Farewell to Tracy
After working for Oasis for four and a half years, Tracy is leaving to do what she loves most - travel ! Those of you who have traveled with us in South America or the Middle East may know Tracy either as tour leader on the road or your partner here at headquarters. Here are some of Tracy and how she entered overlanding ...
once I hit 19, with some other camping trips under my belt, I had a huge desire to travel abroad and doing odd jobs in the hotel industry, I had finally saved enough money to head the UK with my ancestral visa. A trip to Europe and spending Anzac Day at Gallipoli was my first trip, and then the order of the day was Africa. I registered for the trip 54 days Apes & Lakes with Oasis Overland in 04 because I liked the look of the brochure (Back in the Day that was no color in it!). This was the beginning of something, but I did not know what!
Three years passed and after a trip to Morocco, where I decided I needed a change of lifestyle, I applied for a job as a tour leader with Oasis, which I passed three months on our regional Explorer tours in Egypt, nine months on our trucks Middle East and 2 years on our trucks in South America, making great friends and left me with good memories along the way.
a year and a half was then spent working and road tripping in Canada and the US with a friend before joining Oasis Overland office team in October 2013 as America South, Egypt and Morocco 'Expert'!
favorite country: Too many to choose from but Argentina and Chile are right up there
top thing to pack tablets Anti-inflammatories, nothing worse than being itchy
Top board :. When you arrive in a new place, is not immediately connected to the internet, go out and explore the sights, sounds and smells. There is a big world beyond WIFI!
What is your favorite travel memory? trekking mountain gorillas in Rwanda and hiking in the national park Torres del Paine in Chile, both unforgettable and I to do both if I had the chance.
Thank you Tracy for all your hard work (and cooking) over the years. We'll miss you ... can you please put our offices before leaving! 
I had been off the rails too long! Whereas the first three and a half months have been covered exclusively by train, we had not been on for seven weeks through southern Vietnam and Cambodia. 
itched to be shaken down again.The slow train from Siem Reap to Bangkok had my name, a journey of relaxation after all that falls Angkor-raiding. The rail network in Cambodia is slowly restored but at the moment it is only for freight.For now, you must take a bus or a taxi to the Thai border and Siem Reap which takes about 3 hours.This is considerably faster than when we took a taxi on the road six years ago, the road is now paved!bus was cheap and quite comfortable. We bumbled along a videotape of Cambodian karaoke.Arriving in Poipet , the border town, the first bus stop at his desk not staying here. bus continues through the city until it reaches a large "roundabout", where an army of unofficial carriers vie for your bags.With hoisted our backpacks on we walked to the border on foot, it's really not far away. The heat was intense, and if the hot air was dirty with vehicle fumes. 
We were eradicated in Cambodia then we crossed the bridge in Thailand, crossing the sadly polluted river that separates the two countries here, join a queue that winds through the building of the 'immigration.I am envious of the sparrows fluttering in the passport control by window vents, the room was warm and the queue was very slow. They attacked the window frames for insects and flew back to Freedom .The icy cold of 7Eleven was heavenly when we finally tracked down the Rongkleu market, just behind the immigration building. Refreshed with cold drinks, we rented a tuk-tuk to take us 6 km Aranyaprathet .of Aranyaprathet station is charming, quaint and tidy, it could not be more in contrast to the chaos of Poipet. Potted plants and flowers, fluttering flags and flawless platform it was like stepping into another world. 
The Aranyaprathet Bangkok train station costs less than $ 2 , there is only one class and is third. The carriages are spacious and very comfortable, warm air is circulated by ceiling fans, cooler air breezes through open windows when the train starts moving.Through agricultural plains we drive, the occasional golden arrow pierces the net landscape. We draw more manicured resorts and trucks fill slowly.
