The Honeymooners

Well, it's back for me anyway. Amanda's first time here. We went to the Guinness Storehouse yesterday (of course) and are taking it easy today. Tomorrow we fly home. Let's see, from Mostar, Herzegovina we went to Dubrovnik, Croatia, and spent two days there. We took the overnight ferry up the Dalmatian coast to Rejeka and spent part of the day there before getting on the train to Ljubljana, Slovenia. Another few days there, and then a train to Budapest, a few more days spent, and finally a flight to Dublin. We've become quite adept at sleeping on transport. Amanda even slept through a passport check leaving Slovenia (she woke up for the one into Hungary a few minutes later though, the official had to step into our compartment a number of times). We'll go back ... read more

Warsaw, Poland Krakow, Poland Sighisoara, Romania Belgrade, Serbia Sarajevo, Bosina & Herzegovina Mostar, Bosina & Herzegovina Croatia is next...... read more

We really enjoyed our train rides from Irkutsk to Ekaterinburg, and Ekaterinburg to Moscow. We lucked out with quiet, amiable train compartment mates and timely trains. they're really efficient here! Yesterday we arrived at 6;30 AM, dropped our bags at a hostel and set out into the city. First on the list, of course, was going to visit Mr. Lenin, and then we wandered around the Kremlin. We went to the Ismailovsky park market in the afternoon, then the new Tretyakov gallery, where we saw all kinds of great Soviet art: statues of tractor factories, paintings of happy women harvesting grain, a carved chess set of the white against the red (white pawns in chains, white king's face a skull, red pawns happily clutching wheat). We will try to get tickets to St. Petersburg for the ... read more

We're currently in Irkutsk, Russia having left Hong Kong, flying through Beijing to Ulan Bator, taking a 5 day horse trek in Terelj National Park, back to UB, and then on the train to Russia. Tomorrow we leave Irkutsk for Yekaterinburg. It's 2 nights/3 days away on the train, we'll spend a long day, and then we're on to Moscow, another day or so away. We've had a problem with time and internet recently. When we have a lot of it (like on a train), there is no internet. When we have internet access, there is much else we'd like to be doing too. We'll back fill with stories and pictures at some point. Stay tuned, but not too closely, it might be awhile... --Eric... read more

We have spent the past week in Hong Kong enjoying the fantabulous above-and-beyond really quite wonderful hospitality of one Ms. Evasdottir. She has played tourguide (and history/religion professor), housed us, and taken us to way more authentic Chinese restaurants than we'd have found on our own. Thank you, Erika! We will fly tomorrow to Ulan Bator and spend a few days there before getting on the train. We're disappointed to miss Beijing and the first leg of the Trans-Mongolian, but between visa cost & hassle and wanting to linger here a few extra days we decided this was best. We went to the used bookstore today and stocked up on books for the long train rides. ... read more

Well, the elephant tower didn't quite pan out in terms of observing elephants, but we had a good time. We trekked into the forest out of the village of Ban Na, about an hour's drive outside of Vientiane. Because we arranged the trek through an office in Vientiane, we had an English speaking guide with us, plus our driver. Add to that the required two local guides from Ban Na (who supposedly are there to keep us from being taken down by an angry elephant), and we had quite a crew. We are in the rainy season here, so everything was soggy and muddy. I encountered my first wildlife of the day right there on my ankle; a leech latched on as I walked through a stream. It rained on us for most of the hike ... read more

Hi everybody! Eric here. Today I flipped a bit. The big 10000. 2^5. My MSB will stay here until I turn 64. I don't really remember my 1st, 2nd, 4th, 8th, or 16th birthdays specifically. This one will be somewhat unforgettable. Phnom Penh. Cambodia. Up until a few days ago I would not have believed it. So yeah, we had a pleasant day. We went to the Russian Market (lots of boot leg CD/DVDs), the Royal Palace, and the National museum. We continue to treat ourselves to good food (thank you Lonely Planet for your recommendations!). Have a good one everybody! - Eric, out.... read more