waste o time place

So I've fallen behind. I thought I would. There's been a lot of traveling happening and very little time to catch up between work and rest. So the posts may become a bit shorter. Hopefully not too sparse in detail because otherwise I'd just be tweeting all this. Since Cuba, I've been in Florida, then flew home. Then a weekend trip to New York and then home once again. In a couple of weeks I head off for Japan followed by the Northern Marianas. I'd better gt to it!


The Casa Particulares had 3 bedrooms so I got housed with wrayb and Alan and Dirck and David. What a super cute place. Why did I not take photos? Stupid, stupid. After a nap we headed off to dinner at La Poeta. It was really yummy. I drank a lot of NoJitos and Pinadas.





Total thumbs up kind of place!


After that we headed off to another performance by BaraRumba!
This was kind of lively. The dancers put on more of a theatrical show which included body paint as well as costumes. There was also audience participation.




Michelle and David rocking it!


The night was getting long. And I was ready to go to bed. However I snapped a few shots while walking back.
This place is awesome. The wet street with its bright colours made me think I was on some kind of movie set or Disney theme park. Really love the colours here...

So onwards!
We then headed into the Los Hoyos area of town.
Conga las Hoyas makes sense for a name now, eh?
The place was called Foco Cultural, Conga los Hoyos.
And it was loud!












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After this we headed back to the hotel for a break before going to dinner. I decided to go with the group because we were told it'd be some Chinese place. That really got my hopes up at least, but it was far from it!
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From the journal:
Today was full of history and culture. Just like every day. I really need to study and learn about this region's history. It'd be more helpful in being able to keep up with the information dump being thrown into our heads each time we board the bus. It's great info but I'll bet if I had prepared better then I'd be able to connect the dots and absorb more. Even still, it's great to listen to - even if I consistently fall asleep most of the time.
When I get home I'm going to start looking up Cuba history.
I'm also going to eat Chinese food. For real. With lots of spicy red chili peppers.
I am deaf. Thank you conga los hoyos. I will pretend the faint sound in my head are my other personalities being more vocal than usual.

So from the phallic fishing spear and metal man statue, we headed to the small town nearby for a bit of singing and then a bit more singing with the dancing.

This stuff:
house of spiritist Juan González Pérez “Madelaine”
groups Cabildo Cimarrón and Voces del Milagro
Castillo San Pedro de la Roca (Morro Castle)

The groups we saw were different but had some of the same participants.



 

 

So they danced and we watched. And I got a shot of everyone watching. It's more than just our group. Our visit would coincide with a group of students studying abroad for a month or so based in Havana but they were out east. We would run into them later on too!



We then got on the bus and headed through Santiago to the coast to visit the Castillo San Pedro de la Roca aka Morro Castle. We had to wait a bit to all get seated for lunch but once it happened it was pretty good. I suppose.
I started getting really moody. My ability to be around people was starting to wear thin and I needed to get away so I skipped dessert and went outside to chill out in the hot sun. Eventually everyone got back on the bus once again. As we cruised through the backside of the Castillo and along the road we noticed the beach and lovely coast lined with super blue water but we were denied and so there was no opportunity to get our feet wet.
How disappointing.
So back to the hotel and then off to another show and dinner. This time it was the Tumba Francesa of Santiago. I wanted to kill people or myself so I decided on staying in and by myself because that was a much better idea.

In the photo below I'm smiling but I'm probably digging my nails into my skin.
Everyone else looks pretty exhausted. including wrayb










I went out to dinner by myself. I ate pizza. I ate flan. And all was well for a little while.








