Lists of Different Experiences...
These are lists of different things I have experienced (both good and bad) along the way...
First-Time Experiences
- Hot-air balloon ride
- Bathing in a hammam
- Using a clothesline to dry my clothes
- Using my computer as a telephone
- Riding a donkey (in Petra)
- Camping in the desert (Wadi Rum)
- Seeing a camel on a beach
- Bathing with saltwater at a hotel
- Hiking in the middle of the night
- Sailing on a felucca
- Sleeping on a bed in a train
- Getting busted by the transit police
- Having a winery fill up empty soda bottles with wine (Eger)
- Quad-biking
- Canoing
- A night safari
- Zip-lining
- Abseiling (i.e. repelling)
- Watching giant tortoises have sex
- Using a hot water bottle in my bed
- Feeding elephants
- Hand-feeding monkeys
- Riding an ostrich
- Bottle feeding a white tiger
- Bottle feeding, holding and kissing a 1-month white lion cub
- Pitching a tent
- Camping for a week
- A night safari
- White-water rafting
- Microlight ride
- Getting seasick
- Being on an island that only uses oxcarts as transportation
- Seeing one of the parties of an Indian wedding (with an
extremely unhappy-looking bride and groom
- Seaplane ride
- Going trekking
- Sleeping on a bed in a bus
- Horseback riding in the countryside
- Staying in a ger
- Climbing the Great Wall
- Working/playing with pandas
- Sleeping with an electric blanket
- Going to a hospital in a different country (Thailand)
- Having a biopsy
- Riding an elephant
- Watching elephants paint pictures and play musical
instruments
- Sea canoeing through caves at night
- Seeing an embalmed monk sitting in the meditating position
- Watching water puppets (Hanoi)
- Riding in a cyclo
- Shooting a gun (an MK-16 at Cu Chi)
- Climbing a bridge (Sydney)
- Holding a sea cucumber
- Staying overnight in a rainforest
- Swimming with huge turtles
- Drinking sparkling red wine
- Seeing koalas and kangaroos
- Helicopter flight over the ocean
- Christmas away from friends and family
- New Year's Eve in a tropical locale
- Getting slightly eletrocuted (when carelessly plugging
something into my adapter)
- Doing the 'zorb' in New Zealand
- Driving on the other side of the road
- Walking across a real swing bridge
- 'Flying' across a river on the 'Flying Fox'
- Going on a jet boat ride
- Hang-gliding
- Boogie boarding down a sand dune
- Watching a 'kill' in Antarctica (a seal killing and eating a
penguin)
- Hiking in Antarctica
- Voluntarily going into freezing cold water (Antarctica)
- Going on an 'ice cruise'
- Seeing a massive glacier up close
- Getting a piece of sea urchin in my foot
- Seeing a lunar eclipse
- Getting robbed
- Filing a police report (also the first time doing this in
another country!)
- A hydro-massage
- Playing (and winning!) 'Bus Bingo'
- Seeing llamas
- Hanging out on salt flats
- Seeing an active volcano
- Steam bath experience
- Sucking the juice out of an actual sugar cane plant
- Swimming with sea lions
- Seeing sharks while snorkeling and diving
- Standing on the equator
- Zip-lining from the top of a hill into an ocean
- Being on an island with guys with wheel barrels as taxis.
- Going to a 'real' football game (i.e. soccer) in South America
Holidays/Festivals I've Experienced
- Independence Day in India.
- The days leading up to Onam in Kerala, India.
- The 'National Holiday' in China.
- The Mid-Autumn Festival in China.
- Water Festival in Cambodia.
- Loi Krathong in Bangkok.
- Christmas on the Great Ocean Road in Australia.
- New Year's Eve in Fiji.
- Sao George in Rio.
