A few final thoughts

While flying our final leg back to Orlando, I had a chance to reflect on what a fabulous trip we were completing.  I spent a little time thinking about each of the destination, but what really made this expedition special was the people.  And by this, I mean both the people we met at each destination but especially the people we shared the experience with.

The people that signed up for this trip are obviously up for an adventure.  This trip is not for the faint of heart with 5:00 a.m. wake-up calls and a new destination every few days.  However, everyone kept a smile on their face and welcomed each new destination with a continuing sense of wonderment.  We met some wonderful people that we will not hesitate to contact when passing through their hometowns.  There may even be some additional travel with some of our new friends in the near future.

The TCS staff was outstanding and made the trip feel effortless even though there were countless hours behind the scenes making sure everything ran on time without any major problems.  Eszter, Lynn and Mary all were our moms, making sure our luggage boarded the plane and was delivered to our rooms, our customs documents were filled out, and our tours were informative.  To make this trip on our own would have taken much longer due to all the logistics we would have had to handle on our own.  Bravo to them all.

The expert presenters added color to the trip with minimal effort on our part.  In particular, Charles was invaluable when making decisions on what tour options to take, also offering shopping services when needed.  The presentations helped make our 7 hour flights fly by.

The flight crew really worked hard to make our 72 hours on the plane pass by with as little discomfort as possible.  We really felt like we were returning to our family when boarding the jet.  On our final flight, David and I along with a couple of other passengers were recruited to give the safety demo.  Video to follow.  They greeted us with warm towels and smiling faces.  David was the recipient of two large bags filled with sour cream pretzels that they knew he had become addicted to.  They were truly a special addition to the trip.

Would I do this again?  In a heart beat.  Do I have any regrets?  None.  We've already started looking at future trips with TCS hoping to entice some of our new friends to join us.  I hope this blog has been informative and entertaining and worth the time you've spent reading it.  It definitely will serve as a reminder to me what a special November I had in 2011.

Last Stop - Morroco

It’s hard to believe, but our trip is almost over.  Our final stop is Fes, Morocco home of one of the largest medinas (old walled city) in the world and we were staying right next door.  Walking through the gates of this city within a city was like walking into the past.  No motor vehicles are allowed (perhaps because their streets more resemble alleys) which means mules are truly the beast of burden of choice.  There are thousands of streets, which makes a guide essential if you want to emerge sometime this year.

Small shops line the streets with sections  of the souq dedicated to textiles, food markets (if you love olives, this is your place), jewelry, pottery, practically anything you would ever want.   Hidden behind doors are courtyard houses of up to 4000 square feet where extended families continue the tradition of sharing housing. 

This is a country that values craftsmanship (no blue light specials here) which shows everywhere you look.  The tile mosaics, hand tooled plaster and intricately carved doors decorate every square foot of the buildings.  Silk threads (made from the agave plant not worms) were spun right on the streets.  Inside, we watched these same threads woven into colorful cloth that could be made into anything you desired.

We visited a tannery where centuries old methods (and some dyes that are made from less than appetizing natural sources) turn fresh animal hides into beautiful leather items such as coats, belts, purses and shoes.  This place smells so strong that you are issued a sprig of mint at the door to sniff while watching the dyers dip the hides in huge circular vats of color.  I bought a white leather coat which was dyed using the excrement from, well, let’s just say I may have an urge to perch around parks waiting for crumbs of bread.

If you can judge a society by the wellness of their pets, Morocco is very healthy indeed.  The streets are filled with plump, well groomed kitties.  Scraps of food are offered to them by the local butchers.  Dogs are relegated to the country.

Our final evening concluded with a cocktail party followed by a dinner featuring Moroccan delicacies. I love their use of spices and the stews made from lamb, chicken and beef.  This is one place I definitely will return.  The evening’s entertainment was geared to the guys – a comely belly dancer that happily enticed members of our group onto the dance floor for a little hip shaking.  I’m sure all the women will return home and take up this new pastime if we’re all promised to look like our dancer did!

Pharaohs and Temples

Egypt, the land of Pharaohs and temples, provided quite a contrast to our stop in the animal kingdom of Tanzania.  We would have a chance to visit some of the oldest archaeological sites in the world in the next couple of days.  We’d also have our taste of one of the countries involved in the Arab Spring.

