One of the most harrowing travel experiences that I have ever had took place in Mali in January 1996. Leading up to this, I had to deal with a rogue taxi at the Bamako airport who tried to hijack me (and gave me a good scare), and during my stay in Bamako I had to shake off some very persistent touts who were trying to attach themselves to me. Read on for my riveting story…..

From Bamako, the next stop on my itinerary was Mopti, an important port town and tourist center located on the upper Niger River delta. Upon the recommendation of the man who owned a crafts concession at the hotel, I decided to make this trip by minibus rather than the large motorcoach. It was a decision that I lived to regret. After being dropped off at the transportation center in Bamako, I boarded a large minibus with a capacity of 25 passengers. The bus delayed its departure for about 1 1/2 hours until it had a full load. Fortunately I arrived early enough to get a seat towards the front of the bus; as we left the terminal at approximately 11:30AM, I braced myself for the long 12 hour journey to Mopti. Hallelujah, at last I was on my way! Keep in mind, I was the only tourist on the bus - the rest of the passengers were Malians. Even though the official language in Mali is French, most of the passengers talked in their native African tongue which was completely incomprehensible to me

About 4 hours into the trip, we pulled into another large town where I had to board another minibus. Continuing the journey, the day soon became night and gazing out the window, the stark desert landscape of the African Sahel appeared very surreal in the darkness. The ride was somewhat uncomfortable but bearable, and throughout the journey the bus’s engine was making some unusual noises. At about 9:30PM, the driver made an announcement in French that I didn’t quite understand, but from all the commotion and groaning from the other passengers, I surmised that there was something wrong with the bus. Sure enough, the driver pulled the bus over to the side of the road and had all the passengers get off into the darkness of the warm desert night. As far as I could tell, we were in the middle of nowhere. To be continued….

While perusing the Travel section of the San Francisco Chronicle, I came across this interesting blurb by Larry Habegger on the impact of tourism on the small fishing villages of Tonie Sap Lake in Cambodia

In a bizarre twist on the Chinese proverb “Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime,” fishermen at the floating village of Chong Kneas have found panhandling is far more lucrative than casting nets as the odd community becomes increasingly popular with tourists.

Chong Kneas, a collection of houseboats and floating thatched huts on Cambodia’s Tonle Sap lake, is a popular side trip from Siem Reap, the jumping-off point for Angkor Wat. Its popularity, however, has had predictable consequences, with locals now swarming the tourist boats in motor vessels, rowboats and even bathtubs and plastic buckets. Authorities said they do not have the facilities to detain the flotilla of beggars.

The article really it home - when I was in Siem Reap a couple of years ago, I went on one of these “so called boat tours” of nearby Tonle Sap Lake. When my tour boat docked at shore to visit the crocodile farm, a couple of young girls from the nearby village came paddling up to the boat in small tubs to beg for money. Jai dee that I am, I gave them a dollar or two.

Unfortunately this tourism development has gone unregulated and the tour operators who conduct these tours make some very good money, the primary attraction being the quaint (but poor) fishing villages that surround the lake - most families in these transient communities live in ramshackle houseboats. To my knowledge, the Cambodian tour operators share none of the tourism revenues with these people; despised by Cambodians as a whole, they are immigrants from Vietnam and represent the poorest segment of the Cambodian population.

This is just another example of tourism gone awry – to be more blunt, it is simply exploitation. To eliminate the rampant panhandling that the author speaks of, there must be a better way to integrate these fishing villages into the tourism product.

When “The Three Kings” arrived at the top of Waynu Picchu, we found this little creature sunning himself on a rock while waiting for his next meal.

In the latest edition of Conde Nast Magazine, there was a special section called the 2008 Hotlist, where the editors list some of the best new hotels, restaurants, spas and nightclubs around the world. Being a frequent traveler to Thailand, their listing for a new bar in Bangkok caught my eye. Called the Nest, this unique rooftop bar is partially outdoors and is located on the top floor of the popular LeFenix Hotel in the heart of the tourist zone. Opened in February 2008, the Nest has a primitive chic decor with grass floors, comfortable daybeds and padded hammocks. The musical selection here leans towards ambient lounge music and soft Latin jazz.

I usually don’t go out to many bars or nightclubs in Bangkok, as they are usually are very congested and the music is so loud you can hardly hear yourself think. Furthermore I abhor hiphop, rap and disco music, and most bars that I have been to in Bangkok usually play this kind of music in an effort to attract the younger crowd. The NEST sounds like my kind of place – I will have to check it out when I return to Bangkok sometime in early November. Stay tuned…

The 2nd half of my journey to Peru was highlighted by an excursion to Machu Picchu, the most extraordinary archaeological site in the Western hemisphere and a 4 day/3 night package tour to the Amazon basin. Arriving at Machu Picchu shortly before sunrise, the renowned archaeological site was shrouded by an early morning fog and had an eerie otherworldly ambiance. After the official tour was over, I ran into two young Peruvian guys – Edward and Armando - who I met at the hot springs at Aguas Calientes the night before, and the three of us hiked to the top of Waynu Picchu, which looms high over the archaeological site. Upon reaching the very top, we proclaimed ourselves as “the Kings of the World”. This hike has to rank as the most memorable experience I have ever had as a traveler.

Leaving the Andean Highlands to the Amazon basin was quite a change a pace. During the next couple of days, a tour guide from the resort took us on daily excursions through the rainforest. Highlights include – climbing to the top of an observation platform in the middle of the rainforest where we were awestruck by tan endless sea of greenery and rewarded by a magnificent Amazon sunset, the Clay Lick - where numerous macaws and parrots gather to feed, the booming chorus of a howler monkey troop that greeted us every morning sometime before dusk , and the astounding Kapok tree, the giant of the rainforest.

Get your bags packed we’re going to Peru…

In the next two installments of Calypso Island Chronicles, I would like to share with you
some of the highlights and memorable moments of a two week adventure to Peru that
took place in Summer 2007.

I arrived at the Lima airport at approximately 11:00PM, and by the time I got to my hotel in Miraflores, an upscale suburb of Lima, it was close to 12:30AM. As most travelers to Peru do, I stayed only a minimal amount of time in the sprawling capital city of Peru (two nights and one day) before continuing to Cusco, the high altitude tourist Mecca located in the rugged Andes Mountains. My outstanding memories of Lima was the weather (it was fogged in and misty for the most of the day), shopping for a pair of dress shoes at a fancy department store, the presence of licensed moneychangers on the streets and on the morning of my departure, having a cup of Soy Latte at Starbucks at Larcomar, the ritzy new shopping center located on Lima’s rugged (and fogged in) Pacific Coastline.

I spent most of my time in the Cusco area, the Heart and Soul of Peru, including three nights in the Sacred Valley - Pisac and Ollaytantambo - and one night near the famous archaeological site of Machu Picchu. I had the opportunity of being in Pisac for the Sunday artisans market, one of the largest and most colorful Indian markets in South America as well as hiking to some of the most important archaeological sites of the ancient Inca Empire. Leaving Cusco, I flew to Puerto Maldonado, a small city on the periphery of Peru’s Amazon Basin, where I stayed at a small nature resort located in the middle of the rainforest - about two hours downstream from the city. I loved the tranquility and the sounds of nature of the Amazonian wilderness. Part I of this musical travelogue features Lima, Cusco and the Sacred Valley. Enjoy!