Dé la bienvenida a 2016 con mucha esperanza y una pinta de Guinness en un pub británico al azar en Tokio. Aunque estaba solo en una tierra extranjera, podía sentir un aire de positividad en el aire. Fue mi primer viaje porque dejé mi trabajo a tiempo completo (nuevamente), y esperaba muchos más viajes y muchas más primeras. No lo sabía entonces, pero ese año iba a ser un paseo en la montaña rusa, por decir lo menos.
Puedes decir lo que quieras sobre 2016, pero no puedes decir que fue aburrido. Incluso hasta ahora, no estoy seguro de cómo me siento al respecto. No creo que esté solo sintiendo que es el año en que el universo jodió el mundo. Hubo muchas veces en las que solo quería que terminara para poder tener la ilusión de comenzar de nuevo. Descubrí que cada puesto político que tomé resultó estar en el lado perdedor. La única película que coescribí este año se filtró en línea mientras todavía estaba en los cines. Y descubrí que sufro de una condición médica que solo se hizo obvia recientemente, confinándome en el centro médico por primera vez en prácticamente 20 años y deteniéndome viajar durante todo el verano. Imagina. La lucha es real.
Sin embargo, 2016 es el mejor año de viaje hasta ahora para Vins y para mí. Este es el primer año completo en el que los dos éramos bloggers de viajes a tiempo completo (habiendo dejado de nuestros trabajos a fines de 2015). A pesar de mi susto médico, habíamos puesto un pie en 27 países (21 juntos), incluido un viaje de dos meses que hace mucho tiempo en Europa, un concierto de habla en el Foro Mundial de Turismo en Estambul y ganando el tercer lugar en el primer #GoogleadVenture en Japón.
¡Pero no todas nuestras experiencias fueron increíbles! ¡Algunos también fueron bastante horribles! Antes de estropear esta lista, comencemos. Estos son nuestros muchos momentos de viaje inolvidables, tanto buenos como malos, en esta locura que es 2016.
Primero saquemos las malas noticias, ¿sí?
¿Qué está cubierto en esta guía?
Top 5 peores momentos de viaje5. Terremoto en la ducha en Tokio
4. Nos estafamos en Estambul.
3. Nos estafamos nuevamente en Marrakech.
2. Skkdiving en Praga: ¡cancelado!
1. Luces del norte en Islandia: ¡No hay espectáculo!
Top 5 mejores momentos de viaje5. ¡Actualización totalmente gratuita a una casa de vacaciones acuáticas en las Maldivas!
4. Hablando en el Foro Mundial de Turismo en Estambul
3. Persiguiendo cascadas y arcoiris en Islandia
2. Primera nevada y paseo en globo aerostáticos en Capadocia, Turquía
1. Un baile en Florencia, Italia.
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Top 5 peores momentos de viaje
5. Terremoto en la ducha en Tokio
En los últimos tres años, había estado en Japón cinco veces (cuatro en Tokio). Prácticamente cada vez, ocurrían temblores de tierra débiles. Por lo tanto, cuando mi habitación de hotel comenzó a temblar esa mañana de noviembre, sentí que no había nada de qué preocuparse. Así que allí estaba, en la ducha, preparándome para un gran día, sin tener en cuenta el terremoto. Es decir, hasta que se hizo demasiado fuerte para ser ignorado. Las paredes y el techo hicieron sonidos fuertes y crujientes para lo que parecía para siempre. Fue entonces cuando comencé a asustarme. Afortunadamente, finalmente disminuyó y nadie resultó herido.
Tokio
Cuando todo terminó, fui a la habitación de Vins. (El viaje fue parte de #GoogleadVenture y nos dieron habitaciones separadas). Vins estaba tan conmocionado como yo. Estaba empacando cuando sucedió. Inmediatamente bajamos al vestíbulo.
4. Nos estafamos en Estambul.
Estambul es una de las mejores ciudades que habíamos visto, pero como muchas grandes ciudades, tiene mucho más que su parte de las estafas de viajero. Desafortunadamente, fuimos víctimas de uno.
Tenemos nuestro taxi en esta área.
Estábamos caminando tranquilamente por el área de Eminönü cuando recibí un mensaje de que teníamos que asistir a una cena en una hora. Debido a que no tuvimos mucho tiempo, elegimos obtener uno de los taxis estacionados por el estrecho. El chofer era amable y no sospechaba en absoluto, hasta que proporcionó una ruta alternativa a nuestro hotel. Era sospechoso porque no era nuestro primer día en la ciudad, y sabíamos exactamente cómo llegar rápidamente a nuestro hotel. Pero él insistió debido al atasco de tráfico. Estábamos en el medio del camino, así que no pudimos salir. A medida que avanzaba el viaje, descubrimos que el medidor se estaba moviendo inusualmente rápido. En pocas palabras, nos estaba pidiendo que pagáramos cinco veces de lo que probablemente deberíamos.
