Crunch Time

Posted on September 13, 2011 by murray

The time is nye and we are still making final arrangements on the India side of the trip. Our learning curve is big right now and some days life is very frustrating. Testing the limits of our civility.

First, we do not know how much to take the info obtained at face value. October seems to be a busy time in NE India and the ‘books and net’ say you should have arrangements for accommodation and transportation made ahead of time. Sometimes we do that, but a good portion of the time we arrive in a town and look over the accommodation prior to making  the commitment. We are getting older and maybe not so free spirited as we once were so we have made the decision to book a few places ahead of time.

The Indian ‘system’ is not the same as ours. Surprise, Surprise! Credit cards are not accepted as readily as here. So, deposits are made by Paypal, which works good for us, or by bank transfer, not as easy or as secure as it may sound.

First, is our banks. They want $35 to transfer money anywhere.  This is often as much, or more than, the cost of the deposit, and second, I have read a few hotel reviews saying that when the guests arrived at the hotel, the hotel had not received confirmation of the deposit from their Indian bank and even though the guest had a confirmation from their own bank, the hotel had given away the room and ‘there was no place at the inn.’

We have run into a couple of hoteliers that understand our problem and stated that they    “still believe, for the most part, humans act in good faith” and will hold the room for us without deposit. I like this, it bolsters my faith in humanity as well. Barring disaster, we will be there.

We were in conversation with a hotel on Havelock Island.  The correspondent had said that there was a tentative reservation made for us, to be fair to him he did say the reservation would not be confirmed until a deposit had been paid. Anyway, we were emailing back and forth and then we received a return email that stated the room was no longer available. They were waiting payment of a deposit from another guest. We were not contacted for the first right of refusal, something I found odd since we had been in daily contact through email. C’est la vie, we immediately contacted The Emerald Gekko, another place we were interested in, and they seemed to very interested in our business so we booked. This is without paying a deposit so far.  I do believe this room will be waiting for us when we arrive.

One more piece to the puzzle is to make sure we have transport to Havelock Island on the day we arrive. That should be resolved today. The rest of the trip we should be able to do on the fly. We will have enough time at each step to book transport or find a hotel and it should suit us more than this long distance ‘ we might end up with what we expect, we might not’ system.

As I said above, it is a bit frustrating, but it is a learning experience and I have to keep remembering Debbie’s mantra “travel mode”.

Definition: Travel mode-Chill, go with the flow, you are not in control so see where life   takes you. Just be wary.

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Debbie’s gut and traveling to India and Bhutan

Posted on September 9, 2011 by debbie

I went to my naturopath on Tuesday.  I have intolerance issues with dairy, gluten and eggs.  Not the thing to have when traveling to India where dairy is in everything and naan bread is a staple.  My naturopath suggested I take two supplements – Digest Gluten Plus and Digest Dairy Plus, both by Seroyal.  Both of these contain various enzymes that aid in digestion.  I was going to try Lactaid and had purchased some.  The labels are interesting when they are compared.  The Lactaid (Regular) has 3,000 Lactase  Enzyme Units per tablet. The Digest Dairy Plus has the following enzymes – lactase, protease, bromelain, lipase, and a couple more in small amouts.  The lactase amount is 16,250 LAU (I think this is the same unit of measure).  Impressive.

Murray and I went for Indian food that night and I had butter chicken and a number of dishes that looked like they had dairy in them (forgot to write them all down).  I took some yogurt mixed with cucumber to cool my mouth off too.  The naturopath said to take three Digest Dairy Plus capsules – one before eating, one during and one after.  I was nervous, so I took an extra one during the meal. A couple of hours after we ate there were still no issues with the dairy. Then I thought “Let’s see what the morning brings”. The morning brought just the regular morning routine.  No diarrhea, no bother! WHO HOO!

I want to do another test of the dairy capsules and this time eat no bread.  My initial test was not a clean test as I ate both dairy and gluten. Next week, we will go either for Indian food again or Greek food (for my son’s birthday). Looking forward to tzatziki!

The plan for India and Bhutan is to avoid dairy and gluten as much as possible.  I learned in China that there are times when avoidance is just not feasible.  So, when I cannot avoid these foods, I will have these capsules to alleviate the symptoms of the intolerance. I think that is a smart plan.

