The closest we have ever come to death….a taxi ride in India!

After visiting Varanasi India we needed to catch a flight back to Mumbai. The small airport in Varanasi is about 20 minutes outside the city so we arranged a driver from the guesthouse we were staying in to take us (essentially he was a taxi driver). We followed him through the narrow alleys of the old city until we finally emerged at his SUV on the main road. Once we were in the car I remember thinking “this will be a nice chill drive and a chance for me to see some street life.” Nothing could have been farther from the truth. What proceeded next was more thrilling than any amusement park ride I have ever been on. The streets of Varanasi, India are full of everything you can imagine. For example: numerous wondering cows, old women and men, children everywhere, stray animals, rickshaws, bikes, people hauling everything in the world in carts, cars, etc, etc. Honestly I would probably drive through these streets at 20-25 mph tops. Our taxi driver took off and consistently kept around 60 mph as he dodged everything mentioned above. There were so many close calls where Lindsay and I would just close our eyes hoping that we did not have a head on collision with a cow! We spent the entire ride trying not to laugh as we were both being thrown around by the constant swerving and maneuvering by our NASCAR like driver. I busted out the camera to try and film it but it just did'nt do it justice. We finally made it to the airport and were extremely relived (and a little sad) to be out of the taxi. To this day we will never forget the experience.


This picture was taken from the back seat as we cruised through the streets of Varanasi...look at all the obstacles! :)

Friendship Found in the Middle East

During our trip to the Middle East Lindsay and I took a 36 hour train ride from Istanbul, Turkey to Aleppo, Syria. We were both really looking forward to this but we had no idea how much we were going to love it. The scenery and overall experience was amazing but it was the friends that we meet that really stuck with us. From the beginning the journey had some issues. When we arrived at the Haydarpasa train station in Istanbul (after a beautiful ferry ride across the Bosphorus straight) we found our train and were ready to board. However, we quickly discovered that the car/room number on our ticket did not exist on the train. Eventually everybody boarded but a handful of westerners (about 10 of us) and that was the start of our friendship. We were the only Americans but there were people from Switzerland, UK, Scotland, Australia, Italy, etc. We all realized we were stranded and sat on the train platform just laughing and talking. They eventually added another car to the train and we all took our places. Lindsay and I had our own room so we did not see any of them again for about a day. However, after getting close to the Syrian border there was another mix up and we discovered that we had to take a bus the rest of the way. There were many of us that got on the wrong bus and ended up taking a quick random tour of the small Turkish down that we had stopped in. :) Eventually we ended up on the right bus and realized that the same group of westerners were together again. As we rode together on the bus into Syria we all became fast friends. We would laugh, share travel stories, make fun of each other, etc. The border in Syria took FOREVER to cross and this was another opportunity for us to get to know each other. I remember vividly sitting at the Syria/Turkey border waiting for all of our Visas/Passports to clear and having a blast as we all laughed, talked and played “eye spy.” There are numerous funny lines but here are some of our favorites:

Scottish kid asking for a drink to a Syrian man: “I will have a Fanta if you like?” The Syrian man ignores him and pours him a coke and he replies “a coke is fine.”

British kid talking about how all theatres in the UK show Harry Potter films for way to long: “Ya but their all shit though.”

Harry (our Australian buddy and probably best friend on the trip) reply to Marc when he asked if he could translate something for him: “should'nt be that hard actually.” (imagine this with a think Aussie accent and a lisp).

We all became such good friends that when we finally made it to Aleppo, Syria we all meet up in the old town for drinks. For most of the friends that we meet this was the last time we saw them and to this day we still miss them. The two Scottish kids we ran into again at a Mosque in Damascus and Harry (our Aussie friend) we ran into again down in Damascus and he came running up to Lindsay and said in a fake Arabic accent "would you like to buy a rug". We chatted with him and walked together through Damascus and that is the last time we saw him (he was staying behind to live in Damascus an study Arabic and ended up working at travel agency for a year). We constantly still think about the friends we meet on our “trek from Turkey to Syria” and will never forget them!


Above is a picture of Lindsay and our Australian friend Harry.

Above is a picture of our Italian friend...we sat right behind him on the bus into Syria.

Above is a picture I took while traveling on the bus into Syria. You can see our two Scottish buddies and British friend.

