You Ate A What?!

Back in February, I went to Thailand and Cambodia for a couple weeks and boy, what a trip! The weather was hot, the sites were stunning and the food was to die for. We had a lot of amazing things planned, but before I left, one of my friends from Vietnam told me that of all the things I was going to do, the most important cultural experience I had to try was to eat a fried bug. Gross!

Now, I'm pretty adventurous. I'm willing to try almost anything. But eating an insect? It gives me the heeby jeebies just thinking about it! I promised her I would keep an eye out and if I came across one, I would do it.

We spent the entire 2 and a half weeks doing amazing, wondrous things, all of which I will write about someday in another post (I hope). Throughout the trip, I tried to make good on my promise, but nary a fried bug was to be found! Maybe I would make it through without ever having to experience this. Fingers crossed.

On our last night, we decided to walk around Kao San Road in Bangkok. We couldn't leave Thailand without experiencing the tourist ghetto! After wandering for a couple hours, my friend pointed out a local girl eating fried grasshoppers. "Kelsey! You have to go ask her where she got those so you can eat your bug!!" Nooooooooo! I was SO CLOSE to being able to say I had legitimately tried and just couldn't find them! Instead, she pointed me to a cart on the street with a variety of multi-legged creatures on it. Eek!

We walked over and debated the merits of each bug, which would be best to eat and why. I was going to go for a cricket, but my friend was all, "What if the legs get stuck in your throat?? That would be the worst!" and I didn't want to eat something that was too big, either! Finally I decided on what looked like a fried grub. For 10 baht, it was mine to do with as I pleased. I held the stick with my bug on it thinking, "What am I doing? This is cray cray!"

Finally, I just did it. I stuck it in my mouth and chewed. And you know what? It really wasn't that bad! I'm not saying I would eat these things regularly, but for having to try it once, it tasted a lot better than expected. And now I can say that I really did experience Thai culture.

Two Days in Turkey (Or, What Happens When You Travel On a Whim)

Last fall when I was traveling in Bulgaria, my friend and I decided to go to Istanbul for two days on a whim. It's only an 8 hour overnight bus ride from Varna so we could easily spend a couple days in Istanbul without losing too many in Bulgaria, either. Plus I had a friend who was studying there at the time. She could show us the ropes, nothing to worry about! At least, that was the plan.

Unfortunately, due to spotty internet connections, we weren't able to sync up. That wasn't going to stop us from going though. I booked a hotel for one night before we left and off we went! The ride was long, but the buses in Bulgaria are definitely the way to travel. Free wifi on board and snacks/drinks were served. But no matter which mode of transportation you choose, there's always those people on board. You know the ones. They talk loudly, listen to their music, kick the back of your seat. They made sleeping very difficult.

When we got to the border crossing, we had to all get off the bus into the freezing cold night, stand in line to buy a visa (as the only two American passport holders, we were the only ones required to get visas and we were grossly overcharged for this) and get our passports stamped, grab our bags, walk through a security set up, and finally get back on the bus.

We arrived in Istanbul around 6am and found a cab to take us to our hotel, which was in Sultanahmet. Because we were so early, we weren't able to check in, so we sat in the lobby for a half hour until they could look up our reservations. Turns out there is more than one of our hotel in the area and we were at the wrong one! I knew it was too nice for what we were paying. Fortunately our real hotel was a short walk away and we found it easily.

The Spice Market at 8am...no crowds!

After dropping our stuff off  with the hotel staff (still too early to check in) and eating a quick breakfast with phenomenal views of the Bosphorus, we headed over to the Spice Market before the crowds showed up. There was so much to see and buy! We walked up and down the isles, checking out the spices, buying gifts for people back home (and ourselves, of course!). Most stalls sell virtually the same things so it's just a matter of finding the best price for the exact object you want.

Once we'd finished at the Spice Market, we walked to the Grand Bazaar. This place is huge! It's very easy to get lost in. And while it caters more to tourists these days than the locals of yesterday, you still feel like you're stepping back in time when you walk through this maze of shops and restaurants. It was still early so we were able to navigate the halls with relative ease. We wanted to buy everything!

