Today, we looked at three properties: two full-service, two bedroom apartments in an attractive neighborhood, and one hideously decorated bungalow far out into the suburbs. I guess it’s safe to say that we’ve narrowed our search down to the two service apartments. It’ll cost us something like 650 USD per month to live [...]
This weird-looking lump of wood, covered by coins and nails, is nothing less than a shrine to the God of Toothaches. It looks like it’s been there for at least 400 years, and local dentists have set up shop all around it. I’ve decided to give it a wide berth, but as anyone that [...]
A friend of mine used to practice what he called “shameless self-promotion,” a practice I could never get comfortable doing. The awkward part about being a blogger is just that – self-promotion is paramount. As I’ve written about in this post, we’re not writing to draw in the big bucks. We write to make travel [...]
We’re in the process of trying to become short term expats in Kathmandu and I must say that its proving harder than I thought. We arrived, hoping to find notice boards, signs or publications with rental listings, as we’ve seen in other expat-heavy locations. We’ve found none of these things. We’re most likely missing [...]
We’ve been in Kathmandu for two days now and my first impression is a simple one: color! Rather than the dusty brown of many of the Indian cities we’ve been in lately, this Nepali city is bursting with color. Granted, we’ve arrived in the middle of Deepawali (Nepal’s festival of lights) so [...]
We’ve decided to come out of the communications stone age and buy a cell phone. It’s been nearly 6 months since we left our phones at home and I’ll let you in on a little secret: it’s really nice not having one. No need to worry about leaving your phone at home. No checking if [...]
I guess it was just a matter of time. Today, at Kathmandu’s Durbar Square, just before noon, I got got by this self-described ‘holy man’. He hit me for a 20 rupee fee of course, in exchange for tossing marigold petals in my hair and smudging my forehead with chemical dye. Priceless.
We’re in Kathmandu, Nepal, and we like it. Compared to Delhi, this is a paradise of cleanliness. The air is fresh and eminently clear, and there are no cows mucking through the garbage on the streets. Right now we’re staying in the Thamel district, a warren of medieval streets chock-full of shops that cater [...]
In an effort to drive up traffic to our little website I’ve been checking out other travel blogs – sussing out the competition, you might say. What I found was a bunch of people who were traveling to the similar places, writing about reactions that we’ve written about. And though I think Martin and [...]
Delhi is an assault on the senses. I don’t necessarily mean this in a negative way. It is just that it is a massive all-out, full-on attack on both your senses and sensibilities. Today we walked through Old Delhi – a place our trusty guidebook described as having ‘a kind of raw charm’ and [...]
A seven hour, forty dollar taxi ride has taken us to Delhi – the capital of India. The city comes with a reputation as a gritty and nasty mega city, and I can’t help but think that our first impressions confirm what we’ve heard about it. We were just walking back from our dinner restaurant, [...]
I’ve found at least two things rumored about India to be true. It’s hot and it’s polluted. Well, to be fair, it was neither of those things in Ladakh or Himachal Pradesh, but once we left those states its been sweaty and dirty the whole way through. I know that saying this in a [...]
Inside Fatehpur Sikri’s mosque lies the stunning white marble tomb of Shaikh Salim Chishti. Akbar, the infamous Moghul responsible for the construction of Fatehpur Sikri, consulted this saint four centuries ago hoping for a son. Shaikh prophesied the birth of a son, which came true with the birth of his heir (who imprisoned him in [...]
Beautiful setting, check. Sincere, happy smiles, check. Forgetting to take off your embarrassing hat for the photo, check. Oh Martin. I love you, but that hat’s gotta go. What do you all think? Are you with me on this?
Once upon a time, there was an Emperor called Akbar. He went to see a Sufi saint called Shaikh Salim Chisti, who foretold that Akbar would have a male child. When this came true, Akbar was so impressed that he decided to move his capital to the Saint’s obscure hometown – Fatehpur Sikri. Note that [...]
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.
