The End of crellston's RTW trip (for now!)
Dec 29th, 2008, 07:12 AM
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The End of crellston's RTW trip (for now!)
It all started off in Asia so I though I would post a rundown of our trip here first. Since October 2007 we have been travelling the world, first a couple of months in Sierra Leone in West Africa and then on an RTW ticket visiting a further 14 countries over three continents. Although one could argue that it all started off with a long weekend in Boston September 2007 where we had dinner with the famous four - Bob, Karen, Gpanda and Beth - surely that in itself is enough to send most people off around the world for a year!!
By the end of this trip we will have circumnavigated the planet and flown over 30,000 miles. We will have driven ourselves (in a variety of vehicles) over 15,000 miles. Averaging 7-10 miles per day, we will have walked around 2500 miles and we will have spent around one week (160 hours) on buses in many different countries - some very comfortable and some unbelievably bad!
Many, many thanks to all fodorites who have provided advice either directly or indirectly without which this trip would undoubtedly have not been the success it turned out to be.
We have seen many amazing sights and missed many more. The highlights of our trip were many and varied and a few that immediately spring to mind were;
-The temples, gardens and cherry blossom of Kyoto in the Japanese springtime
-Our week long road trip around the remote areas of Salta and Jujuy provinces in Northern Argentina
-Seeing the whales around the Valdez Peninsula in South East Argentina,
-Our 4 day trek in the Andes from Lares to Ollantaytambo - wonderful scenery and even better people, simply amazing
-Iguazu Falls on the border of Argentina and Brazil - surely one the most breathtaking sights in the world
-Staying with a family in the beautiful and remote Ba Be lakes in the far north of Vietnam
-Walking around Kata Tjuta in the Red Centre of Australia
New Zealand’s South Island - two months in in a campervan in mid winter and waking up every day in a different place and seeing to the most amazing and varied scenery, often with not another soul around.
-The Argentine lake district
A month in the Sacred Valley in Peru helping out a small NGO (strangely the famed Machu Picchu was not our favourite part)
-Staying in a Ryokan in Japan - fantastic food, accommodation and great people
-Staying in a Buddhist temple in the mountains of Koyasan, Japan - an amazingly tranquil place (and the best vegetarian food on the planet)
-Bathing in an Onsen in Japan
Our favourite towns and cities include;
Kyoto - Surely there cannot be another city in the world that has more beautiful sights
Bangkok - still feels like home after all these years!
Hanoi, Saigon and Phnom Penh all have rich and sometimes tragic histories but it is good to see these places growing and thriving
Tokyo - huge, modern, old, great food and surely the best transport infrastructure to be found anywhere
Buenos Aires - So different from our favourite Asian cities but so much to see and do and such great people
Countries we would most like to revisit:
Japan
New Zealand
Argentina
Laos
Countries we did not make the most of:
Chile - we really should have spent more time there and less in Peru and gone down to southern
Patagonia - Torres de Paine etc
Equador and Bolivia - really not sure why we missed out these countries completely!
Laos - Having been several times before we decided to cut short our time there. In retrospect we should have gone back to the far north of the country - some of the friendliest people in the world and great countryside and villages still largely untouched by tourism
Least favourite experiences
-The temples of Angkor Wat, Cambodia . We first saw them about five or six years ago and were shocked at how much the temples had deteriorated and how much Siem Reap had grown with the numbers of tourist rising now to virtually unmanageable numbers. If UNESCO should focus its attention on one place it is surely here!
-Visiting some of the smaller Australian towns and witnessing the depravation , discrimination and alcoholism amongst the Aboriginal population - very sad.
-Aguas Calientes - the closest town to Machu Picchu - an armpit of a place with absolutely nothing going for it other than its proximity to Machu Picchu.
-Arriving back in London Heathrow on at 7.00am on the Monday morning between Christmas and New Years !
Most peaceful places:
Staying in a monastery in Takayama, Japan
Ba Be lakes in North Vietnam
Don Khong - one of 4000 islands in the Mekong river in Southern Laos, near the Cambodian border.
Just about any Department of Conservation campsite in New Zealand
Most moving experiences
Ibrahim, a Sierra Leonean boy crippled with polio who "adopted" me when we were in Sierra Leone - he would come around every day and just sit in my office smiling and laughing!
