An Assault on the Senses

December 27, 2010

Namaste,

One of the great things about our itinerary is that we are seeing the real India. This is not a sanitized tourist-friendly version (although we are staying at some amazing hotels), but the real raw, gritty side of this country where 70% still live in rural areas. The land and the people hit all of your senses: the constant din of car horns, the smell of incense and smog and a variety of spices, the colors of the clothes and the buildings, the amazing tastes of the food - spicy and hot or cool and refreshing, the different and strange languages (only 10% of the people speak English, but of course these are the ones who control the government, the economy, and work in tourism), the feel of the silk that is produced here, the repetitive sounds of calls to prayer, the beauty of the architecture and the inlaid marble, and our sense of propriety (there is nothing unusual about seeing men urinate by the side of the road, or worse).

You may have noticed that we haven't provided our customary food reports over the past few days.  Frankly, there's not much you can say about chicken soup and rice (in any culture)...but we are back on our normal eating marathon.  We've had many wonderful Indian meals but perhaps the most memorable so far were on Christmas Day--when we had a beautiful, traditional lunch, followed by a festive Indian Christmas buffet unlike any other buffet we've experienced to date.

After a morning of touring at the Amber Fort in Jaipur (including an elephant ride up the steep entrance), we went to a lovely heritage hotel where we took in a puppet show followed by a traditional lunch.  The servers paraded in with a domed silver platter for each guest. Each platter had eight small bowls with different dishes including--but not limited to--chicken tikka masala, the ubiquitous dal, spiced potatoes, raita (yogurt to cool the palate), green beans, eggplant, rice, and more.  It was a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach.  Of course, this was followed by a similarly arranged dessert platter.

Lunch would have been adequate but, it being Christmas Day, our tour guide decided that everyone should have a holiday dinner as well (by the way, there had been an elaborate spread for Christmas Eve with Indian, Thai, Chinese, and American delicacies--and, in the holiday spirit, our guide had purchased a wide array of Indian tsotschkes for each of us representing every possible Indian trinket one might imagine, ranging from bangle bracelets to Ganesh calendars, to puppets and everything in between).  But, I digress. For Christmas Dinner, we chose the Indian restaurant (something about eating turkey and brussels sprouts while in India just doesn't make sense). We entered a festively-decorated courtyard (complete with Indian music and yet another puppet show) and, luckily, heated with space heaters and table-side charcoal braziers (which spewed sparks from time to time) as it was in the upper 40s (northern India is not the tropics).  We sat down only to discover another buffet (argh) but quickly changed our tune when we realized this one was interactive.  There were five stations; at each one, the chefs were standing by to explain the tasty foods being served.  We were pleasantly surprised to see that at several stations they were serving "street food" which we had been forewarned not to eat (not that that prevented us from needing to eat chicken soup for two days).  Anyway, when we sat down we were served pappadam with an array of wonderful chutneys.  Then, it was time to go to the food stations.  We started with chaat--these were the Indian equivalent of bite-sized taco shells filled with vegetables and hot sauce.  They were fantastic and it was very difficult to eat just one or two!  The next station had salad offerings--we chose the lentil salad and baby fried spiced okra... just delectable.  Next, we moved to the tandoori kebabs (murgh malai, achari macchli, saunfiynani paneer, tandoori shimla--translated to fish, chicken, cheese, and vegetable--not  necessarily in that order). These were simply outstanding.  Now, mere mortals might have been done at this point, but we persevered.

The next course was the main course--here we had several to choose among (tandoori murgh masala, lamb nilgiri kurma, kerala shrimp curry, saag paneer, aloo jeera, jogiya tarkari, dal palak, subq biriyani, and assorted Indian breads). We piled our plates high--focusing on the chicken, shrimp, potatoes, dal, and biriyani (and, of course, the nan). The flavors ranged from hot to piquant to spicy to mellow.  Unbelievably, we finished every bite.

Of course, it would not be a complete meal for Wendy and Wayne in any culture if we didn't have dessert.  So, we summoned up our energy (and courage) and trekked over to the dessert bar. Again, there were many choices including, but not limited to steamed chocolate pudding (the Indian answer to molten chocolate cake), coconut ice cream, Indian donuts (steeped in sugar syrup), and sugar syrup soaked fried dough (the Indian answer to churros). Again, we finished every bite. We are accustomed to Chinese food for Christmas dinner; our Indian dinner was a treat for sore eyes (and luckily, not sore stomachs).

As we write this letter, it is Monday evening, December 27.  Yesterday was a rest and travel day; a highlight was the sari and turban demonstration after lunch.  We both got dressed up (as did most of our group) and we have the pictures to prove it.  We arrived at Udaipur (city of lakes) late in the evening. 

