travelupdate from San Blas

Hello from San Blas,
So, The last time you heard from me I was in Creel in The heart of mexico's copper canyon. I got back from Batopilas and the hung around Creet a couple more nights and then went back on the train from Creel to El Fuerte. This is the most beautiful part of the train trip. If you did not have time to do the whole route I would say to do this part. El fuerte to Creel.
Beautiful alpine lakes and wonderful cliffs of different colors. Tree covered islands in the lakes waterfalls cascading down the slopes of the canyon walls. Indian women at every stop in beautiful colored costumes selling the usual baskets fruits and trinkets. But their grace their style and pride affect you as you look into their eyes.
We stopped once for about 20 minutes for a look out view and there were a dozen street food vendors all shouting at once! Good food though. I had a couple of chili rellenos wrapped in flour tortillas and some blue corn tortilla tacos with mashed potatos that were topped with cabbage. Very good indeed!
So myself and roberto and Diana from Tulum all arived after dark and took a cab to Guerrero Hotel. negociated a good price with Don Edino, and I stayed three nights while they split to catch the over night ferry from los Mochis for la Paz the next day. what a great time I had in El Fuerte!
The owner Endino was very friendly and took me to his lake cabin and we got it all fixed up for the following day to go fishing and boating and swimming at the lake. We ( me him and his two friends) went out there and they caught a bunch of fish and we all drank a bunch of beer, a bunch of beer. and went swimming a little and saw a beautiful sunset and drank a bunch of beer and one of them gets his guitar out of his truck and they all started singing. these old mexican "I am in love and my heart is broken" songs. All drunk and singin the blues under a night of thousand stars and the clarity of the milky ways cosmic clouds. No on vomited.
I love my life. Next morning I am off about 10 am and I change buses in Los mochis and arrive in Mazatlan at about 5pm. I am having trouble witht he phone system and can't get hold of my friend who lives here, so i taxi to the Mexico Hotel, and get a room with a private bath for 100 pesos( $7 USD). Only two or three blocks from the Malecon. It is old and run down and tired but good enough for me. I call and get in touch with my buddy and he picks me up and we go driving around and drinking scotch. We wind up at a street food stall that sells giant baked potatoes with like sour cream and cheese and stuff like. Really good! So then he comes back for me the next day and i stay at his house for a week.
Just hanging around walking on the beach. Mazatlan is deserted no turists anywhere all empty hotels and bars and restaurants.Ocean view rooms right on the malecon on the beach, from 200 pesos ( $15 USD).
I am waiting for my drivers license to arrive from California. It got sent via regular mail and now I am not sure how long this might take.
Meanwhile, I am here. I have wanted to come to san blas for 20 years since i first heard of this sleepy little fishing village. it is "famous" for bird watching and infamous for bugs.
Mosquitos are said to be bad here but the jenjebes are the worst. little tiny sand flys. i hope they are not so bad. i will let you know soon.
Now it is 2 weeks later and i am going to mazatlan tomorrow.I have had a very nice stay here in San Blas.Nothing much to do around here except walk on the beach or surf or swim,in the ocean.There is a nice beach with some waves. I go there every morning for a long walk and thenI just hang around my room at La Quinta California. I chat with other guests or the owner.
I have been studying my spanish and reading rodney collins Theory of celestial influence. which i have completed! Wow. a real hard book to finish so i feel good that I have done it. I am reading Beelzebubs tales to his grandson again for the 3rd time now. It is going well and I am understanding much more each time I read it.
So I really enjoyed my time in San blas. it is very peaceful little town and the beach is nice for long walks. Of course there is the issue of bugs. Aye Caramba there are a lot of bugs there. Not as bad as i had heard, but still there are a lot of bugs there! The worst are the no-see-ums, or jejenes is the mexican name. These little devils sting you and they itch for days!
So i am in back in mazatlan, I just received my new driver license from California in the mail (Thanks RB!!) and tomorrow morning i will go to Guadalajara for 5 days or a week and then down to the pacific coast and head south to Oaxaca.
I am loving mexico and I am going to stay in Oaxaca for at least 5 weeks for all of December and the first week of january.
So here are a couple of thoughts to ponder until my next update.
Peace and Happiness to all of you
Rambling Roberto

"If the present Congress errs in too much talking, how can it be otherwise in a body to which the people send one hundred and fifty lawyers, whose trade it is to question everything, yield nothing, and talk by the hour?" Thomas Jefferson
"Human identity is no longer defined by what one does,but by what one owns." Jimmy Carter
"You got to love what you hate." Hank Levine

travel update from copper canyon mexico

Hola,
Well my last update had a little rant going through it. Lo Siento si estaba malcreado (I'm sorry for those who were offended). So the day after my last update my old travelling mate Shannon with whom I have been to Japan, Costa Rica, Mexico and Hong Kong with, and I hop into his pick-up truck with a picnic of back yard plums and apples from farmers market and Splitsky the scenesky for Washington. The colombia River Gorge to be more precise, Of course (as always) via the scenic route! Along tahe way we pick up a hitchhiker named Grant from Australia who is a world traveler too but on a motorcycle. he ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere and we took him to get gas and then back to his bike. good for my travel karma I reckon...
The river goes through some fabulous scenery.We criss crossed back and forth between Oregon and Washington many times, big bridges little bridges draw bridges...
Breathtaking panoramic views.. America's Pacific North West is a big rain forest but not tropical. We passed parallel 45 which made us just half way between the north pole and the equator.Giant, I mean giant trees. Redwoods, Douglas fir, Ash, aspen, birch ponderosa pines and many more which I did not know the names for. Such birds to see too. We saw osprey and many redtail hawks a couple of golden eagles and many many more.
This is a great and swift river that goes all the way to the pacific ocean. It is deep enough for ocean going freights and barges to travel 600km inland! We stayed on the pacific in a small town in Oregon. We had a real nice room right on the ocean and when I woke up i got to go out side and take a lovely walk on the beach. It was cold and grey and started to drizzle a little so I cut it short. One problem here is that the weather is very uhhh "British" mostly grey and cool. Actually quite cool! I have been hanging out in the tropics mostly for the last 5 or 6 years and I am quite sensitive to the cold.
so what else? (Y que mas?)
We got a little tourist action going and stopped at the Evergreen Aviation Museum and saw many old and interesting planes and helicopters. Some peaceful and some military.
The high light of this was the "Spruce Goose" this is the largest plane ever built. It was only flown once. for less than an hour! I dont know why...It was the dream child of the famous American Industrialist Howard Hughes. It was magnificent. The wing span is more than 100meters long! the cockpit is 50 feet above ground! It had eight enormous wing mounted engines. there was a world war 2 B17 bomber parked right next to it and it was like a porsche next to a bus! It is good to travel with others sometimes. I never would have gone if my pal Shannon hadn't wanted to see the Spruce Goose. I am glad I went.
Our road trip took us through Tillamook county and so, we had to go to the great Tillamook cheese factrory. The deal is that all these dairy farmers in the area have formed an association and they are all share holders in this giant facility that makes about half a million pounds of cheese per day!! About 220,000 kilos per day. Virtually all Cheddar! they also make a little jack and colby and colby jack. Wow! What a place! Of course we tasted a large variety of cheeses and bought a few tasty treats to take with us too! Fun sometimes to hang out with tourists! The airplanes were Shannons idea but it was my idea to see the cheese. Shannan was happy in the end too!
And so it went, cruising in Shannons big new Chevy truck. We listened to cable music from the 1960s and we both sang along.Shannon is doing well and his business is thriving and so we lived it up on his expense account. Not my usually cheap as dirt road trip. We stayed in real nice hotels and ate in real nice restaurants. No avocado tomato sandwiches in the front seat, Oh no! nice restaurants all the way. We stopped a couple of times to sample some of Oregons wines at winerys we passed.
Yamhill Winery was the best. Nice pinot noirs and a lovely sweet reisling as well as some nice chardonnays too. But as far as wine is concerned, I hate to be un-patriotic about this but, the best wine of the trip was a flawless malbec from mendoza Argentina. Whoa baby! What a lovely wine!! I have been to Mendoza. So I am a little partial but this is a great wine region. The Oregon wines are also quite fine. No doubt about it. (Sin Duda)
Finally we ended up at the Rogue regency hotel in Medxford Oregon. this is a special thing for me. I began my travels on October 1 2003 and on that fateful day took my car to Oregon to see Shannon and 5 days later we slept in the very same hotel the night before we left for Japan. Now we checked in on September29,, the night before I fly to Chihuahua. 5 years and 360 days later. I got all sentimental. Then I took a hot tub and had a beer and felt better. I will finish this update in a few days when i am in mexico.
Okay it is 8 days later and I am in Creel in the copper canyon of Mexico.I spent 3 nights in the city of Chihuahua which was very pleasant but uneventful. I found a good cheap room in the San Juan hotel above a noisy popular bar and went down and watched futbol with the locals and had a couple of drinks. I went to the home of Pancho Villa and that was very interesting. They have the old car he was murdered in and it is all full of bullet holes.It made me think of Bonny and Clyde...
The scenery along the way from Chihuahua to Creel was also very nice but not really like totally amazing...The best parts of the canyon lie ahead. I get back on the train tomorrow and go to the colonial city of El Fuerte. The best views of the canyon should occur in this part of the journey. The train ride is supposed to be fantastic I will let you all know soon!
I am staying in Margaritas guest house in Creel near the train station. 7 dollars a night for a dorm room with hot (too bloody hot) water and free breakfast and dinner. Great deal! Nice people and I am meeting lots of cool travelers. I am sharing the dormitory with ...Yes you guessed it... Grant from Australila arrived on his motor cycle last night. A long way from Idaho. He is headed to lake atitlan in Guatemala which is where CorNEALius and the MERRY prankster are (Crystal people I know from South America) and where I am going too!!! Wow! what a small but gigantic world it is for a guy on the road. On October 1 I began my seventh year of travel. Wow who would have guessed?
So I returned yesterday to Creel from Batopilas. Batopilas is a remote village of mostly Terahumara indians in the bottom of the Copper canyon. This is ground zero of the drug war. it is all shut down. only a couple of hotels open. No Tourists. when we got there we realized we should get out of here. Just indians soldiers and DEA agents in black Baseball caps enblazoned with AGENT. Lots of M-16s. Obviously after one walk through there is no industry (legal) to support this population. We (Mona from Canada, Roberto an italian chef who has a reataurant in Tulum and his charming wife Dianeta) ask around a bit and everyone here is a marijuana grower.
This is what the war is about between the Sinaloa and Juarez cartels. control of the marijuana plantations. We wanted to walk through the forest to the old mission (8 kilometers of not so well marked trails) but we also wanted to live long enough to send this update and decided to return to Creel the next morning.
The journey to Batopilas was fantastic. stunning views! Beautiful rock formations. lots of wild goats or sheep ( I dont know how to tell them apart) on little rocks in most precarious places. One of those rare moments where i wish I had a camera...I visited some cave dwelling indians also and saw a beautiful waterfall near Creel and also a place called "valle de los hongos" wth huge rocks shaped like mushrooms. Way cool. reminded me of Kapadochia in Turkey...
Next update in a week or so from the pacific coast of Mexico .
Peace and love to all of you
So here are some interesting ideas to ponder till we meet again...
Peace and Love to you all,
Rambling Robert
"If the machine of government is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law." Henry David Thoreau

