on decent, capitols and frogs

written on Thursday:

Yesterday morning I had some bread and cheese for breakfast and headed out to the mountain. lots og fantastic trails to choose from and i chose one mid range in length and difficulty, wanting to see the city a bit after wards. 

i was almost late for the bus, the vehicle was there but the driver was not, 15 minutes later, we all boarded. the receipt machine was not working, and a few minutes later, the driver comes to me in the back and hands me a blank ticket as a receipt!  

25 minutes later i get off the bus and had 1 k to the view point at peako del ingles, beautiful views of east and west sides of this island, but the clouds hide teide. from here at 960 meters altitude i begin the 7 k descent to the coast. the views are phenomenal, small houses strewn between these steep and hills and La laguna and santa cruz are also visible . at parts i am walking only in a forests and then you get a clearing with a great view.

i kind of follow a little creek with running water, a rarity on this island, and frogs can be heard any time the creek becomes a pond which is often. i didnt see a single frog, only hear them.

after a great 2.5 hours of walking mostly down in these hills , i reached the village of Valleseco and walked for 20 minutes more on the road till i reached the shore. the walk from here was finally flat along the board walk till santa cruz. i passed by tourist information, got a city map and quickly passed through the main sites, a nice city center on the island capital, but definitely not a must, an hour later i was on the tram to La laguna. 

after a shower and a little siesta, i headed for old town laguna. in here, several streets are closes to cars, only foot traffic is allowed, in between missions, churches and quality shopping. i walked for over 2 hours enjoying the tranquil streets and the many shops, the key was to find good stuff, for cheap and that will fit in my small bags. the plan didn't work very well, but in the end it all fit. i enjoyed great ice cream before returning to the hotel to drop of my bags, i was feeling like pretty woman carrying all these bags. it was after eight and stores were closing, making room for the restaurants. i stopped at a turkish place for a mediocre humus plate, but a great shwarma in a good grilled pita. the bread makes the difference. i walked a bit longer to better digest before returning to pack. '

total of a 100 k in 8 days over mountainous terrain, wild animals: dung beetles, some birds, worms, rabbit (on a plate) , 1 hiking gazelle, 1 like hunter , 1 Giant volcano, bushes, pines, cacti , rain forest, living in caves and up too steep hill surrounded by ocean. that ends my tenerife experience and country/destination number sixty.

cheers from the couch

https://plus.google.com/u/0/104769303678729727539/posts/TKeDJ2dLpR2?pid=6276112326073540834&oid=104769303678729727539

on rain fog and breathlessness

at the end of yesterday's hike, i was not feeling well and gave my pack to Amit, it was virtually empty, save water, but still felt lighter. i descended as fast as i could and that evening still felt my lungs working extra hard, i slept little at night still feeling my lungs and decided i need to get to lower elevation. Next morning I said my goodbyes to like hunter and the man with no clean clothes and took a cab to la laguna. This was my original plan for the next day. Right away i felt much better, no more pressure on the lungs and feeling the excursion of 1 flight of stairs at the hotel. i checked in to a hostel and set out quickly to the bus stop. The late bus finally arrived (After the late taxi as well) and i headed north. The taxi ride here was fogy and the bus ride was drizzly, but as soon as i reached cruz del Carmen, the rain stopped.

 

it was love at first sight. The trail passes through a kind of rain forest. Mossy trees, lots of ferns under a cloudy day and i felt like walking again. This trails starts at 983 meters and finishes at the cost, 12 k away. The 1st few kilometers were all steeply downhill in this lovely forest on an easy but steep path down, once i reached the textile village of El Batan, the trails became narrow and followed a creek. This is not a used path in this section and the vegetation tries to claim it back, i needed a machete for some of the parts, especially where the thorns were right on the path. The green steep hills all around are breath taking, it was a beautiful walk. All good things must end, and in the village i had to climb through it, 1-2 k of nonstop stairs, i breathed hard, but from the uphill not the elevation. The path goes through the village, this is what they use on daily basis, it passes their houses and fields. i loved it , even when i had to stop for air (frequent on this climb). from the top of the village, the ocean appeared through the creek and from here out, the path passes two more villages, goes up and down (mostly down) along the middle of the ridge, and every up point, the ocean appears. but the pretty part are these green hills with the village scattered through them.

