http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/WanderAndWonder/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from WanderAndWonder en-us Wed, 30 Dec 2009 06:07:10 +0000 Wed, 30 Dec 2009 06:07:10 +0000 Just one more week until we leave for Peru and Ecuador. It promises to be an interesting trip. Cloud forests volcanoes Cusco Machu Picchu Lake Titicaca and a small group of islands west of the continent the Galapagos. I did plow my way through Darwin's Origin of Species a few weeks ago. A dry read but I felt obligated to refresh myself on why I wanted to see this place. Cusco and Machu Picchu http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/blog-443148.html Just one more week until we leave for Peru and Ecuador. It promises to be an interesting trip. Cloud forests volcanoes Cusco Machu Picchu Lake Titicaca and a small group of islands west of the continent the Galapagos. I did plow my way through Darwin's Origin of Species a few weeks ago. A dry read but I felt obligated to refresh myself on why I wanted to see this place.Cusco and Machu Picchu http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Galapagos/blog-443147.html Some of you readers may have heard that there is a wee bit of corruption in Nepal. Well that would be an exaggeration. There is a great deal of corruption there. The most I was exposed to this was when I was leaving Nepal to go to Delhi. The international terminal at Tribhuvan Airport is a chaotic jumble and noisy snarl at the best of times. Passengers are required to go through a securityscheck http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Kathmandu/blog-347290.html After surviving an attempt to get a bribe from the securitytypes at the airport in Kathmandu I arrived back in India and drove to Agra. Well I sat in the car and someone else drove. Which is just as well since I would either go mad or kill someone if I drove in the madness that transpires on Indian roads. I stayed at a hotel in Agra that boasted a view of the Taj Mahal from many of its rooms or http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/blog-347280.html Lhasa is the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region in China. The name supposedly comes from the Tibetan word for 'goat' ra combined with the word for 'earth' sa. Supposedly the site for the Jokhang was over a lake that had to be filled in before construction could take place. A goat was used to carry the earth to fill in the lake. Why a lake Well the king at the time had 3 wives and the Nepa http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Tibet/Lhasa/blog-337253.html Today I travelled from Gyantse to Lhasa via one of the most scenic routes I have ever had the pleasure to take. The view was full of mountains lakes the bluest skies and the occasional yak. The dominant features on the landscape were Mt. Jetung Chusang6242m Mt. Jangsang Lhamo6324m and Mt. Nojin Kangtsang7191m. We stopped several time to take photographs and it occured to me that Nojin K http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Tibet/Gyantse/blog-336967.html Patan is a large town south of Kathmandu. Like the capital it also has a Durbar Square and I visited it a couple days ago. There were the usual Hindu temples and statues and very good examples of Newari architecture along with one temple made of stone and resembling a Moghul building to some degree.But the part of the visit that I remember the most was when a tourist took some photos of some youn http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Patan/Durbar-Square/blog-335765.html Kathmandu. The name itself can evoke tales of adventure and mystery. I will agree that there was mystery there. But not a whole lot of adventure. I managed to get ripped off by yet another cabdriver and got hassled again at tourist site by a local offering to be my guide.But overall Kathmandu is interesting. I just can't take more than a couple days. The physical location of the city places it i http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Kathmandu/blog-335760.html Hi allOK so I haven't been as prompt with all the updates as I promised. But there are not a whole lot of internet connections in the jungles of Nepal. So I write this from my hotel in Lhasa Tibet. More on that later.Nepal is beautiful. The scenery is awesome...rivers jungles I hear they have some hills too. Chitwan Park was my favourite. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and so there are http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Chitwan/blog-335754.html Hmm let's see. 2 weeks to go.What do I need What have I forgotten I have taken my cholera medication. I need to start the one for malaria in 10 days. 1 tablet every week. And I have to keep taking it when I get back for another few weeks. Just in case some of those nasty malaria bugs are hanging out in my blood.I need....bug repellent. Useful when I'll be in the jungle I think.Thermal underwea http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/blog-325375.html I have booked an agency to help me get into Tibet. Apparently the new rules and regulations require that I use an agency that has been approved by the Chinese government. I have received conflicting reports in the past week that some of these agencies are quite good. Others are not so good and travellers have been left stranded. I have already purchased an airline ticket to Lhasa so I have my fing http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/blog-317741.html Today I received word that I am confirmed to visit Chitwan Park in Nepal. It's a jungle park in the south of the country complete with elephants rhinos and muggers. Muggers are crocodiles that live in the marsh areas and they received their moniker after the British colonisers saw these loveable creatures dragging unsuspecting villagers to the water. To further enhance their reputation the mar http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Chitwan/blog-311045.html OK so after many many email messages and reviews and explanations I am set for my trip to Tibet. Apparently I have to go as a member of an official tour group. But I will be a group of one. I think this is a peculiarity that the Chinese insist on. I will have a guide with me when I visit Lhasa Gyantse and Shigatse. From my other readings some of these guides are completely useless and nothi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Tibet/Lhasa/blog-311044.html Nepal I am in the stages of planning this little excursion. On the agenda is Chitwan Park to see elephants and rhinos. Then a flight to see Everest....I ain't gonna climb it and since I am going to be in the neighbourhood I feel I should at least see it. I am looking forward to Divali in Kathmandu. Then Tibet. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Kathmandu/blog-303227.html It's a go I received word a few days ago that the Chinese government has lifted travel restrictions for foreigners into Tibet. Onward and upward literallyI hope to see Lhasa and some monasteries and maybe get out in some more rural areas. I have no idea what to expect. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Tibet/Lhatse/blog-303226.html In late January of 2008 I felt that I should visit Tibet. And Nepal. And throw in India too. Why not I was going to be in the area.So the research starts. The requisite readings of Lonely Planet. And a gazillion other pieces of material on where to go what to see what to eat what not to eat where to stay etc. It was coming along swimmingly. Too good in fact. In March there were political p http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/blog-282369.html