worldtour

Guestbook & Goodbye!

Join us as we descend into our RTW trip!

So this is our last blog for this WorldTour!  The trip was awesome fun and hard work.  We would do it again in a heartbeat!  It was great getting all your help, feedback and comments along the way! We hope to see you all soon.

We'd love to know if you've been reading these blog entries - please leave us a note by going to the "Post a Comment" section at the bottom of this blog or clicking on "Comments" below.

Cheers and Happy Travels!

- Smruti & Dev

Index to the WorldTour Blog

Here's a quick way to click through to our blogs on different countries - 180 days around the world (much much slower than Phileas Fogg).  This has links to all our blogs from August 2004 to March 2005!

• Post-trip
  :: Panoramic Photos - The Floating Blue Hat
  :: Favorite Places & Experiences - The Envelope Please!!!
  :: Tips - Electronic Devices & Communications
  :: Tips - Internet Access & Blogging
  :: Tips - RTW Tickets & Visas
  :: Tips - General Packing
• Pre-trip
  :: Luggage - Looking at my backpack
  :: Luggage - Loadlifters is the name of my next rock album
  :: RTW travel - World travellers galore
  :: Visas - Visas are a pain
  :: Itinerary - Where are we going?
  :: Healthcare - Trypanosomiasis
• Russia
  :: Moscow - One step back, two steps forward
  :: Moscow - Center of an Empire
  :: Moscow - How do I get to the Bolshoi? Practice, Practice, Practice
  :: St. Petersburg - PECTOPAHs and the Hermitage
• Czech Republic
  :: Prague - Prague's Disco Cows
  :: Cesky Krumlov - Castle Town
• France
  :: Paris - Une baguette, s'il vous plait
  :: Collioure - Tramontane in Collioure
• Spain
  :: Barcelona & Madrid - Darling, how Gaudi!
  :: Sevilla - Sangria in Sevilla
  :: Granada - Co-ed Hamaam and the Eighth Wonder of the World
• Morocco
  :: Meknes - Magic carpet ride
  :: Fez - Fes Hats are not from Fez
  :: Marrakesh - Trekking in the Atlas Mountains
• Egypt
  :: Cairo & Giza - Tut and Touts
  :: Aswan - Felucca Sunset
  :: Abu Simbel - Mercy sakes alive, looks like we've got us a convoy
  :: Luxor - Hot Chicken Soup
  :: Mt. Sinai - Camel Chase
  :: Taba - The Promised Land
  :: Red Sea - You can check in anytime you like, but you can never leave
• Jordan
  :: Amman - Amman or Bust
  :: Petra - Petra of the Nabateans
  :: Wadi Rum - Lawrence, the Desert and Us
  :: Dead Sea - The Slow Death of the Dead Sea
• Tanzania
  :: Mt. Kilimanjaro - Polay, Polay
  :: Ngorongoro Crater - Safari, so good
• Kenya
  :: Nairobi - Chasing Cheetahs in Nairobi
• South Africa
  :: Mabula - Malaria-free Reserve 2004
  :: Johannesburg - A Study in Contrasts
  :: Robben Island - Prisoner 466/64
  :: Cape Town - Kap Stadt
• India
  :: Delhi - Delhi Diary
  :: Delhi - Sudden Invincibility Syndrome
  :: Ranthambore - Tyger, Tyger, Burning Bright
  :: Rishikesh - Whitewater Rafting on the Ganga
  :: Rishikesh - Bollywood in Rishikesh
  :: Ahmedabad - G-U-J-J-U
  :: Gujarat - Veerayatan
  :: Gujarat - Kutch Kutch Hota Hai
  :: Ahmedabad - Sun and "Wav"es
  :: Palitana - Pilgrimage to Palitana
  :: Bombay - Maximum City?
  :: Ajanta & Ellora - Cut-ins, cut-outs and stand-outs
  :: Goa - Party Central Goa
  :: Darjeeling - Darjeeling View
  :: Sikkim - Bro is committed to you
  :: Sikkim - Stupendous Sikkim
  :: Madras - Southward Bound
  :: Tamil Nadu - Tsunami Relief Volunteering
• Thailand
  :: Bangkok - Fort Australia
• New Zealand
  :: Rotorua & Auckland - HHHaaaaaa!!!
  :: Kaikoura - Wine and Whales
  :: Mt. Cook - Cook and the Hermitage
  :: Queenstown - Adventure Sports HQ
  :: Queenstown - Hobbits and rings and elves, oh my!
  :: Fox & Franz Joseph Glacier - A Glacial Place
  :: Christchurch - A Little English
• Brazil
  :: Rio de Janeiro - Heeo dge Jhaneiho
  :: Rio de Janeiro - Carnaval
  :: Buzios - B000000000000...
• Peru
  :: Machu Pichu - Ucan sutipa'h Machu Pichu
  :: Lake Titicaca - Rock of the Puma
  :: Arequipa - The White City
  :: Cajamarca - Little Windows and Volcanic Formations

Panoramic Photos!

