hugh_lostandfound

This is a hugely belated blog posting, but Sri Lanka is definitely a blog-worthy country. There's been a lot of news circulating for such a small country as of late. Last year it was the tsunami and this year it's on the verge of civil war, but even through the turmoil it is an enchanting country. The people have such a strong spirit. Spirit that keeps a person optimistic after his wife's legs are lost in the tsunami along with two of his children and nearly all of his teeth. He was a fisherman who also lost his boat, which was his livelihood, not to mention his home. The most sobering thing about this story is that it is not one that is unique, many people have stories very much like this, virtually everyone I met ... read more

For the past five days, I could swear that I have not been in India if it were not for the fact that there are still Indians everywhere. There’s no one trying to sell me anything, no one trying to rip me off, no one really begging. And then on top of that, I’m on a small island with loads of deserted beaches to relax and lounge on. Okay, it’s not really as nice as I’m making it out to be. This morning I still saw a guy throwing some sort of sewage/waste/defecated material into the sea from one of the hotels today. Fortunately, the beaches are on the other side of the island. And instead of deciding to bargain my way around by rickshaw, I rented an awesome little scooter to cruise around on. Maybe ... read more

Hopped a train on my birthday from Delhi—disgusting, dirty, marvelous Delhi—to see the great pearl of India in Agra, none other than the Taj Mahal. But with the glut of tourists that the Taj brings, so come the touts and the beggars and the salesmen. Basically everyone wants to be your friend; “No buy, only look”, and they are relentless. I’ve only been here for a short time, but I’m beginning to adapt to the constant wrangling, propositioning, and bargaining that goes along with being a Westerner in India. It’s quite difficult though, and you are really forced to be firm with the people who are constantly asking you for handouts. Really, no matter how hard I try, I still get ripped off consistently and sometimes legitimately. I’ll just say there is some definite price discrimination ... read more

Moscow, the nerve center of the Russian Federation whose landmass constitutes the majority of Asia and formerly extended all the way to the edges of W. Europe; this is the epicenter of the former communist experience where you can find the buildings of the former, but still infamous, KGB, the Kremlin, and the tomb of their still preserved icon Lenin planted firmly in the middle of the Red Square. I noticed immediately upon arrival that Moscow moves fast; it is a city that’s going somewhere and boasts a more reliable subway than any I have ever seen. I could swear that there is a train every 30-45 seconds. It’s a city that’s also struggling with its identity as it attempts to dismantle the pillars of socialism and move towards a market economy; however, from what I ... read more

And now the change of plans….I don’t know if I’d mentioned that I was planning to go directly to Moscow from the Ukraine or not, but that was the original plan. However, as I was sitting in Lviv and considering my options, I realized that about anything was a better option than a 33 hour train ride from Lviv to Moscow. Now if you look at a map, you’ll realize that Lviv is incredibly close to Poland; and if you travel north from Poland, it takes you to the Baltic states which then in effect connects to the Western-most part of Russia, namely St. Petersburg. Ah-ha, I think I have hit on something there. So to add a little spontaneity to my mundane traveling life (HA!), I decide to switch things up a little bit and ... read more