And the nomad'ing continues.... of Where in the World is Ellen?
Part 2: Late Sept 2018 to... January 2019!!!
Countries visited: Maldives, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Serbia, Malawi, Nepal, Tibet... and a few stop-overs through Dubai and Johannesburg
# of flights to date: 36
A brief little summary:
What are a few days in paradise? How about 10-days? Well, my dear DCS runner friend Brinda just happened to move there and work for a luxurious hotel, and there was NO way I would do this Travel Sabbatical without visiting her, and it was as amazing as I thought. All the major superlatives you can think of - it's true. It really is paradise and we had an amazing catch-up (she is beyond generous), gorgeous food, beautiful weather, GORGEOUS sunsets, and I got to continue doing some of my fave water sports - scuba diving and snorkeling. Also it was nice to be there for her bday! But I couldn't be lazy forever as I then went to the Baltics! I haven't experienced an actual autumn season since my brothers wedding in 2010, and wow, I never realized how much I miss it, AND it really is my FAVORITE time of year. Yes, it did seem a wee bit colder than it probably should have being in tropical weather the couple of months beforehand, but it was actually beautiful and as amazing as I remember it. I loved exploring these countries as they are quite quaint, yet have a lot of cultural things to do. It was also nice to see it off-season because it was not that busy. As much as I do agree it was glorious to have fall weather, I was happy to go back to warmth, and my next stop was Malawi! Why Malawi?
Long story short, I came through a Physio volunteer organization I volunteered with before in India, and I really wanted to do something to use my skill, and I really love volunteering! This was quite a challenge as I did TEACHING, something I have never done before and boy, was it a lot of work! But soo rewarding, I actually re-learned a lot myself, and I do hope the students learned as well. Malawi is known as "country of warm-hearts" and it truly is that. The people are soo soo lovely and although it is a low-key country as far as 'things to do,' I just liked the simplicity of it. It sadly is SUPER poor, but again, the people are just soo beautiful.
After that experience, which was harder than I thought, I again had a change in climate too... Nepal! After last year's Everest, everyone kept talking about the beauty of the Annapurna Circuit, so I just had to do it. I signed up for what was supposed to be this "yoga trek," but it was far from it! Which was a shame because the idea of it was fab as I love both those things. Ahhh well, the trek was amazing and GORGEOUS and I just LOVE the mountains, can't say enough how ALIVE and rejuvenated I feel when I am in the mountains. I was blessed beyond belief to have these soul sisters as part of my group (just 2 of them) and the 3 of us got along like 3 yogis in a pod (with the wimpy yoga). After the trip and the crappy agency, I then went on my own and did the Mardi Himal trek, which was a great experience to have that independence and freeeedom to do a trek on my own, and it was totally fine and safe and a gorgeous route in itself. THEN, as Everest is always a calling as has been Tibet since I can remember, I joined a group (as one has to) and then went to Tibet for just over a week. It truly is a special and magical place, again, the people! So shy and ... real. Yes, you can see they are discrete under the Chinese influence, but here you can clearly see their spirituality is REAL, it's not some glossing over belief that we see a lot, but from the bottom and tops of their heart, they full-heartedly have this passion and spirit of buddhism, soo humbling to see. They are also soo shy, and this was just too cute. And of course seeing the north face of Mt. Everest was special.
And, again, thousands and thousands of pics, buuut here are some of my faves....
Maldives
Manta rays!
Finland, Estonia, and Latvia
Malawi (Blantyre, Majete Game Reserve, Cape MacClear and Monkey Bay)
hehe, somehow as luck would have it, Mr. Malawi and Runner-Up Mr. Malawi were both at the gym when I was there... just had to take a pic!
Nepal (Annapurna Circuit, Pokhara, Mardi Himal Trek)
Annapurna Circuit
Lumbini - birthplace of Buddha
Pokhara
Mardi Himal Trek
Tibet (Lhasa, Shigatse, Everest north face)
Phew! Well, as it took, what, 9 months to get these two Part 1's and Part 2's going, who knows when the next... AND FINAL one will be. Yup folks, there is an end in sight! Only a few more months to go of Where in the World is Ellen, and then... da da dum, back to Chicago! So, eek, probably next update will be from the USA! Stay tuned, more Africa travels to come in Part 3!