We now have panoramic photos from our trip!  The panoramics give a completely different feel for the place being photographed - much more space and light and perspective. (Our camera had a panoramic photo feature which allowed us to take some great shots.. we could only assemble/stitch them together into composite photos once we got to California though.  So here they are. Note that you should click on the image to see a bigger & better image.    You will see some weird effects in some of the photos - the stitching software had some problems.)

====================================================

RUSSIA - THE HERMITAGE, ST. PETERSBURG

The Hermitage is quite a huge palace, rivaling the Louvre in size and also in quantity and quality of art.  The photo here shows the front of the palace.  It was somewhat of any overcast day.  Note the little statues on the top of the building.

(Click to view expanded image)

=================================================

RUSSIA - THE HERMITAGE, ST. PETERSBURG

This is a view of the building opposite from the Hermitage.  The archway in the middle goes on to an interesting part of St. Petersburg - lots of cafes, shops, canals and more!

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

EGYPT - RAMSES TEMPLE, ABU SIMBEL

The massive status of Ramses II stand right in front of the temple.  In addition to being gigantic and very nicely carved, the whole temple, including the statues, have been moved uphill block by block to avoid being drowned under the waters of the Aswan lake.  There are absolutely no clouds in the sky and it is very hot - upwards of 40 degrees Celsius or 100 Fahrenheit!  And we've been awake since 3am to get here in time!  Note the tourist on the right-hand side who's leg was cut off by the photo stitching software!

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

EGYPT - ABU SIMBEL

This photo shows both the Temple of Ramses and the Temple of Hathor.  You can see the hills above the two temple - both sets of hills were moved in their entirety to avoid the waters of the Aswan lake which you can see on the right hand side.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

EGYPT - ASWAN LAKE

Right next to the Temple of Ramses at Abu Simbel is the Aswan Lake, formed by the Aswan Dam.  The other side is Sudan!

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

EGYPT - LUXOR

This is one of the walls at the Temple of Hatshepshut at Luxor.  In 1997, 50 Greek tourists were gunned down over here.  The hieroglyphics on the wall are fantastic.  For some reason, our guide kept talking about some James Bond movie being shot here.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

EGYPT - GIZA PYRAMIDS

One of the pyramids at Giza, near Cairo.  Again, it was a hot hot day.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

EGYPT - GIZE PYRAMIDS

All three pyramids at Giza.  You can see the entrance that goes into the right-hand side pyramid.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

EGYPT - GIZA PYRAMIDS AND THE SPHINX

You can see all three pyramids here, in addition the Sphinx.  There're a couple of nice lunch places right next to the Pyramids - somewhat a tourist trap but completely worth it after nearly getting sun-stroke walking around the Pyramids.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

EGYPT - ELEPHANTINE ISLAND

Nubian ruins on Elephantine Island near Aswan (inhabited from 5500-3100 BC). The people who still live here speak Nubian and Arabic.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

EGYPT - ABU SIMBEL

Wall carvings from the interior of the Temple of Ramses at Abu Simbel.   Low ceilings and dim lighting made it hard to see much.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

EGYPT - MT. SINAI

The completely barren landscape near Mt. Sinai.  You can see the St. Katherine monastory to the right hand side.  The path to the top of Mt. Sinai continue behind the photographer.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

EGYPT - MT. SINAI

Sunset, as seen from the side of Mt. Sinai. The path continues on the right hand side.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

EGYPT - MT. SINAI

Chapel on top of Mt. Sinai.  Some campers brought their tents and pitched them here.  Apparently, the sunrise is quite spectacular.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

JORDAN - PETRA

Near the Treasury at Petra.  In the distance, around the corner, is the rest of Petra, including the amphitheatre.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

JORDAN - PETRA

Another fantastic view of Petra.  You can see steps on the left-hand side that have been worn away over the centuries by wind and water.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

JORDAN - PETRA

The walkway toward Petra.  The walkway leads to the Siq which is a gorge that runs for over a kilometer through solid rock, leading to the Treasury at the entrance to Petra.  Horses and their riders thunder up and down this pathway, trying to lure tourists.  On the right-hand side, you can see the Djinn rocks - huge boulders that look very strange and sometimes have tombs carved out inside them.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

JORDAN - PETRA

On the left-hand side is a small hill full of little tombs.  Some are fully carved out, some are half-carved for some reason.  The tombs themselves are not very high - one has to crawl or stoop to move around inside them.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

JORDAN - PETRA

The monastory at Petra.  It took us a good 1 hour to climb up to this monastory.  In the distant hills behind the monastory, one can see Aaron's tomb.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

JORDAN - PETRA

The view from the monastory at Petra.  Completely moon-like barren landscape.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

JORDAN - NEAR PETRA

On the road from Petra to Wadi Rum.  Apparently, somewhere in the distance, one can see Aaron's tomb.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

JORDAN - WADI RUM

This was apparently a house where Lawrence of Arabia lived.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

JORDAN - WADI RUM

Huge mountains rise up vertically from the sand.  The mountain sides have been carved away over the millenia by water and wind.  Also, several millions of years ago, this area was apparently under water.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

JORDAN - WADI RUM

View from our camp.  The rock in the middle somewhat resembled a tiger's head.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

TANZANIA - NGORONGORO PLAIN

You can see zebra and wildebeeste grazing here as well as some gazelles resting on the right hand side. 