Tuol Sleng prison in Phnom Penh - a testament to man's inhumanity to man
15 May School for street kids in Saigon well worth a visit if in HCMC
Best food
Japan wins by a mile. Particularly the vegetarian food in the Buddhist temple, the Ryokan food and most of all the Sashimi breakfast in Tsujuki fish market in Tokyo
-The street food in Thailand and the food from the hole in the wall restaurants around Bangkok is still world class for very little money
-The beef in Argentina simply cannot be bettered (possible exception being Hida beef in Japan)
-Raw fish marinated in lime juice and chilli ( known as Ceviche in Chile and Peru and Laarp in Laos)
Best wine - New Zealand with Chile a close second
Best places to stay
We were travelling on a budget so cost was always a major factor. and we quickly came to realise price often bears no relation to quality. Some of the nicest places we stayed at were not the most expensive but will always stay in our memory for a wide variety of reasons.
-Sumiyoshi - A traditional Ryokan in Takayama , Japan great food, baths and run by two amazing old ladies who kept us laughing the whole time we were there
-Yougendo - a small Minshuku just outside of Nara, Japan , this place is in an old traditional house converted and run by and English guy and his Japanese wife. Just as we imagined life in a Japanese house to be and really friendly owners
-Casa Hernandez, a small B&B in San Lorenzo in Salta, NW Argentina newly opened by a Dutch couple. If we were going to run a B&B it would be just like this - a home from home
-Finca la Paya - A tradition finca just outside of Cachi on Ruta 40 in NW Argentina
Finally, nothing beats the freedom of waking up by a remote lake shore in New Zealand in your own campervan
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog...tml#ENTRY_LIST
It is my intention to write a post detailing my “dos and don’ts” of travelling for a year but that will have to wait a week or two as we get back into “normal” life again.
By the end of this trip we will have circumnavigated the planet and flown over 30,000 miles. We will have driven ourselves (in a variety of vehicles) over 15,000 miles. Averaging 7-10 miles per day, we will have walked around 2500 miles and we will have spent around one week (160 hours) on buses in many different countries - some very comfortable and some unbelievably bad!
Many, many thanks to all fodorites who have provided advice either directly or indirectly without which this trip would undoubtedly have not been the success it turned out to be.
We have seen many amazing sights and missed many more. The highlights of our trip were many and varied and a few that immediately spring to mind were;
-The temples, gardens and cherry blossom of Kyoto in the Japanese springtime
-Our week long road trip around the remote areas of Salta and Jujuy provinces in Northern Argentina
-Seeing the whales around the Valdez Peninsula in South East Argentina,
-Our 4 day trek in the Andes from Lares to Ollantaytambo - wonderful scenery and even better people, simply amazing
-Iguazu Falls on the border of Argentina and Brazil - surely one the most breathtaking sights in the world
-Staying with a family in the beautiful and remote Ba Be lakes in the far north of Vietnam
-Walking around Kata Tjuta in the Red Centre of Australia
New Zealand’s South Island - two months in in a campervan in mid winter and waking up every day in a different place and seeing to the most amazing and varied scenery, often with not another soul around.
-The Argentine lake district
A month in the Sacred Valley in Peru helping out a small NGO (strangely the famed Machu Picchu was not our favourite part)
-Staying in a Ryokan in Japan - fantastic food, accommodation and great people
-Staying in a Buddhist temple in the mountains of Koyasan, Japan - an amazingly tranquil place (and the best vegetarian food on the planet)
-Bathing in an Onsen in Japan
Our favourite towns and cities include;
Kyoto - Surely there cannot be another city in the world that has more beautiful sights
Bangkok - still feels like home after all these years!
Hanoi, Saigon and Phnom Penh all have rich and sometimes tragic histories but it is good to see these places growing and thriving
Tokyo - huge, modern, old, great food and surely the best transport infrastructure to be found anywhere
Buenos Aires - So different from our favourite Asian cities but so much to see and do and such great people
Countries we would most like to revisit:
Japan
New Zealand
Argentina
Laos
Countries we did not make the most of:
Chile - we really should have spent more time there and less in Peru and gone down to southern
Patagonia - Torres de Paine etc
Equador and Bolivia - really not sure why we missed out these countries completely!
Laos - Having been several times before we decided to cut short our time there. In retrospect we should have gone back to the far north of the country - some of the friendliest people in the world and great countryside and villages still largely untouched by tourism
Least favourite experiences
-The temples of Angkor Wat, Cambodia . We first saw them about five or six years ago and were shocked at how much the temples had deteriorated and how much Siem Reap had grown with the numbers of tourist rising now to virtually unmanageable numbers. If UNESCO should focus its attention on one place it is surely here!
-Visiting some of the smaller Australian towns and witnessing the depravation , discrimination and alcoholism amongst the Aboriginal population - very sad.
