El Fayal and home to Montreal #19

This wonderful little park is just a short walking distance north of Puntagorda. 
It is adjacent to Barranco de las Izcagua, a huge and spectacular ravine that stretches several kilometers inland from the coast.

There are hiking trails on both sides, and are some of the most popular on the island.  The main road, LP-1, winds along the ravine – it is on my usual bike route, just a few kilometers before returning home. Usually I fly by El Fayal at about 65kph, as the road is on a slight downhill.  But every time I passed by, it looked very interesting, so I finally decided to pay a visit on foot – not least to take some photos, which I have little inclination to do on a fast stretch of road.

When riding the bike, it is actually a bit scary, because the road barrier is much lower than my position on the saddle, and there is a sheer drop of about a hundred meters on the other side, less than a meter away.

A quick visit of the capitol La Palma, after the morning drive from Puntagorda, courtesy of the owner of the house where I was staying since March 6^th.   Very busy port city, but not that big, to walk from end to end.  Lots of tourist shops in the old town area -- mostly along one single street that is for pedestrians only.  Along the coast, it is mostly just restaurants. No bicycle shops, so no souvenir jersey.

But I did find a nice T-shirt souvenir of Roque de Muchachos, complete with a map of La Palma and altitude of the peak written in meters.

We hope that you have enjoyed this blog – Follow us for next winter’s bicycle trip.

Photos belong to Jaro Franta

Roque de los Muchachos (c) #18

This was the first time on La Palma that I could see the other Canary Islands – since Puntagorda is on the “wrong” side (north-west).  I was particularly interested to see El Hierro, from where I could sometimes see La Palma last winter, while staying in La Frontera / Tigaday.

Also nicely visible were La Gomera (where I was two years ago), and of course Tenerife, with the giant volcano El Teide.  Gran Canaria did not seem to be visible, as it is well past Tenerife from this vantage point.

I made contact with an older German couple who spoke English and were very obliging to my request for a few photos.  We ended up chatting for quite a while, including about bikes and travel.  They even asked me to get in a photo with them, taken with their own cellphone camera.

After a bunch more photos around the lookout, I put on the gloves and headed back down.  Descending the endless switchbacks seems a bit vertiginous at times, but once back below the tree line, it felt better. 

An uneventful return to Puntagorda by way of LP-1 closed out the day’s ride. 

Photos belong to Jaro Franta

National Museum and Jim Thompson House #24

I purchased a two-day post-extension, and on the first day, I decided to take a taxi to the National Museum. This is Thailand’s premier museum and offers a great introduction to Thai history, ranging from pre-history to the modern era.  It includes some priceless objects such as the Ramkhamhaeng Stone inscribed with the earliest extant example of the Thai script. Their collection of Buddhist art from different periods is impressive. 

For dinner, I ate at the International restaurant again. I had a curried beef stew with steamed rice and pickled cucumber (I think).   I have never been too fond of curry dishes, but I had curry several times on this trip, and liked them. 

The next day, Viking was nice enough to drive me at no cost to Jim Thompson’s House, which is the last site that I visited on this trip.   This was an easy and relaxing thing to do on the last day, and  DK Travel Guides list Jim Thompson’s House as one of the top ten sites in Bangkok.  Jim Thompson, an American who came to Bangkok in 1945, is credited with having revived the Thai art of silk weaving.

The branch of Jim Thompson Silk that is located on the grounds of the house sells many small items, such as ties and purses.  Live silk worms in a basket.......

For dinner on the last night, I went to the Italian restaurant and had a pizza and a few beers; the thin-crust pizza with ham, artichokes, onions, and black olives was very good.   Maybe I am getting homesick, but I was in the mood for a pizza.

We departed the Shangri-La Hotel at 3:00 a.m.  I had previously arranged for a taxi service on Amelia Island (where I live) to pick me up at the home airport.   By the time I arrived home, it was about 5 minutes before midnight; this is about half an hour later than originally scheduled.

We hope that you have enjoyed this blog.  Follow us in mid-November, 2015, for a Christmas cruise down the Danube River. 



Photos belong to Phil Bianco

   



Pyay #20

Pyay’s Shwesandaw Pagoda is one of Myanmar’s largest gilded stupas, and it is one of the most important Buddhist pilgrimage locations in Myanmar.   Its mesmerizing form, soaring like a giant rocket above the tin rooftops and palms below, is reason enough to visit the Pagoda.

On this trip, I would rate Pyay’s Shwesandaw just behind the Royal Palace in Bangkok, the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, and the temples at Bagan as the most spectacular sites.  Pyay did not appear as dirty or run-down as other cities that we have seen so far.

