Our Readers' Road Trips

Turkey ~ Part 5
by Jeff Hammond
November 9, 2009

Hello from Luxor Egypt,

Ephesus is the location mentioned in the Bible and the Book of Ephesians by Paul. It was also here that Paul was martyred by the Romans.

First, geographically Ephesus is located off the Aegean sea and very close to a city named Selcuk and not too far from the port city of Kusadasi. Kusadasi is one of the five main port in Turkey and probably the second busiest in the country other than Istanbul with cruise ships docking each day to allow the tourist to take the bus to see the Roman ruins at Ephesus.

Kusadasi is also a major resort city for many Germans, British, Iranians with money and a whole host of other nationalities which come here during the winter season to escape the cold miserable conditions. During the Turkish summer months the population is around 300 thousand but during winter it swells to over one million, most of which are the winter residents living there in their condo units costing on average 175,000 Euros and the exchange rate is approx 1.52USD to 1 Euro.

I went to Kusadasi for a short day trip to meet a friend of a friend so there are no images from there but that is not what this email is about anyway, it is about Ephesus.

The day I arrived in Selcuk our bus passed through Kusadasi and I could see two very large cruise ships at anchor in the harbor and by estimates and my friends information these are the large American cruise lines which carry some 1800-2000+ passengers, all of which at some point will be offloaded onto tour buses then taken to the ruins of Ephesus. Mix this with all the tour companies which are sending groups from Istanbul and this makes for a lot of people to wade through trying to take photographs much less appreciate the area.

For those of you who have had the experience of a cruise ship and going en mass by bus to a tourist location you know the experience. For those of you that do not, well, you have your guide, maybe with a flag on a pole so everyone in the group knows where the guide is and they can not get separated from the group.

The parking lot is scattered with maybe 30-50 tour buses each carrying maybe sixty or more people and they are all walking though this area at the same time, stopping to look, taking that photography for when their memory fails them, buying the trinket or two like "real" coins from the site of the ruins found by workers, yeah buddy.

For me, I have plenty of time and can stay as long as I want so I am there for nearly the entire day, taking photographs, watching the tourists with amusement and of course waiting for each group to move on along so they are not in the shot, which in this case was almost impossible as you will see.

I am not going to go into the history of Ephesus but will add this link for you to take and read about if you have the time but I think to understand the history it is worth the time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephesus

Since I am traveling again I will only be able to send a few images and I do not have any historical reference on the images you will see but what I can say is that this is an interesting place. The amount of marble that must have been used is mind boggling and one of the main roads leading into the site extended all the way to Kusadasi which by road today is some 15 kilometers or around 8 miles and it was paved with marble.

They have a very large stadium like that of Hieraopolis but in the case of Ephesus it was not very well preserved and the areas of reconstruction are quite visible and extensive. There was even a very large boom crane which was being employed to move stones about in this effort which was difficult for me to take a photograph with it in the picture.

The weather was getting colder, it would cloud up and rain, so I was fortunate to have visited on one of the sunny days because the day after my visit it began to rain and was miserably cold and dreary so you will or should see nice blue skies if I select the right images.

I must say at this point that even though Ephesus is considered one of the highlights of tourism in Turkey I found it rather lacking for some unknown reason. I only have one comparison of other Roman sites, that being Hieropolis. Both sites are uniquely different but the Ephesus site left me with the question, is that all there is. I must admit that due to the amount of reconstruction where they not only replaced shattered remains back together but lacking those, the use of concrete or newly carved pieces just seemed to take away from the total experience for me. I had been expecting a more pristine site with less reconstructed fill in the gap materials. Also, without taking "the tour" and listening to the guide spin the history and impart "the facts", then I am sure that I did miss something but as photography goes, I was unimpressed with what I have become accustomed to seeing.

Disclaimer: Any and all spelling mistakes, factual errors or omissions are not my fault and I lay full responsibility upon the flies attacking me constantly.

Next, Egypt.
Jeff

Turkey ~ Part 4
by Jeff Hammond
November 4, 2009

As I typed that last time, Pamukkale is known for its extremely unique geological formations known as Travertine Pools. They were so well loved that the tourists came and then destroyed them to the point that they were eventually banned from entering them. Well, what did the government think would happen; let enough people trample through the garden and the vegetables will be destroyed. However, this has not slowed the tourism there one bit.

I believe that I provided a somewhat abbreviated description of the area in general so I will not go into further details but get straight to the few images I can send out. No, there is one thing I did not write earlier. I sent out some images from China which had similar appearing pools which were in a sense formed the same way by calcium rich waters running down a hillside. However, there is a huge difference between those pools and the ones here in Turkey. One or two images may appear similar but you will see what I mean when viewing the rest.

I hope this gives you some idea of what I experienced even though as I walked through this area it was amazing to see what nature can come up with.

Gotta go, Istanbul awaits and a short plane trip to Egypt.

Bye!

Turkey ~ Part 3
by Jeff Hammond
October 28, 2009

Here I am again and I know that you are asking yourself just what I have up my sleeve this time, well, having moved on from Goreme, home of Luke Skywalker, I am now in the very small village of Pamukkale which is a 10 hour bus journey to the west and south toward the Aegean coast.

As we have discovered, Turkey has a very long and ancient history and during all this time there were many areas of Roman influence. Throughout the country you can find ruins, some very amazing in their state of condition, some not so well preserved but non the less, there are a lot of ancient sites to explore, more than I truly have time for this journey.

There are two main reasons for coming to Pamukkale, one is for a very unique area of geological wonder and while visiting this site, the other is for the Roman ruins at the site of Hierapolis.

Hierapolis, the “Sacred City,” is located at present-day Pamukkale in south central Turkey. In the first century it was part of the tri-city area of Laodicea, Colossae, and Hierapolis. This connection between the cities lies behind Paul’s reference to Hierapolis and Laodicea in his epistle to the Colossians (Col 4:13). Before 70 A.D. Phillip (either the apostle or the evangelist) moved to Hierapolis, where he was believed to have been martyred.

The Apollo Temple

Its foundations date to the Hellenistic period, but the structure itself was built in the 3rd century A.D. Apollo was thought to be the city’s divine founder. The temple was built beside the plutonium, an underground cavern from which poisonous gases emerged. The city’s theater stands in the background.

The Theater

After an earthquake in 60 A.D., a theater was built against a hillside. This theater contains one of the best examples of original Roman theater decoration. The stage was ornate, decorated with various reliefs. A seat for distinguished spectators was located in the center of the seating area (cavea). Approximately thirty rows of seats are preserved.

The Necropolis

Another prominent archaeological aspect of Hierapolis is the necropolis, located just outside the northern city walls. Here lies one of the largest and best-preserved cemeteries in all of Turkey. It contains sarcophagi, many different types of tombs, and funeral monuments dating from the Hellenistic until the early Christian times. There are also numerous inscriptions here, more than 300 of which have been translated and published.

The above was taken from the web site BiblePlaces.com

Well, so much for the brief explanation of Hierapolis and the other tourist attraction, one that for many years and even to this day is the main draw here, are the Travertine Pools which are formed by the hot springs that formed due to the earthquake. These hot springs are highly rich in calcium and as such have left vast deposits covering the area of the hills below on which Hierapolis was constructed.

Up until around 1996 the tourist could freely walk and swim in the mineral pools, however, through all of this waking, swimming and stomping around in the mineral pools, they were damaged so now taking a stroll or dip into them is forbidden. There are a few what appear to be man made pools which the tourist can immerse themselves in but not the others.

