Sunday, November 12, 2023

Kigali Rwanda Part 1



It’s been challenging years for everyone since the pandemic began.  We had thought we might be able to return to travel earlier (with precautions) but we were further interrupted with unrelated health issues. After experiencing debilitating symptoms for some time I was diagnosed in December 2021 with very large fibroids - non-cancerous uterine tumours. With the diagnosis, coping with ongoing symptoms, waiting for a surgery date (and avoiding Covid-19 to not interrupt it), tumour shrinking injections and a long post hysterectomy recovery, we only recently felt it would be reasonable to embark on an overseas trip. I also share this bit of my story as I think many folks suffer in silence with these types of conditions. I think it is important to talk about it - know your body and follow up with your doctor if you see things that are out of sort. I am grateful I feel so much better now!

So here we are, after two days of travel, in Kigali Rwanda to trek & see wild mountain gorillas and chimpanzees, plus some other side quests. (Then we stop in Brussels, Belgium for 5 days on the way back to wander the streets, go to museums, galleries and check out the food scene!) We had initial interruptions and had to rebook our flights but once it got going it was generally smooth. Since the pandemic began we take some enhanced infection control measures while travelling including kn95 masks on the plane as much as possible (we did have to remove to eat), nose spray and mouthwash that is supposed to reduce respiratory infections, and used our co2 monitor in the airport and plane to gauge air quality. It was disappointing how many were flying without masks while obviously sick and coughing. I do wish infection prevention did not become so polarizing and we could agree on basics like cleaner air and masking while sick. No one wants to get sick and certainly not on a much anticipated trip - we also are not permitted to trek to see the gorillas if we are sick, so crossing fingers we stay healthy!

Again to manage the ongoing travel challenges we booked some buffer days in Kigali to avoid missing our pre-booked jungle trek days, which need permits and guides. With the extra time we are taking things slow. We arrived late Friday night and essentially went to bed when we got to our hotel. The first morning we started with breakfast at our hotel and then we walked from our hotel about 1.5 kms to explore the area around the Imbuga City Walk. The streets of Kigali are sparkling clean, with lush plants along the sides and very friendly people milling about. For dinner, we walked to a nearby Indian restaurant, Khana Khazana. 

Our second day we spent at the Nyandungu Eco Park. It was about 9kms of walking checking out the lush plants, trees and wetlands. We got absolutely soaked by a big rain storm but it was still warm so we persevered. We were lucky to see a large variety of birds.  Some bird highlights include African openbill, grey back fiscal (shrike), ibis, gray crowned crane among many many others. Although it is a maintained walk way we should have worn our hiking boots as the bricks are very slippery. And of course we hauled our umbrellas all the way from Canada but decided to only bring one on the walk which just got in the way so we embraced getting soaked. We stopped at the onsite restaurant, looking like drowned rats, and had some local chocolate, espresso and mango juice. We had a late lunch when we returned to the hotel and laid down for what was supposed to be a nap. Unfortunately that was a fail and we are now wide awake at 3:30 am and hungry from missing supper. 


Sunday, May 14, 2023

Joshua Tree 2023



We are back for our second visit to the perfect little Modernist Cabin a few miles from Joshua Tree town and backing onto Joshua Tree National park. It is a one room cabin designed by modernist architect Ron Radziner, with outdoor shower, bbq and outdoor tub on one side and outdoor living room on the other, and lovingly decorated in mid century modern style. It is absolutely the perfect place for deep relaxation surrounded by the rocks, flora and fauna of the desert. The cabin is managed by Homestead Modern which manages a wonderful portfolio of architecture gems available for vacation rental including the stunning Monument House featured in New York Style magazine

I’ve spotted countless birds including the Gamble’s Quail, hummingbirds, road runner, cactus wren, and many animals; rabbits, lizard, white tailed antelope squirrel. The bird identification app I like best is Merlin Bird ID from Cornell Lab. The absolute highlight was spotting a curious desert tortoise right by the cabin. He seemed enamoured with me as he tried to follow me a few times while I backed up avoiding cactus. 

