Hanging Around Yangon

Well, what can we say about hanging around in Yangon with Matt, Weina and William?  It was everything we hoped for.  It included dinners in exquisite Yangon restaurants --

-- and exciting time watching Christmas videos with William:

Nothing was quite as tasty as Matt's smoked barbeque:

In between, we enjoyed lots of Lego construction --

 -- and learning about computers and programming:

Weina and Matt and William were wonderful hosts and introduced us to the BEST restaurants!

We even went swimming, playing Marco Polo and Monkey in the Middle with William, and competed in several bowling tournaments with the whole family!

Matt and Weina found some out-of-the-way rooftop restaurants for us to enjoy:

And, before Christmas, we even enjoyed making and cooking jiaozi!

There were TWO best-ball foursome outings at a beautiful Yangon golf course.  Our caddies were kind enough to model their Philadelphia jerseys for us!

On December 30, we enjoyed an Eagles football game --

-- and, on New Years Eve, we even had some fireworks at the American Club!

It was all so exhausting.  As we waited in the airport to board our flight home, David reminisced about the fun times we had while Kathy listened raptly:

Before we knew it, we would be landing back in Los Angeles and picking our little Ruby Kitten up from Auntie Darla.  Join us in our next blog entries for further adventures in 2020.

Hike Around Fairbank Ghost Town

On Saturday, January 25, 2020, we said our fond goodbyes to Boomerville and moved from Quartzsite, Arizona to Benson, Arizona. We had lots of cleaning and shopping and other logistical things to do in Benson, but we did set aside one afternoon to hike and explore an area near Benson that we had not gotten to know yet.  This time we picked the Fairbank Historic Townsite, which is located near Sierra Vista, Arizona, south of Benson.

Fairbank Historic Townsite is a preserved ghost town located in the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, which itself runs some 40 miles along where the upper San Pedro River meanders, was designated by Congress as a Riparian National Conservation Area on November 18, 1988.

As we entered the townsite, we spotted the Area sign:

Originally the location of a Native American village known as Santa Cruz in the 18th century, the area was later settled around the time the railroad came through in 1881, and developed further when the local railroad station was built in 1882. It was originally known as Junction City, then Kendall, then Fairbank, and was formally founded as Fairbank on May 16, 1883 on the same day that the local Post Office opened. Due to its proximity to Tombstone, and the fact that it boasted the nearest railroad station to what was then one of the largest cities in the western United States, Fairbank acted as a way point between Tombstone and the rest of the country, bringing supplies into the bustling town, and also acting as the departure point for the ore pulled from Tombstone's silver mines on its way to the mills in Contention City and Charleston. Fairbank was also home to a stage coach station on the Butterfield Overland Mail line which opened in 1885. When the Tombstone mines closed after flooding in 1886, Fairbank's prominence declined as the nearby mills shut down, and the rail depot it offered became increasingly unnecessary. Subsequent droughts drove away area farmers and ranchers, further isolating the town.

We explored the old townsite first, which included a couple houses that have survived from the original period:

One fancy home even boasted a double-seater, which sits on its original site, still boasting of its original glory:

The original Fairbank schoolhouse has been repurposed as a modest visitor center and gift shop, but was closed when we visited:

The post office is being substantially reconstructed and was not accessible to us.  Other buildings in the townsite were similar to the ones shown above.  After gazing at the old structures and reading their history on the well-curated markers, we found the Loop Trail that would take us north along the San Pedro River to the site of the old Grand Central Mill:

 

The loop trail was about 4 miles, with some side trails to points of interest such as the town cemetery.  It was marked by these decorative etched iron signs that rusted naturally in the southern Arizona environment:

 

One of the first features we encountered was the bed of the original Arizona & Southeastern Railroad, which was ultimately taken over by the Southern Pacific Railroad.  Kathy hiked along the railbed looking for the old rails and railroad ties, but to no avail:

Hiking along the trail paralleling the old railbed, we spotted what looked like areas where animals might bed down.  While there was evidence of deer or pronghorn prints, the most common print was of human shoes, we surmised (and as we were warned by our host at the Sierra Vista Visitor Center) that these were areas where illegal immigrants might bed down on their perilous path up the San Pedro River Valley toward hoped-for freedom and solace in the United States.

