A Retired Gentleman

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

We’re heading further north this morning and the country side is turning green with rice farms. Thailand is still an agrarian society I’m not seeing the new factories and high-rise apartments that we saw in China. I find myself comparing what I’m seeing in Thailand to what I saw in China and I feel that Thailand is not making the economic advancements that China is achieving. It appears that this can be a result of different governmental policies.We stopped at a local farmer’s home who has been recognized as one of the best farmers of the region, his main crop is rice but he also raises bananas and catfish. Unlike most farmers he employs others and produces more then what his family needs. He serves on the local farm cooperative where he teaches other farmers to efficiently use their land, as a part of the Thai government’s program to teach its citizens to achieve self sufficiency. Most farmers carry large debt resulting from the purchase of their land. The average farmer earns 50,000 baht per year while the average family income in Thailand is 150,000 baht per year. ($4500)As we drive through a city we see road-side retail, consisting of a shop of restaurant in front of the family home. Every city has a bustling market filled with daily food needs, clothing, and hardware. Refrigeration is a luxury thus the people go to the market to buy what they need each day. Food preparation on the road side is common, 75% of the housing would be considered poverty level living in the United States. If you see an attractive building it is either a Buddhist temple, a governmental building or the home of a governmental official. Our guide, who I assume has an above average income told us that she lived in a 450sq ft condo in Bangkok. She does have running water and a bathroom but she cooks over charcoal.Our next stop was in Sukhothai the location of over 200 Buddhist Temples built in the 12th and 13th centuries. This was the original capital of the Khmer civilization, which included what is now Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos. The temples originally reflected the Hindu faith but as the Hindu religion declined in the area most of the Hindu icons were replaced with Buddhist icons. Because of the common Khmer influence there are many similarities to those that we saw in Cambodia although the Cambodia temples are 100 to 200 years older.Before getting on a tram to see the temples Michael, Jerry and I each purchased a straw gentleman’s hat (Everyone’s talking about the sharp dressed man –ZZ Top) that cost 50 Baht ($1.50). They look line something that we’ll be able to wear the balance of the trip not like Nita’s Birkenstocks knock-offs that smell like elephant dung. The Buda statues are magnificent and I had a bright blue sky to use as a backdrop for many of my photos. The temperature is cooler here, in the low 90′s which still leaves us exhausted at days end.We had lunch at a community house sponsored by OAT, our travel company. Being in northern Thailand the sticky rice, pork and vegetable are eaten by hand, no utensils. All the food was wrapped in palm leaves stitched together with small small sticks. For desert we had rice flour balls filled with palm sugar and coconut, very sweet but good, I could only eat one of the two offered.After lunch we went across the street to meet the brother of our host for lunch. He ran a rice mill; the local farmers brought him their rice and he ran it through his mill. The first time through the rice husks are removed from the rice grain the second time through any small rice is separated from the marketable rice. The mill owner does this for the local farmers for free in exchange for the rice hulls and the small rice which he keeps and feds to his pigs along with banana peels. It seemed like a win-win arrangement.Next we went to the local school which was built by the parent company of our tour company, Grand Circle. They’ve build eight similar schools in Thailand as well as schools in the other countries where they run extensive tours. As we got off the bus at the school we were greeted by a 10 or 11 year old child who acted as our escort for the next hour and a half as we toured the school and allowed them to practice their English. I’ll allow my pictures to tell the story of that hour and a half.We were told that our hotel this evening was not up to OAT standards but Nita and I found it clean and comfortable; the hotel food is beginning to all look and taste alike. Curry chicken, fried pork, egg rice and vegetables, and oh-yes watermelon….”where’s the beef?”We’re heading further north tomorrow and will have a day trip into Myanmar in several days, we’re all looking forward to that, and maybe they eat beef.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

We leave Phrae and travel on to Phayano, we are entering the Golden Triangle. The sheltered hills, navigable rivers and independent tribal cultures allowed this region to become an infamous center of drug smuggling. In the early 70’s the hill tribes turned to the cultivation of opium for survival; the area also once was home of a band of Chinese nationalists who were followers of Chang Kai Sheck. More recently the Thai government has introduced programs to promote the cultivation of new crops and tourism which has offered alternatives to the drug trade.Upon arrival in Phayao, a lakeside community, our guide introduced us to Dancing Prawns. These are baby shrimp no more than ¼ inch in size that are trying to jump out of the pail of water that the street vendor has them in. She mixes up some herbs and spices and offers us a taste. I step forward feeling that I didn’t come all this way to be an observer. My strategy was to swallow fast to minimize the amount of jumping going on in my mouth. The taste was totally of the spices there was no shrimp taste at all and a minimum of movement. The lady immediately offered me a plate of cabbage and I knew why, I needed something to counter the burning spices in my mouth.Phayao is also the home of Thailand’s Arabica coffee, seeing a coffee bar across the street I felt a need to wash the taste of Dancing Prawns out of my mouth. See the pictures of our Café Latte on my album. I intend to import one of the girls that made my coffee to the US and take on Starbucks. The coffee was great and the work of art was amazing.Adjacent to the coffee bar is a small convenience store, I came across the tobacco department and noticed their Surgeon Generals warning. This is something else that I think we should adopt in the US, see the pictures.We continued our drive to Chiang Rai where we’ll spend two nights. After lunch we jumped into the back of a pick-up truck and climbed the mountain to visit the hill people. These are the people who 20 years ago were raising poppies to supply the drug trade. Today they raise rice and provide a diversion for travelers. They never made a lot of money selling their poppy crop, the money was made up the food chain, so when the government offered them other alternatives and incentives they were happy to oblige. They seem to be content living in thatched huts with satellite dishes outside every home, they have electricity, a TV and a refrigerator yet their floors are dirt, no heat or air, but no real worries in life either. They must do their job in the jungle but that seems to be the way in Thailand except in the big cities. They call the bathroom the happy room and I suspect it’s because their happy if they have one.We checked into our hotel, Phowadol Resort and Spa; it’s beautiful. It would be at least $300 a night in the US. We’re here for two nights so I’ll take more pictures. I ate Italian tonight; what a treat.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Birthday in Thailand

Our stop in Laos, was merely to provide us the opportunity to step foot into Laos. Out boat docked against the fast current of the Mekong River and we walked into a shopping area that didn’t look much different than the many that we had been to in the prior weeks. They did take a few greater liberties with American labels and did have an assortment of Laos liquors to sample including lizard liquor, Snake wine, Turtle liquor, and Ell whiskey. All were large clear jars of a moonshine type liquid with the appropriate dead animal submerged. I tired the Lizard brew but found that it didn’t have the kick that I had expected. Thus far my indulgence has not caused ne any noticeable intestinal problems.Today we traveled to Chiang Mai principal city of northern Thailand our first stop was at the White Temple.Poupe asks if we want to stop at the White Temple in Po O Don Chai, built by Chalermchai Kositpipat a famous Thai artist. This temple is offensive to many Buddhist because of its variation from the standard Buddhist temple design. Kositpipat made a fortune selling his paintings internationally then decided that he wanted to honor his Buddhist faith and his home town by building a temple promoting the Buddhist belief of purity. It took 12 years to complete but is now adding more buildings for educational purposes as the community and the Buddhists are warming to his expression of his faith. Their change of heart may also have something to do with the fact that the White Temple has become a major tourist attraction for the otherwise driven past area. I personally found it to be a welcome change from the other temples that we have visited and I liked some of Kisitpiat’s paintings as well but found them a bit pricy.

