Yesterday we checked out of our hotel in Ulaanbaatar, and in the afternoon we flew to the Gobi Desert. We had plenty of time earlier in the day, and the highlight of our experience, for me, was watching some young men engage in Mongolian wrestling, one of the three “manly games.” (You’ll recall that the…
When Eric, our trip leader, told us we would start the day yesterday with an archery experience, what I imagined turned out to be completely different from Mongolian archery. And come to think of it, little of what I’ve seen and done in Ulaanbaatar so far has failed to surprise me. I guess that is…
I had a free day yesterday, so I used to to give myself an intro to Ulaanbaatar. And now I can give you an intro too! This morning I will meet the other four people who are on the Mongolia pre-trip, and we’ll begin our tour. But yesterday I was on my own. I did meet…
There were times I wasn’t sure I’d get here, but I made it to Ulaanbaatar after three long travel days. Here’s a rundown of the journey.
I have recently discovered the value of using AI for planning my upcoming trip to the Far East. I mentioned in my itinerary post how I got suggestions for certain days from Google Gemini. So I thought I’d share a little about how it worked for me.
My next big adventure is to an area that has been beckoning for a while: The Far East. Although I visited Southeast Asia in 2024 and 2025, there is a big swath of eastern Asia I have passed over. Until now. In just one week, I leave for a two-and-a-half-month adventure to five east Asian…
I have a pet peeve: when people ask, “What are the must-sees in _____?” it makes me want to scream.
My last few days in Madagascar involved heading back down the “road” from Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park to Morondava. The long, bumpy drive included some nice encounter with baobabs, including the renownded sunset at the Avenue of the Baobabs. I already had several nice sunset experiences on this trip, including one with baobabs in…
In my life, I’ve been to two places where I thought I might be on another planet. The first was Wadi Rum in Jordan. As I wrote at the time, the only word I could come up with to describe it was “otherworldly.” And now I have another otherworldly place that is beyond my vocabulary:…
After driving well over 1,000 kilometers, starting in Antananarivo two weeks ago, we’re back in the capital city once again. We flew from Toliara Airport in the afternoon after enjoying three leisurely days by the beach on Madagascar’s southwestern coast. Today we did some touristy things here in Antananarivo, and this is the end of…
After almost two weeks of mostly nature and villages, constantly on the go, we arrived at the beach on Monday evening, and we’ve had two full days of relaxation. Never has that felt so good! This Madagascar beach is so pleasant! The weather has been cool and breezy, perfect for lounging around by the pool…
After several lemur-rich experiences, we spent a day at Isalo National Park, where the focus was on the gorgeous landscape. This was the scenic highlight of the trip (so far). The Bara people, one of eighteen official ethnic groups in Madagascar, reside in the area around Isalo. Isalo National Park was created in 1962. It is…
