Uruguay is a small country of only 3 million people which probably explains its laid back culture. Even Montevideo felt more like a small city than a capital city. In addition, the beaches are nice, the people are extremely warm and friendly, and the asados are great... so what's not to love?! Everyone has a place they dream of moving to, and Uruguay is one of those places for us.

Punta del Este is the big beach resort town (reputedly THE place to be seen in South America after Rio), but it was a little too much like any other resort town. What we loved were the smaller beach towns further up the coast that have a lot more character, in particular Punta del Diablo, a former fishing village turned local up-and-coming resort/surfer town, and Cabo Palonio, a small establishment in a national park where there's no electricity or running water, and the only way to get there is in 4x4 trucks.

Cabo Palonio:

The coast of Punta Del Diablo:

We met some great people in Punta Del Diablo: Veronica, owner of Elida Elena hostel, was helpful even though we didn't end up staying there (they didn't have rooms with private bathrooms). We ended up stopping by the hostel several times for great food and even better conversation with her, her boyfriend and everyone who works there.

An impromptu photo session with the people that works at the Elida Elena:

One of the amazing BBQs at the Elida Elena, with Gabriel presiding over the grill:

All our friends that love grilling would be jealous to see the huge pit/grill that is built into EVERY house in Uruguay (and Argentina), and the amount of meat that's piled on top of the grill each time. If not for the NYC fire code, we would build one on our roofdeck. While Argentina is known for steak, Uruguay has the best chorizos (sausages). In particular, we loved the Morcilla Dulce, a sweet blood sausage available only in Uruguay (the orange zest tempers the taste of the blood, and it tastes way better than it sounds!). While we're on the subject of food, we were "meated out" by the time we got to Brazil so I can't speak for the churrascaria there. However, the sucos (fresh squeezed fruit juice) in Rio were amazing! The abundance of tropical fruits in Brazil meant that the sweetest, freshest juices are available at any random sucos stand for less than $2. Ashok's favorite was the acai, and I could never decide between that or mango juice.

Sorry I digressed (food has that effect on me). Bernardo, from whom we rented the cabin, is another interesting person we met in Punta del Diablo. Apparently he used the cabin to "get away" from his kids and wife when it's not rented out, so it was perfectly normal for him to come over each evening to sit around and chat with us about everything from surfing (he's a retired surfer) to real estate to local and world politics. For a guy living in a small village where there's no ATM (but has internet connection!), Bernardo is very well versed in what's going on in the world. Another lesson for us - never judge a book by its cover.

Bernardo with his family (courtesy of Ashok who took the family portrait one afternoon):

The cabin that we rented from Bernardo in Punta del Diablo:

View of the ocean, taken from the bedroom of the cabin:

From Uruguay we went back to Buenos Aires for a few days, then headed up to Iguazu Falls and on to Rio, Brazil. We had grand plans of going to Salvador, Ilha Grande, and several other places in Brazil (thanks David for all your reco's), but we crossed over to Brazil at the Iguazu Falls border, got down to Rio, and just settled in. Actually, what happened was that, for one reason or another, we spent more days in Argentina than we had planned so we only had 7 days by the time we got to Rio, and since we were almost at the end of our trip we didn't have the energy to cram 2-3 places into such a short amount of time. Instead, we spent the days exploring Rio at our leisure and left the other places for our next visit to Brazil.

Sun and beach immediately comes to mind whenever Rio is mentioned. However, I think what really sets Rio apart is its location - situated between the lush green tropical mountains and the beach, few cities can claim such a dramatic setting.

One of the best ways to appreciate the view is to watch the sunset from Sugarloaf Mountain. We lucked out and were there on a very clear day with just enough clouds to provide some dramatic color.

One cannot be in Rio without going to Copacabana beach, even if the water is quite polluted these days... so one afternoon we packed our stuff and worked our way there. The beach was pretty quiet and we were able to find a nice patch of dry sand not too close to the water. As I was getting settled on my towel and starting to enjoy the warm rays of the sun, I saw this look of surprise and horror on Ashok's face, and sat up just in time to see this white wave come rolling towards us. The next thing I knew, I, along with everything we had, were completely soaked. The only saving grace was that Ashok was standing with one of his cameras at the time, and was able to grab the other one off the towel before the water washed over it so the 2 most expensive pieces of equipment were saved. I'm sure the locals sitting around us had a good laugh at us, "the stupid tourists", as they watched us scramble to gather up our stuff and dragged all the wet stuff around looking for some place to rinse off the sand. It took about 3 days for everything to dry up, and even longer to get all the sand out of my backpack and Ashok's camera bag. While this was not one of our favorite moments, it was certainly one of the memorable ones!

Copacabana Beach, a short while before we got washed out:

In Rio we stayed in a comfy B&B called Casa 579 in the Santa Teresa neighborhood, an "artsy" area on top of the hill of the same name in the center of Rio (which served a great breakfast - fresh fruit juice and cake baked every morning... yummm). Maybe it's because we had a view of the famous Christ the Redeemer statue (the other iconic landmark) from our window, we didn't make it up to Corcovado mountain to see the statue until the last day.

View of Corcovado with Christ the Redeemer from our window (ok, our bathroom window):

Christ the Redeemer up close (we were the first ones there so no tourists!):

By the way, in case you're thinking of watching the sunrise from there, it's not possible. The park opens at 8am so it is way bright by then.

One other highlight for us was the tour of the Maracana stadium. After all, when one thinks of soccer, Brazil and Pele immediately comes to mind, so it was really cool to walk the grounds where so many famous players have competed:

We also learned an interesting fact: The stadium was built in 1950 for the fourth World Cup, between Brazil and Uruguay. Brazil was so confident they were going to win that they announced that the stadium would be painted with the colors of the winning team. Well, as we know now, Uruguay shocked the world by beating Brazil at the last minute, which is why the stadium is blue and not green.

The only places we had left after Rio were Cordoba and Mendoza (which I talked about in my last post), and thus ended our time in South America, and pretty much our trip. All we had left was a week in Aruba before going back to New York. More on that and some final thoughts next time.

Highlights of South America, Part II: Uruguay, Brazil remains copyright of the author jhongny, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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There was definitely a culture shock after being in Asia, Middle East and Africa for so long. To name a few: once again we saw couples hugging and making out in public whereas it was a big deal for couples to even hold hands; there's no longer any haggling (even street vendors will only give a 5% discount) - a good and a bad thing; and after months of no pork and hardly any beef, it is now all beef all the time (not that I'm complaining).

One of our first (second, third, fourth.... meals in Buenos Aires):

It's near impossible to write about everything that happened over 1.5 months (nor do I think anyone would have the patience to read it), so I will keep this post to only the highlights on Argentina and follow up shortly with another one on Uruguay and Rio, Brazil:

By far our favorite in South America, and one of the top 3 on this trip, is the Glaciers of Patagonia (Perito Moreno and Upsala Glaciers, El Calafate, Argentina). It's simply breathtaking to see the Perito Moreno Glacier - whether it's the view of the jagged top sloping down the mountain to stop abruptly at the edge of Lago Argentina, or the view from the lake which makes one appreciate the grand scale of the glacier. We were even lucky enough to see a part of the face of the glacier crash into the lake (just like in those Discovery shows)!


And some of the icebergs floating around the Upsala glaciers were the bluest blue I've ever seen. I think the blue is because the ice absorbs all the colors of the spectrum except blue.

The people we met only added to our fond memories of El Calafate. Carolina, one of the owners of the Hotel Puerto San Julian where we stayed, is one of the nicest proprietors we've ever met. She made us feel like we were staying with friends instead of at a hotel, and one night we even went with her to watch her and her friends dance Tango, which Ashok loved for the photo opps.

Another afternoon we ran into Jim and Wendy, a couple from Canada whom we had met briefly in Buenos Aires a few days prior, and next thing you know we had chatted away the afternoon like we're old friends. I'm not sure how or why, but at some point in the afternoon, while we were still with Jim and Wendy, Ashok somehow decided to talk his way into this restaurant's smoking room to photograph the meat, at which point a random tourist stopped and took a picture. It's unexpected moments like these that make traveling so much fun.

Besides steak, El Calafate has another specialty - grilled lamb. Carolina sent us to a local restaurant nearby where we ordered one portion, and this is what we got!

We had to check twice with the waitress to make sure they didn't confuse our order (they didn't). Needless to say, we were very satisfied after this meal, and highly recommend the lamb!

After the overnight bus experience in Egypt I swore we were done with buses, so I was not happy when we realized we had to take buses in South America to stay within budget. My mom's friend tried to assuage our fears by telling us how great the buses were, that they were better than first class seats on planes, that they served food, etc. They were right! Argentinian buses are the BEST (so good that it is one of the highlights )! The seats are roomy and plush and recline 180 degrees to be completely flat. The bathroom is pretty much like airplane bathrooms (so much better than having to get off the bus in the middle of the night to use questionable toilets or the side of the road!). There's even someone on the bus to serve us dinner and wine, and champagne with breakfast. The best buses are the ones between Buenos Aires and Iguazu Falls, but other routes within Argentina are almost as good.

Iguazu Falls itself would be worthy of any type of bus rides. I love waterfalls in general, so I was very excited about going there. It is different from Niagra Falls in that it is made up of over 275 falls spread out over approximately 2 miles. Unfortunately, as it was late fall, the water level was at its lowest (about 1/3 of average daily water levels) so most of the 275+ falls were dry. On the other hand, there weren't too many tourists so it was nice to be able to wander around at our leisure. Even with the low water level, the biggest fall, Garganta del Diablo, was still impressive.

