Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road

More photos from this segment of our trip!:
https://plus.google.com/u/1/photos/103620108216329120374/albums/5980830761224642689

Our stay in Melbourne started with a scramble to find treatment for Dave's very swollen foot. We Emergency rooms are almost useless for foreigners - there's an initial fee of $400AUD, plus additional for any treatment. Eventually we found a General Practitioner who was ale to see us the next day for a reasonable fee. Fortunately, the swollen foot was just a badly infected bee sting! Thanks goodness for antibiotics. The trip continues!

With that great news, we thought we'd do a little more driving and a little less walking for a few days. We ventured out on the Great Ocean Road, a 151 mile stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia, filled with beautiful towns, parks, and you guessed it, ocean views.

Beautiful coastal views

We stopped more often than we had anticipated on the drive, for coastal walks, photo sessions, coffee breaks, etc. It took us two and a half days to finish the drive. I'm glad our schedule was flexible enough to allow for these relaxing days!

Enjoying a beautiful morning on the beach. Every beach is this secluded!

Kuala bears are the cutest animal we saw on the whole trip (yes, beating everything in Africa). There were clusters of them hanging out near eucalyptus trees. Look up in the branches!

Kuala bear hanging out on the road

The highlight, and main tourist attraction, was the Twelve Apostles limestone stack formations at the western end of the road. These were formed by erosion of the soft limestone to form caves in the cliffs, which then became arches, which in turn collapsed, leaving rock stacks up to 45 meters high. Several walkways in the area provide great views of the Apostles.

Several of the Twelve Apostles

Enjoying the crashing waves

We rounded up the drive back in Melbourne. Although the city center felt small, it had fun streets (especially alleys), interesting architecture, and great food. We went to a delicious tapas restaurant and got authentic ramen.

Next stop, New Zealand!

One of the many graffiti-ed alleyways in Melbourne 

Federation Square, Melbourne

Making the most of airline miles

In many conversations with friends about the trip's logistics, we were asked if we booked Around-the-World tickets for the flights. It would seems to make sense given the route of our trip, but no, we did not, and I've been wondering why anyone would want to do that.

While the idea of one fixed-price ticket to travel one-way around the world sounds great, there are some many downsides to Around-the-World tickets:

• You are limited to one airline network: the three main airline alliances that offer then are Star Alliance, SkyTeam, and OneWorld. Star Alliance probably has the most extensive network, but still, you're probably limited on where you can fly (on our trip, for example, they would not have had any domestic flights in Argentina). Plus, some smaller airlines that serve regional markets are not part of airline alliances, so these trips would have to be purchased in addition to your Around-the World ticket (for example, our flights to Lukla in Nepal). 
• You have to go in one direction around the world: this is harder than you think, especially if you're also going North and South (hitting South America or Africa?). Instead of optimizing for longitude, we optimized for distance flown and weather :)
• Finding availability on the flights you want may be difficult: want to go from NYC to Paris on your first leg on Delta or AirFrance? You mostly certainly will not find availability unless you book well in advance, defeating the purpose of flexible booking with Around-the-World tickets. You may end up spending a ton of time figuring out which routes you can actually fly. Plus, it's hard to do a lot of that research online, which means spending a lot of time on the phone with booking agents - particularly difficult if you're on the road. 
• Plus, it's not all that cheap! Tickets start at ~$2000, but prices quickly go up once you add mileage and stopovers. 

There are upsides, too, to around-the-world ticket. Booking is fairly flexible, so you don't have to plan your route way ahead of time; it can be a great deal if you're going to some expensive destinations; and you earn a bunch of miles on one airline. Since we didn't use them, though, let's not dwell on these points too much.

The real deal in airline travel, we thought, was using airline miles for some long-haul flights and taking advantage of award tickets' outdated systems and loopholes. Delta, for example, allows one stopover, one layover, and one open jaw on each award ticket. So we booked a round-trip ticket with the first leg from NYC to Nice, and the return leg from Sydney (open jaw) to Buenos Aires (with a 2-week stopover) and through Miami (24 hour layover) to NYC. All these flight cost 80,000 miles per person. By comparison, the Sydney to Buenos Aires flight alone would have cost over $1,000 if we paid for it. There are some truly amazing deals out there if you look hard enough.

