacket until we landed in Toronto on Saturday night.
Security at the LA airport the next morning was a bit of a problem. Because it was cool in LA and we were expecting it to be even cooler in Toronto, I had dressed in long pants and jacket. I hadn’t worn the long pants since Cambodia and didn’t think to check the pockets. All my carry-on gear went through the scanner without a problem but, when I stepped through the portal, the alarms sounded. Oops, I’d forgotten I was wearing a belt this time. Second time through the portal and again the alarms sounded. Double oops. I’d switched out batteries in my camera while we were visiting the temple ruins at Angkor and the old batteries were in a side pocket of my pants. (I’d wondered where those extra batteries were.) Third time was a charm.
The West Jet flight to Toronto went smoothly and we were on the ground by 8:45 pm. It was surprisingly warm in Toronto (much warmer than LA). There was very little Saturday night traffic during the limo ride to Burlington and we were home by 10 pm. The first order of business is to visit the grocery store so there’ll be some food to eat when we wake up in the morning.
And now we’re home again after two long travel days. Coming east is always harder as we adjust to the time change. And then there’s the mild depression that sets in at the end of any adventure. Lots to catch up on but no energy or enthusiasm for the tasks. It’ll take us a few days to settle in but, inevitably, life’s routines will take over and we’ll fall back into familiar patterns. At least until the next trip. But that probably won’t be until June when we head to Atlanta to spend some time with our grandchildren. In the meantime, we’ll relish the memories of this amazing trip.

The clownfish save the day

2008-04-20T16:12:00.000-04:00

Are we headed to Dumaguete or Doom-agetti? It certainly appeared to be the latter as we sat in our room on Sunday night and contemplated the disaster which seemed to have overtaken us. It had started badly early that morning–very early. Jet Star Asia had moved our departure time to 6:30 am which meant being at the airport by 4:30 am which meant being up by 4 am to check out of the hotel and get a cab to the airport. It didn’t help that Doreen woke during the night, misread her watch and, in a panic, woke me at 2 am. Not a quality night’s sleep.
We knew from their website that Jet Star Asia had limitations on their carry-on baggage but we didn’t know how serious they were about enforcing those limits. As we waited in the check-in line, several people were turned away and began re-arranging their baggage. Now we were worried. Doreen’s carry-on weighed in at just over 10 kg and mine at 8.2 (the limit was 7 kg). But, when we reached the counter, there were no problems. They took our check-in luggage and didn’t even ask about our carry-ons. Great. Until we went to the security check. They had a scale there and were enforcing the 7 kg limit. We were told the bags would have to be checked. With our checked luggage already gone, we couldn’t even re-arrange things. We finally did move some things around and were able to clear my carry-on and my computer bag. Doreen had to check hers. With no lock on the bag, she was not a happy camper.
The flight to Manila was fine, even if no frills. We weren’t too impressed with the Manila terminal but we managed to find the Cebu Pacific shuttle bus which would take us to the domestic departure area for our next flight. Eventually. We had to wait until there was a full load. Either that or the driver wanted to allow enough shopping time for the young lady who batted her eyes and convinced him to stop at the shopping center to retrieve her along the way.
When we arrived at the domestic terminal, it was complete chaos. We were shuffled from counter to counter until finally being allowed to check-in. Hard to tell if the domestic and international terminals share the same air field. It was a longer bus ride than I’d expected and we seemed to go through part of the city. Because our first flight had been moved to an earlier time and our second flight was late, it was a long, boring wait in a crowded, noisy, hot room with uncomfortable seating. The flight to Dumaguete was fine though the landing was a little scary. It seems the runway is so short that the pilot practically has to put his wheels in the ocean to ensure hitting the runway just past the threshold and allowing enough room for roll-out. Somewhat similar to the short runway in St. Bart’s.
The pick-up from El Dorado was waiting, our bags were there and it looked like we were close to arrival. Wrong. The driver informed us that he’d been instructed to wait in town for some resort guests who’d gone on an excursion to another island. They’d been delayed and wouldn’t get back until 6 pm. The resort is only 20 minutes from town so waiting two hours didn’t make much sense but, to the driver, the boss was the boss. By now, the heavens had opened up and it was pouring. The boss changed his orders and we proceeded to the resort. We weren’t too impressed with what we saw through the rain. The sight of walls with glass-imbedded and spiked tops was reminiscent of San Andres and very depressing. Not much incentive to explore.
The room itself was fine–very similar to Octopus Resort in Fiji but without the feeling of hospitality. The Filipino staff are nice enough but nothing stands out–or maybe we’re so tired and hungry that nothing would impress. We’ve been on the go fourteen hours, have had only two snacks in that time, it’s pouring and, again, English is the third language here. We considered whether or not we should cut our losses and head back to Manila in the morning.
The next morning was raining and we waffled on a final decision. The tipping point was that we had no plans for Manila and hadn’t done any preparatory research. So we decided to stay with El Doarado and resign ourselves to a few miserable days before we began the journey home. Maybe Angkor was so fascinating that everything else was going to be anti-climatic. But the sun came out in the afternoon and things began to take on a different outlook.
And then we went snorkeling. The next morning we managed to hook up with a dive group headed to Apo Island, under the expert guidance of Lito who was described on the dive board as “the master of disaster” (I think in reference to a motorcycle accident he’s had last week). The dive group was German so there wasn’t much conversation but the crew were friendly and the trip aboard the catamaran was pleasant and relatively quick. The first spot we stopped was ‘the Chapel’. Off the boat, the water was quite deep but, as we swam toward the shore, things improved noticeably. We drifted down the coastline and the coral was terrific. The fish weren’t anything out of the ordinary, except for a couple of Clark’s anenomefish. We made it back to the boat just before the divers reappeared.
The crew provided fruit and tea/coffee–a nice touch. Before leaving the area, we stopped for an hour so that people could browse the wares the village women had lined up to display. Doreen couldn’t resist a green tee shirt. Then it was off to our second stop–Kan Uran. This was even better. The coral was about as good as I’ve ever seen and the fish were better than earlier. One area in particular drew Doreen’s attention–an area called ‘Clownfish City’. We saw groups of a dozen or more anenomefish and lots of smaller groups–more anenomefish than I’ve ever seen outside an aquarium. Doreen was really frustraated that her camera had died in Singapore. Now, if only they were going back to Apo tomorrow.
Lito suggested we walk down the beach to the Dauin Reserve–about a 20 minute beach walk--where we could snorkel right off the beach. He said the coral was very good. That afternoon we followed his advice and were rewarded with some great snorkeling. The beach isn’t a great beach and the walk wasn’t a great walk but the reserve was a delight. We’d hardly put our faces in the water when we saw two regal angelfish. There were fish everywhere and some very large ones. The coral was terrific. This is what we’d hoped the Similans and Tioman would be like.
We went back the next morning and our second go-round was just as good as the first. Doreen rented a digital camera from the dive shop but the battery wasn’t fully charged and died on her after about eight pictures. They refunded her money when we went back but that didn’t help her get the pictures she wanted. I did get some good shots of the clown anenomefish and some shots of Doreen using her fingers to imitate the anenomes in hopes of luring the fish closer. That didn’t work as well as she hoped but she had fun trying. Then it was back to the resort, rinse off the salt water, finish packing and ride the shuttle to the airport. Things looked better in the sunlight than they’d looked in the rain on our arrival but the area still was depressing and uninviting.
We had a short flight after another long wait in a hot, un-air-conditioned room. Collecting our baggage at Manila’s domestic terminal was a bit chaotic (Manila seems to thrive on chaos). We caught a cab to the hotel and checked in for our last night in Asia. The only place to eat was at the hotel’s pool-side restaurant which turned out to be noisy, splashy and buggy. Besides which, the food wasn’t very good. We had ordered talapia and ended up with the whole fish, head and all. I didn’t know talapia was such a bony fish–the Costco filets are always so nice.
Hopefully, the bed’s comfortable. I need a good night’s sleep as we’ve got a long travel day ahead of us tomorrow. The last five nights at El Dorado haven’t been the most comfortable. The bed was just barely long enough if you lie flat on your back with your head and shoulders on the pillow but, with raised headboard and footboard, there was no room for stretching. I had to sleep on an angle and it resulted in disturbed, uneven rest. (Good thing I’m not as tall as Travis–he’d never fit in this bed.)

