Patrice & Ted's Big Adventure

April 2nd Home with Lessons Learned and observations

2008-04-02T18:02:00.000-04:00

The 9 hour trip back home gives me a chance to reflect over all the memories of the last 32 days. Somewhere over the Atlantic, south of Greenland, I realize the people I have gotten to know are just as important as the sites I have seen. I have also had time to know myself better too.
Here are some general observations. Mobile phones are everywhere; from the rural fields of Southern China to the skyscrapers of Dubai.
What started as an interesting vacation became an adventure and a learning experience.
It's hard to hide the fact that you're a Westerner. When they see what you are the marketing technique gets very aggressive and prices go up 500 percent,
English is the second language of the world and almost everybody knows the words "hello", "Coke" and McDonalds.
Most people like Americans and hate our President.
When you go around the world you never see the same place.
Here are some country specific observations.....
CHINA
Now everybody is into business and entrepreneur ship.
The environment takes a back seat to commerce;. even air quality.
Shanghai seemed like the fastest growing city I had ever seen until I got to Dubai
INDIA
It doesn't take a flashy corporate campus to make someone a global competitor
Not much has changed in the last 50 years except for cars. mobiles, and computers
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (Dubai)
This is the focal point for FABULOUS oil wealth; more opulent and outrageous than I ever dreamed possible.
They are building Dubai into a magnet for finance through exotic projects and buildings, but 50 years after the oil runs out it will be a ghost town
EGYPT
The Nile is everything to this country. Someone there told me, "if there was no Nile, there would be no Egypt.
Tourism and to a lesser extent the Suez may be their biggest resource.
They don't do enough to protect their antiquities for the next generation.
ITALY
This is a wonderful mix of modernity, friendly people ad old world charm.
Ted Northrup
704-332-5557

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March 32 Our last day in Rome

2008-04-02T01:31:00.001-04:00

This blog is titled March 32nd because I wish this glorious month did not have to come to an end. It's our last day in Rome and we want to make the most of it. There were some trepidations in planning a visit to Rome. We liked Florence but were afraid that Rome might be less friendly and more commercial. One travel writer we read said "If you like Florence, you'll love Rome". Absolutely right.
Our day started with the Spanish Steps. It's said that Rome is made up of 7 hills. The Spanish Steps help you climb down one of them. Our hotel is at the top of that hill so we arrive at the top of the Steps. There's a beautiful view from there.
The Steps and fountain make a great hang-out for younger Romans. It's a beautiful day with very few clouds and lots of folks are soaking up the sunshine.
Our primary objective today is The Vatican. Our walk from the Spanish Steps takes us to the Tiber River.

There are many bridges so we have lots of options. We choose Hadrian's bridge. Imagine crossing a functional bridge (I hope) that's 2000 years old. At the end of the bridge is Hadrian's Castle; also used as a defensive fort for the Pope in times of trouble.
After another mile or so we come to the entrance of the Vatican Museum. Most of the Vatican State is surrounded by a wall. Even though St Peter's and the Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel are next to one another, their entrances are a kilometer apart.
The Sistine Chapel is at the far end of the Vatican Museum. You will walk through over half-a-mile of the most captivating art work you ever saw. Naturally our favorite room along the way is the Map Room. These maps give a whole new meaning to the term "wall map".

This room contains about 24 wall panels of hand-painted maps. Most maps cover a region or island of Italy. They are approximately 18 feet wide and 12 wide. In addition to the great maps, the painting and golf leaf on the ceiling are shockingly impressive.

For that matter, the size of the museum and the Renaissance artwork are larger than any we have ever seen.
After being bombarded by one spectacular room after another, several of which are the size of a wing in most museums, we arrive at the Sistine Chapel. I am not an art expert. All I can say is that this is the most beautiiful painting I have ever seen. The way Michelangelo has captured light and shadows on the robes and muscles of the characters makes them jump right off the ceiling.
Our last stop was St. Peter's. It was too crowded to go in so we just took this picture and left. We only walked 5 miles today but we opted to take the subway back to the hotel.
There we had dinner with our friends Willy and Jill and headed out to the airport hotel.

Ted Northrup

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March 31 Some Funny Things Happened on the Way to the Forum

2008-04-01T03:30:00.002-04:00

From the hotel it

was a short walk to the Trevi Fountain. Just our luck it was being repaired. There was no water in it but lots of tourists. This guy sort of stood out of the crowd.

From there we went to the St Ignasio church. It's famous for its painted ceiling; especially the section that is pained to look like a dome where none actually exists.

Next came the Pantheon; the best preserved example of Roman architecture and the world's first large concrete dome. It's 3 feet thick at its base.,

Then we proceeded to Piazza Navona, a great place to get a gelato and sit and watch mimes and artists.

Next came the Roman Forum and the Coliseum. Today was our lucky day; entrance was free! We think it's because it is the last day of the month.

We walked back to the hotel from the Coliseum via the beautiful gardens of Quirinale, but we weren't allowed in. This seemed a little strange until we learned it was the home of Italy's President.
We are on a diet of 2 gelato's a day so we had to stop for one more. We walked a total of 7 miles today.

We had dinner at a sidewalk cafe and by CHANCE ran into my first-cousin-once-removed, Willy Fisher, his wife Jill and daughter Nevi.

