Fourth year is coming to an end and thus the end of this blog. Not because I don't want to share my travels, but because the travels will be ending. Below, I've begun to add slide shows of the places mentioned previously in the text. If you click on the picture it self then it will open a full size image in another window or tab. Also note that you may have to click on 'older posts' to see slide shows from the beginning of the trip. I encourage you to check them out and plan your "fourth year" itinerary accordingly :)
Also, in a couple days I'm going to post a slide show under this post with some pictures including all the fourth year travels, from DC, Chicago and Boston to the West Coast road trip and RTW.
Peace!
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Charleston
sorry my blog sucks.. i know, i never update it and i have no pictures like nikesh's... he has pictures and slide shows and movies and he has clearly one-upped me on the "amin boy indian trip". but now that i'm back and have nothing better to do, i'll update this shit more. its hard to travel around the world and blog at the same time... now i have nothing to do and i'm sitting in the ICU updating this haha
Well now we're home, but last you heard from us we were in Hong Kong. Nirav was set to leave and we had a good day of sightseeing. The next destination was Dubai, which at first Netto and I were not extremely excited about seeing that we were broke, tired and now Nirav-less. Also, plans in London seemed so exciting with clubbing, a Chelsea football match and Stonehenge, that we kind of looked past Dubai. In all honesty, it was a good city, but not a great city. There is a lot of construction and no public transportation and so it became hard to do the 'four days of sightseeing in a day' trick that we've been doing in all the other cities.
Things I enjoyed most about the city was seeing all the crazy things they have built and are going to build. The buildings are magnificant, from the tallest building in the world to the largest mall and first "seven star hotel" ...its all very nice. The various souqs or markets were interesting to visit as well. We also met up with Misha, one of Nikesh's friends from college and so we had a nice night out despite it being a tuesday night. The next day we were scheduled for a desert safari, which I was really excited about. We started the safari off with dune bashing which means you get in a land cruiser, take some air out of the tires and barrel down these huge sand dunes. It was a rollercoaster on crack.. really good crack. After a camel ride, a beautiful desert sunset, shesha, belly dancing and the desert stars.. we were scheduled to fly out to London-town baby... London-town.
We arrived in London and in London was the one and only Anjali! I unrolled my jeans and a pile of sand poured out on to the airport floor. Now there is some Arabic Desert sand in Heathrow airport and I didn't declare it to customs, shit! We had a glorious time with Anjali. She scheduled a weekend packed with a road trip, partying with Shaleena in Bristol and going to a English Premier League Chelsea match. On thursday Netto and I had some family time and on Friday it was on like donkey kong... Friday we set out on our road trip and in true RTW fashion, Netto and I drank a beer and enjoyed the scenery. Stonehenge was amazing, but wish we could have gotten closer. Bath was a great little historic city and then we arrived in Bristol. After getting horribly lost trying to find our hotel we found a Nando's chicken, had some drinks and the night began. And then it was morning, so we decided to go to bed for a couple hours before heading back to Stamford Bridge for the match.
I would advise you, if you're a football fan, to go to footytube.com and check out the Chelsea v Wiggins highlights, because it was a great great game. It was quite an experience hearing all the different chants. I could finally understand what they were saying, unlike on TV you just hear a bunch of drunk, english accents. The Chelsea game, for me any ways, was it. I crashed and burned after that. There was some talk of going out in central London and all, but that was it. I was jet lagged and out of energy..
Thoughts: Since being back, everyone has asked about Dubai and how it was. While in Dubai I was constantly thinking about the question: "what makes a place attractive and beautiful?" I realized that there were two things to take into consideration: man-made vs natural. Alot of places have both and in some places, one superceded the other. For example, New Zealand was amazing. Auckland and Queenstown were great cities, but New Zealand's natural beauty was clearly the sight to see. Dubai, on the other hand, is known for its cityscape and the crazy things they build. They have man-made island resorts from the palms to the world. They have unbelievable architectural wonders such as the Burg al Arab. But my favorite part of UAE wasn't the city of Dubai, but was the desert. After traveling (quickly, mind you) around the world, it was interesting comparing and contrasting all the places we've been and the different priorities each country or city had as to how to make their native land attractive. New Zealand leaves itself alone versus Dubai creates unimaginable structures and new landscapes.
