http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Mingalaba/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Mingalaba en-us Mon, 28 Dec 2009 19:36:14 +0000 Mon, 28 Dec 2009 19:36:14 +0000 Havana Vinales Cienfuegos Trinidad Playa Ancon La Habana'Fidel is bad everything is bad the shelves in this shop are empty. We have nothing no food no money' The elderly man who is telling me this points his walking cane at a middle aged European tourist the young Cuban woman at his side. He directs some spit at her feet declares with disgust that she is a prostitute. He doesn't http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Cuba/Oeste/La-Habana/blog-235190.html Shiraz Persepolis Yazd Esfahan Kashan Tehran If George W. Bush wants to know where Iran is hiding it's nuclear facilities I can tell him. I have seen one of them on the A80 highway between Esfehan and Kashan. Iran is proud of itrsquos nuclear ambitions and makes no secret of where much of the work is taking place. After passing through I read that the president ordered the sites be o http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iran/West/Esfahan/blog-203774.html Bangkok Ayutthaya Bangkok Koh Kong Sihanoukville Phnom Penh Bangkok Vientiane Luang Prabang BangkokPregnant naked men topless women naked bottom tanning. Three things that some may like to see but others may not. People who are least likely to expect or want to see such nakedness are the local Cambodians who live work along the beach in Sihanoukville. Conservative likel http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Luang-Prabang/blog-122731.html Bahrain Luxor Cairo Dahab NuweibaA heart stopping high speed taxi ride through the darkened streets of Luxor at 2am in the morning gives us our first glimpse of the ancient ruins that document much of Egypt's ancient history. The vintage Peugeot 504 taxi from the airport drives into the city with its lights out apparently to save fuel. The ride is a rip off we are tired after a long day http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Lower-Egypt/Cairo/blog-134933.html Aqaba Amman Jerash Petra Wadi Rum Dead Sea AmmanWe're heading north on Jordan's Desert Highway. Dusty tracks disappear off into the endless desert on either side. Road signs point right to Iraq Saudi Arabia and ahead to Syria Lebanon. A few hours behind us lays Egypt although the signs make no mentionof it Israel Palestine are just a few miles to the left.We're heading north f http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/North/Amman/blog-139581.html Orumiyeh Tabriz Tehran Mashhad Bam Kerman Five Finger Mountain Shiraz'I wanted to escape to experience freedom. I left Iran crossed Turkey paid a few thousand dollars for a place on a boat already full of asylum seekers heading towards Greece. My own passport would get me no further I disposed of it and bought a fake one from someone else. The journey was treacherous the boat http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iran/North/Tehran/blog-154134.html Damascus Palmyra Aleppo Hama Damascus Deir Es Zur Sitting alone in Damascus's Iranian built Sayyida Raqayya Mosque a wave of utter peace engulfs me. Although essentially I am alone I am surrounded by devoted Muslims praying chanting prostrating relaxing. These people are devoted devoted to peace to their faith. This is the real Middle East. These are true every day Muslims. A http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-145139.html Tripoli Beirut By the end of our first day in Beirut we have found ourselves sat in a tent making polite conversation with alleged terrorist leaders sharing tea with teenagers while being shown posters of martyrs watched an Arab megastar filming a Coca Cola advert passed numerous civil war bomb sites alongside brand new boutique shops been searched by soldiers with machine guns tanks eate http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Lebanon/Beirut/blog-149297.html Erbil Dohuk Suleimaniah Erbil Eight o'clock in the morning I've just stepped out of the shower. There is a massive blast outside our rustic hotel room starts to shake. I climb onto my bed from the small window high up on the wall I can see a huge plume of black smoke starting to fill the sky. Just a few miles away from us a suicide truck bomb has exploded outside a government office. Fi http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iraq/North/blog-156094.html Taungoo Bago Kinpun Kyaiktiyo YangonIt's not every day that a government announces it has moved to the middle of the jungle that no one is allowed to visit than if you need to communicate with them send a fax they'll have a look when they get a chance. Of course in a country like Burma nothing is shocking. We did make vague attempts to visit the new capital city Pyinmana we