021 - Cambodia - Battambang 05/31/08 - 06/04/08 The second largest city in Cambodia? Really? Battambang is the second largest city in Cambodia and, although you can sense its desire to be the next tourist destination of the country, still has a long way to go before offering Siem Reap caliber attractions. After the dramatic events that occurred in Siem Reap (check out our previous entries if you missed them), Hannah and I wanted a few days of decompression to analyze our thoughts, write the blog entries, a [View Full Entry]

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Have you read Part II yet? If not, click here for Part II. 020c - Cambodia - Siem Reap Part III 05/28/08 - 05/31/08 Recovery: Compassion, Corruption, and Closure written by Hannah Compassion Envision the following. We are at the bottom of the mountain of Kbal Spean, a temple site in rural Cambodia, trying to sort out what had just happened, while at the same time, explaining the incident to the non-English speaking ambulance crew from the International Hospital, the To [View Full Entry]

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Have you read Part I yet? If not, click here for Part I. 020b - Cambodia - Siem Reap Part II 05/28/08 Tragedy in Cambodia Hannah and I were hiking back down the mountain after having visited Kbal Spean, one of the lesser known temple sites northeast of Angkor, when something completely unexpected occurred. The trip to Kbal Spean was rough. The site is located about 50 km from central Siem Reap on dirt laden roads filled with rocks and potholes. Not so bad for a 4x4 pickup, but pretty [View Full Entry]

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NOTE: Our journey through Siem Reap is best described as three distinct stages, two of which have changed our lives forever. The first part is standard enough (at least as standard as the largest religious buildings in the world can be) and describes the majestic Angkor temples of Cambodia. The second part is unexpected, and describes a tragedy no visitor in any country, especially a 'developing' one, will ever want to experience (Click here for Part II). The final part is our attempt to pull the pieces back to [View Full Entry]

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019a - Laos - Luang Prabang Side Story 05/20/08 - 05/22/08 Hannah's Christmas pampering redeemed The story begins last year while I was looking for an awesome present for my soon-to-be world travel partner. What better present to get her than a weekend pampering to be redeemed sometime during our travels, but not come out of our tight travel budget. And, ahem, I suppose since I would be with her at the time, I could potentially get some use out of the present as well... but really, this would be HER gift! It came as a surprise then when Hannah suggested [View Full Entry]

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019 - Laos - Luang Prabang 05/16/08 - 05/24/08 A slice of Indochina Luang Prabang offers postcard views of the Mekong River and its surrounding mountains. The dozens of temples scattered about the city and constant monk sightings, especially during the morning alms hours, are a testament to how prominent Buddhism is within the culture. The Laotian people are genuinely friendly and 'saba di' greetings are gauranteed while walking around town. Both of us agreed that this was an amazing country to visit, albeit a little (pleasantly) underdeveloped, and more worthy of the title 'Land o [View Full Entry]

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018 - Thailand - Chiang Mai 05/12/08 - 05/16/08 Wat Central Chiang Mai is the second largest city in Thailand but has more Wats per square mile than we could have imagined. These Bhuddist temples, along with the monks that run them, are deeply entwined with the culture of Chiang Mai. The old city of Chiang Mai is surrounded by a square moat still filled with water and an ancient wall initially built to ward off Burmese invaders. Each side is about a mile long and there are at least a couple of gates (entrances) at each one. Most of the [View Full Entry]

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017 - Thailand - Koh Tao 04/17/08 - 05/11/08 Save Koh Tao Koh Tao is a small tropical island off the east coast of Thailand that is full of lush forests, white sandy beaches, rocky cliffs, and an abundance of coral and marine life. It is also home to over 60 dive shops, hundreds of self-absorbed farangs (tourists) that enjoy being catered to, as many or more locals that cater to them, and what seems like a million loud, polluting motor bikes, ATVs, and pick-up trucks. Unfortunately, the over-development of Koh Tao has led to problems of pollution, waste management, and [View Full Entry]

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015 - Indonesia - Bali 04/12/08 - 04/16/08 Hunting for manta rays and artwork in Bali First, I'd like to thank all of you for following our adventure. I (Hannah) decided to help with the blog, so the following story is mine. But before we begin I want to give some personal updates: Nico and I are traveling marvelously together and our relationship continues to blossom. Up until now we have been in good health, with some minor stomach irritations from Thai spices. I have managed to lose a few things - sadly not weight, but nothing critical (knock on wood). [View Full Entry]

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015 - Indonesia - Gili Air 04/07/08 - 04/12/08 We Like Gili Air Gili Air is a tiny island just north of Lombok that showed us the genuine, mellower side of Indonesia. Although it is only a few kilometers away from it's larger sister island, Gili Air feels like a different place; a place that both Hannah and I learned to love. As if to highlight the differences in location, the departure point from Lombok is the port town of Bangsal where we waited for 45 minutes as unrelenting touts tried to sell us bracelets, beer, and false stories of what [View Full Entry]

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