Elephant Reserve in Chang Mail Thailand

During our 2006 trip through Thailand Lindsay and I had an INCREDIBLE EXPERIENCE. No trip to Thailand is complete without some interaction with an Elephant. In fact, traveling through this country for more than a few days without seeing an Elephant is probably pretty hard (we saw one right in the middle of Bangkok following its master down the street). There are numerous Elephant amusement parks where you can ride them and watch them do tricks. We had planned on doing something like this but then one night while doing research I came across the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai. This incredible place was started by Sangduen Chailert (A Thai women activist) as a sanctuary for Elephants. Instead of having the Elephants amuse everybody you actually spend the day serving them. The day started out when a small Thai gentleman came and picked us up in a truck. We then went straight to the local market where a shop owner proceeded to bring us bag after bag of old bananas. We loaded them up in the truck and took off towards the mountains. After a beautiful drive through the mountainous jungle we arrived at a beautiful sanctuary next to a river. The sanctuary was made completely of wood/bamboo and consisted of one large structure in the middle with decks that surrounded it. Upon arrival we were introduced to the staff and they began to tell us about the troublesome life of an Elephant in Thailand. They talked about the incredibly abusive tactics used to train these animals and how they are often abused into submission. They then proceeded to explain that 90% of elephants in the countries “amusement parks” are mistreated (we were glad we did not go to one). We then spent the rest of the day feeding, bathing and interacting with the elephants. This was by no means a zoo…we were literally touching, feeling and at one point almost swimming with these amazing animals. The first thing we did is participate in feeding time. They brought out the bags of old bananas and slowly all of the elephants began to surround the main building and we all stood on the deck feeding them. It was such a cool experience to see/feel as their giant trunks would come up and grab the bananas out of your hand. We ended up feeding one really old elephant and one really young elephant for about an hour. After a quick Thai lunch we then walked with the elephants down to the river to bath them in the water…this was an absolutely incredible experience. We had brushes and buckets and we would splash water on them, wash their skin, etc. The local Thai kids were jumping off the elephants into the water, etc but we were just awestruck being in the water with these amazing creatures. There were two very small baby elephants in the water with us and they would literally disappear under the water and then pop up a few seconds later. Watching these two baby elephants swim/play in the water was one of the cutest things we have ever scene. As the day turned to evening we walked back from the river to the main house along a dirt path. The feeling was surreal as we walked through the green jungle next to numerous elephants. At one point I remember just hearing someone say “watch out” and a giant elephant was walking right behind me…they are very quite (many of them have bells around their neck so that you can hear them). The evening ended with a play/wrestle session with one of the tiny elephants. There were about 5 of us standing around this cute little guy as he would “charge” and push us around. It was like playing with a gigantic puppy! As the day ended Lindsay and I felt like we had participated in something truly magical. In fact, this experience helped spur on our love for travel and sense of adventure. To this day there are few travel experiences we have had that compare.

Garden of Gethsemane – Jerusalem

Ever since my mission I have considered the Garden of Gethsemane to be the focal point of my spirituality. Due to experiences on my mission I have felt a very strong connection to this location and what transpired many years ago. When Lindsay and I first arrived in Jerusalem The Garden of Gethsemane is one of the first places we went. We walked through the old city, around the ancient walls and past the beautiful olive groves before stumbling upon the Church of All Nations which was built centuries ago over the Garden of Gethsemane. The interior of the church is very peaceful and contains a large boulder on the floor where Christ is believed to have prayed that night. There are benches all around where believers can kneel and meditate. Lindsay and I spent a few minutes in prayer/deep thought before entering the ancient olive garden which lies right next to the church. The feeling you get while strolling through this garden is one of piece and sacredness. The olive trees are beautiful and the grounds are immaculate with flowers, etc. In one corner of the garden lies a small stone sculpture depicting Christs suffering which is absolutely beautiful. It was one of the highlights of our lives to visit this sacred spot which means so much to the both of us. After visiting the garden we made our way up the step road that leads to the “Mount of Olives” which has breathtaking views over the city. All of Jerusalem is spectacular but for us the Garden of Gethsemane is the most memorable.

