Tag Archives: Travel

Photo Friday – 7 Super Shots

23 Mar

We’ve decided to try and be more diligent about sharing pictures of our journey, so from here on out we will have a regular Photo Friday post.  We’re starting with a nice little travel meme, “7 Super Shots” started by HostelBookers and passed along to me by Nod ‘n’ Smile travel blog (check it out, they are in the final stages of the planning process and will be heading out soon!).  This meme is very straightforward – select 7 photos that fit into 7 categories and then nominate 5 others to share the same.

Since we are on the road, we’ve chosen only from pictures that we’ve taken on this journey.

A photo that…

1) Takes my breath away

Justin in the Andes at Macchu Pichu, Peru

We had gotten up long before dawn to make our way up to Macchu Pichu before the sunrise.  As day broke, the mist that had settled in the valleys overnight began to shift, rising and flowing up through the Andes.  It was a moment of such unexpected beauty that it really did take my breath away.

2) Makes me laugh or smile

Dianna Arroz. Of course.

I mean, how can you not laugh or smile at this?!?! We were grocery shopping in Bariloche, Argentina when we came across this marketing gem.

3) Makes me dream

Sunrise at Deception Island, Antarctica

I still cannot find the words to describe how incredible Antarctica is.  It really is the most beautiful, almost magical place we’ve ever been.  We got up at 4am so we could witness the sunrise on our final day of landings.  Watching the sun break the horizon that day, I felt like anything was possible.

4) Makes me think

Local woman near Maras, Peru

We took this picture on our way to see the salt ponds of Maras, in Peru.  The juxtaposition of this woman with the beauty salon advertisement, in the background (notice that the model is a blonde woman) makes me think about what happens when the modern and the new crashes into the traditional.

5) Makes my mouth water

Olives at the market in Arequipa, Peru

We LOVE local markets.  We can spend entire afternoons wandering around and sampling food, eating little bits of everything there is to offer in lieu of a real meal.  These olives were so perfect that I can almost taste them as I’m typing this…

6) Tells a story

Shaman during a wedding ceremony in Ollantaytambo, Peru

We were blessed with the chance to attend a local wedding during our stay in Ollantaytambo, Peru.  The traditional ceremony was performed by a shaman, and while we couldn’t understand the language much at that point, the beauty and the purpose of the ceremony came through very clearly.  At this point, a young girl had just come into the ceremony site with a bag of fresh milk.  The bride and groom’s families took turn offering the milk, and some wine, to the four directions, after which the wine was poured by the bride and groom and shared with all in attendance.  It was one of the most mystical things we’ve experienced, and we feel very fortunate to have been a part of it.

7) I am most proud of (a ‘National Geographic shot)

Glacier in Paradise Bay, Antarctica

It was hard to not choose pictures entirely from Antarctica for this challenge because it’s just so easy to take great photos there!  For me, this one just leaps out every time we sift through the tons of images from that trip.  Our zodiac cruise around Paradise Bay was one of the highlights of the cruise because we had absolutely perfect weather and, as you can see, totally still waters.  As our zodiac made its way closer to this ice hunk, a piece of it collapsed and sent huge chunks of ice crashing into the ocean, a reminder of the ever-changing landscape in Antarctica.

And now…I’d like to see 7 Super Shots from

Happy To Be Homeless

Fluent in Frolicking

Ric and Roll

Adventures in Nature

Click. The Good News.

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Filthy

27 Jan

That’s what we are most of the time.  Dusty. Sweaty. Dirty. It’s like a backpacker rite of passage, but really, it just feels gross.

Our days are filled with activity of one sort or another – biking, hiking, swimming, even just wandering around town for hours.  While an endless summer of travel certainly has its advantages, it does make for a ripe experience clothing-wise.  With only a few changes of gear each it seems like we are constantly sifting our clothes into piles of ‘dirty’ or ‘less dirty’.

When we chose items to take on this journey, we very specifically packed things that could be washed easily by hand.  The thing is, you can only get clothes to a certain degree of clean in a sink, especially after 6 hours of hiking on dusty trails in 90 degree heat.

