The last time I wrote, we were getting ready to head off to Cotopaxi National Park. Ecuador enjoys well made primary and even secondary roads, but the small, cobbled roads leading into the country are another adventure. We arrived at Hacienda El Porvenir just a few kilometers from massive Volcan Cotopaxi after bouncing our way up about 1000 meters and along 15 kilometers of those aesthetically pleasing though bone jarring cobbles. At 3800 meters, we were again in the thin air of the mountains. The hacienda is a retreat of peacefulness boasting of its lack of modern distractions such as TV and internet though who would need such things with the beauty of the changing vistas all about us. We wandered around through the surrounding countryside, the kids rode horses, and we visited with a variety of folks from several different countries. On our last morning, we drove into the national park and hiked up to the climbers refuge at 4800 meters and then onto snowline another 100 meters higher. We were within 1000 meters of the summit but that would have to wait for another adventure. On the way out, our guide toured us through the backcountry to the ruins of an Inka outpost on the path between Quito and Cusco. It was an awesomely desolate place and I had a hard time imagining people regularly moving through - the changes that time has wrought.
As we passed back through Quito, we made a quick change of clothing as we headed to the Galapagos Islands. Sitting on the equator some 1000 kilometers west of the coast of Ecuador, the 140 or so islands are the visible tops of extinct and active mid-ocean volcanoes. For all I have heard of the Galapagos Islands, nothing really prepared me for the experience we had there. As volcanic islands, the landscape is harsh and hard won by the plants and animals that made it there over the millions of years since the land erupted above the waves. Even people initially suffered there due to the lack of fresh water and conspiracy of ocean and wind currents that seemingly increased the distance to the mainland. And while life is more convenient and the land- and oceanscapes more accessible, everywhere we looked reminded us how quickly it could become uncomfortable. No doubt, this is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.
We booked an 8 day tour on a sailing catamaran. I had never spent any significant time on a sailboat but we all quickly adapted to the space saving design of the boat. Fortunately, we had calm seas. Each day, our guide directed us to a new region and provided us with a science class's worth of information. We saw tortoises, land and sea iguanas, and birds - all of those finches that diversified and specialized into new species providing Charles Darwin the initial evidence for the theory of evolution, as well as many other ocean going birds that call the Galapagos home (at least during the breeding season). In the water, we watched sea lions frolic, manta rays fly by beneath us, white and black tipped sharks patrolling the depths, schools of multicolored fish communing, and sea turtles flapping their way about the wide ocean. We also saw the effects of introduced plant and animal species, both good and bad as we hiked around the various islands. Poking up through the vegetation that has forced its way onto these islands was lava in as many different forms and shapes as could be imagined. And above everything I felt the persistent tension of sun, wind, and ocean continually shaping these islands and all that call them home. The ocean is a big place able to absorb many a care and I understand better now why humans have gone to it not only for adventure but also for peace of spirit. It was with regret that our time came to an end in the Galapagos Islands and I hope to go there again someday.
We returned to Quito, where we said good-bye to my mother and her man, Steve. Initially they were a bit unsure about the boat and rigors of exploring the Galapagos, and even the bone shaking cobbled roads of backcountry Ecuador, but after it all they seemed to be very satisfied with their effort and left with tales to be told among their friends in suburban New York. We turned back to the mountains for our 2 week volunteer experience in the village of Cariacu.
We arranged to stay with a family for two weeks in the village of Cariacu near Cayambe National Park. We were to help with trail maintenance around the National Park, and teach English in the local school. We drove up another roughly cobbled road to the village. As a visitor, I admire the quaintness of the cobbles, though would (as the locals do) abhor the roughness as a barrier to progress if I used those roads everyday. As soon as Gabriel, local community activist and our host, learned that Lucy and I are medical professionals our job description changed. He asked us to talk with teachers, parents, and students about health care issues, and with the local medical staff about their clinic. All of this would have been fine in English but I am definitely still under-powered in Spanish and felt a bit frustrated with the task. We made it through though on Lucy's rapidly increasing linguistic talents. When we weren't visiting the school or medical clinic, we helped Gabriel, Isabel and their family milk their cows and do the other chores about their small farm. The kids especially enjoyed milking the cows and drinking the fresh milk every evening. Day by day as we met more folks in the community, our faces became more recognized. In the afternoons we helped the neighbor kids with English. We enjoyed choclo (Andean corn from the cob often fried) with habas (broad beans), and ate cuy (guinea pig - an Andean traditional food with deep roots in Inka culture), listened to traditional Ecuadorian mountain music played by Gabriel and his family, and hiked in the country. Though two weeks is a very small amount of time to make any significant change in healthcare, it is a good start to investment within a community. At the end of our time, we felt part of the family and neighborhood - a lovely way to end our visit to Ecuador and our year-long adventure; and begin the transition back to our lives in the United States.
At dinner this evening I asked the kids if they enjoyed their year of travel. Aidan said yes and Charlie said "sort of". As our homebody who wanted to stay with his grandparents rather than join us, he never was quite sure about what we got him into. For all that we have done, and despite my efforts to travel our children into young adults, they have remained children with all of their wild energy, goofiness, and rebellion. And that is just how it should be. When I posed the question, "So...what's our next adventure?", Aidan is looking forward to meeting with friends he made while we were in Cusco and Charlie is looking forward to staying home - until we jogged his memory with specific fun things he did. Well, just maybe, he would come along with us again...
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Leaving Cusco and on to Ecuador
Even after three months of living in Cusco, the time of leaving came as a bit of a shock. For all of the places we have visited, we spent the most time in Cusco and became the most "at home" there. Whether visiting with our landlord Javier and his parents, walking the narrow cobbled streets weaving around the ever present dog bombs, or dodging cars seemingly blind to the presence of pedestrians, we felt as comfortable as if we were in our hometown. As a reminder of my youth, I became completely accustomed to walking in the rain again, which is something I learned to avoid after living in the desert for so many years. Now it impresses me how a place can imprint itself so much on one's soul.
It is not that Cusco is especially more beautiful than other places we visited. It is really about the people we met who showed us a side of this part of Peru we could never have seen had we merely traveled through on our way to somewhere else. Elizabeth, Alain, and Iris at the South American Explorer's Club first opened the door of the Cusquena and Inka cultures to us. Our teachers at Amauta School patiently taught us culture and history through language. Our friends Nathalie and Rusbell and their children Killa and Qori shared days, evenings, and dinners with us. Just as we had pulled all our hair out trying to home school, John and Maria Renee rescued us by opening their one room school to our boys. Jane at Jack's Cafe welcomed us with wonderfully prepared (and safe - even the salads!) food. This whole community of folks made our time in and around Cusco unforgettable.
As I walked through the alleys of the old city for the last time, running my fingers over stone walls meticulously crafted by Inka laborers,which have withstood innumerable tremors for over half a millennium, I realized it is the sharp edge of leaving that pares an experience to its essential qualities. Despite leaving our friends with no set date for reunion the satisfaction of having been part of a community that might continue to grow won the day and made it much easier to catch our next flights to Lima and Ecuador.
We dropped out of the clouds and landed on a runway that suddenly appeared, arriving in Lima for a one night layover. We planned this as a transit stop on the way to Quito, Ecuador to break up the flights and to take advantage of the highly acclaimed ceviche Lima is known for. We booked a hostal in Miraflores. While sections of Miraflores were beautiful and the local ceviche as excellent as advertised, the hostal was forgettable and a pleasure to leave. Even the lovely walk through a beautiful park on a high bluff above the Pacific could not move us to spend more time in the big city. It was time to go to Ecuador.
Quito! Squeezed between a mountain ridge and a volcano, this largest of colonial cities grew up from the ruins of the northern reaches of the Inka empire to become the capital of the Spanish conquistadors. Nearly straddling the equator, the indigenous people understood that they lived in a special place on earth naming it Quito - Quichua for center of the earth. To ease our sensory overload caused by arriving in a big city, we were met at the airport by Heather, volunteer coordinator for the project we are volunteering with during the last two weeks of our time here. Not only did she ensure we found the hostal we booked, but she gave us a quick primer on safety. It seems that Quito has a reputation for petty crimes against tourists and Heather made sure we understood how to move about the city and hold onto our stuff. Nothing like the shock of reality to make us feel welcomed in our new place.
Contrast that feeling of vulnerability to the big smiles and warm reception we received upon entering our hostal. Ornelia and Ali made us feel completely at home in this old colonial house - maybe we could stay inside for our entire stay? After the arrival of my mother and her partner Steve we made our way out into the streets. With Heather's and Ali's advice in mind we found our way into the central historic city by ourselves and then with Felix, our city tour guide. From the vantage of the balcony of the Basilica, we could see such a mix of colonial architecture built upon the organization of the indigenous people vanquished by the conquistadors and then rebuilt after earthquakes and volcanic eruptions; and then beyond all of that to modern Quito stretching to the north and south. During our walk today, the streets of the old city were closed to cars and filled with people strolling about or riding bicycles, musicians playing, and jugglers entertaining - so vibrant and energetic, and very much fun.
Just like we discovered in Cusco, getting out of the city is the best way to see the city with fresh eyes. We made three separate day trips: one to the cloud forest at a preserve called Bella Vista, one to the equator where we discovered the magic of the middle line around the earth, and another to Otavalo, a pueblo that hosts the largest artisanal handcrafts market in all of South America. At Bella Vista we saw many different species of hummingbirds and gained an appreciation for the vast diversity of life that exists in Ecuador. Aidan was especially intrigued by the hummingbirds and donned his red rain jacket becoming a massive flower to them. They swarmed around him and even landed on his fingers resting on the bird feeders. At the equator, we balanced raw eggs on the head of a 16d nail (try it yourselves you non-equatorians) and watched water drain straight down a sink without spinning, while just a mere 10 feet to either side of the line the water swirled the usual counterclockwise (north) or clockwise (south) directions - very cool! In Otavalo we touched and bought some of the vast diversity of hand work produced by the peoples of the Andes Mountains. I know I had a very different sensory overload than what I experienced when we arrived in Quito - so much to see and do, with such little time left on this journey.
For the next several days, we will leave Quito to visit Cotopaxi National Park - at nearly 20,000 feet the highest active volcano in the world. We are looking forward to hiking, mountain biking, and enjoying the mountain environment there before we head to the ocean world of the Galapagos Islands.
It is not that Cusco is especially more beautiful than other places we visited. It is really about the people we met who showed us a side of this part of Peru we could never have seen had we merely traveled through on our way to somewhere else. Elizabeth, Alain, and Iris at the South American Explorer's Club first opened the door of the Cusquena and Inka cultures to us. Our teachers at Amauta School patiently taught us culture and history through language. Our friends Nathalie and Rusbell and their children Killa and Qori shared days, evenings, and dinners with us. Just as we had pulled all our hair out trying to home school, John and Maria Renee rescued us by opening their one room school to our boys. Jane at Jack's Cafe welcomed us with wonderfully prepared (and safe - even the salads!) food. This whole community of folks made our time in and around Cusco unforgettable.
As I walked through the alleys of the old city for the last time, running my fingers over stone walls meticulously crafted by Inka laborers,which have withstood innumerable tremors for over half a millennium, I realized it is the sharp edge of leaving that pares an experience to its essential qualities. Despite leaving our friends with no set date for reunion the satisfaction of having been part of a community that might continue to grow won the day and made it much easier to catch our next flights to Lima and Ecuador.
We dropped out of the clouds and landed on a runway that suddenly appeared, arriving in Lima for a one night layover. We planned this as a transit stop on the way to Quito, Ecuador to break up the flights and to take advantage of the highly acclaimed ceviche Lima is known for. We booked a hostal in Miraflores. While sections of Miraflores were beautiful and the local ceviche as excellent as advertised, the hostal was forgettable and a pleasure to leave. Even the lovely walk through a beautiful park on a high bluff above the Pacific could not move us to spend more time in the big city. It was time to go to Ecuador.
Quito! Squeezed between a mountain ridge and a volcano, this largest of colonial cities grew up from the ruins of the northern reaches of the Inka empire to become the capital of the Spanish conquistadors. Nearly straddling the equator, the indigenous people understood that they lived in a special place on earth naming it Quito - Quichua for center of the earth. To ease our sensory overload caused by arriving in a big city, we were met at the airport by Heather, volunteer coordinator for the project we are volunteering with during the last two weeks of our time here. Not only did she ensure we found the hostal we booked, but she gave us a quick primer on safety. It seems that Quito has a reputation for petty crimes against tourists and Heather made sure we understood how to move about the city and hold onto our stuff. Nothing like the shock of reality to make us feel welcomed in our new place.
Contrast that feeling of vulnerability to the big smiles and warm reception we received upon entering our hostal. Ornelia and Ali made us feel completely at home in this old colonial house - maybe we could stay inside for our entire stay? After the arrival of my mother and her partner Steve we made our way out into the streets. With Heather's and Ali's advice in mind we found our way into the central historic city by ourselves and then with Felix, our city tour guide. From the vantage of the balcony of the Basilica, we could see such a mix of colonial architecture built upon the organization of the indigenous people vanquished by the conquistadors and then rebuilt after earthquakes and volcanic eruptions; and then beyond all of that to modern Quito stretching to the north and south. During our walk today, the streets of the old city were closed to cars and filled with people strolling about or riding bicycles, musicians playing, and jugglers entertaining - so vibrant and energetic, and very much fun.
