One More Flight

RANDOM COMMENTS ON OUR WAY HOME

I do not know how to describe how we feel now that we are headed home. We definitely look forward to seeing everyone again. I want to make sure the basement doesn’t get moldy as the house has been empty for awhile. But had we planned to be somewhere else now, we would be eager to go to that place. Meaning, we are not home sick yet. It will be nice to get back on the bikes as we barely have ridden since April, and it definitely is nice to know we like our bike routes at home. The fact we have pulled this whole trip off is pretty amazing in itself, and we appreciate the efforts of SO many friends who made it possible!!
Unfortunately we haven’t yet found a concise way to summarize our experiences is so many different parts of the world, but Craig is getting better!

Finland and Stockholm

Seems we started Our Big Adventure, and will finish it, by visiting friends, and getting guided bike tours.
Already in South Africa we had fun with Bev&Chris and their extended family, including the next generation. It’s fun to hear what young people are up to.
Here in Finland, Irmeli had gathered 10/20 class mates to celebrate 40 years as PTs. I am happy I don’t feel as old as this means I am.

Link to Finland & Stockholm

South Africa 2

We are now at Madikwe, a game preserve north of Johannesburg, on the border with Botswana, with Bev&Chris, and their family and friends. Craig and I are very thankful to our friends for all their African travel suggestions, help, and the invitation to join them here. We had wanted to plan some type of safari, but the commercial ones are super expensive. Through their connections, we learned of the places we went to in Namibia, and we all got a special deal, in a beautiful big lodge here. Craig & I have our own large room, and e.g an outdoor shower, where you can listen to exotic birds, loud baboons, or trumpeting elephants while enjoying warm water!

Link to 2nd safari. Now in South Africa

Craig’s videos:
Bull elephant in must
Lion stalking Cheetah
White Rhinos
Lion brothers at poached Rhino

South Africa 1

South Africa

Am hoping we can publish our 2 posts from here before we leave - we are at the airport in Johannesburg, on our way to Finland. Haven’t had regular enough internet connections since we arrived in Africa a few weeks ago.

From high mountains & altitude problems, to dry desert with wild animals up close, to a stormy coast where many ships have perished. Before the last part, we have enjoyed local info and expertise staying with Bev’s sister Jenny, and her partner Roy, outside of Cape Town. And more visiting with friends here, and then in a totally different setting, Finland, is coming up. A lot of contrast, which probably is why we don’t feel any need to go home soon, even though we are looking forward to catching up with our friends there in a few weeks.

Link to South Africa 1

Namibia

After spring comes fall, and after fall comes summer. We have now crossed the Equator 7 times, and have one more crossing when we fly to Finland in a few weeks.

Namibia - ‘Africa Light’ per some blogs I read last summer.

An independent nation only since the 1990’s. A decent road network, and one of, if not the most, popular tourist destination in Africa in 2016. Friends Bev&Chris had recommended we consider coming here, so we decided to rent a car, and drive to Etosha National Park. To view the wildlife.
Politically, Namibia seems to be better managed than many another country in Africa.

Link to Namibia pictures


Craig’s videos:
Elephant in Etosha
Lion encounter in Etosha
Leopard in Okonjima

Good Bye India

Just published the trek write up, so this is the 2nd post for today.

Craig wrote in an earlier post that this whole trip of ours did not feel like a vacation at all. We have usually had quite a bit of time, and no set agenda until we arrived in Bhutan. There, and here, we came with a goal of doing certain treks, for which we hired guides.

Link to 4 more India pictures
Taj Mahal pictures
Agra Red Fort pictures

Our Markha Valley Trek, 7 days.

Our guide, Jigmet, met us at the hotel, and we drove some 30 min. to the outskirts of Leh, where we met the rest of our crew.
Tewang, was in charge of his 4 mules and 1 horse, which carried all the camping gear, a gas bottle for cooking, our 2 duffels, food staples for us and the animals etc. He always hums, and at times sings for the animals. A mule can carry 45kg, and the horse 65kg.
Gyalpo, a young father, was our cook - a phenomenal such, and we had the best camp food we have ever had. Despite what clearly were difficult conditions, he kept us healthy, full, and impressed with his variety of dishes. He also cooks at home.
Andu, the youngest, assisted all the others, and is a super hard worker, and a very cute 20-year-old, who is finishing some exam, and then hopes to get into college in Leh.

