Days 25-28: Dhaka & Sylhet

[Note the backdated entry due to lack of internet for the past week...]

The day that Stan and I arrived in Bangladesh, a predominantly Muslim country, it was in the middle of Ramadan. We stayed with my grad school friend Misha and his lovely wife Anika starting the evening of their first wedding anniversary. So you could say our timing is impeccable!

We spent the first evening getting our first glimpse of Dhaka, the gritty and densely populated capital city. It is a place where driving on the left is sometimes just a suggestion, and drivers are content to maintain a distance of no more than 6 inches from other motor vehicles, 3 wheeled tuktuks, rickshaws and pedestrians on all sides. The cacophony of street life, dominated by honking and pierced by regular calls to prayer, is ever-present.

Our first meal? Stan and I crashed Misha and Anika's anniversary dinner at a tasty Japanese restaurant, one of the swankiest joints in town! It would be one of the very few places where we would actually see other non-Bengalis.

Early the next day we set out by chauffeured minivan for Sylhet, about a 5-6 hour bumpy, handle-clenching, frogger- like drive from Dhaka. The Sylhet region in the Northeast is known for its expansive fluorescent green rice paddies, lush forests and tea estates. Among Bangladeshis, it is also known for its unique dialect and relatively well-to-do inhabitants thanks to foreign investment, I think primarily due to the tea industry. In fact, they have occasionally expressed separatist desires, similar to Quebec!

glamour shot in front of a field of tea plants

 
We stayed at Shuktara Eco-Resort, which was conveniently situated on top of a hill on the outskirts of the bustling city of Sylhet, just far enough away for us to feel that we were in the middle of our own mini rain forest. However, we were still within [very close] range of a speaker announcing the call to prayer, which would remind us periodically of both the time of day (sunrise being the least convenient) and the surreal fact that we were vacationing in the middle of Bangladeshi "wilderness."

We spent the next couple of days enjoying local fare - lots of dal (spicy lentils), special Iftar foods (Iftar being the communal meal a Muslim has at sunset to break his/her fast), tea from a street stall, fruit and more!

chowing down on the nut of the coco

roadside tea

bowl of Halim, a flavor-packed, mouthwatering soup only offered during Ramadan. Stan's favorite

traditional Bengali meal. Note the many dishes.

Unfortunately, as a result, I fell victim to the inevitable upset stomach, but the experience of eating all of these delicious foods was way worth it. My sad state gave even greater meaning to what ultimately became our favorite and most versatile Bengali phrase: "paikhani khotai?" Our not-so-up-to-date travel guide suggested using this to ask "where is the bathroom?" However, Misha was quick to point out that it would more commonly be understood today as "where is the feces?"

We also had a great time exploring our rich surroundings. One morning we walked from our resort to the nearby "pluckers' village," where local tea pluckers live. Anika told us that tea pluckers descend from a long line of pluckers, originally brought in as indentured workers from India during the height of British tea industry. Today, most of these people haven't gained much socioeconomic ground, and their living conditions show it. Their homes were little more than mud huts with thatch roofs, with similar amenities to some of the ramshackle abodes we saw in the South African townships. Still, they were a very friendly and interested group of people, asking about Amari (Misha and Anika's adorable and angelic 4-month-old), showing us around their village, staring at us curiously, letting us take lots of pictures and pet their animals (goats & cows), and even leading us to their Sikh shrine, which is used by both Hindus and Muslims. I particularly loved taking in the colors of the village scenery, especially the women with their insanely bright clothes - my kind of style!

baby mutton? too cute!

tea plucker's kid "horsing" around with the cow

Stan playing dad with Amari and real dad, Misha

We also took a quick side trip to Jointapur, where we took a boat ride down a stunning bright green-blue river at a nature reserve. Lots of friendly locals waved/stared as we passed by. (Apparently staring in Bangladesh is a national pastime, but it isn't meant to offend, they are just sincerely interested in looking at you! This may have had something to do with the fact that most of the time we were the only foreigners around and our clothing was conspicuously American...)

kids were thrilled to have their pictures taken

There were many more things we would have loved to do both in Sylhet (explore a nearby national park, take a flat bottomed canoe trip through a flooded forest) and beyond (track wild Bengal tigers in the famous Sundarbans National Park)... But we'll just have to save that for another trip.

