Category Archives: Backpacking

Castilblanco to Almadén de la Plata

Backpacking, Camino Via de la Plata, Flashpacking, Spain, Travel, ,

Apr 14 – Woke up early this morning with the conviction that we must move on.  The morning was cool and misty, which we took as a good sign.  Without any buses scheduled today, Jim said we would walk, and put out our thumbs and hope for a ride to get us at least part of the 18 miles (28km) to the next town.  No trails today – the entire hike is along the side of the asphalt road. Surely on this holy fiesta day, one good hearted person would stop for two old Peregrinos?

On the edge of town there was a bar open for business, so we stopped for some coffee (café con leche) and toast with butter and ham.  I looked at the other patrons of the bar – all older men, some drinking coffee, and others drinking whiskey or brandy at 9am.  I asked Jim if he thought it would be a good idea to ask if anyone was traveling north to Almadén, but he replied that this was not usually a fruitful strategy.  Better to show we were willing to walk, but would appreciate a ride.

So we hiked down the roadway through the grey and misty morning.  It was a very quiet road, but twelve cars passed us by, with our smiles on and our thumbs out.  Most waved left or right to indicate that they were turning soon, so therefore could not pick us up. Some made no eye contact.  Three bicyclists passed us as well.  

At about the four mile mark, after a long stretch of no farms and absolutely no traffic, a car going in the opposite direction stopped and the driver rolled his window down, asking if we wanted to hire his taxi to take us to Almadén for 30 euro.  The price seemed a little high (we had already discussed offering 20 euro to anyone willing to drive us all the way), but I remembered the joke about the drowning man who passes up three offers of help, saying God will provide, then asks St. Peter at the Pearly Gates why God didn’t save him.  “God sent you a raft, a boat and a helicopter – you have to meet Her halfway!”  We got in.

So now we are in Almadén de la Plata, named for an old silver mine, where it is still a fiesta day, and no stores are open.  The taxi dropped us off at the municipal alburgue, whiched looked clean with a large room full of bunk beds, but communal sleeping is always our last choice.  Although Booking.com said there were no rooms available at the hostals in town, it is not yet noon and we have nothing to lose by trying our luck.  At Casa de Concha, the door was open and a lady was cleaning the restaurant. We got a private ensuite room without any trouble, for only a bit more than we would have paid at the alburgue.

We walked through the quiet town, and saw the church with the usual complement of stork nests on the roof.  Storks are considered to bring good luck (as well as new babies) and their nests are encouraged throughout Spain.  Have you ever heard the call of a stork?  Not at all musical – like the sound of a stick being dragged across a washboard.  

We peeked into the church, expecting to find another bunch of silver- bedecked pasos, but instead found…women praying!  A group of ten or so, doing their rosaries aloud.  First time this trip we’ve found anyone actually doing what people do when it’s not Holy Week!  A refreshing change of pace – we sat and listened to the soothing drone of their voices blending together.

Our midday main meal consisted of pasta in tomato and cheese sauce, short ribs in brown gravy, and the ubiquitous fried potatoes.  So good! So much! So full!  I may never eat again.On tv, the Semana Santa parades from Sevilla continued all day long.  From time to time, a float would stop under a balcony, and a woman would sing out something akin to the Muslim call to prayer – definitely not melodic, but long and sort of screechy.  I don’t know if I’m ever going to figure these customs out!  Here’s another – Sunday is not advertised here as Easter, but as the Fiesta of Judas. Go figure!  578 miles to go.

Guillena to Castilblanco de los Arroyos

Backpacking, Camino Via de la Plata, Flashpacking, Hiking, Spain, Travel, ,

Apr 12 – Having walked 13 miles yesterday, I figured that today’s 12 mile trek would be a snap.  It is another beautiful day, cool enough in the early morning for a sweatshirt.  We walked confidently out of Guillena, following our yellow arrows.  Just out of town, we saw a pond, with trees reflected perfectly in its calm surface.

After a bit of highway walking, we found the trail, which looked like it might provide more shade than yesterday.  

