The trip from Sagres to Lisbon was pretty straightforward. Took a bus to Lagos, then walked five minutes to the very modern-looking train station. There were quite a few other travellers doing the same trip back. Transferred trains at Tunes (I had pictured scurrying around in the eight minutes we had to transfer, trying to figure out the platform and going up and down stairs to get there, but it was just a three-platform station, and we just had to walk across to the other side of the platform).
Got off the train at Entrecampos (one of the four stations in Lisbon) a very clearly-marked station. We found our way to the Metro, purchased our tickets and were on the metro as fast as if we used it every day.
We checked into the Eurostar Das Letras. Heather asked for a balcony view, which was no extra charge, and so we're in a very nice room on the 7th floor with a beautiful view of Lisbon.
Armed with our 72-hour Lisboa Card (€35 for unlimited transit and free or reduced entrance fees to museums etc), spent yesterday and today touristing. For reference, we saw the following sights (listed in the order from the Lonely Planet):
Elevador de Santa Justa (an outdoor elevator to get up to Alto Barrio, looks somewhat similar to the Eiffel Tower); Rossio (just a big plaza); Convento do Carmo (an old cathedral destroyed by an earthquake, only the frame remains, you have to pay to enter the museum which is inside the cathedral, I really liked it); Museu do Chiado (we liked this museum); Castelo de São Jorge (this castle overlooking Lisbon was a highlight, and the camera obscura is really cool to see); Museu do Teatro Romano (free to enter, we both liked it); Igreja de São Vicente de Fora (we've seen too many churches to appreciate it, but there were cool views from outside); three miradouras (lookout points) Santa Luzia, Graça and Senhora do Monte (our favourite); Panteão Nacional (originally intended as a church, you can access the upper levels for really cool vantage points -- one of our favourite, and not many tourists); Sé (another cathedral); Ponte 25 de Abril (a twin of the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco, built by the same company); Mosteiro dos Jerónimos (we were impressed by this monastery despite having seen a lot of churches -- almost missed the doorway to the upper choir, which is a great angle for pictures); Padrão dos Descobrimentos (a 52m high limestone structure dedicated to explorers such as Henry the Navigator and Vasco da Gama, there's an elevator to the top for great views of the Mosteiro); Torre de Belém (an old fortress on the river, overrun by tour bus tourists).
In between we rode tram 28, as all tourists do. The trams are great subjects in pictures. Because we have the Lisboa Card, Heather took a tram for one stop so she could hang out the window while I chased her taking pictures.
Yesterday we had dinner in Barrio Alto, where there's a lot of bars and restaurants. The restaurant (called 580) had really interesting appetizers, so we just ordered six and called them tapas. The kitchen was great and actually plated each appetizer on two plates. We weren't sure if we were getting two of each until we got the bill!
We saw a lot of planes in the sky today, which bodes well that the Lisbon airport is open. We haven't seen any recent news about the volcano affecting flights (just BA strikes are on the news, which we're not on).
The weather has been great since we arrived in Lisbon. We froze up north at the start of the trip, with rain the first couple days and highs of 12C. The middle part of the trip was too hot with highs over 30C. The last couple days have been perfect, around 23C.
Now to figure out where we're going for dinner...
Friday, May 28, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Lisbon, Portugal
We spent most of Sunday getting from Tomar to Évora. The tracks to Évora are under a long repair job, and so there are no trains in or out of Évora right now.
From Tomar we caught the train to Oriente station in Lisbon. This itself was a bit of an adventure as the tracks were out for a couple stations near Santarém, and so everyone got off the train, onto a bus for about 40 minutes, and then back on another train.
We had a couple hours to kill in Lisbon, so checked out around Oriente station. It's the former site of Expo ??, with all the architecture you'd associate with a world fair.
The bus to Evorá went over the 17.2km Ponte Vasco da Gama, a bridge over the Rio Tejo. That was a pretty cool bonus for taking the bus.
Most restaurants are closed on Sunday so we asked our hotel in Évora for recommendations for dinner, rather than just walking around town to pick one.
The recommended restaurant had clams on the menu, which Heather had been looking forward to eating. They were great, served in a corrriander and garlic broth. Mmm good. We'd never thought to pair clams with corriander.
On Monday toured around Évora. Saw the roman ruins, the sé (cathedral), nice cobblestone streets etc etc. It's a very pretty town to wander around. Found some cool souvenirs -- cork is grown in the surrounding area, and we bought a trivet that's a cross section of a branch; and a bread basket from a knob (?) of a tree.
We had dinner at Tasquinha d'Oliveira, our restaurant splurge for the trip. The owner worked at O Fialho for 15 years, a legendary restaurant here, before opening up his own about 10 years ago.
The door was locked when we arrived (on a Monday night!). The owner only lets in people who he wants -- I guess we passed his test because he let us in. While eating, we saw him turn away a number of would-be diners, so we were lucky.
Appetizers were stuffed crab, and mushrooms with mint, garlic and a vinagrette. Very good.
For dinner, Heather ordered clams in the corriander broth (same as yesterday), and I tried the blackened pork with clams. Both were amazing. The secret I suppose is in the broths.
We had some wine remaining, and the owner brought us some extremely soft goat cheese, with a pumpkin & almond compote on the side. This was amazing, and matched the wine perfectly. I could have just eaten that all night.
We finished with a sampling of the desserts, and 20-year old tawny.
Overall it was the best meal we've had this trip, although the best course is still the duck Heather had in Guimarães.
Tuesday was another day of travel, finally getting to the Algarve for beaches and relaxing.
Took a three-hour bus south from Évora to Albufeira; another bus to Lagos, and finally a third bus to Sagres. The whole journey took about eight hours.
Our hotel (Mareta Beach) was a five minute walk to the beach of the same name. They had messed up our reservations and so we didn't get the beach view and balcony that we'd been looking forward to (had an ocean view though).
Sagres (and most of the Algarve that we passed through) turned out to be not our scene -- we found ourselves pining for cobblestone streets and medieval old towns. The beach was nice, but PEI has better.
So we packed up our stuff this morning and headed for Lisbon. We'll have four nights and three days to see it.
From Tomar we caught the train to Oriente station in Lisbon. This itself was a bit of an adventure as the tracks were out for a couple stations near Santarém, and so everyone got off the train, onto a bus for about 40 minutes, and then back on another train.
We had a couple hours to kill in Lisbon, so checked out around Oriente station. It's the former site of Expo ??, with all the architecture you'd associate with a world fair.
The bus to Evorá went over the 17.2km Ponte Vasco da Gama, a bridge over the Rio Tejo. That was a pretty cool bonus for taking the bus.
Most restaurants are closed on Sunday so we asked our hotel in Évora for recommendations for dinner, rather than just walking around town to pick one.
The recommended restaurant had clams on the menu, which Heather had been looking forward to eating. They were great, served in a corrriander and garlic broth. Mmm good. We'd never thought to pair clams with corriander.
On Monday toured around Évora. Saw the roman ruins, the sé (cathedral), nice cobblestone streets etc etc. It's a very pretty town to wander around. Found some cool souvenirs -- cork is grown in the surrounding area, and we bought a trivet that's a cross section of a branch; and a bread basket from a knob (?) of a tree.
We had dinner at Tasquinha d'Oliveira, our restaurant splurge for the trip. The owner worked at O Fialho for 15 years, a legendary restaurant here, before opening up his own about 10 years ago.
The door was locked when we arrived (on a Monday night!). The owner only lets in people who he wants -- I guess we passed his test because he let us in. While eating, we saw him turn away a number of would-be diners, so we were lucky.
Appetizers were stuffed crab, and mushrooms with mint, garlic and a vinagrette. Very good.
For dinner, Heather ordered clams in the corriander broth (same as yesterday), and I tried the blackened pork with clams. Both were amazing. The secret I suppose is in the broths.
We had some wine remaining, and the owner brought us some extremely soft goat cheese, with a pumpkin & almond compote on the side. This was amazing, and matched the wine perfectly. I could have just eaten that all night.
We finished with a sampling of the desserts, and 20-year old tawny.
Overall it was the best meal we've had this trip, although the best course is still the duck Heather had in Guimarães.
Tuesday was another day of travel, finally getting to the Algarve for beaches and relaxing.
Took a three-hour bus south from Évora to Albufeira; another bus to Lagos, and finally a third bus to Sagres. The whole journey took about eight hours.
Our hotel (Mareta Beach) was a five minute walk to the beach of the same name. They had messed up our reservations and so we didn't get the beach view and balcony that we'd been looking forward to (had an ocean view though).
Sagres (and most of the Algarve that we passed through) turned out to be not our scene -- we found ourselves pining for cobblestone streets and medieval old towns. The beach was nice, but PEI has better.
So we packed up our stuff this morning and headed for Lisbon. We'll have four nights and three days to see it.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Tomar, Portugal
We had a little day trip to Mata Nacional do Buçaco, a national park near Coimbra, to get a break from perfect medieval towns and cobblestone streets.
At the suggestion of the lady at our hotel, we bought picnic stuff for lunch at the local supermarket, Pingo Doce. Bread, cheese, cured meats and a bottle of wine from the Dão (we splurged on the wine, most of the bottles were under €2, we spent €3).
The bus took us right into the park, dropping us off at the castle (now a luxury hotel). The trails weren't as well marked as we would have liked, but we did manage to find a nice location for lunch.
Wandered through the park, under giant ferns and wild callalillies. Waited for the bus to take us back, which was a bit late (there was only one scheduled at 6:30pm so we didn't have much choice).
Between all the hills in the park and our hotel at the top of the hill in the old part of town, our leg muscles were tired out. Back down to the lower part of town for dinner, and then back up for bed. We were exhausted.
The next morning walked back down to the train station, for the train to Tomar. Checked into Residencial Cavaleiros Crystal.
Had lunch and then had a couple hours to see the sights. First checked out the matchbook museum. We thought it would be an in-and-out-quick sort of place, but it was actually quite interesting and larger than we imagined with over 40,000 matchbooks.
That left us an hour to see Convento do Cristo, the old Knights Templar headquarters. We thought that would be enough, until we started touring it. The place is amazing, the size, the age (12th century), and the access allowed to tourists. We wandered all around, up turrets, into cloisters, everywhere. The place was also relatively tourist-free, likely because it was an hour before closing time, so all the tour groups had come and gone.
If you are going to Portugal and can see only one place, I would recommend the Convento do Cristo. It's one of the top sites I've seen in the world. After, that got me thinking about what I would rate the top sites, so I created a list. Convento do Cristo comes in at 13:
Eric D'Souza's Top Sites
1 Machu Picchu (Cuzco, Peru)
2 Angkor Wat (Siem Reap, Cambodia)
3 Tikal (Flores, Guatemala)
4 Moai (Easter Island, Chile)
5 Perito Moreno Glacier (El Calafate, Argentina)
6 Great Wall (Simatai, China)
7 Plains of the Serengeti (Tanzania)
8 Foz do Iguaçu (Brasil & Argentina)
9 Palenque (Mexico)
10 La Paz, Bolivia (from altiplano)
11 Mountain Gorillas (Ruhengeri, Rwanda)
12 Great Mosque (Djenné, Mali)
13 Convento de Cristo (Tomar, Portugal)
14 Swayambunath at dawn (Kathmandu, Nepal)
15 Angel Falls (Venezuela)
16 Prambanan Temples (Indonesia)
17 Lago Verde (Bolivia)
18 Drepung Monastery (Lhasa, China)
19 Nazca lines (Nazca, Peru)
20 Friendship Highway (Tibet to Nepal)
21 Hermitage Museum (St Petersburg, Russia)
22 Stonehenge (Amesbury, England)
23 Tanneries (Fez, Morocco)
24 Lake Louise (Jasper, Canada)
25 Borobudur (Indonesia).
26 Khongoryn Els sand dunes (Gobi Desert, Mongolia).
27 Kremlin (Moscow, Russia)
28 Great Pyramid (Giza, Egypt)
29 Galapagos Islands (Ecuador)
(Keep in mind it's only places I've been to (for example, I've never seen Rome) and it's based on my personal preferences, and as you can probably determine from the top three, I like ruins).
...
Today we had another day trip, this one to see a castle on a island (Castelo de Almoural). It was a bit difficult to get to -- we caught a short train to Entroncamento, then a taxi to Almoural, and finally a two minute boat ride to the castle. Overall, probably not worth the effort, but it was something different. Plus after Convento do Cristo anything was likely to be a let down.
We were back in Tomar by 1:30, and so spent the rest of the day reading in a park near the hotel. We had lunch at an excellent restaurant (they bake their own bread, have the best olives we've had, and the cod was perfectly done), so we're going there for dinner too.
At the suggestion of the lady at our hotel, we bought picnic stuff for lunch at the local supermarket, Pingo Doce. Bread, cheese, cured meats and a bottle of wine from the Dão (we splurged on the wine, most of the bottles were under €2, we spent €3).
The bus took us right into the park, dropping us off at the castle (now a luxury hotel). The trails weren't as well marked as we would have liked, but we did manage to find a nice location for lunch.
Wandered through the park, under giant ferns and wild callalillies. Waited for the bus to take us back, which was a bit late (there was only one scheduled at 6:30pm so we didn't have much choice).
Between all the hills in the park and our hotel at the top of the hill in the old part of town, our leg muscles were tired out. Back down to the lower part of town for dinner, and then back up for bed. We were exhausted.
The next morning walked back down to the train station, for the train to Tomar. Checked into Residencial Cavaleiros Crystal.
Had lunch and then had a couple hours to see the sights. First checked out the matchbook museum. We thought it would be an in-and-out-quick sort of place, but it was actually quite interesting and larger than we imagined with over 40,000 matchbooks.
That left us an hour to see Convento do Cristo, the old Knights Templar headquarters. We thought that would be enough, until we started touring it. The place is amazing, the size, the age (12th century), and the access allowed to tourists. We wandered all around, up turrets, into cloisters, everywhere. The place was also relatively tourist-free, likely because it was an hour before closing time, so all the tour groups had come and gone.
If you are going to Portugal and can see only one place, I would recommend the Convento do Cristo. It's one of the top sites I've seen in the world. After, that got me thinking about what I would rate the top sites, so I created a list. Convento do Cristo comes in at 13:
Eric D'Souza's Top Sites
1 Machu Picchu (Cuzco, Peru)
2 Angkor Wat (Siem Reap, Cambodia)
3 Tikal (Flores, Guatemala)
4 Moai (Easter Island, Chile)
5 Perito Moreno Glacier (El Calafate, Argentina)
6 Great Wall (Simatai, China)
7 Plains of the Serengeti (Tanzania)
8 Foz do Iguaçu (Brasil & Argentina)
9 Palenque (Mexico)
10 La Paz, Bolivia (from altiplano)
11 Mountain Gorillas (Ruhengeri, Rwanda)
12 Great Mosque (Djenné, Mali)
13 Convento de Cristo (Tomar, Portugal)
14 Swayambunath at dawn (Kathmandu, Nepal)
15 Angel Falls (Venezuela)
16 Prambanan Temples (Indonesia)
17 Lago Verde (Bolivia)
18 Drepung Monastery (Lhasa, China)
19 Nazca lines (Nazca, Peru)
20 Friendship Highway (Tibet to Nepal)
21 Hermitage Museum (St Petersburg, Russia)
22 Stonehenge (Amesbury, England)
23 Tanneries (Fez, Morocco)
24 Lake Louise (Jasper, Canada)
25 Borobudur (Indonesia).
26 Khongoryn Els sand dunes (Gobi Desert, Mongolia).
27 Kremlin (Moscow, Russia)
28 Great Pyramid (Giza, Egypt)
29 Galapagos Islands (Ecuador)
(Keep in mind it's only places I've been to (for example, I've never seen Rome) and it's based on my personal preferences, and as you can probably determine from the top three, I like ruins).
...
Today we had another day trip, this one to see a castle on a island (Castelo de Almoural). It was a bit difficult to get to -- we caught a short train to Entroncamento, then a taxi to Almoural, and finally a two minute boat ride to the castle. Overall, probably not worth the effort, but it was something different. Plus after Convento do Cristo anything was likely to be a let down.
We were back in Tomar by 1:30, and so spent the rest of the day reading in a park near the hotel. We had lunch at an excellent restaurant (they bake their own bread, have the best olives we've had, and the cod was perfectly done), so we're going there for dinner too.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Coimbra, Portugal
Caught the bus from Régua to Lamego. It was a very scenic drive, through tiny little streets barely able to fit the bus. At Lamego we changed buses for Viseu, which turned put to be the same bus (except we couldn't buy the ticket to Viseu in Régua).
There was an hour wait in Lamego, which gave me enough time to go into town and take a picture of the 600+ steps up to Igreja de Nossa Senhora dos Remédios.
We arrived in Viseu with just enough time to get to our hotel (Pensão Rossio Parque) and catch lunch at 2pm. We got the prime room, with a balcony overlooking the plaza.
We walked arond Viseu after lunch. It was pretty hot (30C), plus we were getting tired of nice medieval old towns and cobblestone street, so didn't spend too much time touristing.
My backpack had the stitching come undone at the straps, and we had seen a repair shop, so I unpacked all my stuff and took it over. It cost €4 and they had it ready for the next morning.
Heather was feeling a bit off so we found a simple little place for dinner. They did have a couple things I was looking to try: pig's ear appetizers (pickled, tasted okay but the texture was an acquired taste), and roasted kid (a bit of an effort to eat, sort of like rabbit, except goat taste). The house red was fr the Dão, and was excellent.
The next morning picked up my repaired backpack, and took an express bus to Coimbra. It's a pretty big city (just over 100K). We stayed at Casa Pombal Guesthouse. We were lucky to get in -- it's been fully booked this month, no doubt because it's the place of choice in both the Lonely Planet and Rough Guide. This is the first time this trip we've found a fully booked hotel. Our room is in the attic, with a beautiful view in three directions. Unfornately it's books tomorrow so we have to move to a room with two single beds. The hotel is in th old city, which meant a lot of walking up to get to it.
Walked a bit around the old city this afternoon. It was really hot again, so stayed to inside things -- the old library (Biblioteca Joanina, which was well worth the €5 admission), the old cathedral (Sé Velha), and Igreja de Santa Cruz. We've noticed a lot more bus tour people here than in other places. Cooled down with a beer in Largo da Portagem.
Tomorrow we're planning a day trip to Mata Nacional do Buçaco, a national forest. Well we're off for dinner now.
There was an hour wait in Lamego, which gave me enough time to go into town and take a picture of the 600+ steps up to Igreja de Nossa Senhora dos Remédios.
