The last couple days have been pretty pleasant…long drives down the coast of South Africa from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town. The landscape has ranged from lush greenery (like Seattle) to dry mountains speckled with shrubs and trees. Cape Town is a huge sprawl of suburbs around the city center, but the journey finally ended […]
I had a pleasant stay in Joburg, but it felt good to hop a flight to Port Elizabeth today. PE, as it’s called by many of the locals, is a beach town jam-packed with tourists for the holiday season. While I don’t know that I will find much in the way of nightlife or jazz, […]
Christmas Day I met up with my South African friend, Ridhwan, to enjoy some great food and great conversation with his extended family. It was a blast! All I can say about the food (without rambling) is that it was really, really, rediculously good (especially the marinade on the lamb!) and there was a lot […]
Today is December 24th! It’s amazing how time has flown by, and that 2006 is almost done. The trip from Nairobi was decent, though departure was delayed over an hour. Also, I have to say that the Republic of South Africa didn’t make a very good first impression with their immigration processing. Despite having about […]
After a great night’s sleep and some high-quality vegging, I wish I had more time to explore Kenya. The food is great, the people have been mellow and friendly, and the music/dance aspect of Kenyan life has been a treat to soak up. If you ever need to throw a really good party, I suggest […]
Well, my 6am departure didn’t happen until 9am, so by the time I reached the hotel in downtown Nairobi, I was ready to shower and fall into bed. But after scoping out the pool and fitness center, I rallied and ventured out to explore the neighborhood, which seems to be populated by a large number […]
As I sit here waiting for my 6am flight to Nairobi, I feel compelled to jot one more post before I leave India. I spent the last two days in Chembur, a residential part of Mumbai that was absolutely charming. There was absolutely nothing in my guidebook about Chembur, so I didn’t know quite what […]
Last night, I rolled in to Mumbai’s domestic airport, and it almost felt like routine. While it took me two taxi drivers, one nearly successful scam artist, and a stop at an ATM for me to reach my hotel in the Chembur area of town, I did finally reach the Hotel Pearl, my digs for […]
My time in Varanasi has been well-spent. I took a tour through the city last night and saw the Ganges at dusk. In addition to walking through a couple of Hindu temples that sat on the riverbank, I also watched a holy man do some sort of ceremony involving fire and incense (sorry…that’s all I […]
Yesterday, I caught my 6am bus (which left at approximately 7:30am) to Agra to see what everyone goes to Agra to see: the Taj Mahal. The bus ride was pretty jarring, but I had the best view in the bus, sitting on a makeshift bench next to the driver. Because the seating on the bus […]