The balance of the day was spent traveling on the bus, other then a short stop at a Jewelery factory and a Silk Factory. This is part of taking a tour. The tour company gets paid a commission on every body that they push through these doors. Some people buy but most just look and move on.We were on the bus at 7:00 am this morning to travel fifty-five minutes north of Chang Mai to the Mae Tang Elephant Park . Pounpe recognized my birthday today by presenting me a card and a clay elephant, I had carried two cards from home from Ron and Avie and Albert and Sue, both were fun and warm thoughts form close friends back home. It turned into quite a birthday memory. The elephant is quite a smart and trainable animal, first a show of their strength and dancing then a elephant painting demonstration followed by an hour ride on the back or an elephant through the jungle. Every quarter mile a vendor was perched on a tree platform with bananas and sugar cane for the elephants to eat if the passengers on their backs would spring for 20 baht. How could I say not to feeding the elephant that was carrying us through the jungle and mud? After the elephant ride we were shown how they made paper out of elephant dung. Ginger is into paper but we thought that she might not want to work with elephant dung paper, she’s funny that way.Next we walked across a ridge of bamboo lied into the river to board our raft to poll down the Mae Tang River. We sat on a bench eight inches above the water while men with long bamboo polls guided us down the river. The river is up now because of the rains and it was flowing fast making the polling job easy. We were told that in the dry season the pollers job requires them to drag the raft over low spots. The trip down the river, about an hour was full of beautiful scenery and relaxing tranquility.We finished our morning with lunch at a restaurant that was full or live growing orchards. Their orchards grew as air plants hanging from a grid work allowing the root system dangle in the open air. We have the rest of the day for free time. Nita and I choose to go back to the hotel and take a three hour nap before grabbing a Tut-tut and going out to dinner at “The House” in old town with Michael and Marcia and Jerry and Jennifer. We had a five course meal including wine and tip for 2000 Baht or $60.00 in one of the top three restaurants in Chang Mai ; we shared stories, laughed a lot and had a speedy Tut-tut ride back to the hotel to end a memorable birthday.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

We spent Sunday doing religious things, gave alms to the monks in the morning and went to the temple and gave an offering to the monk, Nita and I were chosen from our group. The monks walk the streets every morning taking offerings of food in exchange for blessings. They eat twice a day, morning and lunch and only drink liquids the balance of the day. These offerings are their only source of food unless the grow some themselves. You can be a monk for a day up to a lifetime. Many young boys become monks because of a self interest in Buddhism or their family sees it as a way of seeing to it that they are fed, housed and educated. This also serves to eliminate most of Thailand’s homeless problems.The offering was kind of cool, the monk on duty at the temple that we visited spoke perfect English, asked where we were from and then blessed us and shook holy water on us.This evening we went to a home dinner and spent the evening with a family of four that were well educated and employed. It gave us an entirely different look at Thai life than we had been seeing.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

We are on our way back to Bangkok where we’ll spend a full day and then fly to Hanoi Vietnam. Our stay in Thailand has been interesting and fun particularly with the Zimmer’s and Saulters. I’ve seen beautiful sights, and temples, rode and elephant, rafted a river, eaten some magnificent food, and experience some wonderful people but Thailand’s not a country that Nita and I would make a point to revisit. Unlike China we have not gathered any affection or admiration for the country. Thai’s are extremely religious, loyal to their king, and tolerant of poverty, garbage, and lack of sanitation; the people are the most gracious people that I have ever met and that may explain their tolerance. You can ask a Thai a question and if they don’t know the answer their response will be “yes’ as they fold their hands in prayer in front of their face and bow to you. I will leave Thailand with more questions then answers.We spent the morning on the grounds of the Grand Palace which is a area that is used for coronation, funerals, and other ceremonial events involving the king and queen. The last coronation was in 1945, the current king has held the throne for 65 years. Each king adds a building or a temple to memorialize himself. As I moved through the grounds and opulent buildings I couldn’t help but think of the hill people who lived in huts with dirt floors. The Thai love their King and Queen they celebrate their birthdays in grand style each Friday there is a dominance of blue shirts because the king was born on a Friday and his color is blue. We also toured the past kings living quarters which is the largest Teak House in the world, it had over 70 room and would be a beautiful home to have in Key-West. Jerry who is a real estate agent in Florida proclaimed it a tear-down because it wouldn’t pass code inspection, only had one functional bathroom, and had suffered bomb damage in WWII. We caught a cab in the rain and went to the Mango Tree for dinner. The cab ride with a lost driver, that spoke no English and we spoke no Thai will be one of those memories that we carry home. The meal, the atmosphere and the service was fabulous. I had sea bass with garlic, lemon grass, and chili, Nita had a stir fry chicken, we had appetizers two Jack Daniels and the bill was the ebullient of $40 including tip.We had our Thailand fare-well dinner on a rice barge on the Cha Porie River providing an illuminated view of the city space, making for a festive departure from Thailand. We as a group of 15 have now been together for two weeks; like any group relationships are being formed and personalities are surfacing. For the most part everyone gets along, but we do have one bulldog who has attached twice so far. Personally I’ve chosen to avoid her.We’re now waiting to board our flight to Vietnam. I can’t help think of what I would have been thinking and feeling if I had been making this flight 45 years ago. The TV images, the many movies that I’ve seen are running through my mind. I think of myself as a survivor but Vietnam would have been a test. I want to learn more about what happened from the Vietnamese point of view; I want to know how they felt about the War and how they feel about the US now; although I wasn’t an active participant I feel a level of responsibility, much as I feel some level of responsibility for the Iraq war. This is the part of this trip that I feel I have to experience. I hope to leave Vietnam knowing myself better and having a better understanding of how the world works.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Hanoi is a city of contrasts, it’s easy see the pre 1997 and the post 1997 Hanoi. 1997 is when the US lifted its trade embargo and Vietnam opened up to the rest of the world. As we entered the city from the airport, an hours drive, we passed Hugh industrial complexes displaying the names most large Japanese corporations such as Cannon, Panasonic, Honda, and Yamaha. The current population of Hanoi is 10 million people, in the center of the city where we stayed you see the French influence from 1808 to 1954. The architectural influence is seen in the thin three to four story house; the first floor used for retail and the upper floors used for living of three generations of the family. The tall narrow buildings are functional for four reasons, homes are taxed based on their footprint, they offer retail and wholesale sales, the house as many as four generations, and survive the annual flooding.Hanoi was heavily bombed in the Vietnam war so many part of the city are dominated by relatively new construction. The French Quarter has a definite look of class while the Old Town is dominated by sidewalk retail. These people eat 14 inches off the ground, they sit on 14 inch plastic stools on the sidewalks outside their homes or store front restaurants eating three meals a day. All food is purchased on a daily basis at the local street market, few homes have any form of refrigeration they cook on the street with butane gas or charcoal in many homes they don’t have electricity so their home is used to sleep and to get in out of the rain.In the outskirts of the city there are apartment developments and suburb developments to support the industrial development. It’s not at the level of development that I saw in China but there is growth here, much more then Thailand.Our touring took us the Ho Chi Mien Mausoleum where Ho’s body is embalmed and displayed, were not able to see the body because it was receiving its annual tuning by Russian embalmers. We also saw the presidential Palace, Hanoi Hilton Prison, and B52 park. We also saw a memorial next to Truc Bach Lake erected to John McCain. This is where he was pulled out of the lake on October 26, 1967 after bombing the Hanoi Power Plant and subsequently being shoot down. This all struck me as strange can you imagine a memorial in New York City for the 9-11 terrorists in 2051. Can the world change that much, these are strange people.We spent Friday morning walking through Old Town and pricing some of the bargains. I looked at some Nike Air running shoes for $45 which could be purchased for $25; they were made in 2005 and they didn’t have a size 9 in four different stores that I tried.
I asked Dy, pronounced ‘E’, why the US got involved in the Vietnam Civil War. This is his explanation; take it for what it’s worth.The US feared a coalition between Russia and the sleeping giant China. Russia had made attempts to establish strategic positions in Cuba, Vietnam offered an opportunity to establish a strategic position in Asia where attacks could be launched against both China and parts of Russia if such a Russia/ China coalition should evolve. Once the US got involved supporting South Vietnam, Russia started supplying North Vietnam with weapons. Vietnam is still paying their war debt to Russia by giving access to any oil found in Vietnam. Fifty-five thousand Americans and 3.5 million Vietnam died as a result of the war, another 2.5 million Vietnamese are currently dealing with the second generation effects of Agent Orange. Two thousand Amerasian children were born that were not wanted by anyone, they could not get identity cards in Vietnam and now are responsible for a majority of crime in Vietnam, some were airlifted out of Vietnam at the end of the war but many were abandoned by their mothers, and their government.Last night we went to the Haoni Oprea House to hear the symphony play the works or Gustav Mahler. Before the concert we eat dinner at a fine French Restaurant, the Green Tangerine, see the pictures.We left Hanoi with the feeling that it was a old but changing city. It will celebrate it’s 1000 anniversary next year. I think Hanoi will become a major commercial center over the next 10 years, they have a lot of cleaning-up to do and I think they can get it done. They have a large, cheap, hardworking workforce that is ready to step into the 21st century. When an ETF becomes available on Vietnam I’ll be an investor.Back on the bus Saturday morning and we’re off to Halong Bay, considered one of the most beautiful areas in the world. The area was hit by a typhoon last night 84 mph winds and the boats are restricted from sailing in the harbor so we won’t be able to go on the junk and cruise the islands with a night spent on the junk. It looks like the weather will clear and we’ll be able to do a three hour cruise tomorrow morning before heading back to the Hanoi airport.On the way to Halong Bay we stopped by a work center that only employs children that have been effected by their parents and or grandparents exposure to agent orange. Most have some form of disfigurement, missing fingers, irregular bone structure or learning disabilities. Nita and I found a lacquer painting that will serve as our reminder of this trip.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

