Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I suffer from a condition that I call "Terminal Anxiety". I get vary anxious when the bus pulls into the terminal, of a city I know nothing about and can't speak the language, and I'm going to be extruded from the bus, into a chaotic environment that I have to turn into a place to sleep.
Luckily, 99% of the people in the world are generous and warm-hearted, and everything always goes well, but I get anxious anyway.
Bangkok - walked off the plane at midnight into 90 degree heat and 99 percent humidity with lightning striking all over the sky.
In the morning - the chaotic traffic, the smells from a thousand open air markets and restaurants, the heat, the icy smack of air conditioning when you entered a building, the monsoon rain.
Man that was a great vacation! Loved every minute.
Male' Maldives (Via Plane from Bangalore, India, waiting for a water taxi to a private island resort): This place can't be on the same planet...
Venice (Via Ferry from Patras, Greece, just woke up to dawn over the Grand Canal): MAN, it's COLD! Are those snow-capped mountains? The buildings seem awfully close to the water...
Delhi, India (Via Plane from Taipei, Taiwan, riding a Taxi to friend's house): Was there a war here recently?
Chicago O'Hare (Via Plane from Seol, South Korea, just walking through the terminal): These people are ENORMOUS!
Lisbon, Portugal (Via Train from San Sebastian, Spain, Hunting for a homestay): Now this is a nice town! What great weather!
Santorini, Greece (Via Ferry from Naxos, Same, Arriving at the town on the lip of the caldera.) No wonder everybody says come here! It's GORGEOUS!
Beijing, China (Via train from Xi'an, Same, Looking for cheap hotels open to foreigners). This place is WIDE!
Akhaura, Bangladesh. The first impression just kept going on and on. After getting stamped out of India, we walked to the Bangladesh immigratin station. There was nobody else crossing the border from Agartala, one of only 3 or 4 between those two countries. The Bangladesh officers seemed to be falling over each other, trying to figure out which of them knew the correct procedure for admitting a foreigner. Plenty of glasses of tea were passed to us, as we waited what was a chaotically friendly half hour, and finally someone, who might have actually been an immigration officer, decided to stamp our passports and wish us well. The Bangladeshi town of Akhaura was about 3 miles away, which we covered in a human-powered bike-shaw, on a road where we did not see a single motor vehicle or hear the sound of an engine. Singing birds on the roadside fences didn't even fly away as people quietly passed by almost within reach of them. It was the most peaceful place I've ever been.
Arriving in Akhaura, we went into the first restaurant we saw, and an amazed proprietor quoted us a reasonable price for a meal, which we ordered. Our table was surrounded by about 20 children, leaning with their elbows on the table, jostling for a better look at the hilarous way in which the English ate. The proprietor half-heartedly tried but failed to shoo them away, and kept bringing us more and more varieties from the kitchen, but never charged us more than the original price. We then went to the train station a few block away, where we were told in the ticket office that there was no space on the train, but don't worry. An official would be summoned, who had the power to give us executive authorization to buy a ticket for the train.
While waiting for the train, my wife had to use the bathroom, which was about 50 yards down the track in another building. As she started walking, several dozen young men fell into formation to escort her to the ladies room, as protectors, to ensure that no harm should befall an unaccompanied lady on such a mission. She was ushered in the door, and the men all waited attentively outside, to escort her back to the relative safety of the depot.
When the train arrived, a dozen or so of the boldest protectors got on the train with us, to be sure we found our seats without any misadventures. Seemingly hundreds of people out on the platform ran along watching us through the windows as we walked to our seats, and then crowded around our window to stare at us on the train. We shared a compartment, with a young couple, who shared their goodies is with us and gave us several small gifts.
Needless to say, we were never any any danger whatsoever. We were just the most exciting thing that happened in months in Akhaura, and everybody wanted to be a part of the show.
In San Diego, you get the impression that you're going to have a great time even before you land! You realize that it's the best landing view, ever, and see the downtown area, Coronado bridge, marina and tons of boats and water. You know you're going to have a good time while here. So good in fact, that we decided to pick up and move here from the East coast two years ago and are loving every minute!
Unlike most other cities, we don't dump you in the middle of nowhere and make you drive 30 minutes to the actual city. You land in downtown, minutes from all the tourist attractions. Here's what you see, seconds before touching down:
Sponger, I agree about Santorini and Venice. The caldera is breathtaking.
People have complained about Venice being smelly, but I did not experience that at all. My biggest impression was years and years of history.
Favorites:
Arrival in San Francisco--always an amazing landing, over the Bay with the Golden Gate bridge. You definitely get this "I'm not at home anymore" feeling.
Arrival on the island of Hvar, Croatia, by ferry from Dubrovnik.
We had to get from Sućuraj, on the eastern side of the island to Hvar Town, on the west coast. There was no public transportation--the roads were narrow, with many steep cliffs above the Adriatic. I always do my research and try to be prepared, and this was one hurdle which I knew we would face, but figured we would muddle through. And after a couple hours, we did.
Glasgow
Our plane landed in wet and gloomy sheets of rain. Here we go, I thought glumly. It's to be expected.
I enjoyed the moisture, but was kind of worried because I had dragged my husband to Scotland and the UK is not his favorite place.
It was August, and we had arrived in Scotland from hot, dry Denver.
As it turned out, that first day was the only time in ten days that we had real precipitation. In fact, a heat wave arrived (the temps, to us, were not noticeably toasty, but our B&B hosts frantically fanned themselves.)
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
