Savannah River Sunrise

From my first morning in Savannah, Sunrise on the River near Battery Hamilton.  It was a bit subdued by the clouds but pretty nonetheless!

Tybee Lighthouse

Tybee light was beautiful in the morning and I love the cottage that the lighthouse keeper lived in back in the day.  It’s been restored inside.  All in all a very well kept monument to the history of the area.

Savannah

I didn’t get a lot of photos of the town itself.  Spent so much time out on the coast or on the bus that I never really explored like I’d like to, but this photo from East River Street gives you a bit of a feel.

Savannah Cathedral

Savannah’s lovely cathedral – simply gorgeous – be sure to check out the gallery for some interior shots as well!

Moon River

The natural beauty near Savannah actually inspired several Panorama shots.  It’s hard to pick just one to show here, but this is Moon River near dusk and the colors were very special!

Angels of Bonaventure

In case you’re unaware the statue on the front of the book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, was photographed in Bonaventure.  Not the oldest cemetery in Savannah but a lovely one!  The statue from the book had to be moved to protect it but there’s still some incredible statuary there!

In The Pink

My last evening in Savannah was back out to Tybee Island where I enjoyed strolling the beach.  It was a subdued sky with a lot of clouds, but the colors and light was still pretty perfect.  The above is a long exposure shot.  I’ll pick one more, but I hope you’ll go check them all out.  It’s hard for me to pick out my own favorites never mind yours!

Out Of The Blue

One of the last from that evening on Tybee, the sun had sunk down and twilight was almost a solid cast of blue from the sky to the reflecting water on the beach.

For more of Savannah, check out the Savannah gallery.

In brief, these are tours of the tree tops.  Strong cables are strung between trees and people glide on them on little pulleys while strapped into harnesses.  While I can’t say that there was no trepidation, I can say it was a highlight of the trip.  I can’t say that I was looking that much at the trees and the wildlife, but I can say it was a genuine adrenaline rush.  We made ten jumps between various trees on a resort near La Fortuna.  Some of the jumps were small, some were really quite long.  The last real line was over a river and quite long.

When you zip line, you wear a harness that’s strapped to a pulley and you use a sort of leather strap on your dominant hand as a brake to control your speed.  On our first jump, like several of us, I fell short of the next platform, having applied too much brake.  I resolved after having to use my hands to pull myself up the last little bit of cable that I wasn’t doing that again.  I barely slowed down afterward and was one of only a few in the group to make each successive leap to the next platform.  I simply refused to brake!  At least until the guide on the platform was waving his hands at me to slow down!

After our last leap, we got onto a cart and drove back to the resort.  They sold us photos of ourselves taken while we were going between the trees.  I think I should work on this as a new profession – one CD cost $45!  They told us we could make as many copies as we wanted at least.  So, after we got back into town and had lunch, I was duly appointed to get some blanks and sit down in the internet cafe and make copies.  The fun part was that the software was in Spanish and apparently the first computer I sat at had an issue with it’s CD drive as it broke after the 4th copy!  The next machine was much faster.

Didn’t do much else that day.  We had our last full group meal that night as one of the group was staying there to go to Monteverde with her Aunt.  Afterward, hung out with part of the group (Lenny, James, and Sidra) who didn’t go to La Disco until retiring to the room to more or less do my last packing for the trip.  I knew the next night in San Jose would be rushed so I wanted to have my stuff together.  My bags needed to be ready to be loaded up when the rafting group left in the morning.

All but three of us were going whitewater rafting.  I had considered doing it, but all in all, if I wanted to white water raft that bad, I have plenty of choices here and it was one of the more expensive activities.  I just didn’t have that much interest basically.  So, the three of us, James, Lenny, and I were staying behind that morning and would be picked up to rejoin the group at 1:30pm.  Instead, we went back to Baldi Hot Springs for the day!  Perfect way to spend my last full day in Costa Rica.  Resting in hot springs, going up and down the water slides several times and just generally feeling like a complete bum!

When we met back up with the group, we had lunch and then took the long winding roads back to San Jose.  It was a three hour drive into the city.  We all wondered what it would look like after the earthquake, and ironically we couldn’t see any damage.  Apparently the bulk of it was outside of the area we were staying in.  I’d seen lots of photos on TV and heard conflicting stories about death tolls, but didn’t feel it and never really saw it.  It was very odd, like being at the scene of an event but not sharing in it.  Don’t get me wrong, very happy not to have been harmed in anyway, but it still created a surrreal feeling.

We had our last group meal at a restaurant that served Thai and Indian food.  I had Indian chicken curry!  Yum!!  The restaurant was nice and it was a great way to end the trip.  After dinner and chatting, we all made our way back to the hotel for our final night.  We chatted a bit and said our farewells.  Jenn and I were the first out the next morning.  We had to leave the hotel about 5am.  I took one more hot shower (my second since getting back to San Jose and the magic of hot water) and went to bed for all of four hours before I dragged the last of my belongings into my bag and knocked on Jenn’s door.  Our tax driver was waiting for us and made good time to the airport.

Of course, we get to the airport, and our flight to Houston was delayed (apparently one of many that day).  We made up a lot of time in the air but still think we got to our gate late.  Both of us had tight connections, I to Atlanta, Jenn to Toronto.  I still don’t know if she made hers but the last I saw her she was still in the immigration line.  I managed to run and get far into the line.  But as soon as I got through passport control, I stood and waited for my bags forever.  People were complaining vehemently all around me.   I swear it’s either Continental or Houston or both, but every connection I’ve made there has been a nightmare.  My bag finally shot on to the conveyor and I was off to the races.  I managed to get through customs quickly and re-checked the bag and ran to my airplane.  By the time I got there, I felt half dead and looked only slightly better.  I barely made it onto my plane.

The whole flight, I wondered what the chances were my bag had made it.  It wasn’t long after landing before I figured out it hadn’t.  The funny thing was there were a lot of people without their luggage who weren’t making connections like me.  It’s like they left a pile of suitcases sitting somewhere in Houston.  I stood in line, filed my luggage claim and was told I’d get it delivered to my house by 10pm.

I dragged myself home, only stopping at the grocery store to replenish the cupboard enough for a day or two and collapsed on the sofa to wait for my bags.

I drifted in and out of sleep for awhile.  About 10pm, I woke up and called Continental about my bags.  They told me they came in at 9pm and it shouldn’t be long…  I drifted back to sleep.  About 11pm, they called me to say my bag would be delivered about 3am!  And asked if anyone would be awake or if there was someplace outside they could leave it!  I think not!  I asked if we could just schedule it for today so I could properly go to bed.

Somewhere in all this, I also got an e-mail from Lenny and James that they had gotten stuck at the airport here in a missed connection back to the UK.  They got put up at a nice hotel near the airport at least.

We exchanged emails today.  I suggested some places they might do touristy stuff and where to shop if they were interested.  They ended up deciding on the shopping spree option.  I can’t entirely blame them.  We had the fastest reunion dinner ever at the airport this evening, only the day after we all left Costa Rica!  HA!  Hopefully, they are 30 minutes into their flight home by now!

Oh, and yes, I finally got my bag, a bit before 3pm today!  So, I finally feel like I’m back.  It may take me a few days to get back into the swing of life here.  It was a great trip.  I’ve told several people now that it feels like ages since I left for this trip, not two weeks.  And not in a bad way, it’s just that I saw and did so much, it just feels like a month passed while I was away.  Much to catch up on, much to remember.

