jayterwilligerii

Phuket trip: Days 1-2 (23-24 Oct 2022)

Hey everyone,

I know it’s been ages since my last post and many of you know that I’ve actually done some traveling since then. However, I was just too occupied to update. I will however later on try to do at least an overview of my trip to the Bordeaux region of France

Catherine Viart (Friend and former colleague from Stonehill International School in Bengaluru and I near St. Astier in July 2022

and also my quick trip up to Dubai which was just a couple of weeks ago.

Annie, Kimmie and I taking a dinner break after the aquarium and before the dancing fountain in Dubai in late September 2022

For now though we are focusing on Phuket, where I went to visit with my dear friend and former colleague Elisabet Becerra. Elisabet and I worked together from 2016-2019 at DAIS school in Mumbai, where we both taught Spanish. I had previously tried to visit Elisabet and her husband Sergio in January of 2022 but the gift that keeps giving, COVID-19, once again put a wrench in my travel plans. At that time all three of us would have been free to travel and visit together, but it just didn’t work out. Nevertheless, I was determined to keep trying to visit as long as Elisabet was still happy to receive me.

My trip began at 7:30 PM on October 24th, with an 800 INR (9.70 USD) Uber from Purva Venezia in New Yelahanka to the Bengaluru airport which took right at 50 minutes.

Diwali decorations at my housing society had already started when I left on the 24th.

Due to reports of massive crowds in the previous days, I had wanted to make sure to arrive to the airport a full three hours ahead of time. Because of various drivers cancelling (which is incredibly normal in Bengaluru), even though the trip itself was relatively quick, I didn’t actually arrive to the airport until right at 9:00 PM. However, at least for international travel, the check-in process with Air Asia was very quick and there was also no line to speak of for security, so by 9:35 PM I was already at the entrance to the airport lounge. On that note, first special thanks to Dorothee Chareyron for introducing me to airport lounges in India and then to Ranmali Hapugalle for teaching me that I could always use my HDFC platinum debit card to get lounge access in India for only 2 INR, which is essentially free.

Perhaps the best reason to take advantage of the lounge pass is the buffet, especially if you have a wait longer than one hour. This was my first of two full plates of food.

I had the goal of eating a lot at the lounge so that I would sleep through my entire 4.5 hour flight to Kuala Lumpur which was due to leave at 11:25 PM. The seats on the plane were cramped and with a non-adjustable headrest, but I was jammed into a window seat where I could lean my head against the wall. So, I put on a sleep sounds app and was able to sleep about 3.5 hours despite the uncomfortable conditions. Upon arrival to KLIA at 6:00 PM security was quick, and then I made my way over towards my connecting gate area.

While the hall itself was very clean and reasonably comfortable, there just wasn’t enough to occupy me for a six hour layover.

While I had to admit that it was clever the way the bathroom mirrors were made to look like airplane windows, I nevertheless found it slightly disconcerting.

Considering the paucity of entertainment , at 9:00 AM I decided to cross the second security check to get over to the P gate area; I reasoned that maybe there was more to do on that side. In summary, I was completely wrong.

The gate area is exactly that and nothing more. There was nothing to do but sit and wait. There were a couple of very overpriced but simple eateries, one selling old pastries and instant noodles, and another selling slightly more presentable quick dishes. With nothing else to do, at 10:30 AM I bought a wonton noodle soup for 7.39 USD.

While I give them credit for at least attempting to make it more presentable, it was essentially just instant noodles with a couple of wonton thrown in. It tasted fine, but should have cost less.

Fortunately the gate opened right at 11:30 and the departure went smoothly with us taking off promptly at 12:30 PM. I was in a middle seat, and it was still incredibly cramped, but the flight was only 1.5 hours. As the flight was approaching Phuket, I had to admit that the view was amazing, with majestic small islands jutting out of the sea, and vibrant green landscape with plentiful bodies of water breaking up what otherwise could have become a monotonous green stretch of land.

Things went extremely smoothly with immigration and by 1:30 PM I had already withdrawn 3900 THB from the cash machine. I generally wouldn’t have bothered, but my friend Elisabet had warned me that many/most regular establishments in Phuket don’t take cards.

This robot cleaner was busy at work in the Phuket airport.

Maybe it’s just me, but I thought even the view from the airport window was quite beautiful with the vibrant green hilltop in the distance.

I was going to be staying with my friend Elisabet, and she would not be home until 4:00 PM, so I needed to kill some time before heading out of the airport. As I was also going to attempt taking the bus from the airport, per Elisabet’s instructions, I followed the signs to cross over to the domestic terminal. There were actually quite a few food options on that side, including a Burger King, but I opted for something more local since it was my first meal in Phuket.

Pork congee with soft-boiled egg and iced cappuccino 280 THB ($7.42 USD). It was tastier than it looks. I ordered it because I remember a character in a Thai drama I had watched was always eating congee.

I then asked around to see where I could get the yellow airport bus. It wasn’t “hard” to find, but you definitely won’t find it unless you are looking for it. Also, the bus schedule seems to be completely wrong. It was easy to pay the 100 THB (2.65 USD) in cash and tell the woman which stop I needed, and the seats were comfortable on the uncrowded bus. In contrast, a taxi would have been 650 THB direct from the airport or 450 if I were to have walked a bit away from the airport and then used a ride hailing app called inDrive. Of course taking the bus also meant I would have to walk some once I arrived, but I only had a light backpack so was fine with that since the weather was pleasant enough.

I had been warned that masks were expected on the bus, so I had mine available. Nevertheless I found it a bit silly that the woman went around checking our temperature five minutes after we had already departed. Still, I acknowledged that the ticket lady was “doing her job” well, since there was no obvious indication of the stops, and she made sure everyone got off where they had indicated upon buying the ticket.

I arrived to my stop by 4:08 PM and loaded up my Google map app with walking instructions to Elisabet’s house. The route was rather random and evidently not even the best way, but it was a nice walk with lots of interesting things to see along the way.

Woohoo! Together again with Elisabet Becerra after 3 years and 4 months!

After a leisurely 40 minutes I arrived and had a nice chat with Elisabet while getting settled into the guest room of her beautiful home. We went for a quick bite at a nearby restaurant, but we both agreed that the food although “fine” was uninspiring. Still, it was the company that mattered.

Tomorrow’s plan is to try to check out Phuket old town while Elisabet is at work, and then spend more time with her, exploring nearby after she gets home from work. Regardless of what actually happens, I’m sure it will be a great day. Thanks for reading along and feel free to let me know if you have questions about anything I saw or how to get around any of the places I’ve mentioned. I will immediately try to follow up with the next entries.

A beautiful background while I was walking to Elisabet’s house.

Virginia trip tidbits and a rant about modern day air travel fees: 3-14 July

Hey everyone, I know it’s been some time since I last updated. As with my recent post about Costa Rica, this entry is of a more personal nature, so feel free to skip it and wait for my upcoming excursion to France. However, in particular if you are not from the United States, you might be interested in some of the information about USA Independence Day, the oddly North American (I’m not actually sure if Canada also does this.) practice of selling off the worldly remains of dead relatives, and Busch Gardens amusement park! Let’s start though with the joys of modern air travel.

As my basic practice is to buy the cheapest air ticket possible, with some minimal allowances for time of departure and arrival, I frequently don’t have the most comfortable flying experience possible. Many people assume that means that I am mostly on lesser known “budget carriers”, but it’s actually just as frequent that I fly with big name airlines. Spoiler alert, well-known does not mean a nicer trip. But hey, if you want to save some money, that might also mean that you have to pay for it in other ways. Certainly that’s the approach taken by American Airlines (the company, not all airlines from the United States).

Don’t get me wrong. It’s still a safe (I hope!) way to travel, but they really want to punish you for daring to spend less. But don’t worry; they will do everything possible to get you to spend more. This is also by no means a characteristic exclusive to American Airlines, but they really seem to have perfected the art of punishing the budget conscious traveller, especially on shorter international flights within the Americas and of course pretty much all domestic flights.

It used to be that getting a decent economy seat was all about timing. If you wanted a good spot, you simply made sure to be one of the first to show up at the airport. Later on, when online check-in became a thing (I remember being excited about this in 2004, but also feeling a bit sorry for the less computer savvy). Again, you were rewarded for being the first to check-in. Even if you’ve never flown, you know the phrase; “Do you prefer an aisle or a window seat”? Heck, you could even score a coveted exit row seat with its additional leg room. All you had to do was be conscientious about doing things early. Notice how nobody ever asks, “Hey, would you like the cushy middle seat?” There’s a reason for that. Now, it’s all about the money.

If you dare to not pay more for a specifically chosen seat, even the dreaded middle seat, you are assigned to group nine purgatory (more on this in a minute). Frankly, this is just spiteful punishment. I’m not saying I like the “additional charges” we’ve all come to expect from modern day air travel, but at least some of them make some degree of sense. A little over twenty years ago, it was expected that your economy ticket price would always include the following: a full size carry on bag, a usually unappetizing but still present meal, and wait for it . . . TWO full sized pieces of checked luggage for no additional cost! As mentioned earlier, you could frequently express a window/aisle preference, but we also knew that we might not get it, especially if we showed up late to the airport.

Now not everyone will agree with me on this one, but especially for domestic flights, I always found the included two pieces of full size luggage to be a bit much. I mean it was great that it was included, but did we really need it? Was it really that big of a deal when it was reduced to just one checked bag? I didn’t think so. However, when they took away the included ONE piece of checked luggage, I was a bit annoyed. Still, in terms of reducing cost, taking into account weight and space, it made sense. You could still have checked bags, but you would have to pay. Furthermore, did we really need/want a usually tasteless, rushed meal on a less than a 2-3 hour flight? Especially if you could actually get something tasty, I was fine with eliminating the included bland airline gruel in favor of paying separately for something you might actually want to eat. It was when they started to charge for seat selection, even if you weren’t getting more space or something obviously more comfortable, that I just became disgusted. Regardless, even though I thought it was wrong, I understood the logic. It was nasty, but it made sense from a certain viewpoint.

So what exactly is Group 9, and why is it so absurd? If you dare to want to fly without paying for any self-selected seat assignment, even if like me you paid for a checked bag (because you were transporting something in a large glass bottle for a friend) then you are punished by being in group 9. American Airlines tries very hard to find the most unpleasant seat for you, and you don’t board until everyone else has gone onto the plane, regardless of where your seat is actually located. To be fair, once you are on the plane if some better seat is unoccupied, the flight attendants are usually happy to let you switch to a better spot. The reason this is absurd is the part where they make you wait until everyone else has boarded to get on the plane, even if you are in the very last row of the plane and they are only boarding from the front. This ends up slowing down the boarding process for everyone, including those who have paid to choose their own seats. In summary, it’s just petty bullying. But hey, thank you for choosing American Airlines.

Here however is a cost cutting idea which I thought made sense. Almost everyone on the plane is already accustomed to watching videos on phones or personal tablets so why bother to put in those clunky LCD screens. Instead, they have installed handy phone/tablet trays. You can connect to the free plane wifi and stream their video selection on your own device.