The authorities have also diverted the natural flow of the hot springs to the extent that many of the pools have dried up and all of this is a calculated move to restore the natural conditions back to the pools.

As you begin your climb up the hill side you can have your shoes on but there are what I call the "shoe police" waiting for you making you remove your shoes before going further up the hill while walking over the mineral deposits. From this point you continue the climb, stopping for that once in a lifetime photo opportunity and eventually your make it to the top where you can once again put your shoes back on for the continued tour of the Hierapolis ruins which are very extensive.

I took my tripod with me which is contained in a black bag with a shoulder strap. I was asked at the ticket booth if it was a tripod and my brief answer was that it was water. Well, I had been in other places where a tripod was not allowed such as India and wanted to see if I could enter with it. I made the unfortunate mistake of taking it out to take one photograph and then the tourists were waving their arms around because I could not hear anything due to the ear plugs from my mp3 player being in my ears. As I looked up I could see two armed men motioning at me, I took the ear plugs out in time to hear them tell me that "no tripod, not allowed, professional photos not allowed".

So not only were there shoe police but tripod police as well and then there were the guys that would whistle down the tourists for being in an unauthorized or restricted zone.

The next day I decided to take a little walk around the bottom of the mountain where I was fairly sure that the "shoe, tripod and other" police did not care if you did your thing. It was interesting but the calcium formations do not stop at any particular point and continue down the slopes of the hills. I was merrily walking over them, taking photographs but without my tripod. I was never stopped, whistled at or otherwise bothered by anyone and I was there for more than three hours waiting to see a squadron of vehicles and men arrive to haul me away. I of course always have a hole card, "the stupid tourist" routine. What, me, I did not know this was not allowed", but in this case, I truly did not know if walking in these areas was against the "rules".

Now that we have the explanations out of the way, how about a few miserable images to go along with this. As usual, too big, too many images and impossible to fully relate this area visually, so come yourself.

I will begin with the area of Hierapolis then work my way to the Travertine formations.

First let me say that the theater mentioned was constructed to hold 25,000 people. Even through the images do not fully convey it, the angle of the steps are very steep. The 30 rows of seating that was mentioned earlier has also been blocked off as you will see.

There was also another earthquake around 365AD which took a lot of money from Emperor Nero to rebuild the city and uou will also note that the ground is scattered with thousands of pieces of this complex, some are marked, some not. I realize that a lot of this has been reconstructed since its discovery but am unsure as to the total extend of this reconstruction. As with other ancient archaeological sites that I have seen, particularly in Egypt, it can take decades for this restoration work to progress and in a lot of cases there will most always be pieces of this very vast puzzle that will never be completed.

As for the Travertine pools I am forced to make those on another email which I know that you will be able to wait for a few days to receive.

It is such a thrill each and every day that I am able to walk this planet of ours, stand on the edge of valleys that look like they were on another planet, watch someone going about their daily lives or seeing children playing. I have been fortunate to do all of this without any major injuries, India does not count, and for every place I go, I take a bit of it with me, not only in images but the feel, smells, cultures and history.

Be good to one another, we are being watched.

Jeff

Turkey ~ Part 2
by Jeff Hammond
October 24, 2009

Now for something different. Having departed from Istanbul and arriving in the region of Cappadocia, specifically to the city of Goreme, I will take you on a tour of what is a truly amazing part of Turkey not to mention the world.

Around 10 million years ago this area was transformed by eruptions of two now extinct volcanoes which deposited what is called "Tufa". Tufa is a combination of volcanic ash, lava and mud. Over the millions of years since, it has been transformed into some of the most unique geological formations on the planet.

The area in Goreme and its surrounding cities and villages are located many deep valleys where these formations are visible and in some of these villages/cities, the homes and building are constructed into these formations as the Tufa is a very soft workable material.

For thousand of years before and after Christ the inhabitants in this region have made what are known as "cave dwellings" within the Tufa. There are also two areas where complete underground cities were constructed some 30-50 meters below ground consisting of multi-level chambers. You can visit them but all that is remaining are the hollowed out rooms with a few bits of fresco art on the walls.

Again, this is one of those places where a few images can only give you a sense of what I have seen and experienced. Walking through the canyons is very surreal and if you allow your mind to open itself, one can almost visualize being on another planet.

There are two main valleys here, one is called Pigeon Valley while the other is known as Love Valley and the naming of these particular valleys is for different reasons but here are the explanations.

Folklore tells of the existence of humans and fairies which lived in what is now known as Pigeon Valley. They lived together peacefully until humans and a fairy fell in love which was forbidden and this sparked a war that drove the fairies from the valley transforming them into Pigeons. The guilt ridden humans constructed birdhouses into the valley walls to lure the fairy-pigeons back.

As for Love Valley, it is the unusual structure of the formations called "Fairy Chimneys" which are formed from the soft Tufa and capped by harder basalt which protected these formations from erosion leaving behind the visually stunning formations. So different were these formations that they have an extremely Phallic appearance, ergo, Love Valley.

Being here at this time of year is wonderful as the days are very pleasant with nightly temperatures falling to around 9c which is not all that cold but the cooler day temps enables one to hike through the valleys without the heat stress associated during summer periods. You can also take a overly priced hot air balloon ride over, through and down into these canyons as well as rent motorbikes or quads.

Time for me to catch my next ride to a different city and no, it is not a train.

Bye and stay happy,
Jeff

Turkey ~ Part 1
by Jeff Hammond
October 24, 2009

He's Back,

I am now in Turkey after my supposed 12 hr train ride which in reality after making border and stations stops as well as just being very slow in places, actually turned into around 17 hours total.

This is a return visit for me to Istanbul and as such I was anticipating seeing how much change had occurred during the time between visits.

My last visit to Istanbul was in the early summer, end of May to be specific and the temperatures were high enough to require the aircon to be operating but during this visit, the weather was very mild with most days being blue skies and lightly cool evenings.

The area of Istanbul I usually stay in is called the Sultanahmet district and is the remains of the old city of Istanbul with portions of the original fortified walls still standing but mostly in ruins. To transit between the international airport to the old city usually entails a taxi ride and as such you find yourself traveling down Kennedy Blvd. which was named for our President, John F. Kennedy.

Istanbul is a city split by the Bosphorus straits which allow shipping to enter into the Black Sea from the Mediterranean and it is one of the busiest sea lanes in the world. On the western side is considered the European Istanbul and the eastern side is the Asian Istanbul and gateway to what was known as Asia Minor. If traveling east from Istanbul through Turkey you first arrive in Iran with Syria and Iraq to the south.

This region of the world has a rich and colorful history dating back thousand of years BC, was a region of refuge for early Christians, has been conquered by many armies and cultures and has a very diverse history in antiquity. Dating back from 7000 BC and going forward the Hittites were established around 2000 BC and held power for centuries, the fabled city of Tory was here in Turkey, Ramses II lost an important battle to the Hittites here which ended up being the territory now known as Syria.

Alexander the Great fought here and the Romans held reign here as well and then comes Byzantine era. If my facts are correct, St. Paul started the first Christian church in the city of Antioch and established seven churches along a route from Antioch through Cappadocia and into Greece.

As you can see, there is a rich history in Turkey and to fully understand this I suggest that you either search the web or find a good book(s) which will be the case since so much detail has been written from the ages to todays scholars. I am not the one to relate but a few simple facts.

As for Istanbul, you may have been here and therefore know of the vibrancy of this city, its history and culture. For others, regardless of what you may think, have seen or misunderstand, Istanbul is a thriving city, major transportation hub, tourist driven and in recent years become a very modern city with new construction projects every where you look.

