Thursday 6 July 2017

Having spent Wednesday and part of Thursday catching up on some work and a bit of writing while Sylvia has been hard at work, we felt relaxed as we headed to Marseilles at 3pm to catch our flight via Frankfurt to Johannesburg and then on to Antananarivo in Madagascar. Prior to boarding there was a delay due to thunderstorms in Frankfurt. We had experienced this a couple of weeks ago and had plenty of time to catch our connecting flight. Boarding half an hour late, we were then told we would have to wait up to an hour to take off as the storms had come back. Eventually airborne and not far from Frankfurt we were put in a holding pattern as the storm was still going on. Eventually we got diverted to Düsseldorf.

The crew were great, apologising and telling us how when we got off the plane there would be people there to sort out accommodation for the night and our new flights. The load of 150 happy passengers disembarked to be told pick up your bags and head to check-in where they will sort you out. Did the crew know? Were they just avoiding the problem!?

At the check-in no-one was there. Sylvia intercepted a Lufthansa staff member who was walking past. “Sorry, we are all off. You will need to get a train to Frankfurt and sort it out there, it’s not my problem – we are all off!” I went in search of our bag, which appeared on a conveyor an hour later. I think someone has stolen the wheels of efficiency here.

Back at the check out Sylvia is on hold with Lufthansa. She suggested I find us a hotel. After ringing a couple of local ones and getting no reply I got on the net and found Schlosshotel Hugenpoet, a castle hotel only 14kms away. Apparently under EU rules if your flight is diverted due to bad weather the airline is supposed to provide you accommodation and refund 50% of the fare. We will have to wait and see.

At around midnight the taxi dropped us at the hotel. The receptionist directed us to a tiny lift, which we squeezed into. Ending up somehow in the basement, surrounded by steam pipes in the bowels of the building and in fits of laughter, we eventually worked it out and got to the second floor in the very old, well-preserved castle.

This place as been around in one form or another for over a thousand years. It has been in its present form with a few alterations since 1696. It has been in the hands of its present owners since 1831 and was turned into a hotel in 1955. With only 36 rooms, a moat and a number of out buildings, and set in a forest, it’s a magnificent place.

A huge marble staircase led us down to breakfast on the balcony. Wedding preparations were underway with a large pink function tent set up in the grounds.

As Sylvia caught up on some work I explored the grounds.

Around midday the wedding got under way and we observed and listened to a woman with an operatic voice squawk out some songs.

After a bit of a look around inside it was time for us to head back to the airport to try our luck again.

As we publish this we are pushing back from the terminal about to head to Johannesburg.

Tuesday 4 July 2017 – Not a cafe in sight

I took another stroll up the Pic where I had a chat with a young guy who was up there on fire watch with maps and a good pair of binos. He had also brought up a supply of canned drinks to sell to thirsty trampers.

On returning to the car at Saint-Mathieu-de-Triviers I decided to drive around some of the local villages in search of a cafe. In NZ just about every small town has a cafe – not the case here! Not being able to read the signs, I just drove down the main, and a few other, streets of each town I came to. Stunning village after stunning village and nothing. Eventually I came across a town, called Corconne, situated on the side of a steep hill with a church above the town, narrow steep streets and old buildings, it was home to Lalisson bar and restaurant.

Entering the bar it reminded me of a country pub back home. Everyone seemed to know each other. I was welcomed with a friendly smile and they made every effort to make me welcome in spite of my point and pay method of communication. The local beer was great, as was the Iberian ham and cheese salad. I also found out google translate is no good at translating a french menu – it just goes from french to french!!

After picking Sylvia up from work we headed east to Saintes Maries de la Mer, a real holiday town made up of restaurants, shops and accommodation and a couple of small beaches.

Monday 3 July 2017 – Clear water by the sea…

Our friend Jo had written to us after reading a recent post and told how she had enjoyed visiting Sete and about how clear the water was. I arrived around midday to clear blue skies and a stunning holiday town with canals packed with both commercial and pleasure craft. The water is extremely clear in these canals and waterways – it’s a pity the bottoms are lined with rubbish.

A relatively young town, not established until the mid 1600’s and going by the name of Cette until 1928, it was the site of many battles, changing hands a a number of times over a couple of hundred years. Between 1821 and 1869 the impressive sea wall was built.

It has a couple of mandatory forts, a light house and a control tower on the hill.

I ordered a fish salad at a canal-side restaurant. It turned out to be octopus. When one doesn’t speak the lingo, one just has to laugh and take what you get. It was very nice.

A stroll through the streets revealed the true beauty of the not-so-old town, until that is I came across what some distorted architect must have decided would be an asset to its future.

I drove back up the coast checking out a number of more modern resort towns.

In the evening we relaxed in the roof top bar at the Pullman Hotel where we have been staying the past couple of weeks.

The staff up here in the evenings are really friendly but have no sense of awareness or perception of service. Sylvia ordered a bottle of San Pellegrino and after 10 minutes or so it arrived, along with my glass of wine, unopened and with no glass. Another 10 minutes and a glass turned up but no opener. Not willing to damage her unfilled, well-kept teeth or let me open it on the table ledge, she waited and eventually a person with an opener turned up, whipping the top off and speeding off without noticing that my wine glass could have done with a refill. We were joined by Cecile, a colleague of Sylvia’s, who shared our amusement at the service or lack thereof.

Friday 30 June 2017

After spending the day catching up on a few admin things I picked Sylvia up at 3pm and we headed to Marseilles airport. We were booked on a Ryan Air flight to Rome. Terminal 2 where they depart from is quite basic but the boarding process was efficient and on time. On the 737-800 the seats were basic but comfortable with enough leg room. The staff made every effort to sell not only food and drinks but duty free as well as they wheeled carts up and down the aisle. A couple of years ago I read something about Ryan air wanting to carry passengers standing on short flights.

An hour later we touched down in Rome. After checking into Hotel Argentina we took a stroll and sat riverside on the Fiume Tevere opposite Tiberina Island. The riverside was lit up by stalls and restaurants.

