Hot air ballooning: Up, up and away in Turkey and Myanmar!

Have you ever been hot air ballooning? Despite the cost, the greatest thing I had to overcome was my fear of heights, the old vertigo I've suffered from forever! What a world was opened up to me when I finally realised my dreams and that first take off was so quiet and awe inspiring, that I was instantly an addict! If only it was a cheap pastime and not so outrageously expensive....but you only live once, or twice as they say in James Bond speak!

 My first encounter with the hot air ballooning specialist world was in Turkey where we and about 80 other balloons loaded with enthusiasts took off in the misty dawn of Cappadocia, from the small township of Goreme. This is a fascinating area as it has the elements of science fiction:  troglodyte caves which were dwelling places for Christian monks and unusual landforms called fairy chimneys that soar into the sky, providing the most unusual and photographic footage from the sky. All of these are easily and wonderfully noted from above but while on foot, take quite a long walk to admire!






Firing up!



Ballooning over Goreme's fantastic caves and landscape in Turkey!



Up, up and away in our beautiful balloon!

Enjoying our landing with champagne!

 Ballooning itself is totally a well run business as some pilots told us they spend six months of each year in some areas and then some return to their homelands like Britain and U.S.A. It is a booming industry if you are a trained pilot apparently, with the industrious companies running local team labour to launch and help recovery at landing and provide champagne, certificates and food for travellers on landing.

 But also, as we discovered in Myanmar, some companies have a tie in with local vendors who rush out into the paddock as they did at the Temples of Bagan, to sell us items of clothing, goods and food! Central Bagan was the capital of the mighty Pagan Empire around the 11th and 12th centuries, and has once again gained popularity with the thousands of tourists who visit each year.



Bagan temple view from the ground level in Myanmar!




View from above, some of the over 2000 temples remaining built between 1044 to 1287! A magnificent sight.

Shot taken from balloon camera, I am left of the pilot, hanging on tight!

Despite all this, it is interesting beyond the commercialism to meet up with fellow travellers and as these are isolated areas you usually end up seeing them again at outdoor restaurants and venues later on for a celebratory drink! The odd rough landing can be heart stopping for the adventurous like one we experienced, but nothing that we could not laugh about afterwards! MY TIP: Take your courage and your camera ( videos are excellent memory keepers when ballooning!) and enjoy the blissfully quiet flight over amazing vistas!

Illness and Luck in Vietnam!

Street scene Hanoi.

Getting sick overseas is never a good thing! I can attest to this as my other half got extremely ill in Hanoi, Vietnam many years ago.


Hanoi is a very busy city and the area we were in was typically busy by the Hoan Kiem Lake. There is the beautiful Ngoc Son Temple in the centre of this, with a much photographed bridge leading onto it. People gather there in the afternoons with their dogs and berets (from the French Influence), to mingle and have coffee. It was cooler and many people were wearing jackets though the weather was hot still by our standards!

Hoan Kiem Lake.

We were travelling by ourselves, having toured Cambodia with a small group tour and were in Hanoi for a few days prior to heading home via Thailand. What ensued was farcical but could have been disastrous as I contemplated NOT getting him on the plane! We had to find a doctor and quickly as it got to the stage where hubby was so ill he was not eating and was watching me eat and drink... it gets rather one-sided when a dreary look is thrust at you every mouthful!

One Pillar Pagoda.

Next, he was in bed with a fever and me downstairs in the huge unoccupied hotel dining room for tea on my own, with only a waiter who couldn't of course, speak very much English. The musical background of Frank Sinatra singing Moon River did nothing to help the situation! One thing, I managed to get in and out of a dining room in record time!

We eventually found a doctor, at the International Medical Centre, and by chance and good fortune he was from Brisbane of all places! As hubby chatted merrily on to him, I sat outside in the waiting room envisaging by the lengthy consultation that he had some terrible malarial virus and was going to need hospitalising! By the time he came out, after chatting about how varied his practice was compared to Brisbane, I was in a panic. However we found out it was a virus and curable with course of antibiotics which were happily obtained there as they had a dispensary and operating theatre in the same modern complex! (Just the shot if you need a quick appendectomy!)

