Tips, Tricks, and Tidbits

The Hayduke

• We hiked in the spring of 2024, 4/4-5/26.

• We didn't make food or water caches for our hike. Why? Two reasons I guess, one, it sounded super inconvenient to drive all around and bury food. Two, I had never been most of these places, outside of Arches National Park and the Grand Canyon and I wanted my first experience to be when I arrived on foot. Perhaps an ego driven existential reason to make a hard hike harder, but that's what we did.

• Don't start too early, it could be far colder then you expect. Unless it's a terrible water year. (Bugs)

• Not knowing everything is half the fun. Enjoy some novelty again. (Bugs)

• Rim to Rim in the Grand Canyon is the least of your worries. The 26 miles and 6000' of gain go by with relative ease on the sidewalk like trail. Enjoy

• Towns in Utah where far pricier then expected. Most are gateway communities for the nearby national parks and that is definitely reflected in the cost of everything.

• We hitched into Kanab, UT on Hwy. 89 without any difficulty. One of the better towns and a cheaper location for a zero day before the Grand Canyon.

The Grand Enchantment Trail

• Brett Tucker provides the best trail/route description and water chart. Thanks!!

• If the cactus don't get you, the cats claw will! (Bugs)

• Try to catch the Superstitions during a super bloom for an incredible display of desert flowers. (Bugs)

• Expect AMAZING food in the small Southwest towns long this route! Try the chicken fried steak (Bugs). The menudo was a favorite of mine (Moose).

Japan

• Lawson, FamilyMart, and 711 all have really fun and affordable food and treats.

• Get the discount grocery store sushi at night before they close! It's a great breakfast the next day, just remember to refrigerate it...

• Include a vending machine budget! They're everywhere and the temptation to buy another new tea every 15 minutes is real. (Bugs)

• Long distance high speed trains are not cheap. Consider the JR Pass but do the math! You need to complete several long trips to exceed the cost of the rail pass after the most recent price increase.

• Another note about food, this might be rather American of me, but I found a lot of Japanese portions to be on the small side. Small enough that after a month stay this actual had a significant impact on our food budget as I often needed to eat double what I expected.

Central Asia (Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan)

• Russian is the most common second language and knowing a few basic words proved more useful than the Uzbek we attempted to memorize.

• SO many soups and salads on the menu, people say this is a meat dominant region, and while lamb, beef and horse, yes horse, may dominate the spread there are numerous other options available, often times remnants of the Soviet past and the large Korean population, thanks Stalin.

• Yandex Go, get the app, it's in the Google Play store. It's Uber for Uzbekistan, we're talking 30 minute taxi rides for dollars. It was so easy to use, no negotiating rate with the driver, and bumpin' music. Like loud music...

• All the city parks and squares in Uzbekistan come alive at night with vendors and carnival rides. Honestly one of the safest and most family friendly night life's we've experienced.

• The Uzbek bazaars and markets are a real experience, not overly touristic, they still maintain a local feel with people doing their personal shopping.

Istanbul, Türkiye

• Juice! Fresh squeezed juice on every corner. Finding the old man with the sweetest oranges becomes its own adventure.

• The Aya Sophia (Hagia Sophia) is best visited at night when the crowds are almost nonexistent.

• The large street dogs can be unsettling at first but we learned that the ear tag most of them sport indicates they're vaccinated for rabies and they all seemed to be really friendly!

• Watch out for "fake" restaurants! Often times a famous or popular spot will have copycat restaurants pop up right next store or nearby with an almost identical name and menu!

• The Grand Bazaar is definitely worth visiting but unfortunately heavy tourism has replaced a lot of the shops with identical tourist knickknack spots, but there are still a few hidden gems and great eats!

Greece

• Amazing food at fair prices, eat the Greek staples but don't shy away from some modern interpretations of classic dishes, you may be surprised.

• Aggressive city drivers, if you a rent a car and you're from the U.S, Canada or Northern Europe be prepared to learn the Greek way of driving. When we visited Corfu Town the city actually had shut all the traffic lights off...

• Rental cars price scams. They will aggressively try to upsell you nonsense insurance stuff. Don't be afraid to negotiate, kindly that is.

• Don't calculate your speed by in miles per hour by assuming its about one half what it is in kilometers per hour. You'll end up driving way faster then you think. 160 km/h is about 100 mph, not the 80 I estimated on the fly. Ooops.

• The modern tollways are well build and easy to drive but if you cross the country we'd recommend using an old mountain highway like we did. They're so much more scenic with surprise villages along the way. We took Hwy 74 from Olympia to Nafplion across the Peloponnese and really enjoyed it.

• There's more to Greece than Athens and the islands.

• Thessaloniki, it's Greece's second biggest city and worth visiting. Every alley seemed to contain a hidden restaurant with prices about 20% less than Athens and every bit of the quality.

• Visit Nafplion, it's the vacation destination for the modern Athenians. Located on the Argolic Gulf, it has a great waterfront and a laid back vibe. And you get ice cream at midnight if your heart desires, restaurants are open for food and drink well into the night.

• Meteora contains a complex of monasteries, one of which was featured in the James Bond film, For Your Eyes Only, (see picture). Featuring impressive feats of ancient human engineering these structures stand balanced atop stone outcropping, boggling the mind. This area should be included on any Greek mainland visit.

• In lieu of the more traditional islands we visited Corfu in the Ionian Sea, where we rented a small apartment in the hills above Palaiokastritsa. Then we rented a cheap boat in town and cruised around our own ocean paradise, full of snorkeling and swimming in crystal clear water.