Edmichel

Even thought we just posted a blog we spent an amazing day at Ephesus and decided to post some pics from it. The weather has turned and we see on the TV, Istanbul has snow. Here, we are just very cold, but beautiful clear crisp air made for some nice photos. Ephesus was amazing! Originally an early Greek settlement in 1000 BC thru 6th century AD, with as many as 250,000 people. Lots of wars and a silting harbor contributed to its demise. There continues to be alot of excavation, with every dig they seem to find something! With the cold it was a very quiet day, and when we were touring the terraced houses we were the only ones there. Many times we would just sit and listen. It was very easy to envision it, ... read more

Lovely Istanbul. What a beautiful city! And for a city of 16 million, it is surprisingly easy to get around. People are friendly, the food is excellent and the history is mind boggling! We love this city! We arrived the evening of Christmas day after fortunately uneventful flights. (Especially watching the snowstorms since then.) We stumbled on Hotel Nena on trip advisors with so many positive reviews, we did wonder if they had hotel staff just typing away. But what a fantastic find!! By the end of our 4 days there, we even added to the glowing reviews. On the 7th floor is a breakfast and dining area with this view of the Blue Mosque. The night shot was taken the evening we arrived. It was just magical. The sunrise shot from the same spot. To ... read more

Enjoying our last day in Bkk, Ed is watching the BCS championship game, (Go BAMA), and I post the final blog for this trip. Bagan was amazing with more than 4000 temples in @ 26 sq mile area. We spent 3 days exploring. The variety of temples in various stages of ages, most were originally built between 900-1200 AD. After Bagan we enjoyed 5 lovely days on a beach in S Thailand. Tomorrow at 6am we board the plane back to Boise. . It was a great trip!!... read more

We are back in beautiful Bangkok which feels, oh so luxurious, after India. India, hmmm, India. This was our 4th trip to India, and we still find it to be, by far, the hardest country to travel in. Life does not appear to be improving for the average person. But still a fascinating, and frustrating country! So, a 'quick' recap of the past 2 weeks. Chitwan NP in Nepal was great. We take the 6 hr tourist bus to Chitwan. We thoroughly enjoy our 3 nights, and 2 full days of activities. We stayed inside the park at a quiet rustic place. It felt abit like a camp with all the planned activities, but was fun! The park has accomadations for @ 60 people, but there were only @ 15 people staying there, so we felt ... read more

Happy T-day!! Hope everyone enjoyed their turkey! We enjoyed some delicious dahl, curry and french onion soup!! Definitely a memorable t-day for us! Katmandu - it is amazing! We were last here in 1996, and although it has definitely grown, it hasn't changed that much. the look and feel is still very much as we remember it. With the exception of the internet cafes, and ATMs, which were not around in '96. It still has that ' 60s feel and probably one day will become a UNESCO site! The streets are still amazing, crammed with taxis, motorcycles, bicycle rickshaws, pedistrians all crammed in a one lane pot holed street. Horns blowing, whistles shrieking, the amazing smells of incense, small street stralls crammed with an amazing collection of trinkets, buddhas, hiking gear knock-offs, clothes, etc. interspersed with ... read more