As I sit here at 4:30 in the morning, jet lagged, exhausted, sore and discombobulated all I can think is “Dang, this trip is awesome so far.” It is Thursday morning, so I have been in Cairo for 2 full days. I am finally making time to sit, write and look back on the past several days. Since this is a written blog and I can’t do the cheesy television flashback music, swirling picture thing, so you will have to imagine that for yourself as we travel back to Sunday/Monday and the beginning of this adventure. The trip was uneventful until I reached London’s Heathrow airport. Due to bad weather and some confusion over where the plane was going to be de-iced at Washington Dulles, the flight was delayed over an hour and half. My connection ... read more

Now that I was in the know about the changing of the guard, I had my plan of attack. First on my list was to finish packing my stuff, store it and check out of the hotel. Next was a déjà vu of my first day. I went to the café across the street and had a smoked salmon bagel and café Americano. Things were falling into place and I couldn’t be happier. After a quick Metro ride, I was in front of the Moneda Palace ready for the changing of the guard. In Lima this ceremony was done behind big iron fences, giving all of my pictures the illusion of being shot from inside a jail cell. Here we were kept at least 30 to 40 yards behind big fountains with a glass wall surrounding ... read more

Although I really enjoyed myself in La Paz, and Bolivia in general, I was looking forward to transitioning to the next phase of my trip. The thought of being closer to sea level and being able to walk a full block without huffing, puffing and wheezing was very appealing. My flight was at 4:40 so after leaving Tara near the Dutch restaurant I caught a taxi at 1:30 and headed to El Alto Airport. Traffic wasn’t nearly as bad as I had anticipated, so I arrived in plenty of time. Along with having to fill out more paperwork than I had anticipated, there was some confusion over an exit fee of $25 USD. I had researched it so was prepared, but the 4 Australians who had also come from my hotel were panicking. They only needed ... read more

Surprisingly I didn’t sleep too badly last night. I am not used to sleeping in a dorm, so wasn’t sure how it would go. No loud snoring, no late night wild parties, just a group of worn out travelers. Oh, and before I forget, it was mentioned that the beds were not in fact concrete, but salt. Duh. I don’t know why I didn’t put that together. Regardless, they were pretty darn comfortable. Breakfast was a quiet affair with instant coffee, bread, scrambled eggs, lunch meat, cheese (to build breakfast sandwiches) and fruit cocktail. Please don’t think less of me, but I ate 2 helpings of the stupid fruit cocktail. After not being able to eat for the first half of the week, I was starving. We loaded our luggage on top of the Land Cruiser ... read more

After the best night's sleep I have had on this trip, I woke up in time to enjoy some breakfast. True, my day was almost ruined when the only coffee available was instant, but Traveler Brendan stepped in and sternly lectured Pamper Brendan. We all came to agreement that part of traveling is leaving home behind and stepping out of our comfort zone. Ok, so I may have exaggerated this just a bit, since the coffee really wasn't even a blip on my radar, but I did think that it made for a good dramatic intro to the blog. After a nice breakfast, Sylvia and I walked to the lake to board a small boat for the hour trip to Sun Island. It was once again a beautiful day. I cannot get over how vibrant the ... read more