The afternoon was spent exploring the tourist souk before ending the day at a restaurant by the river for an average meal below . Returning to the hotel, the atmosphere of the city was loaded: Egypt playing in the African Nations (soccer) cup __gVirt_NP_NN_NNPS Egypt won the game, and Aswan has gone mad! Cars were hooting, boats blew their horns, police cars turned on their sirens, all in celebration. The city was singing and singing, it lasted for hours and hours! We had to be up at 3am we had booked a tour. I miraculously fell asleep with the ear pugs.The visit had us crammed into a minibus, collecting guests from other hotels as well, joining the tourist convoy until Abu Simbel .This great temple was moved before the creation of Lake Nasser, it was beautiful. The four colossal statues of Ramses II facing the temple and we stood on the interior was beautifully painted and sculpted.
Our tour continued to the Philae Temple , with a quick stop on Lake Nasser Dam. The temple was also transferred, this time on an island. We had to negotiate a boat to carry us on it.Our minibus group stuck together and we negotiated our crossing. The Philae Temple is picturesque, especially as you approach through the water.It was built around the 4th century BCE and dedicated to Isis, she had found the heart of his brother Osiris killed on the now submerged island of Philae. It was beautifully carved, especially the tops of the flower design of columns
He was a kilometer walk along the ledge Karnak Temple .This vast temple was great to explore the vast pillared hall with its magnificent columns hiroglyphed was spectacular. We spent a few hours wandering around the temples and obelisks, taking it all in
Next was Valley [Desrois, we visited three tombs- Ramses I, III and IV. They were amazing and beautifully decorated, so colorful even after thousands of years.Then came the icing on the cake, the tomb of King Tutankhamun . The tomb was light compared to others, but contained actual mummy as a temporary exhibition.This was amazing, we were face to face with the most famous historical figures, and it was so tiny! His head looked pretty weird, we learned that the royal baby had rocks attached to their scalps to promote the features of royalty.
We then visited two graves in the Valley of the Queens . It was quieter, less tourists. The tour concluded with a return boat on the Nile. The ancient Egyptians never lived on the east, west back was reserved for the tombs is where the sun, representing death.That evening we were introduced Sahlab , a delicious hot drink made with milk, semolina powder to thicken and vanilla with sesame seeds sprinkled on above (or nuts). It is traditionally thickened using the powdered root of a particular orchid but I guess cheaper products are used these days. It was like a dream glass of cream, sundae before bedtime.The following day was Valentines, and many residents of Luxor reminded us it was! We visited Luxor Museum , it was very well appointed and had good labels. On display was the mummy of Ramses I's mummy was found in 1800 and sold to a museum curiosity in Niagara. It was later sold to an American and some Egyptologists matched the face and skull to Seti I and Ramses another parent. They realized that it was a royal mummy Ramses I and made his way back to Luxor.Tonight we took the train (expensive) back berth in Cairo. We had our own little two sleeper and were provided with a meal, even if it was meat, more meat on the side. We were woken for breakfast at 4.30 am the next morning and arrived in Cairo to 6.30.Arriving at the station, we immediately booked return tickets a day at Alexandria then stored our luggage at the African House Hostel. The hostel manager was delighted to see Chris again 'and promised us a room upgrade for the night. The train to Alex took two hours and a half, the landscape has changed we followed the Nile to the Mediterranean trees and lush fields.It was overcast and cool in Alex, we visited the National Museum, but it was not 't as good in the museums of Cairo or Luxor. We had lunch followed by some coffee and some pastry, in a few coffee bars before having a look around the library. The modern BA was built to house two million pounds, he certainly did not contain that much though. There was an excellent display of old photographs of Alexandria, as well as a collection of books and ancient manuscripts. We took the night train to Cairo, absolutely exhausted.
Our last day in the Middle East was spent catching up on emails and others. We had to Koshary Koshary Sayed Hanafy last and followed with much appreciated G & T in the old colonial bar of the Hotel Windsor.That night we went to Egypt and flew to India, ending our journey by land across the Levant. It was a wonderful adventure rich. The food, people, history and landscape, I will never forget.
The Thursday, October 10 we left London St Pancras on the Eurostar to Brussels. The aim of this adventure is to travel to the UK in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam entirely by train. This was our first step towards Poland. 
