Impromptu African Camping Trip

As we speak, I am in the process of my official “land exit” from South Africa! When I initially told the airline check-in agent that was how I planned to leave the country I admit I didn’t actually think that’s how it would happen! I definitely planned on flying to wherever I went next, once I decided where that was… funny how that worked out. Anyways, let me back up. So, after all the annoying drama with the passport I was excited to be returning to South Africa, where there was actual currency I could use and even some places that take credit cards… it really does make things just a smidge easier. More reliable WiFi was another perk but that need paled in comparison to the currency issue. As an aside, during my #Zimbabweforlife situation I’d used my only US currency (a $20) to pay for passport photos. I was surprised to get my change in American dollars (as they are hard to come by, hence the black market currency) but was less surprised when I noticed it was a clearly fake $10 bill. Clearly fake to me at least- it wasn’t even the correct size and the texture of the paper wasn’t even close. I was going to keep it as a souvenir but found myself in a pinch later that day, needing a taxi from the embassy and the driver didn’t blink twice when I handed him my Monopoly money. I guess if you don’t see a lot of dollars (real or fake) you don’t know what they’re actually supposed to look like.

So, back in Cape Town I embarked directly on my next adventure: a five day camping trip with Jamie (my Flash Pack tour guide from the week before) and a group of her friends. Here’s the crew. I admit I was a smidge embarrassed showing up to the camping trip with my rollerboard suitcase and not a smidge of camping gear but the group kindly outfitted me with anything I might need. There was so much gear that we barely fit! And, not being the most experienced camper, even some things I didn’t know that I needed- such as the stake you put in the ground to hold your wine glass while sitting in your camping chair. What a novel idea! I learned quickly that Jamie and her friends are the consummate camping hosts – they are not fooling around. Jamie’s boyfriend Eric and his friend, Hennie, met in the Navy years ago and you can tell by the military precision they bring to the camping experience. They really think of everything! Hennie even had a kitchen gazebo that includes a solar powered refrigerator. I’ll be honest that I thought of camping food as either those freeze dried meals they sell at REI or spearing a hot dog with a stick and roasting it over a fire, so I wasn’t really sure what the kitchen would be used for. Little did I know what culinary delights my consummate camping hosts had in store for me! You may recall that on my South Africa tour we were treated to a traditional South African “braai,” which is their version of a BBQ (or ‘cook-out’ as we say in Massachusetts) and it’s also a verb for the act of grilling as well as the name of the grill device. Btw, there are no propane tanks involved in this process and the food is cooked over flame. Eric was Braai Master and was in charge of seasoning and cooking delicious meat items at every meal. I swear the chicken he made one night is the best chicken I have EVER had in my life. My mom is always up for a cooking challenge so I’m thinking of passing along the recipe to see if she can even come close. Sans braai I’m pretty sure it’s impossible, though, and I hate to set her up for failure. Here’s Braai Master in action: Eric’s skills did not stop with the chicken- we had pork, beef, sausages, crawfish (same as lobster but with no claws), BACON, and even sides such as cous cous. It occurred to me how much more of an adventurous eater my travels had made me (the Mopane worm included!) and I remembered that when I embarked on my first Flash Pack tour (last July) I listed in my profile that I didn’t eat red meat. Now the guides of my tours look confused when they see that notation on their spreadsheet as I’m gnawing on a rib right in front of them. Hennie also brought a cooking tool called a potjie, which is essentially a Dutch oven on three legs that is used as an outdoor crockpot, and made a delicious beef stew (called potjiekos) that included dumplings he’d made from scratch in the kitchen gazebo. I kid you not. Now I had also envisioned camping as taking place in the woods and was soooo pleasantly surprised that our accommodations overlooked the beautiful, rocky coastline of the Western Cape (as they call it.) It was absolutely stunning, and was punctuated by breathing in the fresh sea air and lulling to sleep to the sound of the waves crashing. So, I’m a big fan of having ambient noise in the background while sleeping and have an old fashioned “sound machine” at home that I’ve had since I was a little (don’t mock me, that’s been done already). When traveling I discovered the White Noise app on my phone and I have worked hard to find the perfectly pitched noise among the options (it’s called “brown noise,” if you’re interested). Nothing will ever compare to nature’s white noise, though.You may have noticed that I did not list fish as one of our many braai delicacies and this was not for lack of trying. Jamie and Eric have pretty official-like fishing rods and we tried our luck from the rocks, using fresh mussels as bait. Jamie caught a rockfish right away (that we threw back) …and THEN (after catching a few rocks and thinking I had snared “the big one”) I reeled in a real-live fish! Some kiddos and their dad’s (our campsite neighbors) had joined us to view the fishing at this point. We all watched in anticipation as I reeled in what would hopefully be dinner. And then we all looked (with a combination of intrigue and horror) at the most ghastly Creature of the Sea any of us have ever seen! We agreed it was actually the ugliest fish alive- some kind of bottom feeder with creepy teeth. Back to the sea you go! We’ll stick with meat, thanks very much.

Here’s some more pics from the weekend- yes, we had many laughs. My favorite part of the camping trip, though, was sitting around the fire talking with the group and new friends we met at the campground. It was fascinating to learn more about South Africa and the locals’ perspectives on their history, the current political climate and the culture in general. From what I gathered the government can be summed up in one word- corrupt. All the South Africans I met agreed that it was a very good thing that Jacob Zuma was finally forced out as President (having remained in power through countless charges of crimes including corruption and rape, and nine votes of no confidence by Parliament… it was finally his own party who drove him out.) And while people don’t seem totally psyched about the new guy (Cyril Ramaphosa) their relief is palpable that at least Zuma is gone and there is a glimmer of hope for the future. For his part, Ramaphosa has vowed to tackle the government’s corruption issues, so that’s something, in as at least it’s admitting the issues exist. And with the nation’s economy in the tanker and a 30% unemployment rate the stakes are high as the nation seeks to project stability and encourage investment dollars. Interesting times here in South Africa and a lot of questions about what the future will bring.

For me, sadly the future includes that land exit out of the country. Next stop… Namibia.

Wild and Wonderful South Africa

How is my South Africa Flash Pack tour over already? This one really flew by! I left you half-way through so let me pick it up there. After our lovely stay in wine country we hopped on the bus and our trusty driver, Tauriq, zipped us off to our next destination on “the Garden Route” (this is the name of the 200 mile stretch of land we traveled along on southern-western coast of South Africa.) The Garden Route is known for being especially beautiful with lush vegetation as well as numerous picturesque lagoons and lakes (less water in these during the drought, though). We stopped a few times during the drive to snap photos at various look-outs and made one very important stop, at an establishment called Ronnie’s Sex shop. This place is really a find, and as you can see, in the middle of nowhere. As lore would have it, Ronnie had just a regular little shop/bar and one night his friend got drunk and decided to play a prank on good ol’ Ronster… a prank that involved a can of red paint. And… business boomed after that! It reminds me of that time when some of my classmates repelled off the roof of my high school to remove some choice letters from the the side of the building… transforming Beverly High School into Beer High School. Unlike Ronnie’s, unfortunately we weren’t able to get t-shirts to reflect the new name. We got to meet Ronnie and he was exactly as one might expect the sole proprietor of Ronnie’s sex shop to be, drinking a beer in the middle of the bar area that has people’s bras, underwear and t-shirts hanging from the ceiling and walls. Cheers to Ronnie and his business acumen… and moving on.We arrived at our beautiful accommodations in Oudtshoorn just as a spectacular sunrise was starting and we enjoyed it with glasses of more delicious South African wine. The next morning was an early bell to go observe meerkats waking up in their natural environment. I’ll be honest (as I always am- for the good or bad) that I didn’t think I knew what a meerkat was before this trip… but then was reminded of Timon from the Lion King. It was super cool to see the little critters emerge out of their burrows one by one as the sun rose and interact with each other, while scanning for danger and marking their territories for the day. As an aside, they sleep in different burrows every night so the “meerkat guy” (who narrated the experience and was quite the character) has a team of people who run around the savannah every day figuring out where the little cuties are burrowing that night. Here’s Meerkat Dundy in action: We then moved on to our next adventure… swimming with the seals. I admit I was a smidge skeptical of this activity- for two reasons. One is that I didn’t think of seals as particular friendly mammals who necessarily want me swimming with them. I wondered if this would be forced like an exhibit at Sea World. The second reason is the more obvious one- the potential for seals as shark bait. I put both of these concerns out of my head, however, in true Teha’s Travels style, and tried to go into the activity with an open mind and positive attitude. And… I loved it! We took a speed boat way out to an area where there are “rafts” of seals (that’s what you call a group of seals- who knew?!). We then plunged in (literally) in our snorkeling gear. I admit I had a minor freak-out at first, as seals were everywhere- swimming underneath me, next to me, etc. I quickly calmed down, though, as I learned that they are actually very friendly and playful (think Flipper, but a seal) and we had a blast swimming amongst them!And, I swear that one approached me to give me a high-five with his fin! After some beach time, we moved on to our accommodations for the next three nights- a beautiful spot called Hog Hollow. My roommate, the Fabulous Claudia from Toronto, and I were surprised and thrilled to wake-up the next morning with some monkey friends greeting us- like a wake-up call! We the headed to the beach for a surfing lesson that we were all very excited for and did not disappoint. This was my third time surfing and I was glad I loved it as much as the first two times… although I am slightly confused that in the three lessons I’ve had I’ve been taught three different ways to stand up on the board. Maybe different countries differ on their approaches? Next time I’m just going to freestyle it, I’ve decided. It was lucky for us that our guide, Jamie, is also a professional photographer in her spare time and took photos from the shore. She even made it look like I knew what I was doing! Our post-surfing lunch was a traditional South African “braai” (pronounced bry) which is basically a delicious outdoor BBQ. We enjoyed a delectable sampling of sausages, chicken, grilled veggies and salads. I was told by the braai-guy that in a “real braii” it’s all red meats and chicken is the salad, but we were quite happy with our menu (especially the vegetarian in our group.) The next day was one I’d been nervously anticipating for much of the trip, or at least since I’d agreed to participate in an optional activity… bungee jumping 600 feet off of a bridge (at a place where its claim to fame is being “the world’s highest bungee bridge jump.”) Yup, it’s pretty freakin’ high.I was SOOOO nervous for this but something in me knew I’d regret it if I didn’t do it. Throughout the trip me and my fellow jumpers (Christina, Courtney and Hannah) had been referring to future activities on the trip as “pre-bungee” and “post-bungee,” implying that we may not be around to enjoy the latter with the group (they may have been joking with this but part of me wasn’t). Here’s our before pic:Nevertheless we signed our lives away (literally) and made the long trek out to the bridge. There was some signage on the trail that made me laugh….this warning seemed like the least of my concerns at that moment. I went last and was so impressed watching my friends make the plunge and especially as each was pullyed back up to the bridge with huge smiles on their faces saying they wanted to do it again. I assumed they were putting on a happy face for me. Here’s the jump prep, where I’m clearly trying not to look behind the guy I’m talking to: Courtney had a Go-Pro that we were all able to use and the video of my jump pretty much says it all!

