around the world in 70days

Morocco

seanandkate — Mon, 9 Mar 2009 05:22:00 GMT

Its coming, we swear!

Gallery: Morocco

seanandkate — Mon, 9 Mar 2009 04:33:00 GMT

Portugal

seanandkate — Sun, 1 Mar 2009 04:11:00 GMT

what a beautiful city, and nice weather too. reminded us of san francisco in looks and weather-even has a bridge resembling the golden gate! we stayed in a pension right off the main square which seemed to be the heart of lisbon. preparations for carnaval were being made and we saw so many cute kids all decked out in their costumes. as to compound our slight homesickness, we also saw some adults dressed up a'la folsom street fair... :) we have also enjoyed the reprieve from the 5 times a day 'call to prayer,' but are off to morocco next and will soon be reminded of how much we loved it... :) all in all, we are having a great time and can't believe our trip is soon coming to a close.

Gallery: Portugal

seanandkate — Sun, 1 Mar 2009 02:43:00 GMT

Croatia

seanandkate — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 03:19:00 GMT

Croatia is one of those must-see places that one hears about in passing conversation or through the pages of a magazine but it truly is a must-see. Our stay was well worth the stop off. Even though we were stuck there whilst the first snow storm in 40 years blanketed the small town of Dubrovnik, our small vacation couldn't have been more exciting. We had the pleasure of renting a small apartment just a few paces off the main square where the beginning of Old Town began. We used the public bus system to see the sights and walked way too much. We saw the sun set from very old pier where fisherman cast their lines. We also were forced to take a bus with the Bosnian Water Polo team through Bosnia as that was the only way out in the frigid weather. Most importantly, Kate had her birthday on a gorgeous day. HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATE!!!!!!

Gallery: Croatia

seanandkate — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 22:48:00 GMT

Greece

seanandkate — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 01:28:00 GMT

updated. athens was our first european city of the trip-grittier than a lot of europe, though. although the riots are over, it still seemed a little rough around the edges. it was a shame to see all the graffiti on the beautiful architecture. the city looks beautiful from above though- way above-from the acropolis. we hiked up to see the parthenon temple and got a great view of the city and the aegean sea. there is tons of pride in the greek people but it comes out in unfortunate ways. being a member of the european union, it was a modern city with a well organized transit system. great food, too! the rest of our time we spent in santorini, one of the greek islands. beautiful, but quite different from any pictures you've probably seen. in the winter most of the islands almost shut down-so it was like a ghost town, not that we minded the lack of tourists! we rented a car (with a good heater) and explored the island on our own-we did manage to find a few cafes that were open and sampled some good greek food. we will definitely add santorini to the list of places we need to come back to in the summertime!

Gallery: Greece

seanandkate — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 00:36:00 GMT

Turkey

seanandkate — Mon, 9 Feb 2009 00:57:00 GMT

Our apologies for the long delay. Our time has been consumed with poor weather, delayed-canceled flights and the infamous 'run around'. Nonetheless, we are enjoying our time and love looking back on where we've been. Turkey was an amazing country with a culture steeped in history but on the verge of a European life style. It reminds us of Prague back in the 90's where the old world and the new clash. We were amazed at how easy it was navigate and how eager people were to assist tourists. Although one would swear they were in a European country, there is this nagging feeling telling us we are far from Europe. Istanbul, a city that literally stradles two continents (Europe and Asia) was an easy transition from Cairo. We were able to arrange travel to central Turkey which took us to some famous sights with breathtaking vistas and scenery. Ephesus, Pamukkale and Cappadocia were great destinations each with a distinct character. We wish we had more time to travel through Turkey and soak up more of its culture. Its been a pleasure visiting such a wonderful place and we hope to be back very soon.

Gallery: Turkey

seanandkate — Tue, 3 Feb 2009 00:15:00 GMT

Egypt

seanandkate — Sun, 1 Feb 2009 03:44:00 GMT

salaam alaykum from egypt! we spent half of our tıme ın egypt ın caıro, and half explorıng other cıtıes, temples and ruıns along the nıle rıver. caıro ıs crazy; the people are pretty aggressıve, ıt's loud, chaotıc, and ı feel lıke we need hyperbarıc oxygen for a day or two to recover from the pollutıon. that beıng saıd, our nıle cruıse was great and very relaxıng. over the 5 days we saw the cıtıes of luxor, edfu, and aswan. we had a guıde so we could get all the hıstory behınd the temples, tombs, hıeroglyphıcs, kıngs and gods. the egyptıans were very busy 4-6000 years ago. 2 years ago, a group of scıentısts CT scanned kıng tut's tomb and determıned he dıed of a blood ınfectıon after a leg fracture. not sure how accurate a dıagnosıs that ıs 3000 years after the fact, but ınterestıng anyway... headıng to turkey now!

