Reminissing Our Awesome 2025 European Vacation

Posted on January 19, 2026 by storiesbygary

Our 2025 European Vacation was exceptional, with some countries repeat visits and some to areas we had not visited yet, but yearned to. The two top “new adventures” were Sicily and Vienna, Austria. I do have to say that after returning to Italy for the fourth time, in all our travels, Italy is my #1 Favorite, hands down. We spent incredable time in Florence, and the Piedmont Area Wine Country. The one location that suprised both myself and Marsha, was our week in Bordeaux, France. Don’t get me wrong, Bordeaux is rated the best wine region in the world for good reason, the wine country, vinyards and wines are spectacular. But, we stayed in the center of the town, which I feel was a mistake, But, more on that in a bit.

Our “Big Bird” KLM Flight from Panama to Amsterdam

Streets of Panama in Old Town and Marsha with her friend / co-worker

We started our adventure flying from Belize City to Panama City, where we spent the night in a very classy hotel. The next day, as we didn’t leave until the evening, we met up with our friend %%%% for a tour of the sites in Old Panama. We fly to Panama because of the direct flights from there to Amsterdam, the first leg of our trip. As I always say, flights across “the pond” are very long, and if you can, do as we do and upgrade to Business Class, you will be happy you did. Before I get into Amsterdam particulars, I will say that we have been there before, and it was not Marsha’s top choice. This time, she pretty much fell in love with this awesome city.

Watching our flight in “real time” in Business Class and Marsha relaxing in her “cubicle”

Our flight to Amsterdam was pure joy, with comfort electronic adjustments turning our seats into beds. Large smart tv, sound systems, and generous meals and cocktails all the way. The other key here is that we slept for hours on this flight, and arrived in Amstardam pretty much rested.

Our housboat Air bnb was awesome

Pic’s of doing some “window shopping”, also on our sunset Champagne River Cruise, also we dined at a famous restaurant outside, and just when our dinner came, so did the heavy rain ! Marsha was a trouper 🙂

In our last trip to France, I rented an unusual “Air BNB”, a houseboat, on the main canal below the Eiffel Tower. This time in Amstardam I rented another houseboat, in one of the best neighborhoods, on the main canal. It was totally modern inside, lots of room, and the plus was a outside deck where we got to enjoy coffee or wine, and watch the boats go by. There was so much to see and do on foot, that we hardly ever used public transportation. Of course, we did have to return to our favorite outdoor bar on the canal, in a different location. The one thing we did differently was to take a Evening Champagne River Cruise, that included some excellent snacks. I hignly suggest this if you visit Amsterdam.

Crusing in our Citron Tour, and our dinner at Five Star, “La Dome:, and of course, The Eiffel Tower.

From Amsterdam, we traveled via KLM Airlines to Paris and checked into our BNB, which was quite nice. We were only in Paris for two days, but made the most of our time. The previous visit it was raining most of our stay, so we passed on visiting the Eiffel Tower. This time the weather was excellent and I talked Marsha into taking the special pass to the very top of the tower, for a glass on Champagne together. She agreed, but I have to admit, reaching the top, it took a bit for her to step away from the wall to the edge and look down. Actually, it took her downing that Champagne.

The other special thing we did was take a tour of the city in a Classic Citron, with our private driver. I also higly recomend doing this, as everywhere we went, tourists took photo’s of us, and we basically “Photo Bombed” their pics. A highlight for Marsha was circling the Arc de Triomphe ( in French), and stopping for a photo of us, stanting up in through the roof of the Citron. I was planning to take marsha to the Jules Verne Restaurant in the Eiffle Tower for a romantic dinner, but checking reviews decided not. Instead I took her to a famous French restaurant, LeDuc known for it’s massive seafood platters, featuring oysters !Need I say, that we ate probably twenty each, along wit crab and other seafood, with Champagne. Well worth the experience, LeDuc is very elegant dining, with warm wood walls, reminisant of days of old. It opened in 1967, and is considered one of the best restaurants serving raw seafood. Also, very well populated by celebs.

Photo with four of us, and a bottle of wine, we were treated to a taste of a fifty + year old bottle of Bordfeaux wine, something even the employees of the winery had never tasted.

Our next location was Bourdeaux by train. I will say, we aklways enjoy our train trips in Europe, always comfortable, on time, with food and beverages on board. It’s a great way to see the countryside, especially in this case, Paris to Bordeaux. Getting back to my statement on where we stayed, we did have an excellent BNB in the town of Bordeaaux, however it wasn’t what I expected. I envisioned a quaint smell town with shops, wine bars, restaurants, and couples strolling the streets, arm in arm. What I got was a big city like town, and we had to explore to finally find a “square” where these things were found.

However, I had hired a private Wine Guide for three days to take us to the very best and most famous Vineyard/Wineries in Bourdeaux, and she wasn’t dissapointing. The countryside was breathtaking, rolling hills of grape vines being picked. Small old villages that have worshiped their grape vines for centuries. We sipped / tasted the best Bordeaux had to offer, met vineyard owners, Sommeliers, of which I am one, which produced some great discussions, area history, and more.

My experience tasting wine the three weeks we were in Italy brought me back to my days in the wine buisness in Oregon, when I took the course to become a Level One Sommelier. Back then I learned that there were two kinds of wine, and in fact, two kinds of wine “drinker/tasters”. In italy for the most part, when you order a glass or bottle of good wine, you are poured between 1/4 to 1/3rd of the glass of wine. That’s because Italians and the French appreciate their wines, and take time to sip, taste and enjoy them with food, noteing how they complement their dish. There are exceptions, like during our stay in Alba, Italy, (coming up), where I learned the famous wine, Borola, is their “Drinking, party wine” 🙂 Borola is almost always poured to the top of the glass and tossed back frequently. This is of course the way much of the earths population “drinks wine”.

I know…..SNOB 🙂

Ahhhh…Sicily, what an adventure.

The two Figure / figurenes, were purchased by us, and are now decorating our home. Don’t ask how much it cost to insure and ship to Belize ? 🙂

First pic is from our condo balcony.

Our next exciting destination was Sicily, which we both were looking forward to. We flew into Catania and rented a vehicle for our week there, something suggested by many on YouTube. This I will tell you was not such a good idea.We drove from the airport to our condo in Taormina, where I quickly learned the error of our decision. The highway to Taormina was excellent, until we needed to read the signs in Italian for whech lane was cash :). And then the driving almost straight up winding, narrow, two way streets to the to of the mountain that is Taormina. Forget “Google Maps” when it comes to directions to a apartment on these streets, as we got close, but one street above our apartment street. I found a place to “park”, something not really available here, while Marsha walked down to fing our “Host” below. We actually were lucky, as I was right in front of the “parking lot” for the condo, which was on the roof of our condo !

The condo was spectacular, with a patio with a Sea View, and great place to relax with a bottle of wine or morning cafe. We did have to walk up one flight of stairs, something we try not to by finding condo’s with elevators, but in this case the view was well worth it. Everything in this hilltop destination is walkable, some “up’s and down’s, but not drastic. The first evening we went to dinner in the host’s parents restaurant, and enjoyed a traditional Sicilian dinner, with local wine from the Volcano Vineyards, which was quite good.

Their beaches have a great setup for “sea rescue.”

We spent quite a bit of time just in the village, exploring cafes, local foods, and of course, shopping. We discovered a local store, not you usual “tourist trap”, with exotic gifts, especially statues. Marsha fell in love with a Pelican, I fell for a local symbol of Sicily. We were good and didn’t purchase on the spot, however we did return a couple days later to make the purchase. Trust me, they weren’t cheap, and we really couldn’t “pack” the with us, are we were spending the six weeks out of “carry on” baggage. We had to trust shipping from Sicily to Belize, which also was not cheap, but we felt necessary. They both arrived about a month later when we were home, and in great condition.

Sicily as does Italy enjoy some spectacular beaches, and we decided to hit the beach one fine day. To do this we had to walk down to the Tram Station, and ride down fairle close to the beach. When I say close, I mean we had to walk a good distance from the station down sone steps yo the beach. As it was lunch time we got a table in a beachfront outdoor restaurant and enjoyed the view, Aperol Spritz’s and lunch. Marsha investigated the beach, I just “people watched” and sipped my cocktails,

One of the main reasons we rented a car was to drive to the Volcano, and enjoy the m any vineyards and wineries at its base. It was about an hours drive there, but after our “adventure” driving to Taoramina, I made a different decision….Helicopter Tour of the Mt Etna Volcano. It was a short drive to the helo port, where we boarded the modern helocopter with one other couple. Was it worth the price ? Absolutely ! We cruised over the entire area, spent more time than advertised over the volcano, and I mean close ! Actually so close that we asked if it was legal to fly that close, and he said “Well, I;m the only helocopter up here, so who will report me “? :).

Our last day we decided to spend a day, actually on one of the best beaches, Isola Bella, which we had seen from the highway. Yes, I actually drove there as they had parking. We had made reservations with the resort for “Beach Cabana” directly on the beach, which included our own beach loungers. There was a button in the cabana we used to call the wait staff, for food and cocktails. Did we ever frrl like “Lux Travelers” :).

Anyone who has visited the island of Sicily will tell you, returning for a longer stay is a must. I toyally agree, as there is so much to experience, like “The Godfather Tour” 🙂

Attended a concert in the old Roman Colleseum in Toaramina, Sicily…I Italian 🙂

Our next flight took us to the beautiful city of Florence, Italy, one of our favorites, with it;s famous Art Museums, restaurants and exhibits. I was really looking forward to spending quality time in the National Archaeological Museum of Florence, holding the largest collection of Egyptian artifacts in Italy. Then there is the pasta’s, wines, bakeries and sandwich shops. Our BNB was great, especially the old elevator.

Ahhhh…Florence

We actually did a “Get Your Guide” Tour of the Egyptian Museum, which proved to be the best I have experienced, with lots of mummies, charriots, sarcofagus’s and so much more. It was an excellent thing to have a guide for, because you get lots of “inside scoup”. This visit has encouraged me to look at a trip to Egypt sometine in the next couple years.

We had planned to take the train down to Cinque Terre on the coast for a day trip, but decided to spend the time walking the streets of Florence instead, and I’m happy we did.

Next we hit the train to Bologna, where we would spend a day, and then rent a car for our trip and five days in Alba, for our Northern Wine Adventure. We both decided tgat we could have spent more time in Bologna becasue it was just so historically enriching, and the food blew us away. Famous sights we visited were the Piazza Maggiore, Statue of Neptune, the famous towere of Florence, built in the 11th century.