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Bhutan packing and other stuff

Posted on September 7, 2011 by debbie

Murray was getting antsy about starting to pack for Bhutan and India. The trip is becoming reality.  The camping gear is put away, the laundry is done, my daughter has left to go back to school in BC. We printed off our packing list and got to it.

We tackled Murray’s clothes first as he didn’t really know what to take, whereas I had been thinking about it and had a pile going already (I cheated as many of the Bhutan clothes had just been camping).

For Mur, we pulled two pair of 100% nylon convertible pants and one pair of normal 100% cotton pants.  Murray will only take two pair of pants so he has to decide which ones.  I have a pair of wool stretchy pants and a pair of linen pants.  We talked about maybe I should take a pair of convertible pants as the Andamans will be hot. I find 100% nylon pants not all that warm so I am not quite convinced about them. I do not have a pair, so I will go shopping to see what I can find.

We are both taking wool long underwear as PJs. We have read the hotels in north India and Bhutan may not be as warm as here in Canada. If necessary, we will wear these during the day too. We are both taking at least one other wool top to wear during the day as Bhutan is at altitude and it could be cool there in the mornings and evenings.

Cotton T shirts round out Murray’s shirts. I have a combo of one cotton T shirt and a couple of wool T shirts. I am taking a fuzzy, but Mur probably is not. I am taking a toque and a light pair of gloves.  Mur is probably not. We also pulled jackets, umbrellas and wide brimmed hats. There are a few items too many in the living room pile, but we will cull as time goes on.

We went through the “Other Stuff” list.  Many of these items had been to Bonaire and were sitting in the box already.  We dumped the box, sorted, put back in the box and crossed them off the list. Items we didn’t take to Bonaire that we are taking on this trip are two flashlights, adapter plugs, daypack, toilet paper and umbrellas.

We are going scuba diving in the Andaman Islands and decided that we would take only minimal stuff and rent most of the gear needed.  Dive computers (green bag above), my prescription dive mask, Mur’s do-rag, one waterproof wallet, camera housing in the striped bag (but not the strobe flash), dive log pages. We had a discussion about whether to take our safety sausages and we decided that we would.  We are not sure of the quality of dive operators in the Andaman Islands and ultimately our safety comes first.  So, the sausages come with us.

We didn’t tackle the first aid list, important documents list or the toiletries list.  Soon.

Our desks are a mess right now.  We are trying to tie up loose ends.  We are very close to booking hotels in the Andaman Islands – on Havelock and in Port Blair. We are trying to decide whether to prebook diving.  The operators want us to prebook but we are nervous about tying ourselves to an operation – what if it is not up to our safety standards? We have sent our emails to various hotels and have gotten most replies.  Tomorrow we will sort through them and make decisions.

Enough for today.  We are moving ahead rather quickly towards our departure.  It still seems unreal that we are actually going.  In less than three weeks, it will become very real.

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Photos of our trip to the Coast

Posted on September 3, 2011 by debbie

I can’t believe how busy we have been since got home.  I finally have some time to post pictures of our trip to Victoria, Kelowna, Canmore and camping in between.

The pictures are now posted under the menu item “Photos” under “Trip to the Coast 2011”.

The pictures won’t win any awards, but they tell the story of where we were.  We do not post pictures with known people in them, so there are no pictures of the two parties we were at.

I love the pictures from the ferry.  The sky and water are so blue.  The fawns in Redstreak Campground are very cute and I love these too.

Enjoy!

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Check It Out

Posted on August 30, 2011 by murray

It happened again. We are out of town and we get an email asking for us to commit to a short hopper flight from San Pedro Sula to Utila. We had no idea if we would be able to connect with the flights outlined and we were no where near any info that would tell us if we could. This put us under pressure to get some answers, but when we arrived home, I took the time, did my due diligence and ‘checked it out’ before making any rash decisions.

Sitting in the campground in Cranbrook we opened our email and there was an email from our friend P in Syracuse. S, one of the other participants on the trip to Utila, had been researching connecting flights from San Pedro Sula to Utila. She had booked 10 seats and needed to know if we would be able to make the connections. With no info at hand we were unable to make that decision.

S had her contact at Roatan Charter book the 8 seats that could be confirmed and asked that Debbie’s and my seats be held until Wednesday this week.

