24 Time Zones Later

We are home safe! Wow, what a trip! We are so lucky!

We are right back where we started after many miles, but we have learned 3 things on this trip:
1. The world is crowded.
2. We really like life at sea.
3. How you perceive things in life, depends on your perspective. All things are relative!

Traveling to each place, one after the next, has given us a comparative perspective we've never had in our annual trips. It has been very enlightening. And we have been so pleased to have people to share our experiences with in this blog. Thank you for your interest!

We have had so many people on the trip who were kind and helpful to us along the way and we want to send BIG THANKS TO:

• Maria in our Costa Rican home-stay who helped us learn Spanish (especially when explaining that lie detector show)
• Camden who oriented and entertained us and will one day make a great teacher
• Jane and Alan, the Brits in Chile who allowed us to tag along on their wine tasting tour
• Fernando and Marianna who opened their home and introduced us to Onces
• Tomas, who stuffed us like Thanksgiving turkeys full of great food and showed us that even locals can't get good directions in Chile
• Aggie at the Shiny Paua in Invercargill, New Zealand who helped us with -- everything
• Debbie's family for an amazing dinner and Debbie for killing my dad at ping pong
• The fearsome foursome in Tasmania who fed us our best meal in the country and kept us endlessly amused
• Chuck who allowed us to stay in his place in Cairns, Australia in a lifestyle we'd like to become accustomed to
• Dick, Jane and their son or grandson Owen who survived the whole cruise and allowed us honorary Australian status when necessary, as well as letting us win a quiz or two
• Peter, whose knowledge far outweighed all others on the cruise, and made the crossing more meaningful
• Rolando who knows what he did
• Pujon and Michelle in Nepal who have such a great atmosphere in their courtyard where we met some of the most interesting characters of our trip
• Aliki whose welcome to Santorini set the tone for the best Big Fat Greek Vacation ever

And our BIGGEST thanks to the 4 people without whom our trip simply could not have happened:

Bob and Carol for taking us and picking us up, storing our stuff, keeping us, paying our credit card and joining us in New Zealand

Gary and Linda for storing our stuff, booking our Nepal side trip (and others), keeping our stuff, keeping us, and sending us encouraging cards and e-mails

YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!

I also want to thank Steven who made a herculean effort planning this whole trip. He is amazing and wonderful. There are times where we drove each other nuts during these 214 days, but there is nobody I'd rather adventure with.

There are so many factors (including time, money, health, assistance, politics, etc.) that had to align to make this journey possible. We are forever grateful and feel very lucky upon completion of this amazing around the world journey.

Amsterdam Blur

Amsterdam was a blur of trams, cars, bicycles, scooters, and canals. Pedestrians are the last priority in this transport hierarchy. It is a nice city however with unique character.

The "Red Light" district was smaller than we had anticipated, and stripper-girls looked odd posing in windows in broad daylight due to the season of only a few hours of darkness.

By far the grand highlight was the Van Gogh Museum. It is rare that I am moved by creations of man, but the art of Van Gogh was truly moving. I would travel all that way just to see the museum and come home!

This is a fine city to make the final destination of our trip. It is amazing to look back at all we have done, and see how close we are to completing this adventure. We have been very lucky throughout. Daina being stung by a jelly fish and Steve getting food poisoning (IN BRUSSELS) is really not much to complain about! All that is left is to fly Amsterdam to Ireland to Chicago to LAX. Then our world tour is complete!

Belgium, Beer, and Bathrooms

Leaving Greece, we flew to Venice. What an amazing wonderland! More like Disneyland than an actual place, truly enchanting! We spent 4 days trolling the canals by water bus, always fighting for the front seat where it feels like you have the boat to yourself!

From Venice we took the train to Belgium, by way of Milan and an overnight in Switzerland.

WARNING - BATHROOM RANT:
I paid €1 to use the toilet in the Milan Train Station. Usually I simply skip it, rather than pay to pee, but sometimes nature will not be denied. After dropping my coins in the slot, and entering the main room, I observe red and green lights on each door indicating the availability of the stall. I open the door of a green-lit stall and am screamed at by a half naked woman. OOOPS. Not my bad, but I'm still horrified. Next I find an unoccupied stall, take care of business, and guess what. NO TOILET PAPER!!! One euro and no toilet paper!
END BATHROOM RANT.