Once again, plenty of spring wildflowers in bloom.

We passed a castle in a farmer’s field.

We saw a local family out for a walk, and were passed by a singing cyclist, but otherwise we had the day to ourselves.  Except for some burros.

As we approached our destination, we encountered a sign meant to encourage us.  Of the original 1000 km trek, only 927 left to go!

Unfortunately, as the afternoon heated up, my pace slowed down and we made it to town about two hours later than planned.  When I removed my socks, we surveyed the bloody damage to one of the toes on my right foot.  Jim proclaimed tomorrow a rest day.  Hallelujah!

Apr 13 – I am very much enjoying my rest day.  This is a nice little town, very clean and friendly. We walked down the street to a bar for coffee, and over to a bakery for some bread and ham for breakfast.  Looking at the map of our next segment, it will require an 18 mile walk along a roadway, with no towns in between. After my poor performance yesterday, Jim doesn’t think I’m ready for that (and I agree!), so he suggested we look for a bus to take us at least part of the way.  We asked around and found the central square and a man with information about buses.  There are several buses that go back to Sevilla, but only one that goes north, and it runs only once a day in the late afternoon.  “What time tomorrow?”, we asked in blissful ignorance.  “¿Mañana!?  No! Es impossible!”  Turns out that tomorrow, Good Friday, is the biggest fiesta of the whole year.  No buses run tomorrow!  Crap.

We had our main meal at lunchtime (ham soup with hard boiled eggs in it, and chicken with couscous).  We walked around in the afternoon and waited until after siesta time (2 – 6pm) for the stores to reopen so we could buy some supper, but it turns out that tonight the fiesta begins, and the supermarket and all the shops are closed.  Thanks to our experience last Sunday in Sevilla, we knew what happens next.  We walked down the block to the church, and watched the men decking out the pasos with flowers.  We saw Jesus carrying his cross, dead Jesus in a glass coffin, and two sorrowful Marys.

Every man, woman and bambino was out in front of the church by 7pm.  Fewer penitents in pointy capriotes, but a very credible brass band and lots of swaggering costaleros ready to do their part in lifting the heavy floats.  We are told they each weigh about a ton.

This time we were able to see the pasos leaving the church door and being negotiated down the steps.  The townsfolk applauded when the men reached the street and turned them 90 degrees for its walk down the block.

It took about half an hour to move each of the pasos down the street. We didn’t stay to the conclusion of the festivities, so I can’t tell you how it all turned out.  The music, drums and tolling of the church bells continued until well after midnight.  I wonder what tomorrow will bring?

On the Road Again

Backpacking, Germany, Travel

8/2/16 – Several months ago, we received an invitation to a Franza nephew’s wedding in Germany:  Gerard’s son John is marrying his beloved Eva-Maria, after 13 years of courting.  We met them eight years ago at a family reunion in Florida.  I was honored to be invited, and we started making plans.

We left Virginia where the temperature was over 90F every day, and arrived 16 hours later in Frankfurt where it was a gray and rainy 70F.  We spent a full day in Frankfurt-am-Main, walking along the Main River to help minimize our jet lag.  We visited Goethe Haus, a tribute to favorite son writer Johann Goethe.  His family home was destroyed in 1944 by Allied bombs, but was recreated from the ground up after the war, using artifacts that had been removed and hidden from the bombing.

It was four stories of old furniture and musical instruments.  

This is a pianoforte with vertical strings!


Most of our fellow tourists were from China – a phenomenon we encounter in every country we visit.


Heading Home – a 36 Hour Sunday

Backpacking, Flashpacking, Travel

I have been away a year and a quarter from America and I have seen strange and interesting things alike in the heart of the wilderness and in the capitals of the mightiest and most highly polished civilized nations.  Nonetheless, I am more glad than I can say to get home, back in my own country, back among the people I love.  – Theodore Roosevelt 

9/20 – After 16 months on the road, it’s time for us to head home.  There are always more places to go, but the time comes when you just want to rest for a while and hug grandkids.  We booked a two hour domestic flight from Bali to Jakarta, Indonesia, a four hour flight from Jakarta to Manila, Phillipines, then a 13 flight from Manila to LAX.  The more we traveled east, the more hours were added to the day.  It was a very long Sunday.

