TravelStream™ news feed for member emilykamal on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/emilykamal en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:54:14 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emilykamal/1/1244052038/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emilykamal/1/1244052038/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emilykamal/1/1244052038/tpod.html Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:54:14 -0400 Around the world in about 350 days

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Buenos Aires, Argentina

We said Argentina would be our last country but we couldn't just bypass Uruguay so popped in for a few days on the way to Buenos Aires. It also made it a round 20 countries in a year which isn't bad going. Here are a few highlights from our last few weeks:

-       Combining wine tasting with a bike ride and acquiring our own moped riding security guard who tailed us, complete with flashing orange light, to make sure we got back safely.

-       Eating too much red meat (they don't do much else to be honest) and dulce de leche (aka boiled condensed milk/the toffee bit of banoffee pie) in and on everything.

-       Surviving a 25 hour bus journey that included a two hour wait for a mechanic, who, when he arrived, spent less then two minutes fiddling with the engine before sending us on our way.

-       Marvelling at the beauty and power of Iguazu Falls and managing to visit Brazil and Paraguay in the process.

-       Encountering 150 'Buddy Bears' in Montevideo, each one painted to reflect a different country.

-       Mastering the tango...well, eight steps...and getting sore toes.

-       Watching in awe as gauchos galloped towards a suspended one inch ring and try and spear it with a something the size of a pencil. These guys clearly spend too much time on their own in the middle of nowhere to make up games like this...

-       Cringing at copious mullets, rats tails and dodgy facial hair which, in our opinion, belong firmly in the 80s.

So that's it. It's all over. We've had a great time and seen and done some amazing things. We hope you've enjoyed reading our blog and seeing what we've been up to. Tomorrow we fly back to London and the real world...

]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emilykamal/1/1241744880/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emilykamal/1/1241744880/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emilykamal/1/1241744880/tpod.html Sun, 10 May 2009 21:10:09 -0400 Around the world in about 350 days

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Santiago, Chile

We're now over ten months into the trip, and officially have just one country left to visit, having spent the last five weeks enjoying the delights of Bolivia and Chile. Highlights of this time include:

- Having completely irrational thoughts at the end of a three hour walk through the rainforest upon finding that our boat wasn't where it should be. Even though it turned up half an hour later Emily had already rationed our jam sandwich and dwindling water supply, just in case...

- Our jungle guide managing to spot all number of nocturnal animals, including tarantulas and monkeys, in the pitch black but completely missing the biggest frog and spider we've ever seen during a day time canyon walk.

- Watching Kamal sprint after a departing night bus, faster than he has ever run on a hockey pitch, to retrieve our bags.

- Spending a ridiculous amount of time trying to perfect 'persepctive' photos on the salt flats, rather than just enjoying the scenery around us.

- Watching sunrise from a hot pool in the middle of the desert when it was a chilly minus five degrees outside.

- Trying our hands at sandboarding in the Atacama desert with limited success.

- Observing once too often the need of Chilean couples to demonstrate their affection for each other with vigorous displays of pubic kissing. The parks and subway trains where one thing, but the checkout aisle in the supermarket was just too much.

- Being serenaded by the dulcet tones of Michael Bolton at seemingly every public venue we managed to pass. What can we say, the man is obviously still a legend round these parts.

Tomorrow we're off to Argentina for the final month of the trip...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emilykamal/1/1239622260/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emilykamal/1/1239622260/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emilykamal/1/1239622260/tpod.html Tue, 14 Apr 2009 07:43:07 -0400 Around the world in about 350 days

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La Paz, Bolivia

After a fantastic month in Peru we've now arrived in Bolivia and spent Easter in a small town called Copacabana on the shores of Lake Titicaca. Highlights for this leg of the trip include:

- Actually enjoying long overnight bus journeys because they include a comfortable reclining seat, a movie or two, a meal and... a game of bingo. We kid you not and it's serious stuff as there's a free bus ticket up for grabs.

- Eating as many carbs at any given time as virtually every meal includes meat, potatoes and rice with a side of bread.

- Listening to every possible rendition of Celine Dion's 'My Heart Will Go On' and anything by Simon and Garfunkel on the panpipes.