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From the journal:
Currently: found time to hang out by myself by skipping the evening activities. I really needed to do this. Got a pizza and some flan and now I'm closing my time here out at the Hotel Casa Granda with a virgin Pina Colada. Because why not?
I really hope the water is back on at our hotel. The hotel is nice enough but not without water!
The nights here are warm and loud - but not annoyingly so. Very festive and if we end up switching to this hotel we will have WiFi but we will also get all of the noise too from the square.
I think I will have heard Guantanamera enough tiems on this trip - so far we're averaging about 5x /day.
Unfortunately the Galaxy phone here - being a Samsung product wont connect to the local WiFi. Even Jesus tells me that his kids have had issues with their Samsung phones. At least the laptop works however I can'd do phone check-ins or Instagram uploads. Even getting a local SIM card wont work because those don't actually offer data. :-(

Oh well, being off like is a pain and difficult for me with my addiction but it's nice to connect to the people I'm actually surrounded by at least. Losing out on work because I'm not quick enough to respond is a bit problematic though.
Enough. Back to my hotel.

Day 2 started with a very nice sunrise before jumping onto the bus and heading to Sagua de Tánamo to see the Tumba Francesa de Bejuco. When we arrived, the town band was playing in the square and performed a song for us before we all headed into their local cultural center and a museum to listen to a local artist and town historian.
We're going to meet a lot of historians filled with information on their local areas. It's really enlightening and encouraging to see how they try and keep their traditions and culture alive.
 

 


 


 

 


After the dancing we jumped on the bus and had lunch with the performers. Afterwards they would then jump into the back of a truck for their 3 hour journey back into the mountains to Bejuco while we had the comfortable bus take us to Santiago. I slept for most of that drive. But woke up when we got to Santiago.


 


 

We checked into the hotel Imperial and rested for a bit. Then it was off to dinner which was on the roof of the hotel.
It's got a very nice view.


 

 

 

i tried to take a few panorama shots. I will attempt to link full size images to the smaller ones.





That's it for day 2.

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From the journal:

Today is the long drive north and east to the coast followed by a doubly long drive to the opposite southern coast to Santiago. I think now is a grand time to nap.

13 March
Yesterday.
Pretty much slept through all of the driving we did to the town where we saw the tumba francesa, museum and dancers.
Noticed that the dancing was very stiff and controlled. All due to the French infuence in Haiti Th ancestors of these dancers then came to Cuba and attempted to continue the tradition. The singer sang in Creole.
After the performances we went to lunch with them. It was chicken and more rice with beans. I really wish I brought the hot sauce.

I awoke again when we arrived in Santiago mid-drive.

Trying this again. Multiple posts already attempted. At least I sorted out the photo posting issue.

Took a red eye flight on March 10. Landed Fort Lauderdale March 11 early am.
Easy enough flight. Slept so-so. Jetblue flight so got a night packet with earplugs and sleep mask which came in handy just about everyday.
Met up with peeps then onwards to Holguin when that flight came up.
Here's photo of me and wrayb in Florida.

  

  


Landed in Cuba after a short flight. Then got on the bus - our part-time home for the next several days under the helm of Captain Pepe. I slept a lot on this bus.
We then proceded up to a hill - the Loma de la Cruz - for a great view of Holguin. It's possible to walk up the 484 steps. It's also possible to go up using other means. I prefer 'other means'.

  

Then off to the Soviet-era hotel called the Pernik. It's got an impressively sized lobby and pool area. Award winning I heard. It's definitely of an era that's long since been left behind however my first impression was that I liked it.
I didn't get to enjoy the pool. It seemed a bit not-chlorinated-enough for my taste. Also, if you ever come here, bring ear plugs. The place is an echo chamber/sound amplifier.
Once you get to the rooms, the place seems more basic. Very basic and minimal. Towel is thin - (towel: you get one. no biggie for me).
No soaps or other amenities. Shower head was OK but attachment to wall was broken. TV worked. Pillow (single) was more like a loosely stuffed half-a-t-shirt.

  

  

We rested for an hour or so before heading to dinner and the evening concert. That's in the next post.
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From my written journal:
11 March
Waiting at the gate and watching the people pass by and those sitting here as well. There's always the one that takes up more seats than decently allowed. Shoes on the seats, etc. Now spraying perfume and assaulting everyone else's sense of smell.

Pet peeve --> annoyance. Excess noise pollution via personal electronics/cell phone use - we all don't want to hear your silly videos from across the room.

