We flew into Tokyo at around 16h30 local time, which was around 23h30 LA time. We’d set our clocks forward and tried getting some sleep on the plane, but that was difficult, so by the time we landed we were pretty tired. We’d read that taxis in Tokyo are ridiculously expensive, so we headed down to the train station to get some train tickets and thankfully the man behind the ticket desk spoke some English. It took around 75 minutes to get to Ueno, where we had to change for Asukusa. Then we had a supposedly 5 min walk up the hotel, where we were presented with our first problem. All the street signs were in Japanese and there were no numbers on the buildings, so we wandered down the street for a couple of blocks, looking for the sign of our hotel, and couldn’t see it. We had to stop and ask a shop assistant if they knew where our hotel was, and it turned out we had walked right past it as the sign was in Japanese characters. We checked in to our tiny hotel room (just big enough to fit a double bed with a cupboard sized bathroom) and managed to stay awake for a couple more hours, before passing out around 9pm. Not bad considering the time in LA.
Day 1:
The following morning we woke up around 5am (jet lag will do that to you), tried to force a bit more sleep and then went looking for breakfast. Fortunately we found a Starbucks down the road where we could have a sandwich. Then we went to see the temple nearby and we each got our fortunes. You have to shake a metal box that has a bunch of wooden sticks in it and a small hole, until one wooden stick comes out. The wooden stick has a couple of characters on it, that you match with a key to find your fortune. I got Best Fortune and Steve got Worst Fortune, so he tried again and got Good Fortune which was only slightly better. However he got to tie his Worst Fortune to a little stand for the wind to blow it away. We also got to wave the incense smoke on ourselves which is meant to be good luck and sure to have swept away any residual worst fortunes! The temple itself and the attached garden were beautiful with the autumn colours on the trees. What I did find odd was that the temple itself seemed to revolve around money. Before anyone makes a prayer they throw a coin into a massive metal coin catching thing. I mean I know there are collection boxes in Christian churches, but they feel a lot more optional than the coin box at the Chinese temple.
After that we took the subway to Sibuya to see the famous crossing in Lost in Translation. However it wasn’t as busy as we’d anticipated, at least initially. What does make it feel busier is that all four crossings take place at the same time, unlike most Western crossings where one side crosses at a time. We also went to see a shopping outlet (Tokyu) while we were there but it sold just the same things as any UK department store. Well with a bit more Hello Kitty thrown in. Then we went to the Sony building to see if they had any cool new toys. There we got to put on some 3D glasses and watch 3D telly which was cool. Extra note: Buying a subway ticket in Tokyo was very interesting, as it had an English button on screen, but all the destinations were written in Japanese. You have to read off a key that tells you how much it costs to your destination (e.g. 190 Yen), push the Y190 button, and then push another button with a picture of 2 people on it. Actually I should mention that the people in Tokyo were very helpful. At one point we were standing in Ueno station trying to decide where to go next, and an elderly Japanese man actually came over to us and asked us where we were trying to get to, so that he could help with directions. Unsolicited help - eh?!
Day 2:
We walked to the park at Ueno, which is where the Tokyo National Museum is. There were some street performers juggling and such, and we stumbled across a temple in the park which had a great entrance down some steps. Then we went to see the Tokyo Museum which I was really impressed with, so I kept stopping to take photos of everything, which meant we were there for ages and only did one of the buildings. The lacquer ware was amazing and the big Buddha sculptures are awesome too. Steve was more impressed with the samurai swords and the scroll paintings. By the time we came out it was getting dark, and we walked back to the train station looking for some dinner. We ended up having seafood pasta near the station which was very good. The Japanese Love their seafood and it really is everywhere. The restaurant had all these bowls of fake food in their window to show you the dishes they offer, which is actually pretty helpful for foreigners and very lifelike. Afterwards we got the train to Roppongi as it is meant to be the night life area. We had a walk around trying to find a specific bar, but with the numbers and names of buildings being none existent (in English) it proved impossible to find anything in our guide book. So we ended up in Starbucks again having some tea (tired legs after the museum). What is cool is that one high rise building in Roppongi will have a number of different clubs / bars in it, each on a different floor, and there is a key at the bottom of the building telling you whats on each floor. We did consider going up the tower to see the views of Tokyo by night, but they wanted 1500 yen each, so we gave that a miss. I should also mention here that Tokyo is ridiculously expensive. We headed back to our little hotel room, in search of an English tv channel, but alas every single one was in Japanese - humph! On another note I am finding the food a bit difficult in Tokyo. As we don’t speak any Japanese we have to rely on the menus containing pictures of the food, so that we can literally point out our choice. However there seems to be a lot of tasteless broth and very fatty pork on offer, which was just not my thing. I havent seen anyone offering any chicken on their menu as yet. It seems to be all fatty pork and fish. Although I suppose that probably provides a good dietary balance, well sans the veg.
Day 3:
Back to our local Starbucks for breakfast (seriously rice that early in the morning, I think not!) before catching the subway to Haranjuku to see the kids in their weird outfits. The place reminded me a lot of Camden in London and is basically small cheap independant shop after small cheap independent shop with a Lot of people walking about. There weren’t that many people dressed weird, but we did see one girl in a bonnet and hoop skirt a bit like Bo Beep. We sat and had lunch at a place that made roast chicken (a relief after yesterdays beef noodle without any beef) and then tried to get in to the nearby temple, however there was an alarm going off and they were filing everyone out. Instead we decided to try and walk to the Metropolitan Tower to see the view from the 45th floor. We walked for about 2 hours and got lost (easy to do when there are hardly any road signs or numbers), until eventually we found another Metro station and then got the train there. Turns out we had walked way too far and in the wrong way. But we found it easily from the Metro station and went up to the 45th floor (for free) where the views were great. I was looking for a Tokyo souvenir in the gift shop, but it was full of a lot of tat instead. The Japanese seem to like their small plastic toys, which Everyone attaches to the end of their mobile phone. Even the men. They also have a lot of small soft toys that the women tie to the handbags (how mature is that?). It was well, rather odd. But unfortunately no real souvenirs saying Tokyo on them.
Day 4:
We managed to find a local bakery across the road from our hotel, where we went to buy a couple of dohnuts which involved picking them up with some plastic tongs and putting them on a tray before heading for the checkout. Then we got the trains through to the famous Fish Market. Unfortunately it was around 2pm by the time we arrived so the market was all but closed, but we had a walk around, saw someone cutting up a fish and then found a sushi bar for lunch. We had to queue up outside for a while until it was our turn to go inside. It was my first taste of sushi and it was really very tasty indeed. We each had a long dish that was filled with various different kinds of sushi. Although we cant tell you exactly what we were eating. We did have a couple of California rolls and there was definitely a piece of tuna in there and some slightly sweet tofu. I also tried some fish roe (salmon I reckon) and we each got a free tasty Miso soup. Yum. Japanese food was definitely looking up that day and I have to say this was probably the highlight of our time in Tokyo. We also got talking to a local couple who bought Steve some sake and were shocked to hear that we had taken 8 months off to go on holiday. They clearly thought we were loco.
Afterwards we went to Tokyo station to have a look around the CBD, which had some very tall buildings and we found a shopping centre, so I had a look around there. After which we walked to Ginza to find the Kabuki -za theatre, but unfortunately it had been knocked down. We asked for directions in a shop and they gave us a bag of free rice crackers each lol. Then we walked up and down Ginza looking at the lights and shops which included the likes of Gucci, Louise Vuitton and Tiffanys (Tokyos answer to Fifth Avn in NY). Then we took the subway home and stopped at the local market to have noodle soup for dinner, but the pork they put on top was pretty much all fat - yuck.
Random notes about Tokyo (positive):
The streets are very clean
Everyone is very helpful. 2 People have now offered us unsolicited directions. Then again I guess they have to help tourists, as they haven’t bothered to put up any road names or numbers.
Japanese art is amazingly detailed which appeals to me on a deep level.
All the woman in Tokyo are perfectly made up and beautifully / stylishly dressed. Also they are all stick thin which is enough to make anyone feel like a heffalump by comparison. It must be all the fish. Although you’d think the fatty pork would put some meat on their bones.
As it was autumn when we were there the colours on the trees were a gorgeous burnt orange colour.
Their sushi is to die for.
Random notes (weird):
Electrically warmed toilet seats - its very unsettling as it just makes me think that someone else has just pre-warmed the seat - yuck. Their electric toilets also have other odd functions like playing music, or the flush sound. Now why would you need to make a flush sound without actually flushing the toilet I ask you? We were loving the all in one sinks though - you can get soap automatically, get water to wash your hands automatically and then dry your hands on the air dryer all inside the same hand basin - very efficient! Wonder why these super sinks haven’t caught on in the rest of the world! You can wash your hands and get out of there without having to touch a single soap dispenser, tap or paper towel dispenser. This really appeals to the OCD in me.
Women going out in schoolgirl knee high socks, with mini soft toys tied to their handbags
As mentioned before no real street names or numbers ie proper addresses! This turned out to be the bain of our existence in Tokyo. We are used to choosing a restaurant / place in our guidebook and then going to find that place on a map. But that’s very unrealistic in Tokyo. How does any mail get delivered here?
Day 5:
We got up early and got the overland train out to Kamakura. Then another local train to Hase and a short walk up the road to the 37m outdoor bronze Buddha which was pretty impressive. We got to go inside the Buddha and see that its made of loads of different pieces all welded together. Steve got another fortune, and it was better than the last time so he was pleased. Then we walked back towards the station to find the temple, which had a beautiful garden featuring trees in their autumn reds, and a koi pond. We also saw all the little statues for the departed children which was a bit sad as there are so many of them, and people have left sweets and toys as offerings at the temple. We did stumble across a small cave there which had statues carved into the rock walls inside. Very cool. Then we got the train back in to Tokyo and had pasta for dinner (getting tired of tasteless noodle soup) which was very tasty. Afterwards we headed back to the hotel to try to book our hostel in Beijing. Unfortunately we figured out that we wouldn’t be able to see the tuna auction at the Fish Market the following day, as you have to be there at 4h30 and the first subway train starts at 5h01. Oh well I wasn’t that keen on getting up at 3am anyway.
Last day
We just packed and headed for the airport to catch our flight out to Beijing. I was a little apprehensive about how easy it would be to get around given the language barrier, so we shall see.
Think thats about it for now. Hope everyone had a very Merry Xmas and all the best for the New Year.
Kirst x
Wednesday 29 December 2010
Monday 13 December 2010
U.S. - California, Nevada and Arizona
California - Los Angeles
We flew to LA via Dallas where we had 1 an hour to change planes, and we had to go through customs and security again. It was another close call but we made it. We landed in LA in the afternoon, picked up the rental car (and a GPS at 12 extortionate dollars per day) and drove to the hostel. Its probably a good thing I wasn’t driving as I found it very difficult to get used to driving on the right handside of the road. It took Steve a while to get used to it as well, but fortunately he managed to avoid turning in to any oncoming traffic. The weather in LA was great, but then I hear the weather in LA is usually great. It was nice to see a bit of blue sky again.
The staff at the hostel were very friendly and being LA, a couple of them were waiting for their big break in ‘the Industry’ acting, or singing and dancing. The hostel did have a strange set up with anyone using any bathroom, which meant that you could have strangers coming through your room to get to the bathroom. We were staying in a mixed dorm room. For the un-initiated this means sharing with strangers, possibly of the opposite sex, all in bunk beds in one room.