Places I've Gone Diving
- Dahab
- Seychelles (Praslin)
- Thailand (Bungalow Bay near Phuket)
- Great Barrier Reef (Australia)
- Easter Island
- Galapagos Islands
Spa Treatments I Have Had
- Turkish 'Hamman' - Istanbul
- Body Polish - JW Marriott, Mumbai
- Aromatherapy Massage - Over-Water Spa, Hilton, Maldives
- Fruit Wrap - Spa Retreat, Hilton, Maldives
- Khmer Full-Body Massage - Place on the street, Siem Reap
- Thai Massage - Thai Privilege Spa, Bangkok
- Thai Massage - Lotus Day Spa, Chiang Mai
- Thai Massage - Thai Privilege Spa (again), Bangkok
- Vietnamese Massage - Sofitel Metropole, Hanoi
- Spa Pedicure - Qi Spa, Hanoi
- Aromatherapy Massage - L'Apothiquaire (District 3, HCMC
- Facial - L'Apothiquaire (District 3, HCMC)
- Manicure and Pedicure - L'Apothiquaire (District 3, HCMC)
- Brazilian wax - L'Apothiquaire (District 1, Saigon)
- Hot Stone Massage - Saigon
- (Ecuadorian???) bikini wax - Baños, Ecuador
- Fango Body Mask - Buzios, Brazil
- Manicure, pedicure and eyebrow wax - Buenos Aires
Places Where They Drive on the Opposite Side of the Street
- London
- South Africa
- Botswana
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
- Seychelles
- India
- Maldives
- Sri Lanka
- Nepal
- Hong Kong
- Thailand
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Fiji
Places Where I Have Snorkeled
- Dahab
- Eilat
- Maldives
- Thailand (Maya Bay)
- Great Barrier Reef (Australia)
- Whitsunday Islands (Australia)
- Fiji
- Galapagos Islands
- Brazil (near Arraial do Cabo)
Places Where I've Gotten Scammed
- Cairo
- Mumbai
- Nepal
- Beijing (twice)
Things That Have Irritated Me
- The Bedouin people in Petra
- Hacking of phlegm
- ATMs that don't accept my debit card
- Being on a tour and getting stuck with an annoying person
- Getting turned down for a Russian visa...twice...in Cape Town
- Getting caught in a monsoon without proper attire
- Getting scammed in Beijing
- Having tuk-tuks refuse to go somewhere without making additional
stops at shops (in Thailand)
- People clapping when the airplane lands
- Non-aggressive taxi drivers
Places Where I Have Gotten Screwed on
Taxis
- Beirut
- Egypt
- Mumbai
- Nepal
- Rio
- Buenos Aires
Places I Have Wine Tasted
- Pamukkale (Turkey)
- Cappadocia (Turkey)
- Bekaa Valley (Lebanon)
- Eger (Hungary)
- Robertson Valley (South Africa)
- Hunter Valley (Australia)
- Barossa Valley (Australia)
- McLaren Vale and Adelaide Hills (Australia)
- Waiheke Island (New Zealand)
- Hawke's Bay (New Zealand)
- Marlborough (New Zealand)
- Central Otago (New Zealand)
- Martinborough (New Zealand)
- Maipu, Mendoza (Argentina)
Places I Have Taken Tuk-Tuks (or Something Similar)
- New Delhi
- Udaipur
- Alleppey
- Munnar
- Cochin
- Kathmandu
- Siem Reap
- Phnom Penh
- Bangkok
- Chiang Mai
- Vietnam
- Peru
Worst Driving Conditions
- India (chaotic driving in every city)
- Bolivia
- Cairo
- Hanoi
- Lebanon (Beirut and Tripoli)
- China
- Ecuador
- Bangkok
- Istanbul
- Nepal
Experiences in Hong Kong That Weren't 'Chinese'
- They drive on the other side of the road
- There's a different currency
- English is widely spoken
- The signs are bilingual
- There are double-decker buses
- There are Western-chains galore (more than just McDonald's
and Starbuck's)
- People are civilized drivers
- Pedestrians are not likely to lose their lives crossing the street
- There's no hacking and spitting!
Animals I Have Ridden
- Camel (in Turkey and Jordan)
- Horse (in Mongolia, Chile and Ecuador)
- Donkey (at Petra in Jordan)
- Ostrich (in South Africa)
- Elephant (in Chiang Mai, Thailand)
Places Where I Have Taken Cooking Classes
- Udaipur, India
- Yangshuo, China
- Chiang Mai, Thailand
- Hanoi, Vietnam
- Hoi An, Vietnam (Cafe 96)
- Hoi An, Vietnam (Red Bridge)
Wineries I Visited in Australia
- Fox Creek
- Barossa Valley Estate
- Woodstock
- Langmeil
- Penfolds
- Wolf Blass
- Beer Brothers
- Chateau Tanunda
- Olive Grove
- Hugo Winery
- Petaluma Winery
- Arranmore Winery
- Cooper Wines
- San Martino Winery
- Brokenwood Winery
Wineries I Visited in New Zealand
- Stonyridge
- To Matu
- Esk Winery
- Crab Farm*
- Allan Scott
- Cloudy Bay
- Huia
- Fromm
- Nautilus
- Wairau River
- Spy Valley
- Kathy Lansky
- Highfield
- Isabel Winery
- Peregrine Winery*
- Mt. Difficulty*
- Martinborough Vineyards
- Margrain
- Ata Rangi