 We spent a week in California, to visit with Jim’s brother Dave, his sister-in-law Jerry, nieces Dawn and Kelly and great-nephew Liam.  We slept a lot to recover from jet lag, and spent an afternoon making sandwiches for the homeless.  I’ll blame the jet lag for our neglecting to snap a pic of us all together.

We had lunch with Patricia and Ray, a couple we met while walking the Camino last year in Portugal.  We were lucky to catch them before their flight to Spain to walk another Camino!


On Saturday we drove down to visit my brother-in-law Tom, his wife Dawn, my niece Jackie, her husband Jeff, and their eight-month-old son Colin.  What a cutie!

  

Then we took our final flight home to Norfolk, Virginia.

  

Now we are happily camped at son Peter and Lauren’s beautiful home, enjoying the attentions of the lovely Emma Rose, while we look for a new home of our own nearby.  Emma at 2 and 3/4:


Grandad with Lexi at 4 and 3/4 – so mature!

We’ve shared this blog with more than 3300 visitors from 81 different countries, with over 11,000 post views.  Our most popular blog post was the tale of our freighter trip across the Caspian Sea, which has been read 153 times, and continues to get a few more hits practically every week.

We’ve learned a lot, made new friends and experienced so many new things.  We are frequently asked what our favorite country was.  We always answer by saying we are enjoying the place we are right now, and that’s always true.  What was the most unusual thing we ate?  Probably fried bugs for Jim, and horse meat and durian for me.  There were lots of things we ate without really knowing what they were!  My most important observation is that there are Nice People everywhere, and that there are plenty of ways to communicate without sharing a language.

Are we glad to be back?  You bet.  Would we do it again?  In a heartbeat.  If you get a chance to travel, grab it and run.  You won’t regret a single minute.  Buen Camino!

Bali, Indonesia – Ubud and the Monkey Forest

Backpacking, Flashpacking, Indonesia, Travel, ,

9/13 – After four weeks at the beach, it was time for our last move within Bali – to the town of Ubud.  Further north and in the center of the island, Ubud was the setting of the last part of the book Eat, Pray, Love, where the heroine finds love among the rice paddies.  We saw plenty of young female travelers here, perhaps looking to reenact that chapter.


Ubud reminded us of Sedona, Arizona, in that it is a groovy place where groovy people congregate to practice yoga and meditate.

We are staying at a small guesthouse with an outdoor kitchen and a tropical pool.  What to do during our last week?  We walked down the main street to visit a Hindu temple, and watched a procession in progress.

  

Lots of shopping opportunities, of course.

  
Artists with a sense of humor:

  

There is a mural on the road to our guest house that shows in comic form some things we may expect to encounter when we visit Ubud’s main attraction, the Monkey Forest, tomorrow.  Can’t wait!

  

9/14 – The Sacred Monkey Forest Temple, an ancient Hindu burial temple complex, welcomes about 15,000 visitors a month. The actual temple areas are closed to visitors, but make a lovely backdrop for an afternoon of monkey viewing.image

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The monkeys are tubby and tame from accepting bananas from tourists, but we were warned not to make eye contact, and not to tease or try to hide food from a monkey. No peanuts are permitted, as they make the monkeys aggressive.

Brave tourists tried to get close for photo ops:imageimage

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This little guy rushed the young man and snatched his water bottle:image

There were Balinese handlers who would place a baby monkey on a visitor for a small fee:image

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This curious fellow wanted whatever was in that pocket:image

The adults spent their time grooming one another and doing what monkeys do.
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Mamas and babies:

  

As much fun as a barrel full of monkeys! IMG_2331

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Bali, Indonesia – Legian and Double Six Beach to Batu Belig Beach

Backpacking, Flashpacking, Indonesia, Travel, , ,

9/8 – With our visa extensions in hand, we moved about 5 kms. north to a new guesthouse in the area called Legian.  Lots of shopping opportunities here.

