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Mandalay, Myanmar (July 2007)Mandalay. To most Westerners, it is one of the most exotic-sounding cities in the Far East. Unfortunately, the only thing exotic about modern-day Mandalay is its name.
Electricity works but only intermitently; cars exist but are as rare as a cool breeze; poverty looms large but crime is never a concern. Undeniably, Mandalay is a fascinating wreck of a city.
On a clear day, climb up temple-encrusted Mandalay Hill for panoramic area views. Then, take in an evening marionette performance or laugh your way through the non-stop political satire of a Moustache Brothers show.
Even better are the sites surrounding the city: the ancient cities of Ava and Mingun, the scenic U Bein's bridge or the Mahagandhayon Monastery where over 1,000 monks can be seen going through their daily rituals. |
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Inle Lake, Myanmar (July 2007)Inle Lake - set among the picturesque Shan Hills - provided a wonderful respite from the hustle and heat of Mandalay and Yangon.
Besides admiring the narrow (18 miles long, 5 miles wide) lake's blissful setting, most visitors come to witness the one-legged rowing style of the native fisherman or to drift through the dozens of canals threading Inle's ingeniously tethered floating gardens.
A day-long boat trip captures many of the lake's highlights but casual rambles to some of the nearby villages uncover the lake's real charms - its people. |
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Peninsular Malaysia (August 2007)White sands, towering skyscapers, green tea-leaf carpeted hills and luminous fireflies. In ten days we sampled some of the amazing diversity of mainland Malaysia.
Eight years and one currency crisis have passed since we last visited Malaysia. The country is charging into the 21st century. Kuala Lumpur is no longer a Singapore wannabe but a legitimate contender. Malaysia plans to be a major world economic force by 2020. It appears to be almost there...way ahead of schedule. Watch out. |
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El Calafate & Ushuaia, Argentina (August 2006)After a brief night's rest in Buenos Aires, we headed down to Patagonia. Our first stop - El Calafate - the gateway town to Argentina's glacier region.
For our trip to Perito Moreno glacier, the weather gods smiled upon us. Blue sky provided a stunning day-long backdrop for our glacial ogling.
The next day was spent trawling the waters of Lago Argentino. Our tour boat threaded the iceberg-laden lake - delivering us to the fronts of Upsala and Spegazzini glaciers.
Leaving the glaciers but not the ice, we flew down to Ushuaia - Argentina's southernmost city. A boat tour of the Beagle Channel is a must. And we couldn't pass up the chance to dog-sled our way through a Patagonian valley.
Although it was winter, it was not the frigid antarctic cold we had dreaded. We almost could have left our long underwear home. But I'm glad we didn't. |
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Easter Island (August 2006)A visit to Easter Island is like visiting a dream.
This Polynesian island is stranded in the Pacific Ocean about 2,600 miles off the Chilean coast. Until 1968, the only way to reach this island was to hitch a ride on a Chilean warship. (The ship brought provisions once a year.) Now, a 5 1/2-hour plane ride from mainland Chile will deposit you at the shores of this otherworldy outdoor museum.
We spent four days and four nights on the island. One day we hiked, two of the days we took guided tours and one day we just hung out. The weather was partly cloudy most of the time with highs in the upper 60’s (Fahrenheit)and low 70’s. Certainly not beach weather.
But you don't come to this island for the beaches. You make the pilgrimage to gawk at the over 600 “moais” – gigantic carved stone heads – scattered around this island. They eerily keep watch over the denuded island landscape. A surreal experience. Utterly dreamlike. |
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Santiago & Valparaiso, Chile (August 2006)We squeezed a brief stay in Santiago between the Patagonian portion of our trip and our Easter Island sojourn. We left our stay in Vina del Mar/Valparaiso for the end our trip.
Santiago, the capital of Chile, is a modern city with a modest amount of older, colonial buildings. The highlight of our stay was a lunch-time trip to the central fish market and a tour through the city's marvelous pre-Columbian museum.