We checked out the Noah Purifoy outdoor museum full of sculptures made out reclaimed items. It is very unique and there are so many installations. We also viewed the Transmission Sculpture By Daniel Popper, large face with four hands located at The mojave moon Airbnb and retreat. Note it is on private property, but the owners have kindly made a fenced viewing area for the public. You can only see more of the sculpture as a guest staying onsite. We checked out the Joshua Tree Farmer’s Market and Yucca Valley Sky Village Swap Meet - we didn’t buy anything but it’s always fun to check out local events. I also had a good espresso at The DEZ in Joshua Tree. We caught a glimpse of the AutoCamp - a glamping venue full of airstreams but the large fence prevented a good look.

We also love checking out the unique local architecture. We spotted the UFO type Futuro House Airbnb: “the Futuro House was first concocted by designer Matti Suuronen in 1968 as a "portable ski chalet." The home resembles a small UFO thanks to its curved design and oval windows on all sides.” We had a coffee and walk around the Joshua Tree Retreat Center to check out the buildings designed by Lloyd Wright son of Frank Lloyd Wright. “this metaphysical destination is home to the largest collection of Lloyd Wright buildings in the world. The sprawling 400-acre property was built between 1946–1957 and although the architect on record is Lloyd Wright, it is believed that his father, Frank Lloyd Wright “had a hand in the design of some of the structures.” 

We also wanted to check out the famous mirrored Invisible House but the road that takes you close is private, but I could see it glinting in the distance from the main road.  It was featured in Architectural Digest. We didn’t see it but the Kellogg Doolittle House is also in the Joshua Tree area. “The house in Joshua Tree was designed in the 1980s by organic architect Kendrick Bangs Kellogg for artist Bev Doolittle and her husband Jay” also featured in Architectural Digest.

We spent a lot of time just decompressing from the last three years. Lazy mornings on the patio while the desert is still cool, walks among the giant boulders and cactus in the evening. Travel always allows me to be more in the moment and for the first time in a long time I feel relaxed. When travel comes to an end I also find myself having increased gratitude for home as well. 

“We travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel, next to find ourselves. We travel to open our hearts and eyes and learn more about the world than our newspapers will accommodate. We travel to bring what little we can, in our ignorance and knowledge, to those parts of the globe whose riches are differently dispersed. And we travel, in essence, to become young fools again- to slow time down and get taken in, and fall in love once more.” Pico Iyer



Tuesday, May 9, 2023

Palm Springs 2023

This is our fourth trip to Palm Springs, and our first trip in over 3 years. It’s a short, direct flight, relaxing vibe, lots of time outdoors, and for the first trip since the pandemic started it seemed like a good choice for an easy trip. Everyone has lost a lot in this pandemic, which still continues. Nothing feels as easy as it once did, bearing witness to the ongoing impact takes its toll while trying to navigate, live and work in this new reality. 

Travel has always brought me a unique type of relaxation. Once you get to the airport or get on the road, a lot of stress is left at home, old routines are abandoned and every day has a bit of adventure. I’ve been deeply missing that over the pandemic (and I know I am privileged because so many have had terrible losses in this time). It was serendipitous that I should read this article yesterday: “A holiday is about more than just a break. It’s a chance to dip a toe into a new version of yourself. If you feel stuck, a trip can put you back in touch with your sense of adventure

So what have we been up to in Palm Springs? We are again staying at the fabulous midcentury small hotel Orbit Inn, which sits below the famous Frey House. All the rooms have their own entrance off the central pool, an easy place to relax. We have been enjoying slow mornings on the cool deck, morning trips for espresso, Palm Springs Art Museum, Architect Museum, traveling around the desert to view different DesertX art installations, the botanical gardens, watching the birds - so many hummingbirds!, checking out architecture and public sculptures, evening conversations with interesting guests, and lots of delicious vegan food and patios. 

Tomorrow we head off to a cabin in Joshua Tree for the last four nights of our stay.  Two favourite photos below, our pool at the cactus at the botanical gardens. You can see more on my Instagram and eventually my Flickr. 




