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SOUTH KOREA | Sat, 13 Apr 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [154]
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 [131]
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 | Wed, 17 Apr 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [106]
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 >
JAPAN | Tue, 23 Apr 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [97]
DECIDING TO RE-VISIT KYOTO WAS A NO-BRAINER. We have a few days to kill before we sail from Yokohama, Japan is one of our favorite countries and there are a few things we missed in Kyoto in 2014. KABIN Taka isn’t as convenient to public transportation ... Read more >
SOUTH KOREA | Thu, 18 Apr 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [91]
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 | Sat, 20 Apr 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [83]
A RAINY SATURDAY SEEMED LIKE THE PERFECT time to visit an art museum and the Leeum Samsung seemed like the perfect museum. Finding it required some new metro navigation and a bit of luck at the end of the line but everything worked out fine. The museum ... Read more >
JAPAN | Wed, 24 Apr 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [79]
WE HAD ALREADY SEEN THE “BESTEST.” Now we’ve seen the “mostest.” Torii , that is—those bright red gates that mark the gateway between the human and sacred worlds in the Shinto religion.
... Read more >
AUSTRALIA | Sat, 10 Feb 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [228]
THE BEST PLACES TO STAY AREN’T ALWAYS at the beach. Tim’s AirBnB in the bush-town of Wandandian is idyllic; green fields, towering eucalyptus, chickens, horses—even Soxy, the affectionate English Chocolate Lab. I wish every host put ... Read more >
NAURU | Sun, 4 Feb 2024 | By kiwiaoraki | Views [224]
Nauru! Another place where I’ve had to explain to everyone where it is. A tiny potato-shaped island 42 kilometres south of the Equator, Nauru is one of the smallest and least-visited countries in the world. Phosphate is what originally made Nauru ... Read more >
AUSTRALIA | Sat, 27 Jan 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [215]
OFFICIALLY AUSTRALIA DAY CELEBRATES the day Australia was “discovered,” January 26, 1788—roughly the equivalent of Columbus Day in the US. Indigenous Australians vehemently disagree—they have been in Australia for 60,000 years ... Read more >
AUSTRALIA | Thu, 1 Feb 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [215]
SOMEONE FOLLOWING OUR ZIG-ZAG ROUTE might think we suffer from terminal Attention Deficit Disorder. Yes, it would have made more sense to come directly from Bairnsdale to Mallacoota near the Victoria-NSW border. But Mallacoota is a popular holiday destination ... Read more >
AUSTRALIA | Mon, 5 Feb 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [215]
BATEMAN’S BAY IS ABOUT HALFWAY BETWEEN Mallacoota and Sydney. It also happens to be about the only place along the South Coast with halfway affordable lodging at this time of year. Our AirBnB is a bit shabby but works as a base for exploring South ... Read more >
VANUATU | Fri, 16 Feb 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [198]
THE WIND PICKED UP ON FRIDAY EVENING and was blowing a gale by the time we arrived at the Majestic Princess. Circular Quay is a refreshing change from the commercial ports where cruise ships often dock and we spent the afternoon watching as ferries ... Read more >
VIETNAM | Fri, 5 Apr 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [93]
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 >
SOUTH KOREA | Sun, 7 Apr 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [92]
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 >
SOUTH KOREA | Mon, 8 Apr 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [86]
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 | Tue, 9 Apr 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [82]
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 >
VIETNAM | Wed, 3 Apr 2024 | By graynomadsusa | Views [75]
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 >
SOUTH AFRICA | Thu, 25 May 2023 | By kiwiaoraki | Views [174]
Cape Town on a one-way ticket...yessir! After 2 1/2 months in the USA visiting family and spending the time with my Dad, I'm eager to be out exploring the world again. I'll be with all of them again in September when my sister, Ashley gets married. My ... Read more >
ANGOLA | Thu, 22 Jun 2023 | By kiwiaoraki | Views [169]
Luanda isn't as bad or as expensive as some people make it out to be, and I certainly felt safer walking round Luanda than round Cape Town or even Windhoek. However, I didn't come to Angola to spend all of my time in Luanda. After quickly arranging ... Read more >
ANGOLA | Tue, 4 Jul 2023 | By kiwiaoraki | Views [168]
Leaving Huambo behind, I wanted to take a trip to the geographical centre of Angola. A minibus would get me to Kuito which, from what I saw from the bus window, looks like an attractive town. Getting to Camacupa (sometimes spelled "Kamacupa") involved ... Read more >
ANGOLA | Sun, 18 Jun 2023 | By kiwiaoraki | Views [159]
Angola doesn't get many visitors. Most foreigners who are here are working, not taking pictures. Police, soldiers, and the average local wonder why someone would travel from all the way around the world to take a photo of a building. Today ... Read more >
BOTSWANA | Thu, 20 Jul 2023 | By kiwiaoraki | Views [150]
Botswana beckoned, and in Botswana I am. A colourful country this is. Since I spent so much time in Angola and Namibia, my time in Botswana is limited to only a few days. People go to France to go to Paris or to Italy to go to Rome but nobody goes to ... Read more >
TUVALU | Fri, 26 Jan 2024 | By kiwiaoraki | Views [147]
Pun intended, I'm having "fun" here in Funafuti, the largest and main atoll of Tuvalu. As one of the world’s lowest-lying, least-known, and least-visited countries, Tuvalu is seriously at risk of going under...not due to poverty, famine, wars, ... Read more >
USA | Wed, 19 Jul 2023 | By graynomadsusa | Views [140]
NOW THAT THE CAT’S OUT OF THE BAG—or rather the bones are almost out of the ground—it’s time to tell the real reason for our Denver Museum Hell Creek Road Trip.
... Read more >