Margaret & Diana's World Adventures!!

Reasons I am glad to be home

2008-11-30T21:50:00.003-05:00

There are alot of reasons I am glad to be home. I think it was kind of appropriate that we got home at Thanksgiving, we have alot to be thankful for.

One thing would be that we were not in India when the attacks happened. The hotel that was attacked is in the same chain as the hotel that we stayed at in Agra. Mumbai is a much larger and more dangerous place than Agra, but Agra is home the the Taj Mahal which, in my opinion, would be an obvious place for terrorist to want to strike.

I went to Raleigh for Thanksgiving after coming home for a day to unpack, wash clothes, repack, sleep a little, and go! Here I am with Sheri, Twister, and two of Joe's children, Jake and Lilly! More reasons to be glad to be home, family and dogs! Not to mention an amazing American Thanksgiving feast!

I was also glad to get home just in time to watch a last pirate victory, of the regular season that is!

And now, I am going to sleep in MY bed!!!

London

2008-11-30T21:28:00.004-05:00

London is such a cool place! It is so rich with history, but at the same time is very modern. Keeping old traditions but not afraid of news ones. We only got to hit the highlights of London as we were only there for a few days, so I will also only mention the highlight!

Wesminister Abbey! This was so historical it was hard to believe that you can walk around where kings and queens have been coronated and royalty have been married and laid to rest.

The Walkabout. They had us from Sweet Home Alabama. We walked in to this disaster because the shops were closed...but the bars weren't!

The Rosetta Stone

National Gallery

The Tower of London

The Tower Bridge, where the put the heads of the prisoners that they beheaded!

We Will Rock You!!! The musical uses only the music by Queen and it was so great and fun!!

Pretty much, London was a blast. But, it was completely different than the experiences of the rest of the trip.

Marrakech, Morocco

2008-11-21T16:26:00.006-05:00

Our second to last stop on this journey around the globe! Marrakech was awesome and one of the few places I will be anxious to revisit. We landed a little after 7:00pm local time on Wednesday November 19. One great thing about this trip has been the ease with which we clear customs. TCS takes care of our landing/departure cards so all we do is show our passports and walk to a bus. Our bags are collected and delivered to our hotel rooms. Anyways, Marrakech was no exception. We got through customs and only had a ten minute ride to the Sofitel Marrakech Hotel. I wasn’t a fan of this place. It was a French hotel and everyone kept speaking French to us. I don’t know how many times I had to say, “I don’t speak French! And I don’t care to either!!” It just sounds arrogant. Ew. Now I sound arrogant.

Enough about that. We had a buffet dinner once we checked in, but It felt like it was after 10:00pm by this point so most people skipped out on dinner. Diana and I went for the free booze and desert. Not really, we just wanted a beer. Then it was off to bed in our 90 degree room. It was so hot! And when we opened our door to the porch we couldn’t sleep because of the noise from the street, aka cars and barking dogs. All night. Oh, also, we had to walk ten minutes to get from the lobby to our room. Blah.

On Thursday morning we took a walking tour of Old Marrakech, or the medina. This part of the city is surrounded by a wall and contains one of the most intact medieval cities in the Arabic world. I have alot of facts and names for what we saw, and I will be glad to share back is the US.

After our walking tour of the city we had lunch at the hotel and then went out for shopping at the local souk. It was very interesting... After the Souks we walked to the main square where there were Monkey handlers and snake charmers. Yep, look!

Who would have guesses it? I wanted to hold the Monkey?! He wouldn't let me take it though! It even had fingers and finger nails!

After shopping we returned to the hotel to pack for London and clean up for out farewell dinner. We ate at a traditional home, or Dar, that had been converted to an amazing resturant. There were three levels of roof-top porches that over looked the city. So beautiful! I didn't get good pictures of the view, but a few of the place.

The Dar is a square the looks like a run down building on the outside, but is a fabulous home on the inside. It had a courtyard in the middle with a pool! It was so neat!

They also had an open bar.

Exhibit A.

Also, Morocco had a film festival going on while we were there with a huge party at our hotel. We were going to try to sneak in but decided not to. However, we did get the red carpet photo taken! So silly, but at least we didn't sneak in to the Morocco Hollywood party. Ha!

Now we are in London for a few days before returning to the USA. I am ready to get home, but I have lots to say about this trip and I have so many more pictures. I will post about London while we are here! We are all looking forward to coming home in a few days though!

Serengeti, Tanzania

2008-11-19T15:54:00.011-05:00

We left Dubai and headed for a whole different landscape on Monday. We got to the Kilimanjaro airstrip and then split in to two groups. Most of us went to the Serengeti Plains, but a few who had done this safari already went to the Ngorongo Crater. To the Plains we had a 55 minute flight in a hot and musty four engine plane that landed on a gravel runway. A little scary!

Here is our vehicle!

On the way to the Serengeti Sopa Lodge we saw lion cubs, a Leopard (which is really rare) with its lunch in the tree next to it, a dog looking fox, zebras, giraffes, Taris, and some other animals! And that was not even on the safari!

Oh, and this thing. Don't I look beautiful after traveling to the Serengeti all day? Ha!

