BHUTAN!

Bhutan is an absolutely unbelievable place -- one of the most amazing journeys of our lives to date.  The country is pristine and beautiful, virtually untouched by western industrialization.  Life is simple and functional, the people are happy, compassionate, content, and always smiling.  Never have we encountered such genuine or friendly souls.  We hiked through villages, were invited into people's homes for black tea and puffed rice, witnessed monks chanting, saw monkeys, yaks and cranes, visited Dzongs and witnessed festivals and ceremonial dances, learned about Buddhism, visited a local Basic Health Unit, hiked up to the infamous Tiger's Nest, flew by Mt. Everest on the same plane with one of the Crown Princes of Bhutan, and dined on delicious Bhutanese and Indian foods.... just to name a few highlights.  We cannot wait to go back!

CHANGE OF PLANS

Carter decided to put off taking her PA board exams for a couple of months, so our travels are being delayed.  We are definitely still going, but looks as though we'll be leaving around the beginning of April instead of early February.  We are keeping our plans to go to Bhutan with Carter's parents Feb 2-17, so stay tuned for photos and blog posts from that adventure.  Then our RTW blogging will resume in April...

Holiday Preparations

Merry Christmas!!!

We got an Asus Netbook for our trip... attempting my first blog post on the new machine... not only trying to adjust from Mac to PC, but also to a mini PC at that... it's going to take some time!  

We got our immunizations over break, and we have applied for all of our Visas. We have yet to buy our RTW plane tickets but are getting close, we have 2 more rounds of shots to go, and we also need to get in-shape!  Among the 1 million other items on our to-do list. Much to be done between now and Feb 1st, but we are getting excited!

Where We Plan To Go

We've finally narrowed down our list of countries!  It will most likely change again, but for now...
Asia:  Bhutan (officially our first stop), India, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea

Australia & New Zealand

Africa:  South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Egypt
Eastern Europe:  Israel, Turkey

We will begin our travels Feb 1, 2011!

We hope that you will mark your calendars and plan to follow us throughout our adventures.  And please send us your comments!  STAY TUNED FOR FUTURE POSTS & PHOTOS...