Travel "Gollums"

I was reading this amusing article on a blog; http://eatingmyworld.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/the-sham/ by Eatingmyworld, about travel in the Holy Land, Israel, Bethlehem and so on and his disappointment in the sites, the commercialism thereabouts, the tackiness of it all. It brought a thought to me that almost never do things that one really looks forward to live up to expectations!
The human imagination is a monstrous grandiose thing that has limitless ability to construct a world without limits. I am reminded about stories of people, blind since birth, they had an operation to restore their sight. When asked their very first impression, on seeing the world for the first time, their invariable response is that they were disappointed. Instead of living in a dark velvety castle they discover they live in a single-wide mobile home, instead of colors beyond comprehension, the colors are muted and dull. Imagine their whole lives thinking about how a loved one would look and then seeing them for the first time, how could they measure up?
This is why a movie never exceeds a good book in expressing the author’s vivid imagination and storytelling. When I was in 7th grade we all read “The Hobbit” and “Lord of the Rings” http://www.lordoftherings.net/ it was our Harry Potter, we loved Tolkien! We would go into the library and discuss excitedly various aspects of the books. I am sure we all had our view of what the Gollum looked like, it might have even changed with our moods. Is there any way the movie could capture the wonder we felt as young adults? Once the movie is made and Gollum is pictured, once there is a definitive image, imagining something else is difficult, at least for me.

I think this is why many love affairs don’t work out, the initial lust and excitement doesn’t hold up to the day-to-day grind of reality and early morning sobriety. Also the saying of “be careful what you wish for” has seeds of this sown in. Not only do few people really know what is even good for them, but their wishes have become unrealistic fantasies that can never be hard reality. I suppose that begs the question is reality hard?
So many people fantasize about trips and locations, they think about their dream vacations for years and years. They work and save all their working life till they retire (which is a bad idea IMHO, travel when young enough to enjoy it!), then, when they finally get there they are disappointed, I hear this often.

Remember those tacky folks selling tacky junk on the way to Machu Piichu, the Taj Mahal and the River Jordan have to make a living too. They aren’t there to fulfill your fantasy or vision they are there to feed their kids. So have fun and realize that the world is small and fragile and whereever you go to escape reality and live a dream, the one constant is that you will be there too! Your own face will follow along and keep an eye on you and remind you where you came from.

Thinking of Koh Phi Phi

This is written with five years of retrospect which might be a good thing.
We caught a cab in Patong and it was a small minivan thing which they packed to the gills with people from Israel and us two. At first we couldn’t quite catch the language which sounded like someone clearing their throat to spit, but eventually we talked a bit. I found the Jewish magazines odd, upside down and backwards, hmm.
On the boat trip over to Koh Phi Phi it was overcast and rainy, with lots of islands all about. Someone asked me what I thought of it? I remarked that it looked exactly like Puget Sound, overcast rainy, and lots of islands. They looked at me like I was crazy, no really, I’m not kidding!!
On landing we got advice from our Jewish friends about how to get the best and cheapest room. I told my buddy I was tired of cheap-ass rooms and wanted to get the best room on the Island. We had been running really budget sleeping it tiny beds too small for a nine year old boy, I wanted a real bed, sized for a fat American! The island itself is a narrow flat strip of land between two hills, this area where all the tourism and hotels are is only maybe ten feet above the ocean. We ended up at the Phi Phi Island Cabana Hotel. My traveling companion remarked it was the best room, with the best view, he had experienced to that point.
We had a view of the pool and a short distance from there, maybe 75, feet the ocean beach. The http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agCG-rPqM6A video below shows the view we had as the tsunami hits, (two months later) it was literally shot from our room’s balcony on the third floor. There was no elevator just stairs but it was nice for the view, in the future I will know there is also safety in height at this location. The giant Greek urn you see was in the center of the pool with a fountain on top. We could swim in the pool and stand under the fountain spray, it must have been 15 feet up from the surface of the pool so you can imagine the wall of water from the tsunami was a churning muddy mess full of “floating TVs fifteen feet high!
Also when we arrived people were doing the parasail thing on the beach. I figured I would do it the next day but they were gone. At one point on low tide I walked out on the tide flats and the water level was so flat and shallow a person could walk 5 or 600 yards out there looking at tide pools and tropical fish etc in knee deep water. This is the side the tsunami wave came from and it goes to show the water from the ocean’s depths had nowhere to go but straight up!

