NOTE: Many of the photos were taken from the bus so I apologize for the poor quality. There were also some serious forest fires in the area the day before so the air was quite hazy and smoky.

7/20 It's very difficult to get any sleep in my hot tent cabin with the noise from the youngsters . I was looking forward to seeing the Amalfi coast on an air-conditioned (!!!!) bus. The wait for the local bus to town was long again. There was another long line for the bus to Amalfi and it was in the sun so people were already irritable. Apparently an earlier bus never showed up. After an hour waiting, two busses showed up at the same time so everyone in line was able to board. I had read in Rick Steve's that you want to be sure to sit on the right side for the best views so I did.

Rick Steve's raved about the bus trip from Sorrento to Amalfi calling it "one of the world's greatest bus rides." He said "Amalfi is Italy's coast with the most stunning scenery, hill and harbor hugging towns, and historic ruins. It's easy to gain respect for the Italian engineers who built the roads in the 1800s. In addition to the roads, cantilevered garages, hotels and villas cling to the vertical terrain while beautful sandy coves tease from 500 feet below and out of reach.

We left Sorrento behind and almost immediately began the first of thousands of hairpin turns (picture 60km of Lombard Street in San Francisco!) . The vistas were absolutely breath-taking while the bus ride was positively cookie-tossing (not for those who ever get remotely carsick). The road hugs the side of mountains while you can see the sea way down the cliffs. I kept thinking, "How did they ever build this road?"

The distance between towns is not far but the time it takes is lengthy since you seldom go over 10 or 15 miles an hour. The drivers have their own language and honk to alert drivers coming the other way so they will yield. Somehow the system seemed to work but I would discourage anyone from making the drive themselves. It's far better to take the bus so you can just enjoy the scenery!

The first of the famous Amalfi coast towns we saw was Positano. According to legend Greek god Poseidon created Positano for Pasitea, a nymph he lusted after. You often see photos of Positano since it is just a gorgeous city when viewed from a distance. Rick Steve's says there really isn't anything there except expensive restaurants, shops and the world-famous views so I didn't mind the bus not stopping .

Positano has established itself as one of the world's premier coastal towns in part because it has been impossible to get building permits here for more than 25 years. If you decide to make renovations you can have no external changes. The 4000 residents have only one street with motorized traffic while the rest are steep pedestrian lanes. It was very pretty but if you want more info on the town check with Mike Ball who has stayed there with the other rich folk.

All along the coast you see the most amazing villas. They are not necessarily huge but their views are stupendous. You wonder how they manage to get to their villas since it most cost a fortune just to build a driveway. The engineering required for some of the places is mind-boggling. Many of the villas had beautiful pools, some hundreds of feet below their villas. I was curious how they sell real estate here since many of the homes are built on top of others or, seemingly, on the side of a mountain .

Our bus was crawling along between Positano and Amalfi when we encountered another tour bus going the opposite direction on a hairpin turn. Since busses are going so slowly the drivers just have to figure out the easiest way to crawl past each other but it's often difficult as in this situation (I read where tour busses usually are allowed to go in only one direction which would help matters but there were a few going the opposite direction this day).

To get by each bus would inch a little here then there. When the drivers were side by side they conversed but I sure didn't understand what they said. The busses were almost side to side when I heard the crunch of metal (or fiberglass) and, almost simultaneously, a lot of angry Italian words. It turns out the other driver was too close to the mountain so he was backing up and hit the side of our bus. Our driver never even left his seat but the other driver came over and they had words . Meanwhile traffic was backing up in both directions.

The other driver was from a tour company and had to take down all the information to report the damage. We finally resumed our trip but I checked out the damage when we stopped in Amalfi and it was a small gouge in the side. From the look of our bus and the others it appeared that these incidents are quite common. It's hard to imagine them not happening given the challenging conditions.

Amalfi was really pretty as we approached with its colorful homes and small pebbly beach. According to legend Amalfi was founded when the girlfriend of Hercules was buried here. After Rome fell Amalfi was one of the first cities to trade goods - coffee, carpets and paper - between Europe and points east. Its heyday was the 10th and 11th centuries when it was a powerful maritime republic - a trading power with a fleet that controlled this region and rivalled Genoa and Venice. Amalfi minted its own coins and established "rules of the sea" - the basics of which survive today . In 1343, the town was destroyed by a freak tidal wave caused by an undersea earthquake. That disaster compounded by devastating plagues left Amalfi a humble backwater.

One of the key industies in Amalfi since the middle ages has been paper. I paid a visit to the historic Amalfi Paper Museum housed in a 13th century mill. The museum had few visitors so I was given a personal tour by one of the employees. He supposedly spoke English but it sounded like Italian to me. He showed me how they pounded rags into pulp that was then poured into a big vat (it looked a lot like papier-machè). Then the pulp was pulled up using a screen and air-dried to create paper. The museum had old photos showing it in operation up into it closed in 1969. I was told that no trees were used at the paper mill since trees were too big for the roads. Paper is still made in Amalfi but it's very much a specialty item.

There are presently 7000 residents in Amalfi including Sophia Loren, Gore Vidal and Franco Zeffirelli . One of the more famous local residents was Flavio Gioia. Amalfi residents credit this boy with the invention of the magnetic compass back in 1302, but historians can't verify he actually existed. While an improvement to the compass did occur in Amalfi during that time period, the Chinese and Arabs had been using rudimentary compasses for years. In Gioia's time seamen using a bobbing needle in water as kind of a medieval GPS. If Gioia existed at all he probably just figured out how to secure that needle inside a little box.

I walked through the small town with the other tourists before taking a side-trip up the mountain to Ravello. Rick Steve's had touted Ravello as a good destination and he was certainly right. Ravello is a 5 star town with 5 star hotels, restaurants, and residents. No cars are allowed in the town so busses park at the stone gates creating a cool entry for visitors. You first reach a large town plaza featuring a brilliant white cathedral. What impressed me was how clean and well-tended the whole town was: everywhere there were gorgeous flowers, green spaces and fountains .

At 1000 feet above Amalfi, one of the highlights of Ravello is the breath-taking views. There were great views up and down the Amalfi coast on all sides of the town. I visited the Villa Cimbrone which was built in the 20th century by Englishman William Beckett. The gardens are elaborate and colorful but the most famous feature of the property is the well-named Terrace of Infinity. How they built this I don't know, but the terrace is literally on top of this enormous cliff that goes straight down to Amalfi. You peer over the edge and there is nothing there (hence the name). It was quite a sight!

Ravello has to be one of the prettiest towns I've seen in Italy despite its small size. It would be good for wealthy people who just want to get away. Celebrities who have lived here at some point include Gore Vidal, Greta Garbo, Richard Wagner, William Longfellow and DH Lawrence. With residents like these, Ravello is well known for a summer concert series and other major arts events you wouldn't normally associate with such a small town.

I was looking forward to taking the ferry back to Sorrento to get a different view of the coast. Our bus from Ravello was late and super slow getting back to Amalfi and I missed the ferry by 2 minutes. That meant I had to take the bus back and I sure hoped the queasiness I experienced on the ride down didn't get worse.

I think what impressed me most about the area was the tremendous imagination, engineering and workmanship displayed but also the good judgment employeed to limit further development. It's really impossible to capture the beauty of the Amalfi coast in words or photos. You have to experience this bus ride through one of the most beautiful places in the world!