tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24540045462797712002024-03-13T14:57:18.210-04:00Some Travel Required...no experience necessary.Lee and Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10557319838434305386noreply@blogger.comBlogger75125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2454004546279771200.post-72968015333123546442010-08-25T17:49:00.009-04:002010-08-26T18:08:59.053-04:00Been There, Done That<div style="text-align: center;"><i>“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”</i> – Mark Twain</div><br />
So that’s it then. We’re done. Eight months have passed in what seemed like the blink of an eye and as we write this we’re at 35,000 feet above the Atlantic aboard our nineteenth flight, our last flight, and in the final leg of our complete circumnavigation of the globe…the conclusion of our around-the-world adventure.<br />
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What a trip. It has been a truly memorable journey and an experience we will cherish forever. <br />
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<b>We’ve seen some amazing places…</b><br />
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We’ve watched the sun rise over the ancient Temples of Angkor in Cambodia and watched it dip below the trees in the African bush. We’ve seen snow-topped mountains, verdant rolling hills, and white sandy beaches. We’ve been lost in the chaos that is Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City, we’ve chilled out on deserted beaches in Thailand. We’ve visited some of the most amazing historical sites in the world and seen more World Heritage Sites than you could shake a really, really old stick at.<br />
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We’ve done some pretty cool stuff too…</b><br />
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In New Zealand we held on for dear life in a white water raft on Grade 5 rapids and then jumped out of a plane. We camped with dingoes on the largest sand island in the world and then wiped out learning to surf in Australia. We dined on insects in Bangkok and went on an elephant trek in Northern Thailand. In Laos we jumped into a waterfall, went tubing into an underground cave, swung into a river, and fell off of a motorbike. We had our feet cleaned by fish in Cambodia. We motorcycled along the coast from Hue to Hoi An in Vietnam and partied all night with the locals in the tiny fishing village of Mui Ne. In South Africa we went wine tasting on bicycles, tracked the big five on safari, and watched our boys compete in the World Cup Finals.<br />
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<b>And along the way we’ve met some wonderful people…</b><br />
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During our trip we’ve visited over 50 places in 11 different countries. Although we were only really passing through on many occasions, we were fortunate enough to meet some amazing people. Like Pop (P-O-P as he would say) the 8-year-old street bookseller from Cambodia who goes to school in the morning and then sells books in the afternoon to help make money for his family. He had the biggest smile you’ve ever seen, a great little personality, and he could teach you more about world geography in 5 minutes than you ever learned in school! And the Vietnamese woman who, after chatting with us briefly one day, invited us back to her home to meet her family over some tea and coffee. We met her mother and father and some extended family over a cup of strong Vietnamese coffee and she told us how she’s trying to help put her daughter through college in Danang by selling nuts and coconut treats that she makes in the streets everyday. And then there’s the 25,000 South Africans that we danced and sang the night away with in Rustenburg to celebrate the opening match of the first ever World Cup Finals in Africa. Black, white, rich, poor all came together to celebrate the World Cup and get behind the Bafana Bafana. Magical.<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>“A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.”</i> – Tim Cahill</div><br />
Of course, the trip wouldn’t have been the same without some of our fellow travelers that we met along the way, like the slow boat crew in Laos who helped make Lee’s 31st birthday one to remember, Chris, Sarah and Shop-run Gary who we chilled out with in Southern Thailand and who inspired Lee to get some new body art, the cyclists who cycled the length of Africa and then boozed their way around South Africa with us, Foxy/Moonhead/Taff/et al who made the football much more enjoyable even though our teams were terrible, and last but certainly not least are our favorite travelers – our partner’s in crime, our trip buddies, our travel companions, Kate and Lizzie, who we’ve had some brilliant times with over the last 8 months and we feel like we’ve known them forever (we mean that in a good way guys ☺)<br />
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It really has been the trip of a lifetime. We already feel incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to do this but it will be over the coming weeks and months, maybe even years, that it starts to sink in how enriching this experience has been for both of us. <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><i> “No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.”</i> – Lin Yutang</div>Lee and Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10557319838434305386noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2454004546279771200.post-63340275311686807332010-08-10T13:58:00.000-04:002010-08-17T14:31:21.189-04:00Heeey buuuudddddy!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGrS-3HUYZI/AAAAAAAAAqQ/GnJsb6NQwI8/s1600/IMG_0912.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGrS-3HUYZI/AAAAAAAAAqQ/GnJsb6NQwI8/s320/IMG_0912.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Last weekend we went to sunny Brighton on England's south coast for a fun-filled, booze-fueled reunion with Kate and Lizzie. Kate lives with boyfriend Chris down in Brighton and she invited all of us down to visit for one of the biggest events on the Brighton calendar - Gay Pride Festival!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGrS3C52c_I/AAAAAAAAAqA/Q3Ol8Lgwgf4/s1600/IMG_0873.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGrS3C52c_I/AAAAAAAAAqA/Q3Ol8Lgwgf4/s320/IMG_0873.JPG" /></a></div><br />
We had a great time. Kate and Chris' place was lovely and they were the perfect hosts. Kate cooked a special Thai meal for us when we arrived on Friday night (a rare treat apparently according to Chris) and we got to meet the famous Foxtrot, Kate's massive rabbit...more like a small dog really.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGrS0G_bMdI/AAAAAAAAAp4/dPvaBbeJUXc/s1600/IMG_0866.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGrS0G_bMdI/AAAAAAAAAp4/dPvaBbeJUXc/s320/IMG_0866.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;">Heeyy buuuddddyy!</span></div><br />
On Saturday we started early with breakfast cocktails before heading down to watch the parade. There was something like 160,000 people at the event and as you can imagine, there were some real characters!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGrS7IM4ieI/AAAAAAAAAqI/GG-5d-mHNTQ/s1600/IMG_0908.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGrS7IM4ieI/AAAAAAAAAqI/GG-5d-mHNTQ/s320/IMG_0908.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;">Lady Gaga?</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGrSv980AcI/AAAAAAAAApw/gxxfjny3WOY/s1600/IMG_0897.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGrSv980AcI/AAAAAAAAApw/gxxfjny3WOY/s320/IMG_0897.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">What can you say about this?</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGrTGND9AlI/AAAAAAAAAqg/Vw6HfoyNYJM/s1600/IMG_0876.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGrTGND9AlI/AAAAAAAAAqg/Vw6HfoyNYJM/s320/IMG_0876.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>After the parade we followed the crowds down to the park to continue the festivities. We rounded out the night at one of Kate and Chis' local pubs where more alcohol was consumed, some drunken singing took place and Lee made several attempts to dance with an old man who was having none of it. What a weekend!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGrTCZvnh-I/AAAAAAAAAqY/Qtojhau5JeY/s1600/IMG_0935.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGrTCZvnh-I/AAAAAAAAAqY/Qtojhau5JeY/s320/IMG_0935.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; font-style: italic;">The perfect end to a perfect day.</span></div>Lee and Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10557319838434305386noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2454004546279771200.post-48586609876777384232010-08-04T13:04:00.002-04:002010-08-17T13:58:10.170-04:00Who comes on the big bus??<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGrLu_BAa8I/AAAAAAAAApo/6JyFd-R5H8I/s1600/IMG_0827.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGrLu_BAa8I/AAAAAAAAApo/6JyFd-R5H8I/s320/IMG_0827.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>This past week we've been up in Wales visiting Lee's sister Kylie, husband Huw and the little ones James and Eliza. The weather wasn't as agreeable this time which put a bit of a dampener on things (literally) but nonetheless we still had a great time. Little James was quite excited for our visit this time as he knew from our previous visit that we would lavish attention on him the entire time we were there. When coming to pick us up from the bus stop Kylie asked him, "who comes on the big bus?" to which he replied "Courtme!!" Aww (Uncle Lee has still got some work to do to win him over apparently!)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGrLV894WZI/AAAAAAAAApA/D-VCC6BRbY4/s1600/IMG_0793.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGrLV894WZI/AAAAAAAAApA/D-VCC6BRbY4/s320/IMG_0793.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Uncle Lee doing his best to impress James</span></span></div><br />
Even though the weather wasn't great we still got out and about. Among the highlights were a visit to the "woolly mammoth's house," also known as the National Museum Cardiff (or Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Caerdydd for you native Welsh speakers), a walk along the barrage at Cardiff Bay, and a visit to historic Tintern Abbey - founded in 1131 it's one of the most spectacular ruins in the country and has inspired poems by Wordsworth and Tennyson. Yea, we were impressed too.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGrLF7jL6BI/AAAAAAAAAo4/8rSbxWSViSo/s1600/IMG_0774.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGrLF7jL6BI/AAAAAAAAAo4/8rSbxWSViSo/s320/IMG_0774.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">James at the Woolly Mammoth's House.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGrLrrzigtI/AAAAAAAAApg/1UEzHcygxfQ/s1600/IMG_0824.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGrLrrzigtI/AAAAAAAAApg/1UEzHcygxfQ/s320/IMG_0824.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Riding the horses at Cardiff Bay (much more impressive than shoulder carries clearly!)</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGrLiU9f4nI/AAAAAAAAApQ/E2LgGTZmw8w/s1600/IMG_0817.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGrLiU9f4nI/AAAAAAAAApQ/E2LgGTZmw8w/s320/IMG_0817.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Lee putting his backpack carrying skills to good use.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGrK9kKuaQI/AAAAAAAAAoo/y6uQrs6dqkk/s1600/IMG_0790.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGrK9kKuaQI/AAAAAAAAAoo/y6uQrs6dqkk/s320/IMG_0790.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">At the playground with little Miss Eliza.</span></span></div><br />
</div>Lee and Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10557319838434305386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2454004546279771200.post-70932518885712807202010-07-26T18:22:00.001-04:002010-08-17T13:12:35.482-04:00The beginning of the endThis latest update finds us back in jolly old England and at the final stop of our trip around the globe. We're spending five weeks or so in London, with a few side trips, before taking one last flight across the Atlantic back to Philadelphia...and (cue sad music) the real world.<br />
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On the bright side we've still got over a month to go before we go from world travelers to unemployed good-for-nothings so we plan to make the most of it. <br />
