http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Cessna152/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Cessna152 en-us Thu, 17 Dec 2009 05:50:25 +0000 Thu, 17 Dec 2009 05:50:25 +0000 Our trip to Pokhara Nepal's second city began bright and early at the domestic flight terminal of Kathmandu Airport. It was the domain of smaller turboprop aircraft owned by private airlines with names such as Sita Air Agni Airlines Buddha Air and the gloriouslynamed Yeti Airlines. Our flight was with Buddha Air and as we sat in the tiny departure lounge we came across The Family. The Fami http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Pokhara/blog-458349.html It's always slightly unnerving arriving in a foreign country under the cloak of darkness. You don't know what to expect you don't know where your hotel is and as you wait for your ride it's not such a leap to conjure bad things happening down some dimlylit alleyway.Our place of stay the famous Kathmandu Guest House had emailed that we'd be picked up at the airport. What wasn't mentioned was http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Kathmandu/Thamel/blog-458341.html Three pounds each it had cost to secure our tickets down to St Pancras Station in London. A bargain to be behold. And when the Megabus pulled up we were all pleasantly surprised because it was modern and blue and best of all it contained a cantankerous old Yorkshire git. ldquoNobody moverdquo he barked as he opened the door. ldquoAnd listen up. No one gets on my bus till I've checked your http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/blog-426985.html Only forty kilometres from Hong Kong Angela and I decided a day trip to Macau would be an interesting diversion and so we made our way to the dock to catch a high speed ferry. First established as a trading post in the sixteenth century Macau or Ultra Marino as it was then called became a colony of Portugal in 1887 remaining so until 1999 when it was finally handed back to China.Our journey http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Macau/Macau/blog-425216.html On the flight from Kota Kinabalu to Hong Kong I couldn't get a certain song out of my head. It was from a cartoon I used to watch as a kid called Hong Kong Phooey. Hong Kong Phooey number one super guy. Hong Kong Phooey quicker than the human eye. The song played over and over as we flew northwards until it suddenly occurred to me that perhaps someone aboard the flight was called Phooey. Imagi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/blog-425209.html ldquoI hope you haven't got any bullets on yourdquo I said to Angela as we came in to land at Brunei's rather small international airport. ldquoBecause if you have you're done for. You're not even allowed to have them on necklaces.rdquo I'd just been reading the information about entry requirements to the country. Possession of a bullet was a serious offense the punishment was imprisonm http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Brunei/Bandar-Seri-Begawan/blog-425206.html To be honest before booking our trip I'd never even heard of Kota Kinabalu the largest city in Sabah Malaysia's northern section of Borneo. But when I read that one of the hotels in Kota Kinabalu had its own orangutan rehabilitation centre I knew we had to visit. Angela and I arrived at the huge international airport courtesy of Malaysian Airlines from Kuala Lumpur and as we taxied in I cou http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Kota-Kinabalu/blog-425072.html The two words that made up the name of the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur seemed to roll off my tongue in the most exotic way while at the same time conjuring up images of the tropics of skyscrapers of Asia. The flight from Heathrow wasn't quite as likable though involving a twelvehour journey in economy class that never seemed to end.The unmistakable heat of the tropics greeted us as Angel http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Wilayah-Persekutuan/Kuala-Lumpur/Bukit-Bintang/blog-425069.html 'What the hell are you going to Kosovo for' was a familiar question Michael and I received after telling people of our plans to visit this controversial country in the Balkans. Michael came up with the best answer to this query. ldquoBecause it's there.rdquoKosovo hit the headlines in the 1990s for all the wrong reasons. Ethnic cleansing NATO air strikes Albanian refugees and cries of war http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Kosovo/Centre/Prishtina/blog-404289.html According to the Macedonian Weekly News 330 earthquakes had occurred near the MacedoniaBulgarianGreek border only a few days prior to our arrival. Earthquakes are not a laughing matter in Macedonia a particularly bad one had flattened the capital in 1963. Luckily for us though according to experts these recent tremblings would not amount to a major quake. I told Michael we could put off