National Palace Museum
Thursday, May 31, 2007
I washed clothes this morning. I had a number of dirty things from Alaska. The water was so filthy! I hope I got them clean. I was washing them in a bucket in the bathroom.
I had bites on the lower part of one arm this morning. I'm not sure where I got them. They weren't in a line like flea bites. And they were only on that one spot of my body. They were just tiny ones and didn't itch, so I ignored them all day. They seemed to be disappearing by nighttime.
I was still tired from the long trip here and the big walking day yesterday. I really felt sluggish in the morning. So I decided to make only one major outing today. I went to the National Palace Museum. It is the main tourist attraction in Taiwan and houses the treasures that were brought here from the Forbidden City to keep them out of the hands of the Japanese and the Communists. After having read so many great things about this museum, I was a bit disappointed. What they have is exquisite, but it consists mostly of small items. And many of them are not so intriguing. For instance, 1/4 of one whole floor of the museum was an exhibit of royal seals for stamping letters and documents. I was expecting to see furniture, screens, scrolls, etc. There was one scroll and no furniture or screens. Even among the small items, I expected to see lots of intricate jewelry. In fact, there was very little jewelry. I did see lots of porcelain and ceramics, lots of bronze, and a number of small items made from minerals. Overall, the museum was a disappointment. I guess the items themselves are the best examples of such items and that is why the museum gets such reviews. As a general tourist, I found myself having gone through the whole place in just 1 1/2 hours or so.
There were members of the Falun Gong (officially known as the Falun Dafa) handing out literature on the steps to the museum. That is the group that has been banned in China. They say they practice a form of exercise which changes the mind and body both physically and spiritually. There seems to be a religious aspect to the spiritual part which is the problem with the communist government in China. It is impressive that their classes, wherever offered, are free. If so, how does the money come in to pay for their literature and the classes? I don't really know anything about it except what I have read in the newspapers and in their brochure, but it gives me the impression of being somewhat like Scientology--a bit of a cult wanting to declare itself as a purely voluntary religion.
I have decided to stay in Taipei for an extra week. I spent some time rereading my guidebook to try to decide where to go and what to see. Several of the places that interested me are close enough for day trips from here. My room is inexpensive here and it is nice to travel places without the luggage. So I made a list of 6-7 outings I can make from here. I'll do that for the next week. Then I will leave Taipei for about a week to see 2-3 places outside the city that appeal to me--mostly old cities.
My apartment mate Mark is packing up today and moving out tomorrow. He has been living here for some time, but he has now found a place to live on his own. He has been here for 3 years teaching English. Unless someone new moves in during the next week, I will be living here alone. Mark has been a good person to share it with--mostly quiet and operating on a different schedule from mine so that we weren't in each other's way at the computer or in the bathroom. But I will miss having a nice conversation with him for a few minutes each day.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Walking, Walking, Walking...
Wednesday, May 30, 2007--Taipei
I felt refreshed after sleeping a total of 15 hours during the night. Therefore, I decided it was time to have a big sightseeing day. I started with a long metro ride to get me on the north side of town. The first stop was the Fine Arts Museum. I wandered the three floors seeing the various exhibits. Some where good; others weren't so nice. The best were probably the works representing new, upcoming artists in Italy. A local artist who has been influenced by Escher had some interesting paintings, but there seemed to be something lacking in quality. There was a whole floor of landscapes from the permanent collection and another whole floor of calligraphy.
I walked from the museum to a nearby Lin Antai House that used to be a family estate in the country. It was different from houses I've seen in China and elsewhere, but similar. It seemed more sleek and low-rise for one thing. Also, the rooms seemed more compact.
Both the museum and the house had great admission prices--about 90 cents U.S. for the museum and free for the house! That was nice considering how so many countries now try to gouge the tourist. The museum would have been free, too, if I had been 65 years old already.
The Big Walk began after that. I walked southward to Dihua Market, the largest and oldest market in town. There were some nice old buildings there. And the shops were interesting with their teas, medicinal herbs, dried fish, etc. Most of the shops were very clean and very organized.
From there, I passed one of the old city gates from when it was a walled city. And I came to Ximending, an area of town that is popular with young people. I went there especially to see the old Red House Theater that is a red brick structure octagonal in shape.
I had not found a place that seemed easy for me as a foreigner to eat earlier in the day, so I had eaten a granola bar I had in my bag. By now, it was 17:00, and I was starved. The guidebook recommended a nearby street for lots of small restaurants. I went there and found many. One had all the food out cafeteria-style and had a constant line of students. I joined the line. People behind the counter served the food in a cardboard container that had one big section and three small sections. They started with rice in the big section. Then I pointed to three other things to go in the small section--broccoli, rice noodles, and another type of greens. Finally, I had to choose an entre to go on top of the rice and I chose sesame pork. They closed the box, put an elastic band around it, and took my money. I then took a packet of chopsticks and sat at one of the small tables to eat. The food was good, but the rice needed a little salt added in the cooking process, I thought. The extra greens that I got were ones I have eaten before, but this time they were fishy tasting. Later I found a small anchovy in the bottom. I would have enjoyed them more without that taste. A group of male students who sat at a nearby table showed surprise that I was there. They smiled at me and nodded. I smiled and waved back. When I left, they waved goodbye to me.
By then, I was through for the day except for getting home. Zhungshan, a street from there to where I live is the main stopping street of the city, so I decided to walk it. It was a long walk past 8 metro stations that are placed about 4 blocks apart each. But it gave me a good view of the center of the city which has many big department stores and lots of other shops with all the big international retailing names. As I walked, I saw a shop that sold computer batteries and went inside. One of my camera batteries is losing its power and has to be recharged after only 2-3 days instead of the usual 2-3 weeks. I went inside and bought a new one. Either prices are much cheaper here or they have gone down greatly over the past 3 years. The last battery I bought for the camera cost me about $60, and this one was less than $15.
I spent some time in the room trying to plan where I will go when I leave Taipei to travel around the island starting this weekend. But I was really too tired to do a good job of it. I finally gave up and went to bed around 20:00.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007--Taipei
I felt refreshed after sleeping a total of 15 hours during the night. Therefore, I decided it was time to have a big sightseeing day. I started with a long metro ride to get me on the north side of town. The first stop was the Fine Arts Museum. I wandered the three floors seeing the various exhibits. Some where good; others weren't so nice. The best were probably the works representing new, upcoming artists in Italy. A local artist who has been influenced by Escher had some interesting paintings, but there seemed to be something lacking in quality. There was a whole floor of landscapes from the permanent collection and another whole floor of calligraphy.
I walked from the museum to a nearby Lin Antai House that used to be a family estate in the country. It was different from houses I've seen in China and elsewhere, but similar. It seemed more sleek and low-rise for one thing. Also, the rooms seemed more compact.
Both the museum and the house had great admission prices--about 90 cents U.S. for the museum and free for the house! That was nice considering how so many countries now try to gouge the tourist. The museum would have been free, too, if I had been 65 years old already.
The Big Walk began after that. I walked southward to Dihua Market, the largest and oldest market in town. There were some nice old buildings there. And the shops were interesting with their teas, medicinal herbs, dried fish, etc. Most of the shops were very clean and very organized.
From there, I passed one of the old city gates from when it was a walled city. And I came to Ximending, an area of town that is popular with young people. I went there especially to see the old Red House Theater that is a red brick structure octagonal in shape.
I had not found a place that seemed easy for me as a foreigner to eat earlier in the day, so I had eaten a granola bar I had in my bag. By now, it was 17:00, and I was starved. The guidebook recommended a nearby street for lots of small restaurants. I went there and found many. One had all the food out cafeteria-style and had a constant line of students. I joined the line. People behind the counter served the food in a cardboard container that had one big section and three small sections. They started with rice in the big section. Then I pointed to three other things to go in the small section--broccoli, rice noodles, and another type of greens. Finally, I had to choose an entre to go on top of the rice and I chose sesame pork. They closed the box, put an elastic band around it, and took my money. I then took a packet of chopsticks and sat at one of the small tables to eat. The food was good, but the rice needed a little salt added in the cooking process, I thought. The extra greens that I got were ones I have eaten before, but this time they were fishy tasting. Later I found a small anchovy in the bottom. I would have enjoyed them more without that taste. A group of male students who sat at a nearby table showed surprise that I was there. They smiled at me and nodded. I smiled and waved back. When I left, they waved goodbye to me.
By then, I was through for the day except for getting home. Zhungshan, a street from there to where I live is the main stopping street of the city, so I decided to walk it. It was a long walk past 8 metro stations that are placed about 4 blocks apart each. But it gave me a good view of the center of the city which has many big department stores and lots of other shops with all the big international retailing names. As I walked, I saw a shop that sold computer batteries and went inside. One of my camera batteries is losing its power and has to be recharged after only 2-3 days instead of the usual 2-3 weeks. I went inside and bought a new one. Either prices are much cheaper here or they have gone down greatly over the past 3 years. The last battery I bought for the camera cost me about $60, and this one was less than $15.
I spent some time in the room trying to plan where I will go when I leave Taipei to travel around the island starting this weekend. But I was really too tired to do a good job of it. I finally gave up and went to bed around 20:00.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
The Big Sleep
Tuesday, May 29, 2007--Taipei (Continued)
I had a problem trying to publish my writing to my blog yesterday. I opened Blogger and typed my very long entry. Then the buttons wouldn't work for me to post what I had written. I was afraid I would lose it all, but Blogger has a new backup system that saves what is typed as a draft. That's an improvement, because I have never been able to copy what I have written from Blogger to another program to save it in case of problems; when I try to copy, it just will not work. I could see that the draft had been saved, so I gave up trying to publish it to the Blog and just closed the computer.
