shipman travels

England

2009-07-07T20:07:00.000-07:00

We have left France behind on a very long one and a half hour plane ride on Ryan Air. Luckily, Bill is at the other end to pick us up at midnight. We drive another hour and a half to Canterbury. The whole Betham clan was awake, waiting for our arrival. It felt like we were already home from the trip to see so many friendly faces - everyone so excited to see us. It really was a welcome home. Bill showed us the sights of Canterbury, brushing up on his local history, and gave us a great walking tour of the inner city.

London was next on the agenda. Ava had to see Big Ben. When we saw the large clock face, the guide on the double decker bus let us know that Big Ben isn't the clock, but the bells hidden in the tower. Ava had a hard time believing or understanding the idea that you couldn't really see Big Ben.

We watched the changing of the guard at Buckingham palace, with all the pomp and flair, which wasn't much, but was very crowded. The kids kept asking us to go. But the 6 story toy store didn't receive the same mediocre reception from Hannah and Ava. It was a celebration of excitement and wonder. Stuffed animals everywhere. Store employees running around with toy gizmos like bubble guns and gliders, yelling about the products to no one and everyone. Real live manikins outside of the store left the kids with a wish to come back.

The next day Bill led us on a pilgrimage of biblical proportions as we navigated our way to Wystible through the fabled city woods. It took us a while to find the pasture land beyond the oak filled shadows, but we finally burst through to the other side to find a hay field. It was just the beginning. By 2 o'clock we found ourselves at village where the bar had some good food and beer. A call to a taxi was immenent. We finally walked the stone beaches to Wystible, where the family, except Nicole took a dip in the North Sea.

A great dinner at Cafe des Amis Canterbury ended our beautiful European vacation among close friends. It was so comfortable and loving to finish the trip with the Bill, Emanuelle, Emily, Luke and Paula.

Seguret, Carmague, Kayaking and the Cave

2009-07-07T19:03:00.000-07:00

We had a beautiful lunch at our favorite town - Seguret. It's close to other tourist stops, so visitors quickly come and go making for a tranquil spot in a very small town. They had a great restaraunt with a tasty lunch that looked like art work. The town was so relaxing we drove the hour and a half back to spend another day.

We took a day to see the carmague, the delta of the Rhone and a wildlife sanctuary filled with flamingos and salt flats. Flocks of pink floated by like the National Geographic Channel.

The limestone cave we visited was cold, with 100% humidity, and dramatic stalagmites falling from the ceiling. The cave stepped down into three large rooms, 2 where the ceilings had collapsed onto the floor as the caves slowly erode their way upwards. Ava was busy using her ca

mera and flash to try and catch the drama. Afterwards a meandering drive along the Ardech with its limestone walls and Pont d'Arc where the river slides beneath an arch way.

Our last day in France involved renting kayaks and paddling down river and underneath the Roman aqueduct Pont du Gard. A hot day with cool waters made the kayak adventure so pleasurable. Nicole and Hannah had a little trouble steering their craft along the river as they though it best to coast down via bank to bank - paddling straight wasn't really an option.

Avignon, Haribo, and Uzes

2009-07-06T18:18:00.000-07:00

The Roman Catholic Popes lived in Avignon for a hundred years in the 1300's and left a beautiful palace that was really a city of huge rooms. Located on the banks of the Rhone, Avignon was a central location that was much easier to serve the people than the city of Rome which was in the midst of a civil war. The day was hot, hot, hot. Sweating in the sun, the large stone cavernous rooms were a cool respite.

Haribo is an old candy manufacturer near Nimes that has been making candy for a hundred years. Their museum was a display of automation that creates the sugary rocket fuel. Of course, there's a large gift shop where the kids can grab their treasures. Hannah and

Ava were delighted to finally go to a real museum.

Our local town St. Mamert du Gard had their annual running with the bulls festival one of the weekends. They take some young bulls, fence of the

streets and begin prodding them with large spears. Once angry, the bulls are corralled behind a group of white hors

es (the native breed) and paraded through the

streets

until frustrated enough to break off and run on their own. The local high school boys try to run the young bulls down, and stop their forward progress by grabbing on to the tail. Everyone was having loads of fun except Nicole, me and Ava, who saw the bull poop and pee out of fear. Not very terrorizing.

Near Nimes the sunflowers and lavender were blooming. Fields of them. It was hard for a driver to see them since the roads were so narrow. There was barely enough room for two cars and no median strip to decipher sides. Tail gating and passing in the narrow lanes are common violations of personal space, another cultural difference.

In Uzes, a larger medieval town that's centers the area has a castle that still belongs to the duke of Uzes. The interior has been renovated and since the family comes to visit, the place is furnished with victorian pieces and on the walls hang portraits of the family's ancestors. All the eyes of the past follow you around as you walk through the rooms.

Nimes

2009-06-13T05:07:00.000-07:00

We're staying just outside of Nimes and to the east of the heart of Provence. Nimes is a large enough city to be afraid of getting lost in, but our house is 20 minutes away in an old town. It's hard leaving the St. Tropez house and arriving at night, on a colder day, to a smoker's home with a unknown cat. It takes a couple of days getting used to. It helps to explore Nimes, a Roman city that use to be the capital of Roman Gaul. A large arena and temple modeled after the Apollo Temple in Rome give us all a taste of antiquity. The 300 meter long Pont de Gard which helped to hydrate the Roman city is one of the best preserved aquaducts and is still intact and beautiful. We drive up to St. Remy and reach the market just in time to find olives, cheese, bread, and siamin from a chinese man selling spring rolls. Hannah is in debt to me since she hasn't had a good meal in "Days". She finally cherishes a fully cooked bacon cheese burger later that night in St. Remy. Near the town is the old cloister which was also the asylum in which Van Gogh created some of his most enduring paintings. We all walked in his bedroom and looked out the window from where he painted a few of his paintings. The view of the fields, sheds and one house are still the same. The monostary sits a walk away from beautiful Roman town which was unearthed in the 20's. The next town, Le Beaux has an old castle ruin perched on a cliff with the medieval town just below. We arrived just in time for the launching of rocks in the trebucher or catapult used for siege warfare. I volunteered to pull one of the ropes, but the French instructions were a bit sticky for me to follow. The rock plopped down a few feet from it's base. A good laugh.