Its people are very friendly for the most part and the major tourism of the Sultanahmet district which includes some of the worlds most recognizable Mosques and is a major draw for visitors from around the globe.

To this day they continue to unearth ancient artifacts as well a major archaeological sites within areas of Istanbul and I had the fortune to stumble onto one of these sites which at the time was unguarded.

The major Mosques, one of which is seen in a lot of motion pictures filmed in Istanbul is called "The Blue Mosque" or its proper name Sultanahmet Camii and is reported to be the second larges Mosque in the world. Another important Mosque is "the Aya Sofia" or its proper name, Hagia Sophia which is directly across the street facing the Blue Mosque and is also one of the most photographed feature of Istanbul.

Along with these there is the Topkapi Palace and the ever popular Grand Bazaar which was established in 1461 and has over 4000 shops, currently mostly jewelery and gold shops with a good sprinkling of other products.

Since I have been to Istanbul in past years and my basic interest was not much more than a stopping point before heading into the interior, I did not take too many photographs, especially of the Mosques. The tourists were out in a mass of moving flesh, tour buses lined the streets 15-20 deep, each waiting for their human cargo to be herded back on board for the next location.

Full of new sights, sounds, tastes, colors and culture. Istanbul is still view as an European enough city to be safe for most western tourist yet still be in a country which has the feel of being in area of the world that has the mysterious feel about it. It is not quite the middle east or Egypt but a good middle ground between Europe and the more difficult countries of this region. Safe but still out there just enough.

Now, go get that passport, plan a vacation to the mysteriously exotic city of Istanbul and you can have a small glimpse of this region in safety. There are plenty of organized tour companies which make this easy but I do not subscribe to that mode of travel unless you like being handled like cattle during your visit.

I am leaving for another location so I must end this one. Be good, live life to its fullest and try to travel at every opportunity possible.

Jeff

Train Travel ~ What Fun!!
by Jeff Hammond
October 20, 2009

Hi Again,

After all those emails about Eastern European cities I am sure that you have asked yourself, how did you get from city to city and the answer is a simple one, exclusively by train.

For any of you who have had the pleasure to experience this just stop reading now but for those of you who have not, please continue.

The one thing that the Europeans do have in abundance is a fantastic rail system which has been developed over many decades and they were the first to have ultra high speed bullet trains reaching in some cases 300 kph which for a train is fast.

Most trains are very clean, have excellent service and you can reach most any destination throughout Europe very easily. The options for seating range from first class seats & compartment, second class seats & compartments, sleeping compartments, couchetts, which is a style of compartment and varies depending on which country you are traveling.

In some cases a seat reservation is required however you can purchase an open seating ticket which just allows you to occupy any vacant seat within the class range of the ticket. This works out rather well since a lot of trains do not run half full and in those cases it is possible to have a six seat compartment to yourself all owing that nap or sleep until your arrival at your destination. Many a traveler does this, taking the night train, sleeping on the train, saving money on hostel/hotel expenses.

You will also find a bar car on most longer running trains however the cost of the food is very expensive so most passengers will bring their own food and drink.

If you are leaving say Germany and going to Poland, the initial stage of the run is using a German engine, then after crossing the border, there is an engine switch as well as staff switch to that of the country you have just entered. This is how it works throughout all of Europe when crossing borders. You do not need a visa while traveling in the European
Union member countries however when you arrive in the provisional EU member countries such as Bulgaria, there is a passport control stop but still a visa is not required unless you are from a country which these EU members require a visa to travel. For Americans it is all visa free and I can travel in European countries for up to 90 days.

The rail system is also powered by overhead electrical lines and rarely do you see a locomotive or fuel burning engine which is extremely nice but it does make for visual clutter but I guess trade offs are required.

Most of the train staff are friendly, the conductors/ticket checkers can seem to be a bit impersonal but it is their nature to be this way. Purchasing your ticket can be a bit difficult depending on the country and city you are in but for the most part not all that difficult.

While I am on the train I always take photographs but usually the windows are very dirty or they reflect which does not make for good images so where I can I will lower a window and photograph through the opening or if possible open the door while the train is moving which the conductors absolutely do not like. It is also difficult to take good photographs while zipping around without the images coming out blurred unless that is the effect I am wanting which you will see in one image.

As for the attached images, these are just a few of hundreds but intended to give you a simple feel for the trains, stations, some country side but as I am limited on the number of images I am not able to send more. So take what is presented and enjoy them hopefully.

These will be in order leaving Berlin all the way toward Istanbul.

Well so much for that part.

Jeff

Eastern Europe~A Summary - Part 4
by Jeff Hammond
October 20, 2009

Hi Again,

I am now out of Eastern Europe and enjoying the mysterious city of Istanbul, gateway to the near east and points beyond.

My last stop during my run here was the city of Sofia, capitol of Bulgaria. Sofia is a nice city as a whole, cleaner and more appealing than Bucharest. Of course there is a flourishing tourism industry there as well but during this time of year it is ending their season so the city was relatively calm and the tourists that I did observe were mostly Bulgarian or neighboring countries with a small mix of western Europeans and to my surprise, a sprinkling of Americans.

As for imagery, not too much in the way of churches or lovely buildings, no real historical monuments of great interest so the only few images I am attaching will be of the one cathedral which is in the center of the old city and main tourist district(s). This is called the "Alexander Nevski Cathedral" and is a very beautiful structure from the outside. I also went into the interior but they do not allow "photography" so I had to sneak a few images of poor quality but you can get a simple feel of the interior. There is also one Russian Church which is difficult to photograph due to all the trees but I have included just one image of this as well.

I have incorporated just a few images of street scenes to give a bit of visual flavor but since I was only there for two nights I did not visit the city extensively, ergo, not too many photos. I was and still am on a schedule of sorts, mostly one of staying just ahead of the colder/rainy weather behind me, arriving in Turkey to take advantage of the fabulous weather here this time of year and to spend the next 3-4 weeks traveling this amazing country.

I of course will send out little tidbits of tease later on but for now, all you get is a few simple images of Sofia but the real show is in store during the coming weeks, so if you go on vacation, don't leave your computer behind. No actually do not take it or your mobile phone with you.

I had a friend, business associate that one day came to my office and announced his intentions to go on vacation, that he wanted to tell me personally and make sure that if anything were to happen that he could be reached. Since I was the procurement director for an oilfield supply company, purchasing mass quantities of goods, especially from this vendor, he felt it important to make sure I could reach him. I looked at him and asked if he was taking his computer, he answered yes. I asked if he was taking his mobile, he answered yes. I looked at him and told him that was no vacation, that one must get away from these distractions, leaving the office behind and enjoy the beach or where ever they were and not be worried about business, if only for that short period of time. I asked if he had good staff to back him up, he answered that he did. I asked if they were capable of handling major issues if one came up, he answered in the affirmative. I then asked if he had such good staff why was he so worried.

At the end of our little chat, I assured him that I would not need him, to have a good time and if anything came up I would contact his well trained staff to deal with those issues.

A few days later, some three days into his vacation, I picked up the phone, dialed his mobile phone number and had a bit of fun.
"Hi, Jim, this is Jeff Hammond. I realize that you are on vacation but I have an absolute disaster on my hands and your staff can not handle the crisis." During this conversation I made it seem that the world were burning down, Armageddon was approaching and that if the issues were not taken care of within minutes then life on earth would cease to exist.