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March 30 Goodbye Third World ..Hello Europe

2008-03-31T11:18:00.001-04:00

We leave Luxor bright + early to catch our plane to Rome. On the way to the airport we see our last donkey carts.
We arrive in Cairo for an 8 hour layover. You would think there would be something to do. We did not know security there would be tight as a drum. We can't even get into the departure concourse until 3 hours before flight time! Guess where all the shops, restaurants and bathrooms are. Our luggage is x-rayed 3 times before we board. Oh well this has been pretty much a lost day. We get to Rome on time. We knew it was going to be expensive but this is insane. The cab ride to go one mile was $30. Breakfast (if we ate in the hotel) would be $70. We luck out and find a great little restaurant around the corner where prices are within reason. Our hotel is in a beautiful section of Rome just outside the Borghese Park.. This is a picture of the gate to the park at night.
Ted Northrup
704-332-5557
http://www.mapshop.com/

March 29 Carnak Temple + cab ride

2008-03-30T08:25:00.001-04:00

On Saturday we explored the Great Temple of Carnak. This was something I thought Johnny Carson invented. Turns out he took it from the Egyptians. This is the first temple we've been to that is large enough to get lost in. One section is larger than a cathedral with 138 columns 75 feet high and 6 feet in diameter. It is blazing hot today and we see one woman being dragged out after succumbing to the heat. The Temple is filled with bus after bus of European tourists

After Carnak, we went to a "Papyrus House" where they sell Egyptian artwork on papyrus. We bought some artwork and got to know the salesman pretty well. He asked us where we were going next and I told him McDonald's. OK. That's not very adventurous, but I wanted a milkshake in the worst way. He said he was going home and invited us to ride in a cab with him and he would drop us off at McDonalds. It turns out there are special cabs for the locals. They are a hybrid between a bus and a cab. They are a mini-van with four rows of seats that run a consistent route. People hop in and out thru the open sliding door and pass the driver a pound. (About a quarter) True to his word he dropped us off right in front of Micky D's and paid for our ride too.

One thing about Egypt is that it is still a cash oriented society. Our hotel wanted to be paid in cash. It took us about half an hour to find a machine that would cough up 1500 pounds. By that time we decided to forego the Felucca ride or the camel ride and just go back to the hotel for dinner.

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March 28 - Valley of the Kings

2008-03-28T09:42:00.005-04:00

The day starts early with a wake-up call at 5AM. We are planning to take a hot-air balloon at sunrise through the Valley of the Kings. This is the valley where many of the Pharoahs had their tombs. As we pulled up to the field upwind of the valley, we saw dozens of ballons ready for take-off. Some are 6 passenger baskets, others are 12 passenger baskets. Luckily, ours is just six. We are amazed as the pilot lifts off and times our travel just right to float right over a major temple. The sky is filled with antiquity and a couple of dozen balloons. Some comment is made about fear of heights and thinking it was a joke I make the statement "nobody with a fear of heights has any business in a balloon". How does that foot taste Ted? The lady in front of me is gripping the edge of the basket with white knuckles because she's afraid of heights! We make a very graceful landing in the desert a couple of miles downwind. Here's the ground crew helping Patrice out of the basket.

Our next stop is King Tut's tomb. Here's the thing, almost all these tombs are completely bare. the sarcaghagous and riches have all been moved to museums. (like the one we saw in Cairo) Still, the design of the tombs and the well preserved paintings and hieroghyphics are worth seeing. Here is our guide Mohammed.

After going most of the way around the world I think I can say that the Egyptians are better than anyone else in the world at parting Westerners from their money. They have really raised it from a technique to an art form. If you go to any of these sites without a guide you are mobbed by people selling their wares. If you DO have a guide, you are spared the constant barrage, but inevitably end up at "a nice clean place to use the bathroom and get a cool drink". It turns out to be a nice store of a friend of the guide. OK, we are not immune to needing the bathroom so guess who's bringing yet another souvenir home. Here is our host and master salesman, Akmed.

Our last stop today is the tomb of Queen Hatchepsut. (pronounced Hat Cheap Suit) She is one of the few female Pharoahs and Patrice is keen to see how she pulled it off. It's a long story, but it has something to do with marrying her half-brother.

Her tomb has been restored and is really interesting to explore.

March 27 to Luxor

2008-03-28T09:00:00.001-04:00

We are thrilled that our second EgyptAir flight is on time and uneventful. We are met at the airport by a driver who's nickname is Shakespeare. He's never read any Shakespeare, but knows the quote, "two beers or not two beers, that is the question". He takes us to a little hotel (El Nakil) that is tucked away in a small village across the Nile from Luxor. It has a funky driveway between some old houses. This what greets us on the driveway.....

But once inside the hotel compound it's actually quite nice. Here's a picture outside our door.

After we get settled we grab the ferry across the Nile to Luxor. We are almost the only Westerners on it.

From the ferry it's an easy walk to the Luxor Temple. This temple was built for Rameses the Great. The columns tower 80 feet high. After exploring the temple we took the ferry back to our hotel

and saw all the feluccas taking tourists for a ride.

We had dinner on the terrace and saw this beautiful sunset.

Ted Northrup

March 26 The Pyramids or Tales from the Crypt

2008-03-27T00:24:00.005-04:00

This day may have been one of the most exciting and interesting days on our trip. One thing we did right was to arrange for a guide from our hotel. We really got the hook-up. Our "guide" was a retired archeologist who had actually done some of the research at one of the sights we visited. Her name is Salwa and she made for a great traveling companion the whole day. There were great discussions not only of events 4500 years ago but modern day events from the Arab perspective which was something I wanted to hear. She took us to 3 sights, Memphis, Sakkura and the Great Pyramids. More importantly, she took us to a great place for lunch but more about that later. Memphis was interesting because we saw the large statue of Ramses The Great while Salwa filled us in on interesting stories about Ramses family.