Finally on board. March 17, 2016 was the first entry so this has been sporadic journaling for just under a year. I need to write more though. What I really need at the moment is a nap. Here's hoping I can get oe in on this short flight to Holguin. Slept horribly last night. Usually plane sleeping happens for me but this wasn't as good as other experiences.

12 March
Yesterday first. Flights were no problem. Somewhat of a long connection at FLL but in the end it wasn't unbearable. (Long? nothing at all like the 10+ hour ones I've done).
The only long line came after arrival at Holguin after going through passport control. Had to wait to go though a security check point and scan primarily used to check for items the govt could charge duy on for locals coming in or people attempting to sell big ticket items. From there we all jumped on a nice tour bus and headed up a hill over looking the city of Holguin witha great view of all the surroundings. On top of the area was a small fort-like structure as well as a cross. Later that night we'd see the spot from below lit up with white lights lining the 484 steps that went from street level to the top. The cross was lit up with a bright blue light.

...the Hotel Pernik. It's a pretty cool giant hotel with about five floors. The lobby area is large and spread out with dated decore. The hotel is a Soviet-era constuction that has totally gone off the vibe of the past with slippery tiled floors ad entrance way. INside the decore is in shades of dark orange and brown and red. Some of the furniture on the upper floor "lobby" areas show definite signs of wear. They're also very low-seating @ only a food or so of height.

Yup. I went back to Mexico.
But this was a few weeks ago. In November. For Thanksgiving.
And it was awesome.

Did a lot of diving. Here's one of many videos posted to my Vimeo page.

The journey getting there was a little on the long side but very nice!
I was on Virgin for the first leg (SFO-ORD) which is always a joy, and then SAS the rest of the way (ORD-ARN-KRN). And surprise, Richard and I were in Plus which means we had lounge access and were able to breeze through security check lines (in SE airports - not US ones though). I would fly SAS again readily.

I met up with Richard in Chicago. Since I knew we'd have a little bit of time I suggested eating at Tortas Frontera. I'm so happy I did. It was great! There are a couple at ORD - the preferred one has the actual restaurant seating in the international terminal.



We then boarded an 8 hour flight to Stockholm, after that we continued onward to Kiruna for a couple more hours!



It took some time for us to get to the hotel after landing in Kiruna. While we waited for the shuttle to pick us up, I fell asleep. Finally Richard called them and they sent a taxi. It took a few hours AND they forgot us! UGH. Anyway, it was a short ride over to Jukkasjärvi.

We walked over to the cold-room check in area and set our bags down so we could check out the available art suites. We had an art suite booked but if you don't know what you want in advance you'll get one picked for you. When you arrive you can change and pick one of the available ones.
There are a few "tiers" of ice rooms you can sleep in. There's a basic ice room, there's a northern lights room (which features a colorful light display you can shut off at night), and then there are the art suites. There are also 2 luxury suites that require a card key to access.
During the day, the hotel is open for visitors. It's in a separate building and when you enter, there's a main hallway with corridors on either side. Down each corridor are doorways with a bit of fabric functioning as a "door". Until 18h00 you can enter any of the rooms freely to take photos and wander about.
So we went through to select our room - we chose 317 (my bday!) - and then moved our bags into our warm-storage area. For those staying in the ice rooms, you get to share a locker room changing area with most of the guests. If you get an art-suite, you get a large closet space with a mirror and seating to store your items. There are separate shower/sauna rooms for wo/men as well stocked with towels and soap/shampoo. Really, it's very nice.





So we went and visit the IceBar for a quick drink. I actually didn't have one. The colours scared me. It was pretty sad. Considering the hotel is celebrating it's 25th year, we felt that the IceBar should've had something with a little bit more oomph. And when I tell people to visit the church, and don't bother with the bar, you know something is wrong! I didn't really take any photos of the bar because I didn't think it warranted photos. The church you'll see later! After Richard's drink, we wandered back into the IceHotel to take photos of the first half of the rooms!











By this time we were pretty exhausted. The rooms are just too cold to stay in and as I mentioned above, the public can roam around until 18h00. So we hung out in the warm-room lounge for a bit. It was pretty crowded. We had a light dinner in the main restaurant. I ate foie gras.