So we dropped our bags off and then drove to Ralphs to buy some groceries, and onwards to the nearest state beach, just in time for sunset, which was beautiful. Actually all the sunsets we saw in LA were pretty spectacular. We went to bed relatively early that night as we were knackered, and were getting to grips with the time change. However around 05h00 in the morning a funny thing happened. I was sleeping in my bottom bunk with my feet near a door, and I was woken with someone standing at the end of my bed, slowly dragging the duvey off my legs! It took me a couple of minutes to wake up and realise what had happened, before I went out of the room to see if I could find the freak, however they were already long gone. I did remember that there was a security camera just outside it in the passage, so I gave it a little wave and then went back to bed, this time with my head facing the door.
The next morning we got up and went to ask the hostel if we could see the recording from last nights security camera, to find out who the perpetrator was! They said they would get the manager to watch the recording and get back to us later on. Even though they would have seen little more than a calf before I woke up, I still felt pretty shaken by the incident and I wasn’t befriending anyone in the hostel, until I found out who was responsible and what exactly they were playing at.
In the meantime we took the 210 bus in to Hollywood Boulevard and got a hop on hop off tour bus that took us around the Hollywood area and Beverly Hills. We practically had a private tour with this American lady as there were only 2 other customers that day and they got off the bus halfway around the loop. She pointed out lots of interesting places like the hotdog place where Bruce Willis proposed to Demi Moore, the tar pit, and the recording studios that are still in the area. She also had a kind of obsession with expensive cars and would point out whenever a Bentley or a Rolls passed us by which was highly amusing. After the complete loop we got off and did a load of walking to see the Walk of Fame (with the stars on it) and the famous handprints at the Chinese theatre. Interestingly we found out that an artist just pays a certain amount of money to get a star on the Walk of Fame, whereas they have to be personally invited to have their handprints done, so the latter is clearly more of an honour. I did manage to find the star for Elizabeth Taylor to give my Mom a laugh, and I got a pic with Marilyn’s star for Jules as well. I can see what they mean about Hollywood Boulevard being a bit seedy, however you can see that a lot of money has been spent trying to breathe new life in to the area, especially towards the top of the boulevard. I was thoroughly excited to see the stars’ stars and what is funny is that we recognised most of the road names there, from watching the American sitcoms e.g. Melrose, Wiltshire or Rodeo Drive.
Later when the manager replayed the security recording, they could see this French guy leaving our room in the wee hours of the morning, so they had a quiet word with him. He claimed that he was sleepwalking the night before and so they let him off with it. I had my doubts (he certainly scuttled away fast enough when I woke up) so I steered well clear of the Frenchie after that. I also changed bunks with Steve so that I would be on the top bunk, as I felt less vulnerable up there. I’ve never had a problem in a mixed bed dorm before, but I would be a bit more weary in one in future.
The next night just happened to be Halloween, which is a big deal in the U.S, so we were pleased that we’d happened to land in LA just in time for it. During the day we decided to buy a new GPS and return the rental back to the airport (mission), as it turned out to be cheaper to buy one than continue renting theirs (not to mention that we’d get to keep the GPS at the end of the period). Then we went shopping for some Halloween costumes before heading back to the hostel for their free braai (very tasty). Afterwards we got into our costumes which was fun. I had found a cheap Morticia dress and Steve had a full length cammo overall and a matching green Mohawk wig - class! Ironically we couldn’t find any face paint in the shops around LA, so we had to make do with a bit of smudged brown eyeliner. Earlier at the braai we’d got chatting to 2 other guys in the hostel (French and Dutch) that were keen to come along to the West Hollywood Street Parade, so we rounded them up and went to wait at the bus stop. Earlier in the day a load of people had wanted to go, but when push came to shove it was just the four of us that were willing to make the effort to venture out. After about 30 minutes of waiting one bus went straight past us as it was full, so we hailed a taxi and the guy totally ripped us off, but dropped us near the action. We walked up the hill to see people wandering around the pedestrianised street in loads of cool costumes and 2 stages that had been set up playing music. There were a load of gay couples there with matching outfits and they tried to set a record for the large number of timewarpers at any one time, but I’m not sure there was an official Guinness rep there to make the count. The strangest thing to me was that it was a completely alcohol free street party. There were no street vendors selling alcohol, and the 1 or 2 bars in the area were charging an extortionate cover to get in, so we bought a couple of cokes and had a good boogie anyway while watching the passers by. It was clear that some people go to town with their costume, just so that they can stand around posing for photos and possibly make themselves famous that way. We did see a couple of helicopters flying overhead - who knows we could have made the news! Then at 11pm they simply turned the music off and the crowd starting to make their way home. I must say that the lack of alcohol does make for a calm, collected crowd at home time, but it also takes the edge off the party a bit. Besides we were a bit annoyed with 1 of the guys from the hostel who turned out to be a total wet blanket complaining about everything from where we chose to stand (too busy), to how much it cost to get in to a bar (free beer at home) etc etc. So we weren’t too sorry when the party ended early. We did manage to get a taxi home surprisingly easily, and it was half the price of the one on the way out. Overall it was great to see peoples costumes and get a better idea of what Halloween in LA is all about. We saw a load of peoples houses that were dressed up for Halloween as well, with gravestones and ghosts hung up in their front gardens which we’d never seen before.
The next morning we drove to the Chinese embassy to apply for our Chinese tourist visas, which was a bit of an experience in itself. You had to take a number when you walked in the door, and they were paging the numbers so fast you literally had to run to the window or you’d miss your turn. The woman behind the counter didn’t seem to understand why I didn’t have a green card in my UK passport (to work in America) despite my explaining that we were there on holiday, and had a visa waiver form. However she photocopied everything and said we could collect our passports in 2 weeks when we’d be coming back to LA again.
Then we drove back to Hollywood Boulevard and had lunch at an Arbys (their roast beef sandwich was pretty good). What I will say about America is that they have an amazing (or alarming depending on your point of view) number of different fast food chains. Arby’s, Wendy’s, McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, Pinks, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, the list goes on. And after the relative dry spell in South America this came as a welcome change.
We managed to find some free parking (not easy in Hollywood) and walked up to Hollywood Boulevard where we got a great low season deal on a Stars Homes open top tour bus, so we were driven around for 2 hours and got to see the LA homes of Tom Cruise, J Lo, the one where MJ died, Drew Barrymore, Nicholas Cage, Larry King and Seinfeld, amongst others. Its quite surreal driving past a house and thinking that Tom Cruise actually lives there (well at least some of the time). For me it kind of takes something away from their star status as it makes them more human. They do walk the earth and live in normal homes just like everyone else (well granted bigger, nicer homes) but they still have to shop for real estate just like everyone else, and it is limited in BH. We enjoyed the tour (the chance to see a real life celebrity at their gate at every bend) and the tour guide was pretty funny claiming that he just saw Russell Crowe drive past in that car, not that anyone else managed to see him (would you believe him?). That night we went for a pretty good cut price steak dinner along the Hollywood Boulevard before walking back to try and find the car in the dark. Good thing it beeped when we pressed the button or we might never have found it! Then we drove on to the Silent Movie Theatre (how cool is that?), to ask what movies were on. But unfortunately the silent ones were only played on a Wednesday, so we didn’t get to see one.
On our last day in LA we drove out to see the Hollywood sign. We had seen it in the distance whilst driving around Hollywood, but we wanted to try and get right up close to get a good picture (preferably hugging a letter). So we found it on the GPS - THE Hollywood sign - and away we went climbing up and up the narrow winding roads until we could go no further. Unfortunately you cant actually get all the way up to touch the sign as I’d imagined (too many people have defaced it before so it is fenced off now), but we did manage to get some cool pictures near the top. Then we went on to the Farmers Market for some lunch (basically a whole bunch of food stalls, yummy Thai), before heading on to The Grove for a look around. The Grove is a shopping street and we happened upon Bad Charlotte that were doing a tv interview in the middle of the road, and stood in the back of their little audience while they played their new song (how cool is that!). After that we drove to LA Ink in Venice Beach. We parked up and went inside for a look (it’s a tattoo shop with a tv programme). The shop was very cool just like you see it on the telly, and even though we didn’t get to see Kat it was still surreal to actually be in the shop.
Nevada - Las Vegas
The next morning we got up early and drove out to Las Vegas. How cool that you can drive from Hollywood to Las Vegas in a couple of hours. It is interesting to see how the scenery changes from the city of LA to the desert of Las Vegas. Although I suppose technically LA was once a desert itself, you just wouldn’t believe it when you’re standing under all the Royal Palms they’ve planted. We arrived a bit too early for the hotel check in (a 3 star hotel for the price of a hostel - score), so we thought we’d try Wendy’s. It was our first time in there and we loved their do it yourself breakfast - yum! It had been a while since we had seen any bacon and eggs so we spent a bit of time in there while we were in Vegas.
Then we went for a drive down the strip and I have to say I was a little under whelmed by it all during the day. However we went back to the hotel and checked in, and then came back to the strip at night which was more impressive. There were a lot of lights, but we didn’t see the famous waving armed cowboy that we’d been expecting to see out there. We managed to stumble across a fountain show at the Bellagio which was absolutely amazing. I could have stood there for hours watching all the different songs play out. However I was starting to get a sore throat by that point, so we found a 24 hour pharmacy and got some strepsils (Me: 1 Nasty stomach bug and 2 colds so far; Steve: 0 Healthy as a horse as usual, and Yes I am counting) and headed back to the hotel.
The next day we parked up near the strip and went for a walk to take some pictures. We went to see the mountain at the Wynn Hostel (not that big) and the Shark Reef Acquarium at the Mandalay Bay (very cool), before ending up at the Bodies exhibition at Luxor (fantastic). I had forgotten all that gumption they taught us during high school biology and found it interesting all over again. They even let us hold a slice of brain at the end (we were sure to wash our hands before dinner). It was also cool to see the beam of light coming out of the top of the Pyramid on our way back to the car.
Day 3 - Steve wanted to go on the rollercoaster above the New York New York hotel, so I went to see the live Lions at the MGM Grand and then to the M&M store while Steve was queing up for the ride. They actually had a Welcome to Las Vegas sign made out of M&Ms in the store, and their own cinema showing movies featuring the M&Ms! Steve said the ride was great, but over pretty quickly so he went to play the slots and actually managed to win a bit which he was chuffed with.
By this point I was starting to feel my cold really coming on, so decided that as it was Vegas (lets party baby!) the symptoms would be best treated with a super sized pitcher of strawberry daquiri. Ticking somewhat, we decided to go back in to one of the casinos and try the slots. Steve seems to have a real knack with the one armed bandits, whilst the bandits on the other hand, seem to have a real knack with taking my money. The combination meant that we pretty much broke even, which isn’t bad when you consider that we had a couple of hours worth of fun for free. Afterwards we went downtown in search of Vegas Vic, that famous cowboy with the waving arm. We did eventually find him inside a sort of centre, but his arm wasn’t waving which was a bit disappointing. Still it felt more like Vegas once we’d seen him. That night, we headed out to see Vegas! The Show at the Planet Hollywood Hotel theatre, which was actually pretty good. A pleasant surprise and featured various type of Vegas entertainers over the years, which of course included a couple of showgirls in the full feathered outfits which I had wanted to see. Of course Steve had wanted to see them as well, but for somewhat different reasons.
