Home Sweet Pensacola

After two days of traveling (27 hours in the air on 7 flights), I made it home to LA (lower Alabama)late last night. Guess what I did on the way home. I started a new list of places I want to see...

Peru, Chile, Patagonia, Cuba, Ireland, Morocco, Mozambique, Kenya, Croatia, Bhutan, Malaysia, and diving in Belize and the Red Sea, just to name a few!

Thanks for following along online my journey of a lifetime!

XO,
DeLisa

What Made it to the End of the Road?

Since I started my trip with a packing list, I thought I’d let you know what’s in my backpack at the end of the trail…

4 Gap T-shirts (replaced midway in Tokyo)
3 pair of light pants
1 pair of jeans (didn’t wear them much, but when I did I was glad to have ‘em)
5 pair of shorts (brought 1 and picked up 3 along the way)
1 dress (wore it only 4 or 5 times, but felt like my old self for awhile)
1 batik skirt –my favorite item
Mirco-fiber athletic shell and pull over (thanks Julie and Tom)
3 souvenir t-shirts
5 light tank/halter tops
1 long sleeved cotton shirt
2 sarongs
1 bikini
7 pair of panties
3 bras
3 pair of sandals
1 silk sleep sheet—no this is my favorite item
1 travel towel
Full stock of toiletries, including one Rx of antibiotics (took 3 with me)
Converter and bag of cords
Camera
Dive computer, mask, snorkel and log book
Blow dryer
Well-worn playing cards
A stack of Photo CD’s, post cards and journals
A few souvenirs
An empty moneybelt!

The big pack weighs about 34 lbs, my toiletries pack weighs about 15 lbs and my day pack weights 2 lbs, so I've essentially seen the world carrying 51 lbs around. I should be in better shape than this!

The Last Resort

Ellaidhoo is one of 80 tourist resorts in the Republic of Maldives. It’s located in the North Ari Atoll (an atoll is a group of islands). The 4 star resort is medium size with about a 150-guest capacity. There are around 100 guests here now and it feels lively but not at all crowded. The only time I see everyone is at dinner. We have assigned tables and waiters like a cruise ship, but a few of us switch around just to confuse everyone.

The island has a reception/game area, bar, dining hall, gift shop, gym, and dive center. Everything is connected by sandy paths under palm trees (someone even racks the paths every morning). The whole island takes about 15 minutes to walk around. It’s amazingly beautiful, but almost feels a little bit artificial—a little Truman Show or Disney -esque.

The people change every few days. A bunch of fun English people left yesterday and a large group of Italians arrived. Instantly the people are more beautiful and the meals are more lively. My bungalow neighbors and diving partners are German. The one other independent world traveler I’ve met, David, is from Vancouver. So, it’s quite an interesting mix here at Ellaidhoo, with some people staying a month!

The diving has been gorgeous around Ellaidhoo, but a little tame after our cowboy antics on safari. The dive center is VERY organized, not at all like the “last one to the bottom is a rotten egg” approach of last week. I was sad to make my last Maldivan dive today!

Tomorrow I’ll spend my last day of the world tour lounging in the sun (I haven’t been this tan since high school), reading a book while sipping mango/passion fruit juice and thinking about how unbelievably fortunate I am to have had this experience!

Penny for Your Thoughts

I’m spending my last few days in the sand thinking about what I’ve experienced over the past six months. As many of you know, I’m considering writing a “how to” book on travel for American’s and I’d love to hear any questions you’ve had about my trip. If I know what you’re wondering then I’ll be able to include those things in my journal. So, please send me any questions or observations you have about my little around the world adventure! DeLisaH@gmail.com

Thanks!

Paying for Paradise

Tropical luxury doesn’t come cheap. The Republic of Maldives is my splurge stop. The dive safari was reasonable at about $130 a day including my nice cabin, great food, and 3 dives a day. The rental equipment was another $150, but all in all a fantastic deal for the Maldives.

Ellaidhoo Resort is a steep $140 a day for my beautiful bungalow and half board (breakfast and lunch buffets). Everything else is extra here with dives at $47 each(compared with about $25 in Thailand and Indonesia) and even the gym is $7 per use. And, the painfully slow Internet is highway robbery at 50 cents a minute ($30 an hour!) compared with about $1-2 an hour in SE Asia. Unfortunately, this means photo downloading is out in the Maldives. Yikes, I’d better sign off and hit the free beach!

