June 12, 2000
We are back in Turkey after several days in SYRIA. Internet is illegal in Syria therefore we could not write in this journal for the entire time we were there. I guess Assad, the president of Syria for the last 30 years, who actually just died on the day we were leaving Syria, decided that it would be dangerous to have the Syrians get any real news. All of the T.V., Radio and Newspapers are state-run and the information is controlled. Al-Assad's photo is EVERYWHERE in Syria. Every shop, every hotel, every restaurant, every bus has a photo of him. We never really figured out if it was a requirement or if people really idolized him that much. Whenever the discussion would come up with the locals about us being from the United States, the Syrians would tell us that they thought Clinton was good, America was good and Assad was especially good!
| Bosra | Courtesy of Galen Frysinger |
Syria boasts that it is 'the Cradle of Civilization' and rightfully so. There is evidence of civilization as far back as 6000 B.C. That's a long time ago! It seems that everybody has had their claim to Syria at one point or another throughout history. The Egyptians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Crusaders and Ottoman Turks all claimed it and thats just from 1300 BC to about 1945 AD! Damascus, the capital, is supposedly the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world.
The first thing we noticed as we left Turkey (by luxury bus, of course) and entered Syria is that the landscape changed from beautiful, lush, green to stark white desert as far as the eye could see. It was really strange because literally, as we crossed the border, it changed. We were wondering how the Turkish managed to get all of the good earth while the poor Syrians ended up with sand. Although the country wasn't as beautiful as Turkey, I felt that it was more stimulating in other ways. It was definately very Arab, very traditionally Islamic and more third world than Turkey although they are close neighbors. Most of the women wore black Abaya's (gowns) and black headscarfs. MANY of them were completely covered including black gloves and veiled faces. Keep in mind that it was the temperatures were in the high 80's and is only going to get hotter. As I like to make eye-contact with people and smile as a form of communication I found it really strange to pass a women completely veiled and not even know if she was looking in my direction. They almost seem like non-humans when you walk by. Quite a few of the women that weren't completely veiled had tattooed faces which was quite interesting. Apparently this is done before the wedding. (like branding a cow?) Most of the men wore the long, white gowns and red and white checkered head scarfs like Yassir Arafat wears.
| Palmyra | Courtesy of Galen Frysinger |
The Syrians are very friendly people and we found ourselves 'hostage to hospitality' many times. We were constantly be invited to people's homes for tea. We took one family up on the offer in Damascus. We were walking around in the evening looking for a particular restaurant and finally asked a woman if she knew of it. We were WAY OFF on our directions and she couldn't speak English well enough to tell us how to get there so she and her daughter walked about 10 blocks out of their way to show us! After we spent a few minutes thanking her for her kindness she invited us to her house the next morning for coffee. We did go to her house the next day and spent about 1 1/2 hours with her and her family drinking coffee and trying to communicate. This scenerio could have been repeated almost daily if we didn't turn down the offers. I also spent a morning in the home of several Bedouin familys in a remote village drinking tea. Dan opted not to go to this particular village but I really wanted to because I had heard that the houses were all made of mud and were called 'beehive homes' because of their shape. They looked like Cappacino icecream cones! Anyway, there were no buses or local transportation to get there so I took a bus to the closest village and then hitchhiked the rest of the way (I was with a girlfriend we had met earlier). It was a wonderful experience as the village was really something to see and pretty much the whole village came out to greet us and everyone wanted us to come in for tea. We took a couple of households up on the offer. It was quite fun to try to communicate with them, no one spoke English but the bonus was getting alot of great photos!
I could go on and on but I'm going to let Dan tell his story of Syria. I just have one question for you (or anyone that can answer it)...do the crotches of Syrian and Turkish men REALLY itch that much more than the crotches of men of the west...or is it just more socially acceptable to grope constantly in public?
06/13/00
Dan here.. I for one know nothing about gropping- in public or in private. I do know that Syria didn't hold a candle to Turkey as far as I am concerned. Turkey is pretty much like a green Europe whereas Syria is pretty much like hot sand. I will, however, give my good points and bad points.
The good: 1. Crusader castles in great condition. (In 1100 or so the Pope ordered that Jerusalem be taken away from the Muslims. After much bloodletting, the Europeans took Jerusalem, Syria and Turkey. They, or should I say the local slaves, built huge wonderful castles to defend the area. They were mostly retaken by the Muslims after a century or two and the inside churches turned into mosques.)