Day 4 - We decided to stay an extra night in Vegas, so we would have some time to plan our onward journey in the U.S, and also go for a bit of retail therapy. Unfortunately we had to move on as the rates were jumping at our hotel, and the new hostel (the only hostel in Vegas) was really dire. We had reserved a private twin room and when we got there it was very basic. Think 2 metal beds and a small lamp table and you’ve got it. Further the mattresses were covered in a thick plastic that made a noise whenever you moved, and the mattress dipped in the middle like a hammock, which all in all made for the most uncomfortable nights sleep we’d had so far. However we did have the extra day to play with, so we drove out to the Blue Diamond Retail Outlet, just outside Vegas. The prices in the majority of the stores weren’t that ‘discounted‘ as far as we could see, however there was one exception. The Levi store was having a sale and it was $25 for any pair of jeans, so we couldn’t resist the bargain and bought some to send back home. I also managed to find one of those discount dress shops the U.S are great for (the whole store is just cheap dresses in all different styles - nice), and bought a semi smart dress, which I have been missing (for evening dinners) up until that point.
Arizona - Grand Canyon
The next morning we got up early and drove out to the Grand Canyon, which took around 7 hours. It was interesting to see the scenery change from dessert to mountains with trees. I was still full of a cold and was pretty high on the max strength flu caps from the pharmacy. We did stop to look at the Hoover Dam on the way there and had some lunch. That is one really big damn and what is cool is that you can lean over the top of the damn wall and look down, feeling the wind rush up against your face. You get a nice view of the bridge from there as well. Then it was back in the car and onwards to the Canyon. We got to the hotel just before sunset, so we timed it nicely. That night we went for dinner at a steak place called Ee I O! - I kid you not. The waiters were dressed as cowboys and they had hay bails and saddles in there. What we weren’t expecting after the scorching heat of the Nevada dessert, was that it would be pretty freezing in Arizona only 7 hours away. There were actually hailstones outside and it was pouring it down with rain.
The next morning we drove in to the Grand Canyon National Park itself and pulled over to get our first glance of the canyon. It was an amazing sight. The views are breathtaking - literally. We’d driven all the way down to the South rim (we decided to give the Skywalk a miss at a whopping $75 each) and it was worth the drive. Unfortunately the weather was a little cloudy on the day, but we still got out and walked along the little paved paths that run along the rim, and then stopped by the Geology centre in time to hear a ranger give a talk on the geology of the canyon, which was interesting. Apparently if you look closely (more closely than we did clearly) you would notice that the North side of the canyon is higher than the south side, and also that the North side is wider (from the river to the rim) than the South side. That night we watched the Grand Canyon movie at the Imax theatre (as it was next to our hotel), which was okay. We did make enquiries about doing a helicopter ride through the canyon, but they wanted a ridiculous amount of money, so we made do with the movie instead.
We had only booked 2 nights at the hotel, as it didn’t come cheap. FYI there are NO hostels anywhere near the south rim of the Grand Canyon. So if you live near there, you could make a bundle by opening one! In fact hostels are proving rather difficult to come by in the US period, although after the one we stayed at in Vegas perhaps that’s for the best. I must say that after the relative cheapness of South America, the expense of the American hotels and restaurants came as a bit of a shock. However the ease of being able to ask for whatever you want in English and the friendly service we’ve had in the shops and restaurants has been great.
I do have a few unanswered questions that perhaps an American friend can answer for me:
1. What is Adopt a Highway all about? We saw a lot of these signs as we were driving along and all the while I was thinking - why doesn’t the local municipality / council maintain the roads with tax dollars?
2. Why are all the houses made out of wood? And is that also why there are so many pest control companies around?
On another note I cant believe that Starbucks hasn’t heard of English Breakfast or Ceylon tea. Black tea is not the same thing, but I suppose at least they were trying.
Via Death Valley
Whilst planning our time again we realised that after spending a bit too long in LA and Vegas, we were going to have to high tail it back to LA in order to catch our next flight, but we wanted to try and fit some national parks in, and the Pacific Coast Highway along the way. We had to accept that we would not have time to drive all the way up to San Francisco (and unfortunately would have to give the American Football game there a miss) but we planned to get as far up the coast as Big Sur.
The following morning we drove to the Sequoia National Park, and stopped in Death Valley on the way there. Death Valley is another national park and has some pretty spectacular views, although a lot of what we saw was dry desert. We did stop to walk through a Canyon in the valley, which was made of granite rock (pretty cool) and we stopped at a small town in the middle, but there wasn’t much to see there so we quickly moved on again. It took about 6 hours for us to reach our hotel just outside Sequoia and we were both pretty tired of the driving by then. Our hotel was along the main road, but was comfortable enough. It was a very small town / settlement and we struggled to find decent places to have dinner. We did manage to find a Mexican restaurant where the lady warned us that black bears and big ‘porks’ sometimes walk in to town lol.
Sequoia National Park
The following morning we drove to the Sequoia Park, which was pretty closeby our hotel. Sequoia is the name of the largest trees in the world (by volume of wood, not necessarily the tallest), and we went to see General Sherman which is the biggest tree in the world. Our first impressions of the park were fantastic. The park basically encloses the huge trees and a mountainous area. Driving up the winding mountainous roads to get to the trees reminded me of driving in the mountains in SA. The leaves on the trees were beautiful golden brown colours and the views of the distant mountains were great.
On our drive up to see the trees in the Giant Forest, a man and his daughter waved us down, asking for water. We didn’t have any, so we ended up driving them down to the campsight and back to get some, so we lost a bit of time there. However it was just as well, as when we got a bit further up the road was closed for roadworks and we had to wait an hour for it to reopen again, so that we could carry on up to see the trees.
We were surprised to find that the trees were actually up above the snow line, and as we got higher the mountain turned in to a winter wonderland with snow and trees everywhere. Just when the roads were getting icy and we were starting to wonder if we’d missed the turnoff for General Sherman, we saw the parking. Those sequoias really are enormous trees, you can actually walk through a fallen tree on the way in. And while the sight of Gen Sherman is impressive, I would also add that he is surrounded by a number of other massive trees, and you probably wouldn’t be able to tell which one was the biggest, if there wasn’t a sign to tell you. It was great getting out in the outdoors and breathing a little fresh air again. We also managed to time it well, to get free entrance, as it happened to be Veterans Day. Unfortunately we didn’t manage to see any black bears (or fortunately), but we did see a great sunset over the mountains on our way down again.
Monterey and Carmel
The following morning we drove on to Monterey, which took another 4 hours. Monterey is a seaside town and is known for its whale watching. We did debate whether we should go on a whale watching boat tour, but it would have involved getting to the docks at 08h30 the following morning so we decided to give it a miss. Instead we went to the local shopping centre and saw Megamind, which wasn’t as funny as the advert had let on. The following day we drove to Carmel. Carmel is a beautiful little seaside town with quirky little boutique shops and I loved it. We found a Xmas shop that was open and there was a beautiful little Santa Elf ornament for the Xmas tree, but at 40 dollars it was a little too steep for my pocket so it had to stay in the store. If I’d been on a regular kind of holiday I probably would have bought it. Then we went to the beach and watched the sunset there, after which the GPS took us on a wild goose chase trying to find the local seafood restaurant. In the end we parked and walked up and down the road, and we did find it, but it was actually on a different street to the one listed in the GPS. Apparently shops / restaurants don’t have detailed street addresses in Carmel, so maybe that’s why the GPS got it wrong. It was great to have a seafood dinner (ie not pizza or burgers) for a change and we made the most of it. We also managed to do a load of washing at the hotel (had a laundry), so we’d be leaving with a bag full of clean clothes again -hooray!
Santa Barbara
The following morning we drove out to Santa Barbara, which turned in to another 7 hour driving excursion, as we drove 2 hours on the wrong road (Highway 101), until we realised that it wasn’t running along the coast. We had wanted to drive from Monterey down the Pacific Coast Highway to see the coastal views, so we changed our route to get onto Highway 1 and after that we certainly weren’t disappointed. The views were gorgeous along that road, with trees on the left and a cliff face down to the sea on the right. It reminded me of the Great Ocean Road in Melbourne. We drove through Big Sur and I can see why its Jens favourite place, with the tall forest on one side the sea on the other. However it was really expensive. We stopped to fill up with petrol and it was 1 dollar more expensive than in Monterey. The restaurant that we stopped at for lunch wasn’t cheap either. On the way down we kept pulling off the road every now and again to see the views and take some pics. We also stopped to see the sunset which was stunning (orange and pink colours), before seeing a bunch of sea lions at a bay. By the time we got to Santa Barbara we were pretty shattered, and the hotel had lost our reservation - groan. So we had to go through the check in process from scratch. We didn’t have very long in Santa Barbara, well just the one day really, but it was another lovely seaside town, with a very laid back sort of feel, a load of sailboats and a very clean / upmarket shopping road that ran up the middle. We managed to find some Tokyo and China guidebooks in the Borders, so we were pleased with that and we had a rather productive day making photo Cds and finally getting the underwater cameras from the Galapagos developed. We also managed to finally post that bloody Cuba parcel, (on attempt number 5), with the new levis, and despite being twice the weight it was only slightly more expensive than the Cuban PO had wanted to send it home.
The next morning we got up early and drove on back to LA, which ended up taking around 2 hours in traffic. We drove straight to the Chinese embassy to go and collect our passports (knick of time) with our new Chinese visas in them (result). Rather handily the collection window had a sign up in Chinese saying that they don’t take any cash or cheques, only cards, so thank God Steve had his credit card with him, otherwise we would have been none too pleased after standing in line for 30 mins! Then another productive day getting haircuts and posting the photo Cds home. We went for lunch at a Johnny Rockets, which is a retro (like 50’s) burger joint that makes Malts - yum. The strawberry malt I had was to die for and we loved the whole 50’s feel of the place, the waiters were wearing black dicky bows and there were mini juke boxes up on the counter. Then back to the same hostel in LA for one night, before our flight out to Japan the next morning.
We flew to LA via Dallas where we had 1 an hour to change planes, and we had to go through customs and security again. It was another close call but we made it. We landed in LA in the afternoon, picked up the rental car (and a GPS at 12 extortionate dollars per day) and drove to the hostel. Its probably a good thing I wasn’t driving as I found it very difficult to get used to driving on the right handside of the road. It took Steve a while to get used to it as well, but fortunately he managed to avoid turning in to any oncoming traffic. The weather in LA was great, but then I hear the weather in LA is usually great. It was nice to see a bit of blue sky again.
The staff at the hostel were very friendly and being LA, a couple of them were waiting for their big break in ‘the Industry’ acting, or singing and dancing. The hostel did have a strange set up with anyone using any bathroom, which meant that you could have strangers coming through your room to get to the bathroom. We were staying in a mixed dorm room. For the un-initiated this means sharing with strangers, possibly of the opposite sex, all in bunk beds in one room.
So we dropped our bags off and then drove to Ralphs to buy some groceries, and onwards to the nearest state beach, just in time for sunset, which was beautiful. Actually all the sunsets we saw in LA were pretty spectacular. We went to bed relatively early that night as we were knackered, and were getting to grips with the time change. However around 05h00 in the morning a funny thing happened. I was sleeping in my bottom bunk with my feet near a door, and I was woken with someone standing at the end of my bed, slowly dragging the duvey off my legs! It took me a couple of minutes to wake up and realise what had happened, before I went out of the room to see if I could find the freak, however they were already long gone. I did remember that there was a security camera just outside it in the passage, so I gave it a little wave and then went back to bed, this time with my head facing the door.
The next morning we got up and went to ask the hostel if we could see the recording from last nights security camera, to find out who the perpetrator was! They said they would get the manager to watch the recording and get back to us later on. Even though they would have seen little more than a calf before I woke up, I still felt pretty shaken by the incident and I wasn’t befriending anyone in the hostel, until I found out who was responsible and what exactly they were playing at.
