http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/robinbye/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from robinbye en-us Wed, 30 Dec 2009 01:09:11 +0000 Wed, 30 Dec 2009 01:09:11 +0000 Dear reader I never quite finished the story of my brother and I going to Southeast Asia in February 2007. My latest blog entry is from Hanoi after which we went to Halong Bay a UNESCO world heritage site featuring thousands of limestone karsts and isles in various sizes and shapes see Wikipedia for information. We booked an all included trip which included a twohour bus ride from Hanoi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Halong-Bay/blog-391874.html EDIT Sorry for the multisending of email alerts Dear reader I have finally found the time to rounding off the story of our trip to Southeast Asia. As you know we started in Singapore went through Malaysia to Thailand and from there to Vietnam via Laos and Cambodia. Travelling with Remi and AnneLine through Vietnam from south to north we ended up in Hanoi the capital from where we also http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-151424.html Do you mind if I sit here I said. We were on a guided day tour to the Demilitarized Zone DMZ having left the town of Dong Ha a couple of hours earlier. Not at all the man said his accent revealing to me that he was probably Canadian or northwest US. So what brings you here to Vietnam and the demilitarized zone I said between mouthfuls of rice and fried chicken. The man looked at me. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/North-Central-Coast/Dong-Ha/blog-146617.html After leaving Remi and AnneLine behind see Nha Trang Nah which also contains a video I arrived after about 12 hours of discomfort at 7am in the town of Hoi An. As is usual for these kinds of bus trips the bus stopped at an affiliated hotel first before going to the bus station. Considering that this hotel looked even better than ones we had stayed at previously I decided to get a room a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/South-Central-Coast/Hoi-An/blog-145350.html Boat trip Dear reader in between uni work I am grabbing the opportunity to continue the story... As you remember from the last blog entry Dune we were in Mui Ne i South Vietnam and had just jumped on the bus to Nha Trang a ride that was extremely uncomfortable. That's what you get for going with the cheap and easy option that is a bus that comes to your resort and pick you up and costs 4 d http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/South-Central-Coast/Nha-Trang/blog-143025.html We arrived in Mui Ne after a sweaty bus ride sweaty not because of lack of air conditioning but because the seats in our bus were made of sticky plastic instead of fabric Choosing the same approach as in Ho Chi Minh City I walked across the road from the bus stop and into one of the many resorts that lie along the beautiful beach. There I met a friendly American possibly Canadian who showe http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Southeast/Mui-Ne/blog-139243.html Dear readerI am finally back in Sydney after five fantastic weeks in Southeast Asia. I still have to write about our last part of the trip in Vietnam during which we visited the Mekong Delta Mui Ne Nha Trang Hoi An the Demilitarized Zone DMZ Hanoi and Halong Bay. Due to uni work I may not make any further updates until April. I can also tell you that I have posted a video of a bungy we http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Mekong-River-Delta/blog-139209.html After our short stay in Phnom Penh see My mother. My father. My uncle. we caught the bus on 26 February to Siem Reap a gateway town to the temples of Angkor in northern Cambodia. It is also a starting point for treks and adventure tours around the Siem Reap Province. In our case we arrived late in the afternoon and reserved the next day for the Angkor temples. Leaving Siem Reap on the 28th to http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Angkor/blog-137478.html I always knew that I was going to ask the question. Still I spent several minutes contemplating if I really was going to and if so how I would phrase it. So were any of your relatives affected during the Khmer Rouge regime I asked as softly as I could. The guide lifted his head and looked me in the eye. My mother. My father. My uncle. All taken away. All killed. He turned away. Horrible. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Phnom-Penh/blog-135570.html To plan or not to plan that is the questionMy preferred style of travelling is based on seizing the moment don't lock yourself to a preplanned schedule allow for sudden changes when something interesting shows up and accept that you cannot see'em all. However when leaving Chiang Mai see The extraordinary friendliness of Chiang Mai and going to Laos we should have been a bit more proactive. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-134457.html Chiang Mai is Thailand's second largest city and is situated in the north. It has more than 300 temples the oldest of which is Wat Chiang Man which was raised in 1296 the same year as the city was founded. Incidentally we lived just a stone's throw from this temple at the SK Guesthouse. It has near hotel standard rooms and a pool for the price of a guesthouse and as such we can recommend it. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-132968.html Bangkok baptised by foreigners actually refers to a small village within the giant city. In Thai the city is called Krung Thep or City of Angels. This is where we arrived after some departure problems at Ko Samui...As there are about 20 flights a day from Ko Samui to Bangkok we did not bother prebooking any flight and simply took at taxi to the airport. However this was a huge mistake. At th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-130777.html Leaving Malaysia behind see my previous journal entry we caught a taxi from Kuala Besut mainland access point to Perhentian to the Thailand border walked through the passport check and caught the train to Surat Thani a city in southern Thailand. Arriving late we had to stay the night at a cheap hotel. The next day we went to Ko Samui for a price of 280 Baht which included the halfhour b http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Ko-Samui/blog-130392.html Finally on our way Rushing through Singapore and Malaysia Remi and I have just arrived on the island Ko Samui off the east coast of South Thailand. Although somewhat touristy it is a tropical paradise in the true sense with marvellous beaches and crystalclear water. However we have not had the time to explore any of this yet. Rather I will give a summary of what we have seen so far. Singapor http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-128638.html Dear readerwelcome back for the continuation of my travelblog. I apologise for the delay in world travel updates however it turns out that PhD studies are not only about travelling but also about well studies Nonetheless somehow I have managed to squeeze in another serious journey this time to South East Asia. My previous travelling partner and eternal soulmate of course Helene is cur http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Serengeti-National-Park/blog-125610.html The exotic island of ZanzibarAfter our train journey crossing Tanzania and staying a few days in Dar Es Salaam see Safari from the train window we caught the ferry from Dar to Zanzibaran archipelago made up of Zanzibar and the Pemba Islands. Among other things its history contains slave trades wars and bloody revolutions see here for information.StonetownStonetown is the older part of the http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/Zanzibar/blog-53283.html Cuenca the cultural Mecca of EcuadorAfter our amazing hike on the Inca trail to Machu Picchu see Discovering the lost Inca city we caught the plane to Lima on Friday 21 January. Lima is supposed to have great surf beaches but considering that we live in Sydney there was little point in trying to verify this claim. Rather being pretty exhausted from the four day hike we just had a walk down http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/South/Cuenca/blog-44409.html The Inca trail to Machu PicchuDay 1 Monday 16 January 2006 we were picked up at dawn from Hostal Qorichaska in Cuzco by our tour operator. After about 2.5 hours of busriding through the Sacred Valley we reached Ollantaytambo for breakfast and to stock up. Chocolate snacks and water were high on peoples lists as well as coca leaves and walking sticks. The locals in the Andes have been chewing http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Machu-Picchu/blog-37928.html Puno and Lake TiticacaBy guest authors Aashild Espedalen and Astrid Diana Oramas. In Arequipa Astrid and I left Robin and Helene behind to study Spanish and travelled on to Puno by Lake Titicaca. The busride took around 6 hours and we arrived late in the afternoon. As Lake Titicaca lies at 3820 meters above sea level we soon noticed shortness of breath as we climbed the stairs in the hostel. We http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Puno/Lake-Titicaca-/blog-38244.html Cuzco and the Sacred ValleyCuzco Helene and I arrived in Cuzco the archeological centre of Peru on the morning of Saturday 14 January after a long nights drive from Arequipa. Sleeping aboard the royal class bus we saved money compared to staying one more night in Arequipa and taking a day bus however the tradeoff is of course a less comfortable sleep. Astrid and Aashild were not with us as th http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Sacred-Valley/blog-37361.html