TravelStream™ news feed for member laytonandjana on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/laytonandjana en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:59:24 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laytonandjana/departure/1199114280/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laytonandjana/departure/1199114280/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laytonandjana/departure/1199114280/tpod.html Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:59:24 -0400 Layton and Jana's Travels Around the World!

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Caldera, Chile

Happy New Year´s to you all! We are in a small fishing, beach village for new years called Caldera. We had a great but random night. We were playing cards and drinking really cheap wine we bought at a grocery store. One bottle we bought was about $4 and the other was less than that! We had been playing for about an hour when two guys came by and started talking to us. They were Pablo and Mario...and the LOVED Layton. They shared their Pisco and Coke with us and we talked about wrestling, basketball, music and movie stars...over and over again! They were funny to say the least. We walked down to the beach around midnight to watch the fireworks. It was a pretty low key night, but we were glad to find new friends. New Years Day was a bit slow...really slow actually because we were waiting for a night bus at 10:30 pm. We went to another beach nearby called Bahia Inglesa. It was much more quaint and nice than Caldera. As we were walking down the beach, we heard someone yell Layton! Yep, it was our friends Pablo and Mario. We sat with them for about 3 hours while we talked about wrestling, basketball, music and movie stars....over and over again! Our favorite was Pablo's impersonation of The Rock "CAN YOU SMELL WHAT THE ROCK IS COOKINNNNGGGGGG", with a great Chilean accent, it was hilarious!!!One more thing we should share...our camera died on us. It somehow got smashed pretty good and kept going down hill. There is always something when you are traveling!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laytonandjana/departure/1229890260/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laytonandjana/departure/1229890260/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laytonandjana/departure/1229890260/tpod.html Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:46:58 -0400 Layton and Jana's Travels Around the World!

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Dallas, Texas, United States

