Up, Up and Away...

Sitting in the First Class Cathay Pacific Lounge in the airport in Hong Kong with Christmas songs playing in the background and conveniently seated next to a 10ft tall REAL Christmas tree smelling strongly of pine. Isn't that one of those smells that takes you back? I have to say that I have always TRIED to view the traveling to and from destinations as part of the actual vacation itself, but it is much easier to see things that way when you travel with this level of luxury. Someday this gravy train will end, but until then I savor every, little minute of it.
Last night we retreated to a roof top lounge for our $1.00 Tiger draughts just to get away from the constant barrage of tuk tuk travel offers and street peddlers. Then we came back down to street level to eat in an Indian restaurant. Had some really tasty curry - chicken masala I think. Medium hot, they said. If so, I will not go any hotter than medium hot in the future. But it was very good. Chatted with a gentleman at the next table from Singapore but of Indian descent. He is in the shipping business (Cambodia has just a smidge of coastline and a port) so we discussed corruption in Cambodia (apparently higher than most countries) and cultural differences between Cambodians and Filipinos. Quite interesting.
This morning it was just breakfast at the hotel and then to the airport.
At check-in we ended up with two aisle seats (that flight was only coach!) but it worked out very well since I sat next to a young US lawyer who specializes in international law/human rights law who came to Cambodia to work on some civil law suits related to the Tribunal. We talked about Duch's trial and the remaining four high level members of the Khmer Rouge still to be tried. She is involved with representing Vietnamese families torn apart/killed/damaged by the virtual extermination of the Vietnamese in Cambodia at the time and talked at length about (1) the corruption in the government (again) and (2) the challenges of working through translators in three languages that don't translate well at all. Also extremely interesting. In addition, she has worked on land mine and undetonated ordinance in Afghanistan and also spent several month in Gabon dealing with human trafficking. Now that's impressive work in spite of the fact that she was polite enough to ooh and aah about veterinary medicine - like I buy into such gratuitous fluff. Not! Oh and she is on her way to hang with friends in Kathmandu so she will email me with up to date impressions of the place so we can decide between Nepal and Bhutan for next year.
Meanwhile, Michael sat next to a gentleman and his young son. The son is on his way to a major math competition having been declared the number one 5th grade math student in Cambodia. His father is an entrepreneur who says if we come back to Phnom penh, he'll comp us a stay in a Five-star hotel. His father was a pilot killed by the Khmer Rouge and he and his mother were run out of Phnom penh to work slave labour in the country-side during the Regime. He talked to Michael about being in the labour camps at the age of 5, eating rice water and a few kernels of rice every day and fighting with other children over bugs to eat. He and his mother both survived. They eventually found their way to Indonesia where he volunteered in a number of agencies and learned English and typing and organizational skills as a volunteer and moved back to Phnom penh and is now a partner in a large holding company. Very nice and impressive man who also spoke on the topic of corruption in Cambodia. All in all some really enlightening conversations.
Finally, for anyone still wondering about the whole Vietnam-came-in-to-help-Cambodia dilemma....if you go to the reliable source of modern invormation called Wikipedia...the involvement is explained in the context of the bigger conflict between communist camps in Russia and China....Vietnam having been aligned with Russia who was worried about Cambodia being aligned with China so Russia backed Vietnam in running out the Khmer Rouge (China). Still worth a bit more research. Later, perhaps, when I'm not drinking free wine.
Safe travels.
Later.

Somber morning

So we did the requisite sight-seeing this morning. First, the Royal Palace which miraculously is one block from our hotel (god, I'm good). The main attraction, or at least the one we knew about, is the Silver Pagoda. We were at a loss, however. We could not find a silver pagoda anywhere. An emerald buddha (looking very similar to the jade buddha in the Imperial Palace in Bangkok), scads of other buddhas, stupas at every turn, and a bunch of other pagodas, but where was the silver one? Turns out the silver pagoda is named such because a section of the floor has silver tiles....well honestly the whole thing could be silver tiles but 90% of the floor is covered by rugs, so who can tell? Anyway, having checked that off the list we proceeded to find a tuk tuk (like that is hard!) to take us to the Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng Prison. Pretty depressing but it would have seemed rather disrespectful not to go.
I bought a kindle book right before we left called 'When Broken Glass Floats' written by a woman who was a young child during the Khmer Rouge Regime so I knew more than I did a month ago, but she was not writing about these particular atrocities as she and her family were run out of Phnom penh during the 'liberation' and forced into slave labour in the mountains. It is simply staggering what evil human beings are capable of perpetrating.
Now my interest is in what motivated the Vietnamese - just recovering from their own war/conflict - to come to the aid of the Cambodians. I understand that the current Prime Minister of Cambodia (previously one of Pol Pot's lieutenants) fled to Vietnam to petition for assistance in over-throwing the Regime. But if the Vietnamese did so for truly altruistic reasons (and I'm a cynic at heart which is why I want to understand more), then I commend them for stepping in when nobody else did.
On a lighter note, we have an update on the Johnny Walker gasoline dispensing situation. It makes sense to be able to watch someone pour one liter of gas into your tank if you are only buying one liter of gas because spitting that much out of a regular gas pump would seem silly. But our tuk tuk driver today pulled into a regular gas station (like our taxi driver did yesterday in Siem Reap). He only bought a small amount of gasoline but there was a big, plastic bag of snacks sitting next to the pump (chips, cookies, sunflower seeds, etc) and the attendant tossed him one of those too. Now that we think of it, the taxi driver was given a bottle of water. So we are thinking that the actual gas stations, in competing with the 'Johnny Walker' gas stands, must have seen a need for offering a value added service (kind of like the free beer with the Fish Pedicures) and must promote a 'buy x liters of gas and get a free snack' offer - kind of like a Happy Meal! Capitalism and free enterprise at work.