Another day took us to Barbara and her

beautiful home where we took a fun cooking class of Provencal cuisine. We gathered fruits

and herbs from her garden and created 7 wonderful dishes.

The kids loved

getting their h

ands in some bowls and using the knives. Th

e lunch and wine on her terrace was a beautiful ending.

After that, a drive up Mount Venout where the Tour de France regularly climbs. It's tall peak with a cold and windy view point where we see most of Provence. Down again to Seurat another small town with a cute tea shop with a gorgeous view.

End of St Tropez

2009-06-13T04:24:00.000-07:00

Relaxing. Cote d'Azure is almost over as we'll be moving further into Provence and away from the beach. There's not much time in our little oasis, but we try not to think about it. We sunk our forks into the Tropezienne, the custard bread that is St. Tropez's own. A drive up the coast, towards the west filled one day, since we haven't gone that way yet. It was just an hour.

Mountains and blue water and beautiful drives up the valley. We eat at another hill top town, veal and steak and Ava sees the German's next to us smoking during dinner. "How can they do that!". We finish up with more beach days. I keep trying to get Nicole and the kids out to see the sights.

Gabriella and St. Tropez

2009-06-13T03:17:00.000-07:00

Ray's niece Gabriella is working as a pastry chef in Aix en Provence. We invited her over for a little r and r from the hect

ic life of the restaurant. Since she has been trying to travel on her weekends, it was a fun opportunity for her to get out and about.

The fountain was in Aix, another 12 century piece just sitting in the middle of a neighborhood. Aix was where Gabriella was working. We saw a picasso and Cezane show at the museum that was focused Picasso's love and following of Cezane's ideas. I think even the kids enjoyed it.

Back in St. Tropez, we took Gabriella to the Tuesday market for cheese, vegies, fish and people watching and went on up to Ramatuell for an ice cream and view of the old town. Then it was back down to Gassin, where Hannah and I had to buy a cappucino in order to use the toilette.

That night we ate up the fish out on the terrace and drank our rose. The next day was a hike around the cape of St. Tropez, the coast and a view of all the sights.

St. Martin Visubie

2009-05-31T12:27:00.000-07:00

Around Nice the French Alps come close to the sea. It's not far to reach the snow and that's our mission. Through a narrow gorge and up the mountain roads leads us to St. Martin. Another 12th century town at the end of a high valley surrounded by white mountain peaks. Part of the river located near the town is diverted through the old main street. Constantly rushing down a gutter through the middle of the walkway, the icy water was used as a source of fresh water to wash and clean. Even while having lunch, the municipal workers came by with a 6 inch plastic elbow on a rope and a broom to clean the street. The elbow was used for diverting the water onto the side of the walkway and connecting courtyards. One man held the elbow while the other swept the grime of the cobble stone streets. Along the way the said hello to the shop keepers and gave the french kiss kiss - talked awhile and then back to work they went. The sun dried the streets in a short while and we used the man made stream to clean our slippers.

We drove to Borion which was further up the valley and started on a hike along side a rushing mountain stream. Quickly diverting away from the stream, the trail began to move up a steep ridge and toward a high mountain lake. At least that was the plan. Instead we ran into some deep snow and lost our shoes in the holes. After retrieving our foot wear, I tried to push further on like any man worth his weight. I didn't get much further as the snow got deeper and the top of the ridge wasn't any where in sight. I retreated by sliding down the snow in my shorts and wet shoes.

On the way back to St. Martin we spocked a town high up on a ridge with the sun still highlighting the church tower. It was a 5 min. investigation into a beautiful town with a godly view of the valley and mountains. The mobile cheese and sausage van parked at the little town square and operated by a fat old man provided a good source of olive oil, sausage, and pasty provence honey. The honey on fresh baked bread with butter was a prize.

The drive home landed us again in Biot, Nicoles little hideaway. We stopped at the hotel, which in fact, did have the tables out in the street. The old man who owned the place chided us for not making reservations. "You were terrible" he sweetly said to Nicole. The church was having a musical event in it's spacious cloister and he expected a large crowd from it and the restaurant was already full. They found us a table and our waiter took our order on the table cloth, writing everything down according to the seating arrangement. I ordered rabbit and he wondered if Ava was going to have some as well. She said, "it's too sad". Off he went with our order written right on our table, and his high water pants jacked up his croch. Thankfully another gentleman came by to organize ordering of the food. He looked down at the table cloth and nodded his head in acknowledgment, and reading off everyone's choices. It all ended at 11 and another hour and a half drive. The cappucino didn't help much, but my copilot helped through out the drive. She isn't a designated driver yet as the autoroutes left her quivering after a scant 10 minutes. She keeps me awake by talking sweet nothings.

Italy and Monaco

2009-05-31T12:01:00.000-07:00

It's off to Italy since it's so close. Spaghetti in Italy. We found a small town on the coast with little alley ways with locals slowly meandering through. Not many tourists. Clothes hanging on lines from the apartments above and a enthusiastic Italian woman at the cafe serving us pasta with sausage and bolagnase sauce.

We head back through Monaco to get a view of the Monte Carlo Casino and the Paris Hotel next door. Lots of Masseratis in the valet parking lot. I walk around inside since kids aren't allowed, but besides the main hall, there isn't much to see, most of the casino and hotel are close off. The harbor below is filled with a cruise ship and a multitude of yachts. The palace of the prince stands up on the promitory overlooking it all.