Looking at videos from 2009 at the Koh Phi Phi location, it appears five years later the area has still not fully recovered. There does not appear to be as many boats and tourism businesses working the area. I suppose many locals had such bad memories they moved away and of course some were never found. Needless to say it seemed very strange that this catastrophe could have occurred at such a beautiful place we had just left.

The Davenport Hotel- Spokane

To word it in a sentence, the Davenport Hotel is damn nice.

It seemed there were people everywhere waiting to help or assist in any helpful, friendly, way. Right from checking in and valet parking, we were treated like royalty. We had many conversations with the staff, several of which seemed to have just graduated from Gonzaga or Eastern Washington State University, about the surrounding area and directions, or recommendations. People were friendly and happy and there was not one tiny negative thing to report.

The room was great and all my expectations were exceeded. Looking through Expedia.com the Davenport is rated as the 10th best hotel in the world!? http://www.expedia.com/daily/promos/hotel/InsidersSelect/default.asp?mcicid=hp.tools_insiders&rfrr=-52636

There were three chauffer driven Lincoln Town Cars available, to ferry us/hotel guests, to dinner or destinations downtown, which was a very nice perk. It was fun just walking around inside the hotel and marveling at some of the ornate ballrooms and soaking up a little bit of the history. The hotel is a “spa hotel” as well if you are into that sort of pampering (who isn’t). I highly recommend the Davenport Hotel if you are in Spokane and want the very best you owe it to yourself to stop by and check it out.
http://www.thedavenporthotel.com/

Celebrate 9-11

I propose 9-11 should be “National Travel Day” and as Americans who refuse to be afraid of the big bad wolf, we travel, go out to eat and spend money lavishly and in hedonistic ways.

Yes, I remember 9-11 well, the burning towers etc, I was working nights and woke up to my morning coffee and the internet news I couldn’t quite believe. Yes for several minutes I thought it was a hoax of some kind.As time went on over the next several weeks it actually got worse as people literally stopped living their lives, and adjusted everything to cowering in fear that some ridiculous imagined threat might materialize. A man I worked with who always talked about his church, cancelled his trip to Hawaii, he was afraid. He was in poor health and about 66 years old, apparently his savior was not powerful enough. People actually called the police if local kids played in the woods and wore camo clothing; they thought “terrorists had targeted their important neighborhood for implosion. People turned in neighbors who took photos outside it was completely nuts.

Things of course have cooled off some but we are nowhere near back to normal are we?

One of the moments I have been proudest of my mother is one week after 9-11 she had plane tickets to Montana. I asked if she was still going and she said of course, she was more worried about airlines cutting down on maintenance (very real), and drunken pilots than terrorists. Her reasoning was; why would the terrorists bother with a little old lady like her. Well, right on.
The terrorists attacked the World Trade Towers as a symbol, a symbol of American might, but also American values, freedom, morality, and happiness. They killed some people sure… but the total effect was a 1000 times worse because they did cause terror, and panic, they did change American life for the worse. They succeeded beyond their wildest dreams because we rolled over, pissed our pants and let them.
So in all seriousness I think 9-11 should be made a holiday and it should be based on travel, and partying, and going out and not being afraid. People should go skydiving or take that hot air balloon trip, or do something new. It should be about breaking out of ruts, mental, physical and spiritual. Don’t tell me about your wonderful life-after-death god and show me your fish bumper sticker, show me your powerful faith by living a fearless, powerful life.

I know we have a lot of holidays but we have tweaked them haven’t we?
We used to celebrate Washington’s and Lincoln’s birthday and now we have the watered down “President’s Day” which means nothing. Columbus Day went the way of political correctness to a dried up death. MLK day is actually the only day the Seattle Times takes out a full page in the paper to remind us, hard to believe, good thing he is not still alive to disappoint us with being human. As near as I can tell Easter has waned and most stores are open now. Memorial Day and Labor Day are just days off from work. Fourth of July is only fireworks day. Thanksgiving and Christmas still retain pop because the weather is bad and hey we still do the family over for dinner right? Halloween is too scary because we can’t trust strangers any more, we are too afraid.

So why not ditch Labor Day and have a real holiday? We could call it American Values Day or something. I honestly think if we had a big holiday spectacular every year it would make Bin Laden’s butt burn. Instead of singing about the “home of the brave” why don’t we go out and live our lives like we always have and be brave or at least not afraid of living our lives like Americans used to live their lives.

