Drape Family Travel Awards (some bests, worsts and things in between… in no particular order)

Best Chocolate – Swiss Air little chocolate bars (so good even the diabetic joined in the eating).
Best Overall Meal – Aimbrei restaurant: outside, on the water at night with views to the Lake Palace in Udaipur, India with Steffen and Grace.

Most Copious Public Urination (other than our own) – Delhi, India (especially in Old Delhi) - no picture for this, thankfully.

Best Burger – Amman, Jordan Marriott (a taste of home at the sports bar – while watching soccer – but with lots of smoke).

Best Pizza – Phnom Penh Mall, Cambodia. (Special thanks to Aunt Kathy Morefield!)
Worst Pizza – Bali Restaurant, Phnom Penh, Cambodia (and yes, the boys should know better than to order pizza in Cambodia at a Balinese restaurant).

Best Airplane Food – Singapore Air (mmm! And they even served the boys before all the other adults).
Worst Airplane Food – United Airlines, domestic (pay $5 for a little box of packaged processed foods?) .

Best Airport – Singapore (beautiful, lots of real plants – with a nice little old man caring for them all; free high-speed internet).
Worst Airport – Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (nice folks, but a time-consuming and highly sweaty place).

Best Things Packed – Dental floss and duct tape for repairs, baby wipes for bathing on the trek, and the soccer ball/pump for general recreation along the way.
Most Unnecessary Things Packed – Dad’s extra tube of shaving cream (he is STILL working his way through the first).
Things We (Mom) Wish We Had Packed – Fleece hat.

Most Significant Injury – Andy’s dog bites (followed closely by Andy’s chapped and blistered face).
Most Entertaining Injury – Dad’s stick to the head from Steffen.
Most Disgusting Injury – Mom’s sand-filled toe blisters (followed closely by Andy’s chapped and blistered face).


Top Three Guest Houses/Hotels –
1. Haveli on the Lake, Udaipur, India (even with the dog bite).
2. Ms. Van Rooyen’s, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
3. The house in London
4. Matt wants a number 4 with Fauzi Azar Guest House, Nazareth

Best Coffee – The Plunge pot at the Schilder’s in Mitchell’s Plain, South Africa
Worst Coffee – The Goldiana Hotel, Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Chris drank it for 7 days!, Chrissie drank tea)

Best Bacon – Home cooked bacon at Ms. Katie’s in Bangkok.
Worst Bacon – Once again, The Goldiana Hotel, Phnom Penh (it was hairy).

Best Tea – Two choices: Adnan’s, our new friend made in Bethlehem Christmas Eve, when he invited us into his shop and served us delicious mint tea; and Babu’s, our host in Udaipur who served us up some killer chai at his shop in town.

Best Pets Visited – Tiger and Monkey (Katie Thorleifson’s cats in Bangkok), followed closely by Oreo (the Hanstad’s dog in Bangalore).
Worst Pet Visited – Alfy (Andy’s biter).

Funniest Small World Moment – Biking along the Sea of Galilee, being passed by a biker with an REI pack like ours. Dad yells, “What part of Seattle are you from?” The response, “Kent!”

Best Night’s Sleep – Amman, Jordan Marriott (love those down comforters).
Worst Night’s Sleep – First night at Paradise Beach Bungalows, Zanzibar (hot, humid, mosquitoes, and only a wimpy fan…)

Most Expensive Lodging – Oliver Plaza Hotel in London our very first night - $255
Least Expensive Lodging – Dad’s $5/night hotel in Ratanakiri, Cambodia (where he could have stayed for 51 nights for the cost of our London place).

Best Pool – Golden Palms, Bangalore, India.
Most Refreshing Pool – The Goldiana Hotel, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Worst Pool – Amman, Jordan Marriott (Mom says, how can you have a “bad” swimming pool?).

Smelliest Travel Companion – That white BO-ridden South African 14 year-old, on the flight to Tanzania.

Most Satisfying Bathing Experience – The waterfalls at the end of our trek.

Best Wildlife Moment – Cheetahs stalking the warthogs; Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania.
Worst Wildlife Moment – Monkey attack at the fort in Bundi, India (from Chrissie's journal: "Steffen screamed, Mom cussed, Matt cried").

Best Phrase Learned – “Izit” – South Africa (English); meaning anything from literally, “is it?” to “really?!” to “you’ve got to be kidding”….

Worst Phrase – “Don’t worry, Matt…” uttered by the mother on too many treacherous occasions.