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Dobbs Away II

Dobbs Away II

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      Sapporo tower
      Lunch at seafood marketJapanese cute part 1: Cute cakesPart 2: too cute - Japanese version of traffic conesPart 3: 'Happy Life Support' for you or your pets?Old Sapporo government building1Post earthquake bed - on restaurant floor under tableSoba lunch

      Sapporo, Japan

      5 september 2018, Japan ⋅ 🌬 22 °C

      It was a rough start to our Japan trip with our flight nearly being cancelled by a typhoon, and then, we were shaken awake at 3am on our first night by a 6.7 earthquake. Unfortunately the typhoon that had just brought torrential rains to Japan loosened the soil enough to cause major landslides that killed 41 people here when the earthquake hit. It also managed to cut power to the entire island of Hokkaido for several day(s) - closing everything down, including the airport, trains, highways, businesses, etc.
      With the power out, the water at our hotel wasn’t working so we had to evacuate from our room and spend our second night in the hotel lobby trying to get a little sleep while camped out under a table in the restaurant with only cardboard and a towel for padding.
      Because power still wasn’t restored on what should have been our 3rd night, we had to find another hotel that had power (it came back to the city in sections) before finally returning to our original hotel on our 4th night.
      This disaster could have played out very differently in other countries. In Japan, the buildings are well built so there wasn’t a real concern for structures falling apart. The power outages meant all restaurants were closed for 3+ days so convenience stores were the only real source of food and water for many people and long lines of patient and orderly Japanese reminded us of the value of such a polite society.
      In our last few days here, restaurants and department stores re-opened and we were able to enjoy some of the seafood and ramen that Hokkaido is famous for – yum! Fortunately, our experience during and after the earthquake was much easier than for many others in Hokkaido.      Läs mer

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      Coast near Santa Cruz - looking for whales
      Big Basin RedwoodsSanta Cruz3Aunt Christy and LolaFamily at Eli's birthdayFamily farm fun!

      San Francisco

      21 augusti 2018, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

      While our stop was brief, we enjoyed catching up with friends and family, meeting our new niece, and celebrating our nephew’s 3rd birthday before our long trip to Japan.
      Our travels have shown us just how much more affordable everything (well, except housing, education and healthcare...) is in the US, so we waited until we were back to buy new shoes and clothes (we were so over our same 4-5 outfits we’ve been wearing for the last 18 months!) and shifted from backpacks (which we were also totally over) for our roll-away suitcases.
      Thanks to everyone we were lucky enough to see for making the time for us – we missed you!      Läs mer

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      Local sweets for sale
      Sunday flower marketGrand, old buildingSanto Domingo churchHidden courtyard gardenOutlook over new Cuencastreets of CuencaStairway connecting old to Parque de la Madre

      Cuenca

      8 augusti 2018, Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

      Cuenca is another colonial city set in the mountains and a popular retirement destination for many Americans. We found the city very livable and have felt very safe wandering around. It’s not as well-restored or pretty as many other South and Central American cities, but it’s charming and packed with a variety of good restaurants and leafy parks.
      Unfortunately, John had some problems with his teeth here and ended up having to get a root canal and a crown. The good news is he found good dentists to do the work at a fraction of what it would have cost in the US. Apart from many dental appointments, we enjoyed getting some exercise and taking boot camp classes from a Canadian woman who runs a gym near our apartment and getting several wonderful massages by an American woman from CT.
      This is our final stop in South America so we went through our things and donated around half of our clothes to a local church as we’ll be heading into fall/winter in Japan and needed a wardrobe change. Plus, we hope the clothes can go to some of the many Venezuelan refugees who are trying to make a new life here in Cuenca.      Läs mer

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      Snowy volcano view
      Carolina Park artPre-columbian museum displayWall-e?Quito "town" squareGuayasamin's HouseView from Casa Museo GuayasaminQuito's hilly streets

      Quito, Ecuador

      29 juli 2018, Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

      We first visited Quito a decade ago on our way to the Galapagos Islands.
      The colonial architecture, grand parks, and beauty of the surrounding mountains impressed us on our first visit and on this one. We were struck by how much the city has grown since our last stay with the northern part now packed full of new high rise apartments, restaurants and high-end shopping malls.
      The apartment we rented was near Carolina Park - a huge, clean park packed with people enjoying its’ sports fields, running track, lake and open fields. It was a place we enjoyed walking and running through several times during our stay.
      Apart from visiting the old city, we were most impressed by the Guayasamin museum set in the home of the artist and packed full of his private collection of colonial and pre-columbian art and his own works. Apparently, Guayasamin gained access to the art world when Rockefeller’s plane made an unplanned stop for repairs in Quito on his way to Buenos Aires. Rockefeller went to a Guayasamin exhibit and was so impressed with his talent that he bought several paintings and invited him to NY. He went on to become Ecuador’s most famous artist, though we hadn’t heard of him before our visit, we were very impressed.      Läs mer

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      Medellin panorama
      Escobar's former homeEscobar's graveWhere Escobar's reign of terror ended now a Spanish language schoolcoffee time!More coffeePoblado neighborhood - fancy as!

