Blogs from Asia - page 14324

Well, Erika and I spent the last two days in hot, sticky Busan, where we were crammed into one little room that had 3 sets of bunk beds, 12 people using the bathroom and no a/c. A little cramped and hot! We were not that impressed by Busan, and are looking forward to our next few days in Jeju City on Jeju Island. We have a room in a motel tonight, but then move to a 3rd class hotel (or motel?) tomorrow for 3 nights that actually looks pretty good! Yesterday we went down by the coast to see a lighthouse. I think that the distances that they indicate are wrong; they say 1km but actually it's more like 4km, especially since most of it is uphill and hot. We got out to the lighthouse, climbed ... read more

After a whirlwind trip spanning two months and eight countries, our journey is finally coming to an end. Fortunately, the past week on the beach in Bali has been a perfect way to finish. We'll be arriving at our new student-housing home in NYC around mid-day today (8/13) after spending about 25 hours in the air -- since we'll gain a full day due to the International Date Line changeover. We'll officially have travelled around the world. Sweet! Naturally, things will be pretty hectic with school starting in a week and Steph looking for a new job, but we're hoping to have time to upload all the pictures from our trip sometime soon. Once we're settled, we'll send a final update with a link to the pics and a few final thoughts. Cheers! Thanks for reading! ... read more

After a 12 hr. overnight train journey from Taizhou, we arrived somewhat fatigued at the trainstation in Beijing. This time there were no lines for a taxi, and the ride to the hotel took only 30 minutes. For the most, the streets in Beijing are wide, separating pedestrians and bikes and mopeds and rickshaws from car and truck and bus traffic. Trees and landscaping provide shade from the oppressive summer heat on both sides of the roads. Preparing for the Summer Olympics in 2008, the police is vigilant in preventing the bad and dangerous habits of past traffic-behavior, when "each person" on the road believed their forward-journey was of "only" importance. In Beijing, with some 15 million inhabitants, the traffic-patterns are much more in line with the traffic-customs of Western countries, something still to be imitated ... read more

A Few Pics and Some Replies to Your Lovely Comments We're back on the mainland now and have managed to find internet for 20 Bhat an hour, we have been paying 180 per hour! First some responses to your comments ... Mum Jones, a Wat is a Budhist Temple, which can be anything from a spectacular building such as Wat Po to a cave as at Khao Sok. Dan, thanks I loved those trousers so much that I bought them and bought you a matching pair in pink. Tim, would I dare bite rebecca's bum? Ben and Rach, hope you had a nice trip up northwards and how the suitability test go? Emma, well done on your degree! We hope everyone is ok, and let us know if anything major happens, we're back on the mainland ... read more

It's funny how the wind changes everything. The trees blow differently with the change of the force. A leaf is blown from one end of the street to another. A man's hair is delicately pushed out of place. The chill on her spine makes for goosebumps. This same wind changes her mood from sweet to sour, just like an apple. Sometimes the wind blows so slowly one barely notices it. Other times the change it takes frightens one so badly it feels as if one has been hit by a brick. This wind is beautiful because although we only take time every now and again, if at all, to notice it, it is always there as a representative of life in all forms. With no exceptions for relations. Over a long period of time Cam and ... read more