"I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial by strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country." Thomas Jefferson

"The war changed everything in my life and I was one of thousands forced to leave during the ethnic cleansing in my city. But they did not manage to change me. I have NOT learned to hate my neighbors and I never will."
Lana Obradovic, from Bosnia Herzegovina during the religious genocide during the 1990s

travel update from Klamath falls Oregon

Greetings to all,

Well, I have not been communicating as often as I suppose I should. (I am always cautious of using the phrase " I should"...but here i am throwing caution to the wind and typing like a chipmunk on acid. I am almost gone. I will be leaving the "good 'Ol US of A" in a couple of days and flying into the mexican war zone. I will be arriving at the south most extreme of the killing feilds. I arrive in ciudad chihuahua on 30 Octubre.Most of the mischeif is happening a couple hundred miles north of there in Juarez. One CIA backed "Drug Cartel" is ffighting a DEA backed "Drug Cartel". People up north are watching the slaughter of almost 20,000 mexicans on TV while eating two fer one "dominoes delivers" and sucking down 3 liter cokes.

I will be flying over the mayhem. It is too weird to travel overland in northern Chihuahua these days as the christians are really having a very civilized little war. Killing everything that moves. cutting off each others heads and other body parts. They are fighting over money. They are killing over money. If you ask them they will tell you they are 95% catholic there and 4% other types of Christians. You can look it up. The church of gold and coca. You see, because of artificially created circumstances ie Americas war on drugs and her drug laws which forbid the drugs her people crave, Cocaine costs 3 dollars per gram on one side of the river and sells for 80 dollars on the other side. The profits are so great that the Christians are slaughtering each other over who gets to bribe the DEA agents and make a fortune. It is the same thing as when slavery was illegal in Europe and the Christians (mostly catholics) could go to Africa and buy the people there for 2 dollars a head and sell them to the other christians for 50. The misery market. only now we use the coca and the heroina and create slaves, who can do nothing but sell their bodies for the sweet dreams they crave. So, beside the drug sellers, smugglers, growers and processors, who makes the money?? Here is the rub folks. find the correct answer to this question and the whole ball of yarn unwinds. If you know, don't tell!!!

I will leave Chihuahua muy pronto and take the fabulous (so I have heard) Chihuahua al Pacifico train through the legendary Barranca del cobre (copper canyon) one of the worlds great natural wonders. I will update you all on this later after i have experienced it first hand.

When I arrived in USA in July, I had already visited 46 of the 50 states here. I got back here to Klamath falls yesterday after going to Idaho (number47) and spending a night in Boise. The trip was by truck to go and pick up a 300pound (140kilos) vibrator that will be used to separate algae from lake water. Boise is nice.

This is a very interesting part of the country. The people of this area are said to be the most "conservative" or "right wing" in the whole of USA. They are beef ranchers and hunters and fisherman. They live off the land in an industrial way. They listen to "talk radio" all day. They believe we should use nuclear wapons in great abundance on all our enemys. They believe Israel must live so Jesus will return. They think if Jesus comes back and its Moslems there in Palestine, we are all gonna be in the shit.

They support the Israelites in all circumstance and think we should too. They believe gay people should not be tolerated, nor people who are not "born again unto jesus Christ". They think doctors who perform abortions should be executed and pilots who bomb villages should be elected to senate.They voted for Bush because they liked Dick Chaney. We didnt stay long.

Tomorrow we (my buddy Shanan and I) are going off on another road trip to go to Colombia River gorge in Washington state (state number 48 for me!) I hear this is one of Americas other great natural wonders. I am ready to go. Today I will soak in hot tub and make soup for my friends. I am having a great time in south oregon. I always like it here.

The drive to Idaho was fantastic. High desert scenery. We saw beavers chipmunks antelope, deer, owl, red tail hawk, and falcons. It is onion harvest time. There are huge fields thousands of acres of onions being picked. Dozens of trucks filled to the top of loose onions rambling down the line. Onions flying off at every turn and full stop.

Me and shannon began to stop and just grab up onions to take home. wonderful sweet wala wala onions and some lovely fat purple onions too. Then we saw an old mennonite guy selling onions on the side of the road. Mennonites are Christians who do not believe in homocide. They do not believe there are any loop holes to the comandment "thou shalt not kill". They believe in god and do not believe in lawyers so this is why they dont believe in exceptions to the commandments. They believe that the rich DO NOT GO TO HEAVEN So Shannon set in a supply for winter: 50pounds of wala walas ($10) and 25 pounds of purple Bermudas ($7.00 ) and he gave us a cantelope mellon as a gift also!! What a cool old guy. dressed in blue denim overalls with the bib in front, white straw cowboy hat, beard but no mustache must have been 90 years old. Great big smile and a friendly "God bless you" (via con dios) when we left.

I love America and think it is the most beautiful country in the world. There are of course other places that are perhaps just as lovely, but nothing i have seen is more beautiful. Sure there are problems, Every country has problems. They are all caused by the corrupt leaders of church, schools, and Govamint. The people are like angels angels with dirty faces maybe but angels none the less. Same as the palestinians and and the communists just angels with dirt on their faces...Greed and "money psycholsis" is the true problems.

People believe they dont have enough when they have plenty. They have insecurity about future so they try to horde all the wealth and treasure they can. They take all they can, regarless of their immediate need and then fight and kill to keep their excess out of the hands of those who are needy NOW. The money psycholsis. Every day I Thank all the gods because I have become free of this dreadful illness...Dont worry though the drug companies are working on a cure and when it is ready they plan to sell it for a hundred dollars a pill, take three a day!

Thats all for now folks. I will write again soon. Here are a couple of things to think about while i am gone.

Peace and love

Rambling Robert

"It is in our lives and not our words that our religion must be read."Thomas Jefferson



"Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive”.— Howard Thurman



"Can't we all just get along?," Rodney King.

travel update from petaluma

Greetings to all of you.
I am in Petaluma California.I am staying with some friends and have only just arrived after two weeks in Colorado. I love the mountains in America during the summer. I really enjoyed what I saw in the apalachian mountains in Tennessee and North Carolina and Then to go right to Colorado and the rockies was just a great treat. The thing about the rockies that I find so wonerful is all the flowers. Shah the whole world seems covered in flowers. Also it seems there is a cool running stream with rapids or a waterfall virtually everywhere you look. This is partly because this is where the trails are and partly because there are a lot of waterfalls and beautiful streams, brooks and creeks everywhere.I also got to see some elk, which are like a huge deer and have great antlers and a mane like a buffalo or a lion!
Denver is a big city and I stayed about 20 minutes out side there with friends John and Suz. I have known them a couple of lifetimes and Suz is my yoga teacher. She has a lot of wisdom and is a great teacher. For Suz it isnt just about the poses, it is the yogi mind that is the key. It is the breath. It is about smiles. Her philosophy is simple "Eat good things, Be Kind, Tell the Truth" John is a songwriter and works in a bar. He is an excellent finger picker and writes real well.
They have a whole managerie of 3 dogs (two crazy one old) heck the sanest one is called Dufus so ya know...And 3 cats of colorful mind...And a now former 20 year old chinchilla named sidney who passed from this organic plane while I was there and now he rests in peace beneath the backyard.
I saw a good exibit on asian art and "American Western" at the Denver Art Museum and went to an event called "first friday" there. This event happens on the first friday of every month.
There is a small area where all the art galleries are crowded into. Maybe 4 streets long and two streets wide in the Down town of Denver filled with all these galleries and nightclubs and bars and restaurants. So once a month its a big open house and all the galleries give away little snack foods and you can buy wine and walk around and look at art. Lots of bands set up in parking lots and play for free and lots of people mill about and have fun. Saw some good art, heard some good music and had some not so great mexican food, which is a bummer in a city full of good mexican restaurants.
I also got to spend a lot of time catching up with Suzies grand children, who range in ages and interest from a 23 year old bass player in a rock and roll band to 7 and 10 year old girls who just steal my heart.We babysit by taking them to the neighborhood pool and swimming and picnicing. Great fun!
So here I am and I am here.I love Sonoma county. I lived here from 1977 to 1979, on the russian river between forestville and guerneville mostly. I am in Petaluma visiting at the home of my old buddy Morty who was my room-mate back in the days when I lived here. Back in 1974 we were in NJ and he was leaving to go and hitch hike to California he gave me a book called "In Search of the Miraculous" which changed my life forever.
He has a nice place here and stays with his wife and kids, but most of his kids are away at school most of the time now so its really just him and wife/mother Deb and thier daughter the Moon who is 10. They have a little guest house in the back and that is where i am staying. I am gaining a few kilos.
Not far from here in Freestone is Americas best bakery, the Wildflour Organic Bakery, which I usually call the Birkenstock Bakery. I go there everytime I am here. Fabulous breads. Fabulous scones, cinamon rolls, biscotti, everything these bearded birkenstocked hippies make is ab-fab!! We also took a cruise out to Marin County (what the wah hay it was a beautiful day and we were joy riding around stoned in the Mercedes with the roof down). It was time to visit the Roughe et Noir Cheese Factory. We got the gran rebaja (big discount) 6 cheeses for $20.00. All types of brie. like sundried tomato or pesto or garlic or blue cheese or regular or triple creme.Shahhh we took them all.Sat by the lake with our warm bread and cheese and so it is and so it goes...
Went to the Bodega bay wine and jazz and art and seafood festival. California has a lot of weekend festivals in the summer. So I got to hear some jazz and be festife with my life friend Hank. Hank is a guitarist extraordinaire and an old Gurdjieff-nick from the 60s and he has been something of an isnspiration to many of his friends including myself. He lives with heart. He is not doing so well physically these days but we had a great time. I am going over to his house tonight after I finish this update.
I had a moment of truth, a satori experience on the airplane coming from Denver to San Francisco. I usually hate to meditate on an airplane, but I was in the mood and I slipped right into this groove and the next thing I know I am breathng mindfully and seeing the truth in a kind of still life animated movie about how everything is determined by these vast mechanical laws of attraction magnetism and gravity Radiating out of or off of or by extraterrestrial beings (ie planets moons stars comets) radieant forces and also by terrestrial forces and we are being influenced and guided by thousands of rays of attractive energy from all different directions at once some as mundane as the TV and memories of how grandmother taught us to behave, others as complex as situational human dynamics can make them.This is how everything we "decide" to do is really decided. A continuing series of causes and thier results from all these out side infuences and not by ourselfs from within at all, unless we have developed a true "will".
I am taking a train to Paso Robles on the 9th of September I will b e in San Luis O bispo for 9 or ten days. If anyone wants to see me email me or call me at RB &Tawnyas
Well here are a few quotes to think about while we are apart...
Peace and Love,
Robert
"Human beings are more alike than unalike, and what is true anywhere is true everywhere, yet I encourage travel to as many destinations as possible for the sake of education as well as pleasure". Maya Angelou