      Medellin

      19 juli 2018, Colombia ⋅ 🌧 27 °C

      Another quick flight and we arrived in Medellin.
      Most famous, in recent history, for being devastated by Pablo Escobar and the out-of-control violence that was part of life in the ‘80s up until his death in ‘93. Given the impact this had on the country, and the world, we wanted to learn more and took a private city tour with a father-daughter guide duo who explained how their family was impacted by Escobar’s “narco- terrorism”. There was a time when hundreds of bombs were going off in the city every year and young kids were hired by the narcos to assasinate people, making the police likely to shoot young kids who they thought were working for the narcos. Our guide had a memory of being lined up against a wall by the police as a kid, and was only saved from execution by his grandmother rallying the neighbors to come and stop the murder.
      Today, it’s a city that’s doing a wonderful job reinventing itself with many new buildings, clean and (generally) safe streets, and a mayor that locals seem to love. We thought San Francisco had hills, but much of Medellin is built on very big, steep hills. Walking here can be a major workout. We’ve enjoyed drinking in the local coffee culture here and walking through the leafy, green neighborhood. Even Christy is gaining a taste for cold-brew coffee with sparkling water added to it. Delicious!      Läs mer

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      Original city walls with new construction in distance
      Cathedral of Saint Catherine of AlexandriaCocktails!!One of many decorative door knockers around townOld bar in old city1Plaza Santa Domingo. Botero statue in front of church - excellent location choice

      Cartegena

      15 juli 2018, Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

      A quick flight brought us to Cartegena - once the main port for shipping Spanish plunder to Europe and an incredibly rich city in its’ day.
      The original city walls are still intact and make a stark contrast between the old, stately Spanish architecture vs. the huge high-rise apartments that dominate the nearby shoreline. While the city is very beautiful, it was stinking hot (up to 100 degrees some days), so we limited our time out-of-doors to morning and evening, when it was still hot, but almost bearable. The feel of the city reminded us of New Orleans, with lots of horse-pulled carriages trotting through the narrow streets, and many, many restaurants and bars with some people walking through the streets with drinks-in-hand. It also reminded us of Galle in Sri Lanka, with its’ spectacular walls and beautiful old buildings. We particularly enjoyed eating delicious ceviche and indulging in a few very well-made martinis in several of the city’s charming, old bars.Läs mer

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      Botero's Mona Lisa
      Botero's famous bird statueGold breastplatePre-colonial gold maskDowntown Bogota

      Bogota

      13 juli 2018, Colombia ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

      A short bus ride took us back to Bogota, which is a massive city of ~8 million people. The city is surrounded by scenic, green mountains and is very hilly in some neighborhoods (our Uber driver said some apartments were as pricey as NYC), though the bulk of it is built in the flat valley.
      Our time here was short, but we managed to get to two excellent museums: The Gold Museum - highlighting an incredible array of pre-Columbian gold not melted down by the Spanish, and The Botero Museum – Columbia’s most famous artist known for his rotund statues and paintings of people and animals.      Läs mer

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      Mia
      Old car in old townHorsecarts still in-useTypical dogs at restFlower-filled balconies everywhereIglesia del CarmenVilla de Leyva's main churchJohn at rest