East Nanjing Road – Shanghai, China

As I have mentioned in earlier posts Shanghai is an incredible city with numerous landmarks and incredible sights. One of these is the bright lights and crowds of East Nanjing Road. This pedestrian street runs right in the middle of central Shanghai. It is lined with numerous shops, food stalls, restaurants and thousands of people. Although it is fun in the daytime it is epic once the sun goes down. The entire street is light up with an insane amount of neon bright lights. This mixed with the unique architecture, thousands of people, Shanghai Skyline, sounds and smells makes for an assault on the senses. On one of our last nights in Shanghai Lindsay and I walked up and down this road to take in the scene. Although we did a little shopping (I bargained for an awesome Buddha statue) we were mostly just taking in the scene. We ended up getting hungry and found a man making fried rice/noodles in one of the back side streets off of East Nanjing road. We ordered a bowl of each (BY FAR the best I have ever had) and took it back to Nanjing road to eat and people watch. We had numerous locals stop us to ask where we had gotten the food so we were quite proud of our dinner selection :). East Nanjing road is truly one of the most unique and vibrant streets in the world…it is an experience just to walk it.

Sunset in Railay Bay – Thailand

On the coast of Thailand lies one of the most beautiful places in the world called Railay Bay. This narrow strip of land is only accessible by boat and consists of beaches, palm trees and giant cliff faces that stick straight out of the green jungle. We spent days in this area just eating, relaxing and playing. One evening we walked down to the beach and experienced one of the most amazing sunsets I have ever scene. If felt like everybody in the entire area came out to experience it. We found a couple of nice soft beach chairs and just sat and tried to take it all in. There were locals playing soccer on the beach, a cool breeze coming off the ocean everybody was just having a great time. As the sun continued to set the sky became bright orange and yellow and the giant cliff faces that surrounded the area became black silhouettes. Sitting in Railay bay watching the sunset over the Indian ocean in Thailand was unforgettable.

Flop Out Taxi Ride – Amman Jordan

Ever had that moment where you think…”what the hell am I doing?” When you suddenly realize that you are in a situation that is “one of a kind?” This happened to Lindsay and I on a deserted street in Amman Jordan. We were standing in the middle of the street yelling/arguing with two Middle Eastern men over a taxi ride and the cost. How did we get to this point?....let me explain. We took a taxi from Damascus Syria to Amman Jordan. Upon entering Amman our fantastic taxi driver from Syria offered to call “his friend” to come and pick us up for a quick tour of Amman before we had to head down to Petra. We kindly took him up on this offer as getting a local taxi for a few hours is a fantastic way to experience a city. We were dropped off by one taxi and picked up by “his friend” and everything started out great. He was a very nice man and kept looking in his rear view mirror and saying “welcome to Jordan” with a great Arabic accent. It all went downhill when we asked him if we could hire him to drive us the 4 hours down to Petra (this is not uncommon). At that point he called a friend and swung by and picked him up. The minute “his friend” entered the cab Lindsay and I knew we were in trouble. We had traveled enough in our life to recognize a scam artist and this guy gave off a bad vibe. After a little chatting we eventually pulled up on a deserted street where we were going to “switch cabs” to head down to Petra. Normally this would be fine but they asked for something that did'nt sit right with us…they wanted the money upfront and were going to have a different driver take us the 4 hours down to Petra. We thought for sure that we were going to pay them and then have the driver ask us for money again when he dropped us off in Petra. I remember during the argument getting very frustrated and saying over and over “I will pay you when we get there.” At one point they even took our bags to put them in the trunk (without settling on a price) and that made Lindsay really frustrated. We marched over to another taxi and asked if he could take us to Petra and he just gave us a blank stare. At this point the situation was getting bad…we were standing in the middle of a deserted street in Amman Jordan arguing with two middle eastern men. Eventually Lindsay and I conceded and got in the cab. The drive out of Amman was beautiful (it is an incredible city) but the rest of the trip is long, hot and quite boring (flat desert). The entire time I was so sure that the minute we got to Petra the driver was going to demand more money (our original fear). However, when we got to Petra he happily dropped us off with a smile and wave and did not ask for money. We were shocked and relived and immediately had the feeling that we had overreacted. Looking back we both realized that we did a horrible job of communicating. 99.9% of our experiences in the middle east were positive and the hospitality is legendary. We knew this but somehow forgot as we negotiated our taxi ride from Amman to Petra. Although it was a flop out experience we can look back today and laugh…traveling is always an adventure! :)

This picture of Lindsay was taken right before the madness started...based on her face it is almost as if she knew what was coming. :)


The only pic we got of our taxi driver in Amman...we are trying to get him to say in the camera "welcome to Jordan."

