Rodents as Big as Scooby

After the 35 miles of trekking to Machu Picchu, the Peruvian Amazon seems a bit calm. Here, the excitement comes in enjoying the journey, not in reaching the destination. Canopy and rainforest walks are slow and cautious to allow for better viewing of the animals. In this Madre de Dios region, I’m staying in the Manu Reserve in Reserva Amazonica, a property with 34 individual eco-huts complete with bathrooms, mosquito netted beds and two lovely hammocks crying out to me on my screened porch. Lanterns dot the walkways and your porch at night, adding a pleasant glow to your walk home from dinner. After a plane, truck & boat to get here, a little luxury is greatly appreciated.

The region boasts of 20,000 plant, 1,200 butterfly, 1,000 bird, 200 mammal and 100 reptile species identified so far. Largely ignored during the Spanish conquest, the region grew in the 19th century with the discovery of shiringa- the rubber tree. Still, very few people live outside the entry city of Puerto Maldonado.

Yesterday on our afternoon forest hike, we ran across a large troop of squirrel monkeys. It was like a scene from the movie, “Predator.” The forest felt alive, branches moved above our heads and you could hear movement all around you but barely get glimpses of the feisty little creatures. Another find was the poisonous chicken spider. Our guide showed us the holes they use as homes and proceeded to prod a baby spider (a furry 4 inches long) out of his hole. I’m glad his mother decided to stay put as they grow to the size of your hand. In the spider department, we also saw tarantula nests growing in trees.

Today we spent the morning walking the numerous canopies and towers built above the forest. These provide exceptional bird viewing and offer a unique perspective on the trees and plants.

For some reason, I think my favorite animal so far are the brown Aguti that live on the fringes of the forest. These huge rodents which grow up to 14 lbs. are quite comfortable with humans as the property provides a nutcracker along the path so you can toss food to these critters. As they forage at night, they make quite a ruckus lending your imagination to thinking there must be a band of jaguars hunting outside your hut walls- ready to make you into their next meal. I think I like them most as they remind me of Scooby, always on the lookout for a treat.

Tomorrow I begin my journey home- a 2-day combination of canoe, plane and jeep. My ipod, eye covers & ambien are ready for the overnight voyage home.

What Once Was Lost, Now is Found

Finally, after six drays of trekking, we arrived at Machu Picchu!

Talk about a happy accident. Yale historian Hiram Bingham, the man credited with re-discovering Machu Picchu, the Lost City of the Inca, was actually on the hunt for another city when he happened into this magical site. Bingham and his team of explorers arrived in Cusco in 1911 with hopes of finding Vilcabamba, the LAST city of the Incas. Since the local Quechan language is spoken and not written, little survived from the Incan times to tell of Machu Picchu (meaning Old Mountain in Quechan.) Local maps to Vilcabamba showed another settlement and as Bingham headed off to Vicabamba, he uncovered Machu Picchu which lay directly in its path through the Sacred Valley. Actually, locals continued to farm the flat, sunny terraced areas of the city and the Incan Trail had served as a local supply route since ancient times. The site had gone undiscovered by Spanish conquerers and later explorers due to its heavily overgrown vegetation. Even from nearby Agua Calientes, you can look directly up to the site and not see it. Bingham later returned to the site in 1915 with a band of scientists to uncover remains and begin research.

The real boom to the city came in 2007 when the site was named one of “The Seven Wonders of the World.” This led to efforts by UNESCO and the Peruvian government to carefully restore and preserve the site. Daily crowd limits to both the site and the Inca Trail serve as a means to keep the site intact.

Built in the mid-15th century, Machu Picchu was a sanctuary for Incan royalty. The landscape is stunning with orchids and the massive cliff face of Huayna Picchu towering overhead. The city is divided into three sections- the Sacred District, the Popular District and the District of the Priests and Nobility. The architecture and location indicate the site is a sacred place. Numerous nearby archeological sites such as the one we visited the day before all face Machu Picchu. As with other sacred buildings, the finest craftsmen build the site’s temples using perfectly fitted stones and no mortar. Agricultural and less important structures use rougher stones and mortar. Incan architectural elements such as trapezoid windows, inward slanted walls and terraced planting areas reinforce the stability of Incan building and city planning techniques.

Theories abound as to why the city was abandoned. Some speculate it served as the estate of a local ruler and was deserted upon his death. Others theorize that disease brought by Spanish conquerors ultimately led to the city’s demise.

When he left in 1915, Bingham took 174 boxes of human remains and artifacts to the U.S. for further study. Most reside today in the Peabody Museum in CT and the Peruvian government continues to negotiate the return of these artifacts.

What a fitting end to our journey. After an overnight stay in Cusco, I’m headed off to the Peruvian Amazon.

Coffee, Cuy & Uphill Battles

Ah, more long hikes these next two days. While we won’t be crossing peaks at 15,000 ft anymore, these are “sucking wind / what was I thinking / did I EVEN work out” altitudes that leave you panting on the uphills. Our fifth day, luckily, consisted of 10 miles of mostly downhill. Sounds easy, but you need walking poles to take the pounding off your knees. The hike snaked along the rocky Salkantay river- one of the many that feed the Amazon. During this trek, we’ll pass through nine bio-spheres. You can really see the difference as we descend. Wildflowers, coffee plants and birdlife abound along the trail. We enjoyed the gurgling sounds of the river for most of the 8-hour adventure.

Our final long day of hiking was a special one- but tough. Our day started with a visit to a local home of a coffee grower. We huddled in the small shack as we watched how they sifted the coffee shells from the beans and toasted them over a live fire. What an amazing scent! Since the Peruvians love their guinea pig, a dozen roamed around the hut sniffing at our hiking poles- not quite sure what they thought of these new visitors. Next, we were off for our 3-hour hike uphill (we climbed from 6,600 ft. to 8,900 ft. before descending. At the top, we were treated to distant views of Machu Picchu in the misty clouds.

