Gulliver's Travels

Gulliver's Travels 06/22/2020

6/22/2020

Mexico--Baja California and Copper Canyon

I've been intrigued with Baja California (Lower California in English) for many decades now. It seemed so exotic, so rugged. So in mid-February I finally got to experience it. And once past the many towns south of Tijuana, "the Baja" is, indeed, very rugged for much of the way to the very southern tip of the peninsula, at Cabo San Lucas (which I spent little time in, as I do not relish resorts or resort towns). My friend and I rented a car in Tijuana and drove the surprisingly good roads all the way. Even more surprising was the 80 kilometers per hour speed limit, or about 47 MPH--especially since for much of the way we would see another car only after five to ten minutes.

We then flew from La Paz to Los Mochis, across the Gulf of California, where we took a taxi to the colonial town of El Fuerte. The next day we took the famous Copper Canyon train across the Sierra Madre Mountains, which ends in the city of Chihuahua. Copper Canyon rivals the Grand Canyon in size, being almost as deep at around 6000 feet. However, in my opinion it is not as pretty as the Grand Canyon. But it certainly is worth the price of a train ticket.

Being very dry, the Baja has plenty of cacti.

And the unusual rock formations are just as numerous.

The Gulf of California, on the east coast of Baja

The Hotel California in Todos Santos-but it is NOT the one referred to in the Eagles song

The church in the beautiful colonial town of El Fuerte

A beautiful quaint hotel in El Fuerte

There are many such windows in El Fuerte

This is the dining room of my hotel, Posada del Hidalgo, reputedly visited often by local hometown hero El Zorro

Statue of El Zorro in my hotel

Copper Canyon

A shrine along the road near the train tracks

Sleeping while standing--only in Mexico

Church in the town of Creel

I never saw such colored clouds

The cathedral in Chihuahua

Epilogue

I know several people who will not visit anywhere in Mexico other than resort areas. But they never get to see the real Mexico. I find the "real Mexico" quite safe, far cheaper than resorts, and much more interesting. But, then, different strokes for different folks, I guess.

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Gulliver's Travels Egypt Part 3 - The Sinai

5/25/2020

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The Sinai

The Sinai is a peninsula on the eastern edge of Egypt, with the Gulf of Aqaba (connected to the Red Sea) on its east and the Gulf of Suez on its west. It is a mountainous desert, and it was made famous in the biblical accounts of Moses. After spending 40 days on Mt. Horeb (renamed Mt. Sinai), Moses is to have received the Ten Commandments on two stone tablets from God at the "burning bush." (According to Monty Python, he received THREE with 15 commandments, but he dropped one and smashed it.) And Moses led the Israelites out of Eqypt through the Sinai, then escaping the pursuing army of Pharaoh Ramesses II by parting the Red Sea. I mainly went there to see those places, as I love to visit famous places I've read about (I like to name drop).

Mushroom Rock in White Canyon, which is 20 feet high

Hiking in White Canyon

Bedouin girls

St. Catharine's Monastery, founded in 527 A.D. on the reputed spot of the "burning bush" that Moses saw on Mt. Horeb (Sinai)

This bush is reputed to be the bush that Moses saw "burning".

Many camels wander about the desert.

The truck is carrying rolls of Styrofoam. A bit disconcerting to be following such a truck.

I would never carry cattle in MY truck.

Epilogue

Of the 50 Favorite Man-Made Places of mine, the pyramids sit at the top. And the temples along the Nile rank number fourteen. Both rank number 10 on a scale of 1-10. Thus, both need to be considered to visit before one dies.

Should you worry about terrorism, thieves, or whatever? Not much. I never saw so many police in my life! And I was constantly told by strangers how much they liked Americans. None scowled at me. So go!

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Gulliver's Travels -05/18/2020 Egypt Part 2 - Temples of the Nile

5/18/2020

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Temples of the Nile

The Nile River, at 6132 miles empties into the Mediterranean Sea at Alexandria, Egypt. Without the Nile, there would be no Egypt, only the Sahara. But by irrigating with it, Egypt was to become one of the first civilizations over 5000 years ago. The numerous rulers of that civilization built countless temples, tombs, and other structures along the Nile century after century. So many are in still in such good shape that it would take years to visit them all. In two trips, I've only scratched the surface.

