Dion & Christy's Travels

2008-02-25T17:08:00.001-08:00

Thanks for following along. It meant a lot to both of us to be able to share the experience. The loyal readership encouraged us to keep at the postings, despite many a distraction, and has resulted in producing the most tangible and cherished souvenir of our entire trip.

As a final nod, here are some pics that didn't make the blog along the way & a few that deserved a second round...we sure were privileged.

Last Stop- French Polynesia: Moorea

2008-02-11T17:18:00.000-08:00

As those of you who have been checking up on this blog over the past 7 months well know, Christy and Dion have had it rough. We’ve endured long car rides across the vast US. We've searched for welcoming homes in towns we didn’t even know. We had to the adjust to the cultural peculiarities of a multi-faceted China, to find nourishment in wide assortment of $2 plates of Thai food, and to spend entire days where it seemed we were either walking up a New Zealand hillside or paddling a kayak only to end up where we started.

Yes, I’m sure you all sympathize with our plight and agree we well deserve a “paradise” stop on our way home. Conveniently we flew Air Tahiti home, which offers flexible lay-overs in French Polynesia on all Trans-Pacific flights. It made for an exceptional final acclimization for our return to the states.

Tahiti and Bora Bora, the two most recognized islands in French Polynesia are a just a sliver of the chain that is composed 5 major groups and a total of 118 islands spread across an ocean area the size of Europe. They are quite diverse, some with green mountains (the tallest over 6000 feet) and jagged interiors while other island are others are delicate rings of land a stone throw across that surround glass blue lagoons full of tropical fish. Many of the islands are surrounding by reefs where the surf breaks on the horizon, creating calm snorkle enclaves and the occasional over-the-water, swim from to your backdoor, bungalow near the shore.

We had 4 full days on the island of Moorea, a short boat ride from Tahiti. Diving was a top priority and made easy by the small dive shack located on the beach a 30 second walk from our bungalow. The diving is, not surprisingly, brilliant to world-class here. With the mid-Pacific location there is plenty of large marine life around, Humpbacks migrate July-October and a variety of sharks are common. We spotted black tip sharks swimming 50 feet below before we even left the surface on our dives. Throughout our first dive we watch several 8-10 foot sturdy Lemon Sharks circle the anchor line. Christy quickly went from apprehension to fascination with their presence.

We relaxed on the beach, scootered around the 60km island, ate a few kilos of raw fish- the deliciously seasoned Poisson Cru, reflected on the return home & our absolute privileged time for the past 7 months, then relaxed some more on the beach.

Sometimes you just have to accept there are days, weeks, and even months, when there just isn’t much more you can ask from life.

Christy stopping to appreciate the view during a walk along the beach & shallows

The windsurfers entertained throughout the day, this one taken from our bungalows resturant. Note one of many finish plates of Poisson Cru sits on the lunch table.

Christy reading, relaxing, watching..... and getting her stomach burnt.

Returning from a morning dive.

A bike ride into the mountainous interior of the island.

Views across Cook's Bay

A few underwater pics, we saw multiple turtles browsing in the coral.

Christy, don't look behind you now...

....Oh wait, based on the look in your eyes you already did.

With sharks all around you quickly realize they intend no harm, and are more interested in keeping their distance then you are.

Dion just loving it.

Some warm water snorkling a few hours before a flight to a cold winter in the Northeast US.

Arthurs Pass, Christchurch & Kaikora

2008-02-02T15:36:00.000-08:00

With our time in New Zealand winding down and our great experience on the Kepler track still fresh in mind we both wanted to have at least one more day in the NZ mountains. Arthur’s Pass National Park is located in the Southern Alps equidistant from both coasts. Most of the trails that head out of the tiny Arthurs Pass village, especially the multi-day ones, require steep climbs and unbridged river crossings. We opted for Scotts Track, a single day hike to nearby Avalanche Peak, that would quickly bring us above the tree line and hopefully provide the alpine views we missed on the 2nd day of Kepler.

The route was less then 3 miles one way, but in that distance climbed over 3000 feet. Scampering along an exposed ridge for portions, it was not easy going but we were rewarded with rapidly expanding views and a summit perch lunchspot overlooking a glacier, surrounding valleys and the pass road far below.

Christchurch is the largest city in the southern island and one that many people highlight on their trips to New Zealand. We enjoyed walking the large city park and hanging out with a two friends we’ve run into in multiple locations on the circuit around the South Island but overall found it a city of no incredible note. Maybe it was simply that it was cloudy and rained.

Scott's trail on the way to Avalanche Peak.

Views from the peak.

Dion on the walk home, you can see the road where town is at the base of the valley.

The Cathedral in center square of Christchurch

Closing out our loop of the South Island and time in New Zealand, Kaikora was a highly anticipated stop for one reason: you swim with wild dolphins there. The seaside town, with its beachfront crawfish (that’s lobster in English) stands, ocean sculpted rock formations, and two swooping bays is comfortable place to spend a few days. The Dolphin swim merits a trip to New Zealand in itself.

Out on the water before sunrise we found a pod of around 150 Dusky dolphins, intermixed with a few common dolphins, who were returning from their nighttime feeding along the Kaikora canyon. The sea bed drops to 3000 feet just a kilometer off shore, funneling sub-tropical & Antarctic waters into a nutrient rich upwelling. This invites marine life in large numbers to the area, including sperm whales, orcas (which we didn’t see) and a few types of dolphins.

The early morning in Kiakora gives a window to interact with the dolphins without being too intrusive to their natural habits. Clad in thick wet suits we slipped off the back of the boat into waters filled with surfacing fins, and were surrounded by dolphins. Swimming only a foot or two away they would turn to look at you with one eye, and often if they found you entertaining with your outbursts of sounds, bubbles or dives, they would turn and- there is no better word for it- play with you. They swam in circles as long as you could maintain eye contact, which inevitably resulted in becoming dizzy. Sometimes, as you swam as fast you could in one direction, they would lazily follow, zig-zagging in front of you. At some point, they would bore of your near-drowning swimming level & slip off into the blue. These were Wild Dolphins- playing with us. Whatever high esteem you currently hold these incredible animals, it will be elevated immensely should you ever have the privilege to share the water with them.

The beautifully rugged Kaikora seafront

The playful Dusky Dolphins swimming alongside the boat and us sitting off the back of the boat between swims

Our route through New Zealand

The Catlins & Dunedin

2008-01-29T20:11:00.000-08:00

Heading out of Milford Sound, we drove away from the mountains and toward a windblown beach and Celtic green bluffed coast. The “Southern Scenic Route”, at times the main highway wrapping the southern tip of the island, was a tight two laner and only sometimes paved. The Catlin Coast attracts New Zealand’s rare penguin and sea lion colonies as the surrounding seas merge into the sub Antarctic waters eventually (being the southernmost part of New Zealand). Christy was curious to see these wadlers for herself after hearing about Dion’s sightings in Antarctica last year and was quickly enamored with the knee high Yellow Eyed Penguins swimming ashore after feeding in the frigid waters. Unfortunately our photos do not do justice (and not posted) as our non-intrusive viewing perch for these particularly shy penguins was quite high up from the beach.

A two hour drive from where we stayed on the Catlin Coast (Owaka) is the city of Dunedin where we spent two leisure nights, January 25th and 26th. Dunedin- Gaelic for “Edinburgh”-the capital of Scotl and carries an old European feel with its Gothic restored Cathedrals blanketing corners. Our hotel cleverly named Hogwartz, from Harry Potter (JK Rowling wrote the novels in Scotland), was actually the Bishop’s home for 137 years and had many grand views of the majestic cathedral, St. Joseph’s, across the street. As we sought out wine in Marlborough, rice in China and curry in Thailand, we not surprisingly drank a lot of beer in Dunedin, in Scottish tradition. The Octagon: center circle of town lined with restaurants, bars and live outdoor music was a great place to spend a sunny Saturday, sharing pints with the locals and lads celebrating “Aussie Day”. Down the street from Hogwartz is Speight’s Brewing House which gives a fun and informative tour of the 130 year old brand- and makes an Old Dark and Apricot Harvest brews we wish were imported home…they’re not.

Driving the Southern Coastal Route around the base of the South Island. The wind was not blowing fierce this day but the trees permanently lean from a constant sea breeze.

This fur seal was a tad perturbed Dion stepped on his turf.

This photo gives a feel for the grassy, Southern coast- very different than the mountainous West Coast we drove a few days earlier.

Overlooking Nugget Point (named after these rock formations that resemble gold nuggets). We saw penguins at the neighboring bay after this walk- as the penguins emerge from the sea roughly 2-3 hours before dusk each night (ie. 7-8pm this season).

Sunset from our Backpackers B&B on the Scenic Reserve

St. Joseph's Cathedral in Dunedin and view from our loft at Hogwartz

Celebrating Aussie Day (the hat is rewarded to those tables that drink 5+ pints in the course of the day)Tasting at Speight's Brewery... the following day

Fiordland

2008-01-26T17:28:00.000-08:00

Almost the entire Southwest corner of New Zealand's Southern island, 12,500 square kilometres, has been defined a national park. Despite that size, Fiordland, with its spongy rainforest, snowcapped peaks and hairline Fiords possess about as much scenic grandeur per area, as anywhere the country. This has brought deserved recognition; the UN has declared nearly the entire region a World Heritage Area, and it’s a stopping point for just about any tourist.

The accessible Milford Sound attracts a high concentration of those visitors. For many a boat ride along the misnamed Fiord (a Sound is formed by rivers while Fiords are carved by glaciers, often with dramatic benefits to future photographers) is worth the park visit alone. 400 foot Waterfalls that splash into the dark waters help build an appreciation for the magnificent scale of the mountains that surrounds you.

We set aside 5 days in the park, which is also an enclave to 3 of the 8 NZ Great Walks, 14 other Fiords, and a skyline full of mountains. Enthused by our day in Abel Tasman we kayaked the quiet islands of Lake Manapouri one afternoon and set off on the 3 day Kepler track in the remainder of our time.

Our first day on the track we walked through a beech forest along lake Te Anau before climbing 2500 feet to our 1st hut just above the tree line. When the weather is good the second day it is considered one of the most scenic in the park; it is almost all along an alpine trail with views from ridgelines & saddles. Counter to the trend of most our trip, we were unlucky with the weather that day. Cloud cover,wind and rain made it a wet 6 hour walk surrounded in white. The last day of the 33 mile route brought us down a valley of moss carpeted rainforest, along the shore of a second lake (Manapouri), the bank of a large river and finally over a swingbridge to the exit point. Even though we missed the touted 2nd day views of the tramp it was an impressible trip, especially for Christy, who the next afternoon was already pitching for another overnight hiking opportunity. You won’t hear Dion complain about that development.

Which way is up? Reflections on the road to Milford Sound

Dion asking for trouble over a glacier fed stream.

Just another Milford Sound Waterfall

Can you find the 120 foot boat with 90 foot masts?

Morning in Milford Sound

Bearded man & Christy ready for a few days on the trail

Views the first dayon the Kepler track

Christy keeping an eye on the inquistive Kea, New Zealands alpine Parrot.

Views the 2nd day

Hardened Sherpa Christy: asking if she can carry more & thinking this weather is the tropics compared to Rochester winters.

Back down into the Rainforest

Just a few miles left

Queenstown

2008-01-23T14:24:00.000-08:00

If there is an adventure capital city within a country dedicated to such pursuits, it’s Queenstown. Situated on the Northwest corner of the deep blue glacier Lake Wakatipu, the homes wrapping up the hillside make it an idyllic spot.

The lakeside city center is home to numerous adventure tour operators that offer a menu of thrill-seeking activities including canyoning, rafting, jetboating, every conceivable way to free fall and, for speed on a different scale, you can even sail aboard New Zealand’s sleek America’s Cup yacht NZL14.

Numerous bars, inviting restaurants and what we consider the best hamburger joint in the Southern world adorn the center of town. The $8 per burger price tag at Fergburger puts it in a different category than In-N-Out (California) and Dick’s (Seattle), but the Little Lamby (Prime New Zealand lamb, mint jelly, lettuce, tomato, red onion, aioli & tomato relish ) and Bombay Chicken (Grilled chicken tenderloins marinated in a chilli, ginger & coriander yoghurt with cucumber raita, lettuce, tomato, red onion, aioli & mango chutney) had us return for 2 breakfast burgers the morning we drove out of town.