2. Good Turkish baths. In Damascus I went to a men only Hammam and spent a whooping $5.00 for a massage, rubdown and wash. The place opened in the 1100's and was in a spectacular building with a 50 foot ceiling and marble everywhere. It was just off a covered market road that has been in operation since the Roman times. I was the only tourist in the place.
3. The temples on top of temples. In Palmrya the Romans built the Temple of Bel on top of an ancient local temple. The Muslims then built a fort out of all the marble used by the Romans. In Damascus, the Romans built a huge, yes huge, temple for Jupiter on top of 6000 year old temples from the Aramaeans. The Muslims then built their very sacred Umayyad Mosque using some of the Roman walls and some of the columns as well.
4. It is cheap. Falafel meals for 20 cents and 3 star hotels for $9.00.
5. The Roman colonnades- some were up to 2 km in length.
6. The old taxis. We rode in a 1954 Chevy and a 1960 Mercedes Benz. They were both very large vehicles and perfect for Syria in that they ferry large amounts of people in comfort.
The Bad:
1. The trash everywhere. Black plastic bags in a stark desert environment sure do stand out.
2. Stupidity from way back. At one place, St. Simeon, a large marble temple was erected in the 3rd or 4th Century to honor this Christian guy who did not want anything to do with humans. He lived his life on a tall 50 foot stone pillar so that the peasants who wanted to touch him for good luck couldn't get near him. The leaders of the city told the slaves to build this temple in his honor. The breakdown of the town at the time was 125,000 free people and 375,000 slaves. I bet the slaves building the temple would have told Mr. Simeon to get real and stick that pillar where the sun doesn't shine.
3. The picures of Assad -- they were everywhere. It was a little creepy seeing the acting dictator direct that his picture and that of his sons be placed just about everywhere in the country. In the building that housed the border passport control I counted 29 pics of the dic. Little did I know that he had just died of a heart attach the day we left the country.
| Church of St Simeon | Courtesy of Galen Frysinger |
Leaving Syria for Turkey was quite an experience. We were on a used-to-be-luxury-but-not-anymore bus that had no windows that opened but also had no airconditioning (we're in the desert). It's only a 3 hour drive from Aleppo to Antakya but the actual border crossing took two hours. The bus company that does this crossing does it everyday but still the customs officers had everything taken off the bus and every compartment on the bus, both inside and out opened. He used a long stick and poked and proded every opening. There were alot of hand gestures and loud talking in Arabic, all of the bags were opened and groped a bit too. After going through this process on the Syrian side, we gathered our stuff, got back on the bus, drove about a mile through no-man's-land and went through the whole process again on the Turkish side. More proding, poking, hand gestures and loud talking, only this time in Turkish. We never really figured out what they thought they would find but you have to wonder.
June 14th, 2000
We now find ourselves in the central part of Turkey in an area called Cappadocia. We are in a magical little town called Goreme. Throughout Goreme are strange, wonderful little mountains called 'Fairy Chimneys' that are made of a soft stone called Sufa. Let me back up about 10,000,000 years. There were two large volcanoes that erupted in this area and covered the Cappadocia valley with ash. The ash hardened and then over years of erosion these pinnacles were formed. In 1900BC the Hittates discovered the softness of the stone and carved homes out of them. In the 2nd and 3rd Century AD Christians took over the caves as refuge from religious persecution. They expanded alot of the caves and now the valley is full of countless churches and monastaries carved out of the rock. Many of these churches and monastaries have wonderfully painted frescos on the walls and ceilings still intact even though they are 900 years old and older. Pretty much in every direction we look, there are doors, windows and pigeon holes carved in these "Fairy Chimneys". Matter of fact, the pension that we are staying in is carved out of a fairy chimney so our room is basically a little cave! We've spent the last two days on mountain bikes riding around the valley and the Fairy Chimneys. There are so many in the area that we could easily spend several weeks here and not see them all.
| Cappadocia (Goreme Valley), Turkey | Courtesy of Galen Frysinger |
June 26, 2000
Greetings from Muscat, Oman. We have just completed nine wonderful days staying with our friends from Saipan, Patricia and Lionel. Lionel has taken a job as the head ER doctor at a new private hospital in the capitol city of Muscat. They have a very nice seaside (well one house removed) house that is huge. It is about 1 block away from a very fancy Hyatt Hotel on the Gulf of Oman. Say goodbye backpackers, hello monster pool at the Hyatt.
