Posted by: Jonathan
Ahhhhhh the comforting sound of American accents, the refreshing smell of clean toilets, and the unreal satisfaction of receiving a free refill - words can't express how nice it is to let your guard down from the constant haggling, scamming touts, and sticky fingered thieves. We landed in Houston on Monday and are working around the clock to get new passports, new visas, and new insurance plans before our flight deadline Wednesday. We looked into pushing the flight back but it will cost more to do that than we originally paid for the tickets, so we are stuck with a looming deadline and a laundry list of tasks. On the brighter side we are getting to enjoy the company of both of our families over the next few days, as well as beds with fluffy pillows and hot showers. I had written interesting facts and a summery of our South American portion of the trip over the past couple weeks but unfortunately it was in the stolen backpack so some guy somewhere is reading all my "dear diary" entries...
A few Stats:
We traveled a total of about 12,000 miles. Which is equivalent to traveling across the USA... four times - via cramped buses on questionable roads.
We took 2,200 photos (21 photos a day) which we feel is below average for us but in our defense we were without one camera for several months and both cameras for over a week.
Jenn ended up starting and finishing SA at the same weight. She lost weight in Peru and Bolivia (their questionable sanitary practices to blame) but gained it back in Brazil and Argentina (more luxurious foods with cleaner utensils).
I didn't discriminate any food stall in any country but still lost 13 pounds.
We spent a total of $10,500 while in South America which is slightly under budget ($12,000 was the target) sending us into Asia with a little padding in our pockets.
We slept 16 nights in Columbus (the tent). Which works out to be 15% of the time, so it was well worth lugging it around and it allowed us to spend the night in several remote parks.
We met numerous travelers from all over the world and it is hard to say who we met the most of since we had a natural tendency to introduce ourselves to other native English speakers. But we kept a tally and it seems that Canadians, Australians, and Israelis are the most common with Dutch, German, and English being almost as frequent.
We learned a lot about our southernmost neighbor, the most notable are:
There are no vending machines - everything you could possibly want to drink or snack on is sold in street stalls by little women always coddling a newborn.
The police don't issue traffic tickets and everyone with a mode of transportation take full advantage of this.
Many different bottles (both glass and plastic) require either an empty one or a deposit that you get back when you return the bottle. We were told that many other countries around the world including some in Europe do this, making us Americans feel like we are behind in consolidating our footprint.
Dress - almost everyone wears jeans regardless of daily temperature. Also, all women wear there jeans 4-5 sizes too small. They pour themselves into their jeans until they overflow - literally - muffin topping is the norm.
The eggs aren't refrigerated, if they sink in water then it's edible, if it floats then gases have been created by bacteria in the egg and even I wouldn't eat it. Also, many things like yogurt and milk, which blatantly say "keep refrigerated" on the container, just sit on the floor of an un-airconditioned store for weeks until sold (mostly Peru and Bolivia) and you have to give it a good smell test before consuming.
When a hotel says agua caleinte (hot water) they aren't talking about a hot water heater filled with gallon after gallon of piping hot water. They mean they have an electric shower head that attempts to marginally warm the water just before it exits the shower head. Two key things to keep in mind: the more water passing through the head the colder the water (either you will enjoy good water pressure and cold water or a slight trickle of warm water), and more importantly the water within 3-4 inches of the shower head still carries an electric charge. Be careful when washing your armpits because you instinctively lift the arm, are electrocuted, and shriek like a girl.
Now let me fill you in on a typical South American bathroom experience. Toilet paper is up there with precious stones and metals as far as how rare it can be. Many public toilets and even private ones (hotels and restaurants) don't have tp in the stalls - you have to be packing at all times. Also, most bathrooms are not free - you must pay anywhere from $0.07 to $0.66 for use. This brings me to my most significant point... you can't flush the tp. All used tp is placed in a waste bucket usually located next to the toilet. Imagine, you are in a busy bus station and duty is calling. You fumble for the correct change, calculating with another currency, to pay the bathroom attendant. Then you find an empty stall (you forfeited cleanliness when you chose a bus station bathroom) and you settle down on the toilet trying to ignore the overflowing bucket of used toilet paper inches from you and best of all, you paid for this.
When traveling for extended periods of time you begin to realize things you take for granted back home. One that I never thought about was liquid soap. Most bathrooms don't have any soap and the select few that do it is a bar with enough hair and visible dirt to make you question whether it will leave you cleaner. If I ever found a bathroom with liquid soap I would wash my hands three to four times. Another one was drying off with towels. We were only carrying shamwows to dry off with, which are about as big as an over sized wash cloth. About once a month we would luck out and find a hotel with real towels, which we would race to use, marvelling in its ability to complete the showering experience. The list goes on: breakfasts with substance, microwaves, team sports, staying in the same bed more than once, PILLOWS, and directions that we understand.
All in all, we did/saw/experienced some pretty amazing things over the past 105 days. We have thoroughly enjoyed the highs and lows (both geographically and emotionally) of South America. We appreciate all those that follow our travels and we look forward to taking you as we explore the other half of the world. Our flight to Vietnam leaves at 6 AM today (the 15th) and we arrive on the 16th around midnight...
Lastly, a huge thanks to Mr. and Mrs. G-M for not only doing everything they could to help us recharge, but also for their hospitality towards my family during their visit.