I’m not sure when I’ll next call on Costa Rica or Nicaragua.  They were both interesting in their own way.  The trip did concentrate more on Nicaragua, so maybe more Costa Rica some day.  I’d particulalry like to see some of the non-westernized parts.  La Fortuna was so tourist-driven that I hardly took any photos there.  It seemed like they’d look like they could have been anywhere. That said, there were parts of Nicaragua that, even without hot water, I much enjoyed and I’d like to see more.  Granada could have been easily a day or two longer and I heard good things about Leon.  Nicaragua was probably one of the poorest places I’ve been.  We were told only Haiti in this hemisphere was poorer, but it’s also one of the safest places in Latin America and the people I met were unfailingly kind.  Also due to the conflicts of the 80′s, a very young country, we were told between 60 and 70% of the population is under 30.  I definitely left with a warm place in my heart for Nicaragua and had fun in Costa Rica, but there are so many places I’ve yet to see that it’s hard to say that I’ll definitely go back soon.

Hopefully I’ll get to start going through the photos from the trip soon!

We took a van to Managua airport.  The actual airport is quite a bit nicer than expected, but we were flying out of the small end of it which is for local destinations.  We were flying to San Carlos.  Quick lunch in the Subway in Manaqua International Airport where I learned that Atun is Tuna.  I was so hunrgy I didn’t much care.

We then hopped on our little 12 seat plane.  My first flights were aboard propeller planes, although slightly bigger, so I can’t really say they scare me, but I don’t find them at all comfortable or overly assuring.  I prefer jets when given the choice.   Actually, I have to say that anytime they weigh not only my bags but me, I’m not comforted.  They weighed us all, and all our bags.  My bag was 10 pounds over the limit (but 10 under for the US).  But luckily the group weight was what counted for our flight, so no extra charge.

A wee bit later we had flown over Lake Nicaragua and landed in the tiny burg of San Carlos.  We watched our bags get unloaded and were told we couldn{t collect them until we were inside the hut.   I cannot call this small building next to a single dirt runway a terminal.  It was simply a hut.  Once inside we watched another group pile into the plane returning to Managua.  It was about this moment that one of our group realized her bag was not there.  Yes, it had never been unloaded…

It was at one funny and tragic.  Our guide spent half an hour bartering with the people at the desk.  In the end, there was no way to get the bag back same day.  They were putting it on a plane for the next day. I really felt for her, luggage lose, even for a day is no fun at all.

We took taxis to the docks at San Carlos and then boarded a boat to our “Eco Lodge” on one of the islands of Solentiname.  The location was, I have to say, beautiful.  A gorgeous little piece of island shaded by a variety of trees and plants.  The couple who run it, Daniel and Olivia, were incredibly friendly.  The islands are sparsely populated, maybe 1,000 people we were told.

The place is remote enough that the power is solar, so limited.  The cabins only had a light.  I had to recharge my phone at the main building.  Not that I got a signal there, just that I needed it for an alarm.  They do have a phone there for emergencies, but not for general use.  Apparently it’s a bear to call out.

The first night, I shooed a gecko out of my cabin, another guy had spiders, and another group had bats.  This should give you an idea just how out there it was.  During the day, you quickly forgot, but at night, the warm temps and the critters made me want civilization badly.  I really think only Ometepe or only Solentiname would have made the trip better for me.  I’m hard pressed to pick one over the other, but I have reached my limit of backwater for the moment.

On our first day, our fellow traveler’s bag arrived (at a cost of $100 – which with luck her insurance will pay for) and a boat had to go back to San Carlos with her to get it.  A few of us went back for lack of anything else to do.  Sure, I could have laid in a hammock, but I had a better time in the hour long boat ride and 20 minutes meandering through a small market where they rarely see tourists.   I got some cookies and thought the guy said they were 30 cordobas, when they were actually 13 (yes, my spanish is that bad).  To his credit, he refused to accept my error.  There are 20 cordobas to the dollar right now, so we aren’t talking a lot.  I just have to give a shout out to the honest locals of San Carlos, Nicaragua!

Back to the eco lodge and a lazy afternoon.  We spent two days eating (great meals) and the only exercise I got was walking to “town” the second afternoon.  Even by Ideal, Georgia standards, this was not a town.  Chickens and ducks and a room in a couple of houses with groceries or clothes.  If quaint is what you’re after, Solentiname is your place.  While there, a Brit who is travelling on a world ticket for a year briefly joined up with us to eat and share stories.  She’s travelling alone and on the last two months of her year abroad.  About my age and quit her job and sold everything to do it.  Much jealousy.  Although I’m not sure you’d ever find me wandering off to plaves like that wee island on my own.  I need a bit more city to stay sane it appears.

I likewise think that I see I’ll never do peace corps.  The cold showers have completely worn thin.  Granada was at least luke warm.  Solentiname was back to cold and bitter.  I guess I could get used to it, but I’m not really sure I want to.  That’s apparently a creature comfort that I’m hard pressed to give up.

I think I’ve complained enough, lest I sound like I’m completely having no fun here.  I cherish every moment that I’m getting to see a little more of this wide world.

Today was back to Costa Rica day.  We had breakfast at 6:30am and boarded a boat to San Carlos.  We went through immigration there to exit Nicaragua and boarded a collectivo boat heading south on the San Frio River to Los Chiles, Costa Rica.  Passports stamped and sat on the boat.  As it’s a collectivo, it only leaves when it’s full.  As we were first in line, we sat on for over an hour.

Just about time to shove off, it began to pour rain.  A theme for the day.  The roof of the boat had about a 100 leaks and one was, of course, over my bag.  Drip, drip, drip…  My bag is water resistant, not water proof, but it appears it was never enough to seep through luckily.  It was a drizzle that alternately poured all the way to Los Chiles where it stopped just enough for us to load our bags on the van for the next leg luckily.  As soon as the tarps went up over our bags on the roof, the sky opened again.  We crowded in the building to get our passports stampd for re-entry into Costa Rica for a bit before boarding the van.

The van was a two hour ride and we were all determined to make no stops.  Every time a stop was offered, we said no thanks.  The only stop we really made was sitting on the side of the road looking at monkeys playing in the trees outside our windows.  Still, no one budged, we were determined to make good time to La Foruna.

La Fortuna is a totally touristy town.  I hope to explore it a bit if just for some tacky souvenirs, maybe tomorrow.  Maybe the next morning, we’ll see what works out.  Today we still didn’t have time for a lot.  We got in and unloaded.

I happened to turn on the news (trying to catch up)  just in time to see that there had been a 6.1 earthquake here in Costa Rica.  It was felt here in La Fortuna even though it’s 5 hours away from San Jose.  The epicenter was apparently a bit north of San Jose, where there were two deaths and a bit of damage.  Hard to tell how much as the news thats doing much coverage is all in spanish.  At any rate, we felt nothing on the road on the way here and are all well.  As far as I know, this changes nothing about our travel plans or leaving here on time next Sunday.  If you’ve seen the news and wondered, though, all is well on my end.

In the evening today, we took a bus tour out to see lava flows from a viewing spot for the local volcano – forgive me I’ve forgot it’s name.  It was somewhat disappointing, the rain returned and we only saw a few brief flares that were bright enough to shine through the thick clouds.  The town is close enough we might still see something tomorrow night, though, so fingers crossed.

From there we went to Baldi hot springs, a natural hot spring that’s been totally turned into a resort.  Tons of hot pools and two huge slides.  I had immense fun plummeting down those hot water slides because I had to use both hands to hold my glasses on, it was like being shot out of a gun at max velocity!  Some of us are totally considering a return trip tomorrow.

My only definite plan tomorrow is a canopy tour at 10am.  Otherwise, maybe some sightseeing around town and a little chill time.  The next day part of the group is going whitewater rafting.  Three of us not interested are staying in town until noon and will be picked up and taken to re-unite with the rest for our trek back into San Jose.  So, yes, the trip is in its final days now!  WAAHHH!!!!  So, yes, I’ve complained a little, but you see now that I’ll still be sorry to leave.