Then, we found some really good deals on shorter-haul flights, by purchasing most tickets well ahead of time, using miles for the most expensive routes, and flying a couple of low-cost airlines where necessary. I bought most tickets before we left for the trip. Used AA miles for the Quantas flight from Cairns to Ayers Rock (10,000 miles for a $600 flight) and Delta miles for flights between Buenos Aires and El Calafate (25,000 miles for 2 flights around $300 each). Overall, we did pretty well:

It's a steal considering we never had to take a detour, make unnecessary layovers, or fly many low-cost airlines. Also, we opted to fly whenever it made sense, instead of taking long-distance buses and trains, or driving excessive distances.

The Outback

We had a great flight from Cairns to Ayers Rock! You really get an appreciation for the size and emptiness of Australia. There's no development that you can see from the air the entire way - no roads, houses, or even trees for the most part. As we were about to land, we were treated to unobstructed views of Ayers Rock!

Cairns to Ayers Rock

Ayers Rock from the air - you can see that there is a single road that circumnavigates the rock. The airport was about 10km away. 

It was about 110 degrees when we arrived in Ayers Rock Resort. Most of the trails around the rock were closed due to the weather, not that we were going to attempt them anyway - the infamous black flies of the region love the heat and were out in full force that day. It was impossible to walk out of the car for more than a minute without being swarmed. We weren't even able to outrun them. 

So we spent the afternoon in the safety and comfort of our four-wheel drive. Luckily, the drive around Ayers Rock isn't too different from the walk. The big rock was even more impressive up close, with each side providing a different perspective. I was a bit disappointed, though, that we didn't get to climb to the top. 

Many interesting details on the rocks

The rest of our stay in the Outback was significantly milder, especially in the mornings and at night. We got up early in the morning each day to watch the sunrise take an early-morning hike. Then we drove through the hottest part of the day to our next destination, averaging about three hours of driving. In the afternoons, we would settle in and go for smaller walks. The days ended with sunset viewing. 

We had a blast driving our tank through the desert. The roads were in much better shape than we had anticipated, as long as you're prepared for long stretches without any facilities. 

Beautiful hike through Kings Canyon

Overall, the Outback was more remote than I had anticipated. There was no development other than a few simple lodges here and there. The place seems to be inhospitable to living creatures, although the aboriginal people have lived there for thousands of years. We were very happy to be returning to civilization in Melbourne (and we brought with us a very swollen bee sting on Dave's foot).

Cairns & the Great Barrier Reef

More photos from Cairns:
https://plus.sandbox.google.com/u/1/photos/103620108216329120374/albums/5970373582324646993

Welcome to Australia and the southern hemisphere!

It was easy enough getting here from Japan. There is a direct flight from Osaka to Cairns on a low-cost airline. In just 8 hours, we went from fall to spring, and in Cairns, spring felt a lot more like summer.

We spent 4 days in the region. Our favorite parts were snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef, exploring the beaches and rainforests of Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation, and exotic fruit tasting at a family-run orchard. And our least favorites? Getting sunburned while snorkeling and enduring hundreds of bug bites even with the constant application of bug spray.

We landed in this tropical paradise! The boardwalk in Cairns. 

We didn't spend too much time in the city of Cairns itself, but it seemed like a pretty livable city, with a great beachfront and modern apartments buildings. 

One of the snorkeling sites in the Outer Great Barrier Reef. The reefs were pretty shallow in most places, so you get a close up look at all the features. 

We took the Calypso Snorkeling boat out for an action-packed day on the Outer Great Barrier Reef. We visited three different sites in day, spending about an hour snorkeling at each location. The reef formations and variety of ocean life we saw were quiet impressive, and the water was perfectly warm for swimming.

