Monthly Archives: November 2009

Throughout our travels in China, Beau and I were surprised to see so many new modern cities with flashing neon lights and tall skyscrapers in the middle of nowhere.  So after our Yangtzee river tour
During our Yangtze river cruise, we took a day trip up the Long Men Gorge.  This was a nice excursion up a tributary that may have given us a glimpse of what the Yangtze looked like prior to D
I can compare our Yangtzee river cruise to downtown Las Vegas.  I'm not talking the strip with the pretty hotels and even prettier people.  I'm talking downtown with Casinos like
Wandering around the lush bamboo forest of Chengdu Giant Panda Research Center in search of the next cute panda was hard work.  Ok not hard work, just slippery and hazardous when you are wearing
For Thanksgiving (a US holiday), we thought we would give you something warm, cuddly and cute.... Pandas!  Who doesn't love pandas?  They are so cute that they don't even look real.  It was hard fo
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Food vortex?  Yes, food vortex, I just invented a term. (I Googled it, no matches... it's mine) I was surfing the internet taking full advantage of the rare occurrence of fast internet and &
Beau and I did go to Tibet.  We understand that there are strong political issues surrounding Tibet.  We do have our own opinions on these issues but we are choosing not to discuss them on this foru
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Tibet was easily one of the most anticipated places in our journey.  We arrived Lhasa in the early evening and were immediately aware of how special of a place we were in.  The city of ove
Both my grandfathers were farmers, I wonder would it would be like if one of them stumbled upon one of the world's greatest archaeological discoveries.  I bet they would have gotten a litt
October 1st was to be a big day, a very big day in China, the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China.  This celebration would be on the same scale as the Olympic celebration.
Looking out the train window as we arrived in Beijing, we prepared for cold and possible rain by how gloomy it looked outside.  Then we walked out of the train into the haze to be hit with extreme he
I am not sure if I could be a nomad and live my whole life in a ger but I would have enjoyed staying longer.  Beau and I stayed in a ger hotel for two days in the Terelj National Park.  Te
We've been experiencing the extremes of personal space.  Spending some time in the most wide open country we've ever seen was a shock to our systems after being confined to a train ca
Just after the train rounded one of the rolling green hills of Mongolia we could see the haze of Ulaanbaatar on the horizon.  Ulaanbaatar is a city of well over a million people, but it's
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  The World Effect travelogue video 23: Trans Mongolian Express from The World Effect on Vimeo. This is our video of the first 24 hours of our ride on the Trans Mongolian Express from Moscow
Our adventure on the Trans Mongolian Express would take us from Moscow to Ulaanbataar to Beijing.  The actual time spent on a moving train would be 6 days, 2 hours and 13 minutes covering 7,622 kil
Just a stone's throw from the Red Square and Kremlin you can purchase that Bentley you've had your eye on.  Right in the center of Moscow, next to one of the world's most historical
A dreary day made a dramatic backdrop to a afternoon of sight seeing in Moscow.  Moscow has a knack the dramatic.  The massive churches with gleaming cupolas, the imposing concrete towers
My memories were blurry, but the more Beau and I drove into Russia the more they became clear again.  When I was 12 years old my dad brought me to Moscow.  The band my dad plays in was tra
Kas was everything we had been dreaming of when we decided to board a plane south, rent a car, and follow the coast.  Finally, we found the Turkey that you see in all the pictures and advertisem
After a nice few days in Istanbul, we decided to fly south to Antalya, rent a car and drive along the Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey.  The plan was to stay only the first night in Antaly
We made time for the Grand Bazaar, in Istanbul, twice!  The first time Jevan, Casey, Beau and I went to the Bazaar we were so distracted by all the food and spices that we became too exhausted a
As Beau described in his food post, the Pera neighborhood is the place to go when your belly starts talking to you.  It is also a place to fill your appetite for design.  Several of the re
Picking a favorite thing about Istanbul is difficult, but I will anyway.  It's the food.  The diversity of Istanbul is represented in its food.  Foodies will never be far f
From old to new, trendy to traditional Istanbul has it all.  The architecture, design, food, culture and entertainment are all created with a rich history in mind, while at the same time bei
Stepping out of the airport in Luxor was a breath of fresh air, really fresh air.  Luxor sits in what they call upper Egypt which actually means up river or south on the map.  It has a n