http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Downes-Family/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Downes Family en-us Sat, 18 May 2013 20:41:39 +0000 Sat, 18 May 2013 20:41:39 +0000 Dear AllBefore our final entry about the trek we must tell one funny storyOn Friday December 30th we hired a taxi driver from 900 am 500 pm to take us to various ruins around Cuzco. It was immediately apparent that he did not speak one word of English and initially we were disappointed. However about 30 minutes into the ride Lauren and Kate decided it was a great thing because it m http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Salkantay-Trail/blog-679784.html Dear Family and FriendsHopefully these photos will fill in blanks from our past blogs when we could not get the computer to upload our photos.Just finished an amazing day in Cuscu and will write about that soon before we head out for our 6 day trek.Love K4 http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Cusco/blog-674039.html Dear Family and FriendsWe apologize for not sending photos but are having tech difficulties on public computers. We will try to go to an Internet cafe tomorrow to upload pictures which have not been uploading properly.Before we tell you about the Grinch we forgot to mention the tremors that woke us in the night during our stay in Lima. Just after midnight we were awakened with the whole bed an http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Cusco/blog-673837.html Dear Family and FriendsAs some of you may know we are on another Downes family adventure over the holidays to visit Peru. South America was omitted on our 2008 aroundtheworld trip and we have long desired to visit the Andes and the ancient indiginous lands of this continent.We departed Friday spent one restful night in Miami and continued on to Lima arriving without delay on Saturday evening http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ica/Paracas/blog-672992.html Preparing to depart on our S. American adventure in Peru. Map and Itinerary attached. http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Lima/blog-672094.html Dear Family and FriendsAh....Hawaii....other than the significant temperature difference we feel a bit as if we have come full circle. We started in Iceland driving through lava fields and we end in Hawaii driving through lava fields When we first started to plan this trip 4 years ago Ken knew he wanted to include Iceland for its rugged beauty and Kate knew she wanted to end with Hawaii a http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-317006.html SUBTITLE Australia Home of the 12Hour Time ChangeDear Family and FriendsIt is hard to believe that our summer adventure is nearly over. As we write this blog on our travels downunder and outback we are already in Hawaii with just a one day left before our return home. Very sad.We spent 2 weeks in Australia flying from Bangkok to Sydney. The kids were torn between 1 excitement that ev http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Northern-Territory/Alice-Springs/blog-317001.html Sub title Home of 16night hotel roomsDear Family and FriendsOur first day in Chiang Mai was intentionally planned as a down day to recuperate from our 32hour marathon commute from Africa. This allowed us to sleep in and catch up on some of the hours of sleep we had lost between sleepless nights and timezone changes. Our BB had a lovely outside garden which was adjacent to their bre http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-313415.html Marathon Travel from Africa to Asia Our 32hour travel dayFrom the start of our journey we knew that leaving Africa was going to be both emotionally and physically challenging. We wrote in our last blog of the emotional attachments we made in Tanzania to the Kili Kids orphanage and to the warm generous people we met throughout our safari adventures. Our physical challenge was one of en http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Qatar/Doha/blog-314153.html Dear Family and FriendsOOPS HOW WONDERFUL THE KILI KIDS AREPoor Kate woke in the middle of the night after writing the last entry and realized that she had neglected to include at least a sentence or two about the children at the orphanage....you have to understand that the entries are always written piecemeal sometimes over a week's time often with someone waiting to use the computer and o http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Serengeti-National-Park/blog-309742.html Dear Family and FriendsBefore we launch into Tanzania we thought we would touch on two small subjects that may be of interest to at least one of you First laundry and luggage. As you will recall we brought only carryon luggage which has meant that we wear the same clothes over and over and over again as they get grungier and grungier. The wash water is always very brown. We started the http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Moshi/blog-309736.html Dear Family and FriendsAs you may have noticed a few portions of our last blog entry came through as gobblely gook. This was the fault of the computer we were using in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand and a sample of the many techological problems we have encountered Thankfully not much was missing although the funniest part of the visit to our guide's home was lost...all photos are there. http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Luxor/blog-309747.html Subtitles Rome Wasn't Built in a Day But we Visited it in a Day Kate Denied Entry to the VaticanDear Friends and FamilyNOTE We cannot believe it has been 11 days since we posted an entry This is our longest one yet so if you are pressed for time be sure to read at least the sections labeled and A I C http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Lower-Egypt/Giza/blog-305140.html SUBTITLES The Coolest 13th Birthday Ever and Who Knew DobrovnikCroatia was so CoolDear Family and FriendsTwo lingering thoughts about Venice....1 the sight of the vendorsdelivery people rolling their carts up and then down the stairs of each pedestrian bridge....2 the calendars featuring 12 hot gondeliers and 12 hot priestsWe must confess that the cruise which followed Venice was http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Croatia/blog-302231.html Dear Family FriendsAlthough we are several countries behind in our travel blog we will continue our best efforts to give you a small flavor of our magical moments. Venice was no exceptionWe departed Riva del Garda on the northern shore of Lake Garda on July 3rd following three wonderful days of hiking swimming and enjoying the beauty of N. Italy. We walked north of our hotel about ten http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Veneto/Venice/blog-302216.html Dear Family FriendsSalam We are safely aboard our Nile Cruise boat just below the high Aswan Dam which we toured this morning following an EARLY morning flight we had to get up at 245am in Cairo to get to the airport to fly to Aswan. The pyramids yesterday in Cairo were as amazing as everyone says and we can't wait to show you some of our photos from this part of our trip. We even have http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/blog-300527.html Dear Family FriendsSwitzerland was so amazing and the weather so wonderful that it was a sad and tearful departure when we had to say goodbye to both the country and to Ken's mother Marilyn on June 29. Marilyn went on to visit friends in Germany while we took a series of trains south from Interlaken to Milan Italy and then east to Descenzano which is on the southernmost tip of lake Gard http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/blog-294463.html Dear Family FriendsOne more From Wengen we took the train down the valley a bit and then up another valley in all we stayed in three different locations each at the base of the Jungfrau but each offering a very different view to Grindelwald. Unlike the other two towns this one allows cars. Our first surprise was discovering that our beautiful hotel was the farthest one out of town http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/blog-295363.html Dear Family FriendsWe are so behind in our blog entries but having such a great time everywhere we go....this quick entry is about the day we and Marilyn took the cograil train up through the mountain at the base of the Monch and Jungfrau above Wengen Switzerland to arrive at the top of Europe as it is billed the Jungfraujoch elevation 11333 feet. It is about an hour train ride mu http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/blog-295308.html We are resending this blog because the previous posting did not include the photos which went along with them. We hope to add more soon. Sorry for any confusion.....Dear Family and FriendsWe have been blessed with an abundance of bright hot and sunny days in Switzerland which have enabled us to ride the cable cars and to get high into the mountains for hiking around Mrren and Wengen.Two day http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/blog-291266.html