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    Travel Adventures on the Company's Nickel
    Travel Adventures on the Company's Nickel
    Travel Adventures on the Company's Nickel
    Ebook129 pages2 hours

    Travel Adventures on the Company's Nickel

    By Frank Perkins

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    About this ebook

    Visit Famous(and Unknown)Places Around the World
    Join the author as his business travels take him from the markets of Morocco to the grounds of the Taj Mahal. Read of encounters with New Delhi shoeshine boys and with the skilled pickpockets of Lima.
    Experience offbeat hotels and restaurants.
    Travel in weird and wonderful airplanes, taxis, and rental cars.
    Learn the joys and adventures of extemporaneous travel subsidized by company-paid expenses.
    Frank Perkins has been an electronic engineer for over 30 years. Some of his projects required testing in far-flung areas of the world. He has traveled to over 35 countries on business and pleasure. Now retired, his projects currently include photography, writing and publishing, fly-fishing, and volunteer expeditions around the world.
    Whether you use it to plan your own trips or simply enjoy it from your easy chair, don't miss this assortment of traveler's tales — collected on the company's nickel.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherFrank Perkins
    Release dateAug 1, 2011
    ISBN9781466133419
    Travel Adventures on the Company's Nickel
    Author

    Frank Perkins

    Frank Perkins was born and grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, and graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Serving his ROTC time in the Army, he was introduced to the wonders of electronics and never looked back. After the army, he worked briefly outside Washington, DC, but soon moved to Florida and, again, never looked back.He worked as a design engineer and participated in several state-of-the-art projects, including what was then the highest data rate telephone modem (a blazing 16 kb/s), and what is probably still the highest performing HF radio modem ever (for use on the challenging 2-30 MHz band).He received a number of patents and awards for his work. He also managed to go on a round the world modem-testing trip (including a stop in India), which whetted his appetite for travel. When he retired he published a book recounting his business travels.He has traveled extensively as a volunteer on scientific field research expeditions to many parts of the world. He also published a book on these expeditions.An enthusiastic fly fisherman, he has fished in several exotic spots around the globe for a variety of fresh- and saltwater species.Photography also attracted his interest and he has taken advantage of his travels to capture many images, some of which have appeared on travel posters and on an annual report cover.He enjoys sharing his pictures and experiences.

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      Book preview

      Travel Adventures on the Company's Nickel - Frank Perkins

      Some comments on the print edition:

      Made me realize just how much I have fun on the company!

      As the Business Travel Columnist at BellaOnline.com, I recommend this book to anyone who has forgotten how to have fun on biz travel. This is a great present to give to any road warrior!

      I was given this book as a gift from a friend because after being a road warrior for over 10 years.... I was complaining about ALL the travel. Well, my friend felt that I was forgetting about all the great things about being a road warrior and bought me this book.

      After reading this book, I realized how much we (road warriors) do have fun on the company's nickel.... and how at times we need to relax more when away for work.

      The author does an fantastic job of showcasing the sights and sounds around the world that he has visited while throwing in some great tips!

      TRAVEL ADVENTURES

      ON THE COMPANY'S NICKEL

      or

      Fun on Business Trips

      by

      Frank Perkins

      Copyright 2011 Frank Perkins

      Smashwords Edition

      Smashword edition license notes

      This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person,please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Preface

      This book was originally written in 1996, and I have retained the vintage nature, with some updates and additions in separate paragraphs where appropriate.

      Table of Contents

      Chapter 1 Two Highlights

      Chapter 2 Out of the way Places and Off Seasons

      Chapter 3 Ascension Island, Really Out of the Way

      Chapter 4 Unusual People You Meet

      Chapter 5 Hotels

      Chapter 6 Restaurants

      Chapter 7 Customs Adventures

      Chapter 8 Airlines

      Chapter 9 Airports

      Chapter 10 Driving Adventures

      Chapter 11 Other Transport

      Chapter 12 Some Offbeat Adventures and Events

      Chapter 13 Museums

      Chapter 14 Interesting Test Sites

      Chapter 15 A Place on the Way--Iceland

      Chapter 16 Another Place on the Way--Morocco

      Chapter 17 And In Conclusion

      Chapter 1--Two Highlights

      (Return to Table of Contents )

      As I considered the writing of this book, two countries,India and Peru, seemed to have captured my imagination and interest more than any others. So, let's take a look at them first.

      INDIA

      Groggy from an all night plane flight, I cleared customs and stumbled into the bright morning sunlight. Beyond the knot of cars and taxis picking up passengers, a skinny cow grazed on sparse grass.

      Holy cow, I exclaimed, I really am in India.

      It was hard to realize that I was here—and on the company's nickel. I had only a vague precept of India—mostly crowds and poverty. I was to find that this was an incomplete picture.

      Two Delhis

      The first thing I learned, as I was driven into the city, is that Delhi is composed of two distinct parts— New Delhi and Old Delhi. New Delhi is a legacy of British colonial times, a city of broad, tree-lined streets, parks, impressive homes, embassies and office buildings. Old Delhi is like a different world—filled with the bustle of crowds usually associated with India.

      I was there to conduct communications tests, but mostly it involved waiting while arrangements were made. I took full advantage of the waiting to absorb Delhi.

