ADJ
Aladdine Joined: January 9th 2009
Logged in: October 25th 2010
Logged in: October 25th 2010
Travel Blog Posts
When I set off from home in February, I didn't have a very precise plan of where I was going; all I had was an airline ticket to Bangkok and a connecting flight several weeks later to Kathmandu. I had hoped to visit Greece in the fall, perhaps on the way to Israel, to climb Mount Olympus. However, I ran out of time and decided to skip Mount Olympus in order not to miss the first week of the Israel National Trail. After all, as my sister said, "Mount Olympus will be something to look forward to in the future! Barring earthquakes or volcanic eruptions it should still be there." So I was a tad surprised to find myself flying into Athens at the end of December. For that I have to thank Cairo. I've been ... read more
If you start counting the number of places classified as one of the "Seven Wonders of the World," you quickly pass seven. This, I've learned, is because there are multiple lists - the ancient seven wonders of the world, the modern seven wonders of the world, the natural seven wonders of the world, etc. It makes checking off visits to them all quite difficult! Normally, I wouldn't complain about having more places to visit, its actually a great thing to know there are still many exciting things to see, but it is a tad depressing as I approach the end of my trip to realize (again) that I have only begun to scratch the surface of what is out there. Of course, particular sites are mere details, I still have several continents to visit! But, as ... read more
I am miserably behind in my travel updates at this point but, before catching up on my two months in Israel, I thought I'd conquer the more manageable task of relating a two day trip to Sinai. (After all, I wouldn't want to fall another few days behind:) The Israel National Trail, the 600+ mile hike that I did across Israel, ends in Eilat, a city on the southernmost tip of the country on the Red Sea. The area is very popular for snorkeling, diving and other beach-related activities. In other words, there wasn't a whole lot there for me to do and it was particularly tough as I ran out of reading material (oh, the travails of traveling!) For non-water people, however, (like my grandfather who used to say he liked everything about the water ... read more
After Berlin, I took a morning bus to Prague where I was meeting my father for several weeks. The most scenic part of the bus ride was passing miles of large fields of sunflowers, something that I had never seen on such a scale before. As with the rest of Europe, there was no border check, I couldn't even tell when we passed out of Germany, and obviously no new passport stamp. Interestingly, while travelling in six European countries resulted in only one stamp in my passport, I still had to use five different currencies (apparently, security issues are easier to integrate than monetary ones). I finally received a second stamp when I left Europe, not from Prague, from where I flew out, but in Hungary, from where my connecting flight to outside the EU departed. ... read more
I am a bit behind in journal entries, having in fact already spent several weeks in the Czech Republic and gone from there to Israel. But, before I get to all that, a few brief notes on Berlin. I went to Berlin for three days on the way from Copenhagen to Prague. (This time the trip was by an overnight bus, that left just before midnight. Quite disconcertingly, the driver woke us all at around 1:30, without any explanation that I could understand, but forced us off the bus. It took me a minute to wake up and realize that the bus had boarded a ferry, which meant we had to wait on the passenger deck before reboarding the bus. I really have to study a map more - I still don't know what water body ... read more
Having taken the night train from Stockholm, I arrived in Copenhagen just after 7 a.m., slightly less than rested and refreshed. After waiting for the currency exchange bureau to open, I took a bus over to my hostel, the Rest-in-Green hostel, where I would have a bed in a 32 person dorm room. (This ended up being better than expected, as the beds were set up in 4-person 3-sided cubicles, so while noisy, it didn't feel as crowded as I had expected.) For anyone planning a visit to the city, the location of the hostel was good, about a 20 minute walk to the main train station and old part of the City, but it lacked a kitchen. Of course, arriving at a hostel at 8 in the morning does not mean that you can check-in ... read more
Hi Everyone, I have finally posted some of my pictures. Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out how to put them on the blog, but I've put them on shutterfly (you may need to create an account to view them, but it is free to do so). The pictures are almost all in order, separated by trek or country, but don't have labels - you'll have to visit me for the stories!! I've been told by some that I tend to focus a wee bit too much on scenery, at the expense of people, so feel free to skim through the hundreds of pictures of trees and mountains! http://aladdine1.shutterfuly.com (Everything prior to Tibet, except the Mount Everest Base Camp Trek, the pictures of which I lost, along with Hanh's camera) http://aladdine2.shutterfly.com (Tibet) (If you want to see more ... read more
The day after meeting my mother in Stockholm (I didn't have any sign with her name when I met her at the airport so instead held up a large chocolate bar, its a honing device in my family), we got on an overnight train to take us up to Abisko, a small town in a National Park that is the start of Sweden's Kungsleden trail. (On our partial day in Stockholm we walked around the old town, which was interesting, took a tour of the Parliament building, which was good, and collected lots of free cookie samples being handed out - my mom was quite good at grabbing them, but also almost snatched a baby that was in a stroller that looked like the cookie containers, which was bad.) I'd never been in an overnight train ... read more
Well Toto, we're definitely not in Kansas anymore! Yep, Europe is fairly different from the Himalayan region. From the $7 small hot chocolate at Starbucks to the fancy cars to the unlimited water and electricity supplies, it is a change. The first time I saw someone jogging here I looked around to see who was chasing them and came to realize that men stopped with their backs to the road were taking pictures, not urinating. Plus, the amount of exposed skin and public displays of affection/groping were quite startling after the more conservative environments in which I'd been; it makes me feel a little bit like a prude, but I miss some of the more restrained/appropriate (depends on your viewpoint) behavior. I have also had to become accustomed to the custom of kissing everyone both upon ... read more
I have finally visited Tibet and I am happy to report that the lag-time in posting a blog update is due to me being busy as opposed to any problems that I ran into with the Chinese authorities. As many of you know, I had been long looking forward to an opportunity to visit Tibet, and while the scenery/country was worth the wait, the journey was the toughest bit of traveling I've done so far. Originally, I was torn as to whether to take a trip to Lhasa, the country's capital, or to Mount Kailash, a mountain located in the countryside that holds religious significance to both Buddhists and Hindus. Both religions believe that walking around the mountain is an auspicious undertaking. While there are tours that combine both Lhasa and the mountain, such trips are ... read more
