May Expenses... we knew it was going to be an expensive month

After all, we started the month in Oaxaca, Mexico and ended the month in Arkit, Kyrgyzstan!

We had a budget of $6,300 CAD ($4,635 USD) for the month. How did we do...?

Things just weren't coming together...

Our goal was to make it to the Saray-Chelek Nature Reserve, however we really didn't think we'd make it by Saturday because it was a 150 km (93 mile) drive, and you don't put on a lot of kms in an hour's worth of driving!

Especially when the traffic situation looks like this...

There's too much to see!

Our first two days here in Kyrgyzstan we had to deal with rainy weather, which is certainly not the best when you're living in a small campervan. For us, the idea of having a small campervan means that you want to be in decent weather so you can spend most of your time outdoors.

Well since those two days, it has steadily improved to the point where we woke up to a beautiful blue sky morning!

Now *THIS* was an adventure!

We woke up to the sound of a few raindrops hitting Vladdy's roof. Not a good sign, since we were headed up to the mountain pass at 3,300 meters (10,900') and if we were getting rain, it was likely snowing up there!

I peaked out through the curtains and I could see some patches of blue sky, despite the fact we could hear raindrops on the roof.

Up in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan

We had a very peaceful night beside the reservoir, although the wind did pick up towards morning. Still, the temperature was perfect, with an overnight low around 14C (58F).

We got up fairly early and did one more stop for fuel to fill the secondary tank and the portable tank. We were headed up a steep mountain road. It's actually listed as a major road, but it's unpaved and most of it is actually closed during winter.

My innards were all shook up

We woke up to the most beautiful day... during the morning, there was almost not a cloud in the sky. So we took advantage of the fantastic weather and the water access beside the river to get cleaned up, washed our hair, I shaved, and we hand washed some clothes and set them out to dry.

Yes, the water is ice cold!

More great scenery... and delicious strawberries!

We woke up cold, so we fired up the engine and got driving right away. And with the sun shining, it didn't take long for us to warm up, but we had one more mountain pass to do before we could relax and have breakfast on the other side.

We woke up to sunshine and a gorgeous day... but we had snow later on!

When we left you last, we had used Vladdy's four wheel drive to access a beautiful meadow high up in the mountains.

When we woke up in the morning, we could see it was blue sky... but the sun hadn't yet risen enough to shine on our meadow.

Yikes... you'd think this wasn't meant to be!

This trip has had a lot of glitches so far! It started when our original flights from Istanbul to Bishkek were cancelled. We couldn't get on the bus in Valle de Bravo. There was no lounge available at the Mexico City airport. Ruth's bag got lost between Mexico City and Madrid. We arrived in Almaty and had no cash and couldn't get online. Nothing seemed to work. Missed the first bus. Forgot about the hour time change. Didn't know about the visa change for Kyrgyzstan. Yikes... you'd think this wasn't meant to be.

And then Saturday, on the way up into the mountains, Vladdy's fuel pump gave out!

Kyrgyzstan is a very safe country

Our first night in the campervan went well, however we had some sleeping arrangement options to work out. Technically, the van can sleep five people. The main living area turns into a large enough bed that three people could sleep, and then there is a rear area that would be very cozy, but it could sleep two. 

For the first night, we made the bed up in the larger area, but it was a real gymnastics exercise especially since it was raining out and we had to do it all without getting anything wet.

Meeting Vladdy, our home for the next month!

Slept almost nine hours Wednesday night! Couldn't tell you the last time we did that!

Our hostess had asked what time we wanted breakfast, and we agreed on 9:00am. So we were surprised when there was a knock on the door at 7:45, and I opened it to find her with a tray full of food for us!

We have arrived in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan!

Last you heard from us, we were in Madrid, Spain and getting ready to head back to the airport for our flight to Istanbul. 

And seeing as we were going back to the airport anyhow, they had said that we should be able to pick up Ruth's carry on bag that had been on an adventure of it's own when it went missing.

"There has been an incident with your baggage"

Well, we have arrived in Madrid, Spain... but it wasn't a totally smooth travel day!

And the problems started right at the beginning. We always take the bus from our nearby town of El Arco into Mexico City. We've done it many times and there have always been lots of empty seats. So we never book in advance. Well, it turns out that we have never done it on a Sunday!