Yesterday was day 1 with the arch supports and what a blessed difference it was.  My little arches felt massively better.  They still need a rest but that too shall come.  Every trip to London, I’ve taken several tours from a group called London Walks – in my opinion, the best walking tours of the city.  I’ve done a ton of them and have not nearly done them all.  This trip, I had not set foot on one.  Not sure what’s happening there!  Yesterday I saw they had an “explorer” tour – essentially a day out from the city with an afternoon and morning tour and they handle getting you there and back.  I’d done one to Leeds Castle and Canterbury a few years ago.  This one was to St. Albans, a wee city about 20 minutes by rail from London.  It was advertised as being quaint having started as a Roman Fort and having existed in one form or another every since.  It was dirt cheap as tours go, so I can’t complain.  The city didn’t quite fit my image of a quaint little place frozen in time as described but was sort of cool in that we saw a place where everyday folks live.  It’s sort of a bedroom community for the greater city.  It’s also the site of an ancient shrine to st. Alban.  He was a roman who was converted to Christianity and martyred for it.  I had never heard his name before as far as I can recall.  The interesting thing was that the tour guide’s accent sounded just like a lady back home who was an English war bride.  I should have asked but never got around to it.  It was uncanny familiar and took me a bit to place.  I kept thinking I’d heard it on TV somewhere.

Got back into the city and took the tube all the way to Aldgate, essentially now in the city’s business district and fair dead on a Sunday, but I have wanted for the longest time to get some photos of the “Gherkin” as it’s known – it’s this massive mod building in the heart of London – visible from the Thames near Tower Bridge.  I think it looks more like an elongated egg than a pickle, but it’s green colored glass earns its nickname.   I did get some photos.  The light wasn’t so great, so we’ll see what I got out of the expedition.  I was not surprised to encounter many other tourists at every vantage point trying their luck as well.

Afterwards, a quick meal and galloped off to bed.  I had high hopes of another early start today.  Today’s explorer day was to Cambridge.  I had almost written it off but several people on the St. Albans tour said it was a must.  And I noted it was being lead by the same guide from Canterbury in 2005.  So, I figured I could well rest on the plane ride back.

I was off the tube at Kings Cross train station well before 9am this morning.  I had a quick breakfast and waited for the guide to show up.  Kings Cross could not be a much more busy place to try to meet a group.  I had almost decided that I was at the wrong place, though it didn’t seem possible.  The landmark is a luggage cart half through a wall with the sign 9 3/4 over it (the track # from the Harry Potter films (the scene with the cart in the wall I actually recall).  I got to watch SO MANY people throw their bags in and get photos of themselves.  A large group of young asians must have been there for 20 minutes.  I even got roped into helping them with their photos.  But it was fun to watch.

The group finally formed and we were off to Cambridge.  It’s a fascinating little city.  I think as much as anything it was interesting to hear how the English college/university system formed and how different it is in structure than our typical system in the states.  Tons of gorgeous old buildings but all kind of piled upon one another such that I would have had to have spent a lot more time than I had hunting out good angles.  We toured in the morning, had a quick lunch and then continued in the afternoon.  At the end a portion of us spent our free time punting (boating) down the Cam to our final meeting point as a group before going back to the train station.  The weather was kind of drab (overcast) by the time it came time to punt, but who knows when one will ever be in Cambridge again with the opportunity to lay back in a boat.  The guy providing the power to the pole (the actual act of punting) was a college student at St. Johns College and told us a lot about the things we saw along the riverside.   And he did much better at guiding the boat than some of the folks around us who just tried it on their own!  One group was doing what I would have, basically just propelling themselves into each opposite bank over and over!  Funny to watch, probably frustrating to do!

Trips end, we all piled back onto the train to London.  Chit-chatted about where we were all from (a mix of locals, Aussies, Germans, and several Americans aside from myself – all from out west).   Back at Kings Cross we quickly bid farewell.  There were some with shows tonight, and myself I wanted to get back here to pick up my gorilla pod and tripod head and try to get some dusk shots of SOMETHING before I went back.  I dragged that thing from the states for heavens sake and had yet to find time to use it. It’s been past dusk every night I thought of it.  I got here, and dashed back to the train.  I started looking at the clock and realized that I was not going to make it to either Tower Bridge nor St. Paul’s Cathedral in time.  I had to adjust my plans and instead got off at Westminster so I could see Big Ben and Parliament at dusk.  I think those shots came out pretty well.  I was one of MANY on the bridge taking photos.  Tons had full on tripods with them.  Either locals or far more dedicated travelers than I am.  I may yet break down and find a tripod that is both sturdy and not only light but compact enough.  But I’m not yet convinced I need it.  I generally only take night shots when I’ve been somewhere enough to know what to expect about where the light will set, etc.  Parliament qualified, as do several places in London now, as I’m on trip 4 to this city…  Scary, eh?

Anyway, a bit of a wander there after and then a train to Picadilly Circus one more time.  Quick meal and some hand held quick night shots of the lights there (A LOT of light – London’s time’s square).  And finally back here.  I just finished arranging my bags.  Everything packed except what I’m wearing now, tonight, or in the morning.

Everytime I come here, there are tons of mixed emotions at the end.  There’s definitely a side of me that will be so happ to snuggle into my own bed tomorrow evening, a side that will be happy to see familiar places and definitely a side that will be glad to be able to actually rest.  But it’s conflicted with a side that would happily remain here, not per se just London but here being the road, meeting new people, hearing new words and accents and voices.  London is so fantastic in part because it’s a microcosm of people and places.  The history, the native cuture and the imported culture will always hold a little sway over me, but it also feeds the wanderlust.

Not sure where is next, but if tradition holds there’s a trip at year’s end.  Maybe Paris since I missed out.  Or maybe somewhere warm again.  Egypt, although cooler than I may have expected, was an awesome change.  And I’m well amazed how quickly I’ve adapted to the temps here.  I brought my hoodie with me, which has half the time been either left behind or tied around my waist.  I’ve dreaded every time I had to wear one of the two long sleeved shirts I brought!  I even though of wearing my one pair of shorts I brought along hopefully but finally decided to save them for the flight home.  I may roast at the Atlanta airport otherwise!  My body is not going to be prepared anymore.

Ah well, London photos and more to come at some point after I’ve had a slight relax – take care!

More than I expected to share, but it’s a bit of a catch up to yesterday, when we slipped back into London.  Amazingly little traffic, but made up for by a brief scare when the bus driver pulled off because the steering went out briefly.  It mysteriously started working again and they were told to bring it on in and it would be checked today.  I think this was a portent of things to come for me.

A few of us walked to Victoria train station together and said our final farewells.  They announced something about the Eurostar service being canceled.  I didn’t think much of it because I was leaving from St. Pancras, not Victoria Station.  I got to Kings Cross / St. Pancras and arriving there heard more about the Eurostar service being down but little details.  I didn’t stick around, I wanted to put my bag down first.  I walked to my hotel for the night and noticed that every hotel I passed, including mine, had signs that there were no vacancies.  I got in and checked in and the desk clerk said that all the rooms were booked because no one was leaving St Pancras for Europe.  He said I was lucky I had a room as there were none to be found remotely near Kings Cross that night.  He didn’t know much more other than there was a fire at 2pm local time.

I went upstairs and watched the news.   The Channel Tunnel takes cars and trucks as well as passenger rail, but everything that goes through the tunnel is on a train.  A commercial train had a truck it was carrying catch fire and soon out of control.  No one killed, and no passenger trains in the tunnel at the time.  So some good news.  This happened before in 1996 and the tunnel was partially closed for 6 mos for repairs.  I didn’t have a good feeling as they said the fire was under control but still burning and this was like 7pm…

I went over to the station and managed to find someone to talk to.  I was told to watch the news and if they didn’t cancel service the next day to return at 4:30am (when they opened) to be assured of confirming my seat and not losing it.  I had dinner and wandered awhile before returning to the hotel.  The news that night was still the same, service canceled, fire still burning…  I went to sleep and set an alarm.  When I got up in the morning, the fire was still going.  No point walking to the station.  I still need to get my refund since I obviously can’t reschedule this trip in the next 60 days.

