OUR BIG TRIP
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BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTSBackpacking through Europe, Asia and America was a once in a lifetime experience and along the way we saw some amazing sights that will stay with us for the rest of our days.
However it was not all a bed of roses as at times things did not always go our way and we were not able to see and do everything that we wanted to. Below is a list of our top 10 least biggest disappointments. To read more about our stay in each destination please click on the titles below.
For much of the 5 years that I have known her my friend Kimmy has eulogised over the spectacular illuminations of the Northern Lights. Consequently when we went to stay at her house in the remote town of Minitonas, in the Canadian state of Manitoba, we harboured high hopes of seeing this natural phenomenon live in the flesh. To increase our excitement the day before she drove to Winnipeg to collect us Kimmy said that they had been out in full force. Unfortunately for us those despite a thoroughly enjoyable stay the Northern Lights never did appear during our time here. Something which we really regretted. To make matters worse, the very next day after dropping us back off in Winnipeg I received an email from Kimmy informing me that when she returned to her house that night the Northern Lights put on an awesome show. We could have cried! For us America's national parks were one of the country's greatest treasures. However despite really enjoying our visits to Glacier National Park and The Colorado National Monument, Yellowstone was the one that we really wanted to see. Arguably the most reknown of all the national park in the country, Yellowstone is famous as a home of hotsprings, gushing geysers, and free-roaming wildlife including bison, bears and moose. We could not wait to go there. Unfortunately having hired a car in Bozeman, Montana a severe snow storm, the resultant treacherous driving conditions and the closing of a couple of its entrances meant that we had to abandon our attempt of going there. As we were due to move on to Rapid City, South Dakota the next day it was with great sorry that we realised our opportunity of visiting Yellowstone had gone. Its founder, John Muir is said to have proclaimed 'A thousand Yellowstone wonders are calling'. We would have settled for the chance of seeing just one. The number one tourist attraction in the country, Halong Bay's contains more than 3000 densely foliaged islands speckled around the translucent emerald waters of the Gulf of Tonkin. With countless caves and grottoes thrown in for good measure its sheer natural beauty has seen it listed as a World Heritage Site and more than 1.5 million people come ever year to experience it. Unfortunately for us most of them I am sure have better luck than we did. The very poor standard of cabins on the boat, prolonged tropical storms and the loss of electricity after 10.30pm badly affected our opportunities to enjoy the scenery. Furthermore although we did get to briefly see the fantastic sight of the moon and stars twinkling at night we could not help but feel a deep overall sense of disappointment. For with more luck in terms of the boat we were allocated and better weather we surely would have enjoyed one of the best experiences of our lives.
Dubbed as 'California's premier scenic highway', US1 is a spectacularly picturesque 90 mile coastal drive that connects Hearst Castle to the town of Carmel. With one side of the road hugging towering bronzed cliffs and the other plummeting down to remote golden beaches and the rock littered sea the route is a leisure driver's paradise. One which reaches its pinnacle at Big Sur. Unfortunately though in the height of summer the presence of fog often obscures one's view of the landscape. We found this out to our cost as initially when we undertook this drive we found the haze to be very thick. Consequently our enjoyment of the picturesque views was significantly affected by the reduced visibility that engulfed the area. However as we drove further north its gradual dispersement revealed a terrain that became so dramatic that it began to enter the realms of fantasy and we found ourselves stopping every 100 yards or so to take it in. Once again though, at the end of the day we were left ruing the inclement weather. For if it had of been sunny and clear during the entirety of the drive, we would have surely witnessed something truly out of this world.
Proof that sometimes lighting does strike twice! On a previous visit to the Isle of Capri bad weather prevented Cath from visiting the famous La Grotta Azzurra, a natural cave renowned for its unique refractions of light. So this time around we were determined to see it. Having designated Sorrento to be our base for a week long rest stop and with Capri being just a short ferry ride away we thought we had given ourselves enough leeway to cover any eventuality. Unfortunately as it rained for the entire week, the resulting treacherous sea conditions meant that all trips to the cave were cancelled, which of course meant that poor old Cath missed out again. Maybe it will be third time lucky one day. We headed to Green River, Utah on the crest on a wave but our arrival there was to provide us with the first real setback of our big trip. As well as being a convenient stop off point en route to Las Vegas the main reason for our coming here was to visit Arches National Park. However when the Greyhound bus dropped us off at a truck stop on the side of the interstate and we found ourselves in a dusty hamlet with less than 800 residents, whose downtown area seemed to be less than 300 yards long and consist of a launderette, a restaurant, a petrol station and a hotel, we started to wonder what we had done. When we found out that the nearest car rental place was almost 50 km away in a town called Moab it emerged that we really were stuffed. With no transport, not even a taxi or minibus to take us around, we had little option but to take leave of our idea to visit Arches National Park. Although the discovery of horse riding opportunities enabled us to make the most of our time here we could not help but feel a slight pang of regret at what we missed out on.
We headed to Green River, Utah on the crest on a wave but our arrival there was to provide us with the first real setback of our big trip. As well as being a convenient stop off point en route to Las Vegas the main reason for our coming here was to visit Arches National Park. However when the Greyhound bus dropped us off at a truck stop on the side of the interstate and we found ourselves in a dusty hamlet with less than 800 residents, whose downtown area seemed to be less than 300 yards long and consist of a launderette, a restaurant, a petrol station and a hotel, we started to wonder what we had done. When we found out that the nearest car rental place was almost 50 km away in a town called Moab it emerged that we really were stuffed. With no transport, not even a taxi or minibus to take us around, we had little option but to take leave of our idea to visit Arches National Park. Although the discovery of horse riding opportunities enabled us to make the most of our time here we could not help but feel a slight pang of regret at what we missed out on.
America's national sport is a game that I have followed loosely for over a decade now. Whilst not a huge fan I had been looking forward to going to a game live when I was in the States. Subsequently as we travelled around the country I made sure to keep tabs on any matches taking place in the destinations we were visiting. When we reached Memphis and found that our hotel was situated less than 200 yards from a baseball stadium we thought our luck was well and truly in. However to our dismay we found that the incumbent Memphis Redbirds had just finished playing a series of 3 games at home, the latter of which had been played the previous night, and were now due to embark on a series of road games. We had missed out by just one day. Although we undertook a brief self guided tour of the stadium, we never got this close to seeing a match again.
All featuring on the original itinerary of the European leg of our big trip the Scandinavian countries of Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland were places that I had long since wanted to visit. Previous trips to Oslo and Copenhagen had only served to heighten my enthusiasm for exploring the region in greater detail and I could not wait to get there. However as our journey panned out with it came the increasingly swifter dwindling of our travel funds. So much so that pretty soon it became obvious that we had an important choice to make. We could either stick to the original plan and travel round the region, incurring higher costs and temperatures that struggled to rise above minus degrees, or we could abandon the plan altogether and invest the time and money we would save on a longer, cheaper stay in the warmer climbs of the Greek islands. It was an easy choice and although we are happy that the decision we made was correct my yearning to visit Scandinavian to this day is still as strong as ever.
If America's Rockies were anything to go by Canada's counterparts at Jasper and Banff National Parks, a reputed area of amazing waterfalls, crystal-clear rivers, emerald lakes, alpine meadows and snow-capped peaks, promised to be a real treat. However despite our best intentions whilst researching the destinations a visit there became increasingly more unfeasible. We simply could not find suitable modes of transport and accommodation to fall within our requirements of time, budget and comfort. Consequently after much umming and aahing we found ourselves not for the first time on our big trip having to forego a planned visit that we would have really liked to have done.
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