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 Afghanistan Visa For USA Passports May 13, 2019 Needless to say, the visa to get into Afghanistan is not as straightforward. For USA passport holders, single entry tourist visas have a maximum 3 month validity, so the earliest you can apply is 3 months ahead. With an opportunity to go there later this June, I figured it would be worth a shot at an ...
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 Afghanistan Visa For USA Passports May 13, 2019 Needless to say, the visa to get into Afghanistan is not as straightforward. For USA passport holders, single entry tourist visas have a maximum 3 month validity, so the earliest you can apply is 3 months ahead. With an opportunity to go there later this June, I figured it would be worth a shot at an ...
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 ...

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 ...

Buns Out In Barbuda May 17, 2019 After our first day in Antigua, we woke up this morning at 7am and drove back towards Saint John’s Cruise Port for our pre-arranged 8:30am Barbuda Express ferry to Barbuda. We checked in with our passports at 8am and paid the $200 per person deposit at the dock, boarding soon afterwards on their red and white catamaran: After buying ...
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 ...

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 exclaves like Alaska (thanks Alan Sedgwick!) and on a level less ...
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 ...