Normally, this whole side would have been covered with waterfalls

Another highlight was going to the Boca Juniors football (i.e., soccer) game in Buenos Aires. We had wanted to go on the day we got into Buenos Aires. However, the immediate neighborhood around La Boca, where the stadium is located, is pretty rough despite its increasing popularity with tourists. My mom's friend was so worried about our safety - even his friend who worked as a security guard at the stadium said it's too rough for foreigners - that we ended up not going. Later we were able to go via someone who organizes trips to Boca games for foreigners (apparently a thriving business - goes to show you that where there's an opportunity, someone will be there to take advantage of it). And of course once we got there, it was not nearly as scary as everyone makes it out to be (probably similar to going to an USC game in downtown LA, but not like going into South Central LA). It was Ashok's first football game outside of India and the energy and enthusiasm of the crowd was definitely different. We also got to witness Palermo, a well known player, kick his 200th career goal during the game, AND got these Boca jerseys for free!

Our last stops in South America were Cordoba and Mendoza. Mendoza is the Napa Valley of Argentina, so of course wine tasting was in order. We decided to join a slightly more expensive day tour (a sign of being on the road for too long as we were starting to get lazy about finding our own way). Then again, the spread we got at the end of the tour (lunch was included as was all-you-can-drink wine) made the tour completely worth it!

What you see were only the appetizers! Afterwards we went straight back to the hostel and took a 3 hour nap.

In Cordoba, though, was where we had the best steak! I don't know about the nicer restaurants in Buenos Aires (couldn't afford to go), but the Cordoban steak was superior to what I've had at some of the expensive steak joints in NY!

Throughout our trip, I was always joking with Ashok that he has some unexplained fascination with communism/ socialism that manifested itself in China, Vietnam, and Eastern Europe. When we realized that the Che Guevara House is in nearby Alta Gracia (in addition to the Jesuit Estancias), of course we had to make a stop. Ashok got very excited when he found out that he shares the same birthday as Che (hmmm... is that the connection?). Whether or not one agrees with Che, it was very inspiring to see the passion and dedication he had for his ideals. Of course it was all the more interesting to me because I loved the movie Motorcycle Diaries (and Gael Garcia Bernal).

Maybe because it was slow, or because Ashok and I were the most foreign looking of the tourists there, we got stopped by a TV crew from Buenos Aires there to do a piece on Che.... I think they wanted to interview us at first (difficult to tell with all that Spanish coming at us), but we ended up doing the promo for the station (you know, the "live from channel 4" type things), in Spanish. Except that we didn't know at first that the guy was telling us what to say (was he asking us a question that we were then supposed to answer? was he telling us to do something?), so I'm pretty sure we looked pretty stupid.... This was not the first time we got on foreign TV: in Istanbul we got interviewed because there was an upcoming election and they wanted to get the foreigners' perspective. I don't think I was all that brilliant either....

(Ashok with the TV producer guy in front of the Che Guevara House)

During our time in South America, we used Buenos Aires as our "base" and took trips from there. It was great since it allowed us to coordinate our "side trips" so that we could meet up with my mom & sister for a few days. It was also nice to be able to leave some of our stuff with my mom's friend and not have to lug everything everywhere. For one reason or another, we ended up spending most of our time in Argentina, leaving us only 1 week in Uruguay (turned out to be one of our favorite countries) and 1 week in Brazil. For more on that, stayed tuned for "South America Highlights, Part 2"!

South America highlights: Argentina remains copyright of the author jhongny, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Seeing the living conditions one can understand why people behave that way. Like Asia, there's a huge disparity between the rich and the poor. Unlike Asia where things were cheap as a result, everything was expensive in Senegal. As an example, for $45 a night, our room only had 2 twin beds and didn't even have hot water. I'm not sure how the locals manage since I'm sure their wages are not on par with the prices. Of course, Senegal also has a side with high end hotels & fancy restaurants for those with money. Makes me wonder if we weren't traveling on a budget whether or not we would see this side of Senegal. I'm glad we did.

As I mentioned before, Senegalese are known for their music and moves. So when one of the local guys at the hostel told us about his friend's concert that night we went along with him. His friend turned out to be one of the newest sensations of Senegal, Yoro - for real this time - and we even got to meet him. The concert was great and it was one of the highlights of our time in Senegal.

The next day, April 4th, was Senegal's Independence Day (Josh, it's the same birthday as you!) so we got up early and waited with the crowds for the parade. It was more of a military inspection by the President, who was almost 2 hours late (tells you something about how much they care about the people). We did get a glimpse of the famous dancing troupe although we didn't get to see the actual routine - that's reserved for the guests of honor sitting in the grand stand.

We finally got to see local dancing on Ile de Goree, a pretty, small island about 30 min from Dakar by ferry. It's such a small island that there are no cars and it takes less than an hour to walk around the whole island. It's a popular tourist destination and one can see why with the colorful, charming old colonial buildings, surrounded by the beautiful blue Atlantic Ocean.

The first afternoon as we explored the island we heard music being played and followed it to a local festival. It was great! Everyone was dressed in pure white, rich gold or sky blue outfits, and groups would take turns getting up and dancing spontaneously. And they sure can dance. One woman told me that dancing is in their blood, and even the little kids know the moves. Judging by what I saw, that is definitely true.

There's some controversy about the island's role as a major trading center for slavery during the 18th & 19th centuries. However, what is true is that huge numbers of slaves were shipped from the western coast of Africa to North and South America, and the Caribbeans. The history and the plight of the slaves are documented at the La Maison des Esclaves (Slave House). The exhibit is in French so I didn't understand most of it, but I did learn that more slaves were sent to the Caribbean Islands and Brazil (for the plantation work) than to North America, but most perished under the horrible working conditions since the plantation owners believed that it was cheaper to get new workers every 3-5 years than to keep the existing ones healthy.

This wouldn't be my blog if I didn't mention the food. Apparently Senegalese food is one of the best in Africa. There are a couple of popular dishes, but our two favorites are Tiebou dienne (herb stuffed fish steak with seasoned rice & vegetables) and Yassa (fish or chicken in lemon and onion sauce). We pretty much had one or both dishes every day during our week there, but never got sick of it.

Finally, just a picture of the local minivan bus - the Car Rapide - because I love how colorful it is:

The check-in process when we left Dakar was THE longest one I've ever experienced. It took a good two hours even though we were flying Delta. I think it's because they've never seen a RTW ticket, so the security guy asked us questions ranging from what we did and how we paid for the RTW ticket, to where we lived in Cairo and how we paid for the hotel (please tell me why that's relevant?!)! Not to mention the many forms of IDs he asked for! Even though we got to the airport way early, we were the last 2 people to board the plane.

We only had 6 days in Senegal due to scheduling limitations of our Delta RTW ticket, but we definitely want to see more of Africa in the future.

Dakar, Senegal remains copyright of the author jhongny, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The prices reflect the shift as well. Whereas tea and sheesha would be about 5 EGP ($1), it's around $5 here... (didn't think I'd say it but we started to miss Egypt. ha!). Even with the relatively higher prices it's still a shopper's paradise. The intricate and colorful patterns are everywhere and on everything from lights to housewares to carpets. It's hard to resist... we ended up buying a lot of stuff: bowls, coffee and tea cups, and a sheesha! Only after we walked out with the bags did I start to wonder how we're going to haul all these breakable stuff around for the rest of our trip. There are still more things to buy, and next time I'm going to bring 2 empty suitcases.

Istanbul is also a foodie's paradise. The most popular are the kebabs (some of the best we've had), and the meze (same idea as tapas or dim sum – small dishes),

or one can have a simple grilled fish sandwich by the ferry dock and watch the guys grill the fish and make the sandwich on the small boats despite all the serious rocking caused by the passing ferry boats:

There's also this piping hot milk and honey drink that is sold on the street that is so good and just hits the spot on a cold day.

Our favorite though, has to be Ciya Sofrasi. It's actually been written up a lot, but unlike other places, the fame has not gone to the owner's head and the food is still delicious and the prices fair. The chef makes different dishes everyday based on recipes from other regions in Turkey. We liked it so much we trekked out to the Asia side several times just to eat there.

And then there's the sweets - Turkish Delights, Baklava - that's everywhere. Here's some colorful stalls at the Spice Market:

It's also at the Spice Market (fish stalls outside) that I saw the ugliest fish I've evr seen:

It may sound like all we did was eat and smoke sheesha, but we did do a good amount of sightseeing as well. Istanbul has a lot of waterfront and it would have been even nicer to just sit by the water if the weather was warmer.

Cappadocia was one place recommended by many of our friends so it was definitely a place we wanted to visit. The region is famous for the rock formations that to me seem very fairytale like, like some place where gnomes live:

This time the low season worked in our favor and we got a cheap flight & rental car, and a good rate at a really nice cave hotel (Kelebek Pension). The town of Goreme is set right in the midst of the rock formations so it looks a bit unreal:

It felt free to have our own transportation once again, and it gave us a chance to really explore the area. We saw a volcanic crater lake (Nar Lake) for the first time in a town nearby:

In one of the towns we walked into a very traditional coffee shop. At first I thought they were not going to allow me to go in because there were only men inside, but they didn't object (just got a lot of stares). By the time we left, Ashok was invited to sit at one of the tables to chat with them (probably to satisfy their curiosity):

The other must-do in Turkey is the Turkish bath, even though most modern Turks actually don't go to the bathhouses any more and the few that are in business are more for tourists. The two historical ones have such bad reviews on the web that we hesitated going, and opted to try it out at the Kelebek Pension. It was the best experience! Basically you lay on this big stone slab that's warmed up and then the masseuse douses you first with buckets of warm water, then with soap bubbles, and then he/she scrubs you down with a loofah (skipping the private areas) and shows you the dirt that's scrubbed off you. Follow that with more soap and warm water, and then when it's all done you get wrapped up in layers of towels and sent to lay down on a lounge chair to “recover”. All baths should be like this! Granted this was not the traditional bath – my masseuse was a Thai girl! - but with this type of pampering I really didn't care.