Saturday 1 July 2017

We took a stroll down the river spanned by its old bridges and lined with character buildings, passing the Temple of Hercules Victor dating back to around 200BC.

We then strolled up the Circus Maximus, a large oval race track where chariot racing took place back in the day.

Arriving at the Palatino we brought a ticket to it and the Colosseum. This once city is pretty amazing with its multi-storey apartments overlooking the race track. There are the remains of an aqueduct that once supplied the city with water. For some reason (maybe Ben Hur) I had always envisaged Rome to be built of stone. I was suprised to see most of the buildings here were brick. Further investigation revealed that in fact the walls were made of an early version of concrete – made from volcanic ash and sand, laid rather than poured and mixed with rubble or stone to give it strength -then clad with brick or sometimes stone.

Some artists had grabbed a chunk of space here exhibiting some art not quite in keeping with the general theme of the place.

We eventually dropped down into the Forum, once the main commercial area.

Eventually finding our way out we headed down the Via dei Fori Imperiali to the colosseum. Soldiers and their vehicles blocked off the roads, I presume to keep bad people in trucks away from the thousands gathered in and around the venue. Touts, some with English and Irish accents, tried to talk us into hiring them as a guide.

Inside this concrete, in places 50m high, structure is really impressive. Under the area where the wooden floor of the arena once lay covered in sand, one can see the maze of rooms where players from lions to Gladiators were caged. Completed in 80AD it could seat up to eighty thousand.

Strolling back up the Via dei Fori Imperiali we passed the Colonna Traianei situated across the road from Mussolini’s palace, now a museum.

Hidden not far off Corso Via del is the Trevi fountain. Surrounded by hundreds of people, water has been gushing out here since 19AD, then supplied by an Aquaduct. The fountain itself was completed in 1762. The 2.8 million cubic feet of water that gushes out every day is now recycled. Around €3000 in coins are tossed in every day.

Our next stop was the Spanish Steps with a fountain at the base and church at the top.

From here we took the subway to the Vatican. Thousands of people queued to go into St Paul’s Cathedral and the Vatican museum. The square in front of the cathedral Is pretty impressive with a large statue in the middle.

Just down the road by the river is fort Saint Angelo built in 123AD as a mausoleum, later turned into a fort for the pope, and now a museum.

At the Piazza Navona we stopped for an afternoon wine and watched the many people go by. With its central statue and colourful buildings this is a very relaxing place.

Just a few blocks away is the Pantheon. Completed around 126AD this non reinforced building with its dome is quite an outstanding piece of engineering. In building the dome they used heavy aggregate in the base, thinning it as it got higher using pumice in the thinner top part of the dome.

We arrived back at the hotel in time for the 5pm free drinks and nibbles. In the evening we took a stroll across the river to the Trastevere area, where we enjoyed a great meal of pasta and meatballs.

Monday 25 June 2017

Last night we received an email from our friend, Karen, suggesting a couple more places to visit in the area. Karen, her husband Steve and their three kids had spent eighteen months living in Aix en Provence. After dropping Sylvia off I took  a bit of morning exercise, up to the top of Pic Saint-loup and back, avoiding the chateau after a thoughtful Stuart translated the sign I put in last week’s blog -basically it said “keep out!”

I headed out to the west of the Pic into some very arid and scrubby land, spotted with vineyards. This area is renown for having some of the best wine in the area. Passing through many small and old villages I eventually arrived at St-Jean-de Fos.On a hill above the end of a steep rocky gorge with a large swimming lake, it is another really old town. Being a Monday, apart from a bar that didn’t seem to sell wine, everything was closed.

From there I headed down the valley to Aniane another old town. In both these towns the streets were being re sealed making the narrow streets even harder to negotiate than usual. These are very much lived in towns. As one walks the narrow streets many voices can be heard coming from the shuttered  windows of these very old buildings. I have the urge to knock on a door and ask to look around but refrain as my one French word is probably not going to help negotiate the way in.

I made my way back, via lots of back roads, wondering how people sustain a living around here.

Tuesday 21 June 2017

I headed north up the 300 odd kms to Lyon. It’s an easy drive, most of it at 130kph – or a bit faster as they don’t seem to police the speed on these fantastic roads. If you are in the fast lane people generally pull over and let you through. Arriving around noon my primary reason for being here is to meet with Qedric, the second son of my late brother Gareth. Qedric met Lison, a girl from Lyon, fell madly in love and followed her home.

Qedric and I met outside the opera theatre opposite the Hotel de Ville, which around here is what they call the town hall.

We strolled down the road to cafe 203 where we enjoyed a great lunch and a good catch up. Qedric also gave me a bit of a rundown on the town and the places to see. After lunch he headed back to work and I took a stroll up some steps then dropped down past a park to the river which almost encircles this part of town.

Across the river I found some steps leading up a hill with both a castle and a miniature Eiffel Tower on it. Eventually I found my way around to an old Roman ampitheater which is still in use – not bad for a few rock seats over 2000 years old.

A bit further around  was the castle, which turned out to be Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourviere. Yes it turned out to be a church and a bloody big one at that.

The views across the city from the hilltop were fantastic.

An easy winding track and some steps lead back down to the river. Close to the river was another huge church. Cathédrale Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Lyon was completed in the 1400’s.

Back across the river I headed up a wide pedestrian boulevard. The people here are generally slim and dressed with style. The city has an elegance about it with many old buildings, with the new ones blending in.

Wednesday 22 June 2017

At the top of Pic Saint-loup I was surprised to see a group of thirty plus arrive shortly after me at the top. Back at the car I headed southeast to explore a town I had spotted a few days ago.

Castries, with its large castle on the top of the hill in the middle of the town, dates back to the 11th century. There is an old aqueduct 1.8 km long that was built in the sixteen hundreds to bring water a total of 7kms to the castle’s gardens. I parked the car and took a stroll around.

In places people had built their houses into the arches of the aqueduct, the new stone standing out from the old.