Rollin' on the River

That's actually the name of a restaurant here on the river in Phnom penh. Morning is dawning with the sun reflecting on the Tonle Sap River as the barges and little fishing boats go by. The river walk is coming alive. There are a surprising number of people out for 6AM. Some walking, some just sitting, others line dancing. Yes, line dancing. When we were in the night market in Luang Prabang there was a video on in one of the booths teaching the steps to a line dance. Thought little of it at the time, but we should have paid attention and learned the steps since apparently it's big here. Last night we passed three different groups of dancers on the street - with older folks down to a wee little girl getting down to the music; and now there are two more groups that I can see from the window who must dance as a form of morning exercise like doing tai chi in the park. Richard Simmons would be proud.
Last night was just beautiful. Perfect weather again. Strolling. People watching. Checking out restaurants. Split a pitcher of Angkor beer, had Cambodian spicy and sour beef and lemon grass soup (very good), vegetable pad thai (so-so but that's coz I miss those little bundles of fresh herbs we always got in Laos) and a panang curry that was awesome. More expensive here, though, since all of that cost $15 which is the most we've spent in ages! Chatted with some Australian chaps at the next table. The guy closest to us is just retired (and I mean JUST - as in last Friday) from the military. He used to train troops for jungle war fare in Papua New Guinea.
Basically very pleasantly surprised. Really had marginal expectations of Phnom penh. The original tour we were going to do ended up here so we had to come here to catch our flight home but didn't really expect to like it. Can't even remember why I chose this hotel except that it is on the river and just a couple blocks from the Silver Pagoda and Royal Palace so that must have been it. But it turns out it's a great location just south of the busiest part of the street so not as noisy but accessible. And we're clearly going to enjoy ourselves not just kill time.
Meanwhile, gotta get out there and take it all in. Later.

Arrived Phnom penh

Nice enough hotel at $40 night incl airport pickup, taxes, breakfast, and wi-fi. Lovely view of the river with pretty river walk. Heading out to explore.
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From Fish pedicures to Dairy Queens

We had a free morning on this last day in Siem Reap so we spent it leisurely packing our bags, tuk tuk to town for breakfast (the noodle soup was excellent), and a bit more shopping for Michael.
Throughout our stay we have managed to decline (time and time and time again) the surprisingly popular Fish Pedicures. Everywhere you turn there are 100 gallon fish tanks full of little fish that are apparently happy to consume dirt and dead skin cells off of willing (and not ticklish) tourists' feet for 20 minutes at a cost of $3.00 - but that includes a draught beer. So you'll see maybe 8 strangers who would normally probably wear flipflops in a hotel shower all sitting with their feet dangling in a tank of dirty water with fish swarming their feet. A great idea for all you business people looking for the next big franchise!
Anyway, carrying on - we squeezed in a tour of the oldest temples. It was beastly hot but the sky was clear so we stopped one more time at Angkor Wat for more photos - still scaffolding but prettier skies!
Now we are at the airport too far in advance of our flight so we walked over to the International Terminal and found, of all things, a Dairy Queen! Craziness. So we are eating oreo and kit kat blizzards in Siem Reap looking at Christmas decorations apparently put up just for the tourists in this Buddhist nation. It's a mad, mad, mad, mad world.
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'Solucky'

During Khmer Rouge control, many of the stone sentries lining the causeways
to the wats and temples were beheaded and their heads sold off to collectors
in neighboring countries. This one survived.

more bas relief

They're dancing in the streets

You've heard of Gasahol

Well, here in Siem Reap, Cambodia tuk tuks apparently run on Johnny Walker
Red Label. I know this because our tuk tuk pulled over this morning on our
way to more temples and a woman picked up one of the many bottles of JW on
the stand and trotted over to us. I thought, at first, that our driver was
going to start drinking at the early hour of 8AM but then I was thrown off
by the fact that, in addition to the bottle, the woman was carrying a
funnel! Turns out that the contents of the bottle went into the tuk tuk's
fuel tank not the tuk tuk driver's.

What is he grinning about?

The Perils of Deferred Maintenance

Let this be a lesson in what can happen if you don't keep your gutters clean!
Had a wonderful if exhausting day here in Siem Reap. Started with a predawn trip to Ankgor Wat. Unfortunately the sunrise revealed the seemingly ubiquitous tourist attraction scaffolding. Nevertheless an awesome sight. Phenomenal bas reliefs on every imaginable surface of the extensive temple structures.
Next on to Ta Prohm (tho' don't hold me to the spelling as we're at the bar again and far away from a guide book). This place (see the photo) is famous for appearing with Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider. Tiny in comparison to Angkor but the French decided long ago to allow the jungle to have its way with the site - to create some pretty amazing effects. Guess they were looking ahead to the film industry even then.
Wanted to escape the crowds (there was a marathon here today and no we didn't run) so we veered off the typical tour and went north to Banteray srei (again, probably wrong) which is another small complex but of pink sandstone with very delicate detailed carvings.
Finally finished up at Angkor Thom of the 54 towers with 216 large, carved, beatific faces fame. Very cool but we were exhausted from climbing up and down and up and down and up and down and.....
So here we are at dinner. Will post more photos later. But having a great time.
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Anchors Away!

OK that's not my pun. That's Michael's. We are now in Siem Reap, Cambodia at
Angkor Wat where you can get Anchor Beer on draught for $.50US just about
anywhere.

Uneventful flights down from Luang Prabang. And here we are. Dropped our
stuff at the hotel north of 'town' but closer to the Wats and then walked
south. This is easy navigating....go to the river and turn left.

Town itself consists of one huge market (Michael already bought two very
cool believably old knives) and a mass of cheap restaurants and bars most of
which have Happy Hour pretty much all of the time. Stopped for beers and
spring rolls and met a couple of late 20-ish British blokes who are bumming
around for about 4 months before getting too serious about life.

This place is way cool. We are seriously questioning why we never got back
to southeast Asia in all these years. Meant to. Really meant to after
Thailand in '89 and again after Bali n '91 and then the winds just took us
elsewhere and we never returned. But we most definitely will again now. We
love it here.

Tomorrow morning it's an early start to see Angkor Wat at sunrise. The taxi
will pick us up at 5AM and we should be running around ruins for the best
part of the day. Should be totally awesome.

Rest and relaxation or....

Today is our last day of lazing around Laos. It has been years since we took a vacation (where we sit around and do nothing) as opposed to traveling (where we run around seeing and doing everything we can possibly see and do) so this has been refreshingly peculiar for us.
This morning we didn't even get out of bed to see the monks go by.
After breakfast and a short walk, I decided to stay in and read for a bit while Michael went out wandering and shopping again. Having always gone out together we are constantly offered tuk tuk rides and tours of the cave and waterfalls. Apparently, there is, however, more to this sleepy little town. When Michael went out alone he was offered opium and the company of women.
Hmmmmmm.

Just to show you we don't just eat.

