Trip Summary

June 1, 2003- June 24, 2004

Here is our ‘Best/Worst List’ for our entire trip. It was an amazing 390 days, but who’s counting? Undoubtedly, this was the best thing we have ever done in our lives. Some call it a “once-in-lifetime trip,” however, we hope that such wonderful experiences happen more than once in a lifetime. This summary only contains but a few of the great and noteworthy things we’ve seen on our travels, which have taken us from Western Europe to Eastern Siberia to mainland Asia and on to the islands of the South Pacific.

The people, the sights, the sounds, and most often the smells have been so far beyond anything that we imagined while planning for this trip. So, while it is impossible to convey completely what we have experienced and gained from these past 13 months, the info below will hopefully give you a little insight into our lives on the road, living out of our backpacks, and on a US$25/day/person budget.

Number of countries visited: 14 (Germany, Italy, Russia, Mongolia, China, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Burma (Myanmar), Indonesia, Australia, Hutts River Province Principality (Western Australia), and Fiji)

Number of flights: 19
Hours spent in the air on those flights: 63

Number of buses: 55
Hours spent on those buses: 272

Number of trains: 11
Hours spent on those trains: 283

Kilometers driven in our campervan thru Western Australia in 1 month: 4,382 miles (7,304 km)

Number of beds we've slept in: 143

Number of homes we’ve stayed in: 17

Number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites we've visited: 26

Number of languages we know how to say NO MSG: 7 (English, Chinese, Cambodian, Thai, Burmese, Japanese)

Number of service projects, volunteer work, and paid jobs we did or had: 6 (at-risk youth camp in Mongolia, teaching English in Lhasa, Tibet, Muang Ngoi, Laos, and Mandalay, Myanmar, cleaning a cafe in Sydney and picking apples outside of Sydney, Australia)

Number of massages NikiAnne had: 27 (the best were the ones I got in Cambodia from blind masseuses)

Things we missed from home:
NikiAnne: Having my own refrigerator stocked with familiar foods; cooking; live music; dancing; blending in; living where the environment is respected.
Andy: Mexican food; chicken parmagiana; basketball; movies; talking sports; Adams Morgan (D.C.); Not having to worry that what you are eating could be dog, rat, pigeon, or snake.

Things we didn't miss:
NikiAnne: Walmart, consumer mania around Thanksgiving and Christmas, fantasy basketball, nylons and winter coats
Andy: Christmas music, Yankee fans, D.C. traffic, and hockey

Things that we've learned about ourselves while on this trip:
NikiAnne: I have no decision-making skills when it comes to restaurant menus and that while I was away I gave the US way too much credit in areas such as customer service and overall quality of products
Andy: I have absolutely no sense of direction

Least amount of money we paid for one night’s accommodation: $0.60, Ban Na Village, Laos
Most amount of money we paid for one night’s accommodation: $56, Irkutsk, Russia

Favorite cities/towns/villages:
NikiAnne: Marburg, Germany; St. Petersburg and Novogorod, Russia: Beijing and Lijiang, China; Luang Probang and Muang Ngoi, Laos; Hanoi, Vietnam; Inle Lake, Burma (Myanmar); Pai, Thailand; Ubud, Bali (Indonesia); Fremantle, Western Australia; Taveuni, Fiji

Andy: Berlin, Germany; St. Petersburg, Russia; Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia; Lijiang and Yangshuo, China; Luang Probang and Muang Ngoi, Laos: Hanoi, Vietnam; Ko Lanta, Thailand; Phnom Phen, Cambodia; Ubud, Bali (Indonesia); Perth, Western Australia; Taveuni, Fiji

Highest elevation we reached: 5,220 meters (17,056 feet) Mount Everest Base Camp, Tibet, China
Lowest elevation we reached: 137 feet below sea level, diving the Great White Wall, Somosomo Straits, Taveuni, Fiji

Andy's weight on Day 1: 167.5 pounds
Andy's weight after 13 months: 148 pounds
NikiAnne's weight on Day 1 and after 13 months: Let's just say I fluctuated up to 10 lbs.