We spent three days here appreciating the views, nearby hiking trails and the burgers.

Taking a lunchbreak during a day hike along the Routeburn Track

Christy taking a bungee leap high above Queenstown....

....just kidding about the Bungee jumping Mrs. Aprilano. That picture is as close as either of us came to the "sport" on this trip.

Christy, all 100lbs of her (rounding up I"m sure she'd clarify), did somehow manage beat Dion in a Luge race on the tracks above Queenstown.

View of Queenstown from the luge track

A Queenstown sunset

This is New Zealand

Franz Joseph

2008-01-23T13:53:00.001-08:00

The west coast of New Zealand is ragged and windblown, in sections resembling some of the scenic Big Sur coastline we drove this summer. Having rented a car to see the south island, in a sense, we’ve brought our travels full circle from those beginnings of our trip.

Halfway down the coast is Glacier country- home to Franz Joseph and Fox Glaciers, the steepest and fastest glaciers in all of New Zealand. Tuesday morning, January 15^th, we joined a guided glacier hike on Franz Joseph. 8 hours later, as we sat at the foot of the lower ice steps unbuckling our crampons, Dion deemed the day as one of his TOP single experiences over the entire seven months.

The day started with a trail hike that opened to a glacial river bed leading to the imposing face of Franz Joseph. The glacier appears as a white river of ice nestled between jagged mountain peaks. It grows almost impossibly large as you walk toward it. We climbed onto the ice and gained our comfort on a well maintained section with clearly defined routes.

Two hours on the ice and the real fun began. We were given ice axes (glamorized walking sticks in this situation) and led to the Defiance Crevasse. As the glacier is incredibly dynamic, for full day excursions the guides will often find and, with their ice picks, create unique paths up the glacier. The highlight of the day was shimmying our way through ice enclosures. One passageway was not even a body length wide with deep blue ice walls and frozen overhangs dripping like rain. The guide’s knowledge of the glacier and skill at capturing its explorative nature made the trip for us.

Franz Joseph glacier on the approach

Following our guide up the ever changing route

Up further we go

Squeezing through a long crack

Young Mountaineer Christy climbing her way out of the ice

And finding her way between more

Reuniting with a few friends, Ed & Alma, from our time in China.

Abel Tasman National Park

2008-01-19T17:47:00.000-08:00

Since nearly every town in New Zealand a gateway for scenic hikes New Zealand's park service has deemed it necessary to distinguish eight and name them the "Great Walks". The Tongariro Crossing, which we did 2 weeks ago is a portion of one, another is a 51km coastal trail in Abel Tasman National Park.

Wrapping along forested ridge lines speckled with palm tree size ferns, the trail connects gold sand coves & inlets with cliffs of soft granite rising from aquamarine water. The park is also home to several fur seal colonies protected by marine sanctuaries. The coastal trail is extremely accessible, for better or for worse, and water taxis will shuttle you to various points within the park. Using that service we were able to get dropped off and walk the lower Northern portion of the trail (23 of the 51km), stopping at as many pools, sandbars and rocky ocean overlooks as daylight would allow.

Our second full day in the park we rented a kayak for what is arguably a preferred view of the coastline. The tides are large here, in excess of 12 feet, so the water scape changes drastically in the course of 6 hours. As we paddled home we came across a raggedly sculptured granite island rising from a v-shaped deserted beach that was just beginning to be exposed by the lowering tide. These sort of findings our the norm and make the area incredible for kayaking. Our only regret is that we didn't book a 3-day overnight trip that would let us venture further into the park uninterrupted from the moment we arrived.

Photos from our hike the first day along Abel Tasman's Great Walk trail.

Photos from our kayak day. We caught this sandbar in the last photo at just the right time. Tides had just began to reveal this beach.

Right before we left town, Dion noticed this sand bar and thought we had time to "walk" out and back before the water got too high. Maybe for someone tall... Christy was up to her waist in water by the time we got back to the beach!

Not a bad place to wait for a bus

Marlborough: Wine Country

2008-01-12T18:32:00.000-08:00

Given New Zealand's abundant farming lifestyle, livelihoods tied to land, and the open armed graciousness often found in small towns grounded by nature, a volunteer program called WWOOF (World Wide Organization of Organic Farmers) is quite popular among backpackers in New Zealand. This organization supports a wide variety of homestays in exchange for help around the "farms". It was an ideal opportunity for Christy to fulfill her long time aspiration of "working"on a vineyard and Dion, always eager to get involved & his hands dirty,was excited to imbibe something new as well.

New Zealand has made its way on the wine map with Sauvignon Blancs, particularly in the Marlborough Region (on the South Island) where we did our one week homestay at Clos Marguerite vineyard and winery. Considered tiny among the other wineries in the region (approx. 3500 cases per year), Clos Marguerite is family run- by husband and wife, Marguerite and Jean-Charles, a Belgian couple who moved to New Zealand 12 years ago with their then 3 and 6 year old children.

For our stay, as Jean-Charles was in Europe, Marguerite and her two kids, Marin and Sybil were our ever so gracious hosts. Set among 20 acres of Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir vines, on a terrace above the Awatere River, is their home, a small warehouse sized winery, a narrow field for their sheep and Max's therobred horse, and our studio/shed. The location was pinpointed by Jean Charles, who recognized that the self draining soil properites would be just right for the Sauvignon grapes.

Our seven days WWOOFING began with breakfast 7:30am at the house with Marguerite: yogurt with trail mix Cereal, toast and tea. Each day our tasks varied; plucking leaves from the Sauvignon Blanc vines was the most harrowing job. Fearful of pruning too much or too little, our pace was quite slow.. so we plucked on unrequested afternoon shifts and overall it took us 2 days for a job that would have taken any of them one. Another day we tidied root stalk, trimming the overgrown vines and lacing them into the support wires to grow properly and strong. Such behind the scene labor can not be glamorized and is therefore often forgotten when appreciating a glass of wine. It's these tedious, labor intensive, ache inducing details however that make family run wineries produce a quality and standard of wine lost in the "factory" imported wine we are most familiar with. Marguerite impressed on us how every single thing; from thickness of each layer of soil, to how much breeze flows within the leaves, to the ratio of grape skin pressed, helps to create each bottle of wine. We were not surprised to genuinely enjoy both their wines- far more even than the varietals we later tried when we did our wine trail tour. Fortunately for us, Clos Marguerite is exported to the US.. and quite popular. Wine Enthusiast awarded their 2006 Sauvignon Blanc an impressive 90 in their Nov 06 issue.

As it is summer here in New Zealand, daylight lasts until 9pm so each day we also relished the area by reading with the view, playing in the river, and riding bikes to the Ocean and along endless roads of vineyards and rolling hills.

The Clos Marguerite vineyard, winery and family home
Our first two days were spent plucking leaves from the vines to allow for more breeze, yet careful to not expose the grapes to too much direct sun.

Working on other tasks: weeding the vegetable garden and cleaning the buckets they collect the grapes in come harvest time.

Wine was only part of our experience WWOOFING. Marguerite is a wonderful cook and therefore spoiled us with delicious dinners each night, usually coupled with a cooking lesson. "Tea"(aka dinner) was a group effort... starting with feeding the sheep, (eventually lamb we ate), pulling potatoes and vegetables from the garden, and grilling or cooking together in the kitchen. As our appreciation for homegrown produce grew (starting with reading Omnivore's Dilemma on this trip), it was a welcomed task to weed the vegetable garden two different days. Far from Manhattan and South Beach, we got our hands deep down in soil and felt the gratification gardener's get from destroying the pestuous invasion of weeds, and then eating the fresh, organic "fruits"of your labor.

Every night was a different, yet still spectacular sunset.

Our last day in this region of New Zealand we spent in Renwick, about 30km from Clos Marguerite where we rented bikes and did an informal tasting tour at 8 wineries. The highlight of the day however was our picnic by the river, with a newly purchased NZ Chardonnay from Bouldevines Vineyard.

New Zealand: The Tongariro Crossing

2008-01-09T14:16:00.000-08:00

New Zealand is an outdoor "persons" wonderland. A set of islands that seem to possess just about every landscape imaginable and a culture built around taking full advantage of that blessing. The country is about the size of England, or slightly smaller than California, but with a population of around 4 million it is composed of relatively few cities and towns and an inordinate amount of sparsely populated, gorgeous land.

We arrived in Auckland December 29th, and after spending an evening walking the cities hillside districts, we promptly boarded a morning bus towards our first natural glimpse of New Zealand. The North Islands Tongariro National park is home to three neighboring volcanoes that dominate the plateau skyline and, when weather permits, make for unique hiking excursions. The area was used in the Lord of the Rings movies to recreate inhospitable Mt. Doom & Mordor, and it carries that feeling much of the crossing although as a whole the park is more varied. The Tongariro crossing trail climbs around 2500 feet, between the Tongariro summit and the conical Mt. Ngauruhoe. Along the way you cross the flat moonscape south crater, along the rim of the active red crater, beside several striking emerald lakes in what is otherwise desolate land and then down the backside of Tonagariro through grass hills with views to lake Rotoaira.

The hike is extremely popular and noted for its crowds but with mixed weather forecast & the New Years holiday, we were lucky enough to have only a intermittent line of hikers along with us. The 25-30 mph winds added to the alpine feel and despite calls for rain the spotty clouds only temporary blocked the exceptional views. All in all, we couldn't ask for more from a New Years eve and despite the long hiking hours we even stayed awake to see the close to 2007.

The trout filled river outside the town of Turangi

Walking across the south crater

Hiking above the south crater with Mount Ngauruhoe in the background
Red Crater

Lunchstop along the Emerald Lakes

The hike home

The most hoppin bar in Turangi New Years eve. We took this one around 10pm.

Namsom & Nong Khai

2008-01-05T14:02:00.000-08:00

Nong Khai

When travelling, especially for an extended period, there is always a balance sought between spending quality time in one place vs moving on to the next in order to feel that you are taking full advantage of your surroundings. It’s a personal choice. As a whole our travels have had us on the move, though still compromising some countries/destinations we would have liked to visit so that we could dedicate pockets of time for certain areas and the people living there, a little bit more intimately. Volunteering as an English teacher is an excellent way to achieve that goal and is what brought us up to a NE Thailand, a less frequented corner of the country, for the last few weeks of December.

Our volunteer program, Travel to Teach, is headquartered in Nong Khai, a midsize northeast Thai town that rests the width of the Mekong River from Laos. We shared a two story home in the center of town with fellow volunteers from Scotland, New Zealand, Holland, Germany, and the States for our kick off weekend, completing a short culture & language orientation, sampling the local sweet sausages and even joining a birthday party for one of the friendly local T to T employees.

Our volunteer school was actually in the small town of Namsom 3 hours from Nong Khai. Nong Khai served as our base for the orientation weekend and then again, following our two weeks of teaching, as a convening place for the Christmas holidays.

Joyce, a Travel to Teach coordinator and her boyfriend Prik, at our Christmas Eve dinner.

It felt like Christmas in the corner of our room, thanks to a care package from home and some gifts we bought for each other along the way.

Skype with Christy's family on NY's Christmas Day (our Dec 26).

A sculpture garden in Nong Khai, built around the 1970's. Prior to Thailand, this artist was asked to leave Laos, for his controversial dramatic style.

Namsom

Namsom is one of the last places you’d pick to visit in Thailand. It doesn’t appear in a single guidebook. It is of reasonable size, 2000-3000 population, but has zero tourist infrastructure; Not a single place that offers a bed for the night. We couldn’t even find Namsom on a map until we came across a wall sized regional map in the Nong Khai volunteer dorm.

These are all qualities that make it a perfect place to visit as a volunteer. Besides us, two other volunteers stayed in our comfortable, hammock filled home “Ban Farang”:translated-house of the foreigners. For our 2 weeks there, we were the only westerners we saw in town, with the exception of one former volunteer staying with a friend and a few non-thais who had married locals. This brought a level of novelity to our visit and much hospitality from the locals. They offered us meals, called out “hello-hello” as we biked by,and excercised much patience on the badminton court.