Better than a Denny's Grand Slam

Having taken in the tourist sites yesterday (that cave full of Buddha
statues and the whiskey village) we are now left with nothing to do but to
eat and to drink and to shop. So we spent the day eating and drinking and
shopping.
This is a photo of breakfast down by the Mekong River. All of that food for
about $8.00US. That was our biggest meal of the day. Lunch was $6.00. And
for dinner we splurged on that fill your plate buffet down at the night
market for $1.25 each. Then we went crazy and had a cinnamon roll for $.60,
and Michael had a banana mango honey crepe for $1.25. Food here does not
have to be a major expense.
In all fairness to full disclosure, I am tired of drinking beer so I did
coerce Michael into having a glass of wine (Frontera Chardonnay and Merlot)
for $4.00 each. Woo Hoo. But sat with two Australian physicians and had a
nice chat about infectious diseases, parasitology and advanced veterinary
medicine.
At the buffet picnic table seating we talked with two young women who are
bumming around (for two months so far and for an indefinite period to come).
Turns out they are from the Bay Area - recently San Francisco but grew up in
Walnut Creek and Pleasanton.
Oh and the shopping. Well, let's just say that Santa might have come early
this year.
Now what will we do with ourselves tomorrow?

Big old Buddha

Pretty well fed monk! I think I saw a Snicker bar wrapper in his alms basket.

It's Thursday morning here now. We have almost been in Southeast Asia for a
full 7 days now. Hard to imagine it hasn't been longer than that.
Yesterday woke up at 4A to the sounds of bells and drums. Around 6A the alms
procession started with the monks making their rounds through town to
receive their gifts of alms from the lay people. Our room has a balcony
right on the street so we could just sit out and drink our coffee and tea
and watch them pass by the wat right across the road. There's any
interesting anthropological dilemma there in that tourists buy rice and rent
mats from street vendors to distribute alms to the monks in an imitation of
what is really a deeply religious event/interaction between Buddhist lay
people and the monks. We even read one treatise on the wall at one of the
wats respectfully requesting that tourist not engage in the ceremony unless
they can do so in a truly meaningful way. So we are abiding by the tenet
that you should observe but not influence and are not joining in.
The rest of the day yesterday was spent roaming around town and taking a tuk
tuk ride one hour up river to the Pacau caves where pilgrims have left
hundreds of Buddha statues tucked into the recesses in the caves. More steps
for Michael. (Will post some Buddha statue photos.)
Then went to the night market and ate a sandwich from a street vendor for
dinner. Considering the all you can put on a plate street buffet for
10,000kip ($1.25) for tonight's dinner (if we don't get sick today :-))

Seems there are wealthy televangilists in Laos, too

Thinking of going pro with the photography

Michelin star should arrive any day

$1US = 8,000Kip

Sunset Luang Prabang

Darn Dyslexia. Did I tell Michael 130+ steps?
Oops. Actually 310+ steps.

Nirvana - not the band, the frame of mind

After an enjoyable day yesterday, woke up again at 5AM for the taxi to the airport.


The flight numbers on the board never showed us a check-in area for our Laos Airline flight - waited patiently for instructions and then with only 1-1/2 hours to take off, decided to find someone to ask. Only Vietnam Airlines personnel around…apparently because only Vietnam Airlines flies all of these other routes. In this case, the booking was with Laos Airlines, the Flight was code share with Vietnam Airlines and the plane was Cambodia Angkor Air. So nice when people can get along.

Flying into Laos it was obvious from the air that we were going to like this place. Typical Asian mountains and lots of green that we could actually see through clear skies – not the ‘fog’ that sits over the cities in Vietnam. Landed in small airport in Luang Prabang (but don’t pronounce the g’s and say it like you have marbles in your mouth…that’s probably pretty close). Had reserved exactly $62 US for on-site Visa. Price apparently went up to $72US. Brief moment of panic. But Michael was allowed to leave the Immigration area to go out and use the ATM machine (in this itty bitty place) to get 700,000Kip (approx. $80US) so we could enter the country.

Beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful.

Let me repeat.

Beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful.

Within one hour we knew we would have to come back to Laos. Watch for future plans but for now we are thrilled to have four days here.

This town is adorable. There are restaurants at every step. There are amazing shops selling silver and silks and I don’t even like to shop….but watch me here!

Had a huge lunch. $13 including drinks and a shared dessert.

Saw some wats (temples), some monks amonkst us (he he he I crack me up), and have had just a lovely afternoon.

Getting ready to climb the 130+ steps up to the top of Phu Si to watch the setting sun light up the temples.

So photos later.

We were sailing along on Halong Bay

Now that you've been blasted by photos from Michael, I'll just wind up quickly about our day today.
Compared to yesterday's crazy, frenetic pace this was a real sleeper...except for the not sleeping part.
We were picked up this morning by our driver and our guide....Hoang (or "Tim", his easier tourist name though Hoang seems perfectly do-able to us) from Hai Phong. He was so intent on us understanding his English and would constantly ask if we understood and if not he would stick with it until we comprehended every subtle nuance of his stories. Admirable, for sure. But it was giving me a headace at 6AM.
Meanwhile, the ride to Halong Bay was longer than anticipated...almost 4 hours. Luckily we had our Kindle's with us so we could read during the drive.
Once there, the boat was, in fact, just what 'Manager' said it would be and just the two of us on it. It was a beautiful day out on the water, clearing to sunny but with a nice breeze. Walks through two caves and just motoring around the bay looking at island after island after island of the 1986 that exist in the bay.
Lunch on the boat was quite a spread....chicken wings, fresh shrimp, whole fish, squid, salads, veggies, rice, etc etc etc.
And then about 3 hours back. (Funny thing. Anybody who's ever taken a horse out for a ride knows that they move a lot faster once you turn back towards the barn. Well, same is true of Halong Bay boats and Hanoi drivers.)
Gotta go search for dinner now.
Tomorrow Goodbye Vietnam! Hello Laos!

Islands in Halong Bay

Water puppets in Hanoi

Never complain about laundry again!