Random Items Countries Visited - 30 <i>South America - Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina <i>Oceania - New Zealand, Australia <i>Asia - India, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, China, Mongolia, Russia <i>Europe - Latvia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Italy (just for a day), Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia &amp; Herzegovina, Slovenia, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, France  Days Travelled  301 (December 5, 2007 - October 1, 2008)  Number of Flights 26  Total Miles Traveled (Approximately, was probably quite a bit more)61,345Modes of Transportation4x4, airplane, slow boat (down Mekong), ferry, junk sailboat, wooden raft, racing sailboat, speed boat, bus, camel, elephant, canoe, car w/driver, rented car, cyclo, feet, crampons, hydrofoil, kayak, bicycle, motorcycle, rickshaw, tuk tuk, scooter, songthaew, subway/metro, taxi, train, tram, gondola, van. Craziest Foods We Ate -Peruvian Guinea Pig -Vietnam snake dish -Cambodian crickets (Layton thinks they tasted like popcorn) -Cow and duck stomach dish in China -Duck neck delicacy in China -Kangaroo, Alligator in Australia Books Read Along the Way 42 - Our entry for books read... Number of Nights in Different Places -100 nights in hotels - These ranged from very basic accommodations to category 7 at a Marriott in Paris. -99 nights in hostels - Yes, this included 10 bed shared with shared bathroom all the way to our own room with private bath. -100 in random accommodations - friends homes, tents, gers, overnight buses and trains, airplanes, Lima airport, home stays Visa Requirements Along The Way We had to get 9 Visas along the way, they are always an interesting experience....  you are ALWAYS nervous (or at least we were) that it was all going to go smoothly and correctly!  We ended up spending about $690 USD each for visas on our trip.  Check out some of our experiences here! Technology Items (things we carried with us) -ASUS Eee PC computer -Canon Powershot S5 IS. We bought this in Chile for about twice the price at home. We lost our first Canon Powershot on New Year's eve due to a dysfunctional LCD screen. -Two 2 gigabyte flash cards -We ended up with 3 flash drives (or pen drives) that totaled 16 G's of storage. However, we did loose about 3 of these along the way so ALWAYS continue to save in multiple places! -2 iPods (one nano and one mini) Most Difficult Things We Did -Getting a cashier's check in India. We went to 5 different banks/locations before someone was able to help us. -Communicating with only hands/body language Worst Experiences -Food poisoning on a twelve hour over night bus -4 days on the Tran-Siberian railway (was a great time, but a bit too LONG) -Overnight bus on a wash board road in the middle of no where Bolivia Close Calls (that turned out wonderfully) -Left passports under the bed in Valparaiso, Chile, Jana ran back to get them -Retrieving Layton's toiletry bag from the Siska sailboat, Whitsundays Australia -A plastic bag that fell behind a bench waiting for our ferry to Greece from Turkey which had TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in it! Topic Asked About The Most On Our Trip -We were asked about the 2008 US Election 23 times on our 10 month trip!  Thoughts On Next Trips (anyone have any suggestions??) -Baltics (Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania) -Scandinavia (Norway, Finland, Sweden) -Africa (Mt Kilimanjaro, South African safari) -Alaska - we are thinking maybe a cruise -Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands -Central America (Nicaragua, Honduras) NGOs (Non-government Organizations)<i> we visited<i> Laos<i> Tat Kuang Si Bear Rescue Centre - Tat Kuang Si Bear Rescue Centre provides safe sanctuary for bears that have been rescued from the illegal wildlife trade and raises environmental awareness among tourists and the local population. COPE - COPE stands for Cooperative Orthotic and Prosthetic Enterprise and we provide prosthetics and mobility devices for those people who require them, free of charge if they cannot afford to pay for them. We also supply Information to people about services available, training and support to local staff to provide a high quality service, and assistance in developing longer term strategies for sustainability so that the service will always be here! UXO LAO - Victims of UXO accidents require a high level of care and attention, and consume valuable health resources from a system already burdened from a population that suffers high rates of malaria and other diseases. UXO LAO was established in 1996. Their mandate is to: reduce the number of civilian casualties, and to increase the land available for food production and other development activities. <i>Vietnam <i>Koto - Purpose: To take kids off the street and teach them useful skills in the restaurant and hospitality industry. What we can do to help: Eat at their restaurant, sponsor a child, donate money. Personal note - Many of the expat businesses in Hanoi appear to be involved with Koto and their record seems impressive. <i>China<i> Beijing Hui Ling - Beijing Hui Ling is a unique Chinese not-for-profit, community organisation. Tucked away in a narrow hutong (alleyway) between the imperial parks of Bei Hai and Jingshan, they offer innovative services to youths and adults with learning disabilities and their families.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laytonandjana/departure/1204703460/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laytonandjana/departure/1204703460/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laytonandjana/departure/1204703460/tpod.html Fri, 16 Jan 2009 16:34:18 -0500 Layton and Jana's Travels Around the World!

