After getting back into the Beast and departing Gorely, we made our way along what was basically an ice road towards our next destination: Mutnovsky Volcano. After about an hour of driving (why were they so concerned about the roads again??), they stopped and asked if this was a good site to camp. Yes! Oh, the views. The flowers. The sunset. And you could see the steam clouds from the volcano just over the rise. It was so beautiful! And it was dry and nice weather to boot! So, we set up our usual tent and C was the one to cook for us tonight. And it was gooooood. Apparently, none of our guides were cooks. The next morning we woke, had a brief breakfast and started the hike up Mutnovsky. It was a fairly gentle ... read more

After returning to the hotel, freshening up and packing, we were amazed to discover the giant beast of a truck that would be taking us to Avachinsky Volcano. The night before, our main guide (through Maria translating) tried to impress upon us the potential difficult trekking we would be facing as bad weather was expected. Additionally, bad weather could impact the route up even with that behemoth. So we packed accordingly. He also tried to make sure we understood the very real possibility that bears would come into our campsite. Yikes! We loaded up and climbed into that monster, stopping first for some snacks and drinks. It was surprisingly comfortable actually! After about an hour, we turned into what looked like a park entrance and then slowly started making our way upriver, often times passing cars ... read more

The last place we stayed was another Heritance hotel, located south of Colombo in Ahungalla, after another beautiful drive through the mountains and jungle. This was intended to be more of a beach location and the least expensive hotel of our trip. It showed, but it was still nice! It seems mostly like it is probably a party place in normal times. They were trying to get us to join beach volleyball or water aerobics or water polo... But I think there were less than 20 people total staying the whole time we were there (4 nights). I felt a bit bad - the staff were super nice! The first day we just went to the pool bar for some nice fruity drinks and watched a few interesting guests: a couple learning to swim apparently and ... read more

I think I will divide the second part of our trip into two parts because we did a lot in 4 days. Well, comparatively. The tourist spots we were allowed to visit were limited and spread out, so we had to choose wisely. We both wanted to see SIgiriya Rock and Polonnuwara, so I started looking for hotels in those areas. Luke had previously found Jim's Farm Villas before we left Dubai, but my request on the website went unanswered. However, when I was trying to find a spot and having no real luck, I decided to use their WhatsApp number and I got an immediate response and booked four nights there right away. The protocols in Sri Lanka were pretty strict - we had to stay only in Tier 1 hotels, which meant we could ... read more

We left around 9 the next morning to head back towards Windhoek. I was a bit relieved to go home and sad to leave this beautiful place. The scenery was nice, though noticeably less nice than the previous days... Day 9 Our first order of business was to take the Covid test. Again, I was nervous. Was like the 5th in line in our group at the local clinic - ready to get it over but afraid to go first. It was a long process. We had to sit on little chairs in a line, fill out lots of paperwork, pay our bill, and wait our turn. There were two guys performing the tests outside, so you could see the people in front of you. The girl in front of me... I know she had been ... read more