Travel Archives - The Dane

The journey to Antarctica

Antarctica, the isolated and remote place that has always spiked a curiosity in many travelers. But getting there isn’t easy. Albeit easier than it used to be. Many brave explorers made several trips, and for some it became their last. Ever read Shackleton and The Endurance?

Antarctica has been on my list for a long time – even though snow and cold weather generally does not appeal to me. I was intrigued. I had to see it.

First of all; Easter Island (where our previous adventure had led us to) to our starting point of the Falkland Islands is a bit of a journey…

Long way from Easter Island to the Falkland Islands – 4220 miles or 6791 km!

Leaving the Easter Island behind, 5 hour flight to Santiago where we spent the night. Early morning 3 hour flight to the Southern Chilean city of Punta Arenas. Here we managed to walk around the city a bit – super windy! Repack, and get some rest, and find an amazing steak dinner in what looked like a regular house on the outside but a phenomenal steak house on the inside! El Fogon De Lalo – it is the red house in case you find yourself in the area!

The steaks were spot on – along with the Pisco Sour

After our night here we were quickly boarding the rather unusual once a week LATAM flight to the Falkland Islands. As the flight crosses Argentinian air space, this is all they allow, otherwise they would shoot down the planes (according to the locals at least)… Lots of hard feelings remain after the British and Argentinian war of the Falkland Island in 1982.

Only air connections are the weekly Punta Arenas flight and the twice a week British Military flight from just outside London (at a rate of well over $3K R/T). It is a quick 90 min. flight for us, landing at a British Air Force base was even more unique. No photos permitted here…. Got our rather unique Falkland Islands passport stamp.

Bussed into the main City of Stanley via 1 hour of unpaved dirt roads with hardly any civilization in between, we got some background info. Hardy folks live here. A total population of around 3,500 people call the Falkland Islands home – most residing in Stanley, and an unknown number of British military personnel. No trees, but rivers of rocks, sheep, and lots of Range Rovers and 4x4s here. The weather can be unforgiving – cold and windy.

Some neat cars here – at the police station

Stanley itself reminds one of a smaller British coastal town. Pubs, red classic phone booths, even an abandoned London double decker bus! We strolled around the streets for a bit.

Sadly this double decker looked like it is only used for storage at the moment

Our visit is brief. We are whisked away to our ship located at the floating “pier”. A Russian ice strengthened research vessel built in Finland in 1988. The “Akademik Sergey Vavilov“. She is just as expected: Built tough and with a clear mission: Polar research and Oceanic acoustic research. Along with her sister vessel, the Ioffe, they work in pairs when doing research. Typically the ships are used for active research by the Shirishov Institute of Oceanology for 4 months each year. The 4 winter and 4 summer months they are used in the Arctic and the Antarctic regions exclusively by One Ocean Expeditions as Expedition Vessels for tourists, and limited research. And this is how we made our way onboard, as tourists 🙂

Aboard, you quickly settle into the basic, but nice cabins. All crew is Russian and the expedition staff varied from Scottish, Canadian, Australian, American, Taiwanese, New Zealand, and Finland. All were absolutely incredible and all had some beyond unfathomable adventures to share. One identified, and named a dolphin species (only 44 exists!), one was the first to have kayaked around Svalbard, others led polar expeditions, some walked with bears, some had photos published in famous museums… Makes one feel like you should probably get off your ass and do even more, says the guy that just checked off his 7th continent.

Our basic cabin – with clothing line and our GPS already installed

Fellow passengers were equally diverse. Aussies, Canadians, South African, British, American, Swedish, and Indian.

Some semi (and full) professional photographers onboard as well

Safety was top priority. No shortcuts. Onboard doctor and medical clinic. A few years ago they had to perform surgery on the ship while in rough seas. Not recommended. But the patient survived due to the doctor onboard. Nearest rescue option could be 3-5 days away! We did the mandatory lifeboat drill and enjoyed some fresh air on the decks.

Ever heard of the Drake Passage? Some of the roughest ocean in the world. Guess what? We got to cross it! For 2 full days at sea. During the sea days, there were plenty of options to stay busy; ranging from lectures about sea life, history, to yoga classes as well as some mandatory presentation surrounding safety and marine life. We also had fun doing the “lint picking” where you clean the outerwear of any debris. All had to be inspected and disinfected as you cannot bring any foreign material/bacteria onto the continent.

The bridge was open 99% of the time – so it was neat to hang out here and enjoy the views and learn some Russian, and maybe how to steer the ship!

All meals were great. Breakfast buffet, and sit-down lunch and dinners with three choices for each.

Lots of great passengers and staff kept everyone occupied. Even had some fun games onboard. And we may have brought our own Telestrations game from home!

We brought “Telestrations” to much amusement of fellow passengers and staff

Spotting the first ice berg was done by myself! Well, and probably the radar and captain:-)

Ship iceberg radar (picture taken in Antarctica)

Watching it calving was an even more thrilling experience.

