Tourist First

Travel notes and advice from around the world. Above, the daily flight from Managua at the San Carlos, Nicaragua, airstrip.

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Contents and Quick Links

 Newest Posts:  A how-we-do-it on trip planning.     Joshua Tree and Death Valley, two other-worldly wonderlands. Plus, three nights and three museums in Los Angeles.


Welcome to Stephen M. Bailey's Tourist First! I hope these photos and impressions from my travels will help you plan your own trips. 

These blog posts are not updated once they're posted. For example, my post about a July 2019 visit to Venice does not reflect the terrible damage done by flooding in November 2019. And some hotel links may no longer work, though I try to delete them when that happens. Please leave a comment or email me (stephenmbailey@gmail.com) if you see errors in my posts. 

General Travel

In the Air, a Caste System
Here's What I Want in a Hotel Room 
And see what more than 1,000 of my New York Times readers want in a hotel room
Travel Experiences With Minimal Expense
Strategies for Saving on Travel
My 2008 New York Times column on travel in a motor home or RV
My 2004 New York Times article on eco-resorts in the Caribbean (not all are still operating)
It's Easy to Avoid Credit Card Ripoffs Abroad
Road Trip: Though the Rockies on Interstate 70

Weekend Homes
This blog is primarily devoted to tourist trips and vacation explorations, but some people prefer to make the same trips over and over ... to their weekend homes. Instead of a month in Italy, they choose almost every weekend at the lake or in the mountains. Here are some of my New York Times articles about weekend homes: 
A Chesapeake getaway is an HGTV Dream House
A weekend home without beeps? Ditching technology.
Owning your own place in Mexico or Canada.
Thinking of a weekend home at a lake?
Dealing (or not) with problem guests.
Always pampered: A weekend home at a resort.

African Safaris
Itinerary for Six Weeks in Africa
My 2019 New York Times Article on Tips for Your First Safari
The Safari Experience
Botswana: Kalahari Desert
Botswana: Okavango Delta
Namibia: Chobe River
South Africa: Sabi Sand Game Reserve
Tanzania: Ngorongoro Crater
Tanzania: Serengeti

Argentina
Mendoza: Home of Malbec

Australia
Itinerary for 10 Days in Tasmania
Freycinet National Park: Beaches, Trails and Shellfish
Lake St. Clair: Not a Platypus in Sight

Britain
Wales: "Retiring" to a Canal Boat

California
Road trip: San Diego to Healdsburg
Anzo-Borrego State Park: A Desert in Bloom
Central Coast: Big Sur and Route 1
Idyllwild: Mountain Retreat
Joshua Tree: A Desert Adventure
Lassen Volcanic National Park: The Landscape of Disaster
Malibu: The Getty Villa and More
Palm Springs: A Fall Getaway
Paso Robles: A Focus on Wine
Point Reyes National Seashore: Isolation on a Grand Scale
San Diego County: Potato Chip Rock
Sonoma County: The Russian River and Points South

Cambodia
Itinerary for Three Weeks in Southeast Asia
Small Airlines for Touring Southeast Asia
Religious Images: The Divine in Southeast Asia
Elephant Valley: Saving Asia's "Living Tractors"
Kep: The Place for Crabs (My Apologies to Chesapeake Bay)
Phnom Penh: Where the Past Is Past
Siem Reap: Gateway to the Angkor Region
The Angkor Temples: Angkor WatAngkor ThomBayonBanteay Srei, and Ta Prohm

Canada
Montreal: Frenchy but Not Exotic
Niagara Falls: The Canadian Side, Please
Toronto: First Impressions
Toronto: Second Impressions

Colorado

Croatia
Itinerary for Two Months in the Balkans
Dubrovnik: Beach Resort and History Theme Park
Hvar: The Blue Waters of the Adriatic
Split: Ruins and 20th-Century Art
Zagreb: The City of Broken Relationships

