tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57635952011-07-14T20:38:23.885-04:00Shula and Patrick's Trip Around The World Honeymoon! We started on September 23, 2003 in Amsterdam and will be traveling overland to Asia and beyond. Please post comment as you like by clicking on the "comments" at the end of each post. Or you can write comments in the guestbook at the left. And keep in personal touch by emailing us; we love to hear from our friends and family who are so far away!Shulanoreply@blogger.comBlogger1051100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1099886468066535492004-11-07T22:57:00.000-05:002004-12-05T23:58:18.123-05:00

Thanks to everyone who continues to check out our website! I am starting a new one to chronicle our mundane lives in Eugene, Oregon, U.S.A. http://patrickandshulalife.blogspot.com/ Please visit our virtual and real home anytime you wish! Shula

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1089656755818122382004-07-12T14:22:00.000-04:002004-07-12T14:25:55.816-04:00

Quick update, since it's been more than a month now..... Patrick and I are moving up to Eugene, Oregon on July 15th to start our new lives there. Yes, he accepted the job with Molecular Probes, yeay! I have been busy scanning in all the pictures from the trip and will be posting them by the end of the summer. So check back to see where we were this past year. We are also hoping to change this

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1086325089162864212004-06-04T00:46:00.000-04:002004-06-04T00:58:09.163-04:00

Our week in Portland after Patrick's interview was glorious! We visited with many of our friends and spent time seeing all the new, hip locations around town. However, the travel bug has bit in a small way again and we are now on the east coast traipsing around. Actually, we really needed to consolidate all our stuff, which seems to be spread out across the country in places such as Rhode Island,

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1085170169231881852004-05-21T15:04:00.000-04:002004-05-21T16:24:49.040-04:00

We have been back in the USA for a little over a week now, but nothing has slowed down. It doesn't even seem like our trip is over just yet, probably because we are still traveling around without a long term stop in the near future. On May 11th, we arrived back in Oakland after a very long flight (17 hours from Singapore via Hong Kong). It was great leaving Singapore at 6:30am (ok, not great

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1083996927356011152004-05-08T02:15:00.000-04:002004-05-08T02:18:42.076-04:00

As a follow up to my previous post, we visited 2 more breweries last night in the Auckland area. The most celebrated brewery in NZ, Galbraiths, was a bit of a disapointment. They had 3 bitters on tap and 2 out of the 3 were virtually identical. They were both very drinkable beers, but unmemorable. Unfortunately, they were out of the trappist ale, which we have heard is great. One of the memorable

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01977200672828745108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1083994598390757662004-05-08T01:36:00.000-04:002004-05-08T01:52:19.403-04:00

Seems as if our time in NZ, and on this journey, is coming to a quick close. There are so many stories left to tell from this trip, perhaps Patrick and I can continue to add to our blog in the coming weeks. For the past 2 and a half days we have sat at a "backpackers car lot" in Auckland trying to sell Eden, our little NZ car. She has served us well here and taken us all over both islands without

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1083293312217071022004-05-02T18:49:00.000-04:002004-05-03T02:46:56.560-04:00

One of the biggest joys of being in New Zealand for us is the fine beer, wine and food. The wineries are well established and produce very good vino. It took us quite a while to realize that the white wines truely shine here, while the red wine's (primarly Pinot Noir) are just starting to get good. So far we have tasted several excellent oaked Chardonnay. There are so many wineries here that

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01977200672828745108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1083537274798241092004-05-02T18:34:00.000-04:002004-05-02T18:37:43.950-04:00

Although the North Island is not as dramatic as the South Island, we are still having plenty of good fun up here! It was really hard to leave the South Island because our last stop was at such a great place. Hopewell is probably one of the best backpacker retreats anywhere in the world! It is located at the very end of a long peninsula in Marlborough Sound, which is only accessable by either a

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1083038203768925152004-04-26T23:56:00.000-04:002004-04-26T23:59:46.873-04:00

We are on our way to the North Island tonight, taking a ferry from Picton to Wellington at 5pm. Word on the street is that the North Island is not as interesting as the South Island. However, I am looking forward to being able to visit more Maori towns - a little more diversity. Before we run off, though, I thought that I might do a little to catch the blog up on what we have been up to! After we

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1082279581686059412004-04-18T05:13:00.000-04:002004-04-18T05:30:26.796-04:00

There has been some recent news that will change our trip, but I will keep you waiting until later in the blog for that! The last few days have been spent on the Banks Peninsula, East of Christchurch getting back into a good mood about traveling. It could be because the weather has turned up, or that the place we were staying was absolutely terrific, or that we met some interesting people, or

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1082080652771280572004-04-15T21:57:00.000-04:002004-04-15T22:00:25.530-04:00

Because the weather was so bad at the southern tip of New Zealand, we completely bypassed Stewart Island - the island off the southern coast where Kiwi's (the bird) are seen during the day. It was a shame to miss this island, which is mostly national park, but we found quite an interesting coast between Invercargill and Dunedin! Our one night in Invercargill was spent stocking up on food and wine

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1081655288368027362004-04-10T23:48:00.000-04:002004-04-10T23:50:55.733-04:00

Here we are on another blustery day in Southland. Spent the day slowly driving our way to Invercargill after bypassing many muddy camping spots. Hadn't planned to be here until a day or two later, but here we are none the less. Looking for inside activities, we stumbled upon another internet cafe and thought we could waste some time typing. Just thought I would write down a few odds and ends.