As we enjoyed our last evening back in Dhaka over drinks at the American Club and a last, delicious West Bengali meal at Oh! Calcutta, we reflected on the uniqueness of our experience and being able to see it through locals' eyes. Many thanks to Misha, Anika and Amari for sharing with us their home, time, insight and good humor!

Stone IPA in a Muslim country that few tourists even visit. Amazing!

 
Today we find ourselves in Kathmandu, where we received a briefing with our trek leader, Dawa, who has already warned us no less than 4 times about the perils of leeches (there are black and red ones, one is painful, one you don't feel at all, we will get them off with salt). We head out first thing tomorrow. Wish us luck, we may very well need it.

Days 21-24: Winelands & Garden Route

On Thursday, before heading out of town, we stopped at the Kirstenbosch Gardens in Cape Town. To sum it up, the gardens were scenic, set against the backdrop of Table Mountain, expansive, beautiful, and included entire sections dedicated to medicinal and fragrant plants! A note to everyone considering a visit: go early in the morning and it will feel like your own private garden.

We then departed Cape Town for Stellenbosch, a town in the famous South African Winelands, and less than an hour drive away! Our first evening we hit up the Africaans language museum in Paarl and a couple of wineries, including the massive KWV, one of the largest in the region. On our cellar tour they boasted that they owned five of the largest redwood barrels in the world, making them priceless in today's market as the California redwood is now a protected species.

After spending the night at a lovely B&B in downtown Stellenbosch and dining at Ernie Els' restaurant, The Big Easy, we spent all day Saturday dodging the cold rain and cozying up to fireplaces at various wineries around the area. [Side note, our private tour guide was Willem, father of a well-known Victoria's Secret model!] First stop, Simonsig, for a 10 am champagne tasting - fantastic! Second was Hartenberg, where we tasted one of the best Rieslings I've ever had. They also offered a special House of Mandela label that they make especially for the Mandela family. Fortunately for us, they had opened a bottle a few days prior in honor of Madiba's birthday, so we got to try it - yum! Third was a tasting at Jordan, where we also had a lovely gourmet lunch with what would have been a stunning view had the weather cooperated. By this point the wine was catching up to us and we were running a bit behind schedule, so our last stop was at Ernie Els, where we enjoyed (and bought) several bottles. We are expecting a letter of thanks from Ernie any day now, as our lucky purchases undoubtedly played a large part in his win yesterday at the British Open.

We headed out the next day along the scenic R-62 for Oudtshoorn, ostrich capital of the world! It was an incredible 4+ hour drive that included views of mountains and exciting and sometimes petrifying twisty roads. In Oudtshoorn, it was clearly the off season with nary a tourist in sight, but we made the most of it by receiving kisses and neck massages at the local ostrich farm. Sadly we were told that rides would not be allowed that day due to muddy conditions, but when we heard that ostriches must be put down if they break a leg (similar to a horse), we wondered why rides are allowed in the first place...

Ostrich taking food from between Stan's lips! Unfortunately too quick to capture on film but you can see the food flipping into its mouth

We also spent an hour in the Cango Caves on the "adventure tour," which involved crawling into super tiny spaces that trapped some obese tourists not too long ago! Pretty cool caves, although perhaps not as commercialized or impressive as Carlsbad. I have started to really appreciate the natural wonders that we are so fortunate to have in the States!

Food in the Western Cape has been solid. Lots of ostrich, lamb, some kudu and springbok, and as you get closer to the coast, mussels, calamari and oysters as big as your hand! (Call me biased, but I still think Beantown seafood is hard to beat.)

