http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Ezeur/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Ezeur en-us Sun, 19 May 2013 07:39:18 +0000 Sun, 19 May 2013 07:39:18 +0000 Bangladesh is chocfull of charities and NGOs. Its a volunteers paradise because there is an endless number of organizations that need help. This weekend I visited the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralyzed CRP which is a very wellknown organization in Bangladesh. Hospitals and clinics all around the country refer people to CRP for services which are usually provided for free. F http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Bangladesh/Dhaka/blog-776239.html To check out another part of Bangladesh I went bird watching with a couple colleagues on the northern border near India in a wetlands area named Tanguar Haor. Before I moved to Bangladesh I had heard that it was the best place for bird watching in Asia. The whole country is a river delta. The Bradt guide says If you39re supremely adventurous or a keen birdwatcher perhaps both Sunamganj is http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Bangladesh/Sylhet/blog-772839.html This weekend was all about the journey we spent more time getting places than being there but thats what you get for trying to do everything in just a weekend. It was my first trip in the south of Bangladesh and I am lucky to have friends who dont mind going so far with so little time.We started out at the train station in Dhaka across from the airport and took a direct train to Chittago http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Bangladesh/Bandarban/blog-771046.html I was very fortunate to have my friend Anisa travel all the way from Montana to Hanoi for Christmas. She stayed past when I had to return to Dhaka for work but we managed to see and do a lot during our travels together. We started with a rough itineraryDay 1 Arrive in Hanoi on Christmas. Eat a giant Christmas dinner.Day 2 Recover from jetlag Anisa had to get used to a 14 hour difference and http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Northeast/blog-764724.html This is mostly a photo blog since Dhaka still has me tonguetied. Ive lived here now for four months and I know my way around a very limited area of the city. Its a massive city but much harder to get around than anywhere Ive ever lived including Istanbul. I really miss the public transportation in Istanbul. That city was difficult to get around because it was so geographically huge a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Bangladesh/Dhaka/blog-761306.html This was an amazing vacation and I loved every minute of it even when there were leeches involved. My week in Malaysia centered around a trip to the rainforest I finally got to see a real tropical rainforest and all the wildlife that goes with it. Ive always loved reading adventure and travel books and wondered what it would be like to actually be in the rainforest looking up into the fa http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/blog-753461.html Write a day in your life when youre 30 years old.The sounds of the birds in the trees wake me early. I roll out of my hammock and rest my feet on the sand looking out through the gaps in the walls of my grass hut to see if the goats are nearby. Stepping outside I find my sandals by the door and look out over the Malaysian beach to watch the sunlight glinting off the calm morning ocean. I wa http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/blog-752571.html My first few days in Dhaka were filled with settling into my new apartment but afterwards I did make time to go out with some of my new colleagues to explore the city. Since we arrived at the end of Ramadan we found empty streets and many closed shops. Some parts of the city are eerily abandoned. I am enjoying it immensely. Gone are the traffic jams that greeted me when I first arrived at the air http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Bangladesh/Dhaka/blog-738341.html The Aya Sofya is a lot like the Louvre for me but it has taken me eleven months and five visits to come to that conclusion and this might take some explaining. Its not a very obvious parallel. They dont really have a lot in common.At the Louvre I am astounded at the sheer size of the place from the outside. The Tuileries gardens make the expanse even more impressive. Walking through the co http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/Sultanahmet/blog-714835.html Some experiences just cant be photographed. Some are too magical to be captured. Turkey is a beautiful country and all the places I have traveled around here are very picturesque. However my most recent trip to Olympos was just different from my other vacations around Turkey.For one it was a short weekend getaway to the beach. I left Istanbul after work on Friday and flew back on Sunday. Als http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Mediterranean/blog-722941.html I often feel like Im learning the same lesson over and over. It will sneak up on me and suddenly Ill realize I already learned this one Its not that I forget but just that when the context is so radically different its hard to recognize familiar ideas.As a teacher I should know all about this and I understand how important it is to learn about a concept in multiple contexts http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-713541.html The second half of my parents trip in Turkey started in Fethiye which is a port on the Mediterranean. Its a beautiful bit of the coast and in the hills just south of town is the start of the Lycian Way. We flew into the Dalaman airport then rented a car and drove to Fethiye.Our first morning we drove up a steep and winding road to Kayaky in the hills above Fethiye. Its an interesting http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Mediterranean/blog-709481.html Now I know why everybody raves about Cappadocia or Kapadokya if you like the Turkish way of spelling everything phonetically. It really is a beautiful and very unique place. I have never seen anything like it. The mix of ancient cave dwellings historic cave churches modern tourist infrastructure and incredible landscape all make it a lot of fun.My parents and I flew to Kayseri and rented a car http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Central-Anatolia/Cappadocia/blog-708974.html As Ive said before traveling is a lot about firsts. Heres the short list of my big firsts in CyprusIt39s the first time Ive been to Cyprus the first time I ever rented a car they gave me a Chevy Aveo and the first time I got to drive on the left side of the road like the British.Getting out of the city is a big priority for me this spring. While it was cold and snowing in Istan http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Cyprus/blog-695727.html I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco from 20052007. There are old blogs you can read about my experience but if you want to really learn about Peace Corps check out the website.www.peacecorps.govThis short history of Peace Corps was written by Mike Philley who was a volunteer in Malaysia 19691972. He wrote it for the exhibit Idaho Celebrates 50 Years of Peace Corps Service which ran fro http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/blog-692372.html This is my first attempt to make a video for my blog. My skiier and snowboarder friends back home always ask me what the skiing is like where I travel. Sometimes it all seems the same snow is snow. Other times it makes me realize how far I am from home. I really wish I had been able to make a video of my snowboard trip in Morocco. That was the most foreign skiing experience I39ve ever had. Se http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/blog-691034.html Istanbul is a fascinating city and so is its transportation. It didnt take me too long to figure out how to get around the area I live in but I honestly think it would take a lifetime to learn the entire transportation system here. For this blog Im going to stick to what I know.To get from where I live to the ferry landings in Kadky I can take a taxi which is expensive a dolmu whi http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/blog-684725.html It has been over three years since Ive been to France and it was wonderful to see my friends there again. As with London I was more focused on visiting with my friends than going around to tourist sights.I went straight from the Charles de Gaulle airport to the train station which is conveniently located right next to the airport. You dont even have to leave the building and there are mo http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Rhone-Alpes/blog-684610.html London is an amazing city. I wasnt sure what to expect since it was more of a social visit than a touristic one. I have two weeks of vacation for the end of first semester and decided to do a LondonFrance trip even though January isnt really the best time to be a tourist in London. At least the plane tickets were cheap. I really didnt have any agenda or list of sites I wanted to see. I http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/blog-683168.html I always love the first snow kar means snow in Turkish. We didn39t get a day off school but it was so beautiful to see the city covered with snow that I didn39t care. Snow is magical no matter where you are. http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/blog-680557.html