Nadim and I recently visited with a friend of mine from work, Bruce, who is very good friends with a couple, Bruce and Ple, who just moved to Canada from Thailand. Bruce had invited Bruce and Ple as well so that we could gather some info from the souce. Bruce is Canadian, but has travelled extensively, and his wife Ple is Thai, and also seems to have done a fair bit of traveling. My friend's wife Karen recently went to Thailand with Ple so it was great to get her perspective on Thailand as well.
We had a great chat about Thailand and Southeast Asia in general. We really enjoyed our afternoon visit. Of course with many of these visits it raises as many questions as it answers. It's a good thing we exchanged e-mail for follow-up questions!
The big thing that we came away with is rethinking the amount of time that we want to stay in Bangkok area. It is a very big city with some serious traffic and pollution issues. We had initially thought to make it our base for the duration of our Thailand trip and make a couple of side trips to the north and the south while there, but now we are re-considering. We've decided to do a little more reading, and get in touch with our Baha'i friends to seek out the network of other Baha'is in Thailand.
The other big question we had for ourselves was "Do we want to see the Thai attractions, or the Thai people?" The answer is of course, a bit of both. Although Bangkok is close to many of the attractions, it doesn't seem the most likly place to see the real Thai people.
Hmmm..... more thinking required on this one.
CM
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Travel Clinic again
After having been told that our travel health clinic was closing, we found another doctor through our travel agent. He was very good. It's Dr. Weiner (pronounced, like the term for hotdog). I kind of felt like I was insulting him if I called him by name! He was very easy to talk to and pretty good with the needles. Usually my arm hurts the next day, but not this time.
We discussed our travel plans and the shots we had already taken, and came away with a few more shots, and more planned. The whole family now has our boosters for both Hep A and B. The girls also got Meningitis, but he didn't have enough in stock for Nadim and I too, so we'll have to get it on the next trip. He checked some of his books and determined that when we're in India, it isn't going to be the season for Japanese Encephylitis, so we don't need those shots, but he did suggest Rabies shots. It's low risk, but since we'll be gone so long it's better to be safe than sorry.
Next visit we still have to talk about Malaria pills too. It's not an issue in most of the areas we are going to, but if we go to rural areas we may want to take something. We'll get more info on that later.
CM
We discussed our travel plans and the shots we had already taken, and came away with a few more shots, and more planned. The whole family now has our boosters for both Hep A and B. The girls also got Meningitis, but he didn't have enough in stock for Nadim and I too, so we'll have to get it on the next trip. He checked some of his books and determined that when we're in India, it isn't going to be the season for Japanese Encephylitis, so we don't need those shots, but he did suggest Rabies shots. It's low risk, but since we'll be gone so long it's better to be safe than sorry.
Next visit we still have to talk about Malaria pills too. It's not an issue in most of the areas we are going to, but if we go to rural areas we may want to take something. We'll get more info on that later.
CM
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Travel Clinic - Ahhh
We had an appointment scheduled with our travel clinic in early April. We recently got a voice message saying our appointment had been cancelled. The reason? -- The clinic is closing! Ahhh
Well it's good that we have our vaccination cards updated! Luckily we met with the travel agent just after we got the message and in our discussion it came up. He suggested another clinic, so we are going to try that one.
On another health note, I was reading through our work health care plan and found that our insurance will only cover us for the first 40 days that we are away. So... something else to look into - getting insurance for the whole duration of our travel.
An apple a day?
CM
Well it's good that we have our vaccination cards updated! Luckily we met with the travel agent just after we got the message and in our discussion it came up. He suggested another clinic, so we are going to try that one.
On another health note, I was reading through our work health care plan and found that our insurance will only cover us for the first 40 days that we are away. So... something else to look into - getting insurance for the whole duration of our travel.
An apple a day?
CM
Making contacts
We have been trying to get some contacts in various countries we will be visiting through our friends here in Ottawa. We've recently had some success.
A friend of ours has a brother near Beijing, and we just got his e-mail address. We have some other friends from the Beijing area who have said they can see what they can do to set us up with an appartment. I'm not sure if that will work out, but if it does, it would be great. The travel agent is also looking at sme options for us.
We made contact with a fellow from Nonthaburi (just north of Bangkok) who is an active Baha'i in the area. We've been e-mailing with him and have an offer to stay with his family until we can find a place there. I also have another friend who is good friends with a couple who just moved back to Canada from Thailand. We are planning a visit with them to get ideas on what to see and I'm hoping they can provide us some contacts as well.
We've also finally got in touch with some Baha'is in India. We don't have an e-mail address yet, but we do have a cell phone number which Nadim plans to try in the near future. Nadim remembers a Baha'i center in Mysore that had sleeping quarters. If worse comes to worse we figure we could crash there until we find a place.
For the last leg of the journey, we have a friend whose family is still in Croatia. They have offered us a place to stay, but we have to get more details. Another friend is from Romania and thinks he may be able to help us with renting a chalet through a friend.
It's starting to feel like we have a bit of a safety net.