In the meantime we took the 210 bus in to Hollywood Boulevard and got a hop on hop off tour bus that took us around the Hollywood area and Beverly Hills. We practically had a private tour with this American lady as there were only 2 other customers that day and they got off the bus halfway around the loop. She pointed out lots of interesting places like the hotdog place where Bruce Willis proposed to Demi Moore, the tar pit, and the recording studios that are still in the area. She also had a kind of obsession with expensive cars and would point out whenever a Bentley or a Rolls passed us by which was highly amusing. After the complete loop we got off and did a load of walking to see the Walk of Fame (with the stars on it) and the famous handprints at the Chinese theatre. Interestingly we found out that an artist just pays a certain amount of money to get a star on the Walk of Fame, whereas they have to be personally invited to have their handprints done, so the latter is clearly more of an honour. I did manage to find the star for Elizabeth Taylor to give my Mom a laugh, and I got a pic with Marilyn’s star for Jules as well. I can see what they mean about Hollywood Boulevard being a bit seedy, however you can see that a lot of money has been spent trying to breathe new life in to the area, especially towards the top of the boulevard. I was thoroughly excited to see the stars’ stars and what is funny is that we recognised most of the road names there, from watching the American sitcoms e.g. Melrose, Wiltshire or Rodeo Drive.
Later when the manager replayed the security recording, they could see this French guy leaving our room in the wee hours of the morning, so they had a quiet word with him. He claimed that he was sleepwalking the night before and so they let him off with it. I had my doubts (he certainly scuttled away fast enough when I woke up) so I steered well clear of the Frenchie after that. I also changed bunks with Steve so that I would be on the top bunk, as I felt less vulnerable up there. I’ve never had a problem in a mixed bed dorm before, but I would be a bit more weary in one in future.
The next night just happened to be Halloween, which is a big deal in the U.S, so we were pleased that we’d happened to land in LA just in time for it. During the day we decided to buy a new GPS and return the rental back to the airport (mission), as it turned out to be cheaper to buy one than continue renting theirs (not to mention that we’d get to keep the GPS at the end of the period). Then we went shopping for some Halloween costumes before heading back to the hostel for their free braai (very tasty). Afterwards we got into our costumes which was fun. I had found a cheap Morticia dress and Steve had a full length cammo overall and a matching green Mohawk wig - class! Ironically we couldn’t find any face paint in the shops around LA, so we had to make do with a bit of smudged brown eyeliner. Earlier at the braai we’d got chatting to 2 other guys in the hostel (French and Dutch) that were keen to come along to the West Hollywood Street Parade, so we rounded them up and went to wait at the bus stop. Earlier in the day a load of people had wanted to go, but when push came to shove it was just the four of us that were willing to make the effort to venture out. After about 30 minutes of waiting one bus went straight past us as it was full, so we hailed a taxi and the guy totally ripped us off, but dropped us near the action. We walked up the hill to see people wandering around the pedestrianised street in loads of cool costumes and 2 stages that had been set up playing music. There were a load of gay couples there with matching outfits and they tried to set a record for the large number of timewarpers at any one time, but I’m not sure there was an official Guinness rep there to make the count. The strangest thing to me was that it was a completely alcohol free street party. There were no street vendors selling alcohol, and the 1 or 2 bars in the area were charging an extortionate cover to get in, so we bought a couple of cokes and had a good boogie anyway while watching the passers by. It was clear that some people go to town with their costume, just so that they can stand around posing for photos and possibly make themselves famous that way. We did see a couple of helicopters flying overhead - who knows we could have made the news! Then at 11pm they simply turned the music off and the crowd starting to make their way home. I must say that the lack of alcohol does make for a calm, collected crowd at home time, but it also takes the edge off the party a bit. Besides we were a bit annoyed with 1 of the guys from the hostel who turned out to be a total wet blanket complaining about everything from where we chose to stand (too busy), to how much it cost to get in to a bar (free beer at home) etc etc. So we weren’t too sorry when the party ended early. We did manage to get a taxi home surprisingly easily, and it was half the price of the one on the way out. Overall it was great to see peoples costumes and get a better idea of what Halloween in LA is all about. We saw a load of peoples houses that were dressed up for Halloween as well, with gravestones and ghosts hung up in their front gardens which we’d never seen before.
The next morning we drove to the Chinese embassy to apply for our Chinese tourist visas, which was a bit of an experience in itself. You had to take a number when you walked in the door, and they were paging the numbers so fast you literally had to run to the window or you’d miss your turn. The woman behind the counter didn’t seem to understand why I didn’t have a green card in my UK passport (to work in America) despite my explaining that we were there on holiday, and had a visa waiver form. However she photocopied everything and said we could collect our passports in 2 weeks when we’d be coming back to LA again.
Then we drove back to Hollywood Boulevard and had lunch at an Arbys (their roast beef sandwich was pretty good). What I will say about America is that they have an amazing (or alarming depending on your point of view) number of different fast food chains. Arby’s, Wendy’s, McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, Pinks, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, the list goes on. And after the relative dry spell in South America this came as a welcome change.
We managed to find some free parking (not easy in Hollywood) and walked up to Hollywood Boulevard where we got a great low season deal on a Stars Homes open top tour bus, so we were driven around for 2 hours and got to see the LA homes of Tom Cruise, J Lo, the one where MJ died, Drew Barrymore, Nicholas Cage, Larry King and Seinfeld, amongst others. Its quite surreal driving past a house and thinking that Tom Cruise actually lives there (well at least some of the time). For me it kind of takes something away from their star status as it makes them more human. They do walk the earth and live in normal homes just like everyone else (well granted bigger, nicer homes) but they still have to shop for real estate just like everyone else, and it is limited in BH. We enjoyed the tour (the chance to see a real life celebrity at their gate at every bend) and the tour guide was pretty funny claiming that he just saw Russell Crowe drive past in that car, not that anyone else managed to see him (would you believe him?). That night we went for a pretty good cut price steak dinner along the Hollywood Boulevard before walking back to try and find the car in the dark. Good thing it beeped when we pressed the button or we might never have found it! Then we drove on to the Silent Movie Theatre (how cool is that?), to ask what movies were on. But unfortunately the silent ones were only played on a Wednesday, so we didn’t get to see one.
On our last day in LA we drove out to see the Hollywood sign. We had seen it in the distance whilst driving around Hollywood, but we wanted to try and get right up close to get a good picture (preferably hugging a letter). So we found it on the GPS - THE Hollywood sign - and away we went climbing up and up the narrow winding roads until we could go no further. Unfortunately you cant actually get all the way up to touch the sign as I’d imagined (too many people have defaced it before so it is fenced off now), but we did manage to get some cool pictures near the top. Then we went on to the Farmers Market for some lunch (basically a whole bunch of food stalls, yummy Thai), before heading on to The Grove for a look around. The Grove is a shopping street and we happened upon Bad Charlotte that were doing a tv interview in the middle of the road, and stood in the back of their little audience while they played their new song (how cool is that!). After that we drove to LA Ink in Venice Beach. We parked up and went inside for a look (it’s a tattoo shop with a tv programme). The shop was very cool just like you see it on the telly, and even though we didn’t get to see Kat it was still surreal to actually be in the shop.
Nevada - Las Vegas
The next morning we got up early and drove out to Las Vegas. How cool that you can drive from Hollywood to Las Vegas in a couple of hours. It is interesting to see how the scenery changes from the city of LA to the desert of Las Vegas. Although I suppose technically LA was once a desert itself, you just wouldn’t believe it when you’re standing under all the Royal Palms they’ve planted. We arrived a bit too early for the hotel check in (a 3 star hotel for the price of a hostel - score), so we thought we’d try Wendy’s. It was our first time in there and we loved their do it yourself breakfast - yum! It had been a while since we had seen any bacon and eggs so we spent a bit of time in there while we were in Vegas.
Then we went for a drive down the strip and I have to say I was a little under whelmed by it all during the day. However we went back to the hotel and checked in, and then came back to the strip at night which was more impressive. There were a lot of lights, but we didn’t see the famous waving armed cowboy that we’d been expecting to see out there. We managed to stumble across a fountain show at the Bellagio which was absolutely amazing. I could have stood there for hours watching all the different songs play out. However I was starting to get a sore throat by that point, so we found a 24 hour pharmacy and got some strepsils (Me: 1 Nasty stomach bug and 2 colds so far; Steve: 0 Healthy as a horse as usual, and Yes I am counting) and headed back to the hotel.
The next day we parked up near the strip and went for a walk to take some pictures. We went to see the mountain at the Wynn Hostel (not that big) and the Shark Reef Acquarium at the Mandalay Bay (very cool), before ending up at the Bodies exhibition at Luxor (fantastic). I had forgotten all that gumption they taught us during high school biology and found it interesting all over again. They even let us hold a slice of brain at the end (we were sure to wash our hands before dinner). It was also cool to see the beam of light coming out of the top of the Pyramid on our way back to the car.
Day 3 - Steve wanted to go on the rollercoaster above the New York New York hotel, so I went to see the live Lions at the MGM Grand and then to the M&M store while Steve was queing up for the ride. They actually had a Welcome to Las Vegas sign made out of M&Ms in the store, and their own cinema showing movies featuring the M&Ms! Steve said the ride was great, but over pretty quickly so he went to play the slots and actually managed to win a bit which he was chuffed with.
By this point I was starting to feel my cold really coming on, so decided that as it was Vegas (lets party baby!) the symptoms would be best treated with a super sized pitcher of strawberry daquiri. Ticking somewhat, we decided to go back in to one of the casinos and try the slots. Steve seems to have a real knack with the one armed bandits, whilst the bandits on the other hand, seem to have a real knack with taking my money. The combination meant that we pretty much broke even, which isn’t bad when you consider that we had a couple of hours worth of fun for free. Afterwards we went downtown in search of Vegas Vic, that famous cowboy with the waving arm. We did eventually find him inside a sort of centre, but his arm wasn’t waving which was a bit disappointing. Still it felt more like Vegas once we’d seen him. That night, we headed out to see Vegas! The Show at the Planet Hollywood Hotel theatre, which was actually pretty good. A pleasant surprise and featured various type of Vegas entertainers over the years, which of course included a couple of showgirls in the full feathered outfits which I had wanted to see. Of course Steve had wanted to see them as well, but for somewhat different reasons.
Day 4 - We decided to stay an extra night in Vegas, so we would have some time to plan our onward journey in the U.S, and also go for a bit of retail therapy. Unfortunately we had to move on as the rates were jumping at our hotel, and the new hostel (the only hostel in Vegas) was really dire. We had reserved a private twin room and when we got there it was very basic. Think 2 metal beds and a small lamp table and you’ve got it. Further the mattresses were covered in a thick plastic that made a noise whenever you moved, and the mattress dipped in the middle like a hammock, which all in all made for the most uncomfortable nights sleep we’d had so far. However we did have the extra day to play with, so we drove out to the Blue Diamond Retail Outlet, just outside Vegas. The prices in the majority of the stores weren’t that ‘discounted‘ as far as we could see, however there was one exception. The Levi store was having a sale and it was $25 for any pair of jeans, so we couldn’t resist the bargain and bought some to send back home. I also managed to find one of those discount dress shops the U.S are great for (the whole store is just cheap dresses in all different styles - nice), and bought a semi smart dress, which I have been missing (for evening dinners) up until that point.