A standard day:
7:30: Wake, eat cornflakes & yogurt & bike to the secondary school a mile and a half away.
Optional:
Wake an hour earlier to donate food to the monks that walk through the neighbourhood.
8:45: First class starts. With the Thai teacher’s assistance (usually) lead the class through Christmas songs, a play The Enormous Turnip, basic conversational practice or games of “Hangman”, which could lead to splitting the class into two teams for family feud style challenges
9:45 and 10:45- more class same as 8:45 11:45- Lunch with the English teachers at school.
Sometimes early afternoon dictation drills with the kids or on one occasion, take over classes for a teacher who doesn’t show.
Lunch-6:00: Check and write on internet, bike around town, stopping at the local market we’d pass numerous times a day, read on our balcony or indoor hammock and on one occasion, teach Monks English at the nearby Wat.
6:00-7:00: Bike down to the Night Market, the evening gathering spot, for dinner and games of badminton.
9:00: Town is quiet, ride home while the packs of dogs collect to take over until sunrise.

Though 8500 miles from home for the holidays, we managed to bring Christmas with us with decorations and presents in our room, to calls and emails to friends and family home. From the beaches in early November, to Pai set near the jungle in the north, spending Thanksgiving in the hilltribe village and then this immersion experience in the Northeast most of December, we have had a spectacular visit to Thailand and feel we saw the country through a range of lenses.

Teaching at the Namsom Secondary School

Every Friday morning, the whole high school does aerobics together.We spent only one day teaching at the Primary School, because the rest of the two weeks was "Sports Day" where they had parades, festivals, races, etc. Very different then how we remembered our elementary schools!

We also taught monks one afternoon, helping with their English.

Sunset from the pagoda in Namsom- some 700 steps from town.

Dion offering food to the monks at 6:30am. Monks only eat once a day (before noon) and only food they have collected as they do here (someone at the monastery collects the various things and makes a meal for everyone).
Christy with her new friend Joy, who lives in town and family owns a clothing store by the night market. Joy is trying to move to NYC to become an au pair so they spent many afternoons working on her application, and English, to prepare.
These photos give a feel for the Namsom neighborhood. A temple surrounded by a "lake" was the center of town and across from the nightly market.

Eating Pad Thai at the night market

Badminton was the nightly event.

The night before one of the volunteers left, we had a dinner party with some of the Thai locals we had met.. this is our living room taken from the 2nd level, and without the usual hammocks
The hammocks helped make the house very comfortable.

Our Final Travel Route through Thailand & Cambodia

Cambodia: Kompong Pluk and Floating Forest

2007-12-25T23:55:00.000-08:00

On a non-Angkor Wat day we ventured outside Siem Riep, to a stilt village in the shallows of Tonle Sap Lake. Villagers paddle carved canoes between their homes on wooden pillings and this time of year must also trudge through sloppy, trash filled mudwater that serves as their "main street" just above lake level. It was here that Christy felt the farthest from home that she has on the trip.

As part of our token tour, our motor boatman arranged for a local family to paddle us through the serene maze of mangroves surrounding the village. The Cambodia per capita income is roughly $300 per year, with general living conditions in stark contrast to downtown Siem Reap where hotels can cost that much for one night. Though difficult to comprehend their poverty, this floating village was indeed a more representative glimpse of true rural, poor Cambodia.

P.S. Our Angkor Wat pictures are now posted below the original entry

The village of Kompong Pluk from the water

Post rainy season, "Main Street" is a muddy mess. It looks as if a Tsunami just hit, but its their everyday.

Given how cramped their small homes are, it seems the villagers do a great deal of "living" in their boats- from washing laundry, cooking, and selling cold drinks.

The kids of Kompong Pluk- boating home from school, and just playing in the mud.

The Floating Forest

In sharp contrast to how the poor locals live, tourists enjoy this "bar street" filled with delectable restaurants, several pubs/lounges and luxury boutiques. This canal goes through the center of Siem Reap and is a reflection of the country's French influence earlier this century.

Cambodia- Angkor Wat

2007-12-11T00:39:00.000-08:00

Our travel into Cambodia began at 7am on November 30th when we joined 10 other tourists in a luxury mini-van to drive 5 hours to the Thai/Cambodia border. We fully anticipated mad chaos there, finding our transport to Siem Reap 150km away, and were delighted to find it rather seamless instead. A trustworthy Toyota Camry (the omnipresent taxi car) chauffeured us the 150 km, 4 hours, over the bumpiest dustiest roads you could imagine for the large sum of $10 a person. Funny since $10 hardly gets you a mile in a NYC cab. Also, interestingly enough, we were using our currency again. We found ourselves converting the $ to Thai Baht and back to the US $ because we have become so used to establishing cost based on the local currency!

Outside Siem Reap, the massive temple ruins built by the Khmer empire in the late 800s-1200s have made the city in Cambodia this decade’s tourist mecca. It has an almost Disneyesque feel given the abundance of luxury hotels and restaurants lining the streets. These temples are collectively referred to as Angkor Wat, though that is actually just one of the sights, albeit an expansive & intricate one. We spent three days visiting the ruins and found ourselves more impressed with each day. Clustered across miles of jungle and farmland, each temple is impressive in its own right, yet collectively provide an unparalleled glimpse of a foreign world and culture. It is impossible for our photos to capture the detail of the iconic stone face carvings in the Bayon temple, or the vast ornamental entry into Angkor wat, the jungle and tree roots overtaking Ta Prohm, or the intricate bas-reliefs depicting religious stories within Angkor Wat. That is why Angkor Wat has become a tourist enclave; you must see it, in its entirety, in person.

We timed our visit around the annual half marathon and 10k race which took place Sunday, December 2nd on a loop road connecting the temples/ruins of Angkor Wat. The proceeds went to land mine victims and also celebrated those handicapped athletes. It was a unique, multi cultural way to experience sunrise at the temples and be reminded of Cambodia’s painful history.

From the early 1970’s – late 1990’s Cambodia was essentially at war with itself. The most harrowing period during “The Killing Fields” of the Pol Pot years which then led to decades of a displaced population plagued by power vacuums, guerrilla insurgencies and 4 million+ mines strewn across the countryside. A quarter to a third of the estimated 8 million population of 1974 was killed in these years. It is not possible to visit Cambodia and have some sense of this recent history. We both read a powerful and haunting memoir, “Survival of the Killing Fields” which really illuminated the suffering experienced by these people. Our visit would not have been the same having not read this book and our newly acquired empathy for the country.

The people of Cambodia left an indelible impression on both of us. Musicians with missing limbs formed small bands and provided performances outside temples & town restaurants. A man with two stubs for arms sold books from a box hanging from his neck,with a sign that explained he didn’t want pity, or handouts, simply to be treated like a working man. We used the same tuk tuk driver for our 5 days in Siem Riep: Visna. Highly motivated, he has taught himself conversational level english through speaking with tourists. He lost both his parents and 2 of his 3 siblings during the senseless Pol Pot years. After spending the next 15 year fighting against the Khmer Rouge (fighting ended in 1998) he has done odd jobs until two years ago when he moved to Siem Riep to take advantage of the tourist influx. He brought us to his home, where he lives with his pregnant wife and two daughters. The one room home was the size of a master bedroom in the States. Stories like this are the norm.

Thai-Cambodia border crossing in Poipet

The dusty, bumpy 150km"highway" from border to Siem Reap. There are rumors that an unnamed airline is paying off the Cambodian government to NOT repave the road; Interesting since there is only one direct flight from Bangkok to Siem Reap...

Family motoring on farm vehicle by a scooter gas station.

Photos from Ta Prohm, a temple.
Sunrise Race Day, with Angkor Wat in the background- 15 minutes before the Start.

Dion running through Angkor Thom's South Gate, with 1 mile left in his half marathon.

Sunset from Bakheng hill in Angkor Thom.

The iconic faces of Bayon temple

Visna, our tuk tuk carriage driver for our time in Siem Reap

The intricate Bas-reliefs that line 800 meters of corridors within Ankor Wat, illustrating mythical events.

During one pre-sunset walk in Angkor Wat we befriended several monks and later visited one of their Wats.

Sunrise at Angkor Wat

Bangkok again: Wat Phra Keao

2007-12-08T02:35:00.000-08:00

With an extra day in Bangkok while waiting for our Cambodian visa we took an afternoon to visit the colorful Grand Palace & Wat Phra Keao.

Wat Phra Keao, the highlight of the visit, sits within the Grand Palace wall and is the holiest Buddhist sight in Thailand. It was built in 1875 as a private royal temple. The Wat contains a myriad of structures and sculptures, decorated porcelain, ceramic & glass mosaics that shimmer in the midday sun. There is also a scale model of Angkor Wat, a gift to the King while Cambodia was under Thai rule, and the solid Jade "Emerald" Buddha which draws pilgrims from across Thailand.

Pictures of buildings, statues & faces of Wat Phra Keao in the Grand Palace. Honoring the Wat's requests no pictures of the Emerald Budhha.

Pai

2007-11-29T01:37:00.000-08:00

A windy three hour drive from Chang Mai, Thailand’s populous northern city, is a town with a relaxed vibe locals claim is reminiscent of the 60’s in the states. Here, in Pai, is where we spent 9 days, including Thanksgiving and Dion’s 33^rd birthday. Set in a lush green valley, Pai was a base to explore…be it on a scooter whizzing through the countryside and hills or in town learning thai massage.

One of the memorable aspects of our time to Pai was our trek to a hilltribe led by our engaging guide Somsak. Hilltribe people migrated over 100 years ago from the southern part of China into Laos, Myanmar (Burma), Vietnam and Thailand. Comprising seven major tribes, each has its own distinct culture, religion, language, art and colorful style of dress. They have assimilated to varying degrees and levels of success with modern culture but for the most part have preserved their way of life with little change for over thousand years.

As a visitor, the hill tribes provide a glimpse into the basic lifestyle of living off the land, and residing in small self-sufficient communities that are foreign and centuries removed to many of us. Excluding the recent addition of solar panels, the living environment in the Lahu village we stayed overnight was much closer to that of the Pueblo Indians that resided in 1200’s Mesa Verde National Park we visited this summer, then to what we are accustomed to back home.

As for the remaining time in Pai, a few pictures below illustrate how days in a exceedingly comfortable town can just breeze by.

View of the river and traveler bungalows just outside the town of Pai

Vendors lined the main street each night, offering choice upon choice of food. Here is the best Pad Thai lady we found in town.

Elephants are big, and their trunks can be ticklish.

Our elephant trek was a definite highlight. Despite a backbone for a seat, they make for a great ride through the jungle. They are playful as heck, grabbing whole trees to munch on while walking by, and rolling around in the river (with us still on!)

Our garden bungalow in town

Dion's other playful friend: the mascot of our laundry shop

Samsak: our guide for the 2 days trek. The town is littered with different trekking establishments and guides swooning with the tourists; we were fortunate to connect with him in town early on and have such a quality guide, and friend, to show us the path and spend Thanksgiving with this year.

Here, Samsak is cutting a path for us, while Christy is thankful she brought the extra bug spray.

The hike started about an hour's drive from the center of Pai. The first day, for six hours and the second, five, we tredged up hills, through rivers, along rice paddies, even cutting our way through the forest in some cases. Somsak, very verse in English and knowledgeable about the various birds, trees, fruits and sounds in the forest, kept us preoccupied and learning.

Walking into the town of Eh la- of the Lahu hilltribe. With 20 families in total, there were more animals than people walking around. The sounds of roosters, cows and pigs were heard throughout the night.

Playing soccer with the village kids

Thanksgiving Dinner: fresh Thai food cooked on this open stove. It was a special place to spend the holiday this year, given how we were away from home. Eh la is as far away from Manhattan and South Beach Florida as one could imagine, so it gave us even more opportunity to reflect and be grateful for our lifestyle back home.

Dion learning how to Thai box. After 3 sessions of 3 hour grueling workouts, blistered feet and cut up knees and elbows, he's still far away from a real fight.

With time in town, we took massage courses in Thai Massage, Foot, and Oil.

Dion's birthday coincided with Thailand's national festival: Loy Krathong. It's tradition for them to send off these tissue paper hot air balloons into the night sky like stars. We heard from some that the practice sends away the negative energy for the coming year...athough Somsak's humorous explanation was that it simply floats flamable litter into the air.

Sunset our last night in Pai. After an afternoon riding our scooter around the outskirts of town, we came upon this Pai Canyon- with a spectacular view of the area.

