Reviews

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I’m not usually one to aimlessly wander around malls, but I am more than willing to make an exception for MBK. It’s not an understatement to say that one could easily get lost in the throng of electronic stores, cell phone stores, food courts, knock-off clothing stores, and more.

But it’s not just MBK’s size that makes it so impressive, it’s what’s there. Take the food for example;  each of the many food courts feature more options than most gourmet restaurants.…

I admit I had my doubts about rock climbing in Thailand. I didn’t know enough about lead climbing (let alone how to figure out if the bolts are still good) to safely climbing without a guide, and besides I didn’t have a climbing rope with me. In the end both the guides (at least the one we used) and equipment in Krabi struck me as competent and safe. Some of the guides in Krabi have been climbing and guiding for twenty years it’s hard to survive that long on shear luck, so it follows that they must be doing something right.…

Tomorrow I will be flying from New Delhi to Kathmandu, Nepal thus marking the end of the India portion of my trip. The six or so weeks that I allotted for India struck me as slightly daunting before arrived, and was definitely the portion of my trip that I had the most concerns about.

I found India to be surprisingly manageable. There were often issues of language, but in the end I could generally figure out how to negotiate the trains and buses to get virtually anywhere I wanted.…

I arrived in Sri Lanka without a specific plan. Time and weather seemed to dictate that the Hill Country area would make the most sense for me to visit. Thursday I set off by train for Kandy, the capital of the Hill Country region. Reaching Kandy proved slightly problematic. The train stopped a few hours into the trip and then stayed stopped for about two hours. I was never exactly able to find out what happened, but I think it had something to do with rocks in the tracks.…

I’d been told that Sri Lanka is one of the most beautiful places in the world and a place that I absolutely must go to at some point, but when I first started to plan this trip the civil war was still going on and I assumed that I wouldn’t be able to visit. By the time I left home it looked like the war was over and I started to research going to Sri Lanka.…

Although Goa is primarily known for its beaches, there is more to Goa than the beach. About an hour south from where I am staying is Old Goa. Filled with old churches, temples, and historic buildings, Old Goa is a reflection of the mix of Indian and Portuguese culture that is prevalent across Goa (Goa is a former colony of Portugal).

A temporary break in the rain afforded me the chance to go explore Old Goa with some folks I met at the guesthouse that I am staying in.…

Agra
I spent Saturday in Agra and visited the Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort. Without a doubt the Taj Mahal was the highlight of Agra. It is always amazing to see something in person that you have seen in photographs and paintings your whole life. It sounds cliché, but when you walk through the entrance and see the Taj Mahal it really does take your breath away.

Cute moment of the day: Since it was a Saturday there were lots of Indian school groups touring the Taj Mahal as well.…