I arrived last night in Essaouira after a long, rather exhausting day of travel. I got up at 630 and left Chefchaouen (walk to square, take petite taxi to bus station). Then, I had a 6-hour-long bus ride to Casablanca. Partway through the trip, at one of the stops,…
I’ve really been enjoying my time here in Chefchaouen. I’m loving being in the mountains. I talked to Hanaa and ended up planning to stay another day. I didn’t want to have to get up and leave super early the morning after my hike in Akchour and I wanted to…
Akchour is, indeed, spectacular. I am so glad I went even though it took a bit of doing to get there. First, I walked from my hotel in the kasbah in Chefchaouen to the square where I could get a petite taxi to take me to the place where I could catch…
After an long bus ride, I just arrived in Chefchaouen, a town in Northern Morocco up in the Rif mountains. It’s a beautiful town, known for the way most of the buildings have been painted blue and white. It looks a bit like I’d imagine a little mountain Santorini would be. I…
Yesterday, after breakfast, Maia and I decided to go to a garden the French woman in our home recommended. She used to live here in Morocco, so she’s pretty comfortable here and knows her way around. Since the Jardin Jnane Sbil is relatively near to the Bab Boujloud (Blue Gate)…
I decided to take a guided tour through Fes. My host Aziz arranged it for me and Maia, one of the other women staying in his house, decided to join as well. She is half American and half Italian, so her English is perfect (as is her French and Italian…
When I first arrived in Fes, Aziz picked me up at the train station and took me to his house, a riad in town near the Bab Boujloud (Blue Gate) where he lives with his family. He has a couple of homes here in town which he rents outs to…
One of the first places I went to visit in Rabat was a little garden near Nuria and Tarik’s home. It was absolutely beautiful. The next day, I headed out to see some more sights in town. One of the more famous things to see in Rabat is the tomb of…
After arriving in Rabat by train, I haggled with some taxi drivers for a while before finally finding one who only overcharged me a little bit to take me to the kasbah gates where I was going to meet Nuría, my hostess for the AirBnB place where I am staying.…
So I arrived safely in Casablanca, Morocco. I had scheduled a couchsurfing stay with a guy named Anas who goes to university in Casa. He told me that I should take a train from the airport to a station nearer to his apartment. I managed to do that without too…
So, it turns out that my layover in Qatar was rather long. And it also happens to be a fact that Qatar Airlines is pretty awesome. When I arrived in Doha, I found out that the airlines would spring for me to stay in a hotel for the night…
I have to leave the Maldives today. I am very torn about it. I had a wonderful time here. I enjoyed the restful time I had, and loved the scuba diving. I liked the people I met and the experiences I had while I was here. I’ll be really sad to…
Today I went for another dive. It was a bit further out, to Angothi Thila, a reef known for having sharks and a lot of marine life, and it’s supposed to be worth it. It was. I had decided to rent an underwater camera they have available. It takes underwater…
Wow, those boat dives this morning were phenomenal, to say the least! I literally saw half of the cast of Finding Nemo down there! (Sharkbait, wooh ha ha!) I saw a couple of turtles and a couple of sharks. Also, the coral was incredible. I wanted to float down there forever. We took…
I just went scuba diving! For the first time in 20 years (okay 19, but who’s counting?) and I am so glad! I have heard wonderful things about the diving in Maldives. In addition to the fact that there is an abundance of sea life – fish, coral, invertebrates, sharks,…
So I’m finding that a week on a restful island paradise is just what I was looking for! This place fits the bill. The view out my bungalow is constantly changing and continuously spectacular, rain or shine. The island is small, and you can walk across it in about 15…
Okay, so I made it to the Maldives – after quite a bit of island hopping. I flew from India (after a layover in Chennai and a flight that stopped in Bengaluru and some other town I’ve never heard of before arriving in Male. From there, I transfered to local airline. I…
Yesterday I got a final dose of Nizam’s before leaving Kolkata. First, I met up with Neel. He and his driver picked me up near my apartment, which was awesome because it worked out timing-wise and it was really hot and saved me from catching a bus and then the subway. Unfortunately, we had…
I have a ticket to the Maldives on the 21st (of May!). I will be there until the 29th. So I’ll be leaving India in only a few days! My sister and I are trying to spend some time together before we don’t see each other again for who-knows-how-long. Jayanthi…
Well yesterday did not go AT ALL as I planned – what day ever does? However, it was quite a roller coaster. I got up in the morning for my last day of volunteering at Kalighat. I took the bus to the Mother House (only the 2 correct buses this…
I have worked the last two days now at Kalighat, or Nirmal Hriday. This is the first home that Mother Teresa opened in Kolkata. Having volunteered there in 1998 for a couple of months, I was glad when the sister told me to go back there this weekend. I was…
I’ve decided to leave India and spend a week in the Maldives before heading to Morocco. The Maldives is a tiny cluster of islands located somewhere in the middle of the Indian Ocean, to the south and west of India. It’s remote, beautiful, idyllic, and ridiculously expensive – especially compared…
So today I came to the Mother House by 7 am – just barely by seven. Since I’m staying in Hiland Park, I’m quite far away from the side of town where I needed to be, so I had to be up and at the bus station before 6. I…
This afternoon, I went to visit the Mother House of the Missionaries of Charity. This is where Mother Teresa is buried and where her order is headquartered. It is also filled with memories for me personally. The first time I came to the Mother House was in 1993. My extended…
Over the last week, I’ve been going around to different areas of Kolkata for multiple reasons. I’ve been hanging out with my sister and her friends in various locations – restaurants, clubs, malls, parks, – I’ve moved residences from one area of town to another, and I’ve gone back to…
Last night was the long-awaited night of the Dolna Day School’s production of the Wizard of Oz. My sister had managed to procure a ticket for me and I planned to meet a few of her friends at the show. When I first arrived and went into the auditorium, I saw my…
My sister set helped me connect with one of her friends here in Kolkata on couchsurfing.org. This is a website where people make their extra bedrooms or couches available to travellers. In exchange, the hope is that someday, the chance will arise to “pay the favor forward” and people will…