My flight arrived to Norfolk airport at 12:10 AM on the 4th. This was my first time here, as in the past I’ve always flown into nearby Newport News. Most travelers will already know this, but if applicable, always check nearby airports to see if you will get better prices and/or better travel times. While Norfolk airport was 14 miles further from my final destination, flying into here saved me 12 HOURS of travel and was 100 USD cheaper than flying into my regular airport. That’s what I call a big advantage!

The airport was smaller than I had expected, but quite nice.

There was a nice art display as I exited to the pick-up area.

It was easy to meet my sister and we were off to the house in Newport News. Unsurprisingly it had been more expensive to fly so close to July 4th in the USA, but it was important for me since for the last several years I’ve tried very hard to spend both Independence Day and my birthday (July 13th) with my family members. Obviously I missed two years ago, but otherwise had been going strong with this for 15+ years.

The morning and early afternoon of the 4th I helped my brother Chris with some woodwork.

It was great to see how well he was doing. We were all very worried after his two strokes in November of 2020. His recovery is still underway, but he is much better now.

For dinner we had this amazing ribeye, stir-fried vegetables and a mixed green salad.

After dinner Chris, Angie (my sister) and I headed to the nearby Independence Day celebrations in Newport News. Living in the United States can be very expensive, but the local park service here regularly has fun, free, wholesome activities which are open to the public. This was one of them, and I have to say that they did an amazing job.

First we got my sister settled in a good spot where she could both appreciate the concert and then the fireworks display.

My brother and I wanted to check out the concession stands.

There was a nice, orderly crowd eagerly awaiting the show.

I enjoyed the concert much more than I had anticipated. These musicians were true professionals, including a particularly talented female vocalist.

The unexpected highlight of the concert was a passionate original poetry reading/interpretation by retired Chief Master Sargent Rothwell. This woman is a national treasure!

The armed forces medley song honoring each branch of the armed forces was also much more moving than I would have thought. As they sang the song for each branch of the armed forces, current and retired members of the armed forces as well as their family members stood to be recognized for their sacrifice and service to the nation. With three siblings who are both current and honorably retired/veteran army members, I was the first to jump to my feet and and proudly stand both to recognize them and also to accept the recognition by association that comes from being a member of a family with so much public service to country.

Again, I was so thankful to be able to spend the holiday with two of my siblings.

Perfectly timed and starting out still being supported by music from the USAF American Heritage band, the fireworks started at 9:10 PM and continued without interruption until 9:40 PM. I know that human memory is imperfect, but I really do believe this was the best professional fireworks display I had ever seen. The pictures of course don’t do it justice, but take my word for it, they were amazing.

Oh the second to last full day of my visit, July 12th, we were off to Bush Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia.

On that note, professional displays like these really are much more impressive than the backyard ones many people in the USA like to do; they are also safer and probably cheaper. So if you are in the United States and have a high quality local parks service like Newport News does, rather than doing a backyard barbeque and amateur fireworks, just pack a picnic dinner and head out to the local public celebrations. You will find it to be an outstanding holiday celebration. Certainly that was our experience.

Rather than giving out sparklers, the parks service gave one of these plastic LCD wands to each person in attendance. While I was happy to have it, I also felt kind of bad about it as it seemed like the sort of thing which would only be used once a year. Certainly they CAN/SHOULD be saved for next year, but how many people will do that. Regardless, they were fun to play with.

The next day, July 5th, my brother and sister had to go up north to Fort Belvoir, so I used this time to visit my dear friend Janet and her husband Chris. I’ve known Janet now for more than twenty years, but only had the privilege of meeting Chris about 5-6 years ago. Janet and I first met doing English language community theater programs in Costa Rica and then continued getting together on a monthly basis to play charades, something which Janet always carefully organized for different English speaking friends in the San Jose, Costa Rica area.

Proving that it really is a small world, when Janet had left Costa Rica years ago, she moved to an area less than 20 miles away from my sister in Virginia! We visited for about 8 hours and every moment was great.

It was great to see that both Janet and Chris were in such good health. They are both really outstanding people.

Jumping ahead a couple of days, on July 8th my sister and I went to an estate sale. This may happen in other places in the world, but I’ve only seen it as a common occurrence in the USA. Sometimes they are auctions, but other times it’s more like a garage or yard sale where things are placed in and around the person’s home, with price tags attached. If you aren’t familiar with the concept, it’s fairly simple if somewhat bizarre for the uninitiated. I think they may also at times happen under other circumstances, but usually it’s when some family member dies and the remaining family members sell all their stuff that nobody wants. You can get high quality stuff for really good prices, but in many cases there’s a good reason no family member wanted the items. Most of the stuff here seemed to be of good quality.

All of these solid wood furniture pieces were priced at only 75 USD each and they were all in pristine condition. Some of the other stuff though seemed a bit pointless and other items was just sad, since it was clear they were items which had been of some personal significant to the deceased. I sort of understand with the large, more expensive items, but I think I would be more inclined to simply give away random dishes and trinkets. It would be very odd for me to stick pricetags on my dead loved one’s personal items. But then I’ve never really been in that position, so I don’t want to judge anyone else. Still, it seems weird.

The next couple of days were more or less uneventful with us just doing standard stuff around the house

My brother had things arriving from his old place on the 11th.

Yes, this piece of chicken breast from Bojangles really was that large. It’s not a camera trick.

On my second to last full day in Virginia, we went to Busch Gardens theme park in Williamsburg, Virginia. We were there from 11 AM to 7 PM. Yes, it’s a fun place to spend the day, but it’s also crazy expensive. Even though I suspect that few people ever pay the full official daily entry fee of 99 USD per person, they have things setup in a way that means as a general rule, you will probably spend at least 75 USD per person and it wouldn’t be strange to spend more like 150. Of course, people who live nearby and really like going can get special season passes, but one way or another, they’re gonna get their money, and it’s a lot. Of course it is POSSIBLE to spend less using special passes etc, but that also means you will constantly be monitoring every dollar (no pennies here) spent all day long. Once you’ve accepted that and still decided to go, you can enjoy your day at the park.

It had originally been my plan to wear this dorky neck fan all day long, but there was enough shade, breeze and inside air conditioned spaces that it wasn’t needed. It also had to of course be constantly removed for rides.

If I remember correctly, we rode five different roller coasters, but there was one we skipped, because my brother and sister said that their heads had been banged around on it before. Although they were all fun, especially when doing with friends or family, five was more than enough.

Lunch in the “German town” section of the park was tasty, but like everything else, very expensive. To be fair though, it was a comparable cost to eating in most kind of nice (but not “fancy”) restaurants in this area of Virginia.

I was eager to get these fifty-cent (limit two per person) glasses of Budweiser light beer, since a simple bottle of water was 4 USD

Chris really wanted this roasted turkey leg. He gave me a bite, and it was delicious.

Angie in particular really enjoyed the concert by Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr

And then our fun family day at Bush Gardens was finished.

The following day, my birthday (July 13th), my brother and sister took me out to eat at a nearby branch of the Olive Garden after we had spent much of the day visiting with our family friend TJ. For some crazy reason I didn’t think to take any pictures during the visit with TJ, but she did give me a lovely painting which her daughter had made.

The next day was my final day in Virginia, but I didn’t fly out until the evening, so I was still able to convince Chris to take me to the nearby SPCA petting zoo in the morning. I was a bit disappointed that the rabbits weren’t out, but for three dollars a person, and knowing the money was going towards a good cause, it was still definitely worth the visit.

Then we were back to the house for a nice lunch of salmon and mixed vegetables.

Of course there were many other great events during the visit, just as every single day has many amazing moments. Sometimes, we just forget to pay attention. For my part, I plan on paying attention to every special interaction and every beautiful sight as I travel through each day no matter where I am. I invite you to do the same. Until next time, thanks for reading!

Costa Rica trip insights and highlights: Part 1 (28 June – 3 uly)

Hey everyone, a lot in this post is of a more personal nature rather than a general travel blog post, so you might just choose to skip it. Furthermore, those of you who do not know me closely may not realize that I’m actually a Costa Rican citizen, so my experience traveling back to Costa Rica was primarily to see old friends and take care of various items of personal business rather than to have a typical travel discovery experience. Regardless, you still may find something of value, and you are certainly most cordially invited to continue following along with some of my adventures.

My trip back to Costa Rica started with a 5 euro bus ticket to the airport from Atocha station. I’m not really sure why, but my Madrid pass didn’t work for that one. However it was easy to tap my international card from India and we were on our way. People told me I was being overly cautious, but it was a good thing I got there three hours ahead of time. Both check-in and security took quite a long time, and had I arrived later, I would have missed the flight. Despite the slow progress, everyone was friendly, and I didn’t feel especially stressed.

As I was worried about the food on IberoJet, I bought a quick snack to take on board. There was no time to eat anything more since they were already finishing up with boarding when I arrived to the gate.

Despite the stringent travel rules listed on their website, for the future I’ll know that IberoJet actually seems to be far less restrictive with their luggage rules than they claim. They didn’t weigh anyone’s carry-on bag, and standard maximum size carry on bags seemed to be acceptable. Furthermore, despite being expressly forbidden, they allowed both a personal item and separate carry on bag to be taken onto the plane. Still, I was actually happy to be traveling with so little.

Boarding went according to schedule, but then we ended up sitting on the runway for a bit over 2.5 hours, once more due to passengers arriving late from other planes (They were only an hour late, but we had missed our runway spot so had to wait for ground control to find us a new spot.) As mentioned in an earlier post, this seems to now be much more normal than has been my experience with past years of international travel. So, it was actually 5:30 PM when we finally lifted off.

Even though it was such a budget travel option, the economy seats were reasonably comfortable and there was a full in flight entertainment system, albeit with mostly rather old movies and television series. Still, the selection seemed alright.

I watched two movies, Tides (2021) which was a bit predictable, but fine for an airplane movie and The Farewell (2019) which was actually very good. Honestly I had wanted to sleep most of the trip, but it just wasn’t happening. In retrospect, as I ended up arriving at 7:20 PM instead of 5:00 PM which had originally been programmed, it’s probably better that I didn’t sleep. That way I was more prepared to sleep properly at night.

Perhaps the most amazing thing on the plane was this woman who was intensely doing word searches the entire trip! Her ternacity was admirable. The way she went at it, you would have thought she was working out a solution to a complex equation. I wondered, would I get to her age, and if I did, would some guy in his late forties be examining me out of the corner of his eye? Would I still be happily traveling across the ocean as she was? I hope so.

Two hours and twenty minutes before arrival they did the complimentary snack service.

The snack which was served near the end of the flight.

The meal which was served shortly after take off. Notice the utensils; supposedly they weren’t plastic, but I couldn’t figure out their material.