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1081493004068556072004-04-09T02:43:00.000-04:002004-04-09T02:46:09.560-04:00

We finally had a chance to cruise a real fjord! Today we drove out from Te Anau to Milford and took an early morning cruise into Milford sound. The weather gods blessed us with clear blue skies in an area that is known for rain and the sound was absolutely beautiful. Couldn't have asked for a better day for a boat ride. This country is crazy with tourists! Ever since we left Wanaka we have been

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1081234010970650792004-04-06T02:46:00.000-04:002004-04-06T02:49:33.216-04:00

Finally uploaded the pictures I took while diving in Koh Tao. I was just learning, folks, so some are not so great, but they can give you an idea of what we were seeing! http://www.clubphoto.com/reward.php?id=2052576&mid=members17_shula758061&pwd=

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1081233063286019292004-04-06T02:31:00.000-04:002004-04-06T02:33:45.750-04:00

We are still in Wanaka and still having a great time! Wanaka is a high alpine town situated at the edge of a beautiful lake and surrounded by high snowy peaks. It is just to the east of the Southern Alps, and an hour north of Queenstown. Since we are at the start of autumn here, a big storm bringing snow has been predicted since we arrived. Every evening we have gone to bed expecting stormy

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1081054756831986042004-04-03T23:59:00.000-05:002004-04-04T00:01:56.793-05:00

We just bought a new digital camera in Singapore, and have uploaded our first album of photos to club photo. Nothing too spectacular, but you can see what we have been up to! http://www.clubphoto.com/reward.php?id=2185652&mid=members17_shula758061&pwd= Will write up another post in the next few days!

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1080969858152081832004-04-03T00:24:00.000-05:002004-04-03T00:26:57.640-05:00

Let me say that my first, second and third impression of the South NZ island is that it is extremely beautiful. Not so high alpine lakes crested with craggy snow dusted mountains are the norm. It reminds me of an amalgamation of Montana (Glacier NP) and Iceland (with people and trees), with a touch of Vietnam's jungle thrown in for good measure. It must have driven the Maori crazy when they

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01977200672828745108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1080801799847479482004-04-01T01:43:00.000-05:002004-04-06T02:34:03.810-04:00

I suppose, since it is the 1st of April, that I should spin some long yarn about some crazy thing that happened to us in the past few days. But my internet time is precious in these here parts (NZ$5 per hour, to be exact) so I feel too much pressure to type quickly so I can't give you a good April Fools. Oh well. Auckland was a fine city, although we didn't really spend more than about 5 hours

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1080022193699787262004-03-25T02:25:00.000-05:002004-03-25T02:25:03.233-05:00

Our last tourist stop in Myanmar before heading back to the streets of Yangon was Bagan. Bagan is known for its large number of ancient pagodas, similar in historical significance to Angkor. But Bagan is completely different from its Cambodian relative. And we found it much more enchanting, if on a very different scale. The bus dropped us at the first hotel along the road and we managed to

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1080197236713812332004-03-25T01:47:00.000-05:002004-03-25T01:49:47.110-05:00

We had a long flight from Bangkok to Auckland via Singapore. It was twelve hours in all and some of the worst jetlag since the Iceland days. I guess I shouldn't have watched Master and Commander AND The Last Samurai on the plane. Combine this with all of the great FREE wine on the plane and you may imagine how I feel right now. One of the first things we wanted to do in NZ was drink good wine

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01977200672828745108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1079851240994519812004-03-21T01:40:00.000-05:002004-03-21T01:43:07.483-05:00

Along with white sand beaches, coral reefs under crystal clear water, hill tribes and inexpensive food and hotels, Thailand is famous for its massages. Not 'those' kind of massages, but real traditional Thai massage for everyone. Where else can you get a one-hour full-body massage for $4 USD? Crazy. In a one hour Thai massage session, you can have your muscles pulled, stretched, pounded, and

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1079589829883581022004-03-18T01:03:00.000-05:002004-08-23T11:08:18.630-04:00

Just a fun fact that I found on the http://www.pansea.com/gecko/index.html website. Looks like a nice place too! How Geckos still to ceilings: Geckos scamper across the smoothest surfaces and hang upside down from ceilings. Scientists, lumbering ponderously in pursuit, have spent decades trying to unstick the adhesive magic of these little lizards. They have not caught up, but have now come the

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1079350679885177802004-03-15T06:37:00.000-05:002004-03-15T06:40:20.606-05:00

Back in Mandalay for two days and it felt like we hardly did anything. Actually, the first day was spent recouperating from the tiring journey of the previous week and trying to locate some good food. We quickly realized that all the terrific meals we had been having in Myanmar were 100% the result of hiring a food concious guide. Although sometimes we felt that John was nothing more than another

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1079351207686578442004-03-15T04:57:00.000-05:002004-03-15T06:49:08.310-05:00

Myanmar has some interesting food. The restaurant food is extremely cheap, about 0.70-1.00 usd per person. This buys you curry, rice, soup, 4 bowls of misc. items (beans, fermented tea leaves, bean paste, shrimp paste), a platter of raw vegetables, palm sugar candies and tea. Talk about a cheap good meal! The mild curry is usually pork, chicken, beef or mutton, but may also be duck, liver,

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01977200672828745108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1079255626353503102004-03-14T04:13:00.000-05:002004-03-14T04:16:06.153-05:00

We are back in Thailand after and exciting, and exhausting, time in Myanmar. I have finished my previous incomplete post (it was impossible to do from Myanmar), and will be adding new posts about Myanmar over the next few days.