We arrived in Viseu with just enough time to get to our hotel (Pensão Rossio Parque) and catch lunch at 2pm. We got the prime room, with a balcony overlooking the plaza.
We walked arond Viseu after lunch. It was pretty hot (30C), plus we were getting tired of nice medieval old towns and cobblestone street, so didn't spend too much time touristing.
My backpack had the stitching come undone at the straps, and we had seen a repair shop, so I unpacked all my stuff and took it over. It cost €4 and they had it ready for the next morning.
Heather was feeling a bit off so we found a simple little place for dinner. They did have a couple things I was looking to try: pig's ear appetizers (pickled, tasted okay but the texture was an acquired taste), and roasted kid (a bit of an effort to eat, sort of like rabbit, except goat taste). The house red was fr the Dão, and was excellent.
The next morning picked up my repaired backpack, and took an express bus to Coimbra. It's a pretty big city (just over 100K). We stayed at Casa Pombal Guesthouse. We were lucky to get in -- it's been fully booked this month, no doubt because it's the place of choice in both the Lonely Planet and Rough Guide. This is the first time this trip we've found a fully booked hotel. Our room is in the attic, with a beautiful view in three directions. Unfornately it's books tomorrow so we have to move to a room with two single beds. The hotel is in th old city, which meant a lot of walking up to get to it.
Walked a bit around the old city this afternoon. It was really hot again, so stayed to inside things -- the old library (Biblioteca Joanina, which was well worth the €5 admission), the old cathedral (Sé Velha), and Igreja de Santa Cruz. We've noticed a lot more bus tour people here than in other places. Cooled down with a beer in Largo da Portagem.
Tomorrow we're planning a day trip to Mata Nacional do Buçaco, a national forest. Well we're off for dinner now.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Viseu, Portugal
We had a nice breakfast overlooking the river and bridge before catching the bus from Amarante to Régua. There were five of us trying to figure out from where the bus actually departed. The bus driver must be used to people waiting on random corners because he was looking out for passengers.
It was a beautiful drive down the valley to Régua. We had thought about renting a car for this trip, but we're glad we didn't because I wouldn't be able to enjoy the view if I was driving.
Decided to stay in Régua instead of carrying on to Pinhão as most tourists do, because our next leg was easier from Régua. Régua used to be an important port town, before losing the title to the prettier Pinhão.
We booked into the Hotel Douro Régua, a 4-star hotel frequented by the bus tours (only €77 for a river-view room).
We had lunch in a churrasqueira (grill house), which was packed with locals. It was great. We've finally figured out to always order the house wine, because it's far cheaper and is always a good match for the food.
We tried to walk around town, but it was too hot in the sun. Relaxed at the hotel, with the balcony sliding door wide open to the river view. (It was perfect weather out of the sun, about 24C). The previous towns were slightly chilly, so it was great to finally have tshirt weather.
Had dinner at a cool-looking place that served tapas. Unfortunately it was just trendy and average food. After the great meals the past few days it was a bit of a letdown.
We were up early the next morning for our day trip up the Rio Douro. Took the train round trip to Pocinho and back. The best views were between Pinhão and Pocinho. I took over 100 pics. The day trip had been recommended by a couple locals in Porto, and it was well worth it.
We arrived back in Régua around 2:40, a little late for lunch (most places close at 2pm). A tourist restaurant was open, we had the set menu (another lesson we've learned -- this is far cheaper and better than ordering àbla carte). We had soup, grilled beef with rice and salad, 75cl house wine, espressos and dessert, for €16 between the two of us.
Relaxed back at the hotel again, then headed out for dinner. Found a little local restaurant in a side street (Restaurant Jéréré) which was amazing. Had appetizers of octopus, and grilled sausage. I had suckling pig for my main which was my favourite meal so far this trip. Heather had beef medallions in a cream sauce which was also delicious.
Finished with a dessert and port. The owner wouldn't let us order our first choice for dessert (non!) because it didn't go with port.
Walked down the boardwalk after dinner to help digest. There were lots of people doing the same -- it was very safe.
It was a beautiful drive down the valley to Régua. We had thought about renting a car for this trip, but we're glad we didn't because I wouldn't be able to enjoy the view if I was driving.
Decided to stay in Régua instead of carrying on to Pinhão as most tourists do, because our next leg was easier from Régua. Régua used to be an important port town, before losing the title to the prettier Pinhão.
We booked into the Hotel Douro Régua, a 4-star hotel frequented by the bus tours (only €77 for a river-view room).
We had lunch in a churrasqueira (grill house), which was packed with locals. It was great. We've finally figured out to always order the house wine, because it's far cheaper and is always a good match for the food.
We tried to walk around town, but it was too hot in the sun. Relaxed at the hotel, with the balcony sliding door wide open to the river view. (It was perfect weather out of the sun, about 24C). The previous towns were slightly chilly, so it was great to finally have tshirt weather.
Had dinner at a cool-looking place that served tapas. Unfortunately it was just trendy and average food. After the great meals the past few days it was a bit of a letdown.
We were up early the next morning for our day trip up the Rio Douro. Took the train round trip to Pocinho and back. The best views were between Pinhão and Pocinho. I took over 100 pics. The day trip had been recommended by a couple locals in Porto, and it was well worth it.
We arrived back in Régua around 2:40, a little late for lunch (most places close at 2pm). A tourist restaurant was open, we had the set menu (another lesson we've learned -- this is far cheaper and better than ordering àbla carte). We had soup, grilled beef with rice and salad, 75cl house wine, espressos and dessert, for €16 between the two of us.
Relaxed back at the hotel again, then headed out for dinner. Found a little local restaurant in a side street (Restaurant Jéréré) which was amazing. Had appetizers of octopus, and grilled sausage. I had suckling pig for my main which was my favourite meal so far this trip. Heather had beef medallions in a cream sauce which was also delicious.
Finished with a dessert and port. The owner wouldn't let us order our first choice for dessert (non!) because it didn't go with port.
Walked down the boardwalk after dinner to help digest. There were lots of people doing the same -- it was very safe.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Peso da Régua, Portugal
From Guimarães we took a 50 minute bus ride to Amarante. I wanted to go here because the town is known for its cheeses and cured meats.
We checked into Residencial Estoril, with a view of Ponte de São Gonçalo. The hotel's restaurant actually juts over the Rio Tâmega. Had a quick lunch, and then tried to find th train station for the next day. Unfortunately the narrow gauge train no longer runs (it was supposedly pretty scenic). The replacement transport wasn't clearly marked and we trekked back and forth through the town (there's only one major road in the old centre, which goes across the river, pedestrians and cars sharing the 12' wide bridge).
Found out there was a cake festival going on, so checked it out and had the free samples. Next visited the Museo de Souza-Cardoso, which was pretty impressive for a town of 11,000.
For an afternoon snack we went to a local adega, filled with old men having cheese and smoked meats and wine. It was exactly what I was looking for. The old men were very friendly, although we couldn't understand a word. With some difffliculty, ordered a couple different kinds of prosciutto, and a cured choriço (also some cheese, olives and great bread). For wine we had vino verde, a young white (!) wine which everyone was drinking. It was amazing.
We walked around town a bit more, stopping into the cafe right on the corner of the bridge for tea and sweets.
Later went for dinner in a little restaurant (we didn't want anything too fancy cause we were pretty full from the meat and cheese place). We though we were late (it was about 9pm and there was only one table of people). Turned out we were early! The restaurant filled up as the night went on.
After dinner, walked by the cathedral because we had seen posters that there was a symphony performance that night, open to the public. It was a great way to finish the night, listening to the orchestra in a beautiful cathedral.
We checked into Residencial Estoril, with a view of Ponte de São Gonçalo. The hotel's restaurant actually juts over the Rio Tâmega. Had a quick lunch, and then tried to find th train station for the next day. Unfortunately the narrow gauge train no longer runs (it was supposedly pretty scenic). The replacement transport wasn't clearly marked and we trekked back and forth through the town (there's only one major road in the old centre, which goes across the river, pedestrians and cars sharing the 12' wide bridge).
Found out there was a cake festival going on, so checked it out and had the free samples. Next visited the Museo de Souza-Cardoso, which was pretty impressive for a town of 11,000.
For an afternoon snack we went to a local adega, filled with old men having cheese and smoked meats and wine. It was exactly what I was looking for. The old men were very friendly, although we couldn't understand a word. With some difffliculty, ordered a couple different kinds of prosciutto, and a cured choriço (also some cheese, olives and great bread). For wine we had vino verde, a young white (!) wine which everyone was drinking. It was amazing.
We walked around town a bit more, stopping into the cafe right on the corner of the bridge for tea and sweets.
Later went for dinner in a little restaurant (we didn't want anything too fancy cause we were pretty full from the meat and cheese place). We though we were late (it was about 9pm and there was only one table of people). Turned out we were early! The restaurant filled up as the night went on.
After dinner, walked by the cathedral because we had seen posters that there was a symphony performance that night, open to the public. It was a great way to finish the night, listening to the orchestra in a beautiful cathedral.
Guimarães, Portugal
I think I just had one of the best meals ever! Tonight, Eric and I checked out a restaurant called "Cheers - Wine and Tapas"...and it was excellent. I ordered the leg of duck, with chestnuts and raisins - and it was divine. If someone had said "this will be your last meal, ever," I would have happily agreed :) Amazing.
(written by Heather)
(written by Heather)
Friday, May 14, 2010
Guimarães, Portugal
In Guimarães we stayed at Residencial das Trinas, located on a very narrow cobbled-stoned street in the old town. We got a room overlooking the street.
The weather wasn't too great, rainy and a bit chilly. We'd asked the hotel owner for restaurant recommendations, he thought for a bit and then circled some places on the map. We tried out a busy narrow place full of local business folk on lunch. We both had bife no pao, (steak on a bun). The steak was done perfectly, medium rare, and went really well with the glasses of wine.
After lunch, we wandered around the medieval centre of Guimarães. The rain kept most of my pictures tourist-free. Scouted out places for dinner. The sun poked through around evening, just as we went for dinner at Cheers (as the Lonely Planet says, don't judge a restaurant by its name).
It was one our favourite meals ever. Started with an appetizer of hoira (a Portuguese sausauge) on fried onions, followed by another of phyllo-wrapped sausage on with oyster mushrooms. Heather's main was duck breast with chestnuts. The duck was done perfectly, and was a surprisingly perfect match with the chestnuts. I had the cod, served with spinach and cornbread. We finished with chocate cake and port. Mmm good.
We walked back through a lively nightlife, with a number of bars and clubs open for Friday night. We were too full (plus we're no longer 20) so just went back to our hotel.
The weather wasn't too great, rainy and a bit chilly. We'd asked the hotel owner for restaurant recommendations, he thought for a bit and then circled some places on the map. We tried out a busy narrow place full of local business folk on lunch. We both had bife no pao, (steak on a bun). The steak was done perfectly, medium rare, and went really well with the glasses of wine.
After lunch, we wandered around the medieval centre of Guimarães. The rain kept most of my pictures tourist-free. Scouted out places for dinner. The sun poked through around evening, just as we went for dinner at Cheers (as the Lonely Planet says, don't judge a restaurant by its name).
It was one our favourite meals ever. Started with an appetizer of hoira (a Portuguese sausauge) on fried onions, followed by another of phyllo-wrapped sausage on with oyster mushrooms. Heather's main was duck breast with chestnuts. The duck was done perfectly, and was a surprisingly perfect match with the chestnuts. I had the cod, served with spinach and cornbread. We finished with chocate cake and port. Mmm good.
We walked back through a lively nightlife, with a number of bars and clubs open for Friday night. We were too full (plus we're no longer 20) so just went back to our hotel.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Braga, Portugal
We caught the one-hour train from Porto to Braga this morning, which cost €2.10 each (less than a ride on the TTC). It's on the suburban run (similar to a GO ride) from Porto. The scenery was okay, we both napped a bit. Every spare bit of land seems to have grape vines growing.
We checked into the Albergaria da Sé, a conveniently located hotel in the centro (and the Rough Guide's author's pick). Braga has a bustling old town, with pedestrian-only streets. (We both wish Toronto had the same.) Visited the Sé, (cathedral), which is also the reason I figured out how to type accented letters on the iPhone. The Sé in Braga is the oldest in Portugal (circa 1100s). The interior is impressive, most so the elaborately decorated pipe organ.
Had a beer at a café watching the street scene, but it was getting colder (the sun was hiding behind clouds, and the wind was picking up), so we went back to the hotel to relax before dinner.
We had dinner at Feliz Taberna, which is our favourite place so far. Split an appetizer of baked oyster mushrooms with garlic, sel de fleur and parsley. For mains I had the breaded sardines, an Heather had the grilled bass. Heather's had fish every day so far, and it's always been cooked perfectly. Mmm good.
Tomorrow we're heading to Guimarães.
We checked into the Albergaria da Sé, a conveniently located hotel in the centro (and the Rough Guide's author's pick). Braga has a bustling old town, with pedestrian-only streets. (We both wish Toronto had the same.) Visited the Sé, (cathedral), which is also the reason I figured out how to type accented letters on the iPhone. The Sé in Braga is the oldest in Portugal (circa 1100s). The interior is impressive, most so the elaborately decorated pipe organ.
Had a beer at a café watching the street scene, but it was getting colder (the sun was hiding behind clouds, and the wind was picking up), so we went back to the hotel to relax before dinner.
We had dinner at Feliz Taberna, which is our favourite place so far. Split an appetizer of baked oyster mushrooms with garlic, sel de fleur and parsley. For mains I had the breaded sardines, an Heather had the grilled bass. Heather's had fish every day so far, and it's always been cooked perfectly. Mmm good.
Tomorrow we're heading to Guimarães.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Porto, Portugal
I forgot to mention the best part of the trip so far -- a 1L carafe of house wine is about €5 in restaurants! Yesterday we had dinner in a cozy little place near the main plaza. The mains were okay (and a little small, even for the half portions we've been ordering). But we had smoked meat and cheese as appetizers which were amazing. The smoked meat was homemade, and likely the cheese as well. We made the mistake of declining bread at the start. You get charged for all appetizers such as bread, or butter, and the mains typically come with rice and potatoes so we found we didn't really need bread as well. However the waiter took it as an affront that we didn't want bread, and we think that's why we got poor service after. So it'll be yes to pao (bread) from now on.
Today we toured a little west from the centre. First we walked by the Casa da Musica, a cool looking building by Rem Koolhaus (I've added a pic to the album on Picasa). Next we dropped into the Museu de Arte Contemporanes. The exhibits were okay, but the gardens were really nice to walk through.
We took the trolley along the riverside back to the centro, had a beer overlooking the river, bridges and the port houses across the river.
Our legs are getting a good workout from the hilly streets. We saw a restaurant with an interesting menu (including liver, and tongue as mains) that we're going check out tonight. Tomorrow we'll catch the train to Braga, about an hour north of Porto by train.
Today we toured a little west from the centre. First we walked by the Casa da Musica, a cool looking building by Rem Koolhaus (I've added a pic to the album on Picasa). Next we dropped into the Museu de Arte Contemporanes. The exhibits were okay, but the gardens were really nice to walk through.
We took the trolley along the riverside back to the centro, had a beer overlooking the river, bridges and the port houses across the river.
Our legs are getting a good workout from the hilly streets. We saw a restaurant with an interesting menu (including liver, and tongue as mains) that we're going check out tonight. Tomorrow we'll catch the train to Braga, about an hour north of Porto by train.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Porto, Portugal
Porto is a wonderful town to spend a few days relaxing. The centre is filled with narrow cobblestone streets, picturesque old buildings and cool little cafes and restaurants. We both loved the train station -- it's my favourite out of all the ones I've seen.
Yesterday we walked around before dinner and couldn't stop taking pictures. You can't take a bad photo here. (The Pope is coming to town on Friday and it's the talk of the town.)
Today we were up at a decent hour to catch the included breakfast at the hotel. The day looked to be sunny, but clouds rolled in just as we were ready to head out for the day. We touristed around in our waterproof jackets for the first hour, and then the rain stopped. Again I couldn't believe how everything you look at is a photo waiting to be taken.
We walked through town to the riverside, stopping in at Igreja de Sao Francisco for a look at the gilded Gothic interior, and the catacombs below (€4). Then we crossed the double decker bridge, Ponte Dom Luis I, (it's in all the pictures of Porto) to Gaia, where all the port houses are located.
We stopped in at three houses: Croft; Wiese & Crown; and Taylor, Fladgate & Yeatman. All three included free tastings after the tours. As the guide book says, it's a good way to learn the difference between tawny and ruby ports (the tawny are moved to smaller barrels where they get more exposure to the oak). We spent a few euros and had a vertical tasting at Taylor's. In between had lunch at a riverside cafe, a tasty sandwich of prosciutto, cheese, tomato and fried egg (!?) which hit the spot.
It's a good workout walking about Porto with all the hills and valleys. Right now we're relaxing at the hotel bar (Heather's reading up on where we want to head next). We'll be heading out for dinner shortly.
Yesterday we walked around before dinner and couldn't stop taking pictures. You can't take a bad photo here. (The Pope is coming to town on Friday and it's the talk of the town.)
Today we were up at a decent hour to catch the included breakfast at the hotel. The day looked to be sunny, but clouds rolled in just as we were ready to head out for the day. We touristed around in our waterproof jackets for the first hour, and then the rain stopped. Again I couldn't believe how everything you look at is a photo waiting to be taken.
We walked through town to the riverside, stopping in at Igreja de Sao Francisco for a look at the gilded Gothic interior, and the catacombs below (€4). Then we crossed the double decker bridge, Ponte Dom Luis I, (it's in all the pictures of Porto) to Gaia, where all the port houses are located.
We stopped in at three houses: Croft; Wiese & Crown; and Taylor, Fladgate & Yeatman. All three included free tastings after the tours. As the guide book says, it's a good way to learn the difference between tawny and ruby ports (the tawny are moved to smaller barrels where they get more exposure to the oak). We spent a few euros and had a vertical tasting at Taylor's. In between had lunch at a riverside cafe, a tasty sandwich of prosciutto, cheese, tomato and fried egg (!?) which hit the spot.
It's a good workout walking about Porto with all the hills and valleys. Right now we're relaxing at the hotel bar (Heather's reading up on where we want to head next). We'll be heading out for dinner shortly.
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Monday, May 10, 2010
Porto, Portugal
We made it to Porto, with an extra hour of flight time to get around Iceland. We had paid $25 extra to get the rows with just two seats (which were wider and had more legroom) so we were pretty comfortable for Air Transat. The meal was surprisingly not too bad, and came with a complimentary wine.