Apparently while we were in Cappadocia, Turkey switched to daylight savings time but we had no idea. Not until the hotel staff came to get us for the Turkish bath appointment on our last day did we realize that we had been doing everything an hour late for a couple of days. Imagine if we didn't get the baths then we would've missed our flight back to Istanbul. As it is we cut it really close. We were doing fine until we asked someone for directions and followed signs for what we thought was the word for “airport” but what turned out to be the name of a neighboring town. Oh well something like this was bound to happen at some point. In the end we got back to Istanbul safely and enjoyed one last sunny day in Istanbul (and meal at Ciya). Turkey is definitely one of the countries where I will be visiting again.

Turkey: Istanbul and Cappadocia remains copyright of the author jhongny, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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View of Jordan landscape from side of the road, near Petra:

On the other hand, going from Egypt to Jordan was not such a great experience. Due to cost and visa reasons, our only alternative was to take the “fast” ferry between Nuwiba, Egypt, and Aquaba, Jordan. The entire ferry experience was one of the most mismanaged and inefficient processes I've ever seen. There was such a huge delay that what should have taken 4 hours took over 10 hours so instead of getting to Petra and the comforts of the Marriott by 5pm, we arrived into Petra haggard and hungry at midnight at a hostel. The only good thing I can say about the experience is that we met some cool people to commiserate with:

Nevertheless, we still got up at the crack of dawn to beat the crowds (definitely worth it to have the place to ourselves). Petra was even more incredible than in the pictures and movies – as in Egypt, it's hard to capture the scale of the place in a photo. For me, it's the combination of the natural landscape and man-made structures that makes it so memorable. The rock formations, the deep gorges and canyons themselves would've been a top attraction in itself, but add to that an ancient city cut into the rocks about 2000 years ago and no wonder it's one of the new 7 Wonders of the World.

Al Siq, the pathway which is the entrance to the city, and to the famous Treasury:

Here's the shot everyone has of the Treasury, made more famous by the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, but of course I have to take one for myself:

The incredible rock-cut structures and the patterns of the rock formations:

We were so enthralled by Petra we walked through the site 3 times over 2 days (that's about 7 miles of walking each day!). On our last afternoon, we decided to ride mules up to the Monastery at the top of mountain (and with that, I think I'm done riding animals - horse, elephant, camel, mule....):

With all that walking and the ordeal to get to Jordan, it was a good thing we were staying at the Marriott (I cashed in some points). We've never been so happy to be in a Marriott... nice clean bathroom, and the oh so comfortable bed. There was even a theater where movies are shown every night. Not many people take advantage of it so Ashok and I had a private screening of Lawrence of Arabia (only the second half – part 1 was broken) to get us psyched for our day trip to Wadi Rum (the movie was shot there).

At first I thought Wadi Rum would be more of the same as Petra, but I was wrong. It was cool to ride through the open desert on the back of a "jeep" (Toyota Truck) and see the rock formations jutting out of nowhere:


The man on the camel in this picture gives a sense for how big they are:

It was while driving through Wadi Rum that it really hit me how glad I am we did this trip. If not I don't know when we'd ever get to see this.

We liked Jordan more because the people are so friendly and genuine. It was a refreshing change after Egypt, although initially we doubted everyone's sincerity. The Bedouins are known for their hospitality and we really experienced it. One guy offered for us to stay with them inside Petra for free (since the land belonged to the Bedouins, they are allowed to live inside the national park). Our driver at Wadi Rum stopped during the day to gather some sticks and we had a nice chat over tea at sunset:

Ashok was especially popular with the Bedouins. One girl actually stopped me as we were walking on a trail to tell me she “LOVED his coloring”. On the other hand, I was more popular in Egypt as Ashok was offered camels in exchange for me..... so I suppose he got the better end of this deal.

On our last day we drove past the Dead Sea on our way to Amman. Surprisingly, the Dead Sea is not that big – we drove from one end to the other in about 2 hours. It's weird to think that there's no aquatic life in all that water (due to the high saline content). One can, however, float on the water. On the northern end towards Amman, there are some nice resorts and public pools set up for people to enjoy a day on the beach. The idea of floating in the Dead Sea sounded good, but after putting my hands in and feeling the slimy water I decided it's one of those that sounds better in theory. Instead we just sat by the pool where Ashok enjoyed another sheesha and watched the sunset.



The surreal part is that the West Bank is right on the other side of the Dead Sea, basically the hills where the sun is setting in this picture.

Thus ended our 5 short days in Jordan, and on to Turkey.

Jordan: Petra, Wadi Rum, and the Dead Sea remains copyright of the author jhongny, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The culture of modern Egypt may be new to me, but its ancient sights are definitely not. It was really cool to actually see all the things I've seen/ heard about for so long. Our first stop was, of course, the pyramids at Giza. Some people say it's disappointing because it's not in the middle of an empty desert (you can, however, take a picture from a certain angle to make it look like it is).

For me, that didn't matter. It was still amazing. It's actually pretty cool to see the ancient pyramids tower over the modern apartment buildings (imagine saying “why yes, I have a view of the pyramids from my balcony”). What was more surprising and made the pyramids more difficult to appreciate were all the touts inside the entrance that won't leave you alone, especially since we didn't have a tour guide. At one point one of the camel drivers tried to pick up Ashok and put him on the camel (the trick is that once Ashok's on, the camel will take off and then the driver can demand payment even though we never wanted to ride it in the first place).

In fact, it seems like the modern Egyptians conspire to not let you enjoy the ancient sites. We've seen our share of touts – they can get pretty bad in Vietnam and India – but in Egypt it's a whole different league. Here it's more like a very friendly, long, and persistent sell. They think nothing of spending 15-20 minutes and walking several blocks with you to try to strike up a conversation (Ashok's new name is "Hey India!"). In fact, they get offended when you try to brush them off. It gets tiring after a while because they take up soooo much time, and it's the same conversation over and over again. It's the only country where we had our guard up everytime someone approached us because everyone's in on it - the cops, the security guards at the sites, the "friendly local" that's just practicing his English but somehow always has a friend who owns a shop or hotel or is a tour guide. I guess you can't really blame them since they've had several hundred years to hone their touting skills and perfect their scams.

Here's one where the baksheesh (tip) was worth it. At Sakkara there's a "peeping hole" where you can see the statue of the king inside the tomb which the security guard showed us (unsolicited) in exchange for some baksheesh. It's in the guidebook so it's not that secretive, but we wouldn't have found it without the guy:

Of all the places, we liked Aswan because it was relatively low key in terms of the touts, and is situated on a scenic part of the Nile. We enjoyed a relaxing afternoon sailing on the Nile on a felluca (traditional wooden sailing boat):

Here are some other highlights, even though pictures really can't capture the grandness of the structures and need to be seen in person to be appreciated:

The Sakkara pyramid - this one really is in the middle of an empty desert:

The Hypostyle Hall at the Karnak Temple in Luxor:

Ashok at the Medina Habu Temple in Luxor (mortuary temple for Ramses III), where the wall reliefs are still clearly visible after thousands of years:

Abu Simbel. Judging by the graffiti we saw on the statues (from several hundred years ago), they were not as strict about not letting visitors climb all over the statues as they are today.

Philae Temple (in Aswan) at night - we decided to do a Sound & Light Show, and realized that we're really not Sound & Light show people. At least the view of the temple was nice:

We also biked around the west bank of Luxor one day. Since the sun sets in the west, the ancient Egyptians associated the West Bank with death so all the tombs and mortuary temples are on that side. These Egyptians were seriously obsessed with life after death. Just think about the amount of time and energy and money that went into the building of the pyramids and the tombs, the collection of the treasures that are buried with the dead, and the detailed rituals of the mummification and funerary process! Ironically, after all that, none of the tombs survived intact.

Despite the touts, Cairo is a fascinating city to explore: mosques with their domes and minarets dot the skyline instead of church steeples, mannequins in shops showcasing the latest fashion in black formfitting long dresses (all of the outfits come with matching head cover), men in traditional dress sitting in local coffee shops smoking sheeshas (water pipes), and boys cruising down the street on bikes in the middle of traffic with a rack of Egyptian bread on their heads.

Taking taxis around town was another interesting experience. Anyone who's traveled knows to negotiate the price beforehand if the cab does not have a meter. In Cairo, however, one does not talk price at all before getting into the taxi. One is supposed to just know the market rate and give that amount to the taxi driver at the end (we figured out the rate by asking our hotel staff). Basically the idea is that you're supposed to pay whatever you think is right. The magic number for us was 7 EGP - when we pay that, the drivers just take the money and leave (and we feel like such locals). We think it's because the local price is really 5 or 6 pounds so the extra pound makes it worthwhile for the driver not to argue.

