I got back to Miami yesterday, so I guess, this around-the-world-trip is complete, though I plan to travel more in the US and Canada as I start my job search again.

​Other than Ireland with my Parents in 2009, this was the best trip I've ever taken, and I've taken a lot of trips...just not for 167 days straight!
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​Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore, South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Greece, Israel, Morocco, Portugal, Argentina, Uruguay, Antarctica, Chile, Peru, Colombia and Panama.  May not seem like a lot for 5 and a half months but I spent quality time in a number of these places...

​My favorites were:
​Greece.  The most awesome gyro I've ever had.  Oh yeah, and the Parthenon and that stuff...
Vietnam.  So affordable, once you are there, friendly people, great food, awesome scenery.
​Botswana.  After the one day debacle in the country, after I got on the safari tour, it is a most amazing country and they do quite a bit to protect their wildlife.  I also had the pleasure of having the BEST safari travel companions ever:  Katrin, Joris (Belgium), Laura, Timo (Finland), and Karl (Germany).

They have a dedicated police force to prevent animal poaching (they shoot first and ask questions later if the poacher is still breathing...).  Go there on Safari, it is AMAZING

1) Antarctica.  The most beautiful place on earth and where I met someone very special.

​I never got robbed, never got assaulted, and never got insulted for being American.  Amazingly, I never lost my passport, my wallet, my sanity....and never had a bag not show up after a flight.  I will never regret leaving my job and taking this trip, as it was well worth the journey.

​If you ever have the opportunity to drop things and travel, please do it...

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On Friday, after breakfast I took a taxi to the fish market (Mercado de Mariscos) and walked around for a little while.  There were a ton of local restaurants that sold seafood, and I got ceviche again for lunch, which was better than the day before and very inexpensive.  Then I walked through a waterfront park for about an hour and eventually walked back to the hotel before dinner.  There is a cool office building called the F&F Tower which sort of looks like a drill bit.  I went back to the Caribbean restaurant from the day before for dinner, but wasn't that hungry so I ordered a tuna melt sandwich.  The waiter looked a little disappointed in my choice, I think...but I haven't had a tuna melt in a while...

I got into Panama City Wednesday evening and checked into a nice hotel that had a special on Hotels.com.  It's pretty central and there are a lot of restaurants nearby.  By the time I was hungry for dinner it was almost 11pm, so I got a takeout pizza (Dominos), which is one of the few times I ate at a fast-food chain on this trip.

​The next day I took it easy in the morning and found a place with pretty good ceviche for lunch.  Then in the afternoon I took a car service to the Miraflores Locks on the Panama Canal, where there were three ships coming through.  There was someone giving commentary there and I think they said the tariff to come through the 48 mile canal for big ships is over US$300,000.

The last day I was in Medellin, I took a full-day tour that the hotel recommended which went to a region about one or two hours outside of Medellin.  It was a really good tour (again, in Spanish so I missed most of the commentary.....) and was only US$28, which included breakfast, lunch, an hour boat ride, and about five different stops.  I couldn't believe how affordable it was. 

There was a church that looked like it was built by the Flintstones in either Marinilla or Nuevo Penol, and a huge rock, Piedra del Penol, near Guatape, that could be reached by climbing a lot of steps. 

We also had about an hour to walk around the town center of Guatape.  I didn't get back to Medellin until after 7pm, and left this morning at 9am for the airport.

I stayed near a tourist area again, so there were restaurants similar to what you'd find in any US city, as well as a lot of bars and brewpubs.  The food is good, but again very similar to what I would get in the US.  I was really looking for good ceviche and had something that was more like shrimp cocktail.

I spent almost four days in Medellin, Colombia after getting some advice from a couple that I met on a train in Peru.  It is a nice city, and very hilly.  I got a great deal on Hotels.com for a brand-new (seven-month old) hotel at the top of the Poblado neighborhood.  It was a little bit of a hike down a very steep hill to the restaurant area.  I just stayed in that area for the first day and a half.  The third day I took a tour on a hop-on, hop-off bus and saw some more of the city.  Since the tour guide spoke Spanish I missed most of what was said but it was still good.  They had a free Botanical Garden at one of the stops that seemed like it was a popular site.  Another site, Cerro Nutibara, was way up on one of the hills and gave good views of the city.

Yesterday, I found my replacement laptop cord and just relaxed in town and had dinner at the hotel (sea bass).

Today I had the hotel car service take me up to Montserrate, which is about 11,500 feet above sea level and overlooks Bogota.  I hadn't realized until today how high Bogota is, at about 8,000 feet.  Monserrate had some nice views of the city.  I took a funicular up, and a cable car on the way down.

After that, I was driven to La Candelaria, which is a historical district in Bogota.  I went into two museums that both had free entrance, and got something light to eat.  Then we drove in heavy traffic back to the hotel.

For dinner I went back to an area that has a lot of international restaurants and had some weird version of ceviche that I think had either fried pork or fried salmon skin, instead of marinated fish.  I'm staying in Zona Rosa, which is an upscale neighborhood, and the restaurant prices reflect that.

​Tomorrow I fly to Medellin for four days.  I'm planning to leave a bag behind again at the hotel since I'll be back in Bogota before I come back to the US.

After flying out of Cusco, I spent a night in Lima and then flew to Bogota yesterday.  I'm staying in the Zona Rosa neighborhood, which attracts a lot of expats I think. 

I just noticed that I left my laptop power cord in Lima, so that's a bummer and I have to find one today.  I was pretty good about not leaving things behind accidentally during my trip, but, oh well...I think other than the laptop cord, I left a flashlight behind in Brunei or it got pinched.  I've intentionally left behind some clothes, the padlock that I never used, half of the parachute cord, the huge toiletry bag that broke one month in, and a few other things, but I've ended up buying more clothes and another duffel bag along the way too.

​Originally I was going to fly to Miami on February 12th.  But I'm going to extend the trip by another 10 days so that I can see Bogota and perhaps Medellin and/or Cartagena.  I am also planning to book a quick flight to Panama as it is pretty close (relatively speaking).

My train didn't leave until evening, so after visiting Machu Picchu I came back to Aguas Calientes and had some Peruvian lasagna for lunch, walked around and read a book.  It's a really nice town with hot springs (though I didn't visit) and a stream and river running through it.  It's very touristy though and there must be 100 restaurants and 200 craft stalls within one square mile.

We took the train back to Ollantaytambo and then buses back to Cusco.  My tour company completely screwed up and I didn't see my name on any of the signs by the buses but was able to jump in a small bus that had some room.  We got back to Cusco at around 11pm.

The next morning we met our guide in the main town square and took a bus up to Machu Picchu.  I debated hiking down after the tour and then I saw the stairs coming down the mountainside and well...I decided against it because of the height (vertigo?) thing.
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​Machu Picchu is pretty awesome so I can understand why everyone talks it up.  There were six or eight of us with an English-speaking guide and he showed us around for two hours or so. 

​We had the option after the tour to climb even higher and take the iconic picture that you see on the internet.  I debated doing that but I wasn't sure that I'd make it back down the long expanse of steps after I got to the top. I still got some great photos though and would definitely visit again.  I just wish I liked heights...