It is now May 2013...
Kevin is in Colorado, mountain biking.
That is all.
Todd is lost in the Internet somewhere.
Both are happy.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Epilogue
So what are we doing now that the Excellent Adventure is over? Well, first of all, for the Wheelers, the adventure is never over. Life itself is the Grand Adventure and we plan to live it as such!
I can't speak for Kevin, but I know I had a great time traveling the world, experiencing new cultures, tasting new foods, and meeting new people. The memories and the friends (not to mention the tattoos) will certainly last a lifetime. To me, it's a shame more people don't make the effort to go out and experience all the things this world has to offer. There's so many things to see and all you have to do is look outside your window. Metaphorically as well as literally. It really is so much easier than most people think. All you need is a goal. If you have common sense, are open to try new things, and speak english, you can literally go almost anywhere! And if you're worried about money, I bussed tables at a restaurant for eight months before this trip. What I saved in that time paid my way through five countries and left me with enough buy a pimped out super-computer when I returned home. You literally have no excuse.
But enough rambling...it's time to focus on the next chapter in life. And like I said before, us Wheelers are always on the lookout for the next big adventure. Anyone for some afternoon tea?
If our story inspires just one person to go out and have an adventure, then I'll consider my time well spent.
...
I can't speak for Kevin, but I know I had a great time traveling the world, experiencing new cultures, tasting new foods, and meeting new people. The memories and the friends (not to mention the tattoos) will certainly last a lifetime. To me, it's a shame more people don't make the effort to go out and experience all the things this world has to offer. There's so many things to see and all you have to do is look outside your window. Metaphorically as well as literally. It really is so much easier than most people think. All you need is a goal. If you have common sense, are open to try new things, and speak english, you can literally go almost anywhere! And if you're worried about money, I bussed tables at a restaurant for eight months before this trip. What I saved in that time paid my way through five countries and left me with enough buy a pimped out super-computer when I returned home. You literally have no excuse.
But enough rambling...it's time to focus on the next chapter in life. And like I said before, us Wheelers are always on the lookout for the next big adventure. Anyone for some afternoon tea?
If our story inspires just one person to go out and have an adventure, then I'll consider my time well spent.
...
Welcome to the Himalayas!
As I write this, I am sitting in a little art studio I put together in the spare bedroom of my house in North Kingsville, Ohio, United States of America. That's right, we're back home. The Excellent Adventure is over. For now. I'm sure another adventure will start soon enough.
Now the story of how we ended up back home so soon instead of, say, exploring Oman or India or perhaps Abu Dhabi, begins in the city of Kathmandu, Nepal...
Nepal had long been planned as the pinnacle of our trip; the Himalayas had been beckoning us for quite some time. In fact, before this full-on Excellent Adventure was put into play, Kevin and I, along with our older brother Brian, were making rough plans to trek the Annapurna Circuit, a famous 3 week long trail in central Nepal. Instead, we ended up surprising our dad with a week-long fishing trip in Ontario. But that's another story...
Needless to say, we were looking forward to this part of our journey. We arrived in Kathmandu after nearly missing our flight out of Bangkok and, against our better judgment, allowed our taxi driver to talk us into taking a look at the hotel he "represented." And that right there I'd say was one of the biggest turning points in this trip. Now don't get me wrong, this place was great. In fact, if you ever find yourself on vacation in Kathmandu I would certainly recommend Hotel Encounter Nepal. Since we knew this was near the end of our trip, we decided to splurge a bit on our room and spent a whopping $20 (gasp!) for a rooftop suite with real flushing toilets, a bathtub, and a TV. Shoot, there was even a coat rack! But I'll tell you what, the view from our rooftop patio was worth every cent and more.
