While this visit to Bangkok isn’t the first for either of us (a rough count tells me this is my 8th), the first impressions of the city vary wildly from time to time. What makes this time different is the fact that we just spent nine months on the road, four of which were in [...]
Bangkok was our first destination on this trip. We were here nine months and a much fatter bank account ago. Having not gained our budget travel wits yet, we stayed at a nice hotel and ate at semi-luxurious restaurants. This time around we’re staying in the backpacking mecca, Khao San Road, in a room [...]
Sometimes the most well-laid plans turn out to take you absolutely nowhere. Yesterday, we flew in to Bangkok from Kathmandu. We hoped to do a quick in-n-out of this mega metropolis – we wanted a travel agent to set us up with a Myanmar visa while we’d go off to Isan for a few days [...]
Our flight from Kathmandu to Bangkok was delayed for three hours, so we passed time reading the Nepali English language newspapers. We found two gems that we just have to share with you. The first is the headline above. Have you read anything more to the point than that? Hey fatso, go away! [...]
A full-grown bull Elephant Seal (Mirounga Leonina) weighs close to 6,000 lbs/2,700 kgs. It grows to be about 16ft in length and it is the largest seal on the planet. This is me and my backpack. Don’t worry. The seal weighs more (although not by much). Photo: B. Navez.
Our experience in Nepal has been one of the highlights of our trip, thanks in no short part to Arjun and his family. Without their help, we would be floundering around (much like we are about to do) trying to make educated guesses about what the heck is going on around us. If you’re [...]
A few glasses of wine and an inquiry into nose piercing practices in Nepal lead me here: That’s right. I got my nose pierced. I also used the word Karma today without being cynical. They say travel changes you…(enter Martin’s rolling eyes here)
Our awesome landlord Arjun had us over for the feast last night, instructing us on how to cook everything he prepared for us. In total there were ten dishes. We’re talking a whirlwind tour of Nepali food – and every dish was better than the last. Piro Aloo was served as a cold snack, [...]
In celebration of our time together our landlord (pictured) agreed to cook us up some amazing Nepali food before we leave. Not only does he run a tight ship with his rental units, but he also runs a guesthouse, helps to relocate refugees to the US, and was a professional chef for twelve years. The [...]
This book caused quite a stir a few years ago (actually it’s already 13 years), and people and commentators world wide loved to talk about it. Guns, germs and steel is a very ambitious piece that seeks to boil world history down to a few, hard baseline facts. The author, a scientist, argues that people [...]
About a month before we left for this trip I received an envelope from my Dad. It contained an article he had clipped from his local newspaper. Attached to it was a post-it note specifying simply “Do Not Read.” The article was his (very weak) attempt at a protest. As most parents would, [...]
While Martin is busy taking photos of the television, I was snapping photos of our last visit to the market in Kathmandu (OK, to be fair, he was with me and took some of these photos). We’re leaving Nepal on January 22nd, so I thought a photo gallery would be a nice way to [...]
What do you do when you have a lot of time on your hands? Why, you take photos of the television, of course. Martin has picked up a strange habit of snapping photos of the television. To his credit, it doesn’t happen all the time and I guess I can see why it might [...]
We’ve sat in Kathmandu for three months now, knowing full well the date of our departure. In all that time did we plan our next destination? No. We’ve done what every traveler on a tight budget should never do – leave planning to the very last minute. Granted, we’ve never had a rigid plan anyway [...]
We gave ourselves three months in Nepal to get started on our book writing. We figured it was as good a place as any to do this – we found a great little apartment outside the crazy part of town, we joined a gym and we started cooking our own food again. In short, it’s [...]
You know the saying, “to fly by the seat of your pants?” Well, that's been our philosophy for most of our adult lives – before and after meeting, falling in love and marrying. We're now taking that idea on an extended round-the-world trip. Follow us as we share the good, the bad and the downright nasty of life on the road.