So we went to our car rental company, Stix, to pick up our car, which in Europe isn’t always what you reserved, as the website says, this vehicle or siniliar”?. In this case, I was pleased because they gave me a convertible Mercedes-Benz, EQS Sedan. We cruised the countryside to our destination town Alba, known for it’s wineries, pasta, and the Home of Nutella. Just envision cruising rolling hills, filled with vineyards and homes on our way to the Winery / Vineyard Air BNB which we would call our home for the next five days. marsha had Google Naps live as she programed the name of the winery, which gave us a detailed map, As we continued on a small, getting smaller winding road getting higher and higher, with massive “dropdowns” on both sides, I found that I was holding my breath. Thsi didn’t look good. We came to the pinnacle of the hill which ended in a “trail” doun to the lower valley. I said “not” ! This could not be the way to the “upscale BNB” we had booked.

Rented our Mercedes, Drove from Florence to Alba, in Piedmonte Wine Country, to our Vineyard BNB, Mia Cara, Winery / Resort. As you can see, we ate very well, with their vineyard wine as well.

I proceeded to make mini turns, harrowing turns, back and forth until I turned the full-size Mercedes around and we headed back to town to start over. What we discoverd was that the roar and trail were the original way to get to the vineyard, and they have tried to get Google Maps to upgrade to show rout on the new paved road. We found the new road and driving to the Vineyard BNB was much better. We checked into our balcony room with great views of the vineyards, and inquired where the nearest best restaurant was located, telling them we did not want another experience like getting here.

Yes, I did get “out classed” at the winery / resort, by a Ferrari :). Pic’s are in the town of Alba, where we fell in love with the town, wine, food, and the White Truffles 🙂

The vineyard resort manager recommended a restaurant in a small village close by that proved to be so excellent we dined there mukltiple times. The old stone restaurant had excellent staff who assisted with food aqnd wine pairings, with obvious knowledge of vino produced in the area, especially Barbaresco, Borolo, Barbara D’Alba and more.

We actually fell in love with the small village of Alba, known as the City of 100 Towers, with obvious history with the Roman Empire. It’s known as a “Foodies and Wine Premier Destination, and I totally agree.Something else it’s known for is White Truffles, with stores in the center featuring these delightful underground jewels. Not only did we enjoy pasta covered with fresh truffle slices multiple times, I also purchased a White Truffle and “babied it” for the next month before arriving back in Belize. I followed a daily routine to keep it’s integrity, and it worked.

We will be returning to Alba and the Piedmonte Area, I am certain.

Below, in Turin, where our BNB was in a pretty old building, as you can see by the elevator. However, it was pretty nice, with a balcony.

Our next destination was Turin, Italy, a beautiful ancient city with something we were both excited to visit, the Museo Egizio. This elegant Baroque Palace is the home of the Egyptian Museum, the oldest museum in the world, dedicated to Egyptian civilization. I’m extremely happy that Marsha booked a tour with a very knowledgable guide, as her depth of knowledge proved invaluable to us. This museum is massive, and she took us to the most important pieces, from sarcophagus’s, to mummies, statues, burrial items, to stone carvings / hieroglyphs and much more. In fact, one of the King Mummies was the oldest and most preserved anywhere. This museum is a must see if you are touring northern Italy.

Our 1st meal in Turin was “fast food”: at their “M**Bun” 🙂

Visiting Turin and the Egyptain Museum had made me determined to visit Egypt in the near future.

From Turin, we flew to Munich, one of my favorite places, for the Oktoberfest. where we would spend four days of “Beer and Pig Knuckle / Pretzel Heaven”. In the past, we have really enjoyed Munich, its arts and experiences, which we still love, but Oktoberfest will be pretty much over for us now. The first day, we visited the grounds on a tour, with a guaranteed seat at a table in one of the famous tents, the Shottenhamel Tent, for 6 hours. This is very hard to do if you plan to attend. The best tents and tables are rarely open to tourists, but with careful planning, you can still enjoy Oktoberfest Munich.

Also in Munich we took a tour, which I have to admit I was hesitant to do, the Dachau Concentration Camp. It was a view of the past, that reminded me of just how discusting the human race can become, and how an entire race can blindly follow an idology, which almost destroyed the world. I don’t think I will ever understand how a human being could do the things I say and heard about, and I don’t think I should. I didn’t take many photo’s becasue I just couldn’t, but I will post some. All I can saw is this period in time was trully the defination of “horror”.

Our main issue was the increased massive crowds allowed in, which by the way, enterence has no fee, your fee is getting beer tents. This year there were over one million visitors per day, breaking records, and forcing police to close the gates to the event at 9 PM. It was really “nuts to butts” everywhere, with a million quite enebriated people, bumping into each other. You had to watch every step becasue of all the “vomit piles” ! Not to enjoyable to us, although 30 years ago I probably would have enjoyed it.

Those days are over 🙂

Our tour to Hitlers “Eagles Nest” high in the Alps, was interesting, with exception of being clouded in :(. You can see the Golden Elevator, fireplace given to Hitler by Sweden, and “The Tunnel to elevator”.

We next took the Railjet Train to Salzburg, Austria, 1st Class for three days in this historic and beautiful city. We checked into the Raddison Blue Hotel in center of town and began exploring on foot. One of the most exciting and troubling plans was a day tour to Hitlers Eagle’s Nest” fortress high in the Alps. We left on a bus early in the morning for the hour plus trip up to the pinnacle of the mountain the Eagles Nest was built. It was quite stunning, and the amazing road built by the “SS” was still in great shape. We arrived at the “let off “ spot, where we entered the massive tunnel to the “Golden Elevator” that took us to the fortress. It was very weird knowing that as we rode up the elevator, Hitler and his Generals had done the same, but actually only a few times. Althouge Hitler had “quarters” built in the Nest, he never slept there, because he was so afraid of heights. He just had meeting with his staff there.

Although it is famous for the views from Eagles Nest, this was our “view”. Very appropriate.

Salzburg borders Germany and lies below the Alps, offering super views. It was established in 696 AD by the Roman Empire and was known as Luvavum. Salzburg is the city of Mozart, with his homes, apartments ( for his Mistresses), and “candy likeness” everywhere. We chose to visit the Mirabell Palace and Gardens, which were spectacular. With so many sights to visit and things to day, we decided against the “famous” thing to do, the “Sound of Music Tour”, and instead toured the Fortress Hohensalzburg which overlooks the town. I was totally impressed with this massive fortress, built with stone.

I am so happy with my wife, Marsha, who wanted to enjoy some classical music in this historic hub of just that. She booked us a 5-Star Dinner at the top of the fortress one evening that was stunning, sitting at a window seat, with views of the city below. But Wait! It didn’t end there; after dinner, we were escorted to the “music room,” where we enjoyed a very small audience and a beautiful concert by four extremely talented musicians who enveloped the room with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. I wish I could let you feel the emotion and “goosebumps” the concert brought, however, I was too busy enjoying the music, and “Champagne” 🙂

Promises given…Promises Kept- Marsha gets an hour tour of Salzburg in a horse and carriage.

Next, we boarded the 1st Class railcar, on the Railjet High Speed Train, to Vienna, truly a city of music. We checked into our beautiful Airbnb in the historic 18th-century part of town. We had researched things to see and do, and I believe we filled up our four full days in Viena. We visited the Schaumburg Palace on a guided tour, which was excellent, again getting the “inside scoup” on it’s history and the royalty that lived there. We also had Reserve Tickets for the Musikverin Golden Hall for a classical event that included Opera singers. Again, wife Marsha scored friont row, balcony seats, which were in my opinion, best in the house.

One of Austria’s famous wines is Grüner Veltliner, a white wine with flavors of berries, fruit, and citrus. We were introduced to this wine many years ago by the first producing vineyard in Oregon, Russel Winery in Roseburg, Oregon. We were both excited to do an all-day wine tour here in Austria, and we weren’t disappointed. It was a beautiful day, leaves were changing color after being harvested, and the countryside was gorgeous. We visited five different vineyards, tasting all the wines they produced, including their Grüner, and were surprised by how different the terroir makes Grüner taste compared to that produced in Oregon.

We also visited a antique carriage museum, as well as an evening spectacular loght show in a Cathedral

As you could expect, I did in fact empty most tasting glasses, but there were a few that both Marsha and I did use the “spit bucket”.

In Vienna, we were staying near an old and famous square that featured a “Horse Fountain” in the center, and guess what were lined up on one side, yess, horse drawn carriages. Marsha scored another tour of the town in one.

As our six week Europe Tour was coming to a close, we enjoyed one last evening dinner in one of the classiest restaurants I have enjoyed. One of their specials was a personel favorite, “Pig Knuckle” which Marsha and I shared with a most excellent bottle of wine.

After we finished dinner, which by the way, included a local artest singing classic tunes, the waiter came to our table and asked if we would like a shot of “house produces” Schnop’s. Of course we said yes, and he brought a custom decantor they had made just for this. The shot of Schnop’s was delicious, as was the second, at no charge. I could have stayed all nite.

The next morning we flew to Amsterdam, where we connected again on our Business Class flight back to Panama City, and the home to Belize.

I do hope that I have inspired my readers who have never been to Europe, to plan a trip and go. There is so much of the world besides your country, great food, wines, history and people. On this trip we ne so many great people and learned so much. Travel, Travel Travel…..while you can.

Our next great adventure is already planned, a week in Japan, followed by a 29 day cruise on the Holland America Nordam of Australia and New Zealand, their “Holiday Cruise”.

Guess I will be updating my PADI Diving Certificate for the Great Barrier Reef.

Until we meet again,

The Pirate…..Gary

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My Christmas 1968…Republic of Vietnam

Posted on December 22, 2024 by storiesbygary

I woke up this morning at about 3 AM in a “dream / nightmare” of a time, place, and experience I have fought hard to forget, Vietnam. It has actually been many years now since I re-lived my experiences in the war in dreams, although they are never not in my thoughts, each and every day.

Just imagine being a 19 year old, in the U.S.Marine Corps, in a far away country, first time/place out of the U.S., doing what you felt was right, defending your country. From the first few minutes, I arrived at the military airport in DaNang, which, I might add, was under attack, to the day two years later, leaving on my “Freedom Bird,” I was aware of death.

FYI…I have never told this to anyone.

I had been “in-country” for almost a year, lived thru TET 1968, and was assigned to 1st Marine Division, as part of a seven man Recon Team with Hotel Company. Without going into much detail, we were a specialty team traveling the mountains with light gear, able to “hit & move” quickly. We mainly were locating enemy supply chains feeding the enemy arms. We were also involved with other “assignments” which I have not spoken about to anyone sice leaving country, but those were my worst nightmares.

