Franz Josef: May The Weather Be Ever In Your Favor!

Before I get to Franz Josef, let's talk about the interesting journey here! Noreen and I boarded a bus from the YHA Wanaka to Franz Josef. We had heaps of stops, as the Kiwis would say. We stopped for a view, we stopped for the restroom, we stopped for coffee, we stopped for other people's,who weren't even on the bus', medical emergencies. My favorite of stops had to be a stop smack in the middle of nowhere so the drivers can do a switch-a-roo. Our new driver boarded the bus and started to do a headcount. The count told him he was missing one person so he counted again and then again. He resulted to doing a roll call of names. We were all present. Then he asked does anyone suspect their neighbor or buddy is missing? Nope we answered. Then someone said, "we're in the middle of nowhere.. where would they go?" Valid point. My favorite of points was from a woman that said, "let's take a vote to stay or go!" You had to laugh. Eventually the bus driver agreed to continue on the journey. We're finally on our way to finish off this 7 hour journey or so we thought. Five or so minutes in, this man with a coat that was patched up like he had come back from a war walked to the front of the bus and asked to be let off, in the middle of nowhere. The driver let him out and NOW we're on our way!

We had planned two full days in Franz Josef but after the initial hour assessment of a town, I decided one was enough. Luckily, we were able to move up our bus departure by a day, found accommodations for an extra night in Nelson and the YHA Franz Josef was nice enough to refund our money for the night we weren't going to be using. We spent our first night in a four bed girls dorm room. To our relief, we weren't stuck with the young folks. There was Keri-Ann from Toronto and Nelly from Germany who was stuck on the green KiwiE bus with a bunch of kids, all in the same age bracket or so. "You're 38?!" When I disclosed my age. Yes, the Asian genes! We joked about how nice it was to be with adults and then naturally, dating was the topic of discussion! 

Folks that come to Franz Josef seem to come to wait and wait and just wait some more. Waiting for the clouds to clear so that the glacier helicopters would take off. Noreen read in trip advisor that someone waited five days!! Here! In this 1.5 street town. I would have taken it as a sign that it wasn't meant to be.

Luckily for us, the clouds cleared up enough for us to get a decent viewing of the glacier via the Franz Josef walk. After the 1.5 hour trek, we found a nice older couple from the Netherlands to give us a ride back to town. We had an afternoon (3pm) heli flight up to the glacier but when we initially went to check in, the pilots were just hanging out twiddling their thumbs. The weather was not favorable but anything can happen they say! Half an hour later, checked in again, flights going up! Our backup was the 5pm trip and if not, then the 8am trip the next morning before our 9:10am ten hour bus ride. We lucked out as the weather Gods opened up enough for us to sneak in on the only day that we're here to do this. Being on top of the Franz Josef Glacier will probably one of the cooler experiences here. Just simply doing the glacier walk would not do this place justice!

Next up: Nelson enroute to Abel Tasman.

Hashtag Love Wanaka!

Prior to leaving Te Anau, I ventured into Miles Better Pies for one more seafood pie. Miles himself came and greeted me, asked where I was off to today and I said back to Queenstown, sad face. We both griped about how touristy it was there. Miles said it'll only get worse- both crowd and cost. He asked if I worked there and I laughed and said no, I'm from San Francisco, California. He asked if I've been to Sausalito. I laughed again and said I live there now. He inquired to see if the simple Hamburgers shop was still operating and I said yes, simple, takeaway burgers to go. Apparently, that inspired this simple takeaway pie shop to open 11 years ago! I'll file that under cool wanderlust tales.

Arrived in Queenstown, walked into the Absoloot Hostel and there was Noreen in the lounge waiting for my arrival! The highlight of our time in Queenstown was finally getting a taste of the popular Ferg Burger! All day long, lines run down the street to get a taste of this Ferg. At 4pm, a non-existent five minute line and we understood why.