Friday, May 5, 2023

Travel Hacks

Everyone has their favourite tips and tricks to make travel easier and  more enjoyable. We have many old and new tricks and since this is our first trip and flight since the pandemic started we have a few more health and safety ones. Here are some of my travel hacks!

Luggage: First off, Travel Light, We do carryon only almost always. What helps this be successful is the right bags and accessories. We both use the Patagonia “Black Hole® MLC® bag, is burly, soft-sided 45-liter suitcase with enough room for world travel and convertible backpack straps for comfy load carrying” and one personal shoulder bag. A soft sided bag allows for some stretch and being both a suitcase and back pack eliminates bulky wheels that take up space. We also each carry a reusable TSA compliant clear toiletries bag (many options on Amazon etc), for liquids, of course each item is less 100ml or less. Wear your bulkiest clothes and shoes on the flight to save some room. On longer trips we do laundry and ensure we bring clothing that mixes and matches. 

Accessories: Some accessories are trip specific but in general we always bring a small power bar (so often there are not enough outlets!), two extra long charge cords for iphones, noise cancelling headphones, empty water bottles, plane snacks, Tru Earth laundry soap strips, flat rubber sink stopper, apple air tags in case we need to check a bag or for lost/stolen luggage, headlamp (we’ve been through a few power outages; hurricane Sandy and Brisbane floods etc, and a light was essential), two folding shopping bags, a super compact packable duffle bag in case we buy stuff to bring back (if hiking we bring a packable backpack, it packs to 2/3 of the size of a coke can!). Depending where you are going, you can pick up over the counter medication/supplies you might need but it can vary; we always bring tums, Advil, bandaids, sunscreen & bug spray (if applicable), and a thermometer. 

Documents: take a photo of your passport, driver license, health insurance, etc, and save them to something cloud based such as your email and ensure a trusted person at home has a copy. 

Internet and apps: Figure out how you want to access the internet. On trips I use it a lot for google maps! For short trips I have done Rogers “roam like home” that has a daily max data charge, on others I have purchased sim cards on arrival and for this trip I am trying the new E-Sim option and have selected Airalo (apple app store). Google maps is generally great for public transportation but I also check if there is a local metro app. Google translate app is terrific for communication and can even read labels and menus and translate! HappyCow vegan travel guide app is how I find all the best vegan food around the world. I use the Libby, By Overdrive App to download free magazines and books from the Calgary Library. I love using Tripadvisor to check out things to do and then save them to a trip plan for easy reference (plus great traveller reviews). As well Atlas Obscura is fantastic for finding odd ball activities and interesting sites. And don’t forget to download the airline app as many have their entertainment system on the app, plus trip notifications and management. 

Tips for smooth security: Check in as soon as you can online (usually 24 hours in advance), load your boarding pass to your iPhone wallet app, slip on shoes, keep electronics, passport and clear liquid bag in an external pocket or in easy reach to pull out for inspection.   

Infection Prevention: Let’s face it, no one wants to have a trip ruined by being sick or deal with health complications. We can’t always prevent illness and respiratory infections, such COVID-19 or even the common cold, but NPR had this January 2023 article “Coronavirus FAQ: How do I avoid catching COVID while flying in 2023?” with some tips to consider: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/01/09/1138627894/coronavirus-faq-how-do-i-avoid-catching-covid-while-flying-in-2023

We’ve missed a lot of trips since the pandemic began. I don’t know what future trips will entail for COVID-19 precautions but for now I want to be more cautious and not miss out on any fun feeling sick!

Sunday, April 28, 2019

Love Letter to Bankview


In 2002 we were looking for the right house in an inner city community. We discovered our dream house, an impossibly skinny 17 foot wide architectural infill, in Bankview, Calgary, Alberta. We soon discovered that what makes Bankview great is the diversity; of people, amenities, green spaces, schools, architecture and activities. Bankview is full of wonderful neighbours and friends such as Gail Simper winner of the 2017 Community Advocate Award. You can read about more stellar residents in the Bankview Good Neighbor Awards, and nominate someone today! The history project "A Stroll Through Bankview: Some 70+ Significant Selected Sites" also offers a comprehensive look at this unique community through the years. 

