http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/pokadoke/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from pokadoke en-us Thu, 24 Dec 2009 04:39:41 +0000 Thu, 24 Dec 2009 04:39:41 +0000 So it's been awhile and this is my last post before we head home tomorrow morning. Although I haven't written in over a week I figured I better finish off the trip by writing something.The last week has been a perfect ending to our trip yes despite the enticing prospects of becoming surfer bums and living in bali sipping banana milkshakes for the rest of our lives we have decided to come home http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Bali/Seminyak/blog-427031.html Greetings using the wifi at dunkin donuts in Sanur. Sanur is a quieter area in Bali on the east coast only about half an hour from where we were in kuta. This is just a quick post to say that we are alive and well. We're so relaxed we have no idea what day it is. We went for adam's last arm follow up appointment today and it's looking a lot better. We don't have any more appointments and Adam sho http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Bali/Sanur/blog-424373.html We've spent most of yesterday and today hanging around the pool at our hotel. The majority of our routine has rotated between sunbathing napping swimming and getting more drinks. It's the rough life I know. Today I was reflecting that every single late night at the Sultan was absolutely worth it to be able to take in this little bit of Paradise. The last couple of days have also been low key be http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Bali/Seminyak/blog-422554.html I am typing this message from Adam's iPhone using the wifi network at our hotel. I'm sitting on a recliner by the pool sipping a diet coke diet coke was nowhere to be found for the first two months of the trip so I've been having a daily worship session every day since Malaysia.Adam is currently in our room sleeping off medication drowsiness. We made another trip to a clinic here in Bali for a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Bali/Seminyak/blog-421944.html I know I haven't posted in a while but thankfully I've been keeping notes in my journal so that I don't forget anything. I'm just going to write a short entry because frankly the weather outside is much nicer than the cold stale air in the Internet cafe.Last time I wrote we were leaving for Melaka from Kuala Lumpur. We really enjoyed Melaka. It was a lot quieter than KL and we got to experience a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Bali/Kuta/blog-420883.html We made it back from Nha Trang for our flight to Malaysia and arrived in Kuala Lumpur yesterday morning. KL seems like a familiar city because it reminds us a lot of Toronto very culturally diverse with a little insert country name here for every corner of the globe. The hostel we are staying has a very homie feeling. There is a common room with a tv and dvd player and a kitchen to make meals i http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Wilayah-Persekutuan/Kuala-Lumpur/Bukit-Bintang/blog-418693.html The last time I posted a more descriptive entry we were still in Saigon and about to make our way to Nah Trang. We have been in Nah Trang for 3 days now and will be heading back to Ho Chi Minh City tomorrow for our flight to Malaysia on the 14th. Being in Nah Trang has been a great time. After being in HCMC which is really fast paced and insane it was nice to have a couple of beach days. The wea http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-417672.html This is just a quick post because the internet cafe is about to close and there is only one available computer Adam is patiently waiting for me. We made it to Nha Trang where we have spent the last two days and are going to be spending the next two. Nha Trang is the Vietnamese version of myrtle beach. There are lots of restaurants and tour operators that want to take you out on boats and seadoos http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/South-Central-Coast/blog-417421.html Well we've been moving right along somewhat according to schedule. We made it to Ho Chi Minh City Saigon Vietnam two nights ago. We had a great time in Sihanoukville. The weather was overcast on both days so it wasn't really beach weather but it was still hot. The beach we stayed on was called Serendipity beach. We had a beach bungalow right on the water. The bungalows were owned by a British l http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-416282.html On Canada day we arrived in Phnom Penh the capital of Cambodia. It was rather bizarre to be away from home on this day no fireworks and no Canada Day Betty Crocker cake with the maple leaf made out of strawberries. We got on the bus in Siem Reap around 9 am but didn't get to Phnom Penj until dinner time. Why is that you ask We had another flat tire I'm beginning to sense a common South East http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-414632.html This morning we got up before dawn at 440 AM to be exact to make our way to the Angkor ruins. We had a tuk tuk driver chariot cart pulled by a motorcycle drive us the 20 odd kilometers to the ruins. We wanted to see the sun rise over Angkor Wat and boy was it well worth it. The world heritage site and wonder of the world was lit up on the horizon just as we had hoped. We proceeded to spend a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-413271.html Early this afternoon we arrived in Siem Reap from Kompong Cham a smaller sized town in central Cambodia where we spent the night after crossing the border from Laos. We had a relaxing stay in the 4000 Islands. One of the days Adam and I rented some bicycles to explore the Island. I think we lasted about an hour and half before we called it quits because we had actually sweat all the water in ou http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-413028.html This is the quickest post yet on some very expensive internet that is run by generators because the islands don't technically have electricity. The 4000 Islands have been great very hot but tomorrow we are on our way to Cambodia. We are taking a minivan to the border and then we are heading directly to Siam Riep. Today we saw the biggest waterfalls in South East Asia which were very impressi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/Khong-Island/blog-412500.html Just a quick post before we head off to the 4000 Islands in Southern Laos tomorrow. We arrived in Pakse early this morning after our 10 hour night bus ride. Adam and I were on a quadruple top bunk with 2 other girls from Quebec basically Adam on a king size bed with three ladies. He didn't seem to mind but I think the Quebec girls were largely unimpressed. They blared Laos music videos on the t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/blog-411873.html I feel a little out of my element writing today because it's morning here and we usually go to the internet cafes at night. Last time I wrote we had just made it into Vang Vieng. We spent our first official day in Vang Vieng doing what all the good tourists do...tubing down the Na Som river Tubing is Vang Vieng's most popular sport it involves being dropped off at the first bar at the top of the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-411335.html Today we took a mini bus to Vang Vieng a small town in the middle of Laos that has been completely developed around backpackers. At all the restaurants there are TVs set up that are either playing Friends Family Guy or the Simpsons. After being away from North American from popculture for so long this is almost like a reculture shock to our own culture. Because this is more of a touristy town http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vang-Vieng/blog-410140.html Let me just start by saying that Luang Prabang has absolutely stolen our hearts. We decided to stay in extra day because we were enjoying it so much which is one of the benefits of not having our itinerary completely set in stone. Our first day in Luang Prabang we slept in and caught up on some sleep. We had Breakfast at this delightful little cafe in Luang Prabang called Joma's which we have be http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Luang-Prabang/blog-409796.html Here it goes... the abridged version of the last 72 hoursLast time I wrote we had arrived at our hostel in Chiang Mai and were excited for our big boat trip to Laos. As Adam kindly reminded me at dinner tonight a week from now we will look back on this experience entirely differently. Having said that I thought I would post my raw evening after feelings here on the blog. A two day boat trip http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Luang-Prabang/blog-409091.html Two nights ago we took the 14 hour night train to Chiang Mai. Being the smart economically conscious travellers that we are we packed our dinner and all our snacks. It felt fun to be on our bunks hanging out reading and listening to music. A man came around the train at 930 pm and set up everyone's beds. Adam slept on the bottom because it had the most space. We ended up both sleeping on the b http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-408306.html Greetings from AsiaI arrived in Bangkok last night after 17 hours of travelling. I can't complain however because Emirates is definitely the way to travel. The onboard service was so good I barely slept. They handout menus for everyone with the choice of appetizers meals and desserts as well as hot towelets for your face on numberous occassions. A huge step up from Air CanadaWest Jet. They ha http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-407584.html