Japan Part 3: Christmas Eve & Christmas in Kaga Onsen
December 24, 2022 (G) - A Christmas Eve walk in the snow and a private Onsen (hotsprings)
We woke after enjoying the evening of thundersnow to find the world remained blanketed in white. In spite of the temperature being just above freezing, most of the heavy wet snow remained on the ground at a depth of about 30 cm (1 ft). We enjoyed a slow morning with a full breakfast of traditional Japanese dishes.
We then prepared to make the long walk around the towns central lake, through the snow to our next accommodation. We contemplated attempting to find a taxi or uber, but the snow was still very deep in the roads and much of the town remained hunkered down or were preoccupied with digging themselves out from this freak snowstorm. With the chance of transportation being slim, and finding that it really wasn’t terribly cold, we decided that a walk would do us good and might prove just as time effective as attempting other means of transportation.
Around 11 am, we set forth our packs strapped on, hip belts tight over our layered clothing. Initially the sun showed brightly upon us and the walk, while slippery at times over unplowed paths, was quite pleasant. We walked down a few small back roads, and eventually came to a long lonely road that lead into a patch of snow covered woods in the distance (featured as the first photo of this entry).
Upon reaching the wooded area, the road withered to a small path and began a sharp descent. The sky darkened some as the sun vanished behind deep gray clouds. We were no longer totally certain of our path but shrugged and hoped for the the best as we seemed to remain in line with our map.
Through the woods we eventually came upon a road that met up with the large central lake. By this time the threatening sky began its first volley of precipitation. It was not cold enough to produce light and dry snowflakes. These consisted of snowflakes that edged into something akin to sleet snowflake clumps. This first attack was mercifully brief and served us well as a warning that the time had come to break out the ponchos.
Our walk continued around the lake for another hour or so, with several bouts of interchanging sleet, snow, and rain. Eventually we reached the other side of the lake and began searching the town for our Ryokan (Traditional Japanese Inn). When we at last found our ryokan, Kohan-no-Yado Morimoto, we arrived on foot rather drenched and disheveled. We were greeted by two Japanese attendants that at first seemed to question our validity as guests. Indeed their skepticism was well placed. We must have seemed and both certainly felt like a pair of paupers arriving at a castle during a storm to beg for shelter rather than their typically affluent guests.
We had decided that our Christmas gift to each other this year would be staying at a very nice accommodation with a private hot spring. So this was certainly a splurge event for us. The entrance of the Ryokan was a wide low area that met a secluded driveway. Beyond the initial stone entry floor was a step or two up to a main lobby littered with chairs that, on the opposite wall from the entrance, provided a view of a small Japanese garden courtyard with the lake in view just behind it. In the center of the lobby was a large Christmas tree, finely decorated the seemed to greet us. Off to the right of the entrance was a raised check-in counter from which our two attendants had appeared when we entered carless and dripping wet.
Fortunately, if our hosts were taken aback by our immediate appearance, they did not let it influence the courtesy and kindness they extended to us in those first few minutes of our arrival. Even before they were certain we were indeed paying guests, they were quick to offer us towels and to remove our packs. Our packs which normally weighed in around 14 kg (30 lbs) for mine and 12 kg (25 lbs) for T, had been made heavier by the soaking rain, sleet, snow. The size to weight ratio was rather surprising and could be readily seen upon their faces. Undaunted, they remained ever so polite and generous. Their large smiles were infectious and we soon found ourselves in dry Yukata Kimono robes and slippers provided by our hosts and seated with warm drinks in hand.
We had been shown our rooms, which consisted of on entry way, toilet room with two separated toilets and vanity sinks, a traditional Japanese bedroom on tatami mats, a meditation area, a slightly sunken dining room which overlooked the courtyard garden and lake, an onsen preparation room and the onsen itself which had large windows that could be opened and overlooked the lake. The sunken nature of the dining room will be important later in the evening.
After sipping tea and warming ourselves, it was nearing time for dinner. We set out in search of the dining rooms for meals, as our personal dining room was mostly intended for sipping tea or champagne. After a bit of wandering, we found with help from the scent of food and the sound of laughter, the dining rooms. We were greeted by a stout elderly Japanese woman, who spoke very little to no English, a fact which suited us just fine, who showed us to our dining table. The table was large and ornate, and could have easily seated six people. We were presented a menu which featured all Japanese cuisine. At first glace we thought surely we would pick from the assortment of dishes, since there were about 12 listed courses.
As we perused the dishes the first of the listed dishes appeared before us. That is when in dawned upon us, this was not a menu to be selected from, this was THE menu in its entirety. So we ate and we ate, and then we ate a bit more, and finally when we could scarcely move, the dishes stopped. I found most of the food to be exceptionally delicious, with only a few questionable items, which we both at least attempted to consume. The variety of fermented foods came as a surprise initially, but unlike T I rather enjoy pickled items. The miso soup was to die for, the steak was phenomenal. The various noodle dishes, fish, seafood, vegetable, and rice dishes were all fantastic. I sometime still ponder them, such was their quality and savory elements. It wasn’t total perfection as there was one delicacy we couldn’t quite get on board with.
Not to discourage anyone from trying it for themselves and certainly not to prevent anyone from enjoying the delicious layered flavors that compose the symphony that is Japanese cuisine. Simply to tell it like it is, the only thing that neither of us could quite get on board with (even before we knew what it actually is) was Cod milt, fish sperm sack. A Japanese delicacy that is best left to be used as bait for the next fish. It has a custardy, fatty consistency, with a fish flavor and odd stringiness to it, something akin to swallowing a partially hardened loogie. While I still pine over the rest of the food, the memory of this still brings a visage of visible disgust to my face.
Filled to the brim after dinner, we made our way slowly back to our quarters and eventually to the little dining room. For me, Christmas Eve and even the whole Christmas season is somewhat incomplete without having at least listened, from start to finish, to Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker. So, after allowing some time for digestions, we turned on Tchaikovesky, and sat in our sunken dining area sipping champagne looking out at the lake. The snow outside returned just in time for the introduction of the Snow Queen within the ballet, it was somewhat magical.
T had gotten up to use the restroom and upon re-entering the dining room decided to perform a pirouette in solidarity with the Snow Queen’s music. Unfortunately, T had forgotten about the slight dip in the floor of the dining area. The lack of floor where she had anticipated it, turned her pirouette into one of the most graceful looking ankle twists I have ever seen. Fortunately, the twist was very minor though it would nag her for a week or two after. After recovering herself, we iced and wrapped her ankle and returned to a less active form of listening to The Nutcracker and watching a light snowfall upon the lake for the remainder of the evening.
December 25, 2022 (G) - Christmas!
Christmas morning was bright and full of sunshine as the sun rose merrily over the lake. We awoke and rolled from our tatami mats and headed down to breakfast. Once again we were fed with the finest of Japanese cuisine and then we spent the remainder of the morning either chatting with our families for their Christmas Eve or soaking in the hot springs.
Upon chatting with one of my nephews, he excitedly asked, “Where in the world are you guys right now?” We happily responded with our current whereabouts and provided him with a tale or two of our adventures to date.
Lunch came and went, unfortunately the Cod Milt returned in fried form and since everything is usually a bit better when fried we gave it another go. The result was the same. The afternoon was spent enjoying Christmas films and another dip in the hot springs.
Dinner came and we were pleased to find that Cod Milt was not featured on the menu. All together it was a leisurely and relaxing Christmas Day.
(More food and menu pictures featured below)
Japan Part 2: Snow Monkey Park and Thundersnow
December 22, 2022 (T) - Hot Springs with Snow Monkeys at a Ryokan
When we purchased our JR Passes, we sorted out the route to Snow Monkey Park from Tokyo, so we were all set for our reserved seats for the first two trains. We woke up early, gathered our backpacks, quickly did contactless checkout of our hotel, then walked to the nearest train stop. The journey sounds complex: three trains, a bus, and a 45 minute walk into the mountains. It actually wasn’t difficult at all! After the second train, at the JR counter, we seamlessly arranged our tickets to Kagaonsen for the following day, where we were staying for Christmas Eve and Christmas. The third train was a metro, which we found easily thanks to all the signs for Snow Monkey Park. Then there was a bus right outside of the metro stop to take us to the park. From there, the trails were clearly marked for our walk into the park.
G deserves some major props for finding this wonderful ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) inside of the park. The ryokan, called Jigokudanionsen, has been family owned and operated since the 1800s, before the park was established around it. It’s the only lodging available inside of the park and has its own private onsens (hot springs). Everywhere else is at least a 45 minute walk away.
While we were staying there, we also learned this place is where snow monkeys first began using hot springs. Here’s a little background.
This area of Japan is the only area in the world where monkeys use and enjoy hot springs. The legend from the ryokan goes that in the 1960s, a sailor stayed at the inn for a month to relax and use the hot springs to try to heal his disabled foot. Each time he would go in the hot spring, first he would test the water temperature with his hand. He would try to wave the monkeys over to him but they kept their distance. After he left, the owner was feeding the monkeys old apples when she accidentally threw one into a hot spring. A monkey ran up to the hot spring, dipped its hand in the water to test it like the sailor had, then jumped in to get the apple. Other monkeys saw this and immediately ran to the hot spring where they, too, tested the water with their hand then jumped in. Nowadays, humans and monkeys share the outside onsen, and there are two private ones for only people inside (separated for male and female). Just across the river from the ryokan, you’ll find monkey only onsens, where they can enjoy the hot springs as people are allowed to observe them.
A few pro-tips: never look at the monkeys in the eyes or smile at them. Eye contact and baring teeth are considered acts of aggression, and could provoke them to attack you. The best time of year to see the snow monkeys is in the winter.
We were warmly greeted by our host when we checked in and were showed our room, the bathroom (a shared bathroom), and the onsens. Sometimes it can be difficult to navigate certain Japanese courtesies and customs, but if you ask, the locals will usually gladly answer any questions you have, like what shoes to wear or not wear in what parts of the house (never wear shoes inside of your room on the tatami mats, for example). After we were settled in, we made our way across the river to observe the monkeys in their private hot springs. It really is fascinating to watch them relax in a similar way we would.
Then we hurried back to our ryokan to take a dip in the outside onsen and see if we could convince a monkey to join us. We had a task to do first to attempt to have our Christmas wish granted. We were in Snow Monkey Park and there was no snow. We thought the area would be beautiful covered in snow and wanted a white Christmas. So, I performed the Japanese Snow Dance. Many years ago, when I was in highschool and the internet was young, my brother found an ancient Japanese snow dance online. We wanted a snow day, so we gave this dance a try. To our delight, it snowed a lot and our wish came true! I had tried this snow dance another three or four times and every time it snowed a good amount. Now, I figured (and still mostly do) that this is just coincidence, but we thought, “why not try the Japanese Snow Dance in Japan?”. So, I did it. Then, we made our way outside to the onsen. After only about 10 minutes, a few monkeys decided they would join us. We were so excited to see them and were honored they trusted us enough to join us. We soaked for about 30 minutes and then used the inside onsens to rinse off.
When you stay at a Japanese inn, often a meal plan will be included or you can elect what you want for an additional charge. Our ryokan included dinner and breakfast. There’s also usually Japanese pajamas (yukata) provided for you to wear and it’s completely acceptable to wear it around the inn. Let me tell you, they are so comfortable. So, after we were warm and relaxed from the hot springs, we returned to our room where we slipped into our yukatas and awaited dinner which was served shortly after. We greatly enjoyed our traditional Japanese dinner, which included a couple of things like wild mushrooms from the forest and panko fried greens. After dinner, we sipped some herbal tea.
It was cold and dark, so we decided we’d go to bed early around 8:00PM. Our host had let us know that if we heard any loud noises in the middle of the night, it was just the monkeys running around on the roof. Fortunately, we didn’t hear any noises and slept incredibly well that night. We’ve had a few questions on how comfortable the beds on the floor are, and our answer is, very comfortable.
December 23, 2022 (T) - The Japanese Snow Gods Have Answered. A Christmas Wish Come True
Snow was not in the forecast for Snow Monkey Park. As soon as we woke up, we jumped up off of the floor and walked over to the windows. It wasn’t much, but there was a dusting just thick enough to cover the ground. The sun was rising and we decided to venture out to the outdoor onsen one last time.
The river and the park blanketed in snow were picturesque with the sun rising in the background. A couple of monkeys thought so, too, and joined us to watch.
We stayed for about 30 minutes then got out, rinsed off inside, and returned to our rooms where breakfast was served. It included some traditional Japanese food, an omelet, green tea, coffee, and the most delicious croissant either of us have ever eaten (sorry, France). We took our time sipping coffee.
After a slow breakfast, we packed up, checked out, then made the long journey to our next hotel, located on the west coast of Japan, a couple of hours north of Kyoto. We crossed the bridge over the river, hiked through the mountains out of the park, picked up a bus to the train station. From there we had two trains to take. We had appreciated the dusting of snow that morning, but would later find that the Japanese snow gods were simply triangulating where we would be and then the real snow would fall.
The first train ride went without an issue. When we boarded the second one, it was snowing quite heavily. So heavily, that our train arrived an hour late, which rarely happens in Japan. As we slowly made it closer and closer to our destination, our faces were glued to the windows, watching the white out that was happening outside. The trees and plants that we could barely see were sideways due to the heavy winds. Normally this time of year, it’s in the upper 40s (~14 degrees celcius). The snow gods had found us, but the show wasn’t over yet.
When we eventually arrived, our driver was there waiting for us, and skillfully drove the 15 passenger van through the foot of snow that had already fallen and heavy snow and windy conditions to the hotel. We checked in and enjoyed a night in watching Christmas movies and the blizzard outside. We were in a heavy snow warning. Upon researching what that meant, we learned that this type of snow was a once in a few decades event. Later that night, we saw a bright flash followed by a loud thunder. It had been years since we’d witnessed thundersnow! We thanked the snow gods and were mesmerized by the purple lightning and loud thunder that went on for hours. By the time we went to bed, there was about three feet (1 meter) of snow on the ground.
Japan Part 1: Tokyo, Our Favorite City
December 18, 2022 - Arrival, Raw Bird, and 7-11
(G)- After all the hullabaloo in attempting to make it to Japan, we had high hopes for our time there. Tokyo was the obvious first stop. My good friend C (see India post) had visited Japan numerous times and talked it up quite a bit. We both held our reservations, but we needn’t have.
We landed and grabbed the first train to the stop near our hotel. The first thing that struck us was the punctuality of the train. It arrived EXACTLY on time, not late, not early. After boarding the train, two things struck us as the train pulled away from the station right on time, the sound level and cleanliness.
As anyone who has been fortunate enough to ride a train in Japan will likely tell you, they are almost dead quiet. Even speaking above a whisper would have broken the clearly preferred tranquility of the atmosphere. For two travel-hardened vagabonds like us, the silence was a relief to our ears and our minds. There is nothing like trying to navigate a strange new transportation system while simultaneously being forced to practically yell into the ear of the person next to you to get your point across.
The extreme cleanliness exhibited itself both inside and outside of the train. It was a bit rainy that morning when we headed into Tokyo. So as we enjoyed the quiet nature of the train ride, we were lulled into a sleepy calm that directed our eyes to the rain-soaked countryside. Usually, a bit of litter is to be expected around train tracks, but here we noticed none. Not a broken bottle, not a box of cardboard, not even a bit of plastic. The train chugged on through the gray weather and before long we had arrived at our stop.
Hoisting our packs we exited the train, found our bearings within the station, and headed out into the city. T had planned our hotel accommodations to be near several points of interest, but a bit on the fringe of the “good area”. As we walked down the street, we were again struck by the profound lack of city grit and grim. We had grown quite accustomed to the sooty, dusty streets of most cities around the world, but that simply didn’t seem to exist here. In short order, we found our hotel and made an attempt at early check-in.
To anyone visiting Japan, be aware that early check-in, isn’t really a thing most of the time. If the Japanese culture is guilty of anything it is perhaps that they are too precise. Check-in at 3 pm, means exactly that and not before. A 7 kg weight limit on your carry-on bag means exactly 7 kg and no more. Of all the things a culture could be guilty of, this is the best one. You are never at a loss of understanding and things mean exactly what they should, follow those rules and you’ll love it as much as we did.
So, unable to check in, we were pleased that the hotel was more than willing to hold our packs while we burned the 7 hours left until the correct check-in time. Per usual, T was beginning to exhibit signs of hanger and we were both sorely in need of a caffeine shot. Fortunately, we spotted a Starbucks on the way in, so we set out to obtain our caffeine fix.
Situated on the second floor above the exit of our train stop, the Starbucks afforded us a great view of the street below. We enjoyed people-watching while sipping on our Christmas spice-themed drinks. While these perked us up a bit, they were not substantial enough to satiate T’s growing hunger. Admittedly, I, too, was beginning to hear growls from my stomach so we set out to find the nearest, best sushi venue that was open for lunch. We headed through the Shinjuku neighborhood. This was one of the areas that we had planned to visit and we enjoyed briefly getting the lay of the land on our way to sushi.
T had found a sushi restaurant online. Unfortunately, upon arrival, the venue required a booking and was already fully booked. One valuable lesson we learned regarding dining out in Tokyo is to always book ahead of time. This usually requires a phone call, and unless you’re fluent in Japanese, we would recommend having the hotel concierge make the call on your behalf. A bit dispirited, we continued our search.
On our walk back we found a small, unassuming sushi shop, called Ko Sushi, off a main intersection. It looked as though it might be closed, but encouraged by our stomachs, which were now actively conversing in hungry growls, I decided to attempt opening the screened door. We were in luck! We gestured to the chef behind the small bar that there were two of us. He gestured to one of 3 tables situated opposite the bar. We sat down and were greeted by the chef’s son, who fortunately spoke enough English and understood enough of our poorly pronounced Japanese that before long we had successfully communicated that we would eat whatever their daily special was. At least the picture on the menu made it look delicious.
In short order, we were presented with hot green tea and miso soup. These were a welcome adversary to the wintery chill of the street outside. T, who normally doesn’t enjoy miso soup as much as me, had no trouble devouring her bowl. Next up was our sushi, it was spectacular, and not just because we were hungry. The freshness and care with which these pieces of Nigiri were created was a work of art. The pride with which nearly all Japanese chefs craft the cuisine they present to their customers is something they earn every bit of. This was no exception.
We had been informed when ordering that one of the sushi items was not raw fish, but raw “bird”. A quick google translate and we understood that one of the pieces was raw chicken. I can say with some degree of certainty there is nowhere else in the world that I would consider eating raw chicken, but when in Rome…
Down the hatch!
The Nigiri course was a fantastic ride. The tastes ranged from sweet and tangy, to spicey, and even back around to that savory umami (mushroom earthy) flavor everyone always goes on about. Feeling fat and happy, we sat at our little table after finishing our food and took in more of our surroundings. As we had eaten, an old woman had entered and spent part of our meal preparing a fresh bag of green beans at the bar. Through her mannerisms, it became quite obvious that she was the mother of the chef. The chef had been working with a woman of similar age, and our server had indicated to us that he was the son of the chef. The few other people that had entered and eaten at the bar or tables were clearly well-known to the staff and seemed both surprised and amused by our presence in the little shop. We had found an honest to goodness mom & pop shop in the heart of Tokyo and couldn't have been more impressed by it. As we finally paid our bill and received two small candies for our walk home, we received endearing smiles and bows from the small family. We bowed in return and then stepped back out to the street with high hopes for the rest of our time in Tokyo. We would not be disappointed.
The lunch and walk back to our hotel had burned some time, but we were still far from being able to check into our room. Fortunately, the small sofa in the lobby had been vacated and we resolved to spend the remaining hours patiently waiting there. By patiently waiting, I mean mostly napping in the upright position off and on. At last, the hour approached and we were called forward by the hotel concierge. We collected our bags and headed to the elevator with our room keycard. Our room itself was small, but unsurprisingly very clean and we were lucky enough to have a lovely view of the city skyline out our window. Still exhausted from the over 24 hours of transit time, we took a small nap.
It was dark when we awoke, the city outside our window gleamed and twinkled with the rhythmic passing of the trains. We spent much of the evening planning out the next few days to maximize our time in Tokyo. I dropped down across the street to the fabled 7-11 leaving T to continue jamming to lofi while she researched all the places we wanted to visit.
The 7-11 experience in Japan is next level. Long heralded by pennywise backpackers, the 7-11s in Japan are the best place to find affordable, but quality food and products. Far from their distantly related often downtrodden cousins in the USA, the 7-11s in Japan are clean, safe, and plentiful. One can be found nearly everywhere in Japan and they served us well during our visit. After acquiring snacks, new facemasks for the public transit system, and withdrawing a little cash, I returned to find T much as I had left her. We spent a few more hours listening to lofi, formulating our plans, and watching the trains roll by far below.
December 19, 2022 - The JR Pass and Costco Quest
(G)- I would like to tell you that all of our planning the night before resulted in our waking up early full of energy to seize the day. That would be a lie. We slept in… late, and ventured forth in the early afternoon to purchase a JR Pass.
The JR Pass is fundamental for any foreign visitor to Japan that is expecting to travel anywhere. Available only to foreign passport holders, it can be purchased at many major train stations in Tokyo and allows the holder to ride JR trains for a set period of time, as often as the holder likes. Many, but certainly not all, train lines in and around Tokyo are a part of the JR Pass system and it is well worth the expense for many visitors. Purchasing the JR Pass can be a bit tricky though.
While there are some options to purchase a JR Pass online, which we looked into, we ultimately decided to wait to purchase the pass in person at a station. The websites we found made the process seem confusing, involving having a voucher mailed out and then later exchanged at a station anyway which set off more than one of our Online Scam alarm bells. While some of the websites may have been legit, try as we may we never found one that felt totally on the level, so we figured we would try our luck at a station in person. The in-person route proved to be well worth it.
Unlike the information counters of many places, the information counter at the JR East Station in Tokyo was phenomenal. A pattern that would repeat itself at all of the JR information counters we would visit. The young woman at the counter not only helped us purchase the JR Pass, she additionally asked where we intended to travel and provided us with additional directions, and assisted us in reserving seats for some of the trains. The JR train system is definitely among the more confusing public transit systems we have navigated as some of the JR trains require getting a reserved seat ahead of time which you must have a separate ticket for. So you end up with the JR Pass and a separate JR train seat ticket. The JR Pass will get you through the turnstile, but without a seat ticket, you will be forced to occupy only vacant seats and must move if someone arrives with a reserved seat ticket for the previously vacant seat. Fortunately, this was explained to us by the information assistant, though we would bear witness to other travelers struggling in confusion to change seats later in our journey. The lesson here is when in any doubt visit the JR information counter. They were always helpful.
With our new JR Pass and train seat tickets in hand, we headed up to the platform to make use of our new train pass. We originally set out to visit a buddha park and the Izu Peninsula, but a few quick time calculations made us realize that we had started too late in the day to make this a feasible option. So instead, since we were already headed in that direction, we decided to stop at a Costco.
We had planned on making a trip to Costco while in Japan. Much like visiting McDonalds located in various countries, which we do not do, it can be fun to compare and contrast what is available in different locations. Feeling thrifty, our choice to visit Costco was a strategic one that allowed us to stock up on snacks and small meals (mostly for T) and afforded us the opportunity to look for a small gift we could offer to a couple of friends we had planned to meet up with while in Tokyo. We spent more time than either of us would like to admit perusing the aisles before settling on a handful of items to purchase and making the journey back to our hotel.
We dropped our goods at the hotel and then set off in search of dinner. It was dark already when we set out, and we walked down some of the narrow alleyways that led to Shinjuku. Far from feeling on guard down these alleys we remained aware of our surroundings and spotted a quaint cafe and wine bar tucked off to the side of the alley. Large windows revealed a bustling little spot full of warmth and smiles. T still had sushi on the brain though, and we passed the little spot by. After a few more blocks we had reached Shinjuku and located the spot T had found for the restaurant on the map, but it simply didn’t seem to be there. We looked high and low. With some establishments being tucked in the basement of the tall buildings and others being a floor or two up it is probably that the restaurant was there somewhere, but we never did find it. We instead inquired at a few other restaurants all of which informed us they were full or reserved.
So, we began our return journey to the hotel in defeat. As we walked down that same dark alley we once again spotted the little cafe, and after a moment’s debate decided to give it a shot. We were in luck, a little table by the large front window was open. The cafe served small plates, similar to tapas, mostly of the hearty winter variety. We each ordered warm spiced mulled wine which really hit the spot. The warm jovial environment of the cafe worked its magic and before we knew it an hour or two had passed. As we got up to pay the bill we spotted on the back wall of the bar numerous types of currency from around the world. We spotted one that we happened to have on hand which they were missing and took a mental note to return with a bit of Madagascar money for them to hang along with their collection.
December 20, 2022 - The Buddha Park, Most Loyal Pupper, and Dinner with Friends
(G)- We successfully woke up early and stopped by to present the owner of the wine shop with a Madagascar bill. She was overjoyed, she smiled ear to ear as she accepted the bill and bowed to us several times. After that brief stop, we headed to the train, off to Kamakura Daibutsu, a giant Buddha statue and smaller Buddha park nearby! It took a long time to reach Kamakura, the trains alone required about an hour. While on the train T spotted her first piece of trash. A Starbucks cup had been left in the corner so T snagged it to throw it away properly. Herein lies another well-known conundrum of Japan, where do they dispose of their trash? As previously expressed there is next to no litter, but correspondingly there are next to no public trash cans either. It seems the Japanese have mastered the art of clandestinely carrying their trash home with them.
After exiting the train, Starbucks cup in hand T sought the first available trashcan, at last, she spotted one inside a small restaurant near the exit of the train stop. She entered, dropped the Starbucks cup in the trash can, and began to exit. She came to a slow halt, behind her a large-ish Japanese chef had appeared and pinched the back of her coat between his thumb and forefinger. He had gently tugged her to a halt. When she turned to regard him, he gently tugged her back to the trashcan, grabbed the Starbucks cup and placed it back in her hand, and then ever so gently guided her back to the front door. He spoke not a single word, but the message sent was clear and received with equal clarity. As a third-party observer to this interaction, it was all I could do to contain my laughter. I thoroughly believe that had this Japanese man realized her intent and that it was not her trash to begin with, he would have let it slide.
Once out of sight, T let out a peel of laughter as well. She decided to change tactics and found a cafe just outside of the train stop exit. She explained that the cup did not actually belong to her and that she was just trying to remove litter to the cafe barista, who gladly accepted the cup and disposed of it.
We still had about a 45-minute walk to reach the Buddha park, we thought about calling a cab, but the sun was out, the day was warm, and we both felt a walk would do us some good. There is no better way to really take in a place than by walking through it. We arrived at the Buddha statue without issue and after paying a small entrance fee enjoyed mulling around. After taking in the statue and surrounding gardens we were off to another buddha park nearby known as Hasedera. The Hasedera park dated back to the 8th century and contained a large traditional wooden structure as well as a cave filled to the brim with tiny buddha figurines, a zen garden, water features, and my personal favorite a hike up the nearby hill to a viewpoint overlooking the nearby coastline.
It was now early afternoon and the day had begun to fade. We had started our walk back to the train stop, but in spite of some of the snacks we had brought with us, T was quickly becoming both hungry and a bit tired. The solution presented itself in the form of a small cafe. Ran by just one older Japanese woman, we sat in a back garden area, and to ward off any chill we were given a blanket to cover our shoulders and she also produced a small electric blanket to be placed on our lap. We sat, quite cozy, in the small garden while she worked on our order. The answer to T’s lethargy came in the form of hot tea and the food that arrived after satiated her ever-growling stomach. After this pleasant meal, we thanked the owner and continued on our way back to the train stop.
After a quick stop back at the hotel to grab the gift for our friends, we were back on the move. We were now on our way to visit Shibuya Crossing and the Hachikō Memorial Statue. Darkness fell while the train chugged along to our destination which was just as well since the Shibuya area is known for its dramatic lights and signs. Known as the times square of Tokyo, the Shibuya crossing is a massive swirl of thousands of people who when the lights change, swarm through a multi-directional crosswalk. Times Square certainly has similarities, but in truth, the two places have very different vibes. We have struggled in an attempt to define the differences, but here are a few. Shibuya felt cleaner and brighter than Times Square, with less street performers sprinkled in the mix. Times Square feels more oriented toward automobile traffic. Shibuya is at its most impressive when overrun by the swarm of people while the cars are held at bay. Times Square feels both bigger and smaller than Shibuya and vice versa. That is the best we can define it.
Our train stop happened to be on the corner of Shibuya Crossing that held the statue of the most loyal pupper. Prepare your box of tissues for his tearjerker story. His name was Hachikō. He was a Japanese Akita that is renowned for his fierce loyalty. Every day his owner, a professor, would return from work at this train stop. Every day Hachikō would wait at the platform for him. Until one day the professor did not appear. Not to be denied being present for his master’s return, Hachikō returned to the station every day. The station workers were initially annoyed and unkind to the loitering canine, but as time passed, their affection for him grew, and time did pass. First a week, then a month, next a year, then before long an entire decade. Every day without fail Hachikō arrived to greet his master. His master would not return to him though, as the professor had unexpectedly passed away while at work. At the end of a decade of waiting, Hachikō finally joined his master. In the meantime, he had won the hearts and minds of the station workers and locals on their daily commute. His death made national headlines and his cremated remains were placed next to his masters. In 1948 a statue of this fiercely loyal pupper was erected by the station where it remains to this day.
We paid our respects to his statue and then as the walk sign illuminated were swept away with thousands of others to cross the street. We wandered the Shibuya area for a little while and took in the brilliant lights. Eventually, the time came for us to head off to meet a couple of friends that had recently arrived in Tokyo. A brisk 45-minute walk later we spotted the pair arriving at the agreed-upon Izakaya (Japanese Pub). Delighted to see them, we greeted each other warmly with hugs. A & Y we’ll call them. We entered the Izakaya and were seated against the far back wall. We had the good fortune that Y is Japanese and graciously translated, ordered, and explained several of the dishes to us. We spent hours together catching up and getting to know Y a bit better than we had before. It is the greatest of pleasures to be greeted by friends and spend quality time with them, especially after you have been far from all that you know and are familiar with for a very long time.
The Izakaya was beginning to close up shop when we eventually rose to leave. The staff enjoyed jumping into a photo taken of us as we departed. Once outside we said our goodbyes and presented A & Y with our little holiday gift to them, a tin can of chocolate truffles. We parted ways and hoped to catch up with them again when we planned to visit Osaka.
December 21, 2022 (T) - A Day Trip to Nikko
If we go way back to our West Highland Way adventure in Scotland for a moment, it was then we learned one of our teacher friends, L, had lived in Japan for a few years. She was very excited to hear we were going to spend a few weeks in Japan during our travels and had many recommendations for us. One was those places was Nikko, a small town a couple of hours outside of Tokyo.
We woke up early, ate some snacks from Costco and drank 7-11 coffee, then made our way to the train. We thought we had figured out how to use our JR Pass to go to Nikko, but we should have confirmed it with a JR employee before boarding the train.
If you’ve been to Europe, then you may be familiar with Switzerland’s reputation for their trains always arriving and departing on time. We were impressed when we were there; however, Switzerland has nothing on Japan as far as punctuality goes. While we were waiting for our first train out to Nikko at one of the main Tokyo train stops, one of the commuter city trains was one minute late. One minute. G and I observed a train conductor walking with a friend. He turned back to look at the sign, looked over at the empty track, looked at his friend, and tapped his watch 3 times while shaking his head as they continued walking. G and I got a pretty good laugh from that exchange. The train arrived one minute later. Unacceptable. Maybe Germany should hire some Japanese consultants to sort out their train delay issues ;)
Our train, we’re happy to say, was on time. We boarded and took some unreserved seats. A conductor walked through to verify our tickets and it seemed all was well. Halfway through the train’s journey, it suddenly wasn’t on the JR route anymore, so we needed to pay for part of the ride’s fare at our next connection. It wasn’t too expensive, and the JR route would’ve taken longer, so we were ok with paying a little extra. We boarded the next train that we thought was going to take us to Nikko. When we arrived, exited the train, and were walking around, we realized we weren’t in Nikko, but we were close. We figured out that we needed to walk to a nearby train station and ride the next train a couple of stops and then we would be in Nikko. All of this could have been avoided if we had just talked to a JR Representative.
Well, our journey out to Nikko ate up some of our time we could have spent there, but we still had about 5 hours to explore. It didn’t take long for us to figure out why this had been one of L’s favorite places in Japan. It’s a small mountain town with quaint buildings and full of walking trails through the mountains and near the blue river that runs through it. What Nikko is really known for is the UNESCO Heritage Site up in the mountains, where you’ll find 103 religious (Shinto or Buddhist) buildings and 2 Shinto shrines dating back to the 1600s. G and I opted to walk all the way there from the train station which took about 45 minutes. We successfully completed a side quest on the way, to find the ski lift car turned phone booth.
We took our time wandering in and around the temples, shrines, and cedar trees, and even found the fountain of youth. (Yes, we took a drink! I should’ve drunk more though. Fine lines are still reminding me I’m in my 30s.) This place was really cool. We definitely could’ve spent another day exploring, but it was time to walk back.
On the way back to the train station, we stopped by a fast food restaurant, where we ate some crab cakes. Further down the road, we stopped at a dessert place to eat some mochi. Then we finished our walk to the train station where we waited a little while for our train.
The train ride back to Tokyo was long, about 2 1/2 hours. Every time we rode the train, we were always amazed at the level of safety. Without fail, someone would fall asleep in the train car (sometimes one of us), but locals would fall asleep with their phones in their hands and bags open in their laps. Not once did anyone even look like they were thinking about the possibility of stealing something or something getting stolen. If only more places could have that level of safety. We’ve never felt so relaxed and at ease while traveling as we did in Japan.
Eventually, we arrived at our stop and walked to our hotel. One of C’s favorite areas in Japan was Golden Gai in Shinjuku. G and I decided we’d check out that area tonight. We looked up a cool-looking bar, walked back to our train stop, rode the train for one stop, then walked about 15 minutes to our destination. The light rain outside illuminated the already bright lights even more in their reflections on the cement. After navigating the narrow streets of Golden Gai, we found it. Success! The bar had bright red furry walls in the long stairway up to the establishment. We stroked the walls as we ascended the stairs, then walked into the bar. We enjoyed a couple of drinks, including fancy Japanese whisky. Then, to no one’s surprise, I was hungry, so we left to look for some food.
On the same street, there was a hole-in-the-wall ramen restaurant. We assumed the place was good because a line was formed out the door. The line got so long, we had to wrap around the building into the alleyway. I’ve never been a fan of ramen but gave it a try because we were in Japan. We ordered the recommended dish. Let me tell you, the cooks who make the ramen have dedicated their lives to perfecting the recipes and you haven’t tried ramen until you’ve tried it in Japan. Honestly, it was better than most of the pasta we ate in Italy. We thanked the chef for the meal and left the restaurant so the next people in line could take our seats.
We walked around Golden Gai for a little while and then made our way back to our hotel. We had a long day ahead of us tomorrow. It was time to say goodbye for now to Tokyo. Snow Monkey Park was waiting.
