No travel withdrawal... yet
So I shall write a quick summary of my grad trips.
#1: South Korea - Seoul, DMZ, Jeju, a few hours in Shanghai
This was a relaxing and fun trip.. full of shopping and viewing lovely scenery. Oh and we climbed Bugak-san too! I loved Jeju Island more than Seoul and we met a really nice couple on the plane, and then coincidentally two more times in Jeju itself. My favouritest place was Nami Island... The trees were just amazing. They had red, orange, yellow, green leaves and pretty flowers =) DMZ was really interesting too! We transited in Shanghai and was basically forced to leave the airport LOL so we went to the Bund coz that was the only place I rmbr from my previous Shanghai trip.
#2: South America - Brazil (Sao Paulo,Foz do Iguazu), Argentina (Puerto Iguazu, Buenos Aires, Mendoza), Uruguay (Colonia del Sacramento), Chile (Santiago, Val Paraiso), Peru (Arequipa, Cuzco, Inca Trek to Machu Picchu)
This was an adventure trip and we did exciting things like white water rafting in Chili River in Arequipa and the highlight which is the mother of all treks - the Inca trek to Machu Picchu. I swear after the trek I felt like I could do anything.
The trek was over 4 days, and we slept in tents and there was no proper toilet in any of our campsite. Like the toilets were REALLY gross. And we had to wake up early (as early as 3.30am once) and start walking and walking and climbing and walking. The worst day for most ppl was Day 2 coz we climbed the "dead woman's pass" (4200 m above sea level yo, no joke) but the worst day for me was Day 3.
Day 3 was the longest day and we walked for about... 11 km? Or something like that. It was just walking and walking and walking. It was particularly bad for me because #1 I was on day 3 of my period i.e. the heaviest day (yes lucky me, my uterus decided to start shedding on Day 1 of the trek), #2 I injured my right knee on Day 2 so every downhill step was a pain and so I was hobbling slowly like a penguin, #3 I felt like I was abandoned =( (subjective feeling, objectively I wasn't abandoned I guess). Because of my stupid knee, I was extremely slow so the group went ahead and sometimes I was left alone for hours because the guide went ahead to check on the group/fell behind to rest/was just not around. I was just realllly sad (plus dont forget hormones gone haywire). Oh and I had nothing with me coz apparently any additional weight pose some risk of me aggravating my stupid knee so I had no water/food/handsanitizer/pad/etc. It was just terribleeee.
Day 4 was finally Machu Picchu City itself and we could also finally shower (yes no shower facility in the jungle/mountain)!
Then if you think that was it, nopeee on Day 5 we climbed Waynapicchu (2720 m) LOL. It took us about...an hour to climb steps up the mountain and going down was horrifying. I resorted to using my butt to go down from the extremely steep steps.
So yupp I'm a survivor of the 4-day Inca Trek + Waynapicchu climb!!! And I think I can really survive anything now.
Another highlight is the Iguazu falls - mother of all waterfalls. Seriously. They are just humongous and really awesome. We took a boat right into the waterfalls and got soaked (because the stupid poncho didnt do its job well enough) but it was really fun! There were rainbows everywheree and we went right under one! So pretty.
I won't forget the looooong bus rides (and bus breakdowns/'toxic' fumes), the cold, the altitude sickness, how my dried pears got confiscated at the Chilean border, how we went from extreme hunger to being extremely full we couldn't walk, the most beautiful sunset ever at Colonia del Sacramento, and BARAKA STEAK. Zomg how could I forget that. The best steak I've ever tasted in my life and I'm not exaggerating. It was sooo good that we went there twice (and we had to walk 2 km to get there so it wasn't that accessible). It was so juicy and fatty (I don't eat fats at all but this was so good I ate them all). OH and the 'Cambio' experience where we were brought to this room in a secluded part of a building and there were burly Argentinians guarding a cubicle with stacks of cash on the table. All that for a better exchange rate lol. After that we chose to exchange our money with the 'florist' who had a 'flower shop', which was really just a front for his semi-illegal money exchange activity. Haha I won't be surprised if half the flowers were fake.
Finally I'm so grateful for my two travel buddies who were really awesome. They helped me carry my things when I was feeling weak (which was like all the time, but especiallyyy during the trek), and were extremely accommodating (e.g. food, prayer times, hostels need to have single rooms, pms, constipation, etc). I think this trip was awesome mostly because I went through it with them =) <3 <3 <3
Now I wait for 29th July when I start a new phase of my life - work.