Gardening along the river

They really do have pagodas here

Too tired to be witty

Sorry about that. But I am exhausted - again. In fact, it's tomorrow (my tomorrow not yours) now because I fell asleep with my fingers poised over the keyboard and this program shut down. Luckily Google somehow realized what had happened (aren't computers amazing? Hal, thanks for helping.) and saved the draft.
Anyway, starting to really look forward to eating french pastries and meditating with the monks in Laos in a couple of days, but first there was much to be done.
Caught our flight to Hanoi. The woman gave us exit row seats which was only marginally disturbing because in other foreign countries you have to be able to speak the language to sit in the exit row (so you can understand instructions if given in a crisis - makes sense) but nobody seems to care about that here. Good news, bad news.
Anyway, got to Hanoi. Caught a cab. Into town (about 35 KM). Pulled up at the Sunshine Palace Hotel and some guy jumps in our cab with us and explains that he is the manager of the hotel, that they have 5 hotels and filled up 'our' hotel with a big group so he was moving us to one of their other hotels for a comparable room. Cab driver tried to double our fare by asking us to pay for some permit/ticket he got at the airport so we had to tell him to get lost.  Then our manager guy shows us our room and then checks us in and then offers to book us our trip to Halong Bay. We are going to Halong Bay, of course, since when you see photos of Halong Bay it is what you think of when you think of Vietnam - big, vertical, pointed rocks sticking out of the bay - well, it's what you see in your mind's eye when you are not thinking of the impressive pine forests!
But our used-car-salesman like manager is running at a mile a minute....no we don't want a group tour that leaves at 8AM on a bus and gets to Halong Bay at nearly noon to have lunch on the water, kayak, and come back. My guide book said, if you can, to rent a private boat so you can go where you want (not just the crowded, standard places). So we asked about that....started at $335pp for 'deluxe', then $250pp for "Superior' and finally, when I suggested we think about it to $185pp for 'standard' with presumably the only difference being the size of the boat. Of course he had a picture of one boat and kept saying the next one down is 'the same just smaller' so there could still be some interesting turns in this saga. But given that the cab ride (based on the actual meter from the airport and the distance to Halong Bay) would be about $80 US each way we can live with that since this way we can leave at 6A and get there faster and stay as long as we like. ('The boat will be yours. You do what you want.' said the man.) So good.
After checking in and finding out where the heck we are (since we were not expecting to be in this location), we set off for: the market (3 stories high) so with real floors instead of dirt which was a nice touch; the merchant streets surrounding the market area and the lake. Basically navigated blocks and blocks and blocks of stuff. We talk about conspicuous consumption in the United States but this is just a different kind of conspicuous consumption. We have fancy cars and Nordstrom. But here they have one billion little stalls packed to the absolute gills with absolutely anything and everything FOR MILES. It's all crap, but there is a TON of it. I mean use one of the candy scales and weigh it all. I am sure I will be proven right.
Got to the lake. Walked to the end of it to see the 'beautiful examples of French Colonial architecture' at the Sofitel hotel and the Opera House. Returned to the north end of the lake right on time to buy our tickets for the Water Puppet Theatre Show at 3:30P and then went to have a beer.
Since we had time, we walked to the 'musical instrument' section of the massive shopping area. Nothing. Walked on to the knife maker section to find a guy who was actually featured in the on board airrline magazine for his craftsmanship.....nothing. Crap. Just rough hewn kitchen knives....no facas artisinale, that's for sure.
By then, we had to kick ass back to the puppet theatre in time for the show. We knew not to expect much. The puppets are pretty simple without a lot of articulation but they skim the water while being controlled by the puppeteers standing hip deep in water back behind the curtain. They do some interesting maneuvers given that they have to keep from tangling up the rods or whatever they use to control the puppets, jump through some fire rings that sort of thing and the music was very pretty. But it's like opera. Can't understand anything they are saying. Can't sing along to the tunes. And I was beat from running around town so I may have dozed off during some of the key parts but I think I got the gist.
By this point...having lived only on a beer and the candy we bought in the candy merchant section of town we were getting weak and dizzy so we headed back to the hotel more than a little concerned that we were not seeing restaurants. In all of our walking thus far the only one we saw was the place where we had our beer. Trudging all the way back we still never saw one. Got to the hotel. Still nothing. Asked at the desk and the woman said there was a nice place further down the road (yeah! further!) so we kept walking. Still nothing. Seeing nothing. Just more little shops. And then literally at the corner before the street number for the restaurant the world changed. Not hugely. We weren't all of a sudden in Manhattan or anything. By perceptively. Bam. There were actual stores...with store fronts and windows and real clothes. And a restaurant. A real restaurant. Actually fancier than anyplace we've eaten so far. We felt like we had reached the oasis in the desert. I think I even heard angels singing.
So in the end, we were not left to starve on the streets of Hanoi. We did find sustenance. Very good food, in fact. I even splurged on a glass of wine. The menu said it was Cabernet/Merlot and it was white wine that was awful but only $3US/glass so I had two. I mean at some point you just count your blessings and enjoy the moment.

The Worldwide Web

Isn't exactly worldwide. I just tried to go to facebook and I cannot connect to the site. The browser will not take me to the page saying connection problem. But it will take me anywhere else I have cared to go. So apparently folks who have 287 faux-friends are not welcome here.
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Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore" -Poe

My bird-watching brother may have been breathing a sigh of relief that I
haven't posted any bird pictures for identification so far on this trip, but
there's an intriguing reason for that. There are none. No, seriously. A few
sparrows pecking at the ground in Ho Chi Minh City but it dawned on me this
morning when we were eating breakfast outside at the hotel where normally
there'd be well-trained birds not-so-patiently waiting for crumbs that there
are no birds. Where the heck are they? In Hue, we are not far from the coast
and on top of a river....no water birds even? Not a duck? Not a seagull? Not
a pigeon. Freakish really.

So on our river cruise today I was purposely scanning for them. ONE white
crane flew across the river in front of us. ONE. The whole time. And once at
another emperor's tomb I heard something chirping. It might have been a bird
but that is pure speculation. But that was it. Very peculiar............

Meanwhile, the river cruise was nice. A lot of dredging of the river whereby
these little local boats suck up the bottom with big hoses, force the spray
through a screen and collect the sand/silt into the hull of the boat to take
it to the side of the river to off load it all and do it again. Only a few
boats actually fishing. Of course for all I know there aren't a whole lot
more fish than there are birds.

Saw more tombs, more temples, more pagodas and some water buffalo. I thought
at first they just looked like unhappy cows, but that's because they were
water buffalo. And just like any place touristy, it always makes me laugh
when you are walking to an 'attraction' and there is a line of stalls or
kiosks and everybody is trying to sell you the EXACT same things. Bananas?
Candy? Coca Cola? Bananas? Candy? Coca Cola? Over and over again. How come
nobody ever throws in a Cookies? Margaritas? Nope. Whatever it is in the
area (Chicklets in Mexico or Finger puppets in Cuzco, Peru) that's it. No
exceptions.

In addition, I realize that I've only seen a wee tiny little bit of Vietnam,
but I clearly had some incorrect, preconceived notions of the area. I was
expecting one of two things: jungle or Bali. So far I'm wrong on both
counts. Obviously no jungle in the cities. But we are also in the midst of
pine covered forests. Totally unexpected. Gotta go back and check my
latitude.

