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Why are we traveling
Our 6 months review
A magical wedding to finish the run

A Camel on the run

We are taking our Camel "Gamal" on a break!
A break that is going to take us far away from our present daily life, our beloved environment, our house, our jobs. A break for change, for adventure, for discovery and learning.
A break that should take us from the heights of the Andes in Peru, Equator and Bolivia to the white sandy beaches of Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, passing through countries that are both fascinating and mysterious: Brazil, Nepal, Laos and Cambodia, as well as The Galapagos and Easter Island!
We are going for 1 year; at least, that is the plan. You never know what comes up during such a trip. What is sure, is that we are dead excited about it all.

The journey has already started, we are reading, planning, buying, organizing, learning and dreaming about all the things we want to see and do.
This site is about our journey, about our life before, during and after our trip.

Hope you will enjoy!

Silvia, Chris and Gamal

Six months on the run

Today is 23/04/2003, and its time for us to look back and reflect on the past 6 months on the road...

Looking back at the past half year, a huge smile on our face, we cannot seem to agree on whether time has flown by or gone too slowly, we are still overwhelmed by all the things we have done and seen, and by a great sense of achievement: cause traveling - as opposed to being on a vacation - is indeed hard work!

We never considered ourselves budget travelers or backpackers, although we each have one of those big ugly awkward looking things. Instead, we insisted that they were merely a handy means of storing our clothes, and that we were mature working-class yuppie high-budget travelers, with no association or similarity whatsoever with the 20-something dope-smoking just-outta-uni kids who endlessly roam our cities in their dreadlocks, a oversized bag on each side, looking lost, tired, hungover, miserable and above-all, filthy...

But how should we define ourselves today? Have we also become "backpackers" now that we have worn the same 3 sets of clothes for the past half-year; now that we also walk with our humongous bags for hours, sweating like pigs, desperately looking for a place to stay in a new city?; now that we refuse to stay in anything that costs more than $10 a night?; that we jump of joy the rare time we have a hot - or even luke warm - shower?; that we consider spending 15 hours in a cramped public bus a normal thing?; that dirty rooms and stale smelly sheets are an almost everyday occurrence?? NO! we still fall in the "World Travelers" category, for we still have our needs for pampering and comfort (although our "luxury threshold" has considerably decreased): we treat ourselves to lush food every so often; we chose the more "expensive" guest houses with bathroom (and even towels sometimes!); we - far too often - take flights; and when the going gets slightly though, we book ourselves in at the Hyatt Bali for 7 nights!

Traveling has been absolutely great so far. We have been to 7 countries already, we have seen the most fascinating sights (Angkor Wat in Cambodia, the rice fields of Bali, the Taj Mahal in India, unreachable Himalayan Peaks, the Burubudur on Java, gorgious Buddhist temples in Thailand and Laos, incredible rain forests, stunning beaches, active volcanoes and breathtaking sunrises and sunsets); been up close and personal with so many animals (Tigers and elephants in Thailand, proboscis monkeys in Malaysia, sharks, rays and orang utans in Sumatra, bats and dolphins in Bali, yaks in Nepal,  plus thousands of dogs, cats, sheep, buffalos, pigs and will-you-ever-shut-up roosters), met incredible people (Marloes & 'gadget'-Miranda in Pokhara, the unforgettable masters of Shithead Gaving & Malcom in Luang Praban, the should-have-been-a-couple Belgians Kathleen & Bob in Vang Vien, the terrific Italian-French connection Marion & 'tagueule' Claude in Kho Lipe, and many many more who have shared the road with us, or surprised us with their presence (Beny Boy in Sumatra, Patrick in Cambodia, Venkat in Katmandu) and thoroughly enjoyed the three thousand three hundred and sixty hours of non-stop togetherness!

