Hey there KJ -
Finally, some relaxation for me on the beaches in the south of Sri Lanka. Hong Kong for a day was splendid, as it always is, just an amazing place to visit with by far the best airport in the world to boot, so Colombo really had a hard time living up to any expectations. It's nothing but dust and dirt, people and more people, unbelievable noise on the streets from continuous honking and 50-year old diesel buses, not to mention legions of tuk tuks. Escaping towards the south I rode an "Intercity Express" train for 3 1/2 hours, something more similar to old wooden cargo waggons than anything remotely resembling up-to-date train technology, not to mention the 1000+ people spilling out from open doors along the entire stretch of this express moving at about 30 km/h. Quite an experience, let's leave it at that. The beach at Hikkaduwa was nothing to write home about (but plenty of tsunami t-shirts on sale, of course), the ancient fort town of Galle at least has something akin to what one would call charme, but the beach at Unawatuna is worth a day or two - nothing like the South Pacific but relaxed and nice, not to mention cheap. Back to Colombo tomorrow, the day after on to some more stressful life for me - island hopping on the Maldives.
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Ciao Kermit -
Oh wonderful Old Continent! After dust and dirt, deserts and camels, Islamic round-the-clock prayers and mosques, shwarma and dishdashas - finally, some old-fashioned relaxation with capuccinos in trattorias on Rome's cobblestone streets in beautiful springtime sunshine. Two days here (again) reminded me of ultimately questioning my final destiny... it always seems so much more like Mediterranean Europe than Northern California. We shall see one day! Hong Kong for a day tomorrow, then via Bangkok to Colombo for a few days in Sri Lanka. Beach time!!!
Oh wonderful Old Continent! After dust and dirt, deserts and camels, Islamic round-the-clock prayers and mosques, shwarma and dishdashas - finally, some old-fashioned relaxation with capuccinos in trattorias on Rome's cobblestone streets in beautiful springtime sunshine. Two days here (again) reminded me of ultimately questioning my final destiny... it always seems so much more like Mediterranean Europe than Northern California. We shall see one day! Hong Kong for a day tomorrow, then via Bangkok to Colombo for a few days in Sri Lanka. Beach time!!!
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Hello Junior -
I am back in Bahrain now at the Cathay Pacific lounge but what a trip to Kuwait it was! On my Gulf Air flight from Abu Dhabi (Emirates) to Doha (Qatar), I sat next to this cool Kuwait stock exchange manager, in full Arabian outfit of course. When I told him about my travels and complained that it was impossible to get in and out of Saudi Arabia or Kuwait he just smiled and told me "no problem" because he has "wusta" - basically, some sort of local influence with the powers. I went to the headquarters of you-know-who Al Jazeera in Doha for a "business invitation" of some sort, flew to Bahrain where I received said invitation along with tickets on Jazeera (yeah, there's an airline, too) and then was immediately granted residence in Kuwait upon arrival when I handed over my fancy letter! (The Americans haven't managed to do that for me in over 9 years now!) Pretty amazing plaze there... patched bullet and missile holes on the famous Kuwait Towers, tons of destruction/construction going on, bustling life, and probably the most S-Class Mercedes cars I have ever seen in my life. I always think I am so smart but this time I got screwed: I wasn't able to send a postcard for bragging rights - think about it, obviously there isn't any money to be made from selling postcards if there are no tourists! Believe it or not, sometimes we fail at the simplest tasks... here, buying postcards and stamps. Now via London to Rome for two days of well-deserved R+R!
I am back in Bahrain now at the Cathay Pacific lounge but what a trip to Kuwait it was! On my Gulf Air flight from Abu Dhabi (Emirates) to Doha (Qatar), I sat next to this cool Kuwait stock exchange manager, in full Arabian outfit of course. When I told him about my travels and complained that it was impossible to get in and out of Saudi Arabia or Kuwait he just smiled and told me "no problem" because he has "wusta" - basically, some sort of local influence with the powers. I went to the headquarters of you-know-who Al Jazeera in Doha for a "business invitation" of some sort, flew to Bahrain where I received said invitation along with tickets on Jazeera (yeah, there's an airline, too) and then was immediately granted residence in Kuwait upon arrival when I handed over my fancy letter! (The Americans haven't managed to do that for me in over 9 years now!) Pretty amazing plaze there... patched bullet and missile holes on the famous Kuwait Towers, tons of destruction/construction going on, bustling life, and probably the most S-Class Mercedes cars I have ever seen in my life. I always think I am so smart but this time I got screwed: I wasn't able to send a postcard for bragging rights - think about it, obviously there isn't any money to be made from selling postcards if there are no tourists! Believe it or not, sometimes we fail at the simplest tasks... here, buying postcards and stamps. Now via London to Rome for two days of well-deserved R+R!