On the food front, had another great lunch today. Grilled shrimp and grilled
pork that you wrap in rice paper along with some greens (tiny cilantro, tiny
mint, tiny celery leaves and lettuce) with a light peanut sauce. Yum. Yum.
And Michael tried the banana blossom and shrimp soup that he liked so much
he wants to go back to have more for dinner. Really nice.

Afterwards we did a little strolling around and window shopping. We've
really gotten quite adept at crossing the street amidst all of the cars,
motorcycles, scooters and bikes. Have decided that the key is NEVER flinch
and for heaven's sake NEVER STOP. Pick your path, stick to it, and maintain
a steady and predictable speed so everybody else can avoid you. Works like a
charm. Walking 'along' the street is actually the tricky part. You have
moving vehicles on the streets, but you have parked vehicles all along the
sidewalks - such as they are. So you are either up and down off the curbs to
take advantage of the short stretches of unobstructed sidewalk that exist
before stepping down into the street again or you just stay in the street.
Michael was getting a little uncomfortable walking in the street and
demanded that we get back up on the sidewalk. Not two strides later a
bicycle comes out of a space between two houses, turns right while looking
left and comes within a hair's breadth of hitting us. So after being
perfectly safe crossing the streets, we nearly get hit on the sidewalk!

Finally, we stepped into one little shop and my head whips around. What is
that? What is that sound? Birds? Are there birds here finally? Yup, 6 of
them in 6 cages hanging from the ceiling. And then I remembered the other
place I saw birds....at the market....in cages. That's where the birds are.

I scream for ice cream

Lovely evening last night. The lights on the nearest bridge across the Perfume River has color changing lights on it. You don’t see that every day.

Staunchly avoided the tourist restaurant across the street, conveniently called The Touristy Restaurant, with its western food, pool tables and American music and went to a local place nearby for beef noodles and chicken fried rice. Then New Zealand ice cream. Michael had coconut and durian (I do NOT know why he likes that stuff) while I tried raspberry and sugar-dried tamarind (which it turns out tastes very much like carmelized ginger).

Slept like a baby last night – finally. And woke up this morning with the realization that we have only actually been here for less than 48 hours. Wow.

Off to breakfast.

Puff the Magic Dragon

Dragons, dragons everywhere. On roofs of temples, on columns of tombs, on walls.
Everywhere here in Hue.
Things went well at the airport this morning. We even ate Pho (noodle soup) for breakfast.
Here in Hue we walked over to the market and then the Citadel, Imperial City. Then we dragged our weary asses back to have lunch (three different Vietnamese appetizers, two beers and a Coke Light for $10....and the drinks were the more expensive things.) This afternoon off to see the tombs of two Nguyen Emperors. That was a lot of walking for a couple of old folks who spent the previous couple of days sitting around eating and drinking. So now we've hit the wall and crashed a little bit.
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving back at home. Save us a piece of pumpkin pie.

Not sure if these are good guys or bad guys

Turtles are symbols of luck in Viet Nam...unless you are a turtle...

Good Morning, Vietnam! - Robin Williams

OK, so anyone who is a betting man knew that we’d have to use that one. Cheap shot, I know.

Meanwhile, it isn’t really morning yet. But with jet lag and time zone changes, I have been awake off and on since midnight. Need to be up at 4A to catch our flight to Hue so 3:30A seems as good a time as any to blog as we eat our complimentary dragon fruit (very cool, like sweet jicama with teeny black seeds), green bananas and green oranges.

Just wanted to catch up on yesterday. It’s a bit of a fog but here are the highpoints to finish the day.

Walked around. Sweated like pigs. Marveled at the teeny tiny tables and stools that everyone sits on at the local eateries. Really like little step stools or pre-school furniture. If Michael even attempted to sit on one, well, he’d never get up again and we’d just have to use him as a planter. He’d look disproportionally immense rather like Will Ferrell in the movie, Elf.

Huge wedding going on here last night. Why on a Thursday?, I wonder. But the reception was set up on the courtyard right under our supposedly quiet, away-from-the-street standard room. So we complained (what with our 4AM wake-up call) and got a bigger room on the other side. The wedding party was in bright yellow with red trims…the guys’ suits were reminiscent of the Beatles and made of shiny silk material. And more than one woman other than the bride was wearing a long, formal white dress. Hmmmmm?

Unfortunately, it was raining cats and dogs so we ate on the sidewalk outside the hotel to watch traffic go by (plastic poncho clad vespa drivers all over the place) and saw some unlucky guests who arrived that way entering the hotel with the sides and legs of their fancy attire all wet. Boo hoo.

Slept well when we slept and really looking forward to getting on with the trip.

Do you know the way to San Jose?

So we're in line going back through security in transit in Hong Kong. An Indian family of four is just ahead of us in line and I notice the the father is toting a cloth briefcase provided by the drug company, Bayer, at some AVMA Conference or another. So Michael asks him if he's a veterinarian (After all, I am carrying a very nice Hill's Pet Food sponsored backpack that I 'won' at an AVMA booth a couple of years ago.) No he's not, he explains in his Indian accent, a friend of his gave it to him. He lives in Davis....California...OK. What are those odds?
Then after we took our showers and had our coffee, we were in line to board our final flight and start chatting with the guy behind us who would appear to be from Southeast Asia. Michael asks if he lives in Hong Kong. Nope, traveling on business. He lives in Orange Country, CALIFORNIA....breeds and trains police dogs....was just in Germany buying some new dogs! OK.
And then, we get to Ho Chi Minh City. We go through Immigration and are on the escalator coming down into Baggage Claim and the woman behind us, clearly Vietnamese, speaking with a Vietnamese accent, asks if we are here on business or holiday. Holiday. Where do you live? We live in the Caribbean but used to live in California. Really? She has a house in NEWPORT BEACH, CA.
So, who's gonna do that statistical calculation? What are the odds that three randomly chosen people in Hong Kong and Ho Chi Minh City all live in California?
Anyway, here and exhausted. Got to the Continental Hotel which was the location for a book clled the Quiet American (that I would be reading right now except it's not on Kindle). Pretty dated place but in the middle of the 'touristy' part of the city. Went to the Jade Emperor Pagoda (Michael will post some photos later) and then walked a circuit of the buildings to see in this area. Now fighting to stay awake (Michael gave up a little while ago) because if we both fall asleep there's no telling when we manage to wake up againnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

Back to the Future

35 hours down 3.5 to go.
That International Date Line crossing is always a little bit weird. There you are traveling backwards and backwards and backwards with the time getting earlier and earlier and earlier and then WHAM! you shoot forward into tomorrow. So now it's Thanksgiving here but not yet where people actually celebrate Thanksgiving.
Meanwhile, sitting here in the Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge in Hong Kong. Have about 30 minutes before our final leg to Ho Chi Minh City so took a quick shower....bless these lounges (how many times do I say that every trip?), a cup of coffee and then we'll be off.
For future reference I may need to start taking drugs to sleep. Slept only fitfully and probably less than 3 hours straight from JFK to Vancouver and then only an hour at a stretch for maybe 4 hours total spaced out during the 14 hours to Hong Kong. Michael reminded me that the last time we flew to Hong Kong was from LAX 10 years ago on our way to China and that was coach and he was the age I am now so he's thinking we should start preserving our frequent flier miles and start flying coach again. HA! We'll see how he feels once the rummy-ness wears off.
But it was lovely (after hours or what seemed like days of darkness) to see the sun rise from the other side of the Pacific Ocean as we came into Hong Kong this morning. Stunning.

