Closing the Blog - and Thoughts

Monday 16 April

This will probably be my last entry on this site, apart from some thoughts about the trip that I want to sit and cogitate about – what will I do without my blog to write? We are still struggling to come to terms with being home – or rather I am – but I must persevere. The weather is still warm here today, but apparently the temperatures are plummeting tomorrow – where else could we be but in the UK.

We decided to start at the front of the house and work our way backwards, so we tidied the front “garden” – ie removed all the weeds from the paved area - and worked our way indoors to the washing machine and finding where everything is kept – everything is still in the same place as when we left, but it’s amazing how you forget which drawer the cutlery is in, or where the plates are kept.

This afternoon we made a short visit to Sainsburys – Colin, in his wisdom, had made a short shopping list of ‘desirables’ which never crossed my mind – but neither of us took our Nectar cards, so we weren’t that organized (I can’t even find my handbag or purse yet!). When it came to cooking dinner later tonight I had to start another list of “essentials” that I found we were short of. It feels very strange – having to think about what to buy to cook for dinner (you just read a menu and order don’t you?!) We decided on an easy roast chicken meal for the first attempt, but timing it to be ready at the right time – something we haven’t thought about for months and which I was never good at before – I still failed by half an hour, but perhaps practice will make perfect. And clearing away after the meal, seemed to take nearly as long as cooking it – even with a dishwasher. I am definitely not made for domestic chores.

We are still trying to accustom ourselves – or is it just me – to being home, and trying to return to some normalcy. Tomorrow we plan to attempt to salvage my car with a good clean and polish, before sorting out a new battery – we later found out that the battery is a special, only available from Mazda – but a kind man at a local shop sold us something similar, and at least the car goes now. The amount of work to do at home is almost mind-blowing and de-motivating, but the way forward seems to be to think only about one day at a time. And there will be lots more journeys to plan and experience – I have found a great cruise to incorporate into our American journey – so will be contacting the “Fab Four” for some background.

Here are just a few initial thoughts about the trip:

Best Moment – standing on the Great Wall in China – the whole purpose of the trip when we started to plan. The day was clear and sunny – one of the few smogless days in Beijing – and I managed to walk along till we could go no further at that site. The views were stunning – across the Chinese mountains, into Mongolia and the Gobi Desert and out across the plain.

Runners Up: Rafting in the Thailand jungle when the rest of the experience was so very hard.
The pool attendant handing me my towel as I got out of the swimming pool at the Copacabana Palace – I felt like a princess.
Finding our carriage on the Trans Siberian Train – such a lovely surprise.

Best continent –South America - as we had no expectations of what we would see and find. It is so diverse the pleasures are endless and there’s still lots to go back and see.

Runners Up: Australia

Best country – Peru – probably for the same reasons as above – there are so many different landscapes, each with its own particular scenery to explore – from coastal plain to very high mountains, from the lush green of the jungle to the bare arid landscape of the desert.

Runners Up: Australia – we loved the sheer size of the country – the endless miles across the outback – one day we drove further than from home to Edinburgh, and Australians think nothing of that. Adelaide, Alice, Darwin, Cairns and Melbourne were all fabby, but the east coast stopped this country reaching my number 1 slot, as we felt it was very holiday-camp-ish. Again there is still much more to explore – all the western side of the country for a start – just a few thousand miles – and I am sure we will be back.

Best City: A tie between Berlin and Barcelona – both had so much to offer the visitor, that another visit to each is a definite.

Runners Up: Beijing – becoming so westernized now, the city is changing overnight, but it is full of wonderful sights and interesting culture and there is still lots more to see and do here too – also a new railway line now runs from Beijing to Lhasa – the longest tunnel and the highest railway – over 5,000 metres up – so maybe one day.

But would also have to include Bangkok – we love this city and have already visited it several times – a must to return.

Best Mode of Travel – A tie again, between the Trans-Siberian train and the cruise from Rio to Barcelona on the Insignia. Both 5* AA service, food and amenities.

Runner Up: Must mention the excellent coach we had for the Sydney to Darwin tour. It was extremely spacious and comfortable. We saw many new coaches whilst in Barcelona and if this is how they are developing, coach travel could become a major consideration for the future.

