Active Lifestyle Travel

Season 1

Ep 006 Camino de Santiago Discussion

Show Notes:

We begin our episode of the Camino de Santiago Discussion with an excerpt from our book on day one of our Camino. Then, we discuss day one and how we felt about it.

You can find our book on Amazon, Walking the Camino de Santiago - An Ordinary Couple...On An Extraordinary Journey by Scott and Jaynie Wall.

Jaynie Reads:

The day we had been waiting months for had finally arrived! All of our training, hiking, and preparation would be put to the test. It was day 1 of our 500-mile walk on the Camino de Santiago.

I'm sure you can imagine how we felt as we made our way in the dark to our first Pilgrim's Breakfast at 6:30a.m. Our host from the hostel gave us each a cereal bowl, a cup, and a spoon. We sat with two young Korean men and a man from Ukraine. Our host gave us orange juice and bread and then asked if we wanted coffee. I declined, as I was worried the coffee would bother me as we would be hiking at a higher elevation all day. The rest of the table said yes, and she proceeded to fill their cereal bowls full of coffee. Yes, their cereal bowls! Very little English was spoken, so the men watched Scott as he poured milk and sugar into his bowl. They followed suit and all drank their coffee from bowls. Scott and I wondered if it was the way coffee would be served on the Camino.  Lucky for us, it didn't end up that way other mornings. We did learn along the way that we would be given one glass and it would be used for wine, water and anything else at our meal.

We had a very minimal breakfast of juice, bread, and jam with very minimal conversation with our fellow pilgrims. Scott asked the Korean men how to say hello in Korean. They wrote it down on a piece of paper which Scott kept in his pocket for several days, ready to greet them or any other Koreans we may see along the way.

We hefted our packs and made our way up the street to the first of many yellow Camino arrows which would guide us the next 500 miles. Wearing long sleeves and shorts, we were comfortable in the darkness and fog.

We followed the main road uphill for the next five hours. Some areas were very steep, sometimes it was a dirt path next to horses or cows, and sometimes just a trail near the road. We saw other pilgrims like us, carrying our packs, with the faraway destination of Santiago de Compostela as our goal.

There were groups of pilgrims moving quickly without packs, they had shipped theirs ahead to be picked up at the end of the day. We met several people and chatted as we walked, but mainly we all said "Buen Camino" in passing, as it was a greeting which covered all languages.

We were amazed at how far up into the mountains we climbed. It was absolutely beautiful, as the rolling hills were dotted with livestock and it was so green.

We were surprised at how many older people were walking the Camino. Quite a few were between 60-80 years old! We walked with a little, old, French woman for a long time. Although we didn't speak each other's language, we did smile back and forth often. Scott and I stopped often to take pictures or eat a snack. We saw the little, old,  French lady pass us by. Eventually, we passed her again, until the next time we took a break or were sidetracked by a flower we had never seen before or a horse walking by. Back and forth we went with the little, old, French lady. She took small steps and just kept on going all the time. I really admired her determination. Weeks later as we were walking the Camino, if I became tired or was climbing a steep hill, I told myself to keep taking small steps, don't stop, be like the little, old French lady. I may not have seen her again after this day, but she was often in my thoughts.

One highlight of our day as we neared the top of our climb,

Season 1

Ep 005 Peru Food Tour

Show Notes:

Gourmet Food Tour- Lima, Peru

As soon as we booked our flight to Lima, Peru,  Scott and I knew we were going to book a gourmet food tour. It seemed like the perfect way to introduce ourselves to the food and culture of Peru as we began our journey for the next few weeks.

Lima is one of the culinary capitals of the world. There are many different cultures in Lima, which has resulted in a fabulous blend of fusion, which combines food from around the world with traditional Peruvian favorites.

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Choosing a Gourmet Food Tour

We booked our tour with The Lima Gourmet Company. It is highly rated online with over 1,000 positive reviews.  I like to read up on different tours and companies and I couldn’t find a negative thing about the Lima Gourmet Company. So, it made it an easy choice.

