http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/AfricaBound/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from AfricaBound en-us Wed, 19 Jun 2013 09:39:19 +0000 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 09:39:19 +0000 Have we mentioned that time flies Weve been back home for 10 days now and weve been busy catching up with friends and family and getting our normal lives back in order. Were currently staying with Jordans parents until we figure out whether we want to rent a condo as we did before perhaps even in the same building or if were ready to take the plunge into home ownership in http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Alberta/Calgary/blog-670895.html So this is it the final highlight in what has been a busy but enjoyable three weeks in Japan. It39s funny we39ve seen so many monkeys in so many different places and our conclusion has always been we do not like monkeys. Sure they look cute at first but really they are unpredictable little trouble makers. We still have not forgiven that baboon in Samburu National Park Kenya that stol http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Nagano/blog-667658.html We39ve been busy lately racing around the country using Japan39s amazing train network. And thanks to our Japan Rail pass we can use the trains as much as we want.So we39ll start with Kyoto where we really only spent one day of tourism despite spending three nights in the city. That39s probably sacrilege considering Kyoto is considered by many to be the best city in the whole country http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Aichi/Nagoya/blog-667655.html Japan is renouned for its beauty any time of year but there are two seasons in particular that attract a lot of attention. While we were unable to time our visit with the spring cherry blossoms this time around we were very excited at the prospect of seeing the Japanese maple in all of its autumn glory. Kawaguchiko is one of the most popular places to view Mt. Fuji due to its acessability and be http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Gifu/Takayama/blog-667213.html Our first impressions of Japan Wow After flying in from Delhi it39s like night and day. We39re not trying to be disrespectful to India but Delhi and Varanasi are two of the dirtiest and noisiest places we39ve been to. Our impressions are only enhanced by the fact that Tokyo is amazingly spotless. Coming into town on the train from Narita airport we couldn39t help but notice th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Tokyo/blog-666335.html India and Nepal must be two of the most festive countries in the World. It seems no matter where we go here they39re either in the middle of a big festival or they39re gearing up for the next one. Either that or we39ve just been incredibly lucky with the timing of our visits. This time as we arrived in Varanasi we were informed by our tuk tuk driver of our good fortune. Kartik Purnim http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Varanasi/blog-664583.html We arrived in Amritsar in the evening after a long travel day that was spent in jeeps followed by a train. Once checked into our hotel we boarded cycle rickshaws and made our way to the Golden Temple the holiest place of worship for Sikhs. It39s an impressive place and is beautifully illuminated at night. We arrived in time to witness the daily ceremony where the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Sik http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Punjab/Amritsar/blog-663534.html The past couple of weeks has taken us up North away from the crowds and pollution of Delhi and into the foothills of the Himalayas. It39s been very laid back and relaxing certainly a very different India than what one sees on the typical Golden Triangle route.Our first stop was Shimla the former summer capital of the British Raj. We travelled along the KalkaShimla railway on what39s kno http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Himachal-Pradesh/Chamba-Valley/blog-663532.html Well it39s been an exciting and very busy introduction to India. We39ve been planning this section of our trip for quite some time now. Kathie39s parents expressed some interest in joining us somewhere on our travels and the topic of India kept coming up. So back in April we finally went ahead and booked a couple of tours with Intrepid. At this point in our trip we39re getting a b http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-660618.html Our trip to Nepal would not be complete without an obligatory excursion to the famous Chitwan National Park. Chitwan supposedly boasts a great variety of animals including a healthy population of rhinos and tigers but its not known for being the easiest place to spot them. Especially at this time of year the grass is so tall and thick that spotting anything is nothing short of a miracle. O http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Chitwan/blog-658942.html The trek to Annapurna Base Camp ABC is one of the most popular treks in Nepal. It came highly recommended by other travellers that weve met and seemed like a great choice for our first trek in Nepal. We decided to organize the trek by booking a group tour although its possible to do the trek independently and many people do. We had porters for our main gear but we carried day packs ca http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Annapurna/Annapurna-Base-Camp/blog-657301.html Nepal continues to treat us with thrilling new experiences and we have yet to leave the Kathmandu valley. After the excitement of the Indra Jatra finale we thought wed escape the crowds noise and pollution of Thamel to explore some of the other historic sites in the valley. Our first stop was Bodhnath and its incredible stupa. Normally visited as a day trip from Kathmandu we decided to spe http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Kathmandu-Valley/blog-653613.html Kathmandu has left an impression on us that few cities have done before. Our first glimpse of Nepal was at 10000 meters out the window of the plane of the snowcovered Himalayan peaks rising high above the clouds. It just got better after that. We arrived at our guesthouse in the Thamel district and went for a walk to get our bearings. We wondered in awe of the narrow cobbled streets and nea http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Kathmandu/blog-651873.html So for our last little bit of tourism in SouthEast Asia it was back to Thailand where we took the overnight train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. At this point we39ve had our fill of Bangkok and we just needed someplace a little more laid back to relax. Chiang Mai has great markets and we were lucky enough to catch the Sunday walking street as well as the usual night bazaar. The weather here ha http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-649537.html Every major tourist attraction has it39s special spots where the masses of tourists gather to watch sunrise or sunset. The temples of Angkor are no different. Sunrise The ponds in front of Angkor Wat for the reflection and silhouette left side to be specific. Sunset Here the definitive sunset spot is apparently from the hilltop temple Phnom Bakheng. They have everyone fooled includi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Angkor/blog-644645.html Arriving in Phnom Penh was one of the easier arrivals we39ve had. Getting our evisas in advance made immigration a breeze as nearly everyone else on the flight were queuing up for visas on arrival. However it didn39t get our bags to the carousel any faster...The French have definitely left their mark here. Phnom Penh is actually a really pleasant city to wander around. The colonial sty http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Battambang/blog-638202.html So were back in Bangkok for another visa run to another embassy. This time we need to get our Indian visas. Timing is a bit of an issue since the embassy in Bangkok only issues 3 month visas and they start counting down from the date of issue rather than the date of first entry. This works for us but barely as we plan to finish our trip to India in midNovember.Anyways since we didnt do http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-636070.html Travel in Myanmar has been challenging at times but also incredibly rewarding. Weve found it really useful to have learned a few of the basic words in Burmese and the locals have been overwhelmingly friendly and helpful. Sometimes people are quite curious and sceptical of us until we smile and say mingalaba hello and the response is almost always a big smile and a wave. In small tow http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Mandalay-Region/Mandalay/blog-634727.html Bagan is all about the temples. Apparently there are over 4000 temples in the area the oldest ones date back to the 9th century. The best way to explore the temples is to either hire a bicycle or a horse cart. We were happy that we took the time to do both. The horse carts were fun and the drivers were quite knowledgeable. The bicycle rentals were a little bit hit and miss and unfortunately http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Mandalay-Region/Bagan/blog-633700.html So our next major destination is Bagan but we wanted to break up the journey normally a 14 hour overnight bus from Yangon with a couple of stops along the way.Pyay is geographically about half way between Yangon and Bagan but the road conditions beyond Pyay mean that in actual travel time its a totally different story. The bus from Yangon to Pyay wasnt too bad. It took us about 7 hours http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Western-Burma/Pyay/blog-632275.html