Ahhhhhh the comforting sound of American accents, the refreshing smell of clean toilets, and the unreal satisfaction of receiving a free refill - words can't express how nice it is to let your guard down from the constant haggling, scamming touts, and sticky fingered thieves. We landed in Houston on Monday and are working around the clock to get new passports, new visas, and new insurance plans before our flight deadline Wednesday. We looked into pushing the flight back but it will cost more to do that than we originally paid for the tickets, so we are stuck with a looming deadline and a laundry list of tasks. On the brighter side we are getting to enjoy the company of both of our families over the next few days, as well as beds with fluffy pillows and hot showers. I had written interesting facts and a summery of our South American portion of the trip over the past couple weeks but unfortunately it was in the stolen backpack so some guy somewhere is reading all my "dear diary" entries...
A few Stats:
We traveled a total of about 12,000 miles. Which is equivalent to traveling across the USA... four times - via cramped buses on questionable roads.
We took 2,200 photos (21 photos a day) which we feel is below average for us but in our defense we were without one camera for several months and both cameras for over a week.
Jenn ended up starting and finishing SA at the same weight. She lost weight in Peru and Bolivia (their questionable sanitary practices to blame) but gained it back in Brazil and Argentina (more luxurious foods with cleaner utensils).
I didn't discriminate any food stall in any country but still lost 13 pounds.
We spent a total of $10,500 while in South America which is slightly under budget ($12,000 was the target) sending us into Asia with a little padding in our pockets.
We slept 16 nights in Columbus (the tent). Which works out to be 15% of the time, so it was well worth lugging it around and it allowed us to spend the night in several remote parks.
We met numerous travelers from all over the world and it is hard to say who we met the most of since we had a natural tendency to introduce ourselves to other native English speakers. But we kept a tally and it seems that Canadians, Australians, and Israelis are the most common with Dutch, German, and English being almost as frequent.
We learned a lot about our southernmost neighbor, the most notable are:
There are no vending machines - everything you could possibly want to drink or snack on is sold in street stalls by little women always coddling a newborn.
The police don't issue traffic tickets and everyone with a mode of transportation take full advantage of this.
Many different bottles (both glass and plastic) require either an empty one or a deposit that you get back when you return the bottle. We were told that many other countries around the world including some in Europe do this, making us Americans feel like we are behind in consolidating our footprint.
Dress - almost everyone wears jeans regardless of daily temperature. Also, all women wear there jeans 4-5 sizes too small. They pour themselves into their jeans until they overflow - literally - muffin topping is the norm.
The eggs aren't refrigerated, if they sink in water then it's edible, if it floats then gases have been created by bacteria in the egg and even I wouldn't eat it. Also, many things like yogurt and milk, which blatantly say "keep refrigerated" on the container, just sit on the floor of an un-airconditioned store for weeks until sold (mostly Peru and Bolivia) and you have to give it a good smell test before consuming.
When a hotel says agua caleinte (hot water) they aren't talking about a hot water heater filled with gallon after gallon of piping hot water. They mean they have an electric shower head that attempts to marginally warm the water just before it exits the shower head. Two key things to keep in mind: the more water passing through the head the colder the water (either you will enjoy good water pressure and cold water or a slight trickle of warm water), and more importantly the water within 3-4 inches of the shower head still carries an electric charge. Be careful when washing your armpits because you instinctively lift the arm, are electrocuted, and shriek like a girl.
Now let me fill you in on a typical South American bathroom experience. Toilet paper is up there with precious stones and metals as far as how rare it can be. Many public toilets and even private ones (hotels and restaurants) don't have tp in the stalls - you have to be packing at all times. Also, most bathrooms are not free - you must pay anywhere from $0.07 to $0.66 for use. This brings me to my most significant point... you can't flush the tp. All used tp is placed in a waste bucket usually located next to the toilet. Imagine, you are in a busy bus station and duty is calling. You fumble for the correct change, calculating with another currency, to pay the bathroom attendant. Then you find an empty stall (you forfeited cleanliness when you chose a bus station bathroom) and you settle down on the toilet trying to ignore the overflowing bucket of used toilet paper inches from you and best of all, you paid for this.
When traveling for extended periods of time you begin to realize things you take for granted back home. One that I never thought about was liquid soap. Most bathrooms don't have any soap and the select few that do it is a bar with enough hair and visible dirt to make you question whether it will leave you cleaner. If I ever found a bathroom with liquid soap I would wash my hands three to four times. Another one was drying off with towels. We were only carrying shamwows to dry off with, which are about as big as an over sized wash cloth. About once a month we would luck out and find a hotel with real towels, which we would race to use, marvelling in its ability to complete the showering experience. The list goes on: breakfasts with substance, microwaves, team sports, staying in the same bed more than once, PILLOWS, and directions that we understand.
All in all, we did/saw/experienced some pretty amazing things over the past 105 days. We have thoroughly enjoyed the highs and lows (both geographically and emotionally) of South America. We appreciate all those that follow our travels and we look forward to taking you as we explore the other half of the world. Our flight to Vietnam leaves at 6 AM today (the 15th) and we arrive on the 16th around midnight...
Lastly, a huge thanks to Mr. and Mrs. G-M for not only doing everything they could to help us recharge, but also for their hospitality towards my family during their visit.