Wanderers Blog on RealTravel

Mombassa journal: Finally - a trip to Africa

Tue, 05 Dec 2006 09:22:08 GMT

Okay, I know Egypt is in Africa, and I go there all the time. When I finally managed to get a trip to Sub-Saharan Africa, I was pretty stoked.

On our trip to Mombassa, we got to deal with all the standard idiosyncracies of travelling in the third world. Due to the recent liquid explosive scare in London, you cannot travel with any liquids (not even chapstick, which I think is really a solid) within Kenya. So once we got through the airport in Nairobi and managed to find the domestic terminal, we had to empty our bags of pretty much everything but the clothes. Luckily we had one bag ...

Bangkok journal: Luxe last night in Bangkok

Mon, 22 May 2006 22:50:36 GMT

After our low-budget trip, we decided to live it up our last night and stayed at the Peninsula Hotel, located on the river in a business district. On arrival, the staff gave us jasmine garlands. People usually buy these on the street to hang on Buddhas for good luck, and Sara uses them to sniff for relief when walking through particularly aromatic areas.

Our room was beautiful with a view over the river and tons of space. We immediately went down to the pool area, which overlooks the river. We only had a short time to relax and enjoy, however, since we booked massages and pedicures to ...

Bangkok journal: Back in Bangkok for a night of luxury

Sun, 21 May 2006 21:57:44 GMT

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) journal: Through the Mekong to the Old City of Saigon

Sun, 21 May 2006 00:45:51 GMT

The drive from Chau Doc to Ho Chi Min City (better known as Saigon) was wonderful. Everyone in Vietnam lives either along the road or the river, so we got to see a whole lot of local life as we drove through. Some areas were so green that this desert girl didn’t want to blink and miss a second of it. The most picturesque were the farmers in traditional conical hats working the rice paddies, or the same hats skipping across the river on log bridges to their homes.

My favorite site, however, were all the school kids going home for lunch. There’s a huge population explosion in Vietnam, and ...

Phnom Penh journal: great service even on the busiest night of the year

Sat, 20 May 2006 02:08:12 GMT

Even though it was the final night of celebrating Khmer New Year's, and half the city's service staff was off, and half the food was "finished" we had a great meal here. They even ran out of Angkor Wat beer, giving us an excellent incentive to try all the other kinds. I can't remember what they were now, but we definitely liked them.

This restaurant is unique because all of the proceeds go to helping street kids in Phnom Penh. They have all kinds of programs that give the kids education and vocational training.

Phnom Penh journal: Khmer New Years

Sat, 20 May 2006 01:56:22 GMT

On our first night in Phnom Penh, we took a walk along the river. A lot of people were camped out on the corniche – it was unclear whether that was usual or just during the Khmer New Year’s Celebration, which was still happening. A lot of the tuk tuk and cyclo drivers just slept in their cabs overnight, so it wouldn’t be surprising if others also slept on public land. It was definitely a party atmosphere. Kids yelled out “Hello! How are you?” whenever they saw a pack of white people coming through. We responded with “Happy New Year’s!” in Cambodian, which sounds something like “Suiciday, ...

Chau Doc journal: Into the Mekong Delta

Wed, 17 May 2006 05:55:50 GMT

We took a riverboat down through the Mekong Delta, from Cambodia to Vietnam. Although we were excited to see another new country, we were sad to be leaving Cambodia. The cruise was several hours, but fairly comfortable. There was a huge storm in the middle of it, right when we were supposed to cross the border. Crossing the border usually involves taking out all the luggage and scanning it, then loading it back onto the boat. We were tied up at the barge about to begin the ordeal when the rain saved us from the whole hassle. We still had all the little Vietnamese kids jump on the boat offering ...

Angkor Wat journal: Bumming Around Siam Reap

Wed, 17 May 2006 00:26:32 GMT

As we were drinking last night, we kept delaying the time to start our free day in Siam Reap. As always, we had grand plans, and as usual, they changed significantly throughout the day.