Arizona - Grand Canyon
The next morning we got up early and drove out to the Grand Canyon, which took around 7 hours. It was interesting to see the scenery change from dessert to mountains with trees. I was still full of a cold and was pretty high on the max strength flu caps from the pharmacy. We did stop to look at the Hoover Dam on the way there and had some lunch. That is one really big damn and what is cool is that you can lean over the top of the damn wall and look down, feeling the wind rush up against your face. You get a nice view of the bridge from there as well. Then it was back in the car and onwards to the Canyon. We got to the hotel just before sunset, so we timed it nicely. That night we went for dinner at a steak place called Ee I O! - I kid you not. The waiters were dressed as cowboys and they had hay bails and saddles in there. What we weren’t expecting after the scorching heat of the Nevada dessert, was that it would be pretty freezing in Arizona only 7 hours away. There were actually hailstones outside and it was pouring it down with rain.
The next morning we drove in to the Grand Canyon National Park itself and pulled over to get our first glance of the canyon. It was an amazing sight. The views are breathtaking - literally. We’d driven all the way down to the South rim (we decided to give the Skywalk a miss at a whopping $75 each) and it was worth the drive. Unfortunately the weather was a little cloudy on the day, but we still got out and walked along the little paved paths that run along the rim, and then stopped by the Geology centre in time to hear a ranger give a talk on the geology of the canyon, which was interesting. Apparently if you look closely (more closely than we did clearly) you would notice that the North side of the canyon is higher than the south side, and also that the North side is wider (from the river to the rim) than the South side. That night we watched the Grand Canyon movie at the Imax theatre (as it was next to our hotel), which was okay. We did make enquiries about doing a helicopter ride through the canyon, but they wanted a ridiculous amount of money, so we made do with the movie instead.
We had only booked 2 nights at the hotel, as it didn’t come cheap. FYI there are NO hostels anywhere near the south rim of the Grand Canyon. So if you live near there, you could make a bundle by opening one! In fact hostels are proving rather difficult to come by in the US period, although after the one we stayed at in Vegas perhaps that’s for the best. I must say that after the relative cheapness of South America, the expense of the American hotels and restaurants came as a bit of a shock. However the ease of being able to ask for whatever you want in English and the friendly service we’ve had in the shops and restaurants has been great.
I do have a few unanswered questions that perhaps an American friend can answer for me:
1. What is Adopt a Highway all about? We saw a lot of these signs as we were driving along and all the while I was thinking - why doesn’t the local municipality / council maintain the roads with tax dollars?
2. Why are all the houses made out of wood? And is that also why there are so many pest control companies around?
On another note I cant believe that Starbucks hasn’t heard of English Breakfast or Ceylon tea. Black tea is not the same thing, but I suppose at least they were trying.
Via Death Valley
Whilst planning our time again we realised that after spending a bit too long in LA and Vegas, we were going to have to high tail it back to LA in order to catch our next flight, but we wanted to try and fit some national parks in, and the Pacific Coast Highway along the way. We had to accept that we would not have time to drive all the way up to San Francisco (and unfortunately would have to give the American Football game there a miss) but we planned to get as far up the coast as Big Sur.
The following morning we drove to the Sequoia National Park, and stopped in Death Valley on the way there. Death Valley is another national park and has some pretty spectacular views, although a lot of what we saw was dry desert. We did stop to walk through a Canyon in the valley, which was made of granite rock (pretty cool) and we stopped at a small town in the middle, but there wasn’t much to see there so we quickly moved on again. It took about 6 hours for us to reach our hotel just outside Sequoia and we were both pretty tired of the driving by then. Our hotel was along the main road, but was comfortable enough. It was a very small town / settlement and we struggled to find decent places to have dinner. We did manage to find a Mexican restaurant where the lady warned us that black bears and big ‘porks’ sometimes walk in to town lol.
Sequoia National Park
The following morning we drove to the Sequoia Park, which was pretty closeby our hotel. Sequoia is the name of the largest trees in the world (by volume of wood, not necessarily the tallest), and we went to see General Sherman which is the biggest tree in the world. Our first impressions of the park were fantastic. The park basically encloses the huge trees and a mountainous area. Driving up the winding mountainous roads to get to the trees reminded me of driving in the mountains in SA. The leaves on the trees were beautiful golden brown colours and the views of the distant mountains were great.
On our drive up to see the trees in the Giant Forest, a man and his daughter waved us down, asking for water. We didn’t have any, so we ended up driving them down to the campsight and back to get some, so we lost a bit of time there. However it was just as well, as when we got a bit further up the road was closed for roadworks and we had to wait an hour for it to reopen again, so that we could carry on up to see the trees.
We were surprised to find that the trees were actually up above the snow line, and as we got higher the mountain turned in to a winter wonderland with snow and trees everywhere. Just when the roads were getting icy and we were starting to wonder if we’d missed the turnoff for General Sherman, we saw the parking. Those sequoias really are enormous trees, you can actually walk through a fallen tree on the way in. And while the sight of Gen Sherman is impressive, I would also add that he is surrounded by a number of other massive trees, and you probably wouldn’t be able to tell which one was the biggest, if there wasn’t a sign to tell you. It was great getting out in the outdoors and breathing a little fresh air again. We also managed to time it well, to get free entrance, as it happened to be Veterans Day. Unfortunately we didn’t manage to see any black bears (or fortunately), but we did see a great sunset over the mountains on our way down again.
Monterey and Carmel
The following morning we drove on to Monterey, which took another 4 hours. Monterey is a seaside town and is known for its whale watching. We did debate whether we should go on a whale watching boat tour, but it would have involved getting to the docks at 08h30 the following morning so we decided to give it a miss. Instead we went to the local shopping centre and saw Megamind, which wasn’t as funny as the advert had let on. The following day we drove to Carmel. Carmel is a beautiful little seaside town with quirky little boutique shops and I loved it. We found a Xmas shop that was open and there was a beautiful little Santa Elf ornament for the Xmas tree, but at 40 dollars it was a little too steep for my pocket so it had to stay in the store. If I’d been on a regular kind of holiday I probably would have bought it. Then we went to the beach and watched the sunset there, after which the GPS took us on a wild goose chase trying to find the local seafood restaurant. In the end we parked and walked up and down the road, and we did find it, but it was actually on a different street to the one listed in the GPS. Apparently shops / restaurants don’t have detailed street addresses in Carmel, so maybe that’s why the GPS got it wrong. It was great to have a seafood dinner (ie not pizza or burgers) for a change and we made the most of it. We also managed to do a load of washing at the hotel (had a laundry), so we’d be leaving with a bag full of clean clothes again -hooray!
Santa Barbara
The following morning we drove out to Santa Barbara, which turned in to another 7 hour driving excursion, as we drove 2 hours on the wrong road (Highway 101), until we realised that it wasn’t running along the coast. We had wanted to drive from Monterey down the Pacific Coast Highway to see the coastal views, so we changed our route to get onto Highway 1 and after that we certainly weren’t disappointed. The views were gorgeous along that road, with trees on the left and a cliff face down to the sea on the right. It reminded me of the Great Ocean Road in Melbourne. We drove through Big Sur and I can see why its Jens favourite place, with the tall forest on one side the sea on the other. However it was really expensive. We stopped to fill up with petrol and it was 1 dollar more expensive than in Monterey. The restaurant that we stopped at for lunch wasn’t cheap either. On the way down we kept pulling off the road every now and again to see the views and take some pics. We also stopped to see the sunset which was stunning (orange and pink colours), before seeing a bunch of sea lions at a bay. By the time we got to Santa Barbara we were pretty shattered, and the hotel had lost our reservation - groan. So we had to go through the check in process from scratch. We didn’t have very long in Santa Barbara, well just the one day really, but it was another lovely seaside town, with a very laid back sort of feel, a load of sailboats and a very clean / upmarket shopping road that ran up the middle. We managed to find some Tokyo and China guidebooks in the Borders, so we were pleased with that and we had a rather productive day making photo Cds and finally getting the underwater cameras from the Galapagos developed. We also managed to finally post that bloody Cuba parcel, (on attempt number 5), with the new levis, and despite being twice the weight it was only slightly more expensive than the Cuban PO had wanted to send it home.
The next morning we got up early and drove on back to LA, which ended up taking around 2 hours in traffic. We drove straight to the Chinese embassy to go and collect our passports (knick of time) with our new Chinese visas in them (result). Rather handily the collection window had a sign up in Chinese saying that they don’t take any cash or cheques, only cards, so thank God Steve had his credit card with him, otherwise we would have been none too pleased after standing in line for 30 mins! Then another productive day getting haircuts and posting the photo Cds home. We went for lunch at a Johnny Rockets, which is a retro (like 50’s) burger joint that makes Malts - yum. The strawberry malt I had was to die for and we loved the whole 50’s feel of the place, the waiters were wearing black dicky bows and there were mini juke boxes up on the counter. Then back to the same hostel in LA for one night, before our flight out to Japan the next morning.
Tuesday 23 November 2010
Cuba - Havana, Valadero, Santa Clara and Trinidad
Havana
We flew into Havana airport and after a number of checks and rechecks we finally got through customs. It seemed to be a classic case of job creation, with a number of different queues to get through and people all checking the same things over and over again. When we finally got through customs with our bags we were met by a massive crowd of people waiting to receive their loved ones. I’ve never seen that many people in an airport arrivals hall before, it was actually difficult to get through and get to the exit.
We’d pre-booked in to a casa particular (a Cuban peculiarity where someone rents out 1 or 2 rooms in their private home to tourists) in the Vedado suburb of Havana, so we caught a taxi there. On the way we were excited at our first sight of all the old Buicks, Fords and Chevrolets passing us on the road. We arrived at the house and were welcomed by a friendly Cuban man, who promptly told us that the room we had reserved had a problem (plumbing issue caused by the recent hurricane rain), and that he had booked us in to a casa around the corner instead. At this point we were thinking that we weren’t off to a great start in Cuba, what with the flight cancellation, and now the room issue. However we walked about 2 blocks away and he introduced us to the other couple. The room was in a beautiful old house with large rooms and high ceilings, built around an open courtyard. The old couple that owned it were friendly but unfortunately their English wasn’t very good, so the help we’d been expecting to organise our time in Cuba wasn’t forthcoming. Also there were no other tourists staying in the new house, so it was very quiet.
After check in, which involved us providing our passports and visas and signing a kind of vouchers book to confirm our stay, we decided to go for a walk to the Malecon. The Malecon is the street / promenade that runs along Havana’s bay, and we estimated that it was probably about an hour’s walk away. It turned out to be more like 2 hours walk away. One thing we certainly did a lot of in Cuba was walking. Partly because we wanted to have a look around, but mostly because the taxis are just so expensive. It cost us 5CUC for a taxi between the house and Centro Havana, and then another 5CUC to get home again. The coco cab we tried (like a motorbike with a round coconut shaped seat behind it) was even more expensive as the guy put the meter on. What we noticed about most taxis in Havana is that its always cheaper to agree a price with the driver before getting in, and then he won’t put the meter on (in other words he doesn’t declare the income and puts it in his back pocket).
Actually while I’m on the topic, Cuba in general is very expensive. Apart from the taxis, the food and drinks were very expensive as well, especially considering what you get for your money. We had been warned that Havana would be expensive due to the two currencies (Moneda National for locals and Cuban Convertibles or CUC for tourists), but we didn’t realise just how expensive, until we started to experience it for ourselves. You are basically paying UK prices for everything, and in some cases even more. This does come as a bit of a shock when you are walking around a city, which at times looks like its falling down around you. And its more than just the expense, to be honest a lot of the time we felt like people were trying to rip us off / sponge money out of us whenever they could. If it wasn’t the taxi driver claiming he didn’t have any change, it was a restaurant charging CUC when we should clearly have been paying MN.
