a unique perspective on this crazy world

is Cambodia the new Thailand? ;)

January 25, 2014

Of course, your best plan of action may be to make like me and quickly dispense with Bangkok and get on a flight to Siem Reap!  If nothing else, you will be able to tell people you are going to Cambodia.

A few people will have been – and they will tell you that you will love it (that will prove to be very accurate J).  Most people will still be channelling the Dead Kennedys even if they don’t know the lyrics to “Holiday in Cambodia.”

But, of course, they will just be a couple of decades out of touch… I, on the other hand, have been dreaming of Cambodia for a couple of decades.  I don’t know what took me so long!  Working all the time and going nowhere exotic…

But of course that has all changed in the last five years as I resolved to quit postponing all those “trips of a lifetime”.  Angkor Wat certainly was one of them.

For me, though, getting to Angkor Wat was much more personal.  Over twenty years ago, I had been in the hill tribes near Chiang Mai wondering if I was going to be randomly killed by the Khmer Rouge and hearing about the wonders of Angkor Wat while settling for Sukothai as it was still risky and complicated to cross over the border to Cambodia.

But things were changing and I knew I would get there.  In 2013, I gathered, going to Cambodia was no big deal so I booked a hotel, found out how to get a visa, made sure I had a flashlight, scored some malaria tablets and braced for the weather.

And Cambodia turned out to be Claridges… you just need to know where to stay 😉

shinta mani

restaurant – note swings

There is really only one place to stay when you come to Angkor Wat (unless you are on a tight budget – you can definitely do it cheap too and it will still be wonderful).  But if you can afford a decent night’s hotel room in the developed world, you will live like a princess in Siem Reap.

resort pool

resort pool

My room cost about $300/night (including all the crazy taxes) but it was palatial so you can spend less and still have a great time.  I stayed in the Shinta Mani Club where the rooms are larger.  They now have a sister property across the street, Shinta Mani Resort.  As a guest, you can spend time in the public facilities of both.

http://shintamani.com/

shinta mani

lap pool shinta mani club

For $15, someone will come and collect you from the airport.  Dan started my visit on a high note.  He told me Shinta Mani was the number one hotel in Siem Reap.  I knew he was biased – but after six nights there, I can’t say he was wrong 🙂

The level of service is astonishing – on par with very few other places I’ve stayed (it really is a Cambodian version of Claridges).  There is a lap pool at the Club, a big pool at the resort, bar and restaurant facilities at both, a spa… and gorgeous spaces that make you feel like you’re in the Caribbean.

I still wasn’t healthy when I arrived so my first evening was low key.  I had some lovely food in the hotel restaurant and had an enthusiastic, charming hotel staff member organize an Angkor Wat tour on my behalf.

leaving the hotel

siem reap river

The hotel really is so wonderful it’s tempting to just hole up there and never see a temple… but that would be wrong!  And then I wouldn’t have anything to write about 😉

Category:

eating & drinking - well, travel stories

Leave a comment

Tagged with:

the bandits of bangkok…

January 9, 2014

It would appear I am turning into Marcel Proust and this blog is going to be á la recherche du temps perdu… but lots of thoughts… we’ll see if I can catch up in 2014.  Goal is to stay home more so there is always hope… have at least hit all of the countries visited in 2013 but there is much more to say about most of them… but of course I am just returning from two totally new countries so let’s mix it up!  Writing this from the airport of my 5th continent for 2013… really wish I’d had the cash to squeeze in a trip to South Africa and made it 6 in one year!  A future goal? 🙂

Bangkok is an old nemesis.  Thailand was my first “adventure” destination.  At that stage, I had travelled all over western Europe and Australia in addition to a decent number of states and provinces on my home continent but I hadn’t been anywhere particularly challenging yet.

I knew I was ready to leave the nest and see the world from a new perspective, allowing myself to be shaken and stirred a bit by cultural practices and economic circumstances light years away from my normal everyday life.

intrepid thailand!

intrepid thailand!

I knew I would be braver and bolder if I didn’t do it all myself so I scanned the brochures at the travel agent in Sydney and decided Intrepid Travel sounded the perfect combination of mollycoddling and being thrown in the deep end of the pool.  (It was 🙂  At some point we will reminisce about Thailand and my life-changing month in country).

http://www.intrepidtravel.com

Intrepid were largely inventing the concept of “cultural adventure travel” back in 1991.  I had little idea what I was getting into but I liked the concept – travelling like a local through Thailand.  The extra bonus of going native – the trip cost about $10/day.