We woke up to clear weather and were on our Junk by 7:00 am, we were scheduled for a four hour cruise through Ha Long Bay. The harbor was full of thousands of boats from small fishing boats to three mast Junks that slept up to 35 passengers. Ours , the Hai Au Junk, was a day junk that had an upper viewing deck and a lower deck that served as a dinning room. We weaved our way out of the harbor being offered fresh fruit by ladies in small boats that came up along side. Before us, as far as we could see were mountain tops poking up through the water, each covered with green vegetation or sheer rock. Last year over 2.65 million people toured Ha Long Bay up 49% from 2007. It brought back memories of our sail down the Lee River in China two years ago. The Hai Au Junk was a junk, poorly maintained but adequately furnished and supplied for our purpose, we were here for the sights of Ha Long Bay.Our first stop was at Surprise Cave, which required a climb of about 1,000 feet up to the entrance. The story is that a stranded fisherman found the cave when trying to escape the dangers of a fierce storm. The government has installed the steps and interior lighting to provide a Disney type attraction. At it’s peek over 5000 people per day take the Junk trip across the bay to tour the cave. Back on the Junk we sailed deeper into the harbor where we found numerous floating fishing villages. As the sun burnt off the haze the protruding peaks, green foliage , the blue sky and turquoise water painted a memorial picture of one of the most beautiful spots in the world.This is a place that I would like to come back to; I’d like to spend three nights on one of the luxury junks, wake up to the sunrise, swim at secluded beaches, and have cocktails at the sunset.
We’re now back on the bus heading back to the Hanoi airport to catch our 6:00 pm flight to Hue.
Hue, pronounced Way, was the original capital of Vietnam and was thus the home of the kings of Vietnam. We toured the Citadel which reminded me of the Forbidden City in Beijing China. It’s not as grand. The Citadel was a victim of the Vietnam war as it change hands several times and thus was bombed and shelled by both the Viet Kong and the American forces. It’s currently under restoration through the efforts of UNESCO. When the works is done Hue will become a major tours attraction for Vietnam.This afternoon Michael, Marcia Deb and I went to the tomb of the fourth king of Vietnam. It was a strange feeling because at times we were the only people on the grounds, it was almost as if we had discovered these ruins that were over 100 years old. The structures have received little maintenance over the past 100 years so we had to maneuver through fallen stones and broken walkways. There was no maps or instructions as to the location of the tombs of the past king or his empresses and concubines so it was our task to find and identify, I felt like a archeologists making a new find.Hue is a much cleaner city then Hanoi I suppose because it is much smaller and less congested. We saw very few cars in Hue the primary means of transportation is motor scooters and bicycle, there are few stop lights so crossing the streets requires courage and luck. You must step into the street and allow the scooters drive around you as you move across the street with commitment.On our way to Hoi An we stopped along side the road to see how the fishing people lived. They used a series of hand made nets that they threw into the water then maliciously pulled in to catch any fish that they might trap. They also showed us the traps that they used to catch crab, I tried their boat on for size and determined this was not a line of work for me.Hoi An is an old city with a lot of character, it reminded me of Key West. It’s located about three miles inland from the China Sea with a river connecting the sea and the city. The cities architecture consists of one and two story buildings with tile roofs and stucco walls. All the buildings have been converted into shops or restaurants. Most of the shops deal in tailored clothing or some other of fabric/ clothing sales. The restaurant and bar scene is just like Key West, lively, wide open and colorful. We eat at Cargo Wednesday night and had cocktails, salad, tenderloin steak with vegetables, and desert all for $33.00 a comparable meal in Birmingham would have been $70.00 plus.That after noon Michael, Marcia and I took a bike ride from our hotel to the beach and I we enjoyed a beer at the beach and a dip in the China Sea. Our morning was spent on a trip to a 4th. Century Champa ruin. These are the people that ruled this land to include Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand until they went extinct as a result of all the wars that fought and lost resulting in the far east as we know it today. The neat part of exploring in this part of the world is that many of the ruins are as if they were just discovered the month before. The country is in it’s stage of development that has allowed them to open the ruin and make them accessible but they haven’t been able to do much more then clear the vegetation from the structures, thus you get the feeling of being early to the scene of a significant discovery. You take pictures of stone carvings by pulling back vines knowing that you may be the only person on earth to have recorded an image of a 1600 year old stone carving. It may not be fact but it’s a cool thought for me to carry home.

