http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/britteniandcamden/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from britteniandcamden en-us Fri, 11 Dec 2009 05:39:10 +0000 Fri, 11 Dec 2009 05:39:10 +0000 Day 52 Thursday June 25 2009Today is going to be a long day. In fact we'll get to do it again. We fly back to the U.S. today and since we are 13 hours of Kentucky time we'll essentially be gaining a half day. However that will be wasted on all the flights from LA to Memphis to Lexington not to mention the 9 hour flight from Tokyo to LA finally arriving at 10pm EST. I've made up my mind to go http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Tokyo/blog-416314.html Day 51 Wednesday June 24 2009Woke at 8am and paid 300 baht for a taxi to the airport. We had tons of baht left over so we bought some souvenirs with it because we would have been screwed by the exchange rate. Our flight to Tokyo departed at 650am and arrived in Tokya at 3pm only 2 hours ahead of Bangkok. We stored our big bags in the airport overnight so we wouldn't have to lug them all over t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Tokyo/blog-416311.html Day 50 Tuesday June 23 2009Arrived in Phnom Penh at 2am and stayed in the Grand Palace hotel not as grand as it sounds but it was nice. We awoke early that morning to catch our 10am flight to Bangkok. We went back to Jim Thompson's house to get some silk fabric for mom. We went to markets to get another crazy watch but they wanted crazy prices for them and I informed them of it We also went http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-416307.html Day 49 Monday June 22 2009Had breakfast at the Center Cafe I'll have to write to the lonely planet about them they were awesome. Some of the best things in life are free so we took a free shuttle to the Les Chantiers Ecoles the silk farm Artisians d' Angkor which is an organization specializing in training young men and women in the art of silk textile weaving. We toured the silk farm wher http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-416305.html Day 48 Sunday June 21 2009 The temples1st stop Angkor Wat the world's largest religious structure. Absolutly stunning.2nd stop Ta Prohm The temple where the movie Tomb Raider was filmed.3rd stop Angkor Thom's Baphom where we waited out the rainstorm in a window way4th stop Angkor Thom's Bayon which was very tall and the most awesome in my opinionWe had lunch at a roadside stand outside of http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-416302.html Britteni's View Day 48 Sunday June 21 2009We woke up at 8am needless to day we missed both the sunrise at 530am and mass at 630am. Darn. We did have a wonderful breakfast at the LeGrande Cafe.Not just anyone can say they wrecked a bicycle 3 times in one day one of them involving Cambodia police on motorbikes fully equipped with AK47's really big scary guns and lived to tell the tale. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-416299.html Day 47 Saturday June 20 2009Arrived in Siem Reap at 6am right on schedule amazing Pais 2 for a motuk ride to the Popular Guesthouse where we secured a room with AC for 14. The room rates seem a little higher than the other places we have been staying but so far the city seems more interesting than most even with all the dirt roads. Well some were paved but we reclaimed by all the s http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-416295.html Day 46 Friday June 19 2009Bought an overnight bus ticket to Siem Reap for 9 versus the 145 for airfare. The bus trip is only 6 hours long. I can handle anything for 6 hours to save that much money especially after the crazy mountainous trip to Dalat on the hot bus We took a motuk down to the bus station at 11pm which ended up being someone's house restaurant down by the river downtown. So h http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Phnom-Penh/blog-416294.html We went to Angkor wat today which is the largest and most breathtaking monument at Angkor. Angkor are many ruins which are is just north of Siem Reap in Northwest Cambodia. We started the day with an english style breakfast from le Grand Cafe for 5 dollars eggs bacon fresh baked bread jam and a huge bowl of fresh grown fruits. We started our journey on bikes rented previously for 1. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-412538.html Day 45 Thursday June 18 2009Rented a motuk driver for the day to take in some local sights for 14. Our 1st stop was the Royal Palace and they were charging 6 admission. The guidebook quoted 3 but she said they raised their prices. Whether they did raise them or she was trying to make a profit we didn't bother with it and decided to go somewhere else. Once you've seen one fancy palace in an e http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Phnom-Penh/blog-410515.html Day 44 Wednesday June 17 2009Negotiated a ride on the motorbike to take us to the War Remanents museum as we were running out of time before heading off to the airport. A motorbike ride through downtown Saigon Ho Chi Minh City should be a ride of passage I need to spare the details but I did wear a helmet as always. After the museum we attempted to check out of the Orient Hotel. Our first mist http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Phnom-Penh/blog-410082.html You know you're a pedestrian in Vietnam when...1. You feel safer running across the street in front of a bus than a motorbike.2. You feel as if you are living in that old computer game called Frogger everytime you cross the street. one step forward stop back 3 steps forward stop run like heck to the other side and safe3. You have to look both ways to cross a one way street because the mot http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/blog-410071.html Day 43 Tuesday June 16 2009Enjoyed our free breakfast at the hotel and took a tour van 1.5 hours to visit the Cu Chi tunnels. On the way we stopped at a lacquer ware factory that specialized in training disabled people in making these intricately patterned house wares using paint eggshells and mother of pearl inlays. Finally made it to the Cu Chi tunnels and watched a documentary on the war aga http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Southeast/Ho-Chi-Minh-City/blog-410070.html Day 42 Monday June 15 2009 Rented the motorbike again and had breakfast at the Tuong Vy Cafe very good. Great food but no menus in english. We were lucky enough to find a waitress that knew some english and we were able to order. We went back to Vietnam Airlines to try for like the 3rd time to change our tickets to go to Cambodia to a different day. We bought a series of tickets to take us from http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Central-Highlands/Da-Lat/blog-410069.html Day 41 Sunday June 14 2009Had breakfast at the fake Peace Cafe64 Truong Cong Dinh. Very good food. Rented a nice motorbike from our hotel for 5 for the day and went around the town to do some sight seeing. Our 1st stop was the Lake of Sighs and park to ride horses around the lake not nearly as romantic as it sounds it ended up being a pony ride around the park. 2nd stop Datanla Falls t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Central-Highlands/Da-Lat/blog-410067.html Day 40 Saturday June 13 2009We have been traveling 40 days 40 nights. We arrived in Nha Trang at 6am and switched buses to take us onto Dalat a little town in the mountains in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. The roads up the mountain were long windy and hot poor AC. This bus was way too big to be traversing up these narrow roads I don't even want to know how many motobikes we ran off th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Central-Highlands/Da-Lat/blog-410014.html Day 39 Friday June 12 2009 Rented a motorbike and took a scenic 35K trip to My Son village that is home to 4th century ruins and ancient buildings. Very impressive indeed. The builidngs and the architecture they used in that time period with no equipment is amazing. We only got to spend a little time there as our bus was leaving that night for Nha Trang. I stopped by a tailor shop and had a reall http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/South-Central-Coast/My-Son/blog-410011.html Day 38 Thursday June 11 2009 The streets all around the city are chocked full of tailor shops and all have little yappy dogs to guard. I was close to eliminating the one across the street from our hotel a few times...hehe. Rented the bicycles again today and headed down to the streets by the river to check out several museums and such. Our first stop was the Catonese Assembly Hall that ws origi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/South-Central-Coast/Hoi-An/blog-410010.html Day 37 Wednesday June 10 2009Finally arrived in Hue at 8am and had to switch to another bus to take us on to Hoi An. There are usually two guys on the bus the driver and the ticket taker. Most of the tourists have open ended tickets a booklet of tickets to each destination and the ticket taker on this bus was trying to take more tickets than needed to the next destination from a British couple http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/South-Central-Coast/Hoi-An/blog-409079.html Day 36 Tuesday June 9 2009Happy 21st Birthday to Kali Began our 24 hour journey to Hoi An Vietnam by taking a hydrofoil 130000 VND to Hai Phong and took a 3 hour bus trip to Ninh Binh for 25000 VND 1.43. I chatted with the local ladies at the bus station and even though they didn't speak hardly any English I managed to have a whole conversation with them regarding marriage and childre http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Ninh-Binh/blog-407574.html