To say that 2011 was a rough year would be an understatement. I haven’t maintained this blog as well as intended. It almost doesn’t seem possible to write about all of the wonderful things we saw in Asia almost 9 months ago. Hopefully I’ll get everything sorted by February, and then I will be able to start on the next adventure. Planning this next trip has been a bit crazy as I haven’t really had any excess time to get organized…that, and my travel partner this time is different! This trip, I’m taking my dad to New Zealand. He has always wanted to go there, and there is no time like the present. If you want to do something, see something or someone, make it happen. FYI: You can’t get more time. Here’s hoping 2012 brings a year of great moments, memories, love and happiness.
Category Archives: Update
99…100…101!
Wow, who would have thought I’d ever fill up a travel log with over 100 posts? And, that it would end up actually being read by a few people–really several thousand people, which I find kind of creepy. Thanks to stats, I know that the most visited entry is actually El Sabor del Peru (716 visits this month alone–that’s just weird!). And, the most bizarre search so far “eat road kill in Wyoming.” People look for some crazy stuff on the interwebs.
For the Asian Escapades, I try to update on a regular basis. Who knows what access or cel reception will be like to post, but I’ll try.
Stay tuned my little minions…
Strange Currencies
No, I’m not going to bust out the lyrics to the song, I’m gonna talk about money! Little known fact: I like collecting currency when we’re on vacation. Not so much the bills, but the coins. This isn’t about amassing a foreign fortune, but it does work well with the photo projects when we return home.
Obviously, I have to do a little pre-trip research before we leave to make sure I know what I’m after. The best part is in Vietnam I will be collecting DONG! Giggle away my little minions; that’s funny as hell!The exchange rate is approximately 20,000 Vietnamese Dong to $1US. I think it’ll be crazy to be paying for items with 50,000₫ notes. (That’s only about $2.50.) Also try wrapping your head around being able to take out a maximum of 2,000,000₫ from a bank machine. Apparently, that’s the machine limit. (That’s about $95!)
The least valued currency for exchange alternated between the Zimbabwean Dollar and the Vietnamese Dong for a while. Now the least valued currency is that of Somalia with the Vietnamese Dong running 2nd. Thanks VietnamWiki for the photo. 
The Cambodian Riel is approximately 4010៛ to $1US. Unlucky for me the coins are rarely used. That could be a bit of a struggle collecting them. The Thai Baht is about 30฿ to $1US. Gotta love travelling with exchange rates like that. It definitely helps the bank account!
FYI: All of this learning, and now I know a lot of currencies are actually descendants of the Spanish Pieces of 8. How very Piratey! Arrrr!
Hearts Café Happiness!
To say this weekend was kind of tragic would be an understatement. But, today I got a letter in the mail to lift my spirits. A while ago I sent a parcel to an NGO in Peru, Hearts Café; today, I received a response from Sonia! Happiness and love in an envelope.
“Thank you so much for the package, all so very useful for the children, so much is needed by our remote villages that your parcel is a very generous offering and much appreciated.I am so pleased that you enjoyed the café, 6 of the women staff are from abused backgrounds, all of whom have come into their power now that they have confidence in their work and that they are the ones who go home with a pay packet!I do hope this letter will reach you as you have not put your e-mail address.With warmest best wishes,Sonia”
I will certainly be sending more items to Hearts Café. You should too!
Sonia Newhouse
c/o Hearts Café
Plaza de Armas, Ollantaytambo
Cusco, Perú
Donations of school supplies, medicine, clothing etc are all needed. ps: Packages cannot weigh over 5kg, and all clothing must look clean and new or will be confiscated by customs. If you want to contact Sonia e-mail hearts.cafe@hotmail.com
Downsizing
Rewind to when we were packing for Europe. The temperatures ranged from super cold and rainy to super hot and sunny with a bit of normal comfortable temperatures everywhere else. Consequently, we had to pack for several climates.
Fast forward to last year–we had to pack for cold temperatures in the Andes and Lake Titicaca, and scorching hot temperatures in Mexico City . We also decided it would be wise to take sleeping bags which turned out to be a good decision.
This trip will be hot weather. Warm to Extremely Hot weather only. There will be no winter jackets, no thermals, no puffy vests, no sleeping bags, not a mitten in sight. So, we’ve decided to downsize.
Jon’s new pack is a 28L Osprey Kestrel. My new pack is a 30L Deuter Futura SL. This is half the size of the packs we’re currently using. Is this an upgrade or a downgrade? Depends on how you look at it…
I think the pros are outweighing the cons in this situation. We’ll have less room to pack so we’ll be carrying less weight. And, because the bags are smaller we’ll be able to take them as carry-on, which means less waiting around the airport for the baggage carousel, AND, less chance that our bags will be lost on any connecting flights because they’ll be with us. The only other con I can think of also involves less space–less space for liquids like sun screen and bug spray. I’m sure I’ll find something in mini-size here to fit into the zip lock. Let’s hope I don’t regret this decision.
What do you think about carry-on only?
~j
UNESCO Update and Next Destination…
So, the UNESCO World Heritage Site tally is up to 16. If everything hadn’t gone wrong with air fare to Chan Chan in Peru, we’d have seen that too. Yellowstone National Park was the last UNESCO site visited. If all goes according to plan we’ll add at least 5 more on our next trip.