Consecutive days we made it without paying for accommodation: 39 days, at the start of trip

Things we've learned about the U.S. and Americans while traveling:
The CIA started SARS (according to the Chinese)
No one can tell us apart from Canadians
The US waged a secret war on Laos and Cambodia in the 1970s
There are more Americans traveling throughout Southeast Asia than anywhere else we've been
Our Chinese food in the States is better than China's
Everybody knows and sings the song Hotel California when I tell them where I'm from
Americans must have invented the Mongolian BBQ because no such thing exists in Mongolia

Only Americans like Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches

Most people we met, locals and travelers alike, expressed dislike for the US government’s current policies, yet still liked and had a warm heart for Americans

Things in backpack we loved the most:
NikiAnne: Silk sleep sack, super absorbent hand towel, eye mask, and air pillow (which had tape and Band-aids on it one month into our trip, it bit the dust about half way through the trip)
Andy: Eye mask, head lamp, moleskin journal, MP3 player, rechargeable batteries, and charger

Things in backpack we hated the most:
NikiAnne: Frumpy hiking pants, damp clothes that stank because nothing ever dried in humid weather
Andy: Mosquito net and two 16 oz. bottles of Permitherin (insect repellent), all of which we never used

Things we went without

Winter coats, cell phones, Sopranos, American Idol (thankfully), hairbrushes

Andy: Basketball, chicken parm.

NikiAnne: kickboxing, dance & nail polish

Favorite/Best experiences (in no particular order):
NikiAnne: 1. Revisiting the Malachite Room of the Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia
2. Reuniting with my old dance friends Kate and Dima after 10 years, St. Petersburg, Russia
3. Day trip to Novgorod with Peter and Olga Lukarevsky, Novgorod, Russia
4. Seeing REAL dinosaur bones and the desert they were found in, Ulaan Baatar & Gobi Desert, Mongolia
5. Working with Mongolian teens at an 8-day camp, Northern Mongolia
6. Picnicking on the river with the sun setting on the Castle w/ Lemmer and Mira, Marburg, Germany
7. Walking the Great Wall, Beijing, China
8. Hanging out on Ben's rooftop as the sun rose over East Berlin, Germany
9. "Ap-naming" (bathing) and doing laundry in the river with the locals, Muang Ngoi, Laos
10. Seeing Mount Everest on a clear day, Rongphu Monastery, China

11. 2-day trek through Tiger Leaping Gorge, China

12. Exploring the ancient city and temples of Angkor in Cambodia for 3 days

13. Diving the Great White Wall (amazing soft coral), Somosomo Straits, Taveuni, Fiji, and the Great Barrier Reef, Australia while on a live-aboard sail boat

14. Everything in Ubud, Bali- attending traditional Balinese dance ceremonies every night, rice paddy walks, learning about Balinese culture and people through the family at whose guesthouse we were staying

15. Traveling through Thailand with my aunt and uncle, and Australia with my sister

16. Meeting Burmese people who are some of the most kind-hearted, curious, and happy people I’ve ever met

Andy: 1. Spear fishing in Muang Ngoi, Laos
2. Seeing the Berlin Wall, Germany
3. Spending 4 consecutive days on the Trans-Siberian Railway, Russia
4. Floating down a river on inner-tubes in Yangshou, China
5. Visiting small minority villages outside of Luang Nam Tha and Muang Sing, Laos
6. Seeing Mount Everest, and spending a night at Base Camp, Tibet, China
7. Spending 8 days bumping around the Gobi Desert, Mongolia
8. Having dinner with my host family in Beijing, China
9. Spending my first night in a ger (yurt) in beautiful Terelj National Park, Mongolia
10. Listening to Red Sox playoff games live via Internet radio while in China

11. Seeing the ancient temples and stupas of Bagan, Burma (Myanmar) by bicycle and watching the sun go down over the temples and the Irrawaddy River

