Banff...My Soul Is Full

Of all my travels, there aren’t many places that’s made my soul feel immediately full. Banff was an exception to that! Banff was been on the list of places to get to ever since I heard about it a few years ago. “It’s one of the most beautiful places.” Over the years, I’ve learned that people’s opinions when it comes to travel is all relative. It really depends on where they’ve been and how much they’ve seen. Nonetheless, I decided that this July 4^th weekend, I was going to take advantage of the long weekend and hop the 2 hour flight into Calgary from San Francisco to check out what this Banff business was about. I landed in Calgary after an hour’s delay because our Air Canada plane couldn’t get its electricity to work. Once I landed, I picked up my Avis rental car and off I went with my Waze app. Note to Verizon customers, you can use your phone and access your data and minutes as normal for $2 a day in Canada and Mexico. The drive from Calgary to Banff would take about 90 minutes so away I went on my Nissan Versa rental. The drive from Calgary to Banff takes you along the Canadian Rockies and it was stunning. I love the feeling of driving on an open roads in a place I’ve never been to. Every turn on the highway is a discovery and in this case, every turn was another large mountain range that was more stunning than the last. Photos would not do this experience justice and you would know by the smile that couldn’t be wiped off from my face from the get go. Arrived at last in Banff!

There were many trails to choose from.You can hike in Banff, you can hike in the Lake Louise area, you can head all the way up to the Jasper National Park if you wanted to. I narrowed my hikes down to two main trails given I only had two full days to experience this beauty. Day 1, I arrived at Lake Louise by 7:30am. The waters and the beauty of Lake Louise when you first set eyes on it is nothing short of stunning. For today’s hiking adventures, I chose the Tea House Challenge hike. It’s basically a loop-ish hike with two different tea houses at the two main points: Plain of Six Glaciers and Lake Agnes. The most difficult decision was which tea house/ which direction would I want to do this in? It's up for heavy debate on trip adviser and I ended up heading out to the Plain of Six Glaciers first. It’s on a more exposed trail, I wanted to avoid the afternoon heat and it’s a more gradual of a climb vs heading to the Lake Agnes Tea House first. I enjoyed much of the trail to myself, benefit of starting early. I made it to the Tea House and ventured further out to the Plain of Six Glacier viewpoint. All along the trail, you hear these loud booms, they were active avalanches! Once at the viewpoint, I stopped to take in the scenery and eventually met a couple of new faces. I met a fellow solo gal from Utah and also  met a gentleman with a cute smile from Louisiana shortly after named Chris. I had recognized him from the parking lot. He’s goal for the next day was to make it up to Mount Temple in the Larch Valley area where I would be going tomorrow.

After the Glacier viewpoint, I took the same trail back until I saw the first sign that directs you to Lake Agnes. The closer I got to Lake Louise, the more humans I was sharing the trails with. By the time I was done with my hike, Lake Louise became an afternoon crowd house! They came in hoards offloading from the big tour buses. Lake Agnes on the Highline trail. Note: there are two connecting trails that will take you to Lake Agnes along the Glacier trail. The trail up to Lake Agnes is covered, gradual climb and you will see more faces over time as heading up to Lake Agnes first is the more popular route for whatever reason. This is where I would bump into Utah gal again! Having now done the route, I prefer heading out to the Plain of Six Glaciers first. By doing so, you see the views of the Glaciers the entire time, the sunrise is facing the Glaciers at these morning hours making for appropriate photo lighting, the climb is more gradual which you start to feel after 12 miles

The second trail I chose was the Larch Valley / Sentinel Pass trail that was categorized as black diamond difficult.. It’s 9 miles but steep. I arrived at the trail head in Moraine Lake at about 8am. Lake Louise is the star lake of Banff but Moraine Lake is not too shabby. The Valley of Ten Peaks tower over the lake creating another stunning backdrop. At the start of the trail, I bumped into the gal from Utah again, Melissa as we introduced ourselves this time. She turned out to be Melissa Hartwig, creator/author of the Whole 30 nutrition lifestyle. I was heading up on the trail as she was going to be following closely behind. Hiking in this area, it was recommended that you carry bear spray. I woke up to a news alert that a woman was attacked by a bear in Alaska the previous night. I will admit, I was a tiny bit nervous about the possibility of a bear sighting. Should I have bought the bear spray as recommended by the shop gal? My first question to her was, “Do I spray the bear or do I spray myself with this?” Ignorant as it may be, I had no idea! You spray the bear she says. I then thought, if a bear attacks and I am solo, I doubt I would have a chance to grab the spray and do I passed. I did make clapping noises along this trail when I felt a bit too alone to let the bears know that humans are coming, as a recommended tactic. I made it up to Larch Valley which was beautiful and it’s really the first time you get to see all ten of the peaks. From here, you have the choice to turn around and go back down to the lake or continue up Sentinel Pass. I continued on. It was a steep switchback trail but not more steep than the 10 or so switchbacks to get up to Larch Valley. The tricky part up Sentinel was that now you’re dealing with snow patches, loose gravel and couple of really steep ascents which would make for a tricky descent. I will admit there were two occasions where I thought about turning around because it was that steep of a stretch and I was already nervous about the descend down but I carried on telling myself that I had all day to get down the mountain and I would scale down on my ass if it came to that. Arrival at least! The views from Sentinel Pass was stunning at 8,547 feet!

