Cold Lake Sept 7th to 9th

We are off to the Yukon for a 4 week vacation.  First stop was Cold Lake, Alberta  home to my brother and the 4 Wing Fighter Base. They fly F18 Hornets.   My niece is in the Air Force and arranged a tour of the repair and overhaul facilities on the base.  We were allowed some photos and I was able to sit in a F18 hornet and dream about flying such a monster.

Goa – March 16, 17, 18

Rest and relaxation on the Arabian Sea. The temperature is over 33ºC. The ocean is warm. Even Joan has been in swimming.We have spent ours days reading, eating, walking the beach and swimming. 

About to be swamped

The beach at sunset

Our Door Lock

Our resort

Pune – March 15

Joan and Goats

Our scheduled tour began at 9:00 and we started with a drive into the surrounding hills to visit a fort. The city of Pune is 5 million people and 9:00 is still rush hour so it was an interesting drive. Once we hit the hills the traffic dropped as the scenery improved. At the top we were faced with an uphill walk of 1 kilometer until we reached the 3^rd gate and entered the Fort. Along the way we were entertained by goats and goat drivers. They are restoring the fort and the rocks, sand and cement go the last 2 km via goats. They are sure footed on the stairs and can carry about 40 kilos each.  Each donkey herder manages 5 donkeys on a trip. On the way up the donkeys seem to respond well to the herders commands, but on the way down they are a bit more frisky. We saw some donkeys hobbled on the way down. The Fort was build in the 16th century and sat on a mountain top. It had changed hands several times but the last victors built the Martha empire in this area and ruled until the British came along.

Carrying Rocks for re-construction

    In the afternoon we visited the Aga Kahn palace. I finally found out what is the Aga Kahn. He is the leader of an Islamic sect of liberals and traders. They come from both Shias and Sunnis and have existed only a short time. The current Aga Kahn is the fourth leader. The sect is respected in India for its good works and generous donations. The palace was offered to India for use during independence and now is owned outright by India and houses a Gandi Museum.

The Aga Kahn Palace

Fort Back Door

Pune – March 14

Mother and Child

Old Woman cooking breakfast

After a leisurely breakfast we went for a walk in the streets behind the hotel. The streets were lined with small houses with doors directly onto the road. The people seem to live and work outside, with washing and cooking taking place directly on the road. Scooters go by, but the streets are dead-end and the traffic is light and slow. The people are friendly but most don't speak English.

In the afternoon we took a auto-rickshaw to the Parwati Temple. The temple sits on the top of a hill so Joan and I climbed way up. Their was a nice complex of buildings at the top and we watched the sunset behind the turret. I was hoping the temple would be lit at night, but it wasn't. We had a lot of interaction with the other people at the top. There are a lot of young Indians who visit the temples at night as a social past-time.

The Parvati Temple

Nanded - March 13th

Our Hospital Visit

When we visited the Sikh temple yesterday we removed our sandals before entering (standard procedure). Joan picked up some glass in her foot within the first three steps. I removed some at the temple but she still had 2 pieces left last night. Joan is a coward when it comes to physical pain, so she refused my offer of surgery with a dull knife!. We found a hospital which called itself a low cost hospital and paid $2 to get Joan fixed. Our first stop was outside the doctors office. Then a nurse collected Joan and brought her upstairs to sit on a bench outside another doctors office. The news spread and 3 more nurses came from nowhere , gathered around, talked about Joan and pointed at her foot. I was thinking they were talking about the glass problem but then they brought Joan, myself and the driver/translator into the office. They sent the driver back outside and then stripped off their uniform aprons. I was getting excited but they all pulled out their cell phones and took selfies with us. After that they took Joan downstairs again to see the doctor. The doctors did a quick scan, found no glass, told Joan to wear sports shoes, prescribed a medicinal spray and sent us on our way.

