http://blogs.bootsnall.com/AmandaFormoso An Overland Journey from Moscow to the Roof of the World Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:12:57 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en http://blogs.bootsnall.com/AmandaFormoso/a-slideshow.html Whenever you decide to do something crazy like quit your job and buy a one-way ticket to the other side of the world, you always question yourself. Especially if your plans center around learning how to use a sword and eating lots of mutton in a tent. But I think ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/AmandaFormoso/and-then-youre-home-my-final-post.html Lalo and I with some of my co-teachers and friends. Yellow is the color for the King and Thais love their king. Love. The entire country is a sea of yellow. Going back to your Peace Corps site is kinda like going home after your first semester in college. ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/AmandaFormoso/the-peace-corps-can-make-you-rich.html Sunset on Ko Samet Not really. It's anything but boring and I'm averaging 4 meals a day, not including snacks. I haven't blogged in weeks mostly because I was either in areas that have poor internet connections or because I didn't want to spend the final days of my journey in ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/AmandaFormoso/thailands-boring-and-i-havent-eaten-for-days.html My first trip to Thailand was six years ago. I was living in Japan at the time and it was just a quick vacation. I immediately loved it, though. I loved the chaos, the tolerance, the relaxed lifestyle. I knew I would return one day. http://blogs.bootsnall.com/AmandaFormoso/back-in-the-land-of-the-free.html I'm in Thailand. Hallelujah.  It was definitely time to move on and Thailand is exactly what I needed. I've been thinking alot about Tibet as I spend my days relaxing in Bangkok, though. http://blogs.bootsnall.com/AmandaFormoso/free-tibet-an-incredibly-pensive-post.html My final excursion in Tibet was a two day trip to Nam-Tso, a holy lake about 3 hours Northwest of Lhasa. I saved this trip for last because the elevation at the lake is about 1,000 meters higher than Lhasa, and I was already suffereing from minor headaches because ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/AmandaFormoso/the-holy-waters-of-nam-tso.html The beginning of the kora at Gandan monastery, Tibet We spent a couple of days this week hunting down local buses that would take us to a few monasteries outside of Lhasa. One was Sera monastery, where we saw some monks in heated philosophical debate, and the other was Gandan ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/AmandaFormoso/amazing-tibet.html Tibetan women walking the circuit around the Jokang Temple in Lhasa It was raining when we arrived in Lhasa at 8:00 pm on Tuesday evening. I didn't have a ride arranged, but one of my friends did and he invited myself and two other girls from the train to ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/AmandaFormoso/the-faces-of-tibet.html View from the dining car There was a definite excitement in the air as we all waited to board the train to Tibet in the Beijing West Railway Station. Not only were we all lucky enough to land a ticket on the new train to Lhasa, but we had hours ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/AmandaFormoso/the-train-to-lhasa.html