The next morning, we boarded a bus to Wanaka, realized we could go direct from Wanaka to Franz Josef vs. having to return to Queenstown, so the first thing we did once we arrived was change our bus tickets. Now we gain an extra day in Franz Josef, score! 

Wanaka is a gem of a town. Thanks to my friend, Ray for the tip to come here. It lacks the dramatic cliff surroundings of Queenstown but has a cool authentic vibe about it that Queenstown lacked. It's home to a cozy lavender farm with dramatic characters of alpacas. This is where we probably would have done our steepest hike up Roy's Peak! It's 16km of no joke rated hard with a 1578m summit. I prefer to call it the mountain of never ending switchbacks! It took us about 3 hours to ascend up to breathtaking views though the theme for the 2.5 hour descend was, "Are the cars getting bigger yet?" "Nope?" was often the answer. Special shoutout to the nice Kiwi at the hostel for giving us a ride to the start of the trail and to the nice English couple that answered our hitchhike call back!

The most adventurous thing we did here and probably for the rest of this trip, took place at a spot called Matukituki Valley here in Wanaka. We did what folks here call, deep canyoning guided by an awesome duo, who I think would make a great couple, Rene and Jeremy. In simple terms, we did a steep climb up the canyon for half an hour and then it was an all day adventure of repelling down waterfalls, jumping into them, sliding down them even face first and zip lining across. It was 10% fear and 90% awesome! I even have a wrist full of war wounds to show for it. Having those burgeoning waterfalls in your face as you're abseiling down is no joke! I was so proud of Noreen for tackling and finishing the course! I at least had some experience from rock climbing that I can draw from but she dived in blind and did amazing!   

Here is a video of the type of fun we had: http://youtu.be/7kT9a7A_j0s

Tomorrow, we leave this gem of a town enroute for Franz Josef! #lovewanaka

Weather Perfection In Milford!

Posted in a town called Te Anau, where the sun doesn't start to set until 9pm! I'm blogging this as I'm sitting lakefront on a quiet morning. Where to begin...the journey here! Things happen in threes, right? At SFO, I was held back because they had issues validating my passport. Of course what's crossing my mind is.. did I get busted for traveling to Cuba?! After a 20 minute or so wait, I'm on NZ flight 7! Don't ask but my apple earphones broke three hours into a 12 hour flight. I broke it in fashion, part of the jack was stuck in the plug so I couldn't even use the airline headphones..oh well watched Everest once with sound and twice without. Figured I knew what the dialogue was so at least I had visual entertainment- great film by the way- I recommend it! Lastly, boarded my connecting flight in Auckland to Queenstown.. was in my seat before getting ushered out of my seat and back to the gate.. turns out they gave me someone else's boarding pass! Look, if you're giving me a boarding pass, I'm getting on a plane! At last, landed in Queenstown and what a touristy jungle it is! One true sign of a tourist mecca: a Louis Vuitton shop. In Queenstown! Outside of traveling to Asia, I've yet to see as many of my peoples, Asians, as I have thus far in NZ. While Queenstown itself lacks a bit of character, IMHO, the scenery that surrounds it is stunning! The stunning cliffs! These cliffs will be the closest I get to a Lord Of the Rings Tour- this is where they filmed some of the Cliffs Of Mordor scenes. I left Queenstown after a day for a more quiet Te Anau. 

In Te Anau, I hopped on an obligatory cruise to Milford Sound. It was raining cats and dogs, or heaps as the Kiwis would say, but apparently this is Milford at its best as there is no soil in the mountains to absorb the rain so it creates thousands of waterfall. It is stunning! On the way back, I really wanted to trek Key Summit but the weather did not allow for the vistas one would see so it was skipped. It was raining so hard that none of us wanted to do any of the walks scheduled. Our guide Toni eventually made us, "this is a coach and walk, so let's walk, rain is not that bad." As buckets of rain drops hit her window shield.. to Toni's credit, the trails were beautiful! The epiphany I had for the day was that if it involves me and a boat, it will for sure rain. In Thailand, the cruise through the limestones, rain. In Vietnam, the cruise of Ha Long and Bai Tu Long Bay, rain. And now, Milford, buckets of rain!