The marina at Port Douglas, where we boarded our boat. 

Beautiful secluded beach, Cape Tribulation

Just on the other side of the beaches is a lush rainforest with great walking trails. Here, you can appreciate the diversity of plant life, as I've never seen most of these plants native to the region. One great find was the Cape Trib Exotic Fruit Farm. A small number of visitors each day participate in a tasting of ten in season fruits - all are tropical, delicious, and not in your local grocery store. The issue is that these fruits are not produced in large enough quantities and are not easy enough to transport and store to make them commercially viable. Custard apple (my favorite from the tasting), for example, turns into mush when it's transported (similar to what avocado does when it over-ripens but at a much faster rate). At its peak, though, it is super sweet and creamy, just like a custard dessert!

One of the several rain forest boardwalks in the Daintree Forest

Our basket of fruits for tasting

Next up, we're going to another iconic Australian destination - Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park and the Outback.

Japan

Follow this link for more photos of Takayama:
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And this link for more photos of Kyoto:
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We’re back on the road after a quick resting stop in Shanghai! Sadly, it appears that the typoon has followed us to Japan. Our first night in Takayama was the date of the Matsuri Autumn Festival, but the evening parade was cancelled due to the weather. Luckily, we didn't actually get any rain, and hung out at the night market instead.

In the next few days, we got to explore this lovely mountainous region of the Japanese countryside. We went for a day hike in the Japan Alps National park, and ended in the mountain town of Kamikochi. It was packed with tourists trying to get a glimpse of the fall foliage.

Foliage season is a bit late this year, but you can start to see the colors changing in Kamikochi. 

The next day, we ventured out to Shirakawa-go, a traditional village showcasing a style of buildings called gasshō-zukuri. From the viewpoint, you can see about a hundred of these houses, all perfectly preserved. We spent a few hour leisurely strolling around the village and taking lots of pictures. It's a very relaxed and slow-paced place, a huge contrast from the crowded streets of Tokyo. 

From the viewpoint at Shirakawa-go

Really cute traditional houses

Back in Takayama, we explored the historic neighborhoods in the center of the city. The streets are lined with all sorts of shops and restaurants. It was great just admiring all the food and goodies that they sold. Whenever we were on the lookout for a meal, it was so hard picking just one! We were amazed by the choices and quality of food in this more off-the-beaten-path part of Japan. 

There were also countless temples within a mile in Takayama. We ended up walking for hours that afternoon, trying to absorb as much of the city as possible before leaving for Kyoto in the morning. 

Historic houses in Takayama

It was easy enough getting to Kyoto. We ended up taking the bus rather than the train since it was significantly cheaper. Overall, buses and train in Japan run ridiculously on time, and are clean and comfortable. It was about a four-hour ride and we got there just in time for some ramen, before starting our temple explorations.

The temples seem like a blur now (we saw an average of three temples a day while we were in Kyoto), but they all had beautiful architecture and gardens. One of the highlights for me was the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest. It was very crowded for a good reason. The feature attraction is a walking path cut through dense bamboo trees at least 30ft tall.

Beautiful gardens surround every temple. This one is the Eikando temple. 

Nishi Hoganji in Central Kyoto

A walk through the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest

On our last day in Kyoto, we visited the Kiyomizo-dera, but the real attraction was the side streets near the temple. Concentrated there are old houses built on narrow, windy streets. When we were there in the morning, the whole neighborhood was empty, preserving the illusion of Old Japan.

The Most Beautiful Street in Kyoto, according to our guidebook

Noodles, anyone?

Most of the historical sites in Kyoto are set around Central Kyoto, a sprawling urban center around the Kyoto Train Station. The station building itself is ultra modern, with at least ten stories of restaurants in a mostly glass structure (including a ramen-only food court!). The building, along with many others in Central Kyoto, offers a stark contrast to the historical sites in other parts of the city.