We had been in the field for probably almost three weeks on this mission, putting many clicks travel per day, catching what sleep we could at night. It had been a terribly long, hot, sweaty day for us, pushing thru a valley rice paddy to get up the next hill, our destination. As we were taking a smoke break, drinking shitty tasting paddy water with iodine tablets in it, our radioman decided to tell us news he got earlier that morning.

“Hey you fu#ks, it’s Christmas Eve today” !

I have to say I was not happy hearing that, knowing tomorrow up the hill, overlooking a major pass used by the NVA funneling arms, we could easily “hit some shit”, on Christmas Day!

We pushed up and over that mountain, like many before, and settled in on a treed slope overlooking our objective. Although we usually dug in with good amount of seperation betueen us, for some time we grouped and talked.

For the next I don’t know, 3-4 hours we each took time talking about our families, how we all spent our Christmas’s with them in the past, and how we looked forward to that experience again soon. I hope nobody who reads this ever experiences what we did that night. Seven guy, Marines, pouring their hearts out to each other, some sobbing, tears flowed, emotions exposed.

Yes…. seven combat soldiers, 19-23 year olds, who had experienced more horror than any young man should. I know that each of us was thinking the same thing, would we spend Christmas with our families again.

In the early morning we completed our mission identifying coordinates of a supply caravan, for the air strike. We proceeded toward our extraction point up and over the mountain, hearing the strike in the distance, feeling very accomplished.

We would be choppered back to the airbase in Danang for a few days “in-country R&R”.

We had almost gotten to the top of the mountain following an old trail when the explosion rocked our world, tossing me in the air and dropping me in a heap off the tail. It took I don’t know how long before I could stand, and forever till I could hear. Scrambling up the hill expecting additional mortar rounds coming in on us, I found that Jimmy who was walking point was pretty much gone. We found evidence that it wasn’t a mortar round, but actually an old “booby trap”, made from an artillary round, as we found two more going over the hill. The shells had French writing on them, so we figured the French there before the U.S. had booby trapped the hill.

Luckily we were well spaced, and the six of us got banged up, a little shrapnel, nothing serious. It took us another 4-5 hours to get to our extraction point, and not a word was spoken. Our team continued almost another full year in operations, until I got word I was scheduled on a Freedom Bird home in a week from Danang.. weeks before Christmas 1969.

Over those months, I had to replace the other five team members at least once. None of the original guys from my team that night made it home for another Christmas.

I was the only one, and I don’t know why.

It didn’t take long when I first got to Nam, to realize I did not want to make “friends”, because they didn’t last.

Those six Marines were my friends, and I will never forget them, especially during Chrismas,

Me, on the left, in Danang, borrowed a uniform going on my first R&R to Thailand.

I had already lost over 40 lbs.

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9 European Countries in 6 Weeks

Posted on December 2, 2024 by storiesbygary

Chapter 2- On to The Scottish Highlands

Our route in the Scottish Highlands

We were very excited to start our five day tour of the Scottish Highlands with Rabbies Tours out of Edinburgh, Scotland. A few years ago when we visited Scotland, we used them for a “Day Tour” and found them very professional. Of course, it does always depend on the “driver / guide”, of which I was quite anxious. We would be spending the next five days with him, and what if he was a dick ?!

We had to meet the driver and eight people for the rest of the bus terminal, Gate K, which is quite lovely and within walking distance of our hotel. As we got there early, always the plan, finding a coffee house and luncheonette within the bus station was a pleasant surprise.

“Look ! It’s Nessy” 🙂

“Two Cappachino’s to go please” 🙂

“So Graham…What ya got under that kilt”?

At 8:30 AM, our driver Graham arrived in a Scottish hat and kilt ! A very personable chap with a thick accent and great smile. I knew we would get along just fine.

The luxury-style van was super comfortable, with plenty of room for our luggage. FYI we had two pieces of luggage, 22x17x10, airline “carryon size”, along with a small bag for personal items.

Off we went with a full van, for the first day / night in Iverness at the Dalmore Guest House, a B&B En- Suite. We were lucky as we watched the other climb the stairs to their rooms with luggage, as we entered our first floor suite :).

Marsha “shopping for trinket’s” with the local “Nessie Spotter”, Yup …she bought two for grandkiddo’s

On the way we had the opportunity to visit Loch Lomond, famous the the Lock Ness Monster.

I tried my best to spot “Nessy” but to no avail:)

We got to meet quite the character, who has lived on the lake for many years, searching for Nessy. He lived in an old camper on the waterfront and made trinkets and little nessy figures, which he sold to live on.

Yup! I’ll take a dram o dat !

After checking into our hotel in Iverness, we found a great seafood restaurant, and dined on local seafood. After a long day, we headed back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep.

The next day we jumped into the van after a really good hotel buffet, on our way to the John O Groats ? Gillis Bay Ferry Boat, accross the Pentland Firth to Orkey Archipelago.

We visited a “prisoner built” chapel on the island, built during WW2 by French prisoners.It was quite the experience.

On the ferry back to mainland.

We also visited the Viking Stronghold in Kirkwall as well as the Viking Cathedral.

We also visited my personal favorite pace on the whole tour….the Dalwhinnie Distillery in of course, Dalwhinnie, Scotland. Now this distillery is quite famous for its Highland Single Malt Scotch. I had already decided I would purchase a bottle to bring home.

Looking at their “menu” of available bottle tastings, I chose three of their best, a ten yeat old single barrel,a twelve year old single barrel, and then their best scotch available, a 30 year old, single barrel, small special batch.

Marsha found a pay phone so I could call for security to guard my “prize” 🙂

The ten was tasty, the twelve, which was recommended by our guide, was awesome, and then I sipped the 30-year-old. And the party in my mouth seemed to last forever. I decided I had to bring a bottle of the 30 yo back to the stated. I proceeded to the purchasing agent and asked to have a bottle of that beautifully tasty Scotch.

I could not believe my ears when he told me no bottles were left for sale! I asked him why they offered a tasting, and he said so visitors could experience the “best of the best”., but tastes were poured out of the last bottle.

So many castles across the highlands.

I had a “discussion” with him about the fact that just like wine, distillers always keep one bottle for themselves, especially when it is so precious. I wanted that bottle.

Sometimes, ya just need a cold one 🙂

He made a call, and shortly, a finely dressed gent arrived and was brought to me. He introduced himself as “The Stewart of the Distillary” and asked if I truly wanted a bottle of the 30. I said yes, and as I did, a little voice whispered in my ear (my wife Marsha), have you asked how much for that bottle? I replyed, “no”, and asked. I figured it would be in the neighborhood if $200-300 U.S.

I asked and was told I could have the last bottle for more than double my anticipated price.

And I said “yes”. 🙂

Back in the van, “Labeled safe” from Gary’s shopping spree 🙂

As they were wrapping up my purchase, the Stewart explained how he had bought a similar “last bottle” of a small batch a few years ago and had just sold it to a collector for over $5,000. He firmly said, “Don’t crack it”! 🙂 …..I don’t plan to 🙂

I purchased the outstanding bottle, had my photo taken with the stewart and my guide, for theDistillery’s annual magazine, and off we went.

FYI, Marsha told me as we left, that I had just “shot my load” of gifts for myself. 🙂

Immediately found a bank….. “gimmy what ya got” ! 🙂

The next day we continued our discovery tour of Kirkwell, by visiting the Ancient Skara Site, a 5000 year old village.

Also we visited the Stone Circle and Standing Stones of Stenness.

We traveled to Ullapool, where we spent the nite at the Caledonian Hotel. The following day we sailed by ferry back to the mainland. We visited Andvrek Castle and Loch Broom on our way back to Edinburgh.

I have to say that words and photos can in no way reflect what you experience in “first person.” The little villages, rolling Scottish moors, ancient castles in the middle of nowhere, and scenery easily transport you back to the days of Braveheart and Rob Roy.

We returned to the bus terminal in Edinburgh and walked to our Royal Scots Hotel Hotel.

The next day was our “day off” with no plans at all. We like to take a day after major travel around areas. Maybe so Haggis, Scotch Whisky and Bagpipes ?

We then take off for Copenhagen, and a whole new adventure. See you tomorroe.

The Pirate

Say Hello to my “Little Friend”., Commonly referred to here as “Harry Coos”.

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9 European Countries in 6 Weeks….

Posted on September 26, 2024 by storiesbygary

Chapter One……Off to Miami Beach, then England, then Ireland 🙂

This was the end of the trip flight, KLM Airlines, Amsterdam to Panama. First Class all the way. 🙂

This adventure started with the idea of returning to Scotland and exploring the Scottish Highlands, something we had not done on our last visit to Scotland. At that time we discussed what other areas might interesting, and my wife Marsha suggested something from her “bucket list”, Scandanivia. I of course said “ if we are going to Scotland, then lets start in Dublin and then to Edinburgh. Why you might ask ?

Guinness on Tap ! And then there is Haggis 🙂

As usual, we flew to Miami Beach from Belize to spend three days before heading to Dublin. We did this because this is hurricane season, and flights could be affected. I booked us in a super hotel, the nostalgic Tony Hotel, with a balcony directly on South Beach to relax.

We also decided to rent a car and drive down the Keys to a nite in Key Largo, then head back the next day to Miami International for our direct flight to London and on to Dublin. We stayed at the Marina Del Mar Hotel in Key Largo, and enjoyed a splendid seafood dinner that evening.

The next morning we jumped back on the road north to the Miami Airport, not rushing as our flight wasn’t until 5 PM on British Airways. As we had upgraded to 1st class, we got to relax in the “Flight Club” where I did find the Champagne 🙂

Our flight to London left Miami at 5:30 PM and we landed at Londons Heathrow at 7:05 am. The seats were pretty frickin great, reclining into beds in a “capsule”, mine right next to wife Marsha’s. There wqas an abundance of Champagne, wine, gin, etc, three meals and movies on the “airline private large screne tv” 🙂

Arriving in Heathrow Airport, London at 7:05 AM for a connecting flight at 10;15 AM proved to be a bit of a “bump in the road” for us. It seams nothing is close, with many terminals, and we just barely made out flight to Dublin.

Our flight was due to arrive in Dublin at 10:15 and I was so looking forward to “Bangers and Mash” with my first Guinness!

The hour and a half flight from London to Dublin was on Air Lingus and in fact was quite nice. We again had upgraded our seats, and “bubbly flowed”.

