Tracking the Big 5 in the Serengeti

Posted on July 27, 2011 by Team Kevan

Katie's Mufasa on Lion Rock

Within minutes of entering the Serengeti National Park we came across a large collection of rocks with a family of lions! This time Mufasa was in the house. It looked like a scene out of the Lion King! One of the lionesses had a collar on and we learnt that she was one that the National Geographic follows. I’m proud to say while travelling in Africa I met a celebrity but a little disappointed she didn’t come over and sign an autograph. That night we set up camp right in the park for dinner and a good night’s sleep. We were told that night if we had to go to the bathroom we had to go in pairs and that we had to shine a light first to see if the eyes were yellow or red. Yellow meant go ahead and pee and red meant you are holding it the rest of the night. I did wake up at one point but could hear something moving directly outside my tent and decided to just hold it and sleep. I found out the next morning there were hyenas roaming around our tents. I’m happy I held it. While we were in the park the wildebeest were migrating and we had the privilege of listening to the loud grunting all night long. As annoying as it may have been, it was so cool to listen to them all night under the stars!

In the morning we woke up in time to catch the sunrise over the acacia trees. It was beautiful. While we were stopped the wildebeest migration starting running across where I was taking photos of the sunrise and it made for some great photos. That day we saw a lot but the highlight was definitely running into two randy lions getting it on. I’m not kidding, we had two lions mating literally ten feet away from our truck. Over and over again. It was hilarious. Most of my photos were blurry because we all couldn’t help but make funny comments and I couldn’t always hold the camera still. Don’t worry I have a couple good shots.

The look of love...

Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater has been the best experience so far this trip. I absolutely loved this.  We were lucky enough to have seen Africa’s big five within this excursion and have photos, videos, and memories that will last a lifetime!

 -Katie Powell

 

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On safari in the Ngorongoro Crater & Serengeti National Park

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Team Kevan

Our African safari was amazing. When we started our drive down into the Ngorongoro Crater it was early in the morning and absolutely freezing. We were all bundled up in the truck in our sleeping bags. If you do sign up and find yourself freezing on the drive the Masai are allowed to bring their cattle down to the bottom to feed in the early mornings and will show up out of nowhere to sell you a Masai blanket. They will even have jewellery in case you forgot to wear your earrings that day. Our morning started out with a few elephant, zebra, water-buffalo and wildebeest sightings and then to our surprise we spotted a couple of lionesses lounging in the grass. On other game drives we have had little to no success in spotting lions but while we were watching these lions more and more came out of the bushes. We had at least half a dozen lionesses and their cubs roaming right up around the truck!

That's about as close as you get without being lunch.

Our safari trucks had roofs that pop up to allow you to get really good pictures. When I was out the top of the roof taking photos I spotted a lioness that was coming right up to our truck. I had my big zoom lens on my camera so I dropped down from the roof to my seat to quickly switch my lens to my short lens to lean out the window to get a great shot. Just as I leaned out our window I leaned right out over top of her. I could have given her a nice pat on the head. I couldn’t believe how close I got to her. We were then instructed by our guide to shut all the lower windows just in case one of them decided they wanted to be the tenth passenger on the truck. I wasn’t as scared as the elephant that wanted to murder me in the Ugandan Rainforest but my heart sure was racing!

Katie's favourite photo

Watching all the lionesses with their cubs just roaming around as if we were invisible was just incredible. They didn’t even take notice to the dozens of trucks that had pulled up to view them.  This was where I took my favourite photo of the entire tour, a mum with her three cubs. I can’t even tell you how many photos I took because I didn’t stop all day. We spent most of the day driving around the crater where we had more animal sightings such as a pregnant cheetah in the distance and a bunch of hippos near our lunch spot. All in all it was just incredible to be in the crater. The view in there is just breathtaking. I could have carried on driving around and around but later in the afternoon we headed out to the Serengeti National Park. It was a bit of a drive so I had a chance to fall asleep and recharge my pointer finger for the rest of the afternoon for taking photos.

More stories (and loads of photos) from Africa to come!

- Katie Powell

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Bungee jumping & white water rafting in Africa

Posted on July 7, 2011 by Team Kevan

Katie and Evan continue on their adventure in Africa with a stop at the equator, bungee jumping and white-water rafting.

The morning after our gorilla trek when the alarm went off I hit snooze a bunch of times. I was exhausted and every muscle in my body ached. It was a good ache, one that reminded me of the huge accomplishment we had made the day before when we visited with the gorilla family. On our drive that day we experienced a huge down pour of rain. Let’s just say the truck wasn’t one hundred percent waterproof and Team Kevan had the job of stuffing toilet paper in the creases of the windows at the front to prevent the truck from flooding. This went on all morning but at some point we seemed to have beaten the rain for our lunch stop at the Equator. I haven’t felt homesick yet but the rain did make me think of home since it rains most of the time on the West Coast of Canada. After eating our lunch on the truck we ran to the Equator line’s monument for a quick photo op and then hit the road again.

In Jinja we decided to upgrade to a room that over looked the Nile. We split the thirty dollars a night cost with our friend Grant and for only ten dollars each it was money well spent. Well worth it for the spectacular view we had of the mighty Nile River and all the monkeys running around outside from tree to tree.

