tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25390771003360181172024-03-12T16:49:21.813-07:00Heather's travelheatherfulcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02424613360757084690noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2539077100336018117.post-907621041288346612019-02-15T21:03:00.000-08:002019-02-21T21:04:18.487-08:00Costa Rica - Feb 2019<div dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<u><b>Nosara (at Playa Guiones), Costa Rica</b></u><br />About 2.5hrs from the Liberia Airport, this bohemian yoga and surf town is about two blocks long, with only a handful of shops and restaurants. The only place in town with a TV was packed for SuperBowl Sunday. The route into town is through a gravelly, dusty, potholed, washed out road through an active river. Our little casita is nestled off the main road. It’s a two bedroom house with our own kitchen and outdoor living room with two hammocks. It’s quiet and private, just perfect for how we like to vacation. Monkeys climbing in the trees above, birds chirping, visits from neighbourhood cats and a menagerie of other assorted animal visitors. The beach is pristine, powdery white sand, free of garbage and pesky peddlers, not very crowded, and perfect ocean temperature to play in the waves for hours. The busiest time of day is sunset when everyone in town gathers on the beach with a beverage and watches the sun dip into the ocean. I spent most days in my swim suit, sarong and flip flops, with layers of sunscreen and beach sand all over. <br /><br />Yoga<br />My yoga shala is right across the street from our casita. Thatched roof, open air circular building in a garden setting just steps from the beach. Salutations to the sun with background sounds of howler monkeys, toucans, geckos, chirping birds, and ocean waves. I also checked out the fancy yoga resort in the next town. Massive compound with multiple shalas, gorgeous views of the jungle and ocean, with a juice bar, infinity pool and vegetarian lunch buffet. The yoga practice was next level at that place. Some students doing a chin stand to transition between gumby contortion postures.<br /><br />Surfing<br />With the help of our instructor, I was able to hang ten for a few waves. This area has a beach break, which means you can surf in chest deep water, easiest for beginners. It’s super fun to ride the waves, even just lying down or kneeling on the board is a rush.<br /><br />Rosita & Ricardo<br />Our latino alter-egos have been resurrected on this trip. The locals struggle to pronounce “Heather”, so it’s just easier to go by “Rosita” (my middle name is Rose).<br /><br />Golf carts, ATVs and tuk tuks<br />The transportation of choice is this little hamlet is by golf cart or ATV rental, or tuk tuk taxi. On our very first evening in town we wandered down the beach at sunset and managed to find our way over a mountain trail (in flip flops no less) to the next little beach town. We bellied up to a little pizza joint and after realizing it was impossible (and ill advised) to find our way back in the pitch dark, we hired a tuk tuk taxi to bring us back home. One day we rented a golf cart to explore outside our tiny little section of town. A very jiggly ride on the gravelly, potholed roads, but manageable with the right support garments.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHQ2XT5KlPTgJWgZGJN07E0Kjrnw7WCBHLVgywiEJyuZ0ocBrlgEjLEODlMkAml6YUF7IVZzQ6FXK0sHsqIZJ8zqF5JY9FVDSEuulTXgqmDh91c5Gp33aYwRDmgdffdNF28YZEyJDkv0I/s1600/IMG_4990.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHQ2XT5KlPTgJWgZGJN07E0Kjrnw7WCBHLVgywiEJyuZ0ocBrlgEjLEODlMkAml6YUF7IVZzQ6FXK0sHsqIZJ8zqF5JY9FVDSEuulTXgqmDh91c5Gp33aYwRDmgdffdNF28YZEyJDkv0I/s320/IMG_4990.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY27C55Qn9-R1uupAv7Omb8FG9fo30FPFCkRyZNRAe5cUI_AMdPkRQ2pVXfz99zh9tqQFbhJqZIXit7Wjru7d_PkG08ZQjUZ93Iqu1-F_8SnE9wHObXNGTKTC_tpIWSV6dUFb-_DZoLqY/s1600/IMG_4993.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY27C55Qn9-R1uupAv7Omb8FG9fo30FPFCkRyZNRAe5cUI_AMdPkRQ2pVXfz99zh9tqQFbhJqZIXit7Wjru7d_PkG08ZQjUZ93Iqu1-F_8SnE9wHObXNGTKTC_tpIWSV6dUFb-_DZoLqY/s320/IMG_4993.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><u>Santa Teresa, Costa Rica</u></span></div>
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6hrs shuttle bus ride on rough roads brought us south to Santa Teresa. Also a bohemian surf and yoga town, but this place has more to it compared to Nosara. It is long and narrow, extending about 3-4kms along the seaside between three consecutive beaches (Playa Carmen, Playa Santa Teresa, Playa Hermosa). We stayed in a boutique ‘eco chic’ hotel called Canaima Chill House. We had our own private deck with table and suspended napping bed. Inside there is a queen bed, kitchenette and a cool bay window type glass shower jetting into the mountainside jungle. There is a common pool, hot tub and chill out zone with beanbag chairs and pool loungers. And a resident resort cat which we lured into our lair with cat treats. He slept on our deck every night of our stay.</div>
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Surfing</div>
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Rich said he doesn’t need any more lessons, he just needs to practice. So we rented a surf board for a few days and just played in the surf. I got my butt kicked by the waves just trying to get out far enough to catch a wave to ride. The ocean is POWERFUL! Ricardo had a bit more success as I did.</div>
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Yoga</div>
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I found the mothership in this place. My yoga place is part of a fancy oceanside resort, with the thatched hut yoga shala and massage rooms RIGHT beside the ocean. I love watching the surfers and hearing the crashing ocean waves while in my tree pose.</div>
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Valentines Day</div>
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Our valentines treat to each other was an oceanside couples massage at the fancy resort, followed by wine and dinner at sunset. It’s the yoga resort’s valentines promo package and it totally speaks my language.</div>
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ATV</div>
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Given the long narrow shape of this town, and that our place is <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">400m uphill on a rough mountain road, an ATV was the perfect vehicle for us to get around. It really is the rental vehicle of choice all around town, with many of them outfitted with surf board racks. It also allowed us to explore a bit farther out of town as well.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Cabuya Island</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">About 7km from town, accessible by foot from the mainland by a sandbar at low tide. We had to time our visit by the tide charts or risk being trapped out there.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Beachside restaurants</span></div>
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There are a lots of oceanfront restaurants in this place, and we tried quite a few of them. I’ll never tire of the waves, ocean breeze, watching the surfing, and sunset views.</div>
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<br />Other musings:<br />- Molasses helps keeps the dust down on these gravel roads. Actual molasses. You can’t make this stuff up folks. Very sticky on the flip flops.<br />- Little mini piles of poo all around town are from the monkeys climbing in the trees above. Word to the wise: close your mouth when you look up.<br />- “Pura Vida” is a Costa Rican expression used to say hello/goodbye/thank you/be cool/hang ten/ see you later. Translation: pure life.</div>
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- Traveller vs. Tourist - both the places we chose on this trip are off the beaten path, and not that easy to get to. This keeps the tourists away, but not the travellers. There is a local saying “Bad roads bring good people”. </div>
heatherfulcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02424613360757084690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2539077100336018117.post-85540716168586747592019-01-08T21:45:00.000-08:002019-02-21T21:47:47.463-08:00Bali, Indonesia - Dec 2018/Jan 2019<span style="background-color: rgba(255 , 255 , 255 , 0); color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Ubud</b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Gajah </span>Biru Bungalows</div>
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We stayed at a lovely boutique hotel just a bit away from the centre of the town. Walkable to everything, but far enough away for the quiet and privacy we crave. I had an afternoon nap on the couch of our private veranda every afternoon. Loved it.<br />
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Trekking</div>
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While walking through town trying to find the start of the popular “Campuchan Ridge Walk”, we got a bit lost and ended up on another trek at the suggestion of a local that was selling his guiding services. What we thought was going to be a short 2km walk with a restaurant and massage place at the end, ended up being a strenuous and at times dangerous 3.5hr trek through some beautiful fields and remote local villages. The guide kept telling us it was only 15min more. A little bit of grumpiness on this trek, but it was a spontaneous and unique experience. Boy did we need a massage after this day!</div>
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Temples, rice terraces and coffee tour</div>
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One day we hired a car and guide to take us to the famous Tegalalang Rice Terraces, local temples and other area attractions. While at the rice terraces, I did the “Bali swing”, which is a huge swing on the edge of a steep drop. I did a <u>baby</u> Bali swing, death was unlikely if I fell off. Very fun. We visited a couple of temples as well, including a sacred holy water temple. Locals and tourists alike submerge in the pool and are showered by fountains of cleansing holy water. We also took a luwak coffee tour. This is the most expensive and unethical coffee in the world. Luwak coffee is made from partially digested coffee cherries, eaten and defecated by the “Luwak” aka Asian palm civet (similar to a cat). These animals are force fed the coffee beans in captivity, a very sad life for these poor creatures. Approx cost to buy $35/cup, $100/lb.</div>
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<b>Island of Nusa Lembongan</b></div>
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The 30min fast ferry to Nusa Lembongan was an experience itself. Without a dock or pier at Sanur beach (island of Bali) or at Lembongan island, these fast boats load/unload passengers, luggage and cargo from the beach. Passengers wade into the water up to the thigh to access the boat. Our boat was small, approx 20 passengers with luggage strapped to the roof of the boat. Water sprayed in the windows as the boat crashed through the ocean swells. Turquoise waters surround this remote island paradise, with surfers, stand-up paddle boarders (SUP), and snorkelers in the bay as we approached.</div>
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Tigerlillys Bungalows</div>
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Our accommodation is my favourite of any holiday so far. We had a private two story thatched roof bungalow with outdoor bathroom, veranda, living room and shared pool. My yoga place is directly beside our bungalow, you can hear the classes in progress from over the fence dividing us.</div>
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Mangrove forest</div>
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The north part of island is covered in mangrove forest, a very cool spot for SUP, kayaking, and guided boat tours. Our guide ‘poled’ our tiny boat through the mangroves for about 30min. Very unique experience. We followed this with a fish lunch at a beachside warung (local joint).</div>
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Born to be wild</div>
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Exploring the island via scooter is really the best way to get around. The big yellow bridge (pedestrian & scooters only) connects the islands of Nusa Lembongan and the smaller Nusa Ceningan. We scootered our way around both islands stopping at interesting viewpoints and beach clubs. We took a pit stop to lounge in some beach chairs with some refreshments, partook in the water swing and ocean hammock. We also came across a ceremonial cremation in the town plaza. Dead guy on the bonfire for all to see.</div>
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Catamaran sailing - BEST DAY EVER!</div>
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With nobody else signed up, we ended up with this 63ft luxury catamaran to ourselves for the day. A crew of four fed us, waited on us hand and foot, gave us guided snorkeling at nearby island of Nusa Penida, and even gave on-board massages on the deck after lunch. They also included a 1hr massages at the fancy resort spa at the end of the cruise. I’m definitely spoiled for regular life after this day.</div>
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<b>Canggu</b></div>
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Villa Sar’ja</div>
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Villa Sar’ja was our home for 4 nights in this laidback hippie surfing beach town on the main island of Bali. Very eclectic little bungalow with outdoor bathroom, veranda beds for shady naps, outdoor kitchen and infinity pool with sun loungers. It was nicely located nestled around rice terraces, a 5min walk to my yoga place, and an easy scooter ride into the main part of town.</div>
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Beach walking, pool flopping, book reading</div>
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We spent some time each day just sauntering down the beach, waves lapping at our toes, and watching the surfing. We spent quite a bit of time chilling at our villa, book reading and pool flopping. Ranch Relaxo. While scootering around one day, we stumbled on a cat shelter open to feline enthusiast visitors. We sat in a room full of meowy cats eager for a snuggly lap sit. We were in cat heaven! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3aMMV65e9tf_u6nXY1Cdi2SebKIwXTdLe0TFtxVt30Ju7cxeJ2xucjx4ag8hel7_lo1nNJGsh0sr78oEJko1v6DMhaL_fUd9EadL_W4NoT3vm7kx3uHnQhtTc-Sf4XrgjVmRGPxASCWQ/s1600/IMG_4909.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3aMMV65e9tf_u6nXY1Cdi2SebKIwXTdLe0TFtxVt30Ju7cxeJ2xucjx4ag8hel7_lo1nNJGsh0sr78oEJko1v6DMhaL_fUd9EadL_W4NoT3vm7kx3uHnQhtTc-Sf4XrgjVmRGPxASCWQ/s320/IMG_4909.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhunrTzSsMuPg9iaBjBShvQQ9-fbUTuEWlpFyRmTAR1tZPfR7SqUnHDIwfbW1pSHqxmAsFE2z40fd82WBFnE27Iuzpi3LkwR6NLiB7Dh2UohXFW-KaVqF3w2B6Wg2-JC4hQHdGSeh2-qXw/s1600/IMG_4916.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhunrTzSsMuPg9iaBjBShvQQ9-fbUTuEWlpFyRmTAR1tZPfR7SqUnHDIwfbW1pSHqxmAsFE2z40fd82WBFnE27Iuzpi3LkwR6NLiB7Dh2UohXFW-KaVqF3w2B6Wg2-JC4hQHdGSeh2-qXw/s320/IMG_4916.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>Yoga</b></div>
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For me, a big part of the draw to Bali is the yoga culture. I attended a yoga class everyday, and advanced my practice quite a bit on this trip. Yogis and shalas abound all over Bali. I found the practices to be more orthodox that my ‘urban’ studio back at home. One of the yoga instructors closed the practice one day with a guided laughing session. First belly laughs, then high pitched laughs, then everyone in freestyle laughter. Very cathartic. One class I went to focused on the subtle minutia of the most basic yoga poses I’ve been practicing for years. I also attended my first Ashtanga class. I can report that ashtanga is a militant, structured sequence of poses for advanced yogis with fast transitions between serious Gumby contortions and cirque de soleil acrobatics. I stayed with the first stage of most of the postures. One class I attended had us in headstands for 5min, which I’m proud to say I accomplished! The shalas I visited were amazing. Thatched roof buildings with open sides or floor to ceiling windows all around. Some with views, most in a garden setting. Fans to cool the 30’ heat, sounds of roosters, birds chirping, dogs barking, courtyard fountains, and neighbourhood stirrings can be heard above the soothing yoga music. “Yoga Barn” in Ubud is a massive sprawling compound in a garden setting with multiple shalas each accommodating around 100 mats, a cafe, treatment rooms, yoga teacher training, workshops, gift shop, etc. </div>
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<b>Massage</b></div>
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I had a spa treatment almost everyday on this trip. It’s so cheap here, I decided to make it a mission to indulge. $8-$10 for 1hr massage - yes please! Massage, facials, body scrub, body wrap, reflexology, and more.</div>
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<b>Traffic</b></div>
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As in many foreign places, traffic flows like water here. Vehicles just fill in the open spaces, with only a casual regard to the painted centre line of the road. Congestion was CRAZY in Ubud, the town has far outgrown it’s narrow little roads causing total log jams. </div>
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<b>Other random musings and observations.....</b></div>
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- young kids riding scooters around town (~8yrs)</div>
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- interesting cultural mix of Hindu and Muslim faiths</div>
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- small groups of kids parading the streets in dragon costumes playing music instruments, accepting ‘offerings’ as they passed</div>
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- Balinese homes and businesses devote a lot of resources to preparing and placing ‘offerings” in their spaces. “Offerings” appear to include a little banana leaf tray with flowers, a piece of food, and burning incense stick. Every home and business has a temple where amoung other spots, they place their offerings, some temples are more elaborate than others. </div>
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heatherfulcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02424613360757084690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2539077100336018117.post-43354892372810981872018-03-28T08:01:00.000-07:002019-04-02T09:39:24.799-07:00Thailand - March 2018<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><b>Carpe diem</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">A few days before the start of the trip, my partner Rich’s 80yr old father was admitted to the hospital. With the information known at the time, together we made the decision that Rich would stay behind and I would take the trip to Thailand without him. A few days into the trip we learned that his Dad has end stage, aggressive, untreatable terminal cancer.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">With today’s technology, it’s amazing how we feel connected to each other and able to offer support from halfway across the world. Although bad timing, this trip has taken on a whole new purpose and goal for me. More and more, I’m aware of my own mortality and how health can be so fragile. If you wait for the stars to line up perfectly before you tackle your bucket list, you’ll be waiting forever. And we all think we have more time than we do. I’ve decided that the theme of the trip is “Carpe Diem” / “Cease the day”.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><b><u>Thailand first stop - Chiang Mai</u></b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><b>Massage</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzUOhCcZYf_CbsLAejv5gjtIVKaU5dZaRajWBs5x7gTmydjUY3FYN3X9yjKo4unC4qYJg_B2ludlp9ZyTI9jG6_2c1-kEqfTkfcLLDDiFGX68J0rx6PsSu433F2c2Z4S7P9yRwFDjfhE4/s1600/1.4+-+IMG_3817.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzUOhCcZYf_CbsLAejv5gjtIVKaU5dZaRajWBs5x7gTmydjUY3FYN3X9yjKo4unC4qYJg_B2ludlp9ZyTI9jG6_2c1-kEqfTkfcLLDDiFGX68J0rx6PsSu433F2c2Z4S7P9yRwFDjfhE4/s200/1.4+-+IMG_3817.jpg" width="150" /></a><br />
My bag didn’t even hit the floor of the Chiang Mai hotel reception lobby before I booked a 1hr massage. This was my first Thai massage, and I can report that it is very intimate and very physical. Prepare to be pulled and pushed and stepped on and be in an intertwined human pretzel with your practitioner. All for $10/hr CDN. And I’ve since found it for $5/hr. I’ve also found a massage place by ex-inmates, and one by blind practitioners. Have your heard of “fish spa”? It’s a foot soak in an aquarium of tiny fish that nibble the dead skin off your feet. Checked that one off the list on the second day at a cost of $2.50 for 15min. I love self care, I’ve decided I’m going to have as much massage and yoga and drug store facial masks as I can fit in.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaLsmPCcppJXDfhZoZJwibdEpmG14JRM4POILt2uDAHwQl_Lf7Bg20jr2usWfRsuIZ44fsNMMjzZoNwYOUeDMf1OREbE_as697OfDh0XE1pic092AadytUxs_WcvDA-3cAeo0DZZ2YRoA/s1600/1.3+-+IMG_3801.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaLsmPCcppJXDfhZoZJwibdEpmG14JRM4POILt2uDAHwQl_Lf7Bg20jr2usWfRsuIZ44fsNMMjzZoNwYOUeDMf1OREbE_as697OfDh0XE1pic092AadytUxs_WcvDA-3cAeo0DZZ2YRoA/s200/1.3+-+IMG_3801.jpg" width="150" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><b>Thai food</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">I think Thai food might be my favourite. I love it so much, I enrolled in a Thai cooking class, one of the top things to do in Chiang Mai. I made a chicken and cashew stir fry, Penang curry, sweet and sour soup, and egg rolls. The class location was on a quaint, rural organic farm. I ate all the food I made, and it was only a half day course. Is it possible to overdose on Thai food?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><b>Sunday market</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">I planned the timing of the trip to make sure to be in Chiang Mai for their famous Sunday night market. I loved it!! They closed traffic on two intersecting roads, each about seven blocks long. The main theme was local handmade arts and crafts, with lots of food stalls (including deep fried bugs), as well as huge massage stations for $3/30min foot massages (of which I partook, of course...). Well into the start of the market, there was a loud speaker announcement for the start of the Thai national anthem. Huge, busy market stopped and went silent until the end of the anthem.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWMVIQ5FXXrXB4l9xdOBnUmsSa28xRyKimY7Ol8S57DTGgoT_quth1inN4Mac3-WqYUGWoW2CUgI9tBWWoiwfet_WRGIGvBMWl2P-rRVNVeNZ7LqYmkqmY8TGcI7X1gRBRdLUFrgqlbg4/s1600/1.2+-+IMG_3840.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWMVIQ5FXXrXB4l9xdOBnUmsSa28xRyKimY7Ol8S57DTGgoT_quth1inN4Mac3-WqYUGWoW2CUgI9tBWWoiwfet_WRGIGvBMWl2P-rRVNVeNZ7LqYmkqmY8TGcI7X1gRBRdLUFrgqlbg4/s320/1.2+-+IMG_3840.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9oMFZeW7dRciPOTPA5sSh0ZQ7CtgBLSMT0ZwYXxEBoGI00Edu-TUzwwd3NOblWYsSsMR1IAAWMSSO1sqYQ3h2WIYOAupUCuTlYLZrFEbba4g1yT-l1x9sznaLCrQEiyS7DR0v1tBPuQE/s1600/IMG_8124.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9oMFZeW7dRciPOTPA5sSh0ZQ7CtgBLSMT0ZwYXxEBoGI00Edu-TUzwwd3NOblWYsSsMR1IAAWMSSO1sqYQ3h2WIYOAupUCuTlYLZrFEbba4g1yT-l1x9sznaLCrQEiyS7DR0v1tBPuQE/s320/IMG_8124.jpg" width="213" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><b>Elephant Sanctuary</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">This was a big part of the reason I wanted to come to Chiang Mai. The tourist trade in many parts of Thailand abuses and tortures elephants so they are rideable and can perform circus stunts. There is a huge demand from consumers for more ethical interaction with elephants, which gave rise to the elephant sanctuary experience. Elephants are rescued / retire from the tourist (and farm) trade, and live out their days in a more natural jungle setting, being nurtured and cared for. Tourists pay to visit and interact, and to help feed them and bathe them. Huge highlight for me. I had a mud bath with the elephants, then we all rinsed off in the waterfall. We went on a jungle walk and watched how they eat and carry on in the wild. They carve their own path wherever they go. Huge trees being crushed in their wake. During the participant lunch, two of the elephants (mother and baby) stepped over the barrier of the camp ‘enclosure’, came over to the dining table and ate the platters of pineapple and watermelon from in front of us. The baby kept brushing up against me on the jungle walk and got mud on my camera lens.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><b>Temples and more temples</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">There are so many temples in Chiang Mai, and they are all so beautiful and peaceful. There really is one every few blocks it seems. Many temples had a massage place on their property, which worked out well for me. I had an experience in the temples, probably given the context of this trip. I found myself mesmerized and in a meditative and emotional state, thinking about my partner and father-in-law, reflecting on the finite nature of all our lives.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><b><u>Next stop in Thailand: The island of Koh Tao</u></b></span><br />