Valparaiso is a hillside wonder hugging the mountainous Chilean Pacific coast. Century-old “ascensores” (cable cars) deliver you to tops of many of the city’s “cerros” (hills). From there you wander among the jumble of riotously colored buildings that cling to the city’s slopes.
It is hard to imagine that this country - less than 20 years ago - was in the grips of one of the continent’s most repressive dictatorships (Pinochet). Now it seems like a country of worker bees – the most North American of the South American countries we have visited. |
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Bolivia (July 2005)We spent nearly two weeks in Bolivia with an additional week-long trip to Peru sandwiched in between.
We jump-started our trip in La Paz, the highest capital city in the world. (We actually never stayed anywhere in Bolivia that was under 9,000 feet!) From there we traversed the altiplano to Copacabana on the shores of Lake Titicaca and then to Aegean-like island of Isla del Sol. After catching our breath (literally) for a few days on Isla del Sol, we returned to La Paz and flew down to its sister capital - Sucre.
From Sucre we visited the colorful Tarabuco market, the amazing Cal Orko dinosaur prints and the dizzingly high-altitude city of Potosi.
We returned to La Paz, crammed our suitcases with our last-minute purchases from Calle Sagarnaga and talismen from the Witches' Market and prepared, reluctantly, to go home. |
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Peru (July 2005)Cusco - a beautiful town tucked in the heart of the Andes mountains - provided a high-altitude base for our weeklong excursion in Peru. From there we headed up to Machu Picchu - a destination that has loomed large on our personal travel list for years.
No matter how many pictures you have seen of Machu Picchu, your first views of the site are still awe-inspring and surprising. It does not disappoint.
From there we worked our back to Cusco via the Sacred Valley. We spent a night in each of the major towns in the valley - Ollantayambo, Urubamba and Pisac - before arriving back in Cusco. Ollantaytambo - with its cobbled streets and stone architecture - was probably our favorite. But the sites outside of Urubamba (Moray and Salinas) are not to be missed and the market in Pisac is one of the largest and most colorful that we have seen. |
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Jordan (April 2005)Our 9-day vacation to Jordan in April of 2005 was a textbook tour of the highlights of this remarkable country.
After landing in Amman, we taxied to the small town of Madaba for our first two nights' stay. From there we toured Mt. Nebo, the Dead Sea and Jerash, then followed the King's Highway to Petra. After a few days at the fabled ruins of Petra, we spent two days and one night in the desert of Wadi Rum - Lawrence of Arabia country. We continued down to Aqaba, snorkeled in the Red Sea and then scurried back up to Amman for our final night in Jordan. Not a moment wasted but still we never felt rushed.
While it's hard to top seeing Petra's Treasury building or bobbing in the unsinkable waters of the Dead Sea for the first time, our hearts were won over by the beauty and tranquility of Wadi Rum.
Jordan should be a "must" on every traveler's list. Generous people, delicious food and world-class sites rich in history. |
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Central and Northwest Argentina (August 2004)Our second summer trip to Argentina.
Landing and departing from Buenos Aires allowed us to extend our search - for another summer - for the best steaks and helado (ice cream) in town. Between meals, we squeezed in an overnight stay in Colonia, Uruguay.
From BA, we flew to San Juan to catch an two-day excursion to the otherworldly national parks of Valle de la Luna and Talampaya. Then bounced over to Mendoza - the wine capital of the country - and endured three rain-soaked days before retreating to the sunny Northwest.
We traveled up to Jujuy and Humahuaca (our second visit to the town) mainly to access the remote village of Iruya. |
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Buenos Aires, Salta & Iguazu, Argentina (August 2003)Our first trip to Argentina.
After getting our bearings in Buenos Aires, we headed off to northwestern Argentina to explore the area around Salta. First to Cachi, Cafayate and Quilmes then up to Purmamarca, Humahuaca and Salinas Grandes (the salt flats). The landscape is similar to the American southwest but even less populated.