On the east side of the Nile, two huge temples, the Temple of Amun at Karnak (of Johnnie Carson fame in Karnak the Magnificent) and Luxor, are almost worth the price of a plane ticket themselves. But then on the west side of the Nile more are to be found. The biggest attraction there is the Valley of the Kings, where the tombs of 26 pharaohs (kings) are. All are deep underground in a valley amongst low, barren mountains. I entered four of them, including that of King Tutankhamun (Tut).

I started touring the temples on the Nile in southern Egypt at Abu Simbel. Then I traveled by car for 300 miles to the city of Luxor.

Great Temple of Abu Simbel: This 103-foot high temple of the 13th Century, B.C., was to be submerged in the 1960s by the rising waters behind the new Aswan Dam. It was cut apart and moved 213 feet higher and 688 feet back to a new location.

The left side of Abu Simbel

Inside Abu Simbel

The right side of Abu Simbel

The Temple of Amun at Karnak, city of Luxor, built from 2000 B.C. to 1100 B.C.

Luxor Temple, city of Luxor, built from 1550 B.C. to 1200 B.C

Luxor Temple at night

Medinet, Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III, 1153 B.C.

Medinet Temple

Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, 1503-1482 B.C.

Tomb of Ramose, visir (architect) of King Amenhotep III, at Deir Al-Medina

Valley of the Kings

Dale inside the tomb of King Tutankhamun (or King Tut), who reigned from 1336-1307 B.C., with his mummy

Typical farm transport vehicle

Next week's posting on Gulliver's Travels will cover my visit to the Sinai, a peninsula on the east side of Egypt.

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Gulliver's Travels 05/11/2020 Egypt (Part 1- The Pyramids)

5/11/2020

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Egypt - Part 1
The Pyramids

I primarily visited Egypt in January to continue my research on tombs. As I am now 77, it's time to select one that befits my stature. I've already seen the Taj Mahal and rejected it as ostentatious. And the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi in Xi'an, China, where he was buried with 7000 terra cotta soldiers and horses, creeped me out when I saw it and considered being buried the same way. In Egypt I visited King Tut's tomb and several pyramids, each a tomb for a pharaoh of what is called The Old Kingdom. Right now, I'm leaning towards a version of Tut's tomb, so now I must contact the director of the cemetery at St. Casimir's in Northeim, where three generations of Sieverts rest, to see what I can build there.

Seriously, Egypt simply stuns the senses. Over 5000 years ago they established a civilization before first the Persians, then the Greeks, and finally the Romans subdued them. So many of the structures they built, temples, tombs, and obelisks, still stand. Will any of our structures last three to five thousand years?

I first flew to Aswan in the south, a city on the Nile River. Then I took a taxi 200 miles north down the Nile to Luxor, site of numerous temples and tombs of kings. Next, I flew to the Sinai Desert, the land of Moses, in the eastern part of Egypt before flying to Cairo to see the nearby pyramids at Giza and Saqqara.

Dorothy and I visited Egypt in 2004, and it was her favorite place in the world she ever visited. She especially liked climbing inside the tallest pyramid, all the way to the burial chamber of King Khufu. Not for the claustrophobic, it was extremely narrow and steep--but thrilling to navigate.

The Pyramids

Just to the west of Cairo, and on the west bank of the Nile River, lie the sites of the ancient pyramids. The most famous are the three gigantic pyramids of three generations of pharaohs at Giza, built during the Old Kingdom (the early part of Eqyptian history). They were the last pyramids built. Earlier pyramids and other structures lie 20 miles south at Dahshur and Saqqara. They are smaller, but more varied in form, so they add great interest to the area. Luckily, the big tour group companies rarely visit there, so I encountered few people when I visited.

This is the Step Pyramid, considered to be the first pyramid. It was built for King Djoser in 2665 B.C.