12. Traveling with my parents for 3 weeks through Australia

13. Almost getting arrested by Vietnamese police in the Mekong Delta

14. Learning to dive in Thailand, and then diving there, Bali, Australia, and Fiji

15. Driving and living out of a campervan through Western Australia, covering over 4,000 miles in 33 days- highlights were the gorge treks at Karijini National Park, and the snorkeling (with whale sharks!) and people at Cape Range National Park (Ningaloo Reef)

Casualties:
Lost 4 water bottles, a towel, a scarf, a ring, and a shirt; tore and then threw out another shirt; ripped a pair of boxers; wore our the butt of my jeans; two trains missed; broke some porcelain souvenirs, developed a fungal infection on my foot, scratched my Rx glasses to death, had lots of bad haircuts and became lactose intolerant after not having much dairy at all for 7 months in Asia

Strangest drinks we drank:
Fermented mare's milk- Mongolia
Lao whiskey (Lao lao) out of a gasoline can, Laos

Salty Yak butter tea, Mongolia and Tibet

Avocado milkshake, Vietnam

Kava, Fiji

Craziest foods we have seen or seen on menus:
Horse fillet- Mongolia

Goat- Mongolia (yes, we tried it)
Fried scorpions, frog's legs and silk worms- Wangfujing Night Market, Beijing, China
Chicken feet- Everywhere in China, Laos, and Vietnam
Yak meat- Tibet (yes, we tried it)
Dog- China and Vietnam

Animal intestines- China

Rat and Mongoose- Fiji

Emu, Crocodile, and Kangaroo- Australia (yes, we tried them)

Trip faux pas:

1. Offering to cook Mexican food for our friends in St. Petersburg, then we couldn't find one ingredient needed in the store.

2. Ordering spaghetti bolognese with yak meat in Lhasa, Tibet.

3. Throwing out our Laos visa receipt, which we needed in order to prove that we were entitled to a 30-day visa because we had paid extra, as opposed to a 15-day visa, which we ended up being stuck with.

4. NikiAnne throwing up in Catherine's Palace at Pushkin, St. Petersburg.

5. NikiAnne not trying on her backpack (which is like 3 times too big for her) until 4 hours before we left.

6. Assuming there was an ATM in a small Siberian fishing village of 2,500 people. (Listvayanka, Russia)

7. Andy hitting a rock and temporarily breaking a rented motorcycle while visiting remote villages in Laos.

8. NikiAnne seeing if Andy's digital camera could survive underwater for one minute. (It could not.)

9. Overstaying our Russian and Chinese visas. We were only caught by the Russians, costing us booko-bucks.

Quotes said in all seriousness:
"I hope I don't have to eat horse today." Gobi Desert, Mongolia
"Oh, look! Here is some good dung." Collecting camel dung for our dung fire, Gobi Desert, Mongolia

Reality Checks

1. Being reminded that Vietnam is still communist after almost getting arrested by Vietnamese police in the Mekong Delta because we were staying with a local family

2. Seeing on a daily basis the lasting effects of war, poverty and landmines on Cambodians

3. Trying to make crepes in Laos w/o realizing they have no milk or flat frying pans (only woks)

4. Meeting former So. Vietnamese Army officers whose perfect English can only get them jobs in tourism, such as a guide at a crocodile farm

5. Seeing spent bombshells being used as plant pots or stairs in Laos

6. Whispers of democracy in conversations with Burmese in Burma

7. Muslim bombings in So. Thailand while we were a little further no. on the 98% Muslim island of Ko Lanta

8. William a 19 yr. old Chinese-Burmese worried about registering us with the neighborhood police in Rangon while we stayed with him.

9. Meeting a political refugee from China in Laos that had just crossed the border that day

10. “Australia is next” attitude after the Madrid bombings expressed by Aussies

11. Burmese infant dies a week before we are there, yet the mother is serving us lunch while she mourns

12. Moto driver in Campot Thom speaks of having his family annihilated & reminisces of whole villages that no longer exist

13. Motorcycle ride in Bangkok on freeways with our backpacks and no helmets (definitely the stupidest thing we did on the trip)

14. Arriving at Sydney airport demonstrated how far from our previous American realities we were (Asia seemed more natural to us at that point than Sydney)

15. Having someone want offer us a place to sleep in Tibet, but then told we can’t stay there because they are watched by the gov.