Personally I think it would be like a Pearl Harbor Day that we really celebrate, it should be a three day national holiday and can replace Labor Day which has no meaning anymore. People should have resolutions to do something they want to do but have put off due to fear. Ask out that special person on a date you have been afraid to ask. Try out that risky blog idea. Go down to downtown Seattle and take some photo night shots you have been meaning to do, but inexplicably haven’t. Try something new like a play, or new ethnic restaurant you have never tried. If at all possible travel somewhere for no reason at all, other than you are happy to be alive and living in America on September 11, 2009!

So, join me in celebrating 9-11, Amercia is alive and kicking Day.

I can't afford to travel: and other myths

A former woman friend, used to say to her kids “you can do things or you can have things”. The motto being that as a more or less middle of the road earning American, we only have only so much money and resources to spend in this life and choices need to be made. The most precious thing is time and after that maybe money. Of course these things can be broken down further and you could say that time spent with loved ones is the most precious single thing on earth.
I frequently use the “death bed scenario” when discussing the myriad choices facing the eager young faces I run into. I ask them “hey, if you are lying on your death bed and are recounting your life and all the things you did and didn’t do; what will be important to you? Will it be the time you spent several hours haggling to buy the new Lexus and the drive home? Will it be the time you sat on top of the great pyramid in Egypt? The first time you made love to the love of your life? Will it be watching the Seahawks on your 56 inch television? Or hiking into Machu Piichu?

This is the juxtaposition of experiencing things and owning things. Buying expensive shiny gewgaws gives very little satisfaction once you actually have them in your hot little red hands, while memories of fantastic experiences keep giving and giving, paying interest, throughout your life. Some of these experiences can in fact be so profound they can literally change you and thus change the direction of the rest of your life. In this day and age of almost great-depression-like economic turmoil, many people I know are losing things they worked very hard for. They have had to declare bankruptcy, sell the “dream house” that is irreplaceable, get divorced (because they sold the “dream house”), lose all those things they were proud of and bragged about. Some people feel these things sadly defined who they were. Have you heard the bullshit about “you are what you drive”?
In that case I am a 1996 Chevrolet Lumina, white with dings and coffee stained carpet, almost 100,000 miles, non-descript, looking like an old rental car (because it is of course), reliable and forgettable. I prefer to think it has nothing to do with who I am it just gets me to work on time. However when I see people showing up in the morning in that brand new Lexus SUV and I look at them I think…it is too expensive for me, too much overtime, too much of my life’s blood. That car would cost too much of my very limited time on this earth. Henry David Theroux described it in his great book Walden as being “tools of our tools”. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=walden

A movie that I have heard many people quote lately is the “Bucket List”. Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman are old men confronted with their eminent and yes imminent, mortality. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0825232/ They decide to make a bucket list, all the things they want to do before they die. Notice it is things they want to do, not things they want to buy or things they want to own. It has touched a chord with many baby boomers as they grow older, and look in the mirror, discovering to their dismay the grey haired, turkey necked creature peering at them, is not them, but some old, world- weary person sneaking around in their house and wearing their clothes! The horror!

So other than the fear, http://425traveler.blogspot.com/2009/07/travel-fear.html the fake fear that has been manufactured and shoved down our 9-11 throats by the fear-mongering media, (and Republicans), it seems money is the main reason people give for not living out their travel dreams, of not scratching out items on that precious “bucket list” of childhood dreams. These are the dreams we had as children when we still dreamed really big dreams, before we got smart and our world shrank down really small with so many limitations. We tell ourselves that we will travel when we retire and we have earned it. We know in our hearts though when older we will be even more afraid, have less money, and failing health.
“Recent studies have suggested that merely thinking about money makes us more solitary and selfish, and steers us away from the spending that promises to make us happiest.” http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/08/23/happiness_a_buyers_guide/?page=full

The time to plan that thing we have always wanted to do is right now, to research it and start to make the budget for it. If you have the big car payment ask yourself if that is really how you want to remember your life, as working overtime to pay car payments and buy things that you won’t remember even owning ten years down the road. It might be time to write a list of ten things you really, really want to do and then focus on the least expensive easiest one out of the ten. Could you plan that thing now? Could you actually do that particular thing, could you live that dream, next year? I think you will find if you start to make those concrete plans it will improve your mood to have something so wonderful to look forward to.

Travel Fear

Hey do you know people who are afraid to travel outside the US?

So do I. Lots and lots of them actually. I wonder why that is exactly, although it seems the people most worried about other countries never go to them anyway. They watch the news and pseudo-news and make decisions about people and countries, globalization, travel and safety without any firsthand, real knowledge at all.

