http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/turkishraf/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from turkishraf en-us Thu, 21 Aug 2008 03:45:10 BST Thu, 21 Aug 2008 03:45:10 BST The T62. An Insight by Farhat Jah. Every night the Tibetans would meet in an elevated square and dance in a large choreographed circular fashion to loud music. We could not work out whether this was practice for a festival in June or whether this was a normal facet of life in Zhondian. In any event the townsfolk seemed to enjoy their dancing enormously. Young women in jeans would dance next to c http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Deqin/blog-309685.html We walked across the bridge into China and I marvelled that people could still walk into a protected country in 2008. I do not count crossing Europes non borders where customs officers have become a rarity and the fences have been taken down. This was the Peoples Republic of China. The largest Communist country in the world with a controlled economy and a state that likes to make sure that http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Zhongdian/blog-279166.html Roof Top Room Elizabeth HotelHanoiNorth Vietnam.The reunification express was immediately renamed the refornication express by me for our video production ldquogood god there is a wog on the trainrdquo.outraged people please note that I am the wog. Our Spaniards are interesting enough and the night passes with some conversation and lots of sleep. It soon becomes apparent that the reunifi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Northeast/Lao-Cai/blog-278186.html Hotel Ten XianHoi AnnCentral Vietnam I am writing these notes on the first real desk that I have come across on our travel. Our room is large cool airy and has french windows that are thrown wide open. Hence the airiness. It overlooks a deep green paddy field this being Vietnam I can not tell whether it is a faux paddy field or a working one. The test one suspects is to note whether a wate http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Southeast/Vung-Tau/blog-274350.html We left the Okay Guesthouse a little late. Our hosts had organised a river ticket for a slightly overpriced ferry ticket to Chau Doc and the Socialist republic of Vietnam. The ferry turned out to be a 30 foot fibreglass boat with an inboard yanmar diesel engine a Vietnamese Captain and a cool box half full of cokes and beer. We all climbed on board and Capt Nguyen started the engine. After offe http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Southeast/Ho-Chi-Minh-City/blog-272183.html Angkor Wat. What a disaster and yet how good for Cambodia. Angkor wat is full of foreign tourists. The heat is intense. The humidity fills up the courtyards like fog. You sweat you drink you stop sweating you worry. The rains are coming but they have not come. You have to record what you see but the sweat runs into your eyes you keep shooting frame after frame teh Nikon motor drive whirrin http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-271689.html To explain our time in Bangkok I must go to India. In 2000 in a fog bound Darjeeling I met a man called Alan Horowitz. A buddhist a former jew can you ever be former a thinker a resident of Taipei TaiwanChina a thoroughly clever man but most importantly a kind and decent man. He was accompanied by his partner PeiYen a beautiful quiet lady and who carried an ancient Nikon. Very rare http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central/Bangkok/blog-271377.html Eight years ago I came to Bangkok I wandered the streets lookedat some huge Bhudda bought a horrible shirt met some people and got stuck wondering where to go. Eventually I managed to make a decision and bought a ticket to Cambodia the next day flew out. We boarded the ancient Royal Air Cambodge 737 at 0700hrs. I had only had one hour of sleep but I had made the flight. At the front of th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central/Bangkok/blog-269823.html This is by no means my finest post. In fact its mundane. It is a catalogue of stress. But if you are sitting at home or work and you are numbingly bored then please do read on. This may brighten your day slightly.RThailand Bangkok Banglampoo district23.04.2007Sitting here in Rambutri street with the thunder booming over my head I realise that Bangkok has changed little since 2000. T http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central/Bangkok/blog-269245.html 17.04.2008 Pemba to ZanzibarYesterday was a day of waiting. We packed our final personal items packed our stuff and waited for the minibus to take us to the airport. There is a major fuel shortage in Pemba and so we all had to go into one minibus. Stuart and Emma our managers were flying out first so the rest of us waited in the Old Mission Lodge. We ate some chapatis and strange spring ro http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/Zanzibar/Zanzibar-City/blog-267692.html The rains have come to Pemba but not quite to us. Thunder booms and rumbles to our south. The sky is filled with heavy clouds but the sun beats down on us relentlessly. We have officially closed. Our last guests a splendid pair of birdwatchers from Canada departed this morning. We have started packing up and the dive centre and kayaks are all inside the building. Stuart has been pulling gearbox http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/Pemba/Wete/blog-266752.html This is a very strange entry we are not in Ethiopia but we want to be. The season is almost over and soon we will have wound up the season. But as we enter the planning stage our travel buddy and escort Justyn Lane is now preparing his vehicle in Malawi. But regretably Amanda his faithful girlfriend has decided against the trip of a lifetime the exploration of the Omo Valley and Northern Kenya http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Oromia-Region/Moyale/blog-263332.html The days have flown by and in two short days the Chepstow branch of the anti corruption unit will be off to Zanzibar for a night and then back to Chepstow via switzerland. In the short time since they have arrived we have only caught two fish. One was a small Tuna and the other a blue fin trevally. Bonefish and dorado have come round to say hello and then left us without a bite. In fact our eff http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/Pemba/Wete/blog-260711.html In a few short days the entire face of Swahili Divers and the Kervan Saray Beach lodge have been changed by the arrival of the ldquoanti corruption unitrdquo. A force of five to seven workers who hail from the Island of Jersey where corruption was invented and South Wales. where fishing is still practiced. Still refusing to pay bribes the team valiantly fix boats install intercoms mend http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/Pemba/Wete/blog-257100.html Dear friends Greetings from Pemba the emerald Island that sits in clear deep blue water. We are only 30 Nautical Miles off the coast of Africa and yet we live in a different world. I have been sending out Haber News letters for some time now and yet I feel that we are loosing something. There is indeed a power to the written word but nothing beats a photo. I toyed with sending out word docu http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/Pemba/Wete/blog-253340.html