Reflection on our Travels

It has been a little over two months since Kenny and I have left our comfortable homes to venture out into the world of the unknown. I have to honestly say that it hasn’t always been a smooth ride. We were faced with so many hurdles and challenges along the way. But it is through these challenges which allow us to learn more about our self and the highest limits that we can push ourselves to.

There are two big things that we have learned on our trip so far. Firstly, we have learned that HOME is always better. We really realized how good we have it in Canada. Having been in countries like India and Egypt, we know how lucky we are. The people in these countries are either really poor or filthy rich. There is no medium. The countries are just so overly populated with people that not even the government can do much for them. There is just too much people to feed and to shelter. What you see on TV or on the news about India is much different from what you actually experience in real life. It is in India, that I really felt lucky to be living in Canada. Yah Canada may be boring and cold, but it sure beats starvation and having to live on the streets. As one of my good friends told me recently, “we have one blackout in Toronto and it was chaotic, while in India, blackouts occur every hour of the day.”

The second thing that we have learned is the power of prayer and faith. (I know this may sound corny, but its true). Each time we were faced with a problem, be it the time our stuff was stolen in Barcelona, or the time we missed our flight in Rome, or the time we were in Rome waiting for our Yellow Fever Certificates to be mailed to our hotel before we departed (and let me tell you it was pretty slim, it arrived on the second last day of our departure date)…each time, Kenny and I prayed for God’s help. And each time, God came through for us. This trip has truly strengthened our faith in God. As Matthew 21:22 says: “And whatever things you ask in prayer, really believing, you will receive." Faith brings answers to prayer.

We have planted ourselves in Melbourne (our pit stop) for 4 months. It is here that I can finally take a moment to look to the past and reflect on what we have learned during our travels so far. Europe: Though it's a good introduction for first-time travellers, Western Europe was, in general, not my favourite, except for two cities (Paris and Venice). Everything was too expensive, and everywhere we went, it was crawling with too many tourists. Once you have seen one or two of the cities, the rest all seem to be the same, just different in terms of the type of museums, galleries and monuments that were visited. At the end of traveling Europe, we didn’t want to see another museum or monument. We basically didn’t want to see anything that did not move. The food was also not so great until we got to Athens. It was always sandwiches for lunch, and pasta or pizza for dinner. Meat was not always readily available until we reached Athens. Even if there was meat, it would only be a very small portion of it, and it would cost an arm and a leg. When we got to Athens, eating that first souvlaki was like heaven to us. However, water was really cheap throughout Europe. It was at most 0.25 cents (Euros) for a 2 litre bottle. So if I had to describe each of the cities briefly, it would be as follows: London: Way too expensive, Paris: Just romantic and relaxing, Barcelona: Land of thieves and ruckus, Madrid: Tappas were bad, Rome: fountains everywhere, Florence: Statue of David, Venice: City of mazes, Athens: Real food.

Egypt: Travel through this ancient region proved much easier than expected, but maybe that is because we always had a tour guide with us. Majority of the locals are welcoming and did not seem threatening, even though the men gawk and stare at the women. I was most surprised at how many people spoke good English. As a matter of fact, there were more people in Egypt that spoke better English than those in Europe. The attraction sites are just unbelievable. It was a good change from the typical European city and attractions. However, the only bad thing about Egypt was the lack of order on the streets. Each time we got in the van, I always felt like we were bound to get into a car accident. There were actual times I had to close my eyes when we were zooming past the traffic.

India: Solitude does not exist in this country. We were never alone in India. You will always have beggars, solicitors, or just an inquisitive local by your side. (You would think that they were following you all day) At night, there are the sound of honking cars, rickshaws, and bicycle rings to keep you company while your are asleep. However, it was here that made the biggest impact. It made me realize how good and spoiled we are in Canada. We have cars, infinite electricity, order on the streets and a wide variety of fresh, clean food. There isn’t a huge class gap like there is in India. We don’t need to send our kids out on the streets to beg for food and money. We have it real GOOD in Canada. I take back all those times when I complained about the things I had in TO such as food, clothes, slow internet, and having nothing to watch on TV. I am lucky enough to even have a TV and a computer to use with a roof over my head. Yet even with all of this poverty in such an over populated country, the people are still happy and smiling. I still remember this one time when we were in Delhi visiting the India Gate, there was a small pond on the side and there were a lot of children and men in it playing and laughing. Despite the water being real dirty, they were having a great time. Their wives sitting on the grass chit chatting with the other women and the children with their dads splashing in the pond. This was memorable as in spite of their poor conditions, they have learned to appreciate what they have and made the best of it. I think I have learned how to better appreciate and value what I have back home and to always try to make the best of everything that I have.

