Our last adventure ended with Capri feeling down and out after a stressful day and a freezing cold overnight bus ride. It left us thinking: Maybe she wasn’t up to adventure travel? Maybe she wants to join a package tour on a plush bus? Maybe she wants warm sun and surf down south? After a few hours of rest, Jarrod surprised Capri with some pretty purple orchids and sweet mandarin oranges he found at the local market while out on his early morning walk. This seemed to lift her spirits and while she admitted she had some doubts last night, the [View Full Entry]

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Finding Transportation We only planned one day in Ayathaya to see ruins and then head off again to the next town, Lampang. So before we visited the ruins we needed to figure out what bus to catch and when. We wandered the “tourist” street asking questions about public and private buses, cost and departure times. The shops along this street (and many other Thai streets) are shaded by awnings weighted down with steel rods so they don't flap in the wind. As we wandered from one tourist information center to the next, Capri was caught with her head down and walked [View Full Entry]

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Today was an exciting day for me. Over a year ago, while sitting on the futon while the wind and snow howled outside on a cold February day in Thunder Bay I watched a TV show on the travel channel about a "Tiger Temple" in Thailand and it immediate became a MUST DO activity on our trip. Many months later that was to become reality and I was itching in my shorts to get going. But before the Tiger Temple, we needed to raise our world history knowledge and pay a visit to the River Kwai Bridge. A Peice of History [View Full Entry]

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In the evening the bus dropped us off on the side of the highway in Damnoen Saduak. There was a tuk tuk driver, Mr. Aree, waiting for us. Mr. Aree was a classic and he soon had renamed Capri and Vic Momma and Poppa respectively. He took us to a lovely hotel that had rooms on stilts over the river canals and kittens on the premises. We struck a deal with Mr. Aree that he would take us on a boat tour the next morning to see the floating market. So bright and early the next day, Mr. Aree was waiting [View Full Entry]

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We picked up Capri and Vic from the airport and after three hours of confusion about what flight they were on (because they missed their connection in Tokyo) and us almost leaving without them; we did manage to find them waiting patiently an hour after their plane landed, at 2am. Last time we picked up Capri from the airport we had to wait over five hours for her plane to unload. We've decided we are never going to pick her up again as it is never quick and easy. Something always goes wrong. Anyway, hugs and kisses went all around and [View Full Entry]

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Delhi to Bangkok We boarded the plane in Delhi destined for a brief four hour layover in Singapore and then onwards to Bangkok. We were actually looking forward to the layover because Singapore airport has plenty of shops, including Clinique, free internet and real coffee shops (not India’s Nescafe). I got restocked on Clinique while Jarrod had a nap on the couches and before we knew it the time came to board for the two hour flight to Bangkok. We arrived at Bangkok’s new airport, just opened in late November, and managed to catch the local bus to Khao San Road [View Full Entry]

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At 7am we boarded the train in Agra, destined for Delhi, for the last time. We were feeling a bit torn: sad because this marks the last lag of our India trip and we’ll be leaving in a few days but also excited to return to a city we know and to see how our perspectives have changed in four months. Arriving in Delhi back in August was such a culture shock. I remembered Delhi as dirty and smelly and just the ultimate of nasty places. The street was busy with people, cycle rickshaws, cows and the ground littered with piles [View Full Entry]

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Off to the Train Station From Bandhavgarh Park we caught a local bus to the train station. Our servant boy at the hotel warned us that the bus would be very full as a festival was on but we braved public transport anyways. Thankfully, servant boy flagged down the bus in front of our hotel before the actual bus stop and we chucked our backpacks on the roof and got a seat next to the window in the back row of the bus. At the real bus stop the locals pushed their way off and then more of them pushed their [View Full Entry]

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From Varanasi we caught yet another overnight train to the city of Umaria and then a bus to the small town of Tala, the gateway into Bandhavgarh Park. The train was two hours late arriving in Varanasi and six and a half hours late getting into Umaria. We were suppose to arrive at 10pm in Umaria but instead got there at 4:30am. With no hostel in sight and the bus to Tala not leaving until 7am we had a few hours to kill. We convinced the station master to unlock the First Class waiting room and bunkered down with our sleeping [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Varanasi at 4:30am after an overnight train ride where typically I get a good sleep, but no sleep is a good one when you have to wake up at 4:30am! On the train we made friends with an English hippy, Darren, and caught a rickshaw with him from the train station to the old city center of Varanasi. Darren loves Varanasi, this is his third time here, so we figured he would be a good person to hook up with…or simply follow. Waking up early proved to be beneficial because we arrived at the ghats at dawn and [View Full Entry]

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