Borneo! The mere mention of this name conjures up all sorts of exotic images of lush jungles, beautiful beaches, headhunter lore, remote tribes and longhouses...I have been captivated by this place for years; it started with seeing the movie Farewell to the King in the 80's and from its depiction of Borneo it looked like one of the most remote and exotic locales in the world...and now I was finally here! We were to start our adventure in the northern state of Sabah before working our way down to Sarawak...we had a tough time choosing what to see and do here, there are a ton of options and we ultimately ended up scrapping the eastern portion of Sabah due to time/logistic constraints to focus more on the west and northwestern coast... Touched down in Kota Kinabalu ... read more

October 30th, 2014 After being dragged away kicking and screaming from Ngapali Beach we finally made our way to Yangon, last stop on the adventure...sad to see it come to an end, and with spending the extra day at the beach it only left the balance of this day and most of the next before we flew back home... After sorting out our hotel and waiting out a torrential rain storm we decided to get our bearings and wander around the neighbourhood, slowly making our way to the Bogyoke Aung San Market (formerly known as the Scott Market). The covered market is huge; full of textile, gold, jade vendors along with spots to eat, pretty cool...if you're looking for last minute souvenirs (and especially jewelry) this is the spot, although to be honest with the exception ... read more

October 22nd, 2014 Our next stop on the adventure was to be Inle Lake, famous for its leg-rowing fishermen and stilt-house villages...decided to suck it up and take a minibus instead of flying, thereby saving a substantial amount of money...and while overland here is slow (was supposed to take 6 hours, took more than 8) it did provide some great vistas and views, worth it in the end...although the driver was a bit nuts and there were some white knuckle moments, especially on some of the narrow cliff-side roads in the mountains...gah... Arrived at Nyaung Shwe, launch point for Inle Lake, and the first hotel we were aiming for was fully booked, so left our packs there and started the hunt for accommodations...checked out four or five before settling on PYI Guest House, great spot...nine bungalows ... read more

October 16, 2014 Ah Burma, the mystical land of Kipling and Orwell...the Lovely K had always wanted to see Myanmar (Burma), and we figured it would be best to see it sooner rather than later as the country is in the process of opening up more and more to tourism...so from Bangkok it was a direct flight to Mandalay to begin the adventure... Visa process at home was interesting, and with the guide books mentioning that there were no ATM's, Visa was rarely used and to bring all your money in new, creaseless/pristine American dollars (preferably $100 bills) I wasn't quite sure what to expect when we arrived...but customs was quick, the money changers at the airport did inspect the bills as if they were purchasing some rare antiques but in the end it was pretty ... read more

October 20, 2013 After much procrastination and holiday cheer I figured I'd better get this blog done before I forget some of the finer details of our stay on Santorini... K and I always like to plunk ourselves down in one spot for a couple of days when traveling, especially if we have been moving around a lot so planned a good five day stop in the mighty Santorini...decided to take the ferry from Athens, which stopped at four other islands along the way, figured it would be a cool way to travel and it was...long though, 5 1/2 hours but it was a beautiful day and the seas were calm so not too bad... Arrived just after lunch, found our shuttle from the hotel so it was into the van and away we went...after much ... read more