Addendum : I had soaked my foot in hot water and scraped at it before our doctor visit and must have removed it myself. My foot is still a bit tender. Our drivers answer to the fact that the doctor found nothing was that it must have been all in my head - grrrr|

In the afternoon we visited 2 more Sikh shrines and then headed to the train station.

Joan playing with children

Our Sleeper Cabin

We boarded the overnight train for Pune. We were assigned two bottom sleepers and we would arrive in pune at 06:15 the next days. We were joined by an Indian couple , who both spoke perfect english. We had a pleasant conversation and then they showed us how to make up the bunks. The bunks were rock hard, the pillows were small and the night was warm. I was comfortable but the stopping, starting, and screaming trains we past in the dark made sleeping fitful. The screaming passing trains didn't bother Joan at all, but the rock hard bed did. We arrived in Pune early and both Joan and I were awake but we didn't know we were in Pune. Forunately the gentleman got out of his bed and quickly rushed us off the train. Then he phoned our contact number and sorted out our pickup point before returning to the train. Our pickup contact arrived 5 minutes later and we were checked into our hotel room before 7:15.

Nanded - March 12

The Brutal Barber

Last night was a bad night for Joan and I. Joan had the runs and I had a blocked nose. I canceled the scheduled visits to the multiple Sikh sights and we had a leisurely breakfast and rested. Feeling better I went to the barber shop next door. Joan, the rock star, sat in a chair just outside the shop. During my hair cut the crowd collected and we had an audience of 20 or so. The barber's chair did not swivel or go down and the electric clippers had a short chord so the ham-fisted barber twisted my head in all sorts of uncomfortable positions. He cut my hair and then shaved my neck. For the shave he unwrapped a broken razor blade and inserted it into a paint scrapper. The shave wasn't too bad, he did use some water. After he finished, he massaged my head. That was nice, but then he put on a show for the crowd . He started slapping my head, judo chopping my shoulders and pummeling my back. He finished with a flourish as he cracked my neck in both directions. I still had feeling in my fingers and toes so I reckon no major damage was done. I paid my 200 rupees (4$) and then posed for selfies with members of the audience. I guess everybody liked my haircut.

The Main Sikh Temple,  Nanded

Nanded is 1 of the 4 holiest cities in the Sikh religion. There are several temples in the city honouring Gurus. In the afternoon we went to the main Sikh temple in Nanded. It is a compound with 6 entrances, a large courtyard, and a temple inside, The compound wall is composed of residences that house Sikhs from all over the world. They come to study and to volunteer for work. In the evening I climbed up the stairs to the top balcony to take pictures. I was approached by a scholar who came out of one of the rooms. Instead of telling me I was off-limits he invited me in to the room where several men were bent over small desks reading large books.

The white buildings are the compound walls

Drive to Nanded March 11th

Our drive from the last 3 days will be with us for 3 more day and he drove us to Nanded today. The drive was 275km and it took us 5 ½ hours. We used secondary roads the whole way and we had 50km of construction near Nanded. I like this driver – he is the safest on the road so although we had exciting times, we never feared for our lives. We enjoyed the views of Indian life as we travelled. It is haying season and cotton picking seeason and the fields were full of workers. Because cotton is so light some trucks are way overloaded with their load. We also see women walking along the roadside the bowls and vases on their heads. Every where the women are dressed in saris which are clean and brightly coloured. India is a land of colour.

Haying Season

The Cow on the right won

Cows at rest in the main road

In the late afternoon we went for a walk. The sidewalks don't really exist – if they are there, scooters are parked all over. So we walked on the road edge like everybody else. I was on the ro

ad when a cow just about ran me over. She headed into a field and immediately started fighting with a bull. I beat a hasty retreat, she knocked the bull into a ditch and sent the piglets scurrying in alarm. There are animals everywhere in India.