After 4:15 hours of as much of nonstop walking as i managed , i reached point del hidalgo on the west coast. i sampled a recovery ice cream and waited for the bus while stretching.

This hike entered my top 10 list.

After 20 minutes of sitting looking at the ocean and letting the sun warm me up, the bus came and 40 minutes later i was back in laguna. now i had to slowly walk the 1.5 k to the hotel with a stop to get a water bottle and a shawarma!!!!!

 

Now resting at the hotel planning tomorrow's last hike of this trip, i will head north once more, these hills of anga rural park are incredible.

 

Photos are posted on google+ and face book, cheers from La laguna.

 

on likes, hikes and cairns

Yesterday, I left the like hunter at the hotel to recover and headed to town, collected Amit and headed for the bus station.

bus came late but took us to the national park. we had a 10 minute stop at one place that took 25 minutes and 1 hour later then advertised we reached the other edge of ell portllo and began hiking back along the bottom of the our crater wall. this is an easy trail relatively. the issue is time, since the bus was late, we had under 4 hours to do a 4:30 hour trail. we walked fast, virtually no stops, just of nature needs and photos. In the beginning we had a nice side breeze , but as we turned, the rest was against a very strong wind. the cable car is closed because of these winds. it was pushing hard, mildly up against the wind. it was very difficult but we made it with 15 minutes to spare, exhausted.

this trail is along the crater wall, with interesting rock shapes, lave tubes, altered by centuries of wind erosion. scattered bushes , handful of pines and some flowers are scattered in this arid crater and all the time, the peak of teide is towering above us, daring us to climb it.

at the very end, Amit went first and missed the turn towards the bus stop, and detouring for a bit , and had to run extra , cause he saw the bus and thought it was leaving... i told him , we dont count extra running in the trip log.

on the bus back, we could see the three islands west of Tenerife in this seven island chain and very interesting views. we had a good dinner and i crashed soon after, dead tiered.

this morning, we checked out of VIllaflor, the original plan was to walk from here to teide park , but after yesterday, knowing that the 1st 2 hours are steeply up, we took a cab and skipped 6k and began walking the other 10k. we waited at the hotel till the rain stopped, but at this higher elevation, the clouds were all around us, it was windy cold and we could fill drops every now and then. the wind picked up as we went higher through the pine forest and the fog became denser.

my two followers dont have a map, dont know the way but have doubts to my directions. after 6 days of walking and reaching our destination every time, there is still no trust. at one point, i showed them the way, and they pointed to a bunch of cairns and agreed this is the way. let's ignore the fact that there were lots of cairns on these trails, some belong to other trails.. i commented "אתם סומכים על גל אבנים אבל לא על גיל אבן"   sorry, this line does not translate well. 

we reached the top of the ridge, still in the cloud, and then, they clouds dispersed, on the one side we could see the entire cost line, all our previous hiking days, near by islands and we believe even as far as the cost of Mauritania to the south east, and on the other hand, the entire teide crater with Teide it self in full glory. for the next 4 k, we were walking on the ridge with alternative views of cost and mountain. i felt very tiered on this part, the cold , wind, exhaustion, perhaps the altitude got to me and i wanted to descend. finally we reached the trail down. 1.2 k snaking down fast and i didn't stop, just went straight down and reached the hotel, got a plate of yummi canarian potatoes and orange juice.

we had a gourmet dinner at the chef restaurant ere, the only place that is open in the crater and sat by the view of the mountain, time to rest soon, another hiking day tomorrow .

