All roads seem to lead back to Africa

When I arrived in South Africa February 2003 I had no idea the impact the country and ultimately the continent would have on my life.  At the time I spent 6 months in Durban and  2 months travelling through Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda.  I promised I would be back.  in summer of 2010 matt and I visited Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi but didn't make it to South Africa for lack of time.  In planning this RTW it was difficult to fathom a journey that didn't include the return, both Matt and I were drawn back to a place that captured our hearts.  No other region I have visited gets me as excited or brings a bigger smile to my face.  

Landing in Cape Town was a shock to the system after being in India. Clean streets, modern buildings, fancy shopping malls, western food. It certainly is nothing of the "Africa" often stereotyped in people's minds. Despite the curtain of wealth and modernization, South Africa is still a country recovering from years of unfairness, oppression and violence.  There are a lot of people still hurt and angry. And there are huge discrepancies between rich and poor that causes often violent clashes.  This curtain remained as we travelled up the beautiful eastern coastline....it was often easy to forget you were in a country that had such a fractured past and a current population living in poverty.  We were fortunate to be exposed to people and tours that helped us to understand the realities and impacts of Apartheid.  Seeing Robbin Island on the day of Nelson Mandela's 95 th birthday was powerful, and our knowledge, respect and admiration for this man only increased as we moved through the country culminating at the Apartheid museum in Jo'burg.  Meeting a man named Cromwell who took us to Soweto and told us stories of growing up with a pass that identified him as a coloured person, and his participation in protest and violence in high school.  One place we went to the people in the area of Soweto had recently burned down a KFC and torched cars to try and get the government to install water so they could have sanitary latrines (toilets) and electricity.  Overall we were impressed by the conditions in the South African "slums" compared to other African countries they were orderly, had proper housing and government was doing a lot for improvement....but then we learned that more would be happening if there wasn't so much government corruption.  We were so lucky to meet up with old friends of mine from University of Natal days - sharing how life has changed since I was there 10 yrs ago!  Loved touring the campus, visiting old hangouts and staying up till wee hours of the morning getting schooled on r&b and hip hop that's cool in SA these days!  

And then we started our journey to Malawi to visit our friends in Zomba/Grace Orphan Care!  First stop was modern Lusaka in Zambia.  Caught up with Jonny Perrot before a 20 hour bus journey.  Best memory of this truly African bus was the mattress on board (along with mountains of other luggage and people) that continued to get crowd surfed from the front to the back because there was no real room for it!  Arriving in Zomba felt very comfortable and a bit like going home away from home. Kids and staff at Grace inspired us with their amazing hearts and generosity and the good they are doing for their community.  A huge crew we had worked with in 2010 were graduating high school! Several were waiting for university entrance exam results to start post secondary studies!!  We worked with Ernest to help get the Maize Mill running to help fund some the incredible programs they have at Grace - hopefully wont be long!!  

Since then we have travelled for almost 7 days straight including another 22 hour bus day (almost overnight since bus broke down!). Paused for a day to visit Victoria Falls which is a dream, definatly one of my favourite places in Africa. Then we were in Chicago for 2 days....now one plane ride away from home. Wow.  One last follow up blog to come. Thanks for sharing in our journey!

Power of inspired students

First a huge congrats to the students that are finishing up their last exams and graduating from PDHS - you are an incredible group of students that will be missed in the clubs, sports, classrooms and hallways of our school.  This blog is for you, because it was largely graduating students that led the charge to make this possible.  

This year at my school students under the leadership of the We Action Team and Student Council decided to adopt a village through the Free the Children program.  They raised over $2000 through a coffee house, tye-dye making, and a penny drive, and their actions inspired us to go to the village they were helping ( we also happened to be in the neighborhood).  Thus the day of awesomess began...

