Thursday, May 3, 2018

Ouagadougou

West Africa. Check.

A last minute work trip took me to Burkina Faso for a week in March and so I am able to say I have been to a tiny portion of West Africa now. It was a good week with colleagues and one where in spite of the security issues, I was able to experience a little more than just going back and forth between the office and my hotel. I was able to eat at several different restaurants in the evening and went to a gallery of furniture and crafts owned by the son of a man who was the Air France Manager for years in Ougadougou. Mangoes were coming into season and the temperature was hot - 106 F during the day. This of course made me happy as it was not 106 degrees back in DC. 

Of aviation note, I flew there on Air France via Paris. On the return home because of the security situation Air France at the time was not having their flight crew overnight in Ouaga. Instead, they pick up passengers in Ouaga and continue south another hour to Cotonou (another lovely name), Benin, where they switch crew (but don't pick up passengers) and then fly six hours back to Paris instead of the five that it would be from Ouaga. So technically I was in two countries in W. Africa!
Sunset over the Sahara

Ouaga Sunset
My hotel - largest structure for miles

Views from hotel (just a little different than Bangkok the previous month)


Lots of dirt roads




Duncan

Wednesday, May 2, 2018

A week in Bangkok... but mainly a Huahin update



For the first time since arriving in Washington DC, work took me to Thailand as part of a team that spent a week  at the end of January with the USAID mission in Bangkok. It was a good week and I think having a local boy being part of the team was an added bonus to staff there. I was able to take team members to various places for introductions to food and culture.


Hotel room view
Which one is the US embassy? (hint: the one that looks like a fortress)


View of the US Ambassador's house along Wireless Road. To the left is the Dutch Embassy and next to it, out of view, is the US Embassy.
Part of the team, sampling the amazing Marian Plum (Mahprang)
Other team members enjoying last dinner together along the river with a view of Wat Arun


Wat Arun

A brief visit with Fern and Fink (friends mentioned previously in this blog!)


The bonus (in addition to being in Thailand for work) was that we had scheduled a week of vacation for the following week, long before I knew I would even be in Thailand. We decided that Andrea would fly out so we could spend a week at the beach in Huahin at Veranda Lodge, our favorite little hotel there that I have been wanting to return to for almost ten years. Full hotel review can be found here






Tuesday, May 1, 2018

Seattle to Los Angeles

Leaving Seattle with a beautiful sunrise
Usually January is when we take our 'get out of DC/Winter' vacation. This year because we knew we would be in Seattle for a longer time for Christmas and the 80th Birthday surprise we decided to tag on a few extra days and instead of flying somewhere far away, we stayed in country, but we still desired a little warmth and sun! (We got some warmth but left the sun in Seattle!)

The day after my mom's birthday, we caught the train from Seattle down to California. The train left about 9AM and arrived in Santa Barbara the following day around 6PM. We have taken long distance trains in Thailand/Malaysia as well as South Africa and we have wanted to take a slower journey like this in the US for some time. We also splurged (but not really much - it's really quite affordable to get a small compartment so we each had a bed to sleep in at night. This option also included all meals for the trip. The compartment was tight (there is a larger option) but from there we could look out the window and watch America go by.


Plane fuselages lined up on rail cars outside of Boeing Field

It was interesting to pass through Tacoma, our former hometown.


Tacoma Narrows Bridge