Heading Home.......

Sitting here in the AA Flagship lounge...ready to be home, thought I'd do a little recap of my advneture.
I started out March 5th and arrived in Hong Kong the next day...actually two days later. Then it was off to Seoul, back to Hong Kong and down to Johannesburg. Next came Cape Town which gets high marks. Back to Jo'burg and down to Mozambique on an airline that seemed a bit sketchy...LAM, the national carrier of Mozambique. But that actually worked out well. In fact, a couple of us were able to talk the flight attendants into letting us serve the meal and drinks since it was a charter with just our group on board...that was just too much fun!
The 8 days I spent in Chimoio working on the school and med clinics was great. After that our group headed to Kruger National Park for a Safari that was just the greatest.

The only real excitement came about an hour into our bus ride from Kruger to Jo'burg when one of our buses was stopped by the police for inspection and failed.....we lost a couple of hours and folks were getting worried they might miss their flights...but it all worked out well in the end.
I left the group there and headed for London and on to Istanbul then back to London where I got to see a huge protest downtown against the G-20 summit that starts here next week.
So now its just another 14 or so hours of flying and I'm back in the good old USA...

A few more pix from Istanbul....

Istanbul Pix...

A Mosque is a Mosque.......

Spent the entire day touring parts of Istanbul and two questions are on my mind...
First...how many Mosques can one see in a day? Second....does anybody in Istanbul NOT smoke....cough...choke....wheeeze...Yikes!

So we started off on our tour and headed for a Mosque. Great. It was big. I had to take off my shoes...and it was cold. Interesting to see. Here is a tidbit for ya...all Mosques face Mecca, and to the right side of the front of the Mosque is always the Arabic word for Allah. On the left is Mohamed's name....now you know.

So off we go........to another Mosque....okay fine. Its bigger and its called the Blue Mosque...and its famous...but it's not blue.....and yes we had to take off our shoes and it was still cold.....

Then it's of to yet another Mosque.....only this one is smaller but looks a little nicer than the big ones....but I was all Mosqued out at this point....so we headed to the Hagia Sofia....which was built as a church after some dude conquered the place and then accepted Chrisitanity....then it bacame a mosque again after another dude took over...but they didn't destroy the Christian stuff....so at the front the place looks toward Jerusalem....and there is another window they added just to the left that faces Mecca.....hmmm maybe we can all get along?
The day ended with a trip to Topkoki Palace where the last few Sultans of the Otaman empire lived. For Muslims its cool cuz they have a bunch of stuff Mohamed had...but they also have what they claim is a sword that David(guy who wrote the Psalms) carried. Coolest thing was a wooden staff the is supposed to be the staff Moses carried. If that's true it is very cool........hmmmmmm
My impression of Istanbul is that is is totally cool. I guess I should come back and spend some time here. All they need is a Hard Rock.......

Istanbul.......

Arrived in Istanbul a couple of hours ago and all I can say at this point is WOW!!

Have a stunning evening view of the Bosphorus Strait and the old city from the top of my hotel. Full day of sightseeing tomorrow....pix then.

Kruger National Park

Out of Africa

So, Mozambique and South Africa are now just a memory. I left Johannesburg last night and arrived here in London early this morning. Waiting here in the BA Lounge for my flight to Istanbul gives me a few minutes to catch up a bit.

Mozambique was interesting to say the least. So much poverty and so many needs...and yet so very many smiles. Every time we passed the folks there they would smile and wave..and it wasn't just one of those I guess I better wave cuz they did waves. Seems to be the way things are. And the smiles.....all you needed to do was say hi and folks just break into the most beautiful smiles....

But the difficult part is to see the huge needs and feel like you have barely even touche the surface. Things as simple as a good meal or enough clean water to drink...things we don't even give a second thought to are so difficult for most of the people in Mozambique to come by. Every day is a struggle....

I spent two days with our medical/team. One day in the bush and one day in a small village near town. So many of their health problems could be fixed with enough clean drinking water and good food. I had people telling me they drink only two or three cups of water a day....wow!

What a contrast then to the last two days of our trip. The group traveled to Krueger National Park in South Africa for a bit of Safari action. Didn't get to see any Lions but saw Elephants and Hippos, Rhino's, Baboons and a bunch of other neat stuff. Way cooler than seeing them in a zoo. We caught a Giraffe and its baby walking along the road..really beautiful but what amazed me was how quickly they were able to run off the road and into the bush and completely disappear. I mean gone! We were only seconds away from them and by the time we drove to the spot they left the road they had simply vanished...how does a 15 foot Giraffe do that?
I'm off to Istanbul today then back to London Friday.

Mozambique and Krueger Park

Pix from Mozambique

Moving on........

