Now I know why my spelling in the previous blogs are scewed. I am currently learning how to type on a Portugese keyboard. Previously it was a Spanish keyboard. Lol. We arrived at the Airport and you guessed it, our arranged meeting with our landlord did not happen. He arrived a little later, but thats ok. So, we tried to pull some dinero out of the machine that spits out money and it wouldn,t throw it up. Well I figured it was my debit card but it turns out there is a maximum per day you are allowed and I exceeded [View Full Entry]

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Great title eh? We arrived in Madrid expecting a parade and received the metro..... It was a chore trying to find our lodgings because everything did not make sense. The signs indicated something different from the maps we had until we found out that there is an above ground Metro and a below ground train, both converging together so we had no way of knowing which was which because Espagne isn,t English friendly everywhere. Once we analized, googled, and asked we were okay., Well, it took an hour or so and a cappo or two b/4 we found our lodgings but [View Full Entry]

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Ahhh Valencia , the city of Medeival Spain. We ate and ate and ate. and drank vino. What can I say. The old city was spectacular, and we visited everywhere. Not as tourists, no.... as visiters from afar..... we experienced the essence of a traditional city that best represented the area. Old buildings, terasses, cafes, and the like. we felt like old montreal on steroids. It felt like the Plateau Mont Royal as well, with the price of the Vino and the food well below the price we would pay a LA LOCALE. That meant the flavor was that much more [View Full Entry]

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Well, sorry for the delay. When you travel lite and have no wifi access, this is what happens. So a few blogs at once to catch up. Once we landed we promptly went as scheduled to our houseboat. NO ONE WAITING.... So we went for a cafe and had a LARGE dutch pancake and a cappo. BTW my pancake was sliced apple and raisons. So what. Lol. We tried phoning but kept getting a doctors office. So we were stuck. We knew what houseboat so we planted our derrieres outside and waited, and waited, and waited......... zzzzzzzzz. Ha ha only for [View Full Entry]

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Yup. Bali. Beach haven. We are lucky with the weather and just got in ahead of a 10,000 delegate Globel Warming Conferance that starts on December 3rd. We will miss most of the security that will be in place, with such measures as barbed wire across the roads etc. We still feel safe because whenever our vehicle goes into a parking lot security men scan the underneath for bombs. Ya never know if you are next. lol First day on the the beach was R&R. Second day was an excursion to some shops and temples in the Eastern part of Bali. [View Full Entry]

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Yep we made it to Cambodia. The procedures to get into the country were the worst we ever had to endure. We had to bring a passport pic with us, fill in a customs sheet, fill in an arrival and departure form, fill in a Visa request form. Then they had to process the Visa and take 40 USD from us. 1.5 hours later we then had to go through passport control. We met our guide around 2:30 and he first took us to the wrong hotel to check in. Once we cleared that up we asked him what was on [View Full Entry]

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Traffic chaos again. We started out the day 3 hours in the van towards the Mekong Delta where we had a Vietnemise cooking class. I did the learning and the cooking and Siuyee did the eating because I had my first bout of the runs. First off before we started eating the old man there toasted something which I am not sure what he said , but it was a rice wine and a licorice liquor combination. My stomach was hurting so I will spare you those details. Hrmph.... Next we went to a family run food factory where they made [View Full Entry]

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Vietnam is a country of contrasts. Today we saw the evidence of the flooding from a few days and weeks ago everywhere. The watermarks were above our heads in some places. The people go about there business as usual, accepting the inevitable flooding in stride. This was the 5th time this year they had floods in this region. I must say that it effected me in that they considered the flooding as part of their life. We watched them getting back to normal. The army was helping out in some cases where the elderly cannot cope. It sounds like I am [View Full Entry]

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Today we set off as our final destination for the day to HaLong Bay. This is the Beautiful Bay that is so picturesque you ask your self how can this exist so close to the Ugly! Let me back up a bit. On our way to Halong bay we were introduced to the Ugly. The Ugly being small cities that produce coal for usage. Black is everywhere! It looked like a scene from the darkside or a black and white movie. Colorless, and dirty. It was so bad water trucks were hosing down the roads every hour to keep the coal [View Full Entry]

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The day started out tame enough. We got our first taste of traffic at 8AM in the morning. Well, no traffic rules what so ever. Very few lights. Lets me describe it a little: City of 8 million, 2 million + motorcycles, 1 million + cars and trucks, 1000's of Bicycles all on the road at the same time it seems. On the motorbikes, you cannot imagine it.... 4 people to a motorbike, babies 1 year old balancing in the front of the driver. women sitting side saddle, no helmets, horns beeping incessantly non stop, mix the peddle bikes, the smog, [View Full Entry]

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