Local culture and traditions
Mar 25
My flight from Palau got into Manila very early in the morning, so I had 5 hours to kill before my bus to the rice terraces. I hung out in the arrivals section of the airport. I killed the time by reading a book and felt safe because a security guard was there and I …
Mar 25
Manila Philippines is the largest city and capital of the Philippines. I got to spend a few days with my friend Linda, her sister, and her 82 year old father nicknamed “Daddy” in Antipolo, just east of Manila. We ate at lots of restaurants around Manila – Max’s, Cravings. We made a 1 day/1 night …
Mar 24
From Philippines, I decided to take a side trip to Palau for several reasons: A chance to see another country, one of the smallest countries in the world by population. This would mean that I wouldn’t overstay my free 21-day visa in the Philippines I love the show “Survivor” and they had filmed in Palau …
Mar 24
I have been to Istanbul before. An ideal time is 3 days in Istanbul. But today I only would get to enjoy a long layover in Istanbul, for the duration of a day. Arrival in Istanbul was at 6:45 am local time after gaining 2 hours on the flight from TBS to IST. I got …
Mar 24
Khor Virap Monastery is one of the highlights of Armenia. It’s located near the closed Turkey-Armenia border at the foot of the famous Mount Ararat, famous for it’s role in the Noah’s Ark story. My day trip to Khor Virap was my favorite day in Armenia. A Little Khor Virap History Once upon a time, …
Mar 24
The hostel doesn’t have enough visitors to run the tours today or tomorrow, so I set off on a day tour myself via the very inexpensive public transportation. Today’s day trip would be to Echmiadzin on a very grey skied day. I would only see the sun for about 5 minutes today but luckily it …
Mar 24
I slept in a little bit and had breakfast. I was supposed to have a 10 am walking tour. The guide showed up but the other tourists did not so we decided to cancel the tour. Earlier I had met a Dutch guy that was headed out to Geghard Monastery and Garni Temple. I was …
Mar 24
We arrived at the Georgia/Armenia border and were quickly stamped out of Georgia. We got to Armenia and I was asked for my visa. I didn’t have one. However, there was a booth that sold them but it had to be paid in Armenian dram. There was a sort of vending machine so I put …
Mar 24
After saying goodbye to the people from the tour that were up for an early breakfast, I headed to the subway station to go to the stop where the mini-buses (matruskys) depart for various towns in western Georgia. It’s helpful to read a Georgia travel guide to learn more about public transportation. I easily found …
Mar 24
It was hard to get up early after a late night last night, but we had breakfast and departed Tbilisi. We were driving north towards the Russia (Chechnya) border. First, we stopped at Ananuri monetary, which was on the shores of a large reservoir. There were so many dogs hanging out there and chasing around …
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