King Snefru built two pyramids, and this one, the Red Pyramid, was built in 2600 B.C.

This is the shaft built into the Bent Pyramid that leads to the burial chamber. Quite a trip, as it twisted and turned for about 300 feet and finally climbed 60 up into the chamber. Not for claustrophobics! This part of the shaft is actually declining, so I had to walk backwards hunched over until it began to climb.

King Snefru's second pyramid is called the Bent Pyramid. The designers screwed up a bit, realizing halfway through that they better reduce the angle of pitch so the whole thing didn't collapse. Oops!

This was the view from the roof of my hotel at Giza, where I was having breakfast while gazing at all three pyramids. It was a new hotel, and it cost me $40 a night, including breakfast.

This is the Sphinx and the pyramid of King Khafre, the second highest pyramid at Giza.

This is the Solar Boat, built to carry King Khufu through his afterlife. It was discovered in 1954 and restored to rest right next to his pyramid.

The pyramid of King Khafre, the only pyramid to have some of the polished limestone facing remaining, was built in 2500 B.C.

The Sphinx is accompanied by the pyramid of King Khufu, built in 2560 B.C. It is the tallest pyramid at 481 feet high, built with two and a half million limestone blocks weighing over two tons each. It was somewhat taller before the Turks peeled off the polished limestone surfaces to construct mosques in Cairo in the 9th Century. It is also called the Cheops Pyramid.

Next week I will be highlighting some of the greatest temples and tombs of two areas several hundred miles south of Cairo, at Abu Simbel and Luxor. They were built one to two thousand years after the pyramids were built. Though younger, they are astonishingly beautiful and interesting. Hope you can wait to see the photos!

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Gulliver's Travels 03/23/2020

3/23/2020

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Dale Sievert

Rapa Nui or Easter Island

The photos of the massive heads carved out of volcanic stone on a remote island in the South Pacific intrigued me for years. So, I went there last Christmas Day to see them, Easter Island, to be specific. The official name, in the Polynesian language, is Rapa Nui. It is called Easter Island because it was discovered by Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen on Easter Sunday in 1772.

The roughly 3000-year-old volcanic island was discovered by Polynesians from the northwest somewhere between the 8th and 12th centuries. They had to travel from 1600-2000 miles to find it by boat, whereas it took me just a few hours to find it 2182 miles west of Chile following my trip to Patagonia. Roughly 2000-3000 people lived on the island in 1772, but diseases introduced by white settlers and slave raids by Chileans reduced the population to 111 by 1877. Now the population is 7750, but it is no longer pure Polynesian.

The stones, called moai, began to be carved to honor kings and other honored people in the 13th century. Eventually over 800 were carved, and some were left unfinished in the quarry. All were erected vertically originally, but few were left standing by the 1800s. Most were toppled on purpose, usually face down, by the lower classes in protest against the ruling class leaders. In the last few decades several areas of the moais have been erected vertically again. Most are between 13 to 30 feet high, but the biggest unfinished moai was 62 feet.

Rano a Raraku Quarry, where all stones were carved

A 52-long unfinished stone

Me standing with "the ancients"

A 13-foot-tall moai

A fallen and broken moai

Tongariku, where 13 moais were re-erected in the 1990s.

Closeup of the moais at Tongariku

The middle moai has a pukao on its top,

View from behind

Several pukaos

Sunrise at Tongariku

Anakena, where the ancient Polynesians supposedly discovered Rapa Nui

Ahu a Kivi, where the moais represent the discoverers of Rapa Nui

Puna a Pau, the quarry where red rock was carved into pukaos

Vai hu, where all the moais were toppled

A reconstructed typical hut of the Polynesians

Pukaos at Bai hu

Epilogue

The Taj Mahal, the Roman Forum, Machu Picchu, Stonehenge and many other places intrigued me since I was a kid. There really wasn't much to see in Newton, so most anyplace would have impressed me. After seeing all those, Easter Island was another such place I just had to see. So, now I feel better. Not perfect, you know, as I still have a few more places left to see before I check out. I'll get there.