Lourdes Montoya, our guide, met us at the designated place at 9:30 a.m. sharp and off we went. It was fun meeting the other guests on the tour, who were from New York City, Hong Kong and Brazil.

Barranco

Our first stop was the charming district of Barranco. Our group walked through part of the town as Lourdes explained significant points of interest to us.

As we held hands and our breath, we crossed over the “Bridge of Sighs,” which was built in 1876.  Legend says if you do this, all of your wishes will come true. Ever the optimist, I believe it.

Our first stop was for coffee at a local roaster called Tostaduria Bisetti. They even have their own lab for analyzing, sorting and roasting coffee beans.

We had a choice of several coffees and Scott sipped a traditional cafe con leche, while I tried the Italian Espresso. What could be better than coffee with ice cream, first thing in the morning.

 

Time for a Shake

Next, we walked to La Bodega Verde, a small garden café. There we enjoyed a Lucuma Fruit shake, which was really rich and yummy. The taste is similar to a combination of maple syrup and sweet potato. Lucuma is the most popular ice cream flavor in Peru!  

The café would be the perfect spot to just hang out and relax surrounded by trees and blooming flowers, if you have any extra time in Barranco.

A Visit to the Open Air Market

Our small group piled into the van and we drove to the district of San Isidro. There, we walked through the open-air market, as Lourdes taught us about different fruits available. Scott and I were amazed to learn there are 3,800 types of potatoes grown in Peru!

We were able to try so many kinds of fruit; dragon fruit, chirimoya, goldenberry, and my favorite, the sweet cucumber. Scott loved the mini avocados too.  Some fruits were not to my taste, as they were slimy or had too many seeds.

Cocktail Time

Next, we arrived at Embarcadero 41 Fusion for a lesson on making Pisco Sours. This is a very popular drink in Peru. Pisco is made from grapes and has an alcohol volume of 42%. To begin the lesson, each person from the group took a shot of straight Pisco. I was shocked at how strong it was and it burned my throat all the way down.

Lourdes had the bartender give us the proper instruction for making the cocktail, and we learned the order of the steps we needed to take and the quantities of each ingredient.

Pisco Sour

3 oz non-aromatic Pisco

1 oz fresh squeezed lime juice

1 oz sugar syrup

Large egg white

2-3 drops Angostura Bitter

After adding all ingredients except the bitters, shake with ice and then serve with the bitters on top. The egg whites give the drink a nice foam top....

Season 1

Episode 004 Travel Injuries and Illness Tips

Show Notes:

Jaynie: In this episode, we will discuss different travel injuries and illness tips and situations you may encounter while traveling. We will talk about each situation and determine the best way to handle something like it in the future. It's a learning experience for everyone.

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Scott: Let's start with the least serious of our stories today. And I believe it begins with you Jaynie. This one is about an injury.

Jaynie: While on a trip to Mexico, Scott and I and our friends rented scooters and rode around the island of Isla Mujares, just off the coast of Cancun, Mexico.

Scott: We stopped to take pictures at a picturesque beach.

Jaynie: As I climbed off the scooter, my calf touched the exhaust pipe. I yelled in pain and shock.

Scott: That's when I noticed the protective cover was missing from the exhaust pipe.

Jaynie: Quickly, I had a round swollen, red sore about three inches around. It hurt so bad, but we were in the middle of nowhere so I soaked it in the ocean.

Scott: That was a mistake. We probably should have left the group and gone to TIP: find ice or some kind of first aid.

Jaynie: Later, after taking the ferry back to Cancun, and a bus down south to Playa del Carmen, we arrived at our hotel.

Scott: By then, her leg was so red and the sore had opened up.

Jaynie: I asked for bandages at our hotel reception desk and they brought out a sweet man. He cleaned my wound and applied ointment to the burn. Then he gave me the ointment to keep it covered with as well.

Scott: We thought it was so nice of him, TIP: but really we should have gone to a doctor to have it evaluated. Then she would have received proper aftercare instructions to avoid any issues with it healing.

Jaynie: We still had five days left in Mexico, and I wasn't' going to let an oozing burn on my leg slow me down. I swam in the pool every day and thought the ocean water was good for healing.

