July 12Woke up this morning cold isn't really gettin any better I'm afraid. Ah well. If I don't get to sing in the competition I won't be particularly devastated I've got to admit. The stress here is starting to wear on everyone.This morning some of us went on a really great walking tour of Venice and while it wasn't quite as informative as I would have liked there were some really interest

Hi all Well this is it...the final chapter of my first and hopefully not last visit to Vietnam. As it goes now I am emailing from a Kiosk in Narita Japan killing time on my eight hour layover. I left Vietnam at around midnight on December 30th and will be arriving in LAX at 730 AM on December 30th. The last two day in Vietnam were once again unique and special. On December 28th Chris a

AUTHOR'S NOTE I decided to post my past travel journals with a few related pics. They are an interesting if amusing read. The first set is from my trip to Vietnam in Christmas of 2005. I sent them as emails to my mom and other friends and family. Please forgive grammarpunctuation errors Hi there I am emailing you from my second night in Hanoi...if you count the travel night as the first.

It was great to be back but it seems it is time to move on.....A group of French people have invited me to go with them to Varanasi. I feel it is my duty to help out the new ferangi in India. Also it is a good excuse to get out of this city for some time.I love Kolkata. I absolutely love it. However it has been a bit intense. Yes it is great to know people but maybe I should go spend some t

Hello friends family and internet worldIt has been over two months since Irsquove been living in Makunduchi which means less than one month left. This both excites me and saddens me because after Zanzibar I will go on to living in Paris France and travelling throughout Europe but it also means this wonderful adventure will end and I will have to leave what have grown to be some really goo

62110 We began learning Chinese massage with Dr. Yang Yuncai whom we quickly noticed during the lecture had a habit of saying ldquohow to sayrdquo when we would normally say ldquoum.rdquo During the lecture he gave us an introduction to Chinese massage can treat and then taught us a few massage manipulations. Chinese massage has been around since ancient times and became an advanced cli

Today we were up and off for a drive to some of the beaches. Firstly we drove to Huntington Beach it seemed like a lovely area. We didn't stop there and decided to keep driving North along the coastline for a while passing Seal Beach and then on to Long Beach. We didn't stop there though. We kept driving to where the shipping areas are. We drove over 2 large and different bridges. There wer

The colour of Kyrgyzstan is not red as the flag suggests or as might be associated with the recent spillage of blood in the south of the country. In fact there is not one colour you can put to it instead it consists of a kaleidoscope of colours and if you have ever hiked in the Kyrgyz Mountains you will know what I mean. Here you wade through a multi coloured world of flowers of all sizes and s

Thursday 15 JulyI am now sitting in the departure lounge at Phuket airport determined to finish my travel blog before arriving back home in Sydney Not so the boys with their journals they are both still in London. Ryan is sitting next to me writing in his but as he puts so much detail into each entry I donrsquot expect him to finish before he is once again swamped by school work. I le

Today we woke up at 5 a.m. this morning to catch a flight at 8. we then touched down in seattle at approx. 945 seattle time 1045 colorado time. then we had a one hour lay over where we got lunch Qudoba and then boarded the plane. we then finaly landed in Juneau at 1215 alaska time 215 colorado time. we landed in the rain and cold and then got our rental car and went to the grocery store

Hi everybody I'm emailing this On December 22nd. I quess Hanoi is 17 hours or so ahead of the West coast. I just returned from a two day boat trip to Halong Bay. For 28 U.S. dollars we got a 3 hour shuttle round trip 5 meals and a nite stay aboard a sail ship that coasted around Halong bay and stopped at this amazing cave. I mention the price all the time because I think it is amazing how muc

Wednesday 14.7.2010 day 273Charles Darwin research station 9mthsWe woke up a 500 and had bfast at 530 then got the boat across Puerta Ayora on Santa Cruz Island were we meet our new guide who got us taxis to the Charles Darwin Research Station the problem was the taxi did not know where to go and the guide made all the guys get in the back of the taxi standing up and holding on. As the taxi

HEEELLLLLOOOOO It is Christmas here in Vietnam as we are 15 hours ahead of California time. the last two days in Vietnam have been some of the most amazing in my life. We took a night train to central Vietnam to a place called Hue pronounced Hway. In Hue we rented motorbikes and cruised around the countryside to visit the tombs of the emporers and some pagodas buddhist temples. I must adm

Monday July13thDaily Information High temp 77 degreesLow temp 53 degreesWIND GoneCampground Elevation 2252 above sea levelHighest Elevation NA above sea levelLowest Elevation NA above sea levelTraveled 5 miles Departed NA PDT Weather cool sunny HighlightsThe Shops Coeur d' AleneThe ShopsThe ShopsSwam in cold Spokane River at campground 110 minsRelaxing todayOff to Glacier N

Yesterdays dive was to a site I had been to before and it's a pretty good place for beginners. The maximum depth is about 9 metres and itrsquos called blue lagoon for a reason. Another divermaster trainee was assisting with an open water course the first course you do whilst I guided a certified diver while the others were doing their skills underwater. I have to say I thought it was pretty fu

With 17 years' experience navigating the Mekong River Mr Puoy is reckoned to be the best riverboat captain in southern Laos. The watery labyrinth he works in contains a reputed 4000 islands so he needs to be pretty good.But right now at the end of a harsher than usual dry season the region's Laos moniker Si Phan Don Four Thousand Islands seems just a tad inaccurate.In a fading tropical dusk

Well I just typed out a really super lengthy blog but it disappeared when I tried to post it. Let me have a moment grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.Letrsquos try this again.It is a rainy misty cloudy day here in Mussoorie and before there were monkeys outside the window. But not now momentrsquos gone. There are a lot of monkeys here and they just look at you while you pant up the hill to cl

Off Clark Howard's website Delta offers a 680 roundtrip rate to Santiago Chile on August 7December 9 departures. A 10day advance purchase required. Travel any available day. Stay 790 days. Complete travel by December 29. Purchase by July 28.EnjoyMoose

Monday July14thDaily Information High temp 77 degreesLow temp 53 degreesCampground Elevation3553 above sea levelHighest Elevation 4653 above sea levelLowest Elevation 2250 above sea levelTraveled 237 miles Departed 845PDT Weather cool sunny HighlightsView of Coeur d' Alene Lake from high on Interstate beautiful Entered Montana Big Sky at 957 PDT 66miles across IdahoTrees and m

San Fransisco was amazing. Let's recap here's hoping I can remember it allThursday Night a date with Jen night. Being in Marin county is great Being in Marin county with a resident amazing I saw the cute spots on the water to hang got the low down on the neighborhoods and even saw where my friend grew up stilts redwoods and all Friday Boat TourThe highlight of this day could have