The Bankview Community Association and Community Hall is a hub of activity that ties the community together. In 2018, working with the Bankview Community Association and The City of Calgary, local artist Chris Pecora made a wonderful graphic map of Bankview and all the unique amenities including community, art, parks and recreation, history and architecture. I’ll highlight some of my favourites from the map as well as other community assets. 

As they say; location, location, location! Nestled between the bordering communities of Mount Royal to the east, South Calgary/Marda Loop to the south and 17 Avenue Retail and Entertainment District to the north, Bankview is a terrific location. So many amenities are located within walking and biking distance, including easy access to the bike trails along the Elbow River and River ParkFor a gourmet market and cafe visit, Our Daily Brett, located in the same mini mall as Bankview Starbucks, and Fishman's Dry Cleaners.

Bankview is chock full of parks with the crowning jewel being the large Buckmaster Park, which is home to the Community Garden where residents can rent their own plot. Buckmaster Park boasts a view of downtown, benches, a hill for sledding, basketball court, street hockey space and many wild neighbourhood bunnies. It is also the site of many events organized by our fabulous Bankview Community Association like outdoor concerts, Halloween pumpkin lantern evening, and bonfires. The Bankview Community Association is situated in another sizeable park area, a block from Buckmaster park. This space has a soccer pitch, free tennis courts, basket ball court, event gazebo, and playground equipment. Smaller parks are sprinkled around Bankview with a variety of additional playground equipment. We even have our very own off-leash dog park


The community green spaces also house a variety of public art including the Nimmons Cairn by renowned artist Katie Ohe, Bankview Mural by Chris Pecora and Cam Hoff, a dinosaur mural on 25 Avenue SW, and a very unique VW Beatle car turned into a spider on top of Bankview Starbucks. The diverse community architecture is another bonus such as the infamous 'soccer ball' geodesic dome house built in the 1970's, the historic Nimmons House, built in 1898, or the 2019 award winning Grow Project, a multi-unit condo complete with rooftop gardens. 


A short walk to neighbouring South Calgary brings you to the cSPACE Arts Hub, in the historic King Edward building, -  a community of artists, non-profits, entrepreneurs, event space and the weekly year round Farmers & Makers Market. A block from cSPACE is the South Calgary Outdoor Pool and the Giuffre Family Library. What more could you ask for?

So what's your favourite thing about Bankview?

Friday, March 16, 2018

Vietnam & Cambodia

We started our trip to Vietnam by flying to Hanoi via Seoul, Korea. With Instagram I have gotten quite lazy at blogging as I can just quickly post a photo and story immediately, so this entry is overdue! We picked up a SIM card at the airport which made for super easy navigation and internet on the go. We stayed in a central mid-range hotel in the Old Quarter; http://www.essencehanoihotel.com. The surrounding streets are filled with a mix of architecture, tiny roadside pop up kitchens, thousands of scooters and even more people. The traffic reminds me of schools of fish dancing in between each other. It looks like chaos but is carefully choreographed with everyone knowing how and when to move, we never saw a single accident! We did a lot of walking to the nearby lake, vegan friendly restaurants, temples and markets. A highlight was the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, which has expansive, well curated exhibits about the cultural groups that call Vietnam home, including history, art, housing, textiles and more. We also visited the Hoa Lo Prison, also called the "Hanoi Hilton" where Vietnamese colonial subject sea later America POWs were imprisoned. It is interesting to see history from the perspectives of other countries, and reminds me there are no real winners in war. Atlas Obscura has an article with many photos: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/h-a-lo-prison

Vegan food was easy to find using https://www.happycow.net, but many regular spots we walked past did not seem to have vegan options. Our favourite was the amazing gourmet vegan meals at Uudam Chao. My only regret was not trying it the first night so we could eat there every evening. It is expensive by local standards but a bargain by Canadian pricing. Check out a few of the delights below:

Most days we also visited La Studio for a lovely coffee, dessert or the outstanding cashew cheese and carrot 'lox' bagel. We had also read about the famous cheap vegan banh mi (Vietnamese sub) shop, called Vegan Banh Mi. So we set out to find it using our GPS map. As we were getting close, a friendly lady ushered us down the alley to a small room with plastic stools and an outdoor kitchen. We enjoyed two Banh Mi subs, two appetizers and a dessert for about $3.50 Canadian. The dessert was really great. It’s not a fancy - just good street food right off the alley. Nearby, we also discovered the Marou Chocolate flag ship store which sells gourmet, expensive chocolate. (Cheap lunch and then fancy chocolate - it's all about balance!)  This chocolate comes from Vietnam and much of it is dark chocolate and therefore vegan. It is the silkiest dark chocolate I have ever had and I must admit we ate more than a few bars! You can read a great article about the company here: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/06/t-magazine/food/marou-vietnamese-chocolate.html

From Hanoi, we flew to Da Nang and took a taxi to our hotel in the quaint city of Hoi An, known for its well preserved old town, canals and architecture. While the hotel we picked was well situated in the old town and had a decent pool, it could have been better; it really needed a refresh and some maintenance. However, it provided a good starting point for each day of exploration and some free dodgy bikes. We did manage to ride the bikes out to see the ocean, a 12 km round trip. The streets in the central old town are for pedestrians and bicycles only (well mostly, some scooters do sneak in), making for a nice place to wander. There are many art shops and the area is known for rice paper paintings and intricate paper cards with pop up designs. The streets come alive at night with markets as well. The food was good and we spent lots of time watching people go by while having coffee. One of our favourites was the veg friendly What Else Cafe and our hotel was also close to the tasty all vegan Karma Waters and vegetarian Annen.

The highlight of Hoi An was Jack's Cat Cafe, which is a small vegetarian/vegan cafe alongside a cat rescue centre. The cafe helps fund the costs of the shelter. We took a taxi there as it is a few kilometres from the centre. We couldn't find a taxi for the way back so it was a long hot walk home! But it was worth it to see so many spoiled cats lounging around in the pretty courtyard.  We enjoyed a nice lunch while watching the antics of the cats and were able to make a donation to towards their care.

From Hoi An we flew to Siem Reap, Cambodia for a few days. At the airport we were able to get a mobile SIM card for $3.00USD and an inexpensive taxi to our hotel. We stayed at Frangipani Villa Hotel, which is a good value midrange hotel. We didn't expect it, but we enjoyed Cambodia more than Vietnam. We packed in a lot of activities in our short time including Angkor Wat and Beng Mealea temples. Angkor Wat is the larger and more famous of the two temple sites. The day we visited Angkor it was over cast with rain and quite busy. We still enjoyed wandering around the site looking at the ornate carvings and building techniques. We were very fortunate to be among the first tourists to arrive at Beng Mealea on a very sunny day. The site is much smaller, and less manicured but was more fun to explore.
Spirit House at Angkor Thom

Our other big adventure was visiting Kompong Phluk Floating Village, in which houses are built on stilts over the water. We explored the village by motorboat until we reached the mouth of the lake where we transferred to small canoe for a tour of the mangroves before heading back via the river boat. Both vessels had female captains! The girl with the canoe was around 13 years old and worked hard paddling us around. To explore these three different sites we hired the nice taxi driver we met at the airport.


After all our jam packed tours we spent the rest of the time lounging in the lovely hotel pool and checking out the city. The tuktuk taxis, which are scooters with a special trailer attached for passengers, are very affordable and plentiful. One of the days a driver just followed us from stop to stop for the day and then back for our hotel for a cost of $6.00.


We also had some of the best food of the entire trip in Cambodia and our number one favourite was Morgina bar which we visited every day it was open. The tofu nuggets and Banh Mi were out of this world! The space has a great ambiance with outdoor sheltered tables. We met a nice couple from Australia there and visited for a few hours one evening. We also shared a able another night with an American man who works remotely and rides a bike everywhere, such great stories! Another unexpected food delight was discovering a roadside treat called Kralan, which we were introduced to via our driver. It is a sweet treat of sticky rice, a few beans and coconut milk stuffed inside a bamboo stock and then cooked on an open fire, in little carts on the side of the road. You just peel the bamboo and eat, no packaging or utensils required. With happy tummies we left Cambodia to head back to Vietnam!

