The latest Journal Entries from Russ and Heather at Footstops.com en-us Sun, 09 Aug 2009 18:14:52 -0700 Copyright 2012, Bryan Rite @ Footstops.com Sun, 09 Aug 2009 18:14:52 -0700 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 240 http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/ <p>In July & August most years is when the Chinese do their holidays and sightseeing and we can confirm this as I have never seen so many bloody Chinese tourists in all my life.  We had heard stories from our group how the sig... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8345/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8345/ Mon, 10 Aug 2009 21:59:08 -0700 <p>We have made it to Beijing!!!!!</p><p>It is great to get here but also means we have to leave the group and say goodbye to some fantastic people who really made the 4 months so enjoyable. </p><p>The visas have taken u... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8343/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8343/ Thu, 06 Aug 2009 19:22:34 -0700 <p>After leaving Lanzhou we drove as far as we could trying to make the next days drive to Xian a little less painless. The weather has turned a bit and as we drove along for most of the day it is raining but still humid and warm enough.&n... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8331/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8331/ Sat, 01 Aug 2009 18:57:01 -0700 <p>Hi all, we have finally made it to a hotel!  Showers yeah!  So after a well dserved shower and scrub we headed out into the city for some dinner.  It's our first real chinese city stay after all the little towns alon... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8310/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8310/ Wed, 29 Jul 2009 02:41:11 -0700 <p>Oh to be under 3000m!! Xining is at 2300m a feels sooo much better than the 3000-5000m we have had in the past week! </p><p>Just a quick stops off in the city for some KFC and to drop poor Terry off at the hospital for the n... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8311/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8311/ Tue, 28 Jul 2009 02:32:53 -0700 <p>Well Russ has made his 30's!!</p><p>We started the day by waking up in our bush camp in the sand dunes west of Qinghai Lake, it was a beautiful morning and the sun was out.  The sleet and ice was now a distant memory.&n... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8312/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8312/ Mon, 27 Jul 2009 02:30:54 -0700 <span>After a short drive from Gyantse, we arrived in Lhasa, the main city in Tibet.<span>  </span>With around 200,000 people Lhasa was once the home of the 14th and current Dalai Lama, until he fled to India into exile in 1959... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8292/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8292/ Mon, 20 Jul 2009 20:33:19 -0700 <p>After 5 days bush camping the showers at our hotel in Shigatse were one of the best we've had! We just didnt dare look down at the dirty water in the shower that was running off us, 5 days without a shower is enough I think.</p>&l... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8282/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8282/ Thu, 16 Jul 2009 20:17:10 -0700 <p>Hi all, well its been a great but tough last week since leaving Kathmandu.  We went and spent 2 nights at a place near the Tibet border and camped in the grounds of a tent style resort.  A few people went bungy jumping, whilst... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8258/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8258/ Wed, 15 Jul 2009 01:21:11 -0700 <p>We got to Kathmandu in the afternoon and checked into our Moonlight hotel for 3 nights, after catching up with the others the first point of call was to the Everest steak house, where we had been told have the best steaks in town.  They... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8212/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8212/ Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:51:04 -0700 <p>Well Pokhara is a beautiful little town in central Nepal.  It's the base town for trekkers doing the Annapurna treks in the area.  From the town on a clear day you can see the peaks of the annapurna range mountains and we coul... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8211/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8211/ Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:51:25 -0700 <p>Well I have to say it's been one of the best days of the trip so far, we had lots of fun got really dirty and got to play with elephants all day!</p><p>We started our day in Chitwan at 6:30am and went for a canoe ride down t... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8191/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8191/ Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:15:49 -0700 Sorry still working on uploading blog!... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8192/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8192/ Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:24:49 -0700 <p><span>Hi all, we left Delhi on Friday morning driving south towards Jaipur,<span>  </span>the Pink city.<span>  </span>I think everyone was glad to move on from Delhi although as we were soon to ... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8154/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8154/ Mon, 22 Jun 2009 02:47:04 -0700 <p>We arrived in Jaipur late last night for a 2 night stay and we were met by the other truck members that jumped off in Iran to fly over pakistan - it was great to see them again and swap travel stories from the past 2 weeks.  They had sp... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8131/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8131/ Fri, 19 Jun 2009 02:16:55 -0700 <p>Hi guys we are in Delhi, having a great time in the city.  Delhi is a crazy city, lots of traffic with no rules except the little give way to the big.  Dirt and poverty in most places and the noises from cars and rickshaw horn... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8113/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8113/ Tue, 16 Jun 2009 23:25:51 -0700 <p>Hi all! Well we have had a relaxing few days in Amiritsar by the pool.  We headed into town with a few others and us girls got Indian suits made up for about $8 so we blend in with the locals a bit better now.  Its g... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8098/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8098/ Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:54:41 -0700 <p>We headed to the border at 10:30 when they opened up and it was a huge modern building with only our 25 member group in it.  This overland border in the past has been very busy but now they said they only get about 5 people a day come i... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8051/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8051/ Sun, 07 Jun 2009 23:02:34 -0700 <p>We left Multan this morning with our police escourt and headed off towards Lahore, which for once was a proper road so we made good time.  As with our arrival in any major city we made our grand entrance by getting lost up small streets... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8052/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8052/ Sat, 06 Jun 2009 23:08:16 -0700 <p>We left Quetta this morning early and drove through the desert of Balochistan, which was very slow going and we only made it to Loralai, where we stayed and camped in the grounds of a police compound where the police all live with their fami... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8053/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8053/ Thu, 04 Jun 2009 23:23:00 -0700 <p>Left Dalbandin today and drove onto Quetta where we stayed in a hotel under police guard - they wouldnt let us out of the hotel!</p><p>Russ and I upgraded to a hotel room for a change so for $14US we had a nice change from the te... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8054/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8054/ Wed, 03 Jun 2009 03:51:40 -0700 <p>We arrived in Zahadan to drop off some people from the trip so they could fly onto India before heading to the Pakistan border where we stayed on the Iranian side and then crossed over to Taftan in Pakistan the next day.</p><p>We... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8057/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8057/ Tue, 02 Jun 2009 22:27:39 -0700 <p>We headed up towards the other border via Iranshahr to drop people off at the airport who wanted to fly onto India for a bit of R&R at the beach. We arrived in town only to have the police pick us up and escourt us around the town du... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8068/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8068/ Sun, 31 May 2009 22:16:07 -0700 <p>Today was a big driving day towards the border of Pishin.  We got in late and camped just out of Pishin on the Bahu Kalat river.  The temp that day was about 45 deg so we were all keen to jump in the river and have a wash as of cou... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8059/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8059/ Fri, 29 May 2009 22:09:32 -0700 <p>We drove through Banda Abas today and stopped at the fish markets to get food for dinner.  Dont know how hot but I'd say bloody hot 40's plus and very humid by the water.  It was almost the minute we could see the water w... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8058/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8058/ Wed, 27 May 2009 22:41:09 -0700 <p>We drove on from Yazd yesterday and camped not far from Persopolis by the river.  We went and saw the Nagsh E Rostam which was the tombs of 4 kings and they were carved into the side of a mountain</p><p>Persopolis means both... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8070/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8070/ Tue, 26 May 2009 22:30:54 -0700 <p>We drove all day from Esfahan to Yazd and got in late so we had only a few hours to try and see some of the sights before dark.  Russ and I headed off for the mosque and then found a local guy who took us to a lookout point over the cit... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8069/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/8069/ Sun, 24 May 2009 22:22:33 -0700 <p>Hey guys, it is our last night in Esfehan and we are have a pretty amazing time to say the least.  First thing we will say that the locals in Esfehan have been so friendly and inquisitive with us, I think foreginers are a big novelty fo... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7789/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7789/ Sat, 23 May 2009 07:07:19 -0700 <p>Well we have had a few days on the road of bush camping.  We left Masoleh and headed towards the village of Alamut where they have the Castle of the Assassins. We bush camped about an hour from Alamut in a river bed.</... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7741/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7741/ Thu, 21 May 2009 07:20:15 -0700 Just a blog entry so we could enter Tehran on the map as we definiately saw it!!!... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7742/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7742/ Wed, 20 May 2009 06:07:38 -0700 <p>Hi all, well we left Tabriz and headed towards the Caspian sea to the village of masoleh where we spent 2 nights. The drive was beautiful with mainly rice paddy fields along the road.</p><p>Masoleh is a little mountain ... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7740/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7740/ Tue, 19 May 2009 05:44:50 -0700 <p>Hello all, well after leaving doggy biscuit we got the border at 8am and pushed the watches forward 1 and half hours to 9.30am and left the border at 5pm, a very long day!</p><p>Their currency is rials and we changed $50 US and g... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7628/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7628/ Sat, 16 May 2009 05:33:32 -0700 <p>We arrived in Doggy biscuit yesterday and are camped in a camp ground.  Kym and İ made a run for the showers only to find them less than desirable and İ washed my hair crouching down head upside down.  So far the ... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7587/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7587/ Thu, 14 May 2009 05:00:34 -0700 <p>We stayed last night in Guzelsu at a bush camp in the hills with views of snow capped peaks of most likely Iran and south east turkey - Mt Resko 4136m.  The tent was iced over overnight so it was pretty cold night - definiately one nigh... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7585/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7585/ Wed, 13 May 2009 04:46:21 -0700 <p>Well we left Cappadocıa and started to make our way over to Nemrut Dagi.  We bush camped just outsıde of Kahraman Maras ın a Pine plantation so we definiately had lots of fire wood.  Our camp over looked ... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7583/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7583/ Tue, 12 May 2009 05:03:06 -0700 Hi all! The last 3 days we have been in the village of Goreme in the Caspadocia valley. The whole place is famous for these weird rock formations that have been carved over thousands of years by the seasons continually eroding the earth which is ... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7499/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7499/ Sat, 09 May 2009 07:49:02 -0700 <p>Hi all.</p><p>We had a great day out on a boat ın Oludenız we went around to the various coves and little islands and went swimming and fishing again no fish!  So we caught lots of sun and had a great ... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7431/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7431/ Mon, 04 May 2009 08:58:09 -0700 <p>Well we had a wet night bush camping, thank goodness we were on cook group for the night so even though we cooked in the rain we got to sleep on a nice warm and dry truck and didnt have to struggle with a wet tent in the morning.  It wa... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7395/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7395/ Fri, 01 May 2009 11:26:38 -0700 <p>Over the last few days we have visited both Troy and Ephesus ruins - they are both ancient cities.  Troy was a litttle bit disapointing as most of the ruins were covered in long grass making it hard to see them and they were in poor con... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7394/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7394/ Tue, 28 Apr 2009 04:01:23 -0700 <p>Well we left Istanbul fınally on the 24th after spendıng the mornıng at the Iranıan embassy - all but the Brıts have theır vısa's for Iran so Steve ıs stay&#305... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7373/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7373/ Sat, 25 Apr 2009 10:33:11 -0700 <p>We trıed at the Embassy today but no luck they saıd they were closed so hears hoping tomorrow.  Russ and İ went off and had a traditional turkish bath which was like heaven after a few days bush camping. ... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7374/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7374/ Thu, 23 Apr 2009 10:28:23 -0700 <p>We arrıved ın İstanbul yesterday afternoon and spent the evening wanderıng around the grand bazzar and bought some clothes to wear to the Iranian embassy and whilst in İran!  İts a g... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7335/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7335/ Wed, 22 Apr 2009 13:46:09 -0700 <p>Well last nıght we camped at our best camp sıght yet (NOT).  We were 15mınutes drıve from the Turkısh border and we camped just off the maın road behınd some derıl&... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7336/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7336/ Mon, 20 Apr 2009 01:28:40 -0700 <p>We left Budapest 2 days ago and headed for Romania where instantly we realised that we were in a different country with lots of horse and carts and horses ploughing the paddocks and things.  Oh and stray cats and dogs!  We bush cam... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7303/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7303/ Fri, 17 Apr 2009 04:28:56 -0700 <p>After driving from Prague to Vienna on Good Friday we spent 2 nights camping by the river in Klostenberg, just north of Vienna.  We had 1 full day to explore the city, so we just wandered around and went to some churches and other sites... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7276/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7276/ Mon, 13 Apr 2009 05:07:17 -0700 See next entry!... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7277/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7277/ Sat, 11 Apr 2009 05:10:15 -0700 <p>We have made it to Prague after 3 long days of driving.  We left London at 8am and caught the ferry to France and spent the first night camped on the roadside in Belgium, followed by a night in Germany also on the side of the road but a... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7252/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7252/ Thu, 09 Apr 2009 06:03:26 -0700 <p>Just finished packing and it all fits!  We have spent a last leisurely day in London doing some last minute shopping and brunch.  So we are off at 6:30 in the morning for France.  Stay tuned.</p><p> </p>... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7231/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7231/ Sun, 05 Apr 2009 09:54:56 -0700 <p>Well we have just organised this blog to write our journal  to keep you all updated of where we are and what we are upto.  Will try and update as much as possible but may be difficult in some areas we visit.</p><p>We ar... Read More at Footstops.com http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7216/ http://www.footstops.com/haznrusty/blog/7216/ Fri, 03 Apr 2009 14:33:54 -0700