Next up: Antarctica – the 7th continent and photo overload galore

Santiago – Chile

Touching down in Santiago in the early morning hours after a 11 hour overnight flight from Los Angeles, what do you do? Drop bags and hit the ground running of course.

Trying out LATAM business class on their 787 – Not bad!

Crowds, business people running late for their workday, and us just leisurely strolling through the metro. The city has grown more and more modern since my last visit, lots of construction boom going on.

Random dude playing his keyboard in the metro

Santiago has tons of parks and green areas, people just lounging around and dogs playing in the grass. We could use more of these areas at home.

First goal was to get to the top of Cerró San Cristóbal which has a nice view over the City and the Andes mountains surrounding it.

Pope signs were everywhere as El Papa would arrive in a few days. Some people seemed excited, others less so, and some protested.

Pope – selfie mode. Super relaxed guy. Didn’t even move

Walked through the gorgeous Mercado Central where it looked like fish were plentiful and ice quickly disappearing in the warming day. One could either buy fish to go or enjoy at one of the many small restaurants. We certainly got solicited for both!

Plaza Las Armas is the main square of Santiago and we spent some time here looking at life. People hustling, people selling ice cream (summer vacation!), and people just relaxing.

We also made it to the main cathedral and even joined mass as we walked around checking out this magnificent building. We did however pass up on the confession booth, sorry Pope.

The next day it was up at the crack of dawn to go meet a friend of mine, Pantera. We were picked up in his 4×4 and started driving outside of town, and up to the Andes mountains. Gorgeous scenery. Last time I was here it was in the late fall, and the snow had just fallen. This time it was summer, green, and lots of horses, goats, cows, and birds. Light breeze and sunny skies. An occasional condor soaring high above. Just perfect.

We proceeded with some hiking, ropes out and scrambling. We made our way up to the ice cave where water is simply pouring out from underneath the side of a sheer mountain.

No one else in sight here. Crossing the river got our boots soaked. But the view was worth it. We drove through green areas lodged between majestic mountains, criss crossing small streams and lakes. Eventually Pantera found the lunch spot he was looking for. It was perfect. Horses roaming around and magnificent views to the top of the snow covered peaks.

The Argentinian border just beyond those ridges, maybe 3 miles / 5 km away. Lunch cooked over an open fire, Avocados, steak, some beer and a bottle of wine! Yummy!

We made our way back to the City and said by to Pantera. See you next time! During the next day we, once again, headed out of the City. This time with our guide, Mick, originally from California. We had a wine tour of three vineyards in the area outside Santiago.

Views were stunning, wines were all perfect and it was just a great day. Managed to meet my friend Armando that I used to work with, and his wife. We went out to the busy district of Bellavista which attracts quite the night crowd. Sadly, it also attracted me to a round of full on food poisoning, so the next 30 hours I was “out of commission”. But a rest day was ok I guess, and I had to be rested for tomorrow’s adventure of Easter Island! Jessica took great care of me during this time, and also went grocery shopping for tomorrow’s journey. Yes, you bring groceries with you to the Easter Island 🙂

Follow our journey live at https://share.garmin.com/catchusifyoucan

Bikepacking the Black Canyon Trail

Arizona offers endless amounts of outdoor adventures, even close to the masses of Phoenix. The Black Canyon Trail is one of them. Commence bikepacking!

Jeff and I met up at Emery Henderson trailhead just North of the Phoenix metro area late Friday afternoon, leaving work, emails, and busy life behind. Left one (of our two Tacomas) vehicle here and drove North, cached some water halfway’ish.

We were ready for another epic bike packing adventure.

Left another vehicle at the start area, loaded up bikes with beers in hand (and a cold 8 pack in an already overloaded backpack), we set off from Highway 69 and headed south on The Black Canyon Trail (BCT). The BCT was used by ancient Native American travelers and traders linking settlements together. In more recent times; it was used primarily by valley wool growers to herd sheep to and from their summer range in the Bradshaw Mountains and the Black Hills up until the mid 70’s.

We only had 30 min of daylight left, so we decided to ride until we either found a good camping spot, got tired, hungry or whatever. All while enjoying the trail and scenery

The simple pleasures of simply setting up camp whenever and wherever you want to. And we were treated to a spectacular starry sky, so we left tent sides open.

South we went after a solid breakfast and clean up of yesterday’s dinner events, and prepping bike and gear for the adventure ahead today.

We made stops whenever scenery was right or the legs requesting it

Even found a slow moving stream and enjoyed the last two cool beers while getting some shade.

Cool beer, creek side, at 10am. Not too bad!

Made our way to our water cache in almost 100 degree weather, while climbing. It was toasty. A river crossing followed shortly thereafter

Did a side stop for a large pizza in Black Canyon City, and saw some legit cowboys with boot, spurs, and hats. They were equally perplexed by our outfit as we were of theirs, as they drove off in a pickup with two dogs in the bed, and 2 horses in tow, we rode off on our fully loaded bike rigs. Back up the hill.

