After leaving Buon Ma Thout I was not alone. I was talked into doing a three day motorbike ride with my guide, Tam. We would spend the night in Kon Tum, then in Kham Duc before heading to Hoi An. The plan was to stop by local sites along the way. On the first day we motor biked about 6 hours to Kon Tum. There was not really much to see along the way. The mountains were nice along the road, but there were not many minority villages en route or historical sites. When getting to Kon Tum my guide [View Full Entry]

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After leaving Cambodia, I arrived to my first stop in Vietnam. The city of Ho Chi Minh or Saigon was a great surprise. It's a busy city with traffic coming from every direction. It was much cleaner than I expected and the roads made sense. Signs were up along with working traffic signals (big change from Cambodia). The people were also very friendly. I met up with a few guys on the bus ride over and we quickly found a place to spend the night in the heart of the tourist sector. After getting by bearings together and seeing how [View Full Entry]

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After seeing tourist run Siem Reap and the packed streets of Phnom Phen, I wanted to see the more natural side of Cambodia. This brought me to Kratie. I have read that there are some extremely endangered fresh water dolphins that can be seen there. That news made it worth stopping by for a look. The road to Kratie is strait and paved. Many in Cambodia are like this because of a recently re-done road network. Makes travel time by land within the country much easier now. I arrived early in the afternoon and teamed up with a moto driver [View Full Entry]

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My time spent in Phnom Phen was split up over two appearances. The capital is in the center on Cambodia and all major highways lead to it. The road network extends from the city, but unfortunately doesn't interconnect much outside of it. This means you often have to backtrack to the capital to get to another destination. That's why I went through it twice. My first time in Phnom Phen was shortly after leaving Siem Reap. I used it as a hub to get to Kratie and Sen Monoram. I didn't see many sites during that time. I went around [View Full Entry]

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The majority of tourists come to Cambodia for the sole reason of seeing Angkor Wat and its surrounding temples. Siem Reap is the nearest city to the temples and has an international airport that shuttles tourists in and out. It is no doubt a tourist town that has boomed with Angkor Wat's popularity. My first thought shortly after landing was that I was in for a headache. There was the endless yells towards me for prostitutes, drugs, transport or Angkor tours. This was no surprise, but still annoying. After awhile you learn to become deaf to the offers and can [View Full Entry]

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Immediately when entering Singapore I felt tension go away and the need to look over my shoulder disappear. It was a vacation from my vacation. The first thing I noticed was how green the city is. Trees are everywhere. I was expecting more of a concrete, sterile looking city, but instead it still had a natural, fresh feeling. It is an example of what a city should look like if proper city planning is done. Another reason why my time spent in Singapore was so relaxing was because of where I was staying. It was not another hotel room, but [View Full Entry]

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My first stop for my second return to Malaysia was Melaka. A funny thing I noticed was that everyone kept spelling Melaka differently. I saw it spelled Malaka, Malaca, Malacka, Malacca, Melaca, Melacca, and the one I spell it as Melaka. I guess everyone likes their way better and a common spelling hasn't be voted on. Melaka was a very different city than the rest I've seen in Malaysia. All the others were rather bland in construction. They all used square, 3-4 floor, no-color, concrete buildings. Every street looks the same, nothing unique. Melaka was a complete 180. The buildings [View Full Entry]

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From Aceh, I decided that my next stop in Sumatra would be Danau Toba (lake Toba). It took a solid night and day to finally get there, but when I arrived it was calm and welcoming. Toba sits at a high elevation, so the days and nights are not humid or have the oven-like temperatures of the Sumatran coastline. My first thought of Toba was ghost town. 99% of the accommodations in the Toba area are in Tutuk. It's a tourist town with a hotel or inn every five feet. But where were the tourists? It was completely empty. I [View Full Entry]

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After jumping city to city, my body was starting to crave some place that moved at a slower pace. That is when I found Pulau Weh. It is off the northern tip of Sumatra. The small town I stayed in was Iboih. It was a great surprise for me. I was only planning on staying for one week to do some diving, but ended up staying two. The town itself is just a small walking path with several very rustic bungalows on or near the water. Power isn't 24 hour and is often out. Made for some very quiet nights. [View Full Entry]

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After visiting the two powerhouse capitals of Indonesia and Malaysia I thought a comparison of the two is due. This is just my opinion and my better might be the opposite from another's. Here's some comparisons and contrasts that I saw between the two cities. 1. SIZE: Jakarta's population of almost 10 million dwarfs KL's 2 million, but KL has a more concentrated city feel. 2. TRANSPORTATION: KL has an excellent mass transit system that Jakarta will hopefully one day imitate. KL's street traffic is organized, while Jakarta's is chaotic and filled with smog. It is cheaper in Jakarta to [View Full Entry]

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