Just like we discovered in Cusco, getting out of the city is the best way to see the city with fresh eyes. We made three separate day trips: one to the cloud forest at a preserve called Bella Vista, one to the equator where we discovered the magic of the middle line around the earth, and another to Otavalo, a pueblo that hosts the largest artisanal handcrafts market in all of South America. At Bella Vista we saw many different species of hummingbirds and gained an appreciation for the vast diversity of life that exists in Ecuador. Aidan was especially intrigued by the hummingbirds and donned his red rain jacket becoming a massive flower to them. They swarmed around him and even landed on his fingers resting on the bird feeders. At the equator, we balanced raw eggs on the head of a 16d nail (try it yourselves you non-equatorians) and watched water drain straight down a sink without spinning, while just a mere 10 feet to either side of the line the water swirled the usual counterclockwise (north) or clockwise (south) directions - very cool! In Otavalo we touched and bought some of the vast diversity of hand work produced by the peoples of the Andes Mountains. I know I had a very different sensory overload than what I experienced when we arrived in Quito - so much to see and do, with such little time left on this journey.
For the next several days, we will leave Quito to visit Cotopaxi National Park - at nearly 20,000 feet the highest active volcano in the world. We are looking forward to hiking, mountain biking, and enjoying the mountain environment there before we head to the ocean world of the Galapagos Islands.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Cusco
It is a lazy Sunday at the end of the rainy season - a good time to catch up on our time here in the capital city of the Incan empire.
Qosqo as it was known to the Incas means "naval" in Quechua, the indigenous language of this region. Situated in a beautiful valley at 3300 meters, Qosqo was at the center of the expansive Inca empire that extended as far north as Quito, Ecuador and as far south as Santiago, Chile. An extensive road network connected the far reaches of the empire and included the famous Inca Trail to Machu Picchu as well as many other pathways, many of which still present themselves as well-bordered and distinctive trails.
Of course, we knew very little of all of that when we arrived. Mainly, we chose Cusco based on the many favorable recommendations of friends and people we met along our travels; and because we wanted to learn Spanish. We had heard that in all of South America, Peruvians speak the clearest and purest Spanish. Since we are mountain oriented people, we chose this mountain location rather than the big city, coastal environment of Lima.
School! It has been years since I have been in a formal school situation. I discovered quickly that it took some getting used to when I was not always keen about the assignments I had to complete each day. After some gains and many frustrations I settled on private lessons because I learned I was pretty content to listen to my four or five other classmates as they spoke providing me cover so I didn't have to speak. It is hard to learn a spoken language without speaking and I can no longer hide when I am the only student in the class. Lucy, on the other hand, seemed to have no problem jumping into conversations, improving her speaking ability rapidly. We included the kids in language school also but Charlie developed an "on strike" posture when he discovered his only classmate was his brother. Aidan reluctantly is hanging in there though he doesn't believe how much he will benefit from this education when he returns to school in the States.
After so much day-to-day travel in New Zealand, Chile, and Argentina, we have settled into home life here. Out typical day starts with a 20 minute walk through colonial streets of Cusco to school, after which we stop at the local bakery and market to pick up our lunch fixings. Though we live at 11300 feet, Peru's location in the tropics provides it with ample sun, warmth, and rain to grow wonderful vegetables, avocados, mangoes, and many other very tasty treats. We haven't suffered from a lack of food diversity. In fact, Peru seems to be leading a culinary awakening in South America. Since we like to cook and eat, we have enjoyed the diversity very much.
So you don't think we are only living an academic life, we have also been exploring the local and more distant areas around Cusco. In a short twenty minute walk above our apartment, we can arrive in several different and lovely places. In one direction, we arrive at the ruins of two different Inca temples, thought to provide places of purification for pilgrims before they entered the holy city of Qosqo. In another direction, we arrive at Saqsayhuaman - the massive fortification and religious center that rivals Stonehenge in its architecture. When the Incas laid out the plans for Qosqo, they envisioned the shape of a Puma, one of their revered animals. Located above the city, Saqsayhuaman represents the head of the Puma, with the body formed by the city below in the valley.
When we wish to expend less energy we walk 15 minutes into the center of Cusco, to the Plaza de Armas and can appreciate the long history of the Inca and Spanish colonial presence; as well as find restaurants, museums, shops, and anything else we've needed while here.
About a month and a half ago, we traveled to the village of Paruro, about 2 hours south of Cusco. Though we thought we were having a fine time in the city, it was nice to get out of the city to the countryside. Paruro is a rural village situated several valleys away from Cusco. We participated in village life by helping to make chicha, a fermented corn drink that was very important to the Incas, baking the local style of bread, helping to harvest choclo (corn on the cob with huge kernels and very different from Olathe sweet corn), and enjoying a traditional meal of Cuy (guinea pig) and a few of the 3000 varieties of potatoes grown here in Peru. We came away with a very different view of Peruvian life than we had formed during our time in Cusco.
Over another weekend, we joined with our dear friends Nathalie and her children Killia (Quechua for Moon), and Qori (Quechua for Gold) heading out to the country, but this time in an entirely different direction. Unfortunately Rusbell, Nathalie's husband, was drawn away by business and couldn't join us. We headed west to the Apurimac River Canyon. Even though we are located fairly south in Peru, the Apurimac River is a tributary of the Amazon River, which begins its journey to the Atlantic Ocean way in the north of Peru. The original plan was to travel by horse and foot to a lodge located in an isolated valley where we would have to the opportunity to observe Andean Condors flying overhead. Like its smaller cousin the California Condor, the Andean Condor has struggled for its survival due to habitat loss throughout the region. As we made our way up the dirt road to the staging area for the horses, we were thwarted by one of the numerous landslides that occurs during the rainy season. We made the best of the the delay with a hike up a ridge that afforded us a memorable view of the Apurimac River canyon, cut deeply through the mountains directing the river northward toward the mighty Amazon. The next day we made our way around the landslide, and after 7 hours of horse riding and hiking over 14000 foot ridges where we saw nobody, we arrived at the lodge. We all enjoyed the solitude of the place and mark this area as a place to which we would definitely return if we ever have the chance to come back to Peru. We made our way back to civilization by the same method of horse and foot, again having to divert around another landslide. With sunshine and clear skies, the view of the surrounding Andes Mountains made the journey go quickly.
We completed our most recent adventure just this past weekend. Joined by our friend Kari, who came to visit us for two weeks, we spent eight days trekking through the mountains northeast of Cusco. The first trail, called the Salkantay, is an alternative route used by the Incas to access Machu Picchu. For the first five days, we walked through cloud forests and over a 15000 foot pass, past the third highest mountain in Peru, Nevado Salkantay. We arrived in Aguas Calientes, the town on the Urubamba River at the base of the high mountain ridge where Machu Picchu is located. After visiting Machu Picchu and contemplating the fantastic 360 degree view of mountains and the intricate architecture of the extant structures, we trained to Ollantaytambo for the second part of our trek. Ollantaytambo is another Inca pueblo and retains much of the original town plan as devised by the Incas. While preparing for the next three day trek, we spent the morning looking about the ruins and enjoying the ambiance of the central square.
Our next trekking goal was the pueblo of Lares, located on the the other side of another 15000 foot pass. As we started our trek climbing up through small villages, the valley above us were green and vast. The only people we saw for the next two days were llama and sheep herders, living in small stone huts with thatched roofs. The valleys were massive, the mountains stretched as far as we could see. We greedily and happily absorbed the solitude, the most we have had during our entire time of travel.
Lares is located at a junction of roads leading both up to the highlands and down to the jungle. As a result, the market is filled with colorfully dressed villagers and their goods from both locales. At once, we saw mounds of potatoes and choclo from the highlands, as well as fruits and other jungle produce. Such diversity in one place! We also had the pleasure of finishing our trek in the Lares hot springs. It is true luxury to be able to soak in hot water after walking for several days. After such a fine ending to the trek and despite the allure of the market and the hot springs, we drove back to Cusco over yet another 15000+ foot pass cut by deep and tumultuous rivers. After settling back to our apartment for a couple of days, we said good-bye to Kari, sending her off with memories of eight days of trekking and tours through many of the museums and ruins here in Cusco.
What's left for us? With several weeks remaining here, we get to go back to school, visit with the friends we have made, make a few more tours to the Sacred Valley of the Incas, and contemplate our next stop in Ecuador where we will visit Quito, the equator, the Galapagos Islands, and a highland village where we will live and volunteer for the last two weeks of our stay in South America. Of those adventures, stay tuned...
Qosqo as it was known to the Incas means "naval" in Quechua, the indigenous language of this region. Situated in a beautiful valley at 3300 meters, Qosqo was at the center of the expansive Inca empire that extended as far north as Quito, Ecuador and as far south as Santiago, Chile. An extensive road network connected the far reaches of the empire and included the famous Inca Trail to Machu Picchu as well as many other pathways, many of which still present themselves as well-bordered and distinctive trails.
Of course, we knew very little of all of that when we arrived. Mainly, we chose Cusco based on the many favorable recommendations of friends and people we met along our travels; and because we wanted to learn Spanish. We had heard that in all of South America, Peruvians speak the clearest and purest Spanish. Since we are mountain oriented people, we chose this mountain location rather than the big city, coastal environment of Lima.
School! It has been years since I have been in a formal school situation. I discovered quickly that it took some getting used to when I was not always keen about the assignments I had to complete each day. After some gains and many frustrations I settled on private lessons because I learned I was pretty content to listen to my four or five other classmates as they spoke providing me cover so I didn't have to speak. It is hard to learn a spoken language without speaking and I can no longer hide when I am the only student in the class. Lucy, on the other hand, seemed to have no problem jumping into conversations, improving her speaking ability rapidly. We included the kids in language school also but Charlie developed an "on strike" posture when he discovered his only classmate was his brother. Aidan reluctantly is hanging in there though he doesn't believe how much he will benefit from this education when he returns to school in the States.
After so much day-to-day travel in New Zealand, Chile, and Argentina, we have settled into home life here. Out typical day starts with a 20 minute walk through colonial streets of Cusco to school, after which we stop at the local bakery and market to pick up our lunch fixings. Though we live at 11300 feet, Peru's location in the tropics provides it with ample sun, warmth, and rain to grow wonderful vegetables, avocados, mangoes, and many other very tasty treats. We haven't suffered from a lack of food diversity. In fact, Peru seems to be leading a culinary awakening in South America. Since we like to cook and eat, we have enjoyed the diversity very much.
So you don't think we are only living an academic life, we have also been exploring the local and more distant areas around Cusco. In a short twenty minute walk above our apartment, we can arrive in several different and lovely places. In one direction, we arrive at the ruins of two different Inca temples, thought to provide places of purification for pilgrims before they entered the holy city of Qosqo. In another direction, we arrive at Saqsayhuaman - the massive fortification and religious center that rivals Stonehenge in its architecture. When the Incas laid out the plans for Qosqo, they envisioned the shape of a Puma, one of their revered animals. Located above the city, Saqsayhuaman represents the head of the Puma, with the body formed by the city below in the valley.
When we wish to expend less energy we walk 15 minutes into the center of Cusco, to the Plaza de Armas and can appreciate the long history of the Inca and Spanish colonial presence; as well as find restaurants, museums, shops, and anything else we've needed while here.
About a month and a half ago, we traveled to the village of Paruro, about 2 hours south of Cusco. Though we thought we were having a fine time in the city, it was nice to get out of the city to the countryside. Paruro is a rural village situated several valleys away from Cusco. We participated in village life by helping to make chicha, a fermented corn drink that was very important to the Incas, baking the local style of bread, helping to harvest choclo (corn on the cob with huge kernels and very different from Olathe sweet corn), and enjoying a traditional meal of Cuy (guinea pig) and a few of the 3000 varieties of potatoes grown here in Peru. We came away with a very different view of Peruvian life than we had formed during our time in Cusco.
Over another weekend, we joined with our dear friends Nathalie and her children Killia (Quechua for Moon), and Qori (Quechua for Gold) heading out to the country, but this time in an entirely different direction. Unfortunately Rusbell, Nathalie's husband, was drawn away by business and couldn't join us. We headed west to the Apurimac River Canyon. Even though we are located fairly south in Peru, the Apurimac River is a tributary of the Amazon River, which begins its journey to the Atlantic Ocean way in the north of Peru. The original plan was to travel by horse and foot to a lodge located in an isolated valley where we would have to the opportunity to observe Andean Condors flying overhead. Like its smaller cousin the California Condor, the Andean Condor has struggled for its survival due to habitat loss throughout the region. As we made our way up the dirt road to the staging area for the horses, we were thwarted by one of the numerous landslides that occurs during the rainy season. We made the best of the the delay with a hike up a ridge that afforded us a memorable view of the Apurimac River canyon, cut deeply through the mountains directing the river northward toward the mighty Amazon. The next day we made our way around the landslide, and after 7 hours of horse riding and hiking over 14000 foot ridges where we saw nobody, we arrived at the lodge. We all enjoyed the solitude of the place and mark this area as a place to which we would definitely return if we ever have the chance to come back to Peru. We made our way back to civilization by the same method of horse and foot, again having to divert around another landslide. With sunshine and clear skies, the view of the surrounding Andes Mountains made the journey go quickly.
