I was a first time traveller with Going Plaes Together and
can say from the bottom of my heart, this is the best vacation
I've had. Why was it the best?? We had an amazing guide Ayman
whom Nancy went out of her way to make sure we got and he was
well worth it. His knowledge of his country is astounding and
he truly loves telling you about his amazing home. He also made
sure we were looked after and took us out at night to contact
loved ones, when his time should have been up for the day!!!
Now since I'm a 1st timer I can say for myself, we had the most
amazing group of women. I enjoyed getting to know every single
one of them and have the honor of calling everyone of them friends.
Nancy made sure we stayed in the nicest hotels (incl. The Old
Catarct!!!) and we saw many, many, many amazing sites. Every
day just got better and I was not disappointed. I'd like to finish
by saying to Nancy and all the other ladies (and Ayman) that
this was more than just a trip for me. This was my actual lifetime
dream trip, I'd been dreaming of this since I was around 11 years
old and I'd like to thank you all for making it just that - a
dream come true!!! I will travelling with Nancy again!!!!
Sherry Dill
Egypt April 2008
Another splendid and exciting trip with Nancy and my fellow Wendy
Women! Egypt was beyond my highest expectations and it seemed
that every day there was something better than the day before.
This is a rare occurrence on most trips as once you see your
highlight, then everything else is just the “rest of the
trip”. This vacation, however, never stopped being amazing.
I believe the way this trip was scheduled is what made it perfect
and every day as we started on a new adventure it just got better
and better. And, of course, the finale of scuba diving was the
best in my opinion. I would definitely love to do that again!
I found that sharing with a different roommate every few days was
a fantastic experience. We had some really super conversations
together. What a great way to get to know your travel mates.
When we expressed an interest in seeing something or going somewhere,
Ayman (our tour guide, Egyptologist) made sure that our wishes
were granted. He is a person who “reads” people
and knows what you want even before you do! This was evidenced
during his stories of the gods and goddesses of Egypt when he unerringly
picked the right person to be a certain goddess. Ayman went out
of his way to be accommodating and even after his day should have
ended, he was always willing to walk with us into town to find
an internet café or a bank or some other interesting experience.
Thanks, Nancy, for another really fantastic trip.
Marian Smith
Vietnam, Thailand and Hong Kong; Oct-Nov. 2007 I
had a wonderful time on my recent trip to Thailand and Vietnam
with Going Places Together. It was interesting to experience different
cultures and to see all the sights about which I had read prior
to this trip.. I feel fortunate to have joined a group of such
well travelled and fun loving women to tour the two countries.
Changing roommates at each hotel gave us an opportunity to get
to know each other. I hope one day to travel with some of them
again on another "Going Places" Together tour .
Ginny, first time traveller with Going Places Together!
Vietnam, Thailand and Hong Kong Oct.-Nov. 2007 Our
wonderful adventure is over too soon! What fantastic memories I
have to ponder! I have completed my journal, and I’m sure
will spend some considerable time re-reading about everything we
did. I’m already amazed to think that we did so many things
in just three weeks! Once I get photos developed and organized,
I can relive this adventure many times again in the future. I’m
so glad to have been part of this “Going Places Together” trip,
and meeting the other great “Wendy Women” involved.
Memories are golden.
Thank you for organizing this great trip, and everything you did
in order to keep us safe, happy and exploring in these far corners
of the world. I was a little concerned at times that my stamina
would be a problem, but I’m pleased with my efforts. I did
it! There are many highlights to reflect upon, and I’m not
just sure yet if there is a specific one. I treasure the happy
smiles I’ve “collected” in my travels, and this
trip is no exception. It’s the people I meet in this world
who make my day – a smile, a gesture – the simple things
in life that give it such meaning. I’m happy to be alive,
and strive to enjoy something every day.
Karen Schilling
China June 2007 Nancy: I am writing to let you know how wonderful the China
trip was. Traveling with only 12 women and changing room
mates was something I had not done before but found it to be
a very rewarding experience. I was very pleased with the itinerary, chosen hotels, and
of course the food. The local tour guides, were very knowledgeable and
enthusiastic of their cities and surrounding areas and
imparted same to us. Donna did a great job as tour escort and kept us on track
and on time. I am sure there were some trying times for
her but she was very professional and never let any frustration
surface. Since my return home, I have been speaking about Going
Places Together and my experiences and have had very positive
responses. I am reliving my trip by going over my journal and viewing
my 1200+ photos! Thanks for a wonderful experience and I hope, God willing,
to travel with you again.