Yesterday we visited Bagad, our adopted village.  There have been very few solid opportunities on this journey to get off the tourist tract and catch real sight of people just living their life completely void of any evidence of tourism...today was one of those days.  We hired a car and left off for the general direction we thought the village to be, knowing it was 85 km away and in one particular district of Rajhastan. The driver, through translation from our hotel owner understood this was not just a typical day of sightseeing, and made a last minute tsn turning point decision to call his brother in law to come with us and translate.  We stopped at least 5 times for direction and clarification as we drove further into beautiful Indian country side - away from the crowds and the honking into seas of sheep, goat, cows, oz and buffalo.  The sarees got even more beautiful and colourful, even the ones worn by women working in the fields...imagine your grandmother putting on her nicest party dress and then sending her to plant crops and turn the soil with nothing more than an axe...this was a very common scene.  Throughout this day I was reminded how lucky i am to be norn a woman in Canada and not elsewhere in the world.  We arrived in Bagad - a rural agricultural village of 300 homes after about 2.5 hrs ( including one chai break :)) and were greated by friendly smiles and namastes (hello) largely thanks to Pintu our translator. We went to the school that is still under construction and spoke with the head builder about the building, me to we groups that had visited and about living in Bagad.  His story was typical rural village....not enough jobs so many men go as far as Mumbai for work leaving women to take care of livestock, crops, and the home. There are 4 wells but they are very old and sometimes dry up and are not always clean so women and children go to the deep well 2 km away for good water.  There are no vehicles so they walk.  There is an elementary school but it is not big enough for all eligible students to enrol, so some miss out..but this will change when the new school house is finished (it will have 8 classrooms, one for each class). If students want to go to high school they have to move to Udaipur (2 hrs away) and live on their own (imagine some of our gr 9 s on their own!).  The school will have sanitary toilets and has a drinking water tower that filters the water so it will be clean.  This is great because the man said many people in the village often get sick from the water in the wells.  It also has a small building for the headmaster and a small temple.  We spoke to some students - one gr. 5 boy named Suresh who wants to be a police officer in Udaipur when he grows up.  We asked how he would get money to go to college and he said hard work.  I asked work where and he said he would help in the fields.  He brought us to his house where his mom offered us chai. In the house there are 3 enclosed rooms and kind of a porch area that she cooks on over wood fire, the ox live, and there is sitting area.  In the house lives Suresh, his mom and dad (who is paralyzed so can't work), his brother and baby sister, his grandparents, and his aunt and uncle.  He loves playing soccer and also really liked using our camera!  Another student we spoke to is attending University and wants to be a science teacher. He has lived in Udaipur since he was 15 on his own, but like others was back in his village for summer vacation.  Other students got excited when i asked about Me to We canadians visiting in March because i guess they played volleyball and soccer with them and had a great Time.  The contractor also liked when they were there because they helped make great progress on the school which they have been building since 2010 - there were still at least 3 workers being paid 300 rupees each day to work on it.  Free the children has also built a 2 room community hall but no one knew what it was for and as of yet they didn't really appear used....typical development flaw - great building, no additional funding for programming to make use.  We only asked a couple people as it was on the way out of the village, so maybe there was more going on then they knew?  We stopped at a fort built into the side of a rocky hill in the 1700's that has the "great wall of India" second largest after wall In china.  Lastly after spending an awesome day chatting with Pintu he took us to his home where he lives with his parents and extended family. There are 15 rooms of the house and we met at least 2 aunts, 5 cousins and I wasn't super clear exactly who all lived there....lots of families! We had Chai and made fun of Pintu for being so lazy and relying on his mom to do everything ( he is 27).  He is sad he hasn't found a wife but is finding it difficult because he is inthe upper Brahmin caste which is a very educated caste and he has to marry a Brahmin but he doesn't like school and didn't go to university, so girls don't choose him ( or their parents don't choose him). 

It was an incredible day and I can't wait to share the photos ( matt was super camera man)

I get such pride to see students taking on challenges so much bigger than their day to day, those who feel a desire to understand and help places and people that are so far away but still in their global community. I know and share with them the flaws in charity and development but I think the fundamendantal action of working hard purely independent of self gain is incredible and cheers to them for doing this!! 

Oh and Pintu is very jealous of the new school and thinks we should raise money to build one in his village...haha.  

Welcome to India

Today as I was strolling through the narrow stone streets gazing at shops in architecturally beautiful 300 yr old buildings at colourful sarees and other clothing, silver jewellry, and paintings, I kicked a pile of cow poop...welcome to India.  We have spent the last 4 days in Jaipur, Rajasthan overcoming stomach issues trying to convince our bodies that they could handle rich northern Indian cuisine, and the heat...welcome to India.  Honking cars, trucks, buses, cycle rickshaws, auto rickshaws, and motorcycles are enough to drive us crazy and certainly led to a headache or two...yes we know you are there, we are looking right at you, no honking necessary...welcome to India.  India is a place of extreme for us...extreme heat (has been 40 almost every day), extreme population density (over 1 billion people and quickly growing), extreme chaos, pollution, filth.  But it also is extremely beautiful when you see pass the negatives, there is incredible history of a civilization more than 2500 yrs old, and architecture from the 1500's. Woman's clothing is stunning - bright, mirrored, embroidered, and provides colourful contrast in streets filled with filth, cows, pigs, people deficating on the sidewalk, and urinating into gutters. 

In India the cows are sacred and take their fixed place in society wherever they wish - often in the middle of the road.  They are fed, healthy and in some cases I have heard their feeding takes precedence over women in the family.  

India takes time for the shocks to neutralize and for the details of the life here to digest.  I'm not sure we are there yet, but getting closer. Yesterday we arrived in Udaipur. It is known as being a romantic city because of narrow lanes, "sparkling" lakes and palaces. It is a city of artists evident immediately by the design of hotels with stunning courtyards and beautiful rooms, also in the French cafe where we enjoyed cappuccino's and French toast!  We ate dinner in a restaurant on cushions 

In an open air alcove overlooking the lit up lake palace...it was lovely.

Today we head into the village of Bagad. This is the adopted village of students and staff at Paris District HS and I look forward to the opportunity to bring to camera someof the benefits of their charity efforts.  Stay tuned...

The art of bus travel according to me.