Next intended destination–Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. Fingers crossed for affordable air fare. Hopefully we’ll be able to visit three sites in Vietnam–Complex of Hue, Ha Long Bay and Hoi An Ancient Town , one site in Cambodia–Angkor Archaeological Park and one site in Thailand–Historic City of Ayutthaya.
I’m uber excited for Vietnam, mostly for the over night stay in Ha Long Bay, and for the trip through the floating markets on the Mekong River. Ooo, and the architecture and history in Ho Chi Minh City. And for all the photo potential! Gotta love being a nerdy traveler.
Yellowstone
I’ve really been trying to get through most of the Peruvian adventures before I start on the next trip. We’re not going anywhere exotic or off the continent, but we are going to Yellowstone in September. I’m excited for a road trip to a US Park. Don’t worry, I’ll finish with Peru for the most part.
ps: I was feeling like a slacker with the European entries as well. For a while the photos were overwhelming, but I got them done. The drafts that have been sitting unpublished for so long are now up for your reading pleasure skip back to July 2009. You’ll notice a few little updates. True story.
You’re welcome!
Obsessed much?
For some reason, I’m obsessed with UNESCO sites. I want to see them, I want to know about them, I want to visit them. It is an odd little phase I’m going through. FYI: There are 890 UNESCO World Heritage Sites as of 2010. Jon thinks that our apartment might as well be a UNESCO site, everything else is, so why not is his view point. Really, the dust balls and smudgy windows are hardly an attraction.Because I’m a total nerd, and also slightly addicted to Chapters, I bought this book. I’m sure as we continue to travel (IF we’re fortunate enough to be able to travel), we’ll select sites that we’re interested in, and if I’m lucky enough, that’ll have one more site to cross off the humongous list.
So, if we’re keeping tally, and I am, I have been to 10 sites so far. The Palace and Park of Versailles, The Historic Centre of Rome & the Properties of the Holy See, Vatican City, Venice and its Lagoon, Westminster Palace & Westminster Abbey, Tower of London, Banks of the Seine France, Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Archeological Areas of Pompei & Herculaneum, and the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks.
After Peru, if everything goes according to plan, the count will be 17. Cusco, Machu Picchu, Chan Chan, Historic Centre of Lima, Historic Centre of Arequipa, Historic Centre of Mexico City, and Teotihuacan.
Too bad if I finally went to the Dinosaur Museum in Alberta and visited Dinosaur Provincial Park, I’d get another site crossed off the list.
Esto es mi hermano Roberto.
I’m doing my best to learn some useful Spanish to decrease the language barrier. In France, people spoke French and English, often saying the same thing in both languages one after the other. In Italy, most people spoke some English or we were able to get by with rudimentary Italian. Fortunately it was easy enough for me to pick up during the short time we were there. Ordering meals, buying train tickets and making small talk were all o.k. by the end of the trip. If I know enough to chat with a taxi-cab driver by the end of a trip, I’ll be satisfied.
I flat out refuse to be one of the people who knows nothing of a country’s language. It is disgusting to hear tourists yelling their questions to someone who doesn’t speak English. Pretty sure the person isn’t deaf, they don’t speak your language, and rightfully so; buck up and learn a few simple phrases!
How is it possible that with all the trillions of language courses I’ve taken over the past 2 decades, that I have never taken one in Spanish? Surprisingly, “My Spanish Coach” is actually a useful program. I’m working through the vocab lessons at the end of the “game”. Pretty sure my Spanish is better than my Italian, so I’m not too worried. But, I can tell you I know zero Quechua, and zero Aymara. I will be learning phrases at the airport when we’re wasting 4 hours in LAX. Could be fun times.
ps: I’m loving the Linguistics review with the chart. Ahhhh, flashbacks to Sentence Trees in university.
Coconutty Goodness
You might know that during the summer months, I’m in love with coconut scented stuff–shampoo, sunscreen, lotion, hair goo etc. (Just don’t try to make me eat coconut, that’s sick!) We had to go shopping for a few travel supplies tonight, and sunscreen was on the list. (Along with 92 dollars of other crap!)You’d think that the higher you get the colder it is, so there would be less sun, but temperature doesn’t always relate to sunlight, but really the higher you are, the closer you are to the sun, so that’s all confusing. Apparently, it is all about the altitude when it comes to sun burn. It is easier to get sunburned at altitude as there is less of the earth’s atmosphere to block the sunlight. For every 305m (1000 feet) UV exposure increases 4%. I’m no mathematician, but that’s about 40% higher chance of burning for where we’re going.
Most of the pictures I’ve seen of little Peruvian kids show badly sunburned cheeks. Some captions say their cheeks are perpetually sunburned or even stained from sun damage. I usually scorch in the sun, so I’ll be wearing sun screen. Unfortunately, the coconut is out, don’t want to attract bugs, so we opted for some SPF 60 Ombrelle.
NB: The only time I strayed away from the coconut smell was the Body Shop sunscreen stick. That thing smelled like watermelon, and would probably make me gag now, but it was hot at the time!
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