Around the World in 365 days
In and around World
The idea was conceived thousands of years ago when man was forced to be a nomad in search of basic needs - food and shelter.
The decision to execute was made in Acapulco - on a night of a tropical storm that forced us to stay in our hotel room.
First destination South America. Date of departure January 3rd, 2006. Duration of travels -365 days!!!
Route taken and entries by Real Traveler The Journeyers
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1
Departure day
OK so we actually left on the 3rd but I had to do this to get the map to show our departure from the US to Ecuador.
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Eternal Springtime: Quito
How do we sum up a city and culture in a paragraph? Well, I guess to start generalizations are a good place. People: Pretty plain looking. Not... Continue reading »
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3
Galapagos Islands - Bird paradise?
The Galapagos are quite magnificent and a must for the avid nature lover. The best way to experience the Islands is taking a boat and island hoppin... Continue reading »
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4
Largest city in Ecuador - Guayaquil
We had planned to spend just a night in Guayaquil before taking a 24 hour bus ride to Lima, Peru. Well not quite. First our awesome camera decided... Continue reading »
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5
Desert Drawings - Nazca
Nasca is the closest city to the myserious desert drawings etched thousands of years ago by the local people. Lots of theories ranging from UFO relat... Continue reading » -
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The White City
Arequipa is also known as La Ciudad Blanca ("The White City") of Peru for the use of volcanic sillar rock in buildings in the historical section of... Continue reading »
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7
Qusco - Navel of the World
First of all, we have to state the being the "Navel of the World" was intended as a compliment in the sense of being the center of the world. ... Continue reading »
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8
Uros tribe on lake Titicaca (Reed Islands)
In lake Titicaca (Elevation 3809m or a little over 12,000 feet) there is a tribe of indigenous people who live on floating islands they construct f... Continue reading »
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9
Birthplace of the Inca Sun God - Isla del Sol
Isla del Sol (Sun Island) is similar to Tequile island on the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca where people depend mostly on tourism and agriculture... Continue reading »
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10
La Paz & Tihuanaco - Gate way to the Sun
The city of La Paz is a pretty amazing place. It sits at about 13000 feet and as Osa says, "The combination of thin air and car exhaust bring... Continue reading »
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Exploring the Pantanal
We spent only one night in Corumba but it was my first contact with Brazil and thus quite exciting. Had our first experience with pay by kilo resta... Continue reading »
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13
Spectacular water falls - Foz de Iguazu
This is the most amazing natural wonder in South America that I think most people in the US have never heard of. Not sure why we haven´t because it r... Continue reading » -
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Switzerland of South America - Montevideo
Montevideo is a city that doesn´t get much exposure in the US and it is really a shame. I think it has been the nicest city we´ve visited so far. It... Continue reading » -
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Cobblestone Streets on the River of Silver- Colonia del Sacramento
Colonia was founded by the Portuguese at the mouth of the Rio de Plata (River of Silver) as a jumping off point to smuggle goods in and out of Buen... Continue reading »
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16
Serious Beach Party Scene- Punta del Este
Punta Del Este seems to be like the South Beach of this part of South America. (Actually it is cleaner!) It is built on a peninsula that sticks out... Continue reading » -
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Rustic beach village - Punta del Diablo
Punta del Diablo was truly a special place and very different from Punta del Este. It is located just a few hours east of Punta del Este but gettin... Continue reading »
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18
Florianapolis
Florianapolis is located along the southern coast of Brazil. The city is divided with half of it on the mainland and the other half on Santa... Continue reading »
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19
Carnaval 2006!!
Rio Carnival at last! We, I think walked away with mixed feelings. On the one hand it was really exciting and pretty wild to have finally made it t... Continue reading »
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20
Capoeira Capital of the World
I found Bahia to be fascinating and very different from anywhere else I have ever been. A tiny history of Bahia might better help understand... Continue reading »
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21
Lounging in Lisbon
Portugal is a bit overlooked due to its larger more dominant neighbor Spain. The people here are very proud of their illustrious past and a... Continue reading »
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22
Ole Madrid!
Osa - Madrid left us pretty breathless. It is a bustling and exciting city which never seems to sleep even when it is pouring rain.....and it raine... Continue reading »
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23
Home to the Alhambra
Granada is probably best known for the Alhambra, a castle initially built by Islamic rulers, though parts of it were later destroyed and... Continue reading »
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24
Barthelona - Gaudi's City
Barcelona is such a lovely city, I am just surprised that you don't hear more about it. It is an architecturally fascinati... Continue reading »
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25
Sometimes It´s Good to be Small!