This morning, we stayed at the hotel and enjoyed a camel ride (well, perhaps enjoyed is not the right verb here--quite an experience) and then took a tuk-tuk (open air taxi) into old Udaipur where we visited an outstanding textile store where we indulged in some serious retail therapy.  If there was a limit on scarves and shawls, we certainly would not pass customs!  Tomorrow, we depart for Mumbai.

Mumbai-Bye

January 1, 2011

Namaste,

As we write this final chapter of our journey, we are sitting in an airport hotel in Delhi whiling away the hours as our original flight out last night was cancelled (nothing like spending New year's Day in an airport hotel waiting for 12:40 a.m. when we'll try again). We look at it as yet another experience in our journey--and a wild one it has been. So here is what has happened since we last posted.  (Please note:  because we have so much time to kill, we've provided lots of details... we hope you'll bear with us!)

We flew from Udaipur to Mumbai. We were very lucky as our flight was only slightly delayed; the northern part of the country, including Delhi was covered with fog. And since Delhi (like O'Hare) is THE major air hub of the country, the whole system was bollixed up. Over 70 flights had been cancelled; some international flights had been rerouted to Mumbai (can you imagine!?). Even some trains were cancelled (because they don't work in the fog?????).

So we arrived in Mumbai (Bombay now) in the late afternoon. Mumbai, which has a population of 18 million, was originally  made up of 7 islands. But over the centuries, the sea was reclaimed and it is now one contiguous area. As we drove in, our initial images were of much construction, but, as in other cities, many half-finished (and abandoned) buildings, highway overpasses to nowhere, high-rises on one side and hovels and decay on the other. It reminded us at various points of Bangkok (tropical, tons of cars), Rio, Rome, Miami Beach, and even

Lake Shore Drive

(sans palm trees).  At one point we crossed over a very modern new bridge. The sign at the entrance summed up the city (and perhaps all of India): "No 2 wheel or 3 wheel vehicles or bullock carts allowed"!!!!  As in most of the other cities there were many statues of Gandhi.

We had arranged several day tours and were fortunate to get an excellent guide (who informed us she had also toured with Kevin Costner and Barack Obama--not too shabby).  We started early (6 am!) on Wednesday and took a walking tour of the wholesale flower market. As you might imagine, the market was teeming with people--squirming, pushing, barreling into us--we felt perfectly safe so long as we ducked to steer clear of people's heavy loads. Once again, we were in the throes of it--fantastic. Back to the hotel for a quick breakfast and then out again for a guided city tour, including the open air laundry (Dhobi Ghat--movie coming out in January), Jain temple, Farsi Cone of Silence for burial rites), British monuments, the impressive Gateway to India, and so forth.

But the highlight of any Mumbai tour is Elephanta island--an hour ferry ride away to an island, originally guarded by elephant sculptures--with natural caves adorned with fascinating (amazingly well preserved) Hindu sculptures. However, the real highlight of our Mumbai tour was unplanned.  We had paid for a market tour but, acknowledging that we'd bought just about every scarf and shawl available, we asked our guide if it would be possible to see a movie instead because we wanted to experience Bollywood firsthand. She was game and led us to the Regal Theatre, built in 1931 and a landmark structure - you know, those big old movie houses with the balconies (it seated about 800 people). The cost was $2 a ticket!

It was a 3:30 showing, so most of the audience was women. First there was a PSA for mosquito and malaria control. Then they showed the flag of India and everyone stood for the playing of the National Anthem (but no one sang and no "Play Ball" at the end). Then the movie began! We saw "Band Baaja Baaraat"  (http://www.bandbaajabaaraat.com/) which was basically a boy-meets-girl, boy and girl become partners as wedding planners (a hot industry in India), boy and girl are successful and fall in love, girl gets angry and breaks partnership, boy and girl get back together and...... A wild movie! Full of lots of dancing and colorful wedding parties.. It was hard to keep Wendy in her seat as she was dancing throughout.

Our guide whispered translations from time to time (as there were no subtitles) but really, we could pretty much figure out what was happening without even understanding the dialogue. There weren't many complexities to the plot or theme. Loved this!!!

Friday we had a guided tour of five synagogues--ranging in age from 80 to 250 years.  While there isn't a significant Jewish population in Mumbai (about 4,000 now)--the population was significant at one time--and was comprised of both Bene Israelis and the Bagdadi Jews. The synagogues were impressive--particularly the arks and Torah covers and Wendy was thrilled that she was actually able to hold the Torah in the first synagogue, Magen David Synagogue.  A slightly different experience from Highland Park.