We completed our most recent adventure just this past weekend. Joined by our friend Kari, who came to visit us for two weeks, we spent eight days trekking through the mountains northeast of Cusco. The first trail, called the Salkantay, is an alternative route used by the Incas to access Machu Picchu. For the first five days, we walked through cloud forests and over a 15000 foot pass, past the third highest mountain in Peru, Nevado Salkantay. We arrived in Aguas Calientes, the town on the Urubamba River at the base of the high mountain ridge where Machu Picchu is located. After visiting Machu Picchu and contemplating the fantastic 360 degree view of mountains and the intricate architecture of the extant structures, we trained to Ollantaytambo for the second part of our trek. Ollantaytambo is another Inca pueblo and retains much of the original town plan as devised by the Incas. While preparing for the next three day trek, we spent the morning looking about the ruins and enjoying the ambiance of the central square.
Our next trekking goal was the pueblo of Lares, located on the the other side of another 15000 foot pass. As we started our trek climbing up through small villages, the valley above us were green and vast. The only people we saw for the next two days were llama and sheep herders, living in small stone huts with thatched roofs. The valleys were massive, the mountains stretched as far as we could see. We greedily and happily absorbed the solitude, the most we have had during our entire time of travel.
Lares is located at a junction of roads leading both up to the highlands and down to the jungle. As a result, the market is filled with colorfully dressed villagers and their goods from both locales. At once, we saw mounds of potatoes and choclo from the highlands, as well as fruits and other jungle produce. Such diversity in one place! We also had the pleasure of finishing our trek in the Lares hot springs. It is true luxury to be able to soak in hot water after walking for several days. After such a fine ending to the trek and despite the allure of the market and the hot springs, we drove back to Cusco over yet another 15000+ foot pass cut by deep and tumultuous rivers. After settling back to our apartment for a couple of days, we said good-bye to Kari, sending her off with memories of eight days of trekking and tours through many of the museums and ruins here in Cusco.
What's left for us? With several weeks remaining here, we get to go back to school, visit with the friends we have made, make a few more tours to the Sacred Valley of the Incas, and contemplate our next stop in Ecuador where we will visit Quito, the equator, the Galapagos Islands, and a highland village where we will live and volunteer for the last two weeks of our stay in South America. Of those adventures, stay tuned...
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Cusco, Peru
Hola Amigos,
Greetings from Cusco, Peru located in a broad Andean valley at 3400 meters. The city was founded as the center, or naval, of the Inkan Empire, which spread from Quito, Ecuador in the north to Santiago, Chile and beyond in the south. From the Inkan stonework that is the foundation of every major building in Cusco to the sounds of Quechua, the language of the Inkas and primary language of Cuzquenans, we are reminded of the highly organized and successful Inkan culture. Now completing our sixth week here, we are lucky to even be here. When we originally planned our trip, we allotted no time in Peru. After conversations with many people, we decided to spend the bulk of the time we have in South America here in Cusco and have been very happy with our decision thus far.
But we didn't come directly to Cusco from Santiago. We spent a week in Mendoza, Argentina. It is a beautiful route from Santiago to Mendoza, crossing the Andes through a pass on a road that snakes its way up via twenty-seven switch backs and then rolls down the eastern slope through terrain reminiscent of the western slope of our own Rocky Mountains. Mendoza is in many ways climatically and geographically similar to Grand Junction. It lies in an area that would be dry if not for irrigation from the Mendoza River. As a result of the irrigation, Mendoza is well known as a wine and fruit region. The mountains that rise to the east, including Aconcagua the western hemisphere's highest mountain, are rugged and sharp. Like Grand Junction, summer temperatures can get pretty roasty but the streets are deeply shaded by rows of Plane trees, allowing cafes and restaurants to spill out onto the cool sidewalks. We filled our days with walks through the city, eating at restaurants serving traditional Argentinian barbecue or the excellent fusion of Argentinian and Italian food developed by the many Italian immigrants and their descendants who make up a significant portion of Argentinian society. We toured by bicycle some of the vineyards and olive groves found to the south of the city, always flanked on the west by the nearly 7000 meter snow covered peaks of the massive Andes. On another day, Aidan and I spent a long morning rock climbing with local guide Mario on ancient granite walls in a canyon of the Mendoza River. We could still see evidence of the flash flood deluge that occurred when a dam upstream failed bringing the whole reservoir cascading down the narrow canyon, scrubbing away villages along the way. The road up the canyon was never fully repaired, leaving a scarred reminder of the disaster. Though it is impossible to say we experienced Argentinian culture in the six days we were there, we thought it worth the effort to have traveled there. Like all the places we have visited our time in Mendoza ended when we climbed onto the mass transit (bus form this time) for our eight hour return ride back over that beautiful pass to Santiago.
Back in Santiago we prepared ourselves for the next leg of our trip. After two weeks with us, Lucy's mom returned home and we pointed ourselves north to Peru. Though we Skype and email our family and friends frequently, Peggy's visit provided very tangible proof that despite our year away we are still connected to our home and the family that defines our home. We were all sad to wave good-bye to her as she drove away in a cab to the airport.
On the map, Peru is just north of Chile but Chile is a VERY long country. The flight took four hours and dropped us in Lima. While we do these flights pretty well now, it still is a bit of a production to move ourselves through airports and negotiate a new city. Fortunately this time we arranged to be picked up by the folks running the hostel where we were staying. It seems that in big cities like Lima or Quito, it is prudent to be met at the airport to reduce the chance of being separated from the little that we carry with us.
I can say nothing of Lima. We stayed in a hostel close to the airport because we were flying to Cusco the next day. The hostel folks were very nice, helping us to feel comfortable. This particular hostel worked well for us because the kids had a pool table and TV with movies. What more could kids want? Hostel life is unlike any hotel. Usually the folks staying there are enthusiastic to share their experiences making the hostel a living "Lonely Planet" source of information. The other very big bonus of staying at a hostel is the budget friendly cost for the four of us. Now when we seek a place to stay for a night, we search the list of hostels in TripAdviser.com first and then move on from there.
Now that I have brought this blog up to our current location, I will make just a few comments about our initial impressions upon arriving in Cusco. As the airplane carved a steep banking turn to access the narrow approach into the airport, I had a good feeling in my gut. The mountain air here is lean, especially for lungs that had been at sea level for more time in the past year than in the last twenty. Our landlord, Javier, met us at the airport as a courtesy, rather than as a deterrent to fast hands. All of these things added up in my head to create a very optimistic sense for the next three months here in Cusco.
Hasta pronto (to quote my friend Tadd),
Paul
Greetings from Cusco, Peru located in a broad Andean valley at 3400 meters. The city was founded as the center, or naval, of the Inkan Empire, which spread from Quito, Ecuador in the north to Santiago, Chile and beyond in the south. From the Inkan stonework that is the foundation of every major building in Cusco to the sounds of Quechua, the language of the Inkas and primary language of Cuzquenans, we are reminded of the highly organized and successful Inkan culture. Now completing our sixth week here, we are lucky to even be here. When we originally planned our trip, we allotted no time in Peru. After conversations with many people, we decided to spend the bulk of the time we have in South America here in Cusco and have been very happy with our decision thus far.
But we didn't come directly to Cusco from Santiago. We spent a week in Mendoza, Argentina. It is a beautiful route from Santiago to Mendoza, crossing the Andes through a pass on a road that snakes its way up via twenty-seven switch backs and then rolls down the eastern slope through terrain reminiscent of the western slope of our own Rocky Mountains. Mendoza is in many ways climatically and geographically similar to Grand Junction. It lies in an area that would be dry if not for irrigation from the Mendoza River. As a result of the irrigation, Mendoza is well known as a wine and fruit region. The mountains that rise to the east, including Aconcagua the western hemisphere's highest mountain, are rugged and sharp. Like Grand Junction, summer temperatures can get pretty roasty but the streets are deeply shaded by rows of Plane trees, allowing cafes and restaurants to spill out onto the cool sidewalks. We filled our days with walks through the city, eating at restaurants serving traditional Argentinian barbecue or the excellent fusion of Argentinian and Italian food developed by the many Italian immigrants and their descendants who make up a significant portion of Argentinian society. We toured by bicycle some of the vineyards and olive groves found to the south of the city, always flanked on the west by the nearly 7000 meter snow covered peaks of the massive Andes. On another day, Aidan and I spent a long morning rock climbing with local guide Mario on ancient granite walls in a canyon of the Mendoza River. We could still see evidence of the flash flood deluge that occurred when a dam upstream failed bringing the whole reservoir cascading down the narrow canyon, scrubbing away villages along the way. The road up the canyon was never fully repaired, leaving a scarred reminder of the disaster. Though it is impossible to say we experienced Argentinian culture in the six days we were there, we thought it worth the effort to have traveled there. Like all the places we have visited our time in Mendoza ended when we climbed onto the mass transit (bus form this time) for our eight hour return ride back over that beautiful pass to Santiago.
Back in Santiago we prepared ourselves for the next leg of our trip. After two weeks with us, Lucy's mom returned home and we pointed ourselves north to Peru. Though we Skype and email our family and friends frequently, Peggy's visit provided very tangible proof that despite our year away we are still connected to our home and the family that defines our home. We were all sad to wave good-bye to her as she drove away in a cab to the airport.
On the map, Peru is just north of Chile but Chile is a VERY long country. The flight took four hours and dropped us in Lima. While we do these flights pretty well now, it still is a bit of a production to move ourselves through airports and negotiate a new city. Fortunately this time we arranged to be picked up by the folks running the hostel where we were staying. It seems that in big cities like Lima or Quito, it is prudent to be met at the airport to reduce the chance of being separated from the little that we carry with us.
I can say nothing of Lima. We stayed in a hostel close to the airport because we were flying to Cusco the next day. The hostel folks were very nice, helping us to feel comfortable. This particular hostel worked well for us because the kids had a pool table and TV with movies. What more could kids want? Hostel life is unlike any hotel. Usually the folks staying there are enthusiastic to share their experiences making the hostel a living "Lonely Planet" source of information. The other very big bonus of staying at a hostel is the budget friendly cost for the four of us. Now when we seek a place to stay for a night, we search the list of hostels in TripAdviser.com first and then move on from there.
Now that I have brought this blog up to our current location, I will make just a few comments about our initial impressions upon arriving in Cusco. As the airplane carved a steep banking turn to access the narrow approach into the airport, I had a good feeling in my gut. The mountain air here is lean, especially for lungs that had been at sea level for more time in the past year than in the last twenty. Our landlord, Javier, met us at the airport as a courtesy, rather than as a deterrent to fast hands. All of these things added up in my head to create a very optimistic sense for the next three months here in Cusco.
Hasta pronto (to quote my friend Tadd),
Paul
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Chile
It is hard to believe it has been almost a month since our last post. It seems the time has flown by until I think of where we have been and what we have done. Then I realize how full each day has been.
We left rainy Auckland, New Zealand and landed in sunny Santiago, Chile after a very long 14 hour flight. I could do without anymore of those endurance events but at least the movie selection helps to pass the time when sleep is squeezed out by the company of economy seating. The cool thing about flying east across the international dateline is that we arrived in Santiago several hours before we left Auckland. Maybe if I keep doing it, the grays on my head will turn brown again.
Our plan was to spend one night in Santiago, then return to the airport for the 4 hour flight to Punta Arenas, in the way south of Chile. We were meeting our friends Amy and her son Keino to backpack in Torres del Paine National Park in southern Patagonia. Having endured several large changes in timezones and the related jet lag, we stayed up all day (no small effort with cratering kids), and were in bed by 7pm. Our flight was scheduled for 2pm the next day. So much for well structured plans; we were up at 2am thinking it was time to go. We all finally managed to get back to sleep and then were abruptly awoken by the cleaning service at noon. We pulled ourselves together and were out the door in about 20 minutes, to the airport by 1pm, and on the flight by 2pm. Phew...that was a close call. Oh, and did I mention that Charlie managed to maintain his record of vomiting in every country we had visited to that point - just when I thought we were out of the hotel lobby there went Charlie keeping his record. Even as we were congratulating him for the consistency of his effort, we had to clean him up before we could get to the airport.
Puntas Arenas seemed like the end of the world. When I think that Magellan sailed through this region in the mid-1500s braving the continuous howling winds, not knowing that he would eventually be the first to circumnavigate the world, I found it easier to disregard the chill I felt as we walked around town for the evening. The winds seem to blow straight from Antarctica with the cold of the icefields wrapping around everything touched. We saw very little of Punta Arenas because we left the next morning by bus for Puerto Natales. From there we would make our way to Torres del Paine National Park.
