“Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth.”
Bhudda
The Tiger’s Nest
Bhutan was the
destination for this trip to my 32nd country. This was another
Meetup trip with Trekkup-Dubai. This
group of 24 trekkers was a little larger than the usual group, but with 13
countries represented it was as diverse as ever. Also typical, the passport used for the trip by
many of the trekkers doesn’t really tell the whole story of their background,
with several having lived in many other countries and holding dual passports. The
conversations with people from all over the world are a valuable part of the
experience of these trips.
Bhutan is a
small, high elevation, landlocked country in south Asia. Despite having the
giants China (Tibet) on the northern border and India to the south, the country
has never been colonized. Bhutan does things a little different than most
countries. Here are a few interesting facts:
Bhutan
is small in area (133rd), population (165th, ~750,000),
and wealth (per capita GDP 115th)
Bhutan
pioneered the concept of Gross National Happiness, used as the guiding
principal for government action to protect the welfare of current and future
citizens. This concept emphasizes harmony with nature and traditional values.
It was established in the Constitution of Bhutan in 2008 when the country
became a constitutional monarchy (previously absolute monarchy).
Bhutan
maintains diplomatic relations with 52 countries and the EU but has no formal
ties to any of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security
Council.
Bhutan
is the world’s only carbon-negative country.
The constitution mandates that 60% of the nation’s landmass shall be
maintained and protected as forested.
Bhutan
is primarily Bhuddist (77%), with the remaining population Hindu (increasing
percentage as you approach India).
Gangkhar Puensum is the
highest mountain in Bhutan and considered so sacred that no one has yet climbed
to its peak (at 24,840 feet).
Possession of tobacco is
not illegal, but smoking is not allowed in public, and tobacco has not been
sold in the country since 2004.
The capital city,
Thimphu, is the only capital city in Asia with no traffic lights. White gloved officers direct traffic.
Hydroelectricity
is the leading export, supplied to various states in India.
Bhutan
has recently doubled teacher salaries, making them among the highest paid civil
servants. This is in keeping with their constitutional commitment to improve
quality of life.
The
currency is the Ngultrum. Paper currency only is used – coins are not
available. 100 Ng = $1.41 at time of trip.
The
official language is Dzongkha.
Travelling to
Bhutan is not a simple affair. This is
intentional as part of a low impact – high value tourism policy. First, the cost to visit is up to $250 per
day per person, depending on the month. But this isn’t your normal visa –
besides the $40 base visa cost, the fee includes a variety of normal expenses
such as lodging, guide service, and meals, as well as a $65 tourism royalty
that goes towards free health care, education, infrastructure, and poverty
alleviation. All travel arrangements
must be through a state authorized travel agency. The visa is obtained on
arrival but must be paid and approved before you go. One of the benefits of travelling with
Trekkup-Dubai – they take care of almost all these details. Sign up, pay, give
them the documents they ask for, then show up and enjoy.
The flight into Paro, Bhutan. One of the top 10 most dangerous airports to fly into.
The
flight into Bhutan is another distinctive feature to this trip. The town of
Paro is home to the only international airport in the country, and you will
find it on any “Most Dangerous Airport” list you care to look at. Cradled in a
valley surrounded by high mountain peaks, less than two dozen pilots are
certified to deliver passengers to their destination here. Passengers can watch the nearby mountain tops
pass by as they make the hard banks and rapid descent to the runway. Our trip
was uneventful, and I enjoyed learning a bit about the country from a flight
magazine (national bird – raven, national tree – cypress, etc.).
We arrived on a
clear, cool morning. Passage through customs was painless. After working our
way through the colorful terminal with native art and scale-model landmarks on
the luggage carousels, our guides for the trip, Nirs and Sonam greeted us to
the country with scarves. English was not a problem throughout the stay as
English in school is mandatory for several years. After the first of many group photos, we had
lunch at an airport restaurant. My research that said Bhutan cuisine was
characterized by lots of chilis was spot on, and we had chili-cheese for the
first time. It would not be our last.
Prayer Cloths
We
loaded up in a pair of Toyota Coaster minibuses for our trip from Paro to
Thimphu, a little over an hour away. We were introduced to prayer cloths when
we stopped to see the first of many monasteries. These cloths are a common feature
of the landscape, often along trails, bridges, and other roadside spots that
are frequented by travelers. Of Bhuddist origin, the flags come in sets of five
colors – green (nature), yellow (earth), white (air), red (fire), and blue
(water). They are printed with prayers,
and the breeze blowing through the flags spreads compassion and good will to
the surrounding spaces. They are held sacred because of the symbols and prayers
on them – new flags are continuously mounted to renew hope for the future, and
old ones are disposed with respect by burning. We encountered thousands of
these flags during our visit.
Buddha Dordenma statue in Thimphu
We took a short visit to the gigantic
Buddha Dordenma statue as we arrived in Thimphu. This gigantic gold gilded bronze statue stands
a whopping 52 meters high. Completed in 2015, this statue was completed at a
cost of $47 million (built by the Chinese and funded with the help of several
Asian countries). The statue is in a
nature park overlooking Thimphu and is dedicated to bringing peace and prosperity
to the world. The construction is said to fulfill an ancient prophecy from the
8th century that a second Buddha would appear here to promote peace
and harmony. We arrived in late afternoon – not the best time of day for
lighting on the statue – and a chilly breeze encouraged us to speed up our
observations and snap our pictures.
Our destination
for the night was Hotel Phuntsho Pelri.
The rooms were basic and comfortable with a big brass key on a big
wooden keychain. I was unable to adjust the wall radiator and wound up turning
it off and opening the window for our stay.
Many of us met downstairs before dinner for drinks and got to know each
other a little. These chats are a real source of pleasure for me – Swiss,
Lebanese, Saudi, Polish, Iranian (by way of Canada), Singapore, and others. For
all our differences we are much alike.
Perhaps someday our political leaders will get together for a trip
somewhere and many of our problems will go away. We had dinner (chilis are a central feature
in many Bhutanese dishes) at the hotel.
Some went out to investigate the area, some decided to prepare for the
next day. I was in the latter.
Roadside water-powered Prayer Wheel with rock painting and prayer cloths.
We were greeted
the next morning with bright blue skies and a crisp 4°C. After breakfast, we
loaded into the vans and headed out to Tango Monastery about an hour away. Along the way we stopped by a roadside Prayer
Wheel, in this case a couple of meters high, powered by water and enclosed in a
small shrine. We saw many prayer wheels
during our stay, ranging from some
meters high to small hand-held wheels. They could be rotated by hand, by water,
or by wind, but the rotation must be clockwise and was the essential element to
purifying negativity, generating compassion and enabling enlightenment. Monks
were cleaning a giant Bhudda painted on the rocks with brooms to complete the
peaceful scene.
Butter lamps, used to banish the darkness of ignorance.
The Tango Monastery is at an elevation
of about 3000 meters. The hike to it was about an hour, gaining just under 300
meters along a pleasant forest trail with frequent benches and trash cans and
plaques mounted to trees with bits of Buddhist wisdom on them. Many spoke of the importance of protecting
the environment, others were more philosophical and spoke about the transient
nature of life. Along the way we passed a small room tended by a single monk
with over 100 butter lamps burning. These lamps are in a small metal dish and traditionally
burn clarified yak butter. Their illumination is said to aid in enlightenment
by banishing the darkness of ignorance which covers the true nature of the
mind. An unfortunate reality of the lamps is they present a very real fire threat,
and several of the monasteries we visited had suffered from one or more serious
fires over the years when mountain breezes disturbed the lamps.
The trail to Tango Monastery. Prayer cloths were on every trail.
I hiked alone
for a little while as the group had spread out, enjoying the peaceful
solitude. We arrived at the monastery,
each at their own pace. Much of the monastery was not open to us as repair work
was in progress, but we enjoyed what we saw, and had a pleasant walk down the
mountain. I marveled at the flowers still in bloom at the end of November at such
a high elevation. Perhaps Bhutan is
genuinely blessed.
Hand-powered prayer wheels at National Memorial Chorten
After lunch in
Thimphu, we stopped for a visit at the National Memorial Chorten, a prominent
center of meditation in central Thimphu. Built in 1974, this structure is
located on a pretty green grass lawn along with a prayer wheel building with
ten large prayer wheels over 2 meters high. Dozens of people meditated and
worshipped, slowly walking around the prayer wheels, turning them as they
passed. Elderly ladies sat on the curbs,
slowly spinning handheld wheels, while others walked slowly around the
Chorten. The direction of all movement –
turning the large prayer
wheels, spinning the handheld ones, and the walk around the Chorten was
clockwise, always clockwise.
Cheerful lady at the National Memorial Chorten
ladies with hand-held prayer wheels
The next stop was Tashichho Dzong, a combination Buddhist monastery and government center (a dzong is a fortified building containing administrative and religious buildings). As we entered the grounds, I noticed clusters of tall, thin white flags scattered across the surrounding hillsides. Our guide Nirs described these flags as memorials to the dead, to aid them in finding the right path to the next life. Ideally, Bhuddist monks say fresh wood should be used for each pole (reusing indicates less effort), and a higher number of poles is more powerful. Unfortunately, this runs counter to the governments constitutional responsibility to maintain the country at least 60% forested since young trees are preferred and over 1000 trees were being cut each week. The government is working to promote using less flags and either reusing flag poles or using alternatives such as quick growing bamboo.
Hillside of white memorial flags.
Much of our
time in the Tashichho Dzong was spent in the monastery, where Nirs described in
detail the Circle of Life. This circle
presents a cycle of birth and rebirth through layers and sections representing
different things, but the most interesting part to me was his description of
the three poisons at the hub represented by the pig, the snake, and the bird.
They represent the three main poisons of life – desire, anger, and ignorance –
that can trap us in an existence of pain, suffering, and counterproductive
behaviors. The description of the whole circle was quite complex but the
essence of the three poisons being the hub rang true to me.
The hub of the Circle of Life, representing the 3 poisons of life that trap us (desire, anger, and ignorance).
The
temperature was dropping with the setting sun, but we had one more brief stop
for the day. This was an archery session
in town that was impressive to me for the simple reason the archers were aiming
at a small target, outdoors in the breeze, a whopping 145 meters away! The target was quite small, and in reality they
only hit it a few times, still, this was an amazing display to me given the
distance. We returned to our hotel for
dinner and more socializing.
The Himalaya Mountains in the background from Dochula Pass.
After breakfast
the next morning, we loaded back up in the cruisers for our trip to Dochula
Pass, the starting point for our next hike to Lungchu Tsey Monastery. This was
a 3.5 km hike increasing from 3025 to 3560 meters in elevation – our highest
elevation for the trip – along a forested path with the ever-present prayer
flags and an occasional yak. The snow-covered
Bhutan Himalayas towered on the horizon.
Clouds closed in as we approached the summit. We spent
a few minutes inside the 18th century monastery. As always, photos
inside were not allowed.
Hiking down from Lungchu Tsey Monastery through an abundance of prayer cloths.
We hiked back
down the hill to dinner at the café at Dochula Pass. 108 chortens (monuments) are erected at the
site in memory of soldiers who died in a 2003 battle against insurgents from
India. Visitors here, as at every Bhuddist site, walked slowly in the clockwise
direction around the memorial. We
boarded the cruisers and took the drive back to Paro, discussing all manner of cultural,
philosophical, and political issues amongst the international passengers to
pass the time. A very pleasant
afternoon.
We drove back
to our hotel in Paro, but before we reached the hotel, we had about an hour to
walk around the downtown and shop for souvenirs. The shops were full of
candles, incense, yak wool scarves, shawls, and sweaters, hand painted Circles
of Life, soaps, singing bowls, along with all colors and sizes of phalluses.
The last we had seen in abundance in Athens, but I had not anticipated them
here. The purpose is to ward off evil.
The world is an interesting place.
I picked up a nice baby Yak wool scarf for Lynn and a singing bowl for
myself. These interesting bowls produce
a harmonic frequency when a wooden stick is gently rubbed around the perimeter,
producing a sound said to clear the air around us of negative energy and
emotional blockage.
Somehow they ward off evil.
After
shopping, we checked into our hotel, the Metta Resort and Spa. Not lavish or
particularly modern but large and comfortable just the same. After another meal
of dodging chilis, we enjoyed some local beverages and socialized.
The Tiger’s Nest
Our trek the
next morning was to the highlight of the trip, Paro Taktsang, commonly known as
the Tiger’s Nest. The collection of buildings making up the monastery is
perched on the side of a nearly vertical cliff 900m above the surrounding
valley floor. This was a steep but short hike of about 2.5 km with an elevation
gain of 500m through a forest of pine, oak, and rhododendron. The monastery
itself dates back to 1692, when it was built on the site of a cave where the
Guru Rinpoche is said to have meditated for three years, three months, and
three hours. He is credited with bringing Buddhism to Bhutan in the 8th
century, flying from Tibet on the back of a tigress. Entering the monasteries required us to
remove our cameras, backpacks, and shoes. We were given a few minutes of private
contemplation in one of them and looked into the cave (now sprinkled with
donations) believed to be where the Guru meditated in another of the
buildings. I noticed small CFL lights in
some locations, giving way to LED bulbs in others to supplement the light of
the ever-present butter lamps (I often notice such anachronisms). I didn’t know
if this was to reduce the risk of fire (one caused serious damage here in 1998)
or simply to maximize the limited power available.
A brother and sister from a local family that served us lunch on our hike.
We
headed back down the mountain, stopping along the way to enjoy a lunch prepared
for us by friendly locals. Our last
event of the week awaited us – a traditional Hot Stone bath. Rather than
benefit from natural hot springs, these wooden tub baths use wood fire heated
river stones dumped into a receptacle at the foot of the tub to heat the water,
with herbs and slices of aromatic wood floating in the water. A nice touch
following the hike.
Fire baked river stone hot bath. The stones are dumped in a chamber at your feet.
We had dinner
in town, and one last trip through the souvenir shops. Some enjoyed treats around a bonfire at the
hotel when we returned under the clear cool Bhutan sky. As we headed out the
next morning to the airport, Nirs thanked us for coming to his country in the
simple sincerity we had come to expect from him. One last spectacle awaited us. As we left the
runway and exited the valley through a hard ascent with a series of sharp
banks, the snow-covered Himalayas were revealed to us on a morning of perfect
clarity. A great ending to a great trip.
This trip was
another excellent opportunity to maximize our travel experience from the UAE –
barely enough time to watch an in-flight movie.
We chose this destination based on feedback from some of our travelling
friends. These countries would be
unlikely as stand-alone destinations from the USA but work out well from the
UAE. Initially, we considered trying to
pick up all three neighbors here – Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia – but some
hostilities in the area don’t make it that simple so we settled on two of the
three. For US passport holders, Georgia
is simple, requiring no visa. Azerbaijan
requires an inexpensive single-entry visa ($24) that we picked up online at www.evisa.gov.az. We found out later that we could have
gotten this on arrival due to our UAE resident visa status, but better to have
visa in hand anyway. The Azerbaijan visa
questionnaire asks if you have been to the contested Nagorno-Karabakh region,
so if you plan to travel to both Armenia and Azerbaijan, make sure you go to
Azerbaijan first. We always obtain
travel insurance as a free credit card benefit (but you still have to apply for
it), fortunately, we have never had to use it.
Georgia and
Azerbaijan have similarities, but many significant differences. Some of the highlights:
Georgia
as a country first unified in 1088. Azerbaijan wasn’t founded until 1918. Both were part of the USSR from 1920/1921
until 1991.
Both
are comparatively small in size and population.
Azerbaijan is the 111th largest country at 33,400 square
miles; Georgia is 119th at 26,900 square miles. Azerbaijan is 91st in population
with about 10 million people; Georgia is 130th with 3.7 million
people.
Azerbaijan
is primarily a dry semi-arid steppe, bordered on the east by the Caspian
Sea. Georgia has a more Mediterranean
climate as you approach the western border on the Black Sea. They share a common east-west border, with
the Caucasus Mountains on their northern borders.
Azerbaijan
boasts a much higher GDP than Georgia due to oil wealth. Georgia has virtually no oil or natural gas,
relying on hydro power for electricity.
Key industries for Georgia include agriculture, mining, and wine making.
Azerbaijan
is ~97% Muslim; Georgia is ~83% Orthodox Christian. Both countries live in religious harmony for
the most part. Alcohol is readily
available in both.
Despite
a heavily Muslim population, Azerbaijan has no official state religion and has excellent
trade relations with Israel. Israel is Azerbaijan’s fifth largest trading
partner, and Israel imports 40% of its oil from Azerbaijan.
At
the time of this trip, the Azerbaijani Manat was worth 59₵, the Georgian Lari
was 34₵.
We arrived in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan, on a warm clear afternoon to a new modern airport. Navigating in English has generally not been too much of a challenge in our travels, but we had a few problems on this trip. It took a few minutes to figure out the ATM machine, then negotiations with a cabbie resulted in us getting in the wrong cab, not the one our hotel had arranged. Both were minor problems and soon we were checked into our hotel for the next three nights – the Winter Park Hotel ($138/night including municipality fee). This price is a little higher than we normally pay but was within walking distance to everything we wanted to see in the central city. The hotel was in a part of town previously known as Sovetski, a low rent district during the Soviet era known for drugs and high crime. The government bought out the landlords, tore down the run-down housing, and built a walking park surrounded by new hotels less than a half mile from the waterfront on the Caspian Sea.
We settled into
our room, then headed out into the warm afternoon sunshine to explore our
surroundings. “Lonely Planet” is our preferred
travel guidebook for travelling. It described Baku as “the architectural love
child of Dubai and Paris”, a colorful description I probably would not have
come up with, but I can understand the thought.
The city is a blend of historic buildings, including the old walled city
and new modern buildings highlighted by “The Flame Towers”, a trio of 600-foot
towers that have a spectacular light show at night. We headed to the bayfront through tree-lined
streets, passing through Fountain Square with several fountains, restaurants,
shops, and beautiful stands of trees. I
noted how clean everything was. I read
virtually every adult male smokes, yet still saw very few butts on the ground,
and the central square area was completely free of trash.
Fountain Square, Baku
We passed a gigantic chessboard with pieces a meter tall as we neared the bayfront. The players were very focused, and dozens of spectators enjoyed the game as well. Some of the observers tracked the strategy of the players on their smartphones. I learned chess is a popular and serious pastime in the Caucuses. Gary Kasparov of Azerbaijan is considered one of the greatest chess players of all time.
Chess at the waterfront in Baku
The bayfront is
a wide stone brick promenade several kilometers long on the Caspian Sea. Parks
line the promenade with lots of vendors selling coffee, ice cream, and a
personal favorite of mine – the popcorn man. We meandered down the bayfront to
the old walled city, sightseeing through the cobbled streets. We stopped for a
green beer (he said it popular in the region but we never saw it again) and
enjoyed background music of Elvis Presley, Chubby Checker, and Roy
Orbison. US cultural influence is
widespread – not dominant – we often see US sports team/player jerseys and
ballcaps, Levi’s, Hollywood, various National Parks, and a surprising amount of
NASA shirts. And of course, McDonald’s
and Coca-Cola. We had a pleasant outdoor
dinner and called it a day.
The next morning,
we were up early for our Gobustan and Absheron tour ($118 for both of us
through Baku City Tours). This full day tour took us to several of the local
highlights – the Bibi-Heybat Mosque, mud volcanoes, petroglyphs at Gobustan
National Park, Ateshgah Fire Temple, and Yanar Dag Fire Mountain. We were picked up at our hotel, then drove
around town for a bit to pick up our other guests. This small but interesting
group included a dentist from Saudi Arabia, a city planner from Holland, and a
young man from Singapore as well as our two young local guides. I find no
pleasure in discussing US politics these days, but we had a good time chatting
about all manner of issues with this group as we drove between the sites. Our
Saudi friend expressed the opinion that his country should move forward and
make peace with Israel.
Fresh yogurt from local farms
We stopped by a local market to grab snacks. I noticed what looked like gallon glass jars of yogurt brought in by local farmers, as well as stacks of pomegranates. Mahabat, one of our young guides, told me over 30 varieties of pomegranates are grown in the region. He was an interesting young man. He worked very hard in his spare time on this tour group while taking classes full time and hopes to work in America when he graduates. Young men of his caliber should be welcome in any country.