I have noticed recently with this big health care insurance debate the people who are sure we have the best system, the best health care, are the ones who never travel anywhere. The people who are certain Canada has a socialist system that doesn’t work and is inferior to ours are people who haven’t been to Canada in years or not at all. Rick Steves has some ideas on this:
http://blog.seattlepi.com/ricksteves/archives/174558.asp
Now if people don’t have the money or means to travel that is perfectly understandable but the people I am discussing here are individuals that definitely do have the means, they are people who speak loudly about the world and how it works and their opinion of it. The trouble is someone else on TV gave them their opinion.

I can’t imagine an Asian Food Writer, writing about Asian Food without ever going there, or someone hiring an NFL coach who got all his coaching ideas off reading books and watching a few movies, but no actual coaching. The point is “book learning” with no actual real experience is so very, very limited that in many cases it is useless or even dangerous. Check this video below about Amsterdam which Bill O’Reilly terms a “cesspool”. Does it look like a cesspool to you? Or is it in actuality a city nicer than 90% of all American cities. Granted it is just a video of course.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTPsFIsxM3w Visit Amsterdam

I have been saying lately that some fundamental changes need to be made in American life. Yes, I do need to write them down, make a list. One is that I think every kid out of high school should do two years of compulsory service to their country, their country being the USA. This could include the military of course but should have a wide range of opportunities, like the Peace Corps and also a domestic corps to help out in all the myriad of ways our country needs help right now. I also think it would be a really, really good idea that every citizen be required to visit at least three foreign countries. How this could be done I am not sure although certainly people in the military travel. The requirement could be: one country in South America, one somewhere in Europe and one in Asia or Africa.

Would these citizens come back the same or would they have a much larger, more expansive, big picture of the world and its many problems? Would they be so quick to hop in their large Ford trucks with huge flags and race up and down the main street of their small town, demanding we bomb someone in another country who has never attacked us and poses no real threat to us?
Would people just think more? Would they realize there are many ways to do things and people in other countries are perfectly happy as they are, and they do not want to be molded after America?
This would horrify many people of course. They revel in the fact so many are small minded and scared of things they can’t even describe because they don’t exist. They are powerful because of others fear. George Bush gained huge amounts of power because of widespread panic, and senseless fear after 9-11.
Can you believe that we still can’t fly to Cuba? We can go vacation in North Vietnam (the domino theory was bullshit it turns out), and be perfectly fine and happy, but Cuba is forbidden. The whole thing would be funny if it were not so sad.

It has become somewhat of a trend to take a high

school graduate on a big trip to celebrate their change of life from the 12 year public school to high education or the work force. Do you want your child to have big dreams? Show them first-hand how big and wonderful, and truly amazing our world really is!

The Very Long Machu Picchu Day

So it was our last day in Cuzco, Peru, we had to get up at three a.m. in the morning in order to see Machu Picchu. I was sick and had diarrhea. I was really worried about being in the taxi or even on Machu Picchu itself and needing “to go” and not having a handy restroom available. I knew it would break my wife Lisa’s heart to be so close now and not be able to actually go there and experience it. What are the odds we would ever come back?

Imagine if you will, even years later talking about being in Peru, doing the whole Inti Raymi Incan Winter Solstice festival, and all the rest, and then the Machu Picchu question would come up. The horror!

So I just took the course that we would go and take it a minute at a time. I had multiple pockets stuffed with tissue. I had to wake up the night clerk in the Terra Andina hotel desk area downstairs. He hurried to get our lunch; I didn’t really want it but wanted to be polite. He unbolted the heavy cross brace on the door. The taxi arrived and of course the driver didn’t speak any English. I had the doorman explain the “situation” as best he could.
We took off in the dark, the driver drove like a fiend possessed. It was scary and exhilarating at the same time, like when Space Mountain first came out. We would approach small three wheeled vehicles at high speed that had no lights. He asked at one point if I needed to stop, on the top of a cold black mountain, I said ah..no, not now.

We arrived at the train station in Ollantaytambo and inexplicably we ended up in a Vistadome Train with only one car and we got to sit in the front seat! The view was incredible and as the train went on the terrain changed to more of a jungle as the sun came up over the Andes. Porters for the Inca trail with heavy packs ran along the tracks at one point. We eventually came to the small town Aguas Calientes. Lost, we ended up following another couple through a crooked market to the bus station.

I started feeling much more stomach stable and was thinking I was going to make it. The bus traveled hairpin turns up the mountain, we passed many other buses. We stopped at a small ski resort looking place where they took our tickets into Machu Picchu. It was a walk in, up many gasping stone steps. We came to a crossroads to go up to the top or straight down to the main part of the ruin, we went up, this turned out to be smart thinking.
We walked back and forth and just took it all in. It had swirling mist which made things seem more veiled and secretive. People always ask me, “was it spiritual”? For me no, but it was cool and more expansive and encompassing than I thought it would be. At one point my wife stopped and hid a special object she had carried up in a tiny nook she found. Several people seemed to be performing rituals, possibly even getting married.

