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In the morning we got to say hello to our neighbor.

At 4am the rooster symphony began. in a town of 300 with everone havin at least one it was something to hear, Accordin to legend the sun made an agreement with the rooster, that the rooster would wake her up .

On the way out we said hello to the tree little pigs.

Today was very strenuous through amazing Karst scenery.

The hardest part was the river, my water shoes were too thin so ihad to walk for hours in flip flops

I wont be able to post rhis until I return, but thsi is an amazing experience, like traveling to a world which has been gone for a long time, meeting people whose life is so different.

It started with a walk rhrouhg amazing jungle past limestone cliffs

Past fields, as this waa a place were people lived. The so called hill tribes who originated in tibet a thousand years ago and move to thialand from Berma has refugees a hundred years ago,

Part of the land was national forest to protect old teak groves . this is a hundred year old tree, about 18″ wide, Clearly or wonderfull teak garden furniture isn’t sustainable.

After a scenic walk were arived at the village.

Our bedroom.

The shower

You use the dipper to pour water over yourself, the water in the cestern is kept clean,

Our dinner being cooked

There isnt a chair in the village,

Our farm to table dinner. Including the pork and chicken.

One dish was squash and chicken and i actually liked it.

After dinner I had a massage. I felt a large nomber of hands I was being messaged by two women and a child.

I decided to visit the large temple above the town. it took some thoought as the cab ride was about 30$. But it was worth because the human activity when added to the lavish art and architecture created the feeling of calm and wonder that was the goal of its creaters 700 years ago, although they surely would not imagine all the photography going on. I had to participate so I kneeled in front of a monk and recieved a blessing, and then shook the sticks and chose one which told my fortune. When I read it I realized that fortune telling makes no sense for an old man. My fortune has already happened, I guess I could still be blessed with a long life.

Yesterday I was in Elephant Nature Park, with outlawing of elephant logging, it left 3000 unemployed  and abused elephants. The have become a tourist attraction, offering offering various levels of interaction: riding, washing, feeding… According to the internet many of these sanctuaries continue the abuse. I found one that was a foundation, that limited human interaction but one did get to observe up close and get a warm feeling towards these amazing animals.

I will arrive in Thailand on November 13. I will restart my daily blog when I arrive.

On November 11th I am odd

to Thailand, after

spend a week there I will head to Vietnam, I plan to start blogging when I get to Chaing Mai on the 13th

I thought I was touristed out but today has been amazing Sintra, a town outside of Lisbon which since the 18th century was a playground of the ultra rich, we wisited the palace of the scion of a Brazilian mining magnate who spent the family fortune on a palace and gardens filled with freemason symbolism. Downtown Lisbon was designed by freemasons which is why it reminds me of Washington DC. Here are some pictures.

The garden is 100 years old the perfect age for a garden.

This water feature is supposed to have mesonic meaning as this vertical tunnel.

In any case it is like being in a fairytale.

Then I had lunch at a great althoug expensive restaurant where the owner had a sense of humor.

Then I went up the hill to the summer palace of the king, in the late 19th century(The last king, Portugal is a republic).

The park around the palace was awesome. It is the largest garden I have ever seen, with miles of paths. Very soon. despite the thousands of tourists you are alone and all you hear are the sounds of birds. Gardens are good for the spirit, one of my future projects is to help Ellen with the church gardens.

This one I really liked. On the map it said “house for the ducks” actually they were out of english maps so I had a French one “Maison pour les canards”.

I think I am ready to come home. There is a point where one is tired of touring. When shopping and bought a pair of pants an shirt. I am so tired of wearing the same clothes for 6 weeks. The problem is the boots. The shoe store had only one pair in my size. I am so tired of wearing hiking boots. The shoes were nice but do I really need them when I get home. Am I buying them for two days of comfort. Then there is the problem of transporting the boots home. My back is very full.

Went up to a moorish fort on the hill and lucked into an english language tour.

There is not much to see in a fort, so the guide focused on how it was built to make it hard for invaders to conquer. It is full of false turns and traps that you would never see if they werent pointed out to you. As it was it was never successfully stormed but fell by a seige where the defenders were starved out.

Then went on a fado tour where are guide translated the songs. I think you need to speak Portogues to really appreciate Fado, poetic songs about loss of love, youth or both.

Now I am in a big city. Taking a subway to get to my hotel. Google maps makes life so much easier. However it is costing me 10$ a day because I turned on international cellular.

I rhen went on a walking tour. the guide was very entertaining, not very many facts about the architecture though, He was very straightforward about the wealth of his city, He said when he had Brazilians on his tour they asked “where is our gold”, he then said I will show you it.

As I suspected all that fabulous religeos art in spain an portugal came from the exploitation of the South american colonies

Lots of up and down walking in Lisbon. My big problem now is I have two days here and I am bit burned out on tourism.

Most of the Spanish cities I visited were

small, the historic sections were villages. You looked at the map and realized you could walk from place to place in minutes. I was not prepared for Porto, the map looked the same but the distances were large and the city was crowded with tourists. Also I had reached the limit of my tourist interest.

The one new thing is that I began to use public transport.

I have very little room in my pack. So my gift shopping is limited. I bought a jar of honey at the market in Santiago, because Ellen loves to taste different honeys. I had decided to buy a bottle of vintage port for heather and harvey to replace theirs that we lost( It is somewhere in our basement or someone saw it and drank it). I then began obsessing on the vintage. Do I buy a bottle that they can share with us or a bottle that will mature far in the future, when I might not be around. I bought a bottle of 2016, said to be the best vintage in decades, they can toast Cora’s graduation from college with it.

The Calem wine cellar. Ruby port aging in the barrel. I learned that tawny port once opened will keep for a year, vintage two days. Good to know.

View of Porto from Gai, (The city across the river where all the wine cellars are). Porto is beautiful, but ceowded.

View of Porto from tower(sorry no elevator)

Advertisement for afternoon tea. Ellen I wish you were here. 21 E with champaign, I think it was 75$ in Victoria BC

They go in big for decorative tile. Wish I could have found a guided tour to tell me what was being depicted.