Blogs from Asia - page 14692

Day 166 - Tubing on the Nam Song river

Asia » Laos » West » Vang Vieng May 19th 2006

aroundtheworldin240days

Larry's 31st Birthday

Asia » Japan » Tokyo May 19th 2006

my birthday dinner...mmmmmmmmmm

Laurence Melanie

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LARRY! If any of you can remember, just like last year, Larry's birthday celebration this year ALSO lasted for about a week! The whole thing started out on May 19th - the actual day - when I cooked a large birthday dinner for Larry when he got home from work. We had steak, asparagus, shrimp, salad, edamame, fresh tuna, and for dessert, me....haha, just kidding....strawberry cheesecake! It was all delicious...even I was quite surprised at my new cooking abilities!! After dinner, Larry opened his presents from me...a ring (sorta like an engagement ring for men, but unfortunately it was too small for him and we had to take it back) and a really cool Japanese watch! The next birthday celebration we had for Larry was a joint-birthday party with all of our friends. Tenley, ... read more

The long way to Longsheng

Asia » China » Guizhou May 19th 2006

The lesser of our problems

ygaller

Part IV of the backdoor route into Yangshou. Our saga continues. Last time I left you in Zhaoxing, that Lijiang wannabe of a village. After an early morning tour of the village, we were ready to move on. In fact, we were ready to move on even before the tour. But time must sometimes be killed. Our objective today was Longsheng. We wanted to get there in order to see the nearby terraces the next day. It was clear from the beginning that this day would be one of travel. There was no sightseeing planned. Just get from point A to point B in the quickest way possible. We did not foresee what this day had in store for us. The nine o'clock bus passed by on schedule and scooped us up, on the way to ... read more

Karaoke

Asia » Japan » Hyogo » Nishinomiya May 19th 2006

Grabbing a kiss off Lis!

succhi

it was good... read more

Suprise trek

Asia » Indonesia » Lombok » Rinjani May 19th 2006

Sunset from the rim

Shlub

Halfway through a journey originally heading over to Gili Trawangan on the 16th of May I suddenly found myself being being whisked off to Rinjani to complete a 2.5day trek which would finish on the 19th and leave me back in the Gili's at the end of it. Perfect. I had been hoping to climb this Volcanoe during my time in Indonesia and this worked out perfectly. Just to set the scene; It's a monster and still very active. It's current height at it's highest point is over 3700m. It has a crater lake at it's summit which itself is a couple of kilometres accross and is surround by the steep walls of the rim which in most places are around 600m high (lake to rim). The trek in, which started at 1000m, already on the ... read more

Contradictions in Mumbai

Asia » India » Maharashtra » Mumbai May 19th 2006

Anyone for cricket?

Clare_OD

Our introduction to Mumbai (Bombay) was probably quite suitable and apt, though at the time it felt more like a stereotypical nightmare. Arriving into 41 degree heat at 7.30am, jet-lagged and hungry, our taxi driver seemed no more acquainted with the city than we did. At 25mph, he drove around in ever expanding loops, once threatening to drop us at the wrong hotel, several times refusing our gently proffered maps and directions, finally (after a three hour sweat-drenched jaw-clenched tip) on our eventual arrival, demanding double fare as his misunderstanding of directions had been "our loss". The views from the taxi windows added confusion to our ire, as this vast city of contradictions unfurled around us. Leaving the airport, we passed tall glitzy Hilton and Marriott hotels, before plunging immediately into mile after mile of slums. ... read more

Cambodia's capital

Asia » Cambodia » South » Phnom Penh May 19th 2006

DizzyDeb

Well readers... I left the dirty streets of Siem Reap for the capital, Phnom Penh. The good news is that it was tarmac nearly all the way. The city is clearly one undergoing change, but with some disturbing reminders of Cambodia's recent past. From 1975 to 1979, Pol Pot led the Khmer Rouge in a reign of violence, fear, and brutality over Cambodia. According to conservative estimates a million people - or roughly one seventh of the country's population - died from starvation, malnutrition and illness during this period. Another 200,000 were executed as enemies of the state. We went to visit a one time secret prison; S-21 was a converted from a school & operated by the Pol Pot regime from mid-1975 through the end of 1978. The focus of S-21 was on those who ... read more

Steamboats and Xenophobes

Asia » Singapore May 19th 2006

Karaoke King

pummel

Does chewing gum earn the death sentence? It's said that in Singapore you don't live in fear of crime, but live in fear of committing a crime and this reverberated through my mind as I came in through customs and immigration. Would I be executed for the one stick of gum buried deep in my bag? Perhaps the small amount of soil on my shoes would land me a hefty fine and jail sentence? Would I be deported before I even arrived? Actually Singapore airport was clean and efficient, and it was a breeze to get from there to the city using the MRT (tube). All this efficiency was a real culture shock after the beureaucratic bullshit that was Bali's Denpasar airport! Crossed Paths The New 7th Storey Hotel was my hay for the night. I ... read more

Perfume River

Asia » Vietnam » North Central Coast » Thua Thien - Huế » Hué May 19th 2006

Dragon boat

Jared and Anna

One of the things you must do in Hue is a cruise down the Perfume River. As we had had 5 early starts in a row we decided to have a sleep in and consequently missed the group tour down the river, so we decided to charter our own boat and go for a cruise. After a lot of price negotiation we were taken out on a dragon boat and cruised up river to see another pagoda, and the tomb of Tu Doc. At the pagoda we just jumped off, took a few photos and jumped back on. We then cruised about another 45 mins upriver to get to where we thought the tomb was, however we were about to fall victim to our first scam, the cunning lady on the boat told us we had ... read more

Arrived in Phuket

Asia » Thailand » South-West Thailand » Phuket May 19th 2006

Hello all! I am in Phuket now... my injuries (see previous entry) are healing... I still can not sleep on my right (bruises and scrapes on right side of body) or on my back (stitches to back of head) but it IS getting better. I can walk without a limp now and the bandages are gone from my head (that was a drag! Everyone asking "you crash bike". Anyway, not much to say about Phuket at the moment... it is quiet here so far, the weather is a bit cloudy... Will take some snaps and post more as it happens. Not sure how long I will stay here... a few days at least.... read more

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