Out of the campsite they ran a few optional excursions. We booked the full day of white water rafting, and when they found out about our worldwide adventure they hooked us up with a free tandem bungee jump over the Nile before we started our rafting trip. Scroll through our great photos below!

Here we go!

Taking the plunge.

Dangle dangle.

We did it!

It was my first bungee jump and Evan’s second time. It was a great experience, taking such a giant leap with the person I love. Perhaps he will want to take another leap of sorts in the future after we survive being together twenty-four seven for six months. Hint hint! With the bungee I wasn’t really too nervous because the man hooking us up to send us over the edge was a policeman from Canada and later that day on our rafting experience we found out our guide was also Canadian.

Rafting included an amazing lunch mid-day and a bbq at the end. Our guide was great, but he loved to tip the boat on purpose every time we went down a rapid. Having never rafted in my life I was convinced I was going to go flying into a rock and break my arm or a leg or heaven forbid smash my pretty face into one. When I arranged the travel insurance back at home I neglected to mention the possibility of any of that happening and was a little worried I wouldn’t end up being covered if something went wrong.

Later I was happy to find out that the water was deep enough to not run into any rocks and my only true worry was the possibility of snakes slithering through the water. Poor Evan, as mentioned before he isn’t an Olympian swimmer and didn’t enjoy that our guide found pleasure making us all suffer from flying out of the boat. Climbing back into the boat was hard work! I couldn’t even pull myself back and in without help. By the end of the day I really wanted to successfully make our way down a rapid without taking a swim and we did. Just once, and on our very last rapid when we flipped I ended up with a paddle to my face. Just a baby wound but it stung like crazy! All in all between the bungee and the rafting we had an amazing day! I give them both two thumbs up and recommend everyone staying in Jinja to give it a go!

-Katie Powell

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Tracking gorillas in Uganda with Team Kevan: Part 2

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Team Kevan

In our last instalment, Katie was trekking through the dense African rainforest in search of a family of elusive mountain gorillas. Here’s part 2 of her gorilla adventure!

In our briefing before the gorilla trek we were told that if the gorillas charge us we were not to run but when we came across our first member of the family I may have forgotten the rules.  The first one we saw happened to be big Papa the silverback and when we interrupted his leaf munching he turned around and took a few steps gesturing to me “You want some of this?”  It scared the living daylights out of me and I instantly turned around and ran faster than a Kenyan at the Olympics right into the man with the gun and stopped dead in my tracks.

I can’t believe how scared I was but then I realized all he was doing was letting us know that we were guests in his house. Once he was comfortable he led us farther down the mountain to the rest of his family.  We saw thirteen of the twenty six members and Godfrey told us we were lucky to see them lounging together as close as they were. There were six just relaxing, eating leaves and grooming each other. It was amazing. The other seven could be heard roaming around in the trees. We even saw a little one year-old who made my heart melt, he was adorable. Where they were all located at the bottom of the mountain was very muddy and it was really hard to step through without getting stuck. I was trying so hard to manoeuvre through the bushes to get some good shots with my camera but they really enjoyed hiding behind the trees. The guides were great though and they used the machetes to hack away the bushes to clear a shot. However, that seemed to make the gorillas nervous and they would start to move away. I got a few shots and put my camera in my pack to just enjoy being with them.

We were only allotted an hour because they are so susceptible to contracting human sickness. Our hour passed by in what seemed like seconds. I could have stood there knee deep in mud and admired them all day! After our visit with the family we trekked back up the mountain a bit and ate our lunch. By then I was so dehydrated and exhausted that I was not up for eating my sandwich I made earlier that morning.  All I ate was popcorn and drank a Lucozade energy juice box. Evan was also pretty exhausted and we both didn’t really feel like eating but we both knew if we made it seem like we were eating we could have a nice long rest before trekking all the way back. At one point during our lunches we were both laughing out of control not having a clue what either one of us was laughing about. I would have loved to have just curled up into a ball and had a nap right then and there but before we knew it we were on the move again to make it out before the sun set.

Up and over the mountain we went and while we were on our descent back down to the river, Godfrey let us know there was an elephant nearby. The words that came from the man with the machete were (and I quote) “If the man with the gun shoots, don’t be scared.” Well, I was instantly terrified.  I had seen elephant poop all over the place but had no desire to meet a wild one face to face. Next thing I heard was trees snapping and Godfrey running towards me with the machete in the air yelling “Run! Run! Run!” and I did. About ten feet back up the mountain, Evan and I both thought for some reason that we could hide from the elephant behind some trees. We were quickly hustled along by the man with the gun who gestured to us to run farther! Who were we trying to kid, this elephant could have easily taken out the flimsy little trees we were “hiding” behind. Thank goodness the elephant lost interest because after trekking up and over all these mountains I could barely lift my legs high enough to not get caught on all of the jungle debris on the ground.