Da Plane Da Plane

Gunter and crew took me, Tom and Heike over to the airport on the Dhoni (traditional Maldivan boat) early yesterday morning so that we could catch seaplanes to our resorts. I spent a couple of hours in the Maldives Air Taxi terminal in a wicker chair with my feet in the sand watching the seaplanes come and go. The pilots and ground crew don’t wear shoes and most of the baggage coming and going looked like dive gear. They are doing some construction at the “terminal” and it was amazing to watch guys in flip flops and shorts moving steel beams. Not a piece of safety equipment in sight!

I was so excited to finally walk down the pier and hop on my first seaplane. (For Greg—it was a Canadian de Havilland DHC-6 100/200 series Twin Outter.) After the 20 minute flight it was surreal to watch the captain jump from the plane to a little floating dock and tie us up like a boat. We were picked up on the floating dock by a Dhoni and taken to Ellaidhoo Resort. Upon arrival I was handed a fresh coconut topped with a flower and straw and escorted to my beach bungalow. The room is adorable and has a luxurious outdoor bathroom. There’s even a big stone bathtub sitting under a coconut tree. The beach is about 10 yards from my front porch and the view through the palms is sensational.

It’s going to be a relaxing few days with no shoes here in my tropical paradise!

Down Under the Maldives

Diving in the Maldives is heaven under water! If it swims in the Maldives we saw it with a backdrop of colorful corals. This includes more sharks than I could count, but the best was a beautiful whale shark. It was aptly named at about 7-8 meters!

There were cool turtles, black spotted and eagle rays, moray eels, lion fish, scorpions and loads of gorgeous neon tropical fish. But, my favorites were the magnificent Manta Rays. They look prehistoric and full of grace! Twice we sat on the bottom and watched the show – Manta’s flying just above getting cleaned by little fish. It looked like a beautiful ballet. Diving doesn’t get any better!

I promised the crew to return soon with friends. Who’s in?

Ready, Set, Safari

I thought the Fantasy Island airport experience in Thailand’s Ko Samui was unbeatable. But, it is pretty cool to land on a runway that is exactly the size of a thin island. The most beautiful blue green water surrounded the plane and outside the airport is just a series of boat docks. So far, the Republic of Maldives is the coolest place ever!

I took a ferry over to Male, the main city in the Maldives where over 70,000 people live on a 2 by 1 kilometer island, in search of some dive gear. After an unproductive attempt to rent equipment, I boarded another small boat headed to the Nautilus One dive safari boat, my home for the next week. The boat was gorgeous and they had “all what I would need for diving” on board. I looked around and saw 10 cute Dutch guys and thought – yes you do! We hit the water for a check exactly 18 minutes after I climbed on board and we were off on an action packed dive safari!

In addition to the Dutch guys (26 – 40 years old), who knew each other from a university group like a fraternity, there was a really nice German couple, Tom and Heike, on board. Tom made his 200th dive on the trip and they shared all sorts of interesting food and drink they had smuggled into the Maldives. Our fearless leader, Gunter, is an adorable 23 year old Austrian dive guide who took us to the best dive sights around the Maldives, and he plays a mean game of cards.

We fell into an easy routine of getting up and in the water for the first dive at 6:45am (well most of it was easy), back for a big breakfast and relaxing until the next dive at about 11:30. Lunch was up next and more sun, reading and sleeping until the 3:30pm dive. That left time for watching a beautiful sunset, happy hour, dinner and cards until we fell into bed. I could get used to this!

What's Next?

I am sad to leave beautiful Sri Lanka, but the magic of the Maldives awaits! I fly to Male at the crack of dawn and will be whisked away to the Nautilus 1, a liveaboard dive boat. I will join 15 other passengers for a one week dive safari around the Maldives. The other passengers are from Europe, and I'm crossing my fingers that they're fun. At any rate, we'll be doing three dives a day, and I know that the fish will be great fun!

The Maldives are made up of 7000 coral islands that stretch for 1200 miles. I'll resurface on one of 200 inhabited islands on 11 Nov. to spend my last 5 days in paradise.

