http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/HalAndCheryl/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from HalAndCheryl en-us Thu, 17 Dec 2009 21:30:24 +0000 Thu, 17 Dec 2009 21:30:24 +0000 We finally made it back home. We left Tokyo at 415 PM on April 22 flew 11 hours and arrived in Minneapolis at 115 PM on April 22. In other words we got back three hours before we left. Irsquove crossed the International Dateline at least three times in my life but I still donrsquot understand it. We flew a Northwest 747 back and got to sit in the upper deck. Thatrsquos also a first for m http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Minnesota/Minneapolis/blog-393548.html Ah Tokyo Pearl of the Orient. We didnrsquot spend much time in Tokyo just a day and that one was pretty rainy. But guess what rain lends itself and Cheryl to thatrsquos right shopping Our early morning Shinkansen bullet train from Kyoto allowed us to watch the countryside out the window. It seems that everywhere we look there are people. The country is mostly mountainous so tha http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Tokyo/blog-393423.html Saturday was another full day of travel. We left our Seoul hotel about 630 AM for the bus ride to the airport. We had worked our Korean currency down to the point where after paying for the bus there was only about 7 cents worth of Korean Won left. Fortunately Burger King at the airport takes Visa.Our Japan Airlines 767 was comfortable but nothing fancy. We arrived at Tokyorsquos Narita airpo http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Kyoto/Kyoto/blog-393381.html After the Korean War 19501953 the parties agreed to a truce that call the 38th parallel north the line of demarcation between the two Koreas North and South. In between the two countries an area was established to separate them. In my opinion the highlight of the tour was the first stop the Third Infiltration Tunnel. This tunnel stretches for 1.6 kilometers 1 mile starting in North Korea http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/South-Korea/DMZ/blog-393203.html The next morning no too early we hopped a subway for downtown and hooked up with the halfday bus tour of Seoulrsquos palaces. Itrsquos not really a full halfday since we only get one ride around the city for a 1 hour tour of the palace sites but it was just right for us. We were most impressed with the canal area with its sculptures of Korean life. WE could get off and get back on as man http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/South-Korea/Seoul/blog-393202.html Our scheduled departure from SIL Bagabag was 430 AM Easter Monday. Our destination was Manila and the main highway EDSA I have no idea what the acronym stands for only allows certain vehicles access from 10 AM to 2 PM. They call it color coding although there are no colors involved. I gather that it means that if your license plate number ends in a 1 or 2 you can drive in Manila on Mondays http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/South-Korea/Seoul/blog-393201.html The reason for choosing to come to the Philippines at this time is so that we could spend Easter with our Friends Carl Cheryl Rich and their15year old son David. This and our Exodus tour starting in late February were really the two anchor dates for our whole trip. Fortunately the rest of the people we were to visit were flexible enough to accommodate a couple of aging Americans with a thirst http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Banaue/blog-392663.html We left Beijing midmorning Sunday for our overnight train to Guangzhou AKA Canton and pronounced ldquogwong JOErdquo in southern China. We could have flown for about two hours to make the connection for our next flight but then wersquod fly over about half of China north to south. We opted instead for a sleeper train where we could at least look out the window as the countryside and the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Manila/blog-391553.html There are dozens of must see sights in China. With our limited time we had to pare that down to the sights in Beijing. Of those the biggies are 1 the Olympic stadia 2 the Forbidden City and 3 Tiananmen Square. There are plenty of others like Ming city wall ruins Lama Temple Temple of Heaven the summer Palace Beijing Zoo the new National Center for Performing Arts and the list goes on. W http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/Forbidden-City/blog-388461.html How can you go to China and not climb on the Great Wall Early the next morning we arose shone and departed with our 7person tour to the closest site the town of Badaling. There are three good spots to experience the wall. Badaling is a the one closest to Beijing b the best preservedrestored c the most overrun with tourists. Thatrsquos