Nascar and beyond

5

The Balestas islands were great.  They should be a Unesco sight.  We rode there in a motor boat large enough for all 26 of us.  Almost as soon as we set out a large pod of hammer head sharks pssed through three area.  There even was a baby swimming with its mother.  Quite an experience as they were so close. The ride was smooth except for when we went fast and then it was pretty exciting. Fortunately no one got sea sick. Our guide/naturalist was Eduardo.  We stopped and saw the famous candelabra.

 it is carved in to the hardened sand 40 cm deep.  It is surprising that it doesn't fill with drifting sand. Lasr week there were hurricane force winds and lots of drifting swnf.  Sand, that's all there Is for is miles and miles. I don't think any of us realized how much desert there is in Peru. The islands are a short ride from the coast.   The islands are protected by Peru.   We saw 3 types of cormorant, Inca terns, Peruvian penguins, sea spiders, turkey vultures, sea lions and more. The the sea lions didn't smell as bad as we expected.  My goodness they are immense!  

The females are smaller and much cuter.  We saw the sea lion nursery. The  babies stay with their mother for 2 years.  Some of those young miles were pretty big.  The adult males really look like a lion!  It was all very scenic!  very the water and weather have eroded the ro5cks so there are arch ways andd caves.  There also is a lyot of bird poop. There are people who come every 8 years to harvest the quano.  All to soon it  was time to return to the mainland.  We had time to visit a small market before making the long trip back to Lima.
Back to the Dazzler hotel.almost everyone walked about 4 blocks to a restaurant that some had gone to our 1st night in the city.  They must have been pretty shocked to have a party of 22 when they had 2 servers and one cook.  The prices were very low. Paella was about $17.00 and was filled with seafood.  I ordered it. But my order didn't arrive. I guess they came looking for the person who had ordered it but we certainly didn't hear it.Marilyn and Don, at the other end of the table were eating it.  I waited quite awhile for my replacement!

Day 5 Marlo's  second birthday!😀
We are off to the jungle.  The flight from Lima to Cusco to Puerto was fine. Lots of sitting on the runway though.  Our guides met us at the Puerto Madan airport.  We got in vans for the drive to their office where we will leave our big bags.  There is also an opportunity to get anything we put in the bigger suitcases that we may have decided we need. Then back in the vans for a 45 minute drive to the river. We were given a smack of a banana , banana chips (yummy). A pee break and onto the boat for a 2 3/4 hour boat ride up posted the Tambo Plata river.

The boat held 12 to 15 of us, seated side by side on a long bench on either side of the boat.   It is shaped like a canoe with a flat transom. The captain steered from the rear. We could have trailed our hands in the water but being a wise group, no one did.  Oscar, the guide on our boat, gave us our lunch.  Rice cooked with scrambled egg, chicken and mushrooms wrapped in leaves from the bird of paradise plant. It was delicious.
the passengers were told not to move around on the trip.  2 3/4 hours is a long time not to  move, and our legs were pretty wobbly when it was time to disembark over the narrow end 9th the board that was swaying 8 the water. Then we had a long climb up a very steep set of stairs.  It was dark! As dark as it gets!  We had one flashlight. The other little ones were in the bag with the porters .  After we got up the stairs it was muddy and wet.  There were small hexagon shaped  cement blocks set in the path for stepping stones. If you didn't  balance well and stepped off one your shoes went squish as it sank in the clay mud. Yuck.  It was hard to see and the walk through the night jungle was interesting - to say the least.  Monkeys,  mosquitos, mackaws, mud and god knows what else. Eventually we made it to the lodge, a beautiful open air affair with mahogany floors they just painted. Take your shoes off indoors.  Our group are the only ones staying here so we have the run of the place.  No shoes was fine until it was time to go to our room.  The mahogany walkway was wet and slippery. Very slippery. The manager was behind us and suggested we wear our sandals, we informed him the we were told to pack light so only want one pair of shoes.  He got us slippers from the spa. That was a blessing.
The rooms are open to the outside, no screen, no glass just jungle.  The floor in the bathroom is slats. Don't drop anything or its gone to the jungle.  The beds have mosquito net around them. There were a few holes that I patched with paper tape.  They filter or purify the water but a few of us are feeling the change in it.  We have lights and power 3 times a day as well as hot water.  No so sure I care about the hot water, it's so hot and humid.
We had a delicious dinner when we arrived. Peruvian food.  Chicken, rice, sweet potatoes and some kind of cake.
The jungle sounds lulled us to sleep at the end of day 5 of our adventure.
Day 6
There are 3 tours we will be doing today. The big kapok tree, the forest canopy and traditionaltraditional medicines.  First we outfit ourselves with boots, Wellingtons, and I put my orthotics in mine.  I walked 10 km in them and they were more comfortable than any shoe. What a pleasant surprise.
We were divided into three groups.  We were in groups yesterday so everyone went to the guide they had been with, leaving one poor fellow with no one. Roy and I joined him and 3 others came too.  We went to the big tree and Ulloa, that's not spelled correctly,  gave us a great tour of the jungle. The trails were very muddy in places and we were very grateful for the boots.  It was much easier walking in the daylight.  The trees, cicada towers, pregnant palm (swelling half way up the trunk which holds water), naked palm (sheds it's bark),  hot lips plant, something stick ginger which has a red or white background blossom,  bird of paradise,shoes or haliconia, our lunch  on the way in was wrapped in its leaves.  The kapok tree was about 15 feet in diameter an close to 100 feet high.  Our guide estimated it was about 200 years old.  Of course that's where kapok stuffing comes from.  Peruvian natives feel the tree is sacred and like to be buried under it..

On our way back to the lodge we saw a sloth up in a tree.  It was huge. lunch
Our morning tour was 3 hours.
Back at the lodge we had a snack, a rest and then it was lunch time.  At 3:30 we headed our for our last 2 tours.  Jill joined Maureen,  and Roy and  I and Brian and Margaret joined another group, so now we were 4.  We visited the canopy.  You climb up a tower that is over 100 feet high.  Maureen made it about 1/2 way before she stopped. I went to the top. Hurray for me!😊 I didn't go up the short ladder at the top but heard everything Jill and Roy were hearing  until the mosquitos got too bad and I fled.  Maureen was pretty lonely by herself so I was glad I went down. She is such a nice person.

