Photos
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 …
Cheung Chau Island
HONG KONG: Cheung Chau Island February 2, 2006 Thursday was our last day in Hong Kong. For breakfast we dined on chocolate milk and donuts then took a ferry to Cheung Chau Island. It’s a small dumbbell-shaped island that also has no cars, so most of the population is crowded into the isthmus near …
Hong Kong Island
HONG KONG: Hong Kong Island January 27 – February 2, 2006 Skyline from Victoria Harbour Hong Kong Island was beautiful. The north side of the island was packed with skyscrapers, but it still managed to have plenty of trees in addition to a botanical and zoological park right in the middle. The city was impeccably …
Lamma Island
HONG KONG: Lamma Island February 1, 2006 On Wednesday, we took a ferry to Lamma Island, the third largest island. There are no cars on Lamma Island, so the island is covered in paved footpaths connecting the houses and shops. It was a warm and beautiful day and after about five minutes of traipsing …
Lantau Island
HONG KONG: Lantau Island January 30, 2006 On Monday morning, we took a ferry to Lantau Island. It is the largest of the islands, nearly twice the size of Hong Kong Island, although its population is a mere 45,000. At Mui Wo, the sleepy southern side of the island where our ferry arrived, we …
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 …