Yumi and I went to Trailfinder in High Street Kensington and guess what happened?
Yes you guessed, we bought our round the world tickets! Woo hoo!
So that's it, we are airborne! Well, almost.
We'll leave London on January 7th 2011 and our journey will take us to Argentina (via Sao Paulo), Chile, Bolivia, Peru, New Zealand, Australia, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Hong Kong, Tokyo, South Korea, China (again), Tibet, Mongolia, China (again, again), France...and England.
Voila!
Bye for now
:)
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Yumi got Jabbed!
Yellow fever, japanese encephalitis, rabies, Hep A, Hep B, Typhoid....blahblah blah.
Yumi started the jab race! We thought it's better to be safe than sorry on this one, especially when we'll be in the rainforest in Peru and in South East Asia. We just didn't expect to spent about 500 pounds on jabs alone!
Monday, August 16, 2010
Corsica '10!
Having slept 10h in the previous 5 days, (proper) holidays came at the perfect time for Thomas. Coincidence? no no no. Have no doubt: Yumi was ready for some sun and Corsican food too!
We stayed in the village, less than a km from Grandpa's house. There were no plan B, but there were no plan A either. We only wanted to fit some:
- beach volleyball
- food
- trekking
- food
- helping Grandpa in the garden
- food
- see friends and family
- food
- chilling/relaxing time
oh, and have some good food too.
It worked perfectly as we did all of the above. We love it when a no-plan plan comes together.
It was great to spend some quiet time at the local beach. It's not the most beautiful beach in Corsica, but Thomas likes it, he's been going there for 29 years after all :)
On the first day we met Thomas's childhood friends Antoine, Jeremy and Audrey, as well their other halves: Sandy, Marion and Romain respectively. Wicked time. Thomas was sleeping -at the table- by 11pm. Was it the 2h we slept the previous night or the past 5 days training 1h per day that tired him, we'll never know...
The other days were a mix of playing some beach vball, swimming, going to the villages around, gardening. We also went to the Restonica Valley, near Corte in the centre of the island. It's a great place, it's not too busy as the trails are not so easy. We walked to the lac du Melo and the Lac du Capitello.
The views were amazing and the weather was great too. we were a bit light on water (only 1.5l for both of us) but a little swim in the lac du Capitello managed to keep us cool for the way down. We were at about 2000m and the car park was at 1200m so the way down was tough on the knees but we managed it just fine, needing only a Diabolo-Menthe to recover.
ok, and an ice cream too.
oh, and some wild boar when we got home. hmmmm. Thomas is still drooling about it! :)
We had a lovely time there and before we knew it, we were back in London, but hey, we returned to "The Old Smoke" with our heads filled with great memories and good laughs as well as figatelli, donkey sausage, pastis and some other good wild boar paté, so we won't complain about it! :)
We stayed in the village, less than a km from Grandpa's house. There were no plan B, but there were no plan A either. We only wanted to fit some:
- beach volleyball
- food
- trekking
- food
- helping Grandpa in the garden
- food
- see friends and family
- food
- chilling/relaxing time
oh, and have some good food too.
It worked perfectly as we did all of the above. We love it when a no-plan plan comes together.
It was great to spend some quiet time at the local beach. It's not the most beautiful beach in Corsica, but Thomas likes it, he's been going there for 29 years after all :)
On the first day we met Thomas's childhood friends Antoine, Jeremy and Audrey, as well their other halves: Sandy, Marion and Romain respectively. Wicked time. Thomas was sleeping -at the table- by 11pm. Was it the 2h we slept the previous night or the past 5 days training 1h per day that tired him, we'll never know...
The other days were a mix of playing some beach vball, swimming, going to the villages around, gardening. We also went to the Restonica Valley, near Corte in the centre of the island. It's a great place, it's not too busy as the trails are not so easy. We walked to the lac du Melo and the Lac du Capitello.