-Aguas Calientes - the closest town to Machu Picchu - an armpit of a place with absolutely nothing going for it other than its proximity to Machu Picchu.
-Arriving back in London Heathrow on at 7.00am on the Monday morning between Christmas and New Years !
Most peaceful places:
Staying in a monastery in Takayama, Japan
Ba Be lakes in North Vietnam
Don Khong - one of 4000 islands in the Mekong river in Southern Laos, near the Cambodian border.
Just about any Department of Conservation campsite in New Zealand
Most moving experiences
Ibrahim, a Sierra Leonean boy crippled with polio who "adopted" me when we were in Sierra Leone - he would come around every day and just sit in my office smiling and laughing!
Tuol Sleng prison in Phnom Penh - a testament to man's inhumanity to man
15 May School for street kids in Saigon well worth a visit if in HCMC
Best food
Japan wins by a mile. Particularly the vegetarian food in the Buddhist temple, the Ryokan food and most of all the Sashimi breakfast in Tsujuki fish market in Tokyo
-The street food in Thailand and the food from the hole in the wall restaurants around Bangkok is still world class for very little money
-The beef in Argentina simply cannot be bettered (possible exception being Hida beef in Japan)
-Raw fish marinated in lime juice and chilli ( known as Ceviche in Chile and Peru and Laarp in Laos)
Best wine - New Zealand with Chile a close second
Best places to stay
We were travelling on a budget so cost was always a major factor. and we quickly came to realise price often bears no relation to quality. Some of the nicest places we stayed at were not the most expensive but will always stay in our memory for a wide variety of reasons.
-Sumiyoshi - A traditional Ryokan in Takayama , Japan great food, baths and run by two amazing old ladies who kept us laughing the whole time we were there
-Yougendo - a small Minshuku just outside of Nara, Japan , this place is in an old traditional house converted and run by and English guy and his Japanese wife. Just as we imagined life in a Japanese house to be and really friendly owners
-Casa Hernandez, a small B&B in San Lorenzo in Salta, NW Argentina newly opened by a Dutch couple. If we were going to run a B&B it would be just like this - a home from home
-Finca la Paya - A tradition finca just outside of Cachi on Ruta 40 in NW Argentina
Finally, nothing beats the freedom of waking up by a remote lake shore in New Zealand in your own campervan
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog...tml#ENTRY_LIST
It is my intention to write a post detailing my “dos and don’ts” of travelling for a year but that will have to wait a week or two as we get back into “normal” life again.
Dec 29th, 2008, 07:25 AM
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Finially, I found you and my morning read!
It would be good if you cross posted this on the Latin board for your fans over there.
I read your review of your apartment. I was debating between one of theirs and one that Isabel recommended and I'm so glad that I have taken hers.
Welcome back home!
It would be good if you cross posted this on the Latin board for your fans over there.
I read your review of your apartment. I was debating between one of theirs and one that Isabel recommended and I'm so glad that I have taken hers.
Welcome back home!
Dec 29th, 2008, 08:16 AM
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simply fantastic....i have loved receiving your emails with the pointer to the blog updates....thanks so much for that....
it seems to me that the end of the trip has not come as you have not yet returned to boston to make a full circle...
so many of us want to know what is next?? back to the desks 9-5?? retirement to the hills of northern england?? owning that argentine B&B?? npo works? planning a 2nd around the world trip at a lux level to cheat the UK out of your large inheritence taxes? raising sheep in central london?
it seems to me that the end of the trip has not come as you have not yet returned to boston to make a full circle...
so many of us want to know what is next?? back to the desks 9-5?? retirement to the hills of northern england?? owning that argentine B&B?? npo works? planning a 2nd around the world trip at a lux level to cheat the UK out of your large inheritence taxes? raising sheep in central london?
Dec 29th, 2008, 09:03 AM
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The timing of your post was perfect for me.. Sounds like you had great experiences!
We leave on Jan 9 for about 6 months on a round the world trip. I have had a bad case of nerves...thinking "what was I thinking???" the last two days...now that we are down to all the final stuff....like trying to get all the things I think we need into our carry ons!
Thanks for posting!
We leave on Jan 9 for about 6 months on a round the world trip. I have had a bad case of nerves...thinking "what was I thinking???" the last two days...now that we are down to all the final stuff....like trying to get all the things I think we need into our carry ons!
Thanks for posting!
Dec 29th, 2008, 10:24 AM
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crellston,
Thanks for the postings and all the info involved
We have done a lot of the places you have traveled to and really enjoyed your impressions of those places. I agree totally about Japan. We seem to be stuck there for a while
Welcome home and Aloha!