As we approached the river, we saw more and more frequent cottonwood trees. While their leaves had fallen already, their silver branches gave them away as thriving in a landscape with many dead or dying trees and bushes. The landscape was very dry, and it was encouraging to see some signs of trees living along the waterways.

Eventually, we reached San Pedro River itself.  It is not a large river, but it brings life and beauty to this valley.  We looked upstream --

-- and down:

About halfway around the loop trail, we turned east and headed toward the old Grand Central Mine, which sought and processed lead, copper, gold, and silver.  Nothing is left of the mine or its old stamp mill other than some fenced-off pits and this large stone retaining wall structure:

We could only imagine the impressive stamp mill structures and the deafening noise where this mill concentrated the ore from local mines and processed it for shipment to markets beyond the area.  We wondered whether the soils are still contaminated by the mercury, arsenic and other heavy metals that would have been used to process the ore.

Our eyes swung west toward the Huachuca Mountains and the clouds they make above, with the bunchgrass and prairie grass waving in the breeze below.  We thought that, in less dry years, this San Pedro River Valley might have been a beautiful place to make a home:

Our hike was almost over.  We were less than a quarter mile from the parking lot when we encountered the Fairbanks Town Cemetery.  It sits on the top of a hill off to the east of the Loop Trail.  It has decayed substantially and, based on a conversation we had with a woman who had led a college group to this place 15 years ago, there has probably been much theft and desecration.  We found this toppled cross on one gravesite --

-- and this memorial with a touching rag doll set beside it to keep the departed company:

We had never considered so deeply how much a cemetery and gravesites depend on the continuity of family and community to preserve the graves, as well as the information about who was buried in them.  We thought sadly of the departed who, now, are no longer remembered.

In another quarter mile, we completed our hike and returned to the Jeep, with only a 12 mile drive back to Benson and where our RV was camped.  Tomorrow, it would be time to move on.

Boomerville Gin Tasting!

Tuesday, January 21, 2020 was Gin Tasting Tuesday!  At least at Whiskeytown in Boomerville.  (For those who are not Unusual Suspects (a Facebook group), "Whiskeytown" is the name for the circle-up of Unusual Suspects that we arrange each year at Boomerville in Quartzsite in January.)

It has become a tradition for our friends Leslie and Dave, and our friends Duane and Jean, and us, to join each other for a gin tasting at Boomerville.  This year, we scheduled it at our RV in Whiskeytown.  Since we were in the circle-up, it was natural to invite all the Unusual Suspects to join in the fun.

And join they did!

One condition of participation was that, if you want to taste the gins, you have to contribute a gin.  Sort of like a ginny potluck (forgive us the reference, Virginie).  As a consequence, we had lots of gins to sample.  From left to right in the photo below, they were:  Uncle Fred's 30-year old Gordon's Gin (contributed by Tony), Seagrams Gin (contributed by Eric and Ginny), New Amsterdam Gin (contributed by Kathy), Tanqueray Gin (contributed by our newest Boomer friend Terri, introduced to us by Leslie and Dave), Bombay Sapphire (contributed by Leslie), three very tasty and unique Vancouver Island gins (contributed by Judy), a wonderful pink gin (donated by Leslie), Ungava Gin (contributed by Kathy and David), and Genever Gin (contributed by David):

We had one late entrant.  Tony and Dee Dee finally fessed up that they were holding back their most treasured gin, Empress.  They brought it out with appropriate fanfare and it joined the tasting in a (just in) timely fashion.  However, it was too late to join the photo shoot.