That was why when I saw the airport transfer would cost $30, I got sticker shock – and I decided I could handle getting from the airport to the guest house… it couldn’t be THAT hard.

Famous last words as the saying goes….

On paper, it made perfect sense 🙂  The flight arrived early afternoon with lots of daylight to navigate the streets of Bangkok.  I had the name of the guesthouse written on a card – in English AND Thai script.  I had it marked on the map.  I was prepared! 🙂

Once we arrived, we debated if we should sign up for a taxi or a tuk-tuk (basically a motorbike with a passenger seat in the form of a rickshaw added behind).  A taxi seemed the right choice – the driver would be more knowledgeable!

We learned the hard way that wasn’t really true – at least not in 1991 Bangkok.  If you want to find a famous hotel, a taxi might be the way to go.  But if you are going to an obscure guesthouse in Chinatown, hiring a taxi will just give you a long, exhausting tour of the city 🙂

The good news is that you pay a flat fee so you can search for your guesthouse more or less indefinitely.  The taxi driver will keep driving you to random guesthouses and try to drop you off.  If you keep your wits about you, you will NOT leave the taxi…

Of course, after two hours, the endless random guesthouse tour and the repeated pointing to all of your materials you thought would be so helpful becomes pretty tedious and a certain level of panic starts to arise as you begin to accept you may NEVER be able to get THIS taxi driver to actually get you to your destination.  It might even be possible that he is illiterate and unable to read any of your travel aids or follow a map.  Hadn’t factored that in when you were being cheap and trying to save the $30!

the king and the skyscrapers...

the king and the skyscrapers…

I was then grateful for my experiences trying to negotiate some hot water in the hotel room in Madrid, not getting killed riding a single speed bike on a French highway in the Loire Valley and figuring out train timetables and configurations all over Europe.

I knew you just stay calm and figure out a logical plan.  The chance of our taxi driver actually getting us to the guesthouse seemed remote at best but every taxi driver in a major city surely knows where the train station is!

I – at least – had been reading the map for two hours by then so knew our guesthouse wasn’t far from the train station.  And, if nothing else, at least we would know where we were!

Success – of a sort 🙂  Luckily, I used to do extensive research before I travelled so had read about a map of Bangkok written in English by a local expat.  I found it in the train station gift shop.  It had our guesthouse marked on it so I bought it.

Easy-peasy… until we left the train station and discovered all the street names were in Thai script.  That will happen when you are staying in a $2/night guesthouse in Chinatown.  OK, let’s see… if you can’t read the street signs, count the streets and match to the map.  Also check for the river.  Apparently our guest house was right on the Chao Phraya.  That had to help 🙂

The sleuthing approach to our dilemma paid off and we actually found the right street!  But then we couldn’t find the number of the guesthouse.  It was missing in the sequence of the numbers on the street.  Oops…

When your logic seems strong and you believe in your plan, you feel confident.  So we retraced our steps.  I paid more attention.  The numbers were still defeating us.  But it was supposed to be right on the river… and we were on the street… but if we walked through a parking lot full of trucks blocking our view, we might find the river… and the number on our map… it was worth a try…

And there it was!  I have never been so happy – then or since – to actually locate my accommodation for the night!  We would start the tour.  All our money would not go up in smoke because I was too cheap to pay for the transfer from the airport to start the tour.

Needless to say, I was more excited than most people to find someone waiting for me at the airport this time and then be whisked into an air-conditioned sedan to be driven to the hotel without any assistance from me.

I don’t remember the name of the guesthouse.  It may have been razed for condos by now.  But my incoming hotel for my reunion with Bangkok was Aloft, a new concept from W Hotels.  This time I arrived not only weary from a gigantic flight but still sick from the flu so we will talk more about my second weekend in Bangkok but – if you are sick, looking for the creature comforts of home or just want to feel spoiled on vacation – I think Aloft is your ticket.