Colorful lanterns in the Grand Bazaar

Next was a tour of the Haggia Sofia. All I can say is WOW! It really is gorgeous. I don't have the words to describe it so do yourself a favor and just go there (and look for the Viking grafiti!).

After a well earned a rest and some lunch, we headed over to the Blue Mosque. From the outside, this is the building most people think is the Haggia Sofia. It's definitely more impressive looking. However, while the Haggie Sofia is a museum of both Christian and Muslim art and architecture, the Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque) is still a working mosque and appropriate dress is required for entry. Apparently my pants were too tight and I was required to put on a long skirt. They were provided for free. It doesn't take long to get through the mosque. It's beautiful inside, but you're mostly looking at all the tile work (which is blue, of course) on the columns and ceiling. There's also a steady stream of people coming in to worship, so it's best to stay out of their way.

Inside the Blue Mosque

Finally we went to the Topkapi Palace. The grounds were beautiful, the harem was stunning, and all the buildings were impressive. We saw an old library and collections of clothes, jewels and weapons worn and used by the Sultans who used to live here. We made it out to the area overlooking the Bosphorus, all the while listening to our audio guides.

By this point, we were exhausted down to our bones. We'd seen so much in one day, walked over most of Sultanahmet, slept little on the bus and were just ready to be done. We somehow made our way back to the hotel (shopping along the way, of course) and checked in. We were too tired to even eat, so we did our best American impressions and had pizza delivered to our room. But since this is not a normal concept for the Turks; when my friend asked about a menu at the front desk, they walked her over to the place itself to order. To our credit, it was Turkish pizza, and to the hotel's credit, they brought it up to us when it was ready. We ate and passed out.

The second day was the day where our lack of planning began to show. Another friend had recently visited Turkey on a much longer trip and had given us some tips of things to do while in Istanbul. One of them was a lunch place on the Asian side. Our instructions were very clear, we had to take the ferry across. We found the ferry dock and boarded, thinking we could just as easily walk across the bridge. But we didn't want to get lost. When the ferry left, it didn't go the way we expected it to. In fact, where were we going? The Asian side is back there! I guess a map would have been helpful here.

Since we were convinced we were in the wrong place, we stayed on the ferry thinking maybe it would stop on the "Asian side"...but it didn't. When we got back to where we started, we realized that what we had thought was the Asian side, wasn't. After looking it up on the phone, we discovered that the Asian side was where we had originally gone, so we rode the ferry back again! This time, we got off and tried to find the road to the lunch place. We wandered all over the hill looking for any signs of life, trying to ask the locals where we needed to go. They kept telling us it was 3k away. That can't be right, it's supposed to be just up the street! Turns out, we took the wrong ferry. Uuuuuuuunnnnhhhhhhhh.

So we walked the 3k to the right part of town, which was evident by the steady thrum of tourists and finally made our way to the restaurant, Ciya Sofrasi. Let me tell you, it was so worth it! The Turkish meatballs were delicious, as was the "salad bar". We ordered a little bit of almost everything and shared it. After lunch, we wandered around the side streets for awhile, stopped for a Turkish coffee before heading back to the right ferry dock to the European side.

Turkish coffee makes you do weird things

On the other side, we took a walk across the Galata Bridge, then went back to the Grand Bazaar for some last minute shopping before we had to leave to go back to Bulgaria. Little did we know just how bad the traffic in Istanbul can be! Fortunately we had the scariest cab driver ever who raced through traffic to get us to the bus station with seconds to spare! Except he dropped us off at the wrong terminal! One of the workers for the bus company ran us over to the right one and after getting us there, followed us on to the bus to demand payment. Such is how it works in Turkey, I guess! The border crossing was much easier on the way back, and we both slept a lot more, from pure exhaustion I think. But we made it and had a great whirlwind tour of Istanbul that has only whet the appetite! Next time I'll make sure to look at a map first though. 