I’ve taken to wearing my clothes into the shower sometimes and beginning to wash them right on my body.  In El Bolson, Argentina,  we went on a hike that covered us in so much dust that I thought my blue socks would never recover.  It took 30 minutes of scrubbing before they came even close to resembling their former selves.

*Incidentally, it seems the best way to clean socks is to put them on your hand like mittens, get some soap on them, and then scrub them together like you are washing your hands*

Last week we finally gave in and paid an exorbitant amount of money in Valdivia, Chile for our clothes to be laundered.  It wasn’t until we were back at the hostel unpacking our clothes from the laundromat’s bag that we realized our clothes still weren’t clean.  We smelled them.  They clearly had been washed because they definitely smelled better, but they were still dirty.  The ends of my pants legs still emitted dust if I plucked at them.  The pits of our shirts still felt…off…  It was too late to go back and complain, so we chalked it up to crappy washing machines and vowed to open and check our clothes at the laundromat from here on out.  We chose the ‘least dirty’ clothes once again, and headed out to Pucon.

We’ve spent the last few days at the home of a woman in Puerto Varas.  She has a washing machine.  For a reasonable fee she told us she would wash our clothes for us.  We kept our expectations low and set out for the day in the only items we hadn’t put aside for laundering.  This means I wore pajama pants to lunch.  We returned at the end of the day to find our clothes folded and neatly stacked outside our bedroom door.

It was with much trepidation that we carefully unfolded and inspected each item.  They smelled good.  They felt good.  Vigorous shaking produced no dust! We finally, finally, finally, have actual clean clothes!

Today we leave for Puerto Natales to embark on a series of camping/backpacking trips in some of Chile and Argentina’s finest national parks.  We should be filthy as ever in no time.

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Packing List Part 1- Clothing

27 Dec

We FINALLY got around to putting up the first part of our packing list – Clothing.

In the months before we left I spent hours looking at packing lists from all kinds of RTW trippers, and even more hours making, then re-making my own list.

So far we’re fairly happy with the clothes we brought, and have worn everything at least once, with the exception of some of the colder weather gear that we’ll more likely use as we make our way further south.

We’re working on setting up the rest of the gear posts – medical kit, tech gear, and everything else – so check back often to the “Things We Carry” link at the top of the page.

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6 Lessons From The First 6 Weeks

18 Dec

Traveling is perhaps the best teaching tool there is.  Here’s a smattering of some of things we’ve learned, or re-learned, since the start of our journey.

We took this room after a full day of hiking and only after we'd had a chance to rest did we realize there was a dirt floor...

1) Don’t settle for a bad room/bad price just because you are tired.  This is a lesson we’ve had many times before, but it can be a difficult one to remember in the moment.  After an 18 hour bus ride, a grueling hike, or 45 minutes looking at possible hostels, it’s tempting to just give in and take whatever you are offered – be that a rip-off taxi fare, or a room with questionable bed sheets.  It’s easy to beat yourself up later with “should have” or “could have” scenarios, so to avoid those altogether just give yourself a break, literally.  Take 5 minutes to sit down somewhere and regroup before you delve back into the negotiations.  Do you really not have the energy to go any further or to play the haggling game?  If not, then take what you can get, and chalk it up to necessity.

2) Find the local markets.  If you’ll be in one spot for a few days, it’s a great idea to find the local produce markets.  Typically you’ll be able to get a huge variety of fresh fruits, breads, cheeses and meat at a huge discount compared to most grocery stores.  In addition to general supplies, most markets have food stalls where you can get a meal or snack for only a few dollars.  It’s a great way to save some cash and interact with the locals.

By Orin Zebest on Flickr

3) Organize your photos regularly.  It’s easier than you think to rack up thousands of photos over the course of a few weeks.  If left unattended it can take hours of tediously going through pictures, deleting the ones you don’t want, and trying to figure out where each one was taken.  Sitting down to organize them regularly will help you tame this beast of a chore.