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Gulliver's Travels 02/17/2020

2/17/2020

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Patagonia, South America

I've always liked the name of Patagonia. Maybe that explains why I've now been there three times, in 1998, 2003, and last December. No, I actually go there because it is so incredibly rugged, beautiful, and absent the tourist crowds found at other beautiful places in the world. Plus, during the short daylight days of Wisconsin in December, I like the sunsets there at 11 PM, making it a more cheerful place than home.

I left home on December 16th, flying first to Santiago, Chile, then on to Punta Arenas, near the tip of South America. Then I took a bus to Puerto Natales, where I took several day trips into two national parks, one in Chile and one in Argentina, on the east side of the Andes Mountains. I've been to both parks before, but they are so fantastic that a return trip was warranted. Then on Christmas Day I flew back to Santiago before flying to Easter Island, a couple of thousand miles west in the Southern Pacific. Where else would an inveterate traveler go on Christmas? Maybe next Easter I'll go to Christmas Island.

Torres del Paine Nacional Parque, Chile

Or, if you speak English, it's Paine Towers National Park--though the Paine means green in the indigenous people's tongue. It's my fourth favorite natural place in the world, beating every one of the 62 US national parks I've visited. Only Mt. Rainier in Washington and Arches in Utah come close. But.....it's WINDY, most days I've been there 40-70 MPH was the norm, at least for part of the day. I backpacked there in 1998 for six days, at times finding it difficult to walk into the wind. Yet, there are still plenty of days and places where it is sunny and only mildly windy.

The three Paine Towers from outside the park

The towers from just inside the park boundaries

Finally getting a glimpse of the tops of the towers

Hiking to the towers, an 8-hour, 13-mile long trek (it was easier in 1998!)

At the lake at the base of the towers, rising 6000 feet to the 9350 foot summit

Nearly tame guanacos are relatives of llamas, alpacas, and camels.

Yes, they are cute.

Guanacos seem to like the "cuernos," or horns of the mountains, the distinctive feature of the park, as much as I do.

The low vegetation makes a nice presentation of the cuernos.

Explora Lodge, one of several simple hotels costing hundreds of dollars a night

At times the clouds make the area rather ominous looking.

I just can't get enough of the cuernos!

Grey Lake, fed by unseen Grey Glacier

An ice floe in Grey Lake

Los Glaciares Nacional Parque (Glacier National Park), Argentina

This park is on the east side of the Andes Mountains, basically opposite to Torres del Paine. This park is drier and less windy, so one is less likely to die of exposure. It is my 11th favorite natural place in the world, so I also get real excited visiting it.

The Fitzroy Massif, its summit at 11,073 feet, took me a whole day trek to its base.

Perito Moreno Glacier, with a total length of 19 miles

Epilogue

Patagonia, just sounding out its name should inspire one to visit it. Is it too far away to visit, so close to Antarctica? Well, it does take many flights and bus rides to get there. But the good stuff it has is so very, very neat, the payoff so big, that to me it's a no brainer. Just have to go.

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Gulliver's Travels 01/XX/2020

1/27/2020

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Burma (Myanmar)

From my house to Waukesha, I couldn't find any of the following, so I went to Burma to see them: a five-man convey of motorbikes, each carrying another motorbike, upside down, on the back; a mother nursing her baby sitting in front of her husband who drove their motorbike; a man in the middle of a highway with a brush painting dividing lines; car drivers believing such lines were a suggestion, not a line of demarcation; 20% of motorbikes with no headlights on at night; hand-made wooden carts with five-foot high wheels pulled by bullocks; and herds of cattle blocking traffic. Such sights thwarted boredom while touring the country.

   But, seriously, Burma does have positives, especially the incredible number of Buddhist temples, stupas, and chinthes (temple monster-like "guards"). It is astounding the reverence its people have for the 2400-year-old Buddha.