Due to some mix up with the Moroccan visa application process which is a long story in itself, we ended up spending an extra week in Cairo. A couple of things helped to make it easier to cope with the touts - our hotel, and sheeshas (for Ashok anyway). Our hotel, the Paris Hotel (parishotel_2006@hotmail.com), was our sanctuary during our stay in Cairo. It was quiet, cozy, relaxing (a premium when traveling on a budget in Cairo), and it was the one place where no one tried to sell us anything. At the same time, the owners and staff were always there to help, or at least offer tea or coffee.

The one Egyptian habit that we liked was the coffee house culture. EVERYONE in Egypt smokes sheeshas... at any time, morning or night... and the coffee houses are everywhere. These are not hip Starbucks looking cafes, although some can be really nice, like Cafe Fishawi at the Khan el Khalili square. Most are just tiny store fronts with a few tables and chairs that spill out into the sidewalk, and offer only Egyptian coffee (similar to Turkish coffee), Egyptian tea, and sheesha. It's a great way to relax and while away a few hours in the evening. I tried the sheesha but stuck to the tea (with fresh mint and sugar) since the smoking was not helping me recover from the bronchitis I had in India.

Ashok, on the other hand, really took to sheesha and, like the Egyptians, was smoking it several times a day. Luckily for him sheesha-smoking is a part of Muslim culture so he got to enjoy it all the way through to Turkey. I may have to do a post just on all the different places where he smoked sheesha.

Getting “gypped” in Egypt remains copyright of the author jhongny, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The idea of spending a couple of weeks in New Delhi just for the visas was not very appealing (Ashok had no friends or family in Delhi, and there's only so much there to see), so we devised this plan to see sights that were within an easy train ride from Delhi. It also turned into a big family trip as both my mom & sister and Ashok's parents flew in to join us. It was nice to have this extra time with them, and made these side trips and our time in Delhi more fun.

The gang at Agra Fort (with Jean, mom & sis trying to look like locals):

Our first stop was Amritsar, north of Delhi, known for the Golden Temple. The style of northern Indian temples is different than that of the southern ones, but ornate nonetheless.

Amritsar is also less than 40 Km from the Pakistan border, and probably one of the friendliest borders between the 2 countries judging by the Border Closing ceremony we witnessed. This “Beating the Retreat” ceremony is by far the most entertaining military ceremony I've ever seen, involving traditional uniforms with high head dresses, over-the-head high kicks, and friendly screaming contest between the MCs and audiences of each country.

This is one instance where the video gives a much better taste for what it's like:

After a short trip back to Delhi to pick up and drop off another visa application, we went south to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. Nowadays considered the greatest monument dedicated to love, it was a very appropriate way to spend Valentine's Day. The dinner with the whole family was very romantic too.

It's my second time there, but it's just as impressive to see the grand structure and the intricate patterns filled in with various precious and semi-precious stones. It's one of those places where you can't stop taking pictures so I had close to 100 before you know it. Here are just 2 of them:

early morning view from across the river:

We also had a “Slumdog” moment outside the Taj when this little boy came up to try to sweet talk us into going to his shop... oh and we did take our shoes off and they did not get stolen. Actually for the foreigners now they give you these shoe covers so it's not necessary to take them off.

It was good we had these breaks because getting the visas in India was a huge pain. There's a lot more paperwork involved than if we had applied in the US (seriously, why do they need the employment letter notarized for a 10 day trip, or a letter from the company to say you have their approval for going to that country for vacation? I can't imagine people putting up with that in the US!).

Here's the place in Delhi for notory services - it looks more like a farmer's market:

There are 8 stamps total on this document!

The funny thing is, no one actually checked any paperwork - no proof of identity, nothing - before notorizing the document.

In the US, the embassies gave you an idea for what the country is like. In India, the person that takes the application is Indian, so instead, we got to experience Indian bureaucracy and class-ism at its worst. As soon as an Indian person gets an uniform or sits behind a desk, he feels like he's better than others and starts to get an attitude and expects others to kiss his ass. It's wrong, but the common Indian citizen is usually treated like shit. You have to be a foreigner or an Indian with money or power to be treated with respect. At the Argentine embassy, we actually ended up calling the Consular General, who is Argentine (extremely friendly) to get Ashok's visa application processed.

Somehow we managed to get all except for Morocco in the 2 weeks there, then off we went to Leh in Kashmir state for the Tibetan New Year festival. Leh is in the Himalayas, at an altitude of 3500 meters (11483 ft). After my experience in Cuzco, we planned an extra day to rest and get acclimated. Even with that, I still got extremely sick, and spent most of the 4 days in bed with the oxygen machine running. The bronchitis I got while in Delhi (from all the open air auto rickshaws, I'm sure) probably didn't help.

The hotel staff was extremely nice and went out of their way to take care of me. The Omasila was one of the few hotels that stays open year round, and even Brad Pitt stayed there during a movie shoot, but only for one night... is it because he couldn't handle the altitude also?

I did manage to crawl out of bed long enough to witness the Dosmoche festival (ritual to ward off evil spirits and natural calamities), and to take a drive along the Indus River valley. There's a special significance because it's the 50 year anniversary of the Tibetan resistance.

People gathered at the base of the Leh Palace to watch the ceremony:

Masked dances performed by monks:

Himalayan peaks surrounding Leh:

Overlooking the Indus River outside of Leh:

It's too bad that, due to the altitude sickness, I will not be going back to Leh because it's so beautiful, and the people so warm and helpful. One of the organizers at the festival took Ashok to the back where they were getting ready so he could take pictures, and offered us soup afterwards. Even the manager at Kingfisher Airlines checked on me a couple of times to make sure I was doing ok and assured us that we would be on the first fight out (all flights had been canceled the prior 3 days - all flights since we arrived - due to weather). I've never been so happy to land at sea level. The pounding headache, however, stuck around for another week.

The next day, we picked up Ashok's final visa and flew to Egypt... and just like that we were done with Asia.

Some final funny signs in Delhi... one of things I love about India:

The left turn is free, but how much is a right turn?

Instructions on how to take the escalator:

The first one reads: "While climbing escalators put right leg on moving stairs and hold handrail and put other leg immediately on moving stairs while climbing down put right leg on stationary plate and leave the handrail put other leg on stationary plate"

Family Fun, Visa Run, and getting Leh'd-up in the Himalayas remains copyright of the author jhongny, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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6 days of lazing around on the beach and swimming in the calm cool waters of the Andaman Sea... oh and let's not forget the $8 per hour Thai massage everyday.... Pure bliss!

We did get our butts out of the lounge chairs to explore the island one day.... on a scooter.

It was Ashok's first time and talk about trial by fire - it looked easy enough except that the one road around the island was hilly and unpaved and filled with potholes. We saw one couple turn back half way through, but we fearlessly plowed on.

We also took an excursion to a nearby island, Koh Ngai (pronouced Hi), which is even prettier than Koh Lanta. It looks like it's straight out of a postcard. We only wish we had more time to spend a few days there.

The Thais has got tourism down. They make it so easy to go and relax there: information about accommodation/ transportation is easily available on line, people are friendly, and the price-value relationship is great. Our simple but clean beach front bungalow was only $23 a night, and I've already mentioned the $8 massage! In comparison, a similar room in India would cost around $50, with no wi-fi.

The first night at the hotel the beachfront bungalows were not available, so they put us in this RV-converted room parked next to the pool on the street side. This has to be one of the most unusual rooms we've ever stayed in:

Given what we had to go through the next couple of weeks, it was a good thing we got this week of rest.

White Sand Beaches of Koh Lanta & Koh Ngai, Thailand remains copyright of the author jhongny, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The South Indian temples reflect Indians' love for ornate decoration and bright colors. All the buildings, including the entrances, have high towers that are completely covered with ornate sculptures and carvings of the presiding deity, and are oftentimes painted with bright colors.

The inside of the temples vary, depending on the level of maintenance. Regardless, shoes and socks are not allowed once inside the courtyard. Cows, on the other hand, are sacred to the Hindus, and thus are free to roam inside, as are bats in some of the more ancient ones. So, in some cases we found ourselves walking barefoot around the courtyard carefully sidestepping holy shit, literally.

Elephants, on the other hand, have the honor of giving blessing to anyone willing to pay a tip (either in cash or bananas):

We also went to a temple to see the Pongal (new year) celebrations. For this auspicious occasion, the horns of the cows are painted bright red and yellow. Then at some point in the night, there was an Indian version of the running of the (very unhappy looking) bulls through the courtyard, without any barriers for people to hide behind (I read in the papers that, in another town, one person was killed and several injured during one of these bull races).

Kids joining the revelry on the back of a tractor-converted truck:

The temple we really wanted to see was the iconic Meenakshi temple in Madurai. Of course, given our luck, we were there just in time for the once-every-12-year-repainting of the temple so everything was covered up.

A small tower that's not covered up to give an idea of what's under the brown bamboo and leaf covers:

Being inside, though, was quite an experience... seeing the devout Hindus stand in jam-packed lines for hours just to get a distant glimpse of the Goddess shrouded in incense smoke, hearing the chants of the Brahmins (the priests) as they perform puja (ceremony for the God/ Goddess). The Brahmins are the only ones that can access the inner sanctum where the sacred idols sit, but anyone who has money can pay for them to perform the puja (it felt like a big money making scheme for them). We got pulled into doing a few pujas. In one temple in Chidanbaram, Ashok even had to take his shirt off and follow the Brahmin around (sorry no pictures allowed).

Besides temples & beaches, we also went to a couple of unique cities. One of them, Pondicherry (about 4 hrs south of Chennai) ended up being our place to meet up with friends. Josh traveled with us there where we hung out for a few days. We then extended our stay so we can meet up with Ashok's childhood friend, JoJo, and his family. Pondicherry was a French colony for a brief period in history, long enough to leave behind a nicely planned out, clean and relatively quiet French quarter that's unlike the rest of India. And good coffee. In fact, Tamil Nadu is the only state in India where one can find a good cup of Indian coffee.