Besides lounging at the pool to beat the heat (it's about 103 degrees) and eating them out of house and home, we have been chauffered around to some of the most amazing sites in the country. One day we took two 4 wheel drive vehicles to a "wadi" in the mountains. A wadi is a narrow valley through a steep rock canyon. We parked one vehicle at the bottom of the valley and drove to the top. We then spent the next 3 hours hiking through the narrowest of canyons. At times we were jumping off of boulders into deep cool pools of water. We also swam through a tunnel formed under a huge rock formations. The tunnel was about 70 feet long and dark inside. Had there been a rain storm we would have been shot through the tunnel like a bullet. Thank Allah there were no rains that day.
Patricia and Lionel also drove us to the high mountain of Jabal Shams. The drive itself was so amazing in that some of the time we were driving on what used to be the ocean seabed. We could see fossils in the rocks and it wasn't hard to see how this area is so rich in oil deposits. Celisa wanted to load my pack with fossils to bring home-- but of course I balked. The rock formations as whole reminded me of the canyonlands area of Utah mixed in with huge uplifted mountains with layers like the hogback along I-70 west of Denver. Once reaching near the summit of Jabal Shams we were staring down a canyon 3000 feet deep similar but smaller to the Grand Canyon. They do not know what formed this huge canyon, it wasn't water erosion like the Grand Canyon but it is either a fault line from millions of years ago or a sunken-in cave. It was amazing to sit on 'the seabed' with your legs dangling over a deep gorge.
The local Omani people have been very friendly to us. After one day of scuba diving we decided to wait for a taxi or a bus. The first car to drive by stopped to give us a ride. Picture an Arab man in a full white gown driving about 90 MPH in his brand new car on a very good highway.
They are very progressive here and allow their women to drive. The women wear long black abayas and cover their faces but I have not seen any of them driving with the full face covered.
Oman appears so rich and new compared to Syria or Jordan. The people appear very happy with their new wealth from oil. Oman was very late to sell its oil and didn't start exporting the black gold until the 70's. Up until then they closed the city gates at night and only had one paved road in the country.
| Clocktower in Oman | Courtesy of Galen Frysinger |
| Old Fortress, Oman | Courtesy of Galen Frysinger |
Oman is filled with these old forts made out of rocks and adobe bricks. Patricia and Lionel have taken us to a number of forts around the town of Nizwa. The most impressive was the Jabrin Fort built in 1680 by an Arab Sultan as a castle. We also walked around several deserted mud-brick villages that still had irrigation systems (called a 'Falaj') in working order. Because Oman is a dry desert all of the water is brought in from the various wadis to the villages via canals.
We leave Oman tonight bound for India. We fly to Delhi but plan on trying to get the first flight out of Delhi to Dharamsala in the Himalayas. We need to get out of the heat!
July 7th, 2000
Ahh...India. The smell of diesel fuel, human shit and curry. The sound of horns honking, cows mooing and people yelling. You either love it or hate it, I don't think there is an in-between.
This is our second time in India although our first time in the Indian Himalayas. Five years ago we were in Rajastan and Uttar Pradesh stunned by the beauty of 1000 year old Hindu temples, 500 year old Maharajah Palaces and of course, the Taj Mahal.
| A scene of Leh, Ladakhi |
| Courtesy of Jet Air Tours, Ltd |
This time we have been stunned by the beauty of the mountains, waterfalls and deep green valleys. We have spent our entire time in India in Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh to escape the heat and monsoons of the plains and we haven't been disappointed. After arriving in Delhi and resting a day we jumped on a plane and headed to Leh which is the capital of what was formally known as 'The Kingdom of Ladakh'. The scenery flying over the Himalayas was enough to blow our minds but since Leh sits at 11,500 feet I wouldn't want to make that flight everyday. Leh and the surrounding area is truly one of the prettiest places I have every seen. The Himalayas of India are so different than the Himalayas of Nepal or Tibet. It's an arid land with very little rainfall but somehow the Ladakhi people have made the valleys into green oasis's where they grow barley and wheat. The mountains surrounding the valleys look as if they have exploded out of the earth. Dan and I rented a Vespa Motorcycle one day and just drove all through the valley looking at little villages, Buddhist gompas and the incredible mountains.
