Keith's travelogue

Dear All,

See the new blog on this site.

Keith

Dear All,

I've just arrived back in Seoul after flying from Shanghai today. I sat down to look at the blog and realised it's been quite a while, with a lot of kms under the wheels so to speak. So it will be interesting trying to describe the past few weeks, so forgive my spelling mistakes as some of the names are a bit hazy.

After Bhukara, I visited Shakrazib, the birthpalce of another great conqueror in Tamerlame. Then it was on to Samarkand, a fabled city from the middle ages, and definitely the most interesting and exotic of all the Silk Road cities. The Registan area, with its caravan serai (trading post), mosque and mesdrassa were all stunning, and the best examples of tilework I saw on the whole trip. It is quite overwhelming to see all the geometric patterns, every one a little different, as well as the floral scrolling patterns, and Arabic inscriptions thrown in for good measure. Makes wall paper and tiles, and concrete and glass towers in the west look a bit drab.

After Samarkand it was on to Tashkent and the craziest border crossing I think I've been through with the possible exception of Checkpoint Charlie in 1985 before the Berlin Wall came down, but that was scary crazy. this was just downright crazy with hunderds of people (and the local produce) pushing and shoving to get through to the two tiny windows that were open. Still, it makes for a good memory, looking back.

From Tashkent it was off to Kyrgyzstan, and the circumnavigation of (Lake) Izzyl Kol. This entailed a trip every other day, with time to rest and enjoy the scenery, take a walk, swim in the lake, stay with an eagle hunter, watch the eagles hunt, visit a nature reserve, break a foot, and visit a 15th century caravan trading post high in the mountains on the way to geting into China through the Touraget pass. (By the way, the foot broken wasn't mine, but an elderly female who went horseriding and fell while dismounting). This part of the trip was quite restful and relaxing, which was just as well, becausing crossing the pass to Kashgar was a long tiring day. There were two border crossings, spaced out by driving 50-70km over bumpy, dusty dirt roads, at altitudes of around 3500m-3800m. When we finally arrived in China and Kashgar and saw our hotel it was a great relief, being the best in town! Who said backpacking is all about roughing it!

After a round of the sights (including the old city) in Kashgar it was a series of train and bus trips all the way down the Silk Road corridor, to Dunhuang (Magao Grottoes of Buddhist cave art), Zhiang Wei (probably spelt this wrong) the western end of the great wall of China, to the Terracotta army near Xian, and on to Beijing.

The museums along the way all had fascinating exhibits of the life and times of the Silk Road and some stunning collcetions of art, and even mummified remains of westerners found in burial grounds in the Taklamakn desert (the name means those who go in never return). The Magao grottoes and Xian's Terracotta army, as wellas the ancient irigiation systems that sustained life in the desert oases but transporting water across 100s kms to allow crops to be grown are items that stand out.

However, I think the real highlight was standing on the wall of the fort that marked the end of China, and looking out into the forbidding desert and thinking about the early traders on the Silk Road, and how they had to fight off bandits, or face being sold into slavery (if they were lucky!) was also a time to reflect on the journey that was coming to an end.

Beijing was very different to the place I remember. Shanghai was a fairytale wonderland ofneon, second only to Las Vegas. When I was in Beijing, people had to run after the buses before they stopped to try and be first to the doors to get a seat (that included not letting people get off). Now it is a lot more civilised, although the behaviour still presists when trying to get on & off the subway! Time was spent visting the Forbidden City (home to the Ming & Qing emperors), a walk past of Chairman Mao's body in the Moasoleum(!?), a visit to the Temple of Heaven, the Lama Temple, Behai park, and some other places where there were less than 10,000 tourists trampling through the grounds.

Shanghai was a fairytale wonderland of neon, second only to Las Vegas. When I was last there the land across the river from the "Bund" (the land where the Europeans forced China to cede and for trading concessions) was just a swamp. Now it is home to futuristic modern high-rises, Shangha's new financial capital, and a real live magnetic levitation train. I took the train from the airport to town. We accelerated smoothly out of the station and reached 100km/hr in about 300m, and roared into the first bend at over 25okm/hr before hitting top speed at 430km/hr! Boy, what a ride. Shame it was all over 6 minutes later, but it was so much fun I rode it back out today.

During this time I received an e-mail from Laurie with the sad news about Maria's untimely passing, and the lovely way he put it reminded me that travel is a bit like life, and about enjoying the journey rather than getting to the destination. I'm very lucky to have the opportunity to tavel, so I'll keep on doing it while I can.

Regards,
Keith

Dear All,

Just a quick note to say hi from Moscow. You may have seen there was an explosion in a market. I'm as safe and well as a person can be after 3 days on a Russian train. I arrived after it happended and everything seems normal now. The plane crash in the Ukraine has overtaken the headlines.

Regards,
Keith

Greetings all, this will be my last travel blog for a few weeks and here I'll be covering off the last few weeks of my trip.

After Montreal we headed up to Quebec which, not surprisingly, had a lovely European feel with lots of French inspired buildings, like Montreal. Unlike Montreal it has a walled citadel and city walls built in the 1700s to keep those nasty British imperialists out. It was interesting to wander around and look at these fortifications and historic sights and ponder the history. It's one history area I must read some more on. The Last of the Mohicans and Pocahontus don't tell it all unfortunately!