Climbing and bushwhacking through the trail

Made our way to our goal for Saturday night, after bushwhacking our way, we were quickly settled in water side and dipped in the water for an hour. Heaven!

Also, does anyone know what these sounds are from? Frogs?

For Sunday we had an early start to avoid some of the heat. We also knew that it would only get warmer the more we dropped in altitude.

Another river crossing

Jeff showing how it is (kinda) done:

Familiar territory in sight for me.

And we are done! 65 miles, lots of exposed sides, flats, climbs, downhill, rivers, sand, boulders, and gorgeous canyons!

Cambodia – Part II

We left the temples behind as we took off from Siem Reap, heading towards the coast of Cambodia on a one hour flight. A quick ferry ride from busy backpacker style Sihanoukville and the airport, to much more laid-back Koh Rong Samloem Island was welcomed. This small island has no roads or utilities other than what the small “hotels” offer. Our bungalow had no AC or hot water! But it did have a view.

Our “bungalow” was directly on the beach, walking distance from the ferry “pier”

Our plans for 4 days on a small island with nothing to do? NOTHING!

But we still found a few activities; sunsets, beach, scuba diving, hiking, exploring a local fishing “village”, and great food.

Sunset on the other side of the island by “Lazy Beach”

However, on the 3rd night at our Bungalow, we all of a sudden were awoken to something. Mosquito bites? Couldn’t be since we had the mosquito net down. Sandflies? Maybe. Bedbugs? Definitely! I have literally spent YEARS living in hotels throughout the world due to my job working for a Hospitality Company, and from my personal travels. Never once have I experienced, nor seen bedbugs. But I guess there is a first time for everything. The Hotel relocated us to another “resort” the next day, after our night was spent in less desirable sleeping arrangements, and an entire morning going through all of our clothes, souvenirs, backpacks etc. checking for bugs.

What better way to celebrate a sleepless night? Maybe hike across the island up to an abandoned lighthouse, surrounded by big guns from the Cambodian Military. Of course.

We also manged to stop by a small local “village” with around 10-20 people living there. Based on the excitement of the locals, it didn’t seem like any tourists took this detour. They gladly showed off the pig they had just slaughtered, and were now parting out. Blood on the floor, and no refrigerator for the pig – sure thing!

After some island time, we headed back to the mainland. A quick 45 minute “ferry” ride brought you back into busy Sihanoukville. We had arranged for some “VIP Shuttle Van” to take us to the Capital, Phnom Penh – around a 3-5 hour drive depending on conditions. As our VIP Shuttle Van was full of live cockroaches, we decided this was not going to work for us. A few arguments regarding refund and threats of engaging the police didn’t yield much more results than a $10 towards a private car transfer. After having wasted a few hours already, we decided to proceed, and agreed that next time we find ourselves in Sihanouville and need to go to Phnom Penh, to just spend the extra $ and take a private car. Lesson learned. Also, I wouldn’t recommend CTT Transports unless you are obsessed with Live Coackroaches.

Driving in Cambodia, and South East Asia in general, is not for the faint of heart. These drivers are crazy. Sometimes it is just better to not look. So we had loaded up the tablet with a movie, and watched some Tombraider – how appropriate since we were just in Angkor Wat.

In Phnom Penh we had very limited time, 2 nights yielding just one full day. It also meant that our time in Cambodia was coming to an end. Instead of finishing the visit to Cambodia with some amazing fun experience; we spent most of the day learning about the extremely dark side of the Khmer Rouge/Pol Pot regime. I would highly recommend everyone to spend a few minutes reading up on this if you do not yet know the history. From 1975-1979, two million people – a quarter of the population of Cambodia were killed. Many via indescribable methods that one simply cannot comprehend humanly possible. The next few paragraphs may be rough to read and see – but since I know that most of you may never have heard of this, and I feel that we as a humanity should never allow history like this to repeat – I have chosen to spend a good part of this post on this visit.

We visited the “S-21 – Security Prison” which sits in the middle of busy Phnom Penh. This used to be a high-school, that quite frankly, looked like many other high-schools I have seen around the world. Big green courtyards with trees, even a swing. Classrooms and outdoor hallways. One could imagine teachers in front of students in these classrooms eager to learn. Staircases leading to the upper floors where I am sure a lot of kids were running (late) for their classes.

But this was no ordinary high-school after 1975. The Khmer Rouge regime used this as a prison and interrogation center. An estimated 17,000-20,000 prisoners went though this prison from 1975-1979. All but 7 were killed, and today only 3 are still alive. Let that sink in for a bit.

We got to meet one of the 7 survivors in person as he was at the prison that day, sharing his story via a book.

Meeting one of the 7 survivors – Chum Mey

Most of the prisoners were simply tortured until they confessed to something. These confessions were all lies and made no sense.

