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Bhutan 1 – Paro and the Ha Valley

Posted on 3 May, 2012 by pierreo

I do not know how to say this any other way. I have been in Shangri La!

I have just made the most incredible trip ever, and I am going to have a very hard time trying to help you share this with me with just a few of the most memorable sights that I was priviledged to see and just a few photos to try to make you enjoy these as I did.

We flew from Bangkok to Dakka (in Bengladesh) and then to Paro on Druck Air – the National Airline of Bhutan which boasts a grand total of three airplanes. On the road between the airport and the town of Paro, we ran into a goup of people playing ‘darts’ – but not the pub game most of us are familiar with. The darts are much bigger and heavier and the target is smaller and much further away. As you can see from this photo, it takes quite a bit of effort to throw the dart.

Whenever a player hits the target, which you can see below, all competitors do a short celebratory dance. You can see the target behind the player in the foreground – it is on the ground with a red and blue circle – yes, that is the target. You can also see a dart in his hand.

We continued our journey into Paro where we stopped for lunch. Paro is not a large town, just two or three parallel streets and 10-15 cross streets in all. Most of the budingsarerelatively new, but they are still built in the local, very distinctive style, like this house where we had lunch.

After lunch we went to visit the National Museum which provides an excellent introduction to Bhutanese history and culture. The entrance is very impressive.

The building where it used to be housed is even more impressive. This is the old watch tower of the Paro Dzong, which is located a few meters lower down the hill. However, the building was significantly weakened by a strong earthquake that occurred in 2011 and can no longer be used for the museum.

It is very strange that I do not remember hearing about this earthquake. It was quite significant (6.8 or 6.9) but fortunately very few people died because it happened in a sparsely populated area between India and Bhutan – there was only 1 fatality in Bhutan. Unfortunately, it caused a lot of damage to many historical monuments and still now there are some that will have to be significantly rebuilt to be made safe.

It is sad, however, that the media does not seem to attach much importance to some event, just because not enough people died.

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Culture, Travel

A flight over the Cher River

Posted on 16 July, 201121 July, 2011 by pierreo

I recently spent a week along the Loire Valley. During that week, I decided to take a hot air balloon ride. I had initially planned to do this in the early morning, but got a call from the organising company telling me that the weather forecast was no good and that they suggested I go the evening before, to make sure I did get a chance.

I was at the appointed place for the meeting at 19:30 when the caravan of France-Montgolfières arrived with all the equipment. The first vehicle obviously carries the basket while the second carries the balloon in that red bag that looks like an overgrown tomato – we will see more of that later…

I discovered that there were 12 passengers for this flight and that they could take as many as 16 in this basket. They have a smalled basket in case they have 8 or less passengers… This is more popular than I thought.

We loaded up into the two vehicles and set off for the departure point. It is determined by the wind direction so that we leave upwind of where we want to go.

We unloaded the basket and set it on its side so that we could attach the balloon. This is where we will be spending 1 hour in the air – there will be three of us into each corner section of the basket with the ‘pilot’ in the middle.

The balloon is rather large and tall when it is spread along the ground.

The fans will be used to inflate the balloon before it can be heated up with the gas burners. Once everything was setup, we waited. Thierry, our pilot with the blue shirt below, was concerned about regular gusts of wind which would have made the balloon difficult to handle. Several times they released a small black helium balloon to see the wind direction and speed at higher elevation. It was very consistent at all levels.

And we waited as the wind just would not die down.

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Culture, Travel

ZAMBIA and VICTORIA FALLS

Posted on 3 July, 201121 July, 2011 by pierreo

As I mentioned in the last post, we left Botswana and Kasane to cross the Zambezi River into Zambia and Livingstone. However, even this can be an adventure. We had no problems on the Botswana side to register our departure. There was a very long line of trucks waiting to go across, but fortunately we were able to by-pass all that. We were told we had a “private” ferry across and this is it…

This little boat is going to carry the ten of us plus all our luggage across the mighty Zambezi River which is currently in full flood! I am not sure that Bob is convinced …

Here is the meeting of the Zambezi and the Chobe – additional current and eddies are caused by the two large rivers meeting. More dangers for our little “private” ferry.

There are “real” ferries that cross here – this is the main crossing point between Zambia and Botswana but also Zambia and Namibia as there are no direct routes.