As I walked past the castle gate it opened. A nice lady with good English explained that I could not go in as they were just there preparing for a fair being held in the weekend. It doesn’t appear to be open to the public very often and we are off to Rome for the weekend. Shame as I would love to take a look around the inside.

After picking Sylvia up from work we headed to Saint-Guilhem-Le-Desert, another place young Karen had recommended we visit. On the way a stack of angry looking clouds formed in front of us. Soon we were being pelted by rain and hail with strong winds buffeting the car around. Lots of cars pulled off the road as visibility dropped to almost zero. The weather eased and we made it up the valley to the village. Established originally as a monastery in 806, this town of around 300 people, a hotel and  a couple of restaurants is well worth a visit.

Friday 23 June 2017

I picked Sylvia up from the Royal Canin head office at 4pm and we drove to Marseilles where we caught a flight to Frankfurt. With the state of emergency still in place in France it is now necessary to battle lengthy cues at emigration even when traveling within the EU.

Arriving in Frankfurt we were met by my sister Rachel and her husband, Edward. Heading through Wiesbaden and down alongside the Rhine river, we arrived at their place in the picturesque village of Woolerschied in the hills not far from Lorch. Their adult children, Tristan and Killian, were there to meet us. We had a pleasant evening chatting and catching up until well after midnight. It had been three years since my last visit. Rachel had visited NZ after the death of out brother Gareth in April last year.

The next morning we rose a little late to a traditional German breakfast of breads, meats, cheeses and coffee. Mid morning we set off to Kaub, a town on the Rhine famous for its mid-river castle, built in 1327, originally as just a tower to collect tolls on the river. Years later the outer structure was added after the pope, through the local bishop, told the owner to stop collecting the tax or he would be both excommunicated and attacked. He told the pope where to go and built the outer structure in the shape of a ship to break up the river ice and reinforced the structure with soldiers and cannons. Tolls were collected here up until the mid 1800s.

This place is also where in 1814 Field Marshal Blucher built a bridge out of boats and took his twenty thousand Prussian and Russian troops across the river to give Nepoleon a spanking.

This part of the river has a number of castles mostly on top of the surround[ding hills. The river is also one of the busiest cargo rivers in Europe.

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From there we drove alongside the river as Rachel gave us a running commentary on the stories around the many castles on this part of the river. Tristan was keen to demonstrate the speed and handling of his new company car, an M3 BMW; the performance was somewhat governed by his mother from the back seat.

We then headed up the hill to a place called Loreley, apparently it got its name from a young lady who fell off there a few centeries ago, romance or lack of was involved. Here in the 1930 Hitler had a 17,000 seat auditorium built. It is still in use today. There is an open air bar on the edge of the cliff with stunning views over the river. The management had yet to hear about the great German efficiency as the service was worse than bad. Eventually we got a drink and enjoyed the stunning views while chatting away.

Later in the afternoon we returned to their place where Edward cooked up a variety of meats on the grill. We ate, drank and chatted again late into the evening.

Sunday morning after another late start and great breakfast it was time to head back to the airport.

Tristan and Killian dropped us off for our afternoon flight back to Marseilles.

Sunday 18 June 2017

I spent Saturday in Singapore with Renee and Cale, who are at present non-stop traveling around Asia. This included a stroll down Orchard Road and a visit back to the Battle Box at Fort Canning Park. The second tour I enjoyed as much as the first.

Midnight Sylvia and I boarded a plan for our flight to Marseilles via Frankfurt. We picked up a rental car – the worst car I have driven for many years. It probably rates close to the Ford teams van I had in the seventies; even on a straight piece of smooth road it wanders, requiring constant correction. Every corner it feels like it wants to tip over.  Now aptly named the Citron Tipper.

We headed out to Avignon.

Dating back to 100 AD it has a history full of attacks and plagues etc. like most cities in this part of the world. In the mid 1300’s a 4300m wall 8m high was built around this city. During the 13 hundreds a number of popes hung out here. It was their funds that were used to build the wall and the many large buildings behind it. Today 12,000 of the city’s 90,000 population live behind the wall.

Arriving in Montpellier just after noon, we wandered the streets finding a lovely outdoor cafe  and enjoying some local food. This town, with its old buildings and fantastic way of blending the old and the new, has a relaxing vibe about it. The history here is impressive but I wrote about that last year.

Monday 19 June 2017

After dropping Sylvia off at the Royal Canin head office, I drove the tipper carefully through the country lanes and up the hill to Gallargues-le-Montueux.

Overlooking the surrounding countryside, with its narrow crooked streets and a population of 3,500, it’s a really neat quiet town.

A short drive through some scrubby and scruffy countryside  landed me at Sommieres. This place has been around a fair while. In the first century AD Tiberius, a Roman emperor, had the bridge built; not quite as wide as it should have been as I had to drive the Tipper up onto the footpath to let an on coming truck pass.

In the eleventh century a chateau was built on the hill. Later fortified and strengthened, it became part of the French kingdom in 1248. Later it became known for a siege in 1573 when held by protestants. They held off the other side for a couple of months by pouring boiling oil and molten iron on the attackers. There were a couple more sieges the following centuries as the two religions fought it out.

I parked across the river and strolled across the bridge to the main town. At the end of the bridge one of the original city gates leads into the cobbled streets.  It was while wandering the streets I realised what it is that draws me to these places. Every street and every building is a little different. Nothing seems to follow a straight line – it’s almost like they always laid the footings of the buildings in the afternoon after a long wine lunch. Walls often bulge out, arches are often present. One wonders if they are there to hold the buildings apart. In the back streets lies an abandoned church.

The road winds its way up to the Chateau which looks to be in good order with its tall tower but is closed just now. I followed a track in the bush running up the ridge alongside the now crumbling fortress walls. The view from up here was stunning.

The track eventually leads me back down the hill where I come across a stone tunnel. I can see vehicle lights well in the tunnel. There were no rail lines and the lights seemed to be moving away from me so I ventured in. A few hundred meters later I reached the other end of this handmade, old railway tunnel, now being turned into a cycle way.

