http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/aspiringnomad/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from aspiringnomad en-us Sat, 07 Nov 2009 06:30:58 +0000 Sat, 07 Nov 2009 06:30:58 +0000 Trudging up the hill the gales gusting every which way the only thing that prevents us becoming airborne it seems is the suction of our boots to the slop. The ponchos that envelop us arenrsquot helping much aerodynamically but underneath its shelter shackled to my back Kiva somehow manages to fall asleep and itrsquos this that has us pressing on full steam ahead despite our desire to ta http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Aisen/Carretera-Austral/blog-394073.html Every time the bus struggles to a reasonable start the driver crunches around in a vain attempt to change gear and we whimper to a halt. One too many for some of the passengers whorsquove been pleading with the driver to let them off for the last fifteen minutes and are now practically forcing the door open. After depositing them on the side of the road the bus staggers on up the hill the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangxi/Yangshuo/blog-355174.html That morning as the train jolted me from my slumber I woke to spectacular chartreuse light which filled the carriage. Everyone was already up sipping green tea from glass jars highlighted in the dazzle and staring out the windows. Our train came to rest on a viaduct and from beneath it yellowing green autumnal rice illuminated in the rising sun stretched to the horizon.There was no fanfare on http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guizhou/Zhaoxing/blog-352560.html With an apartment still left to clean garbage to throw out money to change and a whole wardrobe full of clothes to give or throw away the task of packing our bags was pushed ever closer to our hour of departure. Deconstructing a year of fixed habitation in one afternoon and stuffing virtually everything you own into the boot of an airport bound taxi has to rank way up there in terms of liber http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Lijiang/blog-336363.html Dawn was breaking as we drove from Iloilo airport past a solitary cow in its very own field. For the previous half year my spatial awareness has been unconsciously conditioned my eyes unable to stretch beyond the confines of the grid patterned streets or the allpervading quarters that stretch to the hazy sky. If the eyes be the window to the soul my enforced shortsightedness has doubtless left http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Boracay/blog-331359.html If yoursquove lived or travelled extensively in Africa yoursquoll be aware of the corruption that seems to be endemic in the culture. Itrsquos as old as the hills and therein lies the problem. From the president and his cronies through the police all the way down to the lowliest civil servant. Everyone bemoans its existence yet nobody seems to be willing or able to root it out. Politicia http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Kenya/Rift-Valley-Province/Lake-Nakuru-NP/blog-325207.html The clouds rolled in this morning whilst we slept and encamped themselves between the mountains. They now cling stubbornly to the rooftops heavy with monsoonal rain refusing to budge until theyrsquove unburdened themselves of their load. There seem far fewer people out on the street this morning even though the same amount of people need to run the same amount of errands and the same amount c http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Maui/blog-319553.html Our coach tracked The Han River out of Seoul the forty odd kilometers up towards the North Korean border in the morning gloaming and if you hadnrsquot known your destination beforehand yoursquod still have felt The Sword of Damocles hanging over your head as almost the entire length of the riverbank is fortified with razor wire fences and guard towers lest the North Koreans attempt an atta http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/North-Korea/blog-313015.html The rain is still coming down in sheets as I bound between the puddles toward the hut. I cower under the overhang to avoid the cascades coming down from the roof and knock on the door. As the door creaks open the hut draws in the damp night air exhaling a cloud of pungent wood fire through which a young lady smiles and gestures me to enter. There are no lights inside and through the haze I se http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Uganda/Central-Region/Kampala/blog-310293.html The airport taxi drops us just as the ramp falls on the Likoni Ferry releasing a flood of passengers streaming up the landing in their hundreds reminiscent of some timeless migratory scene. Only vehicles pay for the short crossing that links the island city of Mombasa to the mainland south which makes monitoring the exact passenger intake a tough call I ponder as we join the herd in replenish http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Kenya/Coast-Province/Mombasa/blog-300818.html Thanks to Europersquos embarrassment of low fare airlines we were able to do a monthrsquos whistlestop tour of family and friends without burning a hole in our pockets. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the Ozone layer but we consoled ourselves as nobody talks about that anymore particularly since people have started to realize the oilrsquos running out. But then we could be for http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-291439.html About three years ago I walked into an Internet Caf in Madras with a terrible affliction. Irsquod been on the road for most of my adult life and was now free and single for the first time in years and could see no end in sight. With the last ties now severed I was cast loose and lsquofreedom fromrsquo gave way to the uncertainty of lsquofreedom torsquo. Yet with no clear replacement f http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Veneto/Venice/blog-288770.html Waking up on our first morning aboard we hadnrsquot even had time to digest our first banquet let alone our thoughts and we were already at our first destination. The previous few nights roughing it in a tent contrasted so markedly with the onslaught of rich food and warm fluffy duvets that we emerged a little later than planned from our airconditioned cabin sauntering out into the full gla http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/blog-284587.html The man whose proper job it is to assist us in finding our lost luggage is attempting to book us into a hotel. Irsquove never lost any luggage at an airport before never had somebody else find me a hotel and Irsquove never travelled to a place where the cheapest room youlsquoll be lucky to find starts at 100tax. Itrsquos nearly midnight and most places are fully booked yet our broker r http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Puerto-Rico/San-Juan/blog-253387.html It's just after midday the infamous San Francisco fog that had shrouded the city as I flew in seems to have passed. The Californian sun now piercing the azure nothingness as I clamber up the steps of Powell Street station fully laden with backpackdaypack front 'n' back. I quickly scan the tourist map for the best route to my hostel and decide to make use of San Franciscorsquos grid patterned http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/San-Francisco/blog-245104.html Red sandstone stalwarts rise sheer from Zionrsquos dappled valley floor. A play of afternoon light draws over the autumnal colors the likely catalyst to a fleeting thought so loaded my mind reeled at its enormity detaching me from the corporeal. Flashbacks from the previous two weeks were checked and counterchecked with sentiments and impressions from my years of travel evaluating and filter http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Utah/blog-220963.html An eerie orb of light cast over the tarmac is our only lifeline as we race through the night in hot pursuit. The mopedrsquos momentum whips smoke from village fires into surreal meteor showers riddled with mosquitoes which shoot up through the headlamp and into our faces like tracer fire. With no crash hat or visor the only option is to angle my head down squint my eyes and keep a constant vi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/Bolaven-Plateau/blog-133989.html The sound of birds singing is drowned out by the voice of an excited little girl Look mommy there's an airplane up in the sky. Minutes later her village amounts to little more than smouldering ashes her excitement replaced by a bewildered look of shock and fear. She looks at the people around her onebyone their fearful eyes narrow to expressions of hate.Did you see the frightened ones Did http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/blog-109096.html His panicstricken little face lights up when he receives the information that wersquoll escort him home sending him skipping merrily down the road on an errand to buy potatoes. This is the Palestinian Authority controlled area of Hebron and as we cross through Tel Rumeida checkpoint to the other side in order to wait for the Palestinian boyrsquos return we soon discover the source of his f http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/West-Bank/Hebron/blog-104659.html After a short flight from Korea It soon became apparent that any expected regional similarities ended somewhere in the departure lounge. The sight of redroofed ochre buildings peppered across a broad sweep of vivid green rice paddies sent chemicals of joy flooding through my body in anticipation. In retrospect these undistinguished fields and dishevelled dwellings won't even rouse a reaction in http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/blog-101331.html