http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Athena/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Athena en-us Sun, 20 Dec 2009 11:31:25 +0000 Sun, 20 Dec 2009 11:31:25 +0000 Wow today's excursions were very eyeopening. First we visited the Mdelwahlongwane school in Soweto where 100 of the students are black even though integration is 'accepted' now and these students are primarily Zulu. After lunch we visited The Molento Project in downtown Johannesburg which is a literacy and language organization and then we had a group dinner at an excellent South Afri http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Gauteng/Johannesburg/Soweto/blog-268211.html 04182008 Sorry all behind already on these entries had a problem at the hotel in Johannesburg with the internet connection. In a very ritzy hotel in Cape Town now and with a strong internet connection... Will try to catch up tonight if not will catch up tomorrow04162008 This program is great People to People Citizens Ambassadors they do a great job of informing us about the hi http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Gauteng/Johannesburg/Soweto/blog-267781.html Hey All I made it It was a long plane ride but luckily we stopped at Dakkar Senegal for a bit and had a chance to wander inside the plane and stretch. When we were about to take off again the airline attendants sprayed the plane while we were in it to sanitize it for airborn illnesses. The claim that it was totally safe that made us all real comfortable...As most of you know I am terr http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Gauteng/Johannesburg/blog-266828.html I took a little detour to New York to visit my friend Tekau and so I could see Rent on Broadway before it is gone forever on June 1. If there is any show I have ever wanted to see it is Rent so I got my chance3 I also bought a poster with all the cast's signatures. I just went to FedEx and sent it back to myself in Michigan so it doesn't get damaged then it's going in a frame and right up http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/New-York/Manhattan/blog-266402.html Counting down to my next international adventure. I have been invited on a professional delegation to South Africa where we will be learning about their education system and how the evolution of their social system pre and postapartheid has influenced access to primary secondar and tertiary education as well as how the evolution of societal values has influenced the values and approaches to http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Michigan/Lansing/blog-258180.html 19 hours of travel and only 3 hours lost On the way to Thailand even though we travelled 22 hours to get there we arrived 2 days later losing a whole day. The way back to California we left Bangkok at 8am and arrived in Los Angeles at noon Now I just hope I can stay up the whole day to try not to have to deal with the jet lag.I am so thankful that I have had the chance to experience suc http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Los-Angeles/Pasadena/blog-37069.html Only one night left and since Christine and I are flying out at 8am tomorrow morning we really don't have the whole night. We have to be at the airport tomorrow morning by at least 5am and the airport is minimum an hour from our hotel so we are going to have to get up at 3am I am considering not even going to bed tonight. That way I will be exhausted on the plane and not worry so much abou http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-37059.html The trek back to Bangkok begins luckily we had a few hours in Chiang Mai to get a break between modes of transportation. First we took those trucks with seats in the back to the bus station in Chiang Rai then hopped on a MUCH tamer bus back to Chiang Mai. No pukers this time yeah We had 4 hours in Chiang Mai to do whatever we wanted and of course I took that time to back up my d http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-37056.html Ah waking up to the sounds of the bustling of city streets and no roosters To top the morning off we found a Mexican restaurant and had burritos for breakfast Believe it or not they were very good and not too different to what we find in California.The adventure for today the Goldent Triangle. This is where Myanmar Burma Laos and Thailand all meet together separated only by t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/blog-37055.html Wow we have done so much in a very short time yesterday morning we hopped on another songtheaw for 3.5 hours and arrived in Ayutthaya about noon. We were soon taken to a rice barge converted to a tourist vessel and began a relaxing afternoon cruise up the Mae Nam River. What a relaxing afternoon We stopped once to take bikes to local villages to learn about how Thais really live and work. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Ayuthaya/blog-33252.html OK can't take the roosters anymore. There are thousands of them I swear all over the hills. They don't even wait until the sun comes up to crow And once they start they never stop Thousands of them crowing for hours Needless to say between the hard bamboo floor and obnoxious roosters I am going to be SO happy tonight when I have a real bed to sleep in and oh yeah a REAL HOT SH http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Rai/blog-34062.html Before leaving for our next village we stopped by the village school gave gifts of pencils and notebooks to the teacher and learned a little about why kids there go to school and their chances of going to university. Most families are farmers and wish their children to stay and help so education beyond primary school is not valued as we do. But if children wish to go on to high school they http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Rai/blog-34314.html My main concerns this morning were to make sure I got a good shower since I may not be able to bathe for a couple days and wondering if my Chronic Fatigue will be an issue on this trek. Here is the outline of what we are supposed to expectDay 1 14 kilometers all uphill a 1300 meter climb stay the night in an AkhuLisu combo villageDay 2 6 kilometers some uphill a 700 meter climb stay http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Rai/blog-34251.html OK so I am going to write my journals now according to the day I would have if I had internet access the past few days. That way things should be clearer as I write about them.So New Years in Chiang Mai started off pretty dull planned to go to bed early after dinner so I could stay rested for our trek but we got sidetracked while on the way back to the guesthouse by an alley of very happen http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-34244.html Happy New Year all just in case I don't find a computer tomorrow actually it is only the 30th for you but almost the New Year for us only 12 more hours until 2006I also have one note just to let you know why I haven't been uploading photos I have tried the past couple times and it either doesn't work or it takes over 5 minutes to upload each photo most times I don't have that much ti http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-33492.html I am sure you are all bored of reading my enormous possibly boring reflections so today I promise will be shorter We began the day with a trip to the WWII museum which happened to be right next to the Bridge Over River Kwai. The museum was interesting as I wrote yesterday I am always taken by the way different peoples portray their history as compared to what we learn in our own eduati http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Western-Thailand/Kanchanaburi/blog-33010.html Well here we are in our next stop Kachanaburi. We arrived here about 3pm today after a long bus ride and much reflection. First thing this morning we met our group at 9am and headed off to the river where a long tailed boat was waiting to take us to Wat Pho before we began our journey to Kachanaburi. Yeah I was there yesterday but mainly for the massage Our guide Prik took us through http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Western-Thailand/Kanchanaburi/blog-32820.html Wow what an amazing first day. We started out with a plan to see the Grand Palace and unfortunately or fortunately as you may soon see it was closed for a special Buddhist ceremony until 11am. So as we were trying to figure out what to do a really nice Thai man began to talk to us and then recommended a Tuk Tuk take us around Bangkok for 20 Bhat approx. 50 cents After paying 2.50 for a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-32766.html Wow that last 3 hour flight seemed to take forever But the good news is that everything went very smoothly and exactly as it was supposed to actually better than it was supposed to. We arrived in Bangkok on time our driver was waiting for us and the hotel we are staying in is very nice for less than 20night. We found a couple friends along the way even a couple of guys from Michigan http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-32641.html Talk about a long flight Over 13 hours in the air and only got up to go to the bathroom twice. Other than that I watched a couple movies tried to memorize a few more words in Thai and actually slept a little with the aid of my good friends Flexeril and Chardonnay . Totally uneventful otherwise but I wanted to make sure I wrote something so that you all know that I made the first leg alri http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Taiwan/Taipei/blog-32637.html