China Trip: 14 - 30 September 2011
Our recent trip to China was fantastic and a must for any “Bucket List”. It will certainly lay waste to any preconceptions you may have had about this beautiful country. The history is unbelievable, the food is great, the infrastructure is being developed at a tremendous pace and the people are wonderful. All photographs attached to this account were taken by Madeline Matheson, Marion Matheson and Willis and Diane Bowman.
Preparation for the trip is essential. First, visas are required; however, consular staff members at the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa are helpful and polite. While we had to present our passports individually on application, one person was allowed to collect the passports once the visas had been issued. This saved additional travel to Ottawa from the Pembroke area by all the others. Visas can also be obtained through Canada Post.
Second, comprehensive medical insurance is also necessary for travel to China with most travel companies and visitors are required to have their policies with them and to show them upon arrival. It is also highly recommended that you contact your Provincial Public Health Service and get any required vaccinations prior to departure. You should ensure these vaccinations are recorded in your Yellow Book which you should carry with you.
We also paid particular attention to our luggage. Air Canada allowed two bags on international flights but we all tried to keep our luggage down to one bag under 50 pounds. The main problem was we were required to take two flights inside China and this was the maximum allowed by local carriers. This turned out to be fortuitous as we were required to move our own luggage in a number of cases and one large bag and another carry-on was more than enough to haul around.
Panama Canal 2010
Travel was a great way to begin 2010 and we had been planning our cruise through the Panama Canal for about two years. My husband and I along with two other couples left the Lake Dore/Golden Lake area on New Years Eve for Ottawa and stayed over for the celebrations that evening. The following day we boarded an Air Canada Flight for Calgary where we met up with a fourth couple and proceeded on to San Diego, California.
San Diego was a great place to unwind a bit before embarking on a cruise. We spent the rest of the 1st of January and the 2nd touring the Old City and eating in some great restaurants. Definitely a lot to do in San Diego and well worth the visit. We had specifically built in the two-day lead time to compensate for potential problems related to travel in the winter from Canada. As a frequent traveler, I had been caught before by flights delayed by bad weather causing missed connections, and we certainly didn’t want to miss our embarkation from San Diego. If we had missed the sailing, we would not have been able to catch up with the ship until it arrived in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico on the 6th of January. Actually this extra time worked out well as the airline lost the luggage of one of our companions and we only managed to retrieve it a few hours before our departure on the 3rd of January. The missing luggage did cause some consternation but its last minute recovery gave us a good reason to celebrate after boarding the Azamara Journey for our planned 16 – Day cruise.
Read more about our Panama trip by downloading the pdf file below.
Galapagos Islands 2009
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We waited three years for this trip and it was certainly worth it. It rates in the top three trips that I have ever taken. There were 10 people in our group, and as it turned out 10 great experienced travelers and fantastic people.
GALAPAGOS 20 FEB – 02 MAR 2009 Celebrity’s Xpedition
Portugal 2008
I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to travel to Portugal on a Familiarization Trip (FAM) in November 2008. I had been to Portugal many years ago and always wanted to return so when the opportunity to go on this escorted FAM presented itself I didn’t hesitate to join and it was well worth the trip. Portugal is one of the most affordable places in .jpg)
Western Europe to visit. Portugal shares borders in the north and the east with Spain and to the south and west there is the Atlantic Ocean. Portugal is divided into provinces and I had the opportunity to visit a few of them. We flew into Faro, the capital of the Algarve province, from where we started our trip.
LEBANON & JORDAN 2006
We spent a week in Beirut, Lebanon which is known as the Paris of the Middle East. Beirut is a vibrant and exciting city to visit. The Cornish, a boardwalk that runs for miles along the city and beside the Mediterranean, is a great place for a stroll and to people watch. Beirut has many boutiques that offer the latest fashions. The restaurants have some of the best Middle Eastern & European food we have ever had. The Jeitta Grotto is one of the most impressive limestone caverns in the world and after seeing it we can attest that it is spectacular and well worth visiting. We visited Byblos which was founded more than 7000 years ago and is one of the oldest cities in the Middle East. It was a very impressive city to visit and wander through the ruins and market.