https://tehastravels.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/img_7813.trim_.movAnd, yes, I would also totally do it again. We then swung by an elephant sanctuary where we got to interact with and feed the majestic animals who we’d be seeing a lot of in their natural habitats in the days to come. Here’s Claudia and I inspecting their brushing:And this is a male elephant, believe it or not 😂That night kicked off a trifecta of birthday celebrations for our group… how lucky we had not one but THREE birthdays to celebrate, and in a row! Jacy was our first birthday queen, followed by Julie and Hannah. So many excuses to eat cake and we even discovered a shooter called the “birthday cake shot” that we taught various bartenders to make (it was only fair that each of the birthday girls should have them on their special day). Here are the lovely ladies we celebrated: We were off “on safari” the next day, which is something I’ve always wanted to do. Our destination was the Addo Elephant Park where we stayed at an amazing safari lodge called the Kuzuko Lodge. The way the safari thing works (this was news to me) is that you stay in a game reserve that is fenced in with electric fences, at a lodge (that is fenced in within the reserve) and you go out on three hour guided “game drives” two times a day (in pretty rad safari vehicles). The game drives take place early in the morning and around dusk as those are the times the animals are most likely to be out and about (they smartly lay low during the hottest time of day.) It was SUCH a cool experience! It felt surreal to be observing elephants, lions, ostrich, giraffes, buffalo, etc. in their natural environments (don’t worry, photos below) and I enjoyed learning more about them from the very knowledgeable guides. And I had a LOT to learn. This was evident when I decided to use the lodge business center to create “Safari Bingo” cards for some friendly safari competition. There were nine squares on the template so I included the “Big 5” of African safaris (elephant, lion, leopard, rhino, buffalo) and tossed in four more animals. The safari ranger loved the idea of the game (they may keep doing it!) but was quite amused to see I’d included a tiger as one of the animals. Whoopsie… guess they don’t exactly exist in the wild on the African continent. I feel like maybe I knew this but forgot? Alas, the next game drive I had revised cards to distribute (the ranger was kindly my Bingo consultant this time) and Hannah, the birthday girl that day, was the victor! We were told we were lucky to see a lot of lion activity on our game drives and even got to see them just after having made two “kills” of large prey… the circle of life, indeed. It was fascinating to watch the animals interact with each other and the various dynamics between different species and even within the same species (the “dominant” male lion, Sylvester, for example, clearly ruled the lion roost. I totally get where the King of the Jungle title comes from.) It was also interesting to learn about the survival instincts of different species and see them in action. It occurred to me how much time and energy human beings spend fighting our own instincts and how much easier life would be if we were able to trust our guts more. Noted. After two exciting days of safari-ing we bade farewell to our many four-legged friend and headed back to civilization for (sniff, sniff) our final night together in the beach town of Port Elizabeth. The group had become so tight during our two week adventure that it would not be a lie to say many tears were shed during our good-byes (don’t worry friends, I won’t name names… too many to name.) To give you an idea of how amazing and diverse this group was- there were two guys on the trip, and they really could not have been more different. Matt hales from Birmingham, England and is self-employed as a farmer. Neerav is of Indian descent and works in the finance industry in NYC. Yet they share the commonality of being two of the nicest and funniest guys I’ve met, and they quickly became best buds. Actually, pretty much the whole group became best buds! Fortunately by the end of the trip I’d managed to nail down some short-term plans for after the tour (you may recall at the outset of the trip I had none… and no return ticket). Luckily of my new tour friends, Katy, had planned an add-on trip to see a few more sites in and around South Africa and she kindly agreed when I invited myself to join her. Then our tour guide, Jamie, has a birthday camping trip near Cape Town planned with a bunch of her friends, that I also invited myself to join. Phew, things to do! And I do realize I’m lucky they were both too polite to say no to me. Stay tuned for safari phase 2, up next!

A one-way ticket to South Africa

I’ve met a lot of well-traveled individuals during the course of my adventures and have had many discussions about all the amazing places the world has to offer. When I started my traveling, South Africa wasn’t necessarily on my initial short list (I mean, assuming I’d had a list) but it came up time and time again as “a place you would love” by people whose opinions I trusted, and I decided I must see for myself. In fact, I was so confident that I would like South Africa that I traveled there with a one-way ticket, hoping that at some point during that two week trip I’d have an inspiration for what to do next. This strategy was all well and good until checking into my flight on Ethiopia Air when I was told I needed to show proof of my plane ticket OUT of the country in order to fly IN to the country (or so the ticket agent “thought”.) Having no ticket, I had nothing to lose by pushing back on this point and soon two supervisors were also leaning over the monitor trying to interpret the requirement in various ways. After some back and forth on the verbiage (they were on my side) I had an idea and said I’d JUST at that moment changed my mind and decided to make a “land exit” from the country rather than fly. I made up that term but it turns out it’s a thing and no proof of this was needed. The supervisor winked and said that was a good idea. Phew!

I read Trevor Noah’s book “Born a Crime”’on the flights there (great read and I highly recommend) and brushed up my South African history. I will admit that part of the reason for deciding to read over other in-flight activities is that on Ethiopia Air you can’t really hear the movie unless you manually hold the earphones in your ears and my arms got tired a few hours in. But I am really glad I read the book.

I arrived in Cape Town a few days before the Flash Pack tour started (my first time ever being early for a tour- usually I come running into the initial meet-and-greet with my suitcase, straight from the airport.) This was nice for a few reasons- I could “get my bearings” in the city, do laundry, recover from the flight, and adjust to the time change. I might need to do this ‘arriving early’ thing more often! Getting my bearings in Cape Town included a lot of exploring on foot and I realized quickly it’s a very manageable city to get around. The views throughout the city are SPECTACULAR and especially so during the sunsets. I immediately got a really good vibe from Cape Town and was glad the tour was starting with three more nights in the city before moving onward.

Our tour guide Jamie and the group of 11 of us met each other at our hotel (actually 10 of us met, as Jen was on an optional pre-trip shark diving trip- which she both survived and loved.) We all hit it off right away and I was relieved it was another group of fun, open-minded, adventurous and cool people. Phew! (You’d think by my 9th Flash Pack trip I’d be over that fear of a lame or annoying group, but nope.) That night we headed to the Camps Bay area for dinner by the beach to catch the first of several amazing sunsets we’d be seeing together. [Side note: you may have caught wind about the water crisis South Africa is currently facing. The situation is no bueno. The country has been having a drought since 2015 and water levels are critically low. It’s a huge problem and many water restrictions are in place across the country, with plans to turn OFF the water in Cape Town in a few months! This is called “Day Zero” and will disable the ordinary water supplies to more than a million homes. It’s a sad and scary situation- nobody here is disputing Al Gore’s stance on climate change.] Ok, back to the tour! The next day we started off with a spin through some picturesque Cape Town sites, including the Bo-Kaap, a predominantly Muslim neighborhood which was created by emancipated slaves in the 18th century and is known for its brightly painted houses. Next… it was up Table mountain, the aptly named mountain overlooking the city and the key contributor to the aforementioned stunning views. We were all looking forward to hiking the mountain but due to high winds, we had to take the cable car up instead. I learned that the weather is unpredictable and can be extreme in South Africa– and the winds are no joke. It’s one reason that almost as many people have died climbing Table mountain as Mount Everest (yes, I fact-checked this.) I didn’t really believe the magnitude of the wind until experiencing it myself at points over the next two days- at one point I honestly thought a woman’s stroller was going to blow away! Jamie said South Africans are used to it though and don’t need to grab onto trees like I did at one point, soon after taking this sunset selfie. Despite not being able to hike up the mountain, we had more than our fair share of excitement as we embarked on a rappelling adventure (South Africans use the British English term “abseiling.”) I’d never been rappelling before and was a little nervous but I loved it! I will say that despite loving it, while doing it my nervousness turned into full-on fear that lasted for most of the experience. Good fear, though! I always love an adrenaline rush. And, we did get in a mini-hike, making our way up the rocks back to the top after our rappel. Afterwards, we all said we’d do it again as we thought it would be less scary the second time (although none of us are sure that it actually would be.) And it was easy for us to say that as we knew there was no time to actually do it!

The next day started with a drive up the coast to the Cape Peninsula area, stopping to take in some of the most spectacular views I have ever seen. This is an area called “Chapman’s peak.” We had ocean paddle boarding on the docket that morning and with the wind being strong in some areas we wondered how choppy the sea would be. The conditions we had are best described as Class II rapids, maybe Class III in areas. This is only a minor exaggeration. Thankfully the paddle board guides realized that sending us out on boards would be more like surfing than paddle boarding so they adjusted the plan. Instead of individual paddle boards we used huge, group paddle boards and had a kind of whitewater rafting experience, which was a blast. I can’t remember the last time I laughed as hard as I did during this activity, especially when trying to stand-up on the board and trying to avoid falling into the chilly, choppy water. It. was. hilarious. And, there is definitely a chance the tourists on the beach thought we were refugees as we paddled by. We did all manage to stand-up at the same time- which is a minor miracle -and our adventure ended with a race between the two boats (my team won but no I’m not all competitive.) The victors: Afterwards, we got a closer look at the penguins on the shore that we had seen from our rafts (I mean paddle boards.) They are cute little things and it’s really cool to watch them swim- as they torpedo underwater like missiles, and then do this cute wing-flapping thing to dry off when they get out. And the coolest part is that it’s the female penguins out frolicking in the water while it’s the male’s job to sit on the egg on the shore! No doubt penguin dudes complain incessantly about this arrangement. After a delicious seafood lunch by the sea we headed onward to the Cape of Good Hope, which is the most southern point of Western Africa. It was beautiful (and windy, as you can tell from the pics) and we even had some baboon and ostrich sightings on the way. We concluded our stay in Cape Town with a trip to Robben Island, which holds the historic prison where Nelson Mandela was held captive for 27 years. We toured the island and jail facility, led by a guide who had been imprisoned there himself for five years. It can’t be fun for the guide to have to relive his experiences everyday but he gamely answered questions from the group, including someone who wanted to know why he didn’t try to escape. I mean… really?? This person was not part of my group, obvs. It was interesting to learn more about the prison and the people who had been held captive there for years at a time (with no indication of if or when they would be released). Their living conditions: The jailers thought they were being smart by separating the regular joe prisoners from the political leader prisoners but they ended up creating a situation where the leaders had years to plan for the fall of the apartheid, even drafting a constitution (haha, joke’s on you… that strategy backfired!) While touring the prison, the recentness of the fall of the apartheid really struck me and it was crazy to think that Robben Island was still a working prison until 1996. Despite the rawness of apartheid, so far I have found South Africans to be very open and willing to talk about it as a part of their history. They aren’t wanting to brush it under the rug and seem to genuinely want people to know the truth. That afternoon we took another stunning coastal drive to the beautiful wine country town of Stellenboschun (fun fact- there are more than 4,000 vineyards in South Africa.) Stellenbosch is a charming university town and we made ourselves right at home, enjoying a sampling of the delicious local wines at an outdoor cafe. The next day we hiked through the hillsides of the neighboring town of Franschhoek, spotting a few baboons along the way and learning about the unique vegetation that grows there from our hiking guide, Tayne (Wayne with a “T” he explained to us Americans.) The region actually has one of the most diverse samplings of plants in the world, including South Africa’s national flower, the king protea. Of course after our hike we had to re-hydrate and what better place than a local winery? At Grande Provence we took in the picturesque views, enjoyed a wine tasting (complete with a “nougat” pairing) and had a most delish picnic lunch. This is my kind of picnic! And, of course we’re trying to do our part to help with the water crisis. Needless to say, so far it’s been a phenomenal trip with a phenomenal group of people! I can’t believe it’s almost halfway over. That reminds me- I guess I should figure out where I’m headed after this… I never did work out the details of that “land exit.” Oh well! Staying in the country longer would definitely not be the worse thing….

