Travel Blog Posts
August 13th 2007
To see the subtle differences between neighboring countries that crossing a land border presents, has to be one of my favourite parts of traveling. But, crossing the kilometer of no-mans land between the India/Pakistan border at Wagah, in 40 degree heat, was not much fun. By the time all the formalities had been completed，I was drenched with sweat from head to toe. My first port of call was Lahore. The first differences noticed here was the order of the traffic, cars neatly lined up in lanes at traffic lights is something you don’t see very often on India’s anarchic streets. Women are no longer dressed in brightly coloured saris, instead, the women are almost invisible. With women practicing purdah, the custom among conservative Muslims of keeping women in seclusion or veiled, they are rarely seen. Men ... read more
June 25th 2007
With a short flight over the Himalayas, I landed in India’s most northerly city of Leh. Leh is situated at an altitude of 3600m in the Karakorum mountain range and is the capital of the Ladakh region. Ladakh is renowned for its remote mountain beauty and Buddhist culture. It is sometimes called "Little Tibet" as it has been strongly influenced by the culture of its many Tibetan refugees. After visiting a few of the gompas (Tibetan Buddhist monasteries) in the surrounding area, I ventured further north to the Nubra Valley. To get to the Nubra valley I took a bus over a pass called Kardung La. at an altitude of 5600m, the road over the pass is said to be the highest in the world. On my first day in Nubra I hiked up to Diskit ... read more
May 19th 2007
Leaving Varanasi and the forty degrees heat of the Indian plains, I made my way to the cooler climate of Darjeeling. Darjeeling is located at an elevation of around 2100m in the eastern section of the Indian Himalaya. You may have heard of Darjeeling for it’s famous tea, which is grown in the surrounding hills. On a clear day you can apparently see Mount Everest from a viewpoint above the city. But unfortunately the weather didn’t clear enough to see Everest or nearby Mount Kanchenjunga (8591m), India’s highest, and the world’s third highest mountain. From Darjeeling I traveled further north into the Himalaya to the state of Sikkim. The state borders Nepal in the west, the Chinese Tibet Autonomous Region to the north and east, and Bhutan in the southeast. Because of this location, the population ... read more
April 17th 2007
After a short flight from Sri Lanka, my first stop in India was in a smallish city with a large name, Tiruchirappalli, or Trichy for short. For the tourist Trichy has a small temple perched on a large rock in the middle of the city, and another large temple complex on its outskirts. But the cheapest flight I could find to a half desirable location in southern India was the main reason I was here. The only difference I could see from Sri Lanka so far was the mysterious south Indian head wobble. If you ask them a question you’ll often get this head wobble in reply, I think it means yes. They wobble their heads from side to side, with the forehead going in one direction and the chin the opposite, repeated a few times. ... read more
February 28th 2007
After living in Ireland for only half of a planned twelve months, I’d had enough of Dublin’s grim winter and decided to head for the warmer climates of Asia. So after a week in London visiting some born again poms,and celebrating Australia day, I flew to Sri Lanka to start a trip through Asia. The plan is to travel over land and sea to as close as I can get to Australia, via India, Pakistan, china and various countries in south east Asia. Arriving in Colombo, with the temperature somewhere in the mid thirties, was a bit of a shock to the system, after the near freezing temperatures of London. So after only one day in the capital, I traveled south to the beaches of Hikkaduwa, Unawatuna and Mirissa. The first two were nice, but a ... read more
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