Ready, Steady Here I go...



Just trying things out on this new blog...

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Cape Town - Take Two!

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Cape Town, South Africa (April 8-12) Double dipping in Cape Town...sort of. I mean I came back to tick a few more things off the requisite list of activities one should do here, such as visit the notorious Robben Island Prison where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for the majority of his 27-year sentence as well as hike up Table Mountain (1084m). April 9 (Monday) - Robben Island It is advisable to book ahead a ticket to Robben Island for it is a popular tourist attraction and the number of visitors is limited according to space on the boats which do the crossing four times daily (at 9, 11, 1 and 3). Tickets are a bit hefty at 230 rand but this maximum security island prison looms so large in the history not only of Cape Town but South Africa as a nation that the high price tag is rather a moot point. It takes about a half hour to reach the island but the time flew for me as I got to talking to a friendly couple from Johannesburg named Calvin and Josina who grew up in the towns...
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Angkor Wat...Woah...Wow.

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Siem Reap, Cambodia (July 27-August 1) If only I possessed the necessary skills/talent to write an epic romantic sonnet along the lines of Shakespeare professing my undying love to the ancient land of Cambodia... Alas, an entry on an insignificant travel blog on the Internet will have to suffice. Upon finally being released on July 24 from "prison", i.e. Bangkok Hospital, I resumed with 100% enthusiasm (if not full physical capacity), my worldly travels. As I had lost 2 entire weeks of travel, I decided with sincere regret to forego Vietnam in favor of a couple of weeks in Cambodia, home to one of the most important and wondrous archaeological sites of the world... Angkor Wat . To visit it, one must travel to the city of Siem Reap, which is fairly easy to reach overland in a day from Bangkok, as long as you don't mind rising with the roosters! There is an incredibly cheap ($1.50!!) train from Bangkok's main train station, Hualamphong, that departs at the unearth...
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Myanmar Part I: Spit, Upchuck & Chew Upon This!

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Myanmar , a largely impoverished country that has been isolated from the rest of the world since 1962 when the military seized control of its government, is somewhat heartbreaking, particularly the capital city of Yangon. It is immediately apparent upon exiting the international airport, that this city is falling apart at the seams infrastructure-wise. The roads are filled with potholes, the buildings are crumbling and the sidewalks? Let's just say that I , the klutziest of klutzes, had to remain constantly vigilant else I find myself tripping over a crack/hole in the pavement. Furthermore, it broke my heart a little every time I walked past an old majestic colonial building that had been tragically neglected since the British were kicked to the curb in 1948. Seriously, if some rich philanthropist à la Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey or Warren Buffett would just hurry up and donate a thousand cans of paint and give these buildings a much-needed makeover, it would make a world of differe...
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