And we're off... but with one little glitch!

We are starting a three day travel marathon this afternoon. First we have the two hour bus ride into Mexico City, then a half hour metro (subway, underground) ride to MEX airport.

Our flight doesn't leave for Madrid until 11:55pm, so we have lots of time and don't have to rush.

8 Flights over the next 2 months!

The excitement is building for our first ever around the world trip!

All flights and accommodations are booked for the whole trip, and while that sounds a little too organized for our liking, there is actually a lot of flexibility once we arrive at our destinations.

What's the plan for Japan?

We were originally going to fly back to Mexico City from China. But there's only one direct flight per week, and it's ridiculously expensive. So we decided we could hop, skip, and jump our way back for much less money.

And so we found flights from Hong Kong to Tokyo to Vancouver to Mexico City for almost half the price of the direct one.

Rainy season has begun

I think we're going to enjoy it when we return on July 23rd. We'll be back here at the house for a month until August 20th.

Yesterday, they were calling for a thunderstorm, and boy did we ever get one!

Caught in the rain!

First of all, thanks for all the anniversary well wishes yesterday! 

We had a good day... we had to go into town anyhow, so we timed it around lunch and went out for a meal to our favorite enchiladas restaurant here in Valle de Bravo.

And they said it wouldn't last...

Actually, only one person said it wouldn't last... my friend Paul, who at the time said we hadn't known each other long enough and he gave it five years. He has now been married three times!

Ruth and I met on March 5, 1983 and within two months we had decided to get married. But we didn't tell anyone yet because they would have thought we were nuts!

Thought this was funny...

I didn't leave the house all weekend! Unbelievable. This trip planning is fun for me, and I enjoy it, but it sure is time consuming.

Ruth did manage to get out and pick up a few groceries from the local shops.

Our China trip plan... the planning is half the fun!

I spent much of the day yesterday doing trip planning for our upcoming three weeks in China.

We arrive in Chengdu on June 21st, and up until yesterday that was all we had planned or booked. We had an idea of some of the places we wanted to go, but didn't have a route or accommodations booked. That is now changed, although I'm not done yet!

That's it, we're going back to Canada!

"That's it, we're going back to Canada!". As we joke to each other sometimes when we have a frustrating day. But it's definitely just a joke. A bad day in Mexico is better than a good day in Canada!

So we had three problems yesterday, two of which are still not fixed despite literally hours of trying.

Lots to keep us busy for the next ten days!

The other day, we were invited to our friends Fernando. Yessie, and their daughter Aminah's house for lunch. 

Fernando had been away on a business trip to Bangladesh, so that was really interesting talking to him about that.

We are well stocked up on wine!

Coming home to an empty fridge and cupboards meant we had to get into town and do a grocery shop yesterday. 

There's a discount store in Mexico called Tiendas 3B that often has some great deals, and we learned recently that they have a boxed red wine that is quite good.

I can't believe we made it!

A bit of a long travel day, but really, considering that we sat on buses for 9 hours, we felt the time went by fast enough.

Our hotel in Oaxaca, the Hotel Posada San Rafael was a bit of a disappointment though.

An evening in Oaxaca City

We spent the morning and into the afternoon getting Igor all cleaned up and ready to be stored. At least he'll be clean when we return in October. Other than a layer of dust I expect!

Then we drove over to the storage place. This is the old Oaxaca Campground that we stayed at several times in the past.

The nicest campground in Mexico?

We've been to several nice and well equipped campgrounds in Mexico. But certainly the one we are staying at now here in the outskirts of Oaxaca City ranks right up there with the best of them. 

We're at El Rancho RV Park. The two brothers who own it did a really good job of making this exactly the way most RV'ers like things.

April Expenses

What did it cost us to tour Veracruz and into Oaxaca for the month of April?

Well, we spent a total of $2,799 CAD ($2,060 USD) for the month, but of course that also included the rent on our house.

Look what I found!

Yesterday, we did the drive down from the mountains into the city of Oaxaca.

We went from 2,900 meters (9,600') altitude down to 1,550 meters (5,100'). And so it's certainly warmer down here in Oaxaca City, but not as hot as it was in Veracruz!