I know that I have already done a blog on the countries that I will be traveling to but I wanted to do another one giving more information so here it is.
Bulgaria – July Must have $6500 in my account
-Country is about the size of Tennessee
-Language: Bulgarian
-Political System: Republic
-Capital: Sofia
-Currency: Lev
-Climate: cold damp winters, hot dry summers
Images of cheap wine downed at student house parties, budget ski holidays and umbrella-wielding Cold War assassins were once among the popular stereotypes, but Bulgaria today is a vastly different country from what it was even 10 years ago.
In the country you’ll come across multicolored monasteries, filled with fabulous icons and watched over by bushy-bearded priests, and impossibly pretty timber-framed villages with smoke curling lazily over the stone-tiled roofs and donkeys complaining in the distance, where headscarfed old ladies and their curious grandchildren still stare in wonderment at the arrival of outsiders.
The cities, too, are often overlooked highlights, from dynamic, cosmopolitan Sofia with its lovely parks, sociable alfresco bars and fascinating museums, to the National Revival architectural treasures and Roman remains of Plovdiv, and the youthful maritime cockiness of Varna.
Romania – August
-Country is slightly smaller than Oregon
-Language: Romanian
-Political System: Republic
-Capital: Bucharest
-Currency: Leu
-Climate: cold cloudy winters with snow and fog, sunny summers with showers and thunderstorms
Travelling in Romania, the EU’s newest member, is like being somewhere between an eternal Halloween and the Led Zeppelin IV cover that features a twig-carrying farmer. Even in cities where Audis zoom across highways under video-camera speed traps, Romanian life is defined by its sweet country heart.
Most anywhere, you’ll spot horse-drawn buggies crossing the (often cratered) paved roads – up green mountains, past cone-shaped haystacks and herds of sheep – which bounce along as if the roads themselves are aliens to the land.
Many visitors, lured by bloodcurdling tales, make full trips out of Transylvania’s castles and lovely medieval Saxon towns like SighiÅŸoara, where the ‘real Dracula’ (Vlad Å¢epeÅŸ) first grew his teeth.
Rwanda – September Must have $11,000 in my account
-Country is slightly smaller than Maryland
-Language: Kinyarwanda
-Political System: Republic
-Capital: Kigali
-Currency: Rwandan Franc
-Climate: 2 rainy seasons Feb-April and Nov-Jan, mild in the mountains with frost and possible snow
Le Pays des Milles Collines (Land of a Thousand Hills). Rwanda is a lush country of endless mountains and stunning scenery, and nowhere are the mountains more majestic than the peaks of the Virunga volcanoes in the far northwestern Rwanda and hidden among the bamboo and dense jungle of their forbidding slopes are some of the world’s last remaining mountain gorillas.
The shores of Lake Kivu conceal some of the best inland beaches on the continent. Deep in the southwest, Parc National Nyungwe Forest is the most extensive montane rainforest in the region, and home to many primates.
Rwanda is all too often associated with the horrific events that unfolded in 1994. It has been etched into the world’s consciousness as one of the most savage genocides in history. What happened is beyond belief, but the country has taken giant strides towards recovery.
Uganda – October
-Country is twice the size of Pennsylvania
-Language: English (official), Ganda and Luganda
-Political System: Multiparty Democratic
-Capital: Kampala
-Currency: Uganda Shilling
-Climate: tropical and generally rainy, 2 dry seasons Dec-Feb and June-Aug
Uganda is Africa condensed, with the best of everything the continent has to offer packed into one small but stunning destination. In 1907 pioneering tourist Winston Churchill called it the ‘Pearl of Africa’.
Uganda is home to the highest mountain range in Africa, the Mountains of the Moon in the Rwenzori National Park. It is the source of the mighty Nile, and around Jinja offers the best white-water rafting in the world. It has the highest concentration of primates on earth, including the majestic mountain gorilla, one of the rarest animals on the planet.
Despite the trials and tribulations of the past, Ugandans have weathered the storm remarkably well. The people offer heart-warming hospitality up and down the country, their ever-present smile accompanied by ‘Hello Mzungu!’. They are truly some of the finest folk on the continent.
Kenya – November
-Country is twice the size of Nevada
-Language: English and Kiswahili (official)
-Political System: Republic
-Capital: Nairobi
-Currency: Kenya Shilling
-Climate: tropical along the coast, arid in the interior
Kenya sure packs a lot in: mountains and deserts, colorful tribal culture, beaches and coral reefs, and some of Africa’s best wildlife attractions. Stunning landscapes set the scene, from Kakamega’s rainforests to Indian Ocean beaches by way of Mt Kenya National Park; the rolling grasslands of the Masai Mara to searing deserts on the shores of the Jade Sea; with The Rift Valley, home to Hell's Gate National Park, cleaving a massive gash through it all.
The people, too, represent a wide cross-section of everything that is contemporary Africa, and everyday life brings together traditional tribes and urban families; ancient customs and modern sensibilities. Swapping the latest political gossip with the switched-on locals is just one more small pleasure that comes with the culture.
