Blogs from Asia - page 14809

Took train from Mumbai to Hyderabad visited University, where grandfather was professor of English many,many years ago, Charminar and other places Met Pradeep from Bangalore at the Birla Mandir Temple Hyderabad is more laid back than Mumbai but just as crowded and busy with autorickshaws Bazaars round Charminar sell everything from old bicycle parts to stings of expensive pearls and gold jewelery... read more

hehe... good one. :) Well, yesterday we went on a crazy adventure to Kyoto in search of Geisha. This involved catching a local train to Shin-Yokahama, then catching a bullet train (or shinkansen) down to Kyoto. The shinkansen travels at around 300km per hour, when one travels through a station without stopping, the ground shakes, and a 15 carriage train passes in like 10 seconds... very cool. So we got off in Kyoto, then caught the Japenese subway to Shijo, where our hotel was (very nice, very central, very cool). Unfortunately, we had gotten used to the warm weather in Tokyo, and hadn't thought to bring much warm gear, and it was rainy, and quite chilly in Kyoto, so that was... interesting. Yesterday afternoon we went and checked out the Golden Pavillon, this temple covered in ... read more

A slow day in work, I’ve finished an inconclusive study into why wheelnuts occasionally drop off certain buses on certain routes, always the nearside rear wheel. There doesn’t seem to be anything particularly odd about the vehicles or route, but there’s plenty of evidence to suggest there’s a problem somewhere. The highlight of the day is Japanese for lunch… Walking home from the train stop before my own, the number of street beggars in this part of time struck me, often older men and women holding bowls. It seems that beggars in the UK are rarely older, although perhaps the colder winters kill them sooner? I know a crisp evening took the life of one of Bath’s homeless community last year. In the evening I meet my brother’s godfather, Ronald, and his wife for dinner in ... read more

die situation wurde immer angespannter, der streik immer laenger und keiner wusste wie es weiter geht. klar war: NICHT MIT DEM BUS! es musste irgendwas passierten, denn die lebensmittel wurden immer knapper und gar nichts bewegte sich mehr im staate nepal. also haben wir uns spontan fahrraeder gekauft auf zu neuen ufern mit eigenem fortbewegungsmitteln. nach kompliziertem organisieren von flickzeug zu hohen streikpreisen ging es, mit blick zureuck auf die schneeweisen gipfel der himalayakette, frueh am morgen los. was eine super idee und ein einmaliges perfektes erlebnis! zwar ging es die erste zeit eher berg auf, aber klar war es geht auch wieder runter und sowieso liegt die grenze weiter unten. also schoben wir tapfer die serpentinen hoch. die strasse frei fuer uns. wie wahnsinnig ein land ohne jegliches verkehrmittel ist. nur die geraeusche der natur ... read more

Interesting Beijing facts of the day: there are 13 million people, 3.5 million cars, 10 million bicycles. Motorbikes are not allowed in the city. Traffic is so intense here and such crazy driving, but I only saw one accident. Of course we had to make a pit stop at a jade factory. After much negogiation we picked up two pieces. We went to an Opera tonight also. Food included, yuck. First bad meal this entire trip.... read more