Obviously, pictures don't do it justice, but this
is our view looking out over the city of Kathmandu
Me attempting (poorly) to capture the scene on paper
So we lived the high life for a couple days, ordering chicken cordon bleu for dinner every night along with a side order of macaroni and cheese (to be honest, possibly the most delicious meal I have ever consumed). Now, when I said coming to this hotel was a turning point, that was because instead of going off and tackling one of these treks on our own, we decided to check out the trekking company run by the hotel. To cut a long story short, we ended up with a 21 day trekking package to the Mount Everest Base Camp by way of the beautiful Gokyo Valley, followed by an ascent to the top of Island Peak, a 20,000 foot tall mountain in the shadow of Everest itself. Being the generous brother I am, I ended up loaning Kevin the $1,500 to cover his half of the trip. It may sound like a lot, but $1,500 covered food, lodging, mountain climbing gear rental, the flight to and from the start of the trek, and a personal guide for the entire 21 days. And considering the original price of all that was around $2,500, I'd say we got a good deal. Even so, it pretty much wiped out the end of our budget.
Everything I had stuffed into my pack at this point of the trip
Now, I suppose I should say it would've been a good deal if we had lasted the full 21 days. For you see, about a week into the trek, we started to run into problems. At around 12,000 feet I started to feel the effects of high altitude. Altitude sickness was something I had never even thought of before, but once you're in the mountains, it's something that's on your mind every day. We kept hearing stories of two Dutch guys who ignored the warning signs and climbed too high too fast and ended having to be life-flighted back to Kathmandu; the helicopter ride alone cost them $9,000. Needless to say, I started taking altitude sickness seriously. So when I started getting the early symptoms, such as tiredness, poor appetite, and headaches, I had a tough decision to make.
Namche Bazaar, the last town on the trek.
We stayed here several days acclimatizing to the altitude.
On one hand, I had paid a significant amount of money for this potentially once-in-a-lifetime experience to visit Mount Everest and then climb a 20,000 ft Himalayan mountain, but on the other hand, I had my very life to consider. If I had continued, the symptoms would have progressed from headaches to coughing to vomiting. And from there, potential loss of consciousness followed by a coma and even death. Combine that with Kevin's problem of a nasty knee infection that was spreading and I believe the other hand made a better case.
Kevin's infection. Nasty...
So, sadly, we made the tough descision to cut our losses and return home. Losing out on a thousand dollars is much better than spending $9,000 for a helicopter ride to a hospital.
But you know what? The days we did have out on the trail with our faithful guide Birus were some of the best days of all. There's just simply no way to convey the immenseness of the Himalayas, and the feeling of freedom that comes from trekking into the wild with all your wordly possesions on your back; you just can't put a price on that.
With good friends at your side and a keen sense of adventure, you can go anywhere, do anything, and be anyone you want to be. So what are you waiting for?
Now the story of how we ended up back home so soon instead of, say, exploring Oman or India or perhaps Abu Dhabi, begins in the city of Kathmandu, Nepal...
Nepal had long been planned as the pinnacle of our trip; the Himalayas had been beckoning us for quite some time. In fact, before this full-on Excellent Adventure was put into play, Kevin and I, along with our older brother Brian, were making rough plans to trek the Annapurna Circuit, a famous 3 week long trail in central Nepal. Instead, we ended up surprising our dad with a week-long fishing trip in Ontario. But that's another story...
Needless to say, we were looking forward to this part of our journey. We arrived in Kathmandu after nearly missing our flight out of Bangkok and, against our better judgment, allowed our taxi driver to talk us into taking a look at the hotel he "represented." And that right there I'd say was one of the biggest turning points in this trip. Now don't get me wrong, this place was great. In fact, if you ever find yourself on vacation in Kathmandu I would certainly recommend Hotel Encounter Nepal. Since we knew this was near the end of our trip, we decided to splurge a bit on our room and spent a whopping $20 (gasp!) for a rooftop suite with real flushing toilets, a bathtub, and a TV. Shoot, there was even a coat rack! But I'll tell you what, the view from our rooftop patio was worth every cent and more.
Obviously, pictures don't do it justice, but thisis our view looking out over the city of Kathmandu
Of every amazing thing I saw on this journey, from the coral reefs of Thailand to the ancient, ruined temples of Cambodia, nothing compared to looking out over the rooftops of Kathmandu. I'm not sure why I was so floored by the sight, but gee whiz, it was something alright.