We started our visit to Ho Chi Minh on a sour note, falling prey to a taxi scam at the airport, in which the normal rate was inflated by 4 times. We realized the price was outlandish, but being that we didn't want to escalate the situation or have him drive off with our bags, we paid the fare after letting him know the price was not fair. Looking back, there are several preventive measures we could have taken including taking a photo of the taxi, keeping the slip of paper given to us at the taxi stand rather than handing it over to the driver as requested and insisting the taxi drop us in the designated hotel spot (he of course had an excuse about the construction preventing him from parking there). For more tips on taxi scams see; https://traveldave.co.uk/taxi-scam-ho-chi-minh-saigon-vietnam/.

When we confirmed with the hotel that the price was ridiculous we decided to not pursue it, as we also didn't want the driver to possibly end up facing a harsh punishment. For example; Two 18-yr-old Vietnamese sentenced in Jean Valjean-like bread theft. We were initially quite annoyed at being taken advantage of, but that negative energy is wasted, so instead we made several Kiva loan donations to low income folks in Vietnam. As the saying goes "How people act is their karma, how you react is yours." Ironically, I had been admiring the driver's Bodhisattva statue in his taxi. (In Buddhism, Bodhisattva (/ËŒboÊŠdɪˈsÊŒtvÉ™/ BOH-dih-SUT-vÉ™)[1] is the Sanskrit term for anyone who, motivated by great compassion, has generated Bodhicitta, which is a spontaneous wish and a compassionate mind to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings. source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhisattva)

Outside of this initial poor experience, the rest of the city visit was uneventful. We were warned about risks of theft but we didn't experience any concerns. We try to travel with out flashing expensive gadgets, keeping items close and not showing off. I can understand the temptation to steal when many are struggling with poverty and low wages. Sources vary but "According to the Japan External Trade Organization, the average monthly salary of a Vietnamese worker last year was $145 in Hanoi and $148 in Ho Chi Minh City" (source http://www.thanhniennews.com/society/vietnams-minimum-wage-to-increase-1418-per-month-in-2015-29590.html)

We booked a fancier hotel in Ho Chi Minh, which was still a bargain by Canadian standards, so we'd have a reprieve from the busy streets, plus it also has a nice roof top pool. This proved to be money well spent as we spent time hanging out at the hotel than we normally due trying to get over our chest infections. Unfortunately mine started the day before we left so by this point it had been progressing for a few weeks. I finally relented and used our emergency travel antibiotics which did seem to help. The recovery was hampered by the poor air quality across Vietnam. Check out the photo below for a comparison between Hanoi and Calgary in January 2018! Unfortunately richer western nations are also responsible for this pollution through outsourcing a lot of manufacturing to save money. (See: CO2 emissions are being 'outsourced' by rich countries to rising economies).

We were fortunate to have several good options for food as well. Our favourites restaurants included: Hum a fancier placer with tranquil ambiance, Pi Vegetarian Bistro, and Vegan Kitchen.


A highlight of Ho Chi Minh is the Museum of History where we enjoyed a great exhibit on Buddhist statues, jewelry, and cultural artifacts. It is housed in interesting building with a lotus pond in the courtyard. There are quite a few green spaces in the city where we relaxed in the cooler evenings. After Ho Chi Minh the next stop Tokyo, Japan!








Sunday, January 28, 2018

Vietnam via Korea

Our trip starts with three nights in Seoul, South Korea, which is not a lot of time, but it does break up the long flights and allows us to start to explore this neat city. The city streets are very full and at night reminded us of Bladerunner. There was also a weird sound we heard from our airbnb that sounded like a whale being assaulted - we never did figure out the source. Our first day we spent wandering the streets as we usually do when in a new place. We enjoyed the Insa-Dong Art Street area, full of art and antique shops along winding alleys.

