23 September, 2011

World Tour 2010 - 2011: Facts

With the trip over, we thought it might be fun to compile a few facts about our adventure over the past year. 
map of our travels
(click to enlarge)

Days on the Road: 334 (11 months)
(11 Aug, 2010 - 11 July, 2011)
Distance travelled: +/-80,000 kilometres
Pictures taken: +/- 16,500
Equator Crossings: 6
Time Zones: 24
International Date Line Crossings: 1
Border Crossings: 33
Stamps Added to Passport: 78
Flights: 22
Hotels: 86 (estimated)
Malaria Pills Taken: 283
Total Sick Days: 5
Maximum Elevation: 5416 M (Thorung La pass, Nepal)
Minimum Elevation: -30 M (Sail Rock, Thailand)
Northernmost Latitude: 45 deg. 30 min. (Montreal, Canada)
Southernmost Latitude: 45 deg. 24 min. (Te Anau, New Zealand)
Highest Temperature: 45 deg. Celsius (desert around pyramids, Egypt)
Lowest Temperature: -10 deg. Celsius (Thorung La Pass, Nepal)
Blog Posts: 45 (+/- 50,000 words, roughly equivalent to 150 page book)
Haircuts: 6 (Colleen - 2, Michael - 4)
Weight of Packs on Annapurna Trek: 26 kg (Colleen - 8kg, Michael - 18kg)
Continents: 5
North America, Africa, Asia, Oceania, South America
Countries: 22
Egypt, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Burundi, Rwanda, India, Nepal, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, French Polynesia, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, U.S.A., Canada
Major Cities: 30
Montreal, Philadelphia, New York, Cairo, Dar es Salaam, Lusaka, Bujumbura, Kigali, Delhi, Agra, Amritsar, Varanasi (Benares), Kathmandu, Bangkok, Vientiane, Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Georgetown (Penang), Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Melbourne, Alice Springs, Christchurch, Auckland, Wellington, Papeete, Los Angeles, Fort Lauderdale, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Sao Paulo
Languages: 16
Arabic, Swahili, Bemba, French, Kinyarwanda, Hindi, Punjabi, Nepali Thai, Laotian, Cambodian, Malay, Maori, English, Spanish, Portuguese
Items lost: 9
Ipod, spoons, lock, kenga, book, insect repellant, swiss army knife, fleece jacket, alarm clock
Forms of Transportation: 24
Plane, train, subway, taxi, tuk tuk, jeep, motorcycle taxi, scooter, bicycle, rental car, van, songthaaw, bus, dalla dalla, rickshaw, cargo ship, ferry, canoe, kayak, hang yaaw (long boat), motor boat, camel, elephant, walking
Best / Worst Hotel: Best - tied: Hotel des Milles Collines (Kigali, Rwanda), Amari (Bangkok) / Worst - Auberge de Gyseni (Gyseni, Rwanda)
Most Incredible Place we Stayed: Upper Pisang, Annapurna Nepal
Best / Worst Food: Best - Hawker stalls in Malaysia / Worst - roadside restaurant in Rajasthan
Best / Worst Drink: Best - Stoney Tangawizi (Tanzania), lassi (India), white coffee (Malaysia) and sugar cane juice (Tanzania) / Worst - Mate Yerba (Argentina) and Laotian coffee (Laos)
Best / Worst Alcohol: Best - caipirinhas (Brazil), Raxi (Nepal) and LaoLao (Laos) / Worst - every lager we came across
Best /Worst Cultural Experience: Best - Sikh Golden Temple (India) / Worst - sex tourism (southeast asia)
Best Man Made Structure: Taj Mahal (India)
Best Natural Wonder: tied - Himalayas, Serengeti, South Island New Zealand
Best City: Buenos Aires
Best All Around Country to Visit: New Zealand
Least Favourite Places: Thailand, Laos and Cambodia
Least Comfortable Voyage: bus from Luang prabang to Phoonsavanh
Worst Bathroom: MV Liemba
Sickest Moment: near miss in Angkor after drinking bad water
Oddest Form of Communication: head bobble, India
Favourite Places: Everywhere but Thailand, Laos and Cambodia
Best Wildlife Experience: Colleen - Giraffes in Tanzania, Michael - Lemon sharks in Tahiti