Can't finish our Mumbai report without a food report.  Incredible. We have been eating naan-stop (nyuk, nyuk!).  First dinner was at Trishna, which happens to have been written up in the NY Times last weekend.  Famous for seafood and king crabs freshly caught from Arabian Sea.  If you have eaten shellfish or roast chicken with Wendy (and you know who you are), just visualize the scene.  We had a huge vegetarian lunch (skipped dinner!) and another lunch in a restaurant (Khyber) decorated in Muslim style--chicken in an almond cream sauce with lassies to drink.  Memorable.  Perhaps the most beautiful restaurant of the trip was in the Oberoi hotel--their new Indian restaurant Ziya.  The room reminded us of Spiaggia overlooking the water.  The food was high gourmet Indian, each plate was a work of art prepared by a Michelin chef.  We started with amuse-bouches of one rice coated cherry tomato with mango chaser.  Then, with wild mushroom naan, Wayne enjoyed a trilogy of chicken (malai chicken; red pepper & chili chicken, mustard chicken, and pineapple Jhenga).  Wendy had the vegetarian subz platter (tandoori cauliflower, hariyli seekh kebab, and pomegranate raita. For mains, Wendy had the grilled ginger chilli lobster with broccoli khicdi and lovingly garnished with spiced cocoa powder (ok, decadent but we thought it was our last night in India!).  Wayne had prawns cooked coastal style, infused with Kaiffir lime leaves and lemon grass and served with steamed basmati.  Of course, both of our mains were served with dal and I wouldn't want to forget mentioning that we ordered saffron sesame naan and roti.  Again, no meal in any country is complete for us without dessert and as long as the elastic pants are ready and waiting back home we ordered two things.  The waiter told us we really didn't need two (shucks, the grilled saffron pineapple with kheer ice cream and warm coconut basundi which Wayne wanted sounded so good...but we stuck with the choco-palette).  On an actual palette we were served:  warm marbled chocolate samosa, silky chocolate delice with carmelised nuts, cumin-hazelnut warm chcolate brownie, rose petal kheer-white chocolate kulfi--paan chutney--chocolate pana cotta.  Need we say more except that I have now discovered another Indian scarf treatment--drape around your ever-increasing stomach.  Now, I fully understand why saris have caught on!

So....to sum up this trip:

We have seen roaming freely in the streets: cows, pigs, goats, dogs, cats. monkeys, and donkeys. We have also seen horses, rats, elephants, camels, parrots, vultures, owls, Indian-versions of squirrels and chipmunks, hawks, and pigeons (in Mumbai they actually have special areas set aside where they put out birdseed for them!). Alas, no tigers or cobras.We have had close encounters with a baboon, camels, and elephants. 

We have been on planes (jet and prop), busses, cars, taxis, auto-rickshaws (tuk-tuks), boats (ferry and rowed), trains, elephants, and camels.

We have seen or visited houses of worship for Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, and Christians.

We have seen many types of architecture spanning thousands of years and representing numerous cultures and religions. And these were constructed of everything from marble, to sandstone, and many great Victorian-era English built stone buildings.

We have tasted the huge variety of foods of those cultures.

We have seen excessive wealth (the world's most expensive "house" at $2 billion!) and poverty beyond imagination.

We have heard the different languages and seen the variety of lifestyles (some unchanged for centuries, others very 21st century) of this melange of peoples who, for the most part, live together in harmony. All this and we feel we've only scratched the surface.

Some visitors, upon returning home have said "'India' stands for 'I'll never do it again'". We'd say it means "India never dies, it's alive!". And we are currently in negotiation as to when we will return... there are sections of the country (Himalayas and the South) yet to see. 

Thank you for being with us on this amazing journey; we look forward to seeing many of you soon.

Namaste and Happy, Healthy New Year to all.

¡Hola from Chile!

December, 2009

Hello, everyone, from HOT Chile!    You have to pronounce it Chee-lay, not Chili (as our guide said unless you want "chili con carne").   We are currently in Santiago, the capital city which has 6 million of the 16 million total in the country. Chile is 3,200 miles long (think Boston to San Diego) and (on average) 100 miles wide!  And we wrote HOT because it is hovering around 90 degrees. By the way, the dialect is distinct from traditional Spanish and is spoken very, very fast, PLUS English speakers in the restaurants are few and far between so far. 

The main drivers of their economy are: copper, paper/lumber, farmed salmon, fruits/produce/wine, and tourism.  Their government is fascinating... president has one four year term, they had a big election on Sunday but no one won a majority, so they are voting again next month (ah, if only we had had that chance in 2000). Posters of the candidates are everywhere, and one looks surprisingly like George Costanza. 