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<b>Snorkelling / massage / yoga</b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Koh Tao is a small island on the eastern side of Thailand, close to Koh Samui. This is just the vibe I was looking for. It is very “local”, not too crowded with tourists, but has all the restaurants, accommodation and activities that tourists want. One of the yoga places I went to was at a youth hostel in the middle of town. The practice space was in the main lobby of the hostel, open air to the traffic and hustle bustle of the town. It was an interesting challenge to get on my namaste beside a working blender with scooters honking and hostellers smoking next to me. I was the only student in the class, so the instructor had the opportunity to do lots of adjustments for me. He was pulling me, pushing me, twisting me, it almost felt like a Thai massage.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Koh Tao is well known for cheap scuba. Many people come here to get PADI certified. I’m not into scuba, but I love snorkelling. I was in my bathing suit and flip flops for the majority of my time on Koh Tao, with a permanent imprint of the snorkel mask on my face.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSPBWMmvxDPUl85ZLGgJ4vXqp7Q-qkI_gKNB_gFxC1JTBWhx2szxsn_2MBEaK2AbPd6xr0P_Mfr8PIwUwGDpmCTzu8tzMp6DPh_kXFO1iNKHZVA5Aqzx8S2lxqCtYH2p4exkvp1Fo4AmE/s1600/2.+0+-+IMG_3878.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSPBWMmvxDPUl85ZLGgJ4vXqp7Q-qkI_gKNB_gFxC1JTBWhx2szxsn_2MBEaK2AbPd6xr0P_Mfr8PIwUwGDpmCTzu8tzMp6DPh_kXFO1iNKHZVA5Aqzx8S2lxqCtYH2p4exkvp1Fo4AmE/s320/2.+0+-+IMG_3878.jpg" width="320" /></a>My resort was a 10min walk to the main town through a lovely jungle path connecting other neighbouring waterfront resorts. I mostly walked everywhere I needed to go, including 40min walk to the next town for my favourite yoga place. On the way back one day, I decided to hitchhike and got picked up by a fellow traveler on a scooter who took me 2/3 of the way. Most everyone rents scooters to get around, but everything I read warned against it, due to the danger of inexperience, the quality of the roads, as well as the racket of the rental companies charging crazy money for scratches and dents you were not responsible for.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhelGfnNpGshM9RvgtMAXa5YSilKj9iA3BTerSVP58bTROGNEx6Mbf9hHYR4Bfw-Y8ruYODenHnbiEonBvB4mb3IYKBszM7WD6yWYVzEZFJxQnVHjVUoBnfH73HUVAECQxQSM5Q6cqkSH8/s1600/2.0+-+IMG_8315.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhelGfnNpGshM9RvgtMAXa5YSilKj9iA3BTerSVP58bTROGNEx6Mbf9hHYR4Bfw-Y8ruYODenHnbiEonBvB4mb3IYKBszM7WD6yWYVzEZFJxQnVHjVUoBnfH73HUVAECQxQSM5Q6cqkSH8/s320/2.0+-+IMG_8315.jpg" width="320" /></a>One day I went exploring down the beach trail, past the my resort beach to the next, more remote beach resort. I found heaven (right after I found a 6 foot lizard crossing my path). Hippie dippie beach with just a few people, a couple of ramshackle beach bungalows, a girl playing a ukelele, people practicing slacklining, and snorkeling right from the beach. I spent a few hours reading my book on a pallat platform swing in the shade, with a few swim/snorkel breaks. Then I carried on farther down the path and found the Banana Cafe, playing a cool playlist of my favourite music, selling cold drinks and Thai food oceanside with a view. There were a few boat taxis available to take people back to the main pier or other parts of the island. This is my idea of awesome. </div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><u><b>Final stop: Bangkok</b></u></span><br />
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<b>Massage / Markets / Temples / Grand Palace </b></div>
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My accommodation was a small B&B right ON the river, with a direct view across the river to Wat Arun (beautiful temple), and right beside the reclining Budda temple and Grand Palace. I spent my time exploring by foot, tuk tuk, and boat-bus on the river. I visited the temple of the reclining Budda (huge, golden Budda), spent time on Khaosan Road (backpacker party area, markets, restaurants, massage places), and visited the Grand Palace (former royal residence). I joined a tour for the floating market and train market, which were quite a drive from the city. The floating market is set-up in a network of canals, with market stalls on the sides as well as vendors selling from their own boats, and you travel through via Gondola style boat. Congested, chaotic and crazy, but very cool. The train market is set up on the tracks of a working railroad, with trains coming through every hour or so. The walking path between stalls is the tracks themselves. When the trains come through, vendors pull their awnings back and move items out of the way, and everyone squishes to the side as the train inches through at a snails pace. Then awnings come back and goods are shifted back, and the bustling market continues on. </div>
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The heat in Bangkok was a bit overwhelming. I was soaked in sweat most of the time, guzzled water, and I had to cool off with any fan or AC I could find just to save from melting. In the summer months it is even hotter, I can’t imagine.</div>
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General cultural observations:</b></div>
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- Personal space: on my flight from Shanghai to Bangkok, my airplane row seat mate decided to stretch out over the empty seat between us, and nuzzle his head into my lap, with his legs extending into the aisle. I was asleep at the time, but came to as he was getting settled. Not sure if this deserves a post to the #metoo movement. Trying not be be offended at the same time as not being comfortable with it.</div>
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- Tai chi instruction on the airplane entertainment monitors. I’m happy to report that I did the cloud arms, and flamingo posture all from the comfort of 39L.</div>
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- Safety laws. Most scooter/motorbike drivers don’t wear a helmet. Many are on their phones while driving. People riding in the back of pick-up trucks. Family of 4 (or more) piled onto a scooter weaving through traffic. Babies riding in cars with no car seat or restraints of any kind.</div>
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- food safe practices - cooked food sitting on display all day in this tropical weather without heat/refrigeration. May have contributed to a few tummy grumbles I had on the trip.</div>
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- smoking - there is lots more smoking here than in Canada. And when I ask to be seated away from smokers in a restaurant, people look at me like I have four heads.</div>
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Goodbye Thailand, thanks for having me!<br />
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Full photo slideshow:<br />
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J13mVZ1pQh0</div>
heatherfulcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02424613360757084690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2539077100336018117.post-51237565954488545112013-02-13T12:27:00.001-08:002013-02-13T12:27:21.335-08:00Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - 2013This girls' trip to Mexico was a 40th birthday trip for my sister Nancy and our friend Cynthia. We were the "Three Amigas" from Feb 3th - 10th in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico staying at the all-inclusive "Friendly Vallarta Resort & Spa".<br />
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<b>Feb 3rd</b><br />
One week in Puerto Vallarta was supposed to start this morning. Has anyone had a flight delayed 14hrs before?<br />
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15hr flight delay to Puerto Vallarta. Sunwing Airlines sucks! A strongly worded letter to Sunwing headquarters to follow....<br />
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<b>Feb 4th</b><br />
Highlight of day #1 in Mexico:<br />
Afternoon beachside happy hour musical entertainment by a Mexican man in a sombrero on a dancing horse.<br />
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<b>Feb 5th</b><br />
Highlights of day #2 in Mexico:<br />
Oceanside massage, several good games of beach volleyball, and oceanside beach chair service of fajitas and cervesas by our cabana boy Jorge.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsH5B24J5gsviNfkVhF2BizjoQfTR0rCRsIzDSc_gWXFo_aPv52pR15mKZWVFDRqR6aDuV5y9h3nQrM5zLloWMDsChrIdIXttgdAPUNhbMWtnlUwypQKTXSyHl6XazcnqDKnhPSwFBOrA/s1600/IMG_1676.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsH5B24J5gsviNfkVhF2BizjoQfTR0rCRsIzDSc_gWXFo_aPv52pR15mKZWVFDRqR6aDuV5y9h3nQrM5zLloWMDsChrIdIXttgdAPUNhbMWtnlUwypQKTXSyHl6XazcnqDKnhPSwFBOrA/s320/IMG_1676.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Friendly Vallarta Resort & Spa</td></tr>
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<b>Feb 6th</b><br />
Highlights of day #3 in Mexico:<br />
Groundhog day of same highlights from day # 2 + dinner at the gourmet fancy restaurant at the all-inclusive resort<br />
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<b>Feb 7th</b><br />
Highlights of day #4 in Mexico:<br />
Waking up to the view from our oceanfront balcony overlooking the volleyball court.<br />
Happy hour drinks perched at the edge of the infinity pool listening to the sound of the surf.<br />
Mexican fiesta party at the resort with local entertainment.<br />
PS. Things got a little crazy at Andales bar last night. I may or may not have danced ON the bar.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fiesta party at the resort</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dancers at the fiesta party</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsUgKufazQaoQ3ZFydWjicDodoSr7Bus_WfxuAe4SeJNldoGvz_Z8txXfzvtcUP93cDbhs6uyTzzSLJFtxME5QtuJPuey5UYkJAfA7UnlbvLoDJSrH3qcGPIduLS_7_J1amA_w07pTGHo/s1600/IMG_1686.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsUgKufazQaoQ3ZFydWjicDodoSr7Bus_WfxuAe4SeJNldoGvz_Z8txXfzvtcUP93cDbhs6uyTzzSLJFtxME5QtuJPuey5UYkJAfA7UnlbvLoDJSrH3qcGPIduLS_7_J1amA_w07pTGHo/s320/IMG_1686.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heather, Nancy & Cynthia</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heather & Nancy</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heather & Nancy - dancing ON the bar at Andales</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heather & Nancy dancing ON the bar at Andales</td></tr>
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<b>Feb 8th</b><br />
Highlights of day #5 in Mexico:<br />
Ziplining through the jungle set of the 80's movie "Predator".<br />
Swimming with cervesas in the river/waterfall afterwards.<br />
Getting schooled in the fine art of tequila tasting.<br />
Happy hour margaritas and fish tacos at Sea Monkey beach bar in old town.<br />
Enjoyed a special order prawn dinner beachside at the resort.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The movie set of "Predator"</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lounging by the river after ziplining</td></tr>
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<br />
<b>Feb 9th</b><br />
Highlights of day #6 in Mexico<br />
Riding the local chicken bus to the hippie dippie surf town of Sayulita<br />
Flopping on the beach and getting WAY too much sun<br />
Margaritas and fish tacos at one of the local joints<br />
Daydreaming of returning to that town for a trip with my #1 guy<br />
Fancy dinner at an offsite restaurant<br />
PS - Note to self: don't lose your wristband for the all-inclusive resort. The resort won't replace it, so I'm on the lam at the resort where I paid a lot of money to stay. One more day to evade capture from "Friendly Vallarta Resort & Spa"<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sayulita beach</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cynthia, Heather & Nancy - Fish tacos and margaritas</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cynthia, Nancy & Heather - Dinner at La Leche</td></tr>
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<br />
<b>Feb 10th</b><br />
Mexico 2013 in review:<br />
Resurrected my cage dancing, tequila drinking, broken Spanish speaking Latina alter-ego "Rosita" - it's fun being a different version of myself for one week.<br />
Laughing and smiling muscles have had a good workout, and the stressometer is at zero.<br />
Successfully dodged the authorities at the resort - apparently only fraudulent criminals lose their all-inclusive wristbands coming in for a hard landing when ziplining.<br />
Significantly improved my overhand volleyball serve.<br />
Left for the airport wearing my swimsuit and flip flops covered in ocean and beach - I guess I have to leave, but it's under protest.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dancing in the cage at "The Zoo" bar</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tequila shots in the cage at "The Zoo" bar</td></tr>
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<br />heatherfulcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02424613360757084690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2539077100336018117.post-76310163242826809932008-08-15T22:46:00.000-07:002012-01-01T23:09:28.478-08:00Beijing Olympics 2008<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Beijing Summer Olympic
Update #1 - July 29, 2008<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Just a quick note to let you
know that I've arrived in Beijing.
This is day one of my five weeks in China to work on the Olympics.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I flew from Vancouver to
Beijing via San Francisco. I can
officially report that my Olympic fever started on the lay-over in the San
Francisco airport. The gate lounge
was filled with people going to the Olympics in an official capacity. The US Men's water polo team, a whole
bunch of press, and a school band that will be playing on one of the stages at
the Opening ceremonies. The water polo boys (all tall, blond and gorgeous.....)
were all wearing official Olympic team uniforms, and getting their photo
snapped by tourist paparazzi.
Beijing airport is a sight to behold. Huge, modern, fresh paint, brand new just for the Olympics,
and operating like clock work. The
city has Olympic signage everywhere, the 'look of the games' is very
prominent. The whole place is a
buzz with Olympics already. My hotel is great, 4 star right in the city centre,
not far from the Silk Market. The
headquarter hotel for the adidas program is a sister hotel one block away. The weather is pretty warm here, about
25'C. There is a light layer of
fog/smog, but I'm told today is the clearest they've seen in awhile.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I have the night off
(Tuesday), but tomorrow morning after some training sessions, I’ll be launching
straight into my ticket manager duties for the adidas sponsor VIP hospitality
program. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I'm hoping to send regular
update emails to share a few memorable moments, so stay tuned for more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Heather<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">2008 Beijing Summer Olympic
correspondent at large<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Did you know?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">70,000 - Olympic volunteers
for the Beijing games<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">500,000 - capacity of
Tian'anmmen Square<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">91,000 - capacity of the
National Stadium for Opening and Closing Ceremonies<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">10,000 - athletes competing
in the games<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">3,000,000 - number of pieces
of apparel that adidas will be contributing to athletes, volunteers, staff, and
technical officials for the games<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">150,000 - police and
security personnel working the games<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">290,000 - security
volunteers working the games<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">100,000 - anti-terror
commandos on stand-by near Beijing<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Beijing Summer Olympic
Update #2 - August 3, 2008<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I'm about one week into my
Olympic experience, and having an incredible time. I just love the team I'm working with on the adidas
sponsorship hospitality program.
About half the people are first time 'Olympians' and the other half are Olympic
gypsies and have stories about past Olympic games going back 10 or 15
years. Everyone is really fun,
REALLY competent and hard working, and we are constantly laughing and cracking
jokes. I love my team!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Food<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Breakfast is included at my
hotel, so every morning I join some of the other team members for the
'breakfast club'. It's a huge
international buffet, hot and cold.
At first I was eating cereal and yoghurt because that's my regular
pattern. I've ditched that now,
opting instead for noodles, rice, stir fry and salad. It seems breakfast is the big meal here, so when in
Rome..... The company
provides a per-dium for our food, so we have to go out and get what we want for
lunch and dinner. Lunch has been
Subway or salad bar or pizza. And
for dinner I've been dipping into my snack stash. I brought a wagonload of Costco snacks with me and they are
really coming in handy. Nuts,
power bars, tuna & cracker packs, etc.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Traffic and pollution<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The news media portrays a
much bigger problem with traffic and pollution that I've been witness to so
far. That said, apparently half
the cars are mandated off the road right now, and I think a bunch of factories
have been ordered to close for August.
I usually wake up to beautiful clear blue skies, gorgeous hot sunshine. Average temperature is somewhere
between 25' and 30'C. And
the traffic just hasn't been a big problem so far.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Olympic Green<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">This is a huge Olympic park
home to about a third of the Olympic venues. It would take hours to walk from one end to the
other. You have to go through
typical airport style security to get onto the 'Green', and no professional
cameras are allowed in. The
National Stadium (aka Bird's Nest) and the Water Cube swimming venue are amoung
the most notable venues on the Green.
The Bird's Nest architecture is really unique with huge steel
'beams' wrapped and twisted around
the entire building. It holds
91,000, open air with covered stadium seating. The pictures don't properly
convey how massive this structure is. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Opening Ceremony
rehearsal<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Our entire team got last
minute tickets to see the rehearsal of the Opening Ceremonies at the Bird's
Nest. This experience goes down as
one of the best in my life. It was
the most amazing spectacle I've ever witnessed. I was completely awe struck the entire time. We arrived 30minutes prior to show
time, and the performers were loading in.
Even that part was a work of art.
Words can't properly describe the show, but I'll give it a shot. The
first part was a synchronized LED drumming sequence of over 2500 performers in
a perfect grid. There was a
perfect circle people performing Tai Chi
doing their moves in unison, and a huge globe that came out of the floor
with acrobats walking sideways on it.
There were thousands of performers in LED bodysuits that lit up it a
patterned light show. People
dangling in the air and coming up from the floor. A huge human powered Chinese typewriter with pillar/keys
moving up and down with people inside each key. Every once in a while fireworks would explode from the
stadium lighting up the entire surrounding area, and spilling into the stadium
through the roof. Amazing use of
projection and special effects. It
was very 'Chinese', with select international elements. The thing that struck me was the exact
precision and unison on a scale that I didn't know was possible. My jaw was on the ground the whole
time, and at times I was almost in tears.
I can't believe I'm actually here for the Beijing Olympics and I'm so
grateful that I got to see the Opening Ceremony in person.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Work<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">My average work day has been
about 14 hours so far. I'm
responsible for 20,000 event tickets for all adidas VIP and celebrity
guests. Most of my days have been
spent counting and sorting and logging tickets. I have three full days before the first wave of VIP guest
arrive and will be picking up their tickets. I'm in pretty good shape, but I'll be glad when I get
through the first wave (five waves in total). My work so far has been grueling (brain fatigue), but the
work coming up will be even more challenging trying to keep track of all the
changes that we anticipate. It's a
huge responsibility, but so far I'm feeling pretty comfortable with it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Time of my life!!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Heather<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic
correspondent at large<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Did you know:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">$450/night - cost of my
hotel room<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">$3.75 Billion - cost to
build terminal 3 at Beijing Airport<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">1.5 Million - visitors
expected for the games<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Beijing Summer Olympic
Update #3 - August 9, 2008<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Holy smoke, this is what it
feels like to be at the centre of the universe. It feels like the eyes of the world are here on Beijing, and
I'm right in the middle of it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>adidas<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Some of the coverage that
you'll see of some of the athlete interviews is video taped in the adidas
Hopitality Suite where I'm stationed.
adidas has transformed a regular roof-top terrace and adjoining banquet
rooms into an elaborate adidas themed indoor/outdoor lounge with TVs,
refreshments, displays of the 17 Olympic team uniforms that adidas supplied to
athletes. We regularly have athletes
coming in and out of the space for TV interviews. It's so cool!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Opening ceremony<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Last night was the opening
ceremony for the games. I'm so
grateful to have seen the rehearsal a few nights ago, it was actually quite fun
to experience it from the outside the second time. My role was as bus parking lot manager responsible for
positioning my team to direct adidas guests to the correct bus (in a sea of
100's of other sponsor buses) after the event. We pulled it off perfectly, (ie. didn't leave any
guests behind). The logistics and
security around the event were amazing. The entire surrounding area of the
stadium (10 block radius?) was completely shut down to local traffic, only
accredited vehicles were allowed access.
The roads to get to the stadium were all clear, no traffic in
sight. The security around the
stadium was staggering. Police
stationed every 20 feet. SWAT
tanks and army troops on patrol, check points at every intersection for the
accredited vehicles. Getting into
the Olympic Green / Bird's Nest Stadium through the 'airport security' was
heightened. Helicopters were
swarming in the sky. The streets
were swarmed with locals watching the stadium from afar taking photos of the
fireworks and the lighting of the cauldron. Speaking of fireworks, HOLY SMOKE! The fireworks show that was part of opening ceremony, and
which carried on for 30 minutes after was amazing, even better than HSBC
Celebration of Light (sorry
HSBC....). There were fireworks on
Olympic Green, in the stadium, throughout Beijing, and even on the Great Wall,
all timed as part of the opening ceremony. It was really cool to see the ceremony performers come out
after the show, and walk the streets to their transportation. Thousands of people walking in the same
costume all together. Everything
at the Olympics is on a massive scale.
And there's no way to describe the energy until you've experienced
it. I'm in complete awe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Security<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Aside from venue security,
I've noticed a heightened security around Beijing in general. There is a security check point getting
into the headquarter hotel, and now I have to show my room card to get to my
guest room. There are more
military and police around the streets, even SWAT tanks patrolling the
highways. This city is in complete
lock down.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Corporate/Branding<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">One of the things that
strikes me is how corporate the Olympic games is. There is so much money spent on sponsorship, branding, and
showcasing. Each sponsor has a
pavilion on the Olympic Green, and each one is more elaborate than the one
before. There are other consumer
showcases set-up all over town. Coke has one close to the hotel, where they've
turned a regular retail space into a Coke themed experience, complete with an
ice tunnel, LCD screen completely covering the ceiling, and free Coke products
for all. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Look of games<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The whole city is covered
with Olympic signage in the themed design and colours. There is no mistaking it anywhere you
go, the Olympics is in town.
Buildings are wrapped for the games, there are Olympic street signs,
flower garden displays, signage on pedestrian walkway overpasses, flag pole
signs, entire city blocks wrapped, etc.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Work schedule<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I didn't know it was
possible to work 20 hours, have 1 hr sleep, then work another 20 hours. But, I did it. It's amazing what lack of sleep does to
the brain. Errors happen, things
take 3 times as long, everything is an overwhelming task, logic becomes skewed,
the simplest solution eludes you.