It was a casual affair.  Note the rigorous approach the group used to pass the gins around for tasting:

The highlight of the evening was, no doubt, Uncle Fred's Gordon's Gin, which Tony presented to the group:

Tony insists that this is a truly antique gin, judging by its old label and its ancient seal:

In fact, the seal was so old that none of us had seen one like this before.  Eventually, some pliers helped us open it.  But, back in the day, there must have been a more straightforward way of breaking that seal:

Judy's Sheringham Gins from Vancouver Island were a big hit for their unusual herbal flavors -- to the point that we have to give them their own feature in this blog entry:

All agreed that the gin tasting was a great success!  We don't know whether any opinions were formed or changed, but we do know that everyone pushed beyond their personal gin frontiers and found gins that they never knew existed.

Cheers!  Gambei!  Prost! Salut! Na Zdrovya!

Kalaw, Nay Pyi Taw and All That

This was our third visit to Myanmar to see our son, Matt, and his wife Weina and our grandson William.  Each year, we have all embarked on some exotic road trip north in Myanmar to Parts Unknown (apologies to Anthony Bourdain).

This year, we took a road trip to the resort town of Kalaw and Myanmar's new capital city, Nay Pyi Taw!  It was a four-day excursion, full of adventure and impossibly long car rides.

On Thursday, December 26, 2019, we headed north to Kalaw.  Matt had to drive the entire trip because we did not have local drivers' licenses or insurance, and he is much more familiar with the "subtleties" of Myanmar driving.  The first day was 8 hours of fun:  seven hours across a flat, agrarian landscape and one hour climbing narrow, tight switchbacks and dancing with big rigs around the hairpin turns.

We finally reached Kalaw about 4pm.  Kalaw is a mountain town in Shan State.  The town was popular with the British during colonial rule. Kalaw is the main setting of the novel "The Art of Hearing Heartbeats" by Jan-Philipp Sendker. The former British hill station is located at an elevation of 4000 feet, about 30 miles from the Inle lake. Kalaw is famous for hiking and trekking and is popular with Europeans.  One of the more popular treks is a 3-day walk to Inle Lake. The town still feels like a high-altitude holiday resort – the air is cool, the atmosphere is calm and the tree-lined streets still contain a smattering of colonial-era architecture.  Many of the buildings are reminiscent of Swiss mountain chalets, which is quite unique for Southeast Asia.

One of the more notable landmarks in Kalaw is Kalaw Tower --

 -- which we passed as we drove up to our little hilltop inn called Dream Mountain Resort:

It didn't take us long to get settled in our beautifully appointed wood-decor rooms, and we all repaired down to the restaurant balcony for some Happy Hour hors d'ouevres:

We walked down to the center of town for a scrumptious pizza-and-Myanmar-cuisine dinner at Red House Bar & Restaurant before retiring early to get ready for our big hiking adventure the next morning.

Friday morning came quickly, and, after a tasty, eclectic buffet breakfast at the inn, we met our guide, Ta Ta, who piled us into a typical Myanmar taxi truck to drive us up to the trailhead for our hike:

Ta Ta was kind enough to snap our photo at the trailhead:

It wasn't long before we had climbed to a view back into the valley --

-- and we were soon absorbed in the joys of our adventure!

The single-track trail took us back through the steep hills where farmers nevertheless have carved out plots of farmland for tea, oranges, cauliflower and other unusual goodies:

About a quarter of the way into our hike, we paused at a rest station and bridge to rest and hydrate.  The sign on the hut reads, "Paradise":

The steep hills go on and on in this country, with small farmer huts and outbuildings nestled into the most unexpected of nooks and crannies:

Eventually, after about 2 hours of trekking, we reached the first village, perched on a hillside in the mountains east of Kalaw:

Most villages in Myanmar boast their own Buddhist monasteries, and this one was no exception.  Ta Ta arranged for us to take tea at a small house next to this monastery, which was perched near the top of the world:

