I think Kathmandu is stuck in the 90’s. Everywhere I go I hear 90’s music – Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Metallica’s black album. Also, dread-locked hippies wander around the streets of Thamel in droves. Even the weed the old dude at the raggae bar was smoking smelled like bad weed from my college days. I can see how this place would…
Month: September 2009
Oh Yeah!
I must say that this is my favorite toilet of all time. I’ve never really liked sitting on toilets, it just kind of freaks me out. I’ve never gotten the hang of the asian squat toilet, it just seems weird to be so close to the ground, and they’re always smelly and covered in urine – yuck! However, I have…
Bad Day To Be A Goat
Be thankful you’re not a goat and living in Nepal at this time of year. Today is Maha Astami (Great Eighth Day) and tonight is Kala Ratri (Black Night). This is the eighth day of Dasain, and the start of the sacrifices to the goddess Durga. Dasain festival celebrates the victory of Durga over the evil buffalo demon Mahisasura. At…
Three Hour Flight To A New World (or A Three Hour Tour Of Tibet)
My flight left from Chengdu and flew to Lhasa. Most of the terrain underneath was barren Tibetian plateau as far as the eye can see. We did fly over a few snowy peaks though. We landed in Lhasa where we exited the plane, went through customs and got our exit stamps from China, then we got right back on the…
A Ray of Coolness
After all the bullshit. that has happened in the last couple of weeks, I’ve been feeling pretty down – and a bit pissed off at this point. Anyways, this evening I stripped my packs down to assess what things I still have, and repack before heading to the airport tomorrow. In doing so I ran across the card everyone gave…
Farewell Slap In The Face
Ah my last few hours in China, and someone has stolen my internet tablet from the restaurant of the hostel. I set it on the table and got up to speak to someone at another table, forgot and went downstairs, and by the time I realized and went back upstairs, it was gone. Since there was nobody else around, I…
Plan C – Get The %$#@ Out Of Here
Just purchased a plane ticket to Kathmandu. Unfortunately I’m stuck in Chengdu for another two days, but at least I can go see the pandas… And, I’ve got tons of pictures to upload to the site.
DENIED!
So thanks to the PRC 60th anniversay celebration coming up on the first of October, the government has stopped issuing permits for foreign travellers in Tibet – apparently there is a fear of violent uprising. Of course this wouldn’t be directed at foreigners, but I believe the fear is that this might be witnessed by foreigners. Unfortunately, I just found…
Plan B – The Highest Train In The World
So after I failed to find overland passage through Tibet via Shangrila, I decided to fly to Chengdu, in Sichuan province. I’d read that it’s relatively easy to book passage via Chengdu, and it was. It only took 2 days to find 3 other travellers, and book a tour. I have a hard sleeper train ticket from Chengdu to Lhasa…
Dali & Shangri-La
After getting over being sick I was finally able to see some of the sites around Dali. I took a bike down to the lake, rode through the backstreets of a small village on the lake, and back up through the rice fields to old town Dali. It is harvest time, so it was interesting to see all the rice being…