Why Torres del Paine National Park? In the 80s and 90s, I read about first ascents of some of the towers in Torres del Paine. Ever since I saw those pictures, I have wanted to see those towers for myself. The plan was for Amy, Keino, Lucy, and Aidan to walk the entire "W" trek that provides views of the most spectacular peaks in the park. Charlie and I would do a simpler version of the "W" trek and meet the other four each evening. Overall, the plan worked very well. Each evening we talked about the places we walked and the views we saw as we relaxed in the very comfortable Refugios. Because we were there during the summer solstice, evenings were really long providing plenty of time for the stories to keep flowing. Though I didn't do the entire walk, the views I had were among the most beautiful I have enjoyed from anyplace I have ever traveled. The combination of glacial carving and soft rock has resulted in the most sculpted cluster of mountains I have ever seen. I know I used a lot of superlatives in this description but what else can I say? Go there yourselves, then you can try to describe it differently. Aidan proved to be a very good hiker, covering as much as 16 miles on some days. That portends for good backpacking when we get back to Colorado.
Our time in the deep south of Chile was fairly short. We flew back to Santiago on Christmas eve. Expert planning by Lucy and Amy set us up to catch a bus to Vina del Mar on the Pacific Coast of Chile and arrive in our apartment in Renaca by the mid evening. Only problem was we didn't have any dinner planned and all of the restaurants were closed for Christmas Eve. Slightly desperate, we walked through town along the beach past snoozing sea lions. Maybe we cashed in a luck card but around 10pm we found a small empanada shop nearing closing time. The owner took pity on us (maybe after he saw the fatigue and hunger on our kid's faces) and stayed open a little longer to make us a sack full of empanadas. The wine shop next door was open (no closing for the purveyor of alcohol) so the adults could enjoy a little vino with the Christmas Eve empanadas. What could be better? Having supped, "we settled down for a long winter's nap".
The next morning, we were all surprised to see that Santa had found our Christmas Lamp (Charlie Brown would be very jealous), placing gifts for all the kids around the base. After a little Christmas breakfast, we strolled the beach front past the still snoozing sea lions. The town was completely changed; all the restaurants were open, all the townspeople were out in the summer sunshine, the surf rolled in. For a northerner, this was the funkiest Christmas I have ever had. But we were with our friends so what could be better?
Several days later we made our way back to Santiago where we first said good-bye to Amy and Keino and then two days later, hello to Lucy's Mom. During those two days, we stayed in a hostel located in Barrio Brasil, a neighborhood with clean and manageable streets and small restaurants, close to the central Plaza de Armas in the heart of Santiago. From our hostel, we could walk to Cerro Santa Lucia for a lovely view over Santiago, or to the more hip Barrio Providencia filled with restaurants and cafes.
Peggy came to visit with us for two weeks. We were happy that Peggy made the huge effort to travel so far to visit us but Aidan and Charlie were especially excited to see their grandmother, whom they were both missing very much during our time away. We went back to the beach at Vina del Mar, staying in another apartment a few blocks from the beach. The apartment was in a 23 story building that afforded us an especially fine view of the world's second largest New Year's Eve fire works display. The display takes place in the large harbor that fronts Vina del Mar and Valparaiso, set off from 10 barges on the water. The entire coast for miles was aglow with wildly colorful fireworks. And we didn't even have to leave our building to ring in the New Year, which made it possible for Aidan to be part of the festivities and for Charlie to sleep in our apartment below us.
As much fun as the beach was, the coolest and most interesting experience for me was the day long walking tour we did in Valparaiso. In the 1800s, next to San Francisco, Valpo was the most important port on the west coast of the Americas. It was the first large port after ships rounded "the Horn". At the tip of South America, Cape Horn was the last hurdle for mariners between the South Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and was notoriously difficult, often greeting ships with gale force winds and wild seas. I bet Valparaiso looked like a paradise to sea weary sailors. In its heyday, Valparaiso was a queen of cities, with everything a world port had to offer. Its fortunes changed though when the Panama Canal opened in the early 1900s. With ships no longer having to "round the Horn", Valpo began a slow and steady slide toward decay. But somehow it avoided a total decline and its former regal presence was still apparent as we walked around the city. I suspect it's been the artists (including Pablo Neruda) who, having long considered Valpo home, maintained an elegance to the city even as its fortunes declined. The art scene is alive and vibrant and was very apparent to us as we walked past colorful murals painted on walls lining the streets. Sure there is a gritty side to Valparaiso, but as a native Porteno, Leo our guide glided us through the city filling us with stories as only a native can tell them. While I found the peaks of Torres del Paine National Park beautiful beyond anything I had ever seen, my favorite cultural experience occurred because of that walking tour of Valparaiso and placed it on my list of places to return to and explore in more depth someday.
We spent several more lovely and lazy days along the coast enjoying the seashore before we climbed onto a bus destined for Mendoza, Argentina. But that is another story for another evening...
Ciao,
Paul
We left rainy Auckland, New Zealand and landed in sunny Santiago, Chile after a very long 14 hour flight. I could do without anymore of those endurance events but at least the movie selection helps to pass the time when sleep is squeezed out by the company of economy seating. The cool thing about flying east across the international dateline is that we arrived in Santiago several hours before we left Auckland. Maybe if I keep doing it, the grays on my head will turn brown again.
Our plan was to spend one night in Santiago, then return to the airport for the 4 hour flight to Punta Arenas, in the way south of Chile. We were meeting our friends Amy and her son Keino to backpack in Torres del Paine National Park in southern Patagonia. Having endured several large changes in timezones and the related jet lag, we stayed up all day (no small effort with cratering kids), and were in bed by 7pm. Our flight was scheduled for 2pm the next day. So much for well structured plans; we were up at 2am thinking it was time to go. We all finally managed to get back to sleep and then were abruptly awoken by the cleaning service at noon. We pulled ourselves together and were out the door in about 20 minutes, to the airport by 1pm, and on the flight by 2pm. Phew...that was a close call. Oh, and did I mention that Charlie managed to maintain his record of vomiting in every country we had visited to that point - just when I thought we were out of the hotel lobby there went Charlie keeping his record. Even as we were congratulating him for the consistency of his effort, we had to clean him up before we could get to the airport.
Puntas Arenas seemed like the end of the world. When I think that Magellan sailed through this region in the mid-1500s braving the continuous howling winds, not knowing that he would eventually be the first to circumnavigate the world, I found it easier to disregard the chill I felt as we walked around town for the evening. The winds seem to blow straight from Antarctica with the cold of the icefields wrapping around everything touched. We saw very little of Punta Arenas because we left the next morning by bus for Puerto Natales. From there we would make our way to Torres del Paine National Park.
Why Torres del Paine National Park? In the 80s and 90s, I read about first ascents of some of the towers in Torres del Paine. Ever since I saw those pictures, I have wanted to see those towers for myself. The plan was for Amy, Keino, Lucy, and Aidan to walk the entire "W" trek that provides views of the most spectacular peaks in the park. Charlie and I would do a simpler version of the "W" trek and meet the other four each evening. Overall, the plan worked very well. Each evening we talked about the places we walked and the views we saw as we relaxed in the very comfortable Refugios. Because we were there during the summer solstice, evenings were really long providing plenty of time for the stories to keep flowing. Though I didn't do the entire walk, the views I had were among the most beautiful I have enjoyed from anyplace I have ever traveled. The combination of glacial carving and soft rock has resulted in the most sculpted cluster of mountains I have ever seen. I know I used a lot of superlatives in this description but what else can I say? Go there yourselves, then you can try to describe it differently. Aidan proved to be a very good hiker, covering as much as 16 miles on some days. That portends for good backpacking when we get back to Colorado.
Our time in the deep south of Chile was fairly short. We flew back to Santiago on Christmas eve. Expert planning by Lucy and Amy set us up to catch a bus to Vina del Mar on the Pacific Coast of Chile and arrive in our apartment in Renaca by the mid evening. Only problem was we didn't have any dinner planned and all of the restaurants were closed for Christmas Eve. Slightly desperate, we walked through town along the beach past snoozing sea lions. Maybe we cashed in a luck card but around 10pm we found a small empanada shop nearing closing time. The owner took pity on us (maybe after he saw the fatigue and hunger on our kid's faces) and stayed open a little longer to make us a sack full of empanadas. The wine shop next door was open (no closing for the purveyor of alcohol) so the adults could enjoy a little vino with the Christmas Eve empanadas. What could be better? Having supped, "we settled down for a long winter's nap".
The next morning, we were all surprised to see that Santa had found our Christmas Lamp (Charlie Brown would be very jealous), placing gifts for all the kids around the base. After a little Christmas breakfast, we strolled the beach front past the still snoozing sea lions. The town was completely changed; all the restaurants were open, all the townspeople were out in the summer sunshine, the surf rolled in. For a northerner, this was the funkiest Christmas I have ever had. But we were with our friends so what could be better?
Several days later we made our way back to Santiago where we first said good-bye to Amy and Keino and then two days later, hello to Lucy's Mom. During those two days, we stayed in a hostel located in Barrio Brasil, a neighborhood with clean and manageable streets and small restaurants, close to the central Plaza de Armas in the heart of Santiago. From our hostel, we could walk to Cerro Santa Lucia for a lovely view over Santiago, or to the more hip Barrio Providencia filled with restaurants and cafes.
Peggy came to visit with us for two weeks. We were happy that Peggy made the huge effort to travel so far to visit us but Aidan and Charlie were especially excited to see their grandmother, whom they were both missing very much during our time away. We went back to the beach at Vina del Mar, staying in another apartment a few blocks from the beach. The apartment was in a 23 story building that afforded us an especially fine view of the world's second largest New Year's Eve fire works display. The display takes place in the large harbor that fronts Vina del Mar and Valparaiso, set off from 10 barges on the water. The entire coast for miles was aglow with wildly colorful fireworks. And we didn't even have to leave our building to ring in the New Year, which made it possible for Aidan to be part of the festivities and for Charlie to sleep in our apartment below us.
As much fun as the beach was, the coolest and most interesting experience for me was the day long walking tour we did in Valparaiso. In the 1800s, next to San Francisco, Valpo was the most important port on the west coast of the Americas. It was the first large port after ships rounded "the Horn". At the tip of South America, Cape Horn was the last hurdle for mariners between the South Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and was notoriously difficult, often greeting ships with gale force winds and wild seas. I bet Valparaiso looked like a paradise to sea weary sailors. In its heyday, Valparaiso was a queen of cities, with everything a world port had to offer. Its fortunes changed though when the Panama Canal opened in the early 1900s. With ships no longer having to "round the Horn", Valpo began a slow and steady slide toward decay. But somehow it avoided a total decline and its former regal presence was still apparent as we walked around the city. I suspect it's been the artists (including Pablo Neruda) who, having long considered Valpo home, maintained an elegance to the city even as its fortunes declined. The art scene is alive and vibrant and was very apparent to us as we walked past colorful murals painted on walls lining the streets. Sure there is a gritty side to Valparaiso, but as a native Porteno, Leo our guide glided us through the city filling us with stories as only a native can tell them. While I found the peaks of Torres del Paine National Park beautiful beyond anything I had ever seen, my favorite cultural experience occurred because of that walking tour of Valparaiso and placed it on my list of places to return to and explore in more depth someday.
We spent several more lovely and lazy days along the coast enjoying the seashore before we climbed onto a bus destined for Mendoza, Argentina. But that is another story for another evening...
Ciao,
Paul
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
New Zealand and points east
I'll admit I had to read my last post to figure out where we were the last time I wrote. With the last post from Bhutan, I have a lot of catching up to do. No excuses for the long lapse other than to say we have been on the road and on the go. Finding reliable internet was not the only challenge to regular posting. Finding the time after driving and hiking all day was by far the biggest barrier. Let me see what I can come up with to represent what we did and saw in New Zealand.
But before I even think about NZ, we spent a few days in Bangkok transitioning from Bhutan, or at least that is what the guide books said might be a nice thing to do. As was hopefully obvious, we really enjoyed Bhutan and felt little need to transition away from it back to the larger world.
And Bangkok is the larger world though we were better prepared for it on the return trip than when we arrived from Europe. Despite our previous visit, we weren't sure what was awaiting us as we flew in because of the massive flooding that affected all of Thailand and subsequently southeast Asia. Water is something the Thai people seem to understand because to our eyes the city seemed to be just as energetic as before the flooding. Sure, there were cars parked in long lines on every elevated road, but business appeared as usual to us. After just two days, we were on our way to New Zealand. Overall, our time in Thailand was very short, too short to say anything about Thai culture other than we met some wonderful people despite the overbearing tuk-tuk drivers.
Some fourteen hours after leaving Bangkok, we arrived in rainy and chilly Auckland. We thought we were headed back to summer but New Zealand offered us just about everything but summer. All I am going to write about New Zealand is as an impressionist might paint a scene because my memories are already sorting into pictures and feelings more than actual facts. We rented a Jucy campervan. With its distinctive green and purple markings it was very easy to see us and fellow Jucy renters on the road. A definite camaraderie developed among Jucy drivers identified by the way we would all flash our lights and wave when we passed each other on the road. While hardly spacious, the kids slept in a pop-up on top while Lucy and I got the inside compartment. With a little gas stove and some plates and utensils, we had most meals out of the back of the van or in the kitchens of the camp grounds we frequented.
