40th country -Australia. Thanksgiving Day!

It's Thanksgiving today and here we are driving along the beautiful Australian coastland. We have had such an incredible drive. Our routine has been; wake up and enjoy the beach, drive for a few hours, set up in our new campground, sit and have some wine and enjoy the sunset. Australia reminds me so much of America. The first thing we see when we arrive is a Westfield mall with a Target. I couldn't pass that up :) They also have country music on the radio. Haha. We were scanning the radio for some jams while we were down at the beach and all the sudden we hear "...knee deep in the water somewhere, got the blue sky, breeze and it don't seem fair. Only worry in the world is the tide gonna reach my chair?" Very fitting! Australia also has camping at national parks for only 5$ and free camping at a lot of places along the road. It's been going great until 2 nights ago. We pull into a free campground and it starts raining. We get setup really quickly and then when we get in our tent we hear cows mooing 15 ft away. We cant see out of our tent because it has a huge rain fly. We sat there waiting for a few mins to see what the cows would do and when they didn't get any closer we realized there was a fence. We peaked out of the tent and when we saw that the coast was clear we made a run for the car. A couple of huge bulls and a herd of 20-30 cows was just on the other side of the fence. We were really scared of the cows getting over the fence somehow so we decided to drag our tent to a better location. Then we got back in the tent and tried to relax from that scary fiasco. Suddenly, we start hearing this buzzing sound. We realize that in the dark we have dragged our tent right on top of a mosquito nest. We dive out of the tent and start dragging it again. We pull the tent all the way to the other side of the campground. After we are setup there we try to fall asleep again. I have my earplugs in and I'm trying to fall asleep and after 20 mins or so I feel Adam's hand clamp down on my leg. Uh oh, that must mean more trouble. I look at him and see a terrified expression on his face. He puts his finger to his lips for me to be quite and then points to a shadow on the side of our tent. Yep, sure enough those cows got through the fence and standing just outside our little 2 man tent is a 1000 pound bull. No joke you just see this massive outline of a bull, horns and everything. He flicks his tail and it brushes our tent. I sat there in shock that this was actually happening. Part of me thought it was a bad dream. We sat there frozen for a long time hopping and praying that they would make their way back to their fence. We were mostly scared that they would spook and stampede our tent. Finally, they went a few feet away and we ran for the car. What a fiasco!!! I still can't believe that happened. I deserve some kind of an award for the things I have been through. 8 days straight of tent camping is no easy thing.

On the road again...

 On the road again... Our time in Thailand was so nice and relaxing. It's hard to believe it's been 10 days already. We enjoyed the beautiful beaches and we put on a few pounds eating Thai food everyday. Yum yum! We are both looking pretty tan, which is strange because it is November.  We absolutely loved our neighbors! There was a French couple and a Polish couple that both live in Thailand now. I can definitely see why there are so many "blow-ins" in Thailand who visit and then decide to stay. I am so tired of the bugs though. I got a massive spider bit on my leg that wouldn't stop swelling up. I was googling like crazy to find out what it was. Thankfully, it went down by morning. 

We are also getting so burned out on trip planning. We are off to Australia but literally have no clue where we are staying or what we are doing. At the start of our trip we looked into the countries that require a visa for US citizens and the only one was Tanzania so we didn't really think about it again. We showed up at the Bangkok airport and by the time we got to the front there was less than 45 mins until the flight left and they told us we needed to have a visa to go to Australia so they couldn't let us on the flight. We really should have looked into it better but when you go to 30+ countries in 9 months things start slipping through the cracks. The stupid visa is free but you can't get it when you arrive, you have to get it on the website ahead of time. We begged the lady to just check us to Manilla, where we had a 4 hr layover and we could figure it out there. She told us no because there is no wifi in the Manilla airport so it wouldn't help us. We ran frantically all over the Bangkok airport to find wifi and of course the wifi hub was out of service. We were asking random people if we could use their computer and finally when we got Internet access we realized it was 18 pages of information! No way we would be able to fill that out for both of us in time!!! We were down to 20 mins before the flight left and I was so stressed I was shaking. We went back to the counter and told them that they had to check us to Manilla. Finally after another 10mins or so we convinced them. We still had to get through customs, security and all the way to our gate. We ran so fast! Adam was mowing old ladies down. We came running through way after final call and barely made it. That was way too close for comfort. Once we got to Manilla someone at the Customer service desk did the Australia visa process for us in like 5 mins. So thankful we made it through. The joys of traveling. That would have been a very expensive lesson to learn for budget travelers. Either way we made it. Now and we have a week of camping and driving the Sunshine coast. 

