Wednesday in Bucharest

It started after I wrote my last blog........I left my passport at the front desk of our Athens hotel and did not realize it until Thessoloniki (upper Greece). I called the hotel and arranged delivery to Bucharest. But that would be three days later and the scavenges where to take place between Greece, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Romania during that time..........I couldn't disappoint my partner Steve! As most of you know, if you travel extensively, a US citizen can receive a second passport after requesting permission from the government. I had that passport with me....so what is the problem you say. Try three.....1. Second passport expired in 18 days (governments typically want 6 months unexpired, 2. It had ZERO room for government stamps, and 3. It did not contain my entry stamp into Greece the day before.
We decided to leave one day early from our hotel due to the holiday closure of everything and this confused me evidently. I made it through the Greece border but not without a lot of work. They threatened a 600 euro fine, etc. but finally I prepared after showing my airline bording pass to Athens, etc.
Now three days later and after little sleep and massive transportation issues we are done with these four phases of the scavenges. We turn in our list later tonight and then fly tomorrow to an unknown destination before our final scavenge the day after in Toronto. These past few days brought us spectacular sites in Greece (Meteora's "columns of the sky") and Bulgaria (Rila Monastery)
That's all for now.....hope we can keep our lead!
Bart

Sunday Morning in Athens

We arrived yesterday afternoon in Athens. We have a hotel room for two nights here but, after further review we have decided to leave in a half hour and work our way through upper Greece, Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Romania. Our next check in and completion of the leg is in Bucharest on Wednesday evening. We will be using a taxi and the railroad system to obtain our scavenges through this leg. Steve and I are both sick and tired but with a the lead in the race it does help to some extent. We visited the midnight Church services last night here in Athens as this is Easter and everything is closed it seems! Quite a Church service....especially after our entire group had a great drunken evening in a taverna locally in Athens before.....plates broken, etc.
Last week of the trip....starting to see the finish line!
Bart

Friday in Cairo

Hello everyone
I am writing to you from my "new friend" Essam's house who has kindly invited myself and my partner Steve to dinner tonight at his house to have traditional Egyptian food. We are both looking forward to the experience later. I assume all of you have read the greatescape blog and know that Steve and I have a nice lead after 3 rounds (7 to go). We will not relax on our laurels and hope to keep the lead until the end of the competition!
We are close to ending the Cairo scavenges (9pm tonight.....it is presently 3:30 pm) and have been very busy.....little sleep......and little ability to enjoy our hotel accomodations at one of the best hotels in Cairo (Mena House Oberoi....across the street from the Giza pyramids).
Even though Steve and I have had numerous trips to Cairo in the past the 45+ scavenges showed us alot of new sites and experiences. You should have seen us in full African headdress atop a horse at sunrise this morning. Or, cruising the Nile River twice last nite (one with belly dancer entertainment). Tonight our last scavenge will be the sound and light show of the Giza Pyramids (which we have both seen in the past).
Well, we continue to be very tired and have no idea where we are being sent tomorrow morning for the next leg (scavenge #5).........I will try to find time to keep you all updated.....Bart Hackley

Kathmandu Day 2

It is bed time after another exhausting day....up at 4:30 am and on the road at 5am for the 3 and 1/2 hour drive to the border of China and the beautiful waters at Tatopani the 3 and 1/2 hours back for a busy afternoon of workng on scavenges. The most meaningful scavenage is our volunteer of our time to the Tibetan refugee camp elementary school and the Tibetan refugee camp older folks home.....we have put in significant hours the last two days and will spend all morning tomorrow.
Our lead after Leg #2 has increased to 460 points.....do we have enough stamina to last 10 legs? Stay tuned!
We fly tomorrow night to ??
Regards to everyone back home......Bart
PS We received a spur of the moment invite to a Mongolian wedding.....what a festivity!!

Singapore Airport en route to Kathmandu

Yesterday was a fast paced day. Sharing a taxi with fellow participants we drove from Kuala Lumpur to Melaka to Singapore with stops in between. You wouldn't believe all of the scavenges we were able to complete .............. ending the second stage with a ride with the world famous "singing cab driver" as he drove us to the famous "Long Bar" at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore. A "Singapore Sling(one)" and one drink, and two beers was over 80 Sin (or $65)......The taxi driver entertained us and we entertained ourselves (another participant couple shared the taxi with us) with Karoke singing old and new songs. Meeting at 10pm told us we are going to Kathmandu today (I am at the airport in Singapore). Other than a loud explosion from the heavens last night....fireworks included (lighting).....we have had a slight respite for the last 11 hours. Stay tuned........

Kuala Lumpur

We have been so busy with scavenges that it leaves little time for blogging.......sleep has been in the 3-4 hour range each night.......................we promise ourselves 1 hour of "down" time daily (Steve is getting a massage now and I will sonn go to the gym)........we have not had a lunch all week.......you get the picture!
Read GreatEscapes blog as it is quite informative and the organizers have way more free time then the teams. So, I won't repeat the information other than to add that we are proud as a team to be in first place after stage 1 (I believe we will have 10 stages in the competition)......I am sure the leader board will change alot! Now, on to Singapore and more of Malaysia tomorrow........Bart

Good Bye Beijing!!

It is 4 am in Beijing and my team partner Steve is fast asleep....Of course, I am awake....what's new (some things never change)
Due to China blog censorship and our Event Coordinator's excellent commentary that you are hopefully reading.......I will be brief!!
These past three days were very hard. Emotionally, Physically, Time Change Mechanics, etc.
We feel our team did well for Stop #1......we will find out scores today I believe as we fly to our next stop......Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.........nearly straight south and warmer!!
Found out we are the oldest team competing at 123 years (63 + 60).....I am the second oldest individual to a 64 year old Canadian who also rode a bike across his country (his ride had more miles than mine).......talk to you from KL next, Bart