We were new to campervanning. Just like arriving in a city is confusing for a few days, so it was with the campervan scene. There is a whole infrastructure built for campervanning with nuances learned only with time and practice. I found myself eying other campervans, checking out the set up of each one in an effort to improve our ride. As we became more practiced, we figured it all out allowing us to access the Department of Conservation free or nearly free campgrounds in the most out of the way locations along beaches or in the mountains. With such beautiful backdrops every night, we mused about the future of such a lifestyle.
Any reconnaissance of New Zealand, whether by guide book, internet, or on the ground will quickly demonstrate an immense variety of landscape and adventure potential. The North and South Islands have between them lakes and rivers, volcanoes and hot springs, mountains and glaciers, rain forests and fiords, and kilometers of beaches many of which are empty of people or nearly so but rich in tide pools and seals and sea lions with dolphins surfing the breaking wave faces. Imagine Colorado with a long coastline but throw in a bit of Yellowstone and the glacier cut peaks of the northern Rockies, with the grasslands of the high prairie and that begins to capture all of the natural wonder we enjoyed.
Our basic goal was to travel from Auckland to Invercargill and back again. Auckland is in the northern part of the North Island and Invercargill is the southern most city of the South Island. It was ambitious and maybe too much but we were glad to have toured through the places we did and still be able to spend several days with our friends Neil and Nory in Invercargill. Because we were in a different place almost every night, I will avoid the list of nightly campgrounds but instead try to describe some of the places we really loved along the way.
1. Mountain biking in Rotorua: New Zealand works its forests hard in that many of the forests we saw were actively managed by the timber industry. On the outskirts of one such forest, the local community has carved out awesome single track that curves and climbs, dips and rolls through recovering forest. Aidan and I rode for about two hours, which seemed just about right for our hiking trained legs.
2. Tongariro National Park and Craters of the Moon: the southern part of the North Island is formed by several large volcanoes and their outflow, some of which were featured in The Lord of the Rings. On the drive to the park we partly circled Lake Taupo, a volcanic crater forming the largest lake on the North Island created by the most violent volcanic explosion in the last several thousand years. Hiking through the grass covered open country of Tongariro NP over what was once lava flow gave us all yet another appreciation of the destructive/creative cycle of volcanoes. At Craters of the Moon, we walked the board walk around mud pots and steaming craters, listening to the earth hiss and bubble, reminding us that the place hasn't cooled off yet.
3. The Marlborough Sounds: welcome to the South Island! We ferried from Wellington to Picton and drove the Jucy to a beach side campground along one of the fingers of the Marlborough Sounds. There is far more to see and do here than sip sauvignon blanc wine. We spent an afternoon walking along the Queen Charlotte track high above fiord-like waterways. Though we arrived before the summer warmth settled in, we also arrived before the summer crowds. We thought it easier to deal with chill weather than crowds so we considered ourselves lucky.
4. Totaranui Beach and the Abel Tasman track: We drove some 70km away from the town of Nelson with its upscale feel to this isolated beach on the Golden Bay. Our timing again was perfect as we found the 850 person capacity campground with just a dozen or so folks leaving the several kilometer long beach for us to explore almost completely alone. The bonus here was access to the beautiful Abel Tasman track, which makes its way in a north/south direction along the coast. The hike that motivated the kids was the 15km round trip coursing over several deserted beaches to Separation Point where we could sit and watch a small seal colony play among the rocks in the surging surf. And while Auckland was rainy and chilly, we walked under horizon wide blue skies.
5. Thanksgiving with the Osorios and Kellers: we joined our friends for a belated Thanksgiving dinner. It was wonderful to share the American tradition with our friends, and gave our kids a sense that the world is not such a big place.
6. Mt. Cook National Park: though bad for Christchurch, the Southern Alps are the spectacular result of the Australasia and Pacific plates slowly grinding away at each other. The mountains rear up into some antarctically driven wet and windy weather guaranteeing enough snow to support glaciation. Again, the weather gods looked upon us favorably and changed the foggy, nearly snowing weather of our arrival in the park to a blue bird day the next day so we could enjoy the majesty of those peaks from the Hooker Valley Trail and Tasman Glacier. The park offers another special treat in the Edmund Hillary Alpine Center where we could listen to a recording of Hillary describing his ascent of Mt. Everest.
7. The Otago Penisula: that sheep should have the views they have from the pastures on this highland jutting into the Pacific Ocean above the city of Dunedin is something to be envied. We hiked through steep sheep pastures looking over beaches harboring the rare Yellow-eyed penguin, found only along the southeast coast of the South Island. The Pacific Ocean stretched before us unobstructed until Easter Island, thousands of miles to the east with still some 2000 miles yet to the coast of Chile. That is a lot of empty ocean!
8. The Catlins: our friends Neil and Nory invited us to stay with them in Invercargill, often described as the armpit of New Zealand. It lies at 46 degrees south latitude, in a stretch of the world known as the Roaring Forties for the relentless wind that circles the globe. The Catlins is a stretch of coastline occupied by sheep stations and is mostly un- or minimally inhabited. Nothing but high grass covered dunes and headlands, breaking waves and sand, penguins and sea lions, and the wind. If that is living in an armpit, we were happy to immerse in it. We surfed at Curio beach, as Hector's Dolphins, the smallest of the dolphins, played around us and showed us how to really play in the surf.
9. Invercargill: despite its rep as an armpit, a lovely town made even more comfortable by our friends.
10. Clifden Cave: imagine a limestone cave a few steps off of the road with a sign that shows the route through and then a mild warning of something like "if you go, it is your own decision and your own risk...". Only in the land that invented bungy jumping. We spent about forty minutes wandering through this small cave. The kids could not believe we had the place completely to ourselves. Oh, and did I mention there was nobody collecting an entrance fee?
11. The road to Milford Sound: if you ever Google Milford Sound, undoubtedly a picture of Mitre Peak towering some 1750 meters above the surface of the water will be prominent. Formed by glaciers, everything about Milford Sound fiord is drop-dead beautiful, except for the persistent sand fly. The fly is so obnoxious the Maori (indigenous people) have a legend about the creation of the fly that says one of their gods created it to remind man of his mortality lest the beauty of Milford Sound cause him to forget. The road to Milford Sound was just as beautiful as it cut through glacier cut valleys curtained by waterfalls affording several jumping off places for hikes to glacier fed lakes like the beautiful Lake Marion.
12. Queenstown: as the birth home of bungy jumping and the location of Middle Earth in The Lord of the Rings, Queenstown is the adrenaline capital of New Zealand and a definite tourist destination. Set on a long lake backed up by the Remarkable Mountains, it is easy to see why so many outdoor and aerobic junkies flock here. We had but a day as we passed through, but it was made far more memorable by our stay with our friends Chip and Lindsay.
13. Wanaka: Some twenty years ago, I bicycle toured around the South Island. While this trip proved that I have few accurate memories from that trip, I clearly remember riding into Wanaka, at the gate to Mt. Aspiring National Park, and thinking it to be a town I could happily retire to. Though a bit bigger and more upscale than when I was last there, the lake and mountains remain unchanged leaving me with that same feeling as we drove into town this time.
14. Gillespies Beach: we drove a long way to get to this free beach on the west coast, recommended by Chip and Lindsay. As we drove in, with the clouds hanging low on the Southern Alps, we laughed at the Mt. Cook View Hotel, guessing they had a picture of the view in their lobby. The ever present sand fly greeted us as we pulled into the little parking lot. We parked next to a van with a Canadian flag on the side window and I made a joke with the occupants asking them if they were really Americans posing as Canadians. We enjoyed Garreth and Shauna's company and stories of their year-long stay in NZ. And yes, they really were Canadian. But the biggest surprise, which crept up on us like all surprises do, was the lifting of the clouds freeing Mt. Cook and all of its neighbors to look down upon us with an air of grandeur more regal than any monarchy. We watched the sun set across those mountains, with the pounding surf at our backs, and considered ourselves once again extremely lucky.
Now that I have written all of this, I think about all the places I didn't mention. There are many of them. But I can't give all the magic away or nobody reading this would ever need to go. There is plenty of adventure and beauty in New Zealand I didn't describe so you can still find it for yourselves.
We made it back to Auckland but it was cold and rainy so it was easy to pack up for another fourteen hour flight to Chile and Patagonia.
Happy Holidays and great adventures in the New Year to all!
Paul
But before I even think about NZ, we spent a few days in Bangkok transitioning from Bhutan, or at least that is what the guide books said might be a nice thing to do. As was hopefully obvious, we really enjoyed Bhutan and felt little need to transition away from it back to the larger world.
And Bangkok is the larger world though we were better prepared for it on the return trip than when we arrived from Europe. Despite our previous visit, we weren't sure what was awaiting us as we flew in because of the massive flooding that affected all of Thailand and subsequently southeast Asia. Water is something the Thai people seem to understand because to our eyes the city seemed to be just as energetic as before the flooding. Sure, there were cars parked in long lines on every elevated road, but business appeared as usual to us. After just two days, we were on our way to New Zealand. Overall, our time in Thailand was very short, too short to say anything about Thai culture other than we met some wonderful people despite the overbearing tuk-tuk drivers.
Some fourteen hours after leaving Bangkok, we arrived in rainy and chilly Auckland. We thought we were headed back to summer but New Zealand offered us just about everything but summer. All I am going to write about New Zealand is as an impressionist might paint a scene because my memories are already sorting into pictures and feelings more than actual facts. We rented a Jucy campervan. With its distinctive green and purple markings it was very easy to see us and fellow Jucy renters on the road. A definite camaraderie developed among Jucy drivers identified by the way we would all flash our lights and wave when we passed each other on the road. While hardly spacious, the kids slept in a pop-up on top while Lucy and I got the inside compartment. With a little gas stove and some plates and utensils, we had most meals out of the back of the van or in the kitchens of the camp grounds we frequented.
We were new to campervanning. Just like arriving in a city is confusing for a few days, so it was with the campervan scene. There is a whole infrastructure built for campervanning with nuances learned only with time and practice. I found myself eying other campervans, checking out the set up of each one in an effort to improve our ride. As we became more practiced, we figured it all out allowing us to access the Department of Conservation free or nearly free campgrounds in the most out of the way locations along beaches or in the mountains. With such beautiful backdrops every night, we mused about the future of such a lifestyle.
Any reconnaissance of New Zealand, whether by guide book, internet, or on the ground will quickly demonstrate an immense variety of landscape and adventure potential. The North and South Islands have between them lakes and rivers, volcanoes and hot springs, mountains and glaciers, rain forests and fiords, and kilometers of beaches many of which are empty of people or nearly so but rich in tide pools and seals and sea lions with dolphins surfing the breaking wave faces. Imagine Colorado with a long coastline but throw in a bit of Yellowstone and the glacier cut peaks of the northern Rockies, with the grasslands of the high prairie and that begins to capture all of the natural wonder we enjoyed.
Our basic goal was to travel from Auckland to Invercargill and back again. Auckland is in the northern part of the North Island and Invercargill is the southern most city of the South Island. It was ambitious and maybe too much but we were glad to have toured through the places we did and still be able to spend several days with our friends Neil and Nory in Invercargill. Because we were in a different place almost every night, I will avoid the list of nightly campgrounds but instead try to describe some of the places we really loved along the way.
1. Mountain biking in Rotorua: New Zealand works its forests hard in that many of the forests we saw were actively managed by the timber industry. On the outskirts of one such forest, the local community has carved out awesome single track that curves and climbs, dips and rolls through recovering forest. Aidan and I rode for about two hours, which seemed just about right for our hiking trained legs.
2. Tongariro National Park and Craters of the Moon: the southern part of the North Island is formed by several large volcanoes and their outflow, some of which were featured in The Lord of the Rings. On the drive to the park we partly circled Lake Taupo, a volcanic crater forming the largest lake on the North Island created by the most violent volcanic explosion in the last several thousand years. Hiking through the grass covered open country of Tongariro NP over what was once lava flow gave us all yet another appreciation of the destructive/creative cycle of volcanoes. At Craters of the Moon, we walked the board walk around mud pots and steaming craters, listening to the earth hiss and bubble, reminding us that the place hasn't cooled off yet.
3. The Marlborough Sounds: welcome to the South Island! We ferried from Wellington to Picton and drove the Jucy to a beach side campground along one of the fingers of the Marlborough Sounds. There is far more to see and do here than sip sauvignon blanc wine. We spent an afternoon walking along the Queen Charlotte track high above fiord-like waterways. Though we arrived before the summer warmth settled in, we also arrived before the summer crowds. We thought it easier to deal with chill weather than crowds so we considered ourselves lucky.
4. Totaranui Beach and the Abel Tasman track: We drove some 70km away from the town of Nelson with its upscale feel to this isolated beach on the Golden Bay. Our timing again was perfect as we found the 850 person capacity campground with just a dozen or so folks leaving the several kilometer long beach for us to explore almost completely alone. The bonus here was access to the beautiful Abel Tasman track, which makes its way in a north/south direction along the coast. The hike that motivated the kids was the 15km round trip coursing over several deserted beaches to Separation Point where we could sit and watch a small seal colony play among the rocks in the surging surf. And while Auckland was rainy and chilly, we walked under horizon wide blue skies.