Classroom turned to torture room – picture on the wall is graphic, but shows what the room looked like when the prison was liberated

Several of the cells and torture rooms still had visible blood stains on the walls and floors

A few foreigners were also imprisoned here. One of them were Kerry Hamill, a young New Zealander that was sailing with a few friends around the world, and got caught drifting into Cambodian territory. His actual confession was displayed, and referenced facts such as “He wrote that Colonel Sanders (of the chicken fame) was one of his “superiors”, the home number in Whakatane was his CIA operative number and scattered through as members of the CIA are family friends – Colonel Perram was Miles Hamill’s gliding instructor, Captain Dodds was an old friend of Kerry’s from Whakatane.” He, among the thousands of others, were simply forced to confess to things they didn’t do, then it was documented and signed, and eventually killed at the Killing Fields just outside town.

On that uplifting note; we drove to the outside of Phnom Penh to visit the actual Killing Fields (Choeung Ek). If the scene at the high school could be more bizarre, then this may have been it. A beautiful green area, with birds chipping away, even a few chickens and a rooster walking around the grassy areas, and the nearby pond/lake. Flowers in bloom and a beautiful memorial building.

The signs and the audio tours tells a much different story. Thousands of people were killed here in inexplicable ways. Ranging from a few dozen to a few hundred per day. Most were clubbed to death while kneeling in front of a mass grave. Babies and infants were simply smashed against a tree. All to save costly bullets, and to avoid any noise.

Memorial containing thousands of human skulls discovered here in the mass graves

The visit to S21 and the Killing Fields left us with a deep impression. This may not be your typical vacation go-to-spot, but people travel to broaden their understanding of other people, and understanding people’s past may help you in that understanding. While no one will truly understand why Pol Pot and his regime did what they did – we as mankind must be aware of them, and never to repeat them.

The rest of our visit in Phnom Penh was spent at a few local markets, and some walking around the city. We even managed to find the exotic North Korean Embassy.

Phnom Penh seems extremely hectic and crazy at first, but the city is full, of quiet side streets and restaurants. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Cambodia. From amazing cultural sights such as Angkor Wat, to beautiful landscapes outside Siem Reap, to small islands off the coast with amazing beaches, to dark history from the Khmer Rogue Regime. I’d recommend Cambodia for anyone interested in some of this.

Next stop: Hong Kong and home to the US.

Cambodia – Part I

Arriving into the small airport in Siem Reap, in a terminal that looked to be newer than any US airport I’ve seen was impressive. Our short flight from Saigon on appropriately named Angkor Air was also flawless.

We had arranged for a guide/driver for our visit to Angkor Wat. “Tea” met us at the airport and we dropped off bags at hotel and started our visit to the his impressive temple. I won’t go into long detailed history about the temples, other than saying it was absolutely impressive what they could build in year 1000, by manpower only. Including bringing in building stones from 30 miles/50 km away. Welcome to the largest religious monument in the world!

The level of details were just mind-boggling. Stories were simply carved into the walls.

We saw around 10 temples ranging from Angkor Wat, to smaller less visited temples, to popular temples such as the Tomb Raider temple (like from the movie….)

We also managed an absolutely stunning sunrise at Angkor Wat.

The area contains several temples, and we drove around for some extended distances.

Smaller temple around 30 min from Angkor Wat

After being “templed out”, we found our way to the downtown area of Siem Reap, and managed some good foot massages for around $5 each for an hour. There were no discounts issued with the rat running around the light fixtures above us. We just laughed and had another sip of beer while watching the fat tail of the rat disappear back into the wall and light fixture. Oh Asia.

This deal simply seemed to good, so we upgraded to the $5 place instead

Some walking around Siem Reap, including the local market.

We wanted some adrenaline adventure, so I had the great idea of an ATV/Quad rental, which proved cost prohibitive. So instead we booked a guide with a few dirt bikes. Jessica on her own dirt bike, and having only ridden a small automatic scooter once, was no challenge for our guide. He managed to teach her in less than an hour.

We were fully geared up and headed out of Siem Reap. Small local villages with no tourists. Hazards included: Cows, chickens, mud, water, potholes, pigs, ducks, machinery, roosters, you name it. We made it to the final destination around 40 miles away, at a waterfall. Somewhat crowded and a bit too touristy for us. Grabbed lunch and a few pictures and we were on our way back to Siem Reap.

Waterfall - people used for scale — Waterfall – people used for scale

Siem Reap was incredible. We thought that 1 1/2 days of temple sightseeing was adequate. The city itself was also a great spot to hang out in. I’d caution people visiting the temples that it is hot, and lots and lots of tourists. Get a knowledgeable guide if you go as you otherwise don’t know what you are actually looking at.

Next stop, beach!

Vietnam – Part II

We left Hue after our short 1 night visit. We found the time to be sufficient for the key sights.

For our trip south to Hoi An we were on a bus for a 4 hour ride. Some unusual seating for sure. But for $9, not too bad.

$9 Sleeper bus with seats that didn’t sit up straight

Hoi An is a smaller city just south of the busy, and up and coming, larger city of Da Nang. The sheer influx of hotels being built just south of Da Nang was interesting and worrisome at the same time. I hope they will manage the impact on the local environment sufficiently.