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1078491418731411662004-03-05T07:56:00.000-05:002004-03-15T05:41:19.093-05:00

Myitkina, Myanmar 01 March 2004 Myanmar is the most exotic country that we have seen so far. The men wear skirts (longyi) and both sexes wear an off-white makeup on their faces. The vast majority of the men smoke a type of cigar called a Cheroot which fills the air with a pungent odor similar to cannibus. The men also chew betel nut and leaf together. I tasted a little of the leaf and it

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01977200672828745108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1078489486866369032004-03-05T07:24:00.000-05:002004-03-15T05:26:31.373-05:00

Back in Mandalay after an exciting, and sometimes exhausting, 8 days of travel through the North of Myanmar. Travel is excruciatingly slow here, so we could only scratch the surface, but what we saw we loved! So few tourists ever visit the towns we stayed in that the people here are truely surprised to see Westerners around. In all that time we only encountered 3 other tourists, one of which we

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1077773400485595582004-02-26T00:12:00.000-05:002004-02-26T00:39:14.733-05:00

My previous post was cut short due to a power outage in Yangon. These apparently happen with sickening regularity for no apparent reason. While the rest of the country enjoys 24 hour electricity with only the very occasional outage, residents of the capital city are forced to own large generators to deal with the constant blackouts. At least I didn't lose what I had written. ......... The

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1077688417203551832004-02-24T22:12:00.000-05:002004-02-25T00:55:38.340-05:00

It is our first day in Myanmar and we already have fallen in love with the people here. Everyone is so friendly and helpful! People actually come up to us on the street to say hello and ask where we are from, and then leave with a smile and a wave telling us to have a good day. I've found that if I smile at anyone, they always smile back with big, warm, happy smiles. If there was ever a land of

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1077687657230195762004-02-23T21:40:00.000-05:002004-02-25T00:44:39.263-05:00

What a crazy day! The gods were definitely against us leaving Thailand today. We should have known things would be strange when we were awoken at 5:30am, first by the broadcasting of Muslim prayers over town loudspeakers, and then by the fishermen revving up their longtail boats. It was good to start the day early, though, because we had so many errands to accomplish one back in Phang Nga town

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1077685145022885272004-02-23T09:41:00.000-05:002004-02-25T00:01:06.046-05:00

Even though Phang Nga town was a pretty ordinary town, we found it great to be somewhere that hasn't been heavily influenced by tourism.... yet. A real, honest to goodness, Thai town! The people didn't even speak much English. The road between Khao Lak and Phang Nga was gorgeows. We drove through thick jungle forrest and past steep limestone cliffs with a taxi driver who thought we were in a

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1077358169544509562004-02-21T05:09:00.000-05:002004-02-21T05:11:27.450-05:00

Left Khao Lak this morning for Phang-Nga, and we are heading out for an overnight tour of the Phang-Nga Bay tomorrow. There is something called the "James Bond" island there, which we are hoping to completely avoid. It is actually why we traveled to this town instead of booking a tour in Khao Lak! All the agencies in Lak only offered tours that were single day and spent too much time at this

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1077257527776032652004-02-20T01:12:00.000-05:002004-02-20T01:14:04.546-05:00

If you at all enjoy fish tanks, diving is the sport for you! Our trip to the Similans was fantastic. It truely impressed upon us the majesty of the underwater world and how different it is from life on land. Diving in this area is like swimming in the largest fish tank ever and we were constantly surrounded by thousands of colorful tropical fish. You don't have to be particularly in shape to

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1076920168752967882004-02-16T03:29:00.000-05:002004-02-16T03:31:21.436-05:00

We really like Koh Tao Island here in Thailand. More appropriately called "New Germany" because half of Germany vacations there. We have had a great time sitting at a beach Reggae bar, sitting outside under the palms drinking $1 rums and listening to all Bob Marley, all of the time. That damn Island has more Lizards than I have seen anywhere. We were walking back to our bungalow overlooking

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01977200672828745108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1076919526418062292004-02-16T03:18:00.000-05:002004-02-16T03:21:16.216-05:00

Life has been too easy for us. How can we possibly go from the easy, laid back beach life of Southern Thailand to Burma? We will see, but until then we have another glorious week of diving and sunning here in paradise. Yesterday, we were in Koh Tao trying to decide whether to head to Krabi or Koh Lanta. Today we are in Khao Lak wondering how we got here??? No, really, we had planned on spending

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1076402168172394412004-02-10T03:36:00.000-05:002004-02-10T03:37:54.716-05:00

We have been here in Koh Tao for close to a week now, and are obviously enjoying it too much to write! Actually, our first impression of this small island was that it was a place only for young, hip divers to come party and dive. Obviously not exactally our scene. As we disembarked from the boat we realized that the dive shop we had chosen was the first, and largest, shop you could reach. Meaning

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1075550272704470492004-02-04T06:00:00.000-05:002004-02-04T06:00:05.170-05:00

I want to write about our experience in Cambodia, so that everyone reading this will be aware of some of the governmental corruption in third-world countries. Cambodia is certainly not unique, or the worst, but it surprised us just how bad it was. People boycott travel to Burma because of governmental policies, but somehow travel to Cambodia is considered OK. Obviously, I don't necessarily

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1075799752508675542004-02-03T04:29:00.000-05:002004-02-03T04:29:28.640-05:00

This is it folks, we have finally decided to blow this popsicle joint known as Bangkok and head for the beaches of Southern Thailand. We have spent too much time here just being lazy. It is too easy to do when you are staying in a great home with such a wonderful and generous couple. They have made it feel like home for us, so it will be hard to leave, but we don't want to overstay our welcome.

