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We arrived in ChaingMai at (according to Ken (our guide) surprisingly early) 7:00 AM. Groggy from the train ride everyone opted to check into the hotel early so that we could get some rest. The Hotel was an absolute hoot. Pictures are worth a 1000 words. Think Sean Connery -James Bond hotel room. Plastic enameled everything, console buttons built into the furniture.....4 decades old, but very clean and comfortable. Glad to be able to call this place home base for the next two days. After our power nap, went off to see the old Temple, this structure has an incredibly storied past, with Pagan, South Indian and Siam origins. The structure is apparently only 700 years old, but not sure if that is credible as it looks at least twice the age. We then visited the ... read more

We wake up to temperatures equal to that of the evening before (except with the sun). Bangkok is truly a city of contrast. We do our best navigating the streets and intersections, dodging TuckTucks and Mercedes SUVs alike. In the middle of the chaos we stumble upon pockets of serenity within temple grounds dwarfed by the booming metropolis. In the early evening we met with our group. It a nice mix of Canadians, Aussis and Americans. Most of the group is in their mid to late twenties with one retiree, we're told we push the average up, but I respectfully ignore them as I give them head noogies. Ken, the guide, speaks an extremely odd dialect of "thinglish" which Alessandra can't decipher at all. I can personally eak out about 75% of what he's saying so ... read more

We welcome all our loyal subscribers to our second glob trotting adventure. South east Asia, mainly Thailand, has been a destination Aless has been anxious to visit for as long as I’ve know her. I suspect that if she had originally known my true motive for insisting we visit Peru two years ago, Machu Pichu would have remained a figment of my imagination. One of the most difficult issues about flying from North America to Asia is that you need to start so early in the morning. Most flights leave either from Chicago or LA (the two main departure points) leave in the late morning. The problem, of course, is that we live in neither of those cities. We found a good deal from Providence RI over to Chicago leaving at 6:30 AM, so we decided ... read more

Awake at 10:00 AM, finally a decent hour. Today is Plaza del Mayor and Museum day!! We grab a ride to Lima Central to explore the inner city, seems quite nice, the central plaza was grand with the fantastic looming architectures of the Placio Municipal and Catedral de Lima. The statue of Fransisco Pizzaro (Spanish Conquistador and Inca Inhalator) which once stood in the square was apparently removed in 2003, its current location is unknown. On strong recommendation we visited the Convent of San Fransisco, this magnificent structure contained a multitude of fantastic sights, from the Painting of the last supper with Jesus and his apostles eating guinea pig, the magnificent 400 year old Royal Academy library, to its most morbid attraction recently discovered in 1943, the massive catacombs of San Fransisco. Until Lima's first cemetery ... read more

We woke up at a reasonable 7:00 AM to fantastic pancake breakfast. We gather our belongings and were whisked away to the docks. Was said our yuspagara sunkis (thanks) and ripushaykus(goodbyes), hopped on the boat and went full steam ahead (5 knots) towards Taquile Island. Taquile Island sounds way more fun than it really is. The location of the Island places it about an hour closer to Puno than Amantani, and has thus exposed it to the influx of tourists ... and their money for much longer than Amantani. This has created a rather cold, and "leave our money and get out" type of attitude amongst the people. Additionally, we found out that the people of Taquile are a Xenophobic...ok too strong..... Introverted peoples. They refuse to mingle or marry outside of the Island. This ... read more