After ostrich country we then followed another winding and blustery route southeast to Knysna (pronounced "nīze-nuh"), a lovely seaside town known for its oysters and outdoor activities. Our first day we did a zipline tour over Tzitzikamma Falls! We almost followed this up with a bungee jump from the world's highest height but chickened out figured we should save something for later in the trip.

The same day, we also did something that we had been wanting to do since our arrival in South Africa - a township tour. We found a great one in Knysna, led by Ella, who showed us around the township of Concordia, where she and most of the working class people of Knysna live. It was a truly humbling and inspiring experience - we met with a member of the Grass Routes Rastafarian community (the largest in the country), visited the local grocery store (housed in an industrial container unit), as well as the library, hair dresser and preschool. We also played the drums and tried to learn their native Xhosa language, which was ultimately a hopeless exercise as the multiple clicking syllables proved to be infinitely more difficult than the four Mandarin tones!

It was so uplifting to see what Ella has been able to do with so relatively little, namely raise two kids of her own while also taking care of 6 foster kids, running a soup kitchen behind her house, managing a safe house for abused families within the township, giving township tours and much more. As if that weren't enough, she is in the process of starting her own ministry! I am not a particularly religious person, but after meeting someone like Ella I can certainly understand how religion can serve as someone's salvation in challenging times.

Our visit to the township was so fun and meaningful that we actually called Ella later that afternoon to take her up on her offer to hang out her kids after school! With chocolate in tow, we were sure to make new friends. After their sugary snack, they burned through the extra energy boost by singing songs, dancing, playing hand clapping games and playing soccer. It was perhaps the most fun we had on our trip thus far, and made us appreciative of how different ways of life have evolved post-apartheid. Trite as it may sound, this was a unique opportunity that I hope everyone has a chance to experience at some point. Stan and I have already begun scheming how we can come back to visit on an extended overnight stay!

Also, I now want to adopt about 20 South African kids.

This morning we make the ~5 hour drive back to Cape Town. Next stop, Bangladesh!

Days 18 - 20: Cape Town / Cape Point

How could we possibly top off our safari adventure? Cape Town was as good a bet as any.

Burdened with minimal directions and questionable driving skills (more on that in a minute), we managed to find our way to the apartment at which we were staying. An acquaintance of mine, who works as a dermatologist in Cape Town, lent us his place for a few nights. It was a beautiful place and perfectly situated by the upscale Waterfront area.

I normally consider myself a good driver, but when given a manual car with the driver seat on the right, left handed shifting AND left sided driving, things start to fall apart. The good news is I only hit the curb once and stalled once getting to the apartment.

The next morning, we set off to see the famous sites of Cape Town. First stop, a picker upper at Origins coffee. A popular place that trains most of the baristas around town, Origins is serious about their coffee, brewing in at least 4 different ways. I chose coffee brewed through a "siphon" which made for some exceptional coffee (truthfully I'm not sure if I could tell you the difference between this and say a french press but it looked cool).

Invigorated, we headed to Table Mountain, a impressive natural rock formation for which the city is famous. We opted for the less grueling way to the top of this 1000 meter plateau: cable car! The sheer steepness of the rock face and ascent made for spectacular views but nothing quite compared to those at the top. Another beautiful weather day meant perfect scenic views.

Rock hyrax looking out over Cape Town! Its closest genetic relative is the elephant, no joke.

We finished the day by wandering around some of Cape Town's well-known neighborhoods, which included Long Street (similar in architecture to Bourbon Street!), the Company Gardens, Bo Kaap (home of Cape Town's oldest mosque) and the Waterfront.

The next day we set off driving south to see some of the picturesque coastal towns of Camps Bay and Hout Bay on our route down to Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. We wish we had more time to spend at the Cape Point Nature Reserve as there were countless hikes to be done in areas that see few visitors this time of year.

 

Unfortunately the penguins in Simon's town were calling out for us. Also termed "jackass" penguins for the loud braying call they make, the African penguins have formed a natural resident colony here. While perhaps a little smelly, they are quite photogenic!