So, until 12 November think of me swimming with tropical fish!

Who's Seeing Sri Lanka?

I was curious about the kind of travellers I’d meet in Sri Lanka, which is all little off the beaten backpack path. I’ve met some fantastic and inspirational people here!

In Kandy, I met two adorable English ladies, who were returning to Sri Lanka for the first time since they were stationed here in the war (WWII). One met her husband here, he'd recently passed away, and she was teary at seeing the country again. They were marvellous!

I also had dinner with an adorable young couple, from Sweden/Norway, who had just arrived for a 15 month project in a small town. They are working with locals on farming and environmental practices. They were so idealistic and kind. They had such great respect for the people of Sri Lanka and I couldn’t help but think that they must represent the best of their countries too.

Here in Hikkaduwa, I met James, the former chief of global operations for Shell, and current volunteer coordinator for a Tsunami project. He left his job to find something more rewarding to do in life and is working in Sri Lanka while he figures out his path. I admire his decision to make a big life change!

I also met some great surfers here. The waves are big and the crowd is relaxed. I really enjoyed meeting Anton, an English guy who is working in Bangalore for a year with a British Helicopter company. He’s trying to teach modern business practices to the Indians. We had such fun laughing about life in India! We shared the same reaction to the locals in Sri Lanka. Braced for the persistent worst in each interaction with locals -- it’s so pleasant to find that many people are just saying hello and not trying to sell you something. And, those who are making a sales pitch will leave when you say no thank you—this would never happen in India! I gave him my favourite book “Holy Cow” and was sad to see him head back to Bangalore.

The locals here are some of the kindest people I’ve met on my whole trip. Unlike many countries that see travellers as walking money bags, the people of Sri Lanka want to ensure that you are enjoying their amazing country as much as they do!

Going to Galle

Today I tore myself away from my rigorous schedule of lounging under palm trees. I took the local train, which was a priceless experience (10 cents actually), to the town of Galle. The main attraction in the colonial city is the Galle Fort dating back to 1663. The fort, now a World Heritage Site, was built by the Dutch and provides a stunning walk around the rough coast at the bottom of Sri Lanka.

It was also fun to walk inside the fort to see the Dutch architecture. I was excited to see a large Methodist church inside the fort walls. Today alone I’ve seen two Buddhist monasteries from the train, several large Buddha statues, a Jain temple, countless Hindu shrines and a mosque.

The trip down to Galle was interesting, but I was happy to get back up the coast to my delicious schedule of doing nothing!

Hanging in Hikkaduwa

Heavenly Hikkaduwa

At long last I am in the sand on the SW coast of Sri Lanka! I chose the town of Hikkaduwa for it's great diving, but the weather hasn't cooperated this year and diving season hasn't begun yet. So, I'm lounging and relaxing in this tropical paradise.

Because of an unfortunate incident involving a mouse that liked my warm bed in Hill Country, I started looking at the best hotels in Wewala just south of Hikkaduwa. In this surfer town of fan-only beach bungalows, I found a spa-like hotel with an open entrance complete with infinity pool. I almost fell to my knees in thanks when I walked into The Reef. My zen room is nothing short of divine and I've already extended my stay in Sri Lanka to enjoy it longer!

I was stunned at the Tsunami damage when we drove along the beach rode. It looks like it happened yesterday. Not much has been built back along the beach, but there are workers in many of the beach front hotels and restaurants. The destruction was massive. There are tent cities set up and Red Cross drinking water stations around along with signs of thanks to the countries who are helping rebuild. At breakfast one morning the cute waitress told me that she loves the USA because they came in and built 25 houses immediately after the storm. There are still many aid workers here helping. I'm very glad I came here to spend my money where it's truly needed!

My days are spent taking long walks on the beach, reading under the palm trees, and watching the surfers ride huge waves. There's even a turtle nesting ground nearby and we see turtles swiming close to shore frequently. The locals couldn't be more friendly and my hotel staff is taking great care of me. I feel like a tropical princess here!

Tea Time

I dragged myself off my beautiful guest house balcony this morning to venture farther up into Hill Country. My great driver, Anura, took it very easy over the hills unlike the madman who drove me around Rajasthan. I was actually able to relax and enjoy the unfolding spectacular scenery without fearing for my life. What a treat! We rode along the Kotmale River, the longest in SL, and passed countless waterfalls, banana trees, palms, rice fields and wildlife (water buffalo and the Kingfisher birds were my favorite).