Singapore, we hardly knew ya

2008-04-16T10:01:00.001-04:00

And that goes double for Malaysia. We had an uneventful flight to Singapore and a quick taxi ride to the New Seven Story Hotel. (Their literature tells us the hotel opened in 1953 and has been in the same place ever since.) But the room was nice and the people were great. They’re going to store our extra bags while we’re on Tioman Island so we spent some time re-sorting our luggage. We’re flying Berjaya Air and, according to their website, they have very strict weight limitations for luggage (checked luggage can’t be more than 10 kg) and we never travel light.
Check-in the next day was a unique experience. Berjaya flies out of the old airport (out in the boonies) which is next to a military airfield–sort of like Torbay years ago. We go to the desk and present our passports and tickets. We are then directed to go sit in the green room until we are called. There are already a half dozen people waiting there and we eventually get called. All our luggage (check-in and carry-on) gets scanned and then we are finally able to approach the check-in desk. We receive our boarding passes and proceed to Malaysian immigration and further security screening. We then were directed to the departure lounge, which was an old Quonset hut.
The flight was more than an hour late, it was pouring and thunder was rumbling. I went looking for someone to find out what was going on but there was no one around. Turned out, the people who checked us in were now out on the apron acting as ground crew for the plane which had finally arrived. Then they unloaded and loaded luggage. Talk about multi-tasking. The plane was an old prop plane. It reminded me of going to university in Prince Edward Island in the late 50's and flying with Maritime Central Airways. Watching the outside air seep into the plane through the seams and immediately turn to fog was kind of surreal.
But it got up and down without any problems and we were on Tioman Island in Malaysia. The Paya Beach Resort people were waiting with their boat and, after a short ride, we were settled in our room. One of the couples that arrived with us (there were two) also speak English so we’re already ahead of the game. Richard and Robin are from Adelaide, Australia. He’s a dentist who (along with a Chinese colleague) also sponsors a free clinic in East Timor. The beach is nice but not too long–short walks only. The food is different but we’re only here for a few days and we’ll manage.
We did a snorkel trip the next day. The first stop at Renggis Island was very good with some excellent coral. The only drawback was a strong current which kept us from circling the small island. Our second stop was to be the Marine Reserve and we were really looking forward to this. What a disappointment. I don’t think I’ve ever snorkeled a poorer reserve. There was very little coral and mostly large, grey, aggressive fish–the kind that flock to sites where people feed the fish. The main attraction seemed to be a series of three large platforms from which people could jump into the water. We swam off looking for something other than sand but the visibility was very poor and there was little worth seeing. We did see some small sting rays so it wasn’t a total waste. We did another snorkel in the afternoon at the north end of the resort beach around the point which becomes an island at high tide. This was so much better than the marine reserve.
When we went for breakfast the next morning, the tide was really out. It’s no wonder this area is not noted as a good swimming beach–too many rocks, too low water. Doreen had decided that she wanted to see some of the Malaysian countryside so we’re not flying back to Singapore. Instead, we’re taking a fast ferry to Tanjung Gemok on the Malaysian mainland and then a bus to the city state. Just before the ferry arrived, it started to pour. Didn’t matter as the ferry is an enclosed boat with no outside seating. We sat up front and froze as the A/C was cranked. We did get to watch the latest Rambo movie. You couldn’t hear the dialogue over the noise of the ferry but you could hear the explosions. I’m not sure if they settled on Chinese, Malay or Tagalog for the captions but it really didn’t matter as all are equally indecipherable.
The bus from Discovery Tours was waiting, complete with driver and tour guide. The tour guide’s only commentary related to where the clean restrooms were at the two stops we made and instructions for getting through Malaysian and Singaporean customs. It rained sporadically so, even sitting up front, we didn’t see much. The on-line information had said this was a three-hour trip but they obviously weren’t counting the border-crossing time. We arrived in Johor at the height of traffic and it took a couple of hours to get out of Malaysia and into Singapore.
The bus driver was nice enough to drop us at the Golden Landmark Hotel so that solved one problem. It’s a nice hotel, probably the best we’ve stayed at since Tokyo. We had a room on the 15th floor with a great view of the surrounding area. We could see the New Seven Story Hotel from our window so we decided to walk there to collect our left luggage. We presented our tags and they opened the room where we’d left our bags. No bags!! Wait, they have a second room upstairs. Maybe the bags have been moved there. Some feelings of dread until the bags are found. It’s so close we decided to forego a cab and walked back with the bags in tow.
We just couldn’t work up any enthusiasm for Singapore. Maybe it was because we weren’t supposed to be here. We had originally planned a week in Palau where we wanted to snorkel in Jellyfish Lake. This has been on our list ever since we first read about it years ago. But Asian Spirit dropped its flight from Manila to Palau after we’d put our original package together and we were left with a lot of free time in this area before our flight home. We split the time between Singapore, Tioman and Dumaguete. Or maybe it’s because Singapore seems to be a more Westernized city than Tokyo or Seoul. There certainly are more Western-style fast food outlets and we’ve seen more over-weight people here than we have anywhere else on this trip.
We did get to do some shopping and ride the underground train. I checked with the Canon regional headquarters about the concerns I was having with my camera and underwater housing but, since we weren’t staying around for 7-10 days, they could offer little help. We browsed the Sim Lim shopping complex–six floors of electronics with cheap prices but with a catch–a no-return policy. In the afternoon, we went to another electronics outlet, the Funan–more upscale, more expensive. So we went back to Sim Lim and I bought an attachment to cut down sun glare when I use my housing. Doreen bought a new battery for her camera as she’s been having problems with battery life.
I don’t know if it was coincidence or if we somehow angered the gods, but Doreen’s new battery didn’t work out for her. It wouldn’t charge properly and, when she tried it in her camera, the camera died on her. Worse, her two old batteries couldn’t revive the camera. We went back to Sim Lim the next day and got a refresher in Singaporean business. Yes, her old batteries were dead. Yes, her camera was dead. No, they wouldn’t take back the new (now useless battery). But, they would give her a trade-in if she bought a new camera. We’ll wait until we’re back in North America.
Saturday was my birthday and we decided to celebrate with high tea at Raffles. It was great. I was surprised at the quantity and variety of food available. It definitely wasn’t just scones and tea–more like an early dinner. We had some pictures taken. That night we headed to the wine bar at Parkview Square. This is the most opulent office building I’ve ever seen. It was built about eight years ago by a Hong Kong businessman who spared no expense. The courtyard features fountains and statues of artists (Chopin, etc.), politicians (Sun Yat Sen, Lincoln, Churchill, etc.) and similar famous figures from history. The lobby where the wine bar is situated must have cost at least a million dollars alone. What a setting. Of course, the prices reflected the setting. We had two glasses of Grigio Chianti Classic and it cost us just under $60 (the bottle probably cost $15 at the LCBO). But it was an experience. And, hey, a guy only turns 67 once. A nice way to end our stay in Singapore.

The temples are awesome

2008-04-12T09:57:00.000-04:00

If the temple ruins at Angkor aren’t on your ‘bucket list’, you’ll be missing one of the world’s greatest destinations. It didn’t have quite the same metaphysical tone as Uluru, but the size, variety and intricacy of the Cambodian sites are mind boggling. How people centuries ago could have conceived, much less constructed, such wonders is difficult to fathom. Having seen the results in Cambodia, we now want to see the sites in Egypt, in Mexico and central America as well as Machu Picchu in Peru, Stonehenge in England and others to be named later. Oh, to be young and rich.
After a rather uneventful overnight in Bangkok at the Sananwan Palace, we left early so we could have plenty of time to wait at the Bangkok Airport. The Sananwan is no palace but they did a good job with airport pick-up and delivery. It’s an older place, all angles and with a family residence feel. There was a/c in the bedroom only and the shower was part of the w/c–no separate stall, water everywhere. The flight to Siem Reap was delayed an hour or so but we finally got off the ground. Though the flight lasted only an hour, we were served a lovely boxed breakfast. Talk about an efficient crew.
Efficient isn’t the word that comes to mind for our passage through Cambodian customs. First off the plane, we were the last to make it to the baggage carousel. Some confusion as to what forms needed to be filled in when and where. Guess we should have opted for the e-visas. In any event, we’re finally here and the guide we’ve hired, John Teng, is waiting with a driver to take us to the hotel. He’s already had to set the Angkor Holiday Hotel straight as they had us arriving tomorrow.
It’s hard to say enough good things about John. He came highly recommended and fully lived up to his billing. Hiring him may be the best decision we’ve made this trip. He’s very good with English, very knowledgeable about the ruins and the area and very passionate about the future of his country. He made our time in Siem Reap a wonderful experience.
We drove first to the South Gate of Angkor Thom–the road lined on one side with gods and on the other side with demons. What an opening. We continued on to explore the three levels of the Bayon, with its 54 towers and 216 faces of Buddha. It is a magnificent temple and the detail in the carvings is awesome. Simply amazing workmanship. The same amazing detail was visible at the ‘Terrace of the Elephants’ and the ‘Terrace of the Leper King’. You could spend a week on just this one area. We exited through the Victory Gate.
Our next stop was the temple at Ta Prohm, where the most outstanding features are the tree roots which are somewhat holding the temple together. We entered through the west gate and walked through to the east gate. Restoration is clearly an ongoing process and there are jumbles of large rocks everywhere. It was interesting to hear John explain just what an international effort is involved with the French doing this, the Japanese doing that, the Koreans, the Germans, and on and on. Of course, it is such a colossal job that it requires that kind of commitment from the world at large.
We started the next day at 5:30 so we could watch the sun rise at Angkor Wat. (Us and hundreds/thousands of others). We stayed at Angkor Wat until about 6:45 am and then drove out to Banteay Srei. This is a very small but beautiful temple built in the late 900's. John’s timing was perfect–as we were leaving the site, the crowds started to arrive. On the way back, we stopped to visit the Land Mine Museum, a tribute to the tragedy that befell Cambodia during and after the Vietnam War. Canada’s flag is proudly displayed in recognition of its role in developing the museum and in promoting the international effort to ban land mines. After our mid-day break, John took us back to Angkor Wat so we could explore it in the afternoon light. This temple is magnificent. John kept us moving and we spent an enthralling two hours wandering from one fantastic sight to another, equally beautiful and compelling.
We managed to do the dinner and show at the Koulon II just down the street from our hotel. The show was interesting and the dancer’s costumes (especially the women’s) brought to life some of the carvings of apsaras we’d seen on the temple walls. But, two consecutive 5 am mornings take their toll, at any age, and we crashed early.
On Sunday morning, we didn’t start until 8:30 so we had a relaxing breakfast. (Saturday, the hotel had provided us with a boxed breakfast and we ate in the car as we drove out to Bantrey Srei.) John took us to the local market–the real, local market–not the ‘Old Market’ promoted in the tourist literature. What an experience. It was like a large food market combined with a large WalMart. Very different from our market experiences in Tokyo and Seoul but just as vibrant and chaotic. Very similar to our experience in Port Vila, Vanuatu but much larger in scope. Everybody in Siem Reap seemed to be here shopping and there were motor bikes and bicycles parked everywhere outside.
After the market, we visited the Roulous group of temples. These were the first temples built in the area (they date from the 800's) but were later abandoned for the Angkor area. Preah was the first clay block temple and Bakong, the first sandstone temple. Our last stop for the morning was Lolei, a very small temple in very poor condition but with an active Buddhist monastery. That afternoon, we started at the North Gate of Preah Khan. It looked like a small temple but the more gates we went through the larger it seemed to grow. Lots of doors and windows. Even an afternoon rain shower couldn’t diminish our enthusiasm.
Our last stop was at Phnom Bakheng, the site of the first temple in Angkor. It is on a hill but the trek isn’t too difficult. The ancient Khmer had cut the top off the mountain so that the base for the temple was bedrock. The climb up the temple steps from level to level was harder than the hike up the hill, with narrow risers on a steep slope. Coming down was just as, if not more, dangerous. But the view from the top was worth it–just to see the towers of Angkor Wat rising from the jungle and to realize that you couldn’t even see the vast complex at Angkor Thom. There were lots of people gathering along the western edges of the temple to wait for the sunset but, since the temples lie to the east, we didn’t join them and headed down the hill, drove back to the hotel and said our farewells to John and Giwa, our driver. They’ve both done an excellent job and made this a remarkable experience.
We checked out the ‘Old Market’ in the morning as we killed time before heading to the airport. Not a patch on John’s market. Got to experience the perils of being a pedestrian in a city where pedestrian traffic is low man on the totem pole. They don’t seem to have any parking along the streets so cars, scooter, tuk tuks, etc. all park on the sidewalk and you have to navigate around them. We took a tuk tuk back to the hotel. The flight to Singapore is taking us through Danang but we won’t get to set foot on Vietnam soil as we are restricted to the plane during the layover. At least in Hong Kong, we got to walk around the airport before re-boarding (but, I guess it would be incorrect to say we touched the ground in Hong Kong).

Elephants, elephasnts, elephants

2008-04-07T02:04:00.000-04:00

Her name wasn’t Babar, but rather Bumbam. We went with Sairung Elephant Trekking through Khao Lak Land Discovery and found that the group consisted of just us, Bumbam and her mahout, Dam. It was a wonderful experience though Bumbam did not seem fully committed to the adventure. At 35 years old, she should be in the prime of her life but I don’t think she took more than nine steps in a row before stopping to browse. At one point, she stopped to relieve herself–I think it was raining at the time (and I certainly hope so as we did get sprinkled and I don’t fancy the alternative.) It was fun feeding her bananas after her exercise.
This was our second day after the Similan excursion. We had spent the first day relaxing around the pool at the Briza and walking the beach–nicer than the beach at the Suwan Palm. The Briza is a four-star resort (well above our usual choice) but they were offering a very good Internet deal as part of their soft opening. They had originally opened about two months before the tsunami hit this area and they’ve been in repair mode ever since. They opened too late to take advantage of the high season this year so they’re trying to catch up to the competition. We enjoyed the luxury though we avoided the dining room except for the breakfasts which were included in the room deal and one dinner on the day we checked in after the cruise. There are a lot of good restaurants around that offer more reasonable prices.
After the elephant trek, our guide from Land Discovery, Pa Chuck, took us to see Rainbow Falls. Some local kids were having a great time sliding down the rocks into the pool at the bottom of the falls. We then had an early Thai lunch at the restaurant at the bottom of the trail. While eating, we were surprised by Adrian and Sandra, the British couple from the cruise. They, too, had been elephant trekking and visiting the waterfall. We talked for a while and arranged to meet that night for dinner at Jo’s Seafood. We had a great meal and talked about our travels and our kids. They love to travel as much as we do and, from England, they’ve been able to do quite a bit. (Is my envy showing?)
We spent our last full day sunning by the pool and following the elephants from the tourist attraction across the road from the hotel. It seems they work the elephants in the morning and then take them down to the beach area via a back route where they leave them overnight (suitably hobbled, of course, or the elephants would probably wander off and scare the tourists on the beach). Rain shortened the afternoon and we decided to take a taxi into Khao Lak proper for a final dinner. Doreen also wanted to do some shopping.
The next morning we went looking for the elephants before breakfast and found them coming up the back road to get ready for another day of work. There’s nothing like an elephant to raise one’s spirits. Then, a final breakfast at the Briza, a little sun and a taxi ride to Phuket Airport. We have an overnight in Bangkok before heading to Cambodia and the temples at Angkor Wat.