are a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Bago/blog-120939.html Pyin Oo Lwin Hsipaw Kyaukme Inle Lake Nyuangshwe The railway employee's uniform green knitted jumper complete with knitted train didn't scare me rather it was the very young soldier with a very large gun that put me off taking photos.... It's no big surprise in Burma that trains move at a remarkably slow speed. That doesn't stop a few middle aged tourists making a special journey to tra http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Inle-Lake/blog-120925.html MandalayAt midnight on 7th January 1996 comedians Par Par Lay and Lu Zaw were arrested and locked away for telling this joke You used to call a thief a thief now you call them a government workerThe Moustache Brothers are fast becoming one of the most popular 'sights' in Mandalay. You have to expect that when you're family includes two ex political prisoners has had it's cause taken up by Amn http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Mandalay/blog-119946.html Bagan MonywaLittle did we know when setting off to explore a couple more of the four thousand or so temples of Bagan that a few hours later we'd be backstage meeting the stars at a 'pwe' a pagoda temple festival. Our self appointed guide who was all of 15 years old was thrilled to be the one who had brought these exotic foreigners with cameras back behind the scenes to the place where the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Bagan/blog-125131.html RangoonYangon It's not quite what you expect in a country where the people's kindness generosity is second to none but Burma is a land full of contradictions. A few days before leaving this stunning country one of our student friends remarked that despised leader of the military government Than Shwe had recently been in Singapore undergoing treatment for what is believed to be cancer. Alth http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Yangon/blog-119217.html Siem Reap Kompong Cham Kratie Ban lung Ratanakiri Kratie Phnom Penh Kampot Sihanoukville Bangkok Kanchanaburi Bangkok The first time I tried to travel to Ratanakiri in 1999 I was warned that I had a one in ten chance of getting shot. I also found that no one really knew how to get there. For seven years now it has been a goal of mine to reach Ratanakiri. Knowing it would be a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Sihanoukville/blog-105158.html Siem Reap Angkor Wat Sunrise at Angkor Wat Our moto driver said we had to leave the guest house at 4.30am. It seemed a little early but he does this almost every day so should know what time the sun comes up. We've seen a few sunrises over the past few months but I never remember having to set off this early. It's now just before 5am we've made it to Angkor Wat. We're trying to navigate our http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Angkor/blog-104367.html Saigon Phnom Penh Pursat Battambang Siem Reap Anlong Veng Siem Reap There's a new scam as you cross the border into Cambodia. It starts with a health declaration form which is common in many countries. It asks things like 'do you have diarrhoea' 'have you had a cold lately' Of course almost everyone lies because otherwise you wouldn't be allowed in. I chose not to mention that I http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Battambang/blog-102078.html Hanoi China Beach Hoi An China Beach Quy Nhon Kon Tum Saigon Hoa is a legend. He runs a small guest house near China Beach on the central Vietnamese coast. His wife Giao prepares a nightly feast for guests is famous for her unique spring rolls. They are undoubtedly two of the friendliest people in Vietnam. Hoa's grasp of the English language is great he's one of the few people that http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Southeast/Ho-Chi-Minh-City/blog-97085.html Hanoi Sapa Lai Chau Son La Mai Chau HanoiWe recently wanted to head off explore the 'remote' northwest area of Vietnam. The region which borders China Laos is known for its multitude of colourful minority groups endless stunning scenery. Kylie Amy Amber I hired a 4wd a local driver set off with a carefully planned route mapped out before us. There's a standard loop that p http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Northwest/Lai-Chau-/blog-97077.html Hanoi Hue Hoi An Hue Hanoi I left you as we set off on a train south from Vietnamese capital Hanoi to Hue near the central coast. As is often the way Kylie had attracted the resident 'drunk train passenger' who was sitting opposite us trying to play footsie with her falling all over the guy sat next to him. Luckily the guy disappeared somewhere in the middle of nowhere in the middle of http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/South-Central-Coast/Hoi-An/blog-95202.html