He was frantic, asking all sort of question, about his staff, how could he help me and on and on. I believe I was on the phone with him for only five minutes but for him it must has seemed like a lifetime.

Then at the end, I finally let him off the hook and just said, "I told you not to take that mobile phone with you" otherwise you are subject to receiving a prank phone call just like this one, enjoy the rest of your vacation and hung up.

Not sure how I got off on that but it seemed a nice story if only to make the example that for those with little time for vacations/holidays, enjoy the time and leave work behind, trust me, it will still be there when you return, if you employer has not gone out of business during that time away.

Well, back to all of this traveling around and Eastern Europe in general terms.

Sofia was my last Eastern European city and I was anxious to be in Turkey, land of a thousand Mosques, prayer in surround sound five times a day. It was also my last train trip for a while and as we approached Istanbul I was reliving my past experiences of being there. I had one last border to cross which seemed to take forever then the next thing I knew I was in Turkey.

Eastern Europe was wonderful as a whole, the time of year was excellent for this abbreviated tour and even though I only hit the capitol cities it was still a good trip. However the next time I return it will be for the country side rather than the larger cities as this is where the real people live their lives.

So with all this being written and the images I have taken, which I have not fully processed, I will be signing off for now but will leave you with these few images.

Like I wrote earlier, not too much in the way of images in Sofia due to shortness of stay and lack of interesting items but that will change as I am traveling in Turkey so keep watching.

Bye for now
Jeff

Eastern Europe~A Summary - Part 3
by Jeff Hammond
October 8, 2009

Hi,

I realize that some of you may not have Power Point so I am going back to my old format of just attaching the images, aren't you glad and anyway that last one was a bit silly.

So far I have shown a bit of Warsaw & Prague. I have also traveled through the cities of Bratislava and Budapest.

Bratislava is located in Slovakia and as capitol cities go not all that interesting with little in the way of castles or other really interesting buildings or monuments. The one thing that makes this city of interest is a little known movie that came out a number of years ago titled "Hostel" in which a group of travelers decide to stay at a particular hostel in the city of Bratislava and as the movie progresses they are brutally attacked and hacked. In reality this was just a movie and it was not even filmed in Bratislava however after the movie was released it had a drastic negative impact on the tourism in Bratislava which makes one wonder about the mental capacity of some to be able to know the difference between fact and fiction.

With this in mind there will be no images from Bratislava, it was a boring city and whatever sights there were could be seen in two hours of walking leaving me asking why did I even stop there.

The next location is Budapest which is divided by the Danube river. The city consists of two areas, Buda on the western bank and Pest on the
eastern bank of the Danube.

One thing to keep in mind is as one travels further south the cities or capitol cities change in major ways and begin to lose the charm and character of the ones to the north which makes photography a bit more difficult to come up with images of true interest or note worthiness.

Budapest was becoming one of those cities where there was little opportunity for images and unlike Prague does not share the same color and charm but I do try to find it, walking for hours each day and night to bring you a bit of eye candy.

This time I am going to present a bit of night photography along with the mix of the usual daytime images.

After going from the earlier cities one goes through comparisons and the city of Budapest is not anything like the others. In general the streets are not as narrow, the rooftops are not comprised of the beautiful red tiles found in Prague or a lot of European cities. There is a wonderful music scene there though and to my amazement the youth are in love with dancing, all genres of dance. It is also a place of music and concerts, which while I was walking about the city noticed posters advertising the fact that Tom Jones was coming to town and for all you blues rock fans, ZZ Top was making an appearance as well. It was too bad that ZZ Top was two weeks away and I was not about to hang around just to see them since I was one of the lucky few who saw ZZ Top in my home city in a small venue with only 150 people there and half of them left before the show was completed.

The building that housed the hostel I stayed in also housed multiple rooms for dance classes. One was Hip-Hop, one ballroom, one Latin dance
one for swing dance and the list went on as did the classes day and night. Oh, if I hear karaoke anytime soon I will lose my lunch. There
was one club in the building that had this hideous form of music and they sounded like a cat having it tail squashed until 4am.

The youth of Budapest are out in major numbers all times of the night. I was also surprised by the costs and wondered how the locals could afford
all that they were doing. The international "financial" crisis almost sunk the Hungarian economy and inflation is a major problem still but the locals seem to have plenty of cash, how I am not sure as the average monthly wage is about 450 Euros/month which equals $625 usd.

Like the other cities Budapest has a good transit system, buses, underground metro(subway), trolley cars and getting around the city is very easy. Speaking of transit, in some cities these trolley systems are on rails and are powered by overhead electrical lines which is very effective and the systems can extensively cover a city coupled with other modes of transport.

As I wrote earlier, Budapest is not one of those cities that is full of great imagery or colorful buildings. For the most part it is a drab city measured by others in Eastern Europe but it was interesting none the least.

Since I am in Romania now, Bucharest to be exact and leaving for Bulgaria this will be continued at a later date.

Till the next time
Jeff

Market Day Somewhere in Western China
by Jeff Hammond
October 5, 2009

Hi,

Sometimes it takes me a while to do everything while traveling but as I find myself on a 14 hour train ride with no hope of the lights being turned off, I thought I would catch up just a bit.

I am sending you a bit of a story while I was in China earlier in the year.

What you are going to see will be images taken from the bus I was riding high in the mountains going from the border of Vietnam to my very first stop in China to the city of Kunming.

As we were traveling the traffic slowed to a crawl, vehicles squeezing by each other on the narrow roads, people walking past on the roadway going about their daily lives.

As it turned out, we had hit an area on the side of the road where the locals had their open air market. Vendor booths scattered along the road on either side selling a jumbled mixture of all sorts of goods and products.

The images are a series of those taken while we crawled slowly along the highway until we cleared the area and the traffic opened up for faster travel. There is nothing truly special in these images but are simply presented to show you how others live their lives.

I will not present any explanations except for one image which does need an explanation for you to understand what you are seeing. So let the pics begin. This is in sequence as the bus moved along the road.

Well bye for now
Jeff

Eastern Europe~A Summary - Part 2
by Jeff Hammond
September 28, 2009

Hi,

Well, I hope that you enjoyed part one as much as I did.

I am now in Bratislava, that would be in Slovakia for those of you who do not know your geography and need to look at a world map to locate this little portion of the planet.

Because the internet was so terribly slow at my last location, I was unable to send many photos, so here are a few extra from Warsaw.

I am also including some from Prague, that would be in the Czech Republic, go ahead look at the map again.

First let me add that the city of Warsaw is a marvelous city especially considering what was done to it during the war. It is a very modern city, having all the upscale department stores one would find in other parts of the world. It is clean, the people are friendly for the most part and it a remarkable city to visit.

Like a lot of other European cities, it has a certain feel and charm. The open courtyards where the restaurants line the perimeter with their umbrellaed eating spots, the street performers of all varieties, the unique and charming architecture with the vivid colorations and decorations of the buildings along with its history makes Warsaw a very special city. Warsaw is also the home of Copernicus the astronomer.

I am also including images of Prague in the Czech Republic which is south of Poland. Prague is located along the Danube river and for the most part was spared the horrific destruction that befell Warsaw.

Prague is of course a very touristic city. It is full of visitors from all parts of the world, young and old alike. A lot of people in Prague take organized walking tours so they can learn of the history as they see the sites.

The city is beautiful with its red tiled rooftops but then a lot of other European cities are adorned with red tile rooftops. There are also a lot of unique architectural structures and styles (churches, monasteries, castles) and each has its unique charm but also share a lot of similarities as well in their construction and themes.