cheers from Canadas , Teide national park

on the moon, Asparagus and a dog

Woke up today before the sun and watched the sun rise for a bit and had a simple but good breakfast, good bread, good cheese, good scrambled eggs, bad orange juice... soon we began walking, first the 1k to town to collect Amit from his musty windowless room. we waited for Amit for a while and Moti decided to go up the hill alone and wait for us at the 1st junction. he had road instructions, but managed to get lost a bit. we tracked him down and soon began a steep climb . 2.4 k in 1 hour and 10 minutes of muscle working extra hard. the next 4k were mostly up hill but more mild and easier this is a pine forest with patches of flowers, mostly yellow and glimpses of the peaks above. morning had bright blue skies, but as the day progressed, clouds set in. there was a cold breeze but with the clouds came very unique warm air, the cold and hot interchanged to result in great walking weather.

we reached the views of the Paisaje Lunar and were not overwhelmed by them. we snacked a bit and descended closer. then i continued alone and reached the surface of the moon, nice but not Brice canyon. 

two families traveled together, with kids and a dog on this not so easy trail and reached the moon surface with me. this is a protected area but one of them went on it, slid, and his marks can be visibly seen, the dog also went on the moon , but left no marks at least. i left the loud Russian family and hope the moon will survive. I collected the two resting people and now it was mostly down hill, 4k of gentle slope and 2.4 steep down hill, much faster pace on the way down, then in town we need to go again up and up as the hotel is at the far end, and way way up. 

i stayed with Amit for lunch and tried to be good and ordered Asparagus. in my world, Asparagus, is green and served hot. here is was alien white, tentaclky, cold and blah... couldn't touch it. lucky we had some bread and potatoes.

in the hotel after a life saving shower we had to haggle for dinner. this is a good hotel, but today they have a special event, with 2 astronomers and a special dinner- only 1 choice... no order from a menu. i looked at the options and was horrified. pork, salmon tartar, caviar , avocado - all the things i avoid like wildfire. i managed to have my pork changed to a fish. Moti did the sam and amit will get lasagna. all this ordering is done in advance of the meal. we go to dinner in 30 minutes... 

tomorrow , we leave one behind to rest and plan to take a bus to teide park and do an easy 15k flat hike along the crater wall

cheers from covered in cloud VillaFlor (not good for an upcoming astronomy show)

on Pines, angles and gas masks

Yesterday, we returned to the bodega. Moti had an avocado special with tomatoes, not for me. i had chicken with chips, potatoes, and sweet potatoes... 

the sweet potatoes here are white, most odd, but they were well made. Amit had his vegetable medley.

well stuffed, Amit and i took a cab to Catillo san Miguel for this evening main attraction- a medieval show. as we walked in this semi ancient castle through the draw bridge we received a yellow poncho vest thing with a crest and put it on and a crown similar to the one burger king gives kids. after dressing up we had our photos taken with the king and queen and escorted by a little person garbed as a fool.

Amit had his poncho inside out on his royalty photon which was funny to me, in days of yore he would be beheaded for such insolence.

then we were taken to out sits in the main hall. this large hall is about 80 meters long, the center is filled with sand and on either side are rows for the spectators. The silver ware is almost authentic. silver goblets, silver plates next to a water bottle and a local orange soda. candles are everywhere and all around are various crests, weapons and armor.

the show begins with the king and queen entering the hall and all the knights behind on horse back.  

the 1st act is a horse and trainer acting out, the trainer tries to saddle the horse and the horse keeps throwing the blanket off and they interact in a very comical way. next we see dancing horses, they ride straight, diagonally and side to side, 10 horses and riders and zigzag back and forth, very impressive.

half of the knights were on the yellow side (our side) and the other half black and when your knights raises their hands, you cheers and you boo the other side. the crowd quickly got into it.

they demonstrated jousting, actually hitting each others shields, spear chucking from horse back to straw targets way up in the air and also ground target. Lance demonstrates, on horseback, speared their lance through tiny rings, over and over without a miss and while riding fast.

the falcon came next. 2 guys, each calling the falcon in turn. each of the demonstrators were at either ends of the audience, and the falcon flew over people heads, most cool.

the fool had a fire dance, he rubbed lit torches all over himself and in his mouth, crazy fool.

the fool, also had a job of warming the audience to cheer, he was dancing a lot. 