We drive to a 11th century town high on a cliff called Eze and arrive at a sheik hotel at the top just at the end of a party. The manager arranges the terrace for us by pulling a love seat and sitting chairs out of the store room and we have wine, orangina, and an apple juice while watching the sunset from 2,000 feet above the sea. We eat at the restaurant below with fine food, wine, and a creamy strawberry and crusty thing. With a 11pm curtain call, it's another hour and a half drive home.

Cannes

2009-05-31T10:21:00.000-07:00

The film festival is on. We're a little late as it's the last 3 days, but Heath Ledger's last movie is on the slate - Dr. Parnassus. Johnny Depp, Colin Farrel, and that famous midget from Austin Powers are in it. We're hoping the red carpet premier will be star studded, since we missed Brad Pitt and Angela two days before. But there's not much of a schedule for the event. All we know is that the first showing is at 8:30 in the morning. It doesn't work for our European schedule - wine and cheese at 8pm and dinner at 9. Sleep has been coming at around midnight and the wake up call happens at 10 or 11. We make it out of the house early though, but don't get to Cannes until 11am. Taking the coast all the way up probably didn't help. Lot's of middle aged cyclists with yellow postal jerseys enjoying the view slowed us down a bit.

We decide to drive to an old town Biot for lunch. Crepes and an old hotel where Nicole spent 3 weeks almost 20 years ago. The hotel is there and they still close the street to serve dinner as we'll find out a few days later. We work our way back to Cannes for the 7:30 showing and find ourselves in the midst of a mad crowd and lots of night gowns. It's exciting to see the red carpet being used and the way some wannabes try to work the crowd - blowing kisses and waiting for the next guest in order to stay in the spotlight a little longer. The big stars didn't arrive, only the Austin Powers midget, the director, and the main characters. Big fun.

We end the day with a late night dinner at a small seaside town where the locals were eating. Steak tartar for me, and a beautiful cream sauce with steak for Nicole. Raw hamburger never tasted so good. Finished dinner at 11 and still had an hour and a half drive home.

Ava's blog: Then we got in the car and went to this town to look at old buildings, and we got ice cream. It was so good! After that we relaxed at the house for the rest of the day. The next day we went to a film festival. A film festival is just like the red carpet at Hollywood. There were red carpets but they were for movies. There were so many photographers! Well we couldn’t see the people with the cameras. We could only see the flash of the cameras. There was a big tv. So we could see the red carpet with the famous people. We saw the people that were in the movie Dr. Parnassus. Well it isn’t in the theaters yet but it will be out soon! This actor was in it and he was a super midget. I don’t know his name though. I am so sorry! The actors had to go on their knees to be the same height as him! The actors of the movie were last and mama was hoping to see Johnny Depp and his wife Vanessa Paradis, but sadly they didn’t come! We waited for hours! Well after that we went out to dinner. Oh my gosh! I have to talk about this dinner! I had pasta and Hannah had the same. Well mama had this fish I think it was salmon. Papa had raw meat! They both shared a salad and they said it was the best salad they ever had! That was the end of that day. The next day we went to the beach again! We played the tennis game again. We did went to another beach it was called Tahiti. We saw women in no top again.

St. Tropez

2009-05-31T10:20:00.000-07:00

We arrived on a sunny afternoon into "Ville Toril", a small house with an extended area of relaxation: vine covered terrace, roof top terrace, sunny outside breakfast area, a sitting area outside of the master bedroom, a pool with limestone decking and pearl white tile through out, and a large backyard with a clothes line. The large umbrella pine trees stand tall in the back yard, watching over the view. Too good to leave, we spend the afternoon soaking up the sun and relishing the pool. Only after sunset, past 8 pm do we think about dinner. A little late as Hannah and I drive around for 45 minutes looking for a store. They're all closed. We settle for a pizza trailer on the side of the road. We've passed it 3 times looking for the different stores and now it's the only thing open. I park in someone's driveway and begin to get out as the middle aged pizza man motions me to move my car to the street. I only have 10 euros and hope it's enough for a pizza. His trailer is attached to a stone oven build permanently on the property and the pizza man begins throwing his dough as we decide what to order. We find a 10 euro ham and cheese pizza. It takes 15 minutes as he adjusts the coals and moves the pizza around. We leave with one medium size pizza. Nicole's worried we got lost - which we did. Nicole calls the pizza the "best ever".

St. Tropez is an old small town kind of at the end of the road. The harbor is filled with luxury yachts and beat up fishing boats. There are small alleys with quaint cafes and high end designer stores for the rich. It's a great people watching place as the rich saunter by in all their finery, and the other tourists move about in wonder. We get a glace for the kids - nutella for Ava and cookies and cream for Hannah and walk the harbor. A large yacht maneuvers into a slip in front of main street and all the tourists, including us watch the 3 story, 80 foot yacht move into it's spot. A crowd gathers around taking pictures and the patrons at the cafes are in a comfortable place to see the spectacle. The yacht reverses its engines with a large wave of turbulence and the owner sits at the top deck looking down at the commoners as he taps on his laptop. His lady, with a large sun hat stands at a lower deck talking with someone. The crew is poised with bumper cushions to protect the ship while another stands ready with a rope to throw ashore to an awaiting harbor official. Once all is in place with outburst of energy, the automatic walkway is extended to the sidewalk, where a crew member puts out a stepping block and a pair of shoes. On this occasion a woman in sun dress and petit hand bag walks up the walkway, waits for a crew member to unlock the gate, and saunters on to the deck with a kiss kiss greeting from the woman in the sun hat, and they sit down for a little chat on the sundeck which is washed in cushioned couches and love seats.

