Visit to a Masaii village – October 20, 2010

During our safari, our driver asked Sury and I if we’d be interested in visiting a Masaii village at some point. We both said “for sure” since we thought it would be interesting. The next day our driver pulls off the main road and told us we were at a good Masaii village to visit. A young Masaii man came to the vehicle, and our driver told us he’s be our guide and we’d arrange payment directly with him.  This was the first mention of payment, but we both got out and went along with it. That was a rookie move on our part, not confirming the amount and settling payment before starting.

The men and women of the village gathered in front of us in their traditional bright red, purple and blue outfits and performed a welcome song and dance for us. We then followed them into the village compound. It was small, shaped in a circle with huts lining the perimeter, and a fenced enclosure in the middle to keep the cattle safe at night. We were invited to join in the dancing, so I got in line with the women and Sury got in line with the men. The women were singing a song and bobbing their shoulders up and down, while the men danced in a line and took turns jumping. All I could do was bob my shoulders up and down, and when I looked over I could see Sury jumping away with the men.

After that our guide asked for the money. I asked how much, and he simply said “50.” I had to double check and see if he actually meant USD (which he did) because $50 for the both of us was a lot more than I expected to pay! Since we hadn’t asked earlier there wasn’t much we could do other than just pay the $50. When we checked with our driver afterwards, he said that was the standard fee per vehicle, so at least we weren’t totally ripped off.

After paying, they brought us into one of their homes, where we sat and asked questions. The huts are made out of branches that are coated with mud, and are very small and dark, with only a tiny window. The one we were in was also very smoky, because there was a fire burning for meal preparation. The women build the homes, take care of the children and basically do the majority of the work. It’s the men’s job to guard the cattle.

From there we visited the school, which was filled with a class of 3 to 6 year olds. They recited their abc’s, and counted to 100 for us, but the whole thing felt very forced and rehearsed. It was like, here come the tourists, so now kids count and do your alphabet. That was essentially the end of the tour, because they then brought us to the middle of the huts, where jewellery and some other crafts were hanging and waited for us to buy stuff.

It was a really strange visit, and I’d consider it to be our “fake” authentic visit. Everything felt staged and practiced, “here comes more tourists, better put on our show.” Even though we were told that we could take as many pictures as we wanted, I think we both felt a bit uncomfortable taking pictures as they sat around their homes. It felt strange to take pictures of people as they go about their daily business.

Political Party Busses and the Worst Sleep Ever - October 17, 2010

After finishing Kilimanjaro, we had an extra day in Moshi. With the tour over we checked out of our fancy-pants hotel, and moved into the Kilimanjaro Backpackers Hotel, cheap and clean with a rooftop bar. I think that night both Sury and I had the absolute worst sleep ever.

It was LOUD. There were dogs barking non-stop, people yelling and crying. Somehow I fell asleep, but woke up every few hours. I did manage to sleep through the main event of the night though. Sury said he woke up in the middle of the night to about 100 people singing in the streets. We’re  not sure what it was. But it was election time in Tanzania during our stay, and there’d often be the political party busses driving down the road at all hours of the day. They’d be filled with people, playing loud music and dancing. Not exactly the political campaigning methods used in Canada.

Kilimanjaro: 7 day Machame Route October 10 – 16, 2010

Here’s a daily summary of what went down during our hike to the peak.

Day 1: Machame Gate to Machame Camp

Distance: 18km                        Hiking: 6hrs     Start Alt: 1490m          End Alt: 2980m

We woke up bright and early today, and were the first people at breakfast. We met the third person in our group, Bav from the UK. The hotel was really busy, with so many groups heading out to climb Kili. We drove about an hour to the gate, waited around there for a bit, and then started the hike.

The first section was though rainforest. The hiking wasn’t to physically demanding, we were going at a way slower pace than hikes I’ve done at home in the mountains. What was really impressive was watching the porters go up the trail. They moved so fast with these huge packs balanced on their backs. We slowly followed, with our day packs and hiking poles.