We decided we wanted to go to the DMZ - Demilitarized Zone, specifically the JSA - Joint Security Area, between South and North Korea. The JSA is the area of the DMZ where you can see both South and North Korean soldiers standing on opposite sides. As well there is a building where you can technically stand in North Korea. This takes advance booking and requires that color copies of your passport be submitted and you must attend as part of a tour. (For more information on tours see: http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SHP/SH_EN_7_2.jsp?cid=273731) We were set to go, but then South and North Korea booked Olympic talks for the exact same day and the JSA portion was cancelled. There had also been recent defections of North Korean soldiers and we watched a fascinating, and heart breaking news story about the efforts of the South Korean hospital, that resulted in saving the defector that was shot. You can read more about this case here; http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/north-korea-video-soldiers-shoot-defectors-dmz-escape-pyongyang-south-a8068706.html

So we couldn’t go the the JSA area but we went to another portion of the DMZ on a small tour bus. 
The guide thought J was Ryan Reynolds so that was pretty fun. Unfortunately I was sick so I had to wear a mask on the bus. It’s a common cultural phenomenon in Korea to wear a mask when sick or as prevention. At least I found a nice one in black that I can use again in case of some sort of outbreak at home. Speaking of outbreaks, I was so impressed with the comprehensive emergency supplies in the metro stations; gas masks, blankets, water, flashlights, etc, sadly in place in case of attack. But I digress... at the DMZ we went to four locations; Imjingak Park, 3rd Infiltration tunnel, the Dora Observatory and Dorasan Station. 

The first stop, Imjingak Park, does not require visitors to go through any security check points so it tends to be more accessible and popular with tourists. “Imjingak Resort, located 7 km from the Military Demarcation Line, is now at the forefront of tourism related to the Korean War. Imjingak was built in 1972 with the hope that someday unification would be possible. The three-storied Imjingak is surrounded by several monuments, Unification Park and North Korea Center.” (Source: http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/ATR/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=264487) This area had a powerful display of ribbons and messages attached to the barbed wire fence as well as the The Stone of Peace Wall sculpture. From the plaque on site; “This sculpture is made from stones collected from battlefields all over the world that have witnessed the suffering and grief of war. It is my sincere wish that the bringing together of these stones collected from 86 battlefields in 64 different countries will be a stepping stone for the reconciliation of the Korean People and mark the beginning of a century of peace and harmony for all mankind.” - Li, Chan-Yeul, Governor of Kyonggi Province (January 1, 2000). 

The 3rd Infilitration Tunnel was an attempt from North Korea to invade South Korea, although North Korea says it was for mining. At the site you descend a very steep, very long walk way under ground to get to a section of the original tunnel. I wanted to take a picture of this, as it was like the pitch of a slide, but photos are not allowed - trust me it was steep. I am not a big fan of steep hikes, being deep under ground, or small spaces, and the constant smashing of my hard hat clad head on the tunnel ceiling did not make me a bigger fan. However, it was very interesting to learn about! Once we hiked out of the depths we watched an informative documentary on the DMZ and the conflict. It was particularly interesting to learn how the wild animals thrive in this area with out human abuse and interference. 

The next stop was the Dora Observatory where you can use the binoculars to peek into North Korea. Although we were quite far we were still able to see buildings. We also went to he Dorasan train station, a station set up in hopes of future South and North reunification. It is the end station of the Gyeongui Line. The station is essentially empty except for tourists, waiting one day to be filled with North and South Koreans freely passing through.

The cancellation of the JSA portion left us with a free afternoon which we used to explore the excellent modern art museum; Arario Museum. In our short trip we found great vegan food using our favorite travel app Happy Cow Veg Directory. To our delight there was an all vegan bakery The Bread Blue with terrific panne au chocolate! Our favorite dining spot was a wee cafe, DalYang - Sweet Kitten, a bit out of the way but accessible by metro, and has amazing burgers. The sweet staff person was concerned for our us finding food for the flight the next morning so she insisted we take two free muffins. A nice way to end a visit! 

You can see photos of the trip and food at www.instagram.com/voyagevixen