French Alps

2009-05-24T10:28:00.000-07:00

Leaving Paris behind in our Lancia, a Fiat brand (they'll be coming to America), we travelled through the French country side. 20 minutes outside of Paris and the farmlands begin with wooded forests preserved along selected stretches. Highway signs indicating cave drawings, castles, and villages whiz by as we drive toward Lyon. The rolling hills are green and the weather a bit cold at 12º, but the highway tolls make for great stops. The bathrooms are incredibly clean and each one has a beautiful picnic area. No stores or fast food joints - just forest along side the highway with picnic benches, bathrooms and playgrounds for kids. They were well used and we enjoyed them as Nani had packed us a picnic basket for the trip.

We stopped to stretch our legs at , an old monastic town from the 1400's which was famous for creating a hospital or care house for the sick. The monastary was recreated as it was used through out the ages. Th

e kitchen had been used to feed the old folks home up until 1985, so it was a large part of the community.

Our end point is Grenobe, where Emanuelle has been nice enough to ask her cousin for a favor to put up some friends from Hawaii. The drive to the south is a bit long for one day. So we will spend two nights here. It's a city really. Sitting at the base of the Alps, at a valley that runs at the base of snow capped mountains, Grenobe is the silicon valley of France. High tech with a large population to serve the industry. The 16th century town center is beautiful and the fort that sits strategically on the high ridge is imposing.

Brice and Sylvia-Ann welcome us with open arms to their loft like apartment in an old warehouse from the 1800's. Their sons, Sasha and Noe are playing outside in the driveway, waiting to welcome us. We arrive by mistake mostly. Getting lost in the city, we found a street to make a u-turn, and it happened to be the correct one. One thing about France - the street signs are terrible. 10 signs will be posted on the corner telling about all the great things to look for in a certain direction, and the street signs will be plastered to a building, usually on the far end of the block and partially covered in Ivy. You don't know a cross street until you've past it.

Brice and Sylvia-Anne took very good care of us by taking a day off of work and showing us the mountains of the area. He's a good cook and showered us with his cooking skills. Sasha played some guitar and Noe ran about with endless energy.

Leaving Grenobe we drove through the beautiful French Alps, stopping along the way to walk in a real "alpine meadow", eating our pastries and cooling our water bottles in the cold stream. The snow capped peak

s rose above us, and Ava couldn't stop picking daisies the seed stems to blow in the wind.

By evening we had reached the rolling hills of St. Tropez. Dry and forested, it looked like Sonoma, but much greener. We found our little chalet, complete with a beautiful pool, tiled floors, shuttered windows and french doors that were screenless. No flies to worry about, just dry, warm, sunny St. Tropez with vines along the walls and wild gardens filled with flowers.

Paris

2009-05-24T00:33:00.000-07:00

Hello from France.

It was a long flight to Paris, but we slept most of the way and tried to stay up very late once we got there. Luckily we found an easy taxi from the airport and made it to Nani and Joe's in less than an hour. Much easier than we thought. They welcomed us with open arms and we took a short nap before taking an afternoon excursion by way of the subway to the middle of the city. The subway turn stile kept most of us out the first time around as the the sequence of inserting the ticket and moving the gate was backwards from Hawaii.

We stopped at the wax museum, which showed the history of France and other notables and celebrities. It was all very confusing if you weren't french, but the French Revolution was pretty easy to understand. A lot of screaming and beheading. Ava ran through that part of it.

Leaving the museum, our first meal in a next door cafe was very Parisian. A green salad with goat cheese on toast, olives, stripes country ham and smoked duck, the ripest tomatoes, and all lightly tossed in a mustard vinegrette. Very good.

We walked to the Louve with the glass pyramid and the old museum and then into the surrounding gardens with hedge row mazes and garden sculptures. Then it was back to the subway, which was by now used to allowing Hawaiians in, and on to our stop, the next one after Voltaire. That was our landmark Voltaire, we're the next one after that. Look at the map for Voltaire and go from there.

Nani cooked us a beautiful stew with salad. For dessert it was cheese or fruit. The kids declined. We didn't have much room for anything else as well.

Museums filled the next day as we went to the Louvre and looked up at the 2nd century BC winged god that beautifully posed on the landing of the grand staircase. Near 15 feet tall and wings out stretched she bounded up and away. Michealangelo's "Slave" was opposingly tied down with arms constricted and face humbled and pleading. We tromped around to other paintings which were supposed to be famous, but found them all out on the museum circuit to Tokyo, Montreal or somewhere else. We did see the roving eyed Mona

Lisa with a group of about 100 others. She kept watching us where ever we went.

We next made a move to the Rodin Museum, which had a beautiful sculpture garden where we could size up the large hands, watch the gimmacing or forlorned faces and walk around the muscled statues surrounded by trees and rustling leaves.

We came home to another home cooked meal that

Nani lovingly prepared. Ava fell asleep at the table as if she was putting her head down in class. We didn't last much longer.

Our last full day in Paris brought us to Nicole's old stomping grounds in St. Germain des Pres where all the richy riches lived closed to the gruffy college kids. The shops were beautifully French with great patisseries and cafe's. Nicole got herself a sweater to boot.

At night we went to Monmartre to have a look at the city all lit up under the darkened sky. It rained a little, but Ava got her wish to see the Eifel tower again. The first look a day ago was so impressive for her, she needed to see it again. Every hour at night they light it up like a Christmas tree, and Ava was enthralled.

Amazon

2009-03-23T13:28:00.000-07:00

Flying over the snow capped peaks of the Andes, we begin to see the ribbons of white rapids and mountain ridges that gradually descend into a flat ocean of tree tops. The green expanse lies featurless, like an ocean except for the serpentine rivers running red with mud. The rivers meander slowly through the flat basin connecting one to another and grow wider.

