Personal Blogs

After a frustrating mix up with Turkish Airlines, my start was delayed by a day. The missed day was planned as recuperation but wasn’t desperately missed as the plane from Istanbul had 100 empty seats. Sad for Nepal as it reflects the low number of tourists since the earthquake but good for me as I bagged a row of 4 seats and had a really good sleep. I awoke to a clear view of sunrise over the Himalayas at 28,000 feet – awe inspiring.

Kathmandu is a sprawling, basic city. The traffic is incredible, few pavements and narrow streets so everyone is often dicing with the traffic. The main mode of transport is foot followed by cycle rickshaws. The “tourist area” of Thamel, is only distinguished by the trekking and souvenir shops, there are no western style shops there, nor did I see any elsewhere in the city. The main mode of transport is foot followed by cycle rickshaws. Infrastructure is rather basic, every hotel I stayed at had at least one power cut and the poshest (in Pokhara) provided candles and matches! 

 There are unfortunately many signs of the earthquakes, ruined buildings being rebuild, tent settlements, and very poor road surfaces which have only been repaired with gravel. The most evident devastation was in the centre of Kathmandu at the famous Durbar Square where most of the World Heritage Buildings have been badly damaged. Some travelers moan on the bulletin boards that considering this, the £5 admission should be reduced but they need lots of restoration funds. 

After checking in and having a relaxing breakfast I went to a local school. I had brought 100 exercise books as a token donation and it was nice to visit. The school was primary and secondary with some 1100 pupils, several classes were in tented structures on the playground due to damaged classrooms. The children were friendly and seemed relaxed but it was quite formal too. Everyone stood automatically as we entered, they were all in school uniform and even infant aged children walking around had their hands clasped behind their backs. 

The Pashupatinath Temple was built in 1696 on the orders of King Bhupendra Malla, Pashupatinath and is Nepal's most important Hindu temple. It is a very large complex, although none Hindus are not allowed in the centre precincts there was lots to see – eccentric looking monks, ceremonial, pampered goats, bodies being prepared for cremation in the Bagmati River. I couldn’t understand why they bodies were wrapped in so many layers of white cloth, it also seemed as if those involved, presumably the relatives, showed no emotion, it was all quite business like. 

Wikipedia reports that “the Buddhist stupa of Boudhanath dominates the skyline. The ancient Stupa is one of the largest in the world”. Sadly it is less dominating as the tower on its top was completely destroyed. It was still pleasant to walk round viewing the multiple prayer wheels of varying sizes from tiny to gigantic. Another stupa we visited is the Swayambhunath Stupa (aka the Monkey Stupa) on a hilltop to the west of Kathmandu. It has magnificent views over Kathmandu, hundreds of monkeys along with a monkey bathing pool and a lovely pond dedicated to peace on Earth. 

The second day I travelled to Chitwan National Park in an isolated area just north of the Indian border. The local villages had hardly any motorised transport the vast majority walked or cycled. I was very fortunate that almost as soon as we arrived a rhino decided to take a dip in the river opposite my hotel. We had some pleasant walks visiting an elephant breeding centre and bird watching. The elephants work for 15 years and are then left to roam free in the wild, although they often come back for food! They normally live to 70. 

We went on a dawn trek on elephant back through the forest. The elephants were amazing, wading nonchalantly through a fast flowing river with water coming up to their stomach. They seemed completely at ease, stopping for a drink whenever they wished and constantly grabbing grass and leaves to eat. One of my fellow travelers stupidly dropped his mobile phone so we turned round and the mahout got the elephant to pick it up for him in her trunk. Similarly at the end I wanted to give him a tip so he told me to give the money to the elephant to pass up! We saw a reasonably amount of wildlife – wart hogs, lots of deer, monkeys and loads of birds – sadly no tigers. 

On the way back for breakfast, we passed a group of villagers happily playing cricket with makeshift bat and stumps, not what I expected in Nepal.

The final place we visited was Pokhara, in the Himalayan foothills. A pleasant city, with a more western oriented tourist area, but again few trekkers or tourists I think I was the only guest in a large hotel. We strolled along a beautiful lake with mountain backdrop. In the morning I got up at 4.30! to see dawn over the Annapurna range – it has five peaks – Annapurna I, II, III, IV and Annapurna South. We were lucky to get a good view before cloud covered them. 

The driving is absolutely crazy. The main Kathmandu Pokhara road, the M1 of Nepal, is like a small “A” road in England. There are frequent tractors and many heavy lorries so vehicles are constantly overtaking, the lorry that can crawl up a hill at 15kph overtaking the slower one doing only 5. Therefore almost all “normal” common sense rules go, you overtake whenever, forcing traffic coming the other way to slow or even stop. When overtaking you must constantly sound your horn (even when there are clear signs saying no horns). Add this to the frequent patches of poor or completely unmade road surface and journey time is slow 5 hours for 200 km. Surprisingly I only saw evidence of two accidents neither of which seemed to have caused any injuries. 

Education is very much a priority. Everyday, including Sunday, we passed numerous children, walking to and from school, neatly dressed in school uniform.

The company whom I had booked with, Makanamar Travel, were extremely attentive throughout. The owner met me and returned me to the airport. I received a garland on arrival and a prayer shawl as I left. When traveling I always had a guide plus a driver, additional in the Chitwan National Park I had an additional park guide. Despite this the whole package was not very expensive.

All in all I found Nepal a welcoming friendly but hectic place.

Bhutan

I was a little apprehensive when setting out to the airport as the airline – Druk Air – has a baggage policy of 20kg maximum including hand luggage with only very small items allowed on board. I had packed with that in mind expecting a small turbo prop plane. However on checking in – no problem sir take your backpack with – and the plane was a new Airbus 330!

You can only get into Bhutan if your visit is arranged by a local company and they arrange your visa. This was checked very carefully by the airline and emigration in Kathmandu but not looked at in Paro – immigration was quick and welcoming “is it OK to stamp your passport here sir? Welcome to Bhutan”

 

We had more magnificent views of the Himalayas, including Everest, on the short, 45 minute flight to Paro. The airport buildings are built in traditional Bhutanese style – think oriental Swiss chalets. I was greeted by another guide and driver and presented with another shawl J. The 50 km drive to Thimpu, the capital was lovely. Very mountainous and pretty – Thimpu is at 7600 feet, while Paro is 7200. The roads are very well maintained with a speed limit of 50kph maximum for cars and only 30kph for lorries. Moderate traffic but few lorries – so different to Nepal. There was also very little litter – in town there were myriad bins and I in the country I saw litter picking trucks, so different to Nepal.

All road signs where in English with only some in the local language Dzongkha. English is the medium used to teach subjects like maths and science in schools. They kept me amused with messages such as:

·         You educate a man, you educate a man; you educate a woman you educate a generation.

·         Don’t litter it makes life bitter

·         Shooting stones (I assume “danger falling rocks!”)

·         Start early, arrive safely

·         Are you married? – divorce speed 

·         You must be the change you wish to see in the world

Most people wore traditional clothes, including Kado my guide and Khandu, my driver. Men – a loose jacket with white cuffs over a knee length kilt, woman a patterned jacket over a long skirt. However it was by no means worn by all so I can only assume it’s what the people choose. Kado sometimes took the jacket off wearing a polo shirt underneath.

We arrived in Thimpu just after 5pm and went straight to visit the Tashichhozong a beautiful medieval fortress/ monastery built in 1762. It is only open to tourists before 9am and after 5pm as half of it is a government administration building, the other half the monastery – uniting of church and state! On the opposite side of the valley we could see the parliament building. If asked I would have been hard pushed to say which building was oldest but actually the parliament was only built in 2008 when Bhutan, to quote my guide ”became one of the world’s newest democracies”. It is ruled by the King and Prime Minister and there were plenty of election notices around.

We had a good look round Thimpu before traveling on. We visited a 54 metre high statue of the Buddha, about 1000 feet above the city, they have only finished the statue so far but it will all be part of a large complex by 2018. A very interesting place was the institute of Zorig Chusum - traditional arts. Any talented youngster, regardless of wealth, could come here to study the arts of Bhutan – woodwork, sculpture, embroidery and painting. I initially thought that the crafts were delineated by sex, as in the woodwork needlework classes of my youth, but found one boy in a needlework class and several girls in painting. The guide said it was their choice what to study. There were also other class rooms for IT, reading etc and dormitories for those who couldn’t afford to go home.

The roads turned out to not all be good, the journey over a 10,000 foot pass to the lovely town of Punakha was quite rough with frequent landslips. We had to wait about half an hour at one point for the road to be cleared by mechanical digger! However, there was still far less traffic than in Nepal and generally the driving was better. It was interesting to note that the worse roads were in Punakha district – over the pass. In Thimpu district the road was generally well paved and any repairs involved at least one digger. Over the pass in Punakha District there was hardly any decent surface with well over a hundred sets of roadworks. Maybe four or five had diggers or the like, the rest involved purely manual labour, picks  shovels, hoes and hammers (to break up stones) wielded mostly by men, some woman and a few young children (I suspect helping dad rather than child exploitation). Traffic just weaved around and through the road works, one pot hole was being filled by a single lady squatting in the middle of the road as cars passed by. Most road gangs seem to live on the job with makeshift campsites, and often no transport, close to the worksite.

We ventured through very varied scenery, depending on the altitude – including forests, apple orchards and rice paddy and wheat fields – from alpine to semi-tropical. There were lots of cows but I saw none in meadows they were all on, or next to, the road.

Dogs seem to have a very happy life in Bhutan, they rarely bark or seem to get worried, rather lying down sound asleep where ever they are comfortable even if that is in the middle of the road. I didn’t see one dead dog and when you walked past them, however close you go they ignore you – obviously trusting from experience that they won’t be hurt.

The Punakha Dzong was even more impressive, set at the confluence of two fast flowing rivers – again one side administration, the other a monastery. 

The Takstang Monastery (Tiger Nest) is awe inspiring, it’s built in a cave more than half way up a 1200 metre almost sheer cliff. According to legend it is believed that Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche) flew to this location from Tibet on the back of a tigress from Khenpajong. This place was consecrated to tame the Tiger demon. Its remote access does cause problems as it was burnt down in 1998 but was restored, by a task force led by the King, in 2005. I have a touch of gout so decided not to attempt the walk L. My guide can do the round trip in one hour but most “tourists” take five hours – one he went with took eight!

