road less travelled – Teha's Travels- Sometimes You Just Gotta…

February 19, 2019March 1, 2019

Avoiding solitude at home and reclaiming it in Bali

It’s been a while since I last blogged and I’m totally behind hence this overdue catch-up. To be honest, I think I needed a little break to recharge. Don’t worry, I’m not going to complain about my tough life right now because nothing about it is a hardship, but I will say that constant travel can be exhausting! And (again NOT looking for sympathy) I’ve found that it’s a bit difficult to go back to “reality” after my travel adventures… reality being my one bedroom apartment in DC (the epicenter of Trump nation). It is always a little odd to be alone after having a multitude of fabulous people around me all the time and I find myself getting lonely at times (If only people didn’t have pesky jobs to attend to!) Don’t get me wrong, I love love love seeing my friends and family who I have missed dearly and I try to jam-pack my time with as many catch-up sessions as possible. This time though, I was stateside for the longest stretch in quite a while and did my best to stay as busy as possible. I spent both Thanksgiving and Christmas in New Hampshire and had a blast (a very busy blast!) with my zany northeast family and friends.

After spending the holidays in New England, I headed back to DC for New Year’s and a visit from Steve Thailand (he is neither Thai, nor is his last name a country but I met him on my Thailand/Laos trip so he is subject to the naming convention I use to differentiate my friends from various trips). Steve came to visit all the way from England and dove right into my DC-life, complete with attending his first “ice hockey” game (I’m guessing to differentiate from the field varietal that is more of a thing in his country), playing tourist, and a plethora of social gatherings (I may have overdone it a bit with the gatherings, but I wanted him to have the full experience of my life).

We concluded his visit with a fantastic New Year’s Eve celebration that included a houseboat party and trombone concert. I’m pretty sure Steve now has some specific ideas about how Americans celebrate the holiday and I may or may not have played it up that trombones and houseboats are traditional components of any good Yankee NYE.

After a great visit with Steve, I had a few weeks of days filled with normal life administrivia, volunteering (Martha’s Table, a wonderful organization- please check it out!), some travel planning, and hanging with my local nieces and nephew… it’s amazing how the days fly by, even when you don’t have much to do. I will say that perhaps the one benefit of the ridiculous U.S. government shutdown was that I had more friends around to hang out with!

And then… I was off again! I won’t bore you with the details of how exactly my flights came to be arranged the way they were, but it basically resulted in FOUR days of travel to get to my INTERIM destination… Bali! And, after finally arriving and spending one night in chaotic Kuta (avoid it if you can) I was on a speed boat for a 30 minute ride to my ACTUAL final destination, Lembongan island. [So, really it was FIVE days of travel if you count the night in cray-cray Kuta.] As I stumbled off the speed boat, I was unsure of where I was and how I got there. Alas, I looked around, smiled, and released a huuuuge exhale. It felt like that one had been building up for a long time.

How did I select this destination, you may be wondering? Excellent question. Well, I was going to Borneo for another Flash Pack Insider trip (!!) and figured for the week prior to the trip I might as well hang out on the beach as opposed to snowy, grumpy, Trumpy DC. If you haven’t been to Bali it is super cheap (even cheaper then Thailand!) and I kind of wanted to chill in advance of what looked to be an action-packed Borneo adventure. That’s where my friend Google came into the picture, and assisted me in finding a little spot called Rama Garden that seemed popular for solo travelers interested in yoga, surfing, and beach time. It’s located on Lembongan island, which is described as the complete opposite of busy, touristy Kuta. Ding, ding, ding! Sign me up. Although you could do a package that included a certain number of yoga sessions, surfing lessons and snorkeling, I just booked the lodging accommodation and opted to figure it out as I went along. You know I love winging it a little! This worked out well for me, although I met several people who did the package and they seemed to enjoy it and got a nifty complimentary water bottle and tote! Either way works (and is very cost effective to boot).

Rama Garden is a small spot with 8 bungalows, each complete with an open air shower that I especially loved. There’s a little restaurant/hang-out area where you are extremely well taken care of by the staff, in particular the manager who is a friendly local named Lis. The reviews all mentioned the delicious and healthy food as well as the fresh juices and these reviews did not exaggerate. I’m not typically a big juice person but I think it’s just because I haven’t had juice as fresh as this before. It was sooo delicious! My favorite was the turmeric delight.

Rama is just a quick two minute walk from a gorgeous beach with the bluest water. This is where I spent a lot of time plowing through a few selections from the Rama book exchange and enjoying picturesque sunsets.

My five days really flew by thanks to a mix of yoga, surfing, and a snorkeling trip (all arranged by the amazing Lis).

I have to admit that I ended up being kind of glad I hadn’t signed up for the package as I was able to limit my activity to one thing per day… yoga AND surfing in one day seemed like a lot. I also realized I was using my extra energy to focus internally for once!

Thanks to my new friend from Rama, Katie, for the snorkeling pics! One of the best things about Rama was meeting other solo travelers, like Katie from England, who I keep in-touch with. Overall, I didn’t stray too far from Rama Garden but on my last night Lis arranged for one of the staff members to take me on a tour of the island. She actually first suggested I rent a scooter and drive around myself, and while I loved the Vespa tour I did in Spain, there was NO way I was going to maneuver a scooter around those roads (we’re talking serious off-roading!). Needless to say, I was grateful for my impromptu guide for a wonderful tour of the picturesque rocky coastline and beautiful beaches the island offers.

In hindsight, I think my tour guide may have thought we were on a date and he didn’t seem happy when I declined his request for a kiss… but he was a good sport about it. He also didn’t seem thrilled when I said I had to pack for my departure the next morning and couldn’t hang out with him after the tour. I realized that I was busted in this lie when he saw me heading down to the beach a little while later (and clearly not packing)… ohhhh well!

That night I enjoyed a final delicious meal at a local beach side restaurant, ironically cherishing the same solitude I had dreaded in my DC apartment. I was sad to leave the next day but felt thoroughly rejuvenated from my five days on Lembongan Island. I’m not sure what I need to rejuvenate from exactly but sometimes I guess you don’t need to know. What I do know is that Bali gave me back something that my soul needed and for that I am extremely grateful.

Apparently I’m not the only one who can feel cosmic magic in the air in Lembongan. On the speed boat ride back to mainland, I met three different Western folks who had gone to the island and never left, staying to work there in various capacities. I can definitely see the appeal!

My bittersweet goodbye to Bali was soon forgotten in my excitement to meet up with Keith Nepal (one guess which trip I met him on) who would be joining me on my Borneo adventure! Keef (as he was known to the Nepalese) is just the best and I couldn’t wait to see him again! We connected at the Bali airport as Keef was coming from a tour of some of the more remote areas (which sounded amazing, albeit less relaxing than my Rama Garden experience). Here’s the selfie from the airport lounge we sent to the rest of our Nepal trip group (and it evoked the exact envious responses we were aiming for.) In all honesty, we both wished the whole Nepal tour group was joining us, as it was an epic crew!

Together, Keef and I flew to Kuching, Malaysia and prepared for our tour to commence. So… where is Borneo you may be wondering? Funny, as it turns out that neither Keef nor I had any idea where it was when we signed up for the trip! I actually thought it was a country at the time (it’s not, as it turns out… it’s an island, and the 3rd largest island in the WORLD to boot). Stay tuned for more on this amazing spot…

December 5, 2018December 6, 2018

Mark and me hit Poland

As a natural stop after exploring Thailand and Laos, I flew directly to Poland. Wait…you haven’t heard of the popular Thailand-Laos-Poland tourist route? So many people were doing it that they even have a Bangkok to Warsaw express flight! (This is all a lie, unless you consider a 20+ hour sojourn, via Dubai and Warsaw, an express flight. And, no bother to me, it’s not like my time is a huge commodity these days!)

Anyways, once I had resigned myself to the epic journey, it was all good and I even added three hours onto my travel time by voluntarily being bumped from the last leg for 250 euros (and given to me in cash money at the gate!). With lounge access via Priority Pass, three hours didn’t seem that long to wait and I even got to see a beautiful sunset from the lounge. Proof positive for going with the moment!

So, let’s back it up, why exactly was I headed to Poland you may be wondering….let me tell you! My most wonderful Dad (also known as Mark) retired last year and had been wanting to do some traveling. With the world as his oyster, and out of all the beautiful (and warm!) places in the world to explore during the month of November…Mark chose Poland. Course he did. Maybe not my first choice but he’s a bit of a history nerd and has a thing for eastern Europe. And, as timing would have it, I could “swing by” on my way back to the U.S. and join him for the second part of his trip. Who doesn’t love a good father-daughter junket in eastern Europe?

Mark had been to Krakow solo and we were meeting in Warsaw, the second stop on his itinerary. I was a little bummed to miss Krakow as I heard great things about it from my Dad and others. It amazingly was spared from the horrible bombing the country has endured over the years so it’s the only remaining old city in the country. And, touring Auschwitz would be incredibly powerful to see. Here’s a few of Mark’s pics of what I missed:

Alas, Krakow was not in the cards this time around (I know, I know, nobody feels bad for me, had to miss Krakow for Laos). After finally landing in Warsaw I met my Dad at our accommodations, the H12 Boutique Hotel. So, my dad had initially booked another hotel but switched after this hotel offered me a nice discount to stay there, because I’m such a big-time blogger and all (far from true but I have been getting more traction with the whole Teha’s Travels thing). I’m not a fan of blogger’s getting free stuff as I feel like I never know if I can trust what they’re saying. And I know some bloggers will directly accept free stuff in exchange for a positive review. That just seems wrong and I’ve declined any offers of this nature. In this case, however, the hotel explicitly said as part of their policy they don’t ask anything in exchange for the discount and they hoped I had a nice stay. Well, how could I say no to that? I told Mark, who of course wanted in on the deal. Somehow I didn’t think his 41 Instagram followers would warrant any type of a hotel discount, so I responded to the offer and asked if my dad could have it too, and he would need it for two more nights than me…and they said yes!

We both got these amazing upgraded suites and I’m pretty sure mine was bigger than my apartment. My unbiased review is that this place is incredible and I highly recommend it. [Although with the significant caveat I don’t know what the price would have been for the suites we had and a room within my budget may have been very different. Just want to be completely transparent on this!] The hotel is modern, bright, spacious, and it has character (as well as a delicious breakfast). Our suites also had a huge bathroom and even a kitchen area (get this, Mark had TWO bathrooms in his suite, although he didn’t discover the second one until the third day! Hahaha!).

Mark and me spent two days exploring Warsaw together (it was unclear what Mark was doing for two days in the city before I arrived but based on what I saw my guess is lots of wandering around looking at a paper map). We kicked things off with a free walking tour of the Old Town area and I won’t bore you with the full story of how we found the starting point of the tour (CliffsNotes version: Mark said he knew exactly how to get there. “I was just in that square yesterday!” He did not, it turns out know how to get there. Cue the first of many times Google Maps saves the day in Poland!). So, the Old Town is inside of the ancient City Walls and was meticulously rebuilt after complete devastation during WWII. It’s very quaint and features a huge square that was just starting to be decorated for the holidays- I wish I’d seen it in it’s full holiday regalia. So, I admit not being in full form during this initial walking tour…the jet lag was in full effect following my never-ending journey to get there.

I do recall it was a beautiful city and that the guide gave us our lunch recommendation for that day, a Milk Bar. In fact not just ANY Milk Bar, the very FIRST Milk Bar in the country, established in 1896. (Later we also learned that the Dali Lama himself has eaten there! Practically one degree of separation there). We’d never heard of them before but apparently Milk Bars are common in Poland. They were started post WWI when Poland was working to regain it’s independence and they were popular as cheap (and government subsidized) eating establishments and they gained prominence during the economic depression of the 1930s. Most of the old Milk Bars have transitioned to regular restaurants over time but a few remain, as relics of the welfare state and to support the poor. And while they do serve milk, they are not, in fact, bars that serves alcohol. Apparently we were the only members of the tour group who heeded the recommendation from the tour guide (I can see why other’s didn’t, he didn’t exactly sell it with his description…especially the part where he said they don’t speak ANY English). Alas, Mark and me (Note to my grandmother, Nan- I know “Mark and me” is grammatically incorrect, I just like the ring to it) were not deterred. And it turns out that our guide was not exaggerating. There just a few locals inside and we walked to the counter, staring blankly at the menu on the wall….completely in Polish. No pictures, no translations. Mark took the easy way out and ordered pierogies, the dish our guide had specifically mentioned as an offering. (He totally cheated). I somehow translated what soup was and as I tried to order I felt a twinge of empathy for Elaine in the Soup Nazi episode of Seinfeld. This lady was all business, not dealing with any type of question or hesitation, and barking responses in what sounded like a hybrid of Polish and Russian. I honestly had no idea what I’d ordered but it was tomato soup with a few noodles, kind of like Chef Boyardee. I enjoyed our inaugural milk bar experience and as we left Mark had the hankering to take a photo of me with the Oh-so-kind lady at the register. I advised him that this likely would not go well, but he was not deterred. I was glad I thought to film the request, though, as watching the “NIET!” reaction to the request and my dad push it and eventually scamper away is something I haven’t gotten sick of watching.

That afternoon we explored the streets and spent a while in the Warsaw City museum, which is built into five townhouses on the main square. We started by weaving through the many rooms and meticulously stopping at each numbered item to hear the corresponding audio narrative on our headsets. Neither of us realized that there are multiple floors to the museum, however, and thought we must be just about done as we concluded the first floor…only to see there were 4 more to go. That kind of overwhelmed me and I glanced at a few more displays before heading directly to the highest level, which had beautiful views of the square.

So, one of the reasons Mark and me make such a crack travel team is that we’re on the same page about things like this. We both thought the museum was interesting but, more the 90-minutes kind of interesting, not the 5-floor kind of interesting. We made our way back to the H12 (cue Google maps, although Mark liked to take his paper map out for effect and act like he had some clue where we were), stopping to snap a few nighttime pics along the way.

We took a nap/tea/email break from each other in our respective ginormous hotel rooms before meeting up for dinner. I was the self-proclaimed VP of Food & Beverage in our operation and this arrangement worked out quite well, and especially as Mark frequently footed the bill for the meal (it was the least he could do, if left to his own devices who know where he could have ended up!). That evening we arrived at the place I selected and were told they were full. This turned out to be the first of several times the place I chose was busy and required reservations and we had not made one (reservation booking is not within the job description of the VP Food & Bev, btw). Yet, as Mark & me luck would have it, each time the restaurant managed to find a perfect table for us! We had some fabulous culinary experiences, and to think I had gone in with some low-ish expectations for the food in Poland (especially coming from yummy Thai food!).

We made the most of our final half-day in Warsaw by museum hopping, first hitting the hitting up the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, which had come recommended. It had won the award for the best museum in Europe, which I thought was maybe a puff award but the museum was reeally good! I highly recommend if you’re in Warsaw. We had a train to catch and only had 90 minutes in the museum, but this time I would have loved the extra time. I had naively not understood the magnitude of the devastation to the Jewish population in Poland in WWII was horrified to learn that 90% of Polish Jews were driven out or killed. It’s just unimaginable.

Not a lot of down-time in our agenda and we grabbed our bags and headed to the train station to grab a quick lunch before our train to Gdansk. In reflecting on our time in Warsaw we both agreed we could have done with another day or two (still unclear what Mark was doing there for two days before I arrived). I like to leave a city wanting more and was quite happy boarding the train that would take us to the coastal city of Gdansk.