Add Laos to Your Southeast Asia Itinerary
December 7, 2022 - Arrival and Night Market
(G) - We finally made it out of Delhi and after a brief stop in Bangkok, were preparing to land in Luang Prabang, Laos. Laos is one of the top Southeast Asian countries I wanted to visit. It is landlocked and often overlooked by beach-seeking backpackers, but it really shouldn’t be. Luang Prabang in particular had come highly recommended to me by my sister, who had traveled to Southeast Asia several years before. Touting it as her favorite place in all of Southeast Asia, I was eager to experience it for myself.
As the plane dipped below the clouds the green and mountainous terrain revealed itself. We touched down and taxied in. As in many countries, we were greeted with a set of stair ramps to descend down to the tarmac. The sun showed brightly and the hot humid air enveloped us immediately. The airport itself was built in a uniquely Southeast Asian style with a high peaked ceiling flanked by large swooping gables.
After receiving our visa on arrival and clearing customs, we were greeted by a driver sent from our guesthouse.
We were warmly welcomed to our guesthouse. We finished checking in and settled into our bungalow. The guesthouse was a way outside of town, but it had free shuttle service to and from the main square. We hadn’t slept well on the flights from India, so it didn’t take long for us to pass out for about 3 hours.
More often than not, when T wakes up from a nap, she’s really hungry. This time was no different, so we took the shuttle to the night market.
This place was happening. A lengthy pedestrian street was lined on both sides with vendors selling their goods from their popup tents. There were paintings, clothes, books, food, and any kind of souvenir you could want. We felt compelled to buy a few items that were made out of the material from deactivated or exploded cluster bombs, left over from the Vietnam War. Lao artists have taken this substance that symbolizes war, violence, and destruction and have turned it into a symbol of resilience, hope, and beauty. While Laos wasn’t directly involved in the Vietnam War, the Vietnamese were using parts of the eastern Laotian jungle as part of a supply trail called the Ho Chi Minh Trail. To cut the supply lines of the North Vietnamese, that area of the jungle was frequently bombed. Some fell into the Vietnamese jungle and some fell into the Laotian jungle. Additionally, American bombers returning to base had to lighten the carrying loads of their aircraft in order to retain enough fuel for the return flight so any remaining bombs were dumped over the jungle. Millions of bombs were dropped on Laos. Even today, despite numerous clean-up efforts and some financial support from the US, it’s still a widespread problem and people die or are seriously injured from these undetonated bombs across the country.
After we walked all the way down the pedestrian street and back, we explored the main square that had so many different kinds of food and drinks. T loves pad Thai, and we were intrigued by pad Lao. It was so incredibly delicious. It’s very similar to pad Thai but the noodles are thinner rice noodles. The flavor was perfection. This ended up being T’s favorite dish in all of Southeast Asia. Then we walked up to another restaurant situated above the square to sip a drink and people watch. We stayed there for a while then decided to head back to our bungalow.
We caught the shuttle back to the guesthouse. Fatigue set in. The 3 hour nap wasn’t enough to keep us awake any later, so we called it an early night.
December 8, 2022 (T) - A Day to Relax & A Return to the Night Market
Thongbay Guesthouse is the first place we stayed in Luang Prabang. We highly recommend it. It has clean, private bungalows, big gardens, a covered seating area with a river view, and a restaurant. We were staying here until the 10th. The India tour wore us out, so we decided to spend the majority of the day relaxing.
First, we ate a full breakfast, consisting of fresh fruit, yogurt, eggs, and French baguettes, and drank juice and Lao coffee. If you’re a coffee connoisseur, you would really enjoy Lao coffee. Then, we relaxed on our porch for a while.
Thy, our host, suggested we sit by the river. He led us through the gardens down to the large covered seating area with a lovely river view where G and I sat for a few hours. The afternoon passed us by, and I really wanted another serving of pad Lao, so we went to the night market again. For dessert, we ate some rolled ice cream. Then, we took a tuk-tuk back.
Our accommodation offered to organize day tours, so we booked a ride out to Kuang Si Falls the following morning. Since we had to get up early, we decided to go to sleep early as well.
December 9, 2022 (T) - If Fairies Exist, They Live Here
Have you ever been somewhere in nature that was so beautiful, you felt like you were in front of a green screen? And the further you walked and looked around, the more you felt like the landscape was actually a backdrop? Then when you accepted it was a real place, you still felt like you must be in a book or a movie? Kuang Si Falls is one of those magical places.
We woke up early to eat breakfast. Satiated and caffeinated, we were ready for our hour long tuk-tuk ride to Kuang Si Falls.
Many of the tuk-tuks here are actually small trucks converted into tuk-tuks. A wooden bench was installed on both sides of the truck bed and a cover was placed above it to shelter passengers from rain. A hammock was fastened to the cover and tucked up in it. Clever. The weather was pleasant. It was still earlier in the morning so it wasn’t too hot. G and I enjoyed the ride, taking in the countryside and villages on the way.
Eventually, we parked in a large parking lot, and our driver showed us where to purchase tickets and where a golf cart-esque train would haul us to the entrance. Easy enough! We could have walked up the hill, but definitely did not mind the ride. There was a beautiful temple we passed and a lot of vendors selling food and souvenirs. We thought it would be fun to stop by on the way back.
We stopped at the edge of the forest where we exited the golf cart train and started on the path into the massive trees. Omaha, Nebraska is our home town which is known for its zoo. Ever since G and I were little kids, the jungle has always been our favorite exhibit at the zoo. Now that we’ve been to a few different real jungles and forests, we’re even more impressed with it. The trees in Laos reminded us of the trees in the jungle at the zoo. That was the first thing I noticed.
The second was… bears?
Kuang Si Falls has a bear rescue. The bears were saved from poachers or from the bear bile trade. Bizzare items, often related to animals, are used in Chinese medicines. Bear bile is one of those things, so wild bears are captured and kept in small cages and are hurt for their bile. The bears here, though, were saved and have plenty of space to roam and they look very happy. We continued on the trail toward the falls, just after G pointed out another very happy “rescue” animal. A cat was curled up, taking a nap and sunning itself just outside of the bear enclosure.
We walked for about 5 minutes and then saw the bluest water we’ve ever seen in a forest or jungle. We were at the foot of the falls and were surrounded by so many large pools of milky turquoise water, cascading into other pools. Some of the pools are closed off to tourists, but there are quite a few people are allowed to swim in. Our host told us the best time to go was before noon, before more tourists arrived, and he was so right. There were maybe a couple of dozen tourists sprinkled throughout the entire falls area, but no one else was swimming. We wanted to find the best swimming spot and see the rest of the falls, so we followed the small cascades up the mountain until we found the large falls.
We decided to go about halfway between the head and foot of the falls to swim. Still, no one else was swimming. We waded our way into the water, careful not to slip on the slick rocks. The water was cool, but not too cold. It was a comfortable temperature. Immersed in vibrant blue water that led to more pools and small waterfalls, surrounded by lush jungle plants and trees, and having the water all to ourselves, we felt like we were in a movie. *Important note: the water is blue December-April and sometimes in November and May. Don’t go during monsoon season.
We spent at least an hour swimming around various pools, finding small falls, and even spotting wild orchids before we inspired a few other brave tourists to get in the water too. We pointed out some of the cool things we found, then we got out. We dried off and followed the path out of the jungle that led to the road down to the parking lot.
Fortunately, we had enough time to check out the temple and sample some of the street food, before returning to the parking lot. We, ok, I, was still hungry, so I purchased some sticky rice with mango. That is an absolute must-try in Laos.
It was time to go, so we hopped back in the tuk-tuk and relaxed on the way back to our bungalow. When we returned, we raved all about our excursion to Thy, and then we took a nap. When we woke up, we decided rather than go to the night market for dinner, we’d give the guesthouse’s restaurant a try. The food was on par with the property’s grounds and service. We tried curries, soups, and fried spring rolls. The remainder of the evening was spent unwinding at the guesthouse.
December 10, 2022 (T) - Splurging a Little, Exploring Temples, & Stepping into Western Culture
After we ate breakfast and packed our backpacks, Thy organized a ride for us to our next accommodation, Mekong Riverview Hotel. We were staying here for a couple of nights. It’s a nice place, in the middle of town and overlooking the river. While we were checking in, we also arranged train tickets to Vang Vieng on the 12th.
The train is really nice in Laos, but booking tickets is a bit complicated. The best way to go about it is to go through your hotel because you can’t buy tickets online and you can only buy the tickets a couple of days in advance from the station or select vendors, but you have to wait in long lines. Hotels have connections to buy tickets for them. We got it all situated to take the afternoon train in a couple of days.
Luang Prabang itself, the entire town, is a UNESCO site thanks to the beautiful temples scattered throughout. Since our hotel was in the heart of town, after we settled into the room, we ventured out. We spent a few hours, visiting multiple temples, admiring the intricate details all over the structures. While we were gawking at the temples, a lady took the time to tell me I was beautiful. I sheepishly thanked her. That was so nice of her! It really made my day.
One of G’s friend’s sisters had lived in Laos for a while. She recommended a coffeehouse, called Joma, to us if we were missing a western vibe. Admittedly, we did miss western culture some, so we checked it out. It was like in one step we were transported from Asia back to the US, but we were still in Luang Prabang. The coffee shop served a variety of coffee, pastries, sandwiches, and salads. It was decorated and furnished the same way many coffeehouses are in the US as well, and light music was playing in the background. We ordered our coffees and walked upstairs where we sat by the window and felt like we were back home for a couple of hours.
Revived, we stepped back into the real Laos, visited another temple, then found a local restaurant for dinner. The food was delicious but the highlight of this visit was meeting little hedgehogs! The young daughter of the restaurant owner was distracted, always looking down. G and I were curious and stood up to try to see what she was looking at, when the proprietor picked up a laundry basket with hedgehogs in it, explaining that she and her daughter had adopted them. They were super cute.
It was getting dark now, so we walked back to our hotel, where we organized a river cruise for the following evening.
December 11, 2022 (T) - The Sometimes Bridge, the Goodist Buddhist, and the River Cruise
The morning started with an unexpected adventure. We slept in and ate a late breakfast on the large outdoor porch, overlooking the river. While we were eating breakfast, we couldn’t help but notice a thin bamboo foot bridge crossing the river. Some people had crossed it, so we decided that after breakfast we would walk down the hill to check it out.
The bridge was not completed. It was 3ft (1 meter) wide woven with bamboo, with no railings, sitting on stilts about 10 feet (2.25 meters) above the water, stretching all the way across the river. The other side was about 100 meters (yards) away. When we arrived at the start of the “bridge”, a couple of locals informed us that every rainy season this bridge is wiped out and they have to rebuild it every year. For a small fee, we could cross. Why not?
That’s when we met a friendly street dog. If we were returning home after Laos, we would have adopted him. As soon as G started walking across the bridge, the dog followed him. We made a friend. G didn’t have any issues quickly walking across this unsteady bridge, but I had to practically waddle my way across it, which was a sight to be seen, I’m sure. When all 3 of us had crossed, we walked up a hill and found a small temple. We could see where the Mekong River met up with the Nam Khan River. There was a village somewhat close, but we decided not to try to find it and to start to make our way back across the bridge. I used a walking stick on the return to help balance myself. The dog had decided we were a pack now and accompanied us back to the other bank, up the hill, and kept following us. Our hearts ached as we knew we couldn’t keep him. He was very clearly well taken care of. His fur was full and clean and he was in good shape. Fortunately, another dog distracted him and we were able to slip away, though we still felt quite badly about leaving him behind. The locals by the bridge told us the monks took care of him, so we nicknamed him the goodist buddhist.
We decided to return to Joma for the afternoon until it was time to walk to the boat for the sunset river cruise. On the boat, we had a great time lying on hammocks, sipping wine, eating snacks, and watching the sunset I had been waiting for. As the sun disappeared, the sky and water turned a warm, overwhelming hue of deep orange.
Luang Prabang quickly became one of our favorite travel destinations and we understood why it was G’s sister’s favorite in all of Southeast Asia. We weren’t ready to leave but we were glad we dedicated almost a week’s worth of time there. While we were packing our things to leave the following day, we saw the bridge we had crossed on a map. It was labeled “sometimes bridge”.
December 12, 2022 (T) - Train Ride and Sketchy Accommodation
We ate another late breakfast, checked out around noon, and were driven to the train station. The station is very modern, clean, and well-run. The train and tracks have also recently been updated. It was a very smooth and pleasant experience with scenic views. We arrived in Vang Vieng in mid-afternoon, where we picked up a shared van to our hotel. In a futile attempt to save money, we booked a cheap place to stay. The place was clean enough, but it was the security we were worried about. Our room was on the second floor with a flat tin roof below the window that stretched out to other buildings in the neighborhood. The window wouldn’t lock all the way. While Laos is a safe country to visit, we wouldn’t have slept well knowing how easy it would be for someone to break in. We asked the concierge if they had another room higher up. Unfortunately, they didn’t until the following night. So, we decided to find another place to stay. It was still on the affordable side, but it cost more and we couldn’t get a refund. The peace of mind is worth it. We are very cautious travelers.
We found a place that was only a 15-minute walk away so we booked it. We picked up our backpacks, returned our keys to reception and apologized, then walked to our new accommodation, which happened to be steps away from the night market. This place was really nice and secure. They also offered day tours. We felt like we made the right move.
December 13, 2022 (T) - Another Chill Day
There isn’t much to write about today. We spent a lot of time trying to get caught up on social media and the blog. Other than that, we ate breakfast at the hotel, booked a day trip for the next day, and ate some food at the night market. Overall, we decided Luang Prabang is much more quaint than Vang Vieng.
December 14, 2022 (T) - Day Trip and Fellow Travelers
After an early breakfast, we got ready and waited for our tuk-tuk to pick us up for the day’s adventure. This was not a private tour. We were the first to hop in the tuk-tuk truck and then zigzagged through town, picking up other adventurers. That’s when we met K and P. They are a young couple who also quit their jobs so they could travel. K is American and P is French. They were living in San Fransisco and decided they wanted to travel for 6 months around Southeast Asia, and their journey had just begun! We had a great time chatting about all of our travels and travel plans.
River kayaking with karst mountainous backgrounds was first on the agenda. The views were gorgeous and we got a good workout in.
K and P had booked a different day trip so we parted ways after kayaking. G and I continued on with one other traveler from South Korea to a Blue Lagoon. The water was similar to the water up at Kuang Si Falls and there were many restaurants to choose from. We ate a light lunch and swam in the crystal blue water. When it was time to go, we spotted large, live grubs at one of the vendor’s stands. I snapped a photo and we climbed in the tuk-tuk-truck to return to our hotel.
We organized a shared van to drive to Vientiane the next day then walked a couple of blocks to a local restaurant. All of the food we ate in Laos was really good. A little visitor stopped to say hello to us while we ate dinner.
Later that night, we explored the night market and then packed our bags.
December 15, 2022 (T) - Last Stop in Laos
We ate a late breakfast and struggled to check out. The electricity went out right as we were going to pay with credit card, and we did not have enough cash. Our van was going to arrive soon, so we started on the wild goose chase to look for an ATM. The first few we found were out of order because they had also lost power. Eventually, we found one and pulled out some money. When we returned, we were confused that we didn’t have enough money, but figured out it was because we had not prepaid like we thought we had. Our van arrived but they would wait for us. I hopped in the van with our bags to secure our seats while G disappeared to get more money. It was taking longer than I had anticipated, so as I was texting G I heard a scooter approaching. G had hopped on the back of one of the hotel staff’s scooters to go to an ATM to save time. He quickly paid the remaining balance and then piled into the van.
It took a few hours to get to Vientiane. When we arrived, we took a small tuk-tuk to our hotel. The driver wasn’t sure where he was going and G had to redirect him a few times, but we made it there. We checked in, dropped off our backs, then walked around the area to find a place to eat. After we ate, we saw a Dairy Queen on the way back. Obviously had to stop for some blizzards before returning to the hotel.
We only had one full day in Vientiane and we decided we wouldn’t try to see everything there is to see. Instead, we would stay around our hotel area.
December 16, 2022 (T) - Why Build an Airport when You Could Build an Arc de Triomphe?
The only thing on our agenda today was to walk to the Patuxay Monument which was only a few blocks away. Back in the 1950s, the US gave Laos money to build an airport. Instead, they decided to build a memorial dedicated to those who fought for independence from France. It was completed in the 1960s and is modeled after the Arc de Triomphe, but with a Lao flare. It’s a pretty cool monument, and G and I got a laugh out of its origin story.
Other than that, we updated social media, worked on the blog, and went to a restaurant next door to the hotel.
December 17, 2022 (T) - Visa Fiasco
We thought today was going to be an easy day. Alas, it was not.
We ate breakfast at a cafe nearby then left for the airport a few hours early. To save money, sometimes we piece our own tickets together, meaning we’ll buy an airline ticket to a layover destination and then buy a different airline ticket to the final destination. We’ve sound thousands of dollars doing this.
Our plan was to fly to Hanoi for our layover and then continue on to Tokyo. Both are international destinations and the gates were in the same terminal. Even if we had to go through another layer of security, we had another ticket to show. We were never in Vietnam, so we shouldn’t need a visa, and even if for whatever reason we did, Vietnam’s government’s website stated we could get one on arrival. Lao Airlines denied us boarding, stating that we either need to have a pre-approved visa or have a ticket with one airline. They even allegedly called their coworkers in Vietnam who confirmed this. We tried showing them the government’s website stating that we can get one on arrival and showing them our other ticket to prove that we weren’t going to stay in Vietnam to no avail.
Ultimately, we had to buy a new ticket. Fortunately, there was a ticket for the same day and we used some of our travel points to cover a small part of the cost, but it was still a little pricy. The route was the same. We had to wait about 5 hours for our flight.
When we arrived in Hanoi, we did have to go through security, but I don’t think it would have been an issue if we showed our other ticket. (Plus, after Japan, when we did travel to Vietnam, there was a counter for visas on arrival…we had secured our visa prior to arrival just in case).
Fortunately, the airport lounge was really nice. We relaxed there for a couple of hours until around midnight, when we went to our gate to board our plane for Japan.
India’s Peaks and Valleys
India was full of highs and lows for us. At times, we were completely in awe of the nature around us, warmly accepted by locals, and fascinated by culture. Other times, we felt the opposite. We’ll get into all that in this post.
November 24, 2022 (T) - Smog and the Chocolate Sorry Plate
We had arranged for our hotel to pick us up from the airport, but we didn’t see anyone waiting for us with all the other arrivals pick-up drivers. Maybe someone was waiting for us outside. It was dark by now at about 8:00PM. As soon as we exited the airport, we were hit with the smell and sight of something unfamiliar to us but too familiar to Delhi - smog. The air was enveloped with a thick, dusty brown substance that smelled like dirt, exhaust, rubber, and metal. It was honestly worse than what we had seen on TV or online. We scanned the dozens of people around the airport and still didn’t see a sign with our name on it. Bewildered, I called our hotel. They claimed I never confirmed which car we wanted to pick us up, although I already had over 24 hours prior to our arrival.
They said they could send a car, but G and I figured by the time a car arrived we could have already found an Uber. We declined their offer and ventured forth to find the Uber pick-up area. It was a bit complicated and felt like we were going through a maze of hallways, different floors, and moving walkways, but eventually, we found it and we were able to order an Uber without a problem. Not too long later, our Uber arrived. The car didn’t have any side mirrors. We said hello and piled ourselves and our backpacks into the small, mirrorless car.
Now, we had the chance to be in a car in Cairo and weren’t sure how Delhi would compare. We can confidently say that Cairo was much more frightening and chaotic than Delhi, but Delhi is still an adventure of its own. The roads were in decent shape and there were enough “lanes” for the traffic. I couldn’t stop looking out of the window. We drove by parks, temples, shops, and neighborhoods. Slums seemed to be mixed in with the more luxurious houses. Vendors sold a wide variety of things on the side of the street - food, shoes, clothes, balloons, flowers, etc. The road would go from one or two lanes and then meet up with an 8-way intersection that everyone just knew how to navigate. And, yes, there were cows randomly in the middle of the road right there in the huge city of Delhi. Our driver was very attentive so I wasn’t nervous. After about 45 minutes, we arrived safely at our hotel.
The hotel employees were very apologetic for the car mishap. They upgraded our room for free. We accepted their apology and thanked them for the room upgrade. A few minutes after we got settled in, there was a knock at our door. They apologized again and gave us a peace offering - a plate full of truffles with the word “sorry” on it written in chocolate. That is the most unique apology I’ve ever had.
It was still Thanksgiving, so G and I video-chatted with both of our families. We’re thankful technology allows us to do that and it was really nice to see all of their faces and catch up with them.
November 25, 2022 (G) - Breakfast Feast & Garden, The Sikh, and The Arrival of C
The Maidens hotel that we had chosen for our time in Dehli was a gorgeous relic from the Colonial period of the British Raj. The hotel once played host to Royalty and dignitaries from all over the world and had been built to suit such visitors. T and I felt admittedly a little out of place in the massive halls lined with great windows which looked down upon the front courtyard. It was a beautiful place and I would happily add our stay there to the peaks list of our time in India.
We wandered down the large central stairwell in the morning light to find our breakfast. The breakfast room was tucked away a little behind the central stairs. The seating was split indoors and outdoors. The outdoors seating was nestled between the two tall wings of the hotel which also sheltered a small garden area. This is where we first experienced the double-edged sword of the Indian dining experience.
Having collected a bountiful plate of food from the buffet area, I was not at all concerned with the prospect of going hungry. T and I had eaten around half of what we had first selected when a waitress stopped by to inquire if we would like anything else and proceeded to suggest we try a dosa or a few of the other culinary specialties of India. Eager to experience new and different cuisine, T happily ordered a dosa, which I agreed to split with her, blissfully unaware of the size of the dosa we would receive I continued eating what remained on my plate.
I had no more than finished my plate when the dosa appeared. It was massive, T still had food remaining on her original plate and was reaching her stomach capacity. A few moments went by when a second dosa appeared. When I inquired with the waitress, it seemed that the kitchen and taken T’s original request to mean that we each wanted a dosa. Our waitress also provided various small dishes of sauce to accompany the dosa. After delivering these she courteously asked if there was anything further she could bring us. Knowing that we had already bit off more than we could chew, I declined. Her facial expression seemed to fall a little, from a look of joy to concern or almost embarrassment as she tilted her head to the side in a gesture that we learned is equivalent to the word okay. Face fallen, she seemed to accept that we did not want anything more and left us to continue working our way through our remaining meal.
This desire to overfeed you coupled with what seems to be an element of guilt on the part of the host if they are not able to stuff you to maximum capacity is the double-edged sword of the Indian dining experience. On the one hand, we appreciated the attentiveness and being well-fed, on the other hand, we didn’t want to insult anyone by our refusal to eat more.
We felt strikingly similar after this breakfast to the way most of our friends and family probably felt around the same time, given that it was still Thanksgiving night in the United States. Our waitress returned once again just before we got up to inquire one last time if there was anything further she could bring us to eat. Once again, she accepted our refusal with a sideways head nod and a look of slight defeat. T and I felt that a walk around the garden would aid our stomachs in digesting the feast, so we left the dining area to stroll through the garden.
Beyond the immediate confines of the small garden, we found a larger garden area that extended out behind the hotel which also housed a beautiful swimming pool and also played host to a few wild peacocks and several troublemaking Macaque monkeys.
On our return to the small garden, we were greeted by the head concierge of the hotel. She wore a beautiful traditional Indian dress and a bright brass nametag with her title. She wanted to personally address the mishap with our arrival and confirm that we had been suitably compensated. We assured her that while the initial mistake had been unfortunate, the hotel and staff had recovered beautifully and that we were pleased with their response to an error.
We spent much of the afternoon doing a bit of laundry, planning, and arranging the logistics of our future travels. Evening crept in slowly and the time had arrived for T and I to go and greet one of my very best friends, who we’ll refer to as C. He and I had met years before in college and had become fast friends through our shared passion for rock climbing, hiking, and adventure. C had been looking for a reason to have an adventure and a meet-up with T and I had given him the perfect excuse to share in ours. Plus, we had planned on seeing the Himalayas, which had long been on his bucket list. After traveling for such an extended period of time, I was absolutely ecstatic that I would be able to hang out with C and am incredibly grateful he decided to make the 16-hour flight to join in our adventure.
T and I had planned to surprise C by greeting him at the airport instead of just sending a car for him. Our driver greeted us at the front of the hotel, a tall imposing older man with broad shoulders, he had a large beard and mustache and wore a turban on his head, with an iron bracelet on his right wrist. He was a Sikh. I have been lucky enough to have known a few Sikhs, but T had never met one before. So T has a few things she would like to include about her first experience meeting a Sikh before I continue with my story of being reunited with my friend.
(T) I briefly mentioned in the previous blog post that I was starting to feel a little “less than” after having been in a few Arab countries where women don’t have the same rights as men. India got me back on track, and I got a particularly big confidence boost from our lovely driver who was a Sikh. He was very open about being a Sikh and gave us some insight into his lifestyle and beliefs. He pointed out his temple and explained Sikh temples are open 24/7 to everyone of any background and they offer shelter and help to those who need it. Sikhs are protectors of people. Anyone can become a Sikh at any point in their life. He informed us of four important parts of being a Sikh: don’t cut your hair (that’s why many of them wear a turban), carry a dagger to protect others, wear an iron bracelet on your right hand to remind yourself to only do good, and wear long underwear to symbolize your fidelity to one partner. Our driver was easy to talk to so I asked a few more questions. Men and women can both be Sikhs and they are truly seen as equals. When I asked if women carried daggers too, he smiled and said “yes, of course!”. It felt relieving to not be viewed as inferior in one way or another. The 45-minute ride to the airport went very quickly due to our engaging conversation. Before we knew it, we were there and it was finally time to pick up C!
(G) I didn’t have to wait more than 5 minutes at the arrivals area when I saw the tall form of my dear friend C with his backpack slung over one shoulder. We both broke into great smiles, high-fived, and bro-hugged. It was great to see him in person again. We walked to where T was standing with our driver and out to the car. We spent the 45-minute ride back to the hotel catching up and covering a few of the details for the coming days. After he had gotten checked in and settled we headed down to the hotel’s bar which was dedicated to and decorated with images of the historic Calvery troops of the British Raj that had existed. We each had a drink, as we continued to chat merrily in a corner of the bar. Before long C, who was fiercely battling his jetlag, needed to rest, so we called it a night.
November 26, 2022 (T) - Delhi Day Tour
The biggest thing pulling us to India was The Himalayas. We had booked a 9-day tour through a local company, Northeast Tours. We gave ourselves a buffer day after C arrived just in case there were any travel hiccups. I contacted Northeast Tours and they knew someone who could take us on a day tour of Delhi, so we planned on doing that today. We ate a, once again, larger than anticipated but delicious breakfast, showed C the garden and pool area, then got ready for the day tour. Our driver was on time and the first stop was The Red Fort.
If we could pick one place to go in Delhi, it would be The Red Fort. The same person who designed The Taj Mahal designed The Red Fort. We would have tried to go to The Taj Mahal but you really should stay overnight if you’re going to go, so we opted out.
The walls around the fort are massive, both in length and width. We bought our tickets and made our way by other tourists, school groups, and hawkers to the entrance. I stopped to take a picture when an Indian couple approached me. I thought they were going to ask me to take their picture, but they wanted to take a picture with me! That had never happened to me before and I quickly realized the 3 of us were the only white people in sight, and C and I especially stood out. We are both very pale and I have long light brown hair with blonde highlights and C has blond hair and blue eyes. G and C watched this amusing interaction nearby and chuckled as we met up again to go through the entrance.
Under a long archway was a market full of souvenirs. We expected to be propositioned and perhaps harassed into buying things, but everyone was very chill. It was so nice being able to calmly look through all the items for sale and continue on our way. We spent about an hour wandering around the grounds of The Red Fort. There were some nice fountains and pavilions we passed. It was fun to imagine what this place must have been like in the 17th century when it was built.
As we left and were walking back to the car, we couldn’t help but notice how many people were staring at us. We really stuck out. The stares weren’t malicious, though. People were just intrigued to see us there. A woman approached the 3 of us and asked to take a picture with us. We happily obliged and then she made some friendly small talk. She asked us where we were from. G and I had been traveling for about 5 months at this point so our internal guards were up and well-armed. We were used to being harassed at markets and, depending on where you are, when a complete stranger asks where you’re from, it’s not to make small talk. You might have insults or a scam coming your way. We reluctantly told her we were from the US. She smiled and we talked a little bit about India then she went on her way. For the rest of the trip, we would occasionally have locals politely ask us where we were from because they were legitimately curious. This was quite refreshing for us.
We made it back to the car and drove to our next stop, Raj Ghat, the place where Gandhi was cremated. There is a lovely memorial for him in a big park. We took our time respectfully walking around and reading all the plaques before making our way back to the car.
The Red Fort and Raj Ghat were the most notable places we visited during our tour. Everything else was ok but not really our cup of tea. Delhi in general isn’t really our cup of tea, so it makes sense. We saw a war memorial, parliament (just the outside. You can’t get close to it.), and a government-sponsored marketplace where they sold tea, clothes, art, and carpets. It reminded us a little bit of the shops we visited in Egypt but there was definitely more pressure to buy something here. We also stopped in New Delhi to eat a late lunch. The food was so good.
After the tour, C was jetlagged and G and I were tired too, so we took a siesta and then met up in the bar where we had a couple of drinks while watching The World Cup. We were checked in and ready for our flight the following morning to begin our Himalayan adventure!
November 27, 2022 (G) - Bagdogra and Gangtok
We had planned to leave the hotel at 5:30 AM. We had arranged for transportation with the hotel concierge and marched down the stairs together at 5:30 sharp. However, the driver was late, around 30 minutes late. When at last he arrived, we quickly jumped into the car and headed to the New Delhi airport. This being a domestic flight we hoped that security may be a bit more relaxed as is often the case.
The New Delhi airport would prove to be one of the deepest valleys of our time in India. We arrived at the airport just before 7 am, our flight was scheduled for departure at 7:50. We had checked into our flight without issue the day before so we proceeded immediately to security.
In all my time traveling, I have never experienced a more ridiculous case of security theater than in the New Delhi airport. No other airport I have ever come across requires the removal of every single cord and coin from your carry-on luggage. I passed through the metal detector without issue but had evidently missed removing an electrical cord from my bag which somehow warranted a whole bag search and then a rescan of the bag. Once scanned again, my bag was fortunately returned to me and I was through. T wasn’t so lucky. New Delhi security also feels the need to separate men and women during the security screening process. This is common in many Islamic countries, but we hadn’t anticipated it here. Still, it wouldn't have mattered so much had T not had her bag flagged and searched… three times! By the second time they were searching her bag, it was past 7:30 am and we were running into dangerous territory regarding catching our flight. So, when they sent her bag back for the third time, C who had also passed through security, agreed to wait for T while I ran to the gate to hold the plane if necessary.
I jogged part of the way to the gate and arrived just a few minutes before 7:50. The gate was still open and I was speaking with the attendants to hold the plane when to my great relief T and C appeared. Both were slightly out of breath as they had run the distance after T’s bag had finally been returned to her. We all found our seats and the flight departed for Bagdogra moments later.
The flight itself was pleasant. One of my favorite moments of the flight was when we had just begun our descent, I reckoned that based on our location we might have a solid view of the Himalayas and Everest in particular. Without explaining my reasoning, I asked T to open the window shade. She opened it, slightly perturbed by the request, and stated without enthusiasm that the clouds in the distance were really bright. To which I replied, “Look again, those aren’t clouds”. She and C both peered out of the window again at their first view of the snowy peaks that rose well above the clouds below us. They are awe-inspiring and I have never seen any mountains that are their equal.
After landing we were greeted by a small older man with a sign bearing our names at the Bagdogra airport. Assuming he was our driver, we followed him to the car, where another much younger man sat in the driver’s seat. We took off our backpacks and loaded them into the car and hopped in. The older man, who was apparently just our porter (though we had nothing for him to carry) asked for a tip. Though he hadn’t done much to earn it aside from holding a sign and guiding us to the car, we begrudgingly offered him a small amount which he seemed pleased by.
The next few hours were spent driving north into the foothills of the Himalayas. We broke for lunch at a small roadside restaurant. T, C, and I enjoyed a plate of momos (Tibetian-style dumplings) a plate of sweet and sour paneer cheese, and fried rice. I picked up a small orange pepper and examined it. A local shouted out a warning to me, stating that it was very hot as he walked by. I fully believed him, but am a curious fellow and decided to take a delicate bite of the pepper. It was indeed very hot and I thought given the drive ahead it would be best if I refrained from swallowing it. Fortunately, I’m not sure if this is common everywhere in India, but during our Himalayas journey, most restaurants offered bowls of small mint-like seeds to eat after a meal, so I ate some of those and felt some relief. We paid our bill and found our driver once again to continue our journey.
Our driver, named Sanjit, spoke very little English which made acquiring some of the necessary permits at the local border of Sikkim a little entertaining. One particularly memorable checkpoint involved us visiting multiple small buildings for various reasons and ultimately finding our way to a seemingly empty building, going up a flight of stairs to find a floor that had a few chairs and a single office with just one man sitting in it. We presented him with our documents. He reviewed them, stamped them, and without so much as a word, gestured us on our way. Sketchy as it all seemed, we must have correctly completed the paperwork which I decided to put in a safe place in case it was needed for later (spoiler it was) because we were allowed to enter the region of Sikkim.
Sikkim had at one point been a kingdom country separate from India, but external pressures from China pushing their Himalayan border and internal pressures eventually led them to unite with India. The region was still seen differently than many others in India which resulted in the various checkpoints and additional permits required to visit the region.
The roads grew worse as we climbed higher, often consisting of single-lane switchbacks that clung desperately to sheer cliffs with drops of at least 500 meters (1600 ft) to one side and cliffs that threatened the possibility of a landslide on the other. At least the view out the window was spectacular. It’s challenging to explain in a meaningful way that the “foothills” of the Himalayas are actually massive and dramatically steep mountains that are simply dwarfed by the presence of the still greater peaks that scratch the upper troposphere of our planet.
Sanjit drove fast and rather jerky but remained tireless and extremely focused on the road. The sun slid down behind the mountains and as the light began to fade we arrived in Gangtok. Just after dark we checked into our hotel. We were overjoyed that the hotel had its own spa area. We arranged a massage to work out some of the aches we had developed on the long car ride up and then afterward enjoyed watching a bit of the world cup together.
November 28, 2022 (T) - Gangtok Day Tour and Language Barriers
Today we went on a tour of the sights in and close to Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim. It sits atop a hill with a good view of Kangchenjunga (the 3rd tallest mountain in the world) on a clear day. On the agenda were various temples, monasteries, parks, a flower garden, viewpoints, and The Institute of Tibetology. I was most excited to go to The Institute of Tibetology. Northeastern India has strong ties to Tibet and houses many Tibetan refugees so I was looking forward to learning more about them and their culture.
Sanjit picked us up around 10AM after we had breakfast. We practically flew to our first location, a park nestled on the mountainside with a waterfall, prayer flags, gazebos, bridges, and remnants of bumper cars and a stage. This park had been the place to be in years gone by. We explored the trails and bridges for a bit then returned to the car.
