http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/torsk/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from torsk en-us Fri, 25 Dec 2009 12:29:12 +0000 Fri, 25 Dec 2009 12:29:12 +0000 Olkhon Island North of Irkutsk the road is quite uneven and ridden with potholes. In fact one man stands on the roadside waving his arms in an undulating fashion so as to alert drivers of bumps ahead. He smiles and waves as we pass his horse waits unbothered. Does he really do this all day long The landscape is featureless. Other than random shrubs patches of forest and yellow wildflow http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Olkhon/blog-87059.html 61822Trains I found a seat ahead of the masses right side facing east so as to best view Lake Baikal. Across from me sat a guy of about my same age and aspect. Long Russian train journeys require company or some form of dialogue. Hence Russians are quite gregarious and bien dans leur peau amongst new strangers. In a matter of a few minutes after departure he initiated conversation. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Irkutsk/blog-87055.html Ulan Ude I stepped off the train onto the platform of Russia surprised that the country actually did exist. I had somehow grown up with the notion that this was a no man's land some verboten territory of inhumane machines. Never had I the slightest dream of ever coming here to this shabby train station occupied by louche loiterers. Yet here I was. And this was Russia. Although the guidebo http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Ulan-Ude/blog-87049.html Notes from the TransSiberian ...farm straw hats gravestones in copses shrub and brush glassfragment guarded prisons rows of brick houses hidden courtyards putrid rubbish pits lambent peaks trees sprout from stonewall moss melts down the craggy crest little Russian lad with a toy motorcycle sandals and a chocolate mustache lone sunflower on a dirt pile rows of rice pass conical str http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/blog-87044.html Wieden is also known as the fourth district. The Theresianium basically lies in the center of the wedgeshaped neighborhood. In the first several days I explored many of the streets and buildings of this area I had never come to. Indeed it's not very touristy the only major site being the Rococo Oberes Belvedere palace the photo of which is below. On the west side of the district neighbori http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Austria/Vienna-State/Vienna/blog-88719.html I'll spare the commentary and let the photos do the talking. I will say that there is nothing like flying India Air like visiting another culture while in transit. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Austria/Vienna-State/Vienna/blog-88712.html The sliding electric doors parted as I approached. Before me unfolded the arrivals lobby of the airport. The usual crowd filled the room taxi drivers soliciting rides for exorbitant prices elegant ladies sitting alone avoiding eyecontact Western travelers plotting the next move. Yet four distinct groups of mainly men formed around four widescreen television posts. All were absorbed in a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/blog-87033.html Ftan http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/South-East/Ftan/blog-78762.html Scenes from the trip from Liechtenstein to Ftan... more to be written later http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/South-East/Ftan/blog-78426.html Lindau http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Bavaria/Lindau/blog-75199.html The injured Nautilus neared the smokestacks on the horizon that characterize Freeport. The barges came into view littering the bay outside the harbour entrance dwarfing our vessel with their massive multiton sterns and unimaginably heavy load of cargo and storage containers. I reeled in the fishing line hoping to avoid catching any fish from the discharge of these metallic monsters. We rad http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Bahamas/Grand-Bahama/Freeport/blog-33470.html Running aground is a great way to meet the locals. My alarm beeped at 600. I snoozed for ten. Then I woke everyone else up. We pulled out after a prolonged breakfast closer to 730 than the 700 we had planned. Doing so required a 180 degree maneuver all the while clearing the other boats in the dock. We had discussed the operation the night before and given the low amount of wind on http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Bahamas/Grand-Bahama/Freeport/blog-33226.html We've spent a little too much time here at Old Bahama Bay Marina idling amongst the wealthy. The rest was welcome from the rough crossing but the only thing to do here is while away dollars and show off your diamonds and your 1.50 boobjob. The locals can barely hide their smirk in the face of it all they can play this game. They even have a patois so that the USers don't understand. These http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Bahamas/Grand-Bahama/West-End/blog-32927.html Now that Nautilus was up on stilts repair work could begin on the rudder and among the crew. The foam underneath the fiberglass shell buffered the impact from the metal skeleton of the actual rudder. The fiberglass only had to be replaced. Of course removing the boat meant that several other projects could be started including scrubbing the algae and grime off the hull grinding the barnacl http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Bahamas/Grand-Bahama/blog-33940.html I never thought I would arrive. I left the house in North Carolina later than expected because of the absorbing SpainUkraine match. Then my mother momentarily couldn't find her cell phone almost causing further delay. Then the first leg of the flight was rerouted from Newark to lonely Harrisburg Pennsylvania because of traffic and necessary refueling. Worse of all this delay caused me to http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/blog-70193.html Leaving Luton I was once again suspected of being a hooligan. Once through Luton security check I was corralled by a police office into a line of brutishlooking blokes. I tried to pull out my most American of accents to seem too gullible and epicene to be a hooligan. Didn't work. We waited while a team of three officers equipped with laptops checked our background information. I had heard http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/North-Rhine-Westphalia/Dortmund/blog-70194.html Ukraine versus Saudi Arabia http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/District-of-Hamburg/Hamburg/blog-70373.html Neuchatel http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/North-West/Neuch-tel/blog-72530.html A sidetrip to Champex in the Alpes http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/South-West/Champex-Pass/blog-72584.html Feb 26th Dimanche GrasThis is Dimanche Gras. Not Mardi Gras. As if Fat Tuesday wasnrsquot enough a Fat Sunday is called for. Wersquore all in line each one of us in our positions. We begin by facing one way down the road towards the boulevard headed towards ldquocentre ville.rdquo Then he decides to turn around the other way. Only after repositioning ourselves I hear the distant http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guadeloupe/Point-a-Pitre/blog-47790.html