After Quebec it was back to the US, and on to the Arcadia National Park on the wild Atlantic coast of the state of Maine. This was ruggedly beautiful and a pleasant couple of days walking in the wilds was good after the hustle and bustle of the cities. Then it was off down the I-95, which runs through 14 States as far south as Florida, to New York. Here I had the misfortune to have trouble with my flights over to Seattle where I was to start my trip through the Canadian Rockies.

I only had an hour or so between arriving in Las Vegas and leaving for Seattle, but the flight leaving New York was delayed by a couple of hours. So I had to change my Vegas-Seattle flight for a Vegas-Phoenix-Vancouver trip. The lady at the US West counter did an amazing job with this ticketing, and I reached Vancouver in a somewhat knackered state around 2pm. Why Vancouver, well because that was the first stop for the tour through the Rockies. Amazingly it all worked out well, even to the point that the tour leader on the Canadian trip was the same one I had from my trip in Mexico in Jan 2005. Twilight Zone material.

Vancouver is a great place, and I want to go again. But then I probably think that about most of my destinations. I took a ferrry ride along tyhe back waters of the harbour and saw a different view of the city at the maritime museum, strollled around Gastown, an historic area chock full ot tourists and homeless people, and had time to see an IMAX film on Mars. (if only I could go there!)

From Vancouver we headed up to Jasper and Banff, the hear tof the Canadian Rockies, with spectacular mountains and glaciers along the Icefield highway, lovely glacial lakes, the highest mountain in the Candian Rockies, the conitental divide and a unique point where the snow melt waters flowed to three oceans (Pacific, Arctic, and Atlantic), and concluding the chateau at Lake Louise.

In Jasper there was lots to see and do, including a few hikes. At Banff I had a very active day, with a 12km walk along the river valley, followed by a 13km hike up & down the Sulpher mountain track, and followed this with an hour long soak in the hotsprings next to the gondola. Pure magic, so i wasn't stiff or sore the next day at all, although the two people who cycled the flat river walk were sore for three days!

From Banff it was off to Glacier National park, whch had the best view of all of the places I've stayed, except perhaps the EBagle Channel, and Torres del Paine. It was superb, by a surging ice-melt stream, under a large rocky crag. Ahh, that's what camping is about. From Glacier we headed back to territory I'd covered before - Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons at Jackson, and Craters of the Moon - in Oct last year. From there it was "Go West young man" as we followed the Missouri and Snake rivers along the Lewis and Clarke trail, and the Oregon trail.

Then it was north west to get to Mt Rainier and Mt Olympic national parks in the Cascade mountains of Washington State. Here it is temperate rain forest territory, with wild rugged coastline battered by heavy swells, and strewn with large driftlogs and stony beaches (like the west coast of the South Island). Mt Rainier liveed up to its name as it was wet and rainy but we still got out and walked in the forest. Lots of elkj were about and to walk in the forest and breathe in the air was quite spirit restoring, another joy of travel.

Then it was back to Seattle to stay the night, where I had to get up very early the next day and fly to San Francisco. This is where I pick up my flight back to Melbourne. So after all this time, and all the miles underneath my feet, its with a smile on my face that i look forward to my favourite destiations, the places I call home.

Regards all,
Keith

Dear ALl,

Greetings from Montreal in Canada. Having a rainly old time fo it but it is a lovely place to wander around.

After leaving Panama, I made my way to San jose in Costa Rica, and after three days enjoying the sites, started on my way north through Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras to Antigua in Guatemala, where I had been some 16 months ago.

Highlights on the way were:

+ Costa Rica: Monteverde cloud forest, night - time walk in the spooky jungle, and a walk on the active volcano near La Fortuna.
+ Nicaragua: Ometepe island, volcano climb, pre-Columbian petroglyphs, and Granada's colonial ambience.
+ Honduras: Roatan Island, a couple of days of beach time, and Copan's Mayan ruins

Landing in New York was quite exciting, although the trip was uneventfual, and via Atlanta. I only had a day so had to choose a few special highlights as there was far too much to see and experience. So, it was: Untied Nations tour, Empire State Building, Museum of Natural History, viewing the Statue of Liberty, cruising around Downtown Manhattan, a walk in Times Square at night, a walk through Central Park, Ground Zero, and the night-time Manhattan skyline on a cruise around the bay/rvier areas.

After that it was up early and off to visit the Finger Lakes, an area of glacial lakes created by the last Ice Age. And on to Niagara Falls and the Maid of the Mist boat ride on the way to Toronto. there I checked out the First Peoples exhibition at the Royal Ontario Museum, very interesting to see the technologies and artifacts.

Next was a visit to a National PArk so we could partake of a traditional Canadian canoe trip. Two people managed to fall in and had to get rescued, so it was an interesting afternoon. The water was very cold so they were lucky not even to get a cold. Then it was on to Ottawa, where of all people, John Howard was visiting, so there were more Aussie Flags on display than I saw when I visited Canberra!

Montreal is built on an island and well managed so it isn't crowded, and the architecture is very interesting, with few big towers and skyscrapers, so it has a nice feel. I have another day here, so will be exploring more.

Regards,
Keith