   The official name of the country is now Myanmar (Mee IN mar), changed from Burma in the 1990s. However, I prefer the name the conquering English (1820s) gave to it, rather than the one the ruthless dictators changed it to. Civil war, rampant for decades, is still going on in various parts of the country, mainly the forested highlands, but less so recently, making it possible for tourism to develop. And the government is becoming far less authoritarian, so the country has a fighting chance to no longer be the poorest country in SE Asia. Most workers made the equivalent of 40-50 cents an hour, but adjusted for low prices, the real wage is closer to $1.50 an hour (of course, still extremely low).

   I left home on November 18th and returned on December 3rd, which included a full-day layover in Bangkok, Thailand.

Mandalay

Mandalay is relatively new, built in 1857 by King Mindon as the new capital of Burma. It has just over a million people. The palace and much of the city was wiped out by British bombing of the Japanese occupiers during WW II. Most of the many temples were either repaired or completely reconstructed.

Hsipaw Pagoda

Chinthes ("guardians") at Kyauktaw Gyi Pagoda

Sada Muni Pagoda

Kuthodaw Pagoda, built in 1872, has 729 small white pagodas

The water is the moat surrounding the four-square mile Royal Palace.

The Royal Palace, built in 1857 but reconstructed after WW II destruction

Hindu temple

Maha Lawka Marazein Pagoda, gold covered and 100 feet high

U Bein Bridge, built in early 1800s three-fourths of a mile long for pedestrians

Kaungmadaw Pagoda, built in the 1600s at 151 feet high

Mingun Bell, the third largest bell in the world, cast in 1790

Shwedagon Pagoda, built in the 13rd Century, 325 feet high (actually in the city of Yangon)

Memo from HQ to Electrical Dept.: People on Padaw Street are without power. Find the problem.

Bagan and Inle Lake

Bagan, the modern spelling of earlier Pagan, is considered to be the largest archeological site in the world. Its earliest history begins nearly two thousand years ago, but documented history begins in the 9th Century. It was the capital of the Pagan Kingdom from 1044 until 1287. During that time (of wealth), some 1200 Buddhists temples and pagodas were built. Most have been destroyed by earthquakes, but some 2200 still stand in an area of approximately 25 square miles. It is really, REALLY, some place to see--easily making it onto My Favorite 50 Man-made Places in the world. UNESCO agrees, as they made it a World Heritage Site.
A short plane trip took me east to Inle Lake, a lake about 20 miles long and three miles wide, with innumerable points of interest. I hired a man with a long, narrow motorboat for eight hours to tour the area for $16--for the DAY, not for an hour. Attached photos describe them better than I can.

Taken on top a 150-foot observation tower, with numerous Buddhist sites in the distance

One of innumerable structures that is gradually decaying

One down, two to go

Ananda Phaya Temple

Fishermen row their boats with one leg

Boats are made of teak wood without any power tools.

Women of the Pa Daung tribe wear brass coils (starting at age nine) on their necks (18 pounds) and legs, supposedly for "tiger protection."

Nyaung Ohak Monastery, having seen better days

Most women (and girls) apply a paste daily made from the bark of the thanaka tree, both as a sunscreen and for cosmetic reasons.

This young lady is washing her hair in a canal connected to Inle Lake.

Men don't wear pants, prefering a wrap-around called a longyi. Some also decorate their faces with thanaka paste. And some are addicted to their phones (just as in the US).

The Hinterlands of Burma

Being a farm kid from Newton, I am always more interested in rural areas than in cities. That is especially true of undeveloped countries, as I get the feeling of how my farming ancestors in Poland must have lived. I visited my third cousin in Poland in 2012, who still farms "the home place." Quite the experience for me.

After cutting the rice, it is bundled and stacked to dry before being threshed.

Harvest of rice is still commonly done with knives and sickles.

Plowing takes a long time when John Deere is not around.

Rice noodles are made in small factories, then hung on racks to dry.

Such carts are very common in Burma.

Trucks and other carriers are usually custom-made by buying engines and other parts, then assembled, often by the user himself.

Women carry baskets of stones to where a roadbed is being prepared, probably for a blacktop surface. Nearby I saw two men with sledgehammers making an enormous rock into such smaller stones. Interesting. And amazing.