It's my last day here in Chimoio, Mozambique. I'll try to upload some pix when I get better internet, but here is a little summary of what I saw and did here.

I spent three days on the construction projeect and a couple more working with our medical dental team.....there are just so many needs here and the people are almost desperate for even the simplest things like a small toy or a toothbrush. I think one of the things that really amazed me was how little water folks drink here even though it is hot and humid.
I saw several patients that complained of headaches or that their heart beat really fast alot. When I asked how much water they drink in a day the answer was most often a cup or two....maybe three in a day. I don't understand how they even survive....
What I am coming away with is the re-realization of how incredibly blessed I am and convicted of how much I need to do to help.

Hot....very hot

Been here in Chimoio, Mozambique for almost a week now...and it is hot. But amazingly it cools down very nicely in the evenings. Construction on the school is going well...but the best part is the people...actually the kids. Never thought I'd say that...but they are so happy and friendly.
Anyway..this is a brief post. Internet here is sketchy at best. More later...

Mozambique here I come.....

Today I'm off to Beira, Mozambique by plane, then a bus to Chimoio. I'm excited.

Mozambique is the real reason for this trip. I'll join a large group from the Carmichael SDA church(California) and we will be building a large school as part of a Maranatha Volunteers project. Oh sure, I have enjoyed seeing all the cool stuff I have thus far....but this volunteer project is WHY I am here...and I am far more excited about this than any of the other travel I am doing on this trip.

I'm not sure if I will have email access for the next ten days in Mozambique...so fear not if you don't see any posts for a bit.

On an interesting and for me quite humorous note....when I arrived in Johannesburg yesterday from Capetown I was taking my time heading for the bag claim. You see, I just don't see any reason to rush. It doesn't seem to matter how many "Priority" baggage stickers you get on your bag.....at least my bag anyway...it still comes off last. But not yesterday. Yesterday was a day for celebration!!! As I strolled into the bag claim area expecting to have a few minutes to just wait and people watch I saw it......MY BAG.....first on the belt and actually threatening to make a second lap on the belt....so with the adrenalin rush that comes with that kind of experience I sprinted the 25 yards to the belt and with great glee grabbed my bag.

See...it doesn't matter how much one has traveled...there is always a new experience to be had........I'm still savoring the significance of that moment.....=)

My new friends from Cathay Pacific

Capetown

Capetown

Capetown

Capetown

Capetown

Been there...got the T-shirt

So another one of those things on my lifes to do list accomplished. Got to the Cape of Good Hope today and learned that what I thought I knew about it wasn't actually true.
I was under the impression that The Cape of Good Hope is where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet. Seems that isn't entirely correct. It is however where the currents from both mix it up.....as I was listening to our guide explain that today my thought was...semantics....they say no one actually knows where the two come together, but they do know where the currents go. Isn't that actually saying that the two oceans meet at that point???? Oh well...I still went and had my stupid touristy photo taken there.....and got the t-shirt....so I guess I am happy....
Today was a sharp contrast to my initial impression shortly after arriving yesterday.

After checking into my hotel I decided to take a walk to the waterfront. This is a place not unlike Pier 39 in San Francisco...total tourist mecca...anyway, as I'm walking in, this dude is walking out as fast as he can without actually running...trying to so hard to look inconspicuous that its like he has a huge sign with an arrow pointing at him saying I just stole something....and sure enough a bunch of security guys are seconds behind him...then tackle him in the middle of the street....before its over there are like 100 security guys(okay..maybe 6)dogpiled on this guy......and I'm thinking how great is this? I was looking for the "Cops" camera crew to show up....
Other than that exciting welcome to Cape Town moment all has gone well. The people are very nice.
One thing I didn't realize was that this is where Nelson Mandela got his start...albeit in prison for many, many years. I suppose I had heard it, just didn't make it as real until I saw the places it happened. We even went by the his church...the place where whites and colored folks were not supposed to worship together.....and he broke that down....cool stuff.

Tomorrow its back to Johannesburg for the night and then on to Mozambique Friday.

Good Morning Africa!!!

Okay...Kinda stole that one from Robin Williams...but sounds cool.

Just a quick update and then a more extensive post tonite.
I'm in Capetown, South Africa(just so cool to say that)and ready for a full day of playing turista. I'll accomplish my primary goal for being here...to get to Cape Point...the southernmost(as I understand it) point in Africa, and also where the Indian and Atlantic oceans merge.Oh sure....I,ll see some other cool stuff as well...but that is just one of the things I a have been wanting to check off on my list of lifes little goals...so I'm excited. More later....

Pix from Seoul

Hard Rock...Hard Ruck....

Please imagine the Asian acccent on the title.....

