Mercedes
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Saturday, December 11, 2010
Guatemala - Office party
Mercedes
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Mercedes
Our record of our adventures as we travel around the world - for all those people who want to share our experiences vicariously. 360 degrees in 360 days!
Mercedes
About Us
- Mercedes y Simon
- Mercedes is from Salta, Argentina Simon is from Auckland, New Zealand
Ranking of Memorable Experiences
OCEANIA
1. Skydiving in Mission Beach
2. Climbing up the Sydney Harbour Bridge
3. All-Blacks beating the Wallabies in Wellington
4. Melbourne footy game at MCG
5. Down the 52-degree railway in Katoomba, Blue Mountains
6. Open fires burning in Kakadu National Park
7. Loosing a piece of sashimi to a seagull in Darling Harbour
EASTERN MOST ASIA
1. Hiking through rice terraces in north Luzon
2. Crowds hiking in park outside Seoul
3. Sleeping in tree house on Camiguin Island
4. 4-corner intersection crossing in crowded Tokyo
5. The smallest hotel room we've ever seen at Washington Shinjuku in Tokyo
6. Walking and paddling inside the Sumaging cave in Sagada
7. Dangerous cliff road between Banaue and Bontoc in North Luzon, especially the bus on the way back in the rain
8. Pictures of the head-hunting, skimply-dressed aborigines around Sagada and Bontoc, North Luzon
9. Biking uphill and being rewarded by cold streams at the end on Camiguin Island
10. Back alley bars in Tokyo
CENTRAL ASIA
1. Yurtstay in the jailoo at Song Kol. Cooold night
2. Homestays throughout Kyrgyzstan
3. Long drives through the Pamirs Highway, Tajikistan
4. Tunnel drive through the flooded pass between Dushanbe and Penjekent, Tajikistan
5. Policemen on every corner, especially on the Pamirs and the big cities
MIDDLE EAST
1. Balloon ride in Cappadocia
2. Giza pyramids. Set in a desert in the middle of Cairo, going inside Keops' hot and empty chamber
3. Abu Simbel temples. Imposingly set by the lake on the Nile, and with well preserved carvings and drawings
4. Boat cruise off the Turkish coast. 6 passengers, 4 crew including chef
5. Bedouin camps in Wadi Rum and Sharqiya. Dinner and overnight stay in Jordan. Coffee, dates and chat with children seating on antique armchairs in Oman.
6. Climbing up and sliding down sand dunes on a 4WD
7. Floating on the Dead Sea
8. Skying indoors on a 40+C summer day in Dubai
AFRICA
1. Climbing Kilimanjaro. Exhaustion, lack of showers
2. Lake Malawi. Mumbo Island and Cape Maclear's tranquility and design
3. Tanzanian Safari. Seeing lions, elephants, zebras, wildebeest and giraffes so up close
4. Victoria Falls: the spray, the steepness of the gorge, the proximity of the view points
5. Drive from Cape Town to Johannesburg. A 10-day road tour through vineyards, mountain passes, ostrich farms, windy ocean coasts, townships, and mountain ranges
6. Diving for the first time in Pemba. On the ride back, the instructor lost his glasses trying to fix the engine
7. Mombasa to Arusha bus ride. Dust everywhere, conductors fighting for customers, and sauna-feeling due to overheating radiator
8. Plane flight between Pemba and the islands in Quirimbas archipelago, runways with cows, terminals comprised of only little huts
9. Lake Malawi to Ilha de Mozambique 4.5-day trip, including our friends from LAM at Tete airport
10. Riding an ostrich at farm outside Oudtshoorn, Little Karoo
11. Simon getting a haircut at the little hairdresser's hut in Ilha de Mozambique
S AMERICA
1. Salta. Road to Iruya on riverbed and car stuck in water
2. Cafayate. 50km bike ride through the canyon running out of water and slipping + jaming the chain. We rehydrated back in town with water and wine flavoured ice-cream
3. Patagonia. Trekking in Paine, El Chalten, and P.Moreno ice, and car ride across the border to and from Paine in the wind, rain, and spray from the lakes
