Articles from this Category
23 February 2007
Flying to Socotra I got picked up at 0230 to go to the airport. I had only landed there less than 24h ago. Today, we are bound for Socotra or Suqutra. Note: The spelling for the island and the various places on it can vary greatly. Socotra? It’s an island that’s part of Yemen (south […]
15 November 2006
Above: Magenta Restaurant looks like something out of a magazine. I had heard about a nice restaurant called Magenta. It’s not often that we get to go out for a nice dinner in Kuching beyond just street or coffee shop fare. So my brother and Benny dragged Mum and step-dad along. The ambience of the […]
14 November 2006
Above: Satay at the compound of Arif Hotel. Singaporean as a Malaysian Last night I was helping step-dad with his application for “Malaysia My Second Home” visa. One of the forms asked for the date of his first arrival in Sarawak. That would probably be in the 1950s and had to flick through all the […]
8 November 2006
Arriving in Delhi Disembarking passengers at Jaipur around 0500 woke me up but I was able to doze and lie-in till around 0930. The 1110 arrival time passed and the Jaisalmer – Delhi Express was in the urban area but not at Delhi station. Then came a painful 45 min wait at the penultimate station. […]
7 November 2006
Last of Jaisalmer I checked out around 0900 before heading out for breakfast. I have a departure on the overnight train at 1600 back to Delhi, so I had plenty of time to kill. I read the newspaper; more about that later. Afterwards I visited the palace using an audio guide. While it was nice, […]
6 November 2006
I had a horrible night sleep. Being full moon, dogs were howling. Then the temple chanting went into the wee hours of the night. And at dawn, the azan from the mosques had their turn. I didn’t make it to breakfast at Krishna’s Boulangerie till after 1000. I continued to the Jain temple around 1100. […]
5 November 2006
The Desert Jaisalmer is also where people normally go camel-trekking into the desert. I gave this a miss because I have been to and slept in far better deserts (real dunes with no scrubs). And I’ve been on camels too. Strangely, after I had made my decision, I met a Belgian couple that told me […]
4 November 2006
I checked out from my Jodhpur hotel after breakfast and was presented with a minor bill shock by the hotel. I had booked online, a single room at INR500 (NZD15) per night. I had thought the room was far too nice for that price. The very nice owners claimed it was double that but would […]
3 November 2006
After a breakfast of tea and a cheese toastie, I went to the rooftop for some daylight photos of the houses below and the fort above. Text continues after this gallery. I walked to the Mehrangarh or fort alone and got lost a little before finding the winding road up. Built in the […]
2 November 2006
I skipped a proper breakfast and had just juice and crackers before walking to the Marwar bus station and buying my bus ticket early for Jodhpur. I boarded the bus and waited. Another backpacker boarded and was getting flustered as he couldn’t fit his “Kathmandu” brand backpack into the racks. That is a New Zealand […]