4) Starbucks and KFC always have clean, free bathrooms. It may be abrasive to see so many chain businesses popping up abroad, but there are a few positives to this phenomenon.  Not only does Starbucks always have free, clean bathrooms, but you can also wait around for your night bus in a much more comfortable spot than the floor of the local station.  As a bonus you don’t even have to buy anything to while away the evening on one of their couches.

By javajoba on Flickr

5) “Travel Size” doesn’t always cut it.  When we started making our packing lists,  we had to focus a lot on how to save space or weight in our packs.  The first inclination was to bring all our toiletries in travel size.  This has worked out well for some things (the miniature brush for example) but not for others.  Tiny containers might be fine for a few weeks, but for long-term travel it just doesn’t make sense to have everything in such small quantities.  That doesn’t mean you need to buy in bulk either, but for our daily use items like sunscreen and toothpaste, we just carry around a normal size container and they don’t add enough bulk or weight to our bags to be a problem.

By Spec-ta-cles on Flickr

6) Make time for “normal”.  Long term travel is not just a huge extended vacation.  Ok, maybe it is, but it’s also your life.  You need things like shampoo and kleenex, or a day to just run errands or have some down time.  Make a point to take a day to rest here and there.  Get your laundry done.  Restock your personal supplies.  Sometimes it’s the little things that make you feel like a regular person again, instead of like a manic tourist.

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Bamboo!

14 Oct

Just outside of Hangzhou is one of the many bamboo forests where they filmed part of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.  Now, we’ve seen bamboo all over China, but this place is something else entirely.  It’s a whole forest with the biggest bamboo I’ve ever seen, and virtually no other trees or plants.

We hiked up to the top of one of the peaks (shocker, more stairs) and had an amazing view of the area including a small town in one of the valleys.

Village nestled in the bamboo

Part of the way up there’s a zip-line of sorts that you can take across from one peak to the other, but we got there just as they shut it down and we weren’t able to take it, which was a HUGE bummer.

The whole place looked as if it were glowing green – perhaps like if you were trapped inside of an emerald. It was roasting (as per the rest of China) but ranks among the more incredible of the natural scenery we’ve visited here.

Feeling hot hot hot...no, really, it was super hot.

 

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How To Spend a Week in Acadia National Park

10 Oct

Acadia National Park, located on Mount Desert Island in northern coastal Maine, boasts a beautiful combination of natural features.  It has mountains, lakes, forests, rocky and sandy ocean coastline all intermingling in its 47,000+ acres.

If you’re heading to the area for the first time, check out the following websites for park info http://www.nps.gov/acad/index.htm

and general information about the area: http://www.acadiamagic.com/activities.html

Carriage Road in Acadia National Park

There are many ways to enjoy the scenery of the park, the most straightforward of which is to get yourself a great map, and start walking the many carriage roads and hiking trails.  There are more than 50 miles of gravel carriage roads and stone bridges that are great for walking or biking.  Hiking trails can be accessed from many of the carriage roads if you are looking for some variety in your terrain.  The ‘Around The Mountain’ carriage road is a worthwhile 12-ish mile loop that takes you through the forest, past Jordan Pond, and up around a variety of the smaller mountains including Penobscot, Sargent, and Parkman.

As for hiking trails, the mountains are small, most being less than 1,500 feet but many trails are steep and offer a worthy, if short, hike.  It is easily possible to climb multiple peaks in one day.

View from the Peak of Cadillac Mountain - towards Bar Harbor

Cadillac Mountain, at 1,532 feet, is the tallest point on the Northern Atlantic seaboard.  The summit can be reached by car off the Park Loop Drive or accessed by a number of different trails.  We opted for the Cadillac West Face Trail, which is the shortest, but steepest (and full of rock scrambling)  route to the top.  After about a mile the trail connects with the Cadillac South Ridge Trail for an easy half-mile finish to the summit.