One of the first stops in Hoi An was the scooter place across the street. One stop shop for water, snacks, laundry, and scooter rental. We took our scooter down to the beach and grabbed lunch. Weather was not on our side as we were in the middle of the monsoon season. Note: Vietnam has three separate climate zones so you are bound to have some rain somewhere on your trip. It wasn’t bad and we were quickly in the dry again.

After the beach and lunch we zoomed to downtown Hoi An for some custom made/tailored clothes which Hoi An is known for. A few dresses, shirts, and blazer were designed and ordered for us. Turn around time 24 hours, and at a fraction of the cost of the USA. Hello custom made clothing.

Hoi An’s beautiful walking streets and canals were great to immerse yourself in. Less hectic than Hanoi for sure.

We also rode bicycles to an organic farm where we got to do some planting, and then cooking some lunch afterwards. We succeeded at both, but we’re experienced farmers 🙂

When riding a single speed bicycle gets to be too much, take the water buffalo

From Hoi An we drove north to Da Nang and caught a flight south to busy Ho Chi Minh City, formerly, and to some degree, known as Saigon.

Since it was Jessica’s birthday I may have requested some help with party preparations at our trusted Marriott family hotel (home sweet home Renaissance Saigon)

We walked and walked, checking out this more modern city. Also managed to visit the War Remnants museum which showed the very ugly side of the Vietnam war. The sheer destruction and impact that the war had left some impressions on both of us. Agent orange, napalm, torture, bombings. All terrible things that war brings. Unfortunately, as most war related information, the museum was single sided only and only showed what the USA and their allies did during the war. I am sure there were equally ugly sides of War from the North Vietnamese side. Welcome to communism.

We also had a visit to the Cu Chi tunnels located outside Saigon. These tunnels stretched over 250 km/155 miles. People simply lived underground fighting the Americans during the war. Terrible traps and killing methods were used here.
We did get to go through these tunnels, located around 20-50 ft underground, and these were certainly not designed for walking, more crunched over or crawling. They did a great job at concealing everything from chimneys for smoke located far from kitchen areas, and ventilation shafts concealed as termite mounds.

The “termite hill” is actually the air vent – well disguised

40 ft below ground here. Totally safe. No standing room whatsoever. Length – 250km/154 miles

From Saigon we headed south west to the Mekong Delta. A larger river area where people truly utilize the river as their livelihood, transport, and pleasure. Small islands with no bridges, instead they use canals linking houses, and the river keeps the commerce flowing.

Floating market. Bulk style sales (like Costco on water…)

We spent 2 days here with our own boat, and enjoyed a local homestay for a night. No a/c, plenty of mosquitoes at night, and a palm sized spider in the shared bathroom. Those things aside… we did get to learn some cooking and I got to make some mean spring rolls in the fancy kitchen, over a wood fired stove.

Homestay living room – don’t worry, our rooms were nowhere near this nice

Cooking over a wood burning stove – and flipping spring rolls with gigantic chopsticks

We took am afternoon bike ride around the village

During our Mekong tour we got to visit local factories, fruit farm, bee farm, and a coconut candy “factory”. All very interesting.

Back in Saigon we had a buffer day before our trip to Cambodia. We managed some shopping and an evening food tour by Motorbike/scooter. I was thoroughly impressed with these drivers skills, and that’s coming from me as as motorcycle rider! Food was great, and our young university students were great guides and they were eager to talk to us in almost perfect English.

And that’s it for Vietnam. Next stop Cambodia. We had a great time touring this country, but the cities are a bit of a chaos, but I guess that’s part of the experience. Hoi An was a beautiful city and a great stop. Cruising Halong Bay was also very pretty. Overall I hope that Vietnam takes care of their country and manages development and tourism better.

Last Vietnamese breakfast at the airport before we are off to Cambodia

Vietnam – Part I

Hanoi is a city with almost as many scooters/motorbikes as people. I seriously doubt this is an exaggeration. Traffic is a cluster, no rules, other than the fact that one should honk every 5 seconds. Traffic lights? Who cares…. 5 people on a scooter? Sure. Scooter towing a trailer with a full size pig? Done.

As planned, I met Jessica at Hanoi Airport after my quick Hong Kong flight, and her quick Thailand flight where she’d been touring on her own for the past 3 weeks.

Vietnam can be experienced for pretty cheap if you are willing to go a tad out of your normal comfort zone. Dinner for two, and two big beers? $US 2.50. But you do end up sitting on tiny chairs and kids tables at “illegal” street restaurants occupying Hanoi’s sidewalks. We even did a private food tour one evening. Bun Cha, Snails, Sea Worms, quail eggs with embryo, egg coffee, and some local strong alcohol shared with some enthusiastic locals who ended up buying us some beers, and sharing their appreciation for the US and especially Bill Clinton, less enthusiasm was shown towards Trump.

Hanging out with Bill Clinton supporters in Hanoi, and they bought us a round of beer

Pork, Quail eggs with embryo, clams, and some local alcohol

Time in Hanoi was spent walking around the city, watching locals simply celebrating life and having fun. On the weekends, some streets in the old quarter are blocked off for traffic where after thousands of people take them over. Music, games, selfies, lake, concerts – you name it. These guys are loving it. I think we could learn a bit about this in the US!

