Two years ago I seriously started thinking about long-term travel - seriously in the sense that I deemed the money in my bank account solely for the purpose of the “big trip”, set a date, and started planning where to go. I recently came across the traveler pre-trip profile on bootsnall.com and thought it was interesting to look back and reflect on where those initial planning phases have taken me thus far. My profile can be found here.

There are a few parts of that profile questionaire that I love:

11. Why did you decide to take this trip? What got you into this type of travel, and/or influenced you to go?

NOW OR NEVER! I feel like if I don’t do this now I’ll have a much more difficult time doing it in the future. I have always loved traveling and I studied in Italy for a semester in college (and that really changed me!). I came back feeling different, more confident, patient, enlightened. Since I’ve been back, I feel like I’ve lost a little of that spice I gained and I miss it! I want to feel alive again

15. What are you packing? What do you consider your most indispensable item(s)?

underwear and camera

17. If you had to sum up your thoughts/feelings about your round-the-world trip in one sentence, what would it be?

I’m tired of talking about it and I’m ready to do it!

21. What is your advice for people planning their own RTW trip?

GO! Make a plan and do it!

So, here I am two years later at the ripe old age of 25, doing exactly what I set out to do… see the world. It may not be the original path I was planning back then, but it still makes me proud to think I was able to stick with a dream long enough and with enough enthusiasm to see it come true. How exciting!

According to MSN news, 65 people died today when a plane crashed near the Manas Airport in Kyrgyzstan. It was very scary to hear about this news since there was already rumors about the safety of different airlines that come in and out of K-Stan. Stories heard from fellow students in Bishkek about the creepy plane they rode back from Osh, or when others coined it “Tragic Air” instead of “Tajik Air”, definitely leave a feeling of anxiety in the pit of my stomach. At least you’ll be happy to know I’m flying back to Kazakhstan on KLM, which is a pretty reputable European based airline.

You can read more about the tragedy at this link.

If you haven’t seen it yet, I suggest checking it out - Three Sheets. This guy, a comedian, is on one big journey to booze around the world, all the while making a very funny and interesting show in the process. And, you might be surprised to find yourself learning a little bit or two from it.

No, this is no DIY budget backpacker endeavor, but it just might give you some ideas on what to do or see while on your journies. Happy watching!

In an attempt to be caught-up and on-the-ball upon my return abroad in September, I’ve decided to combine all these little ideas for individual blog posts into one smorgasbord of interesting bits. So, here you have it! What I’ve learned, loved, lacked and l-acquired (?) while in Central Asia.

Snot Rockets in Paradise:

If said more than a few times in the past, but I am super, super, super germaphobic. I hate the idea of eating off other people, with a passion, once that may have even brought me to tears. Something about the thought of someone else’s slimy saliva sitting on my food, or the idea of getting sick from their germs… ugh… well it makes me cringe. I came a long way during my time in K-Stan, and sometimes I am able to block this fear out of my head completely and just dig in. (I only said sometimes…)

Well if this wasn’t bad enough, there are definitely other parts of the culture I find a bit on the disgusting end of the spectrum. Watch out when you’re walking behind some local guys. Let’s just say they have a tendency to spit or blow snot rockets off to the side, and if you’re in the right place, you just might get caught in the crossfire.

Plastic Bag Much?

In Bishkek, a city where the majority of people commute by public transport, or just plain walking, locals need a way to carry items to work, school, etc. The funny part about this is they choose to do so in a plastic bag. Everyone has a plastic bag. They are so popular you can even buy them at little kiosks with their own local brand names. Erica hit the jackpot when she bought a plastic bag displaying a picture of an eagle with the line, “Protect Feral Animal” on it. You have to love those great English translations.

Meet the Family:

The Kyrgyz are definitely quick to take you as a part of their own family, and one such experience stands out in my mind. Ryan and I were finishing dinner in the apartment when I heard someone shouting outside, “Do you speak English?!”

I popped my head out the balcony and looked up to see my upstairs neighbor hanging his head out of the window. After a short exchange, he invited us up to his apartment, where we were fed lagman (yum!), introduced to his entire family, and then made part of said family. How nice!

Going Local:

There’s a term the students at the London School liked to use when a foreigner comes in and then starts worrying about a price difference of 5 soms, or starts to enjoy local beverages. When this happens, they’ve “gone local”.

Remember that poll I had about drinking fermented mare’s milk? Let me refresh your memory:

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The drink is actually called Kumiz and is as disgusting as it sounds. But, when you are at a table of foreigners with a pitcher of this stuff in the middle, and a table of local Kyrgyz look at it and say, “I want what they’re having,” you know you’ve done it. You’ve gone local.

When it’s hot, it’s hot!

I had heard stories of the heat in Bishkek, but didn’t believe it would actually be that bad until one day it reached 110 degrees while I was living on the 8th floor of an apartment building without air conditioning. I wanted to die.