These extraordinarily shaped, vast pagodas rise dramatically out of the flat Pyay landscape; in addition to their religious functions, they served as watchtowers.

For lunch, the soup was chicken with Thai flavor.  Mains were a classic hamburger with fries; fish with soya bean and jasmine rice; and pasta with cheese sauce. The dessert was apple strudel with vanilla sauce and assorted melons.

In their heyday, these structures would probably have been plastered and painted, but their red brick is now decorated with an assortment of vegetation.  Also, we went to the museum that contains some interesting pieces excavated from the palace. Some of the pieces reflecting Indian Hindu influences go back to the 4th to 6th centuries AD.  There are also Buddha images going back to the early beginnings of Buddhism.



For dinner, we had a banana flower salad or lentil soup.  Mains were pork curry; pawn curry with potatoes/carrots/rice (my choice); and pasta with tomatoes/garlic and shrimp.   I had white wine and the dessert was caramel pineapple with ice cream.

Photos belong to Phil Bianco.



Bagan #14

The ruins of medieval Bagan are scattered over an area of roughly 26 square miles, southwest of Mandalay on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River.  Formerly inhabited by between 50,000 to 200,000 people, the lost city of Bagan is now largely deserted, with most of the local population and tourist-related businesses confined to settlements on the peripheries, leaving the monuments rising in a state of charismatic isolation. 

I ask myself why I have not read anything that does not classify the religious structures at Bagan as one of the Wonders of the World.   It is bewildering, because I think they deserve this distinction.  

Pya Thet Gyi Pagoda - perhaps we stopped here to get a panoramic view of the Bagan area. 

Thapyinnyunt Temple - construction of this temple introduced the idea of placing a smaller "hollow" cube on top of a larger Bamar-style structure, whereas the previous Mon-style shrines were only one storey.   The center of the lower cube is solid, serving as a foundation for the upper temple, which houses an eastward-looking Buddha figure. 

The Ananda Temple, completed in 1091, is considered the masterpiece of Bagan’s surviving Mon architecture. This temple was inspired by eight Indian Buddhist monks who told the Burmese of a legendary Himalayan cave temple whose beauty inspired the Burmese to build Ananda Temple.

For lunch, the soup was sweet and sour fish.   In addition to the usual selection of fresh bread, various salads, cheese, etc, the main dishes were pork "tauk tauk" with jasmine rice; or smoked salmon sandwich with cream cheese (my choice); or Burmese fried noodles with vegetables and fried egg. The dessert was cake and yellow watermelon.

We also had mangosteen for desert.  The fruit of the mangosteen is sweet and tangy, juicy, and somewhat fibrous. I thought that they were alright, but not spectacular.


Next blog - continuation of day
Photos belong to Phil Bianco.

Yandabo #13

Yandabo, which can only be accessed by river, is well known for terracotta pottery made with the yellow mud from the river bank.  One person can make 30-50 such pots per day that are used for water and food storage.

The village has about 350 houses; each has between 5 to 10 people. Thirty of the families are potters; the other villagers are farmers, fishermen or suppliers of raw materials such as clay or wood for kilns. 

The women make the pots, with one person potting while the other operates a wheel using a treadle. The women also decorate the pots and arrange them in a circular pattern to dry.  There may be up to three thousand pots in a single layer that is covered with a large pile of ash, straw and wood, then set on fire. The temperature in the kiln reaches 1200C and firing takes 3-4 days, including cooling. At the end of the process, the pots have changed from dull brown to a red color. The pots are transported by boat to locations throughout Myanmar.

Many apply a paste to their faces - called thanaka, it comes from Myanmar’s native hardwood thanaka or "elephant apple" tree, whose bark is rich in skin-protecting tannic acids and whose fragrance has been likened to the aroma of sandalwood.   Cuttings are sold in marketplaces in their natural state, as small logs, along with disc-shaped stone slabs for grinding.

For lunch, the soup was chicken coconut.  The main dishes were chicken/cashews with jasmine rice (my choice), vegetarian pizza or spaghetti with mussels.   For dessert, we were treated to lychees - about the size of a golf ball. The fleshy, edible portion is an aril (white and sweet) surrounding one dark brown inedible seed.  The waiters cut them in half to make them easier to eat.



The Viking Mandalay arrived in Bagan late in the afternoon. I sat up on the sun deck and got some nice pictures of the sunset.

For dinner, the appetizers were a choice of grilled chicken skewers with two sauces or mixed green salad with poached pear and blue cheese. The soup was broccoli cream soup. The main dishes included beef tenderloin in bourguignon with potatoes gratin, or fish fillets, carrots and aborigine fettuccini or vegetable quiche. The dessert was dark chocolate mousse, and I had red wine. The beef was very good - it was one of the best dinners that we had.