Our only museum visit of the stop, the Luxor Museum, was small but lovely.  We had it all to ourselves which gave us the freedom to view the beautiful artifacts at our leisure.  To put it in perspective, many of the items we were enjoying are thousands of years old, much older than anything found at Machu  Picchu or Ankgor Wat.  The beauty shown in the carving of the facial features was stunning as were the preservation of the mummies housed here.  It formed a great introduction for this historical visit.

The next day, we started with a visit to the Valley of the Kings, without which we might have never experienced Steve Martin singing in a skirt.  Yes, that’s right, this is the final resting place of the boy king, Tutankhamen. While not very important in the scheme of pharaohs, he’s very important to modern visitors because his tomb was one of the few found still intact.  In fact, we even got to view his mummy.  Other tombs, much more decorated with hieroglyphs, were also available for touring.

A word about our constant companions during our tour around Egypt, the souvenir hawkers.  They were everywhere and everything they were selling was quoted in American dinero, mostly a dollar. At first they were cute if slightly annoying.  By day two, they were the scourge of our merry band of travelers.  In addition to selling wares, photo ops and camel rides were on the bartering menu.  This is one part of Egypt I was glad to leave behind.

Our lunch was on board a felucca, a traditional Egyptian sailing vessel, on the Nile.  One of our guides joined our small group and entertained us with his description of the current political situation.  He was there, in a tent, when Mubarak relinquished control of the country and has pledged to return to the square if the Muslim Brotherhood finds a way to win elections being held later this year.  This is a progressive country that respects women’s rights with no plans to return to their restrictive past.  If all Egyptians are as passionate about their country as this gentleman, they have a bright future ahead of them.   

Our afternoon visit took in the Temple of Karnak (no sightings of Karnak the Magnificent, though).  Everything about this temple is huge, from the pillars to the obelisks.  And not just a few pillars but over a hundred of these magnificent beauties.  I could have spent hours here wondering around the temple, but we still had a big night ahead of us, so back to the hotel we went.

If you’ve read my description of our grand evening in India, then our night on the town in Luxor should not come as a surprise.  Horse drawn carriages whisked us away to the Temple of Luxor, reserved exclusive for our evening’s entertainment.  Brightly costumed waiters bearing torches and drinks met us in the artistically lit temple which we were free to wonder through on our own.  An orchestra provided classical music to enhance the evening.  We retired to our dining tent for our grand dinner which we consumed while viewing this ancient structure.  Thus ended a day in Egypt we won’t soon forget.

No trip to Egypt would be complete without visiting the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx in Giza.  A quick one hour flight found us in the capital city of Cairo, complete with 20 million (that’s right that’s million with an m) people.  We avoided most of the traffic on our journey to the 4000 year old site.  This is one of those places that you have to see to believe.  The scale of the Great Temple, not to mention it’s two slightly smaller buddies, is so big you can’t take it all in at once.  The building blocks weigh tons which makes this one of the ancient (and only remaining) wonders of the world.  The Sphinx is equally impressive sitting just a few hundred yards from the pyramids.  This is definitely bucket list worthy.   

In conclusion, I very much loved this progressive Muslim country with its bright future, engaging citizens and amazing past.  Now on to the final destination of this marvelous expedition, Morocco.

On Safari

And now, for something completely different.  Upon landing at Mt. Killamangaro "international" airport, we boarded a little 12 seat bush plane for our adventure into the wilds of Africa.  This is the most efficient way to get to our lodging in the migration camp as the roads apparently are less than ideal.

Toyota Land Cruisers (the kind meant to climb rocks not drop kids off at school) picked us up from the grass landing strip to take us on our first safari.  I'm not sure what I expected from Africa, but it is very green with trees and underbrush and water in small ponds.  Herds of impalas, zebra, giraffe, topi, baboons and an incredible variety of birds are casually feeding everywhere we look.  I know our guide is used to tourists being amazed at every animal we come across but he patiently stopped for photos whenever asked.  He obviously is quite skilled at finding animals even though they blend quite well with their environment.