It's hard to get out of a black hole

2008-04-02T06:21:00.001-04:00

When I was a kid, growing up in St. John’s, the newspaper ran a comic strip called “Joe Palooka”. From time to time, the strip would feature a character named Joe Blfsspkk ( or something similarly unspellable), who was always followed around by a black cloud. He represented the average joe for whom nothing ever seemed to work the way it was intended. Now, I just have to get out from under my own black cloud.
The live-aboard snorkel trip to the Similans was supposed to be one of the highlights of our trip and it turned out to be an interesting three days. But not quite everything we had hoped. Things were just a little off–you know, where you turn left off the boat and the shark’s to the right or you turn right and the turtle’s to the left. That old saying–a day late and a dollar short.
There were eighteen people on the cruise, at least two more than the boat could comfortably handle. Throw in five crew and quarters were cramped. It was a good group with six English-speakers--one honeymooning couple from California, a married couple from England and an older couple from Canada (yours truly). The remaining twelve passengers (and the guide) were Swedish, though most spoke some English and several were very fluent. There were a couple of families with children (Easter break for Swedish schools), a couple wishing they hadn’t left the children behind and a single male who seemed adrift.
It took almost four hours to reach the first island–we definitely weren’t on a fast boat to China. While the boat was underway, there was space up front for four people to lie out in the sun. The others had two choices. You could lie on your bunk down below in the dormitory (the air conditioning worked only at night when the generator ran) or you could sit around the table up top on hard wooden benches which seemed to be designed to preclude a comfortable position.
The guide was a nice young Swedish lady named Anna who was working to finance a prolonged stay in Thailand. She had no background in marine science and had only been in Thailand since November so her guidance mostly consisted of announcing where we were, that there were fish in the ocean and we might see certain special things (mostly not). There certainly were plenty of large, colorful fish but not as much variety as we had hoped. There were extensive coral beds in some places but very few soft corals. Most of the places we stopped to snorkel seemed to attract the dive boats also. About 80% of the time we were snorkeling in water that was 6+ metres deep so everything was well below us surface floaters (we like 3-4 m).
The weather was beautiful and the food was plentiful and varied. The islands are a wonderland of rocks and trees and, as a national marine park, well maintained. We had a couple of shore breaks so we could sample the beach sand (much better than the mainland beaches). When we anchored in Donald Duck Bay on Island 8 (the islands are numbered, not named), we went ashore and climbed the rocks to Sail Rock for some impressive overviews. On the way down, I made it all the way to the bottom before disaster struck. Where people step onto the trail from the beach, there was an accumulation of sand. As I made my last step, my foot slipped on the sand on the rock and I found myself sitting on my rear nursing some serious bruises and scrapes on my right arm and some nicks and cuts on my fingers.
I’m definitely getting too old for this jumping around from boulder to boulder and scaling cliffs. I don’t have the same agility and sense of balance as I did even five years ago. I could blame it on slippery footwear but I don’t think that’s the case. As Shakespeare said, “The fault lies not in the stars but in ourselves.” The old man’s just going to have to be a little more careful and pick his spots better. The injuries weren’t serious and didn’t cause any great hardships but it’s interesting how it affects the little things. Do you know it’s hard to put on suntan lotion with one hand? Or brush your teeth with your left hand? Talk about out of your comfort zone!!
The next morning I decided to forego the first snorkeling venture and soak my wounds to remove the congealed blood. Who needs to get into the water with an invitation for any sharks in the neighbourhood? I’m sure the other passengers appreciated my gesture. ;-) As it happened, the first spot was followed immediately by a second snorkel before I could get my gear together so I missed that one too. Doreen tells me that was one of the best spots we stopped. Just my luck.
The other thing we’ve been having problems with are our camera batteries. Doreen keeps changing batteries every day and is convinced her batteries aren’t charging properly here in Thailand. After using only one set of batteries in Japan and another set in Korea, I went through four sets in one day while snorkeling. I popped in a new set of batteries after my camera quit during our first snorkel, jumped in the water, snapped off six or seven pictures and got a camera warning to change batteries. Talk about frustrating. To top it off, my new waterproof case has the same problem that the old one did–you can’t see the viewfinder in bright sun while snorkeling. So it becomes an expensive point-and-shoot-and hope you’ve got something. What really galls is that there are several people on the cruise who have similar Canon cases (different camera models) and their cases have accessories on the front and the back to deal with the problem. An updated model since last fall? There’s a Canon regional headquarters in Singapore so I hope to find a solution there.
I have to give Poseidon high marks for the land portion of the venture. They picked us up at the Suwan Palm on time, stored our excess luggage while we cruised and delivered us to the Briza when the cruise was finished. They even offered storage of valuables in their safe while we were asea. If I’d known that in advance, I could have left my laptop behind with them and saved myself some room (and weight).

Lost in a black hole in Thailand

2008-03-27T06:12:00.000-04:00

Monday was a travel day–a full day of travel. We caught a cab to the airport shortly after seven a.m., checked in with Thai Air, grabbed some breakfast and began the first of many waits. The first hop was from Seoul to Hong Kong where we deplaned but didn’t switch planes. After an hour or so, we took off on the second leg, from Hong Kong to Bangkok. We killed time at Bangkok’s airport until our flight to Phuket with Thai Air Asia. We landed at Phuket about ten-thirty (and two time zones) and Mr. Sam was waiting. He managed to stay awake (barely) for the entire ninety-minute drive to Khao Lak. We schlepped our gear to a third-floor room at the Suwan Palm and fell into bed. We’ll check in tomorrow morning.
As long as the day was and as bad as the waiting was, it could have been much worse. We’ve been fairly lucky this trip. West Jet from Toronto to LA was a good trip (especially when you know you’re on a no-frills airline). American from LA to Tokyo was fine except for the delay in getting off the ground. JAL from Tokyo to Seoul was a step up in quality of service and Thai Airways from Seoul to Bangkok was several additional steps up the service ladder. I can understand why they are regularly listed among the best airlines in the world. Not only were there superb meals on both legs of the flight but there was a constant cabin presence with new attendants seeming to appear continually. Besides, when was the last time you were offered brandy after an airplane meal.
Of course, Air Asia is another no-frills airline so our final flight was a step backward. We had to pay extra for excess baggage (they allow only 15 kg for checked luggage). Fortunately, they didn’t weigh our carry-ons or we would have needed another mortgage to continue our trip. We also paid extra for express seating (otherwise no assigned seats) and were the first to board the plane. We grabbed the front seats so we were first off the plane as well. That earned us the privilege of a longer wait for our luggage. But at least we haven’t lost any bags yet.
The resort is nice enough but nothing special. They do serve an excellent breakfast. This area seems to cater to Europeans and there are lots of Swedish families around. The beach wouldn’t make our list of top one hundred. The weather is very hot and the rainy season seems to have started early. We’ve been able to get some sun in the morning. The plan was to stay out of the sun in mid-day and then get a couple of hours in the afternoon. The morning part has worked reasonably well but the only thing we’ve done in the afternoon is watch the rain. Yesterday was a downpour with thunder and lightning thrown in for good measure. We had just headed down to the beach and were caught by surprise. There was no lightning this afternoon (just a steady drizzle and some thunder) so we stripped down to bathing suits and walked the beach in the rain.
It’s funny how expectations and realities sometimes merge and other times clash. In the planning phase for this trip, I had a great number of reservations about our time in Tokyo and Seoul. We don’t usually spend much time in large cities on our travels (more a matter of passing through) and I wasn’t sure how we’d handle it, especially with the language and alphabet/character differences. But, we learned to say ‘hello’ and ‘thank you’ in Japanese and Korean and, with the help of many kind strangers, we had a wonderful time in both cities. Both go on the list of possible repeat visits (of course, that list is so long we’d need to win two lotteries to finance the travel).
On the other hand, Thailand has been one of our focal points since we first conceived an Asian trip. Yet, here we are after three days and I don’t have enough pictures to post even a sampling. There’s been nothing remarkable about this segment thus far, other than a few reminders of the tsunami’s devastation. We haven’t done any snorkeling as the water isn’t very clear and the fish population seems to have been re-settled elsewhere. Of course, our live-aboard to the Similan Islands kicks off tomorrow so you may hear an entirely different tone in my next posting. (We sure hope so–the pictures on the Internet were outstanding.) To end on a bright note, it didn’t rain this afternoon so our beach walk was more pleasant than yesterday’s. We’re hoping for a nice sunset tonight as our balcony looks out westward over the Andaman Sea.

Wandering in the rain

2008-03-23T08:21:00.000-04:00

We’re meeting Melissa at 1:30 to check out the CoEx Mall so we had a quiet, relaxing Saturday morning. I worked on my pictures and the blog and Doreen wrote in her journal. We decided to go down to the area early and have a look around while Melissa was working. There are a number of very intriguing buildings in Seoul. I’m impressed with the architect’s imagination and the flexibility of the building codes. Like Tokyo, this is not a city of rectangular blocks. It makes for interesting walks.
When we got off the subway, we headed for the Bongeunsa Temple complex. The driveway area was under re-construction but it was a beautiful area. We wandered around and took some pictures and then lit candles and joss sticks in memory of family. This is a training center for monks and they offer monastery stays for tourists. That might be a great experience.
After a quick muffin at ‘The Coffee Bean’, we headed back to the subway exit to meet Melissa. On the way, we spent some time watching mall employees in formal costumes directing mall traffic–not something you ever encounter at Burlington Mall or Avalon Mall. The mall was crowded because of an exhibition (and Saturday shopping and kids hanging out) but we made our way to the aquarium. As a mall aquarium, it was beyond belief. It was a world-class affair. The first thing we saw when we walked through the door was an mini-display of sea horses and lion fish. And the quality of the exhibits continued on a high plane. They had several sections for kids, including one where the fish tanks were built into everyday objects like refrigerators, coffee tables, headboards, and the like. There was even a Windows aquarium screen saver surrounded by a real aquarium. What a great way to spend an afternoon.
Afterwards, we browsed the mall and stopped for some food. Then we sat and talked for quite a while. Melissa has grown into a lovely young lady and we really enjoyed the opportunity to spend some time with her outside the family get-together scene. We considered going to the N’Seoul Tower after it got dark but we talked her into leaving early so she could have Saturday night with her friends.
And then it rained on our Easter parade. We kept hoping it would clear up but the best we got was a slow drizzle. Oh, well, it was our last day in Seoul so we figured we’d take our chances. What’s a little rain to people who grew up in Newfoundland. This definitely would have been a better day for the aquarium. The walk through old and new neighbourhoods in the downtown area was very interesting. I don’t know if it was the rain, the fact that it was Sunday, the fact that it was Easter, or a combination of all of the above, but the city had a different feel today.
At one stage, a lady came up and presented us with an Easter egg gift (not a decorated, chocolate egg but the hard-boiled kind). As we approached the Lotte Department Store, we discovered that they have a little machine outside their doors for rainy days. You just poke your umbrella down the opening and it is encased in a plastic bag. I guess it keeps excess water off the store’s carpets. (This is a high-class enterprise with a costumed information lady and the salespeople wearing gloves so they don’t smudge the merchandise. Definitely not a WalMart.) We looked but didn’t buy.
We wandered through Myeondong and the Namdaemun market but things were much subdued because of the miserable weather. We had hoped to ride the cable car to the N’Seoul Tower and go up to the top of the tower which is supposed to have great views of the city. As we approached the area, it became obvious that fog ruled the top of the hill. No way were there any views today. Something else we should have done yesterday.
Now things are winding down. About all that’s left is the packing for our flight tomorrow to Thailand. It will definitely be much warmer for the rest of our trip.