Friday, September 18, 2009

We left Hio An and drove to the Da Nang Airport but first stopped at China Beach, which was one of the primary R&R destinations in the Vietnam war. We flew from Da Nang to Can Ranh Bay a name that is familiar to anyone over 55 years old. This was one of the largest air force and navy bases in the Vietnam war. Our bus headed deep into the country side taking us to Dien Phu a small farming village for a home visit so that we could experience the life of a villager in South Vietnam, we got a bonus in that our host was a 65 year old gentleman who had fought for the South in the war. We had a Vietnamese lunch in his home that had been built by the Gold Circle Foundation. Lunch wasn’t very appealing sitting in his front room with no moving air in 98 degree heat. After lunch we moved to a spot in the front yard which captured a breeze off the near by lake. We were offered an opportunity to ask questions which started with his interpretation of the War and its effects on the country, next we talked about village income taxes. He pays $1.25 per year in property taxes, no income taxes, and if he gets sick he goes to the hospital finds a corner and waits for care. If he’s going to eat his family will have to bring food, if he’s going to bath his family will have to see to his personal hygiene. His children can go to school if he can afford to get them to the school pay for their books, uniforms, and food. School is not mandatory. The villagers are farmers farming rice, they also make baskets which they sell to the other villages and fisherman at the nearby coast. We asked if his life would be different if the South had won the war? “Do you see Communism anywhere in our country? My life would be the same, we all engage in commerce, we are all capitalists, nothing would be different.” We then went and were taught how to make bamboo baskets. Before we left the general area we went to a local grammar school. It’s enlightening to see the hill these countries have to climb when they have no tax base to educate their children, thus they can’t produce an educated work force to build their country. So instead political officials take for themselves and allow the people to continue to live as they are.If anyone ever tells me that our government screws up everything that it gets involved I’m going to tell them to move to Vietnam where there are no meaningful taxes and see how they like an uninvolved government.We checked into our hotel in Nha Trang, and went out to a Vietnamese restaurant; I’m getting tired of Vietnamese food.Today we caught a boat to cross the bay to a fishing village. As on most islands they have a problem dealing with trash, but unlike the islands that most of us are used to they make little effort to dispose of trash, it tends to end up in the sea. That aside this is a community that is self sufficient, they have a post office, a medical clinic, and an internet café. They eat and sell what they catch and open their island to the tourist, it’s evident though that they don’t see many Americans, more French and Australians.From the fishing village, back on our boat and around to the other side of the island for a relaxing three hours on a private beach. This was a welcomed slowdown in pace; a dip in the sea, a tequila sunrise, a pedicure/foot and leg message, and a fish lunch and I was ready for our last week in the far east. To top the day off we went to a local restaurant and had a hamburger and fries; I can now finish out the trip on Vietnamese food.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Saturday September 19, we drive five hours , 4500 feet, up the mountains to Da Lat, a community originally built by the French in an effort to escape the heat of the low lands. Along the way we stop at a village of river fisherman that speak a different dialect of Vietnamese thus our guide is not able to understand their language. I see my first pot belly pig other then the one used for shark bait by the sea fisherman yesterday. A local fisherman is net fishing in the river and catches a fish no bigger then a minnow which he puts on a stringer. Now that I think about it I did see fish that small for sale in some of the markets.A the top of the mountain we stopped to see a waterfall and received a promise of cooler weather for the next several days. On our way up we came across Chinese construction companies widening the road, when we were down at China Beach we saw that most of the resort construction was being done by Chinese companies and the new casino in Laos was being built by a Chinese company. It appears that all the money that we are sending to China is being spread around other developing economies. We are seeing the many different part of Vietnam and it’s culture as well as the tentacles of the next economic power of the world.As we neared Da Lat the landscape changed from corn and tobacco farming to hillsides covered with greenhouses filled with vegetables and flowers.Tonight we had a home hosted dinner; we were met in the hotel lobby by a bubbly Vietnam girl in a pink motor cycle helmet. She put the six of us in a van and told us she would meet us at her home. The cab drive wound through the streets of Dalat and we came to a stop in front of the 19 Family Home. Yee, pink helmet, introduced us to her mother, father, two younger sisters, Tea and Bond, and her cousin Bao, a young man. This was the beginning of one of the most delightful evenings of our trip. Mom, Tuan, and Dad, Lien, cooked the meal while Yee, and her younger sister, Tea, served us. We started with home made banana wine, sweet, smooth and it didn’t stop coming. The main course was a rice pancake filled with shrimp, bean sprouts, and herbs. We submerged this in a sweet sauce and topped it with lettuce, basil, tarragon, mint and other herbs. It was delicious and different from anything that we had had thus far on our trip.Yee is the most dynamic Asian girl that I have ever met, her personality grew as the evening continued. I asked her if she was married, she’s thirty years old. “No she was not” Would you be interested in marrying an American boy? “It would be my pleasure.” Her younger sister Tea is dating a French boy with hopes of a future together. He came from France to develop a wine industry in Vietnam.I made a commitment that I would do what I could to let as many available American boys know of Yee’s availability. She can be contacted at mailto:unlined@yahoo.com, you’ll find her picture on my Picasa Albumhttp://picasaweb.google.com/kjohng/AsianTrip2009#. Yee’s 30 years old works for a consulting company in Da Lat, Vietnam and comes from one of Da Lat’s leading families. This is a must see.Our Sunday adventure started early. Seven of us caught an old chug train for a 30 minute ride through the country side to Chua Tinh Quang. It gave us an up close view of the greenhouse operations of the area. Da Lat grows and exports vegetables, fruits, and flowers thus employing many of the residents. Because of the altitude the weather is cooler and less humidity, thus providing us with a welcome break form the draining weather that we have been enduring the past several weeks. In Chua Tinh Quang we found a bustling country town where no one was able to speak English to assist us in finding the Broken Bottle Pagoda. Finally we found a young girl who understood the word Pagoda and pointed us in the right direction. The Broken Bottle Pagoda consisted of a temple overseen by monks, one of which was an 83 year old man who spoke perfect English and invited us in to take pictures and worship. The Pagoda was a six story tower that allowed us the ability to climb the narrow steps to get panoramic pictures of the terraced landscape. Having overstayed our time we hurried back to the train for our return trip to Da Lat. Da Lat is a major travel destination for Japanese golfers because of its beautiful golf course, so our next stop was the Grand Palace Golf Course for a relaxing time in the highly manicured surroundings.We then made a stop at the local Botanical Gardens, admission 10 Dong or 66 cents. Although cheap it didn’t stand up well against the Golf course and the local farms that we saw from the train ride. We then took a 2 mile hike around the city lake to the Sunday Market, my pictures tell that story best.After a great lunch at the An Quy restaurant we went to see the Hotel Soffitel the major high end promoter of tourism in the area. The hotel reflects the heavy French colonial influence seen in all of the architecture of Da Lat. The hotel was a photographers playground with its elegant furnishings and appointments, it even offered me an antique urinal shot which is always one of my photographic objectives in our worlds travels.We met us with the rest of our group at 3:15 for a visit to Da Lat University. After a lecture from one of the Universities Language professors, monthly salary $200, we were assigned a student to escort us around the campus giving us an opportunity to learn more about Vietnamese life and them an opportunity to practice their English. I met up with Thuy, a 19 year old farm girl from a neighboring providence. She is a sophomore in the English program hoping to become an English teacher in her hometown high school. She rents an apartment in Da Lat with two other girls for $30 per month, her father sends her $10 share each month as well is able to pay the $200 per year tuition so that she may have a better life for herself. As we were completing our visit to the University Thuy shared with me that her assigned English name in the class room is Karry. I felt that karma had drought us together for this hours exchange of culture, we parted with two big hugs and an exchanged of email addresses so that we could continue our brief but meaningful friendship.Back on our bus we headed out of town to spend some time with the people of the original Da Lat tribe.While the predominate religion in Vietnam is Buddhism the Da Lat tribe are Catholics that have incorporated some of their tribal customs into their devout believe in Catholicism, to include the regular sacrifice of a buffalo at the alter. We didn’t arrive on a timely basis so as to participate in the sacrifice but we did enjoy a spirited demonstration of their native dance and music, to include group participation in both the singing and dance and the ceremonial communal drinking of rice wine through a bamboo straw from an earthen jug. We finished our long and eventful day with a dinner at a small restaurant which served traditional Vietnamese food including Hot Pot and a contribution of Crickets and Scorpions by David and Kim. Both were very fibrous and tasted like nuts.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Monday morning we flew to Saigon, our first stop was the Scars of the Vietnam War Museum. The Museum consists of a collection of photographs taken by photographers from around the world in an effort to explain what happened in the Vietnam War from the North Vietnamese point of view. A major part of the display was devoted to the US’s use of chemical weapons in particular Agent Orange, and the initial effects as well as the lasting effects. This is not the place for me to express my feelings on what I saw and what I felt.We ate lunch at a hot pot shop, Vietnams fast food. Hot Pot is a little meat and a lot of vegetables and noodles submerged in a hot chicken broth and seasoned to taste, it was quite good filling and very low calorie. It’s easy to see why the Vietnamese are so thin, I have yet to see a fat Vietnamese. The day was concluded with a bus tour of Saigon, a vibrant city of 8 million that is more western than any other city that we have seen in Vietnam. That’s not to say it looks like your city, but it is cleaner, laid out more like a western city and wealthier. The average Saigon worker makes $400 a month and that has been pulled up with the major investment in their Technology Park by Intel which pays its average worked $800 per month.Tuesday morning five of us left the hotel and went out on our own to see the Cu Chi Tunnels 24 miles outside of Saigon. For decades the Cu Chi people had dug shelters under their homes to hide from intruders then the French and then the Americans. They soon learned that if their enemies discovered their subterranean hiding place they were easy killing so they started to build tunnels from one hideout to the other. Most of the tunnels were 9 to ten feet below ground while some went as deep as 36 feet all leading to underground bunkers. By the time the Americans set up their Army base outside of Saigon and neighboring the Ch Chi land the tunnel city had reached over 200 miles of tunnels and bunkers. This served as an excellent hiding and staging ground for the Vietcong. While the American used the latest technology and military hardware to fight the Cu Chi people the Cu Chi’s used the tools that they had been using for centuries to trap and kill animals, including punji pits, leg spikes, and Punji sticks would be placed in areas likely to be passed through by enemy troops. The presence of punji sticks may be camouflaged by natural undergrowth, crops, grass, brush or similar materials. They were often incorporated into various types of traps; for example, a camouflaged pit into which a man might fall . They were often smeared with human feces to increase the risk of infection.Sometimes a pit would be dug with punji sticks in the sides pointing downward at an angle. A soldier stepping into the pit would find it impossible to remove his leg without doing severe damage, and injuries might be incurred by the simple fact of falling forward while one’s leg is in a narrow, vertical, stake-lined pit. Such pits would require time and care to dig the soldier’s leg out, immobilizing the unit longer than if the foot were simply pierced, in which case the victim could be evacuated.Punji sticks were sometimes deployed in the preparation of an ambush. Soldiers lying in wait for the enemy to pass would deploy punji sticks in the areas where the surprised enemy might be expected to take cover, thus soldiers diving for cover would impale themselves.The time spent in the tunnels served to again present the Vietnam War from the Vietnamese people point of view. I find it amazing the this same company is now under the rule of the same Communist Party that ran the Americans out and now is dependent on companies like Intel, Microsoft, Coke and Budweiser for its future development.