Andorra is a small country that sits in the mountains between Spain and France and is only about 2.5 times the size of Washington, DC. The offic... Continue reading » -
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The Transporter and Count of Monte Cristo
The movie "The Transporter" was shot around Marseille and the famous prison "Chateau de If" which was the setting for the book "The Count of Monte Cri... Continue reading » -
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Nice - The capital of the Riviera and fifth largest city in France
Nice we found to be much more pleasant than Marseille in terms of feel and style. Cannes (home of the famous film festival) is only 20 minutes a... Continue reading » -
28
Money, money everywhere but not a cent to spare
First I saw more luxury cars, from Ferraries to Lamborghinis and Bentleys, in one day than I had seen my whole life, secondly I will take Vegas ove... Continue reading »
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29
"Veni, vidi, vici"
“This is the Appian Way. The most famous road that leads to Rome, as all roads lead to Rome.” - quote from the movie Quo Vadis
Rome is so ful... Continue reading »
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30
The cradle and heart of the Renaissance
Culture week in Italy rocks!!!! Most museums and historic sites were free and the crowds....well this is Florence (or Venice or Rome or Naples) so... Continue reading »
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31
Vatican City
Vatican City is apparently the smallest independent nation in the world. And, considering it is a theological dictatorship, thankfully doesn´t s... Continue reading » -
32
Pompeii was magnificent!!!
Pompeii is a ruined Roman city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania. Napoli, as the Italians call it did not endear itself to us. O... Continue reading »
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33
" When I went to Venice, my dream became my home" -Marcel Proust
Venice is amazing and truly a unique city. It is also about 2 degrees of being underwater...so plan accordingly.
For the most expensive city... Continue reading »
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34
Shall we waltz?
Vienna is a great place to visit if you are looking for a typical European flavor of history and culture without the throngs of tourists that... Continue reading »
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35
Budapest - Beautiful City on the Danube
Budapest it turns out is actually three cities all together which form one metropolitan area. Buda, Pest, and Obuda. All of the action see... Continue reading » -
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Osa´s Med School and Ukraine´s Patriotic Heart
Lviv City I am proud to say (Osa) is officially included to the UNESCO List of World Monuments of Architecture. I have quoted below a po... Continue reading »
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37
Capital of Ukraine
Kiev is Ukraine´s capital and a much larger city than Lviv and didn´t have nearly as much contact with the Austrian/Hungarians. As a result... Continue reading » -
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Very Tourist-Friendly Krakow
In trying to choose between Warsaw and Krakow, everyone kept telling us how great Krakow was so we chose to go check it out and save Warsaw for a futu... Continue reading » -
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One Day Visit
We only had a day to spend in Berlin between our early morning train arrival and evening bus departure for Hamburg. Certainly not enough to do j... Continue reading » -
40
San Francisco of Germany?
Germany has a reputation as a reserved, cold place but Hamburg definitely is doing its share to change the stereotype! It is an extremely cos... Continue reading »
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41
Home to Europe's first civilization - Minoan Civilization
Heraklion is the capital and economical centre of Crete region. It has a population of about 150,000 rendering it a good place to not just relax an... Continue reading »
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42
The Acropolis, first Olympic stadium and my fav. Kalamata Olives
Athens is named after Athena, the goddess of wisdom, weaving, crafts, and war. Athens is considered to be the cradle of Western civiliza... Continue reading »
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43
One cold rainy day in the Space Cake capital of the World
Since both Korak and I had visited Amsterdam in the past we decided not to linger and just spent a night there. Continue reading » -
44
Manneken Pis....
Brussels is considered to be the capital of Europe (it is said perhaps because the best French cuisine is served here and not in Paris...oops).&nbs... Continue reading »
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45
"Comment ca va!" "Mon vieux!" "Mon cher!"
The poet Heinrich Heine wrote of Paris: 'Living is so fine, so sweet on the banks of the Seine, in Paris." No city in Europe is celebrated as much... Continue reading »
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46
Big Ben, the Monarchy and the unforgettable Beatles!
London home to 'fab' fashion, the unruly Monarchy...and now home to Madonna (sorry but I just had to insert that here!!!). This was probably my 8th... Continue reading »
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47
Cork - No... it isn't named after the things in wine bottles.
Cork is a really nice small city in the southwest part of Ireland. It actually looks a lot like the upper midwest of the US except that there ar... Continue reading » -
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Back on familiar ground
We bounced around quite a bit during our time in the US this summer getting visas. For simplicity, we are just posting one entry for each cit... Continue reading »
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50
Insane DC drivers
What a bizarre city! In the pursuit of Visas, Washington DC is a logical place to go because all of the countries we would visit have consulates... Continue reading » -
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Delhi...journey into the unknown
Delhi is an assault to all your senses, it is hard to even know how or where to begin. Well, we were scammed the moment we arrived in India but mor... Continue reading »
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54
Haveli Central
We were convinced by a tour agent at our real hotel in Delhi to use the services of a car and driver for the next 14 days to tour the state of Raja... Continue reading »
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55
Yep... It was a temple of rats...
Outside the city of Bikaner there is a temple in a small village where rats are worshipped. Maybe worshipped is strong. They aren'... Continue reading »
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56
The Golden City...
This was the first of the 'colored' cities (there is still the blue and pink city to come apparently). Jaisalmer is so called for its use of a yell... Continue reading »
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57
I am blue la da di, la da da...