When we arrived at camp our tent was set up, and we had a snack ready and waiting for us. As an added bonus, we found out that we had our own private toilet for the trip, so we wouldn’t have to use the outhouses at the campsites. I had no idea what to expect for toilet facilities along the entire hike, so this was a very pleasant surprise. Being so close to the equator is gets dark really early here. After dinner we headed to bed for an early night. Neither of us had packed much for entertainment, just our ipods. I didn’t realize we would have as much free time as we did.

Day 2: Machame Camp to Shira Camp

Distance: 9km              Hiking: 4hrs     Start Alt: 2980m          End Alt: 3840m

We set out early, and the again the pace for the day was “pole, pole” or slowly, slowly. We still managed to pass a lot of the groups along the trail. I guess with only 3 people in our group we were just faster in general than the groups of 20. Our information sheet said that the estimated hike time was 6-7 hours, and we made it in 4hrs. This became a common theme of the trip. We arrived at camp in rain and hail. It was also pretty common for the weather to turn misty and cloudy in the afternoons. This was the first of a few rainy afternoons.

The change in the environment was pretty pronounced. The vegetation changed, and the trees got a lot shorter. It was also crazy dusty on the trail. It made sense that a majority of the porters and guides were wearing gators for this portion of the trail. I made the mistake of only wearing shorts, so my socks and boots were just coated in dust.

Once the sky cleared up, it was possible to see the peak of Kili in the distance.

Day 3: Shira Camp to Baranco Camp

Distance: 15km                        Hiking: <6hrs   Start Alt: 3840m          End Alt: 3950m

We had another beautiful clear morning to start the day. Today I was prepared and wore my gators. We hiked to a spot called the Lava Tower, and the descended from there through the Great Baranco Valley to camp at a lower altitude. The trail became increasingly more barren and desert like, with sparser plants.

We got to the Tower around lunch, and the sky had clouded over and it started to rain/hail and get pretty cold. By the time we reached camp a few hours later it had cleared up. Again we beat the estimated hiking time of 7-8 hours. With these shorter hikes we had quite a bit of free time I wasn’t expecting or prepared for. I wish I had brought a book or my journal up on the hike with me. My ipod battery was pretty close to dying.

Day 4: Baranco Camp to Karanga Camp

Distance: 8km              Hiking: 3.5hrs  Start Alt: 3950m          End Alt: 3900m

Today was our extra acclimatization day, and a fairly short, but strenuous hike. We had to pass over the Great Baranco Wall which was probably the most physically demanding section so far. We climbed without poles and used our hands for some sections. The view from the top is amazing, above the clouds with the valley below and the peak above. We descended through the Karanga Valley, very barren and desert like.

Our hike for the day was pretty short. All of the people doing the trip in 6 days had to keep on going, since they were going for the summit at midnight that evening. We just did some napping and hanging out for most of the afternoon.

Day 5: Karanga Camp to Barafu Camp

Distance: 4km              Hiking: <3hrs   Start Alt: 3900m          End Alt: 4550m

We had another beautiful clear and sunny morning, and the hike to Barafu Camp was fairly easy. Arriving at the camp before lunch, the mist started rolling in and getting really cold. We could see people descending from the peak. We had to wait for a bit for our tents to be set up, but otherwise had a really lazy afternoon napping. We had an early dinner, and then went straight to bed, since were set to start hiking to the summit at midnight.

Day 6: Barafu Camp to Summit to Mweka Camp

Distance: 7km to Summit, 23km descent

Hiking: <3hrs   Start Alt: 4550m          Summit: 5895m                       End Alt: 3100m

We got up at 11pm, and it was absolutely freezing!! I knew it would be cold on Kili, but I really wasn’t expecting it to be this cold and windy. I put on every layer of clothing I brought – t-shirt, long sleeve undershirt, thicker long sleeve, merino wool hoodie, fleece hoodie, and a shoftshell. I wore long underwear and rain pants, 2 pairs of socks, and mitts. On my head I had a balaclava, toque, and all 3 hoods pulled up. Before starting, we were given a snack of tea and biscuits.

