http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Cary/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Cary en-us Mon, 07 Dec 2009 04:41:01 +0000 Mon, 07 Dec 2009 04:41:01 +0000 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Ko-Phi-Phi/blog-435833.html 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 CambodiaThailand 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 hidin http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Ko-Chang/blog-433499.html 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 30rsquos both traveling alone both professionals back home we were reading a lot of the same books and w http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-431760.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Phnom-Penh/blog-428290.html 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 itrsquos 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 midTown. The pedestrian street crossi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Southeast/Ho-Chi-Minh-City/blog-425489.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/North-Central-Coast/Hue/blog-423407.html 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 coul http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-419620.html 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 gen http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-418362.html 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 c http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Luang-Prabang/blog-414393.html 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 cit http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-411373.html Flying into Bangkok from India I almost felt like I was back in America. The airport and customs was quiet orderly painless and well marked. Things made sense. I didn't have to haggle with the taxi driver about how much she would charge to take me to my hotel. She just turned on the meter without me having to scold her to do so just as the Metered Taxi sign on top of her cab said she w http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-408026.html Haridwar India become my official 2nd home as I was stuck there for almost 2 weeks. Every day I walked down to the train station and was told that the trains were all booked but if I wanted to be put on a waiting list I would have a 5050 shot of getting a ticket. After 10 straight days of coming up on the losing end of 5050 I decided the 50 was an extremely shaky estimate. There http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-405413.html I parted ways with my UK friends and drivers in Haridwar. Haridwar is about a 6 hour drive north of Delhi. I picked Haridwar for a couple of reasons. First it's pretty far north and maybe I'll escape some of the blistering heat. Plus it's strategically placed to several interesting locations. First Haridwar is a holy hindu city where the Hindu God Shiva reportedly left a footprint and dr http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttarakhand/Haridwar/blog-401687.html I lucked out on my flight from Istanbul to Delhi and managed to meet three guys from Brixton UK in the airport who were traveling to India. After swapping iteneraries it looked as if we were going to a lot of the same destinations so they asked if I wanted to join up with them for the NE Himalayan leg of the trip to Manali and Shimla. We rented a tourist taxi with a personal driver and car http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Himachal-Pradesh/Manali/blog-399091.html From Greece there was another overnight train to Istanbul Turkey. The first sign that I wasnrsquot in a more mainland European city was that there was no sign of graffiti tags. The second sign are the prayer chants blaring over the loud speakers 5 times a day from the many mosques. Istanbul is another city where you could spend weeks and hardly scrape the surface of the sights the hist http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/blog-397116.html Getting to Athens was an adventure in and of itself which involved a 36 hour train ride through Romania Bulgaria ... an over night layover in Thessaloniki Greece and then another 6 hour train ride to Athens. From Paris to Athens I think successfully milked every last dime I could out of my 30 day train pass. And Ive found that there isnt an alarm clock invented that will get you from sound http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Attica/Athens/blog-396137.html The overnight train ride from Prague to Budapest was hell. First I thought I had reserved a sleeper car but something was lost in the translation with the station ticket agent and I was booked in a 2nd class car with seats. The car sat 6 people 3 people cramped side by side facing another 3 people. Like 2 rows on a cramped red eye flight facing each other. In our car was a drunk who a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Hungary/Central-Hungary/Budapest/blog-395364.html I arrived in Prague refreshed after a lazy three days in Vienna and ready to hit the town. I had to depart from the Euro and move to Czech currency. Prague isnt as cheap as it once was but its still quite a bit cheaper than. Accomodation can still be pretty cheap as well. I stayed in a great hostel and met several Americans including a couple of girls from Stephen F Austin college in Te http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/blog-395357.html After a rocky overnight train ride from Venice in a sleepover car all to myslf I arrived in Vienna at 7 a.m feeling a bit battleworn. Italy was a lot of fun but I felt I was running on fumes a little bit. I also had a nice quiet boutique hostel booked in Vienna as opposd to the Spring Breakcollege dorm atmosphere of my hostels in Italy. As such I did a lot of sleeping late in Venice. V http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Austria/Vienna-State/Vienna/blog-393543.html I realized Rome was a city you needed two weeks to do but that wasnt going to stop me from doing as much as I can in 4 days. You can easily spend 2 days just at the Vatican Museum even if youre not Catholic or even particularly religious as they have a lot of Roman Egyptian and Persion historical artifacts from the last 2000 years. It also contains an unbelievable amount .... blocks and http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Rome/blog-391620.html