GarysBlog

Central America Jan 14-28 2012

2011-12-05T16:40:00.001-05:00

my 25 best photos(click)

(be patient for Picasa web album to open)

cycling Granada Nicaragua to Panama with Exodus, 14 days begining Jan 14 2012. website for more details(click). Its a fairly long distance so there's a fair bit of vanning, van portions are shown in black.

Google lattitude, if you're into that kind of thing, a gps function, seems to be tracking me (my Gio, an adroid), ... not sure that's a good thing, ... kind of creepy.

Preliminary rating after 73 cycle trips:

An "8" (whereas Corsica was a 9.5, Sicily a 6.5), a lot has to do with expectations, Best thing: Bocas del Toro, Worst thing: Costa Rica generally was mildly disappointing, nothing bad I suppose, but I somehow expected more. Strange: Found out the Brits pay 1500 sterling, Cdns pay $3400, .... something fishy there, at a FEX of say 1.57.

beside Panama Canal

Fri Jan 27 2012

Panama City, (after 2 weeks in the "backwoods") is a typical 1million + NorthAmerican city, skyscrapers and congestion etc ... so different than the rest of trip.

We visited the Miraflores locks and had a 8 mile ride. We started from our hotel by van, close to the Pacific end of the Panama Canal. Saw the process of raising and lowering the traffic, then biked through Soberana National Park which spans nearly the entire width of the country along the East side of the Canal. We headed back to our hotel in the afternoon with time to relax, then a few of us went into the old town by taxi to Casco Viajes (old square) I with Sharon Bill, .... then our last meal in a modern restaurant, Las Papas, situated in the vibrant Calle Uruguay district...... then home, 28th, through Miami, arrival 11:59 PM... all went as planned, scant snow on arrival.

Thurs Jan 26 2012

Today is our last distance ride, and it was great, perhaps a "top ten" in my experience (nothing dramatic, rolling, but overall very nice,... I felt strong, not the slightest concern of heart flutter), only about 50 km. We started just out of Santiago, and finishing with a 2-3 hr van ride into Panama city....brochures say the most impressive of all Central American capitals, ... and it is! The intended hotel was older and rather nice and after partially settling in (I had a shower) hotel ended up not having enough rooms (3 short) we all!! left for an alternate, a rather deluxe US-styled suite complex, ... grand (probably expensive, very US styled). Because the Allgood Inn didn't want to loose future Exodus business, and after we'd made our menu choices, Allgood revealed they would pay for dinner, except desserts...pretty decent... I'd already chosen the most expensive thing ... honest. After 15 days in 3rd world places, Panama City is strikingly urban, traffic jams etc... is that a good thing?

Wed Jan 25 2t012

Today started with a bang!, ... and it's only 8:15 AM... Debbie, surgeon, got fish/bone stuck in esophagus and is flying home from Bocas /Panama to Toronto, ... she's wary about local hospitals. At arrival of island pier, found out there's a local strike on the mainland (blocking roads, some ecological protest) so we're waiting on Bocas island (pleasant hotel), ...sort of stuck in paradise... till the van gets to the mainland pier (a nothing-to-do place). Rob, our guide, said it took three days once, slept in the van..... so, could be interesting.... our return flight is Sat 28th at 4:05 PM....mmm?. 11PM update: Debbie got a 8:55 PM flight out of Miami to YYZ, the roadblock cleared about 3 hours later, and we ended-up vanning a bit extra, descended a 12 mile descent (rather steep at top) and another 15 miles, fairly flat. arrived at Hacienda in Santiago, Mexican themed, but we were about 2+ hours late(due to strike).

Tues Jan 24 2012

Today was a free day .... on the beautiful Bocas del Toro Islands /Panama, which is kind of like Key West, and overall I like, rather "hippy-ish" and many backpackers. Our bikes stayed on the mainland. 12 of our 17, incl me, took a 9:30 to 4:30 boat tour, watching dolphins (very limited), snorkeling, lunch on pier, then 2 hours on a private "Red Frog" beach. The beach was a"10" but the other stuff was pretty ordinary. 1 or 2 of our group were in a pickle with the rip tide, ... but it all ended "OK". Dinner at the Lemon Grass had very bad service, >1hour waiting. The trip is going by in a flash.

Jan 23 2012

as shown in Google Latitude (tracking me)

Up for 7:00AM breakfast, 8:00 departure on bikes, 33 miles before lunch, ... crossed into Panama fairly painlessly. Pulse about 140 bpm when working hard, so ease off at 145, but recovers nicely, 67 at the moment. Crossed 30 min in a speed boat, to Bocas Del Toros, kind of Hemmingway-esque/Florida Keys type place, ....very nice, use USD, now back on Eastern time. Yesterday I was the first one in ... usually worry about being last, with a group that 10, maybe 20 years younger than me...one Chinese storekeeper asked me how old I was, ...mmmm? ...what did she mean by that remark?

Sun Jan 22 2012
Great day, ... a bit too much vanning...we headed east into the rolling terrain of the San Carlos plains, riding though rich agricultural zones, sugar cane and pineapple plantations and rural villages....the heat became more noticeable. I tried but didn't see toucans as we make water crossings. We transferred to Siquirres for lunch (approx. 2 hours). We continue by bus onto Limon (1 hour) where we started a beautiful 20-mile cycle ride along the Caribbean coast road. Our destination was Cahuita, a typical Caribbean town, complete with a lively reggae music culture and spicy cuisine.Total cycling distance today is 27 miles along paved roads, or 47 miles if we are able to ride along the coast

Sat Jan 21 2012

Yipee: ...2 nights in the same hotel in La Fortuna, so took laundry in. Today's ride followed a circular route through the region surrounding La Fortuna which takes in a great variety of terrain and ecosystems. Starting with a fast descent to the town of El Tanque, we pass through agricultural land devoted to bananas and sugar cane. I overheated and got on the bus for the last 12 miles through rugged hilly zone leading back towards rain forest near the small town of La Tigre. Toucans are especially common here, but I didn't see any. At 5:30 we visit the Eco-Termales hot springs to soothe any aching muscles.

Total cycling distance today was 30 miles ... but bloody hot, especially in the hills.

Fri Jan 20 2012

After breakfast we set off on our bikes towards La Fortuna. 38!!! miles before lunch,... lots of rolling hills, a couple I walked.... They say this is one of our most spectacular cycling stages, starting in lush agricultural land which gradually gives way to thick rain forest as we approach the dam which forms Lake Arenal. We were supposed to see monkeys, toucans and the amazingly colourful neon-blue Morpho butterflies as we cycle... all I really saw was some raccoon-like animal, 20 or more came right up to us. We spend the night (2 nights) in a hotel in the centre of La Fortuna which has observation decks for night time volcano watching (when the mountain is at its most impressive), as well as pools and pretty gardens.) At a mundane level ... took 12 stinky items to the laundry.

Thurs Jan 19 2012

This morning we had 2 hour float down the

Tenorio River, a haven for birds and wildlife....took lots of pics We cycled back to Canas for lunch and hour walk through a wild animal refuge, then drove to the hilly

region surrounding Lake Arenal for the afternoon biking stage. This is quite a challenging section and although the distance was quite short there are several climbs and it can also be rather windy. The rewards were the spectacular views of the lake and the surrounding hills.

Total cycling distance today is 24 miles.

Wed Jan 18 2012

After an early breakfast we rode from San Juan del Sur to the LaVirgen junction with the Pan Am Highway. We climbed over the ridge which separates the Pacific coast from Lake Nicaragua in the relative coolness of the early morning. A gentle descent took us to the highway at La Virgen and from here we are transferred by bus to the border with Costa Rica. After clearing immigration .... the blockbuster news was that it took 7 hours to clear ...7!!! hours, .... our guide Rob was very apologetic, but was not his fault..... Rob handled it the best he could. Some suspect it's Oretega trying to irritate the US, ... but whatever, it's very inefficient, and I doubt serves any body's interests.. In the end, Rob put us on a commercial bus, ..leaving our driver to look after the import export of our 20 bikes (the problem, I guess).Total cycling today was 12 not the planned 36 miles, one climb especially towards the top of the ridge from San Juan del Sur. The road was fully paved. Dinner was great... tenderloin, seems like beef country ... a surprise to me.

Tues Jan 17 2012

Today we departed the hotel around 10am, ... gave us some free time beforehand and I fiddled with wifi. We cycled to Moyogalpa still on the island, lunch then back on ferry to the mainland. Then cycled 25miles along La Chocolata Road, hard-packed dirt road to San Juan del Sur, a Pacific beach town.

San Juan.... mmmm... maybe lobster for dinner(it was good 5 little langoustes).. This is a popular beach for Nicaraguan families on holiday, ...people, though poor, seem pretty happy usually smiling and the kids horsing around, ..... fairly often you see people using horses as a means of transport.

Total cycling distance today was 30 miles, along mostly level roads with some mild climbs. The road is 90% well-groomed dirt and 10% paved.

Mon Jan 16 2012

After breakfast and a 30 minute drive we cycled ... kind of overcast, ...through the rolling countryside which surrounds the famous 'Pueblos Blancos' (White Towns).... the birthplace of Nicaraguan culture, as well as of General Sandino, the hero of the modern revolution....I really don't know diddly squat about Nicaragua.

From San Jorge it was 1:15 hour ferry boat trip to Ometepe Island (in a big!!! lake, half the size of Lake Erie I'd guess) - the views of its twin volcanoes (Concepcion and Maderas) were spectacular.

Cycled 8 miles to the hotel, .... spending the night close to

the wildlife-filled Charco Verde Lagoon....a kind of primitive place, but had wifi. This was the first day of riding, but really just 25 miles. The roads are all paved except for the final half mile to Charco Verde. Posted 5 more pics to Picasa.

Sun Jan 15 2012

link(click) to/my Picasa web album (16 pics)
I'm kind of rusty at sharing photos, .... they are not that great, ... but I'm trying to get them to show on my blog? ...how's it working?, ... I'll try to get a better class of pics.

Interesting detail, today(Jan 15):
While waiting in a market (for others to buy trinkets) I was approached by two university students, as to why Nicaragua has an impression of being dangerous. I answered honestly, and admitted that my impressions were more based more on news reports from Mexico, and transfer (my idea transfer) to Nicaragua, ... whereas in fact things seem fine and our guide (after 18 trips) agrees.

Sat Jan 14 2012
A rest day, walked around town ... waiting for Brit group to arrive, 32C, sunny. We (with Bill and Sharon) came a day early because of possible weather flight complications out of |Toronto. Met the guide, Rob, originally from Rochester, NY, now Costa Rica, and two assistants who don't speak English, ... a chance to practice my Spanish

Fri Jan 13 2012
Arrived pretty much on time, 2:30pm with no fuss no muss through YYZ using the express kiosk(multiple boarding passes) ... very efficient, arrived in Miami on schedule even though the de-icing at Pearson seemed to take 30+ min. Met 4 more Canadians on the plane from Miami, another two from Red Deer at the hotel, so the Brit contingent will not be that big, since the overall max is 17. Since the 4 we met on the flight had a pre-arranged transfer to Granada, an hours drive, we piled-in with them and split the cost. Hotel is basic by our standards, but fine. In a way disappointed there are so many Canadians, 6 so far, since its an opportunity to meet Brits/whatever.

Granada is old colonial town, lots of Gringos, and most Nicaraguans cant afford (earn $2/day) to live here.

Weather is 32C, maybe even warmer, .... and skies mainly sunny but are a bit threatening (could rain).

...............

.....click for day by day agenda

Corsica, Sicily Sept Oct 2011

2011-09-04T06:33:00.000-04:00

Operator websites:... Corsica $2,250/14d, Sicily $3,250/14d (better hotels)

Corsica, ... can a 68 year old be narcissistic?... I guess

... not really a smile, ... more a grimace

Oct 15 Sat, major news: Oct 8 views: ~40/d during trip

there was a rain deluge early morning in Catania, so hour late leaving, and missed Milan-Paris connection, Alitalia arranged AF to Montreal, then an AC connection, so arrived home a few hours late, 83E charge for bike in Catania (75CAD on Sept 15)
3 good things in Sicily:......food was cheaper, Fabio turned out to be pretty good, last 3 cycling days were much better, eg Oct 11
3 bad things: .....cycled through more industrial areas than expected, surprised at general amount of garbage/litter, maps should be colour photocopies of already route-marked maps example(link) ... note: the black hand-drawn arrows before photocopying, and the handy dandy 'map-my-ride' profile (bottom left). The current booklet is labour intensive, and probably not appreciated.
Comparing the trips, Corsica "9+" (same as in VQ 2006), Sicily "6.5" (Chris' impropriety aside). Fabio managed well on his own, one tidbit: he said he was very embarrassed to admit that there were "absolutely no tools" on the trip.
thought for future: since Fabio was pretty good, and looking for business, we could get him to quote on a future trip. He's got lots of experience in mediterranean area, ..... fabio_croce@hotmail.com, +39 348 7400 943

Oct 14 Friday,

transfers by ferry and bus to Catania went smoothly, most of us had early dinner in Duomo square

Oct 13 Thursday,

8 of us took the hydrofoil ferry over to Volcano island, climbed to the crater rim, ... a good option for the last activity day. Tomorrow, Friday, we travel by 6:30AM ferry back to Sicily(2 hours), and then bus(2 hours) to Catania, and time to pack our bikes for our early Saturday AM flights back to Canada, ... there's some anxiety about Air Canada strike, but I'm on AF. Overall, the spirit/attitude seems to have improved in the last couple days.

Oct 12 Wednesday,

A 2 hour ferry ride at 9:00 AM over to Aolian islands (Lipari), carrying our bike and luggage onto/off-of the ferry to a rather new 4star hotel. Then with about 5-6 others did the 25 km circuit around the island, ... parts of which had 12-14 degree assents, ~30C in full sun, ... went shirtless, felt good.Towards the end there were some fabulous views of nearby volcanoes, and Etna in the distance.

Oct 11 Tuesday

BEST DAY: An absolutely beautiful 90km ride Taomina to Milazzo Rte#185 over the NE range, max altitude 1125m, starting and ending at sea level. Altgough Sunday was horrid weather, today was 20C+ and sunny, ... perfect for cycling. Stopped in Novarra (cheese-rolling town) for spaggetti bolognaise, ... good. This was the first day that matched (possibly even surpassed) those in Corsica. Ironic: the day I was dreading, ... turned out the best. Tomorrow onto the Aolian islands for 2 nights.
at a personal level: I feel fine (strong in fact), pulse normal, no hint of heart "flutter" when I climbed 1125m

Oct 10 Monday,

A rest day in Giardini Nexos, sunny cool windy ... so Tom and I took the intercity train along the coast to Messina, about a 45 min trip, 12E return, ... there, took a 45 min historical tourist train/cart city tour (... saw churches etc), checked inside the Duomo (impressive), then literally "walked-out" of a cafe after ordering food - since no! service for 20 min, instead had some pricey sandwiches in boutique type place... took the train back, ... overall not really great, but something to do. Messina seemed heavily congested with a lot! of cars, often triple parked. A major 'Carribean Navigator' cruise ship had disgorged many hundreds of cattle/passengers, ... so tourists everywhere.

Oct 9 Sunday,

A 52 Km ride to Giardini Nexos, climbing up the flank of Etna, cloudy and eventually rainy and bloody cold, ... Etna has snow. Who would have thought one would be "cold and wet" in Sicily, ...well, we were ... to the point I was shaking uncontrollably, we found a patisserie at about 20 km from hotel and sought refuge (out of the rain, wind). I was soooo glad to arrive and have a hot shower, ... the saving grace is the possibility the weather will hopefully change dramatically from one day to the next.
Worth a mention: passed through Zafferana that had a large street market, with almost a festival (parade/band), ... got a stong feeling of being in Italy. Fabio seems to be managing well on his own, without Chris, ... he has a lot of experience.

Oct 8 Sat,

After a 90km day to SG. LaPunta, Chris Winter, the leader and chief guide, announced that he was going home, with 7 days to go, left in a taxi at 6:06PM to the Catania airport. When asked why, he said his stiff neck was part of it, but mainly because "I'm homesick as hell", I miss my daughter, my mother has breast cancer, and we're ordering windows for the new house well, ... that's what he said ...mmm, provoked lots of further discussion and speculation.
It surprised us all (I think), and Chris added that he felt the local guide would "shine". ... probably true. He said he agonized over the decision, and apologized. In my humble opinion, I really doubt Chris actually "likes" the day-to-day rigamarole of guiding of a trip, ... even under perfect conditions ... maybe he's more attuned to the "design" aspect of organizing a trip. I think he did the design(routing etc) pretty much from scratch (as opposed to echoing Backroads), and put a lot of effort in the wordng of the route, ... but on the next day, Fabio changed!! the route completely.
At 7:00 am the day started rainy and blustery, but got much better quickly, sunny and maybe 22C in the sun. Found a good place for lunch pasta dish plus 1.5L water for 3.5E, ... perfect for cyclng. The final 20Km of today's route were tricky, and we made a couple 5km errors. Martha Bohm has a good nose for directions.

Oct 7 Friday,

A rest day in Caltageroni, most of us vanned 30Km to see a restoration of private, Roman villa of ~200AD, 10% finished. Bought fresh shop-made sandwiches and ate them in town square . Kind of cool, maybe 17C, when not in direct sun. Scenery on the way to villa was the best so far... at times reminded me of Tuscany. Then replaced my rear brake pads, soooo! easy to do, all of about 10minutes, whereas I was prepared for it to be an hour or more, .... Im sure they will need some further adjustment tomorrow ... turned out fine, very!! minor adjustment needed.. Dinner with Tom, Sharon, Bill. Weather has turned rather blustery, 17C at 9PM, rain forcasted in the morning.