After a lovely mountaintop lunch, we visited the recently-restored Llactapa Ruins. While this area is not sacred (you can tell by building techniques) it was important as a stop over on an Inca Trail and looks directly toward Machu Picchu. Four hours of downhill hiking followed and led us to the local PeruRail stop where we boarded a small train to Agua Calientes. To make it up and down the steep mountains, the train uses a series of switchbacks, moving forward and back like a pendulum to make it to the top. What an adventure. After a great dinner in town, we all set out alarms for an early wakeup and dreamt of our next day when we would visit the Lost City of the Incas.

Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Peruvian Cowboys

Last night before dinner, we had the chance to sit down with our horse wranglers for a chance to learn more about their lives and practice our fledgling Spanish. After muddled introductions, we learned more about the lives of these hardworking Peruvian men. They are caked with grime from a long day on the trail moving gear and supplies from lodge to lodge & the years of hard work were etched in their deeply tanned faces. Most are primarily potato farmers and supplement their meager income by wrangling horses along the tourist trails. They operate on a simple principle that we can all live by- that of “ayni- today is for you; tomorrow is for me.” When the leader of a wrangling crew picks his crew members, it is with the understanding that when they serve as the next wrangler, there is a place for them on that crew. It is just one of the ways Peruvians take care of their neighbors & friends.

Today was described as much easier & thankfully, it lived up to its billing. We slept in until 7:00am (hurray!) for our 4-hour hike along the lovely Salkantay River. Butterflies were everywhere (apparently they are big fans of horse dung!) and as we passed through this cloud forest, greenery replaced bare rock and flowers showed their colorful blooms. Our lodge for tonight sits at 10,300 ft.- our first evening to sleep at under 11,000 ft.

When we arrived, we began preparing a Pashamanca feast for lunch, using the traditional Incan method of underground stone cooking. First, piles of various potatoes, corn, bananas & beans were placed in the pit then covered with chicken, pork & lamb. After more stones and layers of cloth covered the feast, it was left to roast for 45 minutes. Yummy! We’ll need the nourishment for tomorrow’s long day of hiking.

Child Birth, Marathons & Machu Picchu

They say they are certain things in life that while you are doing them you say to yourself, “I will NEVER do this again!” I can’t testify to childbirth but can promise you are not considering another marathon as you cross the finish line after running 4+ hours. This trek to Machu Picchu is a lot like that.

Yesterday was described as our toughest day of the trek. I can only hope that advertisement is true. The prior evening I got a case of Incan revenge & spent most of the evening & trekking day, cramping & nauseous. For the life of me, I can’t think of what I ate or drank, although I have caught myself about to rinse my toothbrush at the tap several times.

After an early morning start, our band of 11 hiked up the Rio Blanco valley, circling Humantay Peak. After reaching the highest point of our trek at 15,000 ft., we stopped for obligatory pictures at the sign marking the peak. The air was thin as we took in the views of the glacial moraines & the surrounding Vilcabamba Range. The GI issues left me very weak- I was just focused on moving one foot in front of the next & had to take constant breaks to catch my breath. I could not have been happier to arrive at our lodge (still at 12,000 ft). I knew in my heart, there was no way I was not going to finish this day- no matter what! This day was truly one of the toughest endeavors I’ve undertaken but as they say, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” and already, I find one day later, the pain of the day has started to fade & is replaced by memories of the beauty that surrounds me in these mountains. I wonder if childbirth works that way? I did do another marathon so I can only imagine it does.

It Takes A Village

I assumed we would be a rag-tag band of hikers with a few well-seasoned guides to help us on our adventure. I had NO idea what a big production this was. Our group of 11 trekkers is supported by a virtual village… 2 guides, 2 chefs, 5 porters, 5 wranglers & 12 mules- not to mention the existing lodge staffs. As the hiking began, I began to see why.

Bright & early; up & at ‘em. We headed out for our 4-hour trip to a glacial lake today. Our lodge is situated at a breathtaking 11,800 feet & today we will ascend to 14,000 for a picnic and optional quick swim. None of my training hikes prepared me for today. I thought my heart would jump out of my chest. Actually, several times I hoped an Incan God would grab it out of my chest and offer it up as a human sacrifice. Frequent stops to avoid cardiac arrest were extremely helpful. We’ve lost one team member to food poisoning and one was on the mule today feeling puny.

Tomorrow is the big day. A windy & chilly 9-hour hike to over 15,000 feet. I will have to wear every item of clothing I brought- along with those I haggled for in Cusco. Honestly, I am terrified but know there is no turning back at this point.

Been There, Done That

Greetings from Salkantay Lodge in the Andes.

Before we left Cusco, we had dinner at a local restaurant to try the local delicacy, cuy (pronounced COO-ee). Let me add eating Guinea Pig to my list of “Been there, Done that, Don’t need to do again." And no, it doesn’t taste like chicken. The little teeth staring at me were the biggest issue.

It was an interesting drive up into the mountains. As we crawled up switchback roads, farmers worked their patchwork fields of potato crops (they grow 180+ varieties in Peru.) Children in neat uniforms and knee socks walked along the road on their way to school. We visited the ancient Incan site of Tarawasi (from the tara tree and "wasi" meaning home.) Like all important building it was built using no mortar- stones are carefully cut and placed using Incan techniques to withstand earthquakes. Here the Incans placed their important people in cloths in the fetal position so that the mythical condor could carry them away to the next life.

