http://www.travelblog.org/ Live Travel Journals, Diaries and Photos from real Travellers en-us Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:01:34 UTC Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:01:34 UTC Irsquom going to come clean and admit that the events of the last post were actually a very long time ago. Irsquove managed to let almost a whole month go by without keeping up to date. Sooo Irsquoll try to whistle through some of the key events.The weekend after Togo we agreed wersquod had enough excitement for one fortnight and chose to stay in Accra. What with 11 hour trips to Takor http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Ghana/blog-347267.html The weekend after Togo we agreed wersquod had enough excitement for one fortnight and chose to stay in Accra. What with 11 hour trips to Takoradi and hiding from Togolese taxi drivers I still hadnrsquot had my muchhopedfor day on the beach so I decided to play things safe and spend Saturday sitting by the pool at Accrarsquos Novotel. At eight cedis it isnrsquot a bargain but you do http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Ghana/blog-347265.html Yosemity Valley Sunny Side Campground.25102002.We give praise to the Lord and thank him for this food. I039ve never been much in the way of religion but I obligingly bow my head repecting the faith of my hosts.While Steve gives thanks to his God for food and red californian wine I allow my mind to wander back to the hiking I did today.Today I hiked all the way up to North Dome which is at http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/California/Yosemite-National-Park/Yosemite-Valley/blog-347263.html November 21st At Sea 1040pmIt was a nice quiet morning at the desk as JC and Charmaine both had the day off so we were able to get a lot of work done. It was my turn to go to walk downs at the disembarkation show with Francesca so at 1050am we trotted down to the theatre. We were quite surprised when we got there as there were only about 40 crew members there. We have a new cruise director http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/blog-347254.html Our intuition paid off avoiding the night train was a good idea because the train ride was amazing. We were trying to watch a movie on the laptop but the scenery kept rudely interrupting. http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Austria/blog-347253.html After sleeping like the dead in the Rondavel we packed up and headed for teh bright lights of Durban. There is quite an interesting route back and we stopped off at Howick where there is quite a good waterfall a few touristy shops and the some Anglo Boer War memorials. Noteably it is also the place where Nelson Mandela was arrested.Due to our aching muscles we took the day very slowly and ended http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/South-Africa/KwaZulu-Natal/Amanzimtoti/blog-347251.html Firstly I had better explain that we didnt actually go to Lesotho as we didnt have enough time but we were a stones throw away so I'd thought I would add itWe arrived at the Khotso Horse ranch at lunch time and were immediately awe insipired by the views.The ranch was in teh mountain near the town of Uunderberg in the Southern Drackensburg region. I beleive the ranch was approx 1500m above sea le http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Lesotho/Sani-Top/blog-347249.html Prague was our first real tourist mecca shock. The first sign of this impending anoyance was the fact that our hostel was full of loud Americans. We thought we might have just accidentaly booked the American hostel but no Prague was full of loud Americans.The first day out we walked right into their trap. We went to the changing of the guard at the castle with the idea of looking around it aswel http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Czech-Republic/North/Prague/blog-347248.html FranaisFrench Nous avons ariver a Rome est on a partie dans un rental car a Spoleto dans la region de Umbria. Il y a des olive sur des arbre. Nous avons vue baucoup de nos amis de Italy ici aussi. Il n y a pas plus a dire donc avoir pour maitenemp Cristiana P.S. Papa et sur son quatrime capuccino aujourd huiEnglishAnglais We arived at Rome and left in a rental car to Spoleto in the reg http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Italy/Umbria/Spoleto/blog-347246.html Hey all finding a computer to use has been a challenge. I thought internet cafes would be on many blocks if not towns for sure but unfortunately not. So here I am. back in Paris. Italy was the biggest surprise in that I not only got my document that I was wanting but met and was entertained by several relatives. It was a moment I hadn't really allowed myself to think was possible. I had many of http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/France/Centre/blog-347245.html After my experience last week I now fully understand the meaning of suffering for ones looks. The saying ldquono pain no gainrdquo has an entirely different meaning to me. Back home in Canada I would consider myself a pretty low maintenance girl when it comes to my appearance. I have never really liked overly done look on others or myself either. I will wear a little make up make sure http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Ghana/Ashanti/blog-347243.html The journey to Rio is even longer than I had expected as my bus is delayed and I arrive in Rio at 1am with no hostel booked and no map. I am welcomed by a dozen taxi drivers offering me a ride they are like vultures not exactly what you need after more than 30 hours on the bus. I pick the cheapest one and I am taken to the steet where a hostel reccomended to me by a fellow traveller is. Only I http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Rio-de-Janeiro/blog-347242.html Our adventure started with a 2 hour trip outside of the city to visit a pretty little water town called Xitang. Xitang was established about one thousand years ago and in someways has most probably maintained its charm. Today Xitang is a living museum where there is a modest charge for admission. We think the money is charged to help with the upkeep of the city but it's not like a local sat d http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-347241.html ... like the old book says ...Ok I admit it I am a little bit in a gloomy mood I guess is not the best time to write my BLOG God knows what I might end up writing There is a time to look for something and a time to stop looking for it I guess. Sometimes it is right in front of us but we are so in the lookforsomething more mode that we do not realise that the time to stop s