http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php Copyright 2012, piero scaruffi piero scaruffi en-US SPHPBLOG 0.4.8 http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120511-171540 Last day of my trip. Tomorrow i fly back to California via Auckland.
With the exception of the very last few days in the Solomon Islands, this trip took me to Pacific islands that mainly cater to couples (hence the most frequently asked question "where is your wife"). I have to say that it reinforced my feelings against traveling with a significant other: not only is your freedom greatly reduced (you have to negotiate every single move) but you cannot mingle with the natives the way i usually do. I get more in one hour of a local bus ride than these couples will get from an entire week of "cultural activities" organized by the local travel agency, no matter how much they spend in "local guides" (who mainly specialize in taking them to souvenir shops).
The Solomon Islands rank very high in my list of countries to re-visit. An incredible amount of the country is unspoiled and relatively unexplored, pretty much like New Guinea, but traveling around the Solomon Islands feels a lot safer than traveling around New Guinea. There is generally respect for the foreigner, vendors are not aggressive, and very few people try to take advantage of tourists.
I still have to see Western Australia, and now i'm toying with the new of a trip from Western Australia to Papua to Solomon Islands, maybe adding some of the states of southern Oceania that i did not see this time (Nauru, Kiribati, Tuvalu). Northern Oceania (Micronesia) is more easier visited from Hawaii or Philippines.
But let's first see if i survive the return trip to the USA. In recent years, no matter how adventurous the trip was, the worst thing always happened when i landed back in the West (eg when i came back unscathed from the Congo but then freaked out in New York's Harlem, or when i arrived in Paris from West Africa only to be stranded in the middle of a national strike). Not to mention the obnoxious stone-age customs & immigration officials of the USA that, still blissfully unaware of the existence of Google, Facebook, Flickr, etc, ask you such creative questions as "Where did you go?" and "For how long were you gone?"

Pictures of Solomon, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu
www.scaruffi.com/monument/oceania]]> http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120511-171540 piero scaruffi Fri, 11 May 2012 21:15:40 GMT http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120509-183931 http://www.scaruffi.com/travel/blog0412.html

]]> http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120509-183931 piero scaruffi Wed, 09 May 2012 22:39:31 GMT http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120508-000654 http://www.scaruffi.com/travel/blog0412.html

]]> http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120508-000654 piero scaruffi Tue, 08 May 2012 04:06:54 GMT http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120506-170403 http://www.scaruffi.com/travel/blog0412.html

]]> http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120506-170403 piero scaruffi Sun, 06 May 2012 21:04:03 GMT http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120501-232451 http://www.scaruffi.com/travel/blog0412.html

]]> http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120501-232451 piero scaruffi Wed, 02 May 2012 03:24:51 GMT http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120430-161220 http://www.scaruffi.com/travel/blog0412.html

]]> http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120430-161220 piero scaruffi Mon, 30 Apr 2012 20:12:20 GMT http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120426-155658 http://www.scaruffi.com/travel/blog0412.html

]]> http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120426-155658 piero scaruffi Thu, 26 Apr 2012 19:56:58 GMT http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120425-211252 http://www.scaruffi.com/travel/blog0412.html

]]> http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120425-211252 piero scaruffi Thu, 26 Apr 2012 01:12:52 GMT http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120424-022232 http://www.scaruffi.com/travel/blog0412.html

]]> http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120424-022232 piero scaruffi Tue, 24 Apr 2012 06:22:32 GMT http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120423-020334 http://www.scaruffi.com/travel/blog0412.html

]]> http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120423-020334 piero scaruffi Mon, 23 Apr 2012 06:03:34 GMT http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120415-022941
or

