Panama

Whenever you get the chance for a stopover in Panama, make use of the visit to the canal organised directly at the airport by the tourism office.

Before getting to the canal, we get a glimpse of the city. It's impressive the number of skyscrapers you can see, while many more are being built. There must be quite a lot of wealth coming to this place, surely not only thanks to the canal. Still, it is certain that the return of the canal to full Panamanian sovereignty has benefited the country. Apparently, the manager of the canal is one of the most well-paid and discreet person in the country.

The locks at Miraflores (the closest ones to Panama city) are one of the three locks along the canal. Ships transit from the Pacific to the Atlantic in the morning, and in the other direction in the afternoon. It takes around 12 minutes for a ship to do the transit. It is the only place in the world where the captain of the ship has to let another person navigate his ship - indeed it requires special skills, and the help of little cars. The total duration to go through the entire canal is around 10 hours.

It is very impressive how the ships manage to go through the narrow canal. Once the ship is in-between the locks, the water flows out and the ship descends by around 16 meters.

Then, the locks open and the ship goes through towards the Pacific. It's simple, yet impressive. So much trade depends on this canal functioning efficiently. Because of the increase in the number of ships, Panama is building a second parallel canal. The new canal, expected to open in 2016, should allow for bigger tonnage ships to go through. People here did not seem worried by the plans by Nicaragua to open another canal there.

The museum has a good section explaining the construction and the history of the canal, including the failed attempts by the French, before the Americans took over. The canal was opened in 1914. There is a cool simulator, with which you can pretend to be the captain of the ship and get it through the canal. A little video gives a good idea of the challenge to cross the canal.

Peru - Cuzco and Machu Picchu

Indeed a suggestion when travelling to Peru - keep Machu Picchu for last. It is so impressive! I am going to do the same now, and first report on flying to Cuzco over the Andes. Beautiful mountains and quite some snow left.

With this altitude, a good way to acclimatise is a cup of coca tea. You do not need to get high, because you are already high...

Cuzco is quite a sprawling city, with very well preserved historical buildings.

There is quite an interesting mix between Spanish and Quechua/Inca architectures.There are many cathedrals which seem to compete for the attention of the believers. In one of the church, it is quite remarkable that the local version of Jesus' "last supper" has a cuy/guinea pig in the plate. 

Also, the walls of many churches and buildings reuse stonewalls built by the Quechua/Inca.

Not even a tour through the sacred valley, a visit of the sites of Pisac and Ollantaytambo, and the train ride on Perurail to Agua Caliente can prepare you for the awesome Machu Picchu. After a short bus ride up the mountain (yes, no need to climb the mountain anymore - well, you can still do the climb, especially if it is the last bit of your inca trail), you get to the entrance of the site and after a short walk you get this amazing view. What a site! What a scenery!

The city is well maintained and seems so functional with dedicated neighbourhoods. There are the boy's and girl's schools, the apartments for the king and his family (with en-suite bathroom...), elaborated waterways, an industrial area, as well as several astronomical constructions. The guide was quite proud to tell us that the good condition of the ruins, with walls still standing, was testament of the superior architectural skills of the quechuas/incas. They knew how to build structures that would withstand earthquakes. But, talking to people who visited the site in the 60s, I suspect that Peruvians might have rebuilt some of the walls, structures, and houses to make it even more attractive for tourists.

This ancient quechua/inca city was still being built when the Spanish arrived in Cuzco. Since Machu Picchu was dependent on food and instructions coming from Cuzco, its people abandoned it when Cuzco was conquered. The Spanish never discovered it - indeed it was only in late 19th century/early 20th century that Machu Picchu was re-discovered. It is really nice to walk around the site. Arriving early in the morning allows you to enjoy it also all to yourself. The changing light is also interesting to see. If you are lucky, you might also encounter some friendly llamas.

There is even a secret escape route with a scary-looking wooden bridge crossing the cliff face.

Peru - Lake Titicaca

Lake Titicaca's title is of being the highest navigable lake in the world.

What impressed me more are the islands that the Uros people build out of reed and that float on the lake. Each island hosts around 20 people from different families, with a "mayor" chosen for one year. Kids have to go to school on the continent, and less and less come back to leave on these islands after their studies. It is amazing how people still leave this life in such harsh conditions - remember we are almost at 4000 meters in altitude. The only food they can catch is fish - at our lunch, we got to taste the local trout, which was quite nice. Otherwise, they basically have to "import" everything else. How would you grow a carrot on this island? When you pluck it, the island would sink...