Along the road, Patrice took a lot of pictures of typical Egyptian farm life. The overwhelming part of the population are still farmers. She thought this guy looked particularly colorful.

Our next stop was Sakkura. It is the home of the oldest pyramids in Egypt. The best pictures here are actually short movie clips taken inside the tomb. We were surprised to learn that all the tombs, except Cheops, are actually below the pyramids. In Sakkura, you can actually go down, down inside the crypt. I really felt like Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Tomb. The entrance was 3 feet wide and 4 feet high. It went down at a 45 degree slant so the floor actually had rungs that served as a sort of ladder. When inside theres a little guard in there that puts his fingers to his lips and then motions to give him your camera. He was really chapped when he found out all I had on me was 2 Egyptian pounds.
The other cool thing at Sakkura was seeing all the hieroglyphics that depicted everyday life. I was shocked that you can actually touch writing that is over 4000 years old. Of course it really helped to have Salwa along to point it out, but the meaning of the writing became very clear.

At the end of the day we visited the Great Pyramids. One of the things I didn't realize was how big the individual stones were that made these pyramids. When you look from a distance they all blend together. Each stone came up to my waist. You can go inside Cheops too, but its an extra $20 and I have had enough crypt crawling at this point. Finally, Salwa took us to this vantage point to get pictures. You really get a feeling of being in the desert when you are at this site. Unlike our deserts it is a very fine sand and it gets in everything.

But... what might be the high point of the day was actually lunch. Between Sakkura and Cheops, she took us to a garden restaurant that had a tame lion cub. There is nothing like holding a lion in your hands. This little kitty was heavy too. Thankfully, he is only 3 months old. his owner told us that by the time he is a year old, he will have to go to the zoo. I held him and petted him but never let myself forget that this is a lion. As you can see, Patrice was a little less apprehensive.

March 26 Supp. Shakedown

2008-03-26T16:21:00.000-04:00

There's a thin line between adventure and risk. We might have crossed it tonight. We arranged to visit a local Rotary Club in Cairo. Its' meeting place was suddenly changed to a restaurant in downtown Cairo. We gave the address to the cab driver who proceeded to take us to downtown Cairo.
He let us out on a busy street, We discovered that the restaurant had moved. We wandered up and down a few streets when a stranger came up and offered us his assistance. He said he knew where it was and was willing to walk us to it. After a block or two we smelled a rat, told him we were too late for the meeting and did a 180! Was he setting us up or trying to be nice? You be the judge.
Ted Northrup
704-332-5557
www.mapshop.com

March 25 - Mummy I want to come home

2008-03-26T01:05:00.006-04:00

The weather was forecast hot today, so we decided this would be a good day to do the Egyptian Museum. This contains the largest collection of ancient Egyptian art and mummies in the world. King Tut taught me one thing... you can't take it with you. After a while you do get AEO (Ancient Egyptian Overload). The artifacts themselves are fascinating but th museum itself is kinda dingy. I could not take many pictures and the mummies themselves are kinda creepy.

Our next stop was the Khan El Khanlili, the ancient market that is supposed to typify old Cairo. There were hundreds, maybe a thousand stalls there. Vendors were there hawking all kinds of wares; cloth, copies of Egyptian antiquities, and as usual everything is negotiable. We bought a small Egyptian cat there. The market also contained Cairo's oldest coffee house, El Fishay. We had some strong Egyptian tea there and saw men smoking their "hubbly bubbly" water pipes. On top of the burning tobacco they put little white rocks. I did not ask what they were.

The last shot is of the Egyptian Museum at sunset.

March 24 Dubai Creek

2008-03-25T03:31:00.001-04:00

Since this is a travel day we thought a boat cruise on Dubai Creek would be just right. The "Creek" is a wide river that splits Dubai in two. This is a picture of our wooden dhow that took us on that cruise. OK. They did pimp it out a little with glass windows, a/c, and cushioned seats, but it is still the same kind of wooden boat they use up and down the creek.

One thing about Dubai is that conventional logic goes out the window. Look at the unusual shapes of these buildings. Like Las Vegas, the more outrageous the better. Only the normal return on investment equations go out the window when the royal family is funding it.

The last picture is of Old Dubai. After all, this did start out as a fishing village before the oil money started pouring in. We have seen so many guest workers from all over the world. Dubai reminds us of a 21st century goldrush mentality. Pakistan's, Phillipino's and Palestinians all coming here to work and send some money home.

At the end of the day we reluctlantly said farewell to Dubai and waited for our flight to Cairo..... And waited ...and waited. 4 hours later we were on our way. EgyptAir has not made a good impression on us. Still, considering the first 10 flights were all on time, our average is still good.

Ted Northrup

704-332-5557

www.mapshop.com

March 23 Dubai

2008-03-24T01:05:00.001-04:00

What a contrast going from Jaipur to Dubai. This place is hot and not just the temperature. They are building man made islands in the shape of a map of the world. Each small island is going for over $30 million bucks.

Half this city seems like it is under construction and the other half seems like it was just completed. Here's a picture of the world's tallest building. 161 stories and growing. It's is still under construction.

The ruling Sheik likes outrageous projects that call attention to his city. This picture of ski Dubai is one of them.

Another one is this building called Burg Al Arab. It is designed to look like a sail and it actually built on a man-made island just off shore. There's building just in shaped like a wave. We had "high tea" there. "High" also describes the price.

