Blogs from Asia - page 14330

Well its been a few days since I have been on and written. So we arent in Korea anymore. Went up to the Army base in Seol then back down to Osan to take a tour up at the DMZ. That plan got all messed up due to the douchebags called North Korea. The DMZ went to FPCON Delta and was closed to everybody... Oh yeah! Hahaha! This is awesome... The Airforce Lodging didnt have any rooms so we had to stay off base, thats not the awesome part. Anyways we had a curfew so we couldnt walk off, the hotel people had to pick us up. It was like 0330 or some stupid ass time in the morning and we get to the hotel (Osan Hotel or Hotel Osan) and they only had suites left ... read more

Misty hills, serene backwaters, wild life in abundance …Kerala is the very summary of the cosmos. And what stuns the weary-city-type is the lush greenery. We arrived in Cochin and headed straight to Kumarakom…a small ( albeit wealthy ) hamlet 70 km from Cochin. We stayed at the cocobay resort..which is on the Vembanad lake and accessible only by water…so we got our first taste of the backwater. The waterfront is beautiful…with several boats of all varieties cruising along at all hours. Traveling in the monsoon meant perpetually overcast skies …..but that had a charm of its own which we discovered as our holiday unfolded. To our delight we were told that the next day was the famous Kerela Boat race at alleppey (25 kms from kumarakom by water). Thanks to our very generous and helpful ... read more

So here it is, the final chapter of our amazing, often scary and dangerous, but always fascinating and interesting, journey. I had arrived in Bangkok, my final destination. Having extended my ticket, I timed my return to England to coincide not with my friends Tim and Nic being in Bangkok (as I had them believe), but perfectly with the depletion of my bank account. I arrived back in Thailand with only £30 and Colin, my under-used credit card. (Now I'm back in England that isn't so much the case!) An enjoyable couple of days was spent with the couple from Warwick. Drinks in Khao San Road one day, a visit to the National Museum the next, and an afternoon walking through the narrow bustling markets of Chinatown. Before dinner we found a nice green to lie ... read more

Nearing the end of my 4 month Holiday....I decided to rough it out in the Himalayas in Ladakh....I made an itenary of a jeep safari cum trek to discover the barren beauty of Ladakh....alas i found the 21 day period was not enough to see it all in this paradise created my man and god together.... We (a group of people who met in Delhi) set out from Delhi to Manali in a bus driven by an enthusiastic Sardarji.... man now was this guy the Schumacher of Volvo buses. Thankfully I slept most of the way in the overnight journey….but whenever my eyes were open the man was nearly on another vehicle…like this poor Innova, who must’ve had a sleepless night on a near death experience. Amidst lots of Punjabi numbers we reached Manali at 9 ... read more

Vrijdag 11 augustus Lanzhou is de hoofdstad van de provincie Gansu. Dit is een zeer grote provincie, bijna 1700 km lang maar in het midden is de provincie amper 100 km breed. Daar ligt ten zuiden een ontoegankelijke bergketen en ten noorden de woestijn. Alle handelroutes die in het verleden tussen China en het westen ontstonden liepen door deze smalle corridor, de Hexi corridor genoemd. Via deze handelsroutes (de Zijderoute genoemd) transporteerden men zijde, thee en porselein richting het barbaarse westen en kruiden, glas en dergelijke in de andere richting. Het spreekt vanzelf dat deze rijkdommen rovers aantrokken: langs deze wegen ontstonden allerhande goed beveiligde overnachtingplaatsen voor de handelskaravanen waarvoor men uiteraard goed moest betalen. Wie de Hexi corridor beheerste, bezat een onmetelijke bron van inkomsten die nooit opdroogde zolang de zijderoute de han... read more