I went back to sleep and slept as late as I could before leaving.  I came to the Ace Hotel, the hostel I was staying in here after getting back from Paris.  I was dead lucky, as they had one bed available tomorrow night.  I have to move tomorrow morning and again the next morning to the bed I originally booked.  Not fun but at least I have a place to sleep.

All in all, I put this in the lucky category.  Lucky no one was hurt, lucky I wasn’t in Paris already when this happened and having to try to arrange another way back to the US next week.  They may start limited service to Paris this weekend but gosh knows if I could get on that if I was over there.  I am lucky I wasn’t one of the people who had important things to get to Europe for this weekend (marriage, school, and a pile of others listed in the paper).  Thousands of peoples lives disrupted, I can handle a vacation going a bit awry.  On that same note, this morning when I watched the news, I soon found the tunnel fire was the second headline.  A major travel agency went bankrupt this morning.  Around 50k people are apparently stranded away from home with no immediate way to get back.  The government is sorting that one out.  There are also tons more who have yet to leave on vacations that no longer exist.

A very strange end of the week to say the least, but I’m here and I’ll make the best of it.  Today was just a long wander with the camera.  A nice sunny day with some excellent cloudy but magnificent skies.  No idea what I’m going to do tomorrow.  My feet are telling me to chill.  We’ll see if I listen to them (or what they say in the morning).  I didn’t have plans for what to do with  myself when I got back to London to begin with, now I have more time than originally!  Oh well, it’s a city with an impressive number of options.

One day I’ll look back on all this with a smile.  I’m already able to see the silver lining, that’s a start.

That evening, we took a little boat trip as a group across the nile to this little restaurant on the edge of the Western Desert. Great fun, but for me, so so food. The novelty of it more than made up for that.

It was an early dinner and we were back across maybe 7pm or so. We also found out that we got to sleep in the next morning, we would leave hotel at 10am! YAAYYY!!! I did my packing, which was a bit of a challenge. Had to figure out what I needed to have easily accessible for two days as everything else was stored in the big bags far under the deck. Per usual, over estimated what I needed. Oh well.

The felucca is a traditional Egyptian sail boat. You really have to see one to understand it (and when I get back and upload photos you will), but the deck is flat and in the case of the tour boats, covered with mattresses covered in one huge sheet. There’s a canopy that can be removed a few feet over head. You can’t really walk across deck, more crawl or hunched over. There’s a little short galley at the front where you can access the underside where everything is stored and a small crew cabin. We each staked out our little piece of deck where we’d spend the next two days.

The first day commenced, and we sailed to the police station to file our request to sail and that was approved. There was a hang up, though, high winds. Too high to sail. So, all the feluccas, probably somewhere between 6 and 10, sailed to this little strip of land and beached waiting.

Evening came, and we could still see the lights of Aswan. A few turned back. They were on a one day trip and they would have to arrange land routes to make their destinations. The rest of us had a nubian party on the beach and went to sleep snug in our feluccas. At night, they put up tarps around the sides and haul out a bunch of blankets. A sleeping bag was still a necessity this time of year. The first night was not so bad. Back a bit sore but warm and happy when morning came.

Day two, we managed to make a late start and get a little ways up river but not very far. We had a planned stop to see a traditional Egyptian village. I think it was called Daraw. I don’t have the words to describe it. We saw the camel market, or rather the camels that were not sold that day in the market, which takes place in the mornings. Camels are brought in from Sudan and used either for labor or for meat. The village itself was more what I would think of as a very small town. The people there do not often see outsiders. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but they were over whelmingly friendly and curious.

Oh, I forgot to mention how we got there. We weren’t able to make it by boat (dang winds), so we beached again and a truck sort of thing came to pick us up. Basically a little pick-up with a top over the back and a row of seats on both sides. Twelve of us more than filled it. Actually, including the captain who came in for supplies and Sam, our guide, we numbered 14 (plus driver). You see these little taxi truck things all over the place. I’m pretty sure I saw some like it in Mexico, but would never have had the chance to ride one otherwise.

We went back to the boat and crossed over to a desolate little strip of land. One other Intrepid tour (slightly different but overlapping route) met us there. After dinner, we had another Nubian party. This one was a surprise even for the guides. J.J. – our host on Elephantine Island, sent singers to meet us there. Mostly drumming and some singing. The neat part was that two in the other tour had either gotten engaged or tied the knot. I was never clear on which it was. So, it turned into a celebration for that.

Slipped off back to our boat when most of the rest did and called it a night. Until around midnight, when the call to nature came… literally… I had high hopes of not using the bathroom tent… oh well… such is life… I’m glad it wasn’t colder! Second night sleeping was better. I put some of my blanket underneath and used it to cushion things. Much better!

Breakfast on the Felucca before a brief sale across to be met by the minibus. Wind kept us from making it as far down as we were supposed to but we made up the distance today by the bus. So, we bid farewell to the Felucca, our home for two nights and the crew. The cook, Mustafa (sp?) was simply incredible. This was the part I skipped in telling the details. This was what made those nights sleeping on a cushion on a deck worth it. Everything was vegetarian (no power to keep things cold on the boat), and it was all wonderful. I worried that I wouldn’t enjoy it, but I did. I think the absolute best were yesterday’s pancakes at breakfast. Covered in jams. Just heaven.

On the way back on the minibus, brief stop at Kom Ombo temple to join a convoy heading to Luxor. Kom Ombo is a temple to the crocodile god (sorry forgot his name) and we just looked from outside the fence – no one was interested in paying to go in. Afterwards an hour in the convoy and then a stop at Edfu temple. This one we actually went into. This is a late temple to Horus, the god of the living king. It was built after Egypt was conquered by Alexander the Great. If I remember correctly, actually after his time, but still following his traditions. It was built in the Greek style, but using the Egyptian gods and themes. You could see the greek influences, no doubt. An amazing place. My only issue with it was the market. On the way out, I got caught behind some tourists who were having a hard time escaping the vendors and thus was trapped as well. I thought it was the worst until later today.

We got into Luxor at 2pm. Checked into the Little Garden Hotel just off Television Street (I kid you not). We had time to shower and clean up. I have never enjoyed a shower so much in my life. Peeled off the dirty clothes and piled everything up and took it down for laundry. Supposed to get it back tomorrow. Better!

We then had lunch… the guide took us to this awesome place nearby… food… western food… glorious pizza…. As much as I enjoyed the food on the boat, this is my first western food in a week, and I missed it so much. I had no idea how much until I smelled pizza going in. I was torn between pizza and the burger and fries but the place was a pizza joint, so I went with that.

After our late lunch, we had a walking tour of Luxor. No planned activities today, just see the city and see what our options are and then do your own thing. Sam left us at the market in Luxor… oy… I have officially reached my limit. I was beset at every door I walked past. Hello, hello, hello… echoes down the street. “come in” “your friend is inside” “no hassle!” Sorry, you hassled me already. I’m trying very very hard not to take it the wrong way, to understand the cultural differences, etc. But I have really had my limit of the hard sale. I can handle that I have to bargain for prices, but I will not be jerked off the street. I just can’t deal with that. I finally reached my limit and left the group and walked back to Television Street and this internet cafe by the hotel to decompress a bit. I’ll tackle shopping in the market tomorrow or in another city.

Tomorrow morning, a group of us are taking a morning hot air balloon ride over Luxor. Really looking forward to that! Then a tour of the valley of the kings and lunch. Afternoon is free. A lot of choices to do, the local musuem, Queen Haptchetsupts (sp?) temple, the night light show at Karnac’s temple, and the Luxor temple. So, choices to make tomorrow! But the morning is planned out!

