We leave for the airport in 1 hour! This marks the official end of our extended honeymoon. As the little map below shows we have been to a mere 9% of the worlds countries, and it still took a year! So much more to do. We had an amazing time; I was going to give out awards for things like “Best Animal Experience” but time doesn’t currently permit it. Thanks to everyone to hosted us and hung out with us over the year. The entire set of albums are over at Picassa. 

The map won’t load in WordPress, so click here to see where we have been.

See you in London.

Again we raced through Honduras, stopping in the Bay Islands for a dive and Copan Ruinas for some … er … ruins. So we can’t really lay claim to knowing Honduras well. Here are our pics.

Nicaragua was, unfortunately, no more than a blur in the rear view. In our rush to see the few big things on our list in the remaining time we skipped through Nicaragua far too quickly. It seems like a place where adventures can be had and for cheap! We met some awesome locals our age who we hung out with at Ometepe and Granada which always adds to the experience of a country.

Our meager photos are here.

Costa Rica was a fabulous stop after Costa Rica. It is a mini-America, consumerism galore, easy easy travelling and plenty of natural beauty. We had a great time at the parks and the beaches, but it  eats into your budget. Costa Rica has moved more into the mid-range travel category, but it provides some amazing sights for people who aren’t as interested in roughing it or going to countries where it is more of a challenge to get around. It’s also a great place to get your feet wet in Central America before moving on.

Like always, photos are here.

Cuba was a truly interesting and challenging experience, however we were eager to move on when the time came. Our aim was to see Fidel’s Cuba before it changed forever.

A glimpse into the daily workings of one of the most successful modern day socialist countries was really interesting and a big part of what we came to see. Whilst the system doesn’t seem to be working, most everyone is equally poor and the variety that capitalism appears to breed is sorely lacking (my personal opinions of my observations), what they have achieved in their isolation is remarkable.  The self-sufficiency of the nation is amazing. Whilst a lot of the infrastructure are nationalised assets from the revolution they manage to maintain them in some semblance  of working order and provide a limited taste to the population of the everyday products we use in the west. All in the face of the current world super power. My Australian nature applauds the underdog in this situation for their tenacity to survive, their way.

The socialist fabric is starting to visibly fray however. There is a rich/poor divide readily visible already in Cuba surrounding the tourist areas. The two tier currency system means that any one in contact with tourists is able to earn multiples more than their fellow citizens. They can then spend this tourist currency at tourist shops gaining access to a wide variety of products that the rest of Cuba can’t afford.

Having better Spanish would have meant that we could have gained a much greater insight into the real workings of modern day Cuba. With or without Spanish, Casa’s are an essential way to experience Cuba. They can also make or break your stay. We have a very fast and loose travel style which got us into trouble in Cuba (especially because it was super high season). My opinion would be two weeks is plenty and plan those two weeks. Get Casa recommendations and book them in advance (not that booking always means anything).

The Casa’s in the smaller towns will also dictate your diet, get a bad cook and you’ll be paying more for less in state run restaurants or if your luckier a Paladar. We had some lovely food at our Casa’s, but in general food is average and variety is really limited. The little snack stalls seems to sell very fatty, fast food like deep fried chicken or little pizzas.

If you speak Spanish, like to Salsa/Rumba or are a history and culture buff then Cuba will be your bag. There are churches, museums and relics galore in Cuba. Unfortunately the natural landscape doesn’t come close to it’s neighbouring countries and so outdoorsy people like us were left feeling that 4 weeks was two too many.

Photos are here.

 

Matt graciously hosted us for 2 weeks as we didn’t bother pre-booking flights. Being peak period they were all full for another week. There are definitely worse places to be stuck! Matt had a busy week at work and we spent our time around the pool and at the beach. Cayman is not as pretty as some of her Caribbean sisters but it has the infrastructure and jobs to make it a great place to live and work for awhile. Tax free helps! as does weekends filled with surfing, diving and boating. Photos are here.

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Seattle was a blast. The outdoorsy vibe, cool bars, Rogue (a dog) and Kahlia’s old friends gave us a great stay. A big thank you to everyone who took us around and hosted us. Dan & Amy, Katie, Alyssa, Shawn Nikki & Rogue, Corrinda & her mum , Linnea, Jason, Ashley you guys made our stay.

Our last few days were with Shawn & Nikki who we talked into coming to Kapalai in November! With them we hit up the Solstice Parade. An excuse to close off town and watch people parade down the street in various stages of undress celebrating summer (with weather like theirs the summer is a big deal). Celebrated Katies birthday, Raw Food Style, and took Rogue for one last walk to the dog park.

Our last day was spent satisfying my cravings at the Wing Dome and watching Corrinda eat. Before Linnea had left she had bet Corrinda that Corrinda couldn’t eat 35 wings. The stakes were set and a week later 2 hours of chicken wing debauchery ensued. Corrinda painstakingly ate the 35 wings to thunderous applause from the crowd (us and the waitress) and one the new nickname “Majesty”.

Photos are here.

Lao was the cheapest of our countries so far and definitely forerunner for best country. It is amazingly beautiful and we had a blast.

http://www.flickr.com/Chambills/tag/Laos

 Sri Lanka is another place that was not on my “to travel” list that I really want to get back to. It feels like India crossed with the pacific islands. No one there is in a hurry and there are still people eager to help you on your way with no personal gain in mind. The landscape is very beautiful. The train system again is very extensive; if you can’t get there by train you can almost get there by train

The only let down is the food. According to guide book we got a quick read of there is no culture of eating out in Sri Lanka, so the food choices are limited. We did get a decent glimpse at home cooking in Kandy but it was still pretty average.

I want to go back to really get into the hill region and see the tea plantations and spend some more time bumming around the beaches. With so much more of the world to see I don’t think I’ll get to do it for awhile.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chambills/tags/srilanka/

 We only had 3 weeks in India as it was not somewhere on the top of my “to travel” list. Three weeks was clearly an insufficient time to see a country of that size. However this taster has definitely wet our appetites for more. The country is an amazing place diverse in every aspect. The landscape, people, culture and language change every 100km or so.

The place stimulates your every sense and the food is amazing (although gets very heavy after a while). Sitting in the street with local Indians sipping Chai (Spiced tea) talking cricket (the only topic other than your travels they will talk about once they know you are aussie ) is truly an immersive experience. Sitting on the back of pedal rickshaw being whisked through the crowded bazaars of spice, cloth and jewels takes you to another time.

The trains are also such a great way to travel. Cheap, full of experiences and a great way to view the landscape the trains are the only way to travel, especially when you see some of the mountain roads.

The flip side is it’s a country of over a billion people all of them trying to make a living, most of them wanting to practice their English. Even when we thought we were heading into the wilderness we always encountered villages and people. So make sure you have a holiday planned after you go

The trip had been given no planning and as I always say “You spend time or money”; we spent money. Kahlia had hoped $5 US a day per person would see us through. It didn’t, we spent $21 per day plus transport. Our total per person per day cost for India was $34. This was in part to our flights, so with better planning and no internal air travel you could get that much lower. Although I think $5 US a day is dreaming.

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