- Catching up with Em's mum and dad in some of the best restaurants in Cusco. You can probably guess who was paying...

- Taking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu with whom we can only describe as Borat's younger brother as our guide.

- Cursing the Incas for building everything on hills but kindly providing endless steps to get to them. Then wondering how they got the 30 ton slabs of rock up the hill in the first place.

- Making it up Dead Woman's Pass and Emily would like to publicly thank Coldplay and the woman who pestered so much that she bought a walking stick just to get rid of her but now acknowledges that she doesn't think could have done it without either.

- Being amazed at the strength of our porters as they overtook us, normally at a jog and carrying packs nearly double their body size while only wearing flip flops. The service they provided was exceptional - from being woken up with a cup of tea and three course lunches and dinners to a bowl of warm water to soothe aching feet at the end of each day.

- Eating guinea pig that resembles road kill more than the Peruvian delicacy that it's hyped to be, and then not tasting much better either.

We are also very pleased to report that we've managed to avoid purchasing any llama pattern knitted items and hope the willpower will remain strong throughout Bolivia. We're now in La Paz and next stop is the jungle...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emilykamal/1/1236526680/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emilykamal/1/1236526680/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emilykamal/1/1236526680/tpod.html Sun, 08 Mar 2009 12:10:43 -0400 Around the world in about 350 days

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San Francisco, California, United States

Well, as you can imagine, everything in the good old USofA is BIG - from portion sizes and high rise buildings to the towering landscapes and Winnebagos, most of which are the size of buses and towing SUVs on the back. Notable highlights include:

- Sharing a very drinkable $2 bottle of wine in LA with our friend Freddy. Seriously, it actually tasted nice!

- Desperately clinging on for dear life on the side of one of the famous San Francisco cable cars (trams) while descending large hills in the pouring rain.

- Completing another fairly sizeable road trip (2500 miles) taking in four states and such things as Death Valley, Grand Canyon, the Hoover Dam, Yosemite National Park, and Route 66. Fortunately with petrol about 40p a litre, this didn't hit our wallets too hard.

- Learning how to snowboard in fresh powder at Lake Tahoe while definitely being out-shone by children hardly out of nappies. Saying that we managed to avoid too many bruises and no broken bones but Emily still chuckles to herself every time she remembers Kamal having a brief encounter with a tree.

- Switching to skis for our last two days on the slopes and spending the first run giving a near perfect impression Bambi on ice having completely forgotten what to do.

- Staring in wonderment at the enormity of the Grand Canyon despite having yet another sunrise at a World Heritage Site dampened by clouds - here's hoping Macchu Picchu will come good for us...

- Being dazzled by the bright lights of Las Vegas when staying in the uber-kitsch Caesar's Palace with a view from our window of the strip and a 20 storey high picture of Donny and Marie Osmond.

- Seemingly making every gambling faux pas possible in the first minutes of being in a casino, but enjoying playing a little blackjack and roulette without blowing the South America budget.

- Watching an incredible Cirque De Soleil performance of a show called 'O'. We highly recommend it if anyone ever gets the chance to see it.

So now we head to the final continent of the trip to enjoy our last three months, starting in Peru...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emilykamal/1/1234390740/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emilykamal/1/1234390740/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emilykamal/1/1234390740/tpod.html Mon, 16 Feb 2009 12:31:06 -0500 Around the world in about 350 days

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Auckland, North Island, New Zealand

Our whistlestop tour of New Zealand has come to an end and we're now heading into the northern hemisphere for a month in the USofA and more specifically California and Nevada.

In the last two weeks we've
- been blown away by the most beautiful scenery, which made driving the 3000km all the more enjoyable
- enjoyed fine NZ wine and fresh crayfish in a woolshed with Lil and Al
- donned coats, hats and gloves and heli-hiked onto Franz Josef glacier
- flown over Milford Sound in a light aircraft
- soaked up the atmosphere at the Wellington leg of the Rugby 7s while our car was being towed away, thanks to Andy and Lisa's slightly over zealous new neighbour.
- been strapped to a stranger and pushed out of a plane 15,000 feet above Lake Taupo and enjoyed one minute of freefall before floating back to earth.
- dived into a giant bouncy ball full of water and rolled down a hill, laughing all the way.