The cruise on Lake Titicaca took us to the small quechua island of Taquile with its old buildings, its churches, its municipal office, and its terrace cultivation. Nice walk around the island. 

Back on the continent, the city of Puno is nice to walk around its few pedestrian streets with many restaurants and shops. The plaza mayor is quite simple. Most people would tell you that the town survives on the trade (legal and illegal) with Bolivia.

Peru - Arequipa

Arequipa is an ideal stopover to acclimatise oneself on the way to higher altitude cities. The city is beautifully - but at the same time, dangerously - located near huge volcanoes, including the majestic Misti, overlooking the main square.Volcanoes and earthquakes are a deadly combination here, with many parts of town regularly flattened. 

At night, I had supper in a restaurant overlooking the main square. Awesome views.

The most impressive monument in the city is the Monastery of Santa Catalina. It is a city within the city with its streets, gardens, washing areas, kitchens. Of course, the Monastery can look nice as nuns who were accepted here had to pay a hefty sum to get in.

A bit outside of town, the canyon de la colca is a great place to visit mostly because of the giant Andean condors nesting there. It is very impressive to see them fly - sorry, glide with the wind! And they have space to glide, as the canyon is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. Ascending currents are strong enough to support these giant birds.

The canyon is also a great place for walks. The views are beautiful, and the diversity of the canyon impressive between the steep rock walls and the wide fertile plains.

To get to the canyon, we drove through high passes. At the Mirador de los Andes, I reached my highest ever point on the planet, at 4910 meters. Breathing was not as tough as expected. I would not have played a tennis match there though... 

Peru - Lima

If there is one thing you should not expect in Lima it is to see the sun. Surprisingly, the sky is grey/white all the time. Otherwise, you can expect a busy city, friendly people, good food, and a few historical monuments. On the main Plaza Mayor, in front of the seat of government, the orchestra of the guard plays the legendary "el condor pasa" - which has become the unofficial national anthem of Peru. It is quite amazing how the square (and the guard) still feel so Spanish.

Peru is known as the best food country in South America. Well deserved prize! And I am not saying that because there are 120 types of potatoes... There are many specialties, including those mixing different influences - here it is called "fusion". For example, a "chifa" fusions Chinese and Peruvian cuisine. There is even the "Tiendecita Blanca" a Swiss restaurant. As for the specialties, you can try a new one almost every day: rocoto relleno, ceviche (the seafood one is excellent!), chupe de camarones, lomo saltado, aji de gallina, alpaca, and the most typical the cuy (guinea pig). I even tried this one - I was warned by a friend that it would be served in its entirety, including the head and the teeths. But this did not deter me from eating it.

The only specialty that did not impress me much is the pisco. It's a kind of brandy, mixed with all sorts of things. I ended up drinking more of the other typical drinks that are chicha morada and inca cola.

Let me also mention two common signs in Peru. The first one indicates areas that are safe in case of an earthquake. This picture was taken inside a church, under the main pillars. Does this imply that many areas of the place of worship are unsafe?  In any case, many Peruvians would point out that pre-Spanish buildings generally withstood earthquakes better than Spanish ones. Sometimes, a cathedral would stay standing, while others would be flattened, thus increasing the popularity of its saint.

Another common sign along the Pacific coast indicates the tsunami escape route. Lima itself does not look too much at risk, because the city is mostly built on higher grounds. Even the Lima waterfront - Larcomar - is not at water level. 

Alaska - Anchorage/Denali/Fairbanks

After the comfortable cruise, time to discover the mainland of Alaska. The main towns (Anchorage and Fairbanks) had a comfortable feel but no noticeable highlight or must-see. So let me report mostly on Denali National Park.

The most impressive first - the landscape. Massive mountains, wide valleys, broad rivers. And of course, the highest mountain of Northern America: Mount McKinley.

Amazing! And what a beautiful contrast between the white snow and the blue sky. Yes, indeed, there was blue sky. Actually, I received a certificate for being among the 30 percent of visitors who get the chance to see the whole mountain.

Then, the animals. In the park, there are wolves, bears, moose, caribous, and mountain sheeps. I am not sure that the Alaskan "big five" compare favorably with the African "big five". We got to see seven grizzly bears, including a mother with two young ones. Apparently, when spotted by grizzly bears and brown bears, you should raise your hands, make noise, and slowly back away while facing the animal.

Obviously, the caribou is less intimidating. Its horns are still impressive. In conclusion, I must say that I was somewhat surprised at the low number of animals we saw. The vegetation was not so dense, meaning that the visibility was good. But there is only a single road going through the park, limiting the access to animals. I was also surprised at the simple state of infrastructure in the park - African parks have nothing to envy to Denali.

