Muffin Top - Juliane Chalabi

So I've changed my travel plans a bit. After falling in love with Southeast Asia and realizing that I really don't want to grow up, I've decided to travel home all the way around the world. After Australia I'll be going trekking in Nepal for about 20 days. After Nepal I'll be going to Italy, Switzerland and Germany and then head to Greece and Turkey. I'll be working in Interlaken, Switzerland for the summer. I'll try keeping you all posted!

The Plan:

Asia (China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand): October 31 - February 20
Australia: February 20 - March 14
Nepal: March 15 - April 12
Europe Travel: April 12 - June 13
Switzerland Work: May 13...

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Joined on: September 13th 2007
Last Login: June 12th 2008

Blog Entries: 19
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Blogs & Travel Journals

by Muffin Top, order by Date newest first.

By Muffin Top
June 12th 2008

"Beautiful ladies, come inside" Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul

The Parthenon... I think

If you have ever been to Greece or Turkey, you hear this line as you walk by most shops. The best is when they try and mix it up and say things like "cheeky ladies" or "you want to buy a carpet?" or "marry me and I give you 3 homes." It becomes funny once you can take it all as a joke. The Greece/Turkey section of my trip has been pretty good. I got to travel with Molly and Carolyn (friends from college) for 3 weeks, so the company was great. We all met up in Athens and then took [View Full Entry]

By Muffin Top
May 19th 2008

Prost! Europe » Switzerland » South-West » Interlaken

How Pretty!

Before I begin, if you've never been to Switzerland, please go. This has definitely been one of my favorite places visited so far, and that's not just because I have family here. The people are adorable, the food is delicious, and the Alps are, well, the Alps! I stayed with my grandparents and used their home as a traveling hub for 3 weeks. My first side trip was to Interlaken. If you haven't been there, go! You're in a beautiful city, in between 2 lakes, and surrounded by the Alps. When I was there I went hiking a few times, which [View Full Entry]

By Muffin Top
May 1st 2008

Italia: land of food, food, and more food Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Florence

The Colosseum

My time in Italy, though not that long, has been great. I started out in Rome and saw most of what there is to see in the city (although I'm sure there are still tons of hidden churched, piazzas, and fountains I didn't see). I walked around to all the sites, so I got a bit of a workout in along with my sightseeing. I absolutely loved Piazza Navona, where there are tons of people, artists, and musicians. It was a great place to people watch and soak in the sun. The Trastevere area was also adorable, with tons of piazzas [View Full Entry]

By Muffin Top
April 17th 2008

Yak Yak Yak Nepal Asia » Nepal » Kathmandu » Thamel

School Pen?

Ok, so that Yak thing comes from a t-shirt... I didn't make it up. I'm finally writing another blog update... get excited! Before I forget, the end of our Australia trip was great. We went to Coolangata and Byron Bay and were pretty much beach bums for a week. The closest we got to surfing was playing on surfboard playground equipment and watching the real surfers from the shore. The beaches were beautiful and so clean! And, unlike Thailand, there were great wave to play in (my inner child was definitely out to play). But now I'm in Nepal in a [View Full Entry]

By Muffin Top
March 5th 2008

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oceania » Australia » Victoria » Melbourne

The drive

Another country, another lifestyle... Australia has been amazing! Upon arrival at customs, Katie and I got interviewed by an airport employee (how long are you staying for?, who are you staying with?, how do you know them? what was you last job?, how much money do you currently have on you?). It was quite the welcome to Oz, especially since i had to bite my tongue to stop myself from laughing at how ridiculous it was! Mark (our friend we met in Thailand) picked us up from the airport and became our official Melbourne tour guide. We visited the St. Kilda [View Full Entry]

By Muffin Top
February 18th 2008

Last Stop in Asia Asia » Thailand » Central Thailand » Bangkok

The Falls!

Well, the time has come for me to leave Southeast Asia and go back to civilization (at least for a little while). But before I run off to Australia, I have a lot of Thailand updating to do. Kanchanaburi turned out being a bust. We found a great guest house with a huge lawn and hammock area (sounds good, right?), only to have our room invaded by roaches the last night we were there. But the waterfall we visited was stunning (lots of tiers and some very fun scrambling up rocks/waterfalls was required). And the bus to the waterfall (complete with [View Full Entry]

By Muffin Top
January 22nd 2008

Hello Thailand Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Pai

My Home!

Here's another long update coming your way... Since my last little check in I have done some of the most exciting things on my trip so far. After Luang Prabang, me and Katie went to the Gibbon Experience. Although the company focuses mainly on conservation of the gibbon's native jungle, this was pretty much the coolest big kid playground ever. You get to live in tree houses 35 meter off the ground and fly around the jungle on zip lines all day. We were there for 3 days and seriously exhausted ourselves hiking and zipping around. The best part about it [View Full Entry]

By Muffin Top
January 2nd 2008

Tubing in December Asia » Laos » West » Luang Prabang

One of the many temples...

So it's been a while since my last updates, but here I go. Since Dalat me and Matt went to Saigon to catch a bus to Cambodia. We pretty much popped in to see Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples. Some of the temples are stunning and some are just a tourist attraction. We got up to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat and began a day of mass temple hopping. We had a tuk tuk take us around all the temples for a day, which was quite convenient since it was muggy and hot the whole time we were there. [View Full Entry]

By Muffin Top
December 18th 2007

Adventure Central Asia » Vietnam » Central Highlands » Da Lat

Indian Jones Bridge Number 1

WOW, the past four days have been nuts! I'm now in Dalat, near the Central Highlands of Vietnam, and have been on the go non stop here. On our first day here, me and Matt went on a 20 km trek at the Tiger Cave Falls with a local tour guide Lam. The trek went through coffee plantations, pine forests, rivers, and over quite a few rickety bridges. At the top of the mountain (which according to Lam doesn't actually have a name) we stopped for lunch and the view was unreal. You look over the river, plantations, and forests and [View Full Entry]

By Muffin Top
December 13th 2007

Cao Lau, Clothes and the South China Sea Asia » Vietnam » South Central Coast » Hoi An

Evening in Halong Bay

We've been speeding though Vietnam in hopes of meeting up with Katie and Mark as soon as possible. after Hanoi we went to Halong Bay, on the northern coast of Vietnam. It was absolutely gorgeous, but way too touristy. There are karst formations all over the bay, making up 1,969 islands. Some are huge with little caves you can explore and some are so small that they look more like big rocks. We got to go to another destroyed cave, this time with neon lights showing off the cave. We slept on our boat the first night, as did most people, [View Full Entry]

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