Melissa joined me about 15- 20 minutes later. We shared a bunch of photo moments before making the descend down together. We shared more photo moments on the descend and after awhile, I think Melissa was used to my random "stop! photo!" I had told her later on that photography is my hobby and she responds, "No wander you see all these vantage points!" Having done the trail in its entirety, I would say it’s hard but not difficult. The views were worth the climb!

Banff is a gem of a place on this earth and I look forward to coming back for more trail fun! The park was worth every penny of the $15US 3 day park pass. I returned the rental car having logged 550km on it. My soul is full from this experience. Until next time!

My tips from my short but sweet experience: 1) If you're thinking about doing it- stop thinking and just do it! It's an easy two hour flight from SFO, pick up a rental car and it's an easy and stunning drive out to Banff from Calgary. 2) Arrive at the trails early! It's worth the effort. By 9am, the overflow parking lots are opened and you want to be well on the trails by then! 3) Bring layers! Two weeks ago, Sentinel Pass was covered with snow. I started my hike in a tank top and had my long sleeve and rain jacket by the time I reached the top. It was WINDY! 4) Make sure you have enough water and food. There are no official water sources out on the trails. You do have waterfall streams however should you choose to take the risk. 5) You don't need to buy map if you're not hitting up the back country. Trails are well marked. Just take a photo of the trail map at the start for reference. 

This One Time In Auckland..!

This One Time In Auckland

We left Nelson for a 6:40am flight to Auckland. We did self check in, printed out boarding passes with the help of the crew and boarded the plane...all without someone asking to verify our IDs and passports! The one thing one of the counter folks made a stink about was my carry on bag. How much does it weigh she asked? It won't fit in the cabin she said. Look, I've carried this bag on a bunch of flights and planes around the world, even on the smallest of planes in SE Asia. It fits! "I'll let you through this one time!" She says and added, "remember next time." Jeez Louise...I don't plan on coming back anytime soon, so works for me!

Auckland surprised me. I wasn't expecting much but this city is not too shabby! At first it felt a bit like Seattle to me but Vancouver fits the bill more. It's also where we would see a bunch of the Asian tourists again. We haven't seen them since Queenstown. I suppose they make their way to Milford and then to Auckland and call it a trip. We wandered all through the downtown and waterfront area and then trekked across town to a neighborhood called Ponsonby which turned out to be one of my favorites. It's lined with cafes, restaurants, many of which shares the same name as the ones we have in San Francisco, boutiques and just had an overall cool vibe. We made our way here to look for a handbag boutique called Deadly Ponies. Noreen had been coveting a bag from here since our Queenstown days so checked that off the list! 

This is election year. The last time I traveled while it was election year was in 2012, the race with Obama vs Mitt Romney. I was in France. Now in 2016, the hot topic is Hilary vs Trump or so it seems. The world can't believe that Trump is being considered by our fine citizens. A fellow Kiwi even said, "Well the US, you have the left coast and the right coast and then it's the middle folks that just don't know and Trump is saying what they want to hear." Can't disagree there. "Unintelligent yelling" is how the international news describes Trump. Pretty accurate!

Before arriving in NZ, I heard that Auckland can be missed. I made the decision to spend 36 hours here before my flight back to SFO and I'm glad I did. I spent the last two plus weeks capturing the natural beauty of this country and its quirky towns. Auckland is different and definitely worth the visit!

Abel Tasman..Just Like I Imagined It!

After a 10 hour bus ride with a rather delightful driver named Chris, we arrived in a town called Nelson. Chris made the 10 hour journey seem short but make no mistake, if you weren't where you're supposed to be at the time you're supposed to be, she will leave your ass! Nelson is where I met a girl who used to live in the neighborhood I grew up in! She worked in one of the boutiques that Noreen and I walked into and she reminisced of her days in San Francisco with a smile. If you're ever in this town, stay at the Sails Nelson! 

After a short stint in Nelson, we moved on to a town called Motueka. It's probably one of my favorites outside of Wanaka. This low key local strip mall of a town would be our base for two amazing days at the Abel Tasman National Park! If you're ever in this area, must dine at Sprig and Fern!

We spent both our days spilt between a short two hour hike and some beach time! The first route we did was Torrent Bay to Bark Bay and then we did Bark Bay to Onetahuti Bay. Bark Bay is a beach of abundance shells and also one of the busiest and most popular. Onetahuti is probably my favorite.. long stretch of rather quiet and empty beach! This area is really beautiful and unspoiled.. just as I had imagined it in my head. Watch out for the wasps and bumble bees though. There aren't any trash cans in this park. You bring out what you bring in and it's quite impressive how much every single person respects it as the land here is pristine. In general, New Zealand is a very clean country. I'm not a bird person. I think they're dirty and mean. Leave it to New Zealand to have me paying attention to bird names and thinking they're cute and pretty. 

The most entertaining had to be the guys that work at the water taxi spot. They're a bunch of young and handsome Kiwis and Aussies. They're as literal as a bunch can get! They're called black mussels because they black. What are green mussels called? Green! Mussels pro tip: green mussels are the best as they're from under the sea and really only available in NZ fresh. "Blue mussels, because their shell is blue, is what you guys eat, the frozen stuff, because it's all you guys can get." These are furry seals because they're furry. My favorite was when I asked one of the guys where all the folks were as we loaded about ten kayaks to one of our pick up water taxis and none of the kayakers. Without skipping a beat, "they all drowned." And then there was, "This whole place is called Marahau! I just need to know where in Marahau you are. No worries just sit down, I'll get you somewhere." You had to be there for that one! 

Next up: another pit stop in Nelson enroute for Auckland!

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!