But, all this radical building must be working. They had 15 million tourists last year and expect that number to double in the coming years. Still, I wish every American who puts $4/gal gas in their SUV could see what the oil money is building OUTSIDE OUR COUNTRY

Ted Northrup

704-332-5557

http://www.mapshop.com/

March 22 Holi Festival

2008-03-23T01:51:00.001-04:00

We are awakened by the sounds of drums. In a ritual similiar to caroling, friends (ladies mostly) are going house with drums to wish their neighbors a "Happy Holi".

But the biggest ritual of all is color; Cyan, Magenta, Yellow. These are the primary colors of Holi. Friends put on old clothes and throw powdered paint at each other. Here are some friends we met at the hotel after participating in Holi.

We did get some some cheap clothes to participate. But we stayed in the hotel because we wouldn't have had time to clean up before we had to check out.

We arrived in Dubai at night and took a cab to the Marriott. The reception desk gives us a free upgrade.... Says he thinks we'll like our room. Turns out to be a suite half the size of our house! This trip has been one long series of contrasts.
Ted Northrup
704-332-5557
http://www.mapshop.com/

March 21 The Elephant Festival and the beginning of Holi

2008-03-22T00:21:00.005-04:00

This was the event we had been waiting for, the Jaipur Elephant festival. They had about 40 elephants in all manner of costume along with camels and horses, all highly decorated. They paraded around the stadium for all to see and had a contest for the best decoration. Elephants here are highly prized and symbolize luck. Luckily, we arrived early enough to get a good seat in a shady spot. Temperature was about 95 degrees. (but it's a "dry" heat!)

There were dancers and bands there too. They had a tug-a-war with 1 elephant vs 36 guys. The elephant wins. After that our driver took us to see the Water Palace. Along the way we saw more elephants that had been in the festival and this camel.

The actual Holi festival begins at dark today. We are told it is the most important holiday in the Hindu religion. So we see lots of preparation on our way back to the hotel. Our driver takes some of the back streets so we can get a better idea of what is going on. On just about every block, people (ladies mostly) are preparing bonfires. They are building them right in the middle of the street!
Then as we approached our hotel, they start lighting them. The one below was right in our path. The ride back to the hotel was a sort of Disney adventure ride, but for real! We passed by the fire below at a distance of 2 feet. Glad the driver went quickly. We could feel the heat of the flames through the glass. We told him we were concerned about the condition of the car and he let us know that it did not belong to him, it belonged to the hotel.

Hawa Mahal

2008-03-21T01:11:00.001-04:00

On our first full day in Jaipur, we wanted to explore the old city, inside the pink walls. We told this auto-rickshaw driver where to let us off. Instead he took us zig-zagging through town to a "handicraft" store where he gets about a 15 percent commission! This is a common scam we read about and couldn't believe how easily we had fallen victim to it. Here is Patrice doling out the exact cab-fare.
We made him take us back to the hotel and later took a different rickshaw to the old city. This time we showed him the exact spot on the map and that worked.

We visited the Hawa Mahal, "Palace of Winds". It's five stories with latticed windows. It was built by a Maharaja so that his harem, forbidden to appear in public, could see festivals and other happenings in the street below! We walked around the colorful bazaars in that area.

In the afternoon, we took some things to the post office to mail home. We didn't think anything about India could surprise us anymore but we were wrong.! They measured our 2 packages, ripped pieces of cloth, took out a needle and thread, and hand-stitched the cloth into a slipcover to snugly wrap each package. Then the ends were stitched shut - amazing!

We saw a puppet show in the hotel's garden in the evening. We really like the Madhuban Hotel and the owner Mrs. Dicky Singh.

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Wed. Mar 19th The Road to Jaipur

2008-03-20T00:00:00.007-04:00

We left Bharatpur at about noon for the 4 hour drive to Jaipur. India is building a new highway but as you'll see from the pictures we shared it with some interesting and unexpected travelers.

Of course this area is famous for its camels and we were not disappointed. We just never thought we would be passing so many in the wrong lane. We saw a little of everything being carried on someone's head; from straw to gravel for road construction.

This new highway can also be used for herding sheep; not a few hundred, a few thousand.

We also saw lots of kids (both types) along the highway; from kids in an overgrown tuk-tuk used as a school bus to the kind of kids you herd.

After 4 l o n g hours, we arrived in Jaipur. They call it the Pink City because the walls to the old part of the city are painted pink. Here is one of many gates to the city.

Here is our hotel, the Madhuban. After settling in, we took a taxi up into the hills to see Chowki Jani. Here we had authentic Indian food, saw people getting camel and elephant rides and did some shopping. We even got dots on our foreheads so no one would know we were Americans.

Tuesday 18th Delhi to Agra & the Taj Mahal

2008-03-18T21:55:00.007-04:00

We rise early and catch the 7 o'clock train called the Taj Express to Agra. There's very little English spoken here (except for some of the European back-packers) so it's a real adventure getting on the right train. Pervez's pre-arrangements and our excellent driver Kuldeep really save the day and get us on the right train.

The train to Agra is smooth, fast and punctual; definitely the way to go. In Agra we are met by a new driver and surprised to learn that we also have a guide. Mr Lala is an expert on the Taj Mahal and has lived in Agra all his 60-some years. It is Spring here and by Agra standards just a temperate day. But.. it's 97 *@#% degrees! We drink a lot of water and press on even though our car's A/C barely works. I don't think our driver understands "needs Freon".