I slept about four hours, using one of those inflatable neck cushions. I have to admit, although they look dorky, they do work. Heather slept a bit too, but she had to get up to stretch every hour or so (doctor's order) so it wasn't as deeply.
We arrived in Porto around 2pm. It took almost an hour for our luggage to appear. Heather I think was fearing the worst given her track record with lost luggage.
Normally I take a taxi to the hotel on the first day of a trip, but I was mostly awake and we gave the public transportation a go. Caught the 602 bus at the airport. The other passengers bemusedly watched me trying to track our progress in the Rough Guide map. We didn't do too badly, ending up with a five minute walk to our hotel, Eurostars Das Artes. (They have free wifi so I'm typing while Heather's doing more stretches).
We just had lunch and an espresso which should keep us going through the jetlag. It's been rainy and about 15C so far today.
I slept about four hours, using one of those inflatable neck cushions. I have to admit, although they look dorky, they do work. Heather slept a bit too, but she had to get up to stretch every hour or so (doctor's order) so it wasn't as deeply.
We arrived in Porto around 2pm. It took almost an hour for our luggage to appear. Heather I think was fearing the worst given her track record with lost luggage.
Normally I take a taxi to the hotel on the first day of a trip, but I was mostly awake and we gave the public transportation a go. Caught the 602 bus at the airport. The other passengers bemusedly watched me trying to track our progress in the Rough Guide map. We didn't do too badly, ending up with a five minute walk to our hotel, Eurostars Das Artes. (They have free wifi so I'm typing while Heather's doing more stretches).
We just had lunch and an espresso which should keep us going through the jetlag. It's been rainy and about 15C so far today.
Sunday, May 09, 2010
Toronto, Canada
The volcanic ash watch starts.
The Aeroportos de Portugal site is showing all flights into Porto originating from Europe as cancelled. The Lisbon airport has lots of flight statuses as chegou (arrived), which is a good sign. The only recent transatlantic flight to Porto was on SATA, and it was diverted to Lisbon this morning.
Our flight is scheduled to continue on to Faro (in the south of Portugal). Currently the Faro airport is showing flights arriving with slight delays. My guess is we'll be diverted to Faro directly.
The Aeroportos de Portugal site is showing all flights into Porto originating from Europe as cancelled. The Lisbon airport has lots of flight statuses as chegou (arrived), which is a good sign. The only recent transatlantic flight to Porto was on SATA, and it was diverted to Lisbon this morning.
Our flight is scheduled to continue on to Faro (in the south of Portugal). Currently the Faro airport is showing flights arriving with slight delays. My guess is we'll be diverted to Faro directly.
Saturday, May 08, 2010
Toronto, Canada
Heather and I spent the day running errands, getting ready for our trip to Portugal. It's much more relaxing leaving on the weekend, although the trade-off is one less day in Portugal.
On each of my previous trips, there was a major highlight to check off the list, such as a famous ruin or waterfall. There's no must-see on this trip -- it's going to be all about the food and wine and relaxing. We're flying into Porto, and have 20 days to end up in Lisbon.
Also for the first time, I'm not relying on the Lonely Planet. I got hooked on traveling when I took my three weeks vacation in '94 at P&G and went to Israel and Egypt. My friend Kirk gave me the Middle East LP as a gift (it still sits on our bookshelves). Back then, the LP "assumed you knew how to get your luggage off the carousel", as they proudly stated on the back cover. At some point they dropped that reference, and the writing and coverage has become less interesting every year. We're taking both the LP and Rough Guide to Portugal; and will likely switch to the Rough Guide for future trips.
And on the technological change front, instead of carrying paperbacks and trying to find english book stores when I'm done, I downloaded a bunch of ebooks on Stanza on my iPhone. I also installed the BlogPress app so that I can blog on the go, and upload posts when I find a wifi hotspot.
See you soon from Portugal!
On each of my previous trips, there was a major highlight to check off the list, such as a famous ruin or waterfall. There's no must-see on this trip -- it's going to be all about the food and wine and relaxing. We're flying into Porto, and have 20 days to end up in Lisbon.
Also for the first time, I'm not relying on the Lonely Planet. I got hooked on traveling when I took my three weeks vacation in '94 at P&G and went to Israel and Egypt. My friend Kirk gave me the Middle East LP as a gift (it still sits on our bookshelves). Back then, the LP "assumed you knew how to get your luggage off the carousel", as they proudly stated on the back cover. At some point they dropped that reference, and the writing and coverage has become less interesting every year. We're taking both the LP and Rough Guide to Portugal; and will likely switch to the Rough Guide for future trips.
And on the technological change front, instead of carrying paperbacks and trying to find english book stores when I'm done, I downloaded a bunch of ebooks on Stanza on my iPhone. I also installed the BlogPress app so that I can blog on the go, and upload posts when I find a wifi hotspot.
See you soon from Portugal!
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Toronto, Canada
We've been back home now for almost a week. I thought I was over the jetlag, but we were both up at 4am this morning.
Here's the best pics from the trip. My favourite is the woman sifting rice.
I was able to get the pics from one of the damaged SD cards, simply by plugging it into my Mac. The other one is still corrupted -- however, I did previously offload the best pics, so I'm not too concerned. There seems to be plenty of freeware that may fix the problem, I just haven't had a chance to try yet.
All of our souvenirs made it back in one piece, with no overweight charges. The staff at Cathay Pacific were great -- they gave us packaging for the rolled-up paintings, stuck a "Fragile" sticker on it, and then actually treated it as fragile.
The flights back were uneventful. Thank goodness for video-on-demand in airplanes -- it helps the hours go by.
The highlights of the trip included the hike to see the turquoise waters of Kawah Ijen, and relaxing on Nusa Lembongan for a couple days. Borobudur was cool to see, but not in the same league as Angkor Wat or Machu Picchu.
This trip was a bit different in that we rarely used public transportation. It was about the same cost (and much more convenient and comfortable) to get private transportation for the two of us.
As well, (and strangely for 4th most populated country in the world), we didn't spend a lot of time in large urban centres. We passed through Jakarta because our flight took us there; and we spent a couple jetlagged days in Yogyakarta, but that was it. I didn't realize I missed cities until we were waiting to fly home, looking out from our hotel room balcony at the downtown skyline of Jakarta.
Next trip is most likely to Peru (to see Machu Picchu) and Argentina (through the wine region around Mendoza). Machu Picchu is the most impressive site I've seen in the world. Heather's never been and I'd like to see it again (I did the Inca Trail in 1994).
Here's the best pics from the trip. My favourite is the woman sifting rice.
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I was able to get the pics from one of the damaged SD cards, simply by plugging it into my Mac. The other one is still corrupted -- however, I did previously offload the best pics, so I'm not too concerned. There seems to be plenty of freeware that may fix the problem, I just haven't had a chance to try yet.
All of our souvenirs made it back in one piece, with no overweight charges. The staff at Cathay Pacific were great -- they gave us packaging for the rolled-up paintings, stuck a "Fragile" sticker on it, and then actually treated it as fragile.
The flights back were uneventful. Thank goodness for video-on-demand in airplanes -- it helps the hours go by.
The highlights of the trip included the hike to see the turquoise waters of Kawah Ijen, and relaxing on Nusa Lembongan for a couple days. Borobudur was cool to see, but not in the same league as Angkor Wat or Machu Picchu.
This trip was a bit different in that we rarely used public transportation. It was about the same cost (and much more convenient and comfortable) to get private transportation for the two of us.
As well, (and strangely for 4th most populated country in the world), we didn't spend a lot of time in large urban centres. We passed through Jakarta because our flight took us there; and we spent a couple jetlagged days in Yogyakarta, but that was it. I didn't realize I missed cities until we were waiting to fly home, looking out from our hotel room balcony at the downtown skyline of Jakarta.
Next trip is most likely to Peru (to see Machu Picchu) and Argentina (through the wine region around Mendoza). Machu Picchu is the most impressive site I've seen in the world. Heather's never been and I'd like to see it again (I did the Inca Trail in 1994).
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Jakarta, Indonesia
We're back in Jakarta at the end of our little trip. We've been watching BBC News in the hotel rooms, with all the stuff going on in Mumbai and Bangkok. Fortunately we're not flying through those countries on our way home. (Although I read that the Indian Presdient is currently in Bali and flies to Jakarta on Sunday, but we'll have departed for Hong Kong by then).
The fish market in Jimbaran was very romantic. There's rows of restaurants along the beach, all with candle-lit tables set up on the sand, stretching hundreds of metres. We pointed out the fishies we wanted (in our case, crab and squid), which is then cooked as requested and served on the beach. The food was good, but it's more the ambience that's the draw. We were lucky that it was a rain-free evening, one of the few we've had.
The next day we had a day-trip to Kuta, about a 25 minute taxi ride to the west side of the peninsula. Kuta is the party town which was bombed in 2002. It's much more touristy than Sanur. We walked along the wide beach, and then stopped in at a restaurant for some Bintangs. We were feeling a bit grubby to stay for dinner so headed back to our hotel.
We had a morning flight back to Jakarta which went very smoothly. We were fortunate to see Gunung Bromo on the flight -- we were both napping on the almost two hour flight, and I happened to wake up and look out the window just as we flew over. I took a few pictures. (I don't want to risk another USB card so I'll just upload the rest of my pics when I'm back in Toronto).
We checked into the same hotel in Jakarta that we stayed on at the start of our trip. Last night we ate at a fancy restaurant (Lara Djonggrang) near the hotel. We had made reservations earlier in the afternoon, and when we came for dinner, a cute little "Erick - Mr." sign written on a leaf held our table for us. I didn't have my camera with me so we took the leaf back to take a pic. We ordered something different -- I tried the eel, and Heather soft-shell crab. They were both heavily breaded and not so much to our liking. But the food was really well presented in large sea shells and the restaurant was like an art gallery or museum, with large art pieces all around.
Today we walked to the main square. Jakarta (and most of Java and Bali for that matter) is not really pedestrian-focused. We were the only pedestrians on the sidewalks (where they existed). Dropped into the National Museum. Heather's back was feeling a bit sore so we just took a taxi back (what with the long flights tomorrow).
We bought a large suitcase in Bali to help fit all the souvenirs we've purchased. The bulkiest (and heaviest) is a life-sized stone Buddha head. It's about 20kg. Our two pieces of luggage total 51kg, and we have some large oil-on-canvas paintings rolled up. We were okay on the domestic flight (both with the weight, and taking the paintings as carry-on). I'm not sure we'll be as lucky on the international flights, but we'll see.
See you all soon!
The fish market in Jimbaran was very romantic. There's rows of restaurants along the beach, all with candle-lit tables set up on the sand, stretching hundreds of metres. We pointed out the fishies we wanted (in our case, crab and squid), which is then cooked as requested and served on the beach. The food was good, but it's more the ambience that's the draw. We were lucky that it was a rain-free evening, one of the few we've had.
The next day we had a day-trip to Kuta, about a 25 minute taxi ride to the west side of the peninsula. Kuta is the party town which was bombed in 2002. It's much more touristy than Sanur. We walked along the wide beach, and then stopped in at a restaurant for some Bintangs. We were feeling a bit grubby to stay for dinner so headed back to our hotel.
We had a morning flight back to Jakarta which went very smoothly. We were fortunate to see Gunung Bromo on the flight -- we were both napping on the almost two hour flight, and I happened to wake up and look out the window just as we flew over. I took a few pictures. (I don't want to risk another USB card so I'll just upload the rest of my pics when I'm back in Toronto).
We checked into the same hotel in Jakarta that we stayed on at the start of our trip. Last night we ate at a fancy restaurant (Lara Djonggrang) near the hotel. We had made reservations earlier in the afternoon, and when we came for dinner, a cute little "Erick - Mr." sign written on a leaf held our table for us. I didn't have my camera with me so we took the leaf back to take a pic. We ordered something different -- I tried the eel, and Heather soft-shell crab. They were both heavily breaded and not so much to our liking. But the food was really well presented in large sea shells and the restaurant was like an art gallery or museum, with large art pieces all around.
Today we walked to the main square. Jakarta (and most of Java and Bali for that matter) is not really pedestrian-focused. We were the only pedestrians on the sidewalks (where they existed). Dropped into the National Museum. Heather's back was feeling a bit sore so we just took a taxi back (what with the long flights tomorrow).
We bought a large suitcase in Bali to help fit all the souvenirs we've purchased. The bulkiest (and heaviest) is a life-sized stone Buddha head. It's about 20kg. Our two pieces of luggage total 51kg, and we have some large oil-on-canvas paintings rolled up. We were okay on the domestic flight (both with the weight, and taking the paintings as carry-on). I'm not sure we'll be as lucky on the international flights, but we'll see.
See you all soon!
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Sanur, Indonesia
We're back in Sanur after a couple nights on the island of Nusa Lembongan.
We stayed at Waka Nusa Resort which was our splurge on this trip. Our room was a round thatch-roofed bungalow, creatively decorated (and a full mosquito net). The grounds were impeccable, with all the beach sports available. (We played a short game of bocce ball (which was interrupted for complimentary tea and cakes - it was almost like cricket), and some pingpong).
The resort was on Mushroom Bay, which is a nice secluded little beach. It's small enough that there's only about eight hotels (each hotel having maybe ten rooms) lined end-to-end over the whole beach, but large enough that it had a couple restaurants (to provide variety from the resort). In busy season we were told that you need to book at least a month in advance! We booked the day before. There's nice views across the water of Bali (nicer in dry season :) ) & Gunung Agung (the tallest peak in Bali), a cool ocean breeze and not so many tourists.
Yesterday I went diving with Lembongan Dive, arranged through the hotel. It was pretty cheap (only $30 / tank!). Heather joined along and went snorkelling while I dived. I dived at a couple sites, SD and Lembongan Point. Both were fast drift dives, which I'm relatively inexperienced at (previously I've only done drift dives when I did my Advanced Open Water). It was pretty cool. My previous dive was three years ago, so it took me my first dive to get my feet wet (pun intended), and on the 2nd dive I was able to look around at the coral and fishies. The water was only 24C so we wore a full wet suit and boots. Didn't see any manta rays or sunfish.
In the afternoon Heather and I walked about 15 minutes from our hotel through the island to Dream Beach. It was like a beach in a movie scene. Most of the time we had the beach to ourselves (technically we were in the restaurant overlooking the beach). It reminded Heather of PEI, except for the colour of the sand. We had lunch and a couple Bintangs, and then walked back to our hotel.
We had dinner at Winda Sari Warung, right beside our hotel. We both had grilled squid, which was really good, and shared a banana crepe with palm syrup and cocoa shavings, the best dessert we've had so far. I've been having grilled squid at every occasion on ocean-side towns, trying to find a place as good as the place in Zanzibar. So far at places here it's been really good to great.
This morning we had plans to wake up at 6am to see the fisherman come in; but at 6am those plans didn't seem like a great idea. So we slept in till 8am. Had breakfast, read a bit, caught the ferry back to Sanur, checked back into Tamukami Hotel. Most likely we'll be staying here until Friday when we fly back to Jakarta, although if we get bored we may spend a night in Kuta. Tonight we're going to eat at the fish market in Jimbaran. There's rows of places serving fresh fish with garlic, lime and chili marinade, grilled over coconut husks. I'm hungry already just thinking about it. It's about 15km from Sanur on the west side of Bali, so if it wasn't rainy season we'd also get a nice sunset. We've arranged for a driver to take us there and back for about $10 -- not sure if that's the going rate but it seemed good to us.
We stayed at Waka Nusa Resort which was our splurge on this trip. Our room was a round thatch-roofed bungalow, creatively decorated (and a full mosquito net). The grounds were impeccable, with all the beach sports available. (We played a short game of bocce ball (which was interrupted for complimentary tea and cakes - it was almost like cricket), and some pingpong).
The resort was on Mushroom Bay, which is a nice secluded little beach. It's small enough that there's only about eight hotels (each hotel having maybe ten rooms) lined end-to-end over the whole beach, but large enough that it had a couple restaurants (to provide variety from the resort). In busy season we were told that you need to book at least a month in advance! We booked the day before. There's nice views across the water of Bali (nicer in dry season :) ) & Gunung Agung (the tallest peak in Bali), a cool ocean breeze and not so many tourists.
Yesterday I went diving with Lembongan Dive, arranged through the hotel. It was pretty cheap (only $30 / tank!). Heather joined along and went snorkelling while I dived. I dived at a couple sites, SD and Lembongan Point. Both were fast drift dives, which I'm relatively inexperienced at (previously I've only done drift dives when I did my Advanced Open Water). It was pretty cool. My previous dive was three years ago, so it took me my first dive to get my feet wet (pun intended), and on the 2nd dive I was able to look around at the coral and fishies. The water was only 24C so we wore a full wet suit and boots. Didn't see any manta rays or sunfish.
In the afternoon Heather and I walked about 15 minutes from our hotel through the island to Dream Beach. It was like a beach in a movie scene. Most of the time we had the beach to ourselves (technically we were in the restaurant overlooking the beach). It reminded Heather of PEI, except for the colour of the sand. We had lunch and a couple Bintangs, and then walked back to our hotel.
We had dinner at Winda Sari Warung, right beside our hotel. We both had grilled squid, which was really good, and shared a banana crepe with palm syrup and cocoa shavings, the best dessert we've had so far. I've been having grilled squid at every occasion on ocean-side towns, trying to find a place as good as the place in Zanzibar. So far at places here it's been really good to great.
This morning we had plans to wake up at 6am to see the fisherman come in; but at 6am those plans didn't seem like a great idea. So we slept in till 8am. Had breakfast, read a bit, caught the ferry back to Sanur, checked back into Tamukami Hotel. Most likely we'll be staying here until Friday when we fly back to Jakarta, although if we get bored we may spend a night in Kuta. Tonight we're going to eat at the fish market in Jimbaran. There's rows of places serving fresh fish with garlic, lime and chili marinade, grilled over coconut husks. I'm hungry already just thinking about it. It's about 15km from Sanur on the west side of Bali, so if it wasn't rainy season we'd also get a nice sunset. We've arranged for a driver to take us there and back for about $10 -- not sure if that's the going rate but it seemed good to us.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Sanur, Indonesia
We're finally in a beach town in Bali, after five days in Ubud.
Yesterday we had a day trip through some of the sites north of Ubud. We hired a driver, and visited Tampaksiring, Penelokan and Sukowati. This is a very common thing to do, and the day was filled with tourist traps, although still worth it.
