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 was already a huge rip-off. Instead ringing in the new year at a crowded club, I grabbed my … [Read more...]
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 were constantly talking about joining them, but kept putting it off, because we knew that as fun as it … [Read more...]
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). Personally, I've only embarked on five train journeys in … [Read more...]
Chame to Pisang: Just Takin’ the Goat for a Walk
The next day of our little stroll through the hills of Nepal 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 covered just as much ground as many of the slower trekkers. It helped that there … [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 day, there are also elephants who are marched up and down the busy streets of touristy … [Read more...]