 

As we snaked our way back to Cape Town, we stopped in Muizenberg, the birthplace of South African surfing. Since the water was a little too cold for us to test the waters ourselves, we enjoyed a warm cup of tea and watched hundreds of surfers do their thing.

Finally, we stopped for a quick wine tasting/sun downer at Buitenverwachting Winery. They offered tasty wines that only served to whet our appetite for things to come...

 

Days 12 - 17: Zambia

Stan and I have finally returned from the natural wonder that is the Lower Zambezi National Park in Zambia. We spent 4 nights at Chiawa Camp and 2 nights at Old Mondoro bush camp. Twenty kilometers apart, both are operated by the same owner, yet each offers a different safari experience along the Zambezi River.

Chiawa was super luxurious, with each individual tent containing amenities comparable to any boutique hotel, plus hot water bottles in bed at night, complimentary laundry service (more geared towards guests visiting during the scorching summer months but we took advantage nonetheless) and a killer view. We were lucky to have requested the "best" tent, which faced the salt flats, an area teeming with impala, baboons, warthogs, bushbucks and even elephants! In fact, within an hour of checking in, we were treated to the sight of a herd of six elephants crossing the Zambezi River (from the Zimbabwe to the Zambian side), after which they munched happily on trees that were no more than 30 feet from our back porch! We sat frozen as we observed the gentle giants for over an hour and felt truly lucky to experience this uniquely rich and natural environment firsthand.

 

Old Mondoro was more of a "bush camp" experience, which really just translates to what I would call "rustic chic." The overall smaller camp (hosting only 8 people at a time) had smaller, slightly less bug proof tents and outdoor showers/baths (we were warned that if an elephant decides to drink from your bath while you're in it, you should definitely get out), but aside from that they had the same amenities as Chiawa plus another fantastic view, this time a marshy area which was host to hippos, crocodiles, kudu, impala, bushbucks, baboons and elephants. At one point we had another close encounter with a few curious elephants who hung out just a few feet from our porch to eat, drink and spray themselves with water and dust!

Going to sleep was an interesting change of pace with hippos serenading us throughout the night as well as the occasional baboon screech and lion roar. One male adult lion was literally roaring for ~30 mins next to our tent one night, waking up the entire camp and sending us on a wild goose chase the next morning to find him! (We didn't.) It wasn't difficult for us to be 100% on board with the dusk-to-dawn escort policy to and from our tents.

So how did the two camps compare? They both had the same incredible landscapes, rich wildlife, impeccable and personal service, delicious food, ridiculously knowledgeable guides (Zambia has become known for its stringent guide certification process compared with neighboring countries) and exceedingly friendly managers (a married couple at each camp). Chiawa offered incredible rooms, awesome guides and unique repeat lion sightings (we had 4!). Old Mondoro quickly won us over with its more intimate experience, daily leopard sightings and phenomenal night drives. In the end I think we can both agree that each camp has something special and the only thing we might have done differently is spend a bit more time at Old Mondoro.

Both camps were pretty much alike in their daily routine:

6 am - wake up call, breakfast around the campfire
~7 am - choice of game drive, bush walk, canoeing or fishing
~11:30 am - brunch/lunch
1 pm - siesta/watch animals from the porch
3:30 pm - afternoon tea/snacks
4 pm - choice of game drive, bush walk, canoeing or fishing
6 pm - sundowners (AKA sunset happy hour somewhere in the wilderness with a spectacular view)
6:30 pm - night drive
8 pm - cocktails & over-the-top dinner

 

We took advantage of all activities, with an emphasis on game drives, which were often the best way to see a lot of game in a short period of time. Below are just a few of the hundreds of shots that we took while on drives:

 

We also fished for tiger fish on the Zambezi River! It was a surreal experience to drift along the river with hippos, crocodiles, buffalo and elephants on either side. We didn't have much luck outside of a few nibbles on our first trip, but on the second Stan caught two tigers, one 8 pounder and one 1 pounder. We also "caught" a vundu (catfish) but we lost it before we could land it.

