Worlds Most Dangerous Market-Thailand

 World's Most Dangerous Mkt

We just returned from a trip of several countries and islands in Asia. This market is truly amazing. 

ELG was almost crushed getting these PICS. That is what a good jornalist does-risk his life for pictures to send on email!  A guy was killed here just last week, it happens all the time.
Maeklong Railway Market, located in Samut Songkhram, Thailand. There are tropical fruits and vegetables such as lychee, durian, and mango in big brightly colored piles, variety of dried spices, pastes and herbs, freshly caught seafood and other local foods. The crowd weave their way around in between vendors, picking up whatever they need for the day. The market is sheltered by low-hanging awnings/umbrella.
Then a Piercing siren sounds and in a flash - total chaos! The shoppers scramble to get out of the way and the stallholders whip away their produce. One moment you see the locals shopping for their vegetables and the next moment the vendors will scoop up their baskets and boxes and anything that lies over the track and try to escape. The market comes to a standstill as all the vendors hold on to the poles supporting their awnings to make way for the train to pass. It is such a tight squeeze that the train travelling at about 25 mph barely makes it through.

Tahoe, Pyramid

I just returned from a fabulous trip home to northern Nevada. Highlights included:

-"Old Friends" get-together (like Bookends) reunion at Brickies Tavern in Reno

-Tahoe Rim Trail Guide Conference in Tahoe City where I was a guest speaker

-Camping, exploring and photographing at Pyramid Lake 

-Watching the endangered Cui-uis spawn

-Visiting the BLM Wild Horse and Burro staging facility between Reno and Pyramid Lake.

Greek Isles Mykonos, Santorini, Crete

Guadalajara

A creative person has to create. It doesn't really matter what you create. If such a dancer wanted to go out and build the cactus gardens where he could, in Mexico, let him do that, but something that is creative has to go on.
Katherine Dunham

Buenas tardes amigos,

We just returned from a fabulous eight day trip to Guadalajara Jalisco Mexico and absolutely loved it! We stayed at Las Sabilas, one of the most beautiful small hotels on the planet, at a bargain price. It is centrally located only three blocks from El Centro Historico. Our host was owner, Robert Clark, a world famous garden designer. He fixed us coffee every morning and we had wonderful talks.  Robert is incredibly talented and is the REAL most interesting man on the planet.  He does not often drink beer but when he does, he drinks it at Las Fuentes, a neighborhood bar, the oldest in Guadalajara. (1912)  It resembles a San Francisco establishment with all the charm.

We made many friends in the neighborhood and hated to have to say goodbye.  Pancho lives across the street, has a cab, and drove us everywhere, including Lake Chapala. One day,  after lunch, his cab did not start and two borachos (drunks) helped him push it backwards down a cobblestone street with a dog chasing after them and biting at their legs. That didn't work but we got a jump start from another cab driver.

The public art in Guadalajara is the finest that we have seen anywhere with the exception of Barcelona Spain. Guadalajara must be the retail center of the western hemisphere! There were so many markets and products.

The food was the best that we have had anywhere and the people were so helpful and caring. 

At Tlaqapaque we purchased several artistic pieces. Our home is decorated with art from around the world. The products in Tlaqapaque rival the quality of the pseudo Tlaqapaque in Sedona, but at a fraction of the price.

We also took in a very nice zoo and aquarium along with the multi-pronged 2,000-foot-deep Oblatos Canyon that has hiking trails and the narrow Cola de Caballo waterfall, named for its horsetail shape.

On a scale of 1 to10 this was a solid 9.9 trip. Mexico has so much to offer at such a bargain. We feel that most areas are as safe or safer than in our country. We take prudent risk and Mexico falls into that category. Fear is a big motivator. The state department's propaganda, is doing a good job of keeping tourist dollars north.

ELG tavelled with a broken back and a turtle shell and managed to have a great time without any fear. The candle of life is burning quickly. Go to Mexico. Have an 

adventure!

Hetch Hetchy Yosemite Big City Mountaineers

"Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity; and that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life." — John Muir

"The Sierras are my altar, the water coming off the falls is a cleansing."    El Lobo H. Grande

I just returned from a fabulous 7 day backpacking trip in the Hetch Hetchy area of Yosemite and thought that I would share some photos. All the trips that I have lead for Big City Mountaineer trips have been rewarding, however,  this was a particularly special one. The boys were the most thoughtful and caring kids that I have ever met. They gave me joy and hope for mankind.

We had a nice sighting of a mama bear and cubs, but moved away swiftly.  Our last night was a bit challenging because it rained hard all night and we had to quickly break camp.

............But in the words of Christian:  "Challenge Accepted"  (What a great kid!)

The awards ceremony was catered by Stan and Pam of Stan's Q,  they are the warmest, sweetest people from Oakland and they just love the kids. Their barbecue is  absolutely the BEST!

At the awards ceremony the boys gave me a card that read as follows: (too funny)

"Thank you!  This award goes to a man that had the highest chance of surviving WWII and to marry Paris Hilton.  Award goes to El Lobo Bruce

Description:  Our fearless leader that never shares his Advil. He can get along pretty well and has the strongest heart around"

Nickname: Butterfly Wolf 

There certainly were no boys or men behaving badly on this one. I'm sorry for the brief report but  I have to reload, leaving Monday for 18 days  with 2 other BCM groups in Colorado.