After refreshing cups of tea, we marched on, through the second village --

-- and its monastery (the pillar on the left, topped by an image of a chicken, is to remind Buddhists that all of us will die; the chicken is actually an incarnation of Buddha; travelers passing the monastery are reminded that they do not take their money or possessions with them, and have only their goods deeds in this life to commend them for their reincarnation in the next life):

Beyond the second village, we gazed back at it as we climbed to a magnificent viewpoint, which would be the destination for this day's trek:

Here we were at our destination, "Top Mountain," where we enjoyed a sumptuous feast of Myanmar dishes prepared by our guide:

Afternoon was speeding along, so Ta Ta provided a taxi truck to speed us headlong back down some very slippery red-clay roads (it had started raining), back into Kalaw.  We donned our rain gear and headed out to explore the town, where we stopped for some refreshing tea.  William and David clearly enjoyed it:

One of our goals this afternoon was to browse the Kalaw Christmas Market.  This was its first year.  While it only occupied one square block, it made up for its small, fledgling size with the enthusiasm of its vendors and visitors:

We arose early Saturday to drive south to the capital of Nay Pyi Taw, where we lodged for a night at the Hilton, one of several 5-star hotels that were built by the Myanmar government and licensed out to appropriate hotel chains.

Nay Pyi Taw is unusual among Myanmar's cities, being an entirely planned city outside of any state or region, similar to Canberra in Australia, Brasília in Brazil, Washington, D.C. in the United States, Islamabad in Pakistan or Abuja in Nigeria. The city officially replaced Yangon as the administrative capital of Myanmar in 2006. 

Nay Pyi Taw is organized into a number of zones:  residential, ministry, military, diplomatic, hotel, shopping, recreation and landmark.  Eventually, the embassies of foreign governments will move here from their present locations 4 hours south in Yangon.  But, for now, it is a city of not so many people.

Our hotel was almost empty, it being a holiday weekend when those from Yangon or elsewhere who might otherwise visit Nay Pyi Taw on business were occupying themselves with vacations or family activities elsewhere.  So we had the pool and the boardwalk around the hotel's three lakes to ourselves.  While Matt and Weina availed themselves of a massage at the spa, William, Kathy and David enjoyed the huge swimming pool, graced by as many as a dozen chickens spouting water, fountain-like, into the center of the pool!

When we all reconvened, we took a walk around the lakes.  No sooner did we start onto the boardwalk, than we encountered this husky Tom Turkey, protecting his harem of chickens (?) and challenging us to move quickly away rather than taking photographs:

It occurred to us that perhaps Tom had escaped his Thanksgiving fate earlier in the year by virtue of the lack of hotel guests demanding turkey dinners.  In any event, we guessed that Tom will survive until sometime in November 2020.

As we strolled further around the lakes, the sun began to set, lending a rosy color to the hotel grounds:

After a sound sleep and a hearty breakfast, we set out to explore Nay Pyi Taw.  This consisted of a drive along Yaza Htami Road, passing by Parliament -- a 20-lane divided highway with absolutely no traffic on it.  To get an idea how surrealistic the experience was, take a look at this video of what it felt like to drive down a 20-lane street that was TOTALLY EMPTY.

Yet, the road was not without its users.  In addition to the lone bicyclist we saw as we drove it, we also spotted this crowd of Brahma bulls enjoying a Sunday outing along the road:

We made a final stop at the Myanmar Gem Museum before driving home to Yangon.   It is a large building with a huge gem market on the first floor, where Kathy bought a small lapis lazuli stone and William picked up his birthstone, a beautiful aquamarine.  The large area upstairs in the museum is decorated with large wall glasses and beautiful and wonderful decorations in modern designs. Precious jewels such as ruby and sapphire, quality jade lots and the largest pearl in Myanmar are put on display there.

With our completion of our visit to the Gem Museum, our tour was coming to an end.  We began a quiet, four-hour drive back to Yangon, where we collapsed thankfully into the peaceful, beautiful home that Matt, Weina and William have in this very interesting Southeast Asian country.

More on our less peripatetic adventures in Myanmar in our next blog entry.