Paradise Blog

For the newest blog entry on our Paradise trip to WhiteHaven Beach, please scroll down. It is actually at the bottom of the Bird Hunter entry. Sorry for the confusion.....

The Bird Hunter and the Flies

One of Kenny's aunt has 2 dogs. One is a Jack Russell and the other is a mixed breed of something (can't remember what it was). We have been house sitting for his Aunt for the past two weeks and everyday we have been walking the dogs. The dogs love the walks, as all dogs do.

Before the owners left on their vacation, they warned us that the Jack Russell (whose name is Pepper) likes to hunt birds. When I heard this, I thought it was quite funny. What kind of dog hunts birds!!

Well, one day as Kenny was getting the dogs ready for their daily walk, I was filling up their food bowls. As I leaned down to pour in the food I saw feathers everywhere. It was inside the kennel, around the food dish and a few scattered in front of the kennel. I freaked and had an immediate flash back of the conversation I had with the owner about the dog being a bird hunter. I yelled for Kenny and showed him what I saw and he thought nothing of it. He just took a shovel and a broom and went into the kennel to sweep out the feathers and whatever bird remains there was left. I couldn't watch, so I had to leave the area and move way far back into the backyard with the dogs.

Once Kenny was done cleaning, he told me that he found no bird remains, just feathers. That means that the "bird hunter" ate every bit of the bird including the head. I think this whole bird hunting thing is disgusting, revolting, and horrible. Just writing about it now is giving me goose bumps.

Honestly, I have never heard or seen a dog that acutally hunts and eats birds. When the owner told me that Pepper hunted for birds, I thought that he just chased them and that was it, but this dog actually hunts and eats it. What dog does that? Ever since this incident, I cannot go near that dog. I just find it too sickening. As for Kenny, he thinks there is nothing to be grossed out about it..he thinks its a normal part of life for dogs...animals hunting other animals for food. In my opinion, that dog is sick, he doesnt need to hunt for food, he already has plenty of food....You don't see the other dog hunting for birds.

Well here are some pictures of the bird remains (which are just the feathers) and the infamous "Bird Hunter" and his friend.

the Bird Hunter's friend - "Chi Chi"..kind of reminds me of Goobies.

Here is the Bird Hunter again..look at those evil eyes...haa haa

The remains of the bird....

Now onto the fly situation...why are there so much flies in Melbourne. Once the weather gets hot, the flies come out. The one thing that is so annoying about them is that they are persistent little buggers. They continously fly in your face, and near your ears and mouth. It is really disgusting. Normally when we walk the dogs, there are at least 12 flies on Kenny's back and a few on his hat. I am sure I have a few on my back, but I rather not know. The picture below is just the beginning of our walk and you can see there are already 4 flies. Imagine how many there would be at the end of the walk.....ewwww

4 flies at the beginning of the walk and at the end of the walk there were 11 flies...ewwww

Can you spot the fly on his cap?

Paradise

In the heart of the Great Barrier Reef is where the Whitsunday Islands lie. Whitsunday is a group of 74 islands that is bordered by the Great Barrier Reef and cradled by the calm waters of the Coral Sea. Each of the islands’ are made up of wooded mainland with sandy coves, and welcoming holiday resorts. (Kenny and I chose to stay on two of the Whitsunday islands called DayDream Island and Hamilton Island)

After Cairns, we took an 11 hour train ride along the coast to the Whitsunday islands. We arrived at DayDream Island with a person greeting and crowning us with seashell necklaces. Then she gave a very informative tour of the island and the activities and services of the resort. First thing we did was book a tour to Whitehaven Beach. (That was our only reason for going to Whitsunday islands). The resort itself was great. Unfortunately it is nothing like the resorts in Mexico where everything is inclusive. The meals, drinks and the water sport activities are extra. But we came prepared with our own food. We brought a lot of instant noodles with us so we won’t go broke just on meals. (and let me tell you the meals were really expensive on the resort). The first night we were there, they had a movie showing in the open air cinema. Basically it was a huge theatre screen outside and everyone sits in lawn chairs or on the grass watching “Wedding Crashers”. That movie is hilarious!!

Our tour to Whitehaven Beach was amazing. No words can describe it. Whitehaven Beach is a beach made of 99% silica sand that is surrounded by crystal clear waters. This beach is declared as one of the top 5 beaches in the world. No resorts are allowed to be built on it.