I had to clean up and put on the same clothes I had been wearing for days of travel. But I wanted to get out and explore the city some. I am living near Taipei 101, presently the tallest building in the world. I walked to there and went into the shopping mall attached. It reminded me very much of the Discovery Center in Bangkok. I bet it is owned by the same company, since the food court was almost exactly the same. I was thinking of eating at the food court, since it was recommended by my guidebook. But then it was noon and thousands of people from the offices above arrived to eat. I could tell by the long lines which were the better choices of places, but I didn't want to deal with the lines and my not being able to speak Mandarin. People behind me would have been in a hurry and likely would have been frustrated by my problems. So I left the center and continued walking the area.
A few blocks away, I found a dumpling outdoor take-away place on the corner. I bought two large pork dumplings which were put in a plastic bag. The lady showed me which condiments were the best ones for it (a spicy red mixture with beans and soy sauce), so I put some inside and was off to walk and eat. It was a bit messy eating it with my fingers, but it sure did taste good!
I was tired. I stopped at a neighborhood park I passed and sat for a while. I began nodding off. So I decided it must push myself more. I walked to the City Hall and toured the Teipei Discovery Museum there. It has exhibits about the history of the city and was recommended by my guidebook as a good place to start a tour of the city. I watched a nice film there showing a day in the life of the city. It was on a 360 degree screen and the floor kept turning continuously during the showing so that different images could be seen in progression. It was fun and interesting.
I was so tired that I walked back to my apartment. I got here at 16:00 and decided to rest a little. I kept thinking that I needed to avoid falling asleep until evening, but I couldn't help it. I started to hear some noise outside and thought it was morning traffic, so I put my ear plugs in and was trying to go back to sleep when I heard tapping at the door. It was my apartment mate, Mark, telling me there was a phone call. The call was from the manager telling me that a taxi was downstairs with my suitcase. I grabbed on my clothes and rushed downstairs to get it.
When I got back up, I checked my watch. It was only 23:00. I was afraid I would not be able to sleep again. I talked to Mark for quite a while. He's a nice young man from Canada--27 years old and uncertain about what he wants to do in life. He has been teaching English here for 3 years and working on learning to speak Mandarin. I took advantage of his knowledge to ask a few questions. One was about the computer problem of not being able to post. He said that the Explorer program on this computer is old and hasn't been updated and suggested that I try Firefox. I did before going to bed and was able to post. Great!!
Wednesday, May 30, 2007--Taipei
At 1:00, I went back to bed wondering if I would sleep. At Mark's urging, I had changed to a different room. The old room had the view of Taipei 101, but the air conditioner wasn't working well and it was noisy from the street traffic. The a/c in the new room was wonderful, and it was quiet. Soon I was asleep again. As the night progressed, I wondered what time it was. When I finally checked, it was 9:00! I had slept a total of 15 hours on each side of the break I took to get my luggage and talk to Mark. I feel much better today than I did yesterday!!
Now I will get dressed and try to have a longer day out seeing parts of the city. It feels so good to be rested.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007--Taipei (Continued)
I had a problem trying to publish my writing to my blog yesterday. I opened Blogger and typed my very long entry. Then the buttons wouldn't work for me to post what I had written. I was afraid I would lose it all, but Blogger has a new backup system that saves what is typed as a draft. That's an improvement, because I have never been able to copy what I have written from Blogger to another program to save it in case of problems; when I try to copy, it just will not work. I could see that the draft had been saved, so I gave up trying to publish it to the Blog and just closed the computer.
I had to clean up and put on the same clothes I had been wearing for days of travel. But I wanted to get out and explore the city some. I am living near Taipei 101, presently the tallest building in the world. I walked to there and went into the shopping mall attached. It reminded me very much of the Discovery Center in Bangkok. I bet it is owned by the same company, since the food court was almost exactly the same. I was thinking of eating at the food court, since it was recommended by my guidebook. But then it was noon and thousands of people from the offices above arrived to eat. I could tell by the long lines which were the better choices of places, but I didn't want to deal with the lines and my not being able to speak Mandarin. People behind me would have been in a hurry and likely would have been frustrated by my problems. So I left the center and continued walking the area.
A few blocks away, I found a dumpling outdoor take-away place on the corner. I bought two large pork dumplings which were put in a plastic bag. The lady showed me which condiments were the best ones for it (a spicy red mixture with beans and soy sauce), so I put some inside and was off to walk and eat. It was a bit messy eating it with my fingers, but it sure did taste good!
I was tired. I stopped at a neighborhood park I passed and sat for a while. I began nodding off. So I decided it must push myself more. I walked to the City Hall and toured the Teipei Discovery Museum there. It has exhibits about the history of the city and was recommended by my guidebook as a good place to start a tour of the city. I watched a nice film there showing a day in the life of the city. It was on a 360 degree screen and the floor kept turning continuously during the showing so that different images could be seen in progression. It was fun and interesting.
I was so tired that I walked back to my apartment. I got here at 16:00 and decided to rest a little. I kept thinking that I needed to avoid falling asleep until evening, but I couldn't help it. I started to hear some noise outside and thought it was morning traffic, so I put my ear plugs in and was trying to go back to sleep when I heard tapping at the door. It was my apartment mate, Mark, telling me there was a phone call. The call was from the manager telling me that a taxi was downstairs with my suitcase. I grabbed on my clothes and rushed downstairs to get it.
When I got back up, I checked my watch. It was only 23:00. I was afraid I would not be able to sleep again. I talked to Mark for quite a while. He's a nice young man from Canada--27 years old and uncertain about what he wants to do in life. He has been teaching English here for 3 years and working on learning to speak Mandarin. I took advantage of his knowledge to ask a few questions. One was about the computer problem of not being able to post. He said that the Explorer program on this computer is old and hasn't been updated and suggested that I try Firefox. I did before going to bed and was able to post. Great!!
Wednesday, May 30, 2007--Taipei
At 1:00, I went back to bed wondering if I would sleep. At Mark's urging, I had changed to a different room. The old room had the view of Taipei 101, but the air conditioner wasn't working well and it was noisy from the street traffic. The a/c in the new room was wonderful, and it was quiet. Soon I was asleep again. As the night progressed, I wondered what time it was. When I finally checked, it was 9:00! I had slept a total of 15 hours on each side of the break I took to get my luggage and talk to Mark. I feel much better today than I did yesterday!!
Now I will get dressed and try to have a longer day out seeing parts of the city. It feels so good to be rested.
Monday, May 28, 2007
I Made it to Taiwan
Well, it was a LONG trip and had plenty of problems, but I made it to Taiwan. To write about it, I will put it in the daily format along with all that has happened since my last post:
Saturday, May 26, 2007--Talkeetna to Anchorage
It was cloudy and sometimes drizzly today. We were so lucky that most of our days have been sunny. We encountered people who had been in the same places we had visited and had experienced heavy rains.
It was the birthday of our hostess at the Talkeetna Chalet B&B which I have already written was one of the best of our trip. She made us a fantastic breakfast with banana waffles sprinkled with powered sugar and covered in the center with sliced bananas. Along with those were juice, coffee, tea, and other fresh fruits.
We cleaned up and left for Anchorage as soon as we finished eating. The drive was fine. It actually cleared up some and the highway was dry. We had an afternoon of activities planned that we had left for this day which is also our departure day (but in the late evening hours).
We went first to the Federal Land Management Museum. It had been closed for installation of new lighting when we had been in town before. It had very nice displays of stuffed animals and good literature and maps. It also had a good display of stereoscopic images and stereoscopes (the predesessor of the Viewmaster) of old Alaska. We saw a very good film about a bear sanctuary where many bears come after hibernation each year to eat salmon and gain weight.
We went to Costco for lunch. We bought a large pizza and ate half then and saved the other half to have for dinner. I intended to buy a new camera memory chip while there, but we completely forgot about it. Instead, we went back downtown to see the Anchorage Museum. It was also a good place to visit. The quality of the art from Alaska is impressive--both the native crafts and the fine arts. We also saw a film there which was about gold mining. It told the story of the thousands of men who went to the Yukon under great hardship only to find the gold was all gone.
We stopped at the mall downtown to pass time until we needed to eat and then head toward the airport. Then I remembered my camera chip. We rushed to Costco and got there at 7:03. It had closed at 7:00. But the exit door was open. I rushed to the manager I could see inside and said, "I am leaving the country for 4 months and just need one item!" He said, "If you are leaving the country for 4 months, you won't really need it." Then I said, "Yes, it's a computer memory chip for my camera." He relented and told me to go get it. I even managed to get checked out before the last customer who had been admitted to the story before they closed, so that made me feel good about having begged my way in after hours. With the new chip, I let Wes take home the chip with the 120 Alaska pictures we took, and I now can take 1000 more photos on my travels for a total of about 2000 photos with my other 3 chips I have with me.
We ate our leftover pizza at a park. Then arrived at the airport around 8:45. It took us some time to repack things in our suitcases. Wes was taking back some things for me, and I needed to reorganize based on my departure for places with warmer weather than Alaska. Then I had my first hassle of the trip. I went upstairs to check in at 21:30 for my 23:50 flight. I had a paper ticket (required for around-the-world tickets), and was sent to a special line being worked by only one person. It was the line for purchasing tickets, too. Well, it took an hour for them to work through 3 of the 4 people in front of me. Two of them were purchasing tickets. One of those had a suitcase that was too heavy and had to redistribe her weight so both suitcases would be under the limit. Another was a family moving out of Alaska. They had about 10 pieces of luggage and a dog. The next person was checking in a minor to travel alone, but I lucked out when the first class agent walked over and asked me to come with him. When I saw the sign above his counter (not viewable from either of the lines I had been in to wait to check in), it said that it was also available for silver elite passengers which I am! I could have gone there all along if the counter had been visible for me to see or if the employee who redirected me had asked if I were silver elite.
By the time I put my luggage through security and got back to Wes, my flight was scheduled to leave in 50 minutes. I had to say goodbye and go up to deal with going through people security!
Then Disaster #2 occurred. Our plane had bad part. They sent for a replacement and put it in. The replacement needed an o-ring, and they had gotten the wrong one. So they had to send for the right o-ring. By the time it was repaired and we were ready to go, it was obvious that I would not make my connection in Denver which meant all of my other 3 flights (Denver to San Francisco, San Francisco to Nagoya, and Nagoya to Taipei) could be made. But we took off for Denver with word that the changes in schedules would be made while we were flying and that someone would be at the gate to give them to us.
