http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Lisa-Van-Muyen/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Lisa Van Muyen en-us Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:10:58 +0000 Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:10:58 +0000 Nha Trang http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/South-Central-Coast/Nha-Trang/blog-374718.html Hoi An http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/South-Central-Coast/Hoi-An/blog-374713.html Halong Bay http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Halong-Bay/blog-374704.html Although Larry and I were only in Hanoi for two days we managed to squeeze a lot in. Arriving from Hong Kong midday we spent our first afternoon checking out Hoa Lo Prison Museum nicknamed the 'Hanoi Hilton' by US POWs during the American War fighting with scam artists a.k.a. taxi drivers researching trips to Halong Bay which we would depart for the next morning and Sapa and touring t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-374699.html Pictures from our day trip to Macau coming from Hong Kong... http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Macau/blog-345107.html On Friday night Larry and I boarded a rickety old train and spent the rest of the night 10 hours being bumped and rocked around our 4person deluxe sleeper on dirty mattresses which may have been nice 15 years ago. It was the beginning of our Sapa experienceWe arrived at Lao Cai Station on the ChineseVietnamese border at 610am and boarded our 1hour shuttle bus to Sapa. The ride was abs http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Northwest/Sapa/blog-320078.html For the next leg of our journey Larry and I headed to Hong Kong for a worldclass skyline delicious food which was unfortunately sometimes accompanied with nauseating odors and a quick reminder of the modern world as we recuperated from China and prepared for Vietnam.Getting to Hong Kong was an adventure in itself. We had originally planned to fly from Xi'an on Friday August 22nd but due to http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/blog-333772.html In the early spring of 1974 local farmers Peiyan Yang Zhifa Yang and Quanyi Yang of XiYang village were drilling a series of wells in search of water. To their surprise they discovered some pottery fragments and ancient bronze weapons.... no one ever expected that this accidental discovery would turn over a miraculous and brilliant leaf in history nor that it would unfold such a unique an http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shaanxi/Xi--an/blog-333752.html Arriving in Bejing on a Sunday afternoon we dropped off our stuff at our friend Nicole's apartment and spent the rest of the afternoon registering with her building management and the local police. Nothing like visiting a communist country Kicking off Beijing in style we later feasted on a traditional Beijing meal of Peking Duck dumplings caramelized lotus root bok choy and various other http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/blog-332403.html Okay I know that I wasn't going to post anymore Osaka or Kyoto blogs but this is one that I couldn't omit....Four wonderful adventurous and exciting years have passed while I have lived in Japan and although I was constantly trying different things and visiting new places there was one thing that took me forever to do.... become a maiko After studying and observing Japanese culture for http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Kyoto/Kyoto/Gion/blog-316848.html For everyone I haven't been in contact with recently I have just finished my 3year contract in Japan and have embarked on my last adventure before returning to Canada. My friend Larry who flew over from Toronto and I are on a 6week 7country trip through Asia from August 12th to September 20th. Our itinerary is as follows Osaka Kyoto Japan gt Beijing Olympics Xian China http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/blog-320072.html Ever wonder what a Dutch village would look like if constructed in Japan ...Well a Dutch village of course packed with Japanese tourists There are windmills tulips in spring wooden shoes Japanese restaurants canals tall ships museums highlighting the DutchJapanese history classic European cars and little Japanese kids running around yelling Sugoi Wow. It is quite the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Nagasaki/blog-277639.html On Tuesday April 22nd my family and I escaped the grassfire smoke choking Buenos Aires and headed to the historic old smugglers' port of Colonia del Sacramento. A designated World Heritage Site by UNESCO the historic quarter of this town truly is worth a visit. From the cobblestone streets which were constructed in the 17th Century to Iglesia Matriz the oldest church in Uruguay dating from 1 http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Uruguay/West/Colonia-del-Sacramento/blog-273651.html ARGENTINA Saturday April 19th to Friday April 25th We only had one full weekend during our trip to Argentina so we opted for the Tigre Delta Cruise on Saturday and roaming the streets of San Telmo and La Boca on Sunday. Although I am rarely sick I came down with a strange bug on Saturday and unfortunately spent most of the delta cruise with my eyes closed. I did however manage to wake u http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-276126.html As with any family outing our day trip to San Antonio de Areco included laughs good food dirty pit stop bathroom breaks neardeath experiences Kodak moments and the creation of memories which we all hope to remember 20 or 30 years down the road. I'm quite sure that a typical trip from Buenos Aires to San Antonio would be quite eventless however we had a chatty driver who continuously f http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/San-Antonio-de-Areco/blog-273666.html One of the most exciting things about a vacation is the anticipation of the adventures to come and sometimes as was my situation the excitement of being reunited with loved ones. Six months ago I purchased my plane ticket from Osaka Japan to Buenos Aires Argentina and for the last six months counted down until my long overdue family vacation. I started counting down by months then I chan http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-273643.html Before moving to Japan I had always said that Singapore was a country I wanted to visit. Why I am not quite sure... but it has always been at the back of my mind. So... this year having spent Christmas in Malaysia it only made sense to spend at least a few days in East Asia's 'safest' and 'cleanest' citycountry. The slogan of Singapore's tourism board is Uniquely Singapore but http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/blog-234952.html Malaysia PART 1 Malaysia Truly Asia Kuala Lumpur Malaysia PART 2 Malaysia Truly Jungle Taman Negara Malaysia PART 3 Malaysia Georgetown Adventures Georgetown Malaysia PART 4 Malaysia's Island Paradise Langkawi The last stop of our Malaysian adventure was the beautiful northern island of Langkawi. Arriving by ferry around noon on the 30th we were more than ready to hit t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Kedah-and-Perlis/Pulau-Langkawi/blog-234941.html Malaysia PART 1 Malaysia Truly Asia Kuala Lumpur Malaysia PART 2 Malaysia Truly Jungle Taman Negara Malaysia PART 3 Malaysia Georgetown Adventures Georgetown Malaysia PART 4 Malaysia's Island Paradise Langkawi Our stop in Georgetown Penang Island was only a short one but after reading about the charms of this old colonial town it was one that we had to make. Arriving a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Penang/George-Town/blog-233577.html Malaysia PART 1 Malaysia Truly Asia Kuala Lumpur Malaysia PART 2 Malaysia Truly Jungle Taman Negara Malaysia PART 3 Georgetown Malaysia PART 4 Malaysia's Island Paradise Langkawi After yet another late night of craziness in Kuala Lumpur Jenna Brian and I opened our sleepy eyes at 9am on the morning of the 26th to pack up our bags and head downstairs to meet our driver for http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Pahang/Taman-Negara-National-Park/blog-234328.html