The Passionate Traveler

Trekking in Nepal One of the activities that is most popular in Nepal are the many treks which can be done. Much of the trekking which is available is on the various routes to the base camps of the many mountain climbs in Nepal. Nine of the tallest 10 mountain peaks in the world can be found in Nepal, so a very popular destination for mountain climbers. Of course the most famous is Mt. Everest. The trek to Everest Base Camp 1 is a seriously long trek with the shortest trek being 9 days long. This is basically because of the elevation of the trek. It is not possible to climb too quickly, or altitude disease can set in. So, the trek might not be so long in distance, but it is long in time. You can only climb a maximum of 500 m in a day, so it takes time. Stall in Pokhara Shoe repair man I did a short trek  while I was in Nepal. This was the first day of the trek to the base camp for the Annapurna Mountain climb. Even on this short trek, it was up! up and more up. What g...

Orangutan in the Singapore zoo - all my photos in this post Normally, I do not really like Zoos very much. Animals locked up in cages is really not my thing. My earliest childhood memory was the old polar bear cage at the Johannesburg zoo. A tiny cage with a pool of water in and two of these magnificent animals in this tiny cage. I was only about 3 years old, but the image of these polar bears in the tiny cage still haunts me. So, I don't like zoos. Singapore zoo is a bit different. Because of the location of Singapore, right in the tropics, the island would be a magnificent jungle if man did not build the city there. So lush vegetation is not a problem in the Singapore zoo. They have made the most of the vegetation and the enclosures are really quite big and beautiful. The orangutans have a wonderful cage. It is a large enclosure and then there are ropes leading out of the cage to other big trees. So, you could be walking along a path in the zoo and there could be an o...

One of the "Must see" places in Singapore is the Botanical Gardens and the Orchid garden. Even if you do not even really like orchids, this is an amazing place to see. Orchids are not strange in Singapore and one of the first things you are likely to see when arriving at Singapore airport is orchids. In fact, there is an amazing orchid garden right in the airport terminal. The botanical gardens have, in the past, been quite difficult to get to. There is now an MRT (mass rapid transport system - a train) station at the one end of the Garden and there is a new station that was being built when I was there at the other end of the garden. So in future it is going to be a lot easier to get to the botanical gardens. Even once in the Botanical Gardens, it is still quite a long walk to the Orchid garden. It might not be that far, but in the oppressive heat which is Singapore, it feels like a really long walk! It was seriously hot and humid when we were there the last time...

Asian one horned Rhino - My photo Another tiger "hunt". I only ever hunt with a camera! This time in Chitwan National Park in Nepal. Nepal is such a divers country with so many wonderful tourist activities, from sunning mountain scenery (9 of the 10 highest mountains can be found in Nepal) to amazing cultural and world heritage sites. There are also a few amazing nature reserves and Chitwan is regarded as the best. I have already posted a few blogs on Nepal but the country is well worth another few posts. One of the main nature reserves in Nepal is in the low lands and is called Chitwan National Park. Like most of the nature reserves in the area, accommodation is outside the park. There is just a small river between the village and the park. After arriving, the guide and I went for a walk along the river. There was a lot of evidence of rhino and apparently they cross into the town at night. These are the Asian one horned rhino. Maybe I would get to see one? Across the...