We took a Taxi from the airport to the Hard Rock Hotel where we were staying in Dublin on Lord Edward Street in the Temple Bar area of town. This hotel had just recently changed owners, however it was all decorated in Hard Rock Memorability throughout. Service was excellent and so was our suite.

I had prepaired a list of some thirty bars in Dublin I wanted to visit, as well as Marsha and I having a list of restaurants serving traditional Irish dishes to visit. Needless to say, we didn’t visit all, but we did put a pretty good dent in our lists.

One thing we did that Marsha had discovered while researching Dublin was a special “Coast Seafood and Beer Tour.” It’s called “The Dublin Coastal Craft Beer and Seafood Trail Tour” in Houth, Ireland. We met with six other people at a place in Dublin where we were picked up in a comfortable van and driven to Houth. This was a walking tour of this seaport, and we tasted beer and seafood at many pubs, and let me say, at the end of the tour, I was quite satisfied.

We only had three days to enjoy Dublin before heading on to Edinburgh, Scotland, where we would spend two full days before leaving on our five day tour up into the Scottish Highlands. As we have spent time on a previous trip in Edinburgh, I wasn’t that excited about this part of our adventure, that is until we attended the “Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo” at the Edinburgh Castle on Monday night. More about that in a bit.

The first night, we booked a suite in the Frasier Suites in Edinburgh, and the second, a night in the Royal Scots Hotel. The reason for two different hotels in two days is simple: when we returned from the five-night Scottish Highland Tour we had to book at the Royal Scots, because we could leave our large luggage there, I couldn’t get consecutive nights at the Frasier Suites. I want to add that the prices for both hotels were extremely high because I found out it was high season and that the Royal Military Tattoo was happening.

Now for the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, which I discovered was quite a “big deal” to the world. It seems that many countries attend this function each year, and you have to jump on tickets when they first are offered, or you don’t go. For some reason, when wife Marsha found out about this even happening while we were there, she immediately tried to get tickets. She was actually able to get special “Event tickets, seats in a prime lower section” along with a special event prior at “The Scotch Whisky Experience” on the Miricle Mile, just outside the enterence to the castle.

Located just outside Edinburgh Castle

Started with awesome wine, then on to premium Scotch Whisky 🙂

We enjoyed 5 courses

Bagpipes and Scottish Dancers gave us a show

We arrived two hours before the Tattoo, at the “Whisky Experience” building, which by the way you can schedule a tasting experience of the 1000’s of bottles of Scotch on hand. We however were led to an upper floor, and dining room where we were served wines and appetisers, followed by a three premium Scotch Whisky Tasting, with a talk by an expert about what we were tasting. It was awesome.

As we were served a “Five Star- three- course dinner” we were entertained by Scottish Bagpipes and dancers.

This is part of the store with thousands of bottles of Scotch for sale

After dinner we were escorted from the building directly to our seats in the Castle Arena.

We were only seated about a half hour when the event began, and what a start it was. Bagpipes were heard deep inside the Castle walls, and as they exited the archway and formed a parade onto the event grounds, it sent shivers down many spines, including mine. I then realized something was happening at the opposite end of the parade grounds, as a “limo-type vehicle” had entered with guards.

Princess Anne makes a surprise appearance

We were so lucky to be in attendance on the one night Princess Ann would attend the Royal Tattoo. The crowd erupted in applause and cheers as he exited the vehicle, waved, and then headed to a particular section to watch the event.

It is and will be very difficult to present this Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo to you, as it is genuinely something that “you just have to be there” to understand. It started at dusk and continued into darkness. Colored lights flooded the grounds, and each country’s bagpipes, drums, band music, singing, and dancing were spectacular and moving.

In the opening fanfare, the “Massed Pipes and Drums” were performed by a group of international men and women. They included The Royal Tank Regiment, Scottish and Northern Irish Yeomanry Pipes and Drums, 1st Batallion Scots Guard, Royal Gurkha, Royal Edinburg Military Tattoo, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Piupes and Drums and Bisbane College Pipes and Drums.

They took your breath away!

The following day, we met Rabbies Scottish Highlands Tour at the bus station and left for five days in the Scottish Highlands.

See you in the next blogpost…..Scottish Highlands 🙂

Gary… The Pirate

Look ! It’s “Nessie”


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Business Spotlight….The Placencia Yacht Club, Placencia, Belize

Posted on March 11, 2024 by storiesbygary

Location, Location, Location, Does the Placencia Yacht Club Nail that !

Although it feels like a lot longer, the Placencia Yacht Club has only been open for a little over two years now. With its commanding view of Placencia Harbor, the Pacencia Pier, Point, and the Mayan Mountains, the club has quickly become a “Gathering Place” for groups of boaters, tourists, and the general public.

This is a story of Caroline and Beat who first met in Zurich, Switzerland and soon realized their dreams were the same, to own and operate their own business, in something they both loved…

Owners Beat Retouch and Caroline Imfeld

Fishing.

Caroline and a nice-looking Bone.

Caroline and Beat departed Switzerland on April 1st, 2019, Not concerned with that date? :), headed for Placencia, Belize, on their Motor yacht, The Sirius.

Placencia Village

After a long journey with it’s own stories, they finally arrived here in Placencia, Belize, and found the vacant property with a boardwalk, pier and structure that was previously a small bar/ restaurant. After negotiating with owner, they took possession in February 2021, with Caroline opening the new restaurant / Bat, The Placencia yacht Club.

Caroline and her Pirate friends

Located on Placencia Caye a short distance from the Placencia Pier, Carolina offered boat transfer for guests on the mainland not having their own vessel. The Yacht Club has quickly gained a large following and client base, especially with the location in the Placencia Harbor. Those fishing the Caribbean Sea, both locals and fishing / snorkeling guides often stop there for their clients to experience.

Caroline makes everyone that jumps off a vessel feel at home, and quite literally, you “arrive as guests and leave as friends”.

With a standard bar service and a small but adequate menu, with plated like pasta’s, chicken wings, poppers, etc, there is something for everyone.

Popper’s Anyone?

Caroline also offers events for large groups, providing “to share” dishes, specialts fresh fish, salads and even a cake or two for these events.

Recently she was “invaded” by multiple Pirate vessels, full of nasty, gnarly cutthroat buccaneers, and she managed to provide a splendid dinner for 25 hungry Pirates and their Wenches.

And even a awesome birthday cake 🙂

There have been Weddings , Birthday Parties, Anniversary Celebrations, and more.

Last year and this year National Geographic brought their ship to Placencia Harbor and invited Caroline to participate in their social gathering in Placencia Village, and did again this year.

Plenty of room for your vessel.

Another fun and now regular event is a paint class complete with teacher and all supplies, where they paint a palm fond with scene or figure, like a mermaid. This has become quite popular with classes filline to maximum often.

Always greeted by friendly “dock dogs” 🙂

Both Beat and Caroline are still active in their love of fishing, especially Fly Fishing, as Belize Flats are quite famous for Bones, Permit and Tarpon. They run charter services out to the flats and Caribbean Sea on the Sirius, and let me say, it’s a First Class Fishing Adventure.

There are hookups of power and water for vessels up to 100 ft. using the docking service at the yacht Club, and many times large yachts and Catamaran’s are tied up there. Don’t worry, there is always somewhere to tie up your “little 28 foot” vessel.

So if your are visiting the Placencia Peninsula, cruising the Caribbean Waters looking for safe harbor, or even comming ashore from a cruise liner, give the Placencia yacht Club a call and become a friend in paradise.

Waiting for you at the dock 🙂

The Placencia yacht Club

Placencia Caye, Belize

Phone +501-639-8555

WhatsApp- +4178605

Fishing Charter Contact- info@clearwaterexploring.com

Hope you enjoyed the article, and visit the crew at the Placencia yacht Club soon.

Please “Like and Share” this post if you have not as yet.

Thanks in advance,

Gary…..The Pirate

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Part five of our six week Asia Tour- Phuket / AoNang, Krabi

Posted on February 1, 2024 by storiesbygary

Exploring some of the most beautiful beaches and waters in the world.

We had decided to end our Southeast Asia experience on the Southern Beaches and Islands of Thailand, a relaxing final week before heading back to the beaches of Belize. 🙂 We flew Thai Vietjet Air direct from Chiang Mai in the North to Phuket in the South.

We had arranged for a driver to transport us and our luggage directly to our first resort in Phuket. The driver met us in the main airport lobby and guided us to his new Toyota Van, which was quite a nice luxury.

Our first resort was the beachfront Four Points Sheraton Phuket Patong Resort, where we would stay for four days. Famous for its spectacular beaches and clear waters, awesome seafood, and, of course, “party Street”.

Arriving at our resort I was immediately inpressed by the. stunning beaches, pure white sand, deep deep deep stretches of it, an crystal clear tourquois waters. No trash, no sargassum, no problem.

  Our private lanai overlooking the beach.

 Every morning, these small scooters with a “sidecar” fruit, drink, and food cart attached would be set up on the beach sidewalk. We had a beer and “Pad Thai” set up across from our hotel daily. Cool.

I also was immediately aware that the majority of women on the beaches were on a “tight budget”, determined by the very minimum size bathing suits 🙂

     Maya Bay Beach, where Leo DiCaprio’s “The Beach” was filmed

  Your Taxi awaits 🙂

  Spicy Hot Thai Coconut Chicken and a ice cold Singh Ha ! Dat’s lunch 🙂

   Thai “Junks” are beautiful, I want 🙂

          Phuket Sunset

After four sweet days/nights at the Four Points, we again had private transportation to our next destination, AoNang, Krabi, and the AoNang Villas. Now, AoNang is very popular with international and local tourists. You have many boat adventure destinations here, from James Bond Island to many popular Island Resorts. I have to admit that many times we were swarmed by visitors exiting boats onto small beaches, and it seemed that everyone was a “professional photographer” :).

    Maya Bay was beautiful

Let me say this, if you log onto “Google Images” there are well over a million pictures taken of the iconic “James Bond Island” 🙂 And you can “photoshop” yourself into any one.

  Cocktails and dinner above the streets of AoNang

We did enjoy our boat trips and met fascinating people. I will say that overall, probably only experienced about 1 % of all tourists were Americans in Thailand. The majority were from China, Japan, Germany and Australia.

Now dats a beer 🙂

They warned us to “watch our heads”

Yup….Thialand beaches had them too.

 The famous “cave temple” on AoNang Beach. Celebrating the ???????

