Jared Bloch
Irrawady dolphins in the Mekong near Kratie, Cambodia
Phnom Pehn, Cambodia- What do freshwater dolphins, sticky rice in bamboo and stilted mosques claim in common?
These were all found just off of the national highway in Northeast Cambodia thanks to our intrepid guide and driver.
The dolphins, which are impressive in their own right, were part of my daughter’s Cambodia itinerary.
Bliss on the river
Jared Bloch
Phnom Pehn family truckster
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA – Just back from a 10-day visit to Cambodia and Thailand and ruminating on my family’s adventures.
Among the amazing sights in Cambodia were the obligatory gravity defying scenes of whole families as well as just about any other household appliance or ware imaginable, slung over the saddle of Khmer Rouge era scooters and sputtering down the road.
But what was even more amazing in retrospect, was the range of transport we both saw and used in traveling across the better part of Cambodia, and the Southeastern corner of Thailand.
A brief survey includes: Motodop (motorbike taxi), Tuk Tuk (motorbike rickshaw), rented motorbike, taxi, minibus, ferry boat, pirogue, longboat, pickup-truck, and my favorite… elephant (see gallery pics below).
Jared Bloch
2000 US Tour
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – When was the last time someone said you were too old to dream?
For me, motorcycles and dreams, dreaming, have always been intertwined and I was unexpectedly cut low recently when a colleague told me there are few spots he would venture to on a motorcycle in Africa today.
We were drinking beer, celebrating a successful meeting and waxing poetic about bike adventures and the beauty of being at the same time more vulnerable, and more open to transformative experiences on a bike.
I was thinking of my lifelong dream to take a bike from Nuevo Laredo, Texas (nostalgic point of departure South) to Tierra del Fuego, loaded with a tent, some food and a camera.
I asked aloud if he thought it was statistically more dangerous to adventure-travel in the world of today than it was, say, 23 years ago when I was crisscrossing Central America.
Jared Bloch
Morning clouds on Bassin de la Villette in Paris
PARIS, FRANCE – How long does it take to bike from the Arc de Triomphe to the Eastern edge of Paris? This was the premise of a recent bicycle circuit in the City of Light.
Having covered many of Paris’ 20 arrondissements separately on foot over the course of several visits, I was curious to see them back to back.
What I found was a web of marked routes and dedicated bike lanes stretching from the tony neighbourhoods around Monceau to the positively “popular” areas around Gare du Nord, and further into the banlieus.
The ride (less than 2 hours r/t) took me through Pigalle, past the Moulin Rouge, by a horde of tour buses and Place de Clichy and dumped me at Bassin de la Villette, an artificial lake in the middle of the city built up from the Saint Denis Canal.
"Paris Plage" at Bassin de la Villette
The Bassin or reservoir is surrounded by a series of open plazas and boat piers with tourist cruises running up the Saint Denis and is reason enough to check out this route.
I also happened to catch the last weekend of Paris Plages, a municipal effort converting various waterfront areas in the city including the Bassin, into “beach front” with lounge chairs, water sports and of course, sand.
Jared Bloch
Fruit stand on the road from Bogota to Mariquita
Colombia - At least once a day, my Colombian-born wife will say (usually around breakfast time) “oh what I wouldn’t give for a batido de lulo or curuba” or one of any number of exotic fruits native to her home country.
To someone raised in a northern climate, the fruit selection at Migros pretty well represents my vocabulary of sweet succulents: apples, pears, bananas, oranges, and heaven forbid, pineapples and mangoes when they are “in season,” that is when shipping allows.
Jared Bloch
Horse carriage and fruit seller inside the walled city of Cartagena
Cartagena, Colombia (GenevaLunch) – When my wife suggested combining a December work assignment in Cartagena, Colombia with holiday vacation, my first thought was “I am going to miss some great early snow!” Three weeks later, with a nice tan and saltwater still seeping out of my ears, I am thanking my wife for her wisdom. Here is what we found traveling the country largely by bus, from the Caribbean to the Pacific Coast, with a passage over the Western and middle branch of the Colombian Coordillera.
Our trip began in Cartagena de Indias, on Colombia’s Atlantic or Carribean Coast.
The city is probably the most well known tourist destination in Colombia. The 500 year-old colonial city is a UNESCO World Heritage site, as well as home to white sand Caribbean beaches.
Jared Bloch
A bakery near Parmentier Metro
Communing with the dead in the catacombsParis, France (GenevaLunch) - At an easy three and-a-half hour train ride (TGV), or leisurely five hour drive through rolling farmland, Paris should be on your list of weekend getaways if you live in Geneva.
My family manages at least two trips a year, usually with visiting friends or family in tow. Which begs the question, how many times can you see the Eiffel Tower or walk the Champs Elysée? Here’s a recipe for wandering in Paris guaranteed to change the way you see the world’s most touristy city.
First: Get an inexpensive apartment for the weekend in a low key Parisian neighborhood – Craigslist has a range of affordable listings by private parties willing to rent on a short-term basis. We paid 150 Euros for four people and two nights in a very cool 2-bedroom duplex apartment in the 11th arrondissement (a great local neighborhood previously unknown to us and packed with tempting food joints).
Second: Explore the 11th arrondissement in general. Our apartment was on Boulevard de Charonne, an area full of small cafés, bars, restaurants and most importantly, bakeries. The area in a rough triangle stretching from Nation, West to the Bastille and North to the Parmentier Metro, is a rabbit warren of one way streets and great residential neighborhoods that deserves getting lost in on two feet (or two wheels as it turns out).
Jared Bloch
Jewish quarters in Lyon - Photo ©Jared Bloch
Geneva, Switzerland – It’s officially summer and time for weekend getaways! And at one-and-a-half hours south, Lyon is a great shoestring evasion from Geneva.
Stuff your backpack with a toothbrush and a camera and catch a train at Geneva’s train station, Gare Cornavin. Change trains at Bellegarde, or get the local Poste bus from there to Lyon.
The ride itself is a panoramic plunge into the Rhone river valley, so don’t nap.
Make sure and grab an espresso on the way as the central train station resembled a gladiatorial contest on two recent visits.
More than mere metaphor, the city actually represented the ancient Gallic capital of Western Europe and boasts extensive Roman ruins on the edge of the old city.
Old settlement
Jared Bloch
Inclined towers in Madrid, not an optical illusion
Madrid, Spain & Geneva, Switzerland – The trip to Madrid from Geneva is a quick hop, 1.5 hours by plane, or 14 driving, minus the detour through Bilbao at midnight.
On a recent trip to Spain I was awestruck by the automobile driven megopolis that is Madrid – there are 6.5 million inhabitants in the metropolitan area and with some of the cheapest gas prices in Europe, cars and overpasses are ubiquitous.
I was also happily surprised by a number of noteworthy architectural works breaking up the city scape. Our tour of the City began, with a Priest and friend of the family, driving from the North of the City, South along the Castellana, the principal avenue in Central Madrid. Read more…
Jared Bloch
I forgot how much I love to drive, and what I love about driving, or is it just the road itself…
Where the Road and the Sky Collide... Road to Nowhere
Driving through Southern France on our way to Madrid, through the Basque Country, and two days later returning through North eastern Spain, I see glimpses of the Road in a European setting; rugged hills breaking up the monotony of endless townships combined with vast spaces between settlements and an emptiness unblotted, or too immense to be paved over by humanity – and still it is the road that has brought us here.