Our first stop,
the Bibi-Heybat Mosque, was only built in the 1990s, but it is a recreation of the
mosque with the same name built in the 13th century. That mosque was completely
destroyed by the Bolsheviks in 1936. A seventh-generation descended
granddaughter of the prophet Muhammad is buried here. I observed visibly shaken and teary eyed
abaya clad women stand in the presence of the tomb. There are a lot of
interesting things to observe in this world.
I try to be as objective as possible when I watch such things and try to
imagine what I am seeing through their eyes.
Mud volcano at Gobustan National Park, Azerbaijan
From there we headed on to the mud volcanoes. The term ‘volcano’ is a bit strong for these geological formations. They are only a few meters high, with a warm clay/mud mixture gurgling, burping, and oozing at their ‘summit’. Mud volcanoes are associated with oil fields. Azerbaijan has more of these than any other country, with about 350 of the some 800 identified worldwide. Gasses from deep in the earth can sometimes ignite immediately when emitted. These were interesting to see, but the most exciting part of this part of the tour was the local cars we reached the site in. About 10-15 km from the volcanoes, we reached the end of the paved road. The remaining road was too rough to make the remaining transit in. Rather than continue in some sort of rugged 4WD vehicle, we moved over to small 30-year-old Russian ‘Lada’ cars in various states of disrepair. Our local drivers raced through the rough terrain the rest of the way. We admired the lack of shock absorbers and the screw drivers jammed in the windows to keep the glass up as we bounced from rut to rut. Sometimes it is hard to predict what form adventure will take.
Petroglyphs at Gobustan National Park
Next on the agenda were the petroglyphs of Gobustan National Park. The petroglyphs here, estimated to be some 10,000 years old, depict a warm climate with large animals. Over 4000 petroglyphs have been found in the region, carved over a period of a few thousand years. One interesting natural formation is a large curved stone called the Gaval Dash. This stone can be touched lightly with another rock and emits a unique musical sound. We spent about an hour surveying the grounds of the park and the flat plane looking toward the Caspian Sea to the east.
Yanar Dag Mountain
After lunch at a local diner we moved on to our next highlight, the Ateshgah Fire Temple. ‘Atash’ is the Persian word for fire. This castle-like temple was a Hindu, Sikh, and Zoroastrian place of worship for centuries. A natural gas vent burned for many years until a century of oil and gas exploration finally extinguished the source. A fire still burns today, courtesy of a gas line from the city nearby. Our last stop was Yanar Dag Mountain. A roaring fire burns here from a natural gas vent that has burned for over 50 years. The flame on this day withstood a ferocious wind that was nearly enough to blow us over as we walked.
Dinner at Dolma Restaurant in Baku, one of several that were underground.
We returned to our hotel, then headed back towards the bay walk in search of a restaurant. Despite being on the sea, there are numerous restaurants with street side entrances to large underground dining areas. We enjoyed local cuisine at Dolma Restaurant. In what seemed odd to me, this large modern city was very reluctant to accept credit cards even at large establishments. Typical of our travels in other European and Asian countries, telling the waiter you are done eating is different from asking them for the bill. It is assumed you are there to relax for some time after eating unless you specifically ask for the bill. After dinner we walked took a walk down the promenade and watch the light show at Flame Towers. Over 10,000 LED lights sequence through a computer-controlled animation that lights up the 30 story towers through a sequence of flames, tumbling waters, and the national flag.
Canned goods at the Baku Bazaar
The next day was a leisurely day with no real schedule. We looked up the nearest market and found the Baku Bazaar was nearby. These are always my favorite. A unique feature at this one was the amount of large glass jars of canned goods – grape leaves, pickles, olives, mushrooms and many more I couldn’t identify. These made for colorful displays, along with goat heads that seem to be an item in demand in this part of the world. Sturgeon a meter long or more were on ice, with tins of caviar for sell. Pomegranate vendors squeezed fresh juice for us, and we bought some fresh peaches and pears to take back to the room.
The Maiden’s Tower, Baku
We headed back to the old town. After a sidewalk cappuccino, we walked through the old city and looked at the shops. The Guinness World Record for largest collection of miniature books (2913 books, generally about 3 inches tall) was one such shop. A tour of the Maiden’s Tower was our last site to visit. This uniquely shaped tower dates back to the 12th century. Most of its history is subject to speculation, but it is a well-known tower and appears on the national currency. We paid $17.60 for two tickets to climb to the top, learn about its history with exhibits on each level, and view the surrounding city and waterfront from the top. After a leisurely walk, we had dinner and enjoyed the fountains after dark.
Afternoon walking in downtown Tbilisi, Georgia
Our arrival in Baku from Abu Dhabi had been effortless but navigating the airport for our short flight from Baku to Tbilisi was one of our slowest to date. No particular issue, just every step was slow, and the $420 round trip air fare for the two of us was comparatively expensive for the 70-minute flight. That’s just part of travelling though, and we arrived in Tbilisi on a pleasantly cool afternoon with a beautiful clear blue sky. A hotel driver was waiting on us and drove us to our boutique hotel just a few blocks from Freedom Square in the center of town, the Shota @ Rustaveli where we stayed the next three nights ($156/night). Downtown hotels are definitely more expensive, but, depending on our itinerary, they sure make sightseeing much more convenient. We had a reference from friends for this hotel and we certainly enjoyed the spacious layout with hardwood floors, tub bath, and excellent restaurant downstairs.
Churchkhela strands for sale in Tbilisi
We settled in, then explored the area for a while, working our way into the old city. The streets were lined with trees just beginning to take on fall colors. The cobblestone streets of the old city were packed with cabbies offering transportation to any of the sites in Georgia you may care to see. Occasional people with all sorts of handicaps sat serenely on the sidewalk with a cup held out for alms. I wonder sometimes what their story is, and make a contribution as the spirit moves me. Food vendors sold colorful strands of churchkhela. Originally developed as a durable food source for soldiers, these are nuts or fruit on a string that has been repeatedly dipped like candles in a mixture of concentrated grape juice, sugar, and flour to build up a thick waxy layer. Every store seemed to sell the famous Georgian wines. We stopped at a sidewalk café and had a tasty snack of khinkali, a small inexpensive dumpling popular in the region. Ours were stuffed with mushrooms but many fillings are available.
One of many vendors ready to squeeze fresh pomegranate juice.
I admired the Metekhi church high on a
bluff overlooking the Mtkvari River on the opposite side of the street (I am
always uncertain how to pronounce four consonants in a row). This is a
picturesque Georgian Orthodox church dating back at least eight centuries. I
asked a policeman where the nearest crosswalk was, he proceeded to block six
lanes of traffic to escort me across the street to take a picture!
A qvevri, the uniquely Georgian earthenware vessel for fermenting wine underground.
We headed back to the hotel, looking for a place to buy a bottle of wine, Our hotel concierge directed us just a few hundred meters hotel to a combination wine store/wine bar where they had several dozen types of wine by the glass, either small, medium, or large. We had a small sample, then bought a bottle of a red wine made in the Georgian trademark tradition of fermenting in a Qvevri, egg shaped earthenware vessels buried in the ground for fermenting the wine. This process is uniquely Georgian and has been in use for 8000 years. We took this back to our hotel room and were not disappointed.
Tarragon trout with mushroom caps.
We were up early for an outstanding
breakfast at our hotel. Besides
excellent Eggs Benedict, we enjoyed several features we don’t often see for
breakfast – hard boiled quail eggs, chicken liver pate, churchkhela, homemade
cottage cheese, baked pumpkin, nadughi (a cheese product made by souring milk
into small curds), and fresh squeezed pomegranate juice.
Roof vents for the sulfur hot baths below.
Visiting the hot sulfur baths was first on our agenda for the day. We walked to the old town enjoying the cool morning air. Several private bath houses are in the old town, easily recognized by their tile roofs and roof vents. We selected the Chreli Abano Sulfur Bath and Spa. Several rooms of different sizes were available for 2 to 10 people. Our choice included the sulfur bath, a cold-water shower, a changing bench and toilet for 52 lari/hour (~$18). The water had a strong but not overpowering sulfur smell, and it didn’t linger. It was advertised as 42°C in the baths but felt hotter – submersion was possible but not for long. It wasn’t long before I could feel the pulse in my face and had to step out every few minutes for a quick cold shower. We enjoyed this treat, but an hour was enough. We showered and headed back out into the cool early morning.
Our private bath at Chreli Albanoin Sulfur Bath and Spa in Tbilisi.
Old Town Tbilisi is in the shadows of Narikala Fortress on Sololaki Ridge. After a leisurely cappuccino, we climbed the hill to the fortress to look out over the city. This castle dates back to the 8th century, occupied at various times by Persians, Turks, Arabs, and Russians. The walk was just enough to be stimulating without tiring. We headed back down the hill looking for a lunch spot. Another box to check on this trip was having a khatchapuri, a calorie-laden national signature dish made of bread and cheese with an egg on top. There are several varieties, ours was baked in a round clay dish. We selected a pitcher of fresh squeezed lemonade for our beverage, served tart with a separate bottle of sugar water. After lunch we walked along the river, checking out the shops, and took a stroll across the Peace Bridge. Dinner was tarragon trout and ricotta ravioli with bacon.
One of many varieties of khatchapuri, a national dish of Georgia.
Our trip the next morning was the “Wine Tasting Tour in Kakheti” through Evatour ($102 for both of us, including hotel pickup and expenses for the day – except dinner – more on that later). The Kakheti region is the largest and most productive of the five wine making regions in Georgia, producing 70% of the nation’s grapes. Georgia boasts over 500 native varieties including some found nowhere else. Our tour guide for the day was a portly fellow named Alex. He was a native of Ukraine (USSR when he lived there) but has spent most of his life in Georgia. He was at no loss for words throughout the day. We picked up our other group members for the day – one each from the UK, America, and Singapore and drove east from Tbilisi through the beautiful clear sky morning to our first stop, the Giuaani Winery near the small town of Sagregjo.
The vineyard at Giuanni Winery in the Kakheti region of Georgia.
A young lady named Nini showed us the grounds, including a trip through the vineyard to sample the ripe grapes, a walk through the fermentation area, and the chemistry lab where the process is monitored throughout. The fermentation area is divided into two sections – one where wine is fermented in the more modern western style of above ground fermentation vats, and the other using the more ancient, uniquely Georgian style using underground earthenware qvevris. By far most of their wine sales come from the more modern process – the old way only makes up about 5% of the total. Still, the qvevri process remains very popular and maintains a loyal following. We observed the area where they have about 20 qvevris buried that contain about 2000 liters each. The wine is fermented in these vessels along with the skins, seeds, and stems giving a golden or amber hue to the white varieties of wine. The qvevri is filled with the juice/skin/seed/stem mixture after pressing, then sealed with a clay lid made airtight with a sand layer. The fermentation gases are vented daily for about two months, then the final fermentation takes another five or six months. When the wine is removed for bottling, the remaining residue in the vessel is removed and further distilled to make a beverage similar to grappa known as chacha. This potent brandy ranges from 40-65% alcohol and is an important part of many celebrations and after dinner toasts. The last step in the process is cleaning the qvevri for another batch. This is a two-man operation where one enters the tank and sings while removing leftover residue and sealing the vessel walls with beeswax. If he stops singing, the individual outside the tank know there is trouble and pulls him out.
2000 liter qvevris buried in the ground at Giuanni Winery.
After observing the various areas, we
returned to the visitor center where we sampled several different wine varieties
and a couple of chachas, along with some cheese and local bread. This was an educational morning for us.
Bakin tone bread, a staple at Georgian meals
We left the winery and continued east towards the small village of Badtauri, stopping at a small nondescript roadside building. Turns out this was our lunch spot. A woman inside was baking fresh bread in a deep circular clay oven called a tone (‘ton-AY’). The coals of a wood fire heat this open oven where a long, pointed bread called shotis puri is made. This popular Georgian bread is served with virtually every meal. We were given the opportunity to roll out our own loaves from dough and stick them on the inside wall of the oven. They cook in just a few minutes then are pulled from the wall with a special tool. Our lack of talent was obvious from the appearance of our loaves, and we had the chance to burn the hair off our arms at the same time while trying to stick the shaped dough on the wall of the oven. Still, this was a fun experience with traditional Georgian food. We overindulged on a lunch of hot fresh bread loaves peeled open and stuffed with fresh tomatoes and cheese before getting back on the road.
Our next stop was the beautiful Bodbe
Monastery of St. Nino. This is the resting place of St. Nino. The daughter of a
Roman general, she brought Christianity to Georgia in the third century, and is
held on par with the Apostles by many. The grounds are well manicured with many
flowers and vineyards, overlooking the broad Alazani Valley with the Caucasus
Mountains in the distance.
A grape display at our dinner hosts in Sighnaghi, Georgia.
After a brief stop in the picturesque Tuscany-like town Sighnaghi, we came down off the mountains to our last stop, dinner at the home of a local family ($33 for both of us, including tip). We had already had a long day, and my expectations were low. We pulled up in front of a house that looked more like a garage than a diner, but that all changed the moment we stepped inside. A barrel for making grape juice was the first item we saw, and we had the chance to squeeze our own. Closer examination revealed dozens of kiwi vines loaded with fruit hanging from overhead, with flowers, pumpkins, and peppers growing on the grounds. The adjacent room was said to be about 300 years old with several qvevri buried in one half, and a simple table with chairs in the other half. Two simple overhead light bulbs hanging down lit the room full of various antiques and wine-making tools.
A wonderful home cooked meal at Sighnagi with a local family.
Our hostess filled the table to overflowing with authentic Georgian fare – khatchapuri, khinkali, beets, carrots, tomatoes, grilled pork, fresh bread and cheese, peppers, cucumbers, and of course, carafes of red and wine that were constantly refilled. Two young locals sang Georgian folk songs and played what looked like a fiddle for us. We took turns making toasts from a horn, the idea being that you must drink the entire contents since you can’t set the horn down with wine still in it. This was a truly special evening.
Dinner time!
We returned to Azerbaijan the next
morning and had one last pleasant afternoon before our return to Abu
Dhabi. As our driver took us to the
airport, we watched the landscape of this new land go by while listening to
Louis Armstrong play “What a wonderful world” on the radio. This event filled
week was a bargain compared to other places we have visited at $2854 for both
of us for flights, hotel rooms including Abu Dhabi before and after the trip,
all meals, tours, and souvenirs.
“The world
is full of obvious things which nobody ever observes.”
Sherlock Holmes
Wadi Shab
Oman
amazes. I’ll just start with that. Before
I came to the Middle East, I could have told you everything I knew about Oman
in less than a minute, and half of that would have been wrong. This was my third trip to Oman. Each have been distinctive and unique. Before
I describe this trip, here are a few introductory facts about Oman:
The
country is officially known as the Sultanate of Oman. The government is an
absolute monarchy – Sultan Qaboos rules by decree and has absolute power, but
his policies have generally been considered popular as he has used the country’s
oil income to improve infrastructure.
Islam is the state religion.
Oman
is located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. The population is about 4.5 million. Muscat is the capital and largest city with a
metro population of about 1.5 million.
Oman is the oldest
independent state in the Arab world. It has been ruled by the Al-Said family
since 1744.
Tourism
is an important industry. Oman is open, friendly, and safe, and has largely avoided
issues with extremists that have plagued some Arab countries.
The
currency is the rial, ranked in the top ten strongest currencies by several
ranking agencies. 1 rial = $2.60.
Most
of the country receives about 100 mm of rain a year, but the Al Hajar mountains
(elevations over 10,000 feet) in the center of the country get about 3 times
that much.
Oman
is a hot spot for whale watching the critically endangered Arabian Humpback
Whale, the only non-migratory species in the world.
Mountain
Dew is the largest selling drink in Oman.
Oman
is one of the few countries in the world where frankincense trees grow
naturally.
This was
another trip with Trekkup Dubai (https://www.meetup.com/trekkup/). This outfit, and others like them, are a
great way to see some really interesting places for a good price. Without
exception, I have met a great group of people. This trip had 17 trekkers – four
each from the UK and Australia, three from the US, two each from Russia and
Egypt, and one each from Venezuela and Tunisia.
How cool is that! We caught a
ride from Abu Dhabi to Dubai airport with a couple and their daughter from
Australia. We met the rest of the group
at one of the usual coffee shop locations in Dubai Airport, and after a brief
40-minute flight we were on the ground at a new, clean airport in Muscat. I am still using my 12-month Oman visa from
last fall; Lynn purchased a 12-month visa for $161. Obtaining visas online for different
countries we travel to is easy, but prices vary quite a bit. This is most expensive to date, but it is
good for 12 months and multiple entries. Typical visas have been $20 to $75,
good for 30 to 90 days. We usually
receive them within 2 days and sometimes as quickly as just a few hours.
One of the
advantages of booking trips with the Meetup groups (Trekkup Dubai is just one
of many) is that you just pay, submit your documents, then show up and let the
adventure begin. Comfortable SUVs were
waiting to whisk us through Muscat to our Holiday Inn, passing McDonalds, Pizza
Hut, and Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises along the way. I have noticed in our travels that the
America service industry and restaurant franchises seem to be well represented. I also pondered that I was taught growing up
that the ‘q’ was always followed by ‘u’, but that doesn’t apply to the English
translation of Arabic words.
Wadi Shab
Our
Holiday Inn was very nice. After having breakfast with an Egyptian transaction
lawyer as we often do (not really), we headed off to our first adventure, a
hike up Wadi Shab. We left Muscat, driving southeast through a clean, green
(thanks to substantial irrigation), modern city out into the rugged coastline
of Oman. I saw the occasional stray goat foraging under the blazing sun in the
barren landscape – how do they survive? I don’t know, but they are a common
feature in landscapes where less robust creatures wouldn’t make it. A thick coat of fur under a blazing sun, and
they just walk around chewing on anything they can. I couldn’t tell if they
belong to someone.
Wadi Shab
After about a two-hour
drive, we arrived at Wadi Shab. A wadi
is dry riverbed or channel that generally only contains water during periods of
rainfall and subsequent runoff, but this wadi contained a nice stream of clear
jade-colored water thanks to some natural springs. After a short ferry ride
across the river, we headed up the wadi for about 45 minutes following the palm
tree lined stream and occasionally crisscrossing it before reaching the first
of a series of pools. We were hot by the time we reached them, and Lynn grabbed
the first opportunity to fully submerge and
refresh. We left our bags and headed
into the pools, some shallow, some deep, and all beautiful against the rocky
cliffs and blue-sky background. We meandered upstream, taking our time playing
in the water and enjoying the day. Local youngsters managed to find their way
up to openings in the canyon walls where they smiled and laughed at us. This is
just the latest example of friendly foreigners for us.
local youngsters on the cliffs of Wadi Shab
After another
hour or so, we reached the end of the pools, where we are now treading water as
the pool is over our heads. A small slit in the back of the pool, barely enough
for you to keep your head out of water, leads back to a partial cave (one
corner opens and leads to daylight) where about a 10-foot waterfall is enticing
people to jump. This was not at all what I expected from Oman.
We
took our time returning downstream and stopped for a mango ice cream before
loading up for our next stop, the small port city of Sur about another 45
minutes down the coast. This town of about 120,000 is an important port, and
has a factory that still builds dhow ships, the traditional wooden fishing
vessel of the Middle East. We checked into the simple but adequate Al-Ayjah
Plaza hotel with a nice view of the bay for a short rest before heading out on
for an afternoon boat ride. As we approached the shore, I noticed a small
fishing boat, maybe 6 meters long, with their afternoon haul. A net full of
fish were piled up on the boat, and a group of men were removing the fish from the
net one by one by hand. Fishing by manual means appears to still be the primary
way of fishing in this town as we were to see many times.
Fishermen unloading their afternoon catch in Sur, Oman
We
loaded on the boat and headed out into the harbor. Sur is on the Gulf of Oman. The influence of
the Indian Ocean makes the water here much cooler – a refreshing 81° compared
to well over 90° in the Gulf of Arabia (known to many in the west as the
Persian Gulf, something else I learned when I came here), and riding on the
water was comfortable. We cruised around for a while, seeing dozens of turtles
swimming about and a similar number of dhow vessels in the harbor and out at
sea fishing. We had a late lunch on the water before returning to the hotel.