CM
A friend of ours has a brother near Beijing, and we just got his e-mail address. We have some other friends from the Beijing area who have said they can see what they can do to set us up with an appartment. I'm not sure if that will work out, but if it does, it would be great. The travel agent is also looking at sme options for us.
We made contact with a fellow from Nonthaburi (just north of Bangkok) who is an active Baha'i in the area. We've been e-mailing with him and have an offer to stay with his family until we can find a place there. I also have another friend who is good friends with a couple who just moved back to Canada from Thailand. We are planning a visit with them to get ideas on what to see and I'm hoping they can provide us some contacts as well.
We've also finally got in touch with some Baha'is in India. We don't have an e-mail address yet, but we do have a cell phone number which Nadim plans to try in the near future. Nadim remembers a Baha'i center in Mysore that had sleeping quarters. If worse comes to worse we figure we could crash there until we find a place.
For the last leg of the journey, we have a friend whose family is still in Croatia. They have offered us a place to stay, but we have to get more details. Another friend is from Romania and thinks he may be able to help us with renting a chalet through a friend.
It's starting to feel like we have a bit of a safety net.
CM
Travel agent tips.
We talked to the travel agent a week or so ago. It turns out that we will flip our itinerary and do the north of India (the golden triangle) first and end in the south because flights from Thailand to the south of India go through Delhi and we can have a stop-over for free!
The other thing we decided to do is take the train from Beijing to Hong Kong, and then on to Hanoi, Vietnam. It is a two day train ride, but with sleeper rooms it should be kind of an adventure.
We also asked about accomodations, particularly in Beijing, Bangkok, and Mysore. Most travel agents specialize only in hotels, not appartments or condos. He did have some contacts so I'm hoping we will get something out of that.
CM
The other thing we decided to do is take the train from Beijing to Hong Kong, and then on to Hanoi, Vietnam. It is a two day train ride, but with sleeper rooms it should be kind of an adventure.
We also asked about accomodations, particularly in Beijing, Bangkok, and Mysore. Most travel agents specialize only in hotels, not appartments or condos. He did have some contacts so I'm hoping we will get something out of that.
CM
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Eastern Europe
We are planning to start by leasing a car in Munich in early May, 2009. The leases are much, much cheaper than renting. Our overall plan is to tour various countries for a week or two and then stop and relax for a week or two so that we aren't constantly on the move.
From Munich we will take a trip, perhaps stopping along the way, to Hungary. We will spend about a week in Hungary.
Then we will go to Romania for 3-4 weeks. We will spend a couple of weeks touring around Romania and then find a place to relax for two weeks. By that time, I'm sure we will need a break.
After Romania, we will go to Croatia and spend a week touring the country before finding a nice island or sea side village to settle in for a week or so. We will be in Croatia in June so hopefully the water will be warm enough for swimming.
From Croatia we will head up through Czech Republic. We will only spend about a week there visiting Prague and Cesky (where there is a famous castle).
Then we move on to Poland where we will spend 2-3 weeks. Again the first couple of weeks will be spent touring around the country and visiting the major cities. We plan to end up along the north shore of Poland where there are some beautiful beaches. We will be mid-Summer at this point so it should be good timing.
We can drop the car across the boarder in Germany, and probably fly back to London from Berlin, and from there we head back to home sweet home. Unless we decide to head to Holland or France to visit some relatives.
CM
From Munich we will take a trip, perhaps stopping along the way, to Hungary. We will spend about a week in Hungary.
Then we will go to Romania for 3-4 weeks. We will spend a couple of weeks touring around Romania and then find a place to relax for two weeks. By that time, I'm sure we will need a break.
After Romania, we will go to Croatia and spend a week touring the country before finding a nice island or sea side village to settle in for a week or so. We will be in Croatia in June so hopefully the water will be warm enough for swimming.
From Croatia we will head up through Czech Republic. We will only spend about a week there visiting Prague and Cesky (where there is a famous castle).
Then we move on to Poland where we will spend 2-3 weeks. Again the first couple of weeks will be spent touring around the country and visiting the major cities. We plan to end up along the north shore of Poland where there are some beautiful beaches. We will be mid-Summer at this point so it should be good timing.
We can drop the car across the boarder in Germany, and probably fly back to London from Berlin, and from there we head back to home sweet home. Unless we decide to head to Holland or France to visit some relatives.
CM
Ireland now too!
The major flights will be booked through British Airways. You get free stopovers along the way,and since they stop in London, we thought it would be a great opportunity to visit my Aunt and her family who live in Limerick!
I was e-mailing with her last week and I think we are both very excited about that part of the trip. She will put us up, which will be great after being on our own in India. She has two little girls, one of which is just a year younger than our girls. It will be a lot of fun to see them play together.
I've never been to Ireland, but have always thought it would be great to go. I've not been to London either, other than the airport on stopovers to France or Holland. So we may also try to spend a couple of days there as well before we head off on the eastern European leg of our trip.
CM
I was e-mailing with her last week and I think we are both very excited about that part of the trip. She will put us up, which will be great after being on our own in India. She has two little girls, one of which is just a year younger than our girls. It will be a lot of fun to see them play together.