Food reminded me in some ways of North Korea –a plethora of small dishes which were all tasty. Interestingly only a maximum of one dish per meal was particularly spicy. There were normally one, or at the most two meat dishes, rice, once roast potatoes plus a variety of vegetable dishes. Very enjoyable.  In my first meal these were served one at a time by two waitresses, when I was close to finishing they returned to try and give me a second helping J

Archery is the national sport of Bhutan. We went to watch practice at the Paro centre. They shoot at a target 150 metres away! One point for being in the dirt close to the target 2 points for hitting it and three for a bull. Safety did not seem paramount, we watched from seats quite close to the target and fellow competitors walked up to the target yelling advice, not worried that someone might fire!

When we set off on Thursday morning we followed a royal cortege for a few miles before they turned off for the Dzong. Khandu told me, the king has four wives and it was the parents of one of them. There were just three cars – one old lady had come out to wave at them. They seemed unfazed that we were a fourth vehicle. The royal family is obviously very revered. The King’s portrait was in every place I visited and there were frequent royal family groups of up to around 100. The King has expounded the view that Gross National Happiness is just as important as GNP. I must say, after my short visit, people seem very content and I saw little evidence of real poverty – although there are extremes of rich and poor. I didn't quite know what to make of it.

Bangladesh

Dhaka was not what I expected! By far the most modern city I have been to on this trip and the first time I have been driven at more than 80kph. Lots of traffic jams, in my view because police where over riding the traffic lights J Many motorway style roads, right into the centre of Dhaka so we were either stationary in a jam for up to 10 minutes, or bowling along at 100+ kph. Poverty is evident but not to the extent I had expected. There were some beggars, surprisingly mostly women, maybe that was because they felt more able to approach me, a solitary westerner, rather than Muslim men.

My hotel was relatively cheap, but very well equipped. I have never received such service from the guards saluting as I entered, the door being opened for me and often someone calling for the lift as I approached! In addition is has a fully equipped gym on the 14^th floor and a pool on the roof, it was quite surreal resting at the end of a length, looking down into the busy streets below.

I had pre-arranged a trip into the country side using local transport. We took a cycle rickshaw to the bus stop and then boarded a comfortable but ancient coach, not at all crowded with fans along the roof attempting to cools us. The trip took about 45 minutes until we reached Sonargaon which was the administrative centre of the medieval Muslim rulers of East Bengal.

We then caught a motorised rickshaw, rather like my electric bike! And explored the area going along rural roads, mainly just raised above the surrounding waterlogged fields (it is coming to the end of a very wet monsoon season). We visited the ruins of the Goaldi Maosque, built in 1519; a small primary school for 90 children, made entirely out of bamboo and a 300 year old palace of the local governor. It is now an army barracks with clear signs in English “restricted entry – No foreigners” – despite this, Setu Das, my guide assured me it was OK and walked past several uniformed soldiers who smiled and greeted us!

We also visited the ruins of a 400 year old Hindu temple. We had to make two attempts to get there because the first route was flooded. Next to the temple is the ruins of a mansion in which lived an old lady who Setu said was very rich but liked to stay in the area. I had a brief talk but her room was full of smoke!

We headed back over the local playing field where children were playing football and cricket. I have heard of rain stopped play but not tourist stopped play, all the cricketers stopped playing and followed us until lunch, it seemed they didn’t see many white people, especially from England. I was asked (through my guide) all about Lords and also the England Australia Ashes series.

They accompanied us on our visit to Panam City, established in the late 18th century as a trading centre of cotton fabrics during British rule. Hindu cloth merchants built their residential houses following colonial style with inspiration derived from European sources. Most of the houses are in poor repair, but there are plans for it to become a government restoration project.

After a good local lunch of chicken a rice we visited the Bangladesh Folk and Art centre which is surrounded by a beautiful grounds with lots of birds, trees and plants, a pond and a number of sheltered walks al in the grounds of a Moghul Palace, built in 1740 and currently being restored.

When I returned to my hotel I had had a very interesting day but my clothes were completely soaked from head to toe due to the humidity – we had no rain. The only downside of the day, humidity aside, was the loss of the final 50 overs against Australia which I could pick up live, along with at least 4 other matches.

Dhaka itself is fascinating, although sapping to walk round in the humidity. The streets are always crowded with roadside stalls, street markets and western type shops. Sadly there are also the odd skips full of rubbish being sorted through by the destitute. I felt perfectly safe wondering around, apart from the odd beggar the only time I was really pestered was by some children at the port – my teacher look dealt with them though!

At the port I hired a boat to row across the river and back – I say row but is was more a matter of sculling. The boat was sturdy but had no seats at all, I had to sit on the floor, however it was a really interesting short glimpse of the river life which is a vital essence of Bangladeshi life.

Several times I caught a rickshaw back to my hotel and I thought I’d planned this well by asking the hotel to write their address in Bengali, I had forgotten, however that literacy rates aren’t high especially amongst rickshaw drivers. I ended having to direct one myself using the SATNav on my phone – it didn’t show the roads that are barred to rickshaws!!

I have this unusual habit of having my haircut whilst on holiday! In Dhaka I had the best treatment ever. A fairly modern salon but, although available, virtually no electric cutters were used – a small battery one was used for my ear hair only. Otherwise it was scissors and cut throat razor - very hygienic though with two new blades used just on me. After the hair cut I had my beard trimmed and a shave – putting the foam on must have taken five minutes. Then finally I had some sort of cream and massage on my face – he insisted I needed it! It smelt of strawberry. The grand total for all this was less than £2.

A final comment. There were demonstrations all over Dhaka on Sunday and Monday against an imposition of 10% VAT on fees for private students. On Tuesday the measure was cancelled! I have never heard of a government reacting so quickly. The demos supposedly disrupted Dhaka’s traffic, it didn’t actually seem any different on Tuesday J nor on the final day when it took me nearly two hours for the 2okm to the airport.

Photos at:  https://plus.google.com/photos/106027128611804476034/albums/6103106369469950145

I landed at Addis Abeba airport on Christmas eve according to the Julian calendar used in Ethiopia. The airport was modern but chaotic, my flight from London in an A787 Dreamline containing 400 + passengers was not showing on any of the luggage carousels. I was directed by different members of staff to a different one each time. I eventually waited by the one labelled Frankfurt which had the most on it and finally claimed my bag.

Weather at 8am was chilly but sunny, my hotel – the Taitu – is reputedly the oldest western style in Addis and was built for the Empress Taitu around the end of the 19th Century, I had a fairly basic but pleasant room in the old section which had a very colonial feel.

There was little evidence of it being Christmas Eve – a tree in the lobby and lights on the banisters, in the streets a few posters and some gaudy cards for sale. The road the hotel is on, is quite steep and I found the 2500 metres altitude made me a bit breathless!

I did not feel entirely comfortable wondering around. I do not recall any other city with so many beggars and people lying on the pavement, sleeping in the middle of the day. Some of the begging or requests to buy, were quite aggressive and there was one incident were I suspect they were trying to steal my phone! A kid tried to get me to buy a magazine whilst another man brushed against me, I noticed my phone half out of my pocket so yelled “police” – fortunately he stopped and a couple of passer buys came up to help straight away, which was reassuring. Not pleasant though.

On Christmas Day all the shops were closed but otherwise nothing seemed different, all the street stalls were still open and there seemed just as many people on the street. One thing that I liked is that there are frequent, modern, clean patisseries which served a cheap cake and drink. I thought I’d go to the Cathedral of St George as it was Christmas Day, it was surrounded by people sitting on benches praying, or kissing seemly anything – e.g. the gates, doors, windows, but the cathedral itself was closed! I didn’t try the doors as I didn’t want to disturb the kissers. There was a lovely atmosphere in the grounds.

Walking the streets is like walking around a building site, to get to the cathedral I had to climb through a deep trench in which they were installing new sewers – I could find no alternate entry. I had a similar climb to go into a modern shopping mall the next day.

I carried on walking round the city the next day, including visiting the sombre Red Terrors Martyr’s museum. ‘As if I bore them all in one night, They slew them in a single night.’ These were the words spoken by the mother, whose four teenage children were all killed on the same day by the Derg, who officially opened the small but powerful ‘Red Terror’ Martyrs Memorial Museum in 2010. Over the space of a couple of rooms the museum reveals the fall of Emperor Haile Selassie and the horrors of life under Mengistu’s Derg regime.

It is so sad that in recent years I have visited Auschwitz, the Khmer Rouge genocide displays in Phnom Penh, the Kigali Genocide museum and now this. I felt it was right to go but when will this end!

Today I flew to Lalibela, a town in northern Ethiopia that is famous for its 11 monolithic rock-cut churches. Lalibela is one of Ethiopia's holiest cities a centre of pilgrimage for much of the country. It was built as a new Jerusalem and even has a trickle through the middle called the River Jordan. The churches are magnificent, how they were constructed out of the bare rock is unimaginable, it would be difficult enough today let alone in the 12th Century. I really enjoyed walking around, far less hassle and seemingly less poverty. Strangely the tourists blend in and there was not much commercialisation.

Prices are a little higher than in Addis but you can’t complain at a hotel meal for £4 and tea around 10p. Every church containing praying pilgrims either inside or outside. The Baha’i Holy Places apart, I have never felt so inspired to pray myself. I didn’t participate in the kissing rituals which were prevalent here too! More, justifiable, rock climbing was needed in places, but everyone – security guards, tourists and pilgrims - offered a hand if one was needed. I hauled a lovely lady pilgrim up into one of the churches . I admit to descending on my bottom a few time, some steps were so steep and worn.Two of the churches are connected by a long, pitch black tunnel.

The town of Lalibela is built on the side of a hill, I am sure it is larger due to the number of tourists, but it seems a typical Ethiopian rural town, few tarred roads, few real shops and market stalls lining the road. The roads were always crowded with people walking, far more than any other means of movement which included cars, vans, tuk tuks, lots of donkeys plus a few goats, sheets and cows plus – surprisingly – one elderly man who was walking happily in a crowd of people, stark naked! I walked to the bottom and hired a tuk tuk to return to the top – 60p!

My hotel is in a lovely setting overlooking the valley below with trees grown to encourage many birds. All food is served with the local flat bread – injera – which looks and feels like a rolled up damp flannel but is actually pretty tasty.

My visits to the rock churches beautifully culminated in an outdoor service by one of them. At a rough guess 100 – 150 priests and locals (it was difficult to tell them apart) and a handful of tourists. The chanting was wonderful and the drumming reverberated throughout the rocks. What I did find a little strange is that quite frequently during the chanting, some of the priests chatted away and even the chanter, without pausing, would glance around smiling at people. I would recommend a visit here to anyone, provided they are reasonably agile to cope with the scrambling.

I returned for the night to Addis before continuing to Somaliland. Ethiopian airport security is the toughest I have known, you have to have a thorough check, removing shoes and belts, to get into the airport and then again to get to the departure gate. I have had to change my plans for tonight because when I arrived back at the Taitu the old building (oldest hotel in Addis) had been almost burnt down that morning. What a shame for the owners and staff and also for history. I don’t know how bad the structure had been affected, fortunately for me the rooms where I had stored my rucksack was untouched so I have booked into a nearby hotel, clean but very basic – costing only. £4. A nearby café who has lost all cooking facilities due to the fire let me use their wifi – very kind.

I am getting to like Addis much more and feel much more comfortable, just as I come to leave it!

Initial impressions of Hargeisa are good. One of the smoothest entries to any country, there didn't seem to be any customs! Very little evidence of guards except at the entrance to the airport, no guards at the entrance to my hotel. Very few beggars - I saw one in an hour's stroll - and virtually no hassling; rather the people seem genuinely friendly. The do have a currency problem though! The money changers literally carry notes in a wheelbarrow (see photo), I changed $20 and received 143 - 1000 shilling notes.

My exploration of Hargeisa has not changed my initial opinion. Very friendly people who just wanted to say hello, this rarely developed into mild hassling, even in the market. No evidence of armed guards, only banks had guards on the doors and they were unarmed, the only guns I saw were a bunch of police seemingly going on patrol out of town, they all had automatic rifles, but were larking around not watching people and didn't seem mildly threatening. It seems a town that want to get on it's feet. There are very few tarmacked roads - mainly the central street - independence Ave., and the road the airport, the rest are just sand, so it's not too much fun to walk on. There are few modern buildings and many upper stories are in ruins with evidence of the fighting during the civil war some 20 years ago! Animals freely roam the street and appear to be wild, I saw sheep goats and a few oryx! There are no "sights" - the only one listed in my guide book is a MiG jet which forms the civil war memorial. It was just a fun place to explore. Weather quite hot (mid 20s), but dry. 

It is possibly the most religiously observant Muslim town I have been to, at prayer times most shops close and there are crowds communally praying along the street. Some folk carried on as normal - I would say 50 -50 observance, there seemed no pressure either way.  

The last 24 hours, whilst not being something I would repeat, have been a fascinating experience. To get from Hargeissa to Djbouti there are two choices - an hours flight, which including the hefty $50 departure tax would cost around £250, or overland for $45. Guess which I chose!

Four wheeled drive vehicles leave around 6pm and travel overnight to avoid the heat. I ended in the far back of a Toyota Land Cruiser next to a plump Somalian. That actually worked out well because there were three on the opposite seat and the lady provided excellent cushioning for the often very bumpy ride .

I think the worst part was the first 90 minutes, it was so frustrating. We were fully loaded - 14 people including a couple of kids, plus the drivers mate/engineer who rode on the roof!! No one spoke English so I had no idea why we were waiting. We eventually got under way at 6.50 and traveled to a fuel station, and then a shop and then some where I couldn't work out why!  Eventually we started, initially it was pitch back and moonless, though the moon rose in the middle of the night. The journey is about 320 km but until the last 20 km beyond the border all off road, We were told we should arrive around 11 am, 17 hours later but sometimes the road is blocked due to mud and can take 3 days!! No one mentioned the improvised workshop repairs that would be needed. For the first few hours we had regular stops every hour or so to - repair a wishbone, repair the clutch hydraulics, replace the oil filter and all the oil (I think we knocked it off on a rock).

We only had two official stops where I splashed out on a mug of hot sweet black tea for 10p -  actually very nice. The repair stops we just wondered around in the desert. The second half of the journey was more fortunate we only had two unplanned stops, one when our vehicle got bogged down in sand - we were traveling in convey with another 4WD in case of problems - they only had one spade between them. They dug us out and we then pushed and followed the vehicle to hard ground - the sand was like a dune!!  The second time was when we went though some very muddy ground (I have seen no rain!). Both vehicles got though OK but we found a massive lorry leaning at 45 degrees with one set of wheels so embedded in the mud I can't see how it would ever get out. The drivers and mates tried to help out but then we gave up and just managed to get past.

Despite no English, everyone was very friendly and I did not feel at all isolated. We eventually arrived at the Somalialand/Djibouti border and that's when it wasn't so much fun! Getting out of Somaliland was fine same friendly approach, also efficient with passport reading machines. Djibouti was the opposite. Despite being far more materially well off, there were grumpy officials who did not believe my visa was valid because it was issued by the French Embassy in London. "We have an embassy in London, why did you not go there". I didn't argue and was apologetic but am certain there is no such embassy! They spent ages passing it up to the next in command and then eventually ringing someone. This took probably 45 minutes as everyone, when given the passport, spent some time chatting, chewing Qat or generally avoiding the problem! Eventually it was accepted so the top man copied all my details by hand into a ledger!

Where I was waiting was at the border police post, one of the interruptions was when about a dozen youths were marched in, stripped to shorts (it was mid twenties, quite hot) made to sit in two rows in front of the boss with hands on the shoulder of the one in front while they were photographed before being made to sit in front of what I assume were the immigration cells - I thought it would not be sensible to enquire! The cells themselves seemed chock a block full.

My poor introduction to Djibouti continued when I got a cab from the border. I knew the normal fair from the airport was $10, so as the border is 3 times as far I knew I would have to pay more. I got in a pickup taxi with driver and his wife/mother. She spoke no English and little french so negotiations were through nearby - willing and helpful onlookers. I agreed on $20 if they would take me to my hotel. I thought this was agreed but after a few km they stopped at a college and got someone to tell me they wanted $60. I hit the roof and threatened to get out and find another cab - I'm glad they backed down because I'm not sure how easy that would have been! Eventually they took me to the hotel with no more fuss (apart from rejecting my first $20 as it had a small tear!). However they couldn't get closer than a couple of hundred yards due to security. I had to pass everything through airline type security, empty my pockets etc.,, only for this to be repeated at the entrance to the lobby! 

I think I have found out the reason, Djibouti is the base for the US piracy operations and at the meal this evening I have never seen so many US service personnel, the Sheraton seems to be their club.

I hope tomorrow my impressions improve - still my room is lovely with a view over the pool, beach and sea and I have booked diving with whale sharks on Saturday and Sunday!

Djibouti is very different to many other sub-Saharan cities I have visited. The main difference being there are far fewer people walking the streets, more comparable to European numbers. There are beggars though similar numbers to Hargeissa and London but little hassling. The city centre has an "African area" and a "European area". The latter could be a slightly run down, southern French city whilst the African area is full of street stalls and bustle. I have spent a fair time walking around and felt perfectly safe.

I had an enjoyable couple of days on the boat, snorkeling and diving, sadly this year is proving to be a poor one for whale sharks visits and we only saw 3 babies, quite briefly. The reefs are pristine and full of wild life. We were also served with a sumptuous lunch each day!

The Sheraton seems more a NATO base rather than just US, I have spotted uniformed troops from Germany, Japan, France and Canada as well as the US. The boat trip required an early breakfast and I was surprised to find that when I went in the dining room at 06.15, it was nearly full of service personnel, all of whom left by 7! 

I am spending my last couple of days relaxing, mainly by the pool, reading, swimming and sunbathing, before returning to the UK on Wednesday - overnight stop in Addis - before arriving home on Thursday.

 

A pleasant Turkish airlines flight from Birmingham to Ashgabat via Istanbul. The seats in both planes seemed more comfortable than your average airlines with a good seat pitch.

We landed at Ashgabat about 10 minutes late at 3.05 am! However as Turkmenistan is 4 hours ahead of BST it only seemed like 11.05. That's when the fun started! The airport was incredibly inefficient, everyone took their time. I had to visit and wait at three windows, no hassles but we waited 5/10 minutes for anyone to even turn up at the first. Then at customs they could not get the Xray machines to work. They all stood round chatting and occasionally pushing a key for about 45 minutes before they decided to hand search bags, some very thoroughly, mine was cursory luckily. I hate to think how long the people loaded with 8 taped up boxes had to wait, people with more normal bags, rucksacks were called to the front.

I got up about 10.30, met my local travel rep to finalise things and pay my bills - everything must be in cash until I get to Tashkent so I was relieved to dispose of so many dollars. I then went for a walk. Ashgabat is very modern. It was almost completely destroyed by the earthquake of 1948 and then rebuilt again in the nineties by the then President for Life Saparmurat Niyazov, a bureaucrat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union who decided to emulate the North Korean Kims!

A friend of mine described it as the City of White Marble and my  travelguide says that it keeps the marble builders of the world in jobs! The centre is all marble edifices and parks, very pleasant to walk around but populated by few people. Lonely Planet aptly describes it as "a cross between Las Vegas and Pyongyang"!

The temperature was hot - up to 39 degrees!! but quite pleasant as the humidity was very low being in a desert area so I hardly sweated at all. Under the many trees a gentle breeze made it very pleasant.

The majority of the women were dressed in ankle length dresses, most plain, bright colours but with Turkmen braiding - it was rare to see anyone with a short skirt. Some also wore a white apron. However this seems to be following local, rather than Muslim culture as far fewer wore head gear. Those that did either had a brightly coloured turban or a skull cap, it was rare to see anyone with their face or the front of the hair covered - except for the woman gardeners! I have never seen anywhere with such a large percentage of people wearing traditional clothes, Ulaan Baatar would come closest but national costume for the woman in Ashgabat was far more prevalent.

The first ever Baha'i House of Worship was built here is Ashgabat but unfortunately it was severely damaged in the 1948 earthquake and demolished by the authorities in 1963. According to one website the site was turned into a park "in which stands a statue of the eighteenth-century Turkmen poet Mahtum Quli". I took a photo of what may have been the site. The doors of the art museum are also reputed to have been the doors of the temple, I'm not so sure.

There was a heavy police/army presence on the streets but it rarely seemed oppressive. I have not yet seen a gun, there were probably some at the airport which I didn't notice, but none on the streets. I was not stopped once, mostly when I passed I received a smile or greeting. My only two encounters were when I took a photo of the presidential palace a soldier waved at me indicating I shouldn't have done that! When I wanted to walk past the defence ministry a soldier politely pointed to the other side of the street,

I spent two days walking around the city and the markets, just people watching - I hope my photos speak for themselves. One of the nicer cities I have visited.