Hope everyone is having a great new year. I am, if a bit in a daze. If not for my watch, I wouldn’t even know the day of the week. A week from tomorrow I fly home, so I guess the trip is sort of half over.

I’m not sure how many more updates there will be. Sam told us today that Luxor is our last opportunity to visit ATM’s before we get back to Cairo (Friday). I know that two nights are at a Sawwa Camp on the Red Sea and I’d almost bet no internet there. I’ve enjoyed all the comments and e-mails and I look forward to catching up and am glad you all are enjoying this! Take care!

So, without further adieu…

Sunday evening, met the whole group. Not quite as diverse as the Haggis tour last year. Intrepid Travel was recommended to me by an Aussie, and it’s Aussie based. Of the group, 9 are not only from Australia, they are from Melbourne. Three of them by way of the UK where they are working now. And then there are three Americans, including me. We all went and had dinner together in a little cafe. Had Egyptian pancakes with cheese and veggies. Quite tasty! Was a fun evening and as everyone knows my predilections towards familiar food, something I would not have done solo.

Monday morning, up bright and early. We had to be packed and downstairs by 8am. We kept two rooms at the Victoria to store our bags and to clean up later. Headed down to a nearby metro stop and took it to Giza station like the Egyptians do. Did not see any other tourists there. Jam packed in with everyone else (really the cars looked like sardines). There are women only cars and our guide for the Giza pyramids and museum took the women of the group with her. Their cars looked more filled to the brim than ours.

Arrived at Giza station, and Sam and Ola, our local guide, secured two taxis for us. The taxis have to be seen to be believed, black and white 1970′s era station wagons. Tattered, but they got us to the Giza plateau. And, as I had already read, the pyramids are surrounded by Cairo, not isolated as most pictures (including my own) portray it.

Still, what can you say about the Giza pyramids? Amazing? Around 4,000 years old and just mammoth. You have to work a bit to imagine them as they originally looked sheathed in another layer of stone, but they are still just phenom. We journeyed around all three. We were immediately beset upon by vendors, as we had been warned. The worst I’ve ever seen, trying to press things into your hands, lay them on your shoulders, whatever it took to get them into your hand. Of course, “free, free, free – Christmas present!” Rightttt….

Circled the first pyramid, the largest, the tomb of Khufu. It cost 100 pounds to go in (about $20), but Sam recommended the second one. We all waited for the second, the pyramid of Khafre, far cheaper – about $4, and a bit less time to crawl through. Glad of that. The first tunnel down was well lit, but the next tunnel up into the King’s chamber was not… pitch black, scrambling up hill…. beaned my head several times. And once inside, the air is stifling, hot, thick, and feels like it’s been thrice-breathed. I was ready to get out, but the line out moved far slower. It was still a once in a life time and amazing thing I wouldn’t trade.

We checked out the smallest pyramid from a distance and then headed down to the Sphinx. The Sphinx is not as large as you imagine it, but still incredible. It was originally carved out of one block of stone. There’s been some repairs, though, and it’s not as obvious anymore that it was originally all one piece. They are still restoring it so you can not get down close to it right now.

After we exited the plateau, we walked to lunch. Passed a perfectly good pizza hut and KFC combo. Ha! Literally right outside the gate, good product placement guys! Anyway, we walked on to a little hole in the wall I would again have never thought to try. Had something called Koshary (sp?) which was a sort of pasta mix with veggies and a meat sauce. There’s also a hot sauce you can add. I sampled just a bit (only one at my table who did) and nearly fried myself. Hot means hot!

We made our way out into the streets and found another set of taxis and rode to the Egyptian Antiquities museum. Followed Ola around and saw the wonders. It’s a lot like the British Museum, vast and overwhelming. Saw the highlights and headed out with the UK Aussies to find a taxi. Interesting experience, of course. We’d been told what to pay and kept having to fight to pay that until we found a taxi who accepted the fare. Made our way back to Victoria and cleaned up and prepared to move on.

This was, of course, New Year’s Eve, and the itinerary had us on the train to Aswan. The train was over an hour late, but it was passable. Clean transportation and had sleeper cars. New Year’s Eve was unique to say the least. The club car was packed with an array of tourists that could have been ripped from the pages of a novel. It had a slightly seedy trailer park feel to it with the aging wood paneling and very dated furnishings, but the crew hosting the car were just a riot. Did all sorts of stupid pet tricks and danced to out there Egyptian music for us. I left for awhile. It was packed and smoke-filled. Came back closer to the end of the night and called in New Years with 7 of my fellow travelers. The Americans were fully represented, even though our New Years was truly 7 hours later. The train stopped somewhere shortly after midnight which was awesome as I got to drift off to sleep.

Got in a good five hours and then slept off and on for another 1.5 before finally getting up in Luxor station. Khan, my roomie from Australia, was also awake so we stood out in the hall and watched the scenery go by once the train went into motion again. It was still nearly 3 hours to Aswan. By that point, 95% of the group was in the hall of the sleeper car. Had breakfast shortly before arriving here.

After checking into the Nile Hotel and cleaning up a bit, we all went across the Nile to Elephantine Island, home of the Nubians who were displaced by the Nile dams flooding their homelands. Got to meet a family that lived there and then took another boat ride to the edge of the Great Sahara.

It turns out Sahara is a bastardized version of the Arabic word for desert, so Sahara Desert is actually desert desert. From there we all got camel rides across a piece of the Sahara. Another experience of a life time, but I can’t say it was all roses. I was not at home on top of that camel. I didn’t feel like anything was holding me on. I know the guide knew that because I was one of the ones who never was just let go. Only when the camel got a little speed did I feel tied down and, of course, the guide running along could only do so much of that. Oh, to understand, the saddle or whatever, is a sort of platform with a wooden post that you hold onto. Gravity and your balance is about it for securing you to the beast. I held onto my post for dear life, only got a few pictures. But it was a beautiful sunset ride.

At the end, we went back to the Nubian village and had a dinner (ehhhh, it was alright, but I was not as excited as the rest of the group, remember tho, I am a picky eater), and then dancing and singing. I also got some shopping done from some of the handcrafts done by the Nubian women there.

Back across the Nile and to bed for all too short a spell. To go to Abu Simbel requires getting up at 3am. First, Abu Simbel is a temple to Ramses The Great. It was moved in the 1960′s because it would have been flooded by the High dam. So, it’s a bit Disney feeling, but entirely worth it. It was originally carved out of solid rock and was a testament to Ramses power to the Nubian people entering the Nile from the south. It was cut up and reassembled on higher ground. Incredible carvings. VERY crowded. Unless you’re taking a plane down, you must go in a convoy that leaves at 4am. And you must return in the convoy. There were hundreds and hundreds of buses and cabs and mini-buses going down. Took about 3 hours. We got there just shy of 8am and had to leave just shy of 9am. So, about an hour and back on the bus.

Next stop was almost back in Aswan at Philae, another set of temples relocated. These were on an Island and moved to another higher island. This one was a test. We were all tired and the boat drivers kept fighting us on price. Today was a “free day” even though we all choose to stay together. So, Sam wasn’t with us but had told us precisely what to pay for everything we wanted to do. Finally they bended to the legit price and we spent half an hour on Philae. Very interesting, the temples there are a blend of Egyptian and Roman.

Now back to the hotel… exhausted but happy.

Tonight a group dinner, and in the morning on to the Felucca, an Egyptian sail boat, for two days down the Nile towards the Valley of the Kings. We’ll sleep and eat on the boat. Make occasional stops along the way and moor at night. This will be the closest to camping I’ve come in quite some time.