The next stop was a monastery and The Institute of Tibetology. We turned the prayer wheels (always go clockwise), observed the monastery from the outside, and then drove toward The Institute of Tibetology. We kept driving and drove past it. I became flustered and asked why we weren’t going to visit it. The language barrier was too large. I tried phrasing it a few different ways and I think Sanjit understood the gist of what I was asking but wasn’t able to reply. We zipped over to our next destination, a flower show.
On the walk from the parking spot down to the greenhouse, an Indian man and his child stopped us to ask us where we were from. G and I still had our guards up when we were asked this question, but we reluctantly answered. We were happy to see that, once again, he was just legitimately curious and we had a brief, friendly conversation about where we were from and what we were doing. We explained to C why we were on edge in regard to that question on the remainder of the walk down. The greenhouse itself was pretty small and unimpressive, but we still gave the flowers a respectful amount of time before returning to the car.
I tried using Google Translate to help me communicate with Sanjit about The Institute of Tibetology. I found out we would not be going and I still wasn’t sure why. My frustration was a bit intimidating to him and I think he was shy to attempt to answer. I let it go and decided I’d ask our tour operator about it later.
Our next destination, Tashi View Point and Hanumantok, a Hindu temple, was at the top of a mountain. We went up and up and honked our way around the corners on the single-lane mountain road. The view was lovely. Kanchenjunga was just barely visible. The sky was mostly clear but some clouds were formed over it. We spent some time soaking in the sun and the views, wandering around the temple, then returned to the car.
Prayer flags lined the road as we zoomed down to our next place, Ganeshtok, another Hindu temple (tok = temple). A road sign caught my eye, “BRO Don’t use mobile phone while driving Ganeshtok” and made me chuckle. It reminded me of the safety road signs that MODOT (Missouri Department of Transportation) put up that G and I got a kick out of when we lived in St. Louis. Whoever wrote those signs had a great sense of humor. A couple of our favorites were, “mash potatoes, not your head. wear your seatbelt.” around Thanksgiving and “who ya gonna call? no one, you’re driving!” around Halloween. I snapped a photo of the BRO sign that I read in an American gym bro voice in my head. Sanjit understood why we thought it was funny and explained BRO meant Border Roads Organization. We laughed and continued on our way toward Ganeshtok. We explored it for a while and returned to the car.
The next stop was a Buddhist temple that had gorgeous murals inside and a nice view on the outside. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take any photos of the inside. Many of the Hindu temples did not allow photos either. The last stop was a waterfall.
On the way back to the hotel, we made a stop to do some paperwork. The next day we were heading up to Lachung in North Sikkim. The permit process is even more complicated and entry is more restricted due to its proximity to China. We would have an English-speaking guide, named Nishan, for this portion of the adventure. Nishan met us to sort out the paperwork and also explained that we weren’t able to visit The Institute of Tibetology because it was closed due to renovations. I appreciated his explanation. After we finished our administrative work, Sanjit, C, G, and I headed back toward the hotel.
It wasn’t a surprise to us that we finished our day tour a couple of hours early thanks to Sanjit’s speedy driving. I asked if he could drop us off at M G Marg, a long pedestrian street full of shops and restaurants, and due to our language barrier, he dropped us off at the hotel and said we could take a taxi.
C, G, and I were pretty tired so we took a siesta. We were going to give taking a taxi a shot but we needed a little more cash. We found a couple of different ATMs close to our hotel but neither worked for us. An early start and a long drive were ahead of us the following day, so we decided to just relax at the hotel and watch more of The World Cup.
The local company we booked our tour with is professional so the operator checked in with us that night. I was honest and gave the pros and cons of the day. He assured us when we returned to Gangtok after our North Sikkim visit, we have time to visit M G Marg and would be dropped off.
We were ready to venture further into The Himalayas!
November 29, 2022 (T) - What Constitutes a Road, Anyway? This is the Only Way to The Himalayas Here
After stuffing ourselves with more breakfast than we wanted at the request of the hotel staff, we gathered our backpacks and waited for Sanjit and Nishan in the lobby. We departed around 9 AM for the 7+ hour drive up to Lachung. We thought the road on the way to Gangtok was dangerous. Little did we know that was just the introduction to what we would experience on the drive from Gangtok to Lachung. If G and I were aware of the dangers these drives possessed, we would have invited C to join us for a different part of our global trek. He has a baby back home. Alas, here we all were, eyes wide and hearts racing as Sanjit drove like a bat out of hell on the crumbling mountainside one-lane road, unable to look away from the unprotected 1500 meters (5,000 ft)+ drop-off.
I’m not exaggerating. This road is absolutely treacherous. People have died here. I had done my research which is why we were here in late November/early December during the dry season. When the snow melts and during the rainy season, landslides aren’t uncommon. I didn’t know the road would be in such poor condition. I’ll attempt to describe it the best I can so you can picture it.
We are at least 1500 meters (5,000 ft) above the ground, oftentimes more. The road hugs the mountainside and is only one lane. That lane is narrow for one car, but this road is intended for two directions. There are many sharp turns and corners. If a car is going too fast or doesn’t honk in a blind spot, an accident is bound to happen. It always felt like we were going too fast (probably because we were), but we honked before every curve and Sanjit was always focused on the road. Occasionally there’s enough room off of the road to pull over to allow a car to pass if needed. Guard rails aren’t anywhere to be found. There’s nothing to stop a vehicle from plummeting to the ground below. Cows roam free and sometimes a cow or two walks in the road. Most people in the villages have scooters, so we had to be extra attentive to numerous scooter drivers near the villages. Construction happens randomly at all hours of the day and night. You never know when you’re going to drive up on a lane widening project or cleanup of a previous landslide. Or, you know, when you’re going to drive through the aftermath of a landslide. Sometimes we’d spot a large pile of boulders and rocks that fell on the side of the road, evidence of a landslide. More than once, a waterfall joined the road, turning the road into a stream with another waterfall over the edge. When we were approaching one of these waterfalls, G saw just how thin this road was, only four inches of asphalt with no earth beneath it, beginning to buckle. We all thought we might die at one time or another on this journey. We don’t have photos that captured it.
All alive and unharmed, we made it to Lachung after dark. We would have arrived earlier but we took a detour to find momos. Sanjit and Nishan found out we liked them and were on a mission to find us some good ones. After a couple of failed attempts, we drove to Nishan’s village because he knew of a good place. It was worth the time added to the drive. We also stopped by a waterfall that had a food shack nearby. This food shack was special. It also had karaoke. An Indian man was singing his heart out and a small crowd was dancing and singing along. Obviously, we had to spend some time there. A friendly Indian couple from Kolkata asked us where we were from and we all talked about the tours we were on. This far north, C, G, and I were the only white people and we’re guessing, especially since 2020, we were probably some of the only, if not the only white people a lot of the locals had seen. We didn’t mind at all and we didn’t feel unwelcomed.
Music was a way to distract ourselves from our potential peril. C and I connected our phones to the car’s Bluetooth and shared some of our favorite music with them. Everyone loved the song G and I discovered in Norway, called “Bad Booty”. And no doubt, Border Roads Organization was a real good guy BRO, always looking out by providing safety advice and inspirational messages.
We were getting closer to our hotel now, situated in a beautiful valley with river and mountain views (although we’d have to wait until the next day to see them). First, we had to go through another checkpoint. Nishan got out of the car and handled all of our paperwork and permits with the guards. We were officially entering North Sikkim. When he got back in the car, he had an ominous warning for us. The roads weren’t the only danger. “Don’t eat or drink anything the locals offer you because you might die.” I’m sorry, what now?
Allegedly, there are a handful locals in North Sikkim who are part of a small, cultlike religious group that poisons people as part of a ritual. We asked if tourists were targeted and he said no, other locals have been poisoned as well. Nishan spoke English well, but this topic was difficult to translate, so some of the details remain unclear to us. The poison takes about 24 hours to kill someone. We think the intention of the poisoning is to somehow benefit the decedent in death. Of course, we tried to research this on our own, but didn’t come up with any real answers. After all, we were in the middle of nowhere in northeastern India. Maybe he was just making this up but we don’t think so based on his own eating habits in the area. We definitely wouldn’t eat anything adventurous without approval from our guide. But, the following day, we did still eat something quite adventurous and something I never thought I’d eat.
A short drive later, we arrived at our hotel where we ate a safe and large dinner before retreating to our room on the top floor for the night. Tomorrow we were going to the last place civilians are allowed in North Sikkim, Zero Point.
November 30, 2022 - Zero Point, Strange Treats, Hotsprings, and the Dracula Ride.
(T) - Since we had opted to add on Zero Point, sitting at around 4,700+ meters (15,300+ ft) and the last place civilians could go in India due to the close proximity to China, to our adventure, we had to leave our hotel at 5:30 AM. Now, I am a night owl all day every day, so waking up and being ready by 5:30 AM is not an easy task for me. I groggily sat down in the lobby at 5:25. Nishan and Sanjit don’t arrive at 5:30. 15 minutes go by and I send them a message. No reply. Another 10 minutes go by and I try messaging them again. Nothing. It’s 6:00 AM now and I’m hoping they’re ok. I try calling and no one answers. We don’t know which hotel they’re in. I try calling another 2 times. I was getting ready to call our tour operator to figure out what to do and the hotel receptionist was also becoming concerned for us. Blaring music grows louder and louder as Sanjit and Nishan drove down the hill. They strolled into the lobby with smiles on their faces. My fuse was about to blow. I was past capacity and their smiles immediately disappeared when they looked at me. G and C were also annoyed but they were still friendly. I was direct with them, calling them out on being 45 minutes late and asked why they didn’t answer the phone. Nishan looked at his phone and apologized. I didn’t forgive them yet and just said “let’s go”. My anger was intimidating and they both apologized multiple times and tried to cheer me up on the drive to Zero Point. After some time, I calmed down. When I felt their apologies were genuine I said I forgive them and I let it go. C made a funny remark about making sure they were on time for the rest of the trip. We all laughed and left it at that. They were on time from then on.
(G)- We had passed a final military checkpoint, after which, Nishan informed us that if anyone asked us where we had gone in the Yum Thang valley tell them that we just went to Yum Thang and definitely not Zero Point… never a dull moment. Wanting to retain plausible deniability, we refrained from inquiring further. As Sanjit tore around the switchbacks that climbed ever higher into the mount pass of Yum Thang valley toward Zero Point the vehicle climbed through a massive rhododendron forest. Nishan told us that the entire portion of the valley here was home to some of the rarest varietals of rhododendron in the world. It was a shame that they were not in season but given the state of the roads it is doubtful we would have been able to make it to this remote area in the springtime. In fact, we could easily see several areas of the road that had just recently been rebuilt after avalanches had torn them asunder.
The rhododendrons eventually gave way to little more than moss and shrubs as the oxygen levels continued to drop. Eventually, all growing things disappeared and we were left with stone and snow. We could now see a row of tarp tents. The blue tarps had been stretched and haphazardly tied over sticks or bits of corrugated steel plates to form these shelters at the top of the world. Sanjit drove past most of them and located the tent of a trusted friend where we stopped. We were assured that we were safe to eat and drink here and were pleased to find that inside the tent was a little wood stove, refreshments of various varieties, and galoshes.
We were each given a pair of boots to wear and once our feet were snugly set in them we rose and exited the tent. The thin air was felt by one and all, but fortunately, none of us suffered any symptoms of altitude sickness as we walked to the end of the road. Posted to the left of the road was the sign declaring Zero Point. We stood there for a little while and took in the view. The road continued onward and was now strictly a military road that followed the saddle between great peaks on either side until it disappeared entirely.
After catching our breath and snapping a few quick photos of the place that we (wink wink) definitely didn’t visit, we decided to go for a little hike. We crossed a small river and started up the side of a mountain. We paused a short way up to play a little game of what can best be described as ice hockey soccer. C, T, Nishan, and I slipped around merrily kicking chunks of ice across a frozen section of the hill, nearly but never actually falling. After our childish game, we continued up the mountain just a tiny bit before Nishan recommended we turn back.
We returned to the shelter of the blue tarp tent, we removed our loaned boots and enjoyed a few tiny cups of tea. As we sat together we chatted with a few other guests, locals, and the woman who ran the tent. During our conversation, T mentioned her fascination with collecting foreign currency, one of the locals asked us if we had any US dollars as they collected different currencies as well. We only had four dollars, we traded them around or gifted them to the locals. T acquired a Nepalese dollar and Malaysian money and was quite pleased with the trade.
Around this time, Nishan asked us if we would like to try Yartsa Gunbu. He had mentioned this before in the car, but it remained unclear exactly what it was. Described to us as both a plant and a bug, we weren’t totally certain what we were in for. Never ones to shy away from local delicacies we all agreed to give whatever it was a shot. After some haggling, the woman of the tent produced a small napkin filled with small sticklike items. Upon closer inspection, the “sticks” were each about 5 cm (2 inches) long, with one half a bit thicker than the other. Well, we collectively toasted each other and popped them into our mouths. They had little if any flavor and tasted as much like a stick as they looked, though significantly easier to chew than an actual stick would have been. We would later learn that Yartsa Gunbu is actually the result of a fungus that highjacks the body and brain of the rare Ghost Caterpillar, essentially turning it into a zombie before killing it to produce the fungal fruiting body. The scientific name of this phenomenon is Ophiocordyceps sinensis. It is extremely rare and is only found above 3,500 meters (12,000 ft) on the Tibetan Plateau in Tibet and in the Himalayan regions. The thick part of our sticks had been the caterpillar, the thin part had been the fungal fruiting body.
After our little stickish snack, we were presented with another interesting item. Rhododendron wine, who knew that was even a thing? The small clear plastic bottle containing the semi-frozen red-pink wine had clearly originally been used for some other drink prior to serving as a wine bottle, but with the assurance of Nishan that we would not be poisoned to death by our hostess, we decided to purchase the bottle to enjoy on the return drive. After this little acquisition, we returned to the car where Sanjit was prepared as ever to show us the meaning of speed. Turning back the way we had arrived we began down the mountain valley which presented us with breathtaking views.
A short way down the valley and well before we hit the treeline again, we turned off on a small side road that lead into a different valley than the one we had arrived through. Nishan informed us that we were headed to the more secluded hot springs than the ones that most of the tourists frequent. We arrived at a small building surrounded by steaming pools and prayer flags. T and C had it in mind to simply jump into the hot springs outside of the building, but we decided against it since it was impossible to determine if the temperature of the water and mud at the bottom of these pools would inflict burns.
Why exactly someone had determined it necessary to block the spectacular view of the mountains that surrounded these springs with a high-walled concrete building will remain a mystery to us. The building was dingy, dirty, and unimpressive. The building housed a small concrete pool fed by the hot springs directly outside of it. The pool within it seemed clean enough, though there was trash and litter in the changing room adjacent to it. Determined to disallow the lackluster setting to rob us of warming ourselves we decided to jump in the pool.
After a half hour to forty-five minutes, we were all ready to dry off and carry on. As we walked back to our vehicle, we expressed our dismay at finding so much trash, cigarette butts, and litter in several of the locations that we had visited to Nishan. He empathized with us and explained that most of the litterbugs were unfortunately the Indian tourists from regions outside of Sikkim that would visit. The government of Sikkim recently received global recognition for strict new laws banning single-use plastics, a point that was echoed and applauded by Nishan and several of the other locals we met, but we also watched as Indian tourists from other parts of the country simply threw their trash on the ground. It seemed that they had no sense of respect for the environment.
Trash and litter are generally speaking a fundamental human problem, but it seems there are some cultures that actively work to manage their waste and others that readily accept littering without a thought. We experienced both cultures while traveling in India. While we feel it is important to not fall into the trap of over-generalizing an entire country we have to report honestly that we were more often presented with the latter culture of inconsiderate litterbugs and it would prove to be a nagging negative valley of our experience.
Our journey back down to Yum Thang valley was as swift as the roads would allow. T, C, and I each tried a bit of the Rhododendron wine, which was sweet and floral as one might expect, and remained clear-headed due to the three-way split of an already very small bottle which was just as well given our high altitude. Our bags had been held by our hotel where we returned in time for lunch. With the long drive back to Gangtok ahead of us, we had every intention of enjoying a light lunch, however, we had forgotten that India will not allow guests to leave on less than a full stomach.
To give some context, we ordered one appetizer and one main dish to split between the three of us. We received three soups, three salads, three appetizers, three main dishes of different varieties, and three sizable desserts. Granted, they only charged us for one appetizer and one main dish which added to our confusion. This goes down as one of the most comical instances of too much of a good thing. The food was really excellent.
Once again stuffed to the brim we prepared to begin the return journey to Gangtok. The return journey was long and perhaps even more harrowing than our daylight trip into the valley. Night had fallen well before we had reached the halfway point. The already treacherous roads were all the more ominous in the dark. This journey through the dark at breakneck speed reminded me of the beginning of Bram Stoker’s Dracula when Jonathan Harker is ominously trapped in a black stagecoach which, for the fear of Dracula, the driver never allows to slow down on the dangerous mountain roads. Mercifully, after several hours of speeding through the inky black night, we could see the lights of Gangtok appear below us and we returned safely to the Lemontree hotel. The jerking back and forth of the road had taken a toll on all three of us and we were quick to call it a night.
December 1, 2022 - BRO, Alpine Lake, Monastery Visit, & MG Marg
(G)- The next morning, we enjoyed another very full breakfast before setting out to visit Tsomgo Lake. We were relieved to find the roads significantly wider, with two lanes in most places instead of the single-lane road of the previous night. Still, the height of the sheer drop off to the side of these mountain roads was at once awe-inspiring and a bit anxiety-inducing. We were fortunate that the morning was clear and provided us with a spectacular view of Kanchenjunga. The hour-and-a-half drive to the lake was mild in comparison to our previous few days of driving and we had been delightfully distracted by a prolific number of BRO signs along the way. These signs kept us so entertained that before we knew it we had arrived at Tsomgo Lake.
We were solicited Yak rides by some of the local Yak handlers, but the lake was small and we felt the beautifully decorated yaks would likely be perfectly content to remain laying in the sunshine. We walked around the lake which was clean and pleasant though not overly impressive. T collected a few stray plastic bottles that had been abandoned to the side of the path on our walk back to the car. We took a few moments to walk through the local market. T purchased a new pair of wool socks as her original pair had long been past their prime and large holes had formed in the heels.
The clouds had rolled in by the time we started our return journey which gave the mountain roads a spooky and mysterious quality. The tattered prayer flags that flapped in the wind added to the ambiance. Soon the sunshine broke through the clouds as we descended back to Gangtok. We stopped at Enchey Monastery which is one of the oldest and most sacred of the monasteries in Sikkim. We enjoyed turning the thousands of prayer wheels and chuckled at the trash panda, not to be confused with a raccoon. The artwork within this monastery was some of the most impressive we viewed.
It was late afternoon when we finally arrived at the much-anticipated MG Marg. The pedestrian-only street was flanked on both sides by shops three or four stories high, with various alcoves, alleys, and stairwells that would disappear into a maze of shops tucked behind the ones immediately visible. This was a vivacious place, with a multitude of items to offer, but after a spirited search for a new hat to replace my lost one, T was starting to show signs of hunger behavior so we decided to settle into a quiet little cocktail bar, and grab a bite to eat. We spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening wandering the other shops and restaurants before eventually catching a cab back to Lemontree Hotel. All told MG Marg was a popping place.
December 2, 2022 (T) - Big Buddha and Mountain Views
Last night we said our goodbyes to Sanjit and Nishan. We had a new driver picking us up to go to Pelling, about 5 hours west of Gangtok. We sadly do not remember his name, but it took about 5 minutes for C, G, and I to realize we can relax in the car now. He slowed down before turning, music was quiet, and we didn’t have to lean with the curves. Our driver was much more chill than Sanjit. Sanjit was, no doubt, a skilled driver, but I welcomed this more laid-back, cautious driving style. The roads were, overall, in better condition compared to the roads we drove on during our first few days and we were much lower in elevation.
However, a couple of hours into our drive, we were stopped by a mound of boulders blocking the road, and construction was in process of removing them. They were cleaning up damage from a landslide. I don’t know how long ago it had happened. We had to turn around and take an alternate route. Fortunately, the other road we could take wasn’t far away.
Another 30 minutes had passed. Our driver pointed at the mountain across the river and informed us that a landslide tumbled down just a week ago. All the villages were safe, thankfully. It was outside of landslide season, but a one-off can always happen. Especially the way some of these roads aren’t maintained. I played some of the drives from the past few days in my mind thinking of how easily we could’ve been caught up in one and I was grateful we weren’t. The most dangerous roads were all behind us now.
When we were about an hour outside of Pelling, we stopped to visit Buddha Park in Ravangla. The park is situated on a high plateau with beautiful views of Kanchenjunga and it housed a monastery, gardens, a sleeping Buddha, and a 130ft statue of Buddha. We walked around the park, read inspirational Buddhist signs, walked up the stairs to the statue, and went inside the statue. An art gallery spiraling up the statue gave a history of Buddhism in Hindi and English. It was well done and informative. We spiraled back down, left the statue, spun some prayer wheels, and made our way toward the car. We stopped by a snack shack and picked up some Lays chips. My favorite flavor was sweet chili, which was delicious and I’ve only found it in India.
We arrived at our hotel around sunset. Perfect timing. The view of Kanchenjunga from our porch was wonderful. We watched the sunset and then went to the hotel’s kitchen for dinner. Fortunately, this one was a buffet so we weren’t worried about overeating.
December 3, 2022 (G) - Skywalk, Rabdentse Ruins, and a Slow Night.
We woke and enjoyed a light breakfast before setting out with our driver to visit a few waterfalls and then stopped by an Orangery. On the way to the first waterfall, we stopped at a black cardamom plantation. The spice had a wonderful and interesting depth to it that was uniquely enjoyable. While at the Orangery we happily found poinsettia trees which given the season made us feel festive in spite of the lack of snow.
Next up was another sacred mountain lake. Much like the alpine lake we had visited a few days prior the lake itself was clean and pretty, but it was the hike up to a viewpoint above it that we enjoyed most. Along the hike up there was a cave where a Guru still lived, though it was closed to the public we could still hear chanting and smell incense as we passed.
Next up was the Skywalk. Situated at the bottom of another large buddha statue and temple, the steel and glass walkway extended out over a cliff face to provide a pleasant view of Kanchenjunga. After taking in the view, we headed up the steps to visit the temple. At the top of the temple, C was commandeered by a local man to be part of their family photo. So T and I joined in as well.
We then visited another monastery before visiting the ruins of Rabdentse Palace.
The Rabdentse ruins were touted to us as the Macchu Picchu of India. Truthfully they were not on the same level by a long shot. They did occupy a hilltop that offered a nice view, but the ruins themselves were built between the 1600-the 1800s and lacked the impressive scale of Macchu Picchu. While they were nice enough as ruins go the Rabdentse ruins would likely benefit from not being compared to Macchu Picchu.
After the ruins, we grabbed a late lunch in town before returning to the Magpie hotel for a nice quiet evening.
December 4, 2022 (T) - Darjeeling Bound
Today was the day we traveled to our last destination in India, Darjeeling. We ate breakfast, gathered our bags then were picked up for the 4-hour drive. A new driver, Sachin, accompanied us on the rest of our journey. He was an excellent, calm driver and he spoke English very well and was a friendly fellow. This hotel was by far the most upscale place we stayed so we had pretty high expectations. We checked in and then ventured forth to the bustling markets of Darjeeling.
I was still waiting for the chaotic market experience where shopkeepers attempted to harass me into buying something and followed me for a while. If you look up shopping in markets in India online you’ll be inundated with horror stories of harassment. However, the market experience in Darjeeling was downright relaxing and pleasant. Different streets were designated for different items. There were separate streets lined with stores for shoes, jewelry, clothes, etc. As we snaked through the streets in search of nothing in particular and also a hat for G, never once were we even approached to be convinced to buy anything. If we had questions, the proprietors would happily answer us and if we didn’t buy anything we would say thank you and they would wish us a good day. I was starting to get hangry, so the only items we purchased were some delicious baked goods from a small bakery. We continued our search for the hat but came up empty-handed. We had been wandering for quite a while now and I was hungry again. We found a fast-food type of establishment with delicious-looking wraps, so we stopped there for a light lunch. It was the right call.
We walked all the way back to the hotel where we parked ourselves in the fancy hotel bar for a couple of drinks before it was time for dinner. Dinner here was buffet style like the previous hotel and the food was very tasty. After eating dinner, we found the hotel library where we watched a documentary on Everest and then decided to call it an early night because we had a 3:15 AM wake-up the following morning. It ended up being a late night.
Someone close to our room had the TV volume up all the way, to the point where it sounded like the TV was on in our room. I called the front desk 3 separate times over about an hour and a half before they finally moved us to another room that was quiet. The room itself was overall nicer, but, unfortunately, instead of having two comfortable beds, we had one bed and an uncomfortable cot. C slept on the cot that night. We all finally fell asleep around midnight.
December 5, 2022 - Darjeeling Unlimited
(T)- We unknowingly saved our favorite and least favorite activities for the last full day of our tour.
We groggily woke up at 3:15 AM after our brief nap, got ready in a haze, and stumbled out to the car where Sachin was waiting for us. The unreasonably early morning was well worth the lack of sleep. We drove for about an hour through town then through the countryside, then up a large hill that was already packed with cars. Sachin drove us all the way to the top of the hill so we didn’t need to walk far. Tiger Hill is a well-known place near Darjeeling to watch the sunrise over the hillside town with Kanchenjunga as a backdrop. On a clear day, Everest is visible. Over a hundred spectators were already on the platform waiting for the show. Most of them gathered in the direction of the sunrise. C, G, and I figured out where Kanchenjunga was, claimed our place in front with a good view and a railing to balance our phones and GoPro, and waited in the chilly morning air for a couple of hours.
More and more people continued to arrive between when we got there all the way until the sunrise began. The platform was crammed full of at least 1,000 people. Slowly, Darjeeling began to brighten. A faint silhouette of Kanchenjunga appeared and we were satisfied with our viewing spot. We didn’t have a good view of the sunrise, but a few minutes, we’d have front-row seats to a top 10 moment of our whole global trek. Soon all of Darjeeling and Kanchenjunga were visible in the dark pre-dawn light.
As the landscape brightened, the sky turned shades of cotton candy pink and blue, and clouds turned tangerine. The sun had risen.
After another 15 minutes or so, the crowd erupted in cheers as if we were at a concert. The sun had finally reflected its beautiful red-orange morning light on the peak of Mount Kangchenjunga.
We watched in silent awe as the glow slowly spread down the entire mountain and the mountains surrounding it and eventually began to fade to white. Watching the sunrise from Tiger Hill was no less than a spiritual experience.
The day was clear and over to the left, we could see it! The very tippy top of Mount Everest! Pretty incredible, considering it was over 100 miles away.
When the golden hour was over, we walked the short distance back to the car and drove back to our hotel where breakfast was waiting for us. After we ate, we tried to take a short nap before returning to the car. We still had a full day ahead of us.
(G)- After our brief respite, we were off to visit the Darjeeling zoo and Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI). The zoo itself was rather small, but the animals were still provided with ample space and habitat. We very much enjoyed seeing the snow leopard, red pandas, and golden pheasants. These three in particular were especially unique and interesting. The golden pheasant is probably the most beautiful bird I’ve ever seen.
The HMI was a treasure trove for any aspiring mountaineering enthusiast. It held relics from some of the most ambitious of the early attempts to summit Everest as well as items from Sir Edmund Hillary’s successful summit. There were also more contemporary items such as modern gear used and a large map area which could be used to improve one’s understanding of the geography and various summits nearby. The HMI is still an active school for mountaineers and regularly sends out expeditions to train new guides. Darjeeling is considered to be one of the gateways to the Himalayas. All told, for two old climbing junkies like C and I it was a wonderful experience.
Originally, the day’s itinerary called for us to visit one of the many tea plantations that clung to the steep mountain foothills around Darjeeling. Unfortunately, on this particular day, the tea which had recently been harvested was still being processed and our visit had to be postponed. Instead, we went directly to the Tibetian Refugee Center.
I was extremely fortunate to have previously visited the very southeastern edge of the Tibetan plateau with my older sister 13 years prior to entering the Refugee Center. I had seen and heard firsthand the discrimination and maltreatment of the Tibetans by the Han Chinese (the ethnic majority and ruling party of mainland China) during my visit there. The one that I most readily recall was translated to me by my sister which was the story of a Tibetan woman who ran an inn that the Han Chinese visited. When they left the inn they stole nearly everything the woman had, including paintings off the walls. The woman attempted to take her plight to the police, but since they too were Han Chinese she was simply ignored and turned away. In my youth, the visit there struck me hard and has stuck with me ever since. When I returned from that trip I investigated further the position of Tibet and the Tibetan people. Rather than recount all of the atrocities committed by the Peoples' Republic of China, in the past and present I will let a few of the photos we found within the Center speak for themselves.
As we walked around the refugee center I felt a deep and abiding sorrow. Many of the people now living here had never been to Tibet having been born in exile from their captive country. The older ones bore in their faces the marks of a long and difficult life far from home. Still even through their difficult circumstances, many found joy. One such man sat alone in a room next to the window with his sewing machine. He worked quietly with knarled hands sewing the edge of a gorgeously woven scarf. We had entered the room quietly and when he looked up from his work he cracked a great smile that revealed a few missing teeth. The pure welcoming joy of that smile broke my heart a little. What great strength and resilience this man had! I asked him in the language of gestures if I could take his photograph. He smiled again, nodded, and posed for this shot, the smile still lingered in his eyes as I took the shot, though he returned his lips to a bit of a serious look.
This may be the best portrait I have ever had the pleasure of taking.
After seeing this man, we walked around for a little while longer and visited a carpet factory within the center. The people make many handicraft goods and wool scarves. T, C, and I each purchased a scarf and then a few more for friends with the intention of mailing a package back instead of carrying it for the remainder of our travels. The scarf that T purchased quickly became one of her most cherished clothing articles, but the reason and necessity of its production were not lost on any of us. Thoroughly moved by our experience we left the Tibetan Refugee Center with a quiet poignant tone.
With lingering reflective thoughts we arrived at a Japanese Temple and Peace Pagoda. We walked around the temple which was in the middle of a service of some sort involving rhythmic drumming and chanting. Not wanting to disturb the service, we moved off to view the Peace Pagoda returning to the car.
(T)- It was late afternoon and we were pretty hungry, so Sachin dropped us off at one of his recommended restaurants. It was a great recommendation. I had yet another paneer dish. We were pressed for time because we needed to make it to our Toy Train ride. The Toy Train is an old steam train that runs through Darjeeling and circles around some hillsides. It’s a UNESCO site, so I had built up the experience in my mind to be a relaxing train ride with pretty views of Darjeeling and the mountains. This turned out to be the most disappointing experience on the tour for all of us.
We arrived at the station with time to spare. We figured out which track our train would arrive at and waited. It rolled into place and we boarded, taking our reserved first-class seats. The train cars were newer, built in only 2015, but I’m fairly certain that may have been the last time they were deep cleaned. After everyone boarded the cramped cars, we took off. Turns out, there is no class. The route was not at all scenic. It went through the middle of town, like in the street for the majority of the journey. At one point, it stopped near the monastery we visited earlier in the day and we were given 10 minutes to walk around and take pictures. We hopped off for a few minutes. Then we went to a different part of town where we stopped again. It was unclear as to why we stopped, but there was some type of festival going on. We exited the train again, walked around a little, then got back on. Finally, it was time to go back. What we thought was going to take 45 minutes took upwards of 2 hours, and we were all covered in soot and had the beginnings of headaches thanks to the overbearing whistle of the steam train every 5 minutes or less. Disappointed, we were ready to go back to the hotel and relax. Sachin wasted no time picking us up.
When we arrived at the hotel, we spent some time in the fancy bar, debriefing the peaks and valleys of our journey in India. We ate dinner, returned to the room to pack up our backpacks for the return to Dehli, and went to sleep. We were so tired from the long day. I slept on the cot this time.
December 6, 2022 - Tea Time and Ta Ta
(G)- We left our items to be mailed with the hotel concierge that fortunately was able to handle the postage piece of things for us (though we did end up with a few items missing from what we left with them which we would frustratingly learn of later though it remains unclear if this was the fault of the concierge or customs) and ate a hasty breakfast before walking to the entrance to meet our driver. In short order, we had left behind the tight streets of Darjeeling and entered the steep tea-covered mountain foothills that surround it. It was little more than an hour and a half before we stopped at one particularly pleasant tea plantation.
We didn’t have terribly long but still enjoyed about an hour of sipping tea and munching scones together on a balcony that overlooked the tea fields below. The hosts of the tea shop presented us with a wide variety of teas to choose from so we each picked a unique option. All of those we chose were pleasant.
After this little break, we hopped back into the car and continued the downward journey from the mountain foothills toward Bagdroga. On the way, our driver told us that the stretch of land we were crossing was home to wild elephants that could often be spotted from the road. We kept our eyes peeled, but sadly never spotted any elephants.
There was one particular intersection in which we encountered a pair of beggar children. The children, a small boy and slightly larger girl, circled our vehicle. Our driver quickly locked the doors and waved them off, but they remained and pounded some on the sides of the car until the light changed and we continued on our way. The experience was difficult, but giving handouts to these children only encourages their systemic exploitation and discourages them from returning to school.
(T)
We arrived in Bagdroga and had one final pit stop to make before reaching the airport. Vikash, our tour coordinator, had been wonderful about keeping in contact with us from months before our tour even began and all throughout the tour. He made time to meet up with us to introduce himself before we left. We all introduced ourselves and talked about the highlights of the trip and thanked him for meeting with us.
While we were boarding our plane to Delhi, a man was sitting in our row. C informed him that we had the whole row. Confused, the man asked, “you have the entire row?” after a pause, C pointed at G and I and confirmed it. The man moved a row ahead of us. Another passenger stopped when she got to his seat. He had taken her seat as well. He knew which one was his but just decided he was going to take a better one. He looked at her seat and told her that hers is an aisle seat too so they should just switch. Not feeling like arguing, she continued down the aisle. I thought this was strange and very selfish behavior but an isolated incident. It wasn’t. G witnessed another person attempting to steal someone else’s window seat. That attempt failed. We found this to be incredibly rude.
However, it’s the Delhi airport we need to focus on. C, G, and I all loathe the Delhi airport. The ironic signs posted throughout the airport boasting its win of #1 airport in central Asia LIE! A lie, I tell you. Delhi airport is the worst airport all 3 of us have ever had the displeasure of going to. I’ll try to not rant for too long.