5. Thanksgiving with the Osorios and Kellers: we joined our friends for a belated Thanksgiving dinner. It was wonderful to share the American tradition with our friends, and gave our kids a sense that the world is not such a big place.
6. Mt. Cook National Park: though bad for Christchurch, the Southern Alps are the spectacular result of the Australasia and Pacific plates slowly grinding away at each other. The mountains rear up into some antarctically driven wet and windy weather guaranteeing enough snow to support glaciation. Again, the weather gods looked upon us favorably and changed the foggy, nearly snowing weather of our arrival in the park to a blue bird day the next day so we could enjoy the majesty of those peaks from the Hooker Valley Trail and Tasman Glacier. The park offers another special treat in the Edmund Hillary Alpine Center where we could listen to a recording of Hillary describing his ascent of Mt. Everest.
7. The Otago Penisula: that sheep should have the views they have from the pastures on this highland jutting into the Pacific Ocean above the city of Dunedin is something to be envied. We hiked through steep sheep pastures looking over beaches harboring the rare Yellow-eyed penguin, found only along the southeast coast of the South Island. The Pacific Ocean stretched before us unobstructed until Easter Island, thousands of miles to the east with still some 2000 miles yet to the coast of Chile. That is a lot of empty ocean!
8. The Catlins: our friends Neil and Nory invited us to stay with them in Invercargill, often described as the armpit of New Zealand. It lies at 46 degrees south latitude, in a stretch of the world known as the Roaring Forties for the relentless wind that circles the globe. The Catlins is a stretch of coastline occupied by sheep stations and is mostly un- or minimally inhabited. Nothing but high grass covered dunes and headlands, breaking waves and sand, penguins and sea lions, and the wind. If that is living in an armpit, we were happy to immerse in it. We surfed at Curio beach, as Hector's Dolphins, the smallest of the dolphins, played around us and showed us how to really play in the surf.
9. Invercargill: despite its rep as an armpit, a lovely town made even more comfortable by our friends.
10. Clifden Cave: imagine a limestone cave a few steps off of the road with a sign that shows the route through and then a mild warning of something like "if you go, it is your own decision and your own risk...". Only in the land that invented bungy jumping. We spent about forty minutes wandering through this small cave. The kids could not believe we had the place completely to ourselves. Oh, and did I mention there was nobody collecting an entrance fee?
11. The road to Milford Sound: if you ever Google Milford Sound, undoubtedly a picture of Mitre Peak towering some 1750 meters above the surface of the water will be prominent. Formed by glaciers, everything about Milford Sound fiord is drop-dead beautiful, except for the persistent sand fly. The fly is so obnoxious the Maori (indigenous people) have a legend about the creation of the fly that says one of their gods created it to remind man of his mortality lest the beauty of Milford Sound cause him to forget. The road to Milford Sound was just as beautiful as it cut through glacier cut valleys curtained by waterfalls affording several jumping off places for hikes to glacier fed lakes like the beautiful Lake Marion.
12. Queenstown: as the birth home of bungy jumping and the location of Middle Earth in The Lord of the Rings, Queenstown is the adrenaline capital of New Zealand and a definite tourist destination. Set on a long lake backed up by the Remarkable Mountains, it is easy to see why so many outdoor and aerobic junkies flock here. We had but a day as we passed through, but it was made far more memorable by our stay with our friends Chip and Lindsay.
13. Wanaka: Some twenty years ago, I bicycle toured around the South Island. While this trip proved that I have few accurate memories from that trip, I clearly remember riding into Wanaka, at the gate to Mt. Aspiring National Park, and thinking it to be a town I could happily retire to. Though a bit bigger and more upscale than when I was last there, the lake and mountains remain unchanged leaving me with that same feeling as we drove into town this time.
14. Gillespies Beach: we drove a long way to get to this free beach on the west coast, recommended by Chip and Lindsay. As we drove in, with the clouds hanging low on the Southern Alps, we laughed at the Mt. Cook View Hotel, guessing they had a picture of the view in their lobby. The ever present sand fly greeted us as we pulled into the little parking lot. We parked next to a van with a Canadian flag on the side window and I made a joke with the occupants asking them if they were really Americans posing as Canadians. We enjoyed Garreth and Shauna's company and stories of their year-long stay in NZ. And yes, they really were Canadian. But the biggest surprise, which crept up on us like all surprises do, was the lifting of the clouds freeing Mt. Cook and all of its neighbors to look down upon us with an air of grandeur more regal than any monarchy. We watched the sun set across those mountains, with the pounding surf at our backs, and considered ourselves once again extremely lucky.
Now that I have written all of this, I think about all the places I didn't mention. There are many of them. But I can't give all the magic away or nobody reading this would ever need to go. There is plenty of adventure and beauty in New Zealand I didn't describe so you can still find it for yourselves.
We made it back to Auckland but it was cold and rainy so it was easy to pack up for another fourteen hour flight to Chile and Patagonia.
Happy Holidays and great adventures in the New Year to all!
Paul
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Bhutan touring
With just two days left here in Bhutan, we all are a bit sad that our time has passed so quickly. I could blame it on the amount of interesting work for me in the Casualty Department, or that Lucy had a short but very productive collaboration with the physician providing care to folks with HIV and AIDS, or that we have befriended several Bhutanese and western folks with whom we hope to remain connected. All of those reasons make us want to stay longer. But just as big a contributor to our sadness is that this country is incredibly beautiful. In two different trips we traveled to central Bhutan and just like we experienced in the western part of the country, every turn in the road (and there were literally millions of them) revealed a view that bettered the previous one.
Traveling in Bhutan is not for those inclined to car sickness. We found that out early on as Charlie is just that way. The National Highway, the single road that traverses the country from Thimphu to the eastern part of the country is about one and a half lanes wide in the good parts and more like a dirt path in the challenged parts. I say challenged because the terrain over which the road traverses is steep and cut by thousands of streams and cascades, and forested thickly. The road has sloughed off down the mountainside in several places necessitating large scale reconstruction. Where the road still clings to the hillside, landslides brought on during the rainy season brought the mountain down on the road. As a result, average speed for any significant distance is about 20 mph. At such a leisurely pace, the views come slowly and linger. And that is what makes the drive so wonderful.
On our way to central Bhutan we crossed three different passes all of which offered views to the high Himalayas to the north and west. We spent our first night in a farmhouse in the Phobjikha Valley. The Phobjikha Valley is an important wintering spot for the endangered black-necked crane. The cranes spend the summer months in Tibet but come to the lower elevation (9500 feet) of the Phobjikha Valley for the winter. The valley is wide and sparsely populated. Just like the cranes, most of the people who live there migrate south each winter. For hundreds of years, the locals have gathered up their possessions and animals and walked south to warmer climes, returning again in the spring. As we entered the valley, yaks grazed in the tall grasses, kids clothed in traditional dress walked home from school, and the clouds of impending winter hung low on the ridge tops. Our farmhouse afforded us a view of all this.
The farmhouse hosts were especially kind. They cooked us Bhutanese food, which we ate in traditional Bhutanese manner on the floor gathered around the central wood stove. The wood stove is key because Bhutanese houses are not insulated, nor is there weather-stripping around any of the windows or doors. In other words, it was a bit chilly and drafty that evening. Despite the chill, we slept well under thick comforters. In the morning we were presented with suja (butter tea) and other typical foods. After breakfast, we toured the valley by car and foot but were deprived of black-necked crane sightings because they had not arrived in the valley yet. The crane is revered by the locals and is the center piece of a festival held in their honor each year but we were just a bit too early.
From the Phobjikha Valley we continued east following river gorges so deep we couldn't see the bottom. Through Trongsa, formerly the capital city, and over the Yatong La (another pass), we arrived in the Bumthang region. With views to the summer palace of the second King and Tharpaling Goemba (a monastery) perched high on the mountainside across the valley from our hotel, we settled into the stillness of Chumey Valley. One of the outstanding and truly beautiful aspects of Bhutan, and especially where we had landed, is the richness of the vast amount of virgin blue pine and mixed hard wood forests. Like the desert of western Colorado, it takes a little bit of time for the mind to understand the serenity of a dense virgin forest but once registered it becomes hard to leave. We made several hikes in the forests always accompanied by an awesome stillness, only broken by the wind or the falling water of a stream. On our last full day there, with a deep blue sky and warm sun, we climbed up to a high ridge to take views of the snow covered Himalayas. Even the kids enjoyed the forests and airy ridge-line. To top it all off, Pema, the manager of our "hotel", treated us like family visiting with us each evening at dinner. The staff showed our kids games with beans that kept them all entertained. It was hard to leave.
But leave we did, making our way all the way back to Thimphu (9 hours) on that curvy, bumpy National Highway. I thought it would be a downer to return to the city after such an incredible journey. But we were all happy to see the lights of Thimphu, especially the brightly lit National Memorial Chorten. The Chorten was built in memory of the third King, who died in his early 40s. It is just down the road from where we live so it is a easily seen landmark from all over the valley. Now we are finishing our time here, visiting with the friends we have made, and taking care of the inevitable last minute details that come from getting to know a place. In two days, we travel to Bangkok, which we hear is barely keeping its head above flood waters. Now that will be a bit of a shock for all of us.
It will take some time for me to organize my thoughts about our time here in Bhutan. On the one hand, I came to volunteer my experience in emergency medicine. On that experience I have mixed feelings. I was definitely not here long enough to make any system wide impact though I did help individual physicians and nurses with important skills and concepts. Unlike the other countries we have visited, Bhutan is a developing country and has the growing pains of that status. The health care system is challenged by lack of sufficient resources and infrastructure that I believe will take many years yet to overcome. On the other hand, the people I worked with are sincere and motivated to improve the system though there are systems issues that in my opinion will be slow to change. On the balance, I would come back again to further assist the process. From a non-medicine view, our time here has been truly wonderful. So, if I add it all up, it was well worth all the effort to be here and we will look longingly out of the airplane windows as we fly away.
Traveling in Bhutan is not for those inclined to car sickness. We found that out early on as Charlie is just that way. The National Highway, the single road that traverses the country from Thimphu to the eastern part of the country is about one and a half lanes wide in the good parts and more like a dirt path in the challenged parts. I say challenged because the terrain over which the road traverses is steep and cut by thousands of streams and cascades, and forested thickly. The road has sloughed off down the mountainside in several places necessitating large scale reconstruction. Where the road still clings to the hillside, landslides brought on during the rainy season brought the mountain down on the road. As a result, average speed for any significant distance is about 20 mph. At such a leisurely pace, the views come slowly and linger. And that is what makes the drive so wonderful.
On our way to central Bhutan we crossed three different passes all of which offered views to the high Himalayas to the north and west. We spent our first night in a farmhouse in the Phobjikha Valley. The Phobjikha Valley is an important wintering spot for the endangered black-necked crane. The cranes spend the summer months in Tibet but come to the lower elevation (9500 feet) of the Phobjikha Valley for the winter. The valley is wide and sparsely populated. Just like the cranes, most of the people who live there migrate south each winter. For hundreds of years, the locals have gathered up their possessions and animals and walked south to warmer climes, returning again in the spring. As we entered the valley, yaks grazed in the tall grasses, kids clothed in traditional dress walked home from school, and the clouds of impending winter hung low on the ridge tops. Our farmhouse afforded us a view of all this.
The farmhouse hosts were especially kind. They cooked us Bhutanese food, which we ate in traditional Bhutanese manner on the floor gathered around the central wood stove. The wood stove is key because Bhutanese houses are not insulated, nor is there weather-stripping around any of the windows or doors. In other words, it was a bit chilly and drafty that evening. Despite the chill, we slept well under thick comforters. In the morning we were presented with suja (butter tea) and other typical foods. After breakfast, we toured the valley by car and foot but were deprived of black-necked crane sightings because they had not arrived in the valley yet. The crane is revered by the locals and is the center piece of a festival held in their honor each year but we were just a bit too early.
From the Phobjikha Valley we continued east following river gorges so deep we couldn't see the bottom. Through Trongsa, formerly the capital city, and over the Yatong La (another pass), we arrived in the Bumthang region. With views to the summer palace of the second King and Tharpaling Goemba (a monastery) perched high on the mountainside across the valley from our hotel, we settled into the stillness of Chumey Valley. One of the outstanding and truly beautiful aspects of Bhutan, and especially where we had landed, is the richness of the vast amount of virgin blue pine and mixed hard wood forests. Like the desert of western Colorado, it takes a little bit of time for the mind to understand the serenity of a dense virgin forest but once registered it becomes hard to leave. We made several hikes in the forests always accompanied by an awesome stillness, only broken by the wind or the falling water of a stream. On our last full day there, with a deep blue sky and warm sun, we climbed up to a high ridge to take views of the snow covered Himalayas. Even the kids enjoyed the forests and airy ridge-line. To top it all off, Pema, the manager of our "hotel", treated us like family visiting with us each evening at dinner. The staff showed our kids games with beans that kept them all entertained. It was hard to leave.
