A Fantastic Journey
In and around World
Well, this is the beginning of an adventure that will span the globe (except for the Pacific Ocean). Beginning in Edmonton, ending in Edmonton, with a lot of non-Edmonton inbetween, I'm looking forward to learning about other cultures, history, and most of all....myself. I'll be starting with 2 months in SE Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, more Thailand, and then Kuala Lampur). At the beginning of March, I'm meeting Bridgette in Paris for 2 1/2 months in Europe. I won't even try to list the route here, too much to see. Please feel free to follow along with my adventures and mis-adventures.
Route taken and entries by Real Traveler Bern
-
1
Packing and worrying
Well, it's T-21 days, and whoever thought it was a good idea to leave at Christmas was NUTS. Not only is there packing, shopping and stressing for tra... Continue reading » -
2
Arrived, safe and sound
Well, I'm here. It was a very long time arriving, both in planning and in travel time. I left Edmonton at 8:30 am on the 28th of Dec, and arrived h... Continue reading »
-
3
Northward Bound
Jan 2/07
My tour group met the evening of the 2nd. We were 14, 12 Aussies, and 2 Canadians. Our tour leader was named Sin. We had a brie... Continue reading »
-
4
I'm ok.
I'm ok. I'm sure some of you saw the news that there were bombings in Bangkok on New Year's Eve. None of them were close to me, and I didn't... Continue reading »
-
5
Elephants, and more elephants
Jan 5/07
We got an early start again today, heading on the 9:00 bus for Lampang. There were no seats availible on the chicken bus, so we got... Continue reading »
-
6
More elephants, waterfalls, and shopping
Jan 7/07
Today is hilltribe day. We headed into the hills in songthaows, and stopped after an hour for an elephant ride. We rode 3 to an elep... Continue reading »
-
7
Tigers and bridges
Jan 9/07
After our 6:30 arrival in Bangkok, we dropped our baggage at the hotel and headed right out of town again. We were going to Kanchana... Continue reading »
-
8
If I was a rich king...
Jan 11/07
Today, I ran over to the Vietnam embassy to get my visa for entry. I'll be glad when I get to Europe, where there are no visas. The... Continue reading »
-
9
The scary border crossing (that wasn't so scary after all)
Well, I've been dreading this day for a while now....crossing the Cambodian border. I've heard so much about being ripped off, scammed, robbed and... Continue reading »
-
10
Temples and hunters
Jan 14, 15/07
I met my tuk-tuk driver, Keo and we left for the temples about 10:00. I pretty much let him decide where to go, since I had no... Continue reading »
-
11
Transportation Guide
This is a quick reference guide to travel in SE. Asia. Here, there are many different ways to get around. I'll quickly review them, as well as prov... Continue reading »
-
12
Why are they all laughing at me?
Jan 17/07
Today, I'm off to Phnom Phen (PP), and I was going to catch the 8:30 bus. The bus system is weird here, they pick you up at the hot... Continue reading »
-
13
Didn't we learn anything from Hitler?
Jan 18/07
Today was my depressing day. I started off at Tuol Sleng, the S-21 prison camp across the road from my hotel. It was originally a h... Continue reading »
-
14
Children make the world a better place
Jan 19/07
I met up with the girl I had dinner with last night to tour the grand palace of Cambodia, and the National Musuem. We also had mass... Continue reading »
-
15
Another long bus ride
Jan 21/07
Another long bus trip. I got to the bus at 6:15 this morning, and was happy to see I was not the only white face on board this time... Continue reading »
-
16
Boat and Island hopping in the Mekong Delta
Jan 22/07
I went on a day-tour of the Mekong Delta today. Every bus I've taken here has the same "handy" system where you get picke... Continue reading »
-
17
A day to relax and the tour begins
Jan 23/07
I decided I deserved a day to relax. A few girls I'd met in Phnom Penh had told me that their hotel in HCMC had a spa, so ... Continue reading »
-
18
Tunnel crawling
Jan 24/07
Today we visited the Cu Chi tunnels in the morning. It was aout 2 hours out of HCMC along a very bumpy road (not as bad as in Cambo... Continue reading »
-
19
Heading North
Jan 25/07
We went on a short walking tour of downtown today, where our tour guide, Binh, pointed out the important things, like the tourist p... Continue reading »
-
20
Beautiful Beaches
Jan 26/07