We then flew to Iguazu Falls which straddles the border with Brazil. After spending a few days exploring the falls, we headed back to BA for our final nights in Argentina. |
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Ottawa (February 2002)A President's Day weekend escape to the wintry north.
Arriving in Ottawa on the last weekend of their Winterlude (winter festival), we checked into the historic Chateau Laurier hotel and then checked out the "Beaver Tail" - as in local pastry specialty - situation. By day we skated on the Rideau Canal, explored the Canadian Musem of Civilization and toured the Parliament building. At night we'd wander the town and admire the floodlit ice and snow sculptures. |
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Bali and Java, Indonesia (August 2002)These photos are highlights from a two-week August vacation to Bali and Yogyakarta, Java.
On Bali, we based ourselves initially in the "artist town" of Ubud - away from the mega-hotels and beach bustle found along the southern reaches of the island. Our bungalow style hotel - Oka Wati's - was a peaceful oasis just a stone's throw from the main action. Days were filled with hiking through rice paddies, biking down from volcanic lakes or simply lounging by the pool. Nights were booked with dance, music or shadow puppet shows. And in between we indulged in massage or two, downed a few Bintan beers or worked on filling our extra duffle bags with Balinese treasures.
We left Bali for a few days and flew to Yogyakarta on the neighboring island of Java. "Yogya", like Ubud, is the cultural center of the island. But unlike Ubud, Yogya is a large city. And the change was dramatic: streets were an endless sea of buses, cars and bicycles; sidewalks were hopelessly clogged with pedestrians day and night. But outside of Yogya are two sites worth all that urban tussle: Borobudur and Prambanan. Borobudur is a stunning Buddhist mountain temple complex; Prambanan, a glorious collection of Hindu buildings rising from the Javanese plain. Borobudur beckons you at sunrise; Prambanan you fall in love with on a moonlit night.
We returned to Bali for a few more days in Ubud and then headed south to the beach village of Jimbaran. Fresh fish restuarants wrestle for space along the beach; wildly colorful fishing boats fill the bay every morning. Not as overly developed as its more famous neighbor - Kuta Beach - Jimbaran still retains much of its fishing village feel.
In two weeks, we just scatched the surface of these island wonders. They just leave you itching for more time in this part of the world. Some day... |
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Panama (August 2001)Yes, Panama is more than the Panama Canal.
Snorkling lovers will find it hard to leave the crystaline waters of Bocas del Toro; nature lovers will savor the tropical diversity of the mountainous Boquete area; culture junkies will get their kicks from the surprisingly large indigenous population still living in traditional ways.
But the Panama Canal can be reason enough to go. Really. Hands down, it is simply one of the wonders of the modern world. |
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Yucatan (April 2001)We began and ended our five day journey through the Mexican State of Yucatan in the colonial city of Merida.
From Merida we headed south (in our VW Beetle rental car) to drink in the majestic Mayan ruins at Uxmal. Using the Villas Arquelogicas at Uxmal as our base, we wandered on a day-long excursion through the nearby low-lying Puuc hills - exploring the ruins at Kabah, Sayil and Labna, only pausing long enough for a traditional Yucatan-style lunch in the town of Ticul.
The next day we set our sights on the gulf coast town of Celestun. Flamingos, mangrove forests and shimmering white sand beaches beckoned. After a morning boat tour of the flamingo-laden lagoon outside of Celestun, we drove a few miles north to the idyllic eco-resort (so aptly named "Eco Paraiso") for a well-earned rest. But soon we were hurtling ourselves back into the urban hum of Merida and then, preparing ourselves for the following day's flight home.
This trip was too brief. But it could serve anyone as a perfect introduction to Mexico for a visitor who wants to avoid the mega-resorts and experience the culture, history and beauty of this fascinating area. |
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