4. Paraty. Boat and hikes to the beaches with green sea water that are only accesible by boat or foot.
5. Calilegua. Local bus to park and road/bridge blockade
SE ASIA
1. Hanoi. Walking to the train station with our lugagge and water up to our knees, followed by 24 hour train ride
2. Northern Thailand. Rain when we were walking around the hill-tribe village
3. Mekong in Laos. Tourists revolt and change of boat, including human chain
4. Water Festival in Cambodia. Boat racing in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap followed by people on streets and fireworks
5. Bangkok. Riding the local bus in rain with leaking roof
6. Luang Prabang. Tuk-tuk carrying our bikes on the roof on our way back from waterfalls
7. Thai-Laos Boarder. Crossing, immigration and customs via long tail boat.
8. Mekong in Vietnam. Slow boat ride from Chau Doc to Cambodian border
9. Gili Islands, Indonesia. Riding bike with torch back from dinner.
10. Sumatra. Hike to see the blooming Rafflesia, largest flower in the world.
1. Skydiving in Mission Beach
2. Climbing up the Sydney Harbour Bridge
3. All-Blacks beating the Wallabies in Wellington
4. Melbourne footy game at MCG
5. Down the 52-degree railway in Katoomba, Blue Mountains
6. Open fires burning in Kakadu National Park
7. Loosing a piece of sashimi to a seagull in Darling Harbour
EASTERN MOST ASIA
1. Hiking through rice terraces in north Luzon
2. Crowds hiking in park outside Seoul
3. Sleeping in tree house on Camiguin Island
4. 4-corner intersection crossing in crowded Tokyo
5. The smallest hotel room we've ever seen at Washington Shinjuku in Tokyo
6. Walking and paddling inside the Sumaging cave in Sagada
7. Dangerous cliff road between Banaue and Bontoc in North Luzon, especially the bus on the way back in the rain
8. Pictures of the head-hunting, skimply-dressed aborigines around Sagada and Bontoc, North Luzon
9. Biking uphill and being rewarded by cold streams at the end on Camiguin Island
10. Back alley bars in Tokyo
CENTRAL ASIA
1. Yurtstay in the jailoo at Song Kol. Cooold night
2. Homestays throughout Kyrgyzstan
3. Long drives through the Pamirs Highway, Tajikistan
4. Tunnel drive through the flooded pass between Dushanbe and Penjekent, Tajikistan
5. Policemen on every corner, especially on the Pamirs and the big cities
MIDDLE EAST
1. Balloon ride in Cappadocia
2. Giza pyramids. Set in a desert in the middle of Cairo, going inside Keops' hot and empty chamber
3. Abu Simbel temples. Imposingly set by the lake on the Nile, and with well preserved carvings and drawings
4. Boat cruise off the Turkish coast. 6 passengers, 4 crew including chef
5. Bedouin camps in Wadi Rum and Sharqiya. Dinner and overnight stay in Jordan. Coffee, dates and chat with children seating on antique armchairs in Oman.
6. Climbing up and sliding down sand dunes on a 4WD
7. Floating on the Dead Sea
8. Skying indoors on a 40+C summer day in Dubai
AFRICA
1. Climbing Kilimanjaro. Exhaustion, lack of showers
2. Lake Malawi. Mumbo Island and Cape Maclear's tranquility and design
3. Tanzanian Safari. Seeing lions, elephants, zebras, wildebeest and giraffes so up close
4. Victoria Falls: the spray, the steepness of the gorge, the proximity of the view points
5. Drive from Cape Town to Johannesburg. A 10-day road tour through vineyards, mountain passes, ostrich farms, windy ocean coasts, townships, and mountain ranges
6. Diving for the first time in Pemba. On the ride back, the instructor lost his glasses trying to fix the engine
7. Mombasa to Arusha bus ride. Dust everywhere, conductors fighting for customers, and sauna-feeling due to overheating radiator
8. Plane flight between Pemba and the islands in Quirimbas archipelago, runways with cows, terminals comprised of only little huts
9. Lake Malawi to Ilha de Mozambique 4.5-day trip, including our friends from LAM at Tete airport
10. Riding an ostrich at farm outside Oudtshoorn, Little Karoo
11. Simon getting a haircut at the little hairdresser's hut in Ilha de Mozambique
S AMERICA
1. Salta. Road to Iruya on riverbed and car stuck in water
2. Cafayate. 50km bike ride through the canyon running out of water and slipping + jaming the chain. We rehydrated back in town with water and wine flavoured ice-cream
3. Patagonia. Trekking in Paine, El Chalten, and P.Moreno ice, and car ride across the border to and from Paine in the wind, rain, and spray from the lakes