Laxmi Vilas Restaurant in Mumbai India…our favorite spot in the city.

The “Colaba area” of Mumbai India has been described as “London on acid.” There are beautiful old palaces and monuments built by the british mixed with the overall craziness of taxis, people and Indian streetlife in general. Lindsay and I stayed right in the middle of this fascinating area. We are the type of people who generally stick with something that we like and we found our favoirt little spot to eat in Mumbai called Laxmi Vilas. This cute little resteraunt is tucked away on a side street right near “India Gate” in the heart of Colaba. The restaurant has a downstairs for locals (no AC) and a very small upstairs (surrounded in class) that ran AC for the westerners. :) Numerous times we would end up at this little restaurant and the owner/staff would great us with a smile and simply point upstairs (where the AC was). Everytime we went we had a friendly waiter that would bring us water, Coke in a bottle and some of the best Indian food we have ever had. Lindsay is always much more daring with food but I found something I liked and stuck with it everytime! To beat the heat and craziness of Mumbai we loved Laxmi Vilas.

Below are pictures from the Colaba area of Mumbai...our favorite resturaunt was in this area:

Enchanting Marrakesh, Morocco

Winston Churchill once call Marrakesh “the most lovely spot in the whole world”. We could not agree more. This desert oasis in Morocco is one of a kind. Lindsay and I started our Marrakesh journey by catching a train in Casablanca. We shared a cabin with some local Moroccans who were very polite. We watched out the window of the train as the landscape changed from green shorelines in Casablanca to the red deserts near Marrakesh. We pulled into the train station and simply walked the few miles to the “old city.” Like many old cities in this part of the world you enter through ancient walls. Once inside the ancient walls of Marrakesh I was immediately in love. There are numerous narrow streets, little stalls selling food, animals, people, and hundreds of motorcycles that come flying by honking their horn. The sights, smells and overall scene is one of a kind. Throughout the old city are old guesthouses known as “riads.” A typical Riad will have a courtyard with fountain, beautiful guestrooms and a rooftop area will pillows and tents for relaxing day and night. Our Riad did not disappoint and had all of the above and more. However, our first challenge was finding the riad. I had rough instructions that I took off the web but navigating through the alleys and streets of old town was incredibly tough. Luckily a teenager showed us the way and walked us right to the front door (he was not happy with the tip “baksheesh” I gave him and I thought for sure he was going to be waiting for me later..ha ha). Once inside we were greeted by a very gracious host who made us some mint/herbal tea. To this day Lindsay and I are searching for this tea as it was INCREDIBLE! After dropping off the bags we hit the old city again to explorer. Our destination was Djemaa el Fna square which is home to the world famous food stalls of Marrakesh. The journey from our riad to this square was fantastic. Eventually the narrow alleys make way to a giant bazaar (market) filled with colorful stores selling anything you can imagine. The bazaar eventually gives way to Djemaa el Fna square which is one of the coolest places we have ever been! The square is an absolute assault on the senses. There are snake charmers (yes), musicians, street performers, fight clubs (yes people fighting), etc, etc, etc,. The sounds, sights and smell are overwhelming to say the least. The snake charmers like to charge for pictures and they are VERY good at catching you. I secretly took a picture of one and I thought there was no way he saw. Within seconds he was in my face saying “you take picture…you pay.” At night there are hundreds of food vendors that set up shop right in the middle of the square. We decided on one (just because the guy smiled at us) and had some of the most amazing food ever. They bring you little clay ovens that are full of chicken, coos-coos, etc. We ate the food and were amazed at how good it tasted. Sure enough we were back the next night for more. :) Over the next few days we continued to explore Marrakesh and fell more and more in love with the city. We eventually caught a night train to Tangier and had to say goodbye. We will never forget Marrakesh, Morocco!