Add to that, I haven't been eating properly. When I get in the zone on a task, I don't take the time to eat. Thank goodness for my stash of
snacks. I anticipate that my
workload will lighten for the rest of the games. In my position as ticket manager, the largest sorting and
organizing happens on the front end, and that's done now. I think my schedule will be much more
manageable from now on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>First sporting event<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I went to my first event
this morning. Women's volleyball,
Italy vs. Russia. Those girls are
TALL!!! At this level the athletes
are playing such a tight, strategic, well planned game. They had a sequins
dance troop that came on the court during the breaks between games, so
hilarious. Even the court sweepers
were choreographed, with their little hop over the mop, and synchronized
patterns. Airport security to get
into the venue, no food or drink allowed.
Only small little portable cameras, no umbrellas or musical instruments.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Chinese names<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">This is one of the biggest
challenges on the program. Chinese
people have several different names, and they use them at different times. This
makes for a lot of confusion on so many levels. Organizing an event that relies on accurate guest count
information is very difficult when you don't know if you've got duplicate
registrations for one person who registered information with two different
names. This is one of the biggest
challenges so far. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Celebrities and VIPs<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The city is swarming with
celebrities, and some have been in my general vicinity. adidas held a "Gold Metal"
gala party here at the hotel two days ago, with all sorts of 'A' list guests. The production itself was amazing. Millions of dollars to convert the
hotel's tennis court facility into an extravagant night club for just one
night. The whole back wall of the
stage was LCD screens, the stage was illuminated with the adidas logo. The entire room is wrapped in gold,
including gold carpet, drapes, furniture.
The guest included: Donovan Bailey (sprinter), Maurice Green (sprinter),
Nadia Comaneci (Gymnastics), Ian Thorpe (swimmer), Tyson Gay (sprinter), Jeremy
Wariner (runner), Jet Li (martial arts).
Last night I helped one of our guests out of a cell phone snafoo at
opening ceremony, turns out he is the President and CEO of Reebok Global. He was so grateful for my help, so now
he and I are good buds.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Smog and heat<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The clear skies that I
mentioned before turned out to be a blip on the meteorological radar. Most days since have been 'foggy' most
of the day, 35' temperatures, and 80% humidity. It's HOT here! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">This is good. VERY good!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Heather<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Beijing 2008 Olympic
correspondent at large<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">heatherfulcher@gmail.com<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Beijing Summer Olympic
Update #4 - August 15, 2008<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">It's day 8 (of 17) of the
Olympics, and into wave 3 (of 5). I'm continuing to have an amazing
Olympic experience with lots of great highlights to share.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Olympic events<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The adidas client encourages
us to get out to events, and there are lots of tickets available on a regular
basis. I've been able to make time in my schedule to attend two more
events since my last message. I went to gymnastics the other day, men's
team gymnastics. It was held in the National Indoor Stadium, right
beside the Bird's Nest and Water Cube on Olympic Green. Part of the
experience is just being on "The Green" with so many other
international Olympic visitors, amazing Olympic sculptures, great photo
ops, and tonnes of extra-curricular things to do. The Olympic Green is in
fact very green. Lots of grass, fragrant flower gardens, park area, mini
lakes, bridges, etc. There are Bellagio style fountains, over-sized golf
cars for optional transportation, lots of concessions
and public 'honey pots'. The gymnastics event was really
cool. There were eight teams (China, Japan, USA, Germany, France,
Russia, Korea, Romania), and they took turns at each of the six apparatus
(floor, rings, pommel horse, vault, parallel bars, high
bar). It's amazing to me what those athletes can do with
their bodies. The awards ceremony happened immediately after the
competition, and is obviously a really moving and exciting part of the event,
especially because China won gold. The part I enjoyed the most is the
energy of the live crowd, flag waving, chanting, 'the wave', the crowd
eruptions for amazing performances, and cheers for the Chinese
team "Jia Yo" = "Let's go / Keep going". I also
really love that they serve beer in the stands, even for morning events (not
that I partook...). I also attended swimming at the National Aquatics
Centre / aka "Water Cube" this morning. What an amazing and unique venue. </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial;">The structural design is based on the natural formation of soap bubbles
which give a random, organic appearance.
The exterior of the building is a continuously inflated double layered
plastic membrane. The competition
itself was really exciting because it was finals. The medal ceremony happens immediately after the swimmers
get out of the pool, then the next competition begins. In one case, Michael Phelps (USA) was
awarded gold for men’s individual 200m medley (backstoke, breaststroke,
freestyle and butterfly), then got right back into the pool for the butterfly
event.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Toilets<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The most common style of
public toilet is a squat style, with a central supply of toilet paper on entry
in the main room. The public 'honey pots' on Olympic Green are squat
style that are on permanent flush, and with a steady supply of foaming bubbles
in the repository. This definitely takes some getting used to, with some
logistical adjustments required regarding clothing etc. This is one thing
on a long list of cultural differences that makes travel so interesting to me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Massage<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I've taken to having
massages on a semi regular basis. Some of the other team members scoped
out a good place right across the street from the hotel, they take drop-ins,
and are open until 12 or 1am which fits with my schedule. My back and
feet are really sore, and although massage helps, my lower back is almost too
sore to massage. The other night, five of us went together and dropped in
all at once. They put us all in a room together with reclining chairs,
and in came a massage troupe with foot baths, warm neck and back packs, and all
sorts of lotions and potions. I brought a pizza in with us, then we
ordered some hors d'oeuvres and beer from the spa waiter. How's that for
gluttony?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Tourist killed in
Tian'anmmen Square<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I'm not sure if
international news reported the recent killing in Tian'anmmen square. The
story we're told is that it was a lone attacker, who injured one and killed
another, then jumped off a building and killed himself. It wasn't
targeted or considered terrorism, it was random and isolated. The victims
are American, family members of a basketball coach here with the US
team. Very shocking and sad. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Celebrities<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Apparently I am one. Whenever I’m out, I’m stopped all the
time by locals wanting to have their picture taken with me. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m
foreign, blond, look remarkably like someone famous, or that I’m wearing a
uniform that makes me look like I’m official. Speaking of celebrities, apparently David Schwimmer (Friend’s
TV show) attended the opening ceremony and was trying to get into the adidas
hospitality suite afterwards. The local hostess staff that were working the
door turned him away because they didn't recognize him, and because he didn’t
have an adidas namebadge. By the
time our senior staff knew what happened, it was too late to drag him back,
however one of our team snapped a picture of him in the crowd walking
away. And rumour has it that David
Beckham will be visiting the adidas suite soon. I just learned that today, and I’m so excited about the prospect
catching an up close glimpse of that fine specimen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Local staff<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">SportsMark has hired
approximately 350 local Beijing college students to work on the various sponsor
programs (adidas, Visa, Coke, Manulife, Chevron, Qualcomm, Hilton, etc). These local staff speak reasonable
English, and have been a great help in translating for our mainly Asian
guests. Most of the kids are late
teens, early twenties, and as sweet as pie. They all work really hard, conscientious, eager to do a
great job, and love practicing English.
The locals choose they own English name, and most have a story about the
name they picked for themselves.
One of our staff is named “Coffee” because she likes the drink. Another is named “Vanilla”, and one is
named “Seven”. I just love
our local team members. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Athletes<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">As I’m writing this, sitting
at the hospitality desk in the adidas suite, there is a UK track and field
athlete standing talking to some guests right beside me, and Maurice Greene
just walked by (Gold medal Olympic sprinter, ‘fastest man alive’). Members of the Antigua/Barbuda Olympic
team just walked in and are now camped out in the adidas lounge watching
Olympic event coverage on the TVs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Techno-trouble<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I had a bit of a set-back
technology wise. I had been saving
all my files to an external USB hard-drive instead of on my computer (per the
company’s instructions). All of a
sudden it crashed and I lost all of the work for the past two weeks. Luckily I had emailed two of the most
critical documents two days prior, so had to re-do two days of work from my
scratch pad of notes. As if
I didn’t have enough work to do!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Sleep &
extra-curricular<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">For the most part, I’ve been
getting enough sleep and feel rested and refreshed most days. And last night, the whole senior team
got a night off!!! Shock and
dismay! We all went out for dinner
together at a really beautiful traditional Chinese garden restaurant. Afterwards a few of us went to Holland
Heineken House, which is a huge Dutch party that serves only Heineken. Heineken converted a huge traditional
Chinese art gallery type building, into an Olympic party venue complete with
live Dutch band, dance mosh-pit and huge outdoor beer garden. The place was filled with Dutch people and international guests alike, many
wearing orange. If you’re willing
to get soaked in beer (from people throwing their full plastic beer cups
up in the air), then the centre of
the dance floor is the place to be.
I stuck to the periphery and still felt the odd beer shower. My head hit the pillow at 3am, and got
up at 7am with a little headache.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I have Olympic fever!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Heather<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Beijing 2008 Olympic
correspondent at large<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Did you know?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 9.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: 9.0pt; text-indent: -9.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Sponsor guests waste +50% of the Olympic event
tickets given to them<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;">China has the highest incidents of traffic accidents
(per capita) in the world <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;">The probability of a natural disaster occurring
during the Beijing Olympics is high<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;">The order of countries in the parade of athletes at
opening ceremony was in order of the number of brush strokes in the Chinese characters
of the country names<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;">110,000 tonnes of steel to make the Bird’s Nest
Stadium – all made in China<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Beijing Summer Olympic
Update #5 - August 20, 2008<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">This experience continues to
be one of the most memorable of my life.
I’m in disbelief every day about how privileged I am to be a part of the
Olympics.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>The Olympic dream<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I’m having tiery moments all
the time, and the theme of a recent emotional moment was regarding
international harmony. The
Olympics is one of the only events in the world that brings people from every
nation together in the spirit of goodwill and harmony. The moment struck me as I was sitting
in the stands listening to a dozen different languages spoken by people from
every corner of the world. I also
get tiery eyed at every medal ceremony that I see, either in person or by
broadcast. It never gets
boring. Each and every medal
represents a lifelong goal for these athletes, so much sacrifice, dedication
and hardwork. It reminds me to
dream big and stay focused in my own life, because the impossible IS
POSSIBLE!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Olympic events</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> – Athletics x 2, WaterPolo, Diving, Beach Volleyball<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">My work has lightened up
significantly during the last half of the games. Since my last message, I’ve been able to attend an event
almost every day, and sometimes twice a day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>Athletics (aka Track and Field)<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">This event is held in
National Stadium / “Bird’s Nest”, which is the same venue for opening and
closing ceremonies, and where the Olympic cauldron is burning. It is such a breathtaking building, and
so incredibly massive (91,000 seats).
I attended two athletics events, with seats as close as they get to the
field each time. I could feel the
breeze of the sprinters running by 20 feet in front of me. And the medals ceremony podiums were
also directly in front of my section.
I watched the finals of the Men’s 100M sprint. This is one of the most hyped events in athletics. The
finish was amazing, with Usain Bolt from Jamaica miles in front of the others,
and strutting across the finish line posturing and gloating in his win. He broke all sorts of records (Olympic
and world), for the newest rank of ‘the fastest man alive’. After the race he went crazy running
all over the stadium floor in his victory circle around the track. Also watched the javelin throw, men’s
long jump, women’s heptathlon, hurdles, pole vault, discus throw, steeplechase
and women’s shot put finals. The
3000M steeple chase is an ancient event, which includes 4 hurdles on the track,
one of which has a puddle that runners have to run through. The part I loved
best about that event was the last place steeple chase runner. He fell at the beginning, and ended up
MILES behind the pack, but kept going regardless. The whole stadium started to cheer for him, getting up out
of their seats as he approached their section. The place went nuts when he finally crossed the finish line
minutes after the pack. I love
those examples of perseverance and determination, and how a potentially
embarrassing performance can turn crowd inspiring. The winner of the shot put was a New Zealander who also went
crazy when she won. She was
running across the track to her family, while a running race while in
progress. Another highlight was
the women’s pole vault final, with adidas sponsored Elena Isinbaeva from Russia
blowing all other competitors out of the water, and breaking all sorts of
records with a bar height of 5.05M.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>Men’s Waterpolo<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">WaterPolo was a blast. We watched two matches, both
preliminary (not final) games.
Serbia vs. Italy, then Hungary vs. Canada. I’ve never even seen that game played before, so it was
really cool to see it at the Olympic level. Very fast, exciting game, and very animated spectators. The crowd was almost entirely Hungarian
fans, chanting, waving flags and going crazy for every goal, and then went
completely bananas when Hungary beat Canada 12 vs. 3. The inflatable mascots came out at half time and did a
little dancing for the crowd at poolside, that was hilarious. The part I like the best was the
back-sides. Those waterpolo boys
have very nice physiques. Most of
my photos from this event are of waterpolo bums. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>Mens’ Diving <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I attended with one of my
team mates, who was a Illonois state diving champion back in her day. It was interesting to learn the
subtleties of the sport while watching the best in the world compete. I enjoyed the scenery here as
well. Diving bums are just a nice
as waterpolo bums.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>Men’s Beach Volleyball<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">I attended the
semi-final games for Men’s Beach Volleyball. USA (Rogers/Dalhousser) vs. Georgia (Terceiro/ Gomes), then
the second game was Brazil (</span><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/BIO/Team/9991052.shtml"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">Ricardo/Emanuel</span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"> – defending Olympic champions) vs.
Brazil (Araujo/Luiz). This is my
favourite event so far. It’s
basically a big beach party complete with DJ, dancing bikini clad beach
hotties, an announcer that gets the crowd going with the wave, sing-a-longs and
all sorts of other crowd revving.
USA pummeled Georgia to secure a place in the final game. The two Brazilian teams had really
close matches, but the under-dog Brazilian team beat the defending Olympic
champions for a spot in the final game against USA. The gold medal game is tomorrow, and I’ve signed up to GO!!!
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Pin trading<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I’m having a blast trading
pins with people from all over the world.
I have a whole bunch attached to my lanyard, and when I’m out and about
at events, I get accosted by people wanting to trade. Many cannot speak English, so we communicate by doing pin
trading charades. At one event, I
was sitting in the stands beside some members of the Saudi Arabia Olympic
Committee, and traded pins with them.
Their pin has swords and a palm tree with the Olympic rings. I also traded pins with a guy from
Latvia and one from Russia, who gave me a pin of their respective national
Olympic Committees.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>People I know<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I’ve run into three people
that I know from Vancouver. One
friend of my cousin’s who works for Vancouver 2010 Olympics. I knew he was coming, but didn’t know
he was staying at my hotel, and certainly didn’t expect to run into him
coincidently. I also ran into the
President and the Director of Sport Marketing of PRIME Strategies, one of the
event planning companies that I work with. They were sitting four rows in front of my at an Athletics
event in the Bird’s Nest Stadium.
I knew they were coming to Beijing, but it’s a big city, and HUGE
stadium, what a coincidence that I would bump into them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>More brushes with
celebrities<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">- I got an email the other
day from a fellow ticket manager, looking to fill a ticket request from Misty
May-Treanor (Olympic gold medalist in Beach Volleyball). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">- adidas got a call the
other day from Ian Thorpe (US Olympic swimmer – adidas sponsored athlete),
asking for assistance in escorting him to the Water Cube to watch a swimming
competition. It seems that
whenever he goes out in public, he gets mauled by fans. So adidas organized one of the staff
members to escort him in one of our VIP cars, and get him into the swimming
venue bi-passing the mob of fans. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">- The adidas hospitality
suite continues to host all sorts of Olympians, including the gold and silver
medalist in the women’s heptathlon.
Just looking at those ladies walk by inspires me to hit the gym more often.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">There are only four days left
in the Olympics, with closing ceremony capping it off on August 24<sup>th</sup>. I fly to Hong Kong on Aug 28<sup>th</sup>
for a visit with some family, then home on September 1<sup>st</sup>. My next and final update will be
from Hong Kong just before my return.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Jai Yo!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Heather<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Beijing 2008 Olympic
correspondent at large<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Did you know?<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 13.5pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 13.5pt; text-indent: -13.5pt;">
-<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">302 gold medals will be
awarded in the Beijing games, 214 have been awarded to date<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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-<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">China is leading the gold
medal count with 45, but USA is leading the total medal count at 82.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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-<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">92 athletes have won multiple
medals, with Michael Phelps (US swimmer) leading with a record breaking 8 gold
medals<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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-<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">The summer Olympics (10,000
athletes) is three times as large as the winter Olympics (3,000 athletes) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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-<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Over 900 adidas guests and 14
days of games so far - there have been no medical incidents or security threats
with the adidas guests/program to date<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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-<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">The Great Wall of China has
turned into a contrived amusement park with a gondola, chair lift and bob sled
slide<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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-<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">adidas founder Adolf Dassler
(nickname Adi Dass) started the
company with his brother, then had a falling out and the brother founded the
Puma brand.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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-<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">One of my team mates found a
market in Beijing selling knock-off Tiffany jewelry. Yippee!!!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Beijing Summer Olympic
Update #6 – August 31, 2008<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">What an amazing, exciting,
exhausting, thrilling, memorable five weeks this has been. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>More sporting events</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">During the last week of
the games, my vault of tickets was pretty empty, so I shifted gears from
ticket management to helping escort the adidas guests to the various
sporting events. This is like herding a bunch of cats. It's almost
impossible to keep track of everybody, but somehow we manage to get everyone
back on the bus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>Men's Beach Volleyball
final</i></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">This was probably my
favourite event of the whole games. Sitting in the sunshine, 25'C
cloudless skies, 75% humidity, with cooling mist machines blowing on the
audience, watching the best in the world compete in a game that I love.
This event is basically a big beach party with people dancing to the music,
singing along, doing the arm gestures to the music, bouncing the beach balls
around in the crowd, etc. The Brazilian and US fans were in fine form
decked out in patriotic colours with face paint & crazy wigs, draped in
their country's flags and using all sorts of noisemaking devices to cheer for
their team. Brazil won the bronze medal match against Georgia, winning by
a landslide, and the US (Rogers/Dalhausser) won the gold medal against the
other Brazilian team (Araujo/Luiz), in a tight match, down to the third
game. There was a 75 minute wait in between the bronze and gold
medal matches, which was filled with entertainment. There were dancing
bikini clad beach babes, audience member volleyball game (10 people each side),
as well as audience members taking turns serving the ball over the net, trying
to hit the inflatable mascots and knock them over. So hilarious.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>Handball</i></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I've never seen this game
played before in my life. For those of you in the same boat, I would
describe the game as a cross between basketball and hockey. You have to
bounce the ball when you move with it across the basketball type court, but
instead of shooting up in a basket, you throw it into a hockey net. It's
a very fast, very rough and physical game. I watched the Men's semi-final
game of Croatia vs. France, with France winning to advance to the gold medal
game.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>Table Tennis</i></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The Chinese totally
dominate this sport. I saw two semi-final matches: Sweden vs. China and
China vs. China. The #1 and #2 ranked players (both Chinese) emerged from
these games to face off against each other in the gold medal match. What
an amazing sport to watch in a country that reveres the sport. The game
starts with the players and referees being escorted into the gymnasium like royalty.
I loved how the players serve the ball. It seems like they have a little
pep-talk with the ball and the paddle, then a few little tiny bounces of the
ball while crouching close to the table, and finally a tiny little soft serve
across the net. A few rallies back and forth, then they start to spike the ball
and the play moves several feet away from the table, with jumping and lunging
all over the place. The crowd was VERY animated, shouting cheers and
encouragement to the players in the local language. Very exciting game to
watch.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>My birthday</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I celebrated the 9<sup>th</sup>
anniversary of my 29<sup>th</sup> birthday while in Beijing. I received
all sorts of lovely birthday wishes by email, and the whole adidas team
surprised me with birthday cake. They lured me to the surprise claiming a
David Beckham sighting in the hospitality suite. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Pin trading rehab</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I've admitted myself into
rehab for my pin trading habit. It was getting to be a bit of a problem
logistically, so I quit cold turkey. I was finding that people would come
up to me and start man-handling the pins on my lanyard (ie. chest area), which
was starting to invade my personal space. Also, I was finding it hard to
go anywhere in a hurry. I was always being stopped by people insisting
that I trade with them, and I didn't want to be rude and tell them I didn't
have time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Closing ceremonies</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I helped to
escort the adidas guests onto Olympic Green for Closing Ceremonies,
but didn't have a ticket to get into the stadium. While the ceremony was
taking place, our whole adidas team hung out in the adidas section of the
"OHC - Olympic Hospitality Centre" located on Olympic Green.
This is a zone where all the major sponsors are provided a pavilion, which they
completely customize with branding, furniture, TVs, food and beverage
facilities, etc, and in which they can host their guests. We lounged on
the couches, shoes off, feet on coffee table, in air conditioned comfort,
having drinks and food, watching the live broadcast of the ceremony on the big
screens, and having the benefit of seeing the fireworks explode from the
outside of the stadium and throughout the Olympic Green. Before the end
of the ceremony, our team (20-30 people) dispersed throughout Olympic Green
with handheld adidas 'lollipop' signs directing guests to the adidas
buses. My job was in the parking lot (as with opening ceremony),
directing adidas guests onto the buses (in a sea of other sponsor buses),
counting heads and sending buses when full. The ceremony itself was
pretty amazing if you ask me. I loved the bouncing jumping guys, and the
ribbon covered tower that came up from the floor. The London 2012 portion
wasn't my favourite, I thought it was pretty predicable and uninspired.