First order of business when we returned home was to book our flights from Edmonton to San Pedro Sula. This is where I again find out the internet system does have its short comings. Even though Air Canada has a code share agreement with Continental, I could not get the AC website to give me reasonable routing to Honduras. I suppose it wants to fill the AC planes first and to hell with the customer.  The weird part was I could not even get a routing to San Pedro Sula. It has always been  my understanding that in the customer service business the customer should at least be considered. Doesn’t seem to be the way with AC or many of the other airlines for that matter.

After I got a price for the Continental flight off the internet I thought I might shop it around and see if I could get a better deal. I was under the impression that the Flight Centre could and would get a better price than I could find. So I went to one of their outlets and asked for the best price. All I could get from the young man there were tickets that cost $200 more than what I could get myself over the internet. When I inquired about the difference, his response was that Continental “had just pulled the fare that I was quoted in the morning.” I did not purchase the tickets. I got home, sat at my computer went to the Continental site and pulled up exactly the same price I pulled up in the morning. I bought the tickets and did not spend the extra $200 asked for from the agent. Lesson learned, CHECK, the agents story did not pan out. I do not think I will use the Flight Centre. Not only could they not supply what they said they could, the agent fed me a line of BS.

The big surprise came when I was booking the flight online and after the site had time to digest the fact that I was in Canada, the price of the tickets was adjusted to Canadian dollars and we saved an additional $100 dollars. Thereby putting the Flight Centre price $300 out of whack, that is more than 10%.

I then contacted Debbie at Roatan Charter and confirmed our availability for the hopper flights to and from Utila. Paid for them through Paypal and we’re all hooked up.

I guess the point of this installment is that when you are doing this stuff unless you do not care about the cost, CHECK IT OUT. You have to spend quite a bit of time on the net following along all the paths that reveal themselves and don’t take for granted the claims of businesses that they can provide something they cannot. “Flight Centre Unbeatable.” By being diligent I managed to save $300 on one plane ride, enough to pay for at least 2 complete days of our travel in India.

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Wildlife

Posted on August 25, 2011 by debbie

When we camp, Murray and I are always on the look out for wildlife.  It doesn’t matter if it is a squirrel or a bear – we are enchanted.  Here are a few of the new friends we made on our car camping trip.

Caterpillar

This little fellow was trying to hang out with us when we were camped at Johnson Lake, east of Oysoyos.  He was very persistent and would climb up the lawn chair leg or Murray’s pants or the picnic table. He was very ornate and looked like a wizened old sensei.  He didn’t want to co-operate when I was taking this picture.

 

 

Fawn

At Redstreak Campround in Radium, we were camped in a site next to a meadow.  A small group of deer, including a couple of fawns were eating right at our site. They were not afraid of us and just kept munching away as I snapped picture after picture.

 

 

Munching Breakfast

They moved on, but the next morning,  they were back again. It was very special to share our space with these wonderful creatures.

 

Ptarmigan

At Redstreak, Murray and I were enjoying the quiet as we read our books in the sunshine when we heard this odd sound. And then again.  I stood up and looked about and saw two ptarmigan walking in front of our vehicle.

They were eating and moving along.  I slowly got my camera out and followed them through the campsite taking pictures. They weren’t to concerned that I was following them.

Our very industrious squirrel friend

This little guy was tossing spruce cones out of trees and stashing them away all afternoon and he continued the next morning.  We must have been in his territory. I was waiting for a cone to land in our breakfast they were coming down so close to us.

On our small trip, we actually saw three bears, but unfortunately we do not have any pictures.  I saw one of the bears while I was on my bike, so stopping for a picture was not what I thought a good idea.

When crossing Brentwood Bay on the ferry we saw thousands of jelly fish in the water.  Murray looked them up and they are Aurelia and Lion’s Mane jelly fish. Below is a Lion’s Mane.

Lion's Mane JellyfishWe have quite enjoyed spotting and observing the wildlife on our camping trip.

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BC up; BC down

Posted on August 23, 2011 by murray

Every time I get on my bike, I’m going up or down. On the prairies we ride all over hell’s 1/2 acre looking for some kind of incline, sometimes for fun, sometimes for fitness. Here I look for a flat spot to spin an even cadence for awhile.