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/alofthotels/index.html?PS=LGEN_AA_DNAD_CGGL_TBRD

It’s rare that I stay in a hotel where I wouldn’t change something.  But the lighting is excellent.  There are lots of mirrors.  The shower is hot, efficient and easy to figure out.  The room is full of light.  The internet is free – and seamless.  There are free bottles of drinking water.  There are all sorts of things to do if you actually leave the room – gym, pool, restaurant, bar, concierge with ideas…

I’m sure it helps to pay more than $2/night but you can stay at Aloft for just over $100.  And – if this is too boring for you, you can take the train from the airport almost to the hotel I am told…  I think it costs less than $2… but for me, the luxury airport transfer worth the $50!!!

Transportation proved to still be my least favourite part of Bangkok.  It’s definitely a city I still struggle to love – but it’s worth at least a few days of your life… we’ll get into that in future posts.

I think I have some good advice on how to enjoy Bangkok… but I still haven’t figured out how to get around with only pleasant feelings… it’s an impossible city to walk.  There is a metro now but it didn’t seem to go to the places tourists want to see… so you are left with taxis or tuk-tuks.  Theoretically you are supposed to be able to get a metered taxi and not want to strangle the driver.

That DID happen!  And the expensive airport transfers were lovely.  But I had hardly any taxi rides and generally the meter didn’t get turned on and the price quoted was exorbitant but it was too much trouble to get out and try again with someone else.  What was bizarre was the drivers then tried to be friendly.  I was willing to just pay the money as long as I got to my destination but they didn’t seem to realize I wasn’t naïve enough to not realize I was being totally ripped off so no chit-chat…

the random beauty of bangkok

the random beauty of bangkok

I was still scarred from my initial Bangkok taxi experience… but the good news is that they seem to know where they are going these days.  Most seem to even speak a bit of English – so feel free to drive a harder bargain.  And save your cash to buy local artisan crafts… my suitcase looks like I am planning to open a silk boutique 😉

Don’t let the taxi drivers ruin Thailand for you.  Most people are delightfully gracious and Asia is always a source of the wondrous – and the bizarre…  more on that to come… 😉

Category:

travel stories

Leave a comment

Tagged with:

the things you learn in bars ;)

December 14, 2013

I am not quite sure how the travels of the past few months are going to find their way into this space… I have resolved to travel less in 2014 so can use the travels of 2013 to fill the lull periods 😉  I am on a plane to Bangkok enroute to Angkor Wat not long from now so it’s going to be more of a “find waldo” travelogue rather than a conventional one…

Right now we are going to one of the most mysterious places on the planet… Slovenia is like Botswana.  One of those places that isn’t a world power where things mostly work so it never makes headlines and no one knows where it is.

I knew it was eastern Europe but even I wasn’t 100% sure where to put in on the map when I met a couple of people in a bar in Amsterdam raving about Slovenia.  At that point I was on my way to Cairo so it just got put on the list…

Since I already knew Amsterdam and Paris quite well, I needed a third destination, something new and exciting.  The original plan was to get to Montenegro.  But I discovered, while the Balkans are definitely a tourist destination these days, the infrastructure is still a bit sparse, especially in September.

But one of the ways to get there is to fly through Ljubljana.  The capital of Slovenia!  There was a direct flight from Paris.  So I decided to abandon Montenegro and just stay in Ljubljana.  One of the best decisions of my life 🙂

That was about as far as the planning went.  Randomly flinging myself at the world is not at all how I used to travel but it allows for some small adventures…

I was pleased to see the taxi driver spoke English and seemed to know where my hotel was.  It was a sumptuous car, which I had entered after being swiftly whisked through the shiny, modern airport.  Once we left the airport, we drove through the forest!  Corn fields.  We eventually approached some Soviet style housing projects but there were mountains poking through in the distance.  It felt like Hansel and Gretel were ambling next to the highway.  I was seduced.

lost in the old town :)

lost in the old town 🙂

And then I woke up from my fever dream.  The taxi driver announced that my hotel was in a pedestrian only zone so he couldn’t drive me to it.  But it was only a five minute walk and he would give me directions.

Oops!  Perhaps a little more research would have been a good idea 🙂  I did know it was safe.  They were part of the EU and I didn’t need a visa.  They used the euro.  But I had no idea how to get to the hotel!

But it was in the old town, which is stunning!  The driver gallantly gave me some directions but they were sketchy.  The three bridges are famous here I have discovered so it sounds normal to say cross the three bridges – instead of cross that bridge in front of you, turn right, go two blocks and turn left.