Big Sigh....there appears to be a vast conspiracy a foot in the Hard Rock cafe world...I just can't seem to catch a break t-shirt wise.

As I mentioned in my previous post the HK HRC was closed. I was told that they had a shop on Victoria Peak but didn't go up there. I was like right....I bet its a fake(seen a few of those in my travels).....so I did a little research when I headed back to my hotel and what do ya know.....the HRC website said the cafe was close for relocation but the shop on "The Peak" was open. Grrrrrrrr.......

So here I am in Seoul....sort of. I'm at the airport waiting for my flight to Hong Kong and on to Johannesburg.

For those of you that don't know, I lived here in Korea for a year when I was in college. Six months of that right here in Seoul, so being here is always like coming home for me.
Alot...and I mean ALOT has changed here since 1983-84. And I guess the surest sign that I am in fact getting old is that it makes me really sad to come back here and find so much of the place looking so...so...foreign. Oh wait, it is! I've been back a few times since I lived here, but this time....wow! Had to look really hard to see anything that was here when I was. Oh well...guess that's "progress".
One of the favorite places for our group when we were here was a place called Itaewon. It was the the greatest place to buy fake stuff. We would marvel at our $3 Folo(fake Polo) shirts. Mainly because if you looked close at the logo...the horse only had 3 legs...too cool.
Yesterday as I wandered through Itaewon my thought was that they had ruined it. Gone were the shabby, dingy little shops that had so much character. They are now replaced with shiny glassed in shops and American eateries like Subway and Burger King. Yep...I'm definitely getting old....The good news?? The people are still awesome....except for the drunk guy throwing up in front of the Pizza Hut at Seoul Station.
So I leave Seoul with a bit of sadness...and a suitcase that is lighter by two cans of insect spray....grrrrr...Had em in my checked bag for Mozambique thinking how handy they would be for ridding my room there of unwanted visitors...but the inspector didn't find my idea as appealing.....
Capetown tommorow....

Tailor Sir?....special price....

Times must be tough here in Hong Kong becuase every tailor in town was offering me a very special price and to quality. It was amusing to a point.....but after being hounded every 50 feet by yet another guy trying to tell me I needed a suit(was I dressed that badly?)the fun was over and I morphed into the rather ugly American and didn't even answer them any more....I actually told one guy I didn't speak English....he quit bugging me but had this rather odd look on his face as I walked away....
Of course if it wasn't the guys from the tailor shops it was the guys trying to be all sly and offer me a great deal on an awesome fake Rolex....what's funny is how not subtle they are no matter how hard they try. You can see them coming at you....they look all shifty...trying so hard to be cool.....

That wasn't all I did or saw here in Hong Kong....played tourist and did a fun city tour, and of course rode the world famous Star Ferry from Kowloon to Hong Kong and back.
Alot has changed here since my first visit 25 years ago. Seemed a lot more exotic back then. Maybe because I had traveled so little at that point in my life...I don't know....but this time out it was just not all that....I think the fact that it was cold and overcast took away some of the magic, or perhaps I'm just jaded...hmmmm....or could just be that I am bummed that the Hard Rock Cafe has closed....not enough tourists coming here to keep it open.....
I'm off to Seoul in a few hours...hope that HRC is still open.

Hong Kong...

Here I am in Hong Kong. It's early here...arrived just before 7am to low clouds and light rain....didn't I just leave that in Ca??? Oh well.

My flight on Cathay Pacific was very comfy. Amazing how well one can sleep on an airplane when actually in a bed. Great food...great service. Why can't US carriers even come close to gracious hospitality of Cathay?

I'm off to see Hong Kong.

The adventure begins.....

This first post of the actual trip comes to you from the British Airways First Class lounge at SFO. Apparrently Cathay Pacific uses it when BA isn't...nice deal. Very comfy and quiet here. I Am looking out the window at the great big Cathay 747-400 that will carry me to Hong Kong tonite.....sure is pretty.

I'll post some pix soon...game on!

So little...yet so much!!!!

So here I am. A mere three days until the adventure begins. My bag is packed. yes, my single carry on that will supply me for 25 days is ready. It weighs in at just 20lbs...which I suppose should make me quite happy. And yet I find myself amazed at what is creating all this weight.
Why is it that I have this great Ipod Nano that weighs almost nothing, but it requires a charger that weighs like 50 lbs?! And then there is my awesome Nikon D70...great camera...but the more I look at it and keep lifting it, I swear it weighs 30lbs.

What's so ridiculous about this is that the clothing I am taking probably weighs in around 5 lbs...the other 15lbs is gadgets! What is a 21st century traveler to do?

I let you know what I decide to leave behind soon.