To travel on the cheap you find yourself on A Lot of buses.  Some are quite fancy - like the one I am on now...VIP apparently with cushy seats, tv (usually showing movies from the country of travel...hilarious), and a toilet. Some are dreadfully crowded, uncomfortable and usually make for the best stories because fellow passengers can include chickens, bee hives, goats, etc.  I once travelled on a bus in Kenya where I had to crouch down and close the blinds because on that stretch of road rebels were known to shoot at the busses.  And in Nepal I was riding on the roof with a small Nepalese child on my lap when the bus started to slide off the side of the road and everyone jumped off the top. I would have had to throw the child, and chose to instead stay put and hope the bus didn't in fact go off the cliff...it didn't. And so, through extensive experience, I would like to believe that buses are an area of expertise for me.  Making the long often terrible rides more bearable is key and requires more than the obvious snacks, tunes, and solid reading material.  During the day it is naturally a great time to gaze out the window and ponder the area you travel in....what would it be like to live there, what do people do for money, how do they entertain themselves...etc.  I have also done some serious personal life coaching during these idle hours. Also, a great place to meet and chat with a local - even in broken English they can be a wealth of knowledge about a region.   Overnight buses are where the biggest challenge lies.  Night buses are great for budgets because you get hotel and transport in one...but can be killer if you can't sleep.  Here are my tips:

1) bring a sarong, blanket or sleeping bag on board - if you are in a warm country the bus will be frigid.  

2) use your travel partner - the double head lean is a very comfortable way to sleep (especially if you have  pillow or bunched sarong)

3) no shame- getting sleep is number one priority for me no matter how I get it.  A great way I have found is to let one person lie across the seat while the other goes on the floor in front (where your feet normally goes) - people might stare for awhile but once you are snoring and sleeping like a baby they will be jealous.   Obviously snagging 2extra seats to lie across is a bonus.

4) watch your backpack. Night buses (and trains) are notorious for thieves.  I suggest either padlocking bag to your chair, putting your leg through the arm strap or using it as a pillow.  On a train from France to Italy I had my bag stolen right from under my legs.  

5) pack your own t.p. when going to toilet at rest stops - often squat toilets or regular toilets with no seats, often sketchy and rarely providing t.p.

17 hours into our trip....and honestly despite using all of my tips my sleep last night sucked.  But, started the morning on KhoSan road with a coffee and street pad thai at 6am!  I have been talking about Bangkok street pad thai for 10 years! Matt finally got to experience the deliciousness for 30B = $1.

Sawadeeh kha

From the southern beaches to the northern hills of Thailand we go.  Seperated  by 2 minibus, 1 ferry and 4 buses of varying quality, a taxi....and 27 hours of travel time, oh boy. Needless to say I have time to write a blog or two. 

First an update of where we have been.  We started our visit to Thailand in Krabi, one of the places I wanted to go last time I was here but didn't get a chance.  We stayed in one of the shadier hotel rooms of our trip that you had to walk through the kitchen of the restaurant to get to. Room was a little moldy and a cockroach did jump off my bag at one point, but the bed was ok (no bed bugs despite a thorough check), the fan worked and at $10 the price was right.  Took a ferry out to Krabi Island to Railay Beach,

https://picasaweb.google.com/115423077873426429468/Thailand

famous for breathtaking limestone cliffs and rock climbing.  As this was our goal we tried not to be too deterred by the garbage strewn beaches, and the less then friendly customer service and focused on sunshine and an adventure.  Matt and I signed up for a climb which included about a minute of advice for us which apparently

constituted as our beginners lesson. Climbing is incredible. Firstly our surroundings were breathtaking, but the act of physically moving your body up a rock face that looked unclimbable to us was exhilarating.  We were initially discouraged that they had chosen a 6b+ route for us to learn on (not a beginner route) but in the end were thankful as we had to push ourselves way harder to reach the peak.  We only managed two climbs each over the 2 hours but that was enough to have ripped the skin from most of our fingers and tested the muscles in our arms.  I would love to have been stronger and more skilled to try some of the other routes people were doing!  Due to the lack of cleanliness on the island, Matt unfortunately got food poisoning resulting in a slightly longer stay than

expected, but allowed for me to do some exploring of some of the less crazy parts of the island.  I also woke up at 530am to catch the sunrise and was rewarded with being the only tourist awake.

  Next we went to Ko Phi Phi, an area made famous in filming Leonardo DeCaprio's "The Beach", and then notorized as one of the sites hit hardest by the December 2004 Tsunami.  I was here in 2002, as a much different traveller.  This was the first repeat site from my first trip and I was so excited to see what had been rebuilt and how the island had changed...but what I think subconsciously I wanted was to go and relive old amazing memories.  I learned an important lesson - don't try to relive the past, it only sets you up for disappointment. The part of Phi phi we stayed in is overrun with poorly planned tourism. Streets and alleyways cluttered with bars, hotels, cafes, tour shops and souvenir shops. At night trained monkeys, funnels, and bar promoters were a major turn off for me....elements that might have made Phi Phi even better in 2002?  It is disappointing to see the damage being done to a beautiful natural environment at the demands of tourism - lack of waste management, water shortages, damage to coast and marine ecosystems.  But we were determined to make new memories from Pho Phi and took a long boat to a more remote unspoiled beach, as well as took a boat trip to see some of the beautiful parts and appreciate the azure waters and cliffs that made the islands famous.  

   

AND, I did drink one bucket for old times sake.

