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Hanoi
VIETNAM: HANOI April 18, 2006 Hanoi is a village masquerading as a city. The streets are narrow and confusing, and there is no downtown. In fact, we’re still wondering where the “city” is. We rode motorcycle taxis out to the US Consulate to get pages added to my passport (it’s filling up–what a delightful problem!) …
Gyeongju
SOUTH KOREA: Gyeongju May 2005 On Wednesday, we took a bus 365 km southeast to Gyeongju, the capital of the ancient kingdom of Silla, which controlled most of the Korean Peninsula from the1600s to the 1800s. It is also listed as one of the world’s ten most important ancient cultural cities. To me, it just …
Angkor
CAMBODIA: Angkor May 3-5, 2006 We went to Siem Reap to visit the nearby ruins of Angkor. The area has many impressive temples that were built about 1,000 years ago. Some have been restored, but most were falling apart and had trees growing on them. Zac and I were amazed at how they let tourists …
Ko Tao Island
Thailand: Ko Tao Island May 18-19, 2006 We took an overnight ferry to get to Ko Tao island. We arrived at the absurd hour of 5 a.m. and had to wait in the rain until a restaurant opened for breakfast around 6:30. After breakfast, we found a beautiful room facing the sea to stay in. …
Chiang Mai
Thailand: Chiang Mai May 7-9, 2006 Chiang Mai is a quiet town in northwestern Thailand. There, we rented bikes and rode around by the river, just observing local life and enjoying the peaceful environment. We bought grilled chicken and fresh pineapple at a market for lunch, and Zac got his haircut by a local barber. …
Monte Verde
Costa Rica: Monte Verde Climb every mountain… Our bus ride to Monte Verde was the worst of the whole trip. It started out on the typical paved, two-lane, winding mountain roads that are the norm for Central America. These well-paved roads are very annoying because although they serve as the main highways through the country, …
Playa Hermosa
Costa Rica: Playa Hermosa Leaving Lonely Planet For our final stop of the trip, we wanted to visit a beach on the Pacific. We were originally planning on going to Playa Coco, because was easily accessible. However, the internet café guy recommended Playa Panama, which was two beaches north of Playa Coco. We thought it …
Alajuela
Costa Rica: Alajuela (epilogue) Mango Verde Hostel We arrived in Alajuela that afternoon, and, on my own for communication for the first time, I once again relished the joys of being able to pronounce the local language. I instructed the taxi driver to take us to the Mango Verde Hostel. He tried to convince us …
La Fortuna
Costa Rica: La Fortuna Lake Arenal The next day, after breakfast at the Treehouse Café, it was onward ho. We were headed to a real live (as in still active) volcano accessible from the town of La Fortuna. The bus ride out of Monte Verde was not quite so tortuous because the route was shorter …
Hoi An
VIETNAM: HOI AN April 22-23, 2006 In Hoi An, we pretty much just ate and watched life go by. An interesting thing about Vietnam is that there are virtually no supermarkets, malls, KFCs, or McDonalds here (except in Saigon). All food is sold in open markets and for things that can’t be grown, there …