Pero no terminó allí, después de entregarle nuestro pago, se quejó de que le dimos las facturas equivocadas. Al principio pensamos que realmente cometimos un error, pero luego, después de reemplazar el proyecto de ley más pequeño, una vez más se quejó de que le dimos las facturas equivocadas. Se estaba aprovechando de que no estuviéramos familiarizados con sus notas. De todos modos, cuando comenzamos a exigir para devolvernos el dinero, se apresuró.
3. Nos estafamos nuevamente en Marrakech.
Aprendiendo de nuestros errores en Estambul, tuvimos mucho cuidado cuando llegamos a Marruecos. Llegamos a Marrakech a prácticamente medianoche. En la estación de tren, elegimos a fondo nuestro taxi para asegurarnos de que no seremos estafados nuevamente. Nos dejó al borde de Jemaa El-Fna porque los autos no pueden irany farther. From here, we needed to find our riad, conventional Moroccan house where we would be staying, on foot. thing is, the medina of Marrakech is a huge maze. and many riads had barely visible signs.
Jamaa el Fna in Marrakech
Still, we were careful. two men followed us around, providing help, but we declined. Instead, we asked fruit vendors for directions. It wasn’t enough. We still couldn’t find it.
We continued walking. The two men kept following us wherever we went. We were deep into the residential area, and there were no vendors that could help us this time. When we found a group of locals just chilling, we chose to ask them instead. one of the men asked for the address and promised to take us to our riad. With him leading the way, we walked down dark alleys. Vins and I started getting nervous. We felt like the man was misleading us.
I remember telling Vins, if it comes down to it, he ought to get him and I’ll kick his balls. Jajaja. We were really paranoid.
It turned out that he was really taking us to our riad. We got there without having to resort to fist fight. but as soon as we reached the riad, the man started asking for money as token. We gave him what we felt like a good amount, but he demanded more. equivalent to PHP500 (USD10).
2. Skkdiving en Praga: ¡cancelado!
Between the two of us, Vins is the faint-hearted one. When it concerns extreme activities, I’m always up for the challenge. Vins always needs a lot of convincing. UN MONTON. When the idea of skydiving in Prague presented itself, I didn’t even hesitate to sign up. Vins didn’t even hesitate to say no. but I know it was gonna be great and that it would be a shame if Vins would miss it. I had to convince him to join. You’re gonna thank me for it, I told him. I spend an entire day and night trying to get him to agree! Not only was he scared, he was also concerned about the money. but mostly scared. This was the most affordable skydiving I’d seen anywhere in the world.
Finally, he said yes. Hallelujah! We registered. Pagado. scheduled for the next day.
Canceled jump
The next day, it rained. Our dive was canceled. and we couldn’t reschedule because it was our last day in Prague. Aaaaargh! I spent 2 days trying to bend Vins’s arm to do this and it got canceled just when he was emotionally ready!
1. Luces del norte en Islandia: ¡No hay espectáculo!
We thoroughly picked our Iceland travel dates. We took into consideration the moon’s brightness, strength of solar activity, and the weather. but you know weather, it’s fickle and fucked up!
We were in Brussels videos of the Aurora Borealis got viral online. It was special because the lights were clearly visible from Reykjavik. In fact, the government had the city lights turned off for maximum seeing pleasure. We were thrilled because our next stop was Iceland! We would be there in a couple of days.
Auroras boreales
When we arrived, Iceland was covered with thick clouds. They would clear up numerous times during the day but they evenings were overcast. ¡Puaj! the worst part, there was strong solar activity the entire week that we were there. We just couldn’t see the lights because the clouds were blocking the view. because night 1, the northern Lights trip we booked kept getting canceled and moved to the next night.
But it didn’t end there. On our last day, WE missed OUR shuttle TO THE AIRPORT.
We had already locked our AirBnB house and left the keys inside, so we were stuck outside in the ICELAND cold at 3am.
At first, we didn’t think we missed it, so we waited. but after practically an hour in the cold, it finally dawned on us that it was not coming and we many certainly missed it. There were no taxis around. We tried calling transfer companies but the voice message said they open at 7:30am. We tried booking online but the next trip was scheduled at 5am. Our flight was at 6am. The airport is an hour away.