Roy and Jill saw several birds while up there.
ROY

We went to the medicine garden next.  All of so need to do everything we can to conserve and protect the Amazon rain forest.  So many things we use and need come from here.  Many life saving medicines are made from ingredients often found in very small areas of the forest.  There is a plant that if administered early in a cancer can slow or stop it. That is just one.  So many of the plants are made into a tea.  Shamans administered the cures and they were effective and natural.  There was a menthol plant - boy did it smell good, para para - for the viagra  effect.
It was getting dark so we headed back to the lodge.  We are not to leave the lodge alone.  Fine by me.   On our way back our guide lead us out of the way to see a family of dusky monkies. Very interesting.
We had dinner, again it was very tasty then sat with the group and chatted.  Howard, Doug and Margaret, and Caroline all know Bob King and Carl.
Sadly when we skype Kim we learned that Joe Hutchinson passed away.  It is so good that Pete and Kim and the girls were there the previous weekend and saw him.  He was such a good man it seems so unfair that he was taken at 69.
The skype experience wasn't too successful.   We got through to David, Rose and the three little cuties but the connection was very good.  Considering that we are in a jungle miles from anything it is amazing we have any internet.  We were able to get any connection. The Internet is new to the lodge this week.  We were able to connect with Kim and the girls for a few seconds but could skype messages. We didn't get her emails but got one from David.  We skype Carol and Harry in the afternoon and it was better a much better connection.
We were offered 3 tours for day 7. Roy and I opted out of all 3 in favor of a rest.
It would be okay with many of us to  move on to the next adventure today but of course we are booked and that's the way it is.  It is rather disappointing that we weren't given enough information before we left home.  A much bigger flashlight for each person ,  good rain gear, inside shoes, hiking boots in the dry season, things that dry really fast, spray and towelette deet, after bite.  These things need to be stressed as essentials.
Had a restless night with an itchy bite.  We felt so sorry for Caroline next door.  The ailment that is bothering many of it hit her.  Terrible to be sick away from home.
Day 7
We stayed back and rested in the lodge.  An uneventful morning.
In the afternoon we visited the farm across the river.   Manuel, the farmer, lives there by himself and, yes, it gets lonely. He has 4 cats that he seemed to dote on and quite a few very beautifully coloured chickens.
After lunch Carolne, Sharon and Roy and I walked down to the river. Yup, the same path we walked up in the dark when we arrived.  We all had a good laugh about how much shorter it seemed in the daylight.  We hopped into the boat and we're across the river in a few minutes.  Oscar, our guide had to build some steps in the river bank  mud so we could get up the bank. Sharon had been making jokes about Manuel needing a wife.  She thought maybe he was husband material. When we walked into his front yard he was around back working on something and came to met us sweaty and dirty.  Oscar got a knife and we began our tasting tour of the farm.  He grows oranges, lemons, bananas, plantains, several local fruits and sugar cane as well as avocadoes, I can't remember them all.  He sells his produce in Poerto Malad another every week.  The taxi picks it up on its way down the river.  I guess it picks up other farmers produce too. Manuel has a cell phone way out in the middle of nowhere so he can communicate -they called to say we were coming. When we finished the tour he was all cleaned up so Sharon got a bit of teasing. We motored back across the river, up the steep and winding stairs along the muddy path that has a single row of hexagon shaped stones back to the lodge. A very enjoyable afternoon.  I just hope I can find gum boots like I wore.  They were so comfortable
We have an 88 year old gentleman on the tour with his daughter and son in law.  He fell the first night we were here.  Thankfully he seems to have recovered.  Everyone was very concerned about him as he fell coming out of a restaurant in Cusco and hurt himself. They are going to take him to the boat by quad.  It is too bad they didn't bring him up from the river that way.
The next morning it was time to leave.  I think everyone was ready.  It was an amazing experience and we were glad to have done it but everyone was tired of damp clothing, sweat and  the smell of deet.
We made our way down to the river bank for the last time. How easy it seems now!
Our new guide, Alex Medina met us at the airport.  He is an excellent guide.  We visited Cusco but as our plane was late we only had time for lunch in an Irish pub, where where we hadan alpaca burger,believe it or not. Then a short tour of the square, Plaza de Amas and it's  cathedral.   I believe the first part of the cathedral dates 1532.  the cathedrals are very opulent. Lots of silver and gold  and figures of the virgin.
We  had a walking tour to the hotel.  Roy and I joined Carolyn and Sharon for a bowl of chicken noodle soup and then headed to our room to repack for the Sacred Valley and Machu Pichu.

We got every thing into one back pack and our day bags.  No mean feat!  We could only take 11 pounds.  It was a challenge.   Then to everyone's dismay we could havehave taken more and indeed needed more of some thing sand less of others.  Momograms info has been sadly lacking.
(As an aside: As I write this I am sitting on the shore of Lake Titicacca and there is a lama
outside my window noisily eating grass and a guinea pig squeaking)
*After we left Cusco we stopped at
The Sacred Valley is in a valley in the Andes.  It has been blessed with the perfect climate, soil , etc for agriculture.  The mountains are steep and have very sharp edges, there are no trees on them but they are very green.  The valley is narrow with a river running through it.  The houses are poor by our standards but everyone we saw was smiling and looked healthy, particularly  the children.  The adults do look old for their age due to the climate. The grow quinoa, potatoes, corn, all kinds of vegetables.  There was another important crop but I can't remember it.  We saw shiny pods high, high up on the cliffs - they are hotels.  We met a couple who had stayed in one.  You climb up steel foot holds in the mountain to get to it.  There is a guide and they cook breakfast for you.  It sleeps 2 with a panoramic view.  When you leave you go by zip line.  All this for only $900 a night.
We had lunch at a lovely buffet restaurant that served all the local vegetables.  The steamed veggies were soon good as was the sweet potato doughnut.  The meal was included in our trip, (one of a very few) but the water wasn't and they really soaked us for it.  There was a band playing and we thought they would be a great addition to the folk festival.

The Sun Temple was part òf our tour.  The history is important but more important to me was the fact that I climbed to the top.  It was a steep climb with uneven rock stairs. Some were very tall for short legs. Everyone who had a walking pole blessed it. Roy had to help with some coming down or I'd have had to jump.
We stayed at a very nice hotel in the Sacred Valley. Everyone hated to leave. The Berg's and several others bought bags from the local vendors to put their excess belongings and shopping in.  We stopped at a huge market for 45 minutes earlier in the day.  After a 15 minute lesson on how to tell different kinds of wool we were left with only 1/2 hour.  The consensus was that it wasn't near enough time as this was to be the best market we would visit in Peru.  Oh well, it turned out to be a good thing as no one had any way to carry they  stuff they bought  anyway!  (Lamas have a very loud belch and they do it often)
We left our very nice hotel in the Sacred Valley and took the train to Machu Picchu.  Our expectations of a seedy looking little old train were not met.  No way - we boarded a sleek modern train with tables set and a Vista dome so we could see the mountain peaks. As soon as we for moving we were served a light meal that was delicious.  Nothing could equal the scenery. Wow! And double, triple wow!  Neither of us had seen anything like it. Pictures can't do it justice.  Tall steep mountains that the sharp edges haven't worn off, dramatic narrow valleys just wide enough to reveal more dramatic mountains. The turbulent river that runs along the rail road was muddy and full as they are at the end of the rainy turbulent season. It was as dramatic as the mountains. Unfortunately Roy and I were seated on the mountain side both going and coming so we did get the best view but we weren't suffering. It was worth the price.  Guess it would be like riding the Rocky Mountaineer.
We checked in to our hotel and headed for the bus up to Machu Picchu.  What a ride. We had our own bus to go up which was nice.  The road twists and turns and is only wide enough for one bus. When they meet one must back up and make room for the on coming bus.  There has never been an accident!  Excellent drivers.  Our driver had been an Inca runner.  They start with the bus at the top of the mountain and race the busses.  They use the Inca trail which is tremendously steep, and are waiting for that bus where the road intersects with the trail.  We were told that a young man from Cusco did the Inca trail in 3 hours. People who come to do the  trail take 4 days with porters  to carry their food and bags.  These porters cook, Take care of waste matter both from cooking and the hikers, set up tents, showers, etc and are at the camp before the hikers..
After much oohing and aahing we arrived at Machu Picchu.   You can see it from the bus.   It is beyond anything you can imagine. Sunscreen and hats, walking poles and off we went. We saw all the sights, climbed up and up some more on unevenly spaced steps with uneven surfaces.  Those i

The town, whose name I forget at the base is not very flat.  You have t walk through the market and over a bridge to get to the part of town our hotel was in.  The streets are narrow and not in good repair. We walked  down a street of stairs to get to our hotel. We just got there and the  rain set in, it poured down.  To get to our room you had to go up a flight of stairs just like the ones we had just  come down but fortunately there was a covered walkway.   We were in block 3. There are 4 separate buildings that make up the hotel. Our elevator didn't work and our room was right by the walkway and hotel restaurant so it was very noisy.  I called the desk and they said they'd send ear plugs.  When we  went for dinner I told Shelley think I got it was funny.  She told Alex and we wound up in his room and us in his much quieter room.  We felt bad because he works so hard for all of us.