The train arrived in Nha Trang at 6:30. We piled off the train, dazed and half-asleep. At the hotel, we all went back to bed for a... Continue reading »
-
21
Shopping Extravanganza
Jan 28/07
Another early morning arrival, and back to sleep at the hotel. The train last night was not as nice as the first one and the previo... Continue reading »
-
22
Another capital
Jan 30/07
This morning, we took the bus to Hue, the old capital of Vietnam (one of them...every new king chose a new capital, it seems). In t... Continue reading »
-
23
Dead Men and Prisons
Feb 1/07
Bad news. We arrived at the hotel at 4:30 am to find out we only had 3 rooms for early checkin. So, we had to double up in twin beds... Continue reading »
-
24
Dragons in the sea
Feb 2/07
The tour bus picked us up at 8:00 (4 others from the tour were going on the same trip to Halong Bay). We arrived at the tour boat pi... Continue reading »
-
25
Back to Hanoi
Feb 3/07
At 5:00, they started the engines again. Loud desiel engines that make lots of noise. If that wasn't enough to wake me up, there was... Continue reading »
-
26
A change of pace
Feb 4/07
I left my hotel at 5:30, and got to the airport at 6:30. My flight left at 8:30, exactly on time. We landed at 9:30 also on time. Th... Continue reading »
-
27
It is a good day to dye (and weave)
Feb 5/07
I woke up stiff, as my bed is the hardest I've had the chance to sleep on. It was a straw mattress, and very solid. I found the inte... Continue reading »
-
28
Odd little town
Feb 7/07
I had to work quickly to get all the "touristy" things done before my bus at 2:00. I rented a bike (with brakes), and headed out ear... Continue reading »
-
29
Lots of Monks
Feb 9/07
Leaving Vang Vieng, I got a bus for Luang Prabang. The various sources I'd read said the bus ride was about 4-5 hours. In reality it... Continue reading »
-
30
Ooooh, my butt hurts
Feb 13/07
This is the beginning of my two day slow boat trip up the Mekong River to Huay Xai. The slow boat is slow. It provides a lot... Continue reading »
-
31
The AMAZING Gibbon Experience (minus the gibbons)
Feb 15/07
Wow, it's finally here. I've been looking forward to this since I found it online in October. We met up at 8:00, a small gro... Continue reading »
-
32
Me, my hammock and I....
Feb 18-20/07
Took a boat across the Mekong river to Thailand, bus to Chiang Mai, and booked a ticket on the overnight bus to Bangkok for the... Continue reading »
-
33
I'm leaving, sob, sob, sob
Feb 25/07
This morning, I packed up, and headed out. John was leaving too, so we caught the ferry back to the mainland, and he left for Cambo... Continue reading »
-
34
Airport
Feb 28/07
Flew into Frankfurt and took train to Paris. This entry is just to get the little red line to make the right path on the map.
Continue reading » -
35
A lot of firsts and a lot of repeats
Feb 28, 2007
Well, I got to Frankfurt after many flights, and then got a train from there to Paris. After another marathon travel day, I arri... Continue reading »
-
36
Incredible, that's all I can say
Mar. 3/07
We got up early to catch the bus to Mont St Michel. We'd planned to leave our bags at the train station, because we'd be catching t... Continue reading »
-
37
Bridgette made me visit...but I liked it
Mar. 5, 2007 Bridgette really wanted to see the Guggenheim Museum of Bilbao, even though we weren´t really sure what it was all about. I was along fo... Continue reading » -
38
Quick trip to Madrid
Mar 8, 2007
We arrived very early in Madrid, and locked up our packs in the train station. Since nothing was open yet in the city (it was REA... Continue reading »
-
39
I had to wash dishes!!!
Mar 9, 2007
We arrived early in Lisbon and took the metro to the bus station where we had arranged to meet Katia. Since the toll highways&nbs... Continue reading »
-
40
Scenic Detours
Mar 11/07
We took the train to Sintra today. It was quite an experience, and our first chance at getting "lost". We had the train info, but s... Continue reading »
-
41
More Lourinha
Mar 12/07
Today Katia had off, so we visited the small towns around Lourinha. We had breakfast in Peniche, where katia works, and then drove... Continue reading »
-
42
More castles and more Madrid
Mar 16/07
We finally left Portugal, but with a quick trip up to Porto before leaving. We took an early train up north, and got there around 1... Continue reading »
-
43
Not at all gaudy, Gaudi
Mar 19/07
We spent the day on the train from Madrid to Barcelona. It was a long train.