Sunday, May 27, 2007--Anchorage to Denver to San Franciso to the Pacific
I managed to sleep about 4 1/2 hours of the flight from Anchorage to Denver. Also, I had been sitting in the front row of Economy Plus seating on the flight and was the first one off the plane and through the door. Guess what? No one was waiting there for us with our revised plans as promised. I rushed to the nearest Customer Service counter. As I approached the lady, she asked, "Why are you here?" in a tone that sounded just a bit like I was a hassle, so I couldn't help myself saying quickly in response, "Why were you THERE!!" Then I explained that we were late and what we had been told would happen. Fortunately, the scheduled had been changed and she found my new one in the computer and printed out the new boarding passes. I headed to my gate for my new flight which was leaving in about an hour.
Then Disaster #3 occurred. Our flight was delayed 1 1/2 hours! It was a strange explanation--something related to air traffic flow. I've read that the FAA is short of traffic controllers and that some of them have been complaining, so I wonder if they created a slow down or just stayed away from work. Anyway, my connecting flights were in trouble AGAIN!!
I rushed off the plane in San Francisco and to the shuttle bus to the international terminal. I arrived at my gate with most people already on board my flight, but I made it! Then one good thing happened. The lady from the gate called me back and said I had been upgraded. (Could someone really have been paying attention to all the problems that had been occurring with my flights?) Anyway, she gave me a new boarding pass for a business class seat on my 10-hour flight from San Franciso to Tokyo (a new routing since my one through Nagoya was missed). At least I was able to travel in more comfort than I would have had in Economy Plus seating. The seat reclined almost flat and was wide. But I still could feel that my knees and legs were not as comfortable as they should have been.
Monday, May 28, 2007--Pacific, Tokyo, and Taiwan
We crossed the International Date Line over the Pacific, so it was suddenly Monday instead of Sunday. During that long 10-hour flight, I watched 4 movies, read the newspaper, and slept about 3 hours. The films were mostly forgettable--rather typical of current American films, I think. And two were rather depressing. I saw Music and Lyrics, Children of Men, The Freedom Writers, and Pursuit of Happyness.
The flight from San Francisco left late, too, so I had another rush to make my connection in Tokyo within only 25 minutes. I swept right in as soon as I reached the gate. And finally I was off on the last segment of this too, too long series of flights to get me from Anchorage to Taiwan. I watched another film which proved to the best of the five I had seen: Miss Potter about the children's stories authoress.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that the luggage claim office already knew that my suitcase was not arriving on our flight. Usually, they make you wait until the last suitcase comes off the plane before they will let you complete the paperwork. Instead, they knew who I was and expected me when I went to their counter to see if they would make me wait. They even said they had tried to reach me before I left the door of the plane but I had gotten out early due to being in the front row of economy plus. Anyway, we completed my paperwork, they called the people to meet me at my apartment, and they wrote in Mandarin the directions for taking my bus and the metro to get there. I was out of the airport before most people on my plane had their luggage.
It was an easy trip by bus to downtown. Then I easily found the metro and bought a pass for it it. I caught the train I needed, and there was a woman waiting for me when I took Exit 4 from the metro station as I had been directed. She walked me to the apartment and introduced me to Karel (a Czech who manages the place). He gave me the choice of two rooms and my keys. I paid for the week. And that was that. My trip was over!!
The room is not as nice as I had hoped. But it is okay. It has an air conditioner that freezes up. And it is a bit noisy being on a major street. But it will be fine as home for the next 5 days. It's very cheap compared to hotels here. I'm paying less than $15 per night. It has free Internet. I have to share the bath, but there is only one other guy staying here for the moment. It is conveniently located in a major part of town. And my window even has a view of Taipei 101, presently the tallest building in the world.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007--Taipei
I slept fairly well considering that my nose was really acting up in terms of the new environment. I was quite stuffy all night. I got cold after a while, but then the a/c froze up and it became hot. Anyway, just having a night of sleep was so good.
I had to go to 7-11 this morning. I needed a towel (not provided by the apartment) and toiletries to get me through the day. My bag will not arrive until tonight. And it may not be delivered until tomorrow morning. I'm having to wear the same clothes I have been wearing now for 3 days of travel! But I am here and ready to see the city. I will call Ignatius, a medical student who has been communicating with me for several months. He finished his exams last week and said he would show me around the city. So I hope we can meet somewhere this afternoon. In the meantime, I have marked my guidebook and can go out on my own to see the sites if I don't make contact with him today. But first...it's time to take a shower and try to feel better by being clean again!!
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Leaving Tonight for Taiwan
Well, today is the last day in Alaska. I will depart tonight for the LONG trip to Taiwan. This will be the last post until I reach there on Monday night.
After arriving in Talkeetna yesterday, we rested in the sunshine for a while. Then we went downtown. It's a quaint, small town which was supposedly the one they based the story for the TV program Northern Exposure on. There is one main street with small businesses. Just a block off it is the landing strip. There is a river with a beach. And there is train service. There are wonderful views of Mt. McKinley from here.
We heard a train coming and walked to the tracks. It was a long passenger train. The cruise lines operate lodges and train cars in Alaska, so over half the cars on the train belonged to Princess Cruise Line and another company. There was a young man there excited that we had come to watch. We called him the local train nerd. He asked, "Did you come to see the Hurricane?" We didn't even know what he meant. But that is a small local two-car train that serves the country area for people going to their summer houses. It also is used in several rafting trips where you go up the river on the train and raft back down. Anyway, we talked to him as the big train passed, then we returned in 30 minutes when the Hurricane came in for its final stop of the day.
We watched the characters in town, too. One of books we read called Alaskans "enlightened excentrics." There are some "different" people here. Most of the men have scraggly beards. Everyone is very casual.
We ate at an Asian place on main street. We had a combination plate with sesame chicken, lomein, fried rice and an egg roll.
In the evening, we watched a DVD in our room. Then we went to the hot tub about 10 p.m. It was a nice evening, but the mosquitoes started to come out. We haven't had any problems with weather or mosquitoes so far, but yesterday we began to notice the latter. It's good we are leaving. Some of our guidebooks call the mosquito the state bird of Alaska which is a sign that they are bad at times.
Well, today is the last day in Alaska. I will depart tonight for the LONG trip to Taiwan. This will be the last post until I reach there on Monday night.
After arriving in Talkeetna yesterday, we rested in the sunshine for a while. Then we went downtown. It's a quaint, small town which was supposedly the one they based the story for the TV program Northern Exposure on. There is one main street with small businesses. Just a block off it is the landing strip. There is a river with a beach. And there is train service. There are wonderful views of Mt. McKinley from here.
We heard a train coming and walked to the tracks. It was a long passenger train. The cruise lines operate lodges and train cars in Alaska, so over half the cars on the train belonged to Princess Cruise Line and another company. There was a young man there excited that we had come to watch. We called him the local train nerd. He asked, "Did you come to see the Hurricane?" We didn't even know what he meant. But that is a small local two-car train that serves the country area for people going to their summer houses. It also is used in several rafting trips where you go up the river on the train and raft back down. Anyway, we talked to him as the big train passed, then we returned in 30 minutes when the Hurricane came in for its final stop of the day.
We watched the characters in town, too. One of books we read called Alaskans "enlightened excentrics." There are some "different" people here. Most of the men have scraggly beards. Everyone is very casual.
We ate at an Asian place on main street. We had a combination plate with sesame chicken, lomein, fried rice and an egg roll.
In the evening, we watched a DVD in our room. Then we went to the hot tub about 10 p.m. It was a nice evening, but the mosquitoes started to come out. We haven't had any problems with weather or mosquitoes so far, but yesterday we began to notice the latter. It's good we are leaving. Some of our guidebooks call the mosquito the state bird of Alaska which is a sign that they are bad at times.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Denali National Park
We are stopped briefly at Denali National Park on our way to Talkeetna. We left Fairbanks this morning. We are so lucky. The weather is warm and completely clear. We have seen Mt. McKinley in the distance. It is beautiful with no clouds in sight. There are very few days like this each year when the mountain can be seen clearly. The guidebook warned us that it would probably be covered with clouds.
Fairbanks was nice. It's a rather small town and easy to get around. Some of the highlights there were going to the University of Alaska Museum of the North, Pioneer Park, Chena Hot Springs, and just enjoying the good weather. The museum is wonderful. It has a nice modern design and has fantastic exhibits of the history of Alaska and of the species living here. Pioneer park includes many of the old houses from the city that have been moved there and now serve as small shops. Chena Hot Spings was a wonderful place to relax outdoors with warm waters.
The Townsite Gardens B&B in Fairbanks was the best so far. We stayed in Suite A if you check their website. It was clean, plush, bright. The owners were so nice. The breakfasts were fantastic. This morning we had fresh fruits, eggs with sausage, bagels with homemade chokecherry preserves, juice, coffee, and fresh yogurt with berries. Ummm!
Yesterday, we went to a local truckstop called the Hilltop--"Get Filled Up at the Hilltop Truck Stop"!! And that we did. We had two huge slices of meatloaf with mashed potatoes and brocolli and cheese. Before that was either a huge bowl of chicken and dumpling soup or a salad. It was delicious and too much!
Well, I'm on a free computer at a lodge where I am not staying. I need to let someone else online. Just wanted to post a little. More to come when I can get to another computer.
Added info: I'm at our next B&B (Talkeetna Chalet) in Talkeetna now and am editing and adding to the previous entry. Just a few more notes:
Wednesday night we drove out to the university and wandered all over the campus. Not much is happening, since they have ended their semester. But we saw their indoor hockey rink, their art department, their theater, etc. On the way to Chena Hot Springs we took a photo of some wooly buffalo at a ranch along the road. They were quite interesting to see. We shopped at Sam's Club in Fairbanks. Gas was much cheaper there, and we bought a pizza to eat one night and hot dogs to eat another time. We saw the Alaska Pipeline several times over the past two days. It ran along the highway we were following.