Next stop Los Angeles for some waffles and star spotting...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emilykamal/1/1233038460/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emilykamal/1/1233038460/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emilykamal/1/1233038460/tpod.html Tue, 27 Jan 2009 01:49:33 -0500 Around the world in about 350 days

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Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Happy New Year everyone! Our time is Australia is just about up and we've had a brilliant few months here. A few highlights since the last update include:

- A fantastic Christmas with Millsy and his family in Wodonga. BBQs, backyard cricket and splashing around in a pool were all great, but believe it or not we both missed the dark nights and cold weather that typify Christmas for us! Massive thanks to Millsy and his family for being so generous and welcoming. Extra special thanks to Bernie for taking us shopping in the Aston Martin DB6!

- Seeing more kangaroos hopping about in Canberra whilst taking a friend's dog for a walk than anywhere else in Australia.

- Enjoying the famous Sydney New Year fireworks with Goldie, Lil, and Alex from the balcony of Goldie's sister's flat, which overlooks the bridge and opera house.

- Staying with Em Mullenger and Matt in their Sydney flat, and beating them at Trivial Pursuit thanks to our deeply sophisticated knowledge that Aqua's second major hit was 'Dr Jones' and Two Dogs was lemon flavoured when it was launched...

- Emily being delighted when asked for ID whilst trying to buy beer during the 3rd test at the SCG. She enjoyed this even more than watching Ponting get a golden duck.

- Driving 4820km in a campervan down the east coast from Cairns to Melbourne and becoming short-term members of the often mocked caravan and camping community. A sub-culture in its own right it's clearly all about size and how many spaces you, your caravan and camping equipment can occupy.

- A breathtaking balloon flight over Sydney at dawn. Thanks guys, you know who you are.

- Learning what being on the high side really means when sailing around the Whitsundays with one side of the boat almost submerged in the water and us 15ft in the air.

- Driving a 4x4 through the beautiful and very sandy Fraser Island before coming face to face with a dingo.

- A day trip to Australia Zoo, home of the late Steve Irwin, where after watching a crocodile chomp down on a pig's head we were told his jaw applied more pressure when eating than the breaking system on a jumbo jet. A good incentive to keep your distance if ever one was needed!

- Swimming with a 15 strong pod of dolphins, the most beautiful and graceful creatures and an amazing experience.

A parting thought: the Great Australian drive-through off licence - asking for trouble or a stroke of genius?

Next we're off to explore the sights, sounds and sheep of New Zealand, country number 14.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emilykamal/1/1229489880/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emilykamal/1/1229489880/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emilykamal/1/1229489880/tpod.html Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:10:27 -0500 Around the world in about 350 days

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Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Merry Christmas from not so sunny Australia!

It's mostly been a bit cold and wet and we're thinking that climate change might have been magically reversed. It's a fact that Australian beaches are just as miserable as a British beaches when it's cold and raining.

A quick update from the last few months:

- On a single day in Margaret River we met the aunt of one of Kamal's school friends, were offered free parking when we visit Fraser Island and enjoyed some fine Australian wines, cheese and chocolate. A good day's work!

- We had a day out at the Melbourne races with Kamal decked out in a $100 outfit from the Australian equivalent of Primark and finished off with a $10 charity shop jacket. We then lost on every race...

- Our quest for work in Melbourne started well. We were the official Giveaways and Clothing Store Managers at the Melbourne Mile and then downgraded to deputy assistant envelope stuffers, letter deliverers and data entry executives on the Great Australian Run. Kamal is delighted that he can now add mail merge to his CV and how we laughed when someone called Sandy Beach registered. Her parents obviously had a good sense of humour! Unfortunately we didn't get one offer of work after sending our CVs to agencies. Doesn't bode well for future employment.

- Emily was delighted to meet childhood crush Daniel MacPherson, aka Joel from Neighbours, when she was working at the Great Australian Run.