Sometimes you have to wonder

Why did we ever declare our independence?
We landed in JFK at terminal 8 and bopped in to the Admirals Club Lounge to find out where to go for our Cathay Pacific One World Alliance flight to Hong Kong. Terminal 7. But Michael had some emails on his laptop he needed to send so we stayed where we were to use the internet not knowing what we'd find in T7. Drank some iced tea. Passed on the carrot sticks. Recharged some batteries and then headed over.
Now we are in the British Airways (also One World partners) Terraces Lounge (note not EVEN the First Class Lounge) with the full, self-serve bar, the drinks, the sandwiches, the cookies and candies, and the cushy chairs. What were we thinking? Oh, and the water fountain in the middle. The British know how to do it right!
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'To infinity...and beyond!' - Buzz Lightyear

Well, the pool is clean, the laundry is in the process, the fridge is cleaned out and apparently the ferries are running to St Martin (there was some concern about high seas shutting down the ports). Sonya and Bob are on their way to take care of the poor kitties who always think they want in the luggage when we are packing but really did not inherit their parents penchant for travel.
We'll head to SXM this afternoon to spend the night in anticipation of our first (of five flights) starting at 9AM tomorrow morning followed by about 28 hours on planes and 9 hours in airports.
Everybody keeps saying how small the world has become, but you are not going to be able to prove it by me!
We'll catch you later from the other side of the world.

Sometimes we forget

We travel so much and marvel at the foreign and the exotic
and then we forget to look out our own windows.
Sunrise in Anguilla today.

There's no place like home - Dorothy

Lima to Miami yesterday. Walking from the plane to Immigration we round a corner, get on a moving walkway and what do we see at the end of the walkway but a half a dozen customs agents and a german shepherd dog. Oh, and one young guy up against the wall as one agent tells another one that "it's on his bag and on his clothes." Now imagine how you feel when you are going a few miles above the speed limit and look in your rear view mirror and see a police car behind you. Now imagine how you must feel when you are carrying drugs and come around that corner and see those agents and that dog. That has got to be a major downer.
Anyway, we were only carrying legal drugs purchased cheaply in Lima so we sailed right through and on to see our old friends at the Hilton Miami Airport. Then even though he usually rags on me about being obsessive about working out, Michael actually suggested that I had time to run a couple of miles in the fitness room before dinner. So what does that say about how much I've been eating and drinking on the trip? (It's only the couple of days of illness that may have saved me.) So I get on the treadmill, plug in my earphones and turn on my little, personal television. The channel comes on in Spanish. I'm a little groggy so that throws me. For a brief moment I'm thinking, 'where the heck am I?' In Brazil speaking Spanish in response to Portugese? In Lima speaking Spanish in the face of Spanish? No, I'm in the United States of America. I'm sure of it. I remember going through Customs and Immigration. Yeah, right. The guy with the drug-sniffing dog. That was definitely the US. So why is the TV speaking Spanish? Oh, right. I'm in Miami. Nuff, said.
Anyway, we are home. Got here with three weeks worth of laundry and no laundry soap, but the cats are fine and the house is still standing and the weather is gorgeous and all is right with the world.
Now unless we come across any really outstanding photos to post this is pretty much it for this installment of the blog. But do not despair. Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos are only 3-1/2 weeks away. And new acquaintances at the veterinary meeting in Lima were talking to Michael about speaking in Mexico City and Havana, Cuba which means that next year could include a pretty busy travel schedule as well. So keep in touch. Meanwhile, as they say in Brazil, Ciao. Ciao.

It was just my imagination - Temptations

OK. Sitting in the first class Sumaq lounge at the Peru Airport. Lord it's good to have 'status' again. And in the interest of full disclosure, I did not want the picture Michael posted last night of the Nazca line image to mislead. Lord knows when we were first told to look out the window and spot the line image of the whale we felt pretty deceived. There are freakin' lines everywhere and no convenient red dot or flashing light to draw your eyes to the line(s) that are making up the image. Quite honestly it is almost as hard at first as picking a constellation out of a sky filled with stars. Add in the banking and turning and the fact that you only have a few fleeting seconds to find the image yourself, try to explain its location to your spouse (without landmarks....how do you say...'hey, it's there. next to that other line. you see, the fat line.  no not that fat line....etc etc etc) and then snap a picture before your stomach is churning off to the next image.
In spite of that, since I had the better seat, even though I am not the photographer of the pair and need my reading glasses to even begin to see the display on my cheap little camera, just like the monkey and the typewrite and Shakespeare - I managed to capture images of almost all the images we saw. No I didn't get the whale but that was the first one and I'm lucky I ever even saw it in the first place.
So here is a before and after so you understand. The original view as captured from the plane. And then the CSI-enhanced version.

On the Road Again - Willie Nelson

Here is the Cruzero Sol bus that we took from Lima to Paracas. I don't know
what Michael thought I was getting him into, but he was pleasantly
surprised. Guess he imagined chickens and pigs and lord know what while the
buses are actually quite luxurious: pillows, blankets, light snack, movies
and wireless internet access. Yes, that is what I wrote. Wireless internet
access. In fact, there is even a little internet business office in the
front of the bus in case you want to send emails, etc but don't have your
own computer with you. (The other photo is the Paracas bus station.)
Exceptionally glad we elected not to drive this route ourselves. It is just
a world of nothingness through the desert. There's an occasional tiny town
but that is it. Even Paracas turned out to be minuscule though they are
clearly preparing for a huge influx of tourism dollars what with
construction everywhere, paver brick walkways and piazzas....starting to
look like Puerto Vallarta. We had a couple of hours to kill so we walked
into town to have a quick bite (but not too much pre-flight) and then caught
a cab to the airport (which is much nicer just small).