We had dinner at the lodge and went to bed. Tuesday morning we were up and left the lodge at 8 for our Safari. It was amazing! We were so close to the animals you could hardly believe it! One of the neatest life experiences I think there is. We had a "bush lunch" that was so good at noon and then continued are safari. Here is a sample of what we saw!

Zebras!

Oh and this was our Nat Geo moment when there lions did the dirty right there in front of us. It was pretty awkward...until Larry (my aunt's husband) asked, "So is she going to light up a cigarette now?" It was so funny. Larry has kept us entertained this entire trip.

The Great Migration! Zebras and Wildabeasts travel together and it was so neat to see them! I mean as far as the eye can see there were zebras and wildabeasts!

She was telling us to leave her and her family alone! So we did!

We got back to the lodge at around 4 and cleaned up from the wind blown drive! Then we had a Q & A session and cocktails by the pool with local Messi Tribes men and women who sang and danced.

World's worst picture

We ate dinner at the lodge and then crashed! We had to leave the next morning by 7! So early! On the way back to the airstrip we saw even more animals! And we even saw a hippo out of the water! So cool! Diana said it was like seeing a Whale walking on land!

I have so many more pictures so I will have to show them all to you sometime!

Dubai

2008-11-16T12:21:00.011-05:00

What a huge change to go from Agra, India to Dubai, UAE. Two different worlds. Dubai is unreal. I would compare it to Sim City. There is construction everywhere. It is like if New York was built in 15 years and you visited in year 7 or 8. The difference is that Dubai is seperated in to sections. Like Internet City, Music City, Sports City, ect. Different parts of the city are for different things. It is neat, but you can't walk any where. The buildings are unbelievable. Every district is one sky scraper after another. Wild!

We got here about 2:30 local time on Saturday. Once we cleared customs we got in four wheel drive vehicles and headed to the desert. Dubai is the desert, but we went to the undeveloped part. We four wheeled for about 10 KM through sand dunes and were supposed to have a whole carnival out in the desert.

Here we are with camels and sand.

This is exactly what Cathy Williams thought of the desert.

This morning we got up early and went out for a city tour. This was so lame. My parents seemed to enjoy it, but Diana and I didn't! We went on a driving tour of the city from the highway, then went to a fake version of what old Dubai would have looked like, and then capped it off by visiting a lame museum. Oh well! Then we went out on a boat through the canal. This was more fun because we got to see all the people and building from the water.

Friends! This is Erica, John, Tamara, and Michelle!

This is the view from our hotel window. The Atlantis is at the very top of the Palm Island, which is what we are looking at!

Ski Dubai

We returned from the hotel and had lunch. After lunch and some rearranging of our suitcases (we can only have our little luggage on our next stop in tanzania) we went on a Helicoptor tour of the city. I will let the pictures speak for them selves.

Actually, I wont.

The marina

Triangle towers

Will be the world's tallest building

The World Islands

The Palm

The Burj al Arab aka the self proclaimed 7 star hotel

Diana and the Helicopter

After the Helicopter ride we stopped at a Souk for some shopping, or maybe more looking, and then went back to the hotel. We got dressed a little nicer and went to the 44th floor for drinks and a few picutures.

Then we went to dinner and now we are back and have packed for Tanzania! Africa, here we come!

Agra, India

2008-11-14T11:35:00.007-05:00

We flew out of Cambodia on Thursday morning and had under a 5 hour flight to Agra, India. We landed on a military base, which was weird, and went through customs with one person to check our passports. It took a while and it was hot! Once we got through we drove about 25 minutes to the hotel, dropped off our bookbags, and went straight to the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal is heavily secured and you can take minimal things in. Very small bags are allowed. I guess when you think of India, the Taj Mahal is the one monument subject to terrorist attacks.

Our hotel is about five minutes from the entrance to the Taj and we took buses as close as they are allowed and then walked the rest of the way in. The streets were crowded and crazy! India is a very poor country. 15% of the population accounts for 85% of the GDP. The rest of the population either farms in the country side or lives in slums in towns. It was heartbreaking to see some of the people and animals that were lost and hungry. A big dose of reality.

Anyways, the Taj was unbelievable, it truely felt unreal standing next to it.

Since the Taj Mahal is all marble, we had to wear bootie are go barefooted so we didn't damage the marble.

Here is the Mosque located to the left of the Taj. On the right there is an identical building but it is empty and is just there for symatry.

The Taj is all marble and all the color you see in inlay work, not paint. The colors are all precious gem stones that are placed in the marble piece by piece.

Here is the Princess Diana shot, isn't this a great picture! The red dot is a dot of paint they put on us at the hotel. I washed mine off...

All of the rooms at our hotel, The Oberoi Amarvilas have views of the Taj and are beautiful.

After visiting the Taj we went back to the hotel for dinner and then we crashed!

This morning we got up and visited Fatehur Sikri, the abandoned city. It was a fortress build in the 16th century that was only occupied for 12 years. It was very interesting, as was the hour and fifteen minute drive there. We saw alot of India.

The rickshaw we rode up the the fortress in...