Czech Republic
Prague: Music, Art and Architecture

Dominica
My 1997 New York Times article on the Caribbean's greenest island


Ecuador
Otavalo: My 2002 New York Times article on a New Years visit to the Andes
Quito: Mountain Capital

France
A Family Road Trip Finds the Best of France
Bordeaux: Wine Capital
The Loire Valley: Chateau Visits 
Paris: Trying to Avoid the Crowds

Greece
Itinerary for Two Months in the Balkans
Athens: Better Than I Imagined
Chania: Walls and Charm on Crete
Delphi: The Oracle is Silent
Heraklion: The Capital of Crete
Hydra: Quiet and Carless
Santorini: Island as Shopping Mall
Thessaloniki: A Party Town With Few Foreigners

Iceland
Reykajavik: Geothermal Wonderland

Iran
A 2016 Family Visit
What to Expect If You Visit Iran

Italy
Itinerary for a Three-Month Visit
Agrigento: Sicily's Valley of the Temples
Alberobello: Home of the Trulli
Capri: Another World
Catania: Gateway to Mount Etna
Lecce: Baroque Wonderland
Maratea: Italy for Italians
Masala: More Than Wine
Matera: Modern Cave Dwellers
Naples: One Night Isn't Enough
Palermo: Beyond "The Godfather"
Pompeii (and Herculaneum): What Vesuvius Wrought
Rome: The Palaces
Rome: The Churches
Rome: The Ruins
Rome: Dining
Rome: Walking
Siracusa: Outpost of the Ancient Greeks 
Taormina: Mountains and Sea in Sicily
Trieste: The Least Italian City in Italy
Trani: On the Adriatic
Venice: A Summer Visit

Laos
Itinerary for Three Weeks in Southeast Asia
Small Airlines for Touring Southeast Asia
Religious Images: The Divine in Southeast Asia 
Luang Prabang: Monks and Tourists 

Maine
Georgetown: Do it for the lobsters.

Maryland
Assateague: A Fall Afternoon
Annapolis: My 2008 New York Times article on Maryland's capital city
Baltimore: My 2002 New York Times "36 Hours" article on Charm City
Blackwater: My 2012 American Forests article on Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge
Chesapeake Bay: A Fishing Trip
St. Michaels: My 2004 New York Times "36 Hours" article
Tilghman Island: Where I Lived for 10 Years

Mexico
Ajijic: Expat-Friendly Town on Lake Chapala
Baja California: Cabo Crowds and Peaceful La Paz

Minnesota
Boundary Waters: My 2011 American Forests article on the Boundary Waters Canoe Area

Mississippi
Ole Miss: My Alma Mater
Oxford: My 2008 New York Times article on Faulkner, Football and Food  


Montenegro
Itinerary for Two Months in the Balkans
Kotor: Small but Choice 


Morocco
Itinerary for a Three-Week Visit
Ait Benhaddou: Kasbahs and Movie Locations
Manhattan: Hot time in the City

New Zealand 
Itinerary for a Long Summer Visit
Christchurch: A City Reinvented
Wild, wild west coast: Punakaiki and Franz Josef

Nicaragua 
Land of Great Diversity and Monkeys and Volcanos
Managua: Not a Pleasant Place
Ometepe: Volcanos in the Lake 
Rio San Juan: Howler Monkeys and River Huts
Selva Negra: Ecology-Minded Coffee Plantation
Solentiname Islands: A Poet-Priest's Art Project
Solentiname Islands: My 2012 New York Times article and a photo slideshow

Panama
Bastimentos: Nature Inn and Chocolate Lodge
Bocas del Toro: Surfers and Backpackers
Boquete: A Coffee Estate in the Mountains
Panama Canal: An 11-Hour Trip Through an Engineering Marvel
Panama City: My 2014 New York Times review of the Panama City Waldorf Astoria 
Kuna Yala: A Cabin on the Water

Pennsylvania
Adamstown: My 1999 New York Times  article on Shopping for antiques in Amish country
Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob

Peru
Itinerary for One Month in Peru
Aguas Calientes and Machu Picchu: Mountain in the Rain Forest
Amazon: River and Wildlife Cruise
Amazon: Fatal Fire on a River Cruise Boat
Arequipa: Juanita's Story
Colca Canyon: In Search of Condors
Cusco: The Inca's Capital
Lima: Museo Larco's Amazing Pre-Colombian Pottery
Lima: Ancient Culture, Modern Life
Ollantaytambo: Life Amid the Ruins
Paracas: An Ancient Mystery Beside the Sea

Portugal
Itinerary for a Three-Week Visit
Belmonte: Mountain Retreat
Evora: Cusine and Cork
Douro Valley: Where the Grapes Grow
Lisbon: Riverfront and Seafront
Obidos: Old Walls and New Buddhas
Porto: The Sweet Life
Sintra: Royal Aerie

St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Bequia: The Moonhole Experience
Bequia: A Happy Island
St. Vincent: My 2004 New York Times article on Petit Byahaut and Other Eco Resorts
St. Vincent: My 2004 New York Times Slide Show on Petit Byahaut

Slovenia
Itinerary for Two Months in the Balkans
Ljubjana: Cozy Capital
Piran: At the Concrete Beach

South Africa
Robben Island: A Visit to Mandela's Prison
Sabi Sand: Safari Satisfaction Guaranteed
Western Cape: Beyond Cape Town and the Wine Regions

Spain
Hondarribia: Basque Country
Santa Engracia: Hidden in the Pyrenees

Tanzania
Zanzibar: As Exotic as Its Name

Thailand
Itinerary for Three Weeks in Southeast Asia
Small Airlines for Touring Southeast Asia
Religious Images: The Divine in Southeast Asia 
Bangkok: River Metropolis

Turkey
A 2010 Vacation, Istanbul and Beyond
Aboard a Gulet for a Blue Cruise
Istanbul: Seth Kugel Does It on the Cheap
Istanbul: Visiting a Hamam

Utah
The Marvels  of Arches National Park

Vietnam
Itinerary for Three Weeks in Southeast Asia
Small Airlines for Touring Southeast Asia
Religious Images: The Divine in Southeast Asia 
Ha Long Bay: Two Nights on a Junk 
Hanoi: Swarming and Sophisticated
Hoi An: Fine Dining, Fine Silks 

Virginia
My 2008 New York Times article on Virginia's Eastern Shore

Washington, D.C.

Washington State

Wyoming

Yellowstone National Park: Morning Glory Pool and Other Wonders 

Planning a Big Trip: How We Do it

 

We often start planning our trips with a visit to a bookstore to look at travel guides.
 Fodor's, Lonely Planet and Eyewitness Travel all have their strengths. 36 Hours
books by The New York Times can be fun to read and might alert you to a
destination you hadn't thought of. They might make you intent on trying a
particular restaurant or shopping a particular street, but more complete
 travel guides are much more useful and likely more up to date. 
(I worked at The Times on some of the original 36 Hours articles
and as a freelancer on some of the books.)





       There is no way for me to tell you how to plan your own travels.  I can tell you how Jane and I plan ours. We're fortunate in being able to take long trips.  Our longest was three months in Italy in 2018.  

         Here's how we do it:

         First we select a primary destination.  For Italy it was Rome.  For the Balkans it was the islands of Croatia.  Then we try to figure out the best time of year to be there. This is especially important now that some months can be unbearably hot in parts of Europe, northern Africa, Australia, etc. Then we look to see what else in that part the world we might want to visit.  We reason that if we're flying eight or more hours to go somewhere, we should see enough to justify the inconvenience. The Croatian islands trip grew to include much of Greece, Montenegro, Slovenia and even Italy.  We usually buy a Fodor's or other travel guide and go online to research our tentative destinations. 