I'm so dizzy. My head is spinning.

Took off in a 12 passenger plane from Pisco which is a small but nice
airport. Flew a half hour to the lines region and then spent the next half
hour twisting from side to side so everyone could have a look at the lines.
Got quite queezy but managed to hold on to lunch thanks to modern chemistry.
Saw most of the more famous drawings. Some were not as obvious as others
and by the time you found them it was too late to get good photos. This is
my favorite...a hummingbird. Then a half hour back to the airport.
The new theory is that they drew them quite small on the desert floor and
then used enlargement techniques just expanding the lines until they were
huge drawings. Then they walked on the surface to pack it down and used
rocks to outline it.
However they did it it was amazing work and beautiful designs that cover
hundreds and even thousands of square feet.

Now we are having a bite and sharing an Inca Cola before we catch the next
bus to Lima...should be home in about 4 hrs and then will pack for our trip
to Miami and eventually home.
Ciao for now

Off to see the Lines

Wake up call set for 5:30A. Up at 3:30A and not able to really get back to sleep.
Taxi at 6:15 to bus terminal. Bus at 7:30 to Paracas. Taxi to airport in Paracas.
Flight over Nazca Lines at 2:00P. Taxi to bus terminal in Paracas. Bus from Paracas at 6:00P.
Taxi to hotel should arrive here again at 10P. Then wake up call at 5:30A for taxi to airport to Miami.

Meanwhile, All packed up with supplies in case I puke....and I've plotted out the dramamine schedule to try to avoid it. Little planes swinging left and then right over each image so that everyone on the plane can get their photos. Plus you know they get a sadistic thrill from making the crazy tourists sick.

Good times. But should be awesome. You all better see some great photos come out of this or I'm gonna be bummed.

In Peru

I got sick on the plane from Iguassu to Sao Paulo Friday afternoon. And then had to fly 6 hours again yesterday. Oh joy. Chills, aches, stomach upset. Michael always gets so frustrated with me like I do it on purpose in spite of the fact that I am careful about what I eat and use sanitizing gel constantly. Could be I just don’t drink enough alcohol. Meanwhile, other folks in the group (some who only did the first week, others that did the extension to Iguassu) also reported getting sick. (we went to Iguassu after the other folks left.) So it wasn’t just me. Tried sending him off to dinner with the veterinarians last night without me so (1) he wouldn’t have to keep giving me the evil eye for being sick and (2) so I could maybe recover and be 100% today. But he decided not to go. The time difference from Brazil to Peru is three hours so we'd been up since the equivalent of 2AM. So just room service. Friday night I only had chicken soup. Last night I opted to go for the Minestrone.
Have you seen 'Bridget Jones' Diary'? The bright blue soup she makes for her birthday dinner? Well, my minestrone was fluorescent green. Attempt that on an upset stomach.
Anyway, this morning I am feeling better and starving. Not the 100% I was hoping for but better. It has been suggested that we take the time today to visit the Natural History Museum so that's what we will do.
Probably no great photos unless I get back to the little videos I took of the falls just to try to capture the sound.
Later.

Oh let it rain, rain, rain, rain - The Temptations

Between running around South American and posting pictures and blogging about running around South America, I am exhausted. I always knew that travel was for the young....I just always used to be one of the young. I am afraid now that I am sliding down that downward slope to aged.

Mercifully, god in his infinite wisdom, has seen fit to bring rain. Now normally we would be jumping up and down because that means a full cistern. Here, we are not jumping up and down only because we are too sore to move, but we are grateful to have the excuse to not make just one more quick circuit of the walk along the falls this morning before heading to the airport and on to overnight in Sao Paulo.

We have been extremely lucky: sunny day first day to make three circuits here on the Brazilian side with poolside reprieve inbetween, overcast and not so deadly yesterday to run throught the highlights of the park on the Argentina side, and now forced to enjoy a leisurely breakfast and to do nothing at all.

Good times.

Water water everywhere and not a drop to drink

We made it the Argentine side of the river to Iguazu National Park today. We
had asked at the hotel here about transportation. No we did not want a tour.
Just a taxi. But no, she says. You should take one of our drivers. He will
take you all the way out of the park, across the border, to the park and
wait until you are finished for your return. All of this for only 300 Reais.
($200). But no, we say. We do not want a tour. Just a taxi. But no, she
says, this is not a tour, just transportation. A taxi will cost more because
it is a very long way. Being the cheap, I mean savvy, travelers and
generally cynical people that we are, however, we did not believe her.
So we took the park bus to the park entrance this morning and approached a
cab driver and inquired about transportation. Leolindo spoke Portuguese and
I spoke Spanish and we verified that he would take us all the way to the
park entrance in Argentina (not just to the line - I do not know the word
for border) between Brazil and Argentina and established that the cost would
be....wait for it....160 Reais Roundtrip. Not only that but he stopped on
the way at a good place to change some money into Pesos (the park entrance
fee is only payable in Pesos - no Reais, no Dollars, no credit cards) though
the boat rides etc can be paid in any currency (Government vs Free
Capitalist Trade Markets). All of this we got from our Portu-Spanish
conversation.
He handed our passports to the immigration agents leaving Brazil, entering
Argentina, leaving Argentina and re-entering Brazil. And when we got to the
park he jumped us out of the car, ran us through the gates and directly into
the waiting arms of the get-you-soaking-wet boat operators for the tour. We
managed to convey that we would meet him at 4PM after he called to verify
what time OUR park gates close since our hotel is inside the park so that we
would get home in time.
He was absolutely right to hurry us in. We had just enough time to take the
boat ride, hike back up the hill, jump on the train, walk to Devil's Throat,
stop for a cerveza and to eat our purloined croissants, cheese and meat from
the breakfast buffet, and get back to the gate to meet him at 3:45P. Got
back here EXHAUSTED...in fact, too exhausted to hunt down the concierge who
had so blatantly lied to us yesterday. Good thing for her, I tell you. If I
had any strength left I would have bitch-slapped her silly.
Now sadly (or not) it is overcast so we won't be walking back to the falls
at midnight in search of a better lunar rainbow. At least it was cloudy an
hour ago and we aren't going to check again....that's our story and we are
sticking to it!

Let's Twist Again Like We Did Last Summer - Chubby Checker

Who says bright blue eyeshadow went out in the 60's?
It's pretty styling on these birds.

