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The goats have got our origami

It is the day before Eid … the streets are busy.  And the rubbish truck didn’t appear to make it last night. We put our bags of rubbish (in shopping bags, not the large sacks) on the street corner for clearance last night … yes including a bag of used toilet paper (as I call it […]

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Goat in the bathroom

Marie went to our teacher’s house today.  “Excuse moi” she cried “… there’s a goat in the bathroom”. The answer as we found out is because tomorrow is Eid (al Udha) … or Hari Raya Haji in Malaysia-Singapore.  It commemorates Abraham’s (pbuh) willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael for God.  Muslims sacrifice a goat, sheep etc […]

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More of the countryside

We took breakfast around 0730 and drove to Al Hajjarah.  It was my second time at this stunning village set on top of a rock.  From here, we walked to the next village and back. That took around 0900-1230.  Fortunately there wasn’t much of a downhill hike which seemed to upset my left knee.  Assam didn’t […]

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Weekend away

Even though I only landed yesterday, I was happy to agree to a weekend away today.  It was a foursome, with Marie and I, plus another student (Jewish American studying at Harvard) and the driver Assam. It was a leisurely departure at 0930 meeting at my regular quarter-chicken place for the 2+ hour ride through […]

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Back in Yemen

Arrival My Emirates flight departed Hong Kong at 0035 after my full day of travel from Kuching and time in Hong Kong. The 1h30 connecting time in Dubai was sufficient for my continuing flight to Sana’a. Actually more than sufficient as I managed to even go to duty free to get a bottle of bubbly […]

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Leaving China

Thoughts on Leaving China Today I left Yangshuo for Hong Kong via Guilin (city and airport).  I’ll miss the cheap eating … up to two big beers and three ice creams per day: A 600 ml beer is CNY5 (about EUR0.50) for locals and 2-3 times the price for tourists.  There’s now a good choice […]

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Disappointing day

Today I decided to take another bike trip this time south towards the Big Banyan Tree and Moonlight Mountain.  I didn’t have a good start as the road was very busy with buses and trucks … and hence dusty.  It could have been worse as I met some people who said they were white (from […]

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Rafting, cycling and a nuclear scientist

Big day out Today I have a cycle and rafting combo trip organised.  The man that sold it to me said I’d start by getting on a bus with the bike to an out-of-town point before rafting and cycling back.  After breakfast I picked up my mountain bike (EUR1 per day) and cycled to the […]

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Sunset on the Li River

I slept till 1000 today.  My weariness is catching up.  Or maybe it’s because I’ve got a light case of the tummy bug.  Besides I have a beeauuutiful hotel room for about EUR 12.50 per night  just off all the eating areas  🙂 In the early afternoon, I took a bus out of town to […]

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To the backpacker paradise

I woke up early-ish at 0645 at Cheng Yang Bridge accommodation.  Today I’m bound for Yangshuo via Guilin.  I had to first wait by the road for a bus to Sanyang where I changed promptly for Guilin.  The road was terrible en route. At Guilin it was another quick change for Yangshuo.  I arrived after […]

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