However I will say that even on that first walk up to the Malecon I was a bit like a kid in a candy store stopping to take photos of all the old art deco buildings, and the classic cars we passed along the way. It is a shame that the vast majority of the buildings have not been maintained, and in some places have even fallen down. However you cant help but think that Havana must have been something really spectacular back in the 1900‘s when all the grand old houses were originally built. PS. Elaine I think you‘d love it here. Saying that, despite their facades even as the buildings stand today with their flaking paintwork, they still give Havana a special feel.
So after our 2 hour trek in the scorching heat (it was very hot and humid) we basically arrived at the Malecon just in time for sunset, to see the buildings of Centro Havana being lit up a golden colour in the distance. There were a load of people just sitting along the bay wall hanging out, drinking and chatting, along with some fisherman casting their lines over the wall in to the ocean. After sunset (and with rather tired feet), we found a local paladar for dinner. Now a paladar is another Cuban peculiarity and is basically where someone is using part of their home as a restaurant. In the one we went to, it was as though they’d put a couple of extra tables in to their conservatory. Looking back, despite the unusual surroundings the food we had there was reasonably good, considering what was yet to come.
The following morning we went looking for the local Cadeca (exchange house) to exchange some of our euros (thanks for the currency tip Nicole). When we got there it turned out to be nothing more than a kind of makeshift wendy house at the side of the road, with a window in it. Afterwards we headed back to the casa to read up on Cuba and plan out the rest of our time (12 days). We decided that since we had 12 days, we would move around a bit and see a couple of different areas. We planned to split our time between Havana, Valadero, Santa Clara and Trinidad, before heading back to Havana for our flight out. Rough plan in hand, we headed back to the original casa we’d booked, to ask him for some help with booking up the casas we would need in the other areas. He was very helpful (despite the fact that we were no longer staying with him) and called ahead to casas in Santa Clara and Trinidad to make the bookings for us. He also wrote down all the details on a piece of paper for us. Lastly he offered us a walking tour of Habana Vieja (literally Habana Old) the following morning, which as it didn’t sound too expensive, we decided to take him up on.
Itenarary planned and casas booked, we went for another walk. This time we walked past the cemetery (we didn’t go inside as they wanted to charge us CUC 5 each), and on to the Plaza Revolution. The plaza is basically, well, a large cemented parking lot kind of area that I understand is used for staging political rallies and the like, and is overlooked by the large metal faces of Guevara and Castro on the sides of buildings. After about 2 minutes of looking at the empty parking lot (I don’t really understand what all the tour buses are doing there for so long?!) we went over the road to the Jose Marti monument, and paid the entrance to have a quick walk around there. Then we took a taxi over to Centro Habana and did a walking tour to look at the old buildings there, some of which were really awesome.
After we’d worked up a bit of a thirst walking again, we stopped at a bar called Floridita (little Florida) to have a strawberry daquiri. This bar claims to have invented the daquiri and was apparently Hemingway’s favourite place for this tipple. There is a life size brass statue of him at the bar (although without a name plaque) so we got a couple of pics with him, before finding out who it was! Whilst on our walking tour its also worth mentioning that we almost got scammed by a couple of locals, who offered to show us to a salsa place nearby but quickly turned off the charm when we refused to buy them any drinks (my fault for being too friendly). Perhaps they were working on commission at the bar, or perhaps their intention had been to get us drunk and mug us, fortunately we’ll never find out. Exhausted by all the walking we took a taxi home.
One thing that really shocked me about Cuba is that no one has any internet access. Apparently regular Cubans are not allowed to have internet access (perhaps lest they realise what they are missing), unless they can prove its necessary for their work. To me its like living in the dark ages and for travellers trying to book their onward accommodation / plan their trip, it’s a nightmare. There are only two ways to get internet access, neither of which are very convenient. You either need to pay a visit to a 5 star hotel (a 10 CUC return taxi ride from us) and use their business lounge facilities (don’t forget your passport at home as we did, or they wont let you on), or try a local branch of ETECSA which may, or may not have computers in it. The hotels we visited actually charged an astounding CUC10 per hour, which was even more than Cancun and by far the most we had paid for internet access so far. On our travels around Cuba we only found one place resembling an internet café (in Trinidad), and the more people that logged in, the slower the connection became. As we had been used to free, readily available Wifi connections up until that point, it came as a bit of a shock to suddenly be cut off. It was also rather inconvenient as we needed to book a hotel in Valadero (they don’t have casa particulars there), not to mention that we needed to contact the travel agent to change our flights from Mexico to LA, due to the Mexicana cancellation. Anyhow as we didn’t have any ID on us that night (so as to prove we were not Cuban), all that would have to wait for another day.
The following morning we went over to the original casa again to meet our tour guide. Somewhat surprisingly he had ordered a taxi to take us in to Habana Vieja. As he had a perfectly good car (a white Llada of course) sitting outside his house, we had assumed that part of the tour would involve him driving us in to town, but apparently not. We also had to stop at the Viazul office to buy some bus tickets for Valadero, and the driver waited outside for us whilst this was going on. When we got to Habana Vieja the taxi driver asked for 10 CUC (double what it would normally cost without the stop, so rather expensive) and instead of paying the taxi driver himself, the casa owner promptly got out of the car, indicating that we should pay the driver. This made it a more expensive tour and we wondered what other hidden costs had not been included in the quoted price! However the casa owner was very knowledgeable about the area and walked us around Havana Vieja for around 3.5 hours, pointing out interesting spots and taking us into all the notable buildings and hotels, so it was worthwhile doing. At one point we went in to a tower to get a great view over Havana and saw a kind of periscope that showed a realtime moving picture of the world outside (very cool and very enemy of the state). Whilst on the tour we also stopped at Havana Club for a tour of how they make their rum (they claim to have invented Rum) from sugar cane in Cuba. The tour included a taster, but I cant say that either Steve or I are big big rum fans and Havana Club did not convert us. We did stop at a chocolate making place (now we’re talking) and one perfumery that will actually make up a unique scent after a consultation with you (what a great idea). Before the tour ended we stopped at a mojito bar where again, Hemingway apparently drank his mojitos. Interestingly they don’t make their mojitos with mint in Cuba, but rather a sort of flower leaf that looks a lot like mint, but doesn’t taste minty. Overall we really loved the old buildings in Habana Viejo, and the Art Noveau work on the doors, windows and stain glass walls in certain hotels along Bishop street were gorgeous. The buildings in Habana Viejo certainly beat the other suburbs in Havana hands down (and in my opinion the remaining areas of Cuba that we would later see).
The other thing that I really liked about Habana Vieja is that pretty much wherever you walk you can hear a little Cuban trio playing music somewhere in a restaurant or hotel lobby. The downside of this more touristy area, is that you do feel a bit harassed when you are trying to walk around. There was one guy that starting following Steve around playing a guitar, and although Steve said no thanks a number of times, he refused to stop playing and then got a bit aggressive 2 minutes later when we wouldn’t pay him for his music. There were always people asking us for money, or trying to sell us something, or offer us a taxi, pretty much whenever we stood still for more than 10 seconds to have a look around, which was a bit of a pain.
After the tour we grabbed a quick lunch and then walked around attempting to draw some more cash from an ATM. After trying all of our cards at various ATMs around town and getting the same ‘Transaction Cancelled’ message, we finally figured out that you can’t use a Switch Card, or a Mastercard in a Cuban ATM. This was rather unfortunate as neither of us had a VISA card, and nor did we have enough CUC to last us for the entire duration of our trip. However, passport in hand, we did manage to find a hotel that would give us internet access, so we managed to email the travel agent regarding our flight change, and started the search for a hotel in Valadero. The trouble with trying to book a hotel in Cuba, is that none of the hotels seem to have an online booking facility (probably because Cubans don’t have internet access). Because of this we had to send off availability requests to a number of different hotels, in the hope that one of them would reply with a confirmation the following day (queue another days internet quest and expense). That night we managed to find an Italian place for dinner that made a good spaghetti (result), before getting a cab back to the casa.
Next day we had to check the internet again to see if any of the hostels in Valadero had replied. They had not, so we had to do another search and managed to find an agent with an online booking system for a cheap all inclusive hotel in Valadero - result. So we booked it in the knick of time. Then we went for lunch at pan.com which wasn’t too bad. The friendly owner got chatting to us and told us they didn’t get many saffers around them parts. As the cliché goes half of the options on the menu were currently unavailable, however they made us some tasty pork hamburgers and even managed to rustle up some surprise fries (no ketchup but you cant have everything, and especially not in Cuba). Afterwards we went to Coppelia for an ice cream and I had the worst choc mint ice cream I‘ve ever had in my life. Those of you in the know will remember that I’m not a big fan of chocolate ice cream and it was basically 2 scoops of chocolate ice cream with a drizzle of mint sauce over the top. Now how can you call that choc mint? Then we went for another walk and saw Cuba’s version of the Empire State building and a memorial with Walter Sisulu’s name on it. That evening we took a taxi over to the fort to see the Canon ceremony at 9pm, which was awesome and definitely a highlight of our trip. They actually light a real canon and even though I knew it was coming that big bang still scared the life out of me. Afterwards we grabbed a quick dinner inside the fort walls (a memorably bad one of chicken and chips, where the chips were like tasteless pieces of stale cardboard) before taxiing back to the casa.
And now a couple of general notes about the odd bits and pieces around Cuba…There is no advertising anywhere. I suppose when everything is owned by the state and there is no competition, then there is little point in spending money on advertising, or for that matter attractive packaging. The cafeterias (like a small informal restaurant, think old melamine tables and wicker chairs) are pretty much all named the same thing (cafeteria) which makes it difficult to know what sort of food they would have on offer. And they don’t bother with silly things like menus, they just display the three dishes they are making that day in a case outfront. The one we went to was making Margherita pizza, a ham and cheese roll, and a hamburger, none of which looked appealing, so we ended up with a very soggy pizza for lunch. Also all the products seem to come in the same rubbish packaging (e.g shampoo / shower gel). Not to mention the bizarre stores, which rather than a traditional supermarket set up, all seem to have a shopkeeper standing behind a glass cabinet, so that you have to ask them for each and every item you want (not easy with limited Spanish). And if you can find a corner shop for some snacks, the chances are they will all have the same 3 types of fizzy drinks TuCola, Lemon and Naranje and 2 packets of ancient looking biscuits. PS I could never live here as they only seem to have one type of crisps (called Papitas, or Chips) and they taste like cardboard. Nuff said.
The next morning we got up early and took a taxi to the bus station and then got the Viazul bus to Varadero, which is about 2.5 hours away. Varadero is kind of like a poor mans Cancun, and is basically a beach resort on the South coast of Cuba. Steve tells me it was a lovely ride along the Cuban coast to get there, although I couldn’t tell you as I was asleep most of the way. What is interesting about the Cuban bus journeys is that the bus driver seems to stop wherever the fancy takes him, at cafeterias along the way so that he can buy himself a drink / have a snack. Although since the bus stations don’t usually sell any food, this is not always a bad thing.
Valadero
So after a short bus ride we arrived in Valadero, where we valiantly thought that we could walk to our hotel carrying our bags. However it was stiflingly hot so after about 3 blocks in the blazing sun, we had to stop and hail a taxi. Now I should say that the hotel itself wasn’t too bad, as it had a pool, an open bar providing as much rum as you could drink, and was a short walk over the road to a fantastic Caribbean beach. However the hotel was filled with some very odd clientele, which I suppose might be what you get when you go for the cheapest all inclusive option. We saw lots of old/ fat men with some very young, pretty girls, a couple of threesomes and at one point a drunken brawl broke out by the pool. Needless to say we kept ourselves to ourselves.