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1075548591934441852004-01-31T06:29:00.000-05:002004-01-31T06:32:10.246-05:00

Bangkok has still got us! We are finding more and more things to do every day, and now that we are staying in a real home, it is getting even harder to leave. Yesterday, we visited the Chatuchak weekend market. Yes, we know that it wasn't quite the weekend, but Diane suggested that Friday afternoon would be less crowded and many of the shops would be open. She was right, and we had an interesting

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1075289249297458432004-01-28T06:27:00.000-05:002004-01-28T06:29:02.920-05:00

We have now been in Bangkok for a few days, and have been absolutely loving it! What a great city. Bangkok has all the conveniences and luxuries of any Western city, but at a fraction of the cost. We are able to stay in a fairly decent hotel room for $10, eat meals on the street for $1 each, see The Lord of the Rings in a new theater with comfy seats for $5 each and ride the public bus for 9

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1074935018987452832004-01-24T04:03:00.000-05:002004-01-24T04:05:08.856-05:00

Everything seems to be going by so fast these days and I can't keep track of what day it is. Yes, I've finally gotten to the point where I never have any idea what day of the week it is, and even when somebody tells me I can only remember for about 2 minutes. I wonder, does the day really matter anyway? We have decided our time is up in Cambodia and are traveling to Bangkok tomorrow by bus.

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1074847788477365842004-01-23T03:49:00.000-05:002004-01-24T04:33:34.606-05:00

We are done with the Akor Wat temples, thank Shiva. They are really cool, but 3 days is about one day too much. We visited the furthest out temple today (Banteay Srei) and it was my second favorite, the best being Ta Prohm. Banteay Srei was covered with the most intricate beautiful sandstone carving we have seen. It was really well preserved with the carving being crisp without a lot of

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01977200672828745108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1074763711001995952004-01-22T04:28:00.000-05:002004-01-22T04:55:53.640-05:00

The Killing Fields were actually a bit underwhelming. It was bascially a plot of land with a bunch of pits that had been dug up. Grass was growing everywhere, so they were more like depressions in the earth and each had a sign saying how many remains were found there. The history is horrible, but the sight just didn't bring a whole lot of emotion from me. The most emotionally powerful structure

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1074426813746674562004-01-18T06:53:00.000-05:002004-01-18T06:54:57.873-05:00

We have now been in Cambodia for 2 full days, but are still not sure what to make of it. On our first morning here, Patrick became ill, so I ended up walking around a bit on my own. I was a little nervous, both because it was a new city in a new country and because of all the warnings people have given me about Phnom Pehn. Mostly, people are pretty nice and want to be helpful. However, I noticed

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1074259364905275312004-01-16T08:22:00.000-05:002004-01-16T08:24:06.763-05:00

Another letter from Angelo and my response. See my blog entry on Wed Jan 07 for the first part of the story. Patrick Angelo wrote: Hi, thanks for taking the time to respond to my email. I'm glad you didn't take it as a criticism of yourself personally as it wasn't meant to be. I've travelled quite a bit in south east asia though never to vietnam. I'm due to go there next month

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01977200672828745108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1074257611252533022004-01-16T07:53:00.000-05:002004-01-16T07:54:52.670-05:00

Here we are in Phnom Pehn, after 4 wonderful days traveling in the Mekong Delta with our guides Sinh and Phillip. We had so much fun with them it was incredibly sad to see them go. In fact, we almost felt lost without them! We were so lucky because Phillip is from the Mekong, so he knew places for us to stay and things to see that most other travelers pass by. But let me back up.... Our first

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1073836336066492862004-01-11T10:52:00.000-05:002004-01-16T07:57:20.936-05:00

Just landed in Saigon today, after 4 days on the road from Dalat with our EasyRiders Sinh and Phillip. I can't say enough about how great these two guys are - as guides, as drivers, as just plain cool people. We have learned more from them about Vietnam in the past few days than in our whole previous month here. It took us a long time to come around to the idea of taking a motorbike trip from

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1073479898896940772004-01-07T07:51:00.000-05:002004-01-07T07:52:51.450-05:00

Here we are in Dalat, a wonderful town in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. The weather here is perfect - dry, sunny and not too warm. I guess the beaches on the coast could only hold our interest for so long. We had hoped to spend many days here, but our visa in Vietnam is quickly running out. Although we had though to get a visa extension, it seems impossible to do from here. So we will just

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1073479322487898622004-01-07T07:42:00.000-05:002004-01-07T07:49:52.590-05:00

Here is a comment that Angelo made about my Sat. December 20th blog about the people of SaPa. It illustrates something that I have been thinking about for a while. Well..I think your comments about Asians being more capitalistic than Americans is a bit subjective and simplistic. (i'm trying to be polite). When people in the US have so much more capital to begin with, its hardly surprising that

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01977200672828745108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1073478734539583112004-01-07T07:32:00.000-05:002004-01-07T07:33:27.340-05:00

I hate the "tourist trail", and it seems difficult to get off of it in Vietnam. In Vietnam, there are so many tourist companies peddling all sorts of cheap trips, it is hard as a backpacker to pass them up. And so few backpackers do, that the tours are generally filled to capacity, whether that means 10 or 40. This means that you get to visit all the attractions and interesting towns with

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1073207047310642692004-01-04T04:04:00.000-05:002004-01-04T04:05:17.356-05:00