One of the parts I love best about the Olympics is feeling like I'm at the
centre of the universe, and that feeling is amplified during the opening and
closing ceremony events. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>More celebrities</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Bill Gates – was staying
at our hotel for a few days during the Olympics. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Vince Vaughan – was
everywhere. He walked past me on the street, he was part of an NBC group
being escorted out of the mens' gold medal basketball game. Two of my
teammates bumped into him in various venues around town. Another of
my teammates saw him at the NBC party the other night.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">David Beckham – was in
town, and visited Beijing's flagship adidas store (largest adidas store in the
world). A copy of his itinerary and media interview questions was laying
around the adidas suite, accidently left by one of his handlers, so I grabbed
it for safe keeping. David Beckham is an adidas sponsored athlete, and
was the token British athlete that was London's feature star in the closing
ceremonies. London 2012 is the next summer Olympics.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Parties</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">There were plenty of
parties around town during the Olympics, but once the games ended, the wrap-up
parties for the event operations teams kicked into high gear. The adidas
team party was held at the headquarter hotel, in the adidas hospitality suite
outdoor terrace. 100 team members all kicking back, drinking, eating,
playing Nintendo Wii on the outdoor big screen, and singing karaoke. One
of the team members put together a DVD with photos of the team set to music, so
that was revealed at the party as well. It is so
hilarious, filled with photos of all our crazy antics and inside
jokes from the games. The SportsMark "Xie Xie" Party (=thank
you) was held at a really cool Chinese club/restaurant with some tented outdoor
seating pods, lots of dancing and drinking. About 500 in
attendance, included all of the SportsMark teams as well as clients and
suppliers. And on my last night in Beijing, the core adidas team hooked
up in Tian'anmman Square to watch the daily flag ceremony, then went for
traditional Peking Duck at a restaurant close to the square. After dinner
10 of us went for a massage, 6 in one room, 4 in the other. 90 minute
treatment, includes shoulder, back, feet and legs, with snacks included for
~$20. We were all fast asleep in no time, it was quite a picture to see,
and the perfect ending to an amazing time together.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Shopping</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I've done some serious
damage at two of the major markets in Beijing. Handbags, scarves, shoes,
jewelry and gifts. Add to that all the Olympic souvenirs and adidas swag
that the team received from the client. I've had to buy an
additional suitcase to bring all this stuff home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Beijing to Hong Kong</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Beijing airport is like no
other I've ever seen. When you first walk through the doors, you must
pass through a security check-point. Then you must find your check-in desk,
which is coded A-Z depending on your airline (Air China was in the 'F'
section). Once checked-in, you pass through a temperature (SARS)
detection screening, then two check points for Chinese immigration, then the
security mag and bag, with a full body man-handle and wand inspection.
Then onto a train for 4 minutes for transportation to the international
departures gates. I would guess the walk from that point to my gate was
over 1km. Once at the gate, you board a bus to take you for a 10minute
ride on the back area of the tarmack to the plane. For some reason the
airport doesn't use their air bridges to connect the airplanes to the terminal,
instead they park the planes far away, only accessible by the bus
service. The whole process from check-in to boarding the plane
took about 1.5hrs, most of it walking within the massive terminal.
I'm in Hong Kong for four days, visiting with my sister-in-law/brother-in-law
once removed (ie. my sister's sister-in-law/brother-in-law), and their 9mth old
daughter, which I've declared as my niece. They have a lovely home
in Discovery Bay on Lantau Island, close to the airport. 5+ bedroom home,
with seaviews, a private garden terrace, and children playing in the
street. We're sticking pretty close to home for this visit, just walking
around town, reading books, having naps, going out for dinner, visiting and
playing with my little niece.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Things I'm looking
forward to when I get home....</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">- body mainternance -
pedicure/manicure/facial/hair removal/haircut<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">- home cooked food<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">- exercise<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">- sleeping in my own bed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">- reconnecting
with friends and family<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">- HOME!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Goodbye from China!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Heather<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;"><a href="mailto:heatherfulcher@gmail.com"><span style="color: #001fe7; font-family: Arial;"><u style="text-underline: #001FE7;">heatherfulcher@gmail.com</u></span></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Beijing 2008 Olympic
correspondent at large<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Did you know?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">- Olympic sponsors customize
the buses that they use for transporting their guests during
the games. The buses are completely 'wrapped' on the outside in
custom branding, and customized on the inside with branded headrest covers,
etc.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>heatherfulcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02424613360757084690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2539077100336018117.post-46728676688727526942007-07-14T23:06:00.000-07:002012-01-01T23:08:24.930-08:00Central America 2007<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Central America 2007<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Chapter 1 – Beaching in
Belize<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Hello! I'm a little
over one week into my trip, so I figured it was time to send my first report.
Chapter 1 is entitled "Beaching in Belize". </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Caye Caulker, Belize</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">I landed in Belize City from a red-eye
flight, took a bee-line for the water-taxi station for the first boat to Caye
Caulker (one of the nearby islands). It was a 45minute transfer in an
open air speed boat. On arrival to the island, one of the locals 'Jesus'
befriended me and told me about a good place to stay, and by the way, he'll
take me there in his golf cart for $2US. I took the bait. The place
turned out to be really great, $15US per night for a private room, right on the
beach, with electricity, a fan, and shared bath. Belize is HOT, about 90'
in the day and blazing sun. The island is pretty small, with one main
sand road, and only golf carts and bicycles for vehicles. I walked everywhere.
The slogan for the island is "GO SLOW", and so I did. I
met another local as I was buying some fresh fruit, and we started hanging out
for the rest of my time there. He took me out in his canoe for a paddle
around the island and a swim off one of the best docks. The water here is
hotter than bath water, not exactly refreshing, but swimming is necessary to
avoid melting in the heat. I call my new friend "Tarzan"
because he walks barefoot everywhere, and scales coconut trees to collect
coconut, then cracks it and drinks the water. He caught a baracuda when
he was fishing, and together with some of the other locals, made a fish stew
over open fire right on the beach one night. It was so hilarious, we had
to scrounge a pot, knife, bowls and spoons from local restaurants, then go buy
the veggies at a local corner store. It was really delicious. We
ate sitting on some old lobster traps right beside the water. The frigate
birds swarmed above and neighbourhood cats wandered below in hopes that some
fish bits would be offered to them. I took an all day snorkeling trip to
the Blue Hole (you should Google this, it's cool), with a stop at a nearby
island for some more snorkeling followed by lunch. In one of the snorkel
spots, there were so many fish swarming us, it was like fish soup! So
much fun. My parents sent me with some little trinket giftie-poos to give
to the children, and I decided to start giving them away here. I
befriended a couple of enterprising kids that were trying to sell me some
shells they collected, and as I sat down with them on the picnic table in the
middle of town with the bag of goodies, all the other local children caught a
wiff of what was going on, and all of a sudden I was swarmed. The kids
were so thrilled, and it was such a highlight for me too. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Tobacco Caye, Belize</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">My next stop was Tobacco Caye, which
involved a 4hr bus (old school bus) south from Belize City, then another water
taxi over to the island. This country is so hilarious. At one point on
the bus ride, one of the passenger's luggage flew out of the open bus door.
They had to stop the bus, and back up to go find it. On arrival to
the seaside town of Dandriga, I managed to find the water taxi dock (read - a
couple of planks on the shore of the inlet, no sign). A local named
'Charlie' was hanging around that area, and told me that I can catch a ride to the
island from a guy who is going over in about an hour. I told Charlie I
was hungry, so he said he would go get me some food from a lady that he knows a
few houses away. He told me it cost $7BZ (=$3.50US). I wasn't sure
whether he could be trusted to come back again, but I figured it was a small
gamble. In the end, the food took so long to make, that I had to track
Charlie down to give me my money back because my boat was leaving. He
agreed. Tobacco Caye is about the size of a postage stamp (couple of
acres of land??) 30minutes off the coast by speed boat, complete with dolphins
jumping at the bow. There are several places to stay, and without an advance
reservation, I took a chance there would be availability. I booked into
"Paradise Inn", with private huts on stilts over the ocean, each with
a private balcony and hammock for $30US/day. This place reminds me of
summer camp on Gilligan's Island. The stay includes three squares a day,
and you can get snorkeling gear to check out the reef which circles the little
island. The property caretaker 'Joe' typically cleans fish off the dock
each day around 4pm, and the stingrays are now in the habit of circling the
area at that time for the fish scraps that he throws into the water. They
are a bit skiddish, but if you are really still, you can get in the water and
just float with snorkel gear while they feed. I hit an all time record
for laziness in this place. For an entire afternoon, I lay motionless in
my hammock, reading my book and dozing in and out of naps. There is a
little beach bar hut, which I wandered over to the first day. One of the
locals introduced himself as "Crazy", then there was Captain Buck,
and Kirk the bartender. By the end of three days, I was friends with many
of the 30 locals that live on this tiny little island. I loved it here, I was
barefoot and in my bathing suit the entire 3 days. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Placencia, Belize</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">I'm in Placencia, in the Southern part
of Belize. While on Tobacco, I met a nice couple from the states who
where headed this way as well, so we travelled together. We stopped part
way and went to Cockscomb Wildlife Sanctuary. It involved getting off the
bus in the middle of nowhere, wandering over to a little hut on the side of the
road and paying the admission fee, then finding a taxi to drive us the 7miles
deep into the jungle along the rough dirt road, and convincing him to come back
for us at an agreed time. The santuary is home to many local jaguars,
which remained elusive for us unfortunately. This place is in the Belizian
rainforest, and it lived up to it's name that day. The downpour started
as we began our hike, and poured heavy for the entire time. It's a good
thing I brought a dry bag for my camera equipment, because every square inch of
me and everything else in my bag got totally soaked. We saw a couple of
armadillos, some lizards, some cool birds, a small snake and a toucan. We
saw some jaquar tracks and marks on the trees where they sharpen their claws.
After getting back to the main building at the santuary, we traded our
wet clothes for dry ones, and caught our return taxi to the main road. We
had to stand on the side and wave for our bus to stop for us. Back on, we
travelled another hour to the town where we catch another water taxi to Placencia.
I love the company names in this place.... "Hokey Pokey Water
Taxi", "Pickled Parrot", "Jake's Purple Space Monkey
Internet Cafe", "Ocean Motion Tour Company", "Jake
and Julia's Last Resort", "Tipsy Tuna". I'm staying at a
nice guest house right by the ocean, with double decker verandas and hammocks
for $15US/night. Loving it! I just came back from an all day
snorkeling tour to go see the whale sharks. This is one of the only
places in the world to see these huge filter feeding sharks, the largest of all
fish species. And as luck would have it today is a full moon, which is
when they are most often sighted. The average size is around 20meters
long, they are harmless and actually quite curious around humans. I was
dissapointed to only see one swim past me as I snorkeled today, but did see and
swim with dolphins and little tiny ( ie.5feet) reef type sharks. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Meeting people</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">I'm meeting tonnes of other travellers
here. It's funny actually, because paths cross all the time with people
from the last stop on the travel circuit. I know about ten people in
Plancencia (where I am right now), met all of them at the places I visited
before coming here. I'm also noticing that there are TONNES of ex-pat
Americans living down here. They came on vacation, and never left.
They traded the hustle bustle of the western world for a slower paced
lifestyle in this little slice of heaven right here on earth. I'm tempted
to do the same......... </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Language</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">English is the first language in Belize,
so I haven't been able to dust off and practice any Spanish yet. Belize is
apparently one of the most developed and civilized of the Central American
countries, so it's a good place to start to ease into the culture. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Next on the itinerary....</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">San Ignacio, Belize (caves and jungle)</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Flores, Guatemala (Mayan ruins at Tikal)
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Panajachel, Guatemala - for a week of
Spanish school</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Quetxaltenango (Xela), Guatemala - for a
week of Spanish school </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Then.... Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa
Rica</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Barefoot, sunkissed, waterlogged, and
completely decompressed,</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Heather</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Belizian Beach Babe</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Chapter 2 – Caves, ruins and
Spanish School<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Hello again. So much has happened
since my last update, I figured I was due to send another. This chapter
is entitied “Cave, Ruins and Spanish School”</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">San Ignacio (Cayo), Belize</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">My trip from Placencia in the south to
San Ignacio took about 6hours. First a water taxi, then short taxi ride
to the bus stop, then travelled by bus, with one bus change required. The
local buses are fondly known by all as ´chicken buses´ because of the livestock
that often accompanies the passengers. They do the milk run through the
country, stopping every 200 feet if there are passengers to pick-up. Most
of the time, I´ve been the only gringo on the bus. On arrival to San Ignacio,
I checked into a basic little hotel for $11US per night, for private room
with shared bath. This place is smoking hot, in the 30´s day and night.
The town itself isn´t much, but San Ignacio is a hub for all sorts of
really awesome excursions. The most popular tour is called ATM
Tour, which stands for Aktun Tunichil Muknal, which I think is the name of the
mountain. It´s a cave tour, lead by a guide deep into the jungle to the
site of an ancient Mayan ceremonial site inside these caves. It´s a wet
tour, which means that we tredged through the water, and actually swam through
sections of the river that runs within the cave. This may have been my
favourite day so far on my trip. Outfitted with helmets, headlamps and
wearing soaking wet hiking boots, we carefully manuevred our way through some
tight rock formations, for about 1km deep into the cave. The cave is
completely pitch black, and totally unnavigable without headlamps. At the
end of the cave was the dry chamber, which we had to climb high up into
carefully. One wrong slip of the foot and it would be game over.
The dry chamber is a very spiritual and ceremonial location for the
ancient Maya. We walked amoung the skeletons of the humans that were
sacrificed in their ceremonies. I loved the stalagtite and stalagmite
formations in the cave, and all the calcium crystalization. I think
caving is my new favourite passtime! My second day in San Ignacio was
more relaxed. I wandered up to some local ruins, then spent the rest of
the day at a foo-foo resort ($2.5US drop-in fee). I swam in the pool,
drank a few beers and chilled to the musical stylings of Anne Murray and Dionne
Warwick playing at the pool bar. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Flores and Tikal, Guatemala</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">My crossing from Belize into Guatemala
was hilarious. First a short local bus ride from San Ignacio to the
border town. Then a short taxi ride from the bus stop to the border
station. Once I checked-out at the Belizian station, I had to check-in at
the Guatemalan station. Both had a small fee for doing so. It´s
totally chaotic, with people hanging around wanting to sell you stuff, change
currency, and offer ongoing transportation. I took a taxi from the border
to the town of Flores. The two hour drive by air conditioned private taxi
cost me $10US. Flores is a really nice island town on Lake Petan, quite
quaint and safe. It´s a hub for tourists coming to visit the Mayan ruins
at Tikal nearby. While wandering around Flores late one morning, I was
approached by a charming old man that managed to explain to me that he has a
boat, and would take me on a private tour of the island and surrounding area
for about $15US. I had the loveliest time with this old guy. I had
a chance to dust off my Spanish, and was able to communicate reasonably well. At
the end we traded compliments of each other, and a short embrace. The
Guatemalan people are so lovely, I can´t tell you! I took a tourist
mini-bus ( 1.5hrs) from Flores to the ruins of Tikal. I decided to stay
overnight just outside the ruins in order to take advantage of sunset as well
as sunrise the next day. I stayed in a cute little cabana set in this
beautiful jungle setting, complete with hammock. Hiking through the ruins
in the late afternoon, the jungle was filled with sounds of exotic birds and
howler monkeys. The monkeys sound very much like a lion roar, which was
quite disconcerting at first. I climbed to the top of one of the pyramids
to watch the sunset with other park visitors. The climb up was
challenging, but the climb down was absolutely harrowing. Standing at the
top, I could see the base of the pyramid through my toes. A tourist died
the week before when he lost his balance and tumbled down. The 20
minute walk back through the jungle was a bit nail bitting, since darkness fell
quickly in the jungle after sunset, and we were warned that the jaguars, snakes
and crocodile come out after dark. That night I fell asleep to the sounds
of the jungle birds and crickets, and was awoken by the howler monkeys early in
the morning. My sunrise tour of the ruins started at 4.45am. We
hiked to the farthest and highest most pyramid in the ruins, then climbed up
and sat to watch the sunrise. Magical. That was followed by a three
hour tour of the ruins lead by a guide.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Chichicastenango, Guatemala</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">From Flores, I took an internal flight
to Guatemala City, then travelled by mini-bus to the lakeside town of
Panajachel. As luck would have it, the largest local Mayan market in
Guatemala was happening in the nearby town of Chichicastenengo the next day, so
I decided to go. Locals and tourist alike flock to this market from far
afield. What a mad house. Make-shift stalls errected to form a maze
throughout the town centre. Locals buying and selling everything under
the sun. Kids walking around with canvas bags full of clucking chickens,
huge slabs of meat on display in the blazing sun, eggs by the thousand, people
hollaring their sales pitch into the crowd, and lots of textiles to appeal to
the tourists. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">San Pedro, Guatemala</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">My intention was to stay in Panajachel
for a week of Spanish school, but on arrival, I just wasn´t comfortable in that
town. It´s quite touristy, didn´t have any charm for me, and my spidey
sense was that it wasn´t altogether safe. I decided to enrol in a school
in the nearby town of San Pedro, also on Lake Atitlan. I wandered down to
the local dock, and started talking to people, and before you know it, I´m
talking to a guy with a boat that will take me to San Pedro for $3US (40min by
speed boat). I love San Pedro. It´s a cute little lakeside pueblo
at the base of a huge volcano, with lots of excellent Spanish schools. I
am staying with a local family, and have one-on-one instruction for 4hours per
day under a little thatched cabana beside the lake. The cost is about
$15US per day for school, room and board. Can´t beat it. The locals
have a hard time saying my name, so for the rest of my trip, I´ve officially
changed my name to “Rosita”. Rose is my middle name, and “Rosita” is the
spanish version of that. My house mother affectionately calls me Rosie.
School is from 8am to 12noon each day. I´ve been filling my
afternoons with all sorts of cool stuff. Thermal pools, massages, salsa
dance lessons, weaving lessons, conversation classes and kayaking. One
afternoon I volunteered to deliver food packages donated by the school to needy
local families. I had the opportunity to go into their homes and speak
with them and their children. That was really cool. As I was
studying in my room one evening, I felt the earth start moving, it was an
earthquake. I ran out of my room assuming that the family was heading for
cover. They were not. They told me that the earth moves quite often
around here. No biggie. Maybe it´s the rubblings of the volcano
beside the town, I´m not sure. Another evening I was studying in my room,
and I heard a huge racket outside in the street, I opened my window to find a
huge parade of people running with fire lit torches, apparently in celebration
of something. Another day, all of the town's three wheeled tuk tuk
taxis were decked out in streamers and balloons, and drove around town in a
convoy throwing candies and toys into the crowd of onlookers. Still not
sure what that was about. One of the big selling points of any hotel or
home is 'hot showers'. In most places they achieve the hot water through
an electric shower head with a heating unit inside. Most of the ones I've
seen have loose electrical wires connected by duct tape. I'm a little
concerned about the safety of the units, so if you don't hear from me again,
the shower head might be the villain. I just love the people in
this town. Everyone in the street smiles and greets you, and in some
cases stops and wants to chat. The females all wear traditional dress and
carry supplies around on their heads. The little children playing in the
street stop me and want to play. The town itself is a little rough around
the edges, but that´s what I like about it. It´s authentic Guatemala,
nothing fancy, but a really genuine and lovely spirit. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">San Marcos, Guatemala</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">My itinerary so far has been in constant
flux. I ditched my original plan to go to Xela, Guatemala (the second
largest city in the country), and opted instead to stay in the rural lake
district and just move to the next pueblo on mountain encircled Lake Atitlan.
I enrolled in the sister school to the one I had been attending in San
Pedro. I love the quiet country living, and being able to walk
everywhere. I choose San Marcos because of it is a centre for massage,
meditation, yoga and all sorts of spirituality and alternative healing
practices. Apparently the place has some special energy, which is good
for healing and enlightenment. On arrival to this place by boat, I
saw a nude woman meditating on the rocks by the beach. The same woman ended up
being my yoga instructor and masseuse. Spanish class is four hours every
morning, with my same Spanish teacher from last week. Some days we
conduct class on the beach, or walking around the pueblo in conversation.
One day we conducted the conversation portion of class while attending
the huge summer fiesta in a nearby town. I filled my free time with lots
of yoga and meditation classes, massage treatments, breathing practices, swims
at the local beach, wood burning stone saunas, eating vegetarian and school
homework. The yoga here is mui loco. Breathing like a lion,
standing on your head doing fish faces, spinning around in a circle doing
little hops, breathing like you are in the throws of passion, and doing
swimming arms for five minutes in the seated position. I'm convinced
someone is just making this stuff up to see what crazy things people will do in
the name of yoga. The yoga studio is in this really cool pyramid shaped
building, with entry from the bottom of the building through a door in the
floor. San Marcos is a TINY little pueblo, consisting of two little
pedestrian streets. It's necessary to carry a flashlight after dark,
because there are very few lights to guide you otherwise. The big event
each night is the movie (sometimes English, a veses en Español) that plays at a
local restaurant at 7pm. The restaurant seats about 20 people, and
the movie plays on regular sized television in the corner of the place.
Es mui tranquile aqui. The school is new in this town, so they don't
yet have a network of families for homestays in the area. Instead I'm
staying at the little 5 room hotel on the school property. Private room
with shared bath, veranda, hammock, hot showers, view of the volcano, and beach
volleyball court for $8US per night. The lake district in Guatemala is
definately cooler than everyplace so far. My long pants and fleece have
come in handy here. I have a feeling they won´t be needed for the
remainder of my trip though. I´m bracing myself for temperatures in the
30's and 40´s for the rest of my trip. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Next on the itinerary:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Antigua, Guatemala - where I join a
three week tour with other adventure travellers. We'll visit Honduras,
Nicaragua and Costa Rica.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Chilled-out, stretched-out, and all
spanished-out,</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Namaste,</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Rosita </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Guatemala's newest Spanish speaking
sensation<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Chapter 3 - Honduras and Nicaragua</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Hola mis amigos!</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Chapter 3 of Heather´s Central American
Adventure is titled “Honduras and Nicaragua”. But first, just a quickie
on my last town in Guatemala, before crossing the border into Honduras.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Antigua, Guatemala </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">I joined my tour in Antigua, Guatemala
and met the 8 other adventure travellers in the group, all from Europe. A
couple from Sweden, a lady from Norway, three girls from Germany, one from
Switzerland, and one from Holland. Our tour leader is originally from
Mexico, but has lived all over the world. We all commented that I´m the
only one in the group with English as my first language, and yet English is the
language we all have in common. Antigua is a beautiful colonial city,
once the capital of Guatemala. Really beautiful old buildings, lots of lovely
cafes and restaurants, and cute little shops. I spent my time in Antigua
roaming around this quaint little town, taking photos, taking to the locals in
the town square, stopping for a leisurely coffee, checking out some of the
local ruins, and taking salsa dance lessons. Antigua is known to be a hub
for Spanish schools, and therefore attracts a lot of English speaking people. I
heard a lot of English being spoken in this town. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Copan, Honduras</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Our group left in a private van for
Copan, Honduras. The six hour journey took us through Guatemala City,
then through the countryside, finally crossing the border of Honduras at about
7pm. These borders are so hilarious. This one was quite quiet at
that hour, but still the border vulchers are in full force, mostly with offers
to change money. The exchange rate isn´t good, but it´s still a good
service because leftover currency is of zero value after you leave the border.
