INDIA 2025 - DETOUR TO NEPAL: BHAKTAPUR TAUMADHI AND DURBAR SQUARES

 November 24, 2025

About eight miles from Kathmandu and in the same valley lies Bhaktapur ("City of Devotees"), a densely populated city and one of the seven monument zones that make up the Kathmandu Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site. Interestingly, you must pay an entrance fee to go into the ancient city--much like a national park. And note the final sentence on the welcome sign below. Gotta love bad translations.

There are brass shops everywhere.  I think most of the brass tchotchkes we buy in the United States come from India, but I sure saw a lot in Nepal. I could probably find some of these at Home Goods, but there were some very unique items as well.

Take the sword-like brass knives, for example. I haven't seen them in Home Goods. They are weapons used by gurkhas. What are "gurkhas"? They are members of an elite Nepali military group that fought against the British from 1814-1816, but then were recruited to serve in the British Army, where they still serve today. They are known for being fearless in combat, for their loyalty, and for their skills with the khukuri, the curved knife seen in the photo on the right. That's a pretty cool knife, but unfortunately I only had carry-on luggage and I'm pretty sure that it wouldn't get through security.

One of the important places in Bhaktapur is Taumadhi Square, which is the location of several important temples, including Bhairavnath Temple, which is dedicated to Lord Bhairav, the fierce manifestation of the Hindu god Shiva. It was originally built in the 13th century, then restored and redesigned several times. The triple roof was added in 1718, but then it collapsed in the 1934 earthquake, was rebuilt, and was severely damaged again in the earthquake of 2015, and was re-rebuilt. Nepalis are persistent.

JAMAICA 1: GETTING THERE, PORT ROYAL, AND FORT CHARLES

 February 15, 2023

Many years ago my husband began doing research on his third great-grandfather, Captain George Cannon of the Isle of Man, who was a slave ship captain. One thing led to another, and soon he was deeply immersed in learning more about his ancestor's life and work. He posted some of his findings on his blog, and that created some fun connections with family members--known and previously unknown. 

Over the years we have made an effort to visit sites related to Captain Cannon, going first to his home in Peel, Isle of Man, in 2006. In 2014 we took a sobering trip to the Ghana coast where Captain Cannon picked up slaves. (See posts on Fort Amsterdam, Cape Coast Castle, Fort St. Anthony, Elmina Castle, and Fort William.)

For many years, Bob has wanted to visit the third point of the slave trade triangle, Jamaica. He had employed a researcher on the island to see what could be found, but he wanted to see the ports and shores with his own eyes. I had a long weekend in February with Lincoln's birthday and President's Day off, and it seemed like the time was right. 

In addition, during the Covid shutdown, Bob had been contacted by Chad Cannon, a distant cousin (I think a third cousin once removed?) who was also a descendant of Captain Cannon (Chad's great-great-grandfather was Bob's great-grandfather's brother), and Chad and his wife Sarah came out for a visit one weekend to get acquainted and discuss Bob and Chad's mutual roots. When Bob started planning this trip to Jamaica, he reached out to them to see if they might be interested in joining us. Sarah ended up not being able to get away from work, but Chad was a welcome addition to our trip.

So that's the background for our Jamaican Adventure.

Bob and I had a 1:00 AM flight out of LAX--brutal, but it meant we were able to spend a full day at work before driving to the airport, and that we would arrive at our destination in the morning.  It is our typical MO. 

The international terminal at LAX is a lot nicer than in used to be, and we usually plan to eat in the food court there when we arrive.

PORTUGAL, LISBON: WATERFRONT, SANTO ANTONIO CHURCH, AND GREAT FOOD

 June 22, 2022

Lisbon is a very walkable, pedestrian-friendly city. Most of what we wanted to see was within a few miles of our hotel. After our l-o-n-g day of travel, we still had just enough energy left to walk to what we thought were fairly close-by sites.

So off we went.

We passed by the Santa Justa Elevator (below, left), built between 1900 and 1902 to make it easier for Lisbonians (Is that a word?) and tourists to move between two levels of the city. We had read about the long lines and since there was nothing on the upper level that we wanted to see, we decided to bypass it.  I regret that now. It's such an iconic landmark; we should have investigated it more closely. 

We kept on walking down the pedestrian-only street, following our GPS directions to the main cathedral.

MEXICO: AMECAMECA AND TLALMANALCO

March 12, 2018

Our hours at high altitude visiting El Popo and La Izta made us quite hungry, and Arnold suggested we stop at Panes y Pasteles de Tenango in Amecameca. Between 1928 and 2012, the building was a grocery store, and in 2013 it was remodeled to become this restaurant.

First course: tortilla soup for me and tlalpeno soup (chicken and veggies) for Bob:

Main course: Enchiladas gratinada con cecina (basically enchiladas verdes with a slice of very thin dried meat) for me and cecina (thinly sliced dried beef with tortillas, guacamole, and beans) for Bob:

Dessert for both of us: Cajeta crepe (goat milk dulce):

We walked past a very ferocious lion. Usually lion statues are more majestic--and tame. I wouldn't want to meet up with this dude in real life.