During the snack, now resigned to not being able to sleep, I watched Charm City Kings (2020). I couldn’t actually decide if it was a good movie or not. Yes, it was impactful, but I couldn’t tell how much of it was supposed to be showing something real vs. how much of it was some sort of broken sad fantasy of life for a certain segment of the population in the United States

Upon arrival to Costa Rica and clearing immigration, even though it was already 8:00 PM, I decided to take two buses from the airport to my Airbnb in San Pedro. Doing this saved me roughly 45 USD but I would also have to walk roughly one kilometer through San Jose to catch the second bus. Metropolitan buses in Costa Rica are paid for using cash, generally not offering anything larger than a 2000 colon bill, but many times they will let you use a 5000. This was easy enough for me to manage and certainly possible even for someone who had never before been to Costa Rica, but I’m not sure I would advise it.

It works well if you only have a small bag, but would be very tricky with standard checked luggage. Of course, if by chance you are simply heading to the center of San Jose or Alajuela (only one bus) then it is even easier. While metropolitan area buses in Costa Rica are generally clean, affordable and efficient; the problem is that you have to either ask people where the stops are or already have a good idea ahead of time. Google maps won’t help you with the local bus lines and there are no reliable maps of the routes. So if you plan on using public transport in Costa Rica, which I highly recommend, you will have to be comfortable asking people for directions, and most of the time you will need to be able to do so in Spanish. However, Costa Ricans are generally very understanding of broken Spanish and will try to help you find your way.

It was right at 10:00 PM when I finally arrived to my lodging which was in a private home (Airbnb) about a half of a kilometer south of the center of San Pedro. My hostess was kindly waiting for me and I gratefully immediately crashed on my comfortable full size bed to sleep.

I woke up early the morning of the 29th to discover it was still drizzling, just as it had been the previous evening. I confirmed with my good friend Marco that we would meet later in the morning to have lunch. But before doing so I had an important errand, a visit to Paragüeria Rego!

The Rego umbrella factory is a Costa Rican institution. This is perhaps not surprising in a country where it rains heavily between 8-9 months a year.

They take umbrellas very seriously, and they even have a repair station. A properly cared for Rego umbrella can easily serve you for ten years or more.

Rego has a wide variety of styles and sizes. They are more expensive than cheap imported umbrellas from Asia, but they take deserved pride in their products, because they are high quality. If you buy nothing else in Costa Rica, I suggest you pick up a Rego umbrella. Take proper care of it and it will take good care of you for a lifetime. I paid 12,500 colones (18 USD) for my mini-golf umbrella which opens up to golf umbrella size but collapses into a size easily able to carry in a large purse or similar sized bag.

The company was great and the ambience pleasant.

Lunch for two at La Parrilita de Pepe was 14700 colones (21 USD). The food was “good” but I don’t think I will be going back. You can have much better in Costa Rica. But still, a lot of people like coming here.

After lunch, Marco had errands to run and I decided to wander around San Jose for awhile.

This statue, Al viento by Manuel Vargas M, marks the west entrance to the central avenue boulevard.

Costa Rica’s oldest continuously functioning hospital, San Juan de Dios, is diagonal to the Al Viento statue. This was the hospital I used to always go to in San Jose.

One block to the east of the San Juan de Dios hospital is the La Merced church.

It had been years since I had actually entered La Merced church (I think it officially has another name, but most people just call it the La Merced church), so I decided to see if I could go in to look around. It’s not one of the main “showcase” churches of Costa Rica, but it’s well known and has always been one of my favorites. The main doors were closed, but I was able to enter using the side entrance.

Notice the delicate, intricately hand painted pillars and the classic “mosaico” floors.

I actually find the rich wood ceiling slats to be just as beautiful as the heavily painted ceilings seen in many other traditional churches.

Then I continued my walk up towards the San Pedro bus stop, passing through the main part of central San Jose.

This sculpture to honor the work of street cleaners is found in Central Park.

Soon after, heavy rains started once again, and I headed back to my room for the night, getting in bed by 8:00 PM. I was tired!

The next day, July 30th, I met my dear friend Carolyn for lunch at San Pedro Mall. This is not really a classy destination, but most of Costa Rica is not at all wheelchair friendly, and Carolyn can now only go out in a wheelchair. We wanted some place nearby where we could get something to eat and also walk around a bit, being protected from the probable rains, as we visited and also looked for a few small items that Carolyn needed to buy. Her full time helper Guillermina, a woman with whom I was very impressed, came along to ensure Carolyn wouldn’t have any problems while we were out being sociable.

We were able to find all of Carolyn’s purchases, including size 42 women’s “smart casual” shoes! This last one was a particular treasure since Costa Ricans tend to have smaller feet, and anything larger than a 40 is extremely rare for women.

The only thing we couldn’t find was a new laptop computer which Carolyn’s daughter had asked me to look for; however, we were able to confirm that Carolyn would feel comfortable using a large laptop form factor. This was also important because Kathryn (Carolyn’s daughter in Texas) wanted to give her mom a new computer, but she knew Carolyn would need help transferring her old files etc. As such, I had agreed to find the computer for Carolyn, and help get it ready, with Kathryn transferring me the money afterwards. I was disappointed we couldn’t buy it right away, but I now knew what to look for on my own.

Around 4:00 PM Carolyn wasn’t feeling that great, so we decided to head back to her house. There we visited for a bit longer and she played some of her favorite hymns on the piano.

Afterwards I had a simple traditional dinner and a beer at a nearby “soda”, paying only 3800 CRC (5.5 USD) and then headed back to my room to sleep.

Yes, that’s a “double size” beer. Pilsen is one of the two main national beer brands.

Despite my best efforts to the contrary, I was once again up at 5:00 AM on July 1st. As it had been more than 15 years since I had visited the Jade museum, I decided to reacquaint myself with this interesting site. I entered at about 8:20 AM.

Whereas many people will tell you there is no point in visiting San Jose, I vehemently disagree. Removing San Jose from your trip to Costa Rica is the equivalent of treating the entire country of Costa Rica like an amusement park. Yes, Costa Rica’s natural beauty is the main draw for tourists, but the city of San Jose also has a good deal to offer. Most notably, especially for such a small country, San Jose has a vibrant performing arts scene. Additionally, San Jose also has some outstanding museums.

If you could only visit one, I would probably have to recommend the Gold museum. However, the Jade museum is also a great cultural addition to any trip, and it can easily be fully appreciated with just a couple of hours. The stated entrance fee for non-nationals is 10 USD, but as a citizen I only paid 5 USD. While they don’t publicly state it, special admission fees can be arranged for student groups. Similar to many museums worldwide, you can easily access an audio guide to the museum on your smartphone, but this one is completely free; it is available in born Spanish and English.

There is no advantage to starting your visit on the first vs the fifth floor, so I decided to start at the top and work my way down. I appreciate that the fifth floor is open to the public, but it is more of a tidy storeroom than an exhibit hall. This is primarily a space for researchers, but the general public also has limited access.

There aren’t many explanatory signs as this is primarily meant to be a space for researchers, but artists in particular would appreciate the convenient grouping which facilitates the recognition of key artistic elements from different time periods and geographic regions.

You can even open the many drawers, and I encourage you to do so.

Moving down to the fourth floor, you find that one half of the space is dedicated to honoring specific important women from Costa Rica’s history. The other half approaches jade and pottery with a focus on gender, similar to the other exhibition on this floor, highlighting the role of women in prehistoric Costa Rica.

In addition to the audio guide, throughout the museum there are these conveniently located video guides which give more information about specific sections. While the video guides are ostensibly for children, they are also useful for adult visitors. Audio is in Spanish with English subtitles.

Each of the other floors has a specific emphasis. I won’t go into all of the details since the museum webpage had extensive information which is easy to access. Still, there were some items which drew my attention.

While not “jade related” I was impressed with the work done by the curators to rescue and document the quality work done by female painters in Costa Rica. Without this effort, most of these artists would have been completely forgotten.

The gift shop was sad and seemed like an afterthought. It was also a definite missed opportunity to sell classy jade reproductions. This can definitely be improved.

I was finished by 10:15 AM and then tried to go by the social security office to check on some personal business. Unfortunately, almost two months later, they still aren’t taking regular consultations due to a massive hacking attack by two different Russian groups. Daily operations have been mostly restored, but they are still having problems with full administrative functions. As that didn’t work out, I decided to meet up again with my friend Marco so we could get some lunch and then continue on the hunt for a new computer for Carolyn.

We decided to get a simple, but ample lunch at the Bourbon market. For two people it was only 3000 CRC (4.30 USD)

Computer stores are now hard to find in Costa Rica, and I was starting to get discouraged. I had the option of buying online, but I really wanted a physical store as I thought this would be easier for warranty purposes and possible future repairs. I commented to Marco about this and he mentioned that he was very happy with the laptop he had bought from PC Store right in the center of San Jose, and the cost had also been affordable.

Success! I was able to get a brand new 17 inch HP Windows 11 laptop with 8 gb of RAM for right at 500 USD. It wasn’t particularly powerful, but more than enough for Carolyn’s needs and with a large monitor which would be greatly appreciated. Within 4 hours it was all setup in Carolyn’s home and she was very happy with the new gift from her daughter.

Carolyn had been worried about switching to a laptop from her old desktop with a CRT monitor, but she handled the transition like a trooper. She still preferred the old keyboard and mouse, but that was easy enough to leave connected via USB.

Guillermina prepared a wholesome meal which we all three enjoyed together.

I then headed to downtown San Jose to go to one of the many independent theatres. That’s one of the biggest things I love about this city. While most of the independent theatres have low brow comedy, even that frequently has deeper messages. Regardless, I think it’s amazing that so many theater groups are active in such a relatively small city. Shows are usually Thursday to Friday, so I figured I would be able to find something decent.

As I was looking at the offerings, I heard a voice call out (in Spanish); David, it’s me, David Josué. How have you been? David Josué was one of my two best friends in Costa Rica for many years, but due to various circumstances, we had completely lost contact for more than 7 years! There will be more about him tomorrow.

Some street art near a cluster of independent theatres.

I finally decided on Teatro Torres, even though it wasn’t actually a theatrical performance that night. It was a standup comedy night with four amateur comedians. It was a bit vulgar at times, but that’s typical of independent theatres in Costa Rica (and of much standup comedy everywhere), so it wasn’t that much of a surprise. Still, for only 4000 CRC (5.85 USD) with 2.25 hours of entertainment in relatively comfortable seats, it was definitely worth it. Also, given that they said upfront that most of them had never been on stage before, allowances had to be made.

Then I headed back to my room with the plan of meeting up with David Josué the next day at 1:00 PM at my favorite Korean restaurant in downtown San Jose.

On July 2nd I was once more up early and headed to the Curridabat branch of BNCR (National bank of Costa Rica), as it is open early on Saturday and I had some customer service issues to resolve. Since it was only about 1.5 km away and fortunately not raining, I decided to just walk over.

This space saucer looking place is called the national archive. I have no idea what is actually in there.