Soon paved roads gave way to gravel as the air thinned. Often hotel brochures are more glossy & luxurious than the property itself. This lodge is nestled on a pampas with 360 degree views of the Salkantay Mountain & its neighboring peaks. All the comforts of home! Then came orientation…

My Day with the Sexy Woman

Apparently Peruvians & I can’t resist a parade!

This morning I planted myself on the church steps at Plaza de Armas (the plaza is said to sit in the exact center of the Incan empire) to enjoy the weekly military parade. It was interesting to see the dignitaries, militia in uniform and watch as the Peruvians proudly sang their national anthem.

These folks know how to throw parades. While the main parade is going on, other competing parades continued to break out. A local men’s club here… a scout troop there. But my favorite was the religious parade. I’m a sucker for anyone carrying a two-ton Madonna. She was covered in gold and was followed by smaller sub-Madonnas and a band of masked men drinking 1-liter cervasas.. I was fascinated as snippets of daily life unfolded- boys enjoying a final cell phone call and ice cream before their band began performing, the old ladies in their traditional bombin bowler hats, the local business men in their Sunday finery practicing drums for their own parade. What a wonderful weekly tradition!

As the festivities wound down, I went to visit the Sexy Woman. Sexy Woman is the local name for the Sacsayhuaman ruins (say it quickly and it does sound like Sexy Woman!) Translated, it really means “city of stone” but that name wouldn’t draw as many tourists, would it? Construction began in the 1440s, requiring 20,000 workers to finish the project. With its sweeping views of Cusco, the ruin once served as an important military position for the Incans.

Today, it served as my first test of stamina as I walked up to enjoy the site. Yes, my lungs burned and my breathing was labored but I thoroughly enjoyed it and also had the chance to make friends with a number of alpaca / llama up on the mountainside. I can’t tell them apart and even googled to learn this differentiating skill (www.ehow.com/how_5324124_tell-difference-between-llama-alpaca.html ) to avoid offending any alpaca / llama I may meet in the future.

Tonight we meet our fellow hikers for orientation. Tomorrow, let the games begin!

Machu Picchu, Here we come!

I feel like packing is my part-time job. I'm on final approach for my Machu Picchu adventure. I've had a number of queries as to what is Machu Picchu & why in the world I would want to go there.

Machu Picchu was selected as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World in 2007. This lost city of the Incas was thought to have been built around 1400AD but was later abandoned as the official site for Incan rulers a century later during the Spanish conquest. It was "re-discovered" in 1911 by US scholar and adventurer Hiram Bingham (the role model for Indiana Jones) and has since become Peru's premier tourist destination.

My friend, Nicole, & I will depart from Lima to the town of Cusco (situated at 10,000+ feet) to acclimate to the altitude before heading up the Salkantay trail for our trek. While we'll reach heights of 15,000 feet, Machu Picchu is nestled in a lower valley. After our day in MP, Nicole will head back to NYC and I'll move to Reserva Amazonica, an eco-lodge in the Amazon basin. I'm hopping to encounter lots of interesting "critters" there.

We'll keep you posted on our progress. Adios!

The Long & Winding Road

It was festive, fun & finally relaxing once all the teams arrived at the CN Tower to turn in their final score sheets and enjoy celebratory cocktails. Small annoyances and irritations from past weeks seemed to melt away as we realized the undertaking we’d just completed together.

For those of you keeping score, for the Toronto leg of the competition, Jeff & I pulled off a respectable second place finish, sandwiched in between two strong Canuck teams (Home field advantage… they already knew the language, ay?) For the overall competition we took the third place bronze medal- just 100 points behind the second place team.

But, the scavenging, points and competition was such a small slice of this adventure. We had the honor of traveling with some lovely, funny and talented individuals who made the adventure a learning experience for us. We hope to continue these relationships for years to come. We also found that if we utilized the scavenge/challenge list, not as a checklist or rule book for our journey, but instead, allowed it to guide our actions in each city, it helped each city unfold for us in interesting and unexpected ways. Many special moments presented themselves- a stunning view, an interesting interaction, a quaint shop or café- as we were in the process of hunting for an item in our book.

It’s a bit overwhelming to consider. We traveled over 41,000 kilometers as we circumnavigated the globe (we determined that is a difficult word to say when drinking wine.) We did much of the travel using public transportation and even threw in the occasional camel or horse for fun. We traveled through countries practicing many varied religions- Greek Orthodox, Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim & Christian- all with equal fervor but varying customs & belief systems.

We saw so many similarities among the many places we visited. Whether in Nepal, Toronto or Athens, ethnic enclaves exist & thrive. We visited Chinatowns, Little Italys & Little Indias around the globe. They were more alike than different and reminded me a lot of the ethnic neighborhoods we frequent in Manhattan.

We also saw solutions and opportunities in many countries that could hopefully be applied on a more global scale. Toronto utilizes an efficient system of trolleys and underground protected walkways to ease commuting. Amsterdam residents integrate commuting and exercise by biking to work. China, unfortunately, has picked up western customs and is ditching bicycles for road-clogging & polluting cars. I couldn’t help but imagine NY with pedestrian walkways, trolleys, bike lanes and less honking taxis.

Throughout the adventure, we reconfirmed that human nature is basically good and people want to help and enjoy other people. People in our group had very few negative experiences with local residents & they were far outweighed by the positive ones. So many shared stories of taxi drivers sharing family dinners with team members. We had so many drivers take a personal interest in our adventure that they worked hard to lead us to scavenges and even called friends to get information to help us in our efforts.