Besides wandering around the streets, we also spent a lot of time in the charming, breezy courtyard of the Hotel du Pondicherry where the decor makes one feel transported back in time to the 1920's, and where one can just sit back and relax for hours (yes, it's the exact same spot in both pictures).
Hanging out with Josh:

JoJo, Deepa, and Kabir sleeping soundly in his stroller:

Our last stop in South India was in Cochin, Kerala, known for its “backwaters”. This is another place where people go to get away from the noise and chaos of India, and a boat ride through its various tributaries was indeed very peaceful.

Cochin, a Portuguese influenced city, is also known for the Chinese fishing nets right off of the harbor, which have been used for centuries to catch fish. There are plenty of stalls selling fresh, “you buy, we cook” seafood next to the nets. However, one look at the trash on those beaches, and we decided to pass.

Not to worry - we did find good food in Cochin - but were too busy enjoying it to take pictures. Here is a picture of the colorful & tempting spices for sale on the streets... just think of the possibilities:

INDIA: Beaches and Temples of the South, Part 2 remains copyright of the author jhongny, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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We started out in Chennai (formerly known as Madras) where Josh met up with us. There's not much in Chennai – even the guidebooks say to get out as quickly as possible – but we did spend an interesting afternoon at one of it's beaches. Everything happens here: horseback riding, photo studios, mini hand-cranked merry-go-rounds, fresh (I think) grilled fish, fishermen mending their nets, kids jumping into the waves (near naked), families wading in the water (fully clothed)..... talk about life is a beach!


Take a picture with a Bollywood star or the Royal Bengal Tiger... your choice:

Hand-cranked merry-go-round:

However, our first real beach time (since we arrived in Asia) wasn't until we arrived in Mahaballipuram (about 2 hrs away from Chennai) the next day. The waves were pretty rough but Ashok & Josh liked it, and the beach was quiet and nobody bothered us.

Of all the beaches we went to in India, the best one is in Varkala, on the western coast in Kerala. Here, the sand was soft and the beach was clean (a rarity in India). One look at the blue waters of the Arabian Sea and you can't help but be relaxed.

In the early mornings, the water is the smoothest I've ever seen with gentle rolling waves. By late morning, the wind picks up but just enough to offset the heat from the sun. Perfect hammock weather, especially with the addition of a glass of ice cold beer. There must be some weird law with regards to serving alcohol in restaurants because they can't do it openly. Instead, beer comes in a teapot (chilled), and shows up as a dish called Mallabar Fish on the check.

Varkala was just what we needed after a very long 9 hour train ride in 2nd class (no AC). Normally I like train rides, but in this case we had to put up with people with no reserved seats trying to squeeze into our bench, and getting indignant because there are only 3 people sitting when clearly you can fit in another 1-2 people. At night the train really fills up, with people sleeping anywhere they can: in the aisles, under the seat, and up on the small luggage rack above the seats which is probably the cleanest part of the train.

Traveling around on a budget in India gives you a completely different experience and view of India. Going one step up doesn't even require a lot more money (the train ticket would have been $20 for 1st class AC sleeper vs. the $2 we paid), but the experience is almost like seeing 2 different countries. One is not more authentic or real than the other. Rather, it just provides a glimpse into the lives of the different classes of people. On this trip, I realized that the Indian governmen may make it affordable for everyone to travel. However, there's no thought given to how the people are treated during the trip... it's literally "cattle class". The bar is set extremely low when it comes to the quality of the goods/services.

Next up: the temples of South India

INDIA: Beaches and Temples of the South, Part 1 remains copyright of the author jhongny, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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My camera's really gone by now and only 1 in 10 are coming out so here's all I have of LP:

We didn't do any research on LP, so we didn't realize that it's set in the midst of mountains and that it gets chilly at night. I know it's pretty silly of me, but I just never thought it got cold anywhere in Southeast Asia. I ended up catching a cold but it's such a laid back town, it was a good place to rest and recover. We did catch the early morning procession of monks receiving alms from the locals. That's the main tourist attraction, and is what made Luang Prabang so popular.

A psychedelic version (thanks to the broken camera):

Mist on the Mekong River in the early morning after the procession:

However, it's gotten so popular that some tourists forget that it is a religious event which should be respected, and instead will walk right up to the monks (you're supposed to only observe from across the street), sometimes even getting in their way, to take pictures. It's like walking into a church during a service and getting right up to the minister to take pictures. We saw more ugly tourist behavior around town – at a Buddhist monument people were climbing up onto the stupa just to get a better sunset picture, backpackers brought beer and were treating the place like a bar during happy hour. The lack of respect for the locals is just so wrong! It makes you wonder if ugly tourists are the ones that teach the locals to become rude and cunning, and ruin it for the rest of us.

A local village nearby was celebrating their new year so we went to check it out. It's like a very simple, local fair. As we strolled around we saw locals forming 2 lines facing each other, tossing tennis balls back-and-forth. I found out later that it's a way for guys to court girls, so he can get a chance to talk to the girl while the ball is tossed back and forth.

Other than that, we didn't do much else. We had local Laotian BBQ by the river which is a combo grill & hot pot so you can grill your own meat AND cook veggies in the soup, but the dipping sauce is the best part. We also met up with our friends Tim & Anna, whom we met in Mongolia, for the 3rd time and found out they got engaged! It's a nice coincidence that our paths kept crossing and we happened to be in the same place at the same time.

The trip back to Bangkok was an adventure in itself, and involved almost every mode of ground transportation: 11-hour bus ride to Vientiane where they played Casino Royale but every time we hit a bump the video would go out and only the sound stayed on, but we did get to see the beautiful Laotian mountains; taxi-autorickshaw-bus-autorickshaw to cross the border into Thailand; 6 hour wait for the train where we filled up on good Thai food at the Tesco foodcourt; and then an overnight train to Bangkok. 48 hours total travel time. The flight would have taken 1.5 hours. Not sure it was worth the $200 savings. At least we got to see the beautiful Laotian landscape.

And so ended the Southeast Asia portion of our travels....

Luang Prabang, Laos remains copyright of the author jhongny, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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This is Bunh Cuon, a thin rice crepe that is popular for breakfast (but really it's good anytime):

And here's the woman making it at a well known place (Bánh Cuốn Thanh Vân):

I didn't know this before, but the Vietnamese food we have in the US is more southern style, from Saigon. The food in Hanoi is slightly different – instead of fish sauce, they use a dipping sauce that is more soup-like. Pho and summer rolls are more specialties of Saigon but Hanoi has its own delicious versions.

This is Bun Cha (rice noodles with grilled pork & dipping sauce):

I'm missing the food as I look at these pictures.

We were walking around Hanoi, and saw the infamous Hanoi Hilton, the POW prison during the Vietnamese war. It's weird to see this nondescript building right in the middle of the city, next to all these modern high-rises. Not a great shot but my camera's not working properly by now:

Thanksgiving was spent cruising around Ha Long Bay, famous for all the limestone karsts that jut out from the water. We had a nice fresh seafood dinner instead of the big turkey meal. After much searching and reading a lot of horror stories about bad cruises, we found one where we can get our own boat and be on our own schedule instead of going with a large group cruise (CatBa Ventures). The boat was on the rustic side, and the “western toilet” used the “eastern” method of flushing (i.e. pour water from a pail into the toilet to flush it), but the captain was extremely nice and bent over backwards to make sure we were happy. And it was definitely worth it to be able to relax on our lounge chairs all day and enjoy the beautiful scenery without being disturbed by other tourist boats. The captain also took us kayaking into these caves that lead to hidden lagoons.

Pictures of Ha Long Bay karsts:

This is one of the fishing villages that dot Ha Long Bay. Imagine living your daily life on the water:

Our boat (the deck on top is where we hung out all day):

and Ashok relaxing on our boat:

At night we would dock in these quiet coves where there's maybe a fishing family or another boat, that's all, and all you see are the karsts and the stars. One of the nights was a bit harrowing as the captain miscalculated the time it would take to get to the docking place so we had to cross the bay in the dark. Our boat didn't have any lights (no life jackets either, I noticed), and it was a moonless night. You know something's wrong when the captain gives you free beers. There were, luckily, 2 very bright stars that lit up the water and provided us with direction. We were never so happy to get to the cove that night.

Incidentally, we saw the same 2 stars a few nights later side by side with an upward new moon underneath.... looking like a smiley face! We found out later that the 2 stars were actually Jupiter and Venus, and I think you can only see it in the southern hemisphere (but don't quote me on that). If I had know, I would've tried to take a picture of it... but here're a couple of links if you're curious:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/75974977@N00/3128441229/
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=7-HkgmRKmDs

We would have liked to stay in Vietnam longer to enjoy the food, but our visa was running out so we had to move on to Laos. I did not hear anything positive about the 30+ hour bus ride to Luang Prabang, Laos, so we bit the bullet and paid for the 1-hour flight instead. It was a good decision.

Hanoi & Ha Long Bay, Vietnam remains copyright of the author jhongny, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Our first stop, after 8 hours on the bus, is Nha Trang, a pretty popular beach town. It was late by the time we got there so we went in search of good Vietnamese food for dinner. We found this very local eating place (doesn't quite qualify as a restaurant, just an open courtyard with a few low plastic tables and stools). After much pointing and charades (at one point the guy moo'd and pointed to his butt to explain which cut of beef we were getting) we finally got our tasty dinner.