And then after almost 4 months of travelling we decided we needed a few days vacation :) so we found a small resort on Ko Samui discounted or low season and chilled out.  Pool and beach, swimming, reading and kayaking. Refreshed and ready for next two and a bit months!  

   

And so that brings us to the bus. Reminding me of a blog that I have meant to write for a while....the art of bus travel....stay tuned.

In idle

Literally...

Travelling RTW provides me with a lot of time on busses, and ultimately waiting for busses.  Today as I sit 40 min in advance of departure I am left idling with time on my hands, quietly  observing the people and sites and I realize that the bus in front of me has been running the entire time.  This enrages me.  MOSTLY, because it is not the first bus to do so...it is the norm.  They run for 30, 40, 60 min (0r longer) waiting to depart.  I think it's to ensure the bus is frigid with AC from the moment you get on, but I am not certain.  Often I see environmental destruction and I realize that destruction of resources is often in the short term economic gain of a nation, so although it could be different I have some level of understanding....but idling a bus not only increases CO2 emissions, and increases mining of fuel, it also COSTS the company more and thus reduces economic gain.  As i dit here i realize also that i don't take the bus much in Canada and so i don't know whether the practices there are any different?  Trouble is I feel rather powerless.  It isn't uncommon for me to ask friends or family to turn of the ignition...but I'm not sure i can take on the Asian bus community?  Thoughts?

From the rainforest to urban jungle

The last 2 weeks have taken us through distinctly contrasting worlds- from rugged Borneo to the Vegas of Asia in Singapore!  

In our planning of this trip, Malaysian Borneo was never our destination to see incredible wildlife of the tropical rainforest, instead we thought we would go to Java's neighbor Sumatra island or to Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) but in the end we chose it because transportation was a bit easier, treks were a little less effort to organize and overall it met our needs for this point in our trip.  Having so much flexibility has been an amazing part of this trip as we never have flights booked more than one step in advance, and hotels one place booked at a time we can and have changed our mind at the drop of a hat.  Borneo gave us everything we wanted.  The highlights were undoubtedly the final climb to the summit of Mt. Kinabalu, and the 3days spent in the jungle.  Kinabalu is the highest point in south-east Asia and took us 2 days to climb staying at Labban Ratta hut on the mountain for a few hours of rest before we started our final summit ascent at 2:30am.  At first we were part of a mass group being herded up permanent fixture stairs and I got the impression that it was going to be a less than impressive morning.  But, within 30 min we had distanced ourselves and gotten to a position that it was just Matt andI, pulling ourselves over sheer granite with ropes under a blanket of incredible stars.  It was dark, quiet and every few minutes if you looked to the sky you would see shooting stars and heat lightning.

  
Unfortunately we reached the summit an hour before the sun and had to wait in the freezing cold watching the long path of headlamps weave there way wearily to the top.  It has been a while since I have summited a mountain and it was amazing to revisit that euphoric feeling you get when you push your body really hard and then get rewarded with a feeling of immense accomplishment and incredible views from the top.  Oh and we also had to walk down which was at times harder and more painful than going up and I am certain was the cause of my inability to walk for almost 4 days after!  I did take a LOT of joy from doing mini rapels down the ropes I had used to climb up- life's little moments.

With a day break we found ourselves limping like a pair of 80 yr olds (sorry grandma) into Uncle Tan's to go on our jungle trek.  First stop was to Sepilok Orang-utan Rehabilitation Center....I was really hesitant to go as I am always stubbornly determined to see my wildlife in the wild, but was convinced when I learned that the feeding platform where food is put twice a day is in the jungle where the rehabbed apes are free to roam, and many don't come back to the platform once they have sufficiently learned to get there food from the forest (the Center uses bland repetitive food to try to encourage the apes to fend for themselves). I have always loved monkeys, especially apes and have been really fortunate to see Chimpanzees wild in Uganda, and now Orang-utans.  Although the 2 that came to the platform when we were there were small (both under 10) to watch the swing through the trees and interact was breath taking.  

This species of ape is genetically the most similar animal to humans sharing 97.5% of our DNA and it was obvious in the short time we had the pleasure to watch them that they were intelligent, affectionate and playful.  Unfortunately in Borneo and Sumatra orang-utans are under serious threat as habitat is being cut and replaced by Palm plantations at a rapid rate.  Driving through Borneo was sad, for hours we saw nothing but Palm.  The worst areas were where forest had recently been cut and land had been tiered and recently planted.  I these areas as far as we could see was exposed soil and emptiness instead of luscious layered forest.  From an environmental stand point I am horrified, but when we talked to locals almost all saw the plantations as positive for the economic and  social improvements they provided. And, is it worse than oil or coal mining- at least there is still vegetation helping to clean the air? A topic for further inquiry and debate.....mega side track.

