I’ve uploaded my photos of Ayutthaya. This is one of the ancient capitals of Thailand, active from 1351 to 1767. There are some great ruins, including a chedi (pointy mound found at some temples) with a tree growing right through its middle! Some of the structures have decayed in a way that shows that they…
Month: April 2010
Vietnam so far
Oh yeah, I have a blog :) Vietnam so far has been great. People are really friendly, even when they’re not trying to sell you something! Even arriving in the country on a canal in the Mekong Delta, there were kids on the banks waving at us and yelling "Hello! Hello!" The trip so far…
My life is a stereo
My life is a stereo… I found these biscuits in Cambodia. They taste just like Oreos. …kinda cheaply made though About 1/4 of the cookies had one side backwards, in other words the textured side of the biscuit was smushed into the filling. One cookie was completely backwards: smooth side out on both sides! Julie,…
Riverside Hotel
A few days ago in Saigon (nobody calls it Ho Chi Minh City), we were on a bus for a day tour, the kind of bus that drives around and picks everyone up at their hotel. The tour guide checked his list, and then: Tour guide: "Does anyone stay at the Riverside Hotel?" Tour guide:…
I’m on a boat
Robin and I are on a boat to the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. We passed a couple of days in Siem Reap, visiting the temples of Angkor. We visited Angkor Wat last and found it somewhat anticlimactic, mostly because it’s bandaged up with scaffolds for restoration and packed with tourists. Bayon, with its hundreds of…
Holiday in Cambodia
Cambodia is a dual-currency country. Anything even remotely touristy prices its offerings in US dollars. Coins are not used though. Any change under 1 USD is given back in the local currency, Riel, usually at a 4000:1 exchange rate, which exists in bills as low as 100 Riel (well under 1¢.) A tuktuk, southeast Asia’s…
Louang Prabang and a waterfall
Robin and I took the "VIP" bus to Louang Prabang a few days ago. It wasn’t a great ride – no aircon, twisty roads, an unscheduled stop when the bus in front of us hit someone in the middle of the road and waited (blocking both directions of the road) until the police photographed its…
ATR 72
From Louang Prabang: a chance to fly a new (to me) airline and aircraft: Lao Airlines and an ATR 72. The airport was small and security was poor. A photocopied sign, strangely from CATSA (Canadian air security) advertised the usual liquid ban, but they xrayed all our bags when we entered the airport, with no…
Pizzeria names in Siem Reap, Cambodia
Happy Herb’s Pizza Happy Angkor Pizza Ecstacic Pizza Happy Special Pizza (We were in Siem Reap Apr 4-7, 2010)
Heading to Cambodia
From Vang Vieng, we took the bus to to Louang Prabang then flew to Chiang Mai, rode elephants, and took the train to Bangkok. Right now we’re in Bangkok for one last night before heading to Cambodia (train to the border, share taxi to Siem Reap, probably.) I have a few half-finished blog entries on…