Oct 6 Thurs,

A 90 km ride from Modica to Caltageroni, sunny day. At breakfast, Chris said his neck was so painful, that he was thinking of going home, ...mmm, provoked lots of chatter and speculation. As we started, Rory had a defective chain and when he asked Fabio if he had a pair of pliers, Fabio said "we have no tools at all", ... that actually shocked me. Later in the day Rory bought a new chain, he learned to regret since it was more a cassette problem. The cycling day was really varied, about 1200m of climbing, none of which was too steep (many switchbacks), lots of segments with big (18 wheeler) truck traffic (...I'm surprised), and sections with lots of litter. Dinner, included, was at a place that was a last minute substitute, that served a very good seafood dish as a first course. Sat opposite Chris at dinner, traded stories about Romania, and he seemed less troubled by his neck, might be enjoying himself more. BTW ... pulse at the end of the cycling day: about 80, ... seems reasonable. Anxious to see how the Ontario election turns out, whe we wake up Oct 7... I voted early,... for McGuinty .

Oct 5 Wednesday

Rest day near Modica, 27C and sunny (at the start), ... adjusted my problematic brakes (at one point in the rain I was dragging my sandal in a attempt to stop), ....then 9 of us took van to town saw the churches etc, and had lunch in centre of town, .. a town that was rebuilt (new by local standards) after the 1639 earthquake and wins awards for city design. A bit of rain too.

Oct 4 Tues,

me, Oct 4 in swanky hotel in rural sicily, near Modica

Cycled about 70 km to a rural hotel close to Modica where we stay for 2 nights, ... its a pretty swanky place, out in the middle of nowhere. Today we got caught in a half hour deluge, ... got soaking wet, and road the rest of the day in wet cycle shorts, ... makes for a sore, chaffed butt ... maybe Aquaphor(a healing ointment) will help. Yesterday's repair shop effort seems to work "OK", as the gears seem to slide pretty easily. The scenery in Sicily is not nearly as good as the spectacular coastline of Corsica, but the food in Sicily is much more reasonably priced, ... had a small calzone and generous gelato for 2.50E, and dinner for 11E, whereas it would be double that in Corsica. Interesting: Fabio says Sicilians with common company salary (about 1800-2000E/mo) pay about 2/3s in taxes, vs about 1/3rd in Canada, ... Fabio has spent years in Canada (as a guide in Algonquin etc), and has a high respect for the "efficient" tax spending in Canada, despite what we might think. In Italy the result of high taxes is a big underground economy, that impoverishes the government.

Oct 3 Mon,

First cycling day in Sicily,... 90 km to Syracusia, led out of Catania in a group ride by Chris/Fabio fo the first 5-10km, then at th 34 km mark I jammed my chain badly, couldnt fix, ... so phoned the van and they picked me up and I went to bike shop at destination (first shop couldn't fix it) and I found another one on my own (...with difficulty). Bill Petrusiak had derailleur and chain problems, and Sharon cycled to Syracuse on her own. Chris seemed a little frazzled by the day's events (more cycling problems than you'd expect). Had a bet (a coffee) with Fabio (the: Sicilian guide) about Italy having occupied the Antalya region of Turkey in the 1920s, I'm sure I'm right, but maybe I should just keep my mouth shut. Good pizza dinner with Rory June |Tom Don Kathy, Doug.

Oct 2 Sunday,

Official trip begins today,... met all except Bohms and Judy at breakfast, all (including bikes) seem to have arrived without incident. Will transfer to the main hotel, assemble bikes, then walking city tour at 3:00pm. 14 participants (3 couples, 8 singles) + Chris and Sicilian guide (who Chris has never met, who presumably will give "colour" commentary). Chris has been here several days and says the road routing is rather complex.

Oct 1 Saturday

Arrived in Sicily on time at 3:05. All of us were charged 55 Euros for a second bag, ... seemed fair enough. Overall the transfer went smoothly, ... Catania seems more city-like, than a small town. |Chris met us at the airpport and unfortunately got a ticket for overtime parking. Cycling starts on Monday. On first arrival in Catania, it seemed dingy and worn-out, but later in the evening it changed to being impressive, the weddings we passed by, the lighting on the baroque buildings, the crowds etc, ... and the dinner was better priced (half of Corsica) served by a burly mafia-type cook/waiter, who was so abrupt and idiosyncratic as to have us in stitches.

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Overall Corsica, 3 impressions:

3 good things: sunny weather, happyhour "idea" (me, no alcohol), Ana's breakfast supplements, (... but overall Corsica is fabulous)
3 dubious things: overall high prices (say ~50%higher), occasional "snippy" service, cant really think of third negative, ... really not much to complain about.

Sept 30 Friday

Bused back to Bastia, 8:00 to 11:15... met a few of 2nd group, boxed bike, ... ready for Sicily flights Oct 1.

Sept 29 Thursday

A rest day in PortoVecchio, ... may go to beach for an hour or two. Every day seems sunny and 27C, and you get so you take it for granted. Tomorrow we bus to Bastia at 8:30. Feel fine.

Sept 28 Wednesday

A fairly short ride 45km to Porto Vecchio, ... our last stop before Bastia (where we fly out Oct 1, to Sicily). Had excellent lasagne for lunch, then walked to the port.

Sept 27 Tuesday

A free day in Bonifacio, sunny, forecasted 28C, so bought lunch and litre of juice at Casino, and took a 20E 4 hr boat ride (+8others) to neighboring small island, ... back at 4:30pm... just one more riding day, + one optional day, then bus to Bastia on Friday for early flight to Sicily.

Sept 26 Monday

A beautiful ride to Bonifacio, 65Km with a 350 m climb to Sartene, the most Corsican of Corsica’s towns, then lunch at 45Km point, ... where the others said "the best omelettes in their lives", which I conveyed to the cook, ... her face beamed. A threesome passed us; one with Cdn flag, and a Quebecois said the flag carrier was a French impostor.

Sept 25 Sunday

A 75 km ride Portofino, a stiff 13-17 degree grade at one point, had to walk ... I can walk as fast as I can ride. Kind of a dull day but at least better than baking sun (...or so I rationalize). A group included dinner by the sea, beef bourguignon, and chocolate pie.

Sept 24 Saturday

a day off in Ajaccio, strolled around town, less warm say 25C, some cloud,... met up with others, visited the usual sites (Napolean's birthplace, etc) had coffee, bought couple typique "provence" table cloths, had haircut 17.5E, .. pretty relaxed easy pace, only 3 more place-to-place cycle days, then the 3 section flight to Sicily, ... kind of worried about the bike transfer, if there's something to worry about, I'll worry (...silly me!). At 6:00PM, Dave the driver/photographer, plans a slide show, maybe of Sicily (a favourite of his).

Sept 23 Friday

Porto to Ajaciio, 80 Km, was a particularly nice ride (... aren't they all?) with a fairly stiff climb 500m out of Porto, then a fair bit of route near sea-level, then another final climb of 400m+, sunny and quite hot 27C. Had had excellent pizza lunch in Sagone, on the beach, with the usual group,... the waitress/owner was charming and we talked a bit about the "separatist" Corsicans who speak Corse ... closer to italian, and spray-paint out the French on the road signs ... a variation on Quebec, but equally stupid. Felt rested/fine all day even though a bit of a cold (really more just a bad sounding! cough), and a pulse of thirty (if you can believe it) in the early morning when perfectly idle, or 140+ if climbing. I'm not 100% sure my heart monitor is reading correctly at 30 bpm, ... scary, but I feel fine, ... at other times it seems consistent or right. Dinner's "plat du jour" was particularly good, at the "rubbertree" restaurant (also ate there in 2006), ..offered us a "digestif" on-the-house.

Sept 22 Thursday

Today was a rest day in Porto (in 2006 went scuba diving,disappointing) so out to the boulangerie to buy lunch for a boat trip10:30-3:30PM (biggish at 122 passengers) to Scandal Nature Reserve, and in theafternoon to the “calanques”, pretty much like the trip out of Cassis, nearMarseille, all of which was very nice, but makes me realize that it’s thecycling that is the “glue” that really holds the trip together, because doingthese touristy things (like the boat trip), would be alright for a day or two,but that’s about it.

BTW: As I sat after breakfast, I see my heart monitor reads35 bpm for several minutes (…seems scarily low but maybe it shows it can!! rest(and I feel fine), … because I know it will soar to a 140+ if I walk up twoflights of stairs.

Sept 21 Wednesday

Today’s 82 Km to Porto, was superb, …I heard many commentsalong the lines “it just doesn’t come much better”, … truly spectacular riding along the coast, grades not much morethan 6 degrees, climb of a few cols, the max being 408m. Riding with Kevin andGeraldine (Deanne still has sore wrist). Stopped near Galleria, roughlymidpoint and had lasagne for lunch … was excellent, the only thing on themenu…. better to have one good thing, than pages and pages of offerings thataren’t very good.

Sept 20 Tuesday

It’s a two nighter in Calvi, so I took it as a 100% restday, as did many others, since yesterday (Monday) was so strenuous. Today:beautiful sunny 27C, posted my offline journal to my blog, then had a picniclunch (from patisserie) with Bill andShirley by the pool, and then took pathway down to sea (huge boulders), where Isunbathed like a lizard on a rock for 2 hours. Then to SuperU, to buy some ham slices to supplement the meagre typicalFrench breakfast tomorrow. Also bought earplugs to dampen roommate’ssnoring/etc sounds. Tonight was a group dinner (at my request to Ana) which Ithink everybody liked, 15E +5E for .5L of house wine…. excellent soup,fish/pasta, dessert.

Sept 19 Monday

80 Km to Calvi. Overnight it was really windy … you could hear it howlingreally loudly, … like you were on Baffin Island. At breakfast we met a fewanother group of 8 cyclists from Quebec, group “Equilibre”. Feeling a bit queasy, and the blusteryweather I asked about going in the truck, but ended up cycling, and glad I did.I cycled with Kevin, Deanne, and Geraldine pretty much all day, stopped at anice country restaurant for the “platdue jour”, sauté de veau, 12E. The wind was gale force strong, and at the topof the first hill when there was some rain, we had to seek refuge behind astone building, but the wind dries you out pretty quickly. Almost at the end ofthe day, weather much better, 5Km from destination, Deane skidded in a round about, tumbled into thecurb, did a face plant, hurt her wrist and worried about her teeth. Dinner withLindsay (originally from Zimbabwe, and surprisingly sympathetic views on Mugabe), Kathy Tom and Ana.. had wild boar, … notthat good. Feel dead tired after so much climbing, after astrenuous day, ..... legs feel like wet noodles.

Sept 18 Sunday

Today was our first full cycling day, 87Km, around CapCorsica, to St Florent, everybody agreed it was spectacular scenery, with theweather surprisingly dull. Lots of rumblings about coming rain. Unfortunately Iwoke up about an hour later than planned and pretty much everybody had left, …but in many ways I don’t mind cycling alone and was I in the last group in.There was a group dinner in the same hotel we stayed in 2006, modest but good.This is the first day I started to take my flutter medication; … pulse seemsnormal, 50 bpm on rising, but 140 on climbing (to be expected), and 80 or soafter 5-10 rest. So pretty normal ... 73 bpm as I write this blog. I alwaysworry about my bike as I reassemble the various parts, … but it seems OK.

Sept 17 addendum

After the group reception, lots of humorous reference aboutthem being there because I recommended it. Then 6 of us (DaveH, Brian, Doug, Rory, Paul
Munson,) walked to town for dinner, … pricey at 35E plusdrinks. Earlier in the day bought at Casino a European adapter (forgot mine athome, silly me) and fresh lithium batteries for my heart monitor, also have asupply of those at home (silly me).

Sept 17

It's amazing, with 20 cyclists there were 20 different stories of trials and tribulations of flight, Rory's flight had to put down in St John's due to sick woman, ... took five hours, missed connections. I think mine was pretty straight forward, I got paged in Paris CDG, 10 times because my bike case lost its official luggage tag and I had to go out on tarmac and personally identify it, in case it was a planted bomb (I guess), I didn't hear the pages, because I could only find a seat 3 gates away. Travelling with a bike really increases anxiety-tiredness the anxiety level, and often think is this (travel) really worth it?

Sept 16

arrived in Bastia on time, after transfers through Paris and Marseille, ... pretty much everything as planned, 30C and sunny. Learned: 1)printing boarding pass at home (most dont), put me in an express line, 2) I should have prepaid for 2nd piece of luggage, bike, on line,.... would have saved 45 min queuing at cashier, 75 CAD
as of 9pm have met about 12 of the group, Rory's AC flight had to put-down in St Johns due to ill passenger

Velo Quebec Grand Tour 2011 Aug 6-12 2011 Impressions:

2011-08-13T13:00:00.005-04:00

Impressions:

$850/ 7days.... overall rating, 7.5 maybe an “8”, even though we had 2 days of rain

Good thing: as usual VQ is extremely well organized for 2000 participants, website
Good thing: over 100km/day for 7 days... seemed to go by in a flash
Good thing: meals were excellent, varied, almost on the “haute cuisine” side
Good thing: routes (Prince Edward County and 1000 Island Parkway) were beautiful
Good thing: met 7 people Id met before
Good thing: staying with the Fitzgeralds in Brockville the night before start … nice
Bad thing: rained 2 days, clearly not fun when camping, ... but makes you appreciate one’s rather “cushy” life otherwise
Bad thing: route on Rideau lakes area (Day1 Day 2) was pretty routine (=boring)
Bad thing: a couple shower facilities were were really sub par (1 hr waits)
Strange: they weighed each bag, to meet 20Kg limit, excess back to vehicle
Strange: the caterers came from far: Belleville's from Ottawa, Kingston's from Sherbrooke
Strange: participants equipment (esp bikes and clothing) seemed rather high-end almost across the board
Will consider going again next year

My Agenda 2011, 2012

2011-08-03T05:09:00.001-04:00

2012

31. Exodus Nicuragua to Panama MUC, Jan14-28 2012

2011

25. Belize, Completed www.theplacencia.com Scuba Diving, Jan 10 2011

26. Virginia (private group) for 12 days Completed April 17 2011

28. Turkey Exodus Lycia ATM multi Activity, Completed, Jun13-20 2011

27. Turkey with Exodus Agean MTI Completed Jun4-13 cycling,

28. Velo-Quebec Grand Tour Aug 5-13

29. Gabriola Cycle, Corsica, Sept 15 2011

30. Cycleventures, Sicily map, October 1, 2011 ... (click)

2010
18. Thailand cycling with Smiling Albino (Completed)(January/2010) (click)
19. Ankor, some cycling, (Completed)Cambodia (click)
20. Halong Bay, not cycling, (Completed)Vietnam (click)
21. Vietnam with Pedaltours(Completed) till February 15 2010(click)
22. Virginia with Ottawa group (Completed) Mar 12-26
23. Budapest Krakow, Cycleventures(Completed) Sept12-27
24. 39 days in Nepal India, leaving Nov 8 2010 -Dec 17(Completed)

Nepal(click) KatmanduCompleted 14 day cylcling in Nepal Nov 11
Triangle(click) Completed India Nov 24, 6 days .... a "filler" between the two cycling trips
Rajasthan (click)Completed northwest India, cycling 10 days Nov 29,.... joining with a Seattle based club
Kerala(click) Completed tropical India cycling 10 days Dec 8.... also with Seattle based group

2007 -2010

0. Scuba diving, Turks and Caicos, March 2 2007 Completed
1. Scuba in San Salvador, Bahamas Completed Apr 7 -22 .....
2, Velo-Quebec Corsica Completed June 10 - 25 2007 , click
3. Gabriola's Nfld Completed July 8 2007, click
4. TDA Silk Route, 8000 Km, Completed Aug 4-Nov18 2007, click
5. Honduras Scuba Diving, Roatan, Jan 18-25 2008 Completed
6. Scuba, Turks&Caicos, Completed, Feb16-Mar1 2008 (click)
7. a Scuba "combo" trip (Maldives, etc), ...deferred
8. Montpellier France Completed April 27- May 7 2008 (click)
9. Montpellier France Completed May 9 -19 2008, a repeat (click)
10. Camino, Spain, Completed May 23 -June 2 2008 (click)
11. Kayaking Queen Charlottes Completed July 16-25 2008 (click)
12. Andalusia Spain with VQ Completed Sept 11-26 2008 (click)
13. CV Southern Africa, Completed Nov 5-14 2008 (click)
14. Safari South Africa Coastal, Completed Nov 20-29 2008 (click)
15. Cozumel, Scuba Diving, (Completed) Jan 10-17 2009
15. GCK, Montpellier, France (Completed) May 16-26 2009 (click)
16. GCKe, Vence, (Completed)France May 28 June- 8 2009 (click)
17. Cuba Cycling out of Holguin Nov 21 Dec 5/09(click)

Photos (click)

2012 reno

2011-07-25T09:42:00.000-04:00

My Renovation "Scrapbook" (sort of)

A collection of my kitchen Renovation ideas, progress etc

A scrapbook of my little 4-part project … shareable if appropriate, accessible remotely, kind of organizing my thoughts, all to do with the renovation started in August 2011 executed in Q1/2012.
4 Parts:

1. Kitchen: remove cabinets, new porcelain floor through bathroom, Ikea cabinets, and new stainless appliances including gas range

2 2 Bathroom floor tiling, new vanity .... polished porcelain,

3 Sand stain finish upstairs oak floors, to roughly match ground floor,

4. "Skim-coat" finish LR, DR. kind of a refresh plastering of ceiling

…. my initial sketch ( Ikea software)

scrapbook is to be irregularly updated (newest at top)

As it looked .... other than floor(really bad) actually looked pretty good:

various ... updatedJan22

the new floor, new toilet ... both upstairs bathrooms

old oak floors .... sanded but not stained

4 new stainless appliances, incl gas range

the slate porcelain floors are striking!!! ... click any pic to enlarge

taken with showLumix, glass doors dont

floor is not orange as the pic suggests

has interior lights in the glass door cabinets

mostly white quartz countertop $5K just measured ...another 3 weeks

quarter-round install

area carpets

As it looked before reno started: (floor was really bad)

as it looked Jan 12 2012

Four 13 x 231/2" doors

...and what's foreseen

updated Dec 19 2011 (final)

looking right

looking left

my inspiration, (Ikea)

gas, (replacing elec) ... requires $350 hookup

over stove MW/fan will free counterspace

looks very natural slate like, is porcelain

highend, but why not when labour is so costly

high end for bathrooms

vanity sink combo for ensuite

smooth-rolling drawers

side by side 25cu ft

area rugs for refinished floors upstairs, reasonable $

ultra-plain white-ish tile backsplash after quartz

Turkey June 4-20 2011

2011-06-14T12:53:00.066-04:00

... click any photo to enlarge....... 20 best of 1330 photos (click) My 4th time in Turkey, now 2 weeks on Turquoise coast with the UK Exodus group,... the first week cycling , the second (with a different group) is a so-called "multi activity" with cycling, kayaking, scuba diving, and paragliding (not likely). I did the Nepal trip with Exodus, and thought they were pretty good. There's a direct YYZ-Istanbul flight, ... nice. I have a hunch the average age of participants will be half of mine.

