http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Gaztravels/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Gaztravels en-us Wed, 23 Dec 2009 16:10:58 +0000 Wed, 23 Dec 2009 16:10:58 +0000 Amsterdam it is then after a bit of debate as to where I would disappear for a weekend Amsterdam came up the winner. Mind you it would appear that half of England also decided that it would be a good idea to go to Amsterdam for the weekend as well. They're a novel bunch of tourists the English what better would you like to do when you're in another country but sit around in an Irish pub and drin http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-451727.html Yep I'm in Paris and I've got to say I'm getting much better at booking hotels over the internet. With the Pantheon right outside the window of the hotel and a view straight down the street to the Eiffel Tower from the front door I'm loving this little hotel already plus it's got a lift. Lifts in French hotels are a big plus cause without fail your room will be nowhere near the first floor and af http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-450284.html Well that's what one of my friend's daughter calls Turkey but 304'm lucky enough to be back here again. Although this trip has been a bit of a hard slog as far as setup goes but at least 305t d305dn't ra305n unt305l 305t was t305me to pack up. I've now added pack305ng up 305n the freez305ng cold ra305n to my l305st of least glamorous th305ngs about tr305 http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/blog-449922.html 304'm still trying to decide if Singapore is a place to come back to or not but as a place to jump off the plane for a while it's not all that bad. One th305ng that's for sure though 305s that the tour305sm mob 305n S305ngapore really markets 305tself. If you've got more than a couple of hours they are happy to put you on a bus tour of the c305ty and away you go. M305nd http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/blog-449920.html Living on an island with a varied history makes for some interesting excursions on the weekends. Apart from the usual trips to the pool at one of the almost swanky hotels or to the beaches with the shipwrecks there have been a few trips to see the leftovers from the battles that took place in the 1940rsquos. The tensions that took place in the early 2000rsquos have meant that some of the plaqu http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/blog-406094.html Well thatrsquos what they keep telling me about this little place in the Pacific that Irsquove parked myself in for a while. The more you wonder around the island the more the statement starts to make sense. There are a few things that have got lost in the translation somewhere along the line. While the local people are trying to make it work for some reason the country just canrsquot get http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/blog-397561.html You would only send people you don't like to Kuala Lumpur from Dubai via Karachi it's definitely up there as one of the worst flights ever. The staff at Karachi airport are not all that keen on attracting visitors to Pakistan as they don't even let you off the plane while the hordes of cleaners give it the once over. Then there's the Customs guys who were having a little counting issue which resu http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Wilayah-Persekutuan/Kuala-Lumpur/blog-344098.html Dubai has been an eye opener in more ways then one although the journey here like always has been an adventure. Given that I only had less than 26 hours in Dubai it was best that I made the most of it. Fortunately I had a contact on the ground in Dubai to organise things for me. But that meant a mad dash from Sharjah airport to my Dubai hotel then onto the venue of the Ball all within three hour http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/United-Arab-Emirates/Dubai/blog-344096.html Just getting to Iran has been the biggest challenge of this little sojourn. With visas required for the four of the countries I intended to visit this time round the visa chase before departure was a little insane. As soon as the passport came back it was off to another consulate. All in a set sequence as some of the visas were valid for three months from the time they were issued. Add to this was http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iran/South/Shiraz/blog-344093.html It all started with a much delayed train from Agra after finally leaving Agra we managed to arrive at Jaipur only two hours late. Fortunately the autorickshaw guy from the hotel was waiting to collect me because even at 1am the touts and the scammers are out and about. If you ever feel that noone loves you come to India cause everyone wants to know where you're from what's your name where are http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Jaipur/blog-347729.html Dehli was the first stop on the way to the Taj which is the whole purpose of this leg of the sojourn. I was half expecting to be overwhelmed by Delhi but it somehow failed to happen. Sure there's about fifty people packed into an area of a postage stamp at times and everyone wants a part of you but it's not that much of a struggle. It's also a place of contrasts with Old Delhi being packed to th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-344095.html The journey to get here has been a bit of a tour though due to unexpectedly spending an extra night in Kuwait. Spending the extra night menat trying to juggle two flights to still make it here in time to fly to India. Fortunately the lady at Gulf Air was very understanding and threw up a few options. After being waitlisted for the connection from Bahrain to Muscat there was a glimmer of hope. The http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Oman/Muscat/blog-344090.html You know you're going somewhere different when you overhear people waiting to get on the plane saying the last time I flew into here was on a troop transport with 300 other guys.After a late night arrival into Kuwait and a confused taxi driver I managed to make it to the hotel in one piece. The first thing that you notice is that everyone behind the wheel here is insane. There must be some brain http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Kuwait/blog-344089.html It's been a bit of a detour filled journey on the road to Damascus but I'm finally here.The trip to Hama from Beirut looked so easy when I read about it in the guidebook go to bus station get on bus after a border crossing and a few too many hours in a bus arrive at Hama for a couple of days. Well that was the plan anyway the initial part of the plan worked like a dream. I found the honest Beiru http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-336431.html After 12 hours in transit involving two buses three taxis three different currencies and two border crossings I've managed to arrive in Beirut and what's not to love about the place except maybe the tanks and machine guns as you drive into town but apart from that it's all good. But getting here was half the fun as always. It all started at 0615Hrs in Amman Jordan when I caught the taxi who's http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Lebanon/Beirut/blog-342647.html What's not to love about Petra with all the buildings carved out of the rock face. Well there are a few things not to love about Petra like the town nearby Wadi Musa for some unknown reason any great monument around the world has an incredibly dodgey town nearby that exists purely as the bunion on the toe of a marvel of the world. Then there's trying to get out of Wadi Musa there's buses taxi http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/South/Petra/blog-336430.html The flight over to Jordan was a pleasant way to while away the hour or so although it's the only flight I've been on that's had a bouncer at the door as you got on the plane. I'm guessing that they take security a little serious in this part of the world as this miniature man mountain got on the plane and sat down beside me at the last moment after the seatbelt light was switched off he vanished http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/West/Madaba/blog-336429.html After a very enjoyable flight halfway around the world again I'm back in Turkey for another bit of fun in Istanbul. Malaysian Airlines made the flight very easy to take with the service laid on from the time we got on to the time that we arrived in Turkey. The added bonus was the flight to KL wasn't full so those of us in the cheap seats still had room to spread out in what I like to term as povo http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/blog-336428.html Montreal has a lot of things going for it the scenery the old town and a lot of French speaking people. Which is a little strange at first as you're in Canada not France. But it is a nice touch to walk into a shop and be greeted with bonjour hello as they have an each way bet as to how you're going to answer them back and there are some shops you just want to keep walking in and out of to hear http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Quebec/Montreal/blog-298180.html After deciding to leave Sir Paul who would have thought that after getting to Montreal airport that my flight to New York would be canceled. Was this a sign that I should have stayed in Quebec City Fortunately the airline was kind enough to book me on an early flight the next day. Given my limited time frame I explained that that may not be the best option and is it possible to find another fli http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/New-York/Manhattan/blog-298182.html