Koh Lanta

2007-11-15T19:46:00.001-08:00

Koh Lanta is a short ferry ride from Koh Phi Phi and where we spent the 2nd week in the Thai islands. While Phi Phi's population is concentrated- all walking distance from a single town, Lanta's is spread along a 25 km coast of long, west facing beaches. Instead of the sheer scenic limestone cliffs, Lanta's coastline rises steadily to a mountainous jungle interior. This geography helps give Lanta an even more lax atmosphere, with the biggest event of the day scheduling where you'll watch the sunset- not that there is a lot else to schedule here. However you spend your time on these islands, when its over it always seems to go by too fast.

The big event of the day

Watching the sunset from Bee Bee Bungalows, where we spent quite a bit of time... relaxing, eating and drinking cocktails with new friends we met on the island

An example of the islands creatively constructed "bungalows". Made primarily from bamboo, you can see how vulnerable they were to the Tsunami waves.

Christy cooking again? Taking advantage of another opportunity, this 4 hour class made for an escape from the midday heat one afternoon. This session she learned how to make fried rice, red curry, massaman curry, sweet and sour chicken and stir fry with hot basil leaves.

Ko Ha- 5 rocks/islands about a 2 hr boat ride from Koh Lanta, and where we scuba dived for the first time together- post certification course.

Dion snorkeling in the emerald green water in between our two scuba dives

Thai boxing is as much a part of the local culture as it is their entertainment. We saw 8 intense fights one evening...with most competitors high school age and younger. Different than UFC or boxing known at home, there is a ritual dance done by each guy before the fight. A great deal of respect is shown towards the opponents and the crowd throughout the competition.

There are worse places in the world to get one hour oil massages.

Koh Phi Phi

2007-11-13T23:25:00.000-08:00

Koh Phi Phi islands are located in the Andaman sea, on the west coast of Thailand, about a 10 hour bus ride and 1 ½ hour boat trip from Bangkok. They are an extremely popular tourist destination, home of long beaches flanked by limestone cliffs rising from teal water rich in marine life. Koh Phi Phi was hit hard by the tsunami of 2004. It decimated the one town on the island, which sits on a narrow plot of sandy lowland between two arching bays. On just about any other occasion it’s a perfect location. In December 2004 a 15 foot & a 10 foot wave of water from the Tsunami met in the middle of the town.

Hearing recounts from a few of the locals it is difficult picture the scene when it is so idyllic today. Debris filled the streets for months, without the means or desire to rebuild some shops were left abandon, certain unfortunate families had to focus on loss far greater than any business.

Along the main street a bookstore owner placed his hand just above his head drawing a line to indicate the water level. He was one of the many who remained and in the aftermath was the 3rd shop on the street to open. Five or so months after the tsunami the island had reestablished its tourist infrastructure, by far its primary source of income.

Today on the surface, besides a few tattered sections and excess amount of empty concrete bags, you can visit without appreciating there was natural catastrophe 3 years ago. Yet you only need to look to the faces of the inviting, resilient locals to recognize the main reason this place can welcome the rest of us again.

And for the rest of us, time can breeze by on Thai islands. Drink fruit shakes, watch sunsets, get certified in diving (Christy), take snorkeling boat tours; listen to lounge music while resting on foldable beach cushions; we never claimed to be living the tough life.

A picture from the viewpoint, looking down at Ton Sai town on Phi Phi Don. You can see here how exposed the town is the water.

Christy enjoying her scuba diving course

Beach fire twirler shows

Picture inland a block or two from the heavy traffic streets, where the impact of the tsunami is still evident.

Christy beach reading on a wood platform just before sunset.

Taking every opportunity available to learn cooking skills; this time helping prepare our orders in our bungalows kitchen

Snack choices: fruit shakes and pancakes are delicious morning, noon or night. Money conversion: 33 Baht = 1 dollar

Feeding a banana to the tourist tamed "wild monkeys" of monkey beach

The beautiful waters around Phi Phi Leh

Our longtail anchored in Ao Phi Leh Bay, an almost enclosed lagoon which served as a filming location of the movie "The Beach"

Bangkok

2007-11-13T17:15:00.000-08:00

Bangkok, the vibrant Thai capital of refined chaos. You’ll find colorful Wats (temples) within streets of backpacker hostels. Some of Asia's top business & luxury hotels a short walk from sidewalks lined vendors of electronics, clothing & assorted trinkets. After an hour of pushing through crowds in one of the congested sections Christy turned to question, ”is this entire city is a giant fleamarket?”. In reality, Bangkok has a range of offerings that will suit just about any taste.

This time our stay was quick, but we will pass through Bangkok several times in the coming two months. It’s a lively city to wander and as the hub for SE Asia travel has the westernized comforts of backpacker friendly Khao-San road. For now its also provides a suiting welcome to highlight our arrival in a new country, Thailand.

One of the buildings in the intricate, colorful Wat Pho

The 135 feet reclining Buddha, reference the people standing at the other end, which depicts Buddha entering Nirvana.

Christy first taste of Phad Thai in Thailand, from a quickly adopted favored street vendor.

Guangzi: Yangshuo and Long Ji

2007-11-02T01:54:00.000-07:00

Our last province visited in China, Guangxi,was in many ways the most scenic given its alien-like landscape. The "postcard perfect peak and paddy field landscape" is really karst formations concentrated along the Li and Yulong Rivers and scattered among the plentiful rice fields. Our timing was impeccable for it was the harvest season, ,which made for golden fields and more interaction time with the friendly farmers as well as unseasonably warm days later chilling into more Fall air.

Given the area's reputation for beauty, we made our stay a healthy 11 days- allowing for long, restful reading days by the river as well as time to enjoy the area and local villages through biking, hiking, jogging and simply wandering. The Yangshuo Town, like most discovered gems in China, was crowded with tourists, overloaded with tempting shop fronts and bustling with cafes. We split our time between here and the countryside- for the quietness of the outdoors and the pleasant exchanges with the locals was the heart of Yangshuo we most enjoyed.

Having been in China for over five weeks at this point, we found food we will miss and dishes we hope to recreate at home. Monday, we took a cooking class here in small village of Chaolong, making 5 dishes and then eating our feast for lunch. For sure, a highlight for Christy and admittingly great fun for Dion as well.

With the extended and active time in the area, there are no shortage of pictures we wanted to share:

Classic pictures of Yangshuo and the limestone karst formations that make the area famous

On our walk the first day, these farmers invited us over for some watermelon

Which led to helping them cut the rice stalks.

Working in the rice paddies with a farmer who puts his hard earned money into his silver teeth.

Cooking class in Yangshuo where we learned how to use a Wok, making Cashew Chicken, Beer Fish, Stirfried garlic greens and eggplant.

Scenes along the Yulong River during our bike tour, passing though villages, and culminating with a hike to the peak of "Moon Hill" shown above. Christy catching a break at the top of Moon Hill- justifiably wondering why we can't take the "short or easy route" sometimes.

Christy beating Dion (the sore loser), yet again, at Double Solitare

Photos of our 18k hike from Langdi to Xinping. This included three river crossings, twice on established boats and once bargaining with a farmer for a ride across on her bamboo raft. This route is thought to have the most picturesque views of the Karst formations along the Li River.

Locals along the way: farming, preparing one of our favorite street foods, rolling a smoke, serving a trail guides (kids) and making Christy look big yet again.

Christy with Chun Lee, the Front Desk Supervisor at the Yangshuo Mountain Retreat. Chun Li is a remarkable young lady, self taught in both Chinese and English. She suffers from OI (Osteogenesis Imperfecta) also known as brittle bone disease. The owner of our Retreat started a charity organization called The China-US Medical Foundation to help patients in Mainland China that suffer from this genetic mutation. We were so touched by Chun Li's strength and this organization's mission, that we wanted to help spread awareness in the little way we could, on this blog. We encourage you to check out their website: http://www.china-usmedical.org/. Very inspiring and touching, to say the least.

An aerial picture of the Yangshuo area, captured during a balloon ride by a German & British couple we befriended while at the mountain retreat. Gives a good feel for the incredible topography of the area.

Hiking up to our guesthouse in the village of Ping an, located in the Long Ji Rice terraces located a 3-5 hour bus ride northwest of Yangshuo.

Christy debating whether she'll have ham that night with her fried rice.

Pictures of the rice terraces during our day long hike through the organized contours of the Long ji mountainside.

The map of our final route through China: September 20th - November 3rd

Dali

2007-10-18T18:47:00.001-07:00

Dali sits on the plains between the large lake Erhai and the Cangshan Mountains. It is home to the Bai people and was a Kingdom under that name until the 13th century, historically serving as a tea trading route linking China, Burma and Eastern Tibet. Today, the inviting surroundings and reputed comfortable weather, make it a popular backpacker stop in the Yunnan providence.

We spent 5 days here, visiting the Bai village markets, appreciating the westernized comforts of the old town, and saying good-bye our friends made on the intrepid tour. The 3+ weeks with this group was an unanticipated bonus to our time in China. All the shared meals, tour excursions and train/bus rides made for interesting conversations and foray to make new friends all over the world; from Australia to Liverpool to London to Wales to Dublin to Cornwall and even "nearby Toronto".

We intended to spend our additional time in Dali hiking the numerous mountain trails so we headed up to a trekkers' inn overlooking the lake and colorful plots of farmland. After a long, wet chairlift ride up the mountain, we however were greeted by an Inn sunk in clouds & 48 hours of rain. We passed the time reading, watching a few movies, learning & losing games of Chinese Chess (Dion), and with sun breaks the last morning, seeing a few waterfalls and the finally, the view.

Christy walking through town (in her new warm shawl)

Dinner with some of our Intrepid folk
At a bar later that night

Roosters for sale
Or... you could buy them bulk

At the local markets. We followed this woman around all morning trying to get the right picture. She, like so many of the older women, carry all the weight of their groceries on their forehead...amazing.
Man and woman walking home from market

Fields surrounding Dali of green, yellow and soy beans, rice, corn, tobacco, garlic and cabbage.

Not so fun in the rain

The view was even sweeter, after waiting for 2 straight days.

The rain added to the mountain's lushness on our morning hike the last day

Much more pleasant chair lift ride down...

Zhongdian

2007-10-18T18:09:00.000-07:00

Zhongdian, recently renamed Shangri-la to boost tourism, is where we spent October 13th. Although the classic literary reference to Shangri-la is of a mountain utopia nestled in the Himalayas, in reality this town lays in the high plains, with rolling hills in the distance...a literal translation of Zhongdian: "Middle of the Grasslands".

With a mere population of 300,000, the majority of whom are Tibetan, Zhongdian's culture is unique in China. The land was once considered part of Tibet, and although the Chinese government has redesignated regions, in many ways it retains that heritage.

We spent an afternoon, with our tour, on a yak farm with a five generation Tibetan family. They proudly served us lunch outside their temporary home of butter tea (butter and yak milk), dense thick "bread" made of barley, then pork fat, noodle soup with greens, and rich, roasted potatoes. Though tough to swallow, the meal illustrated how this family, like all farming families, live off their land- and welcome fat (unlike our culture) to put weight on for the winter.

Neighboring this farm, was a modern multi-story school, called the ETTI: Eastern Tibetan Training Institute. Through Intrepid (our tour company), we visited the school and spent time with the kids. The institute runs 4 month programs for children 15-22 of the region to educate them in tourism and ultimately help them move out of rural poverty. These children were chosen for the school because their parents couldn't afford secondary education, and now are given the opportunity to excel and capitalize from the growing tourism boom in the area. In the 4 months, as their English improves, they learn bookkeeping, tourism and interviewing skills. Half of the small fee we paid ($4 each) on this excursion goes to giving the kids suits for their interviews when they graduate. It was thrilling to meet the wide-eyed kids and feel their optimism for their future.

The streets of Zhongdian

An example of the intricate woodcarvings
Every evening in the main plaza, locals (and visitors who learn fast) dance to jubilant Tibetan music. It was refreshing to see young teenagers alongside their elders, dancing with the same pride.

On the yak farm, where we ate lunch. This is the families' temporary home during this season. We were surprised to see that their formal house, a short walk in the village, was large, ornate and full of elaborate Buddhist wall paintings.

The women of the yak farming family we visited. Interestingly enough, they fit 5 generations in what most American families fit in maybe three generations. Here, the 54 year woman is the mother to a 34 year old, grandmother to an 18 year old and great grandmother to a 10 month old. (Her 80 year old mom was out in the village with friends that afternoon!).