I took all the standard Machu Piichu shots and tried to get a few that were different. It was challenging to try and get perfect photos of the ruins without other touristas in them. I wanted it all for myself, but there will not be that time for anyone I am afraid, it is the number one attraction in South America.
We never did find our guide but due to some reading beforehand we really didn’t need one. Most of the key points were readily identifiable. After hiking around for four hours or so we started back. Lisa had tears in her eyes she was so happy.
Here was where I was glad we had covered the top part first I was a very tired boy. We didn’t get home till quite late.

Quick Hits:Travel in Peru and Elsewhere

First of all Inca dudes what’s with the steps? They are big! The average stone step is about twice as high as a standard step. It is like walking up a flight of stairs always taking two at a time but the two steps are on top of each other not angled. Meanwhile the average native Andean is fairly small, maybe 5’-5’ 5”. Something must be here that I am missing.

The people I met and talked to, and there were a lot of them, were friendly, hard working and helpful. Yes, I know they considered me to be a “money mill” and I paid my way, but still the vibe was very good, very positive. I felt safe walking around town.

The old part of Cuzco (oldest continually inhabited city in the western hemisphere), was clean and well maintained. I thought it was nicer and cleaner than Mexico or Spain for instance. There was a fairly heavy presence of police and para-military, there appear to be about 25 different branches of people in uniforms there. None of them however, screwed with us.

The food was good too and varied. I had Alpaca and Guinea Pig along with some fruits and vegetables I have never seen before. Bottled water and Coke was available damn near everywhere, even way off the beaten track. Baked goods seemed to be a special point of pride and there were too many delicious treats to mention. Money was about three for one and that was about the rate for most things. A good dinner there would run about a third of the same thing here, or a pedicure or massage or whatever. Taxis were cheap but I did not hail unknown providers on the street.
Swine flu scare was big in Peru, especially at the airport, many people there work 12 hours a day and have to wear surgical masks all day at restaurants. One worker said a government inspector came in and saw two restaurants with people not wearing masks and he shut them down for a month.
Everyone, including small children have been trained to ask for money around Cuzco, if you take their picture. At times it is comical. I had children three years old when seeing their picture taken, instantly stick out their hands. One demanded 10 soles, HA!

We stayed at the Terra Andina Hotel and I can recommend it, but it was just nice to be within walking distance of the main square, we saw many interesting things in town and got a real feel for it just walking from the hotel. This saved time and money being able to cruise around easily on foot. P.S. My patience for tour buses is very limited. I would rather have the hotel negotiate a private driver for us, if you take a good book of the area, and look on the net you should have a pretty good idea of places that you want to see anyway.

We usually travel fast and light, just taking carry on items. We ran into a couple at the Lima airport where their luggage had been lost. After two days we happened on the same couple, inexplicably, at the Pisac market. At this point the woman of the two was speaking in tones of dark violence about her precious missing items. Let’s face it this kind of thing can ruin the trip, not having your personal kit, no underwear, and trying to buy new stuff that fits is tough on the road. With more carriers now saying they will want to be going to carry on only anyway~ (see Ryan Air, and all the talk of “stand up” flights), maybe you should look at running this way. Taking along: One carry-on bag, one laptop bag, and camera for me, one carry-on and small backpack for wife, which holds small purse etc. I usually wear the heavy walking shoes and full pants, and long sleeve dress shirt and jacket, putting lighter stuff in the carry on.

Once again Peru people I have to ask: (and this goes for you Thailand people too), IF you people actually want to SELL t-shirts and the like to tourists, check out our size. I am two feet taller than you and I outweigh most of you by about 100 pounds. I know you can get bigger stuff if you really want it. The “medium” t-shirt you sell will maybe cover a malnourished 9 year-old American boy, and they have no money. Think about it.

This is to you guys out there. Yes the massages are cheap and god knows full well if they were cheaper stateside I would be going at least once a month. However there are other things to consider. For instance when waiting with time to kill (read: the dreaded airport layover), think about a pedicure or facial. Know, it will not make you queer (or even metrosexual) and it feels good. Women have been hiding this from us. The facial thing.. you are lying down and might even doze off in pleasure. You might be able to get a full do up for a small price and come out feeling good, refreshed and tingly. Try it.