Me attempting (poorly) to capture the scene on paperSo we lived the high life for a couple days, ordering chicken cordon bleu for dinner every night along with a side order of macaroni and cheese (to be honest, possibly the most delicious meal I have ever consumed). Now, when I said coming to this hotel was a turning point, that was because instead of going off and tackling one of these treks on our own, we decided to check out the trekking company run by the hotel. To cut a long story short, we ended up with a 21 day trekking package to the Mount Everest Base Camp by way of the beautiful Gokyo Valley, followed by an ascent to the top of Island Peak, a 20,000 foot tall mountain in the shadow of Everest itself. Being the generous brother I am, I ended up loaning Kevin the $1,500 to cover his half of the trip. It may sound like a lot, but $1,500 covered food, lodging, mountain climbing gear rental, the flight to and from the start of the trek, and a personal guide for the entire 21 days. And considering the original price of all that was around $2,500, I'd say we got a good deal. Even so, it pretty much wiped out the end of our budget.
Everything I had stuffed into my pack at this point of the tripNow, I suppose I should say it would've been a good deal if we had lasted the full 21 days. For you see, about a week into the trek, we started to run into problems. At around 12,000 feet I started to feel the effects of high altitude. Altitude sickness was something I had never even thought of before, but once you're in the mountains, it's something that's on your mind every day. We kept hearing stories of two Dutch guys who ignored the warning signs and climbed too high too fast and ended having to be life-flighted back to Kathmandu; the helicopter ride alone cost them $9,000. Needless to say, I started taking altitude sickness seriously. So when I started getting the early symptoms, such as tiredness, poor appetite, and headaches, I had a tough decision to make.
Namche Bazaar, the last town on the trek.We stayed here several days acclimatizing to the altitude.
On one hand, I had paid a significant amount of money for this potentially once-in-a-lifetime experience to visit Mount Everest and then climb a 20,000 ft Himalayan mountain, but on the other hand, I had my very life to consider. If I had continued, the symptoms would have progressed from headaches to coughing to vomiting. And from there, potential loss of consciousness followed by a coma and even death. Combine that with Kevin's problem of a nasty knee infection that was spreading and I believe the other hand made a better case.
Kevin's infection. Nasty...So, sadly, we made the tough descision to cut our losses and return home. Losing out on a thousand dollars is much better than spending $9,000 for a helicopter ride to a hospital.
But you know what? The days we did have out on the trail with our faithful guide Birus were some of the best days of all. There's just simply no way to convey the immenseness of the Himalayas, and the feeling of freedom that comes from trekking into the wild with all your wordly possesions on your back; you just can't put a price on that.
With good friends at your side and a keen sense of adventure, you can go anywhere, do anything, and be anyone you want to be. So what are you waiting for?
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Photos from Laos!
Quick update:
We're back in Bangkok in time for Kevin's birthday...unfortunately it's raining hard at the moment. Just got the photos up from Laos. Check out the link on the sidebar. I tried to upload some video, we got some good ones, but again, I was foiled by this computer. Check 'em out, we had a good time in Laos, made some good friends, and we'll be heading to Nepal next!
We're back in Bangkok in time for Kevin's birthday...unfortunately it's raining hard at the moment. Just got the photos up from Laos. Check out the link on the sidebar. I tried to upload some video, we got some good ones, but again, I was foiled by this computer. Check 'em out, we had a good time in Laos, made some good friends, and we'll be heading to Nepal next!
Monday, September 14, 2009
Now in Laos
So in two days, we went from Cambodia to Bangkok, and from Bangkok into Laos. Laos wasn't originally in our itinerary, but we met some new friends on the bus ride from Cambodia and they talked us into joining them.