The landing on the Zambian side is like a large beach. However, it is also filled with trucks coming and going. It looks like a massive traffic jam and we are not sure how we are going to get out. We are immediately assailed by souvenir sellers – funny, we did not have any in Botswana – here they are about as aggressive as I have know, not taking the first 20 “No’s” for a definitive answer.

We are soon stuck in the middle of large truck and parked cars in our air conditionned mini-bus – comfy, but not going anywhere.

We are not alone in that situation and one enterprising man from South Africa has decided to find a way out. He is the one facing the bus. He got us to back off a little, so that the big white truck next to us could also move and free his car. After that, the truck was able to advance enough so that we could also pass and we moved into Zambia proper. We are now making progress towards Livingstone, the large city nearest to the Victoria Falls, which is about one hour away.

We crossed through Livingstone and headed towards the fall. For a while now, we are seeing the plumes above the trees indicating where the falls must be. Just before we turn off the road towards the hotel, we get a quick glimpse at the Zambezi about to disappear over the falls.

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Sports

Channel Sailing Regatta

Posted on 24 October, 201021 July, 2011 by pierreo

I interrupt my trip to Slovenia again to relate another experience I had recently.

Middle of October is the time when Channel Sailing organises its annual regatta for clients. Channel Sailing is the company where we hire the boats that we sail with during the year. Every year, at the end of the season, they organise a regatta for their clients. It is competitive, but it is also friendly and offers an opportunity to those who are not used to race to get a little excitement in controlled conditions.

Well, controlled conditions is maybe not quite the best way to describe what we had again this year.

As usual, we arrived on Friday evening to take possession of our boat for the week-end, in this case Foxtrot, a 37 foot Jeanneau

By the time Nick and I get everything organised, it is drink time. First we have to have some snack, so we dig into the lunch supplies for cheese and salami

Nick brought some excellent Rum. Since the beer is not cold yet, and Xavier has not brought the wine, we have no choice!

Allan and Annemie joined us later and we went for a very nice dinner in Zeebrugge.

The next day, Saturday, the wind has picked-up significantly and it rains occasionally. Sailing will be tough! After the briefing, at about 10:30, we sail out of Zeebrugge into the North Sea. Even this close to shore, the waves are high (3+ meters) and because of the harbour and shore, are not very regular.

Since we are running with the wind, Nick asks Allan and I to set up the spinnaker pole to hold the genoa. It is a struggle as we have not done it for a while and make a few mistakes, but we get it done. Unfortunately, both Allan and I are now a little seasick and with the weather and waves, there is little chance to recover…

As we approach the committee boat, we manage to take down the pole and sail normally. There are only 4 boats today and we get ready for the first race. Nick is steering and we all help as we can. I am still coping, but Allan is looking greener by the minute. On top of that, it is getting colder and we are all struggling to stay warm.

We get a good start and head for the windward mark – with the high waves, we can only see the mark when both it and us are at the top of a wave, so finding it is not easy. However, at least we have a rough idea where it is, so we head in that direction. As we get closer, we finally spot it and head for it. We are second as we round the mark and head on a reach toward the next marker that we expect is to the left of the first mark. After several minutes, we see nothing. We head upwind to search there with no success. the rest of the fleet seems to be mystified as well. One by one, the boats give up and start running back to the committee boat and the leeward mark. Nick does not ask us to set up the spinnaker pole – good – I feel woozy and that would spell the end of my breakfast.

We find the leeward mark but then the committee boat cancels the race. We find out that they could not set the second mark and therefore we should only do an up and down, just like the America’s cup.

Is is now noon and we have not had a complete race yet. We get ready for the first race again. Good start, we now know where to find the first mark which we reach in second place. Back to the leeward mark, which we almost missed until Allan saw it than the finish line and we come in second! Good result. I am surviving (just) but Allan is very cold now. We have a long debate but decide to do one more race then stop regardless of what the organisation does. Over the radio, they indicate that the next race will be just start-windward mark-finish, no leeward mark. We ‘survive’ again the last race, finish second again and then head for home … which will take more than one hour since we are heading into the wind and into the tide.

As soon as we arrive inside Zeebrugge harbor, I feel better! We finally tie-up at about 17:00. The rest of the fleet is right behind us as there was no additional race – wise decision.

The next day, the wind is down, the sun is slowly coming out, but the temperature is even lower. It is only 5 C and with wind still at 20-30 km/hr, the windchill is very low. We are fortunately equipped for it as demonstrated by Xavier and Nick.