Wednesday

I met my driver who supposedly was only Russian speaking, in fact he spoke good English and was a guide heading to the border to meet a group, very fortunate. The "taxi" was a 4WD Nissan Patrol, very useful when the roads got pretty pot holed and awful at times!

Evidence of Turkmen's oil bonanza was the cost of fuel, between 12 and 13p a litre, much cheaper than water!!

The moment we were out of Ashgabat we were into the Karakum Desert, mainly scrub rather than sand, although there were some stretches with dunes. There was little agriculture apart from flocks of sheep with biblical shepherds, a few herds of cow with cowherds on donkeys and quite a few Bactrian camels, seemingly untended.

I had been issued with copious pieces of paper for the driver to hand out at the many check points. In fact my earlier view of lazy authoritarianism was reconfirmed. There were frequent check points at which all traffic had to stop, but, apart from a single one when we entered the border region, no one came out to even look at us, they just relaxed in their cabins, which I suspect were air conditioned!. No such luck for the traffic police, they were far more numerous and many of them seemed to have been dropped in the desert with just a radar gun and a water bottle - maybe they only got picked up after a certain number of cops J (remember the temperature rose to the high 30s!). We fell foul of one, right at the start. The driver tried to argue but still ended up with a ticket.

Our first stop was at the ruined 15th Century shrine of Seyit Jamal, an interesting ruin with several other excavations nearby,

The next stop was at the remains of the ancient city of Abiwert dating from the 12^th century. I had the ruin completely to myself and spent an interesting 30 minutes wondering around. Despite the 38 degrees heat there was a strong breeze which made it pleasant. It was described as "... a city with fertile lands and rich crops, famous for its magnificent market and mosque". It was reputed to be impregnable until it was visited by the eldest son of Ghengiz Khan, Tulikan, who raised it to the ground!

We had been scheduled to spend the night in Mary, a local city. However the president of Turkmenistan and the president of China were visiting to open something (and presumably chat!) so the whole town centre was out of bounds, no one was allowed to stay or pass through. About a 100 km from Mary we passed about 150 lorries parked in the desert waiting to be allowed to continue, we weren't stopped. On the outskirts of town there were another 50 or so lorries stranded waiting and eventually we came to a road block. With much help from a friend on the phone and numerous locals, our driver made a 120 km detour to the road on the other side.

The area around Mary is much more fertile and is the centre of the cotton growing industry. We passed fields full of workers hand picking the crop. They appeared to be mostly female and not Turkman, I suspect Pakistani.

We made our last stop at Merv, a place we had been due to visit the next day. In its heyday it was known as "Merv - Queen of the World" and at that time rivalled  Damascus, Bagdad and Cairo. At one time it had a population of up to 2 million. It was a major centre of religious studies and was noted for its tolerance and sophistication. It was a lynch pin of the silk road until it had an argument with Ghenggis. In 1218 he demanded some tithes of grain along with the pick of the city's most beautiful women. Unwisely the Seljuq slayed the tax collectors so another of Ghenggis's son's this time Tolui the most brutal, destroyed the city and beheaded the 300,000 people living there at the time, even though they had already surrendered!

It is a World Heritage site but there were few people there, at one site which was locked up, we were just about to go when the guardian tore up on his push bike and showed me round J

We spent the night at a nice hotel about 80 km away in the middle of the desert. We had a good meal in a yurt in the grounds with lamb dumplings amongst other things - it appears they are both "typically Turkman!", very reminiscent of Mongolia. I paid for us both - total cost £10 including drinks and three courses. The only downside was the water was very sporadic and at best a trickle!

Fitting in with the president's plans actually suited me as when we set off for the Uzbek border we were about 4 hours ahead of schedule, giving more time to cross and get to Bukhara.

We used one of those hours for an extra visit, to the market in Turkmenabat, the second city. It was a massive, every day bazaar and I spent an hour exploring - no pictures, it wasn't really picturesque but it was interesting. I bought myself a skull cap, some handkerchiefs and an electrical adapter, plus several interesting drinks ranging in cost from 5 - 12p!

We then made the short run to the border arriving at midday, 3 hours earlier than the absolute earliest scheduled time! I got through the Turkman formalities quickly and just hoped I could do the same on the Uzbeck side as they supposedly closed for lunch at one. I then had to wait fifteen minutes for a bus across no-man's land - cost 12.5p - you aren't allowed to walk.

The immediate difference was the border guards, very friendly, but with machine guns on their backs - unlike the unarmed Turkmen. After showing my passport twice I was in Uzbekistan but it was about half a mile further to the border post, which I walked with luggage in 37 degree heat. Actually, it wasn't too badJ I walked past several Iranian car transporters carrying imported second hand cars from the Shajah!

I got to the border post at two minutes before one, and scraped in - they examined my passport and then locked up and went to lunch. Luckily the actual passport control and customs weren't so strict. There was a South African Couple also crossing with their Land Rover which they had driven up from home! We had to fill in forms in duplicate. They were in Russian with an English version high up on a wall, after 10 minutes straining to see, the boss came out, yelled at his assistant and gave us forms in English! The hall was not air conditioned and for some reason, humid, so I was soon dripping wet - it's not easy to fill in forms like that so the Russian version came in useful as a sweat mat.

The next hurdle was to explain to the junior what country I came from, again boss to the rescue - in Uzbek it's Anglia. Finally I was through, a quick passport stamp and out. Total time including walking, about an hour and a half. Pretty good considering the three hours plus described in the guidebook and helped by the almost total absence of traffic - maybe because of lunch!

The final hurdle of the day was to negotiate a taxi to Bukhara. The guidebook suggests $20 with heavy bargaining, but their costs are always out of date, so I was quite pleased to get it for $30 (bargained down from $65!). Things were very different on the Uzbek side, the scenery was similar, cottons fields or desert, but for half the journey the road was virtually empty, it reminded me of North Korea, in the first 30 km I saw a car, a lorry, a tractor, a donkey cart and two bikes (heading the wrong way!). After that traffic got slightly heavier. The road surface however, was better but the car was an ancient Russian Lada, none of the instruments seemed to work. The driver was very friendly and spoke no English, despite this, in a very friendly manner, he kep on trying to trying to up the agreed price - I really did not feel at all threatened, just amused. What I did agree was that he could fill the back seat. When this didn't work out I agreed to be transhipped to a more modern car as the fifth passenger - somehow I paid the new driver all that I agreed with the old when I reached journey's end!

All then went fine apart from him getting completely lost finding my hotel, the desk clerk was quite amused, he'd rung him many times for help but still didn't quite find it, I had to walk about 100 yards when he found a sign down an alley!   It is a pleasant hotel in the old city. Initial impressions are that Bukhara is world's apart from Ashgabat. Far more tourists and much, much older, but still very friendly people and little evidence of hassling.

I am in Uzbekistan for a week, so thought I'd change $100, big mistake! The official rate is 2100 Soms to the dollar but the hotel offered 2600. However, as my guidebook warns, the largest note is 1000 Soms, so I ended up with a brick of notes over 3 inches thick! They gave me a mixture of 500 and 1000 totalling some 300 plus notes! I have had to be creative where to stash they as they certainly don't all fit in my wallet and waist belt J.

End of episode one - providing I can get the flaky Internet to work to post this tomorrow, Friday.

Photos at https://plus.google.com/photos/106027128611804476034/albums/5919408774022331361?authkey=CLLQq-vXrNPOzgE

Bukhara

I have spent two enjoyable days exploring Bukhara, mainly the old town. It is Central Asia’s holiest city with buildings ranging over the last millennium since Genghis visited and destroyed most things again! The centre has been preserved and in parts restored. It is full of mosques, markets and a large royal fortress, known as the Arc. It started life as a simple oasis in the middle of the surrounding Kyzylkum desert but in it’s heyday it was known as the Pillar of Islam, “Central Asia’s religious and cultural heart”, Bukhara was a vast market place with dozens of bazaars and caravanserai, more than 100 medressas (with 10000 students living in fairly primitive cells) and more than 300 mosques. 

The most central place, and where I dined every evening, is Lyabi-Hauz a square built round a pool (literally “around the pool” in Tjak), shaded by Mulberry trees planted in the 15^th Century.

It is mainly an area for tourists now, I saw no “working” medressa, but especially during the day when it’s hot and the crowds are off in their air conditioned coaches it is a lovely places to just wonder round. Once one gets out of the central area then the streets are dusty and broken. Some buildings are falling down, some restored. It’s only a ten minute walk to the modern town which shows evidence of communism (flats and heating) but seems another pleasant place.

One thing which I found remarkable after the Middle East, Africa and Central America is that there was absolutely no hassling from traders which made things so much more pleasant. It was slightly cooler – around 36 degrees and seemed very slightly more humid, so I drank copiously. A particular favourite place was a tea house which serves variety of spicy tea – the ginger tea was wonderful - accompanied by small plates of rich local sweets. On my second visit I refused the nabat (crystal sugar) as I found it too sweet so they brought me an extra plate of halva!

A really pleasant place of which I hope you can gain some impression from my photos and the associated comments.

On Sunday I caught the train to Samarkand, for some reason the Bukhara station is closed so I had to get a taxi to the station 10km away. I then had to pass through airport style security, passport checked at the edge of the car park then bags and people had to go through scanners, though I am afraid I didn’t take it seriously. I went through with my camera, phone and wallet in my pockets – set off the alarm but was waved through! My ticket was then stamped and checked before I could get on the platform and finally an attendant checked my passport and ticket before I could finally board. It was a comfortable train with airline type seats in air conditioned apartments. The journey too four hours.

Samarkand is quite different to Bukhara. The “sights” are surrounded by parks and the old town is actually walled off to stop the view being spoilt!

There is one brand new pedestrianised street linking two of the sites, it’s more recent than my 2011 guidebook which doesn’t mention it. It’s full of new shops, a couple of cafes – which are rare in Samarkand and a brand new school. I saw the children leaving the school, walking a short way and then entering the old town to head home through an inconspicuous gate.

My hotel was also in the old town, nothing special but comfortable.

The highlight is a visit to the three madressas set on the Registan – the main street. They are magnificent buildings, set on three sides of a plaza covered in intricately carved azure mosaics topped by blue domes and are amongst the oldest preserved medressa, earlier ones have been knocked down by you know who!