Scott: We even rented quads and went f-wheeling in the jungle!

Jaynie: In hindsight years later, after working in Dermatology, I learned how lucky I was not to get a serious infection.

Scott: Yes, you could have got sepsis, they say once you break the barrier of skin it's open to all sorts of microbes.

Jaynie: TIP: Now we know to get immediate medical treatment, to protect the wound and avoid pools and ocean.

Scott: Now I think it's time to talk about another travel-related issue. This one involves illness and getting proper vaccinations.

Jaynie: It's also about using good judgment when looking at your surroundings.

Scott: Back we go to Mexico. Imagine a small bay with moderate waves, perfect for someone who only surfs a few times a year.

Jaynie: Scott was all alone surfing, and I sat on the patio of a beach bar watching.

Scott: I really didn't think much of the muddy brown ocean water in the bay. I thought maybe it was from the rain the night before.

Jaynie: Fast forward a few weeks after we are back home, Scott is so sick!

Scott: I was exhausted, I couldn't even keep my eyes open.

Jaynie: You had a low-grade fever, joint pain, but worst of all, your eyes were so yellow!

Scott: Jaynie thought maybe I had Malaria. Finally, after I couldn't keep my eyes open at work, I even had to get a ride home from a job I was on because I was too tired to drive. I went to the doctor.

Jaynie: After running tests, I think it was a urinalysis which determined it, he was diagnosed with Hepatitis A.

Season 1

Episode 003 Millennial Group Travel

Show Notes:

In this episode, Scott and I interview our daughter Celeena Wall about her experience with Millennial Group Travel.

You can find plenty of information all over the internet about solo travel, but solo travel isn't for everyone. Celeena shows us another option.

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Interview:

Jaynie: We have a very special guest today, Celeena Wall.

Scott: Yes, she is our daughter, a student at Mc George School of Law.

Jaynie: We felt she fit perfectly with the topic we want to discuss today, Millennial Group Travel.

Jaynie: Celeena thank you for joining our show today.

Celeena: Thank you for having me

Scott: Growing up you spent many vacations in Mexico. In college what made you want to travel more?

Celeena: I wanted to learn about other cultures and explore.

Jaynie: Give us an overview of how you decided to travel with a group and who went with you.

Celeena: I decided to go with my friend Alli, and we thought it would be something new to go with a group. Part of our trip would be with a group and part on our own.

Scott: What company did you choose and why?

Celeena: We choose Contiki because they had great reviews and were in our budget.

Jaynie: How long was this trip?

Celeena: 10 days with the group and a few days on our own.

Scott: What did your itinerary look like?

Celeena: The tour was based in Greece. Santorini, Athens, Peros, and Eos.

Jaynie: How did you meet everyone in your group?

Celeena: We did a speed dating like situation where we spent a few minutes with each person.

Scott: What kind of accommodations did you have?

Celeena: We stayed mainly in boutique small hotels.

Jaynie: Did you have roommates?

Celeena: Yes, my friend Alli and another young woman was assigned to be with us for the whole trip.

Scott: What was your favorite experience of the trip?

Celeena: The day we climbed a volcano, did mud baths and took the donkeys up to town.

Jaynie: Ok, now what was your worst day or experience on the trip?

Celeena: We were on this ferry for like eight hours, it was closed in like a plane and everyone was throwing up. The woman next to me was throwing up in a bag. All of my friends were at the back throwing up. It was awful.

Scott: What was something on your trip that made you feel uncomfortable?

Celeena: Riding donkeys up the steep cobblestone road was uncomfortable. The donkeys didn't look very healthy and one girl's donkey's foot was bleeding so she walked up. It was one of those things that make you feel bad and I wouldn't want to do that again.

Jaynie: What was on regret had on the trip?

Celeena: Not spending the extra money to book some the extra excursions. One day everyone went out on a boat tour and relaxed and swam and had so much fun and we missed it. I recommend having extra money in your budget for those kinds of things.

Also, don't' be afraid to go on a group trip alone, you will meet so many new friends and have the experience of a lifetime.