      Street Markets

      The street markets were my favorites. The Chandni Chowk area is a maze of twisting streets and alleys, lined with the most incredible array of shops one can imagine. There are shops selling meat, vegetables, hardware, eggs, live chickens, electric motors, pumps, auto parts, bread—you name it. The streets are solid with people, striding along purposefully on shopping errands. I wandered the area, completely fascinated. Often I would look around and realize that there was not another Caucasian in sight. There was no feeling of danger or of being out of place, however. This was largely because I was completely ignored, even when I would pause to take pictures of the shops and people.

      There was no feeling of antagonism or of being deliberately slighted—if I wanted to buy something, I was served politely and promptly, just as everyone else. It was more the feeling of being invisible in the crowd, unless you deliberately chose to make yourself appear.

      Even outside the markets, there is amazing activity on the streets in Delhi. I soon became used to the barbers giving haircuts in the midst of the crowds. Taxi stands were simply open areas, with telephones sitting on the sidewalk. Most surprising of all was the dentist I found doing business on the ground at an outlying market. I took a marvelous photo of him working in the mouth of his patient as bustling people swarmed past.

      Old Forts

      Another outstanding feature of Old Delhi is its assortment of old forts. The sandstone Red Fort is my favorite. The afternoon sunshine made it seem to glow magically, and the contrast with the clear blue sky emphasized the rich red color. A dark passageway, lined with shops, leads you into the fort, past performing monkeys begging money for their handlers from the passing crowd. Inside, you wander through the array of buildings and walls, up steep stairways and to secluded gardens, where green parrots perch on contrasting red walls. Towers of varied designs are everywhere—some solid red, others trimmed in white marble. Outstanding!

      Observatory

      Still another favorite is the Jantar Mantar astronomical observatory. This is an entire park full of huge 18th century stone and concrete monuments, designed to provide sighting aids for plotting the location of stars, the moon, and the sun. Pairs of giant hemispheres have complementary cutouts to provide access for sighting operations. On another structure, a huge slanting ramp provided ancient observers with an angle for sighting the stars, and now provides tourists with an overview of the whole marvelous complex. To top it off, all the gracefully shaped structures are painted a warm pink!

      Tombs

      The big tombs of Delhi are also striking. Humayum's tomb is an impressive structure in the midst of a pretty garden. I remember the Lodi Tombs for the gorgeous red sunset that occurred during a late afternoon visit.

      The Taj

      Impressive as Delhi is, Agra and the Taj are more so. The arduous trip to Agra is chronicled in another chapter, but the Taj is worth any effort! I am not normally awed by buildings, and had expected the Taj to be impressive, but just another nice building. How wrong I was. From my first glimpse, the Taj struck me with a physical impact. Gleaming white under a cloudless, deep blue sky, it seems to defy you to take your eyes off it. I wandered the grounds to see the building from different angles. I snapped countless photos, as each new vista seemed more striking than the last.

      The Taj sits on a low rise on the bank of the Jumna River. Across the river, everyday life goes on, as Indian women come to a sandbar to do their laundry and then to spread their colorful clothes on the bank to dry.

      Up close, the Taj had another surprise for me. Inset into the stunning white marble are carefully shaped and polished semi- precious colored stones, arranged in floral and geometrical

      patterns. These stones—malachites, amethysts, and agates gathered from all over Asia—are present in astounding numbers on both the interior and exterior of the building.

      The Taj was built as an ultimate love offering-tomb by Shan Jahan to his wife Muntaz Mahal. She died at the age of 39, after giving birth to her fourteenth child. The Taj was begun in 1631 and took 22 years to complete.

      Is the feel of awe that it gives every viewer because of the love it expresses? Or is it the subtle but perfect geometrical perfection of the structure? I'm not sure. Go see for yourself and decide—you won't regret it!

      PERU

      Another country that offered me delightful experiences was Peru. It is far away geographically from India, but has a similar feel. Machu Picchu, the long-lost Inca city has an atmosphere that somehow transcends even the impressive physical appearance of the place. The trip there from Lima is complicated, involving a plane trip to Cuzco, and a train trip from there. These are chronicled in other chapters.

      Machu Picchu

      The train station at Machu Picchu is alongside the tumbling Urabamba River, immediately below the hidden ruins. A bus caravan carries tourists up a steep, switchback road to the mountaintop ruins. (A few months before my visit, a rain-induced landslide had blocked the road and tourists had to make the long climb on foot.) At the last switchback of the road, the ruined city dramatically appears.

      The stone walls and roofless houses crown a small ridge that falls away on both sides to the river far below. On every possible slope around the city are rock-walled terraces, presumably for growing crops. Rising behind the city is the peak of Huayna Picchu, with a few walls and terraces crowning its incredibly steep slopes. The entrance to the city itself is through a small door in the rock wall. The door has the distinctive shape of the Inca door and window openings, with slightly bulging sides and a massive lintel. The workmanship of the stonework is awe inspiring, particularly in the ceremonial buildings. There is literally no space to insert even a thin knife blade between the carved blocks. Many of the buildings are built on and around native rocks, and in some places natural caves form a part of the building plan.

      The Plaza

      A central plaza provided a gathering place for the population that was estimated to have been only about 1000. The history of Machu Picchu is not clear, but it had apparently been deserted and forgotten by the local inhabitants at the time of the Spanish conquest in the 1500's. It

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