Dion feeding a yak their meal of salt. Christy jumped so high when she felt the yak's sandpaper tongue. It's a feeling not often replicated!

The morning before leaving Dion was able to take a short trip out of town to one of the larger Buddhist monasteries in China outside of Tibet. The monastery, rebuilt in recent years, was destroyed during the brainwashed tirades of Mao's Red Army during the "Cultural Revolution of the 60's early 70's. It is now home to a few hundred practicing monks and provides a momentary glimpse at that dedicated lifestyle.

Tiger Leaping Gorge

2007-10-17T23:48:00.000-07:00

Located a two hour bus ride North from Lijang is one of the deepest gorges in the world, Tiger Leaping Gorge. The gorge is carved by the Yangtze river between 5000m foothills of the Himalayas. It's sheer shale walls and dramatic scenery pegged it as "one of the 1000 natural places in the world you must visit" in a book we consulted before creating the itinerary for this trip.

We spent two days in the gorge, hiking 1000 meters up & then along a trail that wound through villages and fields along the west hillside above the river. At night we stayed in guesthouses, enjoying some of our favorite fresh Chinese meals and the serenity that comes with arriving in a place that is reached by foot.

Christy and her bamboo walking stick which kept her sure-footed 2500 feet above the river.

Guesthouse our first night
Freshly farmed meal at the guesthouse.

View from a tea stop

A guesthouse that claims the best view from the toilets.

Our group ahead on the trail crossing a waterfall.

Christy's turn across the waterfall.

In the clouds at the highest point, over 8000 feet, of the hike.

Little Christy Big mountains

One of the many farmhouses with a view along the trail

Lijang

2007-10-15T22:33:00.000-07:00

Old Lijang is right out of a storybook for a village in ornamental ancient China. A maze of smooth bluestone streets, lined with sturdy timber frame homes & shops that have intricately carved facades of dragons, flowers, and wildlife. At night, the entire Old Town is illuminated with red paper lanterns hanging from store fronts and orange lights strung beneath the overhangs. Clear streams full of orange and white goldfish flow under arched stone bridges and wood planks that serve as the entry to many restaurants. The town looks too picture perfect and in a sense, it is.

Old Lijang, a small section of a city of 3 million, has developed rapidly in the past few years as a result of tourism, and is likely unrecognizable from its former self. UNESCO identified this section of the city as a Heritage site following an earth quake in 1996. While, a large section of the "new" city crumbled during that quake, the majority of "old" Lijang remained unscathed. The old town's structures and intricate water system were originally built by the ethnic minority in the area, the Naxi, and the construction's resilience provided the people and town with deserved recognition . Since that time the old town's significant expansion has been almost entirely dedicated to tourism.

However authentic the "old town" may be, today's version has an unquestionable allure and character that is all its own.

Restaurants & waterways of Old Lijang

Day bike trip along farmlands outside of town

Baisha, a lunchstop Naxi village visited during bike excursion.

Overlooking the old town

The local Lijang Market, several blocks of vegatable, spice, clothing and raw meat...carved dog vendors.

Christy the Giant

Bargaining for Oranges

Old Lijang at night

Chengdu

2007-10-07T21:05:00.000-07:00

With a population of 6 million, Chengdu is yet another Chinese metropolis larger then all but a few US cities (NY,LA,Chicago). In China, Chengdu is known for its tea houses, an accompanying lazy atmosphere, spicy Sichuan cuisine, hotpots that boil assorted dishes of meats and vegetables at the table, and as our local guide proudly explained, "independently minded women who aren't the submissive sort quite like the traditional women in the north"
The favored Chengdu tea houses are outdoors, in the parks. We spent an afternoon surrounded by families in paddle boats, local Majhong players and kids fishing for goldfish as we drank green & chrysanthemum tea and played cards. When you picture travel destinations the expectations often, for better and worse, romanticize reality. On this occasion the scene was spot on.

About 15 kilometers outside of the city is one of the most preeminent Panda Breeding Centers in the world. Since the majority of the endangered Giant panda population lives within the forested mountain regions around Chengdu, it is also home to several panda research centers and reserves. The entire wild Giant Panda population is estimated at around 1200, rebounding slightly in recent years. There are around 180 Pandas in captivity, approx. 70 of which, including one of the five Beijing Olympic game mascots, live in the Breeding center we visited near Chengdu.

As herbivores, the cuddly colored Giant Pandas' demeanor is a contrast to that of the black bear, our campsite visitors in Yosemite, and especially to the grizzly which we are more familiar with back home. The keepers move throughout the pens and the pandas sit on paying visitors' laps (fur makes the appear bigger then they actually are) while munching on bamboo. You might actually get away with trying to hug one of these.

Panda are finicky breeders, with the females having a few fertile days each year and the males rarely caring to expend energy on anything other then eating more of an inefficient food source. Interestingly enough, we learned that advancement in the center's artificial insemination methods has been crucial to expanding captive Panda populations.

Walking through a Tibetan Monastery in Chengdu, where we had a delicious multi-course Vegetarian lunch.

The sedentary older Pandas eating bamboo

The 1-2 year old pandas playing king of the ladder

"Cupping": the heating of bowls placed on your back, which is supposed to remove toxins. Follows up a 20 Yuan (3 dollar) hour long massage

The aftermath- round hickeys that lasted about 5 days.

Tea & Cards at the Park

Dion enjoying beers with Andy and Ed, our new Brit and Irish friends from the tour.

Trains

2007-10-05T04:28:00.000-07:00

China is huge. Given its size, any attempt to see much of it, will require spending a lot of time aboard the most practical mode of transport-trains.

For our travels, we plan to cover around 2000 miles over ground. This of course still leaves out large portion of the country; the entire west half, including Tibet, the block of land North of Beijing- former Manchuria, and all of the industrialized eastern coast. Given that you could spend 2-4 weeks exploring any one region we plan to visit, our itinerary is already plenty ambitious. The route is shown on the map on this page.

The long durations spent on trains haven't been anywhere near as unwelcome an aspect of the trip as we'd expected. For one, as is always the case with trains, looking at the windows has provided a richer sense for the size of the country and the living conditions of the people. Within the villages and towns each stop has its share of vendor rolling carts of soup, bags of fruit, and assorted local sweets.

The three level bunk sleeping carts are reasonably comfortable, despite the smelly hole in the ground toilets, and serve well as shared 10-20 hour living quarters (or 27 hour when you include the 9 hour delay on our most recent trip) . The time is filled with card/board games, occasional movies (on the trip leaders laptop), a roster or two and plenty of reading-C & I have together finished three books on the country.

We are by far the minority aboard, outside our tour group we've seen only one or two other foreign travelers. On one trip the tourist locals were in festive form for their week long national holiday, and initiated a small hall party with shared rice wine & large beers.

All in all, the time on trains is serving more then simply transporting us from one destination to another.

A view during a reading break from the aisle seat windows.

Bowl of noodles, works as breakfast, lunch or dinner on a train. There are multiple, you don't always know what you'll get, flavor options

Movie time

An attempt to communicate with a map & a small language guide

Results in sharing rice wine shots.

Xi'an

2007-10-05T04:07:00.000-07:00

We spent two full days (October 1st and 2nd) in Xi'an. What was once the largest city in the world (in 618-907AD) with 1 million people then, it is now a modern city- complete with brand name malls and boutiques, tourist amenities such as Starbucks, Pizza Hut and KFC. It also is home to the 20th century's greatest archaeological find: The Terracotta Warriors.

After our overnight train arrival, we drove an hour and spent the day exploring and learning about the Terracotta Army. This reputed 8th wonder of the world was only recently discovered by a farmer, digging a well, in 1974. Qin Shi Huang, the emperor who began the construction of the great wall and "unified" China by commanding one language and power, had the Terracotta Army built to guard his tomb. It's believed that 700,000 laborers worked for 36 years to create 8000 life size, immaculately crafted stone soldiers to protect this tyrant Emperor after his death. No soldier is the same, as the laborers designed their warriors after themselves. Though the warrior tombs were discovered just over 30 years ago, a great portion has yet to be uncovered. It was a fascinating excursion and provided yet another glimpse into the ancient history of this part of the world.

The remainder of our time in Xi'an was exploring the city. The Bell Tower marks the center of the city with North (Bei), South (Nan), East(Dong) and West (Xi) streets (Dajie) stretching out from there. A massive stone wall, wide enough on top for three lanes of traffic, squares off a 8 mile perimeter of the inner city. Riding bikes up top the wall is a tourist must and one we gladly obliged. Along the 1 1/2 hr bumpy ride, we had great views of the city, including some of the run-down outskirts that are in stark contrast to the metropolitan center, and friendly "hello/ nihao" exchanges with the many Chinese tourists.

Xi'an always a top tourist stop was flooded with tourists- making a crowded, overpopulated city even more so. October 1-8 is China's National Week meaning all of China is on vacation too!
Being that Xi'an is the original beginning or end of the Silk Road, there is a Muslim influence we had yet to experience thus far in China. The Muslim Quarter is brimming with food stalls of dried fruit and nuts, souvenirs and Muslim street food- including kebabs and roasted bread. Interconnected strings of kites fill the sky and quickly became Dion's new favorite toy.

The bell tower marking the center of the wall portion of the city

The warriors after unearthing, they were all (but one) destroyed soon after the emperors reign. Delicate, time consuming work for the archaeologist to reassemble.

Pit 1 of 3. Currently the largest of the collection but pit 2, which is much less restored, is believed to hold more then this one.

Close up

Calamari on a stick- Christy thought the street scene leaped right out of a Gourmet magazine article.

Zhongwei (Inner Mongolia)

2007-10-01T06:25:00.000-07:00

Zhongwei is a 20 hour train ride West of Beijing, putting it just within Inner Mongolia region of China, along the Yellow river and to the West, the Tenger Desert. Our first day in Zhongwei we drove outside of town to a village along the Yellow river that first received electricity in 2006. The village was maybe two NYC blocks long with roughly 10 mud hut homes, a few acres of corn fields and a large waterwheel. Having visited the SW towns of Santa Fe, Taos and the Mesa Verde National Park this summer, we commented how the homes in front of us were similar to what was built in the 1200s in the States. These farmers still live simply off the earth and are minimally influenced by the modern cities nearby.

Waiting for us at the river bank after the village walk were three sheepskin rafts; ie-dowel & wood 2x2 frames sitting atop sheep skins that had miraculously been emptied of bone,muscle,fat,innards, ect..through small holes created by a missing head and two hind legs. A guide put the finishing puffs of air in one as we arrived, wrapping an opening tightly with twine, before dropping it into the water for us to board. 12 - 15 inflated sheep actually function quite well as a floatation device, and for the next two hours we drifted down the swift Yellow river, passing corn fields, farmers, and herds of goats scampering up the jagged hills creating the valley.

Our 2nd day in the area we drove a short distance away from the motorbike & car honking - pedestrian dodging center of the city to start an overnight Camel trek into the desert. This sort of desert excursion was a first for either of us. Using camels as transportation made for a memorable two days. At night, we hiked up a dune to look over the rolling stretches of sand and down to our circle of tents and campfire. Surely an image that will leave a lasting impression long after this trip is over.

A side street in Zhongwei

Walking through the village

Outside his home during harvest season

Warn welcoming smile

No mistaking these for truck tubes

Trusty Guides

Floating the Yellow RiverFinished & ready to warm up

Christy enjoying the vantage point atop a camel. Counter to classic image of the arid desert, it was overcast and cold throughout.

Rest stop

Leading us further

Our Intrepid tour group in camp

One of our Guides, a moment by the fire when he wasn't chasing one of his camels.

Sledding down a dune near camp

The walk home.

(When Dion was getting live Blackberry updates from one of our travel friends on the UW vs USC football score)

Beijing

2007-09-28T05:57:00.001-07:00

Having had almost four days in Beijing since our arrival (not including the Great Wall trek), we've seen, and walked, a great deal. In some regards, the sprawl of the city and even the pockets of wealth, tourism and poverty is not all that different then what is found in another city we visited, LA. Of course in Beijing prosperity is much less the norm.

Night Markets

They don't refridgerate their meat at the market!

Since I am the "normal" height here, they have extensions on the subways- unlike NY!

