Saigon, Vietnam - March 28 - April 2

The next morning I packed my bags and headed to the airport and Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon), Vietnam. I used all my USAirway miles for a first class ticket on Lufthansa. Not nearly as good as Cathay, but way better then American Airlines.

I found the most challenging part of Saigon was the traffic. I don't think there are any traffic rules, and if there are, no one bothers to obey them. The taxi from the airport to the hotel was a cheap $5.00. The Majestic Hotel, one of the old famous Saigon hotels, was right on the Saigon River.

Above is Hoat, my tour guide for the next two days, and yes, that was my transportation. There is a video clip of the ride at the bottom of this posting.

Motorbikes are the most popular means of transportation. The city has 9 million people and 5 million motorbikes.

Hoat met me in the lobby and before I knew it we were off on the motorbike - the only way to travel in Saigon. The motorbikes from China cost about $500 new.

At first I was really scared - swerving in and out of traffic, but later in the day I kind of got used to it. Our first stop was the Ben Thanh Market, where you could buy anything - prepared food, clothing, vegetables, meat (unrefrigerated, of course) and fresh flowers. I made my first purchase of the trip - five t-shirts. I'm sure I overpaid, even bargaining down to $4 each.

The fresh flowers were amazing - and millions of orchids.

I have no idea what this is, but it was colorful.

Next we took a long ride to the much larger Binh Tay Market in Chinatown. I doubt there isn't anything you couldn't buy there. It just amazes me that there were 10-25 stalls selling identical merchandise. I made no purchases here, but took many photos.

Then we stopped at three Chinese temples. There are memorial plaques for people who recently died. You can see the dates on the bottom of the cloth.

Most people who enter light some incense - interesting smoke pattern above.

The War Remnants Museum was the most disturbing stop on the tour. I know it is one sided, but it graphically showed the US atrocities during the war. I'm still thankful for my high lottery number - 222 - in 1970.

This is the Reunification Palace. It was the former residence of the French governor general, later occupied by the president of South Vietnam. The president fled the palace from the rooftop helipad before the army from the north crashed through the gates on April 30, 1975.

We motorbiked back to the hotel. I was so comfortable that I took the video footage, which you can see at the bottom of this post.

The next day Hoat and I headed to the Saigon River to find a small tour boat. But first we had to cross the main street of at least ten lanes, with no stop lights in sight. You just slowly cross as the motorbikes gently swerve around. Hopefully the buses, trucks and cars do the same.

We hired a small boat and headed down the river. This is the main port for the country - so there were many freight ships loading and unloading. Rice is the major export, as it was in Thailand.

We saw where the Viet Cong hid during the war. We then passed some half million dollar homes. After returning, we had an excellent Thai lunch.

We wandered the city in the afternoon. Above is the post office and below is the city hall. We also visited the opera house, Notre Dame and many old and famous hotels. I took a nap before another Vietnamese dinner.

Here's a vendor we bought coconuts from.

The next day I visited the Mekong Delta. The boats were probably pre-war and scary as hell. We road in large and small boats (four man paddled by oars). There were only eight of us on the tour and all had a good time. On the ride to and from the delta we saw many rice fields. Most had tombstones, since the farmers wanted to be buried with their family and crop.

Here are the small boats we rode in.

If you recall, when I was in Ushuaia I took two penguins with me to give to Eric and Rachel. Well they escaped from my room in Saigon and this is what happened to them. Oh well.

On my final day of this five week journey, I took a hydrofoil to the popular beach resort of Yung Tau - about an hour and a half away. When I got there I had my best meal in Vietnam - a spicy shrimp dish with vegetables - yum, yum. It was in an air conditioned restaurant, which means the windows are open and the fans are on.

It was then back to the hotel to pack for my flight home. It took 41 hours from when my first flight took off until I landed in Orlando. My luggage even made the three connections. I went from Saigon to Bangkok to Tokyo to Dallas and finally to Orlando. Home at last.

Here's a video clip of the boat ride in the Mekong Delta. My own African Queen video.

Here I am on Hoat's motorbike.

Ushuaia, Argentina

This is one of five posts I´ve added to my travel blog. I´m about half way through the first half of my 2010 Around the World Trip. The posts include Ushuaia, Argentina - Guayaquil, Ecuador - Buenos Aires and two from Iguazu Falls, Argentina. I hope you enjoy the pictures and video, and your comments are always welcome.