The views were amazing and the weather was great too. we were a bit light on water (only 1.5l for both of us) but a little swim in the lac du Capitello managed to keep us cool for the way down. We were at about 2000m and the car park was at 1200m so the way down was tough on the knees but we managed it just fine, needing only a Diabolo-Menthe to recover.
ok, and an ice cream too.
oh, and some wild boar when we got home. hmmmm. Thomas is still drooling about it! :)
We had a lovely time there and before we knew it, we were back in London, but hey, we returned to "The Old Smoke" with our heads filled with great memories and good laughs as well as figatelli, donkey sausage, pastis and some other good wild boar paté, so we won't complain about it! :)
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Rome
Last weekend, we were invited to Maureen and Giacomo's wedding in Castiglione Di Pescaia, a little town north of Rome, so we decided to spend a day in Rome.
We started with what we do best: Eating! before walking to the Vatican and St Peter Square.
Apart from the St Peter's Basilica, the other thing you cannot miss are "The Swiss Guards".
See for yourselves!
We started with what we do best: Eating! before walking to the Vatican and St Peter Square.
Apart from the St Peter's Basilica, the other thing you cannot miss are "The Swiss Guards".
They have a high reputation for discipline and loyalty to their
employers. Apart from household and guard units, some formations also
serve as fighting troops! So basically, don't laugh and point at them
when you check them out :)
The Basilica is really impressive, it has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world, holding
60,000 people.
I know what you think: YES! football games could be organised inside!
We didn't go in as the queue was simply massive, and we didn't feel like waiting half a day to get in. If you want to go there, get in the queue as early as you can (think about trying to get a ticket at Wimbledon on a saturday or get an i-Phone 4 before everybody else...).
See for yourselves!
We found a few minutes to post some letters. It is thought that many Romans make
weekly trips to the Vatican just to post their important letters, as the Italian post is quite unreliable.
Italian stamps may not be used on Vatican mail nor vice versa. It is believed that more letters are sent each year,
per inhabitant, from the Vatican's postal code than from anywhere
else in the world.
It doesn't really come as a surprise when you think that the Vatican has a population of just over 800 and that 4.5 million tourists visit the Vatican every year!
We then walked across Rome to end up at the train station to go back to the airport to meet Marion and Johannes to drive to Castiglione.
Rome is a beautiful city. Castel San Angelo, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, the Forum, The Coliseum... So many great sites. We stayed there for a day, but it was not enough to see it all.
Go there! It was a real surprise for us (mainly Thomas, as it was his first time there), as we are not big fans of crowds and touristic places. :)
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
New Forest
Another trip, yet short and much closer to civilisation than usual...Not that we were not prepared anyway! :)
We knew it would be wet. It always is when we travel with Justin and Kasia :)
Being close to civilisation (i.e. pub) is a perfect opportunity to pack light. No worries, we'll be fine even if we forget something. We barely had spare clothing and took a summer sleeping bag (Thomas didn't learn from Dartmoor last year, when he froze his French ass in a hammock). It helped reducing our backpacks' weight considerably. Ideal for our RTW trip!
We arrived in Brockenhurst on Friday night and headed straight to the campsite (for once!). it was crazy, there were hot water and showers! We are not used to such luxury when we travel.
It was good fun as we built a shelter in the forest. The funny funny thing is that it was pissing rain when we built it, and it all stopped when we finished it. So we ate...next to our shelter. :)
We walked "off the track" as much as possible, but in the New Forest, you are never far from a track (or a massive pile of poo...).
It was a chilled out weekend, no need to rush, so more time to look around, and Yumi is now motivated to go to the forest and learn which trees/plants/mushrooms are good for you.
Interestiiiiing...
We knew it would be wet. It always is when we travel with Justin and Kasia :)
Being close to civilisation (i.e. pub) is a perfect opportunity to pack light. No worries, we'll be fine even if we forget something. We barely had spare clothing and took a summer sleeping bag (Thomas didn't learn from Dartmoor last year, when he froze his French ass in a hammock). It helped reducing our backpacks' weight considerably. Ideal for our RTW trip!