Everything has gone smoothly until now. We have not had any major health problem (a few sore throats, headaches and minor infections here and there, plus 3 food poisonings for Sil and 1 attention-seeking high fever for Chris); we have not had a major crisis (except when Chris thought he was dying (re: attention-seeking high fever)), and not even had a fight (well, apart from the one when Chris thought he was not getting the appropriate amount of attention when he was almost dying (re: above two points)).

Here are some of the lessons we learnt about life and ourselves:
- In Indonesia, never go 'in' the bath (mandi), use the small bucket to wash yourself 'outside' on the bathroom floor
- Sil can read faster than the speed of light: 16 1000-pages bricks versus 7 for Chris in 6 months.
- Long time travelers are more open for contact than vacationers, especially in smaller towns.
- Patience can take you a long way, though not all the way!
- Chris still has a long way to go learn about patience and self-control
- It is by squatting deep and aiming well that one becomes a professional in the use of Asian toilets
- Everybody on the street is your friend.
- Not all Thai people work in restaurants
- Baby elephants are strong cheeky bloody monkeys, and bats do not pee upside down
- If you want good Indonesian food, go to Holland
- Even Sil can now ride a motorbike.

It is difficult to write anything without mentioning what has highly overshadowed our 6-months celebration: War. A war that was started only because the French, those snotty, hygiene-impaired, pseudo-intellectual, snail-slurping, garlic-stinking weenies threatened to veto the last UN resolution that would have allowed the "rest of the world” to peacefully and smoothly disarm one of the planet's greatest idiots.
Yeah right! You'd probably have to be one them fat, simplistic, SUV-driving, gum-chewing, gun-shooting, mall-dwelling, John Wayne cowboys who put ketchup on everything they eat including breath mints, to believe such utter bullocks.
You'd also have to consider the "world" as only the US, the UK and Spain. And, oh yeah... Bulgaria; whatever! Finally, you'd have to admit that Don 'Old Europe' Dumsfeld is an as strong contender in the race for world biggest imbecile than Saddam…

The coming 6 months will certainty be as exciting: We still have to see the mysterious statues on Easter Island, walk on icebergs in Patagonia and Ushuaia, meet colorful Bolivian villagers, trek the Machu Pichu, see all the fascinating animals in the Galapagos and navigate the Amazon river, before relaxing on the white Brazilian beaches…
So much to do… and so much time left!

A magical wedding to finish the run

(22-Aug-03): We were sitting in a funky French restaurant in Salvador do Bahia. The waiter opened a bottle of champagne. He served us appetizers. The music of Charles Aznavour come up, playing our favorite tune.
The kitchen and restaurant crew came out, a cake in their hands, they started singing happy birthday in portuguese. Silvia blushed, and laughed. Chris stood up. They placed the cake on the table. Silvia read the text on it. She started to cry. Chris went down on his knees. He asked her to marry him.

Happy Birthday Silvia!...
Marry me TODAY Silvia!...

(23-Aug-03): The little bi-motor private plane landed on Morro de Sao Paulo early in the morning after a 20-minute flight. We were supposed to meet up with Kris and Jo. Sil was incredibly excited to tell them all about the suprise proposal of the night before, and to make them taste the yummy “Sil will you marry me” cake that started it all.
But instead of just Kris and Jo, Silvia is met by her mother, standing in the breakfast room of the pousada, with another will-you-marry-me cake and lots of tears. One minute later, a huge crowd outside starts singing happy birthday.
We look out, and there they are, great friends and families, 24 of them, having traveled upto 19000km to be with us on this day.from all over the world.

  It was a magical moment, and Silvia did not realise what was really happening until Chris went once again down on one knee and asked her to marry him today! The day was fabulous, the ceremony totally magical, and the evening a dream! All dressed in white, Silvia and Chris said they vows in the cutest little "cathedral", then were “driven” through the beaches of Morro in beautifully decorated wheel barrels, with the whole village clapping and taking pictures.
The seven days that followed were filled with fun, friendship and party, until the last guest was gone and we headed back to Rio, our heads and hearts overwhelmed by an incredible week. Read all about this fab day

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