Scooter Ride to Bokkharani National Park – Thailand

During our trip to Thailand we stayed in a great little beach town called Ao Nang. This town has a great beach vibe with palm trees, beautiful beaches, shops, jungles and countless wooden Thai boats waiting to take you for a ride. Lindsay had spotted a picture in the Lonely Planet guidebook of an incredible looking jungle full of trees, waterfalls, etc called Bokkharani national park. We noticed that this was fairly close to Ao Nang so we decided to rent a scooter for the day to check it out. We took off on our scooter and the drive out to this national park was a blast. We passed Buddhist temples, food shacks, etc as we winded through the jungle. Most of the drive was on a very busy highway and our little scooter required that we drive on the shoulder of the road. Fast cars, motorcycles and large trucks would come flying by. In addition to this there were numerous times when rain showers would come slamming down on us. At one point the rain was so strong that we had to pull over and stand underneath an abandon building just to take cover. We were both soaked to the core and just stood there shivering while the over sized helmets on are head bounced around. :) Needless to say it was quite an adventure. We finally made it to the park and were literally blown away at what we saw…it shattered our expectations. First of all we were the only westerners around which always makes you feel like you have found a gem. Second of all the natural beauty of this park was mind blowing. Picture the most beautiful movie set that Disney could build, add 3 times more waterfalls and you start to get the picture of what this place looked like. Giant trees and lush jungle flowers grew amongst numerous pools of water and countless waterfalls. The color of the water was turquoise blue and it sparkled next to the green trees. We walked around taking it all in before finally deciding to take a swim. We found a great swimming hole and began jumping in and out of the water via the numerous rocks and waterfalls that were around. Then a group of young Thai kids (probably around 13) came by and showed us that you could climb a tree next to the water and jump in. I couldn't resist following the Thai kids up the tree for a good jump into the water. :) We sate in that area for hours just swimming, talking and taking in the unbelievable beauty that was around us. We then started the long drive home on our trusty scooter (again with rain showers, fast trucks, etc). We pulled in to Ao Nang right at sunset and spent the rest of the evening cruising the beaches and coastline on our scooter. We stopped at one point to watch the sunset (and locals swimming) before heading back to our hotel back in Ao Nang. It was an incredible day.

Russian Bureaucracy Madness

While studying for our trip to Russia I had read about the bureaucracy that exists in the country that can make travel tough. However, during our entire time in that beautiful country we never experienced it…that is until our final moments before leaving. We were booked on an overnight flight from Moscow to Beijing. In the late evening we headed to Belorussky train station in central Moscow to catch the painless train to Sheremetyevo Airport. Everything was going smoothly until we checked in for the flight…it was chaos. After making through that we thought “the worst is behind us”…then we saw the passport control line. Imagine hundreds of people trying to make their way through about 4 passport control lines (being managed by some very slow moving Russian airport workers). At first it looked like there were 4 lines but after a few minutes people started pushing and cutting and it turned into one blob of people (it felt like a rock concert). I remember thinking to myself “at least we got here early and we have 2 hours before our plane leaves.” Well...15 minutes before our plane took off Lindsay and I were still waiting in the line! Over the last 2 hours we had seen numerous arguments, countless cutting in line and a Chinese man yelling about how unfair it all was. The best moment was when a Russian man and his entire family cut in line and the whole crowd starting yelling. He turned around and said “I am Russian…this is my country…I can do this.” We eventually made it through the passport control with only 10 minutes left before our flight left. We were running through the airport with our bags at full speed (think the Amazing race). We finally made our flight and could finally attest to the “Russia bureaucracy” we had read about. :)


This picture was taken just after we barely made it on our plane...sums up the experience!

Ajisan Noodles in China….YUM!

I have mentioned this before but I will repeat it again; if Lindsay and I find a place we like to eat we will keep coming back. This was certainly true of Ajisan Noodles which we discovered during our trip to China in 2010. Our first night in Beijing it was getting late and we needed to eat. Here is a travel tip that we have learned over the years…if you are in a pinch a mall food court (in any international city) is a great place to find cheap, clean and tasty food! We were hanging out in the central shopping district and decided to hit up Oriental Plaza mall for some food. We stumbled upon a little noodle house called Ajisan and took our seats. The menu was hard to decode but we ended up ordering some of the most amazing noodles we have every had. We came back to this Ajisan numerous times while in Beijing and almost always ordered the same thing: Pepsi (comes out in cute little can) and noodles. When we left Beijing for Shanghai we were very sad because we assumed that there was no more Ajisan in our future. However, to our great surprise there were numerous Ajisan noodle houses in Shanghai as well. Come to found out it is a chain out of Japan that has locations all over Asia (and now one in Los Angeles). Needles to say we hit up Ajisan numerous other times while in Shanghai. To this day we firmly believe they are the best noodles you can get!

