http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/kmorton/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from kmorton en-us Sun, 06 Dec 2009 02:07:15 +0000 Sun, 06 Dec 2009 02:07:15 +0000 Greetings folks Having just returned from the Mt. Everest trek I realize that it's been a little while since my last posting here. A lot has transpired but I'll ty to keep it brief here and just stick to the main events. Since my last entry my friend Elaine and I headed back from Pokhara to Katmandu about 185 km east to line up our permits and make necessary arrangements to begin our trek http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Himalayas/blog-359321.html Hello folks. Kids do I have a treat for you Not only do I have photos today but I finally figured out how to upload video clips into this website Actually the 2 videos that I posted here are pretty boring but you're welcome to check them out anyway. Well back in Pokhara after having just completed my first of two Himalayan treks. This first 9day trek took me into the Annapurna Sanctuar http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Annapurna/blog-352721.html Namaste from Pokhara folks. It's been a while since my last post I realize. I just finished my volunteer teaching and farming as it turned out assignment in the village of Sarangkot and am just now getting around to writing. Well it was a good experience living up in the village and getting in with the local folks who really welcomed me very warmly. After a couple of rough days in the t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Pokhara/blog-350261.html Namaste from Pokhara in the western part of Nepal at the foot of the Himalayas Ah Pokhara what can I say about this wonderful place that hasn't already been said. Situated on the beautiful Phewa Lake and at the foot of some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in the world it is truly a blessed spot to spend some time. If you plan to do any trekking in the AnnapurnaJomson area of Nepa http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Pokhara/blog-345211.html Namaste from Kathmandu in the heart of Nepal Well since my last posting I've been doing a fair amount of moving around From Kuala Lumpur through Bangkok for a couple of days and then on to Kathmandu KTM where I'm at right now. Ironically I really haven't too much to report since then primarilly since I've been pretty much sidelined due to a bacterial infection of my foot that became fai http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Kathmandu/blog-343182.html Well hello folks and Selamut Datang Welcome from Kuala Lumpur the Malaysian capitol. Thanks for checking back in with me. It's been a little while since I last wrote anything or added any pictures. Let's see I think the last thing I wrote had to do with the Mt. Kinabalu trek and that was nearly 2 weeks ago Since then I had moved on to Semporna on the South China Sea where I took some http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Wilayah-Persekutuan/Kuala-Lumpur/blog-339539.html Hello and selamat pagi from the Malaysian province of Sabah on the island of Borneo I've been here for about a week now had the opportunity to do some snorkeling at a couple of the islands just off of Kota Kinabalu on the north coast and some mountain trekking to Kinabalu National Partk including Low's Peak 13400ft. Since then I've hoofed it over to the east coast and the city of Sandak http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Kota-Kinabalu/blog-335362.html Well my Indonesian visa expired on October 10th and rather than overstay my welcome and possibly find myself shelling out some serious cash as a penalty for doing so I decided it was time to leave. I'm not sure what possessed me to think that I would be able to see all of Indonesia in a month's time. Kind of the same logic that I child might use thinking that with enough persistence and det http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Java/Jakarta/blog-332817.html I think it was Friedriche Nietzsche I'm sure Imangled the spelling here that said Little maketh the best happiness. Well seeing the sunrise from the top of a volcanic mountain certainly validates that claim. My last few days on the island of Lombok have been spent trekking the area around Ganung Mount Rinjani a 3700meter 11000ft inactive volcano whose crater is now a lake measurin http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Lombok/Rinjani/blog-330953.html Greetings from Senggigi in Pulau Lombok the easternmost island in the Nusa Tenggara chain. I left Labuanbajo on the island of Pulau Flores by boat where I booked a 4day passage aboard a tiny deathtrap named the Tiga Putra which means three brothers in Bahasa Indonesian. I asked our evercheerful captain Iman if any of the brothers who owned the boat were aboard for the trip They weren't. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Lombok/Sengigi/blog-328374.html Greetings from Pulau Flores in the Nusa Tenggara island chain of Indonesia. Flores is quite a change both physically and culturally from tropical and lush Bali. Formed from volcanic activity Flores is pretty arid and mountainous kind of looking like Colorado although the mountains aren't nearly as tall here. It's about the size of Florida if you were to chop off the panhandle and turn the r http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Flores/blog-325788.html Hello again folks and thanks again for checking in on me. I just wanted to add one more note from Bali before I move on tomorrow to the island of Flores about 350 miles east of here. I took a bunch of photos and have posted them here to give the casual observer a better idea of what the other 95 of Bali looks like when you get away from the tourist traps of Kuta Beach and Denpassar. I f http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Bali/blog-324208.html Well after 24 hours of travelling to Bali which lies just south of the Equator and which also curiously included a flight through the Arctic Circle to get here I finally arrived. The island of Bali is about in the middle of the Indonesian chain and is about the size of Massachusetts and Connecticut combined or like Puerto Rico if someone were to pull downward from Ponce and make it r http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Bali/Kuta/blog-322648.html Hello there and thanks for checking in on me. I'll consider this the starting point for my roundtheworld trip. First stop was Tortola the main island of the British Virgin Islands and pretty much the hub from which getting to the other islands as well as the U.S. islands is made possible. Tortola is a pretty good place to really develop some hiking stamina as taxi cabs are really expensi http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/British-Virgin-Islands/Virgin-Gorda/blog-320268.html It was my friend Cesar V. who most recently advised me that I'm an idiot. I'm a little bit concerned only because he's usually right about these sorts of things. Regardless tomorrow will be my final day of duty after 14 years in the U. S. Coast Guard as I've decided to take a 2yr leave of absence to to some travelling. I'm certainly going to miss many of the outstanding people that I was fo http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Puerto-Rico/blog-312251.html