We had such good luck with Noy on our waterfall quest, that we decided to use him again for a tour of the sights of Luang Prabang. Noy grew up in the country on a farm. His mother passed when he was quite young. His dad moved to Vientianne. When he passed, Noy was on […]
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 […]
I must admit, elephants make good photo models. There are probably too many photos here, but I already deleted several hundred. Ethical Elephant Tours There is a great deal of debate about which tour is the most ethical. From a Western perspective, we can rule out riding of elephants for sure. Many tourist don’t care. […]
It is Thanksgiving this day, not that you’d notice in Thailand. In honor, and absent any evidence of turkey and stuffing, we decided to do a Thai cooking school. We also couldn’t help but hear the screams and cries of children during recess at the school next door. Chang Mai Our hotel was located across […]
The National Museum of Thailand was a reasonably short walk from Sabai Sabai. The skipper told us it was worth it, so we went. Just in case you wondered what we’d look like in traditional Thai garb, here you go: On our way, we saw a school class doing an activity in one of the […]
Manuel Antonio is two first names. Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio is a small National Park in on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, just south of the city of Quepos. Established in 1972 with a land area of about 3 square miles (the smallest of any Costa Rican national park), it is the destination of as many as 150,000 visitors annually and well […]
Cover Photo: Ellen posing in front of a “Trabi” or Trabant, an East German vehicle. Ellen’s Thoughts: Who Knew! Not at all what I expected! Then I am not sure what I expected.We went on a walking tour and the guide was fantastic! He was 28 years old, doing graduate school in Sociology after deciding […]
Formerly the capital of Portugal, its most important university was established here over 500 years ago. It would seem that back in the day, when a university was to be built, they spared no expense. It is a long walk up a hill, or steps, to the campus. Across the river are several convents, probably […]
Several people have asked about how the Spanish is coming. Here are a few thoughts: Yanapuma is a very good school that we would recommend to others Spanish is not English – it has its own set of rules and irregularities, usually very different than those in English It seems far less important to learn […]
Saturday we, as on many days, we wanted to take a hike. After Ellen’s birthday brunch, we headed off to “Land of Medicine Buddha,” a place Blakey had never been. One of the kids at Sunshower Farm goes to daycare here. After a long drive up a narrow and curvy road, we arrived. Land of […]
H A P P Y Holidays & 2025 Ellen and Steve: (...)
H A P P Y Holidays & 2025 Ellen and Steve: (...)
What a trip you guys. If you are still in Luang Prabang (...)
I would have enjoyed this day with you! Thanks for updates (...)
You guys really are troopers! Thanks for continuing to (...)