http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Pink-Eden/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Pink Eden en-us Tue, 29 Dec 2009 01:28:49 +0000 Tue, 29 Dec 2009 01:28:49 +0000 On our last night I had spoken to Chloe who said that the weather was going to be patchy on the way home.We eventually left Sturgis at 10.30 after waiting around for Wolf........The plan was to get some miles done before stopping for food. It was quite warm when we left so I was only wearing a t shirt under the leathers. I had the forsight to leave the thick gloves and more tops on the top of the http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Washington/North-Bend/blog-428454.html Every day whilst at Sturgis we went out for a ride somewhere. Except one day when suffering from really bad hangovers we just about managed to get in to Sturgis for some food.We went to Mount Rushmore which is only about 70 miles away. I must confess at this point that I was very much looking forward to going there. It being an iconic image of the states. I was quite interested in finding out as t http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/South-Dakota/Mount-Rushmore/blog-428192.html If you have any interest for bikes you will love it.Sorry but no words can do it justice so I will just post some pictures and a video of the midget wrestling. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/South-Dakota/Sturgis/blog-427645.html We rose feeling slightly better than when we had gone to bed after 14 hours in the saddle and set off to visit a friend of Wolf's who he had met in a gas station the previous year and had put him up for the night in Three Forks.It turned out that he and his wife had already left to go to Sturgis two days before but another guy was there that had met Wolf before and he very kindly gave us br http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Montana/Little-Bighorn-Battlefield/blog-427186.html Well here we are again in North Bend. It is a very long story in how we got to this point.Needless to say a cunning plan was hatched to ride with two buddies from Washington state to the Sturgis bike rally.A bike was hired a Harley road king classic which is in my humble opinion horrid. More on my opinion of it after the ride there later.The basic idea was to ride from North Bend to Three Fork http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Washington/North-Bend/blog-426835.html Well time has come to face up to the fact that the dream is over and real life has to take over again.Lots of questions remain unanswered but even more have been answered. Life all of a sudden becomes more real and seems to make a hell of a lot more sense. Things seem to be put in to perspective. Don't know what I am talking about Try taking a period of time out of normal every day life and take http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Buckinghamshire/High-Wycombe/blog-261327.html As some of you may know we are now home. .......or at least back in the UK.We had a fantastic trip but we did cut it short. We decided to come home as I was home sick and had had enough of being part of this machine that is tourism.... I became very jaded with the whole thing and needed to come home and feel more grounded. Living out of a suitcase for 6 months is hard work and when you are a fami http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Buckinghamshire/High-Wycombe/blog-249734.html As Russ said before as we landed Ellie said it looked like we were back in New Zealand. Laos is like all the best bits of New Zealand and Bali all in one. The people are the most welcoming we have experienced they bend over backwards to make you happy. and the land it's self is beautiful. As we flew into Luang Prabang we spotted little settlements on the top of the mountains. Little clearings of http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Luang-Prabang/blog-249229.html When we walked across the runway from the plane Ellies first comment was It's just like New Zealand but warmerThe flight from Vientiane was short and sweet in another turbo prop. The views of the little mountain villages were fantastic.We had bought some warm coats in Vientiane due to the cold weather there and expecting it to be a bit cooler in the evening in the mountains. Shame really cos it http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Luang-Prabang/blog-246830.html Well we arrived and Ellie's first comment was that at least its not to hot. The following two days it rained solidly. That's a bit of an exageration but it was cold and very drizzly. It reminded us of EnglandNot a lot to report really except that we found the place a little dull with not a lot to see or do.Went to the museum for a few hours which was quite an eye opener. Laos is the most bomb http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-245776.html We arrived in Bangkok got ripped off for a taxi ride to the train station via the hospital. I queued for a ticket for the train to Ayutthaya and paid a total of 60 baht for the four of us. There is approx 62 baht to the pound. When the guy gave me the tickets he said that we needed to be quick as the train was going to leave in 1 minute. So off we go at high speed well as fast as you can with 40 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Ayuthaya/blog-241944.html The temples were amazing but as Chloe mentioned very hard work. Boy it was hot which makes traipsing around really tiring. And the hawkers just donrsquot seem to get that fact that people get really pissed off with them and consequently donrsquot buy anything. A couple of times we saw people get hassled to buy cold water and then go to the one stall holder which wasnrsquot shouting. It do http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-241939.html We completely wore ourselves out seeing Angkor Wat. So we didnrsquot get up so early the next day. Mr. Sith came to get us at about 9.00 and we went off to see Preah Khan which is one of the furthest Temples on the royal circuit as they call it. Preah Khan is a huge sprawling complex that was once a Buddhist University. With over 1000 monks in itrsquos walls. It goes on and on and some of th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Angkor/blog-240549.html Well I thought Angkor WatThom needed there very own Bloghellip. If nothing else to get al the pics onhellip Or at least some of them as we took over 200 photos of Angkor Wat alonehellip. Not mentioning any of the other templeshellipWe arrived in Siem Reap and was met at the airport by who would become our trusty Tuk tuk driver for the next 5 days. Russ has already Blogged about our escapa http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Angkor/blog-240159.html Well it took us the entire time that we were in Phnom Penh to get our heads around the place. I am not a city boy at heart so found it difficult but also very interesting and entertaining. The temples fantastic. The palace is something else the architecture is wonderful but it is an oasis of opulence in a desert of poverty.The day before our leaving we had to convince the girls to take their mala http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-237660.html Well First impressions of Phnom Penh were not good. But it is growing on me. Itrsquos nice to be back to real life after Singapore which really is a soulless place. But Cambodia is a shock to the system after 3 days in Singapore. Bali is meant to be hard work but it was tranquil compared to herehellip.We are on the river front which is continuously busy.. Cars. Trucks. Bikes and Boatshellip http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Phnom-Penh/blog-237028.html Well we arrived and then had to find the Singapore stopover holidays desk. The girls are starting to get good at airports. Well they love the moving escalators and Changi airport has loads of them.We found the desk and out came all of the electronic toys. We bought another DS lite in Bali. It is supposed to be for Chloe and me to use read as Chloe to use I have become an electronic games widow http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/Singapore-Zoo/blog-236428.html Well there it was all done and dusted. Bali what a place. We loved it far more than we ever expected to.The people are happy friendly inquisitive and incredibly helpful.We experienced the way it used to be before the bottom corner was taken over by tourists and also the tourist bit. We liked them both but for entirely different reasons.The place is unbelievably cheap for a westerner with a littl http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Bali/blog-235539.html Hello AllWe are settling into the laid back lifestyle here in Bali. Our Villa is wonderful and the locals we have met couldnrsquot be more welcominghellip. We wanted to see more of the real Bali away from the tourists and the bikes so we arranged a trip out with our mates from the UK. We had a late Breakfast at our local internet caf which is a daily event. We plant ourselves there most mo http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Bali/blog-235063.html Hello Ellie here but Daddy's typing.Yesterday we went to the monkey temple. I got to have a coconut drink straight from the coconut. The man Ketut who was our guide said it would be good for my tummy. It felt a bit icky my tummy not the coconut.Before we went to the temple Ketut took us to see a barong kris dance. There was a big witch that had fluffy hair and long finger nails who was tryin http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Bali/blog-233266.html