Now we are in Brussels. There is a jazz festival this weekend which is great. There are several Greek restaurants here so we are again enjoying fabulous Greek food. Belgium has 700 types of beer so that is keeping us busy, as well as the proliferation of chocolate factories. Steve is in a constant state of choco-foria. (Is that a word? If not, it should be!)

Next we take another train ride to our final destination of the trip - Amsterdam.

Santorini, Crete, Paros

We are loving Greece!

Today, for the first time since we arrived, the weather is overcast but still a good temperature. I am hearing significant wind right now -- perhaps we'll get rain!

We enjoyed Santorini for 4 days without doing anything except enjoying the view from our balcony and eating.

Then we moved on to Crete. This is one of the biggest islands and we spent 8 days there. We rented a car for a couple days which was only $30 per day, but gas is $8 per gallon! We enjoyed some archaeological sites and an amazing little organic winery as well as wonderful scenery and quaint towns.

The food is still grand, although it seems to be a Cretan tradition that after they stuff you with large portions of amazing food (until you think you might explode) they bring you some delightful desert and a small pitcher of ouzo FREE! It would be rude not to continue to eat, drink, and be merry, right? Ugh! The owner of one of the restaurants we went to lived in the U.S. for 18 months in 1971. After we ate, he enjoyed chatting in rusty English while matching ouzo shots with us. Daina gave out when he brought the second pitcher...

Now we are on Paros. Yesterday we rented a quad motor bike to bop around the island. The bike was great fun and the island had more good scenery, but the hours on the bike were hard on the butt!

Our next ferry will take us back to Athens. We are hoping all the hostility over the "Austerity Measures" have cooled and we won't be caught up in protests. For much of our trip we have left disasters in our wake (earthquake in Chile, cyclone in Australia, earthquake in Indonesia, Red Shirts in Thailand), but now the disasters seem to be catching up! Hopefully the volcano will let our flight (which routes through Ireland) take us home without incident!

Life Since Everest

I'm over my self pity and back in the travel saddle!

Our flight over the Himalayas was a real pique experience, but our visit to Nepal went down hill quickly. The pollution was overwhelming and the country difficult. But the people were nice and the crossroad of travelers was very entertaining.

After Nepal, we made our way back to Egypt to rejoin the boat. We survived India, Nepal, and Egypt, thanks in a big way to Gary, who helped us find and book excellent accommodation throughout our time off the boat.

We were welcomed back to the cruise like old friends. The second half of the cruise had only 29 passengers due in part to the volcano keeping people from flying. Passengers and crew have come to know this as the Cursed Crossing, but we had a fantastic time anyway.

Passing through the Suez Canal took the entire day and it was really interesting. We then enjoyed an excellent tour in Alexandria and have created much better memories of Egypt. We still find it hideous and foul, but the tour experience did a lot to alleviate the PTSD from our visit in 2002.

Our arrival in Greece has been fantastic, although leaving the cruise was very sad. New friends and life at sea will be sorely missed, but we were able to get an amazing hotel on Santorini and enjoy the island is grand style. Few travelers have arrived, so it is like having it to ourselves. Our travel weariness is cured by the excellent food and amazing views of Santorini and we are good to go again.

Travel Weary

Tuesday April 27, for no good reason, I cried. Cried like a baby. The only reason I can think of is that I am a bit travel weary. How did I become travel weary?

1. Yesterday I puked extensively and there were way too many possible causes; sea sick, bad food, too much alcohol, flu... who knows.

2. When I saw the bumper sticker "Stop TB Before It Starts. Don't Spit." I realized that the disgusting lugies that I've been avoiding stepping on are not just slipping hazards, but missiles of biological warfare!

3. While flying from Kathmandu to Mumbai I was surrounded by many of the stinkiest people on the planet and the stinky man next to me spilled his orange juice all over both of us. Then AT THE END of the flight, the flight attendant walked through the cabin spraying air freshener. AT THE END!!!