Having an incredible if tiring time and will be out of touch for a bit. Hope everyone is having an incredible new year!

Friday’s coming undone found me running behind as usual.  I don’t remember the last time I left on a trip and was packed well in advance.  I know in 2004, the first time I went to London, I was practically packed a week before I left.  Now, I’m tossing things in the back on the way out the door.  This is almost too literal for words.  I guess I’ve become sloppy about it, thus the unraveling.

I got to the airport fine, but stood in line for nearly an hour just to check my bags and get my boarding pass.  If anyone ever tries to give you paper tickets, especially for international travel, fight tooth and nail not to take them.  Thus was the results of booking my trip through American Express (to use up all my points but save $$ on airfare).  Luckily, security was less than 5 minutes.  No waiting, so I made up my time there.  Ironically, the bad weather on Friday delayed the flight an hour as well.  I knew that was going to happen.  I looked outside at the dreary gray mess I was leaving and just knew that there would be delays.

The Delta flight over to Paris was better than the last time I flew them over the Atlantic.  Roomy seats and I watched two movies.  I did my best to sleep along the way but got precious little.

Arriving in Paris, I managed to muddle my way through security and go wait on the next plane.  It’s so weird.  I’ve been to France now, but I wouldn’t really add it to my list.  It’s not like the airport of any city counts for much. But the Paris airport was predictably sytlish.  It felt like a mall with airport gates scattered throughout.  I slept for maybe a half hour at my gate. Woke up to the sound of people getting up and saw that the gate changed.  Trudged across the entire terminal and couldn’t sleep again.  Boarding was haphazard.  No announcements, no calls for rows or zones, just a note on the board for when boarding began and that they would not announce anything to cut down on the multiple languages required.  For the haphazardness, I couldn’t tell.  It was just the same as every other plane I’ve boarded, people crowding the aisles, hunting for space in the overhead bins, etc.

Most of this flight was in the dark.  The only daylight I saw after leaving Atlanta was sitting in the Paris airport.  Nearing 24 hours being awake, I slept almost all the way (4 hours) between Paris and Cairo.  I missd the meal, all the drink service, everything, just zonked out.   Believe me, it was exhaustion, not the seats, among the most uncomfortable I’ve ever sat in.  So much for the reputation of Air France…

So, this is the state I arrived in Cairo last night, nearing 24 hours of travel and over 24 hours awake.  And I enter the passport control area in a muddle.  Luckily I paid extra for airport transfer and the Intrepid rep met me and helped me get my Visa, pass through passport control, and get the heck out of there.  He popped me in a hired car to deliver me to the Victoria Hotel.

Here’s where things got interesting…  or started to… wow…  the driving here…  well, it’s not unlike Naples, Italy.  That’s to say that Cairo joins the list of places where Mark will never drive.  Let’s say they are creative about the number of lanes of traffic.  The lines are really just vague suggestions more than anything else.  And the number of lanes can go up and down suddenly.  It’s really an art to watch…  safely from the seat with my seat belt on and holding on to the “oh golly gosh darn EEEK” handle.   Mind you, the driver was not buckled… c’est la vie…  One other observation about Cairo drivers, they are far more aware of the dimensions of their vehicles than their American counterparts.  I’ve watched us, we never seem to think we have room and almost always have over-estimated the size of our cars.  The folks here, they KNOW they have room, and I’m looking out the window at the 2 inches that proved them right.  I’ll have more observations on the driving in a moment, but we’ll stick to chronological order for the moment.

Arriving finally at the Victoria Hotel (nearly an hour of that driving later!), I noticed something very common here, metal detectors when you enter the hotel… wow…  okay….  Mind you they seem to just be a formality because I beeped and no one stopped me.  And I’ve since seen that over and over.  And then I got to the reception desk and was informed I’d been moved to another hotel… oy vey…  I got very vague directions to it that I couldn’t follow on the amount of sleep I was working on.  I also couldn’t seem to find out if this was just a one night thing or what.  My first night here was my own thing, not part of the tour, so was I coming back.  They had no idea…  Great…  they did send a bell hop to show me the way.  We got to the corner, and again, I had no clue where he was telling me to go.  A taxi driver overheard and offered to drive me.  I wasn’t too thrilled but the guy was incredibly nice and said it was so close “no charge.”  He drove me the few blocks (no way I’d have found it in the dark, though, as tired as I was) and I tipped him what was probably more than the fare would have been for his kindness.   I may have gone too far, he was very happy.  Oh well…

I checked int Capsis (I think that’s the name) and they couldn’t tell me anymore about my permanence at the hotel, and I was too tired to care.  I went up to my room, text messaged my parents I was alive and collapsed.  Even the rhytmic honking in the streets 6 stories below (it was that loud) couldn’t keep me awake.

Now, the morning prayers that started around 5:30am, THAT woke me up… wow… piercing is the word!  It gets your attention.  And I could see a minaret nearby out my window – the only nice part of the view.  I was awake but watched some channel that was showing an Italian translation of an American movie…

Finally, got down for the included breakfast, which was surprisingly filling for little more than hard boiled eggs and bread.  I asked the front desk again if they had any idea if I was staying or moving to Victoria or what. No idea…  Okay, I asked, could I leave without worrying when I came back, i.e. check out is at noon, what if I am changing?  They said if my bag was packed, they’d put it in storage if I was to move.  I could come back whenever.

And so, I wandered out into the streets of Cairo, with no real aim of what to do.  I figure I’ve got 14 days coming of touring.  I thought maybe I could just take in some of the city not per se touristy.  I had contemplated an early morning sunrise at the pyramids, but I had missed that by hours and tomorrow morning is the pyramids anyway.  So, I walked…

And walked…

And walked…

Maybe I skipped the part about running?  Fast?

As nuts as Italy was, I finally got comfortable crossing streets there.  There was a controlled chaos in that the drivers seeing you crossing would slow to allow time.  Not here.  No slowing down at all.  I don’t know what they’d do if you couldn’t make it.  But it really is that bad.  Every major street crossing is an exercise in pray and run.  I was heading more or less towards the Nile, so I figured, why not see the Nile.  Not that I won’t be floating up it in a few days, but still something to do.  Wow, hair raising street crossing after hair raising street crossing to get to the Nile near the 6th October Bridge.  In fact, the last 3 or 4 lanes of traffic (hard to gauge how many), I kept standing at a cross walk painted on the street thinking surely they’d stop traffic at some point to let all those other lanes trying to cross up ahead…  Until a friendly officer walked up, hooked onto my shoulder and walked me across…  This was very nice of him, but also a tad scary.  This is the approved way of crossing – frogger style!

I didn’t stay long.  Took a few pictures, enjoyed the grimey ambiance and moved on.  I started heading back towards where I was staying.  I was a touch faster at all those crossings this time, but still it’s not a particularly pedestrian friendly place despite all those pedestrians.  And there’s nowhere in this area to just sit and enjoy.  So, I did a turn around the El Fath mosque (just the outside) to see where my wake up call came from and headed back to the hotel.  Went up and read the guide book trying to think up what to do next.  Was there maybe 15 minutes when the phone rang, my Intrepid tour guide!  Yeeesss!!

He’d come to collect his wayward tourists.  There turned out to be 6 of us that had been sent over and he was moving us back to the Victoria.  This place is definitely a step above.  Still not the ritz for anyone with US expectations, but I open the window and I hear birds!

We meet up later tonight to do the group orientation and have dinner.  So, I figured the internet cafe in the garden meant it was time to catch up.  I’m not sure when the next opportunity will be either.

Tomorrow morning, according to the itinerary is early morning at the Pyramids followed by the Egyptian Museum (walked by it this morning).  Not sure where that gets us into the day, but in the evening we board a sleeper train bound for Aswan.