The city streets in the old city are very narrow with tall buildings that block out the light. The roads are mostly paved with brick or stone as are the sidewalks which only enhances the charm of these areas.

Between Warsaw and Prague there is a lot of history which I am unqualified to write about but there are plenty of books that tell their stories much better than do I.

I send these humble images to help those few that have never experienced this part of the world with a little understanding if only visually.

The first image is from a hilltop view of Prague looking at a small portion of the city. In the image to the left is Prague Castle and you can also see the Danube river to the center.

The next one is for fun. I ran across this unusual vehicle in one of the many squares found in Prague and as you will notice it has seating for six which apparently it is used to drive the tourist around the city streets while enjoying a beverage(beer) hopefully.

A closer view of Prague Castle.

Another view of the Prague city looking from across the Danube river.

Finally there are very few buildings still standing from the old Jewish ghetto in Warsaw and those that are still around serve as memorials to those that were slaughtered in the uprising in Warsaw. This last image is one of the few remaining builds still standing. Note the images on the side of the building.

As with any place I visit, it is always difficult to choose images to send out and there are again just too many to select from but I hope that you enjoy these few.

Jeff

Eastern Europe~A Summary - Part 1
by Jeff Hammond
September 25, 2009

Brandenberg Gate	Reich Stag	Spires	Jewish Cemetery	Jewish Cemetery	Warsaw	Kiros Hagdu	Kiros Hagdu	Catholic Wedding

Hi,

There is only so much heat and humidity a person can endure and with that in mind I am now traveling through Eastern Europe. It is such a wonderful change in the weather and I am dealing with the emotional trauma of actually enjoying clear skies, not a lot of pollution and needing to weave when I walk on the super crowded streets of an Asian city.

I have been derelict in my duties, using the word "lazy" is so close to being politically incorrect, oh, who cares, I have been lazy and have not processed a lot of images until now and I am only sending a few. If you have traveled in any of these cities, then hopefully these images will bring back good memories. If you have not, then you should take the time to venture to this part of Europe. Of course this time of years is in my opinion, the absolute best time to be here.

These will be from Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Turkey and then forward.

I am not writing too much detail about the locations other than where it is and maybe a bit more.

I start with Germany. Berlin. Modern day Brandenberg Gate. It was once a major symbol of the communist control over this area. Note the person standing in front with the American Flag. Interesting what a tourist will take to when traveling.

The next is the Reich Stag in Berlin. This I believe from my history lessons in school is where the German government would assemble especially during the "war to end all wars". I believe that all or most of the building was destroyed from Allied bombings.

I also add this stylized version of image of a location in Berlin, I am not sure just where or what these spires represent but I could not help myself just had to add a bit of art photography to the mix. This is an actual place in Berlin.

Next is Warsaw, home to the Holocaust, Jewish ghettos, total devastation during the war and adding insult to injury, suffered under communist control in horrid circumstances.

Since the majority of all buildings were destroyed the city has been reconstructed using primarily old painting, photographs, architectural plans not destroyed as their guide and a remarkable city exists now.

It is one not to be missed if you are in Europe and the best time of year is of course, early-late September. The best weather.

I will get the depressing part over with first. It is of the Jewish cemetery in Warsaw. Presented in black & white to underscore the emotional flux of the moment, whatever that is for each individual.

Burial markers everywhere, untended, toppled over, no markings of most, some unsnarled with massive tree roots, hidden in the thick vegetation which is neglected by all.

Of course, what would a good city be without street performers? I have a personal friend who is a professional contortionist. This means he can twist his body in some interesting ways. Please give your applause to my friend Kiros Hagdu of Ethiopia. He has been entertaining throughout Europe with many different circus troupes and is extremely interesting to know and watch. Two images presented, one of Kiros working his way through a tennis racket the other an example of how he can contort is body.

I will end with these few images with a happier note. What do you do just after you have been married down the street in a huge Catholic wedding ceremony, you go eat a Joe's Schnitzel Stand for that yummy treat. Why is it that the photographer always takes the image when your mouth is full?

Just too much to send at one time and too much subject matter but I hope you enjoy these and maybe decide to travel to Eastern Europe before you close you eyes for the last time.

Well bye for now
Jeff

Dazu Stone Carvings
by Jeff Hammond
September 24, 2009

Dazu Stone Carvings

Hi,

Well, I am a bit late in sending this out but while I was still traveling in China and I located an area where the local peoples decided it would be a great idea to take a number of mountain locations and begin by carving them with a variety of figures.

These carvings are all in the face of these different mountains, not high mountains but at least 600 meters in altitude.

The area is about 2 hours by bus to the west of one to the larger cities in China, that being Chongqing, population between 20-30 million depending on how the count is made.

Chongqing is not too far south of the area where the Yangtze river has been damed with the worlds largest dam and producing what is know as the Three Gorges Dam. Sorry, no photos of the dam, and beside, it is not completed. Google it and you can read about it.

Below, thanks to one web site is a bit of history on this area;

The Dazu Rock Carvings was built from 650 in the Tang Dynasty and continued to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and the Qing Dynasty (1616-1911). It is as famous as the Mogao Cave in Dunhuang, Gansu Province. The rock carvings in these places are very distinguished both at home and abroad. Among the rock carvings, there are more than 5,000 statues and over 100,000 Chinese characters of inscriptions and epigraphs. The Buddhist statues dominate in this rock carving group, and the Taoist and the Confucian stone figures can also be seen Baodingshan Rock Carving - It is made up of 13 groups of stone carving figures, totaling nearly 10 thousand cliffside figures. In this part, magnificent rock figures in different shapes compose a story. One will see some original and ethnic Buddhist rock features.

Well, wasn't all the above extremely enlightening. There are a total of 5 specific areas where these carvings can be seen, however, the most important one is the one described above and where I headed.

As you approach the entry it seems simple enough but then you walk full face into the first gallery of carvings and as you work your way along the cliff face and the walkways that were constructed to see these it becomes clear how intricate each one of these carving are and come to appreciate just how long it must have taken to hew the image from the rocks.

I am only attaching a few images just to give you an idea of what has been done here because it is difficult to take all the individual shots which are done at a wide angle and make sense of it for you, however, it is an interesting place to say the least. It is also not one of the more popular tourist locations which thankfully held the crowds down.

The reclining Buddha is very large and over 12 meters, about 42 feet in overall length and if you notice the railing in front this gives an idea of the height of the carving.

Hope you enjoy.
Jeff

Great Wall of China
by Jeff Hammond
March 22, 2007

Jeff in China	Great Wall of China	Chinese Warriors	Chinese Warriors	Great Wall of China	Hooters in China

Hi,

Yesterday I decided to visit the Great Wall, which was about 120 kilometers North East of Beijing. This is only one of many sections of the Great Wall that you can visit. I chose this particular section for the reason that it was in its natural state and had not been restored like some of the other areas where the tourist traffic is so heavy.

This section was 10 kilometers long which required a lot of climbing as the wall was built along the mountain range with some extremely steep sections to climb, almost vertical.

As you travel this wonder of man, one can only speculate what it must have been like to build this amazing structure. In most places the walls are 8 meters high. As you can see by the few photos, it is showing its age. I am not sure how long ago this particular section was built but it has endured time very well.

It took me about 4 hours to walk and climb the 10 kilometers. Some of that time was used to take these photographs.

