Wanderlust is defined as a strong desire to travel, and it holds true that not all who wander are lost. I am a solo female traveler (although I don't always feel alone) and I hope the sharing of my experiences inspires others to travel!
¨When you cease to dream, you cease to live¨~Malcom S Forbes.
"I'm in love with cities I've never been to, and people I've never met."~John Green
One of the things New Zealand is known for in the eyes of visitors is Lord of the Rings. I will attest that it is uncanny how many times I notice places I've been in the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movie, its quite cool. One of the biggest draw cards is Mordor, or Mt. Ruapehu, a volcanic mountain which Peter Jackson based Mordor on. WARNING: Many Lord of the Rings references to follow, if you are annoyed with this constant reference, I wouldn't read any further. :-)
While I was on the north island of NZ, I was passing through Lake Taupo and really wanted to hike this mountain. Unfortunately, the first time I came around with my friends from Australia, the weather was too bad to attempt the Tongariro Alpine Crossing; a hike that traverses the mars like landscape around "Mordor" and leads you to the path to climb it if you so choose. Luckily, when I revisited Lake Taupo a week or two later with my friend visiting from the states, the weather was predicted to be good even though they'd had a hail storm the day before. Well that's all I needed to hear, let's pack the bags!
The surrounding mountain range
At the beginning of the hike
The hike was estimated to be 7 hours, 19 kilometers (almost 12 miles), dropping and climbing to reach heights of 1900 meters (6,200 feet), and passed through active volcanic zones. We began by hiking by a creek which was sourced from above in the mountain, the landscape was barren, dry, and cold, as alpine as it gets. I could see other snow capped peaks in the distance, but Mt. Ruapehu remained hidden behind cloud cover. We reached the base of our first big ascent and this looked all too much like the hike Sam and Frodo did to enter up the back entrance of Mordor. OK maybe not as dramatic, but there were certainly tons and tons of stairs. So it began, step after step. Maybe I should of considered my backpack (full of water and food) to be my ring, but I certainly wasn't planning on throwing it into the volcanoes once I reached the top, so I think that would of been a stretch. The ascent up the stairs takes about 2 hours, but once at the top you are rewarded with beautiful views of the mountain valleys, and finally the cloud hovering above Ruapehu had cleared and I could see the volcano. It was amazing how much it looked like the one in the movie, it didn't take much imagination, add a few orcs and a big eye and I was practically a stunt double.
MORDOR! Do we look orc-ish?
Active volcano zone
It was here that you can turn off for the turn to climb the gravel-rock sides of the conical Mt. Ruapehu. However, the top of the mountain had been hidden by a cloud all morning and the ascent was supposed to take an extra 3 hours minimum and there was a storm heading in that afternoon. So, we decided to pass on the ascent and appreciate it from the base. You then cross the south crater and begin another ascent to the edge of the range. The wind was freezing cold, but the weather was remaining nice enough; no snow, rain, or hail. From here you see volcanic activity, a crater full of red, green, and black sediment or whatever it is that volcanoes create.
The cheesy pose begins
After the craters I headed down to another valley and this one was full of volcanic lakes. These crystal clear lakes appear in volcanic areas and they always have unreal colors. First was the larger Emerald Lake and second was the equally beautiful Blue Lake. To follow the path and get down there you had to run down a hill of loose rock/gravel, doing it that way ensures that your shoes get full or rocks but your tailbone remains unbruised.
Ciao ~ you can have the ring! To the Shire, Frodo!
Emerald Lake and Blue Lake, active volcano steam in the back
The descent from the top was over two hours and I went from snow-capped peaks and cold hard winds to lush hot forest and river crossings. The descent was tough because it was so constant and hard impact, but the views of the wildflower filled valley below made it worth it. On the way down we ran in a few school groups doing part of the hike as a field trip. Almost every single one of them said "Hi," "Hey," "Kia Ora," and "Hey, where are you from?" They were all very funny and good humored for being on such a hard hike; that is a pretty cool field trip in my opinion! We finished the hike in 6 hours and 22 minutes and ate all of our food, exhausted.
We felt accomplished, Frodo and Sam don't have anything on us!
The most red dirt you've ever seen, views for miles, dry and hot climate, clear starry nights, Aboriginal communities, and spectacular scenery...this was the outback for me.
Going to the Outback was an absolutely amazing experience that I will remember forever.