We have finally made it into the land of sunny warm weather! After wishing for it for so long, it doesn't even seem possible. But, yes, we had such nice weather today that we spent it on the beach. Arrived in Nha Trang, on the coast of South Vietnam, last night and was met by the driver for our new hotel in their old U.S. army jeep Willy. These cars are real collectors items, and our friends in

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1072965315250762352004-01-01T08:26:00.000-05:002004-01-01T08:56:21.840-05:00

We have been here in Hoi An for the past few days, mostly just lazing around. Hoi An is a coastal town in the Southern part of Vietnam, just past the range where the climate changes to tropical. We are really enjoying the heat! Our time has been spent eating good food, lying on the beach and having custom clothing made to order - basically, all the normal tourist duties. Yup, I've had just about

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1072686748919502432003-12-29T03:32:00.000-05:002003-12-29T03:36:23.483-05:00

Warning!! Parents and those people concerned with our saftey should read at their own risk!! Last week while Patrick was sick, I decided to visit the Museum of Ethnography, which is a little outside of Hanoi. The museum itself is really well done, with interesting artifacts from many of the minority groups in Vietnam. However, it is not the easiest place to get to without a taxi. Since hiring a

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1072685116752515182003-12-29T03:05:00.000-05:002003-12-29T03:06:20.826-05:00

Back in the exhausting city of Hanoi, after a wonderful trip to Ha Long Bay, and we are ready to head south quickly! Even just a few days away from the noise and pollution here were enough to soften us again. I honestly have to say that, although the Vietnamese are some of the kindest people we have met, I really do not like Hanoi. It is too crazy for me. Maybe there is just too much country

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1072278231271498792003-12-24T10:03:00.000-05:002003-12-24T10:04:50.716-05:00

Wishing you all the very best holidays where ever you are in the world. If only you could be with us in this very unusual spot for Christmas! Even though most Vietnamese are Buddhist, they take every opportunity they can to throw a party. In Hanoi, santas abound, as well as plenty of Christmas trees, decorations, strings of lights and toys, toys, toys. There are hawkers on every corner trying to

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1072082375336458842003-12-22T02:52:00.000-05:002003-12-22T03:40:32.216-05:00

Sorry for the cheesy title on my last blog...... Haven't posted for a while because the net was unbelievably slow in Sa Pa. Not that it is any better in Hanoi, but it has to be done! By the way, feel free to write comments to our guestbook (on the right side of the page). Thought some people may have an easier time accessing it than the comments. We have had a great time in Vietnam so far. Ok,

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1071913937049350462003-12-20T04:48:00.000-05:002003-12-20T04:53:11.700-05:00

Vietnam is nice, different than China, so far the food isn't as good. The people in Asia are much more capitalistic than Americans. They will charge you 5 times the going price if possible. Good thing is that 5 times the going rate is still less than you would pay in the USA. We are learning fast. I don't want to get anymore physical confrontations with female restaurant owners, because they

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01977200672828745108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1071563341802789922003-12-16T03:28:00.000-05:002003-12-16T03:29:52.716-05:00

We crossed the border first thing this morning, and what great fun to be in a new country! After a long bus ride yesterday, we made it to the Chinese border town of Hekou without a place to stay. No problem, because a tout accosted us and took us to his adequite room only 2 minutes away. He promised to take us to a "good and cheap" restaurant that he knew, but then wanted us to "tip" him in

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1071398336662229502003-12-14T05:38:00.000-05:002003-12-14T05:39:45.640-05:00

I was just thinking that I might share a little story that happened to me in Lijiang....... All throughout China I have been admiring a particular wall hanging that comes from Tibet. Since we are not able to get to Tibet on this trip, I have been checking out the prices whenever I see a nice one. Usually, these items cost between $100 and $400, way out of my price range! One night while wandering

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1071381029349539312003-12-14T00:50:00.000-05:002003-12-14T00:51:17.873-05:00

China is the most amazing places for surprises. If you haven't been here, take all that you think you know about this place and discard it. Prepare to be shocked at the incredible food, warm friendly people, disgusting personal habits, heart-pounding outdoor activities, filthy toilets, breathtaking views, beautiful weather...It would take me a month to finish this list. You shouldn't be afraid

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01977200672828745108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1071317965961614352003-12-13T07:19:00.000-05:002003-12-13T07:20:14.200-05:00

Even though our first impression of Dali was not the greatest, we decided to give it a couple of days, and we were greatly rewarded! Dali is definitely a place where foreigners go to unwind and relax, either from teaching English in other parts of China or just from too much traveling. And you can really understand why! The town in surrounded by mountains, and has a large lake (where people spend

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1071136014528676042003-12-11T04:46:00.000-05:002003-12-11T04:52:29.326-05:00

Just a few follow-ups to Shula's last post. Here is a link to some pics of the Yangtze river in the gorge (Class 5-6) http://www.kayaker.net/chin09im.htm and here is another link to some mountain pics (http://www.tivida.com/worldtrip/images/lib10b/home.shtml) These pics don't do the area justice, so you need to see it for yourselves. When I would leave the door of the guesthouse, the mountain

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01977200672828745108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1071132541138765022003-12-11T03:05:00.000-05:002003-12-11T03:49:46.840-05:00

Seems like we have done so much since I last posted! Let's see, we explored the cobbled streets of Lijiang, visited the Tiger Leaping Gorge, spent too many hours on buses, moved on to Dali, had some new interesting local foods, and have separated from our "family" again. Lijiang was a cute town, but a little too touristy for our liking, so we headed out almost immediately to visit the famous

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1070777031980331432003-12-07T01:03:00.000-05:002003-12-07T01:15:35.390-05:00