We stayed in a jungle camp with 4 other tourists that we reached by boat on the Kinabantangan river.  We slept on wooden platforms with mosquito nets open to the creatures and sounds of the jungle.  The first day we caught a rat running off the platform when we were coming back from dinner and later Neils heard it hanging out while we were sleeping....I was happy to share my place with a rat and thankful that it wasn't a snake instead!  We went on a day trek and a night trek in the jungle with a guide named Leo.  I am inspired by this mans enthusiasm, care and respect for the wild creatures big and small.  He could literally speak with frogs, birds and apes and was the most excited person in the group for a sighting of even a tree frog which he has probably seen 1000.  He showed us how scorpions tun fluorescent green under a blue. UV light at
night, how lantern bugs change over their life cycles into the most beautiful, colourful little creature (that was getting eaten by a group of soldier ants...), and how birds sleep with their head tucked into their wing.  Despite searching we saw no wild oragutans, BUT we also did 4 boat safaris and saw 5 Gibbons (another species of ape).  I could have cried watching them swing high in the trees from branch to branch with their giant long arms - I was penguin sighting excited.
 
Also hung out with proboscis monkeys and their giant round noses and fat bellies, and tons of macaques aka the mafia of the jungle according to our guide.  

Then we went from JFC ( jungle fried chicken) to KFC (which we didn't actually eat but they are everywhere in cities of Malaysia and Singapore).  We said a temporary goodbye to Malaysia and flew to my favourite airport in the world Changi in Singapore.  A quick 3 VERY expensive days of indulgement.  Singapore is clean, orderly and full of amazing food and malls.  I am pretty sure that if Singaporeans are not eating at one of the delicious hawker centres throughout the city then they must be shopping because I have never seen so many malls in my life.  If you arrive at a bus terminal you are in a mall, train stop...in a mall, and you can guarantee that that mall is connected to three more through underground tunnels or overpasses.  We are talking mega malls connected to mega malls often with duplication of stores.

Marina Bay Sands Hotel Complex...has a mall, casino and that is a swimming pool spanning the top of 3 buildings and is the size of 3 football fields. They did not let us go up.

 WE spent much of OUR time eating.  Because of its multicultural past Singapore is diverse in its population with massive Chinese and Indian populations mixed in with Malays.  The food was even more diverse and with specialties like chicken rice, chili crab, BBQ stingray, dumplings, red bean curd, fish head curry, we have been on quite an eating adventure!  We also decided to do something educational and went to the Asian civilization museum...the history of Singapore is romantic, dramatic and definitely fascinating. To imagine the history of trade stretching hundreds of years and comparing it to the success story they are today is exciting.

Now back to Malaysia...more eating, more shopping, and certainly more great adventures!

3 down 16997 to go

Blog may 7

Sitting in the jungle contemplating the last month of our journey.  We fell in love with Indonesia where people were so incredibly kind and helpful, and scenery both natural and cultural was amazing.  We went to 3 of Indo's 17,000 islands - Bali, Nusa Lembongan (technically still bali) and Java.  Bali captivated me with its beautiful architecture elements. Doors intricately carved out of wood, temples built in family homes, and just the care and precision in construction.  One day i went on a short hike from Ubud along a river, through rice paddies and into a small village.  Along the way there were men building a new temple which is no small feat when all construction elements  are done by man not machine - but the most amazing part was seeing large slabs of stone and poured concrete on the walls transformed by local carvers  into gods and idols in amazing designs.  I loved the representation of Hinduism and despite similarities found the Hindu culture very different than parts of India that I have visited.  Every morning the women prepare an offering to the gods and demons.  These are prepared on a banana leaf or in a woven basket and include different natural items (I'm told that is what the gods like) such as flowers, rice, cakes, biscuits, sometimes money, and usually incense.  These looked beautiful and smelled amazing all through town- they were literally in front of every house, store, driveway, in cars, by bridges....everywhere.  Historically they were prepared from scratch by women but now they buy lots of the items in the market.  Time in Bali was relaxing (we had many hotels WITH pools!), rejuvinating, and inspiring - just what the doctors ordered for Matt's back and our overall health (full body one hour massages cost $6).

Then we travelled over land and by ferry to Java and we saw a different side of Indonesia.  First of all this island is extremely populated and mostly Muslim.  Gone were the carvings, and offerings replaced with very loud call to prayer 5 times a day. This is blasted over loud speakers distributed throughout all towns and cities and seemed to be generally pointed into our room!  At 4:30 am it goes off for the first time and shockingly I enjoyed it, found it quite beautiful and used the woken minute or two to think positively about my own day or week.  One morning we woke at 3 to go to Borobodur temple (one of the largest Buddhist temples in the world) and were actually wide awake for the call, and to see the city sleeping but know that this was a time that most would arise to pray with their family was pretty neat.  Java also provided us with some spectacular natural sites.  Another 3 am (2am for us because we overlooked the time change between Bali and Java - couldnt figure out why they weren't more organized...) wake up this time to visit Mt. Bromo.  This is an active volcano in and amongst a "volcano field" that was well worth the early rise.  We took a 4wd jeep up part of the mountain and then had a short but steep climb to the sunset view point.  Because of the heat of the volcanoes there was huge amounts of heat lightning just about the caldera's!  The sunrise was beautiful and was quickly followed by a huge blanket of cloud filling the valley and creeping up the sides of the volcano.  We drove through the mist and again had a short but steep climb to get to the lip of the active volcano! Once the sun burned through the fog we were able to see into the hot hole and watch massive spurts of steam and sulphuric vapour spew from it.  No lava but really cool.