While Milford Sound was obligatory and stunning, my favorite had to be a one day hike I did the next day on the Milford Track. Our guide, Will, was a hilarious Kiwi. The weather was perfection- sunny and warm. The vistas was nothing short of breathtaking. We hiked about 12 miles and even filled our water bottles atop a waterfall. Talk about fresh spring water! 

It's time for me to leave Te Anau. It took me three days to figure out my favorite pie is the seafood one from the corner pie shop. At $6NZ, it's the cheapest and tastiest meal in town!

Next up: a quick stop in Queenstown to meet up with Noreen and off to Wanaka we go!

Mexico City...What A Surprise!

Thanks to a tip from my friend Ray, I tacked on a couple of days in Mexico City with my Cuba adventure. It would also give me a chance to see Mexico City Frank, a friend I met during my 2011 Africa travels in Tanzania. 

Arrived at MEX at 7:45am, got through immigration and baggage check. Baggage machine guy asked me how many cigars and sent me to the bag inspection lady. She couldn't figure out my backpack and I wasn't about to help her so she let me through without hardly checking it. Hopped in a taxi, came upon mad traffic and one hour later arrived at the Zocalo Central Hotel and met up with Frank shortly after at the Cathedral doors across the way!

In 2011, while in Tanzania, Frank showed me how to let unwanted bugs outside vs killing them. Now, in 2015, he's convinced me to eat bugs at Restaurante Chon! We had some type of worm, grasshoppers and some nutty tasting tiny bugs. It was definitely different and I'm not sure anyone else would have been able to convince me to some bugs for a full on meal! After our filling bug lunch, we went to the History Museum where Frank went full on historian on me- it was pretty cool! The day day ended with bacon and cheese tacos in a thunder and rain storm and I was never so ready for bed as I've been up since 1:30am!

 Day two started with a wake up from the Pride Parade crew. Yours truly did a stroll around the main square to take some photos then ventured out to a place called Castillo de Chapultepec. It was easily the most stunning castle I had ever seen and I've seen my share while traveling through Europe. The crown moldings, the architecture, stained glass windows, gardens and decor just oozed romance. After that taking that in, I walked into the Four Seasons hotel which was right outside the park to ask for information and directions. It's a travel habit of mine: any hotels is a resource for taxi and info along the way! Information and directions led me to a scrumptious meal at Contramar, a place my friend Ray had highly recommended and it did not disappoint. The hotel, which I'm not even staying at, even called in to make sure they would have a seat for me by the time I got there. Cerveche, octopus and shrimp tacos, limonada and a guava cheesecake to it off!  The pride parade brought out thousands of people out on the streets and cars were a bit bonkers! It made getting through 11+ miles of walking today a bit tricky to navigate but a success as only one car almost ran me over. Almost being two inches ... phew!

Apparently, I chose some weekend to be in Mexico City. Between various protests and the Pride Parade, never have I seen so many police officers in full armour with shields and all. We are talking hundreds and hundreds! Speaking of Pride, I will forever remember that while I was on this adventure, back home, history was made. The Surpreme Court Of The United States said yes to gay marriage in all 50 states! Obamacare is not going anywhere as well! As much critism as our President gets from the public, I have nothing but admiration for the man. Let's be honest, he had the toughest of messes to clean up from the prior eight years! I am beyond proud that we have a leader who can not only command a stage when he speaks and speaks intelligently but whose humility and passion for the people shines through each and every time.

I must admit, I was a bit nervous about making a visit to Mexico City because of the wrap they get in the eyes of the U.S. media but I figured if I can take on Medillin (Colombia), I can take on Mexico City and I'm glad I did. What a surprise this city turned out to be! Culture, food, endless history and the most romantic of castles. I'm sold! I've bottled up so much positive energy from Cuba and Mexico City that I'm hoping it'll last me awhile! Until next time friends! 