A local dhow in the harbor at Sur, Oman
After another
rest, we headed out for our late-night turtle excursion. Forty-two kilometers
east of Sur on the far eastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula is the tiny town of
Ras Al-Jinz, an ancient city where copper smelting and melting working remains
from as early as 2200 BC have been found. It is now known as the home of the
Ras Al Jinz Turtle Reserve, an important nesting site for green sea turtles. A
hotel is located here, as well as a small museum, gift shop, and welcome center
for tourists looking to see the turtles. Five of the seven sea turtles nest on
Oman beaches – Green, Leatherback, Hawksbill, Olive Ridley, and Loggerhead.
Our
group was assigned a number and we waited patiently for our time on the beach.
The Omani do a good job controlling beach traffic to help keep overzealous
observers from upsetting the process. When our time came, an Omani with a small
light led us to the beach. As we approached the beach, we were all instructed
to leave our lights off except when he allowed otherwise. As we neared, the dunes took on the
appearance of a bombed-out beach front, with sand pits and craters in
abundance. The green turtle averages
around 130 kg (~290 pounds) and about a meter long (the largest on record
tipped the scales at a whopping 395 kg (875 pounds)). They don’t begin egg
laying until they are well over 30 years old. This is a much older age than
other sea turtles owing to the diet of sea grasses and seaweed for green
turtles compared to the more carnivorous diet of the other turtles.
We watched the mothers
craft, with great labor, a pit with a perimeter somewhat larger than their
bodies, about a half meter deep, and a second smaller egg chamber another half
meter deeper where she deposits the eggs. The female lays about 110 eggs in
each clutch. This process takes about 45 minutes. The nest is then methodically
covered by flipping sand with her front flippers. Then, in a move intended to
foil predators, she continues to push forward, sweeping the sand behind her for
another several meters, giving the appearance that the nest is in a different
location. Her task finished, she turns
and works her way back to the surf. The whole process can take two hours or
longer.
Green turtle laying her eggs at Ras Al Jinz Turtle Reserve
Green turtles
may lay eggs several times in a season, then not return for two or three years.
The sex of the hatchlings is determined by the temperature of the sand. Eggs incubated in sand below 28°C will be
male, above 31°C will be female. In between will be mixed. All eggs are laid
above the high tide line – how far above the line is one factor that will
affect this temperature, along with seasonal variations. Global warming will also affect this
distribution in another example of how far reaching the effects will be.
Mortality is quite high – as little as 0.2% will survive all the hazards that
come their way to reach adulthood.
Tired lady just about finished with her task.
We observed
about eight turtles at various stages of nesting, along with a couple of stray
hatchlings that our guide got back on course. One female inadvertently
destroyed another nest while preparing her own, a consequence of the high
number of nests on this beach. It was
almost 11 PM by the time the show was over.
We returned to our hotel at Sur for a late dinner.
Net fishing by hand off the coast of Ras Al Hadd
We got an early
start the next morning for more turtle observations at the small village of Ras
Al Hadd, splitting the group into two boats to head out into the Gulf of Oman.
We spotted several turtles, but they were more spread out than I hoped. The
water clarity was decent but didn’t really support good underwater pictures. No
matter, the water was a very refreshing alternative to the very warm water at
our local beach in Ruwais, and we enjoyed playing around in the water with our
snorkel gear. Lynn was quite excited to get a close look at a turtle.
Shore net casters deliver their catch to the back of a waiting pickup truck.
I
enjoyed watching the locals catching fish with hand thrown nets, both from
boats and the shore. Guys from the shore pulled their trucks in close and lined
the bed with a tarp. They then waded out into the water and cast their nets.
They pulled in what looked to be a couple of bushels of fish which they hoisted
over their shoulders and carried up to the bed of their truck. The boats had a couple of guys standing at
the bow physically looking for fish by a change in the color of the water, the
sea color taking on a darker hue where fish were present. I think this was due
to the school of fish blocking the lighter colored sand below. Our guide took a few minutes to motor us
around a couple of such spots, and over these darker areas you could look down
and see the silver flashes of thousands of darting fish just a couple of meters
down.
Eye to eye with a green turtle underwater.
We
moved down the coast to another location and chanced upon a couple of turtles
having a private moment. I marveled at the coordination and enthusiasm the pair
needed to complete the process with their bulky bodies in an ocean current. The
male turtles have small claws on their front flippers to aid in grasping the female,
but this was definitely a team effort.
After a short
swim and snorkel in a bay with lots of fish, we moved to an inland bay for our
last stop. I had seen enough turtles to
be pleased and consider the trip a success, but the best was yet to come. We
entered the shallow bay, ranging from as little as a meter to a few meters
deep. Looking down through the clear jade green water were hundreds of the dark
gray masses darting about. The slow labored movements of these gentle giants on
the beach were replaced by strong graceful swimming, an occasional stop for a
curious look, and sudden sprints at an alarming speed. Their movements reminded me of swallows in
the sky darting about for insects. I
moved through the water trying to get closer and was finally rewarded with a
face to face encounter from just a few feet away. We made eye contact for a few
seconds. This was the highlight of the trip for me and a special moment I will
remember.
Hawiyat Najm “Star Hole” park.
We
returned to the hotel for a quick cleanup and lunch before we had to hit the
road to the airport, but there was one more highlight for the trip. The Hawiyat
Najm park (“Star Hole” according to one of our Arab speaking friends on the trip).
This is a deep limestone sinkhole just a few hundred meters from the sea set in
a small park with picnic tables. The
sinkhole is filled with a deep pool of water from a mix of fresh and seawater
that give the water a beautiful aquamarine hue.
We would like to have gone for a swim, but our timetable would not
support it. We moved on to the airport
for our return flight home.
This was a
short but eventful trip, and another wonderful Omani experience. Total expenses for the trip were $1414 for
the two of us including the Trekkup trip costs, snorkel gear, a 12-month Omani
visa, and carpool contribution.
“There is no path to happiness. Happiness is the path.”
Buddha
Temple of the Sacred Sword, Siem Reap
As we begin to
approach the end of our time in the United Arab Emirates, we have started
looking around the travel landscape to identify those spots where there is a
real advantage to travelling from here instead of the USA. With the recommendation from some friends and
after considering several options, we decided on Siem Reap, Cambodia, in
southeast Asia, home of Angkor Wat. As
we started investigating flights, it was apparent most had a layover in
Bangkok, Thailand. Further, we noted there are several flights each day between
Bangkok, so we decided to add a couple of days in Bangkok as well. The die was
cast. We would have about a 6-hour flight to Bangkok with 3 time zones
difference compared to an (insert big number) hour flight from east Tennessee
with an 11-hour time zone difference, and we would make separate arrangements
for the one-hour flight from Bangkok to Siem Reap.
As is often our
custom, we chose to make the trip from our fair city of Ruwais to Abu Dhabi,
the night before our 8:45 AM departure on August 6. This allows us to have an easy morning for
our flight and sets us up with parking arrangements. By staying at the Park Inn
on Yas Island the night before we leave and the night we get back, they allow
us free covered hotel parking while we are gone. “Covered” parking may not seem like a big
deal to some but spend a summer in the Middle East and you’ll appreciate it.
The flight to
Bangkok was my favorite kind – uneventful.
Thailand requires no visa for tourists from the US, so entry was easy as
well. I withdrew 10,000 baht from an ATM
(~$332) for two nights and one full day.
This turned out to be way too much, but I was able to change back $80
before the return flight for a fair exchange rate. The US dollar still enjoys a more favorable
exchange rate than most currencies where we have travelled. In some countries dollars are widely
accepted, but should not be considered an automatic de facto currency. Study ahead of time and plan accordingly.
Thanks to Lynn’s research, we bypassed all the taxi hawks with their booths set up at the exit to customs and headed downstairs and out the air terminal doors to the public taxi forum. You get a ticket based on whether you want a small or large car (number of people in your group), and whether you are travelling a short or long distance. You are issued a ticket with a number, which you take to the corresponding parking lot number. A licensed driver with a metered taxi takes you to your destination. All very clean, professional, and reasonable. Our 30 km cross town taxi to our hotel cost 450 baht, about ~$15. This was my first time to southeast Asia, and I enjoyed taking in the landscape as we drove through the night to our hotel across town. I noticed many 7-11 convenience shops, the first of probably 50 or more we saw in Bangkok. As a reminder that we were in a country where about 95% of the population are Buddhist, billboards proclaimed “Buddha is not a decoration. Show respect.”
Theater Residence, Bangkok
Lynn found us a
room that was beyond the reach of the current metro system, which required the
cab ride. But it took us to a perfect spot.
We had two objectives for our Bangkok stay – to see the Grand Palace and
adjoining sites and visit some local markets (a routine that has become one of
my favorites). Lynn found us the Theatre
Residence ($67/night) for a comfortable room with a kitchenette, good Wi-Fi, a
nice pool, and free breakfast. The walk to the boat launch to take us across
the Chao Phraya River to the Grand Palace was less than 5 minutes in one direction,
and the walk to the Wang Lang markets was even less than that in the opposite
direction along the riverfront. A school
yard was next door that was busy and noisy during the day, but we weren’t there
anyway so no worries. Perfect.
The Royal Pantheon at the Grand Palace
We headed out early on the morning of August 27 to visit Wat Phra Kaew and the Grand Palace. The 5-minute boat ride across the river cost us 7 baht for both of us, less than 25₵. We worked our way through an area of street vendors. I read that Thailand has the best street food in the world, and I saw ample evidence of that before the trip was over. We pushed on to the Grand Palace, built in 1782 when Thailand was still known as Siam. Entrance to the palace cost 1000 baht for both of us (~33$). This is a large complex of buildings including Wat Phra Kaew, also known as the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. This is the most sacred Buddhist Temple in Thailand. The Buddha was carved from a single piece of jasper, probably in the 15th century. The statue is clothed in fine garments made of gold and jewelry that are changed for each of the three seasons – summer, rainy, and winter.
Asurapaski in front of Chapel of the Emerald Buddha
We visited
several other features of the Palace including the Demon Guardians (six pair of
statues up to 6 meters in height guarding the Emerald Buddha from evil spirits),
Phra Si Ratana Credi (a golden bell shaped tower housing relics of Buddha), the
Statue of Cheewok Komaraphat (the doctor of Buddha and the father of Thai
herbal medicine), and others. Crowds
were thick, and signs to show respect for the Buddha did not seem sufficient to
slow the stream of selfie snapping tourists in front of venerated objects. The stress of the crowds and the heat
required a passion fruit ice cream to recover before moving on.
The Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho
We headed down the street to the Wat Pho complex, home of one of the world’s largest reclining Buddhas, but first we had to get by a huckster that tried to convince us Wat Pho was closed until later that day and we should take a tuk-tuk tour with him. Lynn saw right through him, and we were soon viewing a truly impressive gold leaf covered Reclining Buddha. At 46 meters long and 15 meters high, this highlight completely dominates the inside of the building. His gigantic feet are adorned with 108 mother of pearl symbols representing the 108 positive actions and symbols that helped lead Buddha to perfection. Likewise, 108 cups line the exit route for contributions to the monks who maintain the grounds.
The Phra Ubosot at Wat Pho
We also visited
Phra Ubosot while at the Wat Pho. This is the most sacred temple of the complex
and the main hall for performing Buddhist rituals. Inside the ubosot is a gold and crystal three-tiered
pedestal topped with a gilded Buddha made of a gold-copper alloy. The
complex is an educational site for the general public. The temples are religious
sites for Buddhists, so clothing should not leave exposed shoulders or skin
above the knee, and your shoes must be removed before entering the temples. Entrance to the complex containing Wat Pho
cost us 200 baht for both of us.
Lunch from a street vendor in Bangkok
After leaving Wat Pho, I found myself being drawn down a side alley by strange and interesting shops. We had been out for a while, and the aroma from the hibachi grill of a small vendor was enticing. The smells of grilled pork and chicken mingled with banana leaf wrapped roasted fish. I bought a bamboo skewer of pork for 50 bhat, about ~$1.60 that was heavenly. We washed this down with a local Singha beer that was very refreshing after our morning walk.
We returned to
the Theater Residence to relax for a bit, then headed out into the Wang Lang
street market shops next to our hotel.
By virtue of being in a residential neighborhood, we saw absolutely no
tourists, just local Thai plying their wares, and of course, plenty more
interesting food. In contrast to my Ethiopia experience, people enjoyed having
their picture taken, giggling and laughing when I showed them their photo. The
people we met during both our Thailand and Cambodia visits were as genuinely
friendly as any I have met anywhere. They are not materially blessed, but this
is not a distraction from what seemed to be a general contentment. I considered
that 95% of the country is Buddhist, and that followers of Buddhism focus on achieving a
state of inner peace and wisdom (enlightenment) rather than worshipping a
supreme god or deity. Connection between inner peace and contentment? An easy conclusion for this unenlightened traveler
to reach.
Friendly street vendor selling fish in Wang Lang street markets, Bangkok
We enjoyed another visit through Wang Lang the next morning before heading to Don Mueang Airport for our flight to Siem Reap. Our cabbie spoke to a translator box and ‘Alexa’ asked us questions about our trip as we drove. We listed to English language pop music on the radio on our way, with scooters constantly weaving around us. Our 40-minute ride cost us 500 baht.
We arrived in Siem Reap Airport in about
an hour and worked our way through this small, clean, modern airport in no
time. We had obtained evisas in advance at $36 each for a 90-day visa (www.evisa.gov.kh). Even for countries with visa on arrival we have decided it
is better to have visa in hand. We moved quickly through customs. I withdrew
$250 of local currency, 933,000 riel, from a currency exchange booth. I typically pay between 2-6% to convert money. With a little effort I could probably
economize here, but those rates don’t bother me compared to the overall trip
expenses.
Borei Angkor Resort and Spa, Siem Reap
We found our hotel driver waiting for us just outside the terminal. He took us on about a 30-minute ride into town to our home for the next five days, the Borei Angkor Resort and Spa ($62/night). This was a lovely tree shaded hotel with teak wood furnishings and a beautiful pool we took full advantage of. All the hotel staff were exceedingly kind and cheerful in a way that seemed genuinely sincere, not in a “I work at this hotel so I will be nice to you” way. We were treated this way everywhere we went. I pondered this behavior from a population that was reduced by a quarter a generation ago by the genocide of the Khmer Rouge. In a nod to reducing the generation of plastic trash, the hotel provides water bottles in your room, but encourages refills from a 5-gallon water dispenser in the foyer.
Tuk-tuk pulled by motorcycle
We settled in, then took a walk down the street to a market to pick up a few snacks for the room. Tuk-tuks were everywhere. These people transports that were pulled by hand or bicycle a generation ago are now largely pulled by a small motorcycle. They are in abundance; all you do is raise your hand and one will be ready to go. We paid our driver $2 from our stack of dollars we brought with us for just this purpose to take us for about a 10-minute ride to our dinner at the Siem Reap Brew Pub. The drivers were always happy to arrange a pickup time as well. I enjoyed another first for dinner, sweet and sour pigs’ ears. The flavor was fine, but there wasn’t much meat and a lot of cartilage. I think I will pass on that one next time. Lynn had a traditional dish, beef lok-lok, while a Cambodian instrumental version of The Beatles “Long and Winding Road” played in the background. The bill (which comes in both riel and dollars) was about ~32$, typical for the week for a full dinner of drink, an appetizer, and entrees.
Angkor Tom
The next morning, we were met by our
tuk-tuk driver and English-speaking guide for the first day of our temple
tours. Visal was our guide, a native of
Siem Reap who has been serving as a guide for 11 years. These tours were arranged through the hotel
for $70/day. This is another opportunity
where you could probably cut your costs in half if you wanted to put some
effort into it. I didn’t. The first day
agenda was the “Small Circuit”. We
started off by heading to the ticket center where we picked up a 3-day pass for
almost all the Siem Reap historical landmarks for $67. A nice feature of this
pass (that we didn’t use) is that you don’t have to use it in 3 consecutive
days. Visal said the advent of the internet and the popularity spike that
followed Angelina Jolie in the “Tomb Raider” movies resulted in an explosion of
tourism in this formerly sleepy little town.
Angkor Tom Bayon Temple
The word ‘Angkor’ is derived from the Sanskrit word for city and was used to designate the capital city of the Khmer Empire which flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries. There are dozens of temples in the area, we only saw a few. The first stop on the Small Circuit was Angkor Tom. This was the last capital of the Khmer Empire, built in the late 12th century, and occupies almost 4 square miles. The Bayon Temple, the Terrace of the Elephants, the Terrace of the Leper King, and the Phimeanakas Temple were some of the highlights here. We noticed several of the engravings had elongated ears. Visal explained that elongated ears meant long life so they would stretch their ears. I couldn’t verify everything he told us, but it made a good story.
Petrol bottles at roadside stands
As we headed to our next stop, Ta Prohm, I asked Visal about the constant stream of roadside stands we saw with bottles of a golden liquid. They were in all shapes and sizes of bottles, some plastic, some glass, some soda bottles, some liquor, etc. Perhaps some popular regional beverage? He explained that was petrol for the fleet of scooters that buzz around the country. Ta Prohm is the temple of “Tom Raider” fame, characterized by the gnarled roots of giant trees fighting to reclaim the land from the ancient temple. This was perhaps our most crowded venue, requiring patience on my part for taking pictures as selfie snappers required lots of time to shoot various angles and examine the results before moving on. Most tourists are from Vietnam, China, and Thailand followed by other mostly Asian countries. The US has the most tourists of the non-Asian countries with 238,000 in 2016, about 5% of the tourist population.
Ta Prohm
A band of disfigured men that played instruments and sold CDs at the entrance to the temple were a poignant reminder of the land mine history of Cambodia. The Cambodia Mine Action Center estimates there are between 4 and 6 million pieces of unexploded ordinance in Cambodia remaining from 30 years of conflict. With no records of where the explosives are buried, removal is a time-consuming, expensive process, with decades more effort needed to complete removal.
Angkor Wat
Our last stop of the day was the
highlight of the trip, Angkor Wat. This colossal structure was built in the 12th
century as a Hindu temple. The region went back and forth between Hindu and
Buddhist control over the centuries. Visal explained that Hindu would sometimes
modify Buddhist displays to a Hindu figure, but that Buddhists would not do the
same during their periods of control. The whole region eventually became
Buddhist by the 16th century.
Preah Kahn
That wrapped up our touring for the day
and we returned to our hotel. We continued our week- long ritual of spending
the afternoon by the pool. I even converted to drinking tea with a bit of milk.
We studied our dinner options and finally decided on Marum. This restaurant supports several causes
associated with the underprivileged of Cambodia by supporting schools and
providing training and jobs. I enjoyed a beef dish garnished with red ants
while Lynn had a crocodile burger with sweet potato chips. Lynn also picked up
a nice silk scarf from the on-site shop that supports the disadvantaged selling
Cambodian made crafts.
Buddhist nun
The tour for the next day was the Grand Circuit. This was a stop at five more significant temples, but by no means most of the temples in the area. The first stop was at Preah Kahn, the Temple of the Sacred Sword. Crowds were almost non-existent compared to the previous day, making for a much more enjoyable experience. As we worked our way through the passageways, I noticed a small elderly person tucked back out of the way. I went on a little way, then turned back to make a donation to this pleasant little nun. I donated a dollar, in return, I had a string of blessing tied around my wrist, followed by a warm hug, and my hat removed to kiss my forehead. And I still had no idea if this was a man or a woman. It didn’t matter. This sweet person was the absolute picture of contentment.
Ta Som
Our visit to Ta Som was similar to Ta
Phrom with the massive tree roots fighting to reclaim the ground, but with
virtually no people. Some people that were present though, were small children
selling goods. We had seen virtually
none of this the previous day. They
followed you with barely audible voices but were very persistent. Young men
were quite talented with their artwork. Perhaps under other circumstances I
would have bought a piece, but on this day, I only left with a refrigerator
magnet.
The last two temples we visited, East
Mebon and Pre Rub, were also built as Hindu temples but were a couple of
centuries older. (10th century).
They also varied from our other visited sites in that bricks were used
in construction of some parts. Pre Rub also contained a crematorium. Visla said all through history Cambodians
have preferred cremation over burial.
The government restricts building in the area of the historical
landmarks which adds to the charm.
Selling eggs at Phsar Leu Tom They markets.
