http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/HappyOurs/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from HappyOurs en-us Thu, 31 Dec 2009 22:14:13 +0000 Thu, 31 Dec 2009 22:14:13 +0000 Since leaving Chang Mai we boarded a mini bus and headed for the Laos border. We arrived early in the evening had some dinner and a couple beers and went to sleep. Waking in the morning we were taken to the Thai immigration side for the border formalities then boarded a long boat and were taken across the river to the Laos border. The Immigration into Laos was a long very frustrating system http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Phuket/blog-371794.html Well a lot has happened since our last blog. Flying home from Buenos Aires to Vancouver turned out to be the biggest headache imaginable. Despite delays and cancellations we arrived in YVR 17 hours late to celebrate Christmas with family and friends. Off again we headed to New York for New Years. Figuring out our way from JFK airport to our hostel was surprisingly easy. Our first and lasting im http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/blog-362013.html Over the last couple weeks we have covered many miles and spent many hours on the bus our longest bus was 32 hours from Arica Chile to Vin Del Mar Chile. The highlight of Arica was the pedestrian street lined with outdoor patios where we sat and enjoyed a rocket of beer and a couple hot dogs smothered in mayonaise tomatos lettuce and ketchup . . . a Chilean specialty. A couple things we http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/blog-355054.html After some fun filled days in Huaccachina we took the overnight bus into Cusco. We found a quaint hostel and set out to explore the city. Cusco for us is one of those cities that really lets us appreciate traveling. Its easy to spend hours walking through the narrow cobbled streets looking at the architecture of the old buildings and popping into stores to shop. The city is a contrast of tradit http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/La-Paz/blog-350736.html After our Galapagos tour we spent a couple days relaxing in Guayaquil. Until fairly recently Guayaquil had a rightly deserved reputation as a very dangerous ciyty. The government has since started to clean it up and make it safer for travelers. The Malecon 2000 was built a long water front promenade with shops and restaurants and lots of police patrol making it completely safe. The Parque de Boli http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Lima/Lima/Miraflores/blog-347272.html We have just returned from our 5 days in the Galapagos Islands and our time spent there can be summarised in one word Amazing Since beginning to plan our trip we were looking forward to the Galapagos as one of the major highlights and we were not disappointed. There are many ways to go about organising a trip to the islands. After much research and careful consideration we decided to book a 4 da http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Galapagos/Santa-Cruz-Island/blog-344436.html We left Puerto Viejo and headed for the Panama border it turned out to be one of the more exciting border crossings. The bus let you off about 100 meters from this rickety looking bridge crossing a large river on one side was Costa Rica and the other was Panama. You get your passport stamped and walk across the bridge to the Panama immigration office. It was the country that has asked the most q http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Galapagos/Santa-Cruz-Island/blog-342394.html Up and at it early in the rainy morning we made our way to the San Jose airport for our flight to the Dominican Republic. Stood in line for about an hour only to find out that our flight had been delayed due to heavy rain the night before. The delay would cause us to miss our connection flight in Panama City. Our only choice was to fly into Santo Domingo and Copa would transfer us to Punta Cana fr http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Limon/Puerto-Viejo-de-Talamanca/blog-338965.html We have done our fair share of traveling and have stayed in and seen some pretty bad accommodation. But this last week we have splurged and become champagne backpackers. It all started after our time in San Juan del Sur. . . we had both been sick for days had to force ourselves to move on. After a long bus ride that literally went in circles before eventually breaking down we arrived into Play http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Monteverde/blog-334368.html Our weekend in Roatan was great. We stayed at Posada Arco Iris in a studio apartment with its own kitchen. It is situated steps away from a white sand beach and there are 2 resident monkies that are eager to play and hold your hand. Days were spent at the beach suntanning and snorkeling there is good snorkeling swimming distance off the shore. Nights were spent with Ryan cooking up amazing meals http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Nicaragua/San-Juan-Del-Sur/blog-331632.html The ride from Semuc Champey was an adventure in itself A collectivo a vehicle about the size of a large van is a main source of transportation in Guatemala. With 21 people crammed into it we started our trip to Xela. The driver could serioulsy enter the Indy 5oo the way he was racing down the windy bumpy roads taking corners so fast that the tires were screeching. Even the locals on the coll http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Honduras/Bay-Islands/Roatan/blog-327968.html After a LONG day on several buses ending up exhausted and still 2 hours away from our destination we were in Coban. A nice town everything a traveller needs to get ready for Semuc Champey. The next day up bright and early we were barreling down the windy and bumpy road to Semuc Champey an area that is being considered as 1 of the natural wonders of the world. In order to get to Semuc Champey http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Coban/Semuc-Champey/blog-322900.html Had some troubles uploading pictures for our first entry but here they are.We have since left Belize spending our last night in a tree house in San Ignacio. We were the only guests staying at the hostel and got lots of information about Belize over the amazing home cooked meal from the owner. We have since made our way into Guatemala. So far it is a great country. Lots of nice people cheap food http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Flores-Tikal/blog-321049.html We arrived into Cancun Mexico a week ago. With our trusty Lonely Planet in hand we were confident we knew where we were going as we walked out of the airport. It wasn't until we walked back into the airport and outside a couple more times we realised maybe our LP was mistaken. Already sweating buckets a tad lost and our backpacks getting heavier by the minute the start of a wonderful experience http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Belize-Barrier-Reef/Caye-Caulker/blog-319409.html