4. Then, flying from Mumbai to Kuwait a new stinky man sitting next to me spilled his beer on both of us. (It was more on himself than me, but still!)

5. Finally, after a marathon 22 hours of flying (including 4 separate flights through the stinkiest regions on the globe), I arrived at my hotel at 7 am where I was unceremoniously plopped down in the lobby to wait 6 hours for my room to be ready while happy vacationers ambled by pitying the bedraggled mess I'd become. (Do you think they smelled the faint stench of orange juice, beer, and BO, plus the duty free sample fragrance I'd used to counteract the damage?)

The truth is this;
I don't want to figure out how to do my laundry again.
I don't want to find a reasonable place to do internet.
I don't want to ascertain tipping practices in whichever country I'm in now.
I don't want to haggle about a ride to the hotel.
I don't want to contemplate whether the sign on my bathroom door means no paper in the toilet or no paper besides toilet paper.

But the truth is also this;
All in all, we've had a grand trip. Tomorrow I will be ready to once again tackle the daily joys, triumphs, headaches and heartaches of life on the road.

But today I cry!

Into Thin Air

Woo-Hoo! From sea level to the thin air at the top of the world!

We saw Everest today. It was spectacular. We took a scenic flight and beheld the mighty force of the Himalayan Mountains. "Wow" is really the only word I can think of.

We have settled into Nepal and are thrilled with it. Kathmandu is a real cross roads. The book stores are full of the most amazing books from the far corners of the earth. We meet unique and impressive people every day. This morning we met a Swedish man who is on R&R from his work in training police in Afghanistan. His experiences there are shocking!

Tomorrow we leave Kathmandu for 5 days. We will be staying on a picturesque lake and will be able to do some day hikes. We are already looking forward to our next trip to this part of the world!

Cruising and Surviving

Our cruise is as fabulous as it looks -- actually even better. There are only 46 passengers (with a total possible of 170) and 79 crew. We've had smooth sailing, good food, entertaining stops, and great company. We've been surrounded by Australians who are always fun!

When we were disembarking the ship in India, the crew was busy making our ship pirate-ready. They put barbed and electrical wire around the edge of the deck. They emblazoned anti-pirate / high voltage signs on each side. They will have the crew on 24-hour pirate watch with someone ready on the water cannon. The captain is an ex-Russian Special Forces officer (who I did a tae chi work out with) and there will be an English military ship escort. We believe we'd have been safe on board (and gained great stories) but instead we are cut loose in India...

Let's just say we have survived India. We saw first-hand many of the scenes that Slum Dog Millionaire made famous. (Thankfully avoiding the toileting scenario.) We are now bound for Nepal.

Ode De Puke-ette

We have spent almost a week in Thailand, in a beach town called Phuket. (Said foo-ket) We have experienced the most odiferously offensive days of our lives. It truly deserves its own chapter in Dante's Inferno. The smells boast amazing pungency and variety so as to boggle the mind. Use your imagination and explore with me some of our favorites.

By far the most frequent and gag-reflex-inducing is the sewage. Sometimes it wafts up from open grates in the sidewalk while other times it blows in from seemingly nowhere to engulf the senses.

Far less frequent and offensive is the traveler's body odor. This is usually a quick flash as you cross paths with a fellow tourist and is gone before your eyes water.

Another category which shouldn't be horrifying (but really is) is the Asian food concentration areas. This is where many vendors in a small, unventilated area, are cooking odd and disturbing foods which the western palate can only shrink away from. After stumbling into one of these areas, you can generally see them coming and can avoid being engulfed by their stench.

Then there is the standard trash dumpster foulness. I think we have all been attacked by that odor, however there is the lovely additions of heat and humidity which bakes this special concoction to a heightened ripeness.

Finally, there is that grand smell of sea side places across the globe: the fish market. Somehow this town takes the fish market smell as a pleasant one, and it seems it can pop up anywhere. (Even in the ultra-modern, beautiful, air conditioned shopping mall we've frequented.) I am especially susceptible on this odor which has brought bile to my throat many times in the last few days.