We wrapped up our touring day a little early and returned for another afternoon by the pool. But first, there was a market visit to make. Just down the street from our hotel was the Phsar Leu Thom Thmey street markets. I had seen these from the road but was totally unprepared for how large they were when you headed down the passageways off the main road. They are not tourist markets either – this is where Cambodians shop. All manner of fruits, vegetables, meats, household products, jewelry, and of course, insects. Fine trays of roast silkworms and crickets were on display. We did not eat those on this day. That would soon change.
A flight of rum at Georges Rhumeria, a French fusion restaurant in Siem Reap.
Dinner on this night was at a fine French fusion cuisine at Georges Rhumeria. The highlight of this dinner was the rum. We each bought a sample flight containing 12 different varieties of rum such as mango, lime, caramel, coffee, and coconut. The grand finale was the “Electric Daisy” that came with a flower that you ate with the rum, leaving a tingling sensation in your mouth akin to touching your tongue with a 9-volt battery.
Extracting the silk thread from the cocoons in hot water at Angkor Silk Farm
The next day, August 11, we took a break
from the temples. We spent the morning
on a tour of the Angkor Silk Farm. This
farm is part of a larger network supported by public and private enterprises to
provide training and jobs for local Cambodians in all sorts of crafts. A system of 48 shops provides hundreds of
jobs and free training (which is also unpaid) for jobs such as stone carving,
woodwork, metal working, painting, etc.
We observed the silkworms eating the mulberry tree leaves and the racks
where they weave their cocoons, and watched the workers unwinding the cocoons
(~400 meters of yellow silk in each cocoon!) by soaking in hot water and weaving
the thread. Our guide said fully trained women who weave the cloth using
complex manual looms make about $250/month and are provided health care and a
noontime meal.
Customers getting a foot massage from fish in Siem Reap.
We had lunch on Pub Street, home of 50₵ beer, $5 restaurant entrees and $8/hr
massage parlors. Several vendors offered
fish foot massages where the customer sits on a bench and puts their feet in a
big aquarium full of fish that immediately start pecking away at their
feet. Satisfaction was guaranteed
according to their ads. We walked back to our hotel along the Siem Reap River.
Fish for sale at Pouk market.
Lynn booked us a morning cooking class for our last day at Siem Reap Countryside Cooking Class. This turned out to be a real treat. Ben, our host, is a native of Siem Reap. His cooking class includes a trip through the markets at the village of Pouk where he was well known. The ever-friendly Cambodians had fun with us, waving wriggling fish in the air for our approval and offering a spoonful of prahok (fermented fish at least a year old) for us to smell and admire the bouquet. We also finally had the opportunity to taste the roasted silkworms, crickets, and water beetles. Crunchy, a little salty, with a hint of teriyaki flavor – not too bad! Or as Ben described – “Finger licking good!”. The people working in the market would make around $5 to $7 a day.
Ladies selling produce at Pouk market.
Ben runs his
cooking class to support an orphanage with 98 kids, over 40 of which have
HIV. As we drove, it was clear he had
political views that did not favor the Cambodian government. He relies entirely on NGOs and profits from
his cooking class and a few craft sales to avoid changing and conflicting
government regulations associated with government aid. He met a man in 2002 from San Luis Obispo in
the US that was touring Cambodia. This
man became his godfather and enabled him to start this work. He seemed to be
sincerely passionate about his cause and the work he does for the children, so
it really raised my eyebrows when he said he liked Pol Pot, who was responsible
for the killing of about 25 % of the population between 1975 and 1979. Clearly, something was missing here – his
education or mine, or maybe some of both.
He shared an interesting Cambodia saying on crooked politicians – You
must cut off its head to kill the snake.
But if you can’t find the head, cut off the tail and the head will find
you.
As we rode to
Ben’s kitchen, we passed a market with cages selling small songbirds. Ben said people purchase them to
release. The act of giving the bird its
freedom is considered a compassionate act that cleanses your sins and brings
good karma (this act is called fang sheng).
This practice is over a thousand years old, but is falling out of favor
due to the unsavory black-market practices associated with capturing the birds
in the first place.
Our cooking class chef Ben Nine describes some of the street food at Pouk Market.
We arrived at his outdoor kitchen with wood fire stoves, and for the next two hours had fun making pumpkin custard that we cooked in the gourd and rolling spring rolls. We also pounded our own Kroueng, a spice and herb paste made from lemongrass, garlic, shallots, turmeric, and peanuts that are ground in a heavy mortar and pestle to a paste, This is a stock item in many Cambodian dishes, and on this day we used it in making Chicken Amok that we cooked in banana leaf bowls we made. We had fun and felt like we were helping a good cause as well. I recommend his class for anyone interested in a similar adventure (www.countrysidecookingclass.com).
Pumpkin custard we baked in the gourd over wood fire
I would like to have seen a nearby
landmine museum that afternoon, but the schedule was too tight, and we were
left to spend another afternoon poolside. I was quite comfortable with this
routine. We checked out the next morning
and had an uneventful return to Bangkok and on to Abu Dhabi. Lynn found an available free shuttle service
between Don Mueang and Suvarnabhumi Airports that saved us the cab expense for
the 45-minute drive. Total cost for this trip was one of our cheapest for a
full week – $3135 for airfare, taxis, hotels, meals, tours, visas, souvenirs.
It is good
to have an end to journey towards, but it is the journey that matters in the
end.”
Earnest
Hemingway
Our lovely hostess.
I
noted this trip on the Trekkup-Dubai calendar a couple of months earlier, but just
wasn’t sure less than two weeks was going to be enough recovery time from an
epic weeklong trek to Omo Valley in Ethiopia earlier in the month. But then I considered how awesome these treks
have been and how difficult they would be to take from the USA and it was game
on. I signed up at the last minute. A spot was open, and I was off. Adventures
with the Trekkup can be a different travel experience from the norm for many
folks. The calendar is booked with all
sorts of fascinating adventures that give a general description, but details
can be a little thin. I headed off to Dubai on a hot Middle East afternoon to
the Costa Coffee in Dubai Airport with no airline ticket, no knowledge of what
airline we were flying, and nary a clue as to what city we were even flying
to. No worries, I had a smile on my face
and the adventure began – a harbinger of adventures to come on this trip.
We met at the
airport coffee shop. As usual I didn’t
know anyone signed up for this trip. The
people I have met have been almost as much fun as the adventures themselves.
There were representatives from the United Kingdom (5), USA (3), South Africa,
Morocco, and Oman (1 each). We had an
uneventful flight to Manas International Airport in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, the
capital and largest city with about a million people. We were met there at
early dawn by our local guide, Nuraly Turganbaev. A native Kyrg, his permanent job is as a
French professor at a local university. He struggled at times with his English,
a fact easy to forgive as it is his fourth language.
Kyrgyzstan is a mountainous country (average elevation for the country is 2750 meters) in central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and China to the east. There are less than 6.5 million in the whole of the country, which is quite poor, ranking 147th in per capita GDP. An interesting piece of trivia – Kyrgyzstan is farther from the sea than any other individual country, and all its rivers flow into closed drainage systems which do not reach the sea. The country is about 88% Muslim, though a blend of Russian Orthodox churches dot the landscape mixed in with the occasional mosque. There is no official state religion and the country was declared atheist during the Soviet era. Many people exercise a blend of practices. For example, a Muslim may consult a traditional shaman for a health concern while having an occasional local vodka. Ramadan has little effect on local activities.
Present day Kyrgyz began to
immigrate from Siberia around the 10th century AD, accelerating in
the 13th century with the emergence of the Mongol Empire under
Genghis Khan. They were later a vassal state
under the Russian czars before coming under Soviet rule. The enjoy their independence but maintain
good relations with the Soviets.
Dried mackerel in a Bishkek grocery store.
We drove to a local hotel for
breakfast. We wouldn’t spend the night
there until the following night, so we didn’t check in. After a breakfast of tomatoes, cucumbers,
eggs, cheese, yogurt, sausage, and bread, we were back in the van and on to our
mountain excursion. Technically, I saw the name of the hotel, but my Cyrillic
is a little weak (read: non-existent), so I had no idea what the name was. We
stopped by a small grocery store on the way out of town. I always enjoy that
experience to see what the locals like. Whole dried mackerel were a highlight
of this store, and I am always amazed at the global penetration of the
Coca-Cola brand. I asked if they had a
local beer and was directed to Apna, a wheat beer at a whopping 11% ABV!
Looking across the Chuy Valley towards snow capped mountains south of E125 along the Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan border.
Bishkek is in the Chuy Oblast (province),
one of seven oblasttar in Kyrgyzstan. The
town was originally a caravan rest
stop on one of the branches of the Silk Road, a network of roads from the
Orient to the west from before the Christian era until the Ottoman Empire
closed the routes in the 1400s. We headed east on poplar lined streets
to E125, one of the major roads along the northern border between Kyrgyzstan
and Kazakhstan that follows the ancient Silk Road. The rich black soil of the Chuy Valley produces fields of
corn, wheat, beets, and clover, irrigated from the Chuy River by Soviet-era (a
term we heard several times) irrigation channels. The valley itself is quite flat
but surrounded by towering snowcapped mountains over 5000 meters high (Nuraly
described this as ‘eternal snow’). We
stopped to admire the views with the smell of wild thyme growing in the fields.
Nuraly gave each member of the group a 1-liter water bottle
for the ride, telling us to keep it for refilling from a 5-gallon bottle. Why? To protect the environment! This is by
far the most environmentally friendly gesture I have seen on one of these
tours, and I was happy to oblige. We drove on, entering the Naryn Oblast. This
is the largest and least populated oblast in the country with only about 6
people/km2. Many of the people
who live here are the semi-nomadic, living in heavy felt covered yurts they move
a few times each year with the seasons.
Dried sheep dung used for fuel.
We arrived in the small town of Kochkor
(~14,000) later in the morning. The starting point for our hike was the winter
home of our host family just to the south of town. We met some of the family
members as we prepared for the hike. I noticed a huge pile of sheep dung chips
next to the home. Wood is scarce here,
and the dried dung passes as an acceptable fuel source. Three of us chose to
hike (I sit enough during the week), while the rest rode horseback for the 9 km
trip to the yurts where we would have lunch and later spend the night. The
landscape was mostly barren except for a few small trees and bushes. We hiked
up a broad valley with spectacular scenery and snow-capped mountains in the
distance. The grade was not steep but persistent as we increased elevation from
2100 m to start to about 2700 m at the yurts.
The yurts where we have lunch and spend the night.
Our host family had a collection of 7 yurts.
Nuraly said this was their springtime location, they would move once more for
the summer. The yurts, though portable, are a substantial dwelling. About 5 m
across and 4m high in the center, they are framed from a birch latticework and covered
with a heavy felt and wool which is warm, water repellant, and easily repaired.
A hole in the roof about 1 m across had a cover which could be pulled
over. This served for both light and
ventilation. One yurt was used as
kitchen. Two small solar panels on the roof of this yurt was the only source of
electricity. Two yurts were used for guests, the remainder were for family
members. We were never formally
introduced, but I believe it was a couple with a teenage daughter and two sons.
Nuraly said he had approached this family several years ago about this business
opportunity which they accepted. This is a win-win all the way around. They get
some income (of which there were no other obvious sources) and visitors get a
unique, authentic travel opportunity.
Team members with a supply horse in the front,
After a lunch of hard-boiled eggs, tomatoes,
potatoes, and bread served with black tea (our lovely hostess went to great
lengths to make sure our teacups did not stay empty long), we headed off again
to our destination of Kol-Ukok. This was a small glacier fed lake about another
6km away with another 500 m of incline. This was rugged landscape dotted with
springtime flowers. We arrived at the lake. Some chose to meander around the
lake for a while. I chose to lay flat on a rock with the warm sun on my face
and look at cloud shapes for the first time in a few decades. Funny how things like that happen
sometimes. We headed back down the wide
valley to our yurts, the setting afternoon sun laying beautiful shadows across
the landscape.
Hiking back down the valley in the afternoon sun.
I was tired when we got back to the yurts after about 21km of
hiking at high altitude following a night of sleeping on a plane. We relaxed a
bit before settling in for dinner – a simply beautiful salad of rice, tomatoes,
cucumbers, carrot slices drizzled with dressing followed by a delicious soup of
potatoes, carrots, onions, and meat (goat?).
After dinner, a few participated in milking the cows. The family
prepared our yurts for the night, laying out mats and several thick blankets.
We shared some local vodka and cheap Russian beer before turning in early.
Our hostess with her teapot.
I slept well in the complete cave-like darkness of the yurt,
awaking early to a beautiful blue-sky morning.
We set up for breakfast outside.
Homemade strawberry and apricot jams were served with round flat loaves
of bread, along with a thin porridge and a lumpy yogurt. With no refrigeration, I wondered about the
milk that was milked the night before.
I’ll have to find out about those details later. I watched the sons collect water from the
stream and prepare the horses for the trek out.
I asked Nuraly about a series of long troughs I had seen at a couple of
locations next to small brick buildings.
He said these were used for feeding merino wool sheep from Australia and
shepherd’s quarters during the Soviet era. They are no longer in use and are
another example of how the people were directed where to live and how they
would contribute under Soviet rule when the nomadic lifestyle was outlawed.
Dried fruits and nuts at the Bishkek Bazaar.
Except for a brief rain, we had a pleasant
downhill hike back to Kochkor. We visited a local market before enjoying lunch
in yurts at a local restaurant in town. We said our farewells to Kochkor and
headed back to Bishkek for our next adventure.
The plan for the trip back was to make a short stop at a
local bazaar in Bishkek before heading back to the hotel. We arrived at the
crowded bazaar (I think the Dordoi bazaar) with no place to park our van. As we
got off the bus, Nuraly said we would be picked up elsewhere due to the crowd,
and fairly advised us to be sure to keep up with the group. As this was to be a short visit, I didn’t
bother to take my passport. We entered the bazaar, a fascinating collection of
shops. Immediately I saw a basket of dried goat heads, then shop after shop of
fresh bread loaves piled high, racks of nuts and spices, women’s lingerie,
piles of fruits and vegetables, military memorabilia, etc. etc. To not take all
this in and take pictures was simply too much to ask. I checked frequently for
our group, but within minutes they were gone.
I searched for them franticly for several minutes, but quickly came to
the realization that I wasn’t going to find them. I took my phone off airplane
mode to activate my roaming plan, only to find out that Kyrgyzstan is not a
country covered by my carriers roaming plan. I further considered that I did
not know the name of our hotel or where it was, nor did I know where our group
was going in the bazaar, or where we were being picked up. And to top things
off, I didn’t have my passport, and I hadn’t bothered to top off the charge on
my phone, now around 60%. I took stock
of my situation, determining that the worst-case scenario was that if I never
found my group, I would simply find my way to the airport in abundant time
before our flight early the next morning and catch my team there. That didn’t
seem too bad, so all that remained now was to see how this little adventure
played out.
Friendly shopkeeper let me use his phone.
I walked back through the bazaar, staying on
the route we had come in, and for the next hour walked around asking shop
owners if they spoke English. Eventually, a young man named Damir said he
did. He had spent some time in the US
with the Kyrgz military. After hearing the
details of my current situation, he shrugged, shook his head and said
“Americans…..”. We had a good
laugh. He took me to a nearby
electronics booth and talked to the young salesman, who had a phone with
WhatsApp, a preferred method of communication overseas. Of course, I knew my team wouldn’t have
network coverage either at that point, but they would on returning to the Wi-Fi
at the hotel. This young shopkeeper sent
out numerous messages on my behalf, and even charged my phone for me. While waiting on a response, we crisscrossed
the bazaar looking for my team with no luck.
Damir asked what I intended to do if I couldn’t find them. I told him my plan, and in an act of uncommon
kindness, he offered to let me come to his home with his wife and daughter to
stay until going to the airport. It didn’t come to that as soon after we had a
message from my team and help was on the way.
Still, this episode was a heartwarming incident demonstrating the basic
goodness of people.
Folk music over dinner.
I rejoined my team at the hotel (the Rich Hotel
I now know), where I cleaned up from the past couple of days. We went into town for dinner at Arzu
Restaurant. Before being served a
wonderful lentil soup with grilled shish kabobs and vegetables, we were first
entertained by a local folk group dressed in traditional Kyrgyz attire and
playing authentic instruments. We headed
back to our hotel for few hours rest before returning to the airport for an
early morning flight back to the UAE.
Total cost for this trip was $885 for round trip air fare,
guide, tour bus, all accommodations (yurt and hotel), meals, souvenirs, and the
optional folk band. No vaccinations were required, and a visa wasn’t needed for
US citizens.
“To travel is to discover that
everyone is wrong about other countries.”
Aldous Huxley
Mago National Park
I can’t
remember when the first time was that I saw pictures of topless women walking
around in public. It was either an article about the Woodstock concert in my
dad’s Life magazine, or pictures in my dad’s National Geographic magazine about
African tribes that included women with huge plates in their lower lip, or
brass coils wrapped around their extended necks. Both were completely fascinating to a young
fellow in conservative East Tennessee. One
of those is long gone, the other continues today. When I saw a trip advertised on Trekkup Dubai
(www.meetup.com/trekkup)called
‘Eye to Eye with Lip Plate Tribes/Eid Break in Omo Valley, Ethiopia’, this was
too much to pass up. I continue to be amazed at how much about the world I
don’t know. When I thought about
Ethiopia, I thought about a poor, politically unstable country in the horn of
Africa that had produced a routine stream of successful marathon runners in the
Olympics in years past. In other words,
I was clueless. There is a lot more to
Ethiopia than that. Here are a few
items:
The population of Ethiopia is
estimated to be over 106 million, the most populous land-locked country in the
world, and the 12th most populous overall. This was stunning to me.
Ethiopia has been an independent
nation since 980 BC.
The capital and largest city is Addis
Ababa, population 2.7 million. That
seemed like a small largest city given the population of the country. For example, Egypt has a similar population,
but Cairo is over 20 million.
According to the World Economic
Forum, Ethiopia is the fastest growing country in Africa, growing over 8%/year. By purchasing parity, the GDP of Ethiopia is
ranked 63rd in the world.
Poor, but a long way from poorest.
Some of the oldest anatomically
modern human skeletons have been found in Ethiopia, and the Ge’ez script is one
of the oldest alphabets still in use in the world.
Ethiopia is home to over 85 tribes
and 200 dialects.
Ethiopians believe the Ark of the
Covenant is housed at Aksum in Ethiopia. Only one specially chosen guard has
access to the Ark, and even he is not allowed to look at it to confirm it is there.
The Ethiopian calendar has thirteen
months, twelve of 30 days and one of 5 days. It is 7.5 years behind the
Gregorian calendar.
Ochre is a
natural clay earth pigment used by the Hamar tribal woman in making the
distinctive braids unique to their tribe. It is the oldest known natural
pigment in the world, used by our hominid ancestors over 3 million years ago.
Coffee is native to the Kaffa region
of Ethiopia, with the earliest evidence of use dating back to the 15th
century. Coffee is the world’s second
most valuable commodity behind petroleum.
Ethipoia is home to an ancient wine
called Tej made from honey and the gesho shrub. The tradition is over 2000
years old.
Dallol in the Danakil Depression holds
the record for the highest annual average temperature for an inhabited location
at 35°C (95°F).
The name Ethiopia comes from the
Greek words aitho and ops which together mean “burnt face”, a
term the ancient Greeks used to refer to the dark-skinned Africans.
Ethiopian Abebe Bikila became the
first black African to win a gold medal in the Olympic Marathon, winning the
race in Rome in 1960 running barefoot. Four years later in Tokyo he set the
world record in the marathon, again running barefoot.
Traditionally, Ethiopian parents and
children do not share the same last name.
Children take their father’s or grandfather’s first name as their last
name.
I
call my blog “An Innocent Abroad” – for this trip, that definition is spot on. We have become adept at packing and have some
idea what to expect for most places we go, even Tajikistan. But Ethiopia?
Hot or cold? Omo Valley is only about 5° north of the equator but is in the most mountainous
country in Africa. Parts of Omo Valley
are over 1300 m elevation. Wet or
dry? Ethiopia has both. And finally,
when your guide tells you to prepare for a “raw, bone-jarring experience” –
what does that look like on a packing list?
The warning about water quality that is becoming standard for many trips
was taken to a new level for this hike, as we were advised to bring disposable
utensils and plates (but didn’t use them).
The Center for Disease Control recommends a whopping 15 vaccinations for
Ethiopia in addition to a malaria prophylaxis.