where wersquore going.The Great Wall of China w http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/The-Great-Wall/blog-388180.html Our China Southern A320 from Bangkok to Guangzhou was a very smooth ride. The Business Class section had only two rows and one side of one of them was totally unoccupied.The two hour flight was uneventful and well attended. The cabin attendants did not speak much English but helped with the pronunciation of the Chinese phrases that our grandsons provided in advance. As most of you are aware al http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/Forbidden-City/blog-388177.html We flew to Phuket pronounced POO ket Thailand and were picked up by car from Phi Phi Island Village Resort Spa for the 1 hour trip to the seaside and to await the speedboat to take us to the island. Since our flight was early and the boat didnrsquot leave until 130 we had a chance to have lunch at a little seaside restaurant where we were the only people who spoke English. The menu was in http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Ko-Phi-Phi/blog-388152.html We left Siem Reap at a reasonable hour on Tuesday on a Bangkok Air A319 and arrived in Bangkok mid to late morning. Waiting there to meet us after we cleared customs and immigration was our tour guide Chob Panma who came highly recommended by our friend Kent.Chob had everything well in hand and escorted us to a private airconditioned very necessary in Bangkokrsquos heat vehicle for the rid http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-387694.html Tuesday marked what was to be the longest hottest most grueling day of touring to date. Our tuktuk driver and our guide picked us up and started the 20 minute trip to the Temples of Angkor. First stop was Ta Phrom sounds like ldquotap roomrdquo the only temple with trees growing around the stones of the ruins. Itrsquos not that this is the only place where that occurred itrsquos the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Angkor/blog-386322.html Bright and early for us Monday morning we started off for the tourist town of Siem Reap in north central Cambodia. The sole reason for Siem Reaprsquos existence is the tremendous number of Buddhist and Hindu temples nearby. Most of them date from the 10th to 12th century AD. The taxi arranged by our Battambang hotel picked us up right on time and we set off north on National Highway 5 the sam http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-386320.html Well the quick shopping trip in Battambang turned into an hour and a half ordeal but we got makeup galore for the girls and toy trucks for the boys. Rey explained that these were things that their parents would not be able to afford to buy then so these items would be greatly appreciated.Church supposedly starts at 1000 and runs until noon. We arrived at about 1030 and there was no one around http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Battambang/blog-386150.html I had emailed Som a couple of months ago asking him to arrange for a driver and car or van to take us to Battambang on Saturday take him along with Rey and the kids to Boung Priene for the night and pick us up on Sunday morning to take us to Boung Priene for church. Reyrsquos dad is the pastor of New Life Church there. It is where I stayed while I was in Cambodia in 2004. There is no hotel in t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Battambang/blog-386129.html We left Moscow about 4 PM on Wednesday and arrived in Phnom Penh about 4 PM Thursday. It sounds worse than it was because we flew overnight on an Aeroflot Illyusin Il96 a Russian jumbo jet. We were well cared for and the inflight movie was a portable video player just for me. Cheryl could have had her own but she declined in order to do something silly like sleep. One has to live with oners http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Phnom-Penh/blog-386122.html Another early morning another early flight and itrsquos off to Moscow. Our Aeroflot Tupelov TU154 was comfortable and well attended. Aeroflot is the old Soviet commercial airline. Since the fall of communism theyrsquove done a marvelous job of bringing the airlines into the 21st century. The flight was pleasant uneventful and right on time into Moscow Sheremetievo airport by about 11 AM. A http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-385703.html The following day Tracy and Zachary took us on the Metro to downtown Kyiv and tours of interesting sites. We saw the Golden Gate gate in the city walls dating back to the Middle Ages St. Sophiarsquos Cathedral Museum St. Michaelrsquos Cathedral and Museum plus Independence Square. It was a delightful day far less ldquoheavyrdquo than Jonrsquos ldquoDark Dayrdquo tour. St. So http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ukraine/Kyiv/blog-384691.html