 

Canoeing was another fascinating experience that was super relaxing and provided game viewing from another perspective. Lots of hippos, crocs, an elephant crossing, buffalo, baboons, monitor lizards and smaller sightings like birds and turtles. Common sense tells me I should have been more worried about potential wildlife hazards, but in reality our guides were so safety conscious and knowledgeable about animal behavior that we felt completely at ease as we glided past some of the most powerful and revered wild animals in the world.

 

Bush walking... awesome. We got to see things we just blew by on game drives. Accompanied by a rifle-toting ZAWA scout and a guide from camp (Zambian law prevents guides from carrying weapons), you drive out to a remote location and hop out for a 2-3 hour walk. It's a more educational experience that teaches about the smaller creepy crawlies (ant lions, termite mounds, millipedes) as well as the local flora, animal tracks/droppings and how each step in the ecosystem is so critical. [cue the Lion King soundtrack, Circle of Life] Bush walking can also be exciting - we ended up tracking a leopard and lion during one of our walks! (We didn't find them, which was fine by me.)

 

Overall, Zambia was a spectacular stop on our round-the-world adventure, and one that will be hard to beat. We're already looking forward to planning our next safari, especially as some animals - giraffes, cheetah, rhinos - are not indigenous to / are no longer present in Zambia. Perhaps something to consider for the next epic Wong-Chan adventure??

Days 9 & 10: Naples, Pompeii & Rome

We headed into Naples on Sunday a.) to be better situated to catch a train back to Rome, where we were departing for Zambia, and b.) to check out an Italian city that neither of us were familiar with.

And then there's the food.

When we first arrived into the port of Naples, the hot, noisy grind of the huge city jarred us from our rejuvenated state - so much so that we were tempted to hibernate in our air conditioned hotel room for the rest of the day. But that wouldn't have been time well spent, or a good story, so we went for a walk around the main area, cruising by major sites such as the Duomo and doll hospital, the latter of which was strangely recommended as a "must see" by Lonely Planet...

Most importantly, we ate at Da Michele, one of the best, if not The Best, Neapolitan pizza joint in town. Our eyes were certainly bigger than our stomachs as we tried to put away 2 pizzas, one margarita and one marinara (the only 2 kinds they make). We failed, and felt the pain of our overachieving ways throughout the evening.

However, this did not stop us from trying another local treat: sfogliatelle. Hard to explain, but it is essentially layers of flaky pastry made with various fillings. Kind of like a smaller, more interestingly flavored lobster roll from Mike's Pastry in Boston's North End. Which brings me to another question - why don't they make this at Mike's? Perhaps something for their suggestion box.

The next day we wanted to make the most of our last few hours in Italy so we headed to Pompeii for a day trip, as it is a mere 30 minutes by train. It was one of the hottest days we had had so far and with no beach relief (I know, poor us), but we were prepared with lots of water and hats that screamed "tourist." Fortunately if there is any place to look like one, Pompeii is it.

Having learned about Pompeii in high school, it was impressive to finally see it in person. Words cannot fully describe the magnitude of the city. It wasn't some tiny Pilgrim's Plantation or Sturbridge Village deal - there were blocks upon blocks of unearthed houses and streets, at least three huge public bathhouses, several amphitheaters and even a coliseum for gladiator battles (one of the world's best preserved)! It was an exhausting few hours and we didn't come close to covering everything, but we were both glad to have taken the time to finally see it. As with Machu Picchu, it was overwhelming to think of how much more remains to be discovered.

Unfortunately, doing the Pompeii swing meant we had to bite the bullet and travel out of Italy that evening as dirty, dusty hippie travelers - something I'd prefer not to do again, and I think my fellow passengers might agree. One last over-the-top dinner stop in Rome...

 

... and we were finally off on a 14+ hour journey to the Southern Hemisphere. Next stop, Lusaka, Zambia! We don't expect to have much wifi access while on safari on the Lower Zambezi River but we will update as soon as we can...