The streets were mostly empty at 8:30 AM

It was easy to take care of my issue with BNCR, but also a bit disturbing. The online banking system had been acting up the last several days and $1000 USD appeared to be missing from my account. Hopefully they get this problem fixed quickly since the entire point of online banking is that you shouldn’t need to frantically go in person! Still, at least in my case it got worked out quickly and then I grabbed a bus to downtown San José.

Yes, I know this photo makes me seem like a scary stalker.

WOW!, a bus driver who was a woman! I’ve never before seen a woman who was working as a bus driver in Costa Rica. It was the Zapote-San Jose route. Really, I was very excited to see that. Maybe it’s not a job that most women want, but it’s great to see that it now seems to be accepted fine in Costa Rica. Nobody seemed to be surprised to see her (except for me of course).

Once I arrived to the center, I walked towards the restaurant. On the way I passed by the national theatre and checked to see if there was anything on for the evening, but I didn’t notice any shows being publicized. Here there are frequently concerts, dance presentations and very occasionally a play. It’s been some time since I went there, but prices tend to be accessible to the general public. Unlike what happens at the independent theatres, productions here are understandably far more serious, with both high quality international and domestic presentations.

Like in most plazas across the world, there are pigeons galore. Even though it’s posted that feeding them is prohibited, there is clearly a reason that they still congregate.

Large student groups like these are super common during the period from June-July. This isn’t really considered “the best” time to visit Costa Rica, but it’s when they have long vacations.

View of the front of the national theatre

David Josué and I met at 1:00 pm for lunch at a great Korean restaurant called Fritos. The ambience isn’t amazing and the menu is limited, but everything is tasty and reasonably priced. It was completely packed when we were there.

We spent about two hours just catching up. Even after more than seven years with no contact, it was as if we had never been apart. That’s when you know that you are real lifelong friends. Ideally the lapses in time wouldn’t happen, but if you can pick back up right where your left with no awkwardness, then that’s an amazing feeling. Afterwards, for a change of scenery, we decided to head over to Mall San Pedro where we continued sharing until 9:00 PM! As I had mentioned earlier, this mall isn’t fancy, but it definitely serves it’s social purpose.

We finished up the evening with dinner at Revolución.

And with that the day was basically over and I headed back to my room for the last time. The next morning I once again easily took the bus to the airport and headed off to Virginia where I would be visiting with my brother Chris and sister Angie.

Again, sorry for the long post, and if you were hoping for a more touristy entry, then oops, but then you were warned at the beginning! My trip to Costa Rica (which will continue for a few more days after my visit to the USA) was probably very different from what yours might be, but I think you will still find it’s a great place to visit. If you have any questions or comments, just let me know in the space indicated below, and if your are really interested in what travels come next, just hit the subscribe button. Until next time, I hope your own lives are going well. See you soon!

View of Plaza de la Democracia (Democracy plaza) and the national museum in the background.

Spain trip: Days 4-5 (26-27 June)

Hello again. As there isn’t that much to say about day 4, I will put days 4 and 5 in a single post.

On the 26th I got up a bit late, showered etc, and then went by metro to Barcelona Sants station in order to catch my 11 AM train to Madrid. The cost of the train ticket was 88 USD one way, with a trip duration of 2 hours and 45 minutes. I actually could have caught a flight for slightly less, but by the time one has to arrive early to the airport etc, for such a short distance, it’s actually better by train. Usually one travels in a much more comfortable fashion, with nice scenery and definitely with much less stress. Or at any rate, that’s the case when traveling in Europe.

I had an electronic copy of the ticket, but just in case, I printed a cardstock copy here.

We arrived right on time at 1:45 PM and after buying a two day metro pass for around 15 USD (As I ended up walking most places, this wasn’t near as good of a buy as the metro pass I had purchased in Barcelona), I immediately headed out walking to the nearby D’ La Brasa restaurant to meet with my future Spanish teaching workmate Sonia and her family. This was to be our first time to meet in person, and I was very thankful to her and her family for arranging things so we could meet, especially as they were also dealing with a tight travel schedule. We had a wonderful extended traditional Spanish lunch and then all ran off quickly after two hours. Unfortunately we all forgot to take pictures, but we will once more have the pleasure of each other’s company soon. Unexpectedly, but much appreciated, Sonia picked up the tab, so I have no idea how much it costs to eat there, but all the food was outstanding.

Both the restaurant and my AirBnB were very close to Atocha station, so within 15 minutes I was in my room for the next couple of days. Lodging options are far less expensive in Madrid than in Barcelona, but I had still chosen an Airbnb due to the convenience of the location and yes, also the very good cost.

It drew my attention that despite the relatively few people of African origin I otherwise saw in Spain, everyone selling items on the sidewalk near Atocha station was a young man of African ancestry between 25 and 35 years of age.

The window had steel security blinds which are common to Spain. I couldn’t figure out how to lower them the first night and actually ended up raising them all the way instead. To sleep, I had to hang a blanket on the window.

The tiny housecat was incredibly friendly, meowing insistently to get attention from anyone foolish enough to listen.

After I had settled in, on Eventbrite I noticed a free dance exhibition called Dances of the Orient in a different part of the city. It would take 40 minutes to reach, but I only had an hour until the starting time of 6:00 PM.

Unfortunately, I got turned around two different times (on two different trains) in the subway and still wasn’t sure of how to get there, so at 6:05 PM I finally just gave up. It was much harder to navigate the subway in Madrid than it had been in Barcelona!

As luck would have it, I found myself near Puerta del Sol, which was undergoing renovations. The outing had been a bit of a bust, but it was still nice to see some of the architecture typical of the area.

I finished up the evening with an overpriced 5 euro beer and headed home for the evening.

Despite my improvised solution to the window problem, I slept well and was up by 8:00 AM on the 27th, determined to make the most of my only full day in Madrid. Lacking any other guide, I checked out the Lonely Planet top attractions for Madrid and decided to make that my general plan. I would start with the Basílica de San Francisco el grande and finish up the day at Parque el Retiro.

This time I figured out the subway lines okay, probably because I wasn’t in a rush. I still had to walk a bit from the subway station, but there were nice things to see.

I tend to not really appreciate street art of it’s where I live, but I like it when I’m traveling.

From what I could tell, this was some sort of a headquarters for some charitable work in Madrid. The historical plaque said the building was in honour of Juan López de Hoyos.

I arrived to the Basílica by 9:15 AM but it was technically closed. Fortunately I was still able to get in as there seemed to be some sort of small mass going on in one section. There were signs prohibiting photos, but I assumed as long as I wasn’t interrupting the mass and nobody stopped me, it would be fine. I’m sure this would have been a far more enriching visit with a guide, but honestly, I just wasn’t interested enough in all the specific details.

The big draw of this church is supposed to it’s painted interior dome, the third largest in Europe or something like that.

The picture in the middle is of a 70 kg (154 pounds) six year old girl, Eugenia Martínez Vallejo . In perhaps the earliest case of fat shaming, the then king had both a clothed and unclothed painting done of the girl.

As was expected, everything was beautiful.

All the masses I’ve seen in Spain have had less than ten people in attendance. That was also the case here. I think there were six people in attendance. I guess props to the church for still doing the masses, but it seems kind of silly and also sort of sad with so few active believers. No doubt there are big crowds for weddings, funerals and main holidays?

I then continued my walk towards the palace. It was only about 22 degrees Celsius (72 F), which was the general temperature for my whole time in Madrid. Although Barcelona had not been uncomfortable, it was definitely warmer than Madrid.

These rather simple looking apartments with nice trees in front were right across the street from the palace. I wondered what sort of people might live there. Given the central location, I imagine they are very wealthy, but I’m not really sure.

Having not researched very well, I didn’t know that there was another important church coming up before the palace, the Aludena church. I didn’t really think I needed more church visits, but I was in full on tourist mode and had plenty of time, so in I went. From what I could tell, this was a fairly modern church, but still quite nice. I quickly realised that it seemed to have a more important role in daily life than the earlier visited basilica.

I think this wasn’t the main entrance, but it’s where I went in. A 1 euro entrance “donation” was requested but nobody was actively enforcing this.

I didn’t understand why this was supposed to be more interesting than many of the other very beautiful paintings and objects in the church, but everyone was going up to see it, so I did as well.

There was very good natural lighting in the main hall.

I appreciated the mix of the ” modern looking” stained glass windows and the more traditional sculptures and paintings within the cathedral.

There is also a crypt below the main church where there were many “buried” people from the last 30 years. Besides all the tombs, there also seemed to be a general area for mass as well. Once more a 1 euro donation was requested, and while she wasn’t actually checking the coins, a rather severe looking older woman was making sure that something got put in the collection box and was also exhorting everyone to be quiet as a mass was in session. Understandably, the crypt area was more somber than upstairs, but still very beautiful.

I wasn’t sure of the rules/expectations but I was careful to not walk right on top of any of the tombs. Incidentally, this was quite difficult at times as there was very little space between the ones in the floor.

A close up picture of some of the column details

One of many side chapels, most of which had locked iron gates in front

The palace was right next door. It seemed to be closed to visitors, but that was alright by me. It’s not like visitors are shaking hands with members of the royal family or anything like that. As was expected, the palace was stately and also had nice gardens right next to it that were open to the public.

After all of my careful work to capture a picture of a Magpie a few days ago in Ladakh, this one was practically begging for pictures and allowed me to get very close.

All of these things were very close together, I wasn’t spending much time in each place, so it was only 11:30 AM as I continued my walk down la Gran Vía towards plaza España and El Prado museum.

The day was nice and I had plenty of time, so I just wandered around a bit and appreciated the scenery. I know many will see this as borderline sacrilege, but I simply wanted some cheap calories (so I would have more to spend on museums etc), so I stopped into McDonald’s for a simple cheeseburger and small fries before strolling around a bit more before arriving to El Prado at 1:15 PM.

I was happy to see that El Prado museum has a wide range of ticket options which would allow anyone to easily enter and appreciate its treasures. As well as free entrance for students, and unemployed people, anyone can enter for free everyday from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. Due to my tight schedule, I just paid the full 15 euro entrance fee. However, if you are on a tight budget, you can still definitely visit.

El Prado had a strict no pictures policy, which I and everyone else ignored whenever possible, but unlike other places, guards were numerous and very unhappy if you got caught. Still, I snuck in a few pictures just to prove I could. Honestly, as long as I was not using a flash, I thought there was no reason for the no pictures policy. Probably it’s to keep people from doing selfies next to all the famous pictures. I admit that I would have been guilty of doing so had I had the chance.

I can’t say why, but I really loved this painting. I got a really good picture of it since I wasn’t being sneaky as I didn’t know better until a guard rushed over to tell me to stop

In perhaps the earliest well known case of fat shaming/fascination, the middle picture shows a nude Eugenia Martínez Vallejo, who at age 6 weighed 70 kg (154 lbs). There is both a clothed and unclothed life size painting of her in the museum.

The version of the Mona Lisa shown here is claimed to be a draft painted by DaVinci BEFORE the more famous version pictured in the Louvre

The photo doesn’t do it justice, but the reality of the Dutch still life paintings was amazing.

Paintings which I was able to see which truly impacted me were the following: Las Meninas by Diego Velasquez, Saturn and The third of May by Goya and of course the Mona Lisa. These were all paintings I had constantly read about and seen pictures of both in books and on television. It’s hard to explain the awe I felt at actually seeing them in person. Like with most art galleries, one could easily spend days exploring, but like most of us, I was a bit overwhelmed after a few hours, so by 3:30 PM I left.

Things had gone faster than I’d anticipated and I didn’t want to go to El Retiro until later in the afternoon. So, I just walked around a bit.

This is not particular to Spain, but I’ve always been flabbergasted at the verisimilitude of the food sculptures displayed at some east Asian restaurants

By 4:00 PM I was enjoying myself but also felt I should make more of an effort to still see something special about Madrid during my only full day. More high brow culture was out, but this IKONO place described as an immersive art experience for the five senses was highly recommended.

This was perhaps a bit expensive at 15 euros for an adult entry fee, but I have to admit it was great fun, and certainly it helped reset my brain after so much cultural overload. Definitely this would be a great place to visit with a friend or family member, but it was also a decent amount of fun by myself. I think it is unlikely anyone would spend more than 90 minutes there, but it is still a very good time and a unique opportunity to get lots of cool pictures.

Like I said, it’s basically an Instagram photo factory!

Finally at 5:30 PM I headed over to Parque el Retiro, easily arriving by 6:00 PM

There were lots of used book sellers along the way across the street from the park. They seemed to be “regular books” rather than rare or expensive special editions

Entrance to the park is free and I suspect it’s one of the regular highlights of life in Madrid. The park is huge and clearly widely used by locals. There are plenty of spots to relax, enjoy nice live music, or just walk around in peace.

Plaza de Costa Rica had absolutely nothing to do with Costa Rica, but it was still interesting to find.

I had a great time, but after two and a half hours in the park, it was 8:30 PM and it was time for me to leave. As the park is very large, with winding paths everywhere, it was actually a bit difficult for me to find my way out. I thought it might be nice to have some discreet exit signs posted, but I guess they don’t want people to feel rushed.

Since it was my last night in Madrid, I decided to get what I imagined to be a traditional dinner, not spending like crazy, but also not worrying too much about the cost. About 15 minutes away (walking) was a well rated place described as having down home cooking at a reasonable price: Restaurante San Román.

I can’t judge the authenticity, but the food was tasty and filling. With two bottles of 1906 beer, the cost was only 17.50 euro (18.50 USD).

With that, my time in Spain was basically over. I could have gone out on the town, but I had a 3:00 PM flight to Costa Rica the next day and had been strongly advised to be at the airport at least three hours ahead of time. With really only one full day in Madrid, I felt like I had made good use of my time. Certainly, I had many experiences which couldn’t be replicated elsewhere.

Since my upcoming trip to Costa Rica is mostly about visiting old friends and taking care of some personal business, I probably won’t post much while there, but who knows, maybe I will still have some interesting bits to share. So anyways, until I write again, I hope you also are having your own amazing adventures, even if they are only in your own back yards or just down the street from where you live. Thanks for keeping in touch, and goodbye for now.

Spain trip: Day 3 (25-June)

Hey friends, as was to be expected after my early morning arrival back to the room, I didn’t get up until around 11:30 AM, and even then I was about an hour more before heading out. I didn’t have a clear mission in mind today, but for the moment all I knew was that I wanted food, and boy oh boy did I find it!

Based on the cost, I thought that this chicken meal maybe had something like a leg and a thigh, with a few french fries as decoration. However, it actually appeared to be an entire chicken!

As I proved, it is possible for one person to eat all of this, but I think it makes more sense for at least two people to share, maybe even three would be fine.

I wasn’t sure about what to do today, but then I remembered that everyone says you are supposed to go to La Rambla, so I figured that I may as well tick that off the list as well. It was a short subway ride, and by 2:30 PM I was exploring.

I liked the way they had these waiting chairs. It was much nicer than benches.

La Rambla was nice and all, but I didn’t really understand why people say it’s so amazing. The trees did help make it a bit cooler, so I guess there was that.

I don’t know why, but I love taking pictures of clothes hanging to dry. I guess it just seems “real”.

So I had figured that I wouldn’t need much time to see La Rambla and I was right. Thus, before heading out I decided to take a chance and book a flamenco show for 5:30 PM at City Hall Theater. This was very close to La Rambla (It might even be right on the boulevard; I don’t remember now.) so I knew it would be easy to arrive after I was finished. The cost was about 25 USD, as I had chosen a mid-range seat. The cheapest would have been about 20 USD. Surprisingly, and happily, I think this was one of my best purchases for the trip. It was only about 50 minutes, but it was worth every penny and I highly recommend it should you get the chance.

Pictures alone really don’t do it justice. The combination of the live music, the intensity and precision of the dancers and the dramatic snap of their heels on the floor was mesmerizing. I can’t speak for other flamenco shows in Barcelona, but this one was spectacular. These were true artists, fully dedicated to their craft.

Exiting the theatre I noticed lots of people headed down one street and in the distance I could hear cheering and music. Like any good tourist, I once again decided to follow the crowd. It was a Pride parade and I was really impressed with both the organization and even the way they were immediately cleaning up as the parade finished passing by.

By the time the parade had finished going by, it was almost 9:00 PM. I didn’t want a repeat of last night’s desperate hunt for food so I resolved to just go into the first decent looking place I saw.

As luck would have it, I saw a fairly large restaurant called Wok Dao which had many people entering, most in modest clothes, so it seemed likely that the food must be both good and reasonably priced. The place was packed, and I was immediately seated by an efficient hostess. When I asked for the menu, she told me that it was only a buffet, but that it really was very delicious, so I should check it out. Having had such a large late lunch, I wasn’t eager for a buffet, but I also didn’t want to hunt for another restaurant. So I decided that 25 euros would be fine for my final dinner in Barcelona, and I went up to check it out. Clearly the biggest draw of this place is its seafood, and it DID look amazing, but I’m allergic (anaphylactic reaction) to shellfish, so all of that was out with me. However, the staff assured me that there was no cross contamination of food during preparation, so I guessed it was safe. Even without the shellfish, the buffet was definitely worth 25 euros. I ate way too much again, and enjoyed every bite.

From here, it was a quick and easy trip subway ride back to my lodging, arriving by 11 PM. I wanted to get a good rest as the next morning I would be traveling to Madrid by train. I hadn’t expected my final day in Barcelona to be all that interesting, but once again, fate kept me happily occupied all day long. Let’s hope that things in Madrid also go this well. Anyways, thanks for reading, and let me know if you have any questions. I’ll do my best to help with any additional details as needed.

This female dancer actually fell down near the end of her partnered dance, but she handled it like a champ and jumped right back up.

Spain trip: Day 2 (24-June)

Hey everyone, so if you’ve ever read or seen anything about Barcelona, chances are that you already know everything I’m going to share today. I guess some of the personal insight may be new, but everything else comes from a classic trip to Barcelona.

Classic selfie in front of the iglesia la sagrada familia (sacred family church). If you’ve ever seen a picture of a church from Barcelona, it was no doubt this one.

As mentioned in an earlier post, I was staying in a residential area not frequented by tourists. Nevertheless, Roquetes (where I was staying) is well connected via two different subway lines, so it was only about 30 minutes maximum to get to any main tourist areas in Barcelona. The extra 15 minutes of travel time was more than compensated by the significant savings in money. Like I’ve said before, if you are planning on visiting Barcelona, plan to spend a lot on lodging, but you can significantly cut costs by staying a bit further away. As long as where you are staying is connected to the subway, you will be fine.

As I had been advised to do, several days earlier I had bought a 9:30 AM entry ticket to the church, also opting for the self-guided (audio guide) option. The 9:30 AM option is supposed to be the least crowded according to recommendations from many people. Separately, the human guided tours have too many people for it to be a plus, and you end up having to use special hearing aids to understand the guide, so you may as well just get the pre-recorded option. I suppose it’s possible to pay a huge sum of money and get a truly personalized guide for a group of maximum 4, but that’s not what I saw happening in and around the church. My “self-guided” option had a cost of 45 USD and included access to the passion tower. The cheapest you can get is 33 USD. Again, if you are doing standard tourist stuff, Barcelona is NOT a cheap place to visit. Also, I almost forgot to mention, if you don’t buy your ticket ahead of time, most likely you won’t get in; this place is popular.

I paid a lot to get in here, so I definitely needed a selfie as proof.

So, is it worth it? Well, that’s a hard one to answer. If you’ve already specifically made a trip to Barcelona, this is pretty much an obligatory place to visit, so if that’s the case, yes, it’s worth it. Also, especially the inside of the cathedral DOES look different from other Catholic churches you probably have visited before. It’s extremely modern looking, almost like an upper class shopping mall in Asia. Yes, there are all sorts of special details such as the way the pillars are arranged, and the meaning of absolutely every single object in the whole place. However, would you notice the huge majority of these things if you weren’t directly told? No, you wouldn’t. I didn’t take that many pictures since this is probably the most photographically documented cathedral in the whole world. Still, there were a few things I found interesting.

For me, probably the most impressive thing about the church is how they handled the pillars. There is some interesting physics involved for those who care to investigate.

View of the main facade. I forgot the name, but you can easily find it anywhere you read about the church.

If you go up in one of the towers, an elevator takes you up, but you have to walk down. Chunky monkeys be warned, the passage can be very narrow. I imagine even some claustrophobic people would be unhappy with the tight spaces. Here was actually a very wide spot on the stairs.

I tried to drag it out, but the whole visit took about 90 minutes. While natives of the city will probably take issue, I found the whole thing to be a bit overrated. The outside of the church is far more remarkable than the inside, so if money is tight, you will do just fine walking by and admiring it from the outside. To be certain, you could probably spend a few hours carefully examining all of the external features, but you might need a good pair of binoculars since a sort of wall keeps the unpaid casual visitor from getting too close to some of the details. Still, if you have the money, you may as well go inside, since everyone will ask you about it later on.

Hard working street sweepers keep things tidy throughout the city. Like in Bengaluru, almost all seem to be women

My other big plan for the day was Parque Güell, but I had read that it’s best to visit in the late afternoon. So, I needed to still fill up the rest of the day. With my trusty 72 hour metro pass (worth every penny!) I was ready to go. I first explored a bit around the general area of the church, just looking at the normal sites/life of the city.

After wandering around for a bit, I decided to visit the aquarium. At this point, I don’t remember if I had to use the metro again or not, (it really is that simple to use that you quickly don’t even notice) I decided that a visit to the aquarium would be a good idea.

There was a bit of walking involved to get to the entry, but I found the temperature to be fine, and all around there were interesting things to see. Entrance to the aquarium itself is 24 euros for those who are 11 or older, 17 euros for children ages 5-10, and finally 10 euros for those ages 3-4. I assume entrance for infants and toddlers is free. If you want to skip the line, it’s easy to buy tickets online. I thought that this was a bit expensive, especially for those with families, but maybe they have special deals for locals.