10 days laying on a beach in Thailand

Ahh.. Now this is my kind of world tour :) We have 10 days on the beautiful island of Koh Chang in Thailand. The beaches are so incredible! White sand and clear warm water. The ocean life here is amazing! We went on 4 dives and now....it's official we are scuba dive certified!!! We took a little class and then we got to dive this great ship wreck off the coast. It was so cool. Diving is an incredible thing. We got to experience a totally different world with just a tank and a mask. The best  thing about Thailand, is that everything is so cheap! Our apartment is only $200. Nope not per night but for the whole 10 days we are here! You can get a full Thai meal (curry or pad Thai) for less than $2. Our neighbors are all so nice and everyone definitely has the slow pace island mindset. We hung out and had some drinks last night with some of the neighbors. The best part of travel is definitly the people you meet along the way. We have had some trouble with the power going out in the whole town for long periods of time though. Oh and the bugs are so out of control! Mosquitos, ants, poisonous slugs, poisonous centipedes, poisonous snakes and several lizards that live in our apartment. I tried to help 1 of them to freedom and he sprang off the wall and down my shirt. Haha. I screamed so loud. Adam was doubled over with laughter. Ok so maybe island life isn't a long term choice for me

Safari time :)- Tanzania, Africa

A "world tour" trip wouldn't be complete without a visit to Africa. It is such a beautiful place. There is nowhere on earth like it. We saw such incredible animals on our safari. To see lions, elephants, zebras and so many more in their natural habitat is incredible. We came across a pride of about 9 lions. We even got to see them mating about 30 feet away! So Amazing! Our guide told us what each kind of animal was and how each one is so different from the other. Even zebra's stripes are like their own unique fingerprints. We saw these little tiny deers called Dik Dik and they only have one mate for their whole lives. They live together and when one dies the other commits suicide because they are too sad to be apart. I never thought I would get to see so many animals, living together in the balance of nature. The people in Tanzania have been so nice as well. I do feel very out of place though. I stick out like a sore thumb and I often forget what a different way of life it is in Africa. There is a group called Masai that are indigenous to the region. They wear bright red and blue colors. Each male has a whole group of wives. They all live together in one small mud hut. So fascinating to learn about other cultures. Tomorrow afternoon we fly out to Thailand! Super excited :)

"You don't remember the pain, just the accomplishment!" Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Africa

What an unbelievable achievement to hike the highest freestanding mountain in the world (19,341ft)! By day 4 I'm struggling along and Adam says to me "In the end, you don't remember the pain, just the accomplishment". Well, right now both are still pretty fresh in my mind but I am unbelievably proud hat we made it to the top.

To tell the story properly, it actually starts during our 24 hour layover in istanbul. We got a hotel room and it was late so we just stayed in and ate crackers and drank the tap water. Then the next day we went sightseeing, had a great time and left. We arrived in Tanzania very early Monday morning October 28th. We slept for a few hrs, then our guides came and met us, we got a few last min items in town, got a good night of sleep and then hit the mountain on Tuesday October 29. That day was an easy 4.5 hr hike, climbing to about 9k ft. It was through the beautiful rainforest, where we saw this cute blue monkey. My stomach hurt most of the day but I figured it was just the change of climate and nerves. Wednesday, October 30- the phrase "Istanbul tap water" is flashing through my mind as my stomach is severely cramped up and I am throwing up. I battle painstakingly through a 6 hr hike. I had to stop every half hour or so and I thought that was going to be the last day of the hike for me. Tuesday, October 31- we come across some super boy scout boys from Colorado that have EVERYTHING you need to survive, including some antibiotics for me! The hike that day is another 6 hours, with a lot of ups and downs that help you acclimatize. My legs are getting pretty torn up by this point, I have no appetite and have thrown up everything I have eaten for the last 2 days. Great. Wednesday, November 1- You have options when you book your trip- 8 day climbs give you time to rest each day and help you acclimatize, 7 day trips a little less time and 6 day trips are for crazy fit hikers, oh and it is the least expensive option. duh... We picked the cheap one. So that means that on November 1st we had to hike double the amount. I woke up and saw the massive mountain towering over our little campground and I said "you and me mountain, we have had a pretty even battle so far but only one of us will be the victor. Who that will be is anyone's guess at this point but I've got your number". We left and hiked for 4 hrs and stopped for lunch around noon. Then we had another 4 hour hike to "base camp", which is the last before the summit. The last hour was torture. I had to stop every 10 mins and my legs were shaking so hard I thought I was going to collapse. We were at 15k ft and by that time you can definitely feel altitude sickness. Headache, dizzy, nauseous, etc. We were supposed to get into camp by like 3pm but I was so wrecked. They want you to go to sleep by 5 or 6 because you wake up at 11pm for Summit day!!!! By the time we roll into camp, eat a few bits of dinner and lay down its well after 8pm. It is also wicked cold. I have a below 0* sleeping bag and I am cover head to toe in long underwear, fleece and down and I was so cold my teeth were chattering. 