We do five races on Sunday. we win two, finish second, third and fourth in the other three. We all get to steer a race. For mine, we take a terrible start as I am blocked away from the start line by the other boats and have to do a 360 at the last second. We start last, but are able to come back to a credible third place (which is later corrected to fourth as the boat behind us has a better handicap). Races done, it is time to relax and head back to Zeebrugge.

It is still very cold!

Back at the West-Hinder Marina, we pack up our stuff, clean the boat, put everything in order and wait for the announcement of the final results.

Overall, we ended up in second place, same result as last year. A good result considering.

Two and a half hours to drive home and I get there absolutely exhausted. I was in bed before 9PM!

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Sports, Travel

Zeebrugge-Dunkirk-Zeebrugge by sea

Posted on 15 August, 201021 July, 2011 by pierreo

On Monday, I met Rob, Zuzana, Machteld and Filip. We are part of the crew going sailing this week-end and this is the one and only meeting for us to organise the outing.

On Thurs, Rob is enthusiastic about the week end, where we are going and the weather – here is the note that he sent out (the underlines are mine):

“All,

As we get closer to leaving, the forecast is looking good for Sunday, but a
little more unsettled on Saturday. Depending on which weather forecast I
look at, I would summarise the current position as:

Wind force 3-4 SW going W on Sunday
Chance of showers on Saturday, with some maybe harder. Looks like the
weather will get better during the day as a low front passes away.

Looking further at locations, if we cannot get to Gravelines on Saturday
night, I think that Dunkerque may be a good option. There are a number of
marinas open to all states of tide, and (at least from the websites) looks
quite pretty. I will do some more research tonight.

Don’t forget to bring enough dry clothes. See you all tomorrow evening. “

It turns out that this weather forecast was not far from the truth – the problem will be the direction in which reality will deviate from forecast. But once again I am getting ahead of my story.

We left for Zeebrugge on the Friday evening after work. Rob was driving and I was navigating. We did not have too many problems with traffic until we came close to Gent where we lost about ½ hour because of road works. We arrived at the boat and Machteld and Harry were already there. Zuzana and Filip arrived soon after and so we started organising food, drinks, personal stuff etc. It always takes quite some time to checkout the boat too, and do a full inventory so that we know where everything is.

For this week-end, out home will be Swing, a 37 ft Jeanneau from Channel Sailing. I have sailed on her sister ship, Foxtrot, last year and I know she is a good boat. Annemie arrives later – she was stuck in the office later than anticipated, and so with a full crew, we decided to have dinner at a local restaurant at about 21:00.

When we get back the the boat, there is an annoying alarm and we do not quite understand what it is for. We are able to silence it, and since it is late, we decide to deal with it tomorrow.

By 6:00, most of us are already up and eager to get started. The weather looks great and I decide to wear normal clothes to start: long pants, warm shirt, sweater and a windbreaker vest. It may seem like a lot for the middle of summer, but with the wind and the cold water, it is just right. The wind feels like a good force 5, or somewhere around 20 knotts (about 35 km/h).

Since the alarm is still on, we call Carlos to discuss what to do. He indicates that this is because the second battery is running low on power. We figure that as soon as we turn on the engine, it will recharge and the alarm will clear – nothing to worry about.

We leave our mooring a little after 7:00 and start motoring towards the mouth of the harbour. It is a rather long way in Zeebrugge and after 20 minutes, I call Port Control to get permission to get out – it is granted immediately.

Unfortunately, we discover that Battery 2 is still not charging and therefore we are not able to clear the alarm. This could be a problem as it is already low and all the electronics on board run off that one battery. We decide to go on, thinking that we will figure out a solution later.

Once outside the harbour entrance, we raise full sail and shut down the engine. The wind continues at about 20 knotts in a Southerly direction. Since we needed to go South West, we were beating as close to the wind as possible, doing a good 5 to 5.5 knotts with a slight tide against us. We take turns at the wheel, changing about every hour or so. Most people have done it before so it goes without problems. Here is Harry at work, while the rest of the crew relaxes.

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Sports

The 2008 Round Singapore Cycling Challenge

Posted on 22 August, 200821 July, 2011 by pierreo

It all started a few months ago, after a regular Friday Night cycle. I was not even there that day.

We kept discussing and finally decided that we should organise a cycling adventure that would challenge us, and others. Who are “WE”? Here we are at the end of the event (from left): Wong, Freddy, Kar Hui (ESRC President), Eric, Ben and I, with our “Organisers” shirts.

Oh Yes – I forgot to say – the event I am talking about is an all night marathon: cycling 125 km around Singapore Island.

