Category Archives: 4) DESTINATIONS — not in U.S.

October 16, 2019 · 12:21 pm

Cruising, kayaking, swimming and sleeping in Halong Bay – Vietnam

I swam in the South China Sea this afternoon. The water was surprisingly warm and very salty and a dark murky green. Huge jagged limestone rock formations surrounded us then and now, popping up out of the sea like steep mountains, yellow and black limestone and covered at the tops in thick green vegetation resembling kudzu.

Our trip began at 9 am when we were picked up by a chipper Vietnamese guy named “Anthony” in the Lapaci Cruise motor coach. We made several stops at other hotels and ended up with a very international mix – 5 people from Calcutta (two older women, man who proudly told us he was an orthopedic surgeon, and two younger women The youngest of whom didn’t look thrilled to be aboard), a sweet young couple from Taiwan, a very tattooed German couple (the guy has the word nazi tattooed on his calve, which is disconcerting but one of his chest tattoos is of Che Guevara and he was friendly so I am hopeful), a few Vietnamese guys (I think) and a young Czech couple. We are the only native speakers but the tour guide addresses us all in English. (Not uncommon, we have found during our travels).

We drove out of the hectic city into countryside that was both old world and very new – rice fields, water buffalo, Palm trees, bicyclists on dirt lanes and then huge new high rise developments and the occasional modern factory.

We drove on a new tollway, stopping at a modern convenience center with bad toilets and excellent cafe sua – chocolate tasting coffee with condensed milk. (Not as sweet as the ones I’ve had in the USA.) The center was full of other tourists on other cruises. They appeared to be from all over, including Israel. We drove to the edge of the bay, transferred to a an old motor boat that ferried us out to A little cruise boat with 10 passenger cabins. Ours is all shellacked tan wood walls and ceiling, a big foam mattress bed and spectacular views of the bay where we are dropping anchor for the evening.

We did several activities – including the kayaking and swimming, which the young people and we did after being ferried to a dock with little boathouses with kayaks. Dirck and I did pretty well and the kayak allowed us to get very close to the huge hulking rocks and get more stunning views. The food is the weak link on the cruise but after our Hanoi street food yesterday, we are even tougher customers. The weather is hazy, not bright blue sky and sunny but also not raining or overcast. As I type, it has gotten dark and I can barely make out the outlines of the rocks and can see lights for. A few other cruise boats that have also dropped anchor. Not your typical Tuesday, for sure.

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October 14, 2019 · 9:07 pm

Hotel Anise, Street Food Tour, Water Puppet Show, Foot massage and paraffin wrap – Hello Ha Noi

This was my kind of day. Lots of adventures, Fantastic street food, a foot/arm massage /paraffin foot wrap and mani/pedi ($24), a beguiling water puppet show and we did not get run over by a motorcycle, motorbike, bike, truck or car (seemingly defying the odds). As expected, Hanoi is a chaotic, exotic place, full of commotion and life and energy.

We appear to have the only room with a balcony at the sweet little Hotel Anise, just north of the market on the northern edge of the Old District and it is a kick to sit on it, looking down and out from the 7th floor at the rush of activity day and night on the streets.

We spent three hours on a fantastic street food tour with our guide, an Aussie expat named Mark who has lived here for 18 years and blogs about food. He knows his stuff (it was just the three of us) and he took us to six places, most tiny hole in the walls, literally, tucked away in small stalls ob the ground flood of long narrow buildings lining crowded back alleys. The food was incredible and such a treat to have some find it for us. Plus Mark knew all kinds of interesting details about Vietnamese food and diet, which is a window into culture and life here (and anywhere). .

And he even emailed me a long list of places to eat in the other cities we are visiting. His tour is called Hanoi Street Food Tour, run with a Vietnamese guy named Tu and not to be confused with a storefront copycat (I found out about Mark and Tu from glowing reviews in the NYTimes and Lonely Planet.). It was $95 per person and worth every single penny/dong.