I had seen and heard about the Terra-cotta warriors which were discovered in the region of Xi'an, China which was the location of the 1st Emperor of China, which I believe was the Qin dynasty, here is a link to a web site to read about these amazing figures and the history. http://www.bmy.com.cn/english/qls/L8.htm

It was impressive as to the size and scope of the main pit and was an obligatory visit since I was here in Xi'an. So, enjoy the pictures.

As usual, there is no amount of photographs that can do something of this magnitude any justice, so please just make your flight arrangements now and go visit in person.

I hope that you enjoy the pictures.

Jeff Hammond
World Traveler Extraordinaire

Tom with Plane	Hills	Tom and Canoe	Towers	Cactus	Topo View
Tent	Bella Luna	Red Flowers	Another View	Crosses	Sunset

Trip to Big Bend
by Dr. Tom Parker
April, 2007

In early April 07, after waiting over a week for the cold rainy weather to clear, I packed the plane with my folding bicycle, hiking shoes and camping gear and flew the Cessna 172 to Big Bend, via San Angelo, then cutting south along the Texas border to Lajitas. This is a long 11 hour trip by car, about 620 road miles, but takes only a little over 4hrs in the plane, mainly because as the crow flies the distance is much shorter and the plane averages about 115 mph. Being a small plane, it also gets good gas mileage.

I got off to a late start and had to make an unscheduled stop. It was getting dark and the mountains were looming ahead. I looked up the nearest airstrip on my GPS and made a night landing in the tiny community of Iraan. I found out there were no motels, got out my little tent (photo) and slept under the wing of the plane, with coyotes howling all night in the distance. Good thing for those ear plugs.

The next morning I flew on to Lajitas, had lunch at the nice 5 star resort there, looked at the fancy golf course and equestrian center, but at $300-$500 a night for one person, decided not to stay. Luckily, I had my tent and I wanted to try it out. I flew over the majestic scenery of Big Bend National Park, Terlingua, Big Bend State Park, over to Presidio and back. Clear blue skies and warm calm weather. I landed at lots of remote airstrips, which were a fun challenge and practiced soft field landings and takeoffs. I had arrived just as the cactus were coming into bloom (photos) and they were gorgeous. The area had received just the right amount of rain this year to make the desert bloom.

I rented a car and had supper at the quaint Twilight Theater in the ghost town of Terlingua, with the newly arrived motor cycle gang. It was like the movie, Wild Hogs! Bought a cool western hat at the general store, the site of the Annual Chili Cook-off. Drove up to the beautiful Chisos Mtn Basin, put up the tent and slept under a star filled sky, for $7, a discount because I was finally 62. I love being old! The next day drove down to the Rio Grande near the Mexican town of Boquillas. The river crossing has been closed since 9/11, but there were Mariachis playing the guitar on the other side of the river, which is only 20 yards wide. It was hot, 102 degrees by the river, but 20 degrees cooler in the higher elevation of the Chisos Mtn. All the desert cactus were full of color with their flowers.

The next day took a nice bicycle ride through the beautiful desert and mountain scenery, then a hike up the Lost Mine Trail for fantastic panoramas.

Then time to head back. What a great trip!

High on Route 66
(Road Notes, October 2006)
by Karl Williams

Brave Little RV	Cadillac Ranch	Route 66	Dust Bowl	Dust Bowl	Winslow	Winslow Again
Winslow x 3	On the Road to Sedona	Grand Canyon	Sedona	Jerome, AZ	Jerome, House of Joy	Grants NM, KOA in Lava field

We left early last week headed up US 287 for a visit with friends in Gunnison, Colorado. We were in the brave little RV, pulling our “toad,” a little Chevy 4x4 Tracker. However, at the first night in a RV park in Amarillo, we heard the news that a big snowstorm was descending on Colorado. Well, we thought, maybe our little RV is not that brave. So, we abruptly changed our plans and decided to continue west on Interstate 40 (nee Route 66 – The Mother Road) bound for Flagstaff and Sedona, AZ, rather than take our chances by continuing north up US 287. 

For me, the most important road marker for entry into the High Southwest from the east is at the iconic sculpture, Cadillac Ranch, on the western side of Amarillo. From there, west along that most famous stretch of open highway, my mind is always filled with lyrics of the great Road Songs it has inspired. The most famous, of course, is Route 66, with its exciting naming of towns that lay before us – Albuquerque, Gallup, Flagstaff, and not to forget Winona! Also, Woody Guthrie’s Ballad of Tom Joad and the vision of Grapes of Wrath and the migration out of The Dust Bowl. It’s very easy to imagine the sight of those old cars, loaded high, driving on the old 66 pavement, which is still very much in evidence for long stretches beside Interstate 40. 

Passing through Winslow, AZ, the lyrics of The Eagles’, Take It Easy, came to mind:  Well, I’m standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona and such a fine sight to see. It’s a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford slowin’ down to take a look at me.  Come on, baby, don’t say maybe. I gotta know if your sweet love is gonna save me… Take it easy, take it easy, don’t let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy.

Driving The Mother Road between Amarillo and Flagstaff is a wonderful history lesson -- filled with the marvelous wide-open vistas of The Great American West at her most remote and awe-inspiring best. There is also a sense of great melancholy about ghosts while looking at the old road bed and long-abandoned filling stations, tourist courts, and road houses..  The best stretch is between Gallup and Flagstaff.  The high desert flowers were in unexpected late bloom beside the road and continued uninterrupted, except for those places where truck drivers had gone to sleep and left deep ruts. I thought about Willin' by Little Feat -- I been warped by the rain, driven by the snow...Driven every kind of rig that's ever been made...taking the back roads so I wouldn't get weighed... There were other songs too, some inspired by the Santa Fe railroad tracks that run along side the route. You know, tunes about Hobos and Railroad Bulls, big rock candy mountains and cigarette trees….

While we missed the frigid snowstorm in Colorado, the weather in Arizona was also fairly brisk but very enjoyable. The temperature by day was in the 50's, bright and clear blue without any clouds, but well below freezing by night. It felt very good to snuggle up in our sleeping bags. We set up our primary camp at a very pleasant RV camp just south of Flagstaff and from there made a tour of the area in the little car, driving out to the Grand Canyon, Sedona, Jerome, and other interesting places. We put over 500 miles on the little car and over 2000 on the RV, in summary, it was an excellent trip. And-- although it is very good to be back home to our own bed and tub and geriatric cat, Annie -- I’d be Willin' to hit the Open Road again first thing in the morning.  

K

Terlingua Revisited, February, 2005
by Karl Williams

There are many reasons why people come to live in The Big Bend Country and in the course of conversation with them the subject seems to come up invariably and quickly.  Maybe it’s because of that Enormous Landscape – so rugged and remote – which seems to somehow demand an explanation for every living thing that lives there. 

Last week, Judye and I made the long drive – 600 miles from Fort Worth.  Bert & Leon rendezvoused with us in Study Butte where they pitched their tent close to our RV.  The next morning, the four of us took a very enjoyable drive through the Big Bend National Park, returning to our base camp at Study Butte in the late afternoon to ready ourselves for the primary purpose of our trip – a party being hosted by our friend, Blair Pittman, at his interesting abandoned mine site home in the middle of the Chihuahua Desert well off the lonesome road between Terlingua and Lajatis.     