We travelled overland through Yogyakarta where we rode around in Beceks which are small carts you sit in pushed around by a guy (usually pretty old) on a bike aka bicycle rickshaw in other countries. Apparently bought art from the local mafia? Visited the palace of the Sultan (apparently these still exist?) and ate lots of delicious food from sketchy looking carts on the street (the more awful it looked seemed to correlate with best taste!).  This was a good opportunity to see crazy city life was a good contrast to Cianjur where we travelled next to experience more village life.  After a train, a bus and then a mini bus (totalling more that 12 hours and costing about $25) we were dropped of in the middle of a neighbourhood at the apparent address we had provided the driver with.  In the past we have stayed at "home stays" but this was legitimately staying in a home with a married couple and their child.  It turned out to be one of the best parts of our trip and definately memorable.  We were immediately treated like family including having our laundry done by the cleaning lady! Over the next few days we met a few other like minded travellers and experienced different lives in the village including an English tutor, a fisherman and fish farmer living in a floating village, a rice farmer, a brown sugar maker, and a plastic recycling sorter as we were brought all over on the back of a motorbike or in the back of a "ute" (see previous blog for explanation).  We finally went karaokeing with our local guides/friends and saw an Indonesian rock band play at a fair.  We even went to a "water park" which was very strange, compounded by the fact that I had to wear all my clothes in the water over my bikini to be respectful to the Muslim women also there.  It was incredible and very unlike other "tours" which many of you know I don't generally like.  In the village up in the rice paddies where we ate so much fresh brown sugar just cooked from the sap of the palm we lied on the floor of a woman's house who we had just shared lunch with and had an afternoon nap while one at a time we got a massage by the local "masseur"- it was magical!  

We finished up Indo in Jakarta with the other 16 million people that live there.  While looking for the port we got lost in the very small alleyed paths of a neighborhood.  A rare opportunity to see into houses and get a feel for everyday life.  Tourists were obviously strange to be seen but after a glance people went on with their evening. Call to prayer happened while we were there and all the men were coming out of their homes to go to the mosque- very cool.  I really wanted to get into a sweatshop while I was there and went so far as to set up an account as a textile buyer and emailed many factories....but shockingly none got back to me.  I will go back to Indonesia and highly recommend  it, we felt very safe, very taken care of (at the slightest look of being lost someone usually jumped to help).  Despite many surviving on less than 1million rupiah each month or $100, people we met always smiled and made life seem like it was enough.  People have shelter, food and clean clothes and work hard to get kids to school but they are very happy.  Yudi told us "people in Canada have lots of money but they don,t have time...Indonesians have lots of time but no money....we strive to balance the two".  

Another long one....looking for feedback on the blog writing as we head into half way mark.  Do you read it? Do you like it? Do you wish was shorter, longer? Do you like types of stories? Do you want more of something or less? 

Om shanti....

Feeling a total calm on a beautiful Balinese balcony with ocean lapping the shore just below me, it seems a great time to finally blog.  As expected the last 2 months have been a whorlwind tour of NZ, and being in Indonesia is about something so different than getting to places, or seeing sites- in fact it requires little movement to be happy - it is about the sounds, the smells, and the small things.  Balinese people are kind and laugh a lot, and the music that is often heard reminds me of the chiming relaxation tones used for final vinyasa  in yoga.  In front of every door and throughout property are small offering baskets we think to ward of evil and bring good luck to family or business they are full of flowers, sometimes money, sometimes food- perhaps depending on what you wish to come.  There is beautiful insense burning everywhere reminding me that I have finally arrived back to Asia, and again it just smells so calming.  And the architecture is intricate, calculated and made mostly from wood - concerning me a little as I know that deforestation is a major issue in Indonesia (certainly the topic of a later blog when we venture from the coast).

But, in my calm found in Bali,  I do not want to leave you out of incredible experiences in Australia!

Highlights definately were all the moments spent with friends- Eamon in Melbourne, Sandy and Steve in Blue Mountains (infamous mother of Steve Burroughs), Aleisa in Manly, and Tim (the Captain) in Darwin. These were the times we got a glimpse into real life in Australia and all were amazing hosts to us.  In Melbourne finally understanding cricket and Aussie rules was made possible through info sessions, lessons and seeing each in action.  Cheering for your favourite AFL team is great but I learned not to taunt on trains enroute to the game or else be considered a "bogan" and risk a brawl.  Eamon also shared the Great Ocean Rd....see previous blog....  Aleisa (a Canadian from Ottawa living in Australia for last 9 years) showed us why aussie life is so tempting- I have never dreamed of popping down to the ocean for a snorkel to start my day....and as a Marine Biologist it is no wonder this place holds on to her as this country has weirdest, diverse  wildlife everywhere you go.  The Blue Mountains was a special trip for me....aside from being stunning ( and the place we got to hang out and watch Kangaroos hop about), it was enroute to a place called Tamworth!  Anyone in Aus questioned this as a destination at any other time of year other than January when they host major country music festival- but this place was special to me as the long lost birthplace of my grandmother who was brought to Canada when she was 6 and was adopted here.  I feel so much connection to my grandmother and have always wanted to be able to see where she originated.  Finally meeting up with Tim in Darwin in the Northern Territory (NT) where things are done a little different than the rest of the country....needless to say I loved it, and sorry Tony and Steve but NT was my favourite part of Australia :). 

