Blogs from Asia - page 13065

First off: pictures are up on http://picasaweb.google.com/phil467/BangkokCambodiaVietnamReadingWeekTripFeb14Mar5 Or on my Facebook. It's been two days since I got back from my 18-day trip through Cambodia/Vietnam. Wrote my midterm today and now have the rest of the week off to catch up on readings, emails, work, and people. Which has also brought me to a lot of time for reflection... It was exciting! I love travelling, experiencing new things, seeing and trying to understand different cultures and lifestyles of people, etc... some highlights to mention: On being a tourist There's no question about it. Just cause of what you're wearing or the size of your pack or even the fact that you're coming out of a ferry dock/airport/bus station, you're gonna get haggled. Just about everywhere you go, someone's either trying to sell you souvenirs, postcards, drinks, ... read more

אז אחרי משהו כמו 15 שעות טיסה נחתנו בשעה טובה בבומביי. לא ממש המקום לנחיתה רכה.. כבר מהאוויר ראינו קילומטרים של שכונות פחונים וכשיצאנו משדה התעופה הצטערנו שלא לקחנו קצת אוויר נקי בבקבוק.. בשדה פגשנו ישראלית בשם נטלי שהצטרפה אלינו. לקחנו מונית מהשדה לאיזור התיירים שנקרא קולבה ועד עכשיו אנחנו לא מבינים איך נשארנו בחיים. נסיעה של שעתיים, בתוך העיר, בפקקים לא נורמליים, כשבכל נתיב נוסעות בערך 2 מכוניות, 4 ריקשות, 3 משאיות ו-8 אופנועים (לרוחב..). כמובן שקו לבן/עצור/רמזור אדום זאת המלצה בלבד.. בקיצור, חוויה.. (: בכל אופן, בילינו יומיים שלמים בבומביי. אחרי שיצאנו קצת מהשוק של היום הראשון לקחנו למחרת סיור מודרך. ביקרנו בשער הודו, שנמצא בכניסה לנמל. מולו נמצא המלון הכי יוקרתי בהודו - הטאג' מאהל. קשה לעכל שיש כזה מלון בעיר הזאת, שחצי ממנה מלאה בקבצנים ואנשים חסרי בית. משם המשכנו למכבסה העירונית. ... read more

Well, the time had come to leave our piece of paradise but not before a little adventure just like entering Vietnam exiting was just as interesting. we got the ferry to a place called Rach gia and we were appalled at all the rubbish that was washed up at the dock its strange but i really feel asia in general does not realise the harm it is causing by all the pollution we found Vietnam to top the list on the rubbish everywhere front, you may be wondering how we liked Vietnam to be totally honest it was a mixed bag the good the bad and the down right ugly are all here, the woman i found to be really hard working but the are so obbseed with retaining their off white coloured skin to the ... read more

We took a day trip to Ko Phi Phi where "The Beach" was filmed. As you can see it was a beautiful island (when there were no speed boats in view...)!... read more

From Hue, we ventured on to Hoi An, via a scenic mountain route over the Hai Van Pass. The trip was about four hours, there was a bit of fog about, but we managed to glimpse a lot of great mountain scenery in breaks in the fog. Stopped along the way at Marble Mountain to take a look at the incredible marble and jade statues the place is famous for. Lorenza almost had me convinced to purchase a huge Buddha for our garden, but my credit card was saved by the fact that we did not have a long enough stop for her to seal the deal (phew!). Clothes shopping Lucky we did not give the credit card a work out at the marble place, because Hoi An is a clothes shoppers mecca. he entire ... read more