Another impressive site was Gur-E-Amir Mausoleum which contains the tomb of Timur, described in my guidebook as a “tyrants tyrant” and his two sons and two grandsons. It is reputed that inscribed on his grave is something to the effect that whosever opens this tomb will be attacked by a tyrant even greater than him. The day after a Soviet anthropologist opened it, Hitler invaded Russia!

The ultimate days in Uzbekistan plus a brief visit to Khazakstan

Tuesday

I was due to catch the 17.20 train so intended to revisit some of the monuments but I am being stalked! The Chinese President was visiting again, this time with the Uzbek tyrant. I had noticed that the main street, the Registran, had been closed to traffic the previous day but as it didn’t affectd me, I didn’t enquire why. Today everything around all the main sights was blocked off with hundreds of troops, police and men in suits standing around chatting. They weren’t especially vigilant, I honestly think I could have got past them but it wasn’t worth the risk! I was able to do a little exploring but decided to set off for the station early as the straight forward way was blocked.

The hotel said they couldn’t get a taxi but I should hopefully be able to find one. An old guy took me  a couple of blocks for nothing and then flagged down a battered old Lada, every time we took a sharp left something dragged on the ground, I would have stopped but they weren’t bothered. They went down dirt roads and back streets through the suburbs of Samarkand for well over 40 minutes before they managed to get back on main roads on the other side of the city. The ride took about an hour whereas it had been about 15 minutes on the way in. Technically I suppose I was stupid, getting into a dangerous car with two youths who could speak no English – but they got me to the station and I really didn’t feel threatened. President Xi has already been to Khazakstan but is off to Kyrgyzstan, I hope he’s left before I am due on Saturday!!

The train was amazingly a High Speed Spanish one, I did have thoughts about the recent crash! It was just like an airliner, although far more leg room. We even had a film and a snack and drink served from trolleys. Surprisingly it doesn’t run on welded rail but the speed varied from 40kph, over a couple of bridges, to a high of 221. Most of the time it was doing between 140 & 190. My guidebook said the 290 km journey took 3.5 hours by the “speedy Registran train”, it actually took two hours fifteen!

The next day I explored some of the sights of Tashkent, a pleasant but not exciting city. I found the heat was becoming quite tiring so I made frequent drink stops and read for a while.

I needed to change ten more dollars so I went down to the bazaar holding my $10 bill and quite quickly someone came up and offered me a good exchange rate!

On Thursday I headed for the border by metro and taxi. Getting out of Uzbekistan was chaotic! The bureaucracy was just as bad but there were hundreds of locals pushing a shoving. I kept my back pack on which was a little tiring but gave me some space. It was hot and humid and took well over an hour through the myriad checks.

Kazakhstan was so much more relaxed, just three checks, two very brief, and all in an air-conditioned hall. There was still a queue but it was dealt with so much better. I then caught a mashrutka to Shymkent which took about 90 minutes along a pretty fair dual carriageway. The countryside changing from desert to steppe. I saw quite a few herds of wild horses.

You can’t imagine how wonderful it was to be dropped in Shymkent and immediately see an ATM! They are unheard of in Turkmenistan and only for locals in Uzbekistan, travellers cheques are also difficult to change so I had had to carry a large amount of greenbacks!!!

I walked and bussed to the Shymkent train station, the bus was interesting, all the windows were covered in velvet curtains so I had to use the SatNav on my phone to check where to get off! For the last bit of the walk it rained slightly, the first of the trip.

I caught the overnight sleeper to Almaty, 11 hours for the 700km trip so slow, but comfortable. Strangely I shared a compartment with a dolly bird and her child! She used the shower to store her massive case and the pushchair, but I don’t think I would have felt comfortable having a shower anyway.

It was much cooler in Almaty, high of mid twenties and a breeze. I hadn’t packed any warm clothes so decided to head off to the market where I got a really nice Wrangler shirt – probably counterfeit!

It is the most westernised city I have been to this trip, but was a nice change. The weather also reinvigorated me, I walked for about 8 hours with only short breaks for drinks, I could never have managed that in the high temperatures. To finish the day I caught a bus back to the hotel, i was so crowded you couldn’t move. To pay, you gave the person next to you some money and a few minutes later the ticket and change was returned, such refreshing honesty.

Off to Bishkek tomorrow for the final leg.

As beforeI hope that you will gain some appreciation of this interesting, Silk Road city, from my photos and accompanying comments.

The final leg

I was confused, my guidebook said the bus station was next to the train station, so I was amazed at how much taxis were quoting. After hard bargaining, I got it down to what I felt was a fair price only to discover the station has moved to way out of town J

I found a shared taxi easily with little bargaining needed. It was a Mercedes 300 series station wagon, in good condition (windscreen crack apart) including air conditioning. I felt £8 for a three hour, 250k journey in the front seat was pretty reasonable.

The initial part of the journey was horrendous due to the traffic, apart from one minor accident it seemed to be caused by cars parking where they wanted on the motorway. To avoid this cars, including our taxi, used the dirt track hard shoulder, petrol station forecourts and even a mall car park to gain a bit of time, most of the first 50 km though was at a crawl.

Once we’d got past that, the road was pretty clear and well surfaced. The only minor alarms being when the driver took regular phone calls, once he let the wheels hit the central reservation whilst dialling!

Initially the road was fairly flat as we crossed the steppe, past more herds of horses. It then started to climb into the mountains as we approached the Kyrgyz Border. The border was by far the simplest yet, a short queue but only one check to get out of Kazakhstan. Two checks, but no queue and no visa needed to enter Kyrgyzstan. I then easily got a taxi straight to my comfortable hotel.

The hotel provided several unusual extras, like a Galaxy Tab in every room and bikes which you could borrow for free. What I found very strange was the bikes were stored on a second floor bridge between two parts of the hotel, you took one if one was there, no booking or checks, put it in the lift and wheeled it out through the front lobby!

The first day, Sunday, was not too pleasant, temperature no higher than 20 degrees and raining all morning (preparing me for British weather!), I was very glad of my new shirt! I still had a good explore of Bishkek and bought some sun glasses to replace the ones I had lost (they were on a chain which I think broke). They seem to work well and are polarized, I bargained them down to £3.75!

I had a meal at a Chinese restaurant. As I had hoped, with China being the next country East, the food was excellent. I had sweet and sour beef, nothing like the sickly sweet stuff you get in the UK.

On my final day I spent all morning cycling round the city, including visiting the largest bazaar. I was impressed by the colour of the clothes on display, by far the most vibrant of the whole trip.

As a finale I went to see the night time light show on the Ala-Too (Bishtek Central Square) fountains. My guidebook warned against going there at night stating that Bishkek was very safe by day but not quite so at night, but I decided on a bike I would be OK. I was but it was tricky without lights, I rode back to the hotel mainly on the pavement – no one seemed bothered and I didn’t notice anything which might have threatened me even if I had been on footJ

Today will be a long day, I awoke at 4am (11pm UK time) to be at the airport at 5 – I am due to land in Brum at around 3pm UK time 8pm Bishkek time. I was pleased however, to be upgraded to business class. Turkish airlines had broken a clock in my baggage on the way out, when I complained they pointed out that the small print said it should have been in my hand baggage but as a gesture of good will, offered to upgrade me on the Istanbul leg – subject to space.

As we took off I was surprised to see the mountain peaks completely covered in snow - beautiful, I had not realised they were that high.

I’m signing off in Istanbul airport before slumming it back to Birmingham in economy J

Photos and accompanying comments. photos and accompanying comments.

 

 

I hired a car for my visit to the Monteverde cloud forests. Costa Rica is VERY hot on speeding with hidden cameras and fines starting at $600!! I have never heard anything like that. The speeds are also low, on motorways, occasionally you can go at 100kph, mostly at 80. Other roads vary from 80 down to 25kph, understandably with the fines, most people stick to the limit! $600 is a third more than the average monthly wage.

I started on the toll road from San Jose to the coast, a weird road, part motorway part two way with four toll plazas - all very cheap, less than a £1 but a strange amount like 490 Colones which involves lots of change.

When I arrived at the Pacific coast, after passing through European type farm land, I followed the Pan American Highway - a crowded two lane road - before heading into the mountains to Monteverde - half of this latter road being untarmaced.

I had been told the trip would take over four hours, but despite sticking strictly to the limit, I arrived at lunch time. The village of Santa Elena is a type back packer resort, pretty relaxed, with everything geared to exploring the region. The climate is also pleasant with a high of about 24 degrees, some rain but it seems mostly light

As I was so early I took a tour of a local plantation where they grow coffee, cocao (chocolate), sugar cane and bananas. It was a really interesting visit. The guide grabbed a pair of binoculars and interrupted his talk to show us a pair of sloths and a couple of toucans - typical of nature loving Tican's.

The reason for the diversification of the crops is due to the price of coffee, the main crop, is so dependent on the weather, in recent years the price of a sack has varied from $50 to $4000!! The best quality coffee is entirely hand picked and processed locally. We saw the plants, how they were gathered, dried, roasted and ground - we also had a chance to try out various operations and had ample opportunity to try out the products we created. This included sugar syrup flavoured with a lemon, chocolate pieces of various types, chocolate coated pieces of banana, pineapple & mandarin, cocao hand cream, drinking chocolate and of course fresh coffee. It was by far the best tour I have ever had of such a processing situation.

Sunday was adrenalin day! I had hoped to do some zip wiring in Monteverde as this is where it all started. The official site states: "Get your heart pounding by taking a zip line ride through the Cloud forest canopy... you'll whizz along 1.7 miles of cables slung between towering trees. To get to the zip line, you'll ride the Sky Tram (a cable car) which offers a panoramic views of Monteverde hills and Nicoya gulf."

I was too busy hanging on to take photos! However if you want to look there is a video on YouTube of someone on the longest wire, it seems no different to my experience.

It was a very strange feeling zipping up to 100 metres above the trees hanging from a cable, surprisingly I only felt slightly concerned when I started to twist - in case I spun. The height didn't bother me despite finding getting over the edge of abseiling terrifying! There were 10 cables in all varying in length from 70 to 750 metres (nearly half a mile) and in height from 38 - 100 metres. None of them took more than a minute to traverse at speeds of up to 45 mph. The only discomfort I felt was when on three of the wires we had to go two at a time, when I was in the rear I had to wrap my legs round the guy in front which strained my bad knee!

I must admit after the first two I nearly chickened out but am really glad I completed the whole ride. I didn't feel any real strain but was amused that I found my arms were really tired when trying to cut up my lunch!!

Before I left the reserve I went looking for hummingbirds where they had put out some attractive nectar, I didn't get a good picture because of the speed of their wings which flap at an incredible 25 beats per second!

