Just testing how to post photos…
Archive for May, 2008
26
May
08
Going away party!
My first impression of the websites for consular services in Canada for “third world” countries, is that they’re pretty chintzy and amateurish! Gives me pause as to whether I should be mailing my passport away (the sites don’t seem legit, but yes, they are). Also, the processes are never described clearly (even for a government website, it’s even worse than usual), and are really confusing. It’s shocking (to me anyway) that the people working (and running the websites) at consular offices in Canada have such poor English. When I applied for my first Chinese visa in 2005, someone from the Calgary Chinese consulate phoned and left an unintelligible message on my answering machine (I didn’t submit a proper application because the process wasn’t clear from their website).
Was about to mail in my passport to apply for my Indian visa in Ottawa (3-5 working days would get my passport back just in time) until after further internet googling, I’m supposed to send it to one of the offices in Vancouver since I live in Alberta! The Vancouver website says 10 working days, which isn’t going to be enough time for me to get my passport back!
Looks like I’ll be getting up early my first morning in Hong Kong to line up and get my Indian visa… grumble grumble…
19
May
08
Comments?
My comment spam killer seems to be overly sensitive, so if your comment doesn’t show up right away, I’ll just need to go in and approve them manually. Kind of a pain in the ass…
18
May
08
Bangladesh/India Itinerary
– Dhaka 3 days, city sightseeing, easing it in, nightlife
– Teknaf 3 days, flight to cox’s, drive to teknaf, trekking, beaches, caving (not hardcore)
– Cox’s Bazaar 2 days, buddhist villages, more beaches, bring relief goods (e.g. books or writing materials) to a myanmar refugee camp (not kidding)
– Chittagong 3 days, not moving for a few days, nice restaurants, take it easy, while I scout all the damn hotels
– Srimongol 2 days, tea gardens, photography, colonial estate-hopping, forests, eco-lodges
– Sylhet 1 night, really short drop off here to check out a resort, before departing over the border to India at Dawkhi (aka Tamabil)
– India. 1 week. Yet to be decided! Depends on the severity of the monsoon. New area for Mikey. Likely Meghalaya for a few days with a flight to Kolkata to get you to Bangkok. Best hub and major city, maybe a club or two, a really nice hotel (I’ve heard the Hyatt is good) to finish the journey.
This is definitely no small task…
12
May
08
My itinerary!
My flight information and rough itinerary… Nolan and I leave Edmonton Fri May 30 and travel together until June 12. He heads back to work in Brisbane while I take the scenic route and arrive there August 19.
Edmonton-Calgary on Air Canada Jazz (blech!!) AC8151 Fri May 30 4:00PM – 4:48PM
Calgary-San Francisco on Air Canada AC578 (double blech!!) Fri May 30 6:30PM – 8:22PM
San Francisco-Hong Kong on Singapore Airlines (yesss…) SQ0001 Sat May 31 1:20AM – Sun June 1 6:30AM… One long ass flight at 14 hours and 10 minutes
Sun June 1. De-jet-lagging (is that a word?) in Hong Kong. Getting our bearings before heading into China.
Mon June 2. Hoping to catch an overnight train from Shenzhen to Guilin?
Tues June 3-June 9. Guangxi province. Yangshuo. Dragon’s backbone rice terraces (Dazhai village). Train back to Hong Kong?
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June 9 – June 12. Hong Kong. Meeting up with Nolan’s parents! Nolan departs for Singapore for a few days on June 12 before heading back to work in Brisbane, while I trot off to Bangladesh, only just beginning my trip 
Hong Kong-Dhaka, Bangladesh on Dragonair KA110 Thurs June 12 10:30PM – Fri June 13 12:25 AM
Fri June 13 – Thurs July 3 (approximate). Travelling with Mikey in Bangladesh and India!
Thurs July 3. Fly from India to Bangkok, Thailand. No air ticket yet, but I’m not worried.
July 3 – Aug 14. Thailand! Lots of ideas but no real plans yet… Meeting up and travelling with Per!
Bangkok-Singapore on Singapore Airlines SQ0975 Thurs Aug 14 1:00PM – 4:25PM
Aug 14 – Aug 18. Singapore. Hoping to meet up with the guys from Singapore that I met in Vietnam – Darren, Joseph, and Leong Hwee. Mel will be in transit, returning from a visit back to Canada, so I might miss her this time around.
Singapore-Brisbane on Singapore Airlines SQ0235 Mon Aug 18 9:10PM – Tue Aug 19 6:35AM… The red eye… and Brisbane finally… A chance to settle down a bit, and make some money… Before more traveling?