We ate lunch at the hotel after this and then went shopping! We went to the Kohinoor Jewelry Showroom. This turned out to be very interesting. The two families that made royal jewelry and the royal tapastries have combined their interest and made one showroom. The Jewelers have been in the business for five generations i believe. The jewelry was amazing, but the best part were the tapastries that were in the "museum." The stiching is 3-D and is not stuffed, it is just stiched over and over to achieve the right look. They are also cover in precious gems

This is the best one, and it took eveyones breath away. The man who sewed this was a Muslim, and no one expected this when it was unveiled for us to seem.

After shopping we went back to the hotel and got dressed for dinner.

Now we are done packing and heading to bed. We fly to Dubai in the morning!

Angkor Wat

2008-11-13T07:00:00.008-05:00

We arrived to Siem Reap, Cambodia on Tuesday, November 12 around 6pm. In Cambodia we were exactly 12 hours ahead of NC time. This made it easy to figure out what people in the US were doing, except I forgot that Drew was in Texas and I woke him up early! It was so nice to get back to a country with the internet! I have learned to appreciate how lucky we are to have such cheap and easy access to the internet and the rest of the world. Anyways, when we got to Siem Reap we went straight to the hotel and were on our own for dinner. I think that the altitude of the Southern Highland caught up with me that morning because I felt awful all day. So I just ordered room service while everyone else ate at one of the hotel restaurants. This consisted of a ham and cheese sandwich, which I had two bites of, and caramel ice cream, which I ate all of. Typical. I also got the internet running, updated the blog, and finally got to talk to Drew after four days! The hotel we stayed at in Cambodia was unbelievable. The Grand Hotel D’Angkor is the oldest hotel in Siem Reap, and I believe it was built around 1930. All marble floors, iron rails, and an old elevator. The lobby reminded me of the inside of the Titanic, you know the stairs that split and the old elevator. It was beautiful.

The next morning we left the hotel at 7:30 to tour Angkor Wat. We had a great guide, Monirom, who was very knowledgeable about the history of Angkor Wat and of the whole country of Cambodia. It seemed to me that he believed the majority of the country was so happy with the improved political state of the country and that the city of Siem Reap was improving greatly now that tourists could come and visit Angkor Wat. Before the mid 90s the country was not safe or accessible.

Angkor Wat is a huge complex that was built for the Gods. It consists of three tiers which are for the different levels of sacred. The whole Temple is surrounded by a moat, and when it was in use there was only one entrance. Our guide said that researchers have guessed that the entire temple was built in 30 years by around 300,000 people.

The buildings used to be completely painted, and there is still a little bit of evidence of paint remaining. The walls inside the second tier are covered in carvings which tell stories. The carvings are unbelievable and it was magical standing there next to history.

After touring Angkor Wat we drove about 15 minutes to Ta Prohm Temple, which still had trees growing through it like when it was discovered. There are some beautiful sights in the temple.
This day was a national holiday for the country, I believe it was the water festival. All of the temples were very busy because the citizens had the day off of work and many were visiting the temples too.

We returned for lunch after this and then visited a local art store and market. Diana, mom, and I were tired after this and took the afternoon off while everyone else visited more temples. We sat by the pool! I know it sounds bad, but this trip is not a vacation and I think we needed a break!

When we were ready to go to dinner we walked downstairs and got handed an offering!
We ended up being part a parade to the river where we placed out floating offerings in to the water and watched them float away! This was such a great surprise!

Then we returned to the hotel for cocktails and dinner. Dinner was crazy! There was a huge tent set up behind the pool and local Cambodians performed dances for us. We were so tired and I think Diana and I were in bed by 9!
We got up and packed and were out of the hotel in the morning by 9. On to India!

Good Story from Papua New Guinea

2008-11-13T06:52:00.001-05:00

On our last night in Papua New Guinea we had an elder employee of the lodge describe to us the first time that he encountered, met, saw, a white man. The man’s name was James and he spoke no English. One of our guides translated for him. His story was very interesting, and I would be willing to bet this man was at least 80 years old, although he did not know how old he was.
He got his name, James, when he converted to Christianity. Many missionaries have come to Papua New Guinea in the past years. My mom said that she know a lot of shoeboxes were delivered there in the past. It was very evident why. I thought it was interesting that he received a new name, I wasn’t aware that was practiced at all in Christianity. I thought it was interesting that Muslims practiced this, and I think my eyes were opened a little bit to learning this was practiced in Christianity in parts of the world. When the missionaries came they taught the local tribes not to violently fight each other and not to kill people for things such and being a widow. The tribes took this to heart, there was no violence that we saw at all.
I think in my previous post I painted an ugly picture of Papua New Guinea. The truth is, they do not know any better. This is the way things have been for a long time, as long as these people have been there. Their traditions are passed down and because there is limited access to other people and places in the world, they truly do not know any different.
When James was done telling his story the manager of the lodge, who was an American citizen, asked if she could tell a 9/11 story. We all said of course. So, here is the story.
In the entrance to the lodge there is a world map. In the US the world maps that we use have America placed in the center and the rest of the world around us. This world map, however, has Papua New Guinea in the center, with Europe and the Middle East to the West and the Americas to the East. Although there is no cable TV in the highlands of Papua New Guinea there are some radios. On 9/11 the people of the Highlands heard of the tragedy, and although they did not know exactly what happened they knew that America and Americans were in danger. In Papua New Guinea, wars were not fought by invasion, but were fought by the two opposing sides meeting in the middle. So, on 9/11 the employees of the Ambua Lodge showed up in their black war clothes and black face paint. The manager asked what they were doing, and they said that they had come to protect her. On the map in the lodge Papua New Guinea was directly in between the Middle East and the USA. They had come to protect her because they thought that the US and Iraq would fight in Papua New Guinea.
I thought this story was just amazing, and that it shows that these are good hearted people. They just live in a society which focuses on retaining the traditions of their ancestors and have not been influenced by modern society. I think that in 20 years this will be a different country. The people there need help and need a boost to their economy. There are beautiful beaches and mountains, and I think with time this will be a great place to visit.