Looking up the mountain, I could see a trail of lights from everyone’s headlamps winding slowly up the mountain. We started our ascent at midnight, and numerous groups had already started their way. We slowly walked up, passing other groups even at our snail’s pace. I just looked at the ground and watched my footing, and tried to convince myself I was warm. It was so cold, and we weren’t moving around enough to generate much body heat. We made a few stops on the way up, had some shot blocks and water, and kept going. The tubes for our water bladders eventually froze, and the top of my water bottle was covered in ice. I was trying not to drink to much water, because I didn’t want to have to duck behind a rock to go pee while it was so cold.

I was glad I couldn’t see how far we had to go. The first couple hours actually went by surprisingly quick. I found the last hour to Stella Point went by SO SLOWLY. We finally reached Stella Point (5685m) at 430am. According to our itinerary we were supposed to watch the sunrise from this point. The sun wasn’t going to rise until 6am. We sat down and took a short break before continuing on. The last section towards the summit was soft and sandy, and it felt like for every 2 steps forward we took 1 step back.

We summitted Uhuru Peak at 540am, 10/15/10. We were one of the first groups to reach it that morning, standing on the highest point in Africa. The views from the top are absolutely stunning. Words and pictures just can’t do it justice. Easily one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. When we got to the top, it was possible to just see a line of light on the horizon. We watched as the sun slowly rose.

I found it hard to take pictures because I was so cold and didn’t want to take my mitts off. There were these huge glaciers off to one side, and a crater in the distance. We were waiting until the sun rose to get our pictures with the sign at the peak, but our guide was kind of rushing us to take the picture, saying more groups would be coming up soon. I think he just wanted to head down.

The other guy we were climbing with, Bav, celebrated his 30^th birthday on summit day. He planned his trip so that he would summit on his birthday. We sang him a wonderful rendition of Happy Birthday, and our guide and assistant guide even joined in.

The way down was way faster than going on, since we were able to pick up some speed going down the soft sand with our poles. I was glad to have some experience with descents! It was interesting actually seeing what we had just hiked up in the dark...and I’m kind of glad it was dark so we didn’t have to see how far we had to climb up!

We arrived back at our camp at 8am, napped, and then got up for breakfast. After that we just continued the hike down the mountain. Our last night on Kili was pretty chill, and the next day we finished hiking down. This time we got to see some monkeys in the lower rainforest areas.

Back at our hotel a few hours later, we met with our guides, had some beers, and got our official Kilimanjaro Certificates. Success!

East Africa with Sury – Mission to Moshi

Kenya and Tanzania October 7 – October 25, 2010


London -> Nairobi -> Moshi (Oct 7, 8, 9)

I took a late flight from Berlin to London to meet up with Sury at his cousin Rudi’s place. We had a 6am flight scheduled for the next morning. I arrived around 9pm, and soon after we headed out to meet Rudi and his friends for dinner. Turns out we both arrived in London on a “Thirsty Thursday”, a night out of dinner and drinks.

It was soon decided by everyone that since we had to be at the airport at 4am, there was no point in us sleeping. We had a fabulous dinner, and then went out to a martini bar. On top of not getting any sleep, it looked like we might also be getting drunk. What a way to prepare for Kilimanjaro! Rudi and his friends were awesome, buying rounds of drinks and showing us a good time. We finally got back to his place around 2am, and asked our cabbie to come back and pick us up in an hour to take us to the airport. The beginning of a long travel day! I fell asleep in the cab almost immediately, but Sury stayed awake and made sure we made it to the airport.

We arrived in Nairobi that night, and grabbed a cab to our guest house. The traffic was insane. Our 20 minute cab ride took at least 45 minutes. Thankfully it was a fixed rate for the ride.  The next morning we caught our shuttle to Moshi, another full travel day driving along bumpy, dusty roads. There was some confusion in the morning and we almost missed our shuttle. We thought it was picking us up at our guest house, but after waiting around for 20 minutes Sury called and they said, “Nope, it’s too far. We don’t do pick up’s there.” Great. We caught a taxi that drove us to some random gas station where the shuttle was supposed to top and pick us up. Our driver was really nice and waited with us for about half an hour before she left. The shuttle finally did arrive, and we were on our way.

Our shuttle broke down between Arusha and Moshi, with about an hour left to drive. We were stranded by the side of the road for an hour until more vehicles came to pick us up. Finally we arrived at our hotel in Moshi, which was really nice. We spent the night packing our stuff for Kilimanjaro, since we started the climb the next day.