“Someone” really got into the “special brownies” 🙂

We also enjoyed walking the strip of shops and small bars/restaurants in AoNang. Ya just never knew what to expect “for sale” or for view ? 🙂

We booked a day on this “Junk”, visiting islands. One of our favorite tours.

  Onboard Beverages 🙂

  Relaxing on the “junk” which was anything but junky

 Very comfortable sailing

  Marsha is in water with others, swimming in Bi-luminescence water.

  Boat Captain had this shirt on….of course I bought one 🙂

We arranged for private transport from the AoNang Villas to our final destination in Thailand, The Tubbaak Resort, which proved to be, by far, the best Luxury Resort of our entire trip. From the moment we entered the “check-in” room, had a tour of the resort, and our suite, I realized we probably should have booked a longer stay there. Well… they did say at check-out….”Come back soon” 🙂

After a short 3 day’s at the Tubkaak Krabi Resort, we checked out and were again transported by private vehicle and driver to the Phuket International Airport. This was a three hour drive, and we got to see more of the countryside on the drive. There’s nothing like a luxury Mercedes Tour :). This was well worth the $300 U.S.

We caught our Business Class Flight from Phuket directly to Singapore, arriving at 6 PM, and checked into the Crown Place Changi Airport Hotel located at the airport. We were flying out the following day on Singapore Airlines to Los Angeles. Still, I was excited to explore Singapore Airport and the famous Marina Bay Sands Hotel, where we had dinner reservations at the rooftop restaurant poolside.

Marina Bay has the world’s most prominent Rooftop Infinity Pool, along with multiple restaurants and bars. The roof is shaped like a ship, and the entire hotel is lit up at night, which is quite spectacular. Marsha and I enjoyed one of the most expensive dinners and bottles of wine I have ever had, but celebrating our anniversary over this dinner was quite worthwhile.

  The Restaurant at top of Marina Bay

Anniversary Dinner “on top of the world “, started with wine and sushi 🙂

  Singapore Airport has trees and green and flowers everywhere

 This is it, the tallest indoor waterfall 🙂

The Singapore Airport has been named “World’s Best Airport” for good reason, OMG! Multiple floors of shops, restaurants, services, and the world’s largest indoor waterfall. We were lucky to be there in November after they had decorated for Christmas.

  Have you ever been thrilled to board a long flight? We looked forward to it 🙂

We boarded our first-class seats on our Singapore Airlines 16-hour flight to LAX the following day. May I again say that even though they offer more “leg room” on the couch, there is no comparison to your expansive cubicle in the first class cabin, in which seats turn into flat beds? After all, did you hear me say 16 hours? “Sitting”?

We arrived and checked into the Airport Marriott for the night, for our Alaska Air flight back to Belize in the morning. Let me say that we slept well.

Arriving back home, we were greeted by much love.

  Awaiting Mommy and Daddy 🙂

So that was our adventure in another “Paradise” in the world. Another “bucket list item checked.” I would like to say that it’s great to love where you live, but there is so much to experience in the world, people, customs, ancient history, new history, new friends, food, and beverages, to name a few. We are blessed to have “survived” North America, living, working to live, and finally being able to retire in the paradise we built our home in, Belize. Many ask why we travel the world when we live where we are, a vacation destination unlike many. My answer is that we can, and we want to.

One of the final discussions I had with my Dad, he told me he only wished that I live to retire, and see the world, something he never got to do.

Dad…. We leave again in July for Scotland and Scandinavia 🙂

       We will always remember

Hope you enjoy,

Gary “The Pirate”.

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Part-Five of our six-week Asia Tour- Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Posted on January 22, 2024 by storiesbygary

The Land of exotic food, spices, countryside, elephants and smiles.

    Bangkok Airport

Although I could have stayed in Bangkok longer, it was time to move onto our next adventure in Thailand, Chiang Mai, somewhere new to me. I was very excited to visit this area because it is more rural, quiet and spiritual. I anticipated interaction with Monks, elephants and locals, via tours, cooking classes, as well as public markets.

The Anantara Riverside provided us with transportation to the Suvarnabhumi Airport for our flight North to Chiang Mai International Airport. The flight took only about an hour on Thai Vietjet Air.

We had chosen a Boutique Hotel withing the walls of the ancient city in Chiang Mai, “Chala 6”, who had sent a private car to the airport to meet us. I can’t say how important this is to arrange, especially in a strange city where you don’t speak local language.

Arriving at Chala 6, I was blown away by how ornate and traditional Thai it was. Staff in traditional dress, extremely polite, and antiques everywhere. After check-in we were led to our room, a King Suite on the ground with direct pool access. A surprise feature was the fully stocked “Mini-bar”, of which we had free access to.

     Our Poolside Room.

The main reason we chose this hotel was the ability to walk out the front doors, and be in the safe walled ancient city, with it’s charm, restaurants, shopping and sites.

We unpacked, changed into swimwear, and headed out to the pool to relax with a cocktail or two, before heading out into the city.

Among other adventures we had booked here in Chiang Mai, we planned to be here on Sunday later in the week, specifically for their famous “Sunday Market”, which was supposed to be a “not to miss” adventure.

So we headed out to the streets to just do a “walk about” and get some food, which is never an issue here in Chiang Mai, or Thialand for that matter. Of course, tomorrow we would be attending “Grandma’s Cooking School” in the countryside, and “Elephant Nature Park” the next day. Our plan afrere quite a busy time in the “Big City” Bangkok, was to be casual in the north, with lots of relaxation, get massages, and enjoy food and local lifestyle.

The following day, the “Grandma’s Cooking School Van” picked us up at our hotel at $8:30 AM. We went directly to the outskirts of Chang Mai, about a forty-five-minute drive to the school location, where we were greeted by the staff. 

The first thing we did was get our straw hats and a tour of the gardens where they grow their own vegetables and fruits for cooking.

 We all have our own cook stations

 We watched closely as she taught us how to prepare each dish

 Say hello to my new “little friends” the Bird’s Eye Chili. Hot Hot Hot !

 My cook station

   Seriously spicy hot shrimp coconut soup.

This is where they introduced me to what is called a “Birds Eye Chili”, a tiny red pepper that would shortly kick my ass!

   Pad Thai from scratch ! Ummmmmm Good 🙂

We all surrounded the chef while she taught us how to prepare each course of the meal we would make ourselves. I appreciated the fact that we each had our own cooking station, and created our dishes along. after we made each course we would take our dishes to a table and eat. I also appreciated the beverage cooler that contained bottles of ice cold Singha Beer :), especially when I made my soup dish, which the Chef advised ading a couple “Birds Eye Peppers”, and I added five !

   Used in our Thai Cooking Class….wonder if I can find these back in Belize ? 🙂

This class was a half-day class, which I felt was enough, and we learned a great deal about preparation and herbs to cook Thai with. I will tell you, when I returned home from this trip, I brought with me not only a bag of “Birds Eye Peppers” but also seeds for many specific Thai herbs to grow in Belize. I suggest attending this cooking class if and when you visit Thailand.

  Not quite the transport 🙂

 Famous streetfood restaurant cooking meats in these clay pots, we had “crispy pork belly”

  Dinner was awesome

We were driven back to Chala 6 and decided to do some exploring in the city, maybe do a little shopping for the afternoon, before going to dinner.

The next day we had booked a half day at the “Elephant Nature Park” situated about an hour’s drive from city center. Their van picked us up at the hotel, and we got to enjoy some countryside views on the way to the park.

 Keeping an eye on this female 🙂

Let me say that I spent quite a bit of time researching “elephant parks” to visit while in Chiang Mai months before the trip. There are many “so-called” “ethical elephant parks” to choose from, but they are not what they claim. Elephants should not be ridden, not bathed, and, as a matter of fact, not have any physical contact except with their handlers.

  Mom and Baby….pretty cute.

They offered none of these things at “Elephant Nature Park,” but we got close to these magnificent animals, even a young baby born there. We learned about the cruelty these elephants have endured and that most of the 150+ elephants in their park had to be “purchased via donations” from owners to get them out of danger. Very Sad. While researching the parks to choose from, I saw so many reviews from tourists that said how they loved bathing with them or riding them, which is very bad for their backs. I guess the old saying “ignorance is bliss” is still valid.

 The elephant “food prep” area, thousands of pounds eaten, every day.

 Elephant’s and water buffalo live together quite well.

After walking in the heat at the park, and I mean heat….we were driven back to the hotel, where we enjoyed a cocktail or three and then headed out for lunch.

In the evening, most temples hosted “food courts”

  Sometimes “hard decisions” had to be made 🙂

After lunch, we decided it was time for a relaxing two-hour massage at a massage parlor we had found while walking the previous day. Now understand, in Thailand, there are “massage parlors,” and then there are “massage parlors” offering “special features.” I had already experienced one offering “special features” in Vietnam, so decided to go with a “Traditional Thai Massage” here.

   Yup ! It’s that easy, but remember this…You get what you pay for !

Unlike the U.S. and even my Thai Massage Lady here in Belize, in Thailand, they wash and massage your feet first in a separate room, then take you to your private massage room. After two hours of deep and total body massage, I wasn’t sure if I could walk back to Chala 6, but I did.

   Street Market’s are quite fun

The Chiang Mai Sunday Market” is pretty famous and one of the biggest in Thailand, and the next day, we got to evaluate that ourselves. We caught a “Tuk Tut” to the entrance of the market, late morning, with plans to explore a while, have lunch there and explore the rest of the market.

 Marsha couldn’t pass up a ice cold Thai Tea on a hot night.

Let me explain something first about our stay at Chala 6, the free buffet breakfast. Every morning, we enjoyed a professional cappuccino, along with eggs of our choice, fresh yogurt, bread, and much more. It’s the best way to start the day.

 Remnants of the original wall surrounding the “Old City” centuries ago. Sadly, many buildings inside the city were built from the original wall bricks.

There was certainly a lot going on at the Sunday market, with the majority of items I would like being things we would have to ship back home, so needless to say, we purchased a few things but not much. It was pretty impressive though.

 Marsha’s vendor who sold me my sacred amulet.

We did find an awesome small Thai cafe to have lunch and relax.

 Sweet place to grab lunch 🙂

 Of course….spicy soup and a Singha 🙂

The next night was exciting as it was the “Chiang Mai Night Market” which was on the streets in front of our hotel. The street was closed down for vehicle traffic, and late afternoon all the vendors came, and I mean hundreds, to set up their booths. It was nice not having to travel to get to this market, and we actually had fun shopping.