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First up is a trip Wales.Lee and Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10557319838434305386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2454004546279771200.post-16588403261102678282010-07-25T16:20:00.026-04:002010-08-16T18:21:52.605-04:00On Safari<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGm3gza3PSI/AAAAAAAAAn4/6IJh1Eqb59M/s1600/IMG_0632.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGm3gza3PSI/AAAAAAAAAn4/6IJh1Eqb59M/s320/IMG_0632.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>There was no way we could go all the way to South Africa without going on safari. During the World Cup safari tours were, unsurprisingly, a bit pricey. So, the thrifty explorers that we are we decided to wait until after the tournament had ended to book our bush adventure.<br />
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We decided to go to Pilanesberg National Park in northern South Africa, about 2 hours north of Johannesburg. Pilanesberg is a massive park (about 220 square miles), has plenty of lodges to choose from and, most importantly, has "the BIG FIVE." Courtney found a game lodge called <a href="http://pilanesbergprivatelodge.com/">Pilanesberg Private Lodge</a> (very original) which was located in the northwestern corner of the park on a private reserve called the Black Rhino Reserve. The price was very reasonable and their website looked great so we decided to give it go.<br />
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The lodge was great. It had a main lodge building that included an outdoor deck complete with hot tub and swimming pool and five smaller buildings where guests stay. The lodge only sleeps ten people so it's quite intimate. Our stay was even more cozy as there was only one other person staying there during our visit so we were treated to some personal attention from the game rangers. On our second night there we even had two private game drives.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGm3pcFSWYI/AAAAAAAAAoA/FkDa8HFFx2c/s1600/IMG_0654.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGm3pcFSWYI/AAAAAAAAAoA/FkDa8HFFx2c/s320/IMG_0654.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We came across this herd of elephants heading for an early evening visit to the watering hole</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; font-style: italic;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGm3yus3v6I/AAAAAAAAAoI/qf1hUrQnvj0/s1600/IMG_0684.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGm3yus3v6I/AAAAAAAAAoI/qf1hUrQnvj0/s320/IMG_0684.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This black rhino almost charged us. Some quick thinking from our game ranger spared us from a trampling.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGm35ghTsEI/AAAAAAAAAoQ/KjnPmb_WRXA/s1600/IMG_0714.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGm35ghTsEI/AAAAAAAAAoQ/KjnPmb_WRXA/s320/IMG_0714.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGm4FMF-qDI/AAAAAAAAAoY/lCvP1hGg1dw/s1600/IMG_0746.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGm4FMF-qDI/AAAAAAAAAoY/lCvP1hGg1dw/s320/IMG_0746.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We interrupted this little guy's breakfast.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGm4M4NxWxI/AAAAAAAAAog/JBlazJ9q2Aw/s1600/IMG_0733.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TGm4M4NxWxI/AAAAAAAAAog/JBlazJ9q2Aw/s320/IMG_0733.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Enjoying a beer after a day tracking game in the bush.</span></span></div><br />
We did four game drives in total and although our first outing was fairly quiet overall we were not disappointed. We saw elephants, zebra, black rhino, white rhino, giraffe, wildebeest, impala, kudu, jackal, and steenbok. We even saw a pair of porcupines. Doesn't really capture the imagination like seeing a pride of lions would but apparently they are a pretty rare find. The most exciting sighting of all though was the leopard we spotted (I had to) with a fresh kill in it's mouth...very cool. Unfortunately we only caught a brief glimpse of it and then it vanished into the tall grass before we could get any pictures. On our last drive we tracked a lion for a couple of hours but unfortunately he eluded us. Overall we had an amazing time and it was a great way to end our stay in South Africa.Lee and Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10557319838434305386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2454004546279771200.post-50885632777671013642010-07-12T16:05:00.002-04:002010-07-12T16:09:29.901-04:00South Africa - World Cup 2010<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So, the 2010 World Cup Finals are all done bar the shouting, Spain have been crowned World Champions for the first time ever, and England once again were crap. And yet, still not one single blog post on the whole thing from Lee and Courtney. We know, terrible. We've been completely and utterly rubbish at updating the blog while in South Africa. There's no excuse for it really. We could tell you that we left our laptop in Joburg while we traveled around the country because we were worried about it being lost/stolen/damaged. We could also tell you that there aren't that many internet cafes in the places we've visited and the ones we </span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">have</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> found are a bit pricey for our backpacker budget. We might even say that we were attacked by a group of psychotic emus and, although we managed to fight them off with our bare hands, we lost all but two of our fingers and a thumb on our left hands which has reduced our typing ability significantly and we have therefore been unable to write about what we've been up to. Well that last one might be made up but you get the idea.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">No, the truth is that we've just been having such an awesome time going to games, partying with other fans, meeting tons of great people, and exploring South Africa that we have really neglected the blog. Having said that, we have been taking notes along the way so we don't forget anything and we've taken plenty of pictures that almost always say more than the words do. We've been here almost 5 weeks now and with one or two notable exceptions (England's woeful performances and England and USA's early exits from the World Cup being the low points, but the less we say about that the better) we've had an amazing time. Here are some of the highlights.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">(make sure you go all the way to the first South Africa post (dated June 08, 2010) as we've sneakily back dated each post to make it look like we </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">actually</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> did these blog posts along the way and not all at once last night. ssshhhhhh...)</span></span></div>Lee and Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10557319838434305386noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2454004546279771200.post-32065922308260426062010-07-08T17:05:00.002-04:002010-07-13T06:17:59.675-04:00The Garden Route<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDw8OnDMA8I/AAAAAAAAAnI/tOUCCQNNmC0/s1600/IMG_0582.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDw8OnDMA8I/AAAAAAAAAnI/tOUCCQNNmC0/s320/IMG_0582.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Garden Route is a popular route on the south-eastern coast of South Africa and one of the most scenic parts of the country.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">We spent two days driving the route and taking in some of the scenery along the way.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">We stayed overnight in Knysna before carrying on to Port Elizabeth, where we would ultimately return our rental car.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Along the way we stopped in Mossel Bay, Plettenburg Bay, The Crags, and Stormsriver.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Two days is really not enough time to see this part of the country.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">There are so many things to see and do, especially outdoor activities.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Garden Route is definitely on the list of places we need to come back to.</span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDw77pEftdI/AAAAAAAAAnA/jeF7h9QKir4/s1600/IMG_0588.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDw77pEftdI/AAAAAAAAAnA/jeF7h9QKir4/s320/IMG_0588.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;">Knysna</span><br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDw8hFHF_KI/AAAAAAAAAnQ/GlEBrrkZsTY/s1600/IMG_0579.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDw8hFHF_KI/AAAAAAAAAnQ/GlEBrrkZsTY/s320/IMG_0579.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Indian Ocean in Knysna</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDw8rh41-mI/AAAAAAAAAnY/Fu5Fi9isYy0/s1600/IMG_0592.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDw8rh41-mI/AAAAAAAAAnY/Fu5Fi9isYy0/s320/IMG_0592.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Cheeky monkey at Monkeyland in The Crags</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 18px;"><br />
</span></div>Lee and Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10557319838434305386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2454004546279771200.post-60509551868531336672010-07-06T17:03:00.002-04:002010-07-13T06:10:08.038-04:00Getting sloshed in Stellenbosch<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDw3g_-hdoI/AAAAAAAAAmg/hnliN0651xs/s1600/IMG_0551.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDw3g_-hdoI/AAAAAAAAAmg/hnliN0651xs/s320/IMG_0551.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Stellenbosch is about 30k east of Cape Town and in the middle of South Africa’s famous Winelands.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We had made arrangements to meet up with our cyclist pals once more to sample some of South Africa’s best booze.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We all stayed at a place called The Stumble Inn (how could you not stay at a place with that name in an area famous for winemaking?)</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There are literally hundreds of vineyards and wineries in and around Stellenbosch and you couldn’t possibly hope to hit them all, especially if you only had one day to do it like us.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Our plan was to try and visit and do a tasting at at least four of them, a goal we were told was very doable.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDw5W1D20yI/AAAAAAAAAm4/LuiWh81HhuI/s1600/IMG_0515.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDw5W1D20yI/AAAAAAAAAm4/LuiWh81HhuI/s320/IMG_0515.JPG" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 18px;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDw218W8ESI/AAAAAAAAAmI/hnxH_4tjfII/s1600/IMG_0519.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDw218W8ESI/AAAAAAAAAmI/hnxH_4tjfII/s320/IMG_0519.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDw3UjGCrYI/AAAAAAAAAmY/gcumW8yq-Eg/s1600/IMG_0524.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDw3UjGCrYI/AAAAAAAAAmY/gcumW8yq-Eg/s320/IMG_0524.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">To make things interesting, and as we were with some experienced cyclists, we thought it would be fun to ride bicycles to the wineries.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We set off at about 11am and headed for our first winery.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Now, Stellenbosch is not mountainous but it’s not exactly flat either.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">After around 5 kilometers of cycling we rolled into our first port of call, the Kleine Zalze Country Wine Estate.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As we arrive, Courtney pulled up next to Lee and, after catching her breath, says, “That…was…INTENSE!”</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As you can imagine, our friends who were on the back end of an 8,000 mile ride from Cairo found this quite funny.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 18px;"><br />