  

For some reason, there are lots of unusually shaped bottle openers here, in an assortment of sizes and colors:

  

Also lots of Native American / Wild West stuff, which we just can’t explain.

  
The exchange rate here is $1 USD = approximately 14,000 rupiah, which makes us feel like wheeler-dealers when we extract a million rupiah from an ATM in 100,000 rupiah bills, or pay 30,000 rupiah for a $2 supper.  You can live within your budget here for a long time.

Hey Peter – you can cash your Bitcoin here!

In Legian, the beach is wider and the waves are higher than in Kuta.  Morning surfing classes:

  

The wide beach At Double Six feels less frantic, and as we walk north to Batu Belig beach, the umbrellas, surfboards, chairs and touts diminish until the beach becomes almost tranquil.

  
  
  

We eat a Balinese lunch at a local warung (small restaurant).  Since coming to Bali, we’ve eaten lots of nasi goreng (stir fried rice with veg, chicken or pork topped with a fried egg) and mei goreng (fried noodles with all of the above), but our favorite dish is nasi campur (pronounced cham POOR), because you never know what you’re going to get. Translated as “mixed rice”, the dish always has a serving of white rice in the middle, surrounded by a variety of whatever else the cook wants to give you.  There’s always vegetables and chicken, but we’ve had curry, egg, peanuts, satay, tempeh, tofu, pork, soup, barbecue, shrimp and once, a whole grilled fish.  Order nasi campur – a new experience every day!

Back to our guesthouse for a swim in the lovely tropical pool lined with morning glory. Jim is making a video while he swims – I sure hope that iPad case is really waterproof!

  

Bali, Indonesia – around Tuban

Backpacking, Flashpacking, Hiking, Indonesia, Travel, ,

9/5 – One of the benefits of having to walk through town every other day to visit the Immigration office is that we got to see life on the back streets of Tuban.  One morning we were greeted by dozens of Muslim kids on their way to school (although Indonesia is primarily a Muslim country, Balinesians are mostly Hindu). They all knew how to say ‘hello’ and ‘how are you?’

   
Most of the commerce here takes place on motorbike. 

 
We took the opportunity to get our last $2 haircut here. 

 
At the main intersection is a huge statue depicting the epic battle of the Hindu warriors Gatotkaca and Karna – magnificent from every angle!

    
  
   

Bali, Indonesia – Visa Extension

Backpacking, Flashpacking, Indonesia, Travel, ,

9/7- It’s my job as we move from country to country to check out the visa requirements, and verify whether our T-Mobile phone service has coverage (we don’t make many calls, but rely on the GPS to get around).  It may be a sign of travel fatigue, but I thought that we could stay in Indonesia for 90 days, similar to the last two countries we visited, Malaysia and Singapore.  This turned out to be incorrect, which we realized as we got off the plane in Bali and stood in the Immigration line looking at the signs warning all that stays over 30 days require a Visa on Arrival.  We had already booked our onward flight, so we knew we would be in Bali for 37 days.  Oops.  

Instead of entering on the 30 day free pass that U.S. citizens are entitled to, we had to purchase the $35.00 USD per person Visa on Arrival before proceeding through Immigration.  If you find yourself in this situation, be sure to bring the exact amount of cash – if you require change, it will be given in Indonesian rupiah at a poor exchange rate.  We thought we had solved the problem, after explaining to the nice Immigration officer that we needed an extra 7 days and giving him money.  He still only gave us a 30 day visa.  What do we do for the extra days?  You need a Visa Extension.  Can we purchase it here today?  No.  Where can we purchase it?  At the Immigration office.  Isn’t this the immigration office?  Not this office.  Where is the office?  Out there (with a definitive dismissive gesture, indicating the conversation was over).

