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Around the world in 367 days
Ed and Gemma Well here we are on the 4th July, a year and a day since the first leg of our trip, from London to Toronto, and many countries and experiences later. We still have to pinch ourselves that this has all happened. It has been an awesome adventure and one we will be remembering for the rest of our lives. As we return home jobless and homeless it has to be said that we do not regret this journey we have taken for one minute, and in fact we know how lucky we are to have been able to put ourselves in the situation that has allowed us the chance to travel in this way. The testing times that travelling puts any individual in can be dangerous for any relationship but we are still speaking to each other and believe that our friendship is stronger than ever. Once we find a place to live we know that our home will always be full of memories, with the many photos, trinkets and souvenirs that will be displayed around the place serving as a constant reminder of the places we’ve been.
We have too many things we could note down as memorable
so below is some of the best and most notable bits we remember and want to share…
Number of…
Countries visited: 40
Continents: Six
‘Official’ Capital Cities: 28
Time zones visited: 20 of the 24
Miles travelled: +- 77,371.59 miles or 124,517.59km
Flights: 30
Bus journeys: Impossible to say, but we do know that there will not be any more in the future
Different modes of transport: at least 25 - walk, bike, rollerblade, taxi, bus, train, plane, hydrofoil, chauffer-driven limousine, blowup boat, Zodiac, jet boat, minivan, camper van, cable car, funicular railway, sail boat, ferry boat, hovercraft, parachute, raft, truck, tuk tuk, dala dala, motorbike and probably more
Countries that drive on the left: 15
Times almost missed our train, bus or plane: 3 - Bus in Honduras, Train in Ulaan Baator, Plane in Beijing
Nights spent in a tent: 48
Nights spent ‘roughing’ it (eg on a train, boat, plane etc): 54
Nights spent in a hostel dormitory: 73 (is this a record for a honeymoon?)
Nights spent in a private room: 192
Olympic Cities: 6 (plus Beijing and Vancouver, the next summer and winter host cities respectively)
Guide books: 15
Books read: 43 (well, that is Gemma)
Postcards sent home: over 100
Packages sent home: 10
Photos taken: over 11,500 (… by Gemma, 3 or 4 by Ed)
Mosquito bites: Too many
Times our blog is read each day: just over 100
Superlatives…
Longest time spent in one country: 5 weeks in China
Shortest time spent in one country: Paraguay, about 15 seconds visiting the Itaipu Power station.
Most Northerly: Artic Circle, Alaska 66.33N
Most Southerly: Puerto Williams, Chile 54.56S (just south of Ushuaia, Argentina)
Most Westerly: Alaska GMT-9
Most Easterly: Sydney, Australia GMT+10
Fastest we have been on land: 300km/hour, KTX train, Seoul to Busan, South Korea (or taxi in Ulaan Baator, we’re not sure)
Highest we have been: 5,200 metres for a perfect view of Mount Everest
Deepest we have been: Wreck Diving in Utila, Honduras 30 metres
Cheapest accommodation: GBP 1.00 for a hotel room in Colombia
Most expensive dish: Accidentally ordering black Caviar in Moscow GBP70
Most expensive country: Bhutan at $230 per person a day
Cheapest country: Rural China
Most read blog entry: Day 1 - London to Toronto
Most watched movie: Casino Royale, once in the cinema and 5 times on our laptop
Highlights…
Highlight of year away: An almost impossible question, but also the most commonly asked. We would probably say that being lucky enough to see the peaks of some of the highest and most spectacular mountains in the world is hard to beat…Mt McKinley in Alaska, Fitz Roy in Argentina, Torres del Paine in Chile and not forgetting the majestic Mount Everest and the Himalayas.
Events: Seeing “The Small Change” in concert in LA, US;
Touring the casinos in Las Vegas, US;
Football match in Chile;
A Friday ‘movie and curry night’ in Buenos Aires with Matt and Dea;
New Year’s Eve celebration at Bushman’s Kloof, South Africa;
Braham’s recital at the Sydney Opera House;
Contemporary music festival in Singapore;
Evening out with John in Hong Kong;
Chinese acrobatics in Beijing;
DMZ tour in Korea;
Water puppetry show in Vietnam
5 star bar crawl in Saigon, Vietnam
Birthdays spent in: Gemma: Granada, Nicaragua;
Ed: Lake Baikal, Russia
Best steak (ever!): Argentinean steak and red wine, Bariloche, Argentina
Best seafood: Harbour House, South Africa
Best styles of food: Thai and Cambodian curries (and Sushi for Gemma)
Best beer: We agree on this one: Quilmes and Super Cold Tiger
Best coffee: Ed: Ecuador and Brazil and definitely not Colombia
Gemma: still not a coffee drinker despite trying
Best day: Ed: Sailing in Seattle
Gemma: Rafting in Ecuador
Best country: Argentina
Achievements: Spanish course;
Advanced PADI certificate;
Skydiving (thanks again Stuart and Nicola);
Ed driving us safely up to the Equator on Kenyan roads in a dodgy 4x4;
Surviving Taikwando with Master Ryan in South Korea;
Thai cooking course in Chiang Mai, Thailand;
6 day trekking circuit in Patagonia, Chile;
Ice climbing in Torres del Paine, Chile;
Surfing, Bells beach (well next door), Australia;
Staying alive after crossing the roads and travelling in the taxis in Asia;
Reaching Lhasa after 2 weeks of tough travel in Tibet, China;
Worst day: Ed: Sunburnt in Sayulita, Mexico and vomiting in Kathmandu
Gemma: House boat saga in Zambia and just general misery in Yichang, China
Worst country: Ed: by a country mile Zimbabwe
Gemma: They all have their bad points, but most of them get outweighed by the good
Worst taxi drive: Buenos Aires, where Matt, Dea and us all wanted to get out as fast as we could - even walk the rest of the way. Close second are the ones we took in Ulaan Baator, Mongolia
Worst Road: From Poipet on the Thai boarder to Siem Reap, Cambodia (home of Angkor Wat)
Top 15 recommendations for Lonely Planet’s next editions…
1. 26th Street Hostel, Anchorage, Alaska
2. Northern Alaska Tour Company, Alaska
3. College Inn Pub, Seattle
4. Le Midi, French restaurant in Guanajuato, Mexico
5. Amarongachi Tours, Tena, Ecuador
6. El Boliche de Alberto, steak restaurant in Bariloche
7. Nomad Tours, Ulaanbaatar
8. Wayfarers Himalaya Adventures, Kathmandu
9. Blue Poppy Tours and Treks, Bhutan
10. Adventure Patagonia hostel in Puerto Natales, Chile
11. Handspan tour company, Hanoi
12. China overland trip (the route from Lijiang to Lhasa, not the tour company)
13. Olga at Indigo Marketing Int’l, travel agency in Moscow
14. Linva Tailor, dressmaker in Hong Kong
15. Sujin Thai restaurant, Torquay on Australia’s ‘Surf Coast’
Today we boarded three planes to head back home to England and start our “proper” married life.
Thanks for reading
Ed and Gemma
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Anna
non-member comment
Welcome Home!!
Thanks for all the blogging, it's been really interesting following all your adventures. Glad you're safely back home now and hope you remember to keep in touch now too even though we're in the same country (although perhaps daily updates are no longer required!) lots of love from Anna x x x x x x