</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDw3HWFZBZI/AAAAAAAAAmQ/_w8t4CiFH0Y/s1600/IMG_0520.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDw3HWFZBZI/AAAAAAAAAmQ/_w8t4CiFH0Y/s320/IMG_0520.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDw2l5MkBwI/AAAAAAAAAmA/6sty0VSjxgI/s1600/IMG_0529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDw2l5MkBwI/AAAAAAAAAmA/6sty0VSjxgI/s320/IMG_0529.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In the end we only made it to two wineries!</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Not on account of our lack of cycling endurance but more due to the huge amounts of wine we consumed throughout the afternoon.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The ride back was, er, a bit wobbly.</span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDw31zSbbTI/AAAAAAAAAmo/TOu8lejqh6c/s1600/IMG_0552.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDw31zSbbTI/AAAAAAAAAmo/TOu8lejqh6c/s320/IMG_0552.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Court and cyclist Lindsey (right) showing their support for the Black Stars</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; font-style: italic;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDw3_7i3BzI/AAAAAAAAAmw/9kNLSBPPkGU/s1600/IMG_0558.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDw3_7i3BzI/AAAAAAAAAmw/9kNLSBPPkGU/s320/IMG_0558.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; font-style: italic;">Come on Ghana!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; font-style: italic;"><br />
</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 18px;">Later that same night we dropped the bikes back at Stumble Inn and proceeded on foot to the nearest pub to watch Ghana, Africa's only remaining team, take on Uruguay.</span></div>Lee and Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10557319838434305386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2454004546279771200.post-13773628874670396882010-07-02T17:01:00.001-04:002010-07-13T05:44:33.264-04:00Cape Town<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 18px;">Chapman’s Peak Drive, Cape Point, Table Mountain, and V&A Waterfront...</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDw0BPrp-LI/AAAAAAAAAlQ/uLk85X92POU/s1600/IMG_0429.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDw0BPrp-LI/AAAAAAAAAlQ/uLk85X92POU/s320/IMG_0429.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDw0ir9eF-I/AAAAAAAAAlg/jv46PZ7aNLQ/s1600/IMG_0418.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDw0ir9eF-I/AAAAAAAAAlg/jv46PZ7aNLQ/s320/IMG_0418.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDw0WPk_XTI/AAAAAAAAAlY/wGTTO_w-Ess/s1600/IMG_0432.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDw0WPk_XTI/AAAAAAAAAlY/wGTTO_w-Ess/s320/IMG_0432.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDw0z2Zx6iI/AAAAAAAAAlo/9n8OLosho_Y/s1600/IMG_0504.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDw0z2Zx6iI/AAAAAAAAAlo/9n8OLosho_Y/s320/IMG_0504.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDw1BWg0ZuI/AAAAAAAAAlw/yL2LSkeEKYU/s1600/IMG_0514.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDw1BWg0ZuI/AAAAAAAAAlw/yL2LSkeEKYU/s320/IMG_0514.JPG" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">...Cape Town - DONE.</span></span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div>Lee and Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10557319838434305386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2454004546279771200.post-5188042229193613972010-06-29T16:58:00.002-04:002010-07-13T05:34:46.320-04:00Lions and Tigers and Germans oh my!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">In Port Elizabeth we quickly discovered that if we wanted to do any sightseeing at all while in South Africa we would need to get ourselves some wheels.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">So, for only the second time on our trip we hired a car.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Unfortunately for Courtney, Lee’s driving license had expired back in March, which meant he wouldn’t be able to drive the rental car (not legally anyway).</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Not wanting to risk a hefty fine, Courtney took one for the team and agreed to be our designated driver for the next 11 days.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Lee agreed to try and stay awake.</span></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDwvV6z7eII/AAAAAAAAAkI/tYe_2tJ3TCo/s1600/IMG_0322.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDwvV6z7eII/AAAAAAAAAkI/tYe_2tJ3TCo/s320/IMG_0322.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Hail to the bus driver, bus driver, bus driver...</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; font-style: italic;"><br />
</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">When Lee purchased the World Cup tickets earlier this year he foolishly predicted England would win their group and therefore be playing their second round match in Rustenburg.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Landon Donovan’s injury time winner against Algeria meant that USA won the group and second placed England were heading to Bloemfontein.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Now, we had in our possession two perfectly good tickets to USA v Ghana in the second round of the World Cup.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">BUT, England were set to face Germany in their second round encounter and as World Cup matches go, that’s a pretty big one…and Lee REALLY wanted to go.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">As luck would have it, we were able to do some last minute wheeling and dealing with some friends of an American fan we had met previously and we swapped our tickets with their England v Germany tickets – everyone’s a winner!</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">And so, we were headed for Bloemfontein and a date with Ze Germans!</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDwvsGHYZ7I/AAAAAAAAAkQ/98vcD57CIjE/s1600/IMG_0337.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDwvsGHYZ7I/AAAAAAAAAkQ/98vcD57CIjE/s320/IMG_0337.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">All smiles before England v Germany</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; font-style: italic;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDww3OPwZ1I/AAAAAAAAAk4/D1v4XNkCreQ/s1600/IMG_0334.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDww3OPwZ1I/AAAAAAAAAk4/D1v4XNkCreQ/s320/IMG_0334.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; font-style: italic;">England v Germany</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; font-style: italic;"><br />
</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Bloemfontein is about 700 kilometers from Port Elizabeth so it was about a 9-hour drive for us (well for Courtney, a 9-hour sit for Lee) and the road was long, flat and straight.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The only interesting thing about this drive was the monkeys that we saw from time-to-time along the side of the road.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">We’re not sure what kind of monkeys they were so we named them “street monkeys.”</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">“Bloem” is most famous for being the birthplace of JRR Tolkein, author of “The Hobbit” and “Lord of the Rings,” among other things.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">It’s also now famous for having nowhere near enough accommodation to house 50,000 plus English and German fans during the second round of the 2010 World Cup.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">As a result of our last minute scramble to get tickets, we hadn’t booked anywhere to stay in town.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">We decided to drive up and go door-to-door asking if there was room at the inn a la Mary and Joseph (minus the donkey and baby).</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">After two hours with no luck we finally got a lead from a security guard at one of the hotels we tried.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">There was some space at a place about 30k out of town.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">It was a bit pricey and the location wasn’t great but it was all we had, so we hopped on the highway out of town.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">After driving several miles on a dirt road we finally came to a set of gates in the middle of nowhere with a 4x4 sitting outside one of them.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The guy we spoke to on the phone said he would meet us at the entrance to let us in so we assumed that this was him.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">He opened one of the gates and drove through.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">We followed.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Bear in mind, it was about 10:30pm so it was pitch black out, there were no lights around anywhere and we had no idea where we were.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">As we rounded some bushes our headlights shone some light on a few small chalets that looked like where we might be sleeping.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Then, as we got closer something moved.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Something massive.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">It was still hard to make out but we drove a few more feet closer and then there was no mistaking what they were – three camels…right in front of our room for the night.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Trying to ignore the camels for a moment we had a look around the chalet with the owner and he showed us where everything was.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Full kitchen, living room, Jacuzzi tub, king-sized bed…not bad at all.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Then, as he was leaving us to settle in he said, “make sure you keep the doors closed as the emus are a bit curious and can be a bit of a pest.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Also, if you hear the lions roaring during the night don’t worry as they can’t get over here.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Goodnight!”</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">It was only the next morning that we discovered that we had booked ourselves two nights on a small game lodge!</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">It ended up being a real bonus as the day after the match, before we left for Cape Town, we took a game drive and saw tons of animals – lions, tigers, cheetahs, zebras, elands, giraffes, and a hippo named “Glen.”</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDwwnZNJjgI/AAAAAAAAAkw/1mA4OiB0pt0/s1600/IMG_0388.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDwwnZNJjgI/AAAAAAAAAkw/1mA4OiB0pt0/s320/IMG_0388.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Oh yea, we did go and see a match while we were in Bloem, wasn’t very good though…</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">With England and USA both headed home there was no football to distract us and we were able to look forward to some sightseeing in Cape Town.</span></span><o:p></o:p></div>Lee and Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10557319838434305386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2454004546279771200.post-63570069789099771002010-06-24T16:49:00.001-04:002010-07-12T16:58:46.790-04:00The Deciders - Party Time in Port Elizabeth<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDuAu1KOKQI/AAAAAAAAAjw/UbpEXCrhvDc/s1600/IMG_0223.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDuAu1KOKQI/AAAAAAAAAjw/UbpEXCrhvDc/s320/IMG_0223.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Port Elizabeth in South Africa’s Eastern Cape was the venue for England’s last group game, and our next match, against Slovenia.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">We opted for a 13-hour overnight bus ride with Translux to get us down there.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The bus was very reasonably priced and comfortable.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The icing on the cake was the entertainment we were treated to.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">We must have had a top-notch entertainment director as the line up was truly something – first up was “Phil Collins: The Final Farewell Tour” on DVD.