Thursday, November 2nd- ha, what a day. I'm: tired, sore, have a headache, dizzy, nauseous, cold, and the last thing in the world I feel like doing is taking a 12 hour hike up the last 5k ft (the largest increase for 1 day). I put 4 layers on my feet, 3 on my legs, 7 layers on my upper body, 2 layers on my hands and 4 layers on my head and face. Then we start hiking, one foot in front of the other, left, right, left, right. The first 1.5 hrs (12-1:30am) were straight up, over a giant rock face. Placing your feet and taking huge steps, while using your trekking poles for balance. Typically, the total summit hike should take about 6-7 hrs, it's ok if it takes 8-9 but anymore than that and your guide will send you back down because your body will be too exhausted to make it all the way back. I tried to just zone out but it was so unimaginably cold. The guide told us no matter how tired we were we couldn't sit because we would freeze and our body would shut down and we would have to go back down. We could walk slowly but we had to stay on our feet. The cold wind bit through our gloves and my fingers and toes were so cold I thought they might fall off. The next 4 hrs (1:30-5:30am) were very steep as well but more like a super rocky trail. I prayed for strength, I sang praise songs in my head, I counted backwards from 100, anything I could do to keep my mind off the pain and cold. At 5:30am we first started to see the sun on the horizon. I've never been so thankful for anything in my whole life. The third part of the hike (5:30-7am) was straight up through thick gravel. Every step you take you slide back 6 inches. My steps were so tiny I was barely moving. I came to the point where I counted off 20 steps and then paused for 10 seconds for 1.5 hours! Sheer determination, will power and the unexplainable strength of The Lord that moved me up the mountain. I knew in my heart that it would all be over in a few hours and all I would remember is the achievement. Finally, the top!!! One more hour (7-8am) of only a gradual increase and we would be there. Step by step we plugged on until that glorious summit sign came into view. I was so happy that I couldn't hold the tears back. Relief flooded my whole body. We took so many pictures. It was so surreal, I couldn't believe that I was standing on the "roof top of Africa". The highest freestanding mountain in the world at 19,341 ft! I had so much help from Adam who encouraged me, packed our stuff, rubbed my sore back and basically waited on me hand and foot in addition to having to hike through all of this himself, our amazing guides who carried various poles, bags and on day 4 gave me his own jacket because I was too cold, the Boy Scouts with the medicine who saved the trip with their generosity, the cook trying to prepare food I could eat and the 8 porters who carry all our tents, bags on their heads and set up and tear down camp everyday. For the 2 of us we had a crew of 12! 8 porters, 1 cook, 1 waiter, 1 guide and 1 ast. guide. On our hike back down the mountain we joked around with our guides. I asked if they ever thought I would actually make it to the top. They said they have so much respect for me because it was less than -15*C and that is much colder than it ever gets. They didn't think there was anyway that I was going to make it. He kept looking over his shoulder and there was Anna taking her baby steps. Haha. Really amazing guys! We had a 3 hr hike back to base camp, and another 4hrs down to a lower camp at 10k feet. By the time we made camp that night at 5pm, I had hiked of 23 the last 36 hrs and slept only 2.5! Needless to say I slept like the dead. 

Friday November 3rd we woke up and had a short 2.5 hr hike back to civilization. We are now sitting in a hotel after taking the longest shower of my life. 6 days without a shower. Haha. Foul! Just so happy to be alive and have the simple things in life. I hope to never take them for granted again. And there is no doubt that this is an accomplishment that I will remember forever!!