http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/but_home_is_nowhere/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from but_home_is_nowhere en-us Fri, 05 Dec 2008 13:48:47 UTC Fri, 05 Dec 2008 13:48:47 UTC On a personal note Craig and I are no longer working in Indonesia. To make a long and complex story short our school was never able to negotiate the endless gauntlet of Indonesian bureaucracy and get us a permanent work visa. There were many other issues as well and in the end it just wasnrsquot a situation that would have worked out for an entire year. However the time passed in Indo http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Taiwan/Taipei/blog-343068.html We continued our journey by taking the train from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok. The ride consisted of two overnight train journeys with a halfday stop in Butterworth Malaysia. This gave us an excellent chance to cross over to Penang and explore the historic city of Georgetown. Its colonial buildings and bustling Chinatown have recently earned it a place on UNESCO's world heritage list.We arrived i http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Thailand/South/Ko-Pha-Ngan/blog-339331.html I think the stifling heat and humidity of Kuala Lumpur have finally caught up with me since I have been feeling really drained. Since the rain has been coming down in heavy bursts all afternoon it seems like a good time to lay low.Craig and I are on vacation for the Idul Fitri end of Ramadan holiday. Roughly a week ago we flew from Semarang to Singapore. The flight was a breezy two hours http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Malaysia/Malacca/blog-328884.html This weekend we went to Yogyakarta and stayed with the families of two of our coworkers. Yogya has the undisputed reputation as the cultural center of the island where Javanese traditions flourish. Not only is it a major hub for silverwork Wayang puppetry Batik and traditional dance but it is also a place where the Javanese language both spoken and written is practiced regularly. The curli http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Indonesia/Java/Yogyakarta/blog-323706.html We continue to settle in to life in Semarang. Last night there was a colossal thunderstorm that rolled in after dark. We were on the top of our stairs listening to the echo of the evening prayer call and watching the lightning creep across the horizon. When it finally reached us the rain was tremendous literally flooding the street in seconds. It was deafening. We were enjoying the action un http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Indonesia/Java/Borobudur/blog-322229.html I am thrilled to be writing the first blog entry from our new home in Semarang Indonesia. My first week here has been a complete and total blur. It was extremely difficult to wrench ourselves away from the beauty of the Perhentian islands. En route we spent one brief night in KL which only made us want to stay longer.Our endless purgatory of air travel finally ended as we slid into Semarang a http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Indonesia/Java/Semarang/blog-318519.html We arrived in Malaysia after an exhausting 18 hours on airplanes not to mention long hours of layovers and waiting in airports. We broke our journey in Singapore for one brief night before continuing on to Kota Bahru via Kuala Lumpur the next day. We had originally intended on beginning work in Indonesia upon arrival but fate intervened and we were left with a spare week. We decided to sp http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Malaysia/Terengganu/Perhentian-Besar/blog-313338.html Here are some photos from the last part of our excursion in Vietnam Hanoi and gorgous Halong Bay. http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Halong-Bay/blog-301346.html The End Here is a brief collection of photos from the last portion of our trip through Eastern China. It was completely fascinating and hopefully someday I will have time to write more about it. For now enjoy the pictures http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Beijing/blog-301325.html If I had to choose Malaysia would probably be the favorite country I visited on the trip which is no small feat considering the stiff competition. Malaysia it seems is often skipped or breezed through in favor of its more famous northern neighbor. It isnrsquot the place to come looking for a large party scene but Malaysia has a lowkey charm a diverse culture and stunning natural scener http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Malaysia/Selangor/Kuala-Lumpur/blog-301311.html The following day we rented a car and headed to My Son and Hoi An both UNESCO world heritage sights located south of Da Nang. My Son is a complex of ancient Hindu temples from the Champa dynasty. The temples are located in a gorgeous setting amongst misty jungle and steep hills. Thankfully we got there early in the morning before the large tour buses had begun to arrive and got some time al http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Vietnam/South-Central-Coast/Hoi-An/blog-294703.html We arrived in Vietnam on a bus from Cambodia. The ride was fairly smooth though the bus broke down at the border and we spent a good hour and a half waiting for a new one to show up. The only reason I mention this is because while we were waiting for our new ride I happened to chat with a guy from Eugene Oregon where I went to school. He had even frequented the same 1.50 movie theater as http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Vietnam/South-Central-Coast/Da-Nang-/blog-294672.html After the splendors of Angkor Wat we spent several more days exploring other aspects of Siem Reap. One particularly meaningful experience was a visit to the landmine museum run by the Cambodian Landmine Museum Relief Fund . The project was begun by Aki Ra a former member of the Khmer Rouge Army. Though only a child when he was enlisted he was taught to work with explosives and to lay the d http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Cambodia/North/Battambang/blog-294639.html Angkor a UNESCO World Heritage Sight just outside of Siem Reap had been on my ldquomustseerdquo list since I caught a glimpse of it on the Discovery channel as a child. Having mainly seen images of Angkor Wat the most wellknown and wellpreserved temple in the ancient city I really had no idea of Angkorrsquos scale until I visited. The ancient temple complex was primarily constructed http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Cambodia/North/Angkor/blog-291821.html History has not been kind to Cambodia. Though a generation has passed since the violent genocide ended in 1978 when Vietnam invaded Cambodia the countryrsquos war torn image remains. During the Vietnam War United States military began an aggressive bombing campaign in Cambodia supposedly to disrupt activities of the Viet Cong working within the country. In addition to making millions home http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Cambodia/South/Phnom-Penh/blog-289114.html Ditched the city chaos to return to my beautiful home state of Oregon for a week's vacation. I think the world of Seattle but do frequently feel claustrophobic in the city. The fresh sea air and open spaces were a perfect remedy. Few places compare to the Pacific Northwest in natural beauty and I feel lucky to live here. In all my travels I have never really found anywhere I have been more i http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Oregon/West-Coast/blog-287899.html After several days in the city we decided we still had time to spare before catching our flight to Phnom Penh. After shopping destinations we decided on Si Racha a town located about 100 kilometers southeast of Bangkok on the Gulf of Thailand. Si Racha is billed as a more lowkey alternative to the seedier beach scene at Pattaya. Its other claim to fame is its seafood and famed ldquosri http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Thailand/East/Ko-Si-Chang/blog-277697.html What can I say about Thailand that hasnrsquot been said before In 2007 Thailand received 14.46 million foreign tourists. It is a mustsee destination and an essential stop on the welltrodden backpacker trail of Southeast Asia. It has something to offer everyoneculture beaches adventure shopping resorts spas and great food. The variety of tourists flavors are evident in the countyfr http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Thailand/Central/Bangkok/blog-274964.html If you threw China Portugal and Las Vegas into a cauldron and stirred the result would certainly be Macau. Though I am sure this is hardly an original analogy Macaursquos unique heritage surprised me at every turn. We arrived by boat from Hong Kong and spent a decent amount of time wandering around the city searching for a decent hotel though initially our only budget options seemed to be http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Macau/blog-274357.html What a relief to be in Hong Kong Our grand plan had been to take the train all the way from Xining to Guangzhou possibly stopping in between. We initially chose this option not because it was cheaper but because it would allow us to see more of the countryside and to be honest neither one of us is a fan of air travel. Thankfully we had both managed to remain in relatively good health in sp http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Hong-Kong/Hong-Kong-Island/blog-273322.html