On Vancouver Island I got on my bike near Mill Bay, rode north to Cobble Hill, then went inland and around Shawnigan Lake. Leaving the edge of the lake, I turned south wanting to join up with Hiway 1 so I can get to Victoria. I’m sure there are back roads but I am not at all familiar with the area and did not run into any locals on my ride, so the hiway it is. The very long climb to the top of the Malahat was gruesome. At times I was grinding my smallest gear barely maintaining 12kms/hr. But, if you make it to the top and you are going to end your ride at sea level you have got to have it figured that the ride down is going to be a fast one, and it was. There is one spot on the hiway that the speed limit is 70 kms/hr, I had to use my brakes to slow down enough so I would not pass the vehicles on the right. This went on for 4 or 5 km. ADRENALIN RUSH! The downhill aspect was all the way to the spot I was to meet Debbie. I averaged about 50kph If you ride bikes you know how much fun that kind of ride is.

Yesterday I rode as few kms along the Crowsnest Hiway, Hiway 3, it parallels the Canada/US border. The ride was pretty good. The roads are very rideable with reasonable shoulders on most of them. When I lived in BC in the late 70’s and early 80’s there was 4 inches (100 mm) of white line and an equal amount of pavement to the right. I think that is where I learned to ride a straight line. After all I am still here. So the bike riding has improved immensely. Anyway, the ride was up and down, funny eh. Again I hit a stretch that I chugged up at about 15km/hr. Then after a short flat respite, I enjoyed a 10km downhill jet ride. 50+ from top to bottom. You gotta love it.

Today, Tues. Aug. 23, Debbie and I did a great, out of the traffic, ride. A few days ago my brother told me of a ride from Cranbrook to Kimberly. The old railway bed has be redone, rails removed and surface paved, to function as a multi-use trail. We rode it on a Tuesday so it was not crowded at all. It is 25km up at no more than 3% grade and 25km ripping down. Again, it is BC and even though the grades are not great it is UP and DOWN. We left at about 10:30 so we arrived in Kimberley in time for lunch. A really good ride. You do not have to be a particularly talented rider to do this ride but you do need to be able to sit in the saddle for 50km as there is not much possibility of bailing and grabbing a cab.

Bikes in our campsiteSo if you do ride and you are coming to BC, do with your bike like you do with your AMEX card, ‘Don’t leave home without it.’

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Kelowna Pushor Mitchell Apple Triathlon – Debbie Does the Sprint

Posted on August 22, 2011 by debbie

ok debbie, you can do this.  remember you like to do this. kick with my glutes, kick with my glutes, smooth to start, strong to finish. there’s the horn, here we go, water isn’t too bad. go……dive. easy easy not too fast kick with your glutes. breathe breathe there’s the buoy. kick with your glutes. (coughing) ok that wasn’t nice. breathe air NOT water.

there’s the next buoy. mmm a guy swimming in just baggy trunks. just go by him debbie.  kick with your glutes. even strokes.  breathe breathe. get around the buoy.

ach! I can’t see the buoy in the sun. find something above.  the edge of the tower. rinse your goggles. okay that’s much better.  I can see! kick with your glutes, strong strokes breathe.  I can see the bottom.  where’s the sand.  getting closer. getting closer.  should I stand up now? not yet. okay now. jog jog jog.

“GO DEBBIE.  There’s only about 6 in front of you!” What? run if you can. can’t get my arm out…there it goes.  straps next… oooof who put that bridge in here.  okay. just past the second tree. bike bike bike.there it is. sit down. wetsuit off socks on shoes on number belt on helmet on glasses on gloves on bike down

there’s the mount line. clip in, go. watch for others. spin spin.  not too hard. woa…passing on the right. better watch out.  there’s the hill. you can do this. steady strong glutes core glutes core glutes core. what? I’m catching a guy in the Male 20-29 age group. just go by him “On your left”. steady steady. almost there. ha!

gear up. pedal pedal. eek..better improve my cornering. go debbie go. oooo that was fast 41 kph. here comes that corner. leave it in the big chain ring.  ooof. maybe not. spin spin.  take a drink now!

