USD
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Damn that Dollar!
England is great and London is possibly one of the greatest cities in the world. There are cool things to do, funky clothes to buy, good shows to see, and yummy food to eat (ethinic food of course). Too bad it costs so damn much to do any of it when you’re coming with US dollars.
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Banking in Zim-Zam
If you’re planning a trip to Zimbabwe – okay, not that many people plan to go to Zim, lets start over – if you’re planning a trip to Victoria Falls and flying in, guess what, you’re going to Zimbabwe. The land of 7000 percent inflation, and the land where the government officially denies that there’s an issue with inflation.
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![Thats A Big Wall]()
Olympic Fever - Beijing
Thats A Big Wall The truth about Beijing, if you’ve been in China a while, is you only need a few days to see the sights, then get out …unless you want to go shopping. Then you could be there a month.
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Showdown at Qantas Office - Beijing
So part of the attraction of our Round the World ticket is it’s flexibility. Once you’ve identified you’re destinations and flight dates you can change your dates at will. So if you get some where and love it you can stay longer, or if you get somewhere and hate it you can jet out, and for a fee you can change your destinations entirely.
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![Mongolian Kid and Friend]()
Mongolia Notes for Budget Travelers
Mongolian Kid and Friend Mongolia is a bit different than the other countries we have visited thus far. There is only one real city, UB, and there is very little infrastructure to support public transport around the country. As we mentioned in Off We Ger if you want to get out into the countryside, which is really THE reason to come to Mongolia, then you need to a) join a tour; b) hire a jeep; or c) be completely raving madand take the local long distance buses.
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China Notes for Budget Travelers
Our original budget for China was based on the costs of the big cities like Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong. Our goal was to stay at or below $70 a day for both of us. We were able to get by on about that in Hong Kong, but were able to easily stay below $50 a day for most of China.
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![Terra Cotta Warriors]()
A Tale of Toes and Terra Cotta Warriors - Xian
Terra Cotta Warriors Of the many, must see' cities in China, Xi’an is certainly high on the list. It’s considered one of the four great ancient capitals of China and is the eastern terminus of the old Silk Route.
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![Mao Meets Capitalism]()
Comrades and Capitalist Roaders
Mao Meets Capitalism If a picture is worth a thousand words, this one must be worth a thousand dollars. This is China today. New cars being sold at the foot of Chairman Mao while “Life in the Fast Lane” blasts from stereos.
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![Dave and Lolo at the Taj]()
India Notes for Budget Travelers
Dave and Lolo at the Taj India is a budget traveler’s dream. It’s certainly one of the cheapest countries on our itinerary. Our daily budget for two is probably less than you spent the last time you went out to dinner.
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![Monkeys at Jaigarh Fort]()
Monkeyin' Around
Monkeys at Jaigarh Fort I guess it shouldn’t be that surprising, but there are monkeys everywhere in India. We’ve spotted a few in the wild, but most have been hanging around rooftops and historic forts. When Dave or I would spot monkeys on our safari in Corbett Reserve, all the locals just shrugged as if to say, “just a monkey”.
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![India Gate]()
Several Million Do Make A Difference
India Gate After a long, chilly train ride, we arrived in Delhi last Thursday. Delhi is India’s second largest city after Mumbai. And though I can not find consistent population numbers, it is a fact that several million fewer people live here than in Mumbai.
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![A Room With A View]()
Go, Go Goa
A Room With A View Following our escape from Mumbai, we decided to head south, where according to various parties it’s “less crazy.” We chose to come directly to Palolem Beach in southern Goa for a little chill time.
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![Bolliwood Stardom]()
Hooray for Bolliwood
Bolliwood Stardom Jokingly one of our goals on this trip was to get cast in a Bolliwood movie: Mission Accomplished!
It was surprisingly easy. There are some 700 movies made in Mumbai a year so the numbers are working for you if you want to be cast as an extra.
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![Sad Little Went Tent]()
Australia Notes For Budget Travelers
Sad Little Went Tent It should come as no surprise that Australia is not the cheapest of countries on our itinerary. That said, the country is well equipped for backpackers on a budget. Like New Zealand, if you watch your $ in the cities and self-cater (camp and cook yourself), you can stretch your dollars pretty far.
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![Fanboat Lolo!]()
The Top End - Darwin
Fanboat Lolo! We’re in our last stop in Australia before we head off to India. Darwin is the capitol of the Northern Territory, but it’s only a city of about 50,000 people and it has a very different feel from most of the other Australian cities that we’ve visited.
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![Queen Victoria Market]()
Marvelous Melbourne
Queen Victoria Market After a few days on the road from Sydney we arrived in Melbourne – the second largest city in Australia and the capital of the state of Victoria. Aside from a stroll though the Botanical Gardens and along the Yarra River, we spent most of our brief visit to the city at the Queen Victoria Market and at the Melbourne Zoo.
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![Oh, What a Feeling!]()
Diary of a Car Camper - Australia
Oh, What a Feeling! We’re leaving Sydney and car camping again. If you’ll recall we were hooked up in New Zealand with a very cheap rental. In Australia, not so lucky. Still lucky, we have it for $29.00 a day AUD, and it’s a much sweeter ride.
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![Welcome to the Year of the Pig!]()
New Year (Chinese New Year) in Sydney
Welcome to the Year of the Pig! So we’re here in Sydney and we’re learning that Sydney kind of marches to the beat of a different drummer. Part of the reason we came to Sydney when we did was timing.
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![Spending Tips from the Experts!]()
New Zealand Notes for Budget Travelers
Spending Tips from the Experts! Some of you are probably wondering how the heck we are making our money stretch around the world. The answer is on a budget! As we planned and planned and then planned some more prior the trip, we did our best to estimate our costs from everything to tickets and visas and travel insurance to daily costs and special, one-time expenses like tours.
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![Not ours, but I wish it was...]()
Diary of a Car Camper - New Zealand
Not ours, but I wish it was... We’re starting kind of a second leg of our stay here in New Zealand, the bikes are gone and we’re renting a car for the rest of the trip. Of course it’s going to give our legs a break and let us have a lot more range in terms of where we can go and what we can see in a day.
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![Well, San Francisco has hills and Cable Cars too. But that is where the comparison ends]()
Hobbits & Elves
Well, San Francisco has hills and Cable Cars too. But that is where the comparison ends We arrived in the capital city of Wellington on Monday evening after 11 hours on a bus traversing the North Island from Auckland.
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![Flavored Milk is Big Down Here]()
Reflections on Sweet Potato, Pumpkin and Hokey Pokey
Flavored Milk is Big Down Here The three things that stand out about food here in New Zealand are their love of (In order) Ice Cream, Pumpkins and Sweet Potatoes (known locally as Kumara).
Let’s cover the last first, when I first saw it listed on the menu I just assumed that Kumara was a strange type of sausage.
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![Incident at LAX]()
Return Ticket Please!
Incident at LAX Finally, after months of planning, preparations and daydreaming, we were off. Lee Anne’s sister in law and niece Megan saw us off in Dallas, and we were on our way to our first stop – New Zealand.