After spending a few days in Leh we headed to Manali. It is a two day bus journey with a bad night sleep at a 'tent camp' at 15,000 feet to get ANYWHERE out of Leh so we opted for the 'luxury bus' instead of the local bus. Well, we are NOT in Turkey anymore and our 'luxury bus' had bald tires, broken seats and had to be 'fixed' by the on board mechanic more times than we can count on the two day journey. We had to climb up (and down) four huge passes at 17,475 feet, 16,600 feet, 16015 feet and 13050 feet. The first pass, at 17,475 feet, is the second highest motorised road in the world (we went over the highest motorised road in the world in Tibet a few months back!) Our bus driver was a maniac and with the bald tires and broken bus, we were a little nervous to say the least. The entire 28 hour journey was on a single lane road with sheer dropoffs and hairpin turns. Combine that with a Hindu bus driver with a million more lives ahead of him saying 'no problem' everytime we yelled at him to slow down. If it wasn't for the fact that it was the most spectacular scenery that I've EVER seen I don't know if my nerves could have handled it. I kept telling myself that if we died at least I would be with the one I love, in a beautiful place, doing what we love to do..travel!!
Unfortunately this time around in India we have both been battling sickness off and on. From day one I have had diarrea and I had a couple of days of high fever. Dan had a night and day of vomiting and his share of diarrea too. Sadly, we have had no appetite for the wonderful, cheap Indian food that we love so much. I have been living on crackers, Pepsi and toast. This is not a good diet plan. I'm happy to report that today we both feel pretty damned good.
We are now in Upper Dharamsala. It was a 12 hour bus ride or an 8 hour jeep or van ride from Manali so we opted for the van and here we are. We made it here in time for the birthday of His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. He turned 65 yesterday. In case you don't know, Upper Dharamsala, or McLeod Ganj, is the headquarters of the Tibetan Government in exile and also the home of the 14th Dalai Lama since 1959 when he was snuck out of Tibet in order to avoid being thrown into prison or worse yet, killed by the Chinese government. We are excited to be here and its fun to see so many Tibetans who made it out of Tibet before the borders were shut down. There are hundreds of monks clad in maroon robes all over the place! McLeod Ganj sits high enough in the Himalayas so that the weather is misty and cool. Our room at the guest house we chose has a balcony that overlooks the Dalai Lama's Monestary and home as well as huge trees with monkeys swinging in them and some beautiful, exotic birds. I guess we don't have too much to complain about.
Today we took a three hour yoga/meditation course from an Indian man so it's time to sign out and untangle my body...until next time..Namaskar
July 12, 2000
Bangkok, Thailand
| One side of Thailand | Courtesy of Galen Frysinger |
We are now in Thailand. Usually we don't care for the big cities but Bangkok is really an exception to the rule. Even with 6 million plus people and quite a bit of air pollution the city is a gem. Ninety-five percent of Thais are Buddhist and all young Thai boys are expected to enter monkhood at some point in their lives, even if it is only for several weeks. There are countless Buddhist 'Wats', or Temples as well as monastaries. It's hard to walk a few blocks without seeing some type of temple or shrine. Bangkok has a large river as well as many small canels running through it. You can easily navigate the city by river taxi without having to get into a nasty, polluting Tuk Tuk or city bus.
We are staying on Khao San Road which is a strange two blocks of cheap hotels, funky restaurants, internet cafes and pretty much anything you would want to buy. Many travelers use this as a base because it's so cheap and there are great air prices from Bangkok. We will spend a couple of days here and then head north to Chang Mai but for now it's time for some yummy Pad Thai and a Thai beer. Until then, Sawasdee
| Another side of Thailand | Courtesy of Galen Frysinger |
07/18/00
Well we sort of ditched our plans to go to Chang Mai for the moment and instead flew to Siem Reap, Cambodia where the ancient city of 'Angkor' is located. It was our intentions to spend a few days at Angkor Wat and then fly back to Bangkok and resume our travels there. It only took about five minutes on the drive from the airport to the town of Siem Reap for both of us to decide that we needed more than a few days in Cambodia.
