It has now been 43 days since we started our trip travelling west around the world. We are now at the half way point.
First stop was Peru. We walked the Inca Trail and arrived at Machu Picchu. What a view! Not to mention, we ate guinea pig. And that’s not just the meat, but a whole fried pig. It was a rather weird experience to say the least. For those that wonder, it tasts like brown chicken meat.
Further on we flew to LA. Initially we had quite low expectations for this city, but were surprised mostly positive. The airport is probably the biggest disappointment with poor transportation and useless security check, but the city itself was prettier than expected and the bus and metro system worked well. We did of course see the Hollywood sign, not to mention the broken star of president-elect Trump.
Next we undertook the longest flight of our lives. 15 hours and 10 minutes in the air on the world’s largest commercial airplane, the Airbus A380. Due to the international date line we also spend 3 calendar days in air. What a trip! Arrival happened in Guangzhou in China, but did unfortunately not have time (or visa) to cross the border. However, we had time for a Chinese Coca Cola and got to see a bunch of Chinese people, so a little bit of China we did get to see, although we cannot take another map off the scratch map.
From China the next flight went to Tokyo where we spent one night. Not too much time to visit such a large place, but we did get some first impressions and confirmed and refute some Japanese stereotypes: Trains are efficient, people are very polite, everyone does not dress like cartoon characters and yes, cat cafes do exist.
Further on from Tokyo we flew United Airlines’ somewhat special flight UA155. This was actually recently mentioned by CNN as one of the most special flights in the world. The destination was Pohnpei in The Federated States of Micronesia for us. Here we spent a week and got to experience one of the least visited countries on earth.
From Pohnpei we had to fly the same route back as there are not many options. We had a layover in Guam and made time to quickly go downtown in the evening. In short: It is hot, American and filled with Japanese and Koreans.
Again we spent a night in Tokyo and had time to visit the fish market and eat sushi. Omnomnomnom!
Next stop: Vietnam. Around two weeks were spend in Vietnam and we got to see quite a lot. Entry happened in Hanoi where we were introduced to Southeast Asia’s moped traffic madness and Vietnam’s street food. We undertook excursions to Ha Long Bay and Perfume Pagoda as well. From here the bus took us to Hue, an old city famous for its numerous and large tombs. The rainy season was a bit behind schedule and made is quite wet to say the least. It rained so much that the stairs looked like fountains and the roads were flooded with water. The manholes that are supposed to remove water was full and even started pouring water into the streets. My camera, that survived 15 minutes in Pohnpei’s rain, (the 7th wettest place on earth) even had to give in. Luckily it dried up and started working three days later again.
From Hue we went to Hoi An, and old city listed on UNESCO’s World Heritage Site list.Here we rode a buffalo, biked into the countryside and made a day trip to the neighbouring city of Da Nang, Vietnam’s third largest city.
Next we took a bus to Nha Trang. This is a costal town and a very popular vacation destination for Russians. Because we were white and did not speak Vietnamese we were addressed in Russian multiple times because they assumed that all non-Vietnamese were Russians…
Dalat was next, 1500 meters up in Vietnam’s mountains. This city was mostly constructed during the French colonial times, something the city’s architecture shows. The forest is mainly made up of pine tress, making it look much like Europe. In fact this place looks like it could be somewhere in Norway. We also spend a whole day riding a motorcycle and stopped in a coffee plantation to taste the world’s most expensive coffee, kopi luwak.
Last stop in Vietnams was Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon as the city is still called by many people. It was supposed to be a boring large city based on what others have told, but we actually thought this city was better than Hanoi. We also went to Cu Chi Tunnels from here, the famous tunnels being used during the Vietnam war.
In a local market we tried to eat crocodile and cuttlefish.
From Saigon we headed on towards Cambodia on a bus. It has now been 43 days since we left Norway and we are currently in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. So far no deceases, diarrhoea or theft, so the trip is going great so far! We do hope for some sun after all the rain in Vietnam, thought. When we get to Africa we will probably not have that problem, but hopefully we don’t have to wait that long.
Yeee-ha, travelling is fun!