The Taj Mahal is incredible. Surely the pictures we took do not do it justice. The highly crystalized white marble and the way it is sited so that it only has blue sky for a background are some of the secrets of its beauty. Unlike some of the temples in Delhi, this one is truly pristine. There is no graffiti inside and the grounds are immaculately kept. You can tell India treats this as its crown jewel. Mr Lala points out the way the marble is inlaid with semi-precious stones. He even uses a flashlight to demonstrate how translucent they are inside the Taj. Even the writing shown in this picture is done with inlaid onyx.

OK, here is the time to give a little background. The guide was definitely not part of the plan and yes he was kind of foisted on us by our driver. As an American, your first reaction is to send him packing because this must be some kind of rip-off. In our case, it turned out not to be true. His fee for the day was 500 rupees (about $12) and worth every penny. For example, we would not have known that the minarets surrounding the Taj actually lean away from it. It's easy to see if you look at, but not at all clear if you did not know. He also knew all the good "Kodak Moment" picture spots so we were able to get some great shots. Obviously, he took this one.

Our last stop about an hour outside Agra on the way to Jaipur is The Bagh. This is a 22 acre walled resort that is truly a haven of peace and quiet set in an old orchard. There are no horns beeping here. The last picture is taken outside our room. This place is supposed to be a bird reserve but at this point all we've seen is a pair of full grown turkeys and their turklets(?) More about that on the next blog... It is time for breakfast.

Monday March 17th Delhi - Biz

2008-03-18T08:16:00.003-04:00

We had a business meeting today @ 10:30am. It took us over an hour to get from Southeast Delhi to West Delhi. This view of traffic is typical. The occasional cow in the road doesn't help either.

Our meeting is successful and we learn about lots of capabilities our vendor has of which we were unaware. In typical Delhi fashion, the street in front of his office is dusty and trash-strewn, but his office is very modern and quite nice.

We end the day by taking our hosts (who by now are good friends) out to dinner. Lubna and Pervez are very caring people, which make them excellent B&B hosts. Pervez has helped me see a lot of things in a new light; which has really justified the whole trip.

Holy Cow - Delhi is quite a place

2008-03-16T05:07:00.004-04:00

What a sensory overload of sights, smells, noise...Today we saw a snake charmer. Ted sat down on the ground with him but declined the invitation to pet the two cobras - what a wet blanket!:-) We also rode in a bicycle rickshaw with buses, cars, and motorcycles whizzing by us. We visited a mosque, the Red Fort, and Gandhi's Memorial Garden. We also saw our first elephant, carrying a load of branches.

Intro to Delhi

2008-03-16T04:43:00.003-04:00

Nothing could have prepared me for Delhi. What a mix of old and new, sights and sounds, and people of every stripe. We had no idea that Delhi had so many nice temples and tombs. Behind us is the tomb of Hunyan in central Delhi. We feel very fortunate to be in the capable hands of our B&B hosts Perveez and Lubna. What a relief is was to have their arranged driver pick us up in the middle of the night at airport. He stood their in a sea of humanity holding Patrice's name. We were quickly whisked to our B&B and crashed for a few hours until it was time to visit a Rotary meeting. On the way back, our driver, Kuldeep suggested we stop and see this shrine. The setting sun made for some great pictures.

Driving in Delhi is even more interesting than Shanghai. The roads are full cars, trucks, motorized rickshaws, pedal rickshaws and the occasional ox or elephant! Drivers are encouraged to use their horns when overtaking a vehicle, even on the expressway. You can imagine the cacophony. It's sort of like a school of porpoises using sonar only a lot louder!

Hong Kong

2008-03-15T12:15:00.003-04:00

We had a short day in Hong Kong

This picture was taken from the Star Ferry which took us from Hong Kong Island to Kowloon. We wandered the streets then caught their efficient express train to the airport. From their we took the overnight plane to Delhi.

travel from Yangshuo to Hong Kong

2008-03-15T12:13:00.000-04:00

No pictures here. Just a bumpy 2 hour ride from Yangshou to Guilin for our flight to Hong Kong. It didn't help that I already had a stomach virus. This makes the first time in my life I have ever used a plane's barf bag. We arrived in Hong Kong just fine, well, a little weak maybe.
They also have a great express train from the airport. It wasn't a MagLev but it was fast smooth and efficient.

Hiking and Rafting in Yangshuo March 12th

2008-03-12T07:01:00.003-04:00

We hiked along a rural road past a couple of small villages. People keep their doors open with chickens scratching around the front yard. One old man kept motioning for us to come inside his house. We were curious, but afraid that he was trying to sell us something! Men and women were out working in their fields. Some women were washing their clothes in the river. As a matter of fact, when we gave some laundry to the hotel staff, it turns out that's where ours was washed too! And it was dried on a clothesline in the side yard. It's pretty funny - you get to see what kind of underwear all the guests are wearing.

After a couple of miles, we came to a dock with bamboo rafts (taxis) and negotiated a price for a ride down river; about $13. Our captain was the nice old man pictured below. He took our picture and sang in Chinese while he was poling the raft. He got us about half way back to the hotel. We hiked back the rest of the way.