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

TANZANIA - NGORONGORO CRATER

This is the view from the road leading to the Ngorongoro Lodge overlooking the crater.  It's quite an awe-inspiring moment to see the clouds drifting across the plain and also shadows moving across the plain which turn out to be huge bunches of animals.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

TANZANIA - NGORONGORO CRATER

This was the view from our room at the Ngorongoro Lodge.  The most spectacular view I have ever seen from a hotel room!

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

TANZANIA - MT. KILIMANJARO

The view from the top of Mt. Kili, near Gilman's Point.  You can see the Kili glacier on one side.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

TANZANIA - MT. KILIMANJARO

Half-way up Kili, we rested for a day to acclimatize.  That day we walked up to Zebra Rock (so named because of the distinctive striped running down the side, as you can see in this photo) and then back down to the camp.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

KENYA - KAREN BLIXEN'S HOUSE, NAIROBI

This is where part of the movie "Out of Africa" was filmed with Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. Karen Blixen herself lived here and this house was gifted to her by the Danish Consul General.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

SOUTH AFRICA - TABLE MOUNTAIN, CAPE TOWN

The view from table mountain is fantastic.  One feels like one is at the edge of the earth.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

SOUTH AFRICA - TABLE MOUNTAIN, CAPE TOWN

You can see the cable car cables on the left-hand side.  People come climbing up the rock also!

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

SOUTH AFRICA - JOHANNESBURG

Football game between Nigeria and South Africa.  Emotions were running high!

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

SOUTH AFRICA - SAFARI PARK

Safari park belong to Vijay Mallya, an Indian businessman.  You can the rhino eating peacefully on the right hand side.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

INDIA - NEW DELHI

This is a view of the maidan near India Gate in New Delhi.  Lots of people playing cricket!

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

INDIA - GUJARAT

This is the Sun temple in Modhera, near Ahmedabad.  The geometric patterns of this place were quite amazing.  Apparently, this temple was built 200 years before the Sun Temple at Konarak and the Konarak temple took much inspiration from this place.  In the center, you can see a green area which is the bottom of the tank.  Rainwater would fill up the tank and people would use the steps to go down to the water level.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

INDIA - RANTHAMBORE TIGER RESERVE, RAJASTHAN

A rest-stop inside the tiger reserve.  Near the stream are a few crocodiles, basking in the sun.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

INDIA - RANTHAMBORE TIGER RESERVE, RAJASTHAN

Area near the lake at the tiger reserve.  You can see peacocks in this photo.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

INDIA - RANTHAMORE TIGER RESERVE, RAJASTHAN

Central lake at the tiger reserve.  Towards the left-hand side, you can see a sambar (type of deer) that has waded into the water to drink.  Apparently, the tigers have adapted to this by plunging into the water in pursuit of the sambar.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

INDIA - WHITEWATER RAFTING CAMP, GANGA RIVER

All along the Ganga, above Rishikesh, there are a number of camps situated on clean white sand.  In this photo, you can see the lunch tent in the center as well as the tents we stayed in on the right hand side.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

INDIA - WHITEWATER RAFTING CAMP, RIVER GANGA

The white sand gave way to rocks on one side of the camp.  On the right hand side, you can see one of the rafts, ready to be placed in the water.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

INDIA - TSUNAMI-HIT COASTAL AREA, VEDARANYAM

The coastal area had been completely swept clean.  There were patches of quicksand everywhere as well.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

NEW ZEALAND - KAIKOURA, SOUTH ISLAND

We went on a cliff walk on Kaikoura.  This is the view looking away from the cliff toward to mountains in the background.  The photographer casts a shadow on the right-hand side.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

NEW ZEALAND - ROAD BETWEEN QUEENSTOWN AND CHRISTCHURCH

Along the way, we stopped to admire some Lord of the Rings scenery.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

NEW ZEALAND - ROTORUA, NORTH ISLAND

The hot springs near Rotorua were quite colorful.  In the center, you can see an upwelling of rose/red/orange-colored water.  In the background, you can see a little footbridge that has been put in place to let people walk close to the hotsprings.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

BRAZIL - RIO DE JANEIRO

The photos below are all taken in Rio de Janeiro.  Beautiful views from the top of Sugar Loaf!

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

BRAZIL - RIO DE JANEIRO

Sunset, as seen from Sugar Loaf Mountain. You can just about see Copacabana beach on the left-hand side.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

BRAZIL - RIO DE JANEIRO

The cable car is reaching the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain.  More of the sunset.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

BRAZIL - RIO DE JANEIRO

Little secluded beach about an hour north of Ipanema. 

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

PERU - CUMBAYO, NEAR CAJAMARCA

This was taken on the road on the way up to Cumbayo.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

PERU - CAJAMARCA

An aerial view of Cajamraca city.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

PERU - CUMBEMAYO

The strange formation on the right hand side is volcanic.  We walked down to it and then through it!