Darwin is on the Ocean but minimal distance to the untamed "outback".  Tim took us to a small (500 ppl) aboriginal community where he used to teach.  We almost didn't get to go because the community was under 14m flood water and inaccessible by car as water had made the road into community impassable....but in true Tim fashion we decided to go anyways.  What an interesting time for us as I have never been in an area affected by a natural disaster and was amazed how people responded - very calmly in fact.  Kids were off on school holidays and there was no where to go unless you had a boat - the school field was under water.  There was also the added excitement because flood waters brings salt water crocks into the are....this became real one day when we heard the sound of shotgun close to the home we were staying in...a 3 m (small really) croc had been trapped less than 200m from where we were! The trappers dragged it to the shore in the middle of town and put it on display as a warning to the kids not to swim....we (I include myself with the small children) got to feel it, move it, touch the big teeth....very cool!  We had meals and conversations with some locals who gave us our first look into Australian culture and way of life- incredible.  Despite bad conditions caused by flood water we made many efforts to fish for the infamous Baramundi!  Using a technique deigned by me and not known to avid fisherman I almost caught three! Unfortunately my excitement at the fear and thought of catching on caused screaming and jerking and I lost the all (but got to see them all which was almost good enough for me!).  On the way home from Daly Tim pulled of the road occasionally where I saw nothing, but apparently he saw a track, 4wd to stunning creeks and waterfalls to swim in (Darwin is REALLY unrelentingly  hot).  We camped at a "site" called black fellow creek - politically appropriate according to the aboriginal people we met - where we gathered wood for a fire hoping and praying not to stumble upon one of the "harmless" pythons or deadly brown snakes.  We cleared giant webs with golden orb spiders in them away from the creek so we could swim, and set up our traps in the water to catch some dinner....I know you can't see my expression as I write this but even the memory o the place brings a smile from ear to ear...it was so cool.  In our traps we caught yabbies like crayfish and fried them...I was skeptical for only a moment and then dove in.  We ate them throughout the night....there is something amazing about catching your own food.  Oh yah another strange thing when we were driving down the road there was a wallaby strung to the front grill...I thought it was a cute stuffed animal joke like we might have in Canada only to find out it was a real animal that they had either hit or shot and were taking home to eat...haha.

I am constantly in awe of how lucky I am to be doing what I am doing.  A lifetime of experiences on this trip...so many that it is impossible for me to even come close in this blog without yammering on forever....

Chilling out in Aus

Arrived yesterday too Byron Bay after a fun night out with Aleisa and roommate Matt in Manly....for a chill town fancier dress than I possess in my backpack was required!  Aleisa lives in a gorgeous place with a  view of they Ocean from the deck (and shower...).  Great place to wake up Saturday morning, a quick walk or lazy drive down to beach for a snorkel before heading to the airport....huge fish, and Matt even saw a blue ringed octopus (one of the most venomous creatures in the world!). 

After a carbon offset flight (for all of you ready to wave your finger at us flying) we arrived in this great town just in time for Earth hour! We are staying at a place called Arts Factory which is this tropical Eco paradise with bush turkeys and water dragons coexisting with campers and backpackers. They had a homemade recycled lantern craft session and turned all the lights out for the hour lighting with property with candles.  Tons of people chatting, and jamming on drums and acoustic guitars...it was pretty amazing.  Matt and I topped the night off with a delicious bottle of wine we had picked up during our wine tasting impromptu tour in Hunter Valley.  I thought of our years of Earth hour at PDHS and hoped that you were able to have an event this year despite the politics.  Today we are heading to the beach for the morning, and may spend the afternoon around the pool....sorry Canada.  

Aussie slang

Heard this on the radio and thought I would share it..sometimes it is like interpreting a different language!

Travelling on the cheap in a rich world

Another town, another library...meaning more free internet!  We are currently in a gorgeous library in downtown Melbourne.  It has been a "tough" week so far...arrived at got picked up at the airport by the wonderful Eamon (a friend of Matts from Whistler) always an otherwise expensive venture as airports are generally out of town.  He was also gracious enough to let us stay with him and show us a great Aussie week including time at his parents beach house that had Koala's in the Eucalyptus tree outside of his door, travel along the "Great Ocean Road" which was in fact pretty great, view of the stunning eroded coastal limestone structures called the "12 Apostles" where we also got to see our first kangaroos while driving home in the dark (great for us, less great for Eamon who was driving and swerving around them).  Tomorrow we are going to an Aussie Rules footie game and out on the town which should be crazy because there is also a Nascar GrandPrix event.  Staying with Eamon has allowed us enough budget to eat delicious food and even afford some drinks and luxuries like ice cream, alternatively we would be resorting to the accustomed peanut butter sandwiches, toast, and pasta that we were consuming a lot of in NZ.  Travelling in first world countries is a major shock to my system.  Most of my travel previously has been in countries where accomodation is less than $20 a night and food can be bought for dollars on the street.  As a result in NZ we had to often get creative....especially since most of the things we really wanted to see had a very expensive (out of budget) tour attached to it.  For example in Rotorua - a geographers DREAM land with the ground bubbling and spewing steam all over the place from underground volcanic hot spots - the cheapest tour was $80 each....instead we parked in distant lots and waited to catch a glimpse at the massive Geyser (spewing steam), and then walked for a long time around town to see other features.  We might not have seen the same mud pool or the biggest hot spring that pictures showed, but instead we found random spots in obscure places - like in peoples backyards! We also dug mud out of a pond that was so hot it could burn you. We found a cheap hotel that didnt look the best but had free hot pools fed by their own underground spring and saved from paying extra to go to the spa. We found free Maori villages where people still went to pray and meet instead of paying for tours.  Many days I think not being able to afford to have the attractions presented to us on a silver platter with the "take your picture now" guide gives us an opportunity to see more, learn more and have a better appreciation for the actual places we are visiting rather than just the attractions.  NZ was a place that often made you feel small, surrounded by mountains, glaciers, and the Ocean.  National Parks are free and offer incredible views of incredible places and also really cool geology (I have annoyed Matt a little with my new found obsession with rocks, patterns in rocks, wanting to know where the rocks came from and how have the rocks changed....etc.).  Being cheap has "forced" us into basic picnics on the side of road at rest stops overlooking gorges, raging rivers, and green rolling hills.  I also got to knock a major must off my bucket list and saw two different types of penguins (Fjordland Penguin, and the Little Blue Penguin) on two different seas in one day.  Although our budget is blown for NZ, the experience and images in our head are worth every penny.

