After much debate and consideration, we decided to fly from Bangkok to Siem Reap rather than take the bus/taxi. It was the most expensive flight that we had, but in the end decided that we didn't want a 10 hour bus trip and made it an anniversary present to ourselves to fly. (Number 30!) I regret that we didn't do much local transportation on our trip, but maybe next time we will be more adventurous. Rumour has it that the Bangkok Airways pays the government not to fix the roads. They are so bad and the ride so uncomfortable that people would rather pay extra to fly. Next time we would arrange our trip so that we did not leave from Bangkok, as there are many other border entries. The tuktuk driver who picked us up ... read more

Chiang Mai in northern Thailand was our third stop of our winter holiday. We hired a taxi from the airport to take us to our guest house that again, we had booked on line. Driving down the back roads that got smaller and smaller, we wondered what we had gotten ourselves into. When the driver stopped in front of a ‘rustic’ looking wooden gate, we were both concerned, but we had a real treat behind the gate. A wonderful Thai/Chinese woman named Aor owned an antique furniture/restoration business. The house that she lived in with her 81 year old father was 154 years old and just beautiful. She had added 4 Thai style bungalows in the large yard and started a guest house business 3 years ago. The area was more expensive than the old town ... read more

Our south-east Asia adventure began with a very long day, leaving our apartment early morning on Monday, January 18. Dressed in our shorts and warm weather clothing we left the snow and cold of Jinshitan with Autumn, who drove us through a foggy start to the Dalian airport. We were very happy to be leaving Rick’s crutches at home, as he had started walking with only the help of a cane and air cast a few days before. A lot more freedom and not having to deal with carrying crutches was great. From Dalian we flew to Hangzhou, where we met up with several Maple Leaf staff who were off to various points south as well. We arrived in Kuala Lumpur early evening that same evening, with still one more short flight to the Malaysian Island ... read more

Merry Christmas to all of our friends and relatives. It has been such an exciting five months here. We wish that everyone of you could be here to celebrate with us and join us in the wonderful diversity of people, cultures, food, landscape, etc, etc, etc, that we have experienced. When I look back at our home page with 35 years in Peace River, we were definitely a bit hesitant and nervous as we started this journey, but can't imagine our lives without all that we have been exposed to here. Funny how things always work out - God definitely has a plan! We were planning on a very low-key holiday (Well - sort of a holiday - Who's complaining about a long weekend though). We actually have two long weekends in a row - one ... read more

This blog is a continuation of our weekend trip with Fairy. After we left the rural villages we drove to a huge apple farm where we had some lunch and toured the area. After we drove to Bing Yu Village home of the Bu Yun Mountain Hot Springs. The hot springs area was a bit disappointing as we were expecting something like the Rockies. All in all and interesting experience. Rick made a hit with a bus load of chinese tourists who all wanted to have their picture taken with him. ... read more