We are stopped briefly at Denali National Park on our way to Talkeetna. We left Fairbanks this morning. We are so lucky. The weather is warm and completely clear. We have seen Mt. McKinley in the distance. It is beautiful with no clouds in sight. There are very few days like this each year when the mountain can be seen clearly. The guidebook warned us that it would probably be covered with clouds.
Fairbanks was nice. It's a rather small town and easy to get around. Some of the highlights there were going to the University of Alaska Museum of the North, Pioneer Park, Chena Hot Springs, and just enjoying the good weather. The museum is wonderful. It has a nice modern design and has fantastic exhibits of the history of Alaska and of the species living here. Pioneer park includes many of the old houses from the city that have been moved there and now serve as small shops. Chena Hot Spings was a wonderful place to relax outdoors with warm waters.
The Townsite Gardens B&B in Fairbanks was the best so far. We stayed in Suite A if you check their website. It was clean, plush, bright. The owners were so nice. The breakfasts were fantastic. This morning we had fresh fruits, eggs with sausage, bagels with homemade chokecherry preserves, juice, coffee, and fresh yogurt with berries. Ummm!
Yesterday, we went to a local truckstop called the Hilltop--"Get Filled Up at the Hilltop Truck Stop"!! And that we did. We had two huge slices of meatloaf with mashed potatoes and brocolli and cheese. Before that was either a huge bowl of chicken and dumpling soup or a salad. It was delicious and too much!
Well, I'm on a free computer at a lodge where I am not staying. I need to let someone else online. Just wanted to post a little. More to come when I can get to another computer.
Added info: I'm at our next B&B (Talkeetna Chalet) in Talkeetna now and am editing and adding to the previous entry. Just a few more notes:
Wednesday night we drove out to the university and wandered all over the campus. Not much is happening, since they have ended their semester. But we saw their indoor hockey rink, their art department, their theater, etc. On the way to Chena Hot Springs we took a photo of some wooly buffalo at a ranch along the road. They were quite interesting to see. We shopped at Sam's Club in Fairbanks. Gas was much cheaper there, and we bought a pizza to eat one night and hot dogs to eat another time. We saw the Alaska Pipeline several times over the past two days. It ran along the highway we were following.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Arrived in Fairbanks
We just arrived in Fairbanks and I am on a free terminal at the tourist office with a 10-minute limit. Must type fast!!!
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
We spent the day in Valdez after arriving by ferry yesterday. We are staying in a B&B which is a room in someone's home. I would prefer an outside entry, but we don't have that. We go through the living room and kitchen area on our way to our room. But we are the only ones staying on this floor and we have a bath to ourselves. The breakfast is good. We choose from many cereals, many juices, fruits, muffins, etc.
We went hiking today on a couple of trails. One was a roadway going out through a valley where people do cross-country skiing in the winter. The other was a narrow trail used by pioneers who settled this area to get past a large glacier without having to go over the glacier. Both were nice and interesting trails and gave us a chance to be outdoors in the sunshine and in the fresh air.
We ate both meals today and dinner yesterday at the same place. It's a halibut restaurant here in town that has a good special. They have a basket of halibut (4 pieces) with fries for $10. It's good fish and the fries are crispy.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
We drove from Valdez to Fairbanks today. It was a long drive of 364 miles. Some of the scenery was great, however. And the road was hardly traveled by anyone but us. We stopped to see the Alaska Pipeline a couple of times. And we stopped to see some views over valleys, past rivers, and to the mountains. We had lunch in a small place--a freshly made submarine sandwich. There weren't many places to stop along the way for services.
Some interesting comments about Alaska before forgetting:
1. We paid $3.41 per gallon for gasoline in Valdez. But most places, it is under $3.
2. The place we stayed near Homer, Bear Essentials Lodge, was "off the grid." They have no electrical service. They produce all their own power with a windmill, a generator, etc.
3. Retirees pay no property taxes in Alaska. Everyone in the state after living here for a year, gets a payment from the Permanant Fund established when oil was discovered. It ranges from $2000 upwards each year.
4. Trees have been just budding most places we have been. Slowly, they are leafing out. Here in Fairbanks, however, where it is hotter, leaves are out and trees have blossoms!
Well, my 10 minutes is up. Will post more tomorrow or the next day.
We just arrived in Fairbanks and I am on a free terminal at the tourist office with a 10-minute limit. Must type fast!!!
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
We spent the day in Valdez after arriving by ferry yesterday. We are staying in a B&B which is a room in someone's home. I would prefer an outside entry, but we don't have that. We go through the living room and kitchen area on our way to our room. But we are the only ones staying on this floor and we have a bath to ourselves. The breakfast is good. We choose from many cereals, many juices, fruits, muffins, etc.
We went hiking today on a couple of trails. One was a roadway going out through a valley where people do cross-country skiing in the winter. The other was a narrow trail used by pioneers who settled this area to get past a large glacier without having to go over the glacier. Both were nice and interesting trails and gave us a chance to be outdoors in the sunshine and in the fresh air.
We ate both meals today and dinner yesterday at the same place. It's a halibut restaurant here in town that has a good special. They have a basket of halibut (4 pieces) with fries for $10. It's good fish and the fries are crispy.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
We drove from Valdez to Fairbanks today. It was a long drive of 364 miles. Some of the scenery was great, however. And the road was hardly traveled by anyone but us. We stopped to see the Alaska Pipeline a couple of times. And we stopped to see some views over valleys, past rivers, and to the mountains. We had lunch in a small place--a freshly made submarine sandwich. There weren't many places to stop along the way for services.
Some interesting comments about Alaska before forgetting:
1. We paid $3.41 per gallon for gasoline in Valdez. But most places, it is under $3.
2. The place we stayed near Homer, Bear Essentials Lodge, was "off the grid." They have no electrical service. They produce all their own power with a windmill, a generator, etc.
3. Retirees pay no property taxes in Alaska. Everyone in the state after living here for a year, gets a payment from the Permanant Fund established when oil was discovered. It ranges from $2000 upwards each year.
4. Trees have been just budding most places we have been. Slowly, they are leafing out. Here in Fairbanks, however, where it is hotter, leaves are out and trees have blossoms!
Well, my 10 minutes is up. Will post more tomorrow or the next day.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Bears, Moose, Eagles, Etc.
We arrived in Valdez just a few moments ago via the ferry from Whittier. It was a beautiful trip with snow-covered mountains along the way. We even saw a pair of orca whales from the boat. We've been lucky to have sunny weather which is unusually nice for this time of the year here apparently. Here's an update:
Saturday, May 19, 2007
We got breakfast where we stayed today. That's good, since breakfast here costs about $10. It makes the housing not seem so expensive to think of $20 of the cost going to breakfast!
We drove back along the highway we had already traveled so we could take a turnoff for Seward. We were in no rush, so we pulled off anytime there was something interesting to see. At our first turnoff, we were so lucky. We had stopped because we wanted to see the view of the nice mountains across the water. But as we stood on a bluff looking that way, I saw a bald eagle fly across just in front of us and pointed it out to Wes. Then a moment later, three more eagles flew by together. And a little after that, a fifth eagle flew past us. They were all going in the same direction. Everyone we have told about it has told us how lucky we were to see that.
We stopped at a small town with a Russian name and drove down to the beach where many people were digging for clams. It's a big thing here apparently. Whole families were out on the mudflats with their pails and shovels. Some went out on 3-wheelers or 4-wheelers. Others just walked. It looked like a messy process, but they apparently enjoy eating the results of it. On the hill above the beach was an old Russian Orthodox church. We drove up there and saw the outside of the building.
We continued to Soldotna and it's sister city of Kenai. It was noon, so we drove around looking for a place to eat. We came across another Russian church and stopped. There was a fully-dressed priest there with a dark red cylindrical-shaped hat, a floor-length robe, etc. He told us he was the retired priest there and showed us the chapel and told us about the history of the church and of the Russian Orthodox church in general in Alaska. He also explained about the Russian Orthodox cross which has three cross bars with the bottom bar being slanted. He had a great sense of humor and laughed as he told us about what the Bible tells and what they have guessed about the cross. We gave him a donation which made him very happy and found a gas station and a local place to eat. Then we were off again.
Our destination was Seward. It turned out to be one of our favorite towns so far. So much of this part of Alaska looks new due to reconstruction after the earthquake of the 1960s. But Seward, although greatly damaged then, still has the look of an old small town. It has a wonderful waterfront they have developed where the railroad tracks used to be. Now the tracks stop out on the edge of town. It has a lot of small churches and nice houses. We stayed in an old hotel called the Van Gilder.
We had two nights in Seward for two reasons. First, we knew we were arriving there late in the day and would want a day to explore the area. But second, the ferry we would need for coming to Valdez would not run until Monday. Saturday night, we picked up some lasagna at the Safeway and brought it back to the hotel where we were allowed to use the kitchen to prepare simple meals. We had it with some wine we had bought at Costco in Anchorage.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
We ate the continental breakfast at our hotel in the morning. Then we headed to the Exit Glacier just outside of Seward. It's one of the most convenient glaciers to reach in all of Alaska. And there are very nice rangers working there to answer the tourists' questions and to point out things to see.
Just as we arrived, a ranger was pointing out a mountain goat on the side of the mountain. We used my binoculars to locate it and talked to him about the area. He told us the reason that so many cars are banged up is that they just keep running into each other. We had speculated that maybe it was the result of moose attacks.
When we reached the glacier itself, there was a very nice female ranger there. We walked with her down a ways trying to find a place to ford a small stream to go to another area. The water was flowing just a bit too much, though. With her, we looked for bears, because there had been sightings that morning. I finally saw a black dot and it proved to be one. We watched it as it moved along. Then she told us that she needed to go back where the other tourists were. She said that people often throw rocks into the streams to make a way to go across and that she could not control what we did if her back was turned toward us so that she couldn't see. We took the hint and tried to make a stepping pathway across the stream, but it just was too much water which seems to maybe even be increasing as we kept trying. We had to give up.