Cuba Wrap Up: Interrogation In, Interrogation Out!

I hopped on the noon bus from Varadero to Havana. The 2+ hour bus ride dropped me off at Havana Vieja vs. the Viazul (bus station) office which meant I wouldn't have to spent CUC10 getting myself back to Vieja..sweet! Karolina's Casa Nena was full for the night so she arranged for me to stay at her neighbor Alain's spot, Casa D'Rocha a few doors down. I walked in the building and walked back out because I didn't know which apartment it was and as I walked out, timing would have it that Nuides was walking to Casa Nena's. "Hola Yi! Aqui!" So I followed her to Casa Nena while she calls Alain to let him know I'm here. Karolina did not tell me that Alain's casa required a out 40 flights of steps!

My last evening in Havana and Cuba for that matter, I met Caroline, Levi and Mike at Jardin de Orient for a locals priced meal. Don't let the name fool you, there's nothing orient about the spot. Turns out Mike and Levi both grew up in San Francisco as well! After dinner, I talked them into walking the malecón with me. Hanging out with them was so nice..I wasn't getting hassled as much but as soon as I step about 10 feet away, it starts up! We all turned in pretty early driven by the heat exhaustion and early cab wake up call. The timing had nothing to do with the sorta strange guy who was chatting us up..an American from Saudi Arabia.

It's 2:39am and I hear a knock on the door..it's Pepe..Karolina's taxi guy.. these taxi folks are always early! He was on the phone then gives me the phone and it's Alain explaining he wasn't going to be here to check me out but make sure to lock everything and leave the keys. Apparently, everyone knows everyone in this side of town! I explained to Pepe with some key broken Spanish words that we needed to drop by 611 Calle Cuba to pick up my friends. In his ritzy old school car we rolled. 

We arrived at the airport, checked in, exchanged my leftover money back to euros (I brought $700 euros with me and exchanged $640 of it but used only $600 of it.) and made our way to immigration. The immigration guy looked like he was about to stamp me but nope..I was denied along with Levi and Carolina and was sent back to the red line to wait. Here we go again..we knew the drill. 

Mr. Immigration Interrogation guy made his way towards us and took us into the office one by one for questioning. I was second to go, Levi was up first. The office left little to desire...two desks..some fake flowers and a dozing coworker in the background. He started his questioning by asking me where I've been and the addresses of where I stayed. Good thing I kept all that with me! Taxi drivers I used and then it was during the background questioning portion that I noticed he is writing on the bottom portion of the same piece of paper the lady who interrogated me entering Havana was writing on! He was cross checking. The best might have been..what is The Gap? I took my hoodie out and showed him the label. Actually, maybe it was when he asked if I came with Levi and Caroline and I said "No, we met in Havana" and he said, "Aqui? Beautiful!" I thought.. beautiful is letting us through and on the flight! Anyway, he led us back to the immigration counter, stamped, scanned and we made it! 

I followed Levi in buying a last minute trinket, a baseball bat keychain with Cuba colors on it. The lady only wanted American dollars. How backwards was that?! In a country where the U.S. dollar isn't king and she wants dollars. 

Coming to Cuba, the only expectation I had was to see throngs of classic old school cars. There were plenty of them but not as many as I had thought. Because of their relations with the Chinese, there are actually a lot more modern cars than I thought there would be and I've even spotted two Audi's. Point being.. if you want a piece of old Cuba before it's too late and old classic cars become a tourist thing vs a local means, get here soon! You can spend thousands of dollars and go with education tour groups or you can spend $1500 ($900 total air and $600 food, casa, transport, trinkets) and do it yourself. Cuba is special in the sense that it's still somewhat time locked and a bunch of stuff is backwards. However, take the intrigue away of it being a "regulated" country to visit for those holding a U.S. Passport and it's kinda like any other country in this region, except for the cars, cigars and rum, in my opinion anyway. It doesn't take away the cool factor though of a Cuba stamp in the passport! Except, I don't think he was supposed to stamp my passport.