We arrived on Monday and had two amazing meals (no surprise). Chile (unlike Argentina and Brazil) puts an emphasis on fish (but the beef is still great!). My dear friend Natasha had forewarned me that what we call Chilean Sea Bass is not what they call Chilean Sea Bass.  Unfortunately, we forgot that and what we thought was sea bass was really conger eel (served like fish and chips) and very tasty.  who knew?  We have also discovered that the produce is amazing (I will never look askance at Chilean produce in the Whole Foods again even though it’s not local)... particularly the avocados, tomatoes, hearts of palm, and strawberries.

Yesterday we took a day trip to Valparaiso (Valley of Paradise) an old port city on the Pacific. Though it is on the coast, it is still very mountainous, with the houses built all over the mountainside (some similarity to Amalfi Coast).  Then a small town called Viña da Mar (Vineyard by the sea) which looked a lot like Nice, but not as nice. 

Today, we did a short tour of the city (not really much to see - though parts looked like Rome (with the obligatory river) or plazas in Spain and Italy - hmmm....wonder why?), and saw the changing of the guard at the presidential "palace" (it is called that, but the president just works there - all presidents actually live in their own homes!). So they had a big ceremony with soldiers and marching bands...

...and then the street was reopened to traffic.  Yes...the traffic actually goes right past the President' office. Our guide said there is no need here for the kind of security we have at home. 

Then a lovely ride toward the Andes, and a tour of a winery.  It was pretty much what we've seen before (giant tanks, rows of barrels, certificates of awards, etc.). The big difference was that they did NOT try to sell us any wine, how delightful. After the tour we were led outside and served lunch under a huge cork tree! OMG! It was soooo beautiful: the rows of grape vines, a pool filled with lily pads, Greek-style statues holding bunches of grapes,

...a perfect temperature, no bugs.....and the food was fabulous... papaya with ice cream for dessert and the wine kept flowing. Did we mention they use lots of salt and sugar... detox will be needed upon our return. 

Tomorrow (Thursday) we fly down to  Puerto Montt to start our Andes crossing. 

We will see a small waterfall in preparation for the big one at Iguazu. Puerto Montt is a town settled by Germans over 150 years ago--at the northern-most tip of Patagonia (which means land of big feet--hope they let us in).  

¡Bueno from Bariloche, Argentina!

We left Santiago and flew to Patagonia; Puerto Montt to be exact, at the northern end. The climate there is much different. In Patagonia, the wind is the main weather factor. Saw the first of many volcanoes (according to our guide, there are over 1,000 in Chile).  Then, over a three day period, we meandered our way to Bariloche, Argentina (and the Llao Llao, check it out at http://llaollao2-px.trvlclick.com/ing/hotel.asp ) Llao Llao is an amazingly wonderful property in the Switzerland of South America--surrounded by the Andes, lakes, and trees. For a point of reference for this resort, prior readers, note... think the Wharekauhau in the North Island of New Zealand.  A brief linguistics break.  The name of the resort is pronounced "yao yao" when you are referring to it from Chile...but once you’re in Argentina, it is "zhao zhao", go figure. Also, linguistically speaking, my knowledge of French is helpful here in terms of reading but does not help in speaking one bit.   

So, the trip here?  A combination of buses, more buses, a broken-down bus, boats, more boats, and a plane.  The geography on the way here, crossing the Andes, was spectacular--a combination of the Road to Hana and New Zealand yet more rugged, and quite chilly. Waterfalls, snow-capped mountain tops, volcanoes, emerald lakes, blue lakes ,bubbling brooks, beautiful blue skies, etc., perfect weather.  The tour guide put me (Wendy) in charge of the weather (I guess I looked like I needed more to do) and so far it’s cooperating. He’s in charge of everything else. (Geography note: this is only northern Patagonia, so my assumption is that it is only more rugged the further south you go.)  Along the way, we sailed Lake Toda Los Santos into Vincente Perez Rosales National Park to Peulla, a place of primeval forests.  Only 120 residents there.  We had a choice of various Andean adventures, we chose a 4X4 tour (think Boston Duck boats without the attitude).  Our three  favorite parts of this tour were (1) when the llama from the farm we were visiting jumped over the fence, (2) the chocolate brown alpaca, would look great in a sweater, but itchy, and (3) a quiet moment on the Rio Negro--we transferred to a pontoon boat--when our guide turned off the motor and we listened to nature for five minutes  Imagine that, no talking!  During this time, we saw condors flying over head and heard frogs, other birds, and who knows what else.  It was uplifting and spiritual. Another highlight during the trek here was a (what we thought would be a lovely) walk yesterday morning until a wild boar came out of the woods and began to amble toward us.  Of course, having a strong survival instinct, I ran for the hotel while Wayne lingered to get the perfect photo.  It was only after 2 minutes of uninterrupted screaming on my part that Wayne decided to come back to the hotel.  whew! 