Well,so it begins
We stayed with the Brownlee's last night so that we could get an early start to the airport.  They have a suite attached to the house and we had a very comfortable night. We were up at 3:45 to leave at 4:30.  Dave had muffins and coffee for us and it was a good start to the day.  We were only sorry that he wouldn't be joining us on the trip. Jill , Roy and I joined the queue for American airlines.  While walking through the airport I saw Shari from guild.  She was flying West Jet but I couldn't hear where she was going.
Shelley, tour organizer, travel agent was ahead of us in the line.  After hello her news was not at all good.  Our flight to Dallas had been canceled due to a snow storm. In Dallas, you've got to be kidding!  Nope.  We lined up in order to have our flight rebooked.  When Shelley got to the desk we all stood over to the right side of the line so people not on the tour could get by.  There we stood for 3 1 /21hours.  Poor Shelley stood at the ticket counter and the American Airlines lady stood behind her computer trying to get us all on flights.   The delicious muffin was becoming a memory.   There was lots of joking in line about going to Winnipeg.   It was terribly disappointing but at least we were safe.  Some 7 people were put on a flight to Los Angeles, yeah.  They didn't have time to clear customs and they came back. Start all over again.   Eventually a few people were put on a flight to New York.  Some were sent to LA and there was talk of Mexico City.  We'd like that. Nope we got San Francisco to Cancun with a 1 hour stop in San Francisco.  Tight if we have to change terminals.
Our flight now leaves at 7:30 pm and as it isn't ten yet we head back to the valley.   Jill would like to repack her bag and I am not happy with our new Rick Steves carrybon.  It is a rolling bag and with my rolling duffel it is to many wheels to manage.  Back to Dave and Jill's vehicle.  Back to their house. We took all but Roy's carry on home with us in case we wanted to change my carry on bag.
First stop - ABC restaurant for something to eat.  It was 11:30 and that 4 o'clock muffin wasn't even a memory any more. I had texted the kids and Carol on the way home and talked to Carol. We called Kim from the restaurant so we could find out how Joe was.  We were sad to learn that he seems to be deteriorating quickly.  Praying for them.
After a welcome meal we headed home and figured out how to connect the new bag to the duffel and had a much needed rest.  I read and napped and felt much better for it.  Roy said he stayed awake but he isn't much of a napper.  Dixie from Maritime called with information about our hotel in Cancun.  What a pain.  We get in at 7:00 am and fly out to Lima at midnight. It will be a long day.  We are sharing a room with Jill.    There are 4 ladies from the tour on our flights.
We stopped at the money exchange and got a few more US dollars and some pesos.  We will have to pay for a taxi and eat in Cancun.
Back at the Brownlee's we reloaded our luggage in  their car and headed back to the airport.  We got an upgrade for free - lots of leg room. We also got aisle seats for the Vancouver to San Francisco but not San Francisco to  Cancun.  That is really too bad as it the longer flight and we won't have the upgrade.
We used our Nexus pass to go through customs and didn't save much time but it was fun to do it.  Had dinner and boarded our flight which was 20 minutes late. This caused a fair bit of worry as we are short of time in San Francisco. What is we miss the next flight? What if we miss the flight and our bags go on to Cancun?  What if...
We are in the air and have made up a bit of time.  The flight crew say we will be fine.  Hope they are right.  Roy is sitting with Elly and Erica, two of our tour ladies, and they are talking a mile a minute. The young couple next to me is young and in love so aren't interested in me.
I can feel my right foot swelling.
Next stop, San Francisco
Well, no frills certainly means no frills.  We did get a small glass of water.  Our flight arrived a little early so we had no difficulty getting to the plane.  We had the emergency exit row again so that is why we got the upgrade for more leg room.
Our day in Cancun has been pretty uneventful.  Arrived ahead of schedule.  They have baggage carousels now.  Not like previous trips when they just put the luggage on the floor and you had to wade through and find iť.  They still have the red button to push to determine if you get a red light or a green light got a customs check.  We got green. Had a taxi van bring us to our hotel.  $110.00 for 7 of us. .Roy just confirmed that they will pick us up this evening. Few of the ladies tipped and the driver was angry!
Our hotel rooms were to be ready for 7:00. They weren't going to be ready til 3;00!  Joy!  Eventually the had them ready just before 11:00.  It took persistance. Jill is sharing our toom. Erica and Elley  are sharing as are Maureen and Sharon.
We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast.  Roy and I went for a walk and to find water.  We walked about  1 to 2 km and it was hot!  There was no water at the gas station we walked to so on our way past the hospital next door to our hotel we stopped in at the pharmacy and they had water for a low price.  Why didn't we do that in the first place?  Oh well, we got a walk.
Up to the roof top to check out the pool then a shower and bed for some shut eye.  Jill was already asleep when we got to our room.  We all got about 3  hours sleep.  Up to the pool for a couple of cervesas then down for dinner and back to the airport.

There was a long long line for our flight.  It seemed to go on for ever.  When we finally reached the desk the clerk asked if we spoke Spanish.  When we said no he replied that he didn't  speak  much English but that we had a much bigger problem.  He never did say what it was but we got to sit together.  Later some one suggested that he had wanted to place us in the emergency aisle but couldn't because we didn't speak Spanish.  That was probably it but we were worried for a few minutes that we wouldn't have seats.
We deplaned, is that the correct term, Lima.  You get out the old fashioned way - down the steps that are wheeled up to the plane a on  to a bus.  We had a freaky adventure.  As we followed the other passengers a young woman asked, we thought, where  we were from.  We said Canada and followed the herd.  We had to go through the scanners again.  These foreign countries!  They make you do such strange things.  The ladies we were with must have been way ahead because we couldn't see  them anywhere.  Strange they would get that far ahead. We had to take our  money belts off and they were quite abrupt about asking. Finally we passed the test only to find there was no way to the baggage claim area.  We had joined the queue to adjoining flights! Duh!  They had to get special permission to let us back out on on our way to  seek our friends who got a head because they went the correct way.  What an experience. We were taken to the Dazzler where we had breakfast and crashed.
It was good to put our heads on a pillow in a real bed.  I washed  the things we had been wearing before I went to bed. Roy was in bed and asleep almost the instant we got in the room. He hit his jet lag wall.  Before I got to bed  a man came to fix our safe.  Just as I was drifting off it occurred to me that I should have put out the do not disturb sign. Ah, who would come knockinhg at our door. Well, they came to get our laundry and awhile later they came to clean our room.  Thankfully I had the presence of mind to ask for more bath towels,   our room didn't need cleaning.
We met up with the whole group for lunch at the hotel. Everyone had tales of their adventure in getting to Lima!  Shelley and her group went to Mexico city.  The people who went to LA had interesting times and the New York group sat 3 hours on the tarmac in NY. Everyone was happy to finally reach Lima.   Travel has become so easy and we take it for granted that we will get on the plane at the appointed time.