Across the sea to Korea

2008-03-21T21:09:00.000-04:00

Wednesday was a travel day. First, a taxi from the hotel to the subway station, then a train to Nippori to catch the airport Skyliner. We were surprised at the bustle at the airport since it was an early morning flight. It took us almost 90 minutes to find the JAL check-in counter, get through security and immigration and find our departure lounge. An unremarkable three hour flight, except for the Japanese box lunch, and we begin the process in reverse in Korea. After clearing immigration, we picked up our luggage, breezed through customs, and bought our bus tickets. It took almost ninety minutes to reach the Sofitel Hotel where we caught a cab for the final sprint to the Hyundai Residence. This place is so tucked away that the cab driver had to call for directions on how to get here and still had to pull a U-turn. Traffic is horrendous. Another place I won’t be driving.
After checking in and unpacking, we explored the neighbourhood. Found a very interesting local market (Jungba Market) just down the street. Lots of food for sale–it would be nice to know what. The early morning rise called for an early evening bedtime so we’ll start on Seoul tomorrow.
We met up with Melissa the next morning and she took us to walk a bit of the Cheonggyecheon Stream Trail. From there, we took a cab to Itaewon and found a bank ATM. We had lunch at a Thai place–The Buddha Belly–and, wouldn’t you know it, they accepted credit cards. Melissa had to go to work at 2:30 so we decide to walk a bit before heading back to our hotel. We walked up to the War Memorial, a very dramatic display with some interesting sculptures, and watched a squad of soldiers practice their routines–think cheerleaders with guns. There is a serious military presence in this country and they seem to be looking nervously to the north all the time. Who can blame them?
The subway ride back was easy but it took almost 15 minutes to walk out of the station. The system here is as impressive as Tokyo’s. Overall, the city has a different feel–it’s a little grimier and people seem to have a little less elegance. But, at the same time, people seem to be more open and to be enjoying their lives. They are definitely more Westernized. In our area, business is conducted on the sidewalk. No matter what business–office furniture, lighting fixtures, building supplies, etc.–it’s all out on the sidewalk so you have to skirt around the merchandise. Stores seem to group themselves by product. For example, there’ll be a couple of blocks of furniture stores, followed by a block of plumbing, followed by .... We even passed an auto body shop where the guy was repairing the bumper of a car on the sidewalk and another where a worker was doing welding repairs.
You also have to dodge motorcycles as you walk. In Tokyo, there were lots of pedal bikes but, here, the delivery guys ride their cycles on the sidewalk more than on the street. It’s a little disconcerting to be standing at the corner, waiting for a ‘Walk’ light and be surrounded by motorcycles waiting to use the same cross-walk. As a side note, we did get to try one of the diagonal cross-walks (without any cycles).
Rome and San Francisco may have hills but Seoul has mountains. Not just near the city but in the city. Friday morning we decided to do the Inwangsan Shamanist Hillside Walk. The guidebook had said that it was an uphill walk but neglected to say how steep the slope was. It was an interesting walk until we got to the “Zen rocks” and lost the trail. From there we scrambled up the mountainside and finally found another, different trail. We followed this one to the top of Inwang Mountain. That last 0.3 km was about the hardest climb I’ve ever done (or maybe I’m just too old for this). Thank God for the ropes to hang onto. The views from the top were great though the pictures aren’t (too much smog). It’s impossible to see all of Seoul because Inwang isn’t the only mountain around which the city has developed. We followed a different route on the way down and managed to reach the bottom without any serious health problems, other than jelly legs.
After lunch (and a rest break), we headed across the river to check out the Noryangjin Fish Market. What an incredible place. A huge structure with rows of tanks containing all manner of marine life. I saw the biggest shrimp I’ve ever seen (two would make a meal) and the biggest octopi. We watched one customer buying fish and the fish was still wriggling as it lay on the scale.
We took the subway back to Dandemon Stadium station which is just down the street from our hotel (the same station where we had met Melissa the day before and the same station from which we had set out for the fish market). Only Dandemon Stadium station is the nexus for three subway lines and there are about twelve exit gates. We knew we needed either 6 or 7 and we tried to follow the signs and maps as we wandered through the maze. The map seemed to indicate that exits 6 and 7 were just beyond exit 5 but, when we arrived at exit 5, we were faced with a flight of stairs up to the exit and a blank wall. Faced with the prospect of retracing our steps to try to discover where we’d gone wrong, we chose instead to use exit 5. Bad move.
Above ground, we were in an unfamiliar part of town and didn’t recognize and buildings or landmarks. We didn’t even know in which direction to start walking. What should have been a 10 minute walk from the train to our hotel took us almost an hour. We did finally stumble upon some familiar buildings (“I’ve seen that from our window”) and we survived. However, we have decided to get off at a smaller station the next time as there’s one on the other side of us about as close as Dandemon and it only has two exits. Live and learn.

A clash of cultures

2008-03-20T04:27:00.000-04:00

As the sherif said in “Hud”, “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” We really didn’t understand how the Japanese handle day-to-day transactions. We tend to travel on our plastic, using credit cards for most purchases, with US dollar travelers cheques for back-up and a minimum amount of local currency. If we run short, we have our bank cards to withdraw additional cash. That doesn’t fly well here in Tokyo. Credit cards seem to be a real rarity and most places want to be paid in yen. We went to the bank to use the ATM and were told it wouldn’t work because the card was not from a Japanese bank. We did manage to cash some TC’s at the bank and later found an ATM at a 7/11 that would accept our card. So at least we have enough money to finish up our few days in Japan.
We went to the Tsukiji fish market on Tuesday morning around 8 o’clock, well after the initial frenzy but still a very active scene. It was organized chaos with people and machines (especially the ‘Mighty cars’) going every which way. I wonder how many accidents/collisions there are in the run of a normal week or month or year. It was great to wander around, trying to keep out of the way of the workers scrambling to complete their tasks.
After about 90 minutes we left the market and walked up to Ginza Street. Early morning traffic was still very light and none of the stores were yet open so Doreen did not get to browse merchandise that we couldn’t afford. We made our way through the Ginza district and headed off to the Imperial Palace grounds. We hadn’t arranged an audience with the Emperor (wrong time of year) so we had to be content with taking pictures of the Nijubashi Bridge, the guarded entranceway and the grounds of the East Garden.
After lunch, we took the train to Shinjuku and went searching for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. Foot traffic on the street has really picked up since this morning. The views from the observation deck were good but somewhat obscured by afternoon smog. Forget seeing all the way to Mount Fuji. We couldn’t even see Yokohama. Hey, the views of downtown Tokyo were great and it’s free. I’m really impressed by this city. It has a vibrancy I haven’t seen or felt elsewhere. Very different from Toronto or New York. Maybe it’s all the waving, colorful banners. I’m also blown away by their transit system with everything built in layers (up and down). At one point we went down three levels to reach our subway line and I don’t think we were at the bottom level then. Besides which, everything is so clean–the trains, the stations, even the streets.

Mount Fuji is awesome

2008-03-19T08:53:00.000-04:00

And so is Tokyo. We spent our first day in Japan on a bus. We took the Sunrise Tour to Mount Fuji and the Hakone area with a side trip for a brief cruise on Lake Ashi. Since it was a Sunday, traffic conditions were light and the drive to Mount Fuji went quickly. As we drove, the weather improved considerably. By the time we sighted Mount Fuji, the sun was shining brightly from a gorgeous, virtually cloudless, blue sky. This isn’t winter as we knew it in southern Ontario.
But it was still winter on the mountain with lots of snow and the road remained closed beyond the first station. So, it was look but don’t touch and no time to climb. It wasn’t quite the same spiritual feel as Uluru in Australia but more pervasive than Mount Taranaki in New Zealand. Fuji certainly dominates the surrounding countryside. Since the day remained clear and bright, we got many different views as we drove over the mountains to Hakone. Every time the road curved, there was Mount Fuji. I’m sure the guide got tired saying, “On your left ...”, “On your right ...” and “You’re very lucky today”.
We stopped for lunch at a Chinese restaurant that didn’t look very Chinese to us or to our table companions, an English couple living and working in Shanghai. The meal was a typical Japanese lunch with a little bit of a lot of different things and surprisingly tasty and filling. Or maybe it was just a feeling of accomplishment at getting some food into our mouths with chopsticks. I have no idea what we ate but there have been no ill effects.
After lunch, we bussed off to Lake Ashi for a short (very short) cruise on the ferry boat with still more views of Mount Fuji. The lake was a busy place with lots of locals engaged in various aquatic activities. We were supposed to take a gondola ride from the lake to the hills above but they told us the lift was closed because of the fog. No one in the tour group could see the fog because of the blinding sunlight so they told us they were taking us to a better gondola ride. I don’t know about the one we missed but the one we took was worth it. We got a close-up look at some hot springs and still more gorgeous views of Mount Fuji. All-in-all the day was worth enduring the long bus ride back to Tokyo and the mini-traffic jam that was Sunday afternoon. So ended our one excursion.
Now we’re on our own to explore Tokyo. This morning we walked from the hotel to Shiba Park. We were quite impressed with the Zojoji Temple and its environs, especially since it wasn’t mentioned in our guide book. One thing that surprised us on the walk was how late things start moving in Tokyo. At nine o’clock the streets were still virtually empty. I think everybody is still in/on the transit system on the way to work. The transit system is amazing, by the way.
Our next venture was the Sumida River cruise from Hinode pier. Not a great trip because the boat isn’t really built for sight-seeing (poor sight lines) and the commentary mainly involved naming the bridges we passed under but it did get us to Asakusa. From there, we browsed through Nakamise Avenue and explored the Sensoji shrine. After lunch at Ueno Station and a stroll through Ueno Park, we took the train to Nippori so Doreen could do some shopping in ‘Fabric Town’. She found some fabric for herself and some that Stacy wanted so it was a successful outing.
The only thing is that walking on a treadmill does not prepare you for a full day of traipsing around a big city. Or maybe, we’re really getting old. At any rate, we’re beat. And we get to do this again tomorrow. I love it when things work out as planned.

