I took this picture during the protests against the Beijing Olympics in San Francisco. The protests were to be a manifestation against Chinese oppression of Tibetans. Instead, thousands of Chinese showed up with their own flags, generally drowning out the noise of the Tibetan protesters. Gavin Newsom, the Mayor of San Francisco, decided to march [...]
We have a strict policy here at SeatOfOurPants.com – no trash talking other travelers. We haven’t done it yet and I was pretty sure we would stick to it. That is, until we came to India. If you would like to remain a happy post reader, then it’s best you skip this one. Otherwise, listen [...]
With our (or rather, Martin’s) extreme trekking under our belt, we’ve moved southwest to McLeod Ganj, which is the premier backpacker village in Himachal Pradesh. It is also the home in exile of the Dalai Lama and thousands of Tibetan refugees. (Excuse the terrible photo – it was overcast and yucky for most of today) [...]
When booking our bus tickets to Manali, a town 300 miles from Leh, we were told it would be an 18 hour trip. Oh well, I thought, not really thinking about it. We had just taken a series of flights (from Flores to Bali, Bali to Kuala Lumpur, KL to Delhi and Delhi to Leh) [...]
Bole Mere Lipps I love Uncle Chipps It’ll give you large hipps mayhap your pant seams they will ripp-s Seatofourpants.com would like to challenge all our readers to come up with a better ending to that rhyme. Winner gets a free bag of Uncle Chipps (if available). In other news, we’re having a [...]
OK that headline may sound a bit harsh but we just spent most of our only full day here in Manali chasing after money. For some undisclosed reason all banks were closed today. Also, every last ATM was out of cash. After running around all over town we finally found the only one that [...]
Wow, was this ever an adventure. It started as a whim – I figured that it would be fun to count a six thousand meter peak among my achievements. It was a four-day trek with a climbing expedition thrown in as a bonus. It ended up being one of the physically most taxing things I’ve [...]
No matter how many new countries, individual cultures and amazing people we meet, I still can’t let go of the consumerist in me. I feel like a bad commercial when I say this, but sometimes I just need to shop. Granted, the shopping is done in local bazaars and the products are often one [...]
We’re back in Leh after our jaunt up to Stok Kangri and its surroundings. We’re safe and sound, and checked in to our favorite guest house where we just had a hot shower (well, bucket of warm water). The climb went well, although Jaime had a spell of the old altitude sickness and spent [...]
I’d like to share a few more findings, if you don’t mind. Like this one from Malaysia. They’re VERY serious about their hand washing there. This one’s from the eeh Italian quarters of Leh, India. We opted out. A little gem from Chiang Mai, Thailand, where they spelled our surname as Eugsfran rather [...]
I admit it: I have a sickness. I can’t stop reading signs and postings everywhere I go. This leads to some fun findings now and then, especially in countries where English is spoken as a second language. The one above is from the other day. It’s HERBAL unoily oil, of course. Mmm. Nourishing. From [...]
Insert any Beyonce/JLo/Kim Kardashian/Most of the ladies from the Real Housewives of Atlanta joke here
Martin has been tied down in Leh with two translation jobs, as he discussed here, so I’ve had to fill my time with some activities outside our room. I thought about volunteering, but most of the organizations around Leh ask for a longer commitment than 3 days. I thought about doing yoga, but never got [...]
Martin and I had dinner in a Leh restaurant that just happened to sit right next to the mosque. Though it wasn’t on the menu, as it rarely is in these parts, we ordered two beers to drink with our meal. The beer showed up in two tea pots and the glasses were covered in [...]
You know the saying, “to fly by the seat of your pants?” Well, that's been our philosophy for most of our adult lives – before and after meeting, falling in love and marrying. We're now taking that idea on an extended round-the-world trip. Follow us as we share the good, the bad and the downright nasty of life on the road.