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">That was followed by a Patti Labelle PBS special with all the funky 70s soul and disco classics.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The night’s programming was concluded with the action-packed “Mercenary for Justice” featuring none other than pony-tailed puncher Steven Seagal. What a night!</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">In PE we met up with a few of the characters from Rustenburg, including the long-distance cyclists.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Daniel, one of Lee’s friends from England was also over for World Cup with his friend Robbie so we met up with them too.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The game was great and England got the win they needed to advance to the knockout stages (as did the US in their game) so it was party time again.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">We celebrated into the small hours again as the World Cup party train rolled on.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDuBXA_ClUI/AAAAAAAAAj4/2ni6zm9-k1g/s1600/IMG_0236.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDuBXA_ClUI/AAAAAAAAAj4/2ni6zm9-k1g/s320/IMG_0236.JPG" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Before leaving the Eastern Cape we took a break from all the football fever to take in some of the natural beauty of the area. Along with Daniel and Robbie, we visited the Sardinia Bay Nature Reserve, an incredible bit of coastline about 15 minutes outside of Port Elizabeth.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">There are a number of hiking paths along the coastline collectively known as the Sacramento Trail.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The weather was beautiful and we hiked along the lower path, which takes you along rocky grasslands and beaches, for about an hour and a half before turning around and hiking back along a higher trail that offered spectacular views of the Indian Ocean.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">We even spotted a pod of whales making their way along the coast.</span></span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDuBzjaccpI/AAAAAAAAAkA/iUNX3zhJ0HI/s1600/IMG_0316.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDuBzjaccpI/AAAAAAAAAkA/iUNX3zhJ0HI/s320/IMG_0316.JPG" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><!--EndFragment-->Lee and Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10557319838434305386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2454004546279771200.post-58552670505931079922010-06-19T16:28:00.016-04:002010-07-12T16:48:28.365-04:00USA USA USA!!<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; white-space: pre;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">The Samba boys’ first match and USA v Slovenia at Ellis Park</span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">After more or less 3 straight days of drinking we dragged our tired bodies back to Johannesburg for some R&R.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We had tickets for two matches in Johannesburg over the next week – Brazil v N. Korea and USA v Slovenia.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Brazil was up first.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Brazil v N. Korea</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">June is the start of South Africa’s winter and lucky for us the day we went to watch Brazil was apparently the coldest day in Johannesburg since 1994!</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Needless to say we were woefully unprepared.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The only thing that saved Courtney from certain hypothermia was the fact that there was a rather large man sat in the seat next to her inside the stadium.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">With Lee’s puny body offering little protection from the elements, Courtney nestled into the side of the big fellow’s generous frame and managed to at least keep the frostbite at bay.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Brazil won the match as expected, but the plucky Koreans put up quite a fight.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The most bizarre sight of the game was the group of 100 or so Korean fans sat together on the other side of the stadium from us.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">They were all wearing identical red tracksuits and clapped and cheered in perfect unison every so often.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We later found out that these “fans” were actually primarily Chinese nationals who had been hired by the North Korean government to pose as Korea fans for the match.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">USA v Slovenia</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Later that same week we headed back to Ellis Park for USA’s second group game against Slovenia.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">At the match we met up with friends Katie and Ran who had traveled over to watch the first two US matches.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDt9UwwV9II/AAAAAAAAAjQ/QY59uk0BP9k/s1600/IMG_0183.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDt9UwwV9II/AAAAAAAAAjQ/QY59uk0BP9k/s320/IMG_0183.JPG" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Katie and Ran</span></span></span></span></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; font-style: italic;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDt-SoT3jFI/AAAAAAAAAjY/6UkxfYBovAc/s1600/IMG_0192.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDt-SoT3jFI/AAAAAAAAAjY/6UkxfYBovAc/s320/IMG_0192.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDt-udLCe1I/AAAAAAAAAjg/_FAoZhb0hGQ/s1600/IMG_0165.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDt-udLCe1I/AAAAAAAAAjg/_FAoZhb0hGQ/s320/IMG_0165.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Before the match with Katie</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; font-style: italic;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We had rubbish Category 3 tickets for this match but Katie and Ran had Cat 1s (much better seats) so we snuck in with them and squeezed into their section. We were in the biggest section of USA fans so the atmosphere was awesome.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">After going 2-0 down it wasn’t looking good for the US team, but an early second-half goal from Donovan and then a late equalizer from Bradley and it was game on.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The crowd was going nuts.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">If you watched this match on TV you know what happened next.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">For a few seconds it was pandemonium in our section as US fans celebrated what we thought was the match winner.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Unfortunately the dodgy referee saw something that nobody else in the stadium saw and the goal was disallowed.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">2-2 was the final and, after England’s terrible display against Algeria, it was all still to play for.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDt_TvdanpI/AAAAAAAAAjo/b8tyjOm5qrU/s1600/IMG_0189.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDt_TvdanpI/AAAAAAAAAjo/b8tyjOm5qrU/s320/IMG_0189.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;">Some first half action</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">After the match we grabbed dinner and drinks in Melville, a trendy little suburb of Johannesburg, before saying our goodbyes to Katie and Ran who were headed back to Philadelphia in the morning.</span></span><o:p></o:p></span></div><!--EndFragment-->Lee and Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10557319838434305386noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2454004546279771200.post-15460883219225827092010-06-14T16:09:00.018-04:002010-07-12T16:28:33.500-04:00Hodge Podge...DODGE!<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; white-space: pre;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Rustenburg for the England v USA match</span></span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-weight: bold; white-space: pre;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDt3TwE7C5I/AAAAAAAAAiY/Rz4Nu7KgUcI/s1600/IMG_0073.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDt3TwE7C5I/AAAAAAAAAiY/Rz4Nu7KgUcI/s320/IMG_0073.JPG" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">England v USA was the opening match for both teams in the tournament and also our first game. The game was held in Rustenburg, a small town a couple of hours north of Johannesburg that is famous for it's platinum reserves (apparently something like 86% of the world's platinum comes from the area). As a result, the Royal Bafokeng Nation who own the mining rights up there are filthy rich. As far as we can tell, that's the only reason Rustenburg was chosen to host any World Cup matches...the king paid for the privilege. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Getting to and from the place was a nightmare, there was nowhere near enough accommodation (more on that later), and the stadium was not exactly world cup standard, and certainly not the ideal venue to host England v USA, the two countries that brought the most fans to South Africa.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Phokeng ridiculous!</span></span></span></b><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">So, back to the accommodation. We booked our accommodation for Rustenburg way back in December 2009 as soon as we knew England would be playing the US up there. We booked a cabin at a place called the Hodge Podge Lodge. The name should have been fair warning that this place could be a bit dodgy but it was all we could find so we went with it. What a nightmare! This place was miles out of town, our cabin had no lock on it whatsoever, the family that owned the place tried to rob us every chance they got by overcharging for everything, and speaking of the family...what a bunch!</span></span></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">In spite of all that we had an absolute blast up there. There were hundreds of England and US fans staying at Hodge Podge and we met some great people who we would end up hanging out with again at other England matches. We partied the whole 3 days.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">For the opening ceremony and match we headed to the FIFA Fan Fest in town. The atmosphere was unbelievable. There were close to 25,000 fans there to watch Bafana Bafana (South Africa) take on Mexico in the opening match. The noise from the now infamous vuvuzelas was almost unbearable but they certainly created a unique atmosphere.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">When Bafana scored the whole place erupted.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">There were spontaneous outbreaks of fans singing traditional African songs and dancing together.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">It was amazing.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Unfortunately Mexico’s equalizer dampened the spirits somewhat but that didn’t last long.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">After the final whistle the party was in full swing again with 20,000 plus people celebrating the start of the tournament.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDt4peNofyI/AAAAAAAAAio/st-B3EFxgCo/s1600/IMG_0037.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDt4peNofyI/AAAAAAAAAio/st-B3EFxgCo/s320/IMG_0037.JPG" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Enjoying the opening match with some Bafana Bafana fans</span></span></span></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; font-style: italic;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Back at the lodge we continued the party and met some of the other Hodge Podge guests.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Among them were a group of guys and girls from England who had cycled from Egypt to South Africa for the World Cup.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">That’s right, Egypt to South Africa…on bicycles.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">If you’re not sure how far that is feel free to have a quick look at a map and you’ll see that it’s REALLY FAR!</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">And there we were thinking we were all clever because we’d taken a couple of flights to a few countries around the world.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">We also met a great group of English lads and some American guys who we had a lot of fun with.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Americans had had some look-a-likes among them too…</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDt5v8b4wQI/AAAAAAAAAiw/KFE7dBBnCkc/s1600/33996_1421186943621_1651111874_992623_3106643_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDt5v8b4wQI/AAAAAAAAAiw/KFE7dBBnCkc/s320/33996_1421186943621_1651111874_992623_3106643_n.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We knew Clinton was there but "dubya" and Sampras too?!?</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">On match day the England v USA clash kicked-off at 8:30pm so we had time to get in the mood beforehand.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Not wanting to get too boozy we opted for a sensible start time of 11am.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDt6QO-WZ2I/AAAAAAAAAi4/iZJ8GyJ0AyE/s1600/IMG_0106.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDt6QO-WZ2I/AAAAAAAAAi4/iZJ8GyJ0AyE/s320/IMG_0106.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDt6f0GWflI/AAAAAAAAAjA/lzvxQq-NfEQ/s1600/IMG_0109.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDt6f0GWflI/AAAAAAAAAjA/lzvxQq-NfEQ/s320/IMG_0109.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Courtney singing the national anthem</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; font-style: italic;"><br />
