We drove up to ShelbyvilleTn from North Carolina hoping for better weather during our last three days and fortunately found it! Got to our B&B and found out that George Dickle distillery is closed on Sunday and Monday so if we wanted to visit we would have to make a mad dash for the last tour at 3:30 PM. Its in the town of Normandy so we "stormed" over with 15 minutes to spare. It a small batch distillery which we have come to find out have all been bought up by the these large conglomerates such as Diageo who owns [View Full Entry]

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Drove down to Wayneville, NC for a week in the Smoky Mountains. We rented a cabin in the hills overlooking Maggie Valley which is about 45 minutes west of Ashville. Had quite a bit of rain but fortunately we had clear day for long ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The fall colors are coming out and were in full swing on the Blue Ridge Parkway some of which was over 6000 ft. Also, took a ride over to Cherokee which is Indian Reversation. It had the obligatory casino and also the obligatory cigarette smoke! Run for your life!! We also [View Full Entry]

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We decided to spend a couple of weeks in middle America. First stop was Bardstown, Ky. A quaint little town in the green rolling hills of Kentucky. Fortunately, it is also part of the bourbon trail of kentucky. There are eight distilleries who have banded together to promote Americas whiskey. We were able to visit Makers Mark, Woodford Reserve, Jim Beam and Heaven Hill. Makers Mark and Woodford Reserve were in beautiful country and had fantastic tours (and whiskeys too). You get to see every facet of the production from fermenting the mash, to distillation, aging and bottling. We tasted the [View Full Entry]

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We spent eight beautiful nights at Secrets Silversands celebrating our 36th Wedding Anniversary. [View Full Entry]

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After the trip back from Halong Bay, we spent a night in Hanoi before taking the sleeper train to Sapa. It is eight hour trip in a 4 person sleeper car. OMG, who will be sharing this car, hopefully not another roaring snoring Aussie like in Chiang Mai!. Fortunately, it was a young couple from Paris who we shared some great conversation. However, when we told her we were from Northern California, she told us that her parents had met in San Francisco during their hippy days before they moved to Paris. Just seems like yesterday when we were the ones [View Full Entry]

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We arrived from Siem Reap in Hanoi via Vietnam Airlines. After the last several trips, this was a lot different from the turboprop and walking across the tarmac to a large house to pickup baggage and hassleing with the tuk tuk driver. We are back in a major city! We saw our driver from Hanoi Elegance 4 Hotel after clearing customs for the ride back to the city. This was the first indication that the driving techniques are a lot different from anywhere else we have been. One drives down the freeway straddling both lanes until someone comes up behind and [View Full Entry]

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It was a little scary when we got to the airport in Vientiane for our flight to Siem Reap. We were told our reservations had been cancelled since we had failed to reconfirm and there was only one seat left. Although we had reconfirmed in Chiang Mai a couple of weeks ago, you can not argue with a computer printout and we would have to fly standby. After anxious waiting, two people failed to show and we boarded with only one seat left. We were met by our tuk tuk driver at the airport for our stay there. We booked a [View Full Entry]

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We got played by the tourist agencies again. As with the minivan to Van Vieng, the “VIP” bus that we booked was hellish, no AC and packed to the gills with other naive tourists and luggage stored in the aisle way. Do not book a bus with a tour agency as everyone on the bus was bilked by these frauds. We booked with Namthip Tours. Beware. In Vientiane, we stayed at the Beau Rivage Hotel run by a very helpful Aussie. It is a great area along the Mekong River along a rather rough road. Vientiane has a definite French influence [View Full Entry]

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We took the minivan from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng, a 150 mile 5 ½ hour stomach turning ride through some beautiful Laotian mountains. We shared Dramamine with a Canadian girl who had some motion sickness and solved her problems. The minivan packed to the gills with jump seats that did not look at all like the picture at the agency. It was a good group to rub elbows with crazy English lads, Canadians, Argentines, Irish and us. The road was pretty rough and there was a lot of small bamboo stilted villages along the way. When we arrived, we played [View Full Entry]

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After a 1 hour flight to Luang Prabang, Laos we got our visa on arrival for the $35.00 per person entry fee into Laos. The other option from Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang was a 5 hour bus ride followed by 14 hours on a long boat on the Mekong River. We decided on the one hour flight vs. the three day butt numbing bus/boat ride. Luang Prabang is a small town nestled between the Nam Kahn and Mekong River with old French architecture and wonderful fresh baguettes mixed with sticky rice and noodle soup and sprinkled with Laotian hospitality. The [View Full Entry]

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