Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives

To recover from the 2022 election, I booked a week-long tour of Sri Lanka and a small boat cruise of the Maldives from G Adventures.  Since I was travelling halfway around the world, I decided to knock off two additional countries by booking short stays in Bangladesh and Bhutan.  While I had tour and cruise mates in Sri Lanka and Maldives, I made arrangements for a private guide and driver for Bangladesh and Bhutan with Bangladesh Scenic Tours and Firefox Tours, respectively.  I recommend both companies.  

To get to Bangladesh, I flew from RDU to JFK on Delta, and then from JFK to New Delhi on Saudia Airlines (with a change of planes in Jeddah).  I overnighted at the New Delhi airport, and caught a flight to Dhaka, Bangladesh the next morning on Vistara Airlines.   From Dhaka, I flew to Kolkata, India on Biman Bangladesh Airlines, and then to Paro, Bhutan on Druk Air.  From Bhutan, I flew to New Delhi on Druk Air, and then to Sri Lanka on Sri Lankan Air.  As part of the G Adventures tour, we flew from Sri Lanka to the Maldives on Sri Lankan Air.  Then it was back to New Delhi on IndiGo Airlines.  I was scheduled to fly from New Delhi to JFK on Saudia, but I'll let you know how that turned out when I get to that part of the trip.   At this point, I'll just say that if you're making a connection in New Delhi, allow at least 4 hours.

Pictures and descriptions from the trip can be found here and here.

2022: South Africa, Swaziland (eSwatini), and Lesotho

We originally planned this trip in August of 2000, but Covid interrupted us.  We were finally able to get there in July and August of 2022.

Instead of spending the first 3 days in Johannesburg, we had hoped to fly up to Malawi for a couple of days, but the cost was prohibitive for such a short stay, so Malawi will need to wait.  At least we made it to Swaziland/eSwatini (country #143) and Lesotho (#144).    BTW, the reason I use Swaziland/eSwatini as multiple names is that the country of Swaziland changed its name to eSwatini a few years ago.  However, even in the country it is still commonly referred to as Swaziland.

Our route took us from RDU to Washington Dulles to Amsterdam to Johannesburg.  We spent 3 days in Johannesburg on our own before we met up with Francois, our South African guide, who accompanied us for the rest of the trip.  Although we signed up for a scheduled tour, we were the only ones who signed up, so we essentially had a private tour.

Pictures with descriptions can be found here.

Days 8-11: Phoenix and Tucson

 Day 8: Blythe to Phoenix

This morning we left Blythe and headed east towards Phoenix, bypassing the interstate as much as we could.  This meant that we passed through Brenda, Arizona, but unfortunately there were no signs that we could steal as souvenirs (or photograph).  We stopped for lunch at the Coyote Flats Café, in Aguila, Arizona.

From there, we drove to the Phoenix area via Wickenberg, which seems like a very nice town, although we didn't stop there.   In the Phoenix area, we drove through the western suburbs until we got to our hotel in Goodyear.  Along the way, we stopped at State Farm Stadium and Gila River Arena (across the street).

Day 9: Phoenix to Tucson

We drove through downtown Phoenix, and then to Scottsdale for lunch.  Downtown Scottsdale has an "old west" theme and is composed entire of art galleries.

Downtown Scottsdale

There actually was one restaurant

Happy tourist in downtown Scottsdale

We then drove across Scottsdale to see the Arizona Biltmore resort.  

Royal Palms Resort, on the way to the Biltmore

Neighborhood around the Biltmore--never got a shot of the hotel itself

From there, we headed for Tucson, where we ate dinner and spent the next 3 nights.

For all your water needs

Day 10: Tucson

We started the day at the Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures, which had lots of doll houses and other miniature things.  Brenda was delighted.

A satisfied customer

A horse carved into pencil lead

From there, we headed to the western section of Saguaro National Park.  The park is in two sections, one east of Tucson, and the other west of Tucson.   If you like cacti, this is the place for you.

View of the Santa Catalina Mountains from Tucson

Day 11: More of Tucson

Most of today was devoted to a trip to the Tucson Botanical Gardens, in the middle of town.  Lots of cacti, but a lot of other flora and fauna as well.

And that's it!

Days 6 and 7: Joshua Tree and Palm Springs

 Day 6: Red Rocks State Park to Twentynine Palms

Today we left Las Vegas, for a few days driving through California and Arizona.  We picked up our rental car at the airport, which gave us a chance to visit the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign, which is next to the airport.

From Las Vegas, we headed to Red Rock Canyon, about 15 miles west of town. 

From Red Rock Canyon, we headed southwest, taking back roads until we reached Twentynine Palms, California, near one of the entrances to Joshua Tree National Park

Somewhere on the way between Las Vegas and Twentynine Palms

On the outskirts of Twentynine Palms--Trump Country

 Day 7: Joshua Tree National Park and Palm Springs

There may be 29 palms in Twentynine Palms, but that's about it.  In the morning we drove through Joshua Tree National Park.

A Joshua Tree

In addition to lots of Joshua Trees, there were lots of yucca plants and interesting rock formations.

A yucca in bloom

From Joshua Tree, we headed to Palm Springs

Approaching Palm Springs

We drove around Palm Springs for about an hour, seeing lots of palms, but no springs.

In honor of my brother, we stopped at Melvyn's restaurant at the Ingleside Inn in Palm Springs.  The Inn is a typical 1920's Palm Springs resort, with lots of flowers and other vegetation.

The Ingleside Inn

Melvyn's was closed for lunch, so we saved lots of money

Garden at the Ingleside Inn

Rooms at the Ingleside Inn

Housing in Palm Springs

Downtown Palm Springs

More of downtown

More housing in Palm Springs

Late in the afternoon, we arrived in Blythe, California on the Arizona border.  We ate at one of the few restaurants in town and watched them roll up the sidewalk.

Next: Days 8-11 -- Phoenix and Tucson