Papua New Guinea

2008-11-12T05:32:00.008-05:00

The flight from Australia to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea only took about an hour and a half. When we got to Port Moresby there was a terrible thunderstorm and we had to circle the airport a few times before landing. Once we got through customs we got on buses and headed for the National Museum. We were also supposed to visit a Gallery, but the thunderstorm had knocked out the power there. The Museum was interesting and had many exhibits about the cultures of Papua New Guinea.
After we toured the Museum we headed for the Airways Hotel. I noticed on this ride that our buses were followed by a police escort. Port Moresby is improving from what I hear, but it is still a city with very a high unemployment rate as well as crime rate. The hotel was very nice though, and we had dinner before heading to bed.
In the morning we split in to three groups. Some went to the Western Highlands region, some to the Sepik River region, and we went to the Southern Highlands. We had a small charter flight on Air Nuigini (pronounced New Guinea…) which contained our group plus about 6 locals. Here is our plane once it landed on the grass runway at Tari, Papua New Guinea.

Since it was Sunday, there were all sorts of people waiting at the gates of the runway. I don’t actually think that Sunday had anything to do with the crowd considering that we left on Tuesday to the same size crowd. Here is the crowd and the huge vehicles, like hummers, we

On the way to the Lodge we stopped at the Luma Village where we got to experience "village life". Direct from the itinerary. At the village we learned about the role of women in the tribe. It was very interesting. Women are expected to have babies and raise them, raise and care for the pigs, and tend to the farm. Men choose the woman they want to marry by standards very different than what we are used to. If a woman has no hair on her head then she carries heavy loads on her head. If her hands are dirty and she has no finger nails then she works hard in the garden. If her feet are dirty and her knees bad then, again, she works hard in the garden. Usually a man’s family makes the ultimate decision on who he will marry, because they will be buying her to bring in to the family. In the villages, a woman is bought for 30 pigs, plus one more as a gift to the mother. It was so strange to see a society which still revolves around pigs and sweet potatoes. Here are some pictures from the village. The woman covered is white clay is a widow.

Home boy decided to get stoned while we were learning about the village… and then my dad bought one of their bongs...great.

The women on either sides of the widow are her guides, not too sure what they did though.

Here I am with some children from the village. They all wanted to touch your hands.

So, after this experience we made our way to the Ambua Lodge where we stayed for two nights. We checked in, ate lunch, rested, and then listen to Alice, who works at the lodge, talk about her experiences being a woman in the village. She is one of the few women who has gotten a divorce from her husband. We ate dinner after a while and then watched part of a movie called First Contact. It was a documentary about the first time white men discovered the millions of people living in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. I fell asleep during the movie and went to bed! Here are pictures of our cabin.

On Monday morning men from a local village came to the lodge to visit us and show us about their traditions. First were the wigmen. These men go to "wig school" to grow out their hair, cut it off, make a wig out of the hair, and then sell it. Then, they save their money and buy pigs in order to pay a bride price and get married. The wigmen were pretty crazy. They would sit there and pick at eachothers hair for hours if you let them. There are two kinds of wigs, everyday wigs and ceremonial wigs. The prices are about 800 kina for a everyday wig and 1200 kina for a ceremonial wig.

Grandad was watching the wigman!

Here we are at the lodge:

So then we got to see some of the men dressed up for ceremonies perform a "sing-sing." Their faces are painted only on special occasions. Today they use acrylic paint I think, but they used to use clay and other natural things to paint themselves.

Here we are! You may see this again on our christmas card!

After the wigmen left we had lunch and then went on a two hour nature walk. This ended up being a two hour scary walk on a slippery, narrow path of logs and stone and lots of mud, and it rained the whole time. It would have been pretty had it not been so muddy and rainy. There were three vine bridges and two waterfalls. Here is mom on a vine bridge and diana and i at the last waterfall, looking just marvolous!

So after this we had to shower to get clean and to get warm! We ate dinner and then were all asleep before 9:00! The next morning we left the lodge around 9 and drove back to the grass-runway airport. We had to wait about an hour for our plane and then we were back to Port Moresby. We were all so glad to get back on the jet!

Here is the Sing-Sing song/dance...if you want to call it that!