I always ask around when I run across people that speak decent English about where they would go to eat for a special celebration, or which sites they think are the best ones in their city. Oftentimes they will come up with things not in the tour book. Think about it. If you were talking to someone about your favorite place in Seattle would you say the Space Needle and the Pike Place Market? Most likely not.

Port Townsend Weekend

I just remembered that I have neglected to say anything about our short trip to Port Townsend in May.

The beauty of Port Townsend is as near as I can tell the main older part of the town has not changed at all in 30 years. It is still quite small and very walkable. We stayed in a bed and breakfast by the name “The James House”, http://www.jameshouse.com/ , which was on the bluff, I believe Washington Street, and it had a great view. There are many other bed and breakfasts in and about town and of course there is also “Maressa Castle”. So there are many places to stay. http://www.enjoypt.com/lodging.html

For those who want to camp there is also places like Fort Worden State Park. In addition to campsites they also have houses to rent. The “Blissful Vista” is right on the bank above the water for $243 a night. In addition they have a “Castle” one of the oldest buildings around for $217 a night. http://www.parks.wa.gov/vacationhouses/ftworden/

For a three day weekend nothing really needs to be planned to enjoy this area. Fort Worden is of course always fun to tour around. There are beaches and sea food restaurants and many shops. We happen to luck into the Rhododendron Days Festival which included a parade and bed races. There are many festivals such as the Jazz Festival to check out.

When we went over the Hood Canal bridge was out. This was problematic because the ferries have gone to an online registration system and if anything are more of a pain in the ass than ever. I know some people consider the ferry ride an integral part of going to the peninsula, like a Disneyland ride, but I really don’t. When I think “ferries” I think of waiting in long, tedious lines. So anyway, we drove around, yes all the way around, and it was very pleasant and relaxing. The drive along hood canal is nice and we stopped and checked a few things out like the Washington State shellfish lab which was down a little side road with a completely deserted beach.

So if you have a little thing to celebrate like a birthday or anniversary, and want to do a little three-dayer add Port Townsend to the list, it is the same as it was 30 years ago, honest!

Screaming children+Aircraft= Hell

What about these screaming, wailing children on aircraft?

Clearly it isn’t fair when I am on a long flight, like this Sunday from Lima. Peru to L.A. , and we were completely exhausted and desperately needed sleep, but were not allowed to because of a extraordinarily spoiled child that screamed and screamed at the top of her petulant lungs for hours. This was not a sick child, this child had developed through many hours of practice, the ability to scream relentlessly. I pointed this child out to my wife before we were even on the plane. It was obvious the child was going to be a huge problem and the three women enablers who wouldn’t just leave the child alone were just multipliers.

Hey I paid good money for that seat and I shouldn’t have to put up with idiocy like that on a plane ride, at a nice restaurant or a movie theater.

Today I see an article titled “Kids on a plane! 5 fixes for unruly passengers” (Christopher Elliot). However I don’t see any of the ideas presented as really feasible or effective. Can something be done? You bet! http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/06/29/kids.on.planes/index.html
First of all it is not a people with kids or no kids thing. Many people take the time and trouble to raise their children properly. Virtually never is the real problem the infant child, it is usually a two to four year old with an attitude and a parent that clearly isn’t running the show. Just because people have children doesn’t mean they sympathize with non-involved parents. Conversely, there are people with no children that have the patience of Job.

Some ideas to address this runaway issue:
1) Passengers should have an outlet to complain to the flight attendant and document the time and concern. If enough people complain on a flight and the airline was on the hook to compensate in some way then things will improve naturally.
2) There should be a type of in-flight warning and then a fine or penalty that the flight attendant can levy. The flight attendant could say to the mother/guardian “I have eight complaints about the obnoxious noise coming from your seat you have to get your child under control or I will ticket you”.
3) If the parent was looking at a financial penalty at least they would realize how their behavior was affecting others. If they didn’t pay the fine they would be banned from that particular airline.
4) There should be a hand out card to help people understand the rules and concerns and give some ideas for parents traveling. Some people clearly live this way and put up with complete chaos all the time at home, they might actually think this behavior is normal for Christ’s sake.

If you say it is impossible it is not. Remember when people smoked on planes? Things can be changed if we work toward a solution and start speaking up for our traveling rights.

The Eight Hour Tour Bus (Sacred Valley)

I am sitting here with a persistent headache which I am not sure is from the altitude on the second day in Cuzco and environs, or the savage beating the tour bus driver gave us today. I was sure we were bouncing literally three feet in the air on certain speed bumps (sadly the seat belt stretched only 2.5), then I saw the identical small Mercedes tour bus in front of us, and watched with amazement, as sure enough hitting a bump the people seated in the back seat were lurched into a Disneyland crescendo of confusion and pain. Damn!