We feel very privileged to have seen many of the world’s greatest wonders on this adventure- from the Great Wall of China and Beijing’s Forbidden City; Kuala Lumpur’s Petronas Towers; Mt. Everest in Nepal; the Pyramids in Cairo; the Acropolis and Temple of Zeus in Athens, the People’s Palace and castles in the Romanian countryside and the lovely canals of Amsterdam.

But ultimately, as Dorothy told Toto, “There’s no place like home,” & we’re looking forward to coming home to our little cottage by the sea and to our own little Toto, Scooby. Thanks for your words of encouragement on the blog- it meant a lot as we were on the road. If you are planning trips abroad to any of the sights we visited, let us know… we have scavenges to share!

Maple Leaf Madness

Our global adventure wraps up in Toronto- another city Jeff & I have never visited together.

An update on the GreatEscape World’s Greatest Traveler competition (view the event blog at www.globalscavengerhunt.com/blog.)... I can see why so many of our pals are so successful- what a goal-oriented bunch! Many of you have written back to say, “We love hearing about your trip, but how is the competition going?”

As you know, in Greece we made a difficult decision to pull back from the competition (the 24 hours of Greek & Romanian buses & trains did not sound the least bit enticing)- instead opting to forego the points for that leg of the competition, to fly to Romania. Since five other teams ultimately opted to join us (the more, the merrier, we always say!) we knew we’d drop from second place to a solid middle-of-the-pack position. We were at peace with this decision and at least knew we’d be well-rested for the remainder of the trip. Upon arrival in Bucharest, it became apparent many teams had veered from the prescribed (but a bit cryptic) rules for the leg- some in minor ways by utilizing taxis to one or two scavenges… others in more major fashion. The organizers debated partial point fines for each leg where infractions occurred to more draconian measures of eliminating points for entire portions of the journey. Ultimately, their decision was to call the Greece to Romania leg a “Mulligan” and not count the leg at all (We now refer to that entire region as the "Land of Mulligan!")

As you can imagine, this caused quite an uproar- especially from the teams that had endured train rides without food or water or waiting for hours for buses that never arrived due to modified holiday schedules. Those of us that flew to Romania felt well-rested but quite guilty, since the standings remained the same yet we were not forced to endure the hardships of the Mulligan leg. We found the decision particularly difficult as one of our favorite teams had worked extremely hard to follow each and every rule, only to have their efforts and points negated.

So, as we moved to Amsterdam, we remained with a meager few point toehold on the second position. Our attitude was that while we would continue to complete scavenging efforts, if a team that went through the grueling train/bus effort to Romania jumped ahead of us, we were fine with that as they truly deserved the recognition.

Apparently our “Steady Eddie” (the kissing cousin of Even Steven) approach paid off as when we met in Toronto on the final morning of the competition, organizers shared the current standings. No one could mathematically challenge the leading team, Steve & Bart, for the title. We’d partnered with them for several legs of the competition (think Survivor alliances) and were in awe of their work ethic (they awoke at 4am many days to begin scavenges and averaged 4 – 6 hours of sleep nightly.) We particularly enjoyed our many strategy sessions to plot and plan approaches to maximize our impact in each country (did I just slip into Pfizer-speak?) Zoe & Rainey, a hard-driving pair of attorneys seemed a lock for second place throughout the journey. These two had been action-oriented and ferreted out points around every corner throughout the adventure.

Three teams- none of which had taken the arduous Mulligan journey- were in close competition for the final third position- 100 points separated the teams. At this point, we had to make the call… do we turn it on in Toronto or take in a Blue Jays game?

Jeff was a trooper… The competition monster got the best of me & I dragged him around Toronto as we traveled the city through its labyrinth of neighborhoods by foot, subway and PATH to accomplish challenges in local markets, visit Toronto’s Chinatown & Little Italy, museums (we even visited the Shoe Museum, ladies!) and landmarks. Torrential rains may have dampened our shoes and clothes but not our spirits as we made final stops at the Hockey Hall of Fame (Jeff got to touch the Stanley Cup) and yes, we even got to catch part of the Blue Jays game, before our group convened at 3pm high above the clouds at the top of the CN Tower. How would the points tally up? Stay tuned...

Canals & Cannabis

What a great city! We LOVE Amsterdam.
We arrived bright & early and took a train to our hotel and hit the ground running on today’s scavenges. We opted for bikes to speed ourselves throughout the city. There are thousands of bikers throughout the city- encouraged by the system of bike lanes and easy bike parking. We’re still stopping frequently to fight through with our maps (every street has at least 16 letters in its name!) and there is no such thing as a grid system for streets. But, around every corner is an enchanting view of a canal or cobblestone street lined with lovely homes. Flower markets, town squares, pubs and sidewalk cafes abound. We’re in the middle of a series of national holidays so the locals have been partying a bit and are all sporting orange garb and hangovers.

We’ve been using our scavenger list as a roadmap to lead us to hidden windmills, great cheese and chocolate shops, parks, museums and don’t-miss landmarks. We've also been instructed to visit a local museum and have now been fully informed on the history of cannabis. Our hotel is great- right next to the red light district and near to lots of great restaurants. It’s a visually-stimulating city with a great vibe and healthy energy.

Tonight we head to Toronto- then on to NJ. See you all soon.

From Bats to Bars

We continued our Romanian adventure with a trip to Transylvania. I’ll hand it to the Romanians- they are smart marketers. They’ve latched on to pieces of Bram Stoker’s Dracula and pieces of reality to build a healthy tourism industry.

We first visited Peles Castle. Considered by many to be one of the most beautiful castles in all of Europe, Peles and its 160 rooms are a masterpiece in architecture and are an opulent display of design, artifacts, glass, Cordoba leather (not rich Corinthian), and sculpture.