Saigon is a city of 8 million people, many motorcycles and few cars, this is because there is a heavy import tax on automobiles ranging from 100% to 250% so a $50,000 German car will cost a Vietnamese $125,000. They also only allow the importation of new automobiles. Today we traveled to the Mekong Delta which required us to go through southern Saigon. This is where the growing upper-class lives, this is where you see the imported cars, the larger homes, the upscale shops and the massive apartment complexes. We didn’t see any of north of Saigon in any of the other cities that we visited. We proceeded to the Delta where we boarded a tour boat to see how the local fishing industry worked the river, the China Sea, and the growing fish farms. This was the area that the US Gun Boats patrolled winding in and our of the numerous islands in their attempt to drive out the Viet Cong. The government of the north had two army’s, the Viet Ping, recruited men and woman of the north who served the Peoples Republic of Vietnam and the Viet Cong the people of the south who either sided with the political views of the north or more often the people of the south who wanted to rid their country of the invaders.We got out of our tour boat and boarded a san-pan, a small three passenger boat that was able to navigate the shallow waters that ran between the numerous islands. Our passage took us to a bee farm where we sampled the honey, had snacks and played with their python, an opportunity which I couldn’t pass up.We then took a mile walk to a coconut candy factory that wouldn’t meet OSHA standards but did put out a unique and tasty form of taffy. Then a trek through the coconut plantations where we saw deserted plantation homes that had been the property of South Vietnam supporters that fled the country at the end of the war. We stopped in a small village for a fish dinner Vietnamese style (see the pictures) the young lady presented a grilled fish which she stripped the meat from and combined with rice, herbs, and vegetables to make a spring role which you wish you could buy in the US. Back on out tour boat and back to our bus we made our way back into Saigon.

Our Vietnam farewell dinner was held at Po Cho, a stylish restaurant, but not memorable food. After our meal our group went to the Grand Hyatt for a cocktail, a Chocltini, which I will be drinking more of in the future. The pianist vocalist was an added treat to a very sophisticated room that added a new element to your 36 day journey.In the rain five of us made our way to one of Saigon’s most famous bars, Apocalypse Now, dating back to the early 60”s and the Vietnam War. It’s now a techno-pop club with loud DJ spinning and strobe lights. Although we found the bar unique the balance of the young Vietnam patrons found us unique; American 60 something’s that were willing to get-down to their music. We were truly an oddity in their domain and they welcomed with smiles, pictures and dance. It will be one of our cumulative captured memories.This morning we board a plane back to Bangkok for a nigh layover and then a 23 hour flight through Tokyo and back to Atlanta.Vietnam is a beautiful country that will change dramatically over the next ten years, the people are friendly, and most of all forgiving. They have a long history of wars with the Chinese, the French, America, and Australia, and they now welcome them all to their country as tourists.
Tomorrow morning we catch a 5:00 am flight to Tokyo than on to the US.

Before reaching the park we stopped at a neighborhood restaurant La Salud and had our best meal in Barcelona for 9.75 Euro. Mine consisted of a Greek tuna salad, peach with potatoes, ice cream, and drink, which was a bottle of wine for me to drink as much as I wanted. (3 glasses). Ron had tuna, Avie Lamb Shank, and Nita Ham crochet.

After the park we went to an apartment building designed by Gaudi, Casa Mila, which again displays his unique style as well as his architectural genius. While there we saw an art display of Zoran Music. In 1944, he was sent by the Nazis to the Dachau, where he made 200 sketches of life in the camp under extremely difficult circumstances. From the drawings executed in May 1945, he managed to save around seventy. These drawing and paintings derived from the drawings were part of the exhibit as well as other painting of Venice and other subjects. After a long day we had desert in the Gothic area and made it home around 10:00 pm, a long but enjoyable day.

Tue 05/13/08 (day 14)
Day fourteen: Ron and I rented bicycles and rode the beach cycle path (about 5 miles) then hooked up with a group of 14 and 15 year old students for the ride back into town. As you’ll notice in the pictures we made friends and saw a lot of beautiful Barcelona. I really didn’t expect to enjoy Barcelona as much as I am. After we turned in the bikes we caught the subway, yes we learned to use the subway speaking no Spanish, and met the ladies for lunch out at Espania. They had spent the morning taking a cable car ride up to a fortress overlooking Barcelona. They felt they had had the better morning and we allowed them to believe that they had. After lunch we climbed the steps to the National Museum of Art built in 1929 for the Worlds Fair. Although I was not familiar with many of the Spanish artists other then Picasso and Dali, I did find several that I would like to learn more about, Josep de Togores, Lluis Mariera and Ramon Cavas.
Tomorrow we pick-up our car and head for northern Spain, let the fun begin. We will get lost, we will argue, we will have an adventure, we will laugh hard, and we will never forget these coming days.
Drive to Hondariba
Ron and I took the subway to the University station, involved a transfer from green to pink line, but it was no task for world travelers. We got a Citron C4 Picasso, which is a van that held all our luggage. It was a tense drive to get out of Barcelona, but we made it onto the highways, 4 lane for the most part through beautiful country. We saw a lot of agriculture and many wind farms and solar farms generating electricity. It appears the Spanish are way ahead of the US in switching to alternative energy. It was a six and a half hour drive with the last hour in the Pyrenees Mountains. In Ron’s words, “This is beautiful…. Look at those colors….. Look at the sun on those mountians… I’ve never seen such beautiful mountains.” Then when we arrived at the Parador in Hondariba, a fifteenty century castle. “This is no Hampton Inn.” I will leave the pictures that I will be posting over the next several days to fill your eyes with the magnificent place that we find ourselves enjoying. Ron’s only complaint is that the coffee is not hot enough and they serve hot milk for his cereal, but he is induing.