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

PERU - CUSCO

Cusco, city of the Incas.  The church in the middle was situated right in front of a beautiful ground.

(Click to view expanded image)

====================================================

PERU - MACCHU PICHU

Beautiful setting of Machu Pichu.  It was the rainy season, so clouds kept drifting in and out.  We took this photo sitting near the caretaker's hut overlooking the main residential area of Machu Pichu.

Hope you enjoyed the photos as much as we did!

Cheers,

Dev & Smruti

The Envelope Please!!!

It is difficult to answer the question "What was your favorite place?"  It depends on so many things! - from the natural surroundings to man-made artifacts such as buildings and temples to experiences with tours to meeting with friends to entertainment shows and more. 

As you know from reading the blog, we have missed out huge chunks of the world.  These include Italy, Greece, Turkey, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, Australia, Great Britain, Central Asia, Scandinavia, Western Africa, North America, Central America and much much more.   Sounds like the whole world, right?  In addition, we didn't even do justice to the countries we did manage to visit on this trip. 

As we were told before we set off on our trip, there are many themes we could choose to focus on during our trip... we could have taken any one of these themes and made that our central focus for the trip - but we did not.  If you are planning on a trip, perhaps you might like to pick one such theme to focus on.  These themes could be wildlife, culture, writing, history, partying, religion, adventure sports, colonialism, mysticism, among many others.  As an example, it's amazing for us to think that our tour of the world could be depicted as a religious tour of the world (this was not our intention) - after all, we visited religious establishments (as historical places) all over the world and much of what we saw was built or destroyed because of religion.

Notwithstanding all this, we have put together a list of our favorites - yes, some of these lists are quite long, just about sufficient to put you to sleep quite quickly :-) they're more to help us remember as we lose our brain cells inexorably over the next few decades.  :-)    None of these lists are sorted in any way.

FAVOURITE NATURAL WONDERS & LANDSCAPES

Wow! The world has an amazing amount of beautiful places! From scorching deserts to snow-capped mountains to beautiful beaches to green meadows, here're the countries we thought had outstanding natural beauty:

• Jordan - beautiful desert scenery @ Wadi Rum, city of rock @ Petra
• Peru - green plains, mountain highlands, fascinating Inca & Pre-Inca history
• India - huge variety of natural surroundings from the Himalayas to the oceans, rich history
• Tanzania - Mt. Kilimanjaro, Safari park @ Ngorongoro
• South Africa - From oceans to mountains to desert to wildlife to history, it's got it all!
• Brazil - lovely beaches, lovely people
• New Zealand - beautiful juxtaposition of mountains & ocean & snow

FAVORITE MAN-MADE WONDERS

Humans have done amazing things with all sorts of natural resources - carved cities out of mountains, extracted metal from the earth and built it into huge towers, created islands out of plants and mud, and created & collected huge amounts of works of art in fantastic settings.  We would nominate some of these places for the the top man-made wonders of the world!

• The Hermitage - St Petersburg - Russia - Huge amount of fantastic treasures that could keep one busy for several days.  Rivals the Louvre in quality and quantity.
• The Kremlin - Moscow  - Russia - Fantastic set of churches and cathedrals on Kremlin Square PLUS the Armory which is completely bling-bling!
• Louvre - Paris - France - Self-evident.  Huge amounts of exhibits on any topic you can think of.  Don't forget the Carousel with the Object's d'Art.
• The Eiffel Tower - Paris - France - Fantastic but also greatly accentuated by the beautiful buildings spread out in the mile around the Tower.
• Sagrada Familia Cathedral - Barcelona - Spain - Outstanding example of Modernism (or Art Nouveau).  Tree trunks for supporting columns, organic forms as opposed to straight lines.  Gaudi was a genius!
• Parc Guell - Barcelona - Spain - Another Gaudi creation.  Wonderful mosaic colors and strange shapes.
• Alhambra palace & gardens - Granada - Spain - Plain from the outside but beautiful on the inside - Moorish patterns, fountains, gardens and art.
• Temple of Abu Simbel - Egypt - Huge and amazing, especially as this was done 5000 years ago!  Also amazing how they've moved it uphill to stop being flooded by the Aswan dam. 
• The Pyramids at Giza - Cairo - Egypt - Self-evident. A bit underwhelming although the big Ark was quite amazing.
• Petra - Jordan - Amazing city carved from the mountainside before Christ.  Beautiful architecture in places.
• Ellora caves - Aurangabad - India - Awesome carvings, especially the Kailash temple which was carved straight out of a mountain over the duration of a 150 years over 1000 years ago!
• Ajanta caves - Aurangabad - India - Fantastic religious paintings from over 1000 years ago.
• Sun Temple @ Modhera - Ahmedabad - India - Huge temple built 200 years before the renowned temple of Konarak in Orissa. 
• Floating Islands - Lake Titicaca - Peru - Amazing how people created their own land out of plants and mud to escape from the Incas several 100 years ago..
• City of Machu Pichu - Peru - Mysticism Central.  Beautiful setting from over 500 years ago.