After the tunnel a deep cutting continued for a while and eventually the ground flattened out and I was able to sneak through a hedge onto the road that lead back to town.

After a relaxed lunch I drove around the district coming across many small villages. Most had a chateau, church or fort, and sometimes all three, on the high ground.

Wednesday 21 March 2017

From the chateau at Sommieres I had spotted a nicely shaped hill in the distance. I showed the picture to the guy on the desk at the our hotel. Pic Saint-Loup he said. I asked if one could take a stroll to the top. “It’s very hard and takes four hours, you have to go very early in the morning.”

After dropping Sylvia at work I drove to the general area of the hill. Eventually I found a car park and a track. Forty minutes later I was at the top. At only 662m, with the car park at 300m it wasn’t exactly a big climb.  The hill itself is impressive. On the north side it has vertical bluffs and is the highest hill in the area with great views of the surrounding countryside. There is also a stone church and a cross at the top.

A thirty-minute stroll down the hill on the rough track, often shaded by the surrounding scrub, and I was back at the car.

Around 6pm I picked Sylvia up from work and we headed to Aigues-Mortes.

Rumour has it Gaius Marius founded this city in 102 BC. With its nearby salt flats this became quite a sought after area. In 1272 the order was given to build a wall to encircle the small town. It took thirty years to complete. These are the most impressive city walls I have seen in this part of the world. At the east end of the town is a tall tower originally used as a watch tower to warn of approaching bad people.

Behind the walls is a thriving little town with lots of restaurants, shops and housing.

Thursday 22 June 2017

I headed to Saint-Mathieu-de-Triviers, a town to the west of Pic Saint-Loop. I was amused driving through the town’s narrow streets to see signs indicating the street width. Down one of these streets I came across two opposing houses with big scrape marks down their sides. Someone didn’t read the sign.

Soon I found the track heading up the hill starting at 130m and 7 kms from the top. As I scrambled up some loose rock I looked up to see the remains of a Chateau well above me.

As it turned out, the track lead right up to the centre of it. With vertical cliffs on the north side and four tiers of 4-meter high walls to the south it must have been quite a fort in its day. It first appears in history in the mid 1200’s. It survived a major siege and a few other battles. When in 1659 Jacques Valant the then owner died it began to decay. In the 1700’s Louis XIV authorised a local bishop to destroy the buildings. The stones were offered as compensation for those carrying out the demolition. By then people must have got sick of carrying stones as the task was never completed. Today it’s pretty derelict but must have once been a great feat of engineering. One can still see partial remains of tunnels, caverns and the outline of the main buildings.

Climbing down the east end I found the main track with a sign on it. I assume it said something along the lines of “Chateau ruins, come and take a look around.” I am sure my French speaking friends will enlighten me if I got it wrong!

The track continued along the side of the hill with the odd branch of to the ridge. Eventually the track joined with the track I had come up yesterday for the push to the summit. At the summit the weather was still hazy and not good for photography so I rested a few minutes and then returned the way I had come.

In the evening we took a trip to Nimes. The old city here has a Colosseum built by the Romans in the first century. As we arrived people were preparing to enter for a musical event. All the roads around the area were blocked off with trucks and armed police, we presumed to stop vehicles getting near the crowd.  The old city here is less attractive than the others we have seen so far.

Wednesday 24 May 2016

Arriving in Bangkok yesterday afternoon we were picked up by a limo and whisked away to the Pullman Hotel. The hotel has a rather interesting atrium making one want to go and find a rope and some abseiling gear.

After inquiring at the desk about hiring a tuk-tuk for a tour of the city and being informed they don’t come out this far I settled for a hotel car and driver. Ken the driver was there waiting for me in the morning.

Our first stop was the Palace. I had to buy a pair of long pants as no shorts allowed. The grounds here are huge with dozens of buildings of all shapes and sizes. Gem stones glitter from many of the columns and walls.

One of the buildings (where it was shoes off and no photos) where people prayed and made offerings had a large gold structure in it.

As I passed through some buildings there seemed to be a long queue of people mainly dressed in black, some holding up signs.

Even some nurses were standing ready to assist.

This queue went on for hundreds of meters; I never did see the end or the beginning. After making a few enquiries it turned out they were all queuing for an audience with the king. Not that he is saying much as he died in October last year and will lie in state for a year. In the first few months after his death forty thousand people a day were queuing to see him; apparently it’s now dropped to ten thousand. The king here is highly respected and everyone I have spoken to speaks highly of what he achieved during his long life. His pictures are displayed all over the city.

As I made my way out of the grounds a group of Palace guards were undergoing a bit of drill. These guys are placed in guard boxes with an old 77-type radio all around the grounds. After taking these pics a security guard raced over and said no photos. Of course I didn’t take anymore!

As I left this grand place I wondered if the king ever visited all the buildings in the grounds.

Next stop was the Golden Buddha

This 5.5 ton solid gold Buda has an interesting history to say the least. Brought to Bangkok in the early 1800’s it was a plaster statue with coloured glass in the plaster. It was housed in a couple of different places around the town. In May 1955 while being moved to a new home a pulley rope broke and it crashed to the ground; some of the plaster chipped off and the gold was discovered. The theory goes that it was plastered over pre the mid-1700’s to prevent it being stolen. A key was found in the plaster, which enables it to be broken down into nine pieces that fit so well together that it looked solid. The theory is that it was made in India sometime after the 1300’s.

Next we made a brief stop at a Hindu temple where it seemed that people would buy food from stalls take it to a stainless steel bench in front of the shrine as an offering. When they left people collected the food and took it back to the stall for resale. Looked like a pretty profitable way to do business to me. With a lot more detail and colour than the Buddhist temple it is quite interesting. This was another no photo place but a got a couple from the outside.

There are many more temples and Buddha statues in Bangkok including the lying Buddha and the marble Buddha. Apparently there are over forty thousand Buddhist temples in Thailand with over thirty thousand still in use.

