Mike and Karen
Mike Richards Joined: September 18th 2008
Logged in: February 11th 2012
Logged in: February 11th 2012
Travel Blog Posts
Mal Pais
We left Alamogordo at 8:30 AM. We fueled up on inexpensive New Mexican gas. At $2.94 per gallon this was the cheapest fuel we had come across on the trip so far. I had just installed a K&N air filter in the car based on a recommendation from a knowledgeable family member and I was eager to see if the $50 investment was going to pay off in better gas mileage. My Dad was a veritable CPA when it came to family vacations. I rode shotgun on these excursions, maps piled high on my 12-year old lap. Every time we gassed up I was required to record gallons burned, miles traveled and calculate the all important MPG. I have been afflicted my entire life with this same OCD. How Dad loved a good MPG day. If ... read more
The Girls
Suffering yet again from an abundance of time and sufficient gas money Karen and I decided to embark on a one month road trip. Head westward my liver spotted friends! We made our first stop in Pensacola Florida where we enjoyed the asceptic confines of a downtown hotel in the old section of the city. Our room was one of only five rented in the 100 room facility. Pensacola is a Navy aviator town. There are buff young men in abundance and wreaths of hopeful young women clustered around them. Think of 'Officer and a Gentleman' without the cardboard box factory. We ate at Jackson's Steakhouse where my friend Marc and I dined nearly a decade ago. Same great food and service without the pretentious bill. Ask for Antonio to be your waiter. The only genuinely ... read more
Dirty Duck
A car slides up behind you. At regular intervals the driver will give the horn a little pop with the side of his fist. A Doppleresque monkey finger violating your ear canals like a pair of vibrating bratwursts rattling around in tin cans. 'A moment of your time, if you please Dear Sir.' 'Honk. Can you hear me?' Pause... 'Honk. Can you hear me?' Pause... 'Honk. Can you hear me.....' This is the point upon which I pivot to tell the driver that I don't need the services of his taxi. Not today nor tomorrow nor the day afterward. I say it in exactly this way so as to kill the inevitable follow ups. His desperate grin evaporates and he accelerates across the short distance between myself and the next unfortunate. Within a minute another bird ... read more
The Face of Change in Gili Air
We had the entire boat to ourselves. Well, that's not exactly true. There was also the crew of twelve and the amorous Berlin couple who had cloistered themselves above deck but other than that we had the entire Perama 100-passenger schooner to ourselves. Remarkable. We were on our way back to Gili Air. Our personal Shangri-La which we had stumbled upon in the Fall of 2008. Our vacation dream come true. Our once in a lifetime experience coming around again. I was ecstatic. Standing on the ship's bridge waiting for my first glimpse of that idyllic atoll to the East I had my i-Pod cranked and my feet doing a happy jig. The sun was bright, the seas calm and the great pyramid that is Bali was steadily receding in our wake. After leaving Cambodia we ... read more
Karen's Pinup Picture
The two sleek, black canines leapfrogged each other at Mach 2 along the beach’s meandering tidal trace. My whistle brought them to an instantaneous halt. Like cartoon Roadrunners encountering an unexpected pile of ACME birdseed. Their slender heads tilted in my direction and in a flash they were gone. Beep! Beep! Two hours by outrigger boat from Sihanoukville lays the island of Koh Rong Saloem. A sandy amoeba vacuoled with crescent coves and fine white beaches. Anchored by two steep prominent headlands and saddled by a low, jungle-covered ridge. Karen had gotten wind of this place during one of her research forays. On a trip of this duration it is amazing how much time you end up spending on the internet targeting your next ‘holiday’. When we started this journey the only things we were certain ... read more
Serendipity Beach
The pear-shaped Dutchman's gait was akin to a Parkinsonian shuffle as he navigated Serendipity Beach's promenade. The Khmer girl on his trembling arm tottered along beside him perched on brand new, too big and too high heels. Her tiny feet orbited within the pumps in sympathetic concert with her benefactor's limbs. While his pallid, hang dog countenance drooped as if he had stared at his reflection in a soup spoon until it stuck, his date's China doll head was as smooth and round as a freshly plucked apple. Her hair was cut in a Jane Fonda ala 'Klute' style. She (or he) had applied a thick smear of makeup to give her an older visage and it had worked. She could easily pass for 15 or even 16 in a pinch. At the cafe table next ... read more
The River Front
A discarded plastic water bottle has an average lifespan of 5 minutes on the streets of Kampot before it is transformed into a Lucite hockey puck and added to the others already in the bag. An army of human ants scours every square inch of town looking for recyclable materials. The work goes on 24/ 7. Karen and I were walking back to our hotel after a late dinner. We passed an old woman pushing a large wooden, bicycle wheeled cart before her. The cart was piled high with bottles and cardboard and crushed aluminum cans. A flash of heat lightning galvanized the night, picking out a small girl sitting in the midst of the cart's debris. My Princess of the pile. You could read books under your bedclothes with a smile like hers. But I ... read more
Map
The old drunk looked like Jerry Garcia resurrected. White, wiry Santa whiskers. His coarse, steel-wool hair had been brush-hammered into a flaring ponytail. His breath reeked of Red Bull and Jack Daniels. He stood at Karen’s ear trying to cajole her into joining him at his commercial bakery making bagels and breads for local restaurants. His equally shit-faced buddy was touting a DC-10 that he could let you have for a cool $1.2 Million. A California bred Cambodian princess asked every American in the pub if they knew what the Lakers’ chances looked like in this year’s playoffs. A burly, bearded anthropologist expounded on the world banking crisis from the corner bar stool. Across the lane, on the edge of the Royal Palace lawn, a group of Tuk drivers gambled away their earnings in the shimmering ... read more
I Hate Banks
I hate the banks. Hate them so very, very much.. If there was ever any doubt as to how much control the banks had over the US government that question evaporated the day Congress passed TARP. Every traveler to Vietnam suddenly discovers themselves grappling with financial issues like currency exchange fees and ATM ‘convenience’ charges. There is nothing convenient about any of it and if you don’t look out you could easily lose $5 of every hundred you’ve saved for your trip to these Brooks Brothers wrapped weasels. I will break things down in categories. Karen is the most fee conscious person I have ever known. She is expert in deciphering bank fee manipulation and most of the info here is derived from her research. As bad as the banks nickle-dime you in the States it ... read more
Vietnam
A common question Karen and I hear from fellow travelers in Vietnam is how much we are spending during our three month visit. This is our sixth trip to SE Asia and our second to Vietnam and we’ve learned a few things along the way. We bought so many souvenirs on our first trip that we had to hire a freight company to pack and send everything home for us. As a result we just don’t buy souvenirs any more. We’re full up at home. How many bottles of snake wine do you really want any way? The only things we are discussing here are day to day expenses. Our Expenses From 1/29/2011 to 4/6/2011 Visa $50 Air Fares $100 Food $906 (restaurants, markets, street food, drinks) Train Fares $51 Taxi’s $181 Bus Fares $43 Day ... read more
