http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Naomi-and-Ryder/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Naomi and Ryder en-us Sun, 03 Jan 2010 18:58:54 +0000 Sun, 03 Jan 2010 18:58:54 +0000 I write from our new bedroom. The sun is beginning to go down and the evening rays are spilling onto the bed. The light is just above the mists and clouds that are rolling slowly toward me from the base of the mountains that make our view so special. The banana leaves just on the other side of our property are blowing gently in the breeze and the birds crickets and frogs are singing their e http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-428078.html Our last installment comes after our return to the States but it is of a land well worth sharing about. Many people donrsquot even know where Bhutan is or that it even exists. It is a small country about the size of Switzerland surrounded by eastern India on three sides and China on the northern border. It is a newly democratic society who given the opportunity to elect anybody to gover http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Bhutan/blog-402783.html Get ready for a long one folks...we've been to 3 countries since I last wrote but I promise I tried to keep it as interesting and concise as possible There are no pictures this time as they take FOREVER to load but I promise at the end of all of this I will make one entire entry pictures for you. Anyway read on.CambodiaA country where unbelievable tragedy has occured in the far too recent http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Kathmandu/Boudhanath/blog-395391.html Vietnam cutthroat and beautiful. The land of motorcycle accidents cone hats infamous pho rip offs and incredible scenery. Traveling from our remote Laos border crossing we passed through the simple pristine villages with squat thatched homes surrounded by emerald rice paddies. Mountains loomed and the cloudy skies only emphasized the dramatic landscape. We hurtled and there is no other http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/blog-382173.html Hey ThereWell it's been a while. Since my last entry Ryder and I ventured down the Mekong and through parts of Northern Laos and have now landed in Vietnam. It's a bit crazier here than Laos and since we've only just arrived a couple of days ago I will be giving stories from here at another time. For now I'll focus on Laos...The float down the Mekong was beautifuldespite being uncomfortab http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/East/Xam-Nua/blog-379294.html Hello Again We figured you all needed a break from our stories so we took a writing hiatus during our time here in Chiang Mai. For those of you who don't know Chiang Mai is in the north of Thailand and is the second biggest city in the country. Ryder's mom has been living here for the past year and so we decided to come up for a 15 day visit. We had an uneventful overnight train ride from B http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-373176.html Greetings from Thailand Let's see a quick summation of our last few days in India before flying to the Land of Smiles...We had a great time at the teachings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He did commentary on a well known text from the 8th century. There were a few people who were staying at our guesthouse who were also attending the teachings we were quite the eclectic group There was Tan http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Eastern-Thailand/blog-366807.html Alrighty we're back up and seeing if we can get some photos to load. If you don't already know this you can actually click on the photo and it will get bigger I think then too you can just look at all the photos and their captions like a photo album at that point. But before that here are some random facts you should know about India1. The hundreds of roaming cows and braham bulls in the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Varanasi/blog-362693.html Hello again one and allI write today from Varanasi after having spent a few days in Bodhgaya. As I see everything going on around me and I contemplate what to include in this blog I realize more and more that it is impossible to include it all andor make it cohesive all the time. So this entry may be a bit scattered but will hopefully encompass the feeling and experience that is India.We we http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Varanasi/blog-361043.html Hello One and All from Delhi India This is Naomi writing you with first impressions of India which are hard to express. It is fascinating devastatingly poor dirty crowded and beautiful. Ryder and I got into Delhi around 7 at night completely jetlagged and worn out from about 35 hours of travel. Luckily Adrian Ryder's brother and his friend Rohit were at the airport to pick us up. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/National-Capital-Territory/Delhi/blog-358941.html