#1: South Korea - Seoul, DMZ, Jeju, a few hours in Shanghai
This was a relaxing and fun trip.. full of shopping and viewing lovely scenery. Oh and we climbed Bugak-san too! I loved Jeju Island more than Seoul and we met a really nice couple on the plane, and then coincidentally two more times in Jeju itself. My favouritest place was Nami Island... The trees were just amazing. They had red, orange, yellow, green leaves and pretty flowers =) DMZ was really interesting too! We transited in Shanghai and was basically forced to leave the airport LOL so we went to the Bund coz that was the only place I rmbr from my previous Shanghai trip.
#2: South America - Brazil (Sao Paulo,Foz do Iguazu), Argentina (Puerto Iguazu, Buenos Aires, Mendoza), Uruguay (Colonia del Sacramento), Chile (Santiago, Val Paraiso), Peru (Arequipa, Cuzco, Inca Trek to Machu Picchu)
This was an adventure trip and we did exciting things like white water rafting in Chili River in Arequipa and the highlight which is the mother of all treks - the Inca trek to Machu Picchu. I swear after the trek I felt like I could do anything.
The trek was over 4 days, and we slept in tents and there was no proper toilet in any of our campsite. Like the toilets were REALLY gross. And we had to wake up early (as early as 3.30am once) and start walking and walking and climbing and walking. The worst day for most ppl was Day 2 coz we climbed the "dead woman's pass" (4200 m above sea level yo, no joke) but the worst day for me was Day 3.
Day 3 was the longest day and we walked for about... 11 km? Or something like that. It was just walking and walking and walking. It was particularly bad for me because #1 I was on day 3 of my period i.e. the heaviest day (yes lucky me, my uterus decided to start shedding on Day 1 of the trek), #2 I injured my right knee on Day 2 so every downhill step was a pain and so I was hobbling slowly like a penguin, #3 I felt like I was abandoned =( (subjective feeling, objectively I wasn't abandoned I guess). Because of my stupid knee, I was extremely slow so the group went ahead and sometimes I was left alone for hours because the guide went ahead to check on the group/fell behind to rest/was just not around. I was just realllly sad (plus dont forget hormones gone haywire). Oh and I had nothing with me coz apparently any additional weight pose some risk of me aggravating my stupid knee so I had no water/food/handsanitizer/pad/etc. It was just terribleeee.
Day 4 was finally Machu Picchu City itself and we could also finally shower (yes no shower facility in the jungle/mountain)!
Then if you think that was it, nopeee on Day 5 we climbed Waynapicchu (2720 m) LOL. It took us about...an hour to climb steps up the mountain and going down was horrifying. I resorted to using my butt to go down from the extremely steep steps.
So yupp I'm a survivor of the 4-day Inca Trek + Waynapicchu climb!!! And I think I can really survive anything now.
Another highlight is the Iguazu falls - mother of all waterfalls. Seriously. They are just humongous and really awesome. We took a boat right into the waterfalls and got soaked (because the stupid poncho didnt do its job well enough) but it was really fun! There were rainbows everywheree and we went right under one! So pretty.
I won't forget the looooong bus rides (and bus breakdowns/'toxic' fumes), the cold, the altitude sickness, how my dried pears got confiscated at the Chilean border, how we went from extreme hunger to being extremely full we couldn't walk, the most beautiful sunset ever at Colonia del Sacramento, and BARAKA STEAK. Zomg how could I forget that. The best steak I've ever tasted in my life and I'm not exaggerating. It was sooo good that we went there twice (and we had to walk 2 km to get there so it wasn't that accessible). It was so juicy and fatty (I don't eat fats at all but this was so good I ate them all). OH and the 'Cambio' experience where we were brought to this room in a secluded part of a building and there were burly Argentinians guarding a cubicle with stacks of cash on the table. All that for a better exchange rate lol. After that we chose to exchange our money with the 'florist' who had a 'flower shop', which was really just a front for his semi-illegal money exchange activity. Haha I won't be surprised if half the flowers were fake.
Finally I'm so grateful for my two travel buddies who were really awesome. They helped me carry my things when I was feeling weak (which was like all the time, but especiallyyy during the trek), and were extremely accommodating (e.g. food, prayer times, hostels need to have single rooms, pms, constipation, etc). I think this trip was awesome mostly because I went through it with them =) <3 <3 <3
Now I wait for 29th July when I start a new phase of my life - work.