What about the food?  Well, they kept touting the salmon (again a primary export of Chile, so sorry Andrew).  So, lots of that. Also, Wayne is in heaven as the only vegetables served regularly are corn and potatoes.  Wayne had a tasty dish, corn pie with beef, chicken, olives, onions, and sweet caramelized top.  Apparently, our local guide added sugar to his as they adore their sugar.  The other meals (until we reached this property) were absolutely unmemorable, except for a bout with maggots in a turkey/ham slice, not ours, luckily.  We promise more appetizing food details in the next issue.

with that, we leave you for now.  We head to Buenos Aires tomorrow for the first real shopping of the trip--chocolate and leather which I expect to be an absolutely splendid combination. 

¡Buenos Dias from Buenos Aires!

It is Christmas Eve in Buenos Aires (about 95 degrees and rainy) and here is our report on this extraordinary city.

We flew into BA (which is what they call it here) on Monday. The city is huge from the air - 16 million people in the whole area. When you get through baggage and walk outside, you see what you expect is the Atlantic, but wait; it is all brown. Because, it is not the ocean, but the Rio de la Plata, the largest estuary in the world - at some points 120 miles wide! Plata means silver in Spanish. The country, Argentina, is named after argentum, the Latin word for silver. Seems the Spanish thought the brown in the river was from silver. Oops...wrongo! It is only sediment. The name of the city is actually City of Trinidad and Port of Buenos Aires (city founded on Trinity day - Nov 2, and the port has really good air). But of course it is just called Buenos Aires.

Monday we did a city tour in the bus. There are over 1,000 statues and monuments! There are 40+ neighborhoods in the city. 
There are really beautiful areas and of course some very poor, run down shanty town areas. We were constantly warned about pickpockets, but no one had any problem, even walking at night. We are in Recolleta, one of the nicer areas. The architecture is very interesting...a mix of French (many French architects came over to work in the city) plus Spanish plus a local flavor. Palm trees and banyans abound. Perfect weather.

We promised more food details.  We were here on our 35th wedding anniversary so went out to celebrate on Monday evening at a lovely French restaurant called Nectarine. The food was amazing.  We started out with a French sushi roll/amuse bouce of smoked salmon on a pea puree.  Then we moved to our appetizers.  I had tomatoes prepared 5 ways (which was a perfect appetizer given that Wayne does not eat tomatoes so I didn’t have to share)...anyway, tomato foam, heirloom tomatoes, a tomato blini, salad with tomato dressing, and sun dried tomatoes.  Wayne went more inventive with pumpkin capellini served with duck magrait, prunes, and almond and garnished with vanilla oil.  Then, we moved to the main course... I had lamb that surpassed anything in Australia New Zealand...it was served with roasted sweet peppers, with Provence salad served with peas and fava beans in rosemary water.  Wayne had a beautiful pork loin.....served with avocado, shrimp, a green curry foam and hearts of palm tempura.  For dessert, I had dark chocolate roll stuffed with chocolate mousse adorned with mango sorbet and surrounded by dark chocolate and orange drops.  Wayne went for the red fruit cake (though it sounds more romantic in Spanish... gateau de frutos rojas) with a pistachio biscuit, red fruit sorbets, and a cheese cake adornment.  Truly glorious.  But the food adventures did not end with our anniversary.  For lunch on Tuesday we had classic empandas at a locals spot--these are meat and/or chicken turnovers which melt in your mouth they are so delectable...particularly when washed down with beer they are very yummy.  Speaking of beer, the alcohol has truly been flowing.  The wine (Malbec is my favorite) is great and hard to put down. To close out our eating adventures in Buenos Aires, lots of Italians here so we had great pizza for dinner on Wednesday night.  We had a BBQ (with the whole parade of meats) at a ranch for lunch on Wednesday. And how could I forget, the ice cream here is also great.

Forgot to mention (regarding our anniversary) that not only did a dozen red roses magically appear in our hotel room but so did a bottle of champagne with strawberries (which no one is claiming... hmmm).  A special anniversary gift was the yummy leather jacket i purchased (made to fit).... a must not miss stop for several of us on the trip... memories of our Viet Nam experience. 