Exodus website week 1(click) Exodus website week 2(click)

Little points in the "travel agent " vein:
1.... Turkish Airlines was excellent in every way.... on a par with Air France
2.... The Transfers4Cheap worked well, although Id imagined all sorts of problems (...silly me).
3.... There was a Exodus employee "Ruth" as a guest, who was checking things out, I suppose.
4.... Although only 4 people on MTI, it was OK, ... next time Id check the number before committing.
5.... MoHo the guide was pining for "Best Guide" in the world, but I knew it was Kumar of my Nepal/Nov2010 that won in 2010.
6.... Abseiling(=repelling, level 3) was "blow your socks off" exhilarating (still cant believe it), whereas other stuff was really relatively tame. Scuba was OK, but dull compared to Caribbean.
7.... The only complaint (I suppose) was the guide shouldnt say f**king, as a routine adjective.

Executive Summary:
Exceptional value … two action filled weeks $1850, small group of 4 first week, 16 second week, ...because of vanning we cherry pick high altitude (>1000m) routes, and it's not too hot. Canyoning, with repelling 50M down waterfall, was clearly the highlight. Observation: ...... the English group, seemed to do a lot of macho-type boasting about how much (alcohol, lots) they could drink till 2:00-3:00 am, then show up the next day, ... typical for college kids I suppose, but when you're aged say 30-60, seemed strange (maybe even pathetic). We ate dinner at 9pm, and didn't finish till 11:30 pm, ... late for me. The group was very mixed,..... a farmer(35), a bank teller(23), a lift truck driver, a UPS driver, ....I liked them all... whereas a Canadian equivalent group would more likely be lawyers, doctors, people with $100+K incomes.

June 19 Sunday, our last day, and mountain-bike cycling, ... turned out quite well, although there was a long transfer to get there. It was about 50% off-road, and 70% downhill. There was a lot of filming by a professional Turkish TV photographer, ... not sure what that was all about. Overall the trip far exceeded my expectations.

June 18 Friday, the free or rest day, so tried paragliding at 80GBP for a roughly 30 min session,... the pilot said the weather was “perfect”, but I think every day is near perfect anyway. There were only two of us who chose to do so, picked us up at hotel at 10 am and we were done by noon, see video (click) taken with Flip camera Sandy gave me a couple years ago. In the afternoon did a Turkish bath with four others, took 3.5 hours, ...pretty much just like I expected.

June 17 Friday, absolutely outstanding day, "canyoning" (and I wasn't too sure what it meant) means repelling 3 different locations down a waterfall, max was 50m (=12 story building)in a minor waterfall... exhilarating, and no chance to back out, took about 8 hours overall .. and I was clearly fatigued at the end. As the oldest of the group (avg age 35) I was probably the slowest, but not by much. Kind of like movie "127 hours" without cutting of your arm business.... but lots of water (wore wetsuits)...4 guides for 13 participants, level 3. Tomorrow signed up for paragliding and turkisk bath.

June 16 Thurs, about 3 hours of kayaking in mean area where I had visited in 2003, a roman city that submerged after a subsequent earthquake … you could see some rough underwater outlines. It took about an hour vanning there and back, and I guess because the seas were a bit choppy the guide cut it a little short. There was a powerboat accompanying us and a lot of filming, and recorded video interviews, … must have been some marketing promotion. Every day is sunny and 30C.

June 15, Wed, two dives for the 6 qualfied divers, and all 10 new divers took the induction course. The equipment was top of the line, the staff very good, and a good boat, … I got the feeling they appreciated the business. However the dives themselves were not that interesting, with clear water but very few fish, and no coral, … but beatiful weather, a dive in the AM, and again in the PM, … all round; not bad.

June 14, Tuesday, every day has an activity, today in was “tubing” (inner tube on a river for about an hour) then mudbath, then 9km hike along Lycian way, … they seem to have an objective to tire us out. Then dinner kebabs in an outdoor restaurant … didnt finish till after 11pm. Diving, 2 dives, tomorrow.

June 13 transferred to Kas, 2H40m...met the new group of 16, several in their 20`s one couple in 40`s, I`m the oldest by far,... all Brits except one Californian. Vanned to Kas where the Oreo hotel seems to be exclusive to Exodus customers. Had a BBQ dinner at the hotel.

June 12th, a “free day” inDalyan, so took boat to turtle beach, walked 8-10 km along the beach, then had farewell dinner, ... lamb stew in one use crockery pot. Judy fell boarding boat (on the way to dinner) and blood seemed to flow copiously, first aid by van driver worked well … she handled it well.

June 11th Last cycling day (June 12 is free day in Daylan). Breakfast at the pension was rather nice, generous kind of omlette with fresh eggs. Two hour van transfer to the start point, at 700m then quiet country roads, ... then another picnic lunch(I prefer to restaurants). I was out front (unusual for me) and I somehow scooted by the junction, and they had to send the van to collect me. After lunch it was pretty hot and had to climb 500m which was pretty hard, ... for the first time I found it "too" hot, but managed through. I find the camelback really helpful, ... kind of continuous drinking, rather than having to stop to drink . The last stage was a 40 min boat ride to the hotel,... I have a feeling its the same hotel in 2002, when I was here with Velo Quebec

June 10th, from Ephesus to Lake Bufo, 55km, two transfer sections, one on a road where was cyclists were not permitted, generally fairly flat and a sea level (unlike previous days) so we felt the brunt of the 30+ C temperatures. I expected it to be brutal, but in fact it was rather nice. Stopped at vine covered terrace restaurant for the typical Turkish crepe lunch … potato-filled or veggie filled and we were encouraged to drink “Iran” a kind of yoghurt drink …not too fussy for that. Then another 12 km to our family-run pension at lakeside (Lake Buffo), … rather nice to be away from commercial hotels, and a delicious fish dinner to boot.

June 9. only about 50 km cycling at 1400m-1000m level where it's not too hot. We started the day with 3 hour transfer to the start point. There was a restaurant lunch by a lake then a 15km steep hairpin decent, then another 15km flat ... but a sea level its pretty hot and I suspect the guide shortened it, to give us more time Ephesus. Ephesus didn't quite live up to expectations, maybe because the local guide wasn't very good. Dinner on the hotel roof was good, ... choosing from behind a glass counter, pretty good overall.

June 8, 57 Km cycling ... a superb day, lots of downhill into a valley, lots of surrounding mountains with snow caps, and flat with 5km section of gravel uphill, (fairly difficult section). ... all in the 1,000m-1,500m range so not that hot. The van diver provided a piknik lunch, using the table of a terrace restaurant. Ended the day with 2 hours at Pamukkale a place famous (lots of Japanese tourists) for cascading water that creates mountains/terraces of white carbonate with water flowing over it (looks like ice) ... you walk up in bare feet for about half an hour. At the top there are ruins of a Roman town where the Romans thought the waters had healing properties.
(.....no internet wifi last night.....)

June 7th, sunny and some welcome clouds, 66km of cycling plus 2-3 hours of van transfer to Acipayam … where the van was used to climb to 1440m where it was a good 5 degrees cooler than the coast, say 25C, and we never went lower than 1000m. Had lunch at a fish farm, … not bad. I am slower than the other three, and the countryside is much greener/lusher than I would have thought. This is the last trip of the spring because in July/August its pretty much 40C, so the next trips are in September. Bikes are pretty good “Specialized” front suspension mountain bikes, … I’m happy with mine.

June 6th, in Fethiye, waiting for UK group to arrive. Walked towards centre of town, must have been 100+ tour boats (… that’s a lot! of boats) and not many customers. Kind of ashamed of myself, but had lunch at McDonalds (just to try it), … surprisingly good salad with chicken strips. Many vendor stalls for tourists, but I am reluctant to show any interest in items because they pounce on you, and wont let you go… very aggressive, …but I did buy some shorts at a modest yachting shop. The UK group arrived around 4pm, only 3!!! people, so I’m the 4th, plus guide and driver…. kind of disappointing, but we’ll see. The other three are about my age… surprising. Saw the vehicle (rather new), a MB van/bus for 12 passengers, with trailer and 5 bikes. Noticed the TSX fell 175 points.

June 5 2011 flight over 9H40min was great, Turkish Airlines 777, only 30% full, so 3 seats to sleep say 7 hours, not perfectly but not bad, dinner was surprisingly good (I rarely say that)... privately arranged transfer, 1H5min, worked out too, to Fethiye, pleasant coastal town, hotel has scuba boats out front, ...waiting for UK group to arrive. 30C and sunny

Virginia Apr 17-May 1 2011

2011-04-17T20:50:00.043-04:00

This is a non-commercial trip arranged by Paul Lindsay, with arranging help from Nancy Hough.

map(click)

May 1st Sun Upperville , 828 Km and 8H56min to home. Stopped in Welland to check out Jester bikes, ... but nobody home, despite advance email discussion.
April 30 Sat Upperville (last full day), was sunny but cool (maybe 71F max) went for a 75.3 Km ride to The Plains then on to Middleburg for lunch. Nice to have a beautiful ride to finish-off the trip. Paul tried valiantly to find a restaurant for the group final diner, ... but we had to split up, Went to the Red Fox, ... kind of deluxe. The general consensus was that it was a "very good trip", ...I agree, and at a all-in cost of say 40% of a similar overseas 2-week trip.
April 29 Friday Locust Dale to Upperville, was sunny in Locust Dale and 55F or but the day became cloudy, and never warmed up much, … drove the 105 km to Upperville (kind of a “horsey” area) to the Blackthorn Inn, not bad but a bit of a comedown from Meander Inn. Had lunch with Penny and Tom. Cycled with 4 women for a 34 km ride, not particularly noteworthy.
April 28 Thursday, 2nd of 3 nights, ... rainy so most went to target in Culpeper 30 km,bought bathroom wall cabinet (had been looking for one) and a hook-rail… pleased with my purchases. Then went for a 55Km ride, one of the nicest rides of the whole trip, 80F sunny no-wind. Dinner (lamb skewer) at the Inn was excellent as usual.
April 27 Wednesday Locust Dale up for 8:00 AM breakfast (asparagus fritata, rather fancy) …was a rather dull rainy cloudy day, so 7 of us decided to go to Monticelo (Thomas Jefferson’s home, third President), was able to sign up online (only way) for the group. An hour’s drive with Razick, Christine, Barbara Wilson, … the GPS was invaluable … got there 25 minutes before the other car (w/o GPS), despite my leaving 10 minutes later. The $22 House Tour was OK, but for Jefferson who championed independence, he had 200 slaves, …I found the hypocrisy a little hard to take ,… and I suppose I don’t have that much basic reverence for “things American”. |Following example of school kids during the day, back at the hotel I used the Internet, I learned to rhyme-off ~25 Cdn Prime ministers.
April 26 Tuesday 44min car to Locust Dale… nice, mid-80s weather, so then went 35Km bike ride to Madison by myself, starting at 2:30, …. bought fishing line to fix cycling sandals. At the bike shop.... bought a map case, and woman clerk saiid she'd get a garmin 800 gps via amazon herself, as opposed to a retail purchase. Then onto Meander Inn, our favourite place from 2010. Fancy dinner (near gourmet-style, I would say) at the hotel.
April 25 Monday, sunny, 87F... sunny pleasant, not hot, 75Km route, finished around 3pm. Ate 3 nature bars for lunch. Was $2 'burger night' at the Ale House, burger drink taxes tip =$6.22
April 24 Easter Sunday, sunny, 87F... scenic drive 2 hrs 36 minutes across Blue Ridge Mtns, to Fredericksburg, .... nice busy town, then went for 34 Km ride with Penny....used my camelback to good advantage. 13 went dinner at Thai restaurant.
April 23 Sat Lexington (2nd night) after a very rainy night, it was cloudy, pretty warm say 70F. Decided to not do the remote start, and just do the local loop, 53Km. The first few Km were hilly, but after that it was just rolly and fairly sunny. Were back in Lexington for lunch, Le Bistro on Main, …and good but pricey, $15. Dinner was BBQ chicken that Nancy and Barb picked up, … good and so reasonable at $5.
April 22 Friday, Staunton to Lexington, 44Km, kind of dull dreary day, raining off and on, … not conducive to cycling so simply drove to Lexington, had lunch in wifi’d health food store (lentil stew), … went to see George C Marshall (of Marshall plan) museum in Lexington for couple hours, till 3:00 pm…. quite interesting and educational (if you know about the Marshall, as I sort of do). The Maple Hall country inn is an old farmhouse
April 21 Thursday, sunny, but cool, low 60s, did the so-called long route about 60km, nice day overall, not windy. Tonight: Shakespere's "As you Like it", … not my cup of tea, ... but we'll see.
April 20 Wednesday in Staunton for 3 nights, ... charming old multi-building complex, sort of like a B&B, in downtown core. The weather was fairly nice. Then met Jim and Jean and went for a 31 km ride starting at 3PM, in an area that reminded me much of the Eastern Townships. Went to the Mill for ribs, overall a great dining experience…. I mean it, … it was great, inexpensive and good.
April 19, Tuesday onto Staunton. Most cycled out of Harpers Ferry and got wet … it looked like rain to me, so decided to go directly to Staunton. Left around 9:30 for the two-hour drive. Stopped in Harrisonburg to checkout the local Costco, bought a rolling duffle bag because my 10 year old one is failing. Cycled with Jim and Jean 35 km or so.
April 18 Harpers Ferry West Virginia cycled around the Gettysburg battlefields and listened in to the guides giving talks, was warmish 60F to start but the day got cooler and I was only wearing a cycling shirt, so quit early. ...then hour drive through Maryland to Harpers Ferry, where mostly sunny and 70F.... dinner in a pub blackened chicken.
April 17 Gettysburg, 774Km, 8 hours ....70% of roads were 401-like, but the other 30% are meandering through tedious small highways and towns(... like "47km on Ellicott Ave"). Only surprise was that the Camry Hybrid battery kicks-in on going up long hills, a surprise (no hills to speak of in Toronto). Obviously the wheels "feed" the battery on the downhills (expected that), but didnt expect the battery to help at all on the climb... I'm impressed. Also new Garmin nuvi 1390 GPS from Costco seems to work well, ....a touch better than the Magellan. Had a group (13) dinner at Italian restaurant, had grilled swordfish. Weather is not looking promising for next few days.

Belize scuba diving Jan 2011

2011-01-13T17:14:00.019-05:00

click above photo to enlarge

photos(click), then click 'slideshow' (3 minutes)

Jan 10 2011 Monday

Up at 3:30 AM for 4:00 AM limo to airport for 6:20 AM flight. Sunwing seems like a pretty efficient operation, about a dozen check in lines for a half dozen flights). and the lines moved pretty quickly. Arrived in Roatan Honduras 10:30 AM (one time zone west), sunny and 30C, more or less on time, but then the local 12-passenger Cessna flight to Placentia/Belize was a bit of an ordeal, …they have 4 planes which can handle half the demand, so you wait 4hours for the planes to return to pick up the remaining half (which I was in). As you arrive in Placencia, and look down, it looks like you’re going to land in somebody’s long driveway. It all works fine though, quick immigration etc …and you’re 20 minutes away to the hotel.

The hotel, is a big multi building resort, about 95% full, rooms are beautiful/deluxe but somehow I get the impression it’s a bit of a struggle for the tourist dollar, things like its all inclusive, but the second glass of wine at dinner is $12. I suspect competition drives down the weekly price, (about $100pp per day land portion) but that doesn’t leave much room for niceties (as in Club Med)…. so we’ll see.

Dives are far away, 2-3 hour boat ride, and costs are $200-300 per day for a 3 tank dive, leaving before sun rise getting back close to sunset, … sounds expensive and long. Those already here say it’s a ``class`` operation. We’ll see. Dinner was out on the pier restaurant, and as a new comer, it was pretty nice, dinner from chaffing dishes, … pretty good all round. The pier is literally at the end of the pier, 200 ft, kind of breezy, and a long way to go if you need to pee.

Jan 11 Tuesday

Up at 6:00 AM to catch the 6:15 shuttle to the dive shop … 20 minutes, a bit of formalities, checking dive cards for about 20 divers etc. Spartan breakfast on the boat, then a 1:40 ride to dive site, 77 ft. max and about 40-45 minutes, second dive 60 ft max also 40-45 minute, lunch on board, fish, rice and potato salad, … not bad, considering aboard a boat. Then third dive, about 55 feet and lasted about 54 minutes, best of the three, … saw very large (largest ever) nurse shark. Philip, the second dive master makes it his job to kill as many lion fish as he can, an invasive species, and might get about 6 or so on each dive, using a spear gun. Thelionfish is truly spectacular, with long feather-like extensions that spray out of its body, quite impressive.

Jan 12 Wednesday

Got a 5:45 AM call to say the day was cancelled due to wind. So it was a pretty boring day, windy but bright sunshine, and I attempted to read on a chaise lounge, under a palm tree for shade… but tended to fall asleep.