We spent our first true day here (Saturday, Sept 22) wandering through the Hutongs and lakefront area in the middle of the city. Hutongs are traditional neighborhood dwellings, walled in their own small blocks, for the "common" man. You see clothes hanging and see kids playing, like in so many places, but there is a rawness and simplicity to these Hutongs and families that Christy hasn't seen in other countries. Though very close by, the lakefront area is a dichotomy from this simple living. The tourist appeal has brought nice restaurants, clean walking paths and a sense of upscale charm. As Christy jokingly commented, "It looks just like Epcot!". The preciseness of everything from decorative flowers, to authentic music, and colorful paddle boats almost seemed artificial so close to the dilapidated hutong shelters.

That night we met our Intrepid Tour group, our friends for the next 3+ weeks, over a classic Peking Duck meal. We are the only Americans of the 16- the rest from England, Ireland and Australia. Looks like a fun and interesting group; three other couples similar in age to us are on long 5+ month trips as well!

Belhai park is a beautiful oasis in the middle of the bustling city, and where we spent much of our Sunday afternoon, simply reading, writing and people watching. Along the park lake there was a cluster of connected "pavillions", ornately designed and decorated. A group locals joined in a spontaneous operatic song and dance in the area right near where we sat. The joy and playfulness in their voices was almost identical to Italians doing the "tarantella" and gave Christy a sense of home, though indeed far away when she opened my eyes.

Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City are iconic to Beijing and warranted an afternoon and English guide. While here, we are learning about the communist culture in China and the power Mao Zedong had during his reign, It was interesting to see how he is still everpresent in the Capital, 20 years after his death. Tiananmen Square, one of the biggest "plazas" in the world still has his stamp, as his picture boldly hangs on the entrance gate to the Forbidden City (where the Emperors lived during their Dynasties- completely "forbidden" "off limits" to anyone other than his family and concubines). This is considered the center of the Capital city and therefore symbolizing Mao as still the center of the people. What was most interesting to me, was that I first learned of Tiananmen Square because of the riots that took place in 1989. I will have to wait to learn more about that history when I am back in the states, as NO ONE speaks of this here and even Wikipedia is restricted. In fact, we are lucky we can still edit our blog. We cant open the website but still able to edit from the template page.

Forbidden City from above

Though I have never been to a Cirque de Soleil show, I would have to imagine they recruit from the young Chinese acrobat schools. We attended a show our last evening that was just amazing. A young boy, no more than 6 rode a unicycle on tight rope and then stood on it swinging as though he were riding a wave, and a young girl contortioned her body in all different ways while balancing on one hand. The grand finale involved more than 10 girls intertwined artistically one one bike while one continued riding it in circles. With far less resources then the renown acts back home this group of acrobats left us quite impressed with their blatant talent and creativity.

This is a long entry for our blog, but with less opportunities to post as we have become accustomed, we thought we would build on the posts we do make. Might help make the Beijing Olympics commentaries next summer more interesting too! There are countdowns everywhere and Olympics paraphernalia in every shop..can't avoid the anticipation here!

The Great Wall

2007-09-25T17:31:00.001-07:00

We've arrived in Beijing and have started getting accustomed to the bustling, bicyclist vs car filled, streets of this city. We'll follow up with more on Beijing, as we still have time here, but wanted to at least post a few pics of our excursion to the Great wall.

We arranged a visit to the Great Wall of China out of tourist necessity as much as anything else. It's introduced in Kindergarden Geography, and a "wonder of the world" so when your a short drive away you have go to see it. All the same, even though its ancient (600 BC)s and run across half of China (6000km) how impressive can it be to see a long tall wall?

Suffice to say, for the better part of 2 days of hiking and one night camping on the great wall we were absolutely awe-struck. Maybe it was our own naivete but expanse of the structure, as it careens over cliffs, along ridge lines and wraps off into the distant mountain haze is mesmerizing. It's just so foreign to see a man-made structure stretch over such a distance.

We were lucky enough, due to Christy's planning (Dion has to admit) that through West China Adventures we visited a unreconstructed section from 1300's (much of today's wall was built in that time frame during the Ming Dynasty), nearly absent of visitors. We scrambled as much as hiked, climbing & descending steep sections of the wall to the towers spaced every 200-500 meters. As we gained elevation we could see more & more of the wall snaking along the ridge line, creating a barrier that sits at the highest point whatever it is, and is still unimaginably imposing.

We camped on the highest tower of the two days, and rose before the sunrise to look over the valleys and the watch the morning light reveal distant portions of the wall. Dion is already claiming these 2 days will be the underestimated highlight of the entire trip abroad.

Pics of the two days hiking the wall with our guide Vicky. Note in a few pics the wall running along the ridge in the distance.

All done with Cross-Country

2007-09-25T17:25:00.000-07:00

Our travels in the states have come to a close and we are off to China. It was important to us to have a balance of travel time in our own country during this trip. It ended up impressing on us even more then we anticipated just how incredibly diverse, and beautiful a country we can see without ever stepping on a plane.

What really made it for both of us though was the opportunity we had to see friends. We were incredibly appreciative to all those that welcomed for a night or two, showed us around their towns, or just shuffled schedules so we had quality time. We both fully recognize we were lucky in this regard, and without welcome homes along the way, this wouldn't have been half the trip.

So to those we caught up with thanks again. We are fairly confident that for all that we end up experience abroad in the next few months,the time with family & friends while in the states is what will make us most thankful we walked away from great jobs early this summer.

For a few, obviously none all-inclusive reminders:
Meagan & Eric kicking off our travels right with dinner & golf on the lawn; Sveny stretching the Columbus visit to Nashville; Barry & Kelsey the consummate southern hosts-Honky Tonks & smoker & whatever else we pleased;Andie & John welcoming us into a very comfortable home & suggesting 1000 waves after the long drive west;Dusty & Alexis introducing us to the Rockies, Maroon Bells, and a town Christy could spend seasons in; Chad & Becky showing us Whit in his bouncer, lounging in seat swings and a perfectly sized hot spring; Brad, Marissa, Steve, Kellie, Styles, Jen & Jodi making wine weekend happen & happen well (Brad also for the convenient place in San Fran);John & Andrea stargazing in Santa Cruz & Moonwatching in the Juans; Marissa and Kevin for hosting a Rochester dinner party including Julie and Katie, with the most delicious cheese plate either of us have ever enjoyed; Priya for completing the NYC_Miami-LA trio of The Room and putting us up in what felt like a resort for two days; Graham & Courtney, Hills & Katin, setting us up for a postcard portlandesque day of cruising; Mr & Mrs. Little welcoming us to your cabin & a few seafood feasts; Rob & Sarah bringing back old & new times to the Juans; Cam & Anne the relaxing,(with a little cliff jumping) days in Chelan & our Madrona B&B; Jim & Elana scheduling your wedding to coincide perfectly with our arrival in NW;Steve & Kellie giving us another good stretch to catch up; Pete letting both of us appreciate Seattle as it should be- from the water;

All-can't imagine we'll ever have a better stretch of summer grill-outs/dinners.

Thanks again.

A cheers from Friends who joined us for Christy's Birthday & to wish us well on travels one of our last nights in Seattle

Our Route across the States

The past three weeks in Seattle

2007-09-12T20:37:00.000-07:00

Though Christy is writing this from Rochester now, spending a few days with her family before we head out next week to China and Dion is doing the same with his family in Seattle, we wanted to include pictures from Seattle on the blog, since we have had a jam packed three weeks there starting the last week of August (interspersed with the Orcas Island wedding trip and the Lake Chelan labor day). Dion grew up here in Seattle and went to University of Washington, so there is no shortage of friends/family to spend time with plenty of favorite neighborhoods, parks, eateries and views of the water Dion was excited to share.

Christy has lucked out for we've had all sunny days, except one. Unusual for Seattle and thus much appreciated. What's enamored Christy the most with the city is how surrounded it is with water. Nearly every neighborhood has views of either Lake Washington, Lake Union or the Sound and people even boat, kayak, probably even swim to work it's so accessible.

Rather than try to write up all we did in three weeks, we've posted LOTS of pictures to paint the story and give you a feel for Dion's home town.

Dinner with Dion's family our first night in Seattle

Denise (Dion's sister) and Christy at the expansive, yet cozy Elliott Bay Bookstore

Christy perfecting her Frisbee tossing at Gasworks park- Seattle skyline in the background

Pike Place Market & the Puget Sound. The place is full of vendors, overflowing with exquisite fresh produce and fish, giant flower markets, and tempting food stands and stores.

Playing in the 40 acre dog area within Marymoor park in Redmond with Steve and his dog Toby A friendly pic with Pete (friend going back to middle school) in the Middle of Lake Washington...
Just before poor Pete got picked on by the little guy (both ended up in the water)
Christy and Dion's Mom enjoying a Happy Hour
Can't ask for a better way to travel to a Husky game.
University of Washington's Stadium where we watched the Huskies BEAT ranked Boise State. Biggest home win in years for the team. The stadium sits on the edge of Lake Washington which you can just see beyond the scoreboard in this picture. Another view from our seats at the game
The Troll making its artistic statement beneath the Fremont Bridge

Christy reconnecting with her cousin Stephanie and her kids Carlin and Jack. Their yard was perfect for a pre-dinner baseball game!

Watching the Mariners lose to the Angels in beautiful Safeco field, amidst a string of September losses.

Grilling out at Anne and Cam's house

Denise, Susan (Dion's mom) and C- downtown for a first Thursdays Art Walk

Visiting with great friends, Dylan & John that go back to elementary & high school. Mount Rainier from inside the National Park- on clear days it dominates the Southern horizon of Seattle

Christy with her former boss at Men's Journal and longtime Mentor. He just happened to have sumitted Mt. Rainier that day so we drove up to congratulate him!.

Lake Chelan

2007-09-10T09:36:00.000-07:00

Labor Day Weekend was spent in the quaint lake town of Chelan, about three hours east of Seattle. Good friend Anne, and wife of Dion's college buddy Cam, grew up there and invited us for the long weekend with her family.

A highlight had to be Friday when we arrived. Anne's parents had planned a wine tasting tour for friends of theirs and graciously included us. After some lovely Gewurztraminer and Merlot tastings, we headed back to their home on the water where a local chef and great family friend of theirs cooked the party up a summer menu of gazpacho and grilled skewers. Memorable meal and evening to say the least.

The rest of the weekend was spent rock jumping, boating, and rotating between a favored board game (Sequence) and throwing the aerobie off the dock later to retrieve it in the crystal clear Chelan water. It all made for a very restful way to spend the holiday.

1st course and the view for Friday's night dinner

Sitting out on the dock

Cam and Christy battling it out in Sequence

San Juans Cont.

2007-09-03T22:17:00.000-07:00

Sunday afternoon, after the wedding, we took a ferry to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. For years during and after college, Johnny (the friend we visited in Santa Cruz) hosted many of his friends on the Little’s family property and over that time Dion got to appreciate the area much as anywhere in the NW. Johnny, his wife, kids and parents were at their cabin on the water and cordially included us in on a fun filled, sun filled, exquisite food filled, couple days. Another good friend, Rob Kenney and his girlfriend Sarah timed a visit as well, reinvigorating the days of Frisbee tossing, beach hiking and guitar playing around the campfire.

With 10 of us around the long oak table, a view overlooking Westcott Bay, a table strewn with platters of steamed clams and mussels dug up on the beach that day and grilled fresh oysters, salmon and steak, the scene was one that belonged in “Bon Appetit” Magazine- a compliment of the highest regard from Christy. To close out the feast, Johnny’s mom and dad made peach and blackberry pies- with fruit from the yard. It all made for a great additional two days in the San Juans, providing Christy with a more complete glance of the area, and reminding Dion just how much he loves it up there.

As a great cap to the extended San Juan weekend, on Wednesday August 29th the close friends of Rob, John & Dion- Barry & Kelsey Jackson (visited in Nashville) and Graham & Courtney Sweitzer (visited in Portland) had baby boys- Luke Jackson & Calan Sweitzer. Congrats to them!

Viewchairs from the Little's property- our tent sits next to the Madrona and the kids playing on the swing.

World class Frisbee tossing land- Rob hucking one to Dion seen far below.