Tampaksiring contains both Tirta Empul (holy springs) and Gunung Kawi (10 rock-cut shrines). We only wanted to see Gunung Kawi, but our driver first dropped us at Tirta Empul. We spent about 10 minutes wandering around Tirta Empul, asking for Gunung Kawi, before we realized we were in the wrong spot.
Gunung Kawi is quite cool. We descended around 350 steps down from the parking lot to the river valley. The path at one point is cut through solid rock. At the bottom are 10 shrines, about 7m tall, also cut from solid rock. There were no other tourists there when we arrived, which was nice.
Next was Penelokan for a view of Lake Batur, between the two peaks of Gunung Batur and Gunung Agung. It was okay, not any more spectacular than any lake back home.
We skipped Pura Besakih, a very big tourist trap according the Lonely Planet, and instead went shopping around Sukawati.
There are a million shops around Sukawati, all selling rather high-quality crafts from wood and stone, and oil-on-canvas paintings. We bought five paintings, the largest 1m x 2m, plus some other crafts. It was a busy day of bargaining.
We arrived back at the hotel around 5pm and cleaned up, and then headed to our favourite restaurant (Sura's Warung) for dinner. (Oh yah, the duck last night was excellent, very tender and rich).
This morning we shopped for more souvenirs at the local market in Ubud; and then took a private transport to Sanur. We're staying at the Tamukami Hotel, another nice boutique hotel (it's not in the LP -- Heather found on the web). We've been waiting to get back ocean-side for some seafood; and found a place for lunch (Made's Pub) near the hotel that had very good grilled squid (mmm yummy).
Tomorrow we take a sailboat across the Selat Badung to stay for a couple nights on Nusa Lembongan (Nusa means island); the island is supposed to be relatively untouched but maybe by now they'll have internet access. I'm planning to go for a dive, and relax on Mushroom Bay beach with Heather.
I forgot to bring my SDcard-to-USB thingy so I'll upload some more pics next time. Unfortunately I had some more problems trying to eject my SD card the other day in Ubud (stupid Windows again wouldn't let go of it), so now I'm carrying around two corrupted SD cards. I'm hoping there's a place back home that will be able to restore the pics for me.
Yesterday we had a day trip through some of the sites north of Ubud. We hired a driver, and visited Tampaksiring, Penelokan and Sukowati. This is a very common thing to do, and the day was filled with tourist traps, although still worth it.
Tampaksiring contains both Tirta Empul (holy springs) and Gunung Kawi (10 rock-cut shrines). We only wanted to see Gunung Kawi, but our driver first dropped us at Tirta Empul. We spent about 10 minutes wandering around Tirta Empul, asking for Gunung Kawi, before we realized we were in the wrong spot.
Gunung Kawi is quite cool. We descended around 350 steps down from the parking lot to the river valley. The path at one point is cut through solid rock. At the bottom are 10 shrines, about 7m tall, also cut from solid rock. There were no other tourists there when we arrived, which was nice.
Next was Penelokan for a view of Lake Batur, between the two peaks of Gunung Batur and Gunung Agung. It was okay, not any more spectacular than any lake back home.
We skipped Pura Besakih, a very big tourist trap according the Lonely Planet, and instead went shopping around Sukawati.
There are a million shops around Sukawati, all selling rather high-quality crafts from wood and stone, and oil-on-canvas paintings. We bought five paintings, the largest 1m x 2m, plus some other crafts. It was a busy day of bargaining.
We arrived back at the hotel around 5pm and cleaned up, and then headed to our favourite restaurant (Sura's Warung) for dinner. (Oh yah, the duck last night was excellent, very tender and rich).
This morning we shopped for more souvenirs at the local market in Ubud; and then took a private transport to Sanur. We're staying at the Tamukami Hotel, another nice boutique hotel (it's not in the LP -- Heather found on the web). We've been waiting to get back ocean-side for some seafood; and found a place for lunch (Made's Pub) near the hotel that had very good grilled squid (mmm yummy).
Tomorrow we take a sailboat across the Selat Badung to stay for a couple nights on Nusa Lembongan (Nusa means island); the island is supposed to be relatively untouched but maybe by now they'll have internet access. I'm planning to go for a dive, and relax on Mushroom Bay beach with Heather.
I forgot to bring my SDcard-to-USB thingy so I'll upload some more pics next time. Unfortunately I had some more problems trying to eject my SD card the other day in Ubud (stupid Windows again wouldn't let go of it), so now I'm carrying around two corrupted SD cards. I'm hoping there's a place back home that will be able to restore the pics for me.
Sanur, Indonesia
Today we arrived in Sanur from Ubud. We spent the last 5 days or so in Ubud, so we were ready for a change of scenery. Our time in Ubud was very relaxing. I took in a few different treatments at the health spa down the street from our hotel (deep tissue massage, facial, and, just out of curiosity, an assessment with a elder spiritual healer from the community). The latter didn't really offer much insight to me, but the session was very interesting, nonetheless.
Ubud was a very tranquil town - once you managed to get away from the major tourist centre of Monkey Forest Rd, that is. Luckily, we were staying in a hotel off the main drag, so we were quite fortunate not to have to contend with the constant barrage (kind of a cross between Cavendish in the summer in PEI and the Beach in Toronto on the weekend). Our hotel was quite peaceful, and was very much Balinese in architecture and design. The room was basic, but the exterior was quite lovely, especially for breakfast. We found a neat little restaurant up the road (close to my spa), so spent a few days enjoying the food, street traffic, and surroundings that the restaurant had to offer.
Yesterday, Eric and I hired a driver for the day to take us to some of the surrounding areas around Ubud. We saw the highest peak on Bali (Gunung Agung (3142m)) and a couple of Hindu temples along the way. Eric was able to stop at a number of rice fields to take some pics - a few excellent ones, I might add, which I'm sure he'll soon post.
To finish the day, we stopped at a village called Sukowati to shop for artwork. There is a large, bustling bazaar in the centre of the town. We were on the hunt for abstract art, and our visit did not disappoint :) Ubud (and its surrounding environs) has a high concentration of very talented artists (painters, wood carvers, stone carvers, musicians, and so on). We were so impressed with what we were seeing in town that Eric and I decided we wanted to buy a few pieces at the market - if we could find, and, most importantly, agree on something to buy. In the end, we purchased 2 large pieces at the Sukowati market, and a couple of others back in the Ubud local market when we arrived home that evening. All were very reasonably priced, so we were very happy with the day's outcome!
Right now, we're in Sanur, a beachfront town in the south of Bali. We'll spend tonight here, and then we'll take a boat of some sort over to a small island off Bali called Nusa Lembongan for a bit of diving and snorkeling for a couple of days. It's supposedly very tranquil here, so it'll be nice to relax by the ocean.
Our hotel on this island is a bit of a 'splurge' hotel for the trip (comparatively speaking, compared to the relative affordability of the rest of Indonesia), so it'll be nice to be close to the water again for a few days. After this jaunt, we'll return to Sanur for a couple of days, and then fly out to Jakarta.
Now that we're on the coast again, we're really looking forward to indulging in seafood!!! We're been holding off ordering it on the menu when we've been more inland on the trip...but, now that we're on the water, we can enjoy!
Overall, we're having a great time. Bali has been very relaxing, and we're looking forward to checking out more of the island.
Ubud was a very tranquil town - once you managed to get away from the major tourist centre of Monkey Forest Rd, that is. Luckily, we were staying in a hotel off the main drag, so we were quite fortunate not to have to contend with the constant barrage (kind of a cross between Cavendish in the summer in PEI and the Beach in Toronto on the weekend). Our hotel was quite peaceful, and was very much Balinese in architecture and design. The room was basic, but the exterior was quite lovely, especially for breakfast. We found a neat little restaurant up the road (close to my spa), so spent a few days enjoying the food, street traffic, and surroundings that the restaurant had to offer.
Yesterday, Eric and I hired a driver for the day to take us to some of the surrounding areas around Ubud. We saw the highest peak on Bali (Gunung Agung (3142m)) and a couple of Hindu temples along the way. Eric was able to stop at a number of rice fields to take some pics - a few excellent ones, I might add, which I'm sure he'll soon post.
To finish the day, we stopped at a village called Sukowati to shop for artwork. There is a large, bustling bazaar in the centre of the town. We were on the hunt for abstract art, and our visit did not disappoint :) Ubud (and its surrounding environs) has a high concentration of very talented artists (painters, wood carvers, stone carvers, musicians, and so on). We were so impressed with what we were seeing in town that Eric and I decided we wanted to buy a few pieces at the market - if we could find, and, most importantly, agree on something to buy. In the end, we purchased 2 large pieces at the Sukowati market, and a couple of others back in the Ubud local market when we arrived home that evening. All were very reasonably priced, so we were very happy with the day's outcome!
Right now, we're in Sanur, a beachfront town in the south of Bali. We'll spend tonight here, and then we'll take a boat of some sort over to a small island off Bali called Nusa Lembongan for a bit of diving and snorkeling for a couple of days. It's supposedly very tranquil here, so it'll be nice to relax by the ocean.
Our hotel on this island is a bit of a 'splurge' hotel for the trip (comparatively speaking, compared to the relative affordability of the rest of Indonesia), so it'll be nice to be close to the water again for a few days. After this jaunt, we'll return to Sanur for a couple of days, and then fly out to Jakarta.
Now that we're on the coast again, we're really looking forward to indulging in seafood!!! We're been holding off ordering it on the menu when we've been more inland on the trip...but, now that we're on the water, we can enjoy!
Overall, we're having a great time. Bali has been very relaxing, and we're looking forward to checking out more of the island.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Ubud, Indonesia
We've spent the past few days relaxing in Ubud. Despite all the tourists, the town has maintained its authenticity once you get off the main streets. There's a very nice spa at the end of our street at which we've had almost daily appointments. When you get a massage, there's sounds of a bumbling stream, gentle raindrops in leaves, birds chirping... Except it's not a CD playing -- these are real sounds you hear in the massage rooms which are open on one side to the natural surroundings.
Yesterday we went for a walk along a ridge between two rivers, with views of rice terraces cut into the hillsides. Back in town, we had lunch in a small little cafe on our street. It started raining after we ate, so we decided to have a beer and wait out the rain. Fortunately it's rainy season and the rain continued for a few hours. "A beer" turned into many. There was a break in the rain later in the afternoon, which gave us enough time to get to another little cafe and have a beer. Later we had dinner at Cafe Lotus, a restaurant on the grounds of Pura Taman Saraswati, one of the major temples in Ubud.
This morning I took a Balinese cooking class at Casa Luna. It was more of a cooking show; but still worth the time. Unlike cooking classes I've taken in other countries, the instructor did most of the cooking while we watched. I did get to grind spices into a paste, and chop up some eggplant, but that was it. I also got a nice souvenir apron, and a recipe book. The recipe book gives good descriptions of the ingredients used in Balinese cooking, as well as suggesting alternatives.
Tonight we're having bebek betutu. It's a balinese specialty of duck stuffed with spices, wrapped in banana leaves and coconut husks and cooked in embers all day. You have to order 24 hours in advance -- yesterday's lunch was really tasty so we booked it at that same restaurant.
Tomorrow we've arranged for a driver to take us to some of the sights in northern and eastern Ubud. The last stop is the craft market at Sukawati, where we'll load up on souvenirs.
Yesterday we went for a walk along a ridge between two rivers, with views of rice terraces cut into the hillsides. Back in town, we had lunch in a small little cafe on our street. It started raining after we ate, so we decided to have a beer and wait out the rain. Fortunately it's rainy season and the rain continued for a few hours. "A beer" turned into many. There was a break in the rain later in the afternoon, which gave us enough time to get to another little cafe and have a beer. Later we had dinner at Cafe Lotus, a restaurant on the grounds of Pura Taman Saraswati, one of the major temples in Ubud.
This morning I took a Balinese cooking class at Casa Luna. It was more of a cooking show; but still worth the time. Unlike cooking classes I've taken in other countries, the instructor did most of the cooking while we watched. I did get to grind spices into a paste, and chop up some eggplant, but that was it. I also got a nice souvenir apron, and a recipe book. The recipe book gives good descriptions of the ingredients used in Balinese cooking, as well as suggesting alternatives.
Tonight we're having bebek betutu. It's a balinese specialty of duck stuffed with spices, wrapped in banana leaves and coconut husks and cooked in embers all day. You have to order 24 hours in advance -- yesterday's lunch was really tasty so we booked it at that same restaurant.
Tomorrow we've arranged for a driver to take us to some of the sights in northern and eastern Ubud. The last stop is the craft market at Sukawati, where we'll load up on souvenirs.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Ubud, Indonesia
We're now in Bali, after seeing some beautiful natural wonders in east Java.
We ended up keeping our driver for three days, seeing Gunung Bromo, staying on a coffee plantation, doing the Kawah Ijen hike, and finally getting dropped off in Ubud, Bali. There were quite a few other couples who we bumped into along the trip that were doing similar itineraries, also with a hired car and driver.
First was a long eleven hour drive from Yogyakarta to Cemoro Lawang, a town on the edge of the ancient Tengger caldera. Inside the 10km crater are three volcanoes, including Gunung Bromo (2392m).
We woke up at 3:15am to get to a viewpoint well above Tengger. We arrived just before the break of dawn, and found maybe 300 other tourists (half Indonesian, half foreigners) also at the viewpoint. It was a cloudy morning, and we waited for an hour to see if the clouds would break. We jostled with the other tourists for photo ops. There were occasional great views of Gunung Semeru (3676m) in the background, which spewed up dark clouds of smoke every few minutes. We did manage to get a big picture view through the clouds, but nothing picture-worthy.
Next we drove down a very steep (45*) "road" to the foot of Bromo. The enterprising locals have set up a fence about 500m from the base; and offer horse rides across the short distance. We chose to walk :)
Due to the altitude, it was a tiring climb up 253 stairs to get to the rim of Bromo. The smell of sulphur didn't help. About half way up, we sat down on some rocks to rest. We were soon surrounded by teenage kids wanting to take my picture. I felt I had to uphold the reputation of my doppelganger, the Bollywood star, so posed for a few pics, signed an autograph etc. We resumed our climb after a few minutes. Once at the top, there were great views into the crater, with smoke billowing out. Very smelly, though.
Back at the hotel we had breakfast (it was only 7:30am!) and then settled in for the drive to the Ijen Plateau. About six hours later we arrived at Catimore Homestay on the Balawan coffee plantation. It was a great setting, in a big old Dutch house. We relaxed, had some tea by the garden, and read a bit. Later in the evening we had dinner and a couple beers, and then went to bed around 9pm.
We were up early yet again to visit the coffee factory at 6am. There was a noisy room where dozens of women graded the coffee beans, tossing them into the air with large trays. We also saw a large heated warehouse where the beans are dried. It was pretty cool. I had no idea what a coffee plant even looked like before this trip.
I had to have coffee with breakfast on the plantation (I'm more of a tea drinker). It was excellent. If there was coffee like this in Toronto, I may even become a coffee drinker.
It was a short 30-minute drive from the plantation to Kawah Ijen, which is a beautiful turquoise lake. Sulphur is collected inside the crater by workers who carry 80kg loads along a difficult trek. It was tiring for us and we weren't carrying anything. The path is 3km up the crater, pretty steep for parts; and the smell of sulphur was overpowering towards the crater rim. We stepped aside every few minutes to allow the sulphur collectors to pass going downhill with their loads. Along the path were loads of sulphur waiting to be carried; the yellow sulphur made a nice subject for pics.
We finally reached the lookout point on the rim of the crater. The smoke from the crater obscured views of the turquoise lake and so we waited, breathing through our clothing, hoping for the wind to shift the smoke and give us a view. After about 20 minutes, we were rewarded with a partial view. We started trekking back, and just before we left the rim, the smoke cleared completely! Another 10 seconds and we would been downhill and missed the view. It was gorgeous and well worth the journey. It's off the beaten path, and the lack of tourists was nice compared to Bromo.
We trekked back to our vehicle, and were off to Bali. It was a short one hour drive to the ferry, about an hour across to Bali, and then a four hour drive to Ubud, in the middle of Bali. We said goodbye to Eko (sp?), who had been our excellent driver and guide over the last four days, and checked into the Pradha Guesthouse.
The Pradha Guesthouse is in a beautiful Balinese setting. There grounds are enormous, with intricate carved pillars and roofs, ponds, lots of seating, and a view into the Pura Desa Ubud temple next door. Last night we were pretty tired from the past couple days of travel; and we also had a bit of culture shock with so many tourists (it's like in the movie The Beach when they come back to the partying on the mainland). However, our guesthouse is a bit off the main drag, and there's many walks through rice paddy fields that start from our front door. We'll be relaxing here in Ubud for the next few days, doing walks, maybe hiring a driver for a day trip to surrounding sights, buying souvenirs, (and getting back to a civilized sleep schedule!)
We ended up keeping our driver for three days, seeing Gunung Bromo, staying on a coffee plantation, doing the Kawah Ijen hike, and finally getting dropped off in Ubud, Bali. There were quite a few other couples who we bumped into along the trip that were doing similar itineraries, also with a hired car and driver.
First was a long eleven hour drive from Yogyakarta to Cemoro Lawang, a town on the edge of the ancient Tengger caldera. Inside the 10km crater are three volcanoes, including Gunung Bromo (2392m).
We woke up at 3:15am to get to a viewpoint well above Tengger. We arrived just before the break of dawn, and found maybe 300 other tourists (half Indonesian, half foreigners) also at the viewpoint. It was a cloudy morning, and we waited for an hour to see if the clouds would break. We jostled with the other tourists for photo ops. There were occasional great views of Gunung Semeru (3676m) in the background, which spewed up dark clouds of smoke every few minutes. We did manage to get a big picture view through the clouds, but nothing picture-worthy.
Next we drove down a very steep (45*) "road" to the foot of Bromo. The enterprising locals have set up a fence about 500m from the base; and offer horse rides across the short distance. We chose to walk :)
Due to the altitude, it was a tiring climb up 253 stairs to get to the rim of Bromo. The smell of sulphur didn't help. About half way up, we sat down on some rocks to rest. We were soon surrounded by teenage kids wanting to take my picture. I felt I had to uphold the reputation of my doppelganger, the Bollywood star, so posed for a few pics, signed an autograph etc. We resumed our climb after a few minutes. Once at the top, there were great views into the crater, with smoke billowing out. Very smelly, though.
Back at the hotel we had breakfast (it was only 7:30am!) and then settled in for the drive to the Ijen Plateau. About six hours later we arrived at Catimore Homestay on the Balawan coffee plantation. It was a great setting, in a big old Dutch house. We relaxed, had some tea by the garden, and read a bit. Later in the evening we had dinner and a couple beers, and then went to bed around 9pm.