We're in Asia

2008-03-17T08:07:00.000-04:00

We’re in Asia

I started this blog when we visited Hawaii last fall and my initial entry was sarcastically entitled “Getting there is half the fun”. Who was it who said, “It’s deja vu all over again.”? (I know it wasn’t Yogi Berra.) This trip got off on the same left foot.
Again, the initial flight from Toronto to Los Angeles was fine but things started to go wrong as soon as we landed in LA. We wanted to break up our travel so we had booked an overnight stay at the Travel Lodge LAX South. We chose that hotel because it was close to the airport (only a five minute ride) and they provided a shuttle service (or so they said). Of course, since they didn’t answer their phone, we never did get the shuttle pick-up. Tack another $24 onto the room rate for a cab ride to the hotel. They did get us back to the airport the next morning but very early since their shuttle runs only every 1 ½ hours.
Checking through security at LAX brought another snag. Somewhere between Toronto’s security check and LA’s, my carry-on had picked up suspicious traces. So, once again, it was a full body pat-down and a thorough inspection of everything in my carry-on bag. Same no results. As I said to Doreen, it must be the peppermint knobs–all that sugar.
We’re flying American to Tokyo (not Air Canada) so we don’t anticipate any problems. Things go smoothly with the boarding but then the pilot announces that we’re just waiting for the maintenance crew to sign off on a few things so there will be a short delay. Twenty minutes later we’re good to go–for about 100 metres. Then it’s back to the gate. Seems the maintenance crew had been working on a fuel pump and the cockpit gauges were showing it wasn’t working. The captain was understandably reluctant to begin a trans-Pacific flight without being sure he could get gas to the jet engines.
We finally departed LA at 2 p.m. on Friday some two hours behind schedule so our eleven-hour flight suddenly became a thirteen-hour ordeal. Landing at Narita airport shortly after 5 o’clock on Saturday afternoon, we’re still a long ways from Tokyo. But all it takes is a train ride from Narita to Nippori Station, a subway ride from Nippori to Hamamatsucho Station and a taxi from there to the Shiba Park Hotel. Piece of cake even with the luggage and the Japanese signs–lots of helpful natives.
The hotel looks gorgeous but we’re too tired to really appreciate it yet. We finally climb into bed around 5 a.m. LA time. It’s been a long day but we’re here. Now, on to Mount Fuji.

Getting ready for the next adventure

2008-03-10T16:03:00.003-04:00

We’re off on Thursday for our first visit to Asia. We have a few days of sightseeing in Tokyo and Seoul before we go south for some warmer weather and some snorkeling. This will be our first real experience where the language, culture and even the alphabet (or lack thereof) will be completely alien. We’re going with a great deal of trepidation, hoping not to get too frustrated and, above all, not to act like ‘the ugly, barbarian tourist’.
We’ve had some small exposure to this before, particularly while touring in Moorea and visiting Ile des Pins in New Caledonia. We struggled with our minimal grasp of the local language (high school French, anyone) but at least the alphabet was recognizable and signs and maps could be deciphered (albeit slowly). This will be a whole new world. Add to the equation the size of Tokyo and the pace of life in a big city and things get interesting. At least in Seoul, we’ll have some guidance from Melissa. Should be a very unique experience. Hopefully, we’ll survive it and emerge as better travelers.
When we head down to Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia and the Philippines, we’ll be spending most of out time in tourist areas where the same problems should not present themselves. We’ll be passing through some large cities (Bangkok, Singapore, Manila) but not spending any significant amount of time in the urban environments. Plus it will be warmer. It’s always easier to deal with problems and frustrations when you’re not freezing.
It will be cold in Tokyo and Seoul but, hopefully, we will escape the snow that has dominated southern Ontario for the past few months. The media are really focused on the fact that we’re on the cusp of setting a new record for snowfall, breaking the old mark set back in 1939. (Mind you, the record of 207.4 cm pales when compared to St. John’s and its mark of 648.4 cm) But there’s still nowhere to put any more snow.

Belated reflections on an early Christmas

2008-02-28T23:18:00.004-05:00

Now that we’re on the cusp of our next trip, it behooves me to finally write a little about our December trip to Atlanta and Virginia Beach. This is procrastination to the nth degree. I can’t count the number of times I’ve thought about doing this (both during the holiday season and after we returned home) but it just never got done.
We drove down to Atlanta to celebrate an early Christmas with our grandchildren (and son and daughter-in-law) before their family trip to Newfoundland. Stacy flew in for the weekend so we had all four of us together for the first Christmas in several years. Even without snow, it was wonderful. Of course, it was also much too brief but, such is life with adult offspring.
Since we weren’t going to Newfoundland this year, we had decided to spend Christmas and New Year’s with Doreen’s sister (and brother-in-law) in Virginia Beach. It’s usually a very simple day’s drive from Atlanta to Virginia Beach but that last Friday before the festive season had an inordinate amount of traffic. There were several slow-down areas and we were running late when we finally got off the Interstate in Virginia. Combine that with the short days of winter and we were driving at a bad time of day.
About an hour outside Virginia Beach, our luck ran out and we had a close encounter with one of Bambi’s (or Rudolph’s) relatives. We were luckier than the deer. Though the car sustained significant damage to the front end, it was driveable--the air bags didn’t even go off and the lights and engine were still working. After filling out the police report, we limped on into Virginia Beach. The car looked even worse the next morning sitting forlornly in Bonnie’s driveway.
Of course, it was a great time to go looking for a body shop with Christmas Day just around the corner. We also had to negotiate the international hurdles of an insurance company in Canada authorizing repairs in the United States. As it turned out, when I finally got into a repair facility on Boxing Day, they wouldn’t be able to do the work unless we stayed in Virginia Beach for an extra week or so. So they did the next best thing–taped the car together with clear duct tape so that we could drive back to Canada after the New Year. Sometimes it helps to be in NASCAR country.
We took our time on the trip back home, kept the speed under 100 k/h and overnighted in Pennsylvania. No problems. The guy at the border didn’t even blink at a car held together with duct tape. The same couldn’t be said for the guy at the repair facility in Burlington. He took one look at the car and declared it undriveable. He said he’d have to call the insurance company right away and couldn’t let me drive away in it. The drive from Virginia didn’t sway him at all so I left there in a rental.
Now we’re back to normal. We still have to find time to trade up to a new vehicle but that will wait until we get back from Asia. With the way winter has been dragging on here in Ontario, I’m ready for a break. Hard to believe that it’s less than two months since we were in snow-less country. I know time seems to fly as we get older but time must also creep slowly when the temperature is below freezing. Don’t even think about wind-chill.

Halloween in Atlanta

2007-11-13T14:28:00.000-05:00

Our packing skills (or lack thereof) are getting a workout. We got back from Hawaii on Tuesday and Doreen took off on Friday morning for a weekend in cottage country with her quilt group. She was back on Sunday and we left Monday morning for the drive to Atlanta. We’re going to spend Halloween with the grandkids again. We really enjoyed the experience last year and it should be even better this time as they’re a year older and more aware of ‘trick-or-treat’.
It’s a leisurely two-day drive to Atlanta, mostly Interstates. This time the border crossing was a piece of cake, not even a ten-minute wait. We overnight at a little motel in Dobson, North Carolina where there’s a lovely eatery (the Surry Diner) that always seems to be crowded with locals. We’re off the road early and the next day is a short jaunt to Atlanta so we arrive early afternoon and avoid the rush-hour traffic.
Having grown up in Newfoundland, we remember Halloweens as a series of cold, wet (sometimes snowy) evenings–which didn’t deter from the fun. The joke about wearing your snowsuit under your costume isn’t completely wrong but we were young then and, as kids will, could focus on the important things–treats (or equally, the opportunity for pranks). Strolling around the neighbourhood in shorts and sandals as the kids rush door-to-door is easy to take. I’m also impressed at the efforts made by this community to ensure that the kids have a good experience. Many of the houses are elaborately decorated and large numbers of the adults join their young children on the streets, including many in costume.
This was just a short trip–four days on the road in transition and five days in Atlanta–but it was well worth it. Kids grow up so quickly so it’s always nice to spend some time with them to really appreciate their uniqueness. It’s great to be able to keep up through e-mails and web cams but nothing beats personal contacts.
The drive back was a reminder that winter is on the horizon. Lake-effect snow put in an appearance as we drove through upstate Pennsylvania and New York but we managed to stay on the highway and keep moving at a reasonable speed. Again, the border crossing was easy.
Now it’s a matter of catching up on all the mundane tasks that have been put on hold since mid-September. Where’s my Quicken file? Of course, there are lots of pictures to process through Photoshop Elements and lots of new toys to set up and play with. And, rumor has it that there’s some holiday time coming up next month. What’s on your Christmas wish list?

We're back

2007-10-28T00:15:00.000-04:00

With little thanks to Air Canada. They managed to mess up the opening day of this trip (see my earlier rant) so I guess they figured it was their corporate duty to mess up the finale. I’ll give them the credit due them–they did a fine job of messing up our return trip. This time we didn’t even get onto the first plane before the troubles began. We had an 8:45 pm flight from Honolulu to Vancouver so we got to the airport shortly after 6, turned in the rental car and proceeded to check-in. By the time we got through security and grabbed some supper, it was time to head for the departure lounge. There, we discovered that the flight had been pushed back to 9 o’clock. No big deal.
After sitting around for half an hour as the departure lounge slowly filled with passengers, an Air Canada rep came on the PA and told us they had an incoming flight and needed the space so we would have to wait in the hall. Have you ever had to do this in an international airport? When they finally re-admitted us, about forty-five minutes later, we were screened at the door and had to show both a boarding pass and ID to get into the lounge area. Talk about setting a pleasant mood for traveling. No explanation. No apology. Just the attitude of business as usual.
The flight did get off just 30 minutes behind schedule and, with a good tailwind, we landed in Vancouver shortly before 5:30 am. Our flight to Toronto was a different airplane at a different gate. We had to pick up our bags and clear through Customs and Immigration before traversing the airport to find our new departure gate. No real problems but the airport is kind of dead at that hour of the morning and there weren’t a lot of shops open. We didn’t see any where to have breakfast but, not to worry. With a 7 am departure, Air Canada is sure to offer breakfast. Right. Think again. By the time we arrived in Toronto at 2 pm, we were tired, grumpy and hungry. So much for all the “aloha” we had soaked up in the Islands.
So, let’s see. We check in with Air Canada at 8:15 pm in Honolulu and walk off the plane in Toronto at 2:15 pm the following day. Allowing for the time zones (6 hours), we’ve been in transit for 12 hours. In that time, Air Canada has provided one meal (an hour or so out of Honolulu), two glasses of orange juice and two glasses of water. I’m glad we weren’t flying one of those ‘no frills’ airlines.
We’d spent our last weekend on Oahu checking out some of the lesser known beaches on the North Shore and Windward coast. We discovered why the Turtle Bay Resort is aptly named and crossed some trails off our list of worthwhile activities. Our final visit was to Waimanalo Beach Park and we walked from there to Bellows Beach and back. The tide was in so the walk wasn’t as nice as earlier but any day on Bellows is a good day. After we checked out of the condo, we stopped by the Wailua Bakery for a final shave ice before heading into Honolulu traffic for the drive to the airport.
Toronto wasn’t quite as warm as when we left. And the mornings have really been dreary. I miss sitting on the balcony watching the kayaks and outrigger canoes on the Ala Wai. I wonder if my tan will last until I find another beach.