</span><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDt6kI6FjWI/AAAAAAAAAjI/BXgyGAuBmXE/s1600/IMG_0114.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDt6kI6FjWI/AAAAAAAAAjI/BXgyGAuBmXE/s320/IMG_0114.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">England goal!</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; font-style: italic;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The game was great!</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Courtney’s first ever, live football match and it was England v USA in the World Cup finals!</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Not bad.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">(Lee’s first ever match was Arsenal v Norwich at Highbury…not exactly the same).</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The 1-1 final score meant that we were still on speaking terms after the 90 minutes and after a couple of hours of total chaos trying to leave the stadium area, we made our way back to Hodge Podge to continue the party. </span></span><o:p></o:p></span></div><!--EndFragment-->Lee and Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10557319838434305386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2454004546279771200.post-39227007891424212742010-06-08T16:05:00.002-04:002010-07-13T07:25:09.243-04:00Hello Africa, Tell Me How You Do it!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 18px;"><br />
</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 18px;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDxLD82ebXI/AAAAAAAAAno/BNWctAY9DTk/s1600/IMG_0019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDxLD82ebXI/AAAAAAAAAno/BNWctAY9DTk/s320/IMG_0019.JPG" /></a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><br />
</span></div></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">We arrived in Johannesburg about a week before the tournament was set to get underway. This gave us some time to make some travel arrangements to some of the matches and generally get ourselves organized. We have been extremely fortunate to have been looked after by the Raabs, Peter and Lucienne, during our stay in South Africa. Peter and Lucienne are Courtney's brother Colin's good friend Ant's parents and they have been absolutely amazing. They have really made us feel at home while we have been staying with them and our visit to South Africa might not have been possible without them and it certainly wouldn't have been as special.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">During the first week we pretty much just laid low as we knew we would be doing a fair bit of traveling once the World Cup action got started. We enjoyed some lovely meals with the Raabs and they also showed us around Sandton, a northern suburb of Johannesburg which is generally considered the city's commercial hub, and is the area where we have spent much of our time while staying with the Raabs.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 18px;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDxK5_O4BVI/AAAAAAAAAng/dlbFkRiNyUI/s1600/IMG_0020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDxK5_O4BVI/AAAAAAAAAng/dlbFkRiNyUI/s320/IMG_0020.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Apartheid Museum</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDxL03NCLBI/AAAAAAAAAnw/acIzuXIBBNw/s1600/IMG_0014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TDxL03NCLBI/AAAAAAAAAnw/acIzuXIBBNw/s320/IMG_0014.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The one excursion we did take was to visit the Apartheid Museum. Opened in 2001, the Apartheid Museum tells the story of apartheid in South Africa. The museum is really well done and the exhibits are fascinating. We spent almost 4 hours in there and easily could have stayed longer. It's pretty shocking that apartheid in South Africa is such recent history. The country has come a long way in such a short period of time but there's still a lot of work to do. If you find yourself in Johannesburg, the Apartheid Museum is a must-see.</span></div>Lee and Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10557319838434305386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2454004546279771200.post-74647985514493244572010-06-08T11:06:00.001-04:002010-06-08T11:06:37.370-04:003 days to go!<div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/46785516@N07/4681848133/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4039/4681848133_fa71d1facc_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/46785516@N07/4681848133/">Arriving in Joburg</a><br />Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/46785516@N07/">LeeSenior</a></span></div><br clear="all" />Lee and Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10557319838434305386noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2454004546279771200.post-89380353044981936292010-06-08T10:50:00.004-04:002010-06-08T11:02:15.737-04:00Round-the-world in numbers: the story so farMost of the counting we have been doing on this trip has been related to money - how much is this hostel room? What is the exchange rate? Lee you've already spent <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">this</span> much on beer already, Courtney if we forgo using moisturizer we'll save <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">this</span> much money, etc, etc. <br />
<br />
After just 2 days in New Zealand we realized that we were going to have a tough time keeping track of our daily expenditures, and therefore our budget, so we invested in a cheap calculator to help. With the assistance of that same trusty little number crunching device, we decided to look at some other numbers related to this trip and the result is the following summary. Our trip by the numbers...<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">5</span></span></span> number of continents visited<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">11</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"> </span>number of countries explored<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">144</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"> </span>number of days traveled<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">43</span></span></span></span> total number of places that we've stayed in<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">2</span></span></span></span> number of motorbikes rented<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TA5SYFc5-OI/AAAAAAAAAho/oFqGtZxPE6A/s1600/DSCF1108.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TA5SYFc5-OI/AAAAAAAAAho/oFqGtZxPE6A/s320/DSCF1108.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;">before the "incident"</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-size: 24px; font-weight: bold;">50</span> percentage of rented motorbikes that were crashed<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 24px; font-weight: bold;">20</span> </span>number of books read<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">18</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"> </span>number of flights taken<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 24px; font-weight: bold;">4</span> </span>number of different cameras used (so far)<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">2,195</span></span></span></span> number of photos taken<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">10</span></span></span></span> different modes of transport used<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TA5UbYtSDOI/AAAAAAAAAhw/NdeBNGkIn0U/s1600/DSCF1054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TA5UbYtSDOI/AAAAAAAAAhw/NdeBNGkIn0U/s320/DSCF1054.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;">One of the higher quality buses we rode on</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; font-style: italic;"><br />
</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">35,317</span></span></span></span> number of miles traveled<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">24,901</span></span></span></span> distance in miles around the world at the equator<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">1</span></span></span></span> bag of insects eaten<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TA5WHpU69vI/AAAAAAAAAh4/yOcbhmord0s/s1600/4429292974_bbca60d188.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TA5WHpU69vI/AAAAAAAAAh4/yOcbhmord0s/s320/4429292974_bbca60d188.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;">Yum</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">15,000</span></span></span></span> height in feet from which we jumped out of a plane<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">15</span></span></span></span> number of beaches laid on<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">3</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"> </span>number of public rallies/riots/protests we have witnessed (civil unrest seems to be a theme on this trip)<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-size: 24px; font-weight: bold;">9</span> number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites visited<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TA5YVfovfwI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/Zis7QLCs38o/s1600/4347527351_4991ff1e43.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TA5YVfovfwI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/Zis7QLCs38o/s320/4347527351_4991ff1e43.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;">Sydney Opera House - UNESCO World Heritage Site</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-size: 24px; font-weight: bold;">190</span> cost in US dollars of one speeding ticket in Australia<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">26</span></span></span></span> number of bus journeys taken<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">23</span></span></span></span> percentage of bus journeys where we feared for our lives<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TA5WzOre6lI/AAAAAAAAAiA/yAIJwrWq9s4/s1600/IMG_0018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TA5WzOre6lI/AAAAAAAAAiA/yAIJwrWq9s4/s320/IMG_0018.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;">This was a contender for worst bus trip</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; font-style: italic;"><br />