So that has been our time in Puke-ette. Cataloging the olfactory offerings of this equatorial hot spot. Tomorrow we get on our cruise. Yay!!! Similan Islands, Sri Lanka, and India here we come! Today we stopped at the grocery store to stock up on a few snacks for the trip. We found our standard travel staples: Oreos and Pringles. The Pringles offered a slightly different taste than normal; two of the featured flavors were soft shell crab and seaweed. Seriously. Need I say more?

Moving On Again

Bali has been good to us. The snorkeling is truly spectacular. The biodiversity is overwhelming and the clarity is fantastic. We saw lots of turtles, a shark, titan trigger fish, squid, and the most colorful and unique coral in the world.

But with each excursion out of the first-world luxury of Kuta (the tourist neighborhood of Bali) we are challenged by questionable cleanliness, inexact transportation, possibly lethal bug attacks, strange bathroom facilities, and unknown food safety. It is definitely as challenging as it is entertaining.

Tomorrow we will fly out of Bali. We believe we will make another trip here. But tomorrow we fly through one over night in Singapore and then on to Thailand where we will be boarding our cruise. We are looking forward to having the same place for 14 days.

Today we got hair cuts. This includes wash, cut, head massage, conditioning treatment, and blow dry for $18 TOTAL (not each) plus tip. We will miss this. And dare I mention that we are going to Bubba Gump's for dinner? A last bit of Americana for a while!

Dragons

We crack ourselves out of bed in the wee hours of the morning to find the fabled Komodo Dragons. We make our way to the office in which we booked our trip. The street is full of uniform-clad children ambling towards school and parents zipping to work on mopeds, but the office is closed with nobody to take us on our trip. After a few minutes, the fellow who sold us our trip rolls up on his scooter and directs us towards the docks. When we arrive in the harbor, he hollers at sleeping men on ancient boats, trying to coax someone into taking us on our safari at this ungodly hour.

He is able to roust a crew and explain our itinerary which is to include Komodo National Park and Bidabari Island for snorkeling. Our salesman bids us a pleasant farewell and we set sail with a crew who doesn't speak a word of English (and seems ill-inclined to speak to us in any language).

You know that speed that is posted in harbors which is supposed to keep boats from making wakes? That was our top speed for the duration of our laborious journey. 3 hours later we arrive at Komodo National Park. There to greet us at the dock are 2 dragons. One was lazy and lethargic. The other was alert and ready for action. A man with a big stick started walking up the path with us in tow, sending the dragon running. Welcome!

The island consists of the park, a shack for the headquarters, a few huts for the park rangers to live in, and a couple dorm-style huts for guests. Here we are assigned a ranger and set off into the most oppressive equatorial heat ever. (The sweat pours off in buckets!) We immediately come upon 10 dragons dozing in a bit of shade. One of these beasts takes a liking to Steve. (Or possibly a dis-liking but I am a glass-is-half-full kind of gal.) The beast comes toward us as I position myself on the far side of the ranger. After Steve enjoys an intense staring contest, the ranger steps forward with a big stick and the lizard stands down. It seems rather easy to deflect these killers, but it was interesting to learn that only a few days before our arrival, one of the rangers was bitten by a dragon. The ranger had to be evacuated to one of the bigger islands and had finally made it to hospital where he was recovering.

During the rest of our walking safari, we saw monkeys, buffalo, and a wild pig. It was a steamy excursion but the dragons were frightful. The only thing missing was their world-famous drool!

Room 310

We are having a grand time in Bali. Everything is cheap but we sweat a lot!

Last week we planned a trip to another island called Flores (a 1 hour flight from Bali) where we get on a boat and go to Komodo National Park to see the Komodo Dragons. Very exciting.

8:00 am we arrive at airport
9:00 am we arrive at our gate for a 10:00 am departure
10:15 am we are told that our flight has been delayed to 11:00 am
11:00 am we are told that our flight has been delayed to 2:00 pm

At noon we are given a box lunch with 5 bites of rice, 4 bites of chicken, a urine-sample-size-cup of water, and a gelatinous rose.