But someone was yelling at the crowd on the square and the music started and it looked like the Russian pop festival in Latvia I’d seen on television.  It was a perfect blue sky day and the old town in Ljubljana looks like Venice or Amsterdam so I stopped to take some photos before attempting to find my hotel.

prettier than prague?

prettier than prague?

In the end, I had to ask for directions.  But everyone speaks English.  And walking the old town is delightful.  And once you get to the hotel, it will all be worth it.

DO go to Slovenia.  There will be more details in future posts… but it’s a teeny, tiny country so you can base yourself in Ljubljana and see it all on day trips.  It’s like Prague before all the tourists found it with a dash of the seductive power of Amsterdam.  One of the most amazing places you will ever see.

the amazing vander urbani resort!

the amazing vander urbani resort!

Go before people figure out where it is!  And stay at the Vander Urbani Resort.  More stories to come – it became so much more than a place to sleep.  But it IS a brilliant place to sleep.  Huge rooms.  Great design.  Delicious food.  Gracious staff.  The only hotel experiences to rival it were staying with my mom at Claridges and the amazing tents and camps AndBeyond has in Tanzania (also highly recommended :))

the view from the roof

the view from the roof

http://vanderhotel.com/eng

I am a jaded traveller who has been to 46 countries but Slovenia blew me away.  It was so refreshing to see I could still be impressed with the world at large.   You really should talk to random strangers in bars 😉

Category:

life philosophy, travel stories

2 Comments

Tagged with:

sprayed and quarantined ;)

November 30, 2013

I have not fallen off the face of the earth – or stopped writing or snapping photos – but it feels that way to me at least… I started writing this on the plane to Sydney… with so many great experiences in Toronto, Paris, Amsterdam and Ljubljana still to be committed to bytes… I have the memories – and the stories… hoping to record and share… we shall see… have committed to travel a little less in 2014 so my “normal” life is not always a gong show…

it’s Saturday so I can hide from the clients for a few hours so… for now…  we are going down under…

imagine you have used your Aeroplan points and booked nine months ahead so you can sit in business class.  You got lucky the flight to Korea got cancelled so you’ve been upgraded to the direct flight Vancouver-Sydney, which has allowed you to drink free champagne (real champagne, not sparkling wine pretending to be champagne :), watch FOUR movies and get a decent sleep thanks to your pod…   I love Air Canada 🙂

BTW, all movies recommended… Monsters University, Blue Jasmine, The Way Way Back… I am sure there was a fourth but watching four movies in a row rots your brain obviously 🙂

it’s 12 hours later…

I expect we will get sprayed.  They have already done the intercom message announcing there is a $16,000 fine if you bring in anything not allowed and don’t declare it.  I’m on a plane to Sydney, Australia.  Spraying and quarantining does seem right for a former penal colony (don’t bring that up if you do come to visit 🙂  but it’s actually a very smart thing to do.

Australia is an island and its flora and fauna are almost as unique as the Galapagos so it’s wise to be careful.  The cane toad taught them to be protective.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucQsDM7ZpsQ

This is my fourth arrival so I think I am prepared.  I didn’t pack my usual backup food and made sure to eat my fruit and nuts on the plane.  I made sure I didn’t buy any food gifts for my Australian friends at the airport.  I didn’t appreciate how strict the rules were and have had a luckily friendly conversation with the customs inspector and avoided getting fined or quarantined… but it’s good to be careful 😉

While it doesn’t feel all that welcoming on the airplane, once you’ve passed through customs everything changes!  This is “the lucky country” and it does feel that way.  It’s one of those countries that runs well so people are generally happy.  Aussies are some of the friendliest people in the world.  And it’s a very relaxed culture.

At least that’s how I remember it.  It’s exciting to be back.  My history with the land of Oz began over a decade ago.  I only became a chartered accountant because some dude in a suit in a tiny interview room in London, Ontario suggested that a Commonwealth CA would allow me to work anywhere in the Commonwealth should I pass the exams.

By that point I’d moved from roaming wheat fields and chasing live pigs down the road when they escaped from the barn to feeling slightly uncomfortable – but still succeeding – at the most famous business school in my country.  And now I had a chance to work on Bay Street.