Finally, we made it back down and now back up the other side of the mountain we first climbed down.  No joke, I have no idea how I found the strength to make it up that last stretch. Mt. Sinai was tough but this gorilla trek was the most physically exhausting thing I have ever done in my entire life. Godfrey though, God bless him had the patience of a Saint with me. I must have stopped every ten steps back up that mountain because I couldn’t catch my breath and my legs felt as if they were going to cave if I went too far. I almost pushed him down the mountain in the last little stretch of the climb. I asked him how much farther and he reassured me that just over that mound we would be there and when we got there we still had another bit to climb. By then I had hit rock bottom and just wanted to stay there until morning when I had the energy to get back up. I choked on a few tears and tried to catch my breath when suddenly a bunch of older woman ran barefoot past me up the mountain. I felt like such a baby and managed to push myself all the way to the top. Once we reached the top Godfrey let me know that the ladies were in their sixties!

By the time we were finished our entire journey it took over eight hours to complete. Godfrey also let us know that it was very unlucky to have them so far away and that they are normally much closer. Looking back, I am so proud of myself for accomplishing the trek and wouldn’t trade the hour we had with the gorillas for anything. Well you know maybe a million dollars but probably not. It was so incredible to be with the gorillas like that in their own environment. Zoos will never ever be the same and nor will the Moscow circus be as entertaining.

The plan that evening after everyone’s gorilla trek was to go out to some local bars for drinks to celebrate. By the time Evan and I arrived back at the campsite, dinner was waiting for us and so was the rest of the group. They all appeared to us to have consumed a ton of alcohol before we had even got there. Everyone was all showered, looking good and then we found out that they had been at the campsite drinking since noon! We found out that their gorilla “trek” was more of a gorilla stroll and it took them only twenty five minutes to find their family. They were even so lucky to have two of their group members get punted by the silverback and they captured it on video. It may be the funniest video I have seen since my Mum was stuck on the elephant in Nepal. Judy definitely “felt the love” and Sally took a tumble. I’m happy the group was OK with us going straight to bed because we barely had enough energy to even eat our dinner. Overall it was such an amazing day and if I have the opportunity to do it again I’m going to call and make a reservation with the gorillas at the edge of the rainforest for a visit.

 

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Tracking gorillas in Uganda with Team Kevan: Part 1

Posted on June 14, 2011 by Team Kevan

In which Katie and Evan trek through the African rainforest in search of elusive mountain gorillas.

When we arrived at our campsite in Kampala, Uganda, I was feeling a bit off.  I had gone to the bathroom plenty that day and took every drug in the world to try and keep my stomach calm. I wasn’t dying or anything, but I was determined to feel better for our next day when we drove out to Lake Bunyoni. I tried my best to keep it a secret from our guide because the day after our arrival at camp we were due to trek out to see the gorillas, and you’re not supposed to visit the gorilla family if you are sick. I knew it was just something I ate, but still I didn’t want to be climbing up the mountain and have to use the shovel every ten minutes. By the time we made it to the camp I was feeling much better and very relieved that I was going to be able to trek. At Lake Bunyoni, Evan and I opted for a tree house upgrade overlooking the lake solely because we knew that it was really important to have a good night’s sleep before trekking. We had heard horror stories of it possibly taking the entire day to find the gorilla family. We wanted to be full of energy and for as low as thirteen dollars a night, I thought the upgrade was a steal.

When we found out we won the trip, we dreamed of doing the gorilla trek but there was no way we could save up in time to be able to do it. I believe it was less than a week before departure when we found out from the fabulous On the Go team that we were indeed going to be hanging out with gorillas in the rainforest. The night before the trek, I felt like a little kid before Christmas morning. I was so excited to be doing it but also extremely nervous that my lard ass wouldn’t make it through the rainforest.

The game plan for the day was to split off into two groups. There were ten of us signed up to do the trek and because Evan and I are a couple it was easy for us to go off and join another group of six and our remaining group of eight stay together. To our surprise, we were told at the morning briefing, we were the only two in our group. I was relieved though: like I’ve mentioned before in the Mt. Sinai blog, I don’t like to be rushed. I really am very out of shape and my worst fear was that I would be holding up the group.

We had four guides for our trek, two of which headed off ahead us to try and locate the gorillas and then radio back to the other two guides and tell them which direction we should be heading. The head guide introduced himself as Godfrey and the other guide we just referred to as “the man with the gun” because he didn’t speak English and did not introduce himself. Although we couldn’t speak to him, we felt the need to be extra nice to him because he was armed. We gave him cookies.

The trek started out reasonably easily with a descent down a mountain and through the local farmyards. The view was absolutely breathtaking because we were there for the sunrise and the fog was just hovering below the mountains. It was a little chilly in the beginning but once we made it down the mountain and across the river into the rainforest the heat really got to me. I was almost ready to strip down naked, but unfortunately we had to be clothed due to all the stinging nettle. We were also told ahead of time to wear long pants and tuck them into our socks because of the leeches. The only socks I had that were long enough to tuck my pants into were my winter socks from Russia; let me tell you my feet were toasty! There were no paths and the forest was really thick. As Godfrey was leading us up the mountain I was already starting to feel out of breath and my legs started to feel like JELL-O but every time I looked up to tell Godfrey I need a second I would see Barack Obama smiling down on my telling me “Yes we can find those gorillas!” I am almost positive it was part of the Ugandan Wildlife Authority’s uniform to have a Barack Obama backpack because everyone had one.

