Dushanbe (Tajik: Душанбе, Dushanbe; Dyushambe until 1929, Stalinabad until 1961), population 679,400 people (2008 est.), is the capital and largest city of Tajikistan. Dushanbe means "Monday" in Tajik, and the name reflects the fact that the city grew on the site of a village that originally was a popular Monday marketplace. (WIKI INFO) For the last month or so I have been travelling with Russ and now we split as he takes on Uzbekistan while I have another week to chill in Kyrg. I had the intention of spending some time in Arslanbob, near the town of Jalalabad, I went online [View Full Entry]

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The train from Shanghai to Ji’nan was so fast!! We were at speeds of over 200km per hour at some points; we completed the journey of some 745km in less than 6 hours (with numerous stops on the way). The train ride was awesome. Arriving in Ji’nan was not so awesome. Neither of us has seen such pollution in our entire lives. It looked like just an overcast day from the window, but once you get out of the train the smell of smog in the air and the heaviness in your chest is almost unbearable. So we went straight to [View Full Entry]

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With this blog I would like to prove that there is much more to do in Majorca than staying at a hotel, roast on the beach during the day (next to the hotel) and spend the night drinking until your liver explodes (at the hotel bar)... Those of you who know us, would know that we don't have lots of money, but we consider ourselves rich in other aspects, such as having a wonderful family or enjoying what we have instead of complaining for what we don't have; but this year we decided to spoil ourselves and rent a sailing boat [View Full Entry]

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This is a phrase that we so often heard walking along the streets throughout the many Iranian cities we visited. We can’t say enough good things about the people of Iran. We were there during Ramadan, which was particularly tough due to the restrictions of the whole eating and drinking thing during daylight hours. It was often an adventure to find food for lunch time; we ate mostly in “fast-food” type restaurants or at the hotels where we stayed. We’ve included a few photos from the various places we stayed at during the last 5 days or so in Iran to [View Full Entry]

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This is it, our last entry for the Summer school holidays 2010! What a summer! The best part is that we are already planning the next one. But let's come back to Luxembourg. Leslie and Ma'ri birthday days are next to each other....right at the end of the holidays. So it's not specially that easy to organise big parties. For Leslie we found a solution, it's actual birthday party with all his friends is held the first Friday of his school year...a good way to launch his social calendar, isn't it! But back to our entry. We woke up pretty early [View Full Entry]

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If you’ve ever wondered if there are actually 1.3 billion Chinese people, pop in for a quick visit and you’ll not only never doubt the veracity of that astronomical number, but will quickly be convinced all of them are in line in front of you. I’ve never waited in line so much in my life. Who knows what’s at the end of the line, by the time you get there you’re dead. I suspect that’s the reward, you die and Chairmen Mao’s ghost give you an eternity high five, which as everyone knows are the best high fives. It was 102 [View Full Entry]

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It was extremely hard to leave Australia as I have had such an amazing year and met so many lovely people, most importantly I got to meet my partner Benjamin whom I am excited to say is coming over to England in November. But for now, my work visa was running out and I had yet more travel plans arranged so I bid my farewells and boarded a plane to Borneo to fulfill a long time dream. I signed myself up for a 4 week Orangutan Volunteer Program at Matang Wildlife Centre in Kubah National Park. Matang Wildlife Centre (MWC) is [View Full Entry]

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