I left Orlando the last day of the coldest February that I could remember. Well that is of course since I moved to Florida. I was heading to the southern hemisphere and summer.

Why did I fly an indirect route through Dallas? For those that know me, an easy answer. It brings me closer to Executive Platinum status again.

The flight to Dallas was uneventful - good. At least I got the two Glenlivets that American allocates to their flights. Dallas to Buenos Aires was an overnight flight. The food was good, as was the service. I think the entire crew was family. I took my sleeping pill and was out for the duration.

My friend Ruben arranged a car from the airport to the apartment I rented. It was in a great location, near restaurants and transportation. Ruben met me and I quickly took a much needed morning nap.

Since I was in Buenos Aires, lunch and dinner the first day was lomo - filet mignon. How about ten to fifteen dollars with wine. Dinner was at a popular local steakhouse - Restaurnte Norte.

The next day was free, so I wandered the city, visiting the five star Alvear hotel. Its like the Plaza hotel in NYC, but with more reasonable prices.

No steak for me on day two - pizza lunch and dinner. I went to a very famous restaurant and loved the pizza. You have to get used to green olives in the middle of every slice.

El Cuartito, La buena pizza - fantastic empanadas y pizza.

I went to bed early, since I had a 4:00am pick up for my early flight to Ushuaia - at the southern tip of South America. Of course I left my travel alarm home, but luckily my Palm Pilot had an alarm.

I got to the airport early - good thing, there was a long line. The flight was five hours with a stop in el Calafate. I listened to my book on CD and even slept for a while.

Ushuaia - pronounced you-sh-why-a - is a beautiful small city. Its surrounded by snow peaked mountains - Was I here for a late luge run at the Olympics?

Ushuaia remimded me of Ketchikan, Alaska. Small, with lots of tourist attractions. I scouted the town, and decided on a boat tour for the afternoon. It was a five and a half hour tour and we saw lots of birds, sea lions, an old lighthouse, and most important - penguins.

This is my fourth penguin sighting, First in Cape Town, South Africa. Next in Philip Island, Australia. My third time was in the Galapagos Islands. Next will be Antartica.

Don't tell anyone, but I'm bringing one home to Eric.

My second day in Ushuaia was relaxing. I probably walked every street in the city - and then some. I love viewing the snow capped mountains from my hotel room.

Dinner was amazing. King crab is almost as good as Maine lobster. This was in a mushroom cream sauce. Calories? Well who's counting.

Tomorrow I'm taking the convict train to the national park.

Who knows what day it is. Bus picked me up at 8:20, a decent hour. We drove south to "El Tren del Fin del Mundo", the end of the world train. Originally there was a penal colony in Ushuaia. Similar to Australia for the British.

They sent the prisoners south, to hard labor, summer and severe winter. The prisoners cut down the forests. We saw thousands of tree stumps during the ride. Of course the prisoners did not have the comfort of seats as we did on the train. I have no idea how they survived the winter. At least they had Sunday off.

We then toured the national park. The Andes and Chile on one side, the Atlantic on the other.

We were less than 1000 kilometers from Antartica. So close, yet so far. Maybe another trip.

In the afternoon I relaxed and read. Did great on Mon and Tue NYTimes crossword puzzles. Not so good on Wed. I don't even try Thur, Fri, or Sat.

This is a view from my hotel room.

Tonight I went to a resturant that reminded me of Harry's Tavern, my grandparents' restaurant. Very simple, but great food. When you entered, you saw a tank filled with live king crab. The couple next to me ordered a whole crab. It was fun watching them, easier to take apart then a Maine lobster. I had king crab in a spice sauce. It was better than last night's meal.

Tomorrow is a travel day - Ushuia to Buenos Aires.

Very nice but long flight to BA. The driver was there to greet me, and I was soon back in my apartment.

I was meeting my friend Ruben for dinner, and was surprised when the doorbell rang an hour early. I buzzed him in but it turned out to be the cleaning ladies.

Ruben showed up right on time and we had dinner at a new steak restautant - which was as good as all the others.

Next stop - Guayaquil, Ecuador - I hope. There´s been a lot of trouble at the Santiago airport, so I don´t know if the flight will operate.

