Author: melmalinowski
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Bhutan Trek October 2016
I’m embarking on the highest altitude trek that I have done so far, in Bhutan. I will be hiking along with a Bhutanese guide (required), and a mountain pony to carry the tent and food. I will carry my own gear in a backpack. As you can see, we’ll be camping many nights at 13,000…
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Thimphu, Bhutan Tshechu festival
The Kingdom of Bhutan is a small Buddhist country located northeast from India and north of Bangladesh. It is slightly smaller than Switzerland. Its population is about 780,000. Bhutan ranges from the lowlands bordering India at 342 foot elevation, to 24,840 foot elevation at its highest mountain. Much of the northern part is very mountainous.…
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Delhi, India
I have arrived in Delhi, India, laying over for 3 days before I fly to Bhutan. I’m staying in an apartment at Hauz Khas Village, looking out at the buildings of Hauz-Khas built beginning in the year 1296 A.D. I am not going to try to explain India, but rather just provide a series of…
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Moscow, Russia
When time came to fly from Vilnius, Lithuania, to Moscow, the competitive leader was Aeroflot Russian airlines. I got a lot of kidding about how awful this would be. The reality was rather different. I flew on a new, Russian-made jet, quite comfortable, with an attentive, efficient crew, and even a sandwich and drink on…
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Vilnius, Lithuania
I have come to Vilnius, Lithuania because my grandmother Anna Skinder was born here. I had not known of the long history of this prominent city of the Baltic area. One interesting thing I discovered: Vilnius has one of the fastest internet speeds available to the general public in the world. I asked a local…