Thanks for checking out our blog! We are currently in
Indonesia.
When we left for Mexico in July of 2011, we had no idea our travels would turn in to so much more! Originally, we decided to try travelling for six months and if it did not work out, we'd go home. We have found that by staying in one place for a longer time, say one month, gives us the opportunity to not only experience the neighborhood, but to learn the histories of places we visit and the rhythm of life.
We lived in four cities in Mexico in seven months before driving into Central America. We lived in five countries and six cities/towns in Central America.We would have kept going into South America if not for two things - the Darian Gap and our trusty, broken Saturn.
Once back in Mexico, we stayed an additional six months in three different cities. In total, we drove over 30,000 miles in Mexico and Central America.
Now the journey begins in Southeast Asia! Our plan, again, is to try it for six months, but you know how that goes! So far we have been in Southeast Asia for two months.
since we left United States
We are coming to the end of our 3 week visit to Bali, Indonesia. We live in the town of Sanur, popular with expats and well off retirees. Sanur is towards the southeastern end of the island, not far from the capital, Denpasar. Sanur has a nice beach which is protected by an offshore reef making it a good place to swim. Being on the windward side of the island, Sanur is a popular place to enjoy the Bali pastime of kite flying. Sanur has one main street that passes along the beach through town. The street is lined with small restaurants and spas and many shops catering to tourists. A few larger hotels line the road on the beach side, but nearly all have a low profile and lots of trees so the entire town
... read moreMany of our fondest memories of our travel life seem to revolve around boat trips. Whether sailing on a felucca around Elephantine Island on the Nile, launching small, candlelit offerings while watching the Arti festival near Varanasi on the Ganges River, rounding a corner and watching hundreds of wintering egrets take flight from the dense green foliage on the banks of a tributary of the Amazon In Peru or arriving at the hidden Mayan ruins at Yaxchilan after a short ride up the Usumacinta River on the border between Mexico and Guatemala. We often remember walking along a hand-crafted dock after our boat crossed the Mekong south of Saigon and finding a jungle restaurant that serves the best fish I’ve ever tasted in my life. It seems that our best trips have been close to or
... read moreBorneo, just the name itself sounds exotic and exciting. Pictures of immense jungles, untamed rivers, wild animals and primitive tribes of headhunters living in longhouses decorated with shrunken human heads flashed through our minds as we left the safety of our quiet suburban house in Melaka, Malaysia and made our way to the bus station to begin our journey to the “wild” part of Malaysia-the island of Borneo. We said goodbye to the wonderful 67 year old lady who owned the house that we had been living in for the last two weeks. We had spent a good portion of our last 2 days driving around the streets of Melaka with her, eating at her favorite restaurants and enjoying some of the outskirts of town that otherwise would have been out of our reach by foot.
... read moreMaybe it’s the heaviness of the wood, the solidness of the brass. Perhaps it’s the feel of the glass in your hand, the smoke of the mirror or the muffled corner conversations that you can only hear the good parts of. Perhaps it’s the smell of the liquor itself, faintly sweet, or the salty sea breeze that floats casually through the curtained window somewhere near the door. Perhaps it’s the way the bar stool fits you just right, shaped by some chair artist fifty years ago when they knew how to build them right. Perhaps it’s the light cast by the globed lamps, mounted correctly on the wall next to the mirror behind the bar so the light is reflected from the smoky glass and doesn’t hit you straight in the face or maybe it’s the
... read moreIt seems that there are 3 types of buses in Malaysia, 1st, 2nd and 3rd class. Your choice of bus is probably decided by how much money you have, but should probably be decided by what you are willing to endure. 1st class buses are generally clean and new and have the basic agenda of getting you to where you scheduled to go on time. You can sleep or look out the window from the second deck and enjoy the air conditioning and movies or game console that is provided. 2nd class buses have air conditioning but no bathroom and will definitely get you to where you are going eventually, although you may or may not arrive on the same bus as you left on. They are much cheaper than 1st class, and there is a
... read moreThe heat is oppressive, unrelenting, surreal. It takes your strength, appetite and will. You can’t fight it, there’s no reason, you can’t win. It’s a thick heat, the humidity is so high.The moisture peels the paint from the walls and then peels the stucco until the red brick shows. You tie a ribbon on your fan so you’re sure it’s still moving. You try to sleep, but the heat gives you strange dreams. Dreams of jungles and strange voices you can’t understand. Your clothes stick and you dread walking. You learn to survive in the morning before the sun comes or in the evening as it subsides. You learn to find relief in anything cool, a breeze, an umbrella, a cool drink. Anything to survive for a few more minutes. You curse the people who block
... read moreAh, the romance of the train. The clickety-clacking of the rails, being gently rocked side to side as you fall asleep like a newborn. The romance of waiters in white uniforms serving our wonderful meal on crisp linen tablecloths and sparkling china while we clink our wine glasses to the end of a perfect day. After a peaceful night’s sleep, going to the restaurant car for steaming cups of coffee and freshly-made croissants. That’s what we saw as our train passed the Singapore to Bangkok Orient Express going the other way. Now the reality of the 2nd-class sleeper. After leaving our beautiful apartment in Bangkok, we caught a cab. We had heard that the traffic could be miserable, so we didn’t want to take any chances. We got to the train station with two hours to
... read moreWe have come to the end of our month long stay in Bangkok. We have enjoyed our visit and while we will be sad to be on our way, we are excited to continue our travels further into Southeast Asia. Because Bangkok is the hub of everyone’s travels in this area of the world, we know that at some time we will be back and we look forward to our next visit to this busy and exciting city. Bangkok has been a great place to get to know with its seemingly unending variety of things to see and do. Bangkok is busy and it is hot, and might not be everyone’s favorite place, but like most great travel cities of the world, it is filled with helpful and vibrant people and almost non-stop movement. To be
... read moreBangkok is known for many things, one of the main things is being a shoppers’ paradise and the other is being very hot. We spent a good part of our first couple of weeks touring the outdoor markets and food stalls that are found virtually everywhere. We don’t have much room for souvenirs in our bags, so much of our time is spent looking vs. buying. After a couple of weeks strolling through the street markets, the heat finally got to us a little and we decided to head to some air conditioning in the many megamalls of Bangkok. We spent one day visiting Siam Paragon, Siam Tower, Siam Center, CentralWorld and the huge MBK malls in central Bangkok. Each mall is different and has special features that make it unique and interesting in its own
... read moreWe have passed our first 10 days in Bangkok learning a new way of life. After travelling around Mexico and Central America for a year and a half by car, we have spent a good part of our time in Thailand busily learning subway, Skytrain, ferry, bus, shuttle and train schedules and times. Connecting their routes are taxis, motorcycle taxis, tuk-tuks and of course walking. We have become quite good at using each mode of travel despite not knowing any language (either written or oral) and at times even struggling with the new currency. While at times it has seemed to slow us down a little, I think that the tradeoff of convenience has also helped us to get out of the car and see things at a slower pace than just passing by on a
... read more