Reluctantly we left Varanasi despite the naked people sitting in the dirty streets, the unbelievable amount of cow poop clogging the narrow streets, the CONSTANT power outages, the smelly garbage everywhere, the people urinating and defecating in open view along some of the ghats, terrible pollution, large bellied obviously malnourished children, incredible poverty, CONSTANT badgering and aggressive pan handling by the touts and "guides" (worst … [Read more...]
Almost alone in the Peruvian High Andes
I've been asked by several people why I'm spending all my time in the Andes and not seeing the rest of this diverse country. In my email below I provide my answer. I warn you that it's long, so if you are too busy or not interested, please delete now! I just returned from an incredible adventure in the mountains, and I'm at a loss for words... Whenever I visit spectacular scenery I always fail to find words to express the fullness of what I … [Read more...]
Traditional things to do in Dubai
Is Dubai the new Jerusalem, this millennia’s Babylon, or a middle-eastern Las Vegas? The Emirate city is certainly a new kind of something, that’s for sure. But with the light glinting off the gold cylinders of the Al-Attar tower like it does, it’s hard to think of what exactly. Let’s just say that most of what’s happening here is currently unprecedented, both in terms of scale and – if you consider the devastating combination of sunshine and … [Read more...]
Dubai – A Piece of The Pie
The following is taken from Dave's Journal regarding a long weekend spent in Dubai I took a quick trip up to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates 3 weeks ago in the midst of the annual Shopping Festival. Thirty years ago this was a local regional city. Today its an international nightmare, depending on your perspective. Perhaps it is a city that will cause you to have a strong visceral reaction. Lots of craziness with the terrible traffic, … [Read more...]
Mendoza, Argentina – Transportation
Bus - The bus station is located about 15 to 20 minutes from the Plaza del Armas (the center of town). As with most bus stations, train terminals or airports be careful of your bags and belongings. These are typically high crime areas. We met a fellow traveler who was hanging around at the bus station when she was approached by a local - he pretended to ask her directions and she put her bag down to help him and when she looked back down, he and … [Read more...]
How to Avoid The Pitfalls of Using a Taxi
In general, this article is about problematic taxi drivers. It is really hard to put a percentage on the "bad" taxi drivers I've used on trips around the world as each country is different and it is these "bad" drivers who really stand out in your mind. If I had to choose a number, I would say maybe 30-40 percent of the taxi drivers I've used around the world have tried to pull something shady on me. In the same grain, there are many taxi drivers … [Read more...]
The Pyramids of Giza
The Egyptian Pyramids! One of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World! I had read about them in school. I had seen them on countless TV programs, and I had always wondered what it would be like to see them in person. And now, now, I was going to do just that - see the pyramids in person! The Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt, Germany to Cairo was, thankfully, not even half full. There was lots of elbow room for everybody, and since I'd been … [Read more...]
India: Sixty million villages and still counting
How on earth do you cover one billion people and more than five thousand years of history in one short article? I am afraid I won't be able to answer that question in regard to writing something about India. I can do no more than give you my week's worth of roaming about in northern India, a country which I found as diverse as it is huge and old. Just to get primed for the speed at which life proceeds in much of this country, our train to … [Read more...]
Mt. Fuji Climb
Our trip to Mount Fuji began at 7 AM last Friday when Kathy and I left our apartment to catch our early morning bullet train to Japan's most famous mountain. After nine hours of traveling via taxi, bullet train, and bus, we arrived at Fuji-san's 5th station (7562 feet) at 4:30 PM. With our high tech graphite walking sticks and backpacks filled with rice balls, water, and winter clothes, we began our ascent up the mountain at 5:30 PM. The … [Read more...]
Fjord Water isn’t Salty….Impressions of Scandanavia
I hadn't been in Sweden for one hour and I found myself sitting in the back of a police van, bicycle and all. Now, I am normally not that much of an outlaw but this time I had decided to buck all Swedish rules against riding on the freeway, when I got picked up by one of the cops. It turned out that Stockholm's international airport was a good forty five kilometers from the city itself, a perfect distance to put my airplane cramped legs to good … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
- 20
- …
- 22
- Next Page »