Gallery: Egypt

seanandkate — Sun, 1 Feb 2009 02:50:00 GMT

Dubai

seanandkate — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 03:05:00 GMT

Dubaı was a modern cıty, lıke any other. It has tall sky scrapers and bustlıng streets lıke any other major metropolıtan cıty but unlıke most other cıtıes, ıt was a small fıshıng vıllage just 20 short years ago. After a brıllıant move to open ıts doors to foreıgn ınvestments, Dubaı exploded ınto the major hub that ıt ıs today. After allowıng locals the benefıt of workıng hand ın hand wıth foreıgn ınvestors, the cıty of Dubaı ıs truly ınternatıonal. Of course there were other sıtes to marvel. We took a caravan of Land Cruısers ınto the desert where we ate tradıtıonal food, watched tradtıonal dances and hung out wıth a great group of locals. We ran ınto rovıng camels, blasted up steep sand dunes and smoked the Hooka (well, ok, Sean dıd). Although our tıme was short, Dubaı was a great stop. To explaın about the Falcon photo, Sean ınadvertently took a photo of a very cool off road vehıcle whose owner was sıttıng ın the drıvers seat. You see, ıt ıs an ınsult to take a photo of an ındıvıdual wıth out askıng, as Sean dıd. Seeıng the locals dıspleasure, Sean approached the drıver and apologızed and deleted the photo for the man to see. Thıs pleased hım so much that he offered to gıve Sean the real photo op. A pıcture wıth one of hıs fıve falcons whıch were sıttıng ın the back seat. No kıddıng.

Maldives

seanandkate — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 19:43:00 GMT

The Maldives was a tropical island like none other. White sand beaches, palm trees slowly swaying in the wind and a warm, off shore breeze to keep you cool. We spent our days sitting on the beach watching the waves gently break and sitting on the deck of our bungalow. A bungalow which sat over the water's edge and allowed us unlimited access to the warm Indian Ocean below. There were hard times as well. We had to choose from a wide array of culinary delights, making hard choices even more difficult. The end of the island held a magical sand bar where beach-goers would sit in silence and allow the suns warmth to disappear behind a blue ocean. The sunsets were breath taking. Our time was too short there but well enjoyed, especially after the loud hustle and bustle of Southeast Asia. Next? Dubai!

Gallery: Dubai

seanandkate — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 18:58:00 GMT

Gallery: Maldives

seanandkate — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 18:57:00 GMT

Cambodia

seanandkate — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 14:25:00 GMT

one would assume a passport expiring in may '09 would pose no problems for a trip ending in march '09... not so, in southeast asia, as we discovered a little too late. unfortunately, all we have seen of phnom penh, has been the u.s. embassy, a bookstore, and a cafe for dinner. the main attraction for travelers to this city is the killing fields, which we are avoiding for reasons obvious to those who know kate.

the highlight of cambodia, for us, has been our tour of angkor wat. one of the 'wonders of the world,' it is the largest religious structure ever built. we saw 4 of the major temples, built from 900- 1100 AD. it's mind-boggling to think of all the people (kings, and more recently commoners) that had walked in those rooms before us.

the people here are very friendly, despite the extreme poverty. little kids walk by and smile and say 'hall-oh' usually with a laugh. the currency is the riel, but they use US dollars everywhere-the ATMs even dispense dollars. we have seen the cities mostly via tuk-tuk (named for the sound the motor makes) which is an open-air cart pulled behind a scooter. cheap and easy, and we have almost become immune to the way they drive here. it seems like everyone is playing chicken with an intent to lose! LOVED our time here...

Gallery: Cambodia

seanandkate — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 17:23:00 GMT

Siem Reap/ Angkor Wat

Gallery: Malaysia

seanandkate — Wed, 7 Jan 2009 19:57:00 GMT

Vietnam

seanandkate — Wed, 7 Jan 2009 16:38:00 GMT

so, i ve been sitting here for quite awhile trying to sum up vietnam, as we have seen it thus far. chaotic, loud, beautiful, friendly... we arrived in hanoi, the capital city several days ago. traffic like we've never seen before. pedestrians, bicycles, mopeds/scooters, cars and buses all mingling together on the roads. to cross the streets, people just start walking slowly and confidently across, while the cars and scooters maneuver around them. we had to do this several times...(when i say we, i mean sean grabbed my arm and led me while i tried to avoid looking at the rapidly approaching vehicles) .. a little nerve-wracking.

after several days in hanoi we took a 12 hr overnight train to hue (anyone familiar with the couchettes in europe?? NOT the same!!!) but it turned out to be fine. we shared a small cabin with a couple from berkeley and were able to get some sleep. we stayed one night in hue, which is a small, sleepy (by vietnamese standards) coastal town. we spent the day with a nice belgian guy, nico, who we took a boat trip with on the perfume river (ironically devoid of odor).

we are now sitting in danang, waiting to fly to ho chi minh city (saigon.) it has been a whirlwind tour of the country-we'll just have to come back...