Australia

2008-11-11T10:16:00.004-05:00

We arrived in Cairns, Australia on Thursday November 6 at some point in the afternoon. On the flight from Samoa to Australia we crossed the International Date Line and lost a day. So, Wednesday never actually happened for us! Once we got to Cairns we had an hour ride to Port Douglas where we were staying. Most of the group stopped by an indoor animal habitat on the way to the resort, but I decided to go straight there. We stayed at Sea Temple Resort and Spa, which was about 10 minutes from down town Port Douglas. The resort was apartment style, so our room had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, den, and patio which opened up to the pool. It also had a washer/dryer so we could do laundry. After switching rooms due to the internet not working we got settled in.
Both nights we got to have dinner on our own, which was a nice change. There were four restaurants in Port Douglas we could go to, so the first night Diana, mom, dad, and I went to a place called Nautilus. It was a neat place! All the seating was outdoors on a patio and it felt like you were in the rainforest. I was so sleepy though, I fell asleep at the dinner table!
The next morning we had to be ready to leave the resort at 8 if we were going out to the Great Barrier Reef. The marina was only about 5 minutes from the resort and when we got there we boarded the silver sonic.

It was a really nice boat and Diana and I made our way to the second floor patio area. Here is Diana on the way to the reef!

It took about an hour to reach the first spot where we snorkeled. The reef was beautiful! We had to wear full body lycra suits because of poisonous jelly fish that could be on the reef. Here is the reef and mom and dad!

After this spot we rode another 15 minutes to the ‘kindergarten reef.’ We ate lunch before going out on the second reef. This spot is where a lot of fish raise their fish families, like in Finding Nemo! Diana told me not to put this picture up but I am anyways, it's cute!

We returned to the marina around 3 and had about 30 minutes to walk in the shops at the marina. Then we headed back to the hotel to shower and get ready from dinner. Mr. Lanier’s birthday was today, so all 11 of us went to eat at a local place called Salsa. It was good, but in Australia dinner last about 4 hours, so everyone was restless!
The next morning we got our things together and had to make sure our overnight bags only weighed 22 lbs. for the next part of our trip. When we left we went to a Queenslander home, the Whitfield House, for lunch. It was beautiful and lunch was great! Then we went back to the airport and got a wonderful surprise! Our pilots had been granted to fly at 1500 feet over the Great Barrier Reef! It was unbelievable, and you can truly understand why it is the Great Barrier Reef at this altitude! The last reef we flew over was the reef where Steve Irwin suffered his fatal sting ray bite.

After the tour we continued on to Papua New Guinea. I will post pictures and info from New Guinea tomorrow! Talk about an interesting place...

Samoa

2008-11-11T09:26:00.002-05:00

I think we were actually in Samoa about 14 hours. We landed at 7pm, but if felt like 1am because that is what time it would have been in Easter Island. Diana and I got our luggage and went to sleep at like 9. The internet sucked and it was hot, humid, and buggy. A lizard got in to our room as well at 25 moths. No, more like 10, but still. So, not a great impression. But it was a beautiful island.

Also, I took a picture of our plane before we got on it. The plane is very comfortable and nice. And they wine and dine us the whole time we are on board.

There is a pink flower on the back! I think the crew is British. They are funny, one of the guys name is Rhys. Like Reese. Silly.
Some other interesting notes. My mother has taken up drinking red wine. AKA two glasses at lunch on the plane today.
Another funny story is that my cousin Sam sits next to a man named Mr. Weinstein. His wife and his sister are also on the trip and they sit behind him. His birthday was the day that we flew from Easter Island to Samoa. So, about an hour before we landed in Samoa the crew brought him a bottle of champagne and he wanted to open it then and let everyone have some. So I look over at Sam and he is drinking a glass! It was so funny! Oh, I laughed about that a good while. I think you need to know Sam in order to think that is funny, but if you do know him you probably will get a kick out of that.
The Weinsteins are hilarious and they are also Jewish. I think their children are 26, 24, and 21, so they are not much older than my parents. Someone asked them about their children and Mrs. Weinstein described the oldest two and when she got to the 21 year old she said, and then we have our wandering Jew who is finding himself in Las Vegas.

Also, on Diana's camera we found this picture of Reilly like a month after I got him...ha, he was so skinny!

Easter Island

2008-11-11T08:00:00.008-05:00

I think if there is one place on this Earth that I was meant to live it would be Easter Island. When I thought about Easter Island I didn’t think about a town or local people or beautiful water, I just pictured a deserted island with huge statues. I was so wrong.
Reasons I love Easter Island:
1. There are stray dogs that look like German Shepards and are really friendly and sweet.
2. There are wild horses all over the island. They are so beautiful.
3. The water is beautiful, the weather is beautiful, the people are nice.
4. You can walk almost anywhere. I love walking places, I would always rather walk than have to drive.
So, we arrived Monday morning at 3:30 AM. As soon as we got to the hotel we crashed. The hotels were small so the group split up in to three hotels. At 9 we were up and getting ready , and at 11:30 we walked to another hotel for lunch. Here is a picture of the island from the back of our hotel.

She went for a walk with me when I went to get coffee at 9.

After lunch we started visiting the sites where the Moai are located. First we went to Ahu Tahai. This is the location of about 6 Moai. One was set up and fixed for a movie that was filmed in Easter Island. It is easy to pick out because the eyes are painted.

There was a boat ramp that was used back when the Moai were made that is still there. So I walked down and took some pictures and put my feet in the water.

If you click on this one all of the Moai are in the background, even though I look silly.