I obliged the majority but did not get meningitis, flu, shingles, or
rabies (that one is a 4-shot series, and I live 2+ hours from Abu Dhabi). Rare
medical advice from me – anti-vaxxers shouldn’t go to Ethiopia.
I joined our
group for this early-morning flight at one of our standard meeting points, the
Costa Coffee Shop in Dubai Airport at 3:30 AM. This was an international group
of 11 people: 3 USA, 2 Ireland, 2 Australia, 2 Lebanon, 1 Poland, and 1 UAE. I
simply can’t say enough about how great an experience it is to share these with
such great travelers. We start the trip as complete strangers and end as good
friends. We left Dubai at 5:40, arriving
two stops and about 9 hours later without our luggage in the small south
Ethiopia town of Jinka. We moved through customs smoothly (I previously paid
$72 for a 90 day tourist visa, obtained online at www.evisa.gov.et), and changed our money to a stack
of Ethiopian birr (100 birr ~$3). I had read US dollars were welcome but that
was only partially true. We paid for all
tips and pictures in local currency, generally at the rate of 5 birr per person
in the photo.
Eco-Omo Lodge, Jinka
Our guide Gino
Our tour group met us at the Jinka airport, sans luggage, and drove us through town with its collection of small businesses and private dwellings, with goats, cows, chickens and people wandering the streets. We arrived at our first night lodging a few miles from town, the Eco-Omo Lodge. This was a series of plain but comfortable tents complete with mosquito nets for the beds and a small bathroom. I regretted not packing the essentials in my carry-on backpack. We settled in, then took a walk to a nearby Ari tribal village led by our guide, Gino Loshere. Gino is a member of the Dassenach tribe near the Kenyan border. He was an outstanding guide, with good English and an excellent working relationship with all the tribes we visited. We had heard that a bad initial encounter with the tribes could result in your being asked to leave, or even having rocks thrown at you. The village we visited was one of many Ari villages. About 600,000 strong, this tribe is the largest of the 85+ tribes living in Ethiopia. The activities taking place in the village, as was the case all week, were legitimate daily affairs of the tribespeople, but Gino notified them on days when he would be coming through so that they wouldn’t be surprised when we arrived. Gino told me this style of eco-tourism started about a decade ago. The tribes still live their daily lives, but with the knowledge that strangers may come around. The general rule was that pictures of landscapes are free, and a small fee of about 15 cents per person otherwise.
Ari Tribe, Jinka
The Ari tribe was the closest to town and said to be the most civilized, an assessment I agree with. Still, there was no evidence of running water or electricity where we visited. We witnessed pottery being made by a local lady using a mixture of clay with some fine sand she ground herself. She was quite talented at what she did, but our guide said such positions are not held in high esteem in the village. A man owning a cow would have much higher stature. She would mold her clay into a bowl, plate, cup, or something of the sort. After drying for a couple of days, she would fire the piece in a small grass fire piled around the piece for uniform heating. The pieces she made seemed very sturdy and practical. I bought a plate, one of the few treasured souvenirs I am collecting on these trips. This plate will hold an honored spot amongst my collection of shark’s teeth, petrified wood, German beer steins, Egyptian canopic jars, and dinosaur poop.
Pouring batter for Injera Bread
Our tour of the Ari village continued. A nearby lady was making injera bread, a flatbread made from teff grain that was a staple at every meal. Cooked on the village-made pottery over a wood fire, the batter was poured like a pancake, then covered with a reed lid coated with cow dung to trap the vapors and help cook the bread, making the final bread a delicate moist texture. This was one of many instances during the week where it was best to set aside your notion of how things should be done and just go with the flow. Some of our members were given the chance to try their hand at pouring the batter and baking the bread before we headed on down the road, the neighborhood kids eagerly holding our hands as we walked down the street. Gino explained that the children of the village roam from home to home with no particular regard to which family they belong to. Sounds a bit like east Tennessee growing up in the 60’s.
Distilling arki
After stopping at another hut to watch a young boy working on forging a knife in a fire, we moved on to the neighborhood still. This impressive rig took the wort made from germinated corn seeds and local hops that had spent time fermenting in a drum for several days, then distilled over a fire into a brew called arki. This tasted like something in between tequila and moonshine to me. Served in an Arabic coffee cup, that was one cup where germs weren’t a concern.
On the way
back to our camp, we noticed some girls dressed for church walking down the
street. Ethiopia is about 40% Orthodox
Christian, 34% Islam, 19% Protestant, with a smaller percentage devoted to
traditional beliefs of the more remote tribes. Gino described religious
differences are of no consequence among villagers, a lesson the rest of the
world could take to heart. After
returning to camp, we ventured into Jinka for dinner, then back to bed, hopeful
our luggage would arrive the next day.
Breakfast at Eco-Omo Lodge
We woke to a gentle rain. I had an ambient temperature shower that was actually pretty refreshing. This turned out to be the last shower of consequence for the week. We had a fun breakfast getting to know each other a little. Breakfast was banana bread, cheese, sausage (not sure what animal), and eggs (I learned two-sided means over easy). We also had moringa, a dark leafy dish like turnip greens. I learned this is quite a health food when I looked it up – chock full of vitamins, minerals, and protein.
Selling butter at Kako Market outside Jinka
The rain subsided as we checked out and headed to our next destination, Kako Market, about 22 km outside of Jinka. Locals come to this open air market every Monday to sale or barter their goods, which include butter, honey, fruits, vegetables, beans, various grains, tej (the local wine made of honey and the leaves of a local bush), coffee, tobacco, eggs, as well as an active meat market. A half-gallon tub of butter cost about 350 birr (~$12), a gourd of honey about 450 birr (~$15), while a nice bull can set you back 20,000 birr (~$675). Most people can’t afford a bull (a real status symbol) – goats are quite common. A bit surprising to me, I saw no sheep or pigs. We stopped by a booth that had a simmering pot of beans and corn that was quite tasty. I washed it down with ‘farsi’, a sorghum beer brewed in a barrel that I drank from a gourd. Gourds are still the common drinking utensil, but I was sad to see that plastic is making inroads for tribal use. Gino said not all tribes are friendly with each other and sometimes fight over water, overgrazing, or livestock theft. Penalties if the police get involved may include fines that result in loss of livestock, a serious penalty that helps maintain order.
Weighing a goat for sale at Kako Market
We said farewell to the market and got back on the road. We drove through a green landscape with banana, mango, and papaya trees. I expected none of this in Ethiopia. Our driver, Kalu, of the Ochlo tribe was a splendid man with decent English. He played us reggae music that he said was Ethiopian on our way back to Jinka for lunch at the Orit Hotel. We had a plate of avocados and tomatoes for the first of several times during the week, along with sautéed vegetables, grilled beef and a local beer called Walia. Our luggage arrived from the airport, so we changed clothes, and walked down to the local bank to get a stack of low denomination bills for tips and pictures before heading out again.
Hiking in Omo Valley
Our afternoon trek was scheduled to be about a 14 km hike through the hills of Ethiopia to Senegal school, but because of a late start we only made about half of that due to darkness. The hike was wonderful – lush green with rolling hills dotted with occasional local dwellings and family farms plowed with a wooden plow pulled by a bull. The predominant crops were sorghum and corn. Shortly after sunset we crossed a road, where we waited for our rides to pick us up and take us to the Senegal School grounds where we spent the night.
Sam, our cook.
We stopped at three different schools over the course of the week, meeting with school administrators and learning of their challenges, and meeting with the kids that were almost in a frenzy to see the visitors. We left donations of t-shirts, games, toys, and educational supplies. The Senegal school, our first school, was empty when we arrived at dusk, and our cook ‘Sam’ set up shop in one of the classrooms. I estimated the room (all the classrooms looked the same) to be about 10m x 10m, with no lights, no ventilation, no power, a few simple wooden desks. The team set up a light string of 3 small LED lights that provided the only light except our headlamps. Sam used two single burner stoves on propane tanks, and really did a remarkable job with that simple arrangement to feed us all week. Our dinner this night was pasta, mixed sautéed vegetables, and lentil soup. Adib, our organizer, produced a bottle of dark rum to go with dinner. Some enjoyed a special high mountain tobacco that seemed vaguely familiar. A good time was had by all. I just love the way a group of complete strangers from all over the globe can bond into such a fun group so quickly.
Senegal school with our tents in the yard.
The team also set up our lodging for the week, one-man tents set up in the schoolyard. I was quite content with this arrangement. We went to bed by the light of bright stars but awoke to rain the next morning. Some of us who neglected to close the fly with the stars out woke up to wet feet but no matter. After a breakfast of scrambled eggs with chilis and bread and jam, we packed our gear and prepared to meet the school kids already buzzing around. This was quite the sensory overload as we distributed some of our goods (the bulk were left with the teachers to distribute under more controlled circumstances). School teachers said they have about 45 kids in each room, and several children share each schoolbook. I considered that perhaps our gifts weren’t quite on target for truer needs. I learned that birth records are rarely made for children living in the remote villages. A child born out of wedlock or with deformities as trivial as having their upper teeth come in before the lower is considered cursed in some tribes. These children are called ‘mingi’ and may be killed by abandoning in the bush or drowning. This practice was outlawed by the Karo tribe in 2012 but is still a common practice.
A Hamar lady at Alduba Market. Ethiopia is landlocked, but sea shell jewelry is popular.
Hamar ladies selling red ochre at Alduba Market.
We loaded into the cars under clearing skies and headed to our next stop, Alduba Market. Our stay here wasn’t quite as long as at the previous market. The feel of the market was somewhat different, my feeling was that it had more of a social gathering function for nearby villages in addition to being just a market. The reception to visitors was not broadly as welcoming either, with people vigilant for photographers to demand payment, or in some cases, open hostility (not physically) towards the unwelcome visitors, not wanting pictures taken at all. Our guide Gino was quite adept as steering us away from challenges, moving us along and chasing off children that became too much of a nuisance. Tourist souvenirs were more prevalent and heavily marketed than the Kako market, where there were very limited tourist offerings and virtually no pressure to buy. Vendors came up during lunch peddling their goods, even after just completing a sale to a group member.
Acacia tree in south Ethiopia
After lunch, we continued south, driving along roads shared with goats, cattle, people, and small motorcycles. The landscape flattened somewhat, and generally became drier though still green. The ubiquitous acacia tree dotted the landscape shared with termite mounds. These mounds are often 5 meters tall or higher, a feature I learned is an exotic ventilation and air-conditioning system that maintains the mound at a constant temperature. I chatted with our driver about improvement projects in Ethiopia and politics (he likes the current Prime Minister, the last one was corrupt) as we drove through the changing south Ethiopian landscape. As the sun lowered in the sky, we arrived at our next destination, the Korcho village overlooking the Omo River. This village was home to about 250 members of the Kara tribe, the smallest in Ethiopia with about 3000 people. We first encountered a few boys, returning to town with their bows and arrows and a small bird they had shot. Gino established the precedent that no cameras were allowed until he gave permission. This was one of many wise moves by Gino that improved the quality of the experience, not just for us but for future visitors. The tribes are accustomed to tourists now, but they are proud strong people. I read several stories where tribes turned aggressive if the relation wasn’t first established.
Korcho Village of the Kara tribe
We surveyed the landscape. The village overlooks a horseshoe bend in the Omo River from a small bluff, with the Omo Valley extending to distant mountains. Tribal members walked down the road to meet us. Gino made introductions and discussed our visit with tribal leaders. He mixed well with all the tribes we visited, conversant in their dialects, treating everyone with a confident respect, and was treated with respect in return. We mingled with the tribe as we walked towards town, children anxiously holding our hands. Some of the bare breasted women attempted to lure the men to their huts to show them what the inside of their homes looked like. We learned this was a ruse designed to set up a request for extra money for this special treatment. They had no takers this trip. Only women and children sleep in the small huts at night, men and boys over about age 10 sleep outside. A beautiful rainbow appeared over the valley below, and Gino released us to take photos of this special treat. We meandered through town, seeing their homes, goat pens, food storage huts – all very traditional. Our tents were set up overlooking the Omo River. We strolled along the riverbank, noting a lone canoe fishing while the kids entertained us by climbing trees and turning flips down the bank.
Campsite overlooking Omo River at Korcho Village
We came back to camp as the sun set. I brought out my bottle of Tej wine I bought at the market to try over dinner. I am not a sommelier, but I thought it was good, blending well with a dinner of lentil soup (recurring theme), rice, and chicken. A few of us talked about Knights Templar, Freemasons and symbolism of dollar bill markings by the campfire before turning in for the night. It was a hot calm night.
Kara tribe boys at Korcho Village
I awoke
early as I normally do and sat on a bench overlooking the river for a
time. A chorus of frogs serenaded me
from across the river, and I watched a young boy struggle up the bluff with
buckets of water. The sounds of birds
filled the air. I watched as an elderly
lady took down the stacked log gate to the goat pen one log at a time, allowing
the goats to begin their daily foraging. I closed my eyes and pondered on the
good things in this world.
Kara tribe girls in Korcho Village
Our neighbors began to gather around the campsite in anticipation of the coming photo frenzy but did not bother us as we had breakfast and packed up. Once the photos began it was a crazy affair. They were dressed in their best to showcase their traditions. Process was to pay 5 birr (~15 cents) for each person in a photo, as a result, it was a challenge to take the picture you wanted due to people constantly jumping in front of the camera. And of course, a woman with a baby in hand was two people. After about 30 minutes we were again to the point of sensory overload. I had the bad fortune to have phone problems (‘moisture detected’) and was left to my old backpacking point-and-shoot, but I was in the company of some first-rate photographers who let me use some of their pictures.
The chief at Korcho village, Omo River in the background.
We ended the
photo session and took the short walk through the village to the nearby school,
arranged similarly to the last school we saw.
This school was for grades 1-8. The teacher explained that attendance
could be a problem as sometimes parents felt there were other priorities, and
he sometimes resorted to going home to home to get students to come to
class. We toured the grounds and left
our supplies with the principal.
Our driver Kalu of the Ochlo tribe.
We left Korcho village and headed to our next destination, Mango Campground just outside the village of Turmi. Shortly after leaving the village, we stopped by the river and took a walk up the riverbank, observing the water birds and several crocodiles cruising the shoals looking for their next meal. As we continued towards our campground, I noticed herd after herd of goats foraging in the terrain. Our driver Kalu said boys of 7 or 8 are trusted with the herds in the vicinity of their homes, but they need to be about 10 before they are trusted to freely range with the herds. I noted he would occasionally toss a water bottle out the window toward a roadside shepherd in an empathetic gesture. He said his middle name was Tomas after the disciple Thomas in the Bible, but I did not observe any special religious behavior by our guides over the course of the week.
Laundry day in the river.
Mango Campsite on the bank of the Kaske River was a lovely spot in a grove of mature Mango trees. I didn’t realize they could grow so large, but the trees we camped under provided a complete canopy of trees probably 15 meters high or taller. We weren’t here for long – we had a bull jumping to attend. We got back in the cars and headed for the country, watching locals bathe and wash their clothes in the river, spreading their clothes on the bushes to dry. We saw dik-diks in the brush, a small antelope less than half a meter in height and weighing just a few kilos. Our Ethiopian members chewed bags of khat for hours. Khat is a native plant that acts a stimulant, causing feelings of euphoria. It isn’t strong, so they had a good size bag to chew on for hours. I had heard of it but never seen it. I suspect it may have had something to do with Sam’s perpetually sunny disposition.
Whipping women during the bull jumping ceremony
Bull jumping is a rite of passage in the Hamar tribe of Omo Valley for a boy to become a man. The tradition dates back thousands of years. It may involve a marriage but doesn’t have to. The process is a lengthy affair involving the whole tribe. Elder women prepare and serve buno, a hot drink made from boiling the husks of coffee beans. It has a somewhat tea like flavor. I was served mine in a gourd, the traditional drinking vessel, by one of the non-maternal mothers of the bull jumper. Men can have multiple wives in the tribes, and this particular duty was performed by one of the non-biological mothers. Female family members and relatives spend hours dancing in a circle, blowing horns and occasionally stopping to jump up and down. Bells strapped to their legs make a tremendous racket. Members join in and drop out, but the dance lasted for hours. Men who have completed the bull jump but are not yet married are designated whippers, using thin wood strips a couple of meters long to whip the women across their backs from time to time. Rather than avoiding this horrific looking treatment that left their backs streaked with stripes of blood, the women seem to relish it, jumping in line enthusiastically to be next. Butter was spread on the backs of some to better prepare them for the whip. How you ask? Good question indeed. The ritual is said to be a chance for them to show their happiness and support for the jumper. There was said to be some favor curried by the women in having this done but I never figured that part out. This only reservation I saw on the part of the women was that most wore bras during these festivities, there apparently being some limit on what they like to have whipped. Some prepubescent girls jumped in line to be whipped. They were either disregarded by the whippers or whipped lightly enough to do no more than sting.
Dancing for the bull jumping
Women of the Hamar tribe have a distinctive hair braid called goscha. Young girls do not participate in this hair styling. The hair is twisted into small strands colored with red ochre blended with butter or animal fat with fragrances blended in. The red ochre is a natural clay pigment with coloration based on the ferrous oxides found in the soil. The hair glistened with the butter in the warm afternoon sun. The smell is a distinctive strong aroma. Like the smell of fresh bread from the oven takes me back to my mother’s kitchen as a child, I think with a period of exposure this would become one of those transformative smells that would take you back to this place and time were you ever to smell it in the future.
Hamar woman with the goscha hair braids
As the afternoon sun lowered in the sky, the entire tribe moved across the valley to the bull jumping area. About 20 bulls had been gathered in the space of about an acre. Youngsters harass the bulls, chasing them around the low shrubs to agitate the bulls, thereby further increasing the challenge for the young man. Men of the tribe gather about six bulls and with great effort, they line up the bulls in a row by wrestling them by the horns and another pulling their tails to get them into position. Once aligned, the young candidate, now naked to demonstrate his strength and vitality, runs to the bulls, leaping on their backs to race across the row. Should he fail, he risks being impaled on horns as he falls, or being trampled underfoot. At a minimum he will be ridiculed for his weakness and may have to wait for another chance. Our candidate fell once, but persevered and made the run down across the bulls and back. After a celebration by the family after his success, the young man is now a Maza. His diet will be limited to blood, milk, honey, and meat until he marries. He is now also a whipper for other bull runners until he marries.
Running the bulls.
We said our
farewells to the Hamar tribe and headed back to our campground at the Mango
Campsite, arriving after dark. Now in our third day without a shower, we had
high hopes for this campground. Alas,
the shower amounted to no more than a strong trickle of ambient temperature
water in a concrete building with lizards running around the walls. I made do as best I could and washed out my
shirt and pants at the same time to the light of my little solar powered
lamp.
Family home in the Hamar tribe.
We sat down
to dinner. Sam was grilling some goat leg over a wood fire (maybe lamb, but I
hadn’t seen any around but plenty of goats).
Our guides had bought us a case of a local brew. We had a relaxing
dinner of the goat made into a goulash and some fried cauliflower. I enjoyed the camaraderie of my new batch of
friends. This was shaping up to be really special trip.
I got up early the next morning and spent some time walking by the river. A new hand pump well had been installed near the river’s edge, replacing the old traditional dug well with a bucket lowered on a rope. That one is still in use when lesser quality water is adequate. We had breakfast of scrambled eggs with chilis and bread with jam before packing up and heading out for the new days adventure. Our first stop was a primary school in Turmi, with about 500 kids in grades 1 – 8. We met with the director and left him our bag of games and supplies. The director had the only computer in the school. As all the schools were that we visited, the classrooms had no lights, electricity, ventilation, or air conditioning. As many as 60 kids are in a class, with 5 or 6 kids sharing a single textbook. Education is free but support is not, and some of the kids must travel 50-60 km to school. So cash donations are welcome to help support these kids while they are at school away from their family. This did not seem to dampen the enthusiasm of these youngsters as they swarmed around us during their recess.
We left
Turmi and headed back towards Jinka. Our
drive was down a dirt road for mile after mile, giving us what some called an
“Ethiopian Massage” as we bounced along the rough roads. We pass thousands of seemingly feral goats as
the miles roll by. Occasionally we pass
a family farm with small gardens protected from foraging by natural fences of
thorny brush that looks more effective than razor wire. Sometimes we see
children yelling ‘carmello!!’ at us (candy!!) from roadside and we toss pieces
out the window to start the children scrambling.
