We were especially excited about our journey to Cambodia as we would be traveling with our good friends Megan and Tom and their friends from Montreal, Dora, Jeff and Dave. On the morning of December 29th we woke Megan and Tom bright and early to say hello. They had arrived in Bangkok from Canada late the previous night. We were traveling by bus to Siem Reap and they were flying so we would meet them that evening in Cambodia but we were too excited to wait. We shared the bus with several travelers who had escaped the devastation of the Tsunami; [View Full Entry]

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Note - We had trouble loading pictures for this entry, more will be up in the next day or two so check back. T & J Well, the change of pace from the African cities to those of South-East Asia was great. Bangkok is very high paced, crowded, muggy and smothering hot. On the same hand, it is lively, friendly and very easy. We were told to expect a crazy and confusing place. In our experience, it was hardly that. If you can think of any service you may need, it is at your finger-tips. The airport was amazingly easy. We [View Full Entry]

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After one more overnight stay in Dar es Salaam, we headed North for another night in Tanga. It was nice to be familiar with the place upon arrival. After a 9-hour, uneventful bus ride, we arrived at 9 pm and had our choice of taxis. As it turned out, our driver was instrumental to our functioning over the next couple of days. We went back to the Inn By The Sea, otherwise referred to as the ‘Inn By The Theives’ because someone stole our binoculars from our room last time. Still it was the easiest and cheapest place to stay. We [View Full Entry]

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With a short dhow ride with Mohammed and Mohammed across the channel to the airport on the next island, we said good bye to Lamu. We flew to Mombassa on November 25, where we spent two nights to ‘do business’ (i.e. shopping, emails, planning). We chose a bus company recommended in the Lonely Planet guide and booked two seats to Tanga, Tanzania for the following day. After several loops around the block, we found our bus to Tanga at 6 am; neither bus nor office were marked with the bus company’s name. The sidewalk next to the bus was packed with [View Full Entry]

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Tiwi Beach Oct 27 - Nov 12 The eight hour bus ride from Nairobi to Mombassa was grueling; unsealed roads, a very bad driver, no bathroom and no food stops. Actually, there was a road-side stop to buy live chickens!? At the Mombassa bus stop, we were used as bait by the bus company owner to catch a thief who was harassing us moments before. We had to stand in a busy sidewalk and wait for him to approach again as the owner and a security guard watched from inside the terminal. Very strange indeed. Unfortunately, he didn't come back. We [View Full Entry]

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NAIROBI (Oct 19-20) No previous life experience could have prepared us for our arrival in Nairobi. As soon as we left the baggage claim area we were bombarded by touts trying to sell us every possible service including safari packages, accommodations, city guides, taxis, and meals. Once we found one another in the sea of touts, we fought our way through the crowd to the ‘Government Tourist Bureau’ in hopes of coordinating transportation from the airport and accommodations in the city. After a quick orientation to the highlights of Kenya and a basic language lesson, it became evident that the tourist [View Full Entry]

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CORFU (Oct 4) We docked in Corfu around 5 am with no accommodations booked. Most young travelers go to the party resort called the Pink Palace. It caters to booze guzzling twenty something travelers looking to party and perhaps share a little love. We wanted nothing to do with the place. However, by the time the ferry hit the unwelcoming port, the man standing at the port with a minivan and “PINK PALACE” sign somehow became very appealing. Next thing we knew, we walked onto the bus like zombies. As it turned out, the Pink Palace was not that bad, and [View Full Entry]

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TUSCANY So, here we are again. It’s been a long time since our last entry. Apologies to those who have been waiting. It was next to impossible to update things while we were in Africa. We are going to catch up as fast as we can, so the blogs will become a little more compressed. We hope to be up to date by New Years. We hope everybody is having an excellent holiday. Merry Christmas from Thailand. We travelled the short train ride from Como to Milan where we met up with Tracey’s relatives on Sept 24th. Having married an Italian, [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Como on September 19, 2004. After giving up on George, we took an hour bus ride north to the hostel in Mennagio, a lakeside village on the central portion of Lake Como. The bus travels through the small villages along the lake, weaving through incredibly small roads the entire way. If the windows were open, you could touch the buildings we were driving by. At several points, we had to back up to allow other buses to squeeze by. You certainly have to have good depth perception for that job! Lake Como is surrounded by lush mountains and [View Full Entry]

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Prague (Sept 13 - 18) Well, what a ride. Getting couchettes (beds) on the night trains is well worth it. Unfortunatley, we did not! The seats don't recline, people smoke everywhere and it was about 14 hours long. We found it best to tie your head to the seat with a sweater to stop the nodding head/sore neck syndrome. Anyway, after 3 train changes, many passport checks and being kicked out of 1st class by the Czech train conductor (our passes were 2nd calss only in the Republic, we didn't realize this), we finally arrived in Prague and were very worn [View Full Entry]

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