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!
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
As-salaam aleikum, Mr. Junior!
Moving on to Doha, Qatar, tonight after my whirlwind tour of Oman and the Emirates. There really are camels on the back of trucks!!! Hiked all over Muscat, visiting the sultan's palace area in the old walled city and having afternoon tea at the mundane Al Bustan Palace Hotel. Crossed overland into the Emirates - nothing but gorgeous rock and orange sand deserts everywhere. Dubai is something else... glitz and glam everywhere, shopping with no end in sight, and people rich beyond my wildest dreams driving all sorts of nowhere-else-to-be-seen cars. For one day I got to experience how The Other Half lives: I managed to get an invitation into the Burj-al-Arab, the monumental sail-shaped seven-star offshore hotel on Jumeirah Beach. Wealth is measured by the size of your snow-white Rolls Royce here, with the occasional Lamborghini or Ferrari thrown in. A bar visit at its top-of-the-seas Al Muntaha restaurant and bar on the top level, that little glass appendix opposite the helipad, almost broke my bank account and made me cancel the rest of my trip. It was awesome, though, baby!!!
Moving on to Doha, Qatar, tonight after my whirlwind tour of Oman and the Emirates. There really are camels on the back of trucks!!! Hiked all over Muscat, visiting the sultan's palace area in the old walled city and having afternoon tea at the mundane Al Bustan Palace Hotel. Crossed overland into the Emirates - nothing but gorgeous rock and orange sand deserts everywhere. Dubai is something else... glitz and glam everywhere, shopping with no end in sight, and people rich beyond my wildest dreams driving all sorts of nowhere-else-to-be-seen cars. For one day I got to experience how The Other Half lives: I managed to get an invitation into the Burj-al-Arab, the monumental sail-shaped seven-star offshore hotel on Jumeirah Beach. Wealth is measured by the size of your snow-white Rolls Royce here, with the occasional Lamborghini or Ferrari thrown in. A bar visit at its top-of-the-seas Al Muntaha restaurant and bar on the top level, that little glass appendix opposite the helipad, almost broke my bank account and made me cancel the rest of my trip. It was awesome, though, baby!!!
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Hello KJ -
I didn't get lost in the Bermuda Triangle! (But plenty of money did.) It's one of those check-off-the-list destinations: Pretty nice and entertaining for a few days but way overpriced for what it's worth, in my humble opinion. I explored the entire rock from end to end, from its naval dockyard to historic St. George, from Hamilton to the southern shoreline of Horseshoe Bay and Ellbow Beach. A short overnight hop to London, where I missed my connection coming from Gatwick to Heathrow, so I got stuck here for 24 hours and wandered the always nice-to-look-at new embankment area on the river, strolling across the Millenum Bridge past the London Eye back to Westminster, not to mention the obligatory loop from Oxford Circus via Trafalgar Square and Leicester Square back to Centre Point. Same story here, though: Everything has gotten extremely overpriced now; even the YH charges a cool 50 bucks per night now. So I am happy to finally jet to new frontiers today - I am in a lounge at Heathrow awaiting my flight via Abu Dhabi to Muscat. Arabia, here I come!
I didn't get lost in the Bermuda Triangle! (But plenty of money did.) It's one of those check-off-the-list destinations: Pretty nice and entertaining for a few days but way overpriced for what it's worth, in my humble opinion. I explored the entire rock from end to end, from its naval dockyard to historic St. George, from Hamilton to the southern shoreline of Horseshoe Bay and Ellbow Beach. A short overnight hop to London, where I missed my connection coming from Gatwick to Heathrow, so I got stuck here for 24 hours and wandered the always nice-to-look-at new embankment area on the river, strolling across the Millenum Bridge past the London Eye back to Westminster, not to mention the obligatory loop from Oxford Circus via Trafalgar Square and Leicester Square back to Centre Point. Same story here, though: Everything has gotten extremely overpriced now; even the YH charges a cool 50 bucks per night now. So I am happy to finally jet to new frontiers today - I am in a lounge at Heathrow awaiting my flight via Abu Dhabi to Muscat. Arabia, here I come!
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Frog!!!
I suck, I know. Sorry for being such a pathetic blogger these days. And I can't even say that there hasn't been anything to blog about! My Europe trip was nice as always, except for the fact that the airlines lost all my luggage and I had to do some extra shopping for myself. My god-daughter had a great time, as she first received all the hastily purchased replacement gifts for x-mas, then two weeks later all her original gifts (the luggage did eventually arrive, after all). A great sight-seeing day in Berlin with friends, then it was off to Canada, oh Canada! A cloudy and rainy day in Montreal, then for the big prize: Toronto and my beloved CN Tower. I kind of enjoyed a super-icy day at Niagara Falls on New Year's Eve, then froze off my ass in Toronto's central square for the midnight festivities. The trip back home, via Chicago in winter (!!!), would fill yet another book - let's just say that I got my new dose of anti-O'Hare medication. Now it's finally the second week of January and I am ready for my next spin around the globe... T-1 days! Tomorrow night I'll red-eye to JFK, then I'll venture over to the magic triangle of Bermuda.