4. Paraty. Boat and hikes to the beaches with green sea water that are only accesible by boat or foot.
5. Calilegua. Local bus to park and road/bridge blockade
SE ASIA
1. Hanoi. Walking to the train station with our lugagge and water up to our knees, followed by 24 hour train ride
2. Northern Thailand. Rain when we were walking around the hill-tribe village
3. Mekong in Laos. Tourists revolt and change of boat, including human chain
4. Water Festival in Cambodia. Boat racing in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap followed by people on streets and fireworks
5. Bangkok. Riding the local bus in rain with leaking roof
6. Luang Prabang. Tuk-tuk carrying our bikes on the roof on our way back from waterfalls
7. Thai-Laos Boarder. Crossing, immigration and customs via long tail boat.
8. Mekong in Vietnam. Slow boat ride from Chau Doc to Cambodian border
9. Gili Islands, Indonesia. Riding bike with torch back from dinner.
10. Sumatra. Hike to see the blooming Rafflesia, largest flower in the world.
Ranking of Nightmares
We've been very lucky throughout, but we had a few bad times:
1. Shared taxi that departed after a 90-minute wait and took 12 hours to go from Bishkek to Osh. Both of us were sharing the back seat of a small car with a sweaty mother and a smelly 6-week old non-stop-crying baby
2. Arrival in Hanoi and hotel scam. We got on the airport van that took forever to get into town because of the horrible traffic. By the time we got to the center it was dark, and the van dropped us at a different hotel. We discovered the scam, but where left in the middle of the street, not knowing which way to go. Thank God for blackberry and Google maps!
3. From Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh via Chau Doc. We rode with our luggage on our laps and no leg room on a minibus from Ho Chi Minh City to Chau Doc via bumpy Mekong Delta roads. In Chau Doc, the guesthouse had no windows and a musty smell. That was not all, after a 3+ hour boat ride from the Vietnamese border, our overcrowded bus was stuck in Phnom Penh traffic for 2 hours
4. Toilet facilities throughout Central Asia
5. Heat in Aswan and in most of Oman: over 40C during the day and over 30C during the night
6. Trip from Samarkand to Bukhara. The train was not running, taxis were too expensive, so we finally got on a non-A/C bus: 3 hours with no leg room and the exclusive view of piles of luggage in front of us
7. Walking at night in Padang, Indonesia. We couldn't find the bus station because of an inaccurate map, and we had to use a torch to avoid walking into one of the many open manholes on the sidewalk
1. Shared taxi that departed after a 90-minute wait and took 12 hours to go from Bishkek to Osh. Both of us were sharing the back seat of a small car with a sweaty mother and a smelly 6-week old non-stop-crying baby
2. Arrival in Hanoi and hotel scam. We got on the airport van that took forever to get into town because of the horrible traffic. By the time we got to the center it was dark, and the van dropped us at a different hotel. We discovered the scam, but where left in the middle of the street, not knowing which way to go. Thank God for blackberry and Google maps!
3. From Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh via Chau Doc. We rode with our luggage on our laps and no leg room on a minibus from Ho Chi Minh City to Chau Doc via bumpy Mekong Delta roads. In Chau Doc, the guesthouse had no windows and a musty smell. That was not all, after a 3+ hour boat ride from the Vietnamese border, our overcrowded bus was stuck in Phnom Penh traffic for 2 hours
4. Toilet facilities throughout Central Asia
5. Heat in Aswan and in most of Oman: over 40C during the day and over 30C during the night
6. Trip from Samarkand to Bukhara. The train was not running, taxis were too expensive, so we finally got on a non-A/C bus: 3 hours with no leg room and the exclusive view of piles of luggage in front of us
7. Walking at night in Padang, Indonesia. We couldn't find the bus station because of an inaccurate map, and we had to use a torch to avoid walking into one of the many open manholes on the sidewalk
List of Most Beautiful Places
- SE ASIA
- Halong Bay
- Gili Islands
- Krabi, Phi Phi, Hong, Rai Lei
- Hoi An
- Mekong River in Northern Laos
- Luang Prabang
- SOUTH AMERICA
- Iguazu Falls
- Perito Moreno & Spegazzini glaciers
- Paraty area
- Iruya
- Cachi
- AFRICA:
- Ngorongoro crater
- Zanzibar
- Cape Town and Stellenbosch area
- Drakensberg
- Top of Kilimanjaro
- Kisite Marine Park
- Lamu
- Ilha de Mozambique
- Mumbo Island
- MIDDLE EAST:
- Istanbul
- Alexandria
- Sirince
- Wadi Rum desert
- Dahab and its reefs
- CENTRAL ASIA:
- The Pamirs
- Altyn Arashan and Karakol, in Issyk Kol area
- Song-Kol Lake
- Registan in Samarkand
- EASTERNMOST ASIA:
- Palaces and gardens in Seoul
- Rice terraces in Batad
- View of Camiguin from White Island
- OCEANIA:
- Sydney Harbour
- Great Barrier Reef
- Melbourne architecture: colonial - modern contrast
- Ayers Rock & The Olgas
Itinerary
SE ASIA:
Singapore. Bangkok. Chiang Mai. Chiang Rai. Luang Prabang. Vang Vieng. Vientiane. Hanoi. Hue. Hoi An. Ho Chi Minh City. Phnom Penh. Siem Reap. Kuala Lumpur. Jakarta. Yogyakarta. Bukittinggi. Tuk-Tuk. Phuket. Krabi.