I finished an interesting day with a night nature walk as most of the animals are nocturnal. We first went into a banana plantation and found a white-nosed coati searching for its favourite food. When we entered the cloud forest we immediately found a baby two toed sloth hanging from a tree. After this we could just see a blue crowned motmot asleep in a tree, it reminded me of a parrot fish because it seemed completely oblivious to the lights playing on it.

I am glad we didn't get too close to the next discovery, a venomous side striped palm pit viper high up in a tree closely watching us but not moving closer, thankfully. We heard the hooting of an owl long before we found a bare-shanked Screech Owl, it was too high for a photo but you could clearly see it continuing to hoot. Unfortunately we missed an armadillo which another group found but saw an adult sloth quite close to us, many butterflies, moths, spiders and other insects and finally a large tarantula spider peering out of its hole at us.

Monteverde is certainly a fascinating place.

On my last full day in Costa Rica I drove back down to the humid lowlands and the second city of Liberia. The road on which I started out was awful, full of deep pot holes. I was doing well to go at 20kph! If my map and SatNav had not confirmed I was on the correct, main, road out of town, I would have turned back. After about 10km it eased to a normal gravel road on which you could do 30 - 40 kph and eventually after some 25 km, a tarmacked road which led back to the Trans Americano. As busy as every, massive US built trucks thundering along, mostly just on the speed limit but when they hit a hill they slowed to maybe 20 or 30. It was a windy two track road, so overtaking wasn't easy!

I took an interesting diversion to a volcanic area with hot springs and mud baths. The thermal springs are being used for geothermic energy and there were large plants and pipes  in evidence. I drove through an area where large boulders were thrown all over the fields just like pebbles, thrown there the last time Volcano Miravalles erupted. There has been no pyroclastic activity for millions of years but it's still active as evidenced by the steam and heat. I'm not sure I'd like to live nearby!

It was strange, when I returned to the Trans Americano at around 4pm, it was fairly quiet with only light traffic. I am staying at a modern hotel surrounded by American food outlets and have booked a ticket on the 9am bus for Managua which conveniently stops right outside!

Photos can be seen here

A long flight with a 5 hour lay over in Newark, New Jersey. No problems but I think the US Department of Homeland Security takes the prize for the most bureaucratic transfer! I queued up with everyone else to pass through immigration, had my fingerprints taken and a photo, then through bag search security and customs. Next re-check the bag with United, another bag search and passport check before I was in departures at last.

That apart, an uneventful flight, the trans-Atlantic leg pretty much full, the Panamanian half empty. Food on both flights was good, the latter leg was advertised as a "snack" but it was better than many meals I've had - a hot beef wrap, tomato salad, bag of carrots to nibble, brownie plus drinks. First time I've flown United and I was impressed.

As we landed I have never seen so many ships, waiting to enter the canal, there must have been hundreds, it was very pretty with the ship's lights and the skyscrapers of Panama City, twinkling in the dark.

I had booked my hotel on the strength of their offer of free transport. As I arrived at 21.30, that was appealing - however as they didn't require a deposit I was slightly but needlessly, concerned. Upon clearing customs there was a man waiting with a board  clearly displaying my name. I was the only person he collected but we had a 16 seater minibus.

The hotel is fine although maybe not in the best of areas, when I went to buy some water I was warmly greeted by two ladies standing on a street corner!

Friday, I caught a taxi to Flamenco Island at the start of the canal - about 30 minutes ride for $5, I am not sure if the taxi driver had ever been there before, but he found it eventually!

The boat left at 9.30. We went round the bay which seemed full of pelicans and ocean going ships and entered the canal. About an hour into our trip we reached the first of the Miaflores locks. I hadn't realised but they are currently twin locks (they have started building a third set which will take most of the larger modern ships agreed after a 2006 referendum!). We went in the right side, whilst a gigantic grain carrier was in the left hand one. In our lock was another tour boat and three cruisers, we were lost in the 1000 foot long lock!

The grain carrier, and all large ships, don't go through using their own power. As well as tugs which accompany them through the whole trip, there are donkey railway engines which hall them through the locks, like the horses on the canals in days gone by.

The pelicans had been replaced by frigate birds who circled over head and occasionally dived onto the canal - it reminded me of Jurassic Park with the surrounding jungle and their pterodactyl look!

We went through a total of three locks and then along a man made lake to Gamboa at the continental divide. The whole trip took about three hours - a lovely lunch plus soft drinks and coffee/tea was included. We then returned by coach. I caught a local bus back to the centre - a very rickety US School bus, quite an experience, when I got on I had to wait while the driver chose a new CD to blast us with Spanish rock music. The end of pleasant day.

I spent Saturday exploring Panama City, it's an interesting place, full of contrasts. Modern skyscrapers that would put London's Onion to shame, vast shopping malls, secluded housing in places like Clayton - as it's name suggests former US Officer's housing and the Casa Viejo - old town - which has contrasts of its own. In one part there are derelict houses surrounded by rubbish and a large number of vultures, well over a hundred on one skip! The Presidential Palace is in another part, quite tucked away. They seem to be gradually restoring it, some of the building dates back some 400 years to the first days of the Spanish.

The Pacific Ocean was ever present, old fishing boats bobbing in front of the modern office blocks with cormorants and pelicans circling over the fish market hoping for some free food.

A pleasant day in a pleasant city.

On my final Panamanian day (I leave for Costa Rica in the morning) I went the Baha'i House of Worship. I had been recommended to take a taxi and I'm glad I did. The driver knew about the temple and pointed it out to me from the trans-Isthmus road but he still had to ask directions twice. It is situated on the top of Cerro Sonsonate at a height of 30 metres, seven miles north of Panama City in the the locality of Ojo de Agua. It is a beautiful site, but not so the entrance which is squeezed between two factories - I wondered where we were going. The industry was soon left behind as we drove up a narrow track flanked by large palm trees which eventually arrived at the top of the hill.

The base of the temple is in the form of a nine pointed star, symbolising unity and this is crowned by a white parabolic dome. What I really loved was that there were no glass windows, just wrought iron covered openings containing huge gates, none of which appeared to be locked. Despite the heat of the day it was beautifully cool inside, with a constant breeze. I was the first person to enter and found several small birds flying around inside. From the hill you look out to Panama City with the Pacific Ocean clearly in sight beyond.

A devotional meeting is held ever Sunday, so I was privileged to join over 40 local Baha'is and friends for this, it was especially moving to hear a Persian chant which echoed around the building. Following the meeting refreshments were served in the nearby Baha'i Centre and I then decided to walk back down to the road - despite several offers of lifts. I am glad I didn't walk up! but it was a lovely 30 minute walk, with absolutely no one around until I reached the factories and the factories and the busy main road, back in the outside world again!

I caught the local bus half way back to town, another ex bus school bus, crowded to the gunwales - I spent the first part of the journey sitting on the dashboard! To get back into the city I then caught a metro-bus, plush modern, air conditioned, but almost as crowded. However I hadn't realised you needed to buy a pass to pay the exorbitant fare of a quarter - the currency is basically the US Dollar, so it's about 16p. I needn't have worried, the woman ahead of me just turned round, smiled and swiped her card a second time to let me on - I had to chase after her to give her my quarter! A lovely example of the friendliness of the locals to conclude my visit.

 

Tuesday

An "interesting" night. The stove in the ger was stoked at about 8pm and was lovely and warm, however by 1am it had almost died down and it was a chilly night - minus 30 outside. However with plenty of clothes and bedding, not too unpleasant, the temperature inside never got below freezing. At about 6am a man came in and rebuilt the fire ready for us to get up.

After breakfast we returned to UB a different way driving through a local town. Interestingly we entered over dirt tracks, despite it being a major industrial centre, populated mainly by native Kazacks who had been moved there in Soviet times.

When we had checked into our hotel, Joey, our guide took us to Mongolian restaurant where you chose the ingredients for your meal,  placed them in a dish and passed this to the chef who stir fried them on a giant hot plate - it was delicious.

We then wondered around central UB, it is a strange mixture of Soviet style tatty buildings and modern. Sukhbattar Square in the centre is an large open space where I would guess military parades used to be held. It is now dominated by a new parliament building, built in 2005. However it doesn't look that new and blends in well, it is dominated by an enormous statue of Chinggis Khan flanked by smaller statues of his sons.

Wednesday

I did not do a lot for two reasons, one I had a lurgy and two, it was Tsagaan Sar - the lunar new year and Mongolia's most important family festival so basically everything closed down. Steve went exploring, including walking out to the "Royal Palace" - a housing estate presumably on the grounds of the former palace J while I stayed closer to the hotel. I was fascinated at the number of ordinary people who were walking around dressed in traditional costume.

In the evening unfortunately I had to decline an invitation to Joey's home, but Steve went and was charmed by the hospitality and food but slightly embarrassed because he ate with Joey in the living room as honoured guest while the family were relegated to the kitchen!

Thursday

Feeling much better, we caught the train for the 30 hour journey to Beijing. Once we were away from the mountains around UB we passed through the edge of the Gobi Desert. Most of it though was not typical sandy desert but rolling steppe covered in scrub grass. For no easily apparent reason some of this was clear and some still snow covered. We passed frequent flocks of wild horses, several Bactrian camels and many gers, both isolated and in small encampments, a sparse barren landscape. The one things I will not miss upon leaving are mutton dumplings - we were first served them in soup on the Listvyanka snowmobile trip and they seemed to have cropped up every meal since!

We arrived at the Chinese border town of Erlian at around 8pm for a four hour stop. Despite China being a communist country it was like moving back into the west. As we crossed the border there were neon signs everywhere and we could see fireworks, presumably New Year celebrations for the ethnic Mongolian population. The station was very modern (though with squat loos L) and had piped western musac such as Viennese Waltz and Love Story.

The main reason for the four hour wait was to change the carriage bogeys from broad gauge used in Russia and Mongolia to standard gauge, used in the rest of the world, however this actually only took a couple of hours in a giant shed and we spent the other two hours just sitting (or sleeping) in the station.