Apparently there is only one thing worth coming to Laos for and that's tubing down a river. As nice and relaxing as that sounds, it turned out to be a wild ride! All along the riverbank are bars with, I guess you would call them fishermen, who throw out lines to tubers coming by and pull them in. Apart from the drinks, these bars also have giant swings and waterslides to fling you out into the river. Some of these swings were so high, both Kevin and I lost our lip piercings upon landing in the water. It's wicked fun though. Some other highlights include mud wrestling, mud tug-of-war, and mud volleyball. A quick swing into the river cleans you right off! Anyway, we had so much fun that by the time darkness fell, we had only made it halfway down the river and we had to navigate the last kilometer or so in the dark. We have about a week here in Laos and most of that time I'm sure is going to be spent on the river. Today, however, we all woke up rather sore from awkward landings into the water and decided to take the day off. I wish I could post some photos and videos from our day yesterday, but this computer doesn't want to read my memory card. It's a shame, because I've got some good ones! I'd write more too, but this keyboard is a piece of junk and most of the keys stick. The things I have to deal with...
Oh, by the way, a new itinerary we're considering is Nepal next (we already bought our tickets) followed by India. Then to Dubai, where we would have free accommodation with the parents of a girl we're traveling with, then to Oman where we would stay with Andre and Sarah, then to London for New Year's, where we have several friends we could stay with, and then finally home. Again, rough idea, and our plans change daily. Stay tuned!
Apparently there is only one thing worth coming to Laos for and that's tubing down a river. As nice and relaxing as that sounds, it turned out to be a wild ride! All along the riverbank are bars with, I guess you would call them fishermen, who throw out lines to tubers coming by and pull them in. Apart from the drinks, these bars also have giant swings and waterslides to fling you out into the river. Some of these swings were so high, both Kevin and I lost our lip piercings upon landing in the water. It's wicked fun though. Some other highlights include mud wrestling, mud tug-of-war, and mud volleyball. A quick swing into the river cleans you right off! Anyway, we had so much fun that by the time darkness fell, we had only made it halfway down the river and we had to navigate the last kilometer or so in the dark. We have about a week here in Laos and most of that time I'm sure is going to be spent on the river. Today, however, we all woke up rather sore from awkward landings into the water and decided to take the day off. I wish I could post some photos and videos from our day yesterday, but this computer doesn't want to read my memory card. It's a shame, because I've got some good ones! I'd write more too, but this keyboard is a piece of junk and most of the keys stick. The things I have to deal with...
Oh, by the way, a new itinerary we're considering is Nepal next (we already bought our tickets) followed by India. Then to Dubai, where we would have free accommodation with the parents of a girl we're traveling with, then to Oman where we would stay with Andre and Sarah, then to London for New Year's, where we have several friends we could stay with, and then finally home. Again, rough idea, and our plans change daily. Stay tuned!
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
New Pictures From Cambodia!
Todd and I reached one of our biggest milestones for the trip today, we rented bikes for $1 and headed out towards the Angkor Temple complex. This area was huge, we rode around all day and saw maybe half of the temples just in this one complex! And I must say, it unquestionably lived up to expectation. Some of the pictures simply can't capture the awe inspiring ruins. But we were able to just walk around at leisure and kind of scramble around the walls like Indiana Jones (the better, old ones) and that really made the experience, because it was just that, not sight seeing, but experiencing it, being able to lose ourselves in another time, a time of Great ancient Khmer civilizations, seeing the holes in the massive building blocks where laborers carried them into place, presumably with bamboo poles, seeing the ancient squatty-potty (and realizing that things haven't changed much), being able to run our hands over the meticulous carvings in the stone and imagining a chisel in our tired hands. This is what we came for. Enjoy the pictures... I'd write more, but I've been battling this (ancient?) computer for about 3 hours trying to manage all these pictures and to honest, I'm plum tuckered out!
Cycling around the Angkor Temples-Day One-Photo Album
Also some other pics
Photo Album from the train ride into Cambodia
Cycling around the Angkor Temples-Day One-Photo Album
Also some other pics
Photo Album from the train ride into Cambodia
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