 The best way to get around Chiang Mai…..and donate to Rotary 🙂

After a while, I got separated from my wife Marsha, and when I caught up with her, she was deep in conversation with one of the vendors. They talked about his collection of religious amulets, which was quite interesting. In fact, it was so interesting that I purchased one.

 Markets everywhere 🙂

When you purchase something from vendors in Thailand, you realize how thankful they are and what it means to them because many are supporting large families.

 The great thing about our hotel, we could walk off the street market out front, and enjoys a cocktail in open air.

The final adventure in Chiang Mai is something “unplanned” and suggested by my wife for our last full day here, and I am glad she did. We always try to experience the local communities, outside the relm of tourists, so we decided to hire a local driver to take us outside the norm, to areas that locals might go to get way.

 We got out of the van, and started walking down into the village

Our driver had an excellent comfortable travel van and after a time 🙂 he understood what we wanted him to do. He suggested traveling about an hour or two north into the mountains, where locals have “discovered a village” and built many small roadside homes, shops and food alleys. At the top of the mountain there is a waterfall hike, which turned out to be pretty cool.

Yup…even up in the hills, you could still get a “buzz”.

This proved to be quite the adventure, especially the tight one car curvey road (with 2 way traffic), but the sights were extraordinary.

 The view below from the coffee shop

One thing I told him was that I wanted to experience true Northern Thai sausage, or “San Qua” as it’s called. Northern Thailand is quite famous for this long coil of sausage, with herbs like lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, cilantro, garlic, extremely hot and toxic Thai peppers and more. My kind of sausage 🙂

We drove up past the village to the waterfall path and checked that out. Honestly, not the most spectacular waterfall, but locals like it and many do wedding photography there.

 Yes…there really was a waterfall

We slowly coasted back down to the village and stopped at a quaint cliffside tavern where we enjoyed the view of the valley speckled with “tiny houses” below and had Thai iced coffee. He then drove to the beginning of the village, where the driver left us off to walk the town ourselves and would meet us in the center.

We checked out the little Monk Monastery, and a bunch of small shops, and met up with our guide, who led me to my “prize”, “San Qua”. It’s quite interesting how the barbeque over charcoal in large coils of sausage, then cut in small slices, put in little bags, and you eat with a toothpick, snack like.

Finally got some of those San Qua Sausages to snack on…..Ummmmmm Good and spicy hot !

On the way back to our hotel, we stopped at a large jewelry manufacturer and another stop at an Umbrella Shop.

We had a tour of the jewelry making process, which was very interesting, and ended in a very large display ( and purchase) store. Marsha looked at every piece of jewelry in the place with the sales woman of course, but purchased none. The last isle caught both of our eye, necklaces and amulets for men and woman, quite traditional in Thailand.

Marsha had a elephant scene hand painted on her purse.

I purchased a Jade Tooth necklace :).

Of course, as Jade is pretty cheap here in Thailand, we bought small Jade figures for our two grandchildren. Then I spotted the little Jade Buddha :). Yup…got that.

Next and final stop was the Umbrella store, which i actually was happy we stopped at. We experienced how the make them, but best part was, we watched how each umbrella was actually hand painted. after viewing the process and the store full of beautiful Umbrellas, I surprised Marsha by purchasing one for her. Her response was,

“How do I fit the Gong you bought and this fan in my luggage”? 🙂 I had not doubts, as she is my “Pirate Packing Queen: :).

After a awesome Thai dinner, we enjoyed a good night sleep, and would head south of Bangkok to the stunning beaches and islands of Thailand, known as the best in the world.

Hope you enjoyed, see you in Phuket, Thailand.

Gary….The Pirate.

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Part Four of our Six-Week Asia Tour…. Bangkok, Thailand

Posted on January 12, 2024 by storiesbygary

      Bangkok City, Attractions.

The excitement I felt the morning we left for the Siem Riep Airport was well beyond belief, as this was what I had been waiting for now, over 30 years, for my return. We had heard that the airport was brand new but didn’t quite expect what we found upon arrival. It was very modern, quite beautiful, and very empty. Two airline booth open, one bathroom, on main floor, and overall, not really finished.

  Thai Pad Thai on a one-hour flight from Cambodia to Bangkok, Thailand ? 🙂

      Sukhumvit International Airport, Bangkok, Thailand

However, our check-in was smooth and effortless, with computerized baggage turn-in with tracking codes. Our flight on AirAsia was upgraded to Premium Plus, seats 2 c and 2 d, and on the one hour flight they served cocktails and Pad Thai which was pretty damn good.

Best transport from airport is “metered taxi”, unless you have hired a private limo service 🙂

Mercedes-Benz “E” Class and driver from Anatara Resort awaited us at the airport.

The view of Bangkok and the Bangkok River from our suite.

We arrived on time at the Bangkok International Airport, quite the monster in size and design, and moved quickly and effortlessly through customs and baggage. We then proceeded out to our awaiting driver, who was at “The Arrival Zone,” holding a sign,our names and our private Mercedes Benz E300 to transport us to our hotel, the Anantara “ANATARA,” and Riverside Hotel.

The Bangkok River at night, that’s our “Dinner Cruise” vessel all lit up.

Let me say that, especially in the big cities, arranging for a private driver or one from your hotel saves you many issues. What cab service do you take, meter or not? Do I use “Grab,” and am I getting ripped off. Renting a vehicle in a place like Bangkok, I think, would be disastrous. For not much more $$$, you get to sit back, relax and enjoy the drive.:)

 Someone failed “erector set-101” 🙂

The river and canals are still the main mode of transportation around Bangkok.

    Anantara Riverside Resort, Bangkok, Thailand

 Probably not much “relaxing” staying in Chinatown.

We debated where to stay in Bangkok, as this city is beyond mega-large, with many options depending on what you want to see and do. Many suggest staying in Chinatown as your best option because that is where the cheap food is. Others suggest staying near Khao San Road, known as “The Party Street,” with its neon lights, action bars, awesome food, and loud music, and then there are the “ladies” with “offers you just can’t refuse.”

Lunch and ice cold Singha in Icon Riverside Mall

  Checking into our suite at Anantara Riverside

Night’s were magical on the Bangkok River

I believe we made the correct decision by choosing either and going with a five-star Riverfront Hotel, the Anantara Riverside. It was perfect with our deluxe riverfront suite overlooking the activity day and night on the Bangkok River, the city across the river, and a large pier with a river shuttle service. The stunning hotel had everything, from a spa to multiple restaurants, coffee shops, a bakery, and much more.

   Entering Chinatown, Bangkok, …..Starbucks and KFC 🙂

 Also there were “Mobile Barbershops” “)

As we do in most countries we visit, we enjoy taking a tour of the city to get the “lay of the land”. This is usually done on one of the “hop on / hop off busses” available in many large cities. What was cool and exciting here in Bangkok, was they have “Hop On / Hop Off” Water Taxi’s, an awesome way to get around and see the sites. We caught the Anatara’s water shuttle across the river to the Water Taxi Terminal and boarded the “Hop on /Hop Off”. The shuttle had multiple stops at key points, like temples on the river, major shopping malls and even Chinatown.

 Street food, especially “Satay,” can be found everywhere. Remember…barbeque is good.

  Everyone eats street food, cheap, easy and fast food…..but lines are good .

That evening, we had signed up for a Night Food Tour in Chinatown with Tours By Locals, which I often use. Our guide picked us up at the hotel, and we got into the van with eight other hungry tourists. This ended up being an awesome food tour as we walked to sixteen food booths throughout Chinatown, considered to be the best Chinatown worldwide.

We were all surprised to learn that many are actually “Michelin Star Rated” restaurants, which do not get awarded to just any restaurant. The foods we tasted, hot, spicy and delicious was exceptional in all vendors food carts / booths.

 Street food on our “Tours With Chef’s”

 These are the streets or alleys you walk to find good street food.

  On our tour, awesome spicy hot soups

   Wok fried “bugs”…Yum

 A “Tourist Specialty Only”….not mine 🙂

We choose to get off at Icon Siam Riverside Mall, to check it out and have some lunch. Let me say that this place makes “Mall of America” look like a strip mall in the Blue Ridge Mountains. With every designer store imaginable, from Tiphany’s to Porsche, restaurants, bars, people actually spend days there, as it’s actually a “tourist attraction”.

  The “Pirate Cure” for eating “bugs”

 They serve the streetfood HOT !

We had lunch.

We had a casual day on Sunday because we were going to the Famous Sunday “Night Market” known as Chatuckak, Jatujak, or just “JJ.” This world-famous market features over 15,000 stalls, and attendance is over 200,000 visitors each weekend. If you can’t find a decent pair of “knock-offs,” Rayband’s here for cheap, forgetaboutit !

  Shopping Malls are enormous

The food stalls were excellent, and if you should travel to Bangkok or any Asia Country, eating street food is the way to go, cheap and fast. However, always be careful, eat only where there is a line, watch how they cook, clean, and serve with dishwater, etc. The last thing you want is to spend your vacation sitting on the can with a container of Lomotil.

Ya gotta love a shopping mall with a full bar 🙂

  And a “shopping mall:, with a Porsche Dealer in it ? 🙂

 We visited the Temple of Dawn from the river taxi.

 It was REALLY Hot! outside…I climbed…Marsha photographed from below.

The next day was Monday, and there were no street food vendors anywhere because it was the day the streets were cleaned. Let me say that’s one thing we noticed: for a big city, Bangkok was very clean. So we took the water shuttle to check out another area of the town and shop for some tailors and jewelry stores (gold is cheap here) and another mall. We grabbed a TikTok driver who drove us to a few places. although we did find some deals, we decided against purchasing, becasue you have to assume the frivers take you to their “special places” where they get kickbacks.

  Welcome to “Gary’s Gong Show” 🙂

That evening, we had the most perfect time aboard the Avatar Riverside Dinner Cruise vessel. They converted This old rice barge into a luxury dining cruise ship on the river. We started with complimentary cocktails and canapés at the dock before boarding. We were escorted to our “special captain when we boarded a table for two”. I had requested this as this was our Anniversary Cruise. Champagne and a fabulous seafood dinner.

    On our “Luxury River Dining Cruise”, Bangkok

  View from our table for two 🙂

  Menu on River Cruise

    Enter the Floating Market

Bet that is a “frequent stop” for the boats here

That’s our guide Peaches behind me

Trinkets along the river market…yup, I bought that Budda 🙂

 Ice cold beer and soda’s

A typical “boat motor” on these river boats

The next day was admittedly the best tour day in Bangkok, with a guide I hired from “Tours By Locals.” Her name was Peaches (nicknamed) Sriruanngam, and she was very highly recommended. She lived up to it. Peaches picked us up with her driver, and off we went to our first destination, the Famous Bangkok Floating Market. Let me explain: Bangkok has multiple floating markets, used by the locale forever. I floated one back in 1968, but I don’t recall which one, probably because of the Singha Beer and drugs 🙂 It’s best to use a guide and talk about which to visit.