</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">65</span></span></span></span> percentage of bus drivers in New Zealand named "Peter"<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">10</span></span> </span></span>number of capital cities visited<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-size: 24px; font-weight: bold;">8,500</span> approximate weight in pounds of the elephant we rode in northern Thailand<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TA5Xn2QBqmI/AAAAAAAAAiI/a4i7OdJ59Vs/s1600/4442128001_7d3157792b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TA5Xn2QBqmI/AAAAAAAAAiI/a4i7OdJ59Vs/s320/4442128001_7d3157792b.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-size: 24px; font-weight: bold;">53 </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">current age of former England captain and all-round footballing legend Bryan Robson, who we saw hanging out near our hotel in Bangkok</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">171</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">*</span></span></span></span> number of canadians met while traveling (*estimate. actual number unknown but it felt like at least that many<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">27 </span></span></span>number of new facebook friends<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">8</span></span></span></span> average cost in US dollars of a beer in Australia<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">0.45</span> </span></span></span>average cost in US dollars of beer in Vietnam<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">15</span></span></span></span> number of dorm rooms stayed in<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">36</span></span></span></span> percentage of dorms that had smelly and/or noisy roomies<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-size: 24px; font-weight: bold;">7.5</span> size of the flip flops Lee inherited after his were stolen from outside an internet cafe in Laos (they are a bit snug)<br />
<br />
With only <span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">3</span></span></span></span> days to go until the start of the World Cup, we'll likely have plenty more statistics to think about over the next<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">4</span></span></span></span> weeks.Lee and Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10557319838434305386noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2454004546279771200.post-60799322065895694082010-05-29T16:01:00.001-04:002010-06-08T09:20:17.712-04:00Uncle P and Auntie C go to Wales<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TA1StHA2ezI/AAAAAAAAAg4/I9j9UFj5g74/s1600/P1060394_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TA1StHA2ezI/AAAAAAAAAg4/I9j9UFj5g74/s400/P1060394_1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">With 2 weeks to go before heading to South Africa for the greatest show on earth (no, not Barnum and Baily’s Circus, we’re talking about the World Cup of course) we had just enough time to nip up to Wales and spend some time catching up with Lee’s big sis Kylie and her family.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The Sheppard fam consists of husband Huw and little ones James (3) and Eliza (8 months) and they live in an idyllic little village located just outside of Cardiff named Gwaelod-Y-Garth. Yes, it’s a lot to get your lips round initially but as far as Welsh names go, it’s a pretty basic entry.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TA1UXgZEs0I/AAAAAAAAAhA/e1WTFkhBcaM/s1600/P1060340_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TA1UXgZEs0I/AAAAAAAAAhA/e1WTFkhBcaM/s320/P1060340_1.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Sheppards</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Anyway, we were really looking forward to the visit. It’s been about 18 months since Lee’s last visit so little James was only a nipper and Eliza wasn’t even a twinkle in her mum and dad’s eyes. Court has been dying to meet the “babies” for a while now so she was very excited.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The weather was gorgeous for our entire stay in Wales (that’s not a misprint) so we took full advantage by planning plenty of outdoor activities (well, Kylie planned plenty of outdoor activities and we just went along to enjoy them).</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">First up was a spot of history. There are a few things on the “must do” list when you visit Wales and checking out a castle is right up there. The Cardiff area has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to castles so we had plenty to choose from. We ended up going to the very old and very impressive Caerphilly Castle. Built in the 13<sup>th</sup> Century by some ginger chap named Gilbert ‘The Red’ de Clare, Caerphilly is the second largest castle in Britain, the Queen’s digs at Windsor are the biggest. After suffering several attacks over the next few hundred years the castle gradually fell into disrepair. Then in the 18<sup>th</sup> Century the Marquess of Bute began restoration work to bring it back to its former glories. Quite a bit of work has been done and it looks pretty good these days.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TA1WDTqCwaI/AAAAAAAAAhI/ohwyaVFc8fk/s1600/P1060258_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TA1WDTqCwaI/AAAAAAAAAhI/ohwyaVFc8fk/s320/P1060258_1.JPG" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Caerphilly Castle</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; font-style: italic;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TA1W-MaTXnI/AAAAAAAAAhQ/zP2_LufzezI/s1600/IMGP3136.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TA1W-MaTXnI/AAAAAAAAAhQ/zP2_LufzezI/s320/IMGP3136.JPG" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">James feeding the ducks</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; font-style: italic;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal">I should mention at this point that many of the historical tidbits featured in this blog entry are courtesy of my brother-in-law Huw who it turns out knows a fair bit about Welsh history and castles and played the role of tour guide for the day. Wikipedia also added some flavor. So, any inaccuracies should be taken up with them.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The following day we went to Margam Country Park for a picnic. James brought his bike along and we even had a kick-around with the soccer ball. His dad kept insisting the ball was the wrong shape but Lee thinks he saw some definite potential. The highlight of the day was riding the train, one of James’ favorite activities, as we got to watch James try with all his might to contain his excitement. We also got to watch Lee demonstrate his baby handling skills as he grappled with Eliza who was intent on really putting him to the test with lots of wriggling. She escaped fairly unscathed as Lee only managed to bang her head on the roof of the train once.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TA1YRr0TXCI/AAAAAAAAAhY/3JVTPCTTcbI/s1600/P1060236_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TA1YRr0TXCI/AAAAAAAAAhY/3JVTPCTTcbI/s320/P1060236_1.JPG" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Eliza looking a bit nervous about her uncle's lack of baby experience</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The Museum of Welsh Life is an open-air museum of all things Welsh. It’s actually much better than it sounds and we spent a lovely afternoon there. There are over forty buildings representing Welsh architecture and various traditional crafts are on display. There’s even a small working farm with cows, pigs and horses.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The weather continued to hold so we headed for the beach. We went to Caswell Bay, which is located in the southeast of the Gower Peninsula in Swansea. Kylie and Huw take the kids there often and it’s a really beautiful area. We spent a few hours playing on the beach. James enjoyed splashing in the surf while Eliza enjoyed eating sand.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TA5DMgbxfFI/AAAAAAAAAhg/WIPJh7xo2Zs/s1600/IMGP3182.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/TA5DMgbxfFI/AAAAAAAAAhg/WIPJh7xo2Zs/s320/IMGP3182.jpg" /></a></div><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We really enjoyed all the sightseeing we did but what we enjoyed most was spending time with Kylie and Huw and getting to know Lee’s nephew and niece. Looking forward to visiting them again after we get back from South Africa in the summer.</div>Lee and Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10557319838434305386noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2454004546279771200.post-20723680637122634882010-05-28T11:41:00.002-04:002010-05-28T11:46:43.049-04:00En Espana con nuestras familias<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S__iwoMnDHI/AAAAAAAAAgQ/CB_PSYInllE/s1600/IMG_0796.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S__iwoMnDHI/AAAAAAAAAgQ/CB_PSYInllE/s320/IMG_0796.JPG" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We were both looking forward to spending some on the south coast of Spain with our families. When we left Greece we thought we would be saying goodbye to the sunshine for sure…but when we arrived at the Alicante airport the sun was still shining.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"> We spent the first week relaxing with Lee’s mother and her husband John in their house in Torrevieja on the Costa Blanca in Spain. The first day we arrived we took a walk into town on the pedestrian/bike path referred to as the “yellow brick road.” The main industry in Torrevieja is salt mining, which is evident during our exploring by the salt flats and mountains of salt surrounding the town. The town itself is beautiful. There is a large marina and beaches surrounding the coastline.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">On our first Sunday, John and Maggie took us to one of the local markets in the area called The Lemon tree located about 20 minutes from their house. We spent about two hours searching through the market. You could buy anything from a pair of sunglasses to a new puppy. It was fun to compare and contrast the market from the ones we were used to seeing in Southeast Asia. Of course we did not go home empty handed…Courtney bought a new sundress!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After a couple more days of relaxing, reading our books, and soaking up the hot sun it was time for Courtney’s Mom and her husband Tom to arrive. There was a brief moment when we did not think they were going to make it because the volcano in Iceland was acting up again, but with only a two-hour delay they safely arrived. With no real goals for their trip, we decided to stay local and check out some things that Torreveija had to offer. <o:p></o:p><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S__jV0aolII/AAAAAAAAAgY/82NPdfvtRP0/s1600/IMG_0779.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S__jV0aolII/AAAAAAAAAgY/82NPdfvtRP0/s320/IMG_0779.JPG" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal">We did some more exploring of town by foot and by car. Tom was nicknamed the “terror of torrevieja” and the “menace of the roundabouts” because he could not quite get a handle on the very unconventional driving customs in Spain. Thankfully no children or animals were hurt during their stay.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S__lVWKDmKI/AAAAAAAAAgo/byEX1P2iSZs/s1600/IMG_0797.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S__lVWKDmKI/AAAAAAAAAgo/byEX1P2iSZs/s320/IMG_0797.JPG" /></a></div><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">On our only cloudy day, we took a drive to a town called Guardamar to check out the famous beaches. The sun came out for us after all and we enjoyed some traditional tapas by the sea. Another day we took a coastline boat tour, which departed from the downtown Marina. It was nice to the see the city from a different perspective. We were able to get some good beach time on one of the beaches in the town centre called La Playa de los locos…appropriately named “the beach of mad men.” It was great to have some familiar faces join us for part of our journey and of course nice for our families to meet one another.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S__jkBgPfwI/AAAAAAAAAgg/1mFmtjlriE8/s1600/IMG_0791.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S__jkBgPfwI/AAAAAAAAAgg/1mFmtjlriE8/s320/IMG_0791.JPG" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After Maggie, John, Davida and Tom left us we decided to spend our last two days in Spain with some of Lee’s family friends who have retired to the area. We had a lovely BBQ and spent one of our days lounging on a local beach called Cabo Roig. This beach is a must see with it’s beach bar/restaurant and beautiful views.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div>Lee and Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10557319838434305386noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2454004546279771200.post-87318330064754364902010-05-10T10:54:00.000-04:002010-05-28T11:08:13.398-04:00Athens on a Shoestring<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S__WwmpxhHI/AAAAAAAAAfY/a1ItfE2Ce_E/s1600/IMG_0724.