Jan 13 Thursday

Up for a 6:00 AM departure, and out on the boat at 6:30 even though it was a less than perfect day, rather cloudy and rough seas. It was a 2-hour ride to the dive site, and with the choppy seas a lot of people show initial signs of seasickness. The crew seems well trained and inspires confidence, - fortunately, and we got detailed instructions for getting back on board… all gear removed, before attempting the ladder. Particularly: wait for the right moment and the wave will almost push you on board. It all unfolded pretty well, but a couple divers were feeling ill, so they cancelled the second dive (to my chagrin). Today for the first time I added the “shorty” wet suit (bought at Costco, $35) on top of my 3mil full suit, … worked well, … liked it. The shorty along with the full hood I bought at Decathlon/France a couple years ago make a good outfit. Unfortunately, to my embarrassment, I’d forgotten about the extra weight I needed for the buoyancy of the shorty, … but Giovanny, young local black guide, had spare weight and helped me out. Overall, not everybody thought it was a great day, but I did.

January 14 Friday

A very respectable 9:00AM taxi pickup for 2 a tank dive about 2 hour boat ride away. Seas were somewhat calmer than yesterday, so there wasn’t that dimension Giovanni. The dives themselves were OK, nothing really outstanding. Jean, the big-talking French Canadian, who still hasn’t been able to get any value for his 18 prepaid dives with another company, joined us. Lunches are made with homemade biscuits (instead of bread) with either chicken salad or egg salad filling.

Jan 15 Saturday

Up for a 6:15 departure for the last day of diving (a three tank dive), … makes for a long 12-hour day, since we don’t get back till 6:00 PM. All three dives were in Glovers atoll/reef, a place that Id been ten years ago, when I did a kayak trip out of Glovers. The last three days have not been sunny, and for me, that diminishes the whole experience quite a bit. In the water, it’s surprisingly warm (with a full suit +shorty, but when you come to the surface its bloody cold. The dives themselves were fine, but nothing extraordinary. Gave a $20US tip each of the last three days.

Jan 16 Sunday

Our last day, and no diving for 24 hours before a flight, so we looked for something else to do, so did the Monkey River tour, up for a 7:15 departure and back by 2:00PM. I wasn’t expecting much and while it wasn’t wonderful, but not bad in a modest way. Six of us took the boat trip where the river pointed out natural stuff (birds, turtles, iguanas, etc) … all things I wouldn’t have seen without his coaching. The finale was the howler monkeys, which you could hear a kilometre away, you’d swear you walking up on an angry lion or such. Lunch, prepared by his wife, and then on the return trip we looked for manatees, saw a few mainly just their noses, as they came up for air. At the hotel I left a weeks tip, $40 with the dinging room staff (I was away 2 out of 3 meals doing Scuba), since I found doing it daily a bit difficult…what with having the right bill size etc.

Jan 17 Monday

First the little Cessna shuttle, and the Sunwing flight at 11:30 AM .... but delayed till 1:00PM , arriving YYZ at 6:00PM

Overall Id rate it pretty highly, but the weather for 3 of the 4 diving days was cloudy, windy, … but otherwise it was pretty good. The |Placentia Hotel was first rate; the rigmarole to get to it was an ordeal (kind of added 4 hours each way to get the Cessna shuttle).

...

Maps, a summary of 2011 trips

2011-01-02T07:08:00.000-05:00

.... a map "summary" of my 7 destinations 2011

Scuba: Placencia Belize, January 2011

(landed in Roatan, then Cessna to prettymuch somebodys driveway)

Virgina in April 2011

Turkey Agean June 2011

Turkey Multisport June 2011

(7 days: canyoning, scuba, kayak, paragliding....different every day)

Velo Quebec "Grand Tour" Ontario

GCK Corsica September 2011

Cycleventures Sicily October

and for the future:

Nicaragua Panama Jan 2012

Virginia April 2012 (details unknown)

Back ( Gary's blog)

Nepal India 2010 (revised)

2010-12-24T14:47:00.005-05:00

Executive Summary Nepal, Nov 11-24 2010
This was a well-run, exceptional value trip (Exodus:land $125/day). 14 participants - mostly Brits, excellent shocked mtn bikes, the local team was a well-oiled machine, - good esprit, through varied landscapes and good weather (in November). I personally found Day2, Day3, off-road and too difficult for my comfort. Hotels were sort of 2star/adequate or better. Nepal suffers from extreme litter and horn blowing. .... Rating: 7.5/10

Executive Summary India (Raj, Kerala), Nov 29-D 17 2010
This was a ambitious (for Pedaltours), dubious value trip (Pedaltours:land $250/day). 11 participants - older, very well-travelled mostly from US, adequate road bikes, the local team was trying, but needs much improvement - probably not easy to find good routes. Through varied landscapes and good weather (in Nov/Dec). level of difficulty was mostly average. Some hotels were exceptional and quite nice. Rajasthan suffers from extreme litter and horn blowing. ..... Rating: 5.5/10

Photo Albums, click below:
Nepal (best 25), India (best 25), All (all 366)
(after discarding the worst 200-300)

Operator websites :Nepal(click), :Pedaltours Rahjastan(click), Kerala(click)
..................................
Nov 8-10
Emirates Airlines, A380 flight to Dubai was fine, temp 30c at 10PM, onto Delhi arriving 3:30AM. on Wed to a $50night hotel,.... pretty dingy area, but the hotel is adequate, esp for a 5AM arrival, I refuse to stay at $190night hotel when you arrive at 5AM.... off to Kathmandu Thurs AM, to meet up with group, mostly Brits.

9 hour time difference to Dubai, 30C not that you'd know it in AC airport, 10.5 to Delhi.
A380 flight of 11398 Km, 12 hours, was fine, but the passengers were a scruffy dumpy lot (rude, demanding),
several women wearing outfits with only eye-slits
must have been 20 wheelchairs, and lots of infants
Emirates staff, incl pilot, is mostly Australian, cheery but the passengers must get them down, they wont take guff from passengers
A380 has a ``tail`` camera facing forward, so kind of like looking over pilot's shoulder (so to speak), screen is large, 2'x4' in every cabin-- gives good sense of your whereabouts.
the basic hotel was in such a scruffy neighborhood, and the driver had trouble finding it at 4:30 AM, ... that I was concerned, ... in fact, it`s OK, perfectly adequate. Slept for 9 hours 5 AM to 2PM, ... pleased. Went for a walk in the market, pretty much I expected, crowded, dirty, horns blowing,... nice thing: all signs are in English, although they speak Hindi or whatever to each other (but can speak English).

Nov 11
1.5 hour flight to Kathmandu n Air India, but delayed by almost 2 hours because they couldnt get the door open (on the ramp to the aircraft)... as the ads say "Incredible India". Met the group of 14 ... all Brits.. seem nice enough, and a wide range of ages, say 30s, to my age. Kathmandu has essentially no infrastructure. Had dinner at a restaurant outside hotel, at own expense. 11Brits, 1 Irish, 2 Canadians, and 4 Nepali staff. Leader (Kamor ), and assistant (Mongol), both speak English well, and we’ll meet the van driver and assistant tomorrow. Dinner was long and tedious, ordered chicken tilkka Marsala. Kathmandu may have a Shangri-la connotation in my my mind, but in reality its pretty scruffy and dirty, and absolutely nothing “Shangri-la” about it.

Nov 12

First full day. Up for 7AM meeting (why so early?) to assign/adjust bikes… primarily Trek 3700 mountain bikes, ... seemed pretty good quality, certainly good enough. Breakfast was buffet style and above average, …. Then 20km to Bhaktapur by van because the road is congested and heavily trafficked. Bhaktapur is a kind of Hindu religious place where we had a local guide for 2-3 hours, then a half hour vanning to our start point for actual cycling at 2 PM. The roads are extremely primitive, not paved, badly rutted, and hilly … overall not impressed… Also its group riding (everybody together) that I’m not used to. Destination hotel is quite nice (rather grand), so rather inconsistent with surroundings. Nov 13
After a buffet breakfast we bused 10k or so to town of religious significance, then after half an hour cycled about 6k to a soccer field where we had a box lunch (not very good), then cycled 9k on a road with a lot of traffic, and I started to feel dizzy so went in the bus, ending up at a very basic resort (if you could call it that). I passed on going to the temple (didn’t miss much), and dinner, and drinking 1Lwater with electrolytes. 2 in total, and stilldidn’t pee much…. So must have dehydrated

Nov 14 Sunday (a work day in Nepal)
Breakfast was porridge and scrambled eggs, rather good. In theory was 65K to Daman with 45 km of cycling, but the terrain was so hilly and the road surface so rough Iendedup riding the bus. We all agreed the Exodus catalogue description is inaccurate … it is not!! a road bike trip, it’s a mountain bike trip over poor unpaved roads, …I’ve never seen roads so bad, and always going up or going down, and rarely a section of 100m flat. Till today it was largely urban (region of Kathmandu), but today became more rural, lots of primitive farmhouses. Lunch was a box lunch, all the way from Kathmandu, and the destination hotel is at 2345 m.(holly cow!). The last 14 km being a climb of approaching 1000m, …. and we were all in the bus.

Nov 15, Monday
We were up at 6:10AM to see the sunrise, rising roughly over Mr Everest (appeared small because it was far away). … Sunrises are always overtouted, in my opinion, although I suppose the idea is OK. The group went on a two-hour trek at 2400m through the woods, but I just rested. After lunch, the group did the decent, 2400m to about 600m, involving about 30+ hairpin turns, an the temperature went from 10C to 27C, to the town Hettaudawith more of an Indian character (to me), at the Orchid resort (which had WiFi in the lobby). The resort had loudspeaker-recorded music blaring away till 9:30PM staring again at 6:00AM, sounded awful: wailing, and sounds like some animal being gored.. Hindu or not, I cant imagine anybody liking that noise .
Because of my dizzy fatigue issue, placed my first call to Brampton’s Dr Mak about my Nov 4 blood test result, and arranged to call back tomorrow, same time. The receptionist wasn’t too keen but reluctantly agreed.

Nov 16 Tuesday
Started off in the bus for an hour or two, then started cycling (me too) off-road with the river to our left. I cycled for 45minutes or so till I was exhausted, and had to ride in bus. Lunch was a box lunch vegetarian and rather good, mainly a kind of pancake-y thing, made of shredded vegetables. Then onto Chitwan park for two nights. The hotel is really quite nice and a few miles from the hubbub of the local town. We went on a local area walk with a guide to see the local people who came from Rajastan in the 14thcentury. Saw the primitive village, essentially mud huts, … one impressive thing was the bio-gas installation, courtesy WWF, where dung is fermented in underground tanks to produce methane which is distributed in small tube to stoves foir cooking, and the resultant dung is fertilizer. There was an evening show of dancing, with a central theme of scaring the animals away.
Placed my cell call to Dr Mak’s reception 10:20 AM Brampton time, … she said my Nov 4 blood tests were normal. …So still no reason why I get dizzy + fatigued + out of breath so easily. I can do easy daily routine effort well enough (and feel fine) but even just 10% more effort (going upstairs for example) really knocks me out, … have to stop/sit and rest, … all very worrisome/embarrassing. Can’t figure out why.

Nov 17 Wednesday, Rest day in Chitwan
A busy day…. a wakeup call at 6:30AM, convened 7:00 AM for ‘tea’, then a 2 hour walk through the jungle, where we didn’t see much of anything. Breakfast 9:30. Then a 45 min ride in the buloch carts (not as rough as you’d think, 5 people per cart), to the start of the dug out canoes, 14+3 guides all in one large canoe, a peaceful ride down the river to the hotel, lunch, then off at mid afternoon to the elephant safari, almost two hours (quite long), and the highlight was the rhinoserouses, got a few good shots
Nov 18 (first day in three with wifi)
photos (click) .... now available Nov 18
Group cycled till 2:30 then long ride 130km to Limbini,Budda's birthplace. ... pretty much squalor as you go through towns on the way. Nice hotel at destination.
Nov 19 Friday Rather nice hotel in Limbini, matching NA standards. Up for 7:30 breakfast, then a 9:00 AM visit to the birthplace of Buddha (just 1 km away), with a local guide, … took about an hour … was not particularly impressed, … pretty seedy in fact, St Peter’s it ain’t. In a sizable land plot, many acres, a steel girder and stucco structure 200’x 200’ covering some brick ruins, with an ugly square concrete pool nearby. Good news: I cycled the planned 65 km without any of the dizzy-fatigue problems of previous days. Itwasn’t that much of a test (not really hilly) I suppose, but it was done without any difficulty. I followed Ann’s (in her 70’s I guess) slow pace which suited me just fine, … I didn’t want to push it. I had been concerned about being incapacitated through the next two trips in India. I’m not saying the problem has disappeared, but there is no longer manifestations of it. Lunch was in an open courtyard restaurant; quite nice really, had a mixed pizza, … very good. Then we all got in the bus for a two-hour climb from 200m to 1400m to the town of Tansen over treacherous roads. Dinner was at the town centre, where my choice ‘mutton dal baht’ was close to inedible, oh well.

Nov 20, Friday, to Pokhara It was a clear day so many got up to see the sunrise, not me. Rather than the planned 5-hour trek, we just did a town tour for an hour or so. Then cycled down from 1400m to 600m, with long stretches of fairly flat, and a simple box lunch on a roadside cliff with commanding valley view. Then on the bus till the last 15km, and we cycled in heavy rain (to Kamor’s surprise) to the hotel, rather unpleasant. Dinner was a bus-ride to lakeside Boomerang restaurant, … chicken almond dinner/coke, all for about $8, with a constant stage show of Nepali music and dance, which tended to dominate conversation.

Nov 21 Sunday Today is a rest day, so-called. Misty in the morning but warmed up to the mid 20s and sunny. Went on tour of Davis falls, then hiked through caves (hot steamy), then bus’d to the base of a Buddha pagoda climbed 100-200m to the pagoda then down to the lake, had lunch at a lakeside restautant (took far too long for service). Then a boat ride to a island temple, and on to Pokara lakeside for shopping and we had a drink with Mongol to discuss his 2012 Olympic possibilities.(mountain biking representing Nepal).
Nov 22 Monday, Pokhara
On the bus at 8:00 to go trekking, after 1 hour ride foot climbed to get a view of another lake then lunch (from the German bakery), then a 10 K ride down to base on hardtop. Overall I felt fine. Then a 45 min visit to the Ghurkhas museum, back to hotel for 4:00. Dinner at Mama Mias, pizza.
Nov 23 Tuesday, back to Kathmandu
Up for an 8:15 transfer to Pokhara airport and a 25 min flight back to Kathmandu. Then a pretty full day for city tour with the local guide, including where they have the funeral pyre, and dump the ashes into the river, that ends up in the Ganges. Talked with Mangal's tour operator about sponsorship possibilities for Mangal in London 2012. Had a Nepali dinner in large palace-like building, with local traditional dancing, and Angus made the tip presentation. A well run trip
.Nepal trip evaluation
5 good things:

The British group was a big bonus, polite and a fun group, Graham was montypython-ish
Kamur was an exceptional leader, fun, his timing estimates were spot on
Day in Chitwan was the highlight, busy day elephant ride, rhino siting
Coordination of the 1,000 Rs tip was a great idea
Little things (many) such as the rickshaw ride, restaurant choices in |Pokara

5 bad things:

Day 2,3 riding was far too difficult, then got better
Exodus description in the brochure of MNN is deceptive
Bus roof top riding is bad judgement
Dinner in Tansen was essentially inedible (animal inards), for several of those I spoke to
.... cant think of another.

Rating ... my recent trips, overall subjective satisfaction
Vietnam ..................... 9/10,
Eastern Europe .........6.5 /10
Nepal .......................... 7.5/10, scored well on being "exotic"
Rajasthan/Kerala......... 5.5/10
Nov 24
Back in Delhi, after 90 minute flight from Kathmandu, twice frisked and twice my hand luggage was manually examined, once right on the boarding ramp ... seemed wildly excessive.
Nov 25
Up at 4:00 AM (simply mad) in time for a 6:30AM (started at 6:10) “Delhi by Bike” for 3.5 hours. The range of pricing to get there was $35 for Triangle car, $15 for hotel taxi, and $3.75 for a tuk-tuk.... took the tuk tuk. Elements of the tour were passable (parliament, president's residence, stepwell), and the woman guide was quite bubley and chipper, but generally it was littered, dirty and though parts of town that were squalid, and why we started so early (partly our fault) is a puzzle was dark for first 1/2 hour.
Then the Triangle guide met at noon and a car/driver, and we saw the Red Fort, Qutb Minar complex, etc and a rickshaw ride through the market of fabric, scarves, whatever.... which was really quite interesting. The rickshaw drivers work their butt off.

Nov 26 Thursday

Up for a sensible 9:00AM departure for Agra (Taj Mahal), with the same driver for the next 4 days, … took about 4.5 hours and arrived at the Crystal Inn, a small modern hotel. Had lunch and dinner in the hotel, although the driver would take us anywhere, but there really didn’t seem to be that much of interest, other than the Taj.

Nov 27 Friday

Up at 6:30 for a daybreak viewing of the Taj Mahal. As the guide said, many people aren’t exactly sure where India is, but EVERYBODY!! knows that there’s a building called Taj Mahal. The skies were sunny, so we were pretty lucky (it has been raining. The crowds weren’t excessive, and 99% of the impression comes from the outside beauty, very little from inside. Then onto the Agra fort (2 km away), which while not grand is more peaceful, in a way. The street vendors at the gates are persistent and you’ve got to learn to ignore them, and its not that easy to do.
I confess (silly me): I went to an ATM, took out 10,000 Rs, and forgot my debit card (how careless, but realized it right away), phoned BMO (instant cooperation) to cancel it, all within 10 minutes, … so there’s no real loss, just inconvenience. I have my 2 credit cards with deliberate >$1000 credit balances, so no trouble expected. Then a 5-hour drive to Jaipur, arriving at 5 pm. The Jaipur Palace is an older hotel, fairly big, and a heavy rock beat from the wedding going on.
I find all this non-cycling typical tourist stuff really tedious and am anxious to meet the Pedaltours group on Monday night back in Delhi.Strange, when you are cycling, and have an occasional rest day for tourist sightseeing it’s quite welcome, … but sequential days of tourist sightseeing day after day becomes a grind.