Dome of the Rock & The Western "Wailing" Wall – Jerusalem

One of the most fascinating cities we have ever been to is Jerusalem Israel. Ever since I was young I have wanted to visit “the most beautiful city in the world” which is the epicenter of 3 of the world’s great religions (Christianity, Islam and Judaism). The city has a very “intense” feeling and you can sense the high emotions everywhere you go. During our time there we saw numerous school children being escorted by gunmen with assault rifles for protection. There is the heavily armed Israeli military on every corner and security checks/medal detectors are everywhere. The old town is surrounded by the ancient city walls/gates and has 3 main areas: the Jewish quarter, the Muslim Quarter and the Christian quarter. Although we stayed in the Muslim quarter we spent our time exploring this entire area. At the center of it all is Dome of the Rock and The Western "Wailing" Wall. The first being a sacred to Muslims and the later being sacred to Jews. What was fascinating to me was how close these to sites are to each other. Dome of the rock literally sits on top of The Wailing Wall. In fact, the area in which the Dome of the Rock is built is considered “to sacred to enter” to the Jewish people (this is what the sign says as you enter). It is no wonder there is so much contention in this one little area. We first visited The Wailing Wall which is a fascinating experience. The Jewish faithful will come to this wall (which is one of the last remaining walls of the ancient great temple) to offer prayers on pieces of paper which they then slip into the cracks of the wall. This is quite unique looking as you have ancient stone blocks with millions of small pieces of paper shoved in the cracks. There are paper “yamikas” for non Jewish visitors and I happily wore one during our visit. There is also a side for men and a side for women. Lindsay and I stayed in this sacred spot for quite a while watching all the faithful pray. Immediately to the right of this wall is a walkway (with medal detectors and heavily armed guards) which leads up to the “Dome of the Rock” which is considered sacred in the Islam religion and is built on remnants of the temple which is sacred to Jews (again an explanation of the constant contention). The area around Dome of the Rock is beautiful and very peaceful (at least it was the morning we were there). Numerous gardens surround the ancient blue and gold structure which is so iconic. We spent hours slowly walking around, sitting for breaks and looking at this incredible structure. There are also very good views of the ancient city below. It was a beautiful and very peaceful experience to visit both of these sacred spots and we will never forget it.

Krak des Chevaliers Castle – Syria/Lebanon

During our 2008 trip to the Middle East I was incredibly excited to visit the city of Beirut in Lebanon. Unfortunately a couple of weeks before we left the city was rocked by unrest (this happens a lot). This meant that Lindsay and I had a couple of extra days in Syria (not a bad problem to have). We decided to make a trek up to one of the most amazing castles in the world “Krak des Chevaliers” near the border of Syria/Lebanon. This castle was built during the crusades and is INCREDIBLY well preserved. Getting to the castle involved a number of different steps (and for us some luck). We took a taxi to a bus stop outside Damascus where we were able to find a bus to the city of Homs. Taking a bus in the middle east is quite fun as they generally have crazy decorations and a cheesy movie playing with the volume at full blast! Within a few hours we were at a major bust stop in Homs and found a very friendly taxi driver who agreed to take us out to the castle and then wait to take us back. The taxi drive was fantastic as we got to see the countryside of Syria. We passed numerous small villages, farms, families herding animals in the middle of the road, etc, etc. The road to the castle winds up a large mountain and eventually you end up at this incredible castle structure. We spent hours exploring the castle and particularly loved sitting on the very top looking down at the beautiful valleys/hills in the surrounding area. This was the closest we were going to get to Lebanon. The wind was incredibly strong and there were no railings at the edge of the castle (a very long fall) needless to say it was an exhilarating experience. We finally made our way down to our patient taxi driver who started to take us back to Homs to catch a bus back to Damascus. The entire way back he and I were negotiating whether he would take us all the way back to Damascus (I just couldn't bring myself to pay what he wanted). Lindsay and I were loving it because he didn’t speak much English, and we didn't speak any Arabic, but all three of us understood one word….DAMASCUS!! He would mumble a few words in Arabic/English and end every sentence with DAMASCUS!!!! It was hilarious. We barely made it on the bus back to Damascus and I remember thinking that I probably had just enough cash left to catch a cab from the bus stop in Damascus to our Hotel…I was wrong. We arrived at the Damascus bus stop in late evening and there were only a few cabs left. I offered them all the cash I had left and they refused to take us back to the city for such a small amount. Needless to say we were getting quite panicked as hitchhiking in Damascus was not a good alternative. Luckily we were saved by a very outgoing British kid who was living in Syria. He came up and negotiated with the taxi to take all 3 of us back to the city. It was hilarious watching this British kid negotiate with a Syrian taxi driver in Arabic. We had a great chat with him as we rode back to the city. Not only did he save our hide that night but just as we were leaving I asked him what bus station I needed to go to the next morning to catch a taxi to Jordan. He told me the correct station which was completely different then were I was planning on going…saved our hide again! It was a fun day full of castles, adventure and friendship…sounds like a typical day traveling in the Middle East.

