http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Sarahv1/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Sarahv1 en-us Tue, 29 Dec 2009 20:50:36 +0000 Tue, 29 Dec 2009 20:50:36 +0000 Yesterday was Ronda one of the white villages clinging to the side of a steep gorge. It rained quite a lot while I was there which put a damper on things literally but I did manage to see a couple of things including the Municipal Museum bit kiddified with loads of rather tame audio visual aids and the bullring and bull fighting museum. I know sod all about bull fighting but the vull rin http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Ronda/blog-370709.html Arrived in Cordoba this morning. Is a journey of less than an hour but had to go through rigourous security checks at the train station having my bag x rayed etc. Cordoba fro Seville is on the line to Madrid which is where the bombings happened a few years back so imagine thats had an impact. Cordoba is really lovely and I much prefer it to Seville. The little back streets have been designa http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/C-rdoba/blog-369640.html Hello. Writing this from an internet cafe that smells of wee and is situated down a little back street behind a cake shop on the Avenue de Constitucion. Arrived in Seville yesterday evening. Sped through Customs Im used to long queues shuffling forward slowly to a booth where some hatchet faced gimlet eyed stalinist uniformed bod scrutinises my passport for a frighteningly long time. S http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Seville/blog-369296.html Back in Chiang Mai after spending a few days in Mae Sariang. MS is lovely a really rustic little town. I was in a guest house on the river and was nice to sit out on my littl actually quite large teak veranda reading and watching the local farmer herd his cows through the river on the opposite bank. I had hoped to pick up a trek from there but it's low season and most of the guides appeare http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-324240.html Yesterday morning did a mini solo trek to a couple of the Akha villages within walking distance of Mae Salong. Tea is a big thing around there and passed several pickers all wearing their straw cone hats working in the fields. Made a decision to avoid the Karen long necked women villages which were a bit further afield as it just seems a bit tacky passed a couple of posters on the drive up http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Northern-Thailand/blog-321466.html Hello Again. Spent the last couple of days in Chiang Rai visiting the night market a couple of temples and the Hilltribe Museum where I watched a film about how tourism is deteriorating hill tribe culture. This was intercut with footage of a British guy who along with his Burmese wife were trying to set up an eco tourist lodge in Burma. I think it's what they call ironic tho' possibly unint http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Rai/blog-320843.html Hello. Am in chiang rai in northern thailand. Getting used to unfailiar keyboards again so please excuse occasional finger slippin' typo. Has been a bit touch and go as to whether I'd actually make it what with the state of emergency being called and my bank freezing y bank acount four days before I was due to fly out because of what they thought was 'suspicious' activity ie all my money seem http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Rai/blog-320048.html The plan yesterday was to go to Moulay Idriss one of Moroccos most important pilgramage sites Has apparently only been open to non Muslims for the past 70 years. It is about half an hour in a shared taxi from Meknes. Unfortunately no one else seemed to want to go to Moulay Idriss yesterday morning so I had to negotiate and hire a grande taxi for myself. According to the Book it can sometimes b http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Mekn-s-Tafilalet/Meknes/blog-241441.html After breakfast this morning I caught a shared taxi to azrou. According to my LP book once a week in azrou there is a big souk where all the locals come to haggle over their berber carpets. The once a week is a tuesday and as today happened to be a tuesday off i went.azrou is on the road to fez and it took us about an hour and a half in the taxi. I think i perhaps got there a little late http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Mekn-s-Tafilalet/Meknes/blog-240745.html Yesterday in Marrakech walked thru the souks to get to Musee de Marrakech which is this rather funky art gallery museum in an old palace. Massive building with courtyards and little rooms with ancient qrtefacts jostling for wallspace with photographs of what looked like saharan motorway service stations. The hammamms were particularly atmospheric was a great use of the space.Included in wit http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Mekn-s-Tafilalet/blog-240403.html Hello. Here I am in sunny marrakech. Apols in qdvqnce for qny typos the keys on this board are all over the place. Flight from gatwick uneventful. Found a cab at the airport easily. Minor heqdqche when the hotel i thought id booked didnt have a room for me but they found me somewhere else round the corner so all ok. Staying at the riad doha there is a website if you want to look it up. Nicely http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Marrakech-Tensift-El-Haouz/Marrakech/blog-239913.html Got a cab from Nainital to Kathgodam arriving about two hours before the train was due to leave. It was my first time travelling first class on an Indian train and have to say Irsquom not sure it was worth it for the extra money it wasnrsquot any more comfortable than second class. We arrived at New Delhi station just before 5am and I got a tuk tuk to the Park Hotel. Itrsquos one of Delh http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/National-Capital-Territory/New-Delhi/blog-198959.html Left Kausani on Saturday and over nighted in Nainital so as to be nearer Kathgodam for the final push back down to Delhi. We werenrsquot long out of Kausani when we saw and heard walking along the road some way ahead of us a group of about 15 20 men. As they were walking they were chanting and when we drew nearer I was able to see that a small group in the middle of the huddle were suppor http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttarakhand/Kausani/blog-198958.html There are several advertising hoardings around advertising the Tea Research centre. Anyone who knows me knows that this would be my ideal employer I can quite see myself researching tea and imagine it would embrace such serious themes as cooling properties very important and ability to retain flavour and consistency when impacted by an external force a biscuit say. I don't think tea has qu http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttarakhand/Kausani/blog-197051.html Yesterday got a taxi from Almora to Kausani where I am now arriving about lunchtime. Kausani is little more than a hamlet at a crossroads although there's recently been some development as it seems to have found its way onto the extremities of teh tourist trail. I'm staying in a lovely hotel just above the crossroads the room's great complete with a little veranda and rocking chair for sitti http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttarakhand/blog-196807.html Yesterday after my thwarted attempt to make it up to Kasar Devi temple I decided to explore the bazaar in a bit more depth as I'd only had a quick look when I'd arrived. The bazaar in Almora is lovely it's a very very long narrow traffic free street made up of old carved wooden shopfronts all painted in different colours. They're all in various stages of decay some are almost tumbledown http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttarakhand/Almora/blog-196463.html Travelled in a cab yesterday from Nainital to Almora. I'd read in another blog someone saying they found Almora a bit busy hectic and unfriendly after their travels in the mountains. Whilst it can be a little hectic around the Mall area it's quite easy to 'get away from it all' and so far most of the people I've met have been friendly enough. Once I'd checked in yesterday I went for a walk http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttarakhand/Almora/blog-196187.html Yesterday afternoon went to Swag Ashram which the book suggests is the funkiest place in town. Wasn't overly impressed although a couple of the ashrams are quite nice to walk around. I'm staying up in Lakshman Jhula which has a much nicer atmosphere I think certainly more of a laid back vibe. This morning I crossed the bridge and went to the Shri Trayanbakshwar temple. It's one of the two se http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttarakhand/Rishikesh/blog-194944.html Everyone reads the paper in India. Even people you wouldn't expect. In Haridwar my first proper morning I watched as a boy delivering papers handed one to a girl selling puja on the pavement. They exchanged a few words it was obviously a regular occurence and then he sped off on his bike and she spread the paper out on the pavement and started to read perhaps the business pages the sports n http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttarakhand/Rishikesh/blog-194685.html Woke up about 6ish yesterday and went for a walk. Ended up at what i think must have been if I've read the book right the Jai Ram Ashram. A rag taggle group of sadhus in orange robes and with painted forheads were gathering in the driveway opposite a small food stall obviously waiting to be fed. The driveway opened up into a large courtyard dotted about with several little temples statue http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttarakhand/Haridwar/blog-193971.html