Friday

We awoke to our first real sights of China. Generally favourable, understandably most of the land was heavily cultivated. Most of the towns were highly populated with rows of terraced houses, but set out in a way that seemed quite nice. There was lots of new building work going on with new, well designed blocks of flats and many new railway lines. We frequently saw men working in the fields, normally on their own with just hand tools, no evidence of mechanisation. We passed, what I assume were rice paddy fields, completely frozen over. As we approached Beijing, however, there was more and more unfrozen water, evidence that it was getting warmer. Two sad things were the amount of coal; hundreds of railway wagons full and large heaps right next to residential districts. You could actually see the coal dust blowing in places.  And the amount of rubbish, we passed one large tip from which you could see plastic bags have been blown across fields for at least the next mile L

Beijing

An interesting city of 22 million people, two and a half times that of London! On the whole quite modern nowadays, some things nice, some not so nice. We had a wonderful meal of sweet and sour pork, the nicest I have tasted and too much for even Steve to eat, cost £4 each! There is a pedestrianised street leading up to Tiananam Square which is quite tastefully done with a mixture of traditional and top line western stores. We couldn't get into the Square however, there were security gates which were closed when we arrived at around 6pm - no chance of any more protests!!

Everyone seems very friendly, this was especially apparent on the metro which equaled Moscow for packing people in like sardines, but they packed in a much more friendly way.

More on Beijing in my final instalment.

 

Sunday

After a very early start picking up Steve from Woodstock just before 5am, we caught the 8.20 British Airways flight for Moscow. We were one hour late taking off while it was de-iced. The plane was half empty, passengers were distributed all over to balance the weight, we were told could go where we wanted for the flight but must return to our allocated seats for landing.

We found our driver fairly easily and checked into the Hotel Vega, 30 floors high, with some modern, renovated rooms and some still in Soviet design. Every time we went to the lifts we had to show our key cards.

The first night we just went for a wonder round the local neighbourhood. We wanted to find out the location of the nearest metro station ready for the next day, initially we couldn't find it because it turns out most metro stations are unlike any others I have seen, more like mausoleums and often just a small M to signify it's true purpose.  The double doors, when opened, emitted clouds of water vapour as the stations were very warm. Although the temperature was around - 23 degrees, as long as we were wrapped up it wasn't unpleasant.   We finished the day with a pleasant Uzbek meal.

Monday

The temperature was unchanged and did not rise above 20 below all day. We caught the very crowded metro into the centre, it was mid morning but as crowded as London in the rush hour. Our local station was Patriots and there was a magnificent statue of a group of patriots in the forecourt. All the stations were magnificently decorated with statues or murals depicting works slaving or fighting for the former Soviet motherland.

We first walked into Red Square which is dominated by the vast walls of the Kremlin, facing the Gum Department Store. This former preserve of the party favourites it is now a modern shopping mall. The square is not a square but rectangular and the southern edge contains the onion domed St Basil's cathedral. The Kremlin was not as I expected, it's basically a large walled compound containing state apartments, several cathedrals (although not one expects of a cathedral - one just contained the tombs of the Czars) and other state buildings. Security to get in was very tight but you could wonder around about a third of it when inside.

After an interesting day we returned to the hotel again by metro - I have never seen a train so crowded, you were literally packed together like sardines - a good job we're not claustrophobic! We collected our luggage and were taken to the station. Like in UK airports, cars were not allowed close, so we had to walk across a large forecourt before we could eventually board the Russiya, bound for Vladivostok, although we only travelling to Irkutsk, where we were due to arrive on Friday morning, four nights later. We settled down to sleep in our clean, quite comfortable 2 berth compartment complete with TV and electrical socket.

Tuesday

The first full day on the train. I had a strange night, one in which I didn't seem to sleep at all, however it was restful and the first time I looked at my watch it was 6.15! Steve said we had a long stop around 5am which I missed completely. During the daytime we only had three stops, the first for about 10 minutes and then 2, 20 minute stops - the provodnitsa, cabin attendant, was a friendly lady, but she acted a bit like a mother hen ushering us back on board a good five minutes before departure.  We had a long chat with Vladimir, an international lawyer based in Kirov who regularly catches the overnight train to Moscow for business, returning the next night.  There was no consistency as to what was being sold on the stations, at the first stop there were an amazing variety of children's fluffy toys, at the second some really nice food and at the third nothing! The coaches are mainly quite modern with spotless toilets - one for first class and only one for second despite double the passengers. There was also a samovar of on-tap boiling water heated from a wood burning boiler! Getting from one carriage to another was interesting. You first open a door into a lobby full of snow blown in and smokers!! You then press a button to electrically open the end door and go across moving frozen plates to press the button for the next carriage, I always slightly concerned I might get stuck in between the doors. The restaurant car was a lovely old carriage, no electric door, all wood with curtains and embroidered clothes, quite like the Orient Express,  the menu was in English, about half the items weren't available but they still provided some very tasty food for a reasonable price.

Wednesday

We awoke in Asia. A pleasant relaxing day, we stopped about every four hours and had a wander, sometimes buying things from the kiosks on every platform. Stops varied between 10 minutes and 40 minutes, on the longer stops we did leave the station. The temperature was slightly warmer - in the minus teens. I had commented earlier that the compartment was quite comfortable, it is now even better since I discovered that the beds pulled up to make a seat with a backrest, it only took a day and half for me to find out!!

The scenery was the same but ever varied J, the same, snow covered birch forests but there were marshes with beautiful coloured bullrushes well clear of the snow, a variety of towns and villages, and quite a few birds to please Steve. It may sound a bit boring but neither of us have been bored yet, we look out of the window, play games, read and do a bit of work - and eat and drink!

Thursday

The scenery is very different, more hilly with fir trees predominant, quite Alpine like. The countryside was mainly covered, however, by vast snowed covered forests, just the sort of place in which you could imagine wolves roaming - we saw none! There were however quite frequent signs of habitation, ranging from tiny picturesque villages containing log cabin type, wooden houses, to large cities. There was also a surprising amount of industrialisation, we quite often came across large factories, working but looking very decrepit, in the middle of no-where. The weather was slightly warmer - minus teens - but there was a clear blue sky and sunshine to make it a beautiful day which didn't seem cold. One strange phenomena, most of the platforms and streets were covered in ice but they were not slippery, I'm not sure if it was because of the dry air.

Friday

Another lovely day, the sunniest and coldest! We arrived at Irkutsk at 7.30 am, temperature - 29. We were driven to Listvyanka, about 70km away on the shores of Lake Baikal. Fortunately they let us check into our rooms straight away which was great as we could have breakfast and then get ready for our day snowmobiling. There was just, Steve, me and a guide. Modern Canadian snowmobiles but very little "instruction", I think I was able to tell Steve more than they did with all my experience of three previous trips! We drove through the forest all morning and it was really beautiful. Initially Steve seemed to want to bury his machine, but I learnt the skill of standing on the running board driving it while the guide pulled the skis round and Steve soon picked things up. We went up and down two very steep slopes, steeper than any I have been on, one used to be a ski run. It took a bit of getting used to but was actually fine.

After a local lunch of meat dumpling soup and ham we headed onto to Lake Baikal. It was gloriously sunny and a clear blue sky even though very cold. When we went fast my eyes watered and then froze, but apart from the inconvenience of restricted vision it really wasn't a problem. The sun was quite warm on my shoulder. The lake is different to any of have been on, very little of the surface was flat, we kept on hitting hidden mounds - Finnish lakes are completely smooth. There were places were the snow had blown off leaving just the ice, though which you could see about a metre. Sometimes this was crisscrossed with deep cracks which you could see clearly. There was one small but lengthy fracture about 4 inches wide, with clear water, which we crossed several times.

It was a really enjoyable day and neither of us got really cold despite being out from 11am to 5pm.

 

Antarctica Pictures just uploaded at https://picasaweb.google.com/RockyGrove88

Friday
I finally tracked down my luggage at 10am in the airport, so I was able to relax and have a look round Ushuaia. It is so like the Shetlands or Norway that it actually seemed strange to hear people speaking Spanish.

We boarded the Ocean Nova at 4pm and set sail at 6pm. The crew and expedition team seem very friendly and the facilities are luxurious. We have a minimum 48 hour or so crossing of the Drake Passage - depending on the weather.

Food is 5 star standard, with a 7 course meal in the evenings - always at least three choices of main course.

We had a pilot all the time we were in the Beagle Passage, the narrow channel between Argentina and Chile which had nearly caused a war in the seventies! At about 10pm the pilot's boat came alongside, without either boat stopping, he climbed down a rope ladder and swung onto the pilot boat! We were left alone heading south across the Southern Ocean.

Saturday
We were told that it was a fairly good crossing however the ship was rolling at least 20 degrees, it took a lot of practice to walk without holding on all the time. I was amazed how the waitresses could carry bowls of soup! All the tables were covered with a special cloth which was really effective, all that ever came off the table in the roughest swell was occasional pieces of cutlery.

Three or four times a day we had lectures on the Antarctic wildlife, geology, icebergs, history etc as well as briefings on preservation of the Antarctic - we have to follow very strict rules.

I slept a lot, due to the sea-sickness tablets I had taken, but haven't felt at all queasy yet - touch wood!

Sunday
At around 6pm after what had been a very fast crossing due to tail winds, we finally caught sight of land - the South Shetland Islands. It was a relief and also a respite from the swell. I was initially a little disappointed that there was no sight of snow but we soon saw snow covered cliffs as well. We anchored for the night in a bay in Half Moon Island, where we would be landing the next day.

Monday
Early breakfast and we started landing around 8am. We were met by thousands of chin strap penguins, quite a few fur seals and many other birds - I was dive bombed by a Skua with a wing span well over 1 metre. Although it rained steadily the whole time,we were well clothed and it was lovely just to wonder round the island, or to sit and watch the penguins. They ignored us completely, one walked about a foot away from me.

There was a wrecked rowing boat near where we landed. It appears that one of the first tourist boats back in the 1960s landed here and encountered a sudden violent storm. Their boat was wrecked and they had to shelter until it passed and another boat could be sent to rescue them!

In the afternoon we moved to Deception Island, an active volcano with a flooded caldera which the ship went into. The weather was much nicer, sun shining, although still cold. One of the expedition staff said it was the first time she'd ever seen sunshine at Deception Island! We had been told not to expect much wild life but there were lots of furs seals, an elephant seal, gentoo penguins and skuas. The skuas where mostly just walking round the beach quite close to us, although a few dive bombed. I was interested to see one chin strap penguin amidst all the gentoos.

We landed at Whalers Bay, an old whaling station, abandoned in the late forties and then taken over by the British Antarctic Survey until it was completely abandoned in 1969 following two eruptions. Most of the buildings are ruined but it was interesting to explore - it was from here that the first ever Antarctic flight took off. It was a single engined Otter and it flew 600 miles south until it had used half its fuel and then turned back - a total flight time of 11 hours!