We walked through the valley from the glacier on our way back to the car. The weather was so nice that it was warm. We rested and watched for birds. We saw a nice jay. And we saw another bird we did not know by name--black and white body with black head and the male having a red tuft on top of the head. We'll have to look that one up when we get back home.
In the afternoon, we walked along the waterfront and through the village to explore. We had a picnic lunch (sandwich, chips, drink) at a waterside picnic table. A cruise ship was in town, so there were other people wandering with us. That night, we cooked a pizza at the hotel kitchen for our dinner.
Monday, May 21, 2007
We were up early because of warnings about the ferry. It's not possible to go to Whittier where it leaves without a hassle. Until a few years ago, there was only a railway tunnel there. Now they have paved the base of the tunnel so that it can serve both cars and the railroad. That means that there are only 15 minutes per hour for cars to go through toward Whittier--every half hour to 45 minutes past the hour. And the ferry management had warned us to be there 3 hours prior to the arrival of the ferry. We set our alarm for 7 a.m. and left at 7:50. Our timing was perfect. We got to the tunnel just 10 minutes early and had no problem getting through. But then we realized once we reached Whittier that there was not reason to rush. We could have arrived for the ferry just 45 minutes early.
We used the extra time to explore the strange town, however. Most people live in one highrise apartment building. It has the city hall, a small store, the post office, etc., inside it. Besides that building, there are a few other buildings with tourist shops and restuarants, but that is about it. We watched a lady walk her pet raindeer from her home setting to her shop to attract tourists. We ate a sandwich and chips for lunch. Finally, we caught the ferry and came to Valdez.
Prince William Sound is a beautiful waterway. It was nice seeing it. There are glaciers that come into it. We saw one that is birthing icebergs from a distance. In general, it was just a nice smooth trip on a sunny day across the water with snowcapped mountains lining the route. Now we are in Valdez and have a day to explore the area here. Our B&B has bicycles we can borrow, so we will probably go out tomorrow on those. There are several nice hiking trails in the region.
We arrived in Valdez just a few moments ago via the ferry from Whittier. It was a beautiful trip with snow-covered mountains along the way. We even saw a pair of orca whales from the boat. We've been lucky to have sunny weather which is unusually nice for this time of the year here apparently. Here's an update:
Saturday, May 19, 2007
We got breakfast where we stayed today. That's good, since breakfast here costs about $10. It makes the housing not seem so expensive to think of $20 of the cost going to breakfast!
We drove back along the highway we had already traveled so we could take a turnoff for Seward. We were in no rush, so we pulled off anytime there was something interesting to see. At our first turnoff, we were so lucky. We had stopped because we wanted to see the view of the nice mountains across the water. But as we stood on a bluff looking that way, I saw a bald eagle fly across just in front of us and pointed it out to Wes. Then a moment later, three more eagles flew by together. And a little after that, a fifth eagle flew past us. They were all going in the same direction. Everyone we have told about it has told us how lucky we were to see that.
We stopped at a small town with a Russian name and drove down to the beach where many people were digging for clams. It's a big thing here apparently. Whole families were out on the mudflats with their pails and shovels. Some went out on 3-wheelers or 4-wheelers. Others just walked. It looked like a messy process, but they apparently enjoy eating the results of it. On the hill above the beach was an old Russian Orthodox church. We drove up there and saw the outside of the building.
We continued to Soldotna and it's sister city of Kenai. It was noon, so we drove around looking for a place to eat. We came across another Russian church and stopped. There was a fully-dressed priest there with a dark red cylindrical-shaped hat, a floor-length robe, etc. He told us he was the retired priest there and showed us the chapel and told us about the history of the church and of the Russian Orthodox church in general in Alaska. He also explained about the Russian Orthodox cross which has three cross bars with the bottom bar being slanted. He had a great sense of humor and laughed as he told us about what the Bible tells and what they have guessed about the cross. We gave him a donation which made him very happy and found a gas station and a local place to eat. Then we were off again.
Our destination was Seward. It turned out to be one of our favorite towns so far. So much of this part of Alaska looks new due to reconstruction after the earthquake of the 1960s. But Seward, although greatly damaged then, still has the look of an old small town. It has a wonderful waterfront they have developed where the railroad tracks used to be. Now the tracks stop out on the edge of town. It has a lot of small churches and nice houses. We stayed in an old hotel called the Van Gilder.
We had two nights in Seward for two reasons. First, we knew we were arriving there late in the day and would want a day to explore the area. But second, the ferry we would need for coming to Valdez would not run until Monday. Saturday night, we picked up some lasagna at the Safeway and brought it back to the hotel where we were allowed to use the kitchen to prepare simple meals. We had it with some wine we had bought at Costco in Anchorage.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
We ate the continental breakfast at our hotel in the morning. Then we headed to the Exit Glacier just outside of Seward. It's one of the most convenient glaciers to reach in all of Alaska. And there are very nice rangers working there to answer the tourists' questions and to point out things to see.
Just as we arrived, a ranger was pointing out a mountain goat on the side of the mountain. We used my binoculars to locate it and talked to him about the area. He told us the reason that so many cars are banged up is that they just keep running into each other. We had speculated that maybe it was the result of moose attacks.
When we reached the glacier itself, there was a very nice female ranger there. We walked with her down a ways trying to find a place to ford a small stream to go to another area. The water was flowing just a bit too much, though. With her, we looked for bears, because there had been sightings that morning. I finally saw a black dot and it proved to be one. We watched it as it moved along. Then she told us that she needed to go back where the other tourists were. She said that people often throw rocks into the streams to make a way to go across and that she could not control what we did if her back was turned toward us so that she couldn't see. We took the hint and tried to make a stepping pathway across the stream, but it just was too much water which seems to maybe even be increasing as we kept trying. We had to give up.
We walked through the valley from the glacier on our way back to the car. The weather was so nice that it was warm. We rested and watched for birds. We saw a nice jay. And we saw another bird we did not know by name--black and white body with black head and the male having a red tuft on top of the head. We'll have to look that one up when we get back home.
In the afternoon, we walked along the waterfront and through the village to explore. We had a picnic lunch (sandwich, chips, drink) at a waterside picnic table. A cruise ship was in town, so there were other people wandering with us. That night, we cooked a pizza at the hotel kitchen for our dinner.
Monday, May 21, 2007
We were up early because of warnings about the ferry. It's not possible to go to Whittier where it leaves without a hassle. Until a few years ago, there was only a railway tunnel there. Now they have paved the base of the tunnel so that it can serve both cars and the railroad. That means that there are only 15 minutes per hour for cars to go through toward Whittier--every half hour to 45 minutes past the hour. And the ferry management had warned us to be there 3 hours prior to the arrival of the ferry. We set our alarm for 7 a.m. and left at 7:50. Our timing was perfect. We got to the tunnel just 10 minutes early and had no problem getting through. But then we realized once we reached Whittier that there was not reason to rush. We could have arrived for the ferry just 45 minutes early.
We used the extra time to explore the strange town, however. Most people live in one highrise apartment building. It has the city hall, a small store, the post office, etc., inside it. Besides that building, there are a few other buildings with tourist shops and restuarants, but that is about it. We watched a lady walk her pet raindeer from her home setting to her shop to attract tourists. We ate a sandwich and chips for lunch. Finally, we caught the ferry and came to Valdez.
Prince William Sound is a beautiful waterway. It was nice seeing it. There are glaciers that come into it. We saw one that is birthing icebergs from a distance. In general, it was just a nice smooth trip on a sunny day across the water with snowcapped mountains lining the route. Now we are in Valdez and have a day to explore the area here. Our B&B has bicycles we can borrow, so we will probably go out tomorrow on those. There are several nice hiking trails in the region.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Kenai Peninsula
We've left Anchorage. Early Friday morning, we got up and headed out of town. It is considered to be one of the most beautiful drives in America, and it proved to be so. The highway was along an arm of water with mountains on both sides. The mountains past the water were all snowcapped with thick layers of white fluffy snow. There were turnoffs along the way to enjoy the views. It's not the right time of the year, or we might have seen baluga whales along the route; they follow the salmon as they go upstream to spawn. But that doesn't happen until June through August. Instead, we saw beautiful mountains, lots of birds, marshes, valleys, etc.
We drove all the way to Homer on the Kenai Peninsula. We stopped at a high pass where snow was still about 4 feet thick on the ground. And we stopped to have lunch in a local diner on the way. They served us smothered chicken, mashed pototoes, gravy, roll, and brownie with whipped cream. It's one of the best lunches we've had so far and was a bargain at Alaskan prices. All that was only $10 with taxes and tip.
We are staying in a Homer. We took that. Then we took another drive called the Skyline Drive with views down over the town and across the way. There is a long, thin strip of land that goes far out into the water that was left by a glacier that stopped at that point and then started receding that is called the Spit. We drove out it. We went to two museums, a small local museum specializing in natural history and another new and modern museum operated by the state wildlife department. They both had interesting exhibits telling about the area, showing what life has been like here for people, with samples of local wildlife--both live and dead--etc. We also went to three galleries, since Homer is an artists community somewhat similar to Rockport in Texas. It was a nice day of exploring.
We are off today for Seward. It's another coastal community. The drive to there that isn't a part of what we traveled yesterday, is also supposed to be dramatic. It's nice being out in nature now and seeing such beautiful scenery.
We've left Anchorage. Early Friday morning, we got up and headed out of town. It is considered to be one of the most beautiful drives in America, and it proved to be so. The highway was along an arm of water with mountains on both sides. The mountains past the water were all snowcapped with thick layers of white fluffy snow. There were turnoffs along the way to enjoy the views. It's not the right time of the year, or we might have seen baluga whales along the route; they follow the salmon as they go upstream to spawn. But that doesn't happen until June through August. Instead, we saw beautiful mountains, lots of birds, marshes, valleys, etc.