The hanging flowers on bow of the boats was for safety and good fortune

 Get your photo with one of these babies around your neck ?

We visited a famous Floating Market close to our next destination if you think of an hour’s driving time in traffic as close. My wife Marsha enjoyed this market because they sold everything from clothes, food, and statues to pictures with their boa snake around your neck.

 Ice creme and sticky rice anyone ?

Seat back on our boat ? Guess he had a “side business” ?

Standing on the Railroad Tracks, at the Railroad Market, awaiting the train.

The boats themselves were a real trip, with car engines and 12-15 foot driveshafts attached to a propeller. They sped down these small canals, knowing how far apart they were and turning on a dime. I saw very few old styles that were paddled the last time I was there.

 ”Modern Upscale Bathrooms”

All the stores along the waterways were very organized, and the people always had a smile and a wave, thus the term,

“the Land of Smiles”.

 Marsha and Guide Peaches overlooking Floating Market

 Yup ! even a “gun range” on the river

 Bumped into an old friend from the 60’s ?

Another simple pleasure was the small boat with the Thai Lady making Mango Sticky Rice ice.

   Just docked at the Royal Barges Museum

    Entering the Railway Market

 Shopping

Nothing beats a ice cold Thai Iced Coffee on a steamy hot day

After the market adventure we headed to the famous Damnoen Saduak Market and Maeklong Railway which is over 100 meters long, and shops with product covering the tracks. Located near the Mae Klong Railway Station, the train makes 3-4 trips thru the market area each day. Largely made up of fresh seafood, vegetables, fruits , meats, dried fruits, and trinkets, it’s a facinating adventure.

After walking the entire railroad tracks, shopping til we dropped, luckily Peaches knew a small coffee shop beside the tracks to :drop” for a Thai Ice Coffee.

 These Royal Barges are massive, and were built by the Kings over the years

I do have to tell you, my initial research on the “train market” suggested it was just a tourist trap and not worth a visit. I will tell you, it is very exciting to witness a local market, not a “tourist market,” where locals shop every day. The excitement as the trail slowly approaches, awnings are folded up, and wares are collected is really cool. If you have the opportunity, you should check this place out.

   Regretfully, some of the boats were partially destroyed, but saved, during last war.

 I did get “rowing lessons” with an authentic “Royal Oar” 🙂

Finally, Peaches drove us to a boat launch in Bangkok that would take us to our third destination, which I had visited fifty years ago, and definitely wanted Marsha to visit. The Royal Barge Museum was just as I remembered it, and our experience there was better than my previous visit.

These Royal Barges have been used for special occasions for centuries and lately to celebrate some of the new bridges over the main river. The King ( in power) and the Royal Family would ride in them, with Monks paddling.

I was lucky enough to get the special “Paddling Lesson” correctly.

Finally, we headed to visit another waterfront temple, the Golden Reclining Buddha.

Have you heard of the “Reclining Gold Buddha?

It’s difficult to get this entire statue in one pic

Some perspective how big this thing is 🙂

Couldn’t resist getting a pic with my little buddy

They sold coins, and if you put one cash in each of the 30 kettles, you brought another year of good luck.

The day had finally come, when I got the opportunity to, Cook With Poo 🙂

The day started with an adventure in itself, finding our way to the meeting place for the van. The school suggested we take a taxi to the closest BTS or Ski Train Station From Phong and get off at exit #2. Then, walk to the “Tiffany & Co. Emporium Store. Yes….Breakfast t Tiffany’s :).

So we made it there and after a few minutes a lady with a t-tshit that said, “Cooking With Poo” appeared, and we boarded the van with six other “cooks in training”.

Our first stop was at a charming (and clean) indoor market featuring fresh meat, fish, fruit, veggies, and, importantly, Thai Spices. Both wife Marsha and I were stuffing our backpacks with hot peppers, Thai Basil, and more for the journey back home. The cooking school ladies purchased products that we would be using later in our class.

A short drive brought us to a section of Bangkok that I was aware of, and not in a positive way. The location of Poo’s Cooking School was in the “Hells Kitchen of Bangkok,” for sure. We had to walk some “interesting backstreets” until we got to the entrance to the school, in a small alleyway.

Cooking With Poo Van

However, there was on food cart that I did pass on eating anything, Scorpions, Insects, Worms, etc all nice and crispy cooked.

  Walking the alley to cooking school

  Poo teaching us how to prep and cook Thai

If you go to Bangkok to experience their delicacies, just know that they do eat bugs, but…only tourists eat scorpions. 🙂

Cooking With Poo, Real “hands-on” cooking school

So, our final day in Bangkok was an adventure in shopping, visiting the countryside, and most importantly, cooking with a “Master”,……”Poo”.

There’s a lot more to Thai Cooking than it seems

We all had a Wok station, and cooked every dish

Thai Pad Thai from scratch

   Eat what ya make, buddy 🙂

Looks like I got two thumbs up 🙂

 What you get when you “graduate” from a hard day at Thai Cooking School.

Poo pointed out and explained to us that she initially opened her classes in a tiny room on the same street. After making some money, she was able to purchase a more extensive and better-equipped place for her school. This one is air-conditioned and has monster vents over the cook stations. I joked with Poo about how her neighbors must really love the incredible smells coming out of the vents when she holds classes!

   Check out those cooking vents !

Poo was very good at explaining each dish we were to prepare, and she started off by cooking the dish first. Then we doubled up at each cook station as we did the prep work, and cooked each dish. Cooking Pad Thai with a “master Thai Chef” was thrilling and a high point in my visit here.There is a reason Saiyuud Diwong (Poo) is famous for her cooking classes, and it’s not just the food, it’s the lady. She was so much fun, with so much knowledge, explaining each step of the way and why we did two elements of the meal, like beating them in a mortar and pistol :).

If the “Cooking Channel” is reading, this woman would make a great addition to your program, “Thai Cooking With Poo”!

Our Bangkok adventure ended, and after a beautiful Thai dinner, we enjoyed a good night’s sleep before heading out by air on Thai VeitJet Air to Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand.

Nothing quite like dinner on the Bangkok River, after one hell of a great week exploring Bangkok.

My intense emotions re-visiting Thailand after so many years have proven to be a pleasure, as I have watched the smiles, the joy, and the wonder on my wife Marsha’s face, finally visiting a place I have loved for over 50 years. I’m so happy I finally had the chance to show her and let her experience it, too, with me.

Until Chiang Mai,

Gary…The Pirate

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Placencia, Belize….Central America…Your Perfect Retirement Destination.

Posted on January 4, 2024 by storiesbygary

Absolutely, Placencia, Belize, offers a picturesque setting that makes it an idyllic retirement destination. Here’s a blog exploring why this stunning locale stands out for retirees seeking tranquility, adventure, and a high quality of life.

Paradise Found: Placencia, Belize – Your Ideal Retirement Destination

Retirement marks a new chapter in life—a time for tranquility, adventure, and embracing the beauty of the world. Nestled on the eastern coast of Central America lies a hidden gem that embodies the essence of an ideal retirement destination: Placencia, Belize. From its breathtaking natural landscapes to its welcoming community and vibrant culture, Placencia offers retirees a haven where dreams of an enriching retirement become reality.

1. Breathtaking Natural Beauty

Picture miles of pristine beaches adorned with palm trees swaying in the Caribbean breeze. Placencia boasts some of the most stunning coastlines in the world, making it a haven for those seeking a serene waterfront lifestyle. The crystal-clear waters teem with vibrant marine life, inviting retirees to explore snorkeling, diving, or simply soaking up the sun.

2. Relaxed Lifestyle

Life in Placencia moves at its own unhurried pace, offering a welcome escape from the hustle and bustle of city living. The village’s laid-back vibe creates an environment conducive to relaxation and rejuvenation. Imagine savoring freshly caught seafood at beachfront restaurants, strolling along the sandy shores, or unwinding in a hammock as the sun dips below the horizon—a routine that epitomizes the tranquil lifestyle Placencia offers.

3. Affordable Living

One of the most compelling reasons to consider Placencia for retirement is its affordability. The cost of living in Belize is notably lower than in many Western countries, allowing retirees to stretch their retirement savings without compromising on quality. From reasonably priced real estate options to affordable healthcare and everyday expenses, Placencia presents an opportunity for a comfortable retirement without financial strain.

4. Engaging Community

The heartwarming hospitality of the locals adds to the allure of Placencia. The community is known for its friendliness and inclusivity, making it easy for newcomers to integrate and form meaningful connections. Retirees find themselves embraced by a supportive network, creating a sense of belonging and camaraderie that enhances their retirement experience.

5. Adventure Awaits

Retirement doesn’t mean slowing down; instead, it opens doors to new adventures. Placencia offers a plethora of activities to keep retirees engaged and entertained. Whether it’s exploring the lush rainforests, embarking on a jungle trek, kayaking through mangrove forests, or visiting ancient Mayan ruins, there’s no shortage of thrilling experiences to embark upon.

6. Stable Climate

Blessed with a tropical climate, Placencia enjoys warm temperatures year-round. Retirees can bid farewell to harsh winters and revel in the consistent sunshine that graces this tropical paradise. The temperate climate provides the perfect backdrop for enjoying outdoor activities and basking in the natural beauty that surrounds the region.

In Conclusion

Placencia, Belize, emerges as the quintessential retirement destination for those seeking a harmonious blend of natural splendor, community warmth, affordability, and adventure. With its breathtaking scenery, relaxed pace of life, and welcoming atmosphere, Placencia beckons retirees to embrace a fulfilling and enriching retirement experience. It’s not just a place; it’s a lifestyle—one that invites you to savor every moment and create cherished memories in a paradise found.

Eight years ago, I made the decision to “retire / re-locate” to Placencia Belize. I bought a beachfront property in Maya Beach, built a beautiful home, a boat, and enjoy “the good life”.

You can to, if Belize is right for you.

Please feel free to contact me with your questions, or my wife / Realtor…

Marsha@kellerwilliamsbelize.com., for Real Estate questions.

Till next time…

“Live every day

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Part 3 of our six week Southeast Tour….Cambodia

Posted on December 22, 2023 by storiesbygary

Well….I got thru re-visiting Vietnam pretty well, let’s see how I do in Cambodia ?