After a 13 hour train ride, followed immediately by an 8 hour bus ride, we arrived safely, if a bit tired, in Lijiang yesterday. Peeling ourselves from our seats at the back of the bus, we were extreamly glad to be moving only at the pace our feet could take us. Actually, the bus ride was spectacular. We rode West toward Tibet along mountains with sheer drop-off on one side and a sharp wall on

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1070604492101069982003-12-05T01:08:00.000-05:002003-12-05T01:37:01.890-05:00

We are on our way tonight to the Yunnan province town of Lijiang. We are hoping that heading south will bring some sun and warmer weather. Chengdu has been an interesting town to spend a few days in and the highlights have definitely been the giant pandas, the Wenshu monestary and the huge sitting buddha in Leshan. Two mornings ago we arose quite early to catch our lift out to the Giant Panda

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1070547866430434182003-12-04T09:24:00.000-05:002003-12-04T09:25:05.890-05:00

Mmmmmmmmmm Hot Pot!!!! We had Hot Pot last night which consists of a 3 gal. pot filled with water, oil, hot dried red peppers, ginger, onions and lots of hot spices that I don't know. We knew that we were in trouble when they changed out the solution in favor for an unboiled one with less peppers. We boiled spicy beef, chicken skin, mushrooms (3 types), pork fat, tofu (3 types), potatoes,

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01977200672828745108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1070367238620124422003-12-02T07:13:00.000-05:002003-12-02T07:14:36.076-05:00

Are you sick of reading about food yet? Hope not because we are here in Chengdu, the capitol of Sichuan province, famous for great Chinese food. We had our best meal yet in China today. This kick-ass intensely hot chicken in pepper oil balanced with this beautifully sweet mango filet of fish, crunchy sweet goodness. Two separate dishes served with this interesting hot tea that takes the spicy

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01977200672828745108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-107036551890001622003-12-02T06:45:00.000-05:002003-12-02T06:50:50.186-05:00

We have spent more than 2 months traveling by train now, and it still hasn't lost it's appeal! Maybe it is the romance of slowly working your way across all the miles. Maybe it is meeting people who share their lives, and their freshly smoked fish, with you even though you can't speak a word of each others language. Maybe it is the lazy days spent doing nothing but reading in your bed as you feel

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1070366492828912602003-12-01T19:45:00.000-05:002003-12-02T07:02:10.466-05:00

We spent 2 days and one night running through Xi'an on our way south to warmer climes. Xi'an is an interesting city, but probably the biggest draw is the world famous terracotta army from the Qin dynasty (221 - 206 BC). We spent half a day wandering the soldiers, which are absolutely beautiful. The biggest dissapointment was not being able to get very close to soldiers. It is understandable,

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1070083855903890092003-11-29T00:30:00.000-05:002003-11-29T00:31:29.920-05:00

Let me start out by writing that I had a great time in Beijing. You can't tell it from my last post, but traveling got better for me once we entered China. Why you ask? There is just so much more FLAVOR here than in Mongolia and Russia. You know those 'FLAVOR' packages that are sold inside of boxed food? It is like someone opened a billion 'FLAVOR' packages and dumped them on China, and a

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01977200672828745108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1070080701480790712003-11-28T23:38:00.000-05:002003-11-28T23:38:55.483-05:00

Spent hours yesterday haggling at the Pearl Market in Beijing. The most fun part of it is not what you buy for $1, but the whole process of convincing the merchants to sell it to you for $1! I probably could have spent the entire day just bargaining for little items. This market is HUGE! It is on 3 enormous floors of a building (it was nice to be inside, away from the cold). The first floor is

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1069906309686810972003-11-26T23:11:00.000-05:002003-11-26T23:21:14.060-05:00

Woke up early this morning to go see Mao. Yes, even though Mao died in 1976, they have preserved his body for eternity, just like Lenin. It is a bit surreal to line up with all the Chinese for a quick view. The wait was quick, only about 5 minutes in the light mist, and then we were herded toward the masoleum along an outlined track. There was a quick stop to buy prepackaged flowers, which have

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1069848014159863562003-11-26T07:00:00.000-05:002003-11-26T07:00:45.860-05:00

Yesterday we spent the day traveling like the locals! We rented push bikes and peddled our way through the city streets to the Summer Pallace - a good 2 hour ride away. Ok, so we were riding single speed city bikes and going very slow, but at least we got a little excersize. It is pretty scary riding around Beijing. Even though there are dedicated bike lanes, they are used by bikes, walkers,

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1069678874450120772003-11-24T08:01:00.000-05:002003-11-24T08:01:44.170-05:00

It appears that while we are in China we are able to post to our weblog, but we are unable to check out our blogger site. That means that we are unable to read and respond to any comments you make. Please keep commenting, though, and we will read them as soon as we leave China (we hope). You can also send us email directly, as we love to hear from all our friends and family!