"Illusions, mistaken for truth are the pavement under our feet. They are what we call civilization"...Barbara Kingsolver

"Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages."... Thomas Edison

"One should never forbid what one lacks the power to prevent."... Napoleon Bonaparte

travel update from Swananoah

Hello Everyone,
Well some unexpected changes in plan have brought me back to USA. I am in North Carolina until August 1 and then i will fly to Colorado. After Colorado i am not sure yet, but headed south to Mexico as my next country. I may visit Oregon and California before going south of the border.
So i expected to be in France until the end of August and then to remain in Europe visiting traveling buddies until the end of October. but now my plans have been altered due to the visa restrictions imposed on non E.U. members under the Scavenging accord...I am only allowed to stay in Europe for 90 days and so my visa expired on July 8. i split on the 7 of July and arrived in New Jersey on the 8 of July.
I was disappointed to leave the Moulin de Chaves so soon. I had been there eleven or 12 weeks, but had planned to stay for 17 or 18 weeks. It is impossible for an ordinary person to extend his tourist visa unless there is some extenuating family matters or health issues. I wasn't going to get kicked out, but i would be in quite some trouble at the airport when i tried to leave with a visa over stay of 3 months!
So I decided to go to New Jersey and visit family and friends and then head to Mexico and central America on my way back to Ecuador and Vilcabamba. I expect to be there again in less than a year. The road is long and i don't like to move too fast. Now I have learned that Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua have an agreement similar to Schengen called CA4 and i can only stay for 90 days in all four of these countries, but i think i can leave and come right back if i want to. In Europe I would have to get out and stay out for 90 days before being allowed to re-enter. SHSHHAAA what's an unemployed, homeless, drifting, bum to do these days??!!?
So here I am. Asheville North Carolina just in time for the Swannanoah Music Gathering. Lots of Appalachian music to hear around here, for the next week or two. "Old timey" is sort of a predecessor to blue grass, and when i first hit town it was old timey week. This style is very interesting, lots of great flat picking and finger picking. Everyone plays string instruments. Many of the instruments are not so common these days but i like to listen to the different sounds. There are also a lot of "under-utilized" instruments like banjos, dobros dulcimers and bazoukis And of course loads of guitars fiddles and bass.
There are workshops all day and then a concert at night and then everyone jams in music circles which anyone can just sit in and join. this goes from about 10 or eleven (depends when the concert ends) until 4 or 5 (depends when the workshops start) in the morning.
Some enterprising people have a truck with three kinds of draft beer, and another group has a food tent with pizzas, burgers and hot dogs (including veggie burgers) and fresh made pommes frites (or liberty fries as you Americans out there now call them).
I Arrived in North Carolina after 7 days in New Jersey and 3 nights in New York City. I was visiting friends and family and catching up on my roots. New York is still the worlds greatest city. I visited with two of my friends who live in Manhattan and had a fabulous time. Doing the "getting caught up" thing and then mostly walking around and just being a free man in New York in the summer of 009. Had to eat some quality bagels and some knish (like a little baseball shaped pie with potato filling). For me coming home to USA is mostly about coming home to people I love. So it was like this. My stories here, get personal.
In New Jersey, I got to stay at the home of my younger brother and his family. He has 3 great boys and a wonderful wife who has a great sense of humor and is always seeing the lighter side of things. She keeps everyone
smiling. She is always very nice and welcoming to me and IrITs a great feeling for me to know how welcome i am. I also got to visit with my older brother and his wife and two kids. His kids are much bigger than when I saw them last. They are very clever. I really love them a lot and this living on the road makes me stop and think sometimes about what i left behind...
I got to see my old buddy Charlie too and have a little whiskey and a smoke and get caught up with him too. He has some mighty fine old scotch in the basement of his house and I am always a catalyst for the ceremonial dusting of the bottle. And let me just say, we dusted a few!! hard to count with all this swirling smoke but I left there feeling no pain.
I am really sorry to have had to leave Europe so soon. I was planning to visit a lot of you who are receiving this update and now of course i will not be coming to Spain, Germany, Holland, Denmark or Marseilles.
I go to Colorado on Saturday and after that i am not exactly sure. i am on my way to mexico, but i may remain in USA for the rest of the summer, visiting and enjoying the weather.
So here are a couple of quotes until the next update from Colorado...
Peace and love,
Rambling Robert
"You can get help from teachers, but you are going to have to learn a lot by yourself, sitting alone in a room." Theodor Seuss Geisel

"If a man walks in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer. But if he spends his days as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making the earth bald before her time, he is deemed an industrious and enterprising citizen." Henry David Thoreau

Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful." Buddha

travel updat from moulin de chaves in cubjac france

Greetings from Moulin de chaves,
I am In a small budhist retreat center, in a small village called Cubjac in the Dordogne region of southwest France. the nearest city you are likely to find on a map is Perigeux (pronounced perry-goo). I am about 17km or 11 USA miles from perigeux. Perigeux is famous for some food stuff. Foi Gras, Truffles, walnuts and walnut oil. cubjac is not really famous for anything. When I say a small village well, there is no traffic light, no stop sign, no movie theater. There is one boulanger (bakery) one pharmacy, one small cash and carry (like a seven eleven) a tabaco shop/newstand/cafe, a bar, a butcher shop specializing in horse meat, beef and poultry, and a church. Oh and now a pizzeria has opened, with seating for 12. I havent been in it yet,but I hear good things...
I spend my time, meditating, walking in the oak forests that abound here, swimming in the river that runs through le moulin, and reading. I cook in the retreats kitchen about 30 hours per week and I have to go to a couple of meetings per week too. I like all of it except I dont really like the meetings too much. I am not a meeting person. Everyone likes the food I make.
I meditate more than usual here, I mean for me of course. I sit twice per day with the group in group meditation sessions that last about 45 minutes each session. I sit by myself everyday for another 30 minutes. it is a meditation center after all, and that is what I have come here for. I am working on cooking consciously, so I chant "Namo Amitaba Amituofo" most of the time I am in the kitchen. After a while, it sort of takes me to a strange inner place. I recommend that all of you try it and then write back and let me know what you think. I am wondering if it is "just me" or if there really is something to it...
I take the "family dog" a handsome young fellow (golden labradore about 3 years old), named Bilbo, for walks in the forest. There are easily marked and cleared trails. We pass lots of flowers and almost never see anyone out there. Lots of birds and of course all kinds of trees and bushes. The bad part about walking with a dog is that you dont see too many animals. He scares them all off. The good part is...well, gosh, he is just so darned enthusiastic!! He absolutely loves being out there and he is almost overwhelmed with doggie joy! it is contagious and so he makes a great walking companion. He bounds off into the underbrush and disappears over and over again and comes when I whistle for him. I love to walk a dog.
Outside my window yesterday I saw an absolutely beautiful wood pecker. I dont know the name of this type of wood pecking bird, but wow! He had great face markings and a bealutiful profile. under his wing was a blue feather with back checks on it. just beautiful. There is also a grey herron who hangs out on the weir in the river. He stands and holds perfectly still. (He must be meditating) He is on a steep slope in the weir and it is fast running water and it must be slippery, but none of these facts phase him in the least. It must be great to be a bird...
It is fun when I am in the kitchen. I always loved cooking and I still do. today, I made a 4 layer polenta cake. Polenta on the bottom, with a little fresh grated parmesan cheese, topped with cooked zuchini aond onions in a little tomato sauce, Then another layer of polenta topped off with a pesto bechemel sauce with emmenthaler cheese and baked. kind of a vegetarian polenta lasagna. Also buttered turnips with their greens (from our garden) and mushrooms with tarragon. And some steamed mixed veggies (brocoli, cauliflour, fennel, celery and green beans with dill and lemon). I also served a magnificent green salad, with all kinds of "weeds" foraged by John our gardener from the grounds and 4 fresh lettuces from our gardens, garnished with beetroots, tomatoes, shredded purple cabbage and carrots, croutons,and some pumpkin sunflower and sesame seeds I roasted with soy sauce, with an olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette. Fresh bagettes and home made
hummus and butter from Britagne. JThe foraged stuff from the grounds make the salad just magnificent. i am blown away by the tastes and textures. Unavailable anywhere at any price.
It is a little weird still to be working with other people in the kitchen with me. They are all amatuers. i am not accustomed to this and they are not accustomed to working with a "real chef" I live by a lot of hard and fast kitchen rules and they dont (as they say)even have a clue!!
I am lightening up a little and they are tightening up a little so it is working out well. I am learning a little and teaching a lot about food, cooking and kitchen management. I learned how to make seitan (fake meat from gluten) it is very good and i really like it.
I am a little amazed that i like it but the truth is I do!! I used to make faces when vegetarians ate fake meat. I thought,"Well, if you are avegetarian, you should eat vegetables and not feel sorry that you arent eating meat" But this stuff tastes good ( a little bland like bread), and has a very nice texture. I guess I am not too old to learn something new after all!
That is all for now. I will write again soon
Peace and love to all of you,
robert
Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.
Buddha
"What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?" Jean-Jacques Rousseau
"We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us something very special." Stephen Hawking