Google Images: no worries... slide shows will be up soon
Well now we're home, but last you heard from us we were in Hong Kong. Nirav was set to leave and we had a good day of sightseeing. The next destination was Dubai, which at first Netto and I were not extremely excited about seeing that we were broke, tired and now Nirav-less. Also, plans in London seemed so exciting with clubbing, a Chelsea football match and Stonehenge, that we kind of looked past Dubai. In all honesty, it was a good city, but not a great city. There is a lot of construction and no public transportation and so it became hard to do the 'four days of sightseeing in a day' trick that we've been doing in all the other cities.
Things I enjoyed most about the city was seeing all the crazy things they have built and are going to build. The buildings are magnificant, from the tallest building in the world to the largest mall and first "seven star hotel" ...its all very nice. The various souqs or markets were interesting to visit as well. We also met up with Misha, one of Nikesh's friends from college and so we had a nice night out despite it being a tuesday night. The next day we were scheduled for a desert safari, which I was really excited about. We started the safari off with dune bashing which means you get in a land cruiser, take some air out of the tires and barrel down these huge sand dunes. It was a rollercoaster on crack.. really good crack. After a camel ride, a beautiful desert sunset, shesha, belly dancing and the desert stars.. we were scheduled to fly out to London-town baby... London-town.
We arrived in London and in London was the one and only Anjali! I unrolled my jeans and a pile of sand poured out on to the airport floor. Now there is some Arabic Desert sand in Heathrow airport and I didn't declare it to customs, shit! We had a glorious time with Anjali. She scheduled a weekend packed with a road trip, partying with Shaleena in Bristol and going to a English Premier League Chelsea match. On thursday Netto and I had some family time and on Friday it was on like donkey kong... Friday we set out on our road trip and in true RTW fashion, Netto and I drank a beer and enjoyed the scenery. Stonehenge was amazing, but wish we could have gotten closer. Bath was a great little historic city and then we arrived in Bristol. After getting horribly lost trying to find our hotel we found a Nando's chicken, had some drinks and the night began. And then it was morning, so we decided to go to bed for a couple hours before heading back to Stamford Bridge for the match.
I would advise you, if you're a football fan, to go to footytube.com and check out the Chelsea v Wiggins highlights, because it was a great great game. It was quite an experience hearing all the different chants. I could finally understand what they were saying, unlike on TV you just hear a bunch of drunk, english accents. The Chelsea game, for me any ways, was it. I crashed and burned after that. There was some talk of going out in central London and all, but that was it. I was jet lagged and out of energy..
Thoughts: Since being back, everyone has asked about Dubai and how it was. While in Dubai I was constantly thinking about the question: "what makes a place attractive and beautiful?" I realized that there were two things to take into consideration: man-made vs natural. Alot of places have both and in some places, one superceded the other. For example, New Zealand was amazing. Auckland and Queenstown were great cities, but New Zealand's natural beauty was clearly the sight to see. Dubai, on the other hand, is known for its cityscape and the crazy things they build. They have man-made island resorts from the palms to the world. They have unbelievable architectural wonders such as the Burg al Arab. But my favorite part of UAE wasn't the city of Dubai, but was the desert. After traveling (quickly, mind you) around the world, it was interesting comparing and contrasting all the places we've been and the different priorities each country or city had as to how to make their native land attractive. New Zealand leaves itself alone versus Dubai creates unimaginable structures and new landscapes.
Google Images: no worries... slide shows will be up soon
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Hong Kong
We are currently in Hong Kong and about to move on to Dubai. Hong Kong has been great! Its skyline is unreal and the landscape on which the city sits is really beautiful. We met another girl who was traveling from New Zealand back to Germany and she was motivated enough to basically be our tour guide for the day. Also met one of Netto's friends here and he showed us a good dose of the Hong Kong nightlife. All in all a good experience, but my favorite part was actually outside the city itself at the Big Buddha on Lantau island...