16. Having a Tibetan woman reveal a picture of the Dalai Lama around her neck in Lhasa, knowing full well that she was risking her life doing so or even having it in her possession

17. Being offered opium & ganja by minority women in Laos and China

18. Getting email responses from anywhere in the world within 2 minutes of having sent one to that person

19. Having lunch slaughtered in front of us, a reminder of where our meat comes from

Shopping Meccas

Beijing, China- silk alley market & hutongs

Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia

Lhasa, Tibet

Dali & Chengdu, China

Laos- whole country, particularly Luang Prabang

Hanoi and Hoi An, Vietnam

Russian Market in Phnom Phen & old town market in Siem Riep, Cambodia

Ko San Road, Bangkok & the night market in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Inle Lake, Burma (Myanmar)

Ubud, Bali (Indonesia)

Our Angels

William, Burma (Myanmar)- This 19 year old student befriended us on the local bus and invited us into his home to stay for the two days we were in the capitol, Rangoon, despite the fact that it is essentially illegal to do so.

Lucia, Bangkok, Thailand- Lucia is Andy’s cousin who lives in Bangkok. She let us stay in her apartment both times we were in Bangkok. The luxuries of her home were much needed at that point in our trip given we were exhausted from overnight bus rides and the impersonality of hostel life. Andy also had a 3 day flu bug.

Haze, Kunming, China- A postal worker of our age that offered to personally replace items of ours that broke before we were able to send them home. For full story read about Haze in our China write-up.

Zoya and Aliya, Moscow, Russia- Zoya stopped to help us on the street when we couldn’t find a hotel that was in our guide book. In the end, she invited us to stay with her and her daughter in her home. Our 4 days in Moscow were made beautiful and memorable thanks to them.

Sergei, Ekaterinburg, Russia- When all other Russians were slamming doors in our faces and unwilling to help us, Sergei, the security guard at the train station helped us way beyond our expectations and his call of duty. Thanks to him we got a refund for our missed train and new tickets for that evening within 10 minutes. Full story in Trans-Siberian write-up.

Scott and Jamie, Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia- An American couple introduced to us by a colleague of NA’s that welcomed us into their home and lives throughout our 5 week stay in Mongolia. The time we spent with them and their 3 precious boys introduced us to a magical Mongolia.

Min Rei, Datong, China- A taxi cab driver we met in Datong, our first stop in China. He took us out on the town our first night, then to lunch, his home and the train station the next day, all without expectation of payment.

Lhobsang, Lhasa, China- Also introduced to us by a colleague of NA’s, Lhobsang showed us a bright and hopeful side of Tibet as well as gave us an opportunity to teach English classes for a few days. We got to see a side of Tibet that most foreigners don’t get to due to the strict control the Chinese have over what they allow to be seen of Tibet’s true reality.

Guidebooks and Maps we used:

Lonely Planet: Trans-Siberian Railway, Mongolia, China, Tibet, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, and Fiji

Rough Guide: Bali

Footprints: Australia

Nancy Chandler Maps of Chiang Mai and Bangkok, Thailand (They’re the best maps we’ve ever seen)

It’s a small world:

Guner and Heidi Tautrim- A couple from Santa Barbara, CA we met in Vietnam. Many conversations later we discover that Guner’s parents are old college buddies with NikiAnne’s step-father yet they hadn’t spoken in years. Through our emails to them about this rare and unfathomable encounter between their kids their friendship is rekindled by a simple phone call.

Ben’s roommate in Berlin- He recognized Andy from high school debate, 7 years later.

Jeff- An English bloke we traveled with in Tibet and then ran into on the streets of Hanoi, Vietnam and then again on the beaches of Thailand.

Beth and Seth- A couple we met at our guesthouse in Ubud, Bali that not only attended the same temple in Santa Cruz, CA, but Beth was also the Rabbi of it.