We then went to the cold-room lounge which ended up being my favorite place to chill out. There's a machine for coffee and hot chocolate (gotta pay for it but whatever), there's free water, wifi and a fireplace that keeps everything toasty. I actually ended up hanging out in a tank top, flip flops and sweat pants.

2015 march 16 - Jukkasjärvi from KumiM on Vimeo.

I took a shower in the evening. It helped keep me awake for a little bit longer. It also got the stink from the too-many-hours of travel off of me. We exchanged our boots for the free ones given out by the hotel, grabbed the inner liners and arctic sleeping bags (all supplied by the icehotel) and then got ready for bed!
You leave most of your personal belongings in the locker storage area. You don't want anything that you're not actually wearing because it'll get too cold during the night. That's why you use the hotel's items like boots which will be sitting in the cold room, outside of the warmth of the sleeping bag.

OK. This is good enough for now. More later when I get to it.

ALL the photos are at my tumblr moblog
(in reverse order though)

(part 1 here. copy/pasted from scubaboard thread).



So here's another update!
Ended up diving for 3 days in the end. There were some great and good experiences and some hiccups too but in the end it all came through. (However it's not rocket science, it's a holiday and really it shouldn't be that much trouble!)

But before I recount my experiences, I should clarify again, that I am staying at the Six Senses resort. It's not actually near the city and accessing the resort requires a boat. The guests arriving and departing the resort are transported to/from the mainland via speedboat. Other than private hires and booked excursions, guests are pretty much "trapped." (Can one say "trapped" when you're talking about some super fancy luxury resort? I've got a freaking butler assigned to me here!). Anyway, four times a day staff is shuttled back and forth as well but on a wooden boat that takes just over 35 minutes. The dock it stops at is called Pearl Farm and almost 30 minutes' drive north of the city. In my post above, I thought that the Rainbow Divers' boat would be able to pick me up directly from the resort however I learned that no boats are allowed here without prior permission from the resort manager - so it's definitely something that needs to be sorted out in advance.

So to start, my first day of diving was with Rainbow Divers. It was Kerry P. that I communicated with for the majority of the time. It was Kerry that was most pro-active about responding to my e-mails and getting my questions answered. And it was Kerry that finally got an answer out of the resort about my transfer over to the mainland: instead of hiring a private speedboat at $120 (the price quote I received was $150), I would take the am staff boat at 0645 which would get me to the mainland (approx 0715). From there a car would take me to the dive shop and then to the main harbor. Luckily, since I was hiring a speedboat for my dives, I wasn't under the same time constraints as those that were diving via the main boat! Things seemed to be getting later and later as departures got slightly delayed. FYI, this whole time I had Kerry's mobile number in case things didn't go smoothly. (She did call the driver to find out where he was after I waited at the Pearl Farm dock for almost 15 minutes).

I didn't bring any gear besides my mask, computer, warm water gloves, and an SMB. So I used the shop's gear. I also paid for a Rainbow photographer come along (Iain Wood).
My dive companion for this day was Mr. Anh and he was a great buddy and quite skilled at spotting all the little things.
When I asked other companies about this dive site - Electric Nose - most of them didn't go out there and/or said the diving there wasn't that great. They also mentioned that it was not in the Marine Park and that a lot of dynamite fishing occurs there. I found one review online that raved about the dive site with details and explanations and a few one-liners that said that it wasn't worth the trip. My opinion: it was well worth the trip! Also, best to get 3 tanks and make the most out of the journey!

We primarily swam around rock walls that went down to about 45 meters /147 feet (that's what people say). There's no need to go that far down however. Actually, there's not really any need to do much swimming because there's simply a lot of life hanging out in various outcroppings of a single wall. From coral to stars, clams to sponges!  Lots of little and not so little hermit crabs hanging out, and of course the nudies! So many different kinds in more easier to see sizes (about 2-4 inches) to the ones that could comfortably fit on the top of a pencil. And in such a variety of colours! Saw a few flatworms too. If you're looking for big fish, there are some here but they're not *that* abundant (We did spot a barracuda swimming along). Come here to check out the super small things!