We had a long layover before C flew back to the US and G and I flew off to Laos, so our plan was to hangout in the lounge. We were checked into our international flights and had our e-tickets ready. Well, e-tickets are not acceptable in the Delhi airport because they need to physically stamp a ticket. An e-ticket is totally void even if you’re checked in. We began our game of ping pong with other people essentially telling us “you’re not my problem, go here.”, some clearly laughing at us, mocking us foreign tourists. We spent over an hour trying to get someone to simply print our tickets to no avail. Our only option at this point was to wait for in-person check-in. While we were waiting, C did his best to find someone, anyone, who could help. No luck. I noticed a couple of roaches crawl close to me on the bench we were waiting on and was more than ready to leave this country. We had to wait for more than 3 hours to check-in. C managed to check in early so he was going to secure a spot at the lounge for us, which of course wasn’t open. G and I had to wait even longer than anticipated, because, get this. Our airline’s crew was held up in the airport’s ridiculous security. Eventually, we made it through and met up with C at an Irish pub. We hung out there for a little while and then I was going to save us spots at another restaurant. I was turned away because I wasn’t flying business class. Flushed with anger and embarrassment, I returned to the Irish pub to let C and G know what happened, suggesting we go somewhere else. We all returned to the same restaurant as a group. Funny that no one questioned our ticket status now that I was in a group with two males. What a disappointing display of outward classism and sexism all at once. We ended up not staying there anyways because their menu didn’t have half of what it offered. We resigned to waiting in regular seats before it was time to board.
When the time came, we all hugged each other and said our goodbyes and safe travels.
G and I couldn’t wait to be somewhere else now.
India had some really high highs and some really low lows. The valleys will likely prevent us from returning for a long time, if ever again, even though we know there are many other peaks within the country.
Oh Man, We Made it to Oman!
I bet Oman is annoyed with how many times it’s heard that joke.
November 17, 2022 (T) - Just In Time
We arrived late. Visas can be complicated and even if you read the government’s website about their visa requirements, it can still be a really confusing process. The only places you should ever go to research about a country’s visa requirements are that country’s government site or your country’s government site. A lot of visa scams are out there now. We had applied through Oman’s government site for our visa and we thought all was well. Under closer review, the expiration date had already passed for it, even though we correctly put the dates we would be there. I emailed the Royal Oman Police and they informed me we’d be able to pick up a new visa for free at the airport. So, when we arrived we found the visa counter and were surprised when they told us that if you’re from the US and only staying less than 2 weeks then you don’t even need a visa! I don’t remember seeing that on the website and I included our dates when emailing Oman. We moved over to the immigration line and made it through fine without already having a visa.
While we were waiting in line, we noticed some posters announcing Omani National Day, which just happened to be November 18, 2022! We were pretty excited to have accidentally timed our trip just in time for that and decided to look into any events.
It was around midnight now. Our driver picked us up from the airport and we arrived at our art deco-styled hotel within about 20 minutes. We were tired so we checked in and went to sleep.
November 18, 2022 (T) - Red, White, and Green
On The United States’ Independence Day, July 4, you’ll see red, white, and blue everywhere. In Oman, it’s red, white, and green. Our hotel’s lobby had balloons and streamers scattered about.
To understand the significance of Omani National Day, we need to discuss the impressive legacy of the late His Majesty Sultan Qaboos. G and I both would have loved to have met him (he passed away in January 2020). November 18 is his birthday and is known as the beginning of Oman’s Modern Renaissance which began in 1970 when he peacefully ousted his father from the throne and took power. Known as “the father of Oman”, Sultan Qaboos led Oman through an absolutely incredible transformation in his 50-year reign. Oman is the perfect example of what can happen when a country’s leader truly cares about and invests in his (or her) people. In 1970, there were only 3 kilometers (< 2 miles) of paved roads, 2 generators for electricity, no drinkable water, no phones, no t.v., no radio, 3 primary schools that only boys could attend, and only a few hospitals in the entire country. The life expectancy was 49.6 years old. Sultan Qaboos had his work cut out for him and he knew it. With 10 years of studying, working, and traveling abroad, he had a diversified set of ideas for what to do. Fast forward 50 years, Oman has 65,000 km (~40,000 miles) of paved roads, 99.1% of the population has electricity, 500,000 phone lines, potable water across the country, 5 Omani t.v. channels, hundreds of schools and over 50 universities where men and women study (and women actually have a higher graduation rate), 66 full-fledged public and private hospitals. In 2020, the life expectancy was 79.4 years old. He drafted the country’s first constitution in 1995 which gives people freedom of religion. Women are allowed to work in the government, police force, and military. There is a National Omani Women’s Day. The more we learned about him the more respect we had and understood why he’s so revered across the country. On one of our day trips, we learned that he created a hospital in Salalah, close to Yemen, to provide prosthetics for free to those who were injured in Yemen. I could continue, but need to keep moving along, so if you’d like to read more about him, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349946443_Omani_Renaissance_in_International_Relations_and_Political_Economy is a good article.
The only plans we had for today were to find a celebration and go observe it. Our hotel had a delicious buffet breakfast every day. While we were eating breakfast, we started Googling events around Muscat. We found a party at a park nearby and decided to check it out later. It wasn’t until the evening, so we relaxed most of the day. Our room had a great view of Muscat, we could see the mountains on one side and the sea on the other.
G downloaded the app Otaxi which is like the Uber or Lyft equivalent there. It worked great when there were taxis available. We ordered a taxi to go to the park and arrived in the early evening.
There was a big, flat, green open space where many people gathered for picnics. If you didn’t bring food, no problem. Wide walking trails were easy to follow all around the park. As we followed them, we found one path lined with many tables full of homemade food for sale at reasonable prices. Of course, we purchased some food and juice. We kept walking around and saw a stage for some performances later, and chairs and a big screen for videos to watch later. Everyone was wearing red, white, and green. Many people wore Omani flags as capes. Every once in a while we heard a fan and we’d look up and see someone in a chair with a fan on the back and parachute overhead zooming around the sky, pulling the Omani flag. We had made it to the other side of the park and saw an old car show which we explored for a bit.
We walked back to the other side of the park and found a bench where we sat and ate the delicious food we purchased. I’m not sure what all was in it, but it was the best food we had while we were there. An adorable little girl who was maybe 2 years old, wearing a frilly red, white, and green dress, smiled and waved at us. We smiled and waved back. Other kids were laughing and riding bikes on the trails by us. Oman is known for being a safe and accepting country. Our first day definitely gave us that impression.
It was starting to get dark and we didn’t want to stay too late so we made another round through the park before leaving. When we walked by the stage again we stopped to watch a dance recital. We walked past the large screen that was now playing Omani propaganda (not the bad kind) with inspirational music. We stopped to watch it for a bit. Oman does have quite a lot to be proud of. It’s one of the more progressive countries in the region, has come so far in the past 50 years, and has some beautiful natural gems. In fact, it’s known as the gem of the Middle East.
We made our way back to the parking lot and struck out trying to find a taxi on our Otaxi app because the demand was so high. Fortunately, we found a very friendly taxi driver who said we could share a cab with his other rider. He was the epitome of Omani hospitality. I had worn a hijab (head scarf) to respect the modest culture. Our driver asked where we were from and if we were Muslim. When we replied we were from the US and that we weren’t Muslim he asked why I was wearing the hijab, because I really only needed to wear it if I went to a mosque. After I replied I wore it to respect their modest clothing preferences, he said they truly didn’t care if I wore it or not and they respect how others dress.
Our other rider made it to the car and we dropped him off first. The drive back to Muscat and to our hotel was entertaining to say the least. Omani flags were hanging out of windows, music was blaring, cars were honking, and young teens and adults were having silly string and water gun fights from their cars. When we arrived at our hotel, G and I tried asking for a price for the 3rd or 4th time, and our driver refused to give us a quote and to give him what we wanted. We gave him what we thought an Uber would probably cost and he was appreciative of it.
What a great introduction to a wonderful country.
November 19-20, 2022 (T) - Plan, Blog, and Workout
We used most of our time on the 19th and 20th to plan more of our trip and to catch up on the blog. We found a local company that had good day trips from Muscat that we booked for the 21st and 22nd. The only other notable thing during these days is we got a good workout on the 20th. Our hotel had a pretty solid gym facility (separate for men and women. But, hey, the women’s gym had more than 5lb dumbbells so I appreciated that). G and I worked out pretty regularly in the US. The majority of our hotels or hostels haven’t had gyms, so we’ve walked, hiked, and done some bodyweight workouts. It was nice to be able to use a gym and I was happy to still be able to run a mile without stopping.
November 21, 2022 (T) - Wahiba Sands, Wadi al Khalid, and Marrying Your 1st Cousin
Our first day trip we booked was to Wahiba Sands and Wadi al Khalid. We ate breakfast and were picked up by our local guide at around 8AM. He was a nice, older fellow and was very open about the culture. He wanted to make sure we knew we could ask him anything we wanted, and also learned a little more about him than we really wanted to. We’ll get to that later.
After a couple of hours of driving, we made it to Wahiba Sands where we visited a Bedouin family. We were invited in their large tent for tea and dates. We had taken off our shoes, and one of their little boys, who probably wasn’t even 2 years old, took interest in my hiking boots. He began walking around the tent with just one of them on. It was pretty adorable and entertaining to watch. When we were finished with our tea and dates, we perused the handicrafts, I purchased a unique bracelet, and we said thank you and left. Since G and I had already ridden camels in Jordan, we declined the offer to see their camels, but one still caught our attention on the drive up to the sand dunes.
We made a brief stop to walk around the dunes of Wahiba Sands. The color of the sand changed from a pale orange to a deep red-orange depending on the sun’s position which was really fascinating. G and I walked across a few different dunes, snapped some cool photos, and made our way back down. Now, it was time to drive to Wadi al Khalid, a real desert oasis.
By this point, we knew too much about our guide’s European girlfriend and got a good glimpse into Omani married life. While governmental and legal freedoms and rights have come very, very far for women in Oman and are better than the surrounding countries, Oman has progressed rapidly, so some social progressions may still take a while to happen. For example, it’s very common to marry your first cousin in Oman (and in other Islamic countries. It’s to keep the money in the family. One of our tour guides in Egypt was also married to his first cousin.) Our guide’s wife is his first cousin. Women can only have one husband but men can have up to 4 wives. Women have the right to say no to a marriage proposal but may be pressured by their family into marrying their cousin. He had married a few other women but ended up getting divorced from them. Women have the right to initiate a divorce, but the majority of that control is still up to men and the court. Our guide had confided in us that his wife had said she would get a divorce from him if he married again, so to be honest, we were a bit uncomfortable knowing about his European girlfriend who he kept telling us about and he would get distracted by messages she would send him during our excursion. As we’d learn later in the day, women do not have the right to prohibit their husbands from marrying another wife, or 3. Oof. Hopefully, you have an agreeable first cousin or no cousins if you’re a woman in an Islamic country.
After another hour and a half drive or so, we arrived at Wadi al Khalid. We hiked for about 45 minutes next to the stream, up some rocks, and arrived at a cave. Now, G and I have been to quite a few caves, but this one was a little more chilling for us. It was very dark, but we were provided with headlamps to use, and for the majority of the walk we couldn’t stand up straight. We walked for only about 10 minutes into the cave where we decided to turn around. There were some cute little bats hanging from the ceiling though. However, not only was it dark and cramped and we saw a troop of roaches on the way, but it was so incredibly humid that we were dripping sweat and ready to jump into the oasis waiting for us outside. On the way back, small flashes caught my light, which were the eyes of a tarantula. I noped out of there pretty quickly.
We hiked about halfway back where the swimming hole was. The water was a beautiful, clear, green turquoise color and it was the perfect temperature to swim in. G and I swam around and enjoyed the cool water for about an hour. Little fishes were very interested in nibbling our legs and feet. It reminded us of the fish at The Devil’s Pool in Zambia, only there were many more fish here. We made a game where we tried to see how long we could handle the biting. Some people pay for this treatment at spas. Our guide was so used to it he could sit there for a full hour and deal with it. I think my max was about 10-15 seconds before the giggles got me.
While we were in Oman, The World Cup was happening not far away in Qatar. We found out that numerous people attending decided to spend the majority of their time and money in Oman and fly to Qatar for the game and return to Oman after. If we had gone to The World Cup, we also would have chosen to spend as little money as possible in Qatar, given the number of human rights violations in that country. We met a fun group of Aussies at the oasis (most Aussies are fun) who were doing just that.
It was time to change and go back to the car and stop for a late lunch. We ate at a nearby restaurant, then were on our way back to Muscat, which took about 2 hours. When we arrived back at the hotel, it was after dark. We said goodnight to our guide, who we would have as a guide the following day as well.
November 22, 2022 (T) - Nizwa Fort and Jebel Akhdar
We ate breakfast early again and met our guide around 8AM. We had another full day ahead of us. As he promised the day prior, he brought us some Omani coffee and tea. G preferred the ginger tea and I preferred the spiced chai. Our first stop was about another hour and a half to 2-hour drive away, Nizwa Fort. When we arrived, before visiting the fort, we walked through the market. We had expected a market like in Egypt or Jordan, but this was the most laid-back market ever. So many different types of shops were in a large building. Some of the shopkeepers would greet us but not one person tried to pressure us into buying anything, which in turn made us want to buy things. Alas, we only have our backpacks, so the only thing we purchased was some saffron from nearby Iran. We had searched for the type of hat that G had lost in Israel to no avail.
After wandering around the market, we mosied up to the fort, which was so cool. Think about a life-sized sand castle and that is what Nizwa Castle and Fort look like. The castle was built in the 9th century and the fort was built later in the 17th century. We tried a local food which was like a crepe with egg, butter, and honey. We spent quite a bit of time exploring both the castle and the fort.
Then, we walked back to the car to drive to Jebel Akhdar, a tall mountain range with cliffs full of roses and pomegranates. The best time to see it is in the Spring but it’s still beautiful in the Fall. This was one of Princess Diana’s favorite places in Oman. We stopped for lunch on the way, where our guide spent quite a bit of time chatting with another tour guide and messaging his European girlfriend. He hoped to marry her someday as well. Nod and smile, G & T. Nod and smile.
When we were done eating, we drove to a path where G & I decided to walk over to the mountainside where our guide would drive to and meet us. The area is stunning. Mountains and valleys are in the distance with a palace on one of the cliffs. We walked through a tiny town across a mountain to make it to the mountain with the roses and pomegranate plants. We walked with our guide for a while and took in the scenery. The whole mountain smelled like roses.
After visiting the mountain rose terraces, we headed down the mountain to an old abandoned town. The town had historic significance due to a series of aqueducts that had run to it from the mountains and irrigated the growth of date palm trees for generations. The old town itself had fallen into disrepair and the old buildings were eventually abandoned. A newly built town had grown right next to them and in a way, both preserved them and made them accessible to visitors like us. We wandered the ruins until sunset, then hopped back in the car for the return trip.
We had a long drive ahead of us, about 2-3 hours. This time we listened to music most of the way back. We think our guide could tell we didn’t really want to hear more about his girlfriend. Overall, he was a fine guide and we learned a lot about the culture and the places we visited, but we could’ve done without knowing so much about his personal affairs.
It was after dark again when we made it back to the hotel. We thanked our guide and said our goodbyes. We were pretty tired from the past couple days and had a lot we wanted to do on our own the following day, so we called it an early night.
November 23, 2022 (T) - Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque and Mutrah Souq
Our last full day in Oman had arrived and we wanted to spend it exploring Muscat. I’ve gotta say, Muscat is one of the cleanest cities we’ve ever been to. If you’re caught littering then you’ll be fined and the police will watch you throw your trash away. That explains why.
We slept in a little, ate breakfast, and relaxed for a bit before venturing out. Our first stop was Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, which is touted to be the most beautiful mosque in the world. After visiting it, we really think it is. It was completed in May 2001 but sticks to the original Islamic architecture. The attention to detail everywhere on the grounds is so intricate and impressive. We’d definitely recommend visiting, but be sure to look up hours before you go because it’s only open to tour on certain days before 10:30 AM. We have never felt so welcome in a mosque before. It’s free to visit. There are representatives who will introduce themselves, ask you where you’re from, welcome you to the mosque, give you a little information (like all of the scripts on the walls are about Islam and the history of Oman), and ask you if you have any questions. It was definitely worth visiting.
The next stop was the Royal Opera House Muscat. Completed in 2011 at the request of Sultan Qaboos, it was the first opera house built in the entire Arabian Gulf. We had looked at the hours online, but, unfortunately, those hours were referring to the hours of the mall which is a part of the opera house and the opera house itself had a performance going, so we couldn’t see the theater. The outside of the building is a wonder in itself and we had a good time nonetheless.
Finally, it was time to go to Mutrah Souq, the old part of Muscat with a market. We set out on another quest for a new hat, but once again came up short. We spent some time wandering through the stores and walking along the coast when we decided to head back to the hotel to pack for our flight the following day.
November 24, 2022 (T) - Happy Thanksgiving!
Since our flight was around 11AM, we decided to check out of the hotel early to get to the airport early and eat breakfast in the lounge. This ended up being a good plan. The lounge in Muscat’s airport is very nice (we weren’t surprised), so we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast before boarding our flight to Delhi, where we’d start a whole new adventure in India.
Some Final Thoughts (T)
After visiting Oman, there’s no question why it’s considered to be the gem of the Middle East. We barely scratched the surface of the natural wonders held within the country. Human rights and the development of civilization have come so amazingly far in the past 50 years under Sultan Qaboos’ reign and look promising under the new Sultan’s (his cousin) rule. Women have many legal rights in Oman that women don’t have in neighboring and other Islamic countries. Freedom of religion in that region is also a huge feat. Sultan Qaboos had multiple churches and Hindu temples built under his rule as well which goes to show people of other religions are cared for. It isn’t illegal to convert from Islam to another religion. However, there’s still some Islamic influence in their laws which oppresses the people and so there is still a way to go.
For example, homosexuality is illegal and punishable by law. More shockingly, premarital sex is illegal, and women are expected to obey their husbands, so there are no laws against rape that protect women (or men). In fact, if a woman is raped, she could also go to jail if it was sex outside of marriage.
If a married woman’s husband does not want her to travel then she’s not allowed to. If a daughter is still living at home and her father doesn’t want her to travel then she’s not allowed to. Our tour guide informed us of those two points. A common thought here is it’s for “protection”. If a married woman wants to travel, many people believe her husband should accompany her to protect her and a young woman isn’t safe traveling alone.
While women are allowed to work in all sectors and women actually are part of the government now, that’s all dependent on their situation at home.
By the time it was time for us to leave, I was ready to be done with countries that had any form of Sharia Law mixed in their government. I was starting to feel less than.
The future of Oman is promising though, I believe. If they go the same distance they went in the previous 50 years, they’ll be one of the best countries in the entire world for human rights, gender equality, infrastructure, healthcare, education, etc.
I’d recommend reading this brief article. The fact that an Omani outlet publicizes the challenges Omani women have faced and do face and the accomplishments they have made in spite of that and give them credit for their accomplishments is something else. https://www.omanobserver.om/article/9067/Main/nation-celebrates-achievements-of-women
The Holy Land: Israel & Jordan
November 10, 2022 (G) - Arrival at The Post Hostel
We arrived in Tel Aviv. We at first considered taking a bus to Jerusalem, but a brief conversation with an Israeli woman at the bus stop convinced us to attempt catching the train instead. We once again were grateful that we travel light. This snap decision would not have been possible with more than the backpacks we carry, nor would there have been any room on the train for larger luggage. The train was packed, but we were glad to have caught it instead of taking the bus as it was much faster.
After exiting the bustling train station in Jerusalem, we caught an Uber to our accommodations. Build inside the old post office, The Post Hostel was a bit tucked away. The street where we left our Uber was darker than those around it, but had a few rather welcoming establishments such as an eclectic soup restaurant. As we walked down the dark street we searched for any sign that would lead us to the hostel. Eventually, we found a small, unlit sign. The entrance was set back in an alcove and required an elevator ride to reach the actual front door. Luckily this gentleman, that seemed to be taken straight out of a Wes Anderson film, had been painted in place to guide the way.
We rang the bell and were welcomed into a cool common area with a desk to the left for checking in. Once the formalities were completed, we found our room which was small, but clean and private with its own bathroom (not often standard in hostels for any unfamiliar with them) which more than served our needs. We had arranged for a tour of old Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and a trip to the Dead Sea for the following day, so we called it an early night after enjoying soup at the restaurant across the street while watching other people nearly miss our hostel entrance.
November 11, 2022 (G) - Jaffa Gate, Dome of the Rock, The Holy Sepulcture, The Western Wall, Bethlehem, and the Dead Sea
5 AM hits early, but we had plenty to fill the day, so starting early was a must. Now, if you were to visit Jerusalem and you have a great deal of time to spend there, much of this could be done without the use of a guide or tour. Some of it would be difficult and not particularly safe, such as visiting Bethlehem, which is in Palestine, and there is now a wall with security checkpoints that must be crossed to visit the western bank where Bethlehem is situated. For that reason, if you want to maximize a short amount of time and have a hedge against some of the risks, I would highly recommend the use of a tour company. We used Tourist Isreal and things went smoothly for the most part.
We arrived at the tour’s muster point in the predawn light. From there, we were taken by bus to see the Jaffa Gate just as the sun rose. The Jaffa Gate was built by the Ottomans as one of 7 entrances to the ancient portion of Jerusalem. The Gate itself and the surrounding area is steeped in history as one might expect, but seeing it in person gave me a deeper understanding of all the changes this place has experienced in its extensive history. After breaking for a quick coffee, we dove into the winding streets of the old city.
The place felt like a maze, as many old cities do, and after several twists and turns, we proceeded up a flight of steps to a rooftop with views of the Dome of the Rock and the Mount of Olives with its many graves behind it. We inquired about seeing the former up close, however it was currently closed to visitors which is why it had not been included in the original itinerary.
Back into the maze of streets, we crossed past the main market area which displayed every array of goods imaginable. So many smells and colors presented themselves to us in an amalgamation of stimulation that was at once exciting, interesting, and slightly offputting. Delighted as we were by the now familiar smells of a spice shop we equally struggled after walking past a butcher shop that seemed to specialize in the extraction of sheep brains as exemplified by a tote full of brains on display (sorry, we didn’t snap a photo of that). Still, it was an interesting, unique, and mostly enjoyable experience.
Our next stop was the Holy Sepulcture Church. This place was built where the empty tomb of Jesus Christ had once been. A portion of the church that was built over the tomb itself was partially carved out of the rock of his tomb. There was a fascinating bit of history regarding the location of Christ’s crucifixion and the tomb being outside or inside of the ancient boundaries of city walls. Given the location, one may think that events occurred inside the city. Spoiler alert, they didn’t. At the time the city wall was to the east of the crucifixion and burial location.
Speaking of walls, our next stop was the Western Wall. The wall itself is regarded as holy due to it serving as part of the foundation of the Temple Mount built by King David. The full history of the wall is a deep and painful one, that I will not recount here, but I encourage everyone to read it in its entirety. As I touched the wall, I admittedly felt no spark or power from it. Instead, I felt weight. Perhaps just a small portion of the weight of all the pain, suffering, and bloodshed seen by the wall. What a tragic, painful place. We should weep for each other and the cruelty we force upon one another and plead forgiveness from each other before things we call holy become haunted.
Leaving the wall behind, we once again boarded the bus. It was now around 10 AM and we headed off to Bethlehem. As we passed into the western bank we saw the walls and pill boxes, complete with razor wire frosting on top. The appearance of the buildings and streets changed, and litter was more prevalent. We stopped just after the border to change guides as it was no longer safe for our previous guide. Our new guide introduced himself and welcomed us to Bethlehem. We were allowed some time to peruse some products which had been made exclusively in Bethlehem.
After leaving the shop, we proceeded to the Church of Bethlehem. The door of the Church was a rather entertaining feature by itself. Through the years, the various victors of whatever conflict seemed to think the door had been too large and would make it smaller. If the trend continues the entrance will soon be restricted to children, dogs, and cats.
Another interesting point regarding the Church is that it had been built on top of the cave that had once served as a donkey stable. Due to the climate, it was common for caves to be used to keep livestock. Somewhere along the way, the term cave seemed to be changed to be called a manger. Yes, this was that manger. The manger where Jesus Christ was born. Forget all those nativities with a cute timber-framed structure, turns out, it was a cave. The important thing is that a child was born all the same. We spent a little while oogling the church itself then exited.
It was now around noon and our stomachs were informing us of that fact. Fortunately, our guide had arranged for lunch at the square directly across from the church. A falafel sandwich and a few potatoes later and we were in great shape to continue to the Dead Sea. We reboarded the bus and set off through the desert.
There had been terrible traffic on the way to the Dead Sea, but the upside was that we were able to catch the Dead Sea in the last brilliant hues of daylight. We very much enjoyed floating around at the lowest place on earth. As the sun’s last light vanished, we showered in fresh water and headed back to the bus. We had enjoyed Bethlehem, but if we had to repeat the day, might have opted to spend a bit more time at the Dead Sea.
After returning to the shadowy street of our hostel, we found the soup restaurant was pretty empty, so we dropped in to enjoy dinner there. The hummus was spectacular and the owner even spilled the beans on the secret to making great hummus. It turns out you have to wait for the right smell to come from the cooking chickpeas before turning them into hummus. It was a wonderfully slow way to finish an action-packed day.
November 12, 2022 (G) - Blogging, bumming, and rebooking
We hadn’t made any concrete plans for this day. We toyed with the idea of walking back to Old Jerusalem, as it was not particularly far away, but eventually decided to spend the day in the common area of the Hostel. It was a cool place and we thoroughly enjoyed having a down day to write about our past experiences in the blog.
We had booked a tour to visit Jordan for the following day, but had learned well in advance that the pick up time would be 3:45 AM so rather than remain at our hostel for part of a night we decided to book a more affordable Pod hotel for the night. This would prove to be a poor decision. After finishing up writing we set out to find our new pod accommodation.
We found it. Instead of clean secure pods where we could catch a quick nap before the pickup time, we were greeted with dirty, flimsy plastic pods with “locks” that had clearly been tampered with and were completely useless. All you had to do was lightly press on the door and it would slide open. The material the pods were made out of could easily be cut with a box cutter. It was surprising given the positive reviews we had read on Google and other sites prior to booking it, but we unanimously vetoed our stay there though it meant surrendering the price we had already paid for the pod. We had been fortunate in arriving at our pod very early, around 6 PM. After the decision to opt out of staying there, we made an excuse to leave and decided to seek out better accommodation. We do not recommend staying at Capsule and Dormitory Space-X. We found a nearby Ibis hotel, and decided to burn one of the free nights we had earned from Hotels.com to offset the cost. After a shower and laying down in the clean sheets, we both gave a sigh of relief and were certain we had made the right call.
November 13, 2022 (G) - The Red Sea, Wadi Rum, and the Bedouin Camp
Three fifteen in the morning arrived and we begrudgingly made our way to the pickup point like zombie lurkers on the vacant streets. The bus arrived, we boarded, and promptly returned to slumber.
We stopped at a gas station next to a McDonald’s just after sunrise. While not hungry, I decided to step out of the bus for some air. While outside I met and chatted with a few of the other passengers of our group before returning to the bus. We rode on through the desert until we reached Eilat which touches the Red Sea and would be the location of our border crossing into Jordan. The border crossing was interesting. We had been informed in advance of the cost associated with acquiring a Jordanian visa and an additional border crossing charge, but the whole process seemed peculiar. We were given specific instructions on who to look for after completing the crossing. Methqual would be our guide for the duration of our time in Jordan.
With the crossing completed and Methqual found we entered the city of Aqaba. We spent part of the afternoon here. We enjoyed lunch at one of the newly built resorts and later visited the Red Sea which was beautifully blue.
After this slow afternoon, we headed off into the desert. The ruggedness of the mountain regions rivals that of the American Southwest with only subtle differences. Methqual at the head of the bus used his microphone to provide a detailed history of Jordan and the surrounding areas. He deftly sprinkled in humor to prevent most of us from nodding off, though T might have caught a wink or two.
We arrived at last to Wadi Rum. The term Wadi is roughly equivalent to the word valley. Wadi Rum in particular has famously been featured as a film location for several major films, such as Star Wars and The Martian, and it is gorgeously hemmed in by looming cliffs. We hopped off the bus and into the back of smaller 4x4 trucks. Methqual offered to help anyone who wanted to wear a scarf like the Bedouins to put on their scarf. T took him up on the offer. Zooming across the sand we, at last, stopped at a large sand dune that had formed next to a rocky cliff plopped like an island in the middle of the sands.
T and I raced up to the top of the cliff as the rest of the group began taking turns sandboarding down the large dune. T and I had been fortunate enough to try our hand at sandboarding at the Great Sand Dune National Park in Colorado during the summer of 2020. There were quite a few people in our group and only a few boards so we let them have their fun and just enjoyed the view.
After this, we stopped at a small natural bridge, had tea with a bedouin, watched a beautiful sunset, and found interesting petroglyphs. There can really only be one explanation … Aliens
As we returned the bus, a storm kicked up in the distance. We watched the clouds build as the sunset. A short ride later and we had made it to the Bedouin camp that would serve as our accommodations for the night. As we walked toward the camp we could watch the lightning storm display its power over Wadi Rum. Fortunately, the rain stayed well away from the camp that night and we were able to enjoy a large bonfire with Zarb which is essentially Bedouin pit-cooked barbeque.
After dinner and the fire, we said farewell to Methqual for the evening. He had originally planned to spend the night with the group at the camp, but unfortunately, there had been a mix-up and there was no room left for him. before leaving he made final arrangements for T and me to go on a little camel ride at dawn the following day. T had already inquired about the welfare of the camels and was assured by Methqual that they were very well cared for, which as we would find out the next day was absolutely true.
November 14, 2022 (G) - Camel ride, Petra, and the long way back
It was fresh and cool as we met our camels the next morning. The sun was still tucked beneath the sandy mountains in the distance. Three Bedouins had helped a small group of us mount our camels. My camel was a large mellow fellow. He seemed older and uniquely calm which is probably why he had been chosen as the camel to lead T’s camel. T’s camel was a diva. As soon as I sat on my camel, T’s camel very gently and, looking back on it, playfully, put my whole upper arm in her mouth. It did make us a bit nervous but she really was just spunky. She was very vocal and only seemed content when she could push her head against my camel’s back leg or rest it on mine. So it was that we started our journey by camel towards the rising sun.
Happily, our group plodded along the sand, the silence was only occasionally broken by the billow of a camel. Usually, it was the diva that T road. After a while, we stopped, dismounted our unique steeds, and enjoyed a cup of morning tea provided by our Bedouin leaders. During this break, we got to see more of the camel’s personality. The Diva relentlessly nudged my camel. He responded by laying down, placing his head on the sand, and going back to sleep. T collected grass for her Diva while the rest of the group finished their tea and returned just as we began to mount our camels again. Unsurprisingly, the Diva only accepted a small amount of T’s gift. Good effort, T. None of the camels were ever yelled at, hit, poked, or forced to lie down, and they were all treated with respect.
Upon our return to camp, we found Methqual. He appeared quite tired. I questioned him and he admitted that he had slept very poorly on account of mosquitos. However, he quickly used his sharp wit to lighten the mood and then stated that he would get some rest on the bus ride to Petra.
As we approached Petra, Methqual perked back up and began to highlight points of interest such as the place where Moses struck a rock to create a spring or certain holy monasteries that were perched on far-off mountain tops. We wished we had more time in Jordan. Around noon we arrived at the entrance of Petra. We had four and a half hours to explore. It wasn’t nearly enough. Petra itself was built (or carved) by the Nabateans. The Nabateans thrived on the silk road spice trade. They had been master engineers as well, they built a complex aqueduct system to provide fresh clean water to the city.
The entrance to the city is a long narrow canyon. At the very top of the canyon, one can spot the Djin blocks, which are in truth tombs of wealthy Nabateans carved into solid sandstone. As we proceeded deeper into the canyon the walls became much sheerer with occasional alcoves carved above us for guard stations. Originally, I had suspected this slot canyon lookalike had been the result of flash floods and the mechanical erosion that results from such flooding, but I was wrong. The canyon had been the result of an earthquake. Enough about geology though, back to the city.
At the end of this long narrow canyon can be found the “Treasury”. The reveal of the spectacular structure felt near magical. It appears suddenly and with very little to indicate such a structure would be present. The “Treasury” was used in Indiana Jones, The Last Crusade as the final resting place of the Holy Grail. There is also a local legend that the Urn at the top of the “Treasury” hides a pharaoh’s treasure. Tales abound of the location’s use as a bank or historic treasury in the ancient city of the Nabateans, Although this seems unlikely, though only about 5 % of Petra has been excavated by archeologists, what has been discovered is that the “Treasury” was the final resting place of a Nabatean King during the city’s heyday of prosperity and for no other purpose. Any treasure that may have been there seems to have vanished long before the city became lost to all but the Bedouins. By the time a Swiss explorer rediscovered the city, several other empires (greek, roman, etc) had visited the location and likely removed any such valuables.
The location certainly captures the imagination and we could have spent days wandering the rest of the ruins there. We were pressed for time but still managed to make the thousand-stair trek up to see another of the location’s famous buildings known as the Monastery.
The hike was well worth it and the hike back down was much quicker and easier.
Too soon the time came for us to return to the bus and ultimately start the long ride back to Jerusalem. The journey back was quiet. At the border, we said our farewells to Methqual and the border crossing was accomplished without any hiccups. T and I both nodded off after watching the sunset and spent the rest of our trip to Jerusalem sleeping.
November 15, 2022 (G) - Late arrival, Onward to Tel Aviv
We did not arrive in Jerusalem until 1 AM in the morning. T had known that our return to Jerusalem would be late and had made sure to book a place with a 24-hour front desk and check-in. We crashed and woke up in time for breakfast before heading off via train to Tel Aviv.
It was not until we arrived in Tel Aviv that I discovered my grave error. I had left my travel hat on the bus the night before. I was bummed but hopeful that a city the size of Tel Aviv would provide me with a replacement. We walked from the train station to our hostel. The Florentine House has been one of my all-time favorite hostel stays. The place had a very modern minimalist industrial vibe, it was extremely clean, and provided everything a traveler’s heart could desire including a huge number of wall pegs for hanging up clothing and gear.
We ventured out into the neighborhood and hit up a local taco place for dinner. The Florentine neighborhood is sort of the artist’s district of Tel Aviv and displays that influence in the form of urban artwork. It’s a fun area with an earthy artsy sort of grunge feel to it.
November 16, 2022 (G) - The hat search begins
We enjoyed sleeping in late. The restaurant below the Hostel provided a late breakfast in exchange for a voucher the hostel provided us. We then spent part of the morning writing and relaxing before we began our search for a replacement hat.
After a bit over an hour of searching and several shops later, we had come up empty. It seemed that the hat I was in search of was not currently in season at any of the shops we searched. We halted the search and instead refocused on writing for the remainder of the evening.
November 17, 2022 (G) - So long Israel!
Breakfast seemed to take forever, with a young man who took our order apologetically giving reasons for the delay that didn’t quite seem to make sense, but eventually, we received our food and coffee and ate quickly before setting off once again to the airport.
This time we were bound for Oman, with a long layover in Bahrain. After boarding, we were delighted to find that our plane was equipped with the game Angry Birds which kept us suitably entertained for the duration of the flight. We made it through all the travel-themed levels. Hopefully that was a good foreshadowing for us.