Now, I’ve ridden a lot of different trains in my travels and have learned that in Europe they are usually pretty good. And that in most cases the additional cost for First Class accommodations doesn’t bring a lot of added value. Well, Mark had booked these train tickets and, in uncharacteristic baller fashion, had mentioned several times that we would be going “First Class.” I didn’t expect much of a difference from Coach but it turned out the Polish train system has a different idea of First class. We had our own little car, with two sets of three seats, facing each other. It was like a capsule and had a light you could turn on or off (Mark liked it off) and with a black curtain you could pull if you wanted privacy (we left the curtain open). Mark was happy as a clam with this “private car” (as he called it) whereas I had the opposite reaction and found it a little odd to be in a dark capsule within the train. And the curtains freaked me out…I couldn’t help wondering why people would need complete privacy during a two hour train ride? What were they doing in there??) Here’s Mark doing baller things in his “private car.”

Despite our different First Class experience, we made it to Gdansk and took in our first glimpses of the beautiful city at night.

We kicked things off in true Poland style with a free walking tour (love myself a good free walking tour and the company we used in both Warsaw and Gdansk was great!) This one was deemed the “Solidarity tour,” which Mark & me rebranded it as the Commie tour. Turns out that Gdansk (which is the fifth largest city in Poland) was critical in the fall of communism and the tour picked up after WWII, which left the city in complete ruins and with a completely replaced population. Cue the new communist Poland, overseen by good ole Russia and I hadn’t realized that this lasted well into the 80’s. And Gdansk was important because of it’s critical role in the ship-building program and was also known for being a hot-bed of protests against communist oppression. In 1970, 46 shipyard workers were killed a week before Christmas, in response to their protests against unfair (the really bad kinda unfair) working conditions. Protests escalated again in 1980, following years of oppression and rising food prices, and by now the movement was more coordinated with 17,000 workers banding together in protest. The result was the and successful formation of the Solidarity union. The Russians didn’t like this too much and enforced a system of martial law for a few years, which sounded like it was pretty horrible. The Solidarity union quickly turned into a movement with 1/3 of Poland’s residents joining and after years of conflict, in 1989 was successful in pressuring the government into talks which led to the end of communism in the country.

It blew my mind that this was happening as late as 1989…I don’t think it even had time to make it into my history books at school. It was also clearly a difficult topic for people to talk about, as it was so recent, and our guide showed glimpses of emotion as she recounted the conditions.

After saving for years, she recalled when her father had scraped together enough money for a Fiat, but then had to wait four years for one to be available, with no idea what the timeline would be. There was no choice on color and they were relieved when he came home with blue and not pink.

We delved deeper into the history of Gdansk during another tour, this one of the Main Town area and we learned that Nazi Germany’s attack on Gdansk in 1939 officially marked the start of WWII. And then the beautiful, previously thriving port city was bombed into oblivion by the Germans and Russians, like complete oblivion. Here’s the aftermath-

Talk about a resilient city to have come back the way they have following the WWII stuff AND the Commie stuff. When it rains it pours indeed. The city was rebuilt in the 1960s and while they wanted to restore the old beauty they did NOT want to show any German influence so they went for a Dutch look instead. And since they didn’t have any original brick to use in the rebuilding they went to a nearby city and helped themselves to their bricks…. That’s right, they just took apart a city and stole their bricks! The guide didn’t seem to feel too bad about it and said something along the lines of “they rebuilt eventually so all’s well that ends well!” And they did a nice job rebuilding so maybe she’s right.

[Not sure what Mark is doing in that last one but it was the only one of the bunch where his head isn’t totally blocking the beautiful sunset I was trying to capture.]

So, I actually didn’t get to participate in the entire Main Town tour, as there was a disruption that resulted in my losing the tour group for a period of time. That disruption is named Mark. As our tour group made our way up one of the remaining historic cobblestone streets of Gdansk listening to the guide, Mark got distracted by a shopkeeper with a display case of amber jewelry on the sidewalk. He had mentioned wanting to get my mom an amber piece, which was very thoughtful of him. However, it would have been more thoughtful if he had chosen to do this AFTER the walking tour. Not DURING the walking tour.

I tried (very hard) to ignore him but he was standing so close to the group that the guide had to speak over his conversation (which was very focused on the nuances of the amber stone…trust me I could hear it all). I had a feeling the conversation would end with him asking me to help him and I tried to burrow myself out of sight in the middle of the group. No dice…he spotted me. I looked sheepish as I slinked away from the group to participate in the distraction. As I “helped” Mark choose a necklace for my mother, the group meandered up the street, continuing the tour. A few minutes later I scampered after them while Mark was paying for the necklace….except which way did they go? It was a good thirty minutes before I tracked them down and there was Mark, listening intently to the guide explain the old post office landmark. Somehow he had linked up with the group right away and barely missed any of the tour. Still unclear if he would have noticed I was even missing if I hadn’t texted him.

Over a Milk Bar lunch with a fellow walking tour friend we learned of other things to do around Gdansk and one day we headed north to the town of Gdynia where we hiked along the cliffs overlooking the Baltic Sea. We were very proud of ourselves for somehow figuring out the train system to get there and back. Although if we’d been relying only on Mark’s map for this expedition, we would have been in big trouble. Google Maps even helped me figure out the hiking trail! We also enjoyed some great meals in Gdansk and enjoyed competing in a daily “breakfast challenge” via my Instagram story (@tehastravels). Although I think my friends liked to vote for Mark’s breakfast just to give me a hard time. I mean, crepe, syrup and herring all together on a plate?? There is just no way.I honestly wasn’t sure what I’d think of Poland and I really loved it. I found the country rich with history, beauty, and culture, in addition to oozing with character and having a refreshing “real-ness” about it. And, as I was there World War II came alive for me in a way it hadn’t before, in a way you can’t really convey in a history book or even a movie. All in all, I have to say that Mark & Me was a fantastic adventure and I have to give Mark credit for choosing Poland. [Let it be noted that I still refuse to compliment his breakfast selections, navigational skills, or amber shopping timing.]

November 17, 2018November 20, 2018

Unforgettable Thailand and Laos

In the three weeks after the Nepal trip, I managed to catch-up with 15 friends I’d met on various Flash Pack trips over the past 15 months. And I did this catching up in three different countries. How crazy is that?! I stopped in London on the way home and had an amazing time with friends from four different trips on their home turf, then Danny came to visit in DC, and then I found myself in Brussels where I saw two other friends from trips. I feel so fortunate to have all of these wonderful people in my life, many of whom will be lifelong friends. It’s hard to imagine that if I hadn’t started traveling I probably would never have met any of them. I guess the universe didn’t want it that way!

Then, I was on my next Flash Pack trip, another Chief Insider gig on their inaugural trip to Northern Thailand and Laos. So far I’ve super-liked everywhere I’d been in southeast Asia and had really wanted to go to Laos, which is what attracted me to the trip in the first place. And although I’d been to Thailand a couple of times before, I had never seen the northern part of the country and was intrigued. I arrived in Bangkok wondering if I’d like the group. It’s funny as you’d think the 100% success rate in this department would not leave me wondering this…but every trip I think maybe this time the people will all suck. It’s completely irrational- I know this. This time I snapped a pic of the group during the first dinner and posted it on my Insta story. I wanted to believe my comment but at that point I honestly wasn’t sure. But as it turned out my “premonition” was correct and 11 days later there were tearful goodbyes (there are since multiple group reunion trips in the hopper).Our guide’s name is Ae, which is pronounced like the letter ‘A’ but she said her friends call her Amy. A few days later she was only going by Amy with us and she has announced she’s on-board for any and all group reunion trips. I’m used to having great guides on Flash Pack trips, but Amy is really something special and someone I suspect I will see again at some point. I can only imagine that the first time running a trip is pretty stressful for guides but Amy was calm, cool, and collected (and absolutely hilarious) throughout. It was also a nearly flawlessly executed trip, as if she’d been doing Flash Pack trips for years (Flash Pack makes it a point to differentiate their trips from the rest of the tour companies- their trips are focused on local experiences and adventure activities, as opposed to just checking the site-seeing boxes). Amy also exudes positive energy that is contagious and it was kind of amazing that out of a group of 15 strangers there was not one personality difference or even hint of a conflict at any point. In fact it seemed our personalities were actually quite similar….We kicked things off with a day in Bangkok where Amy took us on a tour of the local markets and we sampled various local Thai delights. This was very cool as the markets were really local-yocal and places I would have been nervous to (and maybe incapable of) navigating solo.

It was clear immediately that the Thai food I’d had in the past (even on my previous trips to Thailand) was not the real deal…and we also quickly learned that “medium-spicy” is equivalent to “mouth-about-to-burn-up-I-need-milk-now-spicy.” Even our resident Hawaiian, Corey, was impressed with the spice levels (and also loved his first pineapple curry ever, experienced at a local village). Our Bangkok experience was punctuated with a $10 Thai massage (the massages alone are reason enough to visit Thailand), some templing and few Chang beers (the Thailand go-to beer) before embarking on a 12-hour night train journey, headed north to Chang Mai. I think night trains in southeast Asia get a bad rap as my experience was extremely comfortable and I slept soundly, lulled by the cadence of the locomotion. Upon arrival we scampered off the train and dove into the local scene straight away, starting with breakfast at an outdoor market where Amy introduced us to more delicacies (that I had never heard of but thoroughly enjoyed). We relaxed by the pool that afternoon before heading out to the local night market in Chang Mai, where we enjoyed a traditional and scrumptious dinner (this is actually where Corey was introduced to his new girlfriend, Pineapple Curry).Then, lucky for us, a few of the guys in the group had heard wind of a Thai boxing event called Muay Thai, and Amy arranged for us to go to that night. I turns out that Muay Thai is the ancient fighting technique that was used by Siamese soldiers after their weapons were lost or destroyed in battle and has been developed over several hundred years to what you see in modern-day Thailand boxing rings. I was dubious about this but it was VERY cool to watch! I had also enjoyed the Lucha Libre match we saw during the Mexico tour, I guess boxing is one of those sports that is captivating in-person but boring on TV (the same as how I experience American football ).

The next day was a big one as we had a Thai Triathlon (aka #ThaiTri) to attend to. This may have been my favorite day of the trip. The Thai Tri commenced with a bike ride through some remote villages (and even passing by elephants!) and continued with a challenging hike to a spectacular waterfall.

At this juncture we broke script and decided that swimming in the waterfall was a mandatory activity…so we went in, still wearing our hiking clothes and not having a plan for afterwards. Have I mentioned that these are my people?!? Our adrenaline-fueled day continued with whitewater rafting through some Class III rapids, navigated deftly by our guides (Capt Ron was the pilot of my boat, and my fellow sailors were Steve, Kristen, and Charlotte- a crack team- and the laughter seemed endless). All in all, it was such…A DAY! A rare, all-caps (but not in the shouting way) DAY. I’m quite sure I wasn’t the only one who caught some shut-eye on our ride back to the hotel, still processing the sensory overload.

The next day we were up and out to our next destination, Chang Rai. I hadn’t paid much attention to the itinerary (not shocking) so Chang Mai and Chang Rai were the same in my head and, to be honest, as I reflect on the trip I can’t really tell them apart. Do NOT take my word for it, as I’m almost certain there are many distinguishing features but I was too distracted having fun with my new besties to notice. On the way to Chang Rai we stopped at a few temples, which are definitely memorable, the first being the aptly named “White temple” (also known as Wat Rong Khun). And our second stop was the Black temple (also known as Baan Dam and not actually a temple but more of a sprawling, eclectic art museum with a bunch of temple-esque structures and other assorted random things, all created by an artist who lives there). It’s an odd place and a very tranquil space to explore, as you never knew what you’d stumble across next, including phallic symbols everywhere. In Chang Rai we embarked on a jungle trek- I loved that there were multiple treks on this trip! Amy had told us that we’d stop and have a picnic lunch during the trek and that it would be “very basic.” Of course that was totally fine and understandable on a trek through the jungle of Thailand. I expected maybe a PB&J sammie and an apple. However, when we arrived at the grassy knoll designated as our lunch spot, it seemed a little early for lunch. Then one of our guides opened a backpack and started pulling out raw food items…not bread and jam type of food items but uncooked rice and raw chicken type of food items. Hmmm….what was the plan here? There was no stove or even a fire pit to be seen. We weren’t too concerned, though, as Amy surely had it under control and didn’t plan to feed us raw chicken to lunch. We than merrily went about our business snapping pics of the beautiful scenery and barely noticing the guides going into the forest and foraging for large pieces of bamboo.While we didn’t pay too much attention at first but soon we were all captivated watching the three guides prepare the most amazing lunch of all time! Aaron tried to help briefly, but quickly realized he was out of his league with this operation so ended up watching with the rest of us. Really only Amy knew what she was doing enough to be useful. Personally, I was in too much awe watching to think about chipping in! In all honestly, it was the coolest lunch experience of my entire life. And this is not my first rodeo with lunch. Our local village guides used slaying knives to cut bamboo from the forest and then deftly chopped it up into various formations. These formations included containers to cook the food in (they even made a rice cooker!), a stove to cook the food on, and even serving dishes, cups and chopsticks. I swear to you, THIS HAPPENED! I know, I wouldn’t have believed me unless I’d seen it with my own eyes. Also, it was absolutely delicious and perfectly cooked and seasoned food (chicken, pork, rice, veggie salsa, and delicious tea). Somehow they knew exactly how long to keep each dish on the fire for! This was such a fantastic surprise, especially as Amy had totally under-sold it. It turns out she didn’t want to talk a big game, as it was the first time she’d be seeing this lunch experience in execution (minus a trial run she attended a few weeks prior). As Flash Pack insiders we all agreed this should be hyped up for future trips! That night was our last in Thailand before we’d crossing the border to Laos and it was spent in the village of Change Khong, in a very special accommodation- the Lanjia Lodge. The lodge is located high on the hilltop over the Mekong river (where we’d be spending some QT in the following days) and revenue from the lodge supports local community projects in two hillside villages (the Hmong and Lahu villages) whose people work together to care for the guests. The lodge consists of several large, rustic wooden homes, each with large decks where we enjoyed home-cooked meals, sprawling views, and a sunrise that transcends descriptors. It was so worth getting up at 5:30am! We all gathered on one of the balconies that evening and enjoyed many Chang beer and many laughs together- the village people really do go above and beyond to take care of their guests. We later learned they had ridden a motorbike to the nearest store (which could not have been that close) two times to get more Chang for us! In fact, between the 15 of us, we managed to consume 86 Chang that night! Even Amy seemed impressed (if that’s the right word?) and she phoned the boat we were would be boarding the next day to make sure they had enough beer on board. Told you she was an awesome guide! The Night of 86 Chang encapsulated: The next day it was good-bye to Thailand and I left feeling like I had so much of a better sense of the heart and soul of the country than from my few times visiting the beaches in the southern part of the country. The beaches are of course spectacular but there is so much more natural beauty I had never seen and the local village people we met were all incredibly kind and welcoming. Thailand definitely has their act together with tourism and it’s very easy to travel around, or at least it seemed that way having Amy figuring everything out for us. Steve even gave Amy complete control to order for him, at every single meal. I don’t think he looked at a menu the whole time but loved every meal, even the “medium-spicy” ones. He followed up after the trip saying it was a rude awakening being back to real-life and especially having to decide what to eat again.

After crossing the border we met our Laos guide, a friendly local named Tui who complimented Amy perfectly with his kind smile and we boarded the vessel that would take us on a two day trip down the Mekong river. This was one of the most relaxing two days of my life as we watched the banks of Laos pass by from the confines of the comfortable boat, operated by a local husband and wife couple. We even had a Laos cooking lesson on-board and had our first tastes of the Lao dishes we would come to love. We stopped for the night in the riverbank village of Pakbeng, which seemed to be a popular spot (maybe the only spot?) for boats doing this journey to stay for the evening. Our accommodation was adjacent to the local establishment, the Happy Bar, where we enjoyed Lao Beer (Chang Beer was so yesterday) and pool with some locals while Bob Marley tunes played in the background. Amy’s favorite is Buffalo Soldier and it seemed particularly appropriate as the animal is a popular cuisine in Laos. Buffalo blood is even a delicacy here! Very few parts of animals are wasted in Laos, where the average annual salary is less than $1,000.

