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 |   ON THE WRITE PATH: travel journal for Around-the-World in 2015, 16, 18. |
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For there are many paths.  A tlog. A travel blog. A keeping-track of my trials, er.. travels. February 26, 2015 until ... June 18,2015. January 12, 2016 until February 15, 2016. November 13 to 30 2018 ... 2019, 2020: Taiwain. I went nowhere in 2021. 2022: Portugal, Thailand. Will include: Hawai'i, Japan, Australia, South Africa, Untied Arab Emirates, Portugal, Norway, Ireland and... (2015) ... Norway and Estonia (2016), México (2018), Taiwan, Balkans, Baltics, Turkey, Costa Rica, Nicaragua. Vi får se.  "Where I have traveled, stayed and visited. Over 181 places."     |
| ... so I going to try to rectify that by making at least one entry per week even if I not traveling. I should probably start with my last month-long trip to Taiwan? Places I visited: Taipei (Bitan, Yangmingshan, Taipei Zoo), Tainan, Kaohsiung, Miaoli (Zhunan, Miaoli, Nanzhuang), Jiufen (Shifen), Taipei (again), Chaiyi, Dongang (Dapeng), Zhiben, Hualien (Taroko) and finally back to Taipei. I stopped on night in Tokyo on the way down and even got to meet a friend! On the way back I was impressed by ICN, the airport in Seoul. In between, met up with Allen and Jack who I had met before. Of course, there were many new people from Taiwan and around the world. I have thousands of pictures with hundreds already on facebook in separate albums. So I hope to write at least once a week. I'll never catch up but I'd love to share the highlights of my past trips as well as the ones I still haven't planned. I need to be working on my next one. 2.282 |
| I survived the three flights from Montana to Costa Rica. Great conversation with Mitch from Utah out of Salt Lake. Was given a seat in 1st Class for the overnight flight from Los Angeles. Arrived at 8 a.m., tired and wondering where Bryan was with no way to contact him. He was delayed but found me. He decided that I should stay in San José... so here I am. It was a bit of a shock to see David at the hostal because I thought he had sold it. Bryan and I rested a bit before he had to go home. I rested some more. Didn't do much except walk around town. Typical first day back. I was here in June. Maybe I'll do more blogging than I did in México. Won't take much. *** *** Added on the 13th: Slept until 9 and then went back to bed after breakfast. Chatted with two young women from the UK (England and Scotland). Shared room with Connie and her son Brian from Seattle. Didn't get going until after 2 p.m. after a hot shower. Mostly just wandered around. After a slice of pizza for 1.100 colones (about $2) I wrote a bit while sitting in a small park and in the church during the angelus. Quiet evening. Spoke with family from Sacramento/Portland. Eating bread pudding and drinking more coffee.  |
| ...nothing. I'm sitting on the couch practicing breathing. I'm geting better but any exertion sets me back. Soon I'll need to take a shower and leave. But... ...at this moment I'm enjoying the sun and the breeze. It's a very pleasant day. Breakfast was egg and chips and red sauce. Coffee with honey. Shaz, Michael, a woman from Germany and me chatted for over an hour. I read my Stephen Hawking poem and gave a copy of "This and every November" to Shaz and Michael. Part of me wants to transport home NOW, part just wants to chill. ☺ Time to take a shower. |
| Met a couple from New Zealand. Brightened me up these past two days. Yesterday, sick. Breakfast of egg and some kind of white sauce over tortilla chips. Not my favorite. Went to church to square to cathedral and back. Took a few photos but by then I was knackered. Couldn't stop coughing. Worn out doing anything. Even rested on couch to not keep others awake. Finally bought cough drops and went to see Fantastic Beasts. $30, about US$1.50. Yes, I like Scamander. He's Hufflepuff like me. 💛 But the movie seemed weak. Met Shaz and Michael last evening. Shaz has a similar personality to mine. Today, we all went for coffee and talked about writing and whatever else came to mind. Michael is a journalist. Shaz works with nutrition and yoga. I spent most the the rest of the day practicing breathing and sucking on throat lozenges. Today, I did go out to buy a cimita (a kind of local sandwich). Puebla has great food but I've been too sick. Yesterday I ate a hot dog, chips, chocolate milk. This morning's breakfast was an egg and two pancakes. At least I did take a shower today and looked better. May even go to bed early. |
| Okay... I'm sick. The bus ride was fairly pleasant. I sat at the front. Terminal however... far north of center. Two men helped me get on bus 53. Got off on Avenida 2 and 16 oriente. And walked. About 14 blocks. Blue sky! Could breathe. Lovely walk. It's always a great way to see the city. I was favorably impressed. At Vee Yuu, guy from Spain was gracious and gave up his lower bed. By 7 I was chilled and coughing too much. Not feeling well at all. |
