Carolyn Pharand
I have decided to head out to Asia again... this time with my mother in tow! We are going to visit Amy in Seoul and along our way, we are stopping in Vietnam and China... stay tuned for great stories about our adventures! Caro in Asia
Travel Blog Posts
April 2nd 2009
Mom and I have really enjoyed Xi'an. We ended up staying at our stinky hostel but found a less stinky room. The people here have been really nice. I promised mom that we would step up our accommodations in Beijing. Our first day here we decided to take a tour of the City Wall. It is 14 km long and in a rectangle shape. In order to do the entire wall, we decided to rent a bike. After mom's concrete post incident, she was a little worried so we got a tandem. Man, I thought I was going to die! Tandem bikes are no the easiest thing to ride. Anyway, we made it the whole way around and came back in one piece. We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering the streets of Xi'an. Again, ... read more
March 30th 2009
Mom and I arrived safely in Xi'an last night. It has been a really great couple of days. We spent two days in Guilin, two days in Yangshuo and now 4 days in Xi'an. Guilin was supposed to be a pretty small city by China standards but it was huge to me and we got lost taking the local bus. I think I already mentioned this in my last blog so I will not repeat myself. The second day we took a tour to Longshen to see the rice fields. It was a bit of a gray day, misty rain and fog. It was still beautiful. On our two hour journey to the rice terraces, we stopped in the Yao Village- a minority group in China. Apparently there are over 55. Anyway, we toured the village ... read more
March 25th 2009
Sorry that it has been so long since our last blog. It has been a challenge finding internet and when we did it has been in Chinese... no good for me! Anyway, when I last wrote we had just arrived in Phu Quoc Vietnam. Much has happened since then. Our time on the island was great. There were very few people, our bungalo was great and the food was delicious. Our last day there we convinced mom to go out on a motorcycle tour of the island. It was great. She really enjoyed it. I can't wait to show the pictures to prove to everyone that she actually did it. Dad, I have a feeling she might be asking for a ride soon. On our tour we stopped at a pearl farm, a beautiful white sand ... read more
March 18th 2009
Mom and I arrived safe and sound in Ho Chi Minh City after a very long 30 hour transit. The plane ride between Chicago and Seoul (14 hours) was suprisingly not as bad as we had expected! When we arrived at the Seoul airport we learned how to make small traditional Korean screens using rice paper and rice glue. It was really interesting and definately helped to pass the time before we jumped on to our final flight to HCM! It was definately an interesting ride from the airport to the hotel. The road rules are as follows "small yields to big... or else!". So, our ride involved a tremendous amount of honking and numerous close calls with several motorbikes. Mom held on tight to the door handle! Amy met mom and I at our hotel ... read more
April 6th 2006
Well, this is it. The adventure is ending and it feels as though it had only just begun. I have many memories to share and treasure for the rest of my life. I have been really grateful to have had the opportunity to visit the countries I did and meet some amazing people along the way. It has been an interesting two months with some ups and downs but certainly a worthwhile experience which I highly recommend to everyone. I end my travels in Palolem a beach in the sounthern state of Goa. It has been amazing weather and I have really taken the time to do absolutely nothing. For those of you who know me well, this is not like me. I have not even done any exercise (GASP!). I know, hard to believe. The ... read more
April 3rd 2006
Stephanie and I took an overnight bus from Mumbai to Mapusa, Goa on the 31st of March. This was by far the stinkiest ride we have taken. (If you have not noticed, each bus ride has been an adventure and there is a story to tell). So, the stink story goes like this..... somebody urinated on the mattress in the sleeper. And, yes, that ended up being our sleeper. Let me tell you, it was not pleasant. It was least pleasant for Stephanie though since she got stuck laying in the urine. It was so hot on that bus too that sweat was dripping from my forehead, nose and ears (yes ears.. probably because of the thick hair). This only made the urine smell worse since the moist heat on the urine brought out the smell. ... read more
March 29th 2006
Well, Steph and I arrived in Mumbai after another 12 hour journey. I am really looking forward to the day when I don't have to take these overnight buses anymore. One more to Goa and we should be done. This ride was not much better then the others. Actually, I may have feared for my life more on this one because the driver was insane. He kept weaving in and out of trafic, missing transport trucks in the other lane by inches! YIKES! I can not believe the size of this City. It is absolutely huge. But, I can say one thing, it is the cleanest City that I have been to in India. And, there is no cow poop on the streets so I can actually look around as I walk instead of looking at ... read more
March 28th 2006
Well, Steph and I have had a hectic couple of days. We took an overnight bus from Udaipur to Amedebad (I don't think I spelled that properly) which ended up taking 16 hours. I am not sure how to describe the journey. A- I was afraid for my life and B- it was soooooooo long. If you can imagine for a second being stuck in a small compartment above the seats in a bus for 16 hours, the two of us, with our bags! The first 10 hours were o.k, after that, it got a little uncomfortable. Especially because we were told it would only take 12. Word to the wise, anytime and Indian tells you it will only take a certain number of hours, add a couple on. If he/she tells you the bus will ... read more
March 25th 2006
Unfortunately, still no pictures. I am sorry = Hopefully soon. Steph and I have spent the last day in Udaipur still in the province of Rajasthan in India. We came over via a long 8 hour bus ride from Pushkar. The tourist bus we were on, did not really end up being much of a tourist bus. It was more like a luxury local bus. Overall, it was fine until one hour from Udaipur when they started picking up everyone and his brother. There were no seats left on the bus so everyone was standing. Poor Stephanie had the aisle seat. She had the pleasure of smelly armpits in her face! Apart from that, we had to endure only glaring stares from the local men. We had met two girls from Boston on the bus, one ... read more
March 21st 2006
Sorry, still no pictures guys. I am not sure if it is the Internet that is too slow over here or if it is the computers that are not so good. Either way, I can't seem to upload any pictures. Hopefully when I get to Mumbai next week. Anyway, Steph and I spent two days in Jaipur after a 12 hour night bus ride from Delhi. Jaipur is known as the Pink City as the facades of all the buildings in the older part are all painted pink. We hired a rickshaw driver to take us around the city for the afternoon. We hit many sites. It got a little pricey though. We had to pay for entry and had to pay to use our camera's as well. Most of the time we lied and said ... read more
Tot: 0.093s; Tpl: 0.003s; cc: 13; qc: 87; dbt: 0.0645s; 1; s:notus w:www (50.28.60.10); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.7mb