We managed to find a local group to help with the logistics and we actually were able to convince some 60 people to sign up for this, with the help of the ExxonMobil Sports and Recreation Club (or ESRC). ESRC paid for more than half of the total cost, which made this much more affordable for all.

We started on Friday 08/08/08 at 8PM – an auspicious date in Asia as 8 is a lucky number (Beijing did not chose this date by accident!). People filed in gradually

and Papillon was well represented

A lot of work went into making sure that all the bicycles were in top shape, and safe, with lights, brakes and a comfortable saddle. All riders were required to wear a helmet.

The participants were devided into 2 groups and after a short speech by the “Chairman of the Organising Committee”

yes, me! – with Derk (SCP Plant Manager) and Kar Hui (ESRC President) watching! – a safety briefing and a short warm-up, we were off just around 9PM. No there is no total eclipse, or meteor shower or low flying aircraft … we are just stretching our necks!

Group 1 led the way

soon followed by group 2

We had several stops planned along the way, with ability to refill our water botles, and some food. One of the first stop was at the Kranji Beach Park, on the North shore of the island, where the Japanese first invaded Singapore in 1941 while all the British guns were pointed South towards the open sea… The stop is also an opportunity to chat and see how well we are holding up. Eric and I, as organisers, can take some time out to pose for a memorable moment

As the night went on, we kept cycling. To Sembawang Park, than Seletar Air Base, than Pasir Riis and Changi Village, and ultimately, the toughest road in Singapore!

It is not tough becuase it is uphill – indeed it is perfectly flat. There was not much wind, and, at that time of night, no traffic. There are no muggers lurking on the shadows, and no birds just waiting to let go just as you pass under the tree.

It is tough because we arrived there at 4AM and it is long, straight, long, boring, long and most of all it seems to go on forever – did I mention it is long? It is a 5 km stretch right along one of the runways of Changi airport. At 4AM, and after 90 km, it is tough! Several people indicated to me that they almost fell asleep while riding; others said they were ready to give up. Ben and I broke the boredom by racing down the road, trying to catch a group that was ahead of us. While the rest of the trip was done at a sedate pace, mostly in the low 20 to 25 km/hr, I reached 42 km/hr on this stretch, just for fun…

We stopped at the Singapore Sailing Center along East Coast and finally at Labrador Park at 7 AM. The sun was coming up and it was a glorious morning. About 55 people had left the evening before; we gained one along the way, and only lost two so there were still 54 riders full of energy, ready to complete the adventure.

We made a ‘massive’ entrance into West Coast Park just before 8 AM on 09/08/08 – Singapore National Day!

Ben and I finished together, just like when we are rowing – him on the right, me on the left (as we are facing, so on the picture, he is on the left and I am on the right, just in case you have problems recognising me…)

And everybody else soon followed.

We were not through for the etnertainment. We had 6 people who celebrated their birthday in August, and so we had a cake for them.

A final family photo

And we went home for a well deserved rest.

I was actually full of energy. I did not sleep all day and only started to feel sleepy around 9PM that evening, after watching the Singapore Airforce doing a special show for the National Day Parade. I did sleep quite well that night, and did not do anything on sunday, other than take this picture of the odometer on my bicycle recording the distance we had covered!

Overall, a very, very nice night. Nobody was hurt, nobody got lost and everybody seemed to have a lot of fun.

I am sure that we will have more of these in the future

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Food, Sports, Travel

Exploring Bali from below

Posted on 8 October, 200721 July, 2011 by pierreo

Several weeks ago, I received a note from Sinoto asking me if I was interested in a diving safari in Bali. I immediately answered ‘yes’ without knowing what I was getting myself into. I had already gone diving with Sinoto before, in Manado (also Indonesia) and we had an excellent time. So I was looking forward to more of the same.

Sinoto, Su Li, Andy, Eric and I left on Tuesday evening (24 October) for Denpasar and an immediate transfer to Kuta Beach. We arrived at the hotel after 10pm and immediately went in search of food and drinks. Contrary to its reputation, the town seemed empty and quiet. We stopped for Satay and a few beers in the only place that seemed to be still open.

