Let Me Tell You A Story. . . . | The Monsoon Diaries

What Dreams May Come – Those personal favorite moments that explicitly remind you why you went traveling in the first place.

Islamabad: A 5 Year Promise March 17, 2019 How I Got Here 5 years ago I crashed a random wedding in Lahore where of all the “WTF small world moments” I’ve had in my life I would run into an acquaintance named Ali Raza, whom I had first met briefly when I spoke at CUNY Baruch only a year prior. Flabbergasted, we then took a photo together and ...
Some Lahorious S-Wagah March 15, 2019 Thanks to Ann Wen again for help with the blog title! A lot of this has been repeated the last time I was in Lahore, but the highlight that I came back for would be the Wagah Border between India and Pakistan. Lahore After the Mehndi/Rasm-e-Heena ended at 3am, we crashed for 3-4 hours at our hotel before being ...
Czechmates For Life: Prague January 20, 2019 The last time I was in Prague 19 years ago, I was 11 years old. And I haven’t been back since. So does it count if I really don’t remember anything but this photo? NO IT DOESN’T. Last month, when 7-time monsooner (Luxembourg, Australia, New Zealand, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait!) Ann Wen found out she had more days ...

The Last Action Hiroshima September 7, 2018 After 2 days in Nagasaki, we headed northeast for Hiroshima, first boarding the 3:20pm Kamome 26 Train (which leaves hourly on the :20) from Nagasaki Station to Hakata. We arrived on time into Hakata at 5:13pm, transferring to Platform 13 for the Shinkansen “Bullet Train” Nozomi 56, departing at 5:33pm heading in the direction of Tokyo. Don’t fall asleep! The train only takes 2 stops, aka one hour ...
24 Hours In Kuwait May 31, 2018 Preface — To give you an idea what my life has been like this past month: Exactly a month ago, I was the Caribbean for a 3 day weekend in Turks & Caicos Then I returned to NYC for 4 straight night shifts in the ER (getting sick with a 103ºF fever in the interim!) Then I headed to ...
The Drive From Christchurch To Queenstown January 13, 2018 Our 8 hour drive from Christchurch to Queenstown was pretty straightforward. But then there was all this: We also stopped by at a local horseback riding event for a quick ice cream break on the outskirts of Queenstown. Unfortunately, Mary rolled her ankle in a rabbit hole here which led to an ambulance coming by to ice it. Most eventful thing ...

Czechmates For Life: Prague January 20, 2019 The last time I was in Prague 19 years ago, I was 11 years old. And I haven’t been back since. So does it count if I really don’t remember anything but this photo? NO IT DOESN’T. Last month, when 7-time monsooner (Luxembourg, Australia, New Zealand, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait!) Ann Wen found out she had more days ...
The Last Action Hiroshima September 7, 2018 After 2 days in Nagasaki, we headed northeast for Hiroshima, first boarding the 3:20pm Kamome 26 Train (which leaves hourly on the :20) from Nagasaki Station to Hakata. We arrived on time into Hakata at 5:13pm, transferring to Platform 13 for the Shinkansen “Bullet Train” Nozomi 56, departing at 5:33pm heading in the direction of Tokyo. Don’t fall asleep! The train only takes 2 stops, aka one hour ...
No Typhoon Can Stop The Monsoon: Nagasaki September 6, 2018 Apparently I haven’t learned the last time we, the monsoon, flew in the middle of a typhoon. A travel miracle had saved us then, and another miracle has saved us today. A few hours ago I woke up to an email from All Nippon Airways (ANA) informing that our 3pm flight #1872 from Naha Okinawa Airport ...

Cash Me In Kashmir Feeling Murree As Ever! March 18, 2019 For our last day in Pakistan, we decided to head up into Kashmir for Imran’s (our friend and guide who has been showing us around the past week in Pakistan) hometown and the resort village of Murree. Starting with a drive from the Rawalpindi/Islamabad area at noon, we reached Kashmir at around 2pm. You’ll know you’re ...
Islamabad: A 5 Year Promise March 17, 2019 How I Got Here 5 years ago I crashed a random wedding in Lahore where of all the “WTF small world moments” I’ve had in my life I would run into an acquaintance named Ali Raza, whom I had first met briefly when I spoke at CUNY Baruch only a year prior. Flabbergasted, we then took a photo together and ...
O My Gosh-avank, It’s Lake Sevan & Dilijan! November 14, 2018 Just tried real hard with punning the title just now, with special thanks to Fanny and Mihaela for the inspiration. And about last night… Oh boy. Recovering from a night we’ll all joke and laugh about years to come (“happy birthday” Sheryl! hahahahaha, and thank you Hostel Bivuoac for not kicking us out), we somehow forced ourselves awake this ...

Cash Me In Kashmir Feeling Murree As Ever! March 18, 2019 For our last day in Pakistan, we decided to head up into Kashmir for Imran’s (our friend and guide who has been showing us around the past week in Pakistan) hometown and the resort village of Murree. Starting with a drive from the Rawalpindi/Islamabad area at noon, we reached Kashmir at around 2pm. You’ll know you’re ...
Putting The Kewl Back In The Khewra Salt Mines March 17, 2019 With wedding festivities wrapped up and saying our goodbyes to Daniela, Emily, Jen, Eugene, and Amy last night, the 5 of us remaining headed on a 4 hour road trip this morning to the Khewra Salt Mines, the oldest and 2nd largest (after the one in Poland) in the world. Discovered by Alexander The Great’s army in ...
Islamabad: A 5 Year Promise March 17, 2019 How I Got Here 5 years ago I crashed a random wedding in Lahore where of all the “WTF small world moments” I’ve had in my life I would run into an acquaintance named Ali Raza, whom I had first met briefly when I spoke at CUNY Baruch only a year prior. Flabbergasted, we then took a photo together and ...

Knock-Knock-Nakh-chivan On Heaven’s Door: 2 Days In Nakhchivan August 29, 2018 It’s time to shift monsooning back into higher gears — today we’re visiting Nakhchivan! A landlocked exclave separated from Azerbaijan by Armenia (or as some say, physically located within Armenia), but an otherwise autonomous region under the control of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Nakhchivan is similar to places like Transnistria and Kurdistan in that the region has its own elected ...
How I Survived (THRIVED in) Med School & Residency To Become A Doctor By Visiting 150 Countries June 30, 2018 After 4 years of college, 4 years of med school, 4 years of residency, and 150 countries under my belt, I’m finally about to graduate: No more school and helluva more travel await me. And to think I had almost failed out and got kicked out of school/residency more times I could imagine. Anyone remember Dr. ...
Miran With The Mostest In Mostar April 6, 2018 To be honest, prior to this trip, I did not know much about Bosnia and Herzegovina and its history aside from the fact it was part of the former Yugoslavia and had been battled by war. Thus, heading into our bus ride from Split, Croatia, I had no idea what to expect except from Calvin’s ...