Now it was time for the final act, which was long and enjoyable.

knights were battling each other with swords, morning stars, flaming morning stars, tridents, pole-arms, shields and flaming torches. these were short bouts where one knight would be disarmed, then mock kicked around and then arrested in all sorts of ways. the block (your head between two big blocks of wood, in shackles, in chains, in a cage. they roped the trainer and the horse actually removed the rope out, horsediny that one. 

in all this time, squires were handing them back swords, "helping" the fallen knights get back up, spilling some liquid on the sand and lighting it on fire. it was a well choreographed show.

later the knights would "kill" each other with swords in the gut, slicing of throat and other chivalrous ways till the Yellow knight won at the end and "won" a horse, to the cheer of our side.

during this even there was a food option which we didn't take they served a full small chicken per person, without utensils, medieval style along some bread, broth and ice cream.

i purchased my royalty photo. at the end we could meet the knights and have a photo shoot.

we took a cab back up the mountain with a crazy driver who rushed to return for the next departing tourists. sleep came quickly.

 

we rose with the crack of dawn at 8 am and went for breakfast and soon we hit the road. in the beginning a steep climb in San miguel, where moti tries to calculate the angle of the climb, then by trails with lovely coastal views behind and mountain in front. the pine forest began and got denser and we went up. it also got windier and colder. we made frequent stops for rest. we passed a field where 2 workers in full hazmat suits and gas masks were spraying something on the crops. that is probably organic food.

  we tried to quickly get away since we carry no such masks, but the steep hill made it difficult. some part were flatter, but it was up all the way. 852 m elevation change in just under 10 k. 3.5 hours net walk and 5:30 hours or so including rest times.

it is not a killer walk, it was just difficult non stop.

we reached the village of Vila flor and the last 2+ k were in the town, first to the main square of San Pedro, then still up more to the hotel which is in the furthest end in town. this was a haven for well to do Europeans coming to relax and get well, now after an amazing shower, i am here at the hotel resting a bit.

we have two circular walks in the next two days, then we move on, expecting longer days ahead, cheers from Vila flor

p.s- i hope today will send pictures, internet is better here

 

on ravines, lizards and cacti

Yesterday evening, we waited for Amit to join us. He took a bus from the airport and was told to wait in one stop for another bus that never came, (or possibly came as he was devouring something in the nearby café'. Lucky that place had wifi and we got the distress call and sent him a cab.

We all went to dinner at a local bodega which is called the bodega. The chickpeas soup had meat with lots of fat, I just dug out some chick peas and left the fat alone. I tried some local dish, the name escapes me now, it's dough and some meet and beans and all mashed together. it has the texture of refried beans, it was so so. The fish was very good, cherne fish and good potatoes. The bread was good as well. Amit had a fried vegetable plate as he eats nothing that casts a shadow and Moti took some salad with lots of avocado and some local wine.

After this very nice local meal, we headed to a local pizza place\ pub and watched the 2^nd half of Barcelona v.s Atletico and watched the surprise 2:0 Atletico much to the delight of the locals.  

By 10, I was back at the room, with plans for breakfast at 8. am. Since I did not sleep the night before and struggled to keep myself awake all evening, I crashed…

8:30 am, we were awoken by knocks at the door. Moti says he knocked before, and I recall nothing. Amit said birds were chirping just outside the window ad dawn. I recall nothing.