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Airlie Beach, Australia

After a few lazy days in Airlie Beach (which included putting up with extra curricular activities in our 10 person dorm), we boarded a great sail boat named Siska for a 2 day, one night adventure. Siska is a racing sailboat which is similar to those that race in the America's Cup. It was 78 feet long, won a few races and had sailed around the world 2 times. Neither one of us had been on a sail boat for an extended period of time so we were both excited. We had heard great things about sailing Whitsunday Islands. There were 22 passengers and 3 crew (who worked very hard by the way). They made us put our shoes in one big bag because you can't walk on the deck with shoes and we were off on our voyage. The weather on the first day was brilliant. The crew had people help with the sailing, and Layton got to help pull up the sail on the tall mast for our first sailing trip! He did a great job and it was much harder than it looked. Both of the guys were out of breath and had red hands when they were done. For those of you (like us) who have never sailed, you don't just sail along on a level deck. It is more like a roller coaster ride. The boat leans to one side or the other as the wind pulls the vessel along the water. Literally at times, one side of the boat is in the water and the other side has the passengers with our feet hanging off the side! Also, it could be compared to a water ride as well because you never know when you are going to get sprayed with water...RIGHT in the face! It really is a great time though, as long as the sun is out! We made two different stops to snorkel and swim. Honestly, the wildlife was nothing compared to our diving, but we did see a big trevelly fish and moray wrasse. Oh, also two big bat fish were swimming around the boat too. Then...the weather started to turn. It rained off and on through the late afternoon and evening. We had a pretty rough ride to our night spot too. The crew was able to put up a tarp for the night to create an awning for us to sit under for the night of wine drinking and just hangin' out. Oh, we forgot to tell you that our bed was right under a window hatch that kept leaking as we would travel along. It got our stuff wet, but even more important was it got the bed wet. Yea! Just about the time we would get it sort of dried, it would rain or get wet again! FUN! The night was a short one and not too bad, but it was a bit like sleeping in a sauna. Our second day, we woke up to RAIN! We had breakfast in rain, and then took out for a rough sailing adventure to Whitsunday Island. It was crazy rough. There were times we were leaning so much, you would think the sail was going to just drop in the water. It made Jana a bit nervous, but it was a great ride (once it was over!) It was still rainy when we got to the island, so we wore our rain coats and took off on a small trek to a look out point and then to play on the beach. The sun did come out for a VERY short time, so we were able to get some pics without getting the camera wet. Back on Siska, we had lunch inside while the rain beat down outside. Then, we had to head back. It rained for about 3 hours straight. We all sat with our bathers (that is what they call swimming suits) and a fun yellow rain coat. It was cold and rainy and we just basically were hoping for it to end. We basically ran off the boat! Jana kept saying "I'm having a great time" with just a tad bit of sarcasm. We like to say that we checked this box. Hey, at least we had one great day of weather! We drove to Mackay to make some progress on our drive. When we got there, we realized we left the toiletry bag on the boat. Not to make excuses, but the morning sailing had thrown all our belongings to the floor and we did not take a good inventory! We called the office to see if anyone had turned it in, but nothing could be determined. So, we decided to drive back to Airlie Beach and go check ourselves. The next morning, we were dragging a little, we needed to get gas, and we were trying to call the office to see if they had found anything....which made it a bit later than we had hoped getting to the boat. We got there, Jana ran to the boat and realized that they were LEAVING for another voyage....she ran harder and the dialog went like this:Jana: (screaming) Hey Siska, did you find a bag?Siska: No, I did not find anything. (calmly rolling us a rope as they kept getting farther away)Jana: CRAP! We drove from Mackay...Siska: YOU DROVE FROM MACKAY? Which cabin were you in?Jana: Could you just look where the noodles are stored?Siska: (she disappears to the cabin) Jana: (sits down defeated)Siska: (appears with a toiletry in her hand, gets in the smaller boat, and brings it to us)Jana &amp; Layton (he had been parking the car): THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH! What luck! We were so thankful to get our bag back....yea!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laytonandjana/departure/1205579340/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laytonandjana/departure/1205579340/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laytonandjana/departure/1205579340/tpod.html Fri, 16 Jan 2009 16:27:44 -0500 Layton and Jana's Travels Around the World!

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Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia

Since we got kicked off our bus in Surfer's and HAD to make it to Brisbane to get our passports, we "hired" a car for a day. It was nice to have a car in Surfer's Paradise because we got to explore a bit more. We were even able to find a Hooter's to down some yummy wings. We spent our one full day at the beach. Layton went surfing and Jana sat on the beach reading. Layton was beat down by his surfing efforts but the waves were very different than the ones we learned on. He is a quick learner and would not have a problem if we lived closer to the ocean! Our only other thing to report in Surfer's is that we stayed at the WRONG hostel for us...it was run down and FILLED with Swedish college students who partied all night long. We over heard a fight outside our dorm room. We experienced a guy getting turned down multiple times in our own room. We did not get much sleep those two nights, but that is all part of it! You learn to find places that fit your kind of traveling and this place was not "us"....let's just say we were really ready to leave! We caught the bus to Brisbane for our final night before heading to India!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laytonandjana/departure/1205389680/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laytonandjana/departure/1205389680/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laytonandjana/departure/1205389680/tpod.html Fri, 16 Jan 2009 16:27:13 -0500 Layton and Jana's Travels Around the World!