It’s been fifty years since my “visit’s” to Cambodia, where I never visited any of the major villages or cities. I only saw mountaintops and associated supply trails into Vietnam. My team was dropped multiple times, the first two without maps, and we actually didn’t know we were in Cambodia 🙂 I will say that during those missions, we discovered two (that I can remember) ancient temples, overgrown with trees and shrubs, and actually pretty cool. As young guys in teens / early 20’s, we never thought about cutting our way in to “loot artifacts”, something that is done quite often still.

     My “Tourist Attire” in Cambodia 1969.

The morning of our arrival by ship at the Phenom Pen Pier for disembark, we were plesently suprised that the cruise ship takes care of all Immigration proceedures for us. They collected our passports and gave to the Cambodia Immigration Officers, who took them ashore to their office, and returned them stamped and ready. Please not that we did in advance on-line apply and get a 30 day Visa for Cambodia and Vietnam.

The Terminal / Immigration Station at the dock in Siem Riep, Cambodia.

We enjoyed cocktails, waiting “on board” for our stamped passports and “entry papers.”

This is the “Top Deck Bar / Lounge” where we waited for paperwork.

Thank god we weren’t driving 🙂

Nothing to see here…just a water buffalo loose, eating grass roadside 🙂

Pretty nice restaurant on the way to Siem Riep.

The crew had already taken our bags ashore to the dock where our private car was waiting for us with our driver. In advance this transportation was booked, for a private trip four hours to Siem Riep, to our Luxury Resort, the Zannier Hotel Phum Baitang.

View from our table.

       Yummy !

   Beer !

On the way to our resort in Siem Riep, we stopped at a roadside restaurant for lunch.

Worth noting.. Angelina Jolie spent three months at this hotel while filming Tomb Raider, so we figured, “How bad could it be” ? 🙂

         Our Suite at Zannier.

Outside our front door 🙂

     Local Wildlife 🙂

     Grounds were beautiful

     They remembered 🙂

    Food was 5 Star !

    Yummy…Yummy !

The resort was quite impressive, well appointed, with excellent restaurants and bars in the middle of rice paddies, complete with water buffalo. Our suite included a private green space with a small pool.

   Yup ! They harvested rice from their own rice paddies.

It was quiet and peaceful environment, exactly what I would imagine Angelina would appreciate after long days “on-set”. It was also quite a bit of distance from downtown, and all the activity, like “Pub Street”, so if that’s what you’re looking for I would research hotels in town.

    We “did” Pub Street !

Not only is food cheap in Asia, but the beer and drinks were too.

   Dancing up a storm on “Pub Street”.

 So they say 🙂

Speaking of the famous “Pub Street”, we did head in there for the “experience”, and it turned out to be a very good one. Asia is well known for these “party streets”, especially in Thailand, with lots of loud music, are and “ladies of the night”, everywhere. That’s what I was expecting here in Siem Riep, but that’s not what we found the night we went.

   My good friends John and Shannon….just chillin 🙂

It did look like a party street, decorates with lights, some music, a few people on the street, but not what I expected. We picked a place on the sidewalk for drinks, but noticed some good tunes coming from a bar across the street, and headed there. We had noticed a large group of “younger” locals head in there, but we still scored a tale for four near the entrance. The music was good, people dancing, then I see my buddy John and wife Shannon up there getting their groove on.

And then a young lady on the dance floor starts calling me up, and the rest is history.

We had arranged for a tour guide, “Mr. Thearin” from Hanuman Travel, while in Siem Riep to take us to the best sites, including of course, Angkor Wat, one of the most famous in the world. The first tour day, we visited two sites, Angkor Thom and Ta Prohm, with our lunch booked at Sala Kdei Khmer House. Lunch would be quite an experience in itself :).

Angkor Thom was built in the 12 Century by King Jayavarman VII as a Buddist Temple.During its prime it was inhabited by between 80,000- 150,000 people. Its name means Great City, which it was until somewhere around 1609 when abandoned. In the late 14th Century when invaded by Siam (Thailand), the city was raqnsacked.

Ta Prohm Temple is the modern name of a temple near the city of Siem Reap, Cambodia, about one kilometre east of Angkor Thom, on the southern edge of the East Baray. It was built in the late 12th century and early 13th century and was originally called Rajavihara. It has been used in many movies, including Tomb Raider, because of the temple walls engulfed by large tree roots.

   Do those steps look “steep” ?

    Yup !

    At every site, they would have these with the name of the site, in English, Cambodian, and maybe Hindu?

 Amazing how trees grew over these old temples.

   The “New Tomb Raiders”

 There were some pretty long hikes to some of these sites.

   Guardians at the gate.

We arrived at the stone wall and gate of Sala Kdei Khmer House and proceeded thru the garden to the restaurant. We were greeted there by staff who informed us before we could have lunch, we first must have a “foot massage”! WHAT ? I’m not sure if this happens to everyone, or because our guide booked us, he included this, but never less we headed upstairs to the “Food Massage Room”. A rather large room with mats on the floor awaited us, and I think we all “groaned” together ! After climbing stone steps all morning and walking, the idea of getting on the floor, and later getting back up didn’t sound like much fun.

 Yup ! Monkeys everywhere in Asia 🙂

An hour later, trying to stand up, would have made a great “comedy video” 🙂

We headed down to the restaurant, which was beautiful Asian design and enjoyed some awesome Cambodia delicacies, along with some mega size beers.

The afternoon was spent relaxing and enjoying our resort, and private pools, and of course cocktails and a splendid dinner at one of the two restaurants.

   These two girls were troopers, never complained about heat or climbing stairs 🙂

You have to understand that Siem Riep is the largest UNISCO Site in the world, with tons of sites, therefore we had to keep pretty busy the four days there. So, we were off the next day, all day, visiting three sites, Banteay Seri, Banteay Samara and Preah Khan.

Banteay Sri Temple, thought by many to be the jewel of the crown of Angkorian art, is cut from stone of a pinkish hue and includes some of the finest stone carvings anywhere in the world. Begun in 967, it is one of the smallest sites at Angkor, but what it lacks in size, it makes up for in stature.

  Sorry for the sideway photo 🙂

Although theft has mutilated much of the temple’s treasures, Banteay Samre Temple is worth the extra effort to experience the elaborate architecture and fine carvings.

Preah Khan Temple is located in the Angkor Archaeological Park and is still largely unrestored. It is one of the larger temple complexes within the historic park. Preah Khan translates to “Holy Sword” in Khmer, named by Jayavarman VII in honor of his battle victory against the invading force of Chams, who belonged to a kingdom in what is now Vietnam, in the year 1191.

Finally, on our last day, we visited the famous Angkor Wat Temple Complex early in the morning before sunrise, and I do mean early because the sunrise is spectacular and a very famous photograph. Unfortunately, as the sun rose, the clouds and rain arrived, and our “spectacular photo’s were screwed !

 Like 5 AM awaiting the sunrise over Angkor Wat…that never came 🙂

    It’s still a stunning site, notice the reflection ?

   The “Money Shot”… with reflection of Angkor Wat in the water

  Monks morning prayers

Angkor Wat

 They actually built swimming pools in the temples

Luckily, our driver supplied cooling icy towels between temples 🙂

Angkor Wat, the largest monument of the Angkor group and the best preserved, is an architectural masterpiece. Its perfection in composition, balance, proportions, relief’s and sculpture make it one of the finest monuments in the world.

 Climbing down the stairs was dangerous, especially when wet…and it was raining !

You see my shirt ? It wasn’t raining ! That’s how HOT it was 🙂

Wat is the Khmer name for temple (the French spelling is “vat “), which was probably added to “Angkor “when it became a Theravada Buddhist monument, most likely in the sixteenth century. After 1432 when the capital moved to Phnom Penh, Angkor Wat was cared for by Buddhist monks. 

I made it to the top…but was concerned with getting down. It’s steeper than it looks.

 That’s a long way down !

Many of these temple steps had no handrails.

  The view from on top.

It is generally accepted that Angkor Wat was a funerary temple for King Suryavarman II and oriented to the west to conform to the symbolism between the setting sun and death. The bas-reliefs, designed for viewing from left to right in the order of Hindu funereal ritual, support this function.

We spent about three hours at Angkor Wat, and realized it was one of the most interesting of all the sites in Cambodia, although they did all have that “special moment” in different ways.

 Our guide pointed out many bullet holes in the temples from the last “invasion”.

 Our guide explaining to Marsha how smart she was not climbing the steep steps to top of temple.

Now, on to lunch and a unique Cambodian “Culinary School” experience. We had booked a private cooking class at “Sala Keri” Restaurant, where we enjoyed lunch and a “foot massage” earlier in our stay. Our class was from 9 AM until 12 noon when we would dine on our delicious menu or what we hoped would be delicious.

  Getting ready for our cooking class 🙂

When we arrived and I realized it was the same restaurant, I actually was hoping for a foot massage after the earlier climbing. Unfortunately, one was not included, but the driver told John and I, that he had a “special place” for massage for us later that day. ? :).

   “Snacks on a stick”

Before we started the class, we were escorted by the Chef to a local market to see where Chefs and locals bought their “fresh” fruits, veggies, fish, poultry, exotic bugs, and frogs!

Frogs on a stick anyone ?

I will say that the fresh “wet markets” we had experienced in Vietnam, as well as others here in Cambodia were extremely clean and actually beautiful.

Pan of “live eels”

This one was not ! we walked in mud, and experienced what I would call “un-sanitary conditions”, aqs well as some questionable products. There was a roadside stand where they served “things on a stick”, and my buddy John bought a couple “frogs on a stick” for all of us to sample.

On our way back to the restaurant, we asked the Chef if he had shopped there for what we would be cooking today. He replied that we would in fact be using some things from that market, but he had cleaned them really well.

  We did make some tasty dishes.

John gave the frogs to a local and we didn’t try them. You have to be extremely careful with “street food” in Asia, most is good, but you always have to remember, eating bad street food can be hell on your intestines and your vacation.

  Just Yummy !

  And we did Graduate with Honors 🙂

The following day, we were packed and on our way to the airport and flight to Bangkok, Thailand. We would be parting ways with John and Shannon, as they continued in Cambodia and then moved to a different region in Thailand.

The four of us had “Bill and Teds Great Adventure”…..On Steriods ! What a trip 🙂

We enjoyed traveling and experiencing Vietnam and Cambodia with these guys, and look forward to our next travel adventure together.

The best travel companions….ever !

See you in Bangkok, Thailand.

      

Gary…..The Pirate

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