Yesterday we arrived in Beijing to sunny skies and temperatures of 20 degrees, after driving from Galway to Dublin, taking a flight to Heathrow, then the 9 hour flight to Beijing, then a train then taxi to our hostel – Santilun Youth Hostel.
My Chinese Visa Story
August 26, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Pre-trip preparations can either be fun and exciting, or annoying and time consuming. Getting your visas generally falls into the latter category
To get a Chinese visa you have to personally go down to the Chinese embassy and stand in line (in a small room with no air conditioning!) and drop off your passport, then return 3 days later to pick it up along with your shiny new visa. My story, however, went more like this: [Read more...]
Snow Lions, Tiger Riding Gurus and an Infamous Tariff – and Why It’s Worth It!
August 5, 2009 By 12 Comments
With laws prohibiting smoking, billboards, plastic bags, traffic lights, the support of Gross National Happiness over Gross National Product, Bhutan is unlike any other nation. It’s uniqueness coupled with superb Himalayan trekking, authentic Buddhist culture, and astonishing bio-diversity, it is surprising that Bhutan sees less than 20,000 tourists a year. This is because like all other aspects of the nation, Bhutan has a different way of doing things.