But leave we did, making our way all the way back to Thimphu (9 hours) on that curvy, bumpy National Highway. I thought it would be a downer to return to the city after such an incredible journey. But we were all happy to see the lights of Thimphu, especially the brightly lit National Memorial Chorten. The Chorten was built in memory of the third King, who died in his early 40s. It is just down the road from where we live so it is a easily seen landmark from all over the valley. Now we are finishing our time here, visiting with the friends we have made, and taking care of the inevitable last minute details that come from getting to know a place. In two days, we travel to Bangkok, which we hear is barely keeping its head above flood waters. Now that will be a bit of a shock for all of us.
It will take some time for me to organize my thoughts about our time here in Bhutan. On the one hand, I came to volunteer my experience in emergency medicine. On that experience I have mixed feelings. I was definitely not here long enough to make any system wide impact though I did help individual physicians and nurses with important skills and concepts. Unlike the other countries we have visited, Bhutan is a developing country and has the growing pains of that status. The health care system is challenged by lack of sufficient resources and infrastructure that I believe will take many years yet to overcome. On the other hand, the people I worked with are sincere and motivated to improve the system though there are systems issues that in my opinion will be slow to change. On the balance, I would come back again to further assist the process. From a non-medicine view, our time here has been truly wonderful. So, if I add it all up, it was well worth all the effort to be here and we will look longingly out of the airplane windows as we fly away.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Tango, Cheri, Phajoding, Taktshang, and Chelela
Thimphu lies in the Wang Chhu valley, which flows out of the Himalayas to the north near the border with Tibet. The Wang Chhu is a clear river with tempting rapids, reminding me of the Salmon River in Idaho. The hills rise sharply from the river bed providing remote, contemplative places for monasteries. As I am working on weekdays, we have used the weekends to explore the nearby hills.
Buddhism is central to life here in Bhutan and monasteries are central to Buddhist education and development of the practice of meditation. The first two monasteries we visited are just north of Thimphu. Following the Wang Chhu, we made our way up valley driven and escorted by Passang, the ED nurse manager. Tango was built hundreds of years ago and functions as a Buddhist University at roughly 10,000 feet above sea level. The monks in residence were informative and even playful as they dressed Aidan up in red robes. Check out our photos - Aidan dresses up pretty well in red. We hiked down the mountain and then back up another trail to Cheri monastery. Though in an equally stunning location, the feel of Cheri was completely different from Tango. Cheri is a monastery for advanced meditation practices. We saw no one and heard almost nothing. It was incredibly peaceful in its isolation. Though I found it hard to imagine what three years, three months, three weeks, and three days of meditation would be like; I also found it hard to hike back down the mountain toward civilization.
Seeking another monastery experience and on the advice of my friend Rick, the following weekend we hiked to Phajoding. All of these monasteries are high up on the side of mountains and the monks supply their homes by hiking down and then hauling supplies back up. It is quite a work out when the "grocery run" is an 1100 meter climb to 12,000 feet. Our hike was without groceries and despite the "boring" hike through the forest, our kids made it. Phajoding was built some 800 years ago and was formerly a very important and affluent monastery. Over the years it has fallen into disrepair though monks continue to find what they seek in that place. When we arrived, the sounds of wind blowing though the trees and faint chanting spilling out of the buildings greeted us. Farther up the hillside yaks were grazing unconcerned by our presence. In the surrounding fields stood several tents placed by trekking parties for the first night of the Thimphu to Paro trek. Just like Cheri monastery, we saw nobody except for a couple of monks bringing supplies up from the valley. The kids hoped they didn't forget the butter down in town. We lingered to enjoy the long views over Thimphu and the Wang Chhu valley. If I hadn't been told that the monks seek these places to perfect their meditation practice, I would have thought they stay on the mountain just for the views. On the way down, we met Martine and Henri from Nice, France. We had a conversation with them that could have been mistaken as one between old friends who had not seen each other for a long time. They told us of their backpacking trip on the Continental Divide Trail through Colorado and how they hoped to return in two years to complete it. As they were likely fifteen years older than me, we admired their energy and adventure; and hoped to meet them when they returned to Colorado (maybe even on the CDT). After such a fine hike to a beautiful place coupled with meeting Martine and Henri, we made our way back into Thimphu and finished the day with ice cream cones. It could not have been better.
This past weekend, we traveled out of the Wang Chhu valley for the first time. Returning to Paro (where we landed upon arrival to Bhutan), we headed to Taktshang, also known as Tiger's Nest monastery. Bhutanese culture has it that Guru Rinpoche, sometime in the eighth century flew on the back of a tigress to this cliffside location to subdue the evil demons in that area. After completing his task, he remained in a cave to meditate for three months. A monastery was built in that location and is a very holy place for Buddhists. The cave in which Guru Rinpoche meditated is protected as the most important space in the monastery. As with each of the monasteries we have visited, the intricacy of the artwork is stunning, demonstrating a deep devotion to Buddhism. Similar to the other monasteries and despite the larger numbers of tourists at Taktshang, the sense of peace was pervasive.
After Taktshang, we visited the National Museum of Bhutan. It is located above the town of Paro and the Pa Chhu (river). The valley floor is covered with fields of ripening rice, the backdrop the Himalayas: golden rice against snowy peaks. The National Museum holds collections of art representing Bhutanese and Buddhist culture and provided us with answers to some of the questions we had as we watched the masked dances at the Tsechu Festival during our first week in Thimphu. We finished the day at the Gangtey Hotel. Designed like (or maybe even within) a monastery, our room was colorful and comfortable. Sitting on a bench of land above town, we watched twilight overtake the valley with few lights to obscure the view.
On Sunday, our driver delivered us 1600 meters above the Pa Chhu valley to Chelela. Chelela is a pass between the Pa Chhu and Haa Valleys and is accessed by the highest motor road in Bhutan. At 3810 meters, the pass afforded us a lofty start to the ridge above. Our hope was to view Jhomolhari and some of the high Himalayan peaks on the Bhutan/Tibet border. We had a bluebird day walking up the ridge, weaving our way through thousands of prayer flags. As we hiked up, Jhomolhari and the surrounding peaks stood clearly in front of us. To the west on the Nepal/India border stood Kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world. What a place, what a day! The planned hike of thirty minutes turned into a two hour wander and even then was much too short. But that is what we are discovering about our whole experience here in Bhutan - it all seems too short.
We have several more trips planned yet before we leave Bhutan. Stay tuned for the next post.
Cheers,
Paul
Buddhism is central to life here in Bhutan and monasteries are central to Buddhist education and development of the practice of meditation. The first two monasteries we visited are just north of Thimphu. Following the Wang Chhu, we made our way up valley driven and escorted by Passang, the ED nurse manager. Tango was built hundreds of years ago and functions as a Buddhist University at roughly 10,000 feet above sea level. The monks in residence were informative and even playful as they dressed Aidan up in red robes. Check out our photos - Aidan dresses up pretty well in red. We hiked down the mountain and then back up another trail to Cheri monastery. Though in an equally stunning location, the feel of Cheri was completely different from Tango. Cheri is a monastery for advanced meditation practices. We saw no one and heard almost nothing. It was incredibly peaceful in its isolation. Though I found it hard to imagine what three years, three months, three weeks, and three days of meditation would be like; I also found it hard to hike back down the mountain toward civilization.
Seeking another monastery experience and on the advice of my friend Rick, the following weekend we hiked to Phajoding. All of these monasteries are high up on the side of mountains and the monks supply their homes by hiking down and then hauling supplies back up. It is quite a work out when the "grocery run" is an 1100 meter climb to 12,000 feet. Our hike was without groceries and despite the "boring" hike through the forest, our kids made it. Phajoding was built some 800 years ago and was formerly a very important and affluent monastery. Over the years it has fallen into disrepair though monks continue to find what they seek in that place. When we arrived, the sounds of wind blowing though the trees and faint chanting spilling out of the buildings greeted us. Farther up the hillside yaks were grazing unconcerned by our presence. In the surrounding fields stood several tents placed by trekking parties for the first night of the Thimphu to Paro trek. Just like Cheri monastery, we saw nobody except for a couple of monks bringing supplies up from the valley. The kids hoped they didn't forget the butter down in town. We lingered to enjoy the long views over Thimphu and the Wang Chhu valley. If I hadn't been told that the monks seek these places to perfect their meditation practice, I would have thought they stay on the mountain just for the views. On the way down, we met Martine and Henri from Nice, France. We had a conversation with them that could have been mistaken as one between old friends who had not seen each other for a long time. They told us of their backpacking trip on the Continental Divide Trail through Colorado and how they hoped to return in two years to complete it. As they were likely fifteen years older than me, we admired their energy and adventure; and hoped to meet them when they returned to Colorado (maybe even on the CDT). After such a fine hike to a beautiful place coupled with meeting Martine and Henri, we made our way back into Thimphu and finished the day with ice cream cones. It could not have been better.
This past weekend, we traveled out of the Wang Chhu valley for the first time. Returning to Paro (where we landed upon arrival to Bhutan), we headed to Taktshang, also known as Tiger's Nest monastery. Bhutanese culture has it that Guru Rinpoche, sometime in the eighth century flew on the back of a tigress to this cliffside location to subdue the evil demons in that area. After completing his task, he remained in a cave to meditate for three months. A monastery was built in that location and is a very holy place for Buddhists. The cave in which Guru Rinpoche meditated is protected as the most important space in the monastery. As with each of the monasteries we have visited, the intricacy of the artwork is stunning, demonstrating a deep devotion to Buddhism. Similar to the other monasteries and despite the larger numbers of tourists at Taktshang, the sense of peace was pervasive.
After Taktshang, we visited the National Museum of Bhutan. It is located above the town of Paro and the Pa Chhu (river). The valley floor is covered with fields of ripening rice, the backdrop the Himalayas: golden rice against snowy peaks. The National Museum holds collections of art representing Bhutanese and Buddhist culture and provided us with answers to some of the questions we had as we watched the masked dances at the Tsechu Festival during our first week in Thimphu. We finished the day at the Gangtey Hotel. Designed like (or maybe even within) a monastery, our room was colorful and comfortable. Sitting on a bench of land above town, we watched twilight overtake the valley with few lights to obscure the view.
On Sunday, our driver delivered us 1600 meters above the Pa Chhu valley to Chelela. Chelela is a pass between the Pa Chhu and Haa Valleys and is accessed by the highest motor road in Bhutan. At 3810 meters, the pass afforded us a lofty start to the ridge above. Our hope was to view Jhomolhari and some of the high Himalayan peaks on the Bhutan/Tibet border. We had a bluebird day walking up the ridge, weaving our way through thousands of prayer flags. As we hiked up, Jhomolhari and the surrounding peaks stood clearly in front of us. To the west on the Nepal/India border stood Kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world. What a place, what a day! The planned hike of thirty minutes turned into a two hour wander and even then was much too short. But that is what we are discovering about our whole experience here in Bhutan - it all seems too short.
We have several more trips planned yet before we leave Bhutan. Stay tuned for the next post.
Cheers,
Paul
Saturday, October 15, 2011
The King and Queen
Sometimes just being lucky is the best of all possible worlds. Our stay in Bhutan coincides with two very important celebrations. In our last post, I described the annual Tsechu. That was last weekend. This week has been completely filled with the Royal Wedding. Bhutan has a constitutional monarchy government and it is very apparent there is a deep affection for the King. Two days ago, Druk Gyalpo (the dragon king) Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuk married Jetsun Pema making her his Queen. Hard to believe but we were glued to the TV watching the ceremony. Just like the Tsechu, the ceremony was filled with color and symbolism like no wedding ceremony I had ever seen. After the ceremony, the King and his new Queen mingled with the people of Punakha who performed traditional and even not so traditional (hip-hop) dance and music for the royal couple. The King and Queen are young, energetic, and a very handsome couple. Watching how comfortably they mingled with the people demonstrated a deep respect between people and monarchy.
The big fun for us occurred yesterday as all of Thimphu lined the streets in anticipation of the royal couple's visit here. Our kids waited with their school mates and teachers for hours. We caught up with them as day slipped into evening. Suddenly, the crowd became very quiet and a procession passed before us with the King and Queen bringing up the end. They wandered from side to side greeting people. Being tall and obviously not local, Lucy and I caught the eye of the King. He lingered and asked if we were tourists. We told him we were volunteering at the National Hospital in the Casualty Department. He thanked us for being here, chatted a few more words, and then moved along up the street. We were so honored that the King spent a few moments with us and will remember it forever.
Today, there was a big celebration at the stadium in town. All of the school children performed dances. With each of us in traditional clothing (no small effort as it takes at least two people to get dressed), we got our kids to the stadium by 7:15am to find their reserved seating. Unfortunately that was already too late for us as the stadium was completely full. We wandered around to another entrance on the field level and found a spot on a steep hillside. Bhutanese folks ambled up and down the hillside sometimes using us as guardrails. A group of people started a smoldering fire of pine needles in anticipation of the celebrity couple's arrival. Despite the religious significance of the smoke carrying prayers upward to the heavens, there we were guardrails on a steep hill with smoke in our eyes. Suddenly, the Bhutanese (who do not queue in the most orderly way) pushed past a barrier. We saw our chance and followed on the tail of the rush. Once inside on the field, we had better views and feel for the good energy Thimphu residents offered the royal couple. Unbelievably, we ran into a friend of mine from Boulder, Colorado. Rick sits on a foundation board that assists in the restoration of monasteries here in Bhutan. I have had several small world experiences since arriving in Bhutan but maybe this is just the place to be during the week of the Royal Wedding.