The trick is to arrive to the border with as little leftover currency
from the last country as possible. Our tour leader took charge of our
passports and collected the border fees from us in order to process the exit
from Guatemala and entry into Honduras. Neither country has a proper
office, it operates out of somebody´s house. We just pull over to the
side of the road and park. There is no gate or border guard. Nobody
makes sure that the number of passports matches the number of people in our
van, and nobody makes sure that the passports match the people. Nothing
is computerized, there is just a handwritten log book where our guide fills in
the passport details for each person. “Copan Ruinas´´ is a cute little
village, which sprouted up beside the Mayan ruins of “Copan” We took a guided
tour of the ruins in the morning, lead by a Spanish speaking archaeologist, and
translated by our tour leader. I was impressed that I could understand a
fair amount of what our guide was explaining in Spanish, even before the
English translation. In the afternoon, a bunch of us decided to go
to the local hot springs. We piled into the back of Pepe´s pick-up truck,
and bounced around in the back for the one hour drive on a really rough country
road to the location of the hot springs. We sat in a natural pool of hot
water in the river, and climbed to explore the water source in the adjacent
forest. We had a barbecue dinner beside the river, then returned to town.
That was the best fun, I loved it. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Roatan, Honduras</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">We travelled by local chicken bus to the
port town of La Ceiba. The bus played the same collection of 80's ballads
on replay for the entire trip. Blast from the past with Air Supply,
Chicago and Toto. After the bus ride, we boarded the 1.5hr ferry to
the Caribbean island of Roatan. I think I´ve found paradise. This
is my favourite place so far on this trip. Warm crystal clear turquise
water quietly lapping onto the powdery white sand beaches. Roatan is a
fairly large island, we stayed in the main beach town called “West End”, which
consists of one sand road, lots of guest houses, great seafood restaurants and
dive shops, immediately beside this beautiful white sand beach. Our group
went snorkeling at the local reef one morning, followed by a full afternoon
beach flop. I lay in the shallow surf reading my book, sipping cold
beers, and trying to think of a way I could move to this place. In the
evening we feasted on lobster and beer. I LOVE IT HERE!!! The
second day was equally lazy in the morning, but the afternoon was spent
waterskiing. My Norwegian friend was a superstar, getting up on the first
try, and skiing around for 15min before calling it quits. I managed to do
some slolomn (one ski) skiing, which I haven´t done in many years. So
much fun! </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Leon, Nicaragua</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">We had a very long travel day getting
from Roatan to Leon. 5am wake up call, for the 6am flight to the capital
city of Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Two flights actually, the first one in a
tiny little dual prop plane from the island to the mainland, then a larger
plane into the capital city. The planes were decked out in 60´s
upholstery, and looked like they haven´t been cleaned since then either.
In the capital city we had a private van to take us to the border of
Nicaragua. We asked the driver to take us to his favourite local
breakfast joint, which he did. A little hole in the wall place with no
sign, filled with locals, not one English word being spoken. Full
breakfast with coffee for $1.50US. The border of Honduras and Nicaragua
is the craziest I´ve seen so far. The rough dirt road is absolutely
jammed with hundreds of semi-trucks waiting to be processed. Most of the
drivers had hammocks set-up under their rigs to hang out and relax in the shade
while they waited. The border vulchers were in full force here as well.
Lots of money changers, but also lots of beggers. Again with the
disorganized passport processing, but this time there were a couple of
officials that came out of their huts and took a glance inside the van.
The roads in Nicaragua are very rough, lots of potholes, making it
difficult to get up any speed. We saw quite a few local kids along the
route that set-up a string ´baracade´ in an effort to get us to stop and give
them money. One such ´baracade´ was constructed with empty plastic pop
bottles in a line on the road. The kids weren´t dangerous, they were just poor
and desperate. That said, I´m glad I was with a group, and happy not to
have stopped the van. We arrived in Leon, Nicaragua after 14hours
in transit. Leon is steeped in history including being the centre of the
revolutionary war in the 70´s and the home of the beloved Nicaraguan poet Ruben
Dario. It is a cute little colonial town, quite near the Pacific Coast.
I spent my time here just wandering around the old town, and climbing up
to the roof of the beautiful old cathedral, the largest in all of Central
American. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Granada, Nicaragua</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">From Leon we took a private van to
Granada. This was a really fun travel day, because we stopped along to
way to see some really cool stuff. First the Masaya Volcano, which is one
of the world´s most active volcanos. We drove right into the crater area,
and right up to the active part which was spewing smoke and gases. They
say not to stay longer than about 20min of you might feel the effects of the
gas. Our next stop was an old prison used at the time of the revolution
to house and torture opposition to the dictatorship, and subsequent to that,
opposition to the Sandonista communist government. It´s amazing to me
that these heneious acts took place in my lifetime (in the 70´s). This
history is still very raw here in Nicaragua. Granada is my favourite
place so far in Nicaragua. Really quaint colonial town right beside Lake
Nicaragua. Lots of cute pedestrian streets, cobblestone, beautifully painted
buildings, old churches, and lovely little cafes and restaurants. There
is a really cool project here called “Seeing Hands Blind Massage”, where blind
locals are trained to give massages to earn some money. My 35min massage
by two different blind men cost $5. I love to just walk and get myself
lost, then figure out the way back, so that´s what I did here. That´s the
best way I´ve found to have authentic, local experiences, talk one on one with
the people, and see the place as it really is. I took another Salsa dance
class here, $1 per hour for private instruction. Can't beat it.
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Ometepe, Nicaragua</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">We travelled by chicken bus to the port
town of Rivas, where we caught the passenger ferry to the volcanic island of
Ometepe in Lake Nicaragua. This open deck, old wooden ferry looked like
it was held together with paper clips and rubber bands. Boarding is by
walking along a narrow plank from the pier. They handed us life jackets
immediately upon boarding, still not sure it that is a good sign or not.
The water was as rough as I've ever experienced, especially for a lake.
Ometepe Island is really cool, it was formed by the two active volcanos
in the middle of the lake. It is the largest lake in Central America, and
is home to the only species of fresh water sharks. The island is very
lush, raw and wild. There are small towns and some tourism on the island,
but it is very unspoiled and natural. Our hotel was right on a beautiful
black volcanic sand beach, complete with volleyball nets. Parrots and
monkeys could often be seen in the hotel and outdoor restaurant. I spent
my time here doing a little forest wander, renting a bike to go to the local
natural springs for some swimming, and chilling in the beach chairs and reading
my book. Bonfires on the beach and star gazing were popular nighttime
activities. On our van transfer back to the ferry, the van driver let his
six year old son take the wheel to practice driving. The main hazard he
had to watch out for was the herds of cows, and occasional road crossing of
other assorted animals. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">This is the only stop I have on my trip
to the Pacific side. Lots of great seafood restaurants right on a big beautiful
white sand beach. This is a big surfing town, so I decided to take
surfing lessons here. 17 of us piled into a delapidated old van with
surfboards strapped to the top, and we drove half an hour on a rough dirt road
to a local surfing beach, called Playa Madera. Surfing is a really hard
sport to learn, the best I was able to do was to ride the waves on my knees
instead of standing up. One night we spent watching the sunset while
enjoying happy hour at a foo foo resort just up the hill from our hotel.
Great view of the whole beach and town. Each night we feasted on
fresh cheap seafood at local beachside restaurant. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Next on the itinerary: two weeks
in Costa Rica, with a possible jaunt across the border to Bocas del Toro in
Panama. My next and final chapter will be two weeks from now, prior to my
return to Vancouver on July 21st. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Hang ten,</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Rosita</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Certified Central American Chicken Bus
Surfer</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
<br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Did you know?</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">- Ricky Martin´s career in alive and
well in Latin American</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">- There is a Spanish salsa dance version
of the Eagle´s song “Hotel California” </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">- There is Toronto TV channel airing in
Granada, Nicaragua. As I was watching TV one night in my room, an ad came
on for Ontario Place and the Toronto Zoo.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">- Central America was formed through a
series of volcanic eruptions gazillions of years ago. The whole thing is
volcanic, and therefore very lush and filled with a wide variety of wildlife,
flora and fauna. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">- Guatemala is crawling with Israeli
tourists. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">- The Maya language is alive and well in
Guatemala. Many older people speak only Maya, no Spanish.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">- Central America is an interesting
juxtaposition of modern conveniences such as plasma TVs and cell phones
alongside horse buggies and chickens running in the street.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Chapter 4 – Costa Rica and Panama<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Chapter 4 is the final
installment of my Central American adventure, and is titled “Costa Rica and
Panama”</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Monteverde, Costa Rica</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Crossing the border from Nicaragua into
Costa Rica has been the most frustrating and time consuming border crossing yet.
Our van dropped us off and the border station and from there we had to
walk about 1.5km in total. First we had to pass through a gate which is
manned by a money taker person. Each person must pay $1US to pass through
the door. I'm not quite sure who gets the money, it all seemed a bit
shady to me. Then we had two separate offices to visit to exit Nicaragua,
one with a charge, the other with a passport stamp. Then we had to walk
1km with our heavy bags to the Costa Rica border station and stand in line in
the rain for 30minutes before they would let us in the building for processing.
A new van picked us up on the Costa Rica side, and from there we drove
about 4 hours to our next destination. Costa Rica has a big problem with
illegal immigrants passing from Nicaragua, much as the US has with illegal
Mexican immigrants. We passed through countless police check-points where
they wanted to search our vehicle for smuggled Nicas. Our drive to
Monteverde was really quite beautiful. Lush green rolling hills with
wisps of cloud at the tops of the mountains. Costa Rica is known as the
Switzerland of Central America, for several reasons. The landscape is
similar, the politics are similar, and apparently they make good cheese.
Monteverde is high in the mountains in the cloud forest. It was
actually quite cool here, which is a shock to the system. We had a guided
tour of a wildlife reserve where we saw lots of rare birds, monkeys,
interesting plants and bugs. We were even lucky enough to see a quetzel bird,
which is an endangered species and only found in a few areas. The hotel
wasn't my favourite of my trip. I hate to complain.... but.... the
scorpion, the musty smell and the uncomfortable bed combined to make me a
little grumpy. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">La Fortuna, Costa Rica</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">We had a short boat crossing on man-made
Lake Arenal enroute to the town of La Fortuna. The big attraction here is
the Arenal Volcano, but this place has morphed into the adrenaline capital of
Central America. You can drop, dangle, hike and ride your way through
this place. Bungee jumping, tarzan swings, white water rafting, volcano hiking,
ATV tours, caving, canyoning, rappel down waterfalls, suspension bridges, zip
lining and amazing hot springs. One night we drove to a look-out
spot to watch the lava spew from the volcano while eating take out pizza.
Daytime activities included a visit to the local waterfall, white water
rafting and a walk through a local eco-reserve. This town in Costa Rica
is like the Disneyland of Central America. Very touristy, lots of English
spoken, tour buses, tour companies on every street corner, signs in English,
souvenir shops, etc. Costa Rica is very lush and abundant
with all sorts of tropical crops. We passed through plantations growing:
coffee, plantains, rice, yuca, papaya, pinapple, banana, etc. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">My three week group tour ended in San
Jose (the capital), and from there I travelled by local bus with my Swedish
tour mates to this Caribbean beach town. This place is pretty laid back,
with a pretty serious weekend party scene. The beaches are big and
beautiful, the weather is warm, and the beer is cold. I'm staying at the Lizard
King Resort, which includes a pool and a resident pet pig, "Piggy". I
spent my days wandering around this surf town, chilling with a beer at a
barefoot beachside bar. One day I rented a bike and checked out the
beaches a little farther down the road. It's so undeveloped and natural
here, huge beautiful beaches with nobody on them. The slogan "Pura
Vida" / "Pure Life" is used as an all around greeting here.
People use it to say "Hello", "Goodbye", "I
agree with you", “Be cool”, etc. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Bocas del Toro, Panama</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">I took a local bus to the border station
which was another memorable Central American experience. First check-out
on the Costa Rica side, then negotiated my way by foot over a train bridge to
the Panama side. I had to buy a $5US Panama tourist visa card at the
first office. There were five 'staffers' in the office doing nothing, and
only the guy on the phone was actually able to conduct the business at hand.
So I waited. Once that was sorted out, onto the second office to
get the card stamped. After the border formalities, I took a taxi to the
next town, and water taxi to the islands of Bocas del Toro in Panama. Driving
through the countryside on the mainland, I saw fields and fields of banana
plantations, and learned that this is home to the Chiquita Banana empire.
The 45 minute water taxi to the island was quite an experience.
Mortoring through the narrow canals in the jungle, the horizon opened,
and we moved into the open ocean. The islands here are pretty cool, with
oceanside businesses and houses built on stilts over the water. These
islands have lots of beautiful beaches, dolphins, snorkeling, surfing, and sea
turtle nesting. I stayed two nights in the main town, and two nights at a
more remote island just 10minutes by motor boat. The second place was my
favourite, very small undeveloped island with only one pedestrian walkway, no
cars. I stayed in a treehouse mini-hotel here, complete with mosquito net
and personal hammock. I met some really great new friends in this place, and
together we decided to explore the nearby beach. It was a 30minute hike
through ankle deep mud across the island. I fell in the mud more than
once making my way through the slippery muck. It was worth it though,
long white sand beach and roaring waves and absolutely nobody around. My
last day was possibly the best day of my trip. We took a boat tour through the
island archipeligo. The first stop was at Dolphin Bay to watch the
dolphins playing and jumping, then to a remote restaurant on stilts beside some
mangroves. This was a good spot for snorkeling by the reef, then
sunning on the dock, flopping in and out of the shallow warm torquise water,
laying in the hammocks, having a few beers and a bite to eat. Our last stop was
a beautiful remote beach, called `Red Frog Beach`. We flopped in the
surf, and went exploring to find the frogs, and then took our boat back home.
While eating dinner one night, we were befriended by one of the locals
`Joseph` who played his guitar for tips at the local island restaurants.
We talked at length with him about his life here, and the changes that
tourism is having on these islands. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">San Jose, Costa Rica</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">I decided that I've had it with chicken
buses and longhaul overland journeys so I bought a plane ticket from Bocas
(Panama) to San Jose (Costa Rica). I walked four blocks to the
little local airport in Bocas and took the 45 minute flight by dual prop 20
seater plane. This instead of 10 hours by land with countless taxi and
bus changes. My time in San Jose is short (about 24hrs) before taking my
international flight home later today. I walked around the pedestrian
shopping streets and hooked up with my Swedish tour mates for dinner. I
was grateful to have someone to go walk with after dark, this city is known to
be quite dodgy. I've had a great trip, but I'm ready to come home.
Here is my trip-in-review: </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Trip in review:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"># weeks travelling: 8</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"># of countries visited: 6</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"># of flights: 9</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Worst attempt at a pick-up line: “I´ll
bet you were pretty when you were young”</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Health incidents: only one short blip
where my energy was zapped</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"># of books read: 13</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"># of bandito incidents: 0</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Average cost of a beer: $1.50US</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"># of beers consumed: lost count.......</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Least amount spent on a room: $4US</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Most spent on a room: $30US</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Things I'm looking forward to at home:
foot treatment, haircut, flushing my toilet paper, and not having my money
duct-taped to my body 24hrs a day.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Value of this adventure: PRICELESS!!!</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Pura Vida!!!</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Rosita<o:p></o:p></span></div>heatherfulcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02424613360757084690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2539077100336018117.post-2663885300973627142006-07-15T22:47:00.000-07:002012-01-01T23:08:55.490-08:00Scandinavia 2006<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9.5pt;">Scandinavia
Update Blast emails<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;"><b>June
6, 2006 – From Narvik, Norway<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9.5pt;">Hi
everyone. My trip so far in Scandinavia has been great. Very
different from my past few travels in many ways. This trip was very
loosely planned, I only had my return ticket, train pass, no other plans.
My other trips have been very orchestrated with tours and schedules.
And this place is so civilized and modern compared to places like Africa
and South America. Here's an overview and recap of the trip so far: <br />
<br />
I arrived in Frankfurt, Germany and spent a couple of days before taking the
train to Copenhagen, Denmark. My friend Lars lives in Copenhagan, and was
kind enough to let me stay with him (Thanks Lars!!!). Copenhagan is
a beautiful city, very old, with lots of cobblestone and beautiful old
buildings. I went to the Tivoli amusement park, which is famous in the
city. I strolled through the pedestrian shopping streets, just people
watching, stopping for the odd coffee or snack. I curled up in pew of an
old church on a rainy afternoon and read my book. I took a walk along the
seawall to see the cruiseships as well as 'Den Lille Havrue' = 'The little
Mermaid' which is a famous statue landmark on a rock in the water. I sat
and had a beer at Nyhavn, which is a popular cafe strip alongside a beautiful
canal in the downtown area. The place to see and be seen! <br />
About Copenhagen, Denmark:<br />
- the bike couriers are sponsored by Tuborg (the beer company)<br />
- the place is crawling with twin babies<br />
- it's flat, flat, flat!!! Some rolling hills, but basically flat!<br />
- it's a very international city. Not only are there tourist from
everywhere, but it appeared to me there has been lots of immigration.
Lots of middle eastern looking locals. Definately not the typical
tall, blond hair beautiful people. There are all shapes and colours. <br />
- lots of bikes<br />
<br />
From Copenhagen, I took the train to Stockholm, Sweden. Holy smoke, that
is a beautiful place!!!! I strolled through the old city, with it's
cobblestone pedestrian streets, cute shops and restaurants. I watched the
changing of the guard at the royal palace (these people love their royalty over
here!). I took a boat to a nearby island and went to the Vasa Museum
(recommended to me by my Dad), which is a raised and restored battleship from
the 1600's that sunk in Stockholm harbour on it's maiden voyage. Very
interesting. I found a local festival in one of the city parks, packed
with locals eating and drinking beer. It just so happened that the
Stockholm marathon was held while I was there. About 17,000 runners I was
told. Very cool to stumble upon a marathon race snaking its way around
the island and bridges that make up this city. Stockholm has a very
unique skyline and harbour, very beautiful. <br />
About Sweden:<br />
- It's flat <br />
- I've seen very little evidence that this is the IKEA homeland, and still no
sighting of ABBA<br />
- I haven't seen one viking<br />
- very patriotic people, they fly the Swedish flag off anything they can<br />
- coffee costs $6 CDN, but I guess that's almost on par with Starbucks in
Canada<br />
<br />
From Stockholm, I took a 20hr train to Narvik, Norway, 400km north of the
Arctic circle on the coast. Beautiful train ride, although I slept
through the first 8hrs of it (sleeping bunk on the train). The train ride
was mostly in Sweden, crossing over to Norway in the last hour or so. All
of the houses in rural Sweden are red. The same colour red, with white
trim on the windows and doors. It's quite charming. There are trees
up here, but they are small. I saw lots of reindeer, and I'm hoping to
see lots more. Narvik is a tiny little town in a fjiord, where
everyone knows each other. I decided to treat myself to a meal in a
restaurant last night, instead of the stale bread and bananas I'd been
subsisting on for the train ride. The only other person in the restaurant
was also sitting alone, and he asked me to join him. Before long, I
discover that he is the town millionaire, and to make a long story short, by
the end of the night, he treated to a number of bottles of wine, and we were
joined by a bunch of other locals, (since they all know each other). By
midnight I was in bed, but the sun was not. It's the land of the midnight
sun here at this time of year. At midnight it looked like mid-day
outside. It's quite hard to sleep when it's so bright out!! <br />
<br />
This afternoon I'm taking a ferry to the Lofoten Islands off the coast of
Norway. Very remote fishing villages, and aparently beautiful scenery.
From there I'll wind my way down the coast of Norway, through the fjiord
villages, to Oslo, then back to Copenhagen. I'm attending the wedding of
my good friends Lars and Lone in southern Denmark on June 17th. That's
where my plan ends, but my trip isn't over until July 5th. I'll fill you
in again after the wedding! <br />
<br />
Bombing around by backpack......<br />
<br />
Heather<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><u><a href="mailto:heatherfulcher@gmail.com">heatherfulcher@gmail.com</a><o:p></o:p></u></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;"><b>June 19, 2006 – from Toftlund, Denmark<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9.5pt;">Hi
everyone!!<br />
<br />
My last update from from Narvik, Norway; 400km north of the Arctic circle.
From there I went by boat to the Lofoten Islands in Norway. I
wandered down to the port looking for my `ferry` to the islands. I was
expecting something resembling a BC Ferry, instead, I found something
resembling a fishing boat. So hilarious. With about 20 passengers
on board, the boat sped at about 70km/hm to a town called Svolvear in the
Lofoten Island archipelago. I understood there would be a bus at the pier in
Svolvear to take me to the little town I was going, Stamsted. I was
wrong. Instead, the only option to get to that town is by coastal steam
ship, which happened to be pulling into port just then (only one sailing a
day). In Stamsted I stayed in a hostel that is an old fishing cabin right
on the water. So charming. A wood burning stove heats the place,
and is used to cook food on. The midnight sun is in full effect up there.
For the most part, the weather was lousy. COLD and raining, and
really windy. I wandered over to the local coffee shop, sat and read my
book while I surveyed the comings and goings of this tiny little town.
The weather was actually quite nice for one afternoon, so me and an
Aussie dude took a row boat and a fishing line, and set about to catch dinner.
And we did!!! I`m not sure what kind of fish they were, but they
were yummie. Especially cooked over the wood burning stove only minutes
after we caught them. <br />
<br />
I decided to take the coastal steamship from Lofoten Islands down south along
the coast of Norway to Trondheim. This 2 day boat trip was actually a perfect
way to travel allowing a beautiful view of the scenic shorelines, and fjords.
The cost of passage on the ship was not cheap, so I opted out of the frills
such as a bed, food and a shower. I felt like a stow-away. The boat
stopped in one port along the route, where they were celebrating the `Coast
Festival`. Our boat was met by a marching band, and the locals offered
walking tours of the town to the ship passengers. Very cool. <br />
<br />
Trondheim is Norway`s second largest city, such a beautiful place. I was
pleasantly surprised. The Coast Festival was continuing in this town,
with the streets closed to traffic, marching bands and choirs performing,
special displays and performances all over town. What a fluke that I just
happened to be here for it. The city is very charming with its canals and
beautiful and unique architecture throughout. I climbed up to a fortress
overlooking the city, a place where the locals have picnics and relax.
It was such great weather here, and a welcome change from the
frigid north. Finally its shorts and t-shirt weather!!! I even got
a little too much sun! <br />
<br />
Oslo was my next stop. My first impression wasn`t great. It wasn`t
until I took a sightseeing fjord cruise in the harbour that I began to
appreciate this place. The inner and outer harbour is filled with little
islands, all covered in beautiful little vacation homes. Many of the
cottages have miniature cottages at the water`s edge, matching the main house.
So cute. One of the other attractions that I enjoyed was the sculpture park.
Sculptures of naked humanity is the best way to describe this. The path
lead to a huge monolithe, carved human images from a single peice of stone.
Extraordinary. <br />
<br />
Gøteborg, Sweden was my next stop. This is the second largest city in
Sweden, along the west coast of the country. Very charming town, lots of
cobblestone streets and beautiful old buildings. One of my fellow
hostelers told me how to get to the little islands off the coast, so I decided
to go. My transit pass took me the entire way, with a combination of tram
car and ferry boat. I wandered the streets of the one of the islands,
along the small paved paths, amoung beautiful vacation properties to a cute
little marina. I decided to splurge for a sandwich and a beer at the
marina cafe ($20CDN), and sat an outside enjoying the sunshine while I ate and
drank. Before long I was befriended by a local, and spent the rest of the
afternoon chatting and drinking beer. <br />
<br />
From Gøteborg, I took the train/bus to the south of Denmark, to the small town
of Toftlund. My Canadian friend Gary met me, and picked me up at the bus
station. He and I decided to explore the little town for a few hours
before we joined our friends Lars and Lone (my Danish friends who are getting
married) at Lone's parents' home. Within 20min of walking in the little
town (4000 population), Lone's father Borge happened to spot the Canadian flag
on my backpack as we were walking, and pulled over to escort us back to their
home. I guess my nationality is written all over me........ <br />
<br />
The wedding<br />
What an amazing experience. I am overwhelmed by the generosity and
hospitality of the the friends and family I've met here. Lone's parents
have opened their home to my friend Gary and I, as have their neighbours.
The wedding itself was so beautiful. It was held in a very old
Danish church, and conducted entirely in Danish. The bride escorted by
her father, and the groom by his brother. The four sat facing each other
for the majority of the ceremony, quite different from Canadian weddings.
Although I couldn't understand the words being spoken or hyms sung, the
sentiment and symbolism was clear. The reception started with some
greetings outside the hall, and a helium balloon release with a personal note
by each in attendance attached to each. Canadian weddings pale in
comparison to Danish weddings. The meal was exceptional, and the setting was
extraordinary with the ocean on one side and an inlet on the other.
Guests clearly put a lot of thought into their contribution for the evening.
Speeches, remarks, songs, and skits continued throughout the evening,
with toasts and hip-hip-horrays peppered throughout. At the stroke of
midnight, the band began and the couple took their first waltz. As is the
tradition, the guests circle the couple and gradually closing in the gap.
The groom is then lifted and his shoes removed, and the tips of his socks
are cut off. Lars was prepared for this and surprised us all with his
toes painted bright pink. Attention is then turned to Lone, where all the
girls tear and cut her bridal veil. Dancing and drinking lasted past
sunrise. All evening we were eyeing the two beach volleyball nets just
outside the reception room, and had every intention of making use of them at
the first daylight, but in the end, sleep won out. The people I've met at
this event are all so amazing. They have come from all over the world.
I've exchanged contact information with so many, and feel like I have a
whole new circle of friends to visit in different places around the world. <br />
<br />
Tomorrow I travel to Copenhagen, and from there to Helsinki, Finland. My
plan is to try to find a Finnish travel agency that can help me plan a short
tour to St. Petersburg, Russia. From Helsinki, I'm also planning to take
a short ferry to Tallinn, Estonia. I have a little over 2 weeks left in
my trip. My next report will be just before I return on July 5th. <br />
<br />
Lots of Love,<br />
<br />
Heather<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;"><b>July
4, 2006 – from Berlin, Germany<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9.5pt;">Greetings
from Berlin!<br />
<br />
My last travel update from from Denmark. After leaving the little town of
Toflund, my friend Gary drove us to Copenhagan. We explored some more of
the city together, including Christiania, which is a squatter village within an
abandoned military base. The people living here are self governing, and except
for keeping the drug sales in check, the police and the city take a hands off
approach to the area. We saw lots of colourful characters, it's a very hippie
type drug culture. Although covered with graffiti, the place still has
some semblance of order and decorum, with parks, common buildings, garbage
areas etc. Gary and I were fortunate to spend our two evenings in
Copenhagan with some new friends we met attending the wedding. A backyard
BBQ one evening, and dinner at a local brew pub another. <br />
<br />
Finland - land of forests, lakes and saunas <br />
From Copenhagan, I travelled 26 hours to Helsinki. First the train to
Stockholm, then an overnight boat from Stockholm to Helsinki. I slept in
a dorm cabin on the boat with 3 other girls. My first priority was to hit
the spa onboard. First the sauna, then the Turkish bath, then the sauna
and back to the turkish bath. I self administered a hair mask, face mask,
and a foot scrub. It's been ages since my body has been so clean.
This boat is known as the shopping boat, with the usual duty free
offerings. And people buying it up by the wagonload. I arrived in
Helsinki just at the start of the Midsummer festival. This is a huge
holiday here. About the same scale as our Christmas. I celebrated
the festival with the locals on a nearby island park (similar to Vancouver's
Stanley Park). There was Finnish handicrafts, work displays, traditional
food, dancing, and the evening was capped off with the lighting of the
bonfires. There were bonfires all over the shores, lit with great
ceremony and accompanied by songs and dancing. Upon the lighting of the
main bonfire, people turn to each other and hug and kiss, and exchange some
sort of greeting. I think it's a lot like our New Years. What a
fluke that I happened to be here for this! My next day in Helsinki was
spent at a nearby group of islands, accessible by a transit ferry boat.
This place is recognized as a world heritage site due to the old
fortress, which was very interesting to roam through. Cute little cafes,
lots of grassed park area, people sunning themselves on the rocks, and families
having BBQs. Very cool. The next day I took a day trip to the
nearby town of Porvoo, which is such a charming old town. Beautiful old
wooden houses, cobblestone streets, cute little cafes and shops. Did I mention
the saunas here in Finland? There are sauna's in all of the hostels here.
<br />
<br />
<br />
Estonia - wrought iron, medieval, church bells, cobblestone, town wall and
defence towers <br />
From Helsinki I took a boat to Tallinn, Estonia. 1 1\2 hours by speed
boat, and boom, I'm in a different country. I found my hostel, dropped my
bag, then started exploring. Around the first corner I stumble upon a
marching band and a parade. All of this for me? I feel so welcome!
What an amazing place this is. The old town in medieval, with a
fortress wall, defence towers, and old churches around every turn. The old town
is addictive, with it's maze-like alleys and medieval squares. I checked
out the beach in Tallinn, and I'm happy to report that beach volleyball is
alive and well in this Baltic country. While in Tallinn, I decided to roll the
dice and get my hair cut from a hairdresser that doesn't speak English.
The smock went on, and before I knew it, the Tazmanian Devil was having a
go at my head. I now look like a 12 year old boy with a mullet (business
in the front, party in the back). I guess this haircut will be my
souvenir of Estonia. I hope my souvenir grows back soon. The good
news is that Estonia is the cheapest country so far on my trip. I can
actually afford to have a meal in a restaurant. <br />
<br />
I explored the possibility of going to St. Petersberg, Russia, but had to scrap
the plan due to the processing time for the Visa. Instead, I explored a
few more little towns in Finland before setting sail for Germany: <br />
<br />
Rauma, Finland<br />
Rauma, Finland is another of Finland's World Heritage sites, for its old town.
Old wooden houses with clapboard siding, painted in beautiful period
colours, and each house with unique trim around windows and doors. Old Town
Rauma has been compared to Nantucket, New England for its charm and style.
I loved walking the cobblestone streets, wandering down alleys. I
peaked through open gates to the immaculate back courtyards of these beautiful
old homes. My hostel in Rauma is one of the best on my trip.
Connected to a seaside campground, the dorm house is a beautiful
character building right on the beach. As as chance would have it, I had
the entire place to myself that night. <br />
<br />
Turku, Finland<br />
By chance I happened to arrive in Turku for their annual medieval festival.
The perfect opportunity for me to stock up on swords, shields, armour,
bows and arrows. Entertainment stages, market stalls, jesters and
musicians, work displays and everyone dressed in period costume. <br />
<br />
<b>Hanko, Finland<br />
</b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9.5pt;">Hanko is a
delicious little seaside village with B&Bs in old mansions, sandy beaches,
spa retreats, and an active marina. The summer playground for the who's
who of Finland. As a mid-afternoon respite, I contemplated life sitting
at a marina cafe in the sunshine, drinking pear cider. <br />
<br />
I had a few heart palpitations in stand-by mode for the 24hr ferry from Finland
to Germany, but luckily made it on! There were two young Russian lads on
stand-by as well. We got to talking when I offered some of my little
picnic dinner to them. I learned that they are on a 'Motorcycle Diaries'
style journey from Moscow to Austria for some sort of snowboard thing.
They are driving a junky old car held together with paper clips and
rubber bands, hardly have two dimes to rub together, and hadn't eaten all day.
Such wonderful characters. I love meeting people when I'm
travelling, everyone has a story and a journey. <br />
<br />
Berlin, Germany - World Cup Fever!!!!!<br />
I spent a day in Berlin enroute back to Frankfurt for my flight home. Berlin is
totally buzzing with World Cup fever. They have turned one of their main
parks into the 'Fan Mile' where the games are broadcast, and people can come
and cheer their team, eat and drink and party. This city is crawling with
visitors from all over the world all their sporting team colours. In
Berlin I met up with my good friend Laura's sister who lives here with her
family. It was so nice to spend some time with some locals. <br />
<br />
Enroute to Frankfurt<br />
I leave Berlin this morning to travel to Frankfurt for my flight tomorrow
morning. As luck would have it, Germany is in the semi-finals of the
World Cup, and they play tonight against Italy. My plan is to drop my big
pack in a locker in Frankfurt, go to view the game somewhere in Frankfurt, then
stumble to the airport and throw myself on the plane at 7am tomorrow morning.
No sleep for me tonight. I'll sleep on the plane. <br />
<br />
Did you know?<br />
- in Denmark, 'Danish Pastry' is called 'Viennabrod'='Vienna Bread'; also
affectionately knows as 'Roses of Mohammed'<br />
- in Finland, there is a sauna for every three people <br />
- Oslo is one of the most expensive cities in the world. It costs $2 just
to use the washroom there!<br />
- Europe and Scandinavian toilets have a half flush and full flush system with
toilets. <br />
<br />
<br />
Home sweet home, here I come!<br />
<br />
Heather<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><u>heatherfulcher@gmail.com</u></span></span></div>heatherfulcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02424613360757084690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2539077100336018117.post-74174986597627449102005-05-31T22:18:00.000-07:002012-01-01T23:10:37.299-08:00South America 2005<br />
--------Tuesday, May 31, 2005 - Quito, Ecuador---------<br />
Hi everyone!<br />
Just a quick update with confirmation that I have arrived safely in South<br />
America. Yesterday was my big travel day, flying from Vancouver to Bogotá,<br />
Columbia, with a plane change in Houston. I was only in Bogotá for about 11<br />
hours, and I only saw the route from the airport to the hotel and back. I´m<br />
in Quito, Ecuador now, arrived on a flight from Bogotá this morning. As in<br />
Bogotá, there are armed military guards everywhere, equipped with machine<br />
guns. "They are there for my protection"..... is what I keep telling myself.<br />
I think I´m adjusting well to the altitudes, but I am definitely feeling it.<br />
I never realized how much I enjoyed Oxygen before. Bogotá is at 2600<br />
metres and Quito is at 2800meters. Tingles and numbness in my feet and<br />
hands, tiny headache, general laziness (although that could be caused by<br />
holiday mode...). I´m actually really tired, and have been falling asleep<br />
easily for short little naps. The highest elevation in my trip will be<br />
around 4200metres, unless I decide to visit the highest ski resort in the<br />
world (on the Bolvia-Peru border) which is almost 5500meters. I´m staying<br />
at a cute little B&B in the tourist area. The area seems safe, although I´m<br />
not going to test that theory after dark. Weather is nice in Quito, just<br />
slightly cooler than Vancouver at the moment. I´m comfortable in my shorts<br />
and sandals. The Galapagos will be hot, around 30 degrees.<br />
Tomorrow I´m planning on traveling to Mitad del Mundo (the equatorial line<br />
and monument) where I will be able to straddle both hemispheres. I think<br />
it´s supposed to be a cool view from there too.<br />
<br />
The rest of itinerary is as follows:<br />
Jun 2 - June 9 - live-a-board yacht tour of the Galapagos islands<br />
June 10 - back to Quito, Ecuador<br />
Jun 11&12 - La Paz, Bolivia (highest capital city in the world, at<br />
4000meters)<br />
June 13-16 - Amazon tour<br />
June 17-July 7 - 3week tour of Peru and Bolivia, including Lake Titicaca<br />
(highest navigable lake in the world), and the 4 day Inca Trail hike to<br />
Macchu Picchu<br />
July 7-10 - Lima, Peru<br />
July 11th - return date to Vancouver<br />
Well, that´s the update for now. I´m anticipating my next update to be June<br />
10th or 11th, on my return from the Galapagos.<br />
Heather<br />
The Amazon Woman (not the hairy kind.....)<br />
------Ecuador in Review, June 10, 2005 ----------<br />
Ola amigos! Como esta?<br />
The first two weeks of my six week trip have been amazing.<br />
<br />
Quito, Ecuador<br />
Before leaving for the Galapagos, I took a city tour of Quito, the capital<br />
of Ecuador. We visited the old city, some churches, city squares, etc.<br />
Then we went to the equator line. I went to the equator museum, which is<br />
interactive with really cool demonstrations. There is no water swirl on the<br />
equator line. In the Northern Hemisphere the swirl is counterclockwise, and<br />
in the Southern Hemisphere, the swirl is clockwise. Right on the equator<br />
line, the water falls through a sink straight down. Also, we weight about 2<br />
.5lbs less on the equator because of the earth’s bulge in the middle.<br />
Something about gravity or something. I think I´m going to move to the<br />
Equator..... I got a photo with one foot in each hemisphere at the same<br />
time. Quite cool.<br />
<br />
Galapagos Islands<br />
Amazing. I´m almost speechless... (almost...).<br />
There were a total of 16 guests, 7 crew and a naturalist guide on the 75foot<br />
yacht. I was given one of the only single rooms on the boat, on the main<br />
deck, with my door outward facing. I often took naps in the afternoon with<br />
the door clipped open and the sea air and warm breezes filling my room. My<br />
room had a private bathroom, with fresh water shower and everything.<br />
We often sailed at night, arriving to a new island each day. We would take<br />
early morning nature walks to see the animals, then often go snorkeling and<br />
swimming at a beach in the afternoon. Everyday was different.<br />
The highlights:<br />
- snorkeling with: stingray and other ray species, white tipped reef sharks,<br />
penguins, sea lions, sea turtles, eels, and millions of beautiful fish. The<br />
sea lions are so tame, they play with you in the water, with their noses<br />
right up to your mask. We actually all got stung by jellyfish one time<br />
while snorkeling. They are the really tiny translucent ones. I felt a<br />
little stink on my arms in the water, but thought it was my imagination. I<br />
just carried on, enjoying the underwater show. Then I look up and the<br />
zodiacs are pulling everyone out of the water because everyone was being<br />
stung. I got a few welts, which had about as much drama as a mosquito bite,<br />
but sounds much worse.<br />
- Scuba diving. I tried it for the second or third time now, and bailed. I<br />
am, and will remain a snorkeler.<br />
- Birds... so many birds. Frigate birds were always swirling and sometimes<br />
swarming the boat, especially when the crew caught a fish and were throwing<br />
the fish innards up in the air for them to catch. The wing span is 7 feet<br />
wide, and they flew within touching distance of us. We saw the frigate<br />
males with the red chin pouch inflated to attract the females. Saw lots of<br />
blue footed boobies, pelicans, finches, albatross, mocking birds, penguins,<br />
hawks, doves, and pink flamingos. These birds are so tame. We are given<br />
strict instructions not to touch any animals, but we could if we wanted to.<br />
The birds, and all the other animals are not afraid of us. We saw the<br />
mating rituals of the blue footed boobies, which is the most romantic thing<br />
I´ve ever seen. He whistles and she honks. He spreads his wings and points<br />
to the sky. She tries to ignore him. He presents her with sticks and rocks<br />
(bird equivalent to a diamond ring), and then if she is agreeable, they<br />
settle down, build a house and start a family. We saw lots of eggs and<br />
really new baby birds. This is all happening right on the path where we<br />
walk, we have to be careful to step around the birds and the nests.<br />
- tortoises - we went to Darwin Station which is the place where researchers<br />
are working to maintain the indigenous species to the islands that are<br />
threatened by introduced species (pigs, cows, dogs, cats, rats, goats, etc).<br />
If left uncontrolled, the introduced species will cause the extinction of<br />
the unique and special animals. Very interesting stuff. At Darwin Station<br />
we saw loads of huge land tortoises, which we could walk amoung and take<br />
photos with.<br />
- Iguana - I saw loads of marine and land iguanas. They are so cool. Talk<br />
about prehistoric looking.<br />
- Sea lions - I think these might be my favourite. They are just so cool to<br />
watch. One little baby sea lion came out of the ocean on the beach where<br />
his Mom was resting. I guess he couldn’t tell which one she was, so he just<br />
went up to each one, and asked ¨Are you my Mom?¨ Once in a while, a another<br />
male would come and try to challenge the male of the colony. Things would<br />
come to blows, and the challenger retreated. Again, we could go right up to<br />
the sea lions on the beaches.<br />
- Ecuador won a soccer game against Argentina on a day where we had an<br />
afternoon in one of the ports. We watched the game with the locals in the<br />
bar by the pier. Holy smoke, these people are crazy for their ´football´.<br />
They cried and hugged each other for each goal. When Ecuador won, everyone<br />
took to the streets and formed a parade of cars honking and flying the flag.<br />
I guess they are close to making World Cup qualifying for next year, so<br />
every game is important. Canadians only go this crazy when Canada wins gold<br />
in Olympic hockey.<br />
-Post Office Bay - this is a antiquated mail delivery system established<br />
back a few hundred years ago. Sailors would drop letters in this barrel,<br />
and pick-up letters for the destination where they were headed. The system<br />
is still used today, maintained by the tourists visitors. I left a few<br />
post-cards in the bin, and took whatever I could find that has a Canadian<br />
address. I’ll put a stamp on them when I get back to Canada. A few of you<br />
will hopefully receive post-cards delivered this way.<br />
The weather was amazing, mid 20´s most days, cooling off in the evening.<br />
The sun was quite powerful on the equator line, so I covered up with a hat,<br />
swam with a t-shirt and used sunscreen except for yesterday... It was<br />
overcast, and I didn’t remember to reapply after swimming. Ouch.<br />
<br />
Next on the itinerary....<br />
I was scheduled to travel to Bolivia tomorrow, but due to the civil unrest,<br />
and ´violent protests´ happening in La Paz at the moment, my next tour has<br />
been cancelled. My tour company has replaced it with something almost<br />
identical, but omitting the Bolivia component. I still go to the Amazon,<br />
and I will still go to Machu Picchu, but unfortunately, with this new<br />
itinerary, I will not be hiking the Inca Trail. I fly to Lima, Peru<br />
tomorrow, and have a week before the start of this next tour. I don’t want<br />
to spend this whole time in Lima, so I´m hoping I can scramble together some<br />
sort of itinerary that takes me out of the city to some cool stuff.<br />
The next update will likely be from Lima in about a week. Enjoy the two<br />
attached photos.<br />
Heather<br />
The Amazon Woman<br />
-------- Update from Lima, Peru - June 18th, 2005---------<br />
Hola amigos!<br />