         With some idea of multiple places to visit, I usually work up an itinerary and figure out how we could get from one place to the next.  In Morocco, we relied on hotels to arrange a car and driver to take us to our next destination. In other places where we're more comfortable driving, we rent cars. In Greece we used ferries to get from one island to another.  We took a train from Zagreb, Croatia, to Ljubljana, Slovenia; a bus from Ljubljana to Piran, Slovenia; a taxi from Piran to Trieste, Italy; and a train from Trieste to Venice. 

         Then we deal with the single most expensive item of most trips: the long-haul flight from the U.S. to wherever we're going. We might use Expedia or something similar to find what airlines go where, but then we book directly with the airline or use our credit card's travel service. We think we will give up on the later since such "third-party" bookings can lead to problems when flights are delayed or changed. Chase Travel has been extremely difficult to work with.

        At this point, after we've decided how much time we think we want in each place, Jane starts looking at hotels, paying particular attention to reviews on sites like Tripadvisor.  She always does our bookings, usually directly with the hotels, which we've found works best, especially if we need to change something later. Only once, when we were in Rome for six weeks, did we use Airbnb, which got us a decent apartment in a great location, though it was initially so shabby that we asked for and got new IKEA furniture for the living room.  We prefer small hotels, though a few times that has meant no one at the desk overnight.

        We almost always purchase some sort of travel insurance, especially medical and evacuation insurance. Trip insurance came to our rescue when for health reasons we had to cancel a long-planned and mostly paid-for trip to Africa in 2023.  It also reimbursed us for expenses when I had an ear infection in Morocco and Jane had a fever in Panama. We found that using Chase Travel insurance, which is Eclaims.com, was a very difficult experience. So, we would recommend getting your own trip insurance if it is a costly trip with a lot of prepaid expenses. 

       Once the flights and hotels are booked, rental car reserved (I use Hertz abroad because in my experience it's the only international company where the final charge is what was originally quoted), and we think we're all set, Jane starts checking for price changes.  Thanks to dynamic pricing, a hotel room reserved at one price might later be available at a lower price.  And if you book directly with the hotel, a phone call or an email might quickly get you the lower price. I can't tell you how many times that has happened.  

       Don't forget to think about getting from your arrival airport to your first hotel.  In a familiar city, you might be comfortable popping into a cab or onto mass transit. We took a train from Charles de Gaulle Airport to our hotel in the Haut Marais a decade ago in Paris. Most often, though, we ask our hotel to arrange a car for us, so that as we're leaving the terminal, someone will be holding a sign with our name on it. No wondering if a taxi driver is taking a long detour or otherwise overcharging us. Being met by someone is especially a good idea if your flight arrives late or you're in an undeveloped country. 

      Then we pack, one carry-on wheeled suitcase each along with another small bag each. Sometimes we check bags, sometimes we don't.  We have electrical adapters for almost every country along with a compact power strip with USB charging ports.  We have in the past, upon arrival, bought smart phones for France, Italy and New Zealand.  As I write this, we're a couple weeks away from an almost six-week trip to Madrid and southern Spain, and we're hoping to put a Spanish sim card into one of our unlocked Samsung Galaxy phones.  Smart phones are vital for GPS, looking up restaurants and language translation.  

      Then we're off, always elated to be headed somewhere. 

      

Saturday, March 2, 2024

California: Los Angeles, the Griffith, the Broad, and the Academy

 

The famous Hollywood sign, seen from the
  grounds of the Griffith Observatory.

In February 2024, after visiting Joshua Tree and Death Valley national parks, Jane and I broke up the drive home by stopping for three nights in Los Angeles.  On one previous visit we stayed in Beverly Hills, and on another we stayed in West Hollywood. This time we stayed downtown, at the Hoxton Hotel, which is on Broadway a couple of miles south of L.A.'s Chinatown.  The Hoxton has two restaurants, Meadowlark's Diner off the lobby, where we had breakfast each day, and Cabra, a rooftop Peruvian cafe with excellent Pisco sours and such an inviting menu that we had dinner there twice.

