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Published: June 10th 2008
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Khao San Road
The lights of the famous Khao San Road Having spent the best part of the last month relaxing on the sea whether sailing or diving, it was clear the fun would soon have to end I would be reinstalling myself back into society. I look forward to no longer describing myself as both jobless and homeless. I feared it would be too much of a shock to the system however to go from 0-60 mph in one fell swoop so I decided to build myself back up slowly with a hop and a skip to Singapore and Bangkok for a night each. I stayed with a friend of mine who is now living in Singapore and we hadn't seen each other for the best part of 4 years so as it turns out I actually ended going from 0-140mph burning tequila as fuel and waking up this morning feeling like I'd just blown the head gasket.
Bangkok by default has been alot quieter with sheer survival being the objective for the day. That, and remembering to wake up at the sound of my alarm in order to catch the flight. I booked into a nice hotel with a pool and gym to savour the last few hours of
my trip and reflect on just how quickly 7 months has flown by. When Sheena & I started the trip back in mid-December, it seemed like an eternity of time in front of us. Time enough to take our time, appreciate the sights and look forward to the many adventures ahead. In the last two weeks though time has suddenly sped up and each day passes as if it were mere hours.
As I sat in the pool nursing my headache, I thought about the highs and the lows and here is what I came up with - the top and bottom 10 moments of the trip - which might stir the traveling bug in some of you to go explore. There is always a reason not to take time out and I can say that I am now glad we chose to ignore all of them!
Top Moments (in no particular order)
1. Antarctica - Seeing humpback whales and sunset skies reflected 360 degrees on the mirror like water
2. Everest - the sight of this mountain at dawn is awe-inspiring
3. Atacama - Crossing the desert in a Peugeot 206. It's the stuff of legends!
4.
Torres del Paine - The turquoise lakes and expansive vistas are spectacularly beautiful
5. Sailing the WhitSundays - if for no other reason than Sheena has to call me Captain from now onwards!
6. Machu Picchu, Peru - having the ruins to ourselves at dawn for 10mins
7. Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia - the salt plains are a must for any S. American adventure
8. Galapagos Islands - hearing the sounds of turtles mating in the mangroves & playing with baby sealions
9. Indonesia - Diving with Mantas at Nusa Lembongan was mind-blowing
10. Abel Tasman, NZ - Sky Diving over this stunning National Park with mountains all around was beautiful
11. NZ & Argentina - Weddings were fantastic
Bottom Moments (in no particular order)
1. Indonesia - watching a helpless baby try to breath on the flight from Mataram to Denpasar
2. Bolivia - losing 18lbs in 9 days and sitting on a toilet 60x a day due to worms was no highlight
3. London, UK - saying farewell to Sheena at Heathrow brought a little tear
4. Bolivia - avoiding the car crash on the Salar trip. Too close for comfort.
5. Indonesia - The diving accident
Ornate Architecture
Floating vegetation fills the river running through Bangkok was again just too close for comfort.
6. B.A., Argentina - losing my big toenail by stubbing it on a scaffolding pole in Dec. It still hasn't recovered
7. Indonesia - Losing my hearing in my left ear due to swimmer's ear. Very frustrating
8. Indonesia - taking the boat to Manta Reef was in hindsight an unwise decision
9. Hong Kong - breaking my camera
10. Bolivia - my ipod packing up after episode 23 of the TV series 24. It was a conspiracy I swear!
Looking at the bottom 10 moments list, if someone had written this out before my travels and told me that would be the worse I could expect then I would have probably have tried to be twice as adventurous! I feel very lucky to have seen so much (and yet so little) and had the experiences we have had with only these minor mishaps which we set out expecting anyhow.
Aside from providing breathing space and a chance to step to one side away from the hustle and bustle of every day life, traveling I have found provides time for reflection and thought which every day life often steals from you.
A Fish Farm
Fish going nuts over a piece of bread More than anything though our adventure has demonstrated just how diverse, fragile and stunningly beautiful the world is. It restores your faith in the human spirit with every step. The world through the media is so dreadfully distorted and it does humans a disservice the world over. My experience beyond any doubt has been that people are incredibly warm, welcoming and enjoy the cultural exchange that traveling brings. The only downside really of traveling is that with each new place you tick off the list, another one is added. Getting rid of the traveling bug is to misunderstand the maladie. Once it's in your blood, you have it for life.
I hope, even if you don't go rushing out to buy a rucksack today, you have at least enjoyed reading the blogs...and for those of you who couldn't stand all the waffle, I hope you at least enjoyed the pretty pictures!
For me, it's back to London, where I landed this morning, to live with Sheena which I am super excited about and then....start planning the next holiday!
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Kirsty
non-member comment
Hey
hey Ben. I have really enjoyed reading about your travels, you should maybe become a writer as you are damn good. I totally get the taking time out to explore (as you will know already) and in fact my last day at work is tomorrow. I realised that I have not seen any of my own, beautiful country so am off in a campervan to travel the length and breadth of it. I only wish more people would realise that this precious time we get on this wonderful planet is not a dress rehearsal. Therr are wonderous sights and beautiful people (its a shame we generally only hear about the bad).You must follow your dreams and stand by your decisions. I wish you nothing but the best for the future and hope that you will maybe read some of travel diaries in the months to come. keep in touch as I am also based in London and would love to catch up sometime over pint with a true 'Global Player'. All the best, kirsty x