VirtualTourist Member atufft
| Page Views: 15,049 | Turn Off the TV, Get Off the Sofa, and Travel! by atufft - last update: Mar 3, 2008 |
Chaipas and Guatemala in Winter | Mothers and Babies in Uspantan, Guatemala |
My homepage is rarely read, relative to my tips which are almost totally self researched by VT and other sources. I don't like to be spoon fed by travel agents who are profit motivated, and I like finding places tourists aren't crowding for. When my wife and decided to spend winter break in Central America, for example, I studied maps and travel literature looking for a backdoor route into Guatemala, but we arrived in the region mostly with hunches, and not a lot of hard data. I'm a thorough reader, but where maps suggest a possibility, my preference is to network the hospitality of average citizens in the area, rather than profit motivated ones back home. So the opportunity to escape the faces and language of other tourists, especially those who remind me of home, has always been a priority for my travel itineraries. Needless to say, we have at times faced some real challenges on the road. After having visited some 19 countries on all continents except Australia and Antartica, my wife and I have become experts at improvising to get public transportation out of a difficult situation.
During summers, I'm either working on my Stockton home, a 1/2 acre urban property with plenty of restoration work to do, or taking a grand adventure somewhere in the world where I can get away from the civilized life of Northern California. Even during our winter break tour to New Orleans, just three months after Katrina, our focus went into the devastated neighborhoods rather than systematic appreciation of tourist monuments and plazas. Yet, the chance to stroll the historic district of any given town is a pleasant way to appreciate the sunrise or sunset.I also love the heart of big cities within the USA. My Favorite Visited Major Cities in the USA (partly by order of preference, the list will grow): San Francisco ( Bagdad by the Bay page ranks #2, and is by far the largest collection of tips and photos on SF at VT) New Orleans (VT Top 5 page!) San Diego Los Angeles and Long BeachHonolulu ( Urban Life in Hawaii page remains unranked and undervalued--check it out) Seattle Chicago San Antonio ( City of the Alamo and Riverwalk is rated and worth it) TucsonStockton (by default, non-Top 5 hometown destination deserves more love than it gets) AlbuquerqueSacramento San Jose Oakland Amarillo (VT Top 5! See how long it lasts though:-)) El Paso |
| Unfinished tomb art at Luxor, Egypt |
I can't get enough of archeological ruins... Obviously we could have spent more than 13 days in Cairo and Luxor, even though my wife got burned out visiting ruin after ruin. But, I couldn't get enough. Each fragmented monument is a new dynasty in Egyptian life. For me the need to conceptualize how people live, present and past, becomes a form of personal growth. Surveying the evidence of classic life, whether it be at Thebes, Palmyra, or Angkor Wat, becomes something like a CSI feature in my mind. Aristocratic and peasant lives, now vanished, play out human roles among the scattered debris of stone and art so amazing I wish my town craftsmen chiseled more to decorate my daily life.
My Favorite Major Places for Archeological Pleasures (again, not by order of preference, * denotes VT Top 5 Status, but some are rarely visited, at least by VT members)Angkor Wat/ Angkor Thum, Cambodia Luxor, Egypt* Aswan, Egypt* Palmyra, Syria* Busra, Syria (non-Top 5 designated) Aleppo, Syria* Tikal, Guatemala* Palenque, Mexico* Yaxchilan, Mexico (non-Top 5 designated) Fatehpur Sikri, India These are interesting places where locals continue to live, maintain, or build their monuments the old fashioned way:Larabanga, Ghana (non-Top 5 designated) Djenne, Mali* Jaisalmer, India Jodhpur, India* Udaipur, India* Osian, India (non-Top 5 designated) Jaipur, India Agra, India Vrindavan, India (non-Top 5 designated) |
| Bargains are Found In Quibor, Venezuela |
Finding undervalued attractions saves money... On Bush naughty nations list, Syria was an easy rival to Egypt for things to do and see, and the cities safe even at night. Storms, civil disturbances, and misperception create opportunity to skip tourist crowds. West Africa, Big Easy Lower Ninth Ward, Guatemala Highlands, Cambodia, and Syria provided us adventures which are truely worth remembering. We are not deliberate misery followers however, as we do provide time for relief agencies to work. We want our visit will be appreciated by locals.