A slowly moving sidewalk ensures that people keep pace through the tunnel, but it’s slow enough to still allow one to appreciate the views.

Kids were feeding the Koi with a special mixture in a small bottle

It was penguin feeding time, so it was easy to see the birds in action.

An adorable salamander which is native to Mexico

So while the aquarium was nice enough, I really can’t recommend it unless you either are trying to kill time or of course if you have plenty of money and younger children who would really be into the experience. Even really dragging things out, you would be hard pressed to spend two hours here. It’s fine, but not amazing.

If you are looking for an amazing aquarium in Spain, you would do much better to visit Oceanographic in Valencia. That one costs 32 euros for an adult and DEFINITELY is worth it. In fact, you might even be able to justify an entire two day trip to Valencia solely on visiting the aquarium there. Still, the aquarium in Barcelona was pleasant enough, but just a bit too expensive. In particular, I wish they had better deals for kids and younger teenagers, as they are the ones who are more likely to appreciate a place like this. For instance I was thinking of my brother’s family; the kids would love the aquarium in Barcelona, but paying entry for six kids and at least two adults would quickly become prohibitive. Again though, if you have extra money and don’t mind a quick aquarium trip, go ahead and head out to the Barcelona aquarium.

Since things had gone so quickly at the aquarium, I realized that I would still have time to get to Parque Güell for a late afternoon visit, even though it was already 5:15 PM. The ticket aggregators showed that there were no longer spaces available today, but by going directly to the Parque Güell website, I was still able to get a ticket for 7:00 PM. The cost was 10 euros. As is probably obvious, this is another place that you need to buy advance tickets online; otherwise, you are probably going to be turned away when you get to the entrance. Using my metro pass, there was still plenty of time to arrive, so I made a leisurely voyage in that direction.

The aquarium is right next to a harbor, so there are plenty of nice boat views

Another selfie, but this one is completely different because there are boats in the background!

The picture doesn’t show it well, but the park is at the top of a rather steep hill; you really have to want to go there. Those with mobility issues would probably need to find another way up from the metro station. Also as I was going up, many disappointed people who had not bought their tickets online ahead of time were coming back down.

The tree shown is a Jade tree which was about two meters tall. I had no idea they could grow so large!

Using my electronic ticket, it was easy to gain entry. Even though I arrived about thirty minutes ahead of time, they let me in without any problem. I wasn’t sure what I had expected , but it wasn’t this. I guess I thought it was actually more of a plaza with different sculptures, but it’s actually a very well designed, proper nature park. There were plenty of moments of pure tranquility with an abundance of birdsong in the background, as well as the more famous sections you’ve seen in pictures.

I actually spent about 30 minutes just sitting on a stone chair which was located up underneath these arches.

When I first came by, access to this area had been restricted due to excessive visitors, but a bit later it was wide open and again I could just sit for awhile and appreciate the park.

One of the more emblematic creations of the park

This could actually be easily viewed from outside.

So of the three “iconic” Barcelona sites I visited today, I would have to say that my favorite was the park. However, as it clearly was meant to be a regularly functioning park for the people of the city, I was once again a bit sad for the locals. I mean how annoying is it that you would have to pay 11 USD per person to visit your nice neighborhood park? Again though, maybe there is some special unpublished deal for local people which makes it more affordable to visit on a regular basis, just getting some nice relaxation time while they sit on a thoughtfully placed bench and chat with neighbours or read a book.

By now it was 9:00 PM, so I had to decide if I would head back to the apartment in Roquetes or do something more. I asked one of the locals if they could suggest anything, and they mentioned a free concert in Plaza España which would be going for most of the night, starting at around 10:00 PM. Evidently it’s fairly common for things like this to happen. Armed with my invaluable 72 hour metro pass, I headed that way.

The concert went well into the night, but I was rather tired, so I left a bit after midnight. Even though I had eaten a sandwich at the concert venue, that was actually all I had eaten the whole day. Given that the Spanish tend to dine very late, I was hoping that there would be something open close to the apartment. Regardless, I understood that the trains would stop at 2 AM, and I wanted to get back safely before then. Worst case scenario, I figured I just wouldn’t eat anything else.

When I arrived at 1:00 AM, the only thing open was this little 24 hour bar near the apartment. They actually weren’t serving any food at this hour, but when I expressed my regrets the owner hunted around and offered me this reheated plate of leftovers from earlier in the night which she felt she couldn’t sell, so she offered me these chicken wings and patacones for free! They were delicious, and no, I didn’t get sick.

These two men at the bar and the owner were very friendly. Some other guy even included me in a round of drinks before heading off for the night. So I had four beers, a plate of chicken and patacones, and great conversation for only 6 euros! I did however leave a 2 euro tip in recognition of the food which she wouldn’t sell.

Finally at 2:30 AM I was back in my room and already falling asleep on my feet. With no particular plans for the next day, I figured I would just pull the blackout shades and sleep until I awakened on my own, no matter what the time would be. It was a great first full day in Barcelona, and whenever I get up tomorrow, I’m sure I’ll still discover plenty of interesting things to do and see. Thanks for continuing to follow along with me, and I will write again soon.

Spain trip: Day 1 (23-Jun)

Hey folks, so I know that by immediately following up my Ladakh trip with a trip to Spain, it makes me look like some sort of glamorous world traveler, but that’s really not the case. It’s just that travelling home from India to Costa Rica is a really long trip, so if possible, I try to do at least a couple of days layover in western Europe before continuing on my way. In the past I’ve stuck to Madrid, but this time around I’m changing things up a bit by spending a few days in Barcelona.

In case you are curious, due to the distance, the combined airfare is actually usually cheaper this way, but yes, there is the added expense of lodging, food etc… I guess if I had someone in the city to visit with, that cost would also disappear, but for now that’s the case. Regardless, I’m still really excited to get to spend a few days in Barcelona; I’ve never been before, and there will be plenty to see. For sure I’m planning on visiting the Sagrada familia church and Parque Güell. Aside from that, I’m still not sure.

So anyways, my trip started at 12 midnight, as I got an Ola (It’s basically an Uber clone from India) from Yelahanka New Town (northern Bengaluru) to the KIA (Kempegowda International Airport). Although it’s frequently hard to get a car from there, it was very easy this time around, only costing 800 INR ( 10.20 USD) but I gave a 100 INR tip due to the time and the good driving.

Happily, things went very quickly with Qatar Airways check-in, immigration and security. This time around I’m traveling with very little luggage since my later flight from Madrid to San Jose, Costa Rica will be with the rather sketchy sounding IberoJet airline. I’ve never flown with them before, and their baggage allowance is tiny (with massive checked baggage fees) especially for a cross Atlantic flight. Still, I will make it work. Separately, this is also my first time to travel with Qatar Airlines, and I just say that I’m impressed!

Even in economy, the seats were comfortable and the service very good

I don’t usually care about these things, but the screens on the flight from Bengaluru to Doha were very large, I think at least ten inches, with an impressive array of entertainment options, including front and downwards camera views, a rather common inclusion now which I really enjoy.

I know it’s trendy to trash talk airline food, but this was an amazing meal. It’s hard to tell with the lighting, but there was a yummy frittata with lamb sausage, potatoes, fresh cut fruit, delicious creamy yogurt, and some sort of greens.

My flight was 4 hours and thirty minutes. With the exception of when I was eating, I slept most of the way. The adjustable head rest makes it easy to get comfortable. My only criticism would be that as is the norm on airplanes, the temperature was quite chilly. However, the sealed blankets provided were more than large enough and made for a comfortable cover as I slept through the majority of the flight.

This was also my first time to transit through Doha and I’ve got to say, it’s pretty amazing. I know this will make me look like some sort of a country bumpkin, but everything about this hyper organized airport seems to be constructed to transmit a feeling of serenity. Even going through security was a pleasant experience with incredibly polite attendants throughout. No needless screaming at people to hurry up here!

I only had a little over ninety minutes before boarding my next flight, so I didn’t really take advantage of most of the comforts of the airport, but still, it was such a pleasant ninety minutes. Layovers tend to be something to be endured, but this one actually added to the joy of the trip itself. In contrast, when I’ve previously transited in nearby Sharjah, I’ve felt like I was in a holding cell. Why can’t all airports be as nice as Doha?

Even the ride in the transit train to D gate area was super smooth and quiet

The chairs were comfortable, and there to the left you can see a bit of a video art installation relating to the upcoming World Cup in Qatar

Well, everything had been going so well. On the next flight I got my do gooder points for the week. I willingly gave up my aisle seat so that a mother could sit with her son. I wasn’t thrilled about this, but I figured that someone was going to get stuck with this, so it may as well be me. Like pretty much everyone, I detest the middle seat, but I figured I would live. This plane was notably less luxurious than the previous one, but I was sure it would still be fine. Happily, just before take off, they relayed that an alternative solution had been found, so I was able to return to my original seat. So I still got my do gooder points but was also able to return to my original aisle seat!

We were a bit late taking off, leaving at 8:55 AM rather than at 8:15 AM, because we were waiting for some other connecting flights which had not come in on time. This also happens in some other countries; it’s a bit inconvenient, but this seems to be a better solution than making a bunch of people miss their connecting flight due to no fault of their own. The flight itself went smoothly, taking just over 7 hours for us to arrive to Barcelona.

A tasty chicken snack which was served shortly before our arrival to Barcelona.

For a phone connection in Spain, I had decided to try something new based on a travel blog I had seen online. So, before departure, I installed the Airalo app and downloaded an esim which would give me 5 gigas of data for only twelve USD, with a validity of 30 days; the process for installation on my Pixel 4a was very simple. Yes, I could have opted for 10 gigas of data for only eighteen USD, but I figured that with WiFi, I didn’t really need that much data for a six day trip. Honestly, with phone data being so cheap and access generally very good in India, I’ve become very spoilt, not really having much of a realistic idea of how much people in the rest of the world use.

Right within the airport, getting a three day Barcelona pass was easy, but I wished I had purchased via the TMB app instead of on paper since all they give you is a flimsy sheet of heat printed paper. Later on I realized that you are supposed to use a code on that same sheet in order to get a more durable cardboard pass. One of the metro workers kindly helped me with that once I had gotten off the airport bus, but then couldn’t figure out how to use the paper to get on the metro. Overall, even though I was staying at an Airbnb outside of the more central part of the city (Lodging in Barcelona is expensive! Staying a bit further away but still well connected via subway helps reduce costs considerably.), it was still easy to get to my lodging using public transport and Google maps.

The neighborhood was clean and quiet, not at all a tourist area, but as mentioned earlier, it was well connected via nearby subway lines. For less than what I would have had to pay for a more centrally located bed in an eight person mixed dormitory, I had a very pleasant private bedroom with my own bathroom.