I wish I could tell you where And what exactly we ate but most appeared to be from no name places, where we sat on little low plastic stools or at a table inside the stall, elbow to elbow with Vietnamese people. We also learned that the more trash (discarded napkins, bowls) the better — its a sign of the place’s popularity. he also said there is little to fear as far as food upset, that there is more risk of that in restaurants that don’t use as fresh ingredients. I was a little nervous about the ice, since no one drinks the tap water but we were also told that this is no longer an issue because everyone now uses factory produced pre made ice. So I drank several very refreshing glasses of green iced tea on the rocks – helped ease the heat of chiles in some dishes and the heat of the weather…so far so good.

We ate several noodle dishes (one with wide noodles stained brown by tea), lots of incredibly delicious fried food (a crispy fried batter cake containing a shell-on shrimp that you eat shell and all, egg creme coffee (too gooey for me, akin to less sweet sabayon but the hidden coffee house was very atmospheric) and an unusual salad made with strands of young papaya (so not sweet) and beef jerky or dried squid. Our guide wasn’t into introducing us to some of the weirder street food, although he did talk up one place with great snails.

After all that, I stumbled into one of the many, many massage/nail salons and found it full of very nice American tourists from Philly, Chicago and Tampa. I had some sort of foot treatment that was very involved – I soaked my feet in a bucket with brown powder I was told (by the Chicagoan) is cinnamon, then the woman started cutting and scrapping in a podiatrist-like fashion, and placed each foot in a vat of very hot paraffin wax and each waxed foot was wrapped in cellophane (to soften the skin.)

Butchered pig delivered by motorbike to an Old District stall

Onto the nearby water puppet show, a strange performance with puppets in a pool of deep water on stage. As various puppets (fishermen, farmers, water buffalo, fish, pigs) dove in and out of the water, musicians and singers in traditional dresser sang and played music. At the end, The puppeteers waded out in waist deep from behind the curtain on the watery stage. Loved it all.

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October 2, 2019 · 5:52 pm

For future reference: WaPo travel story on San Miguel de Allende in Mexico

Unlike many Americans, I haven’t been to Mexico much — only to the border town ot Nogales, an easy drive from Tucson where we used to visit my dad. But I’m getting  a little more interested in the place — especially in visiting the colonial town, San Miguel de Allende.

Here’s a helpful story about it: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/in-central-mexico-a-retreat-thats-perfect-for-families/2019/06/13/130d39b6-86fb-11e9-a870-b9c411dc4312_story.html

 

Far from the packed resort beaches of Cancun, Cabo’s nonstop party atmosphere and the hipsterdom of Tulum, San Miguel de Allende exists as its own singular slice of Mexican life. Located in the state of Guanajuato, 170 miles north of Mexico City, it boasts cobblestone streets and colonial architecture, giving visitors the impression they’ve stepped out of time. It’s helpful to know traveler’s Spanish when making deals at the market or figuring out your lunch order, but there’s a large community of retired Americans, so the locals are used to English speakers. Overall, San Miguel de Allende is easy to navigate, safe and rich with activities — an ideal family vacation destination.

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September 26, 2019 · 3:35 pm

For future reference: Malta

A friend from Malta who somehow ended up living in Des Moines recommended these travel stories for people contemplating a visit to her beautiful country. I also learned that you can hop a ferry from Malta to Sicily — all the more reason to visit. (We visited Sicily six years ago and loved it.)

4 days in Malta: A Malta itinerary on things to do in Malta without a car

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September 9, 2019 · 9:12 pm

Aggravation with plane tix to Vietnam and Cambodia

Hoping this is not a bad sign but man, it’s been tough getting plane tix for our trip next month to Vietnam. I was braced for issues with smaller airlines like Cambodia Angkor Air and Vietnam Airlines but not with Delta. Issues all around unfortunately.

Here’s some words to the wise:

Be patient (or have someone nearby to calm you down)

After booking online, copy whatever info (including confirmation #) pops up on the screen – because you might not get the email confirmation or tix you were promised.

Don’t trust – instead verify. For example, if Delta books you on Vietnam Airlines for the third flight of your 24-hour journey, check with Vietnam airlines to see it can give you a seat assignment – since Delta says it couldn’t do- and better yet see if they’re aware you are on their flight! (They weren’t.)