Moving on to other adventures, a highlight of Tuesday was the tango show.  I never realized how many balletic elements are in tango.  It was really great.  Wednesday morning we went to a ranch at a pampas about an hour out of town.  The horses put on an amazing display but our favorite was the 3 day old pony.  OMG, so cute.  After 5 hours on the ranch we hurried back so that 9 of us could take the Jewish tour of Buenos Aires.  Very interesting.  The Jewish community here is quite strong (not quite as strong as it once was...but strong nonetheless).  We visited the site of the 1992 Israeli Embassy bombing (now a memorial), the Holocaust Museum, an extraordinarily beautiful conservative synagogue in the pretty-much defunct garment district, and a huge shopping mall financed by a group including orthodox Jews, so there was a mezuzzah at each entrance.  This mall also included the only Kosher McDonalds in the Western Hemisphere.  We did a double-take when we walked up to the McDonalds and "Silent Night" came through the PA system. Gotta love those intercultural experiences.  By the way, Buenos Aires truly is a city of immigrants from all over the world with the latest wave from other countries in South America.

Back to the Jewish Tour for a moment.  it is easy when you are caught up in the magic of Buenos Aires to forget that this is a country that sheltered many Nazi war criminals just after the war including Adolph Eichmann.  We marveled at Evan Peron´s tomb and the amazing cemetery where her remains rest but when we heard about her contributions to the Nazi settlement effort here (she flew to Switzerland with several phony passports), we saw things in a different light.

Time to move on... we are leaving for a plane to Iguazu Falls in a few minutes and will report on those in a day of two.

Oi from Rio De Janeiro

Yes...we are in Rio.  Oi is Portuguese for Hello.  We have only learned a few words of Portuguese...like "obrigado" (thanks)...many words are almost like English (telefono, taolette). But you still can't understand what people are saying. Even those in our group who speak Spanish are having trouble.

But before we talk about Rio, here are some perspectives from Iguazu Falls. First of all, it is Iquazu on the Argentinian side and Iguaçu on the Brasilian (yes...Brasil) side. It is pronounced ee-gwa-SU (or ee-gua-SHU in Brasil) and it means "place where the waters end" as it is the place where two rivers flow into a third. We spent Christmas Eve on the Argentinian side and Christmas Day on the Brasil side.  Awesome.  Amazing.  Huge.  Breath-taking.  Majestic.  Thunderous. Magnificent.  Spiritual.  Iguazu has neither the volume of Niagara nor the widest single waterfall impact of Victoria.  But, in terms of sheer magnitude, it wins... it includes over 200 separate falls in a spectacular rainforest setting, with bridges and well-maintained nature walks over the river and up to the edge of the falls.  Whereas at Victoria (in Zambia) we were drenched immediately... at Iguaçu, there was no deluge until the very last stop on the Brazilian side.  Such a treat.  While the falls are off the beaten path, they should not be missed on a trip to this part of the world.  Indeed, they are in the "finals" for an updated "seven new natural wonders of the world" list.  We caught sight of several  coati mundi families (like raccoons) as well as an elusive Fruit Loops toucan. 

Our guide informed us the jungle was full of leopards, pumas, and the like...but even though we made a special request, we saw none of the above. Other than a sumptuous Christmas Eve buffet (in Latin America, Christmas Eve is when the big celebration occurs) the food at the Falls was not memorable.

Then, on Christmas Day, we moved on to Rio (pop. 7 million).  A fascinating city of contrasts--extreme poverty (in the favellas/slums) and over-the-top hotels and condos (in Ipanema Beach)... extraordinary diversity across ethnicity lines... a free and easy lifestyle that expresses itself through the samba, Carnaval (four days of partying like Mardi Gras but south of the border), and a ¨let´s hang out at the beach" orientation. Other descriptors for this city:  thongs, Speedos (both worn by all, in their respective gender, regardless of those individuals’ size), in your face, uninhibited, steamy (in all respects), energizing. The city includes the largest urban rainforest, mountains, bays, the Atlantic Ocean, and is overseen by the almost overpowering Christ the Redeemer statue.  Nearly everyone has seen the photos, but to be in the presence of this statue was awe-inspiring.  And to be there the day after Christmas when the cardinal was officiating at a mass was more awe-inspiring still.

We walked on Copacabana beach and boardwalk which has the world's smallest McDonalds - a little hut like you find on many Caribbean beaches - the kitchen is underground! Thousands of people sunbathing and enjoying the water there.  The beach is beautiful - clean white sand several kilometers long. No air conditioning in the favellas, so the beach is the destination of choice (and the temperature has been hovering upwards of 95).  The name Rio De Janeiro means "River of January" because when the Portuguese "discovered" it in 1502 (don't tell the natives) it was January 1st and they thought they were on a big river....but it turns out it was a bay off the Atlantic (so they were no smarter than the Spanish in Buenos Aires).

