Best and Worst of the Trip

Here’s a distillation of the best and worst of our trip around the world. We lots of fun putting this together during the final weeks of our trip.

Most useful item we brought with us:
Mitch’s swiss army knife. We used it for everything from extracting a sea urchin spine from Mitch’s foot at the Red Sea to cutting down a christmas tree in Bulgaria.(Mitch, Margit and Emma)
Backpack (Bjorn)

Largest item we never used:
The medical kit. Thank goodness we never had to use it other than for minor ailments.

The two items we would change if we did another trip:
Steripen – It is perfect for Central America where the big concern is sterilizing water. In many countries, however, the tap water tasted terrible because of chemicals, sediment or other reasons unknown to us. We thought a filter might be a better option.
The Nook – Can’t download books outside of the U.S. The Kindle does.

The best thing about traveling:
Getting to spend time together as a family.(Margit and Mitch)
Seeing the world. (Bjorn)

The worst thing about traveling:
Being away from home and all my friends.(Bjorn)
The dirtiness in general. (Emma)
Worst thing???Hmmm…..(Margit, Mitch)

Most Memorable Meals:
Breakfast at El Gato Negro in San Juan del Sur, Dinner on the square in Granada, Nicaragua, Dinner in the main square in Marakesh on our first night, lunch at Carolyn’s lovely home in Hong Kong, pancakes at the Donhaug farm and many more.

Dinner and street entertainers made this a memorable night.

Best Lodging– Donhaug farm
The old family farm in Norway turned into a B and B. Great views, a lot of room, and fast Wi-Fi. Thanks, Grandma!

Worst Lodging– Tamarindo Hostel
This is the hotel we stayed in our last night in Honduras, with the stinky bathroom, broken window, hole in the wall and window and hyperactive four year old who loved to slam on our computer keys.

Best Hotel/Hostell-
Seven Sages, Xian, China – Restored Ming dynasty era building, with a great hangout spot. Yummy food and friendly kitties.

We wished we could have stayed here longer.

Best Apartment–
-Plakias, Crete (Bjorn and Emma) Great beach location, good views, fat cats
-Dahab, Egypt (Mitch) great views of surrounding treeless mountains and the ocean from the rooftop, spacious
-Syracuse, Italy (Margit) Well equipped kitchen, nice feel and great location just a block from the ocean.

Best resort (including price)
Dolphin Resort -Great location, friendly cats, delicious breakfast, great coffee, wonderful hot chocolate, beautiful beach, nice pavilions and beachside tables to hang out in, good landscaping.

Best resort (excluding price)-
Ayodya Resort, Bali

Best Value
– Seven sages hotel, Xian (Margit)
-Dolphin Resort (Emma, Bjorn, and Mitch)

Best night transport
Night ferry to Athens from Crete – comfortable bed, private bathroom, clean, better than many hotels we stayed in.

Worst night transport
Night bus Bangkok to Koh Phagnan – Smelly/disgusting bathroom, noisy, uncomfortable, inappropriate/bad movie playing, lights on in the middle of the night to wake you up for meals.

Worst restaurant– Indian restaurant in Bundi. Live bugs in the glasses.

Best Night
Camping in the Sahara – We slept outside on cots under a million stars in the desert sky surrounded by hill-like sand dunes, accompanied by friendly camels, and a great guide.

Our desert camp.

Best view from room-
Fjord hytte in Flam, Norway

Least clean beach- San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, Nice beach, but lots of trash.

Smallest plane–
Agni Air from Pokhara to Kathmandu. There were only 12 seats but we had a flight attendant who handed out earplugs and hard candy for the 40 minute flight.

Boarding the smallest plane we took on the trip.

Most on-time arrival-
Agni air from Pohkara to Katmandu – Arrived before scheduled departure.

Best airline–
British airlines – gave Emma a packet of stuff, good movie selection (Emma)
Cathay Pacific – friendly staff, great movie selection, surprisingly good airline food (Mitch, Margit and Bjorn)

Worst airline
– Ryan Air (Margit, Mitch, Bjorn) Extra charges for everything
– Nepal Air (Emma)

Best Budget Airline-
Wizz-air Friendly staff, straight up prices, on time comfortable

Best ice cream–
Italy – Gelato!!

Best Smoothies
Night market in Luang Prabang. We chose a cup with the selection of fruit we liked and they blended it up right there. Only 1 US dollar!

Best excursion– Camel trek

Best boat trip
Nile Cruise – Of the few boat trips we went on, this was the only one designed for luxury. We enjoyed watching the Russian tourists on board as well as the ever-changing Nile River slipping past us. We caught a glimpse of a way of life that hasn’t changed much for a thousand years.

Best hotel bathroom– Ayodya Hotel, Bali
Big, marble bathtub, no smell, self contained shower, bubble bath, cozy bathrobes. Had everything.

Worst hotel bathroom-
Sacred Heart Lodge, London. You don’t want to know any details.

Best swimming spot-
Luang Prabang waterfall, Laos

Best pool–
Sunshine Bungalows, Ahmed, Bali (Mitch, Margit)
Ketut Losmen Bungalows, Nusa Lebongan, Bali (Emma, Bjorn)

Smelliest Moment-
Bjorn taking off his sandals

Best day trip-
(top 5 for each of us; too hard to narrow to one)

Mitch
Great Pyramids of Giza
Visit to Karnack Temple (Luxor, Egypt)
Copan Ruins
Petra (Jordan)
Taj Mahal

Emma
My birthday (Paris, France)
London eye
Boat ride on fjord (Flam, Norway)
Waterfall and elephant ride (Luang Probang, Laos)
Day in Marrakesh Souks

Bjorn (Not in Order)
British Museum
Tower of London
Copan Ruinas (Honduras)
Great Pyramids
Waterfall and elephant ride in Luang Prabang, Laos

Margit (Not necessarily in order)
Hiking up the valley near the Donhaug Farm in Norway
Boat trip to Marine Park in Thailand
Souks in Marrakesh
Petra
Biking in Yuangshuo and Emma’s Birthday in Paris
(Oops that’s six)

Best museum– British Museum

Poorest presentation in a museum– Egyptian museum (but incredible content)

Best cats-
– Fat cats in Plakias, Greece
– Kitty herd in Delphi, Greece
– Rusty, Shadow, and Latte at Dolphin resort

Best Zoo
Ocean Park, Hong Kong (Emma)
Bali Bird/Reptile Park (Bjorn, Mitch, Margit)

Best wifi– Hotel in Piraeus, Greece

Scariest moment–
The guy with the rifle in bus from Luang Prabang to Vientiane, Laos. (Margit)
Crossing the streets in Cairo (Emma)
Hunter running across road and pointing rifle at me as I was running in Bulgaria. (Mitch)

Best Visa experience- Egypt Visa

Worst Visa Experience
Getting Indian Visa in Vientiane, Laos. We made four trips out to the embassy and almost didn’t get them because they had meetings going on and were too busy to process them even though they had them for 8 days. We had to do some sincere pleading.

Worst airport security
– Kathmandu, Emma had her sewing needle confiscated from her travel sewing kit.

Best Train-
Egyptian Night train (Margit, Bjorn Emma) Nice compartment
Norwegian Flam to Bergen (Mitch) Smooth rails, punctual

Worst Train– India

Bjorn’s favorite Moment- Camel Trek

Most Boring Moment-
Border crossing Honduras/Nicaragua (Emma and Bjorn)

The best thing about being back:
Seeing friends and family, clean water and good, safe food.

The worst thing about being back:
The big trip’s over!