http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Sean-and-Shannon/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Sean and Shannon en-us Sun, 29 Nov 2009 02:13:33 +0000 Sun, 29 Nov 2009 02:13:33 +0000 Hanoi VietnamNovember 10 2006Shannon After so many months threading our way through crazy traffic situations it shouldnrsquot surprise us that getting across a street in Hanoi takes careful deliberation not to lose life or limb. So why are we even mentioning it I suppose because even by Asian standards heck even by MiddleEastern standards the traffic here is insane. Residents even http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/blog-101752.html Chiang Rai ThailandOctober 23 2549Sean The infamous ldquoGolden Trianglerdquo conjuring up images of immense poppy fields clandestine CIA operations and nefarious characters processing heroin for the worldrsquos market is now a legitimate tourist destination complete with huge tour busses and tshirt vendors. You know a place is no longer edgy when Grey Line ferries large numbers of http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/blog-101353.html Phnom Penh CambodiaOctober 7 2006Shannon After spending countless hours viewing the splendors of Angkor Wat Sean and I departed Siem Reap and packed ourselves into a local bus for the trip to the capital Phnom Penh. Thankfully the rains that had been threatening all day held off just long enough for us to arrive whereby the skies promptly opened up and a torrent was unleashed just as we we http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/blog-98663.html Chiang Mai ThailandSeptember 21 2006Sean Being a political science hobbyist the idea that I would happen to be in a country during such a major government upheaval as a military led coup drsquoetat makes my heart run aflutter. To be present for historyinthemaking is not only thrilling but a far cry from our usual modus operandi of arriving places and witnessing the past. I donrsquot ha http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/blog-96177.html Luang Namtha LaosSeptember 5 2006Sean Our trip to the frontier of the Chinese hinterlands converging on its border with Laos entailed a lengthy couple of bus trips. For two days we passed through mountainous countryside and a few decent urban centers the last being the small by Chinese standards city of Mohan. Nothing too interesting but I was still surprised at the size considering it http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/blog-87776.html Chengdu ChinaAugust 14 2006Sean Everybody loves pandas. Did you knowbull That there are only 1590 est. giant pandas roaming around in the wild and only 170 in captivitybull That they have an extra digit on their forepaws that acts as a pseudothumb and helps them to grasp objects bull That they require about 110 pounds of fresh bamboo daily and will ldquoexcreterdquo about 25 t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/blog-83879.html Beijing ChinaJuly 28 2006Sean So far China has been an allout assault on my proper American senses and I thought Korea was hardcore. Where Korea is rough around the edges China is jagged like broken glass. There are people everywhere unafraid of a little shove when they need to be where yoursquore at and the smelly hazy air only adds to the insanity that greets your eyes ears and no http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/blog-78192.html Seoul South KoreaJune 30 2006Sean As many of you know I spent two years in the Land of the Morning Calm and retain many positive memories of my time here. Between the year spent teaching English to the nationrsquos school children and another year stationed near the DMZ with the US Army I really enjoyed Korea and was excited about returning. I had also been chatting up the country for so lo http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/South-Korea/blog-76328.html Brno Czech RepublicJune 14 2006Shannon Leaving Poland behind wersquove now crossed into the Czech Republic where we plan to spend the next two weeks soaking up the European ambiance before scooting into Asia for a change of scenery. As many people have told us the Czech Republic is one of the most beautiful countries in Europe. So perhaps this will be a fitting bookend to our trip havi http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/blog-68823.html Gizycko PolandJune 4 2006Shannon Chances are yoursquove never heard of Gierloz Poland or even the larger town near it Gizycko. Today these are placid little towns in the rolling hills of the Great Masurian Lakes district. With over 2000 lakes in the area these days many people come here to ply the waters in sailboats and canoes or to spend their days hiking in the green forests. So i http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Poland/blog-65654.html Tartu EstoniaMay 14 2006 Shannon We left Riga and Latvia behind yesterday. After experiencing true sticker shock at the lodging prices due to the World Hockey Championship games it seemed prudent to leave as quickly as possible and head to other cheaper pastures. Thus after dropping my mom off at the airport we made our arrangements to head into Estonia and our first stop Tartu.Sean http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Estonia/blog-64589.html Kaunas LithuaniaMay 4 2006Sean And then there were three. After the last three weeks being thronged with family itrsquos down to just Shannon me and her mother. Michele is joining us for about a week while we tour around Lithuania and will be leaving us as we get into Latvia. We landed yesterday here in Lithuaniarsquos second city. No one really wants to go to Kaunas Vilnius is the Worl http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Lithuania/blog-59270.html London EnglandApril 22 2006Sean We flew from Ireland yesterday for the next leg of our ldquoTravels with Familyrdquo series. For this adventure we invited Shannonrsquos family on a narrowboat trip along the canals of England. The bucolic countryside beckons as wersquove planned a whole week traveling at the breakneck speed of 4 knots a very relaxing pace of life to be sure. With my Da http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/blog-59847.html Sen Last blogrsquos contest was a tie between Rock N Roll Rich my brother and Tamara a good friend from the Gold Coast in Australia whom we met in Guatemala. The answer to the question of which building is the largest in the world by square footage or floor area was I was led to believe the Pentagon in Washington District of Columbia actually situated across the Potomac River in Vi http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/blog-59269.html March 26 2006 Sofia BulgariaShannon With less than 14 days to go before we head to Dublin to meet up with family and 2 countries to cover before our plane takes off from Bucharest Romania wersquove realized that wersquore going to have to pick up the pace to get there. With that in mind last night we took a sleeper train to Sofia Bulgaria. It wasnrsquot exactly our most comforta http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Slovakia/Bratislava-Region/Bratislava/blog-51927.html March 2 2006 Antakya TurkeySean We smuggled cigarettes and liquor across the Turkish border. Well it wasnrsquot quite Midnight Express but Parliament 100rsquos and Johnny Walker Red arenrsquot exactly heroin either. Let me back up and tell the story. Leaving Aleppo Syria this morning we thought it was going to be a bit of a headache because the travel agency that ldquoinvitedrdqu http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/blog-48162.html Sean The next part of the story isnrsquot nearly as fraught with danger and excitement as the previous one. After leaving New Orleans we boogied fairly quickly across this great nation eager to get back to the Northwest as soon as possible to spend time with family and not to mention that we had just driven across the country less than an month before. Hurricane Rita about to make landfal http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Oregon/Portland/blog-23528.html February 22 2006 Damascus SyriaShannon From our current location you can tell that we did eventually make it across to the Promised Land or the country we call Syria. Who knew getting into this country would be such a hassle After our failed attempts at the Syrian Embassy in Amman and our ldquostorm the borderrdquo backup plan we were forced to move on to Plan C. We learned about http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/North/Aleppo/blog-44635.html February 4 2006 Wadi Musa JordanShannon The punctuality of public transportation in Egypt that I had admired in an earlier blog evidently did not apply to private ventures as we learned when we crossed the Red Sea by ferry to Jordan. The ferry which was supposed to leave at 2 pm was still moored to the dock well past 4 pm. Hmmmhellipnot a good start. It was a curious ldquoferryrdq http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Jordan/North/Amman/blog-42925.html January 20 2006 Alexandria EgyptSean We fast forwarded a few thousand years into the future of Egyptian history and arrived in Alexandria today. This city was founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC as the crowning glory of his empire and once rivaled Rome in its wealth and intellectual standing. At the height of its importance it was home to the famous Pharos a grand lighthouse built just http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Sinai/blog-40206.html