Thoughts: Over this trip we've done some pretty amazing and challenging hikes. From Tongariro crossing to Franz Joseph Glacier to taking all our bags up to the Big Buddha, we've been pretty adventurous. During those hikes, the scenery is mind-blowing and for the most part we are concentrated on what is ahead. Every now and then, however, it was nice to stop and turn around to see where we were a few hours before. And more often than not the view was spectacular.
During fourth year we've been celebrating our pending completion of medical school and celebrating our impending doom of what will be intern year. But now that we've almost reached graduation, now is a good time to look back and reflect on what we did the last four years; the friends we made, the great fun we had and the challenges we over came. I feel that now, more than any other time the last four years, I have time to retrospect and appreciate what medical school meant in my life.
Google Images: Big Buddha, Hong Kong light show, Hong Kong Peak
Thoughts: Over this trip we've done some pretty amazing and challenging hikes. From Tongariro crossing to Franz Joseph Glacier to taking all our bags up to the Big Buddha, we've been pretty adventurous. During those hikes, the scenery is mind-blowing and for the most part we are concentrated on what is ahead. Every now and then, however, it was nice to stop and turn around to see where we were a few hours before. And more often than not the view was spectacular.
During fourth year we've been celebrating our pending completion of medical school and celebrating our impending doom of what will be intern year. But now that we've almost reached graduation, now is a good time to look back and reflect on what we did the last four years; the friends we made, the great fun we had and the challenges we over came. I feel that now, more than any other time the last four years, I have time to retrospect and appreciate what medical school meant in my life.
Google Images: Big Buddha, Hong Kong light show, Hong Kong Peak
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Tokyo
Sorry for the long pauses in the blog... but traveling in Thailand will do that to you. We arrived in Bangkok [watch the nuts] last Sunday in the afternoon. I had purchased over night train tickets to get us to Southern Thailand in order to go to Ko Phi Phi. The tickets were to be picked up at the domestic cargo station at the airport. In short, it took us about two hours and three employee buses to find this random ass building in the sweldering heat... but the kicker is they actually had an envelope with my name on it! Bangkok [watch the nuts] to Ko Phi Phi door to door time - 24hrs! The pay off however was 24hrs in paradise before heading back to Bangkok [watch the nuts]. We arrived on Budha day in Bangkok [watch the nuts] and continued to eat street food, haggle for every Thai Baht and visit the amazing Wats or Temples that Bangkok had to offer.
The last you heard, we were leaving Auckland and heading to the second leg of our trip - Asia! We arrived in Singapore and planned on staying with Freya, a friend of mine that I met through Sejal. After staying in a camper van for 5 days we arrived in Singapore to stay with a fun, loving and giving family. We had real beds, a beautiful roof top view of the Singapore skyline and home cooked food. Freya and her younger brother Jesal also gave us a good look at Singapore's night life. By far the craziest we've had so far on the trip. We had a great time with them and will hopefully see them in July.
Below is a slide show of Singapore and Bangkok!
Below is a slide show of our journey to Koh Phi Phi Islands.
So, after a great time in Singapore and many adventures in Thailand we arrived in Tokyo at 630am today. We've basically walked all over this town, taking pictures with Sumo wrestlers, drinking Sake, partaking in some fortune telling [nirav's said that whoever works under him will cause him destruction and harm.. pharmacy tech rebellion!! lupett!!].
By far, the highlight of our day in Tokyo was our public bath adventure this morning [this was in honor of William "to do something cool in honor of me in some eastern country"]. Since we could not check into the hostel until three and since we had not showered in 4 days [Thailand does that to you], we decide to go to a natural hot spring public bath [onsen] in the neighborhood. The custom is to put your shoes in a locker and take a towel and soap into to the locker room. Then undress and walk into the bath area. There you third world squat on a stool about half a foot tall and in front of you is a hot and cold water faucet. The hot is reall hot and the cold is really cold, so you take a bucket and mix to your desire. So, Netto, Nirav and I squated and washed our selves for the first time in 4 days, laughing hysterically. Once so fresh and so clean clean, you have earned the right to soak in a natural hot spring pool where the water is about 40 degrees celsius!
