Hi AllWe spent the day pretty simply. First we slept in and had breakfast. Then went and did laundry at this really big laundry facility. We finished before noon and then Pam wanted to go and geocache people have you ever been to New Bergen New Jersey Well the streets and traffic are crazy and it is a total night mare But Pam found the geocache with much frantic heart stopping and brake squee

So my last day in Tibet was spent on a tour of Drak Yerpa Monastery a very cool and seemingly out of the way place. It was a good hour or so drive from Lhasa city limits. I was going to go to the biggestholiest lake but my hotel Mr. Yak which I do not recommend to anyone quoted me 1600 RMB for the trip plus meals and entrance fees to be paid by me. I found another tour agency near Barkhor

Sanitation has been a big issue at the camp. SA is working hard to bring conditions up to SPHERE standards. Initially there were portapotties set up and still in use which require daily pumping. Service initially was not always reliable but SA now has a contractor that is reliable. Current project under way is the building of sturdy latrines and engineering drainage piping note the drain

Bathing is an effort for them. Little children are bathed in pans or buckets in the camp mostly. Larger children and adults use other methods. See pics.

Hey everyone Whangarei was a bust for the job market so Kerstin and I have traveled down to Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty not to be confused with the Bay of Islands. The hostel wersquore staying at is called I kid you not ldquoJust the Ducks Nutsrdquo which just about made me spit out the water I was drinking a similar incident happened when I had to explain to Kerstin and a girl from

pictures of water at the camp. the first is a woman drawing water by the bucket. SA trying to discourage since water is not good...but they use it for washing clothes. other pics are water supplied daily by trucks. it is absolutely amazing to me how clean everyone is. they wash themselves daily under the most primitive of conditions. women are scrubbing clothes in a pan of water and draping t

A little under two weeks spent in the north island visiting friends and exploring some of the highlights went by too quickly. I landed in Auckland explored some with my friend Kim and within a few days found myself in Mt. Maunganui on the Bay of Plenty. What a beautiful little town fun and touristy and right on the water. I climbed the mountain on a crisp blueskied day and was rewarded with vie

On ldquoThe Last Frontierrdquo Part IFlorida markets itself as ldquoThe Sunshine Staterdquo but this is all hype. I donrsquot think that Florida is particularly more sunny than most other places but the nickname helps bring in the tourists I suppose. Alaska however which has dubbed itself ldquoThe Last Frontierrdquo is actually justified in its nickname. One doesnrsquot have t

Thursday 27.5.2010 day 225IzamalToday we got the buss to the city of Izamal the city if hills it is located right in the middle of the peninsula. It is one of the oldest cityrsquos in Yucatan and itrsquos history is attached to religious events. Izamal was conquered by the Spaniards. We went to the Franciscan Convent that was built from and over one of the Mayan pyramids. It is also famous

I heard lots of kids running around and playing when I woke up this morning. I'm such a deep sleeper I can sleep through that kind of stuff real easy. It was cold last night had to put another blanket on the bed. Had a new kind of corn flakes today. Since I'm a late person I really only have time to eat the cereal but mama tica puts out other stuff for me to like bread and yogurt. Irsquom not a

Monday 24.5.2010 day 222MerindaToday we booked our trip to Uxmal and did some Mayan cooking from our cook book. We did marinades and pickles so that we could eat Mayan food while we are here. Merinda has a population of 781000. The major industries are Tourism agriculture fishing commerce construction and assembly plants. The languages spoken are Spanish and Maya. 77 of people are Catholic.

Sunday 23.5.2010 day 221Museo de Antropologia e historiaToday we tyred to find the Moto GP or f1 or both on TV but we could not find ether so we missed both races. We went to the Museo de Antropologia e historia anthropology museum it was full of Mayan artifices many that has been taken from the nearby archaeological sites around here such as Chichen Itza that we went to the other day and Uxmal

Hi everyoneI have been on the go for the last three days. Every night a different city. After I left Granada I went to Masaya because I knew I could get a direct bus from there to Matagalpa. It turned out to be a very interesting city and visit. In Masaya they are famous for a wonderful market for all sorts of Nicaraguan made things. There were boots bags clothes wood art guitars scarve

Itrsquos my birthday Left Brighton at about 10.30am a bit later than would have liked but by the time we had brekky did all the internet and skype business tried again to get money out of bank with the travelcard with no luck and got car out of very expensive car park it all took time. On the way to Portsmouth we went the scenic beach route which really wasnrsquot all that scenic as it w

Saturday 22.5.2010 day 220Check into the Hotel El Castellano MerindaToday we moved about 10 blocks from one hotel to a club hotel in Merinda a 5 stars hotel with a kitchen and a king size bed.

Today is our last day on the island. At 730 tomorrow we will be driving onto the Northern Expedition and setting off on our 15hour voyage to Northern BC.After we left Campbell River last Saturday we headed west into the Strathcona Provincial Park. The park is centred around a 14 milelong lake called Buttle Lake. Lots of snow covered mountains and more than a few waterfalls.On the drive to

Yesterday was a big day for me. I climbed a mountain called Ilinizas that is almost 5200m high. This climb was just to get acclimatized so that when I hike Cotopaxi at 5897m I will not die. The place that I made my booking for the hike through a travel agency and they paired me up with a girl from Iceland. Her name is Ines and she is almost the stereotypical girl from Iceland and a pretty hard

I woke at 3.30am ready to start the day as it was about 10.30am KL time there was still lots of partying going on outside still so I thought it safer to stay in bed and get more sleep also can you imagine me waking Greg at that time Beautiful sunny day approx 25 degrees. We left hotel at about 8am and the town was like a ghost town nothing open and only people around were the occasional

Well after a few months of waiting around or more correctly sitting around and doing basically nothing. I've got my bags packed and headed to the airport in less than half an hour. I'll be flying to London by way of Amsterdam and then joining the ship on Saturday morning after spending the night in London. The ship is the Independence of the Seas and does mostly Mediterranean routes. I'll be back

Malta beautiful place