FAVORITE EXPERIENCES

These experiences were unforgettable. Something that we would go do again if we could! More than anything else, these experiences have whetted our appetite to do more of the same!  We've got to go do more diving, more whitewater rafting, more flying in helicopters, more mountain climbing, more safaris and much much more...

Unforgettable

• Meeting Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg - a lesson in humility and charisma
• Tour of Robben Island - Cape Town - South Africa - amazing how former prisoners & guards are working together now
• Scuba diving - Buzios - Rio - we've discovered a new world underwater that we have completely missed out on all our lives!
• Walking around Le Marais during the Patrimonie weekend - Paris - France - beautiful buildings and hidden gardens.  Beautiful people and fashion.
• Heli-hike on a glacier - Fox Glacier - New Zealand - First time ever on a helicopter for both of us!  Plus being on a glacier is a must-do at least once in your life.
• Driving around the desert scenery of Wadi Rum - Jordan - Sweeping vistas. Beautiful play of light at sunset and sunrise.
• Lord of the Rings tour - Queenstown - New Zealand - Just great to do as LOTR fans.
• Whitewater rafting - Rishikesh - India - Amazing to see the beauty, safety, professionalism and excitement of adventure sports in India.
• Survey work for tsunami relief - Pushpavahanam - India - it was very educational to get into the 'heartland' and see village life close-up.  Also heartwarming to see how everybody is pitching in to get things back to somewhere near normal.
• Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro - Tanzania - An endurance test in beautiful surroundings!
• Walking up & down the Ramblas - Barcelona - Spain - beautiful people, lots of activity, lots of nightlife, lots of culture.
• Wildlife safari - Ngorongoro Park - Tanzania - seeing animals in the wild in quite something else from seeing them in a zoo.
• Bathing in a Hamaam - Granada - Spain - Preferred ancient bathing method for the whole region around the Mediterranean.  Had to experience it!
• View of Kanchenjunga mountain range in the Himalayas - Darjeeling - India - Beautiful dawn over the highest mountains in the world, including Mt. Everest, Kanchenjunga and others.
• Walking up Mt. Sinai - Egypt - Interesting experience to retrace the steps of the Prophet Moses, to think that somebody had taken those same steps thousands of years ago.

Very memorable

• Yak ride around Chhangu lake - Sikkim
• Playing with baby cheetahs - Animal Orphanage - Nairobi
• Walking through the Fez souk - Fez - Morocco
• Trekking up the Atlas Mountains - Morocco
• Travelling with a musician on the train ride to Meknes - Morocco
• Floating in the Dead Sea - Jordan
• Partying for New Year's Eve - Goa - India
• Walking in the hills around Fort Dogummeire - Collioure - France
• Felucca ride on the Nile - Aswan - Egypt
• Hearing Gregorian chants - Cathedral of Notre Dame - Paris
• Whalewatching - Kaikoura - New Zealand
• Kayaking - Franz Joseph Glacier - New Zeland
• Walking around the Monasterio Santa Catalina - Arequipa - Peru
• Walking around Cumbemayo water channels - near Cajamarca - Peru

WORST EXPERIENCES

We had our share of bad experiences as well - mostly very frustrating times such as getting visas, getting lost and getting sick!

• Walking down Mt. Sinai in the dark without a flashlight for 2 hours - Egypt
• Hearing about the van accident that affected other people staying in our hotel - Valley of the Kings - Egypt
• Getting stopped at the Israeli Border - Taba - Egypt/Israel border
• Trying to get a Jordanian visa - Egypt/Jordan
• Being stuck at a Red Sea camp for 2 days
• Getting sick from the food - Marrakesh - Morocco
• Getting an Australian transit visa - Bangkok
• Getting bitten by sandfleas - Franz Joseph Glacier - New Zealand
• Getting 16 visas for myself and 6 for Smruti

FAVORITE SHOWS/ ENTERTAINMENT / SPORTS

We saw a bunch of different shows around the world from tribal dances to flamenco dances to players dancing on the soccer pitch to samba dancing. Live shows were the best. We did see a bunch of movies but did not think it made sense to mention movies here.

• Flamenco Show - Sevilla - Spain
• Italian Girl in Algiers @ Paris Opera - Paris - France
• Blacklight show - Prague - Czech Republic
• Maori dance - Rotorua - New Zealand
• Carnaval @ the Sambadrome - Rio - Brazil
• Football Match between Nigeria and South Africa - Johannesburg - South Africa
• Swan Lake ballet - St Petersburg - Russia
• Cultural dance show - Cusco - Peru

FAVORITE RESTAURANTS

The quality of food was very variable in all the different places we were in. Chinese food seemed to be the most high quality and standardized everywhere we went!