My father talked about Bay Street while he taught me a lot about wheat fields and raising hogs (that is the business lingo for pigs 😉  Growing up in the middle of the Canadian north in a town that couldn’t even boast a population of four figures, working on Bay Street seemed as likely as flying to the moon.  I didn’t even know anyone who had been to Toronto on an airplane, let alone worked there.

But I was really lucky that I kept having interesting, accomplished, sophisticated men see potential in me that I never saw in myself and it landed me all sorts of places I never expected to be.

The biggest culture shock of my life – arriving in Sydney.  Not because it’s SO different to Canada.  But it isn’t Canada (it’s closer now than it was back then) and I was living in a foreign country!  A country so remote you got a free stopover.  Back then I chose Fiji!  And almost got sunstroke roaming in the mid-day sun in January… but that’s another story…

Now you can fly to Sydney from Vancouver or the US west coast direct!  But you are still far away from the rest of the world.  It’s part of the experience.

iconic sydney on a sunny day

iconic sydney on a sunny day

Once we’d been sprayed and sat on the plane for a while so that spray could kill whatever it kills and I’d passed through customs without being quarantined, I came into the arrivals area just like you would in every other airport.

But, at this one, my best friend from those days in Sydney so long ago was waiting for me.  Elizabeth is like my maternal grandmother, one of those people who is so gracious and delightful you want to clone them – or at least teach others to take their lead 🙂

Last time I saw her I was watching her get married!  This time I got to meet her equally delightful daughter and catch up on the last decade…

Immediately she said, “it’s your trip.  What do you want to do?”

That’s when I realized how incredibly privileged I was.  As I told her, for most people Australia is a once in a lifetime trip and they have a list of things they need to tick off.  I KNOW Sydney… not absolutely but I have done the tourist stuff more than once.  And I’ve travelled the country more than almost any Aussie I’ve ever met.

I can fly to one of the most remote corners of the earth and just chill… but you might only get there once… so recommendations will be forthcoming 🙂

For now, what to do when you arrive…

the view from icebergs

the view from icebergs

We went to Icebergs on Bondi Beach for lunch… because Elizabeth lives in Sydney and has a husband and young daughter so it was still on her “to do list”.  Things have changed in the last decade.  Apparently Top Chef Australia is huge!  So DO book…

We didn’t… and still got a seat in the bar with a brilliant view over Bondi and yummy food.  Sydney is in the top most beautiful cities in the world so there are many places you can go – and SHOULD!  But start at Bondi… as I said to Elizabeth, it’s just like the postcards… welcome to one of the most memorable places on the planet…

The sun didn’t shine all that often while I was in Sydney but there was always sunshine on the plate.  I don’t surf – so, for me, the land of Oz has always been associated with food and wine that tastes different when the sun shines so much…

Gastronomy, koalas, the incredible wow of great friendships still to come… stay tuned… 😉

Category:

eating & drinking - well, travel stories

2 Comments

Tagged with:

I’m pretty sure Syria is hell on earth but is Amsterdam heaven? ;)

October 14, 2013

I still have things I wanted to say about some of my other travels this year but I’ve just landed in Amsterdam so must continue my europhile dialogue 🙂  As usual I have written bits and pieces as the trip progressed but you will be hearing about it as I record my memories because too much was happening to be able to write it all down in the moment.  Someday I may have a boring trip but not yet 😉

This isn’t “my” city the way London, New York and Paris are but it’s familiar.  So I am trying to challenge myself on this trip.

I am staying in the funky new Sir Albert Hotel.  Definitely worth checking out.  The imaginary St Albert thinks the Pijp is the cool place to reside in Amsterdam so I’m seeing if I agree with him 🙂

http://www.siralberthotel.com/

my digs in the pijp

my digs in the pijp

I have now used the trams a little bit but I can’t quite remember the drill but do know you can take a train from Shiphol to Centraal Station in minutes and save some cash.

It took me a couple of tries to get on the right platform but as long as you get on the right train it is really easy and gave me a chance to gaze out the window and note the sky.  It’s the moody sky you see in all the famous Dutch and Flemish paintings.  I thought it was fake until I started spending time in Amsterdam.

I cheated and took a taxi from Centraal Station as the Pijp may be cool but it’s a long walk – and dragging all my luggage into and off the tram seemed not terribly fun.  It might be a little harder to get to but staying in the Pijp is definitely adding to my experience of Amsterdam.