And the days dwindle down

2007-10-22T03:59:00.000-04:00

To a precious few. So, we’ve been trying to see everything (unsuccessfully). We’ve been searching out some of our favorite beaches (especially Waimea Bay) and hiking to see some waterfalls. On Thursday, we did the Manoa Falls Trail. It’s been improved somewhat (read less natural) since we last walked it in 1991 but it’s still a great trail within the city. Sorry, Travis, but we weren’t able to find the vine where you had your Tarzan moment. There was a rock slide near the falls in 2002 and liability worries have resulted in warning signs and roped-off areas at the base of the falls.

Our Friday hike was to Maunawili Falls on the other side of the Ko’olau Mountains. The hike is about 1.3 miles each way and takes you through some beautiful scenery with no sand in sight. It ends in a small, pretty waterfall with an inviting pool. It’s a very popular spot so you don’t have the trail or the pool to yourself very long. Just after we arrived at the falls, tow local kids showed up and started jumping off the rocks. Between picture taking stints, the schoolteachers peeked out with a question about “how come you’re not in school this Friday morning?” I guess it was a teachers’ workshop day. At any rate, we left them happily enjoying the waterfall and the pool.

Earlier the week, we hiked up to the top of Diamond Head to see the views of Waikiki, Honolulu and surrounding area. We found ourselves wondering how many feet had climbed those steps inside the crater since the last time we’d come to watch a sunrise. No early morning for us this time, just a slow, afternoon stroll. It would be a great place for sunsets except that it’s a military installation and they lock the gates at six o’clock. We also found some time for shopping and shave ice and Doreen took Thursday morning to check out the quilting scene.

Hard to believe that this time tomorrow night we’ll be sitting in the airport waiting for our Air Canada flight to Vancouver. In some ways, we’re ready to go home and get back into our regular routines. But, how regular can it get with Doreen’s quilt weekend starting on Friday and Halloween in Atlanta scheduled next. And then there’s Tammy’s wedding.

Familiarity breeds . . .

2007-10-17T03:18:00.000-04:00

Certainly not contempt. Maybe ennui. Maybe something on the order of “been there, done that” but the t-shirts have long since worn out. Hawaii remains one of our favorite spots for a trip. But you may have noticed a dearth of scenic pictures in our earlier postings (snorkel pictures don’t count). We were driving to the North Shore yesterday along the Kamehameha Highway with the Wai’anae Mountains off to our left when it struck me how we take the vistas for granted this trip. I remember when we first did this drive with Bonnie in 1971 and we were constantly stopping to take pictures. Now we zip along from point A to point B and wonder why the tourist cars have pulled over at certain spots.
Of course, the views have changed over the years as have the road systems. I miss the sprawling sugar cane and pineapple fields. I found the same thing on Maui. There’s a beautiful walkway in the Wailea area between the hotels and the shoreline which meanders past five or six beaches. I took my camera with me one day and walked the entire path (and back). The end result–not a single picture. I found myself thinking “I already have a terrific picture of that beach”. I also have pictures of most of the tourist attractions around Oahu–Iolani Palace, Punchbowl, Diamond Head, the Polynesian Cultural Center, Waimea Bay, etc.
We’ve done some snorkeling on Oahu. Of course, that was after the obligatory, initial lie-down on Waikiki Beach. Our first visit was to Hanauma Bay and it’s still a beautiful spot that deserves a picture every time. It’s slowly recovering after being almost loved to death from the late ‘70's on but, with still 1.5 million visitors yearly, it will be a long process, particularly for the corals. Our second stop was at Ko Olina. There’s been a lot of development since our last visit and the number of lounges around the lagoons offers silent testimony. The second lagoon is still relatively untouched but that will change when the Marriott is completed. Both were fun but nothing spectacular and not a patch on Maui. The surf’s been up on the North Shore so Shark’s Cove, Three Tables and Waimea have not been doable. We did have a sun-filled day at Waimea and Sunset Beaches, topped by a shave ice at Aoki’s in Hale’iwa.
Without snorkeling to fill our days, we’ve fallen back to walking or our senior version of hiking. On the weekend, we went out to the Windward side and walked the beaches from Bellows to Waimanalo. Bellows is still open to the public only from Friday noon to Sunday as military training takes precedence during the week. It’s a great beach to walk with wide stretches of firm, soft, golden sand, softly lapping waves with enough break for the boogie boarders and a background of ironwood trees and the Ko’olau Mountains. When we’d had our fill of sand and sun, we backtracked to Makapu’u Head and hiked to the top to enjoy the sweeping views. Doreen discovered some large patches of cactus with ripening cactus pears. Instead of paying for them at the supermarket, they were free for the taking. All she had to do was avoid the thorns (unsuccessfully for the most part).
Yesterday, we hiked some deserted beaches at the northern tip of the island. Unlike Bellows, this was a slog. The only things that saved a mostly uninteresting walk were the discovery of a small, dead shark along the shoreline (the only shark we’ve seen on this trip) and a sleeping eel in one of the tide pools. After lunch, we drove to the end of the Farrington Highway and hiked in to Ka’ena Point. Another long, hot, dusty walk with little reward–no albatrosses, no Hawaiian monk seals. (In the ‘wouldn’t you know it’ category, a pair of monk seals have been showing up on Waikiki Beach over the past few days.) To save the day, we drove into Hale’iwa and had another shave ice (Matsumoto’s this time).
The other problem I’ve been noticing is a lack of time. Evenings on Maui were much quieter and I had time to play with our pictures and work on this blog. Here on Oahu, we’re staying in a condo in Waikiki and our nights are much more crowded. It’s fun to just wander along Kalakaua or Kuhio and watch the crowds, both tourists and performers. And let’s not forget basketball. The whistle may have been retired but the fan still lives. Last week, I spent two nights at the University gym. On Thursday, we had tickets for an NBA pre-season game between the Lakers and the Warriors. This was one of two events we had arranged before we left home. (The other being the Maui 5K.) On Friday, I went back for the university’s “Twilight ‘Ohana”, an evening where the university introduces its basketball teams to the community. It was an interesting experience with lots of local kids and families on hand and came complete with three-point and dunk contests and intra-squad scrimmages. There is still a Canadian connection as both the men’s and women’s teams have a player from Ontario (Paul Campbell of Toronto and Katie Wilson of St. Catherines).

Not everything goes perfectly

2007-10-10T20:04:00.001-04:00

Our sojourn on Maui ended with a whimper. On Sunday morning, we decided to hike out to Keawanaku Beach, a spot we hadn’t visited in the past. The hike begins at the end of the road in La Perousse Bay and follows a four-wheel drive track for about a mile. Then we detour onto ‘The King’s Highway’, the remnants of the old Hawaiian trail through the lave fields, for another mile or so. Finally, we see the grove of trees at the shoreline and make our way across the lava to the beach. It’s taken us so long to get here that we’ve lost the benefits of the early morning ocean. Waves are crashing and there’s such a surge that we decide it’s not a good time to snorkel. The trip back takes only 55 minutes. Maybe next time.
Since we’re out this way, we decide to try Ahihi and see if the rays will again show. The wave action isn’t too bad so in we go. Doreen no sooner puts her face in the water than she’s got a mouthful of salt water. Her snorkel isn’t working properly and she can’t figure out why. After several more fruitless attempts, we’re forced to abort. We’ve managed to spend five minutes in the water and get no more than ten feet off the beach. Not much of a return for four hours of activity. By now the morning’s gone, the wind’s picking up and snorkel time is done. After a quick lunch at a roadside stand, I catch some sun at the condo pool and then begin packing.
Our Monday morning flight to Honolulu is uneventful but doesn’t present the picture opportunities of our earlier Go! flight. We pick up our rental car at Enterprise (no more older models) and head for the condo in Waikiki. We check in, find our parking spot and prepare to settle in for the next two weeks. One problem. I can’t get the key out of the ignition. After we grab lunch, it’s back to the rental company for a replacement. (They can’t get the key out either!)
It’s a nice condo, if a little small. We’re on the tenth floor with a view of the Ali Wai canal and the municipal golf course (maybe that’s why this place is called Fairway Villas). There’s a pool on the 29th floor with sun loungers and sauna. I’d be happier if the dishwasher wasn’t broken. Doreen told the lady at check-in that it wasn’t a problem because she’d brought her own. Great! We had a few small glitches at the condo in Maui as well. The second day we showered Doreen noticed that the shower’s side wall was loose so we called the caretaker. The repair guy came in, looked at the problem, decided they’d done a poor job when they’d installed the enclosure. He said they’d run a bead for now and repair it after we’d left. A few weeks later, the television went on the fritz. What’s Doreen going to do without “Dancing With The Stars” and “Survivor”? The set is replaced with a smaller TV for which they can’t find the remote. Not much switching between channels 3 and 59 now!
Any problems we’ve had have been put in perspective by events that have happened to others on Maui while we were there. Two days after we’d been to Haleakala, they had a fatality in the downhill bike activity. A lady lost control, put her bike on the ground but slid across the road into the path of an oncoming tour bus. A few days later, as we were leaving Mokapu Beach after snorkeling and sun, we noticed a gaggle of EMO respondents. We later learned that a lady had been carried into the shallow, rocky area while snorkeling and had panicked. They were unable to revive her. As we waited at the airport for our flight to Honolulu, we read in the paper about a 27-year old resident of Kihei who had gone with two buddies to swim in the infinity pool at the top of Makahiku Falls. Told by the park rangers that the pool was still closed because of high water levels, they’d hiked in to see for themselves. As they turned to leave, he either fell or jumped into the pool. He did not surface and his body had not yet been recovered.

Difficult choices

2007-10-10T19:55:00.000-04:00

We’re down to our last week on Maui and we’ll have to make some tough choices as to where we’ll snorkel. Will it be the coral, the fish, the turtles, the eels, the octopuses, the rays or all of the above?
On Wednesday, we head for the black sand beach at Oneuli. Even before we put on our snorkel gear, we’re treated to a turtle display. Clearly visible from shore, there are several turtles feeding on the sea grass at the edge of the beach. The visibility isn’t great here as the breaking waves are stirring up the bottom sand so we head for deeper water to the left. As the water clarity improves, we see more and more turtles–a dozen or more during our out-and-back. The corals pretty good also. On the way back, we spot a couple of octopuses but can’t get any decent pictures. Another site to add to our list of favorites. If only we had time for a return trip.
Thursday finds us headed to West Maui for another crack at Honolua Bay. This time the river is back to its normal trickle and the visibility is much better. The coral has been taking a beating though since our last visit in 2003 and there’s a lot of debris on the bottom of the bay. Still, lots of big fish and some nice coral. Then Doreen spots a large moray eel who puts on a show for us. He’s swimming from one coral outcrop to another until he finds one that is riddled with holes. Then he proceeds to show off his flexibility by playing hide-and-seek through the coral head. There are times when we can see pieces of the eel in three or four gaps in the coral. There are even times when the eel runs into a dead end and has to back up. We backtrack to Kahekili and enjoy another snorkel before lunch. After lunch, we spend some time browsing the shops in Lahaina and Doreen finally finds her blue bed cover. (Now all she has to do is quilt it.)
We don’t get to snorkel on Friday as the water is too rough at the spots we visit so we settle for some sun time on the beach at Mokapu. This beach is virtually deserted since the Renaissance hotel is closed and being replaced. Doreen doesn’t have much energy so she spends the morning reading on the beach while I take a stroll along the pathway that meanders between the hotels and the beaches along this stretch of Wailea.
Saturday, we finally get to snorkel at Chang’s Beach and head to the right which puts us right back in the same area we’d visited from Po’olenalena a couple of weeks ago. The turtle convention is still in full swing but Doreen finds the surge a little disconcerting and we cut our session short. We talk to another couple on the beach and learn that the left side may be even better. Another place to put on our re-visit list. Because we got an early start this morning, we have time to make another trek to the Fishbowl to top up our fish quota.
All that’s left now are the rays. We’ve been back to Ahihi II a couple of times since our first visit but water conditions haven’t been conducive to snorkeling. Tomorrow is our last chance. We fly to Oahu on Monday morning and won’t be doing nearly as much snorkeling there.