We spent an hour or two watching life go by at this lake, and these guys catching fish

On the sightseeing part we visited Hoa Loa prison that was used over various wars and conflicts. Including keeping some US Prisoners of War captured. Senator John McCain was held here. The museums description of the US POWs conditions vary a bit from the one shared by the US POWs, but it wouldn’t be any good communist proaganda if we stretched the truth a bit (I’m sure the US is guilty of similar stories themselves)

Also managed to visit the Womens museum which was a great way to learn about women in Vietnam as well as traditional family life and culture.

While Hanoi was a major target of US air raids, there is no grudge held against any American or foreigner here, more the contrary. Smiles and happy people everywhere you go. Still a bit odd to know that not long ago Americans were dropping bombs on Hanoi, and today they’re dropping dollars (or Dongs as they are humorously called)

Small lake where McCain crashed during the Vietnam war

One part that we had decided as a must do was Halong Bay, unfortunately it seems as most tourists considers this a must-do as well and it was rather busy. We spent two days on a cruise boat, also known as a “junk boat” crusing around stunningly beautiful Halong Bay. With just 8 cabins on our boat it was not crowded at all, and always great meeting other travelers from all over the world. Our crew was great and spent time with us showing us Halong Bay, including some kayaking during sunset. We did manage to visit a cave that was inundated with tourists, to the point where it was a bit ridiculous. Managing Vietnam’s natural beauty is an area where some urgent attention is needed before it is destroyed.

Heading south

We caught a domestic flight south to Hue (pronounced ¿Hué or whey?) which is a much smaller city compared to hectic Hanoi. We visited multiple sites, including the Imperial City with a massive wall surrounding impressive buildings.

Too bad these buildings were severely damaged during the war, and restoration is at a snails pace. Hue suffered some of the most intense battles between the North and the South/US during the Vietnam war.

Bonsai garden at a Buddhist temple in Hue

We enjoyed some $9 hour long massages along with some $0.50 beers from the small street vendor next door. Grabbed dinner at the beautiful riverside.

Cheap massages and beers from vendor next door

It was a quick visit to Hue since we only had one night, but well worth our visit here.

Next, heading further south…

Bikepacking the Coconino Trail – Flagstaff to Clarkdale

It is fall – even in Arizona. That means time for some bikepacking. In case you needed a refresher; Bikepacking is defined as “seeking adventure through multi-day, self-supported trips on lightly loaded bikes” according to Bikepacking.com

The route would take us from Flagstaff to Clarkdale Arizona. We had a few people interested, but due to various unforeseen circumstances it ended up being Jeff and I that decided that this was a good (or bad?) idea.
Thursday evening we headed to Clarkdale (just next to Cottonwood) where we dropped Jeff’s vehicle off, and relocated bikes and gear to my car. Continued onward to Flagstaff where Jeff had secured us some accommodations at some trusted friends house right in town. A 6 pack of craft Phoenix beers were graciously donated by me as payment. Host seemed to agree that this was a great idea. Thanks to Jay and Julia for hosting us!

Friday:

In the morning we loaded up bikes, ready to roll out. First stop – breakfast burritos in downtown Flagstaff.

Flagstaff is an interesting city. It is like a modern university hipster town with lumberjacks, hikers, outdoor fanatics and rednecks. You see everything from old peace VW buses, lifted Trucks with trucsticles, Prius (or Prii’), Subarus, and bicycles. Great city to visit, but even greater trail/nature there. Within 5 min biking from burrito place, we were on the Flagstaff Urban Trail and onward to the Arizona Trail where we would remain for a while.

Rolling through amazing scenery.

Arizona Trail - amazing — Arizona Trail – amazing

Arizona Trail description – worth the read, or experience

Cruising the AZT just south of Flagstaff

Jeff is on the struggle bus here. It isn’t all downhill!

One amazing thing about bike-packing is that when you feel like you are done for the day, you simply just stop. Assuming you have a good campsite in sight. So we did.

Campsite was perfect - in the middle of the woods — Campsite was perfect – in the middle of the woods

Saturday

After sleeping, well, no so great, but a tasty breakfast, we were off again. Breakdown camp, and climb! Hunting season must have kicked in, because we saw a few hunters, and (live) deer.
Today’s ride would take us through more forest towards the I-17, cross under, out over Schnebly Hill, and down into Sedona. The potential of beer and lunch at Oak Creek Brewery, was a great goal.

The downhill from Schnebly hill was techie, especially when your bike weighs in at over 60 pounds. But the challenges and the scenery was more than worth it!

Schnebly Hill - and down we go — Schnebly Hill – and down we go

We even spotted a few Tarantulas downhilling. Here’s one of them

Jeff is trying to contain his excitement

When we got to Sedona, we rolled into Oak Creek Brewery for some lunch and a beer or two. Clouds were looming, and they finally gave in 5 min after we left our covered restaurant. Luckily, a Circle K (convenience) store appeared on the horizon. We re-stocked on water and a couple of beverages for dinner while waiting out the rain for 10 min.