Getting my Visa for India

I spent the next few days in Berlin, wrapping up some visa issues. During my time in Germany I had to get my visa for India, and that was an experience right there. It’s a bit more complicated when you’re a foreigner trying to get a visa. I had no other choice though, I couldn’t get it before I left because it would have expired by the time I made it to India. I had couriered my passport to Berlin earlier in the month, so that I could pick it up when I visited. The Indian embassy in Germany subs out visa application’s to a separate company.  When I first started figuring out what I needed to apply, I tried calling this company to confirm what they needed for my application. Whenever I tried calling, it was busy. No answering service or anything to even let me know I was calling the right place, just a busy tone. I decided to try the Indian Embassy, just to find out what was going on. One woman I spoke with just flat out asked me why I was calling them, told me I just had to keep trying that number that was perma-busy, and then hung up on me. Great representation for the country.

So all I could do was just repeatedly call until I got through. That was super annoying, but it worked. And once I sent off my passport, I was calling them every few days. All I had to do was say Canadian Passport, and they knew who it was. By the end, I think they were so sick of hearing from me they couldn’t wait for my application to be processed. I did an unannounced drop by the office when I first arrived in Berlin, and the woman actually laughed a bit when I told her who it was, since my visa still wasn’t ready. In the end I did get it, thankfully.

Berlin and Munich - Going to Oktoberfest!

September 25-October 7, 2010


Anton surprised me by coming to Germany for a week, so we did a quick loop of Berlin->Munich->Erfurt->Berlin. We had to do the stop in Munich, to experience Oktoberfest firsthand.

Berlin is a really cool city. We did a few tours and hit up the main tourist spots. The free walking tour there really is pretty awesome. We took the night train from Berlin to Munich, which was an interesting experience. Those sleeper cars are tiny!! There were six beds in ours, three bunks on either side. There was only enough room for one person to stand in there at a time. Lucky us, we had a full car, and I was the only girl in the car. It smelled like stinky feet in there.

We spent our first day in Munich checking out the beer tents at Oktoberfest. 2010 is the 200^th anniversary of Oktoberfest. It was lucky that we were there mid-week, because it was still pretty busy in the tents even early in the day. We were there by around 11am. Our first stop: Hofbrauhaus. We each ordered a litre of beer and settled in. Those beer mugs are huge and heavy! Right off the bat I recognized a guy at our table as a German exchange student that I had a class with in my last semester at the U. Talk about a small world. We met a couple from Canada at our table, and ended up spending the afternoon drinking beers with them.

The atmosphere inside the tents is just awesome. Everyone is there just to drink beer and have a good time. The band started playing around noon, and everyone kept on standing up and singing this song and cheers-ing each other. I'm sure anyone from Germany knows the song I'm talking about. It was sort of taught to me, but I don't remember it. Even though it was only early in the afternoon, the tent was pretty full and people were well on their way to getting hammered.

The next day we took the train a few hours outside the city to visit the Neuschwanstein Castle, aka the Sleeping Beauty Castle. Robert gave me a hard time about it when I was planning it out, saying how no real Germans go there, and it’s all tourists. He was pretty much bang on. The castle and surrounding area is really beautiful though, and the interior of the castle was also quite different from the other castles I’ve visited so far (saw a few in Ireland).

When we got back into Munich we headed straight for Oktoberfest. It was way harder to find a spot at night, all the halls were jam packed with people, drinking, eating and singing. It was cool just being inside soaking in what was going on. We managed to find a spot on a patio outside. Not as exciting as being inside, but still a spot to drink some beer. The waitresses are all crazy strong too, carrying multiple beers at once. I heard that they could carry 8 at a time, but I don’t think I saw anyone carrying more than 6. And it was all women working as the servers.

The next morning we headed to Erfurt, for some last hang out time with Kathryn and Robert. They were awesome hosts and took us around the city (me for the second time!), showing Anton all sites. Erfurt had its own Oktoberfest going on, so we had some beers there. Not quite the same atmosphere as in Munich, but there was a drunk dude dancing around the tables playing air instruments and pretending he was part of the band, and he was pretty funny.

