On our last night in Bintan Island we sat down and had a travel awards ceremony!
Best Toilet ;
Changi Airport- Singapore , spotless, sensor flush cistern and sensor taps. Touch screen rating scale on the service.
Worst toilet:
1. Kathmandu Airport- Faeces in the hand basins and toilets over flowing. No running water.
2. Dharan General hospital –squat toilet faeces inside, around and on the floor. No water or hand towel and the lock on the door didnt work .
Best Accommodation:
1. Bintan Island Resort
2. Viv’s Place in Urgup Turkey
3. Hotel 55 in Ealing London
Worst Accommodation:
1. Richards place in London- mould and damp on carpet and walls, no linen –sheets or towels. Dirty bathroom, broken toilet seat and yellow stained walls and ceiling( smokers !)
2. Hotel in Tamghas-Nepal
3. Hotel in Dharan - Nepal
Best bed : Hotel 55 in Ealing London – 3 nights
Worst Bed: Gokuls and Usa’s – Chatara – 2 weeks
Best Journey:
1. Business class Kingfisher Airlines from Delhi to Kathmandu
2. Ferry to the Princes Islands in Istanbul
3. Auto rickshaw ride at night, shared with others, Siligory to train station –Nepal
4. Rail car ride from local station to Coutances.
Worst Journey :
1. Micro bus ride (14 hours) from Kathmandu to Tamghas.
2. Night bus from Seljuk back to Istanbul
Best Meal;
1. Breakfast at Viv’s American friends place in Goreme Turkey
2. Lunch at Chateaux Reicheux - Cancale
3. Yum Cha in Sydney with JC and Barb
4. Roast Pork – Ireland –Martin & Louise
Worst Meal;
1. Coutainville France – ½ a plate of Haricot beans and skate wing!
2. Sauraha Resort- ½ cup of rock salt in the chicken fried rice.
3. French food generally was disappointing
Best Tourism site visited :
1. Pamukkale
2. Mont St Michelle
3. Wicked Stage Show in London
4. Bayeux and St Malo
5. Hagia Sophia
6. Taj Mahal
Worst Tourism site visited:
1. Guinness Brewery in Ireland
2. Chateau Le Salle- 3 rooms only to view ( library, kitchen and drawing room )The Guide only spoke French!
3. Dehli
4. Ephesus ( Mark,)
5. Paris ( Food disappointing)
Best Discovery :
1. Us and that we travelled so well together , we worked as a team and things were easy. Absolutely fantastic!
2. The generosity of people
3. Interacting with disabled children( Marks observations )
Worst Discovery :
1. Homophobic attitudes toward Jon .
2. Extremes of poverty and wealth
3. The filth and peoples acceptance of this
4. The presence of guns
5. The lack of access to WiFi and red tape to access the Internet
The biggest let down
1. Richard
Best Value:
1. French wine, cheese and pastries
Best Purchase
Laptop!
Biggest Rip Off.
Cafe in Paris - $20 euro’s for a beer and water!
Funniest moment (s): Common Theme
Mark choking on chili and the heat in a Dim Sim at Yum Char, AND, numerous times after when he broke out in a sweat having struck something very hot in his food!
The purchase we regret not purchasing .
Wall hanging in Turkey( Pauline)
The Countries we would considering moving to.
1. Australia- Sydney of Melbourne
2. Singapore
3. France
The thing that challenged us the most
The poverty , filth and lack of care and respect for the environment
Marks first, last and best photograph of the trip!
The back view of me standing in the line waiting to use the toilet at Notre Dame! I think he had to wait for 15 minutes.
Overall ( Paulines summary)
On personal level :
The ease of travelling together, how we enjoyed similar things and how much we have grown as a couple .
General level :
My knowledge and interest in world history has increased, as has my political and environmental awareness .
The diversity of cultures and similarities in people. .
The lack of infrastructure .
The high standard and ease of access to education and health in NZ.
Professional level:
The enormity of the social issues and how this impacts negatively on people with disabilities .
How is disability defined .
The meaningful occupations of different cultures .
The stigma attached disability in some societies .
The role of occupational therapy in developing countries
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