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where to - Andrew Carter

Andrew Carter I guess it's time for an update to the profile here -- it's been a while since I've updated this!

I'm in Canada currently living with my fiancee Jen, and working as a Computer Systems Analyst. The travel bug certainly hasn't died, but it's good to have some stability. Jen and I are certainly planning to travel more in the future -- the question is just when.

Remember, I have lots more photos on flickr.

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Joined on: August 17th 2006
Last Login: October 27th 2008

Blog Entries: 86
Photos: 477
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The ride to Zhongdian was beautiful and we got our first taste of Tibet as we neared the city. Apparently the Chinese have decided that Shangri-la is a much better (for tourism) name than Zhongdian, so that's how it's usually referred to now. We were dropped off adjacent to the old town and made our way to the gh recommended by Mama Naxi's. It turned out to be a bit of a dump, unfortunately, so we went down the street to a nicer place. Our first order of business was to get our visas extended. It took forever to find [View Full Entry]

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691 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 6 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: June 4th 2007 | 113 Views | [diary=178818]

RECOVERED
RECOVERED
RECOVERED

We set off early from Mama Naxi's for Qiaotou. The drive took our packed minibus through some gorgeous scenery. We stopped at a lookout where there were fantastic views of high peaks in the distance. We arrived at the small town of Qiaotou and stopped to buy our entrance tickets for the gorge. We had heard from other travelers that you could present any form of id and get the student discount. I showed them my CO drivers license and sure enough it worked. After picking up our tickets we drove a bit further and then we were let out [View Full Entry]

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1443 Words | 2 Comment(s) | 13 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: May 30th 2007 | 81 Views | [diary=177618]

RECOVERED
RECOVERED
RECOVERED

The bus to Lijiang took us through some spectacular scenery and gave us our first glimpse of the mountains of western Yunnan. When we arrived at the bus station, we called Mama Naxi's (pronounced Nah'Shi) guest house and they agreed to send someone to get us. We made our way through the modern Chinese city and then into the old town. We were led down some small streets to the guest house, which was tucked down an alley. About five minutes after moving into our room we were hustled off around the corner to dinner at another of "Mama's" guest houses. [View Full Entry]

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1040 Words | 2 Comment(s) | 9 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: August 6th 2007 | 84 Views | [diary=176101]

Streets of Lijiang
Stone bridge
Lanterns in the old town

By where to
May 17th 2007

Look at all the tourists

 Asia » China » Dali
Three Pagodas
Three Pagodas
All I saw of the three pagodas
Well, after a rather long bus ride through the Chinese countryside we found ourselves in Dali. Sort of. Apparently, there is an old Dali and a new Dali. The bus dropped us in new Dali and so we had to find our way to the old town several kilometers away. Luckily for us, the LP explains just how to do that. Except that the bus station on it's map is no longer there. We ended up walking for about 30 minutes before giving up and hopping in a cab. Of course, after about two minutes the cab drove by the bus [View Full Entry]

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673 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 5 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: August 6th 2007 | 101 Views | [diary=159754]

Mmm Guinness
Can we say expired
Jen and Maya

By where to
May 14th 2007

Big news

 Asia » China » Yunnan » Kunming
Jen
Jen
Meet Jen. I took the photo from our bungalow balcony on Ko Tao.
So, I have some big news to report. Jen (previously mentioned in the Vang Vieng and Vientiane entries) and I are now together. We really hit it off on our return to Vientiane and we decided to be more than just travel partners. It's been six weeks now, and things are going great. I'm way behind on my blog entries (can you guess why?) so I'm going to condense a few weeks into one entry. Our first destination after leaving Vientiane was Bangkok, although we stopped for a night in the <cough> lovely <cough> border town of Nong Khai. We stayed [View Full Entry]

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1016 Words | 2 Comment(s) | 7 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: August 6th 2007 | 123 Views | [diary=159753]

On the catamaran
Poring over the map
The view

By where to
April 18th 2007

Change of plans

 Asia » Laos » West » Vang Vieng
Gorgeous sky
Gorgeous sky
Around sunset
The morning I left to go back to the farm Jen and I had a discussion about Tibet. Jen expressed quite a bit of interest in seeing Tibet as well, so we decided that Jen would think about it a bit more and then we'd talk in a few days. I caught the bus to Vang Vieng after saying goodbye to Jen and the Kiwis (Nick, Rochelle, and Jimmy). I thought seriously about flying back to China, but I decided to go overland instead. I've been negligent in my blog updating so I've forgotten some of the specifics from the farm, [View Full Entry]

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1042 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 6 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: August 6th 2007 | 90 Views | [diary=154675]

Streets of Vang Vieng
Local wildlife
Mud bricks

By where to
April 11th 2007

Pi Mai Lao

 Asia » Laos » West » Vientiane
Vientiane feels tiny (maybe because it is, at only 200K inhabitants). I've seen it described as a collection of villages, and I think that description is quite fitting. The traffic is light. The skies are blue. People smile when you say "sabaidee". The tuk-tuk drivers recline on hammocks in their vehicles. And finally, you can walk everywhere! This is my kind of capital city. I ended up catching the bus to Vientiane with Martina, who was also staying at the farm. Our plan was to meet up with some of the gang who had already arrived in Vientiane, and so we [View Full Entry]

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1487 Words | 3 Comment(s) | 7 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: August 6th 2007 | 125 Views | [diary=149601]

Vertical Runway
Derelict Amusement  Park
Stupa Detail

By where to
April 3rd 2007

A River Runs Through It

 Asia » Laos » West » Vang Vieng
Misty morning
Misty morning
Mist on the mountains across the river from the farm.
I knew we had finally arrived in Vang Vieng when I started to see restaurants with pillows on the floor and Friends reruns on the tv. Every description of VV I've heard mentions those Friends reruns, and sure enough they're still popular. Some of the restaurants are also showing Family Guy and The Simpsons these days, but Friends is king. The bus dumped us along the roadside in the middle of town. There were more falang (that's foreigners) on the streets than Lao people. In fact, I'd venture that there might be more falang in VV than even Luang Prabang, but [View Full Entry]

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1767 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 7 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: August 6th 2007 | 107 Views | [diary=149523]

A new friend
Kittens
The classroom

By where to
March 31st 2007

Damn it's hot

 Asia » Laos » West » Luang Prabang
In my last entry I mentioned that I caught a bus to Luang Prabang (LPB). I think a "grossly overloaded minivan" is probably a better description of the vehicle. When I arrived at the bus station it was already full and I was wondering where I was going to sit. Worry not, someone soon turned up to toss a young Lao woman into the already full backseat. It's ok, she was smaller than me ;). My newly vacated seat was a fold-down contraption that placed me next to the middle row of seats. I've seen these seats before. They're designed to [View Full Entry]

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1056 Words | 2 Comment(s) | 7 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: August 6th 2007 | 107 Views | [diary=147872]

What does $100 buy you
Nearing sunset over the Mekong
Monkey on a chain

My journey, or perhaps ordeal is a better term, to Laos began with a ten hour bus ride to the provincial city of Jinghong in southern Yunnan. Much of this first leg was on brand-new Chinese superhighways. Eventually, however, we reached the end of the finished freeway and were forced onto a two-lane highway that alternated between tarmac and dirt. Often I could see the under-construction freeway nearby. It looks like they'll have this freeway all the way to Laos in the very near future. It's amazing how they don't bother to thread the road around the topography. In this mountainous [View Full Entry]

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1329 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 4 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: August 6th 2007 | 127 Views | [diary=146319]

Road Work
Lao Village
Worms in the toilet



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