Impressions

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Trip Start Sep 17, 2007 Previous
Entry Trip End Oct 08, 2008

  Ellicott City, Maryland, United States
Friday, December 5, 2008

Just for fun, below is a list of our favorite memories from each country we visited.  E stands for Erin and T stands for Travis.  Enjoy!

Guatemala

E-  Hearing crackling sounds behind us and turning around to see a new lavaflow spewing from the rocks, Volcan Pacaya.
T-  Being on the beach at just the right time to discover and witness a turtle crawl up and lay her eggs, Parque Hawaii.

Honduras

E-  Sitting at plastic tables in the Seven Seas Restaurant, trying to decipher the unintelligible English of the old men.
T-  Watching WWE Smackdown with Alfredo the crazy islander and eating french fries and gravy.

Panama

E-  Watching ship after ship miraculously pass through the Panama Canal.
T-  Getting an extremely sweet snow cone saturated with condensed milk from an ancient man on the streets of Panama City.

Peru

E-  Waking up to a hot cup of coca tea every morning on the Inca Trail.
T-  Dressing up in traditional clothing to dance with our host on Amantani Island, Lake Titicaca.

Bolivia

E-  Wandering in confusion and awe around the Witch Market in La Paz, gaping at the dried lama fetuses
T-  Watching a priest in a NY Yankees Hat bless a car in Copacabana.  The proud family poured wine everywhere and got a guy to take their picture.

Argentina

E-  Sitting in a square where local artists display their work, eating a delicious orange and watching people wander about.
T-  Discussing why Batman was better than Spiderman with our waiter at the Tango Show on Thanksgiving Night.

Brazil

E-  Stumbling upon the unpublicized Selaron Staircase after a long search.  Being shown the tile staircase by a friend of the artist while he worked. 
T-  Taking to the streets for the Lapa Street Party.  Standing outside a bar and listening to a samba band as we grabbed tequila shots off a tray.

India

E-  The first night in Amritsar, walking into the Golden Temple Complex, hearing the chanting and watching the crowds bathe in the sacred pool and circle the temple.
T-  Morning in Pushkar, looking out our hotel room's door.  A women in a brilliantly colorful sari was sweeping against a brilliant blue background of the wall.  The light was shining directly down on her.

Nepal

E-  Sitting on a rooftop, drinking apple cider and basking in the afternoon sun while enjoying the view of snowcapped Himalayan peaks.
T-  Getting invited to a traditional dhal bhat dinner by our extremely talkative hotel-owner on the last night of our stay in Pokhara. 

China

E-  Beijing, Temple of Heaven.  Watching the middle-aged people doing their morning exercises, which involved hopping as a group, in the middle of the beautiful park.
T-  Waking up after an overnight train ride.  Watching the women powder their faces and everyone filling up their thermoses and adding water to their instant noodles.

Vietnam

E-  Holding on to the back of a motorbike wearing a helmet that didn't fit properly, weaving through the busy streets of Hanoi.
T-  Playing badminton with an exciteable little girl at our homestay in the Mekong Delta.  She delighted in whacking it into the bushes so I would have to go get it.

Cambodia

E-  Having our lunch interrupted in Phnom Penh by two precocious children who were trying to sell postcards.  They eventually got distracted by filling random numbers on my Sudoko and writing on each others faces.
T-  Gliding along the Mekong River towards Phnom Penh and waving to the excited, naked children playing in the water.

Thailand

E-  Climbing onto my elephant for the first time, Elephant Conservation Center. 
T-  Watching exhibitionist lady-boys perform "Gigie has a Disco" during a night of Thai Boxing, Chiang Mai. 

Malaysia

E-  Eating cendol on the streets of Penang.  I liked this sweet milk, ice, and strings of gummy green bean goop, but Travis refused to eat it.
T-  Drinking our daily tea and eating scones with whipped cream and jam in our comfy retreat in the Cameron Highlands.  It was very British.

Singapore

E-  Being stared at by locals while eating Indian food with my hands, Little India.
T-  Marvelling at the Merlion statue, possibly the worst mascot ever.

Indonesia

E-  Eating local-style nasi goreng and coconut water on the side of the road in a deserted town outside of Borobudur.  A local waiting for his own takeaway order chatted with us and made sure we were well taken care of by the non-English speaking cook.
T-  Zipping across the channel to Gili Trawangan in a tiny local boat as the sun set over the giant volcano of Bali.

Egypt

E-  Waking up on a rocky outcropping to watch the sun rise from Mt. Sinai.
T-  Climbing out the window of our hostel at 3am to catch our Abu Simbel tour because our hotel owner chained the door shut, Aswan.

Israel

E-  Wandering through the twisting alleyways of the old city to buy groceries every morning in Jerusalem.
T-  Breaking into an orchard with Jean-Baptist and munching on mangoes while gazing out over the Sea of Galilee.

Jordan

E-  Eating a traditional mensaf dinner with the mysterious French-Algerian "Desert Man" at our empty hotel in Petra.
T-  Standing on the roof of our great hotel in Karak at sundown and looking down at the valley below.  Waving to the excited kid who continually yelled HELLOHELLOHELLO! whenever he saw us.

Kenya-

E-  Making our nightly foray to the local chicken and chips shop in downtown Nairobi.
T-  Watching giant shafts of sunlight break through the clouds over the Maasai Mara Game Reserve on our first evening game drive.

Tanzania

E-  Wandering the narrow, cobbled streets of Stone Town
T-  Getting robbed was fun.

Malawi

E-  Falling asleep to the crashing waves of Lake Malawi with our resident cat curled up in the blankets, Nkhata Bay.
T-  Falling asleep to the crunching of elephants eating the trees around our hut in Vwaza Marsh.

Zambia

E-  Sitting in the undercarriage of a bus and talking with the conductor about his life while waiting 5 hours for our bus to Livingstone to leave the bus station.
T-  Discovering a brilliant green chameleon climbing down a tree in the courtyard of our hostel

Namibia

E-  Getting up before dawn to watch the sun create striking shadows over the Sossusvlei dunes.
T-  Being able to pronounce everything in an exaggerated German accent for the entire time we were in Namibia.  Where are we?  Vind-HO-eK!!

South Africa

E-  Talking about South African history and politics with an English South African and his Afrikaaner wife in Graaf Reinet in their bed and breakfast.  He would have big pauses in his sentences that his impatient wife would fill with chatter.
T-  Buying a giant ostrich egg at the grocery store and making enough eggs to feed several people. 

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