This morning we left our place in Yangshuo and took a shuttle to the airport in Guilin. Every airport and train station I’ve seen so far is epic in size. We took a flight on Southern China Air to Kunming which is just intended as a layover city before we transfer to Dali. Its a really big city and we only had [read more]
… first time on just the bamboo variety though. We arrived in Yangshuo last night after several metro transfers, a train ride, immigration clearing out of Hong Kong, [read more]
The bed at my AirBnB was like sleeping on a board. I actually looked under the sheet to see if there was any kind of mattress going on. Indeed there was. Four fine inches of no give. I say I prefer firm, but this is like lying on the floor with only my yoga mat. I think its designed [read more]
I took the bus from the airport (about 45 minutes) to Kowloon. I missed my stop so I walked back an extra half mile or so. This part of town is lit up like Times Square but with a slightly different flavor. Not to worry, there is plenty of neon too. I finally [read more]
I wanted to take it easy today, still plenty of walking (about 6 miles) but a major break from the last couple days. I took the train to the station nearest the Brooklyn Bridge and hoofed on over to it. Up some stairs and you’re on a shared pedestrian-bicycle boardwalk that [read more]
Today was my day to visit the Statue of Liberty. Mostly clear but cool and windy, I thought this might be my best bet. I decided to get downtown by way of a hop-on, hop-off bus. This started [read more]
Actually, no blisters (knock wood) but my feet are feeling it. just over 8 miles walking today. Back on the train to Penn Station this morning. My plan was to go to the observation platform on the Empire State Building but it was windy and a little rainy so I decided [read more]
14 miles walking recorded by my Fitbit – today was my day to get a feel for the place. I took the train to Penn Station then walked up to see the Flat Iron Building and Madison Park. I then headed for the pubic library and Grand [read more]
How fun was this day? Drew, Julie and I booked a 10 mile rafting trip down the Merced River. The heavy winter snowpack made this some of the best water I had seen in years. Drew and I [read more]
We left West End, Tortola yesterday headed to Salt Island. Straight into the wind and current, we motored the whole way. The 12 mile trip took about 5 and a half hours. We had anchored in on the lee side of the island and have a calmer anchorage [read more]
Our sail today if from Norman Island to West End, Tortola. This is an opportunity to provision but the store has very little selection of anything. We took a walk along the boardwalk and got to take a quick tour of a very nice yacht that a crew was scrubbing for their next charter. [read more]
Started the day with a lovely snorkel in the cove. Not many fist but I saw a nice stingray. We pulled anchor and set off for the Indians – four rocks projecting out of the water. There is a nice reef around the whole thing [read more]
We departed Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda for a 4 mile trip to Copper Island – not much here but some mooring balls. We hooked onto one and were immediately greeted by our token 3 foot barracuda. [read more]
Last night we anchored just outside the restricted area for the Baths on Virgin Gorda. It was another rolly night – I decided to change my strategy and sleep sideways on my berth. It helped a bit but I could never stretch out. We had a long and slightly scary swim ashore [read more]
We left our happy Jost Van Dyke to sail to Little Jost Van Dyke to hike the trail to the bubbly pool. This is part of a rock formation between two islands that creates a jacuzzi pool. The waves roll in over some high rocks and then drop in to the pool [read more]
Today has been scheduled around celebrating Sharon’s birthday at Foxy’s on Jost Van Dyke. We struck out at about 9:00am for the 1.5 hour sail. This is a very busy anchorage and the strategy was [read more]
We left St. Croix this yesterday at about 8am. Sailing was almost due north to St. John. We took turns at the helm and got acquainted with the nav equipment. At about 3:30 we entered Drake Channel with St. Thomas and St. John (USVIs) on our left, and Tortola, Norman Island [read more]
We dinghy’ed to the marina this morning and walked about town for a while. We took a few minutes at the fort and then hit the ATM for our boat money. It wasn’t long before we found ourselves at a dockside bar. Really Mom, its about the WiFi [read more]
Yesterday we finished up our instruction in the pool and finished with two reef dives in the afternoon. We performed the required tasks, took our final exams and are now PADI certified. We celebrated at Rumrunner with our instructor [read more]
We arrived in St. Croix 3:45 yesterday afternoon. We disembarked and were immediately offered rum samples. I was unable to find a taxi willing to transport us to our address in Christiansted. There was a high-priestess [read more]
I am back in Male after 7 days in paradise. Every day snorkel, breakfast, move to next reef, snorkel, lunch, explore a small island, snorkel, dinner, rinse and repeat. [read more]
This Hawksbill Turtle was not particularly alarmed by my presence nearby. I was snorkeling the South Male Atoll (Kaafu Atoll) and came upon several. This turtle stuck around and seemed to be as curious about us as we were of it.
I am at the airport to meet up with the group. The boat (pictured above) is a strange blend of fishing and houseboat. There are 4 guest cabins. I will be sharing mine with a 20 year-old girl from Denmark. [read more]
I woke up on Wednesday, to a text alerting me that Lufthansa had just gone on strike. That means that my flight that day from Frankfurt on was cancelled. [read more]