We arrived in Brockenhurst on Friday night and headed straight to the campsite (for once!). it was crazy, there were hot water and showers! We are not used to such luxury when we travel.
It was good fun as we built a shelter in the forest. The funny funny thing is that it was pissing rain when we built it, and it all stopped when we finished it. So we ate...next to our shelter. :)
We walked "off the track" as much as possible, but in the New Forest, you are never far from a track (or a massive pile of poo...).
It was a chilled out weekend, no need to rush, so more time to look around, and Yumi is now motivated to go to the forest and learn which trees/plants/mushrooms are good for you.
Interestiiiiing...
Friday, April 9, 2010
US Road trip 2011 - Premiere !!
THAT'S IT !
We've drawn the first ish-route for our American road trip, which will be the 5th country (after Chile, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador) we'll cross for our "Round The World Visit 2011"
If you know any nice place to trek in or visit, let us know! Thanks!
New York - Boston - Chicago - Saint Louis - Salt Lake City - Portland - San Francisco - Los Angeles - Las Vegas - Monument Valley - Los Angeles.
6,222 miles.
Ish.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Scotland ! Easter Break
A few weeks ago, Yumi and I were thinking about were to go for the Easter break. Yumi came up with a great idea: Let's ask Cédric and Audrey if we can go to THEIR place in Edinburgh.
20 minutes later it was sorted. We were going to Scotland for Easter! :)
We left London on Thursday April 1st by train and visited Edinburgh on Friday. We packed our bags (light) and headed to Fort William, some 3h North West of "Auld Reekie -or "Old Smoky" in Scottish-.
Edinburgh was nicknamed "Old Smoky" because many years ago, when the buildings were heated by coal and wood fires, the chimneys would spew thick columns of smoke into the air. Oh, and Edinburgh is twinned with Nice in France. Waow, who feels more clever now?
We walked in the Highlands and saw a few abandoned castles. It was good to breath some fresh air, and on top of that, the weather was great. No Seriously. The sky was mostly blue.
Scottish Moo-moos or "Highland Cows"
Hike in the "Lost Valley".
The Lost Valley was where the Macdonalds were supposed to hide the cattle they had rustled from their neighbours, (or perhaps, where they hid their cattle to stop them being rustled by their neighbours, who the heck knows!?)
The cool part is that the geologists tell us that the lost valley was formed by the weight of ice that could not escape from the valley as the huge ice cap flowed down to the sea through the pass of Glencoe from off Rannoch Moor. The size of the valley still comes as a complete surprise the first time it is viewed.
20 minutes later it was sorted. We were going to Scotland for Easter! :)
Above near the "Scots Monument" in downtown Edinburgh
We left London on Thursday April 1st by train and visited Edinburgh on Friday. We packed our bags (light) and headed to Fort William, some 3h North West of "Auld Reekie -or "Old Smoky" in Scottish-.
Edinburgh was nicknamed "Old Smoky" because many years ago, when the buildings were heated by coal and wood fires, the chimneys would spew thick columns of smoke into the air. Oh, and Edinburgh is twinned with Nice in France. Waow, who feels more clever now?
We walked in the Highlands and saw a few abandoned castles. It was good to breath some fresh air, and on top of that, the weather was great. No Seriously. The sky was mostly blue.
Scottish Moo-moos or "Highland Cows"
Hike in the "Lost Valley".
The Lost Valley was where the Macdonalds were supposed to hide the cattle they had rustled from their neighbours, (or perhaps, where they hid their cattle to stop them being rustled by their neighbours, who the heck knows!?)
The cool part is that the geologists tell us that the lost valley was formed by the weight of ice that could not escape from the valley as the huge ice cap flowed down to the sea through the pass of Glencoe from off Rannoch Moor. The size of the valley still comes as a complete surprise the first time it is viewed.
Thomas got to kickass (himself) too
- Got crampons?
- Nope
- Doh!
After the "Lost Valley", we went back to "home" but couldn't help taking some stunning pics from "Les Hautes-Terres D'Ecosse", which -let's be honest- sounds much better to be written in French.
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