It feels like a real neighborhood.  I feel really far from the Leidseplein even though it is only a short walk away.  This afternoon I just wandered aimlessly around the neighborhood to get a feel for it – and find some lunch.

my new 'hood

my new ‘hood

Amsterdam is always full of surprises.  I turned the corner from the hotel to amble next to the canal – and found myself wondering the protocol when there are women in their underwear looking at you as they stand in the window and you aren’t in the Red Light District!  (I later learned there are some mini Red Light Districts near the canals).  Amsterdam is not a place to be timid – but you might want to ask the concierge for directions 😉

Amsterdam is a city overrun with tourists so it was cool to feel like I was wandering through an authentic Amsterdam neighborhood but meant I needed to put more effort into finding lunch.  And I was famished as my body clock was totally off.

I finally stumbled upon the Marie Heinekenplein.  The weather had turned on me (welcome to Amsterdam!).  It was unfortunate as sitting in a public square eating lunch is one of my favourite things to do in Europe.

I was definitely not in a tourist ‘hood.  All the menus were in Dutch so choosing which restaurant to try felt like a bit of a gamble.  But – as expected – there was an English menu once I got inside.

before the rains :)

before the rains 🙂

When you’re jet-lagged time moves more slowly so it’s been a splendid day.  It’s nice to revisit places and not have the pressure to “fill every moment with 60 seconds worth of distance run.”  It’s not my forté.  Relaxing is not my strong suit.  But I am at heart a creative person – and have learned to appreciate a lot of creativity comes from down time.

And it makes you more human.  And lowers your blood pressure.  So today has been a great day for my physical – and mental – health.

My wandering gave me a taste for the neighborhood and I decided I should try a restaurant called Braque for dinner.  Some spirit just seemed to be calling to me 🙂

When I hit the front door of the hotel and it was pouring rain, there was a great temptation to just stay in the cocoon of the hotel and eat in the hotel restaurant.  But I am a traveller, not a tourist, and needed to have some small adventure on major jet lag day ONE.

So I grabbed a complimentary umbrella and dodged the bikes and scooters to jaywalk across the street where I was quickly confronted by a uniquely Amsterdam problem.

I don’t normally use a large umbrella so didn’t appreciate its wing span and one of the spokes hit a bicycle.  At first it seemed OK but then it slowly toppled into the street.  It didn’t seem to have a kickstand (maybe why it was so easily toppled) so there I was in the street trying to figure out how to get a stranger’s bike to stand upright while also trying not to lose the borrowed umbrella perched precariously over my head or get hit by a car.  Only in Amsterdam…

But I persevered.  I finally parked the bike against a building and braved the rain until I reached Braque.  It looked really busy but I know as a solo traveller you just have to be polite and smile a lot and someone might find you a seat 🙂

http://caferestaurantbraque.com/

Lucas was busy running food to the brave patrons sitting outside but he said his friend was leaving so I could have his seat at the far end of the bar next to the kitchen.  I was just there for dinner – but, as happens so often, it became an evening about far more than the food.

The food was delicious though!  And I would encourage you to check out the restaurant – and make a reservation.  And a great meal in Amsterdam is not as easy to find as it is in Paris.  But I think the chef might be French 🙂  The menu definitely has a lot of French influence.  I had some of the best bouillabaisse of my life followed by a perfectly cooked steak.  It was more impressive as getting a medium rare steak in a country with an indifferent palate takes a bit of explaining – but Lucas obviously conveyed my request for a bit of blood on my plate 😉

It was my first night in Amsterdam and a perfect way to start the current euro journey.  It’s why I am in love with Amsterdam.  I have now met so many Dutch people like Lucas.  Warm and gracious with a big smile for you.  A great conversationalist with knowledge of all sorts of topics, willing to engage in a conversation that isn’t just small talk.