If something doesn’t seem right, it may not be right . So, for example, call back Delta  if the flight it booked you on via Vietnam Airlines doesn’t seem familiar to Vietnam Airlines.  Demand a fix! Ask for a supervisor if need be.

Be persistent. Keep holding on the line for a Korean Airline agent to pick up, even if you have to listen to excruciatingly bad tinny muzak. Someone will finally pick up. And if that agent tells you that — contrary to what Delta just told you —  they can’t assign you a seat on the Korean Air flight that Delta booked you on, call back Delta — and find another agent who WILL give you a seat assignment. (At least on one of your two Korean Air flights…)

Look in your Junk Mail/Spam – You must might find that missing e-ticket from Cambodia Angkor Air. (we did!)

Be polite. I can’t say I always managed this. But I tried.

Here’s more of the gory details:

With Delta, first they charged us twice for our tickets (once was enough) and it took me more time than it should have on the phone to confirm this and get one of the charges dropped. Then the third leg of my flight — with Vietnam Airlines, booked via Delta, got dodgy. I tried emailing the airlines to get seats and they couldn’t even acknowledge our reservation and said Delta needs to give me a Vietnam Airlines confirmation #. So back to Delta for the code (why didn’t they give it to me to begin with??) but even that didn’t work with Vietnam Airlines. So back to Delta – where I learned that our one confirmation number (for two passengers) is now two separate confirmation numbers, which is inconvenient and even Delta couldn’t explain why/how this happened — and couldn’t change it.  Back to the Vietnam Air issue,  I asked for a supervisor after the regular agent couldn’t deal. Next we were rerouted so we are now flying on Korean Airlines on the third leg. But getting seats — still not easy. Delta told me to contact Korean Airlines, which finally answered the phone and told me we were only eligible (due to the type of fare we purchased) for advance seat assignments on our outbound flight. But we have to call Delta back to get them. And miracle of miracles, after holding skeptically while the Delta agent did her thing, we did get those seat assignments. So I’m marking that off my list.

I still think it’s WRONG that U.S. airlines gladly sell us tickets on other airlines but then provide almost no help with seat assignments.  I am glad that I tried to get seat assignments on Vietnam Air because I ended up learning that they didn’t seem aware that we were on this flight. That was my fear to begin with — that we’d spend hours and hours flying from Des Moines to Minneapolis to Tokyo, only to find out the last leg of our flight to Hanoi was a no go.

Meanwhile there’s Cambodia Angkor Air, which I should have read up on more before I booked a ticket (it gets horrible reviews). I bought a tix from them for a flight from Vietnam to Cambodia on Sept. 1 and never got any email acknowledgement. I’m glad I at least copied the information that popped up on the computer screen after I booked the flight so I have some confirmation but the confirmation number seems to mean nothing. I looked online and I was supposed to get an e-tix within 24 hours of purchase. Five days have passed and no e-tix. We did check to see that the charge cleared on our credit card bill — but only yesterday so maybe that’s the issue. Reaching them seems nearly impossible – no phone. Dodgy email.

Also, on a few flights jointly operated by Cambodia Angkor Air and Vietnam Air, buying the ticket from Cambodia Air was much cheaper — why? Although more expensive, I ended up buying the Vietnam Air ticket because I’ve heard this airline is more reliable and I want to make sure we get back to Vietnam a few days before our flight home.

I’ve planned other challenging trips — to Peru, Japan, Panama – but this one seems to take the cake. That said, I’m very excited for the trip.

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April 12, 2019 · 6:21 pm

Fluffy pancakes we spotted in Tokyo in 2016 have arrived in the U.S. What next? A new kind of ice coffee maybe?

In July 2016, we were intrigued in an Tokyo coffee cafe to see Japanese people eating fluffy pancakes as an afternoon treat. Now comes work that those pancakes (apparently known as “souffle pancakes”) have come to NYC, Pasadena, LA and London, according to the NYTimes.

What next? I predict a new kind of ice coffee that we also saw in Tokyo circa 2016 — details below!