NT's supposed to have a nice beach, but since the remnants of a hurricane just passed by, the beach was littered with trash and not too enticing. This is one of the few pictures I took in NT because I thought the red star flags on the boats at the harbor make an interesting picture:

We had planned our schedule so we would be in Hoi An for our wedding anniversary (4 years!). Turned out to be a great decision. Hoi An has a charming, characteristic old town that makes it interesting to walk around. Of course it's also got the touristy part - the streets are packed with tailor shops (big thing to do but I personally think a bit over-hyped since you can do the same in Hanoi or Bangkok) but it's not too hard to avoid them. It's also pleasant to explore outside of old town on bike.

Northern Vietnam had the worst flooding in 20 years just a few weeks prior, and half of Hoi An old town was still under water when we got there. The locals made the most of it by offering boat tours through the flooded streets, proving once again how ingenuous they can be.

One of the highlights of our stay is our hotel, the Ha An Hotel. It's the ideal place: the decor has local flavors but done in a tasteful way (a rare thing in Asia especially in the mid-budget range), the amenities meet the needs of western travelers, the staff is super friendly, and the grounds are nice to relax in, but all at a reasonable rate. It was so nice to be at this place, especially after a very long, 11-hour, overnight bus ride with the bus driver's Vietnamese pop music blaring all night. If only there is a place like this everywhere we went... sigh.

We also had a memorable meal for our anniversary. The decor in this seaside restaurant is very basic, but the crab in tamarind sauce was the best we've ever had. In fact, you can put anything in that tamarind sauce and it'd taste good.

A few relaxing days and it's time to get on the bus again to go to Hanoi. It's our longest ride yet (18 hours total!), but 2 things helped us keep our sanity: Hanoi is our last stop, and the silk sleeping bags we bought in Hoi An. They are one of our best purchases because you can wrap yourself inside the sleeping bag and not worry about touching anything around you in your sleep, and they are thin so you don't get too hot.

Tourism is very well developed in Vietnam. There is a tour package for every place one may want to visit from the Cuchi tunnel and the Mekong Delta in HCMC to Ha Long Bay in Hanoi, and many tour agencies that offer them. The fierce competition has not lead to quality tours at a reasonable price, but has instead sprouted many operators that over promise and under deliver, making it tough to ensure one has a good experience. For that reason I've posted my notes for anyone thinking about going to that area and/or doing the open tour. For everyone else, stay tuned for the next post!

Notes on Nga Trang and Open Tour buses:
The 2 companies that seemed to have the best buses from HCMC were Hahn Cafe and Sinh Cafe. The people at Hahn Cafe in HCMC were very nice so we booked with them, but the ones in the other cities were a different matter. Either way I definitely recommend spending the extra $5 for the better (sleeper) bus. The buses were as promised all the way to Hoi An, but from Hoi An to Hanoi we got stuck with older buses. It costs a little more, but the better way may be to buy the ticket separately from one city to the next so you can make sure you get the bus as promised, and the tour operators have a little more incentive to provide better service.

We didn't like Nha Trang as much although I read good things on the web about it. It may be more for people looking for a night life in addition to the beach. On the other hand, we passed by a town called Mui Ne on the way to NT which looked much nicer. It's basically one main road with a string of resorts right on the beach and looked a lot quieter and more relaxing. Just before Mui Ne was a fishing village with the most amazing mass of fishing boats all tied up together.

From the south to the north remains copyright of the author jhongny, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The first impression I have of Saigon (as does everyone, I'm sure) is the never ending stream of motorcycles (and the noise) on the streets - they just swarm around the cars like ants! Crossing the street is literally like playing Frogger – one step at a time. The trick is to cross slowly so that the vehicles can see you and go around you, and definitely follow the “small yields to big” rule.

The main reason Ashok and I wanted to go to Vietnam was for the food, so as soon as we got settled, we went out in search of real Vietnamese cooking. Unfortunately, because we were staying in the backpacker/ touristy area around Pham Ngu Lau, the food is also “westernized”, so I'm sad to report that our first meal in Vietnam was not very good. We learned to avoid restaurants in Pham Ngu Lau area or touristy areas in general, especially those that offer western and Vietnamese food. We found authentic (and better!) stuff just a few blocks away: amazing Pho (beef noodle soup which HCMC is known for), really good Vietnamese baguette sandwich from a guy on the street, and freshly made thin rice crepe from a woman at the morning market (the one for locals, not the touristy Cho Ben Thang market). Not to mention the Vietnamese coffee: strong, rich coffee (one good influence from the French) balanced with the sweetness of condensed milk, then poured over ice... perfect for the hot, humid weather. If you haven't figured it out already, there will be a lot on food in my Vietnam posts.

It's amazing, too, how little space the Vietnamese needs to set up a food stall.
Everything they need is set up all around them so there's no need to get up from their little plastic stool.

This woman had everything she needed on her bike, down to the tin container with hot coals to keep her food hot:

Getting away from food for a minute, we did do some sight-seeing as well. One of the must-see's in HCMC has to be the Cuchi Tunnels. It's a network of underground tunnels used against the French at first, then expanded by the Vietcongs to fight the Americans. It really gives you a sense for how resourceful & cunnning the Vietnamese are, and therefore, why the Americans could not win the war on their turf. The tunnels are just big enough for the smaller Vietnamese to fit in, but for most people today you'd have to bend over, and in some cases, crawl to get thru the dimly lit tunnel (back in the days it would be pitch black). I was getting claustrophobic in there and couldn't finish.

Here's one of the holes the Vietcongs snipers would hide in. Once again, it's amazing how small a space they'd squeeze into:

It was surreal to see these places, especially since Vietnam today is so geared towards foreign tourism and does not feel like a communist country at all.

Our tour guide, Mr. Bean (Binh), was also one interesting character. Having fought in the Vietnam war on the US side, he was not trusted by the government to pursue a professional career in law so he became a tour guide to earn a living.... and that's just one of his stories.

Three days was about the right time in HCMC so we made our way north along the coast towards Hanoi.

Who wants to be a Millionaire? Dong Millionaires, that is. remains copyright of the author jhongny, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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From Guangzhou, China where we were treated to a delicious seafood lunch courtesy of my mom's friend, we flew an uneventful flight on Kenya Airways to Bangkok. My mom and sister spend a lot of time in Bangkok so it worked out well for us to meet up with them there. After a month in China it was great to have a comfy place as a rest stop. It was nice to be pampered by mom – home cooked meals, delicious Thai snacks & various tropical fruits all ready for us to eat all day, laundry done for us, etc. - mom's are the best! We also got a chance to get caught up on bills, etc. Oh, and of course it was nice to spend some time with them too!

View of Chao Phraya River near mom's apartment in Bangkok:

We've both been to Bangkok before, so there was no pressure to do any sightseeing. Instead, we focused on the food (what else). Thailand is one of the best places for really good, yet cheap, street food. For those worried about the sanitary conditions of street food stalls, the same food can be found in food courts of shopping centers. For $1.5 for a dish you get great Pad Thai, fried rice, papaya salad, noodle soups, etc. etc. Our meals here are averaging $5 for both of us. Love it! The other thing to love about Bangkok is the cheap massage – a 2 hour massage... 120 minutes... for $10! Of course, Bangkok is also great for people not on a budget. For very little money one can live a very luxurious life – eat at nice restaurants, stay at top hotels, and shop till you drop. No wonder there are so many foreigners in Bangkok.

It's nice when things work out without planning for it. We found out that one of Thailand's big holidays, Loi Krathong (floating lantern festival, aka festival of lights), is only a couple of days away. It's celebrated everywhere, but we decided to see it in Sukhothai, the ancient capital, where Loi Krathong started. This time around we traveled in luxury - the 4 of us went in a nice 9-passenger minivan complete with entertainment center. What a difference compared to the bus trips we've been on.

On the day of the festival, one is supposed to light a candle on a Krathong (a lotus-shaped float usually made with banana leaf and decorated with flowers), make a wish, and release it into the river or a body of water and let it drift.

If the candle doesn't go out the wish will come true. When a couple makes a wish together they'll be together in the future. There's also another way to test the strength of a relationship: each person gets a krathong and puts them in the river at the same time, and if the kratongs float down the river together that means the couple will be together, but if the kratongs separate then the relationship won't last. We chose not to trust our future to the flow of the current and instead made a wish together. Here's Ashok & I floating our krathong at the end of the night:

The Loi Krathong festival was held in the historic park of Sukhothai. All the events - krathong floating, parades, fireworks, etc. - took place with the old temples and monuments as backdrop which was very cool. Here are some pics of the various events:

One of the temples in Sukhothai Historic Park:

Loi Krathong parade with floats from each of the 9 provinces:

One of the floats used chips & other snacks as decoration:

Light & Sound Show in front of the temples, complete with fireworks:

People also launched Khom Fai, or hot air lanterns, into the sky. They're not environmentally friendly, but the sight of the tiny flames floating up into the night sky was quite mystical.

On the way back to Bangkok we tried to make it to the River Kwai (as in the movie The Bridge on the River Kwai) for sunset but didn't quite get there in time so this is all we got to see of the bridge:

Lastly, an interesting thing we saw during the road trip was this innovative (but probably very old) way of crossing the river which almost looked like the monks were flying over the river. We got on to check it out, and the monk controlling the cables probably thought it was weird that we didn't want to get off when we got to the other side and instead just rode it back.

Once back in Bangkok we decided it was time to hit the road again, so off we went to Vietnam and Laos. More on those next time.