The most common question I've had asked, outside of pick up ones have been, how did I arrive here? Folks seem disappointed when I respond with Mexico City. They're eager for the abundance of folks from the U.S. to fund the tourism here! Maybe a Starbucks? Maybe a Hard Rock Cafe? Maybe an Ironman race? Maybe wifi and internet?!

Next up: 48 hours in Mexico City before back to SFO!

Varadero...Cuba's Beach Paradise

No early morning bus ride is ever complete without the obligatory 80's love songs! That was the genre of choice for the two bus drivers taking turns for the six hour drive from Trinidad to Varadero. Peter Cetera, Richard Marx mixed in with some James Blunt and "Imagine" by John Lennon which is always a nostalgic song for me while I'm traveling. It brings me back to 2004, I'm sitting in St Mark's Square in Venice, Italy writing in my journal as the sun was setting when the orchestra started playing "Imagine." It was my first trip solo abroad and that was the first reminder of home.

In Varadero, I'm staying at Beny's House, which is exactly what it sounds like. His daughters, Natalia and Giselle, manage all the cooking for guests. Food is pricey in this town so I've had most of my meals at the house. At CUC40/night, this is the priciest place during my Cuba circuit. This town is the beach spot to be among folks from Canada and Europe..it's nice..certainly warm waters. I'm writing this at 8pm at a still crowded beach. It's a shame how much trash folks leave here though. Cubans must  be huge fans of the Beatles because this is the second town now that houses a huge bar dedicated to the Beatles..Trinidad had one as well... equipped with life size Beatles statues, album covers and lyrics on the walls. The Beatles Bar in Varadero. The Yesterday Bar in Trinidad.

This is the only town that will accept euros as a form of payment which was handy for me because I'm starting to run low on my CUC bills. Banks here aren't equipped for American cards of any type...yet? It seems like each time you get in a cab, regardless of type or distance, the go carts, old school classic, yellow can or horse carts, it's CUC5. Cigars here cost twice as much as they did in Trinidad. Score on my Trinidad purchase for requesters back home!

The cat calling and hissing continues in Varadero. I was looking to buy an obligatory bag (it's my vice while traveling)..he wanted CUC10 and I said CUC6 and he said how about CUC6 with a kiss? What?! Then he offered a kiss and it's free. What?! Gross. Twenty blocks later, I bought one for CUC7 and didn't have to kiss anyone!

My second full day on this beach strip, I spent at the beach taking in the Caribbean blue waters and then hopped on a double decker tour bus because I was curious to see what the east side looked like. At the beach, an older gentleman from Cologne, Germany chatted me up while on his walk. I was meditating to the sounds of the ocean. After the general casual conversations one has with other travelers, we bid each other well. As he walked away, I thought to myself, did I just miss a sugar daddy opportunity?! I joke! I must say, he was an upgrade to the teen that was trying to chat me up shortly prior and the guy that invited himself to sit next to me while I was watching the sunset last night. Speaking of which, ladies (and gents), there's a hilarious article Aziz Ansari wrote about dating in June's Glamour magazine. Hilarious!!

East side of this town is full of huge all inclusive resorts. The boring stuff. There are a bunch of developments going up with huge banners that read "construction is revolution"! During the 90 minute bus tour of the east, I couldn't help but think, once Cuba is able to really do business with the U.S., how long it'd take before Ironman offers up "Ironman Cuba"! This strip of land would almost be perfect for it and the location, Cuba, would draw entries like bonkers, except this beach strip is no representation of authentic Cuba. 

Next stop: on the 12pm bus back to Havana!

Stage Five Clinger In Trinidad!

