ehBeth, Good for you! I'm one of those wierdos that asks people to shush when the main attraction is playing in a movie theater. Nobody has yet to invite me for a drink. I've even heard a woman's retort, "how rude!" LOL c.i.
EhBeth
Good for you! One win over the yobbos! I often wonder what people think gives them the right to behave like obnoxious turds. I was flying from Athens to London once, in the clearly-marked non-smoking section of a British Airways flight, when a whole group of package Japanese tourists started to smoke. I complained to the air hostess, who simpered and did nothing. The lady sitting beside me, (who I didn't know) started to cough uncontrollably - much worse than I was coughing. I wandered down the aisle, worked out who seemed to be the courier/ group leader for this group, and asked him to stop his people smoking in the non-smoking section. He started to argue, then asked me to point out who was smoking. I did this and I suspect he had a re-think. I am not slightly built, and I was towering over him. I think he felt it was probably better to stop them from smoking, rather than brazen it out against a woman, who was obviously crazed, and very likely unpredictable (and I bet he didn't know I was an Aussie!)
Are the bears that come into Hamburger's village dangerous? This seems so exotic to a distant Aussie. Just imagine - bears!!!!
Nobody better say I'm rude when I say 'shush'! I may find another chair to climb over!
and still, I love the train. I wish there was a way to get to Columbus, Ohio by train from here, that didn't involve travelling halfway around the continent first.
ehbeth, that was funny. c.i. I can't start to top your train experiences...but...I also did the Eygpt trip from Cairo to Aswan. My girlfriend & I were in the cheapest seats, crammed in amongst families with their belongings. We couldn't talk to each other, of course, because of language barriers. But we sure could communicate through smiles, laughter and even some bad harmonica playing on my part.
From the southern end of Lake Nassar to Khartoum, a "fifth-class" ticket was sold which entitled us to ride on the top of one of the passenger cars!
Um, did I ever tell you my banana story from further south in Africa?
rjb, We were with a tour group, so we had a sleeper for a night trip from Cairo to Aswan. To provide a graphic for your banana story, here's my photo of the "banana man of Karatu, Tanzania." Our driver-guide stopped here to treat us to some red bananas.
c.i.
Yeah, but I was much younger and impetuous...and the train had a relatively flat roof and didn't go very fast. There was a way to tie down my little rucksack and the locals were very adept at securing their gear. If you sat facing the back of the train you could avoid the dust. I enjoyed Khartoum although there wasn't a lot to do there.
After about a week I looked at my options: back North to Egypt (no), West towards Libya sort of (not really feasible), South (a bad idea due to the civil war than and now still going on), or East towards Ethiopia. So back on the roof of the train I went: East
There was only one only other passenger up there...a young man perhaps only a year or two younger than me (I was 23 or 24, I reckon, busting loose from a humdrum existence as a college student followed by 15 months in Vietnam).
I can't remember the name of the tribe he must have belonged to. The semi-derogatory name was something like "fuzzie-wuzzies."
We never tried to communicate; we pretty much spent the whole trip staring at each other.
Fast forward six months after hitchhiking through Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi. The next country South was Mozambique but there was a war going on there, too. The roads were closed so another short train ride was in order: an engine pushing a couple of flat cars ahead to blow up any landmines with a couple of coaches behind, with one white guy and maybe a dozen Africans aboard. The train stopped at a few villages along the way and there were vendors at each station selling local produce such as peanuts and (I'll bet you thought I'd never get to this) bananas.
At the last station before leaving Malawi I realized that I had a handful of Malawian coins left over; soon to become worthless to me. I handed them through the open window to the older woman with the the basket of bananas on her head. "Bananas," I said.
She looked at the coins, looked at me, called to the other vendors, and through the window came HUNDREDS of bananas!
rjb, Thanks for sharing that story with us. "Hundreds of bananas" hey? They don't last long in that heat, so I guess you had to give most of it away. In Kenya and Tanzania, they are called the Masai. I'm not sure about Malawi. ** On my first trip to Egypt, we stayed at the Marriott in Cairo. On our last day, I was sitting with a family from Chicago, and all of us ordered banana splits. We waited for over a half hour, when the waiter came to tell us they had no more bananas. We had a big laugh over that, because they grow bananas in Egypt. We even went to a banana farm (island) in Luxor. We could have used some of that hundreds of bananas you had!
c.i.
