What a fascinating travel story! This is fascinating. It must have been scary to have your phones confiscated, but it sounds as though the trip was otherwise pleasant and interesting. Few people consider visiting North Korea. Bravo for you and Laura!
Yet another adventure Glad that you and Laura have found jobs and a place to live. What interesting adventures you have had! Sounds like China requires a whole different set of skills and relationships. Take care, Elisa
Wonderfull! The photo"s are wonderfull quality,& a memorable look into another world. as I am a decendant of a far-east woman.
Nice really over wellming.the culture there should not be destroyed, for the sake of greed,
By any-one in the west. agree?
Airports in Nepal 82 in Kathmandu
We went to the airport. The customs guy decided my three obviously new thankas were valuable antiques and would not let us board our plane. We had to go back to Kathmandu and take our art to the museum to get a letter that it was ok to take these pieces out of the country. Of course the guy in the museum thought we were crazy.
Sound like they are still screwing around with foreigners at the airport.
Re: electricity
I dont recall any accept in public buildings.
We arrived at dusk and our first walk around Kathmandu at night with no electricity was one of the most magical and mysterious experiences of our lives. Women swathed in shawls turning prayer wheels. WhT the hell? We had no frame of reference and our brains could not process what our eyes were seeing in the dark.
Re: your trek As you know we walked, not reeked but in 82 rural Nepal looked more like another century (like the 18th) than another country. I await your impressions.
I look forward to trading travel stories some day.
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Nepal Adam,
We loved the six weeks we spent in Nepal, both in Kathmandu and Pokara. Pokara is where most of the walks and treks leave from so you will probably visit there.
Nepal has changed so much since our visit. There were few cars in the country, even in Kathmandu. I can't imagine those little streets full of cars, even after seeing it in the internet.
Anyway, as you may or may not know, I write for ehow.com and some other writer has a little piece you might like to see,
http://www.ehow.com/how_2362265_do-everest-base-camp-trek.html
I see that you got to the coast! Great images by the way!
Did you get to the multi-cultural city of Mombasa? I really would like to visit this area. I have heard there are great opportunities to swim with Whalesharks.
thanks! Its nice to know that someone besides my mom and mother-in-law are reading my blog; it isnt super detailed and I havent had the free wireless time to lable all of the pictures, but I am slowly but surely adding posts when possible.
well it is the low travel season.. things were a bit empty but i would just say roomy or spacy.. there was really plenty of room at all of our places though.. looking forward to sri lanka ..were going to the beach today!
wish you could lable your pictures Gee I wish you could lable your pictures. Some are really mysterious, like this first one. I have no idea what that is or it is big like a mountain or small. If it had followed the photo of the toilet that you took I would have had a better idea.
I take it you didn't get to Adu Dhabi.
We saw a show on Dubai recently and noticed that the restaurants etc were pretty much empty these days., now that the economy has turned. How did you find it? The ski slope looks great.
We didn't like Sri Lanka much but did enjoy a safari and going to a tea and spice plantation. Of course it was a whole lot safer in those days and there has been a tsunami since then so has probably changed a lot.
If you are going to Abu Dhabi? I have an acquaintance whose daughter teaches school there. Let me know asap.
RE: layover.How about using the time to editing and labeling your pictures?
Gosh- that airport sounds terrible: Hre are some highights:
"This airport is far too small for the number of passengers, there is very little air conditioning, the shops all sell the same stuff, so really there is only one shop in effect, and it is impossible to buy hot food anywhere. The staff are mostly fairly unhelpful and the toilets are a disgrace. The main problem is the lack of comfortable seating for passengers with a long stay in the terminal. No restaurant facilities, just a bar and a snack bar, both overcrowded. The chairs were removed after the attack on Nairobi with bombs, so all the chairs were removed so that nothing could be left there. the chairs were removed after the attack on Nairobi with bombs, so all the chairs were removed so that nothing could be left there.
The arrangements for security in International Departures mean that passengers who have passed through electronic screening and then buy water or duty free alcohol airside are still very likely to have this confiscated at a second security at the departure gates unless they can produce their receipts for the purchase. No airport signs or verbal warnings from shopkeepers alert passengers to this. This leads to a considerable stockpile of water and alcohol, the destination of which is unclear, while passengers dehydrate in departure lounges which are too small for the planes which they serve.
For folks with a long in airport wait for ongoing flights its wise to book into one of the special lounges. The restaurant on floor 5 is good. By the way - if you have to wait for a connecting flight you won't get a meal voucher unless you ask for it, that is if your flight qualifies for one.
You can pay $20 for 3 hours ( negotiate if you need longer) access to a first class lounge with comfortable seating, drinks and snacks, located near Gate 6."
Is this taken from a moving vehicle? I love taking pictures from a moving vehicle. You're never quite sure what will turn out but some (like this one) are pretty good. Particularly after cropping.
More Lies As a Zanzibari, I take exception to the lies fed to you about slaves who did not fetch good price were slaughtered. True the slave trade was ugly but some of the "facts" fed to tourists cannot pass unchallenged.
oy - a dental nightmare Adam,
For future reference add a temporary dental filling kit to your medicine bag. It's available at the drugs stores in the US and will hold you till you reach somewhere more civilized to get a more permanent filling. That sounded like a nightmare and I hope his sanitation was ok and that is the end of the story.
Thanks for sharing I am enjoying your blog and your around the world adventures. Can't wait to read more. Nice photos. I've nominated you for unknown blogger of the week. Good luck. Keep up the great writing. I wish I was back on the road. My day will come soon enough.
they could all be labled if the internet was free and we had oodles of time :-) ...maybe in india i could go thru them depending on time and availability tho.. i may make a top 50 of africa or something too,
Really enjoyed this blog This blog entry was really a fun read. Great facts and pictures. Is there any way to write captions for the pictures?
We're just back from Florida and off to the Calfifornia beaches. But Africa looks like more fun.
Around the world trip; April 1, 2010 to August 1, 2011 (apx return date).
It will look something like this!
2010
April-May: Washington DC to Roanoke, VA to Buffalo, NY
June-July: Cape Verde, South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique
August-September: Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya
October-November: Qatar, Sri Lanka, Nepal, India
December: Dubai, Abu Dabai, Oman
2011
January-May: China, North Korea, Mongolia
June-July: Japan, Austrailia, New Zealand, French Polynesia... full info
ElisaB
non-member comment
What a fascinating travel story!
This is fascinating. It must have been scary to have your phones confiscated, but it sounds as though the trip was otherwise pleasant and interesting. Few people consider visiting North Korea. Bravo for you and Laura!