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 [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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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 - [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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Before this trek I had finally managed to figure out how to quickly pack my hiking bag for a trek. (I still have no idea how I fit everything in there originally, but fortunately I can leave extra cloths, shoes, etc. behind when I go on these trips.) However, this time, the trekking agency organizing the trip (Ace Himalaya) requested that I use their duffel bag for packing, as their porters are accustomed to carrying it (plus its great advertisement for the company). The promise that I could keep the duffel bag, which is larger than my hiking bag and will [View Full Entry]

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I entered Bhutan by land from the Indian border. I was a bit nervous going in as to whether it would work because everyone in India, from the tour agency employees to government immigration folks, insisted that I needed to meet either a travel agent or my host at the border, who would bring a copy of the visa. This sounded bogus to me, but it did make me wary. To cross between the countries, you walk through an archway - Indians and Bhutanese just get to go through, Indians can visit for a day without a visa as long as [View Full Entry]

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Never forget that most generalities have exceptions. For instance, the fact that summers in India are really hot does not mean there cannot be snowstorms in May in the mountains. Sadly, I'm not speaking hypothetically. Of my seven days of trekking in Sikkim, it snowed on four and, with the wind chill factor, was below freezing on five of the nights. Perfect camping weather! Actually, the trek was great. I did a variation of the Dzongri Trek going up to the Goechala pass. The hike is usually done in anywhere from 8-10 days, but I elected to skip rest days and [View Full Entry]

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I'm now writing from Sikkim, India! I came here yesterday, leaving the house at 7:30 and taking a cab to the airport. I packed my bags that morning, I'm getting good at doing it quickly, keeping all "vital" items in my day pack, i.e., those items that cannot be replaced if lost/stolen - these included wallet, all electronics and my Red Sox baseball cap. The domestic section of the airport is really just one large concrete room, with various counters set up and some chairs for waiting. When you first enter, your bags are x-rayed, you go through a metal [View Full Entry]

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