Thoughts: I have none, I've shared a lot and there are people waiting
Google Images: Kho Phi Phi View Point, Grand Palace in Bangkok [watch the nuts], Clark Quay in Singapore, Orchard Garden in Singapore
The last you heard, we were leaving Auckland and heading to the second leg of our trip - Asia! We arrived in Singapore and planned on staying with Freya, a friend of mine that I met through Sejal. After staying in a camper van for 5 days we arrived in Singapore to stay with a fun, loving and giving family. We had real beds, a beautiful roof top view of the Singapore skyline and home cooked food. Freya and her younger brother Jesal also gave us a good look at Singapore's night life. By far the craziest we've had so far on the trip. We had a great time with them and will hopefully see them in July.
Below is a slide show of Singapore and Bangkok!
Below is a slide show of our journey to Koh Phi Phi Islands.
So, after a great time in Singapore and many adventures in Thailand we arrived in Tokyo at 630am today. We've basically walked all over this town, taking pictures with Sumo wrestlers, drinking Sake, partaking in some fortune telling [nirav's said that whoever works under him will cause him destruction and harm.. pharmacy tech rebellion!! lupett!!].
By far, the highlight of our day in Tokyo was our public bath adventure this morning [this was in honor of William "to do something cool in honor of me in some eastern country"]. Since we could not check into the hostel until three and since we had not showered in 4 days [Thailand does that to you], we decide to go to a natural hot spring public bath [onsen] in the neighborhood. The custom is to put your shoes in a locker and take a towel and soap into to the locker room. Then undress and walk into the bath area. There you third world squat on a stool about half a foot tall and in front of you is a hot and cold water faucet. The hot is reall hot and the cold is really cold, so you take a bucket and mix to your desire. So, Netto, Nirav and I squated and washed our selves for the first time in 4 days, laughing hysterically. Once so fresh and so clean clean, you have earned the right to soak in a natural hot spring pool where the water is about 40 degrees celsius!
Thoughts: I have none, I've shared a lot and there are people waiting
Google Images: Kho Phi Phi View Point, Grand Palace in Bangkok [watch the nuts], Clark Quay in Singapore, Orchard Garden in Singapore
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Auckland
About a week or so has past since the last post and A LOT has gone down. I'll give you the skinny because this keyboard sucks.
Nirav arrived on Feb 4th in Sydney and we took him around Sydney for a couple hours. This was our first chance to drive in a big city.. it was interesting to say the least. Then we started a two day road trip to Melbourn, beginning with a stop in the Royal National Park and then heading further south. We stopped at a couple beach towns along the way, but the hightlights being Jervis Beach and Buchan caves. We arrived in Melbourn in the middle of some music festival and proceeded to begin a festival of our own, that did not end until 4 in the AM. Below is a slide show of the road trip.
The next morning we began our journey to the second country on the list: New Zealand. New Zealand is unlike any place on earth. We hiked a volcano, a glacier, explored fjords 400m deep, jumped out of a plane at 12000 feet and jumped off a ledge 147m above Queenstown all the while living out a rented camper for 5 days.
Below are a select few pictures from the north island of New Zealand. The highlight of the north island was the Tongariro Crossing which is one of the most famous one day hikes in the world covering amazing terrain including a volcano, sulfur lakes and a rain forest.
The south island was a fantasy world. The slide show below will start with Arthur's pass, which is north and we will work our way down the west coast to the Franz Joseph Glacier. From there we head to Queenstown, where we wish we had more time, but reminded us of Colorado. We then head to Fjordland that includes Te Anau and Milford Sound, which is all included in a National Park carved out by glaciers. We end with the 'Last Super' on the shores of Lake Tekapo.. Enjoy
Now were headed to Singapore for the second half of the trip... stay tuned.
Thoughts: Visiting such great scenery and awe inspiring geography has a tendency to put you in your place. You realize how small humans are. On our drive from Auckland to Togariro National Park we pulled over to sleep in the car for a couple hours. Looking up at the sky almost made me have to sit down. The Milky Way was clearly visible, millions of stars littered the pitch black sky... if you are any where else in the universe, you can't even see us.