Mar 20/07
Today, I was introduced to a gen... Continue reading »
-
44
Not so Nice...weather
Mar 23/07
We got to Nice, and went straight to see the Mediterranean. It was the most incredible shade of blue I've never seen in nature. Alm... Continue reading »
-
45
Hiking, fresh air and injuries
Mar 25/07
We got in today to Italy, to one of the few places I REALLY wanted to see in Europe, Cinque Terre, 5 small villages along the mouti... Continue reading »
-
46
See what happens when you let engineers play with tools??
Mar 28/07
We got up early because we didn't remember what time the train left for Pisa. In a stroke of good luck, it wasn't for an hour. This... Continue reading »
-
47
I met the man of my dreams...
Mar. 29/07
We spent the morning book our trains and hostels for the next week and sorting out details. Then we headed out to see the city of... Continue reading »
-
48
Pizzas and Piazzas
Mar 31/07
Today was the big day to visit the major sites in Rome. We started out by sleeping in. YAY!! Our first stop was to get a ROMA pass,... Continue reading »
-
49
She's gonna blow...volcanos, glass, etc.
Apr 3/07
At breakfast we met an american guy, Andrew and he joined us for the day on our trip to Pompeii. It was incredible. I never expected... Continue reading »
-
50
Easter luxury
Apr 5/07
We had a nice luxurious night. We had splurged and booked a sleeper on the train. It was fantastic. We got woken up with a hot cup o... Continue reading »
-
51
Opera and Horses
Apr 8/07
Happy Easter. We were the only ones on the train, in 1st class today, so we got lots of attention from the conductor. I think that N... Continue reading »
-
52
Sound of Music and mountains
Apr 10/07
We travelled to Salzburg today, home of Sound of Music. I was very excited (though not excited enough to pay 35€ and take a bus tou... Continue reading »
-
53
Swiss chocolate, Swiss Alps and Swiss sunshine
Apr 12/07
I was very sad to leave Salzburg, it was a beautiful town that I really enjoyed. But we were off to Switerland. The train ride was... Continue reading »
-
54
Yummy drinks and aweful cake
Apr 17/07
We were sad to leave Corrine, after such a enjoyable visit with her, but we had to continue. We took the train to Basel and spent a... Continue reading »
-
55
Designer Chocolate
Apr 21/07
We took a very early train from Heidleberg to Brussels, where we were met by Joelle. She's a wonderful lady we met in Nice, and ask... Continue reading »
-
56
Tiptoeing through the Tulips
Apr 23/07
We travelled from Brussels to Amsterdam today. We didn't get in until later in the afternoon, and when we arrived in the city, we h... Continue reading »
-
57
Very short visit
Apr 26/07
We woke up in Copenhagen, and had a day to explore. Ok, really we had about 6 hours to explore before our next train left for Norwa... Continue reading »
-
58
Moutains, Fjords and Music
Apr 27/07
We got into Oslo very early and booked seats on our last 1st class trip. It was sad, but today was the last time I could use my tra... Continue reading »
-
59
Indescribable Beauty
Apr 29/07
Happy Birthday Bridgette. We got up early to catch a train to Voss. On the train we met a couple of Canadian guys who were doing th... Continue reading »
-
60
Back to the big city
May 1/07
Wow, I can hardly believe that there's only 15 days left. We headed back to Oslo, repeating the spectacular train rides from Flam to... Continue reading »
-
61
Are they speaking English??
May 3/07
We caught a bus to the airport. It was listed as an Oslo airport, but just out of town...120Km. It was almost 2 hours just to get to... Continue reading »
-
62
Quiet time
May 7/07
We caught a train to Taunton today. Luckly, we were able to get the direct train from Edinbugh to Taunton, not through London, as th... Continue reading »
-
63
Rain, and more rain
May 10/07
We were picked up by a friend, Kevin, from St Audries, and we drove down to Torquay,in the south of Devon. He introduced us to his... Continue reading »
-
64
London Bridge, and London Rain
May 13/07
We awoke this morning to...you guessed it...rain. Yup, buckets of the stuff. But since we were in London, had only 2 days left, and... Continue reading »
-
65
Back at Home
June 2/07
Well, this will be it, the final blog entry. I'm home safe, and settled in at work. If you're looking for me, I'm hanging out with... Continue reading »
Would you like to comment or ask a question?