rafscab's VirtualTourist Home Page

Next 8th may we are going to Europe. This time our trip starts in London, after some days there we go to Calais and take a car and starts a driving tour around Europe.

The next stage is Brugge, then Amsterdam, Cologne, Berlin, Prague, Salzburg, Venice, Florence, Rome, Pisa and finaly Nice in southern France.

8 countries, 4000 kms, one month. I know it looks like a race, not a trip, but is all the time we have and we want to make the best of it, although we know we won't be getting too much of each city.

Last February 22nd, after 5 years dating, we finally got married. It was a wonderful day. Thanks to all who attended the wedding, the party; to all our friends and relatives.

Since the 1950' a group of students of Economics from Uruguay travel around the world, and 2005 was my year!!

I left my job and put all my savings on what I believed it was going to be an incredible experience and it certainly was. I shared this amazing trip with my girlfriend María Noel, also an Economics student, who was a great mate during this period.

First stop at Atlanta - USA - on march 25th and then Honolulu; then to China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Tahiland, Nepal, India, United Arab Emirates, Egipt, Jordan, Turkey, Greece, Spain, France, back to the USA, to New York and then, after more than four and a half months, finally to Uruguay.

I'm trying to update my travel pages with info and pictures of this amazing journey. Up to date I've done the following pages:

- Oahu
- Beijing
- Ho Chi Minh City
- Halong Bay
- Kanchanaburi (just a couple of pictures)
- Mount Everest
- Cairo (I can't even call it a page)
- Abu Simbel Temple
- Sharm el Sheikh

I still have a lot of work to do.

References for the picture above:

1....2......3....4
5.........6.......7
8..................9
10..11..12..13

1) Kayaking in Ha Long Bay - Vietnam
2) Diamond Head - Waikiki - Hawaii
3) Mount Victoria - Hong Kong - China
4) Grand Father Rock in Lamai Beach - Ko Samui - Thailand
5) Tian An Men Square - Beijing - China
6) Taj Mahal - Agra - India
7) Hotel Burj al Arab - Dubai - U.A.E.
8) Temple of Abu Simbel - Egypt
9) Having a drink in Hanoi - Vietnam
10) Cu Chi tunnels in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) - Vietnam
11) In the desert near Dubai - U.A.E.
12) The Great Wall at Badaling, near Beijing - China
13) The Sphinx in El Cairo - Egypt

Perhaps this is the way I started my affair with travelling.

Since my early teens I started to do athletics competitively and that took me abroad for the first time to compete in Venado Tuerto - Argentina when I was 13.

My love for the sport and the desire of achievments made me one of the best athletes not only in my country but in South America on the late 90s', with two National Records (800 mts. and 4x400 relays) and many international competitions representing Uruguay.

Running I went to many countries in South America, although I never had the opportunity to run overseas. I miss the Winnipeg 1999 Pan-American Games and the Sidney Olympics for too little and then I quit in order to finnish the University.

Now, I no longer run to win any race. I just run because I love it and I still compete in some adventure races (treking, kayaking, mountain bike, etc.) but only for fun and that is the better way I found to travel around my own country and discover a lot of "off the beaten tracks". One of my goals was to know well my own country before going around the world, and I think I did it, because I can say that I know everyone of the 19 regions that is divided Uruguay.

Fortunately, the University that once took me off the tracks was the major factor to make me travel around the world, what I did, from March to August 2005.

In 2006, the Uruguay Olimpic Comitee appointed me to represent my country in the 46° Session for Young Participants of the International Olympic Academy in Olympia, Greece, in last june.

THE VISION OF THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC ACADEMY

TO EXPLORE AND ENHANCE THE CONTRIBUTION OF OLYMPISM TO HUMANITY IN THE 21st CENTURY

The International Olympic Academy functions as a multicultural interdisciplinary centre that aims at studying, enriching and promoting Olympism. The foundation of such an institution was inspired by the ancient Gymnasium, which shaped the Olympic Ideal by harmoniously cultivating body, will and mind. On the eve of the 21st century, the centennial anniversary of the revival of the Olympic Games coincides with the global scale changes that are affecting every aspect of human thought and activity.

Check my OLYMPIA page to know more about the city, the ruins of Ancient Olympia and the International Olympic Academy.