The Otherside
In and around World
6 months traveling Asia and Africa, seeing what a world of unfamiliarity has to offer.
Route taken and entries by Real Traveler KevHolls
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1
And so it begins...
So 26 hours after leaving from Miami we arrived refreshed (ha!) in Singapore. Our trip began with warm cookies and milk in first cla... Continue reading »
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2
Never enough time
So, it's day 3 in Singapore and we spent the morning eating breakfast at the hotel and figuring out our itinerary for the next 7 weeks through Nort... Continue reading »
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3
Singha and a banana pancake, please.
It's early morning in Chiang Mai and I'm writing this while watching the sun rise over the Ping River from an outside computer at our ama... Continue reading »
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4
Muay Thai Boxing and (yes) ROSES.
Happy Valentine's Day from Chiang Mai! This city is swarming with beautiful roses and bouquets for literally pennies, but apparently I'm not worth... Continue reading »
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5
Animal Heaven
We just got back from a 2 day adventure at Elephant Nature Park located an hour and a half north of Chiang Mai in the Mae... Continue reading »
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6
Heading for the Border
So, Chiang Mai was wonderful, but we have to move on. We hopped onto a mini bus crammed with 10 of us instead of the big public bus. I was sitting... Continue reading »
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7
Two New Years in One Year?! and Goodbye to Chiang Mai
So, our days of Thai massages and banana pancakes are numbered. It is time to move on to our next destination, Laos. I don't know ho... Continue reading »
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8
Not another night here!!
We woke up early to head on out of Chiang Khong and cross the raging (well, not exactly) Mekong River over to Houayxay, Laos. New country, here we... Continue reading »
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9
The Gibbon Experience (yes, we made it)
So, we found out at 8 AM that the last two people did not show up for the Gibbon Experience! No six hour slow boat for us&... Continue reading »
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10
Karma at its finest
So, we were sad to leave the Gibbon Experience 1) because it was so fun ziplining all over the jungle and staying in treehouses and 2) because... Continue reading »
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11
Bonjour Luang Prabang
So, after a lazy slow boat and barely surviving the speed boat, we arrived in the beautiful old capital of Laos, Luang Prabang. We had heard from P... Continue reading »
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12
Backpacking Zombies in Vang Vieng
We took the nightmare V.I.P. bus ride from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng. If there is ever a time you don't want to take a doubledecker bus, this rid... Continue reading »
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13
Cooling down in the Capital, Vientiane
On to the capital of Laos, Vientiane! We opted for the mini bus from Vang Vieng to Vientiane, as we chose poorly with the V.I.P bus last t... Continue reading »
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14
Hanoi(sy), Scam City, Motorbike Central - Gotta love it
A short hour flight from Vientiane and brrrrr, we arrived in Hanoi. I have to say, it is a heck of a lot colder here than it was... Continue reading »
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15
Halong Bay
Kevin and I opted to take the public bus rather than do the whole tour thing from Hanoi to Halong Bay, on the coast of Vietnam. Well, we chose poor... Continue reading »
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16
A Light at the End of the Tunnel
So, no more buses for now. We decided to take the overnight train from Hanoi to Hue, about 430 miles south of Hanoi. We had a four-person soft... Continue reading »
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17
Shop Til You Drop, Hoi An
Kevin and I ended up in a really nice bus, leaving at an absurd hour from Hue to Hoi An. It was worth it, though, because t... Continue reading »
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18
The Heat Is On In Saigon
We flew into Saigon via a 777, monster plane. We definitely weren't expecting a beautiful 777 to fly us on our short hour-long flight from Hoi An,... Continue reading »
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19
Phnom Phen
Oh boy, this is going to be a tough one... Just stepping foot out of the plane into Cambodia, we could tell there was something different in t... Continue reading »
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20
Hair Removal and "Man"icures in Sihanoukville
So, Phnom Phen was a reality check smack in the face and Kevin and I decided we really needed a "vacation from our vacation" for a few days. We too... Continue reading »
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21
Two Wrong Decisions Don't Equal a Right