Next day early checkout of the hotel. We fill out all the paper work typical before going diving and we are off for a 3 hour drive to the north of the island. Our first diving day is in Tulambeh. We leave from the shore and drop down a vertical wall only a few meters off the beach. The first dive is an easy ‘refresher’ dive just to get our bearings. I quickly discover that when some one points a camera at you underwater, you better hold your breath – Eric had obviously been there before…

The second dive is around the wreck of a WWII Liberty ship. The ship was hit by a torpedo as it was delivering military hardware to Bali. The captain had the presence of mind to ram the ship onto the beach so that it could still deliver its goods. After languishing on the beach for many years the ship finally slipped down the wall after the eruption of a nearby volcano, creating a fantastic artificial reef. It is full of life, from the tiniest nudibranch to a giant barracuda. We do a third dive before heading towards our new hotel.

I have discovered that a ‘diving safari’ is an adventure where you change dive site, and hotel, every day. The second day we were at Secret Bay – and I think the secret is safe with us. Visibility was not very good and we saw more seaweed than anything else. We were supposed to do a night dive, but all decided that it would not be worth it, especially since we still had to drive to the third hotel on the itinerary. We did find a few interesting animals amongst the weeds: a leaf fish, a unicorn fish and a beautiful seahorse.

Day three and we do the first boat dives of the trip near “Deer Island” or Menjangan to the locals. Three excellent dives along coral walls with small and large creatures everywhere. At the end of the day, we drive back to Kuta Beach where there is definitely more atmosphere than the previous Tuesday.

By now, I have improved and can hold my breath, however, I do not appreciate when the photographer seems to take a long time to actually take the photo…

Day four will remain to me one of the ‘memorable’ experiences of my life. We went to Nusa Penida by speed boat. The first dive was at Manta Point. As advertised, the water was cold, around 21 C which is low since we were all wearing 3mm wet suits more adapted to tropical water conditions. Fortunately, we did not have to go very deep (only 9 m) and we did not have to stay down very long. There is only one thing to see at Manta Point: giant Manta Rays – and I mean GIANT! This was a rather technical dive as there was a very significant surge and one had to be careful not to get pushed into the rocks. At first we marvelled at a large group of divers all moving in unison, as if they were dancing to some imaginary music. We wondered why they were just floating there, doing nothing. Than we looked up and saw two Manta Rays slowly circling overhead. The larger of the two must have had a 3 m wingspan at least.

We joined the back-and-forth dance of the other group and gaped in awe at the majesty of the two flying beasts. After 30 minutes or so, the cold got the better of us and we headed for the surface.

The second dive was even better! After lunch and relaxation, we went to Chrystal Bay and plunged initially into 25 C water. I was pleasantly surprised as I was expecting colder given what we had been told. Than, somewhere between 8 and 10 m depth, the temperature dropped to 19 C suddenly, as if we had suddenly swam into a refrigerator. We kept going down and swimming against the current for a while, until our divemaster decided to turn around. He signed for us to wait for him at about 22 m depth and he went deeper. After a few seconds, we heard him banging on his air bottle and signaling for us to come. We did as we were told with much anticipation. Out of the depths came one, than two and ultimately four Ocean Sunfish, or Mola-Mola! These are fish with no tail – the body is roughly shaped like a rugby ball with one large fin on top and another on the bottom. One Mola-Mola came directly towards us, passing right in the middle of the group.

We stayed as long as we possibly could, until our dive computers were beeping at us to indicate that we were close to our no-decompression limit. We slowly rose back towards the surface, and warmer waters. It is only at this point that I realised that I was shivering uncontrollably. It took us a long time to warm up even after we came out of the water. A very memorable dive!

Saturday evening, we had a great seafood meal on the beach in Jimbaran.

From the left: Myself, Andy, Sinoto, Eric and Su Li.

The meal, for 5 of us, with a bottle of wine cost a grand total of 1,200,000 rupiah, or 135 US$. That by itself would not be worth reporting. However, on Friday night, we stopped at a shop along the road and had a complete dinner for seven (including our divemaster and driver) and spend a grand total of 100,000 rupiah!

On Sunday, we had a late evening flight and therefore we decided to go explore Ubud and a few craft centers along the way.

Before we arrived in Ubud, we visited the Monkey Forest, where we found (Oh what a surprise) …. monkeys! This sleeping family group was particularly touching.

In Ubud, I found a very nice painting. I though to myself that I was ready to pay up to 100 US$ for it. I asked the price and was told 80 US$. I know I should negotiate, so I did and we settled on 70 $. Now I need to frame it, but I think it will look really nice in my apartment.

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Sports, Travel

Cebu – Philippines

Posted on 8 July, 200721 July, 2011 by pierreo

I am completing an excellent long week-end get-away in Cebu, Philippines. I arrived here Thursday and will leave in a few hours back to Singapore.

