http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Greg-and-Tricia/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Greg and Tricia en-us Wed, 23 Dec 2009 11:07:26 +0000 Wed, 23 Dec 2009 11:07:26 +0000 Anyone who knows me knows how much I love a new adventure for the experiences sake. Strangely one thing that was definitely NOT on my list of things to experience in this lifetime was the violent overthrow of a third world country with a front row seat. Yet here I am and Im left wondering if I should begin warning future nations of my impending travel plans as my dear old friend Michael sugg http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Honduras/San-Pedro-Sula/blog-413475.html Utila is a quiet little island just off the carribean coast of Honduras. It is perfect if you are looking for that undiscovered place that is so cool and off the beaten path before the tourist industry takes control and destroys its charm. Part of what keeps the island so peaceful is the relative difficulty of getting here. It's not an easy packaged travel plan and requires some real intent but http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Honduras/Bay-Islands/Utila/blog-404711.html We haven't done much worth writing about for the past couple of weeks. We're still on Utila and have moved houses from one in the little town to a nicer villa on the South beach for a week. There's snorkeling out our back door and blessed air conditioning. It's a mini vacation from our vacation. We have been diving about once a week usually on Mondays and this is where I must add a recommendati http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Honduras/Bay-Islands/Utila/blog-411266.html Local legend as well as an enterprising entrepreneur or two says that the island of Utila is the place of the fabled Robinson Crusoe who shipwrecked on a tripical island met a man he called Friday and lived for 24 years marooned and seeking rescue. There is even a billboard or two offering Robinson Crusoe tours of the island showing where he supposedly stayed etc. based on the description http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Honduras/Bay-Islands/Utila/blog-405923.html Greetings All Internet services are finally being restored on the island to the point I can post again. The 7.1 Temblor hit about 230 in the morning three nights ago and shook us all awake yes we were actually in bed by 300. There is a window right by our bed and the 500 gallon watertank sits on a 10 foot high platform about fifteen feet from the house. Lights from the neighbors make it vi http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Honduras/Bay-Islands/Utila/blog-403685.html Welcome once again to our summer travel blog. If you'd like to read about last year's trip to Thailand you can find that here Thailand . This year we are venturing through Central America and spending much of our time on the bay island of Utila though there are sojourns planned to Belize Roatan and possibly some ruins on the mainland. Utila is a small island about 5 miles long and 2 miles http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Honduras/Bay-Islands/Utila/blog-402892.html Hi AllThanks for joining us on the trip. Here is a link to Yahoo Videos where we have posted a compendium of our journey complete with a bit of music to make it bearable httpvideo.yahoo.comwatch32573449182035Hope you enjoy it. Next year we're looking at Honduras and Central America for our travels so join us then for a new adventure. Until thenSawatdee KapGreg and Tricia http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-309951.html Okay we've just wrapped up our month in the land of smiles and we hope you've enjoyed the vicarious journey with us. We're headed off for two weeks of festival camping I'll write a bit about that in a week or so but for now here are a few thoughts and observations on Thailand that don't really fit anywhere else. Some of it is a bit crude and adult oriented but there's just no other way to a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-298421.html Khao Sok National Rainforest covers over 750 square kilometers and is surrounded by hundreds more. It is the oldest evergreen virgin rainforest in the world and stepping from the road onto the trails makes this amazingly obvious. This is the world before we knew it. The rainforest is at once beautiful and treacherous. It's the kind of place you want to go with a guide. Always. We took a tube ride http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Khao-Sok-NP/blog-297512.html Just a quick entry here we're about to climb onto the back of an elephant and go treking into the National Forest.We made it to Khao Sok after a bit of a hassle at the bus depot. It's easy for complacency to set in in places like Pai and Koh Tao where everyone is friendly and noone is out to scam you for your money. It's easy to forget that in any city of size Bangkok Chang Mai Surat Thani it http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Khao-Sok-NP/blog-296406.html In the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy the book for which the novel is named carried around by the protaganist has printed on it's cover DON'T PANIC This is typically good advice for most situations we find ourselves in and VERY good advice when diving 100 feet underwater with sharks swimming around you when something goes terribly wrong.Now I disagree with Mr. Adams somewhat on this to http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Ko-Tao/blog-294884.html The same day we arrived in Koh Toa we started our open water diving course. First we made it to the island after the 2 hour ferry ride and checked in at Ban's Diving Resort. AFter a bit of research we discovered that this place has the best reputation in the area for diver training and facilities. I can attest that the reputation is well deserved. The rooms are a bit small but that's not too im http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Ko-Tao/blog-293473.html It took us two full days to get here but it was worth the journey. We left Pai and took the winding road back to Chang Mai which seemed a lot easier going downhill than going up it. But that may have just been the adrenaline working as the driver we had of our overstuffed minivan is Thailand's answer to Evil Knievel. He didn't seem to mind sliding into the oncoming lane to pass slower vehicles http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Ko-Tao/blog-292761.html One of the strangest but most common phrases you will hear in Thailand is samesame but different. It sort of means that you are doing something similar but not quite. I think. It's sort of hard to say what anyone in Thailand actually means when they speak to you. Their english is fair but their comprehension is low. There is a lot of smiling and nodding and somehow everything works out but http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Pai/blog-291138.html When I was a kid I read a short story about a man lost in the mountains in Asia who stumbles upon the mystical Shangri La or Paradise. In the story he was never allowed to leave once he found the place and had to eventually sneak out at night to get back home. I think this may have been the place he found but I can't figure out why he would have wanted to leave. Okay maybe for some decent Me http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Pai/blog-289468.html It's been a few days since you heard from me but that's mostly because days in this part of Thailand have no meaning. We flew into Chang Mai and spent the night there since buses don't leave for Pai in the dark. Chang Mai is Thailand's second largest city behind Bangkok but it really doesn't compare in any way. Think Austin compared to Houston. Chang Mai is still full of tourists who fly or bus http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Pai/blog-288689.html Our final evening in Bangkok and not a moment too soon. Bangkok is a fantastic city in many ways but it's still a big dirty city and the constant press of people and local hustlers gets old after a couple of days. My favorite was the guy trying to convince me to purchase tailored shirts from him and when I said no bumped me into a passing food cart that ripped the shirt I was wearing. This gave http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-287110.html Three airplanes three airlines three cities and twenty seven hours of flying landed us in Bangkok around midnight last night. But not to worry this is a city that barely sleeps. Bangkok is one of the most modern cities in the world and also one of the most impoverished. It's also beautiful and amazing and full of fantastic exotic and generous people. Like any great city there are plenty of p http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-286388.html It's late the night prior to our pending 27 hour journey to the bottom of the Earth. We've spent the day running last minute errands hunting for new earbuds books batteries clothes vitamins and assorted other travel crap indispensable for a six week trip that includes a full month in the land of Elephants Monkeys and Tigers Oh MY. You've all been invited to join us vicariously as we suffe http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-285668.html