I’ve been working on this post for a few weeks and thinking about if I wanted to post it. After the events yesterday, I think it is pretty relevant. Though, as friends have pointed out, bombings like the one that shook Boston occur the world over without provoking such a reaction. I think that’s the …
Bad Man, Sneaky Hands
No matter how much I enjoy traveling and seeing new places, every once in a while I find myself reminded of the dangers that occasionally arise; no matter which country I’m in. Just yesterday, in Mongolia, I had a brush with an aspiring criminal that reminded me, yet again, how important it is to not …
Living with Nomads in Terelj National Park
The past week has been many things for me. Through an organization called Ger to Ger – an eco-travel agency based out of Ulaanbaatar that focuses on interacting and living with local nomads – I booked a 7 day, 6 night tour through the Gorkhi-Terelj National Park. During the course of the week I was …
Registering in Mongolia
If you’re an American citizen, you can stay in Mongolia up to 90 days without a visa. Awesome, right? Absolutely. There is, however, a little sneaky addendum to that. If you’re staying longer than 30 days, you have to register with the Mongolian Immigration office. It’s free for U.S. citizens, but it’s still a pain …
Adding Pages to Your U.S. Passport Overseas
If you do a lot of traveling, inevitably you will run out of visa pages. This happened to me here in Mongolia. Luckily, it’s not a trip-ender and it doesn’t mean you are forever stranded in whatever remote corner of the globe you find yourself in. For Americans, adding pages to their passport is a …
Crossing the Endless Sea
It wasn’t very difficult to say goodbye to Hong Kong. This time, I was only in that city of cities for the span of two nights. Try as I might, I just couldn’t enjoy it as much as my previous destinations. Flying into and out of the airport, a thick shroud of smog smothers the …
Angkor Wat: the Grand Tour
I guess the title of this is a little misleading. I didn’t go to Angkor Wat on the second day. Just to keep things simple, however, I’m sticking with it. Instead of renting a tuk tuk and having a driver for the day, I decided to rent a bicycle and peddle my way around what’s …
Angkor Wat: the Mini Tour
The past few days, I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to explore the Angkor archeological area. The complex is massive, dotted with ruins of temples and the like; all tucked into the folds of the enveloping jungle. A good portion of the ruins can be explored by following one of two ‘tours’: the Mini …
The Bus Ride From Hell
Yesterday. Oh, yesterday. If I had to describe yesterday in a word, it would be infuristupegasticulous. As in infuriating, stupefying flabbergasting, and ridiculous. It was almost like I was watching one of those comedies where a few hapless tourists keep getting into horrible situations, and just when you think things can’t go any more awry… they …
One Pagoda Too Many: The Plains of Bagan
The subject of my previous post, Inle Lake, is one of the biggest tourist draws for Myanmar. The other is the city of Bagan. Bagan is famous for one thing. The arid plains are dotted with an absolutely mind-boggling number of temples and pagodas. Over 2200 remain from the 11th-13th century. If you like temples …