I suck, I know. Sorry for being such a pathetic blogger these days. And I can't even say that there hasn't been anything to blog about! My Europe trip was nice as always, except for the fact that the airlines lost all my luggage and I had to do some extra shopping for myself. My god-daughter had a great time, as she first received all the hastily purchased replacement gifts for x-mas, then two weeks later all her original gifts (the luggage did eventually arrive, after all). A great sight-seeing day in Berlin with friends, then it was off to Canada, oh Canada! A cloudy and rainy day in Montreal, then for the big prize: Toronto and my beloved CN Tower. I kind of enjoyed a super-icy day at Niagara Falls on New Year's Eve, then froze off my ass in Toronto's central square for the midnight festivities. The trip back home, via Chicago in winter (!!!), would fill yet another book - let's just say that I got my new dose of anti-O'Hare medication. Now it's finally the second week of January and I am ready for my next spin around the globe... T-1 days! Tomorrow night I'll red-eye to JFK, then I'll venture over to the magic triangle of Bermuda.
- 01/14 British-Atlantic Luxury:
Stop-over in New York City for a day, then getting lost in the Bermuda Triangle while buying those shorts and having Tetley Tea. - 01/19 Cruising the Arabian Peninsula:
Discovering the Muslim first world of Oman, the Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain. - 02/01 Recharging batteries in Europe:
Two days in Rome, just because. - 02/04 Indian Ocean island hopping:
More of what I love to do most - sunshine and turquoise waters for beaches and diving in Sri Lanka and the Maldives. - 02/16 Western Pacific explorations:
Did I mention my preference for blue waters and secluded island beaches? Adventures in Palau and the Philippines. - 03/01 Caribbean Delights:
A week in the southern West Indies to relax from all these exhausting travels.
Sunday, December 04, 2005
Hey Frog -
Just a brief status update... there never seems to be the right time for blogging when I am actually inside the US of A. My multi-hop return via La Paz, Lima and Los Angeles was rather uneventful, albeit yet another reinforcemnet of why I have gotten addicted to flying in the front of airplanes only. Red-eyes suddenly turn into the most desirable kind of flying, as they save so much time without all the exhaustion that comes with being squeezed into the trunk of the cabin space. Obviously, my bottle of champagne to tuck me in properly certainly doesn't hurt, either. Now that I am back in the States for a few days I can see exactly why I don't want to be here right now: Rain, wind, cold. Well, actually, we've had blue skies yesterday and today for a change, so I shamelessly undressed and enjoyed my beach - what a beautiful day it was by the sea yesterday! Okey dokey, gotta get going - big German dinner tonight, so I have to get back to the stove.
Just a brief status update... there never seems to be the right time for blogging when I am actually inside the US of A. My multi-hop return via La Paz, Lima and Los Angeles was rather uneventful, albeit yet another reinforcemnet of why I have gotten addicted to flying in the front of airplanes only. Red-eyes suddenly turn into the most desirable kind of flying, as they save so much time without all the exhaustion that comes with being squeezed into the trunk of the cabin space. Obviously, my bottle of champagne to tuck me in properly certainly doesn't hurt, either. Now that I am back in the States for a few days I can see exactly why I don't want to be here right now: Rain, wind, cold. Well, actually, we've had blue skies yesterday and today for a change, so I shamelessly undressed and enjoyed my beach - what a beautiful day it was by the sea yesterday! Okey dokey, gotta get going - big German dinner tonight, so I have to get back to the stove.
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Heya Frog -
You'd absolutely love it here! After another spectacular day combing through the ruins of Machu Picchu and even climbing atop the incredible Wayna Picchu right behind it, I finally made my way down south to the shores of Lake Titicaca. It's the highest navigable lake in the world and I am constantly out of breath but I just had to visit the famous Uros people on their floating islands right away. Remember Thor Heyerdahl's expeditions on Kon-Tiki and Ra I/II? They have these amazing boats here made from the same material as their little islands and houses. There's not much that leaves me speechlss these days but to see these little people actually live on these floating islands is beyond description. Tomorrow I'll head further south to Copacabana, past the Bilivian border, and hop onto a catamaran to get to the Isla del Sol and the birthplace of the Inca sagas. If all goes well I will end up in La Paz late at night, ready for my return to Lima and Los Angeles.