During our second day on the Mekong we stopped to explore the Tam Ting caves, which were created in the 15th century with more than 4,000 wooden figures of Buddha inside natural limestone caves nestled into islands. It’s unbelievable to think about the craftsmanship from so many years ago and especially how well it has survived over the years. Tim Tang is a representation of the natural character and ancient spiritualism of Laos, a world that exists with peace and not conflict and where spiritualism exists in nature not just humans, including the water spirit of the Mekong. After two days on the river we all agreed that it’s an incredibly special and spiritual place and we felt lucky to share the experience with each other.We arrived in Luang Prabang, where we would be spending our final three nights of the trip. How was the trip winding down already?? This one really flew by. But there was still much fun to be had! Luang Prabang is a town in northern Laos built on a peninsula between the Mekong and the smaller Nam Khan River. Our accommodations, The Grand, included beautiful views and we were all very happy to be settling in for three nights. We dove right into the local Lao culture by playing a game of “pentaque” that night, which is a game similar to bocce or boules. The French had brought the game to Laos and it has remained popular, one of the many European colonial influences that is still reflected in the Lao culture today. We got some lessons and split into teams for a tourney, which was a lot of fun (and just a smidge competitive). Dinner that night was a traditional Lao BBQ, which was so much fun! You pick out your ingredients amongst a bountiful selection of vegetables, meat, fish and spices and cook them in a BBQ kept hot by embers. Corey was familiar with this cooking technique from Hawaii and helped us to get passed our initial “how does this work?” hesitation by tossing everything on and watching it cook away (he also helped us figure out when it was done). It was such a fun and delicious meal and was punctuated by non-stop laughter among the group. That night I recall looking around the table at my new friends and feeling incredibly lucky. There was nobody else I would have wanted to be sharing the experience with than the people around me, even though I hadn’t known any of them just a week prior. Our last two days of the trip flew by and we explored Lao Prebang, including Mount Phousi which takes about 350 steps to summit with the reward of panoramic views and a golden stupa and temple. There were also markets to explore and cheap massages to be had in Luang Prebang and the night market was particularly bustling. Our last full day was an early one when we participated in the traditional giving of alms to local monks, which takes place at sunrise when about 200 monks process down the main street of town, collecting their food for their one meal the day. Our offering was sticky rice and as the monks silently processed by we sat on small stools (you can also kneel) and gave each monk a small portion. The monks ranged in age from the very old senior monks to sleepy looking children and it was an incredibly spiritual experience.After our own breakfast (that consisted of much more than sticky rice) we were off for our final trek, this one to another a waterfall. We met our local guide in the village, as it is a tradition to use a local guide as a way to support the village who maintains the trail. Our guide was 75 years old and we had a hard time keeping up with him at times! The hike wound us through the Lao jungle, through some villages and the occasional buddhist shrine. At one point we came across a little family run cafe that boasted a log crossing challenge. Yes, please! Five of us gave the challenge a whirl (if you can make it across the log without falling in you are rewarded with a Beer Lao, if you fall off you must buy a Beer Lao). We had a demo where the proprietor made it there and back with no problem and even while balancing a beer on his head. How hard could this be? Let’s just say the five of us all ended up with a Beer Lao…and we all had to pay for them. The water was extremely refreshing,though, and it was well worth cooling off and for the laughs (my attempt was absolutely horrible, embarrassingly so!). Afterwards, the young daughter of the owner showed us how it’s done, and scampered across and back with no problem at all. Appropriately humbled and giddy from the beer, we finished our trek to be rewarded by the incredible Kuang Si waterfall. Laos and Thailand are not fooling around in the waterfall department! We swam in the waterfall pools enjoying the cascading water and even figuring out how to get between the rocks and the waterfall to view the falls from behind. And, if you stood under the water the right way, it was also an excellent shoulder massage!

Our final dinner was at a lovely restaurant overlooking the Nam Khan river and we savored our last bites of our favorite Lao delicacies, including sticky rice, papaya salad (medium-spicy, Amy warned), fresh fish, and of course buffalo (I didn’t try the buffalo but others loved it). Nobody wanted to go to bed that night as it felt like an admission that the trip was ending…so we stayed up talking and laughing until our stomachs hurt (so much laughing on this trip!), and until there was no more Beer Lao to be had. After the trip, Kristen posted one of my favorite quotes on Facebook, “I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.” That quote was on the front of my travel journal when I studied abroad in Perth, Australia in college…my first time going to the other side of the world. It rung true then but also seems particularly appropriate for this trip, 20 years later, seeing the moon in Thailand and Laos with this group of people. As I reflected on what made this group so special, it occurred to me that despite all being adventure travelers in our 30s and 40s, there were other commonalities that transcended the obvious ones. First of all, every single person in the group is hilarious. Just really, really funny people. So much laughing! I can’t highlight the laughter on this trip enough. Also, every person was genuine, kind, and open-minded (only a few of us had been to southeast Asia before) and they wanted more than to check the travel box and have some good Instagram posts (good Insta posts wouldn’t hurt though!). Really, though, the group wanted to know the local people, embrace the local experiences, and absorb the local culture. And together, with the help of Amy and Tui, that is exactly what we did.

October 24, 2018October 28, 2018

In the shadow of Everest

I’m embarrassed to admit that I didn’t blog at all during my two-week trip to Nepal and especially that I haven’t blogged in the two weeks since then. The reason for radio silence on the trip is partially spotty WiFi in the Himalayas but mostly that I didn’t want to lose a second of enjoying the present moment. I know that sounds cheesy but I honestly wanted to savor every single stunning mountain view, every single step taking us further into the clouds, every single laugh with new friends, and every single breath (sometimes gasps) of oxygen depleted air. And, I haven’t blogged since the trip because I’m really struggling to put the experience into words. Here goes…

I vividly remember back in May when I learned that Flash Pack was running an Insider trip for a new Nepal trekking tour in the Everest region. It took about .25 seconds for me to message the Flash Pack co-founder, Lee, asking if I could be Chief Insider for the trip… and he said Yes! Despite having other trips between then and Nepal, I was SO excited for this one.

As background, I love climbing and mountains and being outside and anything active and adventures AND I also love Nepal. What could be more perfect?? While we’d done a two-day trek as part of my first Nepal trip (almost exactly a year ago) I’d left wanting more and have felt the Everest region beckoning to me ever since. Almost like a gravitational pull from the other side of the world.

Upon arrival in Kathmandu, I was excited to meet the group and they surpassed my already high expectations (based on the type of person I thought would be attracted to this sort of an adventure trip). These are my people. The group of 15 had roots in the UK, US, Canada, Kenya, Italy, Switzerland, India, Germany, and New Zealand and together we formed both a geographically and ethnically diverse team. We also shared the important commonality of having an incredible spirit of adventure (as well as having had listened to that gut feeling that was whispering encouragement as we’d booked the trip in the first place). Our guide, Dakman (D-Man, to us), was sincere, smiling, and clearly passionate about his country and the Everest region in particular. I climbed into bed after our initial group dinner even more excited for what was next with this incredible group of people.

It was an early bell the morning we headed deep into the Himalaya mountain range, an area more commonly known as the Everest region. An ethereal part of the world that I’d heard and read so much about but never expected to see with my own eyes. Now I was embarking on a nine-day trek through the mountain range, a trek that would take me to new heights (and to over 16,000 feet). I knew all of this before we boarded the tiny plane that would take us to the mountain village of Lukla- the gateway to Everest. But what I did not know as we took off into the clouds, what I could not have known and wouldn’t have dared to expect, is that I was embarking on the adventure of a lifetime.

I hadn’t done any research around our flight (not shocking) and was entranced by the views as the plane cruised around a mountain and then, all of the sudden, I COULD SEE THE GROUND! It was right below me, outside my window. We were coming in HOT! I let out a scream and then realized we were actually landing- HUGE PHEW! The landing happens that quickly and with no warning or “fasten your seatbelt.” We all cheered as we taxied down the tiny runway. I later learned that the Lukla airport has officially been deemed the world’s most dangerous and that the landing is apparently considered part of the adventure for Everest trekkers. I like that spin and am going with it!

In Lukla, D-man introduced us to the rest of our crack support team: three assistant guides, G-Unit, I-sure, and Susan (those were the names we mutually decided were the closest-enough versions of their actual names that we’d remember) and seven porters. Porters are what you might consider a “Sherpa” but we learned that Sherpa is actually an ethnicity, known for their super-human feats of mountaineering (it’s believed that the first person to summit Everest was Tenzig Norgay, the Sherpa accompanying Edmund Hilary). So, while many porters are of the Sherpa ethnicity (indicated if their last name is Sherpa), many are not.

Anyways, our bad-ass porters carried all of our stuff on their backs for the entire length of the trek (the same trek that we had difficulty just carrying ourselves through) and they did it hours faster than us! Most days we wouldn’t see them after they scampered ahead of us in the morning, some just wearing simple sandals and some in bare feet. I tried on one of the packs and could barely turn in a circle for a photo opp! No joke.

Soon enough we were off… somehow it was only 9:00 am and we still had a day’s trek ahead of us!

The intense spiritualism of the Everest region (where 80% of locals are Buddhist) was palpable almost immediately as we followed our guides through tiny villages laden with colorful prayer flags and around the many Sanskrit-inscribed rocks and shrines in the middle of the trail. We also passed by many prayer wheels and learned that everything is clockwise (indicating the direction you walk around a shrine or spin a prayer wheel). And while spinning of the prayer wheels was optional, most of us felt like we could use any goodwill that we could conjure up!

While we were early in the season and didn’t see a lot of other trekkers on the trail, pack animals (think ox, yak, etc.) were abundant. There were a few times we stopped to let groups 10-15 animals pass by, laden with large bags of rice and canisters of cooking oil.

As we weaved our way through tiny mountain villages we waved and exchanged greetings with friendly locals- smiling children playing in the streets and women washing clothes outside or carrying a chicken home. “Namaste” and a small bow with your hands in prayer position was the appropriate gesture all around.

The first day of trekking was an easy one, especially now that I know what a hard day is like. Our destination was the first Yeti mountain lodge of several we would be staying in, this one perched on a picturesque riverbank.

We were greeted with hot towels and lemon tea, a welcome gesture we quickly became accustomed to and would come to eagerly anticipate after a long day of trekking.

As we continued our expedition and chatted with folks along the way, I learned more about accommodations on the Everest trail. It turns out that hot towels and comfy beds with electric blankets are not the norm. In fact, the Yeti lodges are known as “the fancy places” on the trail, the lap of luxury in comparison to the traditional tea houses. Let me be clear that the Yeti lodges are not Ritz Carltons. They feel exactly like mountain lodges should feel- made of Lincoln logs and run by welcoming locals (who are also excellent cooks). Tea houses are more basic and (although they definitely vary) the norm is sleeping on mats in a large room and without an indoor bathroom. We were quite happy with the Yeti chain although it is unfortunate they don’t have a loyalty rewards program (we checked).

I was too exhausted to leave the comfort of my electric blanket-infused bed that first afternoon, but others explored the little accompanying village, which was complete with wooden suspension bridges spanning the river and even an Irish bar. It was there, at our first stop, that we began what became ongoing speculation as to if we were feeling the effects of altitude (or not). I hadn’t had problems with altitude in the past, but you never know when it will impact you and maybe that’s why I was tired (as opposed to jet lag and a 3:30 am wake-up call that day)?! Emma from London felt tingling in her fingers and assumed it was a side effect of the medication, Diamox, which has off-label usage to eliminate the impacts of altitude. In fact, 14 of our group was taking Diamox as a prophylactic remedy to the often-crippling altitude sickness that can plague mountain adventurers. I joked (sort of) that the medication actually does nothing but people think it works, since the potential side effects from the medication seemed to be identical to the symptoms of altitude sickness. Hmmm… I will say that in the end D-Man admitted it was pretty miraculous that out of 15 people in our group, nobody got altitude sickness. Odds-wise this was very rare. So, my final analysis is that I’m not gonna knock the Diamox (even if it’s based on the placebo effect).

The next day was no joke as we embarked on a challenging eight-hour hike to the town of Namche, which is known as the last borough of civilization before Everest-bound climbers make their move (think an ATM and the world’s highest Irish bar). I even had the proper socks with me!

This is also where we would divert paths to follow a less trodden path than the crowded base camp slog, but one that was allegedly equal in the views (and the altitude).

As we trekked, we quickly became used to calls of “Jam-Jam!” from our guides, which means “Let’s go!” The guides maintained a manageable pace and I later learned that they were then setting the cadence we would need to follow days later, when we were thousands of feet higher and every single step felt like it required a full breath. I will admit that the cadence of the climb was about the only thing I got used to.

What I never got used to was the spectacular views of snowcapped mountains, the kindness of the shy, smiling locals, or the ornate Buddhist shrines and colorful prayer flags flapping in the mountain wind. Every day, and multiple times a day, my breath was taken away by the raw beauty of my surroundings (and sometimes also because it was actually difficult to breath).

In Namche we had an “acclimatization day” during which we embarked on a steeeep 600 meter hike AND had our first views of the main attraction…the big kahuna…EVEREST! I admit that because there are so many huge mountains in that area (the region has something like 12 of the 15 highest mountains in the world) it wasn’t totally obvious from where we stood which one was EVEREST at first. They are all so breathtaking! D-Man pointed out the various peaks and (following initial cheers at seeing EVEREST) we stared silently at what lay before us. Rose described the scene as one she’d been waiting her whole life to see, “It’s just magical. I don’t know how to describe it,” she said, the crack in her voice indicating she was feeling emotional and not unlike the rest of us. Here’s Rose:

The next morning, we cruised through our breakfast ritual, learning from our Yedi experience how we liked our eggs cooked and even knowing each other’s porridge preferences (water vs. milk). We left “civilization” (punctuated by the fact that there soon weren’t even any four-legged friends tailing us) and made our way to the remote village of Thame, which is known as the hometown of many of the well-known Sherpa community, including Tenzig Norgay himself.

We arrived in the fog, oxygen depleted and more tired than our trek would have warranted at sea level and were happy to relax by the fire and play the occasional game of ping pong for the rest of the day. I realized that I actually liked the slightly exhausted feeling from the altitude as I didn’t feel the normal hyperactivity that sometimes prevents me from sitting still. In fact, I read an entire book that afternoon!

After a day of acclimatization (and ping-pong) it was time for our the most difficult portion of the trek that would take us to the village of Kongde, where we would stay in the second highest hotel in the world!

The previous afternoon D-Man, G-Unit, I-Sure, and Susan had prepared the ropes, harnesses, oxygen tank, and even a stretcher (!!) that we would be taking on this leg of the journey. We requested a speed-breakfast the next morning, so we could hit the trail early and not one person dawdled. Game faces = ON.

The weather started out sunny, but clouds and some rain quickly rolled in- the weather really does change on a dime (and multiple times a day) in this region. It was a challenging and unpredictable day of hiking and made more so by the often-slippery conditions. It was also a lot of fun! In addition to the wooden suspension bridges that we’d become accustomed to, we crossed upwards of 15 rivers balancing on stepping stones, AND in places we scaled across rock faces aided by wire “railings” that had been drilled into the stone. The good news about the bad weather was that at least we couldn’t see down! There were a few times that G-Unit or Susan would magically appear next to me during a steeper section of the rock face maneuvering and ask if I was okay. At the time I thought perhaps they were being a little over-protective but I realized later that they were asking because I was on a ridiculously scary cliff and a misstep would not be ideal. I saw a comfy bed of clouds that would catch me if I fell. I’m sooo glad I couldn’t see the reality of what was beneath me!

With about an hour of the trek left and the technical climbing behind us, we were all ready for our tea and hot towels. An hour felt like a looong time and we were cold from the relentless mist. Then, out of nowhere, the smiling faces of our porters emerged from the mist! They had reached our destination, dropped our stuff and then trekked BACK for 45 minutes, carrying tea for us! It was honestly like seeing a mirage and they seemed entertained by our gleeful and grateful reactions.

Konge was our jumping-off point for the next day’s trek, which would be the pinnacle of the trek at more than 16,000 feet.

Early the next morning I pulled open my window curtain just as the sun was beginning to rise and saw that there was a stunning behemoth of a mountain right outside my window. Wait… where did that come from?!?! It was a mountain I had not seen any signs of when we’d arrived the day before in the fog. I later learned that the mountain outside my window was just Mount EVEREST!! Apparently I hadn’t been paying attention during D-Man’s briefing the previous day. Anyways, it was an amazing surprise and the best hotel room view I’ve ever had!

Game faces ON once again the next morning and we were resolute in embarking on our final ascent while the sun was still rising.

We stopped frequently for breaks, which were either “catch your breath” breaks or “drink water” breaks, as indicated by our guides. We were grateful for either. Reaching the summit felt like a huge achievement and we were rewarded by the most spectacular views! It honestly felt like we were hovering above the globe.

We’d brought prayer flags from a mountaintop monastery we’d visited a few days earlier and D-Man helped us to string them on rock shrines, in the Himalayan tradition to bless the countryside. There was certainly no shortage of beauty to bless.

Hours later and back at the lodge, we enjoyed a champagne brunch in the shadow of Everest, feeling like the luckiest people alive.

We watched the massive mountain appear and disappear over and over again, and reacted with equal enthusiasm each time it made it’s grand entrance. We were literally and figuratively on top of the world, and soaking in every moment of a day that we will undoubtedly relive countless times in our lifetimes. A day that changed each of us, in some small way, as human beings.

It seemed an appropriate farewell when we were treated to an evening spectacular of mountain views with moving cloud formations. It was like nothing I have ever seen. It truly looked like a humongous floor of clouds was rising up to meet us, with Everest looking down on the beauty it was punctuating. Some of my travel-mates did some fancy camera tricks to capture the scene. While the pictures are amazing, it was even more awe-inspiring in real life. Pinky swear.

The next day we commenced our descent, which was an absolute delight! We were going downhill (mostly) and gaining oxygen and energy with every step AND we no longer had concerns about altitude. Let’s just say the Irish bars were a lot more rowdy on the way down! It was still no walk in the park but we knew we’d been through the most difficult terrain so could really just enjoy the scenery and learn more about the new friends we’d grown so close with. The dynamics of this trip took group bonding to a whole new level.

Back in Lukla we had a farewell gathering with our support crew, hosted by I-Sure in his family’s modest, two room home (that doubles as a shop in the daytime, run by I-Sure’s wife while he’s off guiding adventures). There we enjoyed beer and momo’s (yum!!) with our guides and porters (we were good buds with the guides at this point and while we knew the porters less intimately, in large part due to the language barrier, we’d shared a lot of laughs and had an unspoken connection). At that moment, and for those two hours, I felt like I was with family. I’ve never in my life felt closer to people I’d known for such a short period of time.

As fate would have it we ended up spending another night in Lukla when all flights out were cancelled the next day due to ZERO visibility from fog. We learned this after spending some QT in the Lukla airport with other trekkers trying to get back to Kathmandu.

To get an idea of the visibility, that’s the runway behind us:

Apparently this weather situation is not uncommon and the two airlines that run flights back and forth are frequent grounded, on both ends. We hadn’t realized how lucky we were on our first flight! I met a group that had been delayed in Kathmandu for a whole week prior to their trek to base camp. The problem with a cancelled flight is that the next day your group doesn’t get priority over passengers booked for that day so the wait can easily compound. D-Man handled this snafu in the itinerary like a pro and booked us a room at the “best available tea house,” which was a far cry from the local Yeti lodge. He also managed to pull a rabbit out of a hat by getting us bumped up to the second flight of the day the next morning. I think he must have cashed in a favor for that one and we were grateful- -especially those with international flights to catch. Our finger-crossing worked and the next day brought clear skies and sunshine. Back at the airport, I wondered why D-Man still looked a little anxious, pacing while waiting for our plane to come in. It did, just a few minutes late, and we all cheered when we took off. Upon landing we learned that bad weather had rolled into Luckla quickly and the airport had closed for the day ten minutes after we took off! Lucky us! Must have been all that prayer wheel spinning.

Now, over two weeks later, I think about the trip all the time and relive memories daily with my new friends from all over the world. I can’t help think that when your perspective on the world is altered, there is no clear path forward. I guess you just embrace it and try to do things differently than you would have. Things like changing your return flight so you can stay in Kathmandu for three more days with new friends (Yay Keith!), or seriously thinking about leaving that job you dislike (you people will remain nameless, don’t worry), or just looking at each day as a gift, a HUGE gift! And while you’re not sure who it’s from or why it was given to you, you know that it’s there to be cherished and enjoyed… sometimes on top of the world.

Jam-jam!!!

September 7, 2018October 22, 2018

Pure Peru 🇵🇪

Preface/Disclaimer: Big Announcement- HUGE: After a month of traveling in Central and South America…. I now speak fluent Spanglish! This is great news as it’s the first foreign (okay, semi-foreign) language I’ve ever been fluent in!! Great news aside, the point of this Preface/Disclaimer is to ask you to bear with me as you read this blog post. My brain is in Spanglish mode so the words just come out and I can’t help it sometimes but, lucky for you, the number of Spanish words in my vocabulary are limited. So, I doubt you will have any problemas. (See how easy that is to translate??)

No longer the Preface/Disclaimer but just my normal blog: If you’ve been dutifully following my blogs, you’ve noticed that I’ve been on mucho tours with a muy bien company called Flash Pack. And, as a thank you for my loyal patronage, the Flash Pack co-founders (and amazing husband and wife duo) Lee and Rahda, offered me my tenth trip, to Peru, for FREE!! (Sans dinero? Sin dinero? You get the gist!) This gesture was SO, SO, SO nice of them and I’m SO, SO, SO grateful!! This was especially meaningful as the Peru trip was one of their first (and is one of the most frequently run) and I’d seen and heard many accounts of the trip’s amazingness, so I was very excited as I left Mexico and headed to Lima.

Our group met in the country’s capital city, where we would be spending a few days exploring with our local guide, Ricardo. This was a unique group as it was the smallest of any of my previous tours and there were only six of us. The groups usually have 10-14 and for some reason this one was smaller. To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect with a smaller group. I mean, what if we got sick of each other?? But, my concerns were unfounded and it ended up being a different and also really good experience.

Everything was so much easier with only six of us to keep track of at any given time, and I actually forgot how it worked with the larger groups! We also had a great mix of people in the group- my roommate Archie from London (who also quit her job and is traveling South America for a few months!), Zoe from London, Gemma from Manchester, Menard from Philly, and Lorena from the Philippines (but she’s currently working in the U.S. for a year).

Ricardo started our introduction to the city at a local food market, where we learned from vendors about all the different types of fruits and vegetables native to Peru. They have such variety and even upwards of 3,000 types of potato. No joke! Pretty much every size, shape, and color that you can imagine. We later learned from a local that Peruvians like the imperfect food or vegetable in the group as opposed to the shiny, perfect looking apple. More desirable is the potato with a worm in at (after cutting out the worm!), as it’s likely more tasty. I mean, if the worm liked it…

We also got a tutorial in local seafood, which Lima is also known for (especially fish in the form of ceviche) and we learned that the city has put itself on the map as a gastronomy capital where food is a big draw to tourists. We experienced this first hand when our next stop was a delicious restaurant where we were given lessons on making two Peruvian staples: a pisco sour and ceviche. I had always imagined that the whipped top layer of a pisco sour was made with egg whites after the rest of the drink, but in fact it’s all shaken together and separates naturally when poured (so looks harder to make than it is- love that!).

We also whipped up some delish ceviche that we enjoyed as a first course of a scrumptious lunch. As a seafood fan I was very happy! We then toured through the downtown area of Lima that surprised me with its grandeur and charm. I guess because I’d never heard anything about downtown Lima, I’d assumed there wasn’t much there but it was very cool with several huge fountains and cathedrals and large picturesque squares (the Plaza del Armas is the main square and it’s very cool to see).

We then spun through the Miraflores neighborhood, which is an affluent waterfront neighborhood with several parks and loads of shopping. Of course the Brits in the group had to track down a Paddington Bear statue (apparently Paddington is actually from Peru- I’d forgotten that part of the book). We returned to our hotel still satiated from lunch and happily tired from a full day in Lima- a cool city worth a visit.

It was an early bell the next morning as we headed to the airport and hopped a flight to…the Amazon! Our Amazon accommodations were very cool in a rustic-chic kinda way (if that makes sense) and were most definitely remote, requiring a bus ride and then a boat ride down a river to reach. We slept in huts with thatched roofs and enjoyed meals that were mostly made with ingredients they grow or source locally (think lots of plantains, trout, nuts, and the most delicious fruits).

We were also taken on various excursions throughout the day and night to appreciate the nature of the area from various perspectives. This included a nighttime river cruise where we spotted a few of the caimen animal (like an alligator and crocodile but neither) and also a capybara on the shore (this was described as a giant guinea pig and that is exactly what it looked like).

We also went on an early morning hike followed by a canoe ride on a beautiful lake, where we spotted a few more caimen (you could just see their eyes, peeking out of the water- it was kind of creepy) and tracked down a friendly otter who gave us a show as he enjoyed his freshly caught fish lunch.

That afternoon we were off again, for an adventure in the trees of the Amazon, where we enjoyed scampering across a series of suspension bridges hung high up in the trees. Once we crossed the first couple bridges we were were more at ease and could enjoy the spectacular views.

On the boat ride back to our accommodations I started to feel tired and then the onset of a familiar chill that I’d experienced the week prior when I’d come down with a fever and stomach bug when in Mexico. While the symptoms had been lingering, I’d been feeling better each day, until now. I got off the boat and made my way to my hut where I promptly got into bed and wrapped myself in a blanket, shivering. Well, lucky for me, Gemma is a nurse and when she came to check on me, she took one look at the situation and proceeded to whip the blanket off of me and made me promise to keep it off when she left. Well, at one point, after much self-contemplation, I was about to give in and grab the blanket back, then just as I was reaching for the blanket, I heard footsteps on the porch of my hut…it was Gemma! I quickly dropped the blanket and from then on was scared to touch it again. It was like she knew! In the end, despite having maybe called her Nurse Ratched a few times, I was grateful for Gemma’s medical advice, and it worked as my fever was gone by morning! While I’d been infirmed the rest of the group enjoyed another night walk where the guide spotted a huge tarantula hole and lured it out for the group to see. I saw the pictures and that thing was HUGE (even bigger than the one in the Brady Bunch Hawaii episode) and I’m really okay with not having seen it in person.

The next morning we bid farewell to our friends from the resort (a great international crowd that we’d made friends from New Zealand and Germany) and took the boat back to the bus back to the airport (with a brief stop at a butterfly farm). We then headed to Cusco, which would be our landing pad for the next week as we embarked on various adventures including a hike up Rainbow mountain and seeing the infamous Machu Picchu.

Cusco is known for being a high-elevation city but I didn’t realize quite how high until we got there. (The meters to feet conversion is something I haven’t mastered quite yet and 3,300 meters didn’t mean a whole lot… I quickly realized we’re talking over 11,000 feet!!!) Now, I’ve done some high altitude climbing before and know that I’m one of those lucky people who has not been negatively impacted by elevation. And, yes, I realize how lucky I am as it’s something you really can’t control (not even with fitness) and it can make or break an experience. But, this was about to be unchartered territory for me! In fact, when checking into our hotel in Cusco, we were told that they have oxygen tanks and it’s no biggie to call the desk in the night and ask for a hit of oxygen. They just roll it up to your room, I guess (thankfully, nobody in our group needed it). We also met our guide for the remainder of the trip, a Cusco local named Pabel, who I liked right away. He’s been doing this for a long time and clearly knows his stuff but has a quiet confidence about him. I conferred with Pabel about my own sickness (that did not seem to be getting better) and he arranged for a doctor to come to my room. It was like room service but with a doctor! She was originally from the Lima area and my first introduction to the beliefs and faith of the people of Cusco was from her. She said many local people believe that if something bad happens to you when in Custco (such as if you get sick) that it’s a sign from the spirits that Cusco doesn’t want you there and you should leave. I believe she was telling me that story as an anecdote and not as a hint, plus I’d gotten whatever I had while in Mexico, not Cusco so surely this couldn’t be applicable to me (this was how I rationalized it in my head at the time). Anyways, she did an exam and said I had gotten a parasite of some sort when in Mexico (likely from food or drink) and gave me a strong antibiotic that worked it’s magic quickly. Phew! Traveling while sick is not my favorite thing and I was so glad to be back to 100%!

The next day, Pabel led us on a tour of Cusco’s main attractions in the town and its surrounding mountains as he told us more about the incredible city.

First of all, Cusco is super-old and was the capital of the Inca empires until those pesky Spanish invaded in the 16th century. Most Peruvians are Catholic but the nuances of the religion are different in Cusco than many other areas in Peru. In Cusco the strong native cultural traditions from the Inca times are blended with the tenets of traditional Roman Catholicism brought by the Spanish, such as revering the inti (sun) and the Pachi Mama (Mother Earth) and passing along biblical tales through dramatic, colorful reenactments at churches or festivals. This blended spirituality is manifested by doing things like spiritual offerings to Pachi Mama when eating or drinking something (like if you open a soda, you’d dump a little on the ground as an initial offering to PM before you drink the rest). We saw this done by locals many times throughout our journey and even started doing it ourselves (when we remembered, which for me wasn’t very often, but at one point I gave her almost a whole beer to make up for it so I think she’s cool with me). While we made the offerings seemingly in partial jest, I think we all figured it couldn’t hurt to have PM on our side as we immersed ourselves in the natural wonders in the area (and especially as we embarked on a strenuous two-day hike up Rainbow mountain).

After enjoying the many sites (think 360 degree mountain views, vibrant squares, massive churches) and sounds (music is everywhere!) of Cusco we packed a smaller bag which we took on a bus ride the next morning, our destination being a gorgeous lodge nestled in the mountains and positioning us better for our Rainbow mountain hike. This lodge was also rustic-chic and I didn’t realize until the end of the trip that it was part of the same hotel chain as the rustic-chic place in the Amazon- the Inka Terra hotel group (which I highly recommend, btw, and a Peruvian hotel chain so not related to SPG or anything like that). View from my room:

On our way we stopped to embark on an amazing mountain bike ride through the mountains (probably the coolest mountain biking adventure I’ve ever had – the views were so stunning that they almost looked fake) and then, while still exhilarated we stopped a few hours later to see the coolest salt flats.

While there had been a mention of salt flats in the itinerary, I don’t think any of us were prepared for how cool they were. Of course they were Inca construction and those Inca’s did not fool around with this sort of thing. I’m in absolute awe thinking about the fascinating feats of engineering that they developed during their time. At the flats we learned about the different type of salts harvested on the flats and got an up close and personal tour. It’s amazing how much salt is created from just a small water source!

Our last stop was another Incan archeological site called Moray that included an elaborate irrigation system allowing them to test different methods of farming. Yes, they had their act together enough to create a farming testing system, no problemo.

We wound down from all the Inca excitement at the most relaxing mountain lodge imaginable and prepared for our big Rainbow mountain adventure the next day. This place was epic and we enjoyed a complimentary pisco sour in big cushy leather chairs, around the crackling fire. It had almost a ski lodge atmosphere. Our evening entertainment was a game created by Zoe, that involved creating trivia questions about the trip thus far. It seemed that the teams were pre-ordained (by Zoe) and it was Team GB vs. Team No-Stars (which consisted of the non-Brits in the group- Menard, Lorena and myself. We happily accepted our designated name, despite the not-so-veiled insult where No-Stars is a mockery of the American term, All-Stars. Gotta love that British humor!) Menard and I quipped that we are most comfortable as the underdog – cue the Revolutionary war (which I might add is a conflict one Brit in the group had NO IDEA had ever happened. I will not name names, but just sayin’….). It was a heated battle (down to one point!) and I will tell you those Brits are both competitive and rules-bound… didn’t Paul Revere say something similar? Anyways, I’m happy to say that despite our best efforts, Team GB was the victor! I’m happy because with a true collectivist mentality, I’m going to say that in the end the trip was more harmonious for all of us because they won. And I’m also optimistic that Team GB’s national pride from the victory is maybe enough to take the edge off all of their losses in the next Winter Olympics, maybe. [Menard and Lorena- am I framing this well or what?!]

Trivia grudges behind us, we embarked on our trip up Rainbow Mountain the next day as a united front! The first day’s hiking was not too strenuous and we enjoyed meeting families who live along the way, in extremely modest shack-like structures, if that. One even invited us to warm around their fire and then started playing music and taught us their traditional dance!

I will say that everything, even dancing, is more difficult when you’re at high altitude. And our altitude had reached the ridiculously high proportions. I’m talking at camping at 14,000 feet and the summit of Rainbow Mountain is a full 17,000 feet! This is my highest altitude ever and I was curious how I would respond physically, but other than being out of breath easily, I felt pretty good. At times I even felt a little bit giddy, like when I was a little kid and would occasionally suck the air out of a helium balloon to make my voice sound funny. A few in our group weren’t so lucky and battled the annoying negative impacts of the altitude but all were troopers and we were happy to reunite at the summit. Our victory pose:

Rainbow Mountain really is that beautiful and it’s awe-inspiriting to be seeing the multi-colored layers, which are the result of mineral deposits over millions of years.

Of course we added a lot more color to Rainbow Mountain, especially with my Lucha Libre face masks I’d brought from Mexico (they were also a great face warmer!).

The trek down was a piece of cake, as the weather was perfect and we were scampering past throngs of people headed to the summit at a much later point in the day. It turns out that most folk do this hike as a day trip and leave Cusco at 2 a.m., ride several hours in a bus to a trail head (taking a shorter and less scenic route than us), reach the summit (all at the same time, so it’s a royal cluster) and then all trudge down at the same time and return to Cusco at 7 p.m. I will say our method was BY FAR more preferable as it felt like we were the only ones on the magical mountain at times and we got to appreciate it in a much more authentic way.

We enjoyed the same pre-hike mountain Inka Tera property the night after the hike, and were even treated to massages. It felt like the most perfect time to get a massage ever (and I’ve had my fair share of massages). None of us recovered from the massage-induced veil of relaxation enough to stay awake too long (definitely not enough energy for Trivia round 2) and we all retired pretty early. I think I slept for 10 solid hours that night and it was perfect. The next day it was off to our next site… a not too shabby one called Machu Picchu. This required a bus to a cute little town with amazing Inca ruins that we explored before boarding a train.

Okay, I’m not going to lie, it was a the best train ever. It had adorable, colorful placements at each seat, gorgeous window views and even little skylights so you could see an aerial view during the beautiful ride through the Andes. And, to top it off, there was a guy walking up and down the aisle with a drink shaker, which had the double effect of creating percussion background noise and making pisco sours!

We all happily enjoyed a pisco sour as we cruised into Machu Picchu central- a cute little community bustling with hotels and many restaurants trying to lure you in, and offering things such as 2×1 happy hour pisco sours and jenga (twist my arm!). We had a delish dinner and hit the hay early, which I’d like to say was because we knew had an early morning but to be honest (for me at least) was more a result of the altitude + pisco sour combo deal. It worked out well, though, as we were all awake and fairly lucid at 5 a.m., when we headed to the line for the buses to the top of Machu Picchu (about a 15 minute ride). There’s a huge line at that hour and apparently tourism has been on a continuous incline over the past 8 years of so.

I will say that the country of Peru does seem to have it figured out in terms of tourism, almost in a “if you build it they will come” fashion in determining the main attractions they promote to tourists (out of Peru’s many man-made and natural options). I will say at Machu Picchu they do a nice job of regulating the number of onlookers there at one time, so while I’d heard tales of the spot being overrun with tourists, I never felt like it was ridiculously packed. When we arrived, we first stood in awe, just staring at the wonder of the world and only remembering to take pictures when Pabel suggested it.

It’s just unbelievable to think that this was created by human beings that long ago and built in less than 30 years! We then climbed Machu Pinchu mountain, which is actually part of the Inca trail and is a stone path with more than 2,500 steps taking you to an elevation of a mere 10,100 feet- the top of the mountain overlooking the ruins.

Of course the Incas made the trail so it’s still in pretty good shape. (As a side note, I also didn’t realize that the entire 26 mile Inca trail is a stone path of made of Inca paving stones!) After making our way down the mountain, we had an up close and personal tour of the ruins and as we walked through Pabel explained the many amazing design features of the city- including brick and mortarless construction with irregularly shaped rocks that fit together like a jigsaw puzzle, so during the many earthquakes over the years the stones allegedly “dance” and move apart easily but then fit back together in their original formation. Genius!

I have to tell you that the views from that spot are out of this world. It’s really a shame that after all that work the city was only inhabited for about 80 years before it was abandoned in 1572. It was then buried and nobody knew it was there until 1911, when it was finally discovered. It’s such an incredible place full of incredible stories and I fully support the wonder of the world designation (in case the wonder of the world committee was interested in my thoughts).

Following a delicious lunch we boarded the train back to Cusco, less exuberant this time following our 4 a.m. wake-up call and exciting morning. Back in Cusco we rallied to go out, as it was our final night together! How was the trip already over? All my trips have gone by quickly but this one really flew. We enjoyed a few more pisco sours and looked for salsa dancing but ended up at a regular dance place and that worked just fine. Good-byes were hard, per the ushe, and I was staying for two more nights so had a staggered process of bidding farewell to folks. It’s almost easier if you’re the first to leave! I spent my next few days taking in more of Cusco, including a typical Sunday that includes parades all over the main square- celebrating graduations, religious observations and some things that I have no idea what they are but involve lots of music and costumes.

It appears that everyone in the town is in the parades and the only onlookers are smattering of tourists. But it’s not something they are doing for tourists. It’s just that their idea of the point of a parade is being IN the parade not WATCHING the parade. I love that! I also took a “colectivo” bus (you pay $1.50 and get in a van with a bunch of people going to the same place) to a neighboring town where I explored the markets and some more stunning ruins on the mountain top.

There is a village behind the ruins and I learned that every day the children walk down the mountain to school in the village (a 90 minute trek) and then climb up the mountain for two hours to get home! I can’t imagine doing that everyday in normal conditions, never mind their harsh rainy season.

As I rode to the airport, I thought about how Peru had managed to surpass even my high expectations. Yes, tourism has been on the rise there, but there’s a reason for that. It’s such a beautiful country with incredibly kind and welcoming people (Peruvians are even a little shy by nature!) and the history is palpable and absolutely fascinating. Oh and I now have a little Inca obsession and am on the hunt for a good nonfiction book on them…let me know if you have any recommendations.

Despite my sadness to be leaving Peru, on the bright side I looked forward to being back at sea level for a spell (my lips had a permanent tint of blue for a while due to the altitude).

August 27, 2018September 4, 2018

Viva Mexico!

I have to admit that the country of Mexico was not on my short list of places to visit during my travels. Don’t get me wrong, I love Mexico but figured I had seen most of what I needed to see and would go back after I was working again when I needed a chill-ax beach holiday. I mean, I’d been to Cancun (not once but TWICE), Playa del Carmen once (okay, not so far from Cancun), AND even tacked onto one of the trips with a few days traveling solo in Tulum (actually Tulum may have been the first time I’d ever traveled solo, and it was less than two years ago! Wow). Anyways, fast-forward to a few months ago when I chatted with my friends at my favorite travel company, Flash Pack, who told me about a new “Chief Insider” initiative they are doing and asked ME if I wanted to BE a “Chief Insider”!!! Um, beyond having an awesome title, what else do I have to do?

Basically, the company does a lot careful planning around each of their trips but realizes that you can only plan so much and have to actually experience the trip to know if everything works how it should. So, for the first run of each new trip they have an “Insider” group, where everyone gets a discounted rate for providing feedback and being understanding that there may be first-time glitches. As the CHIEF Insider (I preferred to go by Chief) I was responsible for providing an additional layer of support, basically making sure things went okay with the Insiders, mitigating glitches, and providing some iterative feedback. But really I was just on the trip like everyone else and doing what I usually do on my Flash Pack trips. [Hmmm….maybe I should ask for some retroactive CHIEF discounts?]

So, (I bet you can see where this is going), there was a CHIEF Insider opportunity for a new trip to Mexico and I looked at the itinerary and couldn’t believe there were so many cool things I hadn’t seen or done in the country. A sampling:

So, of course I signed up! Then, it was time, and I eased into my next international travel junket by not straying too far from los Estados Unidos. I arrived to Mexico City a few days early, to visit the Amazing Ana, who is from there and I’d met during my Turkey travels. I stayed with her for a few days and she gave me a wonderful tour of her city- including the incredible Frida Kahlo museum (seriously, Frida was one inspirational muchacha), the really interesting Archeological Museum, and many other sights, smells and sounds (the best sound in Mexico is the music, which is everywhere. And real music, actually being played!). Ana is also a talented artist with a great eye and she took me to the most beautiful places in her city, all while making me smile with her infectious giggle. It was so good to see her again!

After bidding Ana farewell I met my tour group, who I felt like I kind of knew already from pre-trip What’s App banter. Most were from the UK or Europe and had had long travel days (for once I was the one with the least travel time!) yet everyone was very excited and lively during our initial dinner. Most of us made it out to a salsa club after dinner and we even danced with some locals. While I can’t speak for the others, I don’t think my partners were particularly impressed with my salsa skills. Still, it was a great first night!

We all loved our guide, Fransciso, right away as he’s one of those people you can tell just loves what he does. He’s clearly enthusiastic about his country and sharing his impressive knowledge about it (the guy majored in History and seems to literally know everything).
We spent three nights in Mexico City and, despite my pre-tour with Amazing Ana, I felt like I had so much more to see and there was a new surprise around every corner. The city really does have a ton to offer and despite being one of the most populated cities in the entire world, it really doesn’t feel that way. I expected it to be overly congested and maybe a bit sterile in parts, but instead I felt like it exuded charm, appeal, and history. Plus, just enough people speak just enough English that you can get by but you still have to work at it. I love that! While of course it’s easier to communicate in foreign countries where everyone speaks English, it doesn’t really seem fair for them to have to speak my language and I actually like to have to make an effort (I especially like making an effort when in a Spanish speaking country, as that is the one language I know more than a handful of words in, albeit not as many as I should given that I had to take classes through the “literature level” in college- it was a struggle for me and it took a while to stop having nightmares about Don Quixote). Anyways, Francisco took us on a walking tour of the city, to the main area downtown where there used to be a huge pyramid back in the day, until the Spanish came and ripped it apart to use the bricks to build a massive cathedral just a stone’s throw away. How rude!

We then moved on to the bustling market where we did an authentic food tour. And authentic it was! I even found myself eating insects for the first time! Although I was dubious and thought maybe it was a trick for tourists, I learned that the Mexicans really do eat insects themselves and sometimes even with a fancy presentation as if an expensive cheese board. We got them straight from the market vendor, though, which I thought was pretty bad-ass of us. [The lady selling them even looks a little worried for us.]

We also tried the most delectable fruits from the market- it really is SO much better there! In fact, the food overall is absolutely incredible and far surpassed my expectations. In a way I’m a smidge disappointed as I feel like “Mexican food” in the U.S. may have been ruined for me, for a while at least…I’m sure the memories of my taste buds will fade over time, though.

That night we were whisked off to a “Lucha Libre” wrestling match, which is the first type of wrestling where they wore whacky masks and had crazy names. It started in the early 1900s during the Mexican Revolution as a means of distraction/entertainment and has thrived ever since then, becoming an international cultural icon of sorts. I wasn’t sure what to expect exactly and I think we were all surprised how much fun it was….the ABSOLUTE BLAST kind of fun! There was much energy and excitement and we even got into it enough to get masks and choose favorites! I will admit that I wasn’t the only one who didn’t think I would like it very much (I’m decidedly not a big WWF or UFC fan) but was so pleasantly surprised. I really think you need to experience it to understand but trust me- it’s totally worth it!

The next day there was no rest for the weary and we were whisked off to a colorful traditional trajinera boat where we cruised through canals and enjoyed a home-cooked lunch while being regaled by mariachi bands. I told you, music is literally everywhere in this country!

That evening we had a delicious dinner at a restaurant overlooking the massive cathedral. I mean…no words describe this Mexico City view.

Then it was off to our second destination, the town of Puebla which is also Francisco’s hometown. We settled into our Puebla accommodations before Francisco proudly showed us around his city. We later met for a traditional (and delicious) meal in a local restaurant.

We were up and out early the next day for a hike in between two huge volcanos. This required a two-hour drive that turned into a four-hour drive after some interference by unpredictable traffic and unpredictability closed roads (both apparently part of the “authentic” Mexico experience). This meant that we didn’t have time to do the full hike but instead did a mini-hike up to a picnic spot where we enjoyed the volcano views as we ate delicious boxed lunches.

Despite making the best of it, the group was disappointed that the hike was cut short and that we had much longer travel day than expected. I put my CHIEF hat on and messaged the peeps back at FP HQ with the latest – knowing they would want to fix timing issues around the hike for next time and also know that the group was not thrilled about missing the hike. Well, a series of messages later, a reservation at a local speakeasy had been arranged for that evening, courtesy of Flash Pack (thanks to Jenni for recommending the speakeasy!). It was one of those authentic yet trendy places where you enter though a hidden entrance (this one was a barbershop) and it was open mic night to boot! The comedians all gamely did their best to accommodate the English-speaking group sitting at the big table, yet I found even the Spanish bits entertaining especially the crowd reactions.

We were treated to even clearer views the next morning as we departed Puebla- maybe too clear – and we could see smoke coming out of one of the volcanos (thankfully not the one we had been on). Locals swear it will be a good 25 years before the next eruption, but who know, really?!

We then moved on along to our final destination, the town of Oaxaca. It’s funny as Oaxaca is the smallest of the three places we visited, but it was the place I’d heard the most about from friends who had travelled to non-beach areas of Mexico. I’d enjoyed Mexico City and Puebla so much that it was hard to imagine Oaxaca could somehow be better. Now, in hindsight, I refuse to pick favorites but will say that I definitely see what all the Oaxaca hype is about. It’s a quaint city, full of character and charm and bustling with artists and musicians of all sorts. And while it’s easy to get around and you feel like a local almost immediately, there is lots to see and do. In fact, I stayed for two nights after the tour and I still felt like there were still things I hadn’t seen! Guess I’ll have to go back 🙂 And just like that, Mexico is back on the list. A few glimpses of the Oaxaca beauty:

I found this especially beautiful-

Highlights in Oaxaca were a traditional cooking class, that began with a lesson in making three different types of delicious cheeses. We then split into groups to each make a course in a most delectable 5-course lunch that we later enjoyed. It was so much fun (both the cooking and the eating!).

We also had a beer tasting at a local brewery, where Hirin pulled some Rainman stuff by guessing the alcohol percentage of 5 out of six beers, within .1%! It was pretty impressive, as far as party tricks go. We also travelled to the stunning Hierve del Agua which is a natural petrified waterfall (not a real waterfall but a huge rock cliff with petrified rock that looks like cascading water). There were some pretty spectacular springs in the adjacent rocks that serve as a convenient viewing area.

We also swung by a mescal distillery to get an up close and personal demo on how agave magically turns into mescal. Here’s me and the proprietor –

I’ll skip right over our farewell dinner as those are always bittersweet, recounting memories from the trip and accepting that it’s, sadly, ending.

This goodbye was more gradual, though, as about half the group wasn’t leaving until later the next day and we made our way to the Monte Alban pyramids in the morning. Talk about spectacular! We hired a guide outside (Julio) who walked us through the massive Aztec heritage site explaining meaning behind the relics. They really did it up back in the day, and the Aztecs must have been in great shape to climb all those steps every day.

The next day the cheese stands alone, as the last of my new friends departed. And, did I mention how solid this group was?? Hailing from the UK, US, and Italy, everyone got along as evidenced by the fact that we even spent our limited free-time together. It’s always a little jarring to go from being with a group of friends and having a handler (poor Francisco, but he loved it!) to being left to your own devices. I even had to set my own alarm in the morning (my amazing roomie Jo from Wales had taken care of that -only one of the many reasons she’s amazing). Here’s Jo and I:

It ended up being for the best that I was solo for my last two days in Oaxaca though, as I quickly succumbed to what I first described as the Mexican Plague and later learned is also known as Montezuma’s Revenge. Not sure exactly what that means but it definitely felt like someone’s revenge! I tried fight it and convince myself that I did not, in fact, feel horrible. But it was a futile battle and I got in bed at 2pm, and slept on and off (mostly on) until 11am the next day. Apparently this Revenge is common in Mexico and surrounding countries and is likely from something I ate or maybe ice from water that wasn’t purified. I admit I wasn’t the most careful with that stuff, thinking all my traveling had helped me to develop a stomach of steel. Incorrect. Lesson learned.

On the upside I was feeling much better the day I was leaving and had most of the day to do a final farewell tour of Oaxaca before heading to the airport again.

Next up…pisco sour country!

July 5, 2018July 20, 2018

Reflections after a year of traveling

It’s been almost exactly year since Teha’s Travels commenced! In fact, my very first post was on July 7, 2017, written as I was on my way to my first trip (which was an amazing vespa tour in Madrid). I’m actually still in close touch with my friends from that tour group, despite the fact that it was only a five day trip and it’s now a year later. It’s amazing, really, to think about all the people who have touched my life in incredibly profound ways over the past year. People who I didn’t know a year ago and will now know for the rest of my life. And also some people who I will likely never see again but will also never forget.

Throughout the course of my travels I’ve been asked a lot of questions, both about my thought process and the logistics behind ‘taking the plunge’ (which is exactly what it felt like). Earlier this year a British reporter asked me a series of questions for a piece she was working on. [I wonder if that was ever published, actually? I should follow-up.] Anyways, I thought she did a nice job at covering what I’m asked most frequently and I wanted to share my answers:

1. When did you decide to take a career break, and why?

I’d been working for a large consulting firm for ten years and for about a year was increasingly feeling that I wanted a change. In addition to changing jobs, I was thinking I might want to move from Washington, DC, where I’ve lived since college. But while working I didn’t feel like I was in the right head space to make those big decisions. In my gut I knew I needed a break from it all in order to step back and figure out what was next. As context, over the course of ten years with my last company I often had to be encouraged to take vacation time and at times lost vacation time that I didn’t use (and in the U.S. we don’t get a ton of vacation in the first place!). In fact, I had taken only one vacation that was longer than one week, and that was a two week break when my sister got married in Europe. I brought my work laptop home every single night and was tethered to work pretty much all the time.

I knew change would be good for me but as I contemplated what that would be, I was wary of jumping right into something else. I sensed I had lost perspective and knew I had to gain it back in order to live a more balanced and healthy life. Finally, after tossing the idea ’round for months, last June I made the decision to quit. It was probably the most difficult decision I’ve ever made. I voluntarily gave up something safe, stable, and predictable for something completely unknown. And even now, not knowing the ending yet, I can say it was also the best decision I ever made!

2. How did you go about planning your break: how far did you plan ahead, how did you raise money etc.? – did you leave your job completely or take a sabbatical?

I wish I could say I had it all planned out but that’s just not how I operate. To me, it was important to have a few key things in-place: the savings to survive for a period of time and a general travel plan. The idea of traveling by myself for months was daunting and at first that held me back from deciding to do this. I was very excited when I discovered a company called Flash Pack, that specializes in solo adventure travel for people in their 30s and 40s, and have taken six of their trips so far (with three more planned!). These trips have been great as I’ve gotten to meet and travel with so many wonderful people and to incredible places- including several places that I wouldn’t feel comfortable traveling to by myself. I’ve also made friends from all over the world and have visited several of them during my travels. This was a perk I didn’t plan on and it turned out that having a flexible approach to my travels has been a huge benefit as I’ve been able to adjust when I learn about a new place (or person) I want to visit.

3. Were you worried at any point that taking a break would put you on the back foot in terms of career progression; or did you recognise that it would actually enhance it?
Before I made the decision I did worry if it was career-suicide to quit without another job lined up and to have a gap of time in my resume when applying for a job again. I sought advice from smart people, including the CEO of my previous company where I had worked for 6 years and a senior HR representative at my current company at the time, who was also a mentor. Of the several people I confided in about my potential plan and my concerns, they all said the same thing. They all said it was the perfect time in my career to take this break and something they wished they had done at my age. Knowing my skills and my work ethic, they assured me that it would not be difficult to find another job when I wanted to (I’m hoping they are right!). In regards to the employment gap on my resume, I was told that employers these days don’t necessarily see that as a bad thing, and are more likely to respect the decision to take time off and travel. Deep down I think it’s something everyone wants to do or wishes they had done, and there is a certain amount of respect (and sometimes envy!) for those who have.

4. What did it feel like when you woke up on the first morning of your break?

This is a great question, as I honestly had no idea how I would feel after I made the decision to quit. I knew it would go one of two ways- I would wake up, freak-out, and curl up into a ball, missing the routine and safety of the life I had given up. Or I would jump out of bed and pull out my suitcase, feeling liberated and excited for the adventures that laid ahead. I felt like it could really have gone either way and I can’t even tell you how relieved I was when it was the latter! I woke up feeling like a HUGE weight was lifted off of my shoulders. I had an annual girls trip planned for that weekend and I remember reaching for my phone several times, to check my work email. It took a long time to get out of that habit. I also dreamt about work for a while, sometimes stress dreams about deadlines or projects. But the big thing I noticed that weekend was how much more present I felt and how much more ALIVE! It was clear to me then that I had made the right decision.

5. Were you daunted at all at the prospect of free time – or did it just represent delicious opportunity?
I think I answered some of this in the last question, but, yes, I was extremely daunted at first. To help provide some initial structure, I planned the next few months and included some travel, as a test run of sorts. It was summer and I had two weeks of an annual family vacation planned (the first year I would be going for the whole two weeks AND wouldn’t be checking in with work everyday) as well as a week I’d committed to volunteer at a summer camp for children who have experienced the death of a parent or sibling. I also signed up for my first Flash Pack tour (a Vespa tour in Madrid!) and added on some solo travels in Spain afterwards. I also spent some time at home, getting ready for more extensive travels at the beginning of September. This worked out perfectly as I was able to have a relaxing summer, reconnect with family and friends (as well as myself), and ease into the next phase.

5. How did you plan your time off in order to make the most of it? – where have you travelled to so far? [This answer is as of February, 2018]
The Flash Pack trips really helped me to make the most of my travels. On the first day of September, I left for Italy where I met up with a friend I had met on the Spain Flash Pack tour. She was also taking a break from work and we explored Rome, Venice, and Florence together. We then embarked on the Flash Pack tour to Croatia together (which we had actually signed up for separately!). I then continued on to France where I explored Marseille and then visited friends in Dijon. From there I returned to Italy, this time hiking in beautiful Cinque Terra and spent a few days in Milan. From there, I went on to my next FP trip to Morocco! From there I flew into Madrid, and explored more of Spain, heading up to coastal San Sebastián (where it rained but I still had fun!) I then went to Portugal where I met up with two friends from home, on a trip we had planned well before I’d decided to quit. I went from there to a FP tour of India and Nepal and then back to DC for a week. This was all over the course of two months and I appreciated the time home to rejuvenate, catch up with friends, and re-pack. Next, I did a FP tour of Chile, and headed directly on yet another FP tour of Vietnam and Cambodia. I then met up with a friend who lives Malaysia and spent a few days in Thailand before visiting a FP friend in London. I spent Christmas stateside with family and friends and then just took off on my latest junket last week. I’ve been to Stockholm, Brussels, and Prague and am currently headed (literally on the train now!) to meet up with a FP friend in Vienna. Then I’ll be going to Salzburg, Finland, London, Ireland, and on to a FP trip to Myanmar. Along the course of this six week junket I’ll be either visiting or traveling with nine friends I’ve met in various tours!

6. What’s the reaction of your friends and family been – has it mostly been positive/do people wish they could do the same?
When I decided to do this I was nervous that people would judge me and think I was being irresponsible. But the reaction I’ve gotten from literally everyone has been the exact opposite! Those who know me well have been incredibly encouraging and supportive- I suspect they all knew it would be good for me to take a break from working. But reactions from everyone from friends, mentors, former co-workers, and several extremely successful business people (some complete strangers) have been positive. Yes, I think many people wish they could do the same but instead of being bitter they have wanted to “live vicariously” through my travels. I was told this so many times that I decided to start a blog chronicling my travels as well as a dedicated Instagram account (@tehastravels). I did this just for my family and friends but have been shocked at the number of complete strangers who now follow me and encourage me along the way! In fact, soon after I began my travels I received this comment on my blog: “I don’t know you, you don’t know me. Saw your post from a mutual friend and wanted to follow. You have not disappointed. Look forward to your posts every day. I see a book in the works; your humor, suggestions and photos are wonderful. You represent a lot of women who ‘wanted to’ but never did. Be safe and keep it coming. Fondly, a 73 year old female vicarious traveler.” It made my day and I’ve continued to receive similar feedback that has been a tremendous source of inspiration.

7. Have you noticed any difference in your stress levels and overall wellbeing since taking the break?
Yes! This break has really changed the way I view the world and what is important in life. I’m a laid back person by nature but while caught up in a corporate hamster wheel I found myself getting stressed about things that were just not important at the end of the day. Now I find myself able to see what is important, both for me and even more broadly speaking. I was once in a daily work routine that I thrived on but it was very limiting. The value of my days were based on what I had accomplished, regardless of if what I had accomplished really mattered. Now I take the days as they come, make the most of them, and appreciate them for what they are, which allows me to treat my mind and body well and in a much more organic way.

8. What’s been the most surprising thing you’ve learnt from taking a career break that you perhaps didn’t expect?
While I was seeking to gain perspective during this break, I don’t think I realized quite how much of it I would be gaining. I’ve had the opportunity to experience and really immerse myself in different cultures around the world. I’ve also come to really appreciate cultural differences and also the remarkable similarities that we all have as human beings. I truly believe that most people are good people at their core and want the same general things in life, although these things are often reflected quite differently in different cultures. I feel like we tend to focus on differences between people and cultures instead of the similarities and this is a key contributor to much of the hatred and racism that plagues our society. I believe that if more people could travel more and actually get to know each other more, some of these divides would be broken down. Of course an open mind is necessary for this to happen as well!

9. Do you think the experience has helped broaden your horizons and gain perspective on life? I think I answered this.

10. Is there any financial tips you’d give to someone thinking of taking a career break (as this can often be the biggest barrier)?
I was raised to understand the value of a dollar and was eager to start working as soon as I could. At first it was raking neighbors’ leaves or shoveling snow for a few dollars an hour (I was a bargain)! I feel lucky that my parents instilled these values in me and I’ve carried them throughout my life, always making an effort to save money. I think it’s because I value working hard and making a living, l that I was still able to take a break from it. I never lived above my means and have been able to differentiate between what I want and need. And also those times when something is so important that the cost should not play a factor at all. When saving, I always found it helpful to have a portion of my paycheck automatically put into a savings account, so I would never see it and would almost forget it was there. I also think it’s important to approach saving in small chunks- a savings goal may seem insurmountable and not even worth trying for, but if broken down into a certain amount of money every two weeks or month, you can get there with time. Professionally speaking, and especially as a female, I think it’s so important to know your worth and believe in yourself enough to have difficult conversations about salary. Too often I see females making less than their male counter-parts, and partially because they aren’t asking for what they deserve. It’s easy to stay in your same job and rely on a small annual increase but true gains are made by pushing yourself to add more value, prove that value, and ask for the compensation that you fairly deserve. Lastly, when looking to take a break and travel, I think it’s important to recalibrate your spending. For example, I cancelled my cable, even though it would be nice to watch TV when I’m home every few months. I make coffee in the mornings now and can’t tell you the last time I was at a Starbucks. And while traveling, I try to resist going into “vacation mode” all the time, avoiding the mentality where you splurge on things you wouldn’t normally, just because you aren’t at home. This is not to say I’m depriving myself by any means, but I’m thoughtful about how I spend my money, knowing I have a limited amount of it.

11. What would you say to someone who’s thinking of taking a break but scared of taking their foot off the gas/falling off the career ladder?
I would tell someone considering a career break to not let fear hold them back. Yes, you need to make sure the timing works for you, both career-wise and financially. But, beyond that, we are all only on this earth for a short time, during which we only have so many opportunities to explore it. I will say that of the many older, more experienced, and successful people I’ve sought advice from about this, not one of them said they wished they’d worked more. Not one. Yet, several of them said they’d wished they’d taken breaks to explore and go on adventures that were impossible once they retired and had bad knees.

Also, we don’t live in a society where you work for one company for 30 years. Things are different now and to have just a few jobs or even just a few careers is now the exception, not the norm. Employers want to hire people who are naturally curious and not afraid to take calculated risks, both in their professional and personal lives. So please don’t let fear of how taking a break will be perceived keep you from doing it!

July 2, 2018July 21, 2018

Key West tomfoolery

I survived my flight back to DC, mystery “Chinese herbal remedy” and all. It turned out that my parents were in town that weekend, visiting grandkids, and my sister-in-law had the great idea that I surprise them! So, I LIED to my parents about my return date from Thailand and even BLOCKED them from viewing my Instagram story (I was never this sneaky in high school, I swear!). My eight-year old nephew, Jack, even kept the surprise, although apparently he mentioned several times how much fun it would be if I was there and had many questions about the delivery time of a mysterious Amazon package he was expecting. Nevertheless, they both looked utterly shocked and, of course, my mom shed a few tears. Here we are, reunited!

It’s a tad ironic that my next trip was one that was planned almost a full YEAR ago, especially as I think about how many trips I’ve taken between then and now that I hadn’t yet planned on at that time (or in the 6-10 months that followed). So, as context, every June for the past five years a group of us girls take a fantastic long weekend trip to a different and always amazing destination, and the boys from the same group try to do the same but seem to get their act together only every few years or so. Yours truly excluded, most of the group has known each other since living in the Adams Morgan neighborhood in their roaring 20s but people have dispersed a bit since then (some all the way to the suburbs!). I’m not sure how I didn’t meet this crew way back when, but I get the sense that whatever I was doing at the time was less fun than what they had going on. Anyways, I managed to squirm my way into the group later on and just in time for the inaugural girl’s trip (Vegas baby!). So, fast-forward to this year which was a monumental birthday of sorts for a few of us and we decided to throw the guys a bone and allow a combo girls-guys trip. I was really pushing for a cruise but suspected if I “got my way” I would be the only one on the ship. After much discussion, we decided on Key West, Florida. I’d been twice before (once for the millennial New Years celebration!) and found something innately ‘happy place’ about the vibe there. So, I quickly stopped lamenting my lack of cruise-going friends, as I knew a good time was guaranteed in Key West- and here we are!! [Please ignore the stone faced guy in the forefront. Han is smiling inside, I’m sure!]

There were lucky 13 of us in the group and despite the fact that many of us were coming from the DC area, we seemed to all be on different flights, at different times, and with different connections. I’m pretty sure we had every flight of the day covered. However, while texting the group during my layover in Fort Lauderdale, I realized that two of “us” (Linda and Han) were at the Chili’s just down from the Margaritaville where I had hunkered down. And it was a pleasant surprise to learn that we were on the same flight for final leg of our journey (on a tiny propeller plane that was about 100 degrees- but at least we had each other)! Han was obviously thrilled (cue his happy face!) that he could sit next to Linda and I as we blabbed away, catching up on life.

We all connected at our Air BnB that consisted of five villas with a cute courtyard area and little pool. It was totally Melrose Place and I totally loved it (despite no Andrew Shue to be found).

After enjoying a few (self-provided) welcome drinks a few of my comrades announced they were headed to the “turtle races” that were allegedly happening near the pier area. Impromptu adventure? Yes, please! There, we hung out at a fun bar and saw a beautiful sunset. (Yes, that would be a blow-up penis above my head. You see a lot of those in Key West!)

We also participated in the most bizarre turtle race betting process EVER (okay, I have no other turtle race betting process to compare it to but I stand firm in my supposition). Basically, how it works is everyone gets a piece of paper with a 1, 2, or 3 on it and you can win a prize (cash money!) if your turtle wins. But there are only 3 turtles and we have multiple pieces of paper in circulation for each number…so there must be a lot of winners? Like most things that seem too good to be true, it was (funny how I’m such an eternal optimist but I still believe in that saying). Anyways, first was the main event, the turtle dash, and it lasted about 30 seconds- those turtles have some wheels!

Then, those who had the number of the winning turtle (including lucky me!) got to line up in a loooong line and, one-by-one, tell the microphone wielding gent (who looks not dissimilar to a square dance officiant) their name and select a number from a board. Next step: lining up AGAIN, to see the same guy and this time trade your number for a key with that number on it. THEN, the real excitement starts as (with square dance enthusiasm) the officiant hypes up each person’s attempt to use their key to open magic mystery treasure chest that could (but everyone heard does) contain $500! I’d grown completely sick of this by now and had zero intention of joining a third looooong line (fool me twice…). Despite being a quitter I enjoyed watching everyone else get in line AGAIN and then finally get to the front and turn their key soooo expectedly, only to realize that (spoiler alert) they actually do not have the key that opens the magic treasure chest!! Awww, shucks! Huge blow. Every.single.time. I also saw that some ‘randomly’ selected contestants (it seemed anyone who attempted a rapport with the officiant) were offered a consolation prize in exchange for forfeiting their turn of the key. Over and over again I watched every person who was given this offer say “no way” to the consolation prize option! Really?? Again, I’m not a cynical person but something just seemed off with the whole operation. I got distracted socializing (story of my life) and later turned around to see the final line was at its end. I alerted Han (another cynical hold-out) and we both shrugged and jumped behind the few people left waiting with their keys. Thanks to much cheering by our friends and rapport-making by us, we were both given the opportunity to re-affirm our belief that WE had the winning key and that we did NOT want the consolation prize we were being offered. So, to sum it up, Han won a tank-top, I won a $20 gift certificate and nobody else there won anything, because nobody’s key worked. That’s right, over the course of hours of lines and dozens keys, not ONE of them worked (not even Han and I’s, which they tried anyways in hopes we’d be proven the ultimate, risk-averse fools). All in all it was the silliest contest ever- they should have just had the turtles race a few more times and called it a day. But as the person leaving with $20, and a new tank-top (a gift from Han), who am I to complain?

The turtle racing crew had worked up an appetite by this time and came across a little shack looking restaurant across the street, called BO’s Fish Wagon (actually I’m pretty sure someone in the group did some research but it felt like we just randomly ended up there). They had the MOST AMAZING fish tacos and I highly recommend seeking this spot out if you find yourself in Key West.

The next morning I woke up late, just as the bike ride/ jet-ski crew was about to depart and I wasted zero time joining their bandwagon. We rented bikes, which is an excellent way to get around the small island of Key West and especially if you want to go to their one beach. If you don’t know the island you may be expecting tons of beaches but there is really only one and it’s even part of a National Park (so a little set-back from the main area). It’s a nice beach with clear blue water and well-worth the short bike ride!

We then headed to our jet ski adventure. I love myself a good adrenaline rush but had never used a jet-ski so wasn’t sure what to expect. Here’s the jet-ski crew:It was SOOOO much fun!!! It reminded me a lot of the snowmobiling that I’d enjoyed in Finland (which is odd if you think about the two things I’m comparing) but once you get going fast on the jet ski and focus on following the wake of the person in front you, it feels a lot like zooming through a path in the snow. And almost just as exhilarating! Due to an ominous lightning storm (I did my very best big girl face to try to ignore it) we couldn’t circle the entire island as planned, but I was quite happy keeping my jet-ski full throttle (at a whole 40 mph) and doing donuts in the Gulf, with a few stops to cool off in the water.

That night we enjoyed a birthday dinner of sorts and some cavorting around town. Cavorting can cover a large swath in Key West and, while we were mostly well-behaved, every morning we enjoyed sharing stories about the interesting people we’d met and (sometimes even more interesting) things we’d seen.

Key West has no shortage of personalities, that’s for sure…we fit right in!

The next morning was brunch at a Key West must-see restaurant, Blue Heaven, which is a local staple for its delicious food, live music, and copious amounts of character. I highly recommend.

We then meandered around the colorful, music infused streets for a while (some may have napped), and took in the must-see sights.

Maker:S,Date:2017-8-23,Ver:6,Lens:Kan03,Act:Lar02,E-Y

We then reconnected for a sunset boat cruise (with snorkeling!).

My towel-boyfriend, Pedro even made the trip, and was actually very popular!

This was followed up (yes, it was a packed day!) with another delicious dinner, where I had the most fabulous, perfectly cooked (rare) tuna skewers. Our final night consisted of some bonding in the courtyard…have I mentioned I love the courtyard concept? There was just something so comforting knowing anytime you wanted to wander out to the courtyard there would be some combination of your 13 friends out there, most likely with a chilled bottle of rose and an extra glass. It was kind of like seeing a mirage every time!

The next morning Sarah and I headed out earlier than most of the crew, as we’d (inadvertently, of course) booked the same flight home. We checked in with plenty o’ time to spare in the tiny Key West airport (we probably would have had time to spare in most airports, actually). There was nobody in the airport or the security line and I sent this pic to our friends, telling them there was no need to rush to get there early for their flights.

Then, our trip home took a twist. We liked the looks of the one restaurant OUTSIDE security [FATAL FLAW] and then our flight was delayed and we thought we could take our time [CONFOUNDING VARIABLE] and then, while eating breakfast, the non-existent security line had gotten almost as long as the turtle race betting line(s) [UNFORTUNATE CIRCUMSTANCE]…and you can guess what happened next. Once we saw that our gate was closed, Sarah did not miss a beat in turning to tell me “this is going to be an expensive mistake.” And, she was not entirely incorrect, but we now both agree it was the BEST MISTAKE EVER! Thankfully Sarah is like me in that she can quickly appreciate the lemonade from the lemons…and then go make a ton of friends to drink it with. We meandered into the gate area (there’s only one) and hung out there for a while, greeting all of our friends as they trickled in for their respective flights.

During this time, Sarah dealt with Jet Blue on the phone (for approx 20 minutes) and learned she had to PAY for a flight out the next morning. This was unfortunate but I guess that’s how it works when you fly out of a small airport and are dealing with subsidiary airlines? It took me a full 2 hours and 20 minutes on the phone with Expedia, (aka the online travel agency I plan to never use again) to be informed that I would also have to pay to be rebooked for the next day. However, the only flight they could offer me was a two-layover, 15-hour journey, for $795. Was I flying from Beijing?? I took a veeeery deep breath, not-so-politely declined their office, and told Sarah we should move on with our day (later, once I recovered from this excessive hold situation, I booked a normally priced, normal travel-time flight on my own). We selected our hotel based on the recommendation from the airport staff, who we’d gotten to know fairly well by this time in the day. The Marker is great! It’s newish, full of character, and has three pools (!!!) We spent the afternoon at one pool, feeling no need to explore the other two. Did I mention this was the best mistake ever??

In the pool we met new friends, including ‘the family,’ which consisted of a couple from southern California, vacationing with their 12-year-old daughter and her best friend. The “he” of the couple has been coming to Key West for 25 years and the “she” is only at 19 years, but has equal enthusiasm for the place. They are a ton of fun and definitely love themselves some Key West! And the two girls are confident and articulate young women, who don’t seem to mind hanging out with adults. They gave both Sarah and I lot of hope for future generations. We ended up joining ‘the family’ that night for lobster mac’ n’ cheese at a REALLY fantastic restaurant named the Flaming Buoy. ‘The family’ are big fans of this place, they goes every year and are now friends with the owners. The daughter even has has her height chronicled on the front porch post, with notches from every year since she was two years-old! I know I’ve blabbed on about other restaurants, and overall the food really is amazing in Key West, but the Flaming Buoy really is THE BEST. The owners are talented and welcoming fellow nerds (except the kind who have seen Star Wars). They have a hilarious social media presence and are currently both bewildered and amused (bemused?) that somehow their restaurant was mistaken on social media platforms as the Virginia-based restaurant where Sarah Huckabee Saunders was recently denied service, the Red Hen. I mean, flames are red, so maybe that’s where the name confusion came from? So random.

Anyways, Sarah and I had the best bonus day ever, and all because we missed our flight!

At one point I thought maybe missing my flight and having such a great day was a SIGN that I should live in Key West! It does seem to take a special breed to be a Key West transplant and there’s not a lot of people who know me who question that, if nothing else, a special breed I am! Maybe someday in the future. But for now, the SIGN and all, it was back to DC for more unpacking and re-packing…stay tuned!

June 10, 2018June 27, 2018

More gobble, gobble

Picking up where I left off after my blog on Part one of my Turkey trip! It was no great surprise that we were off on another bus ride following our cycling adventure in Akiyaka. This was the biggest bus day of them all and included a small public bus– the kind where everyone crams on and some people don’t get seats but Fatih made sure we all did– to another public bus, the comfy coach kind with the bus flight attendant guy. (Actually I could be missing a bus in there… I am actually. There were two of the cram-on buses). Needless to say we were bussed out by the end.

Anyways, despite all of this activity we still arrived at our destination, the town of Fethiye, by lunchtime. Somehow we’d worked up an appetite with all that bussing, and we enjoyed Turkish pides at a restaurant next to our hotel. Pides are super thin crust pizzas with various meat toppings, and this was a deal too good to pass up… a meter and a half long pide for 14 Turkish lira (so about $3.50). A very impressive PPC (price per calorie) ratio and it was hard not to feel a smidge gluttonous when they served our pides on long wooden planks that stretched across three people (even though each plank was for one person). But, despite being slightly overwhelmed, we managed to clean our plates!

That afternoon there was an optional hike to the nearby Blue Lagoon and I’m pretty sure I would have opted in regardless of the Great Pide Overdose that took place at lunch, but that certainly removed any modicum of a question. It was very cool as the hike started at the “ghost village” which is an Ancient Greek town (named Kayakoy) built in the mountains in the 14th century.

For a loooong time it was inhabited by Greek Orthodox Christians and Anatolian Muslims, living harmoniously side-by-side. The village was completely abandoned when the Greeks and Turks swapped places at the end of WW I (I believe the official term is a “population exchange” as part of an effort to make sure that both Greece and Turkey had only one main religion). The Muslim Turks who had been excised from Greece as part of the “exchange” were into running water and had no interest in the water cisterns that their new home, Kayakoy, relied on for their water supplies. So, they basically said “eff it, we’ll just start over somewhere else” and left the entire city abandoned. There was some solid construction left behind (clearly, as it’s still there however many years later), so they obviously felt strongly about this water thing. After exploring the ethereal-feeling deserted village, we followed Fatih over the mountaintop and were rewarded with spectacular views of the Blue Lagoon, which is a picturesque lagoon area that also boasts a little resort town.

We reconnected with the group that evening and enjoyed dinner at the local Fish Market, which is an outdoor market with many vendors showcasing their catches of the day. You point to whatever creature of the sea you have a hankering for and tell them how you want it cooked and then a little while later… WAH-LA! The squid that I had said “looked good” in the display case but didn’t really (does raw seafood ever really look good… minus sushi, of course) ended up looking and tasting amazing when grilled and plated.

The next day was… the BIG hike that Fatih had been talking up (aka warning us about) for much of the trip. We were told this was NOT a hike for the faint of heart and once you committed to doing it there was no turning back. Fatih shared this piece of information multiple times. And to really drive home the point, he shared the anecdote of when a group member once was so tired she started crying mid-hike and Fatih carried her backpack for her (and thought he was going to have to actually carry her as well!) My backpack on this adventure was heavy, as we needed to bring everything we would need for an overnight and I way overpacked… I did wonder at one point if I could scrounge up some fake tears just to see if Fatih would volunteer to trade packs. Check out that pack I lugged around:

I have to say (and I’m certain Fatih would agree) that our group totally rocked it on the hike! No crying and barely even any complaining. The hike was a portion of the much longer Lycian Way (the whole thing is something like 500 km long) and included stunning views of the sea.

There were a few (very small) villages along the course of the hike, which felt odd. You really feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere and then suddenly up pops a sign for a coffee shop! Our lunch that day was one of my favorite meals of the trip… it was an outdoor restaurant nestled in a remote mountaintop village where we were the only patrons (not surprisingly) and were hosted by the owner and her three year old daughter. We ordered “gozleme” which is a popular Turkish “pancake,” but really more of a quesadilla made with a thin, crispy yet flaky phyllo-esque thingy instead of a tortilla. We watched the masterful chef create this delicacy using just flour and water (so basically paste), deftly roll it out, and add fillings of spinach, feta and some seasonings (potato and cheese was the other option). Both versions got two thumbs up by all!

After lunch we made our way to our final destination, in another tiny village a few kilometers away, a hotel called George’s Place. Who is George you may be wondering? Well, I’m glad you asked! Turns out “Old Man George” is a bit legendary in this little village and his name is not really George but he got that nickname long ago and named his hotel accordingly. It also turns out that George’s son (who also lives at the Place with his own family) is the MAYOR of the village, so we were pretty much staying in the Governor’s Mansion, I figured. George has amazing sea views from his Place and his wife and the staff provide delicious home cooked meals.

After arriving we were a tiny bit (okay, a lot) exhausted from the hike and most of us thought relaxing by the pool seemed like the perfect late afternoon activity. My roomie Danny and I headed there, and he grabbed his sunscreen on the way out of the room, SPF 10 with tan accelerator. According to Danny the tan accelerator is a key feature of the sunscreen and with SPF 10 it’s apparently hard to find. Personally, I understand as (like Danny) I love myself some sun and am #blessed to tan easily (I rarely burn). And, I will say that I find it slightly annoying when all I can find is sunBLOCK that is a minimum of SPF 50… what happened to good ole’ fashioned sunSCREEN?? I digress, so there we are at George’s pool and it’s lovely with mountain views so beautiful they looked fake.

The only glitch was the pool filter which was making an annoying clanging noise and ruining the peaceful ambiance a smidge. Danny was particularly bothered by this noise and spent some time troubleshooting how to make it stop. He had the brilliant idea of using his sunscreen as a plug in the filter. The only glitch in this masterful plan was that he slightly misjudged the size of sunscreen vs. hole and with a giant “SLURP” the precious sunscreen was SUCKED down into the filter vortex. Danny’s face as this transpired was priceless- like a little kid who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

It took me about 30 minutes to stop laughing and join the sunscreen-with-tan-accelerator rescue mission that had commenced. And it was an intense rescue mission, especially as the pool started to overflow at one point (thankfully Rob found the off switch). The consequences of breaking the Mayor’s pool seemed like they could be grim and Danny was certain he’d be banished from the village and forced to sleep in the woods. Everyone got involved in the rescue operation and I equivocate it in it’s intensity to the baby Jessica well rescue in Texas in the 1980’s (am I the only one who remembers that? I think they interrupted Webster to show the rescue live on TV). Anyways, we tried various tactics, which ranged from whittling bamboo spears, using thorn bush branches, wire fishing hooks, duct tape, rope lassos, and (my personal favorite) Ana making a Coke can diskette that she taped onto the end of a stick and lit on fire, in an effort to melt the sunscreen bottle so it stuck to the can (this did not work).

Finally, Danny opened a scary trap door in the ground and delved into the underground abyss next to the filter, to put his hand over the drain so the bottle would float to the top (pretty much risking his life for the sunscreen).

As he did this, three of us used bamboo spears to extract the bottle (it was really wedged in there).

Then….SUCCESS!!!

I’m pretty sure the whole village could hear our victory whoops. So, it turned out not to be the most relaxing afternoon at the pool, but it was a great team-building exercise!
The next morning we finished our hike (much easier than the day before but with equally amazing views). I think Danny was still on a high from the sunscreen rescue.

Then we were treated to a private bus (oooh-la-la!) to take us to our next destination, the adorable Mediterranean seaside town of Kas (pronounced Kash).

It was there we hit the sea for the kayak portion of our trip- spending a beautiful day on the water and stopping for a delicious lunch on a remote island with a super-cool castle (I think it’s technically a peninsula but there’s no road access so I’m rebranding it as an island).

Then it was time for our final stop, the city of Antayla, where Fatih led us on an exploration of yet another ancient city. This one was less “discovered” than Ephisus and excavation is still underway to see what treasures can be found.

It’s so cool to think about all that is yet to be discovered and apparently even in Istanbul the occasional ancient sword or other amazing relic is discovered under a rock (okay, maybe you have to dig a little… but still). During our final dinner together we celebrated the upcoming birthdays of Fatih and Francisco and reflected on our many adventures over the past two weeks. Parting is always such sweet sorrow!

I didn’t have to say good-bye to everyone, though, as during the trip, I’d learned that my new friend, Ana, had planned a three night boat cruise around some Turkish islands following the trip. She’d done her research and the cost was a real bargain! Danny and I both latched onto this trip right away (thankfully Ana didn’t mind as we didn’t really give her a choice) and then Mary decided to join us too! And how lucky for us that it was only the four of us on the boat, so a private tour! The company is called Before Lunch cruises and I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Captain Ahmet drove the boat, led us on hikes with stunning views and cooked us delicious meals three times a day.

While Capt was hard at work doing all these things, we relaxed on the gorgeous vessel (named Ros), sunbathed, swam, ate, and drank. We were all pretty miserable, clearly.

We also hiked and snorkeled occasionally, but it was mostly relaxing and eating…and jumping off the side of the boat every hour or so to cool off.

Life was a struggle at sea.

It was FANTASTIC and I’m so grateful to Ana for finding this gem of a cruise.

I admit I had a liiiiittle crush on The Captain and creepily snapped a few photos of him. Then this photo transpired on one of our hikes (not sure how that happened!) and it may be my Christmas card this year:

Back on land we made the best of it with a final Fish Market dinner. I then continued my tapered good-bye to Turkey and the friends I enjoyed it with by parting ways with Danny, Ana, and Mary the next morning and heading back to Istanbul.

There I reunited with my friends from THE restaurant Aladdin and Osman (my Turkish boyfriend, although he may or may not be onboard with this) and enjoyed a few more yummy meals there.

During my second solo adventure in Istanbul I couldn’t help remembering how I’d had reservations about traveling to Turkey on my own, due to safety concerns. And, how in the three weeks I’d been in the country I had not felt unsafe once. Not even once. In fact, I found the Turkish people extremely kind and friendly. I enjoyed watching the Ramadan traditions throughout the country, such as this breaking of the fast that happens when they can eat their first meal of the day, at sunset.

During my Istanbul reunion tour I hit up a few sites I’d missed during my first go-round. Osman kindly toured me around the amazing Topkapi Palace, which had been inhabited by Ottoman sultans for only about 400 years. Location, location, location with that place, I’m telling ya, with amazing views of the Bosporus river (btw, aren’t we an adorable couple??)

And talk about OTT in terms of details- with the mosaics, murals, architectures and even the displays of the swords and clocks the Ottoman’s made back in the day. It’s absolutely incredible to look at what they were able to create using the simple tools they had back then. I can’t really fathom how they did it. You could give me access to every modern day tool in the world and I couldn’t DIY my way to anything even the tiniest bit close to anything they created.

It was sad to say good-bye to my buddies and leave Istanbul, as well as Turkey. It’s an incredible city and country, and I definitely plan to return.

And now… one final international fly-by before I return state-side for a bit. Stay tuned!

June 4, 2018June 27, 2018

Taking on Turkey

Before embarking on this leg of my travel adventures, which had no end date at the outset, I was chatting with my sister-in-law’s most amazing parents (Bob and Carol) about their many travels and their trip to Turkey came up. I don’t know many people who have been to gobble, gobble and their enthusiasm about the country made an impression. Also, I LOVED Greece when I went a few years ago and had been curious about neighbor Turkey but admittedly had some safety concerns based on… what exactly was it? Maybe the few terrorism incidents over the last few years? But (sadly) other countries have had similar incidents… I didn’t have safety concerns going to London. Maybe it was their general proximity to Syria that was concerning me? Who knows what kinds of “bad things” can hop the borders? Hmm… seems like a stretch. In my head, Turkey = dangerous, but why?

Fast-forward to mid-way through my African adventure when I was contemplating where I would go next. My tour-friends asked what other countries I wanted to see and I mentioned Turkey right away, but said it was somewhere I didn’t want to travel to by myself (again, no real logic behind this). Also, our African adventure included a lot of time on a bus and I was feeling a smidge antsy at this particular juncture and said I’d like to do a tour that was super active – like maybe a cycling tour. Fast forward approx. three hours and there’s a flurry of activity in the What’s App group of my fabulous Philippines tour group [Side-note: my American friends who don’t know about What’s App, download it! We are seriously the only country in the world that doesn’t use this app for messaging. It’s far superior to texting, especially for groups, AND it’s encrypted…so much more secure for keeping the nosy NSA out of your business!] Anyhoo, the Philippines gang was back at work after our tour and was sharing ideas for future ‘holidays’ (yes, I speak fluent British now). The amazing Danny said he’d actually just booked a “bike, hike, kayak” tour in Turkey at the end of May. It’s with a tour company called Intrepid and was a real deal cost-wise. I mean… HELLO! I had JUST been saying I wanted to go to Turkey AND I wanted an activity-based tour. It never occurred to me that I could do an activity-based tour IN Turkey! And with Danny, who I absolutely adore! Here we are, having a horrible time in the Philippines:

Obviously, I signed up immediately for the tour. Yes, this meant I would be cheating on my favorite tour company, Flash Pack AGAIN. I rationalized it was better to cheat the second time with someone else, so not a serious affair with one entity. And it’s really like I’m conducting a competitor analysis, of sorts, for Flash Pack! Certainly Lee and Radha would be grateful (or at least understand).
I had three days in Istanbul before the tour and (per the ushe) showed up with very little idea of what there was to do or see in the city. As I rolled my suitcase down the adorable cobblestone streets of the Old Town, heading to my hotel, various restauranters greeted me and encouraged me to dine with them that evening. I’m not a huge fan of this marketing technique and I mostly ignored them. Same deal after dropping my suitcase at the hotel and walking back up the same street. Finally, I engaged with one gent who was more friendly than pushy and he said his name was Aladdin, which obviously makes him awesome. They also had a super cute patio area and their Turkish bread looked amazing, so in I went. In hindsight this was a VERY good decision, and it turned out to be the first of several meals I would be enjoying at THE restaurant, Albura Kathisma. It was there I met Aladdin’s colleagues, my Turkish boyfriend, Osman, and his sidekick Drej. They all seem to have the best jobs in the world, hanging out on the patio talking to people all day (and doing other stuff like serving food and “fishing” for customers, but it still seems pretty low stress… although I guess part of their job is to make it seem that way). That night I also I met my new British bestie, Gail, who was also traveling solo and was already a regular at THE restaurant (as in she had eaten practically every meal there, hanging out with the gang, and had a seat, like Norm from Cheers). Here’s me and Osman at THE restaurant, as well as one of the delicious meals I enjoyed there:

As luck would have it Gail had done quite a bit of research and has a good sense direction, so we went off touring Istanbul for two days, using THE restaurant as our home base and getting great advice from our new friends on what to see. We hit up the infamous Spice Market, which surpassed my high expectations with it’s amazingness.

I very much heart spices, so was in my glory and (despite extra space being at a premium in my suitcase) I couldn’t resist buying some spices from Aladdins’s spice-guy friend, Dolphin. Of course Aladdin has a spice-guy friend named Dolphin!

Next stop was the Grand Bazaar… which is most certainly Grand!

They give you a map upon entry and it’s clearly VERY easy to get lost amongst the MANY winding rows of shops, selling pretty much anything you can imagine and a lot of the same things. We also explored the tons outdoor markets selling everything from the most glittery ball gowns you can imagine (unclear where one would wear these dresses), to faux designer purses, to the most delicious looking cheeses, olives, nuts and produce. As well as a bunch of things I don’t know how to describe exactly…

And we enjoyed a boat cruise up the Bosphorus strait, the glamorous waterway that weaves between the Asian and European sides of Turkey and offers spectacular views of the shorelines.

Now, I knew prior to the trip that I’d be in Turkey during Ramadan, which is the holy month in the Muslim religion when many Muslims refrain from eating, drinking (anything, even water), smoking, and sex during the daylight hours (I’m sure there are more things they have to refrain from doing, but those are the highlights that stuck out for me). They also have to do extra prayers during the 5-times a day “calls to prayer” that bellow from the speakers on the minaret towers that adorn the mosques. The calls to prayer are LOUD and also serve as convenient reminders of the time. After the sunset call to prayer (at about 8:30pm) those recognizing Ramadan can FINALLY eat and drink water (no alcohol) for the first time since 5am that morning! I’m not sure how they do it, but according to Osman it’s really difficult for the first three days and then you just get used to it. It seems like it would be TORTURE to be working in a restaurant and cooking/serving food all day and not be able to eat yourself. I greatly admire the willpower of those who participate in Ramadan! VERY greatly admire. Here’s some signs of the Ramadan celebrations:

I had to bode my new friends farewell to meet my tour group and I have to say I felt a little bit like an Istanbul local already, having friends and being a regular and all. Istanbul is thumbs up, in my book! Parting is such sweet sorrow…

I met up with Danny and the rest of the tour group- an eclectic bunch (my favorite kind of people) hailing from Australia, England, Ireland, and Mexico and including one couple and seven adventurous solo travelers ranging in age from late twenties to mid-60’s. Here we are!

Our guide, Fatih, is an old pro at this tour (at age 32) and really seems to know everyone and everything. In summation, he’s a rock star! Here’s the legend, in action and showing off his backgammon skills with a local:

Gavin (one half of our one couple, hailing from Perth, Australia… coincidentally one of my favorite places on the planet) started a game called “Stump the Guide” where one person would ask Fatih a Turkey-related question every night. These questions were TOUGH and I was amazed (but not surprised) when Fatih secured victory three nights before the end of the tour. Here are Gavin and Mary (aka Thurston Howell the Third and his wife, Lovey).

I’m ahead of myself already- the tour commenced in Istanbul where Fatih guided us about on foot (again, I was like a regular so it was old hat- a tour around my own backyard pretty much) and we visited the ginormous Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia, which was a SUPER OLD Greek Orthodox basilica then an Ottomon imperial mosque and now a museum. It’s still in the amazing condition, about a million years after it was constructed (okay, only 1,400 years but still a lot AND it was the largest cathedral in the world for the first 1,000 of those years!)

We spent the night at a sub-par hotel called the Golden Horn- there are two Golden Horn hotels in Istanbul and Danny accidentally booked the other one the night before the tour and said it was much better than ours. Just to be safe, though, I’d avoid both if you go there. Again, I swear I’m not a hotel snob and I realize I’ve been spoiled by Flash Pack and the glam accommodations on their tours… but I feel like Intrepid could have done a little bit better with hotel choices on the tour. That’s my one complaint of the tour so far and I’ll shut up now.
Anyways we all survived and the next day we were off on the first of several rides on Turkey’s public bus system. Soooo many public buses on this tour! Danny and I joked it should be called the “bike, hike, kayak, bus” activity tour. This first bus ride was great, though, as our chariot was a comfy coach and there was a bus-flight-attendant-guy with a cart who served us complementary drinks and snacks!

Following two buses, we hopped a ferry to the beautiful waterfront town of Cannekale. There enjoyed the first of many delicious fresh seafood meals with a view as we wound down from the travel day.

The next day we were off on a hike through the battlefields of Gallipoli, which is the site of an infamous WW I battle between Turkey and the Allies (mainly the British/Aussies/Kiwis). I admittedly did not know a ton about this particular battle prior to the hike but was fascinated to learn more especially on the very site where the NINE-MONTH battle played out, resulting in a LOT of casualties and, eventually, a defeat for the Allies.

It also turned out that a famous Australian soldier (a soldier known as “the man with the donkey,” as that was his method of transport for the wounded) had been the boyfriend of Gavin’s grandmother at the time of his death during the battle, and he got to see his grave.

It was an active and educational day, and I totally want to see the Mel Gibson movie about the battle (and not just bc it features young Mel). Danny and I got some cool hats and peer pressured others to join in our ridiculousness!

No rest for the weary and the next day we were off on another bus journey- a private bus to a public bus- taking us to the town of Selcuk, where we embarked on a late afternoon tour of Ephisus. Here Fatih dazzled us with his knowledge of the ancient city, that had actually been completely buried for a number of years and was rediscovered. It’s pretty awe-inspiring to look at the remains of the city, complete with a Main Street, a library, and a public bathroom and bath house, and to think about how old it is and imagine what it was like to be there back in the day. The buildings were MASSIVE and adorned with ornate murals and mosaic tiling… they really did it up with the details, with no stone left un-carved (literally).

Next stop…the beachfront town of Akyaca, which we arrived at via a less fancy public bus. This was a smaller version with no reserved seats and we were lucky to get them, as some folk had to stand. Fatih said he’d stood on a similar bus for over three hours in the past! That can’t be fun. The rain Gods descended on us that afternoon, which was rather convenient as we had no outdoor activities planned. This was a theme throughout the trip- we dodged some insane weather perfectly. Louise from Ireland is to credit for her self-proclaimed weather luck, and we all believe her now. Akyaca is where we embarked on a 20km cycling adventure, through rolling hills and winding roads taking us through small villages dotted with fruit trees.

The clouds started to roll-in towards the end of the ride and we could hear thunder in the distance (which did not go over well with me, given my irrational TERROR of lightning. Like, complete terror). Alas, (thank you Louise!) the TORRENTIAL downpour held off until minutes after we were nestled under the awnings of our adorable late-lunch destination, and it stopped just as we finished our chicken shish and pides. I’m telling you, Hollywood could not have timed this better!

Having completed the “bike” portion of our activity tour, we rested up for the forthcoming hiking and kayaking… with much bus-ing in between, of course!