Greetings fellow travelers and virtual travel gamers!
We’re very pleased with the entries so far. Quite impressed, actually. Keep ’em coming. Remember, you can enter as many times as you’d like. We might even consider throwing in an extra prize for perfect attendance, persistence, or sheer volume.
We’re hoping that a few of you might appreciate a bit of clarification and perhaps a little geography lesson before you make your next guess so here goes…
There were several votes for Bolivia. The temperature there right now is in the 50s — not our idea of “hot” as mentioned in clue #1 — so we’re going to shift Bolivia to the list of suggestions for our November trip. Just to be clear, by “hot” we mean the forecast calls for temperatures in the low 90s. This is the average temperature for July.
Here’s a little clarification on that whole “landlocked” thing mentioned in clue #1: We consider the states of Missouri (Keith’s guess), Montana (Laura L’s 2nd guess), Nevada (Diane and Judy) as landlocked even though the U.S. is not a landlocked country. So those guesses stand. Any state or province bordering on one of the great lakes, however, would not be considered landlocked. Peru is not landlocked but Kristen specifically guessed Machu Picchu which is inland. Hmmm. Clever. But we’re going to gently toss it anyway since temperatures there are in the low 70s right now… and we did the Inca Trail a few years ago. Sorry.
Guesses that came in via email rather than as comments on the blog:
Sylvia: Bolivia (although she acknowledged it is winter there now) or Bhutan
Wayne: Bolivia or Uganda
Kathryn: Bolivia or Moldova
Judy: Las Vegas
Amy: Serbia and/or Hungary
Kristen: Machu Picchu
Shari: Burkino Faso (Incorrect answer but we’re awarding bonus points for including a great description and good link.)
And now, your third set of clues:
Clue #3A (As they say in Lonely Planet, “Dangers & Annoyances”)
There are some safety considerations; we’ve invested in proper equipment and protection and will likely buy a couple more items as soon as we arrive. Magellans’s does not carry what we need (except for sun screen).
Clue #3B (Health & Immunizations)
Malaria is not one of our concerns.
The tap water is potable.
No immunizations are required for us although it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get our tetanus boosters.
Altitude may be a challenge, especially for Harriet.
Looking forward to more thoughtful, ingenious responses.
Clearly I missed the whole landlocked thing. Which means no more continuing my eastward island hopping tour (no Sri Lanka, for example).
But I will still continue east. How about Jordan, with a week in Amman and Petra?
Ok, I was going to guess Jordan because I know you liked Petra and the kind people. However, altitude is not a problem. So, how about one of the ”stans”–Katzakhstan, Turkmenistan, uzbekistan or Tajikistan? Though I would be surprised if the water is potable. Samarkand, not the retirement home, is supposed to be gorgeous.
I keep thinking you Inca Trail veterans are going to trek, so how about Austria and its Alps–could be cooking in July. I was going to guess Kilimanjaro, but Tanzania isn’t landlocked.
Since I may soon be out of email range, I’ll post all my guesses now. On the African front, Ethiopia is many people’s fave country–beautiful and with friendly people. Perhaps Botswana after the popular women’s detective series (though I think it’s pretty flat). Rwanda is pretty popular now with its women-led government and beautiful scenery. Oh, I’m dying to know the answer!
Guadalajara, Mexico. Better there than Monterrey.
Altitude or attitude may be a problem for Harriet? It’s killing me to keep my mouth shut and my fingers from scatting the answer across the keyboard. But in all fairness, will BOTH of you have protection? Or only one of you? A little misleading, no?
Tibet is high altitute and has a river.
If anything this contest is making me bone up on my global geography! Next guess is TAJIKISTAN- high altitude, rivers, and hot hot hot!
Okay, now I have it. You are going to Andorra to attend the International Beekeepers and Fencing Conference For Cohabitating Adults. Tracy and I were thinking of going, but realized neither of us are beekeepers . . . or fencers.
OK, it’s started raining and i have 10 minutes before I catch my city bus to the terminal for an overnight bus to La Serena. Since it seems we may not be looking for a landlocked country, I may go for a tour of the Loire Valley and more French vittles. Could also perhaps be a jaunt along the Danube–charming Saltzburg and Vienna?
New guess is Colorado. It certainly has a river, is landlocked, is hot, and high altitude (I get fierce altitude headaches there). For the special equipment, obviously you’re going mountain climbing.
Tanzania? can it be that you don’t need extra shots because you have had them all?
That’s it. MONGOLIA
It’s hot in July, high altitude, and relies heavily on air transport. “It has 44 functioning airports, although only 12 of those have paved airstrips.” Plus there are over 4,000 rivers in Mongolia.
At first I was going to guess Paraguay, but now with the altitude clue, don’t think that’s a go. Diane beat me to the Colorado guess. Magellan’s carries various bags supposedly impermeable to the random razor so probably you are not going to Mexico, and besides, there is little that you cannot get there now. It’s always a good idea to have tetanus boosters, so that I would guess is a red herring. Bhutan is too far to go for a short trip, though I think this is the cheaper time of the year to go there. I am going to guess Romania for no reason at all. Presume there are some mountains there. Safety considerations may include simply having cash on hand in the event of being robbed (so that the perpetrators do not go away empty handed), available onsite so I’m thinking that might be another red herring.
Whoops! That’s what I get for just clicking a link and starting to respond without looking at all the clues. Altitude is putting Nepal pretty high on my list now. The safety precautions are actually making me wonder about Tibet though. Their temperatures have been going up quite a bit lately.
What was wrong with the guesses I sent?
We need another hint. Is the vacation going to be for work?
Lake Tahoe
Do I get credit for guessing a part of the answer? Hope so! You’re going to a fencing tournament in a high high elevation somewhere in North America. Am I warm???
OMG, just realized I only had one answer left. Holy guacalamole…I still gotta guess the tournament place.