When we arrived in Pisang, we had the option of staying in Lower Pisang at the base of the valley or hiking a hundred to two hundred meters up the valley wall to Upper Pisang. The choice was easy. The higher location means better views and the absence of modern structures makes it more atmospheric. On the other hand, [read more…]
No Foreigners Allowed in These Parts
They say that getting there is half the battle, but that was not often the case in China. Don’t get me wrong, getting anywhere in China is rarely easy—take my two attempts to make my way west to Sichuan province while I was living in Shanghai; once foiled by a snowstorm and once by an […]
Viewing Mount Aso’s Crater…For 30 Seconds
The next morning, we hopped on a bus and headed up toward the most active of Mount Aso’s craters. We were dropped off at the bottom of a rope way, from where we could either walk the rest of the way to the crater or pay 1000 yen for a roundtrip ticket and ride up. I’m sure [read more…]
If You Can’t Take The Heat, Get Out Of The Onsen
Once we got to the hot spring, it was time to split up. You may have noticed I was the only guy in the picture from the first part of this series, so I had to head off to the male room to sit in some water on my own. The whole experience was uncomfortable in [read more…]
Braving Japanese-Style Accommodation on Mount Aso
Accommodation is easily the biggest expense when traveling in Japan, but you can cut down on your costs quite a bit, if you are willing to move away from the standard western hotel or hostel experience. In most cities and towns, the best value is found at a minshuku. This stripped-down version of a ryokan (traditional [read more…]
New Year’s Eve in Madrid: Eating 12 Grapes and Drinking Thousands
When I was living in Madrid, I decided not to do much for New Year’s Eve. I made that decision partly because all of my friends had left for the holidays, but largely because all the clubs in the city were charging entrance fees upwards of 100 Euros when the standard 15 to 20 Euros […]
Sea Kayaking in Goa: Hard Work Masquerading as Fun
Kayaking looks like a lot of fun on the surface, but that fun comes at a cost. I’d been watching people glide through the water in their kayaks and soar through the air on the tops of the small waves that break on Palolem Beach in Goa, India ever since the day I arrived. We […]
Why Couldn’t My Train Just Derail Like Everyone Else’s?
Trains in Thailand have a hard time staying on the tracks and the route from Bangkok north to Chiang Mai seems especially prone to derailments, judging by news reports and even a few first-hand accounts on other blogs (like this one by That Backpacker, which actually sparked my memory of the incident in today’s post). […]
Chame to Pisang: Just Takin’ the Goat for a Walk
The next day on our trek around the Annapurna circuit was dominated by a humongous slab of rock. At least that’s the main thing I remember. That and the fact that we actually passed someone! Yes, it’s true! But more on that later. The day was actually fairly long and for the first time, we [read more…]
An Elephant Gets Revenge
I recently wrote a post about the mistreatment of elephants in Thailand, so I thought I’d balance that out by recalling a time an elephant got a bit of revenge on us humans. Apart from the ones that work in logging and those forced to carry tourists around a little loop in the jungle all […]
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