Biking in the Karsts

2008-03-11T03:17:00.005-04:00

Wow! This is the most fun since I started this trip. I rented a bike and just headed out into the fertile countryside. Far away from the commercial tourist traps I met some real people, farmers mostly. This is a very fertile land between the karsts. You can see lots of vegetables growing in the foreground. They basically cultivate every foot of level ground. The world keeps getting smaller and smaller. There were plenty of one room houses, but they all had a satellite dish and probably a cell phone too. Cell coverage is ubitiquitous here. The little karst in the center has a cell tower on top of it. Riding country roads is the way to go. There were two cars in an hour and a half of riding. There were mothers with little babies strapped to their backs, women carrying two baskets over their shoulders, men an women tending fields by hand and families gathered around tables playing a card game with very narrow cards. Here's a picture of a grandfather/grandson and the family bull... At least I think it's a bull. This area will probably be a rice paddy at the next harvest. As I rode along I had to dodge the family roosters. With all this cultivation, I did not see a single tractor. Another surprise was the groves of orange trees. This is China's Florida. The juice at the inn is fresh squozen (my word) every morning.

The way they irrigate is really interesting too. They build a series of weirs across the river and force all the water thru one sluice with a round shape. Somehow this makes a vortex with enough umpph to force some of the water up a three foot inclined pipe. Based on careful checking there is NO PUMP no electricity. It just works. Amazing!

But the highlight of the whole excursion was coming across this work in progress. This is a waterwheel made of bamboo that the family had just finished rebuilding. I say rebuilding because the stonework and the axle were definitely old. As you can see the bamboo handiwork is brand new. As I arrived he had just finished strapping (with what looked like aluminum baling wire in the foreground) the first bamboo bucket. I watched as it poured the first batch of water in a stone trough at the top of the picture that looked like it had been dry for a long time. They did not speak of word of English, but the celebratory mood was clear.

Caving in Yangshuo March 10

2008-03-10T05:06:00.005-04:00

It was a rainy day here, so our guide Sammy suggested we hit the interesting caves inside these peaks we've been seeing so much of. The cave tour guide spoke only Chinese, but the little red sign gave an English title to each area of the cave. It was as pretty as Luray Caverns and strangely warmer.. almost hot in certain spots. The tour lasted over an hour with pretty of climbing up and down15 flights of stairs.

After that we went back to town for a late lunch and shopping. Patrice thought there might be a Western potty in the KFC so we tried that. She was wrong but the chicken wasn't bad. They have an interesting custom. They issue plastic gloves with each order. Here's Patrice chowing down on the chicken and not getting her fingers dirty. Or is she keeping the chicken clean..ummmh??

Li River to Yangshuo

2008-03-09T21:15:00.003-04:00

On Sunday morning a bus picked us up and took us to the boat dock. We had an excellent English-speaking tour guide and we met some fun people on the boat. 3 Italians, a Brit & Dutch couple traveling together and a young guy from Oregon.

The scenary (karst topography) is spectacular as you can see from the picture. We took lots of pictures. We wished it was sunnier, but were grateful for no rain. They served lunch on the boat. There was lots of fish and some small things with claws. Then they came around offering what looked like snake juice. He had a jar with a snake coiled up at the bottom in a tea colored liquid. We passed on that and found out later that liquid was wine!

After landing, we dodged the usual aggressive street vendors, found a taxi and got to our hotel, The Yangshuo Mtn. Retreat. Our room's balcony overlooks the river and mountains similar to the above picture. We've been chilling there, watching the river rafts go by with the karst peaks rising up on the over side of the river.

Guilin Saturday March 8

2008-03-09T05:03:00.004-04:00

We rose early (well early for some) and caught our two flights to Guilin. Guilin is a small city in southern China less than an hour's flight from Hong Kong.

We stayed at the Sheraton right on the Li River. There's a beautiful tree-lined explanade along the river where you can see boats going by. We explored the esplanade on foot and walked at least a dozen blocks of the city. Like Shanghai, it also has granite streets for pedestrian use only. This one was full of little open shops and the usual aggressive Chinese sales people. We also noticed that they tend to make underpasses for pedestians at busy, wide intersections. We found a place to buy our tickets for the Li River boat trip to Yangshuo. Like most things, the trip was cheaper to book outside the hotel.

Maps of China and trip to Ningbo

2008-03-07T04:00:00.003-05:00

On Thursday, 3/6 we accomplished one of our objectives. In Shanghai's largest bookstore, we found a decent wall map of China and we arranged to ship it and some other things back to Charlotte. It looked to us as though Shanghai did not have a map shop.

We woke up at 4:15a Friday morning. Lucky, because the power went off in the middle of the night for the second day in a row. So our clock radio did not wake us up. We caught the 6am train to Ningbo. We came out of the Marriott so early that we didn't have anybody to translate our destination to the cab driver. Luckily, we ended up at the right station. The weather is cold and gray today and the countryside looked kind of grim.

When we got to Ningbo and vendor Antonio picked us up at the station. We went directly to the globe factory. These globes are plastic and the raw globe balls & factory are pictured above. They will come in two colors which will enhance our offering. After touring the factory, Antonio and Mr. Chen took us to an authentic Chinese restaurant for lunch. We weren't sure what we were eating but it was delicious!

Serendipity

2008-03-06T02:23:00.002-05:00

Today was full of fun surprises. The original idea was to look for an inxpensive digital camera at a marketplace recommended by John's Chinese friend, Kevin. The place resembled a mall, but with dozens (hundreds?) of tiny shops, one after another. Walking a narrow aisle, they're on both sides and the owners jump in your path, urging you to enter. "Come, lady, take a look - you need watch, belt,scarf..."?
We stopped to look at one thing and found ourselves being wisked into a scarf shop. (we were not looking for scarves) We went to the back wall where he pulled aside some scarves and revealed a small, hidden door. We followed him into this hidden tiny room and were surprised to see 2 Germans in there negotiating with the guy's brother!