Bram Castle, a fortified medieval castle, often referred to as Dracula’s Castle, was built in 1377 to protect nearby Brasov from invaders. It sits atop a 200 foot rock overlooking the village and is full of passageways, courtyards and fireplaces. Not a vampire bat in sight but plenty of gypsies to sell us postcards and plastic teeth.

Actually, Count Dracula (the word Dracula means “son of the devil” in Romanian) was supposedly inspired by one of the best-known figures in Romanian history, Vlad Tepes- Vlad the Impaler. When Turkish invaders landed in Romania, they were greeted with a horrible stench. Supposedly, Vlad had had the heads of earlier Turkish invaders impaled on poles and placed in fields as psychological warfare. Apparently it worked well. Although he was greatly overwhelmed in numbers, he was victorious over the Turks.

Later that evening, we gathered with the group to get instructions on flying to our next leg- Amsterdam (these 3:30 wake-up calls are tough.)- neither of us have been outside the airport in Amsterdam.

It's Bucharest, not Budapest

Greetings from Bucharest Romania!

After a quick hop-skip flight from Athens, we landed in Bucharest with our crew of eight renegade scavengers last night. Eager to prove we still had our adventure traveler chops, we opted for the city bus ride to our hotel. Bad idea. I think we got on the rugby team route and ended up several kilometers from our hotel in a semi-deserted area at night without a cab in sight. Finally, after quite a hike lugging our heavy bags, we were able to get a ride to our hotel. Important Lesson #1: Don't make things difficult when you don't have to!

Today was relaxing and fun. We enjoyed the beautiful architecture and history of Bucharest. What an interesting city. A highlight was our tour of the Parliament Palace (aka: the People's Palace). This enormous structure, the second largest administrative building in the world (only the Pentagon is larger) was designed by over 700 architects and built between 1984 and 1989. The Palace was commissioned by Romanian dictator Ceausescu and includes over 600 rooms (we kept speculating on how rich we'd be if we had the Stanley Steamer carpet cleaning contract for the building.)

Opulent doesn’t do justice to the Palace. Each room has towering ceilings, marble columns, silk tapestry curtains with matching wallpapers, crystal chandeliers (some of which weigh over two tons) and custom carpets, woven to match the inlaid wooden floors or fabrics used in each room. In one room, the carpet was so large, it was actually woven as one piece in the room and weighs two tons.

Ceausescu was a strange bird (as dictators have been known to be.) He feared being poisoned and, as such, would not allow air conditioning in the Palace. He was vertically challenged and made the builders re-do the grand staircases five times until the stair heights were to his liking. As an aside, Ceausescu and his wife were executed by firing squad in 1989 and their bodies displayed on TV. Hmmm, do you think there was a link?

A number of famous people have tread this path before the Blakelys… Nadia Comaneci was married in the Palace (that must have been quite impressive to Bart Connor’s folks from the US! No pigs-in-a-blanket at that shindig!) We were so tired after our tour, we awarded our entire team 500 scavenge points for completing the tour and debriefed at the oldest pub in Romania. Tomorrow we are off to Transylvania. So far, no luck on finding bloody mary mix. No one said this would be easy.

It's All Greek to Me!

Greetings from Greece!

We landed in Athens on April 26, smack-dab in the middle of the Greek Orthodox Easter Holy Week. The Greeks take their holidays quite seriously (right, Zack?) and the entire country basically shuts down from Friday until Tuesday- except for family and church activities. Unfortunately, the holiday has made scavenging & travel coordination a bit challenging.

Our group gathered on Sat. evening for a festive and fun group dinner in the Athens plaka. Over souklaka and ouzo, we all bonded and ended up shattering several plates to shouts of “houpa!” After dinner, we got our challenges- the “mother” of them all.

We were charged with getting ourselves to a hotel in Bucharest, Romania by Wed. evening for our group meeting. Along the way, teams could pick up scavenge points by stopping at various towns along the train route or doing site routes to Macedonia, Bulgaria or the Balkan Sea.

Sounds easy? I think not. Remember, since it is a holiday here, no travel agents are open. No information booths at the local train station are manned. The train web site is in Greek. We are not allowed to use the concierge for these tasks. Very few cabs are working. We did as much online research as possible and visited the train station where we learned that through a series of local and overnight domestic and inter-country trains, we could ride for 22 hours by rail to get to Bucharest over the next two days. At this point, Jeff & I had a “come to Jesus” talk at the train station and decided that having a memorable and pleasant experience for the remainder of the trip was more important than maintaining our #2 position in the competition (I will admit, this was a more difficult concept for me to accept than Jeff.) But, we’ve decided to make lemondrops out of lemons and took our train fare money and applied it toward a cheap commuter flight (1 hour, 40 minutes). By doing so, we will not be eligible for points for this leg of the competition but will gain lots of time to enjoy Athens and Bucharest. In our typical ex-salesperson fashion, we shared our plan and now have a group of 8 taking the flight together today. We are connecting with others and are planning a trip to Transylvania- complete with Bloody Marys and plastic vampire teeth.

BTW- Holiday or not, we can’t say enough good about Athens. We’ve enjoyed strolling through the pedestrian-only plakas lined with sidewalk cafes as we enjoyed the strolling musicians. We walked to the top of Lycabettus Hill for sweeping views of Athens. We enjoyed the Acropolis- free of the tourist crowds and enjoyed sharing Easter with the Greek people. On to Romania!

Getting Old With Prayer and Grace

While in Kathmandu at the Tibetan Refugee Camp, we also had the opportunity to volunteer and support the camp’s Old Age Center. As you can imagine, like many other Asian cultures, the Tibetans revere their elders and multigenerational families live together. But, because of migration, many families may be separated or some of the Tibetans never married and had families. The Old Age Center serves this population and is home to some 20 seniors ranging from Ani, at age 64, to Dhedon, who, at age 90, is both blind and deaf.

