Hi Everyone, Delhi seems to me to epitomize all that is wonderful and horrible about India. I ended my trip here, but most tourists start here because Delhi is a major international destination. I heard more than one horror story from fellow tourists that I met in Agra and Varanasi about the tourist scams that go on. One couple told me that instead of taking them to their hotel their taxi driver dropped them off at a 'tourist information office' which was a front for a travel agent selling private tours of Agra, Jaipur and Delhi. They tried to tell leave, [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hi Everyone, I spent the last week in Jaipur and Udaipur in Rajasthan, India. Jaipur is home to the Amber fort and the Pink City. The Pink City gets its name from its pink city walls, but don't let the locals hear you call it that or they will laugh at you. Apparently to them it is the 'Old City.' While I was in Jaipur a met a group of girls who showed me around their college and took me to their English Institute where they take extra English classes. I got to meet the students and help them with their [View Full Entry]

---

---

The Taj Mahal in Agra, India is one of my most anticipated sight seeing events. Anticipating it allowed me to get through the tedious and annoying visa application process in Rome that took 10 days. A breathtaking wonder of the world it is faced in weather defying marble. It costs foreigners 750 rupees or 15 US dollars to enter. 250 of those rupees go to the Archeological survey of India to preserve the monument and 500 is a local tax that probably goes to line politicians’ pockets, but in any case it is well worth the money. It cost 20 rupees [View Full Entry]

---

---

The very first thing that I ever learned about Varanasi had to do with Turtles. Varanasi is considered on of the oldest living cities on earth. It is a holy pilgrimage site for both Hindus and Buddists. Buddha himself is supposed to have given his first sermon at nearby Sarnath around 540 BC. Varanasi is known as the City of Light devout Hindus hope to die and be cremated there in order to escape from the endless cycle of rebirth. But the first thing I ever learned about Varanasi was that due to years of pollution and throwing dead bodies into [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hi Everyone! Can you believe that at this moment I am in India? I have to admit to being a bit apprehensive about traveling here. I think I had this image of myself as being mobbed everyday that I stepped on to the street by beggars and touts. Mumbai particularly is famous for its slums and rampant poverty. And I find that homelessness is very pervasive and apparent there, even in the tourist part of town were my hotel was. People are just sleeping in the middle of the sidewalk, and there is garbage everywhere. I read that 40 percent of [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hi Everyone! The atmosphere in Egypt is quite different from anywhere I have ever been. I wonder if Egyptians would find cornfields as exotic as I find camels. Walking down the street is an adventure. I am glad that I came with a tour group because traveling in Egypt is very difficult without private transportation. Not to mention that everyone sees a tourist as a giant money bag waiting to be ripped off. I went into a shop yesterday to buy souvenirs and the owner said he wanted 350 Egyptian pounds for a small plush camel and a small stone statue. [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hi Everyone! In the last few days I have realized the pinnacle of my round the world trip. Seeing the Egyptian pyramids is the number one thing I have always wanted to do. I booked a tour for this trip as I thought Egypt would be the most difficult place to travel alone. I did spend one day by myself in Cairo before the tour started and I did find a woman alone to be besieged by vendors and touts. I had one man offer me 1000 camels if I would move to the desert and be one of his wives. [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hi Everyone! I have spent the last five days in Istanbul. It was supposed to be six days, but I missed my flight on the 11th because I decided to take the train to the airport instead of the bus. I figured that the train would be faster which it was but it was also about an hour late, and then it was too late to catch the bus. So I ended up paying an extra 49 euro to change my plane ticket, and I have been told that it could have been a lot worse. Istanbul straddles the boundary between [View Full Entry]

---

---

If there is one thing that you learn when you are traveling by yourself is how to entertain yourself. Not only do you have to be prepared to rely on yourself to deal with all the difficulties that arise, to make all the necessary decisions, but you have to be in your own company all the time. I know everyone has that problem, but it takes on new dimensions when you are traveling alone. Just like how traveling with a friend can be trying if you don’t get along all the time. An eight hour ferry ride or a two hour [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hi Everyone My trip through the Greek Islands was planned to take 9 days. I have heard great things about all the islands. While I was in Athens people would show up in at the hostel raving about what a great time it was on the Islands. The hard part was choosing which islands to see. I chose Crete, Santorini, and Mykonos. I chose Crete because it had several archeology sites as well as natural gorges and mountains. Santorini because I heard it had beautiful architecture and black sand beaches. When I got there I heard there is also a red [View Full Entry]

---

---