Nov 28 Sunday, Jaipur, (third city of triangle)

Up for an 8:30 start for Jaipur tour, a place I never heard of. First a drive through the ‘Pink City’ (buildings painted pink) then onto an elephant ride to the top of Amber Palace. I rather liked Amber Palace maybe because, compared to the Taj Mahal, I had no expectations, and everythng seemed quite impressive. Then through various palaces, where you learn about the excesses of the maharajas. By the way Indira Ghandi got rid of the state-support of them in the ‘70s. Lunch in the palace café (quite nice) curried lamb (turns out to be goat), and then a 2-hour walk through the famous “Pink City” where there are sections (dozens of stores) devoted to one item, e.g. saris.

Nov29 Sat

Long 5.5 hour ride Jaipur back to Delhi, to stay atRamada Plaza very posh, kind of over the top. Met Marylyn ( the new NZguide) at reception. Met most the others around the pool, mostly older, and only a couple connected with the Cascade Bicycle club, others are joiners the trip, like myself. Weather is consistently nice, sunny and maybe 25 C at 2:00pm

Nov 30

A 7.5 hour train ride to Kota, and tomorrow we outfit the bikes. Train ride was tedious, but all right. The hotel was rather grand old maharaja building,
Dec 1 Wed
Been several days since any wifi. After 61 km cycling (cycling was fine, … no strain), beautiful weather 25C, ... then 45 km busing we arrived in a castle kind of Bijapur (near Kota) for two nights, a band, a torchlight entry (after dark) dinner will be by the pool.... all rather grand (mind you a bit "faded").
Misc little trivia items

New netbook works well. My 3 cell battery lasts about an easy 3+ hours which is plenty, charges to full in about an hour
Wifi in 70% places of, but mostly is chargeable, 3.25 -$3.50hr
My “pirated” Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade from ‘Starter’ seems permanent, …runs well, worth the difference
Main courses can be quite good at 300-400 rupees ~$10, not exactly cheap e.g. chicken tikka marsala, +coke +service charge +VAT ends up at $12.
Found the 4day non-cycling portion is rather tedious, looking fwd to cycling Pedaltours late on 29thth.
Taj Mahal today was pretty impressive as expected, ...but other stuff, not-so-much
Think (mostly hope) my dizzy-fatigue issue is over … seems to be.
Really hate the tipping but at-every-turn, maybe I’m just a cheapskate
Till 27th there hasn’t been many annoying street vendors, but now are in full force and really persistent … hate it.
See lots of dogs hobbling with broken legs, strange…sad.
The litter issue is so pervasive, everywhere you are shuffling through inches of it. When there’s so much of it, you even do it yourself, or it all seems at least pointless.
The quality of the mountain bikes in Nepal was perfectly adequate (for me)
India is noticeably richer than Nepal, … preferred Nepal, but I’ve really just started India
After 2.5 weeks of road travel, I haven’t seen a single restaurant where I’d even remotely want to go in. Restaurants of ANY kind hardly exist at all. They no doubt exist, but you need guidance to find. The hotels we stay at are fairly nice, ( in a sense they attempt at 3 star), but the calibre of most things we pass daily (inhabited areas) is essentially squalor.
A street vendor offered to exchange his professional photo of me on elephant for my new Nike baseball cap (bought in Kathmandu) rather than 200 Rs ($5) … I was flattered.
Generally, f you are not in tourist areas, you are not bothered by hawkers.
If you lose your debit card, it's important to have the bank’s tel no handy to cancel, …I did….. called in 10-20 minutes after loss.

Dec 2 Thurs cycled with the owner, though his property ...fairly hilly, 50km wide by 56km long (hard to believe), to have lunch at a tent resort, sort of. Highlight was stopping and seeing the food preparations for a wedding for 4000 attendees. Wedding was the granddaughter of of one of the tennants. We also stopped at one of the govt sanctioned opium farms, ... didnt understand what that was all about. Dec 3 Fri Cycled (again with the owner) about 33km to visit a 13th C 700 acre fort and have lunch in Chitogga (?), then bused to Udaipur, where we will stay 2 nights at a rather nice hotel by a lake. Dinner on the hotel rooftop....really kind of special. Dec 4 Sat Cycled 45 km to a lakeside resort (rather modern posh) and very much out of keeping with the surroundings. Doug was attacked (sort of) by gypsies who tried to steal his wallet, bike bag, ... no harm done, Weather is consistently nice, I cycled in a tank top (despite the local customs) since we did a bit of climbing say 1000 ft. but the locals dress as though it was 10C but when you climb it seems 25C- 30C. Dec 5, Sunday
Cycled about 55 km to Kombi, actually found it rather tedious cycling, and had a kid throw a rock at me, … the locals, the older kids can be kind of aggressive, not exactly sure what motivates them. Saw Casaba, 72, fall in a filthy greasy black puddle, … but he has a good attitude, washed his wound, and cycled on despite heavy bronchitis. His fall caused a crowd of about 25-30 to form, more intrigued by the bike than helpful. Arrived at a rather luxurious hotel, close to the famous Kum fort, so went on an afternoon tour, 17 km perimeter wall 7 m high, and almost as wide. Dinner was continental, especially for us, ‘chicken a la king’… liked it. Some of our group go on and on raving about the Indian food, whereas I find it so spicy it clearly overpowers the flavour of whatever you are eating, … it’s also pretty sparing on the meat portion, often just a tablespoon (maybe two) in a sauce on a mound of rice, … skimpy, but probably better for you.

Dec 6, Monday

Cycled about 55 km again to a very open air jungle type resort (one of the nicer places), then went to the Jain temple, … Jains don’t believe in killing things, so no leather allowed, no leather shoes, no wallets etc. but the temple was pretty impressive, and I’m not a temple fan. Prince Charles was supposed to be there before we left at 4:30, … didn’t see him. Small point: … room didn’t have hot water, but in about an hour of fussing, they fixed that.

Dec 7 Tuesday

Bussed back to Diaper, lunch, then City Palace tour, then haircut 100 Rs=$2.26, dinner, where I tipped Monty who is leaving us 1000 Rs (=22$, probably twice the appropriate amount). Will be up at 5:00 AM tomorrow flying to Mumbai then Cochin (at the bottom tip of the Indian sub continent. Left Monty a written constructive critique (his request); said he he should learn at least something about India, and didn’t seem to know a single fact about India, … Howard left him his Lonely Planet of Rajasthan and said “read it maybe you’ll know as much as the people you are guiding, ... quote qualifies as the “perfect” line of the day.
Dec 8 Wednesday
Up at 5:00AM for an 8:15AM flight to Cochin, through Mumbai (30 min connection), with 11bikes. I’d say that couldn’t be done. but it was, > $1000 surcharge for excess weight. The reason the timing worked was that a bus met us at the plane staircase and delivered us to the connecting plane. Cochin (in extreme south) was 30C at 1:00 PM and very humid, and more like a real seedy part of Toronto on a hot humid July day. Went to an air-conditioned theatre stage show (folkloric dancing), which involved elaborate face painting, … 20 minutes of that is plenty.
Dec 9 Thursday
Cycled 47 km to a hotel in a bird sanctuary, were about 2 hours late, road was badly pot-holed, and undulating, and very much “in the tropics”, more like a Polynesian island. Rubber plantations, pineapples, and the people are much darker skinned than Rajasthan (and speak a different language), also seemed more genuinely friendly. Not nearly the litter of Rajasthan, and the occasional house looks quite respectable, … even one monster house.
Dec 10 Friday
Cycled 47 km to the lunch break, where they served “take-out” Indian dishes (chicken curry etc) the drivers had brought with them. There was then a 1200 m climb after lunch, over a 30 km distance, so quite steep, often>10%, … so I vanned, … good decision, only 2 cycled. We’re now at about 1500 meters and it dropped from 31.4C at lunch to maybe 16C, due to altitude. It’s tea-growing area, …big time. The resort is a quite spectacular, substantial cottage on the hillside in a very forested area.
Dec 11 Sat Cycled 62.4 Km to a pick-up time (cycled till 4:00PM). 62.4 Km (all in the 1000m 1500m range, so coolish: 15-22C) might not sound like much, but on these roads it’s an accomplishment. The guide said we managed a little over 10 Km/hr before lunch … pretty damned modest. The lunch was Indian “take-out” again served on paper plates, … much better than any continental box lunches we’ve had. The terrain is very hilly; you never get more than 300m flat before an assent or descent. Tonight’s hotel is fairly deluxe and we’re here for three nights, and our last night with Pedaltours (Dec 15) is on houseboat, off the Cochin coast I presume, and flying out Dec 17 at 4:35 AM. Dec 12 Sunday A rest day, meals on your own, and didnt do much. Instead of a 10Km jungle walk, went shopping in Kumily with Joyce where most of the stuff is just to ornate for my taste. Joyce has absolutely no qualms about asking to be shown all sorts of stuff then just walking out, and then repeating the routine store after store. Had dinner with Sue and Csaba (the psychitrist), ... a pleasant evening, went to the tandori BBQ in the hotel, .... meals with 3 or 4 is much better than group dinners. Just 2 more cycling days and the overnight on the houseboat Dec 13 Monday One of the better days, cycled 75 km to Theni in the state of Tamil Nadu (very poor), had excellent lunch (butter chicken) and the vanned baclk to Kumily. Dec 14 Tuesday We ended up cycling about 55 Km at roughly 1000 m altitude, and never got to the big downhill,... time was ran out and we had to arrive at our hotel before dark The hotel was substantial deluxe cabins on waterway network, ... impressive really. Dec 15 Wednesday Day on the houseboat in the backwaters near Cochin. Lonely Planet raves about it, .. its not bad, boats are nicely appointed, ...airconditoned cabins and we seemed to be the only Caucasion tourists among all the many boats Dec 16 Thursday Cycled 35 Km from the boathouse to the pickup poin then vanned back to the hotel for the farewell lunch ( 2 people are leaving on a 4:30 flight to Delhi. Sue gave a very good toast/roast to Marilyn. The big boss, KC from Bestways flew down from Delhi to say goodbye (effectively at our expense) ....the airfare money(say $400) would have been better spent as tips to the drivers guides. He was supposed tio arrange the lunch but it was kind of a cock-up (... seating issues), but it eventually got settled,... he made a big show of being upset, ... but the trouble was of his own doing.
Dec 17 2010 Friday

got home fine, 2:50pm, 10 min early, Emirates A380 seemed full, so about 700 passengers, but I had 2 seats (INCREDIBLY), ... kind of made up for the bad outbound Emirates flight.
Pearson airport was so busy and Customs/Immigration so busy it took 90 min instead of usual 20, .... so many in the NEW SINGLE snake line (20 rows) they almost started to back up on the escalators, ... so informal snake line was started, without the GUIDANCE tape, but only half the kiosks were open, ... government (MUST BE Conservative) incompetence.
went to BMO, got new Debit card w/o trouble,.... remember: knowing the "cancel tel no" is SO important
using the highways (427/407when using the Limo) on the way home, reminded me of how "really great" we have it here, AND TAKE IT FOR GRANTED (sincerely).
home is bloody cold,... Camry started fine though

blog statistics: 409 views as of Nov 30, 1,021 views for Nov+Dec
overal rating Vietnam 9/10, Eastern Europe 6.5/10, Nepal 7.5/10, India (Raj and Kerala) 5.5/10

5 good things with Pedaltours India

Tipping (other than main guides) with Pedaltours is included (thank God); otherwise it’s a pain never having the right bill denominations, and guessing the appropriate amount
Given that the country is generally squalor, Pedaltours seems to have picked some good routes. Dec 6th reminded me of the Gorges de Verdun area of Provence.
The food is generally pretty good, occasionally excellent, but sometimes is not. Stay away from Mutton, menus say lamb, but is in fact is goat … very bony, and I don’t order it any more.
Marilyn is a superb guide (in so many ways), and the stand-in guide (Monty, 23) is young, and will improve. If you ask ‘what is that?’ (a body of water) he says: ``it’s a lake” … kind of new that.
Many of the hotels are gems (varied, quite special), and really stand out in the context (Rajasthan is poorer than 13 African countries). The castle hotel in Bijapur, where they had evening stage entertainment, and where the owner cycled with us two days, was impressive.

5 bad things in India

The local guide in Delhi (Saresh) was useless and and unlikeable, actually seems to have screwed things up, … why didn’t he just give us the train seat numbers instead of us getting kicked out of temporary seats. Then there was Peter’s double charging saga, … Peter feels Sareshe`s fault.The Ramada Plaza was no doubt super expensive, and gouged everything, the evening buffet was no doubt $outrageous, and the box lunch on day 2 they provided was expensive but pathetic, … the best part was the inedible very fancy box.
(…being careful with my words): Most Rajasthan locals tend to be “in your face”, not shy/retiring like Vietnam. The kids often want money, pens, and kind of scream at you and laugh mockingly (that’s my sense) as you ride by or away. One case of getting on your bike and wanting to ride away (Bill stopped it). Also, we had one case of being attacked (by gypsies) for a wallet, rackpack (but no harm done), and myself an instance of throwing of rocks, all psychologically hurtful. So, I keep quiet, don’t wave, and get through town ASAP.
So far, it seems one little corner of India (parliament region Delhi) is neat clean, impressive even, but the rest of the inhabited areas are dirty, littered, (Kerala is somewhat better). One has got to get over that, accept it (that’s India) , and move on,…. so get used to it, or be unhappy. I noticed the our drivers cleaned up all the refuse from our take out lunch, but then threw the 5 garbage bags into the bushes at the side of the road.
“ JK “ the big boss at Bestway was just an irritant. Why he came down to Cochin, effectively at our expense, to wish us goodbye (or whatever it was) is a mystery. The estimated $400 airfare money would have been better spent in paying/tipping the drivers. He made a show of making a fuss about the screwed-up seating at the final lunch, yet it was his doing.

Nepal India 2010

2010-12-23T09:30:00.023-05:00

click above photos to enlarge, (then backarrow)

Executive Summary Nepal, Nov 11-24 2010

This was a well-run, exceptional value trip (Exodus:land $125/day). 14 participants - mostly Brits, excellent shocked mtn bikes, the local team was a well-oiled machine, - good esprit, through varied landscapes and good weather (in November). I personally found Day2, Day3, off-road and too difficult for my comfort. Hotels were sort of 2star/adequate or better. Nepal suffers from extreme litter and horn blowing. .... Rating 7.5/10

Executive Summary India, Nov 29-D 17 2010

This was a ambitious, dubious value trip (Pedaltours:land $250/day). 11 participants -older, very well-travelled mostly from US, adequate road bikes, the local team was trying, but needs much improvement - probably not easy to find good routes. Through varied landscapes and good weather (in Nov/Dec). level of difficulty was mostly average. Some hotels were exceptional and quite nice. Rajasthan suffers from extreme litter and horn blowing. ..... Rating 5.5/10

Photo Albums, click below:

Nepal (best 25), India (best 25), All (all 366)

(after discarding the worst 200-300)

Operator websites:

Nepal (click), Pedaltours Rajasthan (click), Pedaltours Kerala (click)

..................................
Nov 8-10 Nepal (… India begins Nov 24)
Emirates Airlines, A380 flight to Dubai was fine, temp 30 degrees C at 10PM, onto Delhi arriving 3:30AM. Wed to a $50night hotel, ... pretty dingy area, but the hotel is adequate, especially for a 5AM arrival, I refuse to stay at $190night hotel when you arrive at 5AM.... off to Kathmandu Thurs AM, to meet up with group, mostly Brits.

9 hour time difference to Dubai, 30C not that you'd know it in AC airport, 10.5 to Delhi.
A380 flight of 11398 Km, 12 hours, was fine, but the passengers were a scruffy dumpy lot (rude, demanding),
Several women wearing outfits with only eye-slits
Must have been 20 wheelchairs, and lots of infants
Emirates staff, incl. pilot, is mostly Australian, cheery but the passengers must get them down, they wont take guff from passengers
A380 has a ``tail`` camera facing forward, so kind of like looking over pilot's shoulder (so to speak), screen is large, 2'x4' in every cabin-- gives good sense of your whereabouts.
The basic hotel was in such a scruffy neighbourhood, and the driver had trouble finding it at 4:30 AM, ... that I was concerned, ... in fact, it’s OK, perfectly adequate. Slept for 9 hours 5 AM to 2PM, ... pleased. Went for a walk in the market, pretty much I expected, crowded, dirty, horns blowing, ... nice thing: all signs are in English, although they speak Hindi or whatever to each other (but can speak English).

Nov 11
1.5 hour flight to Kathmandu n Air India, but delayed by almost 2 hours because they couldn’t get the door open (on the ramp to the aircraft)... as the ads say "Incredible India". Met the group of 14 ... all Brits. Seem nice enough, and a wide range of ages, say 30s, to my age. Kathmandu has essentially no infrastructure. Had dinner at a restaurant outside hotel, at own expense. 11Brits, 1 Irish, 2 Canadians, and 4 Nepali staff. Leader (Kumar), and assistant (Mongol), both speak English well, and we’ll meet the van driver and assistant tomorrow. Dinner was long and tedious, ordered chicken tikka Masala. Kathmandu may have a Shangri-la connotation in my mind, but in reality it’s pretty scruffy and dirty, and absolutely nothing “Shangri-la” about it.

Nov 12

First full day: Up for 7AM meeting (why so early?) to assign/adjust bikes… primarily Trek 3700 mountain bikes, ... seemed pretty good quality, certainly good enough. Breakfast was buffet style and above average. Then 20km to Bhaktapur by van because the road is congested and heavily trafficked. Bhaktapur is a kind of Hindu religious place where we had a local guide for 2-3 hours, then a half hour vanning to our start point for actual cycling at 2 PM. The roads are extremely primitive, not paved, badly rutted, and hilly … overall not impressed… Also its group riding (everybody together) that I’m not used to. Destination hotel is quite nice (rather grand), so rather inconsistent with surroundings.