The hike to the lake lodge is hot and muddy. Nicole is back at the last town, Puerto Maldonado, as her bout with food poisoning has kept her back. A visit to the make shift emergency room, filled up bags of last nights birthday dinner (Hannah´s 13th), and a description of the boat ride, hike and canoe paddle to the lodge has left her thorougly depleted in all apects. She spends a night in the hotel as we continue on.

On the hike we see monkeys, kites, and leaf cutting ants all while trying to keep the mosquitos off. Our guide Herbert helps Ava with her boot which has been sucked down into the mud. Her foot dangles in the air, a clean white sock balancing above a pond of brown.

At night we walk with our head lamps on a wilderness trail where we casually bump into a boa constricter and poisonous coral snake and find tarantulas and other large spiders. The next morning we take a canoe ride and watch the lake birds perched on trees and palms. We find more monkeys, alligators and sea otters. Macaus fly high over head.

Nicole joins us in the afternoon, feeling much better after the antibiotics and some rest. She completes the group an shares an afternoon canoe ride across the lake, happy to finally reach the Amazon forest.

Machu Pichu

2009-03-20T11:11:00.000-07:00

We woke up early to drive down to Ollytamtanbo where the train would take us down to Aquas Caliente, the last pueblo before Machu Pichu. The train rode along the Urabamba River which was wildly thrashing itself against the hard granit rock. Nicole kept looking down at the river and talking about her water nightmares. ¨I´ve been in that before and haven´t made it¨.

The snow capped mountains followed us down the river, watching us make our way to Machu Pichu. Upon arriving to the last town, our guide was holding up a sign for ¨Shipman¨, except it wasn´t so flattering with one letter changed to the derogative.

The final bus wound its way up the dirt road and dropped us off at the park gates. Not knowing our guide´s name we sat and ate lunch while he waited patiently for us to arrive - just yards away. Once together we snuck our large packs with the prohibitive mass of food and drink pass the rangers and headed up to the lost city. Our guide Steven gave us a two hour tour of all the special temples and created a picture that made it much more than a ¨bunch of old rocks piled up¨ for Hannah and Ava.

Afterwards, left to our own, we hiked around, up and down, even outside the city. Eating lunch it began to rain and we took shelter under a thatched roofed hut. The rain drove a bunch of the crowd away, and the afternoon sun combined with the mist rising from the valley gave it all a mysterious feel. We sat and took it all in.

The Sacred Valley

2009-03-20T10:26:00.000-07:00

George picked us up for our drive to the Sacred Valley. He made good use of his connections to take us to every tourist outfit along the way, even if I told him not to. They all made out as we bought a lot of stuff. George finally made good by taking us to the pisca market and ruins.

After navigating through the arts and crafts, we finally found the locals buying and selling fruits, vegetables, and bread. We filled up some bags of goods and headed towards the hotel\house, which had a kitchen, fireplace and two bedrooms. Finally, a little privacy for the big kids. On the way we stopped by a restaurant for lunch where a pet dear sat on the lawn. Ava had to go out and pet it and that little doe stayed in the grass, lying down with out any fright. Ava spent 5 minutes with that dear and when she left the poor little dear wasn´t through with her. She jumped on her hind legs and tried to pat Ava on the top of the head with her front hooves. Ava let out a scream and George came to the rescue by whacking the dear back. She stayed in her seat all through lunch.

The adobe house we called home was kept us relaxed after our jaunts through the sacred valley and the last Inca strong hold of Ollytamtaybo. There I drank some of the fermented corn brew called Chincha in a surviving inca neiborhood of intact walls, streets and family compounds. At night we would come home to a fire place and beer.

Cuzco

2009-03-20T09:27:00.001-07:00

We made our way through the city of 2 million to the heart of the Inca capital where the temples of the Incas were used as the foundations for the Spanish churches.
Cobbled stoned streets and pushy vendors greeted us as we walked toward the plaza de armaz, the city center. Sitting down at a cafe was hard work as we continued saying ¨no gracious¨ to the constant number of hawkers. However, the plaza we picked for the cafe wasn´t the plaza de armas at all, but a different plaza of benches and trees and colonial buildings. Only after finishing the barrage at the cafe and walking around did we find the correct plaza de armas which was a block away. Of course it was much nicer, twice the size, and with two large churches. Through them led the oldest, and main walkway of the Inca, which led into the temple complex that´s now the plaza.

Dinner was a treat as we felt like the tourists at a the Old Lahaina Luau with the peruvian dance show and the mediocre meal. Just like the tourists at home, Nicole and I were put on stage as a dance spectacle for all the restaurant to laugh at. Luckily, unlike the tourist luau at home, only two other tables were in the room, an older couple, and a japanese tourist group of 15. A dance show for an empty house.

At a cafe we met another visitor from the US, Steven Sullivan, who wrote the book for ¨Remember the Titans¨. A pretty interesting guy, but I had never seen the movie and told him our family wasn´t familiar with it. He couldn´t believe it and had to ask them himself because everyone had seen it. Nicole, ever the movie watcher, told him how she had seen it and how great it was. I was astounded and she laughed wickedly at the look on my face. She´s never even heard of Remember the Titans.

The Chicken and home made mayo sauce caught up with Hannah that night as she spent the next two days in her room with the runs. She missed the large military ruin of Sacsaywaman, with oversized stones up to 300 tons and the unthinkable precision cutting. The stones have a number of sides and one would think that they would have to be hefted into place tens of times in order to accomplish the cuts. Better for Hannah as each ruin became another place of ¨old piled up rocks¨.

We left Cuzco on Sunday morning for the Sacred Valley and Machu Pichu. The Churches were in session with mass and bells were ringing. Locals filtered in and out of the old churches, which always had patriarchal paintings of colonial bishops standing triumphantly in glory. The soot of the candles darkened their luster and golden frames.

