2010 August 20 ----- We took the public bus from Amritsar to Pathankot, and then transferred to Dharamsala. It is only about 190 km but it took us 8 hours to get here. The roads are narrow, winding and not always paved plus it is the milk-run (stop at every little place to let people... Continue Reading →
Canada – British Columbia – Ucluelet & Tofino
2010 August ----- We took a few days and went fishing in Ucluelet, BC. The drive to the island was spectacular, the towns laid back and lovely. We took an afternoon and went whale watching. We didn't see much of the beasts, just a bit of a tail but nothing like the tour guide photos. ... Continue Reading →
Mexico – Playa del Carmen & Coba
2010 April 7 ----- My first experience with Mexico was an all-inclusive resort in Playa del Carmen. After traveling backpacker style, I was not very impressed with an all-inclusive. To me, it was very restrictive. I felt I were confined to this albeit nice hotel with a bunch of American tourists with Mexican waiters and... Continue Reading →
Thailand – Ko Lanta – diving
2010 January ----- I've been doing a lot of diving the past week or so. Ko Tao was good, but the visibility was a bit murcky due to winds. The last 2 days that we were there the boat didn't even go out to the best spot due to the rough water. We weren't going... Continue Reading →
Thailand – Koh Tao – Diving
2010 January ----- Irene has been diving for the last 4 days. The first day was just a refresher, she went to 2 dive sites. Saw a lot of different kinds of fish, but nothing spectacular.The next day she did her deep water dive (28 meters) and saw a gray reef shark!! It was amazing!! ... Continue Reading →
Cambodia – Siem Reap
2010 January ----- The Cambodian people were liberated by the Vietnamese on January 7, 1979 – we had visited the sacred monuments on the anniversary date. That night in Siam Reap, as we were settling down for the night, we heard fireworks and looked out our 4th floor window for an unobstructed view of the... Continue Reading →
Cambodia – Phnom Penh
2010 January ----- The journey into Cambodia was like every other bus ride and border crossing – pay an exit fee, pay to get a health card (at least now we know FOR SURE that we are healthy – they took our temperature...), pay for visa, pay for toilet, wait 2 hours after the driver... Continue Reading →
Laos – Don Dhet
2010 January 5 ----- Our night bus with ‘real beds’ began at 8:30 pm. We were picked up at our guesthouse (the Samsenthai) and the oversize tuktuk then picked up a few more passengers; all of us heading to Pakse via the “Sleeping Bus”. The bus had 24 ‘beds’. Here’s the kicker – they were... Continue Reading →
Laos – Vientiane
2010 January ----- Ed still seems to be somewhat lethargic and has low energy. However, on 30 December we headed off to Vientiane, south of Luang Prabang. We got our bus ticket from the agency and were told that a tuktuk would pick us up at 8:00 for the 9:00 bus. At 8:15 Irene went... Continue Reading →
Laos – Boat to Luang Prabang
2009 December 31 ----- We got up Christmas morning and met up with our fellow travelers again. Dirk had booked a slow boat to Luang Prabang the previous night. We boarded the 7 meter boat and began yet another 7 hour journey down the Nam Ou River to Pak Ou, where it joins with the... Continue Reading →