Venezuela nabs Colombian drug lord

Venezuela nabs Colombian drug lord

Chavez government extradites to US.

Calidonia

In Panama City.

Looks like lots of foreginers are here to protect assets.

Richard Halliburton, the love of a lady history professor of mine, swam the length of the Canal and paid 36 1928 cents to do so.

Many Panamians belive that John McCain could, legally, become president of Panama. Seems he was born in the Canal Zone.

Work on the 'new canal' is well begun. It is inended to be much larger than the present Canal and not just the old canal enlarged.

Was walking through the Casco colonial area and thinking that it looked a lot like colonial Havana, accept for the fact that it was well on its way to being gutted and renewed beneath the historic walls. As I thought, A Venozuelan gentleman said that he had just come from holidays in Cuba and that where we were did look just like old Havana including the renewal. Seems the Europeans are very busy in Cuba.

Canal 'factoid:' Freight to and from rhe US, China, Japan, and Chile is greter than to and from other countries.

I´m pleased to be feeling well and have not formed plans for leaving Panama.

I have no spellcheck available here!

Error note: Seems the tallest building here may be 80 some stoies, not 106 as I said earlier.

Thoughts Sidle

It's Uruguay. I've decided to head toward Uruguay.

The air is pretty clean and clear in western Uruguay. Even Montevideo has pretty good air quality for a capital city. I know an interesting hot water resort area in the country. Not much possibility for river, lake, or canal travel, but two out of three seems good. (see earlier post)

There are good places to visit or stay that are less expensive than Uruguay, but I believe Uruguay is cheaper than, say, Mexico these days. It is not as exotic as Mexico, but it has its attractions. One might call it the Belgium of South America. Also Porto Alegre, Brazil and B.A., Argentina are not far. Uruguay's athletes play ball with the big boys, but it is a small country.

Just because I am heading toward Uruguay is no assurance that I will arrive. I intend to travel slowly so as to give myself abundant opportunity to be distracted.

My first day of travel as I leave 29 may be my most strenuous, but it will be slow: I'll get a bus in 29 and take it to Yucca Valley. From Yucca Valley I'll take a 2nd bus to Palm Springs. In Palm Springs I hope to transfer to a bus that will take me to Indio.
With luck, in Indio, I'll be able to catch a Greyhound to the Mexican border at Calexico.
I have taken the above route, leaving 29 in the Morning and arriving in Mexico City early the next morning. I probably won't try that this time. Instead I will probably spend the night in Calexico or across the border in Mexicali. Then in the morning take a Mexican bus directly to the Tijuana airport and take the first reasonable flight to Ciudad Mexico.

Might stay two or three nights in the Mexican capital. From Mexico I can catch a flight to, say, Panama or Venezuela and on to Brazil. Could take one of the wonderful luxury buses from Brazil to Uruguay.

I can enjoy Montevideo for a week or so and then head for the"termales." There I'll spend much of my time in trunks and bathrobe. I intend to sip mate and eat well too.

But who can say; I might find a lovely villa in the highlands of Panama. I might decide to take some Spanish classes in Merida, Venezuela. Or I might meet a woman of that great Japanese-Portuguese mix in Sau Paulo. Met a girl like that in California many years ago and still have occasional dreams. Then again, I might meet an elegant German-Brazilian matron in Porto Alegre. Women do seem to appear in my dreams.

Its' a trip!

Thoughts of the Adriatic and the Black Sea do sidle into my imagination, but I intend to move my body toward southeast South America.

Paz in La Paz

I´m in La Paz. Tried three hotels last night trying to get a tranquill night´s sleep. Didn´t quit make it. Paid for two hotels. Will try another room in the last one tonight.
El Alto La Paz is enormous. It´s like 3/4 of every village in the Andes has moved there and is well into becoming part of the modern world. Painful process, but we humans are pretty tough.
The airport is in El Alto and I had an ablogging cab driver show me around a bit of that high platau. (I´m getting spellcheck in Spanish again). As the drive down to La Paz proper is a bit expensive I thought a bit of a tour was in the offing.

The rid down was amazing and dramatic. The views of the city are astounding. The road down is good, but very steep and long. La Paz is in a big, hilly valley. The a variety of elevations ads even greater interest to the long, wide, amazing sight.

