6 Months of Travel: Stats & Assessment

Six months ago we packed our bags, took a one-way ticket to Iceland, and have continued heading east ever since.  We have recently found ourselves reminiscing about the beginning of this trip, since it both seems like just a short time ago and ages ago that we set off on this adventure.  While remembering our time in France a few days ago, Matt put it best when he stated, "that was so many experiences ago."  It was just under 6 months ago, but after all that we've seen and done in those 6 months, it sure seems like longer.

I'm writing this from Cambodia, which was a spur of the moment decision by the way.  When we went to book our train tickets from Bangkok to Chiang Mai (a city in the north of Thailand) just after Christmas, they were all booked up for almost a week (one of the disadvantages of not planning more than a day or two in advance).  So, that afternoon, we decided to head east into Cambodia instead (one of the advantages of not planning more than a day or two ahead).  I can tell you how much research I had done into Cambodia at that time in two words:  Angkor Wat.  That's all I knew.  It was on our list of "must see places," so we set out to do just that.

This got me started thinking about "lists."  So, here we go -- few lists to cover the first 6 months of our travels.  The numbers are irrelevant (#1 isn't better or worse than #6 for example).  There are also some statistics you might find interesting.  =)

We have taken the following modes of transportation:
3 rental cars (Iceland, France, Croatia)
2 rental scooters (Phuket & Ko Lanta, Thailand)
5 trains (Germany, Croatia, Thailand)
21 buses (4 that were overnight)
5 ferries (Croatia, Thailand, Myanmar)
14 flights
2 long minivans in Albania
Countless taxi, tuk-tuk, shuttle bus, & converted truck-bed rides

We have stayed in 59 different hotels/lodges/guesthouses/apartments.  My top overall picks are:
1.  Explorer's Guesthouse, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2.  Both Parisian Apartments
3.  Peaceful House (our little beach villa!) in Koh Lanta, Thailand
4.  Ozbay Hotel, Pammukale, Turkey
5.  iCheck Inn, Bangkok, Thailand

And now for some awards......

Best Hotel Breakfast:  Whitehouse Hotel, Yangon, Myanmar (they have a giant sign that says "Best Breakfast in the World -- not sure if it's that good, but it was pretty amazing); Ozbay Hotel, Pammukale, Turkey

Best Hotel Bathroom:  Falcon Cave Suites, Cappadocia, Turkey (the one and only bath I've taken on this trip)

Best Hotel Staff:  Karma Traveller's, Kathmandu, Nepal

Smallest Room:  Vicky Apartments, Kotor, Montengero (but the whole place was full of love!); Red Court Inn, Georgetown, Malaysia; most of our lodges on our Himalayan trek

Best Bathroom:  Terminal 21 Mall, Bangkok, Thailand (there were so many options that it took me 2 minutes to find the "flush" button, and it was so, so clean; and free!)

Worst Bathroom:  Metro Turizm bus terminal in Istanbul; I didn't touch anything...  Let's just say I'll take the hole-in-the-floor that you "flush" with sawdust bathrooms along the Himalayan trekking circuit any day over this one...

My Top 6 Overall Experiences (not in order)
1.  3 week Himalayan trek
2.  Getting my Open Water Certification in Thailand (becoming a scuba diver!)
3.  Our adventures in Albania -- homestay in Thethi
4.  Myanmar in general -- but particularly the temples of Bagan and the night we (sorta, accidentally) ended up sleeping alongside the locals on the deck of a ferry, outside, and it was cold =)
5. The Tour de France (and having Châteauneuf-du-Pape for breakfast in Châteauneuf-du-Pape)
6.  Feeling so at home in Frauenberghausen, Germany

Right after finishing our Open Water Certification with Claus, our wonderful instructor

Best Meals (Katie)
1.  Wonton Mee on the street, Georgetown, Malaysia
2.  My seafood plate in Paris
3.  Discovering the glory that it is pau in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
4.  The duck I had for lunch in Tours, France
5.  Laduree macaroons, Paris
6.  Green curry anywhere in Thailand
7.  Albanian home-cooked meals
8.  Terminal 21 mall dessert #13 in Bangkok, Thailand (ice, sugar, coconut milk and a variety of sugary blobs of deliciousness)
9.  The chicken dish (wish I knew what it was called!) that our cook at the Yoga Academy in Kathmandu made
10.  Roadside chicken in Koh Lanta -- the best chicken I've ever tasted

#13 dessert at the food court in Terminal 21 mall, Bangkok

Sampling a random drink-in-a-bag in Kuala Lumpur -- yummy!  =)

Best Meals (Matt)
1.  Some type of meat chops we threw together in Split, Croatia
2.  Albanian home-cooked meals
3.  Amazing aubergine in Patara, Turkey
4.  BBQ pork pau in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
5.  Special MoMo's, Kathmandu, Nepal (still not sure what ingredient made them "special," but they sure were delicious)
6.  Curry Mee, street stall in Georgetown, Malaysia
7.  Whole fish with lots of other stuff, Batu Ferringhi, Malaysia

Roadside chicken & pad thai; Koh Lanta, Thailand

Matt & some new friends bonding over the best mohinga (national Burmese dish) in Yangon, Myanmar

The food lists were especially tough, as we truly have had so much remarkable food on this trip.  We have decided that if there are plenty of locals eating it, and the place looks reasonably clean, then we've gotta try it, too.  Other new things we've tried include many types of fruit (mainly in Malaysia) such as mangosteens and rose apples (two things I didn't know existed), the Radler (beer with lemon) -- we can thank our German friends for getting us hooked on that, the amazing Grk wine (found only in Korcula, Croatia), and so many more.  Here in SE Asia, we don't even know what we're eating half the time, but it sure tastes delicious.  =)  We've come to embrace the following method of ordering food on the street:  smile, point excitedly at what someone else is eating, indicate how many of that thing you would like, and then just eat whatever they bring to your roadside table (sometimes it's the thing you pointed to, sometimes it isn't, but regardless, it'll be amazing.)

Hands down some of the best food ever:  Streetside Georgetown, Malaysia -- Curry Mee stand and Wonton Mee stand

Lessons Learned/Old Lessons Reaffirmed
1.  You can find Coca-Cola anywhere, even at the end of a deserted trail in Albania; however, there won't be any toilet paper so bring your own.
2.  Never be without water and toilet paper (note a theme here...)  =)
3.  You can always get where you need to go, it's just a question of how much it's gonna cost you.
4.  Never completely trust a travel agency desk (book things on your own when possible); be prepared for the driver/bus to show up early/late/not at all.  See also lesson #2.
5.  Trust your instincts -- if it doesn't feel right/safe/etc., it's probably not.
6.  Confirm everything, reconfirm everything, and then re-reconfirm.  It's the best policy for your trip to go smoothly.  See also lesson #4.
7.  The more cats you see around a place, the less likely you are to have rats or mice in your hotel.
8.  Most dogs in the world sleep during the day in the middle of the road and bark incessantly at night, all night.
9.  Learn two things in every language/country you go to:  how to say hello and how to say thank you.  These will take you further than you could ever imagine. 
10.  The sooner you realize that everyone around you is making fun of you and how you are doing things, the better.  Then you can all just laugh together.  =)

Waiting for sunrise over the temples at Bagan, Myanmar

We have experienced so much generosity and kindness so far on our journey, and it is a unique and humbling feeling to be taken care of and watched over by complete strangers (though, are they really?)  I see so much of our friends and family in those that we have met and interacted with on this trip, and can't help but feel more connected to the global community; the place that we all call home.  I can't wait to see what the next 6 months will bring!