I arrived in Trinidad greeted my a throng of aggressive locals with places to stay and taxi services for hire. I was looking for Carlos, owner of the casa I had reserved, who said he would greet me at the station with a sign but no sign and no Carlos. One of the taxi hustlers said Casa Carlos is very far..needs taxi..seven blocks. I started walking as Carlos found me. It was actually two blocks, shady taxi guy!

Trinidad is a pretty charming and well reserved colonial town. Night and day compared to Havana with its slow pace and mountain breezes. When I say slow, shop workers are often found napping with their head down during open hours. I can't tell you how many times I've walked in and out of a shop without them knowing.. it's pretty amusing! I've spent my days wondering the cobbled streets and wondering some more. There is a nice strip of beach you can get to and back for CUC2, Playa Ancon.  

One early evening, passing the Restaurante Marin Villefuerte, the owner ushered me over and offered me the locals price of CUC6 for a 3 course lobster dinner vs tourist price of CUC15. We communicated this via writing of numbers on the hand. The lobster tail was the size of my plate! 

Trinidad is also where I would run into Levi and Caroline again, along with their friend Mike. The funny thing about meeting people in my travels is that regardless of how long the first encounter lasted, the next time you randomly cross paths again, it's like old friends with hugs all around! I guess it's a comfort sort of thing to see familiar faces again while anonymously in foreign lands. Mike, "how did you guys meet?" Levi, "during interrogation! We were trying to make it out the exit door!" We laughed about our interrogation incident at the airport and coordinated to meet for dinner in Havana and hopefully for the taxi ride to the airport for our 6am flight to Mexico City. Coincidentally, our travel timing from the U.S. to Cuba was the same and on the same flight. I'll have to ask if Ernesto from Toronto helped them with the ticket.

Local life in Trinidad includes folks making from what they have. Families

go around in the late afternoons, walking down the local streets offering what they have to sell. The casa I am staying at buys bread daily from the bread lady..there's a banana guy that comes around on a donkey cart..a floral lady..etc. My favorite has got to be the half pig/dog that roams the streets of this town. It was the older Cuban man dressed daily in his suit, fedora and often found smoking a cigar but that was before he started to make kissing lips at me. Back to pup...the cute yet creepy pup that's been tracing (stalking) my footsteps the past couple of days might be a close second. True story-stalker pup! I said hello to this little mutt by the Plaza Mayor on my first afternoon here and since then, stage five clinger! I turn around and it's there. I speed walk to the other side of town and I turn around, it's there. I'm sitting at an ice cream cafe reading for about three hours and I see it across the corner four times. I'm going to miss the little guy.

One thing I'm not a fan of is the cat calling. It wasn't this bad in Havana but perhaps folks in Havana are hustling more and folks in Trinidad are just bored? I've received multiple marriage proposals on a daily basis. Cubans would put the cat callers in Spain to shame! 

 My last evening in Trinidad, I found a spot that had tacos on the menu!! Albeit, a mosquito in the restaurant seem to have had me for dinner. This serves as a testament to how well those Ben's 30% Deet Wipes works as I've always brought them with me but forgot on this trip. Talk about craving.. tacos and chips but I had yet to find chips in Cuba other than the imported Pringles for CUC6. I had three tacos and gave one to this poor dog I see everyday that looks beyond malnourished.

I left Carlo's Casa early morning as my bus to Varadero left at 730. Did I ever talk about what a zoo Casa Carlos is?! The common place is palatial with super high ceilings and antique wood furnishings with a bunch of antique radios on display. He is an art critic or something like that. A walk through the commons at 630am darkness was an adventure. There was a dog, a cat, a butterfly and two parrots..oh and not to mention the huge cockroach that greeted in the bathroom in the morning! 

Anyway..if you're ever in Trinidad..I recommend Casa de Carlos Sotalongo across Plaza Mayor. At CUC25 ($25)/ a night including breakfast, it's a steal! Just don't expect any water pressure from the showers.....at all!