http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/wheresdave/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from wheresdave en-us Thu, 24 Dec 2009 05:10:26 +0000 Thu, 24 Dec 2009 05:10:26 +0000 I'm off to China after I finish this blog and I wanted to get a quick blog off in case travelblog.org is blocked by the great Chinese firewall dragon. I've been back in Sapa Vietnam now for about 9 days. The weather the first week was typical of this time of the year cold cloudy foggy drizzly ... The last two days though have been stellar clear and warm. One thing that amazes me is h http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Northwest/Sapa/blog-455556.html I'd like to welcome my new subscribers who are receiving their first travelblog. I promise in the future to have fewer words and a lot more photos.To all my friends in Latin America feliz dia del muerto. Yesterday was Halloween which meant only one thing Big bobrsquos annual Halloween party which is always a good time. Terry always does a great job of decorating the house and puts out a http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Illinois/blog-450096.html Well I thought I should get a blog out to let those of you who don't know I'm back in the states I think I left too soon but I was a bit concerned that I was going to lose my return flight. I went to Asia on a frequent flier ticket and my return ticket was from Sydney. I tried to change my ticket to Asia and for weeks I was told that no seats were available. I had a month before I would l http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/blog-425434.html What's the best city in South East Asia to visit if you only have a few days Well for me it has been Kwaing Tong also spelled Chiang Tung and Keng Tong for the following reasons extremely friendly people Shan no or very few tourists so you still get a real experience and great photo opportunities. Most travelers haven't heard of Chiang Tung so where is it Myanmar ie Burma. I http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/blog-407400.html I thought I better get out a quick blog to let everyone know what I am up to especially since I am a bit far behind on my emails I thought a blog would get me a bit more up to date. Yesterday reality set in. I will explain what I mean via the captions in the first few photos.So you may be wondering what i am up to I am also wondering. I left Vietnam at the end of March and traveled back http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-398936.html Well it is my last day in Sapa and I am trying to get a blog out. I have been spending the better part of the day trying to get it written the photos uploaded kept losing my internet signal and stuffing all my belongings into my carry on size backpack.I8217ll try to keep this short with that said I have uploaded quite a few photos. A lot has happened but I will write about something that http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Northwest/Sapa/blog-384208.html What do you do when your computer is running slow because you are moving around a lot of fotos you write a travelblog. Well lots has happened since my last blog and I will try to keep this one short since many of you don't read the entire blog. I know this because everyone failed the quiz in the last blog as I had suspected they would. As usual I digressed.Well since my last blog I have expe http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Northwest/Sapa/blog-373579.html For those of you who are receiving my travelblog for the first time welcome.For the newcomers and regulars I hope you all had a happy new year and I hope 2009 will be a prosperous year for you. Personally I think the economy and the stock markets are going to tank but I digress. Before contiuing I am having problems proofing this blog so I am going to wingit and publish it anyway sorry if http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-365639.html I thought I better let some of you know what I have been up to. I was living in Thailand for 3 months which was the maximum amount of time I could stay with a tourist visa so I had to leave the country. I could have gone to a Thai embassy and got a new visa but instead I decided to travel a little bit. I took the train from Chiang Mai to Bangkok on the 22nd of December and spent a few days in http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-358698.html Hello everyone. I thought I should create a blog since a few of you may think that I have been abducted or that I was done in by dengue fever. First let me welcome the newcomers to my travelblog. For some of you we go all the way back to high school and for some of you I've had the pleasure of meeting recently. I will try to keep this short but first let me apologize for not responding to http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-342536.html I have received a few emails lately from friends wondering if I was still alive. The answer is barely.Last Monday night all of a sudden I started to feel like shite and by the time I woke up Tuesday morning I knew something wasn't right.I had all the symptoms of malaria or dengue fever so I made my way over to the malaria clinic and they told me you can't get malaria in the city but you can sure g http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-288373.html It has been a few months since my last travelblog actually 63 days so I thought I would let all of you know I am still alive and let you know what is going on. I left Vietnam a few months ago and cruised through Cambodia. I spent several days visiting the ruins of Angkor in late January. Since then I returned to Thailand put down my camera and picked up my pen. I have been back in Chiang Ma http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-260655.html As Always I hope all is well.Well I can't believe that I have been in Vietnam for 2 months Actually I have left Vietnam and I am in Cambodia Phenam phen to be exact. I am leaving tomorrow for the South so i Thought I would get a quick blog off.I will keep the text short but one observation of Phenam Phen is that there are a lot more cars to motobikes than anywhere else in Asia. Not just ca http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Southeast/Ho-Chi-Minh-City/blog-238298.html While taking the train back to Hanoi I decided to go back to Sapa and visit some of the minority villages in the area. After spending a few days in Hanoi getting caught up with my photos ... i took the night train back to Sapa. I ran into Sa who I met earlier and knowing that she acted as a guide I asked her if she would be my guide on a 3 day trip to some of the villages surrounding Sapa. S http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Northwest/Lai-Chau-/blog-230227.html HAPPY NEW YEARI left Hanoi a few days ago and I am currently in Hue Vietnam near the old DMZ. Christmas saw the continuation of a seemingly never ending technical meltdown when my external Hard drive failed and then to top it off I accidentally deleted some original photos off my Laptop. I have been trying to rebuild my lightroom photo database and make backup copies on DVDs. I had man http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Northwest/Sapa/blog-226941.html Happy holidays to all of youIf you are receiving a blog for the first time from me WelcomeCurrently I am back in Hanoi trying to get caught up with my photos as well as my blogs. Hopefully I will be back on the road tomorrow Christmas day heading south and eventually to Cambodia then maybe back to thailand and after that I am really not sure.Time is just flying by. I can't believe that N http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Halong-Bay/blog-226937.html As always i hope you and yours are doing well.this is the 4th and final blog on laos titled hill tribes. currently i am in northern Vietnam on a 3 day motorcycle trek. today is day one and if tomorrow and the next day are the same as today i should have a few great photos to share. Anyway onto the hill tribesThe first hill tribe trek that i took left from muang ngoi on the nam Ou river. First http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/North/Phongsali/blog-224036.html As always I hope all is well with you and yours.For those of you who are receiving my travelblog for the first time welcome wow time is really flying and i am rally far behind in my blogs. i can't believe it is the holiday season already well not here in asia. Before I tell you about life on the Nam Ou river in laos I wanted to let you know how things are going here in Vietnam. I came http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/East/Muang-Kwa/blog-224029.html Hope you are all doing well.As I warned you last week here is part II of the laos blog.After taking a boat down the Mekong for two days i spent as few days in laung prabang. Luang prabang is probably the number one tourist destination in Laos. it is a scenic spot set at the confluence of two rivers. There are quite a few European package tourists there and as a result there are higher end ho http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Luang-Prabang/blog-224025.html As always I hope all is well with you and yours.hmm it seems like i disappeared for a while well I am back until I disappear again I am currently in Vietnam Hanoi to be exact where I will be for a few days resting and catching up on things before I head North towards the Chinese border. I just spent a month traveling in Laos mostly in the North and mostly by boat. i also did several http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Ban-Houayxay/blog-223710.html