http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/wanderingbri/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from wanderingbri en-us Sat, 30 Aug 2008 05:18:49 BST Sat, 30 Aug 2008 05:18:49 BST So I am home. After what some may consider a long trip and others a short one. I counted 30 passes through immigration in 12 countries on 4 continents. I had a fantastic time but I am a bit tired of traveling for now. I sort of got to the point where everything started blending together. I found that my incremental enjoyment for each new place was becoming quite low and that I really wan http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/San-Francisco/blog-7988.html Just passing through really. I had a brief stopover in Dhoa on my way to Bangkok. To be honest this entry is mostly just to give me credit for another country. Qatar airways is apparently one of the few 5star airlines in the world. Whatever that means... I had a decent time with them. I got a cheap flight from Istanbul which for some reason included a hotel stay in Doha.Our flight was http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Qatar/blog-7268.html I got back into Thailand and met up with Nat. We immediately ventured forth to the Cambodia border.The magic casino busGetting to Siam Reap turned out to be quite the adventure. First off Nat wanted to take the Casino Bus. Gambling is quite illegal in Thailand. Fortunately for the hard core Cambodia the SE Asian equivalent of the Wild West is only a few short hours away. The big casino http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Angkor/blog-7264.html So this entry is sort of a grabbag of stories from the last two weeks. It turns out that internet access in Europe isn't quite as cheap as in other places of the world.I am currently sitting in a cafe using Pugner's laptop with a wireless connection. Technology is nice sometimes.Doctor Dinner in IstanbulSo how do you freel about the whole pharamacutical industry bribing doctors with gifts and http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/North/Prague/blog-6471.html Still in progress place holder for pictures http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/blog-5969.html First off a bit of history. Cyprus was a Brittish colony up through the mid sixties when it became independent. Of course the island has loads of history but modern day Cyprus is basically ethnically split between the Greeks and the Turks with the turks mostly in the North of the island and the Greeks mostly in the South.I don't know all of the details but apparently in 1974 the Greeks di http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Cyprus/blog-5966.html Pugner and I carefully weighed each word of the first travel agent who tried to set us up with a package tour. We cross checked all of the prices. We were dilligent. Then we checked our email got tired and bought the first package that the internet cafe guy who possibly wasn't even a travel agent mentioned to us. Without checking anything. We ended up with a cheap flight to the Capadocia http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Central-Anatolia/Cappadocia/blog-5962.html So I met up with the infamous Erik Pugner in a dorm room of a hostel in Istanbul. After having not seen each other for almost a year his greeting was a simple hey followed by a hey in response. That's what I love about guy friends no matter how long you are appart you can just instantaneously resume.I loved Istanbul from the getgo. It is a beautiful city with water everywhere. It http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/blog-5710.html I finally got myself out of Thailand... It was really hard to leave that place. I changed my flight. Twice. The last time was really interesting I got all the way to the checkin counter and changed my mind. I am not getting on that plane. I declared to no one in particular...Anyway because I changed my flight so many times I only ended up with two days in Egypt. I definitely did not http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/blog-5426.html First off sorry to the readers. This journal entry has taken me a long time to start. I also realize that many ofthe pictures will not really mesh with the words. The pictures will present a mostly rosy world while the words will reflect how I actually felt. This entry is growing quite large. I'd suggest taking it in small chunks.Phuket with the galsAfter an easy journey I arrived in Phu http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South/Ko-Phi-Phi/blog-4908.html First off I am two weeks behind. Sorry to all the readers who were expecting daily updatesI made yet another overnight journey down south to an island called Koh Tao. This place is supposed to be really good for diving. I was thinking that I might take my Advanced Open Water Diver Course. Koh Tao is sort of the Diving instruction mecca for South East Asia. I got on the boat and proceed http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South/Ko-Tao/blog-4906.html So I am back in Bangkok after many crazy adventures with the group of 14 the crew that I went trekking with. Before I move on to Bangkok let me recap some of the highlights of Chaing Mai Gong Si Fah Cai I hope I spelled that rightHappy Chinese New Year everyoneWe ended up in China town for the big celebration. It was quite spectacular actually. We saw a pagent of some sort in which http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central/Bangkok/blog-4254.html I recently got back from a trek into the hills surrounding Chaing Mai. It was a 3day 2 night adventure. It was a lot of fun The whole group really bonded together and we had a great timeIt was a bit wierd in that I was the oldest person on the tour. I suppose as I get on in years that experience will happen more and more. In any case I'll get a full description of the events soon. For http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North/Chiang-Mai/blog-4091.html This is currently a place holder for KL pictures. I'll type up a journal entry soon. I wanted to get the pictures done first. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Selangor/Kuala-Lumpur/blog-4089.html So my last few hours in BKK are now ticking away. Why am I in an internet cafe you ask Well there are a few reasons actually.1. It REALLY stinks outside. The pollution is so bad that I have developed quite the sore throat. Though that's probably just the softie American in me talking. Brian's Revenge 2. Perhaps more importantly I am doing this for free. Well sort of.Remember that scam http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central/Bangkok/blog-3873.html So I am already pretty far behind in this blogging thingie but i wanted to get my first impressions of Bangkok down while they are still fresh. I still have to account for KL Kuala Lumpur Penang and Langkawi. Though Maybe I'll give it a miss...In any case. Bangkok. Wow. This is an insane place. I didn't take any pictures so I'll have to give you mental images.On the bus Crammed to the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central/Bangkok/blog-3797.html My first impression of Malaysia reminded me of a Paul Simon song You can Call me Al.in one of the verses the narrator finds himself a stranger in a strange land. He doesn't speak the language holds no currency. Hears the sounds of cattle in the marketplace. Yadda Yadda.I arrived in a bus stop half way to Melacca or Melaka or any of the other 15000 ways I have seen the city's name spelled http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Malacca/Malacca-Town/blog-3599.html So I decided to head out to Malaysia on Monday. But before I did so I wandered over to an island with Sanif. We took the train all the way to the Eastern part of the island then a bus to a village by the airport then a ferry over to the island.It was really a lot of fun We hired I love to say hired when I really mean rented it makes me feel so sophisticated bicycles for 1.50 US a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/blog-3598.html On this day I was to meet up with Sanif another of Sam's friends. Sanif took me to a Satay joint. In case you are ignorant to the ways of Satay like I was moments before I ate it it's basically a minishishkebaab with beef or chicken. They cook the meat in a spicy peanuty sauce and also serve it with assorted bread and vegetables. Simply put this is heaven on Earth. How can food be th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/blog-3596.html Afternoon with GwenThe main mission for this day was to hook up with Sam's friend Gwen and learn all about the city and whatnot. The funny part about our arranging to meet was me telling her to look for the confusedlooking white guy wearing a Boston Red Sox hat. The secondary mission was to do a little selling on Chow's behalf to Gwen. Sam is a bit keen on her and wanted me to put in a g http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/blog-3593.html