travel update from Cubjac France

Bon Jour,
> Well, here I am and I am here. I have arrived at Moulin
> de chaves, the buddhist meditation center that I have been
> telling all of you I would be coming to. I arrived on
> 4/23/09. At first the weather was the shit. It just rained
> and was cold and cloudy for about 6 days. but other than
> that it was really nice. Now the weather has cleared and it
> is fabulous to be here. Let me catch you all up.
> So after a totally great time in italy,(Venice,
> Padova, and Verona) I took a train to Nice, a rather large
> city on the French Riviera. Whooaa it was nice there!
> Actually it is called Nice Ville. You had better know that
> because there is another stop on the train before that and
> it to is called "something"Nice.
> So for you people who only speak english this place is
> pronounced Neice, like your brothers daughter. If you only
> speak Spanish it would be Nis. Nice is famous for a
> beautiful beach and where lots of wealthy Europeans go to
> sunbaathe and vacation. The food is "to die for"!!
> Well you know, its France, isn't it?
>
> They make lovely olives here called Nicoise and of
> course the famous Nicoise salad which has tuna fish,
> potatoes and other stuff. At first I stayed in a little
> hotel called Bacarat near the train station it was okay and
> priced fairly. Then I moved into a place called Hostel
> Smith, which wasnt quite as nice, but a lot cheapere and it
> was right in the middle of the old city and near the bus
> station, although I was in a 16 bed dormitory, other than
> that it was very good.
> I had 5 days of wandering around and walking along the
> cornice and looking at the very big and fabulously expensive
> yachts in the marina and going each day to the outdoor
> market to buy food to cook at my hostel.
> i was loving it! Just walking along the mediteranean
> sea on the corniche. Watching the young people doing cool
> things with their "in line" roller skates and
> skate boards. Jumping over things, doing a slolem thing,
> dancing together on skates. Fun to watch. the sea was quite
> inviting to look at but I tried it out and Aye Caramba it
> was too cold for this kid to swim in!! Actually there were
> VERY few swimmers at all. But I got wet once again in the
> mediteranean and that was nice. It has been a very long time
> since I got to do that! I think 2004 or 2005.
> I took a day and went to Monaco also and saw Monte
> Carlo. Very weird vibes there. I know some peopoe really
> love this hide away for the rich but I thought it really
> sucked. Just big yachts with absent owners at work in
> another country and the crews hanging around and getting
> paid. Very formidable gambling culture and big casinos.
> The main reason this place exists is for people to
> hide their money from the tax collector and act like they
> are importaant because they have lots of money. Yecchhh. One
> day was more than enuough for me.
> So after 5 days I took a train to Perigueux which is
> the nearest train station to here. Actuall, I took 3 trains
> because i had to switch in Paris and again in Limoges.
> Travel in france is nice and comfortable but incredibly
> expensive. 135euros from Nice to Periguex.50euro for a taxi
> the last 20km. That is more than the price of flying from
> Trinidad to USA. my Ryanair flight from Dublin to Venice
> cost 69euro (20 euro without tax). So, this may be the most
> expensive of the 61 countries I have been in as far as
> getting around goes! A dubious distinction!!
> So here I am and I am here www.moulindechaves.org
> I am meditating a lot and cooking for the people here. We
> are having a tai chi qui gong workshop for the next 5 days.
> i can take free classes if I want. We shall see...
> The kitchen is nice and i get to work with lots of
> nice ingredients. I will gradually get lots of freedom of
> expression, but for now I am getting to know how they have
> always been doing things in the past. I dont know if I will
> like working with a lot of kitchen "amatuers". I
> need to be less professional or they need to tighten up if
> this is to be haromonious for me...
> I have a schedule in my life for the first time in 5
> and a half years. it is weird. i meditate with a big group.
> When the "bell of mindfulness" goes off we all go
> to the meditation hall and sit together. I am used to doing
> this alone but this is good. I like it.
> We have a river running through the property with a
> little waterfall where I take my afternoon tea. big gardens
> with lots of flowers and edible things. Fabulous salads of
> wild leafy things that John the gardner brings me every day.
> this man is just a saint. He is a really fabulous "old
> soul" He may be a pixie or an elf. I am not sure. he
> seems too cool to be human, but I guess anything is
> possible...
> Also there is A friendly dog named Bilbo who loves to
> go with me for walks in the nearby forest. He is a good
> fellow who likes to play catch the ball, but isnt so sure
> about the giving the ball back part!
>
> So time to go now. here are a couple of thoughts to hold
> onto until next time
> Peace and love to all of you
> Robert
> If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps
> it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to
> the music which he hears, however measured or far away.
> Henry David Thoreau
>
> "Only those who will risk going too far can possibly
> find out how far one can go." TS Eliot
> It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand
> battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from
> you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell. Buddha

travel update from Nice, France

Greetings,

Breathing in, I am in France, breathing out I am smiling! Since my last update I have left Trinidad and had 8 days in Florida with my Earth Parents and also one of my brothers was able to come and see me too. These were relaxing and un-eventful days. I love them a lot and miss them all the time and really enjoy the times I have to be with them.

From Florida I flew in a jet plane to Dublin Irish Republic for one day. Walked around a lot and drank a little Guinness and saw ManU defeat Sunderland on the telly. I love Dublin but aye zukes it is an expensive city!! 6 euros (US dollars) for a pint of stout!

From Dublin a cheap Ryanair flight my ticket cost less than 4 pints of stout in a pub in temple bar district). The pilot landed me in Venezia (Venice) Italy. wow! Italy is the 60th country I have visited.

If you have not been to Venice, well what can I say? this city is so beautiful there arent really words to describe it. There is just nowhere on earth like Venice. I was there for easter sunday. What madness!

Millions of turists. Better to arrive on a quieter time. but I am on a bit of a schedule now because I have an important appointment in France for the summer and must arrive on 25/04/009. Plus to stay in Dublin two more days would be TERRIBLY EXPENSIVE! so I went to the most beautiful city in the world on a turist day. I had a lovely time there just the same. I had three days of wandering around aimlessly and remembering my breath while chanting Amitaba to my self. Always a good thing!

Next I went to Padova and stayed in a flat with a friend who lives there with two huge striped cats named Catanya and Bazooka...Padova is where Galileo built and used the first telescope and discovered that America was not the center of the universe.I visited the historical tower where he worked and checked it out.

It is still standing although it was damaged by aeriel bombardment by American and British planes during World War 2. (thats what you get for blasphemy) Maybe they thought Hitler was hiding there? Well, anyway it was not badly damaged and is nicely restored .

I also took the opportunity to visit the tomb of Saint Anthony. It is a very beautiful cathedral where he is resting. I have been to a lot of these religious tombs over these last years of my travels. the tomb of Rumi (founder of Sufism) The virgin mary (mother of Jesus) The tomb of the Holy sepulcher where Jesus was before he re-incarnated (I aint so sure he isnt still there but they wont let you look inside!) the tomb of Moses. The tomb of the B'Aab who founded the Ba Hai faith. I like to see these "holy"sites. I think they are special.

Lorredana took me out for the best ice cream (gelato) I have ever had. I had a combination cone of pistachio and chocolate. superb. the pistachio is especially wonderful and real. It tastes like nuts and I just cant describe how good it was. All natural. Nothing but gods own food. manna from heaven.

From Padova I went to Verona and stayed with another friend. Verona is where Romeo and Juliet had their brief romance. I visited Juliets home. Whoa! talk about a turist trap! still I love William Shakespear and it was cool to go even if it was over run with gelato munching shool kids on Easter break! Padova is another fantastically beautiful old city. A big ancient coliseum fountains gardens and a few castels and, well... just a beautiful place. I also had a lovely time here.

I stayed with a man called Paolo who is involved with the Gurdjieff work. Something I too, have been involved with over the years. We talked a lot about the work and trying to remember our selves and our breath. He introduced me to some other Gurdjieff enthusiasts and we talked late into the night. Drank some nice valpolicello wines. I think Mr.G would have approved!

Wine? Food? Aye Caramba! Italy is a little like heaven on this account! Wow. These people sure know how to eat and drink. They have the moderation thing down to an art or maybe it is a science. they may eat and drink better than the rest of the world but they dont over do it. Very few fat people here. Fabulous cheeses. Delightful veggies. I was lucky to be able to cook in my friends homes and try some of the great products from the daily out door markets. It is artichoke season! My favorite thistle. I made a salad one night of artichoke bottoms (10 clean fresh bottoms for 2 euro) and brocoli, radiccio capers olive oil and balsamic vinager. I also cooked some lovely pasta dishes and my Italian friends said i did okay (for a yankee gringo!!!).