It took us what seemed like forever to get to the top of this mountain with all my pit-stops for breath. I can’t really say how big this mountain was but let’s just say it was a close relative of Mt. Everest. When we reached the top Godfrey told us to be ready with our cameras because we were closing in on the family. I immediately pulled out the camera hoping one would just jump into my lap for a photo but we ended up having to trek all the way back down the other side of the mountain we had just climbed.

In our briefing we were told that if the gorillas charge us we were not to run but when we came across our first member of the family, I may have forgotten the rules. The first one we saw happened to be big Papa the silverback and when we interrupted his leaf munching he turned around and took a few steps gesturing to me “You want some of this?” It scared the living daylights out of me and I instantly turned around and ran faster than a Kenyan at the Olympics right into the man with the gun! Needless to say I stopped dead in my tracks…

Stay tuned for Part 2 of Katie’s gorilla adventure!

 

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Experiencing the great outdoors in Africa

Posted on June 7, 2011 by Team Kevan

Katie and Evan arrive in Africa – learning the ways of the wilderness and looking out for lions on the plains of the Masai Mara!

I would like to present Emirates with a gold star for service and comfort onboard their flights. The endless selection of movies, music and games to pick from during the flight makes the time fly by. I am also getting used to the amount of free alcohol they allow you to consume. To top this last flight with Emirates, the flight attendant went around taking photos of passengers with a Polaroid camera and framed them. I am pretty sure that these photos were for kids but I guess it is a little obvious that Evan and I are big kids at heart and offered to take our photo too. So on went the glasses and we now have a long lasting memory of our flight.

When we arrived to the Nairobi airport in Kenya we were greeted by two Masai Warriors, our guide Ruth and the world renowned “Welcome Team Kevan” sign. On the way to our hotel Ruth briefly explained what was in store for us for the next eight weeks. It was a lot to absorb and after our long journey from Shanghai to Nairobi the first thing we did when we arrived at the hotel was jump straight into bed. Since January I really have had no idea what day of the week it is and I sure didn’t have a clue that night either until about two in the morning. Our hotel was situated in the middle of a couple of night clubs and an all night construction crew, I even woke up at one point serenading Evan to La Roux’s Bulletproof. I then realized that it was indeed a Friday night.

African elephants

If you have done a tour with On the Go you have most likely noticed that day one on the itinerary is when you meet up with the group and get briefed on the days that lie ahead and day two is when you start touring. On day two we boarded our giant overland truck with eighteen people for our drive from Nairobi to the Masai Mara. Some of the passengers had been on the road for a while and clearly had more experience hauling themselves in and out of the truck and were much more helpful at mealtimes with their knowledge of what goes down for food prep, wash up and the assembly of tents. During the drive I had my first pit stop bathroom experience. I have no problem peeing outdoors and found myself a nice little hidden spot out of sight from the truck and then heard in the distance behind me kids yelling and saw them running towards me. How nice of them to spot me answering nature’s call and come in for a closer look! That night we arrived at the campsite just in time to enjoy the gorgeous sunset, eat dinner, and have a warm beer before heading off to bed. Yes I said a warm beer because this place had limited electricity.

Everybody push!

The next morning in the Masai Mara we boarded the truck to go for our first game drive of the trip in the Masai Mara National Park. We saw giraffes, gazelles, elephants, zebras, water buffalo and all kinds of different birds. For lunch we stopped near a river bank full of hippos and crocodiles and after we had our lunch we walked with an armed guard to have a better look. In the afternoon our driver Steve spotted a bunch of giraffes and decided to take the truck out their direction. On the way out to the giraffes we got stuck in the mud! We were stuck for almost an hour and we all had to get out of the truck to push. While we were out there pushing we had to keep our eyes open for lions! I was almost certain I was a faster runner then a bunch of the older people in our group, so I wasn’t worried a bit.  Eventually we got out of the mud but decided that taking a closer look at the giraffes wasn’t a great idea and went in the direction of a huge herd of water buffalo. While we were stopped taking photos, I noticed a baby buffalo limping far behind the rest of the group. We had yet to see a lion and I was just dying to see a lion pounce out of nowhere and devour the little one. Sadly, the gimpy little buffalo lived and we didn’t see a lion that day.

After our game drive we were dropped off for a Masai Village Walk where we met the locals and enjoyed their traditional songs and dance. Their dancing included the jumping and the higher the men jumped the more wives they received. It was fun to watch the kids come along and try to jump just as high. We were even welcomed into their homes to see what life was like for the Masai and after visiting their homes we had the chance to purchase some jewellery, blankets and decorations. This was when I was asked how many babies I had and when I replied with none, I was immediately asked how old I was. When I said twenty two I was give a funny look and was told that I was “too old now”. I never thought menopause would strike at the age of twenty two.

The time we spent in the Masai Mara was great. I loved our first game drive even though we didn’t spot all of the Big Five. We did however get close enough to the zebras that we could hear them munching on the grass.  I loved seeing these animals in their proper environment. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to go to a zoo and enjoy them in an enclosed environment anymore.

-Katie Powell

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Reflections on our tour to China

Posted on June 2, 2011 by Team Kevan

Now in Africa on the longest leg of her journey, Katie reflects on her amazing time in China.