I currently have 26 "TOP 5" pages, an acheivement for which I am indebted to my fellow VT members, but many of my best pages still go unnoticed. I like visiting places not yet discovered by others.I am the sole contributer for the following VT Travel Guides. Please let me know if you want to go: Banfora, Burkina Faso (A beautiful lake and waterfalls with hippos) Gaoua, Burkina Faso (Lobi Tribal Region) Winneba, Ghana (A charming fishing village on the Atlantic with locally made boats) Osian,, India (great Jain temple town) Huehuetenango, Guatemala (quiet regional capital of the north Mayan highlands) Sayaxche, Guatemala (well almost, my friend Oliver has now posted great photos and tips for this frontier town on the Rio Passion) Uspantan, Guatemala (Nobel Laureate Rigoberta Menchu's hometown) Niihau, Hawaii (The forbidden island of the Hawaiian chain) Caicara de Orinoco, Venezuela (great upriver town with a fantastic restaurant with live music!) Ciudad Guayana, Venezuela (Largest River Port on Orinoco with a huge waterfall within a city park!) Puerto Cabello, Venezuela (Venezuela's main seaport on the Caribbean with a quaint colonial neighborhood) Cabruta, Venezuela (Ferry port town opposite Caicara, wonderful sunsets on the river!) El Sombrero, Venezuela (Llanero town with excellent beef steaks and authentic llanero ambiance) Quibor, Venezuela (Very interesting indigenous artist pueblo) Maturin, Venezuela (Estado Monagas capital) Sinamaica, Venezuela (Amazing pueblo built over the Sinamaica Lagoon) |
| Relief at Bayon in Angkor Thom, Cambodia |
Western Monuments are nice but... Although overwhelmed by the wealth of Egyptian monuments, I've found that places like Angkor Wat and Pelenque provide greater cultural mystery for me. These are equally rich in art, but the culture and history of these places don't have the immediate sensibility for a person spoon fed European based values.
Taking time to pre-read in the months before I go helps a lot, and then I buy up as many good documented texts during the visit for further reading in the months afterward. Instructors of languages, history, psychology, and even engineering heed the warning! Without personal travel experience in the field outside the industrial zone, your lecture lacks authentic knowledge.
I teach English and ESL, and I find that sadly my non-western and Latin American students often underappreciate the wealth of their own cultural heritage. At the same time, most history and English teachers do little to help students build pride and value in the minority student's rich background because they are steeped mostly in textbook and local practice understanding of their subject matter. |
| Aņu Canoe and Home at Sinamaica, Venezuela |
Conceptualizing Natural Diversity is Also a Goal The political and social problems of Venezuela mask an otherwise great tourism nation. I've traveled up the Orinoco, into the Andes, along the Caribbeann coastline, and into Lago Maricaibo. Sinimaica looks today much as it did when Columbus sailed into the area.
These are all separate experiences. The relatively undisturbed rainforests forests in Venezuela, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, Ghana, and Cambodia and the second growth forests of Louisiana, India, Hawaii, the Pacific Northwest all provide unique ecological contrasts to the challenges of saving the cathedrals of Sequoia forests in my native California.
Similarly, the beaches of the Costa Brava, Island of the Gulf of Thailand and of Hawaii, Costa Rica's Pacific and Atlantic coasts, Venezuela's tropical and desert Caribbean coastlines, Mexico's long Pacific Coast, and West Africa's Gold Coast have all provided a huge variety of natural beauty in seascapes that rival the challenges of saving the more familiar coastlines at Mendocino, Santa Cruz, Pebble Beach and North San Diego. Those who conceptualize the value of these natural resources from a far do little to save them, but it's also true that tourism needs to be contained at many of these places for them to survive. |
| Gothic Entrance at Barcelona Cathedral |
Once in awhile we stop in Europe We prefer third-world experiences, given that more civilized travel can be done when we are retired and physically beat. But, occasionally, we make a stop over in Europe. Barcelona is a favorite place because my wife's heritage is mostly Catalan.
Her father was a veteran and refugee from the Spanish Civil War, who along with her mother, escaped on the last convoy from south France, prior to World War II intrigues in Viche France. My family emigrated from County Armaugh, Northern Ireland, where the Tufft family house and property are still in production.
Thus, for the moment, saving isolated languages and culture is a top priority for this ESL teacher, but I stay aware of my own cultural background with the help of my family. While I encourage my students to build skills in the planet's most used business language, I also encourage restoration and development of native language skills. Afterall, I know firsthand that learning a second language is a real pain in the backside. |
| Seamstresses in Kumasi, Ghana |
Planning Places to Visit and Meeting VT Friends Arriving on the scene ignorant of the basics is a fool's trip in my opinon. Besides thorough browsing of VT tips, taking along the Lonely Planet and other guidebooks with those Bible thin pages is the way to go. I'm a college teacher and I can't recommend more highly the skill of READING. Unfortunately, even colleagues, if motivated to leave town, are too lazy to do their homework, and more than willing to pay a travel agent to do the preparation work for them. But, much travel planning can't be purchased or spoon fed. I dive into reading months before I buy my airline tickets.