And after my quatro grande, I moved on to see the Trova concert in the park nearby…  I´m beginning to comprehend Mexican time.  I was an hour late…. it still hadn´t started…  It cost me the premo seats that the tourists have because they don´t know the darn things start late, but I sat for half an hour of it with the locals.  Part of it included the dancers from the other night. Same outfits and everything, just a different park.  Imagine their cleaning bill for those white outfits ever few nights, if not more!  After half an hour, I´d had plenty.  The guy who introduced each song had five minute long bits of dialogue that of course meant absolutely nothing to yours truly, and even the locals I was sitting with had some painfully tired expressions waiting for the next musical number.  Beautiful music, but with no comprehension of the lyrics, I can only sit there so long.  This trend will continue…  Thus ends yesterday.

So, surprise, this morning I rented a car and drove to Celestun.  Yes, Mark, driving in another country.  The world has stopped rotating, every one grab on to something now!

Background for those who don´t know, but I literally did not drive until I started college.  I just didn´t have the interest and lived in a small burg.  I drove my first time solo on my first day of college.  And although I was a late bloomer, I´ll probably be one of those little old people MANY MANY MANY years from now who someone will have to pry the keys from  my fingers.  That independence is hard to give up.  But whenever I´ve gone abroad, like magic, I´ve reverted to zero interest in driving.  It helps that everywhere I´ve been to date has EXCELLENT public transportation so I could make my way around oblivious to the need to be in control.  And honestly, if the USA was more like that, you´d probably see me shedding that control more often.  Well, Mexico is harder to get around than the rest.  I mean, sure, there are the buses, but when you have a fixed schedule, and little miscommunication could strand you heaven only knows where, well, it´s not so attractive.  I wanted to go to Celestun today, and I wanted to go on my terms.

I actually knew I was doing this two days ago.  I just failed to mention it for various reasons for fear of jinxing myself to giving my Mother a minor coronary.   Hopefully she´s still sitting upright as she´s reading this.  Surprise!

The experience was… mixed…  Being alone, in the end, it cost me more.  I could have booked a package tour for less than the $50 car rental and the $20 to re-fill the tank.  Plus I paid for a boat trip that would have been included.  I probably paid about $40 more than the package tour, and heaven knows the bus would have cost me less than $10.  But, I got to call the shots.  They included two missed turns and a lot of cursing as I attempted to correct them.  Both times I knew immediately, but when you hit streets that aren´t on a grid and miss a turn, as any Atlanta driver knows, it´s a nightmare to fix.  The main part of Merida is on a grid, but of course, my first missed term was past the grid…  Second missed turn was in the town of Uman, which if there was any sense to its streets, it escaped me.  But I ultimately arrived safely in my wee 90´s vintage nissan in the sleepy fishing village of Celestun.

It´s sleepy because it´s in the extreme edge of nowhere.  If it were any more nowhere,  it would be in the gulf of Mexico.  There´s a station in Merida that plays “solo hits en inglese” – so they say.  Some of the songs were never hits that I had heard, hit artists maybe but some of their worst stuff, and I could never figure out what “solo” means??  Hit singles I assume, but again, top 1000?  I digress, it was still wonderful to hear music I understood, so I stayed on that station all the way to Uman where it began to break up.  I pushed it as far as I could until I had to find the single spanish station I could pick up…  and then it ran out… and there was much silence…  deafening silence… silence that forced me to sing aloud the only songs I know by heart… Christmas carols… you should all be thankful to have missed that…   It was a good 40 minutes to Celestun with no music…   If being disconnected bothers you, stay far away.  If it´s your dream, I have found your destination.

Because the place itself, tho sleepy, is gorgeous.  Lovely white sand beach, gulf waters almost but not quite as pretty as the panhandle of Florida (nothing compares).  Nothing over two stories tall on the beach, and nothing but trees beyond as far as the eye can see (it´s actually part of  a wild life reserve).   I snapped photos on that beach for at least an hour.  I watched the few lazy beach bums set up their towels and a few people wade in.  I mean, we´re talking maybe a few dozen people and most of those were probably from the tour buses I parked beside.  And tho the sound of the ocean speaks to me deeply, I hit the point I always do… no desire to lay on the beach and not really prepared to swim…  what do I do now?!

Enter the bus tour…  Now, I had been told and had read you should go there with a group so that you can get enough people to make the tour reasonably priced.  You see, if there´s 8 people, it´s around $15 a person (maybe a little more if you are lucky enough to find a boat “captain” who speaks english).  I didn´t even hope to be so lucky.  But what I had hoped would happen worked out.  They needed an 8th person to fill out a boat and approached me!  So, no work on my part, just jump on the boat with 7 other people.  Two were couples traveling together, not sure of much about them, they spoke spanish and stuck together, so relatively speaking locals, I think.  The next three were a Swiss couple and their daughter.  The daughter spoke spanish.  The father spoke some english, so I got any information about what I was seeing third hand.  The parents have been here 5 weeks, the daughter 6 mos…  Wow, these European people get some real vacations… geez…

The boat was typically Mexican.  I have some photos of ones like it.  The boat is an old fiberglass boat worn a little tent canopy deal going (usually advertising some beer) and 4 benches, each with, I kid you not, mismatching plastic resin chairs with the legs sawed off and the remainder lashed by whatever means necessary to the bench.  The gas tank was a large plastic jug of which I had the pleasure to sit near.  When the captain, if the owner of such a vehicle can be called such, had a big plastic bag attached to the hose that ran from the tank to the motor (the only really capable looking part of the boat), and he would squeeze that bag to start the gas flowing.  I might add that he would periodically bail out water.  I could never see the source of it, but when he drove, he went like a bat out of hell, so we were constantly hit with water, so that may be it.

In the course of over 3 hours, we saw Flamingos (Celestun´s claim to fame is that the Flamingos stay there, hence the nature reserve, this time of year) and a pile of other birds.  We also saw a petrified forest and a mangrove swamp.  Some of the group went swimming there, but the Swiss family and I abstained.  The water was clear and beautiful blue but heaven only knows what all was living in amongst those roots, we saw tons of tropical fish and little crabs and even a nest in the trees with an eagle.

After all that were heading back.  The captain gave us the option of taking the boat back to the beach where we came from, or we could get off and walk back from this bridge he stopped at for a few minutes.  As I said, this was communicated to me third hand.  I ended up going with the Swiss family and walking back, but if I had understood that the walk back was in fact the same road I drove in on, I would have stayed in the boat!  Not much to see that way.

After about the promised seven minutes stroll, we got back to the main square.  I said adios to the Swiss family and went back for a couple of photos and a souvenir from the lone little artisan tent on the beach before going back to the car to figure out what was on next.

I had high hopes of also taking a drive through what Lonely Planet calls the Ruined Hacienda Route, which is full of these old decaying Hacienda´s from when sisal was king in the Yucatan.  Said to be very picturesque.  It was, however, after 4pm.  I could return the car to the garage anytime tonight and go by the office in the morning to square everything up, however, sun sets about 7:30 and I had zero interest in being out in the wilds of Mexico after dark as confusing as the roads are and as many of those blamed speed bumps as they put up willy nilly throughout the countryside.  See Mom, I have some common sense after all.

I got back here about 5pm.  I took advantage of having the car long enough to meander through one of the main cemetario since I wanted some photos of those grave/shrine things they have going here.  I really must read up more on this at some point as they literally are little shrines.  Some are small, some are big enough for a few people to go inside.  I thought they were mausoleums from the road, but it looked like most were shrines built atop graves.   I´ll share the snapshots at some point for those who care to see.  I didn´t take a lot as I wasn´t sure what the reaction would be to a gringo wandering through the cemetery taking pictures.

So, that´s pretty much today.  I dropped the car off well before closing and am square there.  Whew!   The car rental place was recommended, but it still had me a trifle worried no matter how nice they seemed at the outset.  Heavens, this morning, he showed me every nut and bolt on the car… you have thought he was giving his only daughter away or something.  It´s a car!  I´m used to America where they tell you where in the parking lot to find it and never bother to show you anything.  I mean, literally, “This is the key, it opens the doors, the gas tank, and you crank the car with it.”

Anyway, that experience done, I went shoe hunting one last time.  My sandals are totally past it and it´s so blasted hot it´s all I want to wear.  The beach trip was the end of them.  I found this shoe shop on the corner.  Again, I discover the Mexicans have yet to discover the joys of a good sports sandal… straps on toes, arch, and around the back… I mean, they have nice leather ones exactly like that but absolutely nothing completely casual…  So, I managed to find what they called sandals but just amount to fairly nice flip flops that will do.  And they fit… wow…  And I know this will make one person in particular out there laugh, biggest ones they had….  $8…

Tomorrow is up in the air.  I´ve been to a few tour companies, and they all started listing off  Chichen Itza (been there), Uxmal (ditto), and Celestun (would you like some sand?).  I finally found one that has a Hacienda tour, but of a working Hacienda that´s kind of like a living history exhibit.  uhmm….  not so sure…  On the good side, they also include a stop at one of the cenotes…  hrm…  Can´t decide but they are open until 11pm so I have a little time to think on it.

The hours of places here is just….  bonkers…  I think the heat and all has just totally changed people´s time clocks here.  If I eat dinner at 6pm, I am inevitably one of a few people there.  In the early afternoon, half of the town shuts down.  I mean, literally, I had to wait to check in with the car rental place because they close from like 1pm to 6pm but then stay open late.  Most everything is like this, close a few hours then open late.  So, at least it gives me time…

Tomorrow is the last full day here.  Sunday will be migrating to the airport and the flight back to the US.  I´ll miss being out here, seeing new things, but I´ll also be kind of glad to move on from Merida.  A beautiful place no doubt, but if I had longer in Mexico, there´s no doubt I´d have shoved on to a different spot even if I had to come back to fly out.   That´s how a lot of the people on the hostel circuit are doing it, of course, stopping over here on way elsewhere for a few days.

Okay, time to run!

Following that was nachos res from this nice little mom and pop place.  Well, it was run by a little old lady anyway.  I had to ask what res was… turned out it was beef, so sold.  Afterwars, I chased some sunset photos – absolutely gorgeous sunset last night, hopefully some good ones from the lot.  I needed to run around some more but a sunset needs a proper foreground.  And then I ambled around plaza grande for awhile before bed.

Today was a leisurely morning and I was picked up by an air conditioned van for my tour of Uxmal and Kabah.  This was definitely the golden oldies tour that I signed up for.  One couple was from Australia and have spent 5 weeks touring South and Latin America and are heading to Cancun tomorrow and then New York (only to catch a flight to Paris).  Must be nice!  These were the only English speakers on the group.  There was a couple from Argentina and a French couple from Paris.   My only foreign language study was French, and that has been… well… many years ago.  And I´ve yet to go to France.  I had some small hope that I´d remember enough if it ever came to it.  At first, they might as well have been speaking latin.  Nothing sounded familiar, just strings of meaningless gibberish and I was just astounded.  By lunch time, tho, it finally started to click.  Not that entire sentences had meaning but enough words in them did to pick up the meaning, a noun here and there, the right adjectives to make sense of what the comment was.  I never even attempted to resurrect my french fare enough to speak it.  I was content that I could comprehend just a bit of a conversation.  That was more than enough.

Uxmal and Kabah… wow… I know I say that a lot but…  you just have to see these things and imagine that people with no tools like we have today built these enormous temples and buildings and it´s just impossible to fathom.  I probably couldn´t build a habitable lean-to that would survive the first storm.  And these people built elaborate temples with intricate carvings.  You´ll just have to see the photos to get any idea.  Neither site was as large as Chichen Itza, and for that I have zero complaints.  I have walked more than enough for the moment.  Uxmal we covered in somewhere between two and three hours, and it was here that I finally got to climb a pyramid.  Not the tallest of the two there, but it was enough.  I purposefully didn´t look down on my way up, or really on my way down.  It´s amazing what concentrating on one step at a time can do because there were people who went down on their butt one step at a time.  When you see the photos of how steep it is, you´ll understand.  I am not exactly fond of heights myself, but for whatever peverse reason, you throw a temple or a cathedral that I can climb and I´m there.

Lunch, as I said, was with the tour group at a nice hotel restaurant by Uxmal.  If you have the desire to travel in style, you can wake up and see the pyramids from your window.  We didn´t eat there, but there is a club med literally across from the entrance to Uxmal.  I have to admit there´s some envy for being able to be there in the morning when it´s still cool.

Kabah, by contrast, is still in the re-building phase.  While some of these old places were found in varying degrees of being intact, it´s important to understand that much of what you see today is a 100+ years of restoration efforts.  Kabah is much earlier in that process, so there are a few structures to explore and little else.  We were there for about half an hour.  And as the days heat was upon us… no complaints.

Everyone took a nap on the ride back to Merida.  I think I startled the driver when I woke up before everyone else and leaned forward to get my water bottle.  I wanted to ask him about the small shrines I´d seen along the highways.  I saw MANY more of them in Northern Mexico a few years ago.  At the time, I was told they were not highway deaths but where miracles of some sort had happened. I don´t know what´s true or if they exist for different reasons there than in the Yucatan, but according to the driver, they were in fact highway deaths…  And since he knew the details of a few of them, I´m inclined to believe him.  He said the families erect them to honor their loved one(s).  Which gets to the subject of dying here.  I know the U.S. is death obsessed in a lot of ways.  We go to great lengths to sustain life past any reasonable expectation of quality of said life too often.  And death is handled by a whole cadre of people so that we never get our hands dirty with it.  And I´m by no means throwing stones at my glass house here.  Just observing.  Here, the cemeteries, and I´ve seen quite a few now, are just… alive with color…  They erect veritable shrines in these places the likes of which our perpetual care cemeteries with the flat bronze plaques will never know. I hope maybe to chance on one when I can take photos before I leave, but don´t hold your breath.  ´

The color is interesting as well because it reminds me of the ruins.  Today, we see them and they are stone objects.  If there´s any color, it´s cool white.  But according to the guide and what I´ve read, not the case in their original lives.   Everything was plastered over and painted, down to the walkways, a riot of colors, bright and alive.  The same can be said of the Romans.  If you visit Heculaneum or Pompeii, you can still see the bright colors they filled their lives with, but I digress.  Much of what we build today, is by contrast, so bland.  We build in classical styles that are often anything but…

Anyway, back to the ever popular subject of death, I have also managed to see a couple of passing hearses… and the first time or two, I didn´t pick up on what they were because they were,  well, pick-up trucks…  Somber vehicles with covered backs, but unmistakable trucks.  I realized what one was only because of the context I saw it in… at a funeral home…  I´ve seen two now.  One was a gorgeous old home.   The phone booth by the front door made me pause and that´s when I saw the stacks of coffins in the front windows…  Window shopping anyone?  The next place was far less upscale.  Based on the seats in the window, I first thought it was a laundry or a bus station.  Then, yep, stacks of coffins, the most non-somber things I´ve ever seen, trimmed in laces and various colors.  Light years from anything back home.

So, that´s dying in the Yucatan.  The rest of it, the everyday life, is living.  And our driver today took us through the smallest little town you could imagine.  You could see there was electricity, but they were still doing laundry by hand.  Tonight´s dinner was still in the yard.  And everyone we met came with a smile.  Be it ever so humble…

Tomorrow is Celestun, at last.  Saturday, I dunno.  I think I´m going to see if I can either get to some cenotes or another archaeological site or something.