Travel Blog
Famous Beijing Hotel Catches Fire
The nearly-completed Beijing Madarin Oriental Hotel, part of the new CCTV complex constructed especially for the 2008 Olympics, caught fire during celebrations for the Chinese New Year. The cause was illegal fireworks. I happened to take some photos of that very hotel during the summer of 2008. It was a spectacular-looking building in the newer portion of town. Luckily, the hotel isn't completed, so there don't seem to be many deaths--if any. The picture I've attached is from the summer and the link below leads new the New York Times article.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/world/asia/10beijing.html?partner=perm...
_0.JPG "Trapped")
_0.JPG "Yapa & Me")
_0.JPG "Infant ward, IHNFA")
IHNFA Orphanage (State-owned)
_0.JPG "IHNFA Orphanage (State-owned)")
The government-run orphanage in San Pedro Sula that is the roughest I've ever been to
_0.JPG "GoolSport Soccer Court")
Honduras Photos
The above photos are from the environs of El Progreso, Honduras (including IHNFA orphanage in San Pedro Sula). A group of some 40 students traveled to Honduras from December 13-20th from UMW, Washington & Lee, JMU, VCU, Marymount, and Rockhurst (Missouri). These are photos from this trip. I stay on past the group's departure until the 29th of December, through Christmas.
From Beijing to El Progreso: Summer Journey 2008
Everything below this post is a travel blog from a lengthy trip I took in summer 2008
Old post: I'll be posting pictures, updates, stories, and more from my travels. Internet access may be sparse at times, especially in rural areas, but I will do my best to provide timely updates for family, friends, and other readers. I hope you enjoy my writings, and please don't hesitate to comment on them or to contact me. --RWD
The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single...poptart
After a long and restful vacation with my girlfriend, Briana, and her family in Redington Shores, Florida, I am in Fredericksburg--and glad to be here. And I'm eating a poptart. Originally, we were supposed to have landed at Washington Dulles around 11:00am. One mechanical problem, four bookings on three separate airlines, and eleven phone calls later, I finally arrived in Fredericksburg at 11:30pm. Gotta love United Airlines.
My mom drove up from Urbanna to do some pre-trip shopping with me. It was good to spend time with her, considering I won't see my family until sometime in late August or early September. My dad joined us for a late dinner at Outback Steakhouse. We then preceded to repair the power-cord to my laptop since it decided to crap out before I could finish printing out all of my travel vouchers/airline tickets. Fun times :)
I'm now setting up base-camp at the house and subsequently turning it into a warzone. My mission: somehow fit all of my clothes and supplies into my pack while still having it be comfortable enough to lug around for more than 3 months. I accept.
Many say that packing and unpacking are the worst part of a trip. I'll agree with them only on the latter, though, because I frankly love packing for trips abroad. The enormous amount of clothes, food, electronics, etc. used by an average American everyday can't ALL go into a travel backpack. With that in mind, the fact that I will have a lot less to rely on this summer is surprisingly refreshing. Perhaps I can dampen my unabashed consumerism.
I discovered today that they make travel-size toilet paper rolls, complete with packaging that serves as a dispenser. While I'm laughing now, it's possible at some point in the back country of Laos that I'll experience a newfound respect for the engineers at the Charmin factory. Adding that to the backpack.