Hey guys, I'm forwarding your blog info to my nephew AJ Andrew Siringo to check out what a good job is on documenting travels. He's heading to Argentina for school through UMASS, and wants to document his adventures. Hope you don't mind, got the URL again from you Dad.
Hope all is well, take care and give Max a hug from us.
LY, Lea and Doug
re: black dragon pool Wonderful shot--by the way, one story goes that this view inspired Hilton's vision of Shangri-La, in his novel Lost Horizon.
Surprised? I didn't think so.
Not so Innocents Abroad Your writing is excellent and your description of the camel driver's persistent peddling was hilarious! Also, your story on getting to Saqqara via hiring a cab was very informative and I think it will be very useful when we go. Thanks for an excellent blog!
Tom
Seeking Lake Titicaca boat picture This message will likely surprise you (I hope in a happy way). I'm a historian (prof. of history at Univ. of Illinois-Chicago) finishing a book for the University of North Carolina Press on the history of maritime labor regulation in the Atlantic world. One of my chapters focuses on the development of the "loadline" as pioneered by the British reformer Samuel Plimsoll, standard on all ships since the late 19th century. On your Titicaca trip blog, you had a very nice shot of a Peruvian pleasure craft on which the load line is very visible on the side of the hull. If possible, I think I'd like to use it (of course with proper credit) as an illustration in my book. For a book-quality photo, I'd need a TIFF or photoshop quality version of the web photo which is only aa jpeg with relatively-low resolution. Is it possible you can oblige me? many thanks! Leon (email leonfink@uic.edu or call me 773-314-6081 with any questions)
Jealouse!!! Ive never been in the warmer part of the world, ever. Seeng stuff like this makes me very jealouse,i would so love to experiense a warm climath if only for a couple of weeks. Looks amazingly beautifull and awsome....nice.
How horrifying it is to realize that almost anyone is capable of such evil...
Let this be a lesson to those who would disarm civilian populations!
Never again
Thank you Reading your commentary, you express sentiments I share.
I am going to to the Incas on 8th Juy and was looking for the type of clothes needed and came across your page.
WHile you don't talk about climate, your comments reflect feeling I have of the Greek Isles where if you are with the standard Tourist groups you get 'stuff thrust up your nose" while if you go back alone, you get ot see the place at your own uninterrupted pace.
I enjoyed yourn writings.
Cheers Dawn
Petra I have just returned from Egypt and Amman and I have just relived my journey through the siq in Petra by reading your journal.
I found it an amazing place and am in awe of the architecture and brilliance of a civilisation that existed so long ago. Thank you for and awesome account. My blog was no where near as detailed.. love reading others accounts.
Happy travels
Parliament Palace, also known as the House of the People With a surface of 330.000 m², structured on 6 levels and having an 84m height, the building is registered in the Guiness Book of Records as the world’s second building after the Pentagon.
They said it..
A Great Read! whats up little bro? loved reading your stuff! man, you coulda substituted a brother and taken my fat ass with you since richie couldnt go! love you Sean, tell Shan i said hello. let me know if you ever make it to Dallas, i'll show you a honky tonk good time!
visualize whirrled peas! Deano
Lovely! Petra looks amazing! Great trip you had! I don't agree with Alison. It's better to see the place that people don't get the chance to see too often. We can all see the capitals, but we can't all see what lies behind them....so we should praise & respect history and discover it more! Way to go guys! Adina (Romania)
Ballinalee Village Hello Sean & Shannon. I just found your web ste about your visit to Ireland, specifically Ballinalee. My wife and I own a cottage on Black Island Road, Kilshruley, Ballinalee. Distant relatives of mine (O'Mullally) once owned the cottage. We were fortunate to purchase it in 1997. So now it's back in the family. My great grandparents were born (1848 & 1850) in the townlands of Glenoghil and Cavan respectively. Very near the village. My great grandfather served mass on Sundays at St. Barthomew in the village - the site of the present day Holy Trinity Catholic Church. Our cottage was the scene of a gun battle on the evening of January 7-8, 1921 between a small contingent of IRA led by Sean Mac Eoin, the "Blacksmith of Ballinalee' and a troop of Auxilliaries & Black and Tans, led by District Inspector McGrath. I discovered mention of the incident in 12 books (and counting) on contemporaty Irish history. We go 'home' each year to tend to a bit of our Irish history & heritage. My great-great aunt (great grandfather's older sister - only sibling) was married at St. Mat's in November 1868. Hope you had a chance to imbibe in each of the pubs. Farrell's - owned by Martin & Mary; Stag's Head - owned by Jerome Reynolds, and Rawle's - owned by Stella Rawle. Glad to hear you enjoyed yourself.
Regards,
Donn Barrett
Portland, Oregon
Budweiser The Budweiser: when you say it seems the czechs have "their own version" what you actually mean is the americans have "their own version" as czezh budweiser was in production decades before the american copy. the idea was stolen by an american and put into production before the czechs had copyrighted their own original beer and legally no action could be taken. it is far better than the american rip off!
Great Pictures I could learn a thing or two from you guys. Ive learned that posting just the best pictures from 14 days lends itself to one fantastic set of pictures! Look forward to the rest of your posts... are you sure there was no cardboard in those "meat filled buns"? :)
Interesting blog! And beautiful photographs, especially when stumbled upon by a somewhat homesick an Aleppine Brit. Regarding your question re: women - we have far more choice than you would think. Actually, especially nowadays, few marriages are as orchestrated as that man you encountered seemed to suggest in his (pretty simplified) rendition of courtship. It's a lot more like blind-dating, and you do a LOT more talking/getting to know each other rather than just 'looking' as he implied, and women actually tend to be the fussiest in a couple with regards to who they want and what they want... isn't that a general rule the world over, though? (*Is female - and from a conservative family - hence can't be accused of chauvinistic girl-bashing/bias due to a particularly progressive background!*)
Also, both parties often back out regardless of how far they are into courtship... from a sociological POV, I think the general trend is such that the longer pre-marital courtship goes on for, the more likely it is for someone to back out - a statistic that interestingly is also seen in Western-style relationships with respects to certain levels of courtship. Oh, and while parents are often the matchmakers, much of the time it's also friends, relatives, general acquaintances... big giant social match-making network, if you like. And I can't quite agree that you often end up marrying a distant cousin/relative; it happens fairly regularly, but hardly a 'most often' scenario.
Actually, having spent most of my life in London but also being strongly Syrian, I would really compare the entire courting process to the online dating/speed group-dating bug that seems to be catching on (at least in Europe) & spreading like wildfire here with appealing and shy/awkward circles alike... a main difference is that people insist on the presence of a chaperone to protect a person's honour/virtue/reputation, which is obviously very sacred in Muslim societies (for both sexes, despite what people may think!).
All in all, judging from the impressions you took away from it, I think the account you were told was quite misleading as a general one at least.
Hope this helps! Thanks again for pleasant read : )
¨Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.¨ Mark Twain... full info
Tuğrul Kahraman
non-member comment
Hello!!! I have read some writing on your page really very nicee ..also pictures on the page :)just wanted to tell them..