In the evening we went to a laser show in a park, which tells the story of sikhism. The show was canceled for maintenance but we entered a sikh shrine which honours a saint from 3 centuries ago. There was a service going on so we sat down and listened. There were 3 musicians playing sitars and singing. The music was very easy to take and the ritual was fascinating. Lots of fire and dancing. At the end we were approached by a Sikh lady from Canada who gave us a bit of Sikh history, but they turned on the recorded music and I couldn't hear much after that.

Joan - The ambassador from Canada

Tim teasingly tells me that I have achieved “rock star status” on our travels. The reason is that I am very often(10-15 times a day) asked if I would let people have their photo taken with me. I think it must be my very gray ,very curly hair that is the attraction . People of all ages ask and I always say yes. It is a lot of fun to have the small personal interactions with people.

The Ellora Caves March 10th

A Buddhist temple cut out from the mountain

The temple with good acoutics

Buddhist monastery with cells for the monks to meditate

Similar to yesterday, the Ellora caves are carved out of basalt rock. The caves were dug into the mountainside between the 6^th and 8^th centuries AD . We found it absolutely amazing to see these rooms, murals and sculptures that were carved so long ago. There are 34 caves in this complex and again we only saw a few. We did walk up the mountain and view the first cave from above. This made it easier to see it was one piece of rock. The third cave had been a temple rather than a monastery. The guide had told us that the acoustics were good, but while we were inside another group of men started singing and the sound was eerie. The reverberations tingled my skin. Everyone in the cave just stopped and stood still until the singing stopped.

In the late afternoon we took an autorickshaw to the mini Taj so I could take pictures during sunset. The trip was like a carnival ride – thrills and chills due to chaos in the traffic. The trip back was another level of exciting, since it was dark and traffic was even worse. We drove home in the dark with no lights on. At one point we were stuck behind 2 other autorickshaws also without lights. 1 least 1 vehicle in 10 didn't use headlights. Fortunately the other 90% shed enough light so you can see most traffic. We did scare a few pedestrians along the way.

The Mini aj at night

The Ajanta Caves March 9th

Entrances of the Ajunta Caves

One of the big draws of Aurangabad is the Ajunta caves. They are caves hewn out of solid rock 15 to 22 centuries ago. The caves were “lost” for a 1000 years when they were covered with dirt. They were re-discovered 200 years ago. We entered several large caves that were perfect large square rooms with large columns and a carving of Buddha on one wall and “cells” for the monks off the main rooms. It was difficult to comprehend that everything was crafted from solid rock – nothing else was used. All the engraving on the columns and walls were done in the rock.   There is some painting that was done on the walls and ceilings.  The paint has faded but because the caves were hidden some painting has survived.   All the 30 caves were done for the Buddhist religion. We spent 2 hours there and visited only 3 caves. Our guide made sure we saw the best caves first. A very impressive and well maintained sight.

Cave 1 a Buddhist Monastary

Central Statue of Buddha

Ceiling

Train to Aurangabad March 8

Drying the hay

After yesterday, I was nervous about getting to the train on time but at 05:30 there was no traffic at all. We were on our 2^nd class air conditioned coach by 20 to six. The train left at 6:15 dead on time. The landscape was dry and arid with green patches where the farmers had irrigated the fields. Our coach seemed to have several dedicated people who cooked, cleaned and washed while we were still in the seats. My favourite was the food man who took our orders for breakfast and delivered a hot omlette. He then served coffee and tea, which looked really poor. He poured powder out of a plastic dispenser and then filled the cup with hot water and served it. It tasted wonderful. It was only later, when Joan had her third cup, that I realized he was pouring hot milk out of his water jug. Instant coffee never tasted so good. 

He also took our order for lunch and then delivered a cardboard box of fried rice with veggies. It looked ordinary but the taste was nice. I had just about finished mine when Joan handed me a plate of unknown food. The family across the aisle had brought their lunch and the mother made up a plate for us. We tasted it somewhat timidly and had no idea what it was. At this point the boy came over and told me to mix everything together and put it in the bread to eat. I mixed and folded and we ate everything. It was delicious but we still have no idea what we ate.