The immediate 'feel' of Cambodia to both Dan and I was calmness and peacefulness. The Camobodians are very friendly and always have a big smile on their face. It's a wonder since they have been through so much in the last 30 years or so. Nobody knows for sure but it is estimated that at least 2 million Cambodians died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge from 1975 to 1978. Since that time the Khmer Rouge has been causing problems for the people of Cambodia and it's only been in the last year or so that Cambodia has been considered 'safe' to travel in as the last of the Khmer Rouge hiding out in the jungles resorted to targeting tourists. The other problem that Cambodians have been dealing with is landmines. We have been warned that you NEVER stray off of a well-marked path. There are estimated 4 to 6 million of them throughout the country. Some of the mines are remnants of the War, some of them were layed by the Khmer Rouge yesterday. The cold reality is everywhere. We have seen countless numbers of men, women and children with missing limbs...those are the lucky ones that survived. Every year hundreds of Cambodians are killed by landmines. Most of them are farmers tending their fields. It's a very sad situation and I can't help feeling guilty passing the limbless beggars on the streets.
Onto more pleasant subjects.. The Temples of Angkor have generically been known as Angkor Wat however the entire 'city' of Angkor covers approximately 70 square miles and includes 100 or so temples besides Angkor Wat. In its heyday it also included houses, public buildings, palaces and baths. Most of these structures are gone as they were constructed of wood since the right to dwell in structures of brick or stone was reserved for the gods. Angkor was built between the 9th and 14th centuries by the Khmers, who the Cambodians of today are direct decendants from. During that time it is believed that about one million Khmers lived in Angkor. Experts rate it among the foremost architectural wonders of the world. Personally for me, it is the most beautiful of all 'historical sites' I have ever seen.
Dan and I spent four days from morning to late afternoon exploring the various temples. You would think that after a couple of days of seeing them that you would start to burn out but each one was unique in it's own right so we were always amazed.
| Angkor Wat, Cambodia | Courtesy of Galen Frysinger |
We decided since we were here we might as well see more of the country. Today we took a five hour ferry ride down the Tonle Sap river to the capital city of Phnom Penh. This is a beautiful city situated on the confluence of the Tonle Sap, the Bassac and the Mekong rivers. Because the French controlled Cambodia for many years, the city has a real 'french' feel to it with its ornate buildings and large boulevards. There are a number of outdoor cafes serving great coffees and french food. It's a weird mixture sitting at a street-side cafe sipping a cappacino, watching conical-hat wearing Cambodians carrying pigs to market on their bicycle!
The main mode of transportation in Cambodia is the motorcycle. For around 1000 riel (about 25 cents) you can go pretty much anywhere in the city riding on the back of a motorcycle. Even though there are thousands of bikes the roads feel pretty safe and mellow. Nobody pays attention to stop signs or lanes but somehow the traffic just moves along without too much mishap. The Cambodians have figured out how to do this without constantly using the horn unlike the rest of Asia! Sadly, because the motorcycle is a hot commodity there is alot of motorcycle theft, much of which ends up in death. Dan and I were looking at a 'police blotter' in the newspaper that showed over a ten day period there were 13 murders and 12 armed robberies, most of which was related to motorcycle theft. (There was also one grenade attack and three kidnappings reported!!). What was I saying about Cambodia feeling peaceful?
| A market in Phnom Pehn | Courtesy of Galen Frysinger |
July 21, 2000
Today we went to the 'Killing Fields'. This field was used to kill and then bury about 17,000 men, women and children after brutal torture by Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. Most were bludgeoned to death to save bullets. There is now a Buddhist Stupa erected at the sight which contains around eight thousand skulls of victims. As we walked around the field, we could clearly see fragments of bones and teeth as well as shredded pieces of clothing. Needless to say, it was a sobering experience to be there. Unlike Hitler, who committed genocide on races that he felt was inferior to his, Pol Pot took a Maoist approach and killed his own. He targeted the educated and the rich, and anyone else that would stand in his way. He abolished money, the postal system and declared 1975 as 'Year Zero'. He recruited his Khmer Rouge soldiers from the provinces, convincing the uneducated peasants that everyone in Phnom Penh is rich and should die. He also took a 'kill or be killed' approach and forced the soldiers to kill their entire families or be tortured and killed themselves. Many times the Khmer Rouge would march into villages and kill all of the adults and then 'recruited' the children as soldiers. In that three year period almost half of Cambodia's population was killed.
07/22/00
Today we fly back to Bangkok from Phnom Penh. We're really glad we decided to come here at the last moment and even though the country has it's share of problems I really think that the people are genuinely good-hearted. I can only hope that things just keep getting better for the Cambodians.
