I am writing this from Langkawi, Malaysia. It is the first sun and heat that we’ve had since Cambodia. And yet, we find ourselves grieving our departure from Vietnam. It really got under our skin. It is a beautiful and diverse country. It is creating its own destiny. Here’s a few random things: Sapa Back […]
Travelling
Ninh Binh to Hanoi
Our Joy Nibi hostess booked us rides to our hotel in Hanoi. 500k VND, or less than $20 for a 2 hour ride. As usual, we were pretty much the last ones on, and last off. This means last row. The younger set had the single seats, and were pretty comfy putting them back, lessoning […]
Postcard from Ellen – Siem Reap Adieu
Postcard from Ellen – January, 2025 Hello everyone, I haven’t been blogging as much this trip. I realized it’s partly because there are so many followers I have been feeling self conscious. But also because, like many of you the craziness around the USA has gotten me very down at times and I wanted the […]
Cambodia Ho’
We dropped off the car in Koh Chang, and Nikki took us to the ferry. Turns out our ticket didn’t go quite as smoothly as hoped, but eventually we made it on to the ferry back to the mainland. After a wait, we boarded the Boonsiri bus to the border of Cambodia. It took a […]
Trat
We flew from Vientiane to Don Muoang (the “Old”) Airport in Bangkok. Made our way to lodging, and it wasn’t much. But hey, $30 per night in Bangkok. Had dinner on a rooftop restaurant. The next day we took the MRT to Chatuchak Weekend Market and did some shopping. Pete and Lek showed up. We […]
Train, Vang Vieng, More Train
To say that China is making its influence known around the world is an understatement. It is made abundantly clear in Laos. They have built a high-speed train from China to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. We opted for the train vs. the bus, 50 minutes vs. 6 hours. Over the course of the the […]
Rolling on the (Mekong) River
Sunrise To an inveterate sunset junkie, it is forgivable to have forgotten that there are also things we call sunrises. When one’s hotel room looks out across the Mekong River to Laos, facing East, one is quickly reminded of sunrises. We got up early for breakfast so that we could make it to the immigration […]
Northern Thailand Magical Mystery Tour – 9 – Fini
The last day of our magical mystery tour of Northern Thailand. In hindsight, we wish we’d planned a few more days in Chang Mai. It has a nice vibe, and when one discovers a great breakfast place, one doesn’t want to let it go. We opted for VIP tickets in the “Green Bus.” $11 each. […]
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Northern Thailand Magical Mystery Tour – 6 Pai to Chang Mai
Pai Canyon We decided to take a look at the Pai Canyon on our way out of Pai. Though it was a bit of a climb up, we’re glad we did. The Drive Down In a previous post, we mentioned the curves on the road. It was almost a work of art watching a semi […]
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Northern Thailand Magical Mystery Tour – 5 – Pai
Day 5 was the vaunted trip to Pai. Vaunted because there are over 762 curves–most of them hairpin and switchback. Apparently it was built by the Japanese during the 2nd World War. However, we needed to start with a stop for morning – Coffee There are tourist traps, and there are tourist traps. I think […]
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