This morning we got up before dawn, at 4:40 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 another 7 hours exploring all the ruins. It's only early afternoon at this point, but we are pretty [View Full Entry]

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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 our bodies and were beginning to sweat visible salt grains. Our average bedtime in the 4000 islands was 9 pm because we got up at [View Full Entry]

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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 impressive (obviously not as big as niagara falls...but none the less, very impressive). More from Cambodia, Lots of love, Nicole/Poke/Coco xoxoxo [View Full Entry]

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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 tv until 10 pm and started up again at about 6 am. I don't think there is a more annoying sound than Laos music videos. [View Full Entry]

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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 river and floating down the river in a tube while stopping at the myriad of bars along the way. One particular river stop [View Full Entry]

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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 re-culture shock to our own culture. Because this is more of a touristy town, the internet is ridiculously expensive to use. There are three things I made a note to write about over the last day, so here they are: 1. Yesterday [View Full Entry]

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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 been back to twice since. I had a muesli with yogurt and fruit (which they grow out back) and Adam had a bagel with egg, cheese, and [View Full Entry]

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Here it goes... the abridged version of the last 72 hours: Last 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 to Laos is code for two days in hell. Don't get me wrong, there were some definite positives to the whole experience: met a [View Full Entry]

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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 9:30 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 bottom bunk because I thought I was going to for sure role off the top bunk in the middle of the night. The train [View Full Entry]

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Greetings from Asia! I 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 Canada/West Jet. They have also totally mastered creating an amazing user experience with regards to the personal "entertainment system" they call ICE (information, communication, and entertainment). If you click on the [View Full Entry]

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