and
]]> http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120415-022941 piero scaruffi Sun, 15 Apr 2012 06:29:41 GMT http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120303-091153 http://www.scaruffi.com/travel/blog0212.html
]]> http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120303-091153 piero scaruffi Sat, 03 Mar 2012 14:11:53 GMT http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120302-003423 http://www.scaruffi.com/travel/blog0212.html
]]> http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120302-003423 piero scaruffi Fri, 02 Mar 2012 05:34:23 GMT http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120301-201016 http://www.scaruffi.com/travel/blog0212.html
]]> http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120301-201016 piero scaruffi Fri, 02 Mar 2012 01:10:16 GMT http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120228-215240 http://www.scaruffi.com/travel/blog0212.html
]]> http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120228-215240 piero scaruffi Wed, 29 Feb 2012 02:52:40 GMT http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120227-071304 http://www.scaruffi.com/travel/blog0212.html
]]> http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120227-071304 piero scaruffi Mon, 27 Feb 2012 12:13:04 GMT http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120225-014858 http://www.scaruffi.com/travel/blog0212.html
]]> http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120225-014858 piero scaruffi Sat, 25 Feb 2012 06:48:58 GMT http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120221-015122 http://www.scaruffi.com/travel/blog0212.html
]]> http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120221-015122 piero scaruffi Tue, 21 Feb 2012 06:51:22 GMT http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120219-061424 http://www.scaruffi.com/travel/blog0212.html
]]> http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120219-061424 piero scaruffi Sun, 19 Feb 2012 11:14:24 GMT http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120217-073554 http://www.scaruffi.com/travel/blog0212.html
]]> http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120217-073554 piero scaruffi Fri, 17 Feb 2012 12:35:54 GMT http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120216-025716 http://www.scaruffi.com/travel/blog0212.html
]]> http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120216-025716 piero scaruffi Thu, 16 Feb 2012 07:57:16 GMT http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120216-002650 http://www.scaruffi.com/travel/blog0212.html
]]> http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120216-002650 piero scaruffi Thu, 16 Feb 2012 05:26:50 GMT http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120213-084051 http://www.scaruffi.com/travel/blog0212.html
]]> http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120213-084051 piero scaruffi Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:40:51 GMT http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120211-085237 http://www.scaruffi.com/travel/blog0212.html
]]> http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120211-085237 piero scaruffi Sat, 11 Feb 2012 13:52:37 GMT http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120210-014540 http://www.scaruffi.com/travel/blog0212.html
]]> http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120210-014540 piero scaruffi Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:45:40 GMT http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120202-213405 Tentative itinerary:
Feb 9 SFO-Singapore
Feb 15 Singapore-Male
Feb 20 Male-Dhaka
Mar 4 Dhaka-Singapore
Mar 5 Singapore-SFO

I have the tickets already for all of these but
a) There was a coup in the Maldives on Feb 6
b) Bangladesh's tourist visa is a lottery (in theory i could get it upon arrival, but most airlines don't let you board a flight to Bangladesh if you don't already have the visa, and i don't)

- Last time i was in Singapore was 2007. Now they have completed Daniel Libeskind's Reflection Towers and Moshe Safdie's Marina Bay Sands.
- The Maldives are a huge archipelago of 1200 islands threatened by rising sea levels with an interesting culture http://www.visitmaldives.com/en/the-maldives/culture
- Bangladesh must be a crazy country: 148 million people for 147 thousand square kms (California has 36 million people on 424 thousand square kms).


]]> http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry120202-213405 piero scaruffi Fri, 03 Feb 2012 02:34:05 GMT http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry111130-082635 http://www.scaruffi.com/travel/blog1111.html
]]> http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry111130-082635 piero scaruffi Wed, 30 Nov 2011 13:26:35 GMT http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry111127-193355 http://www.scaruffi.com/travel/blog1111.html
]]> http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry111127-193355 piero scaruffi Mon, 28 Nov 2011 00:33:55 GMT http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry111126-083219 http://www.scaruffi.com/travel/blog1111.html


]]> http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry111126-083219 piero scaruffi Sat, 26 Nov 2011 13:32:19 GMT http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry111124-201907 http://www.scaruffi.com/travel/blog1111.html
]]> http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry111124-201907 piero scaruffi Fri, 25 Nov 2011 01:19:07 GMT http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry111123-082600 Spent hours trying to find a way out of north Brazil. Too expensive to go anywhere north. Hence i bought a ticket for Campo Grande, which is near the Bolivian border. Then i will enter Bolivia and we'll see if i have more luck from there.
]]> http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry111123-082600 piero scaruffi Wed, 23 Nov 2011 13:26:00 GMT http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry111122-180731 http://www.scaruffi.com/travel/blog1111.html
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]]> http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry111117-095320 piero scaruffi Thu, 17 Nov 2011 14:53:20 GMT http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry111115-160425


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]]> http://www.scaruffi.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry111109-100828 piero scaruffi Wed, 09 Nov 2011 15:08:28 GMT