525,600 Minutes: The First Half

Bathing boxes in Mornington

Sometimes I feel like I blink and an entire year of my life has gone by. Just like that. This especially rings true for the past twelve months.

About a year ago, I finished working in Australia, completed a short-term mission trip in Pakistan and embarked on the adventure of a lifetime. An adventure that brought me all over Asia and even to Africa. An adventure that introduced me to an incredibly wide variety of people, places and situations. An adventure I wish I had blogged about more on here.

Or, at all.

Driving along the Grand Ridge Road

For some unknown reason, it seems that when I blog, I don't journal and when I journal, I don't blog. Although I lived in Melbourne for over a year, the number of journal entries I wrote could be counted on one hand..... or quite honestly, less than that; however, I updated my blog relatively frequently. Conversely, I journaled almost every day while doing the mission trip and backpacking, but not once did I bother to type anything up online. Unfortunately, it appears that I'm unable to do both with any sort of regularity.

Seals on Kangaroo Island

I didn't even manage to finish blogging about the last-minute trips I took around Victoria and South Australia after my job wrapped up. These happened ages ago so details have inevitably been lost; therefore, I won't dedicate an entire entry to them like I had originally planned. However, it should be noted that the Mornington Peninsula, the Dandenongs, the Grand Ridge Road, Wilsons Promenade, Mount Lofty Summit, Hahndorf, Kangaroo Island, Barossa Valley and Macedon Regional Park are all worth visiting.

Having fun with henna

That would bring me to the Pakistan mission trip, where a small group of Australians and I visited a long-term missionary and his family in Islamabad and taught English and essay writing skills to graduate students studying theology at a Christian institute in Rawalpindi. Even after all this time, I feel like I'm still processing it, which leaves me with limited words to describe my time there. It was a bit of a nervewracking experience but perhaps not for the reasons one might expect. Am I glad I had the opportunity to go? Absolutely. I'm so thankful that God presented me with the chance to witness His work firsthand there and to even play a small part. I will also say that I was in complete awe of all the various ways people are serving Him in that region, both Pakistanis and foreigners. Having spent most of my life in Western countries, it's difficult to wrap my mind around the extreme challenges Pakistanis face when it comes to following Christ. Although I've been told that the Pakistani constitution protects the freedom of religion, it's far more complicated when put into practice.

Our class at ZBI

Pakistan was the first predominately Muslim country I ever visited and although it was very different from Western and other Asian countries I had been to in the past, strangely enough, I didn't feel like I experienced a huge culture shock when I was there. There were two instances when I did momentarily forget where I was and in an absolute cultural faux paux, I lifted my kameez [dress] too far up, once to retie the drawstrings holding up my shalwar [trousers] and a second time to admire the beautiful embroidery around the bottom edges.

Rickshaw in Rawalpindi

For some reason, traveling from Pakistan to the United Arab Emirates was more of an adjustment for me than going from Australia to Pakistan. It must have been the quick transition from seeing extreme poverty everywhere to being surrounded by copious amounts of wealth because I felt a similar shock when I traveled from Sri Lanka and Cambodia to Singapore and Hong Kong. I'm unsure why I didn't feel it as much the other way around.

Map of the Persian Gulf

Originally, I was planning to spend a week or so in the UAE before making my way down to South and Southeast Asia, but the travel bug in me took over and I ended up spending an entire month and a half independently exploring various parts of Western Asia, including the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait. What a fascinating place I found it to be! As a Westerner not wearing an abaya [dress], niqab [veil], etc., I suppose I attracted some attention, but nevertheless, I felt that the culture was nothing short of interesting. It would be true to say that I have a passion for traveling so I expected to find at least some aspects of Western Asia intriguing, but it truly took me by surprise when it completely drew me in to the point where I absolutely loved it.

UAE National Day dance

Since so much time has passed between then and now, it would be impossible to describe all the details from my travels on here so I'll stick to some highlights. One of the first memories of the UAE I have is going to the Mall of the Emirates. I had met a British man on the metro and we had struck up a conversation about traveling around Western Asia. Upon entering the mall, our discussion came to an abrupt halt when the loudest Arabic music suddenly filled the air. It was the strangest experience because all around us, we were surrounded by typical Western stores, like Accessorize, Claire's and American Eagle. It was as if the music served a purpose other than simply providing entertainment; it screamed, "You might think you're in the West, but don't forget for a single second that you're in Western Asia."

View from the Burj Khalifa

While I was in the UAE, it felt obligatory to go to the top of the Burj Khalifa since it's currently the highest structure in the world. My host and I were planning to go together, but he had to back out at the last minute. In an attempt to keep the ticket from going to waste, I sold it to someone who was waiting in line-- a German marine who had spent the last several months fighting pirates in Djibouti.