Maria or Maggie as she asked to be called is our guide.  We had a tour of Lima.  The areas we drove through were very run down.  The square in downtown Lima was beautiful.  It is surrounded by the city hall, a church built by we think, Pizzaro.  It had amazing balconies but we didn't go inside. The wood for the balconies was imported from Europe and they were the first in Peru and they were copied.  Maggie said there are 500 like them.  We walked to the corner by the church balconies and we're on the Inca trail.  We walked to a museum and church owned by the St Francis of Assisi order.   Lots of tiles imported from Portugal.   Beautiful flowers in the cloister.  We visited the catacombs.  They estimate 50,000 people were laid to rest in the catacombs.  It seemed there were lots of femurs. Long femurs. The church itself had lots of ornate statues,  mainly of the virgin. The library was very old and Maggie said the books,that are not in great condition, have  been copied.   It was a  beautiful library with curved stairs and sky lights but the books are not being cared for.  After the museum we boarded the bus and we're taken back to the hotel. Everyone was pretty tired. We were happy to have some dinner and go up to 803.  We repacked small bags for our trip to the Nazca lines and went to bed.
In Peru  all children are entitled to an education but their parents must pay for it. As it seems to be a country of extremes there are many children whose family cannot pay.  It is so sad.  There are huge shanty towns with so many eking  out an existance.  There is no medical system either.
Day 2 Peru
We set out to visit the Nazca lines and tomorrow Balas as island at 7:00am.  We drove through some prettier areas.  One with a strong Spanish influence and a another was an  artsy community.  We got to a working community and the buildings were much poorer.  There were long lines of tiny blue and white cabs.  3 wheelers like dik diks in India.  I know this because of the best Marigold Hotel!  Some times there are 10 or 15 in a row. They look like minions in Despicable Me.
We drove for 4 1/2 hours to the Nazca lines airport.  One short stop. Ugh and double ugh.  It was not an exciting trip.  I didn't know there was so much desert in Peru.   It is endless.  The Pacific Ocean was on one side of us for most of the trip but it was so foggy you couldn't see it.
Thousands of families must vacation  at the ocean and they stay in rectangular cement boxes with 2 small windows , no paint  no colour, set on plots of sand about 3 times the size of the building.    Electrical lines to the buildings hang low between the  uildings as well as the larger power line.  Very dismal.  March 1st is the first day back to school after summer holidays.  Remember, we are at the Equator.  All the holiday  makers have gone home so it might look more cheerful with the buildings are occupied.
We also saw endlessly long chicken houses. Tarp like walls and thatch rooves. Poor chickens.  The few cows we saw were pretty scrawny.  In this desert  there is fertile land and lots of agriculture. Amazing - how do you grow corn, potatoes, apples lemons, oranges, apples, asparagus.   The potatoes plants grow as high as our corn.  Our guide told us how many different  varieties there are but we  are a little doubtful. We passed through some very poor looking towns.
Finally we reached the Nazca lines.  The while things was much more professional than we had expected.  The planes  are new and the pilots seem to know their stuff. They weigh you when you check in so they can balance the planes.  There are usually 10 people in a plane.

We wound up in one with 12 and we got the funny low seats in the very back.  Before we set out Roy commented that is was going to be bumpy - he was right and you know where it is bumpiest  - that's right -the back.  We were fine but one of the gals was  very air sick .  The pilot makes very tight turns so that the people on both sides of the plane can see the figures.  There is one seat on either side of the plane so everyone has an equal view.  We saw 12 figures. Some are very large and some are quite small, however, it is difficult to judge size from the air.  Some are easier to see too.  It took 35 minutes to fly from the airport to the lines.  We were over the lines for 20 minutes to one half hour and we're enthralled.   What an experience.   They believe the lines might be a calendar but no one knows for sure what they are.  We saw the whale, the astronout, tree, condor,  compass, trapezoids,dog, monkey, hummingbird,  spider,  heron and parrot.

We returned to the airport and as we had 2 who had suffered badly from air sicknesses we went straight to our hotel.  It's 4:00 and we last ate at 6:30. So needless to say their were some mighty hungry folk on the bus.  I had tuna and Roy had short ribs that were melt in your mouth tender.  We sat with fellow travelers and of course talked of were we had been and where we would like to go. A favorite topic after grandkids and kids of course.
Tomorrow we are off to the Balestas  islands. Penguins!!!

There is more, but first time we have been able to use our blog

South America

Well,so it begins
We stayed with the Brownlee's last night so that we could get an early start to the airport.  They have a suite attached to the house and we had a very comfortable night. We were up at 3:45 to leave at 4:30.  Dave had muffins and coffee for us and it was a good start to the day.  We were only sorry that he wouldn't be joining us on the trip. Jill , Roy and I joined the queue for American airlines.  While walking through the airport I saw Shari from guild.  She was flying West Jet but I couldn't hear where she was going.
Shelley, tour organizer, travel agent was ahead of us in the line.  After hello her news was not at all good.  Our flight to Dallas had been canceled due to a snow storm. In Dallas, you've got to be kidding!  Nope.  We lined up in order to have our flight rebooked.  When Shelley got to the desk we all stood over to the right side of the line so people not on the tour could get by.  There we stood for 3 1 /21hours.  Poor Shelley stood at the ticket counter and the American Airlines lady stood behind her computer trying to get us all on flights.   The delicious muffin was becoming a memory.   There was lots of joking in line about going to Winnipeg.   It was terribly disappointing but at least we were safe.  Some 7 people were put on a flight to Los Angeles, yeah.  They didn't have time to clear customs and they came back. Start all over again.   Eventually a few people were put on a flight to New York.  Some were sent to LA and there was talk of Mexico City.  We'd like that. Nope we got San Francisco to Cancun with a 1 hour stop in San Francisco.  Tight if we have to change terminals.
Our flight now leaves at 7:30 pm and as it isn't ten yet we head back to the valley.   Jill would like to repack her bag and I am not happy with our new Rick Steves carrybon.  It is a rolling bag and with my rolling duffel it is to many wheels to manage.  Back to Dave and Jill's vehicle.  Back to their house. We took all but Roy's carry on home with us in case we wanted to change my carry on bag.
First stop - ABC restaurant for something to eat.  It was 11:30 and that 4 o'clock muffin wasn't even a memory any more. I had texted the kids and Carol on the way home and talked to Carol. We called Kim from the restaurant so we could find out how Joe was.  We were sad to learn that he seems to be deteriorating quickly.  Praying for them.
After a welcome meal we headed home and figured out how to connect the new bag to the duffel and had a much needed rest.  I read and napped and felt much better for it.  Roy said he stayed awake but he isn't much of a napper.  Dixie from Maritime called with information about our hotel in Cancun.  What a pain.  We get in at 7:00 am and fly out to Lima at midnight. It will be a long day.  We are sharing a room with Jill.    There are 4 ladies from the tour on our flights.
We stopped at the money exchange and got a few more US dollars and some pesos.  We will have to pay for a taxi and eat in Cancun.
Back at the Brownlee's we reloaded our luggage in  their car and headed back to the airport.  We got an upgrade for free - lots of leg room. We also got aisle seats for the Vancouver to San Francisco but not San Francisco to  Cancun.  That is really too bad as it the longer flight and we won't have the upgrade.
We used our Nexus pass to go through customs and didn't save much time but it was fun to do it.  Had dinner and boarded our flight which was 20 minutes late. This caused a fair bit of worry as we are short of time in San Francisco. What is we miss the next flight? What if we miss the flight and our bags go on to Cancun?  What if...
We are in the air and have made up a bit of time.  The flight crew say we will be fine.  Hope they are right.  Roy is sitting with Elly and Erica, two of our tour ladies, and they are talking a mile a minute. The young couple next to me is young and in love so aren't interested in me.
I can feel my right foot swelling.
Next stop, San Francisco
Well, no frills certainly means no frills.  We did get a small glass of water.  Our flight arrived a little early so we had no difficulty getting to the plane.  We had the emergency exit row again so that is why we got the upgrade for more leg room.
Our day in Cancun has been pretty uneventful.  Arrived ahead of schedule.  They have baggage carousels now.  Not like previous trips when they just put the luggage on the floor and you had to wade through and find iť.  They still have the red button to push to determine if you get a red light or a green light got a customs check.  We got green. Had a taxi van bring us to our hotel.  $110.00 for 7 of us. .Roy just confirmed that they will pick us up this evening. Few of the ladies tipped and the driver was angry!
Our hotel rooms were to be ready for 7:00. They weren't going to be ready til 3;00!  Joy!  Eventually the had them ready just before 11:00.  It took persistance. Jill is sharing our toom. Erica and Elley  are sharing as are Maureen and Sharon.
We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast.  Roy and I went for a walk and to find water.  We walked about  1 to 2 km and it was hot!  There was no water at the gas station we walked to so on our way past the hospital next door to our hotel we stopped in at the pharmacy and they had water for a low price.  Why didn't we do that in the first place?  Oh well, we got a walk.
Up to the roof top to check out the pool then a shower and bed for some shut eye.  Jill was already asleep when we got to our room.  We all got about 3  hours sleep.  Up to the pool for a couple of cervesas then down for dinner and back to the airport.