| Only 100.3 but that's high for me. Dry throat, difficulty breathing. No fun. Ate a mix of meat, nopal, avocado, chicharron, cheese on a green tortilla. Good but I have no apetite. Hostel is part of the problem. A DJ night means no quiet anywhere. I can even feel the distant pounding in my bed. Met a traveler from Scotland, a woman from Serbia. Would like to meet more people but I can't shout over the incessant beat. Bought 3 postcards, lost them, bought 4 more. Streets filled with people, but when one doesn't feel well... Not enjoying myself. Smell: incense Sound: bass beat Sight: indigenous costumes Taste: warm fragrant cookie Touch: headache |
| 17.noviembre.2018 Got up early enough to say goodbye to Leann (off to Cuba) and Jo (home to London). Lungs and body still complaining. 3 quesadillas, coffee, cereal. That's breakfast. Lunch was the chicken I didn't finish yesterday. Later, a steamed coffee/cheese bun and 3 donuts. Yesterday I saw a place that sells glasses, so I went back and got an exam (first in over 10 years). Unfortunately... it'll cost me more than advertised but still a good deal. $1.010 is about US$55. Now I need to remember to jot down my prescription in more than one place. I'll pick them up in a week. Couldn't find my key to my locker... it was on my bed. Fortunately, no big panic attack. I walked around briefly at night. Lots of people everywhere. A couple photos, nothing more. Young woman, 25, from Wales, flew in from Chile today... 9 hour flight. She's in the bed above me. Saturday night and the music is booming. No one to talk to. 😐 Another lost day among many. Monday may be tricky as well as it's Day of the Revolution. Most places should be closed. Sounds: shouts of the street pastor, indigenous drums, beat of music. Sights: lit cathedral, mobs of people, street sweepers with brooms. Smells: incense, coffee. Tastes: white cream filling, berry filling. Touch: ribs of metal doors, rough and smooth of old stone. Photo: orange rind on blue plate -- half-moon breakfast [tataki 915] |
| ...could be the altitude (2.200 msnm) or the smog. Regardless, I have no energy, sneeze and feel yucky overall. My friend Alberth wrote me that he had nosebleeds when he visited. So, I did as little as possible. Walked to San Juan market where they sell scorpion, cockroach, crocodile, venison... Skipped those and bought 1/2 chicken for $65 on the way back. And that was that. A lost day. |
| Casa Pepe had good ratings... like 9.5. So... walked right to the door at 86 Uruguay. Reception is on second floor (British system 0-1-2). Room on 1st floor, lower bed. Very comfortable bed and I loved the curtain (privacy and darkness). Didn't do much. Way too tired. Found an awesome pastry shop, Ideal, that is incredibly cheap and carries unimaginable varieties. Awesome. I took my cards with me. Richard Kluck (California) chose the Oklahoma one. *** Watching man making a papier maché pegasus. Looks like a huge piñata. Cold, 5°, pouring rain. Shivering in spite of wearing alpaca turtleneck. Breakfast: cereal, watermelon, 2 quesadillas with mushroom/ham, coffee. Cleared up around 4, so I went to the giant square, Zócalo. National homeless arena-soccer teams were playing. Saw one game go from 2-5 to 6-5. Spirited play. Ate corn on the cob slathered with mayo sprinkled with cheese and chili. Later, ate a taco with tongue. will add later... |
| The day before: drama. Had to move plants from Senior Center on no notice. Now in a north window where I live. Got Lochsa pothos back to her. Planted daffodils after dark. Potted two rescued geraniums as well. Rescued cannas sitting in paper bags. Watered everything. Cleaned very little. Unplugged things. What did I forget? Does it matter... Called for ride. Checked in and filled out form for México. Made copies. To bed late, around midnight, after a shower. Set alarm for 03:50. Decided to wear white pants on plane since brown ones kept falling down. In morning put on everything laid out, including compression socks. Drank milk with coffee. Got downstairs just as shuttle arrived. 04:25. Wonderful ride! Rita is from Burkina Faso. Her mother was visiting and along for the ride so we spoke in a mix of English and French. Not too many people in line so I was lucky. Flight was set for 06:00. We arrived early. MSO SLC: I sat next to Ruth who is my age. She's commander of a local American Legion. She served in Vietnam at the time of Tet. We talked about trauma and vets. She is of the opinion that the sudden return home didn't allow many to decompress and made situations worse. Ate breakfast at Manchu Wok. Server was an Afghani who speaks Russian. Just ate eggs and tater tots. Good thing too! No free food on plane other than snacks. SLC MEX: Seat was changed from 14a to 10a. Plenty of legroom and no one next to me. Delta stewards were very nice. Plenty of coffee and snacks. Going thru Customs was easy-peasy. I got pesos and went looking for a bus. Women from Otavalo, Ecuador helped. Got off at Venezuela and Argentina and walked through the Zócalo. Walked staight to hostel at 86 Uruguay. Much easier than I planned. It was early afternoon, about 12 hours after getting up. Sight: Dry mountains of empty northern México Sound: hurdygurdy playing in DF Smell: coffee Taste: cinnamon Touch: alpaca turtle neck |
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