July 2016: At about 4 pm we stopped at a chic coffee cafe called 24/7 where people we eating stacks of fluffy pancakes. It didn’t occur to us to eat them any time other than for breakfast but must say they looked delicious. My ice coffee was served in a ceramic soup bowl with a giant block of ice and a little pitchers of milk and simple syrup. Made iced coffee quite exotic. Must try that at home.

 

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October 1, 2018 · 12:40 am

Dramatic drive west to remote gaularfjellet, Mundal book village, Balestrand – fjords

We drove our new friends Christine and Alain to Sogndal this morning, where we visited the local pharmacy to pick up some pain pills for my arm from a kind pharmacist and had a last coffee togegether. We really enjoyed hanging out with them and hearing about their interesting lives in faraway places. They invited us to their old stone house in Provence and I have a feeling we will visit.

One of the many great things about Eplet bed and Apple, our hostel/guesthouse in Solvorn, is that the young owners go out of their way to suggest things to do (bike, hike, kayak, glacier walk) and places to see. We followed one of their recommended drives – through remote Gaularfjellet, a national tourist road along a bubbling river up through the mountains, with a dramatic view of Sognefjord. It was spectacular. We walked around the quiet village of Fjaerland/Mundal, known as the book town for its many antiquarian book shops, and the larger tourist town of Balestrand, which was quieter than Flam and Aurland, thankfully. The loop took us way back in the mountains and was even more  dramatic than the Snow road, with thin waterfalls streaming from high peaks, old red isolated farm houses, and yet again an unexpected dash of modern design – in this case a series of viewing platforms made of poured concrete and wood jutting upward like ships prows.

Back at Eplet, we met some new guests, a mother and daughter from Brooklyn. Turns out the mom grew up in Des Moines and we had a friend in common. We took a photo together and emailed it to her. Fun!

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September 16, 2018 · 3:17 pm

Here’s a story I wrote about Stockholm’s Sodermalm District!

Off the beaten path in Stockholm: the city’s best urban island

For an authentic Swedish experience, head to Stockholm’s Södermalm district. (Click here for more)
By Betsy Rubiner Special to the Star Tribune

Amid a sea of Swedes watching the World Cup quarterfinal match, my friend Francine jumped up and down, cheering wildly when England scored the winning goal against Sweden. Disappointed locals — many wearing yellow Sweden jerseys, some with the national flag painted on their faces — watched her silently. Some seemed amused. Or curious.

So much for blending into the crowd.

We were in Stockholm’s Södermalm district, decidedly off the beaten tourist track, yet we were exposed as outsiders. Francine and her husband, Russ, are from London; my husband, Dirck, and I are from Des Moines. No one appeared to mind. Some even shook Francine’s hand and offered congratulations. One requested a photo with her.

Swedes, we learned that July day at a packed Södermalm bar, are tolerant, polite, avid fans and good sports.

For our first visit to Stockholm, we stayed in Södermalm primarily because it is not a major tourist hot spot. When I travel, I’m often torn between visiting the must-see sights and hanging out in real neighborhoods that offer glimpses of how life is lived. Södermalm, also known as “Söder,” proved to be a great home base to do both.

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July 21, 2018 · 3:01 pm

Design Museum/District, Old Market (Story Restaurant), Cruise, Airbnb, Cashlessness – Helsinki

Still playing post-vacation catchup:

What do Nokia, Angry Birds, Fiskars,  and Marimekko have in common? They were all designed by Finns. This I learned at the interesting Design Museum here in Helsinki. I also learned about the Finnish designer Timo Sarpaneva who did a lot of glass designs for the company littala (or iittala) which i thought was Italian but apparently is named after a Finnish town.

This from Wiki: Timo Tapani Sarpaneva was an influential Finnish designer, sculptor, and educator best known in the art world for innovative work in glass, which often merged attributes of display art objects with utilitarian designations

He perfected a glass blowing technique that involved rubbing the hot glass with a wet piece of curved wood, creating a bubble inside the glass that is manipulated,  becoming part of the design. He also designed fabrics and did many drawings. Cool museum. I love the clothing people wear here, lots of vivid colors, patterns and designs ( a la Marimekko.)