In the internet age, VT is indispensible for assessing current conditions. Arrival at the capitol city or other major urban departure point prompts me to find friends who live there to help me navigate the urban pavement for a few days, as I climatize to the region. I examine maps and try to determine in part by geography what must be the places most interesting to visit beyond the urban centers. Complex coastlines, island chains, mountain regions, and natural forests suggest possibility for complex cultural development. Afterall, sometimes even locals don't know where to go, or have only a dim idea of the great natural wonders found in their region. We've come across this situation many times both at home and abroad.
Just as the diversities of geography in Europe and California contribute to complexity in social and historical development, so too in other parts of the world. At the same time, analysis of land routes across vast open expanses or along rivers, such as are found in Texas, West Africa, India and the Middle East are carefully researched so as not to miss the tangible qualities of hardworking lifestyles clinging to existence there.I have many friends on VT, and I have met these in person: Ewingjr98 (Lunched in Monterey. He has carefully written and sometimes witty observations for Seoul, Prague, Vietnam, and many cities in the USA) alza (toured her through SF and Yosemite) I'm always open to visiting with other members who contact me, assuming I can find the time to do so. |
| Catching the bus at Larabanga, Ghana |
My Writing, Photos, and Recommended Friends on VT I figure that you can find the top ranked VT members on your own, so I recommend the following members of rank lower than myself, people who are also mostly on my friends list but whose contributions are not reflected in their overall VT ranking: CarolinaEspada Caracas, Los Roques, and Canaima, Venezuela. Karnubawax Best Local San Francisco advice other than my own, of course. ger4444 Bulgaria-overall- and Madrid Alpha_Ghana Great coverage of many parts of Africa Bavavia Solid solo woman traveler of Syria, Jordan, Turkey, and Israel Vulindlela Bonaire mostly, but a great reader and editor of my pages, and of many others leonik Excellent coverage of many remote places in Asia and Africa calcaf38 Outstanding contributions for China, Guatemala, Pennsylvania, and recently Ecuador. kayleigh06 One of VT's youngest travel members, with a great page for Birmingham and solid tips for parts of the eastern Mediterranean lemondrop Venerable traveler throughout Latin America and Southeast Asia Jonathan_C Longtime VT member has witty writing for parts of France and the United States KimberlyAnne Outstanding pages for national parks and other features of the western USA Maggies Good coverage of native Poland, and for Spain, Greece, Argentina, and parts of the USA.) stappm Pleasantly written pages Southeast Asia, Middle East, and many other places MM212 Excellent text and photo coverage of Middle East and Parts of Europe ezaguryk Venezuela! mircaskirca Super Brazil coverage, in particular, the Northeast. radz India! tiabunna Veteran for Australia and Antartica EkahauVery Widely Traveled fellow, Excellent tips for Pakistan and Turkmenistan, and many parts of Africa. Mary2u99 Outstanding Southeast Asia pages, and Netherlands monina_c Detailed Coverage of Philippine Islands painterdave One of VT's talented artists, and solid contributor for Tuscany, Colorado, and other places in western USA Xaver Great Italian perspective, with solid notes about trips to Asia and other places If I overlooked your efforts, please browse my pages, let me know with ratings and comments that you have read them, then e-mail me to read, rate, and comment on yours. I'm love to read and peer at the images of any VT member who wants me to, assuming that my tireless efforts are also rewarded in kind. Naturally, images and text on my pages are my exclusive property, but they may be used with with my written permission. Thank you for reading this page. The icon image is a photo of a friend's 3 year old daughter taken by her slightly older sister, just after I showed her how to use my camera. |
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monina_c Sun May 4, 2008 04:12 UTC
Nothing much is happening here. It is a quiet Sunday afternoon. | TheWanderingCamel Sat Apr 19, 2008 16:35 UTC
Lots of interesting places in the US newly posted on your travel map, I see. Let me know as they're done - I prefer byways to highways any day. leyle | toonsarah Sat Apr 19, 2008 13:06 UTC
Fascinating HP Alan. You seem to enjoy many of the same sorts of places as I do, and I like your recommendations of other good VT-ers' pages too - nice idea! | missmarianne Thu Mar 27, 2008 10:58 UTC
how's the world out there? |
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