There was a long long line for our flight.  It seemed to go on for ever.  When we finally reached the desk the clerk asked if we spoke Spanish.  When we said no he replied that he didn't  speak  much English but that we had a much bigger problem.  He never did say what it was but we got to sit together.  Later some one suggested that he had wanted to place us in the emergency aisle but couldn't because we didn't speak Spanish.  That was probably it but we were worried for a few minutes that we wouldn't have seats.
We deplaned, is that the correct term, Lima.  You get out the old fashioned way - down the steps that are wheeled up to the plane a on  to a bus.  We had a freaky adventure.  As we followed the other passengers a young woman asked, we thought, where  we were from.  We said Canada and followed the herd.  We had to go through the scanners again.  These foreign countries!  They make you do such strange things.  The ladies we were with must have been way ahead because we couldn't see  them anywhere.  Strange they would get that far ahead. We had to take our  money belts off and they were quite abrupt about asking. Finally we passed the test only to find there was no way to the baggage claim area.  We had joined the queue to adjoining flights! Duh!  They had to get special permission to let us back out on on our way to  seek our friends who got a head because they went the correct way.  What an experience. We were taken to the Dazzler where we had breakfast and crashed.
It was good to put our heads on a pillow in a real bed.  I washed  the things we had been wearing before I went to bed. Roy was in bed and asleep almost the instant we got in the room. He hit his jet lag wall.  Before I got to bed  a man came to fix our safe.  Just as I was drifting off it occurred to me that I should have put out the do not disturb sign. Ah, who would come knockinhg at our door. Well, they came to get our laundry and awhile later they came to clean our room.  Thankfully I had the presence of mind to ask for more bath towels,   our room didn't need cleaning.

We met up with the whole group for lunch at the hotel. Everyone had tales of their adventure in getting to Lima!  Shelley and her group went to Mexico city.  The people who went to LA had interesting times and the New York group sat 3 hours on the tarmac in NY. Everyone was happy to finally reach Lima.   Travel has become so easy and we take it for granted that we will get on the plane at the appointed time.
Maria or Maggie as she asked to be called is our guide.  We had a tour of Lima.  The areas we drove through were very run down.  The square in downtown Lima was beautiful.  It is surrounded by the city hall, a church built by we think, Pizzaro.  It had amazing balconies but we didn't go inside. The wood for the balconies was imported from Europe and they were the first in Peru and they were copied.  Maggie said there are 500 like them.  We walked to the corner by the church balconies and we're on the Inca trail.  We walked to a museum and church owned by the St Francis of Assisi order.   Lots of tiles imported from Portugal.   Beautiful flowers in the cloister.  We visited the catacombs.  They estimate 50,000 people were laid to rest in the catacombs.  It seemed there were lots of femurs. Long femurs. The church itself had lots of ornate statues,  mainly of the virgin. The library was very old and Maggie said the books,that are not in great condition, have  been copied.   It was a  beautiful library with curved stairs and sky lights but the books are not being cared for.  After the museum we boarded the bus and we're taken back to the hotel. Everyone was pretty tired. We were happy to have some dinner and go up to our room.  We repacked small bags for our trip to the Nazca lines and went to bed.
In Peru  all children are entitled to an education but their parents must pay for it. As it seems to be a country of extremes there are many children whose family cannot pay.  It is so sad.  There are huge shanty towns with so many eking  out an existance.  There is no medical system either.
Day 2 Peru
We set out to visit the Nazca lines and tomorrow Balas as island at 7:00am.  We drove through some prettier areas.  One with a strong Spanish influence and a another was an  artsy community.  We got to a working community and the buildings were much poorer.  There were long lines of tiny blue and white cabs.  3 wheelers like dik diks in India.  I know this because of the best Marigold Hotel!  Some times there are 10 or 15 in a row. They look like minions in Despicable Me.
We drove for 4 1/2 hours to the Nazca lines airport.  One short stop. Ugh and double ugh.  It was not an exciting trip.  I didn't know there was so much desert in Peru.   It is endless.  The Pacific Ocean was on one side of us for most of the trip but it was so foggy you couldn't see it.
Thousands of families must vacation  at the ocean and they stay in rectangular cement boxes with 2 small windows , no paint  no colour, set on plots of sand about 3 times the size of the building.    Electrical lines to the buildings hang low between the  uildings as well as the larger power line.  Very dismal.  March 1st is the first day back to school after summer holidays.  Remember, we are at the Equator.  All the holiday  makers have gone home so it might look more cheerful with the buildings are occupied.
We also saw endlessly long chicken houses. Tarp like walls and thatch rooves. Poor chickens.  The few cows we saw were pretty scrawny.  In this desert  there is fertile land and lots of agriculture. Amazing - how do you grow corn, potatoes, apples lemons, oranges, apples, asparagus.   The potatoes plants grow as high as our corn.  Our guide told us how many different  varieties there are but we  are a little doubtful. We passed through some very poor looking towns.
Finally we reached the Nazca lines.  The while things was much more professional than we had expected.  The planes  are new and the pilots seem to know their stuff. They weigh you when you check in so they can balance the planes.


There are usually 10 people in a plane. We wound up in one with 12 and we got the funny low seats in the very back.  Before we set out Roy commented that is was going to be bumpy - he was right and you know where it is bumpiest  - that's right -the back.  We were fine but one of the gals was  very air sick .  The pilot makes very tight turns so that the people on both sides of the plane can see the figures.  There is one seat on either side of the plane so everyone has an equal view.  We saw 12 figures. Some are very large and some are quite small, however, it is difficult to judge size from the air.  Some are easier to see too.  It took 35 minutes to fly from the airport to the lines.  We were over the lines for 20 minutes to one half hour and we're enthralled.   What an experience.   They believe the lines might be a calendar but no one knows for sure what they are.  We saw the whale, the astronout, tree, condor,  compass, trapezoids,dog, monkey, hummingbird,  spider,  heron and parrot.
We returned to the airport and as we had 2 who had suffered badly from air sicknesses we went straight to our hotel.  It's 4:00 and we last ate at 6:30. So needless to say their were some mighty hungry folk on the bus.  I had tuna and Roy had short ribs that were melt in your mouth tender.  We sat with fellow travelers and of course talked of were we had been and where we would like to go. A favorite topic after grandkids and kids of course.
Tomorrow we are off to the Balestas  islands. Penguins!!!

Turkey and more Turkey

Pamukkale
As we arrive at Pamukkale it seems we have changed climatic zones.  The surrounding hills are snowy white but it isn't snow, it is salt deposit.  The mineral salts in the water flowing from the hot springs in the mountain left a thick white deposit on the hill sides. For many years it was a resort with 2 big fancy hotels at the top.  After an earthquake the water began to dry up.  The tourists misuse of the springs of and lack of flowing water caused the white deposit to turn black.  A few years ago the government stepped in and bought the hotels, tore them down and made the area into a park.  They control the water flow so that every area gets water over it and the ground is white again.  We were able to wade in some of the pools or put our feet in the water filled diversion trough.  The pools were quite slippery so we opted for the trough.  The water was pleasantly warm and felt good on our feet and calves.  We stopped to have cold drink as I was feeling very thirsty and that ate up the time we would have used to visit the Necropolis.  It is a huge cemetery and would have been interesting.  I honestly didn't feel that well so didn't care.

