Greenville, South Carolina

I remember my first trip to this wonderful city. I was on a business trip and stayed near the river here and was immediately struck by how well designed the city is. They did an incredible job making this into a fantastic place for locals and visitors alike.

The city is on the Reedy River and they have taken full advantage of this in making this the most peaceful city I have visited. It’s easy to get lost in the fact you are in a city of 72,000 people. Not a huge city but a significantly large one nonetheless.

Having remembered this city from work, I make a point to spend the night here when my travels take me this way. Often I will bring my grandkids now.

The city walk is lined with interesting statues of random things. Great entertainment for kids. Here is my grandson putting coins in the drooling boars mouth. Make a wish? The money falls below in the grating and is used for, well, I don’t know!

Many geese can be seen along the river walk. They hardly pay notice to you unless you get too close.

More fun statues for children to interact:

Also a place for lovers. I just happened upon this couple getting engaged along with their tag along photographer. So much for impromptuity these days!

The walkways along the river through the city are broad and accommodating for much foot traffic as well as bikes:

Plenty of places to cool off your feet if you’re so inclined (kids always are):

But the highlight of the area is the Falls:

A walk across Liberty Bridge gives an excellent view of the Falls:

It’s easy to forget here that you are immersed in a city of size:

There are performance venues through the park/city as well. I have never attended one but have walked by when performances were occurring. They are well attended.

What? Was that an open grassy hill? What kid can resist? Let’s have some fun!

I hope they picked up all the dog poop on that hill!

Now where to go?

Relax a bit more by the river first….then….

It’s back to the hotel. On this stay, as in many others, my choice was the Westin hotel owned by Marriott. I used one of my two yearly free night certificates for this one as the points are a bit pricey here.

This is a beautiful property in the heart of the city:

Even some relaxing piano live performances:

There’s a lot more to show and tell of this wonderful city but this gives you a flavor. I would encourage anyone in the area to swing through this city if only for an afternoon or evening.

Seeking Water in the Jordan Desert

I had a lot of fun goofing off in the Jordan Desert of Wadi Rum. Although I had rented a car and drove to the desert, the car was not desert worthy. I parked it in a safe location and was transported by locals to my Bedouin camp where I was to spend several nights in the desert.

I paid for daily excursions by jeep from an experienced driver each day to experience the vast desert. I think the cost was around $120 total for two half day trips.

I had a good driver as he was eager to please and had a great sense of humor. Another local joined us, not that he did anything, but I think there's not much for locals to do in the desert, so he saw an opportunity to interact with a foreigner and perhaps garner a tip.

Actually there is at least one fun activity for locals in the desert:

https://www.kirkstravelstories.com/post/fun-in-the-jordan-desert

On the first day of the trip we stopped at a random place with a large dune. I left the jeep to climb the top. There was no one around except the two Arab men who accompanied me so I thought I'd take a goofy selfie video:

I think it's obvious to all who watch this that I spent way too much time in front of the television set as a child watching those trite western programs. The urge overtook me and I just went with it.

The two Arab men were about 50 yards away but they observed. I could here them both laughing at the making of my silly video.

The next day we ventured out again. Of the many stops we made, one was at an old abandoned, dry well. I saw my video op and knew this was a place to continue the silly saga of looking for water.

This time I requested the driver to help by filming me from a distance. Here you can see me trying to make it to the well, with a big disappointment at the end:

Both of the men got a huge kick out of my silly videos. I could tell the driver wanted to be a participant on this and not just a cameraman. Give a guy a camera and he always wants to be in front of it!

The adventure continued to a final scene. Here I found a pristine area to shoot the grand finale. Knowing the driver wanted to be a participant, I dreamed up one last silly scene.

This time, with the passenger local Arab man behind the camera, we shot this:

This last one took three takes because that cameraman kept breaking up during the shoot and shaking the camera. Really! No professionalism!

Under threat of no tip, he steadied his hand and we got this last take. Now, for reference, I look at the water and say Maha? That's the name for water in their language and it's what's written on the bottle.

I look at it and tell him, "I only drink Dasani!"

In retrospect I should have used a more familiar and more expensive reference such as Evian, as I was trying to give the appearance I would rather die of thirst than to drink a water inferior to Dasani.

I was so glad to have a couple local guys with great senses of humor. They were a lot of fun to spend the hours with in the desert sun.

Doctor House Call when Traveling?

Yeah, some places that still happen. A doctor will actually come to you. No waiting room, no sign-up sheet, and no travel.

On a trip to the Philippines, I rented a small motorbike and explored the area. Well, I don't ride a motorbike often and I overdid it a bit this time. Taking long drives for long hours of the day took its toll on my butt. Not only was it sore each day but I developed a blister in a sensitive area and it continued to rub against the seat of the bike. Eventually, the blister appeared to be getting infected.

Now years ago, I had a similar experience like this while traveling. I had developed a cut between my toes, which I thought nothing about at the time. But progressively it got worse as infection set in. But traveling at the time and not wanting to try to find a doctor in a strange place, I just ignored it and thought I would treat it once I got home by my normal doctor. Big mistake.

The infection had progressed to the point where my entire foot had swollen. It actually had gotten into the bone at that point. I was admitted for the day and intravenous antibiotics injected. One of the more powerful antibiotics. I had to continue that treatment at home with the nurse coming in each day to administer the IV. This went on for a couple of weeks. I learned from that not to let these things go.

Fom my hotel room I called the front desk and asked the receptionist for a recommendation for a doctor that I might visit. The reception responded by asking if I would like to have the doctor come see me. What? Come see me? How is that possible? This ain't the 1940s.

Well, of course, I took him up on it, but was a bit hesitant, because I thought the price of such a home visit would be astronomical even in peso terms. But the receptionist assured me that the price of such a visit would be the equivalent of approximately US$50. Well giddyup cowboy. Bring the good doctor here!

Within about 90 minutes, the doctor was in my hotel room. He was accompanied by a hotel employee which is their policy for some reason. That made me feel a little uncomfortable. I mean I don't mind pulling my pants down for the doctor, but really does somebody else need to be standing there as well that doesn't need to be looking at the stuff?

The doctor prescribed some antibiotics, and that was the end of the story. As you may know from reading a previous post, I carry antibiotics with me in case I ever get malaria. But I'm not sure if those antibiotics will work on infections so, I didn't take the chance. Especially if it's only $50 for a doctor visit.

Medical treatment in many lesser developed countries is extraordinarily cheap by US standards. That's why many people travel to other countries to have their surgeries performed. If they don't have insurance, they can get the same procedure done for maybe 20% of the cost it would be in US. And in many times the doctors are just as skilled.