1:30 pm our flight is cancelled

We are told the airline will put us up in a hotel and our flight will go tomorrow at 9:00 am

(Why was the flight cancelled? "Because the pilot has an ear ache." THE pilot.)

2:00 pm all the weary travelers from the flight to Labuanbajo are directed back to the check in desk outside airport security and are asked to wait for the luggage.

3:00 pm we are told the airline is, "Looking for the luggage."

5:00 pm we arrive at our evening's accommodation, luggage in hand, in a variety of taxis, to await our room key

5:30 pm. As we walk down the dark hall, a fellow passenger was holding up his lighter to the doors to try to see the number and find the correct room. He was kind enough to enlighten the numbers 310 on our door.

ROOM 310
Our cell had a cement floor, white cement walls, a plastic outdoor chair (that had seen better days), a bare light bulb in the ceiling and no windows. Unfortunately this was the good part.
You know how when you turn on a light and sometimes cockroaches go scattering? When we turned on the bathroom light, the resident cockroaches didn't scatter. They introduced themselves and told us we better stay in the main cell. The "bathroom" had a tall tank for water (some hybrid between a sink and a tub), 1/2 a toilet bowl, and a ladle. Plus of course the 2 cockroaches.
For all of you who have been hating us out of jealousy, clearly all things are a mix.

When we go back into the hall, some passengers are fleeing. We decided to tough it out and joined an Ausie and a Brit in a grand backpacker tradition: go get beer goggles thick enough to tolerate our accommodation. (Unfortunately this backfired as it increased the need for the useless bathroom facility.)

We survived.

The next morning our 9am flight left at 10:00 am and we arrived with relative ease. We were picked up by our hotel (love that) and brought to a lovely resort where we were, coincidentally, checked into another Room 310!

Finale, Flat, Fudgicle

We had quite a finale to Australia. First we spent 4 days in luxury. Our friend Chuck allowed us to use his place in Cairns (where the rain forest meets the reef) and it was amazing. A lifestyle we'd like to become accustomed to.

From that point we had 2000miles to drive to return the rental car and catch our plane out of Melbourne. No worries, right? One day into our marathon road trip we got a flat tire. A flat tire with 1500 miles of Australian roads still to cover. On a Saturday evening. With nothing open until Monday morning. Luckily it wasn't raining as we changed the tire. However it had been raining and there was very little shoulder to the road, so each time a truck came we had to stop the procedure and get off into the weeds and try to avoid the spray. All day Sunday we were hoping our lucky stars were aligned to keep us from being stranded with another flat tire. The travel gods smiled on us. We purchased a new tire Monday morning and made Melbourne without further incident.

From Melbourne we flew via Garuda Airlines to Bali. That Garuda is a fabulous airline! Lots of room, good food, and the best snack ever on a flight -- a fudgicle! We were very happy campers for our 6 hour flight! Now we are plunked into a city rabid with heat, traffic, and hawkers. And yet we are enjoying ourselves! I will be receiving our complimentary welcome massage by the pool this afternoon, and I am forcing Steve to try the stone massage. I believe every geologist should give it a whirl!

PHOTO RAMA

Went on platypus safari in Tasmania and saw 8! One waddled right by us. WEIRD!



We watched mom do her nest at Mon Repos Beach on the central coast of Australia. It was amazing! Then we moved her nest after all that work!



We stayed in the Whitsundays on this island. No fresh water even in the sink but it was beautiful!



Spent a day in this lovely water world on the Great Barrier Reef!

Thailand to Greece Pirate Detour

Making lemonade of lemons en-route:

14 – 19 March: Phuket, Thailand

ABOARD STAR CLIPPER SHIP 20 March - 2 April
Stops include: Similan Islands, Sri Lanka, India

2 - 4 April: India

5 - 15 April: Nepal

ABOURD STAR CLIPPER SHIP 18-27 April
Stops include: Egypt, passage through the Suez Canal, Alexandria, Rhodes, and Mykonos

3 Months In / 4 Months To Go

We have been on the move 3 months. 4 countries, 2 languages, 7 boats, 4 cars, 11 buses, 5 planes. 2 poor hotels, many good ones. Steve got his hair cut in New Zealand by a guy from Chile. Excellent cut. Daina got her hair cut at the Melbourne Beauty School. 2 hours later and, well, it will grow. (What can you expect for $11.50?) Health is good. Spirits are good. We were on a boat trip yesterday and neither of us tried to push the other overboard. Not bad for 3 months of 24/7!

