Articles from this Category
11 August 2018
We landed at Saigon’s Tan Son Nhat airport about 30 minutes early around 1915. With no luggage, I was out quickly. First priority was to get money from the ATM. Both the ones I tried imposed a local fee. I chose the one with the cheaper fee and withdrew what I expect to spend for […]
29 June 2018
I thought I’d take Kim to Princes’ Islands today as it is a good and cheap way of seeing Istanbul from the water. We got on the public ferry around 0930 for a 1000 departure. It was vert busy on board with many Middle-Eastern tourists, some domestic tourists and a few foreigners. We called into […]
28 June 2018
Breakfast at the hotel was served on the rooftop overlooking the Golden Horn and the minaret of the mosque next door. Lovely! The plan for today to repeat for Kim, the sights we saw 26 years ago. I had repeated them in recent years and can easily show him the way there. And they’re all […]
27 June 2018
It is amazing how we made the morning disappear with doing very little before our long bus ride to Istanbul at 1200. We walked to Serdika Bus Station (next to the Train and Central Bus stations) where the bus was already there. Surprisingly, Metro Turizm, a Turkish company has Bulgarian-registered buses with Bulgarian livery. Onboard […]
14 June 2018
I chatted to Sebastian from France at breakfast. We had a similar flight time out of Imam Khomeini International; mine at 0435 tomorrow morning and his at 0600. He had similar plans for killing time and we decided to stick to do things together and head to the airport by metro around 1730. We headed […]
13 June 2018
I was feeling lazy and jaded and didn’t want to go anywhere. It was my third visit to the Iranian capital and the only thing I wanted to see (for the third time) were the National Jewelry Treasury but unfortunately it was closed today. Reluctantly, I headed out at 1000 to explore the neighbourhood sights which […]
12 June 2018
I had a lazy morning and had a 1030 pickup for the airport. I said goodbye to Mikel and Puri who left about the same time. I had a flight booked on Iran Air from Yazd to Tehran. I always look forward Iran Air’s welcome announcement “In the name of God, the compassionate, […]
11 June 2018
We had arranged for a tour to Chak Chak and a few other places today. We have Mikel and Puri, plus Sophie, the Australian girl that I keep running into through my trip. The pick-up was supposed to be 0830 (but with a hint of 0900 in the discussion) and Said (same driver as yesterday […]
10 June 2018
I had a late start today. It was 0940 by the time I left the hotel; more than an hour after my usual start time. I tried to stay in the shadow of the buildings as I wandered around the old town. I made two stops during my walkies, namely Lari House (and old mansion) […]
9 June 2018
The Imam Mosque on Naqsh-e Jahan Square had been closed during the last two days, meaning that this morning was my only chance of seeing it after 15 years. I left the hotel by foot at 0830 for the 0900 opening and I seem to be getting faster each time by knowing the route and […]