Mini Tag Mahal

In the late afternoon we visited the mini Taj Mahal. It is a copy of the real Taj except the builder skimped on the material and used plaster instead of marble for most of the walls. Now 400 years later it is easy to see that plaster does not age as well as marble. None the less it is still an impressive building. It is the tomb of the wife of a Raj, She is the only one buried there. As the guide remarked “women are expensive”.

Mumbai March 7

Joan and Tim in front of the 3 faces of Shiva

The morning was spent at the Elephanta Caves – a 1 hour boat ride away. We were accompanied all day by a guide from Mumbai. During the day we found out that she was president of the Mumbai Guides Association. She was very serious about her work and at one point she called over a security man and told him to stop leaning against the pillars because it caused wear and tear on the carvings. She was quick to pick up on our interests and when I asked about a group of women all dressed in the same saris she approached them immediately, We learned they were midwives from a small town, all in Mumbai for a conference,

On the recommendation of our guide, we ordered a thali for lunch. It looked pretty spartan with 5 very small bowls of food, but the refills kept coming until I realised I couldn't eat any more. We had several delicious dishes that we had no idea what we were eating. We love Indian food.

Lunch plate

The laundryMen District

Mumbai March 6

The Gate of India

The Taj Hotel

We flew from Singapore to Mumbai today. This is our first visit to India. Mumbai is big, loud and colourful, It has a population of 22 million which is 2/3 the population of Canada. We have only seen the area around the gate of India where the architecture is good and the colours of the saris worn by the Indian women are fantastic.

Chinese New Year

We arrived in Singapore after an uneventful flight.   The Chinese new year holiday had already begun and we went to Chinatown on Sunday night to take in the celebrations. The atmosphere was like a carnival with several streets closed off and street vendors everywhere.  There were several stalls of  tacky items, so we bought some.  I saw a really flashy Buddha with a glowing marble and running water, but I resisted the temptation.   We are beginning the year of the dog.

The Year of the Dog begins

 

Getting ready for Singaore

W.e are leaving for Singapore on February 21st.  We will be there March 3 for Cameron's first Birthday  We will spend 2 weeks in Singapore and then 2 weeks in India, in the Mumbai area.

November 15 Singapore

The Raffles Hotel

The Raffles hotel is a colonial building of impressive size. It takes up a whole block and is a famous landmark in Singapore. It is the home of the Singapore sling and a great place to eat. The Sunday morning brunch is popular and Caroline, Ali, Joan and I joined the crowd today for the buffet. It's too bad I couldn't eat more. I tried to pace myself and not eat any bread. I lost track of how many times I went up to the buffet for food, but I tried every fish dish I could find (around 10, but I had small portions). Then I tried 3 versions of mutton. I never made it to the beef or the dessert table.

I ( Joan) also really enjoyed the food and my 3 Singapore slings. There is a huge choice of all courses, all of which are very beautifully presented {especially the appetizers) and delicious.

In the evening we went to the Cirque du Soleil show Totem, which is doing a 6 week run in Singapore. We all left with a WOW feeling. They put on an amazing show.

Cirque du Soleil

Thanks again to Caroline and Ali for arranging such a wonderful day in Singapore.

November 14 Singapore

We flew back to Singapore and had a rest day. In preparation for the Canadian winter we spent the afternoon by the pool. In the evening we enjoyed a meal of Chili Crab – a Singaporean specialty. Like lobster it takes a lots of effort, but unlike lobster the whole dish is covered in chili sauce and you get very messy. Fortunately they have a sink right in the restaurant which I could use. Afterwards we walked to Marina Bay to see the sound and light show.

Skyline from Clarke Quay

November 13 Kuala Lumpur

Our first priority was to get to the Twin Towers for a 9:00 a.m. visit. We visited the Skywalk on the 41^st floor. The Skywalk joins the 2 towers on the 41^st and 42^nd floors. After that we visited the 89^th floor viewing platform for the best view in KL.

