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Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai March 16th 2007

We got the air conditioned overnight train to Chaing Mai. Chris made friends with the locals and got pissed on about 5L of heinken! Clickety Clack Lak Lak was our waitress and MaiFriend was the carraige supervisor. We had to fight this herd of thai ladies who were part of a group of about 10 and only bought 6 tickets and wanted us to share our seat and give one to them! Crazy ladies. At Chaing Mai we stayed at the Family Tribal Trek guest house. We had our own bathroom and a fan...good times. Your own bathroom in Thailand is a good time....a REAL good time :) We spent most of our time walking around and getting lost. It was really hot and smokey up there. There had been heaps of fires and alot of ... read more
Pleased to meet you
Elephant riding
Bamboo Rafting

Asia » India » Uttar Pradesh » Agra March 16th 2007

As we turned the corner, walked through the portcullis gate and took our first glimpse of the Taj Mahal, we were overwhelmed with the sense that we'd remember this day for a long time to come. It's such an iconic site that when we first booked our 'around the world' tickets with a homebound flight from Delhi, we could picture ourselves there, at the end of the year's adventures. We stood in the shade and thought back on the year - the exhaustion during the Inca Trail, the adrenaline rush during our skydive, the homesick feeling at Christmas time, the joy at seeing the sun rise over Ankor Wat, the serene beauty of reef diving in Thailand, the fear of poisonous animals in the jungle, contentment in New Zealand, the boredom of taking yet another train..bus..car..plane..ride, ... read more
Tieing A Red String
The Money Shot
Taj Detail

Asia » Hong Kong » Lantau Island March 16th 2007

Next morning we had an early wake up call, after some repacking we were on our way back to Hong Kong airport, only a 10-minute drive away. We checked in at the Cathay pacific First class check in counters, and then went to ‘The Pier’ one of the 2 lounges Cathay Pacific offers. Here we had a great sit down breakfast in the restaurant, and then spent time catching up on Emails and just relaxing. The lounge was very quiet, and a little dark and gloomy for our liking, but very tasteful and luxurious nevertheless. All too soon it was time to board CX504, our 747-400 bound for Tokyo Narita airport. Once on board we settled into seats 2A and 4A, and were offered Champagne prior to take off. The cabin was quite full, but the ... read more
1st Class Cabin
Canapes
Appetizer

Asia » Singapore March 16th 2007

Last March 16, my friend Froila and I headed to Singapore. My other friend Nhuj from China followed us to Singapore the next day. Singapore is a very small country maybe just as big as Quezon City (one city of metro manila) with a population of only 4.8 million people making it very manageable. Singapore also had several ethnic groups of Indian, Malay and Chinese. What I love about this country: 1. Transportation system - Singapore has a very nice transport system. Taking the MRT is very convenient. It has a link to all places and shopping malls in Singapore without getting lost. Our EZ link card which we put a credit of $20 lasted in our almost five days stay just for taking the ride in MRT and the bus. This card can also be ... read more
Esplanade
Orchard
Singapore By day

Asia » Indonesia » Sumatra March 16th 2007

Arriving in Sumatra, via Medan, we enjoyed a night in a posh hotel (well, for Indonesia anyway), and were off the next day to Bukit Lawang to see wild Orangutans in one of the National Parks. After a bus journey that felt like we were driving on the surface of the moon, inside a sauna on wheels, we arrived at the jungle and booked into a pleasant eco-lodge. We had decided to take a trek the following day, and soon hitched ourselves up with a guide; the incorrigible, self-titled 'Jungle Eddy'. Bukit Lawang, having recently been devastated by a flood (caused by a nearby broken dam), was amidst a process of reinvention. The locals, having recently received government housing for a newly located village, were beginning to set up shops and restaurants again. They were pleased ... read more
Orangutan
Orangutan
The feeding centre

Asia » Vietnam » Red River Delta » Hanoi March 16th 2007

Our hosts in HCMC kindly arranged for their driver to take us to the airport. We took off from Saigon, via Pacific Airlines back to Hanoi. This was a great, efficient, cheap airline and they had some very good deals when they first launched their website back in early February, so we got our tickets for under $50. Beer Hoi & a BBQ We finally caught up with our mate Mike who we had been trying to contact when we were first in Hanoi. We could not get him on his mobile and found out that he had been away in Thailand at a meditation retreat for a week or so. A good excuse to have your mobile turned off I guess. We caught up in Hanoi that evening and shared some glasses of Beer Hoi ... read more
Back in Hanoi
Back in Hanoi
Back in Hanoi

Asia » India » Tamil Nadu » Chennai March 16th 2007

Dedicated to Jaspreet Laly - RIP!! The arrival of Navtej from the UK implemented for many nights out during the week. This galvanised us to increase the pace further into the weekend. Friday provided a night out in Zara Tapas. A familiar surrounding which has now become accustomed as our "local". The crowd was vibrant as always, and everyone seemed to be easing into the weekend mode. The unfortunate performance of England's batting didn't deter Navtej. Plus, the female involvement around the bar was a pleasant distraction for me! Saturday night was geared towards the India vs Bangladesh cricket match. What a disappointment! The 3 hour coverage before the game had provided so much hope and promise...it was all forgotten by the disastrous showing of Team India. The Chola Sheraton Bar gradually became deflated and the ... read more
Navtej ready to eat

Asia » India » Uttar Pradesh » Agra March 16th 2007

Well not much to say really, as you can guess by the title we just relaxed most of the day. And played scrabbl.e ... read more

Asia » China March 16th 2007

March 16 - Friday Up and out by 7:00 am after the same old breakfast. Had a nice walk to school. Class today was more Pinyin than characters but characters are always included. She puts a Powerpoint presentation that has 3 columns, the English words, Pinyin, and characters up We go over them 2-3 times, and she eliminates the Pinyin, leaving the English words and the corresponding characters. Then she gets rid of the English words and has the class decipher the characters one at a time. I’m always amazed how quickly the young people can memorize the meanings/characters. She calls individuals and points to a character and they almost always know them. Too much for me. 2nd class was pronunciation. This teacher has us listen to spoken words/sentences on a tape player and identify what ... read more

Asia » Nepal » Kathmandu » Thamel March 16th 2007

16 och 17 Mars: 6.30 pa morgonen korde taxin ut oss till flygplatsen varifran var "Mountain Flight" over Himalayas bergskedja avgick. Efter lite forseningar pa grund av vadret kom vi antligen ivag. Alla passagerare fick varsin fonsterplats i det lilla propellerplanet som endast rymde 20 platser. Forst fick vanstra sidan av planet avnjuta den maktiga utsikten varefter planet vande och hogra sidan fick chansen. Vi fick ocksa chansen att ga fram (dubbelvikta i det lilla planet... Johan blev fotad av turisterna) till kockpit for en forstaparkettvisning av bergen. Sofie hade turen att fa ga fram just da planet vande och flog rakt emot Mount Everest (8850m). Nar vi kom tillbaka till Kathmandu Guest House blev vi forflyttade till ett annat hotell pa grund av overbokning. Det gjorde ingenting eftersom vi fick ett betydligt finare och dyrare ... read more
Mountain Flight planet
Marknad i Kathmandu
Durbar square i Kathmandu




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