There were lockers luggage magical Cologne train station, in freely service. You put your bags in the machine, coin into the slot and a shutter closes and luggage disappears into the ground in a secure box. We were very impressed! Free our bags, we went out into the sun and the huge cathedral, Cologne grandiose. This Gothic church towers over everything and was one of the few buildings in the city to survive World War II 
It was time to take the train again We had three days before our flight back! Bangkok; having chosen out of Mandalay, we now had to get there.Our arrival in Naungshwe (for Inle Lake) was by bus over the mountains, we are now going to repeat much of that trip in reverse, on the mall train Thazi; from there, we could then take the express train to Mandalay. With a lot of advice from the man in seat 61 we go by taxi to Shwenyaung, the nearest town with a Naungshwe railway station. Our taxi driver cheerily pointed out all the sites and temples we had failed to see in our too brief time in the region Arriving at the Shwenyaung station, it took us across to the ticket before saying goodbye
The train arrived on time: departure on schedule was 9:40. We boarded and settled into our spacious seats, but dilapidated, and waited. We were in superior class seats with a comfortable and open windows 
It appeared that we would not leave on time. An announcement later informed us that there had been an accident further down the track, causing the delay (!): the train finally left half past one delay 
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The last hours dragged a little, I am uncomfortable and worried. One of the girls in front of me was perched on a suitcase she had then slipped through, pushing me. She was also uncomfortable and worried as I was, the poor. The day was ending and darkness smothered earth , our vista disappeared. I read and doze.
Finally (a word I feel that I often use when writing about the Myanmar Railways) train Thazi pulled into station, miraculously only half an hour late! Tired and hungry, we followed the small crowd off the platform and found the ticket, stop buying tickets for our trip. Annoyingly, they would not sell them to us (probably could not be bothered with all the paperwork at that time of night) and told us to buy them in the morning. We walked the short distance to the guest house, hoping they would have room since we had not booked anything. a French couple were unloading their bags off a horse cart we arrived, they had also got off the train.super-friendly staff at Moonlight Guest House showed us what was available, we - coming second - got a double room ($ 10) fan and shared bathroom (share without one, the four of us were the only guests), while the French couple have air conditioning. Our room was tiny and fragile but had a quaint charm and was clean and neat.9:00 p.m. He was gone, we headed to the restaurant on the ground floor and we had to discuss with the brother of the owner. His English was excellent, he implied that he had lived for some time in America, and we discussed our travel options before and the Myanmar economy. He knew of a property in Yangon which had sold for two and a half million dollars (US) "in a city that does not even adequate sanitation" he said"so expensive!" On saying we intended to take the express train to Mandalay the next morning, he was keen to put us out :. he had once; but it was so terrifying that he had never repeated. He thought the train could jump the rails, it was so fast and so violently inflatable.We assured him that we had already mounted a Myanmar couple of trains and we preferred the bus. The next morning, our alarm clock rang at 3:30 , we quickly got up, dressed and left. The brother of the owner was and wished us a good farewell at the door.We went to the station, which was already very busy, and I sat with the bags while Chris bought our tickets ($ 7 each for upper seat on the train 3 ) .We waited on the platform, an employee of the station to where we needed to get up when the train came, how exceptionally organized! When the train did arrive (on time!) Transport numbers were in the Burmese script but we quickly found the right.
This train is express in Mandalay, was already full , we found our seats in the upper class seat :. these seats, in fact the whole journey, yesterday was about much more intelligent mail being the equivalent transportI huddled in my seat and quickly triggered train, rolling down the line. I now fully understood the alarm of man guesthouse to train, express train certainly lived up to its name. He moved so much faster than all trains in Myanmar we had previously been on the speed seemed to amplify the bumps and rocking. We were violently bounced in our seats as the train sped along to Mandalay: he did not feel safe at allWe have spent rustic scenes of farm life: cattle pulling plows and rotating the shaft; rice with cone workers. These cap pastoral scenes continued and repeated until we approached Mandalay; , then the landscape has become more urban: brick walls, barbed wire, warehouses and abundant litter pressing 