I wore a 3mm full. The water temp in this location changes constantly as you swim between rock faces and it does so at various depths.  The dives here are deeper than at the Hon Mun Marine Park and even there I wore a 3mm full - granted they were rental suits had quite a bit of stretch in them so I had a decent amount of water flow. But then I'm used to the cooler Monterey water so maybe that helped me out a little bit.
On this day there was a small amount of current but nothing to write home about. As most of the online sources say, it is not a site for new divers.

The nitty gritty: Rainbow Divers charges $95 (US) for a 3-tank dive. The private speedboat out to Electric Nose ran me $150 (US). There was a fee for the photographer and yes, I did tip out as well. All in all, slightly a bit on the pricey side for 3 tanks but then running a boat out for a single person isn't the most cost efficient practice (there was the capt, and 2 DMs (one in the water with, and one out). In addition, I knew I wasn't going to be on a boat with a ton of other divers/snorkelers. I know that's a prime selling point for a lot of divers. I read on some other site that another company charged a couple around $65 for 3-tanks - but then that just seems a bit crazy low for me. In any case, if I had time to go out again, I'd go out to this dive site and I'd book with Rainbow Divers to take me there.

(thanks for reading! more on days 2/3 later)

Also Iain posted with some photos from our dive at Electric Nose.
I'm the white q-tip head so just disregard the human in those shots.
Also, I hate weight belts. And those fins. The tops of my toes aren't happy.

http://soulflyer.com/gallery/electric-nose.html

After getting through customs and immigration we headed to the exit and Richard spotted our driver with the Anantara Resort sign. We jumped into the SUV and was given a gift bag full of snacks and water which was really nice.
The best thing: the car was WIFI enabled!!!

It was about a 4.5 hour journey to the coast. We got to experience the traffic in HCMC as well as the aggressive driving everyone has to master - in 4 wheels and on 2. I think the most I saw on a scooter was 4 but I did see a lot of heavy and over-sized objects being transported in things that most people would rent a u-haul for!
Otherwise, I suppose one would just get used to having to make do but I'm still not certain about packing on the infants.
The other day I saw a family of 4 - one child was in front of the driver on the handle bars and the mother held the baby in her arms but to protect the child from the wind or whatever, it had a plastic bag over its head.

We did have a chance to stop at a rest stop for a quick pause and then we continued onwards to Mui Né and the resort!

Hungover today.
I don't think I'll be doing that again - at least until the next time.

A month ago I decided to use the local UPS store to handle my VISA paperwork to/from the Embassy of Vietnam. I figured I'd give the local business my business instead of going to the post office.

Well, that was a mistake.

Everything was going fine. I kept checking the tracking info. Documents received, VISA approved, documents sent back. On May 1 I saw that there was a scan in Sacramento and then Menlo Park at the local distribution area. Of course the documents never arrived. And for some reason I wasn't troubled by the delay. I should've been though. A few days ago I went by the UPS store and asked them to help locate my package. I got an 800# to call which I did and they said I could file a claim which would take up to 8 business days. Thinking positive, I thanked them for their help and left the store.

May 14. I went to work and then during a break called the 800# again. I was told that my documents were found and delivered to the local UPS store. After work I drove over there. But then there were no documents. :( I called back the 800# and they told me whoever I spoke to previously made a mistake (!!!!!!WTF!!!!!!)

May 15. Canceled work to handle this crap. Called 800# and no help there. Called local store so they could contact 800# peeps. (local store peeps = great and sympathetic).

Vietnam is way ahead of Cali time. 9am here is 11pm there.
I did find a way to avoid having to drive to the consulate in SF by applying for a VISA-on-arrival letter.
That was close to the wire too. I got my request in last night (before going to the bar) and just before noon in Vietnam. I paid for the rush service and got my letter.

So now, instead of just breezing thru customs & immigration, I need to stop off at a desk and show my travel letter (and get my photo taken) and pay more money ($45). At least I wont get sent back home.

Just UGH!

I want UPS to give me back my $140. Oh wait. The documents did arrive to DC on time so I'll lower that down to $125.