Bangkok and Sukhothai, Thailand remains copyright of the author jhongny, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The sky started clearing up so we headed up to the summit of Huang Shan. I always thought traditional Chinese landscape paintings are abstract expressions, but after Huang Shan I realized that they are actually very realistic and that the mountains in China really do look like that. The first day the heavy rain clouds were so thick we barely saw anything but the weather is so unpredictable that all of a sudden the fog would lift and then the sea of clouds would be before your eyes. The weather continued to improve during our 3 day stay so we got to see the many faces of Huang Shan, and even a decent sunrise:





As much as we dislike rain, Huang Shan is at its best right after it rains in order to get the clouds.

There are no roads for any vehicles with wheels, motorized or not at the summit. Everything that's used (food, bed linen, water, etc.) are all carried up from the bottom of the mountain by the local workers.... a 3+ hour hike uphill!

Our hike was not anywhere near as tough as the workers' since the cable car took us most of the way up, but we did have to carry a pretty heavy load to our hotel. All because we didn't heed the advice of the hotel staff in Tunxi who told us to leave most of our luggage with them. Next time we will definitely remember to bring as little as possible up! Ashok's going down in this picture, but we had an equal (or more) number of steps up... and by the way, I had my share of heavy bags as well:

One last story of a very interesting encounter: On one of our hikes, Ashok saw an old man doing some sketches who looked interesting so we approached him to ask to take his picture. It turns out he's an art professor at an university in JianXi and comes every year at the invitation of one of the hotels to paint for them. After talking for a while, he asked if Ashok would sit for a portrait for him because he doesn't normally get a chance to do portraits of foreigners. How funny is that! Usually it's Ashok that's doing the asking. Of course we had to oblige... and that's how Ashok got his first portrait.

And so ended our tour of China. On to Southeast Asia with Bangkok as our first stop.

Huang Shan, China's most picturesque mountain remains copyright of the author jhongny, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Sichuan cuisine is also our favorite of all the different types of Chinese foods, yet another reason we were excited to be there. The food definitely did not disappoint. A stroll around the various food stalls around Wen Shuo Temple proved to be very rewarding for our stomach. The food is spicy, but in a way that one can still taste all the flavors as opposed to just being so hot it obliterates everything else. One of the best is the dumpling in hot chili oil... here's it's more soupy and flavorful than what you get in the US. There's not peanut butter in the sauce either... not sure why restaurants in NY think it's necessary to add it. Unfortunately Ashok was still recovering from Jiayuguan so we had to limit what we ate.

The Giant Pandas are from Sichuan so of course we paid a visit to the Panda Research Center. We got there early to see them eat breakfast. Apparently after that they pretty much just go back to sleep. Not a bad life. I know they can get mean but they just look so innocent & cuddly!

The cutest things, though, were the baby Pandas. All the newborns are put into the nursery since they're still developing their senses and cannot do much, and when the workers plop them down into the playpen they just lay there and wiggle around looking just like the soft, plush stuffed animals you can buy (sorry photos were not allowed inside).

The other thing to do is to have tea in a tea house and people watch. It was drizzling the day we went to the park so there weren't too may people to watch. However, we did see this interesting activity in the park:

This guy is getting his ears cleaned by one of the professional ear cleaners that walk around the park, while having tea and snacks, for less than $1.50! We were tempted, but didn't end up trying it.

It would've been nice to rest up in Chengdu for a few days but we had already booked tickets for Huang Shan so off we went after only a short stay.

Pandas in Chengdu remains copyright of the author jhongny, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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To protect the artwork, the only way to see the caves is with a guide and the tour only includes 10 caves. The experience is slightly diminished since we couldn't wander through the caves at our leisure, but what we got to see were impressive enough. One of the more famous caves contains the world's 3rd largest Buddha figure, standing at over 34.5 meters high. Photos were not allowed inside so here I am outside of the cave. To give you an idea for the scale, the Buddha is the same height as the building behind me:

Another famous cave is the library cave because it originally contained over 50,000 rare and original manuscripts dating as far back as 400AD. Interesting story: the manuscripts were discovered centuries after the Mogao caves fell into ruins and were almost covered up by the Gobi sand. Thinking he's doing a good thing, the guy who found the cave sold the manuscripts to raise money to restore the cave and build a 3-story exterior outside of the cave. Unfortunately for the Chinese, he sold the priceless manuscripts to foreigners for very little money so only about 8000 of the inferior manuscripts remain in China, and the rest are in various museums around the world.

After a night's rest to recoup from the bus ride and the long day, we moved on to our next stop on the Silk Road, JiaYuGuan. Dunhuang to JiaYuGuan is only(!) a 5-hour bus ride.... not too painful. JiaYuGuan is where the Great Wall ends. Having climbed the Great Wall in Beijing, it's pretty cool to climb the western end of it, some 2200 KM (1367 miles) away.

Also, the fort at JiaYuGuan historically symbolizes the end of “civilized” China and the beginning of “barbaric” land. Exiled officials, scholars, etc., all leave through the West Gate into unprotected land. It was at the end of the day so the West Gate was already closed, but looking out through the crack it does look pretty barren and desolate.

Our last top on the Silk Road tour is Xian. As the ancient capital of China, it marked the end (or beginning) of the Silk Road.

Today, the main reason people come to Xian is to see the Terra Cotta Warriors. China's first emperor, Emperor Qin, built this army of 8000 life size terracotta warriors around 200BC as part of his mausoleum so that he has an army to protect him and to keep him in control in his afterlife. The most impressive part, I think, is that each face is unique. I always thought it's because they were real soldiers, but in reality (and the less gruesome truth) the workers based their models on real soldiers they saw around them.

In general the food in these places were just ok. Being part of the west, the "specialty" dishes were Islamic food like mutton kebobs. However, they all paled in comparison to what we had in Kashgar. I was told that we should have the dumpling feast while in Xian, but Ashok was not feeling well after our meal in Jiayuguan the day before so unfortunately we had to skip it.

Stopping only 1-2 days in each place is pretty tiring so we're looking forward to resting in the next city or two... or we may have to wait until we get to Thailand.

Continuing on the Silk Road – Dunhuang, Jiayuguan, and Xian remains copyright of the author jhongny, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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From Beijing we flew all the way to Kashgar (aka Kashi), Xingjiang, on the western border of China (equivalent in distance to going from NY to LA). Kashgar was a major stop on the ancient Silk Road that linked trade between Europe, Central Asia, and China. Most of the population is made up of the Uighur minority group who has more in common with Central Asians than with the Chinese living to the east, in looks, religion, food, and lifestyle. In fact, many only speak Uighur and not Chinese. Walking around, I felt like we had left China and entered a different country.

Apparently some of the locals feel the same way and want to be independent - there have been protests and violence in the past, though quickly cracked down by the central government. How many Uighurs really feel that way, and whether they are right or not, depends on who you talk to, the age of the person, and whether that person is Uighur or Han Chinese. That said, we didn't feel any of that tension as we walked around.

Kashgar is a very cool and interesting place. It's not as developed as other cities so one can still see the traditional Uighur way of life just by walking around. We went to the Sunday livestock market where people from villages around Kashgar bring their animals (cows, goats/sheep, donkeys, horses, camels) to sell.
There are also vendors selling other things on the outer part of the market. We had a guide (one of our hotel employees offered to be our guide for a fee) who explained things to us and translated for us. Being a city girl, I've never been in such close proximity to so many animals so it was definitely an experience. It's sad if you think about the fate of the animals, but at the same time it was fascinating to watch.

Of course I also had to check out the eateries along the outer ring of the market... the way they hang the freshly cut lamb makes New York Chinatown look like child's play. It's definitely not a place for vegetarians or the weak of heart.

Here's a man making another Uighur specialty dish - Laghman noodles (i.e. pulled noodles):

Kashgar, in general, is a great place for foodies. The specialty here is Muslim food and were they good! The mutton kebobs were some of the best I've ever tasted; the lamb in the Pilaf (a rice dish similar in concept to Indian Pulao or Biriyani or Spanish Paella) was so tender it literally melted in your mouth; and the Samsas (baked mutton dumplings) were on the fatty side but really flavorful. They do like their mutton fat here so it is not a good place for my waistline to stay too long.

I didn't know it but Kashgar (and Xingjiang in general) is known for its fruits as well: super big and sweet pomegranates from Kashgar, sweet and juicy grapes from Turpan, and melons from Hami, to name a few.

We took a day trip from Kashgar to Karakul Lake via the scenic Karakoram Highway, the highest mountain pass road in the world. The highway goes over the Khunjerab Pass, through glacial-peaked mountains and ends at the Pakistan border, but we didn't have enough time to go that far. Just as well since I already experienced some minor altitude sickness at Karakul Lake which is around 3500 meters high. The section we drove through to get to Karakul Lake was scenic enough with red-sandstone canyons, sand dunes, and views of glacial peaks in the distance.

This is Kumtagh (White Sand Lake in Chinese) on the way to Karakul Lake. It's usually really windy but it was perfectly calm when we were there so you can see the reflections of the sand dunes in the lake.

We weren't as lucky at Karakul Lake so this is the best reflection I got of the ice mountains ringing the lake.

After Kashgar, the other cities in XingJiang were rather disappointing. Urumqi, the capital of Xingjiang, is a much bigger city than I expected especially being out here in the middle of nowhere, but it is just another big Chinese city. We made good use of our afternoon there and headed to the Xingjiang Museum where we saw a 8000 year old skull and 3800 year old mummies all preserved by the dry desert sand. That was pretty cool.

