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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 …
Nha Trang
VIETNAM: NHA TRANG April 24-25, 2006 Nha Trang is a beautiful beach with hilly islands. We took an all-day boat tour which included swimming, snorkeling and lunch. And here is where I had my best experience of the trip so far: snorkeling over a reef. I’d never been snorkeling before, and I couldn’t believe how …
Mui Ne Beach
VIETNAM: MUI NE BEACH April 26-28, 2006 Mui Ne, is a lovely little fishing and tourist town spread along a curve in the beach. I really liked this place because the beach was full of local people using nets for fishing, so it was really interesting just to sit around and watch life here. One …
Halong Bay and Cat Ba Island
VIETNAM: HALONG BAY AND CAT BA ISLAND April 19-21, 2006 We spent 3 days in Ha Long Bay and Cat Ba Island, which is a beautiful area with lots of hilly islands and floating fishing villages. My favorite part was kayaking and looking at the jellyfish up close. There was also a really large cave …
Dalat
VIETNAM: DALAT April 25-26, 2006 On the journey to Da Lat, the scenery was beautiful. Da Lat is the highlands, so the air was cool, the mosquitoes were abundant and there was nothing to do there. We looked at the people fishing in the little lake and got eaten by mosquitoes and wandered around the market. rice …