Coordillera Blanca

2009-03-14T07:36:00.000-07:00

Cordillera Blanca -

After the bus ride and a night at a family inn, it was off to youngay, a small town below the highest peak in the Andes (Huascaran) at 6768 meters (22,000 ft) and the second highest peak Huandoy that plays the title role in the movie Touching the Void.

Llanganuco Lodge is an Engishman´s dream that is still in progress. It´s a beautiful spot directly underneath the two highest peaks and on a small plateau that sits just around the corner from a Yosemite like valley of grinded granite. The cliffs tower there higher than El Capitan and valley floor is covered by two lakes. When we arrive, Seth, our visian quest, peyote loving, orthopedic massage specialist from Alaska is filling in for the Englishman who has taken a trip home. Seth, fills in nicely as the improptu resident manager and takes care of everything pretty well, including filling us in on all his unusual exploits and dire experiences. The kids learned quit a bit about an alternative reality. Seth did work hard to take us out as a tour guide through out the area, from the magnificent valley, to the mountain glacier. The glacier was a hard ship as we forded a rushing stream, in which Seth saved the day by carrying Ava across and helping everyone else. All in his wool covered feet and open sandals.

The mornings were beautiful, with no one else at the lodge, and no other whiteys except for Seth. By early afternoon the clouds would cover the snow capped peaks and the clouds would rise from the valley to over take us in fog. The lake that was close to the lodge was frequented by local women and children who were moving there sheep and cow heards in the afternoon after working in the feilds during the earlier part of the day. Their colorful shawls and skirts accented by the local top hat pr derby hat. The older women would walk spinning wool with their spindles and the younger ones would corall the sheep with dogs. The men worked on the farm all day using hand tools and animal pulled wood plows, planting corn, wheat, potatoes, cabbage, lettuce and broccoli.

The nights were started off with shots of Pisco and the chef cooked up some great food with vegetable and chicken, great soups, all with tasty spices. The kids played monopoly and backhgammon, which usually ended in a fight while Seth would entertain us with his stories of mishap.

Ava got a case of insect bites that tortured her at certain parts of the day. After every shower she would spend ten minutes applying cortozone to her numerous welt. Since she was always hugging the two lodge dogs, a Rhodesian Ridgeback and Golden Lab, she paid the price.

March 2009 - Peru

2009-03-14T07:19:00.000-07:00

San Francisco -

Hannah hit the mall in downtown and got herself a fitted coat that looked like a 3/4 cotton trench coat. They were coupled together for the rest of the stay. She modified the West Coast look by adding rubber slippers to the ensemble. The fashion runway travelled through Miami and on to Lima.

The fear of getting sick in Peru, a dirty third world country was trumped when Nicole got sick from eating a vegitarian burrito in the San Fancisco airport. She was burping it up for a day and a half and kept saying she should have just thrown up on the flight to Miami. Boarding a plane, in close quarters, Nicole was feeling pretty claustiphobic (she doesn´t even like putting the blanket over her head). I watched her trying to sleep with a vomit bag in her hand. She arrived in Lima with a very sensitive stomach.

Lima -

We`re staying at a small hotel on the cliffs over looking the ocean. Even during their off season the waves are shoulder high. The place in an old upper class English lodge type house that belongs to a famous Peruvian artists. It looks that way from the coffee table books of his work. His daughter transformed the house into a 8 room hotel with paintings, sculptures, ceramics all left displayed through out the home. The old artist, who is 80, lives in a smaller place steps down the cliff, next to the pool.

Of course, Hannah and Ava went straight to the pool. Decorated with a water spouting Puma´s head, the pool became the place of residence as the hotel dogs constantly jumped in the pool after the girls. The old man still works at art every day and would shuffle back and forth from his apartment, across Hannah and Ava´s pool to his workshop where he would weld and grind away at his sculptures. He didn´t speak much english, but got a kick out of the kids and dogs splashing around. The single railing, wet concrete, and 20 foot drop onto the concrete below didn´t seem to bother him much.

Close to the hotel is the plaza to the Barrancio district where we´re staying in Lima. At sunset it´s filled with locals hanging out on benches and lovers holding hands, bodies, and lips like high schoolers. They really like to show their affection. It´s hard to navigate the sidewalks and find a restraurant with all the friendly activity.

As the point man of the group because of my high school spanish, the comedy has been high as Nicole even reminds me of words I have forgotten and she has remembered from earlier in the day.

From Lima its a 8 hour bus ride to the Coordierra Blanca. The video all the passengers just in case one of them happens to be a robber who will make their identity known latter on in the trip. It´s seems to be a good deterent, we didn´t get robbed. Peru is a dessert of sand and ocean until a river from the Andes makes it´s way down and a fertile farmed valley emerges. 4 hours of this until we take one of the river valleys up and into the mountain. Then the road snakes it´s way up into fog, rain and very narrow roads. The gaurd railing consist of 1 foot high cement blocks which are painted yellow and black so that everyone knows that the black abyss below is reall danger to drive into. I think it´s better that we can´t see anything because of the dark.

Everest

2008-09-27T18:19:00.000-07:00

We flew into Lukla, a mountain village 4 days walking from any road. The plane sat about 15 and the girls picked the seats in the first row. They wanted a roller coaster ride and got one as the plane flew into a valley, took a right down another smaller valley and then shot down into a runway that finished at a mountain wall. A quick thrill before the long walk.

We had a quick breakfast and began the 2 day walk to Namchee Bazaar, the biggest village in the area and a crossroad between the Everest region and Tibet. The bazaar lies on top of a ridge that separates two valleys and the switch backs are loaded with yaks carrying loads, humans carrying loads, and us, carrying nothing and dying.