Hamar woman carrying wood
After another stop by Abdula Market and a lunch of hard-boiled eggs and boiled potatoes, we head west to Mago National Park, home of the Mursi Tribe of lip plate fame. We pass through the Great Rift Valley, a lush green valley surrounded by high mountains. A common feature of the landscape is women – sometimes young, sometimes quite old – walking with bundles of wood on their backs. Great labor goes into this effort to provide fuel for cooking, or perhaps to sell for a few birr at a nearby marketplace, and I never saw a male performing this work. On one stretch of road we slowed to a stop, the usual herd of cattle wandering down the road, but with an extra feature this time. A group of painted youngsters walked down the road on stilts – really high stilts, a meter or more high in the air. They stood motionless on these in an amazing display of gravity defying balance. Of course, this is a marketing opportunity by these young men, and it worked well as we willingly shelled out our birr to snap a few pictures of this impressive display. Gino said these are smart young men who have learned to make more money walking the streets on stilts than a teacher or soldier is paid. The stilts themselves have no connection to any tribal tradition, simply boys who learned an ingenious way to make some money.
About 4 PM
we arrived at Mago Park. The landscape was stunning, as were the flocks of
brilliantly colored birds with nests thickly packed into the trees. Our driver
pitched water bottles out the window to tribesmen we passed that were tending
flocks. As we neared the Mursi tribe we would visit, I considered blogs I read
before coming. Blogs that described the
aggressive nature of this tribe, how armed guards were needed, and some
visitors wanted to leave early and never return. I had come to have high trust in Gino and how
he handled relations and just took in the landscape as we approached. We passed
the chief on the road entering, a regal spectacled figure (the first I saw
wearing glasses) armed with an AK-47. We continued to the village, greeted by a
friendly young man. Introductions were made to other tribal leaders, all seemed
peaceful, friendly and relatively indifferent to our arrival. The chief caught
up with us, leading the cattle into a large holding pen for the night. He came and joined us, freely showing us the
weapon. This was the Merrage village of
the Mursi tribe with about 200 members. We
toured the village and walked down the road to enjoy a lovely sunset.
A lady of the Mursi tribe.
We came back for dinner. Our tents were set up on a grassy plain about 50 meters from the village huts, and the picnic tables set up for dinner as dusk fell. Sam prepared our last dinner for us and we chatted about our experiences. Our trip organizer, Adib, broke out his little Bluetooth speaker and we turned up the music a little as dark settled in. Everyone was having a good time, and the music got a little louder as a campfire was built. I asked Gino if perhaps we were being disrespectful with the music, he just smiled and said “Not at all. Turn it up if you wish.” Before long, members of the tribe came over and proceeded to dance their tribal dances for us, a simple dance where individual members came out one a time, taking turns while one of the leaders illuminated the area with a solar powered lantern I brought. We all danced together as the night closed.
I got up early the next morning, abuzz from the week’s experiences that weren’t quite finished. We saw a few of the lip plated women the night before, but this morning they would be on full display. They remained at a distance while we finished breakfast and packed our gear, the result I believe, of discussions between Gino and the chief. When the time arrived, we received an experience unique to this tribe. The women of the Mursi tribe in their teenage years have their lower lip pierced, and a small wooden plug is inserted. After the wound is healed, the hole is made progressively larger in each subsequent piercing, and handmade decorated ceramic discs made by the woman replace the wood plug, eventually reaching up to 20 cm (~8 inches). Some of the women had baskets of the plates for sale at 50 birr each (~$1.50). I read different reasons for the purpose of the plates. Gino said originally, they were to make them undesirable to slave traders as well as members of neighboring tribes who may be interested in stealing a wife. That explanation satisfied me. In addition to the lip plates, other women wore necklaces packed with seashells, earrings made of wart hog tusks, and headdresses of animal horns. Some women carried an AK-47 in one hand and a nursing child in the other. The men wore decorative clothes and ear plugs, but no doubt women were the main attraction here.
Bleeding the bull
As a show that always seemed to have one more act, next was the bull bleeding. Milk from the herds is consumed daily, and on occasion the blood is drunk – sometimes for ceremonial purposes but other times for simple nutrition in a manner that does not harm the bull. We gathered at the cattle pen, where two men with some difficulty wrestled the bull into position. A rope was tightened around the bull’s neck to restrict the blood flow and another member shot the neck at close range with a small bow and arrow. A strong stream of blood was captured in a gourd. When 1-2 liters were collected, the rope was released, and the blood flow stopped by daubing mud on the wound. The blood then had some fresh milk added and the gourd offered to the crowd. I didn’t turn down anything all week, and this was no exception. I took my place on the log and took a drink of the salty-sweet blood. I believe the salt to be the blood and the sweet the fresh cream of the milk. Another member of the team joined me; others couldn’t even watch.
Drinking the bulls blood mixed with fresh milk.
Our last
spot to visit with the Mursi tribe was the gardens. Gino said the tribe was
happy because the rains had been good, and the gardens were growing well. We
went by fields of sorghum and maize, with lesser amounts of beans and some
gourd squash. Young men and women had
duties to take a place on stands built in the fields where they threw rocks
with slingshots with amazing accuracy and distance to chase away birds and
animals. Many of the tribespeople remain in the field during the growing
season.
Mursi youth protecting the crops from birds and animals.
We said our
farewells to the Mursi, and to Ethiopia as we returned to Jinka for our flight to
Abu Dhabi. As I thought about a hot
shower and a soft bed, I considered my visit to Ethiopia. This was certainly an eye-opening experience
for me. The landscape we saw with lush
green fields and mountains, with wildly divergent tribal customs, decorations,
and traditions have broadened my horizons in a special way. Gino said the type of tourism we took part in
was relatively new, starting about 15 years ago. The native activities we saw over the course
of the week, to my eye, were legitimate tribal activities, but there was no
doubt the tourism has added a new dimension that was not always an improvement.
The expectation for payment for pictures is a distracting reality, making
candid photos difficult. We saw unsavory tourists completely disrespect tribal customs
in their push for a better picture. We
saw improvement projects like roads to a new Ethiopian sugar project that
promises to dislocate tribes from the self-reliant way of life they have known
for millennia. Can the native tribal way
of life remain? Only time will tell.
This trip
cost me $2043. That included round trip air fare, guide service, all meals on
the trek, accommodations, vaccinations, visa, tips (both for guides and for taking
pictures) and souvenirs (two bags of Ethiopian coffee). Truly, I received more than I gave on this
trip. For those interested in such a
trek, I give full endorsement to our guide.
“The world is big, and
I’d like to have a good look at it before it gets dark.”
John Muir
Shirkent Valley, Tajikistan
This was a short trip, just a long weekend arranged through
Trekkup Dubai (www.meetup.com/trekkup),
one of two Meetups we belong to here. I
had two goals I was able to meet on this trip – go to a ‘Stan’ and see dinosaur
tracks. Two destinations were involved – first was to the Shirkent Valley on a
quest for dinosaur tracks; the second was to the Iskandarkul resort on a
glacial mountain lake high in the Fann Mountains near the Uzbekistan border. A visa was required for entry to the country. This process has become quite simple with the
evisa process many countries are using. I obtained visas for each of us at
$51.50 online using www.evisa.tj. We received
these by email within 48 hours, good for a 90-day period for a stay of up to 45
days. Trip expenses that included round
trip air fare, lodging, meals, and guides were 3250 dirham each (about $885),
paid by electronic bank transfer. No
vaccines were required for this trip.
Tajikistan
Tajikistan
is short-lived in its current form, created in September 1991 with the
disintegration of the former Soviet Union.
It is the smallest of the seven “Stans” and has less than nine million
people. The country is of Persian origin
(‘stan’ means ‘country’ in Persian). Located
to the west of China, several of the historical commerce and cultural exchange
routes known as the ‘Silk Roads’ passed through Tajikistan. This strategic location drew the attention of
many neighbors, as a result, the country has been ruled by many empires over
the centuries. The country is poor, ranking
155th in GDP and heavily dependent on support from China and Russia.
An amazing 47% of the GDP comes from immigrant remittances, mostly Tajiks
working in Russia.
We met with 14 other travelers from Belgium, Italy, Britain,
Germany, Singapore, Morocco, Pakistan, and Palestine at the Dubai airport for a
late-night flight on the local Tajik Somon Air.
We arrived in the capital city of Dushanbe, (population ~770,000, known
as Stalinabad from 1929-1961) about 2:00 AM.
The airport had the feel of what I envision an old Soviet-era airport
would feel like, complete with crusty uniformed Security guards with scruffy
beards keeping a stern eye on things.
The process went smoothly, and we were soon on our way to Hotel
Meridian. The room was large and comfortable, but we weren’t there for
long. We went to bed about 4:00 AM, up
at 6:00 for breakfast at 7:00 with an 8:00 departure. Breakfast featured several items I couldn’t
identify. What I thought were possibly
hash browns turned out to be fried cauliflower.
Add some cheese, olive, and lettuce salad, a little yogurt and some
instant coffee and my breakfast was complete.
Our lunchtime hosts await us.
We
loaded up into 3 vans and headed off for Shirkent Valley on our quest for
dinosaur tracks, northwest of Dushanbe by about 60 km. We left town driving through a light drizzle
and grey skies through a countryside of vineyards, apple and cherry orchards,
and fields of onions and potatoes.
Despite the economic hardships of the country, the medians of small
towns we drove through had roses planted for kilometer after kilometer. Billboards of President Rahmon in a variety
of pleasant settings were a frequent roadside attraction. We passed a large
aluminum foundry, TALCO, on the way as we drove through the town of
Tursunzoda. A little research showed
some interesting facts about this business.
As the chief industrial asset of Tajik industry, this foundry consumes a
whopping 40% of the national electrical supply when running at capacity,
generates a third of the national GDP, and 75% of foreign currency
reserves. All this despite the country
having no native aluminum ore deposits, relying completely on imported
feedstock.
Wonderful lunch prepared by our hosts.
Dinosaur tracks in Shirkent Valley
The Shirkent Valley
is advertised alternately as a National Preserve and a National Park. Perhaps
we entered through a back route, but I never saw a sign for park entry, there
was no visitor center, no trail markers, or any of the other usual park
features. In fact, our entire trek was
almost cancelled when the lead van lost control on a dirt road made slick by
heavy rains in the previous two days and nearly slid into a raging creek. The
van bottomed out with the driver’s side front tire suspended in the air. The Tajik guide group did a nice job
recovering, but just a few hundred meters further another van had a flat tire. We decided it was best to walk the last half
kilometer from there. This trek was
advertised as “Easy, available for beginners”.
This was a bit of an underrating in my opinion for what turned out to be
about a 14 km hike with some generous elevation gain at times, a trail made
slick in spots from the rain, and a steep, loose scree field just before
reaching the tracks. The drizzle returned
at times, but for the most part we were treated to a beautiful valley, with clouds
hugging a rugged landscape. A local
loaded up his donkeys with our lunch and accompanied us up the valley, giving
us a hand on the creek crossings that were made more challenging due to the
recent rain. After a few kilometers, we
met his wife and daughter at their mountain home. They laid out a wonderful
lunch for us of apples, pears, tomatoes, cucumbers, fresh breads, homemade
cottage cheese, and local honey. Hot black
tea seemed to be the drink of choice for most.
We made the final push to the dinosaur tracks, crossing a deep verdant
green landscape shrouded in mist. The
last stretch was a steep slick drop, followed by a steep scramble up loose
rock. Our guide suggested this section
might be more suitable for “younger people”.
We understood this to be code for “not us”. The rest of the group were our juniors by at
least of couple of decades but we felt completely welcomed and at ease. They seemed genuinely happy to have us with
them. Lynn decided to wait this last
piece out. I, the more dim-witted of
this pair, continued. The tracks are
located on a steep (maybe 60°?) rock face made slick by the rain,
making walking out to them impossible, still, some were close
enough to the edge for a good view. We
made our way back to the car, more than a little muddy and tired from the hike
and our short night the night before. We
stopped on the way back at a local Tajik restaurant for dinner and a few pints
before heading back to the hotel for a much-needed shower.
Heading north on M34 over Anzob Pass towards Iskandarkul
We checked out the next morning and headed
for our second destination, Iskandarkul, or ‘Alexander’s Lake’, named after
Alexander the Great. There is no
evidence Alexander was ever actually present there, but legend has it that he
ordered a change in the flow of a river to create the lake and drown the
mountain folk that weren’t interested in friendly relations. This is a small glacial lake high in the Fann
Mountains near the Uzbekistan border. Before leaving town, we stopped at a
local grocery store to stock up on a few supplies of some snacks, our standard
refrigerator magnet souvenir, and some beverages for later. It’s always fun to wander around a grocery
store in a foreign country. I have
decided Lay’s Potato Chips are the standard for potato chips around the globe. Our
journey headed up state highway M34 north from the capital thru incredibly
rugged territory to Anzob Pass at an elevation of 3400 meters, traversing the
famous Anzob Tunnel on the way. This dimly lit, 5 km long tunnel initially
opened in 2006 after construction by Iranians in what our guide described as a
‘friendship contract’. For its first
five years after opening, the long tunnel had no pavement, lighting, or
ventilation, gaining a reputation as a ‘Tunnel of Death’. Some described it as the most terrifying
place on earth to drive. Fortunately,
improvements were completed in 2017, and the surface we drove on was paved with
occasional lights. We
drove on, turning off the paved road at the small town of Kalon. Our last 40 km drive was on rough gravel
roads passing through small villages where cows, dogs, school children, and
locals shared the streets. These are
beautiful character shots that I love to take pictures of but being in a van
with several other people the opportunity just wasn’t there. A few homes seemed
reasonably modern; others were simple stone buildings with mud for mortar and
no appearance of electricity or water. Our drivers spoke no English and drove
in silence except for the occasional phone call from the lead guide.
A few of many stone dwellings we saw
At last we reached Iskandarkul resort on
the shores of the small turquoise lake by the same name. We checked into our chalet, a small room with
one working light. This light was in the bathroom – but there was a
bathroom. The small oil heater was
completely inadequate for the task of warming up the room, but we had three
hefty blankets and the bed was comfortable.
I have stayed in worse, and we had the reward of a lovely deck at the
visitor center to look out over the lake.
We took turns taking a boat ride around the lake. The snow-capped Chamtarga peak rises to
almost 5500 meters (~18,000 feet) in the distance. After a dinner of tomatoes and cucumbers (a
staple at every meal) and some grilled meat (beef? goat?), we gathered around
the campfire and drank cheap Russian beer out of plastic bottles while gazing
at the stars and discussing the inequities of the post-World War 1 armistice
agreements. I looked around and
considered my position. I, a simple
fellow from East Tennessee, found myself high in the mountains of Central Asia,
sharing a vodka bottle with people from all over the world that I had not known
48 hours before. The last two years have
certainly been a curious turn of events at this stage of life.
Iskandarkul Lake
Relaxing in the afternoon
We got up the next morning to a beautiful
clear sky and a calm lake. The tea was hot, and we enjoyed the scenery while
basking in the warm morning sun. Life
was good. We had breakfast of eggs, yogurt, bread, and fresh strawberries, then
checked out of our rooms. We had a short hike to a nice waterfall and a nearby
lake called Snake Lake. Any snake that
can live in a glacier fed lake is not one I want to mess with. After lunch, we began the trek back to the
airport, stopping at one point when we noticed eight beautiful golden eagles
riding the afternoon thermals and surveying the landscape below. We continued up and over Anzob Pass. Snow
fell, enough to be pretty without being a threat, and just the right texture
for some nice snowballs. I chuckled to watch a couple of elderly, hijab clad
Tajik ladies join in the snowball tossing.
Snowball fun with the locals at Anzob Pass
We returned to Dushanbe airport, only to find our flight was
delayed four hours. We headed back into
town for a short entertaining stay at Bundes Bar, a neighborhood pub where the
local biker club was having their opening night festivities for a new season of
biking after the long winter. A bit disconcerting at first, these were a fine
bunch of friendly fellows that welcomed us to their town. We enjoyed our stay.
The return flight to Dubai was uneventful (always a good description for a flight). We found our car and made our way back to Ruwais to start our plans for the next trip.
“You only get so many springtimes, better not waste them”
– JD Schlandt
The Louvre
France was the destination for our tenth trip
together out of the country since we arrived in the United Arab Emirates. Each trip is different, and we weigh the pros
and cons of self-travel versus using different tour group services. Egypt and Jordan are examples where the tour
service was good; for this one, we decided to paddle our own canoe (we did use
a couple of day trip tour group options).
Lynn again handled the agenda and did another masterful job. This one-week vacation included four days in
and around Paris followed by three days in the Normandy region. As I typically do, I did a little research
for some basic information and fun facts.
Here they are.
The name ‘France’ comes from the Latin word ‘Francia’, for country of
the Franks.
France has a nominal GDP of about 3 trillion dollars (7th),
and a population of about 67 million (21st).
Marseille is France’s oldest city, founded about 600 BC by Ionian
Greeks.
The basic principles that the French Republic must respect
are found in the 1789 ‘Declaration of the Rights of Man and of
the Citizen’, that holds the rights of man are universal, valid at all times and in every place. Oddly, this did
not extend, when written, to women and slaves.
The key drafts were prepared by Lafayette, working at times with his
close friend Thomas Jefferson.
France is the world’s most visited tourist destination, with 83.7
million visitors in 2014.
In 2016, France became the first country in the world to ban
supermarkets from throwing away or destroying unsold food. It must be donated
to food banks or charities.
The French invented the metric system in 1793.
A French law prohibits people from naming their pigs
Napolean.
French writers have won the Nobel Prize for Literature more
than any other country (15).
The guillotine was last used in 1977. It was the official
mode of execution until the death penalty was outlawed in 1981.
The oldest recording of a human voice was recorded by
French inventor Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville on April 9,1860.
The average French person eat 500 snails each a year.
France produces about a billion tons of cheese each year.
The French army is the only army that still maintains pigeons for
communication in an emergency.
France produces 75% of its electric power from nuclear, resulting in it
being only 17th in the world in carbon emissions despite being
heavily industrialized.
Until 2012, there was one STOP sign in the entire city of Paris.
Exchange rate for this trip was 1€ = $1.13.
Our flight to Paris was at 8:00 AM, so as is our
custom, we stayed the night before at a Radisson Blu close to the airport to
take advantage of the free long-term parking they provide if you stay at their
hotel the day before and after vacation.
We went up early and spent a leisurely day. Our airport experiences have been good at Abu
Dhabi, and we can typically get to the departing gate in less than an hour from
arrival at the airport. We had a direct
flight to Paris on Etihad on an Airbus 380-800.
I understand the basic physics of air flight, but it never ceases to
amaze me that these massive planes get off the ground.
Citadines Apart’ Hotel Saint-Germain-des-Pres
We arrived in Paris and negotiated the train to downtown without incident. Lynn studies the metro systems in advance, making movement around town much less of an adventure than it would be if I were responsible. We checked into the Citadines Apart’ Hotel Saint-Germain-des-Pres on the south bank of the Seine in downtown (a big name, but I’ll spell it out in case anyone is interested). This was a pricey place at $251/night, but it had a wonderful location, with a nicely furnished kitchen, and a short walk to most of the major sites we were interested in seeing. I noticed no plastic bottles of water were provided, a trend I saw most of our stay in France. I don’t think I saw more than a couple of dozen the entire week, an encouraging observation for me. France, and the European Union in general, seem much more active in encouraging recycling and reducing single use plastic than the US. I also noticed large (maybe 8-foot-tall by 6 foot wide) glass bottle recycling bins on the street, a nice touch for a town in a country known for its wine.
Street Vendors
We arrived a bit late in the day for taking in
any museums, so we headed out for a walk around town site seeing. The temperature was a refreshing 50°F. We checked out the street vendors and picked
up a four-day museum pass for 130€ for both of us. This covered every place we
went except the Eiffel Tower and did not include transportation to the
venues. More expensive tickets were
available that included metro transportation, but our hotel location allowed us
to walk to all of our targets except Versailles. Transportation for that was
14.60€ round trip for both of us. We
found a nearby small grocery store and picked up some groceries for next few
days – cheese, crackers, wine, fruit. I love to meander around grocery stores
in the countries we visit.