Istanbul & Cappadocia
November 2nd, 2022 (G) - A Breather
We hit the tarmac in Istanbul after the sun had quit for the day. We immediately felt the difference between Turkey and Egypt. The airport was orderly, clean, and welcoming. We were additionally delighted that Uber is available in Turkey. It works in conjunction with local taxis. We did learn that while there is a quoted price for the trip, the driver may quote you a different price. Our first attempt ended with the driver quoting us double the listed price and when we decline we received a snarky reply that we would experience this with every Uber we attempted. Which was a lie. We made a second request which was picked up at the app's quoted price. We enjoyed a smooth ride to our hotel and had no other issues with different price quotes for the remainder of the time we stayed in Turkey.
As we entered our hotel, very near midnight, we were greeted and offered apple tea, which was very fitting of the slight chill in the air, and a piece of Turkish delight! The Turkish delight’s gelatinous form hid small bits of walnut beneath the powdered sugar that coated it. It was an excellent compliment to the tea. Such good hospitality was an excellent way to begin our time in Turkey. After finishing our tea we were shown to our room.
As it happened, our room was the only guest room in the basement of the restored ottoman mansion. It was situated at the very end of a hallway next to an office. As we walked down the hall, I spotted a side entrance door that lead back out to the street. The room itself was nicely tucked away and well kept though the style and decor were a bit antique. We cracked a window to let in the cool night air and slept soundly.
November 3rd, 2022 (G) - A Breather Continued…
After the jam-packed schedule of our trip in Egypt, T and I both wanted and truly needed a little time to decompress…and do laundry. While traveling long-term laundry days are an absolute must. Even our thoroughly scent-killing wool clothing had begun to take on an interesting scent at this point. So it was high time we found a laundry mat. Fortunately, we spotted one nearby on our drive to the hotel. After treating ourselves to a very slow morning, breakfast, and coffee we gathered our clothes and set off to the laundry mat.
Upon our arrival we found it was closed while the owner was out to lunch, so we milled around a little and then returned. The owner, an older gentleman who was bald with a shortly cropped beard, reading glasses, and a bright smile, greeted us. We informed him with emphasis that nearly every piece of clothing we needed washed was wool and it must be washed and dried cold to prevent shrinkage. He agreed to pay close attention to our garments and we returned to our hotel for a slow afternoon of working on the blog.
Time eventually arrived for us to return to collect our clothes. Upon returning, the owner greeted us and handed us our completed laundry. “It really was all wool!” he exclaimed in a somewhat giddy way. He proceeded to comment on how nice it was and what great material we had chosen. T and I collectively chuckled at his proclamations, thanked him for taking special care of our garments, and headed back to the hotel.
We dropped our laundry off and then crossed the street to a small restaurant for a quick dinner before heading to the rooftop terrace of our hotel. The terrace provided a splendid view of the Blue Mosque, but more interestingly provided an excellent view of the sea to the south of the Bosporus strait which links the Mediterranean to the Black sea. Recent agreements meant that cargo ships for grain had officially recommenced. We had spotted a few in the morning while we took breakfast on the terrace. As we watched the setting sun, several dozen more ships had arrived and waited to enter the strait.
Eventually, the light faded to darkness and we climbed down the 5 flights of stairs to our snug little nook in the basement.
November 4th, 2022 (G) - Midnight Invasion, Basilica Cisterns, and Autumn Feels
WHAM! The sound of a door being kicked startled me from my sleep. My first thought was, am I dreaming this? Was that noise just something from my dream? Then I heard men’s voices and another loud WHAM! My mind when from 0 to 100 real quick. I lept from bed and found my feet, I scanned the room for anything that could be used as a weapon in a pinch. Tea kettle? That’ll have to do.
My mind raced as adrenaline spiked. Was this a hotel invasion? If so would they find our room so tucked away in the basement? From what I could hear they were breaking down the side door which was directly across from the stairs that lead up to all of the other rooms in the hotel, perhaps they would miss us, either way, how can I best prepare? The windows are barred so there’s no escape that way. Can I barricade the door to prevent or at least delay entry? How can I be certain this is a hotel invasion and not something else? I should make sure T is awake.
Moving quickly, I woke T up and informed her of my suspicions regarding an invasion. T could sense the seriousness of my tone and though she somewhat groggily said that she hadn’t heard anything she was awake. I turned back to the door. Commotion could be heard out on the street next to us, but I hadn’t heard any yells or screams from the hall or rooms above. WHAM! Another door slamming and voices, but still nothing to indicate a confrontation aside from something that sounded a bit like shuffling or scuffling. Then all was quiet.
It was around 4 am, I waited for several minutes before resolving with T’s provocation, to leave the relative safety of our room to investigate further. Cautiously I cracked the door. All was clear. We moved quickly and quietly down the hall and up the stairs. I checked the side door before going up the stairs. Thankfully it appeared well intact. Up the stairs and to the right I spotted the Concierge talking with a few other guests. I questioned him regarding the noise.
As it turns out, the hotel’s laundry service had visited to collect the towels from the basement but had struggled with the side door which stuck sometimes. He apologized profusely for the disturbance. Relieved that it was nothing more serious, I exhaled a massive sign of relief, assured him that all was forgiven, and T and I returned to our room with a quiet laugh. While we were fortunate that this episode was nothing, it served as a stark reminder to both of us that these things can and sometimes do happen. Still, we both needed more sleep though our sleep was perhaps a bit lighter than before.
We woke up later in the day, just in time to catch the last bit of breakfast on the terrace. The number of ships and increased further, some had disappeared through the straight and were replaced by new ones. We finished up breakfast and headed up the hill toward the Blue Mosque. The cool weather was refreshing and we were grateful to have it. We had been concerned we wouldn’t catch any hint of autumn this year since most of our locations would be within the tropics during that season. Turkey in its grace made certain we still got to enjoy a little of the season.
We passed by a long park area with several trees beginning to display their yellows and oranges. Floating on the air was the smell of roasted corn and my personal favorite roasted chestnuts. As we walked we spotted an Egyptian obelisk standing in the center of a festival-type area it struck us as somewhat ironic. A marathon had been planned for the following Sunday. We found the entrance to the Blue Mosque and realized that we had missed the visiting hours of the day. Fortunately, the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, and the entrance to the Basilica Cisterns are all located near a hill that functions as a park, market, and general hang-out spot.
We resolved to first find to rally point of our tour into the Basilica Cisterns. We then waited an hour or so for our tour to begin while being chatted up by a nearby carpet salesman who very politely requested we visit his shop just to have a look. We declined his offer and he eventually moved on to someone else. At last, we entered the Basilica Cisterns. This had been at the top of my to see list while in Istanbul. Now, you may be thinking, cisterns? Like where they collect and store rainwater? Really? Yes, really. These had been built by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian during the 6th century and helped Constantinople endure scores of siege attempts in the years after. What made them unique is that they were built from various “recycled” marble columns originally created by the Greeks and Romans.
The Greek Temple of Madusa seemed to be one particularly favored source of the material. The use of these recycled materials can be seen by their presence in the cisterns columns and just to make sure no one accidentally got turned into stone by the marble-carved Madusa heads, they were installed upside down or on their side, never right-side up. Those columns which don’t feature dear old Madusa still display beautiful Corinthian-style carvings near the top of the columns and the columns all are linked together in gorgeous arches.
The scale of the cistern is another impressive feature, with over 300 columns stretching 9 meters (30ft) high, one can imagine the massive amounts of water which could be held here. While nearly all of the water has been drained, there is still a little that sits at the bottom of the cistern. The Turks struck gold when they decided to spruce the place up a little with some colorful lights and walkways. That little bit of water sits perfectly still and causes a beautiful mirror effect when combined with the various lights, columns, and arches, the scene is nothing short of miraculous.
As we re-entered the daylight world above, we were once again greeted by the smell of roasting chestnuts. T and I soon gave way to temptation and purchase a small bag of them. We munched on them, enjoying their deep savory flavor as we made our way slowly back through the autumnally dressed trees and sunlight-dappled walkways of the park to our hotel.
November 5th, 2022 (G) - Remember, Remember
Truthfully, there isn’t much to remember for this day, at least not concerning our time in Istanbul. We did very little aside from relaxing and working on the blog. Most of the day was spent on the hotel terrace or in our room. It’s good to do nothing every now and again.
November 6th, 2022 (G) - The Blue Mosque
The brisk morning air once again greeted us as we gazed from the rooftop terrace across the sea to the south. More ships had arrived and we could now spot several dozen at a glance. Helicopters with large camera attachments could also be spotted, the marathon was taking place, with the finish line being in the park up the hill by the Blue Mosque. Not really wanting to be caught in the throng of runners or their supporters, we opted to bide our time until later in the afternoon.
Afternoon arrived and we set out to visit the Blue Mosque, the running crowd and most of the tents and shops that had come with them had all but disappeared, leaving the park to its tranquility. Our arrival to the Blue Mosque occurred at a fortuitous moment and we were immediately allowed to enter the line which had just began moving quite quickly into the Mosque.
In a less fortunate stroke of luck, the interior of the Blue Mosque was under heavy restorations. Scaffolding and tarps obscured most of what anyone would care to see leaving only part of the top rotunda partially visible. We now understood why the line was moving along so quickly. There simply wasn’t much to see due to the restorations. Still, things must be restored sometime lest we lose them altogether. For T and I it simply necessitated a return to Istanbul at some point in the distant future.
As we exited the Blue Mosque, we stepped down a side street to a bizarre, it too was rather unimpressive at the time. We then toyed with the idea of visiting Hagia Sophia (which we had planned for the following morning) but after seeing the line and standing in it for a few moments we abandoned the idea in favor of a Doner Kabab Sandwich. Satisfied by this decision and the warm food, we strolled back to our hotel.
Later that evening our stomachs once again protested a lack of sustenance. There is a particularly interesting dish in Istanbul called a Testi Kebab. No, thankfully it does not involve testicles. Testi in Turkish means jug. Specifically a clay jug. A Testi Kebab, is typically lamb, onion, garlic, carrots, potatoes, and sometimes peppers that are all sealed into a clay jug and cooked over a fire. Then when it comes time to open it, they smash that sucker, which is designed to break along a groove. Fortunately for us, the Testi Kebab was on the menu at the restaurant next door.
After a hearty dinner, we opted for an early bedtime so we could make it to Hagia Sophia in the morning.
November 7th, 2022 (T) - Hagia Sophia, Business Class Surprise, Capadoccia
We woke up early, packed our bags, ate breakfast, then walked up the hill and down the block to Hagia Sophia. We arrived just in time. It opened at 8 AM and we stepped in the short line around 7:45. Within 5-10 minutes the line tripled in length.
When we went to The Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, I sported a hijab. At first, it felt really strange to wear one because I had never worn one before. But, I quickly realized as we walked by the touristy areas, no one tried to sell G or I anything because we blended in. I still felt a little weird wearing it but I liked the anonymity it provided us, so I kept it on until we made it back to our hotel.
Hagia Sophia more than made up for The Blue Mosque’s renovations. The architecture was interesting - it was originally a church and then turned into a mosque so it’s a blend of Christian and Muslim design. We wandered around for a while, admiring the intricate details all over the ceiling and walls. I was a little sad the floor had been covered with carpet. A small square was cut away so you could see what the floor’s original design looked like, which was very impressive.
After we left Hagia Sophia, I found a friendly cat. I find them often, but Istanbul is known for its “stray” cats and dogs. The locals make sure they’re taken care of, tagging the ones who are spayed or neutered and attempting to spay or neuter the majority of them, taking them to the vet when they’re sick or injured, feeding them, and giving them shelter if needed. This cat climbed right into my lap and started making biscuits. While I was I giving it some pets, G found a dog. The doggo desperately wanted to be the cat’s friend. I turned around to see the dog look excitedly at me and the cat (it was definitely an “I want to play” look, not an “I want to eat you” look), at which point the cat noticed the dog and immediately jumped about 3 feet in the air and ran away. That made getting up and leaving easy for me, I guess.
We went back to the hotel, checked out, ordered an Uber, and were on our way to the airport. On the drive, we noticed the thick, ancient city walls. They were massive. Three sets of walls each 10+ feet thick were arranged in step-like layers. No wonder this city was unconquered for so long.
Early in the morning while I was checking into our flight, I was able to select seats toward the front of the plane which looked like business class on the little diagram. However, we did not pay for business class. G and I were overjoyed when we boarded our plane and discovered we, did, in fact, get to fly business class for the first time ever. Sure, our flight may have been an hour, but that didn’t matter. There were three entire windows between our seats and the seats in front of us! And there was just a wall behind us. We can only hope we’ll get that experience again sometime, maybe for a longer flight. Way too soon, we landed in Capadoccia.
Thanks to being toward the very front of the plane and only packing carry-ons, we were off the plane faster than normal and were the first ones to our shared van. We waited about 20 or 30 minutes for everyone to get their luggage and climb in the van. Then, we were on our way, and about 20 minutes later we were dropped off at our cave hotel.
Capadoccia is known for ancient (and new!) buildings carved into the rocks. Our cave hotel was a lovely family-run place. They also offer well-priced tours of the area. G and I had a hot air balloon sunrise ride booked very early the following morning, so for the remainder of the day, we ate dinner at the hotel, split a bottle of local wine on the rooftop, and went to sleep early. Capadoccia had even more of an Autumn feel to the air. It had a crisp chill and smelled like leaves.
November 8, 2022 (T) - 3 Days Wasn’t Enough
The number 1 thing we were excited about in Capadoccia was the sunrise hot air balloon ride. We had researched ahead of time to have at least a few days to work with, so there were 3 mornings we possibly could have gone. Sometimes you just have bad luck with weather-dependent activities. We’d recommend giving yourself at least 5 mornings to work with because even the day before we arrived wouldn’t have worked either.
We woke up well before the sun rose and hopped in the van to pick up others from their hotels and go down to the balloon field. The weather seemed fine to us, but if it’s even slightly too cloudy or too windy, the government says no to all the balloons that day. We were driven back to our hotel and ate a sad breakfast. We didn’t want to give up so our hosts passed our names to a different balloon company for the following morning. We also booked a fun day tour with them to go on after the air balloon.
It was only like 9AM but we had been up for 4 hours, so we went back to sleep til afternoon. We decided to just have another relaxing day. Why not? Our cave hotel was super cool. We drank tea. We swam in their pool that was in a cave and turned different colors. We ate dinner again on the rooftop. It was a nice day. We did find out that we wouldn’t be able to go in the hot air balloon again, though. Even the day we left wouldn’t work either. The forecast was poor until the day after we left. Go figure. That’s just another reason to return to Turkey someday!
November 9, 2022 (T) - Exploring Capadoccia from the Ground and Underground
While it would be cool to explore Capadoccia from the sky in a hot air balloon, it’s also really cool to explore it from the ground, sometimes inside the ground.
G and I got up a little early, ate breakfast, then walked down to the street to wait for our pick-up for the tour. We didn’t realize one of our hosts was going to be our guide as well, otherwise we would have waited back at the hotel. He found us and we started our drive toward our first destination, Derinkuyu Underground City.
Derinkuyu was built around 7,000 BC. Many historians, and our guide, believed the Hittites were some of the main builders. It was used as a refuge for Christians for centuries until it was abandoned in 1923. Then, in the 1960’s a local man was doing house renovations and dug into one of the rooms. Can you imagine accidentally finding an entire city? Derinkuyu is one of the deepest underground cities in the world, going down about 275 feet (85 meters). That would be a pretty wild discovery.
G and I were dropped off. We purchased a ticket and could have easily missed the entrance, which was a tiny square structure, no bigger than an outhouse. To our delight, not many people were there when we arrived so we more or less had the place to ourselves. We walked into the entrance that immediately led us further and further beneath the ground. This city really had everything: stables, bedrooms, kitchens, churches, laundry rooms, and most importantly, wine-making rooms. There was a local guide who offered to give us a tour, for a price. We politely declined and he wasn’t bothered by it (the same could not have been said in Egypt). An hour or so went by and we were still finding new rooms. Thankfully there were arrows to follow otherwise I for sure would have gotten lost (G probably wouldn’t have).
We had more places to go so we started to make our way back up the 4+ stories we had descended. On the way out there was a large group of middle schoolers that we were happy to have not shared our tour with. Some of the boys waved at us. I said “Merhaba” and they laughed a little. Not in a mean way. I don’t think. Anyways.
The next place on our itinerary was Ilhara Valley. There’s a beautiful river that runs through this valley with tall cliffs on both sides that have ancient churches and houses carved into them. Our host dropped us off and let us know he’d pick us up at the end of the trail. This was the Fall we had been missing back home. The fall foilage was on full display in the valley with yellow being the most prominent color. The weather was cool and cloudy with a light breeze. Our short hike was just what we needed. We took our time exploring the ruins, walking by the river, and drinking fresh pomegranate juice in a small village toward the end of the hike.
One way G and I have been saving money is to eat a lot at breakfast when breakfast is included and then to wait for dinner to eat again. Our host seemed a little surprised when we said we’d wait til we got back to the hotel to eat because we still had a couple of destinations left for the day. The next place was Selime Monastery, a massive monastery carved into a mountain in the 13th century. We spent a while walking around it together. This place felt otherworldly.
The last place to go for the day was Pigeon Valley. It’s a big valley with smaller volcanic mountains that have many houses carved into them. As the name suggests, there are many pigeons and birds that hang out by the viewpoint. We snapped some photos and headed back to the hotel.
We ate dinner and then went up to the rooftop again to watch the sunset. After sunset, our host asked if we wanted to have a fire up there. We said yes. We always had bonfires during Fall back home. He built us a fire and brought out a record player with some oldies music. What a perfect way to end our Fall day and our time in Capadoccia.
November 10, 2022 (T) - Goodbye, Turkey
We woke up early, caught our flight to Istanbul, relaxed in the airport lounge, then were on our way to Israel. It was time to visit The Holy Land!
Egypt
Foreword (T) G has wanted to visit Egypt since he was a little boy because it’s the source of so many great adventures and is historically significant for all of humanity. He even had Egypt adventure-themed Lego sets. It was a must-visit place for him. I wasn’t so convinced. While I agreed with his points, I was more concerned about our safety. It seemed like nearly all the travel horror stories that were popping up on r/travel were about Egypt and it was especially bad for women. With it being that important to G, I thought we had to include it in our itinerary, but with a guided tour. Looking back, I cannot imagine visiting Egypt without a guide. It would be absolute chaos. If you decide to travel to Egypt and are looking for a tour company, we had a good experience with Jakada Tours.
October 27th, 2022 (G) - Diplomats Only?
Upon our arrival in Cairo, we had arranged with a local tour company, Jakada Tours, to guide us through our time there. The representative met us prior to security or customs. He was sent to assist us with the visa and customs process. Without much explanation, he guided us to a line, asked for our passports, and quickly disappeared with them to another line somewhere. T and I had a fleeting moment of anxiety, but fortunately, he soon returned with the passports in hand which now contained Egyptian visas. All that was left was customs.
Lines (or queues for you Brits out there) don’t exactly work the same way in Egypt. I had anticipated running into this in other locations, but not necessarily in the airport. The “Line” is more of a wedge formation with generally subtle shouldering tactics to slip in front of as many people in the line as possible. When our passports had been returned to us we were shepherded to a new line. Not the back of the line, but the front. Our guide utilized expert wedge tactics as we moved to the front of the shortest available line.
Now T and I are many things, but we are certainly not diplomats, so it was a bit puzzling to us when we realized we were in the front of the diplomat passport line. Feeling slightly mortified that we had cut at least twenty people (likely actual diplomats from their appearance) in line and that we may very well be in the wrong line altogether, we stood stoically behind our guide as he approached the desk. After a brief conversation in Arabic, he gestured for our passports. The man behind the desk looked them over, stamped them, and sent us on our way without so much as a second look.
We exited the relative safety of the airport and with our guide found a car with a driver waiting for us. We set out towards Giza where our hotel was situated directly across from the Great Pyramids. The drive there was hectic, to put it mildly. The general appearance of the city was rough, very rough. Trash was everywhere, strewn about with disregard, and most buildings appeared unfinished, in disrepair, damaged, or partially demolished to make way for the highway. Any form of respect for lanes was void. All manner of vehicles swarmed into and through any available gap. Those gaps too small for cars were filled with horses, camels, or people. All move at different speeds and at times in different directions. Our driver would later confess that every time he would go for a drive, it felt like a mission, an impossible mission.
We did spot one area that seemed to be well-ordered and beautifully constructed, this was New Cairo. Built outside of the existing city and inhabited only by the wealthy, it appeared to our left as we drove toward Giza, a fleeting vision of what perhaps could be. We soon passed over the Nile, the lifeblood of all Egypt. Unsurprisingly, it did not appear as spectacular as one might expect, having been overhyped by years of Hollywood adventure films. Still, water is life, and the Nile is understandably precious to the Egyptian people.
Turning down a small dusty street, lined with small shops and vendors, we soon came to a stop in front of the narrow entrance of our hotel. Greeted by our Cairo guide, Abdul, we covered the day’s itinerary (which fortunately only included resting and dinner from a rooftop terrace) and the plan for catching our flight to Aswan the following morning. We were strongly advised against leaving the hotel. When we inquired a little further, our guide told us simply that it wasn’t safe for us to leave on our own. Noted.
After finding our room, which was rather nice considering the humble facade of the hotel, we ventured up to the rooftop terrace. It had a spectacular view of the pyramids and I could even spot the sphinx to the lower left of them poking its head just above the buildings. As awesome as the view was, we were both exhausted. So, T and I returned to our room for a long nap before dinner. Dinner consisted of a lamb kebab sandwich split between us since neither of us had a large appetite. Knowing that our 3 am wake-up would come quickly, we didn’t spend much time on the roof that night instead opting for more rest.
October 28th, 2022 (T) - Flight to Aswan and Temple of Philae.
3 am arrived as fast as you’d expect. We didn’t bother unpacking the night before so we grabbed our bags and headed downstairs. Time for another drive to the airport. Cairo still holds the title for the city with the most chaotic driving (and we’ve even been to Delhi now). G introduced you to the driving a little bit ago, but I’m going to try to paint a picture for you to really imagine it.
There’s a 4-lane road. The paint is worn so you can’t see the lanes well. That doesn’t really matter because the lanes are suggestions and the road is used for 5 to 7 lanes filled with cars, motorcycles, bicycles, scooters, tuk tuks, horse+carriages, donkey+carriages, people riding horses, people riding donkeys, and sometimes people riding camels, kids riding bikes, and stray dogs. Crosswalks? No. Egyptians are pro-level at real-life Frogger, crossing the middle of the interstate during rush hour. Speedbumps are randomly placed on the roads with no signs for them and no paint over them so you really have to pay attention to know where they are. Honking is constant, but it’s not necessarily aggressive. For example, you honk instead of using a turn signal. Public transportation is 15-passenger white vans with no real pickup and drop-off points, so they often pull off of or onto the road. Many side streets are dirt.
So anyway, we made it back to the airport with our driver and airport escort taking an alternative route than the previous day. It was faster but we drove mostly through dark neighborhoods which made G and I a little nervous at 3 am. We arrived just fine though.
Security seemed strict for a domestic flight. We had to go through 2 security areas and bag checks. Egypt was the first country we had been to where men and women had to go through separate lines. We’d later figure out this is normal for Muslim countries in particular and other countries where everyone gets a pat down. We walked to our gate and waited for boarding. When it was time to board everyone crammed into buses and then we drove all the way across the airport, for like 10-15 minutes in the bus, to our plane in a parking lot. We climbed on board, sat in our seats, and I promptly fell asleep and didn’t wake up until we landed in Aswan.
A representative greeted us upon arrival and helped us find our driver and guide, Hani and Ahmed. For today, we drove to the high dam and lotus monument, and took a boat to our first temple, the Temple of Philae. Philae is dedicated to the goddess, Isis, and honors another goddess, Heather, who is like a mother goddess and depicted as a cow or a human with cowlike ears. It was a really fascinating experience seeing an ancient Egyptian site in person. I could spend a full day looking at just the hieroglyphics. One reason I recommend going with a local guide is many of them can read some hieroglyphics and it’s interesting to know what is written on the walls.
We took the boat back and returned to our car. The Egyptian Government recognizes tourists don’t enjoy being harassed at the markets, so they’ve funded a better, private market experience for various goods. Today we went to a spice shop where we were able to smell and taste many different spices without the pressure to buy them. We sipped on hibiscus juice and Nubian coffee and snacked on roasted peanuts. The Nubian coffee was delicious. It’s coffee with a slew of spices mixed in. We bought some of the coffee and saffron.
Our last stop was at a large rock quarry with a massive unfinished, ancient obelisk.
Ahmed said we had the option to go to Abu Simbel the following morning if we wanted to, but we’d have to leave around 4:30 am and pay a little extra. G really enjoys history and Abu Simbel is an impressive temple, so we decided to say yes. Now it was time to check into our boat, The Princess Sarah, for our Nile Cruise. We checked in, ate dinner, and went to bed around 8:00 PM because we were so exhausted and had another early morning.
October 29th, 2022 (G) - Abu Simbel, Nile Cruisin, and The Kom Ombo Crocodile Pit
The vastness of the Egyptian desert revealed itself to us as the sun rose slowly over the empty sands. Hani had been driving for a few hours already and we were still at least an hour away. T, Ahmed, and I slept off and on as Hani soldiered on. The initial departure from Aswan had taken a little while. There had been a military checkpoint to leave the city which took an hour or perhaps a little more to clear. The road was well-built, and the traffic was light once we had passed it. Now as we headed to the southernmost of the Egyptian temples situated near the Sudan border I couldn’t help but ponder what a strange and magnificent world we live in.
Abu Simbel was built by and for Ramses II. He seemed to think quite highly of himself as his image can be found throughout most of Egypt. The original temples were found half buried in the sand, like most of the ancient Egyptian temples or tombs had been looted and then forgotten. Ahmed explained that the workers who built the temples knew of their locations and after a generation or two, an Egyptian down on their luck would return and loot them. The later discovery of these locations by Europeans and to a lesser extent Americans can therefore be looked at as both negative and positive.
On the negative side, demand for ill-gotten artifacts certainly increased, which certainly exacerbated the looting of ancient places for black market products. On the positive side, many of the artifacts that would have otherwise been melted down or the temples which would have been left to eventual destruction over time have been instead safely preserved and are available for humanity to study, learn from, and enjoy both within Egypt and around the world.
An example of the global involvement required to preserve this history is Abu Simbel itself. The building of the High Dam significantly raised the water level of the Nile. Therefore, any temples (like Abu Simbel) that were built to the south of the dam’s location would have been lost to the waters if not for the colossal effort of the global community. UNESCO worked in conjunction with the Egyptian people to literally move the mountains that Abu Simbel was originally carved into. The temples and the mountain face around them were strategically cut, moved, and reassembled in a higher location to prevent the loss of these magnificent structures. Ahmed explained that this was done with several temples to preserve them as the historic treasures they are.
Arriving at Abu Simbel the Temples were every bit as massive as I had anticipated, but what I found most striking was the original colors that had been preserved on the interior of the temples. When most people think of Egypt, we think in terms of khaki hues. The reality of these ancient places couldn’t be further from that line of thinking. We spent time enjoying the temples before eventually returning to the car. Ahmed’s insight and information regarding the temples and their history were invaluable to the experience. When we eventually made it back to the boat in Aswan, it was nearly time to set sail.
We spent the afternoon napping and then strolling around the top deck of the ship which functioned as a bar, pool, and lounging area. As we passed smaller towns or villages, I was again struck by just how much trash lay strewn about. All along the banks where civilization met the river, piles could be seen. The narrow alleys that ended facing the river seemed to vomit out garbage in the general direction of the Nile. It was both tragic and confusing to witness such disregard for the environment. We also learned that being on a boat did not spare us from the vendors.
Every hour or so, a small wooden boat usually bearing three people would row toward the ship. They would throw a rope across the bow or lasso the anchor of our ship. The other end of the rope was fixed to the bow of their boat so they would be pulled along next to us. They would then proceed to shout greetings and attempt to sell shirts or other small items which they could throw up to the passengers. It was certainly a unique way to conduct business.
After watching the sunset from the top deck, our ship pulled into port. We once again found Ahmed and headed off to visit Kom Ombo. Kom Ombo was a temple dedicated to Sobek the Egyptian god characterized by the head of a crocodile. Given the dangerous nature of crocodiles, it initially seemed odd that anyone would care to worship one, but Ahmed explained part of the reason.
In ancient times, the people would depend on the Nile’s annual flooding to plant their crops. The floods brought nutrient-rich soils and water for the plants to grow. The tricky part it seems was knowing exactly how much the Nile would flood every year to know where they would need to plant their crops or move their homes. That is where the crocodiles come in. Somehow, every year the crocodiles would make their nests right where the water would stop, meaning they would know before the waters actually appeared how high they would reach. This still seems a bit baffling today, but certainly would have been both extremely helpful and awe-inspiring to our ancestors.
Kom Ombo did not disappoint us. Even in the dark, it appeared impressive. The temple held unique carvings that were raised relief, meaning instead of just carving the images into the stone, the image was carved and then the stone around it was removed as well, which is much more difficult and time-consuming. Other carvings depicted the ancient surgical instruments used for mummification, as well as information regarding the pharaohs of the time and their victories over the Nubian people to the south. The temple also had a hidden trapdoor and (our personal favorite feature) an actual crocodile pit! Historians don’t fully agree on what the pit was used for, but they are confident that at least one crocodile called the pit home.
After enjoying the temple and viewing some of the mummified crocodiles, we returned to the ship for dinner and rest.
October 30th, 2022 (T) - Edfu, Avenue of the Sphinxes, and The Temple of Luxor
I was worried I would struggle this morning. Ahmed told us we would take a horse and carriage to The Temple of Edfu. I had read other travelers’ stories about how the horses are not treated well and G and I both care deeply for animals and will not support the mistreatment of them. I asked Ahmed if the horses were treated well, and, he replied honestly, it depends on the owner. So I asked if he could ensure we would only go with an owner who treated his horse well otherwise we would find a different way to go. He said yes and that we would need to be one of the first ones out of the boat for that to happen. We made sure we were out of the door right at 6:30, which at this point, felt like sleeping in.
We hesitantly got in the small carriage and were on our way to the temple along with dozens of other horses and carriages. I do actually think our horse was well taken care of, but not all of them are, which is very disheartening to see. We saw one horse that clearly had an injured leg but was still put to work. This made our horse owner and Ahmed sad as well. Our horse was able to leisurely take us to Edfu. He wasn’t whipped harshly to go as fast as he could. He didn’t have any scars. His owner waited with him when we were picked up from our boat and again from the temple and gave him pats. He didn’t seem stressed to me, but I’m not entirely sure how to tell if a horse is stressed. G, who has spent more time with horses, is confident he wasn’t stressed.
The town Edfu is in is so dirty and smelly. Similar to Cairo, there is dirt and trash everywhere and the roads are even less maintained. I think we took horses and carriages because it’s more difficult for vehicles to drive on those roads. After about 10 minutes ,the dark, disheveled town led us to a magnificent beautiful temple. It felt so out of place.
The Temple of Edfu is dedicated to Horus, a god with a falcon head. He’s a provider and protector for the Egyptians. Edfu is a well-preserved temple. We arrived a few minutes before it opened, along with hundreds of other tourists. As G explained before, there are no lines in Egypt, so the entire room was crammed full of people and when we were finally able to enter, we felt a bit like sheep squeezing through a small entrance. Still, it was less crowded than some of the other temples we had visited, so we enjoyed the extra space and took our time walking around.
We met our horse and driver to return to the boat. We thanked them both and boarded Ms Princess Sarah. It was early enough for us to eat breakfast. Most of the day was spent cruising the Nile all the way to Luxor. We spent some time on the top deck watching the small towns as we passed them. The Nile would be so beautiful if there was just less trash. I don’t think we can effectively communicate how much trash is everywhere.
After dark, we arrived in Luxor, where we went to The Avenue of the Sphinxes, which was recently opened in 2021. It’s a 2.7 km long road, outlined with sphinxes, and connects The Temple of Karnak to Luxor Temple.
Luxor Temple was built by a few different pharaohs, including King Tut and Rameses II, as evident by many giant statues of him. There’s an active mosque in the temple as well. Historically, when Muslims conquer a place they built a mosque on top of it. After exploring the temple, we returned to the boat, ate dinner, and went to sleep.
October 31st, 2022 (G) - Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut’s Temple, Colossi of Memnon, and Karnak
What better way to spend Halloween than hanging out with mummies? Well, truthfully we did miss our friend's annual Halloween party some, but this day, in particular, was jam-packed.
We kicked the day off by visiting the Valley of the Kings. The valley houses at least 63 known tombs, including the tomb of the famous King Tutankhamon (King Tut) and of course Ramses II. We were able to pick 3 tombs to visit and could add King Tut’s tomb as a fourth for an extra fee. We opted for all 4 and took the advice of Ahmed regarding which tombs to visit. We visited the tombs of Ramses I, Ramses III, Amenmeses, and Tut.
Of these, I recall being most impressed by Ramses III due to the details, color preservation, and depth of the tomb which continued deeper than visitors were permitted. The tombs themselves were extremely hot and unnaturally humid due to the large number of people passing through them and the lights used in them. The experience also provided us with some additional vindication in our decision to travel while we were still relatively young. Many of the visitors were understandably retirees that had waited a lifetime for a trip like this one. The heat, humidity, and very steep steps were very difficult if not impossible for some. My heart truly went out to a few of them that had to make the decision to not enter the tomb of Amenmeses. Disappointment and discomfort were written on their faces. To have come so far and gotten so close is heartwrenching for those with a desire to see these things in person.
Still, I couldn’t also help thinking perhaps it would be best for the preservation of these tombs in particular if we all stuck to viewing the extremely detailed documentaries that exist for them. Pictures will perhaps never do them justice, but they may help keep these treasures intact a little longer. King Tut’s tomb was a fine example of this. There is a type of mold or mildew that has started growing within the tomb and is negatively impacting the colors and walls of the tomb. Had we been aware of this issue, we likely would have reconsidered our visit into the tomb itself.
Exiting the valley, our next stop was very nearby. The reconstructed Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut. Rebuilt by a team of Polish archeologists and engineers (much to T’s joy who is proudly a quarter Polish) the Temple was built as the resting place of Queen Hatshepsut. She deserves more than just her own temple, let me explain.
Hatshepsut ruled Egypt for around 22 years around 1500 BC. As the second female ruler on record, she certainly faced several challenges from the male-dominated Egyptian priests as well as male rivals. She was positioned as ruling on behalf of her stepson who was only 2 when she began her rule. She overcame them all. She remained in power until she chose to peacefully transfer the throne to her stepson. The period of her rule is characterized by expeditions that successfully established key trading routes with neighboring nations that in turn provided the wealth necessary to fund an enormous number of building projects in both lower and upper Egypt and all of this was done without any known war or major conflict. Hatshepsut gifted all of Egypt with a time of prosperity and peace before gracefully bowing out… what a badass.
It is therefore a mystery as to why her name and visage were later removed from nearly every monument she commissioned. Initially, historians speculated this was the work of her stepson, but new insights seem to point more blame toward the disgruntled temple priests that likely lost a great deal of power and influence in the shadow of her rule. Personally, T and I think it was probably the latter.