Jaynie: Ok, now it is time for our fast five questions we plan to ask all of our guests.

What was the last book you read? Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson.

Wine or coffee? Wine!

Beach or Mountains? Mountains!

Mac or PC? Mac!

Something interesting about you people may not know? I practiced karate for many years when I was young.

Do you have a trip planned? If so where? Yes,

Season 1 Episode 002 Bike Around Chiang Mai, Thailand

In episode 002 Bike Around Chiang Mai, Thailand Scott and I discuss our experience as we rode thirty miles around Chiang Mai on a guided bike tour.

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Our day started with meeting Ohm, from Click and Travel Online . He met us outside of town at our Bed & Breakfast, Dreamcatchers. There were just the four of us in our tour; our friends Rick and Jennifer who we often travel with, and my husband Scott and I.  Ohm set us up with mountain bikes, helmets, and water. Everything was in top condition and relatively new. We had signed up for a 50k cycling tour around Chiang Mai and didn’t want to be worried about ill-fitting bikes in need of repair.

Our Tour

About half an hour into our trip, we came upon rice fields. We were all excited, as some of us had never seen a rice field close up before. We stopped to take pictures and Ohm told us not to worry because we would see many more rice fields during our bike tour.

The morning was nice, cool and so peaceful as we took the road along the rice fields. Ohm stopped by a grove of Mango trees and showed us the very fine nets which were put up around the trees. They were used to keep bats from eating the mangoes. They definitely worked because we saw a bunch of dead bats in different stages of decomposition hanging in the nets.

As we rode along, Ohm told us different stories of the history of Chiang Mai. We stopped at the ruins of Wiang Kum Kam, which was the old city. It had flooded and was abandoned 700 years ago. Chiang Mai, meaning “New City” was founded in 1296.

We mainly rode on narrow, paved roads, which were quiet and free of traffic.

Learning About Temples

Our next stop was to see the area outside of a temple (Wat) which was under construction and had many people hard at work. It takes a lot of money and work to maintain and improve temples. Adjacent to the temple was an outside shop where people were hard at work making decorative funeral towers. These may be used in Buddhist funerals and cremation ceremonies. The funeral towers can be very large and take up to a month to create. We watched two women work and were impressed by how quickly they specialized the fine details.

The City

Next, Ohm led through some very busy city streets. It wasn’t very far, but it was crazy for us! In Thailand, the traffic drives on the opposite side of the road going the opposite direction than we are used to in the U.S. We really had to pay attention while we cycled on the opposite side of the road, especially while making right turns!

Entrance to the tunnel through the dragon's mouth

Tunnel with the murals of Buddha's life

 

Our next stop was a beautiful Chinese Temple. We entered a huge, open dragon mouth and walked through a winding tunnel. Covering the walls of the entire tunnel were murals depicting Buddha’s life.  Our guide did a wonderful job explaining everything to us, considering we had a limited knowledge of Buddhism.

Beautiful grounds of the Leprosy Center

Leprosy Center

Winding our way next on dirt paths, we came upon the beautiful grounds of the McKean Rehabilitation Institute for Leprosy patients. It was established in 1907 and was a refuge for patients suffering the sometimes debilitating and disfiguring effects of Leprosy. To this day, they are still housing patients with Leprosy, and there are ten families currently living on the property. We were able to read some of the statistics about the disease which is caused by a combination of two bacteria. The World Health Organization provides a free three-drug combination which kills the disease and cures the patient. As of 2013, there are still over 180,000 Leprosy cases in the world.

Ep 001 Doolin Cliff Walk, Ireland

In Episode 001 Doolin Cliff Walk, Ireland Scott and I discuss our experience as we hiked from the village of Doolin to the Cliff's of Moher.

Show Notes:

Our host at the B & B contacted Pat Sweeney to see if there was a guided hike the next morning.  Scott and I discussed taking a guided hike vs. just figuring it out on our own. In hindsight, we are so glad to have chosen to be guided, and we know we supported an amazing cause.

