02 Mar 2007 Adventures in Asia, Part 11: What Have We Learned? (adventures in asia, travel)
I’ve been back in Canada a few weeks now, posted my pictures, written it all up in my blog. Here, I just want to write a bit about what I’ve learned. It’s not really advice, per se, since I can’t speak to how well this would work for, say, you. It’s just […]
28 Feb 2007 Adventures in Asia, Part 10: Osaka, Japan (adventures in asia, photos by me, travel)
The last part of my trip was a few days in Osaka with the charming and lovely Tyler and Carla (yes, charming and lovely, both of them). It was great to see them, and it was also great to be in a country that takes toilet cleanliness and comfort with the appropriate gravitas. […]
19 Feb 2007 Adventures in Asia, Part 9: Bangkok Redux (adventures in asia, photos by me, travel)
Ah, Bangkok. The full name is “Krungthep Mahanakhon Amonrattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilokphop Noppharatratchathani Burirom-udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amonphiman Awatansathit Sakkathattiya Witsanu Kamprasit”, which means something about angels and gems. Officially home to 6 million people, but unofficial estimates place it at twice that. Hottest major city in the world, and one of the most densely-populated. […]
17 Feb 2007 Adventures in Asia, Part 8: Escape from Phu Quoc (adventures in asia, travel)
Finally, the day came to leave Phu Quoc. Our plan had always been to take the ferry to the mainland and then the bus to Saigon, where we have flight out of Vietnam the day after we leave Phu Quoc. However, when Janelle went into town to get tickets for the charmingly-named Superdong […]
31 Jan 2007 Adventures in Asia, Part 6: Halong Bay, Vietnam (adventures in asia, photos by me, travel)
Halong Bay
The main reason we were in Hanoi in the first place was to see Halong Bay, a few hours away. The bay contains about 2000 limestone islands, which rise straight out of the water and are topped with lush vegetation. Only two of the islands have enough approachable surface area to be […]
28 Jan 2007 Adventures in Asia, Part 5: Hanoi, Vietnam (adventures in asia, photos by me, travel)
I’ve had a wicked case of the flu the past couple of days, and an important paper deadline in less than two weeks. I’ve been trying to work, but frankly I’m feeling too weak and feverish to accomplish anything other than watching House, MD.
24 Jan 2007 Adventures in Asia, Part 4: the mighty Mekong, and the Nam Ou, too (adventures in asia, photos by me, travel)
the Nam Ou
As lovely as Luang Prabang was, I was curious to see other parts of Laos. And so I ended up getting up and dawn one morning and dragging Janelle from her hot showers and bacon-stuffed baguettes to the boat dock on the Mekong. We were going to go up the river.
A […]
21 Jan 2007 Adventures in Asia, Part 3: Luang Prabang, Laos (adventures in asia, photos by me, travel)
un chat Lao
Well, at the rate I’m writing, it will take me as long to write about Southeast Asia as it took to actually see it. The problem of returning to everyday life after a break is that there are actually things you need to do, deadlines to meet, and, most annoyingly, jet lag […]
18 Jan 2007 Adventures in Asia, Part 2: Pai, Thailand (adventures in asia, photos by me, travel)
street scene in Pai
From Chiang Mai, we took a bus trip to the scenic little town of Pai. We took a rickity old bus where we got the extra-cramped seats in front of the rear door, which were several inches shorter than the rest. The bus driver laughed when came to collect our […]
17 Jan 2007 across southeast asia in Chuck Taylors (adventures in asia, travel)
Over the past month, I visited four countries — including two of the last five communist states — and got around by train, car, bus, subway, skytrain, longtail boat, speedboat, fishing boat, tuk-tuk, song thaew, car taxi, motorcycle taxi, jet, scary third-world propellor airplane, and foot…. I wrote extensively in my travel journal and took lots of pictures, and my plan is to use those to post a few different articles about the places I saw and things I did, though it might be a couple of days before I get started (I have a lot of emails and sleep to get caught up on).