We were up early yet again to visit the coffee factory at 6am. There was a noisy room where dozens of women graded the coffee beans, tossing them into the air with large trays. We also saw a large heated warehouse where the beans are dried. It was pretty cool. I had no idea what a coffee plant even looked like before this trip.
I had to have coffee with breakfast on the plantation (I'm more of a tea drinker). It was excellent. If there was coffee like this in Toronto, I may even become a coffee drinker.
It was a short 30-minute drive from the plantation to Kawah Ijen, which is a beautiful turquoise lake. Sulphur is collected inside the crater by workers who carry 80kg loads along a difficult trek. It was tiring for us and we weren't carrying anything. The path is 3km up the crater, pretty steep for parts; and the smell of sulphur was overpowering towards the crater rim. We stepped aside every few minutes to allow the sulphur collectors to pass going downhill with their loads. Along the path were loads of sulphur waiting to be carried; the yellow sulphur made a nice subject for pics.
We finally reached the lookout point on the rim of the crater. The smoke from the crater obscured views of the turquoise lake and so we waited, breathing through our clothing, hoping for the wind to shift the smoke and give us a view. After about 20 minutes, we were rewarded with a partial view. We started trekking back, and just before we left the rim, the smoke cleared completely! Another 10 seconds and we would been downhill and missed the view. It was gorgeous and well worth the journey. It's off the beaten path, and the lack of tourists was nice compared to Bromo.
We trekked back to our vehicle, and were off to Bali. It was a short one hour drive to the ferry, about an hour across to Bali, and then a four hour drive to Ubud, in the middle of Bali. We said goodbye to Eko (sp?), who had been our excellent driver and guide over the last four days, and checked into the Pradha Guesthouse.
The Pradha Guesthouse is in a beautiful Balinese setting. There grounds are enormous, with intricate carved pillars and roofs, ponds, lots of seating, and a view into the Pura Desa Ubud temple next door. Last night we were pretty tired from the past couple days of travel; and we also had a bit of culture shock with so many tourists (it's like in the movie The Beach when they come back to the partying on the mainland). However, our guesthouse is a bit off the main drag, and there's many walks through rice paddy fields that start from our front door. We'll be relaxing here in Ubud for the next few days, doing walks, maybe hiring a driver for a day trip to surrounding sights, buying souvenirs, (and getting back to a civilized sleep schedule!)
Ubud, Indonesia
After a few exhausting days, we finally arrived on the island of Bali late yesterday afternoon (with a 1-hr time change from Java - so, now it's a 13-hr time difference for us...not that it really makes much of a difference at this point :))
(Eric and I are both typing our posts at the same time, so there may be a slight bit of overlap).
Over the past few days, we've been in a very mountainous region of Java province (north/central). We hired the same driver (Eko) to take us to the last few spots: Mount Bromo, to see a couple of active volcanoes in the region; and, Kawah Ijen (Ijen Crater), to see a turquoise lake located inside a volcano. The latter was situated in a heavily forested area, so the roads were VERY rugged. Luckily, it wasn't raining, so we were able to drive up the mountain.
I really liked Bromo and Ijen. At Bromo, we woke up around 3.30am to get to a wonderful look-out point to catch a view of 3 rather large volcanoes. They are still active, so when the clouds cleared, and the sun rose, we were actually able to see the smoke and ash billowing out (no lava, though). From here, we drove to Mount Bromo (one of the mountains) to hike to the rim of the volcano. This was an interesting climb. Unfortunately, there were quite a few tourists here and at the lookout, but that was okay. We are traveling in the "low season" in Indonesia (and at the beginning of rainy season), so I can't imagine what "high season" numbers must be like!! Java is the most heavily populated island of Indonesia, with over 120 million people alone.
After Mount Bromo and region, we traveled to the Ijen Plateau area of Java (central/east). This was about a 6-hr drive from Bromo. Ijen is full of coffee plantations, and the hotel we stayed actually bordered on one. We had the chance to tour the plantation yesterday morning, which was very cool. So, needless to say, the coffee for our breakfast that morning was awesome! The accomodations were a bit rough (I kind of felt like we were sleeping outdoors with the animals and insects rather than indoors!), but it was worth it given the scenery and proximity to the Ijen Crater and Bromo. Next time, we're packing a mosquito net (we're in a part of Indonesia where malaria isn't a real threat, so we didn't bring one with us).
Once we left our hotel, we headed for the Kawah Ijen. It was about a 1.5 hr trek up the mountain (probably about 5-6 kms in total). It was incredible! Luckily, the clouds broke a few times at the peak (around the crater rim) so we could view the surreal turquoise lake and sulfur mine. The fumes from the sulfur pit were, at times, overwhelming, tho. At this altitude, breathing was a bit difficult with the fumes. Eric will likely post some pics of the sulfur and the miners. It was well worth the journey!
After Ijen, we headed for Bali. We'll likely spend the next few days in the town of Ubud (according to the Lonely Planet, it's the cultural apex of Bali). The rice fields surrounding the town look amazing! Our hotel is close to the centre of town, so it's convenient for doing walking tours around the town. The hotel is very Balinese in architecture and in furnishings. It'll be relaxing to hang out here for a few days. So far, our trip has been quite active, so both Eric and I feel that we haven't had a chance to get caught up on our rest or relaxation yet (as a lot of mornings have been 3am or 4am starts). Today, we'll likely do a bit of reading by the pool, maybe walk down to a local market and buy some fruit, and rest my back...it's a little tired after all the mountain hiking!
(Eric and I are both typing our posts at the same time, so there may be a slight bit of overlap).
Over the past few days, we've been in a very mountainous region of Java province (north/central). We hired the same driver (Eko) to take us to the last few spots: Mount Bromo, to see a couple of active volcanoes in the region; and, Kawah Ijen (Ijen Crater), to see a turquoise lake located inside a volcano. The latter was situated in a heavily forested area, so the roads were VERY rugged. Luckily, it wasn't raining, so we were able to drive up the mountain.
I really liked Bromo and Ijen. At Bromo, we woke up around 3.30am to get to a wonderful look-out point to catch a view of 3 rather large volcanoes. They are still active, so when the clouds cleared, and the sun rose, we were actually able to see the smoke and ash billowing out (no lava, though). From here, we drove to Mount Bromo (one of the mountains) to hike to the rim of the volcano. This was an interesting climb. Unfortunately, there were quite a few tourists here and at the lookout, but that was okay. We are traveling in the "low season" in Indonesia (and at the beginning of rainy season), so I can't imagine what "high season" numbers must be like!! Java is the most heavily populated island of Indonesia, with over 120 million people alone.
After Mount Bromo and region, we traveled to the Ijen Plateau area of Java (central/east). This was about a 6-hr drive from Bromo. Ijen is full of coffee plantations, and the hotel we stayed actually bordered on one. We had the chance to tour the plantation yesterday morning, which was very cool. So, needless to say, the coffee for our breakfast that morning was awesome! The accomodations were a bit rough (I kind of felt like we were sleeping outdoors with the animals and insects rather than indoors!), but it was worth it given the scenery and proximity to the Ijen Crater and Bromo. Next time, we're packing a mosquito net (we're in a part of Indonesia where malaria isn't a real threat, so we didn't bring one with us).
Once we left our hotel, we headed for the Kawah Ijen. It was about a 1.5 hr trek up the mountain (probably about 5-6 kms in total). It was incredible! Luckily, the clouds broke a few times at the peak (around the crater rim) so we could view the surreal turquoise lake and sulfur mine. The fumes from the sulfur pit were, at times, overwhelming, tho. At this altitude, breathing was a bit difficult with the fumes. Eric will likely post some pics of the sulfur and the miners. It was well worth the journey!
After Ijen, we headed for Bali. We'll likely spend the next few days in the town of Ubud (according to the Lonely Planet, it's the cultural apex of Bali). The rice fields surrounding the town look amazing! Our hotel is close to the centre of town, so it's convenient for doing walking tours around the town. The hotel is very Balinese in architecture and in furnishings. It'll be relaxing to hang out here for a few days. So far, our trip has been quite active, so both Eric and I feel that we haven't had a chance to get caught up on our rest or relaxation yet (as a lot of mornings have been 3am or 4am starts). Today, we'll likely do a bit of reading by the pool, maybe walk down to a local market and buy some fruit, and rest my back...it's a little tired after all the mountain hiking!
Friday, November 14, 2008
Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Today we saw the Hindu temples around the Prambanan plain. We had hired a private car and driver for the day to get to all the ruins, and it was well worth the $22.
We were up at 5am, our internal clocks still a bit messed up. Breakfast at the Ministry of Coffee didn't start until 8am, but we couldn't fall back asleep so just stayed up. Breakfast was great, the best on the trip so far (although still short of breakfasts we had in Morocco). Our driver arrived at 9am and we started our day.
First we stopped at Candi Sambisari (Candi translates as temple), about 10km outside of town. This is a ruin 6m below ground level that was discovered by a farmer. It now sits fully uncovered, surrounded by farms in the village. We didn't even see until we were right upon it. I went to take a pic and realized that my memory card was corrupted, most likely when I uploaded pics yesterday (stupid Windows). So we were now on a SD card hunt as well as ruins.
Next we saw Candi Kalasan and Candi Sari. These are also in the middle of farms and villages, which continue on with life as if nothing's extraordinary about a temple sitting next to your house. There were no other tourists at any of these ruins.
Before getting to the Prambanan complex we headed to a market and found a camera store, and picked up a 1GB card for $12. Yippee!
Just east of the main complex is the Plaosan group of temples. This was our favourite site, (maybe even better than Borobudur). Again, it's set surrounded by farmer's fields. Most of the site is an archaeological work in progress, with big mounds of rocks waiting to be arranged into temples and shrines and stupas. Two of the main temples are restored; the rest just a jumble. It was quite beautiful and peaceful.
Finally we headed to the Prambanan complex. Most of the temples (the highest reaching 47m) were damaged by the earthquake in 2006; and so access is very restricted. However they're still amazing to see.
We had a quick stop at Kraton Ratu Boko, primarily to see Prambanan from a lookout spot in the hills surrounding the plain. You need a pretty good zoom to get a decent pic -- my five-year-old camera with a 3x zoom just didn't cut it. Boko also has some basic ruins to see, which we glanced at.
...
A couple days ago while I was about town, I was stopped by a few groups of girls so they could take their picture with me. Heather and I figure I must look like some Bollywood star or the other.
...
We're now finished with ruins for the trip. Next up are a couple of natural wonders: Gunung Bromo volcano and Kawah Ijen (a turquoise sulphur lake). We've booked the same driver to take us for the next two days. The driver was great, and the car has good lower lumbar support (it's a couple of long days in the car for Heather's back). After that we're off to Bali for the remainder of the trip.
We were up at 5am, our internal clocks still a bit messed up. Breakfast at the Ministry of Coffee didn't start until 8am, but we couldn't fall back asleep so just stayed up. Breakfast was great, the best on the trip so far (although still short of breakfasts we had in Morocco). Our driver arrived at 9am and we started our day.
First we stopped at Candi Sambisari (Candi translates as temple), about 10km outside of town. This is a ruin 6m below ground level that was discovered by a farmer. It now sits fully uncovered, surrounded by farms in the village. We didn't even see until we were right upon it. I went to take a pic and realized that my memory card was corrupted, most likely when I uploaded pics yesterday (stupid Windows). So we were now on a SD card hunt as well as ruins.
Next we saw Candi Kalasan and Candi Sari. These are also in the middle of farms and villages, which continue on with life as if nothing's extraordinary about a temple sitting next to your house. There were no other tourists at any of these ruins.
Before getting to the Prambanan complex we headed to a market and found a camera store, and picked up a 1GB card for $12. Yippee!
Just east of the main complex is the Plaosan group of temples. This was our favourite site, (maybe even better than Borobudur). Again, it's set surrounded by farmer's fields. Most of the site is an archaeological work in progress, with big mounds of rocks waiting to be arranged into temples and shrines and stupas. Two of the main temples are restored; the rest just a jumble. It was quite beautiful and peaceful.
Finally we headed to the Prambanan complex. Most of the temples (the highest reaching 47m) were damaged by the earthquake in 2006; and so access is very restricted. However they're still amazing to see.
We had a quick stop at Kraton Ratu Boko, primarily to see Prambanan from a lookout spot in the hills surrounding the plain. You need a pretty good zoom to get a decent pic -- my five-year-old camera with a 3x zoom just didn't cut it. Boko also has some basic ruins to see, which we glanced at.
...
A couple days ago while I was about town, I was stopped by a few groups of girls so they could take their picture with me. Heather and I figure I must look like some Bollywood star or the other.
...
We're now finished with ruins for the trip. Next up are a couple of natural wonders: Gunung Bromo volcano and Kawah Ijen (a turquoise sulphur lake). We've booked the same driver to take us for the next two days. The driver was great, and the car has good lower lumbar support (it's a couple of long days in the car for Heather's back). After that we're off to Bali for the remainder of the trip.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Yogyakarta, Indonesia
So we saw Borobudur today! It is a very impressive ruin; it's amongst my top-five favourite ruins in the world. First on my list is Machu Picchu; followed by Angkor Wat and Tikal; and then Palenque and Borobudur.
We left yesterday around noon from our hotel in Yogyakarta. We took a private car & driver to the ruins, ($20 for the 90 minute drive). I had reserved a room at the only hotel on the grounds, Hotel Manohara. The service was excellent -- when we arrived, we were served javanese tea and a snack, and then showed to our room. Hotel guests get unlimited access to Borobudur; so we headed over (about a five minute walk). We walked around the ruin(clockwise, as is the Bhuddist custom), and then up to the top. It was later in the day but still pretty hot (30C+), so we didn't stay long.
Back at the hotel, we figured on a nice dinner at the outdoor hotel restaurant which overlooks the ruins. We ordered a large beer to share and settled in for dusk. Unfortunately we forgot that open air + rainy season + dusk = mosquitoes and bugs. (We didn't actually forget, as we had brought bug spray, but didn't think about it when we were thinking of a nice dinner). Being city folk we didn't much care for the bugs, so quickly ate and retired to our room for the night.
We had to be up at 4:00am to catch the sunrise from the top of Borobudur. Our internal clocks are still messed up, so getting up early wasn't a problem (we had fallen asleep at 7pm). Sunrise access is only available to hotel guests (the main reason I wanted to stay at Manohara) (for an extra $11). The "Sunrise Tour" ticket is a nice souvenir; we also received complementary flashlights :)
There were less than 15 of us on the sunrise tour, which was nice as the ruins are more mysterious when there aren't hundreds of other tourists. We all settled in at various vantage points at the top to watch the sunrise. It's hazy this time of year, so we didn't get the colours of a sunrise, but it was beautiful with the mist and haze. The mist was slowly burnt away by the sun, finally exposing the countryside. Busloads of tourist arrived shortly after 6am which broke the spell. I spent a couple hours taking pictures, and then Heather and I headed back to the hotel for breakfast.
After breakfast, we went back to our room and took an unplanned two-hour nap. Woke up and went to see a video in the "audio-visual room". The video was filmed in the 70s, but did a great job of explaining some of the bas-reliefs that surround the first few layers of Borobudur.
Around noon we took a private car back to Yogyakarta, and checked into the Ministry of Coffee (I had reserved the room prior to going to Borobudur). It's one of the nicest hotels I've stayed at while traveling.
We had lunch at our favourite restaurant (Deja Vu), then ran some errands (dropped off laundry, booked the trip to Prambanan for tomorrow, picked up our plane tickets from Denpasar to Jakarta, bought some water).
Tomorrow we're off to see Prambanan, which is a complex of Hindu temples (Borobudur is Bhuddist) (both built around 1200 years ago). We've once again booked a private car & driver ($25 for five hours).
We left yesterday around noon from our hotel in Yogyakarta. We took a private car & driver to the ruins, ($20 for the 90 minute drive). I had reserved a room at the only hotel on the grounds, Hotel Manohara. The service was excellent -- when we arrived, we were served javanese tea and a snack, and then showed to our room. Hotel guests get unlimited access to Borobudur; so we headed over (about a five minute walk). We walked around the ruin(clockwise, as is the Bhuddist custom), and then up to the top. It was later in the day but still pretty hot (30C+), so we didn't stay long.
Back at the hotel, we figured on a nice dinner at the outdoor hotel restaurant which overlooks the ruins. We ordered a large beer to share and settled in for dusk. Unfortunately we forgot that open air + rainy season + dusk = mosquitoes and bugs. (We didn't actually forget, as we had brought bug spray, but didn't think about it when we were thinking of a nice dinner). Being city folk we didn't much care for the bugs, so quickly ate and retired to our room for the night.
We had to be up at 4:00am to catch the sunrise from the top of Borobudur. Our internal clocks are still messed up, so getting up early wasn't a problem (we had fallen asleep at 7pm). Sunrise access is only available to hotel guests (the main reason I wanted to stay at Manohara) (for an extra $11). The "Sunrise Tour" ticket is a nice souvenir; we also received complementary flashlights :)
There were less than 15 of us on the sunrise tour, which was nice as the ruins are more mysterious when there aren't hundreds of other tourists. We all settled in at various vantage points at the top to watch the sunrise. It's hazy this time of year, so we didn't get the colours of a sunrise, but it was beautiful with the mist and haze. The mist was slowly burnt away by the sun, finally exposing the countryside. Busloads of tourist arrived shortly after 6am which broke the spell. I spent a couple hours taking pictures, and then Heather and I headed back to the hotel for breakfast.
After breakfast, we went back to our room and took an unplanned two-hour nap. Woke up and went to see a video in the "audio-visual room". The video was filmed in the 70s, but did a great job of explaining some of the bas-reliefs that surround the first few layers of Borobudur.
Around noon we took a private car back to Yogyakarta, and checked into the Ministry of Coffee (I had reserved the room prior to going to Borobudur). It's one of the nicest hotels I've stayed at while traveling.
We had lunch at our favourite restaurant (Deja Vu), then ran some errands (dropped off laundry, booked the trip to Prambanan for tomorrow, picked up our plane tickets from Denpasar to Jakarta, bought some water).
Tomorrow we're off to see Prambanan, which is a complex of Hindu temples (Borobudur is Bhuddist) (both built around 1200 years ago). We've once again booked a private car & driver ($25 for five hours).
