Travel Blogs

The magic of Kinabalu

Posted by shinenyc | 19th August 2008

Although I was feeling dizzy looking at the seemingly unlimited stretch of palm oil mountains in the back of his truck when the head of the NGO Organization raced through the winding roads from Sakau with his Toyota truck, we did arrive in Ranau in record time. I found a new guesthouse in this quiet town and watched the Olympic Opening ceremony in the tiny television at the restaurant while enjoying my noodle soup late at night.

Continued | South East Asia Experience

Mastering Alaska

Posted by roadhouse | 24th August 2008

We have come to the conclusion that Alaska is just not an easy place to be. My main goal for the Alaska trip was to see Mt McKinley. This is something that only about 20% of the visitors ever get to do. Partly because it makes its own weather by being so tall and partly because most people only have 1 day to get a shot at seeing it. To help increase the odds we scheduled 5 days in the park 2 days on the road to get there where there were viewpoints and 3 days in Fairbanks where you can see it from the university viewpoint 125 miles away.

It was sunny all along the road from Anchorage to Denali, but the mountain was creating a cloud above 7000' so we did not get to see it on the way. Once we arrived in Denali National Park it started raining. And it rained for 4 days. The forecast was for at least 3 more days of rain so hope of seeing the big one was slipping away.

Continued | CHRIS~N~CAROL

Beer and Loathing in China

Posted by john7buck | 24th August 2008

As I sit here watching the Beijing Olympics closing ceremonies, it occurs to me that it’s high time to get my blog out on the trip to China I took the week before the Olympics even started. If procrastination were an Olympic sport, I sir, would be a Phelps-like icon.

For those of you who have been following my blog for the last couple years, you may remember entries about wild boar hunting in Borneo, climbing the tallest mountain in South East Asia and traipsing off into the unknown with a Burmese monk in Myanmar. So you might think that what follows might be an interesting account of backpacking along the Great Wall, studying kung fu with some Shaolin Monks or getting back to nature in the scenic Tiger Leaping Gorge. Well, I’ve got news for you, I did none of that. In fact, on this trip to China, I did essentially two things: got drunk and laid on the beach; not necessarily in that order. But along the way, some pretty hilarious things took place, so here you go.

Continued | Mental Malaria

Latest Update from China

Posted by JChambers | 21st August 2008

In the past few days, we have seen many interesting things here in China.

Yesterday, we drove about an hour outside of Beijing to visit the Great Wall of China. This is a truly magnificent structure, that one really has to see in person to believe. I was advised by my father's assistant here, Yujia Zhang, that the Emperor of China had this wall built to keep out the "barbarians". Below is a video of my brother at the Great Wall for those of you following the travel blog from Port Burwell Provincial Park.

Continued | China Olympics Trip

Zanzibar, Tanzania

Posted by cripxtreme | 17th July 2008

Stonetown
Stonetown’s modern history can be traced back to the Sultan of Oman, who shifted his capital to Stonetwn from Muscat in 1832. We did not spend much time in Stonetown, but we did visit the site of the former slave market. A church now stands on the site, built soon after the abolition of slavery, but they kept the underground slave chambers as a memory of the Island’s tragic past. It was eerily dark in the chamber and the shackles used to hold the prisoners are still present. Sadly, a lot of the island’s wealth in the 19th century came from the slave trade. Most of the slaves shipped from east Africa passed through Zanzibar enroute to far away lands.

Continued | Francis & Edward, Taste of the World

River Li

Posted by bruntonal | 15th August 2008

To appreciate some of the reputedly best scenery the Guanxi province has to offer, we took a cruise down the river Li. The irregular limestone peaks, often depicted on Chinese scroll paintings, have been contorted by the elements over thousands of years to create a surreal and oddly shaped landscape. We chose a bonafide Chinese tour over the soft English speaking guided, deluxe food option. Obviously being cultured types and not tight wads, this had EVERYTHING to do with wanting to sample Chinese tourism and NOTHING to do with it being almost half the price.

Continued | Have backpacks will travel....

Domes and spires

Posted by Wardsan | 15th August 2008

There are very few buildings over two hundred years old in Malaysia, and most of the surviving nineteenth century buildings are commercial premises. So Malaysia has very little indigenous Islamic architectural tradition to speak of. This gives architects a licence to pilfer from a broader tradition while creating a modern Malaysian Islamic architecture for purposes both religious and profane.

Pilfer is what the Masjid Negara does. It is a beautiful building, built in 1965. Its plan is along traditional lines, with a central dome, 60 metres wide, and an independent minaret. The bright blue ‘dome’, though, is not curved; it is a nearly-unfurled umbrella or a generalised Phillips screwdriver with 18 points. (Umbrellas are a symbol of royalty in this part of the world.)

Continued | Asia 2008

Southwest National Parks Loop

Posted by CRFS | 13th August 2008

What to do with 3 whole weeks in the USA? Yep, that’s it, all we’ve got left here after ‘poaching’ time to spend in other less accessible areas. We decided though that 3 weeks just in Los Angeles would probably send us around the bend so thought we’d head out across country to see some of what America does best – the National Parks. Yosemite National Park up near San Francisco was a top contender, until the recent wildfires, which have left it shrouded in a smoky haze for the summer; Chris and I have both seen it look so much better and didn’t want a disappointing return visit. This turned into a bit of a theme when looking at the map – we spent 3 months in the USA last time around, plus a southwest-side trip when I was expecting FIn and have great memories of it. Another consideration is the summer crowds, August is full on holiday season here but some of the lesser known parks are much quieter and just as pretty.

Continued | Four Go RTW