Philippines Finale

Where did I leave off on my Part 1 Philippines blog? I’m so relaxed that I’ve lost focus. Recalibrating…

Okay, so, I need to start with some potential redundancy. This is around how absolutely incredible the Philippines is as a vacation destination! I honestly under-estimated the country in terms of it’s overall amazingness. Friends who want to visit Southeast Asia for the beaches- the Philippines is your jam! Pinky swear. Moving on-ish…the mystery flight out of El Nido (that was only a mystery to me) took us to beautiful Bohol. Bryan Not-Adams had the not-so-easy task of herding our group of 13 through the airport…but we made it and were greeted with adorable little monkey necklaces. We were taken to our home for the next three nights, a beautiful resort with breathtaking views…and suddenly the travel day was more than worth it. Here’s Danny and Fi enjoying the welcome drink- they should be poster children for vacation-mode!And here’s our first glimpse of our latest slice of the paradise pie that this country is. That night we enjoyed more fresh seafood at one of the many restaurants on the beachfront that our hotel overlooks. Since it was the night before Easter the beach was packed with revelers and we even got a fireworks display (which Bryan took complete credit for arranging). I hadn’t realized that the Philippines is 80% Catholic, so obviously Easter and everything around it is a huge deal and we saw many festive celebrations throughout the week. The next day (Easter Sunday) we were off on our next adventure- exploring the “Chocolate Hills” that Bohol is known for. I’m used to chocolate on Easter but this was even better! The Chocolate Hills are scattered throughout a 20-square mile area and are these cone shaped mini-mountains (100 to 400 feet tall) that are apparently a geological anomaly. They are a luscious green color in the rainy season but brown in the dry season (when the grass dies and the mud that forms them is exposed), hence their name. We started our exploration of said hills with an aerial view from a viewing area. Once we had our bearings, we got down and dirty with our hills exploration, cruising through them on ATV’s.This was a BLAST and we all finished absolutely covered in “chocolate” (I wish!).Part way through our journey we stopped to hike up one of the hills and take in more views. We also saw many interesting sites along the way, such as this Easter dinner prep.Some minor excitement when Fi’s ATV stalled while cruising through some water but our guides troubleshooted quickly and we were on our way. We rinsed off as much of the mud as we could before heading to our next destination- the Tarsier Sanctuary. So, I’d never heard of a tarsier either, but they are adorable little monkeys who are native to the Philippines. They are so tiny that they could fit in the palm of your hand and they look like little Yodas! They actually have the largest eyes relative to body size of any mammal and their eyes are the same size as their brain (random tarsier factoid). And, because their eyes are so big they can’t rotate them, so instead their neck can turn 180 degrees in each direction! Despite this exorcist-like party trick, tarsiers are sensitive little creatures, and they like their silence and darkness while sleeping (who doesn’t, right?). But apparently, while in captivity, light from camera flashes and noise can make tarsiers commit suicide! We carefully creapt through the sanctuary, pointing and snapping a few flash-less pics of the cute little buggers- hoping they wouldn’t off themselves on our watch. Tarsiers are sadly an endangered species with the numbers continuing to plummet. This is because they require a specific habitat with certain vegetation and lots of insects to eat, which is harder and harder to come by. The Philippine Tarsier Foundation runs the sanctuary we visited and looks after about 100 of the adorable little creatures. Needless to say, we all fell in-love.Back at the resort, we relaxed by the pool and took in a stunning sunset before enjoying another beachfront meal. Life continues to be a struggle!The next day was a BIG one…my birthday!!! While I wasn’t exactly psyched about this birthday rolling around, I could not have asked for a better one and I want to thank my 13 new, super-awesome friends for making it so special! They even made me card and wrapping paper- using printer paper, colored pencils and staples. So industrious! And, yes, there were presents! Sneaky Fiona even got me a tank top I’d been eyeing at a shop in El Nido, after she’d convinced me not to buy it. I spent my birthday morning paddle boarding down the gorgeous Loboc River, that is lined with palm trees and other luscious vegetation. We stopped along the way to use a rope swing and try various challenges presented by our guides. Cristina won the “balancing on one foot contest,” with an extremely impressive 21 seconds! I didn’t trust my phone dry bag to keep my phone dry (learned that lesson in Croatia), so unfortunately there are no photos to prove any of this actually happened. You’ll have to take my word for it!

After paddle-boarding we enjoyed lunch, complete with a birthday cake and the second rendition of “happy birthday” of the day, before heading back to the hotel. Later we conveened for a wine and tapas happy hour before frequenting our favorite beachfront bar for the remainder of the evening. I even got a birthday bottle of champagne from the owners of Flash Pack (and also now friends), Radha and Lee! It was a great birthday.So, if you’ve followed my blog at all (or if you know me at all) you know that “relaxing” is not exactly my area of expertise (at least in the relaxing-by-not-doing-anything-active kind of way). I actually find more relaxation in movement than sitting still (weird, I know). But, when the day after my birthday was a “free day,” I chose to “relax” at the resort and actually thoroughly enjoyed laying around! Maybe this is a getting older thing?!? I will say, the scenery definitely helped (as did the fact I needed some recovery from the birthday revelry the night before). Proof I was “relaxing!” Danny, Joe, and Bryan got up early that day and went on a boat trip, which they enjoyed- while they did say it was odd to be on a boat with “other people.” I completely understand how that would be odd, as all of our tours in the Philippines had been private and, quite frankly, it was the lifestyle to which we had become accustomed! They seemed to tough it out okay, though, strangers and all. The next day we hopped a flight to a town called Cebu, and stayed at a beach resort on Mactan island. Our final dinner (sniff, sniff) was at a “floating restaurant” and we even had a personal musician, regaling us with acoustic cover songs. I will say it was quite entertaining to watch the group (mostly British) belting out “Country Roads,” in accompaniment to the Filipino musician, as we sat on a floating restaurant in the middle of the South China/West Philippine sea (which sea it is depends who you ask). A perfect ending to a perfect trip!

It was sad times the next day as the group slowly peeled off, heading to the airport for various flights. Joe and Helen were leaving later and went on a boat tour, with Ollie’s hat (not sure how they got the hat but it looked like it had a great time!). My personal favorite is the hat’s perfectly timed jumping photo on the beach! Meanwhile, I enjoyed the amenities and soaked in every bit of sun that I could. I only had to push a few kids out of the way to get a turn on the water slide! When I left, it was just Phil at the resort…the last one of the group. He tried to evoke some sympathy for this circumstance but I didn’t feel bad for him, at all. While it was sad to have the trip come to an end, I’m so glad that the our group chat has continued to be active, as we share photos, re-live memories, and even plan for reunions (yes, reunion plans are already in motion!). Bryan Not-Adams even made a two-minute video of the trip (talk about going above and beyond!) You can view it here.

Up next….I’ve continent-hopped on over to Africa, specifically South Africa, and can’t wait to see what’s in store for me here!

Philippines Part 1

Programming note: Based on feedback from my constituents I will be posting more frequently. Okay, so, maybe my readers did not specifically ask for this. The feedback was more focused on the “excessive” length of some my posts, especially the ones covering a longer trip. So, rather than writing shorter blogs (as I assume that nobody wants to me to cut down on random details or huge digressions) I will try to post more, shorter blog posts. No guarantees though!

So, here I am about halfway through a Flash Pack tour of the Phillipines! It’s safe to say that the entire group of 13 is already blown out of the water by the beauty of this country…not the least of which is the beauty of the water itself. We began our adventure in the city of Manila, that we toured via bamboo bikes. How ingenious to find a way to make a bicycle using the country’s natural resources! And I have to say it was actually a much smoother ride than a “normal” non-bamboo bicycle.So, Manila is a city with it’s fair share of baggage in the history department. Essentially the country has been under Spanish, Japanese, and American rule for periods of time and (according to our very awesome guide, Bryan Not-Adams), Filipinos are a hybrid in getting their romance from Spain, their business sense from Japan, and their ambition from America. Not a bad combo at all, in my opinion! I have to say that the amount of American influences in the country have definitely surprised me. Most people speak English, for starters, which is something I had not experienced in my southeast Asian travels yet. When we popped into a big shopping mall to use the ATM, it could have been in any mall in America. They even had a Dunkin Donuts and a Forever 21! (Keep in mind this is the major shopping mall in Manila. Very different from the villages we visited later in the trip).

The bamboo bike tour took us around the remains of the city’s walls, some beautiful parks and even to the Manila Cathedral to catch the very end of an animated Palm Sunday mass, and with some pretty intricate palm formations. After the bike tour, we chilled at the hotel pool during the hottest part of the afternoon and then I enjoyed an incredible $10 massage. The deal the hotel offers is actually 2 hours for $1000 pesos (about $20) and there is no option for one hour-. I think I like this “island time” thing! I was certain if I had a 2-hour massage I would succumb to jet lag and fall asleep, so I “split” the time block with one of my new friends, Kristina.

