krat
kathleen raftery Joined: November 23rd 2007
Logged in: August 31st 2008
Logged in: August 31st 2008
Travel Blog Posts
some people have asked me if and how i am different from this trip. its a valid question but i'd rather list some numbers and events that had the greatest impact on me as i don't think i can accurately quantify the changes. (if you can't be bothered to read all this just scroll down to the bottom there is a link to my posted pix) 0 people with me when i left the states 6 months 8 countries 1 german man who changed my life 1/2 way through vietnam - i made a pilgrimage to where my father served when he was in the war. thought i would share a beer with my dad on a beautiful deserted beach. turns out the only other person there decided to try to talk to me. (not dangerous, ... read more
once upon a time a young girl returned to her homeland after a long and magical carpet ride around the orient. being home only a short time, she soon found herself once again taking off, this time to a kingdom, a united kingdom, far far away. she was brought there by her fairy god-sister who was living in the kingdom across the water. upon the young girls arrival her fairy god-sister surprised the young girl with a trip to a tiny town in the land of leprechauns. rainbows, green grass and guiness were not the inspiration for the trip. their grandfather had lived for some years in the county Roscommon before setting sail for a strange and distant land where a giant lady with a torch of fire grew out of the river. his journey to ... read more
been too lazy to write about my adventures (plus elecricity goes out and the computers often shut down) in india so here are some pix with descriptions to catch you up on a few things. see you in three weeks, looking forward to catching up with ya'll. http://www.flickr.com/photos/21472267@N04/?saved=1 :) k... read more
lots has happened since my last post, aside from thailand i shimmied around cambodia, laos and vietnam. i also made 2 day trips across the border into burma but i can't say i really experienced the country. its like going to tijuana and saying you have been to mexico, though technically true it isn't exactly accurate. i also just booked a flight to india where i will spend the last 7 weeks of my trip before heading back to NYC (yes, i am coming back). india, its been a long time coming... please consider this your official invite to a BBQ at my mamma's house the sunday of memorial day weekend. its on the ever elusive staten island and over a crazy holiday weekend so unlike my goodbye party i won't send you on a wild ... read more
when this trip was in the early planning stages the countries that made the list were japan (simply because i could extend my 2 hour layover into 2 days), thailand, vietnam, cambodia and laos. it made sense since they are all in asia and close neighbors. no european nations made the list, yet i sit writing this from a flat in london. my sister moved here about 2 weeks ago and while i was in vietnam an email came through saying she needed emergency surgery to remove her appendix. needless to say the hours that followed were filled with much anxiety, endless flight research and a debate as to who should fly to london me or my mother. i have 4.5 months of holiday left and my mother had just flown in from the uk after ... read more
more travel pix http://www.flickr.com/photos/21472267@N04/sets/72157603505420741/ or http://www.flickr.com/photos/21472267@N04/ heading more to the northeast in hopes of getting to Laos for xmas. k... read more
1 bus, the back of 3 different pickup trucks and a ferry ride later i arrive at Ko Pan-Ngan (pronounced ko pan yang) a southern island in the Gulf of Thailand. the journey has taken 18 hours and was well worth the trek; in 3 directions i see luscious, green trees that cover the surrounding expansive mountains. in the 4th direction is the ocean. the water is a clear, light green and reminds me of my bathwater after a long summer day of bike riding when i was a kid. this is the Thailand i came for, or, at least a sliver of it. its drizzling and there is a bit of overcast, not ideal island weather but the sweet demeanor of Cha who works where i am staying compounded by the elephants we passed on ... read more
perhaps one day soon i will blog about the beauty of the Royal Grand Palace and the unbelievably ornate alter that the emerald Buddha sits upon. (the Buddha is actually made of jade, not emerald and they change his outfit based upon the season. Thailand has 3 total, summer, rainy and winter. it is currently winter, a chilly 85+ degrees) perhaps one day i'll give you a stunning description of the golden stupas with shiny blue mosaic glass tiling that reflects light in a way that would make even the most mastered craftsman at the Maurono glass factory in Venice jealous. perhaps. though instead i'll write about being approached my a man at the palace who asked me to take his picture. at this point i had been on the trip for one week and had ... read more
there is a well known scam in Bangkok, a local approaches a naive tourist (hey, that's me!) and tells them the Wat (temple) they are headed to is closed but that they can take them for a 2 hour tuk tuk (taxi) ride around the city for only 40 bhat ($1). knowing full well what the deal was (tour consists of multiple stops at factory stores in hopes one makes a purchase) i went for it anyway. i received a lovely spin around the city and when the driver realized that between temple stops i wasn't purchasing any custom made silk suites and that he was the one being taken for a ride he ditched me at the giant standing Buddha. since i hadn't paid him for the ride i considered it a fair deal. here ... read more