We drove all the way to Homer on the Kenai Peninsula. We stopped at a high pass where snow was still about 4 feet thick on the ground. And we stopped to have lunch in a local diner on the way. They served us smothered chicken, mashed pototoes, gravy, roll, and brownie with whipped cream. It's one of the best lunches we've had so far and was a bargain at Alaskan prices. All that was only $10 with taxes and tip.
We are staying in a Homer. We took that. Then we took another drive called the Skyline Drive with views down over the town and across the way. There is a long, thin strip of land that goes far out into the water that was left by a glacier that stopped at that point and then started receding that is called the Spit. We drove out it. We went to two museums, a small local museum specializing in natural history and another new and modern museum operated by the state wildlife department. They both had interesting exhibits telling about the area, showing what life has been like here for people, with samples of local wildlife--both live and dead--etc. We also went to three galleries, since Homer is an artists community somewhat similar to Rockport in Texas. It was a nice day of exploring.
We are off today for Seward. It's another coastal community. The drive to there that isn't a part of what we traveled yesterday, is also supposed to be dramatic. It's nice being out in nature now and seeing such beautiful scenery.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
End of Stay in Anchorage
It's late in the afternoon on Thursday. This is the last day in Anchorage. We actually planned too long here; two days would have done instead of three. But since Wes didn't arrive on Monday, it is to our advantage that we had the third day to give him a second day here.
Wes did arrive on Tuesday night after more flight problems. He got to Houston too late to make his connecting flight. They booked him on another flight through Seattle which he took. He didn't make it to the hotel until about 2:15 a.m. Wednesday morning. Flights from Texas are long and get you here late!!
After leaving the library on Tuesday, I took a trail that took me along a running creek and then along the coast of the Cook Inlet. It was a beautiful day with bright sunshine. I stopped at a park and watched people playing. There was a disk golf course (Frizbee golf) along the way, and I watched college students playing that sport. The air was cool, but the sun was warm. It was a great day to be out. By the time I got back into town and to my hotel room, I had been walking about 6 1/2 hours and had traveled many miles. It was 33 blocks south of my hotel to get to the library, then the trail took me to the far western edge of downtown on my way back to my hotel on the far eastern edge of downtown. I was tired.
I covered much of the same territory again yesterday with Wes. We started with a walking tour of downtown. I had seen most of what we saw, but this time, I read the commentary to learn more. We saw where the Iditerod Dog Race begins. We saw the street that was split apart in the earthquake in the 60s. We saw sculptures scattered around town. Etc.
We walked to the south of downtown to the New Sagaya Food Market for lunch. It is an Alaskan version of Whole Foods. They have wonderful choices for prepared foods and places both indoors and outdoors to eat. We each had lasagna. We also sampled macaroni and cheese which is a popular item here in Alaska. Finally, we had a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie. Then we did more walking. We took the trail along the creek and back around to the western side of town by Cook Inlet. We were both exhausted when we got back to the hotel--me from having walked so much two days in a row and Wes from having done it all with little sleep during the night.
We ate dinner last night at the same place where I had eaten dinner on Tuesday. There just aren't a lot of places open in the downtown area in the evening. It's a popular local place called the Lucky Wishbone with the slang title by the locals of The Bonz. It specializes in fried chicken and burgers with the chicken being flown in unfrozen every day and the burgers being made from the leanest of beef. Tuesday night, I had a chicken sandwich. Last night, we each had a burger and fries. Then we each had a cornmeal muffin with butter and honey for dessert.
Wes went back to the airport last night to pick up our rental car. We had purposely held off on getting it until then because we knew we would be walking in the downtown area at first. Today, however, was planned for our day to explore suburban Anchorage with the need for transportation. Since the hotel has a free shuttle to/from the airport, it was no problem coming to the hotel and then returning on another date to get the rental car.
We started this morning by going to the Muffin Man for a warm muffin. I had the pina colada while Wes had the blueberry banana. Both were good, but we had somewhat expected them to be even better.
Our main outing today was to go to the Alaska Native Heritage Center. It's a museum and demonstration center operated by the native peoples of Alaska. We watched a dance performance, went through the indoor exhibits, stopped by tables where natives were selling their arts and crafts items and discussed them with them, toured the outdoor exhibits, and watched a film and heard some storytelling inside the theater. It was an interesting place. As explained by the guidebook, the real advantage of it is the people. They do not seem like professional guides or ones who have tired of what they are doing. Some were quite shy. And their presentations were flexible and fresh sounding. The ones at the oudoor exhibits were my favorites--showing the various styles of housing, explaining how the people in their native places made a living and lived their lives, answering questions about it all, etc. I especially enjoyed the exhibits of the sod houses--built of wood and partially underground with all exposed areas covered with sod. It was also nice to be able to handle all the cultural items they showed and deomonstrated and to touch all the various pelts of the animals that they caught and used in their lives. We pulled fur off a moose hide. We felt of wolf, fox, beaver, otter, seal, etc., skins.
It was 1:30 p.m. by the time we left the museum. As we took a different route to downtown to have dinner, we passed a Costco. I had my card with me, so we stopped and ate lunch there. I was surprised that here in expensive Alaska, they had the usual Costco polish hotdog and cola special for $1.50. Hotdogs downtown cost $5!! While there, we also sampled all the items offered by the ladies and men at the sample carts. And we bought some muffins, colas, trail mix bars, and chocolate to have in the car as we travel for the next few days.
Tomorrow, we leave for the Kenai peninsula. It will be harder for me to make it to computers in the coming days. But it will be exciting being in the wilderness and seeing that aspect of Alaska. Will blog when I can.
It's late in the afternoon on Thursday. This is the last day in Anchorage. We actually planned too long here; two days would have done instead of three. But since Wes didn't arrive on Monday, it is to our advantage that we had the third day to give him a second day here.
Wes did arrive on Tuesday night after more flight problems. He got to Houston too late to make his connecting flight. They booked him on another flight through Seattle which he took. He didn't make it to the hotel until about 2:15 a.m. Wednesday morning. Flights from Texas are long and get you here late!!
After leaving the library on Tuesday, I took a trail that took me along a running creek and then along the coast of the Cook Inlet. It was a beautiful day with bright sunshine. I stopped at a park and watched people playing. There was a disk golf course (Frizbee golf) along the way, and I watched college students playing that sport. The air was cool, but the sun was warm. It was a great day to be out. By the time I got back into town and to my hotel room, I had been walking about 6 1/2 hours and had traveled many miles. It was 33 blocks south of my hotel to get to the library, then the trail took me to the far western edge of downtown on my way back to my hotel on the far eastern edge of downtown. I was tired.
I covered much of the same territory again yesterday with Wes. We started with a walking tour of downtown. I had seen most of what we saw, but this time, I read the commentary to learn more. We saw where the Iditerod Dog Race begins. We saw the street that was split apart in the earthquake in the 60s. We saw sculptures scattered around town. Etc.
We walked to the south of downtown to the New Sagaya Food Market for lunch. It is an Alaskan version of Whole Foods. They have wonderful choices for prepared foods and places both indoors and outdoors to eat. We each had lasagna. We also sampled macaroni and cheese which is a popular item here in Alaska. Finally, we had a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie. Then we did more walking. We took the trail along the creek and back around to the western side of town by Cook Inlet. We were both exhausted when we got back to the hotel--me from having walked so much two days in a row and Wes from having done it all with little sleep during the night.
We ate dinner last night at the same place where I had eaten dinner on Tuesday. There just aren't a lot of places open in the downtown area in the evening. It's a popular local place called the Lucky Wishbone with the slang title by the locals of The Bonz. It specializes in fried chicken and burgers with the chicken being flown in unfrozen every day and the burgers being made from the leanest of beef. Tuesday night, I had a chicken sandwich. Last night, we each had a burger and fries. Then we each had a cornmeal muffin with butter and honey for dessert.
Wes went back to the airport last night to pick up our rental car. We had purposely held off on getting it until then because we knew we would be walking in the downtown area at first. Today, however, was planned for our day to explore suburban Anchorage with the need for transportation. Since the hotel has a free shuttle to/from the airport, it was no problem coming to the hotel and then returning on another date to get the rental car.
We started this morning by going to the Muffin Man for a warm muffin. I had the pina colada while Wes had the blueberry banana. Both were good, but we had somewhat expected them to be even better.
Our main outing today was to go to the Alaska Native Heritage Center. It's a museum and demonstration center operated by the native peoples of Alaska. We watched a dance performance, went through the indoor exhibits, stopped by tables where natives were selling their arts and crafts items and discussed them with them, toured the outdoor exhibits, and watched a film and heard some storytelling inside the theater. It was an interesting place. As explained by the guidebook, the real advantage of it is the people. They do not seem like professional guides or ones who have tired of what they are doing. Some were quite shy. And their presentations were flexible and fresh sounding. The ones at the oudoor exhibits were my favorites--showing the various styles of housing, explaining how the people in their native places made a living and lived their lives, answering questions about it all, etc. I especially enjoyed the exhibits of the sod houses--built of wood and partially underground with all exposed areas covered with sod. It was also nice to be able to handle all the cultural items they showed and deomonstrated and to touch all the various pelts of the animals that they caught and used in their lives. We pulled fur off a moose hide. We felt of wolf, fox, beaver, otter, seal, etc., skins.
It was 1:30 p.m. by the time we left the museum. As we took a different route to downtown to have dinner, we passed a Costco. I had my card with me, so we stopped and ate lunch there. I was surprised that here in expensive Alaska, they had the usual Costco polish hotdog and cola special for $1.50. Hotdogs downtown cost $5!! While there, we also sampled all the items offered by the ladies and men at the sample carts. And we bought some muffins, colas, trail mix bars, and chocolate to have in the car as we travel for the next few days.