When we got to our guesthouse in Sanur, we researched and discovered that lots of people stay in Bali for more than 30 days, and that the process is very doable but quite cumbersome, requiring three separate visits to Immigration.  Evidently, according to many online sources, tourists used to hire an agent to do this for them while they snoozed on the beach, but you now have to go to the office at least once yourself for photos and fingerprints.  For the benefit of other bloggers who wish to extend a visa in Bali, here is what we did.  For couples, remember that you each need your own set of document copies – no sharing allowed!  Be sure to start the process at least one week before your 30 day visa expires.

  1. Make 2 copies of your passport photo page and the page containing your Visa on Arrival, with payment receipt. You will turn one set in, and should keep the other, as you will be without your passport for up to a week.
  2. Make a copy of your onward flight information to prove that you intend to move onward.
  3. Prepare a letter from a Balinese sponsor (that says you are a tourist and will not stay to work).  We found a form letter online at expat.or.id and asked the nice lady at our guesthouse to fill it out, which she was happy to do.  Before she could sign it, however, we had to find and purchase a 6000 rupiah stamp (called a meterai) for each letter at the Post Office.  She affixed the stamp to the bottom of the letter and signed over the stamp.  We’ve read that others just provided hotel info in lieu of the letter, but we didn’t want to chance it, as the requirement may differ depending which office you visit.
  4. Initial visit – Arrive early at the Immigration Office.  They handle passport and visa stuff from 8am til noon.  Dress appropriately – knees and shoulders covered.  We saw some guys in shorts, but read that some offices will turn you away if dressed for the beach.  Hint: the office is not air conditioned.
  5. Make sure you go to the correct Immigration Office.  Our sponsor letter showed a Sanur address, and we went to the Tuban/Kuta office near the airport.  The official reviewing our papers looked at our sponsor letter and told us we needed to go to the office in Denpasar.  We showed him that our current address was the hotel right down the road in Tuban, so he let us stay.
  6. If your documents are in order, you will be given a form to fill out, and a red folder to hold your documents.  The form must be filled out in BLACK INK.  Bring a pen with you – there were none provided at the office we visited.  The form is straightforward, and can be completed using the info from your passport, sponsor letter and current address.  It also asks for your home address, phone and email.  
  7. Go to the machine and take an A number.  Just like the Motor Vehicles office, you then sit in a big room and wait for your number to be called.  The official checks your documents, takes your passport, and gives you a receipt with instructions on when to return.  We were given a return date two days after our first visit, and instructed to come between 8 and 11am.  Our initial visit took about an hour.  Put the receipt in a safe place, as you need it for your next visit.  
  8. Second visit – We arrived just after 8am, produced our receipts and were told to go to the machine and take a B number.  Just as our number was called, the computer system went down and everybody stood around for a half hour.  Eventually we were referred to the payment desk, where we paid 355,000 rupiah each (about $25), and were each given a C number.  This number was for photo and fingerprints.  We waited again. When this task was completed, we were sent back to Counter 03, where we turned in our papers and  received a receipt and a return date of another two business days hence.  As it was Thursday, our return date was for the following Monday, which means we would be chillaxing here over the weekend, which was not part of our original plan.  Luckily, we are staying at the Aston Inn Tuban, which has the world’s greatest pool and breakfast buffet, so this is not a hardship for us. 
  9. Final visit – check your receipt for the hour you are scheduled to return.  We assumed it would be in the morning again, and made plans to leave our hotel that we had to amend when we realized we had to go back at 2pm.  Produce your receipt and turn it in to the nice man at Counter 03, and wait for your name to be called.  After a 10 minute wait, we signed for and were presented with our passports, updated with a Visa extension granting us an additional 30 days beyond our original visa.  Success!  

Singapore to Bali, Indonesia

Backpacking, Flashpacking, Indonesia, Singapore, Travel, , ,

8/16 – Took the metro to Singapore Airport for our two hour flight to Bali, Indonesia.  Like everything else in Singapore, the airport was sparkly clean, orderly, and boasted some really cool kinetic sculptures.

