http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Maestro-the-Vagabond/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Maestro the Vagabond en-us Thu, 26 Nov 2009 09:51:39 +0000 Thu, 26 Nov 2009 09:51:39 +0000 PortoFortunately my departure to Portugal was less eventful than that of mine to Mallorca. It was perhaps unfortunate however that my departure would have to begin at 0245. Not realizing the hours of the first tube departures in the morning and thinking only of the cheap airfare I booked without consideration of the logistics at hand to actually get to the airport for a 630 flight to Porto. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Northern/Porto/blog-407862.html LondonI've not seen a dry day in London as yet. My justification for being here was to meet with Dr. Judith Suissa a professor of education who has done work on Anarchist education. She was kind enough to spend more than four hours obliging my questions giving me a tour of the radical East End of London and then treating me to some Bangledeshi food which passed favourably. What's more she ur http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Balearic-Islands/Majorca/blog-403587.html Prelude WillimanticAfter a year of diving back into the plenary experience of graduate school my first year of doctoral college with its thrill and exhaustion my parents decided to venture down to Connecticut for a visit. UConn as it's known here which is often mixed up with the Yukon people are either very polite and mention that they didn't know the Yukon had a uni or ask me what in t http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Virginia/Williamsburg/blog-400609.html While it's technically true that I've been to New York before it was under conditions that were less than ideal. I had just returned from England where my girlfriend had broken up with me. I missed my connecting flight in Newark and figured I should go to see the Big Apple. But after taking the train into Penn Station I managed only a couple of blocks before falling into a lonely drink across t http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/New-York/blog-338065.html A Short Stop in the Bay AreaMy return to California for the first time following my move back to Canada has proved an interestingly enlightening experience. I have to admit that I've had a difficult time in letting go of California and the life I was living here during my time as a teacher. I arrived with excitement full of exuberance and nostalgia but that sense has faded quickly like the mari http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Oregon/Portland/blog-256895.html Big Mamma Conmen Crab Shrapnel and a Birthday to RememberBangkok Soi CowboyI've been to Bangkok before but had never managed or cared enough to make the trip to Soi Cowboy the ladyboy stripper district that in many ways defines Bangkok. I told Darren though that I wasn't making an decisions about his only night in Bangkok but being Canadian he also didn't want to have to make decision http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/blog-268328.html Phnom Penh My Favourite City in SE ASiaI'd heard great things about Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh and wanted badly to make a stop here in the former capital of the Khmer Empire and the Pearl of French Indochina. It didn't take much convincing to get Darren to agree after he'd heard a few good things himself. It's a fantastic city dirty as any in the region but full of so many charming peop http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/blog-266609.html Hue and the DMZ Where the History IsHue is the historic center of Vietnam and not altogether to far from the geographic one. At its heart lies the imperial city built in honor of the long line of kings that ruled in the region. The walls are imposing and the scope of the old city looms large but it's not particularly old by most of the world's standards. It was built in the 19th century. That http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/South-Central-Coast/Hoi-An/blog-265017.html HanoiingHanoi is a fascinating city full of excitement and moving at the frenetic pace of a town on the move. It's both wonderful and full of annoyances at the same time. The streets are abuzz with constant motion and you may cross the street amid a flood of scooters wherever you want so long as you keep a predictable pace switch it up and you're street paste. On the one hand you get to see am http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-263765.html SempornaRiding in a bus for the first time in SE Asia provides one with wisdom they don't soon forget. Fortunately I have ridden in one before and I didn't forget. What you find very quickly is that despite the fact that the weather is balmy outside the temperature in the bus will eventually become Antarctic on the inside of the bus. Dressed in shorts and a tshirt you will find that dying of h http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/blog-259649.html Healthcare which interestingly enough is considered a spelling mistake in America I kid you not type it into your spell checker plays a prominent role in my discussion of my final week in the great state of CA. This is partially regarding my recent and certainly expensive though yettobebilledfor experience on Tuesday Michael Moore's new movie Sicko.But what I would really like to sta http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Palo-Alto/blog-181206.html Welcome to Brunei. It's a wealthy country owned for all intents and purposes by the Sultan who is one of the richest men in the world. It's standard of living is relatively high for the region and a good deal has been put into the Bandar Seri Begawan's cleanliness and architecture to ensure a pristine look about it. Brunei and its people are welcoming and friendly trying hard to ensure you have http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Brunei/Bandar-Seri-Begawan/blog-259061.html My travel day has been a long one three in fact if you add in the international dateline. Dan was kind enough to drop me at the airport today and was all set. As I stood in line I lazily looked at my watch which read March 20th. This was problematic you see because I was supposed to fly out of San Francisco on the 19th. A looming sense of panic began to settle in as I recognized the perilous m http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sarawak/Miri/blog-258031.html It's been nearly six months since I've made an entry mostly because I haven't much traveled anywhere. But I've been thinking lately that Calgary is still quite an interesting place to be for wouldbe travelers especially ones looking for jobs in this labourstarved market of an oilslick boomtown. I love Calgary. It's my home I'm biased but there's great things about the town which I shall ge http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Alberta/Calgary/blog-235409.html I'm a bit late in sending this off to you but then again given the server failure that happened with Travelblog I'm fairly certain there was a reason in the universe that I couldn't quite muster up the necessary desire to type this blog up. It is in fact the last blog of my 13 month journey and perhaps it has more to do with my unwillingness to admit that it has come to a close. But with all g http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver/blog-191121.html Before I begin in earnest I just want to say of Scotty's comment on my previous blog regarding the Chuck Norris Van Hells Nah Oh no you di'n't You di'n't just say that That being said we can move on to stories that will hopefully prove entertaining for you at my expense. This blog begins on a dark a dusty road in a truck with Pommie Pete and another girl I did not know but Pete did presuma http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Denham/blog-144876.html End of the WestCory Maley Preamble I couldn't help as I began to shift my thinking away from Denham north to the Ningaloo of Curtis Mayfield's Move On Up. I was ready to move on up and so here is the end of one adventure and the beginning of another. Last Days in Denham After a good number of days perhaps even spiraling into weeks the people of my world were anything but constant. In a bac http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Exmouth/blog-148032.html It only took a day really to get here from Dongara. I got picked up late after I had been misinformed of my pickup spot in Dongara and fortunately was found by a very experienced driver just before he was ready to give up. We arrived in Kalbarri and had a great seafood meal but I found myself betwixt two groups and quite separated from both. Leave it to me to pick an antisocial seat. But it http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Denham/blog-139126.html My thirtieth year started off with a bang. Well crash may be more appropriate but we'll come back to that in a moment. Fortunately it was not of the plane variety. I boarded my plane at just after midnight my first activity of the day and I proceeded to fall quickly to sleep. I asked for an upgrade eager that my birthday would hold some sway but the pretty girl at the counter replied with a b http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Byron-Bay/blog-152127.html Mel and I left Byron Bay a little reluctantly but found we had little choice given that our time was already under pressure. It helped that it was threatening to rain and made good of that threat little more than 5 minutes after we piled into the GForce van sporting on the backRemove GStringLocate GSpotApply GForceA van after my own heart and my wallet. I have decided that the van must be http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Gold-Coast/Surfers-Paradise/blog-153749.html