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S__WwmpxhHI/AAAAAAAAAfY/a1ItfE2Ce_E/s320/IMG_0724.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">After 2 amazing months in Southeast Asia we were headed for Europe, first stop Greece. We really wanted to hit one of the Greek Islands for some more fun in the sun but, still reeling from our Australian spendfest, we decided not to splurge on the extra travel costs and instead hang out in Athens. We had a week in Greece and two main goals: (1) spend as little money as possible, (2) see and do as much as we could. Now, these two goals may seem at odds with one another but through some effort and a little bit of luck we did pretty well. And so, we bring you our guide to Athens on a Shoestring:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB">Ride the Metro</span></b><span lang="EN-GB"> (or the bus, tram, or trolley). The Athens Metro is pretty snazzy, no doubt due to the piles of money that was used to upgrade it for the 2000 Olympics. We purchased 7-day travel passes for only 10 euros each that allowed to travel anywhere in Athens on the Metro or on any bus, tram or trolley. It even got us out of town to the beaches along the southern coast. Compare that to London where you’ll pay 4 pounds to go one stop!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB">Stay at Hotel Neos Olympos.</span></b><span lang="EN-GB"> We found this place after reading some favourable reviews on TripAdvisor. It’s located pretty close to the Larissa Train Station so getting to and from the major attractions in Athens is really easy. We decided to get a private room but with a shared bathroom which saved us about 5 euros a night. The room was nice and comfortable, if a little basic. Also, as we were staying for 6 nights we were able to negotiate a 10 percent discount on the room. Where this place really paid off for us budget travellers though was the free breakfast. Each morning we filled up on cereal, boiled eggs, crusty bread, ham, cheese, and tea and coffee. They also had these huge oranges which was great as we ended up sneaking a few extra oranges into our bag each day so that we didn’t have to spend money on lunch! Oh, and they had free internet. Check ‘em out: <a href="http://www.hotelneosolympos.com/">http://www.hotelneosolympos.com/</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S__XDfPco6I/AAAAAAAAAfg/RDVxEWE6Ido/s1600/IMG_0705.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S__XDfPco6I/AAAAAAAAAfg/RDVxEWE6Ido/s320/IMG_0705.JPG" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB">Visit the Acropolis on the first Sunday of the month.</span></b><span lang="EN-GB"> We found out through TripAdvisor (again) that the Acropolis is free on the first Sunday of every month (that might not be accurate so if you’re going check beforehand. It was definitely free on the first Sunday in May though). The normal price of admission is around 12 euros so it was a huge savings. Of course, as it was free the place was completely crawling with tourists but then the Acropolis is generally quite busy. If you really want to beat the crowds the best time to go is probably early morning. We just went at midday as we’re too lazy to get up that early. If you’re not lucky enough to be in Athens on the first Sunday of the month and don’t want to pay to see the big ruins you could always just hike up Filopappos Hill. It’s free, there’s a nice view of the Acropolis, and you can even have some fun with cameras as evidenced by this piece of photographic wizardry.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S__ag1ISFbI/AAAAAAAAAgI/CkkJ0CZMAMo/s1600/IMG_0734.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S__ag1ISFbI/AAAAAAAAAgI/CkkJ0CZMAMo/s320/IMG_0734.JPG" /></a></div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB">View the Temple of Olympian Zeus from afar.</span></b><span lang="EN-GB"> These ruins are pretty cool and definitely worth seeing but do they really look that different whether you’re looking at them from 5 feet or 500 feet? We decided to enjoy the Temple from outside the fence and save ourselves 2 euros a pop.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S__Xm9TH70I/AAAAAAAAAf4/r3a6K7FLgxo/s1600/IMG_0771.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S__Xm9TH70I/AAAAAAAAAf4/r3a6K7FLgxo/s320/IMG_0771.JPG" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; font-style: italic;">Looks just as old from here</span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; font-style: italic;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB">Walk around the famous Plaka. </span></b><span lang="EN-GB">That’s right, walk. Don’t buy anything, that’ll cost money. Just walk. It’s quite a nice area and you might find yourself enjoying watching other people spending their own cash while yours stays safely tucked away in your pocket.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S__YxALTt-I/AAAAAAAAAgA/DorhApiIKNQ/s1600/IMG_0654.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S__YxALTt-I/AAAAAAAAAgA/DorhApiIKNQ/s320/IMG_0654.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; font-style: italic;">Watching these guys do their thing (whatever that is) was free too</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; font-style: italic;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB">Eat gyros.</span></b><span lang="EN-GB"> They’re traditional, delicious, cheap, and fat free (well, maybe not the last one). Throw in a Greek Salad to share and you’ve got a tasty meal that won’t break the bank. This was our dinner every night, we couldn’t afford anything else. Stupid Euro.</span></div>Lee and Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10557319838434305386noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2454004546279771200.post-64256523197564350292010-05-05T13:36:00.000-04:002010-05-05T13:36:10.295-04:00Things Seen on the Back of a Motorbike in Southeast Asia4 Upside down dead pigs<br />
1 television<br />
1 family of five<br />
50 dead ducks<br />
1 full size refrigerator<br />
1 six foot ladder<br />
100 plus coconuts<br />
1 Courtney<br />
4 five foot tall porcelain vases<br />
1 glass display case full of pastries and danish<br />
1 large spool of chain link fencing<br />
2 ironing boards<br />
1 sleeping child<br />
1 Lee<br />
100 plus sheets of rice paper<br />
1 Monk smoking a cigarette<br />
10 large truck tires<br />
60 plus pots and pansLee and Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10557319838434305386noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2454004546279771200.post-62114995622422034622010-05-04T14:11:00.000-04:002010-05-04T14:11:10.423-04:00Koh Lanta<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S-BgGVEB0rI/AAAAAAAAAeo/cG6WJjvsyxI/s1600/IMG_0409.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S-BgGVEB0rI/AAAAAAAAAeo/cG6WJjvsyxI/s320/IMG_0409.JPG" /></a></div>After 7 weeks, 4 countries, 20 towns/cities, and over 3,000 miles our Southeast Asia adventure was nearing it's end. After so much traveling, and with a week left before our flight to Greece, we decided to head to southern Thailand for some beach time. We chose to go to the island of Koh Lanta as we had heard that the beaches are beautiful and it's a little quieter than some of Thailand's other islands. Koh Lanta is on the west coast of southern Thailand in Krabi Province. From Phnom Penh we decided to grab a cheap flight to Bangkok and then another to Phuket and from their we hopped on one of the numerous boats that ferry visitors to and from the islands in high season.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S-BgbbmLsTI/AAAAAAAAAew/XpYFjyEg5kg/s1600/IMG_0356.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S-BgbbmLsTI/AAAAAAAAAew/XpYFjyEg5kg/s320/IMG_0356.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>On the boat from Phuket to Lanta</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i> </i></span></div>We had one thing in mind when we decided to go to the Thai islands - bungalow on the beach! After a bit of comparison shopping (we spent the first night in a place called Moonwalk Resort. Nice bungalows and swimming pool but the owners weren't very friendly or helpful and it was a bit pricey) we found our happy place - <a href="http://www.lantaresort.com/hotels/lanta-emeral-bungalow/index.htm">Lanta Emerald</a>. Bungalow 30 feet from the beach, swimming pool, awesome beachside bar and friendly family running the place. Perfect.<br />
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For the first couple of days we hung out on the beach and by the pool. By the third day we were ready to do some more exploring. At this point, we've been moving around so much that neither of us are very good at staying still for long. Having learned nothing from our experience in Laos, we proceeded to rent another motorbike to get us around. Bit of a risk given Lee's motorbike driving record (experience: 1 day/ accidents: 1) but it really was the only way to get around on the island. That or forking over about $10 a ride to a local tuk tuk. It only cost $7 to rent the bike for the whole day so we decided it was more important to save our money than our skin. Fortunately there were no spills this time and Lee now considers himself an expert motorbike driver (experience: 3 days/ accidents: 1. A much more respectable record).<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S-BhbJNAvjI/AAAAAAAAAe4/FfXB-wR9Noc/s1600/IMG_0478.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S-BhbJNAvjI/AAAAAAAAAe4/FfXB-wR9Noc/s320/IMG_0478.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Lanta Old Town</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i> </i></span></div>With the bike we were able to visit Lanta Old Town on the other side of the island and we also discovered some stunning secluded beaches along the southwest coast. On a couple of occasions we attempted to find some markets to do some shopping but nobody quite knew when they would be open. We received several tips that a rather large market would be open on Sunday up by the ferry pier, We were even told the best time to go (3pm apparently). So we scooted up there mid-afternoon only to find that it had finished up earlier that morning.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S-BhlxnlrUI/AAAAAAAAAfA/1-Ueto9laH8/s1600/IMG_0505.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S-BhlxnlrUI/AAAAAAAAAfA/1-Ueto9laH8/s320/IMG_0505.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Secluded beach</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i> </i></span></div>In the evenings we tried a few different restaurants/bars for dinner and drinks but the best one on the island seemed to be our very own beach bar, the Ting Tong Bar. Run by a friendly group of Sea Gypsies (there's actually a Sea Gypsy Village on Koh Lanta. Seriously, look it up. ok here you go: http://www.koh-lanta-hotel.com/attraction.htm) the Ting Tong Bar was hopping every night. "Toffee" seemed to be the main man and he spent each night making sure everyone was enjoying themselves. The food was pretty good too. Our favorite dish was probably the seafood Mussaman Curry, delicious! We also met a nice couple from London, Chris and Sarah (they were actually our bungalow neighbors) and their friend Gary who we hung out with for a few days.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S-BjFksuRqI/AAAAAAAAAfQ/sbQyQKn0Q5U/s1600/IMG_0533.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S-BjFksuRqI/AAAAAAAAAfQ/sbQyQKn0Q5U/s320/IMG_0533.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S-BieyVqq1I/AAAAAAAAAfI/nCFwMSDNRn0/s1600/IMG_0571.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S-BieyVqq1I/AAAAAAAAAfI/nCFwMSDNRn0/s320/IMG_0571.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>View of sunset from the Ting Tong Bar</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i> </i></span></div>Koh Lanta is definitely on the list of places we have to go back to. To be honest, most of the places we visited in this part of the world are on that list. Until next time.Lee and Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10557319838434305386noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2454004546279771200.post-87853683251551794332010-04-28T02:45:00.000-04:002010-04-28T02:45:03.830-04:00Siem Reap and the Temples of Angkor<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S9fW9OTUWzI/AAAAAAAAAd4/k2vS5Xh2HcE/s1600/IMG_0084.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S9fW9OTUWzI/AAAAAAAAAd4/k2vS5Xh2HcE/s400/IMG_0084.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Any visit to Cambodia would be incomplete without a visit to the ancient Temples of Angkor in Siem Reap. We'd been looking forward to this since we started planning our trip last year and we could barely contain our excitement as we made our way to the bus station in Phnom Penh to catch an overnight bus for the 5 hour journey north.<br />