Taz to Auz

We really enjoyed Tasmania. We didn't know what to expect, but it was WILD! So many wild creatures. We went on platypus safari and saw MANY. One waddled right past us going from one pond to the next. Freakish creatures, totally fascinating!

The island looks a little like California and the weather was fine. Oddly enough that is the actual word used in the weather reports on the news in the morning, "Fine today with a chance of showers tomorrow."

The wine was wonderful. We only drink Pinot Noir of Taz now...

As our Taz time was coming to an end, we were lamenting that we hadn't met anyone during our stay. But then we hooked up with two other couples who were great fun. One was a Taz local, one a Kiwi, and 2 Aussies. They actually took us to dinner. It was very cool.

Loving Tasmania

Went for a bit of a walk-about on a brilliant, sunny day in Tazzie. Warm sun on my face, cool breeze, clear air, and taking it all in.

I happened upon a wombat going about his business. I sat down to commune with him. He proceeded to consume a fine meal of grass as I sat with him. After he finished, he ambled on his way and I continued on mine.

It is simple, little things like this that make life grand!!!

Technology

Aint technology great when it works? Doesn't it make you want to scream like a senseless lunatic when it doesn't?

For your viewing pleasure, I brought my camera AND my cable (I often forget that) to this lovely internet cafe (which looks like an Indian call center). I intended to post a sample of our trip pics to bring some visual interest to the blog.

On my first try, my camera shuts down. Aparently it is keenly aware that our pics are more interesting to us than they would be to you. Fine, I over-ride the camera's superior judgement by installing new batteries in order to keep it from shutting down. On my second try, the computer says "No Path" or some such babble. Seriously? Clearly this computer doesn't understand that I am doing the download correctly and my request is simple and reasonable. I reconnect the two pieces of technology (that are clearly working together against me) and try a third time. Again "No Path". After a few choice explitives and foul faces, I see the web cam is staring at me. Nothing like a fake audience to realize how ridiculous a situation is.

So to make a short stoy long, sorry no pics.
Just close your eyes and imagine Steve in front of beautiful mountains, Daina at a scenic winery, Steve & Daina in front of a Kiwi Crossing sign, and the rolling back of a sperm whale from a helicopter.

New Zealand

The exchange rate is kicking out butts!!

New Zealand is more expensive than we thought, leading us to eat at McDonalds and Burger King more than we want. Quite a step down from the fine dining of Chile, but at least we've got breakfast! No more crackers and Tang!

Highlights of New Zealand include: Bay of Islands fun-in-the-sun, Napier wine region, Blackwater Rafting, sperm whales by helicopter, ping pong and home cooking of Invercargil, amazing forests and beaches of The Catlins on the south coast, and Milford Sound Fiordland cruise. It was great having people to share the sites with as Daina's parents joined us for a bit. We were all hosted by our friend Debbie (New Zealand ping pong champion)in Invercargil who showed us a grand time.

Today we enjoyed a wine and food pairing and will be going to Pick-Our-Own cherries after this. So life is bopping along just fine. We will be flying on to Tasmania soon! Perhaps when internet doesn't cost us minimum wage (what is minimum wage now?) we will post some pictures!

Pirate Detour

We have been working on our cruise itinerary since learning we are kicked off the boat.

We have heard 4 ships were taken by pirates last week. One freighter took an Israeli security force and had to use it to get through the area. What an outrage!

We just purchased airline tickets to go from Goa, India to Katmandu, Nepal where we will see Everest!!! We will then fly to Safaga, Egypt and re-board our boat to finish in Greece as planned.

We will have a lay-over in Kuwait en-route. Who knew??