The reconstructed Mortuary Temple was certainly a site to behold. We spent a little while wandering the temple and reading, with the help of Ahmed, the hieroglyphs that told of the Queen’s exploits. After this, we were growing hungry, so on our way to the Colossi of Memnon, we stopped at a government-regulated alabaster carving factory for some refreshments and a demonstration of how the stone is cut and worked into beautiful vases. Some hibiscus juice and falafel sandwiches later, T and I were ready to roll. There were a few items for sale which, had we been on a normal vacation would have been well worth the purchase, but given our different circumstances we had to pass on.
Thankfully, due to the regulated nature of the establishment, there was no pressure from the seller who we thanked for his time and the refreshments with a small tip that we were genuinely glad to give for the service and experience. A quick note on tipping in Egypt before we continue to the Colossi of Memnon. The tipping culture in Egypt is excessive, so if you are planning a visit, or choose to in the future, be prepared to tip constantly, often for things you didn’t even ask for. Frankly, it’s annoying but has been culturally perpetuated for generations and is unlikely to change anytime soon.
Reinvigorated by our lunch, we pressed on to the Colossi of Memnon. Oddly enough these statues are not of Memnon, short for the Spartan King Agamemnon (don’t worry we’ll get to how that ties in). They are actually statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III. The massive statues, stand awkwardly in a field. They seem out of place and given that no temple or structure appears nearby. It seems there had once been a Mortuary temple behind them for Amenhotep III, but it is no more. The Colossi themselves had been used for ages as landmarks by Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. They towered out of the mud and water of the Nile during its floods, which buried them a little more every year. The name, at least according to legend, was given to them by the greeks, due to their large size being a match for the size of the ancient Spartan King Agamemnon. The truth behind this legend is subject to debate as the word Memnon, is found repeatedly on the statues from the Roman period. We enjoyed the brief history mystery provided to us by Ahmed. After snapping a few photos, we hopped back into the car and headed to our final stop of the day, the Temples of Karnak.
Karnak is not so much a singular temple as a series of temples all linked together. We wandered through the complex for hours, just taking in the structures. The entrance to Karnak is flanked by ram-headed sphinxes, followed by several courtyards which have the rows of these sphinxes pushed out. Beyond the courtyard are massive towering columns that form an impressive structure. Beyond the structure was one of the few remaining original obelisks in Egypt. The hours were filled with every sort of image one might think of in relation to Egypt and well worth the time. Karnak is definitely a must for anyone visiting Luxor and is probably my favorite of the temples we visited. It’s T’s favorite as well.
As the sun began to dip, we returned to our ship. After such a big day, you’d think we’d be done, but we actually had a flight to catch that night around midnight. So, we packed our bags, checked out, and waited in the boat’s bar until it was time to go to the airport.
November 1st, 2022 (T) - The Great Pyramids, Sphinx, and The Shatner Seat
Our flight was supposed to take off at 10:00 PM the night before but we ended up leaving around midnight, which put us in Cairo around 1:30 AM. On this Halloween night, right as we took our seats, G excitedly exclaimed “You’re in the Shatner Seat!” Of the literally hundreds of flights I have taken, I have never noticed this “Shatner Seat” before, so I asked, “What’s the Shatner Seat?” I can tell you now! Have you ever noticed a small triangle by one of the windows in a plane? That’s a marker for the seat with the best view of the wing, made famous by an episode of The Twilight Zone with William Shatner where he witnessed a frightening creature attempting to crash the plane during the whole flight that no one else could see. I was delighted to have my seat on Halloween. As far as I could tell, all the scary creatures stayed grounded.
We arrived back at the same hotel in Cairo around 3:00 AM. We decided to wait til 10:00 AM to start the festivities so G and I and our driver and guide could get a little shut-eye. It seemed like we blinked and were finishing our breakfast on the rooftop overlooking the pyramids we were about to go to. After finishing breakfast we went downstairs, met Abdul, and drove off.
To me, the pyramids are bigger and smaller than I imagined. When I first saw them in Cairo they looked like mountains but up close they were actually smaller than I thought they would be. The most widely accepted explanation for the pyramids is they were just tombs and nothing else. There are some other interesting theories though, like they were actually used for electricity. And no one can agree on how all the materials were transported from Aswan (remember, close to Sudan) all the way up to northern Egypt back then. Aliens? Maybe ;)
If you decide to go in the pyramid, you should know, there’s nothing in it and you have to pay extra. We were thankful Abdul informed us about this before we made the decision to not go inside. You can go right up to the entrance and step inside which was still cool. We walked near (and on) the base of the pyramid for a bit and then drove to the best viewpoint.
We could’ve ridden a camel or could’ve taken a picture with one but we decided not to because we weren’t sure how they were treated. Some of the camels were adored by their owners, being fed grass and patted while they weren’t working and they could stand or sit as they wanted. Others were forced to lie down. We had a few more desert destinations coming up and thought if a better opportunity presented itself, maybe we’d meet a camel then (spoiler: we did). The viewpoint was impressive. G and I hiked up a little hill nearby and took it in.
After we left the viewpoint, we drove down to The Great Sphinx, walked around, and wondered again how the materials for building it made their way to Giza.
The public markets can be quite overwhelming for tourists. Ahmed had taught us early on to just completely ignore sellers if we don’t want to buy anything, and that worked 100% of the time for us. We really enjoyed the private shops we went to, including a fragrance store we stopped at after The Great Sphinx. We munched on some roasted nuts and drank coffee while smelling all the different perfumes that weren’t diluted with alcohol. There were a few we really liked and could buy travel-sized ones at a good price, so we bought some mint oil, sandalwood, cologne, and perfume.
Now it was time to go to The Egyptian Museum. We had really hoped The Great Egyptian Museum (Gem!) would have opened by the time we were there, but I think it’s going to be a while longer even now. Though not as great, The Egyptian Museum was still interesting to visit. We saw more statues, mummies, coffins, jewelry, and my favorite, King Tut’s famous mask (no photos allowed).
Our Egypt Adventure was coming to a close. We picked up a late lunch/early dinner on the way to the hotel, ate it on the rooftop, took a much-needed nap, woke up and watched the sunset, packed our bags, and went to sleep early. We had a few more destinations before we were off to the airport the following day.
November 2nd, 2022 (G) - Saqqara Necropolis, Ramses II Colossus, and So Long Egypt.
The day of our departure from Egypt had arrived, but we had a final few stops before heading to the airport. Saqqara Necropolis is the oldest known complete stone building complex in the world. The step pyramid here can be seen as the rough draft of the great pyramids. The buildings here display stark differences in their architecture from what is commonly thought of as Egyptian. Some themes remain, such as the incorporation of cobras as well as the characteristic squared short tunnel shafts which lead into the tombs.
The tombs themselves were very well preserved. We received unrequested guide assistance from a local Egyptian man, of course, a tip was expected. He did point out a few interesting features of the tomb, such as incredibly subtle relief carvings of the pharaoh in the alabaster stone which was inlaid next to the tomb wall. This detail was obscured by the hieroglyphs which had been carved over the alabaster surface.
One thing about this experience that disturbed me personally was the man’s use of an aluminum flashlight to visually prove the difference between alabaster and limestone. He would press the flashlight into the stone surface and then with the tip pressed against the stone scrape it from the alabaster to the limestone and back. Alabaster allows some of the light to pass through it, limestone does not, but I don’t really care about either of those things when the tip of your flashlight is scraping across and damaging the fragile five thousand-year-old paint and hieroglyphs! We asked the man to stop, but there was a very clear language barrier and he proceeded to repeat the actions.
After leaving the tomb we told Abdul, though I sincerely doubt our words had much effect upon him to prevent future damage to what should be considered a sacred place to all humanity. We visited another tomb on the site and were accompanied by another unwanted “guide”. This time we refused to provide any sort of tip as the same behavior with a different person and a different flashlight was repeated.
After this tomb, we were given around a half hour of free time to wander the ruins. T and I at this point were pretty saturated and spent only half of the given time before returning to the car. We were asked if we wanted to stop at a carpet factory, but we declined and instead continued to our next stop, the Colossus of Ramses II.
Along the drive to the Colossus, there ran a canal that has been used since ancient times to irrigate the fields and orchards of date palm trees. During our visit, the canal was dredged and dug out. We could see what had been dug out by the backhoes as they deposited it in piles on the edge of the canal. Trash. Piles, up to or exceeding two meters (6ft) in height of trash mixed with dirt. It seemed the entire base of the canal was little more than this mixed deposit of refuse. T and I had started to grow numb to the pure amount of trash that could be found everywhere, but this bog monster reawakened our senses to this ongoing modern self-imposed tragedy of humanity. There has to be a better way, but people and their governments have to hold themselves and each other accountable.
As we watched another backhoe bucket full of plastic, mud, and styrofoam be dumped on top of the piles of litter that already lay in the grass next to the canal we felt a sense of situational irony due to the fact that the Climate Change Conference (COP 27) involving 93 heads of state was being hosted this year in Egypt. One of our anxieties regarding visiting Egypt was rooted in the political unrest which was and still seems to be slowly simmering in Egypt. Rumors of protests by Egyptians of their government had been overheard by both of us and could be found online. Given the state of things in Cairo, we could understand where some of their grievances might lie, but there were far too many cultural and situational complexities at play for either T or I to even pretend that we held a firm opinion on what party was more or less correct. All we wanted was for things to remain calm enough for us to take our leave of Egypt in the next few hours.
After these contemplations, we arrived at the location of the Colossus of Ramses II. Abdul kindly told us about a few of the other interesting statues at the location before guiding us to the Colossus itself. The megalithic image of Ramses II had been carved in red granite from Aswan far to the south. It lay on its back with the face looking upward. It was admittedly impressive, but we had seen so many images of Ramses II at this point in our visit, it no longer struck us the way it probably should have. T was excited to see another statue of Hatshepsut though and snapped a picture with her. We had enjoyed our time in Egypt, but it was time for us to go.
So, after a few photos, we hopped back into the car and headed to the airport. We admittedly both breathed a sigh of relief as the plane left the ground and an even larger one when it touched down in Istanbul.
A final word: For those who wish to visit Egypt, if you must go, make absolutely certain you take the time to find a good tour company. We really did enjoy our time in Egypt, but I firmly believe that we owe that almost entirely to our guides with Jakada Tours. We debated between going on a larger tour or a private tour and decided to do a private tour and are glad we did because we were able to explore at our own pace and got less attention than the large tourist groups did. Do your homework, stay safe.
Indian Ocean Island Hopping
October 19th, 2022 - (G) Reunion Island
We spent nearly all of the 18th in transit to greet Reunion island with the sunrise. Unfortunately, we failed miserably to sleep while in transit. So after arriving and working out data services with our Airalo e-sim (if you are a traveler or aspiring traveler and haven’t looked into e-sims for data services yet, Airalo is one of the best, but do some digging for the specific location you plan to visit to be certain you’ll have coverage) we caught our ride to our B&B.
Reunion is a mountainous island with phenomenal hiking, solid beaches, and a comfortable standard of living. There’s something for everyone on this little island, just be aware that it is predominately French-speaking. We caught some great views as we wound up tight little roads towards our destination. Upon arrival, we were welcomed by the pair of ladies that operated the B&B and they even provided us with a complimentary breakfast! After breakfast, all that travel caught up with us, and no amount of coffee could fend off the desire for a snooze. Fortunately, though our room was not yet prepared, since we had arrived so early we expected it would not be, there were very comfortable hammock chairs with stunning views of a forested valley below. We both fell fast asleep within a minute of sitting in them.
Passing the morning sleeping in the shady comfort of hammock chairs, we were gently awoken by our hostess in the early afternoon. The room was now prepared, so after a mighty yawn and a stretch, we hopped out of our hammocks and found our room. It was a small bungalow attached to the side of the kitchen and dining area. Quaint but comfortable. We dropped our packs inside and feeling somewhat refreshed, decided to go for a walk.
Unfortunately, the weather had different plans for us as just as we prepared to set off on a hike down through the valley, it began to rain. While we did have rain gear, we decided to let the rain simply pass and spent the remainder of the afternoon listening to the rain and resting a bit more.
When the rain finally subsided, it was late afternoon. We struck out with a different purpose than just hiking this time. Snacks are a must for T, so we were on a mission to the grocery store for snacks. Along the way, we spotted what may be my favorite vending machine of all time. A taco & burrito vending machine! Directly, next to this was a pizza vending if that’s your preference. Not wanting to waste the opportunity to test the quality of these taco/burrito products, I quickly ordered a taco. While the vending machine worked its magic, it also provided a little video game to pass the time. Before I could claim victory, a taco plopped out from the machine. It was surprisingly high quality all things considered, but unsurprisingly I would not recommend them over the real deal.
After T and I devoured the taco, we continued to the grocery store, retrieved snacks, and returned to our bungalow just before dark. We had only planned to have one day in Reunion as part of a long layover that aligned well with our flights. However, Reunion is large enough to warrant spending a minimum of a week hiking the mountains and hanging at the beaches. Additionally, renting a car is also advisable.
October 20th, 2022 - (T) Nosy Be, Madagascar
If you decide to go to Madagascar, you need at least a week on the main island and need to either rent a car or book a tour (I recommend the latter). Also, you should bring Euros or Dollars with you to the airport to exchange because you might not be able to access an ATM, and you should exchange it back before you leave because you may not be able to afterward.
We goofed when planning Madagascar. We got a bit overzealous with how many countries we were going to visit in a short amount of time and overlooked just how massive the main island is. So, we ended up moving the time we were going to be on the main island over to Mauritius and decided to be beach bums for about a week on Nosy Be and Mauritius. When adventure presents itself, however, we seldom turn it down. More on that in a bit.
We took a late morning flight to Nosy Be and arrived by early afternoon. It was easy to obtain a visa on arrival and we didn’t have any issues at customs. Our driver was waiting for us as planned and we drove about 30-45 minutes to our destination, over quite a few hills, and around many turns.
G and I have never seen the level of poverty anywhere else compared to what we saw in Madagascar. The majority of houses we passed by in the villages were literally houses made out of sticks, many of them only had one room. Severe weather can easily level them and then they have to be rebuilt. Our van shared the road with a cow-and-buggy here and there. People worked in the fields with hand tools. I did not take any photos of the houses because I feel it’s disrespectful to showcase poverty. The people are rich in their own way, living on a stunning island, taking care of their land, and being close to family and friends. Poverty doesn’t always equate to despair.
In the middle of the drive, our driver pulled over and plucked some bright yellow petals from a tree. He instructed us to put them in our hands, rub them together, and smell them. We did, and a lovely fresh, floral, peppery aroma arose from the Ylang-Ylang. I had never smelled this scent before and that is the smell I remember when I think of Nosy Be.
The main roads were in great condition. After a while, we turned off the main road onto a dirt road and went up a big hill. The descent revealed a beautiful shoreline and Anjiamarango Beach Resort. This is the perfect place if you’re looking for a laid-back, beautiful but modest beach resort. The owner, Philippe, is French and has lived there for 18 years. He employs a good number of locals and everyone is so friendly. Philippe greeted us and went over all of the different activities we could choose from. It was during this conversation we found out that whale sharks made their appearance a couple of weeks ago and we could go swimming with them if we’d like. Um, we weren’t about to pass that up! They happen to be G’s favorite marine animal. Dolphins were mine before but it might be whale sharks now.
G and I played a game of pool and drank some rum while we waited for our bungalow to be ready. (G won). The Malagasy rum is the best I’ve ever had. It has strong notes of vanilla and the vanilla really is better in Madagascar. All other vanilla now tastes a little muted. Soon enough, our bungalow was ready and we settled in. A few months of traveling with a backpack will put a few knots in your back, so we decided to go for the $20 massages. My knees had been bothering me since the West Highland Way Hike. I don’t know what powers my masseuse had, but my left knee has been completely pain-free after the massage. $20 well spent! We enjoyed our beachfront views for the rest of the afternoon until evening graced us with a sunset over the water. After sunset, we decided to have one more glass of rum and eat dinner at the lodge. We had an early start the next day, so we returned to the bungalow and went to bed early.
October 21st, 2022 (T) - Swimming with Whale Sharks!
We woke up early, ate breakfast, and waited near reception for the whole crew. There were some other travelers joining us on our excursion: a friendly couple from France who are nurses and live in Reunion and a father-son duo from London with Colombian roots. We got our flippers and our snorkel gear and boarded the small boat with our two local guides. I imagined a short ride but we spent about 2 hours boating around Nosy Be then out into the deep water, where we could see the main island in the distance.
Out in the deep water, a school of tuna fish flapped in a big circle, much to the seagulls’ delight. A swordfish jumped out of the water! G and I had never seen a marlin before. It was really cool to see one in person. G had never seen a whale, and we were lucky to see a whale surface as well on our search for whale sharks.
Whale sharks. Are they whales or are they sharks? They’re sharks, but with the temperament of what you would expect from a whale, and they eat plankton. They are truly gentle giants. Only swimming at 3 mph (5 kph), they go about their day grazing and are not aggressive. They visit Madagascar by Nosy Be from October-December. Other tour boats on the search for our shark friends gave us good ideas for where we should go. Our guides spotted one! We all quickly put on our snorkel gear and fins and gently got in the water (they get scared if you jump in. You would too if some strange creature all of a sudden dropped down from the sky right in front of you!) G was the last one to get it and, unfortunately, he didn’t see it.
The tour wasn’t over yet. We continued our search for another one. This time, our guides were the first to see one. Everyone let G go first so he would have a chance to see it, and, wow, we really lucked out. There was a magnificent whale shark mosying right up to the boat. I slowly lowered myself into the water next and, bam! Whale shark literally right in front of my face! Maybe 6 inches away. I could’ve touched it if I wanted to, but I was respectful of him and hurried out of his way. I didn’t seem to scare him because he just continued his swimming. Fortunately, I had the Go-Pro and got some amazing footage. Our French friends also got a great clip of it.
We didn’t plan on swimming with whale sharks. We didn’t even know they visited Nosy Be. But, we are so happy they did and this is by far one of the most exciting things we’ve ever had the opportunity to do. We said goodbye to the whale shark and began our ride to another island for lunch, stopping to swim with sea turtles on the way.
Our guides found a big sea turtle with ease, close to the shore. It was swimming by itself, also eating lunch from the looks of it. At first, I thought this turtle kind of looked like a snapping turtle based on its shell and tail shapes but after getting closer, it was clearly a friendly sea turtle. We swam with it for a while and then let it continue eating its lunch as we left to go eat ours.
We ate some delicious seafood for lunch and had fun conversations about where we were from and other places we’d traveled. After eating, we played a game of dominos and then G and I sat on the shore watching the waves. We returned to the boat and made the trip back which took about an hour.
When we returned to our accommodations, G and I changed for dinner and watched the sunset. Then we went to dinner where we saw the French couple again. We exchanged information and let them in on our traveling expeditions. It would’ve been nice to have had a few more days with them. Hopefully, someday we will meet them in Reunion or some other part of the world for another adventure together.
G and I enjoyed one last glass of rum and returned to the bungalow to pack for our trip to Mauritius the following day.
October 22nd, 2022 (T) - Bonjour, Maurice
We woke up early, ate a quick breakfast, and were on our way to the airport.
Another important thing to know if you go to Madagascar is if you try to book a flight with a local airline, you will probably need to pay with a French-issued credit card. And you may even need to pay from a French IP address. Fortunately, one of our friends was able to help us out with this, and we didn’t run into any issues in the airport. We flew to the capital where we had a long layover and then boarded a plane to Mauritius (Maurice in French). We arrived after dark, took a taxi to our hotel which took about an hour, checked in, and Netflix and chilled for the evening.
The relaxing part of our island hopping began.
October 23rd, 2022 (G) - Bummin’ on the Beaches
Upon waking, we enjoyed breakfast from the hotel’s restaurant and then scoped out the rest of the property. The beach was beautiful with a reef in the distance that brought out every shade of blue and turquoise from the water.
After exploring a little bit the weather seemed to threaten rain so we returned to our room and worked on the blog some. Later that evening we went to the rooftop bar to try some of the local rum and after a light meal returned to our room for the evening.
October 24rd, 2022 (G) - Bummin’ Continued…
We slept in late, and once again enjoyed a nice breakfast, then changed and found a spot on the beach. We hung out or swam in the water through the day until once again the weather seemed to threaten rain. So, we left the beach and instead hit the gym. After a workout, we spent the remainder of the day relaxing in our room as the weather had become overcast.
October 25th, 2022 (G) - Bummin’ Continued…
This was the final day at our first location, due to the changes we had made to our original plan, we ended up booking separate places while in Mauritius. Fortunately, we were a short 10-minute walk down the beach from the first location to the second. So after packing up our things we set out down the beach and arrived shortly at our second hotel.
They seemed a bit perplexed at first since we arrived on foot, from the beach, instead of by car at the front gate. After a moment or two they had us checked in and while we waited for our room to be prepared, offered us a cocktail from a repurposed sugarcane refinement machine. It was an intriguing contraption. After receiving our welcome drink and lulling about in the lobby for a short while we were guided to our room where we once again did a whole lot of nothing for the rest of the day. Venturing forth only to lay about the beach and sunbath before dinner.
October 26th, 2022 (G) - Farewell, Mauritius!
We packed our things after a splendid breakfast and made the return journey to the airport. Now, I know what some of you may be thinking, “how could we possibly go to Mauritius and not visit the underwater waterfall?” the truth is that we considered a visit while we were there. However, after having traveled constantly for the previous three weeks, and reviewing the amount of time (you can get an okay view of it by hiking up a mountain but this takes a full day and requires long car rides on both ends) and money (a good view of the underwater waterfall requires a helicopter or plane ride) required to visit them, we decided that we really just needed a break.
So hopeful we may catch a glimpse of it from the plane to Dubai, we left Mauritius with plenty of unfulfilled adventure. We sadly did not see the view from the plane so it seems a perfect excuse to make a return trip in the future.
October 27th, 2022 (G) - Onward to the Pyramids!
Upon arriving in Dubai, we checked into the lounge just after midnight and found a spot to try to get some rest. It was more difficult than anticipated but eventually, we found a nice booth and both slept a fair amount before catching our next flight to Cairo!
Spectacular African Safari
October 10th, 2022 (G) - Arrival and Greetings
So, let’s rewind for just a minute, we arrived in Zimbabwe on the evening of October 10th. We were aware that we would have to acquire visas upon arrival, fortunately, this is not typically an issue for US passport holders though it will cost around $50.00 USD per person. This covered multiple entries which were required for our border crossings between Zimbabwe and Zambia for the Devil’s pool (see previous blog entry). Fortunately, the border control representatives were very helpful and made acquiring the correct visa a breeze.
Upon leaving the secured area we were met by our guide Cosmas. We had arranged for our safari through Africa Zim, a local company, and it was booked as a private tour which meant that for the next week it would primarily be just Cosmas, T, and me. A self-proclaimed village boy, Cosmas was fantastic. He had excellent knowledge of the natural surroundings, the true local culture, and customs, and did his very best to ensure that we were always well-informed and comfortable with the daily schedule.
Greeted by his warm smile, we were soon in the car driving to our lodge. Upon arrival at the lodge we checked in and Cosmas made certain everything was as it should be for our stay before bidding us goodnight.
October 11th, 2022 (G) - Dr. Livingstone, Victoria Falls & Devil’s Pool
Victoria Falls and the Devil’s Pool! Since much of this day was fully covered in our previous blog entry, I will hit just one point of interest that was not included in the previous post. Upon walking around Victoria Falls, we came across the statue of a rather intrepid-looking character. Upon reading the placks below we learned this character was none other than Dr. David Livingstone, which you may recollect from the now famously quoted line, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume. “ Unlike many other explorers, the legacy of Dr. Livingstone and his impact upon the indigenous people is a tale of love, honor, respect, and toward the conclusion of his life a ceaseless effort to end slavery in the area.
He and his work for the people were so revered, that upon his death, his heart was taken and buried in Zambia since it was believed that his heart should always remain in the place he loved so well, while the rest of his body was physically carried the 1,500 km (930 miles) to the coast so that it could be returned to be buried in the explorer’s corner of Westminister Abbey in London.
The experience was moving.
With that covered, we’ll hop over the rest of the day’s activities and proceed from the following morning. Please read our previous entry for more information, it was an epic day.
https://www.gtglobaltrek.com/blog-3/the-devils-pool-is-hella-awesome
October 12th, 2022 (G) - Sunset Cruise and Boma Dinner
We enjoyed a very slow morning at the lodge barring one event. We found a rather large huntsman spider about 7 cm (2.5 inches) in diameter. The good news is that this particular spider is not dangerous to humans (causing only irritation if bitten, though such occurrences are rare) and it even hunts mosquitos. Really, this spider was a good fellow to have around, but even though we had a quality mosquito net surrounding our bed, T preferred our new eight-legged pal be transferred back to the great outdoors. The trouble is, they are wicked fast. After a great deal of effort, we managed to get him to exit our room to the great outdoors where I have no doubt he is still happily hunting mosquitos.
Aside from the spider, we relaxed in our room, worked on previous blog entries some, and later sat by the pool and garden area until it was time for our Zambezi River Sunset Cruise.
It was late afternoon when a young man arrived with a small bus. We had been informed by Cosmas who to expect so after being greeted, we hopped into the bus. We stopped at a few other locations for other passengers and eventually proceeded to one of the Zimbabwe National Parks. We were soon onboard a pontoon boat and cruising upstream toward the sun that was beginning its daily descent to the horizon. It is important here that I include the color of the sun in Zimbabwe. It is unlike anywhere else I have ever seen. Most likely due to the dust arising from the Kalahari to the west during the dry season, the sun took on the deepest red color I have ever seen appear. I wished with all my might that I could capture it with a photo but, it was not possible to capture this coloring accurately.
As the sun fell into deeper hues of scarlet, we were lucky enough to spot crocodiles, a few elephants, giraffes, and a couple of hippos all while enjoying a gorgeous sunset and light meal.
With the last rays of light, we returned to our dock. The baboons, which had quickly taken an interest in our bus upon arrival, had fortunately moved off so we had no trouble returning to the bus. The driver had accompanied us on the cruise and now took us to enjoy a traditional-style Boma dinner.
Having been dressed in a few pieces of traditional African fabrics and faces painted with a few red marks, we sat down at our table. The evening included a bit of dancing for me, though T opted not to join in, an inclusive drumming session, a fantastic array of traditional African dishes including the local delicacy known as Mopane-worms (these are actually the caterpillar form of the emperor moth, when cooked they are slightly crunchy with a very pleasant savory aftertaste), but our favorite event of the night was the celebration of an 87-year-old Zimbabwe granny. Certainly, they sang to her and provided a small cake for her, but she was really the one who stole the show. When the dancing and music first began, of her own accord she picked up her cane and took to the dance floor. While she may have moved a bit slow getting there, cane in hand but not in use, she spent two full songs on the dance floor, swaying to the drums, kicking her feet, and bobbing to the rhythm.
After dancing to her heart’s content, she then returned to be enveloped by her children and grandchildren who had come from near and far to be with her on her special day. It was beautiful to see firsthand her strength, vitality, and the passionate love she held for and was returned by her family. Something we can all aspire to, I think.
With the sound of drums still in our ears, we returned to our lodge with Cosmas, bid him goodnight, and slept well beneath the mosquito nets that enveloped our bed.
October 13th, 2022 (G) - Entering Chobe & Evening Drive
The time had come for us to move on from our lodge in Victoria Falls. Onward to Botswana and Chobe National Park! Driving through the bushland, we gained an appreciation for the scale and size of Africa. The bushland is immense. For early explorers, it must have understandably seemed an impassable area, easy to become lost in and filled with mystery. Fortunately, modern roads and cars eased the journey and we soon arrived happily at Chobe Lodge.
The lodge had a grand scale and much exceeded my personal expectations. When first planning to go on safari, I was prepared to endure primitive camping conditions, being a fan of camping and the outdoors I would have been happy enough with a cot, mosquito net, tarp, and something to keep the predators out. Truly I had set my hopes on little more than that until we received the correspondence from Africa Zim regarding our accommodations. In their email, pictures of the accommodation were provided and I realized that we would have rather nice hotel-style rooms for most of the journey. Even so, the Chobe Safari Lodge was spectacular. Set directly on the Chobe river, we had our own bungalow with all the amenities one could ask for.
After checking in and getting ourselves settled. We departed immediately for our first 4x4 drive through the park. It was a few hours before sunset which is one of the best times to catch the wildlife either emerging from or heading to the water. We lucked out and spotted hundreds of elephants, a pride of lions, kudus, giraffes, zebras, hippos, impalas, and various other antelopes and birds during our drive.
After returning to the lodge we enjoyed a large supper with Cosmas and called it an early night since we would be going on a dawn drive the very next morning. Wake-up time would be somewhere around 5 am.
October 14th, 2022 (G) - Morning Drive & Evening Cruise
After a quick wink, we found ourselves shambling in the predawn light toward the 4x4s. Soon we were rumbling down the dusty roads toward the park entrance still half asleep. Once we entered the park, we soon perked up. There were only a few elephants around this early in the morning, but the entire pride of lions we had spotted the night before had moved out from under the trees and were now in full view, some laying across the “road” and others sprawling on the grass closer to the water. We stopped and watched them for a little while until they moved one by one back to the shade of the trees, some coming within arm's length of us as they walked through the 4x4s. This would have been less unnerving had one of the nearby trucks not broken down and gotten stuck…right there…in front of the pride of watching lions.
Speaking softly with the other drivers, the driver of the truck in question arranged to have the other drivers surround and block his truck from the view of the lions which allowed the driver to get out of the truck open the hood and make whatever mercifully quick repair was needed. Our driver seemed to be the most willing to help, and she hopped out of our truck as well to assist with the inspection. Still, the lions were visibly intrigued by this change in the regular routine of the trucks. Their eyes were locked on the group of us, moving their heads side to side as though looking for an opening to pay the lone driver an unwanted visit. We all gave a sigh of collective relief when he returned to his truck and the engine fired over. Now, there was the simple problem of getting the truck out of the sandy area it was stuck in. Mercifully, this was quickly accomplished by our driver, she simply squared up with the front of the stuck truck and gently rammed it until free. Seeing the beleaguered truck freed, the lions lost interest and returned to dozing in the shade of the trees.
We set off again and drove up to a high area, spotting some vultures, on the way. The hill was far from the water and the lions so we felt at ease hopping out of the 4x4 to stretch our legs. We spotted a red billed hornbill (Zazu, for those Lion King lovers out there) while we sipped coffee or tea and munched on small cookies on the hilltop.
As we were finishing up, our driver received a call from a fellow driver stating that a leopard had been spotted! This was a rare occurrence, in the 9 years our guide had been working and doing these trips, this would if we could make it in time, be only the 3rd time he had a chance to see one. Knowing that leopards were particularly elusive and quick to disappear from spectators, our driver hurried us back into the truck and set off with land speed-breaking records with the goal of delivering us a fine view of a wild leopard. Her efforts were well rewarded when we arrived to spot the leopard still lounging on a tree branch, his face hidden from view by an off-shooting limb. We watched in silent wonder as after a few minutes the leopard lifted his head into full view and then set it down looking directly at us. A flurry of camera clicks broke the silence, ours included, while we remained in awe of this elusive member of the big cat family.
A few minutes more, and we moved off to allow newcomers their turn to snap a photo and share this special experience. We saw a few other animals, a giraffe, a few kudu, on the drive back to the lodge, but nothing more spectacular than the leopard.
After returning to the lodge, we had breakfast and then took an afternoon nap before returning to a muster point in the main lodge area. We gathered this time for another sunset river cruise. The Chobe River, divides Namibia and Botswana and is positively teeming with wildlife on both sides. We saw elephants playing in the river, the young ones in particular seemed to enjoy spraying water everywhere but on themselves while a couple of the adults swam across the river to an island to browse or perhaps just to get away from the young ones. Crocodiles lay out in the sun with their mouths agape to aid in cooling themselves, big smiles all around from them. Some hippos and herds of African Buffalo also inhabited the islands. The cruise ended by spotting the tiny but colorful kingfisher bird and another magnificent red sunset.
October 15th, 2022 (G) - Entering the Kalahari
After a quick breakfast, we set out to enter the Kalahari. This would be a longer drive. We were headed south and as we drove on we passed through impressive flat spaces used for agriculture before entering the khaki-colored grass and sands on the northeastern edge of the Kalahari. The trees here during the dry season are little more than dark shrubs that add a harsh beauty to the landscape. We could occasionally spot the massive termite mounds which stretched up to match the height of the trees. The desert itself is massive, stretching across most of southern Botswana, into northern South Africa, and Eastern Namibia. We were able to cross just a small amount of the northeastern portion of the desert on this day. The following day we would cross through the center of it to reach the Okavango Delta, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
During the remainder of the drive Cosmas told us about many of the local tribal customs, everything from their healing practices, to marriage customs, and even funeral ceremonies. He answered any question we came up with, explaining in great detail the reasons for the beliefs and how they had changed through the years. He also told us about growing up in the village and how it differed greatly between the wet and dry season. The wet season was a time of great activity and hard work. It was filled with early mornings and late nights working the fields while the dry season was laidback and the time he enjoyed most as a child.
With his stories having kept us occupied, it seemed in no time, we arrived in our front wheel drive car along an excessively windy and sandy road, which we would later learn several 4x4 trucks had recently gotten stuck on, to our camp. As previously mentioned I was prepared for camping, but this, this was glamping, baby. Any British campaign member would have happily thrown down their hat here. We lacked nothing in the heavy canvas tent. Bunks, bathroom, shower, sink, comfortable wicker chairs, even a vanity desk for T (not that she needs or uses one) were all present. The front of the tent was closed off with a clean glass wall, while screened window slots around the sides of the tent allowed for a nice cross breeze while keeping bugs at bay. The cross breeze was sufficient to ease the sweltering heat of the desert to a tolerable degree. Fortunately, dry heat is always more bearable than the humid, suffocating heat of the jungle so T and I were both rather pleased by the dry wind. The tents were placed around an elephant waterhole, with the front of the tent facing the elephants that gathered there. Elephant Sands truly is where elephants rule.
Given that we were in the desert during dry season there were always several elephants coming and going often right by our tent to reach the waterhole. Possibly one of the most interesting and slightly frightening things about elephants is just how quietly they walk. For an animal of such massive size, you would never know they were approaching until they are next to you, unless they run or trumpet (yes it’s actually referred to as trumpet). The only thing we could sometimes hear when they passed our tent by a meter or so, would be their breathing. Still, they were very aware of our tent and kept a respectful distance.
So, with the heat of the late afternoon upon us, after dropping our packs, and observing that our tent would not be trampled, we decided to sleep through the remaining heat of the day.
After our nap, occasionally disturbed by an elephant trumpet, we rose and sat in front of our tent as the sun fell and the air cooled. Eventually, we moved from our tent to the nearby lodge where we enjoyed watching the elephants. As the light fell to twilight, we each enjoyed a South African produced cider and watched as a pair of banded mongoose kept by the owners to kill snakes prowled around the dining area of the lodge. Having a personal aversion to snakes or nope ropes of nearly any variety, I was grateful for their presence.
