Cary
Cary Gillit Joined: October 3rd 2008
Logged in: June 4th 2011
Logged in: June 4th 2011
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Travel Blog Posts
Koh Lanta
So next on the agenda is visit the famous beaches and islands of Thailand's Western Coast. To get there I had to take an overnight bus from Koh Chang to Bangkok, and then another overnight bus from Bangkok to Koh Chang ... Im about sick of overnight buses. It's currently low season, which means good news and bad news. Good news ... discount prices and less crowds. Bad news ... frequent rain and rough waters. I booked a week at a resort for the peninsula of Koh Lanta thinking I was getting a great deal. It was a great deal as far as price, but unfortunately most of the island was closed down for the offseason as the resorts and bungalows do their annual offseason maintenance and upkeep. Just a narrow strip of beach was open ... read more
Koh Chang 1
I had to go back to Phenm Penh for one more night before I was able to book a direct bus and ferry ticket to Koh Chang, which is a large island off the Cambodia/Thailand southern border. Somewhat undeveloped compared to its sister islands in furhter south Thailand, its quickly catching up. Luckily I got a heads up from a former traveling companion that Lonely Beach was a nicely isolated hiding spot from the more franctic and louder main beaches. It also proved to be very economic ... $9 for a fan bungalow with its own bathroom. Just a isolating fan, no AC, but when you're right off the beach I prefer to leave the windows open and make due with the sea breeze and the sounds of waves. The air cons in SE Asia really ... read more
angkor
It's been a while since my last entry, as I've been held hostage by Thailand island resorts charging ridiculous internet rates for slow connections. When I was traveling in Vietnam I met a girl from America and we seemingly had a lot in common in that we were both Americans in our early 30’s, both traveling alone, both professionals back home, we were reading a lot of the same books and we were both getting tired of being surrounded by 20 year old backpackers. We also shared a similar itinerary, so we decided to meet up together when we were in the same cities and specifically for Siem Reap for the Angkor Wat Temples. We could split costs of hiring our own taxi to drive us around with an English speaking tour guide, and they really ... read more
Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh is the capital of Cambodia, home of a very impressive Royal Palace and National Museum. However, it's best known tourist destinations are memorials and museums dedicated to the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge regime. Most famous is The Killing Fields, where political prisoners were executed by the thousands in a small field about 10 km outside the city of Phnom Penh. These grounds alone turned up numerous mass graves where the remains of nearly 10,000 people were found. There's a large stupa in the middle of the site where the remains of skeletons and skulls are housed. The stupa structure allows the souls of the departed to reach heaven, according to local tradition. Another 'must see" is S-21, the prison where political prisoners were held, interrogated and tortured before execution inside Phnom Penh ... read more
Pedestrian Crossing
Ho Chi Minh, my final destination in Vietnam, as you could imagine has a much more Western feel to it than Northern Vietnam. The local people still call it Saigon, so it’s hard for me not to do the same. The city has an expansive skyline, advertisements and billboards everywhere you look. If Hanoi reminds one of the West Village, Saigon feels like mid-Town. The pedestrian street crossings are a leap of faith or stupidity. But the prices are very un-Western … $8 guesthouse rooms with private shower. $1 bowls of pho. .75 spring rolls. I really only stayed in Saigon for 3 days, much of the time visiting museums and going on tours. First museum was the Reunification Palace, which previously was the official residence of the Presidents of the former South Vietnam government. It ... read more
Hoi An - Silk Lanterns
On the trip from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City (still known as Saigon by the locals), I traveled by "open bus" ticket. That means I buy a 1 way ticket from Hanoi to HCMC for $35, but I have the freedom to get off the bus at any drop off point of my chosing, and stay as long as I like, within a 30 day period. I just have to call my travel agent 24 hours ahead of time to reserve a seat and let know I'm ready to be picked up (usually at my hotel). Most of the dropoff points are in popular tourist cities, typically in the most popular parts of town surrounded by cheap guesthouses, and most of the bus routes between cities are overnnight routes. Which really isn't bad considering you ... read more
Hanoi 1
I departed on the 4th of July to "Nam", and to celebrate properly I had to listen to Bruce Springsteen's first 5 albums on my iPod on the 26 hour (yes, 26 hours) bus ride from Vientaine to Hanoi. We actually stopped at a border town at 2 AM and parked for 5 hours so the driver could get some shut eye and wait for the Vietnam border to open at 7 am. Why a more sensible departure logistics couldn't have been scheduled to bypass this, I'm not quite sure. I try not to worry about it and just go along for the ride. Maybe one of the top 3 worst "getting from point A to point B" experiences in my trip. Also, let's just say the Communist Vietnamese goverment isn't exactly efficient when it comes ... read more
vientaine1
I arrived in Vientaine from Luang Prabang after a 6 hour bus ride turned into a 10 hour bus ride due to a couple of flat tires suffered along the way. It was a really lovely drive though ... I would have to rate Laos as one of the most beautiful countries in the world when it comes to raw, undeveloped, natural beauty. Unfortunately, Vientaine doesn't possess much of this beauty. It was generally a bleak industrial city, but it served its purpose with ample travel agents provided visa and travel service to Vietnam. Unfortunately, I forgot to sign something and had to start the 3 day visa processing start from scratch, so I was in Vientaine a day or two longer than I would have wanted. Luckily it had a few tourist attractions (a national ... read more
budha
The gold at the end of the 2 day Mekong Boatride rainbow is Luang Prabang, UNESCO World Heritage Site. For tourists, Luang Prabang is a travel hub on the banks of the Mekong surrounded by jungle. You can shop for local arts and crafts at the night market, treat yourself to a day spa, arrange guided treks through the jungle and visit indigenous tribes, take day trips to outlying waterfalls and caves, participate in adventure sports ... or you can do what I did, relax and read a lot. I did go to the famous Kuang Si waterfalls, but since I was swimming I didn't bring my camera for fear of theft, so no pictures sadly. Luang Prabang is also a great walking city, with no shortage of scenic views of the surrounding jungle, the river ... read more
Blue House
I left Bangkok for Chiang Mai on an overnight train. Chiang Mai is in the mountains of Northern Thailand, near the infamous "Golden Triangle" near the borders of Burma and Laos. Its becoming more apparent that my travel legs are weakening a bit. When I was in Europe, I frequently took overnight trains, and upon arrival I would check into the hostel, drop off my bags and immediately hit the city sites. Now it takes me a day or two to get the wind back in my sails. This might also have something to do with the heat. Surrounded by rainforrest, it's easily 100 degrees everyday with 100% humidity. That forced me to trade in some vanity for comfort, and I shaved my hair off ... which along with my collection of black t-shirts I've collected ... read more