One of my friends

So when we walked up we were standing at a distance listening to our guide explain the site. All of a sudden something told me to turn around, so I did. And walking up behind me was a group of about 5 horses, just grazing and running through the site.

Our tour guide is another story. Edmundo Edwards, google him. He has published, done a ton of research and probably gotten in to some trouble. He knew so much and helped up to learn, but he kept us entertained with some hilarious stories. I think he has 6 children. One daughter, Carolina, owns a restaurant/bar on the island and one son, Arturo, is working for the tour company, ATS, for now, but is starting to brew the first Easter Island beer next month. The neatest family.
Next we went to the site of the Rano Kau Volcano and the Ceremonial village of Orongo. There is a crater where the Volcano once was, and the Moai were constructed using lava rocks. It was beautiful, there is a sort of swamp area at the bottom on the crater. Here we are at the top where the crater is. Dad is showing his support for NHHS in Easter Island this day.

Here is a picture of the crater.

Orongo is the ancient site of the historic birdman cult celebrations. Yes, I copied that directly from our itinerary sheet. The honor of birdman was given to one man each year. The men who were chosen as candidates to be the birdman selected a young man who was in shape to represent him in the competition. Now, the competition was that the men had to swim out to the birdman island and collect an egg from the local bird who was nesting there and swim back to shore with the egg. The first to return with an undamaged egg won the competition for his candidate. This was taken very seriously. The losers would cut off their fingers and cut slices in their scalps as punishment to themselves.

Bird island is the bigger island to the left of me. It was a pretty far swim, and the competitors would spend days sleeping on the island waiting to find an egg.

Also up at this site the birdman would live for his year. All around his home there are carvings in the stone of birdmen. Here is a picture of a traditional home where people lived. It is open only so you can see inside, it would normally be covered. The homes were used solely for sleep.

Click on this to see the carvings in the stones. They are hard to see, but it’s just so amazing to me.

So, after this we headed back to the hotel and then went to the craft center to shop for some local souvenirs. After messing around for a while Diana and I decided to walk back to the hotel, it was about a 15 minute walk. We saw a pretty sail boat and some surfers on our way back.
Then we got ready for dinner, where we wore our Williams Family World Tour shirts and took a family picture…aren’t we cute?

So we got a show of the local singing and dancing and our three guides talked to us before dinner. The guides were Edmundo Edwards (our guide), Claudio Cristino, and Patricia Vargas. Claudio and Patricia are married and have children, one of which we became friends with, Atariki. He works for the travel company along with his parents. I think that the three guides probably own the company. They are all archeologists and have each done an unbelievable amount of work on Easter Island. One thing that amazed me is how many languages they speak. Atariki, who is 24, speaks Spanish, English, French, German, and probably a few more.
After dinner Diana, who was a little tipsy, decided that she wanted to experience the night life of Easter Island. So while I was Skyping and checking my email, Diana was befriending Atariki and making plans for us for the night. When she returned she informed me that we were being picked up at 10:30 and were going to the restaurant/bar that Carolina owns. Then she made friends with a dog and fed it all of the leftover food from dinner. Oh Diana.

So, I got our friend Michelle to join us for drinks. We ended up having a really great time! The restaurant was really nice and we sat on the back patio and drank and talked to Atariki and Arturo about life on Easter Island vs. life in the States. It was really interesting and I am excited to have friends in Easter Island!
Here we are, I stole Diana’s pictures! Us with Michelle and our Easter Island friends!

So, getting up at 7 the next morning was nothing short of awful, but at least I wasn’t hung over!
The next day we first visited Rano Raraku Quarry. This is the site of almost 400 moai who never made it to their intended final resting place. The moai are in various stages of completion, some look completely finished, some are still in stone that is connected to the earth. Many are half buried in the ground. This site was unbelievable. The moai are everywhere, like there is nothing special about them.

Here is a size comparison, and they are half underground

In the second picture, the moai was being carved in stone that was still in the earth.
After this we went to Ahu Tangariki, where 15 statues were restored after a Tsunami knocked them all down and broke them. My camera battery died, so I only got one picture, but I am stealing Diana’s pictures.

Diana and I walked behind these moai because you can get much closer from the back of them and appreciate their size more. Behind here is where Diana made her offering to the Moai. A ceremonial puke dedicated to their vast amazingness. Aww, and no one saw that. But when our bus had to pull over later and she jumped out to make another offering everyone saw. Poor Diana, she felt much better after that.

Next we drove to Anakena Beach for a BBQ lunch. After lunch I threw on my swim suit and jumped in to the Pacific Ocean! It was so nice! A little chilly at first, but it warmed up! Then we drove to one last site, Ahu Akivi, where 7 moai have been restored. This site is unique because these are the only statues that do not face the village but instead the ocean.
We had a minute to rinse off at the hotel and jump on our plane for a 9 hour flight to Apia, Samoa.
I have to be honest, I wans’t sure what to expect from Easter Island. Certainly not the amazing time that we had. I can honestly say, if I could speak fluent Spanish I would consider jumping on a plane ever y November and getting a job in Easter Island for the 3 month summer season. I have never felt so peaceful in my life. No stresses, not many cars, no highways, just the island. When we left I kept feeling like I was forgetting something, and I think it was a little piece of my heart. I know that sounds stupid, but it’s true! I think everyone in my family felt the same way.

