Outside Our Riad in the Old City, Medina

Exploring the Innumerable Souks (Bazaars)

Souks in the Medina: Pulsating Life

Aladdin's Magic Carpet Land: Marrakech

Spices, snake charmers, fortune tellers, cock fighters, henna ladies: no this is not India but the medieval town of Marrakech.

Spice Route to Marrakech

The Jewish quarter in the old city of Marrakech. The markets that reak of spices and frankincense, where cocliquot flowers are used to make lipsticks, and multi-colored gelatinous soaps are a must-buy before a visit to the hamaam.

Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca

This is the interior of the Hassan II mosque. Made from marble and stone from the Atlas mountains, it's roof is made of exquisitely painted cedar wood. The roof completely retracts to let in the light on special prayer days when the prayer hall is filled with 25000 people. The women pray seperately on the raised balcony. The marble floors are heated in winters.

Bogart's Town: Casablanca, Morocco

Yeah! That's Kavita... looking like she landed straight from the boonies of Africa. We're outside the world's third largest mosque after the Mecca and the Medina, the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca. Grander and more exquisite than any mosque we've visited, this is truly worlds apart from where we were yesterday.

The Church of the Savior, St. Petersburg 

The Fountains at Peterhof 

The White Nights of Saint Petersburg

We couldn't have put it better than Christopher Hitchens in his article in Vanity Fair: "Soaked in history, blood, and sex, Russia's St. Petersburg—home of Nabokov, Dostoyevsky, Shostakovich, and Pushkin, and launchpad of Lenin's revolution—remains an edge city, straddling the frontier between Old and New Europe, civilization and wilderness. In this haunted place, especially during the long "white nights" of the summer, it's still possible to catch glimpses of epic grandeur"

This is the view of the St. Petersburg skyline at 2am! The sun was barely setting and a crowd of people were gathered to watch the ceremonial lifting of the bridges on the Neva River to let the marine traffic pass by. All the bridges on the river part magically every night during June to August between 1:55am and 4:55am. The whole city participates in the revelry in the middle of a bright White Night.



The long nights are a magical experience but tiring as well. We were out way past 2am each night and the bright sun would start peeping through our curtains as early as 4am. Can you imagine that this is about as much light the city receives at the peak of its day during the winter months.

Red Square and the Kremlin Walls, Moscow

Hookin'up with Who's Who in Red Square

So Nagesh and Kavita are trying to get one shot together at the Red Square. The sun glows orange and we try three different people to try and get a picture for us with little luck. Then, while Nagesh is trying to get Kavita to pose, a man taps his shoulder and offers to take a picture of us together.

Not only are we pleasantly surprised to hear English, we're charmed by this American who tells us he's been in our shoes so many times in the past. We smile. He clicks. Then in a flash of an eye, he's gone. And following him is an entourage of black business-suit clad personnel.

Nagesh is dancing around the block. He can't believe that John Chambers himself just offered to take a picture for us. After recognition dawned, we had to get a picture with the man who so kindly offered to take a picture of us.

Moscow, Russia

Yes this is the land of fairy tales. It's everywhere you look: in the onion shaped domes of the churches (like the St. Basil's in the pic), in the people's faces, and in the magical clouds. This is the land of the Nutcracker, this is where Rapunzel let their braids down from tall, red towers, this is the land of Cinderellas dressing up to go to the ball. This is the land where fairy tales come to life!

We've Arrived!!!

DA! We're indeed in Moscow or Moskva. After 79 hours we still feel like we're moving along in the train.

Final Stretch to Moscow

Are we there yet? We still can't believe we're actually headed to Moscow. This is our longest train journey ever (79 hours). Kavita just got off at the platform to stock up on the supplies. The train stops for no more than 20 minutes at each station and you should see the mad scramble at the platforms.

Lake Baikal, Irkutsk, Russia

Known as the jewel of Siberia, Lake Baikal is the deepest fresh water lake in the world. What you don't see in this picture is Nagesh wearing shorts in preparation for a swim in the warm waters. But wait... this is Siberia... even the summers here are brrrrrrrrr. The lake is famous for its immense marine life; its most famous inhabitants are the Nerpa Seals.

UlaanBaatar, Mongolia to Irkutsk, Russia

Onwards to Russia... there's a duty free shop at the train station... not! Mongolia was such a fantastic surprise. We highly recommend this jaunt in the boonies for all you bay area stresspots.