• Kharbin - Chinese - St Petersburg - Russia
• Dioskuriya - Georgian - Moscow - Russia
• Ra - Veggie world cuisine - Barcelona - Spain
• Tangier train station - Tangier - Morocco
• Beijing restaurant - Chinese - Cairo - Egypt
• Spice & Herbs - Ethiopian - Arusha - Tanzania
• Java house - Coffee & snacks - Nairobi - Kenya
• Spago - Italian - GK-I - Delhi - India
• Agashiye - Gujarati - Ahmedabad - India
• Thai Pavilion - Presidents hotel - Bombay - India
• Mahesh Lunch House - Seafood - Bombay - India
• Basilico's - Italian - Bombay - India
• Sukothai - Thai - Bangkok - Thailand
• Finz - Western seafood - Kaikoura - New Zealand
• Copacabana Palace Hotel - Italian - Rio - Brazil
• Moni - Peruvian vegetarian - Cusco - Peru
• Witch's brew - Peruvian general - Cusco - Peru
• Mango's - Peruvian variety - Miraflores - Lima - Peru
• F-bar - Drinks - Delhi - India
• Outdoor cafes - Sangria - Sevilla - Spain

COUNTRIES WITH THE BEST NIGHTLIFE

The partying went on late into the night all around the world.  One thing is for sure - people everywhere are intent on having fun.   I must say though that the Latin world (Spain, Brazil etc.) are on quite another level when it comes to partying!  We also had a wonderful time meeting friends for dinner and drinks!

• Spain - Whether it was Barcelona or Madrid or Sevilla, the partying would start at midnight and continue till dawn.  Wow!
• Brazil - Well, the partying here was completely non-stop.  We had to get out of Rio to stop waking up at noon and going to sleep at 5am.
• India - From Goa to Bombay to Delhi, the party scene is non-stop!  So many new places have popped up recently, including lounges, bars, restaurants, clubs and more!

COUNTRIES WITH THE CRAZIEST TAXI DRIVERS

We had taxi drivers who would scream at us, shout at us, change the price half-way through the drive and, worst of all, tell us they knew where they were going when they had no idea where to go!

• Egypt - Bargaining in Arabic can be a bit taxing!  Especially when the driver shouts "Me Egypt, You India" or "Amitabh Bacchan" at you for the whole drive or stops in the middle of the drive and demands double the money because you're so obviously a stupid tourist!
• Tanzania - The hinterlands of Tanzania don't have too many taxis. So when you see one, you take it, no questions asked.
• India - A different level of animosity exists on the streets - taxi-drivers are out to kill all pedestrians - hang on for the ride - woooohooooo!

- Dev & Smruti

Tips (Part IV) - General Packing

If you are planning a trip to several countries, you may be interested in what we learnt from our trip.  The bottomline is that you don't need as much as you think you need.  You can get a lot of what you need along the way.  Also, don't forget the option of shipping stuff back home.

We went through various climates along the way, including winter-like cold in Russia, Peru and Mt Kilimanjaro, hot summer in Brazil, Africa and India and temperate weather in New Zealand and France.  So we had to pack for all these types of weather.  We had to plan for the following things:

• Luggage - for long-distance travel and also day use.
• Clothing - for all the different climates we were going to be in.
• Footwear - a pair for every occasion.
• Finances - keeping track of our finances and paying bills.
• Toiletries & washing - keeping ourselves and our clothes clean.
• Entertainment - keeping ourselves amused.
• Books - to keep ourselves informed and entertained.
• Medicine - keeping healthy along the way.
• Miscellaneous - odds and ends.
• Communications - keeping in touch with friends and family through the phone, email etc.  Covered in a separate blog.
• Electronics - taking along all gadgets that we deemed necessary to take photos, hear music, make phone calls etc.!  Covered in a separate blog.
• RTW tickets & visas - covered in a separate blog on ticketing, guides, visas and health insurance.
• What we did not use
• What we should have taken along

Luggage - Our backpacks (bought from REI) each weighed in at about 20 kgs (about 44 pounds) when packed.  Very heavy!  This isn't counting the weight of our daypacks which we used for carry-on luggage on planes and also to carry water/food/tickets/passports etc.  We also made sure that our bags, money, passports & tickets were secure at all times.  We carried number locks plus money belts.  We also bought two "stuff" bags each - these can be used to separate out things that would otherwise get completely lost or messed up (such as socks or electronics.

Clothing (Smruti)

• Jeans- yes, it was slightly heavier than khakis, but considering all the major cities we went to it was nice to be able to dress like a local and not a tourist in those nylon pants!
• Windbreaker - Very useful and doubled as rainjacket.  If only I had a hoodie!
• Fleece and thermal.  Picked them up in Darjeeling for $2.  Good for layering. Wished I had it for Kilimanjaro!
• Wool socks. Brought 2 pairs.  the best!
• Shawl can be used as blanket, sarong, shawl, head covering...the possibilities are endless!
• One dressy-ish skirt.  good when going out to plays or local places. see jeans for reason.
• Black top.  Nuff said.
• Nylon trekking pants (one pair) - From REI.  Have a zip that converts these into shorts.
• Woolies (scarf, gloves, hat)
• Sun cap
• Swim suit
• Quick-dry towel