We stayed over night here.  There were hot pools we could go in at the hotel so we donned our bathing suits only to find very hot and unappealing pools of water. Back to our room and dressed for dinner.  The food at the Colossal spa hotel wasn't the best we encountered on the trip but we had lots to eat.  The best memory of the dining room came from John.  Roy and I took soft boiled eggs only to discover they were almost raw.  John was finding it difficult to keep his boiled egg on his plate so he stuck it in his pocket, forgot about it and sat down, oops, it broke all over his wallet.  What a way to start the day!  He will be remembered for that incident - good thing he is a good sport!

Antalya

Okay, I am sick!  We are visiting the highly rated Archeological museum, a place I really wanted to visit but this morning I have a fever, I am dizzy and I hurt all over.  After the Turkish plague struck things have become a bit blurred.  This is a nasty virus!  I thought it was the smoke from the farmers burning the fields but no, it's the plague.  After the sore throat came the aching body, the sore chest, feeling weak and like you are going to faint and fever, runny nose and horrendous cough.  
 I made a stab at touring the museum but had to go sit in the lobby where I fell asleep, sitting on a bench that had no back.   I remember Tolga coming by and then Roy coming to get me so I wouldn't miss it all. I was glad he did as it was amazing but I sure felt rotten.


Perge

After a brief stop for photos of the white hills so Pamukkale the next morning we were off to visit the ancient city of Perge.  This was really some thing to see. Ephesus was very dramatic but Perge gave us the feeling of stepping back - way back in time.  The long Avenue with ruts made in the marble paving stone by chariots and the water channel running down its centre.  The bathhouse is still fairly well preserved.  There was a stone honoring Dianna.  Of course our Diane had her picture taken with it.  We were able to climb up above the fountain at the far end of the street and view the town.  What must it have been like when St Paul visited there?
Aspendos was next on the list. A huge theater that seats 50,000 but Elton John performed there to 80,000. It is one of the best preserved in the world, built in the reign of Marcus Aurelius (180AD161 - 180).  The theater was cleverly constructed so that people could enter and leave easily.  Aspendos was founded by the Hittites.  We only saw the theater but there was a large city.

Konya
On the way to Konya Tolga entertained us with tales of how dense, stupid, whatever people from Konya could be.  He had everyone in stitches.

Rumi's museum
This was an interesting visit.  Rumi was born in what is now Afghanistan and wrote his poetry in Persian.   He was a Theosphic (professing to achieve a knowledge of God through spiritual ecstacy or direct intuition) philosopher.  Rumi's philosophy was basically a longing for unity of men, the universe, with God and God's spirit. His epitaph reads "when we are dead, seek not our role in the earth, but find it in the hearts of men".  His timeless teachings live on.  It seemed a bit ironic that there is a large building (now a museum) is devoted to his tomb. It was raining when we arrived at the museum, not just a little rain, torrents of it.  Lee got her feet wet and had to take her socks and shoes off to dry them on the bus.
Fortunately we were there early and avoided the masses.  Tolga seems to be very good at planning our days.  We have never had a long wait at any site.  There are and number of cells with relics of Rumi and his friend and followers.  We only visited a couple of them as they were small and it took a bit of time to read the English translations.  The grammar is often more interesting than the description.  The building Rumi is buried in is large and there were people, mainly women, praying along the walls.  You can see his tomb, as well as his son's. Rumi's son began the Dervishes  The tombs are covered in a brocade fabric with a pole coming out at one end. On the pole is a turban like affair.  We never did learn what it was. Books with his writings were behind glass. They remined us of the Book of Kells in Dublin. After a short visit to the gift shop it was back on the bus.
Next we stopped at a tile museum and Koran school but it was really an observatory and a school.  Students were taught math and astronomy.  There was a large basin in the floor right under the domed roof.  The stars were viewed by there reflection in the water.  A grid of silk thread was set across the basin.  Another wooden grid was there for them to walk on and measure the movement of the stars.  Sheer genius.  The tiles were beautiful but not as memorable.

Next stop, one high on my list, a caravanasairy.   Everyone felt transported in time, feeling like we were on a movie set but actually were in the real thing.  The caravanasairys were built by the sultan along the silk road for the protection of the caravans coming from the east from pirates. The economy was drying up so he built a string of caravan stops spaced the distance traveled each day, about 30 km.  The travellers went inside the walls and placed their valuable cargo in a safe.  There was a large building for the camels. The people slept outside in alcoves.  The camels were the most important.  There were guards to kept watch and to defend in case of attack.   Travelers could stay 3 days for free or 7 if they were ill.  This was a place they could buy a camel if theirs died.

Underground city

Cappadocia

I am feeling a bit better, the severe part lasted about 24 hours.  I slept on the bus and the fever left about 3 in the afternoon.  It returned a few times but never was as bad.  Both of us were really looking for to this stop.  Tolga has warned us off shopping until now and everyone is a bit anxious. We want to see the whirling dervish ceremony and go for the balloon ride here.   Damn, now it's Roy's turn to be sick.  He is sicker than I was and decides he won't go to the ceremony in the evening or for dinner.  I doped myself up and took cough drops and water with me.  I was seated so that I couldn't leave without too much disruption if I began to cough.  You must be silent during the ceremony so that you do not break the trance the dervishes are in.
"The ceremony is the inspiration of Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi (1207 _1273 (try saying that fast -or slowly). The Sema  (ceremony)  has 7 parts and each symbolizes a stage of the mystic journey to perfection".
First the musicians come to the round stage and play.  It begins with singing? a eulogy the the drum followed by the ney, a reed instrument with a very nasal tone. (Its all very soothing).  Then after this goes on for a few minutes the dervish especially enter.  They each bow to the altar and the go to the side of the platform and as one (there were 5 of them and their teacher) drop to their knees.  I heard some bones crack but it was amazing.  They have a black coat on over their white dervish gowns.  Suddenly it seemed like they had no legs.  They prayed for a bit to the music and then rose and removed their cloaks.  One by one they bow to the altar and then begin, slowly, to twirl. The round stage is not large and some of the dervish are quite tall.  Their skirts billow .out as they twirl, one arm pointed to the sky, the other to the earth, head tilted to the raised arm. Round they spin, never touching, eyes closed but always aware of their postion in reference to the altar. When they stop twirling they bow to the altar.   Their trance takes the audience with them; it's as though no one breathes or moves.  This goes on for 40 minutes. I was so worried that I would cough and kicked out. I was okay until they stopped twirling and knelt down.  It must have been psychological because then an uncontrollable cough welled up in me.  I headed out and up the 3 flights of stairs ( I didn't mention that we were in a cave ) trying to choke back my coughing.  I didn't succeed but did my best. I hurried up the stairs, out of breath because this nasty bug really affects your lungs.  I must have looked bad when I got to the top because a lady got me seated and checked to make sure I hadn't died.  I was so happy that I went to the ceremony but I sure wished Roy could have come too.  We met the rest of the group at a restaurant for dinner after the ceremony .  The meal was many courses starting with shepherds salad.  We each got a bowl big enough for a family.  Finely chopped tomato and cucumber.  Refreshing and delicious.   What do they do with the leftovers??  The focal point of dinner was a kebab (small pieces of meat cooked in broth with vegetables.) It is placed in a vase made of clay, covered with yeast and baked in the ground all day.  They bring it to the table and make a big deal of cutting of the top with a huge knife.  It made for a good show,  I think Nancy got to cut the top off one of them.
When we returned to the hotel Roy was in bed and hadn't left the room for anything, including dinner.  He didn't think he needed a doctor but we probably should have had him see one.  We were to go up in a balloon the next morning.  Both of us were up and ready at 5:30.  Roy wasn't going to miss it.  The winds were too high.  We went back to bed and got up again in time for breakfast.  Roy got himself a bowl of cereal, then sat and stared at it.  We were sitting with Pat and Pat.  They were concerned but not as concerned much as I was.  He decided to miss Cappodocia and stay at the hotel.
That was a difficult decision as this is a spot everyone was anxious to visit.  I felt so bad leaving him behind.  Joan also stayed at the hotel, she was feeling so sick that she got a separate room so her roommate wouldn't suffer.

