http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/puravida/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from puravida en-us Sun, 29 Nov 2009 23:44:09 +0000 Sun, 29 Nov 2009 23:44:09 +0000 well here i find myself again on the flip side of the equator enjoying life and travel in the southern hemisphere. except this time instead of spanish the locals are speaking austrailian the tango has been replaced by afternoon barbeques on the beach and red wine eclipsed by crisp victoria bitter or a freshly poured toohey's new.i haven't been in austrailia affectionately know as 'oz' http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/Darlinghurst/blog-123260.html i read recently that if you allocated one day for each of Indonesia's 12000 islands it would take you three years and one month to visit the entire country. a little less ambitious at this point in my travels i spent almost the whole month of October on just one the lovely and picturesque bali. arguably although i cannot personally attest for the others bali is one of the most beautiful http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Bali/blog-99469.html a big hello to everyone from singapura its been awhile since my last update. i am still on the travel circuit for those who've inquired as to my recent whereabouts so this is an attempt to get all caught up time fly's when you are having fun the last 2 months have been filled with the emerald green rice fields and historical vistas of vietnam the charismatic warm genuine people and http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/blog-92415.html it was a drizzly gray morning as the bus from chiang mai dropped us off in the little riverside town of chiang khong at the northwestern border of thailand. after a five minute tuktuk ride from the bus station i found myself at the port office waiting with a handful of other travelers for our visa's to be processed so that we could be paddled across the infamous mekong river and into the nei http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Luang-Prabang/blog-84882.html If Africa is the land of Savannah's big game and endless horizons...then Thailand is home to the world's wats Buddhist monastery's Buddha's and spicy hot curriesmy first week was spent in Bangkok the country's capital and home to 9 million of the 62 million or so Thai residents. Bangkok is a unique blend of culture religion and modernity. supposedly 90 of all cars in Thailand can be http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-79718.html despite all the information packed guidebooks tourist maps and information kiosks its a travelers fate to inevitably get lost every once and awhile. the term 'lost' can apply to a variety of confused logistical states including needing a reassuring nod that one is plugging along in the correct direction having a semblance of an idea about area scope but hardpressed as to which directio http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-79576.html whoever thinks that bigger isn't better should spend a bit of time in Dubaiheralded as where east meets west although i have heard this about turkey as well Dubai is basically a man made megatropolis. one of the seven states emirates that makes up the united Arab emirates UAE and governed by the maktoum sheik family Dubai occupies a plot of dry desert on the Persian gulf. 50 years ag http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/United-Arab-Emirates/Dubai/blog-75830.html sakina sakina saKKKIIINAthis isn't the howl of a fabled african monkey nor the sullen call of a majestic african bird...but rather the piercing rattle of the daladala man slipping the rest of the way out of the sliding minivan door and onto the gravel side of the road as the daladala lurches to a 4 stop. the old and tattered minivans that were originally manufactured to seat 8 maybe 10.. http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Arusha/blog-69461.html There are a few common Kiswahili Proverbs that go like this 'Haraka haraka haina baraka' which means In hurry hurry there is no blessing. 'Pole Pole ndiyo mwendo' translated to Slowly slowly is indeed the proper path. And my favorite 'Kawia ufike' Be late...but get there. At first read these may elicit a little chuckle...but after a few days in east africa you begin to realize the http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/Zanzibar/Zanzibar-City/blog-64223.html even before the first rays of light begin to emerge a friendly and sing songy good morning seeps in from somewhere outside the canvas walls of my tent penetrating the cool blackness and confirming to me in my sleepy haze that the time has come to fully awake. using the light of my headtorch i pull on a few layers of safari clothing and rummage around for the spot that i strategically la http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Namibia/Etosha-National-Park/blog-64221.html a big jambo to all hello in kiswahilii hope this finds everyone doing fabulously its been about six weeks since my last entry and in that time i have been getting to know the glorious continent of africa.'safari' in kiswahili means journey and the last month has been exactly that. it was a bittersweet moment to leave buenos aires at the end of april. 4 months of exploring south america http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Cape-Town/blog-62211.html ok maybe not everything fun has to live up to this criteria...but don't tell me there is not a parallel there somewherethe experience of riding a bicycle down the world's most dangerous road is definitely helping to prove this theory. but more on that in a bit.after sending kirsten and brian off and saying goodby to our machu picchu family which i heard from my sickbed was quite the dance p http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-53501.html in 1911 an American explorer and Yale university professor named Hiram Bingham stumbled upon a mass of carefully laid granite stones covered with overgrown jungle and nestled in the high mountain ranges of south western Peru. this sprawling array of intricately laid stone structures was soon to be revealed as Machu Pichhu or the lost city of the fabled and revered Inca empire. lost is http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Machu-Picchu/blog-52969.html hello friends and familysorry for the lag in blog updates. the past 3 weeks have been a string of travel and trips and i have been admittedly bad at checking in and carving out Internet time. however i am ready to amend the lapse so get ready for some updatesafter a few days in la paz and the huyani potosi adventure i set out for Copacabana the Bolivian version a small town on the southe http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Arequipa/Colca-Canyon/blog-52791.html ah...to be back in a teeming city la paz is the defacto capital of bolivia located in the north western part of the country. it is home to about 1.5 million people who all live at 3660 m. in a big canyon surrounded by the gorgeous bolivian cordilla real mountain range. the city sprawls the base and walls of the canyon and offers a busy lively daily pulse of traffic people and markets. http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/Huayna-Potosi/blog-48415.html you read about it in all the guide books. its an adrenaline fueled bare bones somewhat sketchy not so encouraged or highly recommended but still widley popular 3 day adventure and pandora's boxlike mode of transport from san pedro de atacama small town in northern chile across the bolvian border and through the salt flats and surrounding desert and landscapes ending in the small town of http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Salar-de-Uyuni/blog-48394.html although i only spent 3 days in santiago there are a couple of interesting things worth mentioning.arguably the stablest economy in south america santiago initially struck me as a blend of european functionality stores businesses restaurants...and prices and south american architecture traffic and markets. the city similar to los angeles also suffers from a heavy blanket of smog that p http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Santiago-Region/Santiago/blog-47564.html hello all...i hope this finds everyone doing well and enjoying the start to a fabulous spring at least in the EEUUafter a few days back in the lovely buenos aires for some much needed rr..and one suburb U2 show i jumped on an overnight bus for the 14 hour trip to mendoza. some of you may be familiar with the name mendoza as it can be found proudly marking the labels of delicious malbec's http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Mendoza/Mendoza/blog-47558.html each day began with a gentle awaking to the sounds of rushing water the rustle of birds in the trees and little critters running through dry leaves small whispers of wind blowing through the leaves and the muffled noises of other campers starting to surface from their tents and mobilize for the day's hike. it was normally very cold in the mornings and evenings so the wool cap gloves and fl http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Magallanes/Torres-del-Paine/blog-45798.html there is really not an effective way to completely describe or capture the emansive and enormous barreling river of ice known as the perito moreno glacier. it commands respect. it's unbelievable big. imagine a tsunami's amount of fresh chillingly cold glacier water thrusting with unparalleled power down from some of the highest and imposing peaks in the world...and then with the snap of a fi http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Santa-Cruz/Perito-Moreno-Glacier/blog-44699.html