Political Capital

Days 443-444, February 13 – 14, 2012

The Australian Capital of Canberra is not really a tourist hot spot. It’s not near any beaches, and the city itself isn’t laid out in a very helpful manner. And beyond the Parliament and typical Capital City monuments to wars past, there’s not much to see. And with so few touristy things in the city, affordable places to stay are few and far between.

But that’s not to say, that in-between the consular work I had to do, that I didn’t enjoy myself. In fact, I found the full day there to be quite illuminating in a couple aspects.

Travel Day–Kratie, Cambodia to Si Phan Don, Laos

Day 378, December 10, 2011

There is only one land border crossing between Cambodia and Laos and for the longest time it was a painful one to cross. While most other land crossings into Laos would have visas available on arrival, this particular one did not.

That all changed a few years ago and according to the owner of a restaurant in Kratie, it has had the effect of boosting business like crazy. More travelers are making the journey in that direction as it has become easier and more convenient. It is not without its challenges though!

Shattered Expectations in Dubrovnik

Days 228-230, July 13-15, 2011

Ever since The Amazing Race visited Dubrovnik, Croatia in one of its more recent seasons, I’ve been wanting to visit there. The images of this beautiful walled city struck me as magical. I am not ashamed to say that this was my main reason for coming to Croatia in the first place. Split and Šibenik really showed me a beautiful side of Croatia that made me think that Dubrovnik was going to be absolutely spectacular.

Sometimes we build things up a bit too much in our heads.

“I would walk 500 miles . . . “

The following takes place on Days 207-210, June 22-25, 2011

I’m going to prologue this with a reminder: Kelly was on a tight schedule. She had her return flight to Saskatoon leaving Rome on July 1st. And with us wanting to see more of Italy than just the Eternal City, it meant having to do a lot of fast, expensive traveling. The start of all this was to get ourselves back up to Athens from Santorini. The cheapest option would be a 9 hour ferry ride. There is an airport on the island but the prices are a bit insane, especially for my budget.

Our end goal for the next few days: Venice, Italy.

Without leaving the surface of the Earth.

Delightful Dahab

The following takes place on Days 193-197, June 8-12, 2011

For Mick, Arnold, and I, the next day was fairly uneventful. As Vitaly and Ying had left the night before and with no actual tour for us, we had the day completely free. We took the opportunity to walk to the Luxor Museum to check that out as it hadn’t been on the itinerary for our tour. Finding it turned into a bit of a challenge as the road it was on was currently under construction/repair so it deceived us into thinking we couldn’t walk that way. Added a good half hour to our search.

When we did find it and went inside we were all pleasantly surprised. Sure, it was a bit smaller than the museum in Cairo(and more expensive), but it had a semblance of order. All the pieces were in their place with placards explaining their significance. It even had the mummy that had been rediscovered in a Niagara Falls museums back room.

We spent a good few hours there before heading back to the hotel where we spent the rest of the day by the hotel pool, with me meeting a family from England who gave me a few beers for free. Before we knew it though it was time to head to the train station. Arnold had the sitting train back which left half an hour before the sleeper train that Mick and I would be on.

From Hippy to Revolutionary

The following takes place between days 184-186, May 30 – June 1, 2011

Even though I still felt queasy and tired from the food poisoning, I still managed to get up and leave the hostel in Essouira in time to catch my bus that would begin probably not so much the longest travel day of the trip, but certainly the one with the most connections and distance. 

It started off with a bus from Essaouira to Marrakech where I would switch to a train for Casablanca. As the Casablanca airport is so far out of the city, I would then need to take a separate train from Casablanca back out of the city to the airport. Considering I had at least 7 hours to wait for my flight, I initially thought I could store my luggage at the Casablanca train station or something and run off to see the 3rd largest Mosque in the world, and also one of only two in the country that allows non-Muslims to visit.

Sometimes, though, things don’t necessarily turn out the way one plans.

The Start of Something New

The following takes place between Days 172-173, May 18-19, 2011

Still a tad bit drunk, I made it somehow to the bus station with time to spare. The strange thing though was that by 4:20am, ten minutes before my schedualed departure time,  the bus station doors were still locked. There were a couple other people with luggage waiting as well that were taking the same bus so I wasn’t worried that I was at the wrong bus station.

Eventually the doors were opened and we began to wait once again for the bus which ended up being over half an hour late. All I could think was “You mean I could have been sleeping this entire time?”

Travelodge Christmas Party . . . In Spain

The Following takes place on Days 168-169, May 14-15, 2011

I still can’t believe that I managed to pack up my bag the night before considering how drunk I was. The whole group from the Lagos Escape Hostel had gone out for a mini pub crawl(except for Alberta as evidenced from the picture in the last post). I knew I had a 6:30am bus. I knew. So why did I allow myself to keep taking shots or drinks?