Return to Lima

2008-11-11T07:34:00.006-05:00

So it has been forever since we have had internet, so I am going to do my best to update the blog. Sorry if it doesn't make sense!

On Sunday, November 2, we flew from Cusco back to Lima. Because of regulations about landing at Easter Island we had to wait until 10:00pm to leave from Lima. So we spent the majority of the day in Lima. We were picked up from the airport by buses which took us on a tour of Colonial Lima. It was a much more attractive part of the city than what we had seen before. Many of the building have beautiful porches on the second floor that jut out and all are painted in bright colors.
We went to the main square and got out to take pictures. The President of Peru’s home is on the square. Here is a picture of me in front of his home, sort of like the White House:

While we were in the square, a few Peruvian girls attacked my cousin, Sam, for a picture with him. It was so funny.

After this we drove around some more. Something interesting about Lima is that many squatters move to Lima and build small homes on the hills on the outskirts of town. Some of the hills have running water, electricity, paved roads, ect., but some do not. The homes are all painted bright colors and they make the background of the city kind of pretty against the grey skies. We were told that it never rains in Lima, but that there is usually a grey cloud cover over the city. It will mist or just be very humid, but it doesn’t rain. Anyways, I don’t have any pictures, but if I find someone who does I will borrow and post.
So, for dinner we went to the Hacienda Mamacona where a local family breeds Peruvian horses. The home was on the outskirts of town and was beautiful. When we pulled up the Momma and baby horses were in pins beside the parking area and we could walk over and pet them.

So Adorable. Then we had cocktails and watched a demonstration of the horses and the local dancing.

During the demonstration they brought out a 15 day old colt and the momma horse. It was the cutest thing. The baby would run ahead of the momma horse and then realize it was by itself and turn around and run back to her side.

After the demonstration we had a dinner of local cuisine. It was all very good! And where we ate was beautiful. It was on the back patio of the hacienda.

I was bummed about that whole day because I was excited about getting to Easter Island, but it turned out to be a lot of fun.

no internet!

2008-11-07T06:42:00.002-05:00

So, here is the update. We are in Port Douglas, Australia tonight and flying to Paupa New Guinie tomorrow. We have had no wireless internet for a few days so I cannot put any of my pictures online!

Easter Island was amazing and I think we would all just move there if we could. The Great Barrier Reef was beautiful and we are sun burnt and tired! I will post pictures of everything as soon as we get a good wireless signal. Hopefully when we get to Cambodia on Monday!

Thanks for being patient!

Machu Picchu

2008-11-02T10:19:00.009-05:00

So we have learned that everything we do involves multiple methods of transportation. Yesterday was no exception. We started with a 20 minute bus ride to the train station, then got on a 3.5 hour train ride to Machu Picchu, then another 20 minute bus ride up to Machu Picchu.

Anyways, the train was fabulous. There were two eating cars, then a bar car with a viewing area and open deck. The seats were either two person or four person tables....

We had brunch on the way to Machu Picchu and also some Cocao Tea with Piso! Yay! That was good! Then we had a picture taking session on the back of the train.

Here is our other sister, Michelle, with Grandad. Not really, but people keep asking her if she is one of the Williams girls.

So, after 3.5 hours we arrived at Machu Picchu. Diana, Dad, and I decided to do the 'Sun Gate' hike, which was the hardest of the three options. It was about an hour hike up the the spot where the Inca Trail ended and the travelers had the first sight of Machu Picchu. The Inca Trail was the only was for the Incas to get to Machu Picchu. It is surrounded by water and there were no other trails in. Today people come here to hike for about 3 days on the last leg of the trail and then get to Machu Picchu.

Here is Machu Picchu from the start of our hike:

Here it is once we got to the top of Sun Gate (you may have to click on it, it's to the left of me).

Important thing, there were Llamas and Chinchillas at Machu Picchu!

Machu Picchu was amazing and hard to explain. I think it is one of those places you just have to see for your self. Pictures don't do it justice. Here are a few more just as an attempt to explain what we saw:

It was beautiful and amazing and a great experience.

We are flying to Easter Island tonight, aka tomorrow morning!

Cusco/Machu Picchu

2008-11-01T23:23:00.012-04:00

Wow! What an amazing two days these have been!

Friday morning we woke up in Lima, had breakfast, and then Diana & I went on a walk. We discovered that the area in front of our hotel was a dog park! JACKPOT! The view down to the ocean was also beautiful. The picture shows a view from the side walk looking down to a resturant that juts out in to the ocean.

We left Lima and flew to Cusco around 10. It is beautiful and the people here are so friendly! We had a great tour guide the whole time named Harvey. The hotel we have been staying at here is called the Monasterio. It was actually a Monastery converted in to a hotel. It is very very beautiful.

Here is a picture of us in the courtyard after we arrived.

In the afternoon we visited two cathederals and then had time to walk around the main square for some shopping and for getting harrassed by locals selling dolls, hats, belts, ect.

See below:

Here is me in the main square. It is so nice and different that anything we are used to.

One last picture from Friday....I met a lady with a llama and a baby, so I had to have my picture taken!