Best Adventure Experience: Ice climbing in New Zealand and jumping into Devil's Hole at Victoria Falls in Zambia
Best Travel Experience: tied - MV Liemba on Lake Tanganyika and Tazara train from Tanzania to Zambia
Best Sunsets: Anywhere in India or Africa
Best Surprise Find: Vineyard where wine we served at our wedding is made (Marlborough, New Zealand)
Best Sueprise: Showing up for Sean's graduation in Florida
Best Tout Come On: "looking is free" and "today is a good day to spend money in my shop"
Best Spectator Sport Experience: Soccer in Buenos Aires and Australian Rules Football in Melbourne
Funnest Activity: Lawn bowling in Melbourne
Most Surprising Purchase: dancing shoes in Buenos Aires
People That Joined us Along the Way: Aileel and Tim, Camille, Mom, Colleen, Matthew and Haylee, Zulima
Friends we Met Along the Way: dozens
Ellie Jess and Steve our first acquaintances on the road, Charlotte and Robert who shared our adventure on Lake Tanganyika, Frech who waited with us in Mpulungu, Charity who was the friendliest innkeeper we met and taught me how to clean a fish, Pete the kiwi biking from Cape Town to Copenhagen, Deb and Mary who gave us a ride and a place to stay in Kigali, Carly and Latif  the only other US/Canadian couple in Dar es Salaam, Melissa and Andrew our off and on companions through Rajasthan, Warren from South Africa, Bittoo who drove us through Rajasthan and gave us whiskey to keep us warm in the desert, Nanda our companion in Nepal, the Annapurna gang: Max and Jess, Hanna, Bennedict (who we met up with again in Oz), Richard and Geraldine, and Mem and Micha, Mathilde and Olivier from france we knew in Kathmandu, Chris and David in Laos, Jeroen the Belgian expat we met in Laos who took us out to dinner in Bangkok, Nicholas the frenchman who found Camille's mojo, Alex and Marta yoga instructors extraordinaire, Gavin, Woody and Ingrid from the Dive Inn in Koh Phangan, Haylee who was the world's most understanding person for letting us stay in her living room (she also introduced us to Tim Tams and ANZAC cookies), Matt's friends Ingrid, Claude and Ryan, Jenny and Brett our couple soulmates from Colorado, Janina and Martin who kept us company in Moorea, Cristian the patient tango instructor and Marina the apartment manger in BA to name a few
Currencies: 20
Egyptian pound (5.5:1), Tanzanian shilling (1500:1), Zambian kwacha (5000:1), Burundian franc (1200:1), Rwandan franc (500:1), Indian rupee (42.5:), Nepali rupee (70:1), Thai baht (30:1), Laotian kip (8000:1), Cambodian real (4000:1), Malaysian ringgit (3:1), Singaporean dollar (1.1:1), Australian dollar (1:1), New Zealand Dollar (1.33:1), French Polynesian franc (85:1), Argentinian peso (4:1), Uruguayan peso (20:1), Brazilian real (1.7:1), U.S. dollar, Canadian dollar (1:1)
Books Read: 19
In Patagonia (Bruce Chatwin), Lord of the Rings (JRR Tolkien), Books Vs. Cigarettes (George Orwell), The Australian Legend (Russel Ward), Life of Pi (Yann Martel), The Killing Fields (Christopher Hudson), Sex Slaves - the Trafficking of Women in Asia (Louise Brown), The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest (Steig Larrson), Falling Off the Edge (Alex Perry), White Tiger (Aravind Adiga), Arresting God in Kathmandu (Samrat Upadhyay), Hinduism (K.M. Sen), Untouchable (Mulk Raj Anand), An Imperfect Offering (James Orbinski), The English Patient (Michael Ondatje), Half the Sky (Nicholas Kristof + Sheryl WuDunn), Mountains Beyond Mountains (Tracy Kidder), Three Cups of Tea (Greg Mortensen), Africa A Biography of the Continent (John Reader), We wish to Inform you that Tomorrow we will be Killed with our Families (Philip Gourevitch)