I went with a friend that I met in Melbourne, her and I arrived in the morning by plane to Alice Springs and welcomed the hot dry climate after months in cold and windy Melbourne. I was sad to leave Melbourne as I realized that chapter of my life was closing, but the memories were heartwarming and full of smiles and laughs. We spent that evening preparing for our 3 day tour and had a nice dinner and beer.
The next morning we popped into a van/bus with 20 other people from around the world; Ireland, Poland, Canada etc. We had to drive a couple hours outside of Alice Springs to get to the main attractions; the landscape was all desert and all red. We spotted many eagles and even a dingo on our way out to Kings Canyon. Once we got to Kings Canyon, we prepared for the 3 hour hike through it. One thing I was not prepared for was the flies, my god they are so abundant and annoying, and apparently only get worse as it continues on into summer. Our hike started out with 'heart attack hill' to get up to the top of the canyon, we were rewarded with a beautiful view of the desert and down into the canyon. We continued our hike through the 'lost city' (dome like rock formations) and down into the 'garden of Eden' (a palm oasis sanctuary in the middle of the desert).
Hiking through King's Canyon
Hiking in Kata Tjuta
Seeing as the desert is so massively huge, a lot of time is spent driving, but luckily our tour guide was funny and prepared which made the time go by fast. We collected firewood in the middle of the bush and spent a good hour picking up sticks so we could have a dinner that night. We spent the evening spotting Fool-uru, the fake Uluru, and yes there is more than one giant rock in the middle of the freaking desert...who would of thought! We watched the sunset over the desert and next to a dry salt lake, it was stunning sight to see and it finally set in that I was in the middle of the Outback. We flew into our camp with our bus like bats out of hell, blaring music and cruising out the middle of nowhere to set up camp. That evening was laughs and giggles as we attempted to cook dinner around our massive camp fire. We spent the night under the starry sky in our 'swags' (sleeping bags with pads), the night sky was crystal clear and it would take you a lifetime to count all of the stars.
Looking up at Uluru
The next day was a jammed packed one beginning with breakfast, camp clean up, and then we headed to Kata Tjuta. This was my favorite day on the tour because this 3 hour hike was through some terrain that I had never seen before. Surrounded by desert was this huge group of these round red rocks towering hundreds of feet above you, and you are able to hike between them as they hover above you. They look smooth as butter from afar, but up-close you see that they are made of tons of smaller rocks. They've been created by earth plates shifting and eroded by wind and water, now they look like melting ice cream scoops...or maybe it was just so hot that I wished they were cold and delicious ice cream scoops. One the hike, our tour guide explained some of the Aboriginal stories and also how they used the local plants and such in their every day lives; for example, they made spears out of these one plants and used a certain vine on the end which helped in hunting kangaroos. That afternoon we headed to the information center that explains the Aboriginal significance of Uluru (Ayers Rock - you know that big red rock) as well the cooperation between the Aboriginal community and the Australian government when it comes to the national park and Uluru. There is some cooperation between the two, but tensions remain because the majority of people involved with Uluru don't want climbing to be possible, but there is still a small group (the Australian tourism section) that wants to keep the option to climb the rock available. Plenty of people have died doing it and the Aboriginals don't want people climbing it, but it still happens.
Aboriginal cave art
Our tour guide, with Uluru in the back
Uluru was absolutely breath taking, especially when we did a 9 kilometer base walk around the entire thing. We were treated with beautiful views of the rock, looking straight up and not being able to see the top, the blue sky with a faint moon, Aboriginal cave art and stories of the legends that the Aboriginals have of the area. I am so happy that I got to go the Outback, it was everything I wanted it to be and an overall fantastic experience.
On the way back to Alice Springs, which is about a 4 hour drive, we stopped at a racing camel farm. Yes, I know, random; Australia has lots of camels. So the option was available to ride them, and what happens to be on my list to do before I die, ride a camel. So I hoped on the camel with another friend and we rode around a bit. It was hilarious and the ride was a lot smoother than I thought it would be (similar but not exactly like riding horses because they have different steps than horses). Camels are pretty cool creatures, and that was only reinforced by the fact that they can survive in a place like the Outback.
Overall the Outback was a memory I won't soon forget and I'd do it all over again!
My buddy, I called him Ed, although he looks a lot like other people I know
The ever popular phrase in Southeast Asia of 'Same Same, but Different' is all to right. Laos is the same as other southeast Asian countries, but definitely different.