Cautionary sign at head of the Beehive

For the adventurous types, the Beehive and Precipice Trails offer heart-pounding non-technical rock climbs up nearly vertical cliffs.  The Beehive is a great warm-up at only about a half-mile to the top and will give you a good idea as to whether or not you are up for the more challenging Precipice trail, which finishes at the summit of Champlain Mountain (1,058 ft).

If climbing iron rungs isn’t your thing, you can also take a number of other trails to reach the top, including the short and sweet Champlain North Ridge Trail, which is an easy mile (one way) hike.

If you want something very mellow, but incredibly scenic, the Jordan Pond loop is an excellent 3 mile loop around, you guessed it, Jordan Pond. Afterwards, stop at the Jordan Pond House for some delicious hot (or cold, depending on the season) chai tea and fresh popovers.

Stop for popovers and tea while you look across Jordan Pond

Another flat and mellow, if probably crowded during high season, walk is the Ocean Path.  You can park just off the park loop drive in the Otter Point parking lot, and then walk north along the coast.  It’s 1.4 miles to Thunder Hole, then another .7 miles to Sandy Beach.  There are ample places to stop for a photo op, or just to wander out onto the cliffs and enjoy the scenery.  You can easily catch one of the free park loop buses along the way to get back to your car.

One of the many views from along the Coast Path

Outside of the park itself, there are a plethora of activities to suit all tastes.  Bar Harbor is the biggest of the towns in the area.  There are many shops and restaurants, all easily within walking distance of just about anywhere in town.  One notable free activity is the walk to Bar Island, which is located just north of the town.  Bar Island Trail (starts at the end of Bridge Street) is only passable at low tide when the gravel and shell path appears and leads to the small island.  There is a little walking trail that leads to the top of the island and has great views of Bar Harbor during good weather.  You can begin walking across about two hours before low tide, and just make sure to return before the next high tide or you’ll be stuck on the island!

A lovely walk to Bar Island, even in misty weather.

Southwest Harbor, on the other side of the island, offers a quieter scene for those looking to relax without the crowds.  Red Sky is probably the best restaurant in town, with incredible meals and an ample wine selection.

There are also many companies offering kayaking, whale watches, lobstering trips, sailing, glider tours, and much more.

Although we were thoroughly blissed out during our trip to Ogunquit earlier in the month, we completely fell in love with this more rugged part of Maine.  If we could have stayed for another month, we would have.

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Hangzhou and the ‘magic lake’

7 Oct

The last weekend we were in Shanghai, we took a quick trip to Hangzhou, which is billed as one of the most beautiful places in the area.  It has a ‘magical lake’ that is wildly popular, but the area is also famous for its Dragon’s Well green tea. We decided to take Mr. Shin (Jenny and John’s driver) along with us, so he booked a cheap Chinese hotel – only $15 per room! The hotel was rather amusing, it was clean enough but it was a business hotel…which means there was an attached building where you could get a hooker.  The rooms had the shower in a glass cage right next to the bed…

Enjoying a few tasty beverages on our boat tour of the lake

Unfortunately it was raining much of the time we were there, but it did clear up long enough for us to grab some beer and take a boat ride on the lake.  It was a perfectly lovely lake, but I didn’t really get the ‘magical’ bit, something definitely got lost in the translation for us as we were reading about it.  After the boat ride was over we wandered around the botanical gardens for a while.  This was definitely worth it as there was, a huge variety of plants, many of which I’ve never seen before.

Mmmm. Chicken.

For dinner we went to a local restaurant where the specialty was a whole chicken wrapped in Lotus leaves and baked in mud.  They bring it to your table and unwrap it, hot and steaming, right in front of you. It was very tasty, sort-of like roasted chicken.

As it was still raining the next morning we opted to visit a few of the local temples.  As usual, a calm experience marked by many Buddha figures.

A good side trip overall, though I’m sure it would be better without the rain, we had been very much looking forward to visiting the tea field.

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The Dragon’s Backbone

30 Sep

The Longji rice terraces, more popularly known as the ‘Dragon’s Backbone’ because of the way the terraces resemble dragon scales, are a few hour’s drive from Guilin.  Since our flight back to Shanghai wasn’t scheduled to depart until 9:45 pm, we decided to squeeze in a trip to see them before we left.