We stopped for lunch at an amazing hillside hotel, The Ramboda Falls, where we ate on the veranda watching the monkey’s play in the trees with a backdrop of two wild waterfalls. As soon as I walked into the restaurant I saw a display of E&J Gallo Sierra Valley wine. Gallo is truly global because this adorable place is in the absolute middle of no-where!

The highlight of the day was reaching tea country. Tea is the #1 agricultural export for Sri Lanka thanks to the British. The vast tea plantations are gorgeous! Everywhere you look is covered with leafy green tea bushes and colorfully dressed women (Tamil’s from Southern India) who pick the buds for $2 a day. We stopped at the Labookellie Tea Factory and I took a tour with an adorable young woman who worked in the tasting room. It’s amazing that tea is picked, dried, crushed, fermented, sorted and packaged in 24 hours! The fascinating process reminded me of winemaking complete with 12 types of tea which are classified as low- medium- or high-grown. The visit finished with a lovely cup of tea in the garden tasting room overlooking the plantation. And, a few boxes of tea are a lot easier to carry than wine bottles!

We reached Nuwara Eliya, the highest hill town at over 6,000 feet, in the early evening. Anura told me that when Sri Lankans get a holiday they head for Nuwara Eliya because it’s always cool and relaxing. He wasn’t kidding—I had to wear three shirts and wrap up in a sarong to walk into town. It was a two blanket evening!

Kandyan Culture

Kandy Land

I flew into to Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo, at 7am. It took all of 10 minutes to negotiate a day rate for a car and driver ($35) and head off on the 3.5 hour journey to Hill Country.

Our first stop was the Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage, which houses 67 elephants that were abandoned. We arrived at feeding time and then walked around a muddy field to see them roaming. We even saw a one month old baby drinking milk from her Mom. I am crazy about elephants and this was a real treat!

The capital city of Hill Country, Kandy, is stunning. It's set on a lake and surrounded by lush green hills. It's always Spring in Kandy alternating between bright sunshine and rain all day. It feels tranquil and almost divine.

While Sri Lanka has many religions, Kandy is a Buddhist town. Sri Lanka's most sacred Buddhist relic is here in the Temple of the Tooth. You guessed it, a gorgeous temple was built to house one of Buddha's teeth, which was taken from his funeral fire back in 543 BC. The temple is magnificent. We waited for the evening "puja" or viewing time and filed passed to see an ornate gold casket which is thought to house the tooth. Locals and pilgrims come bearing flower pedals and the whole scene is lovely.

I also took in a quintessential Kandy experience, a Kandyan dance performance. The Kandyan dance which is fantastic with imaginative costumes, exotic moves and an exciting drum beat, is the national dance of Sri Lanka. But the highlight of the evening was the grand finale of fire walking! Those guys are hot!

Why Sri Lanka?

As most of you know, my itinerary came from a list of all the places I'd always wanted to see. Sri Lanka wasn't on it. My adventurous travel agent, Greg, added Sri Lanka. He raved about the island that has everything and, what the heck, it's on the way.

Sri Lanka is called India-lite and is apparently a favorite among travelers to this region. According to the Lonely Planet, Marco Polo thought Sri Lanka was the finest island of its size in the entire world. This I've got to see!

I've done some research now and Sri Lanka has a little bit of everything--beautiful beaches with great surfing and diving, cool Hill Country full of tea plantations, great wildlife including 3,500 elephants, and ancient cities with fascinating temples. I'm going to see how much I can fit into a week in paradise!

Ode to India

What I'll miss most:
Bright colors
Spectacular sari's
Jingling of jewelry
The hysterical head-bobble
Maharaja's palaces
Unexpected beauty
Elephants
Bollywood movies and TV
Fascinating Hindu God's
Festivals
Endless bazaars
Cool old cars
Cows in charge

What I won't miss:
Public urination and worse
The smell
Poor children working/begging
The food
Hearing yes, when the answer is no
Wearing sleeves and pants
The service
Scarves for sale
Incense
Spices
The inability to form a line
Riding on the highway
Hearing "no problem" when there's a big one

Last Day in Bombay

I feel strangely at home here in Bombay. I traded up to a fab hotel, the Ascot Hotel (38 Garden Rd Colaba ascothotel@vsnl.com). My $60 a night room reminds me of my favorite place in Sonoma, the Hotel Healdsburg. The staff is like family, the street is lovely and convenient, and it's only two blocks to the water. I wish I could stay here longer and continue to explore my favorite Bombay.