Nov 13
After a buffet breakfast we bussed 10k or so to town of religious significance, then after half an hour cycled about 6k to a soccer field where we had a box lunch (not very good), then cycled 9k on a road with a lot of traffic, and I started to feel dizzy so went in the bus, ending up at a very basic resort (if you could call it that). I passed on going to the temple (didn’t miss much), and dinner, and drinking 1Lwater with electrolytes. 2 in total, and still didn’t pee much…. So must have dehydrated

Nov 14 Sunday (a work day in Nepal)
Breakfast was porridge and scrambled eggs, rather good. In theory was 65K to Daman with 45 km of cycling, but the terrain was so hilly and the road surface so rough I ended up riding the bus. We all agreed the Exodus catalogue description is inaccurate … it is not!! a road bike trip, it’s a mountain bike trip over poor unpaved roads, …I’ve never seen roads so bad, and always going up or going down, and rarely a section of 100m flat. Till today it was largely urban (region of Kathmandu), but today became more rural, lots of primitive farmhouses. Lunch was a box lunch, all the way from Kathmandu, and the destination hotel is at 2345 m (holly cow!). The last 14 km being a climb of approaching 1000m, …and we were all in the bus.

Nov 15, Monday
We were up at 6:10AM to see the sunrise, rising roughly over Mr Everest (appeared small because it was far away). … Sunrises are always over touted, in my opinion, although I suppose the idea is OK. The group went on a two-hour trek at 2400m through the woods, but I just rested. After lunch, the group did the decent, 2400m to about 600m, involving about 30+ hairpin turns, an the temperature went from 10C to 27C, to the town Hettauda with more of an Indian character (to me), at the Orchid resort (which had WiFi in the lobby). The resort had loudspeaker-recorded music blaring away till 9:30PM staring again at 6:00AM, sounded awful: wailing, and sounds like some animal being gored. Hindu or not, I cant imagine anybody liking that noise.
Because of my dizzy fatigue issue, placed my first call to Brampton’s Dr Mak about my Nov 4 blood test result, and arranged to call back tomorrow, same time. The receptionist wasn’t too keen but reluctantly agreed.

Nov 16 Tuesday
Started off in the bus for an hour or two, then started cycling (me too) off-road with the river to our left. I cycled for 45minutes or so till I was exhausted, and had to ride in bus. Lunch was a box lunch vegetarian and rather good, mainly a kind of pancake-y thing, made of shredded vegetables. Then onto Chitwan park for two nights. The hotel is really quite nice and a few miles from the hubbub of the local town. We went on a local area walk with a guide to see the local people who came from Rajasthan in the 14^thcentury. Saw the primitive village, essentially mud huts, … one impressive thing was the bio-gas installation, courtesy WWF, where dung is fermented in underground tanks to produce methane which is distributed in small tube to stoves for cooking, and the resultant dung is fertilizer. There was an evening show of dancing, with a central theme of scaring the animals away.
Placed my cell call to Dr Mak’s reception 10:20 AM Brampton time, … she said my Nov 4 blood tests were normal. …So still no reason why I get dizzy + fatigued + out of breath so easily. I can do easy daily routine effort well enough (and feel fine) but even just 10% more effort (going upstairs for example) really knocks me out, … have to stop/sit and rest, … all very worrisome/ embarrassing. Can’t figure out why.

Nov 17 Wednesday, Rest day in Chitwan
A busy day…. a wakeup call at 6:30AM, convened 7:00 AM for ‘tea’, then a 2 hour walk through the jungle, where we didn’t see much of anything. Breakfast 9:30 AM Then a 45 min ride in the bullock carts (not as rough as you’d think, 5 people per cart), to the start of the dug out canoes, 14+3 guides all in one large canoe, a peaceful ride down the river to the hotel, lunch, then off at mid afternoon to the elephant safari, almost two hours (quite long), and the highlight was the rhinoceroses, got a few good shots

Nov 18 (first day in three with wifi)

Group cycled till 2:30 then long ride 130km to Limbini, Budda's birthplace. ... pretty much squalor as you go through towns on the way. Nice hotel at destination.

Nov 19 Friday
Rather nice hotel in Limbini, matching NA standards. Up for 7:30 breakfast, then a 9:00 AM visit to the birthplace of Buddha (just 1km away), with a local guide, … took about an hour … was not
particularly impressed, … pretty seedy in fact, St Peter’s it ain’t. In a sizable land plot, many acres, a steel girder and stucco structure 200’x 200’ covering some brick ruins, with an ugly square
concrete pool nearby. Good news: I cycled the planned 65 km without any of the dizzy-fatigue problems of previous days. It wasn’t that much of a test (not really hilly) I suppose, but it was
done without any difficulty. I followed Ann’s (in her 70’s I guess) slow pace which suited me just fine, … I didn’t want to push it. I had been concerned about being incapacitated through the next two trips in India. I’m not saying the problem has disappeared, but there is no longer manifestations of it. Lunch was in an open courtyard restaurant; quite nice really, had a mixed pizza, … very
good. Then we all got in the bus for a two-hour climb from 200m to 1400m to the town of Tansen over treacherous roads. Dinner was at the town centre, where my choice ‘mutton dal baht’ was
close to inedible, oh well.

Nov 20, Friday, to Pokhara
It was a clear day so many got up to see the sunrise, not me. Rather than the planned 5-hour trek, we just did a town tour for an hour or so. Then cycled down from 1400m to 600m, with long
stretches of fairly flat, and a simple box lunch on a roadside cliff with commanding valley view. Then on the bus till the last 15km, and we cycled in heavy rain (to Kumar’s surprise) to the hotel,
rather unpleasant. Dinner was a bus-ride to lakeside Boomerang restaurant, … chicken almond dinner/coke, all for about $8, with a constant stage show of Nepali music and dance, which tended to dominate conversation.

Nov 21 Sunday
Today is a rest day, so-called. Misty in the morning but warmed up to the mid 20s and sunny. Went on tour of Davis falls, then hiked through caves (hot steamy), then bus’d to the base of a
Buddha pagoda climbed 100-200m to the pagoda then down to the lake, had lunch at a lakeside restaurant (took far too long for service). Then a boat ride to a island temple, and on to Pokara
lakeside for shopping and we had a drink with Mongol to discuss his 2012 Olympic possibilities.(mountain biking representing Nepal).

Nov 22 Monday, Pokhara
On the bus at 8:00 to go trekking, after 1 hour ride foot climbed to get a view of another lake then lunch (from the German bakery), then a 10 K ride down to base on hardtop. Overall I felt fine. Then a 45 min visit to the Ghurkhas museum, back to hotel for 4:00. Dinner at Mama Mia's, pizza.

Nov 23 Tuesday, back to Kathmandu
Up for an 8:15 transfer to Pokhara airport and a 25 min flight back to Kathmandu. Then a pretty full day for city tour with the local guide, including where they have the funeral pyre, and dump the ashes into the river, that ends up in the Ganges. Talked with Mangal's tour operator about sponsorship possibilities for Mangal in London 2012. Had a Nepali dinner in large palace-like building, with local traditional dancing, and Angus made the tip presentation. A well-run trip

Nepal trip evaluation

5 good things:

The British group was a big bonus, polite and a fun group, Graham was montypython-ish
Kumar was an exceptional leader, fun, his timing estimates were spot on
Day in Chitwan was the highlight, busy day elephant ride, rhino siteing
Coordination of the 1,000 Rs tip was a great idea
Little things (many) such as the rickshaw ride, restaurant choices in |Pokhara

5 bad things:

Day 2,3 riding was far too difficult, then got better
Exodus description in the brochure of MNN is deceptive
Bus roof top riding is bad judgement
Dinner in Tansen was essentially inedible (animal innards), for several of those I spoke to
.... can’t think of another.

Rating ... my recent trips, overall subjective satisfaction
Vietnam ..................... 9/10,
Eastern Europe .........6.5 /10
Nepal .......................... 7.5/10, scored well on being "exotic"
Rajasthan/Kerala......... 5.5/10

Nov 24 ... India begins

Back in Delhi, after 90 minute flight from Kathmandu, twice frisked and twice my hand luggage was manually examined, once right on the boarding ramp ... seemed wildly excessive.

Nov 25
Up at 4:00 AM (simply mad) in time for a 6:30AM (started at 6:10) “Delhi by Bike” for 3.5 hours. The range of pricing to get there was $35 for Triangle car, $15 for hotel taxi, and $3.75 for a tuk-tuk.... took the tuk tuk. Elements of the tour were passable (parliament, president's residence, step well), and the woman guide was quite bubbly and chipper, but generally it was littered, dirty and though parts of town that were squalid, and why we started so early (partly our fault) is a puzzle was dark for first 1/2 hour. Then the Triangle guide met at noon and a car/driver, and we saw the Red Fort, Qutb Minar complex, etc and a rickshaw ride through the market of fabric, scarves, whatever.... which was really quite interesting. The rickshaw drivers work their butt off

Nov 26 Thurs

Nov 27 Friday

Up at 6:30 for a daybreak viewing of the Taj Mahal. As the guide said, many people aren’t exactly sure where India is, but EVERYBODY!! knows that there’s a building called Taj Mahal. The skies were sunny, so we were pretty lucky (it has been raining. The crowds weren’t excessive, and 99% of the impression comes from the outside beauty, very little from inside. Then onto the Agra fort (2 km away), which while not grand is more peaceful, in a way. The street vendors at the gates are persistent and you’ve got to learn to ignore them, and its not that easy to do.
I confess (silly me): I went to an ATM, took out 10,000 Rs, and forgot my debit card (how careless, but realized it right away), phoned BMO (instant cooperation) to cancel it, all within 10 minutes, … so there’s no real loss, just inconvenience. I have my 2 credit cards with deliberate >$1000 credit balances, so no trouble expected. Then a 5-hour drive to Jaipur, arriving at 5 pm. The Jaipur Palace is an older hotel, fairly big, and a heavy rock beat from the wedding going on.
I find all this non-cycling typical tourist stuff really tedious and am anxious to meet the Pedaltours group on Monday night back in Delhi. Strange, when you are cycling, and have an occasional rest day for tourist sightseeing it’s quite welcome, … but sequential days of tourist sightseeing day after day becomes a grind.

Nov 28 Sunday, Jaipur, (third city of triangle)

Up for an 8:30 start for Jaipur tour, a place I never heard of. First a drive through the ‘Pink City’ (buildings painted pink) then onto an elephant ride to the top of Amber Palace. I rather liked Amber Palace maybe because, compared to the Taj Mahal, I had no expectations, and everything seemed quite impressive. Then through various palaces, where you learn about the excesses of the maharajas. By the way Indira Ghandi got rid of the state-support of them in the ‘70s. Lunch in the palace café (quite nice) curried lamb (turns out to be goat), and then a 2-hour walk through the famous “Pink City” where there are sections (dozens of stores) devoted to one item, e.g. saris.

Nov29 Sat

Long 5.5 hour ride Jaipur back to Delhi, to stay at Ramada Plaza very posh, kind of over the top. Met Marylyn ( the new NZ guide) at reception. Met most the others around the pool, mostly older, and only a couple connected with the Cascade Bicycle club, others are joiners the trip, like myself. Weather is consistently nice, sunny and maybe 25 C at 2:00pm

Nov 30

A 7.5 hour train ride to Kota, and tomorrow we outfit the bikes. Train ride was tedious, but all right. The hotel was rather grand old maharaja building,

Dec 1 Wed
Been several days since wifi. After 61 km cycling (cycling was fine, … no strain), beautiful weather 25C, ... then 45 km bussing we arrived in a castle kind of Bijapur (near Kota) for two nights, a band, a torchlight entry (after dark) dinner will be by the pool.... all rather grand (mind you a bit "faded").

Misc. little trivia items

New net book works well. My 3 cell battery lasts about an easy 3+ hours which is plenty, charges to full in about an hour
Wifi in 70% places of, but mostly is chargeable, 3.25 -$3.50hr
My “pirated” Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade from ‘Starter’ seems permanent, …runs well, worth the difference
Main courses can be quite good at 300-400 rupees ~$10, not exactly cheap e.g. chicken tikka masala, +coke +service charge +VAT ends up at $12.
Found the 4day non-cycling portion is rather tedious, looking fwd to cycling Pedaltours late on 29th^th.
Taj Mahal today was pretty impressive as expected, ...but other stuff, not-so-much
Think (mostly hope) my dizzy-fatigue issue is over … seems to be.
Really hate the tipping but at-every-turn, maybe I’m just a cheapskate
Till 27^th there hasn’t been many annoying street vendors, but now are in full force and really persistent … hate it.
See lots of dogs hobbling with broken legs, strange…sad.
The litter issue is so pervasive, everywhere you are shuffling through inches of it. When there’s so much of it, you even do it yourself, or it all seems at least pointless.
The quality of the mountain bikes in Nepal was perfectly adequate (for me)
India is noticeably richer than Nepal, … preferred Nepal, but I’ve really just started India
After 2.5 weeks of road travel, I haven’t seen a single restaurant where I’d even remotely want to go in. Restaurants of ANY kind hardly exist at all. They no doubt exist, but you need guidance to find. The hotels we stay at are fairly nice, ( in a sense they attempt at 3 star), but the calibre of most things we pass daily (inhabited areas) is essentially squalor.
A street vendor offered to exchange his professional photo of me on elephant for my new Nike baseball cap (bought in Kathmandu) rather than 200 Rs ($5) … I was flattered.
Generally, f you are not in tourist areas, hawkers do not bother you.
If you lose your debit card, it's important to have the bank’s telephone no handy to cancel, …I did….. called in 10-20 minutes after loss.

Dec 2 Thurs
cycled with the owner, though his property ...fairly hilly, 50km wide by 56km long (hard to believe), to have lunch at a tent resort, sort of. Highlight was stopping and seeing the food preparations for a wedding for 4000 attendees. Wedding was the granddaughter of of one of the tenants. We also stopped at one of the govt sanctioned opium farms, ... didn’t understand what that was all about.

Dec 3 Fri
Cycled (again with the owner) about 33km to visit a 13th C 700 acre fort and have lunch in Chitogga (?), then vanned to Udaipur, where we will stay 2 nights at a rather nice hotel by a lake. Dinner on the hotel rooftop....really kind of special.

Dec 4 Sat
Cycled 45 km to a lakeside resort (rather modern posh) and very much out of keeping with the surroundings. Doug was attacked (sort of) by gypsies who tried to steal his wallet, bike bag, ... no harm done, Weather is consistently nice, I cycled in a tank top (despite the local customs) since we did a bit of climbing say 1000 ft. but the locals dress as though it was 10C but when you climb it seems 25C- 30C.

Dec 5, Sunday
Cycled about 55 km to Kombi, actually found it rather tedious cycling, and had a kid throw a rock at me, … the locals, the older kids can be kind of aggressive, not exactly sure what motivates them. Saw Casaba, 72, fall in a filthy greasy black puddle, … but he has a good attitude, washed his wound, and cycled on despite heavy bronchitis. His fall caused a crowd of about 25-30 to form, more intrigued by the bike than helpful. Arrived at a rather luxurious hotel, close to the famous Kum?? fort, so went on an afternoon tour, 17 km perimeter wall 7 m high, and almost as wide. Dinner was continental, especially for us, ‘chicken a la king’… liked it. Some of our group go on and on raving about the Indian food, whereas I find it so spicy it clearly overpowers the flavour of whatever you are eating, … it’s also pretty sparing on the meat portion, often just a tablespoon (maybe two) in a sauce on a mound of rice, … skimpy, but probably better for you.

Dec 6, Monday

Dec 7 Tuesday

Dec 8 Wednesday
Up at 5:00AM for an 8:15AM flight to Cochin, through Mumbai (30 min connection), with 11bikes. I’d say that couldn’t be done. but it was, > $1000 surcharge for excess weight. The reason the timing worked was that a bus met us at the plane staircase and delivered us to the connecting plane. Cochin (in extreme south) was 30C at 1:00 PM and very humid, and more like a real seedy part of Toronto on a hot humid July day. Went to an air-conditioned theatre stage show (folkloric dancing), which involved elaborate face painting, … 20 minutes of that is plenty.

Dec 9 Thursday
Cycled 47 km to a hotel in a bird sanctuary, were about 2 hours late, road was badly pot-holed, and undulating, and very much “in the tropics”, more like a Polynesian island. Rubber plantations, pineapples, and the people are much darker skinned than Rajas than (and speak a different language), also seemed more genuinely friendly. Not nearly the litter of Rajasthan, and the occasional house looks quite respectable, … even one monster house.

Dec 10 Friday
Cycled 47 km to the lunch break, where they served “take-out” Indian dishes (chicken curry etc) the drivers had brought with them. There was then a 1200 m climb after lunch, over a 30 km distance, so quite steep, often>10%, … so I vanned, … good decision, only 2 cycled. We’re now at about 1500 meters and it dropped from 31.4C at lunch to maybe 16C, due to altitude. It’s tea-growing area, …big time. The resort is a quite spectacular, substantial cottage on the hillside in a very forested area.

Dec 11 Sat
Cycled 62.4 Km to a pick-up time (cycled till 4:00PM). 62.4 Km (all in the 1000m 1500m range, so coolish: 15-22C) might not sound like much, but on these roads it’s an accomplishment. The guide said we managed a little over 10 Km/hr before lunch … pretty damned modest. The lunch was Indian “take-out” again served on paper plates, … much better than any continental box lunches we’ve had. The terrain is very hilly; you never get more than 300m flat before an assent or descent. Tonight’s hotel is fairly deluxe and we’re here for three nights, and our last night with Pedaltours (Dec 15) is on houseboat, off the Cochin coast I presume, and flying out Dec 17 at 4:35 AM.