Birthday Fun in Tanzania

I'm lucky enough to have many friends that love to travel as much as I do. Some of these friends I have met on my travels and some through other friends who love to travel. But I still have friends I've never traveled with. One of these friends will be celebrating a big birthday next year (I won't say what it is, but it rhymes with shmorty). She's my former boss from my lifeguarding days and current hiking/mountain climbing buddy. Like me, she has the mindset of not wanting to do it, but wanting to have done it. At least when it comes to climbing mountains. But for that special birthday of hers next year, we've decided to celebrate in a way we're both very much looking forward to. Climbing Mt Kilimanjaro.

Yikes! I can't think of too many more difficult ways to spend a birthday! Kilimanjaro is one of the Seven Summits, the tallest mountain in Africa and the tallest free standing mountain in the world. And it will be one trip neither of us will forget. On top of the mountain climbing, we plan to go on a few safaris, volunteer with the locals either building schools or working at hospitals, or whatever we find that works with our schedule/budget, and possibly a few days on the beaches of Zanzibar. You could do a lot worse.

After much research, we've chosen to do the Lemosho route to the top. It's less traveled but just as scenic (if not more so) as the very popular Machame (Whiskey) route. It does take an extra day and therefore cost more, but that means another day to acclimatize, so it's worth it. Plus it has one of the best success rates of all the routes on the mountain. The hike travels through 5 climate zones, from dense jungle to moorlands to alpine desert and more. You summit at sunrise on the 6th day, followed by a quick day and a half descent. Several years ago, Comic Relief in the UK sent 9 celebrities to climb this route for charity and I figured if they could do it, so can I! The documentary can be found on YouTube under Big Red Nose Climb, in seven parts. I haven't been able to find it all in one piece.

I'm also really excited about going on a safari or 3. Both the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater are located near Kilimanjaro, as is Lake Manyara where you can see the flamingos! January through July is the great migration in the Serengeti so we're hoping to catch the tail end of it before we start our climb. Elephants are my favorite animal and nothing would give me greater joy than the opportunity to see them in the wild.

The last part of this trip, though probably the first thing we'll do, is volunteering. Tanzania is a beautiful country with so much to offer, but they are very poor. Tourism from people wanting to climb Kilimanjaro has injected the country with much needed cash flow, but it still has a long way to go. We haven't settled on which program we want to go with but we have many options. The two front runners as of right now are a 16 day program in Zanzibar building schools and Cradle of Love. The safaris, trips around the island and beach/dive time are included in the time and cost of the Zanzibar program, but Cradle of Love allows you to work directly with the children. We'll also be asking our friends and families if they want to donate any school supplies, climbing gear or sports equipment that we could take over and give to the kids and porters.

This trip is still a year away, but the planning and saving has already begun. It's definitely going to be the most expensive trip I've ever taken, but I think it will also be one of the most fulfilling.

Photo credit: Mr. Google

Vacations Gone Wrong!

Recently I went to the Dominican Republic with a close friend and her family. They have had timeshares for many years but had decided to get rid of them and were using the last couple weeks. We flew down Friday night, landing mid-day on Saturday. Upon arrival, we spent much time checking in, purchasing water, planning our week, etc. We decided to eat lunch at the hotel as we were all starving and exhausted from traveling. During the meal, a guy from the hotel came out to sell us a meal plan for the week. All your breakfast and all your dinners for the low, low price of $200! But wait! They'll also throw in a show Sunday night and a show Thursday night. All drinks are included for those two nights only! I would have laughed, but everyone else thought this was a great deal. I debated not purchasing it, but didn't feel I could if everyone was going to these shows.

