Travelling Days - 2011

 






 And then there was Granada. A few days with Billie, being introduced to the tourist delights of the quaint cobbled streets of the Albaicin and to the yummiest, cheapest gelato, in more varieties than I could ever imagine – heavenly! Spanish manners and buses and endless throngs of tourists wending their way up and down the Albaicin – the old city from the days when the Moors ruled Spain. They held out against the Christians longer than anywhere else here and left a legacy of exquisite architecture.

When Hannah came back from Berlin, we spent three weeks together while she packed up her life in Spain ready to head off to California. The highlight for me was going to the Alpujarra for three days.  High up in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada, we stayed in a village almost empty of tourists and could walk along mountain trails while stuffing ourselves with wild figs and grapes – the Mediterranean is a food bowl overflowing with delights. I hardly heard a bird sing, or saw any native animals, but there is food for humans everywhere. There is also water everywhere, one of the attractions of the area for the Moors who delighted in its abundance. Water cisterns through Granada and in the countryside are fantastic for cooling off and drinking.

The gypsy barrio of Sacramonte was my favourite place, whitewashed cave houses dotting the hillside – little front doors off the steep cobbled laneways, opening to reveal cool little houses dug out of the hillside. The doors of Spain are worthy of an entire book, there is nowhere near enough room here except to say they are mindboggling. Many of them in the Albaicin were made huge and thick enough to keep invaders out - and big enough to herd the horses and animals inside for the winter. I could see why Tara took a million photos of them. Anyway, the cave houses spread out in a scatter across the hillside, getting sparser as you climb up the dry, rocky outcrops and ending in beautiful quiet bush, from where the beauty of the city and of the Alhambra is best enjoyed at sunset. I went up there as much as I could – and treated myself to an early morning birthday walk along the hills to the Abbadia del Sacromonte, where fascinating ancient crypts and relics of martyrs were revealed.

I could have stayed in Billie’s friend’s cave overnight, but I wanted to spend as much time as I could with Hannah – so just enjoyed watching part of the gypsy fiesta one evening. Gazing down at some of the locals displaying their flamenco dancing, singing and guitar was absolutely magical. The nights were warm and balmy and a walk through the barrio, or even the Albaicin, always found me some figs or grapes. I learnt to stay awake a little longer in the evening, it’s compulsory in Spain – in lieu of starving, I even learnt to drink shandies in order to be able to partake of tapas in the many little bars. There was music everywhere, lots of buskers and some great flamenco performances.

It was great to watch Hannah busking in the little plazas of the Albaicin, she is wonderfully alive and funny and beautiful and singing really well, people loved it – especially the locals who have come to know her. My favourite place to watch her was near the Mirador San Nicolas, where lots of people come to gaze at the Alhambra – but I liked it best for the gelato, which was the bees knees. The story is that the sultans of old sent their fastest riders to the snow-covered mountains of the Sierra Nevada by night, to return with buckets of fresh snow – which was then covered in sweet syrup…so Granada has a long tradition to keep up.

And after Granada there was South-East Asia, Vietnam and Laos. Met some of the loveliest people on earth there and had some amazing adventures. My mate Brendan joined me for the 6 weeks and we traversed a lot of country together. We landed first in Hanoi where we stayed in the Harmony Hotel on the exquisitely smelly Street of Herbal Medicine – and were treated so well by the lovely staff. It was a great introduction to the country.

I did a memorial pilgrimage to Uncle Ho’s mausoleum and even though it was closed it was an amazing feeling to be there and to be there with all the other pilgrims. Outside was also a huge quiet space, free of motorcycles and peaceful – rare in the busy city, which is totally chockers with motorbikes, trucks, pushbikes, buses and cars. We kind of enjoyed dodging traffic and exploring the myriad shopping-themed streets of the Old Town (if you want to buy a pot, you go to the street where all the pot shops are). Then a cyclone threatened to derail not just our planned trip to Halong Bay but also take the fun out of sloshing through filthy crowded streets in the rain – so we caught a plane to Luang Prabang in Laos and it was the best move we could have made.

We landed in Heaven. It took a bit of hunting to find the cheapest and best accommodation but I finally found the Nam Sok III and we stayed there for the best part of three weeks. It made a great base to explore some of the 32 Buddhist temples in this small fairytale city, or to venture out further on rented pushbikes. I ventured a little too far one day in a misguided search for elephants that landed me in the local hospital with concussion, a blue thumb and some stitches in my face and hand. Brendan looked after me with great care, bringing fresh coconuts for juice every morning and yummy food from the many great little restaurants around. After a few days in bed I was well enough to potter around the streets without getting dizzy and to enjoy sitting by the Mekong in a café under shady trees – our favourite spot for internetting.

To be continued….