South East Asia

A 57-day adventure by Time for a reset Read more

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Trip start
September 2, 2016
South East Asia Time for a reset
Home
September 1, 2016 in Canada ⋅ 🌧 12 °C
Is where the heart is. And Lily.
Dorothy WalterSo great to see your smiling faces..make that face ( come on Mikk...Smile for the camera). I have my world clock set to Bangkok so you should be sound asleep as this point. XO
9/4/16Reply
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Hong kong airport
September 4, 2016 in Hong Kong ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
Hanging out - waiting for the next flight to bangkok. So far so good...managed to sleep quite a bit on the plane ride here. 😴
Kelly Joaniswith your plane leaving late from Van, did you miss the Bangkok connection?
9/4/16Reply
Time for a resetYes but they had us sorted on another flight before we checked in at YVR
9/4/16Reply
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We made it!!!
September 4, 2016 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C
Just checked in at our hotel and was so happy to see this!
Agree with D. Beyond good to see your faces. Thanks for this connection. Skip
9/4/16Reply
Nicola Campbell$1.75 beer? Np!
9/5/16Reply
PEETER TammarkStocked better than my fridge
9/6/16Reply
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South East Asia Time for a reset
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Day 2/3
September 6, 2016 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 35 °C
After sleeping for 12 hours Sunday night, we had a very productive morning. We took a tuk tuk around the city and stopped at a few temples and ate some delicious street food.
We also visited the tourist office to book our cambodia stuff. We learned we cant go dirently to koh kong from siem riep so will be spending a night in sianookville. We are bussing out of bangkok sept 7 @7am and should arrive at siem riep by 5pm. We learned that rainy season actually is worse on the adaman side of the thai islands than on the gulf if thailand side so that entire plan has changed! So looks like we will be going to koh samui, koh pangnon, and koh tao.
Today we went to a mall to get some passport photos for the Cambodian visa and do a bit of shopping. We are taking a break in our a/c room from the crazy heat (41 with humidx).Read more
Time for a reset Find the Mikk!
9/6/16Reply
Hi a
9/6/16Reply
That was me hit enter prematurely! I wanted to let you know that in Grand Bend today it is 41 degrees with humidex! We had the best beach weather all weekend, and hope it will stay this way all month!
9/6/16Reply
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Day 1 - cambodia- bike tour angkor wat
September 8, 2016 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
We had a great day today! We went on a bike tour of angkor wat. Great to get some exercise after a long bus ride yesterday! The rain in cambodia is crazy - definitley monsoon season!
Gordon WalterLooks and sounds like a big adventure so far. My best thoughts and wishes go out to you. SKIP
9/10/16Reply
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sihanoukville
September 12, 2016 in Cambodia ⋅ 🌙 20 °C
The owner here says Cambodia is all rain all september so we're heading to vietnam tomorrow. Flights are a whole 50$!
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Hanoi
September 14, 2016 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
"It's too much." That's what I told Alli at one point yesterday, this city is big, crowded, confusing and the traffic is absurd. Yet it's been a lot of fun at the same time. We happened to be here for the end of the autumn festival, which meant even more people on the streets, there were points where all you could see were people. We were staying in the old quarter, which is pretty cool, every street had a designation, one sells jewelry, another bamboo another things made with iron etc. It has some charm to it, and lots of really good food. I've been very happy about that, bam bo nam bo is unbelievably good, bun cha or 'Obama', as that's what he ate when he was here was also a treat. We're taking a night train up to Sa Pa tonight where we're going to do a bit of trekking and home stays with some hill tribe villagers, something we're both really looking forward to as it's supposed to be stunningly beautiful and according to the people at the hotel one of the three best months to visit it as the rice is turning all yellow for harvesting. That and there will be way less people, scooters, horns and we enough space that we won't have to walk single file down streets anymore.Read more
It's "Mid Autumn Festival"
9/16/16Reply
Gordon WalterHi Alli and Mikk. Lots of travel type photos of the rice terraces at Sa Pa so have a sense of the scenery. It is quite pretty. Enjoy.
