Anchorage: a unique Alaskan adventure

The last time Sue and I had been to Alaska we had simply rushed through Anchorage in our bid to explore the Great Land and its bounties. This time, visiting this city – laughingly referred to as Los Anchorage by many – was my idea, not Sue’s. Upon the advice of friends I had even gone ahead and booked the Econo Lodge Hotel, one of the world’s best hotels.The hotel has a free shuttle and we landed safe and sound at this rather old little inn with this rather old-world, comfy atmosphere.

The next day we put on our snow shoes and went off to this nice little ski resort called Alpenglow in the Chugach Mountains. Alpenglow being a volunteer-run resort, it doesn’t rent out gear and equipment. Just as well we had our own gear with us. After some heady skiing near-accidents we headed down a trail called Flattop. Somebody had told us back at the Lodge that it was the most popular trail in Anchorage and no wonder. Walking along it we saw some great views of Cook Inlet and the surrounding hills.

That night we decided to pass the diner at the Lodge in favor of this homely, cozy little place called Gwennies. I loved the soup, bread and sausage. They were also serving reindeer sausage which, frankly, I did not care to try.

The next morning Sue wanted to shop around for some gifts and souvenirs. Being a touristy sort of place Anchorage is choc-a-bloc with outlets catering to the needs of tourists. We settled for a rather quaint little place called Oomingmak: The Qiviut Shop. And am I glad we did. Run by Max Ox Producers Cooperative this store is a treasure trove of handmade scarves, caps, stoles, etc. The texture has to be seen – sorry, felt – to be believed. The items are knitted out of the Arctic Musk Ox wool, which is much finer than sheep’s wool and pretty steep price-wise.

This Alaskan adventure has been a truly unique one.

Abu Simbel: A temple village

Sue was still yawning inside the hotel room. Sheena, my travel agent, had booked for us the Nobaleh Ramsis, one of the world best hotels, which is pretty close to all the museums and historical sites.

We had to catch the plane from Cairo at 5.30 am. This meant no one had slept throughout the night. Add to that the revelry and the racket Sue’s cousins were making in the next room. Our first day in Abu Simbel, for the most part, was spent sleeping. We had considered driving in from Aswan but were told about the impossibility of getting in that way. “Security reasons,” a policeman in Cairo had said. We did see quite a few tourists getting off a bus, though.

Well meaning friends had advised us about acquiring enough information about the ancient exotic city – actually a village – situated in the north of the Sudanese border in Egypt as ‘you won’t even find the time to see it all.’ Sue, being the more erudite of us two, had done most of the reading. It was she who told me that the city had been rescued from the rising fury of Lake Nasser by the United Nations. But I was mainly interested in the temples dedicated to Rameses II, the Great.

The next morning we set off accompanied by a guide to explore the village hillside next to the Nile. Our guide directed us towards the magnificent temple of Rameses II, the Great. The temple, he told us in his halting English, had been reconstructed brick by brick when the flood waters had entered it, and relocated atop the hill. The four statues of the great Pharaoh are marvelous pieces of art, absolutely awesome. They face a man-made mountain that resembles a giant rock.

Abu Simbel, we noticed, was bereft of cosmopolitan life; there seems to be no place to eat out. So we ate at the Nobaleh Ramsis Hotel. A nice way to end a rather eventful day, say what?

Ulaanbaatar: Where drab becomes pretty

The first impression of the capital city of Mongolia is hardly the best. Sue summed it up with one word, ‘drab’. We had caught the train from Beijing which is so richly beautiful and thriving and this was a let down. Let down? Well, not really. For the city began to grow on us pretty soon, despite the biting cold and the miserable ambience. Sue had bought a map at the Mongolian Government Map shop located near the State Department Store. Not knowing the local language, Sue said, the map was going to fill in some ‘vital knowledge gaps’.

We took up accommodation at this rather cute place called Gana’s Guesthouse which is not too far from the railway station. It was better than staying at a ‘ger’ or a traditional tent or a dorm. We had a spacious double room to ourselves with toilet and shower. Very clean and comfortable. It was at night that we felt the bite of chill, ooooh! But the warmth of the staff more than made up for the chill. They were even kind enough to help us organize our tours for us. Ulaanbaatar being a small town we were able to undertake most of our excursions on foot. Our first visit was to the post office, a beautiful building with a lofty tower touching the clouds in one corner of the famous Sukhbaatar Square. We wanted to send off some postcards to friends and family and we found such a wide range of stamps and postcards that it boggled our minds!

We also took a tour of the National History Museum near the square which was quite informative. I particularly liked the huge skeleton of a dinosaur.

To try authentic Chinese food we went up to the Ulaanbaatar Hotel not too far from the Drama Theater. Both Sue and I loved the pineapple chicken with steamed noodles and rice. A ‘must try’ surely.