      One reason for stopping in Los Angeles was to give us another chance to visit the Griffith Observatory. In the past we tried to visit but gave up when we couldn't find parking. This time we tried first to find parking on Griffith Park, the winding road that leads to the observatory. We found parking, maybe a mile away, but the machines for paying to park weren't working. So we reversed course and this time tried to go up East Observatory Trail to the observatory itself.  There were maybe a dozen spots available in the lot right by the observatory -- and the parking fee ($10 an hour) was the same as for street parking much farther away.  It seems that if the traffic people let you go up the trail, then there will be parking when you get there. The trail is closed when the lot is full. Or at least that's how I think it works. The observatory opens every day at 10 a.m. and the earlier you are the more likely you are to get a good parking spot. 

       The observatory is more than an observatory. It's also a planetarium and has various displays explaining the Big Bang, galaxies and other star systems as well as the Solar System. Its Event Horizon Theater shows a film in which the late actor Leonard Nimoy discusses the observatory from its opening in 1935 to its 2002-2006 closing while the building was greatly expanded and reinforced.  Admission to the planetarium, the theater and everything else is free, presumably thanks to the generosity of Griffith J. Griffith (1850-1919), a Gilded Age industrialist who gave Los Angeles money for sprawling Griffith Park as well as money specifically for the observatory. 

      Another reason to stop in L.A. was to visit the Broad, a major museum of contemporary art. I used to think that West Coast museums tend to have great artists' lesser works because the best stuff is in museums in the East.  Not so with the Broad.  Basquiat, Lichtenstein, Warhol and other 20th century greats are well represented here. 

     And, since we had a few hours to spare, we made our way to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, a nonstop celebration  of movies, from John Waters to Pedro Almodovar. One area shows Oscar acceptance speeches through the years.  A very entertaining museum.  It's in a neighborhood of museums, with the Petersen Automotive Museum across the street and the very worthwhile Los Angeles County Museum of Art next door.  La Brea Tar Pits are nearby, too.  Park once and see it all!

       We parked our new electric car at LACMA and were happy to find free Level Two (slow) charging stations. When we returned to our car after a few hours it had a 100-percent charge. That LACMA charge took us all the way home to San Diego the next day. 

Terraces that surround the Griffith offer views 
of the Hollywood Hills as well as distant
downtown Los Angeles.




The Edge of Space exhibits show the planets in proportion to one another.


The Big Picture takes up a wall almost the
length of the building to show how many
stars and galaxies are hidden in a small
slice of our nighttime sky.

A monument at the observatory's 
entrance honors history's greatest
astronomers.

The Broad, founded by collectors Eli and Edythe Broad in 2015, 
features art from the 1950s onward.



Yayoi Kusama's "Longing for Eternity" 
(2017) creates illusions of infinity 
within this mirrored box. Visitors
await turns to look into it.



Each porthole view reveals 
universes of different colors.

I can be seen holding my camera phone in the porthole
at upper left. My wife, Jane, is slightly visible in the 
second-from-the-top porthole in the upper right.


Jean-Michel Basquiat's "Pink Devil" (1984).

Robert Therrien's "Under the Table" (1994) gives visitors 
a toddler's-eye-view of the world.


The Walt Disney Concert Hall, designed by Frank Gehry,
is across West Second Street from the Broad.


One floor of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures was devoted
to Baltimore's John Waters.


The exhibit featured posters and clips from many of his films,
including some seldom-seen early ones. Yes, the scene from "Pink
Flamingos" with Divine and a small dog was included. 


An interactive exhibit
provided WhatsApp-like 
filters based on Waters'
characters. This is me
as Divine.