I am going to bed now...I am exhausted. I will get up in the morning and tell you all about Machu Picchu and the combined 7 hours we spent on a train today!

Thanks for keeping up with us! We miss you all and can't wait to tell you all of the stories!

Lima, Peru

2008-10-30T21:17:00.006-04:00

Hello from Lima, Peru! I kept saying Lima like the bean, and apparently that is incorrect.

First off, I will start with last night. At the pre-dinner cocktail party we got a chance to mingle with other people that are on the trip with us. That was interesting. So many people had been on 2, 3, 6 of the TCS trips before, so it was good to hear about their experiences. At the little social the waiters continued to fill our wine glasses up without our consent. As a result, I think we all drank a little too much.

Then we went in to the dinner. Now, we had already been eating appetizers at the cocktail party, so no one was really hungry. But, the salad, filet, and creme brule all got eaten somehow. Anyways, this is what we looked like post-dinner...

So, this morning I think Diana's alarm went off at 5:45 am. HELLO! Not that anyone could sleep due to all of the nerves and anticipation. We had breakfast and headed to the airport at 8:00. Everything was easy peasy one two threesy. The plane is so nice. Very spacious and the staff of the plane are all very nice and helpful. We had a 6 hour flight down to Lima, and let me tell you, it was a weird feeling when the pilot came on and said we had just crossed in to the southern hemisphere. We had a huge lunch on the plane and heard some lectures on earthquakes and on Lima itself. We landed about 3:20pm Lima time. So...we made it!

We went straight from the airport to the Larco Herrera Museum. The museum had alot of jewelry found in tombs, pottery from 200 BC, tapastries, ect. Here is a picture of solid gold jewelry found on a body in a tomb. The tombs were burried 12ft. underground, which has alot to do with why the jewelry was in such good condition.

Then we had a cocktail in the courtyard of the museum. I didn't get a picture of it, but I found a dog! Peruvian dogs have no hair, and it looked like a hyeina rat. I wanted to pet it but it was a stray. Oh well, at least I found a dog at our first stop! Here is a picture of Diana and Me at the cocktail.

Finally we got to the hotel Miraflores. It is beautiful, the ocean is right outside of my window. There are parks on the right side of the road and then steps going way down the cliffs to the ocean. It is unbelievable. We had dinner on the 11th floor observatory deck, which was outfitted with a heated pool, seen below (aka my mom wanted a picture with it! A lap pool!)

So, tomorrow we head to Cusco and then to Machu Pichu. The internet is not complementary anywhere, so I am taking donations. No i'm kidding, but it may be two days before the next post. Wish us luck with our trip to 10,000 ft. elevation!

Much love,

Marge & Di

Getting to Orlando...

2008-10-29T16:45:00.004-04:00

So, this morning we left the house at approx. 7:45 am to go to the airport. Baggage check only cost us an extra $100. It would have cost another $50, however, I was able to remove a jacket and pair of rainbows in order to get my bag at 50 lbs. Thankfully Diana had extra room!

After boarding the plane to Charlotte we sat on the runway for 45 minutes, causing us to miss our connecting flight to Orlando....wonderful, huh? Anyways, it turned out to be a minor incident because another flight left at 1:00pm, landing at 2:30, and we ended up on the same flight as my Aunt and Uncle!

We made it to the hotel, and guess what, the lovely, wonderful, luxurious Ritz-Carlton does not have free wireless internet. GREAT. So, my 15 minutes (costing me $2.95) is almost up.

More tomorrow from Lima, Peru!

Say a prayer for our first trip out of the USA!

Peace, love, and jet setting rock-n-roll

Marge

Packing

2008-10-28T14:07:00.007-04:00

How do you pack for a month?

Simple...neatly place everything you own in a huge suitcase.

Or, if you are my mom, go nuts...

Direct quote: "I'm done being crazy" - Cathy Williams. Liar

On the other hand, if you are Diana, you could just get stoned...

Any ways you do it, you are likely to loose a few years off your life in the process.

Oh well, I'm done packing! If only I could fit Reilly in my suitcase...

We are doing what?

2008-10-03T10:32:00.005-04:00

Background: Our family is going on a month long trip around the world. My Grandfather decided this trip was something he wanted eveyone to go on. So, here we go. We both feel lucky to have this opportunity & are very excited.

In Attendance: Margaret, Diana, Cathy (our mom), Lonnie Jr. (our dad), Jan & Larry Murdoch (Dad's sister & her husband), Jan & Gary Williams (Dad's brother & his wife), Sam Williams (our cousin), Lonnie Sr. (Granddad), and Mr Lanier (Granddad's friend). Be prepared for some great stories...

Where we are going: We are pretty much going completely around the world. Here is a list of the places we are going in chronolgogical order: Cusco & Machu Picchu, Peru; Easter Island, Chile; Samoa; Great Barrier Reef, Australia; Papua New Guinea; Angkor Wat, Cambodia; Agra, India (Taj Mahal); Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Serengeti Plain, Tanzania; Marrakech, Morocco; and finally, London, England. Whew, that made to tired just to type out!

So, we will post on the blog about where we are, what we are doing, interesting things we see/learn, funny stories (especially concerning our mother), and of course, how many times Diana pukes on the plane. Ha!