Guayaquil, Ecuador

Tomorrow I´m off to Guayaquil, Ecuador. The driver picked me up early, and it was a good thing. My flight had been canceled, but I was able to get on an earlier one to Santiago - unfortunately in coach. At least I was in premium economy for the second flight from Santiago to Guayaquil. Premium economy is really coach with no one in the middle seat, but they had better food and drinks.

The Santiago airport was 90% closed, due to the earthquake. When we arrived we had to wait on the plane until all the luggage was placed on the tarmac. Once retrieved, we waited on a long line in a tent to clear customs and immigration.

Then you had to walk outside for miles to find the international checkin - another tent. At least the agent laughed when I asked if the lounge was open.

I was surprised on arrival that my hotel had a sign with my name on it. At the 5 star hotel, I got into bed, watched an hour of the Academy Awards and fell asleep.

The next day I spent the morning trying to change my return to BA for a day earlier. LAN's operations in and out of Santiago were still sporatic. Of course the local American Airlines office was useless. I don't think they knew what an around the world ticket was. So for the second time I called my sister's house for help. This time I got Lisa, who got the change made like a pro. Of course, this only gave me one day in Guayaquil, which turned out to be more than enough.

I had a local guide, Galo, show me the city. We started in the oldest part of the city, which has been recently renovated. There are over 400 steps to the top, but we only went half way - see the numbers on the steps above. The view was impressive.

Next we walked down a remodled street with many art galleries. And finally ended up at a renovated brewery - turned into expensive apartments.

We then continued walking down the malecon, which is like a riverwalk, with parks, stores and restaurants. It ended with a building designed by Eiffel, of Paris fame. It used to be a fish market.

n the city center we visited Parque Bolivar, better known as iguana park. There were literally hundreds of huge iguanas. They must be used to humans, since the weren't phased when little kids chased them or stepped on their tails.

Next stop was the main cathderal. After lunch we headed back to the hotel, which was across the street from the US embassy.

Well that ended my brief stay in Guayaquil. That evening, at 11:30pm I started my trek back to BA, via Santiago. This time I was stuck in real coach for a 5 hour red eye flight, with little sleep.

Same routine at the airport, but at least they were able to transfer luggage this time. My flight to BA was in business - which has the best business seats I've traveled on.

Buenos Aires - Again

After the overnight flight from Guayaquil, Ecuador to Santiago and morning flight to Buenos Aires, I returned to my Buenos Aires apartment and fell asleep until after noon, but it felt great to be back in a big city.

The first order of business was to fine a laundry.

Today's highlight was dinner (quite usual for Buenos Aires) - filet mignon, mushrooms, potatoes and salad, accompanied by a bottle of Argentine Cabernet. I will probably return here my last night. Before dinner I made my calls to friends and relatives, Don't be insulted if I didn't call you, probably didn't have your number.

First I called Sara, who was feeding starving Eric dinner. He even left with a doggie bag. Next I called my sister and my cousin Dianne. I tried to reach Julie, but she wasn't in the office so I talked to Terry. I'm glad calls are so cheap from here, one peso (about 25 cents) for five minutes.

On March 10 (Wednesday I think) I walked Buenos Aires. The sights included the Casa Rosada, where I met the cutest gay couple from Chicago. That's them in the picture. They were so thrilled to find someone who spoke English. I told them my favorite places to see. Next I walked the entire street Florida. My mission was to find an Argentina cycling shirt. I failed, but tomorrow is another day. My last stop was the Retiro, or my favorite train station. What's another dozen or so digital photos.


As you can see the Casa Rosada is pink. I didn´t get to go inside like I did on the last trip.
Tonight I was hoping to go to the tango show that Ruben recommended, but they did not answer the phone - maybe no show tonight. Oh well, dinner and tv is fine with me. There is cable in the apartment and many shows are in English.

Iguazu Falls Pictures

Next stop - Iguazú Falls

What an amazing sight. These are the largest falls I've ever seen. I visited the Argentine side and took over 200 pictures. No, you don't have to see all of them - I've picked my favorites, including a video, which is at the bottom of this post.

Let me start at the begining. I arrived at Cataratas del Iguazú International Airport. Cataratas means falls and Iguazú means giant water. I took a taxi to the Iguazú Grand Hotel, where I was greeted by a cute bellhop who offered me mango and kiwi juice.

