Blogs from Asia - page 15574

We opted to take a three day and two night trip into the World Heritage Site of Halong Bay. Boarded our junk in Halong City in the chaotic port and eventually negotiated our way out of the harbour. We stopped at the largest cave in the bay and some time wandering around the caverns listening to the echoes and being told some of the legends of this area. That afternoon, Juliet and I opted for a refreshing swim in the open water of the South China Sea -Sara chose to be the photographer. A jump from the top deck of the boat (after some persuasion from Juliet) resulted in a fantastic bruise on my arm from the impact with the water - I need to perfect my water entries!! We changed boats in order to sail ... read more

Our final full day in Asia…it’s been a long journey, and we enjoyed every minute of it (well, maybe not EVERY minute, but most of the minutes). At the same time, we are SOOO looking forward to going home. When the trip started on August 18, we tried to imagine what life would be like on our return flight to the U.S., and, well…it’s pretty much come true…and then some. Some things we didn’t bargain for were the illnesses and soreness. Mama and baba are still struggling with a cough (keeping us up at night) and baba’s got some various aches and pains (sore foot/ankle, mild chills). I’ve got my foot propped up with ice as I write this. Sarah was mildly intrigued by baba’s infirmed state, but hasn’t stopped her from messin’ with baba. Boo-boo’s ... read more

My address in Turkmenistan for the FIRST THREE MONTHS OF SERVICE is as follows: ___________________________________ PCT Stephen W. Smith U.S. Peace Corps/Turkmenistan PO Box 258, Krugozor Central Post Office Ashgabat, 744000 Turkmenistan VIA ISTANBUL ______________________________________ Via Istanbul should be written somewhere on the envelope. This prevents it from going to Moscow, which they say delays everything. Mail is rumored to take up to a month or more to arrive in Ashgabat. Since I leave in a month, and you ever planned on communicating, please start writing to me now! It's going to be a long few years if I don't recieve any letters. Email will be difficult and sporadic, so please, please, please, send letters, NOW. best, S... read more

Geo: 21.0245, 105.841... read more

We’re here…our last stop before returning to the states. Our journey from Guangzhou to HK, a total distance of about 100 miles, took 7 hours from door to door. If my math is correct, that’s about 14 miles an hour. We could have almost biked it faster. The flight itself was only 40 minutes. The rest was traveling to, from and waiting at the airport. One of the nice things was having limousine service from HK to our YMCA hotel. Well, it wasn’t exactly a limo, but it was a nice Toyota minivan that I’ve never seen before in the states. We had purchased a bus shuttle transfer to the hotel, but when they took a look at Sarah, the manager said, “For you, Mr. and Mrs. Hom, we have a limo waiting for you!” Ha! ... read more