We hit about eight spots for thirty dollars US each. It was the standard deal where the tour guide takes you to where he can make a buck or three from his friend’s kickbacks. We were introduced to some people and suffered two pitches on the bus itself. Itinerary: Pisac market and ruins, Chinchero, Ollyantaytambo and a few smaller places, wide spots in the road. We had the “deluxe” lunch which was a buffet (buffet and deluxe should not be in the same sentence), and then they charged us extra for sparkling water, six sols each.

The Pisac ruins were quite interesting and we went through an Inca tunnel carved out of solid rock. The views and the degree they took the whole terrace farming amazed me. Places that would be considered completely useless anywhere else were terraced. I also really liked Chinchero.

The problem is I saw many, many spots on the road I would have liked to stop but we couldn’t because we were on a tour. That hurt. For some unknown reason the small deviant Quechua children seemed to find a crack in our steely resolve and we purchased a number of items, far more than I had planned on buying most definitely.

Cuzco~First Impressions

It seems that Peru, and especially Cuzco, is both very touristy and yet very genuine at the same time. We have been in Cuzco less than 24 hours and I just got up from a nap. I did take the Diamox medicine for altitude adjustment and of course I can’t really tell if it is working or not because I don’t know how I would be without it. I do know walking back up the hill from the main town square, the Plaza de Armas, I was suddenly caught off guard and out of breath. It was like it snuck up on me through a day of color and excitement and said “Ha now I have you”!

Coming in to land I wondered about the plane maneuvering through the mountains and dropping down to quickly stop. It was pretty fancy I have to say and we made some sharp turns and then landed hot—meaning very fast, I was wondering if those thrust reversers were going to be enough. Stepping off the plane at 6am or so it was brisk and refreshing but I didn’t really notice myself breathing hard. The hotel had arranged to pick us up. Driving to the hotel Lisa remarked it looked like we were “driving through a war zone”, packs of dogs roaming the streets, rubble everywhere in piles and things looking sad and depressed.

After checking in, and having a couple of cups of coca tea, we decided to walk down to the square and on the way ran into a wonderful city market which apparently is only run one day a week. I am really glad we caught it because it was the genuine thing with many older, stooped back Indian people in their traditional dress carrying and selling a variety of un-processed food stuffs. There were virtually no touristas in here and it was not for our entertainment. We could have spent much more time in here but we continued on to a large bizarre parade winding through the streets.
We didn’t get hit too much with all the vendors selling carved gourds, postcards, paintings, shoe shines, and jewelry till we hit the main square. Once they are on you it is hard to get rid of them. Also a main Item to work is for a couple girls, or women in traditional dress carrying baby lambs or goats, to say you can take their picture or have a picture with them, for a price.

We stopped at a restaurant with a balcony overlooking the square, The Andean Grill, to get a bite to eat and the waiter was very nice. I ordered possibly the worst pizza in my life, yes I know I should have my ass kicked for ordering pizza in Cuzco, it just sounded good. I bravely struggled through for a bit and then offered what was left to an old Indian man who I believe was related to the waiter and was just hanging out, he was grateful for it, good!

We did at that point go up behind the church and find the “12 angled stone”. There was a dude there expecting to be paid a small sum for telling me exactly where to stand for the perfect picture, all in good fun. We walked back and got momentarily disoriented, this was where we were both suddenly out of breath as well. We now are tucked snuggly in our room and getting ready for tomorrow’s adventure.

Share the Ride

If you were really hungry, in fact starving, and finally found some food, like a piece of homemade pie, it would taste exquisitely good, almost painfully pleasurable on your palette. You would eat it slowly, savoring every morsel and really enjoying the slow, methodical, act of eating. If however, you had a friend with you who also had been starving, and they were enjoying the pie as well, you would enjoy the moment even more.

We are curious monkeys, us humans, we need society. It has been documented; a baby monkey if it cannot touch other monkeys, nor have contact with others, will die. Humans when isolated, possibly on a deserted island like Daniel Defoe, will go to extraordinary lengths, risking their very lives, to rejoin the human fold. It almost seems if we cannot share what we see, do and feel, then it hasn’t really happened, like the tree falling silently in the forest. If other human beings cannot acknowledge our experiences I am not sure they matter all that much.