The next day we did a visit out to Buchenwald Concentration Camp, an informative, but depressing afternoon. I went to Auschwitz when I was in Europe 5 years ago which was also a really good experience, and visiting both helped give the full picture. Buchenwald was a work camp, whereas Auschwitz was an extermination camp.


After that Anton and I headed back to be Berlin, capping off the trip.

Erfurt, Germany - Living with Kathryn

Germany: September 1 – October 8, 2010

From Spain I flew back to Germany with Kathryn. She was super awesome and let me crash at her place for the next few weeks. She's got a really nice set up going on a very cute apartment. I settled in quite nicely in the living room, putting my camping gear to good use. It was great to see where’s she’s been living and what she’s been up to for the past year and a half! Erfurt is a really pretty city. Kathryn and her boyfriend Robert showed me the sights, and we fell into a pretty relaxed routine. Kathryn got me knitting, and we spent many hours watching the Real World and knitting away.

We did a weekend trip out to Heide Park with Robert and his best friend Max. Heide Park is an amusement park filled with roller coasters. It was kind of like a less flashy, less tacky version of K-Days. A small fraction of the amount of games and food stands, and way quieter. They have the worlds largest (or maybe it’s longest?) wooden roller coaster, and the world’s highest drop tower. Sadly for us (especially Robert!) the wooden roller coaster was closed for repairs while we were there. We did get to go on the drop tower, and that was pretty fun.

We stayed in the pirate themed hotel and got to attend their nightly entertainment, which we were told would be a combination of acrobatics and bubbles. Intriguing. The show was emceed by a midget, who kicked things off with a bubble show. He blew bubbles and filled them with smoke or stacked them on top of each other. Kathryn was chosen as a volunteer, and he made a giant bubble around here. She even got to hold hands with the midget twice. I think that was the highlight of the trip for her. I wish I had brought down my camera to capture the weirdness of what was going on. The rest of the show was a combination of some acrobatics, as well as a fire dancer and hula hoop performance. The whole thing was so bizarre.

Alicante, Spain

After the frenzy of La Tomatina, we took a bus further south down the coast to Alicante, where we ended up renting an apartment with a view of the ocean, and relaxed on the beach for 5 days. We spent our first night in Alicante at a hotel, because the place we planned on renting fell through at the last minute, about an hour before we had to catch the bus to Alicante. We booked into the cheapest hotel we could find that looked decent. Our first night there we went out to party with the guys from the UK that we had met at our hostel in Valencia. I guess our cheap last minute hotel wasn’t in the nicest area, because when we asked at reception how far it was to the town hall, he flat out told us not to walk and to grab a cab, because of all the prostitution in the area. Sure enough, around the corner from our hotel we saw a prostitute standing on the corner, pulling down her shirt so that her boobs were out.

The old town center was way nicer, full of restaurants and bars, and where we ended up renting an apartment. The beach was about a 5 minute walk away, and we could see if from our kitchen window. Despite all the stress, we got a pretty good deal on the place to since it was a last minute booking. I’d definitely look at renting a place again for a beach holiday. It’s totally the way to go if you have a group of people.

La Tomatina - August 25, 2010

I’m not even sure what word I would use to sum up La Tomatina. Messy? Gross? Aggressive? For me the experience falls into the category of “once is definitely enough”. I’m glad I did it, but won’t be rushing to do it again anytime soon.

We decided the best way to get to Bunol would be to catch one of the shuttle busses organized to take the masses. We left just after 7am. Arriving in Bunol, they unloaded everyone into a parking lot, brought out giant rubber garbage cans, filled them with sangria, and passed out plastic glasses. Let the party begin! We walked into town, just following the crowds. Vendors lined the streets, selling goggles, food and giant glasses of beer and sangria. Definitely not enough port-a-potty’s for all the people considering how much drinking was going on.

