http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/RoamingGators/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from RoamingGators en-us Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:29:13 +0000 Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:29:13 +0000 After a much less exciting bus trip we arrived in our final stop Saigon. Throughout the trip we had heard nothing but negative things about the city so we were a little unsure about the wisdom of spending our last three days here. Turns out the critics were wrong and we loved SaigonWe checked in to our last guesthouse and hit the streets of the backpacker area in search of dinner. Saigon is http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Southeast/Ho-Chi-Minh-City/blog-422636.html The adventure to Can Tho began with a minibus trip from Chau Doc. Minibuses seat 16 people but children don't count so our's had 21 people on it. We had long since gotten used to the clown car style of travel but Vietnam had a surprise up its sleeve. Apparently most people living in Chau Doc pretty much never get in a vehicle. About 30 seconds after the bus started moving the 'sickness' b http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Mekong-River-Delta/Can-Tho/blog-422383.html Since we were preparing for our final border crossing we thought we'd try something new and take a long boat journey down the Mekong to Vietnam. For the low low price of 15person we got a virtually private boat the full 6 hours to Chau Doc Vietnam. The boat pulls over to stamp you out of Cambodia where amazingly they didn't ask for any money and then again for the entry stamp to Vietnam http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Mekong-River-Delta/Chau-Doc/blog-422375.html After the grandeur of Angkor Wat we set out for the capitol of Cambodia Phnom Penh. One look at a guidebook and you might think we were headed for the kind of place you push heavy furniture against the hotel room door and just wait for the next bus out of town. However we were pleasantly surprised that we were neither robbed nor injured during our brief stay.After the 5 hour bus journey from http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Phnom-Penh/blog-422367.html After surviving the journey to Siem Reap we were pleasantly surprised at what a nice town it was. Lots of great little restaurants and bars to refresh yourself at after a hard day of temple visiting. Of course the real reason for coming to Siem Reap is to visit the temples of Angkor Wat often called the 8th wonder of the World. The complex is absolutely massive and nearly everyone hires a Tuk http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-419930.html Journey to the Scambodian BorderA bit of background on making the journey from Bangkok to Siem Reap location of Angkor Wat. It has long held a notorious reputation for being one of the most difficult border crossing journeys in SE Asia. Terrible roads rampant corruption a dangerous border town. Lucky for us things have improved......well slightly. So why would anyone do the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-417623.html When last we posted we were heading out to board the train to Bangkok for the beginning of the Thai portion of our trip. Turns out Thai trains are WAY better than Chinese trains. Two comfy chairs facing each other and when bedtime comes they create two relatively comfortable beds for you complete with privacy curtains. Of course we had been warned that sometimes the train workers are out to http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-417613.html Well our week in Laos went by all too quickly. Since our last post we've journeyed through the 60's70's Hippie outpost of Vang Vieng. Now home to what has to be the world's least safe tubing adventure. Basically a pub crawl on a super fast river with each bar throwing you a line and literally reeling the customers in. If the river speed isn't scary enough there's a variety of trapeze ropes http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-414323.html Sorry for the long delay between posts. We've resigned ourselves to the fact that we may not be able to post photos until we arrive in Bangkok so for now a brief synopsis of China before updating you on our current location.end of Beijing We last we posted photos we had visited the Great Wall had our requisite Peking Duck dinner yummy but expensive and not very much food.....Pat resorted to http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Luang-Prabang/blog-413079.html First Happy Father's Day to all our Dads Second Happy Birthday to Chrissy Third we've added pics to the last two posts so go check them out.Lastly for something different we're posting pics with no blog entry for now. Posting pics is proving to be difficult but internet is easy. We'll explain this pics more soon.......we've also already been through Shanghai Xi'an Terracotta Warriors a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/Mutianyu/blog-410761.html Days 3 and 4On day 3 we had to pack up and leave our new home away from home FX YanSha and head to the hotel for our GAP adventure tour. We were sorely disappointed that our new more expensive hotel did not have free bottled water nor free breakfast and only twin beds On the up side it did have a safe so we weren't stuck carrying everything we owned. We explored the area around our ho http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/Forbidden-City/blog-409339.html Day 2 Beijing. First I must apologize for the lack of photos for the next few entries. We are having a hard time finding an internet cafe that will let us upload photos. Not to fear though. We have taken over 400 pictures in our week here so you'll have plenty to see once we get to a suitable place.On our second day in Beijing after vowing to never eat American food again on our trip we star http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/Olympic-Park/blog-409334.html Hello from Beijing65281We arrived sore and tired after a very long flight12290 Our cab driver dropped us off somewhere in the vicinity of our hotel65292 and with a little help we found our way to a much needed bed12290 We decided to tackle the Summer Palace as our first activity since we were warned not to go there on the weekend or we would get a harsh reminder of the population of Ch http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/Chaoyang-district/blog-408319.html Welcome to the final days before our departure for Asia. Wednesday June 10th we depart for a six week jaunt through China and Southeast Asia. This webpage will allow you to follow our adventures from the comfort of your computer and save significant cost for vaccinations. You can subscribe to our blog and you'll be contacted every time we update our page. We'd love to hear from you while we ar http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/North-Dakota/Fargo/blog-406315.html