I decided I want to experience some more jungle by heading to northern Laos to the city of Luang Nam Tha, a hot spot for trekking. Although the weather had been cold and rainy north of Luang Prabang, I was looking forward to the change of climate to cool the blood. It is a small town tucked away in the jungle mountains. I decided I would like to really get to know the scenery, so I booked a 3 day 2 night trek through the Laos jungle. I know, totally normal right.
Well I knew it would be a good trek when I met my guide, a nice Laos guy, named Porn. Umm....yea. Atleast this will be a humorous trek! So we headed off on the first day outside of town into the National Protected Area (NPA) - these NPA's only started coming to fruition in the 1990's. It is more evidence that Laos has had a tumultuous history. We headed out from a small rural village within the NPA with a smile after we saw a little boy running around with no pants with a blown up condom on a string as a balloon. Told you it would be a humorous trek!
Our group, Ria (Canada), Porn, another local guide from the village, and myself, crossed the river and trekked the first day for 5 hours. The jungle has all elements of a jungle in your imagination, rivers, big trees, big leaves, birds with ever sound, hills, valleys, slippery mud etc...but the difference between this jungle and any other i've trekked is that there is Bamboo everywhere. Most of the houses and such in the Laos area are made out of bamboo, and this is really durable useful stuff. As seen when we arrived at our 'camp'- an open air bamboo platform near the river with mosquito netting. Perfect. We set up our sleeping bags and then started a fire and dinner. All dinner, lunch, and breakfast was eaten on banana leaves and with your hands, but DELICIOUS!!! Sticky rice is the staple food in Laos. It is rice in the sense of it, but glutonous so that it sticks together in a big clump, and you pick off a decent portion, clump it into a ball, and then grab food of another dish (i.e tomato and potatoes) with the sticky rice in you hands and indulge- YUMMY! (i'm really loving the cuisine aspect of SE Asia). So we finished off dinner and sat around the fire and chatted, and presumed customary Lao tradition by drinking Lao Lao. This fire whiskey is made from rice and all Laos drink it, so we proceeded to be Lao and drank an entire bottle (Our guide Porn said that is tradition to drink the whole bottle- you can't very well cap it and drink it tomorrow! of course haha) It was all good fun though (and humorous!).
After a rainy and cold night, we started the next day trek, up and down, up and down, exhausting. We made our stop for lunch after a couple hours trekking in this very small rural village on the river where their primary language is their own dialect, and secondary language being Lao. They were friendly people and the kids loved the little toys Ria and I brought. Not to mention all the pigs, chickens, and naked babies running around your feet. Priceless.
I looked around and couldn't help but notice how little these people in this village seemed to have. Bamboo huts, bottles of Lao Lao, and a couple of farm animals. But these people seemed genuinely happy, and I couldn't help but wonder, is less more?
These people have so much less material wealth, but seem to be content with their lives, would you be happier with more, or less?
We thanked them for the stop and continued along the river for awhile to the next village where we stayed the night. Ria and I bathed in the river, which is done in a sarong like the locals, as to not offend anybody by showing too much skin. Laos people are quite conservative. Afterwards we played with all the children, teaching them Tic Tac Toe in the dirt, Rock Paper Scissors, and showed them the simply flying toys we had brought. They were elated. Later, we headed up to their school, which was a building with one room the size of my garage. They had one teacher and three classes in this one room. It being Sunday, there was nobody there for school, so we proceeded to draw on the chalkboard and practice Laos words and English words...and again play that highly entertaining game of Tic TacToe (oolala). The afternoon spent with the kids was the best part of the trek, well not to mention the happiness of endorphins!
That night after eating the chicken we had just watched them kill, pluck, and boil, we enjoyed more sticky rice, another Lao Lao whiskey bottle and company of a bunch of Lao guys asking us to sing American songs in exchange for their reciting Laos tradition music. Fair trade- although our singing was poor, they couldn't tell the difference!
The next morning, we set out parallel to the river and continued through the jungle, but eventually came to some really lovely views of the rolling green jungle mountains. We trekked for 4 or 5 hours that day until we arrived to town, sore, hungry, happy, and in the mood for a burger and a beer!!
It was a fantastic trek, and I'm very happy I did it. It was a great way to spend three days and really get a feel for Laos culture.