We hired a driver for the day, and for the first time all trip it turned out to be a woman.  I have to say, she was the craziest lady we’ve encountered out here – perhaps with the exception of the two grandmother-age women we witnessed literally having a fistfight in front of Mao’s tomb…but that’s a story for another time.   She giggled at nothing, honked at everything on the road, and kept pointing out the houses (perhaps the only English word she knew how to say?) I’ll give her this though, she got us to the bottom of that mountain in less than 3 hours, and it was supposed to be a 4 hour drive.

Another day that was hot as hell and we were at the bottom of this huge mountain.  We originally thought you could drive all the way to the top, but apparently you can’t.

We bravely donned our rice paddy hats, specially bought for the occasion (don’t laugh, those things are a LIFESAVER.  There is a reason the locals wear them in the fields and it’s because they create a massive amount of shade when the sun is beating down upon you) and started to climb.  Remember how I said there were stairs everywhere…yeah, someone should count how many there are to the top of this mountain because it might be in the millions.  We were nearly as sweaty as when we were biking through the hills.  It was so completely worth it though, the views are nothing less than stunning.  There was a little village along the way where the Yao people live and you can stop for a cold drink and a little rest. The Yao women are pretty interesting, they have this super long hair that they don’t cut because of their spiritual beliefs, and they manage to bundle it all up into the huge masses atop their heads.

There weren’t very many people up top so we were able to relax and just enjoy the fact that we finally made it to the top of the mountain. The whole mountain has been covered in terraces so as to produce as much rice as possible.  It’s a brilliant shade of green at this time of the year because the rice is about 6 inches tall and if there’s a breeze it looks like oceans of grass. We bought some books with pictures of it in all seasons, it’s one of the places I’ll definitely come back to if I can.

We made it to the top! Hurrah!

Unfortunatly we only had a few hours and it was time to head back to Guilin for our flight, but next time I’ll plan ahead and stay overnight in the village so I can explore the area a little more.

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Biking and Rafting through Yangshuo

23 Sep

Original Post:  August 11, 2007

I’m sure I’ve mentioned it, but it is really hot here.  100 degrees or more hot plus humidity.  Just keep that in mind.

This is exactly why we got the guide. We would never have figured out where to go!

On the third day in Yangshuo we decided that the best was to see the area was to rent some bikes and cruise around the countryside.  We hired a guide for the day because the roads aren’t marked and you can get lost really easily.  We started off early in the morning to beat some of the heat, which was a good idea and we were able to ride for a few hours without getting too roasted.

Part of the plan was to take a break after a bit and cruise down the river on bamboo rafts. Touristy?  Yes.  Did we care?  No.  The guide arranged for our bikes to be picked up and we hopped on the shaky rafts that had two seats and a big umbrella. The river was super mellow and we just basically cruised along looking at the scenery and hanging out.

You don't need to pay for photos when you have friends on adjacent rafts.

Every once in a while we would pass floating stands that had beer, water and some meat on a stick for sale.  We also passed a couple of places where they had rigged up computers/printers on rafts and they would take your picture and print you out a copy right there.  These were always right near the places where there was a drop in the river (not sure what it was, like a little dam or something that we had to go over) so the pictures looked like you were coming off a little waterfall. We declined to get one, but I was impressed they had managed to hook that up in the middle of a river.

At the end of the raft trip we were met by the guide and our bikes and we continued on our way.  It was a two-hour ride back to the town and at this point the temperature was easily over 100.  We were on little bitty dirt roads that had no shade but it was amazing – rice fields and mountains all over the place. There were also locals that wanted you to stop and give them a few RMB to take a picture with their water buffalo, which we finally gave into just because they were under the only tree we’d seen in over an hour.

Feeling hot hot hot...