Time was ticking on and the traffic was very slow so we headed to the Vimanmek Mansion. With a large, gold, pagoda-like structure just inside the grounds this place is stunning. First I had to get into the grounds! I had given the pants I bought to get into the palace away as the driver had told me that was the only place that long pants are required. The guy on the gate here pulled me aside and indicating I needed to go get a sarong, pointed down the road. After looking around and not finding the local sarong salesman l headed back to the gate hoping some kind person coming out may sell me their old one. No such luck so the guy on the gate let me in without one. The grounds are stunning here.

This 72 room pad was completed in 1901 for King Rama V who, after a visit to Europe, decided he needed a castle-like palace. He only lived in it for five years after which it was used as storage. In 1982 King Rama IX gave permission for it to be turned into a museum.

As I joined the queue to enter I was taken aside and told to enter by another door. This turned out to be because I had a camera, which along with my phone was locked in a box and the key handed to me. I was also sold a sarong which was fitted for me.

Entering the main building I had to step on a box and was given a thorough pat down to make sure I didn’t have a hidden camera. These guys are real serious about the no photo rule. It’s a pity as the artefacts here are amazing. I am just sorry I can’t share them with you. There were huge silk tapestries, gold elephant chaise the king use to ride around in and much more that I can’t describe. The painted dome shape ceilings were also stunning.

This is a must see place, just take long pants or a skirt and ladies, cover your breasts and shoulders.

That evening I was lucky enough to be invited to dinner at the Local by Sylvia’s colleagues. We enjoyed a traditional Thai meal and great company.

Thursday 24 May 2017 – Ayutthaya

Mr Ken, the driver, picked me up at 0900 and we headed north to the old capital Ayutthaya.  The way the lady at the tour desk spoke the previous evening this was to be a three hour plus journey. Sixty seven kms and a little over an hour and we were there. Ken, my English-speaking driver, was really helpful and keen to please. He was always ready to tell me about the place we were heading. I learned pretty quickly “don’t ask questions” as with many so called English speaking guides in many countries it’s parrot fashion English. Ask even a slow speaking question and they haven’t got a clue.

Ayutthaya was the capital for a few hundred years until the late 1700’s when it was  captured by the Burmese. They held it for a while then burnt the hundreds of Buddhist temples down and buggered off back to Burma. Something the locals even now can not understand as that is not the Buddhist way.

Soon we arrived at the local elephant ride place – Special deal today: 2000 locals or about 80NZD for an elephant ride, a snake show and a visit to the floating village.  My vision of standing on the elephant’s trunk and being hoisted onto its back soon turned out to be delusional. It was up some steps on to a stand; soon an elephant strolled alongside; a family of three got off and I got in.

Soon we were heading down the road and through the town. Motorbikes, trucks and cars raced past, the large beast not even slightly phased. Then a big red fire engine came slowly up behind us; the big fella was not happy, breaking into a sideways shuffle and making a loud trumpeting noise. The driver sitting behind his head also started making a bit of noise. As I was starting to wonder how good the ropes holding this seat in place were, the fire truck turned into a driveway behind us and the big fella calmed down.

After passing a derelict temple we turned down a side road. The buildings around here are generally quite rough and untidy with the odd nice place. Food stalls are dotted here and there.

Big fella would require some fuel from time to time and wander to the side of the road, helping himself to some local vegetation.

We passed another derelict temple. There must have been a massive rice factory here all those years ago.

Then we headed across a paddock, past yet another derelict temple.  The driver took my camera and dismounted. I took his place as he took some photos.

As we headed back to the yard out came a box of elephant teeth made into pendants. “500” he said. I declined and the box went away but soon came out again “300” this time. I am now the proud owner of an elephant tooth.

After dismounting I checked out the elephant shed.

As I was heading back to the reception a lady summoned me into a room with a bloody great tiger in it. It did look pretty tame and half asleep so I paid the money and had my picture taken.

There were some rather scrawny  sheep in a pen. And by the number of red phone boxes it is a favourite stop off for Dr Who.

Next was the snake show, which after receiving some directions I made my way through the various stalls to. I sat alone in the stand while a lady went around opening the many boxes trying, I presume, to find a snake awake enough to play. Eventually she dragged out a python, wiped it with a rag, called me over, and threw it around my shoulders.

She than told me the snake man was having lunch so to come back in ten minutes. Back I came expecting to see a bit of snake charming like the guy in Nepal I saw once with a flute playing and the snake raising up and down in and out of the basket. This was not to be the case here – in fact this guy was no charmer but did everything he could to piss the snakes off.  With a stick with a hook on the end he hooked a cobra out of a box and tossed it on the floor, then followed with a king cobra. He then sat on the floor and started slapping them to get them to sit up and flare their heads. The Cobra has a diamond on the back of its head and the King cobra a white angled stripe.

Being the only spectator I stood up and moved a little to get a better pic. As I did this, distracting the bloke, the snake struck out and nearly got him. He looked a bit pissed off.  He signaled me to come and join him in the snake pit. Thinking they probably deactivate these snakes I wandered in and sat down beside the guy as instructed, comforting myself with the thought that too many dead tourists would not be good for business. I sat there as he continued his snake baiting performance. At one stage he had me holding the King cobras tail as both snakes looked at me, heads raised in the strike ready position. Fortunately I was out of range. He then wrapped the king cobra around me and held the head to my lips to kiss (sorry Sylvia they made me). Punishment over I was then allowed to leave the pit as he continues the show.

He then dragged out a python and tormented it into lunging at him. Another less angry python is strung around my neck – again for another kissing. (Sorry again Sylvia, this time just couldn’t resist)

Show over I then took a stroll around the so-called floating village. It was in fact on piles. With lots of colourful displays of food and made-in-China souvenir-type stuff it was worth a look.

Next we headed into the centre of town to visit the main temple. This is in the process of being restored and has some nice buildings in it. Climbing the steps to the top of the main temple I could see many brick spires around the city.

The temple is surrounded by statues apparently keeping the bad spirits away from the Buddha.

Crossing a bridge I came across what can only be described as unusual, unless you’re a chook lover or collector.  The reason for this display I could not establish but they surrounded this  fairly new, church-like structure.

