Brian & Hesam
We're college graduates! Hesam and I just finished 4 years of hard work at UCSD and each came out with a Bachelor's degree in Engineering. Hesam got his in Bioengineering and I got mine in Mechanical Engineering. After this accomplishment, we figured that we should reward ourselves with a vacation. While trying to figure out where we wanted to go, the plans just got bigger and bigger and now we've ended up booking flights all the way around the globe. We'll start off in South America, then head over to the Middle East, and then end in Southeast Asia!BrianAndHesam
We have booked flights but basically have no concrete plans and are just planning on having an adventure along the way. Here is the list of cities that we're going to hit along the way:
Lima, Peru
Quito, Ecuador
Manaus, Brazil
Cairo, Egypt
Istanbul, Turkey
Bangkok, Thailand
Hanoi, Vietnam.
These are just the cities that we have flights in/out of and so there will be plenty of others.
Travel Blog Posts
Island Paradise in Thailand
Published: May 17th 2011Asia » Thailand » South-West Thailand » Ko Phi Phi Don
August 18th 2010
We're now on the last leg of our trip. A mere week and a half before we are back in the US again. It's going to be weird not sleeping in grimy hotel rooms, but I think that I'll welcome the change. Anyways, Thailand has been a trip. It's so different from any other country that we've been to thus far. Both in culture and scenery, as well as how we've approached it. It seems that up until Thailand we have been constantly on the move and incredibly active every moment possible. However, we're starting to wear out a bit and decided to slow things down a notch. We have experienced less of the culture and less activities, but instead have opted to relax a bit and absorb some of the most beautiful islands and beaches ... read more
August 15th 2010
I've been lagging a bit on the blog, I know, but we have been so busy that it's hard to keep up. We're in Thailand now, but I'm only going to relate the experiences in Turkey, for the moment. First off, Turkey is by far the most expensive place that we have been. It's also high season for travel over there so the prices were definitely inflated and we were definitely limited by money. We flew into Istanbul on a delayed red-eye flight in which we were served disgusting mystery food. As a result, I got to Istanbul feeling exhausted and sick, which definitely ruined the day. We checked out the Blue Mosque, which is really the big sight to see in Istanbul. However, Hesam and I had no idea of it's cultural significance so we ... read more
August 5th 2010
I'll start this entry off by warning that there is no way that my writing skills or these photos will do the Red Sea justice. If you have any interest in marine life, the Red Sea is absoultely unbeatable. From Luxor, we flew into Cairo, and then caught a long overnight bus to Sharm el-Sheik. Along the bus ride, we passed through a tunnel that went under the Suez Canal, which was kind of neat. Unfortunately we never got to see the canal, but it was still cool being under it. We got into Sharm, which is at the very southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, late in the afternoon and then took a bus into town. Sharm is a big tourist destination for wealthy travelers from around the word, so it was difficult to find ... read more
July 29th 2010
We've made it to Egypt! And it's hot. Insanely hot. I've only seen a thermometer one time and it read 43 degrees C. That's almost 110 degrees Farenheit and I swear, that wasn't even the hottest day. When we were leaving the Cairo airport earlier this week, we started chatting with a random guy standing next to us while waiting in line. Turn's out that he's a 29 year old Argentinian named Gustavo and is also looking for a cheap place to stay in the city. We decide to travel to the city together and save some money on a room for the night. While chatting with him we find out that our entire plan for Egypt is pretty much the exact same. He was a nice guy and after a while, we pretty much just ... read more
July 24th 2010
It's been a while since I updated the blog, but this week has been crazy. It seems like we've done too much to write it all, but I'll try to give some of the highlights. We flew into Manaus, Brazil which is right at the heart of the Amazon. It was blazing hot and humid and exactly the climate you'd imagine here. We had a little over a week here and we really wanted to commit all of it to a hardcore jungle adventure and go as deep into the Amazon as possible. The first tour operator seemed great. It was everything that we were looking for. It began 100km from the city of Manaus in the Juma Reserve. They promised loads of hiking, camping, animals, and all the adventure we were looking for. They also ... read more
Puenting, Biking, White Water Rafting & Hiking
Published: July 13th 2010South America » Ecuador » North » Quito
July 13th 2010
We have been absolutely non-stop since the last time that we posted on here. After we left Vilcabamba, we took an extremely uncomfortable overnight bus to Baños. We were both cold on the bus and didn't get any sleep so we got to Baños feeling less than spectacular. We heard that there were places to rent mountain bikes here, so we found a place and rented some decent mountain bikes for the day. While we were there, the guy told us that there was a road that we could take that followed a river canyon all the way from the cloud forests of Baños for 50km down into the Amazon basin in Puyo. The best part about the ride is that it is mostly all downhill. However, before beginning our ride, we wanted to try our ... read more
July 8th 2010
We have been doing a ton of travelling since the last post. Last time, we were in southern Peru and now we've made it all the way into southern Ecuador. Last night was actually the first night since our last post that we slept in a bed. We've been taking northbound night busses every night. It's not the most comfortable accomodation, but it's practical. It's usually about the same price as a hostal, but we wake up in a new city! After Machu Picchu, we took an overnight bus to Lima. However, Lima is terrible so we got out of there as quickly as possible. We wasted an afternoon there checking out the 10 billion little shoe stores and then caught another overnight bus to the city of Trujillo. This is also a relatively large city, ... read more
July 4th 2010
The past few days here have been incredibly busy. They have been a lot of fun, but non-stop. We spent 4 days in the Manu National Park and then a day climbing Machu Picchu. Manu National Park is just a little ways northeast of Cuzco and is a small part of Peru's slice of the Amazon River basin. We were up and on the van on the way to Manu by 6AM on the first day of our jungle adventure. There were 4 other tourists travelling with us. There was a young American college couple, who were very easy-going and adventurous, and a pair of Aussie women. A mother and daughter who had no idea what they were in for. They didn't even know that we were going to be camping. The first day consisted mainly ... read more
July 3rd 2010
We survived our jungle adventure! It was spectacular and we definitely had an adventure. Then we went straight to Machu Picchu, where we are now. We´ve been so busy that we haven´t had time to update the blog. We actually only have about 10 minutes before we catch a train back to Cuzco and then probably to Trujillo, but we haven´t decided for sure. I just wanted to let you know we made it and we´re safe. I´ll tell you guys the details when we get the chance. Just a quick rundown. We: -Jumped off 25 foot rocks into the Amazon river -Ate live termites -Got lost in the jungle, in the dark, with no trail -Saw wild caiman, capybara, parrots, etc. -Camped in the jungle & along the river -Climbed Machu Picchu And loads more ... read more
The Land of Backpackers, Alpaca & Adventures
Published: June 29th 2010South America » Peru » Cusco » Cusco » Cusco
June 29th 2010
We are in Cuzco, Peru now and it is WAY better than Lima. It is a pretty cool little town that is in a very scenic valley up in the Andes. Unlike Lima, which seemed to be filled with wealthier travellers looking to go shopping, Cuzco is full of young backpackers looking for an adventure. It is a pretty neat little city with steep hills, coblestone roads, old Spanish cathedrals, and scenic views. However, Cuzco doesn't really seem like a place that people come to hang out at as much as it is a hub to plan an andventure. There are literally hundreds of tour guides here in the city offering anything from plush jungle lodge stays to white water rafting adventures. We hung out in the city today, mainly just wandering around and exploring. We ... read more
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