What was your best trip ever?

[Jean Louise Finch]

Hello all,

My partner and I just booked a totally spontaneous ski trip to Switzerland -- we leave on Saturday! I'm so excited I can hardly sit still. I lived in Geneva for three years and have been pining away for some cold weather outdoor action since I stepped off the plane in my new abode, Bangkok. I grew up on skis and it's been two years since I hit the pistes (rather, the off-piste)! This is destined to be one of the all time greatest trips in history.

Tell us about your best trip ever. Where was it? Were you with anyone? Why was it such magnificence??

Jean Louise

[babylonsister]

1. I'd like to know how you like living in Bangkok!

We spent two weeks in Thailand several years ago, and had a wonderful time, though if I never see another Buddha, that would be okay. :)

[Jean Louise Finch]

2. It's a changeable monster of a place

Sometimes I love it, sometimes I hate it (like now, when it's 38 degrees, 99 percent humidity, and it's going to stay this way for three months). It's a changeable place, and it gets into your mood like no where else I've ever been. It's a beast of a city, and even though I've been here two years, there's no hope of taming it. The goods: the food (glory to the food), the people, and the liveliness. The bads: the traffic, the weather, and the lack of anything happening outdoors other than moving from one mall to the next. They're even trying to make that avoidable, too.

Particularly crazy at the moment with the general governmental upheavel. I've been pretty amazed that Thaksin et al haven't gotten much play on DU!

Where did you go when you were in Thailand? Where was your favorite place?

[babylonsister]

3. We spent several days in Bangkok and then took a 4 hour

cab ride :wow: to Hua Hin where we stayed for a week. Never did get down south to the nicer beaches, or up into the mountains.
I do remember the traffic and pollution in Bangkok; we could sometimes walk faster than the cabs could travel, though I imagine that new rail system must be helping.
I also remember the heat and humidity (we went in May), but I live in TX and we frequent Indonesia, so we're warm-weather people anyway, which is why I can't really speak to your OP! Which reminds me, you must be en route to Switzerland now; have a wonderful, cool and relaxing time!

The prices were great and so was the food. Hua Hin has all these lovely, huge restaurants seeming to float over the water, with some really great seafood. But it is so much fun to go to new places, and this Thai trip was memorable for the newness of it all.

[mike_c]

4. I've been pondering this question for several days now...

...and still can't answer it fully. I mean, most trips I've taken had wonderful high points, but most had their difficult moments, too. For example, the first time I went to Belize and Guatemala I traveled alone and had a wonderful time, especially a couple of weeks spent at the Lamont family's original Northeast Cay guest huts on Glover's Atoll (gone now, or taken over by a U.S. resort corporation, *sigh*). I hiked in Pine Mountain Ridge, visited Flores and Tikal, and spent a lazy couple of weeks in Dangriga, Hopkins, and Sitee River. Didn't make it any further south that trip, but I have wonderful memories of the places I did visit. Unfortunately, I made that trip largely in response to the breakup of a long relationship, and I was very sad much of the time-- being alone simply accentuated the sadness.

Other trips I've taken with friends and lovers were equally memorable, but often had their bad moments as well, so it's hard to pick out any single trip as "the best." Most provided many wonderful memories, but none were unblemished by arguments, or illness, or travel inconveniences, or running low on money, or-- you get the point, I'm sure. Travel is by nature less comfortable and predictable than sitting at home-- at least travel that isn't utterly catered-- so I've never taken a trip that wasn't a mix of good and not-so-good experiences.

[WolverineDG]

5. Ok, since I unloaded on the "downer" thread

;)

There have been 2 trips I always consider to be my "best trips ever." One was a cruise I took in October 2004 on the Carnival Elation. I went with friends from work, but had my own cabin. The cruise director planned things out very well, the ports were great, the week went by too fast. Great trip & my best cruise ever.

The next trip, which really is my most favorite trip to remember is the 3 weeks I spent in Australia. I got to celebrate the Millennium NYE in the Outback, overlooking Uluru (Ayers Rock). I got to see Sydney, Cairns, the Great Barrier Reef & Brisbane. Ok, I could have done without Brisbane ;) , but the rest of the trip was bonzer!

dg

[Adelante]

6. Viva Mexico City!

I was with a friend visiting me from New York who was kind enough to pay roundtrip air fare from Guadalajara and we were bumped to first class both ways. It's only an hour's flight, but a twelve hour bus ride, and while Mexico has the best bus system I've ever known, 24 hours of bus can ruin any trip.

This is the kind of city where you turn your head and see something special every single time. It started when the plane was unloading and I saw a young woman waiting to get into the aisle. I've lived in Mexico for almost two years, but I realized I had never seen in person the "Aztec gold" skin color. It was unimaginable, totally stunning.

We stayed in an inexpensive hotel, The Isabela, in walking distance of the Zocalo. It was an old Mexican style family place, nothing fancy, but comfortable with a bar and a restaurant, and extremely clean. About six block away from the intense noise, so sleeping was fine. We went to a couple of tourist-type restaurants, although even in these, the clientele was majority Mexican, but mostly we went to places we just noticed along our way. The food everywhere was fabulous!

We spent every day walking and walking in every direction. My friend is an architect and I have interest, so walking around just looking at buildings is something we would do anywhere, but the mix of style and period in Mexico City was a feast. Even with earthquake damage Mexico City has managed to retain its building stock through every historical epoch. The Deco department stores are simply fabulous, for example, and there is a lot of restoration going on all over the Centro, including the original pyramid site off the Zocalo. The Zocalo is spectacular, filled with crowds every day, musicians, dancers, crafts, speeches, just constant action, with traffic pouring trough the perimeter. It's just wild!

We were happy every day, I'd say every minute we spent in this great city. Since I left Manhattan, I'm kind of starved for museums and Mexico City is filled with them. The city itself is one big museum.

[Adelante]

7. Somebody up there likes me

Mexico City is huge in every way. It's a city so sprawling, so bustling, so clanking, chaotic, and visually rich, one could spend a lifetime trying to see and hear it all. I was there for a week around New Years and have wanted to return ever since. In that time, I saw much of the Centro and some of the Reforma and rode the Metro a couple of times beyond. It was not enough and it can never be enough. It is the kind of city I enjoy, a world class city, a walking city, its levels of history in front of your face. It is a playful city, a delight-making city, a smack in the head kind of city. Only New York compares, but with one striking distinction: As this collection of aerial photographs shows, Mexico City is Surrealism itself.

I wished I had a helicoptor and I must have wished out loud: Helipilot heard me.

Lerma water plant, Mexico City

Bell 407 over Televisa headquarters, Santa Fe, Mexico City

None of the many pictures Helipilot generously offers to public view were computer-generated. This is a gift, folks, take the aerial tour.

[Inland]

8. I had to think about this.

Not the biggest traveler but I've enjoyed it all for different reasons. Vacations have different goals and expectations: a weekend getaway has its value and the three weeks in South America has a different value.

I'll settle on five days I spent in Vancouver and Victoria. The weather was astoundingly clear and warm; I had a room in a high rise downtown that had beautiful views on two sides; we ate great; the physical setting of the city is beautiful; Victoria is charming with a nice museum; I found that I appreciated the First Nations art and there's a ton of it; transportation is easy; the drive up to Whistler was beautiful; and it was cheap. So it was mostly that there was more in every respect than I expected.