Google Images: Garie Beach, Franz Josef Glacier, Tongariro National Park, Milford Sound
Nirav arrived on Feb 4th in Sydney and we took him around Sydney for a couple hours. This was our first chance to drive in a big city.. it was interesting to say the least. Then we started a two day road trip to Melbourn, beginning with a stop in the Royal National Park and then heading further south. We stopped at a couple beach towns along the way, but the hightlights being Jervis Beach and Buchan caves. We arrived in Melbourn in the middle of some music festival and proceeded to begin a festival of our own, that did not end until 4 in the AM. Below is a slide show of the road trip.
The next morning we began our journey to the second country on the list: New Zealand. New Zealand is unlike any place on earth. We hiked a volcano, a glacier, explored fjords 400m deep, jumped out of a plane at 12000 feet and jumped off a ledge 147m above Queenstown all the while living out a rented camper for 5 days.
Below are a select few pictures from the north island of New Zealand. The highlight of the north island was the Tongariro Crossing which is one of the most famous one day hikes in the world covering amazing terrain including a volcano, sulfur lakes and a rain forest.
The south island was a fantasy world. The slide show below will start with Arthur's pass, which is north and we will work our way down the west coast to the Franz Joseph Glacier. From there we head to Queenstown, where we wish we had more time, but reminded us of Colorado. We then head to Fjordland that includes Te Anau and Milford Sound, which is all included in a National Park carved out by glaciers. We end with the 'Last Super' on the shores of Lake Tekapo.. Enjoy
Now were headed to Singapore for the second half of the trip... stay tuned.
Thoughts: Visiting such great scenery and awe inspiring geography has a tendency to put you in your place. You realize how small humans are. On our drive from Auckland to Togariro National Park we pulled over to sleep in the car for a couple hours. Looking up at the sky almost made me have to sit down. The Milky Way was clearly visible, millions of stars littered the pitch black sky... if you are any where else in the universe, you can't even see us.
Google Images: Garie Beach, Franz Josef Glacier, Tongariro National Park, Milford Sound
Monday, February 2, 2009
Townsville
I really shouldn't be writing from Townsville, but the unpredictability of travel has struck in the form of Cyclone Ellie. Ellie brought harsh rain and wind to the area, flooding access roads, decreasing water visibility and making the Great Barrier Reef un-reachable. We were fortunate to reach Airlee beach only to find out that our scuba and sailing tour was cancelled. Airlee, however provided a decent time any ways with the Australian open and a party scene that did not stop. In the AM we learned that roads out of Airlee were open and so we took off back to Townsville. It has pretty much rained non-stop and we've basically hung indoors, putting our adventures on hold for the moment.
Thoughts: When planning a trip of this magnitude its dumb and almost arrogant to think it will all go perfectly to plan. Ellie reminded us of the unpredictability of our trip and the natural surrounding which we traveled here to explore.
Google Images: Check out satellite images of Ellie, its big
Thoughts: When planning a trip of this magnitude its dumb and almost arrogant to think it will all go perfectly to plan. Ellie reminded us of the unpredictability of our trip and the natural surrounding which we traveled here to explore.
Google Images: Check out satellite images of Ellie, its big
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Brisbane
We are currently in Brisbane, but are here for only a stop over to get to Townsville. From Townsville we drive down to Airlee Beach, which will be our access point to Whitsunday and the Great Barrier Reaf. Pretty excite (indian accent)!
Yesterday was another great day of exploring Sydney. Sydney has now solidified itself in my top three favorite cities in the world. The harbour ferry to Manly beach gave us a great vantage point of the city. After walking the Harbour Bridge and going to Manly beach, we decided to venture out to Olympic Park. This park was quite the journey to get too. In the end we tried to catch a ferry back, ended walking until dark in some mangroove park, not finding the ferry dock and hitch-hiking back to olympic park train station.
Thoughts: Why don't Americans travel as much as other people? England is a 24hr flight and other parts of Europe are obviously closer.. they are all over this place. We haven't met a single American traveler.
