Southern Manhattan on a Gorgeous Day

See the map of our walk. 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1C6qoc_ANNDIvh6W67jsWzer75Puv-0ZO&usp=sharing

Trekking Mackinac Island

First, it's pronounced "Mackinaw." The "c" is silent, as the French pronunciation drops the last consonant. Second, it's rare to see people from outside of the midwest here. It's a little hidden gem and the folks around here would just as soon keep it that way.

So it's hard to get here. You can charter a plane or take a ferry. But you have to get close first, and its 6.5 hours from Chicago by car; 4:15 from Detroit.

You get off the ferry and you get bombarded by the main street. As quaint as it is, there's something a little manic about the activity here. It must be the fact that it's really only open for business during the 8 different fudge stores compete with the gift shops and restaurants. Bike rentals abound and you need one. While the island is only 8 miles in circumference and cars have never been on the island.

We walked all of it. And once you get away from the Disney-esque main street, the beauty of the place start to enthrall you. Crystal clear water - think tropical blue - when the sky is blue the water is even bluer and charms your eyes. At every corner, you hear people saying "wow." There are a lot of people here.

How do you get around? By foot, bike or horse-drawn carriage. And there you have the dark underside of the organic transportation system. The ammonia smell of horse urine and manure is omnipresent. So the horse droppings end up in the street, and there is a workforce which wanders up and down Main street collecting droppings. I'm pretty certain that the smell stuck to my clothes, carried back to my home in my suitcase which, when opened at home, exuded a peculiar aroma.

The main attraction here is the Grand Hotel, built here in the late 1800s, and which retains an homage to days gone by - a dress code after 6:30, afternoon tea, meal plans, uniformed attendants. For non-guests to the hotel, which boasts the world's longest outdoor porch, there is a $10 fee to enter. In reality, it's supposed to be a deterrent, but if I were visiting, I'd pay the fee for the privilege of walking around, taking in what is tantamount to a museum. The greens floral carpet and colorful wallpaper take you to another era.

Mackinac is just a small corner of the natural beauty of the great lakes. Nearby Charlevoix and Petoskey, Traverse City and the Sleeping Bear Dunes beckon around the corner. It's also the cherry capital of the US. There's plenty of trekking and riding here.

Temple Trekking - Siem Reap and Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat - Our Siem Reap Temple Trek

We hate tourist attractions, but beautiful places attract tourists, and Angkor Wat is a beautiful place; too beautiful to miss just because of the tourists. 

The challenge for us was, can we do a tourist attraction without getting swallowed by the crowds? We learned a number of things about this endeavor. First, hire a guide. We got one with a car, but it's just as easy to get to the Angkor Wat temples without a car; simply flag down a tuk-tuk and you're there. The trick is - and this is where a guide comes in handy - finding the best viewpoints, secret passages and photo opportunities. 

Second, it's hot here. Go early. There is a sunrise Temple tour regimen involves getting up at 5 a.m., but what you find is the morning is cool and if you don't rush back to the hotel by 8 a.m., as your guide may insist, you will have another hour or two of Temple touring before you have to find some shade and cool air. Plus you get to watch a serene sunrise.

There are hundreds of temples in the Angkor Wat area. Once you've seen one, one you've seen them all with some exceptions. The trifecta of Must See, includes the largest one -  Angkor Wat, literally translating into Capital Temple - Thom Wat, the temple around which the actual Khmer capitol city sat, and Phnom Pat, which which is where Angelina Jolie filmed Tomb Raider  (the guides actually call it tomb raider Temple). You should do these in reverse order and save your Angkor Wat trek for the early morning hours.

Afterwards, downtown Siem Reap will remind you of a small Chiang Mai (which also has a large expatriate community) or Berlin's Bohemian district. We did the daylight trek before departing the city, mostly just to say we have done it, but the nightlife of Pub Street, the markets, and the diversity provided by the large expat community make it a more authentic experience. 

Singapore - Three Worlds Colliding in a First World Utopia

Singapore's one-party government system draws much criticism for its heavy handedness, but spend a little time here and you start to wonder "is it so bad?" The fact that citizens' needs seem met (there are no homeless evident because the government provides housing) or the lack of threats from street crime (authoritarian police and cctv everywhere) make this an excellent city to trek. Add to this the fusion of Malaysian, Indian and Chinese cultures, and you get a pretty good representation of the south-east asian cultures without having to travel to all those places.

Trek 1: Downtown to Maxwell Hawker Market

Right off the plane, before you succumb to jetlag, go out into the streets and get the feel of the place with a long walk through the core of Singapore. We were greeted by my son, Matthew, in the lobby of our hotel. A quick coffee and beer in the lounge, and we were fortified to take on the city.

Car traffic is quite intense, but the sidewalks are wide enough for two to walk side-by-side; not something you can say for most Asian cities, who co-opt the sidewalks as additional storefront or restaurant seating, leaving you to fend off cars. If you do step into the street, you know drivers are super concerned about abiding by the rules. Like I said: safe, if a little boring.

The Singapore River area - the Quay that Circular road mirrors nestled between Northern Bridge Road and the beginning of the downtown Mega-Towers at Philip St. - is a hopping nightlife and restaurant district that makes for great strolling and people watching. We traversed it twice taking in the buzz of people out enjoying the night. We would have stopped, but we had bigger things on our mind.


Maxwell Hawker Market was popularized by the 2018 movie "Crazy Rich Asians" who did exactly what we did; have a reunion of friends. If you don't know, Singapore is famous for its Food Centres; hawker markets where vendors rent 10 x 10 kitchen stalls and compete for your food dollars by offering classic recipes of traditional dishes. It's cheap, diverse and delicious and easy.

My wife has a hard time looking at the food being made and finding something that looks appetizing. Like a lot of people, you love a hot dog until you see how they make it. My advice is, don't look at the food being prepared, look at what people are eating to find an appealing looking dish and ask them where they got it. (Really! People love to share their food experiences here!) Or see where lines are being formed and watch what's coming out on trays.

Thai noodles, Chicken Rice and Curries made it onto our table. Some fresh pressed sugar cane juice, cold beers and bottled Oolong teas capped the celebration. Then a walk back through Chinatown, the river quay district and across the necklace bridge capped this 7.2 km city trek.