An the way back I asked Ken the driver what the story was with the chooks. “One of the previous kings liked hens” was all I got back.

Friday 25 May 2017

I took a stroll into the main part of the city on Rama l Rd, where the main modern shopping area is, following the metro rail line, which runs 6 or 7 meters above the street. The footpath along the way is packed with traders selling everything from massages to gold watches. At one point a rail line runs across the road. Looking down the line people strolled about as there houses face, and seem to be accessed, from the line.

Narrow streets ran of to the sides packed with motor bikes. After walking through some huge multi-storey shopping malls I found my way to the Jim Thompson House and Museum. Thompson had served with the US military during WW ll in Europe being transferred to Asia after the war. He ended up leaving the army and staying in Thailand. Originally an architect by profession he became attracted to the Thai silk industry. Highly gifted as designer and colourist he revived and promoted the local silk industry. He also built a house by combining 6 Thai houses from out of town into one large house by Khlong Saen Saep Express, which is a canal still used to cart people around. Thompson disappeared in 1967. Apparently while in Malaysia on holiday he took an afternoon stroll in the jungle never to be seen again. The house is now a Museum. No photos are allowed in the main building. There was however some nice stuff displayed in some other small buildings.

Outside under a veranda some ladies spun silk.

While inside the heavens had opened in true tropical style. It cleared as I left so I took a boat back up the canal to the hotel.

With a walkway on each side, little shops and cafes have been set up in places.

Tuesday 16 May 2017

Landing at the Kuala Lumpur airport mid-afternoon I took a taxi to the Traders Hotel in the centre of town about 40k north of the airport while Sylvia went off with her colleagues.

Twice before I have been to KL and never made it up the towers as they have been booked out or closed. The hotel and the towers are only a short distance apart separated by a park. Soon after checking in strolled across the park to secure a ticket for the next morning.

Back at the hotel I visited the Sky Bar on the 33rd floor. With its open windows one gets a great view of the towers and across the city from here.

As the sun went down we enjoyed a drink or two. The Sky bar complete with pool is a great place to watch the sun go down. Sylvia and some of her colleagues joined me for a drink.

Wednesday 16 May 2017

We woke to a clear blue sky. After breakfast Sylvia headed off to more meetings and I strolled across to the Petronus Towers. The bottom few stories are all very well presented expensive retail.

Prior to going up in the lift we received a briefing with the image projected onto a vapour coming out of a column.

First stop was the Sky bridge on the 41st floor. It is two storeys – one for us tourists and the other for the office workers to cross between towers.

The bridge, which weighs several hundred tonnes, is not attached to the towers but on rollers that prevent it getting crushed in high winds. Two struts mounted some distance below help hold it in place.

Back in the lift we head up to the 84th floor. At around 375m above the ground the views here are fantastic.

At 451.9m back in the late 90s these were the tallest buildings in the world. Now there is one on Dubai at 825m.

Mid-afternoon it was time to head to the airport. A Hotel taxi was going to cost 150 locals; an ordinary taxi 80 locals. I took the ordinary but. Luckily I asked if he took a card prior to the trip as he didn’t so I changed some money at the hotel. Arriving at the airport I handed him a 100 local note. Taking it he said he didn’t have any change. I took the note back and said “no change no pay”. Bugger me he found the change!!

Landing in Jakarta around 1900 one of Sylvia’s French colleagues had a small issue with immigration. Eventually we got a hotel car to the Sheraton Grand Hotel. Just over thirty kms took just over an hour – apparently a quick trip. After checking in and settling into the room I realised I had left my new apple computer in the seat pocket on the plane. One phone call to Malaysian Airlines and to my surprise it had been found. Well done to them! They may have lost the odd plane but they had found my computer – bloody well done.

After a drink at the bar, which is not only flash but has outstanding service as well, we retired for the night.

Thursday 18 May

After breakfast Sylvia went off on a field trip to visit specialty stores and vet clinics supplied by Royal Canin. I headed to the concierge to organise getting back to the airport. While the concierge was trying to set me up with a ride in a Merc a guy wandered up and suggested a blue bird cab – “they use the meter and are the only ones that don’t rip you off”. 90 mins later I was at the airport although the wrong terminal. A free shuttle eventually got me to terminal 2. After a lot of questions I eventually made it through customs to the lost baggage area. Computer in hand I made my way out. Oops! No customs form! But after some sign language they gave up and let me go.

Another hour plus in a taxi got me the fifteen odd kms and 200,000 locals to Ancol City. On the coast, this is a beach resort. Don’t expect to see any bikini clad women or blokes with six packs in speedos, here they all swim fully clad.

I walked several kms before I finally found a place to have a beer.

Behind sea walls, they have spent lots of money here turning this area into a pretty nice sea resort.

Every few hundred meters I was approached by someone offering me a boat ride in one of the old looking boats with a straight drive motor mounted on the side gunnel towards the rear. A guy would lower the prop and shaft into the water, holding it down with his foot as he operated the big wooden rudder.

There is a gondola that runs over part of the resort, lots of stalls, and people picnicking on the pavement in the shade of the trees rather than on the sand.

A jet plane is parked in a kid’s playground. Three young blokes approached me each wanting their picture taken with me. I realised I was the only European in the park.

Tracing the west end I negotiated a 100,000 local cab fare to get me back to the Sheraton. The ride was to say the least interesting.  Guys stood by the on ramp to the motorway; for a 500 local coin they stopped the traffic and let us in, innovation at its best. The traffic barley moves.

Hawkers rove the road selling their wares.

Eventually heading south, the traffic at a stand-still, the driver takes an off ramp and we cross a canal and head north again. Talking later to Brian at the bar we headed through the only really bad part of Jakarta, apparently controlled by gangs – even the police don’t go there. Unaware of this I found it a really interesting area, full of traders, lots of hand carts, tuk-tuks and motor bikes, I felt I was seeing the real Jakarta.