We made our way to the main square and arrived around 9am. The fight was set to start at 11am, after someone climbed a greased pole to retrieve a ham tied to the top. So for 2 hours we stood in the crowd, slowly getting pushed and shoved closer to the action. We probably moved a good 50ft without even trying. It was like being in a giant mosh pit. Filled with very aggressive people. We were rather unlucky and ended up right beside this circle of Spanish guys, who started pushing each other into the center of their circle, and then ripping the shirt of the guy in the middle. Guys are so weird. After they finished ripping off each other’s clothes, they started pulling in random people who were just trying to squeeze by. Both guys and girls. They attacked one girl so bad that here swimsuit bottoms were torn. It was one of the most disgusting and barbaric things I’ve ever witnessed. We didn’t really have any way of getting away from them either. While trying to stop them from pulling some other girl into the center, I had my own shirt ripped in the back. Luckily for us, there was a giant Aussie guy standing next to us who was able to shield up from them a bit. One of the Spanish guys in particular looked absolutely nuts, with these crazy eyes. I wish we had a picture of him, although had we tried to take one we probably would have gotten our asses kicked. The crazy guy started freaking out at the Aussie guy, whipping him with a wet t-shirt. And this was all before the tomatoes were even rolled out.

At 11am they rang a bell, signalling the start of the fight. Slowly giant dump trucks drove through the narrow streets, with guys walking in front, pushing the crowds against the buildings so no one would be run over. People sat perched on the trucks, throwing tomatoes at people. They never actually stopped and unloaded the tomatoes, trucks just kept driving through. I think they did unload some right at the very front, because I did see some people afterwards absolutely coated. The only tomatoes I threw were the ones that hit me. I didn’t want to even try and pick up tomatoes from the ground, because we were standing in a dirty, soupy pool of red water filled with garbage, shoes and bits of clothing floating around. For me the whole thing seemed to be more of a water fight than a tomato fight, because we ended up near these people with giant hoses, who just kept hosing down the crowd.

At 12pm another bell went off, signalling the end of the fight. Slowly everyone made their way off the main street, heading down the narrow residential streets. We stopped to get hosed down by a local standing in his doorstep with a hose.

We grabbed some food and then sat on the sidewalk and waited for a LONG 3.5hrs for the bus to come back and pick us up.

Reunion with Kathryn in Spain

Spain: August 21 – September 1, 2010

First up, La Tomatina. The reason Kathryn and I decided to meet up in Spain after not seeing each other for a year and half. It’s listed in so many travel books as an “ultimate travel experience” so I figured this trip would be the time check it off the list.

We met in Valencia, where most people attending La Tomatina stay. The actual event takes place in a small town called Bunol, on the last Wednesday of August. This year it was held on August 25, 2010. I arrived in Valencia August 21, and met Kathryn the next day. In the days leading up to the fight, we did a bit of sightseeing in Valencia, but mostly went to the beach. One of the top tourist sites is the Ciudad De Las Artes y Las Ciencias, which has a really cool design and is a combo of museums and aquariums etc. We obviously visited the aquarium (if you know Kathryn, you’ll understand why this would be a must see) and it was the biggest aquarium I’ve ever visited. The highlight would have to be the sharks though. I’ve never seen sharks that big in real life. There were so many of them too, swimming around a circular tank. There are also some pretty cool tunnels you could walk though, where the sharks and other animals would swim over top of you.

We partied a bit in Valencia as well. We met a group of 5 guys from the UK at our hostel that had brought along neon body paint with big plans of having a rave night. We were the only 2 people they managed to recruit to join them. We kept it classy and creative though, just a lightning bolt for me and a star for Kathryn. It ended up being a pretty sweet night though, the only time we went really hard in Valencia.

Europe with my Mom - London, Paris, and a good chunk of Ireland. July 28 – August 21, 2010

For the first leg of my trip I did some of Europe with my Mom. We spent the first week in London and Paris hitting up all the main tourist sites, before heading to Ireland for a two week road trip.


In Paris, we experienced a few runs in with the gypsies. The first time we were sitting outside the Louvre, eating some lunch. I was eating some chocolate, and a gypsy woman approached me and asked for a piece. I shook my head, and said no. She asked again. Again I said no. She then told me to f*$# off, and walked away.