As in any civil society, drinks awaited us on the top of an observation deck where we were treated to a brilliant sunset and a roaring fire.  The dinner menu avoided any of the animals we had just 'shot' with our cameras.  Our accomodations are large one room tents that sit ontop of wooden floors. If this sounds like we're roughing it, think again.  There are nice hot showers, a king size bed and even sherry for sipping as we sit on our deck.  Our white noise for sleeping was the sounds of hippos in the river.

We were up early the next day for another drive looking for the big cats that had eluded us the previous day.  One of the hardest to find is the leopard because they spend much of their days lounging in trees.  After an hour of looking, our driver received word that a mating pair had been sighted.  Hang on to your hats, we're in hot pursuit.  We arrived just in time to see them coming out of their tree to lounge on the savana (and pose for our pictures).  They eventually jumped back up into another tree where they were totally hidden from our view.  Marvelous.  Next, we found a pride of lions hanging out in an open field.  They are as magnificient as you would expect, surveying their kingdom. 

It took our third time out to find the cheetah.  These cats are a little different than the others.  They are extremely fast but are weak so they must use their speed to capture their meals.  Apparently they make a barking sound.  They were a little irratated by our intrusion but again posed for our cameras. 

After a good nights sleep, we left for our final drive. Our driver, Lema, hoped to find us elephants, but to no avail. However, we did happen upon a dead giraffe that was being picked clean by buzzards. This was mot as gross as it sounds, just a glimpse into the life cycle of the Serengeti. Our final find was a pride of 10 lions having a nice rest near the road. Africa had rewarded us with her great beauty and was a great respite from the crowded streets of India.

One day in India

We found out part way through the trip that the runway at Agra was still being repaired which meant we would not be able to land, visit the Taj Mahal and then move on to Jaipur.  We had to choose between a five hour bus ride, viewing extreme poverty the entire way, spend an hour at the Taj Mahal, then five hours back, OR spend the morning touring Jaipur and spend the afternoon at the spa at the Palace.  Somehow, we didn't think this was a tough choice.  The Taj wasn't really on our bucket list, but seeing a little of India definitely was.

Our morning began by boarding a bus to the Palace Museum and Astronomical Park, getting a great view of the city along the way.  Talk about sensory overload!  Flower markets, cows, vegetable markets, pigs, people sleeping on the street, men urinating on the street, motorcycles, taxis that reminded me of the tuk tuks in Cambodia, beautiful women in saris and men in both traditional and western dress were packed in everywhere.  The are no rules on the road.  People walk down the middle of the street and cars seem to be in a constant contest of chicken.  However, elephants can go anywhere and not fear for their lives. 

The Palace Museum had interesting artifacts but the real draw was the architecture.  The tiles were absolutely beautiful.  The current residence of the royal family is directly behind the museum and is currently headed by a 15 year old.  I would bet his life is much different than the one I saw on the street.  Our second stop was a large open air plaza filed with giant sundials, some of which are accurate to within 2 seconds.  And talk about "takes a lickin and keeps on tickin", these have been here for hundreds of years.  They also had all the signs of the zodiac represented.  Pretty amazing stuff.

Our afternoon was spent wondering the grounds of our beautiful resort.  The grounds have a very diverse array of fowl, including several beautiful peacocks roaming the grounds.  I have to say, they were a little distracting at our morning yoga session.  We even indulge in pedicures at the world class spa.  Talk about different from our Cambodian reflexology!

I have to say I'm still torn over India.  The people are polite and happy to flash their big smiles for our cameras.  There are luxury accommodations that far exceed anything at home.  However, the masses of people and lack of apparent order are a little out of my comfort zone.  Perhaps I will return someday to see the Taj Mahal and more of this huge, diverse country.

A Night in Colonial India

Each stop just seems to get better on this trip.  This time, we're staying in an actual palace - The Rambaugh Palace.  Another flower lei opportunity, but this time there were two women tossing rose petals over our heads as we ascended the stairs to the lobby.  The patio floors were decorated with fresh flower petals crafted into patterns.  I now have a new idea for decorating for our next pool party!

We are staying in one of the most beautiful palaces in one of the most beautiful cities in India, Jaipur.  This evening was one of our grand celebrations, and boy was it.  This was straight out of colonial India when the British still controlled the country.