El Templo de la Virgen de las Asuncion, across the street from the restaurant, is a church that was severely damaged by the 7.1 earthquake that hit this area in September 2017. We could see that a lot of repair work was underway.

ICELAND, THE GOLDEN CIRCLE PART I: Craters,Thingvallavatn Lake, and Thingvellir National Park

June 12, 2019 (I've decided to start putting the date of the trip on each post. Sometimes it takes me months to get around to posting about a trip, and so when I come back to the post, it's hard to remember what season of the year, or even what year, we were somewhere.)

On our third day in Iceland, the ten of us went on a tour to what is called "The Golden Circle," a 186-mile scenic loop on the southwest side of the island. Here is what it looks like for most tourists:

Our savvy guide took us on a slightly different route, which meant we missed most of the crowds in the beginning AND had a better view of a volcanic basin and a lake. We began in Reykjavik and went clockwise:

And here is a map of Iceland for reference:

The initial part of the drive was pristine in its beauty and completely devoid of other tourists, although the Golden Circle is the most popular tourist drive in the country. We did see lots of tourists later in the day.

The road leaving Reykjavik was lined with lupine and yellow flowers:

After some time, we passed through three consecutive craters created by volcanoes--rugged lava rock splattered with lichen:

ASHGABAT, TURKMENISTAN: THE HALK HAKYDASY MEMORIAL COMPLEX

The grandiosity of the "tourist sites" in Ashgabat is hard to describe. Everything is SO over the top. 

Take, for example, the Halk Hakydasy ("People's Memory) Memorial Complex, a vast park that covers almost 7,000,000 square feet or 160 acres. It is 3,000 feet long and 2,000 feet wide. By comparison, the National Mall in Washington, D.C., is just 146 acres, and Tienanmen Square in Beijing is a puny 4,700,000 square feet. 

It took only two years to build this memorial park, which was opened in 2014. So far it features three monuments to the dead: one to honor the victims of the 1948 earthquake, one to honor soldiers killed in World War II, and one to honor those killed in a 19th century battle. There is also a museum, which we did not have time to visit.

The earthquake memorial is the most outlandish of the three monuments. A 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck 15 miles southwest of Ashgabat in October 1948 at 2:17 AM, causing extensive damage and many deaths in the city. As Turkmenistan was under strict Soviet control at the time, the actual death toll was never disclosed, but estimates are as high as 110,000, which would be over 20% of the population at the time. One website lists it as the 6th most deadly earthquake in the history of the world. Casualties included the mother and siblings of the future president of Turkmenistan, Saparmurat Niyazov, leaving him an orphan (his father had died in World War II). 

How did eight-year-old Saparmurat survive when the rest of his family did not? One source I looked at said he was out taking a walk. What an eight year old is doing taking a walk at 2:17 AM is a mystery to me. There is also a rumor that the earthquake was caused by the first testing of an atomic bomb by the Soviets. Who knows?

The 110-foot-tall earthquake memorial, a marble podium topped by a bronze and gold sculpture, was created in 1998 during Niyazov's presidency to be part of an earthquake memorial located elsewhere in the city. It was moved to its current spot in 2014. It shows a large bull shaking the world between its horns and a dying mother lifting her golden child above the rubble-covered globe. The child is said to be none other than (guess who!) the future president, Sapamurat Niyazov. Though unlikely, this divine rescue is more believable that the early morning walk theory.

TASHKENT, UZBEKISTAN: EARTHQUAKES, WARS, AND CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH THE LOCALS

We began our journey through Uzbekistan in the capital city of Tashkent, the most populous city in Central Asia (2.5 million people). Its written history goes back 2200 years, and it has been conquered several times, including a complete destruction by Genghis Khan in 1219. After being rebuilt, it became part of the profitable trade on the Silk Road, and in 1865 it fell to the Russian Empire. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Tashkent was the fourth largest city in the USSR and one of the centers of science and technology. 

The word "Tashkent" comes from the Turkic language and loosely translates to "city of stone," which seemed to us to be an appropriate name for this city that has survived so much. 

On April 26, 1966, Tashkent was hit by a 5.1 magnitude earthquake, not huge by California standards, but the seismic activity was so deep that it was ranked somewhere between an 8 and a 9 on the earth's surface. The epicenter was also in the downtown area and destroyed 80% of the city.

The Monument of Courage Earthquake Memorial was built in 1976 (the 10th anniversary of the quake) by the Soviets in their typical Brutalist style--larger than life forceful figures with smooth, simple surfaces. This couple faces the fissure in the ground in front of them, the man shielding the woman, and the woman's arm outstretched as if to push away the force that is threatening them:


The surface they are standing on has also been ruptured by the earthquake:


At first I did not see the child in the woman's other arm. He clings to her, but her resolute face and stance seem to insure his safety: