solo travel – 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…

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!

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!

May 25, 2018May 25, 2018

THE DOLOMITES!

I used my new favorite travel booking app, Momundo, to book a flight out of Namibia following the tour. The best part about this app (and it’s close runner-up, SkyScanner) is that you can enter your originating airport and date of travel and leave the “To” airport blank. You can then see how much a one-way ticket costs to pretty much anywhere and it highlights the bargain fares. I had about a week to kill before I had to be in Turkey (gobble, gobble) for a tour so figured I’d hang out somewhere in the general vicinity. So many options!

Let me provide a bit of background: something that has been on my must-do list is hiking the Dolomite mountains in northern Italy. This has been on my radar since I was hiking in beautiful Cinque Terra last year and met a lovely couple from Pennsylvania (Andrea and Tim) who regaled me with stories of their many travel adventures (their philosophy has always been to prioritize experiences over things and they’ve had many of them- mostly the outdoor kind). At the time, I thought we were at the most spectacular place imaginable but A & T were ooooozing with praise for hiking in the Dolomite mountains. They described the Dolomites as a less built-up and more beautiful version of the Swiss Alps and raved about the town named where they stayed, Ortesei. A few months later I was back in the States for a brief spell and was catching my therapist up on my adventures. I got excited talking about hiking in Italy and he said if I liked Cinque Terre I HAD to go to the Dolomites. He looked up the name of the most amazing town where he had stayed… sure enough, Ortesei it was! Is THAT is sign or what? And it was now pretty much doctor’s orders, so of course I had to look into it! Sadly, it was approaching October by then and too late in the season for hiking. Well, dang! I back-burnered the trip… on a burner not very far back. Fast forward to now, when Mommondo recommended Venice as a bargain flight option from Namibia, AND I had a week to kill, AND it was lovely Springtime, AND there was even a cheap flight to Istanbul afterwards… could there even be more signs than this?? After all the frustration with my water-logged phone, I felt like my luck was turning!

The next question was how to get there. I’m not a big fan of driving and had never rented a car outside of the States (partially bc I’m embarrassed to admit that I don’t know how to drive a stick-shift… my Dad blames himself for not teaching me when I was young and as an adult I’ve yet to find a friend willing to teach me using their car. Any volunteers??). Because of this, I looked into public transport options and saw there’s a bus from Venice to THE DOLOMITES, specifically the town of Cortina. I planned to spend two nights there, and then make my way to the Promised Land… Ortesei! How great to have a plan!! Hmm… what’s that saying about “the best laid plans….?”

My first sign of trouble was upon landing in Frankfurt where I had a connection to Venice. I checked the screen… flight cancelled. Well, that’s rather inconvenient! Despite having no flight I still had to go through security as if I was on my way to a connecting flight. This was my first time in Germany (if the airport counts?) and those Germans do not fool around with security. Their elaborate screening process requires you to stand in a very specific position- wide-legged with your arms dangling, elbows slightly bent, and your palms facing backwards. Kind of like an orangutang. Also, it’s an open-air screening (so all in plain view) and I have to admit it was hilarious watching passengers trying to “strike a pose” and be corrected multiple times by the scary officers before getting it right. The novelty wore off, though, and an hour later I was finally on my way to Lufthansa ticket services. They rebooked me on a flight via Munich the next day that arrived just before the next day’s bus to THE DOLOMITES. Looked like I was spending the night in Frankfurt, although this is the extent of what I saw of the city: At least they put me up in the Sheraton which is located just a tunnel away from the terminal. There I joined a room full of other Lufthansa passengers in a large conference room for our comp’d dinner of turkey and mashed potatoes. Kind of like Thanksgiving, and many people looked about as happy to be there as they would at their disfunctional family’s holiday dinner tables. Unfortunately I was faced with another snafu the next morning as we were delayed leaving Frankfurt and I missed my connection in Munich. Argh!!! I had a five hour wait for the next flight and took out the trusty old iPad to troubleshoot how I would get to THE DOLOMITES, having missed the one bus of the day. I mean, I could always rent a car. But I hate driving. But… it’s THE DOLOMITES!! And your options are veeeerrrry limited. Here’s what I saw of Munich- it looks lovely and I’ll have to go back under different circumstances. I FINALLY landed and set out to claim my rental car, dragging a lil’ bit from my 36+ hour journey at this point. The kind woman at Thrifty must have noticed I wasn’t exactly in the jolliest of moods and upgraded me from Bare Bones Fiat to Pimped Out Audi (to be referred to as POA from this point forward). Here she is: My mood buoyed slightly… I was off with a sweet ride! The two-hour drive to Cortina was beautiful, despite increasing patches of fog and rain as I got deeper into the mountains (on mostly winding two-lane roads). I checked into my accommodation and the proprietor pointed out the four restaurants I could choose from. He said they all close at 9pm as it’s a “sleepy mountain town” this time of year. Hmmm… based on Trip Advisor, I’d thought Cortina had more going on than this? And where were those mountains I was supposed to be able to see from my window? The rain was really coming down now and it was already 8 p.m. so I motored to the closest restaurant, a pizzeria next door. There were only a few tables occupied and I was seated at a table next to another solo diner, a gent who looked about my age. I wasn’t sure how to sit as I thought facing him directly would be kind of awkward, almost like were at the same table, but with my back to him seemed rude. I compromised and sat at kind of an angle, half-facing him (which in hindsight was probably more awkward than either of the alternatives). I got bored pretty quickly sitting there by myself (and with no phone decoy) and soon we made eye contact and a conversation naturally commenced. Okay, okay I’ll be honest, chances are that I was the one who struck up the conversation… I don’t exactly have a healthy fear of chatting with strangers (as reported in the British rag, The Daily Mail, where I’ve been cited as an expert on the topic). Anyways, soon enough my new friend (Christoph from Germany, living in Austria), were sharing both a table and a bottle of wine. Christoph had been in Cortina for 9 days and also came to hike THE DOLOMITES. He gave me the BLUF, which I appreciated despite the information it conveyed, “Everything is closed. The hiking season doesn’t start until June and no trails are open, nor are the gondolas that take you to the trails. In fact, there’s still a lot of snow in the mountains. No snow this week, though, just rain. Every day, with no end in sight.” I looked at him, incredulous. Was this some type of German humor that I didn’t know about? If so, hilarious! Alas, (while I learned later that he is very funny), Christoph was not pulling my leg. I have to say I did feel slightly less silly given that someone else had made the same mistake as I had….and COME ON Trip Advisor! Both of us had done research (albiet his likely more extensive than mine) and this “Dolomites are closed until June” thing never came up. Anyways, the no-hiking scenario was probably for the best given that it poured TORENTIALLY for the ENTIRE next day. The mountains being open would not have helped. I caught up on some correspondence and other life administrivia that has fallen by the way-side and thank goodness for my Cortina boyfriend, as I would have really gone bonkers without Christoph (both for his company and validation that I’m not a total idiot for making this mistake). He had scoped out the adorable ski town during his time there, and toured me to his favorite spots (of the handful that were open). Gotta love an iPad selfie attempt! Christoph also speaks ‘nerd’ so we geeked out discussing things like China’s advances in the innovation arena and how this impacts their global positioning. The next morning brought some sunlight (!!!) and I could actually see the mountains that I would not be hiking. No matter, I hopped in my POA and headed to my ultimate destination- the mythical Ortesei. I spent the next 2.5 hours driving through winding mountain passes…it was INCREDIBLE! And included some extremely variable (and equally beautiful) scenery.For the first time in my life I LOVED driving… a LOT. I think I figured out that my problem with driving in the past is that I’ve been operating average-to-below-average cars and have had average-to-below-average-views, AND have had to deal with pesky things…like stoplights and speed limits. Driving POA through THE DOLOMITES is a different experience entirely. It also occurred to me that when I’d booked my hotel in Ortesei I’d assumed there were only a few available because they were all full of hikers like myself, but I now suspected it was prolly because they were also still closed. And… I was correct. It was just salt in the wound when I learned that the mountains in Ortesei were opening for hiking the VERY day I was leaving. Of course they were! Regardless, I loved the family owned mountain lodge where I stayed. The views were totes amaze and they even had some footpaths where I could fake-hike. I was a happy camper.It was pretty spectacular as far as fake hiking goes and I zoomed off for hours, happy to be moving after days of sitting (something I do not handle well). More views: After fake-hiking for much of the day, I took POA out for a spin in the mountains. That’s right… a drive just to drive, with no destination. Driver’s ed was the last time I did that! Then I was off to the airport, not sad it was 3.5 hours away and I savored my final moments with POA. As I drove I reflected on how my Dolomites experience had not been what I’d envisioned at the outset but it had definitely been an adventure and, all in all, one I really enjoyed! I got to make a few new friends, take in some incredible beauty, and, of course, there’s my new love affair with driving. I was glad the many snafus throughout the course of the journey hadn’t kept me from maintaining a (mostly) positive outlook and being open to whatever experiences presented themselves, as they were pretty cool ones! Next up… gobble, gobble!

May 15, 2018June 28, 2018

Namibia it is!

*Disclaimer- I know I promised to post more frequently and avoid long blogs. It appears that I lied. This one is long, but totally worth it- I swear! The connectivity in Namibia and an “issue” with my phone prevented intermittent posts during the trip. So you have it all in one! I’m sharing this for pacing purposes only.

So, back in December during my tour of Vietnam and Cambodia, one of my tour mates (Jacques from Belgium) mentioned he’d planned a trip to Namibia with some of his friends for the following year. That was the first time the country was on my radar, mostly because I sensed that Jacques and I had similar travel tastes and he seemed like the kinda guy who really did his research when it came to his travel. So far the strategy I’d inadvertently adopted had been fail-safe: blindly trusting the recommendations of like-minded friends who do extensive due diligence when planning trips. Otherwise it just seems too daunting… so many places to look into and where would I even start?!? Having become quite fond of Southern Africa, I wasn’t in any hurry to leave after the camping trip and I perused the interwebs for trips that departed out of Cape Town. Up popped a 12 day tour to Namibia! It was super last minute at this point and the trip was even discounted by 25%, so this all seemed like a sign. Since it was so last minute I couldn’t book the trip directly and had to wait for 2-3 days while the company checked if they could add another person. A few days later I got the verdict- the trip was clearly meant to be! Whatever was going on in Namibia (I only skimmed the itinerary) it would be cool, I was SURE of it!

Here’s a sneak preview of the verdict:

Now, as you know I recently completed my NINTH tour with my favorite tour company, Flash Pack, and am a very loyal and happy customer. I like that the tour groups consist of like minded people in their 30’s and 40’s and everyone is a solo traveler. However, Flash Pack didn’t have any trips in Africa that fit my last minute schedule so I was (horror of horrors) going to doing a tour with another company, G Adventures. I emailed the Flash Pack owners, Lee and Radha, and let them know. I wanted to be upfront as it felt like I was cheating on them! Monogamy is hard, though, and I was kind of curious to see what another company would be like- as well as different group dynamics (this tour was open to all ages and people traveling together). I assured Lee and Radha this was just a fling and I did not envision a long-term affair.
I met my tour group in Cape Town at the Lady Hamilton hotel… the nicest thing about this establishment is its name. By far. Score one for Flash Pack- they would never have chosen this hotel. To be fair the price point of this trip was more in the bargain basement arena (especially with the 25% procrastination discount) so what did I expect? And I always pride myself on not being a hotel snob, so I’ll shut up about it now.
So, I then met my roommate (the lovely Evelyn from Switzerland) and the rest of the group that hailed from Australia, England, Germany and one fellow ‘merican. The ages of the group members ranged from 30-67 and we had one married couple, one about-to-be married couple, a sister/mother/daughter/aunt five-some, and four of us solo travelers. I liked everyone right away and our first dinner together included a lot of laughs. My favorite part about this group is that despite our different nationalities and ages everyone has a fantastic sense of humor and has no problem laughing at themselves (as well as each other.) Here we are!

The next day we got started on our first of many bus adventures (we covered a lot of ground on this trip). Our guide, Jeff from Zimbabwe, kept us informed of various sites and landmarks along the way. Here’s Jeff!

That night we stayed at a guest house in the waterfront town of Lambert’s Bay. Jeff had mentioned a “seafood buffet” for dinner that evening and a few of us were a bit wary. Is seafood best in the buffet format? At least Red Lobster has to abide by food safety regulations… Africa seems more willy-nilly with such things. It turns out that our concerns were unfounded (how dare we doubt Jeff?) and the “buffet” was really more of a braai, with an assortment of freshly caught and grilled seafood at a casual outdoor venue. It felt like we were at somebody’s house and the experience was far preferable to a sterile restaurant.
The next day it was up and at ’em… land exit time!

We continued up the coast to the Namibia border, where I was pleased they consolidated the passport stamp overlapping it with the one they’d given me while leaving South Africa. You see, there aren’t many pages in my temporary, emergency passport so space is at a premium. As an aside, Jeff said he has been through 11 passports and has a few currently in circulation as he knows some borders will “squeeze in” the stamps and others require blank pages (ahem, South Africa.)
Onward to the next day and the breathtaking Fish River Canyon, which is the second biggest canyon in the world (runner-up to the Grand.) I’ve been dying to see the Grand Canyon and haven’t made it yet, but am glad I started with the second biggest as the reverse order may have been anticlimactic (although I kind of doubt it as this was pretty spectacular.)

Our bus driver, the hilarious Barry, had commented that our accommodations that evening were like the house from the Adams Family. Yup, Barry nailed it.

The place is just odd in so many ways, not the least of which is random displays like this.

It’s a small place (probably 20 rooms) and is totally in the middle of nowhere, yet when I asked the woman at the front desk about the location of my room she said she didn’t know. By way of explanation, she’d never been to the upper level….where half the rooms are located. I think she took offense when I asked why not… I mean, wasn’t she at least curious?? She explained it was always too busy for her to leave the front desk. I didn’t want to be rude and point out we were the only ones there! Here’s Barry, btw, guarding our chariot (I feel like you need a visual):

Anyways, we weren’t too sad that our stay with the Adams family was only for one night and we headed out early the next morning. Our destination was Sossuvlei (which is in the Namib desert) where we would be “participation camping” (whatever that is) for three days. The views from the campsite were unbelievable as Sossuvlei is a clay pan surrounded by ginormous, stunning red sand dunes. The dunes are actually the biggest in the world and are up to 984 ft high! With this backdrop the sunsets and sunrises are especially breathtaking.

It turns out that participation camping means that you aren’t “glamping”… you have to do stuff. Good thing I’d had that camping refresher trip in South Africa last week! Don’t I look like a camping pro?

Evelyn and I were pretty proud of our tent set-up skills and we all dutifully chipped in to help with cooking, cleaning, following Jeff’s assignments, etc. And sometimes we just chilled out, too. The next morning was an early bell and we headed to Dune 45 (the many magnificent dunes are numbered) which is an especially spectacular dune that you can climb up, on the softest sand imaginable.

On the way up we passed many people coming back down the footpath. I kept wondering why nobody was running down the side of the dune, as that seemed like a waaaay more fun descent. Finally when we got to the top we saw few tourists flirting with the running- down-the-dune approach and once we saw it was possible- we were off!!

We were all exhilarated and covered with sand as we made our way back to the bus. Our next stop was another dune, this one overlooking a dried up lake bed filled with gnarley “dead trees” from hundreds of years ago. There was another dune climbing opportunity here… up a behemoth known as “Big Daddy.” Some folks we met at the campsite had attempted the climb the day before and forewarned us that it was not an endeavor for the faint of heart. Undeterred, seven of us took off on the mile-long (and steep!) jaunt to the summit, taking in the views along the way. It almost looked fake, like a film studio backdrop.

We all made it, though, and agreed that Big Daddy is absolutely an appropriate name for the dune.

Here’s Evelyn and I at the summit:

As a reward we enjoyed the run down the side, which made Dune 45 seem like an ant hill.

According to Trevor, who timed my descent from below, it took me 3.5 minutes top to bottom (and I was running as fast as I could.) What a rush! My legs were just a liiiiiiittle bit tired (aka shaking) afterwards but it was so worth it! And at the bottom we got to enjoy the views of the dead trees up close and personal.

We were happy to relax around the campfire that evening, worn out from the excitement of the day. We asked about wildlife in the area and Jeff and Barry said wildlife (especially those pesky jackals) have been known to take things from campsites, so we should keep everything in our tents or an animal might steal it. It should be noted that Jeff and Barry (mostly Barry) like to pull our legs and we’d fallen for more than one of their fables (Barry had also said he was a 65 year old ex-con with 23 children and that he spoke 13 languages- none of this is true). I woke up early the next morning to the voice of Dan, from the neighboring tent that he was sharing with his fiancé, Gina. “Um, Barry, one of Gina’s shoes is gone. She left them outside the tent.” Barry’s response was his high-pitched, infectious giggle followed by, “I warned you about those jackals.” Go figure! Gina left the remaining shoe, as a peace offering to the jackals.

We took off on another long bus ride on another extremely bumpy road. Throughout the trip we’d been on some of the bumpiest dirt roads I’d ever been on and I was frequently bounced 1-2 feet in the air from my last row seat. I kept referring to my row as “first class,” and really talked it up in hopes someone else would want to sit there…but no dice. Next, we landed in the waterfront town of Swakomund where we had a free day to engage in thrill-seeking activities (or I guess just chilling was an option too but what fun is that?) I chose sandboarding, as it was the only one I hadn’t done before and it was a blast. It was also hard! I don’t see myself switching from skiing to snowboarding anytime soon but the sand version is great fun, and falling didn’t hurt at all (and I would know). Afterwards we got to zoom down the dunes on our stomachs, using particle board sleds. We were FLYING!

Evelyn (aka Swiss Miss) is of course an experienced snowboarder and she caught right on, even nailing a jump! She was, thankfully, not annoyed when our shower looked like Dune 45 following me using it later that day.
We were excited the next day to be heading to Etosha National Park, which is a featured attraction in Namibia. Here there was more participation camping, which we were old pros at by this point. This campsite had a bonus feature, though, of a watering hole that attracted an array of wildlife. There were chairs and benches lined up behind a (small) fence for viewing and it was like watching a scenic improv.

Here’s how the performance would work: there would be a “dazzle” of zebras (yes, that’s the term!) cooling off in the water and then some warthogs would enter stage left and butt horns with each other in the background for a while… then the zebras would meander off, the warthogs would chase each other away, and it would be silent for a few minutes. This is when many spectators would think the show was over and meander back to their campsite to refill their gin and tonics and show each other their pictures (that all looked the same). Amateur move, people. Cue the elephants to enter stage right and make their way to the foreground. And while I was busy being enamored by the elephants (no matter how many I see I’m equally awestruck every time)…how did that hippo get on center stage? The best was a late night viewing session, when I joined the tour guide of a group in a neighboring campsite, Rowan, for a walk to the watering hole (he had a hot tip)… and there we found pretty much every animal imaginable, all at once. Including some breed of rhino that is apparently an extremely rare sighting. It was one of those surreal-world experiences… there were two elephants literally feet from us and they were engaging in some type of elephant introduction ritual (according to Rowan) that involved interlocking their trunks. Totes adorbs!

So, I have to back up for a second to explain the travesty that preceded this viewing, just hours before. I’d hurried from the watering hole to use the campsite bathroom while trying not miss any of the performance and in my haste forgot that I’d popped my phone into the back pocket of my jeans. Ker-plop. UGGGG. Into the rice it went… I’m not sure why I still try this rice thing as it NEVER works. Anyways, due to the lack of a phone I had ZERO evidence of my midnight viewing of nature’s circus and I think my tour mates were only half kidding when they said they didn’t believe me. Thankfully we saw some neat-o sites on our game drive the next day, including a zebra crossing of HUNDREDS of zebras (dazzle upon dazzle) headed to a watering hole. And my tour group crew stuck around for the late night showing that evening, to be rewarded with the elephant act. When we left the next morning the only animal we hadn’t seen at Etosha was the lions, who (being the teases that they are) had made their presence known with some seeeeerious, and slightly disconcerting, roaring throughout the night. Jeff and Barry worked their magic, though, and as our bus rolled out we saw some safari vehicles pulled over to the side of the road…. sure enough Mr. Lion was out for a morning stroll in the woods walking exactly parallel to road. We followed along for a good 10 minutes and he didn’t seem to notice or care about our rumbling coach bus. It was the perfect end to our Etosha experience!
We made our way to our last stop on the tour, Windhoek, which is the capitol city of Namibia. Originally I’d been thinking maybe I’d hang in Windhoek for an extra day after the trip but I quickly revised my plan as I discovered that Windhoek isn’t the kind of city you want to dawdle in. I quickly booked my flight… or as quickly as I could using Namibia’s version of WiFi (v .001) and my first generation iPad that I’m sadly now reliant on for any and all communication. Friends, if you haven’t heard from me this is why. I miss you terribly! And I miss my phone too.
I was very gel-ass of much of our group who was continuing on with Jeff and Barry to Botswana and Zimbabwe (okay, I was mostly jealous of Botswana and their company… I’m good with Zimbabwe for a bit). The second leg of the tour was booked, though, and I tried to be a big girl and be nice to the interlopers who were replacing the four of us deserters. We had a beyond solid crew and I miss them already! And, I’m sure they’ll all have a grand time on the second leg… I just don’t want to hear about it! (#earmuffs) Where I’m headed next is still a smidge of a mystery, even to me, so there’s a lot to stay tuned for!

April 24, 2018May 18, 2018

Wild and Wonderful South Africa

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

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