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1069678662363455432003-11-24T07:57:00.000-05:002003-11-24T07:58:11.310-05:00

We spent the weekend at the Crowne Royal Plaza Beijing, thanks to my dad and stepmom! What a change from the dorm beds at the local (slightly dirty) hostel. There was actually a large king size bed (yeay, sleeping in one bed on our honeymoon) and clean towels in the bathroom. Not to mention all the little freebees that they leave by the sink ;-). I guess these are the kinds of things that can be

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1069510174506815832003-11-22T09:09:00.000-05:002003-11-22T09:10:02.153-05:00

We started our discounted Great Wall of China tour in the "dirtbag" way by obtaining information from a friendly couple of Slovenian big wall climbers that we met in the hostel. They gave us all of the hike information including hand-drawn maps of the land and bus system. The area was breathtaking! To quote Richard Nixon, "It sure was a great wall!" The second century version of a 'Starwars'

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01977200672828745108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1069506446863789612003-11-22T08:07:00.000-05:002003-11-22T08:07:54.500-05:00

If you love food you have to come to Beijing. You could spend a whole day wandering around watching the street vendors cook, ducking in and out of tiny restaurants, and just taking in all the smells of cooking food. Today we wandered around Wangfujing street, close to Tienamen square, and were bombarded with the sights, sounds and smells of great street food! It seems that BBQ everything is

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1069473902165877942003-11-21T23:05:00.000-05:002003-11-21T23:05:29.466-05:00

bed in dorm: $4/night metro ticket: 35 cents huge meal for 2 people, including drinks: $4 650mL beer: 25 cents entrance to see Mao: free Well, we are still in Beijing, and it doesn't look like we are leaving any time soon. Every day is a new adventure here, and both Patrick and I are loving this city! On our second day in town, after turning our passports over to the Vietnam embassy (visa process

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1069121213257984502003-11-17T21:06:00.000-05:002003-11-17T21:07:16.530-05:00

We are in China!! I am so excited. China is one of the places on my top 10 list, and I can't believe that I am actually here! We left Ulaan Baatar on my birthday, after having a little celebration. Patrick cooked a big pasta dinner, complete with home made sauce, for everyone staying at the guest house, and we toasted with wine from the state department store. I even got to cut a cake that I

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1068899038062868172003-11-15T07:23:00.000-05:002003-11-15T07:24:18.700-05:00

Just finished my Gobi post, so if you only saw the first part, check out the rest below. Spent the day out and about UB with Clem, a Brittish girl staying at the guest house. Patrick was in dire need of a day in and alone! It is so easy to get worn out on a big trip like this. To help ease him back into good spirits, I went out and bought him a tape to listen to (Morcheba, it was the only one I

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1068804795009203922003-11-14T05:13:00.000-05:002003-11-15T07:27:52.326-05:00

From Patrick in Ulaan Baatar: We just got back from an 8 day road-trip in the Gobi desert. Wow, what a ride! Idre's Guest house guided the trip and did a great job. They provided 3 meals a day of good food and did the best they could to make us comfortable. The thing is that it's tough to be comfortable in the Gobi. Imagine circumnavigating Nevada, on bad dirt roads, in a 1967 Volkswagon

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01977200672828745108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1068803123730362892003-11-14T04:10:00.000-05:002003-11-15T07:13:20.403-05:00

Back from the Gobi, boy is time flying! What an interesting trip with way too much driving and so much to tell I don't even know where to start...... We left UB (Ulaan Baatar) on November 6th with 6 travelers - Marion and Matt from Australia, Tim from England, Uraguchi from Tokyo, and the two of us - 1 guide, Idre, and one driver, Togo. Togo drives an old Russian van where the front seats have

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1068030639752076022003-11-05T06:10:00.000-05:002003-11-05T06:10:38.210-05:00

Another day in Ulaan Baatar, mostly spent at the Black Market. This is not really a "black" market (I think), but just the name of the huge market in the city. There must have been a thousand different booths selling everything from boots, to jackets, to food and about ten thousand people wandering around. We rode over this morning from the guest house with a few other people staying there.

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1067944017798383252003-11-04T05:47:00.001-05:002003-11-04T06:06:56.443-05:00

Today. Please read my previous post first, as I just finished writing it and am now going to post again. Also, some of our photos from our trip are now on the web at www.clubphoto.com. Search for my email address, shumeet90@yahoo.com and look for the albums titled "Ultimate Trip". Haven't labeled any yet, but will when we have a better connection. We are in Mongolia and so far so good. We

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1067944817433849822003-11-04T05:31:00.000-05:002003-11-04T06:31:20.456-05:00

From Patrick in Ulaan Baatar: What can I say, but Russia was pretty great! The best part of all was Lake Baikal. We just got a little taste of the outdoor life there, but it was fine. We stayed with an 81 yo woman named Babba Guta who was Buryat indian in an honest to goodness log cabin. The Buryats were a semi-nomadic tribe until the mid-1900s when they settled down in Siberia. Curiously,

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01977200672828745108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1067942780570556722003-11-04T05:15:00.000-05:002003-11-04T05:46:18.676-05:00

Finally in Mongolia!! It is very cold here, winter is definitely upon us. Just a little info for those interested Temp: -10C loaf of bread: 25 cents bus ticket: 20 cents bed in double room: $4.50 language: Mongolian average meal price, including drinks, for 2 people: $2.50 There is lots to tell about Mongolia, but first I am going to back up a bit to our last days in Russia... 1 November

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1067838359049597022003-11-03T00:45:00.000-05:002003-11-03T00:46:19.250-05:00

Check out some photos from our trip in Russia taken by our friends Mike (http://www.clubphoto.com/_cgi-bin/app.pl/albums/large_image_view?id=1728027&link_code=sa01_17) and Jeff (http://www.clubphoto.com/_cgi-bin/app.pl/albums/large_image_view?id=1732317&link_code=sa01_17). More to come soon!!