Namchee was clouded in and it wasn't until the next morning that we noticed that we were among some very large mountain peaks covered in snow. Nicole and Hannah were bundled up in their sleeping bags, cold, cold, cold. They wouldn't even open the window to see the mountains they were so frozen.

From Namchee we spent a day reaching another higher ridge, closer to Everest. Again the clouds were low and the rain poured down in the afternoon. Tengpoche Monastery is one of the highest in the world at 3800 meters. The lodges were few and scattered around the monastery. Our guide Naryan thought the sky would clear in the night. Ava and I woke up at midnight to get a full moon view of the surrounding mountains and Everest.

The next morning was again cloudy, but they quickly broke to reveal Everest, the nearby peak of Lohtse and the dramatic close up of Aba Dablam, which soars like a fairy tale peak that would house a castle. The morning was filled with sounds of the monks being called to prayer with conch shells and knocking sticks.

Chitwan

2008-09-27T18:03:00.000-07:00

Back to Pokhara and a drive down to Chitwan National Park leaves us sweating from the pace of the road and the weather. It's hot and humid and the river is no relief. The elephants are enchanting - gentle, big and very quiet walkers. We took an afternoon elephant ride through the forest to see a rhinoceros. Two big animals walking around in the forest. Tiger prints are found in the mud close to camp and the birds are loudly getting ready for bed.

The night is just a sweat box and there's only electricity between 4 and 9, meaning there's not even a fan to help cool us off - just heavy, wet, hot air to keep us tossing and turning.

The next day cools off a bit for an elephant bath. The kids jump in to get "showered" by an elephant trunk and rolled off like a bronco. So far a highlight of the trip.

Annapurna 2

2008-09-27T17:45:00.000-07:00

Woke up at 4:30 am to take a day hike up to Poon Hill at 3800 meters. The morning is cold as we slowly get out of bed and put on the gloves and down jackets. Nicole looks sickly as she anticipates the cold lurking outside. With head lamps on we venture up with dark skies and stars.

The hour hike gives us beautiful views of white peaked mountains including the 4th tallest at over 8,000 meters. The viewing area has hot chocolate and Ava is in heaven.

After breakfast we begin a long day of Rhododendrun Forests, misty mountains, monkeys and finally rain. A down pour delays us for a half hour in the afternoon before we begin a descent into a leach filled forest. Hannah gets her neck sucked on while every couple of minutes leach checks are required. We reach our destination at night with our head lamps on, walking in the rain. The rain turns poop tainted steps into a slippery highway. We're a mess when we enter the lodge.

Annapurna

2008-09-21T01:07:00.002-07:00

Namaste,

Once out of Katmandu Valley the roads thin but not the cars and trucks - they all just fit into a smaller place. Large and slow, the cargo trucks carry everything from fresh produce, rocks, wet sand - why wet?, and food cartons. We settle in for the 5 hour car ride to Pokhara. Trucks pass other large trucks and the mini vans whiz along side us as we all pass everyone else. It's every vehicle for them self as assistants on buses wave their hands frantically to get other vehicles to move out of the way. Hours of hectic passing gets us to Pokhara where clouds loom low, keeping the mountain peaks covered. We cruise the town, buying ponchos and gloves for the upcoming trek through the Annapurna's.

The road winds through "hill country", switching back and forth along the deep valleys and balancing along the ridges. The views are beautiful and the mountains haven't even come into view yet. We stop at the beginning of the trail and begin the trek along the valley floor. The village is the last stopping point for the road and locals use it as a marketplace to supply all the goods that will go up the trail to outlaying villages. The trail we're on is now the highway where everyone and everything passes.

The "hills" and "hill people" are the farmers for the region with their produce moving up through the mountains by human and animal transport. The "mountain people" buy the rice, corn and millet at ever increasing rates the higher the elevation. The rice fields are a month away from harvest and the seeds are beginning to bend the plants low.

The kids are enjoying the views above and below. The granit path is filled with whites, golds and greens. The girls begin picking up loose stones that catch their eye. Hannah begins filling her empty Pringles container with the rocks. She'll be carrying them a long way.

Trekking and

2008-09-21T01:07:00.001-07:00

Kkrazy...Kathmandu

2008-09-13T18:47:00.000-07:00

Bangkok pix

2008-09-13T18:37:00.000-07:00

Bangkok and Katmandu

2008-09-12T22:26:00.000-07:00

We took a taxi down town once, got stuck in traffic for a half hour and vowed not to do it again. Instead we just take the "water taxi" down the river to get close to where we want to go. It's just a bus/ferry that carries locals across\down the river. When we hit our stop it's a quick tuk-tuk ride (motorcycle with cab) to our destination, which was a temple or market. Big buddhas, gold buddhas, green buddhas and elaborate temples of flaring roofs and gold walls filled one day for 3 of us as we were exhausted. Nicole had to go on to little India and she quickly abondoned us while taking the water ferry home. "why don't you guys go home and I'll get off here". And away she ran, almost leaving with our room key. Returning two hours later with blisters, a smile and a lot of little treasures she found along the way.

We left Bangkok from the new international airport. So new there wasn't a place to eat, except for small food stands that didn't take credit cards. Dying of thirst, with too large of bills for them to change, we scrounged a US dollor at the bottom of Nicole's bag to by a small water for the four of us. Lucky we were at our gate early as the plane boarded an hour early and closed the gate.

The satisfaction of Bangkok quickly evaporated under the sweltering heat of Katmandu. The road to our hotel was littered with hundreds of people hanging out, walking, yelling, selling, honking car horns. The trash was strewn about with the people, all of it in one big chatic mess of cars, motorcycles and bicycles. The people had changed from asian to predominantly Indian looking. We new we were in a completely different place. It was dirty, smoggy, hot and intimidating.

