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The Challenge of Border Bureacracy with a Self-Imposed No Fly Travel Policy
March 14, 2009
I’m in Delhi. I got a Pakistan visa about 2 weeks ago. I had applied for an Iran LOI (letter of invitation - required for the Iran visa, through tour agency Stantours.com for a princely sum). I was waiting for the little code of confirmation to come through so I could go to the Embassy in Delhi and pick up my visa. However, it was was not to be. A few days ago I got an email saying my application had been rejected.
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Staying Positive in Delhi and the Frustration of Visa Bureaucracy
February 25, 2009
Having arrived in Delhi, I had been wishfully thinking that I would pick up Pakistan and Iran visas again and make my way by public transport back to Turkey. However, the world’s borders and their associated bureaucracy and politics thought differently. At the time it felt to me like the only point of border was to make life difficult for the overland traveller. I cycled this morning the 16km from my host to the Iran Embassy to be told that I need the Letter of Invitation from a friend in Iran or they need to send my application to Iran, either way it would take at least a month.
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Cycling Out of Kathmandu
February 23, 2009
I cycled out of Kathmandu contending with smoky diesel fumes from the relentless traffic. Gradually I made my way into the suburbs and up out of the valley. I was not used to the mountains but I glad to be cycling on some hills again. It felt like the beginning of another adventure and with the bare trees and overcast weather it reminded me a little of the Black Sea coast in Turkey.
Tags: NepalCycle touringTravel
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Visiting a School in Nepal
February 23, 2009
I met a man who was playing a type of table top hockey. He asked me to go and visit his school. Inside, the children were attending their lessons. The school was a project of ‘Room to Read’, the local community and the Nepali government. Architecturally the building looked good and with a nice paint job on the outside at least. The teacher took me onto the roof and said ‘we don’t have equipment for our school - no tables, books, and no money to buy them’.
Tags: Nepal
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Staying with Laxman the Botanist in Nepal
February 23, 2009
Onward I went up through the mountains, through little villages, and clay shacks by the roadside. I decided to continue to cycle in the moonlight and arrived in the town of Daman at 2330 m at around 7 o’clock. I went into a Dhaba which was a building made of branches with a thatch roof, a small clay oven. There were two ladies. One was smoking a pipe whilst cooking by some pans on a stove.
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Meeting 5 saddhus on a Pilgrimage to Parvati
February 23, 2009
From Daman on clear day, you could see 18 Himalayan peaks. Unfortunately visibility wasn’t good, but the peaks of Ganesh Himal, Annapurna and Machappuchre were a mystical sight floating atop the whispy clouds and haze. I passed the 2400m summit point feeling spiritually rested from being in the quiet mountain area surrounded by glorious wild nature. The downhill was long and ponderous. I regularly stopped to take photos, film travelling shots, and otherwise record my thoughts as they occurred via dictaphone.
Tags: Nepal
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Putting A Bike On A Bus to Kathmandu
February 5, 2009
I arrived in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, by bus last night. I decided to take the bus so I could see the capital without rushing and not have to backtrack on myself. My plan is to cycle the length of Nepal then drop down into India at the most western border crossing and go on to Delhi. Nepal holds great intrigue for me because of the mountains and the geographical significance.
Tags: Public transportKathmanduNepalBusTravelAdventureShoppingCity
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Donating a bike on behalf of Wheels4Life to Help a Nun Get to Work
January 29, 2009
Last night, after a long day’s ride, I was taking some photos of an amazing sky and I met two ladies, enrobed in orange shawls. They spent a few minutes watching me getting different angles of the melting pot of colours that made up the sky. I noticed they were interested in speaking to me. ‘Where are you from’ in a fluent English, one of the ladies asked. We struck up a conversation.
Tags: GivingCharityWheelsforlifeDonationIndiaNunHelpIndiaWheels4Lifehansreyhans reySchooleducationorphanage
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Arriving to Varanasi on India Day in Thick Fog Eating Jelebi
January 26, 2009
I slept in a police station last night and they gave me a fantastic meal of Roti, Aloo Gobi, Chappati, fried cauliflower and potato. I’m on the search for breakfast after having a sugar high due to eating loads of Jelebi (gooey sweets) with the police. They had a little ceremony just before I left putting the flag up because it is India Republic Day. I left shortly after and cycled towards Varanasi in thick fog which didn’t clear until 10:30am and caused havoc on the already very busy (human and mechanical traffic) roads.
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Dealing with The Dilemma of Making Travel Destination Decisions
January 17, 2009
Making decisions about where to travel when on the road should be a spontaneous decision but when you throw visa regulations and bureaucracy into the mix it’s not that simple. I found out the hard way in Delhi with a self-imposed no-fly policy, a soon to expire Indian visa and out of options for an onward route. My options were: Nepal, Tibet, China. This was closed down because the Tibet border closed.
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A Route Through India and Why Not to Use A Guidebook
January 17, 2009
My route through India went from Amritsar, through Punjab to Bathinda, then Bikaner. Next was down to Nagour, Jodhpur, and Mt Abu. Following that was Gujarat to Amdavad, Surat, and down to Daman and then Bombay. From Bombay, I left the bike and took the train with Fanny (my girlfriend from Georgia) to Goa. We continued on to Kannur in Kerala, Calicut, Sultan Bathery, the Muthanga Wildlife Santuary, Mysore, Hampi, Gokarna and back to Bombay.
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12 Months Lost Travel Photos Induced Nihilism
January 16, 2009
I was in an Internet cafe this morning, feeling crappy and depressed. I woke up with a head full of heavy thoughts about my future travel plans and I was worried. To make matters worse, I connected my hard disk to the computer and I spent a good hour wrangling with it to try and view files. On newer computers it seems to work fine, whereas on older ones it just throws a wobbly.
Tags: StorageDiskErrorPhotographyTraveldigitalfilescomputerproblem