Travel Blogs

Mbale & Sipi Falls

Posted by jaredlking | 2nd May 2008

It was dark when we arrived in Mbale but the streets were swarming with people. All sorts of makeshift shops and restaurants lined the pavement. Coming from sleepy Bujigali it was like entering Vegas. The town itself was not very big but it had a lively atmosphere for the time of night. We found a nice hotel and ate at the Indian restaurant downstairs.

The next morning we tried to get some money out from the ATM but it wasn't accepting any of our four cards. We had been successfully using the same bank throughout Uganda so we assumed that the international lines were down. With most of our remaining money we decided on a short trip out to Sipi Falls to allow the system to recover.

Continued | Jared and Dianne

13 Of The Best Watery Travel Photos

Posted by Peter | 4th May 2008

Last month Travellerspoint challenged you to nominate your best travel photos on the theme of "water". The results are in and here are the best 13 as voted for by the members of Travellerspoint ...

Continued | From the swivellin' chair...

Crossing the desert

Posted by lent | 3rd May 2008

So the first part of the "real" Silk Road from ancient Merw onwards passes the Garagum desert perpendicularly to reach Turkmenabat and the Amuderya river plain. We crossed the 180km desert stretch in two days and it required some guesswork from the map and a good provision of water bottles to get from one supply point to the next. To make things a little more complicated, some of the settlements didn't have a shop, other supply points were closed and yet others had practically nothing to sell. The only companions are the frequent Iranian trucks carrying cars to Uzbekistan, speedy (and dangerous) cars on the straight road, the railway line in the distance and plenty of insects on and above the ground. The Repetek natural reserve about at about half way preserves the zemzem, a threatened desert crocodile feeding on snakes, but luckily we encountered neither.

Continued | Olympic bicycle ride 2008

Perfume Pagoda

Posted by Wardsan | 15th April 2008

Chùa Hương Tich, the Perfume Pagoda, sits on Hương Son, Perfume Mountain, 70km southwest of Hanoi. The mountain, 381 metres high, is a limestone karst outcrop. It is perhaps so named because of all the incense burnt at the temples. It is the most important Buddhist site in Vietnam, and has been the subject of songs, poetry, books and paintings.

Every year between February and April the Chùa Hương festival takes place. Hundreds of thousands of people visit the pagoda from all over Vietnam. On busy days 40,000 people visit.

I had calculated that Thursday was, as far as I could tell, an odd day on the lunar calendar, so it ought to be less busy. I can't be sure, but I think it worked; other photos that I have seen have far more boats on the river and larger crowds at the temples.

Continued | Asia 2008

Kibuye, Gisenyi and Ruhengeri

Posted by jaredlking | 2nd April 2008

It was more for our distaste of wearing backpacks whilst riding a motorbike than tight ass tendencies which led us to take the mini-bus to the top of the hill. We stood by the side of the road as dozens of packed buses passed us by. After 30 minutes and a few side adventures we found one with empty seats. I stuffed the bags in the back while Di clambered aboard. When I got in Di looked me in the eyes and said "we're in a school bus" I turned around to survey the scene and a dozen kids in uniform stared back. I burst out laughing and so did they. In fact they didn't stop until we got out. Actually, with all probability they kept laughing until lunchtime.

Continued | Jared and Dianne

SKIING AT WHISTLER

Posted by fiveofus | 13th April 2008

Ever since arriving in Vancouver and talking to people about where we had been skiing, all the Vancouverians have said you must get up to Whistler! The ski season is a little longer at Whistler ( until April 20) so we did some checking on what deals were available. We hadn't planned on doing any more skiing but thought it would be pretty cool to take a look so we can recognise a few things in 2010 when the Winter Olympics are here and checkout how it compares to Big White.

We had kept a look out on the weather for the week and decided that Thursday was going to be our best option. Greyhound buses also had a Spring ski package that included return travel, ski rental and list passes which saved us hiring a car again. It meant a big day , bus pick up at 6.30am and return to Vancouver on the last bus at 6.30pm, but we were all very excited to get in another unexpected day of skiing.

Continued | The Travelling Stevens Crew are off!

Turkey

Posted by Atko | 11th April 2008

Where do you vomit when you're five floors underground in an ancient city carved out of solid rock? I had a suspicion that this was one piece of knowledge the tour guide lacked and thus I was left to improvise....

We have arrived in Italy (a night in Milan then to Palermo) to the land of pizza, pasta, piazzas and gratuitous PDAs - which, for those not up with gossip-mag jargon, is the public face-sucking performance performed by young Italian couples - and we have left the land of big red flags. Unfortunately they were not the type of red rags that rouse the spirit of young socialists but the pure-and-simple nationalist white crescented flag of Turkey. As you fly into Istanbul they are one of the first things you notice and once you hit the ground they are everywhere. Hanging in shops, literally covering buildings and generally cluttering the landscape. The only thing to rival the ubiquity of the Turkish pennant is the likenesses of Mustafa Kemal who, in adopting the name Ataturk (literally "father Turk") is perhaps the worlds only self-dubbed founding father. And he is adored in a way that would make the Prophet jealous.

Continued | the big lap

Dude, that was some strong ginger!

Posted by amyandwim | 8th April 2008

After a week of rest and nice air-conditioned hotel rooms, we took a bus to the center of Laos, where the mountain ranges start and it promised to get cooler. We both felt excited and renewed when we found friendly people and a beautiful landscape... We were back on our feet again, and happy to be biking again. Little did we expect that we would soon end up in the hospital.

Continued | Amy & Wim