Robin & I have been in Laos for a while… we spent 2 days in Vientiane, 3 in Vang Vieng, and today we’re heading to Luang Prabang. The journey here was good. We took the sleeper train to Nong Khai and then a short connecting train over the Thai/Lao border. This train is neat: they…
Blog
…and I’m not even bored!
Many years ago, I found a text file of "things to do when you’re bored", one of which was "Make up a language and ask people for directions in it." I got a taste of how that might go today. Robin and I decided to visit the Buddha Park, which is apparently a quirky ferro-concrete…
Onto Laos
Robin and I are now on a train to Nong Khai, just across the border from the Lao capital Vientiane. After Tonsai I took a longtail boat to Ao Nang (the closest community with a road), a minivan to Surat Thani train station (actually in the neighbouring town of Phunphin), and a train to Bangkok….
Reflections on Tonsai
The rest of my trip to Tonsai had: lots of great climbing, a rest day where Robin and I went sea kayaking (different muscle groups!), and Robin’s first grade 5 leads (including one onsight!) I led a 6b+ and toproped a hard 6c. I’m not ready to lead a 6c yet. If only I could…
DWS FTW
After my climbing day with Mia, Robin took her course in lead climbing and I headed out for a day of deepwater soloing. As far as I know, DWS is unique to the area. The idea is simple: instead of using ropes to break your fall (free climbing), or climbing close enough to the ground…
I’d like some climbing with my tropical paradise
So far, Tonsai is a tropical paradise. It has 1 high end resort, about 6 cheap resorts (like the one we’re using), a handful of mini marts and restaurants, about 10 bars, and 6 climbing shops (offering sales, rentals, and guiding.) It also has cats, cats everywhere: both strays and pets, tame and skittish. The…
Welcome to Tonsai!
We’re now in a bungalow in Tonsai beach. Getting here was quite the adventure. After our “donkey” (Malaysian train) ride to Wakaf Bahru, we spent the night in Khota Bharu. The guidebook was right – Khota Bahru accomodation is filthy (regardless of price.) But we found a place where the bed at least was clean…
Donkey Riding
"Enjoy the journey." That was a sign I tied to the back of my bike on part of my cross Canada trip as a response to all the RVers who seemed to hate the road and live for the rest stops and scenic outlooks. The jungle line was definitely a good way to do just…
Quick note…
We made it to Krabi amid many adventures. Tomorrow morning, longtail boat to Railey Beach for climbing. Please don’t take my recent negativity to mean I’m not having fun. I’m enjoying it, and hopefully so are you :)
My pores are singing
Singapore was founded before any of us were born by some Thai prince who was out sailing and saw a Merlion, or Singha in Thai. Figuring he was probably high, the Singaporese government promptly banned all recreational drugs except alcohol and nicotine.[*] Robin and I arrived late on Friday night to find the public transit…
Kyoto and onwards…
OK, back to Kyoto! Robin and I met up there after separate side trips from Hiroshima: she wanted to see Himeji Castle and I wanted to see the Mazda assembly line. Kyoto was a great place to spend our last few days in Japan. I took Robin to Kurama and Kibune, we visited some of…
Tea in Masuda
Masuda! Out in the wilds of Shimane prefecture, the least populated in Japan, this small town was a big change from Tokyo. Robin and I headed out there on a complicated series of shinkansen then a pokey local train to stay with Caroline, a couchsurfer. After finding Caroline’s place, about a 15 minute walk from…
Emergency sleeping in Japan
Robin and I are crazy but not insane – our love hotel adventure wasn’t actually all that risky. We fortunately didn’t have to use any of these, but there are many emergency sleeping options in the nightlife areas of large Japanese cities: Capsule hotels. Usually for men only, although some women-only or mixed places are…
Blogging notes
A few notes on my travel blogging: I’m not going to be putting photos in my blog entries for the next while. It just takes too much time in front of a computer, and entries get posted a lot later as a result too. You can see my latest photos on flickr (and I’ll try…
Hikoning in Hakone
Robin wanted to try some onsen and see Mount Fuji, so we headed to Tokyo’s famous Hakone mountain resort area to do just that. It’s also an interesting region from a transit point of view. JR only serves the nearby city of Odawara, so from there you need to use the private Odakyu railway. From…
REVIEW: Yamato Transport Company
LOGO: 9/10. It’s a mother cat carrying a kitten! This logo is everywhere in Japan, as recognizable to Japanese people as the Coca Cola logo. 1 point off because the logo on their vehicles is usually fairly small. URL: 10/10. kuronekoyamato.co.jp. It means "Black Cat Yamoto", not something boring like "Yamato Transport Company" like you…
A week in Tokyo
I’ve been a bit busy since Robin arrived… that’s a good thing :) Last Thursday, we visited Kapabashi-dori, the kitchenware district of Tokyo, so Robin could see the plastic food. Many restaurants have plastic food in the windows (as advertising, but it also makes it relatively easy for foreigners to order) and it’s one of…
Robin is here!
Robin is here! Robin arrived a few hours ago today. I took the train (Keisei Skyliner) out to Narita in time to see her 777 touch down from the observation deck, then headed down to arrivals. Yay! She’s now sleeping off the jetlag, so I have time to upload photos and blog entries…
Home to Tokyo
On the last day of almost any adventure (long or short, awesome or fail) I just want to get home. Tokyo feels like home to me for the time being. It’s been my base in Japan and it’s the only place in the world where there’s an apartment rented in my name. I showed up…
Last few adventures
This morning I said goodbye to Kyushu, Nagasaki, and the worst hotel in Japan (must write to Lonely Planet about that one too) and got on a train for Shimonoseki. Shimonoseki is the fugu (blowfish or globefish) capital of Japan so my mission was obvious. Fugu, it turns out, is delicious but also pricy (chefs…