I stayed in Arizona for a few weeks and then Kristen and I headed up to Boulder, Colorado by bus. Long bus trips were of no big deal to either of us - it was quite fun actually since there were no good airfares to Denver from Phoenix. We hung out with my friends in Boulder and I sorted out what I needed to after my 6 months away. It was a great time and very cool to spend time with all my friends there. [View Full Entry]

---

---

I decided at 10:30am on Feb 13th to head to Arizona with most speed - I was going to chat with her over email at lunchtime, but found out that I had to catch the taxi at 11. I got on the taxi to the port at 11, the ferry to the mainland at 12:30, where I transferred to an overnight bus to Bangkok at 6pm which got me to Khao San road at 4:30am, and the airport at 5am where I managed to get onto the first United flight of the day at 7am to LA via Tokyo. I arrived [View Full Entry]

---

---

We got the boat across and found a nice place to stay on the quiet side of Hat Rin - the party beach. After a few days there I decided that I would rather be in Phoenix with Kristen than hang out at this huge party with all these stunningly beautiful people getting loaded. What is the point in travelling and having all this freedom if you don't do what you want to do? [View Full Entry]

---

---

The border from Cambodia to Thailand was very easy and had reopened that day and I got my free 1-month Thai visa that would take me through to the end of my 6 months in Asia. Apparently there was a television camera there and the border hadn't been reopened to the Cambodians yet. The bus ride to Bangkok was great - a very luxurious minivan after the ones in Cambodia, and I arrived at Khao San road at 4pm. My plans were to get to an island called Ko Tao to do a dive course, and I decided that it would [View Full Entry]

---

---

The speedboat the next day took us through Tonle Sap - which is a large inland lake formed when the sea pushed back on the river. It is quite amazing and at times you can't see either shore from the boat. I slept a lot on the boat and when we got to Siem Reap about 6 hours later I headed to Smileys guesthouse that was recommended by Kristen. I got a nice room, ate some food and then slept for about 16 hours - Phnom Penh was a great city, one of the favorites on my travels, but it had [View Full Entry]

---

---

The guy who sold me the tickets had told me that there was one place left on the minivan, and he was right in a way - there were only 3 of us with tickets on the minivan that would take 25 as I would find out later... The other two on the minivan were a couple from Australia and were good company as we traveled the extremely dusty road under construction across 5 ferry crossings. It was probably just as well that the road was under construction in that it had been flattened since some of the stories of huge [View Full Entry]

---

---

Time came for Kristen to head back to the US, and I to Cambodia where I am now.I had decided to take the southern route into the country near Trat and was hoping that the border guards would not charge me too much for the 1-month visa available on entry. That border had only opened up in the last few years and there were some stories of corruption from there. I met an American women who was a bartender from New Orleans on the boat from Ko Chang to the mainland and we got a songthew (Thai shared taxi like a [View Full Entry]

---

---

Kristen and I headed to Ko Chang - as recommended by Sarah and Ann from NZ in Laos. She met up with some friends from Japan and we had a few nights up on the road before space opened up on the beach. We got a beach hut right next to the water and settled there up until two days ago. New Years was a great party on the beach at the Nature Bar. After the fire show and some dancing we went off for some peaceful time, and met a South African couple who told us there was phospherence in [View Full Entry]

---

---

After a couple of hours in Vang Vieng, while having a beer in a bar with a couple of Scottish girls and an Aussi, Tsipi spotted me. The next day Tsipi and I went Kayaking on the Mekong, but it rained a little too much for her so after the elephant cave (with a natural stalagtite the shape of an elephant) and tubing into the dark water caves for an hour with candles) we hitched back to Viang Vieng. The next day I heard by email that Kristen was to arrive in Bangkok on the 27th from Nepal and would like [View Full Entry]

---

---

It was quite cold in Laos - for which neither of us was well prepared, but when we weren't in bed we toured the town and the temples bumping frequently into our friends from the boat. Richard and Martin providing much light relief - they were mad as *&$%! Tsipi decided to leave suddenly one morning, and I went to a local waterfall with Karl and Louise (Ire), a couple of very cute Dutch girls and two Isreali guys (also pretty cute). The waterfall was beautiful - very turquise with white limstone all around. Their pictures will look great! [View Full Entry]

---

---