Janine Loeffler
Kenya and Tanzania, November 2005
Nancy I want to say thank you again for such a wonderful
holiday. You made my "Trip of a Lifetime" the trip of my
life.
All the arrangements, questions, & worries you handled efficiently
and seemingly effortlessly. Your advice and endless patience with
the neophyte traveller and the seasoned traveller was amazing.
The Balloon Ride!!!!! The Champagne Breakfast out on the African plain!!!!
All those animals in all of that space and no people!!!!!!!!!!! The
peace and quiet!!!!
I have recommended your Tour company whenever I get raving about this
holiday. Anyone would have just the most amazing time travelling with
one of your groups. You can be sure that I am planning another holiday
with you.
Joan Rainbird-Sharp, Collingwood, Ontario
I hope many women take advantage of your travel adventures as I
did to Kenya. It was a wonderful time and totally enjoyed the experience
and travel with other women. I could relax and take in the tour without
feeling that I could not express my views. Being in the company of
other women I was totally able to feel emotionally all my surroundings
and inner reflections of the trip.
Thanks again for making a life long dream come true and being able
to enjoy it to the fullest. Being a 1st time traveller I will definitely
be travelling more, and going to new destinations with your tour group.
Will see you in the future. Thanks for infecting me with the travel
bug, wishes and best of luck with expanding on your dreams of women
travelling together.
Take care and lots of love from a new traveller
Steph Smith
What a wonderful time of year to visit Kenya! It was exciting to see
all the animals especially those on the move. This was my second trip
to Kenya and I saw far more animals than I did in 1988 when I visited
in February. The temperatures were great, the lodges excellent (especially
the tents!!), and the food was good. The balloon safari over the Masai
Mara was awesome. I also was very excited to see the elephant orphanage
as a bonus as I had sponsored elephants there previously and was happy
to get a contact with them again.
Much has changed since 1988, especially the accommodation. The Stanley
Hotel was great and the concierge very obliging - especially for those
of us who ventured out to some shops. It was like coming home when
we returned from our safaris. It was great to be invited to the home
of the owners of Twiga Tours and see their lifestyle. The trip of
a lifetime!
Mary Lou Kingham
The trip to Kenya & Tanzania was great, the birds were magnificent,
and the animals weren't bad either!
Lynn
Dear Nancy: the trip to Kenya/Tanzania was awesome &
I will never forget it. I also plan to return to these countries.
We had a great variety of experiences, which made the event so interesting.
The game parks were just astounding, as was the fact that there was
so much wildlife to see outside of park boundaries. It was also wonderful
to be able to visit museums, & local employment initiatives. Logistically
speaking, I think that "Going Places Together" did a terrific
job. Despite some last- minute hitches the whole itinerary went very
smoothly; the accommodations & meals were first-rate, the drivers
& other support staff were excellent. I have no complaints at
all & feel that my money was very well spent. I would reccommend
this tour company to any woman who wants to do some travelling on
her own.
Miriam
Ireland Sept. 2005
There were so many memorable moments! It was a great trip! So
glad I went!
Terri
Nancy's Trips are Fantastic! Nancy does all the work and
planning for you! Just come along and Enjoy the places, sights, and
fellowship! Dream! Dare! & Do! You will never regret it! You will
never forget it!
Your Guiding Friend! Mary Elizabeth Back
I started Going Places Together with Nancy in 1999. This was
my first taste of India and I enjoyed every minute. We arrived in
Mumbai during Diwali, the Festival of Lights, and the city was so
beautiful. I was enthralled by the ancient sculptures in the Elephanta
Island Caves. We visited other exciting places such as Pune and Cochin.
However, the two things I enjoyed the most on that particular trip
were cruising on the spice boats through the canals and waterways
of Punnamada Lake in Kerala and travelling up the lush mountainsides
through tea plantations to Ooty. What a beautiful spot. The train
ride to Coonor was magical. After almost not realizing my lifelong
dream of walking on the Great Wall due to events of September 11th,
I did go to China with Nancy in the spring of 2002. Walking on the
Great Wall was just what I hoped it would be - FANTASTIC! Later we
cruised for several day on the mighty Yangtze River aboard a Dragon
ship. My new friend Faye and I ate ice cream in a wonderful old hotel
on the Bund in Shanghai and listened to American Jazz from the thirties.
Hong Kong was exciting and we even took a side trip to the Island
of Macau to visit the big gambling casinos there. Having realized
one of my lifelong dreams, now it was time to experience another.