So I am writaing now from South of France on the coast of the Mediteranean sea in the wonderful city of Nice.I arrived last night and will stay for 4 more nights, before going to Perigueux for the summer. My nest update will be written from there. As always here are a few quotes to hold you over until then.

Peace and love to all of you,

robert

"You can get help from teachers, but you are going to have to learn a lot by yourself, sitting alone in a room." Theodor Seuss Geisel
"If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?" TS Eliot
"Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense." Buddha

travelupdate from Bucoo Bay Tobago

Greetings from Bucoo Bay, Tobago.

I arrived on Tobago about two weeks ago. I arrived on the ferry from Trinidad on march 8. I stayed here in bucoo bay for a week and then took off to Charlottesville for a week and now i am back in Buccoo Bay staying at Fish Tobago Guest House. Very excellent new place and as far as i can figure, the cheapest room on the whole island! I am paying 90tt which is $15 american. Hot shower, free internet, Good kitchen, clean and new, quiet and safe. Totally everything a middle age bodhisatva needs. the only problem is the TV which is a tough addiction to break. With it just being here, i want to look at it. televison, terrorvision is a better name. Non stop fear and loathing. Aye Zukes! Why is it so atractive??!

Tobago is the smaller of the two islands which make up the republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is less populated and less crowded (although neither one of the islands is what one would call crowded!). There are about 1.1 million people in this country total. Trinidad is the more lively and more visited island and has a much more active night life. Here is a quiet little place with lots of Rastafarians walking around and sitting in the shade like the sadus in India. This place is famous for fishing and scuba and snorkling, and hiding from the rest of the world. WOW! its a good place to hide!

I have been listening to the steel pan music every chance i get. the sounds of the steel drums are fascinating to me and the musicianship of the players is also great thing to watch. The most popular music format here is called Soca. it is a switched on island hip hop thing with strong reggae roots. Quite fun in the beginning but it can get boring and repetitious rather fast.

The nature is beautiful here. I have been sitting on my patio, i had a couple of cups of coffee one cup of tea and a morning smoke and sat watching early morning birds and butterflies. The owner has a little puppy called "smiley gold eye" and he alternates between attacking his tail, and trying to jump up and "kiss" a butterfly. roosters crowing and bugs buzzing. Blue skies green trees. At least 3 variety of dove hang around in my garden in the mornings. There are also some humming birds and some beautiful small yellow birds with a nice black and white strip over thier eyes, blue ones black ones green ones yellow ones so many birds in the garden.

by about 9 am there is too much stuff ging on and now I get my day going since the morning peace and stillnes is alas over for this day.

Today I will take a walk and try to remember my breath while i walk, read my Amy Tan book, swim in the caribean sea, make pasta for dinner, buy peanut butter. what else? What else? What else? Ah well...

That is enough. Enough is the new nirvana.This is enough= this is nirvana. Enough for me=nirvana for me.Yeah thats enough for one day!

So that is how i have been passing my time. I read a lot here.Doestoevsky. Bo Yin Ra. Saint Benedict...there is a benedictine monastery in Trinidad. I met a guy who wants to be a monk there. he has spent some time with the brothers. he gave me some literature. Very Interesting. I stayed at his familys guest house. We watched a DVD called: the Passion of Christ. A deeply disturbing film. Afterwards i told him i didnt want to look at any violent videos so after this we only looked at comedy (Chris Rock) and a Denzel Washington venture called The Great Debators. Very pleasant. like cold green tea with honey.

they sell pies in the streets some times. they usually cost about 1 USDollar and i like the potato ones. Here on Tobago it is harder to find any street food. In Scarboro I found a guy selling doubles and once in Charlottesville a guy was selling doubles out of his car. I love these. they are two small crepe/bread discs, topped with curried garbanzo beans (chana) and a couple of spicy sauces on top. way messy to eat but superb. they usually cost about 50 or 60 cents american. some lovely pastries here too, i really like the currant roll.

I stayed in Charlottesville in a little guest house called green corners. Right on the sea. Only two guest rooms. Run by a rasta woman called patsy Christmas. She is a candy maker during the day time. she makes her candies downstairs from the guestrooms. Wow what a wonderful smell all day!! I tried her coconut candy, her sesame balls, her current sweet cake, and her peanut pralines. She also makes candied mango slices and papaya.

My room cost 100tt per night and I had a great room with windows that opened onto the caribean sea and she had a wonderful kitchen for me to use as well. l love to fall asleep at night to the sound of the waves crashing onto the sea shore. so relaxing... just enough...

So i walked to Pirates Bay, which is a fabulously beautiful and slightly secluded beach just a kilometer walk over a hill from charlottesvill. Wonderful for swimming and quietly lying around in the sun or if you prefer in the shade. so the third or 4th time i went there There is always this rastaman selling soft drinks there and we chat a little. he waves to me and just then in a flash his friends 3 dogs go off on me and attack!! He and his friends all rush over and subdue the beasts but, I got my leg bit up a little. Freaky thing. I havent had any experiences like this since I was a child. the dog is a home dog and well taken care of and vaccinated so I just washed the wounds with white rum (nobody brings betadine to the beach anymore!!) And swam in the sea. later that night i put on my triple action medicated goo. Now i am fine. Except for a sore throat, high fever and occasional convulsions...(only kidding).

Well thats all folks! i am going off to fulfil my daily destiny. I hope this letter finds you all happy and in fine health! So now here are a couple of thoughts from people like ourselves...

Peace and love to all who read this

Rambling Robert

"Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul." Luther Burbank

"I have learned silence from the talkative, tolerance from the intolerant and kindness from the unkind." Kahlil Gibran

"Rings and jewels are not gifts but apologies for gifts. The only true gift is a portion of yourself." Ralph Waldo Emerson

greetings from Trinidad Tobago

Greetings from T.T.
I am staying just on the outskirts of Port of Spain the capital of Trinidad
Tobago. this country is fantastic!! I have NEVER been anywhere where the people
are more friendly than here! The food is fine also and the weather too, well
just about perfect! Let me back up a little and tell about my adventures in
Venezuela.
I now have a new country to refer to as my least favorite place I have ever
been. Venezuela SUCKS. let me be more clear: Venezuela Sucks!! Sucks !!! SUCKS!!!!

What a shit hole.
It is the Zimbabwe of South America. (Venezimbabway)Hugo Chavez is a former Colonel in the army. he is a corrupt retard who has turned a once prosperous wonderful nation into a black hole of corruption. Highest crime rate in South America. 31%annual
inflation. Shortages of everything from no natural gas to cook with to no rice in the stores to US 12.00 dollars for a kilo of tomatoes frequent blackouts, water outages,...People are rude, unfriendly and just plain mean. Impolite greedy trying always to rip you off. Cops ask to take your passport and demand a bribe to give it back. If you dont have it they ask a bribe or they will take you to jail for not having your passport with you! Like the opposite of the rest of South America. I will never go back to Venezuela until they revolt and get
rid of Chavez.
I arrive from colombia and take a shared taxi to Maracaibo. I was with 5 other travelers all Colombian but only I went through customs I got stamped out of Colombia and into Venezueala all nice and legal like. we almost get in a car crash when we get to Maracaibo. the owner of one of the cars involved is screaming at my driver and finally takes out a pistol and fires two bullets into the taxi. I am in this country for less than 3 hours and I have been shot at!! Fortunately noone is shot. the whole time I spent in Venezueala it never really got any better!...

Actually the only people who were nice to me were foriegners who owned hotels where i stayed. No one was ever nice except when i gave them money and most of the people I paid were shitty too! I had a week at a nice hostel called El Gallo in Coro. a couple of nights at Chichiriviche at Morenos place a few nights in Choroni/Puerto Colombia. this was the nicest town i saw there. Then I went to Guiria and after getting jacked around for 20 hours finally was able to buy a ticket for a boat to Trinidad Tobago...
so I took a ferry boat to go from Guiria Venez-HELL-a to Chaguamaras
Trinidad on last wednesday Feb 16. then we went to the ferry and waited 2 hours on a line to board. Worth it all to get out of this horror show of a country!! The boat ride was nice but the seas were a little rough.
I arrive with Samuel a guy from Finland I have beeen traveling with for
the whole time in Venezuela and we hook up with an american who was robbed at
gun point of all his cash and ATM cards in Venezuela and a Scotsman and another
american and we all get together and rent part of a house for 12USD each.
It is carnival time and I absolutely love Trinidad after 5 days. the carnaval is like mardi gras but of course completely different. Scantily clad women dancing all over the place. People throwing paint on one another. lots of music. drinking in the streets. Beautiful costumes, you know, like uhhh Carnival in the Caribean!!!

I will stay here in Trinidad until March 8. Then i have booked into a hostel in Buccoo point Tobago (the other island that makes up this country) for $US15.00 per night in a dormitory. Hang around there for a while and then I must be back in Trinidad for a flight out of Port of Spain on April 1.