So, we were well rested after three nights in Sihanoukville and took the bus back to Phnom Phen, where we stayed for the next two nights. We really... Continue reading »
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22
Siem Reap and the Magnificent Angkor Wat
With our brains jumbled from the ridiculously bumpy ride, we finally arrived right after sundown in Siem Reap. It must have been after lo... Continue reading »
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23
Preena and Byron's Indian Wedding
So, we packed up our stuff from our $11 palace in Siem Reap and hopped onto a decrepit old Bhutan Air plane that looked as if there was no possible... Continue reading »
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24
And We Thought India Was Supposed to be Hectic. "On the Road Again" in Kerala
So, Goa was just the sort of relaxation we needed, but our days of lounging in hammocks by the beach were numbered, and it was time to move on. Pre... Continue reading »
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25
A Taste of the Good Life
Well, we saw Byron and Preena off. It was so nice to spend time with them and be able to go to their Goan wedding. And then there were four: me, Ke... Continue reading »
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26
It's Like Busch Gardens, Only the Animals Will Maul You
It was a relaxing flight on Air India, from the crazy streets of Bollywood to the even crazier streets of Nairobi, aka "Nairobbery," according... Continue reading »
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27
Not Another Lion... We want to See a !@*$ Porcupine!
There was a slight change of plans with our safari, due to weather. We were supposed to go directly to Amboseli National Park (which is at the base... Continue reading »
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28
Red Rhino Orphanage Project
An amazing orphanage. Continue reading » -
29
R & R (Rest and Rafting) in Kathmandu
Kathmandu is a barrage of sights, scents and sounds. Stepping out onto the streets of Thamel, we were constantly dodging cars, monster bulls and cy... Continue reading »
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30
Trekking to the Top (well, almost) of the World, Everest Base Ca
So, we bought all of our knock-off gear (wow, it's amazing how quickly "North Face" and "Colombia" can fall apart) for the upcoming two week h... Continue reading »
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31
Recovering from the Trek in Ko Phagnan
Yep, we survived the high altitude of Everest the past few weeks and are on to the beaches of Thailand. Flew into Bangkok June 1st and have bought... Continue reading »
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32
To Dive or Not To Dive?
So, it was straight from one island to the next. We hopped onto a ferry to a neighboring island called Ko Tao. Ko Tao is known for its cl... Continue reading »
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33
Motorbike Mayhem in Ko Lanta
As hard as it was to leave the morning sunshine beckoning us to the beach in Ko Tao, we headed out on the morning ferry that would take us to Surat... Continue reading »
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34
One Night in Bangkok and the World's Your Oyster
We all got on a flight from Krabi to Bangkok, and I have to admit, Kevin and I were ready for some easy city living after so much traveling. Africa... Continue reading »
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35
Seminyak, Bali: Surfing, Sun and Sand (In My Bikini!)
It was supposed to be a short little stopover in Singapore enroute to Bali, but of course things couldn't have gone as easily as planned,... Continue reading »
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36
Ubud da Bhudda, Bali
The cultural center of Bali: Ubud, where we spent a week relaxing in our beautiful little guesthouse in the jungle. Oh, and the fruit jui... Continue reading »
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37
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Kevin and I took a great little bus from Singapore up to Kuala Lumpur. It was called Aire Bus and embarked from the Marina Mandarin Hotel in Singap... Continue reading »
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38
Melaka, Malaysia
Well, this is our last stop on our 6-month hiatus to Asia/Africa. The weather? Not so good. A bit of a disappointment, as well as the fact that alc... Continue reading »
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39
Reunion With the Fam in Edinburgh
Oh, Edinburgh, oh Edinburgh... You used to seem so far away, now it almost feels like home after how far we've been! After an absurd amount of trav... Continue reading »
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40
Americans Invade Norwegian Summerhouses
A short flight from Edinburgh to Oslo Torp on "everyone's favorite airline" (NOT!), Ryan Air. Quite possibly the most stressful experience of the t... Continue reading »
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41
Visiting Tone in Her Hometown Finally!
Visiting Tone!!!! Will write all about it soon! Continue reading »
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