Best ever French Onion Soup at Chez Fernand
We dropped the groceries off in our room and turned our attention to dinner. After consulting with the concierge, we headed out for Chez Fernand. We had been well advised. This was a small restaurant with a wood beam roof, old stone walls, and the best French Onion soup I have ever had. Served in a small cast iron pot, it was simple perfection. That was followed by the specialty of the house, Beef Bourguignon, beef cheeks slow simmered with new potatoes and carrots in a heavenly sauce. Wine was available in a convenient 46 cl size, about 2 glasses each. This extraordinary meal was 104€, plus a 5€ tip. We have not mastered the nuances of international tipping. We want to do what’s right, but it’s not always easy to know what that is. We returned to the hotel for the night, and as we did all week, we turned off the heat and AC and opened the windows. This is a blessing we don’t have in the UAE, and we enjoyed it.
Van Gogh’s ‘Room at Arles’ – Musee d’Orsday
I was up early the next morning (that’s just the way it is, can’t help it even on vacation). At 6:30 in the morning the streets of Paris are quiet. Weather was unseasonably cool at 38°F, still, with clear skies and calm winds this was refreshing. Our first stop after breakfast at the hotel was Musee D’Orsay. This museum, opened in 1986, was originally a train station in 1900. A variety of art is there, but we focused on an amazing Impressionist exhibit of Cezanne, Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Gauguin, and others. There was a lot to see this week. We weren’t slaves to an agenda, but we did move with purpose. We spent a couple of hours here before heading to our next stop, Musee Rodin. This museum was formerly a hotel where Auguste Rodin did his work and was donated to the state on the condition it be turned into a museum. His work that I was most familiar with, a statue called ‘The Thinker’ stands prominently in a small outside garden. This popular sculpture has been recast many times for displays around the world. If this museum is on your list, you can give it a good look in about an hour, including a nice stroll through the garden outside.
Downtown Farmer’s Market
The Eiffel Tower was next on our agenda and was
one of a few itinerary items where we did have a scheduled time. This was not covered by our museum pass. Different tickets are available; we got the
ones to the top for 51€ for both of us.
Lynn had studied the maps and found an area of town with a farmer’s
market along the way. She knows I like
to browse such places and we were off. Long
rows of booths were set up with all manner of fruits and vegetables (the
quantity and variety of mushrooms was noteworthy), seafood, meats, cheeses,
take away food, arts and crafts. As we left, we could see the Eiffel Tower a
short distance off. We still had a few
minutes and decided to grab a quick lunch of marinated duck and herb potatoes
with a cappuccino.
The Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower is certainly one of the most recognized landmarks in the world. Originally constructed for the 1889 Worlds Fair, the tower receives about 7 million visitors each year. The structure is 324 m high (1063 feet) and was the tallest structure in the world from 1889 until 1930. Bring your patience for this visit. We waited about 20 minutes to clear the initial security screen, then in a holding line waiting for our appointed time for another 10-15 minutes, then for about 30 minutes waiting for the elevator between the first landing and the final elevator to the top. The view from the top is splendid in all directions but at the highest elevation in Paris you bear the full brunt of the wind, so bring a windbreaker if the temperatures are cool.
Arc De Triomphe
Our next destination, the Arc de Triomphe, was easily visible from the top of the Eiffel Tower. We made our descent and headed in that direction, making our way through the dozens of street vendors selling their collections of souvenirs. We didn’t help them much, as memories and refrigerator magnets were all we took home. Our fine weather continued as we crossed the Seine and walked up the chestnut lined Avenue d’lena (the horse chestnut is the predominant tree lining many Paris streets). We arrived at the Arc in the middle of the rotary by way of the underground tunnel and headed up the 284 steps on the tight spiral staircase to the top. I think we were well over 10,000 steps for the day by this point. Construction of this monument was directed by Napoleon in 1806 to celebrate victories of French forces. It is the center of the ‘star’ of twelve radiating avenues, the most famous of which, the Avenue Champs-Elysees was our direction home. This avenue is loaded with world famous shops, restaurants, and boutiques. On our pleasant 2 mile walk down the Champs-Elysees I noticed a street named Avenue Franklin D. Roosevelt, one of many references to US support during WWII. We had heard the French could be aloof or even rude to foreigners, but we did not experience this. All our dealings with the locals were perfectly pleasant.
Avenue Champs-Elysses from the top of the Arc de Triomphe
We had considered passing through Tuileries Gardens on the way back to our hotel, but I estimated we were over 10 miles of walking by now and we were tired. We crossed back across the Seine to the south bank (the ‘left’ bank in much literature) to get to our hotel, and by dumb luck, we crossed at the Pont des Arts bridge, home of many thousands of love locks. These locks are put in place by lovers, then the key is thrown into the Seine as a demonstration of commitment. These locks now literally weigh tons and are causing structural problems, prompting a recent mayor to encourage people to take selfies instead in a ‘love without locks’ campaign. Traditions die hard though. Dinner that night was a simple, satisfying mushroom, ham, and olive pizza with a glass of wine and grappa ‘digestive juice’ (I love that term. I didn’t know it before moving here).
Love locks on the Pont des Arts bridge.
The Palace at Versailles was to be the centerpiece of our next day. This was the only Paris attraction where we paid for transportation, 14.60€ round trip for both of us for about a 15-minute train ride. There are several train stations around Paris that service different areas, both around town and to other areas of France, and Lynn’s preparation in knowing where we needed to go each day was a big-time saver. It was a clear, cool Sunday, out of peak tourist season, and we had no reason to believe we would have to wait in line too long, but we had what I believe is the longest wait in line I have ever had to endure for entrance – over three hours. There was an event in the gardens that day, still, this was very long. This was a time when going with a tour group may have made sense to get the express lane. The palace itself defines opulence – an immense, extravagant mansion with a floor area of over 720,000 ft2 and over 700 rooms, full of the absolute finest accoutrements available in the age. For example, the Hall of Mirrors is a 230-foot-long hall full of 17 huge mirrors designed to match and reflect the windows to the gardens on the opposite side. Built in 1689 when mirrors were a rare and expensive commodity, this display was intended to showcase French wealth and power.
Versailles Hall of Mirrors
We had dinner that night at ‘Fish La Boissonnerie’,
with an appetizer of an oyster in foam potato with English walnuts followed by
rabbit in a mustard sauce for me and a pork belly dish for Lynn. This was
another fine meal in a small charming restaurant but compared to our other
meals this was our least favorite, and our most expensive at 123€. Careful when you let the house pick the wine.
Venus de Milo, The Louvre
The Louvre was the starting point for our next day. After a fine breakfast at the hotel, we headed out into the cool morning for a lovely walk along the Seine to our destination. To many, this is the crown jewel of Paris attractions. With over 10 million annual visitors, it is the most popular. After suffering in line at Versailles, entrance here was virtually instant – less than 20 minutes. There is no way to see everything in a day, but Lynn had a target list that represented an excellent sample of a wide variety of classics – Winged Victory, Michelangelo’s Dying Slave, Venus de Milo, Liberty Leading the People, Mona Lisa, Hammurabi’s Code. I was familiar with all these, but I did not know the Louvre itself was originally constructed as a fortress to defend the capital city. A basement level display of the original foundations was interesting. We spent the morning here, then checked another box on our list – enjoying a cappuccino at a sidewalk café. We watched the tourists snap selfies of themselves with the museum in the background. We left the grounds by way of the Tuileries Gardens, enjoying the fresh morning air and the blooming flowers aided by the row of bee hives on the property. In 2018, France banned all five pesticides called neonicotinoids believed to contribute to ‘colony collapse disorder” that has caused bee populations to plummet 90% in some areas. I’ll be watching to see how this plays out.
Lynn had later afternoon tickets for us to climb the famous Bell Towers at the Notre Dame Cathedral. The gatekeeper granted us an early entrance and we enjoyed a memorable trip to share a spot next to the gargoyles looking down on the city of Paris below. We admired the massive 13-ton bells – they must surely have timed the tour groups away from the chiming of the bells – and the impressive lattice work of supporting wood beams. The trip took some time, and we feared we might lose our opportunity to enter the cathedral, but we made it in about 5:15, just before closing. The afternoon sun made a brilliant display through the stained-glass windows. We soaked in the beauty, culture, and history for a time before bidding our farewell.
From the Notre Dame Bell Towers
We had enjoyed our first dinner at Chez Fernand so much that we opted for a return visit. I had the French Onion soup again, and Lynn had a very distinctive roasted bone marrow appetizer with toasted bread soldiers – very rich and very tasty. I’ve used bone marrow for soup stock, but this was new. We enjoyed some wine and some fabulous pork chops before heading back to the hotel. We did not know we were on our way to witness history. As we made our way up the Rue Dauphine toward the Grand Augustine, I noticed traffic to the Pont Neuf bridge was closed with a lot of pedestrian traffic. We hadn’t recalled any advertisements about late night street festivals – what is this? As we turned down the street, it was apparent. The Cathedral at Notre Dame was in flames. We stepped into our hotel lobby for a few minutes to a small group of tourists watching in stunned silence as the lobby TV showed firefighters pumping water into the flaming chapel. We walked back into the street in the direction of the church just a few hundred yards away and watched for a few minutes before retiring to our room and watching local news for several hours. It didn’t seem possible to burn too long with the volume of water being pumped up from the river, but the fire raged on. We went to sleep with the smell of the burning icon drifting in our window.
Notre Dame burns.
We woke the next morning and immediately checked
the news. Reports were the worst had been avoided – the structure was still
sound, the Bell Towers had been spared, and many of the most significant
treasures had been spared. We walked
down the street to take a look. The grey
misty morning following the beautiful afternoon before seemed an appropriate
postscript to the fire.
Our time in Paris was over. We checked out of the hotel and Lynn navigated us to the Chatelet Metro Station and from there to the SNCF Rail terminal at St. Lazare. This was a bustling station, with early morning commuters urgently pressing to their destination. I have never had employment where that sort of scramble was a daily affair, and I’m glad for that. I have enjoyed all our many European train rides, and our trip to Bayeux was no different. I snooze, I read, I observe the other passengers and wonder what their story is. I observe the landscape, taking inventory of the bright yellow rapeseed fields, dairy farms, lumber yards, and grain silos. This part of France is known for apple orchards rather than the vineyards. I see townspeople and farmers doing what they do to make it to the next day. Same stage, different actors – this time it is France.
Our lodging in Bayeux, France.
We arrived in Bayeux in a little over two hours. This is a charming medieval town of about 13,000 people with a towering cathedral. We had lunch at a local restaurant, then checked in to our bed and breakfast style cottage, home for the next two nights. We spent our afternoon here touring one of the local highlights, the Tapestry of Bayeux. This 233-foot-long, 20-inch-high tapestry dates back to 1070 and celebrates the victory of William the Conqueror in 1066 at the Battle of Hastings. We stopped by a local grocery store afterwards and picked up some snacks and small bottles of wine and a local beer for dinner in our room.
Flowers on Utah Beach nearly 75 years after D-Day.
We had breakfast of pastries, yogurt, cheese with some of our fellow travelers in the dining room before heading out for a full day Normandy American D-Day Beaches tour, one of several offered by Bayeux Shuttle. This was a great selection, with a very knowledgeable Dutch driver and a small comfortable van with 15 passengers. We stopped at several memorable names from the liberation campaign – Sainte Marie Du-Mont, Sainte-Mere-Eglise, Utah Beach, Pointe Du Hoc, Omaha Beach, and the American Cemetery. I was familiar with most of the names, but there were many interesting tidbits I did not remember. For example, as the only general to personally hit the beach alongside his troops on D-Day, Teddy Roosevelt Jr led the charge at Utah, and made key battlefield decisions when the plan went astray that made the difference. I was also aware of the role of the Navaho ‘Code Talkers’ in the Pacific campaign but had no idea Comanche ‘Code Talkers’ played a similar role in Europe, credited with saving thousands of lives. It is a discredit to their service that they received no formal recognition until the French government bestowed the ‘Knight of the Order of National Merit’ to the three surviving members in 1989.
Omaha Beach.
The American Cemetery was our last visit for the day. Over 9000 Americans are buried here, including over 1500 that are not identified. Efforts to identify the unknown continue, and new identifications still occur almost 75 years later. The cemetery is steeped in symbolism – all the headstones face west towards the US; trees lining the reflecting pool are cut at half-height, symbolizing life cut short; equality of all in death is reflected in the headstones all being the same, with the dead buried with no regard to rank; pebbles from the beach where many perished are inlaid on deck surface of the memorial; brothers were always laid to rest side by side. The unknown headstones say simply “Here Rests in Honored Glory A Comrade in Arms Known but to God”. As we listened to ‘Taps’ playing while they lowered the flag at the end of the day, I reflected on the unknown deaths – in the US, a mother grieved a lost child, she knew not where; in France, a body was buried, they knew not who. I looked up and saw new shoots of growth on the sturdy oaks, and heard the birds chirping. Life is for the living. We remember our dead, then move on.
Taps played while the flag was lowered at the American Cemetery.
That was a solemn end to our tour. As we headed back to Bayeux, we drove by some apple orchards. Our driver, Mike, told us the region was famous for apples, often made into ciders of various strength, and a local apple brandy, Calvados. I endeavored to make this a part of our dinner. On the recommendation of fellow travelers, we headed out for dinner to a local establishment ‘La Maison Blanche’, known for making only Normandy specialties. We each had a delicious seafood bisque for an appetizer along with a bottle of local wine. Lynn followed that with a veal entrecote. I decided to go with a seafood specialty, Bouillabaisse. I don’t know if I had ever had it, certainly never had it in France, and I was supremely pleased with my choice (I was especially impressed with the length of the snails I pulled out of the small spiral shells). For my digestive juice, I asked for the apple brandy. I was brought the entire bottle with a glass and left to enjoy to my heart’s content, along with a generous apple tart for dessert. To top it off, the brandy was complimentary as a local treat. I was humored watching the young waitress periodically select the next You-Tube video from behind the counter for the restaurant music selection. At 73€, I felt this meal was a real value, and an authentic French dining experience.
Bouillabaisse at La Maison Blanche
We had another fine breakfast with fellow travelers after our last night at Chambres Le Castel, then checked out before heading out to the destination for the day, Mont Saint-Michel. We arranged to leave our packs for later pickup, lightening our load for the day. Our trip today was also through Bayeux Shuttle. The ride was comfortable and fully adequate but much less informational than the D-Day tour. After about a two-hour ride, we were left on our own to tour the grounds for a few hours. Perched on a rocky islet in the midst of a vast sandy shoreline, this Benedictine abbey was built beginning in the 8th century and continuing for hundreds of years. The tidal swing is an impressive 46 feet, resulting in an island at high tide and a shore line 11 miles out at low tide. The island has served many purposes to many owners over the years, including a period as a prison in the early 1800’s. About 50 permanent residents inhabit the island, including monks and nuns, who reside only as tenants. The monument is managed by the National Monuments Centre.
Mont St. Michel
On
our return to Bayeux, we picked up our bags from Chambres Le Castel, and took
the short walk to the train station. The
train ride back to Paris was pleasant and uneventful. We checked into the Holiday Inn Express at
Charles de Gaulle airport and finished off the last of our snacks in our room.
Our flight home the next morning completed another great vacation. Total cost for this trip (everything all the
way down to refrigerator magnet souvenirs and the cab ride at Abu Dhabi airport)
was $5539.
Looking out onto the Strait of Hormuz from the beach at Kumzar.
I live in the small company town of Al Ruwais in Abu Dhabi,
the largest of seven Emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates. The
terrain is flat, characterized in the far west by sebkha, a flat saline plain
that often has a blistered surface like giant flaking paint chips. Heading east travelling along some 400 miles
of coastline, the terrain begins to shift as you drive through the Emirates of
Dubai, Sharjah, and Ras Al Khaymah, becoming increasingly more mountainous and
rugged. Ras Al Khaymah contains the
highest peak in the UAE, Jebel Jais at 1892 meters (6207 feet). But that isn’t
my destination for this trip. I am
heading past Ras Al Khaymah to the Musandam province of Oman. This small
isolated enclave juts out from the Arabian Peninsula into the Strait of Hormuz,
separated from the rest of the country of Oman by more than space. Khasab is as far as I can go I by road. The
last leg of the trip to my destination of Kumzar will be a three-hour boat ride
on a dhow, the traditional sailing vessel in the waters of the Middle East.
Kumzar is a small town of a little over 1000 people, originally
settled by Portuguese sailors about 500 years ago. It is isolated by mountains
on three sides and is only accessible by boat.
The city is in the unique position of being completely isolated by
rugged mountains, yet exposed to one of the busiest shipping channels in the
world. This curious mix resulted in the village developing a separate language,
Kumzari, a unique blend of Farsi, Arabic, Portuguese, English, in addition to
unique local words. The town is not a
tourist destination. In fact, one source I read said the town banned tourists
in 2010 due to their intrusive behavior, but apparently this ban doesn’t apply
if members of your crew have family in town.
Such remote isolation makes a destination like this a high prize for
those who savor the road less travelled.
I am having a great time visiting destinations off the
beaten path through a pair of Meetups I belong to in the UAE. This trip was set up by UAE Trekkers (https://www.uae-trekkers.com). Travelers from the UK, Pakistan, India, and
the US arrived for our dhow ride in Khasab by different means. I caught a ride from Abu Dhabi with two
ladies in a rental car driven by a splendid Syrian named Menem. I don’t normally chat much about personal
details with drivers, but over the next few hours I learned a few things about
Menem. He is of the Druze religion,
originally born out of Islam but they are not considered Muslim and the Koran
is not their Holy Book. There aren’t a lot of Druze. Syria has the largest
concentration at about 600,000. The Druze are somewhat Unitarian in drawing
elements from many different religions and believing all faiths are valid and
lead to the same divine source. I don’t
ever recall meeting one before, but
Menem was a fine man. I
apologized for asking him these details, but he said it was okay, he could tell
I was of a ‘free mind’. He is from the
town of Al Suwayda in Syria, near, as he described it, to Jordan and Palestine.
He is only one of several people I have spoken to here that refer to Palestine
as a physical place in casual conversation, not making any kind of political
statement. I always find that interesting.
He felt much war was the result of too much religion.
Home for two days.
Passing through customs at the Oman border was an easy
affair. I paid 35 AED (about $10) to leave the UAE. My 12-month visa from a few months before saved
me the 50 AED it would normally cost to enter Oman, and we were on our way. About an hour later we arrived at the port
city of Khasab, where we met the rest of our party and ferried out to our dhow
to spend the night. This was a large
dhow, maybe 50 feet long, with carpet and cushions laid out majlis style. I
slept under the stars on the mats. The
temperature was perfect – I slept without so much as a sheet – and enjoyed a
pleasant breeze with no bother from bugs.
Happy fisherman with two cuttlefish.
I awoke the next morning to the sight of a small harbor surrounded by mountains. We set sail, eating a breakfast of fruit, yogurt, and pastries as we worked our way up the Oman coast. We were soon entertained by dolphins and stopped to take the first of many breaks to kayak, snorkel, and swim. Small fishing villages dotted the coastline, completely isolated, but with power lines snaked down the hills to them at what must have been considerable effort. We pressed on just a bit further to our next stop at Telegraph Island, a small island with remnants of an old British telegraph station from the mid-19th century. The water was clear with a refreshing bite to it when you first dove in, and the clear shallows made for some fine snorkeling. Large jellyfish were common, but they were just pretty rather than the variety that sting. One of the crew dove down and in short order came up with two large cuttlefish he caught by hand. These were added to our freshly made fish stew a couple of hours later, the first of several catches that were added to our menu on the trip.
We continued to Kumzar, enjoying a splendid lunch as we
travelled. The surprising Menem produced
the most beautiful fruit salad I have ever seen, with cantaloupe, watermelon,
strawberries, oranges, grapefruit, kiwi, and grapes crafted into an artful
floral display. Soon after we dropped
anchor in a secluded cove about 30 minutes from Kumzar. We would spend the night later, but there a
couple of other agenda items first. Most
of us boarded the smaller shuttle boat and headed to the town for a short
afternoon rock scramble in the mountains behind the town. One of the crew, Walid, had a sister living
there, and we visited her house. These
are the
moments you will not get with a tour group and are priceless to me to
experience how other people really live.
The houses don’t look like much from the outside, but inside were clean,
simple, and comfortable. We headed on to
the back of the small town where hike would begin, passing dozens of goats
along the way
(Menem – ‘They eat everything’).
This wasn’t really a hike, more of an exploration of about 4 km through
the rocky canyons surrounding the town.