Jodhpur is the second-largest city in Rajasthan and has a more modern feel though the streets are still crowded with non-cars (people, small... Continue reading »
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58
City Of Lakes
Udaipur first of all impressed us with its cleanliness. Please understand that the standards I am using here are quite different than&nb... Continue reading »
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59
Pushy priests of Pushkar
Pushkar is best known as the home to the worlds only Brahma temple. Brahma is the Creator and one of the gods of the Hindu trinity of gods (Vishnu,... Continue reading »
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60
The Pink City
Jaipur is the capital of Rajasthan and true to most capitals of the world is a bustling and energetic city. It particularly stands out in memory be... Continue reading »
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61
Shah Jahan's divine creation
Finally arrived in Agra after another harrowing drive through the dirt roads of India. On the way we stopped in Fatehpur Sikri (City of Victory) wh... Continue reading »
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62
Oldest continually inhabited city in the world
Arrived in Varanassi tired, filthy and in a foul mood. In typical manner, no-one was there to meet us at the train station and we had to call them... Continue reading »
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63
Kolkata is the renamed Calcutta of Mother Theresa fame...
We travelled to Kolkata to try and find "modern" India. We succeeded but only partially. Kolkata had a few small areas where there was... Continue reading »
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64
Futile Effort...
After we arrived on the all night train in West Bengal state at 7 AM, we made our way by "taxi" to the only airport in the region. By about 1... Continue reading »
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65
Retreat to the Himalayas
Wow, arriving in Darjeeling was like arriving in a country other than India! Not surprising considering the population is mostly Nepalese and Tibet... Continue reading »
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Parting thoughts on India...
So our journey through India ends where it began. It will remain a vivid and memorable one regardless of either positive or negative connotations.<... Continue reading »
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67
Beijing...window to the future???
Beijing blew our minds! It is an ultra modern and sleek city of over 12 million people. We really didn't expect to see a world-clas... Continue reading »
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68
Hanging Temple and 1500yr old Buddhist grottoes!
Datong the city has little to offer but nearby are the very unusual 'hanging' monastery and the Yungang caves.
The Hanging Tem... Continue reading »
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69
Intact Ming Dynasty City Wall
Pingyao is a small city which was partially lost in time. It wasn't important enough during recent history to warrant knocking down and rebui... Continue reading »
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70
Army of Terracotta Warriors
After Pingyao, Xi'an feels like a giant metropolis. Which, with a population of over 6 million, I suppose it is. It is a really nice mi... Continue reading »
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71
Luoyang - Pilgrimage to the Shaolin Temple
The city of Luoyang wasn't a particularly nice place but not bad either. Just kind of a "rough around the edges" blue-collar industrial town.... Continue reading »
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72
Kaifeng - Capital of Northern Song Dynasty (960 to 1126)
One of the fun things about traveling in China is that their recorded history is unbroken for a couple thousand years! So, they have facts on... Continue reading »
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73
Three Gorges Dam and Cruising the Yangtze
Yichang is the location where the famous Three Gorges Dam project is underway. It will be the largest dam in the world and when complete shou... Continue reading »
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74
Chengdu - Giant Panda Breeding Research Base
Chengdu looked like a nice city when we arrived and turned out to be a friendly, pleasant place to spend some time. Our original visa was onl... Continue reading »
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75
Bizarre Mountains
A lot of Chinese ancient art seemed to show a very strange concept of what mountains looked like. Instead of pointy, triangular shapes they d... Continue reading »
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76
Queen (once whore) of the Orient.
Well hello Shanghai!! As with almost every city we have been in China, Shanghai did not fail to impress and astound. The number of high rise apartm... Continue reading »
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77
"One night in Bangkok makes the hard man humble" - Murray Head
Bangkok has a totally different feel than China. The entire city seems to be alive after dark with people everywhere, music, outdoor markets, et... Continue reading » -
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Baths with water buffaloes and elephants
Chiang Mai is in the north of Thailand, a mere 12 hour train ride from BKK. The train ride from BKK to CM was the first time on a train that served... Continue reading »
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79
Ahhh... The beach...
Phuket is an island that is essentially the epi-center of Thailand beach tourism. Unbelievable blue water, gorgeous beaches, lots of islands...&... Continue reading » -
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Rebuilding after the Tsunami
Khao Lak is one of the areas of Thailand that was hit hardest by the Tsunami in 2004. I naively asked if there were a lot of casualties and w... Continue reading »
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81
Similan Islands and Richelieu Rock
First the map disclaimer... The travel site didn't know where the islands were so I think it put the dot on land someplace!
We spent 4... Continue reading »
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82
Singapore
Arriving in Singapore after Thailand is a bit of shock. Thailand is well-developed but not really first-world and chaotic. Singapore is... Continue reading »
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83
Ton Sai - rock climber's paradise
Well we didn't exactly make it to Cambodia from Singapore and after some adventures eventually ended up on Tonsai beach in Krabi town. This beach w... Continue reading »
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84
Paradise Found!
Koh Phi Phi is pretty famous in Thailand for being a beautiful tropical paradise. When we first arrived, it seemed anything but that! W... Continue reading »
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