On Saturday morning, we got up to see the sun rise over the Atlantic. Wow!!  After a visit to Christ the Redeemer... 

...we did a bus / walking tour of the downtown part of the city - learned some history and about the current culture (10% upper class, 10% very poor, 80% middle class. But, for example, a teacher here earns about 450 Reals / month ($250 US)). Then we had a traditional lunch at the oldest cafe in Rio (hmmm...heard that before). The cafe was incredible - and the lunch featured black beans and rice and a choice of meats from boiling pots full - pigs ears, feet, pork lips, pork ribs, several kinds of beef... plus extraordinary desserts.  Our local guide informed us that Portuguese desserts are the best and I think he was right.  pecan tarts, all kinds of flans, beautiful truffles, fruit tartes, on and on and on. We tasted most of them.  Yummo!  Then we went to a Samba school. Preface: this is a very Catholic society, so even though it seems very loose in some ways, it is traditional in others. So they have Carnaval (same as Mardi Gras) in the 4 days before Lent. And they have a VERY BIG DEAL competition the last night (from 7pm - 7am) where the top 12 teams square off to show their floats and sing and dance before upwards of several hundred thousand people in a set of grandstands several blocks long. So each team has a huge warehouse where they build their floats and practice and keep everything VERY SECRET!!!! But we got to go in and they had a few musicians and several women wearing skimpy costumes (I mean 1 yard of fabric probably outfits all of the women!). I forced Wayne to pose with one of the women, very funny.  And then they had us (well, Wendy plus the other women) dancing with them!! Like a Latin Bar Mitzvah!  and we got to try on some costumes and headpieces (VERY HEAVY! - How do they dance in them for hours??).  One way to burn off the calories from nonstop eating.  

On Sunday, we enjoyed the beach some more then took a cable car up to Sugarloaf Mountain for amazing views and had an amazing lobster dinner. Speaking of food, we haven’t really had a chance to do extensive sampling of the food here in Rio but can thank our hotel for providing amazing and creative fruit drinks each morning--strawberry/orange, açai juice, parsley, mango, guava... and don’t miss the caiparina (sp?)--lots of fruit, lime is traditional--even more sugar, and the Brazilian answer to vodka.  Oh my. 

On Monday (our extra day), mere mortals might have chosen to relax, but first we took a walk around the neighborhood and visited  a grocery store with a full aisle of beans and rice.  Next, we checked out the subway prior to shopping in Ipanema (quite successful), then we took a fantastic tour of the favellas which should not be missed.  Our Land Rover took us into the heart of approximately 10 block area/200,000 residents (on the side of a hill with many cinder block squares stocked one on top of another,  as children age they build another residence on top of their parents’ home!) where we exited the vehicle and wandered up and down the narrow walkways.  Fascinating.  This is a low income area but full of energy, excitement, and wonderful people.  On the outside, the houses are cinder blocks and run down.  But, in the inside, they look quite lovely.  

We think Rio totally deserves the Olympics and we can’t wait to hear how the city is transformed.  

Well, we are ready to leave for the airport. We heard "The Girl from Ipanema" at least 100 times in the last 4 days so we won’t  miss that!  Thank you for joining us for our trip... we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!

Adios and Tchau.

Sawasdee ka from Bangkok

December, 2008
That is the phonetic spelling for hello (the feminine version) from Bangkok, Thailand. Everyone here is so respectful.  We are greeted in this way incessantly, with coordinating hand movements, palms together under the chin (this is called the wai). 

The Thai language has 44 consonants, 23 vowels, and 5 tonations... so if any of our readers thought we would master it in 5 days, they were sorely mistaken. 

It is now Friday afternoon.  We arrived at the hotel on Thursday morning about 1:30 local time and, as you might expect, have pretty much been on the move since then. Our body clocks are so confused we have no clue what time or day this is... much more striking than in prior trips. The temperature is averaging around 75 with little humidity (for Bangkok).  Needless to say, we are loving the weather.

So, starting at the top.  We had not even left O'Hare when we heard our esteemed governor had really lowered the bar on political corruption.  Would you believe that story was front and center in the International Herald Tribune on Thursday morning?  It certainly put the political issues in Bangkok in perspective. 

The King just celebrated his 81st birthday and his picture is ubiquitous.  By the way, there is absolutely no evidence here of political unrest.  Everything is back to normal except that hotel and service personnel are especially grateful to see visitors.  Many people did cancel their plans and the hotels and restaurants, so far, have only been too happy to greet us and take our money (our bahts, that is).