Maybe High Heels DO Look Good With… Everything?

Another student told me a fairly bad joke that goes a little something like this:

Q – How can you spot the Russian woman at the beach?
A – She’s the one in the high heels.

I don’t know how those girls over there do it, but they are always sporting a pair – rain or shine! And just like worrying over 5 soms, in time I began to think, “Hey, maybe those heels would go good with my bathing suit.” No, I don’t have a pair yet, but give it time people.

Bishkek - Nightlife Hotspot?

No, not really. But, there are a few places to go after nightfall for some action, take for instance, the Golden Bull where we found this Kyrgyz stripper/flame dancer.

Where Everyone Knows Your Name:

I flew out of Almaty, Kazakhstan to come home, and that involved yet another Kyrgyz-Kazakh border crossing experience. I had all of my stuff with me (I have acquired a LOT while in Bishkek), so the taxi driver let me keep my bag in the back of the taxi and explain to the border guys what was actually in it so I didn’t have to carry it. As I was standing there talking to one, I heard another from behind say my name.

Crap. I turned around to see a familiar face – one of the ten border guards that I dealt with back in June. He started asking me why I hadn’t called Rinat back, and when I would come back, etc. I got out of that one by saying I needed to go have my passport stamped, but as I was walking out I was shouted at to see my backpack.

Lies. All lies. He didn’t want to see my bag. He wanted to verify with my passport that I was in fact that American girl that Rinat was desperately phoning the previous month or so before. Wow.

Room for seconds? Keep checking back…

There is no doubt that I truly despised my landlady in Bishkek. Landlord was not so bad, but ever since his putting the body in the freezer day he was few and far between. Landlady, on the other hand, made her presence quite known. I found her quite annoying!

Even before I officially lived in the apartment, she got on my nerves. For no reason at all she would stop by, budge her way in and start snooping. It didn’t matter what we were doing – watching a movie, cooking – she would stay for an extended and awkward time, and then use our phone before heading out (yeah, we paid that bill, too).

When I officially moved into the apartment, she would only ask to speak with Ryan on the phone. Well, that’s fine because his Russian is amazing unlike mine. Well, Ryan left at the beginning of July, which left Liam and I to deal with her craziness. The day before rent was due, she made it known that we owed $150 dollars more than we thought we owed. After having a very long and horrible shouting match on the phone (in Russian by the way), I told her I needed to speak with Liam before proceeding. He then proceeded to call her and set up a meeting at the apartment to calculate why we owe $100 for utilities (it is usually around 500 soms) and $50 more for rent (when we previously agreed on the set amount). Well when we did the calculating, we came to the fact that we only owed about 500 soms ($15) for utilities, and that’s what we paid. Ha, landlady! Try taking advantage of me again!

Even after this very awkward incident, she proceeded to phone us all the time, many times in a row. She actually EXPECTED us to WANT to help her learn English… for FREE… even after she tried to rip us off of all that money! WTF?! I stopped answering the phone.

Then, the final day I was there I was expecting a call from her, but this was ridiculous. I was walking out of Ramstore with some food and heading home. I saw her on my phone ID, but decided I would just phone her back after I got home. The walk takes seriously less than 20 minutes, but this crazy insane Kyrgyz woman called me 15 times. FIFTEEN times!!!!!!! Then, to make it just a bit more interesting, I walked into the apartment to find her and landlord chilling on the couch in the living room with my couchsurfer (who doesn’t speak a lick of Russian). I mean really?! Who is THAT crazy to just call and call and call and call like that?!

So, they wanted to know when I was leaving so they could get the apartment keys. I was planning on leaving early in the morning in order to avoid the heat, so I said I would try and leave at 7am. However, I offered to just leave the keys on the table and push the special bolt lock button (the one that caused great troubles before for us because we don’t have a key for it). Erica was also with me and offered to bring the keys to them since she was coming in the morning to get some stuff from me anyways. The landlady took her number in her cell phone as if this was the preferred method, but before they left she agreed for me to just leave the keys on the table and push the weird bolt lock button – MEANING – I would not have to leave at any specific time in the morning (I wouldn’t be meeting them in person for a key exchange) and it was completely UNNECESSARY for Erica to give her phone number to her.

“Oh man, Erica. That crazy lady has your number now!” I said. “What a sneaky crazy woman!”

Later that evening, I checked the weather and found out that it was NOT going to be super hot the next day. With that in mind, and the fact that I no longer had to meet with the landlords at any specific time for a key exchange, Erica and I stayed up all night having an early 90s dance party and eating watermelon instead of packing up the apartment. To my dismay, I awoke at 6:40am to the Landlord at the door waiting for the key!!!! He looked at me in shock and said, “You said 7.” I wanted to scream.