I was confused here. I think the building was an outhouse. And I know what two connected hearts mean. So, was this simply an outhouse? Or was it a cathouse? Or was it both? Never found out, as nobody was "home."

Epilogue

I find that my most interesting trips invariably turn out to be those taken in underdeveloped countries. Not always the best trips, just more interesting ones. It always makes me appreciate how good we have it here, and in our times. Even Americans below the official "poverty line" live so much better off than much of the world--as well as Americans of the 1800s, often not even being aware of it. As do I, it seems to me Americans would be happier with their lot in life upon returning home.

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Gulliver's Travels 01/06/2020

1/6/2020

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Bangkok, Thailand

I planned for a full-day layover in Bangkok, Thailand on my way to Burma in November 2019. I was so impressed on a visit there some 20 years ago that I just had to return to see, at least, The Grand Palace and adjacent Wat Pho. Both retained all of their beauty and charm for me over the years. They were built on Rattanakosin Island on the west side of Bangkok.

The Grand Palace

The Grand Palace was the residence of the kings of Siam (later, Thailand) from 1782 until 1925. It would have been, therefore, the site of the 1956 film "The King and I," starring Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr. The total area of the complex is just under a square mile, much of it filled with dazzling structures. Several buildings are covered in gold leaf pounded on with hammers. Good thing Dorothy didn't accompany me the first time I went, as she loved gold and would probably have tried to peel off a lot of the gold from the buildings for more rings for her fingers and bracelets for her arms.

Wat Pho

Wat Pho, immediately to the south of The Grand Palace, is a Buddhist temple. Its origins are unknown, but it was significantly expanded in the late 1600s. Its buildings seemed more ornate than those of the palace, with more carvings and bizarre heads with grotesque faces.

This was a Buddhist prayer service inside one of the temples.

This is the Reclining Buddha, 150 feet long. Reclining Buddhas are actually quite common in Asia.

Monks on their way to some function

Epilogue

The Grand Palace and Wat Pho of Bangkok are well-entrenched on my Favorite 50 Man-made Places I have visited. Disneyworld seems miniscule to the stunning structures the Thais (and Siamese) created so many hundreds of years ago. I have to wonder if the Disney efforts will even last one hundred years. Thirty years ago I already noticed deterioration of buildings in The Magic Kingdom. Then, too, I think of Milwaukee's Bradley Center lasting a mere quarter century. Poof! Not so in Bangkok.

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Gulliver's Travels 12/24/2019

12/24/2019

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Hi Everyone!

I'm in Patagonia, soon off to Easter Island.

"After arriving in Chile, I found I would never have enough cash or credit card limit to afford the prices here, especially cupcakes ($500!!!). Then I discovered the dollar sign here also is used for their currency--the peso. And a US dollar exchanges for 740 pesos. Whew!!!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Dale

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Gulliver's Travels 12/16/2019

12/16/2019

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The Caucasus

The Caucasus usually refer to the three countries of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, which I visited in April 2019. All three were former republics in the old USSR. The Caucasus also refer to the mountain range at the northern borders of Georgia and Azerbaijan, which also extend into Russia. Georgia

and Armenia have a rich Orthodox Christian history, so they are filled with old monasteries and churches, some dating to the 4th Century. Azerbaijan, on the other hand, is almost completely Muslim.

After landing in Tbilisi, Georgia, I took trains east to Baku, Azerbaijan and south to Yeravan, Armenia. Then I generally took day tours, usually by taxi, to outlying areas. My favorite trip was to the border with Russia, high into the Caucasus Mountains

Georgia

Georgia, with 27,000 square miles, is about half the size of Wisconsin, and it has nearly the same population. However, much of it is mountainous or hilly, so its actual population density is higher than Wisconsin's. Its most famous "native son" was Josef Stalin. Though castigated throughout the world (who wouldn't despise a man who said, "A single death is a tragedy. A million deaths is a statistic."), Stalin is still revered by many in Georgia.

Gergeti Trinity Church, near the Russian border, in the Caucasus Mountains.

