Blogs from Asia - page 12997

Asia » Nepal » Kathmandu March 16th 2007

8:30 am 3/16: Woke up this morning at Linda's!! Totally different touching down in Kathmandu from Bangkok. Dimly lit terminal/concourse building, but with 2 baggage carousels, but lovely people. Linda picked us up with a driver and van - small 4-lane roads in town, but they make 6 lanes out of them - and you never really know where any one lane will be at one time! Here is a photo of LInda's house in Lalitpur, it is about a 5 minute walk from the Filters for Families office building. Looks like we will head to the field tomorrow. Went to stupa yesterday afternoon and going to cultural area this afternoon. Very excited to meet with a Kathmandu University IT prof this afternoon right after lunch. Miss you all - gotta run so the other ladies ... read more

Minor sightings/Major City

Asia » India » Maharashtra » Mumbai March 16th 2007

Sushmit

Mumbai is a perfect blend between rain washed high rise walls, old houses, industrious scrapers and the slums which like cement keep the city together. The old colonies dotted evenly with all kinds of greenery broken rudely by bustling roads and crowded bazaars. The seemingly old worldish dilapidated houses, built only to support the apartmentist lifestyle of Mumbai. Along with the shabby but clean look of the occupants could lull one into nursing dreams of buying a flat here hah! The expressways provide two of the rarest sights in mumbai: open sky and the occasional glimpse of the speedometer needle above 45 kmph. This addition to mumbai attempts another stitch to its bursting seams. The apartments in mumbai dont have balconies for even the parts that face the sea, even the windows look securely grilled, this ... read more

Beach days ahead

Asia » Vietnam » South Central Coast » Khanh Hoa » Nha Trang March 16th 2007

Roamin Russells

Here we are in Nha Trang! Since the bus was a mere 10 hours ( always underestimated by at least a few hours) we decided to take our chances with Vietnam airlines and fly here (1 hour, 40$). As we were taking off mom so kindly reminded me that Vietnam Air is one of the only airlines that refuses to release their safety record. Much appreciated. The airport here is a simple building, one room only-our plane landed nearby, and after disembarking on the tarmack, instead of walking the 20 or so feet, they made us board a bus to be driven to the door. I took about 10 miniutes to load, then about 10 seconds to drive, then another 10 min. to unload. Its just one of those third world things- Im surprised we weren't ... read more

Ko Lanta

Asia March 16th 2007

Ruthy and Nelly

downunderdiary

Our last day in Ko Phi Phi was the best of all, the beaches to the north of the island are as close to paradise as I will ever tread! We saw Job2Do (Thai reggae band who rival Bob Marley for air time) on the most beautiful beach where we danced the night away with a crazy english couple and loved every second. We caught a rather overloaded long boat back to our beach at about 2am which was dark, choppy and as you can imagine very hairy. People around me were gradually securing what life jackets were aboard for fear that the boat would capsize and the rest where too drunk to care. Now we are on Ko Lanta where we are staying in the nicest resort we have stayed in so far. The sunshine ... read more

I'm Safe!

Asia » Thailand March 16th 2007

Ao Railey

Simon Flanagan

Hey all - just realised, I ended that message on a bit of a worrying note. I'm fine - we had no problems, predictably, and so after a 9h coach journey we ended up in Krabi, on the West coast of Thiland's south. Stayed in the city for the night (we turned up at half 2 in the moening, so didn't have much choice), and then went to one of the nearby beach resort places, called Railay beach. This was another amaizing place - white beaches surrounded by limestone cliffs. According to lots of people we talked to, the area is good for climbing, so we thought we'd give it a go. I havn't done any climbing since I was a Kid, and never on a real rockface, and neither had Ro. Got it booked - ... read more

Burma

Asia » Burma » Yangon Region » Yangon March 16th 2007

Looks like the halo's slipping....

Dom n Joms Big Trip

Burma still wears its traditional longyi - a sheet of cloth sewn into a cylindrical shape and worn around the waist running to the feet - even as its neighbours abandon their sari and sarong for diesel jeans and miniskirts. Refreshingly, its holy men are revered more than Becks or Bono and you can't buy a McDs, use a moby or check your email without growing a beard.....but where else can you get to see cats being cajoled to jump through hoops by buddhist monks?? Superb! Supposedly, they had too much free time on their hands.... I suppose we should deal with the ethical dilemma of visiting Burma before we go any further: there are lots of reasons not to visit a place controlled by a military dictatorship, primarily its shocking history of human-rights abuses - ... read more

I thought you weren't meant to wash your dirty laundry in public?? Must be a British thing....

Animals in Luang Prabang

Asia » Laos » West » Luang Prabang March 16th 2007

Homo sapiens urinarem

matrix

I found several kinds of animals in Luang Prabang, some must be wild species caught and brought from nearby forest. Laotian consume many wild animals and plants as you realize when you take a look of what they are selling in the fresh market. Snakes, squirrel, birds of different colors and sizes, lizard, something like cat, something like hedgehog etc. etc. Some are still arrive, some are cleaverly binded, others are smoked in black..... I myself is the last person in the world to have an idea of getting along with snakes. These are the animals in my guesthouse near Heuanchan. Here and there, cats are also seen, not having any interest in chicks waddling under the table or picking something in the drains. Geko lizards are happyly waiting for their prey on the white washed ... read more

just some photo's for now

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

Two of the locals

jessie lou

in a rush so will do write up lata! :-)... read more

Visit to the Red Snail Temple (Hong Luo Si)

Asia » China » Beijing March 16th 2007

Nikolay

f you are looking for a way to experience somewhat of a different side of Beijing, you need to head out in the countryside outside of the city. Earlier last year I posted an article about touring the Beijing area - mountains and villages within driving distance. Today I will point you in the direction of one of the temples outside of the city — the Red Snail Temple located North-East of Huairou (north-east of Beijing). You can see the rest of the information about the temple plus some photos at: url=http://site.chinafinds.com/blog/2007/03/11/the-red-snail-temple-hongluo-si-an-interesting-place-to-visit-in-the-vicinity-of-beijing/Red Snail Temple Visit ... read more

Weather forecast /Hotel information

Asia » China » Shanghai March 16th 2007

South Music

Saturday 17 March Cloudy High: 52 F Low: 43 F High: 11 C Low: 6 C Sunday 18 March Drizzle High: 54 F Low: 43 F High: 12 C Low: 6 C 1. Express By Holiday Inn PUTUO SHANGHAI 843 GUANGFU XI ROAD SHANGHAI, 200063 CHINA Hotel Front Desk: 86-21-61421818 · Hotel Fax: 86-21-61487999 www.expressbyholidayinn.com.cn 3 star Features: Premium Services Business Center Separate Check-In Area Entertainment Cable / Satellite TV Color TV Refreshment / Kitchen Coffee Maker Plates/Glassware Tea Maker Data Services Analog Dial-up Service Available Service Provider: China Unicom High-speed Internet Access 237 Room(s) Service Provider: China Unicom Workspace / Desk Work Desk w/ Lamp Electrical Adapters Available Phone / Fax Phone with Voice Mail WorldLink - Power and Phone/Internet Connector Number of Phones in Room: 1 Direct Di... read more

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