The worst part was the bill...as it was in Vietnam dong, I had to traverse street corners with soldiers armed with attack guns to get to the ATM! (At this time there few of these in Vietnam and indeed none in Cambodia.) Imagine me; at the best of times pretty worried about getting cash out, as the amount was millions of dong, the exchange rate being a  huge amount to our dollar! Today 1 Australian dollar =  16,946 dong! After 3 lots of dispensing cash from the ATM, I finally made my way back through the streets, fearing robbery at every step. Gladly I handed it over at the surgery, vowing never to do that again!

The doctor was very sociable and harangued hubby with tales of flying everywhere to evacuate patients who got into trouble in remote areas of Vietnam, sort of a Flying Doctor of Asia! Full points to his resourcefulness in leaving a safe Aussie practice, as we would never have been able to continue without him! My Tip: Don't leave home without travel insurance that includes sickness as this was an expensive exercise for a one off!

Five Unsung Gems of Europe Part 4: Porto, Oh beautiful Porto! Portugal's Gem.

We flew from Paris which was quite chilly and rainy, via a Spanish airline, Veuling, into the sunshine of coastal Porto. Immediately, it was all stops out for a holiday atmosphere! The passengers were  dressed casually and less chic- read Paris fashionable!- and even the airport atmosphere was laidback and very casual! It seems the English invade these coastal spots in the summer months and why not! The scenery is superb and the food and wine, notably port for which it is famed worldwide, attracts all travellers, young and old. Our digs just happened to be on the main street to downtown Porto, a happy coincidence of my booking. It was great to walk downhill, but soon discovered in a city completely up and down all over, this necessitated several beer and coffee/food tasting stops on the way back up that steep climb home on Santa Catarina! Porto is full of sidewalk cafes and great food to be had in each one. Catching the tram is the easiest way to traverse the hills and as they stop frequently, it is a cheap way to see everything on offer.





 Above all, Porto, which is a World Heritage site, is known for its artistic Azulejo blue and white tiled wall features, which provide an amazing backdrop in many streets and inside and outside public places and church and Cathedral walls. They are Arabic in origin from the 13th century and took up to 11 years to complete!




Church of Saint Ildefenso downtown near Batahla Square.

Beautifully crafted tiled walls found throughout Porto!

The best way to get around Porto besides the tram is on foot, following the narrow streets from the Clerigos Church Bell tower area which gives a panorama of the city, down many steps and alleyways to the Douro River, where the scenic beauty of this Portuguese waterfront is revealed. There are towering painted buildings from the former wharves now used as open air cafes, restaurants, with fascinating shops in between. One had large hand carved model boats for sale right beside our coffee stop. We enjoyed a river cruise some distance up the river admiring the bridge structures above us. There is much competition for selling tickets to the hundreds of tourists, it's a bit of pot luck as to which boat you end up on!

Looking back over the busy Douro River waterfront from the Dom Luis 1 footbridge.



Waterfront restaurants and colourful buildings.

Portuguese boat carrying port wine barrels.





Old and the new- bridges up the Douro River.



Colourful Portuguese Cruise boats.





You can cross over the Douro River via the footbridge of the Dom Luis 1 metal arch bridge built in the 1880's.



After crossing the Douro River, there are more delights to be found, namely the Port Houses where the fortified wines are still stored for shipping to the world. We visited Burgmeister wine cellars, a port wine company which  own vineyards in the Douro Valley, where we enjoyed a drop or two of the famous port wines. Funnily enough, after returning to Australia, we have found that the biggest cruise ship lines in Europe have adopted this scenic Douro River route as their latest addition to their European tours! From this area, we took the funicular back up to the city and visited the Se Cathedral before wandering back downtown to San Bento metro square. My Tip: Put in your best walking shoes for the many beautiful vistas to be found from walking the streets of Porto!

Major storage barrels of Port wine for the world market!



Unsung gems of Europe Part 3. San Gimignano, Italy.

Italy! Scenes of Tuscan laneways with tall trees fading into the distance, stone cottages and ethereal beauty come to mind! Yes, the beauty of this countryside and its surrounds is just that, bellisimo! My next gem takes us to San Gimignano, a small medieval village set in the hills near Sienna. We went by local bus from our base at Sienna for a day trip. As we rounded the corners and slowly crawled our way up the hills, we had time to admire the locals at every stop and marvel at the slow pace of living compared to the manic pace of the bigger cities . We also discovered bus drivers do NOT let you on if you are the slightest bit late, as ours emphatically closed the doors and left one poor local stranded by the road as we took off!