Technical Sedona Single Track was on the afternoon menu.

So, note to self - do not crash into a steep uphill rocky section when the only landing spot for your hand and arm is a SHARP and HARD Agave Cactus. Tendon took a hit from the puncture wound. — So, note to self – do not crash into a steep uphill rocky section when the only landing spot for your hand and arm is a SHARP and HARD Agave Cactus. One Tendon took a hit from the puncture wound.

But Scooby Doo fixes it all . Screw you. Stupid Agave. — But Scooby Doo band aids fixes it all . Screw you. Stupid Agave. Back to riding. I survived.

After enough riding for the day, and being passed by a rider (Artec) doing the Arizona Endurance Series Race (AES) Coconino 250 mile Stage Race, we decided that it was a good time to setup camp, because we were not here for racing.

Dinner and drinks — Dinner cooking while enjoying drinks

Sunday

After some solid mileage, your legs start to feel it. Even more so given I was sick the week leading up to this, and didn’t ride for almost 2 weeks.

Hot air balloons giving people the view we had all morning

Today's route was full of great scenery, again — Today’s route was full of great scenery, again

Summary

Great trails. Some hike-a-bike just south of Flagstaff. Lake Mary was pretty, but some cows had made some good dents in the soil making for a very bumpy ride. The fall colors were absolutely amazing. Schnebly Hill down was just as techie as you want it on bike packing. Sedona tech stuff was a bit tough on a heavy bike, and it took some of the fun out of it (for me), but the scenery made up for it. I wasn’t expecting much of the route from Sedona to Cottonwood, but it was gorgeous. Right before Cottonwood, there was some very fun downhill tech stuff.
Another A+ bike packing trip in the books.

Bikepacking the Kokopelli Trail

After a solid overnight drive from Phoenix to Moab, and a quick 4am breakfast at the only open establishment in Moab at such time – Denny’s, and a quick change to biking gear, we were picked up by our shuttle driver to take us to Loma Colorado – roughly a 1 1/2 hour drive in a car (or 3+ days as our mountain biking trails would take us).

En-route we dropped a few gallons of water jugs at a convenient place near Dewey Bridge by the Colorado River – a spot we’d plan on crossing 2 days into our 3 day planned ride, and a backup spot in case someone would take our supplies.

Arriving in Loma it was dark, cold, and a bit anxiety and excitement as to what awaits.

Quickly after a brief wrong turn, we were exploring amazing scenery, with the sun rising behind us, and us zig-zagging next to the Colorado River on some of the most amazing single track in the US.

There were even a few tough spots where you’ll get a good upper body workout as Jeff can attest to here

After some fun single track, hike-a-bike, and downhill dirt roads, it was finally time for some lunch. We found a great spot somewhere after crossing into Colorado.

20151016_122332 — Crossing a state line on a mountain bike – check – and calls for celebration with a COLD beer and cheese from my Camelbak. That will be my last cold beverage for a while

While eating lunch, we discovered an optional detour from the trail to see some cool canyons and rocks – of course why wouldn’t we detour and add a few miles to an already long ride. Hence we ended up cruising Western Rim which was absolutely amazing.

We did a few more miles and ended up at West Water Ranger station where the rumor had it there was a water spigot, and some good camping. Rumors were correct.

20151017_073654 — Not a bad view to wake up to; overlooking the Colorado River

The next day, waking up at 7am, after 12 hours of sleep we all felt well rested. Note that yesterday we had been awake for 36+ hours, ridden 50+ miles with bikes packed to the max, in technical terrain – we deserved some good rest for sure!

We had a few easy dirt miles ahead of us, some paralleling railroad tracks, some climbing, some rocks, and some gorgeous biking by the Colorado River. We even celebrated Matt’s birthday at lunch.

20151017_112510 — Matt cruising along the Colorado River

The trail markings were starting to be more visible than the first day. The first day we had the GPS maps and route out a few times to find out way. It is however funny when you cruise by in one of the most remote sections, and see a sticker from your Local Bike Shop in Phoenix.

We explored some amazing rock formations, found our water stash, crossed the Colorado River, and climbed climbed climbed… All the way until we were done for the day, and decided to setup camp.

Next day we biked some steep roads, rocks, mountains, and more breathtaking scenery was absorbed.

This was also the day we’d start traversing the La Sal mountains; we had seen the snow from the distance, and this was slowly getting closer. Lunch with adult beverage was consumed in the light rain and clouds at this altitude.

We kept climbing and got some great overlooks of the valley below, and the pretty fall colors that we don’t typically see too much of in Phoenix.

After a false summit (or 3?) we finally hit our decent into Moab. We rode along Porcupine Rim on some fun fast swoopy single track with a ledge 3 ft next to you dropping a few hundred vertical feet down. Kept you on your toes, especially when riding a bike that is loaded with gear!