Today we got getting lost out of the way. An hour drive to Bilbao turned into an hour and a half of high frustration. Finding the Guggenheim in Bilbao was not as easy as the desk clerk assured. Once we found it finding a parking place was almost as hard. There is a lack of signs and a lack of parking. The building lives up to its billing as the architectural achievement of the 21st. century. It is something to see; it’s like a silver ship in the sun, painted by Picasso, sailing up the Ria de Bilbao. Once you enter the museum the art displayed is a disappointment. Most of it is devoted to Surrealism and it leaves a lot to be desired. The second floor was closed for a rework; maybe that was what carries the interest but everyone that we spoke to was as disappointed as we were. We made our way back to Hondarribia and had wine and cheese on the patio before getting ready for dinner; restaurants don’t open until 8:00 pm. You’ll see in my pictures; the view from our room…. that’s France on the other side of the harbor. This place is a piece of paradise.
Day seventeen: We decided to have an easy day, get up late and not do any long driving. At eleven we drove over the boarder to Saint Jean de Luz, France for lunch; about a fifteen minute drive. After we walked around the town we ventured into what appeared to be a welcoming restaurant; before sitting down I asked the waiter to help me identify what another customer was eating. His response was one of a “French Smart Ass”; we collectively decided not to spend any money in France and went back to Hondarribia for lunch and a walk on the beach. Hondarribia is a wonderful place to stay if you find yourself in northern Spain, it is beautiful, close to many other attractions and friendly. Each morning Ron and I get up and run along the sea wall as the fisherman head out to sea and back through the town as the shopkeepers are opening their stores and the grocers are putting out their fresh vegetables. I think I could live here if I had a better Internet connection.
Day eighteen: Twenty minute drive on N1 to San Sebaastain, Spain, a beautiful sea side town. We entered from the south along a tree lined Boulavard along the Urumea River. It is a very European city larger then we had expected. Being Saturday morning it was crowded and hard to find parking, but after sitting in a Que for fifteen minutes we made it into a garage and were able to park. We were issued a ticket as we entered and as we left we place our ticket into a machine and it asked for our fee, we placed the ticket in another machine as we came to the gate and it opened to let us out; no humans involved, easy and efficient. What a country! The old town was busy and clean, we stopped at an Internet Cafe and were able to check email and communicate home for 60 cents. Lunch in Old Town, with a waiter that spoke perfect English, some shopping and we were back on our way to Hondarribia.
Sun 05/18/08 (day 19)
Day nineteen: Today was another driving day; 564km or 348 miles from Hondarriba to Toledo . Our trip took us through the mountains on two lane highways sharing the road with Sunday cyclists climbing the hills up to a memorial at the top then coasting back home as we went on towards Madrid . I drove into Madrid while Ron assured us that he could navigate us through the big city. “My dad taught me that you need only find a sign to Toledo and don’t worry about using a map; it’s not a problem.” “But Ron,” we asked; “when you’re driving into Atlanta when do you first see a sign to Macon ?” As we approached Madrid Ron turned to our map, a map of the full country of Spain , a big map, he fought with it in the front seat. Avie told him, from the back seat, “You need to find A-42, which is the highway that will take us to Toledo .” We spotted the high-rises of downtown Madrid , thank God it was Sunday afternoon, “Head for those buildings, don’t worry, and he pushed the map over his head into the back seat, “this thing is worthless.” Three of us feared we were heading to Portugal , when we spotted a sign for Toledo . “See Ron was right, just look for the sign, you can depend on Ron, Ron wasn’t panicking, the three of you were panicking. Now find me a restroom, I have to pee.” We arrived in Toledo and found our Parador on top of a hill overlooking the old city. We will explore Toledo tomorrow.
Tue 05/20/08 (day 21)
Day twenty: Today we explored Toledo , a city built on a hill overlooking the river. As in most 2000 year old cities it was built around a system of churches, in this case Catholic, Jewish, and Muslin. The city grew in harmony until the mid 1400’s when the Spanish government expelled the Arabs and the Jews. Today there are no Arabs or Jews living in Toledo jet their heritage has been restored as a part of the cities history. Today we visited three Catholic Cathedrals and two Jewish Sinagogs. The Cathedral de Toledo, built over 1226 to 1493, was magnificent and more accessible then those visited earlier on the trip but they did not allow any photography. Sculptors Narcisco Tome’s famed hole in the ceiling and depiction of The Last Supper were grand. The biggest bonus for me was the art by Greco, Van Dyke, Goya and other noted artists paintings. The biggest turn-off for me was all the gold gilded monstrance, allegedly made from gold brought back by Christopher Columbus. We all decided the Greco painted all the Apostles with his own facial features and body structure; either that of he was a direct descendent of all 12 of them. The Iglesia de Santo Tome is a small chapel which contains El Greco’s painting The Burial of the Count of Orgaz, well worth seeing and filled with self images. Sinagoga del Transto and Sinagoga de Santa Maria La Blanca were of particular interest to Nita and me because the history and explanation of the religion filled in a lot of holes in our understanding to the evolution of the Jewish faith. I suspect the same was true for Ron and Avie relative to the Catholic faith. After a long day in the old city I insisted that we drive into the newer part of town to see the bull ring. It was closed and we could not get in, but it was quite old and smaller then we and each imagined. Our lunch was from the ‘Menu of the Day’ for a bright clean restaurant in old town, you’ll see in my “pictures of the day” my Salmon with clams, shrimp, and red and green peppers, this was preceded by a serving of two fried eggs and French fries, (you read that right) and followed by a piece of chocolate cake, and of course wine, all for 12.50 Euro.

Tomorrow we go further south to Carmona, three nights, outside of Seville , this is a change in plans; we had been scheduled to go to Cordoba but I moved us closer to Seville because of the concentration of our activities in the Seville area.
Day twenty-one: We said good-bye to Toledo and headed southwest to Carmona, 24 miles east of Seville . Our drive took us through varied terrain; starting with a red earth and rock landscape with the bulk of the land used to raise olive trees and some grape vines. Ron and I got out of the car along the highway, at the protest of Nita and Avie, to go into the fields to examine the olive trees; you’ll see a picture of baby olives in the photo album. As we went further south we climbed mountains and started to see different kinds of cultivated trees, we believe them to be almond trees. Further south the villages turned whitewash and the field turned green and brown, grain mostly wheat, then they turned yellow, sunflowers as far as you could see. We turned into Montoro; see the photos, which is in a time warp dating 1808 Spain . Take away the cars; add horses and wagons and nothing has changed in 200 years. South of Cordoba we found our turnoff for Carmon which turned out to be a hill top village that has a history dating back 5000 years. The architecture is Moorish, with horseshoe arches and painted tile. Our Parador is in the remains of a Moorish fortress situated at the back side of the village of small streets; turn your mirrors in if you can as you pass through the double stone arched gate into the Parador square. Our rooms are overlooking the current agriculture of the area. As I sit here I hear a roster crowing, a dog barking, and I see the goats and sheep grazing in the fields below. For the past week we have stepped back 2000 to 5000 years into history with all the connivances of modern day, (flush toilets, electric lights, and modern meals) but our surroundings and the pace of life definitely has a link to the past. Spain is different, no billboards along the highways, no pick-up trucks, solar and wind farms, menu of the day, 2000 to 5000 year history, quaint villages, and the Espana Bull.

