http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/crowman/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from crowman en-us Wed, 30 Dec 2009 10:17:36 +0000 Wed, 30 Dec 2009 10:17:36 +0000 As I toured Hong Kong during the last days of my trip I was left with no doubt that this was the premier city in Asia. Yes Singapore was also impressive. But it did not leave nearly the impression that Hong Kong did. Hong Kong has better sights cable car the peak overlooking the island and a far more impressive skyline.Having spent a a solid week in the city I do feel it is worth the extra m http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Hong-Kong-Island/blog-421600.html Two of the American wedding guests and I headed out to Lantau to ride the Ngong Ping 360 and see the giant Buddha. This was a great day trip. The cable car was the longest I had ever been on and was very accessible from Hong Kong Island. We spent a good few hours running around the top and then got in line to catch the return car before it got too late and we got stuck in a line to get the last http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Lantau-Island/blog-422129.html After several days of festivities leading up to the big day we congregated at the Anglican cathedral for the ceremony. It was a classic wedding done well. After the wedding we relocated to some yacht club for a reception which I must add was very classy. My friend Rebekah took good care of me arranging ground transport between the hotel and wedding and then wedding to yacht club. The grooms http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Hong-Kong-Island/blog-421595.html I flew in to HK from Cebo Philippines. My flight arrived at around midnight. During the flight I had heard other passengers talking about how many people where going to HK for the Chinese new year and how packed out the city would be. Based on our late arrival I decided to sleep in the airport. I was not sure how many nice places there would be to sleep so I took one of the rows of chairs at http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Hong-Kong-Island/blog-421597.html The property manager for Justin's parents condo invited the 4 of us to head out and explore the Espiritos Santos Islands off of La Paz. The trip was not cheap costing about 50 USD. However it was a lot of fun. Heading over we attracted the attention of a pod of dolphins which then proceeded to swim along side the boat and playfully jump right next to us. I enjoyed being right next to 6ft awa http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/Baja-California-Sur/La-Paz/blog-424549.html We decided to head over to Todos Santos and Playa Cerritos for a day trip to check out the pacific side of Baja. It takes about an hour from La Paz. We walked around checked out the very chic town and took a quick look into the hotel California which was famous for something. The street we were on had more tourists than locals on it complete with Viagra dispensing pharmacies. We ate some great http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/Baja-California-Sur/blog-424529.html We arrived at around 10PM touching down right on time. I was ever so ready for a few days of doing nothing. Two friends were flying down from Seattle on the 29th and that meant that we had several days to hang out. I put in a lot of time by the pool. A lot of time. It was fantastic. I did very little besides go to the coffee shop and hang out by the pool. Two other residents invited us over for http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/Baja-California-Sur/La-Paz/blog-424523.html Oh never in my travels has a day started so normally and ended with so many 'memorable moments'. Quick run down and then the story. 1. Protests Riots in Western Guatemala block the roads2. Justin decides to check out one of the protests and our bus takes off leaving him there3. Our bags get stolen4. I realize that Justin left his passport on the bus thereby limiting my options to go tho the a http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/Chiapas/Tapachula/blog-424454.html In all honesty I really felt like our travel came to a close with our hike up the volcano and the day trip from Antigua. By the time we got to Lago de Atitlan I was ready to curl up in a hammock read get caught up on emails and relax. It was a great place for that. The town is very low key. Lots of Spanish schools which ironically meant that everyone spoke a little English. We stayed at the http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Lago-de-Atitlan/San-Pedro-La-Laguna/blog-424283.html Probably not the best first stop for someone going to Asia Is it in Asia Or is it synthesis of the SouthPacific Island culture and the hub of Asia From the look of all the recruiting signs for work in the Gulf it is certainly a jumping off point for the Middle East. I flew into Angeles City a few hours outside of Metro Manila. The ride into town gave me a chance to see the city in its entire http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Manila/blog-130310.html After leaving Guata our night consisted of bar hopping in Antigua. The family that hosted us after the Expeditors office freak out lives in San Lucas which is about 15 minutes from Antigua. Mom Dad Pamela Tatiana and their sister live in a very gracious town home gated community. The Dad usually works as a architect but with the slowdown of the economy he is focusing on helping his wife r http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Antigua/Antigua/blog-420510.html By far the most memorable day trip of this journey has been the hike up Pacaya to see the flowing lava only somedays is there lava flowing we got there on a good day. Other than the Lava what made the trip the most memorable was the preparedness of some of the other travelers. I will refer to them as the President of the Valley Girls of Southern California and the future leader of Blondes of B http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Volcan-Pacaya/blog-420519.html It was a few hour bus ride from San Salvador to Guata as the locals call it. Toby had recommended we take one of the express buses and we went with a company that had departures every hour and a half. He had mentioned that the other buses 'Take forever'. For Toby to take the more expensive option the cheaper one must be really bad. I had heard that Guata was not he safest city in the region s http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Guatemala-City/blog-420504.html We swung up to San Salvador to visit my buddy Toby who I met and got to know during my Semester in Egypt . He instructed us to go to a donut shop in 'Mexicano' and to give him a call once we arrived. After a slight delay with a hearing impaired taxi driver who did not know there was a donut shop in that part of town we did arrive and give him a call I usually just pay people to use their cel http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/El-Salvador/San-Salvador/blog-419317.html On Toby's day off we took a trip over to the twin volcanoes of Santa Ana . Since his work ANADES was taking some supplies over that part of the country we were able to get a ride to the feeder road. Justin and I rode in the bed of the pickup which was really nice. When it is summer riding in the back is better than in the cab with AC.We caught the bus that goes to the foot of the mountai http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/El-Salvador/Santa-Ana/blog-419284.html after taking the long route to El Salvador we were more than ready to spend a few days on the beach. My friend Toby was not ready for us to visit until the 13th so we decided to head down to the beach and explore the waves that get surfers all excited.We found the area surprisingly affordable. The country is dollarized and tends to be more expensive than surrounding countries. Nonetheless our http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/El-Salvador/El-Tunco/blog-417964.html As we headed north from Granada we saw more and more guys in jeans and cowboy hats. Estili was agriculture country through and through. While the city is not overwhelmed by a number of sights that would qualify for posters designed by the ministry of tourism it did serve as a very good stop for us. Isle de ommetepe and Granada are very different. As such I felt that it was very worthwhile to sw http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Nicaragua/Estel-/blog-417511.html As we found out sometimes it is best to stick with what the guidebook says and forget about what the locals say. As we were leaving our guesthouse on the lake we asked if the border crossing to Perquin was now open. oh yes no problem. So like the dumb tourists we can be we went down towards Marcala to take the bus over to El Salvador. However once we got to La Esperanza we realized that t http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Honduras/West/blog-417544.html Once we arrived at the destination we had tried to get to a day before we were actually glad that we got stuck in Tegucigalpa because of the curfew. DD Brewery is a fair bit out of the way. However the owner is from Oregon and Justin was intrigued by a microbrewery in the Honduran countryside. We ended up taking a taxi there for a couple bucks. Once we got there we found out that we don't kno http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Honduras/Lago-de-Yojoa/blog-417530.html We decided to leave Nicaragua a day early partially because of the ongoing conflict in Honduras the thinking was that we might need to add a bit of a time cushion for the country and also because we were facing a 4 hour wait to get to the place we wanted to go to in Nicaragua. So spot change of plan we got on the bus to the border instead.Other than paying a municipal departure tax on the N http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Honduras/Tegucigalpa/blog-417484.html