- Alana Estate*
Some of My More Adventurous Moments
- Hang-gliding in Queenstown
- White-water rafting in a Class 5 river at Victoria Falls
- Rappeling down a cliff (in South Africa)
- Climbing atop a huge rock formation in the Wadi Rum desert
(Jordan)
- Going boogie boarding down sand dunes (New Zealand)
- Zip-lining into an ocean
- Microlight flight above Victoria Falls
- 'Flying Fox' aka 'SupaJen' (in New Zealand)
- Quad-biking (made more adventurous by crashing into a tree
- South Africa)
- Jet boat ride through a canyon in Queenstown
- Ziplining (in South Africa)
- Scuba Diving in Egypt, Seychelles, Thailand, Easter Island,
Galapagos Islands and Australia
- The 'zorb' (in New Zealand)
- Going into the Antarctic waters
- Getting on motorbikes in Vietnam
- Getting into a car in India
- Bolivian bus ride
Some of My More Outdoorsy Moments
- Spending a day and night in the Wadi Rum desert (including a
camel ride in the desert)
- Snorkeling and scuba diving in the Red Sea
- Hiking up Mount Sinai in the pitch black to see the sunrise
- 3-day felucca trip in Egypt
- Canoing in Knysna (South Africa)
- Camping safari in Africa
- White-water rafting (Zambia)
- Walking around the Vallee de Mai (Seychelles)
- Beach hopping in Seychelles
- Staying in the backwaters in Alleppey in Kerala (India)
- Hiking in Munnar (India)
- Trekking in Nepal
- Hiking in Siberia (Russia)
- Horseback riding in Mongolia
- Staying in a ger camp in Mongolia
- Hiking the Great Wall (China)
- Sea canoing (Thailand)
- Snorkeling and diving near Phuket (Thailand)
- Staying in the rainforest at Cape Tribulation (Australia)
- Snorkeling and diving at the Great Barrier Reef
- 3-day sailing trip in the Whitsunday Islands (Australia)
- Kayaking in Fiji
- Snorkeling in Fiji
- Sea kayaking at Abel Tasman (New Zealand)
- Hiking in Abel Tasman
- Trekking in Torres del Paine (Chile)
- Trekking on Easter Island
- Different diving trips
- Horseback riding in the Lake District in Chile
- Vallee de la Luna in San Pedro, Chile
- Two-day trip to Uyuni, Bolivia from Chile
- Hiking up Waynapicchu at Machu Picchu
- Horseback riding in Baños, Ecuador
- Experiencing the life in the Galapagos Islands
Splurges Made Along the Way
- Hot-air balloon ride (Turkey)
- Hotel and restaurants in Cairo
- Volunteering tour in South Africa
- Microflight and white-water rafting in Zambia
- Seychelles trip
- Scuba diving in Seychelles
- Hiring a driver to take me through Rajasthan (India)
- Flying vs. taking the train the majority of the time in India
- A body polish at a spa in Mumbai
- Maldives trip
- Snorkel trip in the Maldives
- Spa services in the Maldives
- Trip to Nepal
- Flight over Mt. Everest
- Flying vs. taking the train in China
- Cooking, painting and calligraphy classes in Yangshuo
- Volunteering with panda bears
- Shopping in China
- Different bars and restaurants in Shanghai
- Different restaurants in Siam Reap (Cambodia)
- Afternoon tea at the Peninsula (Bangkok)
- Lunch at the Oriental (Bangkok)
- Other dinners in Bangkok
- Having a driver for Northern Thailand
- Resort in Phuket
- Scuba diving in Thailand
- Cooking classes throughout Vietnam
- Meals at some great restaurants
- Getting a bunch of clothes made in Hoi An
- Buying some clothes in Saigon
- Whitsundays Islands trip (Australia)
- Wine tasting trips in Australia
- Bridge Climb in Sydney
- Helicopter ride over the Twelve Apostles (Australia)
- Abel Tasman Kayaking Tour (New Zealand)
- Jet boat ride in Queenstown
- Hang-gliding in Queenstown
- Buying a great bottle of Pinot Noir in the Central Otago region of
New Zealand
- Bottle of Chardonnay at Alana Estate
- Antarctica expedition
- Staying at refugios in Torres del Paine
- Trip to Easter Island
- Andean Lake Crossing boat ride
- Diving in Easter Island
- Booking a flight from Ecuador to Brazil
- Great meals in Santiago
- A nice hotel in Mendoza, Argentina
- A full-day at Termas Cacheuta (Mendoza)
- 'Cama' in bus from Mendoza to Salta
- Vistodome train on the return trip from Machu Picchu
- South American Explorers Club membership (to have access to their
facilities in different parts of South America)
- Galapagos cruise
- Flight from Quito to Brazil
- Flights to and from Iguazu Falls
- Diving in the Galapagos
- 'Football' game in Buenos Aires