- We found getting up at 4am every day on our trip to the red centre a little challenging. And you can imagine our delight when sunrise at Uluru was a bit of a non-event because it was cloudy. At least we'd managed to complete the 10km base walk before 10am...

- After defending Penguin biscuits for years (in the cross continental Penguin vs Tim Tam debate) we've now concluded that Tim Tams are infinitely superior.

Next up is Christmas in Wodonga, a hot air balloon flight and New Year in Sydney and a road trip in a campervan down the east coast. Happy days.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emilykamal/1/1225339920/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emilykamal/1/1225339920/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emilykamal/1/1225339920/tpod.html Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:40:15 -0400 Around the world in about 350 days

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Singapore, Singapore

After two months of sweating our way round SE Asia we've learnt a few things. Don't ever underestimate how much can be loaded onto any given vehicle. When people say that a price is 'good for me, good for you' they actually mean 'thank you for buying that tat and putting my kids through private school'! And you can eat too much rice. Highlights for the end of the trip include:

-   The road from Siem Reap to the Thai border which is the worst we've experienced so far. The rumour being that an unnamed airline is paying them not to fix it and that it's only backpackers and locals who will pay the $10 for the unforgettable experience. Everyone else flies.

-   Bangkok taxi drivers, who are the most intelligent people you will ever come across. They're so intelligent that they have perfected the ability to appear stupid thereby failing to understand anything you say, or recognise anything on a map and driving you to an arbitrary spot somewhere in the vicinity of where you to go and obviously racking up a good fare on their meters. Genius! Give them all an honorary doctorate...

-   Table tennis seems to have taken off massively in Bangkok, as we were both were regularly asked if we wanted to take part in some 'ping-pong'. Not having our favourite paddles with us, we declined. Assume that's what they were talking about...

-   The Ko San Road, which is more Blackpool Illuminations than the sordid backpacker flea pit that we'd read about. Altogether pretty underwhelming but managed to get hold of some nice new t-shirts and dvds!

-   Working with elephants at an animal sanctuary where we got to pick up elephant poo, shovel elephant poo, climb into the poo canoe and paddle out into a small waterhole where they have their bath to scoop up floating elephant poo, feed them all day to produce yet more elephant poo which then starts the cycle all over again!

-   Winning at scrabble thanks to a 75 point word from Emily - for those who are interested it was 'sequin' with the q on double points and finishing on a triple word score square. Lovely.

-   Abusing our 'honeymoon' status to get an upgrade complete with our names written in petals on the bed!

-   Feeling like a celebrity for all of 60 seconds when Emily was asked to pose for a photograph (in her bikini, no less) with two female Malaysian students who said they thought she was sexy! Kamal was more than happy to offer his services and take the picture. 

-   Being far too cool to wear a lifejacket on a boat trip in Langkawi but hastily putting it on and doing the straps up tight when the driver hit full throttle.

-   Treating ourselves to a 'super VIP' bus ticket from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore which promised a meal, films and enormous reclining business class-style seats and all for only £12. You can imagine our disappointment when we were also the only two passengers for the entire five hour journey. More like super VIP taxi!

So farewell Asia. It's been fun. Tomorrow we fly to Perth in Western Australia to catch up with Ollie and Caz before stopping in Melbourne until Christmas...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emilykamal/1/1223359080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emilykamal/1/1223359080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emilykamal/1/1223359080/tpod.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 02:08:01 -0400 Around the world in about 350 days

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Siem Reap, Cambodia

When you visit Cambodia it's hard to avoid museums and
memorials about the genocide that only finally came to an end in 1998 when the
civil war finished and Pol Pot died. What we've found even
more terrifying is that it was happening in our lifetime so we were pleased to
be able to give something back here by spending two weeks starting the building
work for a new orphanage and teaching English to some of the orphans.

