Laura421's Guestbook

Laura, I really enjoy reading your blog of all your adventures. I had no idea on our Russian tour that you were such an avid traveller. I look forward to reading about your new adventure

Really enjoying these posts, Laura!
These posts are really interesting! You are exploring places I never even dreamt of going. Yes, the info, about camel caravans is kind of a downer, but it's better to know the truth! We missed you in Candide, by the way. It turned out well -- lots of fun. Keep the blogs coming!

Bukhara
We did not take the train. Interesting!

What fun that you are on the Silk Road. Peggy and I did a similar trip with Stanford a couple of years ago. Our most recent trip was to Papua New Guinea a month ago. It got cut short when Peggy slipped in a sweet potato field and broke her ankle. She has had surgery and needs another 4 weeks of no weight bearing-- so very inconvenient. Best, Willis

Turkmenistan
Liked the blog. I'll look forward to reliving the trip through your future entries.

Guatamala
Hi Laura, Just returned from Dubai & Abu Dhabi & we were pleasantly surprised at the continued mass building they're still experiencing. We also enjoyed Guatemala with OAT & I hiked to the top of all the pyramids at Tikal. Dave only did 1 as he's uncomfortable with heights. Thanks for keeping us informed with your travels. We're heading to Iceland with our kids in June & in July our family week in Hawaii & finally 3 months in BC, Canada where we camp for the summer. We're getting older as Dave's 82 & I'm 79 so we're aware our travel time is becoming more limited. We still can do 5 mi. running around during the day on our own, so we're trying to make the best of it. Where's your next adventure? Dave said 2020 we'll do Sicily with OAT. We did Dubai with SmarTours & not even comparable with OAT. Always enjoy your Blogs. Barb

Whew!
I felt the tension as you went through passport control in Russia.

Enjoyed the entry to St. Petersburg!
Laura -- Really enjoying these travel blogs! Keep them coming!

Russia & Fourteen Islands
We are finally home after a very unusual summer. We had the bear appear 4 different times with his last after we used a bear banger (the noise always scares them). We had an enormous amount of smoke from the over 1,000 fires in the provence (BC in Canada), and a ban on any campfire. We have been coming to Fir Lake (an hour from Williams Lake (7 hours north of Vancouver) for 15 years with about the same 10 couples returning yearly, It was like a family with pot lucks & card games nightly. Several have died (one being only 69), several very sick, others just couldn't make it. (7 made it off & on over the summer & our kids always come for a week & Dave's brother came for a week.) Earlier we went to Uzbekistan & Turkmenistan in Central Asia for 2 weeks. It was truly a surprise & we loved every minute in this undiscovered area. It was clean & the people so very nice. The architecture was amazing with large beautiful byzantine buildings. Genghis Khan settled here and the people have Asian appearances. . We are trying to get settled, but it's difficult being away since May. I'm continuing to digitize my slides (12,000 down & the same to go). Our 28 yr. old grandson decided to go after his masters & will be living with us as we're only 5 miles from Arizona State U. I'm trying to make room for him in our spare room (which I store everything I am working on). Always interested in your Blogs & we've done Russia twice & could go many times more.

Tour groups
My sister and I are looking to do the Scandavian countries next year. Want to go on a tour. Interested in seeing how RS was. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

I had the same experience with Globus.
I used it because Grand circle does a cruise experience with stops. I thought I wanted more land time. Our guide was horrible. We also spent around $1000 for optionals that should have been included. I called Grand Circle/OAT when I got home and told them I had made a huge mistake and would never do it again.