A small fire was lit as darkness fell, we enjoyed its warmth and sat very close to the elephants with Cosmas. All was well until a pair of male elephants had some sort of disagreement. A few loud trumpets, the thunder of a true elephant charge and we realized in horror that one of the very large males was being forced back by another towards us. In the blink of an eye T and I retreated away from the small wooded fence that separated us from the elephants. I have no doubt that the elephants would not intend to have crushed us, but seeing an elephant nearly fall (fortunately this one did not) it is easy to understand just how quickly a person could be squashed. The pair of males seemed to have settled whatever their crisis had been and returned peacefully together to finish taking long drinks from the watering hole.
After our moment of excitement, we returned to the fire, though not quite as close this time. Eventually, dinner was prepared and we enjoyed an excellent meal before calling it a night. The stars and moon shone brightly that night. Bright enough for us to notice the huge silhouettes that passed silently past our windows until we drifted off to sleep.
October 16th, 2022 (G) - Crossing the Kalahari
Needing only two hours of sleep per night, elephants never ceased coming and going through the night. Occasionally we would awake to their noises, but quickly became acclimated to them and enjoyed a mostly restful night’s sleep. When morning came, we were surprised to see none remained at the water hole. As we ate breakfast, the number increased. The first to appear was a young male, that approached slowly at first. Followed closely by two other small males, he seemed to realize he would be the first to arrive at the water hole and broke into a triumphant little run. With a short trumpet and ears fully opened he ran happily down the little hill to claim his prize, the first drink of the day’s fresh water. Soon after the others joined him. Then a baby elephant and its mother we had spotted the night before returned for another drink and several other individuals reappeared to enjoy the cool mud and water.
After finishing breakfast, we set off once more. With deft hands, Cosmas drove us back out the sandy winding road. We passed a deeply stuck 4x4 truck that had attempted to depart earlier that morning along the way. Back out to the main highway, we pushed deeper into the Kalahari. The landscape changed some, showing less grass and more sand with fewer trees. Along the highway there were still large green trees owing partly to a waterline that ran next to it that was intended to provide villages with fresh water. The elephants had discovered this waterline in some places and used their immense strength to move the massive concrete access panels so they could enjoy the fresh water.
A portion of the highway was designated as an emergency airstrip after this portion, the highway became much rougher, though not much if any rougher than some of the US highways (looking at you, Indianapolis). It was just after this rough portion of highway that we spotted a large 4x4 truck overturned on its side across the road. A woman sat on the ground clutching her left arm with a bloody rag and another lay very still face down on the pavement to the side of the road. Others people had already stopped and seemed to be checking on them. Uncertain what to expect Cosmas pulled the car past the overturned truck. Skid marks could clearly be seen on the pavement, with the situation unclear Cosmas parked the car and told us he was going to go check on the situation.
We kept watch as he walked toward the group, spoke with them briefly and returned. He informed us that both people were still alive though injured and emergency response had already been notified, but they were now just arguing over who was at fault. With nothing we could do further to assist, we drove on and soon spotted an ambulance headed in the direction of the wreck. We were collectively rather quiet for much of the rest of the drive. It was still several hours before we arrived in Maun but elephants or ostriches here or there broke the silence.
Maun is built near the southeastern edge of the Okavango Delta. During the rainy season the waters of the delta rise and various islands or roads disappear beneath it. It was an intriguing landscape, a mix between the familiar grasses and small dark trees of the desert and lush green swaths of waterlily laden pools or streams. Our accommodation for this final stretch of our safari was a large and beautifully built hotel, that looked out across one of the stretches of lush green reeds. As we entered we could spot some locals pulling their Mokoro Canoes from the water. These are flat-bottomed, traditionally wood (though increasingly they are being made of fiberglass to reduce damage to the local environment) dugout canoes.
After finding our room we had dinner with Cosmas and then went to bed feeling quite prepared for whatever the Okavango Delta might have in store for us the following day…what fools we were.
October 17th, 2022 (T) - The Okavango Delta and Its Angry Hippos
We’ve had some frightening moments while traveling. A few that come to mind are night hiking in The Amazon, hiking on very narrow paths with certain death below if you tripped, or waiting for a ride at 2AM in Rio. We were not expecting today to far surpass those other experiences and become the scariest day we’ve had while traveling so far.
We woke up early, ate breakfast, and waited in the lobby for our ride. We met our friendly driver on time and climbed into the 4x4 to head out to the delta. During the ~hour and a half drive we drove through neighborhoods, highways, then the bush where we passed by some villages. Many children were on their way to school and excitedly waved at us as we drove by. We smiled and waved in return which were met with large grins. Eventually, we arrived at the village situated at the shoreline of The Okavango Delta where we would begin our journey in a mokoro (long, narrow, short-sided, flat-bottomed canoes. Traditionally, they are carved out of wood but now the majority of them are made of fiberglass to save the trees).
Our guide grew up in the village and knew the delta well, which meant he was highly skilled at reading and responding to hippo and crocodile behavior. We knew hippos or crocodiles could be in the water, and we were a bit nervous about it, but we had confidence in the locals’ capabilities to keep us safe. After all, they did grow up and still live on the banks of the delta and are familiar with tracking hippos and know how to give them space so they don’t feel threatened. Our confidence was shaken rather quickly into our boat ride.
It's the dry season, so the water level is low and there are less places for hippos to go during the heat of the day. They usually graze in the morning and night when they aren't at risk for sunburn (they get sunburned too!), so during the day they hang out in shallow water (they can't swim). The crocodiles migrate to areas of the delta where there’s more water.
Literally, as soon as we were poled out we saw a hippo. We gave him space and all was fine. Our guide kept us toward the shore as we continued out. Hippos are fiercely territorial and if they feel like you're trespassing, they will charge you, but they won't eat you, they're vegetarians. The mean kind. They’re the deadliest land animal in the world, killing 500+ people in Africa every year. Not even a minute later we saw another hippo, eyes locked, about 50 feet/17 meters away. He was tracking us. Another THREE hippos surfaced and followed his lead.
My heart was racing and G and I asked what we should do if they attacked. Do we run? Yes, but hippos are FAST on land and in water. But to freeze would be to die in a hippo attack. Ok, so, run, but you physically cannot outrun a hippo. Their disadvantage is their short stumpy legs, so if you can, run in a zigzag. Better yet, if there's a fallen tree or some type of obstacle you can jump over, do that, because hippos can't jump and that will buy you time. G also thought to throw our hats if we needed to, so the hippos would maybe go after them and buy us a few more seconds to flee. At least we had a plan.
My mind was racing as well - we're in the water which would slow us down significantly trying to run. Sure it's less than a foot deep but that's deep enough to make a difference. I don't see any fallen trees or rocks or obstacles to jump over. There are some trees way off in the distance I could run behind, if I make it to them. That hat idea was a good one. Touché, G.
As I was playing out our deaths or brushes with death, I hear a loud snort. The hippos were not amused we were taking too long to get out of their territory and began snorting at us, a warning to GTFO. They started slowly moving towards us. I thought I was panicking before but now I actually was. My heart was racing and pounding. I could intensely feel every heartbeat from my stomach to my head. I felt like I was about to throw up and pass out. G and I could tell our guide was nervous as well, though he was trying to play it cool. Another 30 seconds or so went by and we slowly kept moving away from them and stayed quiet.
Fortunately, we got off their lawn fast enough and they didn't shoot. The anxiety was far from over. Don’t ask me why I thought this was a good idea, but I decided this was the perfect time to ask our guide if he had ever been attacked by a hippo. Why, yes, he had! Never with clients though, and he’s been doing this for 5 years. He was out in a mokoro with his girlfriend during the wet season when hippos have more room to roam and can be harder to spot and they didn’t see the hippo nearby. The hippo charged, they blasted out of the canoe and were able to swim and then run to safety.
With that in mind, we pressed on for another 50 minutes toward an island where we were going to hike. The delta truly is a natural beauty, we were surrounded by reeds, lilies, little yellow water flowers you can use as squirt guns, and African landscape on both sides, fields of grass with scarce trees and various birds and animals going about their day.
Just when we were starting to relax some, as we had not seen another hippo since the mighty 4, our guide informs us the delta is at the lowest it's been all year. It's so low that if it doesn't rain soon, within a couple of days he'll need to use different trails for the mokoros. Trails? Oh... These are HIPPO trails. My stomach knotted up again. Not much to do about it now. We had to go back the way we came and we were almost to the island.
When we arrived at the island, the three of us got out of the boat and started on our hike. Our guide had a stick, no gun and no machete. Immediately, our guide points out some poo and says that's hippo poo used to mark their territory. Greeeat. It didn’t look that old to me, but I’m no hippo expert so I’m not sure.
Up until now, our main fear was the hippos. However, our guide informed us lions are frequently spotted on this island. He nonchalantly stated lions usually run away from humans. If they don't, and they're interested in you, don't run, because that triggers their prey response. I thought to myself, what if we see a lion and a hippo at the same time? (Run? Don't run? Jump?) I was ready to teleport back. Instead, I asked if there were snakes in the area. Sigh. Yes, there are cobras, mambas, vipers, and pythons, but they don't stay in this area during the dry season. Finally, some good news!
At this point, G and I walked a bit behind our guide and discussed returning early. The weather was cloudy and much cooler than usual. What if the hippos want an afternoon snack? What if they can smell their territory on us and take offense? We'd rather not find out. We let our guide know we only wanted to walk for about 30 minutes and then go back. He was surprised and tried to convince us to stay on the island longer but we weren't afraid to say we were afraid and would rather return early so we could avoid any hippo or lion confrontations.
We were relieved to only see birds and cows up close and elephants in the distance on our hike. Our guide taught us about some of the local plants, a poison apple, and wild sage.
After the brief hike, we returned to the boat and began making our way back by the same hippo trails. G and I vigilantly watched for hippos. Another mokoro with a guide and tourists passed us. Their guide told our guide they were afraid as well. Glad we weren't alone. We did not see any hippos until we were almost back, then spotted a few where we had seen them before, perhaps the same ones. I played the escape plan over and over as we gave a wide berth and slowly passed. They were less interested this time. Phew! I couldn't get out of the boat fast enough when we pulled up to the shore.
We apologized to our guide for wanting to dip out of the tour early and he reassured us it wasn’t a problem. We thanked him and then climbed back into the 4x4 where we made our trip back to the hotel.
It was only about 2:00PM when we returned. The adrenaline spikes had been much too high to allow for a nap, so we just vegged out until dinner with Cosmas when we told him all about our perceived near-death ordeal. When he heard we had been canoeing through hippo trails he said even he would say no to that and he understood our fear.
G and I are cautious to share our travel plans with most people we meet while traveling but we felt comfortable sharing with Cosmas the night before. He was so excited to hear about our trek. We spent a lot of time during our last dinner talking about where we had been and what our upcoming itinerary entailed. We still check in with each other from time to time.
October 18, 2022 - Goodbye, Mainland Africa. And Goodbye, Scissors. (T)
The only thing on the agenda today was to go to the airport and fly to our next destination, Reunion Island. After we ate breakfast, Cosmas drove us to the airport. We had an unforgettable time in Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Botswana and would recommend Africa Zim Travel and Tours to anyone looking to go on a safari or to see Victoria Falls (and ask for Cosmas if he’s available!) https://africazim-travel.com/
As we were heading toward the security checks in the Maun Airport, we saw the sign for departures “Ba Ba Bololang”, and I thought that was such a fun word to say (sounds like it looks, we asked).
We had managed to carry the same pair of small scissors for cutting hair since 2020 until our layover in Johanessburg where they were confiscated. Good thing we had recently done haircuts.
The Devil’s Pool is Hella Awesome
(T) Swimming in The Devil’s Pool at Victoria Falls was at the top of my list of things I wanted to do on this grand adventure. I’ve always been drawn to waterfalls and I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie, fortunately, G is too, so literally swimming in and leaning over one of the world’s seven natural wonders greatly appealed to us. I mean, just look at where it is.
I did quite a bit of research to do what I could to make sure this experience was possible. One of the most important things to know if you want to do this is The Devil’s Pool is only open to visitors during the dry season otherwise the water will carry you right over the edge. The driest months and best months to go are typically September and October. There is another pool that is more forgiving weatherwise, aptly named The Angel’s Pool, that you can swim in during the wet season but can’t lean over the edge and the view isn’t quite as spectacular.
Another important thing to know is the iconic view of Victoria Falls is on the Zimbabwe side (1st photo), but The Devil’s Pool is on the Zambia side (2nd photo). We flew into Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, and were able to take care of our visas for both Zimbabwe and Zambia on arrival at the airport.
There were a couple of big deterrents that would’ve dissuaded me from getting in the world’s widest curtain of falling water. The first was the possible threat of hippos or crocodiles. Victoria Falls flows from the Zambezi River which is known to have a healthy number of both hippos and crocodiles swimming and bobbing around in it, neither of which I want to swim with. After all, hippos are the deadliest land animal in the whole world, killing 500+ people in Africa every year. I’d rather not be a part of that statistic. The second was the fear of contracting schistosomiasis, a disease caused by parasitic worms released by freshwater snails that also live in The Zambezi River.
I learned I didn’t have to worry about hippos, crocodiles, or schistosomiasis swimming out to and in The Devil’s Pool because of two things: the water depth and current! The snails are only found in still water. Hippos and crocodiles stay in shallow water and they prefer it to be still. Hippos actually can’t swim so they avoid deep water. In order to get to the Devil’s Pool, you wave to wade in then swim through water that’s fairly deep with a moderate current. The Devil’s Pool itself is pretty deep and hippos and crocs would need to 1. swim through deep flowing water and 2. climb over some rocks to get to it. Phew!
With my fears set aside, I gave myself the green light for planning. G and I had booked a safari with Africa Zim Travel and Tours (we highly recommend them! we will write about our safari in our next post) in Zimbabwe and Botswana, so I contacted them to see if they could squeeze in a visit to The Devil’s Pool. The only way to get there is to take a tour to Livingstone Island in Zambia through a separate company. Zim Travel and Tours arranged the add-on for us with no booking or convenience fee. The cost was $155/person. Below are the details of our day.
October 11, 2022 - Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe) and The Devil’s Pool (Zambia)
Soon enough the day had come to see Victoria Falls and then swim in The Devil’s Pool! The day after we arrived, we were picked up in the morning from our lodge and dropped off at Victoria Falls National Park, Zimbabwe. If seeing the falls is what brings you here, Zimbabwe has the best view and, take note, you’ll see fuller waterfalls during the wet season. We spent about two hours walking around on our own, taking in the views, and appreciating the plants and animals in the park.
Afterward, we were driven back to our lodge. Later in the afternoon, we were picked up for The Livingstone Afternoon High Tea Tour (AKA: time to visit The Devil’s Pool!). We were driven across the border and stopped at the border crossing to have our passports stamped. The locals affectionately call the border Zim-Zam on the way to Zambia and Zam-Zim on the way to Zimbabwe. When we arrived in Zambia from Zimbabwe and Zim Zam we were driven ~15 minutes to our boat. The first part of the trek was about a 10-minute boat ride to the island. When G and I approached the boat, we saw were doing this adrenaline-filled activity with a group of gutsy Korean-American retirees, so no one can tell us they’re too old to do this! It was possible to see crocs or hippos on the boat ride over to the island but we were in a bigger, motorized boat, so we weren’t too worried about it. We made it to the island without seeing any predators.
When we arrived at the island, we were given towels and the chance to change if we needed to. Then we locked up our stuff in lockers, and took a brief walk to another side of the island where we would begin our swim out. We had three guides to keep us safe throughout the entire experience. One by one, we got in the water and waded our way across the river until the water became too deep and the current picked up, where we swam a very short way then waded a little more over to some rocks. The current was was moderate but was not too strong to swim in.
We climbed up and then across the rocks and finally saw it, The Devil’s Pool. The view was even more impressive than I had built up in my mind. The sound of the falls, the site of the water falling over huge cliffs right in front of you, the feeling of the mist, all of it was better than I could have thought. I was in awe of this natural wonder.
The rest of the group went before we did since they had more people. None of them backed out! We applauded each of them as they climbed out of the pool. They started their journey back to the island with one of the guides and, finally, it was our turn. I jumped in the Devil’s Pool first and G shortly followed me. Once you jump in the pool you have to swim hard for about 2 meters (6 feet) across the pool to the cliff’s edge, but there are two guides right there who will make sure nothing happens (and take amazing photos for the Gram). We were forewarned about small, friendly fish who like to bite people in a harmless, painless way, but when I first felt one it was still unsettling, but not frightening. If I moved my arm or leg quickly, they would swim away, maybe to bite G. We made it to the very edge of The Devil’s Pool, Victoria Falls. We plopped up on the edge for some pictures before it was time to lean over the edge. Yes, lean over it and look down!
The guides are the real MVPs. G and I took turns leaning over the edge as one of the guides held our ankles for our dear lives while the other snapped photos (that made it look like we were defying the falls, suspended over the edge.)
Want to see over the edge, too? Here we go!
The time had come for us to swim hard back to the rocks, climb up and over, walk to the river where we waded and swam back to the island. We dried off and joined our retiree group at a lovely set table for drinks and snacks. They were a fun group to be with. One thing we really appreciated is they would, at times, speak in Korean with each other but then one person would translate for us. We didn’t mind that they were speaking Korean and didn’t expect them to translate for us, but found it so thoughtful that they did. We filled them in on our early retirement and they were very excited for us. We also talked about their families, where they lived in the US, etc. When we finished our refreshments and debriefed about our thrilling Devil’s Pool experience, we walked back to the boat, climbed in, and went back to the pickup point. This time we saw a hippo! Fortunately, it was in the distance and wasn’t interested in us.
We said our goodbyes, and G and I headed back toward the border, crossed through Zam-Zim back into Zimbabwe. We truly had the best guide on our trip during most of our time in Zimbabwe and Botswana, Cosmas. Cosmas went out of his way to take us to see Zimbabwe’s largest and oldest baobab tree on the way back to our lodge!
After our impromptu stop, Cosmas took us back to our lodge, where G and I ate dinner and called it an early night. The Devil’s Pool is easily one of the best experiences of both of our lives.
Cape Town, The Mother of Surprises
October 4th, 2022 (G) - First Impressions
A brief layover in Addis Ababa and before we knew it we had touched down in Cape Town. Cape Town, known as the Mother City of Africa, has some pretty mixed reviews. Crime, especially violent crime is reportedly very high, but word from other travelers, Reddit threads, and various sources also boast about what a wonderful travel destination Cape Town is. Mixed reviews all around left us not really certain what to expect from this mother. So with a high degree of wariness we exited the security checkpoint.
We were grateful to know that Uber is alive and well in Cape Town. The safety functions of Uber added some peace of mind as we walked past the various taxi drivers offering rides. Most I am certain were on the level, but in Cape Town (as in many other cities around the world) express kidnapping via fake taxi or as experienced in Naples fake police officers is a potential issue to be mindful of. We found the airport to be easy to navigate with clearly marked areas for Uber. Soon we were in our uber and headed toward the Atlantic seaboard.
T and I had spent a great deal of time researching where to be and not be. We had found that much of the Atlantic seaboard was much safer than the City Bowl area and leaps and bounds better than Cape Flats. Eventually, we landed on the Sea Point. The community of Sea Point has banded together to achieve community improvements. They formed a volunteer organization to remove litter, demand greater police presence, provide shelter for the homeless, and actively work on beautification projects. The area boasts a beautiful seaside promenade, great food venues, and easy access to hiking and Redbus tours.
T and I arrived at our hotel, Villa Rosa, which would serve as our home base for the next 6 days. We found it was a beautiful old victorian era house that had been well-maintained. With its high ceilings and generous space, relative to European standards, we felt spoiled. It was thankfully tucked away from the main streets. We were immediately greeted by David, the property’s breakfast chef. He checked us in and showed us to our room where we took some time to relax and plan our activities for the week ahead.
We also quickly learned about Load Shedding. Load Shedding is essentially rolling blackouts. Usually, this occurs twice a day and once at night in Cape Town due to a lack of electricity, lasting 1-2 hours at a time. It is an issue that the government is actively working towards resolving, but it does leave worrisome periods of time that the organized local gangs regularly take advantage of, especially at night. Our advice, even in the good areas of town, is don’t be out much after dark. Even if the location is safe, you may be vulnerable on the way to or from a location. According to a local Uber driver, there have been instances at night in which gangs block even major highways during the blackouts to force cars to stop so the gangs can rob them at gunpoint.
October 5th, 2022 (G) - Seaside Walk and First Dining Experience
We woke and enjoyed a fantastic breakfast prepared by David. We met Chelsea, the property manager, for the first time and discussed what to see and how to best experience Cape Town. She was wonderful and provided us with excellent dining recommendations as well as advised us that the best ways to make the most of our time. We normally aren’t big on group tours, but she advised us that the Cape Town City Sightseeing Bus Tours (locally known as red bus tours) are one of the best ways to see as much as possible in a short period of time. Having taken her advice we couldn’t agree more that for Cape Town, the red bus is really the way to go and the guides really did a phenomenal job.
Still, we wanted to explore some on our own, so we headed down the hill to the coast to take in the area. After speaking with Chelsea, we knew that we wanted to take at least one red bus tour to see the African Penguins and see the Cape of Good Hope. So we spent a few minutes locating the pickup point of the bus so that we wouldn’t have to scramble looking for it the next morning. Once found we leisurely walked along the coast, enjoying the fresh salty wind and sunshine. The promenade was well cared for and the sea wall had a National Geographic gallery of wonderful little placards with pictures and descriptions of local birds and wildlife.
After spending the day orienting ourselves, we found our way to our first South African dining experience. La Boheme was a small place off Main Street. With tasteful decor (including a seasonally appropriate witch or two on broomsticks) and relaxed electric swing pumping softly through the speakers in the background, we had high hopes. La Boheme didn’t disappoint us. The food was excellent and we enjoyed pairing it with South Africa’s original wine varietal, Pinotage. For those that are interested, Pinotage was developed as a cross between the Pinot Noir and Hermitage grape varietals. Between the food, wine, and general ambiance of the place, I had higher hopes for the rest of our time in Cape Town than I had originally expected and understood better why the city has a reputation as a foodie hotspot.
As we stepped back into the early evening world of Main Street, we kept our wits about us. There were a few sketchy characters here and there as we walked back to our hotel, but nothing that sent off red flags. Still, we did feel somewhat relieved after passing through the locked gate of our hotel before load shedding began.
October 6th, 2022 (T) - Penguins and The Cape of Good Hope
We woke up early for our first red bus tour. It’s more than a month later and I still think about David’s breakfasts from time to time. There was a rotating hot breakfast option every day and every single one was delicious. Normally I’m not a big fan of scrambled eggs, but he’s mastered the art of making them. After breakfast, we walked the 3-4 blocks to the pickup point for the red bus. We hopped on and began our journey to find the African Penguins!
Our stop was one of the first stops for the double-decker bus, so we secured great seats on the top level. The bus made a few more pickups then we spent the next hour driving to Boulder’s Beach while our guide charismatically taught us about Cape Town and the areas we passed along the way. When we arrived, I could hardly wait to exit the bus and finally see some penguins in the wild. G and I have searched for penguins before and had yet to have found them. We were starting to believe our own conspiracy theory that penguins weren’t real and only could be found in zoos.
Not even five minutes after the bus, there they were. Real (we think) penguins! These little guys are warm water penguins that live in parts of Namibia and South Africa. We were delighted to finally have found some penguins in the wild. We spent about an hour and a half walking along the beach, observing and photographing the penguins. They were really cute. Apparently, they do bite, but you would have to be very rude and stray from the visitor’s path and provoke them. There were a few of them who seemed just as interested in us as we were in them.
Mission accomplished. We hopped back on the bus and drove toward The Cape of Good Hope, learning some interesting animal facts on the way, like mosquitos are Africa’s deadliest animal (if you count them as an animal) and hippos are second (or first, if you don’t count mosquitos as an animal. Later in our global trek, we would experience this fact first hand.)
When we arrived at The Cape of Good Hope, we first walked to the top of the mountain then back down to where our bus was parked so we could hike with the other passengers who were interested in hiking rather than driving down to the cape. In South African fashion, the weather changed on us. We felt as though we were back in Scotland in the Highlands and not in South Africa. A heavy drizzle and strong wind accompanied us for the 45-minute hike down. Fortunately, our guide provided us with red ponchos which helped some. We understood well why this place was previously named The Cape of Storms. A curious ostrich peaked its head over a hill as if it was wondering what this group of red creatures was doing out in this weather. We made it safely down to the cape, snapped some photos of us in the most south-western point in Africa, where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet.
Still a bit wet, we boarded the bus and headed back toward Cape Town. On the way out we saw a troop of baboons walking in the road, checking out the cars as they passed, perhaps hoping someone would feed them. Tip: don’t feed the baboons. Also, if you know you might be around baboons, don’t have food out, because they seriously may steal it from you.
During the drive, our guide taught us more about apartheid and the importance of Nelson Mandela. G and I remember learning about this in school, but learning more about it from a local was sobering, and important to know about to understand the culture and social issues that exist to this day in South Africa. There were multiple classes of people, not just black vs white. Non-white people were forced out of their homes and relocated far away from the city into townships. It was more than segregation. Black people weren’t allowed to run for political office and they weren’t even allowed to vote. It’s no wonder South Africa was blacklisted from many countries around the world for decades. Nelson Mandela, a black lawyer and activist against apartheid, was imprisoned for 27 years for leaving the country without a permit and inciting workers to strike. He was offered freedom if he would accept apartheid, which he rejected. After many years, he helped pave the way for the end of apartheid, and he become South Africa’s first president elected by universal suffrage. It took a powerful person to be able to unite South Africa, and it was very clear to us that Nelson Mandela is revered by many many people of all races in South Africa today.
Eventually, we arrived at our pickup/dropoff point and we walked the brief walk back to our hotel. Uber Eats also works great in Cape Town, so we opted to order in for dinner.
October 7th, 2022 (T) - Lion’s Head and Fine Dining
The main thing on our agenda today was hiking Lion’s Head. We slept in a bit, enjoyed a slow breakfast then ordered an Uber to take us to the trailhead.
One of the things we were the most apprehensive in about in Cape Town was hiking up Lion’s Head. We had read multiple stories and articles about people being robbed on the hike. We debated going with a group but really preferred to go alone. Chelsea assured us that if we go during the day we should be totally fine. She herself has hiked it 7 times and has never run into any issues. Fortunately, we didn’t either.
We saw many people hiking by themselves, families with children, couples, and small groups making the trek to the best viewpoint in Cape Town. Cameras were placed along the trail. We felt safe and it’s clear the city is working toward making the hike safer. The distance is short but it’s a steep one. Parts of the hike involve a little rock scrambling. You can choose rock scrambles or “staples and chains”. The staples and chains option is more dangerous. It’s basically a ladder going up a cliff where you aren’t hooked in. We opted for the rock scrambles. The top did not disappoint. It really is the best 360 view of Cape Town. You have table mountain, the city, the beaches, Robben Island, Signal Hill, etc., all visible from Lion’s Head. In fact, we chose to skip Table Mountain and just do Lion’s Head and we don’t feel like we missed out. If you’re in decent shape and like hikes, we highly recommend it.
After taking in the views and fighting off the spring flies that don’t bite, we started our descent. We came across an armed volunteer trail safety person. We learned a group of locals created a safety group and they take turns keeping the trails free of litter and violence. They don’t advertise when they’ll be out or at which part of the trail. It’s sad there’s a need for the group, but we were comforted and impressed by yet another example of the people taking care of their city. We made it back down to the parking lot and ordered smoothies from a little snack truck.
While we were waiting for our Uber is when the most questionable thing during our time in Cape Town happened. Two younger women were also waiting for their Uber. The person patrolling the parking lot asked them if they needed a taxi to which they replied no at least twice. A taxi pulled up to them anyway and offered them a ride. The patrolman asked them again if they wanted the taxi. At this point, G and I also chimed in and stated no they already had an Uber. That seemed to convince everyone they weren’t going to get in the taxi and the car drove away. Their Uber arrived before ours and we saw them safely leave. Not long after, ours arrived as well and took us back to Villa Rosa. Now, we have no idea if the patrolman and the taxi driver legitimately were just trying to help and offer a ride. The car looked like a real taxi. But, if you go to Cape Town, and really any city that offers Uber or something comparable, just use that for its safety measures and don’t accept other rides.
When we arrived back to the bed and breakfast, Stephen, the owner, asked if we had tried his favorite restaurant, Bouchon Bistro. We had not and since we didn’t have any plans that night he had Chelsea book us a reservation. They had an opening at 7:30 so we had a while before we needed to leave. We capitalized on the time and took a nap then cleaned up for dinner. Bouchon Bistro is in the Central Business District. It was after dark now but well before the load-shedding time, so we took an Uber straight to the restaurant and all was fine.
Dinner was so delicious. Cape Town has wonderful food and wine for more than reasonable prices. The bistro was tapas style, so we ordered many different tapas and a few glasses of wine to pair with them. When we eventually go back to Cape Town and if the restaurant is still there, we will definitely return.
After some fine wining and dining, we took an Uber back to the hotel and slept well that night.
October 8th, 2022 (G) - Kirstenbosch Garden and Sea Point Promenade Food Stalls
High on my list for Cape Town favorites was the Kirstenbosch Gardens. I am a sucker for gardens, especially those that primarily are composed of their native plant varieties. The near-endless kaleidoscope of colors and uses of plants usually leaves me with more questions than I had when I arrived at the garden. Kirstenbosch was no exception and proved a magnificent garden. Situated at the base of table mountain, it is a rich reserve of native flora such as Birds of Paradise, Yellow Wood, Hard Pear, and over 400 hundred other species. We took our time walking through the shady paths filled with these exotic plants. The walk wasn’t aimless though, I had something specific in mind.
The Boomslang! Named after the highly venomous native tree snake, the boomslang in Kirstenbosch is a raised walkway with gorgeous twisting curves that offer visitors a way to walk among the treetops and take in spectacular views of the garden, mountains, and city. We enjoyed the view for a bit and then enjoyed aimlessly wandering through the gardens.
Eventually, in mid-afternoon, we caught the Red Bus once more which carried us along the blueline route. We didn’t have the time we would have liked to stop and enjoy many of the locations. There were wineries, Haut Bay, Camps Bay, and a few others that if time had allowed we would have liked to have stopped and enjoyed, but we were glad to have at least seen them.
It took some time to return to our pickup point by the promenade but we had enough time to visit one of the many food stalls that are situated near a public swimming area. All the fine dining had reminded us fondly of Greek food, so we opted for the Greek food stall. After enjoying a bit of sun with our meal, we returned to our hotel and enjoyed a quiet night in.
October 9, 2022 (T) - South African Vineyards
We couldn’t go to Cape Town without visiting the Franschhoek wine region. After tasting a few glasses at restaurants, we were really excited to visit some vineyards. The red bus also had a day trip out to the wineries. We got up early, ate breakfast, then hopped on the bus at the pickup point to begin our day trip.
The drive took about an hour and a half to reach Franschhoek. We got off the red bus and boarded a tram bound for the wineries. There were 9+ wineries we could choose from but it’s impossible to go to that many in one day. We visited Vrede en Lust, Anura, and Bablyonstoren for wine and snacks, then visited Plaisir Wine Estate for a little gin tasting. Our favorite was Babylonstoren.
We had paced ourselves well, stayed hydrated, and ate enough, so we weren’t in rough shape. The same can’t be said for our bus. Less than 5 minutes after leaving the wineries, our bus pulled over, the bus driver inspected the bus, and made a call. We could tell something was off, but the driver soon returned, and continued the drive. The drive took quite a bit longer than usual, but after a full day of wine and gin sampling, we had no problem using the extra time to take a nap on the bus trip back to Cape Town. It wasn’t until we returned that he revealed there were issues with the bus (we still don’t know what) and he had to wait for another red bus to drive alongside him in case the bus totally broke down. The important thing was made it back in one piece and rather well rested.
We spent the evening packing for our next destination. To make dinner easy, we ordered Uber Eats again. We also video chatted with my parents for the first time since we had left. It was really nice to see them and catch up. They made it known they’re ready for us to come home. We’ll hopefully have to disappoint them for a bit longer.
October 10, 2022 (T) - Goodbye, Cape Town
Cape Town is easily one of our favorite cities we’ve ever visited, both for G and I. We could have spent another 2 or 3 full days there and not run out of things to do.
In the morning, we were delighted to meet with a friend of a friend who’s a local in Cape Town. We spent a couple of hours getting to know each other and learning more about his life in South Africa. While we would have liked to have spent more time with him, our schedules didn’t allow it, and it was the perfect way to say goodbye before we hopped in an Uber toward the airport. The Mother City had done nothing but surprise us with her beauty and the warmth of her people.
Capri, Amalfi, & Ravello!
September 24th, 2022 (G)
The train ride to Naples was uneventful, the action didn’t start until we arrived. Shortly after exiting the train station, we planned to catch a city bus to our hotel. A very normal thing to do. You may recall from past entries that the area immediately around train stations tends to be more questionable than other parts of the city. In Naples, we found an exception. The area outside of the train station was pretty rough looking, with trash strewn about in the streets and a menagerie of questionable looking characters. We quickly found our bus stop and waited. It was a minute or two later when one of the questionable looking characters, poorly disguised as a police officer, approached us, and flashed a laminated card that he claimed was his badge and officer information, before claiming to be a police officer. He then quickly asked us where we were going.
Knowing that this was almost certainly a scammer or some other form of unsavory character, we kept it vague, stating only that we were going to our hotel and that we had no need of assistance. The fake officer seemed to quickly understand our tone and facial expressions which strongly conveyed that the conversation was over and that we were onto him. We were fortunate that rather than escalating the situation he seemed to prefer to not draw any attention from the real police enforcement standing nearby with their rifles and he moved on.
We soon boarded our bus, which was extremely crowded. It was a pickpocket’s dream inside the bus, but we were vigilant and lucky. As we moved away from the train station the general state of things did not improve. Garbage was everywhere. There has been a long history of garbage issues in the city of Naples. During our time there we found only the waterfront promenade to be free of trash. We were relieved when we, at last, entered our hotel. We ventured out to the aforementioned waterfront promenade for dinner and then opted to spend the night in our room.
September 25th, 2022 (G)
The rain greeted us as we left for the ferry station. We decided to walk as it was only a “10-minute walk” which was a lie. It was at least 30 minutes to the ferry building and T and I are generally pretty quick walkers. After a half hour, we made it to the ferry building and we were very damp. The sea outside was a little choppy but nothing extreme, T and I had sailed through much worse on our first visit to Africa when crossing the Straits of Gibraltar. So, we were rather surprised to find that our ferry had been canceled. In fact, all the ferries to Capri had been canceled, except one.