Peter and Charles Stinson- We met Charles in China. He’s Fijian and said that if we found ourselves in Fiji to let him know, so we did and 9 months later we stayed at his family’s Estates in Taveuni, Fiji. We later come to find out that 3 years earlier NikiAnne’s Aunt Terry and Uncle Jerry met Charles’ father, Peter, at that same property.

Will Bussey- A classmate from GW (George Washington University) that we randomly ran into in the small town of Inle Lake, Burma.

Neil- An English bloke we met in Laos and then ran into again and again in Vietnam, Cambodia, Burma, and Australia

Things we’ll miss

The bargaining game

Buying awesome things at great prices

Not working

Affordable weekly massages

Encountering new smiling, curious faces daily

The challenge of learning a new language just to survive the day

The time we have to think of anything and everything without interruption

The black market printing press of Vietnam

Great warm weather all the time

Cheap, delicious Indian food

Wearing flip-flops all day, everyday

Seeing places we never thought we’d see (like sunset over Bagan, the Potala Palace, a kid riding a water buffalo

Being welcomed into people’s lives & homes even though we don’t even know each others’ language

Having Andy all to myself

Things we won’t miss

Having to wear the same smelly clothes weeks at a time

NikiAnne having an infection on her foot for 8 months that just won’t heal

MSG ridden food

Sleeping in a different bed every other night

Overnight bus trips

Bad haircuts or having shaggy hair b/c you’re scared of getting another horrible one

Cleaning the mold off of your toothbrush holder that is supposed to keep the brush clean

Paying for Internet by the minute, especially when connection is painfully slow

Ordering a cheeseburger & getting sliced white bread w/ just cheese, lettuce & tomato

Waking up to a rooster crow (Andy won’t miss it, NikiAnne will)

Spaghetti Bolognese with yak meat

“Special price for you,” “I give you lucky price,” not knowing if that means higher or lower than the normal price

Horrific car pollution

The millions of Chinese smokers and their poor smoking etiquette

Books we've read: (we put *** next to the books we highly recommend reading)
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon ***
In Search of Gengis Khan by Tim Severin
Wild Swans by Jung Chang (20th century China) ***
A Bend in the Yellow River by Justin Hill (China)
Off the Rails in Phenom Phen by Amit Gilboa
Brother Number One- An Autobiography of Pol Pot by David Chandler (Cambodia)
Mirage by Soheir Khashoggi (Arab woman in Middle East) ***
Catfish and Mandala by Andrew X. Pham (Vietnam) ***
The Sorrow of War by Bao Ninh (Vietnam)
Women of Mongolia by Martha Avery
Losing my Virginity by Richard Branson (Autobiography of Virgin Records & Virgin Airlines founder) ***
A Heartbreaking work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
The Ends of the Earth by Robert Kaplan ***
Wanderlust: A History of Walking by Rebecca Solnit
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rawling ***
Birds of Prey by Wilbur Smith

Stay Alive my Son (One man’s story of escaping Cambodia during the brutal Khmer Rouge governance)***

Bangkok 8 by John Burdett (A mystery novel set in Bangkok)***

The Life of Pi by Yann Martel***

The Five People you Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom***

The Bear and the Dragon by Tom Clansy

The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh (Burma, India, and Malaysia during British colonial rule)

Down Under (AKA In a Sun Burnt Country) by Bill Bryson (Australia)

The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason (British occupied Burma)***

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Siddhartha by Herman Hesse (Buddhist)***

The Alchemist by Paolo Coehlo

The King of Torts by John Grisham

The Trouser People by Andrew Marshall (Burma)***

Rouge Nation by Clyde Prestowitz (A look at the US and how it is viewed abroad)***

An American Requium by James Carroll

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

What Color is your Parachute by Richard Bowles (Career and Life Changes Self-help book)***

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Ann Fadiman (Hmong people of SEA)***

Places in the Asia-Pacific region to visit next time:
Nepal, India, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Xinjiang (NW China), Eastern Siberia, and more of Laos, Burma and Mongolia, Philippines, Borneo, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and the Cook Islands