The Handicraft Center GM Chime Dorjee and senior center manager, Peter, introduced us to the residents. I connected with Ani, who has an infectious smile and from our first visit, held my hand and showed me around. Ani is an avid gardener and keeps up the roses in the small courtyard. Also, as the youngest, she takes on many tasks for the others- breaking twigs to tend to the fire for the center. When we asked the group what they needed, they unanimously asked for blankets and pillows to help on the cold winter evenings.

This led to our big adventure in Kathmandu China Market (where we surprisingly, encountered not one Chinese person!). This four-story building is loaded with shop stalls where you must fine-tune your bargaining skills. When we left, a parade of shopkeepers, helped us hail a taxi and stuffed us and our many blankets and pillows into a miniscule Subaru. We may have been in a head-on crash- I would have never felt it as I was surrounded by a foam and fleece cocoon the entire ride home.

Today we visited the center to deliver the items. The residents gathered in the courtyard where we distributed the comfort items and enjoyed a cold Fanta orange drink. I was also pleased to bring a vase (Bill, it was from Thimi!) for my new friend, Ani, to use for her flowers. As we prepared to leave, they presented us each with a special blessing scarf and a good luck blessing. After this trip, I do feel very blessed. Namaste. Now we are heading out to Bahrain (a quick overnight) on our way to Cairo.

Keeping the Tibetan Culture Alive in Nepal

After the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1959, the Dalai Lama fled to India followed by 80,000 Tibetan people who sought asylum in India, Bhutan & Nepal. For those who were able to reach Kathmandu, the Nepalese government allotted areas of land to allow for the settlement & rehabilitation of the Tibetan refugees. As part of our GSH, we had the opportunity to spend time with a number of these refugees, learn about their beliefs and way of life and offer support and encouragement (albeit limited by our short stay and language barrier.)

The Tibetans operate as a cultural microcosm situated in the middle of Nepal. As skilled weavers, many of the adults work diligently to produce fine carpets and woven items (visit http://www.jhcnepal.com/ for more information.) Sales of these beautiful works of art help support social services for their local community- from a nursery for the newborn children of the workers; a small dispensary to treat minor illnesses; a neighborhood primary school; and an old folks home for the aged community members without family members to provide their care.

Let me tell you a bit about the Atisha Primary School.

We met with the school’s principal Tsering Dhondup on Sunday when we had the chance to tour the school and learn more about their needs. He indicated they needed numerous basic school supplies for each child- tuition is free for the children and is supported through profits from the Handicraft center. But money is tight and the center is also in need of sporting equipment and items such as puzzles.

Tsering himself is a refugee having left Tibet as a child when he and his father migrated to India. A chance visit to his uncle living in this Nepal settlement when he completed his education degree, led to his role at the primary school where he oversees 80 students from Kindergarten through Grade Five. Education is important in the Tibetan culture. Days are long for his tiny charges- beginning with prayers at 8:00am and ending at 4:00pm. Students learn English, Nepalese and Tibetan. Parents come by at lunchtime from their jobs at the weaving center to pick up the children to take them home to enjoy lunch together as a family.

We spent time on Monday at a local book store shopping for the needed school items. Besides the requisite school supplies, Tsering had requested items to allow the children to enjoy games of badminton and football (soccer). The real fun came on Tuesday when we came back to the school to deliver the items to the school.

We had the chance to enjoy tea and a long chat with the school administrators who answered our many questions ranging from politics, history, to the Dalai Lama and their current plight.
When asked why they all left to settle in Nepal, said Chimey, a lovely lady working in the school office, “It is important to us to preserve our culture and to pass it on to our children. Here, we can do that.”

The highlight of the day was when Tsering took us from class to class to personally deliver the materials to each child. These tiny, beautiful and extremely polite children each thanked us in English for their gifts and rewarded us with countless waves and smiles.

Interested in providing support? A gift of $1USD per day can send a child to school for a year. You can contact the school directly at atisha@wlink.com.np or I can provide additional information.

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (April 19-22) Kathmandu, Nepal

Namaste! We are now settled into Kathmandu, Nepal. What a culture shock after glitzy Singapore. The conditions here are brutal- 40% unemployment, deforestation, contaminated water & air, and poor roads. Their greatest beauty, the Himalayan Mountains, is also Nepal’s Achilles heel. We’ve pondered that even if Nepal were able to produce valuable goods and services, without infrastructure- the roads are poor, there are no trains or rivers, and with the world’s highest mountain range- how could they ever get goods to market?

We were loaded up with some tough challenges for our three-day stay in Nepal. We opened our visit with a plane ride over the Himalayas and the grand daddy of them all, Mt. Everest. What a thrill to see those majestic snow-capped peaks. We even got to go up into the cockpit to take photos.

From there, we spent the day running among the many historic squares dotting the Kathmandu and area countryside. We even visited a local supermarket where we met the pint-sized grocery store greeter in the photo (Did I hear him say, “Welcome to WalMart?”) We took a journey of winding hillside roads to the village of Nagarkot for sweeping views of the countryside. Due to its 7200 foot altitude, the town is often used by climbers to acclimate themselves prior to attempting Mt. Everest. We closed out the evening at a full moon festival at nearby Pashupatinath temple where local Hindis hold cremation ceremonies for their loved ones.

Keeping the Tibetan Culture Alive in Nepal

After the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1959, the Dalai Lama fled to India followed by 80,000 Tibetan people who sought asylum in India, Bhutan & Nepal. For those who were able to reach Kathmandu, the Nepalese government allotted areas of land to allow for the settlement & rehabilitation of the Tibetan refugees. As part of our GSH, we had the opportunity to spend time with a number of these refugees, learn about their beliefs and way of life and offer support and encouragement (albeit limited by our short stay and language barrier.)