The Bastione San Francesco, part of the walled village.

The first glimpse of this small walled village is impressive. The many tall towers for which it is famous, are set high against the backdrop of blue skies and fine weather. The surrounding countryside is full of vineyards and there is a vista of tiled rooves dotting the surrounding country. This village was a stop for pilgrims in the Middle Ages and Renaissance years on the Via Francigena, the famous pilgrim way. Besides the Vennacia wine, said to inspire poets and Popes alike, the area was famed for its saffron used in cooking and dyeing of cloth. As we made our way up the narrow alleys, I could not help but notice the enormous bottles of vino tempting tourists on both sides, inspiring another generation no doubt of would be writers and poets! Well, I had to try some didn't I, just to find out the truth of the matter! Strong coffee and sweet treats, also gelati, were on the menu at the local cafés in the piazza, and as we wandered off to explore the Collegiate church with its beautiful chapel, many tourist buses started to arrive.

Overlooking San Gimignano, a beautiful Tuscan vista.

 By chance, I discovered one of the most dedicated medieval museums true to my heart! It was a hospital museum showing how herbal remedies were made and dispensed by the monastery for pilgrims and residents of this important stopping place. Actual books, so precious then, have been preserved with delicate drawings of herbs and directions for their use. The windows of the museum revealed a reconstructed herbal garden and an unparalleled view of San Gimignano's towers.






Urns full of herbs for remedies of all ills.

There are some remaining frescoes form medieval times to be found in the chapel of Saint Serefina who was born here in 1238. During the war years, these frescoes and others were saved from the withdrawing German army by the village women. A tall bell also rests on the floor near some delicate frescoes. During the Black Death plague of 1348, nearly half the population died, and the village remained preserved in its medieval state until the 19th century. My Tip: Best to arrive early, as the small village is inundated by tourists once the buses arrive!

View from the museum window.



Five unsung gems of Europe - Part 2

Moving around the countries of Europe by train and bus or ferry, we arrived at many destinations by the back door! My next gems are in Slovenia, which we approached by a magnificent train trip through the Alps from Salzburg. The first snow was dusting the peaks as we went by and many people complete with long poles and gear were setting off at various stations to walk the mountain trails. Slovenia has to be one of the most scenic countries, with its untouched beauty and splendid vistas from mountain lakes to medieval cities.



First snow of the season on the Austrian alps enroute to Slovenia.

Ljubljana: Every expectation I had of Ljubljana was met when we rolled into the station and commenced our short walk downtown to our accommodation in the central area. Foot friendly and welcoming, Lubljiana is famous for its 3 bridges, one of which the Dragon Bridge, was one of  the first arched concrete construction bridge in Europe during the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It has many sheeted copper dragons along it and 4 above, the dragon being the symbol of Slovenia. The Triple bridge is also nearby. There are many beautiful churches including the cathedral to visit together with Ljubljana castle overlooking the medieval layout of the city. A funicular serves as a shortcut to the 12th century castle and Outlook tower, with a museum to visit and outdoor café to enjoy. While we were there, we enjoyed romantic dinners by the river serenaded by violins. There was also a festival with unusually tall human figures on stilts processing through the city. Art shops and bookshops delighted me as well! Ljubljana, truly a gem of modern Europe!




The mighty dragon symbol of Slovenia on Dragon Bridge.



Stilt walkers in downtown Ljubljana.



Triple Bridge, Ljubljana.



Looking across Lake Bled to the monastery.




















Rowboats on Lake Bled.

From the monastery steps looking across the lake.

Lake Bled: We travelled the short distance by bus to Lake Bled for a day trip from Ljubljana. Words fail me here as there is nothing to compare with the untouched beauty of the lake which was revealed before us!  It is a tourist magnet that lives up to its reputation as powered boats are prohibited from using the lake environs. In fact, the European rowing championships are held here. The water is crystal clear and full of mirror images. To get to the monastery in the middle of the lake you can row yourself or like us be punted across by a willing  young man! We met up with many young people who come to pay their respects to their heritage in this way as the monastery is a significant site for them. There is a small museum and an eating area and  the whole island can be circled in fifteen minutes before returning. A magnificent castle that overlooks the lake can be visited too, or you can stroll like us around the lake enjoying the sunshine or having a cappuccino or vino or two at one of the many restaurants! Lake Bled, another true gem of Eastern Europe!