On the upside as the hotel was all inclusive we did stuff ourselves with food for 2 days. The buffet wasn’t too bad compared with the food we’d had in Havana. So we basically spent two days lying around the pool / by the seaside reading our books. This was a welcome break after all the walking we had done in Havana and the beach there was great. White sand, free loungers, free drinks from the beach bar and warm blue water - yippee! On the Wednesday afternoon we stopped at the hotel tour desk and found out that the Buena Vista Social Club were playing that same night, and she could get us tickets for their Premium seats. The Premium seats meant that they would collect us in a classic car, and take us to a private bar before the concert, where we could meet the band and get some autographs, before going on to see the show. Needless to say we were very excited, and practically snapped her hand off to get them. So that night a proper Cuban character (chatting the whole way) came to collect us in his 1940’s open top car, and we did indeed get to chat to the band and we bought a CD so that we could get all their autographs. One of the original Buena Vista Social Club members was there and I managed to get a photo with him as well, which was very exciting. Then we went on to see the show (third row from the front) and they were fantastic. Only the first and last songs were the recognisable Buena Vista stuff, but the rest of it was great too, the band had a great energy about them and we even got up and danced for the last couple, before being driven back to our hotel in the 1940‘s car again. This was definitely the highlight of our Cuba trip for me.
Some general notes about Valadero. We noticed that they have curly tailed lizards. We saw one big fat bright green lizard (about 20 cms in length) that had a big tail all curled up just like a puppy. And later a more black and green coloured one of a similar size with another curled up tail. It certainly makes a lizard look a lot cuter, which of course, must be why they’ve evolved that way on the island lol.
Its true that Valadero is nothing like Havana. Well apart from the old cars and the Spanish lingo. You don’t have the same old buildings, and it just didn’t have the same feel. However it does have a long white sandy beach and some beautiful blue Caribbean water, so its great for downtime.
After 2 decadent days we got up at 06h30 the following morning and headed for the bus station to get some tickets for Santa Clara. Again the bus drivers stopped here and there for whatever they felt the need for and after about 3 hours we arrived in Santa Clara. Now if you haven’t heard of Santa Clara before, it is basically renowned for being the burial place of Che Guevara / generally the spot for Che fans.
Santa Clara
As the man in our Havana casa had called to make the booking, we had been promised that a man would collect us from the bus station, bearing a sign with our names on it. However surprise surprise there was no one there when we arrived, so we walked out to get a taxi and were followed around by a woman trying to sell us another casa (very aggressive) so I ended up shouting at her (No Me Moleste ie don’t bother me) which seemed to do the trick. Our first impressions of Santa Clara were Not great. Frankly it looked like a right sh*t hole from the bus station. It doesn’t have the appeal of the beautiful old buildings of Havana Viejo, and the buildings that are there, are also in much need of repair. We did manage to get an old buick taxi to the casa which was pretty cool (massive back seat, door handles only open from the outside by putting your hand out the window) and on arrival the casa owners were very friendly.
Again we did a lot of walking in Santa Clara, and it was a bit more manageable as it is smaller than Havana. The prices were a bit cheaper as well, which came as a welcome relief after Havana. Santa Clara is a little more off the beaten track, so we didn’t see as many other tourists, and felt less harassed by people trying to get money off us / sell us stuff. We went to Dinos for pizza on the first day (not great), and then went looking for internet access to check if our new flight was confirmed. That night we had a couple of cheese burgers for dinner which was a real rip off, and then went for a walk around the plaza and saw an orchestra of about 20 people playing for no real reason (fab). We sat in the square for a bit and listened to the band and there were lots of people sitting around even though it was evening. The scene was very quaint / sociable, and it guess it comes from all the people in the small town knowing each other.
The next morning we took a horse drawn cart to the Che Mauseleum and Memorial. Unfortunately no cameras were allowed inside and someone asked Steve to take his cap off. We did go inside the mausuleum and see the wall where Che’s bones are buried, alongside a number of his other comrades. The walls and roof are made of the same rough stone and it gives you the feeling you are in a darkened cave.
Then we had lunch at La Concha which was pretty good for Cuba. Steve got enough pork schnitzel for 3 and I had the shredded beef. Then we went to buy our bus tickets for Trinidad and took another horse drawn cart back to the park, to have a look at the schedule at Mejunje. Now I should mention that Mejunje is a club that the guidebook recommended. On the walk back to the casa we went to see the Boxcar museum, which is where Che blew up a train just before taking over Santa Clara, and then we stopped to see the Boulevard, which is basically one street lined with a couple of restaurants (?) and ’shops’.
Lastly we went to Cubatour to get tickets for the cigar factory the following morning. Another thing worth mentioning is that the service is dire in Cuba, the woman selling us the tour tickets spent about 30 seconds with us and was extremely offhand about the whole thing. We had a similar experience in the cigar shop, and the Viazul office as well.
However that night we had dinner at the casa and they made us lobster, which was slightly overcooked by still pretty good and a welcome surprise. Then we headed out and saw a great local band playing in a pub next to the square while drinking mojitos. It was a very informal session with a lot of local people dancing and was very cool (the different between the more touristy Habana Viejo and Santa Clara is that there were very few tourists there). Despite our initial impression, Santa Clara was definitely growing on us.
The next morning we got up early for our tour of the cigar factory. We had a local woman take us on to the factory floor where we got to see a woman actually press the tobacco leaves together and then on to the pressing process and the wrapping and packaging processes which was very cool. However seeing the 200 + people sitting in the factory making the cigars came as a bit of a shocker. It was a pretty unpleasant place to be, and with wages very low, the only upside I could see was the little old man with the microphone reading them the daily newspaper. Its times like those we were very grateful for what we had back home. As I alluded to earlier, we did visit the cigar factory across the way, and despite the terrible service, we did buy a couple of Monte Cristo cigars to send back home as a souvenir.
We had some lunch on the boulevard and the went for a walk to see the statue of Che carrying a baby, and then up the National Monument hill to see the view over Santa Clara, which was good. Then we walked back down to the boulevard and decided to go looking for some toilet paper (its handy to have your own roll as restaurants often don’t provide any, youre lucky if you get a toilet seat). Unfortunately all we could find in the store was a 12 pack so it was a no go. Then a bit more walking around a musuem that wasn’t very good and featured a collection of period furniture like a house. We did later manage to get a cardboard box (from a shop) and some packaging tape (after trying 3 different stores), so that we could box up and try to post the cigars back home. Then we went to the first post office in Santa Clara and tried to post the box, but they said they couldn’t send as the box had some writing on the outside, and we would need to cover it with paper (strike 1)!
After a forgetful dinner on the Boulevard, we went to club Mejunje, which rather surprisingly turned out to be a bit like gay pride except on a smaller scale. Who would have thought that that many gay men and drag queens could be found in a relatively small Cuban town? We managed to meet an interesting character named Geraldo (who managed to get us bumped past the queue) and introduced us to a few friends inside, so we danced with them for a while which was fun. At one point there was one drag queen that was desperate to pick up Steve (much to his dismay), so I had to keep dancing with Steve, to get him to back off lol. Frankly those Cubans know how to party, and party they did. I looked hard and I couldn’t see any inhibitians anywhere, although being primarily a gay club could have something to do with that. Towards the end of the evening Geraldo actually tried to give me his phone number in front of Steve, and he knew full well we were married, so I’m not sure where he was expecting to go with that?! Anyway we had a fun night out, and we hadn’t been out dancing in a while. The Cubans are big fans of something called Reggaeton, and although I cant say it’s a new favourite, it did have a good dance beat.
So after our big night out, the following morning we caught another Viazul bus to Trinidad.
Trinidad
Once again we arrived in the sorching heat, only this time a man really was there to meet us as promised. We dropped our bags off and went looking for some lunch, which ended up being in a kind of internet café (yes the only one we found in Cuba). Steve had a hamburger on toast (no jokes) and I had the worlds worst spaghetti which tasted like it had been made with tomato sauce and took about an hour to arrive. Then we had an ice cream while we walked up to the Plaza de Mayo which is a lovely quite little square with an old church at the back of it. There was a man playing the guitar on the corner when we got there and it was lovely. Afterwards we headed back to the internet café to try and find a hostel in LA, only to find out that you cant actually book anything from Cuba (the websites are blocked / give you an error!). Then we went to the supermarket to get some water and on the way back to the casa we got caught in a real downpour. We tried to wait it out in a doorway, but after about a half an hour it had not abated, so we had to make a run for it and got completely soaked through. As we didn’t want to head out again in the rain, we had a light dinner of chocolate biscuits in the casa (its no wonder my skins turning in to a right mess).
The following morning we had an enormous breakfast at the casa (this particular casa also offered food). In fact, if you said No to their food, they actually tried to find out why you had declined and convince you of how good their food was. We told them that we need to go out and find some wrapping paper for our parcel, and they kindly gave us some of theres (this must be a common thing in Cuba). So we wrapped the parcel and then headed back to the post office to try and post it again, only to then be told that they couldn’t send international parcels from that post office (strike 2).
Feeling slightly annoyed by his point, we went to the Museum Historico and walked up the tower for a great view for Trinidad (very cool). Then we went for an expensive lunch which wasn’t very good (camarones and rice overcooked, took ages to arrive, and was rather expensive (back to Havana prices in Trinidad).
By this point we were really wondering what all the fuss was about re. the architecture in Trinidad. According to the guidebook it was meant to be better than Habana Viejo, but we hadn’t seen any evidence of that. Then we walked back to the Plaza de Mayo, and just above that we found an older area of houses that were a little easier on the eye. However in my opinion the buildings in Havana Viejo are still tops. Then we came back to the casa and they made us a chicken dinner, which was pretty good. We have learnt that the best dinners in Cuba are in the casa’s, rather than the resturants. Afterwards we went out and saw a terrible band and some dancers supposedly doing the congo. Then we went to the plaza and saw another Buena band that were pretty good. Although of course, not as good as the real thing.
For our last day in Trinidad we took a coco taxi to Playa Ancon, which is their local beach, and it was our favourite beach in Cuba. Again with the white sand and beautiful warm blue water, but this time a quieter more relaxed atmosphere.
The following morning we took a bus back to Havana (5 hours) and went back to the same casa. Then we walked to the post office in Havana to try and post the parcel, only to be told that we would have to go to the next post office as they didn’t do parcels there (strike 3 and by this point we are fuming). So we got a taxi to post office number 4 (it wasn’t close) and went to the international post window to try and send the by now much hated parcel. This time the woman takes the neatly paper wrapped parcel from us and actually starts to slit it open with a knife. We ask her what the *&^^ she was doing, and she said that she needed to inspect everything inside the parcel. So she takes out each carefully wrapped item and has a good look at it. Eventually when she gets to the cigars she says we cant send those, as only the cigar factory can send them, and we are just about ready to murder her right there. In the end they wanted to charge us 70 UDS to send only half the contents of the parcel, so we took it all back and walked away from there, very very frustrated with the Cuban postal system and the once neatly wrapped parcel, open in our arms (strike 4). We would just have to take the contents along to LA with us, and try to post it again from there.