I arrived in Lima, Peru one week ago today. I've done and seen so much in Lima in that time, I don't know where to start. Since this week in Lima was unscheduled (I was meant to be in LaPaz, Bolivia, but was diverted to Lima because of the riots and violent demonstrations in Bolivia at the moment), I had to scramble together a plan on how to spend this time. I decided to enroll in Spanish school, and spend my time learning the language. I attended school every day, Monday to Friday, for four hours each day. I learned lots, and feel I can now understand much more of what is being said around me. I've made some improvements in my conversation skills, but I'm clearly still a real beginner. My school arranged for my accommodation in a little B&B directly adjacent to the school. Perfect little scenario. In addition to my classes, I spent the week immersing myself in this place. I went to an archaeological museum on a school field trip. It was interesting, however, the museum tour was conducted in Spanish, of which I only understood every 100th word. I took some salsa dance lessons, which were SO fun. The teacher didn’t speak a word of English, so I had to learn mainly by watching rather than listening. I took a Peruvian cooking class, which again was hilarious with the language barrier. We managed to make ourselves understood using kitchen charades. I made two dishes. One was a layered mashed potato and chicken salad mold. Yummy, but it would never occur to me to combine those things. The other dish was equally interesting. Stir fried peppers, onions and garlic, puree'd in a blender with soda crackers, pecans and chicken stock. This is combined with chicken pieces, milk and parmesan cheese, served over boiled potatoes with rice and topped with hard boiled egg. I tried another traditional Peruvian dish, called 'Ceciche' (Se-vee-chay). This is raw fish, marinated in lemon juice and spices. The lemon juice cures the fish so it's kinda cooked. Delicious. One of the other things I did was attend a dinner event of the 'Canadian & American Association' here in Lima. This is a bunch of ex-pats from North America who are living and working in Lima (or traveling through in my case). A pretty successful and affluent group that were transplanted here for a variety of different reasons. I've also spent some time in the spa this week. Had a manicure and a pedicure earlier this week, and then treated myself to a massage after finishing school on Friday. I think there might be a facial in store for me on my return to Lima after my upcoming three-week tour of Peru. These services are so cheap compared to Canadian standards, I just couldn't resist. Today I went tandem paragliding. Clipped onto my instructor, we got the parachute all set, and then the wind lifted us. The take-off and landing spot is a grass park on the cliff beside the ocean, about 40 meters above sea level Then the wind currents lifted us up and allowed us to sail and fly at about 200 meters above sea level for almost 30minutes, before landing back at the park. Such a beautiful view of Lima from above. So quiet and relaxing. At the end, the pilot did some aerobatics, pendulum swinging and corkscrews which dialed up the adrenaline. So fun, I highly recommend paragliding. See attached photo taken by the pilot while airborne. Interesting things about Lima, Peru.....- The capital of Peru, it's a huge flat city at sea level in the center part of the country, approx 8 million in population. The weather here is almost ALWAYS overcast. They NEVER get rain. They rarely get sunshine. The temperature here is cool this time of year, probably in the mid to high single digits Celsius. I'm wearing my fleece constantly. - Public transit is hilarious. The streets are filled with these mini vans. They have a driver, and a sales and marketing guy. The driver just drives. The sales and marketing guy hangs out of the open side door, yelling out the route name to passers buy, coaxing people to take his bus. He also appears to take care of the money exchange as well. There appears to be set routes, but there are no set stops. The van stops when people flag to get on, which in many cases happens in the middle of the busy street. - Taxis are used for transportation much more than they are in Canada. They are EVERYWHERE, and used by locals to go most places. Taxis patrol the streets, honking at pedestrians as if to ask if they need a ride. They are CHEAP compared to Canada, but it's important to negotiate the fare before you get in. A 20min taxi ride can cost around $3USD.- Most of the streets are one-way- Money exchange people - uniformed moneychanger people are positioned on the major streets. This service appears to be well used by the locals changing local currency for USD and vice-versa. Both currencies are in full effect here in Lima, USD for most tourist related services and products, and Peruvian Soles for everything else. I join my next tour today. We have a briefing tonight, then pull anchor tomorrow and start on our 21-day overland journey through Peru. I'm anticipating about 10 people in the group, maybe 12. The itinerary includes:- Pisco, which is home of the famous Pisco Sour cocktail, made from grape liqueur- Nazca, where I will take a short flight to view the 'Nazca Lines' from above. These are ancient Incan type crop circles, except they are lines depicting animals- Arequipa, the second largest city in Peru, and apparently quite lovely- Colca Canyon- Puno, which is a town on Lake Titicaca (the highest navigable lake in the world). This is the highest altitude that I will reach on this tour, at about 4000m. We will take a boat to one of the floating islands (made of straw and reeds), and spend an overnight in a home stay on the island.- Cuzco, the gateway to the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu. We'll spend a few days in Cuzco, and another few days touring the ruins in the 'Sacred Valley'- Machu Picchu - I build my trip around my visit to Machu Picchu. I can't wait.- Puerto Maldonado in the jungle, where we will take a small boat deep into the jungle and stay for two nights Lima for two days before my International flight home. I arrive back in Vancouver mid-day on the 11th of July. I expect my next update will be in Cuzco at the end of the month. Adios mi amigos. Anacondas, here I come!<br />
<br />
Heather'<br />
The newest Latin Sensation<br />
<br />
------- Update from Lake Titicaca, Peru – June 24th, 2005 --------<br />
Hola Amigas,<br />
There is so much to report since my last message a week ago.<br />
On joining my Peru tour group last Saturday, I learned that I'm booked on a<br />
slightly different tour than I was initially told. With this new itinerary,<br />
I will now be hiking the trail to Machu Picchu. It's a good thing I'm<br />
flexible, because that is the third change to my itinerary. Anyway, I'm<br />
thrilled that I the hike is back on. My tour group is great, the tour leader<br />
is good as well. There are 8 of us. One other Canadian, three from UK, two<br />
from Australia, and one Swedish woman (sorry L&L.....). Pretty good group<br />
dynamics. I seem to be bonding the most with one of the English girls,<br />
Miranda.<br />
<br />
First stop on the tour was Pisco, Peru, right on the coast just south of<br />
Lima. We had an excursion by boat to nearby Ballesta Islands, which is part<br />
of Paracas National Park. From the boat we saw heaps and heaps of sea birds<br />
and sea lions. Penguins, Peruvian boobies, cormorants, gulls, etc. Really<br />
neat rock formations in these islands. After returning from this early<br />
morning boat excursion, we traveled by private bus to some sand dunes south<br />
of Pisco. Here we took a dune buggy into the dunes, bombing around and<br />
break neck speeds in this 10 passenger open air buggy. We stopped in spots<br />
and took out the sandboards and slid down of the dunes. Very cool. Lots of<br />
adrenaline.<br />
<br />
Next stop was Nazca, Peru. This is the spot where we saw the 'Nazca Lines'-<br />
which are animal shapes made a gazillion years ago in the dessert floor.<br />
There are several theories as to why these images where created and research<br />
is still being conducted to prove various theories. We took a flight over<br />
the Nazca Lines, in a tiny little four-person puddle hopper. I was co-pilot.<br />
Over every formation, the pilot circled left and then circled right so<br />
people on both sides of the plane could see. Very cool. Later that evening<br />
we took an excursion to the desert and climbed a little hill to watch the<br />
winter solstice sunset (June 21st) on one of the Nazca Lines. It's only on<br />
this day that the sun sets directly down on this line in the dessert, and we<br />
were lucky to coincidentally be there on that day. For dinner, we went to a<br />
special 'restaurant' in the middle of nowhere, where we enjoyed a<br />
'Pachamanca' meal, traditionally reserved only for very special celebrations. This<br />
is where they build a fire in a pit; place rocks over the coals, then place<br />
the food on the rocks. The food is then covered with earth and left for<br />
four hours to cook. We arrived in time for the ceremonial unearthing of our<br />
meal. I got to be one of the special helpers to remove the food from the<br />
ground.<br />
<br />
We then took a night bus to our next stop. The night bus was quite an<br />
experience. Buses in Peru are pretty foo-foo. Ours was a double decker,<br />
with almost fully reclining seats and heaps of legroom. The flight<br />
attendant gave us blankets as we boarded, and served breakfast in the<br />
morning. The ride itself was kinda hairy. I felt like I could have been<br />
ejected from my seat and launched forward at any time. Despite that, I<br />
managed to sleep fairly well. We arrived in Arequipa by about 9am, and had<br />
the entire day free to explore. I LOVE AREQUIPA!!! Such a quaint little<br />
place. One of the main things to do is visit the monastery. I loved it<br />
there. So picturesque. So silent, except for the faint sounds of chanting.<br />
I joined the rest of the group for lunch, which we enjoyed perched on a<br />
roof-top terrace over looking the main square of the town, and a mariachi<br />
band playing for us.<br />
<br />
From Arequipa, we traveled to the Colca Canyon. The journey took us over a<br />
mountain pass, where the elevation reached 4900M above sea level. As<br />
recommended, I drank lots of water, ate Coca candies, nibbled on chocolate,<br />
and even chewed coca leaves to help with the elevation symptoms. At each of<br />
the bathroom and lookout spots, there were roadside stands where women were<br />
selling their handicrafts. Their children, sheep and alpacas were there<br />
too. They must have to walk for hours to get to these spots from their<br />
homes, carrying all their handicrafts and infant children. In Colca Canyon<br />
we stayed in a tiny little postage stamp of a town, where the only vehicles<br />
are those brought in by the tourist. People herding their animals past the<br />
front entrance of the hotel. The Colca Canyon is so beautiful. From top<br />
to bottom at the highest point, this canyon is 3800 meters deep. I'm not<br />
kidding. The people here live much as they did thousands of years ago.<br />
They dress in traditional clothes. They farm on terraced plots of land<br />
some distance from their homes. They walk with their animals (cows, sheep,<br />
alpaca, donkeys) to the land each morning, and walk the whole gang back at<br />
night. It makes for rush hour on the roads during these times. We got<br />
caught in that rush hour a couple of times. We took an excursion to one end<br />
of the canyon called 'Condor's Cross', which is a spot where Condor birds<br />
can be seen early in the morning when the thermals are best. We saw heaps<br />
of these vulcher birds, flying really close to us (probably 20 or 30 feet<br />
from the lookout). They are huge, 3-meter wingspan. One of the other really<br />
fun things we did in the Colca Canyon is our trip to the hot springs.<br />
Visits to these thermal pools are a custom for locals in the area. It was<br />
so cool. We flopped around in the pool, while 'Jorge' the pool boy brought<br />
us drinks and served them in a floating tray.<br />
<br />
Today we traveled to Puno, Peru on the shore of Lake Titicaca. This is the<br />
highest navigable lake in the world at an elevation of 3800M above sea<br />
level. We are lucky to be here. Until yesterday, there were riots and<br />
protests in this area. On approach to the town, we could see the evidence<br />
left from these demonstrations. Rocks and boulders in the road (we had to<br />
drive around), and lots of broken glass everywhere. Until the resolution of<br />
the conflict last night, vehicles were not able to pass in this area, coming<br />
in or going out. Those that attempted had rocks thrown at the cars, and<br />
sometimes all luggage is stolen from the tourist vans and busses. There<br />
continue to be demonstrations in the town. I can hear one outside in the<br />
streets right now. We are told they are celebrating their victory in the<br />
concessions they were given as a result of last night's negotiations.<br />
Anyway, we were lucky to be here in Puno.<br />
<br />
Tomorrow we travel by canoe on Lake Titicaca to some of the floating islands<br />
in the area. We will stay overnight with local families in their homes,<br />
before returning to Puno the next day. Following that, we head to Cuzco,<br />
where we spend a couple of nights before the hike to Machu Picchu. We<br />
return to Cuzco after the hike, where I expect to send my next report.<br />
<br />
Adios Amigos!<br />
Heather<br />
'The latest Latin sensation'<br />
-------Update from Cuzco, Peru - July 5, 2005-------<br />
Hola Amigos,<br />
Since my last issue of 'Heather's Travels' I have visited Lake Titicaca,Cuzco, done a three day trek through the Andes, and visited MachuPicchu. Lake TiticacaFrom the port at Puno, we took our 3hr boat ride to the first island ofTaquile, with a slight delay when the boat broke down and another boatwasdispatched to rescue us. Lake Titicaca is at about 3800 meters abovesea, and given thewinter season in South America, it was COLD!!! We arrived to our fistisland, and walked up a path, ascending another 700 meters to the townsquare where we had lunch. I went over to a group of young local kidswitha stack of temporary tattoos that I had, and before long, I was swarmedand busy applying to each.That was so fun. I took pictures of some of the local children, inexchangeI gave them small pieces of fruit. This was recommended by our tourguideinstead of giving candy or money. Lunch was served to us by the localsintheir community hall, kingfish that they had caught in the lake thatmorning. Very charming. Back to the boat, we navigated about an hourinvery rough waters to the island of Amantani. We were met at the pier byourhost families. Together with my fellow traveler 'Miranda', our hostmotherwalked us to her home, about 15min walk up the hill. Their home is very basic.<br />
<br />
Concreteconstruction, with thatched roof. No electricity. No heat. No water.Outhouse behind the kitchen. The kitchen is a separate building, with atable, one chair, a clay cook stove under which is a fire, and over whichisplaced clay pots which the food is cooked in. Miranda and I broughtsomegifts for the family in the form of groceries, such as candles, rice,apples and powdered milk. I spend the late afternoon crouched on thedirt floorof the kitchen helping our hostess prepare the evening meal. I helpedfetchwater at the local well. I pealed 'papas' = potatoes until my fingersweresore, and watched as she prepared the rest of the natural ingredientsgrownin their own garden. The people on this island don't speak muchSpanish,they speak a ancient local language called Quechua. I learned a fewwordsin Quechua so I could communicate some basics with these people.Bundledwith hat, scarf, mittens, Gortex jacket and about five layers of otherclothes, Miranda and I enjoyed the evening meal with the family, whichwas apotato and vegetable soup, then boiled potatoes and fried cheese. Afterdinner, our hostess dressed us up in some of her traditional clothing,andoff we went to a fiesta in the community hall. A local band played aswewere instructed on the traditional dance by our hostess. The place waspacked with locals and other tourists who where also in home stay on theisland. The party was so much fun, I got some great photos. Back tothehouse, bundled in five layers of clothes, hat, scarf, mittens andtrappedunder the weight of 5 thick blankets, we went to sleep. It is so COLDatnight, well below freezing. In the morning we were served breakfast, then escorted down the pierwhere we met the others in our group for the boat ride to the floatingislands of Uros. These islands are made from reeds, and inhabited fulltimeby several thousand people. We went onto two such islands, met thelocals,were invited into their homes. Solar panels provided by the governmentallowthese people the electricity needed for stereos and televisions, which isquite a contrast in their one room, reed constructed homes. Two of thelocal men took us in their reed boat from one island toanother, to visit some of the other families. We were explained howthesefloating islands are constructed and maintained, and that feudingneighbourswill often cut off their section of island and float over to anotherislandand attach. CuzcoThis city was the capital of the Inca empire back in the 1500s. So far,this is my favourite place in my entire trip, and maybe anywhere in theworld. I love CUZCO!!! The 'Plaza de Armas' is the main square in allSouth American towns, and is the heart of the community. The plaza hasthemain cathedral on one side, and churches and shops/restaurants on theothersides, with a park with fountain in the middle. All streets arecobblestone, most are one way with slivers of sidewalks on either side.There is Inca stone construction everywhere. The restaurants and shopsarequite upscale, and cater to tourists. Our hotel was just a few blocksfrom the main square, a converted house with cobblestone courtyard, andcreaky wooden floors. So charming. In Cuzco, together with a few of my group members, we hired a van totake us10km up the hill to the farthest of the local ruins. We visited a totaloffour ruins, walked down the hill, through fields, along donkey pathsin-between each, until the last of the ruins 'Saqsayhuaman', which ispronounced 'Sexy Woman'. 'How did you enjoy Saqsayhuaman?' 'How longdidyou spend in Saqsayhuaman?' 'What was your favourite part ofSaqsayhuaman?'There was no end to the jokes we came up with. It was actually a reallycool ruins, and the site of a Winter Solstice festival called IntiRhami,which we missed just by a few days, (bummer). Hiking in the AndesAfter a three hour drive from Cuzco to our starting location, wereserved a hot lunch.While waiting for lunch to be prepared, we were lucky enough to sit inon acommunity meeting of the locals in the little village. There was a ceremonial flagraising to inaugurate the new president of the community. All of thelocalswere present, men sitting on one side, and women and children on anotherside. Guess which got to sit on the benches...... Our trekking crew consisted of our guide Wilbert, three horsemen, a cookandassistant cook, six llamas and three horses. The animals carried thebulkof the gear, including our main luggage, tents, food, etc. There werefive trekkers in our group, includingme. We set off on the three-day trek, and about 5 minutes into it, I'm alreadyhuffing and puffing. The climb is grueling, and this is made moredifficult by the thin oxygen at altitude. This experience was one ofthemost profound of my life, by far the most difficult thing I've everdone. A huge challenge on so many differentlevels. So many times during the trek, I didn't think I could continue.Ireached down deep, and found a determination that I didn’t know I had.Iwalked at a pace that would frustrate my 91yr old Grandmother, but I didit, and without any help. Uponreaching each of the three passes (4300M, 4100M, and 4450M), I felt suchafeeling of accomplishment and pride that I've never felt before. If Icando this, I know I can do anything. This accomplishment is probably thething I'm most proud of so far in my life. Along with the sense ofaccomplishment, theother highlights were the scenery and the local children. We didn't seeanother tourist for three days. We passed by little homes andcommunities,walked through herds of llamas, alpaca, and sheep, and crossedtrickling streams. The localchildren would run from their houses when they saw us approaching. Theydon't see white people very often, and are as intrigued with us as wearewith them. One of the local boys who lived close to our camp on thesecondnight couldn't stop kissing me. He would just huddle close to me andplantone on my cheek every few minutes. One the last day, we met up with aboyand girl on the trail, who again took a liking to me. They were perchedonthe trail about an hour from their little town that we were walkingtowards. The boy walked the wholeway back to his town holding my hand, never wanting to let go. With my broken Spanish I was able to communicate with these children, which wasso fun for me. Life at camp was awesome, despite the sub-zero temperatures. The crewarrived at camp well before us, set-up our sleeping tents, the kitchentent,the mess tent and the 'baño' = 'toilet' tent. This was a portable seatwithplastic bag catcher, inside a tiny little tent for privacy. The mealswereamazing, better than I eat at home. Did I mention it was COLD!!!? At night,it was well below zero. I put on two pairs of pants, three shirts,fleece,hat, mittens, scarf, crawled into my down sleeping bag and cinched thethingaround myself only leaving a small air hole. Our crew filled our watercanteens with boiling water. I think that is what saved me fromperishing. Before reaching Machu Picchu, we arrived to a town called 'AguasCalientas'= translation is 'Hot Water'. This town has thermal hot springs, whichweenjoyed very much after such a grueling hike. While sitting in the hotsprings, we were approached by the mayor of the area, also sitting inthesprings, and we talked for awhile about our impressions of the town,areasfor improvements, etc. That was pretty cool. After leaving the hotsprings, with my hair wrapped in a towel, I wandered into the villageandinto the shop of a local massage therapist. My intended 15 minute foot massageturned into a much longer full on body rub down. I don't know if I'vehad a better massagein my life! Early the next morning, after a hot shower and comfortable night sleepin a actual BED!, we took a bus from Aquas Calientas up the very steepmountain (switchbackroad) up to Machu Picchu, the lost city of the Incas, and maybe one ofthelargest ancient ruins in the world. What a magical place. We had anexplanation by a local guide. All their buildings had significance,every last stone was cut and shaped to fit exactly, every piece was planned carefully. I climbed to one of the high points of the ruins, and justspend some time inquiet reflection in this very special place. I arrived back to Cuzco, and spend a free day just enjoying thischarminglittle town. I'm totally exhausted, and I've actually come down withsome sort of a bug (of the gastro-intestinal variety.....). I'm trying totake it easy, which is hard in such an amazing place. Next on the itinerary:Only one week left in my six week trip. We take a flight to the jungle about an hour from now, where we will stay for three days. From thejungle, we fly back to Lima, where the tour officially ends on Friday. I have afew days in Lima after the tour ends. I'll plan to send another email on my return from the Jungle, before heading home from Lima late Sunday night (arrive back in Vancouver around noon on Monday). Attached photos:Machu PicchuFiesta on Amantani Island, Lake TiticacaReed boat on Uros Islands, Lake TiticacaReaching the summit, Andes Mountains, Peru Hoping all is well with you!<br />
Heather<br />
Saqsayhuaman of Peru<br />
<br />
-----July 9th, 2005 --------<br />
I'm back in Lima now, having returned from the three day trip to theAmazon jungle. The JungleAfter a 1hr flight, 1 hr bus ride, and 2hr boat ride, we arrived to ourresort in the Peruvian jungle. The resort was amazing. Beautifullyconstructed thatched huts, with indoor plumbing, fully screened withcomfortable beds equipped with mosquito nets. Candles were provided forlighting in our huts, and lanterns along the resort paths lit the way tothe bar and dining room. The sounds and the heat of the jungle were myfirst impression. The place is buzzing with bird and animal calls andcrickets.Very loud. The humidity is thick; I was soaked in sweat immediately onexit of the plane. I brought a small battery operated hand fan with me,and felt so clever when I managed to rig it up to hang above me in mymosquito net providing a slight respite from the heat in the night. We were led on a night walk our first night there. Equipped with ourflashlights and headlamps, we went on a quiet wander along one of theresort walking paths. The guide found a tarantula hole, and we watchedas our resort guide coaxed the beast out to meet us. That was prettycool. We saw a couple of snakes, lots of cool bugs, and a tiny littleleaf frog. The next day our full day walk in the rain forest revealedlots more jungle treats. We saw lots of species of monkeys, cabyvara(largest rodent species in the world, looks like a guinea pig, butabout the size of a full sized pig), macaw, lots of other bird species,and lots of cool bugs. We found another tarantula hole, and againcoaxed it out to meet us. This time I was crouched and hovering about afoot over the hole, with my camera aimed for good video footage.National Geographic, eat your heart out! We took a canoe ride in on ofthe lakes, where we saw some otters, which is the rarest animal sightingdue to it's highly endangered status. We hunted for anaconda, andalthough we found tracks, we didn't see any first hand. I fished andcaught a piranha, and have a picture of me giving it a littlekiss. Those suckers are hard to catch, let me tell you!!! Back to theresort, we had some free time before the evening activity, which I spentswinging in the hammock at our hut, lulled to sleep by the motion andthe peaceful sounds of the jungle. After sunset, we went caiman(crocodile) spotting in the boat. Our leaders held a huge spotlight andsearched the shore line for sightings. We saw lots! Also saw a hugesnake and more cabyvara. Back in Lima, at our tour's farewell dinner, I decided to partake in thelocal delicacy of baked guinea pig. I'm glad I tried it, but it'sreally not my favorite. It's a lot of work for not much reward. Idon't mind the work in the case of lobster or crab, but in the case ofguinea pig, the payoff wasn't that great. Last night, three of mygroup members and I went to a dinner/dance show in downtown Lima. Thelive band played, and we watched dance performances in very elaboratecostumes. The dancers would perform for one song, then the dance floorwould fill with locals, during the costume change, before the start ofthe next act. People of all ages were busting a move, some with rhythm,some without. Really cool.<br />
