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Justin Hintz
I had originally planned on traveling to Africa for six months with my cousin. A few months into the trip, I realized that six months would not be long enough, and I would not be ready to go home. It was then that I decided to keep on going East, until I eventually find myself back in the states. JJH99
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Travel Blog Posts
January 31st 2011
The night train from Don Mueang station in Bangkok to Nong Khai was very comfortable as we had our own beds. The journey took about 12 hours. When Pom and I arrived in Nong Khai, we grabbed a tuk tuk and headed toward the border. The tuk tuk stopped at a travel agency that tried to sell me an overpriced Lao visa, but I told them no, I'll get it in Laos. I knew better. We crossed from Thailand to Laos via the friendship bridge over the Mekong river. The bridge was financed by the Aussies. When we got to the Laos side, we grabbed a local bus to bring us into Vientiane. When we got into town, we grabbed a tuk tuk to take us to the bus station to catch a bus to ... read more
January 15th 2011
So far being in Thailand this time has been different than my previous trips, as I have been seeing the country from more of a backpacker perspective where as before I had the opportunity to stay with and spend all of my time with local Thai people. I spent my first five days in Bangkok hanging out at a very nice hostel called Nap Park. For dorm beds, it has been the nicest by far that I have ever stayed in. The hostel is situated just off of Khao San road, a stretch probably about 4-5 blocks long of cheap hotels, restaurants, massage parlors, and shops. There were more tourists than locals on that stretch of road which kind of surprised me briefly at first, as I am not used to seeing that. My 3rd day ... read more
December 21st 2010
Completely exhausted from my trek, I spent a couple of weeks relaxing in Kathmandu and catching up on my sleep. I spent my first couple of days back with two of my friends that I made on the trek. I also spent a lot of time hanging out with my buddy Sunil. I met him through his sister Sandhya who I worked with at QCI for a little over a year. He took me to see a lot of sights in and around Kathmandu, plus we became regulars at some of the bars. The area that I stayed in was called Thamel, which is a neighborhood set up for tourists. It was a nice change for me from Africa because there was a lot of variety in the food available, a luxury I have not always ... read more
To the top of the bottom of Everest, and back again
Published: December 1st 2010Asia » Nepal » Namche
December 1st 2010
The following is a first account experience I just had with a trek in the Himalayas that I would like to share with you. I wrote a little everyday while I was up in the mountains. I hope you enjoy it. ____________________________________________________________________ Day 1 Airport Appreciation Day We rolled into the airport at Kathmandu around 0715. None of the flights were departing due to poor visibility in Lukla. Eventually at 1530 they finally canceled all flights. Went back to a new hotel to try again the next morning. Day 1 pt. 2 Lukla (9317 ft) to Phakding (8563 ft) 0830 – 1130 3 hrs The flight was only delayed an hour this time. Amazing views of the Himalayas (1st time to see them). Landed in Lukla on a very short runway that dead ends into a ... read more
Luxor, Sinai Penninsula, and the parting of ways
Published: October 31st 2010Africa » Egypt » Sinai » Dahab
October 31st 2010
My dad, brother, and I took off the next morning for Luxor via the train. The journey was approximately three hours down the Nile. We arrived at the train station to overaggressive locals bombarding us with taxi offers as soon as we stepped foot outside. We grabbed a taxi and headed to Emilio hotel, which ended up being a great deal. It was a nice 3 star hotel with a rooftop pool that we used quite a bit, as the temperature was around 110 the whole time we were there. Luxor used to be called Thebes, and was the ancient Pharaoh capital city. After we checked into the hotel, we proceeded to the Luxor museum, which included the Mummy of a Pharaoh that had been in a museum at Niagra Falls for 140 years, until someone ... read more
October 16th 2010
We arrived in Cairo dazed and confused as our flight was late. We finally got to our first hotel at 5am. It wasn't the best of accommodations, as I don't think they have ever cleaned our room. We stayed for one night and moved to Dahab Hotel, which is a backpackers on the rooftop of an 8 story building. It had a cool atmosphere and we quickly made it our home base. We spent the first few days getting to know Cairo. We had dinner one night on the Nile at a nice restaurant called Sequoia in an area called Zamalek with a girl named Caroline, who was best friends with my cousin Kristen from high school in Munich. During that first week we visited the Egyptian Museum, which hosts a lot of ancient treasures, most ... read more
September 29th 2010
From Mekele we took a 4-5 hour bus ride south to Waldia. From there, we missed the last bus to Lalibela, so the three of us (we had an Austrian guy with us) paid for a 'private' minibus to take us on the 4 hour drive. The overly aggressive driver dropped us off in the middle of town and not to the hotel we wanted him to take us, so we walked to another hotel called Asheton Hotel and checked in. We ended up spending 3 nights there. The big thing to see in Lalibela is the 11 midieval rock-hewn churches. They were carved into the rocks between 1137 and 1270 AD during the Zagwe dynasty. These churches are unique in the fact that some of them are full monolithic, which means that they are carved ... read more
September 12th 2010
After hanging out for the week in Kampala and spending our birthday weekend in style, (Jeff was Aug 20th and mine was the 22nd) we took off for Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. We spent 3 nights there orientating ourselves with the city and formulating a plan of attack for Ethiopia. We assumed we would have at least 5 weeks to wander around the country. One of the first places we went was to Addis Ababa University, the site where Haile Sellasie's former palace was located. We were able to go into his former bedroom and even his bathroom. Haile Sellasie was the former emperor of Ethiopia for many years up until 1974. He was admired for many accomplishments, one being fighting off Mussolini and the Italians during the second World War. Thanks to ... read more
Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda
Published: August 19th 2010Africa » Uganda » Central Region » Kampala
August 19th 2010
The bus from Dar was a little under 10 hours thanks to our crazy aggressive driver. On the way to Arusha, once we passed Moshi, I happened to look out of the window, and there it was, Mt. Kilimanjaro. I could only see what was left of the glacier on the top as it was a little hazy. I was going to pull my camera out, but at the time I figured I was going to climb it so I didn't bother. We arrived in Arusha and checked into Arusha Backpackers. We spent the next day checking around with various tour companies to attempt to tackle the mountain. The cheapest we could find after gear rental and tips was 1200 US, which is way over my budget just to climb a mountain. Even Serengeti was overly ... read more
July 28th 2010
When it was time to leave Cape Maclear, Jeff and I waited outside on the local road for about an hour and then hitched a ride with a German family to the highway, then caught a taxi to Venice Beach in Monkey Bay. There we met up with our friend Victor for one night, then took off early the next morning for Blantyre, the main industrial city of Malawi. There we met up with our friends Mitsue and Elena, and caught another mini bus to Mount Mulanje. We found a guide to take us up for the following day and a place to crash for the night. The next morning we got up early, met our guide, and headed up the mountain. The first part of the hike was very casual, walking through a sea of ... read more
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