The next day we took off to the village of El Nido, which is on the stunning island of Pawatan and is surrounded by an equally stunning sampling of the Philippines’ 4,000+ islands. There are even a few islands currently up for sale apparently! Joe from the group (complete opposite of Jenny from the Block) found the website with the listings, if you’re interested. So, we travelled via sea plane to El Nido- a first for me! [Although, in full disclosure, this plane took off from the sea but landed at an airport so I’m not sure it counts as a full sea plane experience? Regardless, it was a cool.] We pretty much sat with the pilot, a friendly Canadian, and it felt a little bit like being in a flight simulator (although thankfully just watching and not flying). Here comes our aircraft:Preparing to board (some of us are just a smidge nervous)We made it! Our first meal in El Nido.We spent that evening in a small beach town and enjoyed a spectacular sunset before our chariot arrived the next morning (our chariot being a boat) that would be taking us to a remote, private island where we would be camping for three days (yes, that’s right, I said private island). On the way there we “island-hopped” (this is a thing), did lots of snorkeling, and had lunch on one of the many isolated white sandy beaches. We arrived at our private island later that afternoon, where we stayed at the one accommodation on Ginto Island (the name of our private island). Fiona made herself right at home on the private island (yes, I’m trying to say private island as much as I can).Private island life was a very rustic and very phenomenal experience- the views of the sea, sunsets, and stars were like no other, and the staff could not have done more to go above and beyond and make us feel at home on the island. We were even treated to a concert by the daughter of the chef! Speaking of the chef, the food was amazing and they even roasted a pig for us on the second night. The bacon at breakfast the next morning was also delicious. After sleeping in mosquito net tents on the beach (at the waters edge under the most star-filled sky) we enjoyed another full day of island hopping and snorkeled for hours among vibrant coral and fish. Life is really tough right now, I know. We tried to coordinate a synchronized jump off the boat (we’d seen the passengers on another boat do this and thought it looked cool). Getting into position took some time and once we were all finally ready, Oliver (who was ring leader of the group jump) must have gotten excited and jumped in early. We are just a little dismayed by this premature jump.Finally, success! Sort of.I had thought my back was maybe a little pink from all the snorkeling but when I returned to the island, the owner greeted us and immediately offered me aloe for my back. There were no mirrors on the island so asked him to take a picture so I could survey the damage. Ouch. Much aloe later, it’s finally faded- that sun can really creep up on you while snorkeling. That night we witnessed another phosphorescent sunset, collectively noticing that the prettiest colors actually came out about 15 minutes after the sun had set. Not sure if this is just a Philippines thing and I’ll have to start paying attention during sunsets elsewhere. With Bryan’s help I also used the time-lapse feature for the first time to capture the sunset. Let me see if I can figure out how to share it…https://tehastravels.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/img_3709.movThe next day we bid farewell to our private island and watched kayaks bring our belongings out to where our boat was anchored, while we swam there. It was definitely the strangest way I’ve departed a hotel after check out (and I’ve had some interesting ones!) Of course we hit up a few more amazing snorkeling hot spots on the way back to “mainland.”

We all missed our private island but were happy to be back in the land of electricity (and bars), and we went out and about in El Nido that night. The evening began with a FRESH fish dinner at a restaurant Bryan recommended. Ordering consisted of looking at a bin of whole fish and pointing to the one you want and telling them how you want it cooked… a real sea to table experience.I had grouper steamed in lemongrass shared some DELISH grilled squid.The next day we had the option of a free day to relax at the resort or go on a lagoon boat tour- difficult life decisions. I opted for the tour and seven of us had the BEST day crusading around the West Philippines sea, stopping to explore multiple amazing lagoons. Since it was a holiday (Good Friday) the boat traffic was heavier than usual but we still managed to find a secret lagoon, where we were the only ones there for a period of time. Lunch was on THE most secluded beach, which also happened to have THE best snorkeling of the trip so far. And that’s saying a lot! It was a fantastic day and we were all grateful to Bryan for organizing it for us on a free day. Although I think his motivation may have been partially selfish as he seemed to have just as much fun as we did. We reunited with the rest of our group for a sunset cocktail (and there was so much for us all to catch up on after not all being together almost a whole day!) I felt kind of guilty telling those who hadn’t come on the lagoon tour how spectacular it was, but they all seemed quite content with their decision (and also looked very relaxed).

This morning we left El Niño and are going…wherever the plane takes us. I actually have no idea! Wherever it is, Bryan said it’s very pretty. The Philippines has already upped the baseline of what constitutes “very pretty,” so my expectations are high. And, I’m very excited!

A little bit of this and a little bit of that

The two weeks since I left Myanmar are best described as an amazing hodgepodge of activities. On my way back I swung back through London, and got to experience this English countryside thing for the first time. My friend Daisy (I met her on the Flash Pack tour in Morocco) lives in Hungerford, which is a picturesque village about 90 minutes outside of London. The Main Street is absolutely adorable and includes some charming antique shops (not shockingly they have older stuff in England than we do in the U.S.) as well as equal amount of quintessential local pubs. Daisy led me on her daily walking route, through the beautiful countryside and then along an equally picturesque riverbank, dotted with homes and a few old stone churches. You kind of feel back in time.As we walked, Daisy told me about a black mark on Hungerford’s history, due to he now infamous “Hungerford Massacre,” which occurred in the 1980’s, when a mentally unstable person walked down the streets of the town randomly firing a rifle at people and taking 16 innocent lives. Following the tragedy, the gun laws in England were severely tightened (including a ban on semi automatic weapons altogether) and the incident remains one of the deadliest mass shootings ever in the UK. It was a timely anecdote to hear as an American, and also frustrating to be reminded that much of our current gun violence is actually preventable. Sigh…

Tangentially, I also recently learned that in England it is illegal to attack someone who is breaking into your house, in defense of your property (self-defense is different). A British friend explained that their strategy is to make the intruder a cup of tea and try to convince them to leave. Ha! Although I wouldn’t be shocked if that has actually happened at some point… those Brits certainly love tea and hate conflict.

I digress…. back to Hungerford! After our walk, Daisy showed me the true Hungerford Sunday Funday experience. It was faaaantastic! English pubs are just the best! They all have such a cozy and welcoming vibe, and to people of all ages, families, and even dogs! Also, get this- most pubs don’t have TVs and the focus is on conversation and community building. What a novel idea! I realized pretty quickly that Hungerford doesn’t have a lot of American visitors and I kind of liked being a novelty show. Daisy’s parents even came out for the viewing of the American in Hungerford! Upon meeting her parents, it was obvious where Daisy gets her contagious personality- her parents are great people and I have no doubt their family home was full of laughter (like all the time) while Daisy was growing up.

A few days later I headed back to good ole DC, realizing I’d been gone for seven weeks during this travel stint- guess I’d lost track! I was glad to be heading home, if for no other reason than to dump some of the excessive luggage I’d been lugging around. It was an Epic Packing Fail. In my defense, it’s not easy to pack for seven weeks (did I even know I’d be gone for seven weeks when I packed?) and to account for weather in Finland and Myanmar alike. Oh, the trials and tribulations of Teha’s Travels! (Not complaining, I swear!)

At home, I spent a day going through mail and doing laundry and, of course, I motored over to my brother’s house to see my nieces and nephew (and you guys too, Seth and Keke). No offense to my family and friends – as you know I adore you- but it’s my nieces and nephews who I miss the most when I’m traveling. I think they were just a little excited to see me too! No rest for the weary though… I had an upcoming Travelling Trio adventure to tend to! You may recall our last adventure was to Portugal in October. For a March destination we’d tossed around Costa Rica (all of us are dying to go) but schedules didn’t allow the time so we decided on a domestic weekend trip to… Richmond, Virginia. An obvious second choice to Costa Rica? I have to say I was certainly not complaining about not getting on another plane and the train ride was quite lovely (and convenient!) So, I’ve driven through Richmond a few times (meaning I know what route 95 looks like there) and I’d seen the University of Richmond during my college touring (the dealbreaker was a HUGE lake separating the girls dorms and boys dorms- it seemed like an unnecessary barrier). But, until now, I hadn’t actually spent time in the city. And, I have to say, I liked it a lot! In fact, the entire Traveling Trio was pleasantly surprised by good ole Richmond! It’s definitely a lot more happening than I expected- a smidge edgy (this surprised me) and with a lil’ industrial feel, including lots of old warehouse based developments underway. Here we are being edgy! Richmond also has the laid-back vibe of a college town but combined with the maturity of an epic historic location, and with the confidence and character that goes along with that. The people are also really friendly- with a southern charm that isn’t over the top and almost seems more midwestern at times. We had a jolly old time exploring the city, including it’s bourgeoning restaurant scene and historic highlights, such as a ridiculously fancy brunch at the Jefferson Hotel (Page had us on a waiting list and we got the green light at the very last minute). I then headed up to New England for the main event of my March America fly-by. I spent a few days visiting my New Hampshire nephew contingent (and upping my snowman game) before heading down to Boston. Hugo was NOT happy when he came home from school and Frosty was no more. The hard knocks life throws at a four year old! So, I’ll be honest that it would have been slightly more convenient to remain in Southeast Asia in between trips to Myanmar and the Philippines. Even with my shoddy sense of geography, I know that much. However, this was not an option! It turned out that on the eve of St. Patrick’s Day, my most amazing Dad was to be the honoree at a large and prestigious gala in Boston- it was an extremely well-deserved tribute to him following a 40-year career in social services, during which (according to personal testimonies at the event) he’s impacted gazillions of lives. Obvs, I HAD to be there! Those of you who know Mark Kennard understand completely… my Dad is just THE BEST! He really is. And, his acceptance speech was absolutely incredible (I may be slightly biased, as he may or may not have referred to me as “our 8th Wonder of the World” in the speech). Here’s the man of the hour! The whole family was very proud to be there, especially at the head table with THE Honoree! Here are a few pics of some of my Dad’s entourage (which included Baby Theodore strapped to Tobi’s front!). Of course, Seth was trying to hog the spotlight during the red carpet photo shoot. Brothers!Conveniently the next day was was St. Patty’s day, and what better city to celebrate in than Boston?!? (Okay, yes, Dublin is better…but still pretty solid in Bean-town!) We jumped right into the festivities, including joining an impromptu parade with a bunch of bagpipers. It seemed totally normal at the time and we blended right in! I stayed with my friends Porsha and Dennis the next night and was entertained by their hilarious kiddo, Makayla, and her sidekick, Gatsby. Porsh and Dennis moved to Boston from DC last year and it was great to catch up with them. Then it was back to DC for packing once again (in true consultant fashion, I implemented some process improvement measures as a result of of my lessons learned from last time). I was planning to arrive a day early for my next Flash Pack tour (the Philippines!) but Mother Nature intervened and instead I spent an extra day in DC, playing in the snow with a real cast of characters.Thankfully I was rebooked on a flight that got me there JUST in time for the first tour activity. The flight did have an 11 hour layover in Doha, an airport I’ve become very familiar with, and just to kill some time I went on the free bus tour of the city that Qatar Airlines offers. I already did this tour during a layover in December and not much has changed but the sites were far superior to those of the airport. Now, I’m finally here and ready for whatever adventure the Philippines has in store for me! (I guess I could look at the trip itinerary to see what that is but why ruin the fun?!)

