http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/kit_t/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from kit_t en-us Sun, 29 Nov 2009 02:58:05 +0000 Sun, 29 Nov 2009 02:58:05 +0000 Today we would be daring. We would live on the crest of fear and redefine danger. Today we would rent a quadbike. Quadbikes look a lot more unstable and unsafe than they really our. Now before you roll your eyes back and think 'what wimps' please remember we had our 1 year old baby with us no space for a baby seat on a quadbike. Of course once we realized that the maximum speed of http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/South-Aegean/Santorini/blog-413038.html Santorini is one of those quintessential Greek Experiences. Whitewashed houses donkeys pottering up steep paths greywhiskered old greek men basking in the peaceful lull of the waves. And of course that welcoming fat greek village lady ushering you into her house to prepare you a homecooked meal. All that and more awaits you at Santorini.What lies Lies lies lies Whitewashed houses ye http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/blog-412777.html Where does one begin to introduce Athens a city which birthed democracy itself that continued to shape European history and philosophy for centuries after its decline and most importantly continues to even today host some of the best Moussaka ever. But what struck us the most wasn't political philosophical or even edible. Rather it was the distinct social homogeneity. All Greeks. As a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/blog-410736.html Taking the word exhoribitant to bold new extremes and bringing ridiculous fantasy towards reality Dubai is a place where the word Wow is second only in frequency to the phrase Its stinking hot. Home to the world's only 7 star hotel the world's tallest building the world's largest shopping centre and I'm convinced the world's most expensive Starbucks coffee this once humble emirate of t http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/United-Arab-Emirates/Dubai/blog-410487.html Day 2 of 2 in Moscow was devoted to seeing those compulsory sights of Moscow Red Square and the Kremlin. Now we had of course heard of Red Square before but never seen it on TV. So naively we were expecting some rather large impressive square possibly painted red and most definitely with fake soldiers parading around maybe even allowing you to take a photo with them for a few rubles. No http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-368716.html Moscow. We weren't sure what to expect in Moscow. Drab soviet gray buildings and despondent faces all with a healthy sprinkling of Vodka. Sadness or depression seemed to be a fair expectation given the exorbitant hotel prices in Moscow currently the most expensive city in the world who would have thought. It seems though gray and sad is far from today's Moscow. Colour seems to be the fas http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-368713.html So here we were in the famed Amman capital of Jordan famous for .... uh .... well okay famous for nothing. Amman not to be confused with Oman a country on the east coast of the Arab Peninsula is the modern capital of Jordan that essentially looks feels and smells like a European city. We were here simply because of its proximity to two important Jordan sights the Dead Sea and the rive http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/West/Dead-Sea/blog-359369.html Today was a fun day... a fun day in retrospect but rather traumatic while it happened. To whet you're appetite lets just say today's blog includes an ambulance and a lot of yelling.It all started out with the well intentioned nagging of myself harassing Melenie to 'carpe diem' and see Petra despite Per feeling absolutely horrid from a rather vicious bout of gastro. Yes she was throwing up e http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/South/Petra/blog-342790.html I'm surprised at the number of people who have no idea what Petra is. You know that mystical city that was lost from civilization for 6 centuries. The centre of the great Nabataen civilization that great Arab force that for some time controlled world trade thanks to its strong control of key easttowest trade routes. That rose coloured city that was carved 2600 years ago from sandstone drenc http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/South/Petra/blog-339301.html Wadi Rum land of dramatic canyons red scorched sands and heatstroke impaired tourists. Touted as the most dramatic desert scenery ever its one of those mustsees on any Jordan itinerary. Its also the hang out spot of the Bedouin as is much of the desert area in Jordan those mysterious nomads of the desert that feature in the rare oppressed minority section of the Lonely Planet of every http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/South/Wadi-Rum/blog-336043.html There are two reasons to visit Egypt. One of course is to see the ancient wonders. Two is to bask in the sun and dive in the Red Sea. The Red Sea coast is lined with resorts ranging from Las Vegas style tourist conclaves like Sharm El Sheik to more rustic backpacker hang outs like Dahab. Nuweiba our home for today is inbetween. Today was a day of pampering as we would stay in the Nuweib http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Sinai/blog-323427.html Today the plan was simple. See the Egyptian Museum see Islamic Cairo and eat lots of food. And do this all at an extremely slow pace as our bus out of Cairo that night was at 10pm. So of course we woke up late sauntered rather than walked and got lost a few times just to fill in the time.First up on the plate was to pick up some compulsory souvenirs and gifts for friends. One nice tourist http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Lower-Egypt/Cairo/blog-323415.html Today was reserved for the West bank sights of Luxor the Valley of the Kings and related sights. This is where the likes of Ramses and Tutankhamen are buried far away from the rest of the populace so as to avoid the greedy hands of grave robbers. Strangely though there aren't any pyramids here pyramids must have been so 'last millienium' by the time these guys wanted to be buried the rea http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/blog-323088.html Day 1 in Egypt had been slightly traumatic so we started Day 2 in high spirits knowing that the probability of 2 days in a row of trauma was considerably low. An early morningflight from Cairo got us to Luxor at 7am. Today was to be a day of luxury. We had managed toscore a bungalow at the Sheraton for the incredible price of 60 After rolling around on the incredibly clean sheets flicking http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Luxor/blog-323069.html Only the stupid or the adventurous would choose to visit a desert country with a 4 month old in tow. I prefer the latter moniker though I leave it up to you dear reader to decide. Our plan was to see the sights of Egypt and Jordan and end with a tiny stint in Moscow on the way home.We landed at Cairo at midnight after a rather pleasant trip on Aeroflot Russian airlines side note to all th http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Lower-Egypt/Cairo/blog-323043.html Today was to be a momentous day the very first day for a Thambiratnam to ever embark on an 'adventure' holiday well as adventurous as a 2 day kayak trek on flat water can be considered. Yes we were off to Halong Bay Vietnam's most famous natural attraction to explore underwater caves hidden lagoons and secluded beaches all while surrounded by spectacular watersubmerged karst splendors. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Halong-Bay/blog-247161.html After 2 glorious days coasting the waters of Halong Bay we were now off to do some serious land cruising seated on the back of a motorcycle whizzing through the country side. Our starting point was to be Dalat home of the Easy Riders. The Easy Riders are a Dalat homegrown concept. Essentially english speaking guides with motorbikes who will for a fee strap onto the back of their bike http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Central-Highlands/Da-Lat/blog-317793.html After spending 3 days in intense conference activities and one fun night at the conference dinner where 50 year old academics started doing playing limbo it was time to hit the tourist trail again.Till now those conference days had been essentially work punctuated with good eating and the occasional lazing on the resort beach. As far as resorts go I have to say the Marriot resort was rather http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Aruba/blog-245382.html Aruba been here one day already and all I've seen is flab flubber and overhang. Goodness these American tourists need to diet. Today a friend and I decided to venture out of the comfort of the resort to experience the offroad Aruba. Our plan was to drive alone the rugged north and east coasts of Aruba sparsely populated and often compared to the moon landscape. The island is infact akin http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Aruba/blog-245139.html Aruba known to me solely from its brief mention in the Beach Boys song Kokomo. Its one of the many gorgeous islands in the carribean thats been converted into a tourist haven and thus is the constant abode of overweight americans with oversized wallets looking to further increase their girth by lazing about and eating all day. I was in Aruba for a conference funny how serious conferences a http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Aruba/blog-245030.html