I had a nice and relaxing last day. I visited the Prince of Wales Museum (photo above) which was really interesting. It was built to honor King George V's first visit to India in 1905, when he was still the Prince of Wales. The design is Indo-Saracenic which basically means many different Indian design techniques were combined including some Islamic influences. My favorite piece was a jewelry case carved out of ivory. The work was so intricate it looked like it was made of silk threads or fine lace. I haven't seen anything like that in a bazaar!

After a bit of culture, I visited a hip salon for a little pampering. I joined Bombay's jet set for a wonderful pedicure ($5) at Juice in Colaba. It is the perfect place for a little pick-me up!

Speaking of the jet set, I'm off at 3am tonight, or this morning, for Sri Lanka.

Boating in Bombay

Last night I went to Leopold's, the most popular restaurant for travelers in Bombay since 1871, to find a friend. In no time a nice British man asked to join me. Terry has just begun his third trip to India, this time it's five months in the South. He's retired and now works half the year and travels the other half. Now that's the life! We arranged to meet this morning to take a boat trip to Elephanta Island.

Terry and I bargained for a boat and took the 45 minute ride through the harbor over to the little island famous for rock-cut temples. I don't have any photos of the Gateway to India from the water, which was spectacular, because the Indians are paranoid about photos anywhere near military installations. The whole harbor is off limits to photos!

The temples on Elephanta Island are extremely elaborate carvings in caves. The carvings, which were probably done around 600 AD, are primarily of Shiva, a popular multi-armed or headed Hindu God. It was amazing to see what looked like ordinary caves from the outside explode with detail when you got inside!

We got back to Bombay before sunset so we headed over to have dinner on Marine Drive. Marine Drive is lined with old Art Deco buildings and is one of the most popular promenades in Bombay. It was great fun to watch the colorful men and women walking by. We found a little Italian cafe and had dinner watching the sunset over the Arabian Sea. It was a Bollywood ending to the day!

Mumbai or Miami?

As I flew out of serene Kerala to Mumbai, I braced for the worst of India in its largest city. What I found was an exciting tropical city which reminds me of the rougher areas in Miami. I love it here!

Like many Indian cities, Bombay was renamed in 1996. I have dutifully been using the new name, Mumbai, even though Bombay is infinitely cooler. Now that I have arrived, I can tell you that the Indians who live here call this Bombay. So, I've decided I can too!

Bombay is a fascinating mix of British culture and Indian craziness. There are gorgeous Victorian and Gothic buildings, public parks filled with Indians dressed in white playing cricket, and tea time is observed. There are also many shopping bazaars, insane drivers, and Bollywood movies everywhere. This would be a great combination alone, but add in the tropical island feel with plentiful palm trees and sea views in all directions and you have one fabulous city!

I am staying in the Colaba district, the island's southernmost area, which is near the harbor. Bombay's most important site, the Gateway of India, is right down the road. The Gateway was constructed to commemorate King George V's visit to India in 1911. However, it eventually symbolized a different kind of triumph as the last of the British troops marched through the arch and out of India in 1947. It must have been amazing to visit here in the heyday of the Raj (British rule).

I decided to have a truly Bombay experience and see a Bollywood movie on my first night in town. I had a ball at "Salaam Namaste," which was not in English but was very easy to follow. The audience was almost singing and dancing with the cast during the three hour show. This is definitely the fun part of India!

Going with the Flow in Kerala

The big thing to do in Kerala is explore the coastline's many canals, lakes and lagoons on what's called a "backwater cruise." I took a wonderfully relaxing all day boat ride yesterday from Kollam to Alappuzha.