Myanmar Mystique

Once I decided my traveling ways would extend into Q1 of 2018, my planning consisted of printing out calendars for each month, laying them side by side on a table, and cross-referencing dates I was free with dates there were Flash Pack trips I wanted to take. I was also aided by a good old-fashioned globe, just to double-check where a few places were…exactly. The Flash Pack trip to Myanmar (the artist formally known as Burma) fit into the schedule nicely but initially I had some reservations, given the recent news about egregious human rights violations taking place there. I’d also heard word of boycotting tourism and I wondered if that was the better thing to do. I reached out to my buddy, Radha (one of the Flash Pack owners), for her thoughts, assuming she knew more about the situation than I did. And, thankfully she did! Radha is politically active and responded with great detail, which I very much appreciated. She explained that these human rights violations have been going on for a long time and just started making the news because the country recently became open to the free world. She believes (and this was validated over and over again on the trip) that continuing tourism and keeping the country in the news is the only way things will change. She even sent me a picture of her and her family at a protest against the Myanmar oppression over ten years ago! Radha also wrote (and I quote), “We have decided not to remove our trip because the local Burmese who we work with have also suffered a great deal under the regime. Instead, we have decided to give 5% profit from Myanmar bookings to UNHCR. We are also working with our partners to ensure that money goes to local communities, not the military regime.” Well, that decided it. And now that I’ve seen the country and learned a lot more about the current situation, I could not agree more with her sentiments and reasoning for continuing the trip. Thanks Radha!
So, as a smidge more background on Myanmar for those of you not up-to-speed (this is not a criticism, I was admittedly not up-to-speed), the country is nestled right in the heart of southeast Asia and shares borders with Thailand, Laos, Bangladesh, India, and China. It consists of seven states and, wait for it, over 140 ethnic groups, each with their own history, culture, and language. After parting ways with Mother England in 1948 (not a positive colonialism experience…check out George Orwell’s Burmese Days for more) the country had a brief spin with democracy before falling under military rule for 50 years. This ended in 2011 and it was only then that the country opened up to tourism, which has ebbed and flowed since that time. This is because unfortunately the country has also had one of the longest on-going “civil wars” (aka military oppressions) ever, which has escalated and received increased attention in the past six months. The oppressive military force is essentially committing genocide against an indigenous Muslim group, called the Rohingya, and trying to drive them out of the country using techniques such as burning villages, rape, execution, etc. The Rohingya have been beaten down for decades already, the victims of an apartheid system and being stripped of their citizenship, marginalized, and isolated.  It’s pretty darn horrible. This is happening in one of the 8 states within the country, the Rakine state that borders Bangledesh (where the masses of desperate refugees have been headed), but has left an understandably dark cloud across the country, and at a time when they had finally established enough of an infrastructure to support tourism.
Basically, it’s an extremely sad state of affairs and even sadder when you get there and discover that the local Burmese are THE NICEST PEOPLE EVER. They really are. I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to experience the country while it’s still seeping with raw beauty and history, literally everywhere you turn. It’s rare to experience the authenticity of a place (both the good and the bad) before the tentacles of tourism creep in and alter things. Kind of like finding that elusive ‘sweet spot’ time to visit Cuba.
So, our adventure started in the city of Yangon, where I met my new friends (I mean tour group) and our Burmese guide, Josh. Yes, that is really his name! Our first stop was a massive temple, the Shwedagon Pagoda (which was the first of many absolutely stunning temples) for sunset. Now I know the idea of going to a bunch of temples can seem a little boring (I’ve seen my fair share in my travels and yes it is possible to get “templed out”) but in Myanmar the temples are really something else. They definitely do not lack attention grabbing features or fascinating stories to accompany them. Exhibits A, B & C:We toured around bustling Yangon the next day and even had our first street food experience, which was delicious. Thankfully Josh knows the spots to try- not sure I would have been that adventurous on my own (and there were still some menu items I was not adventurous enough to try). We were up and out the next day, flying to the city of Bagan, of which I knew nothing about. This was our first experience with Myanmar domestic air travel and I soon realized that it’s really more like riding a bus than flying. The flight times are all “ish,” and there doesn’t seem to be an actual set time. Also, you get a sticker of a certain color, which is how they tell which fight you are on. And, you will almost always stop somewhere along the way, for just enough time for some people to get off and others to get on. It’s very efficient in that way, and they seem far more concerned with getting you there in one piece – keeping the eye on the prize… I like it. Doesn’t this boarding pass exude confidence? So, Bagan is Temple Central– I’m talking about more than 2,000 temples! They are literally EVERYWHERE you turn, giving the spot a truly ethereal quality. These temples are not new construction, either. Most were built between the 9th and 13th centuries and it is estimated that there were once 10,000 of them! Today most are just to look at and only a few dozen are restored and kept up. We went on a templing bike tour, which was a great way to take in the beauty of the place as well as navigate the dusty, rocky roads between the pious icons. It definitely could not have been easy to haul around the materials needed to construct these massive structures back in the day. I could barely haul myself around! (Luckily I could just blindly follow Josh).
We took in some additional Bagan beauty (as if we needed it) with a sunset boat cruise. I’m not sure pictures can really capture the beauty of Bagan: Next, we hopped back on the airplane-bus travelling to another stop along the route…a small town called ‘Heho’ (yes, the Naughty By Nature song was in my head incessantly). Upon arrival, we embarked on a breathtaking trek through the surrounding mountainside dotted with cabbage patches and, of course, a few temples. We stopped in one of the villages for lunch hosted by a local family, in a traditional two-room hut that houses their entire extended family. We could see the food being prepared over a single flame, and later we all agreed that it was one of the best meals of the trip. In true Burmese fashion, the village people were all super-friendly and seemed fascinated by our group (I don’t blame them- with representatives from seven countries, we were a motley crew). After lunch I enjoyed hanging out with three little guys, and despite not speaking the same language… it’s amazing how the common language of silliness brings people together. The next day we were off to an elephant conservation camp! This was a highlight of the trip for many, myself included (despite not having known we were doing this in advance- love it when every day is a surprise). So…the elephant situation in Myanmar is very sad. There used to be tons of logging taking place there and the country actually has one of the world’s worst deforestation rates. Additionally, there was gross mismanagement and corruption in the logging trade, contributing to the country’s ongoing conflicts. A national logging ban was implemented in 2014 and since then, the logging has decreased significantly…which has actually been a very bad thing for our elephant friends. So, the elephants were a critical component of the logging industry- hauling all the wood around, as elephants do. But elephants being used in this way are bred and used as worker elephants. Problem being that worker elephants can’t just stop working and go back to the wild. Doesn’t work. So, there’s a huge population of endangered elephants that are kind of left high and dry now that they aren’t logging anymore. To further confound the situation, there are unfortunately still some bad eggs out there- hunting elephants and using the majestic animals for personal gain (aka making money on things like elephant rides). It’s a sad state affairs.
We visited a family-run elephant sanctuary (Green Hill Valley) where they provide phenomenal care to nine elephants and focus on educating people about the situation. We helped to feed the elephants (they essentially eat copious amounts of food all day long) as well as bathe them in a river (they are bathed three times a day). Rough life?!Okay, so I have to say, there is something incredibly regal and captivating about elephants when you’re interacting with them, and especially when looking them in the eyes. The way they look at you….you almost feel like you should bow down to them. And, they just exude this wisdom- you can tell that they totally get everything that is going on. It’s fair to say I will never think of elephants the same way again… these animals are really something special. Our home for the night was an awesome hotel that was boat themed and the next day in true fashion we embarked in two water vessels for a spin through the waterways that make up Inlay lake, consisting of extensive “floating villages” and beautiful views. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant in a floating village, clearly trying to cater to whatever tourism comes through. And I clearly blended right in as a local.Our home for the evening was a beautiful and rustic lodge in the very remote village of Samkar. Since we’d made good time, apparently, Josh was able to take us on a walking tour of the village (in the past it’s already dark when groups have gotten there). As Josh led us through the dirt roads and villagers came out of their homes to greet us, and the children running around seemed especially fascinated to see us. Josh spoke to a few of the villagers and learned that for many it was the first time they had seen light-skinned people. Wow. Somehow that possibility had not occurred to me. On that note, many of the women and children Myanmar apply a mud-paste substance called ‘thanaka’ to their faces. It’s said to be good for the skin, serve as sunscreen, and make their faces appear lighter. It’s almost impossible (based on my efforts- may actually be impossible) to find sunscreen in Myanmar that doesn’t have bleach in it, as their goal is only to lighten their skin. I wondered what the Burmese would think of the concept of a spray tan? We enjoyed a beautiful sunset and the next day boated on over to a town called Phekone, swinging by a few waterfront temples on the way. We enjoyed another beautiful sunset and the next day traveled to Pan pet village for another scenic trek (life is very rough). There we met some villagers, including women wearing brass neck rings…who most people have only seen photos of in National Geographic. So, in eastern Myanmar there are many women in the Kayan state who wear these rings (although apparently it’s far less popular than it used to be). The rings give the impression that the women have extremely long necks, but they actually just compress the shoulders downwards. Nobody knows for sure why these neck rings became a “thing”- explanations range from keeping evil spirits out, to protecting against tiger bites, to making them less attractive and less likely to be taken into slavery. A woman we met has four children and 8 grandchildren and only one granddaughter has chosen to wear the rings. She has until age 18 to decide if this is for good, because after that age you add rings and your neck becomes physically unable to hold up your head without the support. So, it’s a lifelong commitment. I have to say, they really are beautiful to look at up close and I can totally see how a little girl would say “I totally want to wear those shiny golden rings like Grandma!”We headed back to Yangon the following day and wrapped up our trip with a bicycle tour of the town of Twante. We took the ferry to the other side of the river to get there from Yangon, a reverse commute to the masses of villagers heading into the city to sell their wares. Apparently the ferry was a gift from Japan and has been a life-saver for  people residing in the villages. I can’t help but think that a bridge might be a nice next step, but I don’t see that construction starting anytime soon. In Twante, we cruised around the streets and stopped for lunch at a local establishment. We also visited a village pottery studio and I added pottery-maker to the list of careers that I will not be pursing in the future. I don’t know what happened…but somehow it was the last night of our trip, all of the sudden! It felt like we had just met in Yangon! We enjoyed a final meal together and reflected on all of the magic we’d experienced together. I was glad to be staying an extra day and I used that time to visit a Burmese photography exhibit in the stunning former headquarters of British colonial rule, the Secretariat. It was the site of the assassination of General Aung San, Myanmar’s national hero, who was killed along with eight of his comrades in 1947- paving the way for Myanmar’s independence movement. The massive building has been completely abandoned for years but there is talk of continued restoration efforts. As I walked through the formally abandoned building, rich with beauty and history and packed with tourists and locals alike- I thought about why we were all there. We knew it wouldn’t be perfect inside, but it was somehow the imperfection we sought. We knew it had been the site of tragedy and injustice and tears, and we didn’t want those stories to go away or be glossed over. We wanted to see it, and feel it, and let it in… and maybe even let it change how we thought of the world, just a little bit. As I made my way to the exit, and thought sadly about going to the airport, I realized it was the magical country of Myanmar that had done exactly that.