Amazing landscape

At one point we stopped in a tiny town to get some water and rest for a bit.  Naturally this was a huge spectacle and within a few minutes half the town and their kids were milling about this tiny little store staring and giggling and attempting to say hello.  It was pretty funny, the kids spoke a few words of English and one little girl took me around the back to show me all the snails she caught earlier that day in the river.

When we finally made it back to the hotel (did I mention, Morning Sun Hotel, pretty decent, great location) I thought I was going to pass out. I have never been so sweaty in my entire life.  It looked like had been rained on.  I basically got in the shower, clothes and all, turned on the cold water and let the water bring me back to my normal temperature.  After resting a bit Justin and I went for dinner at the Twin Peaks Cafe (West Street) and had the best Chinese meal I’ve had since I ‘ve been here.  Good portion size, no bones (this is huge, we had bone fragments in nearly every meat dish we encountered) and loads of veggies.

Since it was our last night in Yangshuo we decided to hit up this river/light show that people had been ranting and raving about.  I was expecting some dinky little place with a few chairs a la the Kung Fu debacle in Beijing.  In reality it was an enormous amphitheatre with real assigned seating!  Someone said it packs in 3000 people per night, but I wouldn’t quote me on that.  It’s on a wide part of the river and most of the show takes place on floating docks or on the bamboo rafts.  Lots of the local farmers and fisherman participate in the show – there are a few points when the whole river is lit up with torches on boats.  It was a really good show, if for nothing else than to see the lights on the water.  Afterwards, it was back to the hotel to pack up because the next day  we were going to head up to the Longji rice terraces…

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Yangshuo’s Silver Caves

16 Sep

Original Post: August 9, 2007

Yangshuo is a backpackers paradise stop.  There are a ton of Western restaurants that serve cheap and decent food – you can get real eggs and toast in the morning instead of boiled duck egg, which quite frankly I never managed to develop a taste for.  Many people speak English, and there are a million things to do. The town is nestled in the middle of the mountains, so there’s a big hiking, biking, rock climbing, rafting scene. There is also an abundance of caves that you can visit.  We decided to go check out the Silver Cave, it got great reviews and seemed like it might let us escape the heat for at least part of a day.

To protect the delicate structure of the cave, you have to go with a guide in a group.  This is not our favorite way to see the sights, but in this case it was unavoidable.  It took about an hour to get to the caves and once there we realized this was going to be a huge tourist debacle. There were tons of people and you had to filter into winding, roped off lines like at an amusement park.

We joined the herd and were shuffled around in the throngs of people

Somehow, despite all the Westerners we saw in town, we were once again the only foreigners. There was a sign in English that said we had to enter in groups of 40 and stay with the guide because they controlled the lights and without them we’d be lost in the dark.  Right.  We let ourselves get shuffeled in with a big group of people, keep in mind, people are staring and pointing and giggling at us the whole time, so it was a bit of a scene, and the tour began.

Have I mentioned that the Chinese people seem to LOVE LOVE LOVE fluorescent lighting? I am not kidding, it’s a little like being in Vegas, even in the small mountain areas if they have a downtown. The highways in Shanghai are totally lit up as are many of the big buildings, which usually have patterned lights dancing along the outline of the building. Restaurants show their success with large displays of flashing neon. It’s a bit over the top. This little trend crept into the Silver Caves…the thing was lit up like a disco, complete with running X-mas lights in some areas.

Random strings of lights were draped haphazardly upon the formations

There are all these beautiful rock formations and they are lit up in bright purple, green, yellow and red. The cave is truly gigantic, and is filled with stalagmites and stalagtites and some other formation that looks like the underside of a mushroom.

This formation was huge, more than 15 feet high.

There were also quite a few underground water pools that reflected all the colors.  The tour took nearly 2 hours, though we have no clue what our guide was speaking about so we spent the time just marveling at the structures and attempting to take a decent picture.

The lights reflected nicely off the underground springs.

It was pretty sweet, but would have been sweeter without the million people and disco-theme.  I would definitely recommend checking it out, but prepare yourself for the masses, and try to find an English speaking guide.

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