Bert & Leon	Mica Reflections	Blair & Karl	Enroute	Gathering Party	Party Again

In the Mine	Opera Singer	View	Karl	Sunset	Into the Hole

Judye at Canyon	Porch View	BBQ	Walk to Mine	Entering Mine	Locals Jamming

RV Park	Store	Santa Elena	String Band	Sunset View	Villa de la Mina

Cloudy Sunset View	Villa de la Mina	Walk to Mine	Relaxing

Blair had promised an opera singer performing in a natural cavern the early Cinnabar miners had busted into a hundred years ago, about 75 yards deep into the base of the large mesas on which his cabin sits.  He said this event would be followed by an excellent BBQ dinner and other entertaining events to be held in the ruin structures on the surface. We were not disappointed!  

The party group – we counted over 80 people – was composed of many eccentric people who, like Blair, have come to live in the Big Bend; plus, a number of outsiders – like ourselves – mostly friends of Blair’s from his photojournalist time spent with the Houston Chronicle and National Geographic.  There were also lots of Blair’s fellow Spelunkers for whom he is something of a celebrity, having written a number of books on the subject and almost single-handedly invented the art of Cave Photography.

Judye and I were among the first to be lead into the mine, which, once inside, became a maze of shafts going off in different directions.  Tiny votive candles very dimly lighted the route to the natural cavern.

Ok, I’ll admit it right now: I didn’t like the experience and have since vowed that I’ll not be going underground again for as long as I can avoid it. A sense of claustrophobic panic was fast rising in my throat as I tired to pick my way through the labyrinth while holding tight to the neck of an opened 1.5 liter bottle of red wine.  I could feel the pressure of more experienced people behind quickly growing irritated with my slow pace.  It was taking every fiber of my being simply to place one foot in front of the other and  I could hear voices behind me saying, Hey, what’s the hold up?  Let’s get moving up there!” 

The opera singer was excellent.  She sang some selections from Puccini, each high “C” finding me looking nervously up at the stalactites on the high cavern ceiling.  Everyone else seemed to find the opera cave event simply marvelous.  For my part, Yoyo Ma, Django Rinehart, and John Coltrane could have been accompanying Maria Callas and I would have wanted outa there just as fast!  Judye took a number of photographs with her digital camera and we were later surprised to discover that the tiny bits of mica in the cave walls reflected back, making for very interesting effects. 

Blair had timed the party’s exit from the mine so that all the guests could walk up the path to the top of the mesa in time to enjoy the incredible sunset against the Chisos Mountains. the sky was simply marvelous and worth every minute of panic  inside the mine.  We then had an opportunity to visit with some of the other guests. 

We spent some time talking with a very attractive young woman dressed in a long print skirt with tall cowboy boots who said she was building a house in the ghost town of Terlingua.  She said she was carrying the materials on her back up a ¼ mile path.  She had come to the Big Bend on a chance visit from her home in Seattle and found that she did not want to leave.  Several other people we talked with were river guides working for Far Flung Adventures, the Rio Grande outfit that takes tourists through the rapids in Santa Elena and Boqiullas Canyon.  Oh yeah, Blair’s BBQ briskets and fixings where marvelous!  He had smoked many large briskets slowly for 24 hours.  The resulting smoke ring and taste was simply superb. 

The next day, the four of us drove deep into the Big Bend National Park and found a place to set up our camp, drink wine, cook some marvelous steaks, and lay back to look up at the Milky Way.  Later, we drove to Marfa, TX where Bert & Leon opted for a night in the recently remodeled hotel where the cast of Giant once stayed as Judye and I moved on north to park the RV in the Davis Mountains. 

That night, Bert & Leon drove out to the parking spot officially operated by the State of Texas for roadside viewing of the Mysterious Marfa Lights; and, actually saw them!!!  They said they rose from the horizon as luminous balls of bright light – turning from blue to orange – and darted around the sky at hyper speed. 

So, that’s the story, folks.  Texas is still a very big, wide-open place with lots of very marvelous sights to see and interesting people to meet.  Let’s hit the road again, soon. ok?

K

Buffalo Hunt	Buffalo Hunt	Great Plains	Great Plains	Judye	Rushmore

Karle	Mt. Rushmore	Old Bones	Coke Machine	RV Driving	Sturgis

Road Notes:  July 2004:  South Dakota, Journal Entry, July 28:

“This morning’s sextant reading indicates 44 degrees, 18 minutes North; 96 degrees, 48 minutes West.  The air temperature is 46 F. We decide that based on remaining stores, going further north is unadvisable. Our clean underwear and socks are exhausted. No opportunity at hand to renew supply of Rene Junot “vin de table.” Fuel prices have exceeded $2.00 per gallon as we have moved north. This morning at coffee, we contemplate maps and decide to return home via the quickest route. ”

In retrospect, the Wide Open Road Trip to South Dakota was very excellent, including Big Sky Western Vistas; up-close views of ranching and farming life on the Great Plains of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and South Dakota. There were lots of small critters and big game spotted along the way toward The Black Hills and adjoining Bad Lands. 

Much of the land traveled through belonged to the Great Sioux Nation – once complete with ancient herds of buffalo. It’s so sad that the apogee of their Incredible Freedom occurred so briefly after the reintroduction of the Horse to this continent by the very people that would eventually kill all the buffalo and put the mighty Sioux in Indian Reservations. It’s the greatest of tragic ironies ever, it seems to me.   

While ordering hamburgers at roadside McDonalds and Burger Kings, I made note that many of our servers had the young faces of Sitting Bull, Big Little Man, Rain-In-the Face, Gaul; and, one assumes, Crazy Horse – although no photographs were ever taken of him.  I thought a lot about Dee Brown’s Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee. 

We were at one time on the Rosebud Reservation and very close to the Wounded Knee Creek. But, the road to the massacre site was primitive and we could not go there in the motor home. (Historical note:  After the murder of Crazy Horse by Crow Indian assassins hired by the U.S. Army, his parents found his body and cut out his heart so his Sioux Sprit might ride again to fight on another day. They buried his heart somewhere on the Wounded Knee Creek which ran beside were we were parked.  

We had started our turn north in the Texas Panhandle on Highway 83, an honest working class highway for wheat columbine crews moving north, cattle trucks, tractors, and pick-up-trucks.  But, mostly our highway trip was absent of other vehicles for many hours of driving. We passed through huge ranches in Texas and Oklahoma and in Kansas and Nebraska the wide-open Plains were planted with immense cornfields. Once, we stopped in a small town in Nebraska to buy some new sweet corn from some teenage girls sitting in the back of a roadside truck. There is great beauty to be admired in the healthy good looks of the young farm and ranch people growing up in this part of the country–German, Swede, and Norwegian stock mostly -- fair skinned, blond, blue-eyed, with round and well-formed limbs.   

On our first night in Nebraska, we camped all alone above a lovely lake. A powerful cold front was moving in with lots of rain and temperatures that fell into the 40’s. It’s really great to get cozy in the RV with rain pelting down outside. The next morning, we diverted our route a bit to visit the huge Cabella’s store in Sidney, Nebraska. It’s a Mecca for Sportsmen–guns, camouflage hunting gear, fly-fishing accoutrement, and all kinds of neat manly stuff.  There were grown men running uncontrolled up and down the isles. Judye said the smell of testosterone was so thick one could cut it with a large, shiny, hunting knife. While there, we both bought raingear jackets that came in very handy as it remained cold and wet for several days.

The Black Hills, Mount Rushmore, the perpetually in-process Crazy Horse Memorial, and Deadwood are “a blur of naked commercialism.” Interstate 90 provides an open door to vacationing tourists families from Chicago, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis and the road is crowed with anti-gravity houses, reptile gardens, and Indian Trading Posts offering salt water taffy and authentic rubber tomahawks and bows and arrows with suction cup tips. 