http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/blog-347240.html Hello kind followers of our travel blogFirstly no that's not a spelling mistake in the title. Ayutthaya the old capital of Thailand has many wats and temples. And also many ants. Some that made their way into my bag and onto my clothes 'ants on my pants' was the second choice of blog title. Anyhow I'm getting ahead of myself. The last time David posted a blog we were in Bangkok staying in C http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Thailand/Central/Ayutthaya/blog-347238.html October 20 2008 Monday 915 p.m. PokharaWersquore in Pokhara after a 6 hour drive. Very fun drive not as scary as I was led to believe. For one thing Irsquove developed a lot of confidence in the ITrekNepal drivers. Crazy driving but not really careless at all.We did some shopping. I enjoyed it. Bruce went out after dinner to get a book and probably a drink. We met with Dilman our guide http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Nepal/Pokhara/blog-347237.html October 19 2008 Sunday 110 p.m. Bhaktapur NepalWe finally got plane at about 6 p.m. Our luggage made it fine. We were met at the airport by Shree from ITrekNepal and were driven to Bhaktapur Guest House in Bhaktapur NOT Kathmandu. We were given dinner on the plane although we had also been given a free lunch at the airport because of the delay of our plane. We had a beer with Shree and Eliz http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Nepal/Bhaktapur/blog-347236.html Ah rite ladies and gentsLeft the beach and delved back into a bit of city life. Hampi is so bizarre. Like there are all these rock formations that are scattered all over the place. Like i said before India is Crazy. Anything is possible.Right so we took a tour and this wee dude was crouched down on a plan open rock doing a shite yes you heard me right. His arse bare for the world to see and d http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Goa/blog-347235.html So we left Cusco to head towards Huacachina a little oasis in the middle of a desert. We got here via a night bus to Ica that passed via the famous Nazca lines. We decided that for the money this was low on our agenda particularly as the people we met had all been sick on the plane Huacachina is 3km from the city of Ica and is a tiny oasis surrounded by huge sand dunes. The place was hist http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Peru/Ica/Huacachina/blog-347234.html October 15 2008 Wednesday 5 p.m. At American gate A7 Philadelphia Airport.Hassle at check in because we have 22 hours layover at Delhi and no transit visa. Will take all of 22 hours to get our baggage and then get it on flight to Kathmandu. But the ticket agent was amazingly helpful and got us through. And Bruce and I were amazingly patient. October 17 2008 Friday 755 a.m. Hong KongWersqu http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Nepal/blog-347232.html heute war ich in stellenbosch mit der sabrina der bine und dem martin und es war soooo schoen.. des ist echt einfach so ne kleine schnuckelige stadt inmitten von weinbergenhaben zuerst mal nen bissle di stadt angeschaut mit den ganzen alten hauesern und strassen und so.. des wra mega suess.. die niedlichste stadt in suedafrika die ich bis jetzt gesehen hab...spaeter waren wir noch auf nem wein http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Stellenbosch/blog-347230.html Mercredi 18 nous sommes allees a l ecole du village distribuer les fournitures achetees avec l argent donne par Aline et ses amis la soeur de Nicole merci beaucoup... Les enfants nous accueillent avec beaucoup de joie et ont chante en anglais pour nous remercier cette joie nous la partageons avec vous. http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Mamallapuram/blog-347229.html It feels like its been ages since I have been on this thing and I apologize. The internet across the country has been mediocre at best and the connection I have in my room has been down. I got a partial explanation of why everything is so slow here. There are basically a handful of companies a few years ago there were literally only two that control all the bandwith coming into the country whic http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Ghana/Greater-Accra/Legon/blog-347228.html Okay have I explained HOW BIG THIS CITY IS There is no way one can drive from one end to the other because you can't find the other Tall buildings construction in preparation for Expo 2010 apartments shops and people.. it just goes on and on...We started our day by heading to the French Concession area on the west side of town for a Dumpling Class at a restaurant. Brentley was thrilled to http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-347227.html So we left Puno to head directly to Cusco in preparation for the inca trail. The journey from Puno was spectacular with stunning scenery and breathtaking views of the Andes it really did set the tone for our stay in Peru well. We arived in Cusco and immediately could sense the weight of history upon the place as everywhere we looked we saw ruins or memorials to inca rulers and their legacy. http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Peru/Cusco/Inca-Trail/blog-347226.html Shabbat shalom First I have a correction. I wrote in my previous entry that we were visiting Hevron and saw the Hezbollah nest. Hezbollah is based in Lebanon and is also very against Israel. What we saw was HAMAS' terror nest. Hamas is based right here in Israel and concentrated in Hevron. My apologies. Hamas is not any better than the other. They are both antiZion antiIsrael antiJe http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Israel/Jerusalem-District/Jerusalem/blog-347225.html On est arrives le 19 novembre en Malaisie directement en bus depuis Krabi en Thailande. On est a present a l'Ile de Penang au Nord Ouest du pays. C'est une Ile tres agreable et comme le dit le Guide du routard c'est un excellent endroit pour decouvrir le pays. Dans la ville de George Town beaucoup de temples chinois magnifiques et un quartier indien de quoi nous rappeler le debut de notre http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Malaysia/Penang/George-Town/blog-347224.html Hi. The journey back to Nothumberland was fine if rather exhausting. Christchurch airport was great no long queue and friendly staff. I slept well between Sydney and Dubai. That flight was an hour late so I had no time to look around Dubai airport and spend money. They were announcing the departure of the Newcastle flight as I entered the terminal building. A slight panic but I should hav http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Northumberland/blog-347223.html