One room had large screens looping scenes from the movies of 
Pedro Almodovar.  The museum did not, as I had expected, offer
a full history of the movies or even a compilation of "greatest"
stars or directors. It did show a couple of the Lumiere Brothers' 
earliest motion pictures but had little on the Silent Era, the great
MGM musicals, Hitchcock, Kubrick, and on and on.  Nonetheless,
this should be a must-visit for movie buffs of any sort. 


Friday, March 1, 2024

California: Death Valley

 

Ubehebe Crater is a 770-foot-deep volcanic crater more than an hour's drive
north of Furnace Creek. There are hikes to the bottom (the return is described as 
"grueling") and around the rim, which also has very steep sections. This is a
view from the rim trail. Although Death Valley is most famous for its areas 
below sea level, Ubehebe is 2,467 feet (752 meters) above sea level. The park's
highest point is the top of Telescope Peak at 11,049 feet, soaring above nearby
Badwater Basin, which is the park's lowest point at 282 feet below sea level. 

       Death Valley, which has recorded some of the hottest temperatures ever on earth, seemed like a good winter destination. Early spring and late fall would probably also work. We spent three nights in February 2024 in Furnace Creek at the Oasis Inn. Overnight lows dropped into the low 40s Fahrenheit and daily highs were in the upper 60s.  It seemed like the ideal time to be there.

        We drove here from Joshua Tree in our new electric car, a Hyundai Ioniq 6, stopping to recharge and have lunch in Baker, California.  The charging station had a dozen Electrify America charging stations (which we use) and more than 40 Tesla stations. An EV oasis, you might say. The Oasis Inn has two free Level Two (slow) chargers and there are four others a mile away at the Oasis Ranch

        Unless you're driving a motorhome or camping van, there are few places to stay in Death Valley. The Inn and the Ranch, which have the same owner, seem like the best options, though a recent storm (which famously created temporary lakes in the valley) had caused problems at the Inn, leaving it without a working heating system and other HVAC problems. The wing where our room was had a musty smell that the constantly running fan could not eliminate. The views from the Inn, however, are incredible, as is its garden. We didn't use it, but the pool looked good, too. And the lack of heat meant the room was chilly but not unbearably cold. The Inn didn't not alert us to the heating problem until we asked about it.

        Once you have shelter in Death Valley, turn your attention to food.  In Furnace Creek, which can be thought of as downtown Death Valley, there are the Inn, the Ranch, a gas station and little else. The Inn has one dining room and doesn't serve lunch. The Ranch has a saloon (with burgers at lunch, steaks at dinner), an ice cream shop, a general store and a buffet-style restaurant. You need reservations for dinner but lunch seems easier. You can also pick up grab-and-go sandwiches at the general store. 

       Once you get out and explore beyond Furnace Creek, you'll experience one of the most exotic landscapes on earth. Much of it looks like photos sent back to Earth from NASA's Mars Rover. Colors change from bits of blinding white at Harmony Borax Works and the salt crystals of the Devil's Golf Course, to mellow golds at Golden Canyon, cliffs of rusty orange, and every shade of gray and taupe at Zabriskie Point.

       I recall watching as a child a TV show called "Death Valley Days," a long-running (1952 to 1970) syndicated Western anthology centered around Death Valley and sponsored by 20 Mule Team Borax. For a few years in the 1960s it was introduced each week by a minor Hollywood actor named Ronald Reagan. I was surprised to learn at Death Valley that the borax mining period was little more than a few years in the 1880s and then production moved to more accessible areas.  The 20 mule teams, though, were real. We saw a preserved multi-wagon borax transporter at Harmony Borax Works. 

       Zabriskie Point is named for Christian B. Zabriskie (1864-1936), the general manager of the Pacific Borax Company (maker of 20 Mule Team products) who promoted tourism in Death Valley.  Zabriskie Point was the setting for some scenes in the 1970 movie of the same name, a counter-culture effort that shows up on lists of the worst movies ever made.  The point itself is very popular. It's basically a scenic overlook up a short paved walkway close to California Route 190, the valley's main road. It looks out over mud-colored hills and rocks. A trail connects it with Golden Canyon, which is otherwise accessed miles away on another road. 