A long and winding road....

Certainly a theme song for travel across New Zealand.  As we come to the end of our tourist scurry we reflect on where we have gone and what we have seen.  Roads in many areas of this country require NASCAR training to even fathom reaching the speed limit around hair pin turns that use mirrors to show you if oncoming traffic is going to push you off the road.  Of course driving on the left added a couple other gasps, turning into oncoming traffic lanes or irritating local drivers with Improper yields....kiwis are incredibly friendly but don't piss them off when driving - we encountered many with very little patience as indicated by blaring horns.  We have travelled more than 3500 km in the last 3.5 weeks and have seen incredible things.  Some of the natural highlights were the biggest tree I have ever seen called the square kauri (threatened species due to invasive pests), miles and miles of pristine coast line that never failed to take my breath away every time the road came out of the forest and connected with it- this was especially appreciated hiking the "Great" Abel Tasman trail where we alternated hiking with swimming on white sandy beaches.  Continuing on the south seeing alpine glaciers on top of incredible granite mountains, and then seeing fjord land penguins while cruising through the fjords of the Tasman Sea....oh and then there were the geysers and natural hot springs escaping the ground in Rotorua...wow. Getting kicked out of library so TBC

The world is ours for discovery part 2

Exactly one week into our trip and already the struggles to get here are long forgotten - left in the Pacific Ocean somewhere between LA and Fiji.  Just one incredible story to share as I will let the pictures say the rest. On Nacula Island in Fiji we stayed at a family run "resort" a term I use lightly as not to conjure up images of Caribbean all inclusives....anyways at this lovely place in the middle of coral filled turquoise sea one of the main sources of food is naturally fish.  One of the best ways to catch lots of fish is at night when the fish are sleeping...by night snorkel diving with a spear...Matt and I wanted to experience this so casually asked if we could join them one night, and they agreed!  We borrowed one of the locals spears and actually got to go out into the dark star filled night and take part.  Using an underwater flashlight and snorkelling gear we swam around in search for fish large enough to catch which due to the fact that they were sleeping and immobile should have been like shooting fish in a barrel but it was not.  When we did find a fish it was super hard to keep them on the simplistic homemade spear which was essentially rebar attached to a glorified rubber band, and to make it more difficult many were a 3-5 m dive away.  We successfully got no fish but the locals we were with found enough to take back to the village for a couple days.  The failure was irrelevant, being in the coral in the dead of night was surreal - especially when we swam past 3 6-7ft Nurse sharks hunting! These are the moments that make a trip, the unplanned, unorganized moments to take part in a world so foreign to our own.  Incredible!

Unfortunately as a result of this amazing experience I have vertigo...so even on land it is like I am in a boat. A small price to pay.   

"The roller coaster is my life; life is a fast, dizzying game; life is a parachute, jump!" Paulo Cohelo 

The world is ours for discovery!

House is sold, contents stored and life has been reduced to the contents of a 55 L pack.  What inspires a married couple to leave thier jobs and a good life to travel for 6.5 months when society says that they should be having kids, getting a better house and solidifying a life for the future? Many asked us this question in one form or another before we left, or implied that we were a little crazy- perhaps?  Travelling inspires us, we have literally vowed to make sure that it was a major part of our life (we said that we would travel as long as we were able in our wedding vows to one another) and so pursuing a trip of a lifetime was not much of a stretch and certainly trumped the worries of the house or the security.  To share this opportunity together and see so many different geographic locations with incredible spaces, unique wildlife and fascinating cultures is a dream and an investment in our lives together.  

A Happy New Year it will be...

It is certainly going to be a "Happy New Year"....only 8 more days until we (Matt and I) start our epic adventure!  Feb 9th...first stop Fiji.  Stay tuned for more info.  Throughout the journey follow us on the map, check out pictures and hopefully we can inspire with our stories!