Thanks for the postings and all the info involved
We have done a lot of the places you have traveled to and really enjoyed your impressions of those places. I agree totally about Japan. We seem to be stuck there for a while
Welcome home and Aloha!
Dec 30th, 2008, 04:58 AM
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What do we do now?? The $1000 question - I only wih I knew the answer! The problem with traveling for so long is that it really does get into your blood and I think we are going to find it hard to readjust (cwn - you have been warned!)
Bob has some great ideas and the B&B possible in Salta, Argentina or may be Asia is still in the forefront of our thinking at the moment. I may yet be seeking the counsell of you guys in what you feel may be a good business model but that is perhaps best left for a separate post.
BTW Bob despite working in the City of London for many years they still have not made me a Freeman of the city and so I am not one of the few that are allowed the privelege of driving sheep across Tower Bridge!!
The immediate plan is to stay here for a few months (I may be going back to my old employers to do some consulting work)to sort out the many things which need sorting and then maybe it is off again searching for the "perfect" place for us. (one couple we met in South America had been doing exactly this for the last two and a half years!
Reflecting on our past year and previous travel experiences. New Zealand and Japan seem very attractive but for a variety of reasons, mainly visa related, yhis is probably not viable, Argentina is still a prime candidate and Central America has been recommended to us many times (possibly via Boston?) but over the last few months we have found ourselves thinking more and more of Asia...
Smeagol - thaks for teh welcome home and yes, the change in temp from 32c in BA to 2c in London was a bit of a shock as was the really depressing journey on the Picadilly Line al the to Cockfosters!
Susanna - I will do as you say and post on the Latin board. Glad you have sorted out your apartment - have a great time in BA its a fantastic town!
Bob has some great ideas and the B&B possible in Salta, Argentina or may be Asia is still in the forefront of our thinking at the moment. I may yet be seeking the counsell of you guys in what you feel may be a good business model but that is perhaps best left for a separate post.
BTW Bob despite working in the City of London for many years they still have not made me a Freeman of the city and so I am not one of the few that are allowed the privelege of driving sheep across Tower Bridge!!
The immediate plan is to stay here for a few months (I may be going back to my old employers to do some consulting work)to sort out the many things which need sorting and then maybe it is off again searching for the "perfect" place for us. (one couple we met in South America had been doing exactly this for the last two and a half years!
Reflecting on our past year and previous travel experiences. New Zealand and Japan seem very attractive but for a variety of reasons, mainly visa related, yhis is probably not viable, Argentina is still a prime candidate and Central America has been recommended to us many times (possibly via Boston?) but over the last few months we have found ourselves thinking more and more of Asia...
Smeagol - thaks for teh welcome home and yes, the change in temp from 32c in BA to 2c in London was a bit of a shock as was the really depressing journey on the Picadilly Line al the to Cockfosters!
Susanna - I will do as you say and post on the Latin board. Glad you have sorted out your apartment - have a great time in BA its a fantastic town!
Dec 30th, 2008, 08:03 PM
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one of the best B&B's we have ever stayed at was run by an english couple in burgandy, France....for travellers its unique in foreign speaking places to be welcomed in your own language and to find a place where the people understand your unique western habits and needs...
you are of course welcome in boston anytime!!
you are of course welcome in boston anytime!!
Jan 4th, 2009, 02:05 PM
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Hello crellston! Welcome home. Thanks for taking us 'round the world with you and for the great advice.
You mentioned that Machu Picchu was not your favorite. Did it fall short of your expectations, or were there just so many other places and experiences that trumped it?
I'm planning on visiting Machu Picchu in May. I've heard that Aguas Calientes isn't much to write home about, so we're planning on lodging in Ollantaytambo. Any advice on this region - primarily the Sacred Valley and Cusco?
Thanks!
You mentioned that Machu Picchu was not your favorite. Did it fall short of your expectations, or were there just so many other places and experiences that trumped it?
I'm planning on visiting Machu Picchu in May. I've heard that Aguas Calientes isn't much to write home about, so we're planning on lodging in Ollantaytambo. Any advice on this region - primarily the Sacred Valley and Cusco?
Thanks!
Jan 4th, 2009, 03:58 PM
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This is fascinating and I'm looking forward to hearing more. So sorry to hear about the differences you saw at Angkor. I was there three years ago (first time) and hope to return soon. But would hate to see the temples deteriorating and even more overcrowded.
I usually have the "what do I do now?" feeling after getting back from even a 2-week trip. The best solution for me is to start planning the next one.
I usually have the "what do I do now?" feeling after getting back from even a 2-week trip. The best solution for me is to start planning the next one.