It is interesting to see that nature is also being shaped by animals. Here the beavers have built a dam creating a nice lake.

A little bit further, we got to see a beaver from close-by. What a nice treat!

Alaska is not all nature. There are some nice and slow trains running through the interior, transporting tourists and cargo. The 8-hour journey between Anchorage and Fairbanks is almost on time. Why? Because of labor laws, stating that train operators can only work for 8 hours in a row. Well there is really a problem on the line, the conductor will then call someone to replace him after these 8 hours.

A more Alaska-specific mean of transport is the hydroplane. It can also land on the ice in winter times.

In case neither your GPS nor your compass work, you would rely on the old fashioned road signs. Well what is they are really confusing? What about taking the exit "SOUTH" to go to the "NORTH POLE"... I wonder how many people got lost.

A last impressive and original thing to see in Alaska is the oil pipeline. It looks pretty solid, yet quite unsophisticated. It is the artery that keeps Alaska rich.

Alaska - glaciers

One of the biggest plus of doing a cruise to Alaska is the chance to get close to glaciers. Well, in glacier bay, there are many glaciers next to each others. I still did not get how it is possible that, while most of them are retracting, a few of them manage to grow. But yet, who understands the climate...

The most impressive about being close to the glacier is not the cold, not the size, not the color, but that it is alive: it moves and it makes sounds, cracking sounds. Yet this movement is rather slow: it takes around 400 years for the ice to travel from the top of the glacier all the way down to the bay.

A bit further is the Hubbard Glacier. The cruise ship does not get to close, as mini icebergs get bigger and bigger the closer we get.

Alaska - Skagway/Yukon

A defining moment of the interior regions of Alaska and Yukon off Skagway is the Klondike gold rush at the end of the 19th century.

It's still a bit of a mystery how people got the idea that there would be gold somewhere in these "larger than life" regions. I guess it was a lot of try, try, try. The area is huge and inhospitable, yet majestic. Beautiful lakes, immense forests, even a small desert. A relative surprise is that in these isolated places, we did not get to see any animals.

At one stage, gold explorers were flocking here, so much so that the Canadians authorities were worried that they would not have enough resources to survive. They imposed that each pioneer entering Canada took with him a heavy load - almost a ton! - of supplies, including salt, flour, rice, soap, etc. This measure limited the number of deaths but, at the same time, made the fortune of shop owners - there was a captive market for their goods. It also had another grimmer consequence: the death of around 3000 pack horses which carried these loads up the mountains.

In light of the high production of gold and the number of prospectors, a railway line was built through the White pass in 1898-1900. It's quite an amazing achievement. The line was abandoned in 1982. It has now been revived - in the summer season - for tourists to get an idea of the gold rush. Well, the pass is steep and narrow, and there are a few scary bridges. Definitely not for the fainthearted.

They have kept some of the vintage cars and locomotives, including the ones used to blow away the snow that had accumulated on the tracks.

The town of Skagway is now much smaller than at the peak of its glory, with a few well preserved historical buildings. Of course, a lot of them have been taken over to cater for the cruisers.

All in all, a very comfortable and instructive journey to and back from the Klondike - a testimony of the progress made in one century.

Alaska - Juneau/Mendenhall

Let's start with a big "waow" !!! This excursion was one of the most exotic I have ever done. Funny to associate Alaska with exotic... Especially that, for this excursion, I was wearing layers upon layers of clothes. All started with an helicopter flight.

The helicopter flew over the Mendenhall glacier. An impressive flight over the wide glacier falling all the way into the sea.

Upon landing on the glacier, we see the dog kennel. Many dogs are there resting on top of their little house.

And then it is time for the dog-sledging adventure. What an experience! The dogs were all excited and jumping around, as it was time for them to go for a run. They were pulling us and we were sliding on the ice. The dogs needed a few stops to rest and cool down in the snow. It was too warm for them...

 What a view of the glacier!

A few words also about Juneau. While it is a capital of a state, it is not connected by roads to any other city, province, country. You can only reach it by plane or by boat. There are no remarkable buildings, with a lot of government buildings. It is funny to hear people refer to "the lower 48 states" when talking about the USA. While it was nice to walk around town, I cannot really imagine how it would be in winter - and I am not going to do my utmost to experience it. The Alaskans have names for the migrating people who come to Alaska only during the summer months, the "cheechacos". The real Alaskans are called the "sourdoughs", in reference to the yeasty starter pioneers carried with them. There is still a dispute on the number of winters you need to have spent in Alaska to be called a "sourdough". It is a title I will never strive after.