Thu 05/22/08 (day 23)
Seville
Day twenty-two: We spent the day in Seville , The Cathedral de Sevilla and Giralda Tower , Plaza de Espana, and the Maestranza Bullring were the only sites that we saw today. First we had to familiarize ourselves with the city. We drove in to the railroad station where we parked, avoiding the heavy traffic of the city, took a city bus, the C1, to the Plaza de Espana, where we caught a double decker tour bus from which we got a tour of the city. The Cathedral, the largest Gothic structure in the world, Nita and I had seen the second largest when we visited the Doma in Milan last November, and the third largest church in Europe, was spectacular but disappointing because of its exterior presentation compared to the Doma. The interior, to me was once again a display of opulence, it was grand, spectacular, beautiful, and impressive as you will see in my pictures but when you compared all it had to how the people lived it’s hard for me to understand and get too excited about. We did climb the Giralda Tower , a 35 floor assent to the top which provides a magnificent view of Sevilla while among the bells. Lucky we weren’t there at the hour. The bullring was interesting; I gained a better understanding of how the bull fight and matador grading works and why the people of Spain are so enthralled with bullfighting. There is a bullfight tonight, and the King of Spain, Juan Carlos will attend, but the Juan will have to deal with our absence. While in Toledo I found a bottle of 1993 Cabernet for 2 Euro. It doesn’t have the character that I had expected but I am resolved to finish it non-the-less. Most of the wine that I have drank is what is served with our meals as a part of the meal and is thus not Spain’s best, but I find it quite good and comparable with California wines. When I look at the wine selection in stores I find the same labels that I have seen in the US for about half the price. We will not be bringing wine home; we have made that mistake before.Day twenty-three. It was our intention to go back to Seville for a second day to see the Alazar (the king’s palace) and the Flamingo Museum . As we entered Seville we all noticed something different; there was less traffic, more parking available, and many police in the train station and few people on the bus. In Old Town there were more people; locals all dressed up, many church bells, and a heavy smell of incense. Having Avie seek out some locals we discovered that today is a Holiday , the celebration of Corpus Christy, to recognize the poor and downtrodden and their suffering. Each Parish had its own celebration in its respective plaza. The celebration consisted of a precision of the church elders, alter boys, former alter boys, and a display. The procession wound through the city streets as the onlookers, many parish members stood at streets edge throwing smoking rosemary into the streets ahead of the procession. The elders and alter boys carried little candle shafts and medallions, most in dark suits and some in church robes. The entire procession marched to the beat of a bugle and drum band. The street was filled with the smell of burning rosemary, the music of the band, the cheers of the onlookers, and most important the orders of the display Captains. The display had to weigh 2000 pounds and it moved through the winding streets at a methodic pace. As best as I could determine there were as many as 48 small boys, probably 13 to 15 years old carrying the display through the narrow winding streets. They could not see where they were going so the Captains, older men, would lean into the side of the display and shout orders into the lifters. It reminded me of the movies I have seen where men with oars moved massive war ships into battle. We never did see the Alazar (closed) or the Flamingo Museum (closed by the time we found it).
Fri 05/23/08 (day 24)
Jerez Spain
Day twenty-four: Today we drove from Carmona to Jerez , about 80 miles south west, almost to the southern coast line of Spain . We cane to Jerez for two destinations the home of Sherry wine and the home of Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art. The equestrian school is devoted to conserving the ancestral abilities of the Andalusian horse, , maintaining the classical traditions of Spanish horsemanship, preparing horses and riders for international competitions, and providing education in all aspects of horsemanship, coachdriving, blacksmithing, the care and breeding of horses, saddlery, and the manufacture and care of harness. The school is comparable to the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, Austria which Nita and I visited several years ago. Like the Spanish Riding School, the Royal Andalusian School is well-known for its “dancing stallions” shows for the tourists. Sherry is a fortified wine, made in and around the town of Jerez, and hence in Spanish it is called “Vino de Jerez,” in fact the word “sherry” is an Anglicized version of “Jerez.” According to Spanish law, Sherry must come from the triangular area of the province of Cadiz between Jerez, Sanlucar and El Puerto de Santa Maria. Sherry differs from other wines because of how it is treated after fermentation. After fermentation is complete, it is fortified with brandy. Because the fortification takes place after fermentation, all natural sherries are dry; any sweetness is applied later. In contrast, port wine is fortified halfway through fermentation, stopping fermentation so not all the sugars are allowed to turn into alcohol and so leaving a sweet wine. I must admit, I was the only one of our group that got into the tasting; Nita, Ron and Avie didn’t really have any desire to aquire a taste for Sherry. After the horses and the Sherry we walked Jerez; saw a busy town of 196,000 dating back to 1030. Like all Spanish towns everything closed down from 1:30 to 5:30 pm, but we are exausted and are calling it an early night.
Fri 05/23/08 (day 24)
Ronda
Day twenty-five: Ronda retains much of its historic charm, particularly its old town. The views from our Parador are fantastic, see the pictures. We are adjacent to the deep El Tajo gorge that carries the rio Guadalevín through the city center. Ron and I hiked to the bottom for the photos while Avie and Nita scouted out the town. Outside our front door is the 18th century Puente Nuevo ‘new’ bridge, which straddles the 300 foot chasm below, providing an unparalleled view over the Serranía de Ronda mountains.
Ronda is also famous as the birthplace of modern bullfighting, but the bullring is used olny once a year at the spectacular Feria Goyesca. Held at the beginning of September, here fighters and some of the audience dress in the manner of Goya’s sketches of life in the region. Legendary Rondeño bullfighter Pedro Romero broke away from the prevailing Jerez ‘school’ of horseback bullfighting in the 18th century to found a style of bullfighting in which matadors stood their ground against the bull on foot. In 2006 royalty and movie stars were helicoptered in for the Goyesca’s 50th anniversary celebrations in its small bullring, while thousands jammed the streets and parks outside. Otherwise the bullring, Plaza de Toros, is now a museum, which we did not visit having visited the bullring in Seville.Across the bridge, is an elegant cloistered 16th century convent which is now an art museum. The cobbled alley to the Mondragón leads naturally on to Ronda’s loveliest public space, the leafy Plaza Duquesa de Parcent, which boasts a convent, two churches, including the toy town bell tower of the iglesia Santa Maria de Mayor, and the handsome arched ayuntamiento (council) building. Nita, Avie and I found our way there Saturday night as the parishioners prepared for their celebration of the Corpus Holiday with a precession through the city streets. Like the one we witnessed in Seville it was composed of bands, a Christian display, the church parishioners, but this one centered its attention on the young children dresses in their finest. We ended the day with desert, tee, hot chocolate and a Jack Daniels to celebrate Avie’s birthday; I’ll leave it to you to decide who had what.