Link to the pictures from our trek

Craig added a link to his photo spheres after the text

Leh, Ladakh

Leh is the main town in Ladakh, which is a part of the state of Jammu-Kashmir, in India. Altitude: 11 500’ (3500 m).
I don’t think we had heard of this area until friends George&Lynell, and Carolyn &Tom told us about their beautiful Markha Valley Trek a few years ago. So we came here, as we like recommendations from friends, it is close to Bhutan, and the timing was perfect considering our next destination.

Link to Leh, Ladakh

Good Bye and Kadincche, Bhutan!

The Punakha Dzong

 Punakha - they grow barley, wheat etc.  later also rice

After we returned from Haa, we drove to Punakha, which is the province immediately east of Thimphu. Tsewang had already last summer suggested we include this in our itinerary, but we didn’t as you pay a high daily rate to come to Bhutan. We had prioritized the trek. Coming here after all, is probably the only positive in Craig’s mind, after abandoning the trek.

Our last few days in Bhutan

Craig has attached a link at the end, with 360 degree pictures he discovered he can take on his phone.

Our Aborted Trek

Making cheese

Churn

ing butter

The positive:
- we have recovered fully from mild altitude sickness.
- we got the symptoms on the training hike in the Haa Valley. Better then, than at the first night’s camp of the trek, in the clouds and cold rain. The training hike trail would have been on the 1st day of the usual trek, but the itinerary had been changed, so we returned down the way we went up (see below)
- we are uninjured after both the hike on a treacherous, steep trail, and the drive to/from the start of it. An SUV is definitely helpful as all but the main roads are unpaved, with many very large potholes. The road was only one lane wide, the downhill driver yields to the car going up, and people try to allow each other to pass as best they can. You share the road with trucks, road workers, cattle, rocks, and dug up areas. Due to the rain there was slippery mud. And the drop offs are super steep, and the sharp curves pretty much constant.
- we got to see the beautiful Punakha Dzong (Craig says the most beautiful temple of our entire trip), which had not been on our itinerary had we completed the trek.

Link to the Haa Valley

Arriving in Bhutan

Arriving in Paro with a group of Thai monks

I don’t think we have ever felt like VIPs before arriving in Bhutan. Our guide, who owns his own company, met us at the airport. He had parked his black SUV very close to where we exited, he insisted on carrying our bags, and opened the doors for us.
He speaks fluent, educated English, and is very open and friendly. We could also after the first afternoon, tell how knowledgeable he is.
THANK YOU MUFFY for recommending Tsewang!

Link to Arriving in Bhutan

North Island 3, and Good Bye NZ

An 800-year-old Kauri Tree

Link to North Island 3

There are a 3 more pictures at the end of the write up.

Our last week in New Zealand. We have spent more time here than in any other country - not by design, but partly because we came a week early to meet June when she came here, and back home, we had thought the weather would work out well this way. SE Asia is hot & humid now, and we scheduled Bhutan for when they recommend hikers come in the spring.
There are lots of options for hiking, which we (especially I) needed to do, to maximize our success in the Himalaya.
We are so glad we had all this time, because we have very much enjoyed seeing quite a bit of this gorgeous country.
Craig has posted a piece on tips for travel here.

New Zealand travel tips

A lot of folks have New Zealand on their bucket list so I thought I'd pass along some of the things we've learnt in the past couple of months travelling here.

North Island 2 - Rotorua

I like our hostel in Rotorua - we have our own room, including a bathroom. The hostel is pretty new, the bed is (sort of) comfortable, and the kitchen is large. Craig said he felt out of place because we initially were the oldest, except for one guy who definitely looked totally out of place here, amongst the 20-something international crowd.

Link to North Island 2

The North Island 1

 .                                              Wineries everywhere


Had a sunny, beautiful, and at times very windy ferry crossing from Picton (on the South Island) to Wellington (on the North Island). Fortunately for Craig, the wind only came on towards the end, and the ferry was big, so we only noticed it when standing on the deck. The wind was strong enough, though, that I could not keep myself, and the camera still, despite the deck being totally level.

