http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/rickmoore/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from rickmoore en-us Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:19:28 +0000 Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:19:28 +0000 I arrived at the shiny new Imam Khomeini airport at the uncivilized hour of 2 am and zipped through immigration and customs in a few minutes. The drive to Tehran was just as fast a good highway and empty streets I wished it was like that during the day. We went on a side trip to Mashhad literally the place of martyrdom and visited the shrine of Imam Reza. But no pictures attendants with http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iran/blog-435673.html Fiji is a faster pace than Tonga and they have better curry Tonga well they have kava and go through lots of piglets http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Fiji/Suva/blog-423547.html Welcome to Beijing and then stand in those lineups looking for swine flu After that things changed for the better Beijing is a surprisingly clean city you could eat off of the floor of the airport parking garage. Visited Ri Tan park where they fly kites with LEDs in the evenings where sacrifices to the sun gods used to be unverified rumour. I went for a walk down to the Forbidden City http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Taiwan/Taipei/blog-423532.html At 4 am we were racing above a sleeping Bangkok on the elevated highways to catch the early bus to Aran from the Mawchit 11 bus station. We got a visa at the border walked across into Poipet with the gamblers the carts and others on the way to Siem Reap. Wiki travel describes Poipet thus 'Other than gambling whoring and lowering one's opinion of humanity there are no sights or activities in http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Koh-Ker/blog-397990.html We don't look much like backpackers or locals with our little roll behind suitcases but they let us on to the International Bus which goes from Ubon bus station to Pakse via Chong Mek. The trip was a lot simpler than what my 10 year old guide book had said it would be. This trip was for my 50 th birthday and I was thinking about what to do for my mid life crisis I considered a pony tail and http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/Pakxe/blog-397312.html Underused but stately buildings older soviet era apartment blocks Ladas with shiny 'racing' tire rims cafes that don't serve beer Ashgabat is different http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Turkmenistan/Ashgabat/blog-332629.html Joseph Conrad said I take it that what all men are really after is some form or perhaps only some formula of peace This is obtained by simply holding the latest in beer bottle technology finger grips on the bottle And then turn it over and there is another feature indented in the bottom is a beer bottle openerUssuriysk may be Russia but there are not many Ladas mostly Japanese cars wit http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Far-East/Vladivostok/blog-321329.html Incheon out to the coast for a huge meal of shellfish. The ladies at the restaurant took pity on us male foreigners and came over to help cook the dinner.At the other end of the spectrum is downtown Seoul in the Myeongdong district. Shopping and eating until late into the night. And how to decide where to go for coffee when there are dozens around.I especially love the white carpet they put http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/South-Korea/Seoul/blog-320152.html Zouk karaoke and dinners by the marina Welcome to Guadeloupe. Bob Marley sounds even better down here. http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guadeloupe/blog-306378.html Brekkie is a word.Brekkie is a word I saw it on a McDonalds sign they are open for Brekkie at 5 am They even have an upscale menu at the McCafe. Other signs that this is paradise are the Krispy Kreme donuts Gloria Jeans coffee 3.55 yikes Rum and coke on tap at the local pub and Drive through beer stores. Beer is a whole different world here a pot of gold is a 285ml glass of 3.5 xx http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/blog-243874.html I will let the pictures tell the story http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Jodhpur/blog-221282.html Vegetarian meals and Bollywood movies on the flight we must be going to India. Delhi Back home parks have a swing set. In Delhi they have tombs mausoleums built during Sikandar Lodi period 1489 1517 and buildings such as the old BaraGumbad Mosque arabic script borders They provide a nice atmosphere for people to sleep and hang their laundry couples myna birds hawks and bag ladies. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttarakhand/blog-177645.html Down the causeway to Saudi ArabianbspMiddle East raquonbspBahrain By rickmooreMay 16th 2007David Moore Bahrain is an archipelago of some 36 islands with a good efficient airport where women can actually drive and show their hair just a few km across the causeway from Saudi Arabia. But like Saudi people come from all over the world to work. Saudis come here as well but to shop and party http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Bahrain/blog-159090.html All of my friends who had been there before were jealous and they knew what a pleasure it is to visit Israel. And when the passangers started clapping when the airplane landed I understood what they were talking about welcome to beautiful Isreal. The airport was Clean and bright the nice immigration lady asked me if I wanted my passport stamped no thanks and the smell of orange trees greet http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/Tel-Aviv-District/Tel-Aviv/blog-142811.html What could be a better way of escaping the winter snow than a trip to Argentina I did not realize just how big Argentina really is and since it is spread out north to south you can pretty much pick your climate.First stop was BA busy streets clean sidewalks the atmosphere is Europe only cheaper. McDonalds is promently featured at the Plaza de Mayo but everywhere else are sidewalk cafe's http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/San-Juan/blog-115552.html It has been more than 20 years since I first visited Thailand and our focus has changed from shops that sell diapers to those that sell trendy clothes but the first thing we still do when we roll into a new town is to find a good noodle shop.Don't laugh but Bangkok looks cleaner the sidewalks are in better shape and you can buy a decent cup of coffee for twice the price of a bowl of noodles. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-85634.html I arrived in Almaty formerly AlmaAta formerly the capital of Kazakhstan which is in the foothills of the Tian Shan Mountains to transit through both Astana and Semey Semipalatinsk on the way to Kurchatov.Bright new airports in Almaty and Astana contrast with the old soviet style airport in Semey. On the Antonov turboprop into Semey I was seated beside a young Kazakh boy who proudly showed http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Kazakhstan/blog-79170.html Approaching Dubai by air at night you are struck by the extent of the street lights illuminating roads with no traffic. I had previously been to Dubai several times but never got out of the plane as I did not think that there was much to see I was wrong.Dubai must have more interesting and impressive buildings than any other city but apart from all of the shiny steel and glass it still has http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/United-Arab-Emirates/Dubai/blog-78963.html The passangers from the Air France A340 crammed into the small terminal to wait for the baggage. To make matters worse there were two conveyor belts and you could not see both at the same time. There were a lot of soldiers on that flight and a lot of camoflaged duffel bags unloaded from the plane. The night we arrived was the World Cup final. In Arta we watched the game on the huge tv scre http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Djibouti/blog-74569.html From the airplane flying into Ahwaz it looked like there was nothing in the dry plain below. Although it was 47 deg C in the plains there was still snow in the hills. Once on the ground you see there is life in the Zagros Mountains. During the day there is the heat and dust. Oil pipe lines crisscross the country and run along the side of the road to form a kind of a maze. Getting anywhere ta http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iran/blog-64936.html