http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/lanegra/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from lanegra en-us Mon, 04 Jan 2010 14:07:51 +0000 Mon, 04 Jan 2010 14:07:51 +0000 It's hard to believe that you are in the same city that was taken over by Pol Pot and his army the Khmer Rouge only 34 years ago 1741975... and for four years turned his country into a land similar to the one described in George Orwell's 1984. He sent everyone from the capital to work in the fields elimating money class education libraries religion traveling communication and many ot http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Phnom-Penh/blog-448321.html Cue the children by the dozen selling postcards books gum nothing all day and night. You can add to that the adults selling glasses and other knickknacks. You can't get away from them. Even if you have on headphones they call out to you.. Oh and I forgot tuktuk and motorbike. Of course you have this all over SE Asia but I definitely felt as if it were 10 fold in Saigon.. or I mean Ho Chi Minh http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Southeast/Ho-Chi-Minh-City/blog-446851.html The GovernorGeneral of Indochina in te late 19th Century ordered a hill station be founded in DaLat. The town is at an elevation of about 1500m which leaves it a bit cooler than the areas I have traveled throughout Vietnam so far. Nonetheless it is an amazing area with many natural beauties to be explored. During the war there was no bombing on this town so everything retained its prewar stru http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Central-Highlands/Da-Lat/blog-445098.html I have definitely lost track of the days and can't certainly tell you whether it's Tuesday or Sunday because other than banks and post offices its 'Same Same.' I had no set plans on arrival just checking out the beach and enjoying the sunshine and warm weather. I ended up doing all that and more in the few short nights that I was in this beach town. I stayed at Oasis which was cute and offered v http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/South-Central-Coast/Nha-Trang/blog-444334.html So when we finally get to the border I go to get my entry stamp for 'Nam and it takes the guy 15 minutes of looking at my passport to finally give me the stamp that they gave about 35 other people I am guessing I was supposed to give him money at that point which I did not... nonetheless I am in Yay.When we arrived in Hue it didn't feel like a place I wanted to spend a couple days so I stayed http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/South-Central-Coast/Hoi-An/blog-443480.html This was truly a quiet town and if this was the hub of Southern Laos then I can only imagine what the rest of the region is like. You can see French influence all throughout the town in the set up the buildings and the food. It wasn't a bad thing but I was expecting to maybe see a few more foreigners. I saw none the first day. By the time I left I made it up to 11 I think. My time here was basic http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/Savannakhet/blog-442470.html Vang Viang is definitely a natural paradise. Yes of course there are the people that spend a month tubing the Nam Song and watching Friends and Family Guy everyday but there is much more to see around. The four of us dique 'VIP'Mini bus to Vang Viang and were there by early evening. May Lyn Guesthouse which is running by an Irish character is just across a suspension bridge. We found out upon a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vang-Vieng/blog-442059.html I find it sad that America dropped over 2 million tons of bombs on this beautiful country in a decade... Laos is easily overshadowed by Thailand and Vietnam but there is so much natural beauty to be seen in this country. I only get to pass through a few cities but it will definitely be on my list of places to return to. Vientiane is a quiet capital city on the other side of the Mekong River via th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-440917.html Nong Khai is a great little town along the Mekong River. It was voted 7th best city to live or retire in in the World. The main attraction is the Mekong River which was where I stayed along. At Mut Mee Guesthouse. A lovely place where I met 3 Germans who I traveled with for a bit after leaving. I arrived really early in morning via my overnight party looking bus from Bangkok and wondered into http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-East-Thailand/Nong-Khai/blog-440728.html So I have been a little delayed in updating this... Bangkok was nice. I spent a total of a week there using it as my hub for getting to and from Myanmar. Which I am still slightly in love with. Bangkok is one of those city's that you love or you hate and I have decided to love it. In Thailand I particularly fell in love with Tesco their version of WalmartSuper Target. It's great I got to go http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-440710.html ...But I will try to put Inle Lake into words... I think I fell in love with this place. It's definitely not for the restaurants they are seriously lacking here but in everything else there is so much natural beauty that it's crazy. I did a few things while here.. rented a bike and cycled for about 1215 miles. I went out to Inle Spa where I was the only person there. Made for a nice time to rel http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Inle-Lake/blog-437298.html We arrived in Bagan after a 12.5 hour short ferry trip 79 hours by bus I hear. The ride was really relaxing and seeing nature and the people going about their day was nice. We decided we would walk to our hotel from the Jetty it was only about a km. Sorry but sometimes the metric system is all I have to go by... Anywho we checked into our hotel 2nd place with air con included for a whopping http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Bagan/blog-437289.html They say that Thailand is the land of 1000 smiles.. Well Myanmar must be the land of the genuine smile. The people here light up when they see a foreigner... and they don't come to often I am guessing. I can count on my hands usually the number of foreigners I see daily.. using my toes is reaching but it's possible if you are doing something major like taking the ferry which only leaves twice a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Mandalay/blog-437283.html Myanmar Burma..... whichever you call it it's definitely worth a visit to if you can figure out how to get here. I think BKK and SIN are two sure shot ways. There's also the Visa you need to apply for can't get it on arrival and bring freshcleanpristine 100 usd only. There are no ATMs travellers cheques are not accepted nor are credit cards. Fun right well actually that's the fun part. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Yangon/blog-437243.html A beach paradise overrun by tourists but there is still a chance for you to get a moment alone on Phi Phi... it's not easy though. I spent my days walking around the island going up to the Viewpoint the Beach and other great things... some more exciting than others.On the Sunset Boat trip to Phi Phi Lei the drivier tried to tell us that we lost a mask and should pay 1000baht for it... yeah he d http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Ko-Phi-Phi/blog-433804.html Took the morning bus Konsortium SVIP from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur Puduraya Station s30 was actually pretty centrally located. Although I wasn't too impressed by the city I did get to enjoy what there was to offer. I went to the Batu Caves in the evening but the monkeys had all gone home for the day leaving worshippers and a few roosters. There are a few shrines ppl can make a donation to http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Wilayah-Persekutuan/Kuala-Lumpur/Bukit-Bintang/blog-431815.html So apparently I am here just in time for the Hungry Ghost Festival which includes burning paper money offering food and a slew of suspitions. Since Singapore is over 75 Chinese you see people everyone who have piles of ash in front of their houses and on the streets... And you don't get fined for lighting the fire eitherThe Singapore Zoo was pretty awesome. Seeing as though I haven't been to a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/blog-430584.html Made it to Singapore only an hour late after three hours worth of delays this post is mostly going to be off food as I am ready to get out and go explore for a bit before dinner mind you it's only 930 am right now.Singapore Airlines is great minus the ABC Extra Stout beer reminds me of Guinness...Don't feel jetlagged either which is good after the 19 hours or so of flying. Had Nepalese food http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/blog-429838.html Well we landed on time. Our flight from NY got a lil bit of a late start but we made AMS on time as well. The train to Casa Voys was leaving so we splurged and paid 80 dh on train for 2 tix. From Voys we got on train to CasaPort why stop in Casablanca if you don't see the mosque. The petit taxi we got at the train station left us like a 20 min walk from mosque it was worth the walk thou http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Rabat-Sal-Zemmour-Zaer/Rabat/blog-277889.html ...here are a few more pictures from my getaway.The people were nice the food was good I did not do restaurants and opted for vendors to get food from or Pirates. I do not recommend the pork chop and fried rice from there though that was my meal the last night and I paid for it You must go up to the split and catching sunrise on the east side of the island and sunset on the west are also mu http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Belize-Barrier-Reef/Caye-Caulker/blog-351651.html