“GO DEBBIE GO” Oh Mur! whoa watch the corner.  spin hard. go go go okay the hill again. same thing,  steady strong glutes core glutes core. this one hurts more. okay down.  push hard debbie. go go go. small chain ring this time around that corner.  oh that small hill hurts this time.  okay long downhill. spin spin.

there’s the exit chute. steady off the bike.  don’t want to fall over now. one two three SPRINT OLYMPIC turn here. 681 681 681 there’s my towel. bike sit take shoes off put runners on take helmet off put visor on grab gel. go this way to run exit “Thank you”

small steps core core core glutes glutes glutes. okay feels okay. gel get 2 mouthfuls water. where’s Mur.  “THERE”S ONE ABOUT 30 SECONDS IN FRONT OF YOU.  CHASE HER DOWN” okay steady now. core glutes. there’s a rabbit. keep going. oh – use the shortest route.  remember Devon. cut the corners.  there’s another rabbit.

3 km to go.  oh just passed by another Female 50 – 54 grouper.  RATS. can’t keep up.  go go debbie.  2 kms to go.  1 km to go.  pick up your pace abit.  concentrate.  core glutes core core. arms. smooth. there’s Mur.  There’s the finish line.  Can I catch this fellow in front of me.  almost.  DONE! WOW!

Can’t breathe.  Don’t stop walking Debbie.  Where’s Mur? There he is.  Walk to him.  I’m going to cry.  Breathe Debbie.  It’ll go away. “Mur – I can’t breathe.  Gotta keep walking”. “WAY TO GO! You were great!” Okay, I feel better now.  I can breathe again.

WOW, I did good for me.  Swim was fantastic.  Bike was okay for me and another strong run for me. What an experience this was!

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To Kelowna

Posted on August 22, 2011 by debbie

Day 7 ? Kelowna, we arrive on time. Caught the 7am ferry out of Swartz Bay and it was only 60% full when we arrived at 6:30. The day starts well. Time checks hit the mark all the way. Traffic on Hiway 1 is terrible until Chilliwack but then thins out considerably.  The Coquihalla east bound had paving going on  when we went through three days before and we noticed the lines on the up track were extremely long. We figured we would outsmart the locals and run Hiway 3 to Princeton, then 5A and 97C into Kelowna. The route is only a few kms longer but the speed limit is less so most folks want to make time and will opt for the Coquihalla.

Ha, WE WON. The trip was at least as fast, we had no long tedious wait at the paving section, there was much less traffic and the route was absolutely more interesting. Hiway 5A is an outstanding drive. I have never been on it before and I would definitely do it again.

Like I said, we made Kelowna on schedule. 3pm.  Debbie had time to get her bike into transition, get registered for the Tri and go to the pre-race meeting.  Done.

We had made reservations at a campground a few kms out of town on Wood Lake, The Wood Lake Terrace Campground. It was getting close to dinner and we were a little edgy so we headed towards our abode. We didn’t have the exact location and Wood Lake, although quite small, is big enough when you do not know which side of the lake you want to access. Many years ago I had stayed on the south shore of the lake and assumed that the campground would be there. We drove by on the highway and did not notice any signage indicating that the camp we were looking for was there. The highway follows the west shore of the lake with a steep bank to the west and there is only enough room for the highway. Suddenly there is a sign ‘The Wood Lake Terrace Campground.’

WLTC is the only thing on the west side of the lake. There is the lake shore, the highway and then a terraced campground and RV area.  I had a bad feeling as we drove in; the place just did not feel right. It was within spitting distance of the highway and the traffic noise was horrendous.  Frankly, it looked more like a junk yard than a campground. I worked in a campground for about 15 summers and I know that there are many types of campers but at least ½ of these campers would have been asked to leave the campground where I worked at because of the condition of their campsites. There was junk and garbage strewn everywhere, the tents and RVs were in terrible repair. Some of the sites looked as though the occupants were living there and they treated the area as their own yard, storing whatever they had collected over their tenure.

As the evening progressed things got worse. Someone turned up the music. The music was not that bad but it was loud enough that the whole campground could hear it, even over the highway noise.

Then the folks across the road from us came home. There was 4 tents on the site. There were at least 14 people camped on the one site, all ages from 5 to 50 and none of them had any idea what quiet was. They also rivalled the highway noise until well after midnight. I think they won the db contest hands down.