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Byron Bay, Australia

We arrived at Byron Bay on a bus. Byron Bay is a VERY popular place to be during March (fyi, you should try and book accomodation far far in advance!). So, we had to book one night at one more expensive hotel/home and then, we moved to the more trendy Art Factory. The place for a night was nice but FAR from the middle of town...and it was HOT...and our packs were heavy....well, you get the point. Layton said we had a "hike" to our night's stay but man...it was a long ways! We had to haul ourselves because we were too cheap to get a taxi for our trek. Jana kept asking Layton how much farther (because he had the map). She got to the point she stopped asking..it was far! After the long walk, we arrived at our place for the night. However, no one was there...and we had no phone to be able to call. So, we sat outside and waited for an hour or so before the owner's showed up to tell us the key had been in our roomdoor the entire time! We had the house to ourselves for a while. We were not supposed to cook in this house...however, we were determined not to have to walk all the way into town again. So, Jana went on a hunt to find matches to start the gas stove. She knocked on multiple doors to finally find some school kids being tutored (the Dad was headed out the door to go surf...and he said to ask the kids inside) to give us a few matches. HOWEVER, in Australia, they have safety matches that have to be struck on the box! So...Jana went back to get the box to start the flame and then back to return the box...oh man, if only we were smokers! ha! However, we had the best tacos we had eaten in a LONG time that night! The effort was totally worth it! The next day we walked to town and checked into the Art Factory. It is funny how short the walk seemed after so much complaining the previous day! We got our tour of the Art Factory. This place was great...movie theater, yoga classes, massage classes, fire shows, pool fun and so much more! That afternoon we watched our second movie of the trip, "Bucket List". It was a great show about all the things you should do before you die, and really sold the message of live life to the fullest! That night, the kitchen was a bit crazy but it was a fun place to stay and socialize. We ended up meeting a chiropractor from California who was trying to find his place in life. He needed a cup (which we had) for his wine. We drank from the goon (wine in a box) and talked with him for a long time....too long. It made the next day a bit hard to wake up and go to surfing lessons! We even saw a fire show that night! Our surfing lessons were SUPER fun.&nbsp; We both enjoyed the experience and wish we could get better at this sport!&nbsp; Look at the pics to truly understand how far we have to go to gain a true confidence to be SURFERS!&nbsp; We felt like we were good enough to earn naps though! We had a bit of confusion about our bus...&nbsp; our initial bus was cancelled and we had not called to get scheduled on the next bus.&nbsp; We were able to get on the next bus in Byron Bay but we got KICKED OFF in Surfer's Paradise (the halfway point to Brisbane). It was a bit of a panic moment because we needed to get our passports back because were were flying out first thing Monday morning and did not have any wiggle room.&nbsp; It was a crazy, crazy week!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laytonandjana/departure/1205233680/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laytonandjana/departure/1205233680/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laytonandjana/departure/1205233680/tpod.html Fri, 16 Jan 2009 16:21:38 -0500 Layton and Jana's Travels Around the World!

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Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Since we got kicked off our bus in Surfer's and HAD to make it to Brisbane to get out passports, we "hired" a car for a few days. It was nice to have a car in Surfer's Paradise because we got to explore a bit more. We were even able to find a Hooter's to down some yummy wings. We spent our one full day at the beach. Layton went surfing and Jana sat on the beach reading. Layton was beat down by his surfing efforts but the waves were very different than the ones we learned on. He is a quick learner and would not have a problem if we lived closer to the ocean! Our only other thing to report in Surfer's is that we stayed at the WRONG hostel for us...it was run down and FILLED with Swedish college students who partied all night long. We over heard a fight outside our dorm room. We experienced a guy getting turned down multiple times in our own room. We did not get much sleep those two nights, but that is all part of it! You learn to find places that fit your kind of traveling and this place was not "us"....let's just say we were really ready to leave! We caught the bus to Brisbane for our final night before heading to India!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laytonandjana/departure/1220894760/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laytonandjana/departure/1220894760/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laytonandjana/departure/1220894760/tpod.html Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:50:27 -0500 Layton and Jana's Travels Around the World!

