We just spent the last 4 days in a remote village in Cambodia which Dana had randomly wanted to go to in order to get out of the touristy area. We recruited a young Swedish couple with us and had such a wild time. They are planning to develop this community for eco tourism but so far just have mountain bikes and kayaks for rent. It took a day of travel each way as after a long bus ride you have to take a boat up the river through the sweltering jungle. We stayed with this really nice family while we were there and the daughter even spoke a bit of English. We spent our first day kayaking around the river and fishing (no catches) and the second day biking through the jungle. On our bikes ... read more

The night before our flight to Bangkok we are reading about a recent update to the protests going on in Bangkok as the ‘rebel’ redshirts (mostly peasants from the rural areas) are protesting the current government in power. The previous day the protests became more violent and during their march a fight broke out and 20 people were killed. In addition, this protest took place in the touristy area of Bangkok, near Koh San Road. We took our chances and got on our flight and arrived in Bangkok and headed to Koh San. Everything seemed ok, except for the pile of rubble and flowers where the protestors had died, but we checked into a hotel a bit off the main road to be safe. Our arrival also coincided with the Thai New Year Festival which is ... read more

You all know the history of this city. We arrived at night and went to see the memorial park before going to our hotels. We saw the ruined building called the ‘dome’ which is the point directly below the nuclear explosion. Since the blast was directly above this building it somehow survived and is still standing today, although all the people inside died immediately during the explosion. It was an eerie feeling standing at the exact spot where the nuclear bomb was dropped. Very sad. The current Hiroshima is a booming modern city. It has come a long way since the world war. On our second day, with the encouraging of Tim, our photographer friend, we woke up early and headed out to a nearby island to watch the sun rise and light the temple gate ... read more

This is a dreamy city and a must visit when in Japan. There are so many incredible sites and we only had a small sample in our 3 days here. In Japan, every temple entrance is marked by a bright red gate. In Kyoto we visited a temple which had over 1000 red temple gates. Many were built so close together that they formed long tunnels with only a few inches separating them. Each gate throughout the tunnel was carved with Japanese characters - which I imagined was detailing the path to enlightenment. We also saw the Golden Pavilion, which is covered entirely with gold, as well as many other temples. Our Japanese girl friends took us to the busy shopping streets where we saw some dancing performances, more temples, and some Geisha trainees. Later we ... read more

Since Japan is ridiculously expensive compared to anywhere else we have been (even more than Canada), we decided to couch surf. We stayed with a young Japanese guy named Ryuto, which means ‘traveler’. His entire flat was smaller than the size of my bedroom at home. The front entrance was also the laundry area, bike storage and kitchen - much smaller than my bathroom at home. He then had a tiny bathroom similar in size to an airplane’s, but also fitting a tub and shower. And lastly, there was the living room/bedroom, separated by the Japanese traditional sliding door. He also had a bunny living with him named Mococo who was a temporary snuggle-substitute for Oliver. This was a traditional Japanese flat. They use their space wisely!! When the 3 of us lay down to sleep ... read more