‘Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes Turn and face the strange Ch-ch-changes Don’t want to be a richer man Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes Turn and face the strange Ch-ch-changes There’s gonna have to be a different man Time may change me But I can’t trace time’ David Bowie – Changes The Time Is Gone, The Song Is Over (Pink Floyd) Two years of…
Category: Asia
Traveling S.E. Asia on the Cheap: What Did We Learn?
For those of you new to our blog, here’s some background (this stint began March 2016): We leased out our home in the United States for two years with the intent of seeing as much of the world as possible. ‘Seeing’ being defined as hanging out (our term for cultural interaction), usually off the beaten…
BKK –> BCN: Spies Like Us
A friend of ours back home was convinced that we were spies. She questioned our whole southeast Asia and European itinerary believing it was an elaborate cover-up for some middle-eastern data-digging. Well, I can’t say that our flight from Bangkok to Barcelona would convince her otherwise. We were on a Russian airline, that departed disconcertingly…
Chiang Mai, Thailand: Water, Water Everywhere
Most of you who know me know that I don’t like big cities. There are a few exceptions; Buenos Aires, Boston and, recently, the Old Quarter in Hanoi, Vietnam. Bangkok, however, isn’t one of them. We successfully avoided Bangkok on the way into Thailand, but our plans went awry on our exit and we wound…
Chiang Mai & Pai, Thailand: A Land of Street Food and Grafitti (Art Nouveau?)
This blogging thing is hard. I mean trying to find an interesting angle, a new twist on places that have been visited by millions and written about by thousands isn’t easy. So, with this blog about Chiang Mai and Pai, both located in Northern Thailand, you won’t see temples, ancient forts, or elephants. Instead, we’ll…
Thailand: Power-Touring
For the most part, we consider ourselves travelers rather than tourists. You know, the constant wanderer with no real plans or an agenda. We like to settle into a place, get its pulse, become regulars at shops and restaurants, and then decide which sights to see or if we’d prefer to move on to someplace…
Siem Reap—Angkor Wat, Cambodia: A Party Town, An Ancient City, and Watch What You Eat the Day You Travel (lesson learned)
If you read our last blog post, you know that we were sick with the flu, but beginning to recover. Still a bit under the weather, we decide to spend the extra money (again) and use our new favorite taxi guy for the long drive from Sihanoukville to Siem Reap. A very expensive decision but…
Phnom Penh, Otres Beach, and Koh Rong, Cambodia: From the Rat Race to Sick in Paradise
Life has a great sense of humor, albeit a macabre one. We last left you with us heading to Danang for a flight to Saigon where we would catch a bus to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. We had time constraints so we skipped the opportunity to explore Saigon, therefore our time in Saigon was limited to just…
Koh Rong Island, Cambodia: What Could Go Wrong?
The Plan Months ago while were were still in the States I made reservations at the Coconut Beach Bungalows on Koh Rong Island in Cambodia to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. The description and the reviews on the internet made it sound impossibly perfect; wonderful hosts, pristine beach, great views, and on and on. How…
Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Time to Put Away the Dong and Get Riel
Our arrival in Cambodia coincided with our one month on the road in SE Asia. Here is what we learned during that time in no particular order: Lao food is delicious! Pat particularly likes the sausages, but everything is fresh with well-balanced flavors. Why do we not know about Lao food in the States??? Malaysia’s…