In the spring of 2003 I travelled again with Nancy to Nepal. We flew
from Delhi to Kathmandu. The Himalayas were the spectacular view that
greeted us. The next morning we boarded a small plane and flew to
the top of the world to view Mount Everest. What an awesome sight!
Almost as wonderful was the view of Fishtail from our lodge in Pokhara.
We also went white water rafting and spent a lovely few days in Chitwan
National Park in cabins with no power. We toured the jungle and grasslands
on elephants during the day and dine and chatted by lamplight in the
evening. It was Shangrila. Some of us extended that trip after our
return to Delhi to see the Taj Mahal in Agra. This beautiful monument
to love is a "must see". We next visited the temples and ghats at
Varanasi at the mouth of the Ganges. When I travel with Nancy, I don't
just see a country, I experience a culture and get to know a people.
I eat different foods and attend weddings and walk trails and visit
homes and very small shops and businesses and even art classes. I
come home changed and wanting to see more of this wonderful world.
Maggie Christenson, 57 Sault Ste. Marie, ON
I have always been a lifelong traveller but since going with Nancy
at " going places together I have enjoyed walking the Great Wall in
China ,flying over Mt Everest ,buying spices in the famous marker
in New Delhi and photographing a kill on the plains in Kenya. The
experiences are too many to mention,always exhilerating and life changing.
I enjoyed travelling to Kenya and Nepal with my daughter (age no barrier
to travelling with Nancy).I hope one day you too can experience these
adventures
Moira Metcalfe
I have travelled three times with Nancy - twice to India and
once to Kenya.
Why I enjoy travelling with Nancy:
- Nancy is a people person who is sensitive to and respectful of the
cultures of people and place. She takes care to consider this and
the interests of women in putting together the itineraries. The result
is a combination of the must sees and unique personal adventures.
Why I enjoy travelling with women: - There is a special dynamic
when you travel with a group of women. The ages on the trips I have
been on ranged from 20 to 80. It is fascinating to share the experience
of the travel in the context of our different lives. The end result
is a unique travel experience.
Michele Fisher Age: 40
Our trip to India with Nancy was wonderful. Everything was well organized
and we stayed at the best of places, ate the best food and saw the best
sites. I would go again any time with Nancy knowing with confidence
that we are safe and well looked after.
Marian
Going Places together with Nancy has always been a fulltime adventure
and a pleasure. I have taken 2 of her trips, one an amazing safari
in Africa and then other to exotic Nepal. I always look forward
to see what new and exciting places Nancy has found! She is
amazingly organized, and always calm no matter what. She's very interesting
to talk to in the evening and sharing a meal with her is always a
laugh. and just to show how Nancy creates an environment of
comraderie - our Nepal group actually got all together again one year
later to share our pictures and keep our new friendships up.
She's truly a gifted guide and I personally have never had a more
wonderful time on vacation than with her.
Sincerely,
Tara Metcalfe, 32!
June 20, 2005 I have travelled with Nancy on four separate occasions
and loved every minute of it...Myrna Hewitson
From Jane who travelled with Going Places Together
to China in 2002
The long anticipated journey to China finally came to
pass on April 27th when 22 of us embarked from Vancouver on a flight
to Beijing. Our itinerary was prepared by tour leader Nancy Walsh
of “Going Places Together”. It was pretty standard, dictated
in large part, I should think, by the Chinese Tourist Authority. But
Nancy’s leadership made it special, for we were a group of 22
women, and that certainly was a new experience for me, and for the
Chinese!
So what is it like travelling with only women? Well, the most noticeable
thing is the care and support every one shows each other when in situations
such as getting a tummy upset, or a cold, or when in a strenuous climb
that is taxing the old heart. We ranged in age from mid thirties to
86 with varying levels of fitness, and believe me, there were many
places where you got a cardio vascular work out whether you were looking
for it or not. I was warned by a friend to keep taking the stairs
at the Library in preparation for this trip and she certainly was
not exaggerating how strenuous and challenging some of the sites could
be. A number of us sometimes needed help and always there was someone
there to provide it without making you feel you were holding the others
back. Women slipped in and out of the “care” role with
the older ladies, sharing the time so no one was unduly burdened.
Nancy made sure that no problem became a burr under the saddle and
provided a level of comfort that allowed us to enjoy ourselves without
worrying. One thing I enjoyed was Nancy’s policy of rotating
room mates. At every new hotel we were assigned a new room mate and
it was neat to learn more about my travelling companions.