The Tibetans operate as a cultural microcosm situated in the middle of Nepal. As skilled weavers, many of the adults work diligently to produce fine carpets and woven items (visit http://www.jhcnepal.com/ for more information.) Sales of these beautiful works of art help support social services for their local community- from a nursery for the newborn children of the workers; a small dispensary to treat minor illnesses; a neighborhood primary school; and an old folks home for the aged community members without family members to provide their care.

Let me tell you a bit about the Atisha Primary School.

We met with the school’s principal Tsering Dhondup on Sunday when we had the chance to tour the school and learn more about their needs. He indicated they needed numerous basic school supplies for each child- tuition is free for the children and is supported through profits from the Handicraft center. But money is tight and the center is also in need of sporting equipment and items such as puzzles.

Tsering himself is a refugee having left Tibet as a child when he and his father migrated to India. A chance visit to his uncle living in this Nepal settlement when he completed his education degree, led to his role at the primary school where he oversees 80 students from Kindergarten through Grade Five. Education is important in the Tibetan culture. Days are long for his tiny charges- beginning with prayers at 8:00am and ending at 4:00pm. Students learn English, Nepalese and Tibetan. Parents come by at lunchtime from their jobs at the weaving center to pick up the children to take them home to enjoy lunch together as a family.

We spent time on Monday at a local book store shopping for the needed school items. Besides the requisite school supplies, Tsering had requested items to allow the children to enjoy games of badminton and football (soccer). The real fun came on Tuesday when we came back to the school to deliver the items to the school.

We had the chance to enjoy tea and a long chat with the school administrators who answered our many questions ranging from politics, history, to the Dalai Lama and their current plight.
When asked why they all left to settle in Nepal, said Chimey, a lovely lady working in the school office, “It is important to us to preserve our culture and to pass it on to our children. Here, we can do that.”

The highlight of the day was when Tsering took us from class to class to personally deliver the materials to each child. These tiny, beautiful and extremely polite children each thanked us in English for their gifts and rewarded us with countless waves and smiles.

Interested in providing support? A gift of $1USD per day can send a child to school for a year. You can contact the school directly at atisha@wlink.com.np or I can provide additional information.

It's A Small World After All (April 15-18) KL & Singapore

It may be a big world but it can get small really fast. We got word in Beijing that the next leg of our adventure would take us to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Imagine my surprise to find we would be staying at the Le Meridien Hotel- the property I just stayed at & used in November for our Asia Women’s event. The manager at the front desk recognized me at check-in as he remembered the glowing blue martinis we served at our cocktail party at the event (hey, we all need a claim to fame!) Zack, a co-worker of mine (sits two offices away) was in town for another meeting and we were able to get together for a planning meeting with our local event planner who is working on our upcoming Vietnam meeting (this brief commercial message will allow me to write off my trip, won’t it, Leslie?)

Our mission in KL, should we choose to accept it, was to complete over 20 local scavenger ranging from gathering items at local markets to taking a bath with elephants at an area elephant sanctuary. BTW- elephants love baths ALMOST as much as they love drenching tourists.

To keep it interesting, the masochists, I mean, GSH planners, required us to find our own way to a small seaside town, Melaka, for a series of challenges before finding our way to Singapore for another series of scavenges. Sounds easy? Just one hitch… no air travel allowed. We gathered a crew of six for our pilgrimage by van to Melaka. Since time was as short as our sleep, we were all getting extremely creative in accomplishing tasks and have learned the art of c"reative interpretation."

One task we faced in Melaka was to “catch a fish”. We hunted and hunted for a fishing boat with no luck. Creative problem-solving kicked in when we went to a local fish market, purchased a fresh fish and threw it back & forth to each other so we all “caught a fish”. Never in my wildest dreams would I have envisioned Jeff & I tossing catfish to each other in a Malaysian parking lot. You start to get crazy when scavenge points are at stake.

The friendship, humor and generosity of the Malaysian people was heartwarming. One driver, Peter, was so engaged in our competition, that he made it his mission to help us find certain foods- taking us to no less than four Indian roadside stalls in search of a particular kind of roti. When it appeared we could garner a lot of points by playing a bit of cricket at a local cricket club, he went to his house to get his commemorative cricket bat so we could play.

Since both Jeff and I were somewhat familiar with Singapore, we were able to grab some high point-value challenges during our five hour time window in the city. Highlights of our very brief stay included Jeff’s chance to swim with sharks and feed rays at the aquarium at nearby Sentosa Island. What a kick to see all the schoolchildren on fieldtrips waving at him through the glass as he cavorted in the aquarium tank.

We also enjoyed our time with Jeffrey, the singing cab driver. A Singapore legend, Jeffrey has pimped out his cab with a karaoke machine and he has a repertoire of songs in nine languages. We particularly enjoyed belting out “New York, New York” and “These Boots Are Made for Walking” as we raced from challenge to challenge (I think Jeffrey has a thing for Nancy Sinatra although he says she is a “one hit woman.”

Our Singapore whirlwind wrapped up with a late evening drink at the famous (or infamous) Long Bar at the Raffles hotel where we learned we would be heading out tomorrow morning for Kathmandu, Nepal. So long for now.

We're Literally in a Fog! April 13 - 15 Beijing, China

The airport in Beijing is a wonder- designed to look like a dragon and expanded to handle the hoards of expected Olympic visitors. In fact, all of Beijing appears to be in a state of renovation. Like the aging film star Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, China is packing on its makeup and getting ready for its close-up when all eyes are upon it. You can’t imagine the sheer volume of construction- construction cranes dot the skyline. Roads are constantly being added to accommodate the new drivers- over 1000 per day- now clogging Beijing roads.