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Excitement quickly turned to horror when we saw the bus we'd be traveling on. Our night bus was actually more of a nightmare bus! To say that the bus was suffering from a bit of wear and tear would be a gross understatement. If you've read any of our other posts you'll know that we've been on one or two rough bus rides (it's become a bit of a theme actually) but this one topped the lot. Not only was the bus in truly shocking condition, the driver was a completely insane. When we joined some other passengers in insisting that another bus be provided his response was "no problem, no problem." As you can probably guess, that didn't mean "Of course, we'll have a nice new bus along in just a moment. Your comfort and safety is our number one priority. No, it meant you either get on this bus or you won't be going anywhere any time soon.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S9fXh5jHCMI/AAAAAAAAAeA/ENg8faV74LE/s1600/IMG_0019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S9fXh5jHCMI/AAAAAAAAAeA/ENg8faV74LE/s320/IMG_0019.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ad for bus to Siem Reap</span></i></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S9fXCrF2mzI/AAAAAAAAAd8/Sc7Ews3ztKo/s1600/IMG_0018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S9fXCrF2mzI/AAAAAAAAAd8/Sc7Ews3ztKo/s320/IMG_0018.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Actual bus to Siem Reap. Spot the difference.</span></i></div><br />
Getting on the bus was probably not the wisest choice we've ever made but we made it there in one piece in the end, albeit with our nerves a little shot. And as Lizzie would say, the story is "good for the blog!"<br />
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Anyway, Siem Reap. What can you say about this place? It's pretty hard to put into words how amazing the Temples of Angkor are, the pictures barely even do it justice. We rented tuk tuks for the day ($35 for 2) to take us out to the temples and drive us from site to site. We arrived at Angkor Wat, the main temple, at a little after 5am to watch the sun come up over the temple and lake. We spent the whole day exploring various sites, we visited 5 in total, and watched the sun go down from one of the temples in the evening. Unfortunately, Courtney was quite sick for the first half of the day with an upset stomach so she didn't have the best morning but she was determined not to let it ruin our day so she soldiered on and made it through a full 12-hours of walking around the temples.<br />
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While in Siem Reap we stayed at Mitri Guesthouse (<a href="http://www.blogger.com/%28http://mitriguesthouse.com/">http://mitriguesthouse.com/</a>). A nice, family-run guesthouse with basic rooms that included AC, TV, hot shower and free internet all for $12-a-night! Great value.<br />
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On either side of our marathon day at the temples we decided just to relax in town. On our first day we grabbed breakfast at the Singing Tree Restaurant, an awesome little place on the food alley in town (next to Pub Street) and after some exploring we treated ourselves to a massage...by some fish! For $2 you can have little fish nibble the dead skin from your feet for 15 minutes. After you get over the initial ticklishness of it it's actually quite a nice sensation. Some local kids came by selling books and ended up watching as the fish went to work. Their poor little feet looked like they could use a break so we ended up treating them to massages of their own and they loved it!<br />
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On our last day in town it was so hot so we decided to find a hotel with a pool that we could cool off in. We each paid $4 to use a lovely rooftop pool at the Riverside Hotel. We watched the sun go down in the distance before heading out for a few drinks to say goodbye to Kate, Lizzie and Claire (for the second time!) A great way to end our whistle-stop tour of Cambodia.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S9fZNhSNZjI/AAAAAAAAAek/Ek26gZ-6h3A/s1600/IMG_0250.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S9fZNhSNZjI/AAAAAAAAAek/Ek26gZ-6h3A/s320/IMG_0250.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Lee and Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10557319838434305386noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2454004546279771200.post-69485281163727686822010-04-18T00:56:00.012-04:002010-04-28T02:01:38.092-04:00Phnom Penh, Cambodia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S9fOaXzK-LI/AAAAAAAAAds/tSxCYQ5oqSc/s1600/IMG_0012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S9fOaXzK-LI/AAAAAAAAAds/tSxCYQ5oqSc/s320/IMG_0012.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Welcome to Cambodia - land of temples, daytime pajama-wearing, and naked babies!<br />
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From Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon if you're old school) we hopped a bus across the border to Cambodia's captial, Phnom Penh. We arrived bang in the middle of the Buddhist New Year celebrations so a lot of things were closed and overall it was pretty quiet.<br />
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First impressions of Cambodia, or at least Phnom Penh, were that it is much more developed than we thought it would be. There are not as many taller buildings as we saw in Bangkok and Saigon for example, but the city seemed to be spread over quite a large area and there's a pretty strong western influence, particularly in the restaurants and bars.<br />
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Another thing that struck us was the incredible number of really young children selling a variety of things from books to bracelets. It was quite sad really. There is obviously quite a significant amount of poverty throughout southeast Asia and we've seen children working in each country we've visited, but there seemed to be so many more of them here in Phnom Penh and they were so aggressive. It becomes clear pretty quickly that the kids receive some training in the art of selling to tourists, each one running through the exact same sales pitch trying to encourage you to part with some cash. These kids are so smart too. If the initial sales pitch doesn't go well they ask where you're from. Once they know they start to rattle off facts about your country - current president/PM, total population, capital city, last year's GDP - they know more about where you live than you probably do!<br />
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We would see the same kids over and over again and would try to make them smile and have some fun with them. Our favorite little guy was called "Pop". He had a great personality, gregarious and very smart. He would hang out with us for a bit each day when he would come by selling books. On our last day in Phnom Penh he gave all the girls hugs, you could literally see Courtney's heart melting.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S9fOm9Z1NLI/AAAAAAAAAdw/rGzrYcqjWiM/s1600/IMG_0004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S9fOm9Z1NLI/AAAAAAAAAdw/rGzrYcqjWiM/s320/IMG_0004.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Lee and Pop</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div>Although the children selling things was pretty sad, we saw some genuinely happy sights. There seemed to be a lot of young babies all over the place in PP and parents weren't too concerned about putting any clothes on them either! Not surprised really, it was so hot when we were there. Everywhere we'd go we'd see little babies without a stitch on, running around with big smiles on their faces, having the time of their lives! "Oh my God! That baby is sooooo cute!!" was heard on more than a couple of occasions.<br />
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The mystery we never quite got to the bottom of in PP was why a not insignificant number of people were out and about at any given time of the day, fully decked out in flannel pajamas! Those things are hot even when it's minus 3 outside and you're on top of the covers with the AC on so wearing them while sweeping the sidewalk in 40 degree heat must be murder!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S9fO-eVMpoI/AAAAAAAAAd0/wAlN5uE0HN0/s1600/IMG_0314.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FgvfV73sVP0/S9fO-eVMpoI/AAAAAAAAAd0/wAlN5uE0HN0/s320/IMG_0314.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>A particularly fetching set of PJs on the back of a motorbike</i></span></div>Lee and Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10557319838434305386noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2454004546279771200.post-18686517568793619542010-04-16T07:49:00.000-04:002010-04-16T07:49:52.290-04:00Technical Difficulties - Part IISome of you avid followers might have noticed that there haven't been as many photos uploaded recently. As we mentioned previously, we've had a few issues with cameras (now on our 3rd of the trip) and memory cards but that's all sorted out now. However, access to decent internet is tricky in Cambodia and uploading photos takes forever. So, we're trying to upload photos in batches to keep us from going insane from sitting in sweaty internet cafes for hours on end. Hopefully we'll have them all up online for your viewing pleasure very soon.<br />
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L & CLee and Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10557319838434305386noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2454004546279771200.post-75485519114126046052010-04-16T07:06:00.002-04:002010-04-16T07:45:00.445-04:00SaigonUnfortunately, due to our schedule we were only able to stay in Saigon (now named Ho Chi Minh City after Uncle Ho) for one day, but what we saw of it made us want to come back for more. We arrived in the evening after a 5-hour bus ride from Mui Ne and the streets were bustling with all sorts of activity. Saigon has a pretty cool vibe with tons of bars and restaurants to fit every budget and taste. The night we arrived we actually ended up having some pretty good Mexican food at a place called Cantina, just off of <span rel="v:address"><span class="street-address" property="v:street-address">Pham Ngu Lao Street in District 1 (one of the main backpacker areas).</span></span><br />
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<span rel="v:address"><span class="street-address" property="v:street-address">The following day we visited the War Remnants Museum which contains artifacts and photographs from the Vietnam War (referred to as the "American War" in Vietnam). The displays are graphic and pretty shocking and, unsurprisingly, very one-sided. Up until the mid-90s the museum was actually called "Museum of American War Crimes."</span></span><br />
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<span rel="v:address"><span class="street-address" property="v:street-address">One of the most interesting parts of the day for us was meeting a group of American Marines who organize tours to Vietnam several times a year for veterans. We asked them what they thought of the museum and they said that what is displayed is real and happened during the war but is less than one percent of the full the story. They pointed out that there were atrocities on both sides and it is the unfortunate reality of war. We were also surprised to learn that on their tours they regularly meet with North Vietnamese veterans to give presentations about certain events during the war and engage in a dialogue.</span></span><br />
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<span rel="v:address"><span class="street-address" property="v:street-address">After the museum we went to Reunification Palace but it was closed for lunch so we took a few snapshots and grabbed some lunch ourselves.</span></span>Lee and Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10557319838434305386noreply@blogger.com0