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1067489885752462972003-10-29T23:58:00.000-05:002003-10-29T23:58:00.676-05:00

On our way today to a small village on the shores of Lake Baikal called Bolshoye Goloustnoye (BG). Our stop in Irkutsk has been short, especially since we spent yesterday at another town on Lake Baikal. The most interesting thing about Irkutsk for me is how different the architecture is here compared to Western Russia, even Western Siberia! Most of the original houses are fancy log cabins -

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1067318776141576732003-10-28T00:26:00.000-05:002003-11-03T00:44:25.906-05:00

From Irkutsk, Russia HAPPY BIRTHDAY PATRICK!! What a way to spend the day, waking up on the train in Irkutsk, after two nights of travel. Being taken to the cheapest eats in town, a Russian fast food restaurant, and now clicking away at the internet cafe. Who could ask for more??? We are well on our way through Siberia now and what a change it is from the big cities of the West. But alot has

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1066845347645700302003-10-22T13:55:00.000-04:002003-10-22T14:20:05.933-04:00

Just a quick update, since I only have 15 minutes of computer time remaining.... We are still in St. Petersburg, but are heading out tonight on the overnight train to Moscow. Just a quick day in Moscow and then we are taking an overnight flight to Novosibirsk. We have managed to pack tons into the past few days, but still have not seen half the sights. The Hermitage was awe inspiring. We spent

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1066380186194717542003-10-17T04:43:00.000-04:002003-10-17T04:48:02.340-04:00

St. Petersburg is truely an amazing city! Everything seems to be done on a gradiose scale. The buildings are large and richly ornamented, the streets are wide, the metro is the deepest in the world, the churches are all really cathedrals, and there are about 5 MILLION people living and working here. We have been walking around in awe since we arrived. It is a good thing that we have a full week

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1066218123274063282003-10-15T07:42:00.000-04:002003-10-15T07:42:02.986-04:00

In St. Petersburg: Man, it was a long train ride from Vilnius to St. Petersburg. We had our passport checked 3 times by 2 different countries. We had such a kick ass time in Vilnius. The food was good and cheap, the town was great, and the people were friendly. Tied are Vilnius and Krakow for my favorite cities so far. Yes, you can still get good 50 cent beer in Prague, but there are so

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01977200672828745108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1065984722791164622003-10-12T14:52:00.000-04:002003-10-12T14:52:02.186-04:00

In Vilnius, Lithuania: Here we are in another country... Again...... We are still having fun traveling, but had our first real problem today. We left Krakow yesterday at 6:00pm on the train and had to change trains in Warsaw. Everyone kept telling us to be wary of pickpockets in the Warsaw train station, even the Polish guy we met on the train. So, as you might imagine, we were quite concerned.

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1065858394575938122003-10-11T03:46:00.000-04:002003-10-11T03:46:34.286-04:00

In Krakow: We really like Poland, I had no idea that it would be so fun here. Krakow is a very old city with castles and old buildings everywhere. We like it better than the Czech Rep. because there are less tourists here. It is a working city instead of Prague which seems to solely exist for tourists. The beer was better in the Czech rep., but here in Krakow they have a wonderful outdoor

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01977200672828745108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1065730809807091482003-10-09T16:20:00.000-04:002003-10-09T16:25:06.033-04:00

In Krakow: Just a note to start... You can check out our updated itinerary by following the link to the right. In case you are interested. I wanted to follow up a bit on our time in Olomouc. We stayed at the coolest hostel yet, called the Poet's Corner Hostel http://www.hostelolomouc.com/. It is run by an Ozzy named Greg. Really nice guy. He runs the hostel out of his apartment, and it really

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1065464227171855322003-10-06T14:17:00.000-04:002003-10-06T14:17:07.073-04:00

This trip has been wonderful. Prague was great, a must see place. It reminded me of a REAL Disneyland without the rides. The Goulash was really great, some of the best stew that I have had. Now if it only had dumplings like my Uncle Paul's... The beer was good, but I prefer my own and the type of Ales that are made in the USA. My friend Matt was correct when he said that the world's best

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01977200672828745108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1065462623232950402003-10-06T13:50:00.000-04:002003-10-06T13:50:22.673-04:00

FROM OLOMOUC Prague is truely a fantastic city, even with all the tourists. And it definitely has been found. We went to the oldest brew pub in the world - which is not a secret (unfortunately). The beer was OK, but overpriced by Prague standards. We had the smallest ice cream cone in the world close to the astronomical clock ( I guess it was an "astronomical" ice cream). Really, it was about 1

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1065251572597505932003-10-04T03:12:00.000-04:002003-10-04T03:12:52.576-04:00

It seems that we have taken a beating on my post about Berlin. At least I got some of you to post comments!! Yes, you are right, we didn't take in any of the club scene. And in fact, after talking with other backpackers, it seems the club scene is still happening in Berlin. Maybe next time we go we will have to give it a shot. Although, if it is anything like Reykjavik, we know where Patrick will

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1065086498743125032003-10-02T05:21:00.000-04:002003-10-02T05:21:38.586-04:00

We have been in Berlin for 2 days now and we are ready to leave! I am going to put off writing about the red light district of Amsterdam still. Anyhow, when we stepped off the train in Berlin, we really felt like this could be any big Western city. Except it is not. Even though most of the city has been rebuilt, the buildings are new and large, there are tons of cars, and there are plenty of

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1064758701623603592003-09-28T10:18:00.000-04:002003-09-28T10:21:01.373-04:00

Still in The Netherlands and having a great time! Had to go to the Haag a couple of days ago to apply for Chinese visas (which they gave us, if you can believe it), and combined it with a trip to the coast. The North Sea is much warmer than you might expect, in fact, it may even be warmer than the Atlantic in Rhode Island. We didn't actually go in, but it sure felt warmer. The coastal town we

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