The long and winding road

2007-10-05T19:48:00.000-04:00

The Beatles may have sung about it but people who visit Maui (or who live here) drive it. Or should I say, them. The most famous is ‘the road to Hana’ but there are a number of others–the drive up to Haleakala, the road out to Makena and La Perouse, the road to Honolua, the drive around the West Maui mountains, even the road to Lahaina. Under the best conditions, each is a terrific driving adventure but rarely can you expect the best conditions. Then, stuck in convoy behind some ‘Nervous Nellie’ riding his brake anytime his speed rises above 15 mph, or a sight-seeing tourist who thinks he has the right to stop on the road to take pictures and who wouldn’t dream of pulling over lest others get past him, it becomes a different experience.
The centerpiece of ‘the road to Hana’ is a thirty-five mile stretch of Highway 360. It’s one lane in each direction with very little (or no) shoulder, very few passing areas, dozens of one-lane bridges where you have to yield to oncoming traffic, and more than 600 curves. We’ve driven this road each time we’ve visited Maui and we’ve stopped at all the usual spots to check out overlooks, visit waterfalls, swim in pools, etc. Usually, we continue on past the normal tourist end points and do a complete loop around Haleakala and back through the Upcountry area. However, that isn’t possible this time because of the earthquake on the Big Island last year and the subsequent landslides on Maui. The road won’t be re-opened for a while so we’ll be doing a down-and-back trip. Our goal is to hike the Pipiwai Trail and check out the waterfalls. Our intent is to drive straight through to the ‘Ohe’o Gulch parking lot without any side trips. Hopefully, we’ll be ahead of the crowd and this should ensure a smooth ride.
We started out on Monday morning but didn’t like the looks of the sky. Lots of cloud everywhere. By the time we’re passing through Pa’ia, I’ve got the windshield wipers on intermittently. With no sign of improving weather (my wipers are now going full time), we pull a U-turn at Ho’okipa Beach and head back for the Wailea area. Incidentally, the weather doesn’t seem a deterrent to the surfers and wind-surfers at Ho’okipa. We settle for snorkeling Mokapu/Ulua again and then catching some rays and walking the beaches. It’s great until the wind picks up shortly before two o’clock and the sand starts blowing. Talk about a mass evacuation.
Tuesday morning looks better so we try again. We’re on the road by seven-thirty but it looks like everybody else has started at six, or else they slept in their cars along the road. I don’t have much traffic in front of me but every waterfall we pass has a full complement of cars and tour buses and, when we reach the parking lot at Haleakala National Park, it’s almost full. And none of these people have passed me as we drove straight through. Maybe they’re all staying in the Hana area.
At least the trail isn’t crowded though there are a surprising number of hikers. The trail’s a little muddy and, therefore, slippery but we have our walking sticks for support and our backpack for our lunch and insect repellent. It’s just over a half-mile to 200 foot Makahiku Falls and just over a mile further to Waimoku Falls, twice as high but less water flow. We cross the river four times, twice on man-made bridges and twice rock-hopping. There’s a lot of water running so there are a number of small waterfalls on both sides of the main falls. We sit at the bottom of Waimoku Falls and eat the first half of our lunch.
Then we backtrack to the ‘infinity pool’ which sits at the top of Makahiku Falls. The park rangers have closed off all pools because of the danger posed by the volume of water so we can only sit at the side of the infinity pool and look out over the lip of the waterfall and listen to its roar. It’s a great setting for the rest of our lunch.
Before leaving the park, we decide to check out the pools at ‘Ohe’o Gulch. When we first saw them in 1971, they were being promoted as “The Seven Sacred Pools” in an attempt to attract tourists. It seems to have worked and the area is now a very popular destination. Of course, there are more than seven pools and there’s nothing sacred about them. But they are very photogenic. Just as we started on the trail, the weather changed for the worst and, within a short time, we were soaked. We’d avoided most of the rainfall while on the Pipiwai Trail because it occurred while we were hiking through the bamboo forest where the overhead foliage is so dense it acts as an umbrella. Not this trail. Nowhere to hide. Doreen was able to change into a dry set of clothing that she’d brought but I lacked her foresight.
Because of the deteriorating weather, we decided to forego further exploration and head back to Kihei. It’s about seventy miles from the Gulch to the condo we’re renting and we were able to drive it in less than three hours. I’m getting too old for this. Thank God for power steering and power brakes. I’m sick of looking at the single brake light on the rear of a rented Mustang. Nobody who drives that slowly should be allowed to rent a Mustang. (I’m driving a 2005 Nissan Sentra.)

Welcome to my Lanai

2007-10-01T02:03:00.000-04:00

That’s what Captain Dave seems to say to the people who take his excursion. The feeling is of someone showing some of his favorite places to a few of his friends. There were twenty-six of us on the cruise but the boat did not feel crowded at all and everybody seemed to have a wonderful time. It certainly was a full day.
It didn’t feel all that wonderful when the alarm went off at 5 a.m. but that’s what happens when you’re staying in Kihei and the boat leaves from Lahaina at 7 a.m. The trip is advertised as a 6 ½ hour snorkel trip that goes all the way around the island of Lanai. It was all that and more. The ride was very smooth for the most part though there were some roller coaster moments (deliberate in many cases). We had gorgeous weather and the ocean was amazingly cooperative.
Our first noteworthy stop was off Shipwreck Beach on the north shore of Lanai. The concrete hulk of the World War II Liberty ship was an awesome sight. From there, we were rewarded with an unscheduled stop to walk on a completely deserted white sand beach. Then, it was snorkel, caves, cliffs, snorkel, caves, cliffs, etc. Captain Dave likes to try to get his boat as far into some of the caves as possible. For those rotating to the bow, it feels like he’s about to beach the boat (or, more accurately, pile it onto the rocks). I saw a lot of passenger hands reaching to fend off the encroaching cliffs.
Our second unscheduled diversion occurred when we found ourselves surrounded by Lanai’s pod of spinner dolphins. You know how it goes–dolphins to the right of me, dolphins to the left of me, in front, behind, dolphins, dolphins, dolphins. They seemed to be playing with the boat and having as much fun as we were having watching them. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get in the water with them because they are a protected species. It’s all right if you’re in the water and they appear (that’s what happened to us a few years ago on an earlier visit to Hulopo’e Beach on Lanai and at Honolua Bay on Maui).
The snorkeling sites were very reminiscent of Virgin Gorda with lots of boulders and big rocks rather than extensive coral fields. Lots of large fish, some nice coral but, overall, the water was too deep for surface snorkeling. It’s hard to feel connected to the fish when they’re twenty to thirty feet below you. The other drawback was that snorkel time coincided with meal time so there’s a choice to be made. Trade-offs never seem to satisfy. I guess part of the problem was the extra time taken up with our beach walk and dolphin encounter.
We got back to the harbor at Lahaina at 2:30 p.m., gathered our gear, disembarked the boat, picked up our car and drove back to the condo in Kihei. Then we crashed. Talk about running out of energy. But tomorrow’s a new day, the beginning of our last week on Maui. There are still lots of places to see and snorkel. So, an early night tonight.
As an update to my earlier comments about on-line communications, the adventure continues. I downloaded a new version of Firefox for U3 so my stick works fine. Now the problem is permission to use it. Each time I visit iZone I get a different story. When I had my initial discussions with the owner before I purchased my temporary membership, I was told I could use my own laptop or the U3 stick plugged into their system. The first couple of nights I showed up with the U3 stick, the night manager set me up and things went fine. The third night the owner is there and he won’t let me onto the system with the U3. He says I can use a plain vanilla USB memory stick to copy files but not the programmable U3. Back to the drawing board.
The next night, I load my files onto a memory stick and drive down to their location. A new night manager tells me I can’t copy files from my memory stick because of their firewall. I can only copy files to the memory stick. However, he allows me to use the administrator computer which is outside the firewall so I do get my postings done. In the meantime, I’ve had much more success with the Hawaii Public Library where I took out a temporary membership so I could have access to some Hawaiian music. My membership allows me to use the library computers to access the Internet on an ad hoc basis. It also allows me to reserve one hour a week to ensure computer time. I got more accomplished at the library (including figuring out how to insert pictures into this blog) than I ever did at iZone. And, my library membership is also valid on Oahu.

Rays of delight

2007-09-26T19:11:00.000-04:00

Three days of great snorkeling. Sunday morning we went to ‘the Fishbowl’ for a second visit. There’s a south surge coming and there was more water in the cove than we usually see. Just as we arrived, a couple were exiting the water so we had the fish all to ourselves for the next hour. As we were hiking out, it rained (what a surprise!). The lava gets a little slippery when wet.
Monday morning we went back to Kahekili. There’s lots of coral here and it feels like you can keep going and going. Afterwards, we walked the beach–an uninterrupted stretch of golden sand which took us 1 ½ hours round trip. We ate lunch at the park and caught some more sun. The wind picked up in the afternoon so we left early. Unlike South Maui, where the afternoon trades blow onshore, the winds in the Ka’anapali area are offshore.
With time on our hands, we decided to drive around the West Maui mountains. It’s a great drive with the road squeezed between the mountains and the ocean–lots of curves and switchback turns and terrific views. There are even eight miles of one-lane road where you constantly have to be prepared to yield to oncoming traffic. My reward for staying on the pavement and avoiding all the fallen rocks (and other cars) was another shave ice–pineapple this time.
This morning, we went to Ahihi II. A five-minute walk from the parking lot takes you to a rocky beach. We’ve avoided this spot in the past (not sure why–not impressed years ago) but it’s suddenly jumped to our list of favorites. There was just enough of a black sand beach to make for an easy entry. We went to our right and found lots of great coral and large fish. We went to our left and found more coral, more fish and a turtle. Just as we had decided to head back to shore, we came upon three spotted eagle rays swimming in formation. Usually, we catch a brief glimpse of a ray but can’t keep up with their movement. These three were doing circuits around a racetrack–I guess they were hunting food. We watched them for about five minutes. Magical. These creatures move so gracefully.