The primary reason for coming here was to do a bit of diving. The area is quite renowned for this and easily reacheable from Singapore. The secondary reason was that I had never been to the

Philippines and here was a chance to add one more country not to be missed.

I did three dives on Friday and two more on Saturday with Dindo, a local divemaster. On Saturday I was joined by another Singaporean – small world. His three friends would snorkel while we dove. All dives were wall/drift dives, the most relaxing kind, I think. We set off on top of the wall, with about 5 meters of depth and than, clearin gthe edge, descended to our agreed starting depth. Once you adjust your buoyancy, you can just let the current take you along the wall, occasionally swimming against it to look at details longer. There was a lot to see, from huge schools of jacks that almost surrounded us to the largest and smallest clown fish I had ever seen – the small one was probably only 2-3 mm long. Saw quite nice nudiebranches and some star fish that look more like a plush stuffed toy than something you would find on a reef. One of the dives had the most inclredible anemonies I had ever seen.

One surprise on the first dive. There were two loud bangs, accompanied each by a noticeable concussion while we were at about 20 meters depth. Dindo immediately gestured to me that all was OK! to which I replied OK even though my heart rate had increased a bit and we kept going. After the dive he explained that some people still fish with explosives, but these were far away, probably more than 50 km on another island. I would not have wanted to be any closer than we were.

Saturday afternoon, after the two dives, I took a 4 hour tour of Cebu city, one of the oldest in the Philippines, and the first place where Magellan landed, also the place where he was killed (I am going to visit the actual battlefield just before I leave the Island – there is a shrine to Rajah Lapu-Lapu and a monument to Magellan on the spot where it all happened. Lapu-Lapu was the leader of the local people who opposed the Spanish invasion. It is amazing that a lot of people know about Magellan’s travels, and the fact that he died in the Philippines, but until I started reading the local history in the hotel, I did not realize that is all happened right here.

The cross that Magellan planted in Cebu is still there, now protected inside a rotunda and inside a hollow wooden cross to protect it from the local population that considers pieces of the original cross to be lucky-charms – there would be no cross left by now if it were not protected.

The original Fort San Pedro built by the Spanish when they came back in 1564 is still here. The first church built in the Philippines is also in Cebu. It celebrates a relic left here by Magellan and recovered by the Spanish when they came back. It is a statue of the infant Jesus – El Sancto Nino, reputedly carved in

Belgium.

The city of Cebu itself is growing rapidly, but is still able to protect some of the original buildings. I had a really nice tour during which I was also able to try a local “delicacy” in a local market: Coconut Wine. This is the local red wine, made from fermented coconut milk – I am not sure what they add to make it reddish. It is not bad, and very cheap. I ended up buying a bottle, for 35 pesos, or less than 1 euro, and for a moment, I was the biggest attraction in the whole market. Since Dindo is the one who told me about the coconut wine, I left the rest of the bottle for him in the dive shop as I was heading out – it is certainly not good enough to try and smuggle back to

Singapore!

I had excellent food while here too. On Friday, I decided I wanted to go to a local restaurant I had read about. Dindo indicated that it was quite good, but when I asked at the hotel, they were more reserved, even surprised that I was willing to go there, indicating that it was “not very clean” and only for locals. The hotel also recommended to take a taxi, even though the restaurant should only be a 15 minute walk away. I have never been one to shy away from adventure and a challenge and I decided to go on my own. Outside the hotel, I met a motorcycle rickshaw driver who proposed to take me there for only 50 pesos. I know he grossly overcharged me, but am I really going to complain about having to pay about 1 euro 50? I can fortunately afford it – and I am glad I took the ride. The restaurant was somewhat off the street in a small alley and I may not have found it easily on my own. I had excellent local steamed fish and grilled prawns. The restaurant was clean enough and quite comfortable, and I enjoy going where locals go – I did not see any other tourists there. I am sure locals cannot afford to go there very often though as the prices were relatively high. That might have been just for me … maybe, again, locals pay a lot less! Again, I can afford it and I am sure that it is money well spent.

When I travel to countries that are less well-off, I do not like to give money to people who just beg on the streets or at traffic lights, nor to those who are obviously trying to trap tourists. However, I try to be generous with people who help me, and with local shops, when I know that the money will stay in the local community. I am always surprised by the genuine delight that these small, and not so small gestures always bring from the people I have been with.

Another great experience. I think I will have to go back!

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