I've never been to Ireland, but have always thought it would be great to go. I've not been to London either, other than the airport on stopovers to France or Holland. So we may also try to spend a couple of days there as well before we head off on the eastern European leg of our trip.
CM
Sunday, March 2, 2008
India - Details
After Thailand, it's on to India! When Nadim was young he lived in India for about 10 years. His time there was spent between Goa and Mysore (Southwestern India). As Baha'is we are interested in visiting Delhi and the Baha'i house of worship that is shaped like a lotus flower. This is particularly interesting to Nadim because he is an engineer and finds the structure very interesting as well.
When we first talked about visiting India we thought about staying in Delhi and volunteering at the house of worship there, but as we started to do our research we decided that we might be more comfortable in Mysore. It's a smaller city that Nadim will be familiar with, even though it has been 20 years, and he's lost touch with the people he once knew there. I'm sure he will remember many people once we get there.
So once again, we pulled out our Lonely Planet guide. We were drawn to the western half of India because it seemed to have more to offer in the way of things to see and less risk of malaria and other nasty diseases. Even with ruling out half the country it is still so big with so much to see that we had difficulty settling on a game plan. But after much reading we decided that we would first make Mysore our home base. We plan to arrive there in late January 2009. We will stay there and make some side trips to Hampi which boasts an interesting market, some ruins and boulders that seem to defy gravity. In Mysore itself there is the Maharaja's Palace, and temples. We also thought about a side trip to Ooty which is known as a retreat for the locals to get away from the ciy heat. Chamundi Hills is also near Mysore and should be interesting. We thought we would take a longer side trip, perhaps a week or 10 days, through Kerala. Apparently the houseboat tours are really cool. There is an elephant sanctuary, and tea and spice plantations that would also be interesting to see, not to mention the quiet beaches.
After Mysore we plan to go to Goa for about a week. Goa is known for its beaches, markets, and churches. After Goa we are debating a trip to Ajanta where there are some caves with cave drawings in them. It is a bit difficult to get to that area, so we may end up skipping it if we feel that we are tired of traveling.
After Goa we plan to hit the "Golden Triangle", Delhi, Agra and Jaipur. Delhi is known for the old markets, forts and for us the house of worship. Agra is of course known for the Taj Mahal, and Jaipur is known for its colourful bazaar and shopping. There is a ghost town, Fatehpur, along the way that I think would be neat to see as well.
We debated about going to the northwest part of India (Gujarat), but thought we might be in for too much travel. We'll see how the kids are doing and how the home school classes are going and decide if we might want to add it back in. Of course the longer distances in India are part of the problem. Plane tickets are not as cheap as they are in Thailand, but our travel book is a couple years out of date and there was hope that domestic air travel would be coming down in price. We'll check it out with our travel agent before we finalize our plans.
CM
When we first talked about visiting India we thought about staying in Delhi and volunteering at the house of worship there, but as we started to do our research we decided that we might be more comfortable in Mysore. It's a smaller city that Nadim will be familiar with, even though it has been 20 years, and he's lost touch with the people he once knew there. I'm sure he will remember many people once we get there.
So once again, we pulled out our Lonely Planet guide. We were drawn to the western half of India because it seemed to have more to offer in the way of things to see and less risk of malaria and other nasty diseases. Even with ruling out half the country it is still so big with so much to see that we had difficulty settling on a game plan. But after much reading we decided that we would first make Mysore our home base. We plan to arrive there in late January 2009. We will stay there and make some side trips to Hampi which boasts an interesting market, some ruins and boulders that seem to defy gravity. In Mysore itself there is the Maharaja's Palace, and temples. We also thought about a side trip to Ooty which is known as a retreat for the locals to get away from the ciy heat. Chamundi Hills is also near Mysore and should be interesting. We thought we would take a longer side trip, perhaps a week or 10 days, through Kerala. Apparently the houseboat tours are really cool. There is an elephant sanctuary, and tea and spice plantations that would also be interesting to see, not to mention the quiet beaches.
After Mysore we plan to go to Goa for about a week. Goa is known for its beaches, markets, and churches. After Goa we are debating a trip to Ajanta where there are some caves with cave drawings in them. It is a bit difficult to get to that area, so we may end up skipping it if we feel that we are tired of traveling.
After Goa we plan to hit the "Golden Triangle", Delhi, Agra and Jaipur. Delhi is known for the old markets, forts and for us the house of worship. Agra is of course known for the Taj Mahal, and Jaipur is known for its colourful bazaar and shopping. There is a ghost town, Fatehpur, along the way that I think would be neat to see as well.
We debated about going to the northwest part of India (Gujarat), but thought we might be in for too much travel. We'll see how the kids are doing and how the home school classes are going and decide if we might want to add it back in. Of course the longer distances in India are part of the problem. Plane tickets are not as cheap as they are in Thailand, but our travel book is a couple years out of date and there was hope that domestic air travel would be coming down in price. We'll check it out with our travel agent before we finalize our plans.
CM
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