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SOUTH KOREA | Thu, 18 Apr 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [2]
SINCE A VISA FOR NORTH KOREA IS OUT of the question, I would have to settle for a peek into North Korea across the the D e m ilitarized Z one. Connie, who had already visited to the DMZ as part of a 1998 official military mission, came along for the ... Read more >
SOUTH KOREA | Wed, 17 Apr 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [27]
IT WAS RAINING MONDAY WHEN WE LEFT DAEGU. Through the rain-streaked windows of our “bullet” train forested hillsides alternated with towering apartment blocks as we chugged through unknown cities on our way to Seoul. It was still raining ... Read more >
SOUTH KOREA | Sat, 13 Apr 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [80]
SELECTING A HOTEL IN A FOREIGN CITY, especially an Asian city, is a crap-shoot—even with Booking.com. We were lucky with Hotel Palace in Gyeongju and we really hit the Jackpot here in Daegu. Not only did we get a great rate, Rivertain Hotel comes ... Read more >
SOUTH KOREA | Thu, 11 Apr 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [64]
FOREWARNED ABOUT THE “IFFY” BUS SCHEDULE, we opted for a taxi for Bulguksa Temple Complex. It’s only about 20 kilometers from our hotel but I refilled my billfold with won anyway. I can’t speak for Buddha but Confucius say “... Read more >
SOUTH KOREA | Tue, 9 Apr 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [63]
IT WOULD HAVE BEEN CHEAPER TO TAKE the Busan Metro to the Sasang Bus Station but a taxi was less hassle. Besides, we are millionaires in Korea! Surprisingly few Koreans feel comfortable speaking English and we’re still struggling with gamsahabnida ... Read more >
SOUTH KOREA | Mon, 8 Apr 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [71]
WE ARE USING BUSAN, KOREA’S SECOND-LARGEST CITY, to get acclimated to the country before working our way to Seoul. Which may be more difficult than we thought. The first thing we noticed was the weather—morning temperatures in the 40s, not ... Read more >
SOUTH KOREA | Sun, 7 Apr 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [68]
WE FEW, WE HAPPY FEW, WE BAND OF BIRDERS. In a little over three weeks bouncing over several thousand kilometers of Vietnam, we’ve seen more than 350 species of birds—over 200 Lifers for Dave and Noreen and 125 new species for us. We have ... Read more >
VIETNAM | Fri, 5 Apr 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [81]
OUR FIRST STOP AFTER AN EARLY START from Tam Dao to Cuc Phoung was ostensibly a restroom break. But by the number of tour buses at the Vietnamese craft center we suspect that the guides get a bit of baksheesh from the paintings, silk, wood carvings and ... Read more >
VIETNAM | Wed, 3 Apr 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [64]
WE HAD PLENTY OF ROOM TO STRETCH OUT on the Vietnam Airlines 787 from HCMC to Hanoi—the plane is huge and was just over half full. The group, sans “the other John,” was heading north for the six-day “Northern Extension” ... Read more >
VIETNAM | Mon, 1 Apr 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [58]
TO REACH SOME OF THE MORE DISTANT parts of Cat Tien requires one of the park’s “safari” vehicles. It’s also convenient to have the truck nearby in the event of a late afternoon thunderstorm although more often than not we ended ... Read more >
VIETNAM | Sat, 30 Mar 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [53]
THE MORNING BIRD CHORUS WAS DROWNED OUT by the WHOOP s, WA s and WOW s of the gibbons—Southern Yellow-Cheeked Crested Gibbons to be exact. A couple of black males and a dirty-blonde female with a baby hang—literally—around the park ... Read more >
VIETNAM | Fri, 29 Mar 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [32]
THE VEHICLES DROPPED US AT THE RIVER—cars are verboten in Cat Tien National Park although it seems like most everything else is OK. The park was extra-crowded this Easter weekend—groups of young people in a tent encampment; team-building, ... Read more >
VIETNAM | Thu, 28 Mar 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [41]
DAWN COMES EARLY IN MOUNT BIDOUP National Park and were on the trail by 5:30. It was a short but rugged hike to the first bird hide where the Collared Laughingthrushes were waiting impatiently as if we were late delivering their breakfast. Target Bird ... Read more >
VIETNAM | Mon, 25 Mar 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [41]
STAYING IN DA LAT WAS LIKE BEING ON R&R—a real hotel in a real city with a real breakfast (once) and even Italian food for dinner, also once. We even found a laundry around the corner.
... Read more >
VIETNAM | Sun, 24 Mar 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [35]
LODGING IN VIETNAM’S NATIONAL PARKS has been surprisingly good—certainly an upgrade from Ngoc Linh. Our room in Yok Don National Park had both wifi and air-con, a bed with a sheet and duvet and hot water—all the essentials. Dinner and ... Read more >
VIETNAM | Sat, 23 Mar 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [35]
GREEN HOTEL IN MANG DEN SEEMED LIKE a palace compared to Ngoc Linh. Both Connie and I played catch-up after two nights sans wifi—she was adding to eBird while I tried to update the journal. I won’t be able to accurately account for all the ... Read more >
OMAN | Sat, 23 Mar 2024 | By krodin | Views [58] | Comments [1]
Impressions of Muscat. (FYI - I can't get the photos to load,sorry!)
For years, I have wanted to visit Oman, but the timing was never quite right. This year I decided that waiting any longer to make my way to Australia and New Zealand was nonsense ... Read more >
Tags: city, history
VIETNAM | Thu, 21 Mar 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [58]
HOANG GIA TRANG GUEST HOUSE in Ngoc Linh is as low as we can sink, lodging-wise—at least we hope it is. It’s the only game in town and features rock hard beds with a single sheet and blanket in which we wrapped ourselves like human burritos ... Read more >