Its getting a bit harder for me to go into a strange new place and accomodate myself. I would like to get used to the reality of being a 70 year old before I am 75.

Anyway I am more or less accomodated here. Found this little combined coffee house and internet cafe after arranging for a new room, laundry and ironing, having breakfast, buying medication, and a pen this morning after a bad nights sleep which began well after midnight. Not too bad for a 70 year old.

Wonder what Evo will do about persons of capital reach for greatter autonomy a top of the other problems of the country. Some of his moves seem a bit ill advised. He is getting some help from the powers in Cuba and Venezuela, but it doesn´t seem to be quit enough. He still has the overwhelming support of the "working class."

Simple? Maybe.

I've reserved a seat on an Avianca flight leaving LAX in California for MDE in Antioquia on this coming Tuesday. Simple? Maybe.

Camp Thunderbird, my present home base, is located on the desert, not far from the village of 29 palms, and within sight of the great Marine base located in this part of California. It is not very close to Los Angeles.

Let me try to explain this "maybe" lack of simplicity in chronological order. First, I chose Venezuela and Bolivia as my destinations. Soon I found that Bolivian visa regulations seemed to be in flux. Next, I found flights to Venezuela to be a bit expensive. Searching online for the cheapest flights to South America from airports close to me, I found those to Colombia to be least expensive.
"Good," I thought, "I'll fly into Bogota and start my acclimation to La Paz altitude there." Bogota is at about 8000 ft. and La Paz has an altitude of over 12000! While in Bogota I could visit: some hot springs around Cundinemarca, the Gold Museum in that capital, and the marvelous cathedral of salt near-by. However, things were not so simple. I was shopping for price and found that it was cheaper to fly to Medellin via Bogota, than it was to fly to Bogota!

"Okay," I thought, "let it be Medellin." I haven't visited Medellin since 1967. I had spent a total of four pleasant years in that city of cultured and industrious people. I could simply revisit that place of fond memory. Some interesting changes must be evident after four decades. Of course there are changes in 40 years. Changes in me and in the city. One change in me is that I now no that I am less comfortable in a city that I am in a town or village. Medellin wasn't tiny forty years ago and it has grown. Another change in me is that I am now so aware of air quality that I made finding pure air a priority of this trip. I hear credible rumors that the air of the valley of Aurraba where Medellin is located is not as crystalline as it once was. Another change is that the main airport for Medellin is no longer in Medellin, but is now close to the attractive city of Rio Negro. When I live in Medellin, a sensible person did not go to Rio Negro without intending to stay at least one night. So, I'm going to Bolivia by flying to Medellin, but will probably stay in Rio Negro and not even go down to Medellin. Ah, the simple freedom of travel!

Now, in order to take my seat on Avianca flight AV49, I must first get to LAX. Renting a car to get there had worked out more than once. I called a rental agency I had used before. Their office was on the Marine base and they delivered. I called them and was told that, they were sorry, but they no longer dealt with civilians. I'd have to check agencies in Yucca Valley, a $30, or so, cab ride from 29. The first agency I called in YV told me that they did not handle one ways to airports. Then I called the Hertz agency. The agent was out to lunch so I was connected to the Hertz national reservations office. There I reserved a car one way to LAX from YV for $72, including insurance. I than told that agent about the cab ride that I had heard of people paying $60 dollars for. She was silent a bit and then said that their YV office would reimburse my for the taxi fare! After lunch I called the YV agent and asked if the reimbursement were truly available and she said, in tone which sounded a bit sad, "Yes."

The world is wonderfully not simple.

A Plan

I have no tickets or visas yet, but have the start of a plan: Fly to Colombia, probably into Bogota rather than Medellin. I can see the Gold Museum and the Salt Cathedral while in the Capital. Mis Piasanos de Antioquia no me van hacer falta.

From Colombia go to Merida de Venezuela to take a look at the surrounding small towns.

From Venezuela to Bolivia to take a pretty good look at that land-locked country. Venezuela and Bolivia are both new territory for me. Right now Bolivia seems very attractive. Maybe I can see the reality of the Tamengo Canal with my own eyes.

Relaxing in the hot water at Salta, Uruguay again doesn't seem a bad idea either.

While I'm thinking, I'll pack a bag.
If I go to North Africa, South Africa, Indonesia, or Maldova I'll enjoy my own toothbrush and a change of underwear.