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Ben and Erin
So excited.ExcellentAdventure
May 4th we leave for Vietnam. Our generally plan right now is to fly into Hanoi head south and then through Cambodia into Thailand. From Bangkok we'll go south and visit a bunch of the islands and then it's into Malaysia and to Singapore. We then head back with a few days in Hong Kong.
Travel Blog Posts
Second half of KL and Cameron Highlands
Published: June 30th 2008Asia » Malaysia » Pahang » Cameron Highlands
June 30th 2008
Another post on the wall! So Erin and I decided that we were going to shop our faces off in KL for the entire duration of our stay there, and so now our legs are hating us for it. We did, however, see some of the sights in KL: some temples, the giant square that is used for all sorts of important events in the city, and the giant park they have (which included full-on orchid and hibiscus gardens). We went to see the Orchid garden, and it was pretty breathtaking, just the amount of flowers they had there and how cheaply they sold them for (a large Orchid plant --with tonnes of flowers-- sold for about $3.35 CAD... CRAZY HUH?). By the end of our time in KL, we began to slow our incredibly persistent ... read more
June 27th 2008
Well here we go again, Right up to date! We've spent 2 full days in K.L. so far, and it's been pretty ridiculous! Basically we've been living in jungles and isolated islands and other things of the same nature, that now, being in a big city feels both ovewhelming and invigorating. This city is HUGE though. Literally, if you walk a block anywhere in the district we're staying (called Bukit Bintang), you run into a HUGE shopping plaza. I bet money that all the shopping plazas in K.L. equal about 10 west edmonton malls in total size. So we've basically been shopping for the last 2 days. I must update on another important thing though... that is the NIGHT BOAT/ridiculously long bus journey. So we decided that from Koh Tao we would take a night boat, ... read more
June 23rd 2008
We are finally caught up! I am sitting in an internet cafe here in Koh Tao, today we are catching a night boat and then we have an 18 hour bus ride to Kuala Lumpur. We have spent about a week here in Koh Tao, it has been a nice relaxing escape from the big cities (and pollution) and our last chance of lazing on beaches before we move on to Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong. Our first few days in Koh Tao we stayed a the little area by the pier. We stayed at Mr. J's Bungalows. Mr. J is insane, hilariously funny though. The entire place has laminated signs everywhere in horrible english saying things like "Fish for Friend, not Tom Yum" (Mr. J is an avid vegitarian) or "spend money here is good ... read more
Buses and boats and bikes, oh my!
Published: June 20th 2008Asia » Thailand » South-West Thailand » Ko Pha-Ngan
June 20th 2008
Alright, so it's about dur time for some new posts! Unfortunately I still don't have my camera cable on me, so I am unable to put up any pictures as of yet, but I'm working on it! I DID forget to mention that we saw a few monkeys during our stay in the jungalow; Erin saw one swinging right above our veranda one day and it just hung around the trees for a little bit, and then made its way across to all the other trees of the jungle. Thought I'd mention that for all those monkey fans out there (you know who you are!). So the final morning of our time at Khao Sok N.P., we got a ride from the owner of the jungalows to the bus stop at the edge of the park ... read more
Phuket and Koh Phi Phi
Published: June 16th 2008Asia » Thailand » South-West Thailand » Ko Phi Phi Don
June 16th 2008
Alright! We have finally found somewhat resonably priced internet on the islands but we are once again way behind on the updates. We were fortunate to get a relatively cheap plane ticket from Bangkok to Phuket, after the buses in Cambodia we were not too excited about the 20 hour bus ride to go to the south. Arriving in Phuket we caught a mini bus into Phuket town. This is also where we learned that you never tell anyone that you don't really know where your going or staying the night because we were promptly brought to the drivers "friend" who had "nice, cheap rooms" after many no-thank-yous we were taken into the town and dropped off at another "nice, cheap place" the hotel looked like no one had stayed there for at least a few ... read more
Krabi + Khao Sok = good times!
Published: June 16th 2008Asia » Thailand » South-West Thailand » Khao Sok NP
June 16th 2008
Okay. so finally time for updates! So after our adventures on the totally commercial Koh Phi Phi Island, we took a boat off to Krabi town. Now, we didn't exactly plan to go wild on the beaches of Krabi, as we were pretty tired from 'beaching' on the infamous phi phi, so it was time for a bit of relaxation and plenty of wandering! When we docked on the Krabi pier, it was more like the size of a small airport then a pier. There were long outdoor hallways which herded the arriving passengers into a swarm of people yelling "Hello taxi!" or "Hello, where you go?" which, by the way, have become two of the most irritating phrases the Thai people have perfected. At any rate, we hopped onto a Krabi town-headed songthaew (pickup truck ... read more
June 6th 2008
Alrighty, so before I go into details of the Bangkok experience, I would like to expand a bit on the concept of the "hell bus", as I skimped down the description quite considerably in my last post. This fabled "hell bus" is known to all who travel by bus from the city of Battambang to the Cambodia-Thai border (known as the Poipet/Aranyaprathet border, if we're getting into the details). One of the most glaring reasons this bus recieved the name is not actually because of the bus at all... its really the roads that make it a horrendous journey. The Thai government (most involved being a Thai airline company) actually pays the Cambodian government 3 million dollars every year so that they won't do road work on the stretch that connects the Battambang area in Cambodia ... read more
June 1st 2008
I apologize on our behalf for the strange grammar at parts in the previous post. We started our second day with first a trip to what is popularly called the "pink temple" (but I don't know what they were really called), as the stone used in the construction of the temples was pinkish in color and 3X stronger than the stone used in all the other Angkor temples. It was really cool to get to see the intricate detailing preserved through all the years in this stronger stone. We spent about 1/2 an hour there, just wandering through the ruins and taking in all the striking architecture from the period they were constructed. It was quite crazy, because when we started the tour of the pink temple, our guide (named bun) told us all about the ... read more
May 30th 2008
We spent the majority of our stay in Cambodia in Siem Reap. It was a really nice city, surprisingly small but with the most tourists. I guess it gets even more crazy during the high travel seasons so we were lucky. We spent the days going around to the Temples of Angkor, on the first day and 3 on the second. Our guide chose to show us his favorites since there are over 200 in the area. The temple basicly fall into 2 distinct styles but each one is still very unique; the temples are built in either a Buddhist (everything is on the ground) or a Hindu fashion (tall towers and lots of steps) by the Kings. It is believed that when the Kings die they join the gods, so each King builds one or ... read more
May 29th 2008
Off to Cambodia... We left the bustle of Saigon to join our new group heading to Phnom Penh. We took a local bus to get over the border which is quite interesting, a lot of "everyone off the bus" to show passports, then back on, back off, scan bags, back on, off, get visas etc. My first impression was that Phnom Penh was a very rundown city, but after walking around you realize that the people are so happy and friendly, it is definitely slowly being rebuilt. There are parks everywhere, and new ones being built all over the place complete with monkeys and we saw a few elephants who give rides around. We started our Cambodia adventure on a very low-note, visiting the S-21 Prison and the Killing Fields from the Khmer Rouge Reign. It ... read more
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