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Just a quick post, as Eric has run out to the local market to see what he can pick up to aid in the recovery of my lower back spasm from yesterday. I think the hot, humid heat of Java is the best medicine. It's already morning, and I'm very mobile compared to previous times my back has "gone out" on me. I actually just finished a series of stretches by the pool, and am able to do almost all of the "normal" exercises assigned by my chiropractor and physiotherapist -- so I'm overjoyed, to say the least :) (usually it takes 2-3 days to get this point). I've been so impressed with how the locals have accommodated my back problem...they've really, really gone out of their way to help me.
As Eric mentioned, today we're heading to Borobudur (one of the major reasons why we picked Indonesia for our trip). Eric's a huge ancient ruin fanatic, so I'm sure it will be an impressive sight! Then, we'll likely head back to Yogya (as the city here is commonly known) and plan a day trip to see another ancient ruin (a large Hindu temple about 30 mins from here called Prambanan (sp?)).
As Eric mentioned, today we're heading to Borobudur (one of the major reasons why we picked Indonesia for our trip). Eric's a huge ancient ruin fanatic, so I'm sure it will be an impressive sight! Then, we'll likely head back to Yogya (as the city here is commonly known) and plan a day trip to see another ancient ruin (a large Hindu temple about 30 mins from here called Prambanan (sp?)).
Yogyakarta, Indonesia
We've been in Indonesia for a little over two days, but it seems much longer with the jetlag.
Heather's back survived the 24 hours from Toronto to Djakarta, and then the eight hour train ride to Yogjakarta. Heather's chiropractor had given her stretches for her back and hip, and so every couple hours she got up and stretched on the plane and train. Every time she did so, it prompted a number of older asian folks to get up and start doing their own stretches.
Yesterday was our first real day of travel, and after being cooped up in trains and planes and becaks, we set out to see Yogyakarta. (Becaks is the local term for a three-wheeled pedal-powered transport. The driver sits on a raised seat at the back, and you're in the front zipping and cutting through motorbikes, scooters, bikes and cars.) I think we both let our guard down about Heather's back (figuring the flight was the hardest part), and overdid it on Tuesday morning.
We spent the rest of the day in the hotel, allowing her back to recover. Heather wasn't too mobile, so I asked the restaurant next door for take out (we ate there on Monday night). Instead, they delivered the food right to our room in the hotel! I took back the plates after we ate.
Heather's feeling much better today. We have a reservation at the only hotel in Borobudur for tonight, which we'll be heading to later this afternoon. Tomorrow hopefully we'll be seeing Borobudur!
Heather's back survived the 24 hours from Toronto to Djakarta, and then the eight hour train ride to Yogjakarta. Heather's chiropractor had given her stretches for her back and hip, and so every couple hours she got up and stretched on the plane and train. Every time she did so, it prompted a number of older asian folks to get up and start doing their own stretches.
Yesterday was our first real day of travel, and after being cooped up in trains and planes and becaks, we set out to see Yogyakarta. (Becaks is the local term for a three-wheeled pedal-powered transport. The driver sits on a raised seat at the back, and you're in the front zipping and cutting through motorbikes, scooters, bikes and cars.) I think we both let our guard down about Heather's back (figuring the flight was the hardest part), and overdid it on Tuesday morning.
We spent the rest of the day in the hotel, allowing her back to recover. Heather wasn't too mobile, so I asked the restaurant next door for take out (we ate there on Monday night). Instead, they delivered the food right to our room in the hotel! I took back the plates after we ate.
Heather's feeling much better today. We have a reservation at the only hotel in Borobudur for tonight, which we'll be heading to later this afternoon. Tomorrow hopefully we'll be seeing Borobudur!
Monday, November 10, 2008
Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Just a quick post to say we arrived here in one piece. The flights went by surprisingly quick. The food on the 2nd flight (the Cathay Pacific one) was really good.
We arrived in Djakarta around 8pm. It was straightforward to get through immigration and customs. The visa is really nice-looking -- a full page sticker. Took a taxi to the Marco Polo hotel, which I had reserved earlier from home. We had a bite to eat, and then fell fast asleep.
Five hours later we were wide awake (it's a 12 hour time difference from Toronto), so we decided to get the train to Yogyakarta today. There's not much to see in Djakarta, and we'll have a day to sightsee on the way home.
It was very easy to purchase a ticket for the executive class train to Yogyakarta (about $23 each for the eight hour trip). We tried to book into the Lonely Planet recommended "Ministy of Coffee". It was full, but they suggested a nice boutique hotel (Duta Guest House) just down the street which we are now staying at for a couple nights.
Tomorrow we'll tourist around (there's plenty to see here). It's the start of rainy season, but it looks like it just rains before sunset for an hour or so.
I haven't taken any pictures yet (we're still getting situated after the journey). Anyways were off to have some large Bintang beers (and dinner later on).
We arrived in Djakarta around 8pm. It was straightforward to get through immigration and customs. The visa is really nice-looking -- a full page sticker. Took a taxi to the Marco Polo hotel, which I had reserved earlier from home. We had a bite to eat, and then fell fast asleep.
Five hours later we were wide awake (it's a 12 hour time difference from Toronto), so we decided to get the train to Yogyakarta today. There's not much to see in Djakarta, and we'll have a day to sightsee on the way home.
It was very easy to purchase a ticket for the executive class train to Yogyakarta (about $23 each for the eight hour trip). We tried to book into the Lonely Planet recommended "Ministy of Coffee". It was full, but they suggested a nice boutique hotel (Duta Guest House) just down the street which we are now staying at for a couple nights.
Tomorrow we'll tourist around (there's plenty to see here). It's the start of rainy season, but it looks like it just rains before sunset for an hour or so.
I haven't taken any pictures yet (we're still getting situated after the journey). Anyways were off to have some large Bintang beers (and dinner later on).
Friday, November 07, 2008
Toronto, Canada
Eric has signed me on as a blog contributor, so I'll be posting here periodically on the trip (...I think he was getting a little tired of me saying, "Eric, don't forget to post this, that, and the other thing")
We're really looking forward to our trip to Indonesia. The trip was kind of "up in the air" with my lower back trouble over the past couple of months, but I'm officially on the mend - haven't had a lower back spasm in over 2 weeks and have been feeling great!
We arrive in Jakarta late Sunday night, so we'll likely post again early next week.
We're really looking forward to our trip to Indonesia. The trip was kind of "up in the air" with my lower back trouble over the past couple of months, but I'm officially on the mend - haven't had a lower back spasm in over 2 weeks and have been feeling great!
We arrive in Jakarta late Sunday night, so we'll likely post again early next week.
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Toronto, Canada
We're getting excited about the trip! We leave Saturday morning -- fifteen hours to Hong Kong, a two hour layover, and then five hours to Jakarta. We're flying Cathay Pacific, which I've heard good things about.
The Indonesian government has said they'll be executing the Bali bombers around the middle of November, unfortunately also in the middle of our trip. It's a big story in the local media. We'll be careful as usual, but don't think it's any more risk than Leslieville lately. See comments on the Lonely Planet travel forum.
In our three weeks we're planning to see Borobudur (the last major ruins on my list), dive in Bali, and maybe see the Komodo dragons and Kelimutu. For those keeping count (Gerry), Indonesia will be country number 61 in my lifelong quest to travel to 100 countries.
The Indonesian government has said they'll be executing the Bali bombers around the middle of November, unfortunately also in the middle of our trip. It's a big story in the local media. We'll be careful as usual, but don't think it's any more risk than Leslieville lately. See comments on the Lonely Planet travel forum.
In our three weeks we're planning to see Borobudur (the last major ruins on my list), dive in Bali, and maybe see the Komodo dragons and Kelimutu. For those keeping count (Gerry), Indonesia will be country number 61 in my lifelong quest to travel to 100 countries.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Toronto, Canada
We arrived back in Toronto a couple days ago and have started to get back into life over here.
I took 951 pictures over the four weeks. I've posted some of them on Picasa in three albums. Click on the pictures below to see the album.
[Editor's note: Picasa no longer exists. The photo albums can be found in Google Photos]
I took 951 pictures over the four weeks. I've posted some of them on Picasa in three albums. Click on the pictures below to see the album.
[Editor's note: Picasa no longer exists. The photo albums can be found in Google Photos]
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Casablanca, Morocco
Rabat was a nice city to spend a few days relaxing. We saw most of the major attractions: Le Tour Hassan, the masoleum of Mohammed V, Chellah & Sala Colonia, the medina, kasbah des Oudaias and the Archaeology Museum.
Chellah and Sala Colonia are ruins in the south end of the city. Sala Colonia are Roman ruins, upon which the Merenid necropolis of Chellah was built in the 14th century. The whole site is overgrown with wild flowers and plants, and there are hundreds of nesting storks. It's a great ruin to wander around and sit and wonder. I liked it much better than Lixus, and about the same as Volubilis.
The medina in Rabat is different from other medinas, in that there's listed prices, and not much haggling. It's a good place to pick up souvenirs, because you know you're getting a fair price. Unfortunately most of the things we liked are difficult to transport, and it's easier just to buy it at Pier 1 when we get home.
The kasbah was okay to wander through; it's dusty and not as impressive as the kasbahs we saw in the High Atlas. The only nice part was the Andalusian gardens in the kasbah.
We also visited the Archaeology Museum. There's quite a few artefacts from the Roman ruins that we've visited. I've also just finished reading The Rubicon, which is a narrative history of the Roman empire, and so I recognized some of the names on the statues.
Aside from the tourist attractions, Rabat's a nice city. The ville nouvelle has large boulevards with pedestrian-only paths, which were filled every evening with strolling locals. There are plenty of restaurants, and we found an english bookstore that had second-hand classics. We spent our mornings sightseeing; the afternoons reading and sipping Moroccan wine from our terrace; and then having a nice dinner.
Our terrace overlooked a park, as well as a mosque. On Friday we were fortunate to witness the Friday noon prayers -- the attendees overflowed from the mosque into the surrounding streets! It was busier than a Catholic church on Christmas or Easter. The prayers are broadcast from loudspeakers atop the mosque, and so we could hear (although not understand the arabic), and see the men pray.
On our last night in Rabat we ate at an italian restaurant that had excellent pizza. It's the 2nd best pizza I've had (nothing comes close to the pizza at Fortino's in Vaughan).
We took the train from Rabat to Casablanca, staying at the Ibis hotel because it's right beside the train station (we'll be taking the train to the airport as well). Tomorrow we're off to see the Hassan II mosque (one of the few open to non-Muslims), and the next day we fly home.
Chellah and Sala Colonia are ruins in the south end of the city. Sala Colonia are Roman ruins, upon which the Merenid necropolis of Chellah was built in the 14th century. The whole site is overgrown with wild flowers and plants, and there are hundreds of nesting storks. It's a great ruin to wander around and sit and wonder. I liked it much better than Lixus, and about the same as Volubilis.
The medina in Rabat is different from other medinas, in that there's listed prices, and not much haggling. It's a good place to pick up souvenirs, because you know you're getting a fair price. Unfortunately most of the things we liked are difficult to transport, and it's easier just to buy it at Pier 1 when we get home.
The kasbah was okay to wander through; it's dusty and not as impressive as the kasbahs we saw in the High Atlas. The only nice part was the Andalusian gardens in the kasbah.
We also visited the Archaeology Museum. There's quite a few artefacts from the Roman ruins that we've visited. I've also just finished reading The Rubicon, which is a narrative history of the Roman empire, and so I recognized some of the names on the statues.
Aside from the tourist attractions, Rabat's a nice city. The ville nouvelle has large boulevards with pedestrian-only paths, which were filled every evening with strolling locals. There are plenty of restaurants, and we found an english bookstore that had second-hand classics. We spent our mornings sightseeing; the afternoons reading and sipping Moroccan wine from our terrace; and then having a nice dinner.
Our terrace overlooked a park, as well as a mosque. On Friday we were fortunate to witness the Friday noon prayers -- the attendees overflowed from the mosque into the surrounding streets! It was busier than a Catholic church on Christmas or Easter. The prayers are broadcast from loudspeakers atop the mosque, and so we could hear (although not understand the arabic), and see the men pray.
On our last night in Rabat we ate at an italian restaurant that had excellent pizza. It's the 2nd best pizza I've had (nothing comes close to the pizza at Fortino's in Vaughan).
We took the train from Rabat to Casablanca, staying at the Ibis hotel because it's right beside the train station (we'll be taking the train to the airport as well). Tomorrow we're off to see the Hassan II mosque (one of the few open to non-Muslims), and the next day we fly home.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Rabat, Morocco
We've reached Rabat, which is our last stop on this trip before returning to Casablanca to fly home. There's quite a lot to see in Rabat. We're planning to spend four days here, which is the longest we'll spend in one spot.
...
Asilah was a nice place to relax. On Saturday we took a little trek along the coastline to get to Paradise Beach, about 4km south of Asilah. There were great views of the Atlantic Ocean as we walked. Paradise Beach was a wide, long beach with fine sand, which we had almost all to ourselves. There was another person off in the distance, and oddly, a cow. We looked around for a few minutes, and then headed back to town. The round trip trek took us about four hours, and we were glad we left in the cool early morning hours (9am).
Dinners were hit-and-miss in Asilah. The first night we were very disappointed with the fish we ordered (swordfish and calamari). The next night, (at a different restaurant), the fish was excellent! (merlan and loup)
From Asilah we took a quick (30 minutes) grand taxi ride to Larache. We had reservations at La Maison Haute, and it was a short walk to the hotel with our packs. Larache is not as touristy as other northern towns, and we were pretty much ignored as we walked through town.
We were initially really impressed with La Maison Haute. It's a restored Hispanic-Moorish house, with 15' ceilings and large common rooms. The view from the rooftop of the city and beach was one of the best we've had in a hotel. However, our room was musty (and hot without a/c), and the manager was very overbearing, and so we cut our stay short, for only one night. It was our least favourite hotel this trip.
In the morning before we took off from Larache, we had a quick trip to the roman ruins at Lixus. These aren't restored at all, and not worth more than the 30 minutes we spent at the ruins.
A very comfortable CTM bus ride brought us to Rabat. We're staying at the Hotel Royal, beside the French embassy. Our balcony overlooks Jardin Triangle de Vue, a large park in the Ville Nouvelle. Last night we ate at a fancy french restaurant (I had braised lamb shank, Heather had half rack of lamb), for less than $30 CDN!
This morning visited Le Tour Hassan, and the mausoleum of Mohammed V. The rest of the day we're just going to relax...
(GoogleMaps was giving me trouble so I haven't updated the map)
...
Asilah was a nice place to relax. On Saturday we took a little trek along the coastline to get to Paradise Beach, about 4km south of Asilah. There were great views of the Atlantic Ocean as we walked. Paradise Beach was a wide, long beach with fine sand, which we had almost all to ourselves. There was another person off in the distance, and oddly, a cow. We looked around for a few minutes, and then headed back to town. The round trip trek took us about four hours, and we were glad we left in the cool early morning hours (9am).
Dinners were hit-and-miss in Asilah. The first night we were very disappointed with the fish we ordered (swordfish and calamari). The next night, (at a different restaurant), the fish was excellent! (merlan and loup)
From Asilah we took a quick (30 minutes) grand taxi ride to Larache. We had reservations at La Maison Haute, and it was a short walk to the hotel with our packs. Larache is not as touristy as other northern towns, and we were pretty much ignored as we walked through town.
We were initially really impressed with La Maison Haute. It's a restored Hispanic-Moorish house, with 15' ceilings and large common rooms. The view from the rooftop of the city and beach was one of the best we've had in a hotel. However, our room was musty (and hot without a/c), and the manager was very overbearing, and so we cut our stay short, for only one night. It was our least favourite hotel this trip.
In the morning before we took off from Larache, we had a quick trip to the roman ruins at Lixus. These aren't restored at all, and not worth more than the 30 minutes we spent at the ruins.
A very comfortable CTM bus ride brought us to Rabat. We're staying at the Hotel Royal, beside the French embassy. Our balcony overlooks Jardin Triangle de Vue, a large park in the Ville Nouvelle. Last night we ate at a fancy french restaurant (I had braised lamb shank, Heather had half rack of lamb), for less than $30 CDN!
This morning visited Le Tour Hassan, and the mausoleum of Mohammed V. The rest of the day we're just going to relax...
(GoogleMaps was giving me trouble so I haven't updated the map)
Friday, June 01, 2007
Asilah, Morocco
We're now back on the Atlantic coast after taking a couple grand taxis from Tetouan to Asilah (where we are now) via Tanger.
Chefchaouen was a nice place to relax. We ate dinner at the same restaurant (La Lampe Magique) for three nights in a row. The restaurant was right on the main plaza, and from the rooftop terrace there was a great 360 degree view of Plaza Uta el-Hammam, the restored kasbah, the mountains and houses in the distance, and of the full moon. It was one of the best settings for a restaurant that I've ever seen. The food was great, and each night we stuffed ourselves full.
From Chefchaouen we took a grand-taxi to Tetouan. Originally we were going to take the CTM bus at 12:30pm, but we were packed up and ready to go by 10am. Rather than wait around for a bus, we took a grand-taxi. It was a good move as we were in Tetouan by noon.
Both of us felt good to be back in an urban setting. So far on this trip, we have stayed in the touristy parts of Morocco -- riads, kasbahs, medinas. However, most places also have a "nouvelle-ville", which are more cosmopolitan and modern.
There's a large spanish influence in Tetouan. As we walked through the pedestrian-only streets, we felt that we could have been in any city in Europe. I guess that's why most Europeans avoid the nouvelle-villes and head straight to the medinas -- they can get european at home.
In Tetouan we walked briefly through the medina but we both felt out-medina'd. We visited the archaeology museum, which was quite good. It had a number of artefacts from the roman ruins of Volubilis (which we've visited), and Lixus (which we're going to in a couple days).
There was not much else to Tetouan, and so this morning we took a couple grand taxis to get to Asilah (via Tanger as there's no direct grand taxi).
Asilah is a resort town on the Atlantic. The medina is heavily gentrified. It's nice to walk through, and does not have the hustle and bustle of souqs in other medinas. We walked around the medina for a bit.
We're staying at the Hotel Patio de la Luna, which looks like a nice place to have a bottle of wine after dinner tonight.
As you may guess from the name of the hotel, spanish is more prevalent as a 2nd language as we've travelled through northern Morocco. Between Heather's french, and my spanish, we've been able to travel quite easily throughout our trip.
Morocco is the only country I've visited that it has been difficult and expensive to have a beer (and I've been to other predominantly Muslim countries). Most cities / towns have only a handful of licensed restaurants, where a 200ml bottle of Flag costs Dh20 (about $3 CDN). On occasion we've been buying a bottle of wine in alcohol stores, if our hotel room had a nice terrace to have a drink. The alcohol store in Asilah is right beside the hotel, so we're thinking of having a cold beer before dinner!