The train pulled into Beijing late afternoon. I can’t tell you how excited I was to be in China for the fifth time! You may ask why I have been so many times and it honestly started with an announcement on the PA in high school saying “anyone interested in going to China this summer, please come to room 215 for a meeting at lunch”. Off I went and I was the only person to show up for the meeting and automatically saved myself a seat before even telling my parents about it. That night I convinced my parents that it was great deal and they agreed to send me. Then I graduated and went with my mum for a graduation present, then I studied Mandarin at UFV and went with the class, and then I tried again to learn Mandarin in Shanghai. All in all I love China, Chinese people, Chinese food, Chinese culture, and I think Chinese babies are the cutest babies in the entire world of babies. I really do need to try learning Mandarin one more time because I am really no good at it.  Anyhow, here I am in China again just as excited as I was the first time.

The best part about being here is that I have the chance to show Evan why I love it here. We had two free days before joining up with the tour group and I wanted to make the most of it. Our first night we made plans to meet up at the Hard Rock Cafe with our new Dutch friends and a good friend of mine Lexy who I have known for several years. I met Lexy online when I was trying to learn Mandarin from home. It was a fun night of nachos and beer, a great way to say a final farewell to our Dutch friends and a great opportunity to catch up with Lexy. I even managed to buy Evan an early birthday present from the gift shop. This will have been our third visit to a Hard Rock Cafe while we have been abroad. Sharm el Sheikh Egypt, Moscow Russia, Beijing China and we are hoping to hit up the one in London England.

On our full free day in Beijing we were lucky enough to be there on a Saturday when the Panjiayuan Market was open. This is a massive flea market where you can find everything from used to new! We got up really early to wander around the endless aisles of little shops and bought a bunch of gifts for friends and family. When we found out we won the contest we told our family and friends to not worry about buying us anything for Christmas. This was hard for everyone especially me because I love buying people gifts. To make up for cancelling Christmas we have tried really hard to spoil our loved ones and have been picking up treasures along the way but now in Beijing we decided that this was the place to spoil ourselves! After the flea market we made our way to the Pearl Market where we bought everything from a D&G purse for me and a pair of Diesel shoes for Evan. We are completely aware that everything is fake but the amount of work that goes into these fake products is amazing and surprisingly the stuff lasts a long time. I know because I’ve shopped till I’ve dropped many times before at this market. Word of advice for anyone shopping at any market in China is to be firm, know how much you are willing to pay and stick with it! They will say “Hello Friend! This price for others, and this is my friend price for you!” Don’t believe them! You’re not BFF’s and all they want is your money! Don’t feel bad telling them a quarter of the price and hardly moving from it.

The Pearl market is conveniently located right across the street from the Temple of Heaven and after we had accumulated two massive bags worth of stuff we decided to wander through the park. It was such a nice day and everyone seemed to be out to enjoy the day. One thing I absolutely love about China is how people enjoy dancing and interacting with each other out in parks.

In Canada you would never see people playing loud music and dancing with strangers but people in China do! There was one lady in the park who must have been in her early seventies who was just dancing away to loud techno music. She had skills!  I was impressed! I tried to get Evan to dance with her but he was just too exhausted from shopping all day with me. I’m very proud of him for sticking it out through all the shopping. It’s hard work having to bargain over everything you want to buy. After wandering all through the Temple of Heaven grounds we made our way back to the hotel to drop off our collection of treasures, then took off to WalMart to stock up on instant noodles, water, and toothpaste.

Finally to wrap up our day we made our way to Hou Hai Park. I have been before and knew that this was a lake surrounded with bars and restaurants. We had a couple beers at a few different bars, smoked the worst shisha so far on this trip and took a “bun oven” home. Getting home was a bit of an adventure because the driver agreed to take us without having a clue where our hotel was. We ended up back in one piece extremely exhausted from all of our running around town.

By the end of our whole shopping ordeal in Beijing we ended up shipping a box weighing a whopping 18 kg home to Canada. It cost us an arm and a leg to do it but when we finally get back to Canada and open it up it will be just like Christmas! I can’t wait!

- Katie Powell

 

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Katie and Evan arrive in Beijing, China

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Team Kevan

Katie and Evan have completed their Trans-Siberian adventure and have arrived in Beijing on the first stop of their Beyond the City Walls tour. The Forbidden City, The Great Wall and a tummy-full of roast duck. Read on!

Katie and Evan in Beijing

The weather in Beijing was absolutely perfect. There was a nice breeze, blue skies, and the sun was out in full force. It was warm but not too hot, just right. Goldie Locks would have approved!

First up on the agenda was a visit to Tienanmen Square. Unfortunately, somebody important from Australia was visiting the capital and the square was closed for visitors to walk through. I honestly can’t remember who it was - Nicole Kidman maybe? We spent a couple of hours walking through the grounds of the Forbidden City and stopped on occasion to pose for a few photos with the locals and took a few minutes to have a quick bite to eat inside the City. They have done an excellent job of preserving the history of the Forbidden City but I am going to question the authenticity of ham and cheese sandwiches being served at the cafeteria. Do you think the guests of the Emperor would have been chowing down on a ham and cheese sandwich? I would have felt more in the era if they had served Peking Duck. Is that too much to ask? Perhaps I’ll write a letter to the curator of the Forbidden City and maybe there will be Peking Duck Sandwiches added to the menu.