Tomorrow, we leave for the Kenai peninsula. It will be harder for me to make it to computers in the coming days. But it will be exciting being in the wilderness and seeing that aspect of Alaska. Will blog when I can.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
I Finally Made it Out of the Anchorage Airport
There are two reasons for that title:
1. For years when people have asked me if I have been to Alaska, I've always had to say, "Yes and no." I had landed twice at the Anchorage airport back in the days when all flights to Asia had to stop here to refuel--once in 1967 when headed to the Philippines with my Peace Corps group and once around 1975 when headed to Asia to visit Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Singapore. But I never left the airport. We just sat on the floors inside for about 2 hours and then reboarded and headed off again. This time, I have actually left the airport and had my feet on normal Alaskan soil. So now I HAVE been to Alaska, no but to it!!
2. My flight arrived about 20 minutes late last night at 00:40 (40 minutes past midnight). Wes was coming from Corpus Christi on other flights. I got my luggage and had to go to another terminal to meet him. His flight, however, was about 1 1/2 hours late! It arrived at 01:40. I sat at the exit area with a large group of other people waiting for passengers. I expected him to come off early, because he was flying first class on the segment from Portland to Anchorage. But everyone else met their parties and there was still no Wes. I walked down to baggage claim to see if I had missed him. I asked the people at baggage claim to make an announcement for him to meet me there. He didn't show, and they would not look at their computers to see if he had been rerouted. Finally, at 02:07, I called the hotel for their airport pickup. They said they had a message that he was still stuck in Texas. I had waited at the airport about 1 1/2 hours longer than would have been necessary if I had known.
It was a LONG trip here--much like going to Europe. I slept some, though. Mostly, however, I read magazines I had collected in the last 2-3 weeks. During the 4-hour layover I had in Phoenix, I took advantage of the opportunity to go to the United Airlines desk and have them reissue my ticket. A flight I had planned to take from Anchorage to San Francisco on my way to Taiwan when I leave here no longer existed. I was rebooked on TWO flights, meaning I would need two flight coupons rather than one and also meaning I would have to see a representative to get the ticket reissued. I've had to do this before for the same reason once and also when Arne died and I had to be rerouted. Both times, it took TWO HOURS. I was worried that it would take as long again. But this time, it was much faster. We were finished in 30 minutes. And now I don't have to worry about my ticket any longer; it matches my itinerary for the rest of my way to Bangkok.
Phoenix is one of the expensive airports for food. Many airports are lowering their prices now that the airlines have quit serving free meals. Nothing has been lowered in Phoenix, though. Simple cold, boxed sandwiches sell for $7.99. Drinks are $2.00 or more. A small bag of chips costs $1.39 or more. So, a simple snack can be like eating in a restaurant off the airport. I ate a Burger King burger. I've always liked those, but I hadn't had one in a long time. It was good.
Anchorage is cool, but sunny. It was around 40 F when I arrived last night. But there was a breeze that made it feel cold as I waited for the hotel van. Today, the air is cool, but the sun and my walking make it feel nice. It should be in the 50s today and in the 60s starting tomorrow. It's on flat land with beautiful snow-capped mountains visible to the east. It's a spread-out city that seems rather quiet. But maybe that is because it is morning on a weekday and it was late when I came through it last night.
It was 3 a.m. before I got to bed last night. I slept until 9:00 this morning. Then I started realizing things I hadn't remembered to pack--a flashlight and my small binoculars. I looked up Wal-Mart in the phone book. And I looked up the public library for using the Internet. They were both near each other about 35 blocks south of my hotel. So here I am. I walked out here along a trail called the North-South trail. Mainly, it was just a sidewalk along a street, but once it veered down to a small stream and back up. Anyway, I bought a new LED flashlight to use in dark villages, in caves, etc., and a small 8x set of binoculars to have to see the wildlife.
When I logged into the computer a moment ago, there was a message from Wes. He had been trapped in Corpus due to thunderstorms in Houston. He said they got on and off the plane several times before they canceled the flight and rebooked him. He is coming today following the same routing. He's lucky he got seats. Both of my flights yesterday were 100% full. Anyway, he will arrive tonight around 01:30 and will have missed a day in Alaska due to the problems in Houston. At least he is still coming. I would hate to pay these Alaska prices without having him to share the ones for the car, the gas, the hotel rooms, etc.!
I will try to update the blog again soon. I didn't find a downtown branch of the library, so I may have to wait until I will be back in this part of town again. I don't want to waste the time walking 72 blocks round-trip just to use the computer. And I doubt there are any cyber cafes downtown. Most cities in first world countries don't have them, since everyone owns their own computer.
There are two reasons for that title:
1. For years when people have asked me if I have been to Alaska, I've always had to say, "Yes and no." I had landed twice at the Anchorage airport back in the days when all flights to Asia had to stop here to refuel--once in 1967 when headed to the Philippines with my Peace Corps group and once around 1975 when headed to Asia to visit Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Singapore. But I never left the airport. We just sat on the floors inside for about 2 hours and then reboarded and headed off again. This time, I have actually left the airport and had my feet on normal Alaskan soil. So now I HAVE been to Alaska, no but to it!!
2. My flight arrived about 20 minutes late last night at 00:40 (40 minutes past midnight). Wes was coming from Corpus Christi on other flights. I got my luggage and had to go to another terminal to meet him. His flight, however, was about 1 1/2 hours late! It arrived at 01:40. I sat at the exit area with a large group of other people waiting for passengers. I expected him to come off early, because he was flying first class on the segment from Portland to Anchorage. But everyone else met their parties and there was still no Wes. I walked down to baggage claim to see if I had missed him. I asked the people at baggage claim to make an announcement for him to meet me there. He didn't show, and they would not look at their computers to see if he had been rerouted. Finally, at 02:07, I called the hotel for their airport pickup. They said they had a message that he was still stuck in Texas. I had waited at the airport about 1 1/2 hours longer than would have been necessary if I had known.
It was a LONG trip here--much like going to Europe. I slept some, though. Mostly, however, I read magazines I had collected in the last 2-3 weeks. During the 4-hour layover I had in Phoenix, I took advantage of the opportunity to go to the United Airlines desk and have them reissue my ticket. A flight I had planned to take from Anchorage to San Francisco on my way to Taiwan when I leave here no longer existed. I was rebooked on TWO flights, meaning I would need two flight coupons rather than one and also meaning I would have to see a representative to get the ticket reissued. I've had to do this before for the same reason once and also when Arne died and I had to be rerouted. Both times, it took TWO HOURS. I was worried that it would take as long again. But this time, it was much faster. We were finished in 30 minutes. And now I don't have to worry about my ticket any longer; it matches my itinerary for the rest of my way to Bangkok.
Phoenix is one of the expensive airports for food. Many airports are lowering their prices now that the airlines have quit serving free meals. Nothing has been lowered in Phoenix, though. Simple cold, boxed sandwiches sell for $7.99. Drinks are $2.00 or more. A small bag of chips costs $1.39 or more. So, a simple snack can be like eating in a restaurant off the airport. I ate a Burger King burger. I've always liked those, but I hadn't had one in a long time. It was good.
Anchorage is cool, but sunny. It was around 40 F when I arrived last night. But there was a breeze that made it feel cold as I waited for the hotel van. Today, the air is cool, but the sun and my walking make it feel nice. It should be in the 50s today and in the 60s starting tomorrow. It's on flat land with beautiful snow-capped mountains visible to the east. It's a spread-out city that seems rather quiet. But maybe that is because it is morning on a weekday and it was late when I came through it last night.
It was 3 a.m. before I got to bed last night. I slept until 9:00 this morning. Then I started realizing things I hadn't remembered to pack--a flashlight and my small binoculars. I looked up Wal-Mart in the phone book. And I looked up the public library for using the Internet. They were both near each other about 35 blocks south of my hotel. So here I am. I walked out here along a trail called the North-South trail. Mainly, it was just a sidewalk along a street, but once it veered down to a small stream and back up. Anyway, I bought a new LED flashlight to use in dark villages, in caves, etc., and a small 8x set of binoculars to have to see the wildlife.
When I logged into the computer a moment ago, there was a message from Wes. He had been trapped in Corpus due to thunderstorms in Houston. He said they got on and off the plane several times before they canceled the flight and rebooked him. He is coming today following the same routing. He's lucky he got seats. Both of my flights yesterday were 100% full. Anyway, he will arrive tonight around 01:30 and will have missed a day in Alaska due to the problems in Houston. At least he is still coming. I would hate to pay these Alaska prices without having him to share the ones for the car, the gas, the hotel rooms, etc.!
I will try to update the blog again soon. I didn't find a downtown branch of the library, so I may have to wait until I will be back in this part of town again. I don't want to waste the time walking 72 blocks round-trip just to use the computer. And I doubt there are any cyber cafes downtown. Most cities in first world countries don't have them, since everyone owns their own computer.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Reading List for Travels in 2007
There seems to be an interest in what books I read when I am traveling. For those of you interested, these are the books I am taking with me this time:
Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticat (National Book Award Finalist)
Life and Times of Michael K by J. M. Coetzee (Winner of Nobel Prize in Literature)
The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst (2004 Man Booker Prize)
The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell
Saturday by Ian McEwan
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hossein
Memed, My Hawk by Yashar Kemal
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai (2006 Man Booker Prize)
The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason
The Master by Colm Toibin (New York Times Book Review One of the Ten Best 2004)
The Cutting Room by Louise Welsh
Grange House by Sarah Blake
There seems to be an interest in what books I read when I am traveling. For those of you interested, these are the books I am taking with me this time:
Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticat (National Book Award Finalist)
Life and Times of Michael K by J. M. Coetzee (Winner of Nobel Prize in Literature)
The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst (2004 Man Booker Prize)
The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell
Saturday by Ian McEwan
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hossein
Memed, My Hawk by Yashar Kemal
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai (2006 Man Booker Prize)
The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason
The Master by Colm Toibin (New York Times Book Review One of the Ten Best 2004)
The Cutting Room by Louise Welsh
Grange House by Sarah Blake
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Itinerary for Last Half of ATW VII and First Half of ATW VIII
Around-the-World Travels Continue
I will be leaving on May 14 to continue my travels for Around-the-World VII which will take me eventually to Bangkok. There, I will buy my new ticket for Around-the-World VIII and continue traveling until I return to San Antonio on Oct. 1. ATW VIII will continue in 2008, but for now, I am posting the itinerary I will be following between May 14 and Oct. 1. In addition, I am making a side trip from Copenhagen using frequent flyer points, so I will include that trip, too.
