Dawn & Paul
We are a Canadian couple, Dawn & Paul and we have decided to take a break from our jobs and travel for 6 months in Africa and Asia. Dawn and Pauls Excellent Adventure
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
-- Confucius
Travel Blog Posts
August 11th 2006
Arriving into Cambodia was a welcome change from the chaos of Vietnam. Cambodia is mostly a rural country of 14 million people and it reminded us more of Thailand and Laos. Hence the title "Same same, but different" which is an extremely popular phrase in SEA. We arrived into Cambodia on a slow boat from the Mekong Delta. We piled onto a bus for the last part of the journey to the capital, Phnom Penh and after a small electrical fire, we were on our way. Phnom Penh Although Cambodia is a rural country, the capital is quite a large city, with 1 million inhabitants. Right away we were impressed by the attempt at order in the city and were impressed that the motorbikes actually followed the street signs some of the time. You couldn't help ... read more
August 3rd 2006
Our last week in Vietnam as probably been the best for us, mainly due to Dalat. Easyriding in Dalat Dalat is a town in the Central Highlands of Vietnam and has long been a favorite for travellers because of its cooler temperatures and picturesque countryside. It was a recreational town for the French when they controlled the country and the many deteriorating fabulous villas are a testament to this. Dalat is known among travellers for the Easyriders, an informal group of guys that will tour you around the countryside on the back of their motorcycles. You don't have to worry about finding them because they will find you, with an incredible ability to spot a new backpacker. We met up with Hiep our first day and arranged a one day countryside tour with him and his ... read more
Highs and Lows on the Journey South
Published: July 25th 2006Asia » Vietnam » South Central Coast » Nha Trang
July 25th 2006
From our last blog, I'm sure you could tell that we weren't immediately enthrawled with Vietnam. But now that we have been in the country for two weeks, we are feeling better about the country. However, it seems to be a country of highs and lows. We will have a really great experience with someone being super friendly and then turn around and have a disappointing experience. From the very north of Vietnam in Sapa, we took the overnight train back to Hanoi. Again we had problems with a couple of taxis, as we noticed their meters going up at astronomical rates and had to get the driver to pull out and hop out. It is so frustrating to always have to have your guard up all the time. We had pre-booked a day trip to ... read more
July 18th 2006
We spent a couple of days on Khao San Rd in Bangkok, enjoying phad thai, banana pancakes, fruit shakes, Thai massage and all the other backpacker staples. We then up with my aunt Patti, who will be travelling with us for the next month. Hanoi The three of us flew to Vietnam and landed in Hanoi, the capital. We had heard that Hanoi is a really crazy place, but nothing can prepare you for the utter chaos you encounter. We took the local bus into the Old Quarter and were bombarded by the sights and sounds of the bustling city. Scooters are the main transportation method and they are everywhere AND they do not follow any of the rules of the road. Crossing the street is an adventure sport. It took us awhile to master the ... read more
July 11th 2006
The blog should be fairly short, because we can hardly remember what we have done the past week. We now understand more about monsoon rains, as it has rained steadily most of the past week. Vang Vieng After leaving Luang Prabang, we headed for Vang Vieng and what a journey it was. The road winds its way high up through the mountains, above the clouds, with thrilling bends. It wasn't too reassuring to see massive boulders on the road or men with AK-47s patrolling the road, which has a history of rebel attacks. But we made it safe and sound to Vang Vieng, which is a small town thoroughly on the Laos tourist track. We knew that it might not be a place we would love, but we thought we would check it out ourselves and ... read more
July 4th 2006
We have spent the past week and a half in Laos and we’ll apologize in advance that this will be a long blog with lots of pictures! A Brief History of Laos We left Thailand and splurged (using Paul’s birthday money) on flights to Laos. We flew Lao Airlines, which is a bit of a sketchy airline, since they don’t publish their safety records and are rumored to land by sight. But we made in safe and sound to Luang Prabang and right away we could see why travelers can’t stop talking about Laos. You really do utter an “ahhh” when you arrive because it’s such a gentle, slow and relaxing country. Most people would be hard pressed to locate Laos on a map and it is in fact a landlocked country between China, Vietnam, Cambodia ... read more
Tired Feet and Full Bellies
Published: June 23rd 2006Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai
June 23rd 2006
We have just spent almost a week in northern Thailand, in Chaing Mai and today we leave Thailand for Laos. Up to the North We made it up to Chiang Mai on a local bus, where we were the only tourists. It was a great full service bus, with a stewardess, who brough us towels, drinks, food, water. Why can't bus travel be like this at home? We arrived bleary eyed early in the morning and took our first tuk-tuk ride to our guesthouse, Julie's which is one of those places that isn't in the guidebooks, but is legendary among travellers. It is one of those few guesthouses that really make you feel at home and people end up staying months. Cheap rooms ($4), cheap and great food, and super friendly local staff. We were lucky ... read more
June 16th 2006
We thought we'd do a short blog of Bangkok before we head up north to Chiang Mai. We went picture crazy this blog... Bangkok Bound It was sad to leave Koh Phangan and the islands behind. When we arrived at the Koh Phangan pier, we were shocked to see 500+ people milling around. I guess after the Full Moon Party there is a massive exodus from the island. They managed to jam us 350+ of us onto our little ferry. Loading took a half an hour and you should have seen the pile of backpacks. All part of the Full Moon Party experience. After the ferry, we sat around for 30+ minutes waiting for them to shuttle us to the train station. I do not claim to be a relaxed traveller and the Thai guys seemed ... read more
June 12th 2006
We left Phuket and headed to the Gulf Coast Islands (east coast) for another week or so of beaching it. Minibus Travel We had arranged to get from Phuket to Surat Thani by minibus and then to Ko Samui by ferry. It's really easy to book transport in Thailand as there are travel agencies everywhere and you really don't save much booking by yourself. The only problem is often you seem to have to travel by minibus, which is just a van packed full of travellers. We were told to be ready for 7 am, but of course we didn't get picked up til 7:45 and then we had to rendevouz with another minibus, to swap people. We made it to Surat Thani, only to find that we would have to wait in this place in ... read more
Banana Pancakes and Fruit Shakes
Published: June 4th 2006Asia » Thailand » South-West Thailand » Phuket
June 4th 2006
Welcome to the Land of Smiles, as Thailand is affectionately called. When we were in Penang (Malyasia), we got a bit antsy to cross over the border into Thailand and arranged to take a minibus for the 9+ hour trip to Krabi, in Thailand. Three minibuses, a ferry and 12 hours later, we arrived at our destination, Railay Beach. Railay Beach When we first started planning this trip, Thailand was one of the countries that was a must see and in particular, we had dreamed about the Thai beaches. We'd seen pics from friends who had been in the islands and knew we wanted to spend quite a bit of time in the islands. We've spent this first week on the Andaman Coast (the west coast) and it is full of the most spectacular scenery ever. ... read more
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