You'd absolutely love it here! After another spectacular day combing through the ruins of Machu Picchu and even climbing atop the incredible Wayna Picchu right behind it, I finally made my way down south to the shores of Lake Titicaca. It's the highest navigable lake in the world and I am constantly out of breath but I just had to visit the famous Uros people on their floating islands right away. Remember Thor Heyerdahl's expeditions on Kon-Tiki and Ra I/II? They have these amazing boats here made from the same material as their little islands and houses. There's not much that leaves me speechlss these days but to see these little people actually live on these floating islands is beyond description. Tomorrow I'll head further south to Copacabana, past the Bilivian border, and hop onto a catamaran to get to the Isla del Sol and the birthplace of the Inca sagas. If all goes well I will end up in La Paz late at night, ready for my return to Lima and Los Angeles.
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Heya Junior -
Just remember these few items: Ukuku's and Mama Africa! After some inicial exploration of Cuzco, capital of the old Inca world, I joined a half-day city tour yesterday in the afternoon. Lucky me... I had a great time hopping from cathedral to church to Inca relics to whatever-else-there-was, not the least because of wonderful company I found on this on-the-bus-off-the-bus-style excursion. I should have been tucked in by 10 at night because of my 5:00 a.m. departure the next morning for Machu Picchu but, alas, it didn't happen. I had about 2 hours of sleep before hopping onto the 4-hour train ride to km 104 towards Aguas Calientes and, to say the least, had quite a tough time on today's first day of Inca Trail trekking at high altitude. If nothing else, all the jungle sweating and 1000+ cobblestone stairs were defintely worth it, arriving after over 7 hours at the Gate of the Sun for a first breath-taking close-up look of the Lost City of the Incas. The hot springs tonight were right on the money, and that big jug of mate de coca will make me sleep like a baby tonight! More Machu Picchu tomorrow, a return ride to Cuzco, and then I will be off to Lake Titicaca.
Just remember these few items: Ukuku's and Mama Africa! After some inicial exploration of Cuzco, capital of the old Inca world, I joined a half-day city tour yesterday in the afternoon. Lucky me... I had a great time hopping from cathedral to church to Inca relics to whatever-else-there-was, not the least because of wonderful company I found on this on-the-bus-off-the-bus-style excursion. I should have been tucked in by 10 at night because of my 5:00 a.m. departure the next morning for Machu Picchu but, alas, it didn't happen. I had about 2 hours of sleep before hopping onto the 4-hour train ride to km 104 towards Aguas Calientes and, to say the least, had quite a tough time on today's first day of Inca Trail trekking at high altitude. If nothing else, all the jungle sweating and 1000+ cobblestone stairs were defintely worth it, arriving after over 7 hours at the Gate of the Sun for a first breath-taking close-up look of the Lost City of the Incas. The hot springs tonight were right on the money, and that big jug of mate de coca will make me sleep like a baby tonight! More Machu Picchu tomorrow, a return ride to Cuzco, and then I will be off to Lake Titicaca.
Monday, November 21, 2005
Yowza KJ...
What a great time on Galapagos! I left the islands after less than a week but I sure will return one day soon - quite an amazing place. I visited the Charles Darwin Research Station in Puerto Ayora on my last day there (and, just to rub it in and to further support research on evolution, spent quite a bit of money at their store). Wonderful to see their repatriation efforts with all those baby tortoises; Lonesome George is obviously quite another sight there. On my way back I went through Guayaquil and arrived in Peru yesterday. Lima is such a big city full of contrast... most people are not even remotely aware that it's another city with close to 10 million inhabitants. I wandered around the old colonial center today, went atop Cerro San Christobal for a rather foggy bird's eye view of the city, and made it back to the really nice part of town Miraflores, where I stay and where one can kill time at the cliff-top Larco Mar entertainment mall under open skies. Tomorrow I'll be off to Cuzco - time for those old Incas to live up to the hype when I ascend to Machu Picchu!
What a great time on Galapagos! I left the islands after less than a week but I sure will return one day soon - quite an amazing place. I visited the Charles Darwin Research Station in Puerto Ayora on my last day there (and, just to rub it in and to further support research on evolution, spent quite a bit of money at their store). Wonderful to see their repatriation efforts with all those baby tortoises; Lonesome George is obviously quite another sight there. On my way back I went through Guayaquil and arrived in Peru yesterday. Lima is such a big city full of contrast... most people are not even remotely aware that it's another city with close to 10 million inhabitants. I wandered around the old colonial center today, went atop Cerro San Christobal for a rather foggy bird's eye view of the city, and made it back to the really nice part of town Miraflores, where I stay and where one can kill time at the cliff-top Larco Mar entertainment mall under open skies. Tomorrow I'll be off to Cuzco - time for those old Incas to live up to the hype when I ascend to Machu Picchu!