I walked to the nearby design district, visiting little shops like Lokal, where a sweet saleswoman recommended other shops and even a flea market in the area. I have been struck by how kind people are to this hot, tired, one-armed American tourist (i.e. me).  One man (handsome man too) stopped to ask if I needed help as I was staring at my battered map. Later, I met a angel of sorts – a beautiful young woman with long blond hair, modeling one of her $350 personally designed orange silk dresses – who closed up her shop and led me a few blocks to the #3 tram. And gave me a hug before she left.

Helsinki room with piano

Down at the harbor, I got lunch in the renovated 19th century brick market hall at a place called Story. As my mom noted in her journal 25 years ago, “no memorable food here” but that’s ok. I am even tired of smoked salmon. I jumped aboard a 45 minute cruise around the harbor to rest and almost fell asleep. The fjords spoiled me for other ferries.

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I’m on the second floor of this Kallio neighborhood apartment block.

I leave very early to tomorrow and have practiced walking the tricky 11 minute route to the airport bus stop, which I will walk at about 5 am. I couldn’t find the bus stop at first but finally figured it out this afternoon.

Staying at this Airbnb hasn’t been as easy as the others. The host is very kind but she doesn’t communicate very well and the directions she gave to her place were insufficient, as were directions for getting in. I also couldn’t reach her by phone when I had this trouble. (She later told me she can’t pick up at work.) She lives in a hidden spot that is not a bad location, once you find it but that ain’t easy. She seems to assume her guests have cellphones that work without WiFi, which is not the case for me. Next trip I will consider buying a data plan again and travel insurance. I also was struck by how cashless travel is, especially in Stockholm. If you don’t have a credit card, you often cannot do what you want to do. I watched one man be turned away at the cool photography museum in Stockholm because he only had cash. The museum refused to take it. Which is odd, because it used to be that merchants didn’t want you to use anything but cash. On two occasions, my credit card didn’t work in Stockholm, due to the merchant’s machine, not my card, but it was still a little alarming., especially since i only have one credit card. In one case, Francine had to buy my metro tix.

 

 

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July 12, 2018 · 10:14 am

Hanging out at Gatwick – London (sort of)

Playing post-vacation catch up:

It’s tempting to jump on a train and visit my beloved London during this 7 hour layover but a number of things are holding me back, including my arm, which doesn’t hurt but slows me down. “Been through the war?” the immigration woman said to me with uncharacteristic humor.

Fact is, I’d have only 3 hours max before I need to head back to the airport for check in. And protests are expected in London because Trump is visiting. (I just avoided him in Helsinki, where he and Putin are summitting in a few days.)

I wasn’t planning to go through immigration here but my Norwegian Air representative recommended this, even if I don’t go out of the airport because apparently it offers more comfortable options for waiting around than departures. Good to know for future reference.

I slept a bit last night but was up by 3:30 a.m. to watch my cell alarm go off at 4. My Airbnb host Annamari was sleeping on the living room couch (I had her room) but got up to give me a hug goodbye. It was kind of an odd Airbnb arrangement but she was sweet and the price was good ($70 a night). The 11 minute walk to the bus was easy and because it was almost full daylight I didn’t feel spooked dragging my suitcase through neighborhood streets at night. Oddly, I had to pay with cash (5.50 euros) which is the opposite of other Scandinavian countries that have become almost cashless.

Kallio Airbnb

As I pulled my suitcase through the outskirts of Kallio, several young people were out and about, at a karaoke bar and the McDonald’s. The airport bus was packed at 4:30 am but Helsinki airport was very quiet at 5:15 am. My first flight was easy and not too uncomfortable. I think I slept. Next one could be a bear.

Airbnb room

But hey, just found some reclining lounge chairs here, looking down through the glass at people checking in for flood flights. Feels almost like a day at the beach except there is no sun or sea or beach and a baby is wailing nearby. And three security guards just passed by with a sniffing dog.

P.S. As it turned out, my flight to  Chicago was delayed two hours because the pilot was missing. not a promising sign.  He did eventually show and we flew on without incident. Forgot what a pit Gatwick is. Chicago Midway looked bright and shiny by comparison the next day.

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