07/25/00
Ko Samui, Thailand
We are really feeling lazy these days. We now have totally scrapped our plans for the Chaing Mai region in northern Thailand and instead we hopped on a plane and landed at this beautiful little island in southern Thailand. Our little holiday is coming to a close and we thought that we'd have a vacation from our vacation and lounge on the beach for the last week. We are staying at a place called 'The Spa'. It's run by an American guy and his Thai wife. We are in a basic bamboo and wood bungalow on the beach but the 'Spa' has daily yoga and meditation courses, Thai and Swedish Massage, facials, aloe body wraps and yes, it even has 'colon-cleansing' (I'm skipping that one). It has great vegetarian food at the restaurant which has nice ocean breezes coming off of the Gulf of Siam. I did manage to get in my first run after four months off (I purchased running shoes in Delhi before leaving India). The run about killed me but the two hour yoga class afterwards was very refreshing. We will stay here a few days and then head to an island north of here called Kho Tao for some scuba diving.
07/29/00
Kho Tao is a yet another beautiful little island here in the Gulf of Siam. Only 750 people live on this island and their main source of income is from harvesting all of the coconuts. I've never seen so many coconut trees in such a condensed area! It is surrounded by good dive and snorkeling sites. I have to say though that Dan and I are spoiled after living on Saipan. Although the diving was great here in Kho Tao, the water was colder and the visibility not as good as our beautiful island of Saipan. I guess it's still not a bad way to spend a few days.
08/08/00 Saipan
After a wonderful four months of travel we find ourselves at our home away from home here in Micronesia. It's been great to visit with friends, go scuba diving, golf and work out at our old gym. We leave Saipan bound for Colorado on August 14th. We will be home on August 15th.
We've decided to put together a list of "The Best Of" and "The Worst Of" from our trip. Here's what we decided. Let it be a guide for any of you that trusts our opinion!!!
Best Hotel (all around)
Dan's choice - Shoestring Guest House - Goreme, Turkey
Celisa's choice - Shoestring Guest House - Goreme, Turkey. This was the cave room dug out of a 'Fairy Chimney'
Worst Hotel (all around)
Dan's choice - Underground City, Turkey
Celisa's choice - ditto..I needed a mild sedative and a glass of wine to even THINK about falling asleep in this room!
Best Food (by country)
Dan's choice - Turkey, especially the Iskender Kebabs from Bursa
Celisa's choice - Syria..you can't beat a 20 cent falafil sandwich in my book
Worst food (by country)
Dan's choice - India..this is where I contracted Giardia and was sick for weeks!
Celisa's choice - Turkey, not a good place for a vegetarian
Friendliest People (by country)
Dan's choice - Nepal-you can always count on a smile.
Celisa's choice - Syria - we were hostages to hospitality
Best Transportation (by country)
Dan's choice - Turkey..can't beat the 'luxury bus'
Celisa's choice - Turkey..my sentiments exactly
Worse Transportation (by country)
Dan's choice - India
Celisa's choice - ditto..even 'Air India' had cockroaches on it!
Best Toilets (by country)
Dan's choice - he refuses to vote on this one
Celisa's choice - Nepal..They've really cleaned them up since the last two times I've been there.(It's all relative)
Worst Toilets (by country)
Dan's choice - India, only because I was in them so much
Celisa's choice - Tibet..most places didn't even HAVE a toilet but when they did, I usually choose to go around back instead.
Best Day (all around)
Dan's choice - Day two of wandering the temples of Angkor in Cambodia..amazing
Celisa's choice - Wadi-Bashing in Oman..it was so fun and unique
Worst Day (all around)
Dan's choice - bus journey from Kathmandu to Besisahar in Nepal. Ten hours on a bus with a 103 fever and diarrea..don't try this at home.
Celisa's choice - second day in Manali, India..102 fever, diarrea AND on my period at the same time.
Best Photo Ops (by country)
Dan's choice - Cambodia and the Temples of Angkor
Celisa's choice - Tibet..the Tibetans are beautiful to photograph and I couldn't get enough pics of the scenery either.
Most exciting thing done (all around)
Dan's choice - Paragliding in Oludinuz Turkey
Celisa's choice - paragliding in Oludinuz - WOW.
and finally..
Best Country all around
Dan's choice - Turkey, it has everything and more
Celisa's choice - I agree! We were there five weeks and could have easily been there longer. It's certainly not the cheapest country and I didn't care for the food but other than that, it was wonderful.