Tuesday
Our first landfall was on Danca Island, the weather was lovely and I spent over two hours watching some gentoo penguins with their chicks, it was really nice. In the afternoon we made a short landing at Admirante Brown station in Paradise Bay, which is actually on the Antarctic Continent. We then went for a tour in the zodiacs. First we went to see the nesting places for some Antarctic Shags then we headed for the nearby glacier. We found a massive leopard seal - about 4m long basking on an ice floe - the largest the crew had seen! I guess it had eaten well - of penguins . We also saw about half a dozen crabeater seals also basking but in pairs on different floes. The glacier itself was amazing, the tall ice cliffs of every shade from white to deep blue. Lots of bergs broken off and we heard the roar as more pieces fell - unfortunately I didn't see it.

As we returned to the ship the weather worsened and it started to rain heavily. The next hour showed what is meant by the changeable nature of the weather, it rained, hailed, snowed - with snow flakes blown horizontally - we had a sustained gale of around 100 kph which is approaching hurricane, followed by almost no wind and bright sunshine. At one point we thought we'd have to change plan because a passage we were heading through was nearly closed by ice, however we have a strengthened hull and managed to get through! We also saw a hump back whale and four minke whales. It was an amazing sixty minutes.

Wednesday
Poor weather in the morning restricted the length of our landing at Port Charcot, but I had a great hour there, it is one of my favourite landings. We were surrounded by pack ice, on which we could see half a dozen crab eater seals. There was a fur seal, surveying the territory and behaving as if he owned it! On top of these were the seabirds and gentoo penguins.

In the afternoon we landed on Petermann Island, near the landing site is cross which is a memorial to three British scientists who died here in1982. I saw my first Adelie penguins here, they were moulting which means they basically stand still for up to two weeks concentrating on this process!

That evening half of us camped at Damoy Point on Anvers Island, it was close to a British Antarctic Survey Station, unmanned but still with a maintained hut open for use in emergencies containing emergency rations and a massive Union Flag . We slept in tents though! I had to stamp down an area of snow to make in comfortable and then erect the tent. It really was comfortable although the temperature was well below freezing in the middle of the night and getting out was rather cold! My nearest neighbour was a fur seal who was sleeping on a nearby rock. He occasionally raised his head briefly to see what on earth these strange people were doing. There were also about 100 gentoo penguins nearby. I had a fairly restful night.

In the morning the wind had picked up a lot so it was quite difficult to strike the tents without loosing anything and the trip back to the ship for breakfast was a bit hairy. The strong wind continued so unfortunately our morning call at Port Lockroy had to be abandoned. It is another former British Antarctic Survey which has been converted into a museum, gift shop and post office. The crew did manage to take cards ashore for those who wanted them posted but the last mail boat of the summer had already departed and the next was not due until November!!

Unfortunately the poor weather persisted all day so we had no landings but we cruised through spectacular scenery - which we could just see through the snow and fog and saw several hump back and minke whales plus one killer whale.

The weather finally cleared up in the evening and 45 out of the 73 guests on board (including me) went for a swim - well maybe I should say quick dip! - in the Southern Ocean the pack ice around!

Friday

The weather was still poor as we headed back to the South Shetland Islands but the crew risked a landing on Barrientos Island. It was a really nice landing and demonstrated the Antarctic microclimates. The beach we landed on had a strong wind and it was raining. We walked about a mile over a not very high ridge into sunshine! Lots of elephant seals, fur seals, reclining in the seaweed, nesting petrels and many other birds - including the usual skuas plus many penguins, most gentoo but a few chin strap and adelie. It was a lovely end to our incredible visit to Antarctica

Saturday/Sunday
In effect, the trip is over. Following the landing we set sail north, back across the Drake Passage. Initially very rough, however at the time of writing - 18.00 Saturday, fairly smooth, though the boat is still continuously pimtching and rolling. We're spending the time eating, reading, sleeping and attending lectures put on by the crew. I have been today to one of the 18 different types of penguins and on the first crossing from the Russia to Canada via the North Pole, Lawrie - the expedition leader - was part of the team.

Sunday was extremely rough, so much so that lunch was cancelled and snacks delivered to our cabins - I still wasn't the slightest nauseous though!!

Monday

We docked back in Ushuai at 7am and I had an uneventful flight back to Buenos Aires, and then on to London tomorrow.

Friday

I am not going to write much about today as I feel my photos speak louder than words. The Iguazu Falls are awe inspiring - the statistics: wider than Victoria at around 3km and higher than Niagara at 90m - though not in a single drop. I have never been to Niagara and only visited Victoria Falls in the dry season, so it's not fair for me to compare personally. I followed a trail along the river bank for about 1200 metres, we kept being presented with ever changing vistas of the falls, I could never see the whole expanse, it's just too wide. At the end of the trail is the opportunity to walk out into the middle of the river on a walkway - they were selling plastic macs I, along with several others, just took my shirt off - my trousers dried quite quickly in the 32 degree heat. Some of the photos have spots on them as I had my camera in a plastic bag. I was only on the walk way 10-15 minutes yet I have slight sun burn on my back!

You travel into the park on open sided but a covered roofed, double decker buses, no cars allowed in. When I started my walk I was greeted by a coati and there were myriad brightly coloured butterflies and birds. I saw a beautiful blue butterfly bigger than my hand. It was busy but the way things were set out you were rarely disturbed by others.

I finished a great day by treating myself to a meal at a churrascaria. You help yourself to salad and then freshly cooked meat is constantly brought to your table and carved for you. Every cut of beef imaginable, plus pork, lamb, fish and sausages plus extras like liver or chicken hearts - which are lovely! I kept on asking for a tiny bit, the waiters could all speak English, but I never got what I would describe as a "tiny bit"! It was cooked to perfection, I don't normally like rare beef but I had one piece which was bright red inside but so tender.

I rounded the meal off with caramel custard and the nicest cappuccino of the trip which is saying something as I would rate Brasil as the best country I have been to for cappuccinos.

Saturday

I travelled from Foz dos Icuazu (Brazil) to Puerto Iguazu (Argentina). A nice little town catering for tourists but not in an overtly commercial way. Very friendly, cheaper than Brazil, not such nice cappuccinos and massive speed bumps - Brazil doesn't have any!

A lovely hostel, good, three star hotel standard.

I had planned to take a moon light trip to see the falls but it was cancelled as it was overcast.

Sunday

I visited the Argentinian side of the falls, not quite so spectacular panoramically but more close up and adventurous. I took a truck trip though the jungle where we saw plenty of birds plus a tapir scooted across the track. Then we took a boat, right into the falls - it was wet but awesome. At lunch we were surrounded by very inquisitive coatti - some even climbed on the picnic tables but were fairly easily shooed away. I then walked out over board walks about 1.5 miles to the ""Devil's Throat - to quote from Wikipedia "The Devil's Throat (Garganta del Diablo in Spanish or Garganta do Diabo in Portuguese), a U-shaped, 82-meter-high, 150-meter-wide and 700-meter-long (490 by 2300 feet) cataract, is the most impressive of all, and marks the border between Argentina and Brazil." I woudn't argue with that. It was slightly worrying to see a former boardwalk that had been washed away in a flood in 1992. The water wasn't far below and if you had ended up in it - it would certainly be curtains!

Finally I took a leisurely trip along the edge of the upper river. We saw a rare cayman, several toucan, parrots and lots of other birds which I couldn't identify. An exhilerating, tiring, wet but very enjoyable day.

 

Continuing the theme of long forgotten records - don't worry I won't be able to keep it up - my main aim on Monday was to visit the Sugar Loaf. However, it is best seen at sunset so I went via the city centre.

My first stop was a quick visit to Ipanema Beach, what a difference from Sunday, not at all crowded.

I then took the metro into the centre of Rio - it was such a contrast with affluent Copocabana and Ipenema! My first stop was a lovely peaceful park - which I found out was home to quite a few people! Though why they were asleep at midday, I wasn't quite sure - siesta?

I then wondered though a street market, very like Arab souks, every imaginable thing for sale, though most of the street stalls where actually extensions of fairly normal shops. The major difference to me was that I wasn't once hassled, even when I stopped to look, something I was initially very wary of doing, bearing in mind my souk experiences.

I took the circular bus tour to have an overview of the city - not a tourist bus, surprising there wasn't one but a regular inner circle past interesting spots.

Finally I headed for the Sugar Loaf getting there at around 5pm. It must cover half the Brasilian National Debt as it cost nearly £20 to go up in the cable car, but it's the only way up unless you are a rock climber and you can't come to Rio without ascending the Sugar Loaf. One thing I was disappointed about - the James Bond film where he fights with Oddjob on a pylon descending the Sugar Loaf - it's a fake!! There are two separate cable cars and both having a continuous run with no pylons at all .

The view from the top was spectacular, my photos don't really do it justice unfortunately. I stayed until 7pm and then caught the bus going the wrong way in a circular route so it took me about 90 minutes to get back, after I'd had a meal I had been out over eleven hours.

On Tuesday I spent a quiet morning relaxing by the hotel's roof top pool and then took a tour to Rio's favela. Some people refer to them as Rio's slums, but the guide - who lives in one - says they are not, they are for poorer people. He said there is a tremendous sense of community and they have all the normal facilities like doctors, schools, lawyers etc. "No one sleeps on the streets, they do that in the city centre!

It appears that when someone comes from the provinces to make their fortune they pursuade someone to let them build a house, probably on someone else's roof. We saw up to elevn stories, not necessarily of the same building style but all made of brick or concrete, no wood.

Some of the dwellings on the actual hillside are in danger of mud slides and interestingly the when the guide referred to mud slides, I commented yes we heard about them unfortunately. He said no they were last April and only when pressed did he comment about the mud slides of January 2011 which happened 85 km away.

The Rio city council is becoming more involved in providing things for the favelas, they have built some new apartment blocks and are forcibly moving people from the most dangerous houses on the hillside. The guy seemed to have a very ambivalent attitude to authority. He thought Lula had done a good job as was elected fairly by 85% but felt it was too early to judge the new president Dilma Rousseff. He talked about all the things the state was doing for the favela but then went on to talk about the poor state of public schooling and health provision - the middle class pay for this. As a result on 3% of the "poor" go to university and there is still 7% illiteracy.

It was a fascinating glimpse of life, I felt completely safe, tired from climbing numerous steps and amazed at how close one favela was to a very rich neighbourhood - across the street.