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Somewhere, United States

Jana's Books! -Light on Snow by Anita Shreve-Bobbie Faye's Very (very, very, very) Bad Day: A Novel by Toni McGee Causey -Marching Powder by Rusty Young -The Giver by Lois Lowry -The Motorcycle Diaries by Ernesto "CHE" Guevara -Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts -Are You Experienced? by Willam Sutcliffe (giving to JMS by Ollie for Christmas day @ Oliver's Tavern) -Turning Point by Helen Townsend -The Empty Mirror: Experiences in a Japanese Zen Monastery by Janwillem van de Wetering -Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult-Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen -The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult -The Beach by Alex Garland -Coming Back to Me by Caroline Leavitt -The Journey of Natty Gann by Ann Matthews -The True &amp; Outstanding Adventure of the Hunt Sisters by Elisabeth Robinson -The Book of the Dun Cow by Walter Wangerin Jr. -A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah-Maximum City: Bombay Lost &amp; Found by Suketu Mehta-Killing Fields by Christoper Hudson -First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers (P.S.) by Loung Ung -Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam by Andrew X. Pham -The Ravens by Christopher Robins -Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer -Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult -A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini-One Red Paperclip by Kyle Macdonald -Ugly Americans: The True Story of the Ivy League Cowboys Who Raided the Asian Markets for Millions by Ben Mezrich-Wild Swans : Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang -The Cave of the Yellow Dog by Byambasuren Davaa and Lisa Reisch -Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Token (yes all three!) -The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs -The Jane Austin Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler -Friends, Lovers and Chocolate by Alexander McCall Smith -Bridesmaids by Jane Costello -The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch and Jeffrey Zaslow Layton's Books -Marching Powder by Rusty Young -Freakonomics [Revised and Expanded]: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner -Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell -Killing Fields by Christopher Hudson -In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam by Brian VanDeMark and Robert S. McNamara -Ugly Americans: The True Story of the Ivy League Cowboys Who Raided the Asian Markets for Millions by Ben Mezrich -The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time by Jeffrey Sach -The Ravens...still working on it!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laytonandjana/departure/1217961180/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laytonandjana/departure/1217961180/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laytonandjana/departure/1217961180/tpod.html Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:49:25 -0500 Layton and Jana's Travels Around the World!

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Anywhere, United States

Visas are always an interesting experience....&nbsp; you are ALWAYS nervous (or at least we were) that it was all going to go smoothly and correctly!&nbsp; We ended up spending about $690 USD each for visas on our trip. Here is a list of some of our experiences! -Bolivia - ($100) - same day service, we had to take cash and deposit directly into Bolivian bank account -Australia - (30 NZ dollars/$24 USD) - at airport in Queensland @ Quantas desk -India - ($195 Australian dollars/$175 USD) - tiny consulate in Brisbane, had to rush for 4 day turn around -China - (5,300 rupees/$132 USD) - New Dehli consulate had riots because of the Tibet conflicts at the time, we also had to go to 5 or 6 different banks to find on that would do a "demand draft" for us! -Vietnam - ($25 USD) - Mumbai consulate was pretty good.&nbsp; However, Jana was dehydrated and sort of passed out while we were there. The sweet people working there gave us OJ and rice...even though they were nice, we had to get the documents fixed in Laos with Dean because the visa was incorrect!&nbsp; We had to pay another $30 USD each. -Laos -&nbsp; ($35 USD) - took care of it at the border and paid in USD! -Cambodia - ($25 USD + $4 dollars to bribe the guards) - took care of it at the border-Russia - ($150 USD) - Bangkok consulate, 2 page application for US citizens which was VERY detailed versus a one page general application for other countries, took 5 days, Jana had to have them edit her name 3 times to make sure it matched her passport! -Turkey - ($20 USD) - paid at border in USD, it was 2 am when we were being processed!The best place to check and see if a Visa is required for entry into a given country for a US Citizen, go to the US Department of State Travel Site.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laytonandjana/departure/1195576740/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laytonandjana/departure/1195576740/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laytonandjana/departure/1195576740/tpod.html Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:16:55 -0500 Layton and Jana's Travels Around the World!