I am thinking of what is important in life’s long luscious journey in terms of accomplishments, goals and dreams. If I run the fastest time ever in the 100 yard dash and no one else bears witness to it, does it count for anything? My most beautiful photo if unseen is just paper, or code. Even if we see something, somewhere, at some time, which truly astounds us doesn’t it tarnish it to be alone? Don’t we often kind of look around, to see if someone, anyone, is there to catch our momentary eye contact, to share in our human hubris of emotion and wowed wonder.
The movie “Into the Wild” explores John Krakauer’s true story of a young man who travels widely, and experiences much beauty and theatric thrills, to die alone, never having really shared it with anyone. It was very sad and in many ways a wasted, wistful life. I think of this now because a friend of mine is traveling alone and seeing many splendid sights he wants to share through the internet. It reminds me of the frustration when I have been in similar situations.

I think this is the cause of such a rapid rise in the various social media networks currently available. If people buy a new phone or gizmo they want to share how it works; and their feelings and viewpoints, in an instant digital reflection similar to writing in a diary or journal, but for the world to see and share in. It is interesting to watch the evolution of new forms of human needs and connectedness.
Of course feedback is also very important, to know you are not alone and are not crazy to think and feel the way you do. Even if in your current location you find yourself having nothing in common with the local populace, if you can reach out somehow to the warm sustaining light stream of the digital world, you can snag a communication lifeline of thought; you can escape the vapid void.

Communication with another of the sublime, supreme moments of our lives seem to have a multiplier effect, like mixing drugs and alcohol. They help us enjoy and re-see, re-experience, things that have become familiar to us. The things new to both are understood better in a wider view, more facets are seen, and more information is taken in with more sets of eyes, which only makes sense.

I once read that people in this modern, mobile world do not have to necessarily be stuck with families that they are genetically tied to. They can pick and choose people who are important to them. If there is an abusive uncle who brings nothing positive into your life there may be a need to let that relationship go. On the other hand people now seem to be spawning digital families and forms of connectedness that were here-to-for impossible. Relationships and common stakeholders can be found in far flung spaces. Our meeting halls have become worldwide; our soap boxes have become broadcast towers, we don’t have to rely on the slick reporter to talk to the man in the street, we can get to know the man in the street ourselves.

I always tell people that the things in life that are truly important are relationships. The movie reel, deathbed memories thoughtfully fondled behind our eyes, as we pass away into the night, will not be of tallying things we owned, it will be memories of the good times we shared with others, people in our far flung families that we touch by type and people in the next room we hold in our arms.

Damn You Machu Picchu!!

So I booked tickets to Cuzco, Peru the other day.

It seemed like an interesting place, lots to see and do. We had a good looking hotel in the package. As I was trying to get tickets on PERURAIL from Cuzco to Machu Picchu last night, something was amiss, no tickets were available. There are three trains that run pretty much daily. The cheap Backpacker, the medium priced Vistadrome, and the hideously expensive Hiram Bingham, ( the one Tony Bourdain was on during his TV show). There was no availability the entire week.

So the dilemma ensues. I had noticed there was no way to book the extra train tour on Expedia when I booked the trip which I thought odd. There is basically no other way up there, either the train or you can hike, if you are insane, extremely young and foolish, or trying desperately to convince yourself you are immortal. Looking at these steep mountain trails you can understand why cocaine was invented here. There had been helicopter trips which have been thankfully discontinued. Also there is talk of putting in a bridge so people can drive from a local town. But for now, for me anyway, there is just the elusive train.

I personally wouldn’t care so much. My wife however, has informed me this is a “spiritual experience of a lifetime” and no Machu Picchu would really shatter her whole trip.
Originally, this all started with a story about how I eat guinea pigs occasionally for dinner, for laughs. I had read the people of that area consider it a delicacy. It makes sense of course, few working people in the world keep pets like Americans do. The Vietnamese pot bellied pigs we see as pets here are not pets at home, they are what’s for dinner as they say.

A guy I work with, Pascual, one day mentioned he was from Cuzco. He said “yes it is good there, you should go”. So I asked him “when would be the best time to go”. He said the end of June there is a festival the “Sun” festival. So I looked up Inti Raymi, the Fiesta del Sol, or sun festival. It looked good. I talked with the wife she said yes let’s go.

So here we are. I just received two books on the Cuzco area from Powell’s in the mail yesterday. As I was sitting here in some rare February sunshine yesterday afternoon, perusing them, I was getting psyched up for the trip.I thought to myself I should check more on that train deal. Ah well, I am sure there must be some kind of train ticket scalpers eh?

Damn you Machu Picchu!!