At that point, we knew it would be impossible to catch our flight.
BUT THEN, a shuttle from a competing company stopped in front of us, waiting for 2 other passengers from a nearby hotel. They waited, but the passengers CANCELED. There were 2 vacant seats in that shuttle, and we needed a ride. We spoke with the driver. “We didn’t book this shuttle, but we missed ours. would you accommodate us even without prior reservations?” ¡Él hizo! and he didn’t charge us extra.
We made it in time for our flight! ¡Uf! thank you, universe!
Top 5 best travel Moments
5. totally free upgrade to a water vacation home in the Maldives!
It all started when my friend Tonet invited me to choose her somewhere she could relax. She would be coming from a trip in Japan and I from Singapore. Our initial plan was Bagan, Myanmar, but the weather forecast suggested we won’t be riding any hot-air balloon there. Haphazardly, we tried to come up with an alternative, a place that we’d never been before but did not require pre-approved visa. The idea of the Maldives was thrown on the table, and both of us grabbedeso.
¡Maldivas!
We both wanted to experience staying at a luxury resort but we had limited budget, so we booked the most affordable room at the most affordable private resort we found. We got one of the beach rooms. nothing fancy, but comfortable enough. everything was alright, until one morning when Tonet and I were just walking around the reception. The manager called our attention and approached us.
“How would you like to upgrade to a water villa? There are vacant villas.” the manager said. knowing how expensive these overwater bungalows are, I looked at Tonet, trying to find a way to say no politely.
“Hmmmmm,” Tonet said.
“It’s for FREE. No charge,” the manager added.
And just like that, Tonet and I answered at the same time: “SURE!”
Hahahahahahaha.
4. Hablando en el Foro Mundial de Turismo en Estambul
Estanbul
I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t a bit frightened during this trip. It was scheduled in a period when Istanbul’s many touristy site fell to a terrorist attack. but I never really let worry stop me from traveling to places outside war zones. So even when we were nervous, we flew to Istanbul and honor our commitment with the world tourism Forum.
It was a great decision because I thoroughly delighted in the event and Istanbul as a whole.
3. Persiguiendo cascadas y arcoiris en Islandia
Iceland didn’t show us its precious northern Lights, but it gave us something much more splashy — waterfalls. Of these wonders, Skogafoss stood out. but not at first.
Islandia
When we arrived, we were a little underwhelmed. The waterfall was great, yep, but after seeing the majestic Gullfoss, we would need much more than a cascade. The place looked grey and dreary. They said it typically looks better under the sun, but even the sun was not in the mood. We were just about to leave when we stopped and said, “Let’s wait a bit more. Quizás.”
And just like that, the sun finally showed up. just like that, a rainbow appeared in front of us.
Sometimes, all you have to do is wait a little bit more. fight a little bit harder. stay a little bit longer. and then you’ll see.
2. Primera nevada y paseo en globo aerostáticos en Capadocia, Turquía
We had our first snowfall in Cappadocia. Sure, I’ve seen and touched snow before, but it was already on the ground. The first time I saw it falling happened in Goreme, Turkey. A snowflake arrived at my glove-less hand and it disappeared practically instantly.
When we arrived at our hostel in Goreme, it was snowing hard. Our hostel had a rooftop cafe, where Vins and I waited while the staff prepared the room. The owner, who welcomed us, kept urging us to go inside. “It’s snowing, come in, come in,” he said.
But we stayed outside. trying to embrace the snowfall. We looked like idiots!
“You don’t understand,” I told the hostel owner. “It’s our first snow!”
Cappadocia
But that’s not even my many unforgettable first in Cappadocia. On our second day, we rode a hot air balloon for the first time, hovering above an unlimited sea of rock formations, from towering pillars that nature carefully molded into massive chimneys for over 2000 years to spires that the early Christians carved through to create dwellings and churches centuries ago. The ride also allows a peek of some of central Anatolia’s mighty peaks, from where the sun would emerge in a breathtaking celestial display. It was surreal.
1. Un baile en Florencia, Italia.
¿Dónde empezar? From our first look at the Duomo to our last meal in the city, there is so much to love about Firenze! On our first day, we wanted to try a panini behind the Duomo. When the staff asked us what we would like to have, I simply said, “whatever you recommend.” He then asked us to try the ingredients — cheeses and cold cuts — one by one, while he explained what they were and where they got them. We’re talking about a 6EUR panini here. It’s probably something that they do to every new customer that walks through their door, which is much more admirable.
Same thing happened in one gelato shop. We were the only one