Hiking down Mt. Young

Collecting Clams, Oysters & Mussels for dinner

Feasting on clams, oysters, mussels for dinner

Taken a few hours before the lunar eclipse

Cooling off in the Sound

A great day on South Beach (quite a contrast to the Miami version)

Feels just like home

Arriving in Seattle & the San Juans

2007-09-03T21:33:00.000-07:00

With much anticipation, especially for Dion, we arrived in Seattle on August 22nd. We took the elevated highway that separates the Seattle skyline from the Puget Sound into the city and arrived at Dion’s parents place just in time for dinner. It was great to catch up with them for a night before heading to the San Juan islands for a weekend wedding.

The San Juan Islands are heavily wooded, serene islands about 90 miles from Seattle in the Northern reaches of the Puget Sound. They offer great kayaking, whale watching, and assorted others excuses to simply enjoy the outdoors a short trip from Seattle. The San Juans have also long marked the end point of our road trip across the states. With good friends’ Jim & Elana’s wedding scheduled on the last weekend in August and Dion asked to marry them, the cross country route always including arriving at the San Juan Ferry docks by August 23rd.

The wedding & reception took place on an open grass lawn overlooking a cove on Orcas Island. It was an incredible setting, especially given that the intermittent rain throughout the day gave way to sun breaks just before the ceremony. Dion was quite honored to have his role and was happy to see that the bride, groom and parents seemed to appreciate his small piece in the day. Being able to read two friends their vows is an experience that drew him a little closer to both of them and one he will always cherish.

We enjoyed the rest of the weekend with a little kayaking, a little hiking, and a lot of time just hanging out with friends. That has been an essential goal of this entire trip; creating opportunities to have quality time that we may not otherwise have, with some of our closest friends. The wedding weekend in San Juan’s gave us precisely that.

The Kayak Crew, the day before the wedding: Steve, Kellie, Cam, Jen and Spencer
Kayaking the Orcas' West Sound

In Steve's words: This photo is blog worthy!

Dinner out the night before the wedding

Jim, Elana & the Groomsmen

Dion filling his role for the day

Introducing Elana & Jim McMillen

With our friends Cam & Anne, who went to College with Dion

Plenty of Dancing throughout the night

Portland

2007-08-28T21:48:00.000-07:00

With a predawn start out of San Fran, we drove a long 13 hours to Portland Oregon Monday August 20th- greeted by Dion’s close college friends: Brian, Graham, and Graham’s 9 month pregnant wife Courtney. We grabbed dinner and local microbrews within walking distance from Graham’s house. The menu at Ale House defines the pub as: Local & organic; Reasonably priced; Made from scatch, and Environmentally friendly; descriptions that could just a well apply to the city and neighborhoods of Portland as a whole.

Christy’s first experience in Portland was done the best way possible… on a Cruiser. We rode into downtown, through the tree lined neighborhood pockets and across the river that so comfortably splits the city in two. “Subaru, Subaru, Subaru, look another Subaru” pointing to the fourth parked car in just one block. They are as ubiquitous here as mapped bike lanes, unique McMennamin brewery pubs/theaters, classic bookshops and- as we found out once we reached downtown- great Happy Hour deals.

By the end of the relatively brief time there, Christy had become quiet enamored with the city picturing the brisk fall days, where you kick aside the colorful leaves on the way to a favorite neighborhood coffee shop. With great friends there (and a possible friends’ wedding- Hills?) future visits will likely let her see just how true to reality that vision is of this model NW city.

Biking through the neighborhood streets of Portland

After an afternoon spent at Powell's bookstore downtown and 2 different Happy Hours, we biked back to Graham and Courtney's house along the river. Tuesday night's dinner at Graham and Courtney's house, with Brian Hillier and his girlfriend Katen (our hosts).
Graham, Dion and Hillier- fraternity brothers from University of Washington

Big Sur

2007-08-22T23:48:00.000-07:00

We both know better than to call any particular place our “favorite”. On a trip like this, that distinction is always shifting- there are simply so many unique, memorable places with so many great people to see. For the 3 days of our visit, as far as we were concerned, Big Sur- actually most of the drive from Santa Barbara to Carmel by the Sea, was the most beautiful stretch of coastline on the planet.

We were lucky to catch the coast on a sunny warm weekend, to find a campsite overlooking the Pacific (thanks for the Kirk Creek suggestion Sveny) and have the time to enjoy the craggy, windblown coast at a fairly leisurely pace. Plenty of it was spent perched on cliffs, just watching and listening to the ocean. You can do that for hours here.

Beyond this brief description, we’ll leave it for the pictures to try and capture the serene, feral beauty of this area.

A stairway to a 1/2 mile of sandy beach and rolling surf waves. Too bad it was too freezing to reach them without a wet suit.

Classic view of the Big Sur coastline- streching approx 90 miles between San Simeon & Monterey

Looks as inviting a beaches come, although you'd have to leap a cliff to get there and would freeze after a few minutes in the water. Look close (double click) at the shawdowed cliff and you'll see a waterfall dropping into the sand.

You can't help but become a bird watcher here as the pelicans & gulls glide over the ocean and play in the wind currents.

C, still going strong with her 50 push-ups per day. This set during a memorable coastal hike.

One of the hearty coastal trees

The restaurant we enjoyed our finally night in the area. Located in the quaint, luxury cottaged, any girlfriend will love it , it helps to be a multi-billionaire to live there, village of Carmel by the Sea.

A Carmel by the Sea Sunset

The tiny town of LA

2007-08-22T17:15:00.000-07:00

Our two days/three nights in LA were centered on spending time with friends/family. Several of Christy’s friends from home live there. Priya, Christy’s oldest childhood friend from age 6, hosted us in Marina Del Ray for two nights. It felt good to go for a jog around the waterfront and Venice Beach, near her place. Marissa, Christy’s friend from home, and her husband Kevin cooked up a feast for us Wednesday night when we stayed with them. Their spread, which included a decadent cheese plate, paired with California wines and a tilapia dinner stemming from Marissa’s trip to the farmer’s market, was the perfect backdrop for the night. Katie and Julie, other friends from Christy’s high school joined as well. It was a fun reunion and opportunity to finally introduce Dion and C’s friends to one another.

Thursday afternoon was another “reunion” of sorts- with family. Dion’s Aunt Claudine and Uncle Juan had us over for lunch in West Covina, in eastern LA. Dion’s mom is one of 9 children and 3 of her other siblings were able to make it to Aunt Claudine’s that afternoon: Aunt Doreen, Aunt Virginia, and Uncle Larry, and cousins Steve, Eddie, Sierra, Robert and Noah. Dion, who hadn’t seen some of these relatives in over 10 years, was very appreciative they set aside quality time to see us on while we were in LA.

Driving out of the city that Friday, we jumped in the ocean near Malibu, and scanned the roadside for In-N-Out Burgers (the freshest fast food burger joint) and Pinkberrys (amazing frozen yogurt), knowing they would be hard, if not impossible, to enjoy again the rest of our trip.

Not our typical camp fare...

The beauty of self-timers. Around the table is Kevin, Marissa, Katie, Julie and Julie's boyfriend

Dion's Family Reunion

Priya and Christy, after a few margaritas out on the town

Santa Cruz

2007-08-21T11:17:00.000-07:00

Sunday, following "Wine Weekend", we drove a scenic 1 1/2 hour drive along the coast down to Santa Cruz- to visit Dion's college friend Johnny Little, wife Andrea, and their precious daughters: Isa (Isabelle) and Anna (Annalie). Lucky for us, a meteor shower was lighting the sky that night. We viewed the spectacle on one of the many acres of park land, not far from their house, with one of his friends setting up a high powered 80x telescope. Not only did we witness a couple vivid streaks that arched half the sky, but we stumbled upon an astronomy lesson- viewing Pluto, a few notable stars and even a galaxy.

In true "Johnny" style, the next day, we experienced the gorgeous area and Monterey bay on bike. After the guys did a bit touring on their own- riding miles of trails through Redwoods on and around the Santa Cruz campus, Christy joined to ride along the jagged coastline. We saw up close, for the first time, the sparkling blue bays nestled in the rocky coast, and found how cold and intimidating the Pacific waves can be relative to the gentle Miami-Atlantic.

In less than two days, we were able to catch up with a great friend and his family. Through pedalling around town and the coast, driving through the heavily forested Santa Cruz campus and of course through the local food, we also got a glimpse of the "quintessential California beach town". We couldn't help but frequent the little Tacqueria Johnny introduced us too more than once on the short visit! Their soft tacos, white cream covered tamales and homemade nachos were so good and reminded us what a melting pot of cultures our USA really is.

Johnny, with his two darlings, Isa (pigtails) and Anna

Monday night, we took a walk down the main street in Santa Cruz, stopping for some Ice Cream.

John and Dion riding Monday morning, through Santa Cruz Campus and a park overlooking the ocean.

Biking along the Pacific coast

Johnny is getting psyched for the next big wave, while Christy is getting out of there.

This water is cold!

Wine Weekend

2007-08-17T00:13:00.000-07:00

California wine country has been a weekend we've look forward to for awhile. It was scheduled before we'd created the master plan of quitting our jobs to travel- with or without the road trip, it was a weekend to meet up with friends in great surroundings.

Early Friday morning we picked up Jen & Spencer (Dion’s friend from high school & his wife) from the Oakland airport and started the casual drive to Healdsburg, an increasingly popular wine town slightly north of Sonoma. Driving through Sonoma can encourage sidetracking so we selected country roads vs the highway, stopping at few wineries and enjoying the blue sky day with sun roof open & music playing.

Later that evening, we settled into our house overlooking the Russian river, kayaked the river and then grilled salmon & steak as Steve, Kellie, Jodi, Brad & Marissa (friends from college/highschool) arrived from San Francisco, Seattle & LA. Saturday our car arrived before noon for a full day of wine tasting. The consensus favorite was Dutcher Crossing, which was the most homegrown of the wineries visited- only 2 years old. We were given a private tasting outside, back dropped by Cabernet vineyards. While none of us had known of Dutcher Crossing before that day (only 400 cases of each vintage are made), we agreed their Sauvignon Blanc and Zinfandel were outstanding... and made great accompaniments to our picnic lunch at the vineyard.

That night, instead of a restaurant in town, we opted for more time on the kayaks & our deck overlooking the river. We cooked up pasta, passed around a few more bottles of wine, wishing Sunday could just be another day shared in wine country.

Tasting at Landmark Winery, first day in Sonoma

Jodi, Spencer & Jen, Kayaking outside our place along the Russian River.

Dinner on the deck

Saturdays Ride.
The first saturday winery stop: D, C, Spencer, Jen, Steve, Kelly, Marissa & Brad

Our tasting at Dutcher Crossing

Dutcher Crossing Lunch- w/ Spencer, Steve, Jodi, and our driver- Rodney.

Welcome to California- Sierras & Yosemite

2007-08-15T17:00:00.000-07:00

We left Idaho early Monday morning the 6th, and arrived in California that evening –greeted by the stunning Sierra Nevada Mountains, which run down much of the eastern border of California. Neither of us had visited the Sierra retreat of Lake Tahoe and enjoyed our short time there immensely. Driving along the windy western shore, the giant sparkling lake sat to our left, while ski lifts, hills and forest rose to our right. Inviting restaurants and cafes speckled the coastline along with gorgeous lodge homes. After only a few minutes of driving along the wooded, built shoreline, we were drawn to the alpine getaway and made an “unscheduled” overnight stay.

The next day we reached Yosemite in a few hours, driving along the east side of the mountain range. Yosemite’s granite rock faces, especially the climbing meccas: Half Dome & El Capitan dominate most photos and postcards from the park. Outside the dramatic Yosemite Valley (where some rock faces rise nearly a mile above the valley) we visited High Mountain passes, meadows, cold mountain lakes, and waterfalls. Hiking among the ancient Giant Sequoia trees, in the Southern part of the park, was a highlight as well. In fact, it was these magnificent ancient trees (many 3000 years old) and the infamous rock faces in Yosemite Valley that convinced Lincoln to sign the Yosemite Grant in 1864, paving the way for it to become a National Park. It’s upon visiting the park though that you realize there is so much more to be seen than just what’s most popularly photographed. Yosemite is roughly the size of Rhode Island, with only a handful of roads within, it would take much more time and many more hikes to really "see" Yosemite.

Lake Tahoe

Emerald Bay in Lake Tahoe.

The Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias. Look close enough and you can see Dion standing by the "Clothespin" Tree. His miniature size helps give a frame of reference and show how tall these nearly 3000 year old trees stand!
Christy hiking with El Capitan in the background
Sun setting over Half Dome

Vernan Falls, which we hiked by on our way up to Nevada Falls. This was a favorite hike for the both of us. Literally climbing into the mountains 2000 ft, step by step (Christy was grateful for her 5th flook apt walkup training in NYC) provided gorgeous and rewarding views! A real live black bear... right by our parking lot! Given the thousands of tourists (and their food) that pass through Yosemite every day, they are running rampant this season! Nearly every night bears walk through the campsites (one walked around our tent our last night!) and cars broken into, when food is left inside!

Sun Valley, Idaho

2007-08-11T07:23:00.000-07:00

After nearly a week at the Tetons and Yellowstone, we headed to Sun Valley for three quality days/4 nights with Dion's good friends Chad and Becky, and their adorable 7 month old son Whit. The 5 hour drive from Yellowstone's exit to the popular ski haven was unlike any drive all trip. This part of Idaho is barren. No farming, no grass, nothing. Boulders of rock and torn up Earth blanketed all but the road. Slowly we started seeing some life, rolling massive hills spotted with trees came into view and we were out of what felt like Mars and into the gorgeous outdoor mecca of Sun Valley- the town of Hailey ID to be specific. We arrived just in time for Chad's birthday AND the weekend which set the tone for our time there. They showed us a fun time and spoiled us with amenities like a bed, shower, cold drinks... simple things you learn to live without, while camping...

Whit was a trooper going on his longest hike ever with us Saturday morning up to a stellar viewpoint over Ketchum, the heart of Sun Valley and where the ski mountain bases lay. The Folk Festival was going on in Hailey, so that night we rode our bikes a few blocks down to the park, coolers and picnic dinner thrown over our shoulders, and threw back on the lawn with all the others from town. What a fun night and glimpse into life outside the big cities we both came from... with great live music playing, our picnic spread out, microbrews in hand, and friends all around. Everyone seemed to know everyone which added to the laid back spirit of the whole night.

Sunday was a leisurely relaxed day at home..topped off with a visit to the natural Hot Springs just out of town. Small jacuzzi sized pools are shaped in the river by rocks and hot water flows from above making what feels like the perfect bath which just doesn't cool off on you. So unbelievably relaxing. We saw many towns from the Rockies- west who tout "Hot Springs" yet what we saw were commercialized swimming pools with kids playing Marco Polo and splashing. The Hot Springs they took us to on Sunday however, were precisely what we envisioned Hot Springs should be, if not better..

Our hike to the viewpoint over Ketchum with the ski mountains in the background.
View from lookout
The Hailey Folk Festival- pre nighttime and dancing
Lounging in the Hot Springs

Cooling off from our hike

Happy 1st birthday as a Dad, Chad!

Yellowstone

2007-08-05T09:34:00.000-07:00

After 3 nights in the Tetons we drove 30 Miles north into Yellowstone, the first and probably most renown of the National Parks. A fair portion of the park sits on an active caldera, which feeds some of its note worthy sights- Old Faithful, and many of the colorful geysers, springs & pools. What impressed us was how dynamic and geothermally active the area is. Watching several of the geysers erupt and reading about ones that have formed in the past 50 years instilled the feeling we happen to live in the relatively small window where the landscape will actually be tourist worthy.

These unique features are only a slice of the attraction, with 3500 square miles of parkland- the canyons, rivers, forest and grasslands make it easy to escape the crowds and step into a very wild, pristine environment. Wildlife is abound; the Bison caused several traffic hold ups while we were there, bear precautionary signs highlight their presence throughout the park, and we camped to coyotes howls each night (a favorite occurrence for Christy).

A picture of a Bison resting near Yellowstone river in Hayden Valley. This area was once part of a much expanded Yellowstone lake and is now open grassland that serves for some of the best roadside wildlife viewing in the Park.

Walking in the Old Faithful Area, surrounded by the steam of the multiple pools & geysers.

The Black Pool, named for a bacteria that inhabited a cooler version of the pool 15 years ago. One of the many examples of the ongoing changes in the area.

Yellowstone traffic jams

Ole Faithful

The lower falls of the Yellowstone river (300 ft) carving the walls of Yellowstone canyon.

Grand Teton National Park

2007-08-03T16:57:00.001-07:00

After driving all day from Moab, Utah to Wyoming, we spent two full and amazing days in Grand Teton National Park. While similar in beauty to the mountains we saw in CO, the jaggedness of the Teton range sets them apart hugely. We enjoyed a day long hike which brought us up to Inspiration Point for great views of Jenny Lake, and then continued up through a canyon that cut two of the peaks. There were several lakes near our campsite that not only made for great photos but a fun bout of canoeing and even a showering hole!

This moose, and two of his friends, welcomed us to the Grand Tetons. They grazed right up to our campsite the first night while we ate dinner.

Christy invaluably learning how to put up a tent!

View from Cascade Canyon, where we hiked, and the Grand Teton Mountains!

Taken at "Inspiration Point" along our hike, overlooking Jenny Lake.

America's Desert: Utah!

2007-08-03T08:27:00.000-07:00

We spent Wednesday, July 25- Friday, July 27 in Southeast Utah visiting Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. The heat, sandstone, and stunning rock structures were unlike anything we had seen yet on the trip. It took millions of years, erosion and the unique combination of sandstone and water to create these illustrious rock "monuments" at Arches. Canyonlands, as the photos below attempt to show, is a intricate landscape that you can just sit and look over for hours.

This overlook of the "Needles" in Canyonlands was our first true glimpse at Utah's desert and expansiveness.

That's Dion standing in "Wilson's Arch". Not yet even in Arches National Park, this monumental rock is just alongside the main drag in Utah.

Christy lounging on the same "Wilson's Arch".

Now officially in Arches National Park, we are standing at "Park Avenue"- the first group of massive stone structures along the scenic drive in the park.

Sunset at the infamous "Delicate Arch". A 45 minute windy uphill hike, opens up to this impressive view

Christy hiking on and in between the "Fins" of Arches National Park

Our last evening in Canyonlands- Enjoyed dinner and wine while watching the sunset and rain storms along the horizon.

Mesa Verde National Park

2007-07-27T15:58:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, July 25th, we went to our first national park of the trip- Mesa Verde in Southwest Colorado. Mesa Verde is actually the first Cultural National Park and is therefore much different than the others we will be seeing. We both found the history component fascinating as well as the dramatic landscapes surrounding the park. We hiked around and took formal tours of a few of the most restored Ancient Puebloan's Cliff Dwellings in the park. While the Pueblos built these magnificent homes in the 1200s, with mostly sandstone and water, they were not discovered until 1890! The ingenuity and brilliance used to build these dwellings is fascinating and not all that different than modern times in many cases, shockingly.

A peak at Cliff Palace, the largest cliff dwelling in North America. The 150 room site once housed more than 100 people.
Posing at Balcony House, a 40 room cliff dwelling. It's hard to see the balconies behind us that give this site its name. From these balconies, you could view the expansive canyons and mesas that supported their lifestyle. Peaking through a window at Balcony House. The timber resting above the window is the very SAME wood from the 1200s, never been restored. It's amazing how their natural resources then are similar to our treated lumber today!

The beautiful state of Colorado

2007-07-25T09:49:00.001-07:00

We were both blown away by high mountains of Colorado as soon as we drove out of Denver towards Aspen. We spent 3 days in Basalt, just outside Aspen, at Dion's cousin's Dusty home, with his wife Alexis and daughter Julia. They showed us a great time, taking us on a jaw- dropping hike beneath the towering Maroon Bells, cooking some great meals and simply providing great company.

We also spent a full day with Christy's childhood friend Sarah, her husband Quinn and baby daughter Kila. Christy and Sarah caught up by the pool while Quinn helped Dion pull a trout out of a nearby river, which along with Quinn's catch(es), served as a the main course of dinner that night.

Our last two days in Colorado were spent camping on a outlook over the mining town of Ouray, and in the mountain college town of Durango. Throughout our time in Colorado, the scenery continued to impress and left us envious of those that carve lives in this part of the country.

Driving up Independence Pass heading to Aspen. The trip took and extra hour 1/2, as we stopped every quarter mile for a stretch to take in the views. Note Christy & the Volvo in lower right.

Into the Rockies
Wild Flower Season

The view on the Maroon Bells hike. Lakes with reflections so clear it doesn't matter if you post the pictures of them upside down. Hiking with Dusty, baby Julia and Alexis (taking the pic)

Christy & Sarah at her home in Carbondale

Christy heading back down towards Ouray after a solid hour and 1/2 of climbing.

Red Rocks & Dylan

2007-07-21T22:27:00.000-07:00

After a Bob Dylan crash course on the drive from New Mexico for C, we made the Dylan-Red Rocks show just in time. Red Rocks, with the stage tucked in towers of sandstone, could be considered as much a natural wonder as a concert venue.

At the show, before a short rain shower and a little later mid Dylan set, with Denver city lights in the background.

Relaxing the next morning in a park overlooking Red Rocks: which can be seen in the right side of the pic protruding from the hillside.

New Mexico- Santa Fe

2007-07-21T21:31:00.000-07:00

The hilly, high desert of New Mexico, and Southwest character of Santa Fe was quite a transition from the drive across Oklahoma and Texas. We were greeted in the relaxingly atmosphiric Santa Fe home of Christy's work friend- Andy and her husband. The were welcoming hosts as we spent two nights & a day hiking a hillside, visiting a spa, and walking Santa Fe's architecturally distinct and artist brimming neighborhoods.

A home off the gallery lined canyon road in Santa Fe

Christy, keeping strong with her 50 push-up a day goal durng a Hike above Santa Fe

C find a perfectly sized door at a great resturant in town- Dion enjoying a green pepper tamale in route to Taos.

La Sancuria, a church / sancurary nestled in a mountain town of Chimayo, 20 miles North of Santa Fe

Heading West

2007-07-18T21:51:00.000-07:00

We left Nashville on Monday, July 16, and made a quick stop at Graceland before heading out across Arkansas, Oklahoma, the Texas panhandle and into New Mexico. Plenty of driving and open road; but we stopped and took slight excursions as time allowed. A few of the highlights: visiting the Ozark National Forest in NW Arkansas (amazing how by vearing off the interstate and taking a scenic byway, we went from absolutely flat grasslands to windy forested hills), stumbling on an Amarillo Texas Livestock auction and grabbing a ribeye steak lunch (experiencing first hand why Texas and Beef go hand in hand), and learning a little about the history of Route 66 (the first major American interstate to the West Coast).

Ozark National Forest in Arkansas. Of course, Dion jumped in!

The Livestock Auction we stumbled on after filling up the gas tank in Amarillo, TX. Only on Tuesdays!

View from the road in Oklahoma!

Farmland in AR

An original sign on the old Rt. 66

Nashville Weekend!

2007-07-15T20:22:00.000-07:00

This is dinner Saturday night in Nashville with Dion's friends and our hosts for the weekend, Barry and Kelsey

Here above are the ribs Barry smoked all day Sunday so we could experience true Southern BBQ!

Sveny, Dion's college friend who joined us in Columbus in route to Nashville, Barry & Dion outside a country Karaoke joint.

Saturday night was spent dancing at the Honky Tonks in downtown Nashville! So much fun!
Who would have thought "Twist and Shout" was country? Looks like Dion's doing the "Twist" and I've got the "Shout"!

1st long drive: Pittsburgh to Nashville

2007-07-15T18:46:00.000-07:00

Friday (6/13) was spent driving from Pittsburgh to Nashville. 5 states in 10 hours! (PA, OH, WV (for 5 min), KY and TN! These pics give a glimpse of the countryside we saw. Great sky given the on and off rain storms through OH and Kentucky.

Pittsburgh- Clancey's Dinner

2007-07-15T18:39:00.000-07:00

The first stop- Pittsburgh, at Dion's high schools friends house, Eric, with his wife Meagan, and kids Kate and Connor. A great kick off to travels, 7 holes of lawn golf-the inagural Clancey Classic, followed by grilling & dinner in the backyard.

2007-06-24T08:51:00.000-07:00

Just getting this site up and running- Plan to start adding pictures and a few descriptions once we get the Miami-NYC-Rochester moving sorted out and the trip started July 12th.