I also had a brief chat with the guys sitting next to me at the bar while I was waiting for my food.  They were both from another part of the Netherlands but one now lived in Amsterdam.  I suggested that the friend visiting was also kind of a tourist.  That turned into a lively debate as to what constituted a “tourist”.  It’s an interesting question…

Lucas confessed to being tired because he had been up late the night before at a party to celebrate freedom.  The Americans talk about freedom a lot.  But, for the Dutch, it is a reason to throw a party.  How can one not fall in love with them? 😉

Category:

eating & drinking - well, travel stories

Leave a comment

Tagged with:

getting off the compound ;)

September 8, 2013

Even though I’ve been back for a while I am reliving the sadness that it’s almost the end of the trip as I write this.  (Luckily I will soon be on the third continent of this year’s five continent travel extravaganza 🙂

Arriving in a foreign place is always such an adrenaline rush but departing is difficult so I try to do something significant and memorable to mark the final travel day.  I doubt I will ever top blowing kisses in the pitch dark stillness of the Serengeti with a Masai warrior but I try 😉

Since Lima is not risk-free I paid the dollars to have the hotel organize a driver for me when I returned from Cusco.  Yet another charming Peruvian man 🙂  Julio was widowed and we talked about his job, the challenges of raising a teenage son alone and – of course – dancing 😉   A lovely introduction back to Lima – and this time I was confident I WAS headed to the hotel!

I had booked the Miraflores Park, which is also run by Orient Express.  I knew I wouldn’t have to worry about the hotel or the neighborhood – and from my computer screen in Canada, Lima seemed very foreign.

the shiny mall carved into the cliffs

the shiny mall carved into the cliffs

But now that I was arriving for the second time I wished I’d booked something local.  It felt like I was trapped in a glamorous tourist compound.  The hotel is right next to Larcomar – not exactly the Peru of intricately woven blankets and alpaca scarves in every colour of the rainbow.

Luckily I had walked all over Miraflores on my first visit so I grabbed a map and hit the streets to find some locals and get a sense for the real Lima.

My first mission was to go back to my old neighbourhood.  There was a shop full of mouth-watering cakes near my first Lima hotel but on my initial visit I had arrived there at breakfast so was a good girl and had some delicious French toast with fresh tropical bananas instead of cake.  But who says you can’t have cake for breakfast?  It was worth the walk across town!  If you also have a weakness for cake, check out La Mora Pasteleria & Cafe.

http://www.lamorapasteleria.com/

Fortified – and needing to walk off the calories – I began an aimless wander in a new direction from the kilometres I logged on my first visit.  That’s how I discovered Avenue de la Paz.  Definitely recommend it to get a snapshot of Lima – and modern Peru.

I didn’t get to spend enough time in the country to really develop an understanding of 21st century Peru.  But wandering away from the other tourists and talking to locals every chance I got did provide fascinating glimpses.  As the young girls in Colombia told me boldly, “we’re emerging!” 🙂

cool architecture on ave de la paz

cool architecture on ave de la paz

I haven’t been to Ecuador yet but it does seem that the Andes are embracing the era of the internet and the smartphone and creating opportunities for a new generation with aspirations of a more inclusive and prosperous South America.

I live in a world of shiny things where people lead easy lives yet find ways to complain about their privileged lives without much perspective on the reality of daily life for most of the world’s population.  There are a lot more people living on a couple dollars a day at best than stressing whether their bonus will be grand enough to maintain their millionaire lifestyle.

Don’t go to Lima for the weather!  It was grey and drizzly for the vast majority of the time I spent there.

view from the hotel

view from the hotel

But great food will lift your spirits!  I wish I’d been able to explore more but did have a couple more outstanding meals before it was time for departure.

The first night I played it safe and ate in the hotel.  The restaurant is called Mesa 18.  It is an intriguing mix of world class Japanese food and luxe Peruvian cuisine.  It feels a little bipolar but I had one dish of each and both were sublime!

http://www.mesa18restaurant.com/web/mesa18/index.jsp

For my final night, though, I wanted something truly memorable.  I had spent some time at the previous hotel scrolling through restaurant options on the computer in the lobby.  I found one that didn’t seem too far from the Miraflores Park – and boasted the kind of menu I would gravitate to in Vancouver.  Rafael.

http://www.rafaelosterling.com/

I always like to know where I am going after dark in a foreign city – so I did a daylight recognisance trip to identify just how many blocks the restaurant was from the hotel – and the best route to get there – easy to remember, full of people, emblazoned with working streetlights…

Once it got to Latin dining time, I headed out.  I arrived to a lively scene for a Monday night.  Since I haven’t learned to speak Spanish yet, communication was limited.  But I soaked up the atmosphere – and the delicious inventive nouvelle Peruvian cuisine.