Sturgis, South Dakota, on the other hand, is decidedly not family friendly, unless your family happens to be the Hell’s Angels. I’d often read about the annual gathering of motorcyclists in Sturgis–it’s something like their own Mardi Gras--and was interested to find the town very busy with preparations for the rally, which was set to take place the following week.  We enjoyed shopping among the vendors tents on Main Street looking at leather gear and mountains of black tee-shirts printed with great images of skulls, naked women, and colorful slogans celebrating the motorcycle credo–Beer, Booze, Babes, Bikes; Rape, Pillage, Plunder; Apocalypse Now!  

We had noted an unusual number of riders on the road, coming from every point in the nation. They were all headed toward Sturgis, gathering in groups, stopping to camp together, smoking grass, passing around bottles of Jack Daniels, exchanging addresses, preparing for the great costume drama in Sturgis!  Lawyers, doctors, and accountants on $30,000 Harleys in their black leathers will soon be mixed in a crazy party with the real Hell’s Angels wearing tattoos that do not wash off. 

Regarding Mount Rushmore. Like everyone else, my memory of this place is primarily based on Hitchcock’s movie, North by Northwest. I was disappointed not to see Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint climbing around on George Washington’s nose. The National Park Service has turned this monument into an extravaganza of patriotic fervor. 

One interesting site nearby is called Mammoth Springs. It’s a place where many Mammoths and other creatures living 50,000 years ago–giant short faced bears, saber-toothed tigers, giant bison, camels, etc. –were attracted by warm spring waters and fell into a muddy bog from which they could not escape.  Now, a huge building has been erected over the site so archeologists can carefully extract the remarkably preserved skeletons. This was a very exciting experience.

Oh yea, guess I’ve got to also mention Kevin Cosner’s eccentric–and in many ways embarrassingly egotistical and simple-minded–edifice to celebrate his newly awaked understanding of the American Indian, which occurred apparently as a result of his filming the movie Dances With Wolves. It’s located just outside of Deadwood and features a large array of life-sized bronze sculpture of buffalos being driven over a cliff by Indians on horseback. The scope of the sculpture is very impressive and the location is simply beautiful, looking out over the Great Plains. Upon entering ($6.00 a head–senior rate) visitors are herded into a movie theater to witness a lengthy film of Cosner’s remarks at the dedication ceremony. He prattles on for what seems like hours about Indians and Buffalos and the evil White People (most all of us in the captured audience) who had mindlessly destroyed a Paradise where Indians and Movie Stars could ride Free. Damn, guess I just wasn’t up for a lecture from Kevin that assumed I was not aware of History. 

Our route home was south down Highway 81, which intersected with Interstate 35 in Wichita, Kansas.  It had started to rain again, the windshield wipers making time, a really good radio station playing 60’s and 70’s music. We drove in silence for long periods, each involved with our own thoughts. It was good. It was very good.

K

Mysterious New Mexico
by Karl Williams

Alien Doctor	Judye & Alien	Ranch	Montosa Near VLA	VLA Group	VLA Repairs

Rick,

Our recent Seldom Traveled Roads trip into New Mexico was wonderful. There were great vistas, turquoise skies; and, this time, a special bent of interest toward The Mysterious: Alien visitations; the record of strange events left by ancient Indians, and monstrous modern instruments, standing like silent sentinels watching and waiting for the arrival of a Message from Outer Space. 

Guess it all got started at the Alien Museum in Roswell. Our friend, Nancy Harrison, had asked us to stop there, not so much because she is a Trekkie, but because she has an extraordinarily high-developed appreciation of the Bizarre and Unusual. We looked very closely at all the exhibits and came away absolutely convinced that an alien space craft did indeed crash on a near-by ranch and that an alien survivor was taken into Government control, later died, and became the subject of a now famous and very secret autopsy that The Government Authorities Have Never Revealed to the Public! 

According to the museum documentation, the autopsy took place at a top-secret hanger on the US Air Force base at Alamogordo called Site 51. Our minds raced with all the conspiratorial possibilities now exposed! Our walk through the museum was on a self-guided tour and exited through the Alien Gift Shoppe where we browsed for some time before continuing our Journey of Discovery, now much more attune to the wonderful, low-budget, Horror Movie potential of the passing landscape. Looking down the endless highway as we entered the Alamogordo Plateau, our little RV suddenly felt to me like a very well-equipped and comfortable spaceship.      

The Alamogordo Plateau is so very interesting, containing at one end the White Sands Missile Testing Grounds, in the middle the Three Rivers Petroglyph Site where the images of an ancient people are seen depicted seemingly agog at the sun symbol that now adorns the flag of New Mexico; and, very close by, Trinity Site, where the first man-made nuclear explosion took place in 1946. At the north end of the valley there are huge lava beds where the folds in the once molten rock can still be seen. We stopped there for a while to admire a solitary golden eagle hunting from high above.  

We drove on – inside our brave little RV spaceship -- to a higher and seemingly uninhabited plateau west of Magdalena, NM on US Hwy 60. It’s here that one can first see and then, after another hour of driving, finally get close to the National Radio Observatory VLA (Very Large Array.) Now, this is the place that will set all your neck hairs on end, should you have any curiosity about Outer Space and other Alien things!  

The radio telescope is simply immense: many – maybe 25 or so -- truly gigantic dishes pointed up toward the sky, each dish the size of a 10 story building, mounted on railroad tracks to position each one so that the entire array can be pointed to peer into Deep Outer Space.  It’s Our Eyes and Ears into the Galactic Past and the place from which we are most likely to receive That Telephone Call we have all been waiting for.

Interestingly, we did not see another Human Being while visiting the Very Large Array. There were signs that directed us on a walking tour that took us close to the enormous dishes. A number of the signs warned us to watch out for snakes. Turns out, the control of the VLA site is often by remote control from scientists at other locations on Planet Earth. Just Imagine: these huge monoliths in the middle of a high desert -- 8000 feet --suddenly coming alive and moving; slowly crawling down their railroad tracks, huge gears whining, electric motors humming. We found it all very interesting and, well, kinda spooky!

During the long trip toward the VLA Site, we had passed by a ranch gate and noted a newly painted sign that said “RV Camping."  We stopped and drove back to explore this interesting possibility. Turns out the owners of the 50,000-acre ranch had decided to make some extra bucks by developing campsites on their wonderful land. Think we may have been their first customers! 

While our little spaceship, when rigged for deep space, can sustain itself on internal power and fluids for some time, it’s still nice to find a spot to plug into external power, water, and a sewer pipe when available. It’s very rare to find this opportunity in such remote locales. The ranch owners told us, “be sure and look at the sky tonight,” which turned out to be an absolutely enormous understatement! Little wonder the VLA site it located on this plateau as there is a totally unrestricted view of the nighttime sky; stars, wall-to-wall, horizon- to-horizon. The views of the Milky Way and the rest of the Universe were dumbfounding. We drank a bottle of wine in the dark with our heads bent back, agog at The Grand Mystery of it All.

Postscript: Judye experienced a sudden need for more jewelry one evening as I was grilling steaks and the next morning we pulled up camp and headed North toward Gallup and the Zuni Reservation, driving through The Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert. We arrived in Zuni, NM on a brilliant Sunday morning and found a number of the shops open. Damn, those Zuni’s are such wonderful craftsmen with silver and turquoise! Judye came away with several very lovely pieces at which point we declared it a successful trip and pulled onto Interstate 40 and headed East for the long drive home. 

K