Pre-dousing

Of course you might ask, if we are only just heading into the falls to be
soaked under the spray, why do we already look like crap.... But I know that
you are too polite to ask. Why bother, though, to look good when you are
paying a fair number of Argentine Pesos for the honor of being run under
Iguazu Falls? Besides, it takes a certain complexion to look good in day-glo
orange.

lepidoptera

OK, so who believes that Michael actually remembered the name for the order
of butterflies and moths? Well, I imagine any of you who actually know
Michael... trivia freak that he is. But this is a cute one.....the top side
of their wings are brilliant blue with a red dot but there's no getting them
to open them for any longer than a hummingbird's wing-beat so couldn't get
the photo.
Oh and apparently butterfly antennae have a ball at the end and moth's don't
(at least most of the time but there are a few exceptions and some other
issues....for now, though, Butterfly "B", Balls "B").

Froot Loops

Lunar rainbow

Granted I don't think the moon is full until Friday but we decided to just stroll down to Devil's Throat all alone at 10pm to look for the fabled lunar rainbow. What the hell? What could go wrong?
Well first of all, cellphone displays do not make good flashlights. Second of all, it is creepy walking down a completely deserted road in only moonlight.
Thirdly, I don't remember anyone telling me whether to act like a bear or a log in the face of a jaguar attack.
Fourthly I should consider a stealth companion with better hearing and vision because by the time, if ever, that it registered with Michael that the elevator at the viewing platform had coughed back to life, illuminated itself and started to move, Freddy Kruger would have killed us both. (I, of course, was off the wall and crouched down behind it before you could say, 'Ax murderer throws woman over Iquassu Falls'. It turns out the damn elevators must run automatically from time to time just for the hell of it!
Anyway, saw the rainbow - faint and with minimal color but it was definitely there. Will try again tomorrow if I recover from my stroke.
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Red-backed, yellow-beaked, palm tree weaver birds?

Boy, that Michael is a chatty guy. It's small wonder I don't typically let him do the blogging - between his inherent verbosity and his drinking problem....

But we are, indeed, hanging by the pool. Never hang by our own pool, but here we are.
Of course, by my own pool nobody comes around with cold, damp cloths every 30 minutes like clockwork. Or peanuts, or plantain chips, or fresh fruit skewers or smoothie shots....and that's all in the last 90 minutes or so.

Meanwhile, I am relaxing and studying the wildlife. Lots of lovely bugs. One big iguana lizard. Swallows, big finches and these birds. They sound a lot like the red-wing blackbirds we had in California but are bigger and clearly have taken up weaving. They also chaised off (nope sorry, I'm in the chaise) chased off some beige, taupey, whitish missile bird...only way I can describe it. In retrospect my brain didn't even register it having wings...it's silhouette was reminiscent of a cormorant diving (no shoulders, no neck, no beak) only it was shooting horizontally. So if Gordon can ID that one, it will be a miracle (or a credit to my descriptive powers). But I'm sure he'll come up with the real name for the red-backed, yellow-beaked, palm tree weavers.

Oh hey, the guy just came by with another smoothie shot.....life is good.

Pool side

Sitting by pool sipping caipirinhas...translation " instant buzz, drunk soon to follow.
Ciao caio
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Why Are There So Many Songs About Rainbows? - Muppets

Here at Iguassu Falls. Got in last night and stayed at a less expensive place by the airport. Up this morning and into the park to the Hotel Das Cataratas - now an Orient Express Hotel. It is the only hotel inside the park on the Brazilian side (the Sheraton is inside the Argentinian park). The walkway along the falls starts at the hotel and our room affords a view of the first section.

Left our luggage in the lobby (it was only 9:30A but they apologized for the fact that our room would not be ready for another 40 minutes) and went out walking. Absolutely spectacular. The Devil's Throat Falls are at the end of the walk but we didn't know that so that every time we turned a corner or saw the falls from a different angle it was another Oooh and Aaah and photo op (vertical fireworks on the ground so to speak).

Here are a few quick photos. Plenty more to follow.

What are the odds?

Here at the little (9 gates) airport in Curitiba, Brazil at 9pm in a waiting area that is maybe 1/3 full and I am NOT the only woman in a faux leopard jacket.
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Jack the Knife - Bobby Darin

Just left Adelar the knife maker again. Michael's camera battery died yesterday so we got no photos. Went back today to get some so he hand-forged another knife and I realized my little camera takes video just halfway into the process so I got some great video and photos of him and Michael and the knife we bought yesterday and then the knife we bought today.
Coz Adelar may live in a small village in Brazil Sol but he is no fool. He had four more facas que estan listas hoy - 'coincidental-ista'. ( OK, I made up that last word.)
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Who's that Bird? Gordon?

To The Point

Hand Drill

Show Me a Tidy Desk

View from our room this morning

View from our room yesterday

Wild Orchids in Corcovado

Christ the Redeemer



Really great day

Today ranked as one of the coolest in a long line of cool days. We had a fantastic breakfast,,,the only folks in the restaurant so great service.  I had decided to look for a gaucho knife so we went in to Bento Gonzalvez where we had been told there was a small store selling knives…Closed. So we went driving around looking at the countryside and taking some nice pictures that we’ll post.  Went back to the store where we picked out some things including a knife that was OK. Unfortunately for the shopkeeper her credit card machine was not working. While struggling with credit cards I asked where I might find a vintage knife.

She sent us to a guy with “original hand-made” knives. So off we went to Montebello with no real idea where we were going . Just looking for a guy with old knives.

After looking around we stopped at the police office to ask. The woman spoke not a word of English and only a little more Spanish but somehow we conveyed “artisanal knives” and her face lit up. She drew a crude map and told us the shop was 3 km up a dirt road. Again…off we went. Reached 3.2 km and saw no shops but stopped at a house and asked and the guy responded “aqui!”  and called his friend. Ext thing we are going around to a blacksmith shop that looked like something from the 19^th century.  Huge bellows and furnace, hand run drill presses and foot powered grinders. He walked us around and “explained everything in Portugese…not a word of English or Spanish. He took a piece  of iron and started to heat it and hammer it and in about a half hour there was a crude knife blade. It takes about 3 days for him to make a knife so he showed us ones he had made…magnificent 12” blade and exotic handle. Not an antique but beautiful. I bought one for far less than a kitchen knife and it will be one of my prizes for many years.

 

Then back to the hotel for wine and then a fantastic dinner and now off to bed. Tomorrow we head to Iguassu 

Good times!

Norberto brought us our wine in the jacuzzi. Had a fabulous day. I am going to force Michael to write about it, though, since it was really his coup. But I promise to post more pictures (they have been stacking up).