Highlights for the last few weeks include:
-   Hiring bikes in Luang Prabang, Laos and taking in the local countryside under our own
steam. Laos really is the most chilled out place we've been and the people
would make someone like Chris Johns/Ollie Cairns look like Mr Busy.
-   Getting three massages in one week. Indulgent, yes, but supporting the local economy so
thoroughly justified.
-   Seeing Buddhas of every size, shape and position
-   Floating down the Mekong River in a rubber ring, soaking up the sun and stopping at bars
to partake in some social drinks and the occasional zip wire.
-   Having the guts to walk out of a hotel in Phnom Penh and go to the one next door
because the room wasn't worth the money and there were bed bugs. A life first
for both of us.
-   Experiencing the real Cambodia down a potholed mud track where oxen are the only farm
machinery and electricity comes from a generator. This is where we started work
on a new orphanage.
-   Seeing the delight on one of the orphans faces when he finally worked out how to write
the letter C
-   Being amazed by the shear size and beauty of Angkor Wat but actually preferring it's
smaller and more magical neighbours, Angkor Thom and Ta Prohm
-   Kamal sweating so profusely as he clears land at the orphanage site that he has to
towel down more regularly than Rafael Nadal. Luckily he hasn't adopted the
picking his pants out of his bum trait. Yet...
-   Visiting the floating village on Tonlé Sap where anything and everything can be found on
the water - shops, schools, police and even a basketball court!
-   Being amazed at just how much you can get on the back of a pick up truck - animals,
people, mattresses and mopeds, as many as possible and all at the same time.
-   You no buy, I cry - the new sales patter of all hawkers while trying to sell you
exactly the same piece of fruit as the person next to them!

Next stop Bangkok and an elephant sanctuary before hitting the beach...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emilykamal/1/1218030720/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emilykamal/1/1218030720/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emilykamal/1/1218030720/tpod.html Wed, 17 Sep 2008 08:08:26 -0400 Around the world in about 350 days

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Blantyre, Malawi

Masuka Bwenji!!

Greetings from Malawi. Weve been here almost two weeks now and have been thoroughly spoilt by Angela (Emilys good friend from Uni) and her boyfriend Yaseen (who is a legend) who live in Blantyre, before heading off on our own adventures. Anyway, we promised short and sweet so here are this weeks thoughts:

-Terminal 5 didnt let us down and we arrived in Malawi on time with our bags

-Immigration in sleepy African countries is a lot more relaxed (and slower) than the UK

-We had lunch with giraffes and zebras at Nyala National Park among the sugar plantations in the south and then drifted among the hippos in Liwonde National Park. If medicine doesnt work out for Ange then shed excel as a safari tour guide!

-500ml bottles of beer cost about 30p, which is generally cheaper than a bottle of water

-Early sunrise and early (and very quick) sunset mean Malawi midnight is officially 10pm.

-We are still amazed at how much women can carry at any given time. Child on back and box on head as well as bags in hands. Amazing.

-There really is a place called Zomba (if youve read the book Two Caravans youll know what we mean) and its beautiful

-We spent two nights on Mumbo Island  an island in Lake Malawi where you sleep in safari tents and that has no electricity or running water but has provided the best hot shower so far. And it came from a bucket with a tap. If you ever come to Malawi, Mumbo Island is an absolute must.

-The two night Ilala ferry up the lake from Monkey Bay to Nkhata Bay via Mozambique shores is a great experience which we shared with a few travellers, many more locals and a few thousand day old chicks. Although judging by the size of the waves and the quality of the beef stew on Friday night Im not sure it is one well be repeating!

Were now at Nkhata Bay, a vibrant village on the edge of the lake, which Ems mum and dad were also visiting about 40 years ago.

Entertaining story of the trip so far was when Angelas brother and his girlfriend came out and texted to say that their connecting flight from Lusaka to Malawi was delayed. Yaseen called the airport to find out what time the flight as due to arrive with a conversation along the following lines:

Yaseen: Hi, Im just calling to find out what time the flight from Lusaka is due to arrive as I believe it has been delayed.

Airport Information: Sir, the flight is on time and will arrive as expected.

Yaseen: Really? A friend is due to be on the flight and has contacted us to say it has been delayed.

Airport Information: Really sir? We didnt know that, Do you know what time it is due to arrive here?

Priceless!

Anyway, hope youre all well. Apologies for lack of personal e-mail, but this is the first chance weve had to get online. Well be in touch again soon.

Lots of love,

Emily and Kamal x
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