Traditional Peking duck

After our tour in the City we went on a Hutong Bike tour in a rickshaw through the narrow alleys that weave around the many traditional style courtyard residences. During our tour we visited a family who has lived in their home for five generations. The mother of the family expressed a little concern that all of her children have moved into apartments and have shown no interest in having it passed down another generation. I reassured her that I could easily be adopted into the family and would love more than anything to live in such a cozy traditional part of the city.

After getting stuck in a massive rickshaw and car traffic jam we went to an acrobatic show and then finished our evening up with a delicious dinner of Peking Duck. If you ever find yourself in Beijing unsure of what to have for dinner, eat the duck - you will not be disappointed! The dinner is a roasted duck that is sliced into many pieces that you put onto a very thin tortilla type pancake with onion, cucumber and hoisin sauce. It is amazing. I am almost positive I could have eaten a whole duck to myself that night. Before coming to China I had convinced Evan that restaurants do not provide forks to foreigners and that everyone in China had to become accustomed to the daunting task of using chopsticks. Well Evan surprised us all with his chopsticks for dummies that he had brought from home. These chopsticks are specially fused together at the top with a spring so that any child, or in this case adult could use them. Sadly, somewhere along our journey from Canada to China they had broken.  Being absolutely terrified that he would never see a fork, Evan had taped them back together with the red tape we have been using to make our signature glasses. Let’s just say that his repair job didn’t holdup too well and he was happy to find out that I was fibbing and there were indeed forks for foreigners in restaurants and he didn’t starve.

The Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China was where everyone in our tour group was introduced to the way the Chinese line up for the toilets. Allow me to teach you how to line up for a pee in China.

1.  Fight your way into the common area where the toilets are located.

2.  Choose any door you feel you can easily push your way into.

3.  Once that door opens (regardless if someone was waiting in front of another door before you) you take it.

4. Don’t hesitate or someone will out-manoeuvre you to the toilet.

5.  Don’t feel bad.

And 6.  Get over your fear of using a squatty potty!

On a side note it’s always good to be armed with toilet paper and hand sanitizer because for the most part there isn’t any provided in the bathrooms. When we pulled up to the Great Wall so did a few other buses full of Chinese tourists. It was a fifty person fight for only five toilets.

At the Great Wall there was an opportunity to declare your love with your significant other and buy a lock to lock along the wall. There were a few options, one being to buy a lock with a key and throw away the key or two being buying a lock that had no key. What a gamble. We decided we love each other and we were going to go with the one with no key. Fifteen dollars later we have bought our little love lock and while we were waiting in line to engrave our names onto it, Evan swings it around and locks it! Clearly showing how much he does love me, off he marched to purchase another one. This time I held a firm grasp on it and it made sure it stayed unlocked until it was meant to be locked.

-Katie Powell

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Team Kevan in Mongolia

Posted on May 17, 2011 by Team Kevan

Katie’s tummy hurts from giggling so much, and we’ve giggled along at this latest blog too. Nothing like a flatulent horse to get one smiling, right? It’s the latest from Team Kevan’s Trans-Siberian adventure. Thanks Katie!

That sign has been everywhere!

Our last morning on the train we were woken up very early by our Dutch friend who decided to spend the entire night drinking to celebrate our arrival in Mongolia. I am actually glad he opened our door and stole our water because I was able to drag myself out of bed to see the gorgeous sunrise as we were pulling into Ulaan Baatar. At some point on the train I decided there was no point in putting on new clothes when I wasn’t able to shower, so I wore my white Ganesh t-shirt from India the entire trip. I felt like such a slob because by the end of the trip it had turned a lovely shade of brown and even had a bit of instant noodle sauce on the front. Five days straight on a train with no showers, I couldn’t tell you how excited I was to be getting off the train and have a shower!

Sunrise in Mongolia

First up was a drive out of the city to the Terelj National Park where we were to spend two nights in a traditional Mongolian ger. On our way out to the park our guide told us we were going to stop at a traditional Nomad family’s home to have tea. Let just say these “traditional” Mongolians were a little more 21st century then we were expecting. The lady who led us into her ger and poured us tea was dressed in gum boots and pin stripped dress pants accessorized with pearl earrings and a pearl necklace. Next thing I knew she was chatting away on her cell-phone. Upon further inspection inside the home I also noticed that she was storing her tea in a Kirkland container. Where on earth was the Costco out there? I bet that is where she got her TV from! All in all it did still have a very traditional feel to it. The inside of the home was painted very nicely and the couches we were sitting on were also their beds. The inside of the ger was very spacious but having the couches turn into their beds was a great way to save space. The tea we had was made from mare’s milk and it tasted a little bit salty. We didn’t have breakfast that morning so the tea and cookies were a really nice treat! Outside there were two baby calves dressed up in winter coats to keep them warm. Adorable!

Calf in cardigan. Adorable indeed.