Mountains of Oman

While my time in the other Gulf Nations was memorable, I have to admit that I enjoyed myself the most in Oman. In addition to the beautiful mountainous terrain that differed from the surrounding countries, I found a certain humbleness and ingenuity in the people I met there. In addition, although it was the second Gulf country I had seen, it was the first one where I felt like I was in that area of the world. While much of what I saw in the UAE looked modern and Western, Oman seemed to have maintained its Islamic architecture, which in my mind, set it apart.

The souk, fort and mosque in Nizwa

I especially liked the souk [marketplace] in Nizwa, which was situated right next to the old fort and a mosque. A couple CouchSurfers and I took a trip there and to one of the highest mountains in the region. There was nothing physical that marked our location on the mountain so to this day, we're not entirely sure we were successful in finding the peak, but nonetheless, we have wonderful memories from that day.

National Day fireworks in Doha

In December, it was a special time to be in Qatar because the country celebrated its National Day, which commemorates its freedom from Great Britain. Some of the activities throughout the day included a parade in the morning and fireworks later at night. I'm glad I was able to be there to witness the festivities and the Qataris showing such pride for their nation.

Dilmun burial mounds in Manama

Bahrain seemed to be in the midst of attempting to build its tourist industry, but I mostly witnessed the ruins of old forts and rundown resorts that looked much more attractive online. I imagine one day, the forts will be restored and artifacts will be brought in to create a museum of some sort, similar to what the Omanis did with the fort in Nizwa. I did, however, enjoy the burial mounds and parts of the Bahrain National Museum that focused on Dilmun, an ancient civilization in the Persian Gulf that dates back to the third millennium BC. It reminded me of learning about places like Mesopotamia in my eighth grade Western Civilization class, which was always my favorite.

At the Grand Mosque in Kuwait City

Prior to exploring Western Asia, I had never stepped foot in a mosque. However, since they were among the most prominent structures in many of the cities I traveled around, I felt that visiting them would be an important part of my experience. While I was in Kuwait, I was fortunate enough to be able to take a guided tour of the Grand Mosque, the largest mosque in the country. It was a very informative tour and I enjoyed learning a little about the Islamic faith from someone who was so passionate and knowledgeable about the topic.

Wild elephant

After leaving the Gulf States, I headed to South, Southeast and East Asia. As a whole, Sri Lanka was one of the most picturesque places I visited. While I didn't care too much for Colombo [only because it was a noisy, crowded oven with way too much pollution], Nurwara Eliyah and Tissamaharama were complete dreams. It was near the latter that I saw my first and only elephant in the wild. I was told that leopards could also be seen in the parks, but unfortunately, I didn't come across any of those.

Downtown Singapore

Even though I had an extended layover in Singapore, I still managed to miss my flight. I had checked my luggage without a problem, but security stopped me on my way to the gate to weigh my carry-on bag. Since it was too heavy, I tried to post some items home, but by the time I finally tried to board the plane, it was too late. In the past, there had been more than a few close calls, but this was the first time I actually missed my flight.

Trying something new

I operated a motorbike on my own for the first time in Cambodia and found it to be a pretty freeing experience. Interestingly enough, another American trusted me enough to drive us from Kampot to Kep, which was quite an adventure since we hit a pothole on the way back that temporarily caused our only headlight not to work. Thankfully, after hitting a series of buttons and switches on the dashboard, it miraculously turned back on, which undeniably saved us from being hit by any of the trucks flying by us in the opposite direction.

Chinese New Year parade

In February, a friend who I had studied with in Korea and I met in Hong Kong for Chinese New Year. It proved to be an ideal place to spend the holiday because although the Spring Festival is mostly private and celebrated with family, there were some nice public festivities held in Hong Kong, which included fireworks and a parade downtown.

At the Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival

My time in Taiwan was among the most magical, if only because I had the opportunity to attend the magnificent Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival. Visiting Taiwan wasn't even on my "itinerary" when I was considering traveling around Asia so stumbling upon this particular gem was a true blessing. If you haven't already, it might be worth it to check out the video I posted on Facebook back in March. I said it then and I'll say it again:: It was like watching a live version of the movie Tangled.

Procession in Pampanga

Visiting the Philippines was another unplanned surprise, but thanks to an affordable ticket from Taiwan, it seemed like too good of an offer to overlook. For the second time in a row, I found myself in the right place at the right time as I was able to join a CouchSurfing host and several other backpackers in the province of Pampanga to see the Holy Week events. Traditions in this region are unique and include a reenactment of Jesus' crucifixion and devotees self-flagellating and being nailed to crosses, the latter of which seemed bizarre to me.

I hope the second half of this post comes sooner rather than later, but I have to apologize and admit my track record isn't that promising. Until then....