We had a simple but quality breakfast of eggs, good bread, nice cheeses, fresh squeezed orange juice and pound cake. 30 minutes after we began our walks. We left the hotel and soon left the town after a minor mistake detour and went down a ravine, up the ravine, and down the sloping trails. There are lots of cacti types and flowers here and there, I took photos of many of them. We passed through a 2^nd ravine and seeing the local agricultural life , farming by terrace. The day is amazing, blue skies, Blue Ocean, the mountain behind and various volcanic hills all around. The ground is mainly basalt and all the fauna includes a few lizards, birds and 3 hikers. We didn't see any other hiker all day. Agter an hour and a half we stopped in the mirrador restaurant- for views all over the hills and we could see three other canary islands in the distance. After a healthy sandwich of goat cheese and ping goat meat strips, we continues down for another hour or so to the village of aleda blanca, recharged our water supplied, disposed of nuts, fruit and almonds into our mouths and began the climb back up. This part was not super hard, but still arduous, we stopped occasionally for water or air under the guise of taking more photos. As we entered the village, the roads became steeper, the very last one was san Francisco appropriate street and after around 4 walking hours and 6 over all we reached the hotel.

Now I am back on the roof after a reviving shower and a minor feet treatment. The hot tub is cold… so am I am sitting in my robe in the shade. It was enough sun for one day.

We will have dinner in an hour and then catch a show, more on that tomorrow, c

on 18 minutes, sun and hills

Yesterday, left Chicago to a sleepless flight, I was too awake and instead of sleep spent the time with movies, watched the classics – the Danish girl, creed and the intern. We landed before dawn and I had a glimpse of interesting peaks just north of the capital.

I landed and had to get quick to the gate, with 18 minutes per signage after passport control

18 long minutes including descending to the center of the earth, taking a 5 minute train (within the airport) and back up, I had a short connection and made it just in time for boarding, without time to get a drink (long lines). The next leg was a short 2 hours where I dosed on and off and managed to finish the 1^st book I brought. "Back from touichi", I have not read this great book in years.

The fun began in Tenerife north airport. A normal person may assume that there would be a currency exchange at the airport. Well there isn't. After 18 hours on the road , and another bus ride ahead, with no sleep, I was not in the mood for no currency exchange.

The information kiosk told me that my bus would be leaving in 5 minutes, 4 minutes after I got my luggage and ran out and indeed no exchange. The bus arrived and I tried to exchange dollars at a poor rate, but no other tourist wanted it, I ran to the bank, they told me they do exchange only if I open an account, I passed on that, the bus does not take a credit card. Finally, the taxi concierge, suggested I buy something at the café in dollars and get change back. Much to the dismay of the counter person, I purchased gum for 50$ and had enough for the bus south, and even managed to get on the bus just before it departed. It took 10 minutes to load and unload and I was running back and forth trying to solve my issue. Finally on board, I could relax and enjoy the strange views of Tenerife, at first impression it is a tropical desert. The northern areas remind me of Caribbean islands, lots of green small scattered houses, massive hills and the south is just as hilly, with lots of low bushes, cacti and other's and those hills seems unfriendly to hikers. Keep on the trail or be thorned… 

I reached the south airport and took a cab from there to the hotel. I assumed that if I would rest, I would not be leaving the hotel today. So I collected moti, who was there since the previous evening and we took a cab to los christianos, the start of the beach promenade. Now the day was nice and warm, and the sun was out. We walked along the promenade to caleta, passing about 12 beaches, each of them unique, some sandy, some basalt and most are a mix of the two. Lots of surfers, swimmers, bars, restaurants and many many tourists, this is a happening place, we walked for over 2 hours and covered about 9k, just a short warm up walk to start the trip.

We sampled very good ice cream and treated moti for the traditional booboo, he got a splinter in his finger and we purchased tweezers at the pharmacy. The pharmacist, was very eager to help and to put some iodine on the booboo afterwards.

 

I took lots of photos, of the various beaches, nearby Gomera Island and the mountains all around.

