Up again pre-dawn (this is getting to be habit!) We headed out to Chiang Mai Airport at about 5:30 AM (AGAIN with the 5:30 wake-ups) to catch our flight to Bangkok and then on to Phuket (pronounced ‘Poo-Ket,’ not another way like some of you cheeky monkeys may think) to catch our boat to Phi Phi Island (prounounced ‘Pee Pee’ and, yes, now you CAN get your minds out of the gutter) for the official Honeymoon phase of our travels. Trip was fairly uneventful…arrived in gloriously hot Phuket around 10 AM and were greeted by the hotel driver…a true characte [View Full Entry]

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It’s hard to sleep here! The sun rose early and the brilliant sunshine coursed throughout the resort bathing it in beautiful morning light. We headed down to breakfast, and chatted briefly with a newly-arrived couple from Atlanta (the woman was none-too-friendly) before Scott and Anup joined us to say goodbye and we headed off with Poon to the city. On the way in, Poon brought us to see the Hilltribe Museum on the outskirts of town. As we were walking in, we looked over at the lake adjoining the museum and there were these men swimming with horses--unbelievable! Who knew horses [View Full Entry]

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Since we spent all day yesterday relaxing, which David could barely handle, given his propensity for wanting to go, go, go!, today was the day to push ourselves again and explore as much as possible of Chiang Mai, given how little time we’re here. We had decided with Poon, our driver, that we would start the morning in the Hang Dong shopping district searching for furniture finds, then head over to see the temples of Chiang Mai, and finally finish up the day at Doi Suthep, the mountain temple overlooking the city. Poon, who must have forgotten we wanted to avoid [View Full Entry]

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How it is possible that Billy had his best night’s sleep yet on a cramped train compartment is beyond both of us. We both woke up today at 7 AM (thanks to the good graces of our two best friends: Lunesta and Ambien) with the early morning light seeping through the window of our humble little train carriage. Somehow, overnight, we had lost the 2nd class sleeper car behind us, so our view from the back of the train was amazing! One by one, the 18 people in our car made their way from a long night’s slumber to take a [View Full Entry]

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So sad to leave the beautiful country of Cambodia and its truly wonderful people…We woke up very early this morning and headed to Siem Reap airport to catch our flight back to Bangkok (and eventually on to Chiang Mai, in the north of Thailand.) We found ourselves back at the airport in Bangkok without a solid plan, so we decided with the few hours we had to kill, to treat ourselves (after 3 very long days hiking the temples) to another spa treatment at Face (the place we went our first day in Bangkok.) We called our good friend Sukanya from [View Full Entry]

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First of all, we wanted to thank everyone for following us on this great adventure and for leaving so many touching (and funny) comments for us. As internet connectivity is spotty, at best, and we have such precious little time, it’s pretty difficult to get back to each and every one of you. So, to all of our friends and family, we just wanted to thank you for keeping in touch with us via this blog. Thank you all for supporting us and encouraging us to make this unbelievable adventure a reality. We are so looking forward to seeing you all [View Full Entry]

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No matter what we’d been told, NOTHING could prepare us for our adventure today! The temples of the ancient Khmer kingdom, which were built sometime in the late 12th century by King Jayavarman VII, are absolute marvels. We spent a completely exhausting day today just scratching the surface of the hundreds of temples here. Apparently Jayavarman was a busy dude…building temple upon temple to honor his rule. Thank God we finally got our guide back. Dara is an amazing guy and he and his family’s life is quite amazing…really made this experience that much more persona [View Full Entry]

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Up at the butt-crack of dawn again and off to Suvarnabhumi (pronounced “Soo-wanna-poom” ) Airport in Bangkok to catch our flight to Siem Reap (pronounced “See-em Ree-ipp”), home of Angkor Wat…or to those of you from our hometown…where they shot Tomb Raider (gag—I can’t believe I just wrote that.) Must say that Suvarnabhumi is quite a site…it just opened less than two months ago and it’s the largest airport in Asia now. It’s quite a marvel of architectural wonder…never really noticed when we flew in. [View Full Entry]

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Still unsure if we are in LA, New York or Bangkok and keep waking up every hour on the hour from 2:30 to 6:30 AM. Knowing we had to make it to the Grand Palace early to avoid the tourist crowds, we ate a quick breakfast at OBI, then sauntered out into the blisteringly oppressive heat and walked the 25 minutes or so to the Grand Palace. We’re talking hot folks…like stuck inside a cardboard box wearing 12 wool sweaters and sitting on top of a volcano HOT. Every 20 feet or so, we got harassed by someone trying to tell [View Full Entry]

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Our flight from Taipei to Bangkok was excellent. We flew on the most modern plane either of us had been on. Yes, even more Indian food for David! Each seat had its own interactive TV, movie, radio, and gaming station, and we each got our fill of American culture (not to mention some funky Asian game shows.) To get from Taipei to Bangkok, we flew over Vietnam, southern Laos, and then across Thailand to the southwestern corner. When we landed, we were met immediately by Julie and her branded taxi with her name and website address all over it…though she didn’t [View Full Entry]

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