HERE IT IS ...that was fast!
Here it is! That was fast, wasn't it?
Anybody interested in seeing some of my vacation photos, please visit
www.photoisland.com. The i.d. is <<imposter222>>, and the password is <<able2know>>. You're welcome to ask any question. c.i.
Charli
Wow!!! (I haven't been able to work out how to post pictures yet!)
I've heard that that trip is just spectacular. Did you have any altitude problems, headaches, etc.? What do you remember most about the trip?
So many fabulous trains - so little time.
The only time I ever spent a great deal of time on trains was in 1983 during Octoberfest. I had a monthlong Eurorail pass and took full advantage of it! Don't have that kind of time anymore!
1. POSTING PICTURES 2. CUZCO-MACHU PICCHU TRIP
margo - Craven de Kere posted a number of instructions in various Interactions about how to load pictures. Maybe send him a PM and ask where these threads are? He's better at explaining than I am. Then, you can go over to Testing and practice. practice, practice.
Re the South American trip: Incredibly beautiful scenery. Twenty-four rolls of 36-frame transparencies weren't enough! Thankfully, it was still sorta O.K. for a solitary traveler to carry an FT-2 Nikkormat. One day I'll transfer a few to one of my web sites. It's on the "things-to-do list." (Now, I carry one of those little cameras you can stick in a shirt pocket.)
What I remember most were the people. They, too, are "colorful." but especially kind, pleasant, welcoming, genuine, sincere, and all of the other adjectives to describe "wonderful." Passengers (me) leaned out the train windows to buy handmade souvenirs and food. Since I speak Spanish, I got to buy lots of things with the other travelers' money. I remember especially seeing a Peruvian clinging to the outside of train in the bitter cold of the high altitude for a free ride to another "whistle stop."
There were some people I had to converse with through a translator: Spanish for me, Quechua or Ayamara for them.
Before you go, ask your Doctor for Diamox. It was inexpensive and works "like a dream" to guard against altitude sickness. Go, have fun, enjoy! ¡Buen Viaje! [/color]
Charli, Got a call from a friend I met on my Russia trip several years ago two days ago. He and his wife are going to the Galapagos Islands, and he called to ask me some questions, but I told him my trip to Machu Picchu and the Galapagos will be in late April. They've already been to Machu Picchu, and he also suggested "diamax" for elevation sickness. I'm in the process of asking my physician for the Rx, because it's a prescription pill. c.i.
c.i. : i see that your trans-canada trip is from montreal to vancouver. if you can mange either to start in quebec city or make even a day trip from montreal to q city(overnight stay would be better), you'll see one gem of a city - it's the oldest walled city in north america and absolutely beautifiul and full of history(some also claim that the best french restaurants are not in france but in q city - i am not sure about that. or you might schedule a separate winter train-trip to q city for CARNEVAL and the ice-hotel and ice sculptures - spectaclular!!! (we can build our own ice palace here in kingston; more snow and icerain; overnight minus 15 c.) hbg
c.i. : i didn't preview! so i hope you'll read my 'mange' as "manage". that should be somewhat better! hbg
hbg, I've been to Quebec City, and it's everything you say and more. I like the fact that most buildings have a sign stuck on them showing the construction dates on them, with many in the 17th century. This was about ten years ago, but can still remember great memories of my visit. I also enjoyed "restaurant" row outside the walled city. I think we stayed at the Sheraton, then the tallest building in Quebec. My wife and I will not have enough time to visit Quebec City, because we're spending only three nites and two days in Montreal. She's never been to eastern Canada, and Montreal has enough to keep us busy for the full two days. Thanks for the suggestion, anyhow.
c.i.
don't forget to wave at hamburger when you travel from montreal to toronto!