After this great walk, we took a cab back to the hotel and now after a steaming shower I am here on the roof. Amit should arrive shortly, we plan to try some local food tonight, watch the soccer game and go to sleep early, 11k tomorrow and 450 meters elevation down, then up…

 

Cheers from top of san Miguel.

on 18 minutes, sun and hills

Yesterday, left Chicago to a sleepless flight, I was too awake and instead of sleep spent the time with movies, watched the classics – the Danish girl, creed and the intern. We landed before dawn and I had a glimpse of interesting peaks just north of the capital.

I landed and had to get quick to the gate, with 18 minutes per signage after passport control

18 long minutes including descending to the center of the earth, taking a 5 minute train (within the airport) and back up, I had a short connection and made it just in time for boarding, without time to get a drink (long lines). The next leg was a short 2 hours where I dosed on and off and managed to finish the 1^st book I brought. "Back from touichi", I have not read this great book in years.

The fun began in Tenerife north airport. A normal person may assume that there would be a currency exchange at the airport. Well there isn't. After 18 hours on the road , and another bus ride ahead, with no sleep, I was not in the mood for no currency exchange.

The information kiosk told me that my bus would be leaving in 5 minutes, 4 minutes after I got my luggage and ran out and indeed no exchange. The bus arrived and I tried to exchange dollars at a poor rate, but no other tourist wanted it, I ran to the bank, they told me they do exchange only if I open an account, I passed on that, the bus does not take a credit card. Finally, the taxi concierge, suggested I buy something at the café in dollars and get change back. Much to the dismay of the counter person, I purchased gum for 50$ and had enough for the bus south, and even managed to get on the bus just before it departed. It took 10 minutes to load and unload and I was running back and forth trying to solve my issue. Finally on board, I could relax and enjoy the strange views of Tenerife, at first impression it is a tropical desert. The northern areas remind me of Caribbean islands, lots of green small scattered houses, massive hills and the south is just as hilly, with lots of low bushes, cacti and other's and those hills seems unfriendly to hikers. Keep on the trail or be thorned… 

I reached the south airport and took a cab from there to the hotel. I assumed that if I would rest, I would not be leaving the hotel today. So I collected moti, who was there since the previous evening and we took a cab to los christianos, the start of the beach promenade. Now the day was nice and warm, and the sun was out. We walked along the promenade to caleta, passing about 12 beaches, each of them unique, some sandy, some basalt and most are a mix of the two. Lots of surfers, swimmers, bars, restaurants and many many tourists, this is a happening place, we walked for over 2 hours and covered about 9k, just a short warm up walk to start the trip.

We sampled very good ice cream and treated moti for the traditional booboo, he got a splinter in his finger and we purchased tweezers at the pharmacy. The pharmacist, was very eager to help and to put some iodine on the booboo afterwards.

 

I took lots of photos, of the various beaches, nearby Gomera Island and the mountains all around.

After this great walk, we took a cab back to the hotel and now after a steaming shower I am here on the roof. Amit should arrive shortly, we plan to try some local food tonight, watch the soccer game and go to sleep early, 11k tomorrow and 450 meters elevation down, then up…

 

Cheers from top of san Miguel.

on pigs, curry and the wind

I must say I have perfect organizational skills. Woke up on time today, cut red peppers for the road, packed oranges, bread, cheese, chicken breast, my bag and left the house by 7:30. Including a water break and outgoing break I reached Miami whitewater forest just before noon, obtained my packet, got on the bus to the start and was ready to go with 3 minutes to spare. Perfect organization skills.

Hoe perfect? Well I have about an hour + with this lap top, since I forgot the pack a charger… my phone will die soon, I do have a car charger but it's in the car…  I packed some extra peppers, but didn't bring a knife, see perfect.