All in all I would say that Cuba is the most interesting country we have visited thus far, because it makes you question all of the things you take for granted back home. I constantly found myself wondering where the majority of our everyday products were sourced from back home, and we marvelled at how resourceful a country can be when its practically cut off from the rest of the world (they even have their own brand of Cola!).
We loved the old cars and old buildings in Havana Viejo, and not to mention the fantastic music. However due to the costs, the lack of internet access, the fact that the ATMs didn’t work, and how difficult it was to find a decent meal, it is not a very easy place for a traveller and we were pretty relieved to be heading on to LA the following morning. Roll on our first English speaking country in 4 months!
Sunday 31 October 2010
Mexico - Cancun
The day before our flight to Cancun we noticed on our tickets that we were flying via Miami. Then we found out that even transferring passengers through Miami need an ESTA visa waiver form (online application takes 72 hours to process - ie too late). After an initial panic we realised that we could probably make use of the ESTA forms we had pre-arranged for our time in L.A. in a couple of weeks. We made the application before they implemented the mandatory online fee for the visa waiver. Now I ask you, what good is a visa waiver programme, if you have to apply online, pay a fee and wait 72 hours for your application to be processed? Doesn’t that sound a lot like a visa application to you?
Anyway, the following morning we caught our flight to Miami. We were scheduled to have about 4 hours in Miami airport before our connecting flight, which we though would be plenty of time. What we didn’t realise is that there is no such thing as a transferring passenger in Miami airport. We had to collect our bags, go through the rigorous bag security checkpoint and queue for customs again (they didn’t even ask for the ESTA), which due to the queues in the airport, ended up taking 2 hours to get through. I felt a bit sorry for the people that were transferring with only an hour between their flights, as they looked very stressed running up and down asking for an express customs queue (yes there was one, but it was just as long as all the others). Mental note: do not ‘transfer’ through Miami airport again.
On arrival at Cancun airport we came across some very helpful airport information guys, who directed us to the local Ado airport bus that took us in to Cancun central, saving us some money on a taxi fare. We then managed to follow the hostel’s walking directions from the terminal terrestre to the hostel (result). We had one night in a regular old hostel and the following morning we took a local white minivan taxi along the highway to the Mayan Riviera, which is about halfway between Cancun and Playa del Carmen. As I probably mentioned before Mum Connellan had kindly given us a weeks worth of accommodation in a resort along the Riviera, so we were looking forward to a week of luxury after three months of hostel living. But first we had to get to the hotel lobby…
The local minivan taxi had rather unceremoniously dropped us along the side of the highway, just opposite the impressive entrance gate of the hotel (granted the minivan was cheap). So we picked up our bags and started to dash across the large highway (cars flying by). However, midway my cap somehow managed to come off my head and then bounced down the highway as a few cars and finally a large passenger bus ran over it. Steve eventually managed to retrieve it for me when the traffic slowed a bit, although it is now slightly worse for wear, with a bit of bus tread running over the peak! Lol. Then we ran the last gambit over to the gate, and asked the security guys if there was a shuttle service to take us into the lobby. They informed us that the next shuttle would be along in 5 hours time, and offered to order us a taxi that would take around 30 mins to arrive from Playa del Carmen. We of course declined and decided to walk our way in to the lobby (how far can it be?), bags and all, which the security guards had clearly never seen before. None the less on we marched, along the pristine golf course, passed the big fountain and on to lobby. Our first impressions of the hotel were fantastic - manicured gardens and fountains and a very impressive lobby - now this is more like it!
There was a slight confusion at the check in desk, as the hotel had actually reserved 12 different rooms for us (as in 24 people), so we had to explain that it was really just the two of us, and they could release the other rooms they had. As it was we still had 2 large double rooms, with a kitchen and living area in between them, so we had plenty of space to roam around. At last a decent bed with soft sheets, a hot shower with decent water pressure, fluffy towels, and a TV with English speaking channels - what bliss! Due to the kitchen and living area (couches in front of the telly YAY) it actually felt like we had an apartment for the week, rather than a hotel room and it was great to have some home comforts again whilst on the road. That first afternoon we went for a walk around the expansive hotel grounds (it was possible to get lost and we did) and checked out the beautiful pools and the beach. On that first day when we sat down next to the pool we felt a bit like impostors, and were half expecting a passing attendant to come over and say ‘Excuse me, but what are you doing here?’. I think that comes from 3 months of staying in hostels and suddenly being upgraded. I did notice 2 woman by the pool who had a bit too much work done to their faces ala Joan Rivers. Fortunately the impostor syndrome soon wore off and we were sipping pina coladas at the pool bar in no time.
On the morning of day 2 we went for an optional sales presentation, so that we could get a free buffet breakfast and a discount on our room charges (you can take us out of the hostel, but you cant take the hostel out of us lol). Then we spent a bit of time at the pool, before catching the hotel shuttle in to Playa del Carmen, so that we could go to the Walmart. After our walk around we thought that the restaurants inside the resort were a little pricey, so we decided to stock up on groceries and try to make use of the kitchen at our disposal. While we were in Walmart we also found a tour agency desk, so we booked ourselves on a tour of Chichen Itza (the Mayan pyramid ruins) and a Swim with the dolphins afternoon (another first). The grocery shopping turned out to be a great idea, as we saved loads by eating breakfast and dinner in our ‘apartment’ on most days.
On the Monday we went on the Chichen Itza tour, which actually consisted of a first stop at an underground cave (cenote) with a natural pool, then a stop at a souvenir shop and a stop for lunch, and after lunch we sent to Chichen Itza in the Yucatan (which was actually a good 2.5 hour drive from the resort). Chichen Itza is jokingly referred to as Chicken Pizza which I found pretty handy in remembering the name. Chichen Itza was very impressive and we had a great tour guide (good English) who walked us around for an hour and gave us an overview of the Mayan ruins. I was surprised to learn that the Mayan pyramid, unlike the Egyptian pyramids, did not contain any dead bodies, and was actually used as a kind of calendar to indicate when it was time to plant and reap (at the solstice). Our guide also managed to demonstrate the feather serpent coming down from the top of the pyramid and retreating back up again which was cool. As was the bird sound that the pyramid makes when you stand at the bottom and clap your hands. The Mayans (like the Incas) where obviously a clever bunch. Unfortunately by the time the guide had finished walking us around, we only had 45 minutes left to walk around the ruins on our own, before we had to head back to the bus, which I didn’t feel was nearly enough time. There are actually a number of ruins around the famous Mayan pyramid at Chichen Itza and we found ourselves racing around from one to the next. However I’m glad that we got to see the pyramid, as Chichen Itza wasn’t actually something on our original ‘must do’ travel list, but more of an unexpected travel bonus! We also picked up a couple of souvenirs that we are posting back to the UK. However we were a bit shocked to find out the cost of postage…it actually cost more than double the price of the souvenirs to send them back to the UK - ouch! However as we don’t have any room in our backpacks, we don’t have much choice - either refrain from buying souvenirs altogether, or post them back when we do.
The following day we didn’t do very much other than sit around the pool , soak up some Cancun rays and read our books. Steve is on book 3 of the Stieg Larsson trilogy (as recommended by me) and I have just started Eat Pray Love, which promises to be an entertaining read. By the way Kerstin W if you are reading this, then the author’s writing style reminds me of you. She is hilariously funny, rather detailed and very self aware, I reckon if you haven’t read this book already you would like it. The only other notable thing about Tuesday was that by the time we got back to our rooms, someone had slipped a wee note under our doors to say that Hurricane Paula was approaching and that we were at a hurricane warning level 2 (whatever that means, Im guessing its similar to a defcon 1) and that the pools and most of the restaurants / activities at the resort were going to be closed the following day. Call me an idiot, but having never seen / been in a hurricane before, I was kind of curious to see what one might look like from the safety of our ‘built to withstand a hurricane‘ room.
However we happened to be booked on the Swimming with Dolphins trip on the Wednesday afternoon. As luck would have we were driven about 45 minutes away from the storm to Dolphin Discovery where it wasn’t throwing it down with rain and it just looked like any other sunny day. We had an awesome time swimming with the dolphins. We got to stroke them and kiss them on the nose. Then we got pulled along by a dolphin swimming on its back, and lastly we got pushed along by 2 synchronised dolphins while on a boogie board (one nose pushing each foot!). My only complaint is that we weren’t allowed to take any cameras with us (well I guess it would have been difficult since we were in the water). There was a resident photographer sent out to snap pictures of us doing the various activities. However when we came out and went to view the photos (the ones of us kissing the dolphins were very cute), they told us that the CD of photos was going to cost USD100. This came as a bit of a shock, seeing as we’ve bought a CD of photos before for around USD25. Worse still we just didn’t have the necessary USD100 on us, and we hadn’t brought any credit cards along, so in the end the choice was taken out of our hands. We did walk around the pools afterwards and get a couple of photos of the dolphins from alongside the pools, so we will just have to make do with those pics instead. It wasn’t until later that night when we got home, that I realised I had left my trusty sunglasses somewhere at Dolphin Discovery. We are still trying to recover them, but in the meantime I like to picture Keekoo the young male dolphin swimming around with them perched on the end of his nose. He will clearly be the coolest dolphin in the pool wearing my rap around black ray bans. By the time we got back to the hotel that night, we had another note under our door to say that the hurricane was passing and the activities were back on, so it was all over very quickly and not nearly as windy/rainy as I had expected.
Thursday was our last day in the resort, and we had a bit of boring admin to sort out before leaving. We basically spent the day doing laundry, posting souvenirs, getting forex, updating the blog and sorting out important emails. Unfortunately even though we’ve been gone for over 3 months now, every now and then the odd council tax bill / RAC membership renewal letter pops up demanding a response. Thanks go to Mum Taylor for kindly receiving and scanning in all our post.
First thing Friday morning we had some cereal for brekky (another bonus of having a kitchen for a whole week - we don’t get to eat much cereal nowadays) and taxied to Cancun airport for our Cuba flight. All good things must come to an end, and we paid a sad farewell to our luxurious room and life of comfort. Thanks again to Mum Connellan for a fab gift.
When we got to Cancun airport, our 13h10 Mexicana flight to Cuba was, rather ominously, not showing on the departure board. The more informed among you may remember the name Mexicana from the news a while back, as they just happened to go bust about a week after we booked our flights with them in August. However this was Not news to us on the day, and we had contacted Opodo earlier in the week to check if our flight was still on. Opodo informed us that some Mexicana flights were still running and ours was scheduled to depart on time (A Okay). Unfortunately this couldn’t have been further from the truth, as there was nary a soul to be found at the Mexicana check in desk, or the Mexicana Tickets Sales counter when we arrived at the airport. Nor was there any sign / sort of information around regarding Mexicana to tell unsuspecting passengers what was going on. It was left to the Airport Information man to tell us that Mexicana had stopped flying from Cancun about 2 months before. Needless to say we were Not very impressed with Opodo customer services at that point. We were basically left standing in Cancun airport with all our luggage at 10h00 on the Friday morning without a flight. We then spent the next hour running around between the different operators in the airport, to try and find ourselves another flight to Cuba leaving on the same day. We did manage to get ourselves on a 12h30 flight, however as we bought the tickets last minute they were at much inflated prices - grrrr - complaint already in with Opodo! It was quite a relief once our luggage was finally checked in and we made our way through to the boarding gates. So it’s a short flight before our Cuban adventure begins…but more about that later.
In the meantime you folks have been busy at home and congratulations go out to Ryan and Ann, Nicky and Grant, Wendy and Cyril & Dimitri and Anna on their new bundles of joy, as well as Jessica and David on their big day.
Love to all at home,
Kirst x
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