canucks abroad

Samir's article. As you sit there, your eyes glued to the screen, your fıngers frozen to the keyboard, as a chill runs down your spine, and your hair stands on end, these questions may run through your head: Where's Samir? What does perposterous mean? Who is Archibald? All these questions, inquiries and global annoyances will be answered -- in due time........ Anyway, normal Samir here. Just wanted to add that lately I've been bored with writing entries, so I have hired a fellow explorer to do them for me. His name is Archibald. (please don't laugh) Archibald's entry, 7/9/07 A few days ago I took a bus to Alanya, which has a lovely beach on the Mediterranian overun with 5 star hotels. (I am quite certain they are plotting for world domination, but haven't gathered ... read more

Samir's article. Title explanation: Why be forced to do something dumb when you can do something dumb at your own will? Anyway, way back ın Kashmir we came back from our road trip {alive} to our houseboat. In our last few days there we went to a floating market...hunky dory, hunky dory....had a water fıght...hunky dory, hunky dory...Jamil fell into the lake...hunky dory, hunky dory. Parting from Kashmir and flying to Delhi was possibly one of the hardest things we'd ever done. Parting from Delhi was possibly the easiest. We stayed in London a little, then flew here, to Turkey. We landed in Istanbul, where we visited underground cisterns, the famed blue mosque and two museums {one wıth an awesome nucleur sub parked in the front}. Also celebrated my birthday there, junk food, movie, junk ... read more

Hello! Well I know Samir has told you quite a bit about our "crazy enough to make you sick" - road trip to Leh, Ladakh. So as a recommendation, I advise you to read his entry before mine, as I am going to only write about the most interesting part of the trip, which he didn't really have time to tell. First of all, we took the car from Srinagar on a terribly bumpy road, to a dirty, restaurantless, busy, loud place where probably mom got the flu, - wait, let me catch my breath here - Kargil. It was a terrible experience, having to stay in a dirty, cramped hotel for the whole night in what all of us felt was the horrible, horrible Kargil. Then, early the next morning, we left knowing on ... read more

Samir's article. After breaking records such as most nights spent in hotels (358) and most restaurants eaten at (a whopping 1,709), the Bhimjis set out to break two new records. Largest amounts of pit stops and near-death-experiences in two days! Yay! So we left Srinagar 3 or 4 days ago in a rented car on a crazy road to Kargill, where everyone wants to run you over or bad-hotel-poison you. The next day we drove on another road, which was nutso instead of crazy this time. I guess the landscape was nice, but your head is usually too busy in the plastic bag to notice. We did manage to see the most moon like area on this planet, and magnetic hill, where cars can't go fast due to sinister gravitational forces. (Actually, it was fast, ... read more

Hi, it's Beth, which you can probably tell from the title since I am the one who recently turned a year older. Could have titled it "We're not as young as we think we are or would like to be..." Really just trying to convey how stiff and sore I am since returning from trekking just yesterday. Both Azim and I were feeling our age and a little nostalgic for those days 20 years ago when we could trek through the Himalayas in Nepal for three weeks with large packs on our backs. Not so anymore...Now we trek with a caravan of 11 horses, 2 foals and 8 guides-all to carry our equipment, set up camp, cook our meals and on and on. We felt a bit spoiled but it seems to be the way ... read more