Clothing (Dev)

• Nylon trekking pants (one pair) - From REI.  Have a zip that converts these into shorts.
• Jeans & one pair of shorts
• Raincoat & windbreaker - very useful in cold climates.  When combined with a sweater, obviates the need to take along a bulky jacket.
• Woolen sweater (one) - very useful as most places get cold at night
• Woolen scarf
• Woolen/leather gloves
• Woolen socks (one pair)
• Woolen cap
• Regular socks - didn't really use these much as we were in summer weather in most places.
• Dress pants & shirt (one pair) - for going out at night!
• Daily-wear t-shirts (two pairs) -  Quick-dry for daily wash
• Belt
• No-sleeve fleece - essential. Both for warmth and for carrying around guides etc. in the inside pockets.
• Running shorts & t-shirt
• Swimming trunks
• Quick-dry towel
• Sun hat

Footwear - We took along several pairs of footwear given that we were going to be trekking, shlepping around tourist sites, running and going out at night!  Apart from books, this took up the largest volume of space in our backpacks.  We had trekking boots (Hi-Tec is a good brand), we had day-wear sandals (with ankle straps to offer the best support), sneakers, we had running shoes and we had going-out shoes.  We thought we had overdone it but it turns out that we used most of these pretty frequently!  The only one that we did not end up using too often were our running shoes (unfortunately).

Finances - It was surprisingly easy to get access to funds and keep track of bills etc.  ATMs are available in every single country in the world - you have to manage how many times you go there since there is a hefty transaction fee for international ATM withdrawals.  Best thing to do is to use the credit card (rather than cash) so that you get the best exchange rates and also don't have to go to the ATM that often. Also, we had already set-up online bill payment (best thing since sliced bread!) so that all our bills were being electronically sent to us and paid electronically.  We also kept track of our expenses on paper (I tried to do this on my PDA but it was too time-consuming!).  We had also taken along traveller's checks - I had originally thought that we would never need this but we found that there are several places in the world where ATMs are not available.

Medicine - For medicine, we picked up a first-aid kit at Walgreens.  They come with bandaids, antiseptic liquid & cream, needle & thread, small pair of scissors etc.  We also took along our prescription Malaria pills which we had to take once a week.  We added some aspirin, cottonwool and some Immodium (anti-diarrheal).  This served our purposes for the whole six months.  The one thing that we did require along the way was some Diamoxx (anti altitude sickness) when climbing Mt. Kili - we got that there.

Toiletries & washing - Along the way, we got mostly all the toiletries we need (soap, shampoo, etc.) plus washing detergent.  The most important items were sunblock and chapstick with a good SPF.  The sun tanned us something fierce! We did take along with us insta-dry handwash gel - this is invaluable whenever sitting down for meals without access to a clean bathroom and was difficult to find anywhere in Africa.  We did take along a universal sink plug with us to enable us to do laundry wherever we were staying. 

Entertainment - We had our MP3 player along with a pack of cards.  We did pick up a travelpak of Scrabble & Chess which was great for long train or plane journeys. 

Books - Books were essential, although we've heard from some other people that they never even once opened up the books they took with them.  Most of the places we went had book exchanges so we were able to exchange anything we bought along the way for things we hadn´t read yet!

Miscellaneous - Our swiss knives were very useful - good for cutting up fruit, annoying plastic luggage tags, has a nail file, etc.  Also useful were tweezers.  It was very useful to bring along a diary/journal and pen for things like addresses, travel info, numbers, recipes and more!

Communications - keeping in touch with friends and family through the phone, email etc.  Covered in a separate blog.

Electronics - taking along all gadgets that we deemed necessary to take photos, hear music, make phone calls etc.!  Covered in a separate blog.

RTW tickets & visas - covered in a separate blog on ticketing, guides, visas and health insurance.

What we did not use - we ended up getting several things that we did not use, including:

• Iodine tablets for water purification - there's plenty of bottled mineral water everywhere!
• PDA- died along the way.
• Running shoes- The intent was there, but not the will.

• Hair dryer- seriously got to be a pain to have to plug in the transformer and hold it in manually when it didn´t fit the weird sized plugs in Egypt, Morocco, etc.

What we should have taken along -

• Flashlights
• Re-usable spoon & knife
• Thermals

- Dev & Smruti

Tips (Part III) - RTW Tickets & Visas

Planning the trip was quite insane, in terms of plane tickets, train tickets, lodging, visas and health insurance.

In order to know enough about the places we were visiting, we chose to stick with Lonely Planet guides - we tried a few others such as Frommers, Rough Guide and Fodors but found Lonely Planet to be the best one.  Also, Lonely Planet guides turned out to be available almost everywhere in the world.  The negative of doing this is that almost everybody used Lonely Planet and you are liable to be doing the same thing everybody else is doing - you'll have to make any active effort to break out of this wherever you are! Chances are that if you are on a RTW trip, you'll need many many travel guides - this creates a quandary - do you buy all these in advance (to help in planning) and then carry these with you around the world OR do you buy these along the way.  We also used VirtualTourist.com to check out traveler blogs on specific places in the world - the great thing about this site is that it allows you to post questions about specific places and have them answered in a day or two!  Also, many cities have VirtualTourst teams (VT teams) that meet every couple of months - you can connect with VT members in each city if you don't know anybody else!

