http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/dancingnomus/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from dancingnomus en-us Thu, 10 Dec 2009 07:58:07 +0000 Thu, 10 Dec 2009 07:58:07 +0000 We arrived in beautiful Nha Trang bright and earlyboarded our 5 AM flight to Da Nang then layover and connecting finally to Nha Trang around 10 AM. Nha Trang was beautiful mainly because the temperature was 27 C and we could feel the ocean breeze and see the coastline of clear aquamarine water. The next few days were just pure beaches and relaxation. After Nha Trang we headed to Saigon or http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/South-Central-Coast/Nha-Trang/blog-418899.html A much better state of mind and ready for more adventures the day after. We set out to explore the town and mainly to find good food. Our first stop Pho traditional Vietnamese noodle soup that's soothing to the body mind and spirit. One problem we needed to find a place with Air Con...It's 33 C and we're not about to eat that hot hot soup dripping wet. After a good 2 hours and a few pit st http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Halong-Bay/blog-418893.html We arrived at Hanoi in the nice sweltering heat of 33 C and the sky's filled with smoke. It was about 10 PM. We were informed the smog was due to the nightly burning of wheat to help fertilization of agriculture fields...not really sure what that's about. Met up with my friends Conall and Matt and we all went out for a late night happy hour. Conall is finishing his tour around SE Asia in Vietn http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-418890.html Sunday Night Sadiki Amy Ann and myself headed out to the train station Bangkok getting ready to board our 12 hour overnight train ride in First Classwhich means Air Con with fold out beds..the other option was outdoors on metal benches sitting from Bangkok to Nong Khai Thailand which is at the border of Thailand and Laos. Our train would leave at 8 PM and arriving in Nong Khai 8 AM. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-418579.html I got up Saturday morning hopped on the local bus at Kata Beach to head back to Phuket town and meet up with Sadiki arriving from Singapore. Sadiki I had no way to contact each other at Phuket no cell phone no nothingyou realize how dependent...or seem to think how dependent we are on that little thing. All we set up was Meet me at the Bus Station said I via email. Once I got to the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Ko-Phi-Phi/blog-415147.html We arrived in Bangkok and checked into the glorious Hilton hotel our first real hotel accommodation in SE Asia. Needless to say we were thrilled. Sadiki realized he had enough points to get us a free night at the luxurious Hilton with a view of Bangkok skyline and nicely located at the edge of the river that runs along the city. We checked in at a special honor guest private checkin area a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-414533.html When in Paris one must go see the Eiffel Tower. Similarly when in Amsterdam one must try the locals' brownies. The list goes on for mustsees at destinations around the world some are on the list of world wonders and some are just for kicks. Well we were in Bangkok and the infamous ping pong show for kicks was calling us. As a word of caution this post has no pictures for a rea http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-414497.html After much consideration I've decided to scratch the city destinations Hong Kong Taipei Seoul from my itinerary for the beautiful island of Bali. After a full 5 weeks of adventures a final 6 days of beach bumming sunshine and a little surfing just make sense. It will make for a nice wrap up of Oceania SE Asia.It is approximately close to midnight in Bali and I am le tired...went bump http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Bali/blog-410522.html Landed at Chiang Mai International airport who knew it's international and off we went to pick up our bags to the reservation desk to book accommodation. After a 20 minutes of bargaining and being haggled by the guy we left on our own with no reservation. Picked up a map and got in a cab and got dropped off in the center of Chiang Mai city. After touring a barrage of roach infested hole http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-404890.html After a 2 hour ferry ride a 30 minute supersized tuk tuk transfer trip with 25 people with their 15 kg backpacks smashed like sardines along two wooden benches a 4 hour bus ride and 12 hour overnight trained crammed in our 1st class 5 X8 cell we got to Bangkok Thailand. Off to bargaining with the taxi drivers from 600 Baht to a 350 baht ride from the train station to BKK airportwe save http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Southern-Thailand/blog-404884.html Ending day 2 in NZ learning about the Maori traditions...After returning from Waitomo exploring the underground limestone glow worm caves bussed back to Rotorua just in time for the Maori Culture Show and Hangi dinner at the Tamaki Heritage Village. http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Rotorua/blog-402691.html More than words... http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/blog-397986.html A day in Hanmer Springs South Island trying out Quad Biking off terrain with beautiful backdrop of St. Isabel mountain range. http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Hanmer-Springs/blog-398293.html Landed in New Zealand the City of Sails AucklandAuckland is the largest and most populated city in New Zealand with a population of 1.3 million kiwis. http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/blog-397977.html Welcome to my first official travel blog Just a few more days until I start my 3month travels in the Pacific SE Asia and back to the US. I will attempt to update my travels whenever possible along the way. Tentative ItineraryCinco de Mayo Leaving on a jet planeMay NZ AUAuckland RotoruaTaupoTongariro RapidsWellingtonQueenstownChristchurchCairnsBrisbaneGoldcoast Surfers Paradi http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Los-Angeles/blog-394753.html