Eventually heading west then south, the driver was on a mission often driving down the shoulder of the road, hand on horn to push back into the traffic, then taking the empty bus lane to shorten the trip. On arriving back at the hotel the, on google maps, 24km trip had only taken just over an hour. He was pretty chuffed when I gave him 150,000 locals for his effort, about $15 kiwi. As I sit writing this there are six staff in the bar for the twenty odd customers.

Friday 18 May

Taking the advice of Brian, the barman, I headed to Kamal Muara, an area supposed to be renowned for its food outlets. The traffic was jammed as usual so I jumped out at the west end and walked from west to east. It looks like someone has tried to design a Vegas-type theme here with relatively new buildings built in an old style.

Not far down the road the new bit ran out. Footpaths are a bit hard to come by here. Even around the shops cars and people share the same space. In places there are covered storm water drains, which are good to walk on, but one has to be alert as the covers are often missing or broken.

I crossed the Cengkareng Drain (more like a river) and heading into more of an industrial area but with all the branded fast food outlets like Starbucks, McDonald’s etc. It is surprising in this not-exactly-clean city how clean people keep their cars.

Eventually the new buildings ran into ones that were partially finished but abandoned. I decided to take a different route back turning north into a tree lined street. Local (I presume) workers sat under the trees in groups eating their lunches, often supplied by people pushing handcarts or from the back of a vehicle.

According to the Ulmon Pro map app, the streets ran off this back to the east. However the west end had been fenced off. Behind the fence were nice houses on tidy streets.

The one entrance that was open was manned by security guards who wouldn’t let me in.

About a km down the road there was another security gate. This time the guard was in his box so I just waved and kept walking. This area was quite new with a range of mansions and attached apartments.

The local Eco Park seemed to be a good place for the local workers to take their afternoon nap.

Finding my way through another guard station got me back to the main road.

By this stage I had worked out that this place is really safe: one definitely is not going to get mugged by another pedestrian as there weren’t any.

Back on the Main Street it was getting rather hot. Bar Epigastro looked like a pretty good place to cool down and indeed it was. The local beer was nice and the staff friendly and helpful.

In what seemed like no time at all I was in a taxi heading for the airport to meet Sylvia for our flight back to Singapore.

Saturday 6 May 2017- The Battle Box

Several hours after leaving NZ out of Christchurch on Friday morning I realised we were tracking across Australia. From the air it looked a lot more attractive than it does on the ground. Large, what looked like, salt lakes fed rivers running north to the sea.

Cloud formations up through the pacific are always pretty spectacular. One could wonder if North Korea has fired that nuclear missile as the mushroom clouds form in the sky.

After a sleep in on Saturday Sylvia and I took a stroll down to the other end of Orchard Road to visit Fort Canning Park, home of the now famous Battle Box. Previously there was a fort on top of the hill of which only the gate is still standing.

Built into the hill with about ten meters of overhead cover and with one meter thick walls separating most of the 20-22 rooms the Battle Box was primarily designed as a communications HQ for the military in Singapore prior to WWII. Located a few meters from the new Fort Canning HQ with its two entrances on opposite sides of the hill plus a vertical escape shaft it gave good cover during bombing raids. It had its own air filtration system in case of gas attacks along with a ventilation system, generator and 6 dunnies, three each for officers and OR’s (other ranks).

The Japs landed in the north east of Malaya on 8 December 1941 with a large number of battle hardened troops from the China campaign, lots of tanks and six thousand bicycles so the infantry could keep up with the tanks. Although in the early stages the combined British forces put up a good fight it didn’t last long.

The superior Jap aircraft soon started annihilating the Aussie, Brit and some Kiwi planes, who before being all shot out of the sky withdrew to Indonesia.

Jap aircraft also sunk the battleships Prince of Wales and Repulse along with a number of destroyers on the 10^th December, the same day Pearl Harbour was attacked on the other side of the Pacific. These were the only serious British naval assets in the area leaving no navy to come to the rescue. The British withdrew down the peninsular. By the 31 January the Japs had taken Malaya.

Intense bombing and artillery fire rained down on Singapore. Yamashita, the Jap general in charge, with about thirty thousand troops and running low on ammo and supplies decided to attack Singapore with its over one-hundred thousand strong army. On the 8 February they crossed the strait.

During this time around 500 people crammed into the Battle Box. Oblong pieces have been cut from the tops of steel doors, obviously to increase air circulation. In spite of all the rooms the place is quite small. In one of these rooms Percival, the Brit General in charge, and his senior team of seven made the decision to surrender on 15 of February.

The headquarters opposite the hill still stands but now as Fort Caning Hotel. A stroll down the nearby river revealed some nice sights.

Sunday 14 May 2017 – The Old Ford Factory

Taking a stroll through the Botanic Gardens and north along Bukit Timah Rd, around 10km later we arrived in a very sweaty state at the Old Ford Factory.  This was where the Japanese General Yamashita set up HQ during the invasion of Singapore.

Part of this building, including the room where the surrender was signed, is still there. Winston Churchill called it “The worst disaster and largest capitulation in British History”.

The museum walks one through from the pre-invasion to the occupation and a little of the rebuild after the Jap surrender in 1945.

Massive atrocities were committed by the Japs during the occupation, particularly by the Kempeitai (secret police) who beheaded people and stuck their heads on stakes around town complete with notes about how not to behave. Singapore’s name was changed to Sayonan-to, meaning “light of the south”. The Japs introduced an occupational currency, the locals referred to as “banana money”. At the beginning of the occupation 60g of rice was $5.00 ???? at the end $5000.00 ????. School classes were taught in Japanese.

By the end of the occupation what had once been a well off country was left in state of disarray and poverty. I must say from what I have seen so far they have done a great job of rebuilding the place. Interestingly there was no mention here about what happened to the captured British forces or civilians.

After the surrender the Jap general made all the hundred thousand plus captured troops line up on both sides of a main road and drove down the middle, cameras rolling to show off his victory.

Sunday 21 May – Changi Prison Museum

We took the MRT east out past the airport to Tampines. The station has a massive bus terminal clearly sign posted with stainless almost like stock yards to handle the queues. A bus took us through HDB (Housing Development Board) areas the 4 kms to the Changi Prison Museum.