Sun 05/25/08 (day 26)
Ronda to Granada
Day twenty-six: We drove from Ronda to Granada over winding and narrow roads part of the way. Once again we were impressed by the amount of land devoted to raising olives. I encourage you all to keep cooking in olive oil and eating olives, Spain is counting on you. We are not staying in the Granada Parador, it is always booked a year in advance, so we are in the Alhambra Place Hotel, which was built in 1929 and has a view to challenge any that we have had thus far. The common areas are very Moorish consisting of large spaces, colorful tiles and Asian rugs, see the pictures. We walked down the hill for a great Spanish lunch then hiked back up the hill. Tomorrow we will have a guided tour through the Alhambra , and will attend a Gypsy demonstration of the Flamingo. Ron is experiencing some gastrointestinal distress, but is keeping his spirits high. Granada was first settled by native tribes in the prehistoric period, and was known as Ilbyr. When the Romans colonized southern Spain, they built their own city here and called it Illibris. The Arabs, invading the peninsula in the 8th century, gave it its current name of Granada. It was the last Muslim city to fall to the Christians in 1492, at the hands of Queen Isabel of Castile and her husband Ferdinand of Aragon.
Wed 05/28/08 (day 29)
Adventure Ends
Day twenty-six: We drove from Ronda to Granada over winding and narrow roads for an hour before we reached a major highway. Once again we were amazed by the amount of land devoted to raising olives. I encourage you all to keep cooking with olive oil and eating olives, Spain is counting on you. We are not staying in the Granada Parador, it is always booked a year in advance, it only has 40 rooms and 20 are being renovated, so we are in the Alhambra Place Hotel, which was built in 1910 and has a view of both the old and new city . The common areas are very Moorish consisting of large spaces, colorful tiles and Asian rugs, see the pictures. We walked down the hill for a great Spanish lunch then hiked back up the hill. This evening we went and found the Parador and are glad we are at the Place. Tomorrow we will have a guided tour through the Alhambra , tour the city, and in the evening will attend a Gypsy demonstration of the Flamingo. Ron is experiencing some gastrointestinal distress, but is keeping his spirits high and his butt low. Granada was first settled by native tribes in the prehistoric period, and was known as Ilbyr. When the Romans colonized southern Spain, they built their own city here and called it Illibris. The Arabs, invading the peninsula in the 8th century, gave it its current name of Granada. It was the last Muslim city to fall to the Christians in 1492, at the hands of Queen Isabel of Castile and her husband Ferdinand of Aragon.
Day twenty-seven: Our morning started as usual with a full breakfast at our hotel, convenient but pricy at 15 Euro per person. We departed our hotel for a guided tour of the Alhambra; the architectural jewel of Granada is not all of Spain. The compound situated on one of the two hills of Granada consists of a series of palaces and gardens built under the Nazari Dynasty in the 14th. Century. The cornerstone of the Alhambra is the summer palace called Generalife, what impressed me the most was the detailed plaster carvings that covered the walls and ceilings of almost every room. Each series of rooms had its own patio and fountain. The Moors used water, which came from the Sierra Nevada Mountains through a series of aqueducts to feed theses fountains. Many of which operated still today using the natural force of the flowing water to create spouts and sprays in their patios. Surrounding the summer palace was the remains of the city that grew around it over the years, including the Monastery of La Cartuja, now the Parador, many churches, and the fortresses for protection and the city wall. The second dominate building is the massive Place of Charles V, an example of Spanish Renaissance architecture, which was started in the early 1400’s but was never completed or lived in by anyone. Today its center courtyard is used for concerts and receptions. Overall the Alhambra was quite impressive for its size, its detailed craftsmanship, and the quality of its preservation; what was missing was the furnishings and decorations that must have been there 1000 years ago.
This evening we were picked up by what we thought was a small bus to go to the other side of Granada for a Gypsy dancing and cultural program. We soon found that our small bus was quite large for maneuvering through the narrow streets of Granada. We maneuvered down one of Granadas two hills and up the other and came to rest in front of a Gypsy Cave dwelling. We were escorted into the cave, no more then twelve feet in with and what appeared to be sixty feet deep. This contained a kitchen, living space, bed room and bath; the living space would serve as the stage and seating area for our evenings entertainment. Within minutes the chairs in the back and down the sides were full and the family of entertainers gathered at the far end of the room from which the staged their production. Mom organized the affair while dad attended to the tickets and refreshments, son #1 handled the announcements, son #2 played the guitar, and son-in-law did the singing while the daughters, daughter-in-laws, and granddaughter did the dancing. The pictures can tell the story better then I can. We ended the evening about midnight all feeling that it was a fitting end to our adventure through Spain.
Day twenty-nine: Today we made a short drive to Malaga. Malaga sits on the Mediterranean Sea; our Paradora overlooks the city providing a panoramic view, but that’s where this Paradora and city’s charms end. Maybe it’s because we’re burnt-out and ready to come home or maybe the past 28 days has set a standard that Malaga is not capable of meeting. We’ll be up at 4:00 am tomorrow morning to get to the airport, drop off the car, and catch a 7:30 am flight to Madrid and arrive in Birmingham 19 hours later at 9:30 pm.

Day thirty: We were up at 4:00am and on the road at 5:00am on our way to the airport. After a short drive down a one way street the wrong way and a shorter trip down a sidewalk to get off the one way street we were on the main thoroughfare which we were told would take us directly to the airport. Ron commented that the cab in front of us “must be going to the airport, there’s a guy in the back seat where else would they be going at this time in the morning?” Three miles later we were greeted by a red flashing sign directing us off the highway, “Road Construction.” …. “Follow the cab.”….. “There are no signs for the airport.”….. “Follow the cab.” The cab wound through side streets, roundabouts, back onto a main road and still no signs for the airport. “Maybe he’s taking that guy home after a hot night.”…. “We’ve got no other options now, follow the cab.” The cab led us on to another interstate, still no signs for the airport. “We need to turn around and get directions; we’re heading out of town.”….. “Let’s follow the cab a bit further, we have time, and there’s no one out to ask directions.”….. Two miles further on the interstate, exit signs but no airport signs, four worried travelers. “There’s a sign for the airport, below the sign for Madrid, follow the cab.” We made it to the Malaga airport in plenty of time, but I don’t know what would have happened if that cab and that guy had not been going to the airport at 5:15am in Malaga Spain on May 28, 2008.

Trip Summary: Spain is a diverse, beautiful, friendly an old country. In our 18 days I can not recall a rude person, oh there were some who were a bit intolerant of our inability to speak their language while we were expecting them to speak our, but that’s the American way. I found Spain a romantic country and I think that was because we chose not to stay in large modern cities after we left Barcelona; instead we stayed in villages and hamlets, most often adjacent to cobblestone streets, thousand year old buildings and beautiful vistas. Spain, for me will be about olives, wine, old towns, whitewashed villages on hillsides, beautiful mountains, fishing villages, art and history. I wish I knew more Spanish. I’ll learn more about the Moors, the Jews, Gypsy’s and the Christians of Spain, I’ll drink more Spanish wine, eat more Spanish olives and I’ll cherish the memories that Nita and have gathered with Ron and Avie over this past month.
Each time I travel overseas I ask myself, “are we doing it right, are we living life the way it was meant to be lived, is there a better way, a slower less hectic way?” Is too late for me to change my lot, but if I had it to do over I would like live in a city like Hondarriba pursue painting, writing, and a different pace. I’d fish more I spend more time with nature and I’d pay more attention to a smaller world.
I’m sitting on the Madrid airport floor listening to James Blunt on my I-Pod plugged into an outlet recharging my computer and I-Pod before I get on our six hour flight. From down here I see people of all colors, varied dress, I hear many languages, some are in a rush some meandering. We are all just trying to get some where today, no one is trying to take my stuff or tell me what to believe or how to live, and as they walk by they look down at the 63 year old kid, grin and move on. Why can’t the rest of the world learn from those of us in the Madrid airport today? We’ll all get to where we want to go.