Since it was the day after the town’s big New Year’s Celebration, it was noticeably quiet. We tried to get a tuk tuk to take us to the silk factory, but quickly took up the offer of some guy in front of our hotel with a car, who offered round trip travel for $20, for 4 of us. Considering that he could go much faster than a tuk tuk and had A/C, this was a great deal.

Families traveling into town to ...

Angkor Wat journal: The Amazing Angkor Wat

Tue, 16 May 2006 06:22:39 GMT

We got very early (even before the usual Navy reveille) to watch the sun rise over Angkor Wat, which is the only temple out of about 70 in the area that faces west. We arrived early and claimed the steps of the one of the outlying library buildings. Initially it was eerily quiet with few other tourists around. As the sun slowly lit up the sky, however, more and more tourists arrived and eventually formed a whole row of tripods, all trying to capture the reflection of the sky and the temple – those of us with inferior pocket-sized digital cameras had to really fight just to see the view – but ...

Angkor Wat journal: First Day of Temple-Hopping

Mon, 15 May 2006 12:41:14 GMT

Our introduction to the thousands of temples at Angkor Wat was Ta Prohm, also known as the jungle temple but now more familiar to most folks as where they filmed the first Tomb Raider. It was built in the 10th century by a Buddhist king and was once an extremely powerful monastery. After many years and a few wars, the temple was all but forgotten and covered by the jungle. Now it’s half cleared out, but there are huge roots growing over, around and through everything, which makes a simple walk through the temple feel like a spooky adventure.

We entered through the East Gate and ...

Bangkok journal: The Grand Palace and a river cruise

Wed, 19 Apr 2006 17:54:21 GMT

The flight to Bangkok was pretty decent – I think I’ve mentioned flying on Gulf Air before, but this trip was particularly nice because I got the race upgrade. It’s a little crude to say, but basically they put two people in the same economy seat, took a look at the two of us, and invited me to use business class. Naturally I didn’t refuse and made the best of my flights - a menu to choose courses, eye mask, ear plugs, free toothbrush in a full sized bathroom and, most importantly, a seat that reclines all the way!

But even with all the comforts, I didn’t exactly arrive in Bangkok ...

Asia journal: Road to Angkor Wat, and then some

Wed, 19 Apr 2006 17:54:21 GMT

I'm meeting Sara B. in Bangkok, then we're heading across Thailand to explore the temples of Angkor Wat, a little bit of Cambodia, and a little of Vietnam.

By the way, for the next week or so, I'm travelling with a guy named Steve, who has a GPS transmitter that puts out his location (within a couple of meters) and also links to Google Earth. Go to www.5monthsaway.com to check it out - you can see where I am!

Angkor Wat journal: Road to Siam Reap

Fri, 14 Apr 2006 04:24:59 GMT

We left Bangkok just before the Khmer New Year’s festivities started, which was a good plan, since the popular way to celebrate involves dumping water on everyone or shooting them with Super Soakers, and we had a long, long drive ahead that a thorough soaking would probably diminish any comfort level we were thinking we might enjoy..

The road from Bangkok to Cambodia was nice, smooth and pleasant. We even saw a random elephant just walking on the side of the road, even though there was no circus in town (Audrey)!

Because of the holiday, the border crossing was pretty ...

Bangkok journal: Finding Jim Thompson

Fri, 14 Apr 2006 04:03:43 GMT

We decided to check out the Jim Thompson house in Siam Square. He led a really adventurous life: originally an architect, he joined the Army during WWII but made it to Asia after Japan surrendered. He joined the OSS (now the CIA) and returned to Thailand, which he quickly fell in love with and built a house out of 6 existing traditional Thai teak houses. What he came up with is a wonderful combination of Thai architecture and Western comfort.

While building his home, Jim Thompson also discovered the silk trade, which had been all but abandoned in favor of western-style clothing. ...

Middle East journal: very convenient to the airport and nothing else

Wed, 16 Nov 2005 10:50:24 GMT

This is a decent hotel, complete with restaurants and bars and room service. The room is very comfortable, although I would prefer a full sheet ensemble instead of the fitted sheet and comforter combo. The bathroom is equipped with a toilet and bidet, standing shower, hair dryer and plenty of towels. Not always cleaned to my standards. Complimentary bottled water provided every day.