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Doolin Cliff Walk

At 10:00 a.m. sharp, Scott and I, as well as 15 other people met in front of O’Connor’s Pub. Pat Sweeney talked to us about the trail and the history behind it.

In 2006 there was economic struggle in the area and the farmers looked for different ways to bring tourists to Doolin. The solution was to create a trail system. Pat, as well as 39 other farmers, allowed hikers to pass through their land, making the trail accessible through all of the different farm properties. Now tourists visit Doolin specifically to hike and when the trail system is complete, it will be 20k long.

An Incredible Hike

Pat left us with two guides, Charlie and Beth. Our group set off to hike the three hour, 8k section which is now complete. The fee was a 10 euro donation at the end of the hike, to help support more work on the trail, as well as maintenance of the existing section.

Our hike began in the main village of Doolin and took us along the cliffs which overlooked the ocean. We stopped to take many pictures along the way. It began as a sunny morning and the trail was between rolling green hills of farmland and the wild, Atlantic ocean. We saw a few cows and even a castle off in the distance!

Views

Every step of the way we enjoyed the most gorgeous views. As we looked back we could see Doolin in the distance. Far out in the ocean, we could see the Arayan Islands. The trail turned to single track along the cliff’s edge. I felt a bit anxious to be so near the edge, especially with the powerful winds. The ocean was so rough, the boats weren’t even going out to the islands.

Our Group

The group we hiked with was very diverse, with people from around the world. A few of us were equipped with hiking boots, trekking poles, and were mentally prepared for the mud from the trail which would be ahead. Scott and I had hiked in Ireland for weeks, we knew the wet, muddy bog situation, which was sure to come.

Some people in our group wore denim jeans, sweatshirts, and regular tennis shoes and were still able to hike just fine.

One Hour In

After an hour it began to rain. It had been perfectly sunny and then the clouds rolled in. The weather in Ireland constantly changed and it was best to be prepared for anything. Luckily, Scott and I were already in our rain jackets. They were lightweight and kept us dry.

Charlie stopped the group and explained how we would see a reverse waterfall, a few minutes up the trail.

The water fell dramatically into the ocean but the wind picked it back up and threw it onto the trail.  Straight at us! If we weren’t soaked by the rain we sure were after that!  What a crazy experience, as I have never seen a waterfall blowback before.

Two Hours In

In the second hour of the hike, it rained off and on. The trail was wet with many creek crossings. I was thankful for my trekking poles, which helped me balance in the wind and were like a third foot going over creeks. We hiked a section of muddy bog farmland and one person even fell.  Her entire backside was covered in mud. I remember those days of falling in the mud as we hiked the Bearra Way. Not very fun. Still, we felt lucky the farmer allowed us to cross his land.

Season 1

Ep Introduction 000

Welcome to the Active Lifestyle Travel Podcast! This introduction episode is the first in Season 1.

We are Scott and Jaynie Wall, writers of the Backpacking Detours Travel Blog.

We love to travel, love to talk about travel and write about travel. So, the most natural step for us was to break into podcasting!

Our goal for the podcast is to inspire our listeners to step out of their comfort zone through travel. It is our strong belief in pushing our physical and mental boundaries which results in personal growth and many interesting memories.

We have traveled to over 20 countries, from Thailand to Spain, Turkey to Nicaragua.

Our life is primarily in the mountains of Northern California. It's the perfect setting for hiking, biking, and other outdoor sports. This is our training ground for each new adventure in travel.

This Season

On the Active Lifestyle Travel Podcast Season 1, we will share tips and lessons we have learned through travel. We hope to inspire you with tales of hiking in Ireland and Biking in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Or, maybe you are interested in a Gourmet Food Tour in Lima, Peru?

On a more serious note, we will discuss illness and injury while traveling. As well as what's involved in planning to walk the Camino de Santiago, 500 miles across Spain.

Questions

If you have any travel related questions, please shoot us an email. We plan to address listener questions on a future episode. Be sure to include your name and website if applicable.

Thank you for listening, and thank you for taking the time to visit our blog. You can also follow along on these social media channels via Backpacking Detours.

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