When we pulled up to our ger camp the first thing we saw was the “Welcome Team Kevan” sign nailed to the outside of our tent! To be honest when we first got there I was a little worried that I was going to have to wait another two days before we checked into our hotel in Ulaan Bataar to shower. We really had no idea what to expect. When we opened up the door to our ger we were blasted with heat coming from the little wood fireplace in the middle of the ger. Inside there were three beds and a little table and chairs. After our guide left us the “Team Kevan Room Bomb” exploded as we tried to find our towels and soap to have a shower at the main building. We could have waited about thirty minutes for hot water but we opted to shower right away and endured the freezing cold water because we were desperate to feel clean. I can’t remember the last time I let my armpits get that hairy! Once we were clean we decided to plug in the computer and watch a movie. Since it was so hot in the room from our arrival fire we just sat in our underwear. At some point during the movie we heard a knock at the door and replied “just a minute” but before we had a chance to clothe ourselves we had a little Mongolian man in our room adding more wood to the fire. A little awkward for me in my purple panties but at least we were being good and just watching a movie! Could you imagine if we were up to some other business? We really had no plans for the next two days other than our scheduled meals at the main building, it sure was nice to just relax and do whatever we wanted.

Our next day at the camp we felt inspired by the nice weather outside to go do something

Gee-up! Riding horses in Mongolia

outdoorsy. We had the option between renting camels, renting horses, or go hiking. We hired a guide and went with the hour of horseback riding. Other then the five minute ride in Petra, I had never ridden a horse before. To be honest at that point I felt like I was more of an experienced elephant rider! I’ve always just admired horses from a distance with a fence in between and have fed them the occasional carrot. Evan also had no prior experience but I knew his mum used to ride so I figured it had to be in his blood. I really didn’t think it was going to be a problem, it looked easy enough. Our guide for the ride was a tiny little Mongolian cowboy who didn’t speak a word of English. I’m not sure what why we hired him because he rode behind us and just let our horses take us wherever. Once we got going I had a major case of the giggles and couldn’t stop laughing while I was bouncing around on the horse. At one point I thought I was going to fall off.  Evan’s horse had bad gas the entire time and farted really loudly every time it started to run. As we were coming up over the mountain we saw a bunch of wild horses and once Evan’s horse saw them it neighed and took off to join them leaving the cowboy and I behind. We later learnt from our guide that these horses were actually half wild and the cowboy just went out and grabbed them for us. Apparently anyone in that area wanting to ride a horse can just go out and take one. The next day our legs and our bums hurt and my stomach even hurt too from laughing uncontrollably. We really had a great time exploring the area by horse.

The windy horses.

After our two nights at the ger camp our guide came to pick us up to take us back to Ulaan Bataar for two more nights before boarding the train to Beijing. That day was April 19th, the exact half way point on our trip – it also marked Evan and I being together for two years. To my surprise Evan had roses for me! Usually I am the mastermind behind great surprises but Evan sure surprised me! I still have no idea how he arranged that with our guide. When we found out we won this trip people were telling us “this sure will test your relationship” and said things like “you’ll probably get on each other’s nerves”. Well we really haven’t had any problems and I think it could be weird to not see him twenty four seven when we get home. We really are a team and I don’t think either one of us could have done this alone. There hasn’t been a day that’s gone by where we haven’t made each other laugh.

Once we checked into the hotel I had a nice long hot shower! While we were in the city we checked out the city square where there seemed to be a protest of some sort because there were gers set up with lots of horses in the square. It seemed very peaceful compared to the other protests that have seemed to follow us as we travel. One afternoon we visited a monastery, a temple, and enjoyed a nice traditional Mongolian dinner with our guide. We also spent a couple of hours at the post office where we were able to catch up on our emails and write a bunch of postcards. We even spent a couple of hours trying to find the Canadian Embassy to ask about our ordeal at the border. We were told to go to three different locations and walked all over the city to find it. We finally found it just as they were closing the doors.  The lady who worked there was so nice and took the time to talk to us before making her way home.

All aboard for Beijing!

When we boarded the train heading to Beijing we were very happy to find out that our new Dutch friends Indra and Sven from the ger camp were our new roommates for the journey to China. It was great to be able to communicate in English and hear about their plans to travel the world. They even shared their dropjes with me and let us flip through their Lonely Planet books. I’m not sure if I’ve told everyone that we are now travelling with three bags to be able to carry around our sleeping bags, mats and pillows for when were in Africa. Our new roommates were so understanding when we had to take up a little more space than them. The train ride to Beijing was very comfortable and went by very quickly. The next thing we knew we were pulling into Beijing for our Beyond the City Walls tour and making plans to hopefully meet up with Indra and Sven at the Hard Rock Cafe.

-Katie Powell

Look out for more from Katie and Evan: next they’re touring China, followed by the adventure of a lifetime in Africa.

 

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Tall tales from the Trans-Siberian railway

Posted on May 9, 2011 by Team Kevan

Katie and Evan leave Moscow to cross a third of the globe on the legendary Trans-Siberian railway. Cue large amounts of vodka, a strange smurf-like Finnish man, one or two visa issues and a large helping of relief on arrival in Mongolia. All aboard!