UNESCO World Heritage Sites: 22
Egypt – historic Cairo, Pyramids and Sphinx, Tanzania – Ngorongoro, Serengeti, Stone Town (Zanzibar), Zambia – Mosi oa Tunya (Victoria Falls), India – Agra Fort, Taj Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri, Qutb Minar, Red Fort, Nepal – Kathmandu Valley, Chitwan, Laos – Luang Prabang, Vat Phou, Cambodia – Angkor, Malaysia – Melaka / George Town, Australia – Great Barrier Reef, Uluru / Kata Tutja, Royal Exhibition and Carleton Gardens, New Zealand – Tongariro, Te Wahipounamu
Airports: 24
LaGuardia (USA), Cairo International, Julius Nyerere (Tanzania), Arusha (Tanzania), Kisauni (Tanzania – Zanzibar), Kigali International (Rwanda), Indira Ghandi (India – Delhi), Lal Bahadur Shastri (India – Varanasi), Tribhuvan (Nepal – Kathmandu), Pokhara (Nepal), Jomsom (Nepal), Suvarnabhumi (Bangkok), Changi (Singapore), Tullamarine (Melbourne), Mackay (Whitsundays – Australia), Alice Springs (Australia), Christchurch International (New Zealand), Auckland International (New Zealand), Faa’a (Tahiti – French Polynesia), Los Angeles (USA), Ft. Lauderdale Hollywood (USA), Philadelphia (USA), Ezeiza (Buenos Aires – Argentina), Guarulhos (Sao Paulo – Brazil)
Everywhere we Went:
New York - USA, Sao Paulo - Brazil, Buenos Aires - Argentina, Montivideo - Uruguay, Buenos Aires - Argentina, New York -, USA, Jaffe (Monadnock) - New Hampshire, Philadelphia - USA, Fort Lauderdale - USA. Los Angeles - USA, Morea (Cook's Bay) - French Polynesia, Papeete - French Polynesia, Auckland  - New Zealand, National Park - New Zealand, Wellington, -New Zealand, Picton (Queen Charlotte Sound) - New Zealand, Havelock (Marlborough, Nelson) - New Zealand, Kaikoura - New Zealand, Greymouth - New Zealand, Franz Joseph - New Zealand, Queenstown - New Zealand, Te Anau (Milford Track, Milford Sound) - New Zealand, Christchurch - New Zealand, Melbourne - Australia, Alice Springs (Uluru) - Australia, Melbourne - Australia, Airlie Beach (Whitsunday Islands, Whitehaven beach, Great Barrier Reef) - Australia, Melbourne - Australia, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia, Penang - Malaysia, Koh Phangan - Thailand, Penang - Malaysia, Bangkok - Thailand, Siem Reap (Angkor Wat) - Cambodia, Phnom Penh - Cambodia, Don Khone - Laos, Champasak - Laos, Pakse - Laos, Vientiane - Laos, Vang Vieng - Laos, Phonsavanh - Laos, Luang Prabang - Laos, Muang Ngoi - Laos, Nong Khiaw / Ban Saphoun - Laos, Luang Prabang - Laos, Vientiane - Laos,Nong Khai - Thailand, Bangkok -Thailand, Kathmandu - Nepal, Chitwan National Park - Nepal, Ilam / Kathmandu - Nepal, Annapurna Circuit (Besisahar, Syange, Jagat, Dharapani, Chame, Upper Pisang, Manang, Yak Kharka, Throng Phedi, Thorung La pass, Muktinath, Kagbeni, Jomsom), Kathmandu - Nepal, Varanasi - India, Amritsar - India, Delhi, -India, Agra - India, Rajasthan - India (Mandawa, Bikaner, Jaisalmeer, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Bundi, Jaipur), Delhi - India, es Salaam - Tanzania, Gisenyi - Rwanda, Parc National des Volcans - Rwanda, Ruhengheri (Musanze) - Rwanda, Kigali - Rwanda, Bujumbura - Burundi, Kigoma - Tanzania, Mpulungu - Zambia, Lusaka - Zambia, Chobe Park - Botswana, Livingstone - Zambia, Victoria Falls - Zimbabwe, Lusaka - Zambia, Dar es Salaam - Tanzania, Zanzibar - Tanzania, Northern Circuit Parks - Tanzania (Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Tarangire, Manyara), Arusha - Tanzania, Dar es Salaam - Tanzania, Cairo - Egypt, Potomac (MD) - USA, Carlisle (PA) - USA, Long Island City (Queens NY) - USA, Fairfield (Conn) - USA, Conshohocken (PA) - USA, Lake Winola (PA) - USA, Montreal - Canada