London Calling 🇬🇧 (and Dublin too 🇮🇪)

So, I’ve made a lot of fantastic friends from the London area on my Flash Pack tours but had heard far more about the city than I’d actually experienced. In fact, I’d only been to London two times in my life and for a grand total of a week. This was about to change! I flew in and out of London with the gang going to Finland so bookended the trip with some time in the city, staying with friends I’d met on Flash Pack tours. I first flew into Heathrow which I’d been warned was many things…. namely a total zoo, always a clusterf*ck, and sorted British words meaning similar things. I expected the worst. I was pleasantly surprised, however, when there was not only no line at customs but instead a row of available immigration officers waiting to welcome me to to their country with British pleasantries…or so I thought. [Travel tip: If looking to expedite the passport control process at Heathrow, when asked what you do for a living back home do NOT casually answer, “nothing.” Also, probably avoid jotting a fictional London address on the entry card (5 Piccadilly Square sounded about right). Lastly, when asked how you know your friend you’re staying with, perhaps provide a smidge more detail than I did. Just answering “Vietnam” seemed to only lead to more questions, as if I’d implied we’d been in the trenches together.] Once the suddenly very inquisitive officer clarified a few key pieces of information, including how much money I had saved in my bank account for my travels (I thought he was joking with this question. He was not.), I was on my merry way. Yeeesh! Yet, despite the hold-up, it took me less than 30 min from landing to get through customs and claim my luggage! Look at what a zoo it was:I then embarked on my maiden solo voyage using London’s public transport system. I’d also been forewarned that this was complex to navigate and that Londoners were mostly “heads down” and wouldn’t go out of their way to be helpful or friendly. But my London opposite-world experience continued. I actually felt like people were much more helpful than people would be on the DC Metro…strangers carried my suitcase up stairs for me! At one point I was waiting for an elevator (aka lift) in the station along with several other suitcase laden travelers and a women with a stroller. In the States I’m quite sure that those who had been there first would have gotten on and the others would have to wait. But here, stroller lady got priority without question and then stroller lady worked with the other riders to arrange a Tetris puzzle that would allow all of us and our bags to fit. Teamwork with a Capitol T!

The other thing I’d heard over and over again from my British travel-mates was that London is apparently sooooo huge, that you never ever in a million years run into people you know in the city. On one of my Flash Pack tours a few people in the group discovered they lived in the same London neighborhood, just a few blocks from each other, and this was treated as a humongous and unprecedented coincidence. When I suggested that maybe now that they know each other they would run into other all the time (as happens in Teha’s world in DC) the response was “um…unlikely…but perhaps…that could possibly happen….” which is British for “no chance.”

I was in London for a night before the Finland trip and stayed with wonderful Rachel who was my assigned roommate during my Flash Pack trip to Vietnam and Cambodia. We are now good friends, despite not having been battle buddies in ‘Nam after all. In the morning she escorted me to the bus, as the first step in my journey to the airport. I lugged my suitcase up the few steps and was proud of myself for having my London transport card relatively handy to scan. As I did, I heard my name and looked up to see my friend Isobel sitting in the very first seat on the bus! I know Isobel from my Chile tour group and she seemed way more surprised to see me than I was to see her. Her level of shock could only be matched by Rachel’s. These Londoners are sticking with their story that “these things just don’t happen” but I’m no longer buying it! I came back to London after Finland and stayed with the handsome and mostly funny Rob for a week, while spending my days playing tourist and catching up with pals I’d met at various points and in various places over the past six months. It’s hard to believe I didn’t know anyone in the city before then! I kicked off my visit in true tourist style with a free walking tour with my new favorite free walking tour company, Sandemens (I’d also used them in Prague). My second tour with them did not disappoint- the guide knew a lot about a lot and shared it with wry British humor that seemed perfect for the occasion. My favorite anecdote he shared was outside Buckingham Palace, where he relayed he story of Michael Fagan- this dude puts that lame White House fence jumper to shame. In the early 80’s this guy not only hopped the fence but due to a series of randomly well-timed circumstances, made it to the Queen’s bedroom and actually sat at her bedside sat chatting with her for about ten minutes (I guess the cat is out of the bag that Phillip and her weren’t exactly spooning…or even in the same bedroom). Fagan seemed a little confused about where he was and asked the Queen if she could call room service to order him some cigarettes. Her butler staff did think this request odd… and that maybe security should check things out. According to the guide the Queen said it was the only time in her life she’d been talked to like a “real human being” by someone who had no idea who she was and she allegedly invited him to her 90th birthday party (I guess he was busy that night). During the subsequent legal proceedings it was also discovered that Fagan had not actually broken any laws by entering the palace, so some loopholes were closed up after the incident. It was a blustery London day and the tour ended at a pub, where I sat and chatted with a new friend from the tour over fish and chips- she’s from Brazil and her name is Alathea. This confusing during introductions when she said “I’m Alathea” (pronounced Ala-Teha) and I replied “I’m Teha” and she said “No…I’m Alathea” to which I responded “and I’m just Teha.” Soon after we sorted this out, two gents timidly approached our table and asked for a favor…they work for a market research company and were testing a new hard cider. They had the nerve to ask if they could give us each a free pint of cider and ask us a few questions on camera. AND, as if this weren’t enough of an imposition, they also wanted to PAY us ten pounds for the huge inconvenience. Um…YES and YES! Alateha commented with glee that these things just don’t happen to her. I admitted that these things seem to happen to me all the time. Here we are with our paychecks: So, while planning my day that morning I’d checked out a last minute theater ticket app and entered a raffle for a first-row ticket to see Kinky Boots for 20 British pounds (which is equivalent to $28). I checked the app at the designated time and saw that I had not won the first row raffle (and I usually pride myself on my raffle-winning skills) but I was offered a 7th row seat for the same price. I guess that would have to do! My seat and the show did not disappoint- both were amazing! And apparently my row was celebrity-central that night. I was chatting with a group of six women in my row before the show and noticed the two ladies sitting next to me staring and whispering. They later told me they couldn’t believe I’d met the band “Girls Aloud,” which is apparently a British Spice Girls-esque band. The group had apparently broken up so it was BIG NEWS that they were together at the show. Oh the drama! One of my seat mates exclaimed, “I can’t believe there are celebrities sitting next to us! This NEVER happens to me!” I refrained from commenting this time.

I continued my London exploration for the rest of the week, checking out some sites on my own and was lucky to also have several friends excited to show me their city! On Friday I met up with Bhavika (aka B) who I’d met in July on the Flash Pack Vespa tour in Spain and she took me to the Tate modern as well as other assorted sites, before we met up with two other fabulous females from the same trip, Emily and Sacha. The four of us went to a super-cool bar that is World War II themed. It’s underground (and actually hidden with a secret entrance) and decorated as a bunker. You wear a bad-ass uniform jacket while decoding various clues, selecting a series of smells, colors and tastes, and radioing in the selections…which end up being the components of individualized hand-crafted cocktails. They claim to never make the same one twice but who knows. Mine was delicious so I do hope they make it again! The next day I was excited to FINALLY meet the infamous owners of my favorite tour company, Flash Pack. I’d been in much contact with Radha and Lee while planning my trips and liked them both a lot despite having never met them in-person. We enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Palomar and chatted for over four hours…and we could have kept going. We are definitely kindred spirits and meeting them re-validated my tour company choice…not as if I needed it. I then met Rob at his cricket club where there was a big rugby game on TV, but I forgot to watch the game as I was too busy chatting with people. The next morning Rob had a soccer (aka football) game that I went to watch. It’s with guys (aka mates) he went to high school with and they still play against other former high school rivals! I was immaturely entertained hearing grown men on the field (aka pitch) saying things like “lovely shot mate!” The “British language” really never ceases to entertain me!

We then tubed on over to Emily’s beautiful home in Notting Hill (yes, think the adorable neighborhood with the adorable Hugh Grant) for her “Secret Sunday Lunch Club” which is a regular business venture she operates. Essentially she cooks delicious food and people come to her house to enjoy it. The kicker is that often she doesn’t know any of the people (nor do they know each other) and most attendees are just individuals who want to enjoy a “proper Sunday lunch” and potentially make new friends. It’s a popular concept in London apparently and a “brilliant” idea. Emily is an out of this world chef and the consummate hostess, so it’s not at all surprising that her lunch club has been so successful! I saw Emily and B again a few days later for a delectable “afternoon tea” at none other than the infamous Harrods. I knew the Brits were known for “tea time” but didn’t realize it was a thing that many restaurants offer in the afternoons. A very cool experience with two very cool ladies. I checked out the London museum on my last day in the city and was horrified to learn more about all the city has been through over the years…fires, plagues, wars etc. Talk about a resilient city! I have to say that my time in the city made me leave wanting more, which is exactly how I like to leave a place. I especially need to see St. Paul’s cathedral next time, as Tom Cruise had it occupied this trip for filming Mission Impossible 12 (or whatever number we’re on now).

My next destination was Dublin, where I visited the lovely Louise…my roommate from the Flash Pack tour of India & Nepal (you may notice a theme with my Flash Pack roommates). The night I got there we stayed up until 2am catching up and poor Louise had to work the next day! Meanwhile I did the Dublin tourist thing and checked out the Dublin museum, the Dublin castle, and the spectacular St. Patrick’s cathedral. I think there was a bit of a mis-communication with my St. Patty’s cathedral tour guide, thou, who was French-speaking and kept apologizing for her English. I thought she had said I could come back to the cathedral at 5:30pm to see the children’s choir perform.This sounded cool so I cruised back over following a tour of the not-too-shabby Dublin castle. As I walked into the cathedral at 5:30 on-the-dot, the woman at the entrance stopped me. I explained “Oh, I’m just here for the concert” to which she replied “This is a religious service.” At that point my deeply seeded Catholic guilt came out (odd since I’m actually not Catholic) and I feared if I turned away at that point I’d be struck by lightening. So…I sat through an entire mass. There was actually a choir, but it consisted of middle aged to old men- definitely no children. Whoops! It’s such a beautiful place that I definitely did not feel bad for myself. The next day Louise and I got sucked into some Winter Olympics viewing in the morning. As explanation, I’m minorly obsessed with the BBC’s coverage of the games as it’s SO different from how the Games are covered in the U.S. First of all, there are NO commercials and they actually show LIVE coverage, that includes showing athletes who are NOT from Team USA. What a novel idea! I will say they definitely focus on events where Team GB has any shot in hell for a medal, but that’s only a few events anyways. I learned that Ireland only has five athletes at the Winter Games and has never won a medal. Louise read me a headline from a local publication, about an Irish skier’s “success” in their event the previous day. I assumed that meant they had made history and medaled! Um…not exactly. Success is apparently defined as (and I quote) “finishing the run with no major issues” and placing in 56th place! Once again…perspective gained.

We tore ourselves away from the Olympics coverage to travel to Glendalough, which is a beautiful spot in the Irish countryside about an hour outside of Dublin, where we hiked up to a spectacular look-out. It was stunning and made me want to see more of the country!That night we went “out on the town” with Louisa’s fabulous friend, Fiona, and ended up at an authentic and infamous pub called O’Donahues, where we saw a “proper session” of folks jamming Irish music with an array of impressive instruments. It was pretty phenomenal and also cool to see the photos on the walls of the dozens of celebs worldwide who have been there to enjoy the music.