It was now around 5:00 PM, so I decided to wander around the neighborhood a bit. I was also a bit hungry and needed a better plug adapter as my normal travel one wasn’t working well. Since I wasn’t in a tourist area, I was able to get a delicious meal for only 5 euros and also find a better adapter for one 1.25 euros. I thought that maybe tomorrow I would stop in to one of the local bars for some tapas and a beer.

After I had confirmed that the new power adapter worked well, I rested for about 30 minutes before once again heading out to see what was going on with the Sant Joan festival. My host Victor had suggested that either Plaza España or Barceloneta would be ideal spots for the festivities. Since Barceloneta was a bit closer, I decided to go there. Evidently the party goes all night, starting at about 10 PM. However, since I was a bit tired from my travels and also had a 9:30 AM entry to La Sagrada Familia, I decided that I would only stay until 11:30 and then head back to sleep. Even with such a short time out, it was great to see how all the locals and many visitors were participating.

While not much of a crowd by Indian standards, there were quite a few people in the subway, so I just followed the crowd.

They led me to the beach where it seemed to be a sort of unorganized yet still orderly beach party with people talking, responsibly drinking, and setting off small fireworks.

Having just flown in from India, I found it funny that they were selling these Indian themed sheets to sit on while at the beach.

Some of the personal fireworks were quite large, but many were just small and rather annoying large firecrackers.

There were plenty of public toilets, including these open air urinals which can be seen to the left of the center of the picture.

Even though I was on my own and couldn’t stay out late, I was very happy for the opportunity to participate in this local festival.

At around 11:40 PM, I went ahead and headed back to the apartment where I was staying. Since this was a festival day, public transport was running all night. By 12:15 AM, I was in bed. Tomorrow will be my big “tourist day” in Barcelona, so I’m expecting to see all sorts of fascinating places. Of course, as has happened in the past, things might not turn out as planned, but I’m sure I’ll have a great time. Until then, thanks for reading and don’t hesitate to reach out in the comments section if you have any questions.

Below the fireworks you can see the outline of what I assume to be some sort of local iconic oceanside construction.

Ladakh trip: The end (20-21 June)

Hey everyone. While I didn’t actually leave from Ladakh until the morning of the 21st, the trip itself was basically over as of June 20th.

For the most part I slept quite well, no doubt partially because I was very tired. However, many would have been unhappy as the mattress was made of extremely firm foam. If you’ve ever laid down on a wrestling mat, that’s pretty much what it was like. Although it was 2 degrees Celsius (36 F) outside, it was much warmer inside than with my luxury tent experience last night.

Yes there was of course more tea. Not pictured here was a matching porcelain lid which served to keep the drink warm before it was actually consumed.

Breakfast was a thin “omelet” served on plain sliced white bread. I thought Dawa’s mom must have snuck in some cream or maybe a bit of cheese, as it was much tastier than plain egg, but then when I asked, she insisted that it was just high quality local eggs. When I expressed disbelief, she made me another one as I watched, and sure enough, she cooked with just a tiny dab of butter, and then directly beat the egg with no seasoning before adding it to the pan. Who knew that plain egg could taste so good?

As it had snowed again the previous night, Dawa indicated that we shouldn’t leave until 9:00 AM so that the sun would have melted most of the ice. The original plan had just been for us to hang around the house before then, but I mentioned to Dawa that I had been surprised to have not found the school the previous evening. He said he would be happy to show me, and that I probably had just not recognised it from the street. Sure enough, he was correct.

Kids were outside gathering drinking water to take into the school. Unfortunately you can’t see the water source here, but they were clearly enjoying being the early ones who were making sure to gather water for the day.

This was actually the same school where Dawa had studied as a child. I had indeed passed it the day before, but due to the plain wall which went around it, I hadn’t recognised it.

The building to the left was the preschool building and that to the right, the actual primary school.

They let me look inside, but I didn’t take any pictures since the rooms were rather simple, and I was worried that it might be seen as too intrusive.

The kids were very funny and some tried out a bit of their English on me. Just outside the school, Dawa also pointed out some of the detailed carving on a couple of large boulders right next door. I had seen these previously but didn’t really take the time to look closely. Dawa explained that this area has lots of ancient carving on the boulders and had been rather extensively studied by different historians. I had assumed that any carvings were modern, but he pointed out different languages and petroglyphs which indicated that the rocks had served as sort of historical markers over the centuries. Near the top of one of the boulders appeared to be pre-historic petroglyphs, but there was also a large variety of different scripts, including ancient Mongolian.

The modern central engraving near the base had evidently been a source of controversy since in the process of doing it, a good deal of ancient engravings had been destroyed. However, as the rocks were not formally protected archeological objects, the new carving had still been allowed despite protests by many of the locals.

While there is a sign, there is no formal protection of the carvings.

The casual observer wouldn’t really recognise much unless there was someone along to point out the different scripts etc.

Looking at the boulders, I started thinking about how many archeological sites all across India are sort of just like this. With so many pressing daily needs, there just aren’t enough resources to fund proper investigation, much less preservation of so many sites. So much historical information is constantly being lost. I imagine it’s much the same in other parts of the world.

Then at about 9:50 AM Dawa indicated that we really needed to get going. At first the road was very smooth, but things rapidly started to get quite bumpy once again.

I was quite pleased but also retroactively alarmed when I saw a sign that said, “avalanche prone area has ended” but then 20 meters later there was a new sign “caution, avalanche prone area begins”. So I guess it was nice to know we had the twenty meters of relative safety?

From about 10:50 to 11:25 AM we were once more stuck in stand still traffic as we were going over the pass. This whole stretch out road “was adequate” but all dirt and potholes. The worst part though was when we were behind a truck or bus, as pollution/exhaust controls for larger vehicles seemed to be all but non-existent, and we would have to constantly roll up the windows, sometimes even stopping the air intake from the vents.

I got quite bored with this and ended up falling asleep for about 45 minutes but then woke up again just as we once more reached smooth paved roads. At about 12:50 PM. From there on out.

At 1:45 PM we stopped at Kharu for a quick Paratha. Dawa had asked if I would be interested in eating at a local place where he usually stopped. He was a bit nervous that I might find it too simple, but I told him I was happy to try. For the two of us, it was only 160 INR (2.05 USD) and also very tasty!

A prayer wheel and sleeping dogs outside where we are in Kharu

We both had a plate like the one pictured.

Finally by 2:40 PM we were back to Gangba homestay in Leh, and for the most part, my Ladakh adventure was over.

It was nice to catch up with Dorothée and Betsy over the next few hours and then early in the morning the next day we were off to the airport which was only about 15 minutes away by car.

I’m not sure if I’ll ever make it back to Ladakh, but I’m certainly grateful for the great experiences I had and the outstanding people I was able to share with as I explored different areas. A special thanks of course to Betsy, as it was she who first suggested the trip. Things went quite differently from what I had originally planned, but I can happily report that overall, the trip was a great success. Until my next travelling adventure, thanks for reading!

Ladakh trip: Day 10 (19-Jun)

While the bed was admittedly comfortable, getting up required quite a bit of courage, since the whole massive tent sleeping experience just doesn’t make that much sense when it’s this cold. Staying only one night, I still appreciated the novelty, but I wouldn’t recommend it for a longer stay.

After a quick breakfast, we were off to Diskit monastery (yellow hat sect) complex, arriving at around 8:30 AM. It was drizzling for most of the visit, but it was still possible to get around alright. Most visitors to the complex just go to see this one large statue, but Dawa took me up to the actual temple area. It was good that I had him with me, since otherwise I would have thought that the space was closed.

When visiting the earlier monastery, I had not fully understood a lot of the basic information, so I appreciated Dawa being there to explain more. This monastery was actually founded in the 14th century, but much of the current complex is either restoration or even fairly modern buildings. However, the actual temple area is the oldest section of the complex.

This depiction which is found near the entrance to most older Buddhist temples is NOT as I had earlier thought a representation of different sections of hell, but rather a representation of the six different realms in which humans can live. Interestingly enough, in the most advanced realm, humans essentially live as “deities” but they still are not “enlightened”. It is only after one is enlightened that one can leave the cycle of death and rebirth.

Also found at the entrance to most temples are the four guardians, deities who originally opposed Buddha, but with time came to be defenders. They correspond to the four cardinal directions.

I didn’t actually take any pictures in the main temple building, because there was a big sign saying all photos were prohibited. Normally, since I’m not using a flash, I would have taken pictures anyways as long as nobody was worshipping, but Dawa was with me and he is obviously a devout Buddhist, and I didn’t want to cause offense. Still, if you do get a chance to see the temple room, it really is quite different from others which I’ve visited, and in particular if you have a decent guide, it’s definitely worth visiting.

Very near to the temple is the prayer room. While it’s not near as packed as the temple, it’s very beautiful. Again, ideally you would visit this with a guide. Dawa, was more than willing to go into great detail about everything, but I was already a bit overwhelmed, so I don’t remember most of the details.

After spending some time in the prayer room, we walked back down to the car. Clearly much of this area was currently in the process of being restored; whereas, other sections were similarly in need of the same. As we were very high up, there were excellent views of the surrounding area.

I wasn’t especially keen to head over to see the massive statue of a crowned Buddha, but we were already here, so I figured may as well have the whole experience.

It’s hard to appreciate in the picture, but this was clearly a monk off in the distance taking selfies.

This statue, which faces Pakistan was supposedly built to promote peace between India and Pakistan. I couldn’t help thinking that it might actually be counter productive to a peace process. Does a Muslim majority (overwhelming) country really see a huge statue of what for them is an idol, facing them, to be a gesture of peace?

By 10:10 AM we were headed towards Pangong Lake area. Thankfully the road, at least starting out, was not at all crowded and the weather was clear despite the rain from earlier in the day.

It’s hard to appreciate here, but the wall on the walkway headed up to the statue was full of various stacks of rocks which had been left by visitors.

I had hopes that the road would be like this all the way to Pangong.

At 11:20 AM, we hit backed up traffic again. Thankfully this was cleared up by 11:45, and we once again continued on through winding roads, which frequently were in rather good condition, but at seemingly random spots, the pavement would suddenly disappear and it would be all rocks with no obvious sign where one was actually supposed to drive.

At 1:40 PM we ostensibly stopped for a simple lunch, but more importantly Dawa was a bit concerned about the tires, so he took the car for a quick checkup. Here there was also another security checkpoint; I know, it all seemed a bit excessive and bureaucratic, but fortunately Dawa handled everything. Lunch itself could have been worse, but certainly it was nothing to mention beyond that.

By 2:15, we were once again on the road. The mechanic had indicated that yes, some work needed to be done before heading back up a mountain, but we could wait until reaching our final destination. The road here seemed to be in excellent condition, and driving was easy. Of course, there were the ever present mountain peaks in the background.

Finally at 3:25 PM we arrived to Pangong Lake. I had been warned that since the day was overcast, the lake would not look as spectacular as when it was sunny, so one should probably remember that as it relates to my comments. Yes, it was very pretty, and yes the water was crystal clear. However, I honestly thought it was a bit overrated, especially when considering just how hard it was to reach. Furthermore, civilians aren’t allowed to enter the lake, not even in a paddle boat or a row boat, so there just wasn’t much to do. So, should you go? I guess that depends on how much you like looking at lakes and how much time you are willing to spend to get there.