That one ferry wasn’t leaving from Naples though. It was leaving from Sorrento which was a full two hours drive to the south due to traffic. We were the lucky ones though since we at least knew about the other ferry. T’s tenacity had paid off since she continued to question the ferry building personnel after having been originally told simply that all the ferries had been canceled. Armed with that knowledge, we set out in search of a means to get to Sorrento in time for the ferry. We were double lucky when we found a minivan taxi driving that was arranging a ride to Sorrento that needed two extra passengers. T and I jumped in the front seat with the driver and off we went.
Two hours later we arrived in Sorrento with enough time to split the Taxi fare 8 ways, buy new tickets for the ferry from Sorrento to Capri, and stand around for just 20 minutes before boarding the mostly empty ferry. The ride to Capri was smooth as there was little wind with the rain. We were greeted on the dock by a driver named Luigi that had been sent by our hotel at our request since we had decided to stay in Anacapri on the western part of the island instead of Capri itself. Luigi was kind enough to point out the main street of Anacapri and a few points of interest along the way to the hotel.
After arriving at the hotel and finding our room we decided to call it a day rather than venturing out again. The weather had remained chilly and rainy and we were both tired from the impromptu reroute to Sorrento.
September 26th, 2022 (G)
With our plans for poolside sunbathing squashed by the still chilly rainy weather, we spent most of the morning relaxing. Then since the weather had cleared some, we ventured to the main street of Anacapri. We had been tasked by a very dear friend to find a specific perfume shop and purchase some that we could send to her mother. The perfume was only sold on the island of Capri. After a bit of searching, we found the shop. However, it dawned upon us that we weren't exactly certain which perfume specifically we were searching for. So we took reference photographs and sent them to our friend so that we could return the following day and claim the correct perfumes.
With our mission temporarily paused, we spent time walking around, exploring the town of Anacapri, and eating gelato. After a few hours, we returned to our hotel and enjoyed watching the sunset from the rooftop terrace.
September 27th, 2022 (G)
The weather had finally cleared fully and warmed enough that after breakfast we decided to set out on foot to see the Blue Grotto. Our hotel was near enough that we felt the walk would not be too far and would do us some good after being cooped up by the weather. We had not walked for too long when we spotted a set of stairs that were not shown on the map but went in the general correct direction we needed. The road itself was a set of switchbacks without a real shoulder or sidewalk so the stairs which seemed like they would simply cut straight down the switchbacks appeared to be a welcomed option. We started down the stairs.
After a while, it became apparent that while they were still moving us down and in the correct direction, they did not meet back up with the road as we had anticipated and the quality of stairs and path was quickly dissipating into little more than a brush covered trail. Just as we were about to call it a loss and turn around to head back up the hill, we spotted another trail that went out to the right, which was also the direction of the actual road. Figuring that we didn't have much to lose by attempting to follow that path back to the road we decided to try our luck. We trudged on through thick undergrowth for a while, things were looking rather hopeless. Then all at once, the path cleared and we found ourselves once again on the main road and much closer to the Blue Grotto than we had expected.
We walked on the road a bit further, until once again we noticed a set of steps going downhill. This time, the stairs had a sign to accompany them. The sign stated that the stairs led to a fortress walk along the coast. Since the walk ended very near the Blue Grotto anyway, we decided to take it. We enjoyed exploring the network of old forts used by different nations centuries before to defend and control the island and thanks to a series of painted tile signs along the way learned a great deal more about the local flora and fauna of the island.
After completing our little deviation, we arrived at the hilltop above the Blue Grotto and wasted no time descending the steps down to a little shop that was just above it. Though it was still a little chilly, I had half a mind to jump into the water and swim into the grotto. However, according to the local shop owner, it was now illegal to swim into the Blue Grotto as only boats were allowed to enter the grotto. Well, we called it a miss and enjoyed a small lunch overlooking the sea from above the cave. The wind was pretty strong so swimming out to it may have been a bit dangerous anyway.
After lunch, we caught the bus back up to Anacapri. We had heard back from our friend and with new information were prepared to make the perfume purchase. Or so we thought. We had checked the hours and confirmed with the shopkeeper the day before that they would be open the next day at the time we planned to return. We returned according to that time, but in true Italian fashion the shop was closed and the shopkeeper was nowhere to be found. No note, nothing to indicate when they would reopen. Slightly baffled, we once again wandered the town for a little while, checked once more the still very closed perfume shop, and then began walking back to the hotel. Luigi spotted us on his way back to the hotel and we gladly accepted a ride for the return trip.
We spent the rest of the evening enjoying the rooftop terrace, watching the peregrine falcons dive for prey against the backdrop of the sea and setting sun.
September 28th, 2022 (G&T)
Our day to leave Capri had finally arrived. The weather was fair, so we were once again surprised to learn that our ferry to Amalfi had been canceled. So rather than one last attempt to acquire the coveted perfume we spent our morning in Capri at the docks making arrangements to catch a ferry to Sorrento, yet again the incorrect location. A key underlying takeaway of our trip to Capri was simply don’t plan on reliable ferries. The weather can appear fair and they will still cancel them. At long last, we were aboard a ferry. The crossing was uneventful.
Once in Sorrento we walked through the town to catch a bus to Amalfi. The beauty of the drive along the coast between Sorrento to Amalfi cannot be overstated. While I enjoyed the bus ride, I found myself wishing I had either rented a car or motorcycle to make that drive. Once we arrived in Amalfi a light rain started up again, but we escaped most of it by quickly hopping on another bus bound for Ravello.
This bus was the first and only bus that enforced the requirement of wearing masks. We were one of the first people on the bus because we had our masks handy, which also meant we secured a good seat. We continued up the mountains, made a few stops, and after about 20 minutes reached our stop. Our accommodation was close to the bus stop but we weren’t quite sure how to find it. We walked through town, down an old stone tunnel and stairwell, and made our way to a street overlooking the Amalfi Coast. Google Maps told us we were exactly where we should be, though we still couldn’t find it. Fortunately, a friendly middle-aged Italian woman stopped to help us. We were, in fact, in exactly the correct place. She showed us which door was the correct one. We thanked her and rang the buzzer to be granted entry.
Eleanor’s Garden, our accommodation, quickly became one of our favorites. It’s a series of a few old stone houses with their own large private yards and hot tubs and gorgeous views of the cliffs and coasts below. We were exhausted from another longer-than-necessary journey so we relaxed for the evening and enjoyed a glass of complimentary prosecco in the hot tub while it was raining.
September 29, 2022 (T)
The sun did not want to shine. The sky was overcast and it rained more than it didn’t. We enjoyed our breakfast. While eating breakfast, we met an adorable resident cat. We also learned we could have a bag of laundry done for only five euros so we jumped on the opportunity. After breakfast, we gathered our dirty clothes into a bag and brought it to reception where they let us know they’d bring it back to our room when it was done, and they did a few hours later. Since the weather wasn’t cooperating with us, we decided to take the day to plan more of our adventure and do a little blogging. Something you may not expect to have set this hotel apart from every single other place we had stayed in Europe - it had screens! We were so excited to leave the door open so we could see outside, listen to the rain, and not worry about mosquitos.
To our delight, the resident cat mosied over to our house and looked at us with curiosity through the screen door. G is, unfortunately, allergic to cats, but he agreed we could let him inside as long as we closed off the bathroom and bedroom. I got up, happily closed the doors, and ran over to the front door to let our guest in. We named him Ravello after the town (and it means “rebel” so we found it fitting). He sat on the couch with us for hours, gradually scooting closer and closer to me until we were cuddling. Ravello earned the nickname “circle cat” because at one point, he formed a perfect circle. He helped us get quite a bit of planning done that day.
Circle cat kept us company all afternoon and into the evening. It was starting to get late and G and I were getting hungry. We decided to check out a pizza place just down the hill. We brought circle cat outside and told him goodnight then walked down the hill to the restaurant. Had the weather been clear, the view from the restaurant would have also been stunning. The pizza was delicious. After dinner, we walked back up the hill and called it an early night.
September 30, 2022 (T)
The forecast was still disagreeable, but we were glad to see the sun peak through the clouds sporadically throughout the day. After breakfast, we got ready to venture into town. We walked back up the windy stone steps and explored the town. There were a few picturesque piazzas with a mountainous backdrop. What really caught our eye was a sign for “wine and drugs”. Naturally, we followed the sign into a shop which turned out to be a wine shop that also sold olive oil because “it’s addictive”. Alright. Well, we bought some wine. We also stopped at a gelateria (of course. chocolate and hazelnut for me, this time) for gelato, and at a tiny grocery store to pick up some provisions for dinner.
When we returned to our little house, we doused ourselves with bug spray because the mosquitos were ferocious, and we enjoyed the lovely coastline views in the sunshine. No amount of bug spray could ward off those mosquitos so we stayed out for as long as we could then went back into the safety of our house. We did some more trip planning and then cracked open the bottle of local wine. I made dinner (pasta with spinach and pesto) then we ate and drank wine and watched Netflix for the rest of the evening.
October 1, 2022 (T)
Our time in Europe was coming to an end in a couple of days. Today we traveled from Ravello back to Naples, our departure city. Transportation options were limited, private taxi for about 70 euros/person or a series of buses for about 15 euros/person. We chose the bus option. After breakfast, we packed up our backpacks and were on our way to a bus stop that was on the side of the road.
We walked down the hill, and down, and down some more until we got to the street. We found the stop and it really was on the side of the road. There wasn’t much room between us and the cars, but this was normal for the area so we weren’t worried. Our bus arrived and drove us to Salerno where we would pick up our connection. We had a couple of hours to wait so we grabbed some lunch and after we ate, we waited by a nearby fountain. The fountain looked pleasant from a distance, but up close, it was full of trash. We were sad to this and were ready to leave when our bus arrived. We boarded the bus and headed back toward Naples. On the way, we drove past Vesuvius and Pompeii.
We were dropped off at the central station, where we had arrived the week prior via train. This time, our hotel was just a ten-minute walk away. On the walk we got some seriously sketchy and trashy vibes again and decided we would hide out in our hotel until it was time to leave. We were pretty tired anyway.
October 2-3, 2022 (T)
We stuck to the plan to lay low and spent the majority of our time figuring out what to do while in Cape Town, our next destination. Both nights we were in Naples, we heard fireworks at odd hours of the night. Later we learned that is often used as a signal that a drug shipment arrived. I’m sure there are nice areas of Naples and I’ve heard it has improved a lot over the past decade or so, but it still has a ways to go to catch up to other Italian cities as far as cleanliness and friendliness go.
On the morning of the 3rd, we piled into an Uber and were off to the airport for our next country and next continent. We were so thrilled to have completed the Europe leg of our trip.
No Wonder Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day
(T) I’ve always understood the expression “Rome wasn’t built in a day.”, but I didn’t come to appreciate it until I saw Rome for myself. Many tourists try to see Rome in 1-2 days which really isn’t enough time. We spent 3 full days and 2 half days there and feel we could’ve spent easily another 3 without getting close to running out of things to do, but it was enough time to check the big ticket items off the list.
September 20, 2022
By noon we were on the train from Siena bound for Rome. We had one connection. Aside from a 2-hour delay at our connection, we arrived in Rome without any issues. We decided to be extra adventurous and go for taking the bus to our hotel. We waited, and waited, at the platform for our bus to come. After enough time had passed for it to pick us up twice, we investigated and found the pickup point had changed and was not well marked. We crossed some streets and walked a block or so and were quickly picked up. 30 minutes later, we got off the bus and walked about 5 minutes to our hotel. We decided to relax for the evening and pack a lot into the following day.
September 21, 2022
If you want to increase your step count, Rome is a good place to do it. We chose to walk everywhere instead of taking the bus or metro and it was a great way to see more of the city.
First stop, and what turned out to be G’s and my favorite was The Pantheon. We love how it’s unassumingly situated in the middle of a neighborhood, is free, all the historical evolutions it’s gone through, and the engineering feats of the building (how is there a big hole in the top but just by opening the doors, when it rains, the inside doesn’t get wet? So cool!).
Next up was the Trevi Fountain. It was crowded but we managed to snap some photos without too many people in it.
Then, we walked all the way to The Colleseum. We definitely recommend booking your tickets far in advance for The Colosseum, Roman Forum, and the Vatican. We arrived a little early, so we hung out by an OG arch de triumph for about 20 minutes. We had purchased a special pass so we were able to explore the main level of The Colosseum, too. I couldn’t help but imagine the place filled with thousands of people watching whatever violent spectacle was going on almost 2,000 years ago. Whenever I see historical places, I also always think about just how many generations of people have seen or used them, and how the surrounding area has transformed over the centuries.
The day wasn’t over yet, and fortunately, we had quite a bit of daylight left. So, we made the short trek to the Roman Forum. The Roman Forum is massive, with almost 5 acres of preserved downtown Rome dating as far back as 498 BCE. Temples, churches, markets, and pillars are all found here. It’s such a cool snapshot of what daily life looked like. It was my second favorite place. We wandered through The Roman Forum for about an hour then hiked up Palatine Hill for the amazing panoramic views of Rome.
What we didn’t know is our tickets included entry to Caesar’s Palace! The real Caesar’s Palace! And we happened to get there right as the last tour began. It was all in Italian, but we didn’t mind. There was an interesting light show that demonstrated how the rooms would have looked on the walls.
After the tour, we walked around Palatine Hill for a while, taking in all the views.
By this time, it was starting to get dark, and I was beyond hungry. I’m not me when I’m hangry, so G and I agreed it was time to find a place to eat, after walking by Circus Maximus, where the chariot races took place, on the way. Good thing for me, this was a brief stop. We found a little restaurant, ate, and rested our feet for a while. We still had a good 30-minute walk back to our hotel, so after we were full and our feet were ready, we got up and started on our way. We attempted to see La Bocca della Verita statue, a statue of a face with an open mouth, translated as The Mouth of Truth. Unfortunately, it was fenced off, so we couldn’t test its ability to detect lies. Maybe that’s why it was fenced off?
Raking in about 20,000 steps for the day, we made it back to our hotel where we had no problems sleeping that night.
September 22, 2022
After our jam-packed day the day before, we decided to chill. The only things we did was went to a handmade pasta shop for lunch and a wine bar next door to our hotel for dinner. Chill days are important to bake into long itineraries.
September 23, 2022
We had tickets to The Vatican booked for the evening, so we were waiting to visit St Peter’s Basilica until then, which we would later learn was a mistake. During the day we walked up The Spanish Steps, walked around the neighborhoods, and ate a late lunch at a restaurant our hotel recommended.
It wasn’t time to go to The Vatican yet so we let our food settle for about an hour then walked over to it. Our tickets included a happy hour, but we thought that was just a glass of wine, however, it turned out to be a full meal. Had we known that we would’ve skipped lunch! We ate our second lunch and then began our tour. We marveled at the ornate decor and murals on every wall as we walked through the chapels. This awe we felt was accompanied with the question of, “at what cost was this all built?”. A frustrating thing to me is you’re allowed to take photos of almost everything, but not The Sistine Chapel. And why? So you can buy the images.
It was time for St Peter’s Basilica! When we got there, it was obviously closed. So beware: if you purchase evening tickets to The Vatican, go to St Peter’s Basilica beforehand. We thought we couldn’t enter earlier than the time on our ticket and that St Peter’s was part of the tour. Alas. We snapped a nice night picture sans tourists and decided this would be a good reason to return to Rome.
September 24, 2022
We got up, packed, ate breakfast, then decided to take an Uber to the train station rather than take the bus again. It’s a much faster option. Soon enough, we boarded a train for Naples.
Motorcycle Adventures in Tuscany!
September 17th, 2022 (G)
So, let’s take a moment to rewind. Ever since I first saw the Italian countryside while I was on a high school art trip, I had wanted to ride a motorcycle through it. Tuscany was the perfect place to fulfill that dream. This dream compelled me to search for a rental company that offered motorcycles. There are plenty of car and scooter rentals, but slim pickings when it comes to motorcycles, so if you plan to check this off your bucket list, make sure to lock down a rental at least 3-6 months before your arrival date. I did my homework and after a great deal of searching, eventually found a rental company (Vintage Tours) which rented out motorcycles. Just two. Well, actually one of them had an attached side car so really, just one. One beautiful red BMW.
We had made our home base for Tuscany in the city of Siena, but the motorcycle rental location was in a town about an hour away to the southeast called Pienza. The weather the morning we were scheduled to pick up the motorcycle was chilly with wind and rain mixed in. Fortunately, the forecast called for it to clear around noon. We set out by bus to Pienza just after noon and the weather still had not fully cleared but seemed to be improving.
By the time we arrived at the rental shop, the weather had mostly cleared though it remained chilly. After a few minutes of paperwork and a quick motorcycle orientation, we were off. Well, we didn’t get too far initially. We just rode it back up the hill to the walled portion of Pienza where we stopped for lunch with the hopes that the weather would fully clear and the sun might warm things up a bit. T naturally runs cold and was freezing from just the short ride back up the hill.
We enjoyed a recommendation we had received from a local while on the bus. A place they affectionately referred to as Scissor pizza since a pair of red handled scissors were provided to cut the pizza with. After warming up a bit inside, and filling our empty tummies, we noticed that the sun had finally re-emerged and so we left to wander the small town of Pienza for a while before setting out for San Quirico d'Orcia.
Pienza was preparing a harvest festival and had decked out the town’s central well with all the fruits of the season. There were banners hung around the small central square. Upon seeing all this, we felt a few pangs of heartache that we would be missing most of autumn this year. We spoke about it briefly and decided that rather than longing for what we would miss, we would revel in the present. Absorbing the cool air, the sunshine through our skin, smelling deeply the woody herbal smell of the Tuscan hills that had found its way into the little streets of Pienza, hearing the jovial and dramatic jests in the Italian tongue, and feasting our eyes on their merriment was more than fair compensation.
We set off on the now dry, winding roads to San Quirico d'Orcia. We weren’t sure what exactly was to be found there, but half the fun is in the exploration. We were not disappointed. The ride there was gorgeous by itself, but upon arriving we found quaint streets, a historic trebuchet (catapult), and a fascinating sculpture garden which had a “love phone” that could be used for free to call anyone within Italy provided you tell them you loved them. The day had gotten away from us a bit, so after a short stay we pressed on to Montalcino.
Montalcino was spectacular. Perched on a small mountain, a fortress turned wineshop overlooked the Tuscan countryside we took in the views as the sun began its final magical hour of daylight, when everything turns those golden hues of sepia. Not wanting to return to Siena too long after dark, we soon found ourselves speeding through those golden rays. It was an unforgettable ride.
When we finally arrived at the gate of our hotel, it was well after dark and we were chilled by the cool night air. Tired but deeply happy, we returned to our room for the night.
September 18th, 2022 (G)
Not wanting to lose or waste any time with the motorcycle and the freedom of movement it provided, we rose for an early breakfast and set out in the morning for the Chianti region to the north of Siena. We had originally planned to attempt to make it to 3 of the small towns in the region. However, we realized the previous day, that this might be a tad too ambitious since we wouldn’t really be able to spend enough time in each location to really enjoy being there. So instead, we found Castello di Meleto, a winery founded in an old Tuscan castle on a hill in the heart of the region.
We arrived late in the morning and spent time simply wandering around the grounds of the castle, ate a light lunch on the castle’s front terrace, and then spent the afternoon touring the vineyards, castle, and wine cellars with a guide. To finish it all off, we enjoyed a light wine tasting. Now late in the afternoon, we began the return ride at a leisurely pace. We stopped often to take in the views, to snap a photo with a giant concrete wine bottle, or simply when anything struck our interest.
We arrived back at our hotel earlier than we expected so with an hour or so of light left we wandered over to a small local place called Charlie’s. It had a gritty feel mixed with odd aspects of Italian refinement. The outdoor seating was made from recycled oil drums, set with fine Italian leather cushions and the menu was a mix of cocktails and sandwiches that boasted ingredients you’d normally find on a charcuterie board. It was an intriguing spot and offered us equally fascinating people watching for the remaining hours of our evening.
September 19th, 2022 (G)
The final day of our motorcycle rental had arrived. We had big plans. Until this point, we had taken mostly small highways or back roads. Today, we were headed for the Saturnia hot springs, known as Terme di Saturnia or Cascate del Mulino (they were amazing, more on them in a bit) but they were over three hours away by the fastest route. This route called for us to use one of Italy’s main highways. I was excited since it would finally give me the opportunity to really open up the motorcycle to its potential, T was a bit worried for the same reason.
At 140 km per hour (87 mph) give or take 10 km we were certainly moving, but truth be told I may have pushed my motorcycle back home a bit faster than that… how fast exactly, who can say…(sorry mom). So I was a bit surprised by T’s nervousness. The big difference was that this motorcycle lacked a rear sissy bar (for those unfamiliar with the term, it is an addition to the rear of a motorcycle that allows the passenger to recline against it while riding). So, while flying down the Italian highway, T earned a new nickname, Koala. She was much relieved when we safely exited the main highway for a smaller, much slower one, with less semis.
Now, for the bit about Terme di Saturnia or Cascate del Mulino. You may have seen idyllic photos of them on Instagram, Pinterest, or a screensaver. In reality they are normally visited by other people since they are truly very pleasant and also completely free. We caught them in the late morning and due to their relatively remote location, they were not completely swamped with people. That said, they were still well occupied with at least one or two hundred bathers enjoying them. It’s a big place so while that sounds like a lot it still wasn’t terribly difficult to find a nice spot with plenty of space to enjoy the mineral rich waters.
A few things to be aware of though. First, the parking can be challenging. We had anticipated this and hoped that using a motorcycle would work to our advantage. It did. Second, it is true a hot springs, which from my experience usually smell like rotten eggs. It does, but there are affordable showers nearby if you would like to wash off the smell. Third, there are tiny little red worms that you will see moving around in the water. They are harmless mosquito larvae that don’t bite, ignore them and just wash them off in the shower.
We absolutely adored these hot springs, but with a long way to go to return the motorcycle and having reached full pruny finger status we collected our things and once again set out on the motorcycle. This portion of our ride was a maze of winding back roads. Crossing through golden fields and under the shade of still dark green trees the roads ranged from smooth to extremely rough (think riding over a washboard with potholes). At one point during the ride a large male pheasant appeared in the very center of the road. We slowed down as we approached until at maybe just a few meters it burst into flight, exposing all its bright colors and beautiful long tail feathers. It was gone in an instant, but the moment was moving.
More than once during this stretch of the ride we got a bit turned around. We found ourselves greeted by a pack of puppies after riding up an extremely steep hill that turned out to actually have been the entrance of a fortress courtyard which now functioned as a town square. Of course, T stopped to pet them. Another time we stumbled upon a deep gorge with a walled town built on the cliffs above. We stopped quickly at these and our appreciation of just how much there is to really see and experience in the countryside of even just this small part of Italy deepened. A person could spend a lifetime wandering here and never see all of it.
Eventually, we did find our way back to Pienza. Where we met Dario, the owner of Vintage Tours. He was a thin fairly tall Italian in his late 30s, with a sandy blond man bun, bright smile, and warm handshake. We had missed him when we first picked up the motorcycle but were glad to meet him. He was excited to see the return of the red BMW. It turned out that it had originally belonged to him personally and he had taken it on a grand tour of Greece years ago. He had just decided to start offering it out for rental when we contacted him. We had actually been the first customers to have taken it out for a ride. The motorcycle had been a joy to ride and I will remain forever grateful that he decided to rent it out.
Siena, Home Base in Tuscany
9/15/22-9/20/22 (T)
We chose Siena for our home base while exploring Tuscany. It was a great choice! Special shout out to our friend, L, who we met on the West Highland Way, for recommending it. Siena is an easy train ride from Florence (it’s also easy to go to/from Rome). It’s a 45-minute to an hour-and-a-half drive from most places to visit in Tuscany, including the Chianti region, Pienza, and Montalcino.
Now, the train ride is easy as long as it’s not cancelled! Almost all of our train trips in Italy were seamless except this one. The time had passed for our train to leave and the platform number was still absent from the board. 30 minutes past departure, it showed up. We walked to the platform and shortly after the train arrived. Everyone boarded. Then there was an announcement, only in Italian, and everyone started to exit the train. We figured out our train was cancelled and thought we figured out an alternate route. However, we weren’t so sure after we boarded the other train and it left. Confused, we got off at the next stop. Much to our relief, there was a schedule board showing a train going to Siena from our platform in about an hour. That train was on time and headed toward the right place, so we hopped on, and in a couple of hours, we arrived in Siena.
We arrived in the late afternoon on the 15th and took escalator after escalator up the train station to get to the street. The train and bus station are at the bottom of a super steep hill so we were thankful for the escalators. It was a 5-minute walk to our hotel, Hotel Italia, which is a great location if you’re basing your Tuscany stay in Siena, but if you’re going to only explore Siena, you may want to find somewhere closer to the city center. Hotel Italia is about a 20-minute walk from the city center. We spent the evening relaxing.
On the 16th, we spent the full day meandering around the streets of Siena, marveling at the red brick, medieval architecture throughout town. We found Siena to be even more picturesque than Florence. It also has a beautiful cathedral similar to the one in Florence. Unfortunately, it was booked on the day we tried to go, so book in advance. We did, however, go into an old medieval church that was recommended by one of our waitresses. I’m pretty sure we found a black Mary and Jesus painting which was really cool.
The main event for Tuscany began on the 17th, riding a motorcycle through the countryside and visiting many towns! We were originally going to pick it up in the morning, but a fierce rainstorm swept through, which delayed us until the afternoon. We took a local bus (if you take the local bus, you will need to buy a bus ticket in a tobacco shop) to Pienza where we picked up the shiny, red, BMW bike and zoomed off.
The rest of our time in Siena was really just used as our home base. However, one of the most Italian things happened on Friday night. Around midnight, we thought we heard faint sounds of… a man singing opera. Then it went away. We opened the window. Not long after, we heard it again! It sounded like it was coming from somewhere close. Did we dare investigate? The song continued and our curiosity led us to go down to the main level and walked us outside. Just to our left, a couple of buildings away, a group of family and friends were gathered around a table of a closed trattoria, drinking wine, talking, and smoking cigarettes. Every few minutes, an elderly man belted out a song. He was extremely talented! We felt like we had seats to a secret neighborhood opera. After about 10 minutes, we decided to go back inside because we didn’t want to weird out the group by lurking for too long.
On the 20th, we boarded a train bound for Rome.
Florence
September 13th, 2022 (G)
We arrived at the train station in Florence and were admittedly unimpressed by what initially greeted us. However, experience has taught us that it is fairly common for the area immediately surrounding the European train stations to seem a bit grungy when the rest of the city is vivacious and beautiful. So it was with Florence.
After a few moments of confusion and a gesturing conversation made with two Italian bus employees at the station. I was able to work out with their assistance the correct location for our bus. T grabbed her things and we hopped on the next bus. The route the bus followed was different from what we had expected (due to construction) but still moved us much closer to the residential neighborhood where we had booked a small apartment to stay.
Our little apartment was situated at the top of a 3 story building and was essentially an attic space converted. The sloped ceilings made moving around the space a little entertaining though still very manageable.
After being warmly welcomed by our host, an older Italian woman, we sat with her for a while to ask questions and receive her advice on what to do and where to go both in Florence and in our future visit to Siena and the surrounding countryside. She was very warm and happily provided us with maps and recommendations.
We spent most of that evening scheming for the following day though I did make a quick run out to a nearby grocery store to purchase potatoes, veggies, and cheese. We were lucky, we had a small kitchenette with a pantry tucked beneath the slope of the ceiling that still held enough spices, oils, and vinegars left in to allow me to create an acceptable type of goulash for dinner.
September 14th, 2022
We enjoyed a pleasant breakfast in the back garden of our building then set off, well-informed by our host, to see as much of Florence as we could in one day.
After a short bus ride, we arrived at Abbazia di San Miniato al Monte an 11th-century church built over an ancient pagan temple (as was common practice at the time) with a gleaming Romanesque facade, medieval interiors & solid views of the city below. It rained ever so slightly on us as we arrived, so we gratefully entered the church and lingered there a little while until the sprinkle had passed. Then we proceeded down the hill to the better known city view point of Piazzale Michelangelo which also hosts a bronze replica of Michelangelo’s David sculpture, the original was removed to protect it from the elements.
We then ventured down the hill through a garden and across the river to catch a view of Basilica of Santa Croce. Next up was the sculpture museum! T and I were both excited to see the Bargello National Museum which is a 13th century palace that houses some of the greatest Renaissance works by Michaelangelo. Alas, the museum was closed on the date of our visit. While we were a little disappointed, we opted instead to visit a rather odd museum dedicated to Franco Zeffirelli. If you have no idea who he was don’t worry, neither did we, so here is a brief blip to fill you in on what we learned.
Franco Zeffirelli was an Italian stage and film director, producer, production designer and eventually politician. He was well known as a director of opera and theatre of the post-World War II era. He was known for his lavish stagings of classical works, such as Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew and Romeo and Juliet, as well as his film adaptations of these works.
We left the museum enlightened a little and then ventured onward to the big one, the church Florence is internationally recognized by, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. We spent time in the Cathedral and its baptistery and museum. By the end of these, T was pretty tapped out, as was I, so we took a brief respite at a small restaurant.
Once revived by a bit of food, we set off in search of visiting the David statue. As we approached, we saw the line. It was immense and stretched past our view. Having already seen the replica perched upon the hill, we opted to skip it. Instead, we began the long walk back to our apartment. The route we had charted took us past the last few things we wanted to see. These included the bridge known as Ponte Vecchio and Pitti Palace where we enjoyed some well earned gelato.
We returned to our apartment in the attic tired, but happy and we quickly fell asleep.
September 15th, 2022
We rose the next morning, packed, enjoyed a quick breakfast, and then caught a bus back to the train station. We were bound for Siena, which promised to be a deeper dive into the Tuscany region.
Venice
We’ve read some mixed reviews on whether or not to visit Venice. We really enjoyed it and think it’s worth it. If you don’t want huge crowds then don’t go during the summer, especially in July or August. By mid-September, there were still a good number of tourists but it wasn’t overcrowded.
September 11, 2022 (T)
Our train to Venice was direct, so after a quick ride from Verona we exited the train station and found the “bus”. By bus, I mean boat! Almost all transportation in Venice is by boat. We saw an occasional delivery van here and there, but you won’t find buses or taxis in car form. As someone who gets nervous in traffic, I really appreciated this aspect of Venice.
We road the boat bus for about 45 minutes before our stop - a great introduction to Venice. The waters are green, the buildings are old, beautiful, and clean, the canals are lined with gondolas, water taxis, bus boats, and other fancy boats, the sun was shining. We could see the appeal to Venice right away.
We arrived at our stop and walked about 10 minutes to our accommodation, Guesthouse Ca dell’Angelo, which was pretty close to San Marco Square. It’s in a popular area but is tucked away and up a few flights of stairs so it’s quiet. We would recommend staying here if stairs aren’t an issue. We checked in, gathered some pro-tips, and relaxed for a bit.
The pro-tips:
1. Gondola rides are expensive! They run starting at 80 euros for 30 minutes. If you just want a brief experience and to snap a photo, look for gondolas that take you across a canal. It’ll cost about 2 euros instead. Or, if you just want to see Venice by water, take the boat bus. You can go circle the whole city for 9 euros.
2. Everyone gets lost when they’re walking around. Using Google Maps is recommended.
3. The best way to see Venice is to walk around.
4. You can go up the tower in San Marco Square for a nice view, but if you want to avoid crowds and still get a nice view, go to Church of San Giorgio Maggiore instead. (We, unfortunately, didn’t fit this in the itinerary)
5. Murano Island is an island closeby known for glass blowing. If you don’t have time to see it, don’t worry, Murano glass is everywhere in Venice.
We made our way to dinner at Trattoria Alla Madonna, a longstanding restaurant in Venice. We were not disappointed.
After dinner, we walked around and enjoyed looking over the canals at night.
September 12, 2022 (T)
We decided to spend the majority of the day wandering around, which is what we did after eating breakfast. Venice isn’t very big. You can walk from one side to the other in 45 minutes to an hour. One place we wanted to see was the Jewish Quarter. We found it after we stumbled around for about a few hours, stopping here and there for nice pictures and for lunch.
We were lucky to find a walking tour where we could eavesdrop to learn a little more about the area. We didn’t stay too long though because we didn’t want to really join the tour group. In the few minutes we waited by them, we learned the buildings in this area have many more floors than other parts of town because people were crammed together during World War 2. It may not have been something I would’ve noticed on my own. We continued walking on and found a memorial of the place Jews were taken away. The barbed wire from World War 2 was still on top of the brick wall, a somber artifact of the time when tragedies occurred there. We stood in silence for a little while, then left the Jewish Quarter and continued our walk.
A few blocks away, we found what we looked for in every Italian city, gelato! Dark chocolate gelato to be specific. I always like to pair it with one other flavor and today’s flavor was pistachio. It was delightful. We walked for maybe another hour and decided to visit San Marco Square. It was impressive but there were quite a few people there. We snapped a few shots and called it a day.
September 13, 2022 (T)
Instead of taking the boat bus this time, we decided to walk all the way to the train station, which actually took about the same amount of time. We woke up early, ate breakfast, checked out, then mozied our way to the station and boarded our direct train to Florence.
We spent one full day in Venice but think 2 full days would be better.
In Fair Verona
Verona!
September 10th, 2022 (G)
We had thoroughly enjoyed our time in Lake Orta but the time had arrived for us to leave the quaint town behind. A cool wind blew as we boarded the train once more to head south and east. We spent the next few hours in transit. Jumping from one train to the next in Milan and finally arriving in Verona late in the day. In the sun's twilight hour we wandered past the magnificently preserved roman arena and into the maze of tight warm colored streets of old Verona.
As things grew dark we found the entrance to our accommodations located in a small nook on a side street. We had been provided with a code to allow us to enter through the large dark brown doors. Then up a few flights of stairs to the next door, through a common area to another door that lead into a hallway, and finally to the door of our room. The room itself was a lovely little spot, decked out in Rococo it was perched above the street and the windows looked out to a bookstore.
After getting our things settled and changing clothes we ventured forth into the lively streets of Verona. Even at night, there was a buzz of people both tourists and locals out for dinner or to meet with friends. We moved through the well-lit streets with ease and after a few failed attempts found a small wineshop that also served dinner. Italy generally eats dinner late, so the fact that it was now just past 9 in the evening made no difference to the kitchen. We enjoyed our evening there and took a few recommendations from our waitress for our activities the following morning.
September 11th, 2022
We arose to a beautiful, clear day and opted to skip breakfast and trade the time spent eating for exploration in the light of day. We first wanted to find the Torre di Ponte Pietra which was a tower that guarded the ancient Roman bridge of via Ponte Pietra. This bridge is the oldest and only remaining Roman bridge which crosses the Adige river in the city. We had some fun trying to take a photo of ourselves in the bright sunlight. After crossing the river we headed straight up the hill across it to the Piazzale Castel San Pietro which was recommended to us by our waitress and provided stunning views of the city below.
After enjoying the view for a bit, we headed back down across the bridge to find Juliet's balcony, never mind that it was built well after the play was written. We found the balcony but it was quite crowded, so after a brief look we returned to our room, packed our things, and began the walk back to the train station. On the way, we paused to enjoy the Roman Arena which is impressively still in use as of this writing. Before long we were once again onboard a train. This time we were bound for Venice.