The next morning I promised Louise I’d be back soon (I hope she meant it when she said that was okay) and headed off to the airport. Next up…Myanmar! P.S. If you haven’t heard of Myanmar you aren’t the only one…think Burma

Freeeezing, Fabulous Finland 🇫🇮

As I sat on the plane taking off from Salzburg, I tried to convince myself that my shivering was a delayed reaction to the cold air….and that I was imagining the achy-ness that was starting to spread throughout my body. Despite it being a mid-day flight and having had plenty of rest the night before, I konked out and and slept the entire flight…the kind of sleep where I may or may not have been drooling. When we landed and I was still tired and noticed my throat was sore, I thought about how lucky I’d been to have not gotten sick yet during Teha’s Travels. And, also, how unlucky it was that this streak was apparently ending right as I headed to one of the the coldest places on the planet. Alas, to Finland I went! My travel companions were five new-ish friends, I’d meet on an amazing Flash pack tour of Morocco in September. As the story goes, one beautiful and sunny afternoon as we laid by the pool at the yoga-surf resort, a few of us discussed taking a short winter trip together. Someone suggested Finland…sure it might be a lil’ chilly in January but cold schmold! We could totally handle it. Another strawberry daiquiri, please! And, that was how that happened. So, several months later we all met up to board our flight to Ivalo, which is a remote place in Finland where the temperature was MINUS 25 degrees Celsius the day we arrived. I’m still working on how to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit exactly, but any way you dice it, negative 25 is FREEEZING. Maybe the cold would decimate the germs causing whatever sickness I had percolating? Such wishful thinking! Here’s Daisy, the ringleader and travel coordinator of our crew:The proprietor of our Ivalo accommodations, Henry, picked us up at the airport and drove effortlessly through the ice and snow covered roads in his sedan. SUV whhhaaattt??? We settled into our adorable little bungalow and bundled up for the 15 foot walk to the main building where we enjoyed the first of several home-cooked authentic Finnish meals. Yum!So, the big draw for this middle of nowhere spot in Finland, is that you have an increased chance of seeing the mythical northern lights. Henry and company provided the service of knocking on our door to alert us to any lights (up until 11pm) so we wouldn’t have to sit outside waiting for them while turning into Walt Disney’s corpse. I learned there is some debate about northern lights viewing as it’s impossible to predict when they can be seen. Some companies apparently rip-off tourists by taking them on expensive northern lights viewing treks that don’t actually increase their odds of seeing them. It’s pretty hit or miss as far as I (or anyone can tell). Having discussed northern lights viewing strategies with several strangers on the voyage there (including the Finnish flight attendants on the plane) I had decided that the best time to see them was after 11pm, when no one was watching. Like spotting Santa Claus! Yet when we heard a knock on our door at about 9:30pm- I threw on my cold weather gear in about ten seconds flat and ran outside. Opinions differed on what it was that we actually saw at that juncture…I saw a greenish cloud streaming across the sky, that looked even greener if you took a picture of it. It was kinda cool, as far as green clouds go, but not what I was expecting for THE LIGHTS. We went back inside, feeling like we’d seen them (if not with our own eyes, it definitely appears we did if you look at a picture) and returned to a rousing game of Cards Against Humanity. As I’d promised myself, I geared up again at around 11:30pm for another check, convinced I had cracked the code by waiting until after 11pm…but, alas, there was nothing to be seen. Not even Rudolph! The next morning at breakfast we heard from another group that they went outside at 1am and the lights were in FULL EFFECT, “dancing across the sky!” Darn it- if only I’d checked a few more times before going to sleep! Oh well, can’t win ‘em all I guess. And at least we had that green cloud! Unfortunately, I woke up the next morning feeling even more achy and chilled, with zero desire to get out of bed (zero was far warmer than the temperature outside, btw). Staying in bed, however, was not an option as far as I was concerned…it was snowmobiling day! With all the winter activities I’d enjoyed in my lifetime, snowmobiling was not one of them and I’d been dying to try it! I consulted Binay, the doctor in the group (and he’s actually a doctor!), and loaded up on over-the-counter meds that kicked in pretty quickly and at least made me forget I had a fever. We paired up on snowmobiles and got a tutorial from our guide, during which I was only half paying attention. The views around us were just so pretty and I was just SO excited! How to concentrate?!? My passenger, Danielle, and I boarded our vehicle and she asked if I knew what I was doing. Let’s hope so! I knew how to GO (most importantly) and also not to get too close to the snowmobile in front of us and to stay in the track created by the leader. No funny business, basically. I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED snowmobiling, and was in heaven as we cruised over the snow covered ice, passing a few adorable, remote lake-side houses. Throughout the three hour trip, the guide only had to stop twice to walk back to my snowmobile to issue me warnings. During the second warning he shook his finger at me, like a teacher scolding a student. I really couldn’t help it though! It was way more fun to cruise just a little bit to the side of the track, through the deeper, untouched snow and I didn’t think he would notice a few, small deviations…my bad. We stopped midway through the journey and disembarked our snowmobiles to warm by a fire deftly created by our guide, after he whittled tiny strips of birch off a branch (in the middle of a snow mound, as if creating a fire in the snow is like switching on a gas fireplace). As we trudged about 50 feet through the deep, fluffy snow to the fire area, I had the impulse to stop to make a snow angel and Daisy (our resident videographer, always looking for a good shot) asked if I had my camera handy. I handed it to her and then returned it to it’s holding place in my front pocket. Following the rest of the trudge (this snow was DEEP) we arrived at the fire. I reached for my phone to discover it was no longer in my pocket. Huge. Siiiighhhh. I knew my phone had to be somewhere along the 50 foot long path we’d created in the snow, so I diligently canvassed the area, scouring the WHITE snow, for my WHITE phone. And to make matters worse, the more I scoured the more new footprints I created, making it nearly impossible to tell where we had first walked. I didn’t say much during this search and rescue mission but knew that if I did not find my phone, it would be a royal pain in the *ss to get a new one (I knew this from a previous Teha’s Travels mishap when my phone had an unfortunate run-in with a defective dry bag while whitewater kayaking in Croatia…procuring a new one overseas was both a lengthy and expensive endeavor). My travel mates kept encouraging me to give up the seemingly futile search and join them around the fire before I froze to death (they didn’t say that last part but they later admitted thinking it) but I refused to give up. Don’t they look worried?The the way I thought about it, my phone HAD to be somewhere along that 50 foot stretch of snow and while the chances might be slim that I would actually find it- there was a ZERO percent chance I would find it if I didn’t keep looking. So keep looking I did! Probably a good 30 minutes later, just when I was mentally trying to come to terms with the fact that my phone was probably gone…EUREKA! Miracles do happen! Our guide seemed shocked. The other members of my group seemed extremely relieved, most likely that they wouldn’t have to be dealing with the potential aftermath of sick AND phone-less Teha. I don’t blame them in the least! [Note: All’s well that ends well, although I do have to admit that the toes on my left foot have not felt quite the same since that frigid phone-hunting expedition…just an odd tingly sensation at times. But what’s a few toes….at least I have my phone!] I was on a high (from both snowmobiling and the found phone) that lasted until we got off the snowmobiles. I think the British Tylenol had worn off by then too and I was authentically chilled to my bones, wanting nothing more than to be in bed. Which is where I went…..and slept for hours (bundled in a hat, four shirts, three layers of pants and four pairs of socks). All was well worth it for the feeling of whizzing over the ice on the snowmobile! Sadly I missed out on the group’s Ivalo fun that afternoon:That night we enjoyed a second Finnish meal, featuring none other than reindeer. I wasn’t sure about this but it actually tasted pretty good! I also enjoyed it in a soup the subsequent evening, where it had more of a smokey, bacony taste. The Finnish definitely have no qualms about eating Donner, Blitzen, and the gang. Same drill the next morning but on a different exciting winter adventure…dog sledding! I didn’t know what to expect on this excursion but once again it was incredible. It reminded me of that book “The Call of the Wild” by Jack London, that was pesky mandatory reading in high school. Danielle and I had our own sled (once again she was the passenger, I was the driver- roles we were both very happy with) and this time we had a whole fleet of energetic huskies that pulled us (and fast) through a beautiful winter wonderland-y forest. The sled driver wasn’t supposed to take videos but I couldn’t help it…at least I only had one warning this trip!

Our sledding adventure ended with tea and delicious salmon and potato soup around a fire. The next day we had a few hours to explore in the snow before heading off to Finland’s capital, Helsinki. I roamed around that morning and tried so hard to see a reindeer but no dice…just a lot of evidence that there were around (and likely hiding from my pink snow pants). These pants are actually my 92 year old grandmother’s back from her skiing days and she actually had a jacket to match! It takes a certain kind of person to rock pink ski pants like these ones and I can only hope to do them as much justice as Nan did!

We’d heard that Sundays were quiet in Helsinki and that it would be hard to find something to do. But I was starting to feel my fever subside and was excited to join the group to see what we could conjure up! We ended up at one of the few open estashments…Bar Base. I’m not sure what the Sunday night theme is there exactly but it was definitely locals night and was far from tame. We may not have understood much of the language but we had a blast! Funny headwear is known for breaking down language barriers.

The next morning we were up and at-em, following Binay who had seen a YouTube video on the top things to see and do in Helsinki. It seemed he recognized EVERYTHING we saw as the “#1 thing” from the video. But apparently an 18th century sea fortress called Suomenlinna was REALLY at the top of the list, so we took a ferry there (cruising through icebergs…like the titanic but, thankfully, more successfully). It was a FREEEEZING day in general and especially so on the blustery fortress island. Once again…hand warmers to the rescue! This fortress has some really cool history as it was originally constructed to protect against Russian expansionism and was created using a typical “star-shaped style of fortification” but adopted for a group of rocky islands. This construction methodology was apparently very successful as the sea fortress still stands in seemingly perfect condition and there are even about 800 year round residents. Back on the mainland we warmed up with lunch and speed-toured a few churches before ending up at a Boston bar (by accident, I swear!) where we played Finnish scrabble. There is a different ratio of consonants to vowels in the Finnish version of Scrabble and some letters are missing altogether. At one point Claire had 4 k’s in her letter bank! I have to say it was surreal sitting in Finland in a bar with Boston sports paraphernalia everywhere and with the Washington Capitals hockey game on TV! Before heading out on the town (aka back to Bar Base) for our final evening of the trip, we presented Daisy with a thank-you gift for organizing our adventures, which she totally rocked. Little did Bar Base know that it’s Twister night on Mondays! Daisy denies this was her doing but the rest of us are certain it was. Some final touring in the morning before heading to the airport to head back to London. There, we finally found the northern lights! The amazing Daisy already created a fantastic re-cap video of the trip, that you can view here.

As I boarded the plane to take me from Helsinki to London I got a message from a friend warning me it was the coldest week of the year in London, and it was only 3 degrees Celsius that day. I realized Finland had recalibrated my idea of what constitutes cold and happily settled into my seat, looking forward to the warm weather!