Photos belong to Phil Bianco.

Mahagandayon Monastery and U Bein Bridge #12

We visited the Mahagandayon Monastery, which is the biggest active monastery in Myanmar.   People seem to hold the monks in high esteem - they go out daily to beg for food, or people will visit the pagodas and monasteries and donate food.

Then we went to the famous U Bein Bridge, which spans Lake Taungthaman.  The lake is a seasonal body of water which dries up in the winter and leaves fertile, arable land.   As the weather was threatening, we did not walk the bridge, instead going in small boats.  Viking added a nice touch and arranged for champagne to be served in flutes on the boats. As we finished the boat ride and were going back to the bus, a very heavy downpour let loose - it was one of the few occurrences of rain on the trip.

The courses at dinner were served by waiters - the appetizer was either a ginger salad or radish sour soup (my choice).  The main course selection was chicken curry or braised beef with mashed potatoes and vegetables or fried chayote and egg, with fried shrimp and rice.   I also had red wine. For dessert, there was Myanmar semolina pudding cut into slices (like cake) with an apple gel served in a shot glass.  A very good meal...

We cast off from Mandalay for Yandabo early the next morning.  In the afternoon, we went from Yandabo to Bagan.  We did not do a lot on this day - most of the time was spent cruising on the river.

We did not cruise very far before we saw another pagoda, then another and another.  It is amazing - the pagodas are everywhere.

Photos belong to Phil Bianco.

Mae Nu Oak Kyaung Temple #11

Still moored in Mandalay, we started the day by visiting a craft silver shop. They offered quite a few items for sale, including jewelry.   Some on the tour bought some items - as with the other craft shops visited yesterday, the prices did not seem to be high. 



Then to the city of Ava and the Mae Nu Oak Kyaung Temple.  We used small boats for a short ride across a lake to get to Ava.  This was where we had our first encounter with hawkers - locals trying to sell us trinkets and souvenirs.  The hawkers used bicycles to follow us.
 

We were taken in horse-drawn carts to the temple.  The hawkers usually pick out specific tourists, and stick with them until they sell something, or the tourists leave.   One girl pictured above followed me both to and from the temple.   She was nice, but returning, she was joined by another girl who was nasty and tried to push the nice one out of the way.   I bought a necklace from the nice one without bargaining, and this set off the other one, who pouted and cried.

It is amazing how many pagodas, many of them gilded ones, there are in Myanmar.  Eventually, I asked the Viking tour guide why - her explanation in a nutshell was fear of the next world.   The people hope that such good works as building pagodas and temples would ensure that they return in the next life as a superior life form.   She also said that people chose to live near where they are built - people followed pagodas and temples, not the other way around. 

Then back to the ship for lunch.  Lunches were buffets, but the main dish was served by a waiter.  The waiter would ask at breakfast what main course we wanted - we had three selections -  a meat, fish, or vegetarian dish.   The rest of the lunch was buffet, and included soup, various salads, fresh breads, cold cuts, cheeses, multiple desserts and fresh fruits.  For lunch, I had vegetable soup, curried chicken, and a flan. 





Next blog - continuation of day....

Photos belong to Phil Bianco.

Royal Palace #10

After lunch, then on to the Royal Palace, which was the last in a long line of fortified royal citadels erected on the banks of the Irrawaddy by successive Burmese rulers. 

Twelve gates pierce this formidable perimeter, corresponding to the signs of the zodiac. Each is said to have been inaugurated with a human sacrifice - a total of 52 persons (selected at random from passers-by) were buried under teak posts at each of the entrances to protect the palace’s most vulnerable points in the event of attack.

Then we visited three types of craft shops -  (1) production of gold leaf which is used to apply to Buddha images to display reverence and respect; (2) sculpturing marble statutes and images mostly of the Buddha; and (3) producing wood carving and tapestries. 

These types of crafts can also be found in other countries in Southeast Asia and India. Except for the marble sculpturing, the prices seemed reasonable, and some people in the tour were purchasing the crafts.

And then, back to the ship.  Viking gave us a selection of three main entrees, and on this particular night, I ordered fried fish.   It was the only dinner during the cruise that I was dissatisfied with, and I did not finish it.

We also always had soup or salad and a dessert. There was not one soup which I did not like during the whole cruise - the soups for both lunch and dinner were always very good.  We also could order beer, wine (from Chile), or soft drinks.


Photos belong to Phil Bianco.