Even better than written guides and online sources, we connected with friends and family in different parts of the world... there's nothing better than a local to get you on the right track!  And it was wonderful to have so many people willing to help us!

Getting our round-the-world ticket turned out to be quite difficult!  Most travel agents are not incented to provide RTW tickets - my guess is that this is because there is a ton of research/work involved in putting together a ticket (which eats up a lot of time) and the profit margins are very low.  There is an agency called Airtreks to whom you can specify all your locations and they then put together an itinerary - but they do not do Round-the-world tickets - rather, they string together a bunch of one-way tickets which turns out to be much more expensive.  We also looked at online world travel sites such as Boots 'N All, LonelyPlanet and EthicalTraveller. 

The best way to travel is to get a round-the-world ticket, available with most airlines.  In fact, most airlines stitch together a round-the-world ticket on an alliance of airlines (such as Star Alliance or OneWorld). Don't forget to take all your frequent flyer numbers with you!!  The cheapest round-the-world tickets can be purchased from Australia, New Zealand or England - seems to be that people from these countries do the most RTW travelling - you ca n get tickets for between $1500 and $3000 per person!  What you can do is to call an agency in that country, book the ticket and then fly to that country to commence your travelling.  Most RTW tickets come in one of two formats:

1. You get a maximum limit of miles flown and can book as many flights as you like upto this limit. You can fly through one region (such as Western US) only once. Changes can be made to dates & times very easily.
2. You get a maximum of 3 stops per region. You can fly through one city/region only once.  You have to keep flying around the world in the same direction (i.e. East all the way or West all the way).  Changes can be made to dates, times & places very easily.

Note that the travel does not all have be connected i.e. you may take a flight to London and then travel by train to Spain and then take the next flight out from Madrid.  Also note, that some parts of the world don't have any airlines that belong to a RTW airline alliance so be ready to buy individual one-way tickets sometimes as well!  Also, RTW tickets usually require you to finish your travel with 12 months.

Visa-wise, I had to get 16 visas and Smruti 6.  Instead of trudging around each of the consulates & embassies and/or fedexing our applications around the US, we decided to use a visa agency (named Visa Network, in San Francisco) to handle all the work.  For a little bit of extra money, they procured more visas for us in a shorter amount of time than we would have been able to do ourselves.  If we had had more time, we might have done it ourselves.  On the other hand, many of the consulates required plane tickets and hotel reservations prior to giving us a visa and since we didn't have this till shortly before we left, we had to scramble at the last minute anyway.  Unfortunately, we didn't get all our visas done before we left on the trip, so we had to get a bunch along the way - if at all possible, don't do this as many countries do not allow visas to be given outside of your home country.  For example, the Brazilians and the US have some tit-for-tat going on in terms of visas, so we had to jump through many hoops to get Smruti a Brazilian visa from the Brazilian embassy in New Delhi, India.  (As an aside, it is pretty funny when Americans are asked to fill out some of the onerous forms that Americans ask others to fill out... questions such as "Are you a terrorist?" or "Are you a prostitute?"...and they're also fingerprinted!)  Also, some countries have separate procedures you have to go through if you want to visit a "sensitive" area, so plan for this in advance.

Health insurance was easy enough.  All the travel books suggested the same thing - get basic domestic US insurance to cover emergencies.  And then get international travel insurance to cover medical evacuations from the other country to the US.  No international insurance will cover doctor's visits or prescriptions abroad.  So take several months supply of prescription medicine along with you.

One other practical thing to do is to scan your passport, health insurance and travellers cheque forms and email them to your own Internet-based email account (Yahoo! or Hotmail or Gmail or the like).  This will come in extremely handy if you happen to loose your papers and need to get them redone.

- Dev

Tips (Part II) - Internet Access & Blogging

Internet Access

In terms of email and Internet access, each and every country we went to had a lot of Internet cafes (in most of the world, "Internet cafe" is the wrong phrase these days,.. most people call it "Cyber Shop" or "Internet Shop").  I was pleasantly surprised as most cyber shops had Windows XP which made it much easier to manipulate photos and connect the Archos device and Inland multi-card reader through USB ports.  Prices around the world for internet access are pretty uniform, ranging from $0.50 per hour to $2 per hour.  Beware of cybershops that advertise as LAN houses and Games houses - these cybershops usually have gazillions of 10-year old boys playing Doom against each other and shouting very very loudly all the time!  Check out an interesting article on multi-player gaming by Benchmark Capital's Bill Gurley at http://www.abovethecrowd.com/atc/2004/10/the_revolutiona.html.

Blogging

In order to keep our families and friends current with what we were doing on our trip, we decided to keep a blog (i.e. what you are reading right now).  At first, we knew nothing about blogging.  But slowly, we travelled up the learning curve.  Our options roughly spli