We're back in our apartment now, again glued to the TV watching the closing ceremony of this day of celebration. As all the dignitaries circle the field in a dance and sing a somewhat somber but uplifting song, I feel that all is good right now. I hope for such peace everywhere. We wish the King and Queen a long life together filled with happiness.
The big fun for us occurred yesterday as all of Thimphu lined the streets in anticipation of the royal couple's visit here. Our kids waited with their school mates and teachers for hours. We caught up with them as day slipped into evening. Suddenly, the crowd became very quiet and a procession passed before us with the King and Queen bringing up the end. They wandered from side to side greeting people. Being tall and obviously not local, Lucy and I caught the eye of the King. He lingered and asked if we were tourists. We told him we were volunteering at the National Hospital in the Casualty Department. He thanked us for being here, chatted a few more words, and then moved along up the street. We were so honored that the King spent a few moments with us and will remember it forever.
Today, there was a big celebration at the stadium in town. All of the school children performed dances. With each of us in traditional clothing (no small effort as it takes at least two people to get dressed), we got our kids to the stadium by 7:15am to find their reserved seating. Unfortunately that was already too late for us as the stadium was completely full. We wandered around to another entrance on the field level and found a spot on a steep hillside. Bhutanese folks ambled up and down the hillside sometimes using us as guardrails. A group of people started a smoldering fire of pine needles in anticipation of the celebrity couple's arrival. Despite the religious significance of the smoke carrying prayers upward to the heavens, there we were guardrails on a steep hill with smoke in our eyes. Suddenly, the Bhutanese (who do not queue in the most orderly way) pushed past a barrier. We saw our chance and followed on the tail of the rush. Once inside on the field, we had better views and feel for the good energy Thimphu residents offered the royal couple. Unbelievably, we ran into a friend of mine from Boulder, Colorado. Rick sits on a foundation board that assists in the restoration of monasteries here in Bhutan. I have had several small world experiences since arriving in Bhutan but maybe this is just the place to be during the week of the Royal Wedding.
We're back in our apartment now, again glued to the TV watching the closing ceremony of this day of celebration. As all the dignitaries circle the field in a dance and sing a somewhat somber but uplifting song, I feel that all is good right now. I hope for such peace everywhere. We wish the King and Queen a long life together filled with happiness.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Bhutan
Kuzuzangpo la!
My first impression of Bhutan will forever be the clean feel of thin, dry air on my face. The sun glistened as we walked off the plane in Paro. The mountains rose up around us, the ridges were crisp against the deep blue sky. The Pachu River ran clear in a river bed that suggested the possibility of a more intense mood. Could we have somehow traveled further than we thought and were home in western Colorado? It sure felt that way. As we drove from Paro to Thimphu along a very curvy road following first the Pachu and then the Wang Chhu River, each turn revealed yet another beautiful view. I had a very good feeling about this place.
Like any new town, we were initially confused. Dzongkha, the local language, is incomprehensible though I have learned the greeting I began this post with. At least many of the signs were in English so we could find our way around. As we have discovered since Sicily though, each building seems to contain a million different shops. Here the task of dissecting it all was a bit harder because all of the signs are in blue, causing them to blend into one another. With a little persistence it all began to make sense.
We are here as volunteers in the health care system. My task is in the Casualty Department, replacing my colleague, Dr. Will from California. His wife, Dr. Karen, worked as a pediatrician. They and their family introduced us to Thimphu and oriented us to life in this city. From our apartment, we walk all over town accessing places like the weekend vegetable and craft market, various Bhutanese and Indian restaurants, and an incredible several kilometer uphill walk/run to a massive statue of Buddha from where we can see snow covered Himalayan peaks. As I walk to the hospital each day, I look to the rising foothills all about me and pass a temple emanating Buddhist chanting.
Our kids have started school. Each day they don the traditional men's garment of Bhutan called a gho. Their ghos are in the school colors and all the children where them. Lucy has eased herself into traditional woman's attire called a kira, a floor length wrap of material. The kiras are especially attractive as they come in all different colors and are matched with brightly colored jackets. I have my own gho now and look forward to a socially appropriate moment to wear it.
During the first weekend we were here, the annual Tsechu or festival was occurring. We went to the Tashichho Dzong, or fortress, where the traditional dancing and ceremonies were held. While we don't know the stories acted out, it was still exciting to be part of the celebration. Over that same weekend, the head nurse Passang and his wife took us to visit two important Buddhist monasteries north of Thimphu. Tango and Cheri monasteries sit in opposing valleys perched high on the sides of the mountains. Passang explained the significance of the monasteries thus enriching our visit. There are wonderful legends and histories attached to each monastery. Tango functions as a high level monastic college while Cheri is a pinnacle monastery for those monks wishing to practice the discipline of meditation. The peaceful, cloud draped locations and spectacular views of the valley below help me understand why a monk might choose to cloister himself for 3 years, 3 months, and 3 days on his path to becoming a lama.
It's late now and there will be a full day of festivities tomorrow because the King and his new Queen are in Thimphu. We will fill you in on all the fun so check back again soon.
My first impression of Bhutan will forever be the clean feel of thin, dry air on my face. The sun glistened as we walked off the plane in Paro. The mountains rose up around us, the ridges were crisp against the deep blue sky. The Pachu River ran clear in a river bed that suggested the possibility of a more intense mood. Could we have somehow traveled further than we thought and were home in western Colorado? It sure felt that way. As we drove from Paro to Thimphu along a very curvy road following first the Pachu and then the Wang Chhu River, each turn revealed yet another beautiful view. I had a very good feeling about this place.
Like any new town, we were initially confused. Dzongkha, the local language, is incomprehensible though I have learned the greeting I began this post with. At least many of the signs were in English so we could find our way around. As we have discovered since Sicily though, each building seems to contain a million different shops. Here the task of dissecting it all was a bit harder because all of the signs are in blue, causing them to blend into one another. With a little persistence it all began to make sense.
We are here as volunteers in the health care system. My task is in the Casualty Department, replacing my colleague, Dr. Will from California. His wife, Dr. Karen, worked as a pediatrician. They and their family introduced us to Thimphu and oriented us to life in this city. From our apartment, we walk all over town accessing places like the weekend vegetable and craft market, various Bhutanese and Indian restaurants, and an incredible several kilometer uphill walk/run to a massive statue of Buddha from where we can see snow covered Himalayan peaks. As I walk to the hospital each day, I look to the rising foothills all about me and pass a temple emanating Buddhist chanting.
Our kids have started school. Each day they don the traditional men's garment of Bhutan called a gho. Their ghos are in the school colors and all the children where them. Lucy has eased herself into traditional woman's attire called a kira, a floor length wrap of material. The kiras are especially attractive as they come in all different colors and are matched with brightly colored jackets. I have my own gho now and look forward to a socially appropriate moment to wear it.
During the first weekend we were here, the annual Tsechu or festival was occurring. We went to the Tashichho Dzong, or fortress, where the traditional dancing and ceremonies were held. While we don't know the stories acted out, it was still exciting to be part of the celebration. Over that same weekend, the head nurse Passang and his wife took us to visit two important Buddhist monasteries north of Thimphu. Tango and Cheri monasteries sit in opposing valleys perched high on the sides of the mountains. Passang explained the significance of the monasteries thus enriching our visit. There are wonderful legends and histories attached to each monastery. Tango functions as a high level monastic college while Cheri is a pinnacle monastery for those monks wishing to practice the discipline of meditation. The peaceful, cloud draped locations and spectacular views of the valley below help me understand why a monk might choose to cloister himself for 3 years, 3 months, and 3 days on his path to becoming a lama.
It's late now and there will be a full day of festivities tomorrow because the King and his new Queen are in Thimphu. We will fill you in on all the fun so check back again soon.
Thailand
We were pretty bleary eyed when we arrived in the Bangkok. We had flown all night from Helsinki with little sleep. Aidan, who formerly was a rock solid sleeper on overnight flights, complained that the seats in economy class were really uncomfortable. We quickly tamped his observation and discussion about the wider seats in business class.
Bangkok is a jungle with tall buildings forming the canopy layer. Water seemed to be everywhere as the rain continued in one of the heaviest monsoon seasons in recent history. Green and humid, crowded and loud, new and ancient, traditional and modern all at once; my head spun with every turn into a new alley as our cab driver struggled to find our guest house. But once we got our feet on the ground, we began to see through the layers that make up the city. There were several challenges to deal with such as tuk-tuk (three wheeled taxis) drivers trying to lure us in for a ride, the multitude of alleys that defied tracing on a map, and the eternal (happy) choice of where to eat. But in the end, thanks to an amazing night-time bicycle tour we came away with another view of Bangkok: one of temples lit up at night with nary a person around, a cut flower market stretching blocks interspersed with vendors of delicious Thai treats, and quiet backways that could have been out in the country. In our two short days, we saw a side of Bangkok that for me is well worth further exploration.
Our time in Bangkok was short because we wanted to get out of the big city to a quieter place. We flew to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, located in the foothills of the eastern Himalayas. We found what we were looking for in that Chiang Mai is mellower than the big city to the south. The tuk-tuk drivers were content to let us walk where we wanted, and the surrounding hills were a welcomed view from the broad flatness of Bangkok. We spent our days there touring by bicycle around the south of the city, mountain biking down monsoon slick mud double track, and touring an elephant nature park in the mountains. The elephant nature park was really special. It was developed by one woman who has made a safe and restorative home for damaged elephants. Thailand has a very long relationship with the elephant: it is both revered and used as a work animal. While it is no longer legal to use elephant labor to perform such tasks as haul cut trees out of logged forests, elephants are still used in the tourist business as well as for other un-elephant like tasks as assisting begging in the cities. The Elephant Nature Preserve rehabs elephants and allows folks like us to assist in feeding and bathing, as well as observing these giants. It was especially fun to watch one of the bulls walk out into the monsoon swollen river, allow himself to be rolled over by the current, and pop his trunk out periodically for a breath while remaining otherwise completely submerged. Standing aside them gave me a strong feeling for their intelligence and majesty.
Our time in Thailand was short. It is hard to form an opinion of such a complex place in the time we had there but we experienced Buddhist culture, ate some very tasty food, and visited with some incredibly warm and generous people. With those experiences in hand, I know there is a lot more to enjoy so I look forward to our return visit. But like all the other places we have been so far, it was time to move on to our next stop - Bhutan.
Bangkok is a jungle with tall buildings forming the canopy layer. Water seemed to be everywhere as the rain continued in one of the heaviest monsoon seasons in recent history. Green and humid, crowded and loud, new and ancient, traditional and modern all at once; my head spun with every turn into a new alley as our cab driver struggled to find our guest house. But once we got our feet on the ground, we began to see through the layers that make up the city. There were several challenges to deal with such as tuk-tuk (three wheeled taxis) drivers trying to lure us in for a ride, the multitude of alleys that defied tracing on a map, and the eternal (happy) choice of where to eat. But in the end, thanks to an amazing night-time bicycle tour we came away with another view of Bangkok: one of temples lit up at night with nary a person around, a cut flower market stretching blocks interspersed with vendors of delicious Thai treats, and quiet backways that could have been out in the country. In our two short days, we saw a side of Bangkok that for me is well worth further exploration.
Our time in Bangkok was short because we wanted to get out of the big city to a quieter place. We flew to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, located in the foothills of the eastern Himalayas. We found what we were looking for in that Chiang Mai is mellower than the big city to the south. The tuk-tuk drivers were content to let us walk where we wanted, and the surrounding hills were a welcomed view from the broad flatness of Bangkok. We spent our days there touring by bicycle around the south of the city, mountain biking down monsoon slick mud double track, and touring an elephant nature park in the mountains. The elephant nature park was really special. It was developed by one woman who has made a safe and restorative home for damaged elephants. Thailand has a very long relationship with the elephant: it is both revered and used as a work animal. While it is no longer legal to use elephant labor to perform such tasks as haul cut trees out of logged forests, elephants are still used in the tourist business as well as for other un-elephant like tasks as assisting begging in the cities. The Elephant Nature Preserve rehabs elephants and allows folks like us to assist in feeding and bathing, as well as observing these giants. It was especially fun to watch one of the bulls walk out into the monsoon swollen river, allow himself to be rolled over by the current, and pop his trunk out periodically for a breath while remaining otherwise completely submerged. Standing aside them gave me a strong feeling for their intelligence and majesty.
Our time in Thailand was short. It is hard to form an opinion of such a complex place in the time we had there but we experienced Buddhist culture, ate some very tasty food, and visited with some incredibly warm and generous people. With those experiences in hand, I know there is a lot more to enjoy so I look forward to our return visit. But like all the other places we have been so far, it was time to move on to our next stop - Bhutan.
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