Page 3 of cjschw Travel Blog Posts



I have to admit things are going pretty well. We have been walking probably close to 13 miles a day...we walk from sun up to sun down. and mom's a trooper. Mom has a really detailed description of our day at Chichi so I'll just hit some of the highlights. I was hoping to get mom on a chicken bus....something that everyone (especially an ex-bus driver) should experience in Central America. But alas she opted not too (which was a wise decision on her part). We still had a lot of the excitement - passing buses going 90K on a blind corner, barely dodging stray dogs, and of course the nascar like approach to the windy mountain passes. But in a shuttle bus you don't have to deal with the kids crawling on your lap and ... read more
Blankets
Ninas
Market Scene


My mom and I made a last minute decision to take advantage of her teacher work days and have a short holiday to Guatemala. We have talked about traveling together for years and finally it has happened. We both were extremely excited about this trip for some of the same reasons, as well as different reasons. For me, I was excited to take mom on her own adventure. She has been living vicariously through her children’s travel adventures for the past few years; always helping with flights, with what countries are dangerous, and what souvenirs. Another factor was that while growing up, you spend tons of time with your parents - but as we grow older, we spend less and less time. This trip would be a good chance to spend some quality time together. ... read more
The airport
The famous arch
Me and a volcano

Africa » Morocco » Marrakech-Tensift-El Haouz » Marrakech October 6th 2006

I thought that I would take this blog and talk all about bargaining and the markets. While traveling, one will often spend a good amount of time around the markets - buying souvenirs for loved ones at home (or just roaming the streets). I know that Haley and I have spent a ton of time in the back streets of Morocco hunting down the most unique gifts at the lowest prices possible. Not only is it really nice to have things to bring home from exotic places …. haggling for the lowest price is pretty damn fun. And I will say - I have gotten pretty damn good at it (or at least I think so - I guess I will never really know what the lowest possible price is). A few general notes about haggling: ... read more
Spices
Old Man
Jewelry

Africa » Morocco » Marrakech-Tensift-El Haouz » Essaouira October 5th 2006

Haley and I have covered a lot of ground since we arrived last Friday. We have spent time in Marrakesh, in the High Atlas mountains, a camel trek through the Sahara, and now some time on the Moroccan Coast in a really relaxing town called Essaouira (or something like that). This place seems to be loaded with tourists (maybe even more so then Marrakesh) but regardless, it has really nice vibe. We lucked out and met a really nice guy named Taz who runs a hotel right along the ocean, so after some convincing we decided to check out his place and instantly knew it was for us. He runs the hotel with his father, they are both Australian (and thus speak English) but have been living in morocco for years. It was really nice to ... read more
Fish Eye
Boats
background pic

Africa » Morocco » Souss-Massa-Draâ » Mount Toubkal October 4th 2006

We just got back from the most amazing three days in Morocco. Who would have known you could see so much diversity in one place. So as I said at the end of the last update, Haley and I met a small group of Australians (Chaz, Selwyn, Travis, and Nyree) and signed up for a three day tour from Marrakech to the Sahara, through this trip we would visit the High Atlas mts., the valley of roses (no roses though?), a palmary (oasis), a famous Kasbah (desert castle/village), the Dades Gorge, and many many other Moroccan gems. We spend about 7 hours the first two days in the car and then 12 hours the last day, needless to say - our butts where very sore. I am going to just mention a few highlights from the ... read more
Mohammad and Fatima in Sahara
Our Camel Caravan
Group shot in the High Atlas

Africa » Morocco » Marrakech-Tensift-El Haouz » Marrakech October 1st 2006

Hello everyone, it has been way too long. But i have good news...i am in AFRICA!!! Morocco to be exact. And this time i brought a friend.....a girlfriend to be exact. Haley and I have been looking forward to this trip for ages and it is hard to believe that we are actually here. So now down to business. After multiple plane delays, missed connections, and about an hour of begging and pleading for someone to switch seats with us (we were not initally seated together) we arrived in Casablanca, Morocco! During the second leg of our trip we met a friendly Dutch (aren't they all friendly) guy named "Bob". Bob was renting a car and heading to Essouira and invited us to tag along...after a few minutes of "secret note passing" we decided to join ... read more
Chicken
night scene
Haley

Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul June 11th 2005

Once back in New Delhi, I went to another dentist to get my tooth looked at. This time, I went to the dentist that the US Embassy uses (or so I was told). By this time my tooth felt much better, and the swelling had completely gone down. Much to my relief, the dentist said that everything looks fine, and that there was no need for me to go through surgery. As you can imagine I was pretty happy, I went back to my hotel room, bought a ticket for Istanbul, Turkey, and packed my bags. I was on a flight by that same night! I'stanbul: "Straddling the Bosphorus, its skyline studded with domes and minarets, Istanbul is one of the truly great romantic cities. Its history tracks back from Byzantium to Constantinople to its place ... read more
Blue Mosque
Muslim
Whirling Dervishes

Asia » India » Rajasthan » Jaisalmer May 29th 2005

Well I survived, although at some points (noon to be precise) I wasn't sure if I would! I just got back from a Camel Trek in the deserts of Jaisamler. It was only a 2 day trek but that was enough for me considering the heat and the fact that camels are pretty damn uncomfortable to ride! Jaisamler is a nice little city with another fort towering over it (similar to the pictures from the last blog). Most tourists/travelers come here for the camel treks (but most come when it is not as hot as it is now). But being that it is summer there where very few other tourists here, which in some ways was nice, the hotels where cheaper and the shopping was too (at least I think it was - I got suckered ... read more
My Camel
Kids
Me

Asia » India » Rajasthan May 24th 2005

Hey everyone. I have been moving around quite a bit and have started to fall behind on my blogs. Over the past week I have been in the city of Jaipur, Pushkar, and Jodhpur (and am actually in Jaisalmer right now). The problems with my tooth got really bad in Jaipur, and I ended up going to another dentist. This time I was told that an old root canal that I had was infected and that I'd have to get another root canal, but the problem was that the infection was pretty bad (my face was all swollen) and that I wasn't reacting to the antibiotics the other dentist had given me. He said that if the new antibiotics that he was prescribing didn't work then he'd have to go in a manually remove the puss ... read more
Fortune Teller
Jodhpur Fort
Typical India scene

Asia » India » Uttar Pradesh » Agra May 23rd 2005

After a short bus ride I arrived in Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. Actually entering the Taj Mahal complex was pretty expensive (750 Rupes == 18 dollars) but I was eager to see it; so I decided to head down there anyways and see if I could just view it from the streets or something (I was planning on going in the next morning). I arrived at the main gate to the Taj, and start to poke around a little. I noticed a path that leaded into the woods and around the outside wall....so of course I head down there...ended up sneaking through a fence, past some sort of gaurd (who was cleaning his motorcycle) and into an area that seemed to hold plants and flowers that where used to decorate the Taj Mahal grounds. ... read more
Taj Mahal side view
Me and the Taj
Taj from a distance




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