http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/heartofbraveneuduefness/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from heartofbraveneuduefness en-us Fri, 08 Jan 2010 03:29:19 +0000 Fri, 08 Jan 2010 03:29:19 +0000 Welcome to Bangladesh Cowboy Country for BackpackersBangladesh is the real deal. If you want to know what you are made of you come here. I have found myself describing India to the other interns here at the Grameen Bank as 'too touristy'. Once you get into it I think that most would agree but from your desk chair in the Western World I can see how that might raise an eyebrow or two. One great http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Bangladesh/Dhaka/Dhaka/blog-427859.html Yes you got it right. This is the third wind. Not the second. The third. Just when I feel like I am going to run out of gas I book a bunch of train tickets go at whirlwind pace and then look back and wonder where the time went. Since the 22nd I have been toAmritsarHome to the Golden Temple holiest of the Sikh temples in India. I had to wear a scarf over my head and I ate free lunch with the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-423808.html And so my time here has come to an end. I had been planning to leave yesterday but then I found out from the Monk who adopted us Geshe for short that his Holiness the Dalai Lama himself would be teaching Tuesday through Thursday here in MacLeod Ganj. Thus yesterday I awoke at the crack of 630 to go online and attempt to talk to my parents. Three attempted Skype calls and a string of profanit http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Himachal-Pradesh/Mcleod-Ganj/blog-420887.html I had a rather bizarre day yesterday. Was it bizarre or what is just India You be the judge.623 Wake up631 Face off with a pair of monkeys. They were raiding a garbage bin and blocking the way between me and the bathroom. I stared them down or rather I glanced fleetingly terrified as I learned the hard way many years ago that when you stare at primates they get mad and barrel up to the gla http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Himachal-Pradesh/Mcleod-Ganj/blog-419136.html I escaped.From the cities that is. I basically did a hairpin turn dumped my plans and headed north. Away from the cities and pollution and chaos to the home of the exiled Tibetan government Dharamsala and McLeod Ganj. My arrival in Delhi was overwhelming to say the least. I was talking to Mr. Singh my lovely hostel host in Jaipur about it. The backpacker district is pretty much the sketchi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Himachal-Pradesh/Mcleod-Ganj/blog-417809.html WELCOME TO INDIA POPULATION 1.3 BILLION... PLUS YOU8am Thursday July 9th Sarai Rohilla Train PlatformI am sweating. Not just regular sweating. I am sweating so much that at the end of the day when you take off your clothes to shower there are crooked lines of salt decorating your apparel.I hardly slept. My hostel was... lacklustre. In the heart of the Paharganj district described by Lonely Pl http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Jaipur/blog-416804.html I. just. spent. 24. hours. on. trains.On Saturday morning I left Amelie and her family in Toulouse and set out for Paris again. I met my friend Walid there who offered me his couch. After arriving around noon and a nice lunch we did what any group of young liberal Parisians do... JOINED THE PARIS GAY PRIDE PARADEI haven't laughed and danced that much since... Valencia. We followed the AIDS http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Poland/Lesser-Poland/Krakow/blog-413482.html 9 Key TakeAways After 23 Days of Travel1. People LIVE hereI am struck by this everytime I see a jogger running under the Eiffel Tower through the gardens of Versailles down the river Sienne. It was also true in Spain where the popular jogging spots included the riverbedbuiltintoapark in Valencia insane joggers taking on the stairs at Placa de Espanya before the fountain show in Barcelona http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-411062.html RED HOT PARIS ROMANCE Jessica and Amelie take Paris By Storm On Tuesday June 16th Amelie and Jess known as 'Amjess' by the press rolled into Paris for a weeklong whirlwind romance. It seems that the couple have reconciled following their reported fallout when Amelie reportedly announced to Jess that she had the swine flu when they were in Valencia on Monday. Jess went online to Perez Hilton http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-410296.html Grenada is just... awesome. There are essentially two areas duelling for attention. On one sits the ultimate significance the Alhambra. Built hundreds of years ago and under a state of renovation and improvement for most of that time this palace seems to be the Versailles of Spain. The architecture is unbelievable the gardens unmatched fountains everywhere. The fountains were really valued by http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Granada/blog-407663.html Quote of the day Amelie I think my voice is about to completely peace outToday we woke early and took the 10am ferry to the mainland ie. Cadiz. Upon arrival we stopped for breakfast and then ploughed into the significance. We first went to the Ayuntamiento town hall where I hilairiously burned a police officer. He was standing in front a plaque that described the building and he is with a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/C-diz/blog-407661.html Yesterday we took an overnight train from Barcelona to Cadiz. The sleep was... a relief. Kabul in Barcelona was a great hostel but it was impossible to get any shut eye there. Amelie wis sick as a dog and when we got in to Santa Maria today a village outside of Cadiz we essentially showered and collapsed into an impromptu coma at noon. Around three we dragged our sorry selves out of bed in sear http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/C-diz/blog-407655.html Today Amelie and I rolled into Valencia. We hopped on the 8.50am train from Grenada and spent the next 9 hours toiling in a closed compartment sans air con with 40 or so of our new Spanish friends. Big plans have been outlined by Teresita who insists that we see the arts and science complexes and try some new form of melted chocolate that can be dipped in something equally delightful fried chu http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Valencian-Community/Valencia/blog-407650.html Dear BarcelonaHow art thou wonderful let me count the waysSaturdayFly in walk around the gothic city until we become rather unhappy simsNapDiscover free dinner at kabulPub crawl power hour with unlimited sangria for an hour end up at a club with a view of the oceanNight of Wilson the snoring man I find this american guy in our room playing guitar by himself and hoarding into TWO buckets of http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Catalonia/Barcelona/blog-405515.html Amelie and I are... having so much fun it should be illegal My trips in Asia set the bar pretty high but so far the trip has risen to the challange. We got in around noon yesterday on different flights but met at the same baggage carousel and made it into the city no problem. I then dragged her around the downtown until she threatened to pass out in a gelateria and we came back so she could siest http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Catalonia/Barcelona/blog-403950.html