I have not been in an english speaking country for 10 months. so it is kind of cool to be here for this as well. but they speak with such a strong Pigeon creole accent that i found it easier to communicate in South America in spanish than i am finding it here. Perhaps in a few more days it will all clear up for me...
i will write more in a couple of weeks. Here are a few quotes for you all to think about until then.
Peace and Love,
robert
"Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages."Thomas A Edison

"Let's not quibble! I'm the foe of moderation, the champion of excess. If I may lift a line from a die-hard whose identity is lost in the shuffle, "I'd rather be strongly wrong than weakly right." tallulah bankhead

"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one
can go." TS Eliot

travel update from Taganga

Tolu Colombia is a small beach town on the pacific coast about 2 or 3 hours south of Cartagena. It is quite popular with Colombians who come here to relax swim in the sea and drink. it is popular with families. There are a lot of Colombians with their children and grandparents as well.Lots of trash on th beach. a shaved ice here costs 1500 pesos and in Mompos it costs 400. I have been here for 2 days and that is enough. I will take an early morning bus tomorrow and go to Santa Marta and from there take a collective to Toganga. I expect to remain there until I leave from Colombia and go to Venezuela.
Well, some last thoughts on Mompos. Iguanas It has been a long time since I saw so many sunning themselves on the logs of fallen trees. sometimes they are invisible and then, all of a sudden they move and you see them right where you have been looking for the last 10 minutes. howler monkeys wake me in the morning they are small rust colored animals with long tails. they aren't very large, about the size of an American football(well, some of the older males are a little larger) but they have very loud voices and they sound like a pre-historic dinosaur. Very strange indeed. mariposas (butterflies) there are so many butterfly's here. The locals believe that if a butterfly lands in your home you will have a visitor. the people in Mompos love to eat turtles. I am reminded of when I was a young chef in New Orleans, and we made so many thousands of liters of Turtle soup. Every night these great big frogs come out and eat the mosquitoes.I have become a great aficionado of anything that eats mosquitoes! I have never seen so many dragon flys before. They appear like a cloud and hover they are a strange golden color and smaller than the ones I know from America.Buffalo loll about in the mud and do their lazy buffalo thing. They remind me of lake Maninjou in Indonesia. They make an excellent buffalo milk cheese here called queso de caba.There are old old trees along the banks of the Magdalena river. The lonely Planet guide book says the place is like Mississippi, with Spanish moss on the trees and the river rolling by peacefully. What a bunch of lies. I am told the writer of the Colombia section doesn't even speak Spanish and the owner of the hostel I stayed at says he has never even been to Colombia! Still the old trees on the banks of the river and the cool brown water with its floating debris makes for a very lovely picture show. a quiet lazy movie in living color. Millions of herons black ones Grey ones and white ones the local word for them is gaspa. mornings of arepas con queso asado.these are wonderful cakes of corn like a new Orleans grit cake, but cooked over a charcoal fire and with little cubes of fresh cheese folded into the dough. The iceman. The iceman hangs out in plaza Del Carmen every afternoon he sells "Raspado" which is shaved ice with sweet tamarind syrup. I have become addicted...I stayed for two lovely weeks at the casa amarillo. The staff Richard, Alba, Carmen and Minnie. Were great. really friendly helpful laid back and always a big smile on their faces. I already miss the place...
It is 29/1/2009 and I have been in Taganga for 2 nights. i am at La Casa de felipe. I have a brother named Philip (Felipe) that is why I chose to stay here. like it was calling to me. I really like the place and I think I will remain here until I split the Colombia scene and go to Venezuela. Probably February 5 or 6.
It is about 36 degrees here (that would be about 95 fuckenheit) .I go to the beautiful blue caribean sea every morning and take a walk on the beach and then a swim in the cool clear water. Then I spread out my sarang and chill out (I should say warm out) in the sun till I cant take it anymore and then I wade into the sea and dive under the water and cool off. I swim around for a while and then I repeat this process two or three times between 9am and 12pm and then I head back up the hill. The sun is too much for this white boy in the middle of the day. I retreat to a shaded hammock and read a book for a few hours and then cook dinner. I reckon its as cold as a well diggers ass in London, Copenhagen, New Jersey and Oregon. Not to mention Calgary, Cincinnati or Stockholm. Ah well, no one is making you stay!! Hee hee hee!!
I bought some plane tickets on the internet a couple of days ago. i hate flying. I will be in Florida on April 1. I will be in Dublin Ireland on April 11 and Venice Italy on April 12. from there I`ll take a couple of weeks to arrive in Cubjac in Perigaux France for the summer. I hope it is an early truffle season so I can eat some of them black beauties I love so well.
If any of you wants to meet me, let me know. I would love some companions for my two weeks in North Italy...
Well here are a couple of quotes to think about until the next update.
Peace and love to all of you.Robert
"I know where I'm going and I know the truth, and I don't have to be what you want me to be. I'm free to be what I want." Muhammad Ali
"The people are their own liberators." Nelson Mandela
"As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live." J W Goethe

travel update from Mompos Colombia

Greetings from Mompox Colombia. Mompos? Mompox? Macondo? I just dont know. There are two current spellings for this place but many fans of Gabriel Garcia Marquez say that this is the ¨fictitious¨ setting (macondo) for his literary classic "100 years of solitude". No doubt about it being the setting for his book "Chronical of A death Foretold". As he himself has said this is so. GGM spent a lot of his life here and wrote many stories here. He is one of my favorite writers and this little sleepy world heritage site is rapidly becoming one of my favorite places.
This little city of 30 thousand sits on the bank of the Magdelena River in the center/north of Colombia. about mid-way between Cartegena and Bucaramanga.(I wonder if this clears up the location for any of you!!) There is really nothing to do if you arent a fan of swinging in hammocks in 38 C weather (that would be 100F for any of you from an undeveloped, backward country).
Any way it is NOT on the gringo trail. Hah! Not even close. This place is not easy to get to. It is not cheap to get too either and It has a bad reputation for malaria. Well i can see why they say it isnt easy to get to. It had been a little easier when the "temporary" (it was 25 years old!) bridge on the Cartegena side was still up but it was "lost in the flood" about 3 months ago. It wouldnt have made a difference to me because I came here from the bucaramanga side. When i leave if I go to Cartegena, It will add a little while and some additional costs (it is already not a cheap place to get to) and two ferry rides and two bus changes to the journey.
To get here, I had to take an overnight bus from Bucaramanga (overnight busses are said to be safe here in Colombia at this time) and then at El Banco (an ugly little town down river from here) from there I had to switch to a motorbike, and travel 3 hours over a mostly bumpy dirt road through a vast cienaga (swamp). I would guess that about 25% of the journey was over asphalt. I felt like I needed a kidney transplant when i finally got off that bike!! Way too bloody hot (35C) to wear a helmet on a sunny day!
But now I am here and as I write this I have been here 4 days. Staying at a new albergue (hostel) called Casa Amarillo. Very nice place with orthopedic matresses (hip-hip hooorayyy), friendly owners a nice hammock and a well equipped kitchen. I am happy.
Before I came here I stayed a night in Bucaramanga (not my favorite place but good enough to shower up and sleep and rest before I had to change busses)...and before there I was at hostel Renacer in a perfectly lovely old colonial town called Villa de leyva.
Villa de leyva is about 1 hour by bus from Tunja which is 3 hours by bus from Bogota the capital of Colombia where I spent Christmas and new Year at the very nice quite cheap hostel ¨Sue right next door to Platypus hostel in the Candelaria.
In Villa de Leyva, They are said to have the biggest Plaza in South America (it is really big but not very attractive), and lots of old dinosaur fossils and great hiking. I wonder if there are any NEW dinosaur fossils...all the ones I have seen are so old...
Behind Hostal Renacer (owned by Colombian Highland adventure tours) is a nice, half hour, up hill hiking trail to a lovely waterfall. I climbed to the falls 3 days in a row.
Oh shit the internet cafe is gonna close. I will finish this later
Okay so now it is later. Yeah Villa de leyva was a cool little old colonial town. The place I stayed was about a 20 minute walk uphill from the town center, just past a little military base. There are little millitary bases everywhere here in colombia. Every town has one. They are still in a civil war, but it is very low level now. Really not very much fighting going on at all. Still the millitary presence is constant. One sees soldiers EVERY day. They are friendly mostly 19 year old draftees. I had a nice chat with two of the troops at the base. They hang out for 8 hours behind their machine gun whñich is behind their sand bags which are painted a very nice blue color. Really friendly kids who normally never meet any foriegners.
I had a shared room with Mike from Canada who actually showed me where the waterfalls were. We cooked together for a few nights. He works as a chinese translater for a canadian mining company that has some contracts with China. Very interesting job with lots of travel. he does not like china. Says it is very polluted and they treat the tibetans like second class citizens.
I also shared with Mauricio who is a colombian man from Medellin on a holiday and checking out his own country. It is good to share a room. You ñmeet cool people and have interesting conversations. You get to practice your spanish. One night I was sitting up in my bed and talking to Mauricio in the bed next to mine when he pointed out that on the wall right behind my head where I was leaning against on my pillow, there was a scorpion. Yes it is nice to share a room. I scooped the little fellow up on a book cover and escorted him out! Thanks Mauricio!!
So I have surprised the folks at Casa Amarillo by announcing my ñintentions to stay for 2 weeks. It seems that few stay more than a day or 3. there isnt much to ñdo beside sit by the river, swing in the hammock, go to market, and watch Manchester United defeat Chelsea 3 to Nil! That was a great match. I really like have come to be a supporter of the Red Devils...but as i have said before a thousand times, i am not a human Doing I am a human being and evern at that I am actually a being human. I dont get bored. I have already read 3 books here Mary Wards amazing book "snake pit" William burroughs "Junkey" Michale Moores "election guide 2008" and I am half way through "City of God"by Paulo Lins. A fine little place to catch up on my reading!
I caught a glimpse of the news the other day on the cabel telly waiting for the footy to start. I was shocked and dismayed. I thought it was a world war two movie about the Nazis doing genocide in the warsaw ghetto to the Jews but it was the israelites doing genocide to the Phillistines in the Gaza ghetto! I reckon the idea is to push them into the sea... The israelites had just destroyed the UN headquarters they did homocide to at least 12 of the 700 hundred civilian people hiding there from the violence. mostly women little kids and old folks.The Israelite spokesman said that the israelites were trying not to kill any civilians (they had killed 600 in 13 days) and the Hamas were intentionally targeting civilians (they had killed 12 in 5 years)i remembbered a thing from a jewish woman that goes like this... "In the Orthodox spiritual tradition, the ultimate moral question we ask is the following: Is what we are doing, is what I am doing, beautiful or not?" Carolyn Gifford
When will we ever learn? I get so bummed out whenever i read the news, hear the news and see the news. Barack Al obama wants to double the number of American troops in Afganistan... I feel like here in Mompos, I am like a person escaping from some crazy vivid, night mare. Like someone who has awoken from a sick violent dream and everyone else is in some other place still sleeping and dreaming of killing one another.i just dont get it at all man NOT AT ALL... .
I hope this letter finds you all happy healthy and not being bombed for your own protection. Not being imprisoned to protect your liberty, and not being forced to fignt to peserve your freedoms.Here are a couple more quotes from some great thinkers of the past.
Peace and Love to all of you
Robert