buyi http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Macedonia/Skopje/blog-403976.html Not on everyone's list of places to see in the world Albania had always been a country that appealed to me. With my pal Michael we flew into Tirana on a warm and sunny evening in May. One of Europe's poorest nations a legacy left over from exruler Enver Hoxha or Supreme Comrade as he liked to call himself Albania embraced communism in the 1940s. At first Hoxha made friends with the Soviets http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Albania/West/Tirana/blog-403942.html Our day began bright and early for our daytrip to Senegal. With our fellow passengers Angela and I arrived in Banjul the capital of the Gambia in order to catch a ferry across the river. The ferry terminal was a hive of honking shouting and dust.The queue for cars and trucks was a mammoth snake stretching through the port area. There was humanity everywhere. As we milled about waiting for the http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Senegal/Tambacounda-Region/Tambacounda/blog-391084.html ArrivalTo most British tourists The Gambia a former British colony which gained its independence in 1965 is an easy accessible package holiday destination a step but only a small one above the bucket and spade destinations offered by Spain Greece and Turkey. Oddly though it also has a shady reputation as a country where middleaged white women can meet young Gambian men. Rather like their http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Gambia/District-of-Banjul-/Banjul/blog-391076.html ldquoThis bloody blizzardrdquo I said to Angela as we traversed yet another slippery footpath this one leading towards a bridge spanning the Danube. Snow was blasting into my eyes and the wind was chilling me to the bone. Angela was suffering too and like arctic explorers we traipsed onto the bridge pausing only to pull down our hats. The river below was dark and brooding the cruise ships http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Austria/Vienna-State/Vienna/blog-376190.html A scene of white awaited us as we touched down at JFK International. Heavy snowfall the previous day had given everything a winter coating just in time for Christmas. Two hours later after clearing customs night had arrived and we were sitting inside a yellow New York Taxi heading into Manhattan the heart of downtown New York. What a year it had been. We'd celebrated the start of 2008 in Finlan http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/New-York/Manhattan/blog-358262.html From Cairo our flight initially took us over the Red Sea then across the heart of Saudi Arabia. From there we turned south heading over the tiny gulf states of Bahrain and Qatar until we crossed into the United Arab Emirates the bright lights of Dubai easily visible along the horizon. Finally we flew into the Sultanate of Oman a flight time of just three and a half hours.Angela and I had hig http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Oman/Muscat/blog-341916.html The agenda for our first day was quite hectic. In the morning we'd visit the Pyramids then over lunctime we'd wander around the Antiquities Museum. For the remainder of the afternoon we'd take a trip to the Citadel of Saladin. A lot to see in one go but with only two full days in the Egyptian capital we had little time for dallying.Our hotel the Sheraton Towers looked plush from the outside http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Lower-Egypt/Cairo/blog-341683.html Thailandrsquos largest island was once a major trading point between India and China where the island derived its wealth from the export of tin and rubber. Nowadays of course tourism is Phuket's main source of income and for Angela and I it was to be the final stop of our eighteen day trip around South East Asia. After travelling through Laos Vietnam and Cambodia the lure of a luxurious hotel http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Phuket/blog-326816.html It only took forty minutes to fly from Siem Reap to the Cambodian capital. The landing was smooth and were soon out of the airport driving through the hustle and bustle of downtown Phnom Penh. Outside was hot and dusty the streets clogged with motorcycles and pedestrians. Compared to Siem Reap this was indeed a third world city. Shoeless children and scrawny dogs wandered the pavements trying http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Phnom-Penh/blog-316522.html A flat landscape of green fields and water logged floodplains could be seen out of the window as we descended into Siem Reap. Occasionally we'd catch a glimpse of a settlement but by and large the vista outside was one of countryside. The aircraft made a smooth landing and we taxied to the terminal. The airport was modern and highly efficient. Passport and visa control went smoothly and we were s http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-316430.html