Google Images: Harbour bridge
Yesterday was another great day of exploring Sydney. Sydney has now solidified itself in my top three favorite cities in the world. The harbour ferry to Manly beach gave us a great vantage point of the city. After walking the Harbour Bridge and going to Manly beach, we decided to venture out to Olympic Park. This park was quite the journey to get too. In the end we tried to catch a ferry back, ended walking until dark in some mangroove park, not finding the ferry dock and hitch-hiking back to olympic park train station.
Thoughts: Why don't Americans travel as much as other people? England is a 24hr flight and other parts of Europe are obviously closer.. they are all over this place. We haven't met a single American traveler.
Google Images: Harbour bridge
Friday, January 30, 2009
Sydney
We made it! Yep, crossed the pacific... in 14hrs I mastered all the video games on the plane, watched all the family guy episodes and watched Wanted (it was okay, a good plane movie). It's interesting because we arrived on "Day 3" of our trip, but since we crossed the international date line, it became this giant day. We arrived at the hostel and decided to venture out to the famous Bondi Beach and make a "tramp" (or a hike) to Cogee (sp?). It was "redonk". That's all I can really say without posting pictures.. amazingly beautiful, sun was shining, beautiful people and a beautiful place. The hike hugged the rugged coast and the water was crystal blue... can't ask for more.
Currently, Netto and I finished another exhausting tramp around Sydney with some weird local rum and diet coke. We went to the train station and bought a day pass and then proceeded to take the train in the wrong direction fortunately... We ended up in China town and then stumbled into Darling Harbour.. continued to Hyde Park, Royal Gardens with a great view of the Opera House. Finished the day with a drink at Sydney tower...
Thoughts: The culture here is much like Europe, but the city life is much like the US. What I mean is that they work less, concentrate on what makes them happy, have great and healthy food, love to be outside but the city itself is big with wide streets, tall buildings all the amenities that US citizens love (and take for granted).
Google Images (since I can't upload): Bondi Beach, Darling Harbour
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
LA City
I think the weezer blue album is completely under rated... please download it and jam to it, preferably when you wake up in the morning, a good waker upper..
We arrived in LA about to go to Sydney and Nujj an I decided to check my email. A Tokyo free guide by the name of Yu Arafuka (not a joke, grow up) will be our free guide in Tokyo, i'm very excited. Otherwise, pretty uneventful... predictably, netto's 50lb backpack had to be checked along with mine, because i'm associated with him... but thats okay.
I have 3 mins left on this internet kiosk so i'm using it all, but really have nothing more exciting to say. Promise that more stimulating material will be posted in the future... if you want some cool pics and movies of my brother's trip in India, check out www.nikeshindia.blogspot.com
peace
We arrived in LA about to go to Sydney and Nujj an I decided to check my email. A Tokyo free guide by the name of Yu Arafuka (not a joke, grow up) will be our free guide in Tokyo, i'm very excited. Otherwise, pretty uneventful... predictably, netto's 50lb backpack had to be checked along with mine, because i'm associated with him... but thats okay.
I have 3 mins left on this internet kiosk so i'm using it all, but really have nothing more exciting to say. Promise that more stimulating material will be posted in the future... if you want some cool pics and movies of my brother's trip in India, check out www.nikeshindia.blogspot.com
peace
Monday, January 26, 2009
Charleston, SC
This is our beginning - Charleston, SC. We will return on March 1st. I was sitting at home with my Dad thinking how I was going to bring up the idea of traveling around the world in February, one month away. I finally said I was going to travel in February...
Me: I'm traveling in February Dad.
Dad: Where are you traveling too?
Me: ...hmmm... well, around the world
Dad: What do you mean around the world!?!
Me: Well Dad, the world is round and so if you keeping going in one direction...
Dad: Alright, don't get cute alright
...We are going in one direction until we see our foot steps
Me: I'm traveling in February Dad.
Dad: Where are you traveling too?
Me: ...hmmm... well, around the world
Dad: What do you mean around the world!?!
Me: Well Dad, the world is round and so if you keeping going in one direction...
Dad: Alright, don't get cute alright
...We are going in one direction until we see our foot steps
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