Thailand – December Must be fully funded: $15,500
-Country is about the size of France
-Language: Thai, English (elite)
-Political System: Constitutional Monarchy
-Capital: Bangkok
-Currency: Baht
-Climate: southwest-tropical, rainy, warm, cloudy, monsoon season May-Sept
northeast-dry and cool, monsoon season Nov-March
southern-hot and humid
Thailand is often referred to as a golden land, not because there is precious metal buried underground but because the country gives off a certain luster, be it the fertile rice fields of the central plains, white sandy beaches or the warm hospitality of its citizenry.
Bangkok is a modern behemoth of screaming traffic, gleaming shopping centres and international sensibilities interwoven with devout Buddhism. Chiang Mai, the country's bohemian centre, is where the unique and precise elements of Thai culture become a classroom, for cooking courses and language lessons; while climbing into the mountain ranges around Mae Hong Son you'll find stupa-studded peaks and villages of post-Stone Age cultures.
Malaysia – January
-Country is slightly bigger than New Mexico
-Language: Bahasa Malaysia
-Political System: Constitutional Monarchy
-Capital: Kuala Lumpur
-Currency: Ringgit
-Climate: tropical and rainy, monsoon season southwest: April-Oct, northeast: Oct-Feb
Malaysia is really like two countries in one, cleaved in half by the South China Sea. The peninsula is a multicultural buffet of Malay, Chinese and Indian flavours while Borneo hosts a wild jungle smorgasbord of orang-utans, granite peaks and remote tribes.
Malaysia (particularly along the peninsular west coast) has one of the best assortments of delicious cuisines in the world. Start with Chinese–Malay 'Nonya' fare, move on to Indian banana leaf curries, Chinese buffets, spicy Malay food stalls and even some impressive Western food.
Despite all the pockets of ethnicities, religions, landscapes and the sometimes-great distances between them, the beauty of Malaysia lies in the fusion of it all.
Cambodia – February
-Country is the size of Missouri
-Language: Khmer
-Political System: Multiparty Liberal Democracy under Constitutional Monarchy
-Capital: Phnom Penh
-Currency: Riel
-Climate: tropical and rainy, monsoon season May-Nov
There’s a magic about Cambodia that casts a spell on many who visit this charming yet confounding kingdom. Ascend to the realm of the gods at the mother of all temples, Angkor Wat, a spectacular fusion of symbolism, symmetry and spirituality. Descend into the hell of Tuol Sleng and come face to face with the Khmer Rouge and its killing machine.
Despite this beautiful backdrop, life is no picnic for the average Cambodian. It remains one of the poorest countries in Asia and it’s a tough existence for much of the population, as they battle it out against the whims of nature and, sometimes, of their politicians.
There are two faces to Cambodia: one shiny and happy, the other dark and complex. For every illegal eviction of city dwellers or land grab by a general, there will be a new NGO school offering better education, or a new clean-water initiative to improve the lives of the average villager. Such is the yin and yang of Cambodia, a country that inspires and confounds.
Nicaragua – March
-Country is about the size of New York State
-Language: Spanish
-Political System: Republic
-Capital: Managua
-Currency: Cordobas
-Climate: tropical in the lowlands, cooler in the highlands
Smoking Volcán Concepción and her almost perfect cinder cone rise from silvery, pure Lago de Nicaragua to pierce the cloudy sky. 'Land of Lakes and Volcanoes' indeed, you think, as the rolling waves of Cocibolca (an ancient indigenous name for this 'Sweet Sea').
If you climb Concepción you'll look out over gorgeous colonial Granada and her hundreds of tiny tropical isletas (islets), across the slender isthmus pockmarked with crater lakes to where the Pacific breaks hollow on sandy cove beaches.
Honduras – April
-Country is slightly bigger than Tennessee
-Language: Spanish
-Political System: Democratic Constitutional Republic
-Capital: Tegucigalpa
-Currency: Lempiras
-Climate: subtropical in the lowlands, temperate in the mountains
Honduras is experiencing tremendous changes: an expanding tourist economy (cruise ships in Roatán?!), a maturing political scene, and the whole globalization thing, including maquilas, free trade agreements – heck, even implementing Daylight Savings Time for the second time.
It remains deeply entrenched in a two-front war against gangs and HIV/AIDS. Most Hondurans you’ll meet are very laid back and, while not disinterested, certainly disinclined to make much to-do over politics and world affairs. They take it all in their stride, and travelers with an open mind and a bit of Spanish will find many fascinating conversations in store.
Guatemala – May
-Country is about the size of Tennessee
-Language: Spanish
-Political System: Constitutional Democratic Republic
-Capital: Guatemala City
-Currency: Quetzales
-Climate: tropical hot and humid lowlands, cooler highlands
Guatemala is a magical place. People come and stay, or they leave and then return again. There's almost too much going on here, and even the shortest trip takes you completely different places, with new challenges and surprises.
Guatemala's Maya heritage is everywhere. El Petén's remote archaeological sites are unmissable; the fascinating town of Chichicastenango adheres to pre-Hispanic beliefs and rituals even now. Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa, on the other hand, provides a glimpse into the mysterious Pipil culture, with some interesting carved stone heads and relief scenes to be found in fields and fincas (plantations) around town.