In the house of the rising sun (and rising wind)

2007-09-26T19:06:00.000-04:00

Thursday morning dawned bright and clear with not a cloud to spoil the view of Haleakala so we decided to drive to the summit. We’ve already done the dawn thing a couple of times so no need to freeze out okoles off this time. We’ll wait until 8:30 to leave and take advantage of the sun’s heat. It’s only about forty miles from our condo (mostly uphill with numerous switchbacks) so we arrived at the summit (10023 feet elevation) shortly after 10. The views were great. About twenty minutes after we arrived, the clouds started to roll in and, within ten minutes, we were engulfed. It was like watching the fog creep in over the South Side Hills.
We ate lunch at the park campground where we had a Hawaiian honey-creeper for company. After lunch, we decided to try to drive to Alelele Falls but no go. Last year, there was a strong (7.2) earthquake on the Big Island and it caused landslides on Maui and closed the road. They’re still working on it. Alelele Falls sits in the middle of the area which has been closed to the public. Apparently, the geologists have flown over the area and feel there are many more rocks ready to come tumbling down. Doreen was okay while the road meandered along the coast but she balked when the road snaked between some deep cuts and we’re looking up at some (maybe unstable) boulders. So, we retreated to the Maui Winery and sampled their wares.
This is definitely not the best time to visit the Hawaiian Islands. The weather people keep talking about ‘light trades’ in the 10-20 range. I’m not sure I buy ‘light’ when, while hiking back from the Fishbowl or the Aquarium, the wind is almost enough to blow you off the trail. Or, when, after dinner, you take your mug of tea to the balcony, put the mug down on the table, and watch the wind create white caps in your mug. You definitely need to start your day early because the morning hours are the best for wind and water visibility. The wind picks up shortly after noon and doesn’t die down again until about eight. Incidentally, the other side of the island is the ‘windy side’ where all the kite surfers congregate.
We were surprised last night when we went to the luau at the Wailea Marriott and found the wind much lighter than here in Kihei. Maybe we were just lucky. When we walked the beaches there this afternoon, it was as windy as elsewhere. The luau was a nice affair (not quite the rave we’d been told). The food was excellent, the drinks mediocre. The show was long on dramatics and pageantry but short on dancing (there was even a little Cirque de Soleil for some reason). The Samoan fire dance finale was spectacular. We had an interesting chat with the performer afterwards. Turns out he grew up in Auckland, New Zealand and only moved back to Samoa a few years ago when his mother died and wanted to be buried in her homeland. Also, he had spent five years in Edmonton after he went there to perform at the Commonwealth Games in 1978 (?).

Life's a beach (or two or three)

2007-09-21T03:08:00.000-04:00

Monday was a beach day. We drove to Makena and walked the Big Beach, then climbed over the hill and checked out the Little Beach. What a great way to get some rays. Big Beach is still one of the world’s best beaches. Little Beach was bigger than I remembered and the trail was easier. Probably because more people have been using it since the ‘blue book’ became popular.
Tuesday we decided to try Honolua Bay, one of our favorite snorkel spots and one of the places we’ve had the good fortune to swim with a pod of dolphins (coincidence–I think not). The first misgiving came when we reached the stream on the short hike in to the beach. In the past, we’ve just skipped across the rocks without even getting our feet wet. But it had rained in West Maui overnight and we waded across in knee-deep water. We snorkeled on the right of the bay and found a lot of deterioration in the coral. As the morning went on, the river kept bringing mud and debris into the bay and the visibility got worse. We left early and had lunch at D. T. Fleming (still didn’t find Bonnie’s watch).
In the afternoon, we stopped at Kahekili and enjoyed a second snorkel. Lots of coral and fish, a great beach with easy entry/exit, showers and washrooms and a grassy lawn for sunning. This has always been one of our favorite spots on Maui but, for some reason, we usually seem to end up here only in the afternoon. We’ll be coming back–in the morning.
Wednesday, we hiked out to ‘the Aquarium’. It’s another 25-30 minute trek across the lava but the trail isn’t as well marked as the one to ‘the Fishbowl’ so, as we scrubbed rust off memories of past visits, the trip out took almost 50 minutes. At least, we didn’t get blown away by the on-shore winds. The snorkeling was great. Lots of fish, including many large groupers. The highlight for me was a five minute encounter with a large moray eel. He just kept swimming from rock to rock and didn’t go to ground for long stretches. Usually, we see eels sticking their heads out of rock crevasses but this trip we seem to be specializing in swimmers. We’re not complaining.

The joys of modern communications

2007-09-21T03:05:00.000-04:00

Before we left home, I went online and created a Google mail account and used that to set up a blog at Blogspot. Big plans to post musings about our experiences and share a few photos during the trip instead of just posting our travel pictures after we returned home. I knew I was taking my laptop for which I had a wireless card and my U3 stick which allowed me access to my web browser and my e-mail program.
‘Gang aft aglay’ as Robbie Burns might say. The first setback occurred when I discovered that I could arrange temporary service on the dial-up level but not high-speed or wireless. But, the condo manager told me that there seemed to be a ‘hot spot’ near the pool and I might be able to use that. So, that night, I set up on the only table near the pool, found the available network and was able to get online. Only one problem, there’s no light and I can’t see the keyboard. Talk about ‘hunt-and-peck’.
The next night I set up in a different spot near the barbeques (where there are lights). This time I found three networks but they’re all encrypted so I don’t get online. Back to the pool, this time with a flashlight. Now, my wireless card can’t find any available networks.
Time to spend some money. I troop to an Internet café and buy some time. I boot up the laptop and insert my wireless card. McAfee immediately sends me a message that the wireless card is incompatible and must be disabled. (When did this happen?) I uninstalled and re-installed the wireless card but McAfee still wasn’t impressed. I’m not getting online with this laptop unless I do it without virus protection.
Oh, well, I do have my U3 stick as a fallback. I can do my writing (blog and e-mails) at the condo on the laptop, save the files to the memory stick, go on line with the stick and transfer the files as necessary. Spend a little more money and get an account with iZone, primarily a gaming site. I was able to get the blog postings done but Thunderbird wouldn’t send my e-mail drafts and kept flashing a message that g-mail wasn’t supported. Still looking for a work-around for that.
In the meantime, the second night I go online with the U3 stick, my web browser (Firefox) goes haywire–something about a missing file. So now I have a laptop with a working browser that I can’t get online and a memory stick that I can get online but the browser won’t work. I need to download a new version of Firefox for U3.
If you’re reading this, I must have found a solution. You may have noticed a lack of pictures. Haven’t worked that out yet. We’re on Maui time so keep checking.

There are slow movers & there are turtles

2007-09-19T01:52:00.000-04:00

The slow movers are us. The turtles were plentiful off Po’olenalena Beach. We’d already seen turtles at Ulua but this was a suburb of what the snorkel tours call ‘Turtle Town’. A great way to spend a Sunday morning. We also watched some fish harass a small octopus. Doreen even saw an eel and a ray–now she’s one up on me.
We spent Sunday afternoon watching the kite surfers at Ho’okipa and Kanaha Beaches. Then we treated ourselves to shave ice.
We needed an easy day after the exertion of Saturday. That was the athletic highlight of our trip–the Maui Taco 5k. It was a fun event–which would have been more fun if they hadn’t put in those hills. Ah, well, we both finished under our projected target times in the middle of the pack We did manage to beat some 6 year olds and some 70+’s. (Actually, Doreen finished fourth in her age group–just missing out on an award by less than two minutes.)
The race was won by Jacob Rotich of Kenya in a time of 15:34. He was using the 5k as a warmup for the Maui Marathon on Sunday. He won that event on Sunday for the fourth straight year. His wife, Hellen, won the ladies’ division in 18:18.
Now it’s on to more beaches, snorkeling and hiking. Did I mention beaches? And snorkeling?

Snorkel time

2007-09-19T01:51:00.000-04:00

Two days of lying around the pool laying down a base tan. And shopping for groceries. And shopping for supplies. And shopping for souvenirs. And shopping for internet service. And shopping. Time to hit the beaches and see some fishes. Our first choice is Ulua/Mokapu. A very good choice. Easy to get to the beach. Easy entry into the water. A little crowded near the shore but better as we go out farther. Lots of fish (scads of humus) but little coral. Visibility could be better. Just out past the rocky point, we had our first surprise–one turtle swimming along, then a second. As we turn away, having filled our picture quota, there’s a third turtle resting on the bottom. On the Mokapu side, I spot my first octopus. On the way back to Ulua, I watch a second octopus stretching and retracting. Then, as I try to line up a Moorish Idol for his portrait, he leads me right to a swimming moray eel. I’ve hit the trifecta on our first snorkel. Our second snorkel trip is to ‘the Fishbowl’. Still a tough 25 minute hike across the lava field. (Plus the extra distance from the parking lot now that they’ve taken away the off-road parking.) Still worth it. Lots of fish in a closed, small space so you get up close. Sometimes too close as Doreen found out when she turned in a cul-de-sac to face an eel swimming right at her. At least now she can stop complaining that I was seeing all the eels. (Two more this morning–why didn’t I get a prescription mask sooner?) Only nineteen more snorkel spots to check out (plus assorted repeat visits). God, life is tough. We’ll just have to suck it up and pretend we’re young again.

Getting there is half the fun

2007-09-19T01:50:00.000-04:00

Not this time. The Air Canada flight from Toronto to Vancouver was fine. The problems were in Vancouver where we had to change planes for the flight to Honolulu. For some reason, we had to go through security again. My carry-on bag, which had sailed through Toronto screening, now sent up a red flag. I was told it was traces of either explosives or makeup. Since I wasn’t wearing any makeup, on came the full search–four security personnel, everything out of the bag, a full body pat-down. They weren’t even sure they’d let me keep my tea bags.
Twenty minutes later security finally released us and now it’s Air Canada’s turn to continue the farce. After all the passengers were seated and strapped in, they discovered that the oxygen supply for the cockpit wasn’t working properly. So, sorry, but there will be a 30 minute delay while the module is replaced. No problem. Everyone wants the pilot to have oxygen. Besides, we have a two hour window in which to catch our fight to Maui. Of course, the passengers won’t be deplaned for this short wait.
But these workers aren’t “Star Trek’s” Scotty and one 30 minute repair becomes repeated delays. Still no deplaning. Doreen is beginning to get frantic. Thank God (or Travis) for the cell phone. She’s able to call Go! Airline and reschedule our Maui flight for Sunday morning. And she can call the car rental people and tell them not to wait up for us. The repair stretched to just over two hours so we arrived in Honolulu just after the last flight to Maui had left. Oh, joy! We’re in Honolulu late on Saturday night with no hotel reservations. Just tack another $150 onto our travel budget. Thanks Air Canada.
The silver lining in this cloud was that the flight to Maui was a daylight rather than nighttime flight and went smoothly. A smaller plane, not full, flying lower–a great opportunity to get some pictures both leaving Oahu and arriving Maui. Things also went smoothly with the rental car agency and the condo check-in. We’ve got a nice one-bedroom unit on the top floor with gorgeous views of West Maui and Ma’alaea Bay. Let the good times roll!!

The countdown is on

2007-09-06T16:48:00.000-04:00

We leave for Hawaii on Saturday for six weeks. This will complete our yearly cycle as we've been in the Hawaiian Islands at some point in every month except September and October. We first visited Hawaii in 1971 when we had family posted there with the US navy and we've been returning off and on ever since. We still haven't been able to pick a definitive favorite island but Maui probably leads on points.
This time we have a month on Maui and two weeks on Oahu. As well, we hope to get in day trips to Lanai (again) and Molokai (a first). Of course, the Ironman is being held on the Big Island during our visit and we'd love to see that in person. Now, if only the money holds out.
Time to pack.