http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Hazzards-Emergency-Exit/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Hazzards Emergency Exit en-us Sun, 27 Dec 2009 11:08:55 +0000 Sun, 27 Dec 2009 11:08:55 +0000 I went to Istanbul. Here are some photos. http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/blog-396196.html These are some photos of Nottingham England where I am attending graduate school. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Nottinghamshire/Nottingham/blog-227895.html The moment many of you have been waiting for has arrived and I have finally returned home. I will save any sappy reflections for the personal conversations I hope to soon have with many of you. This entry is just a quick overview of the last two weeks.Great Britain I rented a car in Edinburgh and made a long overdue Braveheart pilgrimage on a three day drive through the Scottish Highlands. Alo http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Maryland/Gaithersburg/blog-72589.html During the summer months Indiarsquos Himalayan foothills offer some relief from the sweltering heat of the plains below. After I had endured the scorching heat of Rajasthan for a few weeks I made getting to cooler climates a priority. On my way north from Delhi I stopped to visit a few places in Punjab namely the Golden Temple in Amritsar and the PakistanIndia border crossing. The Golden T http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/National-Capital-Territory/New-Delhi/blog-66179.html After leaving Kathmandu I visited Nepal's Royal Chitwan National Park. The highlight of Chitwan was riding through the jungle on an elephant. Things got exciting when Dumbo had a turf scuffle with some rhinos. My elephant even did some screaming with his trunk raised in the air to scare them off Nepal passed without incident though there were a lot of visible security measures in place incl http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Jaisalmer/blog-62140.html Over the past month I have traveled from Hanoi to Kathmandu via southwestern China and Tibet. These regions are among the worldrsquos more remote places and naturally there are many stories to tell about the journey. What I have provided here is just a brief overview. My route passed through three geographically and culturally distinct regions China Tibet and Nepal.China Getting to Tibet http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Tibet/Lhasa/blog-56867.html I am not a coffee drinker. Vietnamese coffee is industrial strength and I drank one not long ago. If I seem aggressive cynical and insensitive in this entry I would attribute it to the coffee. I just saw my mom off for home. That woman rocks. She came all the way from the other side of the world to see her baby and she gave him all the TLC he's been missing for the last year 4 star hotels http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-53343.html I have come to believe that the collective national pastime for aging women in Laos is to aimlessly wander along mountain roads with large bundles of firewood strapped to their backs. These women roam everywhere with scarves on their heads and weathered faces occasionally giving me a grin as I pass by. When I was on the move whatever forms of transport I happened to be on weaved from side to s http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/East/Vieng-Xai/blog-50267.html One can only pray that Cambodiarsquos darkest hour has come to pass and that the hope adorning the faces of a new generation is indicative of the countryrsquos trajectory as a whole. My impressions of this place are contradictory. Cambodia is tragic haunting and eerie so much so that I had nightmares when I first arrived here. Yet I find the simplicity and hope that defines many of the Kh http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/East/Kampong-Cham/blog-46404.html Occasionally we have experiences that permanently alter our frame of reference in regards to how we view our own position in the world. I recently visited some refugees along the ThaiBurma border and the experience had just that effect.Thailandrsquos western border regions bear witness to the human tragedy that is currently taking place inside Burma. I arrived at the refugee settlement on the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-44195.html For the last few weeks I have been traveling around Brunei Malaysia and Thailand. Following a brief stay in Singapore I went out to Borneo where I met Brent. Our first stop was the tiny Sultanate of Brunei Darussalam. When we were going through customs they searched our bags for alcohol which is illegal. The people of Brunei seemed very pleasant. If I flashed a smile they tended to burst http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/blog-41704.html As I finished my last week at work things started to feel a bit somber on the inside while on the outside few moments were spent apart from the gang. On the last day the office had a send off with generous gifts and a table of food. Our last night in Wellington was spent in the best way possible namely eating copious amounts of good food with friends while talking late into the night. In the http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Christchurch/blog-37752.html The Christmas holiday is over and the drive around the North Island is complete. Christmas day was an arduous continuation of our ongoing volcano climbing addiction. This time it was Mt. Taranaki. Although the warm summer is here I still managed to have a white Christmas on the snow capped peak. That evening we joined a friend on her nearby family farm for Christmas dinner. Among the collect http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/blog-33826.html As I prepare for the coming journey in Asia I have come to feel like a pincushion. I'll spare you the full list but before this month is over I will have received twelve injections. In conjunction with the cluster of vaccines I had before leaving home I am hoping to develop the immune system of the Terminator. I will have a seven month stock of antimalarial pills as well. Malaria pills see http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Wellington/blog-28388.html A native New Zealander recently told me that their country is the coldest in the world to have homes without central heating. I donrsquot know if that is true or not but I know it is true for my flat. When the fading winter sends the occasional Antarctic blast through Wellington I can see the frost on my breath while sitting in my own bed. Space heaters hot showers and standing over the st http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Wellington/blog-22068.html Tokyo finished out with yet another earthquake and more good times had by all. Eventually the inevitable end arrived and Johnny rode off into the sunset waving his hat returning home to teach again. Brent and I bummed around Tokyo crashing on friend's couches for a bit before the time came for me to head to southern Japan while Brent headed off to New Zealand. Hats off to Johnny and Brent for http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/blog-17896.html I am still in Tokyo working with the rug rats. Over the past week another friend from home Chris Adams aka Square came for a visit and crashed on the couch. One of the things we all wanted to do together was climb Mt. Fuji Japan's tallest peak. There was an interest among some of the other counselors as well so I volunteered to lead a group trip. I organized a night climb which is com http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Tokyo/blog-16045.html I am writing to you now from a little town called Tokyo metropolitan population 34 million. Tokyo is a blitz of neon lights trains futuristic technology temples narrow streets lanterns crowds and bicycles. Skyscrapers line the horizon in every direction and there is almost no litter or graffiti. Everything appears new modern and clean. Tokyo is surreal at times reminding me more of http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Tokyo/blog-15456.html I eventually escaped Alice Springs and took a three day tour through Outback Queensland to Cairns. We had an openfire dinner on a 150000 acre cattle station and saw more ancient cave art giant termite mounts unpaved highways open range cattle country and dinosaur fossils. I am also fairly sure I saw the mysterious 'Min Min lights' check it out on the internet. Most importantly the weath http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Byron-Bay/blog-13845.html I am living and working in Alice Springs at the moment. Alice was founded as a remote telegraph station and the town offered a spring for watering the camel trains that rode the northsouth route through the Australian Outback in the early days. More than half of the population is aboriginal and many of the others appear to be modern day cowboys. I have been told that this town can get danger http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Northern-Territory/Alice-Springs/blog-12361.html