Aguas Calientes, aka Machu Picchu Pueblo, is a cert to make the 7 Tourist Trap Wonders of the World whenever that competition is held. Stepping off the train from Ollantaytambo, we found ourselves in a small town in the grip of rampant construction, adding to the existing hodge-podge of unattractive, uncoordinated buildings. With every other establishment a restaurant or tat shop, there was a wearying assault from all sides by touts eager to persuade you to browse their identical menus, or purchase a Machu Picchu-tattooed llama. Prices for accommodation and food were high, with an inverse r [View Full Entry]

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This had to be the most touristy place we visited durring our trip. We stayed in Puno and took a one day tour of the lake which included an hour long visit of the floating islands and a couple of hours on Taquile island, with a lot of sailing in between. The tour of the floating islands included a demonstration, with scale models, of how they build the islands, this was actually pretty interesting untill they finished it by ploping a little model house, cooking pot, boat and people on it that were much to big for there model and quite [View Full Entry]

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I am a Viking. My hands of those of Thor god of Thunder. My wit is spy like that Loki. My blood pulses through my veins by decree of Oden. When I leave this earth, I will spend eternity in the glorious forever of epic feast and never-ending battle that is Valhalla. Unfortunately, i was born in the wrong century (and with the wrong physique, i could be helmet horn polisher at best). Current international law prevents the psychotic Berzerker rampage of bloodshed that my anscestors made famous. Nowadays it's just a very quick way to get kicked out of the [View Full Entry]

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The return to Budapest meant a re-entry into the world of modern conveniences (flushing toilets and hot showers) and gave us a final chance to remove the last lodged bits of mud and dirt from our bodily orifices. Freshly scrubbed clean, gleaming skin that mum would be proud of - we met up with our paddling mates for a farewell dinner, that was cooked in more than one pot and didn’t consist of Nutella or paprika! It was almost hard to recognise each other without the requisite swimsuit, sunglasses and lashings of mud we normally donned for paddling. We spent a [View Full Entry]

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It has been sometime since my last entry, and much has happened in my life here in China. I am trying to gather my thoughts, and compile them and all of the hundreds of pictures of my past eventful weeks into my computer for a next series of TravelBlogs. It will take me some time, and I hope to become more prolific in presenting you so many of my joys and adventures in China from this past summer. The classes at my college have also commenced, and my focus will once again be more on my work, and in sharing many [View Full Entry]

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HARIDWAR What a nice surprise this holy city by the Ganges was! Spiritually, it's more significant to Hindus than Rishikesh. It's one of the 7 sacred Indian cities, attracting a multitude of pilgrims and shadus to bathe and do "pujas" where the Gange River emerges from the Himalaya. Haridwar has the frantic confusion of the Indian cities, but in a much smaller scale. A huge plus was the fact that we were left alone, without pushy vendors or touts. The crowd was more interested on their pujas than on us. We hired a cycle-rickshaw for 3 hours (just little over one [View Full Entry]

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It's one of those traumatic childhood stories. We all have one. Moonlit graveyards, sock eating monsters under the bed, the Boogy Man, fluffy bunny rabbits, lumpy toads; there is a spine-tingling nemesis out there for everyone. Some are a bit more understandable than others, such as my strapping 6 foot 3 Scottish friend who has an apprehension towards turkeys (of the gobble gobble variety, not the sort found at the local pub, although both should understandably be feared). Well, when I was wee lassie, innocent and harebrained, (about sixteen year old), I discovered a four foot long bull sn [View Full Entry]

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Day 3: Bargaining Into Retreat A hard bargain to beat—morning coffee, tea and breakfast in Bali. At the table there is an assortment of weary eyes detached from their bones. This is us—Laura’s retreat group—most still jetlagged, hovering above hot drinks with susu dan gula (milk and sugar). Then with a little more flare and color, there is papaya, watermelon, pineapple, honey melon, and lime squeezed over white plates like morning clouds over the rice paddies. With sustenance, we wake, smile and laugh. Off to yoga led by [url=http://www.lau [View Full Entry]

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