"A good traveller has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving." Lao Ziu
"The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness."John Muir
"Less than fifteen per cent of the people do any original thinking on any subject. The greatest torture in the world for most people is to think." Luther Burbank

first update of 2009

January 1,2009 The first day of the new year.
It is Early morning In Bogota. It is a holiday, a day of rest for Bogota. I am up early I am a Madrugo (a person who rises early, a person of the Dawn). I like to walk around in a big city while it is still asleep. To hear its quiet.
There are only words because there is silence. Without silence, there are no words. Without space there are no planets. The universe is mostly space with a few "heavenly bodies" scattered around, here and there. The world is mostly silence with a few words scattered around here and there.
I have been to quite a few museums lately, the Colombians are (as a group) extraordinary painters. When I see a painting, I see the paint, the colors, the images and shapes, but there is none of this without the canvas. The canvas is the silent witness and the paint is the noise. It is easy to hear the words of the paint, one must listen deeply to hear the whispering of the canvas below.
There are street people on the sidewalks of Bogota. Just like any city anywhere in this, the world that men have created. i want to say "Happy new year ( Felice año nuevo)" to them. but...what kind of a year will 2009 be for these men and women, these children of an apparently lesser god. We (all to often) fail to see the role these men and women play in the Leyla. God´s great game. We don't understand that everything, every person, every weed, every bug plays a role. Plays a part in the grand Leyla.
We think "oh, if someone does something that I appreciate I will love him. I will pay him. he will be taken care of he will be protected and preserved". Of course this is the way of men. But what of the contributions we don't appreciate, we don't recognize? The contributions of the weeds? of the mosquitoes? of the "down and out"? Do we not love them?
I remember an old gospel song. it goes like this:
"Jesus loves the little children
All the little children of the world
Be they yellow black or white
they are precious in his sight
Surely Jesus loves the children of the world"
Collateral damage. GW Bush´s lasting contribution to the English language. Does Jesus not love the children who fall into the category of collateral damage? Do they not count?Are they children of a lesser god? Children of somebody Else's god? How many gods are there anyway? Are the weeds children of a lesser god than the Redwood trees? Sure there is always collateral damage in any massacre...There is always collateral damage sleeping on the sidewalks of our cities.
But why? Is there an answer in the words of men? I think not. I think the answer is in the silence of the lord. So i will be silent. i will speak of this no more (for now)
I have been a traveler (unemployed and homeless) for the past 6 New Year Eves
31/12/2003 I was in La Jolla California USA
31/12/2004 I was in Seville Spain
31/12/2005 I was on Ometepe Island Nicaragua
31/12/2006 I was in Aurangabad India
31/12/2007 I was on Don Det Island DPR Laos
31/12/2008 I am in Bogota Colombia
The more I travel the more I realize that I am never going anywhere. Like a man sitting in an automobile, the car is moving but I am sitting perfectly still. My body, my earthly body travels all over the earth. my soul my spiritual body is sitting perfectly still inside my earthly body, my corpse is moving but I am as I am. Always right here, always right now.
Colombia is not a good country to be a vegetarian! There are loads of Pizza restaurants but they do not sell pizzas that have no meat. There are loads of cheap fix price lunches but these too, all feature meat. I went to a pizza place and asked for a pizza slice without meat and he suggested the Hawaiian pizza which has pineapple peppers and ham. I said "well uhhh ham is meat isn't it?" and he said with a big smile "Yes! but it has less meat than the others!" Aah yes its good to be stupid, no doubt about it. I need to watch more terror-vision. I am not using the right shampoo...
I just finished a book by James Gleick called "Chaos". It is about physics and specifically about turbulence and non linear systems. Very interesting stuff. It is amazing to me how much of the universe is understood by humans. The problem is that most of us are not in the sub set of humanity that is aware on a personal individual level of any of the knowledge that has been accumulated by the human race as a group. Most people I am afraid, simply don't read or spend any time whatsoever in contemplation of the human condition or the condition of the planet, instead we want someone else to change. We want our leaders to change but we don't want to change. We are convinced the problem is the other guy and not us.
Gurdjieff told Ouspensky the best thing we can do for our fellow man is to work on our self. I think this is true. We can only change the world by changing our self's. I have come to believe that the only change any of us can affect is to change ourselves. Most of us are so selfish and so pleasure oriented that we don´t care how much suffering our behavior or our desires generate as long as we have some temporary satisfaction. We don't care what the consequence of shrimp fishing in the oceans are as long as we get our Shrimp Scampi dinners. We want the Brazilians to stop slash cutting the rain forests but they only do it so they can graze beef cattle.We say we care about the health of the worlds forests but we wipe our asses with paper. Not really the kind of personal behavior one would expect of someone who cares for the environment, eh?
I have enjoyed my stay here in Bogota Colombia. I have really enjoyed the art museums and the beauty of the city. The city has a strange and harsh beauty. I cant really quite understand the attraction but I am attracted and like to be in cities.
Tomorrow, i will go to a small village called Villa Leyva and hang out in a much more natural environment with mountains and waterfalls where a man can be a human being and not a cog in a giant machine. I need to meditate and take some long walks in clean fresh air and listen to the music of the bugs and the wind and the free flowing water...
So Now I will close this update with a few quotes from some people who have spent some time in contemplation of the human condition. I hope this update finds all of you in good health and high spirits.
Peace and Love to all who read these words,
Rambling Robert

"Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius." W.A. Mozart

"Talk of imminent threat to our national security through the application of external force is pure nonsense. Indeed it is part of the general pattern of misguided policy that our country is now geared to an arms economy which was bred in an artificially induced psychosis of war hysteria and nurtured upon an incessant propaganda of fear." Douglas MacArthur

"What a cruel thing is war: to separate and destroy families and friends, and mar the purest joys and happiness God has granted us in this world; to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbors, and to devastate the fair face of this beautiful world." Robert E. Lee

travel update from Colombia

Saludos a cada uno,
Cali, is Colombia`s third largest city with about 1.7 millions of people. It is about at 1000 meters above sea level in the heart of the Cauca valley, where most of Colombia`s coffee is grown. I am staying at the Iguana hostel, which is the same place i stayed last time I was here in October 2005 (see www.robertstravels.blogspot.com and click on =October 2005 in the archives on the left hand side of the page). The Iguana has moved around the corner from its previous location but a lot of the staff are still here and it is still a great place to stay. Let me fill you all in on the last couple of weeks...
I left Quito and headed north along the panamerican highway, which runs from British Colombia to tierra del fuego. I went to Ibarra, a pleasant city in the north of Ecuador with Tony, an American non-conformist who has been traveling (and sort of drifting) around the world for the last 2o or 30 years. He is about 10 years older than I am and a damned good traveling mate who doesn't make much noise and never complains about anything. He only speaks about 10 words of Spanish, so I do the translating. I gifted him my "Barron`s 501 Spanish verbs" book and he is going to try to learn Spanish...He is also a vegetarian so we have been sharing food expenses and cooking together when we can and going to veggie restaurants when we cant.
We stayed 2 nights at the classic Hostal Ecuador in Ibarra where Patricia the manager speaks near perfect English because she lived in a place called "Patterson City New Jersey" which is on the banks of the mighty Passaic river.... Well by coincidence, I was born in Patterson and so we had a nice long talk about "the old country".
Ibarra is a pleasant town/city and we had fun strolling around. I seem to have injured my cadera (hip). when I was in Quito and the pain just wont go away. I don't know what I did to it. I didn't fall or anything, it just has been sore and aches after i have been walking for a while and especially when I walk cuesta ariba (up hill). In truth I have just been taking some western medicine (acetaminophen, aspirin, voltaren,codeine ) and not resting it which is what it probably really needs.
After 2 nights we went to the frontera (border) crossing between Tulcan Ecuador. and Ipiales Co. on 10/12, the day my visa was to expire and crossed into Colombia. Well the Ecuador side is a 4 star cluster fuck !! There were at least 50 people waiting on line and there were 5 ventanillas (little windows) but only one border guard handling everyone. Incoming, Outgoing and refugees!! The line stretched outside and snaked around with everyone becoming annoyed and people trying to cut in. After nearly 2 hours of waiting, Tony and I were processed and stamped out in less than 5 minutes. On the Colombian side, it took us 5 minutes of waiting and 5 minutes of processing. We each got 60 day visas so I will be here probably till mid February.
We bargained with a taxista and got a ride to Ipialles for 4000 pesos (he wanted 7000). And stayed at the Belmont Hotel whose only redeeming quality is that it was cheap. It got a good write up in the Footprint guide and the lonely planet, but to me Belmont means Never again. dirty, noisy, ugly bathrooms blah blah blah. Just around the corner are 3 whore houses in a row with old fat hookers leering at you on the street as you walk by. well... What do you expect for 10,000 pesos per night?(they wanted 11,000. This is a country where one must negotiate everything).
One night was all it took. After about 14 hours in Ipialles we took a bus to the lovely and enchanting city of Popayan. And stayed in the dormitory at the Casa Familiar Turistica
We stayed there for 4 nights. I love Popayan. it is a beautiful old colonial city not unlike Sucre in Bolivia. All the centro district is a world heritage site. All the buildings are whitewashed and have orange terra cota tile roofs. The old gas lamps are all electric now, but the feeling remains the same. The hotel is just 300 meters from an outdoor marked which is really good. full of all kinds of fresh stuff and some great street-food-stalls. We had bar-b-qued arepas (little corn meal cakes) stuffed with queso fresco (fresh cow mild milk cheese) which cost 500pesos (40 cents American) each day and batter fried potato slices and empanadas with pipian ( a kind of potato, they mash and mix with peanut butter and put in a folded over circle of corn dough and fry) Very Knish like food. I love them madly. They also make them as tamales but these are steamed and taste even better!!
So After four lovely and interesting days in Popayan, I took the bus to Armenia and from there to Salento in the Zona Cafeterria, which is the Valle Cualca where all the Colombian coffee comes from. Salento is a tiny town of some 3500 inhabitants. There is a very nice backpackers hostel here called the Plantation House. I have been here now for 3 and a half days and I leave tomorrow for Bogota, the capital city of Colombia where I have reserved a bunk from 22/12/08 to 3/1/09 at the Platypus hostel. My time here in Salento is very uneventful. I am reading a book by Durrell and hanging out in the hammock (which is fortunately under a tin roof cover) as it is the rainy season here in the Colombian highlands and it has been raining intermittently all the while I am here. There is a famous mirador (view point) here that is 250 steps up hill and there is a fabulous view of the valley below and the river which is quite swollen and beautiful. All along the steps there are the stations of the cross which is a catholic thing about following the death march of Jesus. Rather gruesome those Catholics. why don't any of the churches have stained glass of healing the lepers or feeding fishes and loaves? it is always gruesome torture scenes, St Sebastian with all those arrows sticking out of him, St Peter crucified upside down, Jesus being scourged, and the like. I don't get it. So anyway, I have been enjoying some excellent coffee and reading and chilling out as usual.
So now It is Christmas eve. December 24. I have been in Bogota for 2 nights and I have moved from the Platypus to the Hostel Sue. I like it better and it is cheaper. Bogota is pretty manic, with shoppers everywhere looking for last minute gifts.I don't really like being a traveler during the busy Holiday season. Everything gets all crowded up and more expensive than other times of the year. I will stay here another 10 days until the holidays are over, then i think I will head over to a sleepy little village called Mompos and hide out from the world for a while longer.
I have been accepted to be a volunteer kitchen manager at a Buddhist retreat center called Moulin de Chaves ( www.moulindechaves.org ) and will be in south France this summer for 4 or 5 months. Ahh yeah its tough I know but some one has to do it. I sure can understand why all you at home are still working but I just like my own way and so I will continue to follow the sun. Dancing to the beat of my own drummer. Maybe we can all meet and meditate in South France this summer hhmmmm??
Well until the next update probably in early January I wish you all well. Merry Christmas to you Christians and happy new year to all. Here as usual are a few quotes from some people a little more wise than the average television addict!!
Peace and Love to all who read this,
Rambling Robert