       Although our hotel had satellite Internet, TV and wi-fi, there is little or no cell service in most of the valley, and your phone or your car may not be able to guide you. Get maps, and notice that some of the roads are not suitable for all cars.  Capable four-wheel-drive vehicles can be rented in Furnace Creek, and if we had done that, we might have not had to turn around before reaching Mosaic Canyon. Some roads are marked on maps as "require experienced four-wheel drivers."  I spoke with one man driving his own super-high-clearance Jeep and he said he had given up on some roads because the ruts were just too jarring. 

       Besides the apparently permanent terrible condition of some roads, the recent storms had done enough damage that roads were closed to some of the best-known attractions: Dantes View, Artists Drive and Artists Palette. Nevertheless, we got to see a lot and experience a lot in Death Valley.

Here are some photos: 

Snow-covered mountains were visible from almost any point in Death Valley. 















Winter storms recreated prehistoric Lake Manly in
Badwater Basin, which was still there when we visited
 a few days later. This rare event drew widespread
attention. The lake is expected to last no more than
a couple of months.

The Rim Trail at Ubehebe Crater. The rater
is on the right. The dark spot in the 
distance is the parking lot. 


Watch your step! The trail and the 
crater's edge are gravel.



 
The Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes cover 14 square miles and have no trails. Some
of the dunes are quite high and after going over them hikers may no longer
be able to see the parking area on California State Route 190, 


The Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes are one of the most
easily accessed areas in Death Valley. Visitors
are free to wander among the dunes, but we kept
to areas where there were lots of footprints. Climbing
the soft sand to reach the tops of dunes can take
a little effort, but it's the only way to get a decent view.


































This once was a paved road, but the trail through Golden Canyon feels like 
a the bed of a dried-up stream. Much of the rock has a chalky color and feel.


Iron deposits probably account for the red
tones in the distance. 

The Golden Canyon Trail begins as an easy 
walk on a stone-lined path.

The vastness of Death Valley, which is only a few acres smaller than the state of Connecticut,
presents challenges. Golden Canyon is a popular trail, but there are many isolated places in
 the park where visitors, with no cell service, are entirely responsible for their own safety.


Water is here year-round at Badwater Basin, the lowest point on land in North America
at 282 feed (85.5 meters) below sea level. The water takes an underground route
to get here, picking up salts and other chemicals that give the basin its name.


The water in the foreground is the result of rain that fell
shortly before our visit. The people on the decking are
looking at Badwater Basin's permanent pool.


This sign is embedded 282 feet high in a cliff
 across the road from Badwater Basin. 

The view from Zabriskie Point. Much of the landscape looks
 like dried mud but is rock of many different types. 


As in much of Death Valley, visitors at Zabriskie point
are not restricted to trails. If you see a rock, you're
welcome to climb to the top of it.

The trail begins downhill from Zabriskie Point.

Harmony Borax Works dates back to 1881 when prospectors found borax and operated
from 1883 to 1888 when its owner's finances collapsed. Borax production largely 
moved to more accessible parts of California. 




This is one of the wagon trains once pulled by large teams of mules. Water for the animals
was carried in the tank at left. The team was hitched to the right end.


A veranda off our room at the Oasis
Inn offered views of the hotel's
gardens as well as endless 
mountains and desert.

The guestroom wings at the Oasis Inn are one-room
deep, with verandas on the other side and a hallway
on the other with window that open onto the 
gravel-like hill that the inn is built into.

The fan palm is the only palm tree native to California. 


More fan palms in the garden at the Oasis Inn.

There are a couple of natural-looking pools in the
hotel's garden in addition to a swimming pool.


A tunnel leads from the hotel's basement to its
parking area. It feels like the lair of a Bond villain. 


That's a prickly pear margarita on the left and
a Negroni on the right. The Oasis Bar has 
mixologists worthy of the location.