      Villa de Leyva, Columbia

      9 juli 2018, Colombia ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

      Our middle-of-the-night flight out of Bolivia landed before 7am in Bogota. We hopped in a cab to the bus station and ~4 hours later arrived in the ridiculously charming colonial town of Villa de Leyva.
      We were immediately struck by how clean, well-developed, and vibrantly green Columbia appears. And this little village was a wonderful soft landing as it’s one of the most picturesque parts of the country and we were staying at a beautifully restored villa-hotel. Luxury!
      We love South America’s colonial cities. We recognize they were (sadly) mostly built on pillage and oppression and they can feel a little Disney-ish because they are just that perfect. Still, we can’t resist their charm.
      Apart from wandering through the cobblestone streets and enjoying some delicious juices, coffee (for John) and good food, we had to deal with a few annoyances. First, John threw his back out while playing with the adorable resident boxer (dog) and ended up in bed for a couple of days, unable to walk without discomfort. Luckily, it only cost ~$40 for a doctor to visit our hotel and give him a shot so he could get back on his feet. We also got attacked one morning by small biting insects that managed to bite Christy at least 40 times, and John a bit less. The bites are the worse we’ve experienced in terms of itchiness and swelling. We still don’t know what they were, but yuck. Otherwise, we loved this town!      Läs mer

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      San Francisco Cathedral
      Main square near government buildingsPresident's officeCrashed local wedding - kicked out b/c Christy forgot her bowler hatWelcome to the future of transportChe tributeJaen Street - one of city's oldestGustu snack. Carrots and carrot cocktail!Gustu take on fried chicken and fries - yum!

      La Paz

      5 juli 2018, Bolivia ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

      La Paz is a big city of ~2.3 million people and built on some seriously steep ridges and valleys. It’s definitely not a beautiful city as the buildings are mostly unfinished brick and there doesn’t seem to be very effective building codes or city planning – it looks like parts of India in that way. Despite this, we’ve really enjoyed it here. It’s one of those cities that has lots of hidden treasures behind ugly walls and we’ve found some wonderful cafes, restaurants and museums in courtyards that you’d never realize were there. It also has a very inventive public transport system - Mi Teleferico - a network of gondolas that offer great views of the city and are surprisingly quiet and relaxing.
      The restaurant scene has also been a surprise. We enjoyed an incredible meal at Gustu – a restaurant started by the former co-founder of Noma (yes – THAT famous Danish restaurant). This is a concept that aims to train a new generation of Bolivian chefs to showcase their unique ingredients and culture. We loved it…we have to say we thought the food was much better than at Peru’s Central.
      It’s been a surprise to us how much we like Bolivia. It’s our favorite country in South/Central America. There’s such a good diversity of experiences you can have here, the people are great, the culture is interesting and seems so much more authentic than many other places we’ve visited...and it’s incredibly affordable. The only downside it the altitude. We’ve been fine, but it does wreak havoc with your basic bodily functions such as breathing and digestion.      Läs mer

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      Copacabana view from hotel
      Resident alpacas at hotel - Loved it!!!Bus blockadeMarket boundBasilica of CopacabanaBlessed car -- note the jaunty hat!Big basilica in small townFurry friend we found in SampayaView towards Isla del Sol

      Copacabana

      2 juli 2018, Bolivia ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

      A short flight to La Paz helped us avoid a dangerous (because of roads/cliffs and bad driving) and uncomfortable 12+ hour bus trip. When we arrived at the airport we took a taxi to the bus terminal and hopped on a bus to Copacabana. It was an easy 4 hour trip, that was only slightly delayed when the police realized there were two foreigners (us) on the bus and blocked the bus from leaving for 30+ minutes while having heated discussions with the driver. We think the issue was that the bus company let us board without taking down our names/passport numbers since we bought our tickets outside instead of at the ticket office. Eventually, we were on our way.
      Copacabana is set on the beautiful Lake Titicaca, a very spiritual place to many Andean people who believe it’s the birthplace of the sun. It’s the highest navigable lake in the world (>12,500 feet) and massive. The town itself is a little ramshackle and not as clean as other parts of Bolivia, but we enjoyed our time here. It helped that our hotel was up on the hill with a fantastic view and we found the town had a lot of charm. The town is dominated by The Basilica of Our Lady of Copacabana - a very large 16th century church famous for the Virgin of Copacabana and a major pilgrimage site for Bolivians. It’s also the go-to-place to get your car blessed and it was fun to see cars and shuttles outside the church decorated with flowers and hats be blessed with champagne or Coca Cola by the priest.
      Our favorite experience here was a daytrip we took to the small village of Sampaya to do some hiking. We took a taxi to the tiny stone village with only dirt paths, then walked through farmland and over a ridge to enjoy some amazing views. After finally finding a path down to the road back to Copacabana, we flagged a share-taxi back to town. It was a beautiful day and we didn’t come across any other tourists on our hike, only some local farmers working in their fields.
      We had intended to take a boat out to the Island of the Sun to hike across the island and visit Inka ruins, but an unfortunate dispute between the island’s North and South residents has essentially closed the hike down.      Läs mer

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