The second time it happened, we were on our way to the airport, to fly to Dublin. We were taking the metro to the airport, which is something I would totally recommend avoiding AT ALL COSTS. In Paris, it's definitely worth the few extra dollars to take a shuttle to the airport and skip the metro all together. It was hellish entering and leaving the city. It's a long, hot, crowded ride.


I thought we were on the correct train headed for the airport, and we were making good time. What we didn't realize until to late was that the route we were on forked a few stops before the airport. One train on the line would head to the airport, the other for the Paris suburbs. We happened to be on the wrong train, headed for the suburbs. Once we realized this, we got off at the next stop and went around the other side to catch a train going back in the opposite direction, so that we could get on a train headed for the airport.


Now we just had to wait. And wait. And wait. We were stuck at that stop for over 30 minutes, and every minute was cutting it closer and closer for us to make out flight. As we were standing at the stop, a whole group of gypsies walked up the steps. Men, women and lots of children. Of course, I happened to be eating again, so a little girl approached me for some food. Great. The interesting thing about the experience was that after the gypsies arrived, so did the police. Two police officers stood right in front of the group, and on the other side of the platform we could see more police officers walking a huge German Shepard. 


The train finally arrived, and we did make it to the airport. We were in a mad rush to check out bags and get through security, since we barely had any time. Of the course the line up for security was huge. We got lucky though, and there were quite a few people from our flight all stuck in the line up. We boarded the plane 5 minutes prior to departure. I've never been that stressed about getting to an airport, or that close to missing a flight.

To kick off the road trip we flew into Dublin and spent a few days there, and then rented a car and started driving towards Northern Ireland. Our plan was to go north, and then drive down the west coast and eventually make our way back to Dublin. Cover Ireland in a counter-clockwise direction.

Our first stop was Bru Na Boinne, to visit the Neolithic tombs of Newgrange and Knowth. We got lost trying to find it, and this was about an hour after getting the car. At this point I wasn’t so sure skipping out on renting a GPS was going to be a good idea. The tombs are older than Stonehenge, and look just like huge mounds of grass. The pictures don’t really do it justice, because it was actually quite neat walking around them. We visited Knowth, and we couldn’t go inside but were able to walk on top.

We skipped Belfast and headed to Ballycastle to drive the Causeway Coast in Northern Ireland. It is a beautiful drive along the coast! Our destination was the main tourist site, Giant’s Causeway. Giant’s Causeway is a natural formation of hexagonal stone columns, all packed closely together in the ocean. The whole area is just beautiful. We did a great walk along the cliff top, and from there we were able to walk down to the ocean and check out Giant’s Causeway. We were lucky because it wasn’t very busy so we were able climb all over the rocks. It was super cool, and I would definitely recommend visiting! A highlight for sure.

We didn’t spend much time in Northern Ireland, just a short stop in Londonderry. Derry had kind of a coarse, hard-working vibe to it. From there we headed straight to Galway, which had a nice college town feel. Along the west coast we drove the two most scenic drives (both in County Kerry), the Slea Head Peninsula, and the Ring of Kerry. The weather wasn’t very cooperative and it rained on both the days we did the drives (it rained most days we were here, some days just worse than others). While we were driving through the mist and fog on the Ring of Kerry, we passed a sign that read something like “Ireland’s best view” and all we could only see about 10ft in front of us through the mist.

Even with that, the west coast is beautiful! We also visited the Cliffs of Moher, which are apparently some pretty famous cliffs, in lots of tourist brochures and stuff. I didn’t find this out until we arrived. They are 200m high and cut straight down to the ocean. We walked along this entire section (that had a huge sign at the beginning telling people not to walk any further) and past the sign you could pretty much walk as close to the edge as you wanted. And some people were walking preettttty close.

Along the way we saw awesome scenery, visited villages and heard some great traditional live music.  We’ve also seen plenty of sheep (I really had no idea there were SO many sheep here), and plenty of castle ruins.

The roads in Ireland are quite something, VERY narrow and winding. The speed limit is 100km/hr on most of them, and people were actually driving them that fast. I took it a bit slower. There are also round-a-bouts EVERYWHERE. Some of them are just circles painted on the ground so it looks like a normal intersection. I had to learn fast to yield to the right, instead of the left like I’m used to. We had a few close calls but it was all good.