"I do not write for those who have never asked themselves this question:´at what point does real lief begin´"- Lawrence Durrell
"That which you would not want done to you, do not do unto another: This is the whole Torah. The rest is commentary — now go study." Rabbi Hillel (responding to the challenge of teaching the whole of the bible while standing on one foot)
"It is better to travel well than to arrive." Buddha

travel update from Quito ecuador

Saludos a todos (Greetings to all)
The Grand Hotel is on the corner of Rocafuerte and Porton in Quito (the capitol city of ) Ecuador. I arived here on 1/12/08 the first day of my third month of my sixth year of travelling the world as a back-packer. this is the third time I have stayed at this hotel. I pay $6.50 USD per night for a private room with shared bath and kitchen privileges in the heart of the old city of Quito.
This week is very special time here in Quito. It is the 200 year anniversary of the Liberation of Quito.The forces of Bolivar and Sucre defeated the Spanish colonial Empire and now the people are celebrating 200 years of "freedom" with free concerts and fireworks every night. We dance in the streets and shout... ¡VIVA QUITO!Whhhooooooooeeeeeeiiii!!! I love my life, I really do. but wait, let me back track a little...
On 11/24/08 The lovely and talented estelita had a fine and wonderful departido party for me and all my great friends from Vilcabamba came and said their heart felt "fair-thee-wells" to me. We had a lovely feast with much wine beer and reefers and lots of guacomole, quesadillas, veggies and dips and other great treats and all finished off with two gigantic 7 layer postres made with love by Estelita. The following morning my amigo Bosco drove me to the bus station in Loja where I boarded a north bound bus to Cuenca.
I hit the highway and upon rival I stayed at Perla Cuenca for 4 nights and enjoyed the heck out of cuenca. The whole darned city is a big Unesco world heritage site and it is a very beautiful old colonial town blessed by good fortune to never have been struck by any earthquakes. Truly one of the "new worlds" most lovely and enchanting citys. Lots of beautuiful plazas and parks and old cathedrals and cobblestone streets. A very "european" style city indeed. A great market called diez de Octobrewith many many great choices of fresh fruits veggies and interesting cooked and raw grains. Upstairs in the market are dozens of comedores (little food stalls with ready made meals), like a restaurant.... Clean safe and freindly. I really liked this town.
I spit on Saturday and went to Latacunga and got there just in time because the next day (sunday) was the 52nd annual celebration of Mama Negro. I think its a Catholic thing but I just dont know. There was an 8 hour long parade of marching bands and beatuiful costumes and lots of drunken revelry. Reminded me of Mardi Gras in New Orleans but much more gentle and laid back. Still, all the fun a kid could want for free. I forgot my sunbloc and I cooked my face and left town with a sun burned smile and some wonderful memories.
I ate a fantastic sandwich there. maybe the best sandwich of my life!!! Higos en dulce (fresh figs cooked in panella which is a natural raw sugar) on a bread roll with queso fresco (fresh not aged cows milk cheese usually not more than a couple of days old. very mild tastes like milk)... they also sell these fantastic "tortillas" in the outdoor market which are made of a "masa" of corn meal and onions and spice and stuffed with the same queso fresco and fried in not too much oil. they are kind of small and cost 15cents each or 8 for a dollar. I also had a chocho ceviche (vegetarian) which cuencaña indian woman come around and make for you out of big straw baskets full of all the great ingredients we love about ceviche without the dead fish and with chocho instead.
Monday morning came early and I hit the road again and arrived in Quito, just in time for the 200 year celebration of the liberation...I fell in almost immediately with Mike and Tony, two way-cool gringos who have both been travellers for longer than I have. Not too often I run into anyone who can claim that anymore!! They later introduced me to Justin another American who has been travelling on and off for about 9 years even though he is only 29 and he is a TEFL certified english teacher. He has taught in China and Thailand, and also here in Ecuador. He wants to write a screen play about a homicidal buddhist so he and I have been talking about this a lot.
So tonight at 7pm a band of 12 saxophones, 7 trumpets one trombone, one clarinet and three percussionists , All members of the national police in full uniform with pistols, handcuffs, pepper spray and big smiles played nice concert with a big band jazz style of music with a latin accent for an hour for free on the corner (rincon rocafuerte y porton) where my hotel is, for free. the neighbors all brought out plastic chairs and served us hot mulled jugo de naranjilla spiked with aguardiente and the dancing in the streets continues...There will be fireworks tonight above the huge statue of the angel of quito(virgen Maria) and I will be my self, happy as a clam in an ocean (not in the chowder) Alive and well and almost 53 years old. a free man in quito unfettered and alive. They are going to close this internet cafe now so I will finish this tomorrow.
Now through the miracle of cyberspace it is tomorrow. Today, me and Justin, Tony and Mike went to the cental mercado and bought a bunch of stuff for me to cook for supper. We all had chocho ceviche for brekkie and then Tony and I went off on a tour of Quito´s drug stores (farmacias) in search of the rare and beautiful 30mg codein 500mg acetominophen combo tablets which I "highly" recommend to any travellers like me who walk 8 or 10 km everyday and also have shitty knees ankles and hips (carderas tobillos y rodillas) from being a chef/cook for 29 years. They cost 14cents each here because the govamint subsidizes medicines here so the poor people can have access to them. (What??!! those socialist pinko commies!! Who do they think they are! I hope Bubbuh dubba-yuh sends an aircraft carrier battle group to put an end to this, ASAP!!) uhh sorry about that. Any ways I am stocking up. Hee Hee Hee...
Later Tony and me and Mike climbed the big hill and checked out the huge statue of the virgen Mary who overlooks Quito. It is a great view and an interesting piece of art. There was a strong hail storm while we were on the top and so we ducked into a gift shop and waited and then walked back down. Excellent. We were advized not to climb on foot because the vecindario (neighborhood) the acera (sidewalk) goes through is rather dodgy. But we are three men, not well dressd without cameras or jewelry and Mike is a big boy at about 2 meters tall and 110 kilos (240 pounds 6 feet 5 inch) and so we made up some peanut butter and red banana sandwiches (bocadillos) and just went.
We had no problems at all... well Mike got kind of out of breath but that doesnt count.. Everyone we encountered was friendly and sweet. The barrio (see vecindario)is a place where mostly poor people live. I think there is a certain prejudice and people think that all poor people are potential criminals. I do not subscribe to this kind of thinking and have NEVER found this to be true. On the contrary I think poor people are poor because they are more honest than the rich!
So tonight I cooked for the 4 of us again the third night in a row. we had a lovely dinner of BRV´s (brown rice and veggies) and it cost us 60 cents each! Tomorrow is saturday and the city museum has free admission so you know where I will be.
I will split out of here on Monday and heard up to Ybarra for a couple of nights and then cross the frontera (border) and enter Colombia I think on 10/12/08. Next update from Colombia.
Here then are a couple of quotes to keep you until that time.
from Rambling Robert,Peace and love to all of you,
"Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule. " Buddha
"The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once." Albert Einstein
"I love the life I live and I live the life I love."Mose Allison