Scandinavian breakfast buffets are fantastic. The one at Hordatun was the least impressive of all the ones I had this trip, but still better than just about anywhere else. I started to head north early and immediately ran into a lot more snow. There was a ski center just above the hotel, but I could not tell if it was closed or just early in the morning. Thru another tunnel, back into the snow, then thru another tunnel - I missed the tourist road above, clearly closed this time of year but there was not much to see anyway. On the other side, there was no snow but was overcast and drizzling. However, I made it to my first point of interest: Latefossen. This is a massive waterfall that falls just near a bridge with the ... read more

My colleague / friend (U), whom I have known since 2014 was celebrating his marriage in his home village in Pakistan and invited me to join them. His family live in a small village about 90 minutes drive from Lahore, so my friend (L) and I (all of us colleagues) flew into Lahore and were picked up by yet another friend / colleague (M). It was late when we flew in. In general, the airport seemed fine, but when we arrived at the foreign visa counter, they were having a bit of an IT issue, so it took about 20 minutes just to get me through. Then the few people behind us went through easily. Driving in Pakistan M and his cousin were outside waiting for us and planned to take us to a late dinner. ... read more

We got to sleep in just a little more, until about 8 today, before having breakfast and checking out by 9am. So, no free time in the afternoon as was listed in our program, which meant I had to cancel plans with a colleague I had intended to meet up with. Well, we were kept just as busy today as the day before and I knew I would suffer at work on Monday... Egyptian Museum of Antiquities Our first stop and one of the trip highlights was the Egyptian Museum (for some reason, I always default to calling it the British Museum..... take from that what you will....). The new Grand Egyptian Museum is set to open in 2023, but has been delayed many times for various reasons.... so don't hold your breath. But we drove ... read more

The country that does not exist was another of our planned trip highlights. This is my first time to go to an area of dispute, but I was not at all nervous. I honestly had no idea what to expect! We had a great guide and driver, and our group was pretty cool. We had to make sure to bring our passports, but were quickly through the border control point where Russian soldiers man the offices. The ride was about an hour from Chisinau to the east near the Ukrainian border (yeah, I did not tell my dad until I was back in Dubai). The official name is the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic and is called Transnistria mainly because it straddles or is along the Dniester River. Transnistria maintains more of a Soviet allegiance and ... read more

Why Moldova? This was a question we were asked repeatedly. For me, it was a last minute trip as my Christmas plans and backup plans were canceled. I had seen this trip listed and was curious: wine cave? Cycling? Trains? Yup! I knew a couple of people in this group of eleven women and one man. We flew to Bucharest where we quickly made it thru customs, were picked up and taken to the train station. We had about 5 hours to kill before our trip, so we just hung out in a coffee store inside the station, occasionally harassed by a territorial / homeless man. The station was fine and decorated a bit for Christmas, but aside from a couple places, you need cash to pay for things, especially the toilet. Our train came a ... read more