Monday, May 14, 2007
US 456 Lv. San Antonio 15:00 Arr. Phoenix 15:27
US 130 Lv. Phoenix 19:20 Arr. Anchorage 00:07 (Tuesday)
My friend Wes Petty will meet me there. We will travel by rental car making stops in Anchorage, Homer, Seward, Whittier, Valdez, Fairbanks, and Talkeetna.
Saturday through Monday, May 27-28, 2007
UA 700 Lv. Anchorage 23:55 Arr. Denver 06:55 (Sunday)
UA 869 Lv. Denver 8:34 Arr. San Francisco 10:09
UA 831 Lv. San Francisco 11:40 Arr. Taipei 19:00 (Monday)
I will spend a few days in Taipei. Then I will travel through other parts of Taiwan over the rest of the period of three weeks I will have there.
Monday, June 18, 2007
SQ 27 Lv. Taipei 7:10 Arr. Singapore 11:35
SQ 946 Lv. Singapore 16:40 Arr. Denpasar 19:10
A friend in Singapore will come to the airport to have lunch with me and visit with me between flights. Denpasar is on the island of Bali in Indonesia. I will have 6 weeks to explore parts of the country. Eventually, I will exit by ferry from Medan on the island of Sumatra for the island of Penang in Malaysia.
Monday, July 30, 2007
TG 430 Lv. Penang 8:20 Arr. Bangkok 9:00
I will spend one week in Bangkok organizing my new Around-the-World VIII ticket, seeing my dentist, seeing the foreign films showing there at the time, etc.
Sunday, Aug. 5, 2007
TG 315 Lv. Bangkok 18:05 Arr. Delhi 20:40
I will have about 3 1/2 weeks and will travel northward into the Himalayas visiting such cities as Shimla, Manali, Leh, Srinagar, and Jammu.
Monday, Sept. 3, 2007
LH 763 Lv. Delhi 9:30 Arr. Munich 14:00
LH 228 Lv. Munich 17:25 Arr. Berlin 18:30
I took the flight to Munich rather than the one to Frankfurt because of the nice schedule. Most flights from India leave in the middle of the night. This will be quite a relief to travel during the daytime! I am stopping in Berlin to visit friends I have not seen for a few years.
Thursday, Sept. 6, 2007
SK 1576 Lv. Berlin 13:15 Arr. Copenhagen 14:15
I will spend a few days visiting friends in Copenhagen before making a side trip using frequent flier points to go to Estonia and Latvia.
Monday, Sept. 10, 2007
SK 404 Lv. Copenhagen 11:25 Arr. Stockholm 12:35
SK 748 Lv. Stockholm 14:05 Arr. Tallinn 16:05
I will spend a few days in Tallinn and then travel overland making stops between there and Riga.
Monday, Sept. 24, 2007
SK 2760 Lv. Riga 15:55 Arr. Stockholm 16:05
SK 1425 Lv. Stockholm 16:45 Arr. Copenhagen 17:55
This will return me to Copenhagen for a few final days with friends there.
Thursday, Sept. 27, 2007
SK 1637 Lv. Copenhagen 9:25 Arr. Frankfurt 11:00
LH 425 Lv. Frankfurt 13:20 Arr. Philadelphia 16:00
US 4230 Lv. Philadelphia 18:40 Arr. Harrisburg 19:28
I am purposely flying from Copenhagen to Frankfurt to avoid flying across the Atlantic Ocean on SAS airlines which is the only airline in the Star Alliance which has special seating in economy and will not give me a seat there. All the other airlines, if they such a section, accommodate me in their Economy Plus (or whatever name they use for it) section because my ticket is a full-fare one and is flexible, but SAS refuses to do so and I am refusing to fly them! Furthermore, I am flying through Philadelphia to avoid Washington Dulles as my international arrivals point. Their facilities are just too small and too cramped causing chaos and frustration. Going through there last year was the worst experience I have ever had in terms of international arrivals (including all the 3rd world nation airports I have used)! I am stopping in Harrisburg to visit my friends Jack and Drew who have a second home in Lancaster County (the home of the Amish) there.
Monday, Oct. 1, 2007
UA 7391 Lv. Harrisburg 10:34 Arr. Washington Dulles 11:33
UA 7411 Lv. Washington Dulles 13:00 Arr. San Antonio 15:34
That will return me home. Around-the-World VIII will continue in May of 2008 with stops for visiting the following:
Guaymas and Alamos in Mexico
Phoenix
Okinawa, Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Nara, and Takayama in Japan
Cebu and neighboring islands in The Philippines
Beijing through Chengdu in China
Bangkok (Where I will buy a new ticket for ATW IX to continue from there)
I will be leaving on May 14 to continue my travels for Around-the-World VII which will take me eventually to Bangkok. There, I will buy my new ticket for Around-the-World VIII and continue traveling until I return to San Antonio on Oct. 1. ATW VIII will continue in 2008, but for now, I am posting the itinerary I will be following between May 14 and Oct. 1. In addition, I am making a side trip from Copenhagen using frequent flyer points, so I will include that trip, too.
Monday, May 14, 2007
US 456 Lv. San Antonio 15:00 Arr. Phoenix 15:27
US 130 Lv. Phoenix 19:20 Arr. Anchorage 00:07 (Tuesday)
My friend Wes Petty will meet me there. We will travel by rental car making stops in Anchorage, Homer, Seward, Whittier, Valdez, Fairbanks, and Talkeetna.
Saturday through Monday, May 27-28, 2007
UA 700 Lv. Anchorage 23:55 Arr. Denver 06:55 (Sunday)
UA 869 Lv. Denver 8:34 Arr. San Francisco 10:09
UA 831 Lv. San Francisco 11:40 Arr. Taipei 19:00 (Monday)
I will spend a few days in Taipei. Then I will travel through other parts of Taiwan over the rest of the period of three weeks I will have there.
Monday, June 18, 2007
SQ 27 Lv. Taipei 7:10 Arr. Singapore 11:35
SQ 946 Lv. Singapore 16:40 Arr. Denpasar 19:10
A friend in Singapore will come to the airport to have lunch with me and visit with me between flights. Denpasar is on the island of Bali in Indonesia. I will have 6 weeks to explore parts of the country. Eventually, I will exit by ferry from Medan on the island of Sumatra for the island of Penang in Malaysia.
Monday, July 30, 2007
TG 430 Lv. Penang 8:20 Arr. Bangkok 9:00
I will spend one week in Bangkok organizing my new Around-the-World VIII ticket, seeing my dentist, seeing the foreign films showing there at the time, etc.
Sunday, Aug. 5, 2007
TG 315 Lv. Bangkok 18:05 Arr. Delhi 20:40
I will have about 3 1/2 weeks and will travel northward into the Himalayas visiting such cities as Shimla, Manali, Leh, Srinagar, and Jammu.
Monday, Sept. 3, 2007
LH 763 Lv. Delhi 9:30 Arr. Munich 14:00
LH 228 Lv. Munich 17:25 Arr. Berlin 18:30
I took the flight to Munich rather than the one to Frankfurt because of the nice schedule. Most flights from India leave in the middle of the night. This will be quite a relief to travel during the daytime! I am stopping in Berlin to visit friends I have not seen for a few years.
Thursday, Sept. 6, 2007
SK 1576 Lv. Berlin 13:15 Arr. Copenhagen 14:15
I will spend a few days visiting friends in Copenhagen before making a side trip using frequent flier points to go to Estonia and Latvia.
Monday, Sept. 10, 2007
SK 404 Lv. Copenhagen 11:25 Arr. Stockholm 12:35
SK 748 Lv. Stockholm 14:05 Arr. Tallinn 16:05
I will spend a few days in Tallinn and then travel overland making stops between there and Riga.
Monday, Sept. 24, 2007
SK 2760 Lv. Riga 15:55 Arr. Stockholm 16:05
SK 1425 Lv. Stockholm 16:45 Arr. Copenhagen 17:55
This will return me to Copenhagen for a few final days with friends there.
Thursday, Sept. 27, 2007
SK 1637 Lv. Copenhagen 9:25 Arr. Frankfurt 11:00
LH 425 Lv. Frankfurt 13:20 Arr. Philadelphia 16:00
US 4230 Lv. Philadelphia 18:40 Arr. Harrisburg 19:28
I am purposely flying from Copenhagen to Frankfurt to avoid flying across the Atlantic Ocean on SAS airlines which is the only airline in the Star Alliance which has special seating in economy and will not give me a seat there. All the other airlines, if they such a section, accommodate me in their Economy Plus (or whatever name they use for it) section because my ticket is a full-fare one and is flexible, but SAS refuses to do so and I am refusing to fly them! Furthermore, I am flying through Philadelphia to avoid Washington Dulles as my international arrivals point. Their facilities are just too small and too cramped causing chaos and frustration. Going through there last year was the worst experience I have ever had in terms of international arrivals (including all the 3rd world nation airports I have used)! I am stopping in Harrisburg to visit my friends Jack and Drew who have a second home in Lancaster County (the home of the Amish) there.
Monday, Oct. 1, 2007
UA 7391 Lv. Harrisburg 10:34 Arr. Washington Dulles 11:33
UA 7411 Lv. Washington Dulles 13:00 Arr. San Antonio 15:34
That will return me home. Around-the-World VIII will continue in May of 2008 with stops for visiting the following:
Guaymas and Alamos in Mexico
Phoenix
Okinawa, Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Nara, and Takayama in Japan
Cebu and neighboring islands in The Philippines
Beijing through Chengdu in China
Bangkok (Where I will buy a new ticket for ATW IX to continue from there)
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