Chefchaouen was a nice place to relax. We ate dinner at the same restaurant (La Lampe Magique) for three nights in a row. The restaurant was right on the main plaza, and from the rooftop terrace there was a great 360 degree view of Plaza Uta el-Hammam, the restored kasbah, the mountains and houses in the distance, and of the full moon. It was one of the best settings for a restaurant that I've ever seen. The food was great, and each night we stuffed ourselves full.
From Chefchaouen we took a grand-taxi to Tetouan. Originally we were going to take the CTM bus at 12:30pm, but we were packed up and ready to go by 10am. Rather than wait around for a bus, we took a grand-taxi. It was a good move as we were in Tetouan by noon.
Both of us felt good to be back in an urban setting. So far on this trip, we have stayed in the touristy parts of Morocco -- riads, kasbahs, medinas. However, most places also have a "nouvelle-ville", which are more cosmopolitan and modern.
There's a large spanish influence in Tetouan. As we walked through the pedestrian-only streets, we felt that we could have been in any city in Europe. I guess that's why most Europeans avoid the nouvelle-villes and head straight to the medinas -- they can get european at home.
In Tetouan we walked briefly through the medina but we both felt out-medina'd. We visited the archaeology museum, which was quite good. It had a number of artefacts from the roman ruins of Volubilis (which we've visited), and Lixus (which we're going to in a couple days).
There was not much else to Tetouan, and so this morning we took a couple grand taxis to get to Asilah (via Tanger as there's no direct grand taxi).
Asilah is a resort town on the Atlantic. The medina is heavily gentrified. It's nice to walk through, and does not have the hustle and bustle of souqs in other medinas. We walked around the medina for a bit.
We're staying at the Hotel Patio de la Luna, which looks like a nice place to have a bottle of wine after dinner tonight.
As you may guess from the name of the hotel, spanish is more prevalent as a 2nd language as we've travelled through northern Morocco. Between Heather's french, and my spanish, we've been able to travel quite easily throughout our trip.
Morocco is the only country I've visited that it has been difficult and expensive to have a beer (and I've been to other predominantly Muslim countries). Most cities / towns have only a handful of licensed restaurants, where a 200ml bottle of Flag costs Dh20 (about $3 CDN). On occasion we've been buying a bottle of wine in alcohol stores, if our hotel room had a nice terrace to have a drink. The alcohol store in Asilah is right beside the hotel, so we're thinking of having a cold beer before dinner!
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Chefchaouen, Morocco
We're now relaxing in Chefchaouen, a little vacation within our trip. Chefchaouen (the 'ou' is pronounced as a 'w') is a little town in the Rif mountains. Most of the buildings are painted a sky-blue on the ground floor. The main square, Plaza Uta el-Hammam, contains a beautifully restored kasbah. The streets are all narrow cobblestone, climbing steeply up and down. The men here wear gowns with pointed hoods, and pointed shoes, which adds to the fairytale-like atmosphere. The only downside is that one of the main sources of income is from kif (aka marijuana). It's annoying to walk about town when every second step you have someone whisper to you if you'd like to buy some kif.
We've spent most of the time eating in nice restaurants overlooking the plaza, and reading / relaxing on the terrace in our hotel. Today we scrounged up enough energy to visit the kasbah and museum.
The weather has been a bit cooler since we left the desert. In the Todra Gorge and Meknes it was about mid-20s, and here it's been about the same. Today it feels a bit warmer.
We've spent most of the time eating in nice restaurants overlooking the plaza, and reading / relaxing on the terrace in our hotel. Today we scrounged up enough energy to visit the kasbah and museum.
The weather has been a bit cooler since we left the desert. In the Todra Gorge and Meknes it was about mid-20s, and here it's been about the same. Today it feels a bit warmer.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Meknes, Morocco
We've spent the last three days in Meknes, which is the longest we've been in one spot so far this trip.
We arrived very early in the morning in Meknes (5:30am!). Fortunately our hotel let us check in early as well, without charging us for the extra day. After showering, we headed out to the medina and souq. The souq wasn't that impressive. However, lunch was great. We had brochettes at an open-air restaurant in the main plaza, Place el-Hedim, watching the scene.
The next day we had a day trip, visiting both the Roman ruins at Volubilis, and the pilgrimage village of Moulay Idriss. We hired a driver for the half-day (Dh300), who of course drove a Mercedes.
I love visiting ruins and Volubilis did not disappoint. It was cool to see the expanse of ruins, spread over 40 hectares!! There were a few houses with cool mosaics still preserved.
Next we headed to Moulay Indriss. We were fortunate to be there on a Saturday, market day. It was nice to wander around the market without being hassled (there were very few tourists). Had lunch from a market stall, a brochette sandwich. Meat (usually beef) is barbecued, and stuffed into a pita-type bread, along with tomatoes, olives, some spices, and sometimes french fries. The breads are amazing here, as well as the olives and tomatoes and ..., generally all the ingredients are amazing. (We'll be on a bread and olive hunt when we get back to Toronto).
After lunch we hopped into our Mercedes and asked our driver to take us home. (Okay, so the Mercedes was circa 1975).
Today we had a day trip to Fes, about an hour east of Meknes. Most people head to Fes on a trip to Morocco; but we decided to stay in the less touristy Meknes, and see Fes on a day trip.
The souq in Fes is one of the better ones we've visited, topped only by Essaouira. We were trying to find the tanneries (where leather is cured and dyed), and were able to wind our way through the souq all on our ownsome! The occasional maps on the wall (similar to the PATH maps in the Toronto downtown underground) helped.
The leather shops have figured out that tourists want to see the tanneries, and so the only access to view them is from the roofs of leather shops. After, you may purchase an item or two if you so wish...
The smell was a bit intense (the leather is cured with pigeon dung and cow urine). However, it was a photographer's dream. You cannot take a bad picture here. Thank goodness for digital photography, because I took about 50 pictures.
After, Heather bought a purse from the co-operative. She had wanted to buy one from Fes, so the whole leather-shop-with-a-view-deal worked out.
While in Fes we had some b'sara. This is a local specialty, a soup made with chick peas and garlic, and other spices, served from little carts in the middle of the souq. It was really really tasty.
We made our way back to Meknes. The previous day we had seen a small butcher that made sandwiches that was extremely busy. So we checked it out for lunch. It was one of the best brochette sandwiches I've had. The place was a California Sandwiches of Meknes (California Sandwiches is an italian sandwich shop in Toronto that has huge line-ups of locals for the food).
This afternoon we saw a bit more of the medina in Meknes, including the masoleum of Moulay Ismail, and Heri es-Souani.
The masoleum was very beautiful. Its calmness was broken by numerous busloads of tourists following their guides. We waited about fifteen minutes to get a tourist-less picture of the fountain in the masoleum. Unfortnately the picture didn't look as good as I hoped.
Heri es-Souani is a huge granary that once held grain for 12,000 horses. It fell into disrepair, and is now being restored. It is massive. We wandered about, mostly on our own (very few other tourists made it here).
Tomorrow we're on a train/bus journey to Chefchaouen.
We arrived very early in the morning in Meknes (5:30am!). Fortunately our hotel let us check in early as well, without charging us for the extra day. After showering, we headed out to the medina and souq. The souq wasn't that impressive. However, lunch was great. We had brochettes at an open-air restaurant in the main plaza, Place el-Hedim, watching the scene.
The next day we had a day trip, visiting both the Roman ruins at Volubilis, and the pilgrimage village of Moulay Idriss. We hired a driver for the half-day (Dh300), who of course drove a Mercedes.
I love visiting ruins and Volubilis did not disappoint. It was cool to see the expanse of ruins, spread over 40 hectares!! There were a few houses with cool mosaics still preserved.
Next we headed to Moulay Indriss. We were fortunate to be there on a Saturday, market day. It was nice to wander around the market without being hassled (there were very few tourists). Had lunch from a market stall, a brochette sandwich. Meat (usually beef) is barbecued, and stuffed into a pita-type bread, along with tomatoes, olives, some spices, and sometimes french fries. The breads are amazing here, as well as the olives and tomatoes and ..., generally all the ingredients are amazing. (We'll be on a bread and olive hunt when we get back to Toronto).
After lunch we hopped into our Mercedes and asked our driver to take us home. (Okay, so the Mercedes was circa 1975).
Today we had a day trip to Fes, about an hour east of Meknes. Most people head to Fes on a trip to Morocco; but we decided to stay in the less touristy Meknes, and see Fes on a day trip.
The souq in Fes is one of the better ones we've visited, topped only by Essaouira. We were trying to find the tanneries (where leather is cured and dyed), and were able to wind our way through the souq all on our ownsome! The occasional maps on the wall (similar to the PATH maps in the Toronto downtown underground) helped.
The leather shops have figured out that tourists want to see the tanneries, and so the only access to view them is from the roofs of leather shops. After, you may purchase an item or two if you so wish...
The smell was a bit intense (the leather is cured with pigeon dung and cow urine). However, it was a photographer's dream. You cannot take a bad picture here. Thank goodness for digital photography, because I took about 50 pictures.
After, Heather bought a purse from the co-operative. She had wanted to buy one from Fes, so the whole leather-shop-with-a-view-deal worked out.
While in Fes we had some b'sara. This is a local specialty, a soup made with chick peas and garlic, and other spices, served from little carts in the middle of the souq. It was really really tasty.
We made our way back to Meknes. The previous day we had seen a small butcher that made sandwiches that was extremely busy. So we checked it out for lunch. It was one of the best brochette sandwiches I've had. The place was a California Sandwiches of Meknes (California Sandwiches is an italian sandwich shop in Toronto that has huge line-ups of locals for the food).
This afternoon we saw a bit more of the medina in Meknes, including the masoleum of Moulay Ismail, and Heri es-Souani.
The masoleum was very beautiful. Its calmness was broken by numerous busloads of tourists following their guides. We waited about fifteen minutes to get a tourist-less picture of the fountain in the masoleum. Unfortnately the picture didn't look as good as I hoped.
Heri es-Souani is a huge granary that once held grain for 12,000 horses. It fell into disrepair, and is now being restored. It is massive. We wandered about, mostly on our own (very few other tourists made it here).
Tomorrow we're on a train/bus journey to Chefchaouen.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Er-Rachidia, Morocco
We spent the last two days in the Todra Gorge, trekking and relaxing at one of our favourite hotels so far on this trip.
We took a CTM bus from Ouarzazat to Tinerhir, and then a grand taxi (a shared taxi -- six of us in a car for four) to our hotel, Auberge-Camping Le Festival, in the middle of the gorge. The road from Tinerhir travels along the bottom of the gorge, and in places is only 20m wide with 300m walls on both sides. It's really cool to see.
Our hotel was built out of stone from the surrounding area. The people who worked at the hotel were really friendly. After dinner, they handed out instruments (percussions for us and the other two travellers, sitar and guitar for them) and we played traditional Berber songs. It was really relaxing.
Yesterday we did a little trek through the High Atlas. It was supposed to be four hours through the mountains to a berber town called Tamtattouchte, and then two hours back along the road to our hotel.
We started from the hotel (1600m) at 8am, and followed the occasionally marked trail up a dry river bed. We picked out trail markings every 10-15 minutes, a small pile of stones here, or a red paint mark there. After two hours, we didn't see any more markings; however, we had a general idea of the geography and so weren't too bad off. We had to crest the range at 2400m, and then walk down the other side towards the main river (which the road followed). It was a beautiful walk, with only the two of us and the High Atlas. We ran into a couple of nomadic Berbers, but that was it.
A friendly dog from the hotel had followed us, and we hoped he would turn around at some point. But he kept with us, and so we had to share our water, with Heather cupping her hands for the dog to drink from.
It took us four hours to crest the range, at which point we could see the main river in the distance. We found a feeder river (dry at this time of year), and followed the river bed down. It was a bit difficult, and it took us two hours to descend to the main river (which did have water), and then to the village.
At this point the dog took off in Tamtattouchte. We were worried about the dog finding its way back home, and so ran all over the village trying to chase it down. He was scared of the local kids, and didn't have a collar, so when I found him, I had to carry him through the village back to Heather. We must have looked quite the sight, two tourists running about the village yelling for a dog. We attracted a merry bunch of about 20 kids, all eager to be part of the adventure.
We had lunch at a restaurant, and then debated walking back to our hotel. It was 15km down the road, and it was already 3pm so we decided to take a grand-taxi back (with the dog).
We got back to the hotel, at which point we found out that the dog was stray, and had showed up at the hotel about two weeks ago! He was well-behaved and looked to be well taken care of, so we're not sure where he came from.
This morning we took a much more leisurely two-hour walk, down the road through the gorge. It's amazing to see the 300m walls rise up beside the road. Unfortunately there are plenty of makeshift stalls selling souvenirs, which mar the pictures. I guess they give scale...
Right now, we're in the middle of bus rides to get to Meknes. It was a short bus ride (two hours) from Tinerhir to Er-Rachidia, where we're waiting for our overnight bus to Meknes. CTM only runs buses overnight between the cities. There are other private bus lines with dayside buses but they're not as clean or punctual as CTM.
We took a CTM bus from Ouarzazat to Tinerhir, and then a grand taxi (a shared taxi -- six of us in a car for four) to our hotel, Auberge-Camping Le Festival, in the middle of the gorge. The road from Tinerhir travels along the bottom of the gorge, and in places is only 20m wide with 300m walls on both sides. It's really cool to see.
Our hotel was built out of stone from the surrounding area. The people who worked at the hotel were really friendly. After dinner, they handed out instruments (percussions for us and the other two travellers, sitar and guitar for them) and we played traditional Berber songs. It was really relaxing.
Yesterday we did a little trek through the High Atlas. It was supposed to be four hours through the mountains to a berber town called Tamtattouchte, and then two hours back along the road to our hotel.
We started from the hotel (1600m) at 8am, and followed the occasionally marked trail up a dry river bed. We picked out trail markings every 10-15 minutes, a small pile of stones here, or a red paint mark there. After two hours, we didn't see any more markings; however, we had a general idea of the geography and so weren't too bad off. We had to crest the range at 2400m, and then walk down the other side towards the main river (which the road followed). It was a beautiful walk, with only the two of us and the High Atlas. We ran into a couple of nomadic Berbers, but that was it.
A friendly dog from the hotel had followed us, and we hoped he would turn around at some point. But he kept with us, and so we had to share our water, with Heather cupping her hands for the dog to drink from.
It took us four hours to crest the range, at which point we could see the main river in the distance. We found a feeder river (dry at this time of year), and followed the river bed down. It was a bit difficult, and it took us two hours to descend to the main river (which did have water), and then to the village.
At this point the dog took off in Tamtattouchte. We were worried about the dog finding its way back home, and so ran all over the village trying to chase it down. He was scared of the local kids, and didn't have a collar, so when I found him, I had to carry him through the village back to Heather. We must have looked quite the sight, two tourists running about the village yelling for a dog. We attracted a merry bunch of about 20 kids, all eager to be part of the adventure.
We had lunch at a restaurant, and then debated walking back to our hotel. It was 15km down the road, and it was already 3pm so we decided to take a grand-taxi back (with the dog).
We got back to the hotel, at which point we found out that the dog was stray, and had showed up at the hotel about two weeks ago! He was well-behaved and looked to be well taken care of, so we're not sure where he came from.
This morning we took a much more leisurely two-hour walk, down the road through the gorge. It's amazing to see the 300m walls rise up beside the road. Unfortunately there are plenty of makeshift stalls selling souvenirs, which mar the pictures. I guess they give scale...
Right now, we're in the middle of bus rides to get to Meknes. It was a short bus ride (two hours) from Tinerhir to Er-Rachidia, where we're waiting for our overnight bus to Meknes. CTM only runs buses overnight between the cities. There are other private bus lines with dayside buses but they're not as clean or punctual as CTM.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Ouarzazat, Morocco
We've just come back from a two-day trip into the Sahara, including a night in a berber tent in the Sahara.
...
The cooking course was excellent! We made the two standard dishes of Morocco: couscous and tajine. The couscous is made in multiple steps, steaming it slightly, adding a bit of water and oil, mixing by hand, and then repeating three times. Our couscous actually came out quite light and fluffy! Tajine is basically a stew, cooked in an earthern pot slowly over coals. The locals all have a place that they take their pot to slow-cook. Ours was a few doors down from the riad, in the basement where they had a firepit for the hotwater for the hammam. Many people already had their tajine cooking, and so we had to mark our names to identify our pot. Unfortunately we had to walk through the streets in white aprons that screamed tourist!
We ate our meal with a bottle of Moroccan red on the rooftop of the riad, by candlelight with the sounds of the market off in the distance. It was really nice.
From Marrakesh we took a long bus ride through the Tizi'n'Tichka pass, with many hairpin turns. Many people got sick from the journey, including Heather. She was happy to finally get to Ouarzazat.
Ouarzazat relies heavily on the movie industry. That also means that there are not many places catering to backpackers. We stayed in a kasbah, just for the experience. In other countries, these would be called crumbling adobe buildings. However, in Morocco they're called kasbahs, The Clash wrote a song about them, and now they're expensive places to stay.
The kasbah actually contains many buildings in a fort, all linked by tunnels under the main floors. This provided protection in the old days, and the system also kept the living floors quite cool during the day. (It was 42C outside when we stayed here).
Our room was really nice, with dark pise walls and crimson upholstery, giving it an oriental feel. Plus, it had a/c!
Aside from the nice room, though, we didn't get a good feel from the town. The next few days promised more heat, long bus rides on winding roads, and so-so accommodation, in order to reach the dunes of the Sahara outside M'Hamid. So, we dropped into a travel agency, and signed up for an organized tour.
It's low season, so there was just Heather and I in a large Toyota SUV, along with a driver and a go-fer. Instead of taking a couple days by public bus, we were able to hit all the highlights in the Draa Valley in one day, reaching the dunes by mid-afternoon. It was another hot day, reaching over 40C. (A dry heat, which supposedly makes it feel better). There were some great views along the drive, of kasbahs and palm groves and Berber villages. Our driver (also the guide) was excellent.
We reached the Erg Lehoudi dunes around 6pm. There was a strong wind, and it was not pleasant to be outside the SUV, facing the blowing sand which gets into everything. We climbed the tallest dune (I was surprised at the lack of footprints from other tourists, as even in a strong wind, footprints take a while to be erased). We quickly ran down (the wind had packed the sand into a hard surface, so it wasn't a fun run down loose sand that I was expecting).
Dinner was couscous and tasted quite good, with a little bit of grit (did I mention the sand gets everywhere?)