Link to North Island 1

The end of our South Island visit

After dropping Kim and Chris off at the airport, we ran a couple of errands, and found a peninsula outside of Christchurch, where we did a nice walk along the coast. I had fun watching a surfer do tricks, and would have liked to jump in, except that by the time we got back to the beach, there was no sun.
Did a short hike enroute to the Wairoa Valley, where we spent 5 nights in a riverside cottage. Drove down twisty dirt roads, opening and closing gates as we went, and agreed with the recommendation of arriving in daylight. Fortunately this car rental company does not say anything about unpaved roads.

Link to the last of the South Island pic’s

Our South Island Tour with Kim and Chris

Chris beat me to it, so we published his blog post as soon as we received it. I had finished my write up, but not yet the pictures by then.

2 weeks approximately. A rented Honda CRV, 4 bikes on the roof, and enough space for the 4 of us. Not enough time to write regular notes, or upload and comment pictures, but lots of laughter, fun, a bottle of wine a night, home made food (except for the pies Chris or Craig might write about). Chocolate for me, and often biscuits (cookies) for K&C for dessert, with Craig making sure he got his fair share of everything.

The first 3 pictures in the link are from Craig’s and my return trip to Christchurch after dropping June off.

Link to NZ with Kim and Chris

Birds and Pies: a Guest Post by Chris Lennon

New Zealand 1, with June

Milford Sound

We have not wasted any time. Craig and I survived our crazy travels from Vietnam to NZ (long layovers at the wrong time of day to allow any sleep). We slept a few hours near the Christchurch airport, picked up a car, dropped off my bike at a bike shop, got groceries for several meals, found a NZ Afghan for June, and goopie looking things for ourselves, unsuccessfully searched for replacement toothbrush heads, and met Craig’s sister June when she arrived 13 hrs after we had landed. Afghans seem to be a type of NZ chocolate cookie.

Link to NEw Zealand 1

Vietnam 2, and Good Bye SE Asia

In his finest for Tet!

Twice we were told there would be no guided walks in the National Park on Cat Ba Island during our only full day there. It was the first day of Tet, which we didn’t know when we planned the trip.
It seemed there were nothing but obstacles in our way, and that we would not be able to attempt this 12-16 km hike, despite having had it as a major goal here.
A guide is recommended because of the logistics involved, and the fact the trail goes through the jungle.
There were slight discrepancies in the listed length of the trail, and how much time to allot; the last public boat one needs to take after completing the point to point trek, left at 1pm due to the holiday; the morning was overcast, and so far no forecast has yet been correct for us in Vietnam - we would not have been surprised if it rained.

Link to Vietnam 2

Vietnam

We doubt she understands the meaning of: ‘The United Nation of Ganja’, and ‘ In Grass We Trust’.

⁃ Now we can’t escape comments about our advanced age. The niece (late 30s), of our hostess in Hanoi used her phone’s translation program to communicate. They seem very polite here, as with almost every translation, I read something about the ‘Grandparents’. That is us.
⁃ After arriving late due to the visa requirements at the airport, and a lost key, we tried to sleep a few hours in an apartment we weren’t supposed to be in. It was unheated, in a building with no insulation, and old windows. Craig thinks he slept maybe 20 min. Got up at 6.30, and guess it was the same 52 F inside, as outside. The entire building is being renovated, and this unit is waiting its turn. But the niece was super friendly, very apologetic, and got us some sweet bread for breakfast. A last minute change of plans, when an Uber didn’t come. The Grandparents were offered the option of being driven in a private car instead of taking the public bus, and we did this despite the $70 cost. Destination: Gia Sinh, a small village near Ninh Binh,  3+ hours south of Hanoi. All was well, except this made Craig a Comrade, when he ended up using a borrowed helmet after leaving his in the car. Fortunately his was waiting for us in Hanoi, in the correct apartment. Unfortunately this unit also is without heat, but it is a bit warmer now.

Link to Vietnam 

Siem Reap, Cambodia & Temples

We had decided not to bike here, but to instead come only for a few days to see the temples. You can’t win them all.. it would have been fun, and relatively safe, to bike from downtown to the temple complexes, and enroute to explore villages, and the country side. Instead we spent money on remorks (a Cambodian tuk-tuk, the main form of tourist transportation, aside from large tourist buses). We walked as much as we could, but communication  with the drivers was difficult, and in the end it was easier to just take the established routes they are used to, from one temple to another. Angkhor Wat is the most famous, but there are dozens more, some bigger, some more interesting. They were all impressive, and I also enjoyed visiting them despite not being interested in history or religion. The restoration work continues, with the help of various foreign groups, and countries.

