That’s really, really where I’m going to (road trip soundtrack by Bob Seger) We left Pokhara this morning. It was mostly overcast but occasionally we would get an awesome glimpse of a towering snow capped Annapurna peak. [read more]
We left our jungle cabana yesterday for the five and a half hour drive to Pokhara. After 45 minutes or so we left the flatlands of jungle and rice fields for the mountains. Following a large river which I understand rises in Tibet [read more]
Not long after we settled in to our airy safari room the bugs (crickets?) started to sing. We were astounded at the volume. A discussion of earplugs followed. A short time later [read more]
We checked out of our lovely room early this morning so that we could beat the heat at the Buddha Park – a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Ninety degrees and one hundred percent humidity – thank goodness we we arrived early. The park was lovely. There is a temple [read more]
Our second day in Varanasi began with a sunrise cruise on the Ganges. The ghats were full of pilgrims getting their bathe on. The sun [read more]
Goodbye to Orchha. Last night we left to catch our 10:40 pm train to Varanasi. The ride is scheduled to last 13 plus hours with an emphasis on the “plus.” I understand delays of two, five or even eight hours are as common as not. We locked all of our luggage to the underside [read more]
Our second day in Orchha was pretty unscheduled. A late breakfast/lunch of dahl and naan at the same little street cafe we had dinner at last night after observing a religious ceremony at a Hindu temple. This particular temple celebrates Lord Rama [read more]
Our guide told us that our next stop Orchha, reminded him of the Jungle Book. We were thinking that it had to be pretty much downhill after Taj Mahal. Not so. [read more]
We left our pretty hotel this morning for Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. This means we left Rajasthan for Uttar Pradesh. Five hours later we arrived at Fort Agra. Pretty impressive in its own right [read more]
Yes, that’s really the name of our meet hotel. Sounds good, right? Way more upscale than the last place. Huge marble hallways, a small lobby on every floor, all very colonial. The neighborhood [read more]
Like I said . “Happy Birthday Julie.” I HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT DAY. We slept the morning away but got up in time to have tea with our kind host, check out of our inn and find our new friend Raj who helped us secure a tuk-tuk [read more]
This morning we hired a cab to take us around to the local tourist attractions. We saw the India Gate, Humayan’s Tomb, the Qutub Minar, the Lotus Temple, a Hindu Temple, the president ‘s house, and a fine hand craft symposium that we neither asked to see or stayed at once we were shepherded in. [read more]
Bran Castle…this is the image I associate with the Dracula movies as the Dracula castle. But no… it turns out that of all the places we’ve gone this week, this is one with no actual connection to Vlad. He is known to have passed through the Bran Gorge but the castle was built to protect German colonists in Transylvania. [read more]
Oh, and did I mention that we are in Sighisoara, the birthplace of Vlad? Nothing creepy here. [read more]
We arrived in Hunedoara early this afternoon. Some of our fellow travelers had arrived with suitcases full of very elaborate costumes. Since we had done the backpack week in England, we were light on costumes. I brought some black and white make up and a pair of skeleton gloves but that was it. We took off into town to see what we could find. [read more]
We arrived in Bucharest last night after dark. We opted to take a bus to find our room. We found our way from the airport to the main city terminal but it was not so straight-forward from there. We ran into no one who spoke English and waited at the bus stop for our connection and figured out just in time that we were at the stop for the right bus but going in the wrong direction. [read more]
The day after I last posted, we left Savusavu Harbor and anchored for a day and night out on the reef. The next day we crossed to Koro Island where we expected to spend a couple days. Instead it was really windy and the water was rough. [read more]
Hopefully you got the satellite message that I arrived and found Doug and the boat. Internet is hit and miss even here in town so I am not hopeful that I am going to be connected very often once we leave here. Please don’t worry. I have some pictures of this small harbor I will try to send you later. Its very pretty. Much more rain here than in Nadi so its very lush and green. We are waiting here a couple extra days because of high winds which is fine by me – calmer sailing once we go. [read more]
Towns don't get much prettier than this. This morning we anchored off Portofino and took a tender to the quay. There is a small town square to explore but other than that, everything to be seen here was up very steep stone steps. We walked to the lighthouse on the promontory through a small castle and to 2 beaches. A perfectly lovely way to spend a day.