  
We crossed the equator, and are now officially in the Southern Hemisphere.  Indonesia will be our last stop before heading home in the fall, and although we could endeavor to visit the 17,500 islands that make up this country, we will instead spend 40 days in the sun, surf and tourist extravaganza that is the island of Bali.


We landed in Denpasar, and took a taxi to our small guesthouse, the Ngetis, in Sanur.  Here, instead of yelling “taxi!”, the drivers yell, “transport!” to get your attention.  At first we thought they were saying “passport!”, and couldn’t figure out why… The guesthouse had a wonderful pool and was appointed with the statuary and wood carvings that Indonesia is famous for.

  

Bali has been a tourist destination for many years, so the beachfront is crowded with pricy resorts, way beyond our budget.   The water is crystal clear, but not very deep.

Our little place was on the far side of the busy main street, a bit of a walk to the beach, but we are very good at walking!

Bali practices a form of Hinduism, and there are lots of guardian spirit statues here.  Little banana-leaf baskets of flowers, food and fruit are offered to the spirits each morning, and incense is burned.

  
  

While in Singapore, one of my dental crowns broke, so our first order of business was to find a dentist, called a Docter Gigi. Happy to report that Dr. Sardi (or Dr. Wayan?  Not sure about the order of names here) was right up the road, and she repaired the crown and restored my smile.  Here she is with her three year old daughter, who keeps her company while she practices.

We expect a laid-back month as we prepare to return to the States.  We’ll check in again when we have some news!

Melaka, Malaysia to Singapore

Backpacking, Flashpacking, Malaysia, Singapore, Travel,

8/10 – Health update: remember the leech bites from Taman Negara?  Well, mine healed up nicely, but Jim’s got infected (probably from wading in the river to buy our bus tickets), and really started to hurt.  The bite area actually turned black and looked pretty awful, so before leaving Melaka, we decided to see a doctor and get some antibiotics.  We tried buying antibiotics at the pharmacy, but unlike some countries we’ve been to, you need a prescription here.  We found a clinic nearby, and the doctor saw Jim within 15 minutes.  He cleaned the wound, dug out the necrotic skin, applied antibiotic ointment and a bandaid, then gave us 5 days of antibiotic pills, disinfectant, a tube of ointment and a half dozen band aids.  We were on our way in 20 minutes, for about $25.00.  Americans really appreciate foreign health care!

8/11 – Took a cab across town to get back to the bus station.  We had been assured by a travel agent in Melaka that multiple bus companies ran buses to Singapore every hour, and there was no reason to purchase tickets in advance.  Well, that turns out not to be true after a holiday weekend.  We got to the station at 9am, but all the morning buses were booked, so we had to hang around the station until 1pm. Not so bad, and we had a nice lunch before we left.

There were signs at every seat on the bus that under no circumstances would the bus wait at Customs for more than 20 minutes. At the border, we hightailed it off the bus and jogged to the immigration line, then back outside to jump on the bus. We made it, but others didn’t, and the bus pulled away leaving people behind – Singapore doesn’t fool around!

The bus stopped on a busy street and let us out at the city center, just five minutes from our hotel. Singapore is a big, modern city, with the same cultures as Malaysia (it used to be part of Malaysia until it became independent in 1965). This time our hotel was in the Muslim area. There were so many shops with pretty headscarves, pins to keep the scarves in place, and colorful long dresses on display, I started looking at them longingly. I think I’ve been wearing my two tee shirts too long!

8/12 – We spent the day just walking around town. Lodging in Singapore is expensive, although the food is reasonable and delicious, and we will only be here a few days. Everything is very clean, and there are lots of rules here. This is the place where a person can get caned for spitting on the street. Don’t even think about stepping off the curb before the light turns green!image

We walked through a busy market.

We got some lunch. So did some pigeons that flew in.image

There was an employment agency on the corner near our hotel. Every time we walked by, we saw a row of identically dressed maids waiting for an assignment. We don’t know if the same women were there all day, or if there was a succession of them. Glad I’m not a maid…image

Tomorrow we will visit the Botanic Gardens!