Cappadocia has rock formations created over millions of years ago when 3 volcanoes erupted.   Over the years the frequent eruptions covered the area with a porous layer of volcanic ash (tufa).  Erosion has created fairy chimneys (think of the hoodoo in Alberta multiplied many times over) , valleys, pillars and pyramids.  Fantastic!
The first stop was at a village of cave homes.  Early Christans used the caves as homes as they were very secluded.   Monastic communities were formed in caves carved out of the rock.  I didn't go too far as the dusty ground was so slippery.  I looked around a bit and checked out a high priced shop until it was time to move on.  Everything had been closed where the bus stopped but was open when I returned to the bus so a shopping opportunity missed.  The camel had even been trotted out for people to sit on.  That was an opportunity I was only too happy to miss.  What a stink! Off we went to visit the outdoor museum at Goreme. The rock formations on the way are really something to see.  Each one is different and better than the last.  Some are even in shapes resembling camels, etc. The museum at Goreme is a world heritage site.  Roy is missing it!  It's a good thing because it is all up stairs and hills and down again.  The area is sprinkled with hundreds of church's but Goreme has the best ones.  They are painted with frescoes painted on the rock.  In some places the paint has peeled off and you can see earlier designs painted in red ochre.  The cave churches date from as early a the 6th century.
I hung out with John and Ruth.   They are such nice people.  We are played out after awhile.  My knees were trembling from all the up and downing.
The last church we visited was across the road from the main museum and the best, in my humble opinion.   Tokali church is the oldest church in the museum. The narrative scenes are in chronological order and you are able to follow the story of the old testament.
After the museum we visited a pottery factory.  The factory is family owned and the workers are family.  One fellow made and amphora while we watched. His cousin explained what the potter was doing.  Someone asked why he wasn't a potter too.  The answer "some of us like to talk too much".  That got a laugh.  After the very interesting demonstration we saw artists painting the pottery. Then of course it was time to buy the pottery.  While I really liked every thing, the only thing I wanted was an amphora and they were over a thousand dollars.  They would ship it to your home, no taxes,no duty and if it breaks on the way you take a picture, send it to them and they replace the item. Dave and Jill bought a plate that will be shipped to them but I think that was the only big puchase.  The amphora will have to wait until we win the lottery.
We had lunch at a place that had been a carvanasary.  It had huge, tall doors made of hide and felt, very heavy.  We were served lunch on what we guessed were plates that were seconds from the pottery factory.  I am loosing my enthusiasm for Turkish food, even baked eggplant.  It's beginning to all taste the same -maybe it's because we have a lot of buffet meals.

Back to the hotel and to my great disappointment my husband is not dressed and waiting for me in the lobby.  No, he is in our room, in bed dressed only in his underwear, where he has been all day.  He is coughing like crazy so I go down to the bar for hot water to make sage tea for him.  Toga is in the lobby and insists the Roy has to eat something.   He gets the menu from the bar and I order spaghetti with tomato sauce from room service.  Roy seems to feel better after he manages to get about half of it eaten.  Yeah!  We went for a walk around the beautiful grounds with Joan, who is also feeling a bit better and then go for dinner.  The balloon ride has been rescheduled for tomorrow morning.  Turkey leaves daylight savings time tonight but we still have to get up at the same time but for a later flight.  Go figure!  Next week we will have to fall back again when we are at home.
The flight is on!  Roy seems to be much improved.  We both are coughing a lot but so is literally everyone on the bus...
The wake up call comes and we dress in as many layers for warmth as we have. Dress warm! Two shirts, a fleece, coat, 2 pair of socks, and a hat.  Dress warm -ha! By the time we got up in the balloon we were shedding layers. That's another story.

The drive to Goreme was nice because Roy got to see some of the rock formations he missed the day before.  When we arrived at the balloon offices the air around Goreme was alive with balloòns. There were 75 to 100 balloons up all at once.  It was really cool. They were going down into the valleys and around the fairy chimneys.  Cool!
It seems that because 5 people had dropped out of our group (Turkish plague) they wanted a different balloon for us.  By the time they got us in the air the wind had died and we couldn't go down into the valleys.  We drifted around at a high altitude and finally with a bit of difficulty found a place to land.  They landed the basket right on the trailer with us in it this time.  Different than our previous experiences.   When it came Nancy turn to get out the fellow just lifted her out and then he did the same with me.  He must have eaten his Wheaties that morning!  We were an hour later than we were supposed to be and the others had a long wait for us.  Thankfully they kept the kitchen open for us so we could have a most welcome breakfast. Even Roy was hungry. The chef cooked eggs for us, toast, yogurt with honey, a little fruit - pretty much what we have every morning.

The next stop was Ankara, capital of Turkey.  Ataturk moved the capital from Istanbul to Ankara in 1923 because it was considered to be secure in the middle of Turkey.  More than 4 million people live here now.  According to Toga who has lived here the city is constantly growing.  He said that the transportation system is good so people use it during the week and only drive their cars on weekends.  Consequently they are terrible drivers.
We visited Ataturks mausoleum.   It is huge, rivals Mao tomb at Tinamen Square in Beijing but the square . isn't as big.
The hotel was one Toga hadn't used before.  He won't be using it again if he has any choice.  Roy's stomach wasn't feeling good now so he stayed at the hotel while I went with about 7 others to the museum of Anatolian civilizations.  Wow, this was a museum!  The museum covers every civilization that has occupied the area going back 10 miĺenia. It is arranged chronologically.   Tolga gave us a 1/2 hour introduction and then left us on our own.  Nancy and I went around together and the first thing we agreed upon was to go in reverse order (it was less crowded that way and I think we are both random type thinkers).  It was tremendously interesting and fun with Nancy.  We particularly enjoyed the mother earth goddesses and the changes to their anatomy over the ages.
Back to the hotel.  Roy is back in bed, in his underpants!  Damn!  Fortunately some imodium set him right and he was able to go down to dinner.  The staff had given our group tables, not in the dinning room but in a kind of cafe at the back.  Tolga was livid. The next morning we were seated in the dining room!  It was one of the poorer hotels on our trip, the food was not as appealing as at other places and the walls in the small rooms were very thin.  Our groups rooms were all in the same area(except for Dave and Jill who got moved to another room because their room smelled of smoke) so we're treated each other to a symphony of coughing all night.

A word about hotels.  We stayed at very nice hotels, even the ones I have complained about were still very nice, it's just that we got spoiled.

Well, the last day has come.  We board the bus to Istanbul.  It is a long trip on the bus.  454 km.  At last we near the bridge that will take us from Asia to Europe.  It's rainy, windy and traffic is in grid loclock. The bus moves  a metre a minute.  Poor Cater, our driver.  We are scheduled to go on a Bosphorus cruise and to visit the Spice Market.  We vote to skip the cruise, though everyone has been looking forward to it.  Check in at the hotel we stayed at before.  This time our room is an appropriate temperature but it is tiny.  Oh well, it's just one night and we won't be in it much.  Roy and I went across the street to the grocery store and got Turkish tea glasses and food incase everything is closed tomorrow and the next day (Republic days)when we are on our own.
The farewell dinner, hosted by Neon Tours is at a fish restaurant under the Galatea Bridge.  We begin with mezes  (tapas style appies).  After a long rest between courses we are served a phylo roll with cheese inside.  Delicious.  I chose Raki  to drink.  You add a bit of water and it becomes cloudy.  Very potent and very tasty.  After a very long wait our fish comes.  They serve it with the head on in Turkey but we all asked to have the head removed.  Guess that is what took so long!  A 3 piece band plays folk music for us and a chubby fellow belly dances, sings and gets us all to join in.  It was fun and entertaining.  Dessert was too hard to describe and not worth the effort.  Now everyone but us has to be up by 1:30 to go to the airport and they want to get back to the hotel. There are 4 or 5 going to Jordan next and they have a later plane.  We are moving to the Amira Hotel.