Best tour: Sydney to Darwin – we were very lucky to be with such a great crowd of people and the visits were all so varied and interesting, that the long distances between each stop were no problem.

Runners Up: China and Patagonia (Lapwing) Rio Negro

Best Hotel: – Copacabana Palace in Rio – the service was exemplary and the hotel magnificent, it was just a shame that Rio itself is so dangerous and not to be explored.

Runners Up: Explora at San Pedro – which combined excellent activities with great food and facilities, and the Convent in Salvador which was just 5*AA all the way.

Best Wildlife: Rio Negro – a small fazenda run like a family home – so welcoming – and although we mainly saw birds, visiting at another time of the year we would see a completely different range of animals. Being able to travel by boat, horse (we didn’t), truck and on foot, also made the experience more interesting.

Runners Up: Sandoval Lodge – trudging miles through thick mud to the Lake to see the family of Giant otters, monkeys and macaws so close at hand was amazing. Just didn’t like the “bugs” and spiders that lived alongside us.

New Activities: Horse riding – I really enjoyed the opportunities to ride and would definitely consider riding again.

Runners Up: Hang gliding – again a great experience to see the countryside wheeling below – but not something I will hanker to do again. And cycling – not experienced since I was a teenager – I really enjoyed biking around Aruthaya in Thailand. It’s a shame the traffic is so manic at home.

Special Places: Buzios – a great little seaside resort just two hours north of Rio – if only it was a little closer – it had everything – warm weather, great food and armfuls of atmosphere – another must visit again destination.

And Also: Smile in Bophut – we spend five glorious weeks here. With visits from family and friends, the time passed very quickly, and we were so relaxed when we left that getting back into “tour” mode was extremely difficult. I can still taste those cocktails at the Frog and Gecko, Happy Elephant and the Beatles bar – a good reason to return.

Could Not Do Without: Colin, of course. I could never have undertaken this trip without him. He was a "superstar" and always there for me.

Runner Up: The “Thai-shite” has been fabby throughout and enabled us to keep in contact with lots of people – one of the only problems we had during the whole adventure, was a cable that didn’t work once we were back at Juz’s on the Thursday morning and Dave was able to produce a new one immediately – so we could still use it – might have been more of a problem if that had happened in the Pantanal or somewhere else equally remote.

Long Lasting: Only two sets of batteries in my toothbrush the whole way round

Runner Up: Colin’s case – it was over the 20kg allowance all the way round, but is still in great condition nine months later.

Biggest Expense: Replacing cameras – one faulty and one waterlogged.

Runner Up: Treatments on the cruise – the Spa was horrendously expensive.


PS

We have had an absolutely fabby time on our adventure around the world, and would recommend to anyone to do it. The countries, culture and people we met were all so different and fascinating, and we were so lucky to have escaped with only a few hiccups – passports stolen in St Petersburg, credit card cloned in Rio and flights cancelled throughout Chile – which in the end were all quite easily overcome with the help of other people.

We have a lot of people to be grateful to that helped us book this trip – Roz, Alex and Sarah at Trailfinders were fantastic, nothing was too much trouble when I kept changing our plans; Margaret at Ffestiniog Travel, when the trains decided to strike just a week before our departure; and Euniz for getting us started with our tour around China. Without these and others it would have been very hard to have accomplished so much.

Then there’s the people at home who have read the blog to keep up with our travels and emailed, keeping us in touch with all their news – it was always great when we heard from anyone – like getting a present. And most particularly Juz and Dave who have kept us abreast of all the family news “as it happens”, and Nick for looking after our house so well.

We have been back in the UK over a week now, and at home for three days. It has been a busy time here, trying to catch up with everything - we only got to open the box of mountainous post accumulated over the nine months – and that’s without the junk mail that Nick has sifted. My car is now back on the road, and hopefully Colin will be mobile again next Monday. We are gradually getting back into some sort of routine, but its not like exploring new places, meeting new people, sitting on our balcony in Buzioz, or supping cocktails in the sun – although the weather here is still sunny it is not warm. I am still trying to sort out our next “adventure”, but it is unlikely that it will be anything so gigantic as this trip.

We haven’t started looking at the photos yet, so cannot bore everyone with our “album”, but I am going to try and print the blog with some associated piccys as a great reminder – to me - of nine wonderful months.