Au revoir la Nouvelle-Calédonie

I’m sitting in the Noumea airport milking their free wireless internet for all it’s worth before my flight to Port Vila, Vanuatu. In talking to people online, most have never heard of New Caledonia….or Vanuatu. They certainly don’t know where they are and know nothing about them. I really can’t blame anyone for not knowing …

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Cheap + Beautiful = Bintan

I’m on the island of Bintan. The internet connection isn’t fast, but it works. I really enjoy the place I’m staying at. I’m staying in a wooden bungalow about 10 feet from the water’s edge. The view is amazing. Lots of little islands are right off the coast. The cost of everything in Indonesia is …

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Oh, Man! First Thoughts On Oman.

Going from Dubai to Muscat isn’t just crossing a border and moving a few hundred kilometers, it is going back in time 100 years. This is not to imply that Muscat is backwards. They have every modern amenity and an excellent infrastructure. However, you get the feel that you are really in an old port …

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Sydney Or The Bush!

Tomorrow brings this leg of the Australia adventure to an end. My very roundabout trip from Melbourne to Sydney has taken me to the Great Southern Ocean, 105F (40C) degree temperature in Mungo National Park, the top of the continent, and to the canyons of the Blue Mountains. I’m about halfway through the Great Ocean …

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This Isn’t My First Time You know….

This isn’t my first time in Japan. I was here for one day in 1999 during a stop over from the US to Taiwan. We took off in a blizzard and the de-icing on the wings required a fuel stop in Anchorage. The delays resulted in me missing my flight to Taipei so I was …

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Alive in Lao

My one hour flight arrived in tact and saved me the agony of a 40 hour bus ride. The flight was 100% westerners. The experience going through the Hanoi Airport was one of the worst I’ve had on my trip so far. I got my ticket from the travel agency in my hotel. There are …

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Nha Trang

Last night I arrived in Nha Trang via the 5 hour bus from Mui Ne. Nha Trang is a good sized city of about 300,000 people. It calls itself the premier seaside resort in Vietnam. THe primary attraction here seems to be the beach and some of the nearby islands, which to be honest, really …

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2013 Travel Plans

Before I begin, I should make it abundantly clear that my travel plans are always in flux. Sometimes opportunities come up at a moment’s notice. My travels for the 2nd half of 2012 ended up being totally different from what I expected they would be in June. That being said, my travel plans for at …

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Alexandria

I’ve arrived in Alexandria. My first reaction is that I like it a lot more than Cairo. It isn’t as busy, dirty or crowded. Also, I have yet to have anyone “welcome” me to Egypt and try to sell me crap. I’m staying about 2 blocks from the Mediterranean Sea, in a hotel which would …

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