The first portion of the tour was snorkeling in another area of the outer reef. This time the snorkeling was excellent. The water was calm and the corals were high. We were so close to the corals that I was afraid to move my fins in fear that I might kick the corals and damage it. We saw tons of fish. The best fish we saw was this huge fish (half the size of me) swimming around at the bottom of the ocean near the corals. It was so big that I could not believe my eyes. It was so surreal.
After an hour of snorkeling and exploring, we then headed off to Whitehaven beach. As we arrived, the sand was pure white. So white, it was blinding. The sand was soft and the waters were so clear. We saw stingrays swimming by close to the edge of the beach. The only bad thing about this beach was the scorching sun. Because there are no shelters or shade on this beach, you would get burned in just 3 minutes without sun block on. Even with it on, you still feel the sun burning on your skin. We walked up this hill to take a panoramic view of the beach and surrounding areas. The guide tells us because of the differing water tides, every picture of the Whitehaven beach is never the same picture. I really don’t know what or how else to describe this beach, just take a look at the pictures for yourself and you will know why I call it paradise…..

After the paradise, we were off to Hamilton Island. This island is not as beautiful as DayDream Island as it doesn’t have a beach rather it is an island surrounded by a lagoon. On the island, everyone drives a golf buggy. We couldn’t resist and rented one for 3 hours…it was great. It cant go too fast, but it definitely beats walking. We drove up to the highest point on the island and breathed in one of the best panoramic views of the area. Again it was breathtaking…..just see the pictures for yourself.

I hope these pictures inspire some of you to save up some money to come here as it is well worth it….

A view of from the hilltops of DayDream Island

Feeding and petting Stingrays at DayDream Island

By the poolside on DayDream Island

Our Raft Tour to WhiteHaven Beach

The beautiful WhiteHaven Beach (Below)

The Stingrays that swam beside us on WhiteHaven Beach

A view of WhiteHaven Beach from the highest point on the Island

The pure white silica sand on the beach

Me on the buggy at Hamilton Island

A view of Hamilton Island

Great Barrier Reef

Ok having gone to the Great Barrier Reef and its beaches, I have finally learnt what paradise is like. Kenny and I were amazed at how beautiful and serene the coral reef and the beaches were. We went to both Cairns and the Whitsunday islands.

Just to give you a brief background on the areas we went to: Cairns is the capital city of Tropical North Queensland. In Cairns, there are many unique attractions and activities. There are boat cruises to the outer reefs or islands, 4WD safari to the rainforest or a trek in the rainforest. The Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics Rainforests are listed as a World Heritage Society attraction and are acclaimed to be one of the world’s most wonderful assets.

(Click on map above to see a larger view)

In Cairns, we joined three different tours. The first tour was a cruise on a small sailboat to the Outer Reef for some snorkeling. It wasn’t as great as I thought it would be because of the strong waves, which made it hard for me to snorkel. There were also very few fishes around. Most of the coral were at the very bottom of the ocean, so it was hard to see. Diving would have been a better option to see the corals and the fishes. But because I can’t swim, I stuck to snorkeling. After snorkeling we then sailed off to a cay called Upola Cay. A cay is made up of dead coral, coral that have been exposed to air. It is similar to a beach but just 10 times smaller. The Upola Cay could only fit a maximum of 20 people. On this cay, we saw a sea turtle swim by and a very long and large fish swimming by the cay. It was amazing.

The sailboat we were on for our first tour

(Above Picture) Do you see the small sand hill? That is where Upola Cay is.

Fish feeding by the sailboat

On Upola cay

The second tour we took was a cruise to a private island on the Great Barrier Reef called the Frankland Islands. We first took a cruise down the Mangrove River. They say that this river is infested with crocodiles, but we never saw any. Then we arrived on the island. It was perfect. No other tourists but our group were on it. There were snorkeling, bushwalking and a tropical lunch provided. It was on this island that Kenny saw an octopus while snorkeling.

Frankland Island

On the boat cruise looking for Crocodiles

Some of the unique shells we found while exploring on the island

A majority of the Frankland Island was made up of these cays. Hard on the feet!!

The third tour we took was a 4WD safari in the tropic rainforest. On this tour, we got to see the Cape Tribulation beach. It is the point where the Great Barrier Reef meets the rainforest. It was definitely breathtaking….no words can describe it.
All three tours were amazing but you cannot believe the prices that they charged for it. It cost us an arm and a leg for it, but it was well worth it.