After shopping, we set out again to explore the French Concession neighborhood. We had lunch in a wonderful French restaurant called Parkside Bistro on YanDang Rd.
We loved this part of Shanghai . It has a peaceful and friendly neighborhood feel to it, more European. We walked down alley ways and the people said, "Hello" in English. nobody was juming in our face or spraying anything on our shoes.

We saw a sign that said "Artist", "Atelier", "Oil Painting" and a red arrow pointing into an old dilapitated building. We ventured in and the artist came out to greet us and bring up into his studio. Ted was extremely reluctant to go too far into the building because it was very creepy... like something out of a spy movie. Anyway, he had a lot of large paintings, some very nice but nothing we could lug home. It was fascinating to see inside the old house though.

We found a tiny tea shop where the family was sitting at a table drinking tea. They spoke on English, but the woman brought out a can of jasmin tea and we bought some of that. the 2 men were shouing us tai chi-type moves and showed us a brochure. We think they were inviting us to take a class, but we weren't sure! They seemed genuinely happy to see us though.

In the evening, we met John at a bar at the top of the Jin Mao builing. It's in Pudongm on the east side of the river. We were on the 87th floorm a spectacular spot to see the Shanghai skyline all lit up. John knows the sous chef at the restaurant there. We had a fabulous meal that we were not allowed to pay for. Next John took us to his apartment which overlooks the water and has a great view. On the way back to our hotel the taxi driver suddenly pulled over to the side of the road, said something in Mandarin and jumped out of the car. We thought we were going to be stuck in the middle of the city, late at night and no cab! It turns out he was apparently answering a urgent call of nature. We were soon back to our hotel safely. We Just chaulk it up to our Shanghai experience.

Attack of the Shoe Shine Lady

2008-03-04T03:53:00.003-05:00

We covered a little over 3 miles on foot today. We fleft the Marriott and haded east on Nanjing Rd toward the river. About a mile later it became a purely pedestrian walk. Since crossing the street can be taking your life in your hands, strolling down this wide stretch without cars was a real dream. Sometimes kids would recognize us a westerners and say "hello". As the day worn on, it was usally "do you want to buy a watch".

The Peri Plus map of Shanghai we used was pretty good with 2 exceptions. First, it would be a better walking map if it showed where the under-street tunnels were. Some streets are so wide the only way to cross is an under-street tunnel. Second, they have restaurants listed that are purely just a counter and not a valid destination. This makes us question the validity of it being on the map at all.

We worked ourselves south along the river to "The Old City". There we saw the temple and teahouse of the Yuyuan Garden, pictured above. At that point we did some souvenir shopping and caught a cab back to the hotel. A 3 mile ride for just 3 bucks! Just outside the hotel, an old lady squirted white goo on my foot and said "Shoe Shine"? Before I could stop her she was wiping it down. While she had me, another guy came up and quirted it on my other foot! Four bucks later, I had my shoes shined. Kinda reminds me of the NYC windshield cleaning scam, but on foot.

Streets of Shanghai

2008-03-03T03:40:00.002-05:00

They vary from this back alley where some ladies are swapping gossip while their laundry is drying.... to cars and bikes zooming all around.

Getting to Shanghai

2008-03-03T03:31:00.005-05:00

On the way to Shanghai, Mom got kidnapped and put to work as a Janitor. Just kidding. Seriously though, we are shocked at the size of the Shanghai terminal.

It is hard to find the words to describe Shanghai. It is certainly not what was expected. The density and the pollution is something I have never seen before. Still, it something I would not want to miss. As Patrice described the train ride from airport was exhilarating and very smooth. But what a juxtaposition. Get off the most hi-tech train in the world and see a guy peddling a three-wheel bike 5 minutes later. Here is Patrice and our friend John who was kind enough to meet us at the airport....

Here in Shanghai

2008-03-03T03:17:00.001-05:00

Wow! 6 hrs. Charlotte-San Francicsco, a 5 hr. layover, 15 1/2 hrs. in the air, a 2 hr. layover in Hong Kong, 2 more hrs. in the air and we made it to Shanghai! Our friend, John, met us at the airport and were we glad to see him! He helped us navigate the MagLev. It's a superfast train (@300 miles/hr.) that took us to Pudong. Then a taxi to the Marriott. It's a nice place to crash. We did have lunch with John though and walked back about 2 1/2 miles to the hotel. The weather is great - about 58 degrees F.
A weird phenomenon we experienced - about 15 hrs. of darkness on the way over the Pacific. We kept flying away from the rising sun in the east.
-PN

Lucy and our Last Night at Home

2008-02-29T21:07:00.004-05:00

Wow, we just can't believe the day of departure is here. Lucy the Cat is looking at our suitcases and seems to know what is coming next. She always gets dejected whenever she sees us pulling out the suitcases. But she doesn't know that this time someone will be staying in the house with her. Trey, who will be staying with, her loves cats.

We also got some great news today. Our friend John, who lives in Shanghai will be coming to the the airport to meet us.

Here's an update on Patrice and her recovery...

She got an "all clear" from her surgeon today. So look out Shanghai, here we come.