People ask, “What was the highlight of your trip?” The
answer is EVERYTHING! From the flight over the Bering Sea and the
Russion steppes of which we had spectacular views to the night view
of Hong Kong, I loved every site, every sensation.
Jane's itinerary in a nut shell:
Beijing: The Summer Palace, Tianamen Square with
its portraits of Mao Zedong and Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the hutong (old part
of the city), the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and the Great
Wall (one of those strenuous sites, the angles on the walls were sometimes
in excess of 45 degrees) Xi’an: On the walls of this ancient City, close
to where Norman Bethune practised medicine and reputedly the place
where the Japanese race originated; the Wild Goose pagoda; the army
of more than 6,000 terracotta warriors, horses and carriages, unearthed
in 1974 by a peasant digging for a well. Chungqing: A city so mountainous it’s one of
the few places where we saw next to no bicycles. And where we found
that the reason the Chinese are so thin is that there are no elevators
in buildings of 15 stories or less. It is the largest City in China
with 30 m. people and our embarkation point for a cruise on the Yangtze
River. On Board the Emperor’s Dragon Boat, descending
the Yangtze. Visits to Fengdu, due to be flooded in September 2003,
the Ghost City, where your ghost comes before it is determined if
you go to a good place or bad; White King City and the (in)famous
dam. As we sailed past and through the gorges we saw the markers indicating
how high the river wil eventually rise by 2009. Wuhan: site of the first engineering project executed
by a Sino Russian partnership. On the way, we toured Jinzhao, site
of a laquer and silk museum and archaeological excavations of burial
sites 2000 years old – the bodies were in an amazing condition
of preservation. This is the area where lacquer was discovered/developed
and the first examples found date back 7000 years. Shanghai: Wow! What a cosmopolitan city! Not enough
time here but we walked the Bundt, the thoroughfare developed by the
colonists in the 19th and early 20th century and ambled up the Nanjing
Road looking at all the Western name stores. Lots of Starbucks, McDonalds
and KFCs to see but our local guide, Zan, did take us into the back
streets too. An acrobatic show in the evening was breathtaking, as
was the Temple of the 2 Jade Buddhas. The sitting Buddha was the most
exquisite sculpture I’ve ever seen. It was carved from 1 piece
of jade in 1850 and sits 96 cm. high. It is said that it avoided destruction
during the Cultural Revolution when Chou En-lai pasted a photo of
Mao on its face before the Red Guard burst in. We took a day trip
to Suzhao, known as the Garden City for the more than 140 gardens
located there. We saw 2 gardens, those of the Humble Administrator
and the Lingering Garden; they were fascinating examples of the art
and technique of garden design. Also of note in this city is the grand
canal that passes through, part of a 1500 km passage connecting to
Beijing in order to bring tributes to the Emperor. Guilin: In the area which forms the subject of much
of Chinese landscape painting. We went to visit a landscape school
of painting and found it to be fascinating because of the discipline
involved. Highlight here was the cruise on the River Li among the
ethereal mountains. Not mountains as we know them, but individual
mounds rising up. We saw lots of water buffalo, peasants in the rice
paddies and observed river life in sampans. Hong Kong: Actually we were in Kowloon, not far from
the famous shopping street Nathan Rd. Here we toured the Harbour,
Aberdeen where the famous water people live and work, Stanley and
of course travelled up to the Peak in the 1880’s tram. The atmosphere
in Hong Kong is hard to describe; there is incredible development
going on with magnificent and stunning sky scrapers being built and
yet you are very conscious that this a Chinese city under Communist
rule. A day visit to Macau better captured the colonial atmosphere
as the Portuguese buildings are still quite evident.
China is a country of contrasts, driven in large part, I think, by
the dichotomy they are creating between their Communist ideology and
the introduction of capitalism. It is verging on the bizarre to be
cruising around Beijing or Shanghai looking at affluent Chinese in
designer suits with cell phones to their ears and in 20 minutes to
be in the country seeing water buffalo working rice paddies and observing
peasants bent over planting rice shoots (and yes, they do call them
peasants). Or to be staying in the luxurious hotels we were in and
then see the 1 room that an “inner city” Chinese lives
in, where much of their life is lived outdoors, cooking on braziers
in front of the door and playing majong squatting on stools on the
pavement.
In Shanghai, as we were walking the back streets, we saw into one
place; the furniture consisted of a big screen TV, a computer and
a huge fish tank + one arm chair in which to enjoy all this!
The accommodations were excellent, far exceeding what we expected,
and I for one, loved the food. And the stories about the public toilets
are true – most are what we called squatters and most were a
challenge to our fastidious Western noses!