About 25 of us floated along the Kerala waterways for eight hours with brief stops for lunch and afternoon tea. We watched men fishing from boats and casting from the banks, women doing laundry, children cheering and waving, and boys jumping from palm trees. We saw temples, houses of all kinds, rice patties, coconut farms, fabulous tropical flowers and millions of beautiful palm trees.

I met a scientist from Sweden, Anna, and a backpacker from London, Ali, and we shared travel stories and laughed a great deal on our backwater journey. Ali, who has my utmost respect for traveling in India for four months, confessed that he has "gone Indian" and given up toilet paper. Anna took full credit for the lovely weather because she went to a Hindu temple before we left and crushed a coconut to ensure a sunny and dry day. We basically lounged in and out of the sun, soaking up the laid back lifestyle all day.

Carefree in Kerala

I'm now a world away from the inspiring beauty and astounding filth of northern India. I flew into the coastal region of Kerala and was thrilled to see palm trees and big waves. A driver was waiting with one of the funny white "India Ambassador" cars to take me to the tiny village of Varkala.

Varkala is a simple village paradise. High cliffs overlook the rough surf beach. There are beach huts, tiny hotels, seaside restaurants displaying the catch of the day, and shops to browse. Varkala's a temple town. My driver proudly announced that he was born right next to the temple and that the great temple has its own elephant. Unfortunately, non-Hindus aren't allowed to go in the Janardhana Temple, so I've only walked the grounds.

I've been taking it easy and planning the last part of my journey here. I have breakfast by the Indian Ocean watching the waves, walk along the beach and then retreat to read in the middle of the day. It's hot and oppressively humid. I come out again for the spectacular sunsets and dinner alfresco.

I met three interesting German women (an interpreter, teacher and airline employee) on my first night and they left this morning for a backwater tour. It's been nice to relax in Varkala, and I'm now ready to head to the backwater myself tomorrow!

Turning South

Reality check, after 14 days in India my body has staged a little revolt. Indian food is my biggest challenge on this world tour. As my old roommate James will tell you, I can't even stand the smell of Indian food -- he'd have to open the windows and take out the trash if he ate Indian in our apt.

After eating Tandoori Chicken & Naan (the only two Indian dishes I can bare), and Imodium for two weeks, the Delhi Belly turned into a scary fever the night of my birthday. Thank God I was in a great hotel. The hotel sent a doctor and blood tech to my room in the morning. I was nervous about malaria and the two hour hand-delivered blood report was a huge relief.

I'm taking CIPRO and heading south to Kerala on India's coast to relax...

Good OLD Varanasi

Varanasi is one the oldest living cities on earth with over 2,000 years of history. It’s also perhaps the holiest city in India. Life here centers around the Ganges River, which draws pilgrims who bathe in the water to purify their soul. It’s considered an honor to be born or die in Varanasi, so celebrating my birthday here must mean that I will have a great year!

My birthday officially began on an overnight train from Agra. I was traveling with two cute Dutch girls, Corina and Jorise, who are cousins. We left the great unwashed masses and bribed our way into the first class cabin ($20 for all three of us). After a marvelous sunrise we arrived in Varanasi to my awaiting car. We spent the afternoon walking around the old city down to the river, which was an amazing experience. We first watched a herd of cattle taking a purifying bath right next to a dozen men taking their bath in the muddy water.

Next, we found one of the two burning ghats on the Ganges, the Harishchandra Ghat. We watched as the family members of the deceased, wearing all white, soaked the colorfully covered body in the Ganges and then built a log pile, adding the body in the middle. One person walked around the body five times lighting the logs with branches. Family members were sitting around, but no one was upset. Sometimes it takes a family a long time to raise the money for the funeral wood ($35), and in any case cremation by the Ganges is a great honor. After three hours the ashes of the body are spread in the river.

We also saw a body covered with colored silk and garland put on a boat, rowed out to the middle and sunk. Apparently there are 6 types of dead who do not need to be cremated because they are already pure like babies, pregnant women, lepers, those bitten by a Cobra… The Hindu religion is full of color and ceremony!

We had a fun birthday dinner of continental food in a garden restaurant, and then Corina and Jorise came back to my room for some cake. I splurged on a great hotel, the Clarks Hotel, which is the oldest in Varanasi. The staff is divine! They upgraded me to a suite and sent up a beautiful cake.

I believe it was auspicious to start a new year in old Varanasi.