Into the night, the wind died down and the desert became quite pleasant. The stars were amazing.
We woke up at 5am in order to catch the sunrise. It's not the actual sun that's impressive, but rather the lighting on the sand dunes. It was well worth the early rise -- the untouched sand dunes were really impressive. The only other time I've seen sand dunes without footprints was in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia. It was really a treat to see untouched dunes again.
The drive back to Ouarzazat was much more pleasant, because it was in the (cooler) morning hours. A couple of seemingly mandatory stops at carpet shops and the inevitable cup of sugary mint tea later, and we were finally back in Ouarzazat. Our first priority was a shower, but first we had to have more tea with the tour operator and look at fine Berber artefacts. Finally we checked into a hotel, showered and cleaned up.
Tonight we're relaxing, and having dinner out. The first night here (before the Sahara tour), we ate at an Italian restaurant (which caters to the many Italian film types here). We had gnocchi in a gorgonzola sauce, and spaghetti in pesto sauce. It was a nice break from Moroccan (I generally like the food of the country I'm in, but it's nice to have some variety now and then). Tonight we are looking at a French restaurant.
Tomorrow we're off to the Todra Gorge for some trekking.
...
The cooking course was excellent! We made the two standard dishes of Morocco: couscous and tajine. The couscous is made in multiple steps, steaming it slightly, adding a bit of water and oil, mixing by hand, and then repeating three times. Our couscous actually came out quite light and fluffy! Tajine is basically a stew, cooked in an earthern pot slowly over coals. The locals all have a place that they take their pot to slow-cook. Ours was a few doors down from the riad, in the basement where they had a firepit for the hotwater for the hammam. Many people already had their tajine cooking, and so we had to mark our names to identify our pot. Unfortunately we had to walk through the streets in white aprons that screamed tourist!
We ate our meal with a bottle of Moroccan red on the rooftop of the riad, by candlelight with the sounds of the market off in the distance. It was really nice.
From Marrakesh we took a long bus ride through the Tizi'n'Tichka pass, with many hairpin turns. Many people got sick from the journey, including Heather. She was happy to finally get to Ouarzazat.
Ouarzazat relies heavily on the movie industry. That also means that there are not many places catering to backpackers. We stayed in a kasbah, just for the experience. In other countries, these would be called crumbling adobe buildings. However, in Morocco they're called kasbahs, The Clash wrote a song about them, and now they're expensive places to stay.
The kasbah actually contains many buildings in a fort, all linked by tunnels under the main floors. This provided protection in the old days, and the system also kept the living floors quite cool during the day. (It was 42C outside when we stayed here).
Our room was really nice, with dark pise walls and crimson upholstery, giving it an oriental feel. Plus, it had a/c!
Aside from the nice room, though, we didn't get a good feel from the town. The next few days promised more heat, long bus rides on winding roads, and so-so accommodation, in order to reach the dunes of the Sahara outside M'Hamid. So, we dropped into a travel agency, and signed up for an organized tour.
It's low season, so there was just Heather and I in a large Toyota SUV, along with a driver and a go-fer. Instead of taking a couple days by public bus, we were able to hit all the highlights in the Draa Valley in one day, reaching the dunes by mid-afternoon. It was another hot day, reaching over 40C. (A dry heat, which supposedly makes it feel better). There were some great views along the drive, of kasbahs and palm groves and Berber villages. Our driver (also the guide) was excellent.
We reached the Erg Lehoudi dunes around 6pm. There was a strong wind, and it was not pleasant to be outside the SUV, facing the blowing sand which gets into everything. We climbed the tallest dune (I was surprised at the lack of footprints from other tourists, as even in a strong wind, footprints take a while to be erased). We quickly ran down (the wind had packed the sand into a hard surface, so it wasn't a fun run down loose sand that I was expecting).
Dinner was couscous and tasted quite good, with a little bit of grit (did I mention the sand gets everywhere?)
Into the night, the wind died down and the desert became quite pleasant. The stars were amazing.
We woke up at 5am in order to catch the sunrise. It's not the actual sun that's impressive, but rather the lighting on the sand dunes. It was well worth the early rise -- the untouched sand dunes were really impressive. The only other time I've seen sand dunes without footprints was in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia. It was really a treat to see untouched dunes again.
The drive back to Ouarzazat was much more pleasant, because it was in the (cooler) morning hours. A couple of seemingly mandatory stops at carpet shops and the inevitable cup of sugary mint tea later, and we were finally back in Ouarzazat. Our first priority was a shower, but first we had to have more tea with the tour operator and look at fine Berber artefacts. Finally we checked into a hotel, showered and cleaned up.
Tonight we're relaxing, and having dinner out. The first night here (before the Sahara tour), we ate at an Italian restaurant (which caters to the many Italian film types here). We had gnocchi in a gorgonzola sauce, and spaghetti in pesto sauce. It was a nice break from Moroccan (I generally like the food of the country I'm in, but it's nice to have some variety now and then). Tonight we are looking at a French restaurant.
Tomorrow we're off to the Todra Gorge for some trekking.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Marrakesh, Morocco
We're now into the heat that I was expecting in Morocco. Along the coast the temperature was mild (we were wearing our fleeces at night), but here in Marrakesh it's stinking hot (35C).
Even getting here by bus was hot. CTM only had one bus, late in the afternoon, so we took another line. There was no air conditioning, but I figured that if we sat on the shady side (going east this was on the left) and by a window, we'd be fine. I had bought some pistachios to share with the locals on the bus (as the Lonely Planet had suggested). Heather had a knot in her back which I was trying to massage, when an old lady (who looked like the old lady in Babel) in the seat behind took over and rubbed Heather's back quickly, stretched Heather's arms behind her back, and presto, knot gone. We shared some pistachios, and she offered some mint in return (which you nibble on). The bus ride was nice, until the old lady motioned to us to close the window (maybe she was cold?) Neither of us were going to suggest that maybe we could keep the window open, so the bus gradually became hotter as the journey continued.
I have a good sense of direction and figured I could find our way to the riad when we arrived in Marrakesh, despite the Lonely Planet warnings that it is difficult to find anything in the souq. I hit all my landmarks on the way to the riad, but then we just couldn't find the place. We asked a few people in the souq, and it was always around a corner, juste là. Finally we had to pay a kid Dh10 to lead us. It was down at the end of a twisty alley, without any markings or signage on the door (as is normal). It was Dh10 well spent.
The riad is really nice, although a bit of a splurge (Dh1050). It's even nicer than the previous place in Essaouira.
Last night we ate dinner in Djemaa el-Fna, a huge open air food market. The food was actually quite bland :( There's a lot of tourists here (even a Club Med right on the square), so I think the food is westernized-down a bit. After eating couscous and tajine, we tried another stall, which had cow's tongue, camel hump and some part of lamb. The camel hump was spongy like tofu. The tongue and lamb were quite good.
This morning we visited Ali ben Yousef Medersa (a theological college), Koubba Ba'adiyn (a sanctuary) and Musée de Marrakech. This afternoon we're taking a cooking class in our riad!
We're not that impressed with Marrakech, although it is interesting to visit.
Even getting here by bus was hot. CTM only had one bus, late in the afternoon, so we took another line. There was no air conditioning, but I figured that if we sat on the shady side (going east this was on the left) and by a window, we'd be fine. I had bought some pistachios to share with the locals on the bus (as the Lonely Planet had suggested). Heather had a knot in her back which I was trying to massage, when an old lady (who looked like the old lady in Babel) in the seat behind took over and rubbed Heather's back quickly, stretched Heather's arms behind her back, and presto, knot gone. We shared some pistachios, and she offered some mint in return (which you nibble on). The bus ride was nice, until the old lady motioned to us to close the window (maybe she was cold?) Neither of us were going to suggest that maybe we could keep the window open, so the bus gradually became hotter as the journey continued.
I have a good sense of direction and figured I could find our way to the riad when we arrived in Marrakesh, despite the Lonely Planet warnings that it is difficult to find anything in the souq. I hit all my landmarks on the way to the riad, but then we just couldn't find the place. We asked a few people in the souq, and it was always around a corner, juste là. Finally we had to pay a kid Dh10 to lead us. It was down at the end of a twisty alley, without any markings or signage on the door (as is normal). It was Dh10 well spent.
The riad is really nice, although a bit of a splurge (Dh1050). It's even nicer than the previous place in Essaouira.
Last night we ate dinner in Djemaa el-Fna, a huge open air food market. The food was actually quite bland :( There's a lot of tourists here (even a Club Med right on the square), so I think the food is westernized-down a bit. After eating couscous and tajine, we tried another stall, which had cow's tongue, camel hump and some part of lamb. The camel hump was spongy like tofu. The tongue and lamb were quite good.
This morning we visited Ali ben Yousef Medersa (a theological college), Koubba Ba'adiyn (a sanctuary) and Musée de Marrakech. This afternoon we're taking a cooking class in our riad!
We're not that impressed with Marrakech, although it is interesting to visit.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Essaouira, Morocco
We've stayed in three places so far in Morocco, and each place has been better than the previous. Here in Essaouira (esa-wera), we're at the Riad Emeraude. (A riad is a traditonal town house set around an internal garden). We have a cosy room on the top floor. The bathroom is more modern than ours at home, straight out of a interior design magazine. The bed has curtains all around. Outside our room are a number of little tables to sit and read or eat or sip mint tea.
We took a grand taxi from Oualidia to Safi. A grand taxi is a car, normally (over)shared here with six passengers. We split it four ways with a french couple we met in our hotel in Oualidia, to be in comfort. The car itself was a Mercedes circa 1984, (there are a lot of old Mercedes here). From Safi, we took a CTM bus to Oualidia. The bus station is just outside the medina (old walled city), and we walked to our reserved room at the riad. We were both amazed at the beauty of the riad and room (and for Dh400!)
We cleaned up (one of the nicest showers I've had travelling), and then went out for dinner. There is an outdoor fish grill near the harbour, and that's where we headed. Along the way we sampled escargot from a street vendor -- ladled from a hot peppery broth into a tin cup (you also sip the broth) (for Dh10!). We watched a beautiful sunset from the harbour, and then made our way to the fish stalls. We picked out some seafood -- red snapper, calamari, prawns, and whiting, which were then perfectly grilled, and served with khoobz (the artisan bread), and tomatoes and onion. Mmmm. On the walk back to the hotel, we bought some Moroccan slippers for use inside the riad. They're both in traditional funky colours.
Morocco is mostly Muslim, and drinking alcohol in public is frowned upon. However, there are wine stores (mostly catering to tourists), and so we picked up a bottle of Moroccan red. Heather and I drank it on the roof-top terrace of our riad, and chatted the night away under the stars.
This morning we had breakfast on said terrace -- freshly-squeezed orange juice, french pastries, and tea (Heather had a cafe au lait). We then walked along the boardwalk to Borj el-Berod, a ruin half-buried in sand, about 4km outside the medina. It's really windy in this town, and we were blasted by sand at a few points.
The PCs in this internet cafe don't have available USB slots so I can't upload any pics. Otherwise you could check out our new shoes!
We took a grand taxi from Oualidia to Safi. A grand taxi is a car, normally (over)shared here with six passengers. We split it four ways with a french couple we met in our hotel in Oualidia, to be in comfort. The car itself was a Mercedes circa 1984, (there are a lot of old Mercedes here). From Safi, we took a CTM bus to Oualidia. The bus station is just outside the medina (old walled city), and we walked to our reserved room at the riad. We were both amazed at the beauty of the riad and room (and for Dh400!)
We cleaned up (one of the nicest showers I've had travelling), and then went out for dinner. There is an outdoor fish grill near the harbour, and that's where we headed. Along the way we sampled escargot from a street vendor -- ladled from a hot peppery broth into a tin cup (you also sip the broth) (for Dh10!). We watched a beautiful sunset from the harbour, and then made our way to the fish stalls. We picked out some seafood -- red snapper, calamari, prawns, and whiting, which were then perfectly grilled, and served with khoobz (the artisan bread), and tomatoes and onion. Mmmm. On the walk back to the hotel, we bought some Moroccan slippers for use inside the riad. They're both in traditional funky colours.
Morocco is mostly Muslim, and drinking alcohol in public is frowned upon. However, there are wine stores (mostly catering to tourists), and so we picked up a bottle of Moroccan red. Heather and I drank it on the roof-top terrace of our riad, and chatted the night away under the stars.
This morning we had breakfast on said terrace -- freshly-squeezed orange juice, french pastries, and tea (Heather had a cafe au lait). We then walked along the boardwalk to Borj el-Berod, a ruin half-buried in sand, about 4km outside the medina. It's really windy in this town, and we were blasted by sand at a few points.
The PCs in this internet cafe don't have available USB slots so I can't upload any pics. Otherwise you could check out our new shoes!
Monday, May 14, 2007
Oualidia, Morocco
We're in the fishing village of Oualidia, population 4,000. It's on a beautiful little lagoon, which feeds the neighbouring oyster farms. Yesterday the village and beach were bustling, filled with locals on weekend trips. Today it's much quieter, although very windy and not very comfortable beach weather.
...
Dinner in Casablanca was excellent. I had lamb tanjine, and Heather had the seven-vegetable couscous (a Casablanca specialty). The Lonely Planet describes couscous as "you know the yellow stuff that comes in a box that you boil for 3 minutes and let sit? well that's not couscous". And they're right. The stuff we make at home nowhere resembles how good the couscous is here. It's light, fluffy, tasty... We shared a 50cl bottle of Moroccan wine (also quite good), and tried a Flag beer (not so good - reminded me of Bud Light).
The next morning we caught a CTM bus (the national bus company) to Oualidia. (The "Ou" is a "w", as in the french "Oui"). The CTM buses are very efficient, with computerized seat reservations and tagged luggage. No worries about my pack getting stolen here. I slept for most of the trip, still a bit jet-lagged.
Oualidia is small enough that it doesn't warrant a map in the Lonely Planet. We walked down the road leading to the beach, and found the hotel. Heather had called the day before to reserve a room at the Hotel L'Initiale. It's a quaint little place with six rooms, about 50m from the beach, for 400Dh.
We explored around the beach and the village. We had dinner at the restaurant in our hotel, but we were still hungry, so went to another place that was filled with locals. This place was much better, (they even gave us a half-dozen oysters on the house!) We both liked the oysters here in Oualidia, very distinctive from other places.
A very common sight here is people sitting in cafès having a mint tea. We have had a few so far, although I can't pace my sipping and usually end up drinking half of Heather's as well. The mint tea is some sort of tea leaf, with a lot of mint leaves and some sweetener (maybe honey). It's really good.
Today for lunch we had sardines freshly-caught from the ocean and grilled streetside, with artisan bread. It was very tasty. We had to be shown how to eat the sardines, first peeling away the skin, and then creating a sardine sandwich. Mmmm good. Very cheap too -- about 30Dh for the two of us.
...
Dinner in Casablanca was excellent. I had lamb tanjine, and Heather had the seven-vegetable couscous (a Casablanca specialty). The Lonely Planet describes couscous as "you know the yellow stuff that comes in a box that you boil for 3 minutes and let sit? well that's not couscous". And they're right. The stuff we make at home nowhere resembles how good the couscous is here. It's light, fluffy, tasty... We shared a 50cl bottle of Moroccan wine (also quite good), and tried a Flag beer (not so good - reminded me of Bud Light).
The next morning we caught a CTM bus (the national bus company) to Oualidia. (The "Ou" is a "w", as in the french "Oui"). The CTM buses are very efficient, with computerized seat reservations and tagged luggage. No worries about my pack getting stolen here. I slept for most of the trip, still a bit jet-lagged.
Oualidia is small enough that it doesn't warrant a map in the Lonely Planet. We walked down the road leading to the beach, and found the hotel. Heather had called the day before to reserve a room at the Hotel L'Initiale. It's a quaint little place with six rooms, about 50m from the beach, for 400Dh.
We explored around the beach and the village. We had dinner at the restaurant in our hotel, but we were still hungry, so went to another place that was filled with locals. This place was much better, (they even gave us a half-dozen oysters on the house!) We both liked the oysters here in Oualidia, very distinctive from other places.
A very common sight here is people sitting in cafès having a mint tea. We have had a few so far, although I can't pace my sipping and usually end up drinking half of Heather's as well. The mint tea is some sort of tea leaf, with a lot of mint leaves and some sweetener (maybe honey). It's really good.
Today for lunch we had sardines freshly-caught from the ocean and grilled streetside, with artisan bread. It was very tasty. We had to be shown how to eat the sardines, first peeling away the skin, and then creating a sardine sandwich. Mmmm good. Very cheap too -- about 30Dh for the two of us.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Casablanca, Morocco
We arrived safely in Casablanca none worse for the wear. The biggest adjustment is to this french keyboard, which is not labelled correctly on the keys. It took a bit of experimentation to find the period so I could log into a website.
So far today we have had a sandwich at a popular little local bistro; bought bus tickets to Oualidia for tomorrow; walked around a few pedestrian only streets; sipped a mint tea at a sidewalk cafe; and explored the medina. The medina is packed with little stores and has great photo ops.
I have been pleasantly surprised at the lack of hassling; we have seen very few other tourists, perhaps because it is early in the season. (I cannot find the apostrophe on the keyboard and so feel like Data from Star Trek). The weather is very comfortable, mid 20s with a slight breeze.
Tonight we are having dinner in the hotel restaurant, which is supposed to be quite good.
So far today we have had a sandwich at a popular little local bistro; bought bus tickets to Oualidia for tomorrow; walked around a few pedestrian only streets; sipped a mint tea at a sidewalk cafe; and explored the medina. The medina is packed with little stores and has great photo ops.
I have been pleasantly surprised at the lack of hassling; we have seen very few other tourists, perhaps because it is early in the season. (I cannot find the apostrophe on the keyboard and so feel like Data from Star Trek). The weather is very comfortable, mid 20s with a slight breeze.
Tonight we are having dinner in the hotel restaurant, which is supposed to be quite good.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Toronto, Canada
We called today to reserve a room at Hôtel Guynemer in Casablanca, the "Author's choice" in the Lonely Planet. (I like to reserve ahead for the first night on a trip, because I feel more of a target fresh off the plane.) The Hôtel Guynemer offers an airport pick-up service to boot! I conferenced in Heather to make the reservation (Heather used to be fluent in french), however their english was really good so we conversed in english. They did have problems with her name, so it will be interesting to see the sign (my guess is Hither).
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Toronto, Canada
I found a cool tool, Atlas (which is based on GoogleMaps). I created a sample of my Thailand-Cambodia-Lao trip.
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