I did rather like these small bunches of flowers growing in the Sandy soil near the lake.

It was rather windy with a temperature of about 3 degrees Celsius (37 F) and my face was so cold I couldn’t really feel it anymore, so that also contributed to my less than ultra enthusiastic appraisal of the lake

There were at least a couple hundred visitors to this particular section of the lake, but as it really is very large, it was easy to find an area far away from everyone else and walk peacefully along the shore.

Yes, I am still happy that I visited the lake area. It IS nice, but I was certainly ready to leave after about twenty-five minutes. Other people seem to really love it and about 500 meters away from the shore there are several tent camps which from the outside appeared to be similar to where I had stayed the night before.

At 5:00 PM we arrived to Tangtse village. This is where Dawa grew up, and his parents still live there and have a homestay.

The kitchen seems to be the main social area of Ladakhi homes. There was a separate large sitting room, but I said I preferred to be with them where they would normally visit as a family. This made sense since I was the only outside visitor at this time.

Dawa’s aunt was washing some clothes in the mini canal next to the house. Most of the water was currently being diverted to nearby crops.

My bedroom was more than adequate with plenty of natural light.

Dawa needed to take the car to the mechanic, so after about twenty minutes, I decided to go out walking on my own to explore both the surrounding immediate countryside and then the village itself.

I absolutely adored the picturesque stream which flowed nearby, so I decided to just walk along it for some time to see what could be discovered.

The picture doesn’t do this pony justice.

There was a large rock formation next to the stream, and it had sort of a natural path that went on for about twenty meters

A view of the local monastery in the distance. Dawa said his mother would be happy to go with me, but I said I preferred to appreciate the town itself and the surrounding nature.

I then decided to turn around and head towards the actual village. I was really glad to be here. The earlier villages I had visited, while no doubt authentic, sort of seemed like romanticized attempts to hold onto the past. This village certainly still had its obvious historical influences, but I suspected that it was actually more representative of what most modern Ladakhi people hope to have. Of course this is my purely personal interpretation.

The entrance to what appeared to be a very nice and modern local government clinic

At 6:50 PM I headed back to the house. I had been a bit surprised to not see a school, since the village seemed quite large, but maybe I just missed it. Also, I was only exploring along the main road, so there was a lot left unseen. I wanted to see more, but it was really too cold for me to still be out walking, especially with the wind, but then I thought to use my surgical mask along with my ear cover and hat. This actually helped a lot.

Almost as I reached the house, I was very excited to finally get a close look at a sort of large black and white bird which I had several times seen from a distance in Ladakh. According to Dawa, it’s a Magpie. I had previously heard the name, but this was the first time I had really ever seen one.

I was back inside by 7:30 PM and ended up watching two hours of NHK World, which they had clearly chosen for my benefit rather than their own. I’m not sure why they thought that would be entertaining (Maybe because it was in English?), but I will admit that I learned quite a lot about “fresh freezing” and bottled green tea. There was also a bit of world news, but the “best Japanese inventions” section was way more interesting.

For a while I tried to keep being polite when Dawa’s mom kept refilling my cup with butter tea, but after refill #4, I just turned the cup upside down and placed it behind me. Anything less, and she just refused my polite protestations and hand gestures of “no thank you”. Since customs around offering and receiving drinks/food seem to differ so much from place to place, maybe we should all institute the practice of giving a short instructional card before someone enters a house. What do you think?

Dinner itself was simple but tasty. The company was wonderful.

As soon as I finished dinner, eating before everyone else because I was obviously very tired, I headed straight off to bed. It was 9:45 PM. I’m not really sure when everyone else ate, but dinner here, like in much of India seems to be eaten rather later than what is the norm for me.

As I stumbled towards the bedroom, Dawa warned me that the road back to Leh might be a bit tiresome since more rain and snow was expected that night, but he assured me that there would still be a way to get me back to Leh with plenty of time for me to get ready to leave the morning of the 21st. I wasn’t really sure how things would turn out, but I was completely certain that the next day would bring plenty more interesting experiences.

I saved the best picture of the lake for the end of the blog post. I hope you like it!

Ladakh trip: Day 9 (18-June)

I got up happily at 5:30 AM to quickly repack, decide what to take, what to leave behind, and ended up with only my small blue daypack for this three day trip. The plan was to leave at 8:00 AM.

While showering, I received several text alerts but assumed they were just messages from friends. I got out quickly, slathered on the moisturizer (without which my face and hands flake and crack in this cool dry desert clime) and discovered that the alternative route which we had planned on taking had now also been temporarily blocked due to some rain and snow on the mountain pass. Our preferred route had already been blocked by a big rock slide two days ago. As I left the room to head to the eating area, the shock of cold air and wet table and tiles confirmed the change in weather to which I had already been alerted.

According to Dawa (my driver and guide), the alternative mountain pass crossing should still be safe, but now our departure would be either 9:30 or 10:00 AM. I still wanted to do this three day trip, but I made clear to him that safety was first, both his and mine. Then stepping outside, I was hit with a shock of cold air, the sight of wet tile and stray raindrops. Assuming the weather is similar where Dorothée and Betsy are now located, I certainly hope they are okay. Even with my light gloves and fancy new rain poncho, I definitely wouldn’t want to be out on the mountain passes in this weather. Still, I trust Thinlas will keep them safe, but I can’t help remembering how slippery some of the paths were, even with ideal weather . . .

At about 10:30 AM, Dawa arrived and we headed off on the second highest motorable road in the world, Khardong mountain pass. Starting out, things seemed to be going well, with the first military checkpoint at 11:50 AM (have to make sure I’m not a terrorist). The travel was quite smooth as we headed further up the pass. Before that, traffic so backed up that we were frequently just parked. The road had two lanes and seemed in very good condition.

Then around 12:15 for some reason we were stuck again in a stalled line of cars. I guess it had to do with managing the mountain pass, perhaps only allowing a few cars at a time, probably only one direction at a time? Still, I suppose it was a good opportunity for some photos. At 1:43 PM, still mostly not moving, I asked Dawa what was the problem, and he said it was because mainland Indians (meaning those not from either the far north or northeast) all want to stop and take pictures at the highest point of the pass, especially when there is snow like now.

If that was really the case, then I don’t mind saying it was absolutely absurd. I am always very conscious that I’m a guest when visiting a country, but this sort of activity should be prohibited and if needed, there should be law enforcement officials stationed to make sure it doesn’t happen. This makes a massive problem for everyone and it’s also potentially a safety issue on a road such as this. But anyways, I certainly can’t change it;

Sure enough, it appeared that he was correct. As soon as we passed the top of the pass at 2:00 PM, cars were parked all over the place with people posing for their Instagram pics in the snow. After that, the road was wide open. Seriously, I know that for them it was important, but so many crazy people taking pictures and blocking the road at the top? There was noticeable but not heavy snow as we took the descending road. Happily, the road was clear and cars were now moving quickly.

At 2:33 PM we stopped because there was once again some sort of a checkpoint. How many of these are really needed on a mountain road with no other access points? Do they think someone is going to parachute in and then casually take the road? Enough complaining though. We were quickly on our way again and by 2:40 PM we had driven out of the snow, arriving to Khardung village a little after 3:00 PM.

There we stopped for a very simple lunch and then continued on, arriving to Diskit village in the Nubra Valley at 5:00 PM. Diskit is relatively large, so probably should be called a town. Around this area there are many “tent camps” and it was too one of these that we went to quickly leave bags etc… before continuing on the trip.

As you can see, a tent camp here is not what most people would be expecting. While the idea is initially novel, I figured that it would probably make more sense to build more permanent structures, and in the mid term might even make more financial sense . Regardless, that seems to be the thing here.

After having the obligatory cup of tea, I went into full on tourist mode. At the nearby sand dunes with the charming Mochu stream, there were quite a few people doing archery with rubber tips, ATV rides in a separate area which was far enough away to not be at all disturbing, a dress up station to wear traditional Ladakhi clothes and Bactrian (two humped) camels!

Like everywhere I’ve seen in Ladakh, the views themselves were simply beautiful (despite the throngs of people). I was also very happy to see that the young camels too small and untrained to be ridden were left to play as they pleased, sometimes just trailing along with their mothers. Dawa urged me to do a camel ride, and while I secretly felt I should be disdainful of the notion, I quickly relented and got in line to buy my 350 INR (4.50 USD) ticket for a roughly five minute camel ride through the heavy sand.

As is the norm in most of India, several people tried to push their way in front of us in the line. Whereas I generally patiently endure what I see as inconsiderate rudeness, Dawas was having none of it and politely but firmly instructed each interloper to head to the back of the line. The whole waiting process was only a few minutes (maybe 5?) And then I was greeting camels and getting on the back of one.

As far as I could tell, the camels were well cared for (no I’m not any sort of an expert) and were extremely docile, even allowing little kids to pet their faces. I’m not sure what I was expecting of an up close camel experience, but this exceeded expectations.

During this time of year, they are shedding, but their skin is thick and pleasant to the touch. Their fur was a bit rough, but also pleasant. Perhaps because of the cool temperature, there was no noticable odor. I’m glad Dawa talked me into the ride, since it’s unlikely I will ever again be this close to a camel (domesticated or otherwise) and I will certainly never have a practical justifiable reason to ride one.

After the ride, I spent a few minutes visiting with some of the calves.

If a friend had been along to tease me into it, I’m sure I would have played dress up. However, as it was just Dawa, my fake superiority won out and I walked by the “Be a Ladakhi ” stand with swift steps and my head high in the air.

Dawa thought I wouldn’t really be interested in the traditional dance exhibition tent, cost of 100 INR (1.25 USD), but I begged to differ and I’m happy to report I was correct. I was a bit disappointed that there were only women dancing, but Dawa explained that most Ladakhi men, while knowing how to do traditional dances, don’t usually participate in these sorts of events because there are few of them, and they are off doing better renumerated jobs.

By then it was already 7:30 PM so we headed back to the camp. Dinner started quite late, so we spent about 90 minutes with Dawa telling me his ideas about Buddhism and also the economic outlook of the region. The former was quite positive with the latter seeming rather bleak. Still, unlike many/most men from Ladakh, he expressed a strong interest in sticking it out, trying to be successful in the land of his ancestors. I wish him the best, but with tourism which is really only feasible 3-4 months out of the year being the primary private sector endeavor, the prospects don’t seem great. Of course there are multiple ways to define success and certainly numerous roads to happiness.

Dinner itself was unremarkable, and then at 10:00 PM. I headed to my tent. Without going into great detail, this was the first night I was genuinely COLD. I used all three blankets and was also thankful to Thinlas who had earlier explained to me how most Ladakhi people will position the covers for maximum warmth; I finally got a chance to apply that lesson.

Anyways, let’s see what tomorrow will bring. For now, bye everyone.