http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/kimbob/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from kimbob en-us Tue, 29 Dec 2009 14:05:06 +0000 Tue, 29 Dec 2009 14:05:06 +0000 there are 3 pages of photos so click next at the bottom of page to look here's a newsflash contrary to what the US state department may wish the world to think syria is not populated by terrorists zealots and other boogeyman. in fact syrians are among the most friendly and hospitable people in the world and most visitors to their country end up developing lifelong infatuation with its gentl http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-274192.html we left dahab and took a busride up to the gulf of aquaba which is where egyptisrael and jordan meet. we took a ferry from egypt to jordan and then another few hour bus ride to wadi musa. this is the closest town to petra the ancient nabatean city. we chose probably the HOTTEST day to go check out these scorching ruins well city built into the rocks. its better known for being the spot f http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/South/Petra/blog-271545.html there are 50 photos on this one make sure you scroll and click next there are three pages to look at Dahab we're sad to leave you but the time has come. We had some good times and horrible times but they were memorable just the same. We will miss you and all the people that are a couple degrees off. Kims dive instructor summed up dahab with this line the worlds selfcheck in mental inst http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Sinai/Dahab/blog-270254.html After Luxor we arrived 5 hrs later by bus to the red sea coast in Hurghada. we arrived at night so we didn't get a chance to peek at the famed waters until morning when we woke up and took a look on our balcony. wow if expectations were ever met this was it gorgeous crystal clear tourquoise waters were spread out on the horizon. the end of february is still a little early for full fleg http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Red-Sea/Hurghada/blog-255066.html Luxor is a beautiful city that straddles the Nile in southern or ldquoupperrdquo Egypt. We spent nine days there mostly because we had such a comfortable hotel room and saw the sights at a much slower than average pace which the hotel staff constantly made fun of us for. Most of the tourists there are on package tours and come to the city on cruise ships from Cairo so it was a little di http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Luxor/blog-255050.html After camping in the white desert we took the bus a few hours southwest to another oasis called Dakhla. apparantly there has only been one day of rain in the last 14 years one of the many interesting facts our guide desert fox told us. we usually never have guides or sign up for tours one of the many luxuries or not you have to opt out on when travelling on a budget. but you cant stay a http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Western-Desert/Dakhla-Oasis/blog-249597.html There are four main oasis's in the Western Desert on route from Cairo lower egypt and Luxor upper egypt with everything from hotsprings white sand black sand deserts date fig and olive trees to ancient mud and brick cities. It sounds much better than it actually was We took a bus from Cairo five hours south to the Bahariah Oasis. Immediately after getting off the bus we found ourselve http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Western-Desert/Dakhla-Oasis/blog-249306.html The biggest city and the capitol of modern Egypt was a breath of fresh air when we stepped off the plane after a long trip from Bombay. But we did enjoy our five hour layover checking out the Kuwait airport. After bargaining with a few taxi drivers we scored a ride into downtown where the cheap hotels are concentrated. Our first impressions of Egypt were super good the landscape and weathe http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Lower-Egypt/Cairo/blog-248868.html There are two pages so scroll and hit next.The two names for this city are totally interchangeable it was originally named mumbai but the british renamed it bombay. officially they have changed the name back to the original but none of this is really important its just funny bc you go from one name to the next in a sentence. whatever its called it was like a slice of pie getting off the 3 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/Mumbai/blog-243201.html there are two pages of photosWe spent most of our time in calcutta working with the sisters of charity mother teresa organization. wow does this lady have a story. pretty much all i knew about her is that the world respected and loved her and she did good things for people. literally. coming here educated me on her lifes passion and work jesus and the poor. when these two loves collide a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/West-Bengal/Kolkata/blog-238413.html We went from Goa to Pondicherry which are on opposite coasts. same side as the andaman islands. bay of bengal Pondicherry has a huge french influence french street names real espresso and attitude to match. There was mile or so promenade beside the crashing sea where anyone whos anyone gets their daily excersise and social needs out of the way. We stayed for two nights in the fanci http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Pondicherry/blog-235127.html OH Goa.....what can i say never a dull moment here. The sun was shining as brightly as the trance loving israelis. This was the epi center for traveller fashion consisting of ali baba pants you know like aladdin wears crystals all shapes and sizes dreadlocks strange fanny packsshirts and bags with the third eye and om symbol emblonized poi skill polishing long ropes with firebal http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Goa/Anjuna-Beach/blog-235115.html In the south of Nepal is an amazing national park called Chitwan. This place is packed with wildlife and very protected. We stayed here for three days at a small camp called Island Jungle Resort. It was on an island in the middle of a river. It's all about the wildlife here. Rhino leapord deer monkey tons of birds and of course the elusive tiger. After a long leg numbing bus ride from K http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Chitwan/blog-231444.html India is a strange strange place. Everything here seems to be extreme and opposite of our western idea of normal. I'll try to explain with some examples. Here you eat with your hand you can throw garbage on the ground you clean yourself after going to the bathroom with your hand you can hit people with your car but not a cow. If you kill a cow you go to prison for life because they are ho http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/blog-231946.html there are two pages to this one so scroll down and hit next Andaman Islands for us was one of those places you felt so attached to it was important you left before there was a chance of it being tainted. Simple is probably one of the best words to describe this group of islands. The tourist infrastructure is left minimal and the nature and the tribes left relatively unbothered. Obviously http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Andaman-and-Nicobar-Islands/Port-Blair/blog-231958.html We are back in Kathmandu now waiting for our Indian visas. we'll be here for a few days so we're doing some shopping and sightseeing around town. today kim went shopping for pashminas and carpets and other nepali stuff and i went to the pashupatinath temple. it is a hindu temple located along the bagmati river. hindus are cremated when they die and the bagmati river is sacred so pashupat http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Kathmandu/blog-220353.html There are two pages of photos. We spent the last couple of weeks trekking in the Himalaya mountains. The Annapurna Circut it is called is somewhere between 200 and 300 kilometers long depending on who you ask. The trail starts at about 2700 feet and we hiked up to the tallest mountain pass in the world at about 18000 feet. It was not easy in fact it was super hard. The first day was k http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Annapurna/blog-219879.html hello everyone its kim.so this is our last entry for a few weeks because we will be trekking and without internet. We have been here in pokhara for a few days after a 7 hr bus ride from kathmandu the plane is 25min . It is a lake town which is a nice get away from the city but mainly just a stop for everyone before they hed to the mts. We have been sick for a little bit so we havent http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Pokhara/blog-214947.html kim hereWe've been in nepal 5 days now and have seen and heard and smelt so many brand new sensations We arrived at 2am into darkness so when we woke up our first morning we were finally able to see nepal. Most of our pictures are buildings temples and sights around kathmandu i am not sure if they will do the justice our eyes were able to see. The highlights so far are the amazing stupas a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Kathmandu/Thamal/blog-212451.html Bob here.So we're still in Bangkok. Yes Royal Nepal Airlines owns two 747's and ours is broken. When we got to the airport two days ago they loaded all the passengers from the flight into a minibus and drove us to a super nice hotel where we've been hanging out the last couple of days. The airline is paying for everybody to eat and sleep at the Hotel Alexander. No complaints here we think http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-211040.html