“Into The Valley”

(Mile – 2,079)

After a days drive from San Francisco we made a late arrival into Mariposa Ca, a tiny “wild west cowboy” kinda town in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Mariposa consists of what appears to be a single main street and a local sheriff (we think it’s that guy out of the village people) who patrols the town on horseback, complete with a Stetson and a silver sheriffs star pinned to his shirt.

The whole point of this stop was to be in close proximity to Yosemite National Park, and although the Yosemite landscape was as beautiful as we expected, we couldn’t wait to get out of there due to the ridiculous number of fellow visitors. This reminded us of our policy to “Only travel off peak… when possible”.

We lasted for a few more hours before heading off the beaten path to hike to the base of “El Capitan” and then we spent the rest of the afternoon swimming in a quiet secluded part of the Merced River.

“El Capitan” on the left and “Half Dome” on the right. I’m talking abut the granite mountains in the background. Not us!

The next day we took a long drive through the less populated parts of the park on our way to Mono Lake with its stunning Tufa towers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tufa. This area is a nesting habitat for over two million annual migratory birds and the fading sunlight on the tufa towers made the whole place look like one of Roger Deans tripped out album covers.

♪ Down at the edge, round by the corner,
Close to the edge, down by a river ♬

Ever since I first heard of Death Valley as a kid I have always wanted to go there, so we stocked up with cold water, filled up “Vlad the Impala” with gas and headed off into the heat. The only way to describe it is that it feels like you are standing in front of a giant hairdryer set to its highest setting; the desert is literally breathtaking and certainly unforgettable.

A flower in the desert

At 282 feet below sea level, the lowest point in the USA, we hit a temperature high of 113ºf (45ºc). The odometer display does not lie.

Yea, though I drive through the valley of the shadow of death

We were also lucky enough to be there during the insanity that is the “Badwater race”. Recognized globally as “the world’s toughest foot race,” it covers 135 miles (217km) non-stop from Death Valley to Mt. Whitney, and in some years the temperatures have reached up to 130F (55c).  Accompanying the runners were huge dust devils in the desert basin as well as an ariel acrobatic display laid on by two U.S.A.F. jet fighters

Fighter jets showing off to the dust devils

On route to our next destination we dropped in to Las Vegas to witness the madness, glitter and lights. Twenty two years ago, Lura and I first visited this city for one night only to attempt to make our fortune on the nickel slots. Much has changed since then.

As we were in Vegas we couldn’t resist a show, and as I am vehemently opposed to Celine Dion or any form of musical theatre we decided to splurge on Cirque Du Soleil. We have had the good fortune to catch a number of Cirque shows before and every one is without doubt worth every penny. Although Mystere is the oldest of their running shows it was still absolutely amazing, and if you ever get the chance to see them please take our advice and GO!

Two nights in Sin City were enough for us and the next day we left Vegas and headed out across the Mojave Desert on the remains of Route 66 to Flagstaff, Arizona.

We obviously kept an eye out for alien activity on the way but apart from some tumbleweed, a few trailers and some otherworldly mullet hairdo’s we only got photographic evidence of one grounded U.F.O.

“The truth is out there”

 

 

“Yellow Star”

Fifty Reasons to come to Vietnam

We have only been here for eleven days and we already know that we want to return to this wonderful country. Here are (almost) fifty reasons why you should come here too:

1. Random people saving your life by just grabbing your hand and leading you across busy rush hour Saigon roads
2. Brutally strong and deliciously sweet 45 cent coffee served with condensed milk that drip brews in front of you
3.  Big steaming bowls of hot Pho – that says it all…
4. Tours around the country in old US Army Jeeps
5. Hundreds of perfect spiral shells littering the beach 
6.  Deluxe suite hotel rooms for $14
7.  Smiles everywhere you look 
8.  Custom fitted and hand made dresses to your wishes for a fraction of the US price  
9. Delicious food you can eat without contracting some deadly disease
10. Handmade leather shoes – be the coolest dude in the office with your snake leather brogues (are you listening Phil Sexton?)
11. Strangers that come up to you in the street, pat your belly and say “Happy Buddha”
12. Toilets on the boat 
13. Cows with lumpy backs
14. Fruit sellers wearing woven pointy hats
15. Beautiful old houses
16. Boat rides with Captain Mien
17. Amazing markets full of just about everything
18. Fishermen
19. Foreigners wearing pointy woven hats 
20. Proper motorbikes for hire everywhere
21. A human powered Cyclo (psycho?) ride across town 
22. Street vendors with fake East London and Australian accents ……..“Ello darlin’/It’s a bonza deal mate”
23. Very questionable public electricity 
24. Everything you buy on the street is on “Happy Hour buy two get one free” sale
25. Affordable and efficient overnight train rides all over the country 
26. Stir fried morning glory greens with garlic
27. Hand tailored jacket with silk lining made in two days 
28. Getting your shoes shined on the street corner
29. Getting an old school haircut, razor shave and beard/eyebrow trim and rather scary ear cleaning for about $5 
30. Decent roads that don’t shake your body to bits
31. Millions and millions of motorbikes EVERYWHERE! (none of which “Uncle” Phil or any self respecting motorcyclist would consider powerful enough) 
32. Trash vans that play a little 8 bit Nintendo style tune to let you know they are coming down the street
33. Tracking down “Miss Forget-Me-Not” and getting her to make you and your friend a custom hand made silk kimono 
34. Stunning scenery
35. Beautiful temples decorated with broken beer bottles and cracked crockery 
36. Dried sweetened coconut shavings that taste divine
37. Lanterns in the streets at night 
38. People that are as cute as “Hello Kitty”
39. Workers in the rice paddies wearing woven pointy hats 
40. Fresh and fried spring rolls
41. Pineapple pancakes and hot banana fritters on the street 
42. Vietnam propaganda posters for sale
43. Overloaded motorbikes 
44. $4 manicure/pedicure
45. Photo oportunities on every street corner 

 

“Chocolate and Cheese”

Feeling stretched with our budget we decided to stay for just two nights in Venice, so we had to make the most of our one full day in the “City of Water” We found a great little apartment in the old Jewish Quarter which was centrally located, quiet and very atmospheric.

On the way from the flat to our local coffee shop

Blessed with low-season tourist levels and gorgeous weather, we spent the day walking the city and getting slightly lost as usual. We managed to hit some of the big tourist spots like the Rialto Bridge and the Piazza San Marco (decidedly low on the pigeon front) but the lack of tourists meant that we were able to walk right into St. Mark’s. We marveled at the millions of Byzantine mosaics that adorned the Basilica as well as the horde of oriental objects that were bought to Venice after the conquest of Constantinople.

A Venitian gondola - look closely and you'll see that we are not on it

Our budget limited us to avoiding certain indulgences, so instead of a traditional gondola ride we opted for a vaporetto trip down the Grand Canal at sunset. Although the vaporetto was crowded, it was as beautiful and romantic (well, almost) as any gondola!

Sunset over Venice with hints of Istanbul thrown in for effect

November is the beginning of Venice’s “high water” time, and on the morning that we left town, the water was splashing over the sides of the canal onto the sidewalks. Everywhere we walked we saw the raised walkways ready to be called into action at the first sniff of a flood. We loved our brief moment in Venice and would definitely return one day – the architecture, the water, the decay – stunning in all its faded glory.

As we were on our way back to England there was really no way to avoid mountains, unless we followed the coast back through the South of France again. We figured that if we were going to risk life and limb by driving the camper over the Alps we might as well stay for a while!

So it was up and over the Grand St. Bernard Pass to spent five glorious days in Leysin, Switzerland. Leysin is a small village situated at 1,200 meters with fields and misty mountain views in all directions; we visited in the low season but in the winter the village comes alive with skiers.

Leysin - It's prettier than Hackensack. Some seriously beautiful sights served up on a daily basis.

The views from our chalet alone were just incredible, and it was so quiet that the only noise the locals complain about is the sound of the cow bells! The snows had not yet arrived so one day we hiked down a very steep and treacherous valley path to the medieval town of Aigle, stopping for a delicious picnic lunch in one of the pastures on the way. Our knees thanked us when we took the cog railway all the way back up to Leysin and thanks to Swiss efficiency the train arrived and departed bang on time.

The cog railway back home - thank you Switzerland for not making us walk back up the valley

The next day we decided to get a pre-season feel for winter sports by taking a family curling lesson at the local ice rink. At the start of the lesson we were warned in French that “Curling may not look like a dangerous sport but it is….you can easily slip on the ice and hurt yourselves really badly”. We only had one fall and a few minor bruises here and there but it was so much fun, and much harder than it looks (just staying upright on the ice was a major challenge in itself – click below to see how it should be done).

To celebrate our new found sporting talent, the curling lesson was followed by another local tradition…..our first delicious fondue at La Fromagerie.

This is Leysins’ local cheese making restaurant and as we didn’t really know how much to order and how the whole fondue thing worked it was a bit nerve racking to start with. However, once we were full of bread and melted cheese we all decided afterwards that it was just another reason to totally fall in love with Switzerland

Fondue at La Fromagerie - whoever drops the bread in the cheese pays the bill