The French Concession

The city of Shanghai China has many distinct areas. There is the old school money area called “The Bund”, there is the futuristic Pudong area and the shopping mecca Nanjing road. In addition to all of this the city boasts one of the most charming neighborhoods I have ever seen: The French Concession. This area of Shanghai feels like Paris mixed with SoHo with a dash of Los Angeles topped off with a sprinkling of Bangkok. The streets are lined with beautiful and leafy trees and the architecture ranges from Asian to European. There are churches, posh boutiques, cafes, salons, etc. We walked this area for hours and were simply amazed at its unique character. During one of our trips we stumbled on a little juice bar that made a frozen Oreo ice drink that was INSANE! We ended up going back numerous times and the employees would just smile and make our drinks. :) Shanghai is a city with lots of character and the charming French Concession neighborhood stole me and Lindsay’s heart.










The closest we have ever come to death….a taxi ride in India:
After visiting Varanasi India we needed to catch a flight back to Mumbai. The small airport in Varanasi is about 20 minutes outside the city so we arranged a driver from the guesthouse we were staying in to take us (essentially he was a taxi driver). We followed him through the narrow alleys of the old city until we finally emerged at his SUV idealing on the main road. Once we were in the car I remember thinking “this will be a nice chill drive and a chance for me to see some streetlife.” Nothing could have been farther from the truth. What proceeded next was more thrilling than any amusment park ride I have ever been on. The streets of Varanasi, India are full of everything you can imagine. For example: numerous wondering cows, old women and men, children everywhere, stray animals, rikshaws, bikes, people hauling everything in the world in carts, cars, etc, etc. Honestly I would probably drive 20-25 mph tops. Our taxi driver took off and consistently kept around 60 mph as he dodged everything mentioned above. There were so many close calls where Lindsay and I would just close our eyes hoping that we did not have a head on collision with a cow! We spent the entire ride trying not to laugh as we were both being thrown around by the constant swerving and maneuvering by our NASCAR like driver. I busted out the camera to try and film it but it just didn’t do it justice. We finally made it to the airport and were extremely relived (and a little sad) to be out of the taxi. To this day we will never forget the experience.

The Canals of St Petersburg, Russia

During our 2010 trip to Russia we only had time to visit one other city besides Moscow. Although there are hundreds of worthy cities to visit this choice was quite easy…St Petersburg. This incredible city was the on again/off again capital of Russia for decades. Founded by Peter the great it is Truly one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The center of the city is made up of numerous canals (thus the nickname “Venice of the north”). These wide canals criss-cross through the city and are lined by beautiful seventeenth and eighteenth century mansions. In addition, numerous bridges cross these canals making for a truly spectacular urban design. One of the first things Lindsay and I did upon arriving is start exploring these canals. We would walk up and down, cross the occasional bridge and find every opportunity to sit and watch the boats go by (there are numerous open top tour boats that cruise around the canals). On one particularly sunny day we sat in one spot on the edge of one of the canal intersection for hours. We just sat and enjoyed the weather, the sound of water, the boats and the beautiful historic city all around us. St Petersburg and its canals truly make up one of the great European cities!


The pic above is the spot where we sat watching the boats for hours!