Dec 12 Sunday
A rest day, meals on your own, and didn’t do much. Instead of a 10Km jungle walk, went shopping in Kumily with Joyce where most of the stuff is just too ornate for my taste. Joyce has absolutely no qualms about asking to be shown all sorts of stuff then just walking out, and then repeating the routine store after store. Had dinner with Sue and Csaba (the psychiatrist), ... a pleasant evening, went to the tandori BBQ in the hotel, .... meals with 3 or 4 is much better than group dinners. Just 2 more cycling days and the overnight on the houseboat

Dec 13 Monday
One of the better days, cycled 75 km to Theni in the state of Tamil Nadu (very poor), had excellent lunch (butter chicken) and the vanned back to Kumily.

Dec 14 Tuesday
We ended up cycling about 55 Km at roughly 1000 m altitude, and never got to the big downhill,... time was ran out and we had to arrive at our hotel before dark The hotel was substantial deluxe cabins on waterway network, ... impressive really.

Dec 15 Wednesday
Day on the houseboat in the backwaters near Cochin. Lonely Planet raves about it, .. its not bad, boats are nicely appointed, ...air-conditioned cabins and we seemed to be the only Caucasian tourists among all the many boats

Dec 16 Thursday
Cycled 35 Km from the boathouse to the pickup point then vanned back to the hotel for the farewell lunch ( 2 people are leaving on a 4:30 flight to Delhi. Sue gave a very good toast/roast to Marilyn. The big boss, KC from Bestways flew down from Delhi to say goodbye (effectively at our expense) ....the airfare money (say $400) would have been better spent as tips to the drivers/guides. He was supposed to arrange the lunch but it was kind of a cock-up (... seating issues), but it eventually got settled,... he made a big show of being upset, ... but the trouble was of his own doing.

Dec 17 2010 Friday

got home fine, 2:50pm, 10 min early, Emirates A380 seemed full, so about 700 passengers, but I had 2 seats (INCREDIBLY), ... kind of made up for the bad outbound Emirates flight.
Pearson airport was so busy and Customs/Immigration so busy it took 90 min instead of usual 20, .... so many in the NEW SINGLE snake line (20 rows) they almost started to back up on the escalators, ... so informal snake line was started, without the GUIDANCE tape, but only half the kiosks were open, ... government (MUST BE Conservative) incompetence.
went to BMO, got new Debit card w/o trouble,.... remember: knowing the "cancel telephone no" is SO important
using the highways (427/407when using the Limo) on the way home, reminded me of how "really great" we have it here, AND TAKE IT FOR GRANTED (sincerely).
Brampton is bloody cold,... Camry started fine though

blog statistics: 409 views as of Nov 30, so must be about 1,000+ by now(Dec 17)
overall rating Vietnam 9/10, Eastern Europe 6.5/10, Nepal 7.5/10, India (Raj and Kerala) 5.5/10

5 good things with Pedaltours India

Tipping (other than main guides) with Pedaltours is included (thank God); otherwise it’s a pain never having the right bill denominations, and guessing the appropriate amount
Given that the country is generally squalor, Pedaltours seems to have picked some good routes. Dec 6th reminded me of the Gorges de Verdun area of Provence.
The food is generally pretty good, occasionally excellent, but sometimes is not. Stay away from Mutton, menus say lamb, but is in fact is goat … very bony, and I don’t order it any more.
Marilyn is a superb guide (in so many ways), and the stand-in guide (Monty, 23) is young, and will improve. If you ask ‘what is that?’ (a body of water) he says: ``it’s a lake” … kind of new that.
Many of the hotels are gems (varied, quite special), and really stand out in the context (Rajasthan is poorer than 13 African countries). The castle hotel in Bijapur, where they had evening stage entertainment, and where the owner cycled with us two days, was impressive.

5 bad things in India

The local guide in Delhi (Saresh) was useless and unlike able, actually seems to have screwed things up, … why didn’t he just give us the train seat numbers instead of us getting kicked out of temporary seats. Then there was Peter’s double charging saga, … Peter feels Saresh's fault. The Ramada Plaza was no doubt super expensive, and gouged everything, the evening buffet was no doubt $outrageous, and the box lunch on day 2 they provided was expensive but pathetic, … the best part was the inedible very fancy box.
(…being careful with my words): Most Rajasthan locals tend to be “in your face”, not shy/retiring like Vietnam. The kids often want money, pens, and kind of scream at you and laugh mockingly (that’s my sense) as you ride by or away. One case of getting on your bike and wanting to ride away (Bill stopped it). Also, we had one case of being attacked (by gypsies) for a wallet, rackpack (but no harm done), and myself an instance of throwing of rocks, all psychologically hurtful. So, I keep quiet, don’t wave, and get through town ASAP.
So far, it seems one little corner of India (parliament region Delhi) is neat clean, impressive even, but the rest of the inhabited areas are dirty, littered, (Kerala is somewhat better). One has got to get over that, accept it (that’s India) , and move on,…. so get used to it, or be unhappy. I noticed the our drivers cleaned up all the refuse from our take out lunch, but then threw the 5 garbage bags into the bushes at the side of the road.
“ JK “ the big boss at Bestways was just an irritant. Why he came down to Cochin, effectively at our expense, to wish us goodbye (or whatever it was) is a mystery. The estimated $400 airfare money would have been better spent in paying/tipping the drivers. He made a show of making a fuss about the screwed-up seating at the final lunch, yet it was his doing.

Eastern Europe Sept 9-26 2010

2010-09-02T08:14:00.078-04:00

click map to enlarge
Four historically rich countries - Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland

(click) ..... to 10 of my photos
(click) ..... to 57 pics by Eric, guide

Preliminary (Sept 23) Evaluation
5 thumbs up:
1...better quality hotels than CV historically
2...map cases were a good idea
3...guides did exceptional job of follow up while on route
4...walking tour of Budapest, got things off on a good start
5....had the opportunity to go Prague, although was the only one to do so.

5 thumbs down:
1... weather in the first week was marginal at best, second week was very good
2... the route was generally not that interesting, say compared to France, or most trips
3... the trip was somewhat over-priced
4... maps while probably costly should have been highlighted before photocopying
5... map sessions did help a certain`esprit de corps` which is a positive, but were generally tedious and unnecessary (highlighted maps would obviate the need).

Overall, maybe a 6 or 6.5 on my very subjective scale (Scotland 3.5, Downhill to Nice 1996 a 9)
--
Sept 26 Sun return went smoothly..... arrived home on time. My coupled bike attracted no charges (not even as 2nd bag), Boman's went free, but other boxed bikes were charged $250 USD. Air Canada was overbooked and I was tempted by their fly next day for $950 compensation and accommodation, ... probably should have taken it.

Sept 25 Sat our last full day ...Phil made an excellent presentation speech to Eric and Leah after breakfast (Phil seems to really enjoy doing it) .... bused to the salt mines 10K out of town, ... fairly interesting, then a Polish sausage lunch (surprisingly good) went to Castle and the central market, ie the usual tourist stuff for Krakow ... then disassembled and packed my bike for 10:50 flight tomorrow.

Sept 24 Fri bused 1.75 hours to Krakow (trailer carried bikes), since the roads were supposedly too much traffic and difficult (not obvious to me). Staying at hotel in the Jewish quarter for 2 nights, then flight to Frankfurt and Toronto on Sunday. This afternoon we had a rather expensive unappealing lunch in the Jewish Quarter and a guided tour of the quarter but it was really tedious and boring, and might be all right for a Jewish group (but even they'd get bored), ... kind of the opposite of the Budapest guide who was very interesting.

Sept 23 Thurs cycled 78 K to Osweicim (Polish for Auschwitz) about half the group visited the extermination camp, .... not me .... seen that-done that... depressing. The weather was the best yet, although the roads were a bit rough ( didn't bother me).

Sept 22 Wed cycled about 72 Km and at the last Km we crossed over to Poland. Kind of thought the river separating Czech and Poland would be like the St Lawrence, ...it`s not, more like a big ditch. The weather was good today, low 20s, and I guess has been pretty good overall, with 2 days of rain. Frank Flatters had his 5th flat tire, even though he just bought new tires, ... maybe he needs new rim tape. We all commented that the Czech people all seemed cold and distant, ... like looking away when you ask questions (as if saying "don't bother me"). People have commented that Eric and Leah (the guides) have done a superior job looping back and keeping track of everyone.

Sept 21 Tues … The day started with Linda quizzing me about Prague, and talking about Kafka (a Prague Jew) and the meaning of "kafkaesque" which I had the rare brilliance to describe (very spontaneously) as "shit happens-get used to it" ... we all laughed, me uncontrollably. Cycled 87 Km to Stremberk from Olomouc, starting with a somewhat modified route on bike paths to get us through Olomouc without going on busy roads. It was the best cycling day on the trip since we started fairly warm and got progressively warmer. Stopped for lunch with Don Cathy and Marg for a full-fledged lunch, basically pork cordon blue. The ride in the afternoon included a long downhill of 10 Km, ...generally the roads are pretty good with a high proportion of truck traffic. Dinner was pork tenderloin, … and good. Tomorrow we pass into Poland just as we approach the day's destination.

Sept 20 Mon took the 9AM train 250 Km to Prague since I didn't think there was much going on in Olomuc, ... things went pretty well... joined a FreeTour and saw the important sites, Jewish quarter, Castle from distance, etc. Happened to meet Lina and Marg on the train back, ... who had gone to the Canadian Embassy to get Lina`s replacement passport.

Sept 19 Sun cycled just 59 km to Olomouc where we stay for two nights. Sunny but cold, maybe 15C Cycled with Don Cathy Marg Paul, and the best meal of the trip (a lunch) at the hotel, curried Tibetan chicken, ... then visited Whensaslas?(like Xmas carol) Cathedral and St Mary's of the Snow, then pizza dinner in the square. Thinking of going to Prague in the AM (2:43hr on train) since it`s a rest day tomorrow. Yesterday I was really rather worried because I became very! fatigued, eg had to sit down twice on the 2 floor climb with luggage, because if I didn't sit down, I'd fall down... maybe because of two heavy cycling days, was very cold (no jacket/not left in van as intended) and maybe not enough fluids, .... in any case today, today I feel fine.

Sept 18 Sat … cycled 83 Km to Boscovice, which was the first day we started in unqualified full sun. I swear yesterday in the rain there would be no way on earth I would have done that (117 Km) on a similar day back home. Evaluation comment: We sure are staying at a wide variety of hotel styles; last night was in a pub brewery, with a tour of the brewery. The first place in Slovakia was over the top, ... a grand sprawling estate of a complex of buildings where they must have spent millions renovating, a bit like Versailles (in a sense).

We all find the locals very distant and very far from `service with a smile``,..... I guess after decades of soviet domination, and no reward for effort, the people get very mechanical in their approach. If they are washing glasses, and you show up for coffee/whatever, then you’re not likely to get any attention till the glass washing is finished.

Sept 17 Friday, cycled 117 Km to Kromeriz, crossing into the Czech Republic. Unfortunately the weather was rainy to start, and 8 people took a taxi for 40-50km, with the bikes going in the van. There were 30 minutes of sunshine, but it was generally dull and between 14 and 20C. The road surface in the Czech R is very good .. better than Ontario. Lena, the physiotherapist, lost her passport, credit cards, and money, which of course will create a lot of trouble and commotion. I had no trouble with the 117 Km distance, but the many hills were a bit much, one at 12 degrees. Dinner at the brewery was a low point, (.. heretofore it has been pretty good) … a few hunks of overcooked beef swimming in gravy, and 4 large dumplings (kind of like 4 large slices of soggy white bread)…. It may be Czech, but I don’t think it went over very well; … a lot of people were so discouraged with slow service they left before dessert. Phil Hamilton had 4 chain breaks....pretty unusual.

Sept 16 Thurs .... Cycled 81 K to Piestany, including an extra 15 k section because we got lost. It was raining when we started but finished in quite nice sunshine... 3 flats amongst the group. There was a much-touted climb, that didn’t turn out to be much. Had dinner on our own, had pizza with Linda and the Ruddys.

Intricacies of wireless
I am still a bit puzzled by the occasional difficulty of connecting my new wireless netbook , ... here in Piesanty in a grand hotel its automatic, and in the downtown hotel in Budapest (a LAN) it was fine. but at other times I feel like I should be setting or changing something. The girl at reception last night said it was a new computer, and I hadn't even set it up for Public wireless, which I think she did. All places but one have had free terminals in the lobby. This tour is staying at swankier hotels than I'm used to.

Sept 15 cycled 102 Km to Beladice, through fertile farmlands.... stopped for a pizza lunch and decided to add some 15 extra kms. Hotel is also deluxe, but no where near the level of last night.

Sept 14 Tues cycled 92 km to Bela to a beautiful Butterfield&Robinson type place, a centuries old estate ..... sort of like an old renovated castle. Ride was essentially flat, and crossed the Danube from Hungary to Slovakia. Was able to switch 24,000 Hungarian Floriants to 82 Euros,... with a fair bit of bureaucratic confusion. In the map session there was a 30 minute session devoted to going over a yellow bridge, and crossing under same, .... how it took so long Il never know. Dinner was included in a very fancy hotel restaurant.

Sept 13, Monday ... today is first `official` day, since quite a few arrived yesterday. Met at 8:30 for city tour and the guide was really quite good, very proud of country, and just the right mix of light silliness and historical facts. It was a walking tour, with 3 subway rides... seeing the usual things, and there wasn't too much overlap(for me). Paid my hotel bill for the extra nights, at 52
Euro pp per night, .... not bad for a pretty nice hotel with exceptionally good breakfast.

Sept 12, Sunday ... mostly sunny day, went and got tickets to see the parliament buildings, kind of a rigmarole, ... free for citizens of EU, but $15 for Canadians. While waiting for the 12noon start, watched the triathlon where there were quite a few Canadians participating.... probably with the most flamboyant outfits. The tour was OK, but a bit of a rigmarole to get admission. Of the so-called English group only 10-25% were English speakers.

Sept 11 ...very rainy day ......took ``hop-on-hop-off ``bus tour on double Decker.... better than nothing....then a boat ride on the Danube, then three of us went to dinner with a friend of Jetje`s, .....he`s a military attache stationed in Budapest for Canada for 6 countries in the region. Others are going to opera tonight, .... not my cup of tea. On bus tour met Irish couple who say they`re at a hotel where everybody is there for cheap dental work at 20 percent of back home prices, all organized by Kreative Dental... amazing. In the evening, 3 went to Karl and Penny`s (Jetje's friends) he is the Canadian military attache for the region ... it was fun, Karl is a bit of a ham, ... so it was light and jolly.... and we got along well .... I guess they liked entertaining plain Canadians with no agenda, rather than their usual guests. Pork tenderloin was good of course, and conversation seemed to bubble along. Rory went as well as Doug and myself, and we were all glad we went. We took a couple bottles of wine,... they have a very nice apartment, ... they call it an "apartment", but its pretty grand.

Sept 10 ... On AC I had to wait standby, a piss-off, due to being oversold, but in the end it was OK. Can`t really understand why my web check-in (seat selection) wouldn't work ,... got differing opinions, but clerk says you should always!!! try to get your seat assigned before you go to the airport, because of overselling. He said that at the worst they would route me through Frankfurt, with compensation.... so there were a few anxious hours,.... but it worked out OK.

Virginia Apr 12-24 2010

2010-04-15T19:04:00.028-04:00

((Click photo to enlarge)
Impressions, overall:

great value, about half the cost-per-day of commercial trips, really just cost of accommodation
the 4 included dinners were great
the 5 inns were very different amongst them selves, each good in their own way
the GPS was invaluable, very impressed, ... wont leave home without it.
the group of 14 got along rather well, good esprit
the weather was good (rather cool) and on the two rainy days there were things to do
was worried about my 14 year old car, ... but it was fine
the 'cycling' itself (roads, car driver courtesy, km/day) was very good

.....in brief
. . . . basically this trip is a group of 14 individuals (essentially Ottawa based) cycling together, not a commercial operation,.... details and reservations co-ordinated by one person, Paul,.. 12 nights, $1,039,... excellent value, and meals can be as lavish as you want, although 4 dinners (turned out to be excellent) are included.

Monday Apr 12, was a 10 hour drive down (2.5 hours longer than I expected) through the Allegheny mountains, to a rather basic ordinary motel, ....deliberately, just a place to stay.

Tuesday Apr 13 was cold wet awful (raining) ...... so did a 2 hour bus tour of Gettysburg battle field, .... with an older guide who was rather theatrical,/dramatic ... pretty good, .....so overall, it didn't turn out badly.

The weather improved dramatically Wednesday Apr 14, cool but sunny, did 80 km , rather roll-y hills terrain, staying in an old plantation mansion .... rather fancy serving of dinner and 2 breakfasts by two black lady servants, in a style much like 150 years ago.

Thursday Apr 15 is clear blue sky, did 60 K in so-called wine area (didn't see many actual vineyards), ......then 2 hours driving in cars moving onto Harrisonburg Va for three nights, Stonewall Jackson B&B. Had Bouillabaisse at Clementines for dinner... very reasonable and very good.

Friday Apr 16 we did a short 44 km circuit around Waterbridge which we drove to where we parked the cars. Had a real simple lunch (which I prefer) a chicken salad sandwich prepared by gas station attendant, while sitting on a concrete parking lot bumper... how's that for simple? Back at the B&B, went to nearby Costco, ...just to compare, interesting to compare products, overall very similar, but different specifics .

Saturday Apr 17 (sunny 63F high) we did a 36.5km cycle from the B&B, to a onetime black home grouping (collection of a few homes), and then in the afternoon went off, 20mi, to a battlefield museum (hour video re-enactment, and walk around) with Kevin and Diana. Dinner at a brew pub where the ribs were excellent.

Sunday Apr 18 was a transfer day to Locust Dale, about 2 hours over the Blue Ridge mountains. Thank God for GPS, ... makes finding a place like this (Locust Dale has 3 houses) so easy, .... I'm really impressed. Ive got to learn to trust it because each time I thought it to be wrong, ... it turned out to be right. There was complimentary hors doeuvres ... kind of fancy. Dinner (2 stuffed quail) was included, and very good.