The ultra-modern Kyoto station

I experienced so much more Japanese culture than I did on my last trip to Japan, which was a quick stop in Tokyo. In Kyoto especially - the historical sites are all so well preserved and the sheer number of them is astounding. At night, you can walk down lantern-lit lanes and find hidden restaurants inside old buildings, and if you're lucky, see a geisha or two trotting around. I highly recommend venturing outside of Tokyo for anyone looking to visit Japan. 

What to pack for a six-month trip

This is the first of a series of posts with travel tips from around the world. I hope you find parts of it useful, or at least somewhat entertaining. 

When Dave and I decided to go on a six-month trip around the world, we didn't think too much about the logistics. We committed to the trip as soon as we knew that it was feasible with work, since it was something we've always dreamed about. The packing, though, was not easy.

It was particularly complicated by the fact that we are seeing cities and the outdoors, traveling to extremely cold and extremely warm places, and wanted to backpack and car camp for parts of the trip. Plus, we knew that we only wanted to go around the world once (i.e. we didn't want to backtrack to NYC). I did some quick research on shipping supplies overseas with no luck. So we had to take everything we needed with us on the plane.

Now that we are two-thirds of the way into the trip, how did we do with all of our luggage?

What we packed:
We ended up taking two large suitcases (about 25kg each), two carry-on suitcases (about 12kg each), two day-packs, and one large camping backpack. We were luck enough that my relatives, who attended our wedding in New York, were able to bring another camping backpack with them to Shanghai with some additional supplies. Most of our extra weight came from our camping and hiking gear, as well as electronics and camera equipment.

Even though we tried so hard to pack light, we definitely took a few things we wished we hadn't - two heavy flashlights, dress shoes for Dave, and a few extra dresses for me. It was a lot of  weight to be carrying around the world! It was difficult for us to take public transit with our bags, so we mostly rented rented cars or took taxis to and from the airport. My advice? Really only take bare essentials. You’d be amazed to see how much of your wardrobe you can live without!

Packing for flights:
Now that we have our gear for the trip, an equally hard challenge is figuring out how we are going to pack everything up for the 29 flights we’re taking without shelling out for crazy excess luggage fees. Each airline has different weight limits, by number of pieces, weight of each piece, carry-on limits, etc.

Luckily, Dave is Platinum on Delta Airlines (SkyTeam) and got status match with Turkish Airlines (Star Alliance). This meant that we got extra checked baggage allowance on most of the flights that we took (and got to use airport lounges for those flights). For most of the remaining flights, I was able to prepay for extra baggage at a reasonable price.

So far, we've only had to pay for excess baggage fees at the airport counter twice. The first time with SAS because we were silly enough to ask how many bags we’re allowed to check, prompting the agent to question our carry-on weight. The second time, we had to abandon our plans to fly to Nairobi through Cairo on Star Alliance and SkyTeam flights, and had to book a flight with Qatar Airways (OneWorld). Of course, Qatar diligently weighted everyone’s checked bags and carry-ons, and charged for excess baggage at 19 euros per kilogram. Let’s hope that was the last time we whip out our credit cards at check-in.

Shanghai

Somehow we managed to be in Shanghai for the three days that Typhoon Fitow swept through Eastern China. Although the storm didn't hit Shanghai directly, it did mean that we got nonstop rain for three days. We made the best of it though - since we were in Shanghai mostly to visit my family, we used the rest of our time here to catch up on pictures and trip planning. We are four months into the trip (two-thirds over!!!) now and almost two months behind on pictures! Sadly, we weren't able to share any of the pictures we organized in Shanghai, since Google+ sat behind China’s great firewall.

Another major accomplishment in Shanghai was shopping for trekking gear. Through the wonders of online blogs, we found the Decathlon store in Pudong, where we bought additional supplies we needed for our upcoming hikes in New Zealand and Argentina. The store is a mecca for sporting goods, with 2-floors filled with all kinds of gear and equipment. Best of all, the prices are about a third of what you would pay at NorthFace or Columbia. The styles were great, and so far, we haven’t found any issues with quality. Now we are fully prepared with a new backpack, day-pack, waterproof pants, and windbreakers. I'm so excited for some real trekking. This will actually be my first time trekking for multiple days with my own backpack!