We started the Sand Flats Road decent into Moab just as the sun was setting, and made it to downtown Moab where we had left the car, just in time for darkness to settle in. Found our camp site for the night at the local campground, enjoyed a shower for the first time in 3 days, and went onwards to a local establishment to over-consume in calories, including an order of adult beverages that our friend Tim had called in for us (thanks!) and a customized Sundae that I had been crawing on the trails.

156 miles of beautiful trails on a bike that weighs over twice of what it normally does, while traversing two states in rocky terrain and varying climates, camping for three days, with good friends was an amazing experience. This will surely not be my last bike packing trip.

For anyone looking to do the Kokopelli trail; I suggest to not underestimate the physical endurance level required, and the climbing part with a heavy bike. Storing 2 gallons of water per person by Dewey Bridge is a smart move, and with 2 x 100 Ounce Camelbak Bladders and a 1 liter emergency Platypus, you should be OK on water and wouldn’t need a filter as long as you load up before, and at West Water .

20151019_104110 — Driving back to Phoenix via Monument Valley

Qatar and surprises

As I had booked all my international flights to and from Tanzania via Qatar Airways it also meant I had to change planes in Doha, Qatar. My outbound flight was simply just a quick 1 1/2 hour stop, but on the return I wanted to spend some time discovering a bit of the Middle East. And why not spend 2 nights in Qatar?

Qatar is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Supposedly they have awesome food. It is tiny. And there’s a lot of sand, no really, a lot of sand. With this in mind I planned a city tour and some “Dune bashing” in the desert near the Saudi Arabian border.

As I fortunately get some very favorable hotel rates through my employer (Marriott) I booked a room there. Upon arrival there seemed to be some challenges finding my reservation in the system. They couldn’t seem to accommodate any rooms or rates for me; to say I wasn’t pleased would have been an understatement. Heck, tent camps located down 2 hours of dirt roads in Africa had my reservations ready. And after 4 people tried to assist me I had to ask for the manager on duty in order to assist.
Quickly a familiar face appeared behind me; my girlfriend whom I hadn’t seen in 4+ weeks. I had just gotten exposed to the most awesome practical joke ever… She had gone to Nepal to hike up to Mt Everest Basecamp a week before I took off for Kilimanjaro (don’t ask…) and she had fooled me by switching flights around so she was able to see me in Qatar on her way back to Arizona. Wow. I am usually the one that is organizing surprises for others, but she got me.

Off to sightseeing it was. Even after a day of travel. And some amazing roof top dinner at the Souq Wakif with live music from a nearby concert. This was truly the Middle East.

Doha is an extremely new city. Very modern with many big skyscrapers and many more on the way. Construction everywhere you look. However, there are still a few local markets. The Souq Wakif is one of them. Small narrow shopping streets, local restaurants, music, hookah, people dressed in traditional outfits. Qataris take great pride in wearing their outfits and why not join them?

I think last time I had this many locals wanting pictures with me was when I wore a Mexican Lucha Libre wrestling mask in Mexico. Everyone loved it.

A quick sailing trip across the bay to our hotel and watching the end of the muslim holiday Eid was impressive.

The next day called for Dune Bashing near the Saudi Arabian Border. Lots of sand and rampaging in the desert. This was a blast. It was also impressive to be in the middle of this vast desert stretching as far as the eye could see. One side flanked by beaches and other by endless sand.

Driving high speed down steep sand dunes and slipping sideways in bumpy turns was fun. Even with our driver’s (Mohamed) choice of American pop and rap music.

Qatar is a modern country with Muslim traditions and living style. This means lots of women in traditional outfits, the fact that men place food orders, men are served before women, a woman’s testimony in family court is worth half of a man’s!), no public display of affection, no alcohol except at 4 and 5 star hotels, one single liquor store for certain people. While visiting other cultures these are things one must respect. After all, I’m a visitor in someone else’s home.

Visiting Qatar also involved a few hours at the very impressive Museum Of Islamic Art. Seeing the history and development of the muslim society in the Middle East was impressive. On so many fronts they were way ahead of the western world in science and we can attribute many of their early discoveries to items we have today.

The art pieces were truly impressive as well, and the museum building itself was astonishing. Entry was free!

Middle Eastern food didn’t disappoint whatsoever. As we were a bit adventurous it was quickly decided that baby camel was something a local restaurant in Arizona wouldn’t have on their menu.

Was it tasty? Yes. Would I order it again? Probably not. Maybe try this Moroccan salad instead….

Doha was well worth a visit during my journey. Would I go here just for visiting Qatar? Probably not. I was however very impressed with how well they preserve traditions and honor their heritage. I was mind blown by seeing how much money some of these people spend on clothing, cars, license plates worth millions, houses, food (don’t worry, you can find very cheap food as well), and beyond modern malls packed with high end luxury retailers. Hell, they have a teddy bear at the airport worth millions of dollars.

Next stop: Reality and planning the next few adventures. Any tips on Antarctica…?

(This blog and pictures were completed via smartphone)