Monday Apr 19 was sunny and the group headed off toward Madison, Syria etct but kind of got lost, and did my own thing, 70K ... including sunning on a rock, listening to my MP3. Dinner was a steak, and I tried the"flight" of wines (3) where each one is paired to the course you select. ... kind of a nice idea.

Tuesday Apr 20 was not so sunny, but nice, cycled 104 Km, to Culpeper, 9 of us... stopped for pulled pork slammers at a bar&grill. Made a 11 Km error by not noticing the Hwy#656 right turn .. kind of my fault. Tried crab cakes for dinner, .... since this is fairly close to where (Maryland) where they are popular fare, ... didn't like them much.

Wed Apr 21 was rainy and a transfer day (only 27 miles if direct) to Mineral Va, and since it was rainy (pretty solid) I stopped at Target and bought 17 small items, eg a splitter for my cigarette lighter so I can power both the GPS and the FM transmitter for the MP3` player, a small cable-lock, a replacement bottle cage, sleeves for mailing DVDs etc etc. The Inn is another plantation, not as big as previous, and we fend for ourselves for dinner, and the makings of breakfast are provided, and we make it ourselves. We went to a nearby resaurant that was ptretty bad, although my steak and cheese sandwhich was fine.

Thursday Apr 22 was a 23C sunny day and cycled about 80K to a Spotsylvania, a famous civil war site. Then for dinner a 25 min drive to 10k beyond Mineral, to an upscale pub, had baked salmon.

Friday Apr 23 another 23C mostly sunny day and we cycle 80K up #629 to Orange, back on #612, lunch at "Emerald on Stokes" which seemed to please everybody.... peanut butter chocolate trifle for dessert. Then bought the makings for an evening barbeque by the pool at the inn, in the evening.

Sat Apr 24 ... left at 7:25 AM, arrived 7:15 PM. So, with two half hour breaks and one hour wait at border crossing, a 10 hour drive.... matches Google map's estimate.

Vietnam Jan25 -, Feb 14 2010

2010-02-01T00:27:00.079-05:00

................most recent journal at the top
............earlier days (Thailand,Cambodia) in next post (click)
Nhan(guide)

........ a few Photos (click)
........ 20 best photos of 752, (click)

Pros: (overall, Vietnam):

our guide Nhan was an outstanding leader, many skills (also proud of country)
lots of excellent scenery (especially compared to Thailand)
good balance of 100 Km cycling days
good sense of "depaisment" (feeling of being "out-of country")
Pedaltours was generally good value
children's smiles and welcome were remarkable

Cons

a lot of vanning (but I understand why)
Hanoi was kind of depressing (Saigon was exciting)

Feb 14.... flight to Bangkok, overnight and flights to HongKong and Toronto all went off without a hitch. Home 22 hours after Bangkok departure.

Feb 13.... off to Mekong delta for the day (70 Km. $56 extra), then flight to Bangkok. The Mekong delta was really not exceptional really, but I was glad I went because I would have felt missing-out otherwise

Feb 12 .... no cycling, just a city tour, all 9 of us with Nhan, Reunification palace was impressive .... Nhan seems very proud of his country .... justifyibly so, .... then history museum (long hot walk) with Doug and Brian .... kind of boring. Then bought 2 shirts (one a Thai purple) 2 pants (Nike) from street vendors, then 10 DVDs for 2$ each... really satisfied with my new aquisitions.

Feb 11 last day....cycled just 44 Km,....... then vanned 2 hours into the core of Saigon. Saigon is really hot maybe 34C in the shade .... but sunny and bright because they are getting ready for Tet (Lunar New Year) which seems like a real big deal, .... lots of flowers banners etc. After Hanoi, which was gray and dull and rather coldish, Saigon is a delight, .... bright spacey streets and fancy stores as well as many street vendors. Tonight will be our farewell dinner. Tomorrow, a number of us will do the city tour Feb 12 , and the Mekong delta (full day on the 13th). Then fly to Bangkok for the long return.

Feb 10 ... cycled 88 to a small Vietnamese-style resort probably catering to the Vietnamese. Nhan and the three others has dinner with us and Nahn made a brilliant speech at the end thanking us for participating, and coming to his country. Thought later about what he had said.... how he sat and listened to the group "chatter", and tried to pick the right moment for to introduce new topics..... he was really skilled, and I often felt he was talking to "me", ... but probably we all felt the same way, .... now, that's a skill.

Feb 9 cycled 112 Km (about 12 extra), largely downhill at first (about 1000 m) and then south along the coast with a tailwind, ... not bad, but really hot..... 34 C. At the beautiful SeaLion resort.... it has many Russians, all as obnoxious as ever. John from Texas says "Coloradans used to think Teaxans were the most obnoxious tourists, till the Russians came", ...eg .... it took me 45 minutes to reconfigure the browser so that it would work in English. Just 2 more cycling days, then Saigon city tour(extra cost, because Pedaltours perse is over), then a full day Mekong Delta tour, and a mid evening fight to Bangkok,... for the long trek back. Overall, Vietnam has been pretty good, ... a place I'd come back too.

Feb8 Monday, a rest day in Delat (at 1500m, so cool), and Pedal tours had a half day of city tour.... the last kings palace (.... kind of 30s, and not that much different than today), then a visit to the Crazy House, a kind of hotel kind of with kids interests, then a long vist to an embroidery factory. We were free for lunch and choose a questionable place for a 4 oz steak (swimming in oil)... I declined to visit the cable car, because it didnt seem to go anywhere. Had a snooze and worked on my phtotos. Although we were free for dinner we all chose to go together to a restaurant reccommended by Nhan, .... Long Doa, ... not bad, but without guidance we didnt order very well, ....all had New Zealand Ice cream.

4 new photos (click)

Feb 7 98 km cycling with a 4Km climb at the start, and occasional stretches with bad pot-holed roads, but overall the scenery is great. Lunch was after 60.8 Km and it's surprising how quickly you kind of adapt to the Vietnamese diet, ... not very appetizing to describe (soup, noodles, spring rolls, etc) but in the end everybody seems satisfied. In the afternoon cycled another 38.5 Km to DaLat, at 1500 m, and where the French (pre 1954) built a vacation city for their wealthy in Saigon, .... but the French are gone now. The temp is probably 5 degrees cooler than the coast, Dinner was in in a local restaurant, pre-arranged, and everything is served remarkably fast. Rest day tomorrow (in DaLat).

Feb 6 left Nah Trong(Nice-like)and a fair bit of vanning ~4 hours to get up to the beginning of the mountains, but a fair bit cycling too, say 80km. When we got to the Lake resort, we had an elephant ride (2 per elephant), ... fairly long, ... maybe close to an hour, and the last part of the ride through a lake where the water level got to our feet level ... (I assume the elephants like that). The 'Lak Resort' is described as basic, and it was, .... but you have got to appreciate we're in a fairly remote area. A very disturbing sight, when we transitioned from the van to cycling was seeing a cage on the back of a motorcycle with several smallish dogs jammed in like sardines, panting. ....destined to be eaten, ... a sight like that is so bothersome to me (kind of nightmare-ish), .... I cant shake it ...... it keeps coming back. I suppose I can see during the war why eating dogs can be argued, but after 25+ years, .... no way . At 1500 m its coolish at night, can easily wear a jacket.

Feb 5... Today Friday is a rest day, but pretty well full with pedaltour activities, ...first a boat trip out to an island, stopping at a aquarium for half an hour, kind of DisneyWorld like,... if you like that sort of thing. Then off to snorkeling on another part of the island, ...appreciated the opportunity to swim, but the snorkling left a lot to be desired. Then another short trip to a bamboo type lodge to have lunch, typical fish-oriented fare. Them, back on the mainland, to see a Champ minority group temple and dance performance. Then 30 minutes walking around a local fish market, ... others bought cinamon and pepper. Nhan said thtaat junior factory worker makes about 200 USD per month and a senior supervisor makes say 600 USD/mo, and if both husband and wide work, its enough to buy a modest house. However, there's a 2-5% of the population that is very wealthy.

Feb4 ... cycled 63 km to Nha Trang, very much like Nice France (hard though that may be to believe), staying at the very swank Novotel. I'd never heard of Nha Trang, 315,000 population, but its pretty impressive. During the American war (....the Vietnamese call it the "American war"), it was a big port/base. Went to a BBQ,Vietnamese style last night, kind of hibachis on every table with many courses, beef, tuna, languste etc . Then to the Four Seasons for KEM (=ice cream). Riding was good, beautiful stopped for lunch where they served crispy squid (not usually to my liking). On a crest we saw 100 people gathered around a recently killed shark,... why do people kill sharks with such delight? Later we went to a Vietnamese BBQ where there were hibachis on the table and we we grilled beef chicken squid and tuna, .... very good. Im not so fussy for fish, but it was good, and the grilling was fun.

Feb 3 ... 80 km cycling along the coast to Quinhon, beautiful seaside scenery. Cycling faced strong headwinds, so we were an hour late getting to he resort. There were a couple climbs at 10 %, and quite difficult given the 30C (even hotter in the sun). Beautiful resort by the sea, ... too bad only for one night. Our guide Nhan, 41, spent twenty minutes or so talking about his early life, one of ten children. Nhan was 7 at the time of the the fall of Saigon, and he says many were terrified of revenge (because his father worked in some capacity for the Americans), ... but in fact there was no revenge. He talked about the fact he could no longer eat kasava (sweet potato) since that was the only thing his family could afford. He also talked of his uncle who moved to Boston, but family members who later visited were frustrated because their were no other relatives, and the children no longer spoke Vietnamese When I said I got the impression people were fairly happy under one party rule .... he agreed and seemed intereested about my impressions of Cuba which he called "central planning" and " that won't work".

Feb 2 ... 70 km of cycling, .... but even longer in van. Strange, ... we cycled out 35 on a beautiful pastoral road then pretty much retraced our steps. I guess we did that because the road was so nice. Lunch was in a town where its common to serve steamed rice with chunks of chicken, ... and nothing else, turned out ot be quite good ... a lot better than I expected. Fairly small roads, fairly flat, and the rice paddies everywhere make it very deep green. Now in Quang Ngai, after visiting the famous Mi Lai massacre(click) site and memorial. They say the Vietnnamese don't hold resentment of the American's atrocities,... but I'm skeptical. Sunny and 30C, ... and I think most days will be like this.

Feb 1 our first free day, although there was a 2+ hour city tour in the morning. Hoi An is a pretty small town, 80,000, compared to Hanoi, but the "small town" is a closer match to my image of what Vietnam would be like. Dinner on our own turned out well, from a hotel reccomendation, red snapper, with Brian and Doug.

Jan 31 Today has been the first day of true cycling, (100 km) since we left Cambodia, maybe 8 days ago .... so it was very welcome ... and the climate is transformed from Hanoi which was kind of cool and grey. Whereas Hue and Hoi An are sooooo different, eg 30C - or close to it, and kind of a sleepy coastal resort town of 80,000. The route today was on populated but quiet roads (compared to Route #1) where there was little vehicular traffic, and involved a 9km descent (after a van vertical ride up 400m up after lunch) .... the coastal scenery is amazing and the camera doesnt do it justice. I'm getting to really like Vietnam, and while Thailand was "pretty good", I think Vietnam is shaping up as exceptional, and Pedaltours seems to have refined the trip quite a bit, so that it's a pretty polished product. I can remember Tim DeJong of Pedaltours New Zealand saying in 2003, "wait a few years and then try Vietnam, and we'll have worked out the kinks".

I'm getting to know the USA people who joined us (we're now 9 in total) ...a retired dermatologist from Baltimore, a threesome from Colorado (two men and a woman, just friends, and all Republicans) and a couple from Texas, Democrats,.... and all 5 are longtime friends. So, whenever any discussion comes up about US health care or Obama or Bush, the Colorado/Republicans conspicuously just keep very quiet, because the others call the Republicans are the OBSTRUCTIONIST party.... and I guess theres just no defending George Bush. Before dinner the guide took us to a silk factory where I ended up buying a silk-blend black shirt $20, ... should be good.

Jan 30 since we have a couple hours till flight, Brian Doug and I went to war history museum, of the French and American war, (no mention of wars of Cambodia and China, obvious reasons). At one time the theme would have been seen as propaganda, ... but now the Vietnam position is seen as perhaps right (... a good proportion of the US pubic agrees, then, and even more so now). Road back to hotel on three motorcycles, ... a thrill but you have to appreciate the the extreme density of motorcycle traffic (hard to find adequate words) to understand the riskiness. Doug got "taken" by paying 400,000, instead of 40,000 dong, whereas the taxi was about 21,000 ... but it's a bit of a deliberate scam because they they propose in USD, but want you to pay in local currency, where you're a bit confused. Then a fancy lunch and the Air Vietnam fight delayed by 3 hours. Then to the rather tropical city of Hue, where its so nice compared to the coolish dull Hanoi. Then we were fitted with our hybrid bikes, ... seem fine. Then a special dinner where we all got dressed up in fancy old-time Vietnamese robes (kind of silly) and had dinner in a chamber with three musicians and three girl singers, ... all in themes of times long ago.

Jan 29 The official start of the Pedaltour's 14 day trip starts at 6PM when the 9 members meet for the first time. Two from Texas, three from Colorado, and one from Maryland, as well as the three Canadians (Doug, Brian and myself). The guide book says there's only 1.5 hours of sunshine per day in January, ... and that seems to be holding true. Overall the countryside, along the highway is pretty scruffy, dismal (.... sort of like eastern China, every building is a shop on the ground floor), with occasional bright spots like the bright green rice paddies, and the remarkable narrow buildings, built three of four stories high because of land cost. Overall there's a sense of dynamism, that feels like progress is being made (... unlike Cuba). Tomorrow we flu to Hue (half way to Saigon) at 12::30, 1:10 hour flight.

Jan 28 Ha Long bay was a 4 hour drive to overnight on a junk, and it turned out quite nicely, and one night and two part days was about right. The word JUNK and the actually ritzy setup was a contradiction of course. It involved three meals all-seafood oriented, and a staff of about 10 looking after 9 passengers, and a young guide who tried very hard. The cabin was small of course, but rather nicely appointed with a shower/bathroom,... so quite nice really. The afternoon's activity was a visit to very large caves , .... I'm not that big a fan of caves, but they were pretty impressive. Then kayaking over to an island with 425 steps to a pagoda at the top... so we were kept pretty busy. Warm, ... about 25C

Jan 27 now off on a all-day tour to the out of town "Perfume Pagoda" with the same guide. 2 hours drive then 0ne hour in a rowboat, very scenic with Vietnamese planting rice, wearing the typical conical hats. Then cable car to a mountain top and a cave ... some sort of Buddha thing.

Jan 26 did a city tour with an associate of the Pedaltours appointed guide, $45, saw the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the Museum of Ethnology (2 hrs, quite good), Lunch, walking tour through the markets, then the water puppets show. Brian Abbot arrived during the day and we met at 6:00 PM for dinner at " Hanoi Seasons" (excellent). Also Stanford from Maryland joined us and will be on the complete 17 day trip. I get the feeling that Hanoi is not very sunny, according to the guide book theres only an average of 1.5 hours of sunshin per day in Januaty. Also the daily high is about 19 C ... which is pretty chilly after Bangkok at 30C.

Jan 25 essentially a "transfer day" Bangkok to Hanoi, Air France 747, ..... all went smoothly. Before gont to airport had half a Skype conversation with Sandy in Florida where I could hear her, GaryD and Cleo barking, and see them too (briefly) but they couldnt hear me although the headset a microphone. Taxi to airport was 400 Bhat with tip ($13) and traffic free but still about 35 minutes. Hanoi seems cold 18C (after Bangkok at near 30C), and a big change in general temperament, architecture, and people warmth, .... or so it seems. Went to ATM to get 2 million Dong, at a rate of 18,500 Dong to one USD. My BMO balance shows 134 million remaining. Had dinner in the hotel restaurant, a "hot pot" buffet which I remember last in Cheng Du (on the excursion to Lhasa) ... essentially boiling meat (chicken, beef, fish, meatball, vegetables) in a table top boiler, ... much like a fondue. Not bad, ... but "boiling" doesnt have the same pizazz as "stir fry"

....... (click) for earlier journal (Thailand Cambodia) in next post.....

Thai Cambodia Vietnam Photos

2010-01-22T06:00:00.032-05:00

The usual journal (gossip/impressions) can be found under "Previous Posts" or (click)
right click to enlarge ... the last cycling day, in Saigon in front of city hall, 34C ....... Rowena, Stan, Beth, Brian,Doug,John,Gary, Bruce, Carl.... in front of Peoples Committee Building.
Vietnam looks a whole lot different than "Apocolyse Now"
It's the frequent scenes like that this in Vietnam, that made the trip an "8", and the guide Nhan himself pushed it to an "8.5" in my subjective rating system.
a 27X zoom, ...elephant ride was special, the water up to eyebrows was a surprise.
Vietnamese seem to kill (and eat) anything that moves. To me, it's a crying shame to kill a giant manta ray like this.

this is a moment of "crazy" ... we took motorcycles back from war museum in Hanoi .... it's hard to put the motorcycle scene into words ... just amazing, being faced with a sea of motorcycles, ... it kind of works on a 'maintain your course' assumption, ... just like sailing
this is typical HaLong Bay, ..... kind of eerie.
this is day one of cycling in Vietnam, 9 cyclists, after having flown from Hanoi to Hue, half the way to Saigon
this is day 2 in Bangkok, where we went on the ABC day tour with Frank Flatters and Jeb

this is a 40X zoom of the Myanmar (Burmese) army encampment across the bamboo (literal) fence.

First day with The Smiling Albino group with Scott the Manager/co-founder
In Thailand, near Ching Rai .... feeding the elephant, later when I wasn't paying attention one of them gently nudged me from behind with a wet snout, .... to say "Where's those bananas you had?"
The only day of trekking in northern Thai, 83 year old grandmother, of the so-called hill-people. Locals dont speak Thai
Brian and Tara from US Navy, Okinawa, I was on adjacent elephant.
Reading in a hilltop resort.