SOUTH AMERICA:
Salta. Iruya. Calilegua. Cafayate. Iguazu. San Ignacio. Buenos Aires. El Calafate. Torres del Paine. El Chalten. Florianopolis. Rio de Janeiro. Paraty.
AFRICA:
Nairobi. Lamu. Mombasa. Serengeti. Ngorongoro. Kilimanjaro. Dar es Salaam. Zanzibar. Lilongwe. Cape Maclear. Ilha de Mozambique. Pemba. Maputo. Victoria Falls. Cape Town. Garden Route. Durban. Drakensberg. Johannesburg.
MIDDLE EAST:
Cairo. Aswan. Luxor. Alexandria. Dahab. Istanbul. Goreme. Sirince. Turkish Coast. Amman. Petra. Wadi Rum. Jerash. Muscat. Nizwa. Sur. Dubai. Abu Dhabi. Doha.
CENTRAL ASIA:
Bishkek. Karakol. Lake Song-Kul. Osh. Karakul. Murgab. Khorog. Dushanbe. Samarkand. Bukhara. Tashkent.
EASTERN MOST ASIA:
Seoul. Tokyo. Manila. Camiguin Island. Banaue. Batad. Sagada.
OCEANIA:
Sydney. Melbourne. Darwin. Alice Springs. Ayers Rock. Cairns. Wellington. Auckland.
NEXT:
Last stop: U.S.
How much time have we spent going from one city to the next?
OCEANIA
Total: TBD.
EASTERNMOST ASIA
Total: 4 trips by road in 28 hours, 5 flights in 18 hours, and 2 boat trips in 3 hours.
CENTRAL ASIA
Total: 11 trips by road in 66 hours, 2 flights in 10.5 hours, and 1 11-hour train.
MIDDLE EAST
Total: 15 trips by road in 57 hours, 11 flights in 28.5 hours, and 3 trains in 29 hours.
AFRICA
Total: 17 trips by road in 100 hours, 8 flights in 23 hours, and 4 boat trips in 6 hours.
SOUTH AMERICA
Total: 9 trips by road in 75 hours and 7 flights in 30 hours.
SE ASIA
Total: 15 trips in 46 hours by road (mainly buses), 15 flights in 58 hours, 1 train in 18 hours, and 9 boats in 30 hours.
Total: TBD.
EASTERNMOST ASIA
Total: 4 trips by road in 28 hours, 5 flights in 18 hours, and 2 boat trips in 3 hours.
CENTRAL ASIA
Total: 11 trips by road in 66 hours, 2 flights in 10.5 hours, and 1 11-hour train.
MIDDLE EAST
Total: 15 trips by road in 57 hours, 11 flights in 28.5 hours, and 3 trains in 29 hours.
AFRICA
Total: 17 trips by road in 100 hours, 8 flights in 23 hours, and 4 boat trips in 6 hours.
SOUTH AMERICA
Total: 9 trips by road in 75 hours and 7 flights in 30 hours.
SE ASIA
Total: 15 trips in 46 hours by road (mainly buses), 15 flights in 58 hours, 1 train in 18 hours, and 9 boats in 30 hours.
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