Shelley made a lovely presentation of our tip money to Tolga, Cater and Tolga II even though she had succumbed to the plague and looked like she'd like to die.
We were very fortunate to have such good people taking care of us for 2 weeks.
Tolga even gave us his cell number in case we needed help when we were on our own.  Even Shelley didn't have his cell number.
Next day, after breakfast we caught a taxi to the Amira hotel on the other side of the Golden Horn.  What to say about the Amira?   Wow, it is a 35 room boutique hotel near the Blue Mosque.  You can walk to the Mosque and Hague Sophia in just a few minutes.  The door was opened by the young doorman for us.  We never had to open that door ourselves.  We were early but our room would be ready in 45 minutes, please have a complementary breakfast while we wait.  The concierge (Karen) came to the dining room with a map and talked with us for the next 1/2 hour explaining what would be open on the holiday, suggesting places to visit, which trams to take, good restaurants.   Yes, we were impressed.  Meanwhile the man in charge of the dining room is getting us toast and coffee and anything else that we might desire.  Such service.  Our bags are taken to our room and we are shown how everything works.  It is a very nice room, not fancy but we'll appointed.  We are more than happy.
All of our fretting about this game being closed for Republic day were mostly unfounded.   The Grand Bazaar, Spice Market, Topkapi place we're closed but we had seen them so that was okay.
  We went to the Basillica Cisterns, a 6th Byzantine underground water reservoir built by the Emporor Justinius with recycled Roman columns and covers the area of 2 football fields. There are 336 columns. It is vast and dimly lit.   There are even fish swimming in the water.  We were much impressed. The Pudding Shop rated another lunch but we would try to keep the price down this time.

 Between our hotel and the Cisterns was a lovely market that we enjoyed a stroll through on the way to the Blue Mosque area and again on the way back.  We met a man who stopped us to talk.  He was of course selling carpets but was willing just to chat when we weren't interest.  We strolled down a side street which was lined with restaurants. Each had a tout in front to encourage passers by to eat at their establishment, or just have tea or a drink.  One fellow told us his mother was the cook and his mother's hands were golden.  It was too early for dinner so we went on to look at the outside walls of the Topkapi Palace.  While standing looking an American gentleman engaged us in conversation.  He had been in Istanbul in 1958 with the American forces as a decoder.  His sister had a friend who lived in the city and he had stayed at her home then.  He and his sister were in Istanbul to visit that lady.  He asked if I sewed, his sister and the friend had gone to a fabric shop just around the corner.  He was going there now to pick up a shirt the shop had made for him.  We should come with him.  My thought was, what are we getting into now but we went.  I don't think we would have come to any harm.  The shop was family run and sold hand woven cotton items.  I never did see any fabric so we left after a decent interval. Never know who you will meet!  On our way back there was a gentleman selling tee shirts for a third the price we had paid at the Spice Bazaar so we bought one and chatted with him.



The Amira has tea for the guests from 4 to 6.  A lovely spread. It could easily be dinner.  We enjoyed a lovely tea and went to the roof to Skype the Berg's and Hutchinson's and show them the view of the Sea of Marima, the Blue Mosque and street scenes around during us.  Later we made our way up restaurant street again through everyone wanting us to eat at their place.  Had another chat with the tee shirt man, we had also chatted with the carpet man, who remembered us too.  Getting pretty friendly .  Those men and some of the restaurant fellows always remembered us.  It was hard to make our way to the Babylon restaurant that the hotel recommended but we did it.   By this time we just want something familiar to eat so we ordered pizza, thinking we were ordering Turkish pizza which is very different but good.  The waiter was disgusted.  We ordered raki which redeemed us a bit.  The pizza was Italian style and soo good.  We went back the next night and I had a Turkish vegetable hot pot. Awesome, I almost licked the pot. Roy had Turkish pizza - good too.  We shouldn't have had tea at the hotel as it filled us up.
Next day we did take the Bosphorus cruise.  The guide the useless, but we had been spoiled by Tolga.  The cruise was excellent.  Before the cruise we were supposed to go to the Spice Market but it was closed.  The guide sort of told us to go visit the New Mosque.  We did briefly then walked around some of the stalls surrounding the Market. They were open and so very colourful.  The cruise lasted an hour and a half and we saw homes and hotels on both the European and Asian sides that we wouldn't otherwise have seen.  It was an interesting look at Istanbul.
The bus driver returned us to the hotel.  It was obvious that he knew the city well. He took us down some very narrow streets, even he was pleased to squeeze through some half of the narrow places.
In the afternoon we decided to take the tram, a fun experience, and the funicular to Takism Square. The square was quite deserted when we got there.  We got our bearings as headed to Iskital Street.  The plan was to follow Rick Steves walking guide.  The street was so crowded and many of the buildings were boarded over so the guide became extremely difficult to follow.  We were about half way down the street when we saw an armored van, many police and a lot of people with placards.  We weren't enjoying the experience all that much anyway so decided to retrace our steps and take the funicular and tram back to the Train station. I was very happy to leave the area even though there were things I would have liked to see.  Even before we saw the police I felt uncomfortable in the suroundings.  Guess I just don't feel safe in crowds.

We go off the tram at the Spice Market and walked a few steps to the train station.   We were there! The famous terminus for the Orient Express. The waiting rooms were deserted and it was easy to imagine Agatha Christie or any one from that era in them.  The bar was empty too.  The was a train in the station but it was sitting empty.  We had a glass of wine in the bar and took our pictures against the sign that said Orient Express.  Another couple came and we took each others pictures.  The barman that had said we could go in the dining room and look around so I told them. They decided to have a glass of wine as well. It was worth the price to see the pictures on the walls.
We returned to Babylon (the restaurant ) for our dinner after a much lighter tea at the Amira. Bought another tee shirt from our friend as an end to a very happy time in Istanbul.  Everyone said that you never have enough time in Istanbul and now I agree.  Tolga gave us so many dire warnings when we were with the tour that we were somewhat put off the city.  Thank goodness we had the extra days to change our opnion.

We were up and ready to leave for the airport before 2 am but waited to go to the lobby until 2.  We checked out, our Bosphorus cruise and tram tokens were put on our room tab.  Very convenient. Then the door man went outside in the pouring rain, gave a little whistle and a cab awaited us.  There was no traffic and that guy sped along at a grateful rate. We were at the airport in 20 minutes or less.  The hotel said it would be 50 lira but he said 55 would be okay.  He got 60 in the end and left a happy man.

The Lufthansa sign was on so we joined a huge queue, each person had so many bags!  A gentleman came and told us we were in the wrong line.  These people were refugees.  We greatfully went to a much shorter line.  They processed the refugees first so we waited anyway but at least we were in the correct line...  We thanked him later and he explained that he works for the United Nations and he was seeing the refugees from Iran on to their plane ( our plane).   There were between 40 to 50 people to from about age 6 to grandparents. We were on the same plane to Frankfurt.   They had a different United person to shepherd them to their next plane which we think took them to Toronto.  We had lots of time before our flight to Vancouver so we had a pricey coffee while we waited.
This time we had bulkhead seats on the left side of the plane.  Nice.  We had lots of room and though the bathrooms were very close the flight crew pulled the curtain and they didn't bother us a bit.  The steward chatted with us while we waited to take off was a nice guy and he gave us a bit of extra attention. Delicious cookies from first class.  I think the bulkhead seats were worth the extra money. It was good to have the extra room and it seems to me that I felt less fatigued.
In spite of being sick it was a great trip. We saw so many new places, had new experiences, and enjoyed getting to know all our new friends on the tour and hope to see more of them in the future.