General reactions. Ten million people in Bangkok out of 60 million in the country.  It's more frenetic and chaotic than Tokyo... and feels non-Westernized, more exotic than any other place we've visited. There are big highways (high as in "elevated") and many big beautiful boulevards (they also have a Champs Elysees), and then there are the extremely narrow side roads that are chock-a-block with stalls and pushcarts.  The traffic is amazing!  It is non-stop from dawn to night. They drive on the "wrong" side of the road so of course that is disorienting. And there are HUNDREDS of motor scooters and motorcycles (and the "passenger" often rides side-saddle and doesn't even hold on!!). The cars appear to move in a helter skelter fashion, but it is really more like a plague of locusts. Cars dart in and out, motorcycles go between cars and in FRONT of cars, all within inches of each other, but there are no horns blaring and no screeching of brakes...it is as if everyone is able to read the minds of everyone else and avoid collisions (sort of like the BORG Collective of traffic).  When there is a red light, it is often for several minutes at a time. How do we know? There is a clock next to the stop light which counts down the time remaining! So while it is red, all of the motorcycles weave their way to the front of the pack, so when the light changes, it is like the start of a motcross rally.  These guys make drivers in Italy look positively tame.  We have not even tried to walk anywhere.  The guidebooks recommend you take the river taxis or the elevated train (SkyTrain) and avoid regular taxis at all costs.

So Thursday, we had a wonderful breakfast outside by the river. Bangkok used to be "The Venice of the Orient"...many rivers and smaller canals and life was certainly water-oriented. But many of the smaller canals have been filled in over the years.  Speaking of being filled in, we are filled up (and have only been here two days).  Our breakfast buffet has everything imaginable! It rivals some of our other favorites like in Melbourne and Bobadilla, Spain. Lots of local fruit:  we had Rose Apple (which is like a trianglular apple, tastes like an apple except not sweet...just apple-y) and rambutan (which is a big red hairy thing -  "rambu" means "hair in Thai - that is sweet and not like anything we ever tasted. Also had guava and the sweetest, most juicy pineapple ever (even beats Hawaii). Then we took a tour (with Looi--our other local guide is Yewie, all we need is Dewie and we're all set... quack, quack) around the city (just 6 of us....the official  tour does not actually start until Friday night, so only a few came early like us)....but mostly we stopped and walked through an amazing wholesale flower market. Then the fruit market..so many wonderful things.

We got back around noon and went to CURRY QUEEN for lunch!!!!  No blizzards here, but really wonderful food.  Everything is cheap in Bangkok.  Right now, 100 baht is about $3.  We had a scampi dish and a fried rice dish and a 24 oz bottle of Singha (local beer) for under $9.

Then we went back to our room and crashed for a few hours. Then, it was time to eat again.   We had a reservation at a very good restaurant. It is only 3 miles from our hotel, but the cab ride took 45 minutes!!!  Traffic!!  But there is no way we could have walked there even if we wanted to...the streets are like a maze.  Some signs have both Thai and English, but if you get lost, you'd be doomed. We had a nice dinner and the cab ride back took 10 minutes!! Not so much traffic in that direction.

Today, the focus was on food again.   We had an early breakfast because our main activity was a Thai cooking class!  Alas, we should have skipped breakfast (and all meals for the month of November!)  We got picked up at 9 and were delivered to the "school" by about 9:20. We have no idea where it is in relation to our hotel.  It was us and a newlywed couple from Leeds, England and a businessman from Zurich (this was his 4th class!!!!). It was an awesone experience. 

We made 4 different dishes. First the teacher (a really cute Thai woman who kind of spoke English) would demonstrate how to make the dish (and they gave each of us a packet with all of the recipes). Then she would pass it around so we could taste it. Then we each went to our cooking station (where all of the ingredients in the right proportions were magically waiting for us), and made the dish again ourselves (all were stir fried). Then, we took what we made and went to a table and ate that!  First we made stri fry vegetables (corn, peas, carrots, garlic (they are BIG on garlic) and ground pork, with seasonings. We put that aside and each made 5 little stir fry "baskets" from a flour and lime juice batter with a special basket mold. Then we filled the baskets with the pork-veggie mixture and ate it. Next we made a stir fry glass noodle and muchroom and shrimp dish.  Same routine. So good.  This is where Wayne hit the wall--fatigue and appetite satiation-wise!  Next up was stir-fried beef with veggies. Wonderful!  Then we made yellow curry chicken.  We have gained 10 pounds in two days--not a good trendline.  (if you are really curious about this, check out http://www.baipai.com/.)

Tomorrow we begin our temple and palace tour with 28 other smiling Americans and 2 Canadians.