Link to Temples and their surroundings

Link to Siem Reap

Another brief trek, and Good Bye Thailand!

New construction

We were mostly finished with our errands here in Chiang Mai, and signed up at the very last minute, for a 2-day-trek, SW of the city with a group. We spent the night in a Karen village, traveled with 3 young couples from Europe, and enjoyed perfect sunny skies, little humidity, warm days and a cool night. Everything was dry, and the scenery nice.

Link to our 2nd Thai trek

Hua Hin

Just like Craig’s colleague described in China!(but then on a multi lane highway..).The tree marks a hazard on the road. 

The highlight was definitely visiting with my childhood friends Bimba and Timppa!! They were the main reason we came here, and am so glad they wrote us about their trip, just in time for us to combine our Laos flights with a visit to Hua Hin.
It had been a few years since we saw each other last, probably in Ashford - we can’t quite remember... as I don’t know when I was in Finland last.

Link to mostly Hua Hin

Muang Ngoi, a cultural experience, and leeches..

A cultural experience, more than an active one due to rain.

What we learned about
⁃ the WEATHER: it can rain when it is not supposed to, indoors and outside. It can be very cold in tropical Laos, in the jungle (which Craig said is a derogatory term), also at lower altitudes, that rain here causes muddy conditions, that mud can clump under your boots just like wet snow can. And that we lucked out twice, when the forecast rain held off despite dark clouds. But we were old and smart enough to change our 3-day trekking plan into the mountains, and instead did 2 one-day outings in the valleys with a guide, and came back to Luang Prabang a day early. That wet conditions bring out leeches, and that Craig was happy not to have seen the one he went to sleep with. It left a bloody mark on his arm, and on the sheet, but was gone in the morning.

Link to Muang Ngoi, Laos

New Year's and Luang Prabang, Laos

We spent New Year's Eve as usual, which means we were in bed way before one is supposed to enjoy a toast. We missed being with our friends in NH, or VT, but had a nice chat, over a glass of wine, with Sprite, a young Thai man who works at Eagle House. Wine is not part of Thai culture.
The highlight was to unexpectedly get to see hundreds of lit up paper lanterns when they flew over Eagle House, potentially launched by Chinese people. Muffy told us later, that the Thai use these types of lanterns for another big holiday in April, instead.
Craig happened upon one man launching one, and took the close up picture.

We took a cooking class at Eagle House, and anyone reading this, is welcome to invite themselves for dinner! Muffy tells us we can find fresh Kafir lime leaves in Boston, we bought some Chiang Mai curry powder, and the cook book we got, includes a recipe for making more. So we will definitely practice when back home, as our dishes were delicious!

Link to New Year’s and Luang Prabang

NE rural Thailand

How one dresses to enter a temple...

My New Year's resolution, our current Government being the exception

Am finishing this post on the bus back to Chiang Mai after our ~12- day-excursion north and east of there. The countryside is lush and green, and the forest looks like a rainforest. Tree covered rolling hills, and mountains.  No way I would want to be here in another few weeks when apparently the farmers burn brush everywhere - we have smelled this several times, and am afraid of the fumes, as I also saw someone burn garbage.
Have climbed 8-12%  grades a few times per road signs, but also steeper grades per Craig. The small towns now look somewhat familiar, with lots of temples, the school buildings prominently marked, often with the name also in English; homes of varying sizes, mostly with wide, open doors; lots of villages and small farms outside the towns; lots of chickens and dogs everywhere, but only one dog bothered us; everyone has been very friendly, but communication has been a challenge; we are eagerly looking forward to the food in Chiang Mai, and will probably not want to see another 7-11, or (chocolate) wafers for a long time. Have not dared eat the interesting looking dried fruit we see manually packaged locally...But had delicious packaged baked banana strips yesterday - similar to what we had on Maui.
Only today found out dengue fever is not present in Pua, so am happy as I got bitten yesterday. We have been super careful to avoid mosquitoes both due to this fear, and fear of malaria. But have not needed the Mosinet I again brought along. Craig did see a Government poster with warnings of mosquitoes.

Link to rural NE Thailand