 

Well the point of this trip is orienteering. There are some places that host championship level competitions. If I want to be us champion, I should go to each of these, the trouble is that they are all over the country, and I am not good enough (minor point). Still, one of these events is in Cincinnati every year. It is called the flying pig. Don't ask me why I don't know yet, I asked the bus driver in the park but she didn't know, I will have to look it up later. I chose the green course, which is competitive, but not extreme, usually. This is a new area for me which always adds an interest. It was cold when I got there and somewhat windy, but not too bad, a few minutes in and I was warm enough. Made a mistake with the 1stcontrols and spent too much time till I found it, I did well on most points, but botched 2-3 more (out of 18) and spent time back tracking a bit. The course on this green level was much harder than the local events I go to. If one point is on some side of the hill, the next points is on the far away side of the next hill range and there is a creek in-between. Lots of up down, more up than down… and creek crossings, those were hard, and I had to find a good spot to pass multiple times to avoid proceeding with wet shoes. Speaking of shoes, I have "quality" shoes from Nam. They were kind of surviving till now, but the left shoe decided it was enough and gave up. The whole half of the sole was no longer glued to the rest of the shoe. This was manageable mostly, but on the down part it kept buckling under, stuff got stuck there and I had to clear it and one branch decided to jam itself all the way in. I somehow made it through the n2d half of the course in this condition. I lost steam around point 14-15. 16 was easy, I could see it almost from the bottom of the hill, but it was at the top… so far away, a bit exhausted I pushed myself to the top, got 16, down to the next creek, with 2 points on the other side and back to the top for the finish…. I compensated myself with a banana and 4 cookies…. Sinned a bit, but I felt I needed some sugar. From the finish, there was still a bit of a walk to the end. At the welcome center I compared my results. And though not final, I finished third my age group!!!! The problem was only three people in my age group on the green, and the 2ndwas about 40 minutes faster!! This is a good level.

I got new fancy orienteering dedicated shoes, with spikes and I think there is a jet stream in the back, will see how I do tomorrow.

I drove a bit to the town of Harrison. In the 2ndhalf of the course, the wind picked up greatly. At one point a branch fell from the tree and was plunged in the ground, straight in, I was close to that, a bit scary. As I arrived at the hotel the wind was intense. I ate some bread and chicken, a couple of oranges and felt normal after a hot shower.

The wind could be heard from the outside and power was partially out. I heard on the radio that 55 MPH winds were recorded today and many homes are out of power. My hotels is semi impacted. I have lights, but the TV is out in all rooms. With an afternoon to spare, I decided to do something I have no time for at home and got a haircut. There is a new chain for me, sports cuts, and the hotel had vouchers for free haircut. Can't say no to that. This offer is for MVP treatment, cut, warm towel with something with pepper mint on it, shampoo and neck and shoulder massage, that was perfect. I could use a full body massage now to recover, but free is free.

Hair less, I decided to visit Cincinnati itself. 20 minutes + and I reached down town. I had not researched this and randomly arrived at fountain square, the main city square, parked and did a tour of down town. I obtained a map in one of the hotels and spent the next hour and a half walking around taking photos of interesting things (not too many of those) and stopped at Huit, which is a very good rice BBQ place. A great random find. Had a bowl of rice, shrimp, and some vegetables in a rich curry sauce. Ate half. The other half will be breakfast tomorrow.  The wind was real crazy, I walk in a square. Sometimes it pushed me forward and other times I had to push to move forward.

At one point I saw something of interest. A big cart type transport, where people were connected to paddles. A kind of public tour where you do the work weird public transport device, I didn't take a photo, phone was dying by then.

On the way, I looked up the hollows series. A book of modern day phantasy series that I read most of it and it takes place in Cincinnati, but I couldn't find anything. Too bad. But the main building in the city matches the one in the book, it felt authentic to me a bit.

Drove back to Harrison and now I am TV-less and half of lap top battery left to go

Tomorrow is another morning of orienteering with my fancy shoes and crampy legs followed by 4 hour drive back home, hope it does not rain….

 

Cheers from Miami white water forest.