After a few hours to clean up, we all met in the Regents Hotel lobby for our first official set of scavenges (visit the GSH organizer blog on www.globalscavengerhunt.com for details on local scavenges.) Bill warns the group, “don’t try to do them all,” as he hands out the booklet with over 80 cryptic riddles, hunts and tasks that would keep us frantic and bleary eyed over the next two days. He also warned us to pace ourselves (easier said than done!), to keep healthy (code words for “stick to bottled water) and to listen to our instincts on safety issues.

We were sure to experience the more common tourist activities- the Forbidden City, the Olympic venues, and the grand daddy of them all- the great wall of China (this is very odd- the more “touristy wall site has a Starbucks at the base so we opted for the less-visited location. It had a ski chair lift to get up to the wall and an alpine slide option to come down.) Other activities ranged from 5 point tasks that might require asking for translation assistance from a local or getting a bit of information on Chinese history. The more common 20 – 35 point items sent us scurrying to and fro around Beijing, its historic landmarks and landmarks-to-be. We pored over badly-marked maps to find small neighborhoods or unique items or worked to be on-hand exactly where & when certain activities took place. We scoured traditional Chinese pharmacies (yes, they still carried a multitude of fine Pfizer products!) and visited lively local snack streets where locals enjoyed sates, fruits and epicurean delights such as eel, urchin & octopus.

Thoughts on China:
The issue I probably found most troubling in Beijing was the drain on natural resources and lack of stewardship for the environment. I can’t describe the poor air quality in Beijing. Photos of buildings just a few hundred yards away, come out as just a hazy gray image. The warmest of days still appear fall-like due to the dark haze that lingers over the city. Your eyes constantly burn and you can’t help but wonder what this is doing to a generation of Chinese children and what the repercussions will be on public health on years to come. Supposedly, 2 weeks before the Olympics, China will ban construction and card in the city so the haze will lift in time for the TV audiences.

Another somewhat naïve surprise for me was the government censorship. Yes, I know… I do read the papers. But until you attempt to log into your laptop and find that half of the internet content is unavailable to you, you really don’t have a sense of how it affects people on a personal level. We found all blogs were blocked as well. We saw in the paper today that during the Olympics, the internet at hotels and internet cafes will be opened to give foreigners the illusion of open media access.

Another interesting surprise to me was also that I have probably never felt safer anywhere than I did in Beijing. We wandered in some dodgy hatongs in the evenings and not once did I feel threatened. People were very kind to us and I never felt any anti-Westerner sentiments.

Two days later we gathered and got the word… pack up… we are off to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in the morning. Get a few hours sleep.

Let the Games Begin! April 11 (San Francisco)

Today our GSH crew all met in the SF Hyatt for orientation and Q&A with event organizers. Our group- half Americans and half Canadians, all nervously introduced ourselves and made poor attempts at putting together the 20+ names and faces together of the folks we’d be traveling with for the next 23 days.

Within an hour of meeting, we’d been alerted to our group welcome dinner at a nearby restaurant, E&O Trading Company. We also received our first set of challenges to let us cut our teeth in San Francisco before we met for dinner. Jeff and I realized immediately we were in trouble. We had just spent two fun days in SF but couldn’t answer any of the questions without darting around town. So instead, we decided to pace ourselves and catch a bit of The Masters before dinner.

Dinner was fun & festive- a great chance to improve my lackluster chopstick skills. As we wrapped up entrees, Bill, the event mastermind, informed us that we would be checking out of our hotel that evening and we needed to get ourselves to the airport before 11:30 for the first leg of our adventure, which turned out to be the 1:20am flight to Hong Kong. It was probably best that we didn’t have more time to contemplate or dread the first 14-hour flight. Little did we know that a second flight to Beijing awaited us upon arrival in Hong Kong. This 3-hour flight seemed to pass in a blink after the trans-Pacific journey we just endured.

Tony Bennett was right

You can see why one could leave their heart in San Francisco. The city is absolutely enchanting, dotted with a patchwork of small and varied neighborhoods- each with their own unique character. We can't decide which we prefer most- the Nob Hill victorians, painstakingly restored with care, to North Beach and the old Italian haunts that remind us so of Little Italy. We've lucked into a patch of sunny warm weather and are enjoying each of our long walks through the hilly city.
It was lucky that we came out a bit early as our American flight was full with flyers who had been bumped from other cancelled American flights. Jeff is still adjusting to "JoAnne's world" of flying- domestic coach where you pay for a turkey sandwich. We are definitely enjoying the fruits of Jeff's labor and have a great room at the Hilton (thank you, Hilton points!) with sweeping views of the city.
On our first night, we went to one of our favorite area restaurants, Farallon. Farallon is like an underwater adventure- lighting shaped like huge sea urchins and jelly fish; bar stools shaped like oysters. For divers like us, it is nirvana.
The next day, we hit the ferry for an adventure out to Sausalito, a lovely coastal boating town just across the bay from SF. Tomorrow we are heading to an area museum for an Annie Liebowitz photography exhibit and to Cliff House to visit their legion of sea lions sunning on the shoreline. Tomorrow night we meet with our other global travelers. Something tells me we will start our scavenging here in San Francisco... Wish us luck!

Thanks for visiting our blog. This seems like an easy way for us all to keep connected while we're on-the-go on our whirlwind adventure. It's very odd to have such an exciting trip planned but know nothing about what lies ahead. And for me... to not be able to plot and plan. Lord, just slit my wrists. Stay tunes for our first stop.