Our 4WD safari tour

Feeding carrots to the Kangaroos

Pineapple Plant

Tasting some of the exotic tropical fruits. From left to right: pinapples, yellow sapote, black sapote (tastes like dark chocolate), apple fruit (has a latex feeling), forgot what that last dish was, and on top is the sweet bananas (tastes a lot sweeter than the commercial ones we have in Canada)

The Harbour City

We have finally arrived and settled down at our pitstop-Melbourne for about 3 weeks. In those 3 weeks, we caught up on our sleep, ate tonnes of home cooked meals and did some laundry. (Ahh the feel of clean clothes cannot be any better)

During two of those three weeks, we were planning our next trip out to Sydney and to the Great Barrier Reef. This time, we decided not to lug our huge luggage but instead get some travel packs to use. And let me tell you that those travel packs are a lot better to use in comparison to the luggage. You can’t pack as much but at least you won’t break your back when you are trying to go up the stairs. It was a lot lighter but after awhile of carrying a 75/80 liters bag on your back, you can start to feel a little sore on the shoulders. Maybe I am just weak and can’t carry such a heavy bag on my back. Kenny had no problems. I am still contemplating on whether to use the packs for our next leg of the trip out to Asia. I won’t be able to pack as much but it will be a lot easier to maneuver around in the city and we won’t be targeted as much by the criminals. Hmmmm……

Sydney was great. Kenny and I both liked Sydney a lot better than in Melbourne. It is busier and there is more night life action in Sydney. It was not like in Melbourne where at 7pm, the streets are deserted.
We were living in the heart of Chinatown, so we had great access to food all the time and to all of the main attractions. The first thing we hit in Sydney when we arrived was the Darling Harbor. It was a beautiful harbor. We just sat around the harbor doing people watching and it was just relaxing. We think it is one of the best harbor out of all of the cities we have been to. Here are some pictures of the Darling Harbor:

We also went to the Sydney Aquarium (acclaimed to be one of the world’s best aquarium). It was fun and there were definitely a lot of different species to see at the aquarium. They had these underground water tubes that you can walk in so that you can see all of the sharks and the sting rays they had. Seeing the sharks up close was pretty amazing. You can see how big they actually are. See if you guys can guess what animal this is???? (Answer: Found at the bottom of this blog)

Sydney Opera House was stunning. It is again another attraction that I think pictures does not really do it justice. You have to see it in person to realize the size of the opera house. We actually went to attend a Beethoven musical inside the main concert hall. It was great. The acoustics of it was amazing. There were never any microphones used on the stage and the music still sounded perfect-clear and crisp. I have to admit that I fell asleep during one of the performances. One of the songs that they were playing just sounded like it was repeating the chorus over 15 times. (hey I don’t know how to appreciate classical music, and plus there were two other people in front of us that fell asleep too, so it wasn’t just me)….

We also did other tourist attractions such as walk along the Harbor bridge, go to Paddy’s market (it was like a huge flea market but it actually sells good things not junk), go up the Sydney tower, went to a Chinese Garden, go to the Sydney Olympic stadium, and went to Bondi Beach (Kenny is sad he didn’t get to see any topless babes there. It was a weekday, not a lot of people were there) We did see a couple of surfers, it was kind of cool. So in general, we liked Sydney a lot better than in Melbourne. We find that there were a lot more of things to do in Sydney. Melbourne is more like Calgary and Sydney is more like TO.

Answer: Sting Ray

India - Part 2

The Taj Mahal

Ok its not fair that I only wrote about the negative things I experienced in India. There were some positive moments. The Taj Mahal was definitely the best. It was beautiful. What you see in pictures does not depict its real beauty. You need to see it in person to see how beautiful and how magical this palace was. The whole palace was made out of white marble. Definitely was well worth the trek going up to Agra to see it.

Kenny and I got sick on our second day in Mumbai. I think I got food poisoning and Kenny got a fever. Not sure what caused it, but we stayed in our hotel for a day just resting up. The next day we felt better, but my stomach never got better. I could never stomach any of the food I ate. After every meal, I had to go to the washroom. Kind of sad that I never got to eat any of their authentic Indian food. I tried to stick to clear soups and salads. I tried eating curry at the hotel restaurant, but the spices they used, made my stomach feel worse. So most of the time when I had no access to a clean washroom, Kenny and I ate at franchises like McDonalds and Pizza Hut. Otherwise, we mainly ate our dinners at the hotel restaurant because I was afraid that the food outside of the hotel was not clean and would make my stomach worse off. Nevertheless, Kenny had his fair try of Indian food. Anytime we ate at the hotel, he would try their various curries. His favorite was the garlic “nann”, which is garlic pita bread. Butter chicken wasn’t bad either. There was so much street food. Some were served on newspaper, others didn’t even have plates. Kenny wanted to try them all so bad, but he was afraid that he would end up getting a bad stomach like me, so he refrained himself. It’s too bad our stomachs are so sensitive.

My second favorite sight-seeing in India was the Lotus temple. The architecture of the building was amazing. It was really a beautiful structure. It was the only structure where you could get some peace and quiet inside of it. They strongly enforced a no talking rule inside the temple. It was definitely a place where you can reflect on the inner beauty of India.

The Lotus Temple