Sunday morning we wake up to be told that breakfast wasn't going to be served at our hotel, they were shuttling us to a place nearby. Another timeshare, of course. Breakfast was fine, but as soon as we were done, they packed us into a golf cart and we started off on a tour of the hotels grounds. Of course it was very beautiful and made the place we were staying seem sub-par. But I kept thinking, "Aren't you supposed to get your meals for free when you do a timeshare thing?" After a couple hours of touring (and some margarita's which were probably non-alcoholic), we came to the negotiating part. Since neither my friend or I were going to be purchasing anything, we found the pool and started ordering drinks. We even ordered lunch to make sure we got something out of the tour. Finally another hour later, her parents came back having not purchased anything, and we made our way back to the hotel.

That night was the first of our shows, and it just so happened to be back at the big timeshare. In my mind, I envisioned something akin to a hula show in Hawaii. It's touristy, but part of the culture and fun to experience at least once. I was hoping for a similar cultural experience here. When we arrived, we were told we weren't allowed to enter and a big to do was made about letting us in. After we had that sorted, we found ourselves amongts 4,000 Americans fighting over food at the buffet. Our table was so far away from the stage we had to watch on a screen set up for the people at the back. And when the show finally started, it was two singers singing covers of American pop songs and more of the timeshare sales pitch. Really? We came all this way for this?

The Monument to Heroes of the Restoration and famous Dominican baseball players

Monday was Labor Day observed in DR. Nothing was open and every Dominican was at the beach by our hotel. Imagine that postcard you've seen of a beach packed with more people than you humanly thought possible, and that's what it was like. Instead, we decided to drive to Santiago and see what we could see, knowing little would be open. After admiring the Monument to Heroes of the Restoration, we found a place to eat lunch before walking around a bit, then heading back to Puerto Plata. It rained much of the afternoon, so we stayed indoors reading and watching TV.

When everyone decided it was time for dinner, I wasn't very hungry, but knowing the service at the hotel, decided I probably would be by the time it arrived. When my food was served, I took one bite and knew I couldn't take another. I really wasn't feeling well and decided to head back to the hotel to lie down. Approximately 5 minutes later, I found myself in the bathroom, quite sick indeed. Sparing you the gory details, I spent most of the rest of the night in the bathroom, feeling like I was going to die. I slept little and didn't really feel like I could go back to bed until morning.

Tuesday I spent most of the day alternating between sleeping and trying to eat a bit of toast or rice. I felt somewhat better and was OK to leave the bathroom for longer periods of time. But I was exhausted from the night before and had no desire to do much else.

By Wednesday I was feeling mostly human, but still not eating much. It rained in the morning so I was able to rest more, but the sun came out a bit in the afternoon, so we all went down to the now deserted beach to finally do some real vacationing. After several hours of relaxing, we headed back in for dinner. My friend and her mom weren't really hungry, but decided to join us anyway, though they ended up not really being able to eat much. Sure enough, a short time later, they were both in the bathroom being very sick with the same food poisoning I had, though not quite as violent. As I had just gone through that, I really felt for them.

Finally, the beach!

Thursday was nice, but since we had two more sick people trying to recover, I ended up going to the beach by myself for the day. The rest of the crew couldn't roam that far away from the bathroom. It was a relaxing day for me, but not quite what I had in mind when envisioning a vacation in the Caribbean. This was also supposed to be our second night of shows, but knowing it was at the big timeshare again, and since most of the group was not well, we skipped it and went to a nice Italian place just up the road. Really wish we could have eaten there more instead of at the hotel.

Friday was my last day on the island and my flight home was at 1pm. It was a nice morning and my friend and her mom were feeling just well enough to walk around Puerto Plata for a bit on the way to the airport. We saw the Amber Museum, which has ties to the movie Jurassic Park, and walked around the town square. It is really small and there isn't much to see, but it was better than being sick in a hotel room! I finally made it to the airport for my flight home, realizing that this was one of the few times I actually couldn't wait to leave a vacation spot. It had been one of the worst trips I have ever been on and I probably would have been better off staying home and saving the money. But on the positive side, I got to spend time with my friend and her family, who have always been like a second family to me. And as my own mom quickly reminded me when I told her about it, I'm lucky with all the traveling I do, and all the countries I've been to, that I don't get sick more often. Touche Mom. Touche.