Hong Kong and Macau

Follow this link to see the rest of our photos from Hong Kong and Macau!:

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Hong Kong did not look impressive when we first arrived. The city was covered in smog so that we couldn't see any buildings in the distance as we drove from the airport. When we got into the city, many of the buildings seemed so old, and the sidewalks were narrow and busy. Hong Kong reminded us of a giant version of New York’s Chinatown.

We grew to like Hong Kong, though, as we spent more time there. There's a lot to see, with central Hong Kong spread out on both sides of Victoria Harbor. I was impressed by how dense the city is. It's very vertical in many parts, and the streets are always crowded. We tried to take the Peak Tram up to Victoria peak, but found a line of at least 2 hours! Dave gave up and I walked almost an hour up the hill. It was worth the hike :)

The skyline everywhere is filled with skyscrapers. 

A busy street. 

View from Victoria Peak. With the thick smog, the buildings actually become more clear at night when they are lit up. 

Further afield in Hong Kong, we visited the Tian Tan Buddha on Lantau Island. Nearby is the small fishing village of Tai O, where we saw many stilt houses built on the water and every form of dried fish imaginable. The next day, we ventured out to the beaches of Repulse Bay and Stanley, on the southern side of Hong Kong Island. There were many locals enjoying water sports and hanging out at beachfront eateries. It's great that there are so many places to get away for the day in Hong Kong. We heard that there's also a lot of good hiking around. We didn't get to try much though, since it was pretty hot while we were there.

The Big Buddha

Tai O, a small fishing community on Lantau Island. What a contrast from Hong Kong Island!

A relaxing day at Stanley, Hong Kong

We also hopped on a fast one-hour ferry to Macau for a day. It's amazing how many people do this trip! We went on a weekday morning, and even with multiple ferry companies running at least several boats an hour, there was a one-hour wait. 

Being a former Portuguese colony, Macau's historical district is scattered with interesting Portuguese architecture. The highlight of Macau, though, is seeing its numerous casinos. They are filled with interesting decor, good restaurants, and countless entertainment venues, much like Vegas. The gambling scene is continuing to expand, with a whole strip of casinos that opened in the last decade and new ones still under construction. We actually got lost going around Macau and ended up taking a long bus tour of off-the-beaten-path neighborhoods - it looks a lot like residential areas in Hong Kong or China, very much unaffected by the blooming tourism industry. 

Lots of casinos

Remnants of the Sao Paulo Cathedral, Old City

Vegas or Macau? Several of the casinos in Macau, such as the Venetian, look just like their counterparts in Vegas. 

The Galaxy Macau - only Phase I of the construction is open, and it's already huge and glamorous. 

Kuala Lumpur

We arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 8pm at night, and were very glad to be back in a modern city after spending two weeks in Nepal. We rode in a nice airport taxi on a smooth highway to a brand new hotel with views of the brilliantly lit up city center. Overall, the city is more developed than we expected - it’s much more like Singapore or Hong Kong than the rest of Southeast Asia.

We spent most of our two days in Kuala Lumpur wandering its many malls. Not only are the dozens of mega malls packed with every brand imaginable, but they are also centers of food and entertainment. Plus, they provide excellent shelter from the midday heat. We took some time to explore the city's colonial history on a walking tour (it was a British colony until 1957). We also took a short train ride to see the impressive Batu Caves, a popular Hindu shrine dedicated to Lord Murugan.

Petronas towers, with a giant shopping plaza under it. 

The Sultan Abdul Samad Building at Merdeka Square. It was originally the offices of the Colonial Secretariat, and served as the first administrative center of the Malayan government.

Outside the Batu Caves. The gold-painted statue of the Hindu deity Lord Murugan is 42.7 meters tall.

Street food - these stalls are bustling at night, when the temperature becomes much more comfortable.