Turpan, another important Silk Road City, had many famous sites in addition to the grapes, but all of them were either way over-hyped or too contrived (the traditional Uighur village felt more like a show, complete with entrance fees, a parking lot for tourists, and gift/snack shops in the village). The one good place was the Jiaohe ruins which was established around 2nd century AD. It's one of the world's largest, oldest, and best preserved ancient cities. We practically had the place to ourselves and were able to really appreciate the place.

At least with Turpan, I can now say that I've been to the 2nd lowest place in the world (Dead Sea is the lowest).

Oh, and we had an amazing mutton dish at this restaurant around the corner from our hotel:

Another reason to regret going to Turpan is that we were forced to take a sleeper bus to our next destination, Dunhuang, because the train tickets were sold out. Instead of seats there are bunk beds lined up in rows. Typical of the Chinese, they crammed as many beds in there as possible, not leaving much room in the aisles or any room for a toilet on the bus.

The couple in the picture is this Slovenian couple we met on the bus.

As if that's not enough, they actually oversold the beds so there was one more person in the aisle next to Ashok so I think he got elbowed a couple of times during the night. Despite the smell and the questionable bedding (we brought our own sheets), the 13-hour bus ride wouldn't have been that bad if it wasn't also freezing. We stretched our jackets as much as possible to cover up. Really should have brought sleeping bags for this trip. Needless to say, we didn't sleep much and were so happy when the ride was over.

One last funny picture: it's fairly common, especially in smaller towns and in the countryside, to put babies in these open bottom pants. Just hold the kid over the toilet (or by the roadside)... no need for diapers. Very environmentally friendly!

A note for those thinking about going to Xinjiang: I highly recommend going to Kashgar, especially before it becomes more touristy as they are planning to open an international terminal. Here's the phone number of our driver to Karakul Lake. He's really really nice (and honest) and took good care of us, and even translated for Ashok when he was taking pictures. He only speaks Chinese so either use the hotel as interpreter or do a lot of charades:
Kashi Tiao-Er 13119980657

The Wild Wild West of China – Xingjiang remains copyright of the author jhongny, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The Trans-Mongolian Railway connects Ulaan Baatar to Beijing, China, and is what most people take as part of the Trans-Siberian Train trip. Instead of going straight to Beijing, we decided to stop in Datong first since it was one of places on my list. We book the deluxe class (i.e. we had the compartment to ourselves) which was good given the amount of luggage we have. It was great! In addition to the bunk beds, we had a little seating area and a shower (we didn't try it out). The decor is a little outdated, but clean, and an upgrade after Mongolia. The train conductor took care of us and made sure we had plenty of hot water for tea & stuff.

The 24-hour ride flew by pretty fast. Even the 4 hour border crossing into China was interesting watching them lift up the train cars to change out the wheels (the China and Mongolian train tracks are different widths). Train travel is definitely the way to go if you have the time and the money for the soft sleeper compartments. There's more space to move around, and so much more relaxing....

The main attractions in Datong are the Hanging Monastery and the Yungang Grottoes. For us, there was the added bonus of relaxing in our 4-star hotel (for $50!). To have a real bathroom and be able to take a nice long hot shower without having to worry about not touching anything around you!

The hanging monastery is not really hanging, but built onto the face of a cliff so it looks like it's hanging precariously. It's pretty impressive considering it's over 1500 years old!

The Yungang Grottoes are a series of caves that have Buddhist carvings from around 500AD, constructed under the patronage of the royalty. The best preserved ones have the statues and paintings all over the cave and are quite impressive.

One of them has a large Buddha that is over 17 meters tall. Check out the size of the hands vs the tourists standing in front of it.

It is hard not to run into tour groups in China as we are finding out (more on Chinese tour groups later), but we managed to get into a couple of caves that are not on the typical route. Whereas the popular caves are impressive and give you an idea for what the caves were like in their heyday, the unrestored caves were much more peaceful and solemn.

We were excited to be in China for the food, especially after 10 days of similar mutton dishes. We were told that the 2 specialty dishes in Datong are Dao-Shao-Mien (knife-cut-noodles), and rabbit head (!). We decided to pass on the rabbit heads. The noodles, on the other hand, were really good. The most popular toppings are pork or beef stew, but the noodles themselves have a lot of flavor and good texture. There's also a very popular appetizer/side dish which is cold soybean jelly mixed with lots of chili and hot oil (I know my description doesn't sound appetizing but it was good!). It's so slippery that it really tests ones chopsticks skills. Our driver took us to a place in the town near the Hanging Monastery that apparently makes the best jelly noodles. It doesn't look like much of a place but the food was yummy.

I always thought I'm pretty adventurous in food, but after being in China just a couple of days I realized I am not at all. In this northern town I also saw camel meat, mule meat, and even dog meat on the menu (didn't try any of it)! We would've stayed in this town longer to rest up, but we left because the food (that we can eat) besides the noodles were just so-so. Besides, we still have the rest of China to see.

The train from Datong to Beijing was comfortable, but not as nice as the other train. We shared a compartment with 2 other people – one older man from Beijing and a middle-aged man from Shanghai. It was interesting to hear them contradict each other on almost everything, from where we should visit to current government policies.

Since we've been to Beijing before, we skipped all the typical tourist sights. We did revisit Tiananmen Square and made our way out to the new Olympic Stadium, the Bird's Nest. Apparently all the Beijing tour groups have the same idea because that area was packed with people. Can't imagine what the area was like during the Olympic Games.

The Chinese really went all out with the Olympics, and are still milking it as we still see Olympics related signs and commercials everywhere. This is just the entrance to the subway station at the Olympic Park.

Finally, if you're still interested in seeing more, here's the outdoor market in Datong and a woman trying to load 3 huge bags of potatoes onto her bike. Not sure how she planned on riding it home.

Photos are a bit quirky to upload right now, but I will have more of China soon....

Trans-Mongolian Railway to China remains copyright of the author jhongny, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The weather changes on a whim as well. During the day it's sunny and warm, but once the sun is gone the temperature drops down to about 20 degrees (felt colder with the wind). One afternoon we were caught in a hail storm. You can see so far out that we saw the storm clouds way ahead but our driver was not able to outrun the storm.

(Rainbow in the desert, after the hail storm. We spent the night in those gers.)

However, it's the remoteness of the place that makes this an unique experience. For most of the time, our driver and us would be the only 3 people around for as far as the eye can see, and probably even beyond that. There are parts of the midwest or the southwest where one can get that feeling. The difference is that here, there are no nicely paved highways with clearly marked signs telling you how far till the next town or gas stop. Here, there are just dirt tracks on the ground and no one around except for an occasional ger (round Mongolian tent that locals live in).

I'm not sure how our driver knows which track to follow. Sometimes he'll suddenly go off the tracks for a while and then pick up another track out of nowhere. This is they typical road we were traveling on (there are only a few paved roads in the entire country).

Once, to cut across the mountain range, our driver actually used the riverbed as the road:

We did see quite a few animals: eagles, gazelles, and foxes, in addition to the more common sights of horses, goats, and camels lazily grazing in the field. Here's a Mongolian cowboy herding his horses:

By far the most memorable part is the Khongoryn Els (sand dunes). It's a strip of sand that stretches as far as the eye can see in either direction, with the mountain range right behind it. The dunes look exactly like what one would imagine them to be:


We had a lot of fun climbing the dunes and playing in the sand:

We also spent one night at the Bayanzag region where dinosaur bones have been fossilized by the desert sand. There's nothing marked, so you have to rely on the a local guide to see them. It seems like there are lots of small fossils scattered around, each location carefully guarded by the person who discovered it. Our guide was the ger owner who took us to a carefully camouflaged location on a small hill nearby. He then carefully removed some rocks and dirt, and then folded back a plastic cover to reveal a fossilized jaw. Of course our skeptical side wonders whether or not it's really dinosaur fossils, or just some random animal. Either way, it's still pretty cool to see.

Traveling in Mongolia, on the other hand, is not for the faint-hearted. Driving on those dirt tracks is like going off-roading, or even off-off roading, imagine 4-8 hours of that each day. The gers we stayed in have no electricity or running water. The toilet is an outhouse with a deep hole and 2 planks of wood to stand on, or you can be like the Mongolians and use the great outdoors. Not to gross everyone out but we didn't get to shower except for one night when we stayed in a small town where you can pay at a public bath house to shower.

Interior and exterior of Ger:

The only source of heat in the gers is a wood burning stove which gets lit up once in the evening around dinner time so all the heat is gone by the time we went to bed. We had brought winter clothes but hadn't planned to sleep in gers for more than 1 night, and also understandably assumed that there would be heat at night. So, at night we'd put on all our layers plus the sleeping bags the guest house loaned us and still be frozen by the morning.

At one place our ger didn't have a stove in it, so the family let us sleep in their ger with them. That was quite interesting. While we were all bundled up, the family slept in tank tops and shorts. Guess it's all what you're used to. We also drank shots of vodka with some of the families, and tried horse meat (tastes like beef, a little tougher).

Even with all the discomfort, the experience was well worth it. In addition to everything else, the stars were amazing at night. The entire sky was lit up because there's no light or anything else to block the view. We also got to meet some cool travelers from all over the world: Brits, Swedes, Korean, Irish, Czech, Dutch American, Spanish, Italian, French, German, Mexican, Australian.. some of whom we may meet up later in our travels.

All in all, this was definitely one of the most memorable trips of our lives.

Amazing Mongolia! remains copyright of the author jhongny, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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