The Never Ending Journey

When we left Puerto Plata the noon temperature was 26. When we arrived in Toronto at 6pm it was 28.          But I’m getting a little ahead of myself.  The “ city tour” was about all I expected it to be. Our first stop was at a rum factory for a “tasting” at 9:30am. The brand wasn’t one I was familiar with : Ron Macorix. Mostly white rum mixed with various fruits or coconut, I took a pass once I sampled their premium brand- I would imagine if you drank the pee of a mule with diabetes…..! From there we travelled through town to visit San Felipe Fort, more like a bastion than an actual fortress it sits at the mouth of the San Marco river thus protecting both the river access and the adjacent seafront. I managed to smack my head twice on extremely low doorways - the folks that built it must have topped out at 5 ft. A small museum featured cannon balls and various other artifacts and rusted objects, presumably found during exploration of the site.  From th...

 Three days into our DR trip, the mob of local families who descended on the hotel on Good Friday, seizing the remaining rooms at discount prices have checked out, leaving their garbage, discarded beer cans and chip wrappers for the staff to deal with. Now, with barely 30% occupancy, the pool area is quiet and the beach, more or less deserted. Playa Dorada, approximately 20 Km of white sands faces North East with nothing other than the Turks and Caicos to block the flow of currents from Europe. With the incoming winds barely registering 5km/hr the ocean is an endless flat surface of turquoise and blue save for a few whitecaps close to shore. The horizon for the last few days has been empty of traffic, save for a solitary cruise ship making its way north. Not even a solitary fishing boat has breached the vicinity of our temporary home. Also missing are the dozens of local vendors armed with the briefcases full of fake silver jewelry , phoney coral bracelets and offers of “free” hair...

 While Winter in Ontario is almost at an end, the day time temperatures are still averaging 4 degrees or less, so it doesn’t take much to convince me that a trip South is worth the effort. And so I find myself sitting on a second floor balcony outside my room, overlooking the North Atlantic Ocean from the relatively sheltered town of Puerto Plata on the North Coast of the Dominican Republic. As expected, our 8:15 am Sunwing Charter left promptly at 9:30am for the 4 hour flight. They did provide tea, coffee and seats at no extra charge ($20-50 for preferred seating if booked in advance) but everything else was extra. So far they have yet to put a coin slot on the toilet door but …..(Shhh, don’t give them ideas) During the flight, they were promoting excursion prices that they promised would be cheaper than those offered at the resort. Not only weren’t they NOT cheaper but some of the offerings weren’t even available! They did, however, at a later orientation session,  offer to ...

 Writing this from the comfort of my own abode, my body is still unsure that it agrees with the clock on the wall, thanks to an entire day of travelling and a 9 hour time difference.  Friday began with another early wake up call at 4 am, boarding a bus to the Aswan airport at 4:45. We made a brief visit to the Aswan High Dam to take a few final photos before flying back to Cairo. After loading our luggage on the bus, we headed into downtown Cairo for a stop at the central market. Arriving during the Friday noon prayers we found the place largely closed down, with literally thousands of locals all facing Mecca while a lengthy series of prayers boomed over the area from loudspeakers attached to the minaret of a nearby mosque.  Interestingly, many locals, including women with full burkas moved through the area oblivious to the prayers, making one question their choice of attire, considering their lack of adherence to their religion. But that’s a whole other subject!  Ma...

 An insanely early wake-up call found our group barely awake on one of several motor coaches parked in Aswan at 2:45am while we awaited the arrival of a police escort for the 250km trip to Abu Simbel (Police escorts seemed to be a relatively normal phenomenon when travelling to remote sites. Terrorist risks of late have been less frequent but I had no issues with the added reassurance of police protection.) I imagine an early morning police escort did not come without cost- perhaps some slightly diverted funds from our collective tip pool, collected in Cairo. The trip took a bit over three hours, most of it in darkness with little to see until dawn finally came, just before as we arrived.  Reaching the site around 6:30am, I was surprised to see that we were not the first group to arrive- 5 buses were already parked. Originally located at a site that is now underwater due to the building of the Aswan High Dam,  the site was broken down, moved several hundred feet to higher...