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Transportation Problems in India: Why Can’t I Leave Goa?

Jan 20, 2015 by Daniel McBane 4 Comments

sleeper car on Indian train

The Indian province of Goa has over 70 kilometers of beautiful beaches and excellent cheap food. That combination kept me in my beach hut two weeks longer than planned. India’s transportation network kept me there another two weeks. Flying in and out of Goa seems relatively simple, but leaving by land proved exceedingly difficult. When […]

Filed Under: India Tagged With: India, Goa, scams, bus, train, transportation

Inle’s Floating Gardens and some Buddhist Hypocrisy

Jun 25, 2014 by Daniel McBane 3 Comments

a leg rower in Inle Lake's floating gardens
This entry is part 3 of 3 in the series A Boat Tour of Inle Lake in Myanmar

After visiting the temple, we got back on our boat and headed into another floating village. This one was even more photogenic than the first and I shot another 200 photos. By now the sun was at its hottest, but I still had no interest in holding an umbrella while trying to [read more…]

Filed Under: Myanmar Tagged With: Myanmar, transportation, architecture, Inle Lake

Village Life on Inle Lake…Yes, it Includes Souvenir Shops

Jun 11, 2014 by Daniel McBane 2 Comments

Inle Lake locals loading a boat in Myanmar
This entry is part 2 of 3 in the series A Boat Tour of Inle Lake in Myanmar

After puttering down the lake for a while, we eventually arrived at the village of Ywama to visit a local market. Our driver parked our boat and dropped us off at a long, covered walkway lined with makeshift stalls manned by local vendors. The vendors might have been local, but [read more…]

Filed Under: Myanmar Tagged With: Inle Lake, Myanmar, transportation, culture, locals

Real and Fake Leg Rowing Fishermen on Inle Lake

May 28, 2014 by Daniel McBane 10 Comments

A leg rower on Inle Lake in Myanmar
This entry is part 1 of 3 in the series A Boat Tour of Inle Lake in Myanmar

“Skip it. It’s too touristy.” If you’ve done any traveling, you’ve probably heard this phrase. Some travelers shun any destination or activity seen as popular and will even go so far as to berate others for not doing the same. They don’t seem to understand that places become touristy for one simple reason: [read more…]

Filed Under: Myanmar Tagged With: Myanmar, transportation, culture, Inle Lake

Oh no! Bangkok’s Grand Palace is Closed Again!?!

Feb 8, 2014 by Daniel McBane 8 Comments

Thai soldiers at Bangkok Grand Palace

“The palace is closed.” If you’ve been anywhere near the Grand Palace in Bangkok, you’ve likely heard those words. No matter what day you heard them or who said them, I can guarantee one thing: the palace was not closed. You don’t even have to be near the palace to hear those words. On my […]

Filed Under: Thailand Tagged With: transportation, Thailand, scam

Even Indiana Jones Would Get Lost in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Station

Jan 25, 2014 by Daniel McBane 23 Comments

Shinjuku Station West in Tokyo

I recently learned that Japan boasts 45 of the world’s 50 busiest train stations, including the first 23 (source: rocketnews24.com) . The top three are all located in western Tokyo, a few stops apart on the Yamanote circle line. The busiest sits in the middle and sees almost 4 million visitors per day. Welcome to […]

Filed Under: Japan Tagged With: Japan, transportation, culture, Tokyo

No Foreigners Allowed in These Parts

Jan 4, 2014 by Daniel McBane 2 Comments

Tibetan grasslands near Langmusi in Sichuan China

They say that getting there is half the battle, but that was not often the case in China. Don’t get me wrong, getting anywhere in China is rarely easy—take my two attempts to make my way west to Sichuan province while I was living in Shanghai; once foiled by a snowstorm and once by an […]

Filed Under: China Tagged With: Sichuan, transportation, China

Why Couldn’t My Train Just Derail Like Everyone Else’s?

Nov 23, 2013 by Daniel McBane 2 Comments

Inside of sleeper car in Thai train

Trains in Thailand have a hard time staying on the tracks and the route from Bangkok north to Chiang Mai seems especially prone to derailments, judging by news reports and even a few first-hand accounts on other blogs (like this one by That Backpacker, which actually sparked my memory of the incident in today’s post). […]

Filed Under: Thailand Tagged With: train, transportation, Thailand, Bangkok, Chiang Mai

Barcelona Hides Its Bus Stations Well

Oct 19, 2013 by Daniel McBane 8 Comments

The skyline of Barcelona Spain

When the bus pulled over in a pitch black residential area on the outskirts of Barcelona and the driver practically shoved us out the door, we knew for sure we had missed our stop. We had tickets on a night bus to Madrid and had decided to take a city bus to the long distance […]

Filed Under: Spain Tagged With: Barcelona, bus, transportation, Spain, annoying people

The Hassle of Finding a Hotel in Rural China

Oct 12, 2013 by Daniel McBane 14 Comments

Tibetan homes in Maerkang, Sichuan, China

I enjoy traveling in China overall, but that enjoyment does not generally extend to the accommodation search outside of popular destinations. Only hotels with the proper license are allowed to accept foreign guests and the Chinese government does not seem to hand out many of those licenses in less visited destinations. In many small towns […]

Filed Under: China Tagged With: transportation, China, Sichuan, Tibet, annoying people

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Welcome!

As the more astute among you may have guessed, my name is Daniel McBane. I've been traveling and working overseas for almost ten years now and have finally decided to document some of the strange, crazy or just plain funny encounters and observations from my travels. I've also added a travel guide section, figuring I should reward my four readers by providing at least something of use. Read more on my about page.

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The World's Saddest Zoo (If Not, I'd Hate To See What Tops It)

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Annoying Trekker Abuses Friendly Guesthouse Owner

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Transportation Problems in India: Why Can't I Leave Goa?

Transportation Problems in India: Why Can't I Leave Goa?

Trekking On Our Day Off From Trekking in Manang

Trekking On Our Day Off From Trekking in Manang

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