I relistened to part of my book on CD, since I'm sure I slept through part of it.

After an early wake up call the next morning and a fantastic breakfast buffet, I headed off to the cataratas. I started with an adventure ride through the jungle, where I saw huge spiders and toucans - not together. The ride ended about a mile down river from the falls.

I boarded the boat, donned my dollar store parka, and started to get really excited. When the falls first came in view - I had the same unbelievable feeling as I did when I saw the Grand Canyon or Machu Picchu. The camera started flashing as we sped along the river.

The captain then told us to store our cameras, since they might get a little wet. He then proceded to take us under the falls - not once, but three times. Everyone was drenched - except me - I had the only poncho. Everyone else looked like drowned rats.

I then walked the lower trail, looking up at the falls. The path was about a mile and a half, with the most amazing views of the falling water.

The upper path lets you look at the water as it starts to cascade down. Very pretty, but definitely not as scenic as the lower path.

Finally you take a little train to the top of the largest section of the falls - Devil's Throat. This is the section between Brazil and Argentina.

It was still early so I walked the lower trail again - where I saw raccoons, monkeys, countless birds and - for my cousin Sara - 1000's of butterflies. You hold your hand out and they just alight.

The driver told me there were tigers, but I didn't see any.

It was starting to cloud up, so I took a taxi back to my hotel. Ten minutes after I arrived, the wind picked up and the rain came down in sheets. The power went out twice, but not for long.

Tomorrow if it clears up, I'll visit the Brazilian side, which I hear is not as impressive. At least my visa to Brazil has four more days before it expires.

As it turned out, the next day was rainy - all day, so at least I had time to work on and post my blog.

Hope you enjoy.

Iguazu Video

Panama Jan 2010

Well the airfare couldn't be beat, and I hadn't been in Panama for almost 30 years, so I spent three days seeing many sights I didn't get to see in the past. I hired a guide for the day - he didn't speak English, but I managed with my Spanish. Above is one of the twenty or so ruins two miles outside Panama City. Its part of Panama Viejo, and dates back to 1519.

Next we traveled to Casco Viejo, the historic center of today's Panama. It is a quiet, charming district of narrow streets overlooked by the flower bedecked balconies of two and three-story houses. Who knows, these pictures might inspire me to start painting again.

Here I am with the modern skyline of Panama in the background. There definitely were not as many skyscrapers during my last visit.

Here's an interesting balcony scene with an old bike and old clothes.

The third stop on the tour was the Panama Canal. Unfortunately the only ship I saw in the canal was this small passenger vessel. You can see how the water drops to sea level in this and the next two pictures. On one of my cruises, I remember entering the locks on the Atlantic side, rising to the level of Lake Gatun, cruising on the lake for the day, and then exiting the Gatun locks to the sea.

Its also interesting to note that Panama City is on the Pacific side, but is still on the east. Try to figure that out.

I returned to my hotel, and relaxed before dinner. The food was excellent in every restaurant I went. I enjoyed the civiche - which is raw fish marinated in lime juice and onions. It was my appetizer for three night.

On my second day, I did a walking tour of the city. I think it was over 90 degrees at 10am. Here's one of my favorite fast food restaurants, but I didn't stop to eat here in Panama.

Here are some of the modern skyscrapers. The round building on the left is where I stayed 30 years ago. At that time it was the Holiday Inn, and it was the only building in the area. Now it is dwarfed by the others.

There's no shortage of new construction in Panama. I must have seen 30 or more new buildings under construction. Well at over $100,000 per canal transit, the country is raking it in. I didn't get to see the new wider canal, which opens in 2014, but I did see a demonstration of how it will work. Almost 60% of the water will be reused, allowing for more crossings without threatening the level of the lake.

Here's a picture of the company I used to work for at the time. I was just lucky that I walked down the right street. I worked for Pan American Life, in New Orleans, from 1978-1982, and had the chance to visit Guatemala, Honduras, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic, in addition to Panama. I only lasted about 2 hours in the heat. I spent the afternoon in the shade by the pool. By the way, although not a gambler, I did hit the casino twice. The first time I won $3.00 on my first slot machine pull, and left. On my last night, I tried again, and ended up winning another 25 cents. I don't have anything else planned until March, when I take the first half of my next around the world adventure.