<br />
Trip in Review:<br />
# countries visited = 3<br />
# weeks away = 6<br />
# of fellow travelers with trips longer than mine = 20 (of 26)<br />
# flights in total = 13<br />
# of bus trips = 10<br />
# of train trips = 2<br />
# of books read = 6<br />
# of different animal species I saw = lost count at 100<br />
# alcoholic drinks consumed = 0<br />
# of cups of coffee consumed = 0 (both of the above are not recommended at altitude, so I decided to turn thewhole trip into a bit of a cleans).<br />
# fellow Canadians on my tours = 5 (of 26)<br />
# of 'small world' experiences = 2 (one of the guests on the Galapagos tour was a woman who interviewed me for a job last fall)(I met a guy on the train from Machu Picchu whose parents live on the same street as my Aunt Karin and Uncle Bob in Tsawwassen)<br />
# trips to the spa = 4<br />
# additional bags coming home = 2<br />
Highest elevation reached = 4900M<br />
Value of trip............... Priceless<br />
<br />
Home sweet home, here I come!<br />
Heather<br />
Caiman Dundette of the Peruvian Amazon<br />
<br />
PS. Did you know? In Peru, McDonalds and Burger King deliver......heatherfulcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02424613360757084690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2539077100336018117.post-17611307730508592012003-09-22T21:29:00.000-07:002012-01-01T23:10:03.594-08:00African Safari 2003<br />
Monday, September 22, 2003<br />
Cape Town, South Africa<br />
<br />
Just a quick not to let you know that I arrived in Cape Town this morning (Mon). My two days in London were awesome. I sat and chilled in a lounge chair in Hyde Park, befriended some local guys at a pub (turns out they are cops...), had a cold one and some fish and chips. Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and the Parliament buildings, London "Eye" ferris wheel, Speakers Corner in Hyde Park, etc. So far no jet lag. I've been pretty much into the new schedule re: sleep every step of the way.<br />
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The hostel I"m staying at in Cape Town is great. Right by the beach. Easy bus to Table Mountain. Restaurant and bar right here. Today I"m exploring Table Mountain. Tomorrow I'm doing paragliding, then meeting up with Lindy (friend of volleyball friend Lars) for dinner. Wednesday we go to Cape Point, and the penguin colony. Cape Town is beautiful. Gorgeous sunshine, temp in the high teens. Shorts and Tshirt with windbreaker is all I need<br />
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I'm in Cape Town until Thursday morning, then heading north into Namibia. Not sure how much Internet access I'll have until Swakopmund,Namibia in about a week.<br />
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Stress-o-meter has plummeted to about 40%, and decreasing all the time.<br />
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This is good, very good.....<br />
<br />
Heather<br />
CapeTown, South Africa<br />
-----<br />
<br />
Wednesday, Oct 1, 2003<br />
Swakopmund, Namibia<br />
<br />
I having a great time. Cape Town was awesome. The weather was warm, the sunshine was shining. Highlights included Table Mountain, where I took the tram to the top and hiked around on the trails. I loved it up there. Panoramic views of the entire city, Robben Island (where Nelson Mandella was imprissoned), and most of the way down the coast to Cape Point. Such a beautiful warm day, with sunshine and unlimited visability. Day two was spent paragliding from Lion's Head peak. I hiked up to the top take off point with a huge backpack of gear. The pilot (tandem instructor) took inventory of the wind (of which there was very little), and we waited for about an hour and a half until the wind was right to do our jump. We got the gear ready, got strapped together, and on a count of three we ran. The parachute lifted us up before there we had to jump off the side of the mountain. The flight was awesome, with views of the ocean, and Cliffton and Camps Bay beaches. It lasted only about 18min, with some crazy spiral stunts right at the end as we prepared our landing just meters from the ocean. I loved it! That evening was spend with Lindy, a friend of my friend Lars. She took me to an authentic African restaurant with live music, and bar hopping on Long Street (much like Bourbon Street in New Orleans). Very enjoyable night. Cape Point was amazing, it's the most south western point in Africa. Saw baboons, ostrich, penguins, antelope and heaps of Right Back Whales. It's mating season for the whales, so they were pretty frisky, breaching and playing in the bay.<br />
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Other highlights include white water canoeing down the Gariep river separating South Africa and Namibia. No crocodiles or hippos in that river, just birds and fish. So many fish, they were literally jumping out of the water all over the place. And the canoeing was actually a cross between canoeing and kayaking. Canoe shapped boat with kayak paddles. Then we travelled north into Fish River Canyon in Namibia, which is the second largest canyon in the world, second only to the Grand Canyon. We took a hike along the edge, then stayed for sunset at the canyon. So magical. The sand-dunes in the Namib desert were awesome. We woke up at 5am so we could climb the dunes to watch the sunrise. So hilarious. We are trekking up the side of this dune in the dark, we have to walk on the ridge, with a pretty steep drop off either side. Sunrise was amazing. We played in the dunes for part of the day, climbing and running down. Checking out the dried river beds, and dead animal carcasses we could find.<br />
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Camping has been great. The facilities are great, showers, electricity etc. I love my group, everyone is really cool. There are two Aussie couples, a Hungarian woman, a guy from Ireland, a guy from Scotland, and an Englishman from Winchester, England. One American guy from New York, and a Canadian girl from Toronto. The tour leader is awesome, so much fun - "Paul" from South Africa. He's a great cook too. Everyone is really laid back and cool, and we're having lots of laughs. Lots of silly-ness and good fun.<br />
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The landscape in Namibia is nothing like I've ever seen. It feels like I"m on the surface of the moon. Desert and nothingness for as far as the eye can see. WE are in Swapkupmund for three days. This place is where the desert and ocean meet. This is one of the largest communities in Namibia, but you can walk from one end to the other in ten minutes. Very civilized place.<br />
<br />
Next on the itinerary is Etosha National Park, where we will likely see lots and lots of game. Amoung others, we'll hopefully see the big five (Elephant, Rhino, Buffalo, Lion and Leopard). About a week from now we'll be in Windhook, Namibia, (Vind-hook) , where I *MAY* have access to the Internet (not sure if there will be time). After Windhook we headed into Botswana which is VERY remote. We go to Okavango Delta where we will be camping in the wild, with the animals etc. That will be the most dangerous part of the trip. Our tour leader hasn't lost anyone yet, and I"m hoping not to break the streak.<br />
<br />
I"m really happy with how I packed. I have all the right stuff, and nothing extra. It's really important to be well prepared on this type of trip, because supplies are few and far between. I love my new digital camera, and I'm glad I brought my discman to listen to music on those long drives (sometimes 3 hrs, sometimes 7hrs a day).<br />
<br />
My health is great, and so far I haven't been concerned about my personal safety. Stress level has done a nose dive. I'm just completely relaxed and enjoying every moment.<br />
<br />
Oh, I forgot to tell you..... I'm going skydiving later today.<br />
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Lots of Love,<br />
Heather - Queen of the Namibian Desert<br />
------<br />
<br />
Friday, October, 3, 2003<br />
Swakopmund, Namibia<br />
<br />
I just wanted to send a follow up message to let you know that I survived the skydiving, and I'm still alive. It was awesome, so thrilling! I'm having a tough time putting into words the experience of jumping out of a plane and plummeting to earth at 250 miles per hour. It was exhilarating and nervousness all in one. It was different that I imagined it to be. First of all, I thought it was a 'jump', but in fact, it's not. I sat with my feet hanging outside the plane for a second then my tandem instructor just hurled us out of the plane. The freefall was awesome, the view of the sand dunes, the desert, the ocean and the little town were awesome. It was a beautiful warm day, not a cloud in the sky. We could see forever. We jumped at 10000 feet with 35sec of freefall, and then the parachute opened at about 5000 feet. The parachute part lasted about 5min, including some crazy stunts (spiraling, back and forth swinging). So awesome!<br />
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Yesterday we all went sand boarding, which is like tobogganing but on the sand dunes instead of snow. At first I didn't like it because of the high winds. It was such a struggle to climb the sand dunes with sand flying in your face, and having to carry our sliding board. The wind died down after awhile, and the sliding part was actually alot of fun. Bombing down these huge sand dunes at 80km/hr head first. It's kinda crazy actually...... Anyway, that was great.<br />
<br />
Having the time of my life.......<br />
<br />
Heather - Queen of the Namibian Desert<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
Wednesday, Oct 7th<br />
Windhoek, Namibia<br />
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I've decided that the tour leader reminds me of a cross between Ashton Kucher and Crocodile Dundee. He's a 25yr old blond hair, surfer guy, with African safari know-how. He's awesome.<br />
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I have so much to report since my last update from Swakopmund. We traveled north visiting a seal sanctuary (thousands of seals flopping on the rocks - it was mating season, so love was in the air!). We stayed in a VERY remote campground (no water, no toilets, no electricity) at a place called Spitzkopp. This is Namibia's largest mountain, which amounts to a huge rock outcrop jetting out of an otherwise flat and desolate landscape. We enjoyed the most magnificent sunset. The sun turns the most vibrant red colour, and the sky turns a million shades of red, pink and orange. We cooked our dinner over an open fire (as usual), drank some beers, then most of us decided to sleep out on the rocks instead of setting up our tents. What an amazing experience. I fell asleep under the moonlight and star filled sky, and woke up to the sunrise over the mountain. So awesome. I took a picture of the 'reception office" of this campground, where two women spend their days. It is a hut the size of my bathroom, with a little veranda. I gave the women some gifts (pens, toys for their children) and a Canadian pin. They were so thrilled, they insisted that I choose one of their homemade necklaces as their gift to me. So cute.<br />
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The following night was at Brandberg Mountain, where we saw the bushmen paintings of 5000 years ago. That was quite cool. We had to hike for quite awhile in the blazing heat (40' +). I was really struggling in the heat, drinking lots of water (despite the fact that it was also 40'). Our campground was very basic, although this time we had toilets and showers. I loved the shower. It was open air, and the water was hot. Our guide pointed out that there were fresh elephant tracks right beside our campsite, and that elephants always use the same path. The park ranger anticipated another visit from the elephants, and that they usually travel at night. So we put out a bucket of water for them to drink, and stayed quiet all night in the hopes we would see them. Many people slept out by the campfire so we could be really close. Unfortunately, the elephants didn't come....... Another one of the highlights from that place was the donkey cart ride that we took around the campground. So hilarious.<br />
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Next stop was Etosha National Park (Game Reserve). As soon as we drove through the gates we saw giraffe and zebra. I was going nuts. Our campground was part of a resort complex with pool and restaurant and bar. There is a flood lit watering hole just steps from where we sleep. This is where the animals come to drink. It is so hot and dry here, the animals have no choice but to come to where the water is. The first night at Etosha, we couldn't peel ourselves away from the watering hole. We saw elephant, giraffe, rhinos, lion, all sorts of antelope, etc. The lions were the highlight. Right out of nowhere, three lioness and about 7 cubs and one male lion strut down to have a drink. All the other animals scattered away. It's very clear that there is a pecking order. We stayed at Etosha for three days, each day with a game drive in the morning and afternoon. We saw heaps and heaps of animals. The best was the heard of elephant (15+) that arrived to a spot not long after we did. It was so neat to see the family interaction. We also saw lots of lion, zebra, ostriches, giraffe, warthog, impala, wildebeest, yadda yadda yadda. Back at camp, and down to the resort watering hole we enjoyed the best show of all. A heard of about 30 elephants arrived to drink, roll in the mud, have a bath, etc. Again, I was overwhelmed by emotion. After the elephant left, the rhino show started. There were about 7 black rhino, a few of which were in an argument. We watched all of this with beers in hand, just steps from our campsite. The watering hole is fenced off with a thick stone wall, with benches all around. It is very safe to sit and watch. It was so awesome to be so close to the animals (only a few feet in some cases). I slept on the roof of the truck at Etosha Park. It is so nice to sleep under the stars, and so mild. Etosha isn't in a malarial area, so it's safe.<br />
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And then there was the late night skinny dip in the pool at Etosha Park. I was one of only four people in our group who were brave enough to do it with the spectators of the resort bar right beside the pool.<br />
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We've arrived in Windhoek, which is the capital of Namibia. Approx 120,000 population. This is a very civilized place. We are staying at a very nice guest house in town, with pool etc. We'll be here just one night, before we head into Botswana tomorrow. Our guide got a text message from the other guides saying that the elephant are going crazy in Botswana (lack of water), and so we have to be extra careful!<br />
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Some of the highlights:<br />
- hearing a lion's roar in the distance as I drift off to sleep in the open air<br />
- the hot dry weather in the desert - my hair goes from dripping wet to perfectly dry in 2min<br />
- the herds of elephant at the watering hole in Etosha<br />
- donkey cart ride in Brandberg<br />
-seal colony - watching the young ones suckle, and the males battle for breeding rights with the females<br />
- sleeping on the rocks at Spitzkopp, after enjoying an awesome sunset.<br />
The next anticipated connection to the Internet is Victoria Falls, Zambia, in about a week.<br />
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Cheers!<br />
<br />
Heather<br />
-----<br />
<br />
Thursday, Oct 16, 2003<br />
Victoria Falls, Zambia/Zimbabwe<br />
<br />
So much to tell since my last update. After leaving Windhoek, we traveled across the Namibian border into Botswana. We stayed our first night in Botswana in the Kalahari desert, near a bushmen village. Our campground was awesome. Thatched roof huts with open air toilets and showers and a common building for meals etc. We were the only group at the campground, and there were about as many local staff taking care of us as there were guests. They made our meals, and even gave us a hosted bar (free beer). The owner piled a bunch of us in his pick up truck and took us to the watering hole that was on the property. It was like a quarry swimming hole, which was so refreshing in this heat. That evening we enjoyed a song/dance ritual performed by the local bushmen group. The medicine man put his healing hands on my head to cure me of all that ails me (which isn't much, frankly). That was such a magical performance, I was just in awe. I slept out that night, with my cot right beside the campfire, with the stars and moon as my ceiling. I love doing that! The next night was in Maun, also the Kalahari. Maun is one of the largest cities in Botswana, but you'd never know it. Botswana is one of the richest countries in Africa, but it's the strangest thing. Everyone dresses very well, but they live in shacks. Our resort in Maun had a swimming pool, which saved me from melting in the 46 degree heat. We got our selves ready for the next day, which was a trip into the Okanango Delta. We were only allowed to bring a small bag, sleeping bag and water. We were transferred by four wheel safari vehicle for about an hour an a half deep into the bush, where we hooked up with our mokoros. These are primitive dugout canoes, which we traveled in for about 2hrs to our campsite on an island in the delta. It was wild camping, with no electricity, water, etc. We camped amoung the animals, and went on walking safaris with our guides. We saw a dead buffalo killed just a day earlier by a lion. We saw lots of elephants, monkeys, baboons, antelope, etc. At night the Lion and hyena came into our camp. Luckily nobody had contact with them, we could just hear them, and see their tracks in the morning. The elephant got really close to us, probably 50 or 100 feet. One of our group was going to the toilet when he looked up to see an elephant just there. Needless to say, he cut his visit short. The Okavango Delta was amazing, I can't even describe it. Hopefully pictures will help tell the story. Pictures can't quite capture the heat though, topping about 50 degrees on day. We took respite from the heat by taking frequent dips in the swimming hole beside our camp. The water is about 6 feet deep in that spot, and clear enough to see if there are any crocodiles in the immediate vacinity. We had great fun jumping into the water, playing frisbee, and monkeying around on the mokoro canoes (it's harder than you think!)<br />
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After the Delta, we went to the Magadigadi Pans in Botswana. This is a dried up inland lake, where we actually drove out truck into the middle and set-up a little wine and cheese party for ourselves. People played frisbee and cricket, had our drinks and snacks, listened to music, did a little dancing, and watched the sunset. So much fun.<br />
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Crossing from Botswana into Zambia was interesting. After considerable confusion, we boarded the 'ferry' for the 10 min crossing. The organization surrounding the ferry loading is quite unobtrusive, and frankly, totally lacking. The ferry itself was old and rickety, held together with paper clips and rubber bands. It holds only a handful of cars, or two semi trucks at a time. There used to be two ferries in operation, but one of them sank only a few weeks before we were there. About 15 of the passengers were killed, most by the crocs in the river. Our safari truck was initially loaded, with back wheels almost hanging off the end of the platform, then unloaded because of excess weight. Finally, after an hour of complete chaos, our truck was loaded again, and we made the crossing. A local Zambian fella on the ferry look an immediate shinning to me. He wanted to know where I was from, and told me that he is looking to marry a white girl. He asked me to give him a chance, and almost so much as proposed marriage to me. So hilarious. Once on the Zambia side, we cleared customs, and proceeded on to Livingston, which is the community in Zambia across from Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.<br />
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Our last and final stop is here in Livingston/Victoria Falls. One of the seven wonders of the world, and it's easy to see why. The falls are on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe, and are about 4.5kms long. Our resort is right on the Zambesi river, my tent has a view of the river. Our first afternoon here we went to see the falls from the walking trails on the Zambia side. I was moved to tears. I can't actually believe I'm here. This is so awesome. Again, I can't describe in words, hopefully pictures will paint a good picture. Our evening was spent on the Zambezi sunset dinner cruise, one of the best experiences of my trip. We cruised the river watching the hippo and elephant in the water and on the shore. We even saw elephant crossing the river - yes - they can swim! The sunset was awesome, best I've ever seen in the world. All of the above was done with beers in hand, appetizers and then a barbeque dinner. The staff even sang us some local songs as we docked back at our resort. After our 'booze cruise' was over, we all piled into the resort bar, and continued the party. Let's just say that the night was a bit of a blurr after that, and that the grass outside my tent have never been so fertilized as it was that night. Let's just leave it at that. Since our resort was right on the river, there can be chance encounters with crocodile on the resort grounds. In order to safely get to the toilets in the middle of the night, I do a quick flashlight surveillance outside my tent to make sure the coast is clear.<br />
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Day two in Vic Falls was spent white water rafting (with a wee hangover). This river is known world wide as the most challenging, with class 5 and 6 rapids. We had to hike down into the Zambezi gorge, not an easy feat. Then piled into the raft, got a briefing, and then set off down the river. I stayed in the raft for about half the rapids. Most of them tossed me out. The only time I was panicked was on our first class 5 rapid, where I was trapped under the raft for a short time, then tossed around in the white water for another little while. Breathing air was starting to get quite urgent. Then when the rapid was over, we spotted a crocodile on the rivers edge, so they had to scramble to get me back in the raft. The hike out from the gorge was another huge challenge. After all that exercise and sun, we had to hike straight up out of the gorge on a make-shift wooden ladder system.<br />
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Today is my last day in Africa. I was up for part of the night listening to the hippo, and fearing that there was one right outside my tent. This morning's activity is right up there on my list of trip highlights. I took a 30min helicopter ride over Vic Falls, through the Zambezi canyon, and over the nearby game park, and local villages. It was so thrilling, I can't even explain. The view of the falls can't properly be appreciated on the ground. The part I loved the best was the canyon. The helicopter dove directly down in the gorge, bobbing and weaving over the rapids that we rafted. We were just meters from the water. We saw hippo, and elephant and crocs in the river. In the game park, we saw rhino, buffalo, giraffe, etc.<br />
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I leave for my flight home in a couple of hours. I'll be about 25 hours in transit, arriving back in Vancouver around 11am on Friday, Oct 17th. It's pretty sad saying goodbye to all my new friends. I'm looking forward to coming home though.<br />
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Time of my life.....<br />
<br />
Heather<br />
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Animals I saw in Africa<br />
Horitz (the size of a rabbit, and the closest living relative to the Elephant)<br />
Baboon<br />
Ostrich<br />
African Right Whale<br />
Goats<br />
Cows<br />
Water Scorpion<br />
Bats<br />
Eagles<br />
Springbok (Antelope)<br />
Rabbit<br />
Giraffe<br />
Oryx (Antelope)<br />
Zebra<br />
Elephant (African and Desert)<br />
Black Rhino<br />
White Rhino<br />
Lion<br />
Warthog<br />
Owl<br />
Wildebeast<br />
Kudu (Antelope)<br />
Vulcher<br />
Hyena<br />
Impala (Antelope)<br />
Hartebeast<br />
Dick Dicks (small antelope)<br />
Steenbok (Antelope)<br />
Monkeys<br />
Fish Eagle<br />
Buffalo<br />
Hippo<br />
Crocodile<br />
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Animals I ate in Africa<br />
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Kudu<br />
Crocodile<br />
Springbok<br />
Pojike Pot - stew of assorted game<br />
Warthog<br />
Oryx<br />
Ostriche<br />
Elephantheatherfulcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02424613360757084690noreply@blogger.com0