The streets of Thamel, a neighborhood inside of Katmandu were medievil. Small, narrow with shops and hawkers everywhere walking with us for a block or two at a time trying to sell their woven wallets and small musical fiddles. Streets so small only people should be one them. But not here, there were cars, motorcycles, bicycle cabs, all honking and yelling. If someone walked in the opposite direction as us we made sure that they passed toward the middle of the street. Better they get hit than us. At night kids were sleeping on the streets with their cardboard blanket.

In all the dirt and trash the Nepali women dress impeccably. Wearing Indian looking clothes of bright greens, reds, yellows and baby blue. Their hair is finely combed and put back with faces made up, jewelry on and hopping over and around mud puddles and piles of trash. Even out on the hiking trek, on the muddy trail, these women will look the same, beautiful clothes with the Indian shawl wrapped aroung and a large purse, walking around wet muddied mule dung that has turned into a light colored mud stream.

It was the trek that saved Nepal. Once out in the open country side the smog changed to fresh air and deep, deep valleys. The valleys fall forever as the roads switch back up and along the ridges .

2008-09-12T21:58:00.000-07:00

Bangkok

2008-09-03T18:20:00.000-07:00

Arrived in Bangkok at 12 am and got in a fight with the taxi dispatcher about wanting a van instead of a small car. "No, you get 2 car". No vans were in sight. Since we were staying at a small hotel that reviews say is hard to find, two cars in a large city wasn't a choice we wanted - so we wandered past the line of taxi drivers until the last one waved us down and told us to wait. It took us a couple of minutes to figure that out in his broken english. Shortly, a van pulled up, loaded our bags and proceeded to get lost in the city trying to find our "botique" hotel.

Waking up the next morning, the small hotel was beautiful. It was as if an artist decorated the hotel with out using any money at all. Old wall paper was stripped unevenly and then parts were painted with a portrait of flowers in a vase or a bird flying. The courtyard was helpfully cool, filled with benches and pillows to lounge, all enveloped with a jungle of plants. Old french music or soft jazz would continuously play and a small pond with fish kept Ava intrigued. She never caught one - used her hand, a cup, anything. An organic garden of lettuce, tomatoes, squash, eggplant and herbs was kept on the top terrace, complete with a scarecrow. The garden was used for breakfast - always a combination of flavors I've rarely had, like a salad with fried garlic, grapefruit slices broken apart into their small little pods and a vinagret dressing - for breakfast!

Outside the hotel the small lane that connected to the bigger lane that finally reached the street were filled with Thais hanging their laundry, fixing their cars, watching their kids. It was all so quiet compared to Manila. No incessant honking or yelling. I figured it was just Sunday, but it was like that the rest of the trip.

Outside Manila

2008-08-30T01:48:00.000-07:00

Finally took our jeepney ride for a block. Nicole and Ava wouldn't go any further for fear we would end up on the other side of Manila. Better than Hannah, who was too disgusted to venture into such a lowly form of transportation.

We went outside Manila to the volcano. The smog followed us all the way. Buildings and factories slowly gave way to rice fields

and tin roofed sheds. The jeepneys

transformed into motorcycle taxi cabs with a covered sidecar and third wheel. We saw one with a driver, two adults behind him on the seat riding side saddle, holding two small children in their laps, and finally two more passengers in the sidecar. They pack them in.

The crater of the active volcano is a lake with an island in middle which has in it another lake which smolders sulfur fumes. We took a traditional boat with bamboo outriggers propelled by a to

yota engine and transmission. One pedal for gas, one

pedal for the clutch and a automobile stick shift for changing gears - including reverse. No wind. The water was sheet glass and the driver down shifted to second so that another b

oat wouldn't pass us.

The volcano island has no cars or motorbikes, only horses - small itty bitty ones. So str

aight up the mountainside we went. No switch backs or turns. Straight up as the crow flies. The horses weren't too happy. Ava's guide was a little boy and he just jumped on the horse with her and away they went. "Balance, balance" was all he told her. I didn't see her until the top. The sight of the smoldering volcano was beautiful, but not as enjoyable as the horse ride up and down with our guides running behind us - passing by the dirt floored tin roof shacks with residents hanging outside on the covered "porch" eating lunch.

2008-08-28T20:58:00.000-07:00

Wendy has been spoiling us with lots of good food and shopping galore! We went to the Mall of Asia which is the largest shopping mall in Asia and Hannah was in shopping heaven!

We took a horse carriage ride to the heart of the old fort city during the Spanish colonial period. The horse was foaming at the mouth from thirst and the hide on it's back was worn from the reins. It was a quick jaunt as the driver kept wanting us to get off so that he could double the price. Since we wouldn't, he had time to kill and proceeded to drive through the heart of the busiest blvd. he could find. Traffic swarmed around the carriage as he waited to turn left then right. No problem for the horse though.

sige na !

Manila

2008-08-26T20:02:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Manila airport to the mildew smell of a season of monsoon and the constant tooting of automobile horns. Now we know what horns are used for - not emergencies but a constant chatter of roadside wants and desires. Four "lanes" quickly narrow to one and half as drivers creep and crawl grudgingly. We can see why the filipinos back home like to light up their cars. If you can't be seen here you're going to get hit.

The local taxis or "jeepneys" - half truck, half van, colorfully painted and lighted- are the cheap forms of traveling for locals as they sit on the benches inside, quickly emerging from the rear like city soldiers ready to achieve their objectives. We just fall in line running with the crowd so we can cross the streets unscathed - safety in numbers.

6 hours behind and a day ahead have hampered us a bit and totally confused Ava's sense of time. She woke up at 2 am and kept telling us it was 8 in the morning and she was starving. She refused to go back to sleep thinking the sun was going to come up shortly and ended up watching her IPod for 4 hours.

Until next time.

Off to the Philippines

2008-08-23T13:22:00.000-07:00

Well we are about to embark on our travels!