Blogs from Asia - page 2485
Another gorgeous sunset!
It's time to leave lovely Kep. We are off to Koh Tonsay (also known as Rabbit Island, as locals believe its shape resembles a bunny). We could do a day trip there but it sounds so lovely that we’ve decided to stay there. The tuk tuk driver drops us off at the pier and from there we book a return journey to the island from boat (you can return whenever you want - you just give one of the residents on the island your return ticket and they sort a boat out for you). We’re soon at the island, which is a little paradise, and rent a little hut. Huts on the island are very basic with just a bed and a mosquito net (and the all-important hammock in the balcony) and the shower room consists ... read more
I recently visited Tungnath ji alongwith my wife. One of my friend suggested this place, i was little worried going to a place with knowing much about this. I Booked my ticket (Train) Sleeper to Haridwar. We boarded the train Mussoorie express and reached next day at 5 o'clock. A rickshaw ride from the station to Har ki paudi cost 30 rs and 15 minutes. We had a holy bath in the river ganges and took a trolly to reach Mansa deviji. This completed our haridwar trip and we proceeded to bus stand that cost us Rs 30 and 20 minutes. Luckily a deluxe bus was waiting there to move. We boarded the bus at 1130. This took 4 hours to reach Rudraprayag. We came to know through the conductor that the same bus is going ... read more
Sunrise Peak
It's been quite some time since a blog entry has been added to this thing. I've had a bit of a hiatus from travelling for the past couple months what with working overtime on Saturdays and teaching new courses that require much more prep time than usual from me. However, this trip had been planned 4 months before its occurrence...making it my motivation to get through the nontravelling months. Seungmi and I headed to 제주 ("Jejudo") from Cheongju airport early Friday morning. We flew on Jeju Air, an orange plane that reminded me a bit of Air Canada Tango. I was glad as we didn't have to wake up uber early or anything...and yet we still arrived in Jejudo around 1130am since the flight was only an hour long. As a small informational side note, Jeju ... read more
The following morning, I realized that the train was running late again. I checkout of the hotel appropriately and upon arrival at the station, the train was delayed by another hour. Finally, it arrived at 9:30am instead of 7:50 am. The worst is yet to come! I boarded the train and found out that the engine was not functioning well. And the delay continues…..it was 12:10pm before the train took off from Allahabad. That’s a delay of 4 hours. At this point, I started to hate Indian Railways. Over all those years of travelling in the south, I had never experienced such a miserable experience with delays. Thank God, I had adequate time so that my schedule is intact so far. However, I have another 7 temples to visit and 7 more train journeys!!! My sops ... read more
Room
Phakding, Nepal Altitude at beginning of trek (Lukla): 2,860 meters / 9,380 feet 4:20 am - Ryan wakes up 4:25 am - hotel wakeup call 4:30 am - watch alarm goes off 4:31 am - both of us roll out of bed 4:40 am - backup watch alarm goes off 4:45 am - downstairs and ready to go After only a few hours of sleep - about eight total for me over two nights - we managed to head off to the airport on time (as we should have with three alarms set), though we were certainly dragging. What’s more, I actually could have gone back to sleep and got my first good night’s sleep since this trip began. We caught a taxi to the airport and waited outside for about 15 minutes at the front ... read more
Hey all! I have a new blog to help you keep track of me while I'm in South Korea! Check it out at zachwegner.blogspot.com... read more
view of the school grounds from the new gymnasium
Life post-vacation in Wuhan has been a blur. Since coming back the weather has been getting increasingly nicer, although everyone keeps a close eye on the weather report, as it is common for it to be sunny and 25 degrees one day, and dark, rainy and 10 degrees the next. I am told, however, that this is very unusual. Last year, everyone was wearing shorts for a month and getting heat stroke by this point. I’m still waiting… Soon after we came back to Wuhan, we were asked to make a decision on whether we would be coming back or not. Some decided to leave long before vacation, some were sure of staying another year, and then there were a few who were flip flopping, not knowing what to do. The major issue was leaving a ... read more
…..Kelly, Liz & I receive the biggest bill for a meal since our arrival in China. A shade under ¥500. Between three people that works out at around Au$80 each. However this was at the Ri Ri Hong (Sun Sun Red) hotpot restaurant with the other grade 3 teachers, a total of around 20 people altogether, plus one child. Make that about Au$4 each. You'll need to add a few drinks. I asked the teachers earlier what they wanted then went to the Da Run Fa to buy Orange juice & suan nai (yoghurt, more particularly the thinner “drinking yoghurt” they prefer). Add another ¥60 or around 50 cents each in Australian money. Wine isn't usually a feature of meals here & only we foreigners have beer. They were all merry enough as most of us ... read more
Tibetan Style
I listened to classic and hard rock on the way north, staring out and seeing the plentiful hills of the Yunnan countryside progressively turn into bigger and grander mountains. As the bus arrived in Shangri-La, or Zhongdian as it is also known, the transformation was complete as the snow covered mountains could be seen abound. After leaving the station, and noticing the air was quite cool, I wandered through streets (yet again) until I approached the old town. I checked into Kevin's Trekker Inn just outside and then explored. This town is highly Tibetan, as can be seen through architecture, food, and even the people's faces. At one point I had been entertaining the idea of visiting Tibet, but due to the government restrictions in place and the cost just for the permit I said forget ... read more
What our guesthouse would have looked like if the owners weren't so dedicated and creative!
After discovering we had some extra time before heading to Singapore, (due to being kicked out of Thailand when our Visa expired after 30 days in the country) we thought why not stop in Malaysia... oh the conveniences of travelling! We arrived at 5am in Kuala Lumpur and wandered the dark and desolate streets until we found a man who was not only able to speak english, but also very street savy. He directed us to Wheelers Guesthouse, which we had been loooking for. We got there, put our bags in storage and went to McDonalds for some comfort food waiting for a room to become availabe at 11am. We were also allowed to nap in the dorm room at Wheelers until a room opened up, very friendly receptionist. Other than the Petronas Towers and the ... read more
