The latest Journal Entries from Blair Goldsmith at Footstops.com en-us Wed, 18 Jun 2008 01:07:23 -0700 Copyright 2008, Bryan Rite @ Footstops.com Wed, 18 Jun 2008 01:07:23 -0700 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 240 http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/   "The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be the beginning." I have been neglecting my blog or late. I have been in Indonesia for the last month, but reluctantly I must leave, or face a fo... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/5110/ http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/5110/ Wed, 18 Jun 2008 01:14:55 -0700 Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed; And on the pedestal these words appear: My name is Ozymandius, King of K... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/4839/ http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/4839/ Mon, 19 May 2008 00:15:57 -0700 I thought that I would pay up for my last train ride in India. It was hot and long from Delhi to Calcutta, more than 1500 km across India, so I thought why not. The Indian railway system is truly a marvel. It goes almost everywhere in the country,... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/4844/ http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/4844/ Sun, 18 May 2008 04:51:20 -0700 After spending lazy days in Rishikesh bathing in the Ganges and practicing yoga (yes I did try it, I have discovered I am as flexible as a 2 by 4.), I headed north on a 18 hour local bus ride to the mountain town of Manali. This involved a long 1a... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/4764/ http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/4764/ Mon, 12 May 2008 00:46:56 -0700 "Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; In peace there's nothing so becomes a man As modest stillness and humility: But when the blast of war blows in our ears, Then imitate the action of the tiger; ... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/4590/ http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/4590/ Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:09:18 -0700  "...Mowgli was taught the 'Stranger's Call,' which must be repeated til it is answered, whenever one of the Jungle People hunts outside his own grounds. It means, translated, 'Give me leave to hunt here because I am ... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/4589/ http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/4589/ Sun, 20 Apr 2008 22:47:10 -0700 Nepali election day has come and gone, and guess what, NOTHING HAPPENED. Maybe it was because ancient figures like Jimmy Carter arrived, but there was no sporatic gunfire, bombs, unrest, wicked explosions, or anything. I guess this is a ... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/4354/ http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/4354/ Thu, 10 Apr 2008 21:33:45 -0700 This is what a Nepali guy told me when I asked what was the name of a huge snow topped mountain that I had seen. This "hill with snow" was over 6000m tall, absolutely gigantic! "Just as the dew is dried by the morning... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/4302/ http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/4302/ Mon, 07 Apr 2008 00:03:06 -0700   From the email " Freinds is it wrong to help some one who belongs to other country‏" by Sanjay Sharma Dear Blair, Hope with the grace of jesus the health and wealth is fit and fine... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/4331/ http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/4331/ Tue, 01 Apr 2008 00:08:12 -0700  Varanasi is hard to describe, I don't think I will be able to do it justice, but here goes. I arrived In Varanasi after making my way through the backroads of the Madhya Pradesh by way of many bumpy buses and late night trains. Varanasi i... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/3933/ http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/3933/ Fri, 07 Mar 2008 04:35:22 -0800 ... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/3837/ http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/3837/ Wed, 27 Feb 2008 23:21:27 -0800 I had had trouble withdrawing from the ATMs here in India. The ATM fad is all new to the Indians. Usually withdrawing money for them requires at least 5 other family members or friends to pile into the ATM along with them to consult over what butt... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/3733/ http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/3733/ Wed, 20 Feb 2008 21:25:21 -0800 Bus journeys can be a hassle. The Indian roads are rough, especially in backwoods Rajasthan. The road from Pushar to Jodhpur was one of these. The hassle you can get on the bus can be tiresome. You try to talk to people but usually the conversatio... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/3631/ http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/3631/ Sun, 10 Feb 2008 02:14:28 -0800 After Delhi I headed south on the legendary Indian railway to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. The Taj is absolutely amazing, as well as the city ruins of Fatehpur Sikri about 45 km south of Agra. The grandeous white marble Taj dominates the skyline and... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/3630/ http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/3630/ Tue, 05 Feb 2008 02:15:40 -0800 When I arrived in Delhi I realized that northern ndia was a lot colder than I had anticipated. I had stupidly arrived dressed in the same shorts I had worn to the Bangkok airport, a city basking in 30 celsius heat to Delhi, a chilly 7 celsius. ... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/3515/ http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/3515/ Thu, 31 Jan 2008 02:55:16 -0800 Koh Phangnan took its toll and on December 27th Rich and me were off by boat to the island of Koh Tao, where I planned on taking my scuba diving certification. Before I had left Canada I thought that diving might get a pass, but after a ster... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/3383/ http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/3383/ Sat, 12 Jan 2008 21:04:43 -0800   The journey from Bangkok to Koh Phangnan consisted of two buses, a ferry, and 17 hours. Luckily I had company in the form of Sir Richard Marshall, a Brit I had met at a crater lake in the dusty northeast of Cambodia and now a friend... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/3371/ http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/3371/ Thu, 20 Dec 2007 18:50:49 -0800 Cambodia is a wonderful country, but it remains haunted by the civil war of the late 1970s and 1980s, and the Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge's barbaric indiscriminate execution of between 2-3 million Cambodians in the late 1970s. Marred by widespread... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/3089/ http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/3089/ Sat, 08 Dec 2007 19:03:47 -0800 When I last wrote I had just crashed my motorcycle in Ban Lung in Cambodia's wild Northeast and was about to head south to the temples of Angkor. There was a interesting twist before I left Ban Lung however involving my travelling partner Jason Cl... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/3087/ http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/3087/ Tue, 04 Dec 2007 02:44:53 -0800 Hey Everyone, I know I haven't updated this thing for a while, Laotian internet is painfully slow or non-existent. Here goes.  I arrived in the small city of Thahkek from Vientaine. After riding out into the country on an old dilapidated b... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/2866/ http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/2866/ Sun, 02 Dec 2007 23:54:32 -0800 I rocked into Pai from Chiang Mai this past Monday after a long bus ride full of breakneck turns and frequent tipping of the bus to the point that I thought it would tumble off the side of the mountain road. This is the way in mountainous Thailand... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/2546/ http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/2546/ Fri, 02 Nov 2007 01:48:31 -0700 I am in Thailand and it is awesome. I am sorry if this blog entry is disjointed but I am recovering from a vicious hangover. I spent a week in Bangkok with my cousin Paradon and then took a trip on the train north to Chiang Mai, stopping at a num... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/2507/ http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/2507/ Sun, 28 Oct 2007 06:50:16 -0700 I am in Hong Kong and this place is nuts. The first thing that strikes you is the immensity of the skyline. The best way I can describe it is a mix of the cities in Blade Runner and Judge Dread, but with fewer flying motor bikes and cyborgs, and m... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/2362/ http://www.footstops.com/blairgoldsmith/blog/2362/ Mon, 15 Oct 2007 08:47:31 -0700