I really have nothing to complain about…except WOW airlines

It was a rude awakening, weather-wise, when I arrived in New Hampshire on the day after Christmas. Now remember, I’d been on the beach in Thailand just weeks before, and even when I was back in DC it was pretty mild for December. My timing for this trip was impeccable. I mean, what are the odds I arrive in NH at the EXACT same time as a record-setting cold spell? And given that NH is known for having bad winters, this breaking records stuff means it’s pretty darn cold. Like the below zero kinda cold. And this cold blast lasted for THE ENTIRE TEN DAYS I was there, culminating in a blizzard the night before I left (which I saw as a middle finger good-bye gesture from Mother Nature).

So, for ten days it was too cold to go outside for more than a few minutes…which resulted in a lot of time inside and lots of “opportunities” for family bonding. I had the option of two locations where I could participate in this bonding: my parents’ house (which includes my mom and dad) and my sister’s house (which includes my sister, Tobi, her husband, their three children, and two cats). Over the ten days, I found a great balance toggling back and forth between the two houses- the chaotic and exciting environment of Tobi’s and the relaxing and excitement-lite environment of my parents’. At my sister’s I loved hanging out with my adorable nephews, and especially meeting my brand new nephew, Theodore! How cute is he?!

I even came to enjoy the 7am wake-up calls of two shrieking jumping beans (named Felix and Hugo), who jumped on both me and the bed with MUCH gusto every morning I was there.

As much as I enjoyed this, I needed a break every few days and enjoyed the solace of my parents’ spot. I also loved spending some QT with my parents and was even there the day my dad came home from work for the last time before retirement. After so many years of grabbing his briefcase (and gym bag) and heading to the office, he was dunzo!

Now, if you who know me at all, you know that I have just a lil’ bit of energy and this being-stuck-inside thing was bound to have me bouncing off the walls. This could have resulted in a disaster over ten days [namely me going bonkers]. Have no fear… Planet Fitness to the rescue! This was a clutch move that contributed pretty significantly to the success of the visit…that and a few (short-lived) outdoor expeditions.

Despite the farewell blizzard I made it back to DC, where the next week and a half flew by and soon I was scrambling to pack the morning of my next adventure! Where am I going, you may ask?  So…this trip kind of morphed along the way as I discovered that it’s super-cheap to travel to and around some European cities during cold and dark January. What a perfect time to hit up some new places! And after braving the New Hampshire weather, I was certain Europe would feel like Cancun.

Sorry, but I’m not going to divulge my full itinerary for the next six weeks. Telling you would ruin the fun (and it’s possible I haven’t firmed up all the details yet). I will share that I’m starting out by visiting Stockholm, Brussels, Prague, Vienna, and Salzburg. Let me explain…

So, I’d been bragging to my friends that I’d found a $150 ticket from DC to Stockholm. What a smart and fastidious traveler I must be to track down this deal! Yes, it was with a low budget airline (of course it is for that price), and it takes a smidge longer than some other airlines because there’s a layover in Iceland. But at least it’s a short layover (this seemed like a good thing at the time). So, I downloaded Season 2 of the Crown and felt prepared for 11 hours of travel! I was not, however, prepared for 44 hours of travel. YES, it took me almost two days to fly to Stockholm!

My journey began when good ole WOW texted at 8 am [on the day of my flight] that my flight was 45 minutes delayed. I appreciated the advance notice (as well as the extra time to overpack). Yet, I got to the airport and no delay was listed on the boards? BUT both the ticket agent, and the actual ticket, said that the 45 minute delay was still in place. [The boards in the airport actually never showed a delay and the flight just disappeared from the board once the original departure time passed]. It was flight crazy-town! The lounge concierge was even flummoxed by this, but said, “strange things frequently happen with WOW airlines.”  If only I knew how much stranger these things could become…[btw, check-out how harmonious the flight-crew was before take-off- they were yelling]:

Upon takeoff, the WOW flight attendant announced that most passengers on our flight were transferring in Iceland and heading to Europe. She also said that, despite the delay, she was “99% certain” that all the connecting flights would wait for us. PHEW! Then we landed…. and the same lady got on the loudspeaker to let us know that if you were headed to Stockholm or Berlin, well, those planes didn’t wait. 99% certain? How lucky of me to finally be a one-percenter!

What happened next, at 6am Iceland-time, is a little bit fuzzy due to having slept for only an hour or so (and it being the middle of the night, DC-time). I recall wandering to the WOW info desk and being told to get my luggage and find the “meeting point.” I did as instructed and at said point found a cluster of other half-asleep, mildly disgruntled travelers. Of course, I paused to take a very flattering selfie.

It was there that all of the inmates were issued pink slips of paper (literally) with the name of the “hotel,”  where we’d be staying. When asked about specifics, the WOW reps shrugged a bunch, repeated the fact that there were no more flights to our destination that day, and provided assurances that we’d be on the first flight the next morning. We were then ushered onto airport buses and driven to our “hotel.” During the drive we were quiet and defeated, looking like inmates not knowing where we were being taken, or for how long. We were dropped off at The Base “hotel” that was seemingly in the middle of nowhere…in snowy, dark tundra of Iceland.

Let me be clear that The Base is NOT a “hotel.” What it is, it turns out, is a former U.S. Military Base that is in a strategically remote location, pretty close to the airport. This was a strategic location for a military base. Not for a “hotel.” [Spoiler alert: It’s a hostel. Just call it like it is!]

We rolled our suitcases through the snow to the “lobby” of The Base where we got in line to receive our assignments. I got to the front of the line and was given a key to room 212B (all the rooms have shared bathrooms… just like most “hotels” that airlines put you up in when you’ve been inconvenienced?!). I hauled my excessive amount of luggage to the room and opened the door to realize I’d awoken and startled a man sleeping in the single bed in the room! Actually, he didn’t seem overly concerned with the situation when I tried to explain. Maybe he’d been there a few days and was immune to the “hotel’s” business practices. I lugged everything BACK to the “lobby” (two flight of stairs, but at least easier going down). The front desk women seemed more confused than bothered, “well, I don’t know who he is or why he’s there…” I tried to show some empathy by sharing that I did not know why we was there either. She must have liked that as she “totally hooked me up” with my new room- a family hostel room with bunk beds, twin beds and a double beds! So many beds just for me! And what a view!

I admit that I used the deadbolt to make sure no potentially assigned bunkmates could get in. By this time, it was  8am and still pitch black. I checked my phone and discovered that sunrise was scheduled for 11am and sunset for around 4pm. Yikes. I took a snooze and watched an episode of the Crown…and then it was light (only one light) out! But it was also lunchtime and I was hungry. We’d been told by the WOW reps that we’d be comp’d for all three meals that day. This meant we could spend 2,000 of Icelandic currency (I’ll call them ‘things’) on each meal. Unfortunately, this was not for use at the restaurant of our choice (not that there were any to choose from) and it was to be spent at The Base Hotel’s on-Base “restaurant” that was a 10-minute walk from the barracks. This was more of a trek than a walk, through the snow and ice….and on that day, also blustery winds. It would definitely have been very difficult for anyone with a physical impairment to get there.

Once I arrived, it was not surprising that the restaurant (more like a mess hall) was as strange as the rest of ‘the situation.’ I got a menu and realized that there was pretty much nothing I could purchase for 2,000 things (equivalent to $20). Shocker of shockers, I had to pay extra to get a chicken salad and soft-drink. It was clearly the Soviet-bloc ambiance I was paying for? At this point, I knew I had to do something that involved movement to survive this situation, but there was no Planet Fitness to be found. Instead, I embarked on a walk to the nearest “town,” that was about 2 miles away.

The scenery was beautiful, as it is in Iceland, but I had no idea where I was or where I was going, and was paranoid the sun would set at any moment (in which case I’d have been a real liability for WOW). I completed the walk (the ‘town’ was pretty much non-existent but there were some nice views on the way) and I returned to The Base “hotel” thinking it would be a long night. Here’s the town:

Then I remembered that the airport shuttle was picking us up at 3:30am, so the night would not be long at all. Phew! I trekked back out to restaurant (an extra-chilly venture after the sun was down!) got another  chicken wrap (that was more than 2,000 things, of course) and headed to bed. I was surprisingly awake at 3am (I credit the time change) and, despite the early bell, folks on the bus were actually a little chatty this time! While at The Base “hotel” I’d enjoyed meeting Joanne from Munich at lunch and having dinner with Kenny from Chicago, and it seemed others had done the same. One sub-group of five strangers had even coordinated an excursion to the Blue Lagoon!

Sadly, this was not a happy ending (don’t get your hopes up). Our spirits dampened when we reached the airport…or at least the spirits of the Stockholm-bound hostages, as the Berlin flight was on-track. There were five of us headed to Stockholm. We were told that there was actually no flight to Stockholm that day, and never had been (lots of shrugs and whoopsies) so we had the option of going back to The Base “hotel” for another day (we all shook our heads furiously when this was mentioned) OR of going to Copenhagen and flying to Stockholm from there. Despite the lack of specifics around the second leg of our journey, we boarded the plane, prepared to follow instructions and go to the WOW info desk upon arrival. The first problem with this plan was that there is no WOW info desk in Copenhagen. [Minor detail.] Thankfully, among my AMAZING four female fellow travelers (all native Swedish and one was 7-years old), there was initiative. Must be a Swedish efficiency thing…these ladies got sh*t done! Sadly there was not a whole lot to immediately get done in this cluster of a situation, as WOW seemed to have no clue who we were or what their plan was to get us to our final destination. Our seven-year old trooper, Danica, journaled her feelings during this time, while the adults were contemplating less healthy coping mechanisms. She nailed it, putting in writing that she is the Customer of WOW’s past and as far as happiness goes, she’s feeling none. Zilch.

Danica’s amazing Mom, Marit, made a very smart decision to get out of dodge and take the train, in an effort to get to her elderly father and her daughter’s grandfather faster. We all exchanged information and hugged goodbye.

And then there were three… after four hours of futile attempts to get answers (by both us and the very kind airport staff, who are deployed to help with exactly this type of situation), the lead Swedish warrior woman decided to just buy a ticket to Stockholm on another airline and demand reimbursement. The very kind airport staff could not officially recommend this course of action but nodded when asked if it was a good idea. They seemed experienced in dealing (and being beaten down) with WOW-related issues. So, my new best friend (Hanna) and I quickly followed suit and bought a ticket to Stockholm… an expensive ticket, I might add. Whatever- strength in numbers!

Hanna and I had officially met at 3:30am that morning, despite having crossing paths a few times at The Base “hotel”, at which time we were both in “what’s going on right now, eyes straight ahead” mode. Hanna is a creative, wise, and super-fun musician, who moved from Sweden to Baltimore three years ago. So, we’re practically neighbors and I have no doubt we’ll meet up when we’re both back in the area. Maybe meeting Hanna is the one thing I can give WOW credit for on this epic journey? Or maybe not. I actually suspect that we were just meant to meet and WOW had nothing to do with it 😊

So, at the end of the DAYS, my journey ended up taking 44 hours, which left me with about 16 hours to explore Stockholm before moving on to Brussels. I’ll fill you in on both cities in the next day or so. This is already so long… so much to say and congrats if you made it to the end!