Evan shows his colours on the Trans-Siberian train

We departed the Yaroslavskiy train station in Moscow at precisely 9:35 p.m. Evan and I were really hoping to get a room to ourselves and were told that if we were lucky we just might. Thanks to my parents, you all now know that we tend to have our bags explode in every tent, hut, hotel room and probably this time the train. We’re not slobs or anything! Well OK, it really does come down to the fact that the two of us on this trip have been pretty lazy with keeping everything clean and tidy. But on the bright side we are really good at packing it all up within an hour! To be fair, at home Evan does make the bed and I

The Trans-Siberian ration pack.

do clean the bathrooms, we’re really not that bad. When need be we are able to keep our junk tidy and organized, and for the first time in three months we had to for our new room-mate: an old Finnish man with hair like a Smurf. He didn’t speak a word of English and we weren’t able to communicate much.  So we named him Gherkin because the first thing we opened up was our little jar of pickles, it seemed appropriate and I didn’t watch Smurfs growing up. Gherkin was a great roommate.  He didn’t talk, drink or do much other than his wonderful morning butt rub exercises. I’m pretty sure all my money is still neatly tucked away in my wallet too. It was a tight squeeze but we made it work.

During the five days on the train we had our fair share of entertainment. Olga the drunken snack lady graced us with her loud presence for the first night and the second day. You could hear her coming from miles away. She would stop at our room, sit down and start talking away in Russian between Evan, Gherkin and I, we had no idea what she was saying. This amused her and made her laugh hysterically. She also thought it was funny to pinch my toes and pull off my sheets while I was sleeping. You could definitely smell some booze on her breath and I have no idea how she managed to go in between each train car with

Sampling the local beverages on offer.

four doors between each one with her little trolley full of goodies. After the first two days she disappeared. Evan and I theorized that maybe the chocolate Gherkin gave her was poison and she was done for, or she got drunk and fell off the train. To our surprise she popped up again just before we crossed the Mongolian border. What a relief to us because Gherkin also gave us chocolate.

In the next car over from us there were two high school basketball teams. All of the responsible chaperones of the players were drinking! That would never fly in Canada, but if that was acceptable I bet teams wouldn’t have a problem recruiting parents to supervise in their free time. At every quick stop we had at stations we saw them buying booze. One of the male chaperones was drunk the entire time he was on the train. When he would run out of alcohol he had to make his way to the food car, which involved him stumbling down our car yelling “Mongolia!” at the top of his lungs. Just like Olga, we could hear him coming. On one of his trips down our car he got a little drowsy and decided to take a nap in our English neighbour’s room and a group of train attendants had to drag him back to where he belonged. On another occasion Evan witnessed him try to do the same in the train attendant’s room and he stumbled out with a bloody nose. We may have also heard that he was sleeping with the girl’s basketball coach too. What drama! That man was nuts!

Wide open spaces on the Trans-Siberian railway

Speaking of drinking: I honestly thought that one bottle of vodka was plenty. Well that was all consumed on our second night on the train. We made new friends from England, Holland and France, caved to peer pressure and drank like Russians. We pooled all our alcohol together that night and managed to drink everything! At one point of that night everyone started drinking to represent their country. Evan fell asleep first and it went from Team Kevan to Team Canada and I single-handedly had to represent us. I would like to award Canada the gold medal of the evening because I stood a steady pace and managed to keep everything I consumed inside my tummy. I was even so lucky that the next day I felt amazing. I usually wake up wanting to die after a night like that. No nausea, no head ache, and best of all no upset stomach! Yay me!

Unfortunately on the train Evan and I weren’t able to watch the movies we brought for the laptop because there was nowhere to charge it. We watched the entire first season of Modern Family on the iPod. If you have never heard of this show I highly suggest that you start watching it. It has to be the best family comedy television show Evan and I have seen. It most definitely kicks Big Bang Theory butt. After watching three seasons of the Big Bang Theory straight in Morocco, I’m not sure if I will ever be able to watch it again.

Our fearless travellers Katie and Evan

When we reached the Mongolian border I had pretty much gone the entire time without having a proper sleep. Let’s just say I was emotionally drained by this point. Not showering for five days was really hard to do and Huggies baby wipes can only make you feel so clean. The customs part of Russia took almost three hours. All the ladies were really nice and they even had the cutest little black drug dog come search through the cars. When we arrived at the Mongolian border it was almost nine o’clock. The Mongolian customs lady came, took our passports and about thirty minutes later we had a business man give us back our passports saying “visa no good, back to Russia for you”. Evan and I had a lot of trouble getting our Mongolian visas back in Canada and I vividly remember explaining to the lady in Ottawa issuing them that we were leaving the country and we weren’t able to apply for our visas any later. As like most other travel visas they tend to expire three months after having them issued but she assured me this wouldn’t be a problem. Sure enough, they had expired and the two of us were hauled into the office at the train station. The man dealing with us really had no sympathy for us and was not in the mood to talk it through and help us get new ones. We were the last ones in the line up and watched everyone else fork over more money. Evan gave him the money he asked for but he didn’t explain that was the total for one of us. Off Evan went back to the ATM to get us more money, paid the man and we were issued new visas. When we left the office to go back to our train car we walked out to the platform and noticed that our half of the train was missing. I thought for sure all of our stuff was stolen and the train had left without us for Mongolia. There we were no coats in sandals freezing our butts off! To my surprise a police lady came up and explained to me in French that the train was gone to get the dining cart. PHEW! Long story short, we made it to Mongolia!

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