Last week we received some cultural training as part of Sylvia’s assignment here. They explained how the HDB system works. People actually buy an apartment in these huge, well-kept apartment blocks. There is no graffiti, the buildings are clean and well maintained. There is a manager or two in each block. One of their tasks is to ensure that the welfare of the tenants is maintained. An example of this is if a family with kids is found not to have a computer and internet it will get sorted. If people are sick they will seek help for them. Privacy is not a big deal here so the people that count get to know what’s going on and who needs help. There are thousands of the blocks in this area.

The Museum is again like the previous two places a no photo area.

We grabbed an audio set and commenced the tour. This place is well laid out with a short section on the pre-invasion period, then it gets into detail on the captivity of both the military and civilian personal.

After the surrender most of the captured military people were marched east to Changi and imprisoned there. The Japs didn’t really know what to do with them for a start but soon realised they had a massive source of free labour. Many were sent to Burma to work on the railroad.

Initially men and woman were both kept at Changi however later the woman were taken to Sime Road prison. Originally designed to house 500, 5000 were kept there 10 plus to a cell. Changi was basically administered by the British officers with records kept. Many supplies were manufactured in the prison: sandals were made from car tyres; sunglasses from discarded X-ray film; radios were made and concealed in matchboxes. In one case one guy had a valve radio in a broom with the aerial integrated into his mosquito net. He would listen to the BBC through a rubber tube and write notes. His bunk was situated by the door and each morning he would place the notes in a hand that appeared round the door for distribution to the senior officers.

There are many stories of brave women and men that came to the prison each day to pass medical and other supplies through the wire in spite of often being beaten and or tortured. There was a very moving interview with a Dutch woman captured in Indonesia and shipped off to be used as a “comfort woman” (sex slave) by Jap officers when she was only 19.

Many of the prisoners taken to Malaysia, Thailand and Burma as slave labour died through beatings, starvation, malaria and other diseases.

There is an outside chapel which came from the prison situated in the internal courtyard.

Thanks Google for the pics.

There is also a covered but outdoor cafe set alongside the museum.

Just down the road there are the men’s and woman’s Changi prisons. The death penalty is mandatory in Singapore for drug traffickers, consequently drug addiction is rare here. Well done Singapore.

Saturday 27 May – The Bridge over the River Kwai

Leaving the hotel at 7.30 we headed northwest towards Burma. Our first stop some three hours later was Kanchanaburi War Cemetery. Here the remains of thousands of military personnel from the UK, Australia, Holland and USA are buried. 

Located across the road is a museum dedicated to both the survivors and the deceased. Another ‘no photo’ place it walks on through the whole horrible project. The Japs wanted access to Burma and Malaya through Thailand so the Thais who have never been colonised or conquered signed an accord with Japan allowing them access. At the same time the Thais declared war on the US and U.K. Japan had invaded Burma and wanted to use it to launch an attack on India and into Southern China. Their ships were getting bombed and sunk as they came up the west coast of Burma with Brit planes coming out of Calcutta. Hence it was decided to build a 485km railway through the mountains to link Thailand and Burma. 

With 80 odd thousand free labourers sitting in Singapore the project went ahead. Not only did they use 60 thousand plus prisoners, but  also over 150 thousand civilians, mainly from Burma and Malaya, were forced into slave labour.  Great promises were made by the Japs of good food, pay and medical facilities to entice them to work on the rail. One man tells how he was in town in Malacca one day as a sixteen year old when Jap soldiers approached him and offered him this great job with great pay etc. up north on the railway. He declined as he thought his parents would not let him go. They tied him up ant took him anyway. 

Figures are sketchy as the Japs destroyed most of the records at the end of the war but they reckon over 80 thousand of these people perished. 

One interview with an old British army guy talks about the song they used to whistle (made famous by the movie). “It was a bit rude really as it meant bollocks to the Japanese! We walked along whistling away and the Japs would often smile and wave!”

The museum takes one through how they blasted their way through cuttings by twisting and hammering steel spikes into the rock to hack holes for explosives. They built the wooden viaducts, some of which are still in use today. The conditions were terrible with many suffering from malaria, dengue fever and cholera. The Japs had a policy of minimising food for the sick as they thought this would encourage people to get well and go back to work for better food. They did let funerals be held so the British prisoners often buried records and diaries with the bodies as they knew the Japs had some respect for the dead and would be reluctant to dig them up. Many of these records were recovered when the bodies were exhumed to be re buried at the war grave and have helped piece together the story. 

We then continued our journey to the bridge itself. For some reason it was completely different than I imagined, located on the northwest edge of the town with lots of souvenir shops on the east bank and the ground around it flat. When we arrived the bridge was full of tourists with a sign at the beginning of the bridge warning “be careful taking selfies when train coming”. We crossed the bridge and heavy rain arrived. We sheltered in a hut as the rain cleared the bridge of tourists.

On the east side of the bridge there are some old engines and a truck displayed.

Originally a wooden bridge spanned the river while this one got built. When this bridge was bombed they reinstated the wooden bridge while repairs were made to this one. Next time they bombed both bridges with a very early version of guided bombs. 

We then headed further north, the plan being to to take a train ride. With a couple of hours to spare we headed to a cave. With the first section full of bats it was a bit stinky. Sylvia clung to me as the bats flew around reacting to the camera. 

After the bats the cave extended some 200m into the hill with some interesting stalagmites and tites among other formations. 

We than drove to Nam Tok Railway station, boarding the very old, on-time train at 3.30pm for an around 25km journey down the line. This is as far as the line goes now days although there is some talk of rebuilding it through to Burma. 

The train seemed to run out of ergs at one point, stopping and rolling back down the slope, but eventually got going again. Lots of houses have a lot of junk lying around the back of them. 

 We disembarked at a tourist resort type town where the rail went on a viaduct on the river edge. People stood on the edge to watch the train go past and others floated down the river in their matching life-jackets. Our driver was there to meet us for the three plus hour drive back to Bangkok.