When I was looking for the links for this post, I discovered that I AM really good at finding restaurants in foreign locales… according to the Telegraph, I found 2 of the 5 best restaurants in Lima – without reading the article 😉  but you might want to…

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/ultratravel/9593866/Restaurants-in-Lima-Peru-five-of-the-best.html

My final Pisco Sour for a while.  A walk home to the hotel through the streets of Lima teeming with people living “la vida dulce”.

I was back on the compound.  But I knew I wasn’t the kind of girl who belonged there.  I was “that girl” – the crazy redhead roaming around Peru without a tour group and, as a result, being seduced by a new country and its people.  I will be back…   and you should go 😉

Category:

eating & drinking - well, life philosophy, travel stories

Leave a comment

Tagged with:

do you dance? ;)

August 17, 2013

I do not actually know how to do any dance steps but I must look like a dancer because I am always being dragged onto the dance floor by strangers in foreign countries.  And if there is no dance floor, the aisle on a moving train 😉

In Peru I was asked most days if I liked to dance.  Like Chris in New Orleans, it seems Peruvian men are trained to dance.  A man who can dance is a real treasure.  They lead – so you can pretend as long as you jump around enough to not step on their toes.  That’s my strategy 😉

cusco architecture

cusco architecture

I have already added to my “to do list” – dance at a festival in Peru.  I don’t even need to dance.  I’d just love to participate in a festival.  I think it’s the combination of various cultural religious beliefs.  Cusco seems a bit like New Orleans – any excuse for a party 😉

The calendar seems to be filled with festivals and I regretted my poor planning that I had just missed one.  I never expected to regret being at the Sanctuary Lodge in Machu Picchu instead of partying in Cusco 🙂

In the end I spent only one day in Cusco so it still remains a bit of a mystery – perfect for another visit… But I tried to use my time productively and not succumb to being too much of a tourist.  Cusco is crawling with them.

I had already spent two fleeting evenings in the city but my final visit started on a perfect note.  David, my guide in the Sacred Valley and for my private tour of Machu Picchu, was in Cusco for the night before a “proper” Inca Trail trip so I took him for dinner.  I asked where he wanted to go and he said my new local, Tupananchis.  When you are taking a local to your fave restaurant in their home town, you feel like a traveller rather than a tourist 😉

http://www.tripadvisor.ca/Restaurant_Review-g294314-d1209713-Reviews-Tupananchis-Cusco_Cusco_Region.html

I tried to continue the theme the next day when I was left to my own devices.  I stayed at the Casa Cartagena – my own luxury apartment in Cusco right next to the Orient Express’s Hotel Monasterio for a lower price tag.  I think the hotel room may have been larger than my apartment!  The bathroom was so magnificent it made you reluctant to leave and I had a lovely balcony overlooking the courtyard filled with modern art.  It is a sublime mixture of colonial and contemporary.

http://www.casacartagena.com/en

the amazing bathroom

the amazing bathroom

It’s just enough off the beaten tourist path to make you feel like a local – so I tried to follow the hotel receptionist’s directions to the Saturday market without using my map.  You always see and experience more when you wander.

I found the market without any issues and – while there were a few like-minded tourists obsessed with alpaca – it was mostly full of locals.

getting close and personal with dinner

getting close and personal with dinner

Markets in Peru are full of colour – and meat products looking a little more like the animals of origin than the typical North American supermarket.  Naturally I kept trying surreptitiously to get a great photo of a pig’s head 🙂

Lingering attracts attention so I decided to try out the juice bar in the market.  It’s a bit political.  Some will be mad you didn’t choose them but I was as fair as possible and parked myself into a chair at the first lady who smiled in my direction.  This is the tropics so a fresh fruit smoothie is an experience that’s tough to duplicate in northern climes.

I finished my Cusco adventure in a hunt for silver jewelry inlaid with local stones in intricate patterns.  The

colourful cusco market

colourful cusco market

geologist in me loved the concept of polishing stones to shiny perfection and the anthropologist loved the rich cultural history and Inca symbolism.

When I wear my purchases back in Canada they are not just pretty shiny objects.  I know I am wearing the symbolism of the Inca Cross, Pachamama and the Sun God, hopefully having had a little “local” fairy dust sprinkled on me, establishing an authentic view of Peru and further editing my personal world view and cultural understanding.

Category:

travel stories

Leave a comment

Tagged with:

Tag Cloud