First stop, men receiving turban head wraps and women, scarves.  David was in heaven because in addition to wine and beer, gin and tonics were offered on the patio.  In the courtyard below, seven painted elephants, camels and white horses stood for our photo ops.  While the women were snapping photos of animals, the men were entertained by lovely women dancers. Next was our own private fireworks display.  After sufficient time to enjoy our beverages, a bagpipe band led the animals and dancers along with us in tow to the back field in anticipation of our elephant polo match.  I'm really not kidding.

Canapes were passed while we watched our fellow travelers mount elephants and play a chucker.  David practically ran to get his shot atop an elephant.  I even took a try at it.  This was unbelievably fun.  We really felt like royalty sitting under our white tent, in white clothed chairs, sipping our gin and tonics while enjoying a little polo.

Finally were led to yet another outdoor venue with white clothed tables, a band playing American classics (think Elvis, Bob Segger and The Beatles) with Indian accents, and a grand buffet of Indian foods for our pleasure.  There was waitstaff to attend to our every need.  Dinner was followed by dancing under the stars.

What a glorious, if a little over the top, evening!

Charming Cambodia

Cambodia is perhaps the most exotic locale that I’ve ever visited.  I remember as a kid hearing about it in reference to Cambodian refugees.  However, many may know of it because of two famous movies.

Lara Croft - Tomb Raider, that Angelina Jolie (she adopted a child from here), Oscar worthy (not), teenage boy fantasy movie, has a very famous scene filmed in one of the temples in Cambodia.  Do you remember the temple where the trees have grown over the ruins?  Well, that’s here, along with several other fascinating relics from a time when Cambodians were a force to be reckoned with.  These are temple complexes the size of Manhattan.  And, one of the largest, also considered one of the wonders of the world, is Angkor Wat.

It’s hard to get a real concept of the size of Angkor Wat because there are moats, then walls, then galleries, then more moats, then reflecting pools, then stairs, you get the idea.  The reliefs carved into the walls are exquisite, telling the story of the Khmer people and their Buddhist and Muslim past.  Buddhist monks still use this temple for worship.  Best of all, there were temple monkeys!   There were also lots of Cambodian children selling bracelets, guidebooks, postcards, anything they thought a tourist might buy.  They knew enough English to not take no for an answer.  I told one little girl that I had no money and she replied, “No money, no honey, no baby”.  Classic.

At our last temple stop, we were treated to a ride around the complex on elephants.  Not the smoothest ride, but definitely one I won’t forget.  Another temple experience I couldn’t miss was sunrise at Angkor Wat.  It sort of reminded me of one of those sun god rituals where everyone gathers at the edge of the water to bow before mother sun as she rises in the east.  There were throngs of people with all sorts of camera gear waiting to record the break of day.  As with most highly anticipated events, they’re never quite what you expect (brilliant colors reflected on the water with the complex in the distance) but I’m glad I experienced it none the less.

The second movie that really was an Oscar contender, The Killing Fields, tells the tale of the short but brutal reign of Pol Pot.  Millions were killed, gunned down in these killing fields, simply for being part of the intellectual class.  Wearing glasses or having smooth palms was enough to make you a target.  The country is still trying to recover from his regime.  Sorry, I really can’t think of anything cute or clever to say about this one.  Humans can really be horrible to each other.

With that uplifting note, I will say that we found the Cambodian people to be charming, engaging, happy people that are the epitome of resilient.  The streets are filled with motorcycles hauling entire families (no car seats here!) at all hours of the day, kids wedged between parents or just clinging to the driver on the back.  Taxis here are called tuk tuks, and involve a motorcycle pulling a rickshaw like contraption.  You can get almost anywhere for a couple of bucks.  The view was well worth the price.

We also experienced the homeland of reflexology/nail salon/spa by getting an hour long leg and foot massage for $6 American.  While this is a place you’d never step into in the states, somehow it seemed okay here.  The one treatment that we avoided was stepping into a tank filled with dead skin eating fish.  Creepy!  Our trip doctor however, thought a picture of him juggling while receiving the fish treatment was worth the risk.  I just hope they have back-ups in case he catches some rare fish flu and has to be airlifted to Singapore.

In conclusion, we LOVED Cambodia, its people and the spark of life you could see in their eyes.  They are fighting their way back from a dark past into a future that hopefully will bring them peace and prosperity.