Communications

2008-02-27T19:35:00.002-05:00

Dealing with Verizon Wireless International turned out to be a real pleasant surprise. Amy isn their Int'l department was very helpful when it came to explaining how to set my phone to receive calls in each country. She even went as far as explaining how to tweak the settings to receive the lowest roaming charge. (stay in GSM mode whenever possible)
So it looks like I will be able to update this blog at almost any point along the trip from from my Blackberry. Here's the challenge.. how to not be so connected to work that it is almost as if I hadn't gotten away. Stay tuned.

Yikes! Appendicitis

2008-02-22T16:38:00.004-05:00

We spent last night here at University Hospital. For a couple days Patrice had some stomach pains. A CT scan and our family doctor (Dr Bradford)and the excellent surgeon (Dr Laird) he referred her to confirmed the worst. Her appendix had to come out. Patrice was a little nervous since the surgeon is the same age as our daughter. Turns out that's old enough because she did a great job. The good news is that the recovery time is supposed to be one week. We are greatful that this did not happen in rural China. One condition of Patrice taking the trip... I have to carry her bags for the first two weeks. Well, it beats going alone. Hey everybody, keep us in your prayers.
P.S. as I edit this it's Tuesday night and Patrice is healing slowly. I am doing my best to keep her from over-doing it. At this point it still looks good to leave Saturday.

Chart Our Course

2008-02-20T12:52:00.004-05:00

Here is a big world map so you can see where we're headed. This is subject to change as we just found out. China Airlines decided to cancel one of our flights at the last minute. We think this may also happen during our trip. It's just one of the challenges we going to have to face and laugh-off as needed. As you can see, all our destinations are in the Northern Hemisphere. This is a make the trip a little shorter. Some day, maybe we'll do it again in the Southern Hemisphere. We'lll see how this goes first.

Shots!

2008-02-19T21:41:00.002-05:00

Three or four sessions. Hepatitis a, Tetenus, & Thyphoid.
We rejected or thought the risk was minimal on..
Japanese Encephalitis, Malaria, and Polio.
At this point Patrice has 2 black & blue arms

Itinerary

2008-02-17T17:16:00.002-05:00

Depart March 1
CHINA
Shanghai MR 3 ~ 7, Ningbo MR 7, Yangshuo MR 9~13, Hong Kong Mr 14
INDIA
Delhi MR 15~17, Agra MR18, Jaipur MR19~21,
U.A.E.
Dubai MR 22~23
EGYPT
Cairo MR 24~26, Luxor MR27~29
ITALY
Rome MR30~APR1
HOME! April 2
This is a little summary of our itinerary. For details, stay tuned to this blog. At this point we have some things we are looking forward to seeing (the Taj Mahal in Agra and the Pyramids in Cairo) but we are going to be flexible.

Travelling lite

2008-02-17T09:56:00.003-05:00

This is my suitcase with the flap open. It is from Rick Steves and only measures 21 by 14 by 8" deep. We were determined to go 100% carry-on since we are taking so many flights. The size an weigh were determined by the airline that was the most restrictive.. China Airlines. Max carryon is 11 pounds! The suitcase does not have wheels, but does have a shoulder strap. Three outfits a sweater and light jacket. We are really counting on the laundry service at some of the hotels where we are staying. At this point I don't know if everything will fit in here.

Shoes

2008-02-16T10:48:00.001-05:00

Since we are travelling light (be sure to read our blog about just how light we're travelling) I knew we would be doing a lot of walking. After trying on 20 some pairs of shoes in 5 different stores, I finally found the right pair on line at www.shoebuy.com You guessed right. 30 days, one pair of shoes.
Ted Northrup
704-332-5557
www.mapshop.com

Extended Prep

2008-02-16T09:12:00.000-05:00

OK. Thought I had better add this post so nobody thought the only thing we did to prepare for the trip was take a sleeping pill.
First of all, since we own a travel oriented business, we had a little bit of an inside track. (http://www.mapshop.com/) We have been talking to lots of other customers taking trips to exotic places for the last 15 years. We also decided it was best not to leave our business for more than a month. That we can be gone that long is a testament to the caliber of our Map Shop family.
The next part of the prep came with some introspection on what we wanted to see and why we wanted to see it. And the realization that we were not going to be able to see everything we wanted in 30 days. So our goals came down to this. What are the hot spots in the world in terms of the future and what the coolest antiquities to see. So these are our stops. China, India, UAE, Egypt, Rome. Our othr goal is to see, meet and understand the people in these places too. maybe do something good along the way by attending Rotary meetings and discerning where a real unmet need might be. There'll be more details about the plan in another post.
Next Patrice read guidebooks for each area and planned an itinerary that gave us a little down-time in each place. She booked us a full set of tickets before the airfares and oil-prices went thru the roof. And of course we saw the doctor for a check-up and a full set of vaccinations. Finally, we convinced a friend of the family to live in our house while we're gone so our cat Lucy doesn't go crazy. That's enough for now. More another day as we get closer to leaving.

Preparation - 2 weeks to go

2008-02-16T08:48:00.000-05:00

Wow. We have been planning this trip for over a year now. I can't believe we're leaving in 2 weeks. If you have been following our itinerary, you'll know we need to do this trip in a relatively short time frame. That's why we chose to fly west and go all the way to Shanghai on our first "day". Since it's a day that is over 30 hours long, we are going to have to sleep on the plane. The only time I ever got close to achieving that feat was after 4 bottle-lets of Scotch on my way to Japan. The next day wasn't pretty. So a doctor suggested Ambien. I tried it last night to see if it would knock me out. It did. Maybe it did leave me a little crazy because here I am starting this blog. So now, on the 14 hour flight to Hong Kong I can zone out.