At least I had the mind to think about packing halfway through the crawl. I literally got up from one bar, walked back to the hostel, packed, then walked back to the pub crawl. I barely slept that night. It made for a very interesting bus ride.

Rushing Through Porto

The following takes place between Days 158-160, May 4-6, 2011

With a plan in mind to head to the Algarve region in a few days, I decided to split my time in Lisbon in two and head to Porto for a couple nights to check out the home of Port wine, a type of wine made by using brandy during the fermentation process. It’s amazing to drink. Highly recommend it.  And drinking it where it’s made is all the more better

Overseas Birthday

The following takes place on Days 153-154, April 29-30, 2011

A curious pattern seems to be emerging, I’ve noticed, when it comes to me and travel days. They become almost a complete waste. Take for instance my travel from Barcelona, Spain to Lisbon, Portugal. First I was extremely bummed out that I had to leave behind Jordi and Esteban. At least there’s a huge reason to come back to the area. Second, I get extremely exhausted sitting on a bus for an extended period of time. I left Barcelona at just before midnight and, after a quick transfer in Madrid, arrived in Lisbon at 4:30pm the next afternoon. When I successfully navigated the metro system and found my hostel in the center of Restoradores Square I had been on the move for over 17 hours.

So what did I do with what was left of the day? The same thing I seem to do with every travel day. I plucked down on my bed and did absolutely nothing.

Aye Aye Captain!

The following takes place between Days 146-149, April 22-25, 2011

I’m not sure what was going through my head. Honestly, most times I don’t. I’m a bit of a kook. And yet, here I was in Europe and I was honest to goodness surprised that Spain, and in the same breath Europe, had a significant bus system. Maybe it’s all those stories and movies and books of people backpacking around Europe and taking trains only that gave me that highly misconstrued idea.

Either way, Europe does indeed have a bus route system. It’s cheaper than taking the train and in some cases, however odd it may seem, it can be faster than taking the train. Cheaper is the important word here as I opted to go from Madrid to Barcelona via bus instead of the more popular option of the train.

Days 108-110, Getting a Brazilian Visa

The following takes place between Tuesday, March 15 and Thursday, March 17, 2011

Unfortunately for Canadians, Americans, and Australians, we need a visa to enter Brazil. Double unfortunately, we need one BEFORE we arrive at the border as, unlike many countries, Brazil does not hand out visas at the border.

Normally one would get one back at home before they even leave for their trip. However, the Brazil visa needs to be used within 90 days of being issued and, seeing as I’m already over 107 days into my trip, it wouldn’t have been possible to do so.

Now here’s the definitive procedure in procuring a visa for Brazil while in Argentina.

Day 94-95, Vistas and Views

The following takes place on Tuesday, March 1 and Wednesday, March 2, 2011

The night before was an amazing time, one of the best nights I’ve ever had to be honest. It was definitely sad to say goodbye to Ben and to know that in one more day I’ll be the one saying goodbye. But what a way to send him off! And for those that are curious about the “incident” with the guard at the India Embassy. 3am, as we were walking by, the girls all decided they needed a cigarette and bummed a light off of the guard. Then Ben thought it would be a hell of an idea if he took his belt off and take turns wacking us all on the ass with it while the guard took photos.

Yeah. We were drunk.

I woke up with Stefan packing up his stuff as his girlfriend from back in Brazil was supposed to be arriving that afternoon and they had booked a different hotel to spend time together. Another hard goodbye was had as I watched him leave the hostel. That left myself, Erin, and Kasandra of the original five still in the hostel.

Day 27-28 - Christmas Miracles

The following takes place from Friday, December 24 to Saturday, December 25, 2010

My first Christmas away from home. There’s no snow on the ground. I have a headache from the altitude . . . . and the internet at the hostel is not working. This was not turning out to be a good Christmas at all.

But it is Christmas after all. A time for miracles.

Day 16-19: The Pull of Nasca

The following takes place from Monday, December 13 to Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Ever since I was a little kid, I have been fascinated with the mysterious and the unknown. One of my favorite TV shows was Unsolved Mysteries, with my favorite segments being though that delved in the supernatural and unknown. As such, it wasn’t long before I stumbled upon the mystery that is the Nasca Lines.

Now, being in Peru, that childlike fascination with these strange geoglyphs drew me like a magnet. With my bus ticket in hand, I boarded the nearly seven hour bus ride towards what I was slowly realizing was a childhood dream of mine.

The pull of the Lines was finally taking me to the source.