Bains Kloof Pass

When in the Western Cape, one must try driving through some of the famous mountain pass. We tried the Bains Kloof Pass built by Thomas Bain between 1848-1852. It is such a winding fun and once on top, you are rewarded with spectacular views of the plains down with speckles of rain and sun to make for dramatic photos.

We went through Bains Kloof driving from Stellenbosch to Wellington and even when it was raining, the sun lights up some parts of the valley and you have a photographer's delight. We went up the pass via Wellington and got out in Ceres, Capetown's fruit capital. Got some cherries and drove off to Tulbagh.

Tulbagh

Tulbagh was the day's surprise. We picked up some brochures in Ceres and Tulbagh looked really interesting. Our destination was !Kwah Tuu but the detour to Tulbagh looked short and interesting. And that was one good decision.

Tulbagh"s Church Street is the best example of 19th century Dutch colonial street.The street is not just a historical delight but also a culinary one. Most of the houses as often happens when tourists come have been transformed into guest houses or restaurants. So, we went in one of the restaurants that has an interesting common name, Restaurant 29. It looked like a garage but inside is an artist gallery but what attracted us was the sign, Belgian cooking. We badly wanted some coffee.

The Belgian Lady who owns the place has once lived in Canada (Aylmer, Whitby and Kingston) so the conversation became quite animated. Moreover, just outside is a peacock that kept pecking on the owner's dark blue shiny car. My husband thought that this is one ugly peacock who kept seeing his ugly face reflected on the car so he kept pecking on it. The gentleman owner was peeved as his car is almost classic but his wife kept feeding the peacock as her way of luring the peacock away from the car. The husband thinks of the day when he'll see that peacock in his pie, it's rightful place as far as he is concerned.

Franschoek

On our second day, we woke up early and drove to Franschoek. We did not realize how close it was so when we arrived there, nothing was opened yet. We walked around and enjoyed the heritage left by the French Huguenots. They have a monument there with records of the first Huguenots who settled in the area.

The place has now billed itself as Capetown's culinary capital so we settled ourselves in one of the restaurants and enjoyed a hearty breakfast. Tom had a boerworst and mileiepap, a traditional South African breakfast.

When you visit Franschoek, don't miss this place. Franschoek Motor Museum.

Stellenbosch, South Africa

The flight to South Africa was very pleasant. We slept very well in the plane and we did not have much wait time.So we arrived in Capetown refreshed. We picked up our car in the airport and drove out. It took us just about 30 minutes to reach our hotel, The Asara at Stellenbosch. Being in the wine country, we decided to stay in a wine estate which is a Chateau et Relais hotel. It is very nice and check in was a breeze with a pleasant glass of sparkling wine from the estate itself.

We cleaned up and immediately drove out to Stellenbosch to have a sense of where we are. Stellenbosch is a university town and it is a beautiful place. We walked around and got engaged in one of the stores where local women were weaving silk. We learned much about what they're doing and got a souvenir that the women just finished the day before. Satisfied that the place is interesting, we went back to our hotel where we had a very tasty dinner of springbok and Kudo with wines from the estate. My appetizer was something special:snails on bone marrow. It was delicious!

Battambang, Cambodia's New Art Capital

Battambang is now claiming to be Cambodia's new art capital after local artists launched its first arts festival. The Explo, short for explosion or exploration, attracted many foreigners and Cambodians from the art community as local artists painted on large blocks of ice, humans and other media their creative imagination could conceive.

Battambang art has in the past already been sung by Cambodian composers, most famous of which is Sinn Sisamouth considered to be the King of Khmer Music so although still laid back compared to Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, Battambang's artistic spirit continues to spark creativity. In fact, one of its students at the Battambang Institute of Technology recently won the prize in the national competition for the best computer graphics.

This initiative was spearheaded by two gallery owners in Battambang, Canadian David Ramjattan and Loven Ramos, after a successful art show in February, 2011. But at the heart of this creative stimulus in Battambang is a Cambodian NGO, Phare Ponleu Selpak. Founded in 1994 to develop the arts among the Battambang youth, Phare runs an art school and gallery. Two of its graduates just opened a gallery, Make Maek.

Another boost to the local artists is the opening of the art gallery,Sammaki, which now hosts workshops, tea parties for local artists with its artist in residence, Bo Rithy.

So watch out for the next art explo in Battambang next year and come with money if you are a collector. The galleries are now selling art from Battambang's artists in the 3 to 4 digit range and foreign collectors have now discovered Battambang as the place to go to.