Joan on Skywalk

On this floor there were viewing binoculars which we used. I saw a very pretty mosque with 2 minarets It looked like the National Mosque. After the visit Joan and I split up and I went to visit the National Mosque. I hopped on the subway and then took an elevated walkway. I made a wrong turn and ended up doing a 3 KM walk to cross a highway. I entered the mosque via a side entrance and the guard asked what I was doing there. When I said I was there for the photography he told me to go around to the front for the best pictures. This was not the Mosque I had seen through the binoculars. It was a new modern mosque which I found very non photogenic. The fountains and the flowers helped but it was a very square building with very little character. I never did find the nice Mosque.
 

One of the Twin Towers

The Public Bank across the street

November 12 Kuala Lumpur

Petronis Twin Towers

We got on an 8:45 AM flight from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur and we were at our hotel before 11:00 AM. We were on our way at 11:15 to have our first close up look at the Petronas towers. The temperature was hot and the sun was shining, but we discovered that Kuala Lumpur has passageways above ground and covered against the sun and rain. They also spray out cool air which makes walking around the city rather pleasant. The towers were built by the state oil company and incorporate Islamic and Arab influences. At 452 m tall it is the highest twin towers complex in the world. The towers have a pleasant park with fountains, pools and playgrounds on one side, which gives photographers a great view.

We have tickets to go up the towers tomorrow morning and are looking forward to that!.

November 11 Singapore

One day to rest up and do the laundry. Joan went shopping and I went picture taking. The opportunities were limited as the rain started when I came out of the subway and continued all afternoon. Near sunset the rain stopped and I went to a good spot for night pictures. I couldn't believe they had put a whale statue in the middle of my favorite fountain.

Who put a whale in my fountain?

We went for supper at Caroline and Ali's favorite dim sum restaurant and finished the evening with several games of bananagrams. Dim Sum is a meal of steamed dumplings. You have a choice of a hundred different types. You order several different kinds when you sit down and the dumplings come at irregular intervals depending on the kitchen. They are steaming hot and delicious.

November 10 Mandalay

Temple Arches

Some of the 729 little Temples

Adding Gold Leaf to Buddha

Mandalay has an area of temples on a hill called Mandalay Hill. Caroline had arranged a driver to take us around all day and drop us at the airport for our 4 PM flight. Our driver drove us up to the top of the hill and we started with temple no. 1. The architecture was different, in that shiny glass was prevalent on the walls and the temple used arches instead of posts. It was reminiscent of a mosque rather than a temple. The temples we saw today were built 1500 years ago, but have been redone several times due to fire and wars. Even though today is Tuesday and not a holiday, the temples were packed with local families going about their business. The temples were also packed with vendors selling flowers and souvenirs. I was particularly pleased, in temple no 1, to see the flower sellers and souvenir sellers going after the locals and ignoring the tourists. I wanted to see how the locals handle the hawkers. The locals seemed to completely ignore the vendors and the vendors stop yelling as soon as they passed. When the vendors approach a tourist they always start with a question “Where are you from?”. We always respond politely and then the vendors lock in and walk beside you until either you buy or ignore them long enough. We need to learn not to be so polite. The second temple we visited was called the largest book ever. 729 Marble slabs containing ancient script are housed in 729 little Stupas surrounding the temple. Here there were fewer locals and more tourists. The hawkers included several young girls who use the line “you buy, I go to school”. Unfortunately, the more they sell the less likely they are to go to school. The third temple we visited was packed with locals. It contains the most revered image of Buddha in Myanmar. The worshipers were applying Gold leaf to the statue of Buddha but only at the base. Women were not allowed past a certain point so they sat near by and watched the ceremony on closed circuit television. As a male I was allowed to walk right up to the Buddha and take pictures. After a quick lunch we were off to the airport and then flew back to Singapore.

We thank Caroline and Ali for having organized and accompanied us on our amazing trip to Myanmar!