We had decided not to hold the second night of our reservation and told the lady at the desk so.  We devised a plan to rise 15 minutes earlier than our already early time of 5:30 am and pack very efficiently, cut out and still arrive at the Tri site early. We pulled it off to perfection. Hopefully, we made just enough noise to irritate our noisy neighbours.

I would not stay at this campsite again on a bet. If you are thinking of doing so please check it out before making a commitment.

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Still sitting in Starbucks

Posted on August 18, 2011 by debbie

Hope to Bamberton Park

We slept last night with the tent vents wide open.  It is wonderful to sleep in the fresh air. We awoke rested and ready for the trip towards the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal and Victoria.  I snuck in a short run while Murray broke camp (ie took down the tent and packed the car). Even had a shower!  WHO HOO!

Headed to the coast and stopped at a triathlon store in South Surrey to buy Mur a De Soto beanie to protect his head in his helmet from wasps and the elements. Bought groceries and gas and headed to the ferry.  Timed it really well and we didn’t have to wait very long before we were boarding and off across the Georgia Straight.

Met a group of four ladies from Victoria on the ferry.  Two elderly ladies were caring for two even more elderly ladies.  They had come for the ferry ride – got on the ferry in Victoria, rode it to the mainland, did not get off the ferry and were heading back again.  A very lovely day for an excursion.  They had bought lunch, needed a place to sit so shared our table. Since they were all over 65 years old, the ferry ride was free so their little adventure just cost the price of lunch.  They were very charming.

We checked out MacDonald Campground right near the ferry terminal but the noise from the highway was too loud, so we headed to Brentwood Bay to take the ferry across the bay towards Mill Bay.

We got a surprise at the Brentwood Bay Ferry.  It cost $30 to take the ferry! Oh, and 40% discounted tickets are available at the store just close to the ferry.  Guess that’s what happens when we don’t do any research into where we are going.  End up paying full price for things. Lesson learned!

We are camped in a campground called Bamberton Park.  It was 47 sites, pit toilets and access to a beach.  It is a very cozy, quiet campground and only $16 a night. We would definitely stay here again.

Bamberton Park to Victoria

Murray wanted to get in a ride, so we decided that he would ride into Victoria and I would drive and we would meet up somewhere. After breakfast and packing up, Murray headed off to go north to Cobble Hill, around Shawnigan Lake Road, south over the Malat on Hwy 1 and we would meet where Hwy 1 intersects Millstream Road.  I finished packing, took a look around and left too.  I drove straight to Millstream Road looking for a Tourist Information and a Starbucks. Found a Starbucks and tried to post the last blog, but got kicked out just before I was ready to post.  I am actually getting slightly frustrated with internet access and trying to get it for free all the time.  Have to talk to my network expert (spelled son) when I get home to find out what the options are. Since I was under abit of a time constraint I just bailed and headed to the rendezvous.

Found a place to park that was visible from the road, pulled out my lawn chair and sat behind the vehicle and read. Suddenly my phone rings and it is Mur. He overshot the rendezvous and wants to confirm where I was.  Next to the fire station. He is only 3 km away so he says, stay put, I will be right there.  In no time I spotted him in his yellow jersey coming up over the road.

We were heading to My Aunt I’s house when we spotted the Juan de Fuca Recreation Center.  POOL! I had to get in a swim as part of my taper week, so we pulled in and I swam for about a half hour. My Dad was in on the design of this facility, so it was nice to swim there.

We continued on our way to my Aunt’s house and had a nice visit with her and my cousin.  Will return this afternoon for more chatter. I love visiting them as they are always laughing.

We met up with Murray’s parents and brother and friend at the Surf Motel for supper.  The Surf Motel is the only place we will stay in Victoria. It is a 1960’s style motel.  Two stories, only about 12 rooms with floor to ceiling windows that look right out onto the Georgia Straight. It is slightly dated, but the owners are slowly fixing the rooms up and it is quite lovely to stay in.

We opened the blinds this morning while still lying in bed and watched the world go by.  A cruise ship came in, 2 scuba divers went out, people walked by, rode by, ran by, drove by.

I am sitting in a laundromat right now and Murray is finding a BCAA to get a real map. Another item we forgot to look into before we left.  Traveling around Victoria without a map is an adventure!

When the laundry is done, I will head across the street to the Starbucks and try to post these two posts.  Wish me luck.

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