Boyhood home of Stalin. No lawn to urinate on, as planned, and I couldn't firebomb the house, either, being ensconced in a shelter.

Caucasus Mountains

Tsminda Sameba, or Holy Trinity Cathedral, in Tbilisi, ca. 2004

Gremi Monastery, ca. 16th Century

A shaped olive tree

Local women holding boxwood branches, a tradition on Easter Sunday, which this was

Ikalto Monastery, ca. 8th & 9th Centuries

Armenia

Tiny Armenia, a bit over a quarter the size of Wisconsin, packed a lot of punch in history for its size. It has three million people, but would have had more, as Turks killed over a million Armenians early in the 1900s. To this day, Turkey denies that happened--notwithstanding overwhelming evidence. Many fled to avoid death, some to the United States. Almost all Americans with a surname ending "ian" have Armenian heritage--including Cher (Sarkisian). Though loaded with beautiful old monasteries and churches, my favorite sight there was the incredible view of Mt. Ararat, actually just across the border in Turkey.

Mt. Ararat, at 16,946 feet high, is where Noah's ark landed (hidden in this view under the morning clouds--but I actually saw it when the skies cleared)

Noravank Monastery, ca. 13th Century

Precarious steps which I refused to climb

Zvartnots Temple ruins, ca. 7th Century, with Mt. Ararat behind (note the ark near the top left)

A new church and religious center near the capital of Yeravan

Tiny Astvatsatsin Church, ca. 12th Century, which "miraculously" survived a 17th Century earthquake, backed up by new (2011-2013) St. Ana Church

Street in Old Yeravan, one of the few old medieval sections of the town remaining

Azerbaijan

Because of its odd name, I have always been intrigued by Azerbaijan--so, of course, I had to visit it. It did not disappoint. It has lots of oil. REALLY lots of it, and it shows in the enormous amount of fanciful new construction. And the best is yet to come, a just-begun complex of many buildings just outside the capital, Baku, one of which will be the tallest building in the world--at nearly 4,000 feet high. For its sake, oil prices better not collapse.

Azerbaijan is a bit more than half the size of Wisconsin, and it has 10 million people, 97% of who are Muslim.

Maiden Tower, ca. 12th Century

The building made of five sections actually has each section capable of rotating independently of the others--pretty unique, even for Baku

One of many such unusual buildings in Baku

The new cultural center in Baku

The Heydar Aliyev Conference Center and Museum in Baku

The Rack in a museum of medieval torture devices in the old Baku palace

The Interrogation Chair (Ouch!!!!)

Yanar Dag, only one of four places in the world where escaping natural gas burns continuously (I saw one of the others in Turkey)

Nearby the open flames are many mud pots with large bubbles caused by escaping gases

Epilogue

Do you want to visit the "Old Country," seeing lots of neat old buildings with tons of history--but don't wish to spend a fortune on a riverboat cruise on the Rhine or Danube (and being exposed to the insufferable snoots and/or jerks you are bound to endure for an agonizing week or two)? Then go to the Caucasus, take local buses, trains, and taxis and private cars--and save tons of money and have more fun. Of course, it might be a bit more precarious, but, hey, as George Carlin often said, "Live a little and take a XXXXing chance!"

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<<Previous

Mexico--Baja California and Copper Canyon

The Sinai

​​ Temples of the Nile​

Next week's posting on Gulliver's Travels will cover my visit to the Sinai, a peninsula on the east side of Egypt.​

​ Egypt - Part 1 The Pyramids

Rapa Nui or Easter Island​

Patagonia, South America

Bangkok, Thailand

Hi Everyone! I'm in Patagonia, soon off to Easter Island.

Merry Christmas Everyone!​Dale

The Caucasus

Archives

Temples of the Nile

Next week's posting on Gulliver's Travels will cover my visit to the Sinai, a peninsula on the east side of Egypt.

Egypt - Part 1
The Pyramids

Rapa Nui or Easter Island

Hi Everyone!

I'm in Patagonia, soon off to Easter Island.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Dale