Me-go: Around-the-World

Trip Statistics: Phase 2

  • Days gone: 425
  • Countries visited: 17
  • Photographs taken: 27,230
  • Average photos taken per day: 64
  • Cartwheel photographs taken: 109
  • Novels read: 24
  • Days sick: 10
  • Favorite country: Tajikistan
  • Least favorite country: Tanzania
  • Place with biggest culture shock: Moynaq, Uzbekistan
  • Place with least culture shock: Amman, Jordan
  • Biggest culture shock: The yak smell in Tibet, crippled beggars in India
  • Surprisingly not a culture shock: Shared taxis in Kyrgyzstan, buses in Ethiopia
  • Best sights: Petra, Jordan; Mt. Abu & Madurai, India; Samarkand, Uzbekistan
  • Favorite place to live: Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
  • Least favorite place to live: Northern India
  • Best sunset: Kendwa, Zanzibar
  • Best sunrise: Tsiribihina River, Madagascar; Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania
  • Most overrated town: Khajuraho & Pondicherry, India; Stone Town, Zanzibar
  • Most underrated town: Kampala, Uganda; all of SW Ethiopia; Dushanbe, Tajikistan
  • Most interesting culture: Southern Ethiopia, Tibet, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan
  • Least interesting culture: East Africa
  • Most sanitary country: Jordan
  • Least sanitary country: India
  • Most mosquitoes and cockroaches: Ethiopia
  • Place most like how I pictured it: Varanasi, India
  • Place least like how I pictured it: Lhasa, Tibet
  • Hardest culture to understand: Egypt
  • Best souvenirs: Bukhara, Uzbekistan; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
  • Nicest people: Tajikistan
  • Meanest people: Tibet, Uzbekistan, Northern Kenya
  • Hardest country to travel in: Ethiopia, Tajikistan
  • Easiest country to travel in: China, India, Jordan
  • Worst roads: Mongolia north of Moron, Northern Kenya, D.R.C.
  • Best local food: Ahmedabad, India; Jordan
  • Worst local food: East Africa; Tibet; Tajikistan
  • Best meat on a stick: Uzbekistan
  • Best bread: Kyrgyzstan
  • Most fun-sounding McDonalds items: McArabia, Jordan & Egypt; McAloo Tikki Burger & Chicken Maharaja Mac, India
  • Most cheerful border guards: Uganda
  • Most creepy border guards: Kyzl Art Pass, Tajikistan
  • Most visited country: Kenya (4 times)
  • Prettiest visa: Tajikistan
  • Best skills learned: Taking a bucket shower, when to give up and when to persevere
  • Most awe-inspiring moment: Potala Palace, Tibet; Climbing above Petra, Jordan
  • Most frustrating moment: Finding transport in Tajikistan, applying for an Uzbek visa, figuring out when the Chinese border would open

Money Matters

  • Total money spent: $21,625.45
  • Total money spent on all transportation (incl. flights): $6,762.81
  • Total money spent on flights: $3,900.42 (13 flights)
  • Total money spent on lodging: $3,271.28
  • Total money spent on souvenirs: $1,205.61
  • Cheapest hotels: $0.69 (Marpha, Nepal); $2.27 (Tingri, Tibet); $2.63 (Dahab, Egypt); $2.84 (Dessie, Ethiopia)
  • Most expensive hotel: $34.32 (Jambiani, Zanzibar)
  • Shockingly overpriced hotels: Mumbai, India
  • Guesthouse at Mount Everest base camp: $4.94
  • Six pieces of meat on a stick: $0.31 (Tanzania)
  • One banana: $0.08 (Kenya)
  • Thanksgiving dinner: $6.18 (Pokhara, Nepal)
  • Metro ride in Seoul, Korea: $1.04
  • Metro ride in Tashkent, Uzbekistan: $0.13
  • Metro ride in New Delhi, India: $0.35
  • Metro ride in Cairo, Egypt: $0.18
  • Metro ride in London, England: $3
  • Cheapest postage stamps: $0.16 (Uzbekistan); $0.22 (Tajikistan)
  • Entrance to Taj Mahal (Agra, India): $18.75
  • Entrance to Registan (Samarkand, Uzbekistan): $3
  • Student translator for Uzbek visa in Kyrgyzstan: $5.09
  • Yoga instruction, room & board–Southern India: $11.25/day
  • Movie–Bangalore, India (Music & Lyrics): $3.25
  • Movie–Nairobi, Kenya (Spiderman 3): $4.41
  • Movie–Kampala, Uganda (Oceans 13): $5.45
  • Permit to visit mountain gorillas in D.R.C.: $300
  • Number of Rangers protecting me in D.R.C.: 7