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Dallas, Texas, United States

Here's our "tentative" itinerary... We'll update this initial entry each time we move to another country to let you all know where we are. Words that are underlined below will launch you directly to a given location. Enjoy!To view our favorites and random items and facts of our 10 month trip, check out our FAQ Entry and Random Items and Facts Entry!Today, Layton and Jana are in.....The good ol United States of America!! It's good to be home!!!Layton and Jana have recently visited:Happy, Texas Las Cruces, New Mexico Peru Bolivia Chile ArgentinaSouth America Favorites:Jana1. Inca Trail2. Iguazu Falls3. Can't decide... too many to choose from!Layton1. Iguazu Falls2. Perito Moreno Glacier3. Inca TrailNew Zealand Australia India Thailand Laos Vietnam CambodiaAfter thinking long and hard... All 4 countries on our tour were great, but if we had to rank the countries we visited on our 28 day tour, both Jana and Layton would rank them as:LaosThailandCambodiaVietnamChina Mongolia Russia Latvia Poland Hungary Romania Bulgaria Turkey Greece Italy (just for a day) Croatia Montenegro Bosnia &amp; Herzegovina Slovenia Austria Czech Republic Germany FranceNext Stops:Scandinavia (sorry, we've axed this one... too expensive, but we'll go back someday!)Unfortunately, we are back in the States... :-( However, we are visiting family and friends for a few weeks before we head back to Dallas!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laytonandjana/departure/1229800860/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laytonandjana/departure/1229800860/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/laytonandjana/departure/1229800860/tpod.html Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:13:14 -0500 Layton and Jana's Travels Around the World!

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Dallas, Texas, United States

Well, we have been home for a few months... many people have asked us some great, thoughtful, interesting questions. We have both enjoyed getting to share some of the answers to those inquiries. We have TRIED to get some of them down in writing to share with everyone! ENJOY! Favorites Things Places 1. New Zealand - where else can you find glaciers, fjords, beaches, mountains, lakes and awesome beer within 600 miles of each other! 2. Laos (SE Asia) - seeing the friendly smiles light up when we would shout "Sabaidee!" (hello) made this country a fav. 3.Jana's 3rd is Bulgaria and Layton's 3rd is the old Yugoslavia (Montenegro, Sarajevo, and Slovenia) Foods -ALL Thai food, -Beef from Argentina -Pork knuckle/shoulder sandwich (Layton's #1) -Bulgarian Shopska salad (like a Greek salad but better) -German and Czech beer -Anything (beef, chicken, fish) the "Siberian way" which was a baked dish with sour cream, cream cheese and cheese...rich and yummy Regions -SE Asia -Balkans (Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, Greece, Bosnia Herzegovina) Religious Places -Rila Monastery, Bulgaria -Ranakapur, India -Ephesus, Turkey Favorite Hikes -Inca Trail to Machu Picchu in Peru (40 km from Q'oriwayrachina to Machu Picchu) -Torres del Paine, Patagonia, Chile (19 km) -Ice Hiking on Perito Moreno Glacier in Argentina -Tongariro Crossing, New Zealand (18.5 km) -Great Wall of China, China (10.5 kilometers of the wall from Jinshangling to Simatai) -Bansko, Bulgaria Favorite Photos -Rock Formation, Bolivia -Mountains and Lakes, New Zealand -A view from a Hostel, New Zealand -Dancing Indian lady, India -A day at the beach, India -Solitaire Ladder, Poland Best Experiences -Riding bikes down the World's Most Dangerous Road -Walking along the Great Wall of China while learning Chinese from a farmer's wife -Playing with locals during Songkran, Thailand New Year celebration -Jumping rope with a local family in Cambodia -Seeing a Manta Ray while Scuba Diving (TWICE) in the Great Barrier Reef, Australia Favorite Phrases Along The Way -Oy choy oy - oh my gosh in Vietnam -Nyet schpishshshsh (sound coke makes when you open it) - how Nellie taught us to ask for still water in Russia -Wall eye knee - I love you in Chinese -Sawadee pi mai - Happy New Year in Thai -Sabaidee - hello in Laos -Ausfart - Exit in German -Naomi's nickname in China was "sticky rice" because No mi IS how you say "sticky rice"
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