The next day I wanted to visit the ancient university of Nalanda. It was a long walk to the bus station in Gaya, but I got an early start. I crossed over a dry river bed (it is the dry season) and I was surprised to see a few people trying to wash clothes in …
Category Archives: Travel
Bihar, India – Part 1
I was on the Nepal side of the border when I woke early in the morning. It was maybe an hour walk to get to the border, so I woke up the hotel staff, checked out, and they unlocked the door for me. I knew it was going to be another long day for me. …
Kathmandu, Nepal
I did my research ahead of time and was able to find a hotel with Wi-Fi in Kathmandu for $5/night. In the middle of the world famous Thamel backpackers area, it was quite a relief after the previous places I’ve stayed. The only downsides were daily brown outs and no heat. The Thamel area had …
Lumbini, Nepal
Crossing the boarder After a half day on the bus from Gorakhpur, the bus stopped near the border. I needed to pay for a Nepalese visa and I was concerned that I didn’t have exact change in US Dollars. There were some money changers at the border, but the rates were horrible. I decided …
Uttar Pradesh, India… Again
Kushinagar Express This train was my first chance at spending the night in Sleeper class in India. This means you get no pillows, no sheets, no blankets, no air-conditioning, no privacy curtains, and you get to share your space with people on the waiting list. When I first boarded the train, it was packed. …
Madhya Pradesh, India
Sanchi The AC sleeper train went smoothly but it wouldn’t stop at Sanchi, so I had to get off at the next largest city named Vidisha. From here I asked around about buses, but everyone was saying it was a far walk to get to them. I decided on an autorickshaw to get me all …
Uttar Pradesh, India
Sarnath Among the patrons at the guesthouse was a scholar from Oxford University working on translating Indian and Tibetan texts. After experiencing so many hours of no electricity at this guesthouse, I decided to check out after one night. This city is supposed to be the quite and peaceful alternative to Varanasi, but it seems …
Sri Lanka to India
Colombo’s International Airport is quite nice and modern. Unfortunately, getting there isn’t so comfortable on the public city bus. There is a new train station there, but it hasn’t been opened yet. I took a flight on Mihin Lanka, a new budget airline, to Varanasi, India. I was one of 7 passengers on the Airbus …
Sri Lanka
Earlier this year I almost visited this island country, but the final months of a civil war were underway. In November I had another chance to travel to Sri Lanka since it was convenient to visit on the way to India. My impression is this country is almost exactly like India, except there are more …
Anhui Province, China
It was a 20 hour train from Beijing to Huang Shan town in Anhui Province. Too bad there were no sleepers available, so I had to sit from 11:00AM until 8:00AM the next day. Hua Shan Mysterious Grottoes I first read about this strange place on the web six years ago. So maybe this is …