http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/turkishraf/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from turkishraf en-us Sat, 28 Nov 2009 18:30:50 +0000 Sat, 28 Nov 2009 18:30:50 +0000 The T1086 to Dunhuang.Due to the vagaries of the China Rail System it was not possible to buy a ticket from Turfan to Dunhuang. Our guides had to buy the tickets from Urumchi to Liyuan. However it was not as simple as this.ldquoIf a berth goes un occupied for more than two hours then the conductor has the right indeed is encouraged to sell the berths to someone elserdquo David explained as http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Gansu/Jiayuguan/blog-455236.html My previous experiences departing from Pekingrsquos new Terminal 3 were atrocious. There was no climate control the shuttle trains ran every 45 minutes and water or food was not available for sale anywhere after security. This time we checked in reasonably smoothly breezed through security and found ourselves drinking atrocious cappuccinos in a nice chilly caf with a view of the apron. This http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Xinjiang/Turpan/blog-454801.html It had been 14 months since we were last in China during the frenzy of the Peking Olympics. There had been a state inspired party atmosphere during that time where we felt that everyone had to be happy or else. It had been horribly hot and polluted and yet most things foreign and strange were forgiven. We had been to Sinkiang and seen the hard life that was lived by the minorities there and http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/Chaoyang-district/blog-454273.html A journey in the making. Milton Massachusetts to the People's Republic of china. Via Istanbul.I really donrsquot know where to start on this. It all started in Wales. My wife Cisca was in Hospital having her appendix out. I was at a bit of a loose end and so wandered down to a friendrsquos house to watch some TV. BBC2 were doing a program on the origins of the Chinaman. They went down to Guil http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/blog-453350.html Three hours east of Singapore the shape of Sulawesi started to appear. A snaking green peninsula of peaks that wound its way towards the west. Three hours in an airbus A319 was a quite a distance but our journey was not over yet. Another thirty minutes of flying saw us descend slowly over the South China Sea. The aircraft banked sharply over some small islands and cruised in between some disuse http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Sulawesi/Menado/blog-441669.html Much to my regret most of my journeys seem to start with a flight. This one was a little different. It started with three flights and a boat ride. On Friday Cisca and I sat at Heathrow airport. We had checked in and Turkish Airlines accepted our 33 kilos each without demur. 30kg allowance. This had been a close run thing. The night before we flew out Mac informed me that we had no working bo http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/Changi/blog-437878.html The aircraft lined up on the end of the runway. The pilot was making sure that every inch of Pembarsquos 5000ft runway was available to him. ldquoPemba tower this is 5 hotel delta alfa kilo. Twenty six souls on board destination Zanzibar flight level two fiverdquoldquoAlfa kilo Pemba tower confirmed Zanzibar flight level two fiverdquoThe balding Pilot turned to his bald co pilot an http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/Pemba/blog-424650.html Dear Readers and friends of Pembait is hard for me to write this as of course there will be some negative connotations attatched to this blog. But those of you who read this blog on a regular basis will know that I live on Pemba and that I am contantly in awe of the incredible and unspoiled underwater environment that exists here on our paradise island. True we do have our problems and yes tru http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/Pemba/blog-422097.html My first memories of Van were being there in 1992 when the PKK campaign was reaching its high point. The government had lost control of large sections of the country and all travel at night was banned. Towns were effectively cut off after sunset they became Islands. Today people talk of the dangers of travel in the east but in 1992 the danger was infinite. I was 21 and perhaps stupid and I wante http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Southeastern-Anatolia/blog-401046.html Turk Hava Yollari Mehmet as he was known in Dogubeyazit nudged his ford transit through the crowds other parked transit vans and sheep to leave the town. We passed by the local tank battalion. In February 1993 I had stayed in a hotel opposite this camp. Every morning we were awakend not by the muezzin but by 250 battle tanks having a pre dawn ldquostand tordquo. This involved the crews get http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Eastern-Anatolia/Dogubeyazit/blog-401038.html In the fifteen years since I first visited Ani I have noticed that the weather has had a negative effect on the ruins of Ani. The department of culture and antiquities has where possible added discreet metal supports. The steel shafts are painted a similar colour to the stone but there is no mistaking the force of the elements. We were free to wander around and take photographs. But Ani was no http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Eastern-Anatolia/Kars/blog-401036.html My friend Mike Eggers had been Living in Turkey for five years. Mike had been living in Istanbul for 5 years and was moving on to Korea. He was sad to leave and I foolishly suggested a hello and goodbye tour of the interesting places he might not have seen. Much to my surprise he had readily agreed and so we traipsed up from Tanzania to explore some of the less well known and arguably far mo http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Eastern-Anatolia/blog-401026.html This is a funny Blog spot. I have interrupted my usual deadline of stories to inclde something that is close to my heart. As an inveterate traveller and indeed part time explorer I am a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. A proud fellow who seeks to give information and the results of observations made I now find myself like many members shut out from the society.The society that was the http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/blog-400344.html Our journey to Europe started in Jersey to celebrate the 40th birthday of a friend of ours. Of course Jersey is not in Europe not only is it 11 nautical miles off the European continent it is not part of the EUrsquos political process. Jersey makes its money on finance but it should re assess this immediately. The southernmost of the British Isles has long white beaches fringed by dramatic cl http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Languedoc-Roussillon/Aude/blog-395185.html We boarded our old airbus A320 at Delhirsquos Palam Airport. They like to call it Indira Ghandi International but I prefer the old name. Indian Airlines has been operating this type since 1990. I suspected that our aircraft was one of the first batch. My seat was worn but soft and the leg room sufficient for a man of 6rsquo2rdquo. The main benefit of these airbuses is that the Indians o http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Jammu-and-Kashmir/Leh/blog-392355.html Leaving Bandhavgar showed us how remote the park was. We opted to drive to Kati Junction and take the train to Delhi. After changing our tickets using Indian Railways electronic ticketing system we embarked on what we were told would be a one and a half hour ride. This turned out to be a two and half hour drive over some very bouncy badly maintained roads. Having budgeted two hours for the journ http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-392351.html Leaving Hyderabad proved to be much more difficult than arriving. We had been waitlisted on the Jabalpur train for a month and promised that within a month the confirmation would be issued. On the day of departure nothing happened. No confirmation was forthcoming. The problem was that this train only operated twice a week between Hyderabad and Patna. A sort of cross country intercity express t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Madhya-Pradesh/Bandhavgarh-NP/blog-392346.html Hyderabad is this multi ethnic multi religious mix of bad 1980rsquos concrete ultra modern euro hotels and business parks and an ancient dusty dirty Islamic heart. We visited chowmahella palace the residence of the 5th Nizam. This palace was a series of low bungalows that caught the breeze. Each was laid out with understated finery. This was not the gaudy palace of the vassal state of Mysore http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Andhra-Pradesh/Hyderabad/blog-392338.html I rolled over and looked out of the window. Green India was trundling by. We slowed and screeched into Varkala station. We ground past some foreigners who were obviously on the wrong part of the platform. The ran to keep up with the train and eventually got left behind. As the train slowed and stopped no one immediately got onto our carriage. After a moment or two sweating foreigners started to http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Kochi-/blog-392334.html We all have our pet hate airlines and our favourite airlines. There are some things about some planes that are fantastic like mood lighting on long haul flights and some that are horrible like bad legroom on a 6 hour flight. All of the major European airlines have now cut back on so much that no matter how much you pay for a ticket and no matter how long the European flight is Amsterdam to http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/blog-380230.html