Some of the local kids scampered around us, laughing at us picking our
way through the boulders as they hopped from rock to rock wearing their
kanduras and sandals. We headed back
into town as days end approached, stopping by Walid’s sister’s house again for
some refreshments of juice, tea, watermelon, dates, and pita bread. Curious local youngsters dressed in colorful
local attire smiled and waved at us as we walked down the street.
Young Omani ladies.
We arrived back at the dhow about sunset. During our absence, some of the travelers had caught more fish, and the crew member who had success catching cuttlefish earlier had success again, this time with scallops the size of small dinner plates. The fish became part of our barbeque on the beach, along with skewers of chicken and lamb, rice, baked potatoes, and fruit, washed down with red wine from a paper cup. Life is good. As we took the shuttle boat back to the dhow, we experienced the thrill of an amazing bioluminescence display. The water flew through the air like spark showers as we splashed the surface, and my fist looked like the beam of a flashlight as I held my hand underwater. I had heard of this phenomenon but did not expect it, and certainly not the level of brilliance we were treated to. The stars were bright as we found our way to our cushions. What a great way to end a special day.
Overlooking Kumzar to the Strait of Hormuz beyond.
We were up before the sun the next morning to beat the heat for a morning hike to a pinnacle overlooking the town. Eggs were made any way you like as long as you like fried hard, which was just splendid on a piece of bread. Some fruit and yogurt and we were ready to go. We took the shuttle to town and headed up the rocky slope behind town. Walid led the way in his kandura and sandals while the rest of us plugged along. In about an hour, we were treated to a glorious vista overlooking the town, nestled into a barren rocky shoreline with the Strait of Hormuz in the distance.
I confirmed they didn’t sting when I ran into one with my head.
We returned to our shuttle craft and said our farewell to Kumzar. We met up with the dhow en route and had enough time for a splendid swim stop that gave me a chance to savor the experience one last time before heading back to Khasab. Our crew, all local Omani (except Menem), were wonderful hosts and showed us a delightful time with an authentic Omani experience. Cost for this trip was 1400 AED ($381). This includes the dhow cruise accommodations for two nights on the dhow, meals, snorkel gear, kayaks, and sleeping bags/blankets. It does not include transportation to Khasab or the visa for entering Oman which can be easily obtained online or on arrival.
Cheops’ Law: “Nothing ever gets built on schedule or
within budget.”
Pyramids of Cheops and Chefren on the Giza Plateau
We chose Egypt – the ancient land of Pharaohs and
pyramids – for our first trip of 2019.
This is the perfect type of excursion to take advantage of during our
stay in the UAE. Air travel time is less
than 4 hours and two time zones away, with round trip air fare for two to Cairo
at about $1000. Expense would be a lot
more from the US, as well as much more significant jet lag to contend with. We decided using a travel service was the
best for this trip. First, there are security concerns to deal with despite
best efforts of the government to contain them, and second, Cairo is a
sprawling, chaotic city of over 20 million people that can present a lot of
travel challenges. This was a good call. We had numerous references for travel
services, and ultimately chose “Memphis Tours”, a tour service rated five stars
by Trip Advisor with almost 7000 reviews.
This large and very professional organization has been in business since
1955. We chose an eight-day, seven-night trip covering Cairo, Luxor, and Aswan.
I always enjoy reviewing an area
before a trip for some basic history, geography, cultural, and other fun facts
before we go. Here is what I found for
Egypt.
Egypt has a population of approximately 100 million, making it the 14th most populous country; 95% of those live within 20 kilometers of the Nile River.
The Nile River is the longest river on earth at 6695 km. It has its origins in Burundi, south of the equator.
Cairo is the second largest city in Africa at 20.4 million. (Lagos, Nigeria is the largest at 21 million, I didn’t know that).
Egypt has one of the longest histories of any country, dating back to 6000 BC. Several cultures developed independently in upper and lower Egypt before a unified kingdom was established by King Menes about 3150 BC. Some organizations classify Egypt as the oldest country with a continuous presence in the world.
The Giza Necropolis is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and the only one still in existence.
Egypt was an early and important center of Christianity. Somewhere between the 10th and 14th century the country became an Islamic majority. Taxes on non-Muslims was an important source of revenue, however, as a result, non-Muslims were tolerated. Numbers I read varied, most sources say the country is currently about 90% Islamic and 10% Christian.
The Coptic Christian language is believed to be the closest survivor of the ancient Egyptian language.
After several hundred years of Ottoman then British rule, Egypt declared independence in 1922. British occupation continued however, not ending until the 1952 revolution when the country was declared a republic.
Although it depends almost entirely on irrigation, agriculture makes up about 20% of Egyptian exports. Cotton is the biggest fiber crop and the leading agricultural export, followed by wheat and rice.
Ancient Egyptians invented the toothbrush and toothpaste to take care of their teeth. They used a wide variety of ingredients to make their toothpaste including ashes, eggshells, and ground up ox hooves.
Ancient Egyptian men and women of equivalent social status were treated as equals in the eyes of the law. Women could own, earn, buy, sell, and inherit property.
Thirty-one dynasties ruled from Narmer (aka King Menes) circa 3150 BC to Cleopatra ending in 30 BC. The country was influenced by the Persians after they invaded Egypt in 525 BC, and later by the Ptolemaic Kingdom following conquest by Alexander the Great in 332 BC. A dynasty is a series of rulers belonging to the same family.
Hieroglyphics were used from around 3000 BC until the last known inscription in 394 AD, but the ability to read and write hieroglyphics was lost completely after that. Understanding hieroglyphics was made possible by the discovery of the Rosetta Stone in 1799. This stone contained an inscription made in two languages (Egyptian and Greek), and three scripts, including hieroglyphics.
Egyptians perfected the 365-day calendar by observing the movement of Sirius through the sky, abandoning the 360 day calendar that had been in use for a millennium. This enabled them to better predict the annual Nile flooding.
One US dollar = 17.59 Egyptian Pounds (LE) at the time of this trip. I list entry fees per person for individual exhibits for information. Unless indicated, these were included in the tour price.
We arrived in Cairo late in the
afternoon of Saturday, February 9. We
were met by the cheerful Ahmed of Memphis Tours, who guided us swiftly through
customs and on to our hotel in Giza. He
filled us in on some travel tips and details as we drove through town. He advised us that lane markings in the
street are purely decorative and serve no purpose for guiding drivers, and horn
honking is merely communication, not hostile.
We were cautioned not to drink the tap water. He described a civilian
justice system where thieves and other criminals caught in the act are
administered a measure of justice before handing them over to the authorities
just in case they don’t get it quite right. We also discussed tipping, which is an
important part of the Egyptian tourism system and is much more complex that we
have seen elsewhere. Normally trustworthy
sources such as Trip Advisor and Lonely Planet varied widely on accepted
amounts which seem to be due to virtually anyone providing any service at all.
We also had conflicting advice on whether to tip in Egyptian pounds or US
dollars. Ahmed set us straight on that
one – dollars are preferred due to the effects of inflation on the Egyptian
pound. He said service providers would
tend to save any tips given in dollars and spend any received in pounds. I looked up inflation rates in Egypt; at 21%
for 2018, Ahmed’s reasoning makes perfect sense.
I made a few observations as we drove through town. Cars seemed to be relatively evenly distributed between virtually every manufacturer on the planet – Chevrolet, Kia, Mercedes, Renault, Fiat, Toyota, VW, etc., and BYD, a Chinese manufacturer I had not heard of before. Gasoline prices were relatively cheap at 7 LE/liter, ~ $1.5/gallon. We were told the government subsidizes gas to keep prices more affordable. Egypt is an Islamic country, but we did drive by a couple of large Christian churches. Most native women wore colorful hijabs, but abayas were much less common than what we have seen in the UAE.
We arrived at the “Sheraton Cairo
Hotel and Casino” in Giza, a five-star rated hotel as were all our
accommodations for the week. We were
cautioned, as we had been in Jordan, that the star ratings would be different
than western standards, but we were perfectly pleased with our rooms and
services. We were also introduced to
security protocols which included a heavy iron gate at the hotel entrance, bomb
sniffing dogs that circled the car before entry, and a metal detector for
patrons to walk through before entering the hotel.
The Great Pyramid of Giza.
The Solar Boat at Giza
The next morning, we were met in the hotel lobby by our guide for the day, Sayed Selim. As all our guides for the week were, Sayed was a trained Egyptologist and a very friendly, talkative young man. We spent the morning at the Giza Plateau (160 LE), visiting the Great Pyramids of Cheops (also known as Khufu), Chefren, and Mykerinus. It is hard to describe in words how amazing those structures are, that they could be built with the technology of 2500 BC. I paid for a separate ticket that allowed me to go into the interior of Cheops Pyramid to the burial chamber (360 LE). As I worked my way through the narrow passages, it was amazing to note how precise the stone cutting of the granite blocks was. I struggle to cut a straight edge in wood with a saw; they were able to cut two-ton stones at angles so precise you can’t slip a piece of paper between them. We continued to see the amazing Solar Boat (100 LE), an intact, full size ship that was sealed in a pit next to the pyramids at about the same time as their construction, ~2500 BC. It was 143 feet long, built of Lebanese cedar, and had remained undisturbed since being sealed in its vault. This ship, discovered in 1954, was built as a vessel to carry the resurrected king into the afterlife with the sun god Ra.
Making papyrus at “The Key of Life” papyrus shop
Sayed told us that while homes and
palaces may built on either the east or west side of the river, burials were
always on the west, the sunset being symbolic of death. Death was the start of the journey though,
not the end. The afterlife was considered more important than their earthly
life, and more time and energy was spent on preparing for the afterlife. As a
result, there are virtually no remaining artifacts on daily living residences.
We left Giza Plateau and headed to the “Key of Life” papyrus shop. We aren’t buying much in the way of souvenirs during our stay in the UAE to keep our travelling light. I have always been fascinated in papyrus though, and some authentic paper was on my list. We received a demonstration on how the paper was made, from cutting the plant into strips, soaking and weaving them, and finally pressing the sheets into the final product. We bought some nice samples.
Baba ghanous, tzatziki, and bissaraa with pita bread
Our next stop was lunch by the river in
Cairo. Lunch was typical Egyptian fare
of baba ganoush (coolest sounding food name ever), tzatziki, and bissara (a
fava bean – split pea dip I was not familiar with), served with Pita bread and
some grilled chicken and beef. Lemonade
with mint is a popular drink in the Middle East, and we enjoyed that.
Alabaster canopic jars for King Tutankhamun
Our afternoon stop was the Cairo Museum (160 LE, additional 50 LE for a photography pass). A spectacular new museum is scheduled to open in 2020, but the current museum is still quite impressive. We entered the grounds, driving by tight security of armed guards and barriers. The museum contains aisle after aisle of the history of thousands of years. It’s impossible to see it all in the course of a few hours, but a few exhibits really stand out. One section that did contained the King Tutankhamun exhibit. The hallway was filled with gilded burial shrines, alabaster canopic jars, statues, chairs, and other contents of the tomb. An inner room contained the actual nested coffins (three of them), and the famous gold mask. To stand looking at this mask just a couple of feet away is a memory that will last a lifetime. Unfortunately, photos aren’t allowed in the inner room.
Queen Thuya
The other exhibit that really stood out
was the Mummy Room (extra 180 LE fee).
This contained several mummies at different levels of preservation,
including Queen Hatshepsut and Ramses II.
Some sources suggest Ramses II was the Pharaoh who dealt with Moses.
There is no biblical or archeological data to confirm this. Still, to be in the presence of such a
significant historical figure is awe inspiring.
Again, no photos were allowed in this room.
Security in the country was interesting. At times, it was very strict – armored vehicles, bomb sniffing dogs, robust iron gates, metal detectors, frisking by officers, etc. Virtually every restaurant, hotel, or public exhibit had metal detectors and security officers present. At other times, every single person entering through a metal detector would set it off, and no one raised an eyebrow. I asked one of our guides about this. He simply shrugged and replied “Egypt”.
The next
morning (February 11) we were back at Cairo airport for a short flight to
Luxor. This was one of our more chaotic
airport experiences, but everything sorted out well enough and we were on our
way. As we approached Luxor (known to the Greeks as Thebes), I looked down and
noticed the clean break between the desert and the green irrigated fields along
the Nile. The river truly is the
lifeblood of the country. We met Yasser,
our guide for the next four days, and checked into our lodging on the cruise
ship MS Mayfair. After relaxing for a
couple of hours, we spent the afternoon visiting Karnak (150 LE) and Luxor (140
LE) Temples. These are each UNESCO World
Heritage sites. Queen Hatshepsut
had two obelisks erected at sprawling complex of Karnak. One still stands, as the tallest surviving
ancient obelisk on Earth; the other has broken in two and toppled. Yasser also pointed out that purely Egyptian
columns were topped with Lotus flowers or papyrus carvings. Later columns with Greek or Roman influence
had more Corinthian style crowns.
We started our
morning on February 12 with a boat taxi ride across the river for our sunrise
hot air balloon ride. Dozens of boats
provide this service. I couldn’t help
but notice all the languages being spoken as we took our ride. We have observed English as being the closest
thing to a universal language in our travels.
We need one. It could be any language,
I’m thankful it’s English. Doing
business is so much easier when people can at least communicate on a very basic
level.
Early morning at the Valley of the Kings
After a brief delay for atmospheric
conditions to stabilize, we hopped in our hot air balloon baskets ($99/each
extra). These massive baskets held about
25 people. We were lifted several
hundred feet in the air for a beautiful view of the Valley of the Kings, the
Temple of Hatshepsut, the surrounding farms, and the desert beyond. Some farmers burning their sugar cane fields cast
a haze over an otherwise perfect morning, but we still had a good time.
Deir Al-Bahari Temple (Temple of Queen Hatshepsut)
Next on our itinerary was Deir Al-Bahari
Temple (100 LE), also known as the Temple of Hatshepsut. The Queen was very much unloved after her
reign, partly for being a woman, partly because her heir and stepson, Thutmose
III, should have been the heir many years before. As a result, he destroyed
many of her sculptures and portraits. I once thought most antiquities degraded
due to the ravages of time. That is
certainly true to a degree, but I’ve come to realize much damage comes from
thieves, plunderers, disgruntled family, differing ethnic groups, religions, or
just about anything else.
The Valley of the Kings
Nowhere was the consequence of thieves and robbers more substantial than in our next stop, the Valley of the Kings (200 LE). Of the over 60 tombs in the Valley, only the tomb of King Tut avoided wholesale plundering. We visited three tombs there – Ramses IV, Merenptah, Ramses IX. Photography passes here come in two forms – a legal pass which cost 250 LE, or the process of passing a note to the security in the tomb. Price on this one varies. You don’t approach them, they approach you. I didn’t intend to use this method, but the tomb of Ramses IV was more colorful than I expected, and it was too late to go back out and buy a pass then. So I snapped a few pictures for 20 LE.
Our guides took
us to several shops over the course of the week that dealt only in quality
genuine Egyptian products. Our stop for
the day was the “Luxfour Alabaster Factory”.
Craftsmen demonstrated their trade, sitting on the ground outside the
shop with various files and carving tools. I had Egyptian cotton in mind for a
souvenir, but this turned out to be a nice substitute. I bought a small basalt canopic jar set, and
they threw in a cat carving as well.
Late afternoon on the Nile
We came back to our ship for the
afternoon cruise up the Nile to our next stop at Edfu. Our room had a narrow deck on it that was
barely wider than the chair, but it was sufficient for me to have a fine time
whiling away a few hours in the pleasant afternoon sun watching the Nile go by. I watched the small fishing boats, powered by
oars, not motors. I saw cattle grazing
along the shore, small vegetable gardens, and larger banana plantations, all
made possible by the frequent irrigation pumping stations. I watched swallows sweeping the river
surface, snatching bugs invisible to my eye.
I sipped a scotch and pondered my good fortune in life.
Horus Temple at Edfu
I got up early the next morning,
February 13, before sunrise. I made a
cup of coffee and sat on the deck watching the coming dawn light up the sky.
Early morning fishermen set out in their boats through the mist as they must
have done for countless generations. Our
first stop of the day was the Horus Temple at Edfu (140 LE). Edfu was known as the “City of Revenge” for the
revenge Horus took against Set for chopping Osiris into 42 pieces. Osiris’s queen Isis was able to reconstruct Osiris,
except for his penis, which was eaten by a catfish. She was able to make a replacement phallus
well enough to conceive Horus, who later took revenge on Set and restored the
natural order in Egypt. Hard to spin a
better tale than that.
We headed on up the river to the Temple at Kom Ombo (100 LE), unique for being a dual temple. One was for the crocodile god Sobek and the other was for the falcon god Haroeris. Three hundred mummified crocodiles have been found in the vicinity, and several of them were on display in an unusual Crocodile Museum display. No pictures were allowed of that interesting exhibit.
Nubian vendors selling their wares at Philae
We continued to Aswan, our last stop.
After our overnight stay, we boarded a small bus and headed out to the Aswan
Dam (known as the ‘High Dam’ after an earlier British dam proved to be
inadequate). Yasser filled us in on
details about the dam. Completed in
1970, the dam has been a positive for flood and drought control (allowing a
longer growing season) and providing reliable low-cost electricity. On the downside, chemical fertilizers are now
needed where the soil has been depleted from the lack of fresh silt each growing
season, many antiquities have been lost forever, and over 160,000 Nubians were
permanently displaced from their native lands.
The resulting lake is the world’s largest manmade lake – 500 km long,
and the dam is an impressive engineering feat.
Several of our guides
referred to the series of 2011 Middle East events known in the west as the Arab
Spring as ‘the revolution’. I don’t
discuss much about politics, religion, or the sort when I am a guest in another
country, but I did ask how our hosts felt about the impact on the average
Egyptian. As members of the tourist
industry, they all felt the effect, at least in their view, was bad. Tourism accounts for about 12% of the Egyptian
workforce. Tourism peaked at 14.8
million people in 2010 (by comparison, Paris had 8.2 million that year),
collapsing to as low as 4.8 million in the years following the uprising in
2011. It has recovered to 8.3 million in 2017.
The decrease in income must have been sorely felt by street vendors and
the like, who now aggressively ply their trade.
Although they could be quite pushy, I never felt unsafe at any point on
our trip.
Our last temple to visit was at Philae (140 LE). This was also a relocated monument, and now required a short boat ride to get to it. This temple was partially flooded before relocation, which wasn’t completed until 1980. UNESCO played an important role in relocating all the antiquities moved as a result of the dam construction.
Our next stop was the “Essence of Life Perfume Palace” in Aswan. This was an interesting shop that sold dozens of locally made aromatherapy oils and fragrances, as well as making a wide variety of handmade glass dispensers. Many varieties may be easily found elsewhere, but the papyrus and lotus fragrances were said to be unique to Egypt. We purchased a few as our tourist bag continued to swell. Our last official tour stop was at the Unfinished Obelisk (80 LE). This is the quarry where all the obelisks in Egypt were mined.
Ramses II stands sentinel at the Great Temple at Abu Simbel
Our last full day in Egypt started with
a bonus tour we signed up for. This was
a 3-hour bus ride to the fabulous Temples at Abu Simbel ($95/each). The site has a pair of temples – the Great Temple,
dedicated to Ramses II himself, and the Small Temple, dedicated to his chief
wife Queen Nefertari. These were also relocated due to the dam
construction, but unlike the other temples, these had been carved directly into
the side of a mountain, greatly complicating relocation. There were ultimately
elevated at the same location by about 60 meters into small manufactured
mountains. This was really an
engineering masterpiece on par with the original construction, as there is no
sense of relocation as you view the colossal statues of Ramses guarding the
entrance and tour the temples.
Ramses II subdues Nubians
We got back on our bus for the drive back to Aswan and the flight back to Cairo. After our last night in Cairo, we caught an early flight back to Abu Dhabi. Memphis Tours really did an amazing job at planning every detail. We would recommend them to anyone considering a similar trip to Egypt or the surrounding countries.
Total trip expenses for this trip were $6172,
our most expensive yet. Certainly, Egypt can be seen for much cheaper with a
little effort. We felt using the tour group
was the right approach for this trip, and there is no doubt we splurged a
little in both our accommodations and our souvenirs. Plus, this trip included additional air fare
expenses from Cairo to Luxor and returning from Aswan to Cairo.