At this moment, I phoned Erica and hopped in the shower quickly because he was in the living room waiting for me to leave. We loaded up the taxi with ALL the items that were bought for the apartment because I absolutely did not want these people to have ANYTHING of value after I left. I gave our stuff (bedding, dishes, etc.) to Erica to disperse as necessary to other people. I did, however, leave them a cell phone that could not be unlocked in Kyrgyzstan, a broken suitcase full of Ryan’s old socks, and some juice. Ugh, I am so glad to be done with that, but I do miss our place.

[Show as slideshow]

I just received an email from the director of the Guatemalensis language school in Xela, Guatemala about a warning for the Tajumulco volcano area that might be of interest to those planning to travel down south. The Tajumulco volcano is the highest point in Guatemala and often frequented by tourists.

The U.S. Embassy in Guatemala reports the following:

“Rumors of foreigners stealing Guatemalan children have recently surfaced in the
area surrounding the Tajumulco Volcano, an area of Guatemala frequented by
American tourists. In light of these rumors, the Guatemalan Tourist Assistance
Office (ASISTUR) advises – and the Embassy strongly endorses – that American
citizens avoid travel to the Tajumulco Volcano and the surrounding region.

Rumors of child stealing have previously resulted in the lynching deaths of
several Guatemalan citizens. Although no foreigners have been reported to be
the victim of such attacks recently, Americans are reminded to avoid gatherings
of agitated people. Avoid close contact with children, including taking
photographs, especially in rural areas. Such contact can be viewed with deep
alarm and may provoke panic and violence.

The U.S. Embassy in Guatemala City can be reached at (502) 2326-4405 and is
located at Avenida Reforma 7-01, Zone 10. For emergencies (deaths, arrests,
etc.) after hours, U.S. citizens can call (502) 2331-2354 and ask for the Embassy
Duty Officer.”

Was not leaving 110 degree weather
Was not leaving dust storms
Was not leaving behind a crazy landlady
Was not having to take another marshrutka ride
Was not packing up the apartment
Was not saying goodbye to the language school
Was not getting reacquainted with my comfortable, big bed
Was not eating delicious home cooked food
Was not having unlimited high-speed internet access whenever, wherever
Was not being able to flush paper down the toilet

No, the hardest part about coming home was trying to explain to people I just returned from Kyrgyzstan, and it is actually a real country.

Imagine that!

Yep, I decided to come home for a month to recharge and tie up some loose ends. Don’t worry… I have a plane ticket back to Central Asia in early September, and I have plenty of stories to divulge in the meantime from my life back in Bishkek. I’m still not sure what I will be doing when I return, but I am sure thankful I am not doing the dig in Georgia anymore!

Walmart, McDonald’s, and Stop n Shop’s do not exist here (although Narodnie is an excellent little grocery store) in K-Stan. So, when I want to buy something not of designer quality, I head to the bazaar – a place I love, a place I hate… a place I simply love to hate!

Shopping at the bazaar used to be an insanely overwhelming experience, but now that normalcy has set in after a few months in Central Asia, I find them quite pleasurable (I’ll go there when I’m bored just to look around), and sometimes very amusing. Here I would like to share a few of the amazing finds that just make me giggle:

I’m an XXL?!

When wanting to add a pair of underwear to my wardrobe, I went to the underwear aisle to find a suitable piece. When the lady asked me my size I told her I was American and did not know for sure according to their labels. She pulled out a Large and said it was the normal size here.

I stood there for a few minutes looking at the very tiny piece of material held in front of my eyes. That’s normal?! It was at that moment that I looked around and quickly addressed the fact that these Asian and Russian girls have NO HIPS whatsoever, and I with my American-sized caboose am a bazaar panties size XXL. Go me.

The best T-shirt ever!

Since I only arrived in Bishkek with 2 t-shirts, I desperately needed more to add to my tiny wardrobe, especially when it started getting warm outside. I just couldn’t pass this one up when I found it.

“It’s timeta take your heart on the thing for dry cleaning. The dry cleaning service vanderful your winter clohets. Your dry cleaning service wonderful suggestions.”

My new kicks!

Yes, these shoes are on my feet. I simply couldn’t take my eyes off of them – just look at all the colors!

Toothpaste or propaganda?

While browsing through the Chinese market, I came across this toothpaste. Instead of it reading “Whitening Power”, it simply states “White Power”. I have since seen this brand in the normal supermarkets so it is not indigenous to just the bazaars, but still deserves a shout-out.

Cheap Tupperware!

I just love all the Chinese products that make it over here with horrible English on it. Just take a look at this Tupperware.

“Cook should use convenient and smart kitchenware. Because good tool bring great pleasure in cooking. And cooking with pleasure bring delicious food.”

Well it is good to know that my cooking will be good when I use these!

And so conclude my bizarre bazaar finds thus far, but don’t you worry… There’s plenty more where that came from.