9/18/16Reply
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Sapa - "It's beautiful but a hard life"
September 18, 2016 in Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C
We just finished our 2nd day of a 3 day trek. We are in awe of the people here. They work tirelessly. The quote in the title was spoken by our guide "zee" the morning after she invited into our home and let us help out with some of the rice harvest. She is a really amazing lady-at only 30 she has 3 kids (oldest is 11) and she works constantly due to a lack of creature comforts that we enjoy somewhat thoughtlessly. Mikk and i have thoroughly enjoyed our time here so far. Partly due to the amazing labdscape, partly to the exersize (15km HARD hiking yesterday and today), but mostly because it is so refreshing to remember so palpably why we are so lucky and the kind of life we get to live! We are going to stay in sapa for a few days after getting back to sapa town tomorrow. The temperature is much more tollerable here (25 instead of 40). And we have already covered so muh ground in 2 weeks we want to slow down a bit to squeeze in some relaxing as well!Read more
Gordon WalterAn 'attitude of gratitude' is a great thing to hold in acute awareness. Out hearts are with you.
9/19/16Reply
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In hanoi - Waiting for the next bus
September 22, 2016 in Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
We are heading to cat ba island today in ha long bay. We took the night train back from sapa after spending a few days there post trek. There is a market every tuesday in "coc ly" which we got to on motorbike (scooter). It was a beautiful ride and the market was not visited by many tourists due to the location (2.5 hour drive). I was very happy to be on scooters not on a bus as the windig roads are much less nauseating on a bike!
It was a great day. Yesterday wr just spent relaxing and planning.
We have our flight booked to thailand (chiang mai) next wednesday the 28th. We have a day trip planned from hanoi early next week.Read more
Gordon WalterThanks for the flow of updates. It is good to hear of your adventures and observations. We miss you.
9/23/16Reply
Dorothy WalterLove to see your pics. Kayaking looks fun- good work there Mikk! Love you
9/25/16Reply
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In hanoi - waiting for another bus
September 26, 2016 in Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
We got back to hanoi after a fee days in cat ba. It (of course) was raining while we were there but sunny on arrival and departure! We got a cool bungalow when we arrived only to discover beg bugs!!!! Fortunately we saw them before we climbed into bed. So we were hotel shopping at 9pm again. We found a decent place for half the price of the bungalow so it worked out i guess. We had a relaxing day friday, then did a boat tour saturday of the islands in halong bay. It was pouring rain until about noon but it cleared ip enough to allow time for some kayaking and swimming. We arrived back in hanoi around 4 yesterday. We love the hotel we found here - no bed bugs and very friendly and helpful staff (Nova Hotel). Today we are doing a day trip to "Trang An" and the "bai dinh" pagota, which is apparently the largest in south east asia. The day trip includes a boat ride into some caves and some bike riding. Looks like a stunning place. It is sunny here in hanoi so hopefully we also have good weather there.Read more
PEETER TammarkLove your blogs and keep them pics a com'in
9/28/16Reply
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Chiang mai! We have arrived :)
September 28, 2016 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 34 °C
Arrived an hour ago and about to eat some delicious thai food! It is so much quieter here. We are loving it already! Mikk isn't grumpy...he is tired. Early morning this morning.😴😴😴😴
Dorothy WalterGreat to see your smiling face, your tomorrow's update may change that to "smiling faces" ?? Hopefully that means Mikk is feeling better and now with some yummy food - he will be completely back to normal. Love you both. Mom
9/30/16Reply
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Watching footie in thailand
October 1, 2016 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
Well mom, have to say our faces were NOT smiling the day after my previous post (Thursday...2 days ago). We both got SO sick oh so sick. Definitely from the last meal that we had in Vietnam which was super sketchy and we really shouldn't have eaten. But we were brought to the place by our new Vietnamese friend. And being true Canadians - we opted to poison ourselves rather than be impolite. So Thursday we had to switch hotels as our first place was loud with a really uncomfortable bed. Switching was difficult as we needed to be close to a bathroom at all times. Mikk had to vomit outside once during transfer. We watching movies all day with the blinds closed. But we saved some money!!! Didnt eat or do anything for 48 hours! Yesterday we spent at a pool chilling out recovering then went to see some Thai boxing - which was really cool. And today we are feeling pretty much normal. We rented scooters for the week and went on a loop around Chiang Mai through some beautiful jungles (sorry-pics on the camera not the phone). But we did stop at a monkey circus thing so there are some pics of Mikk and I with cute little monkeys! Now we are in an "Irish pub" watching soccer.Read more
Kelly JoanisYikes!
10/2/16Reply
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Mae Chaeng - Navasoung Resort
October 3, 2016 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
We had a great scooter ride to Mae Chaeng which is a long 160km from Chaing Mai. We got caught in some crazy rains and got soaked and cold. There is a summit here which is the highest point in Thailand. We didnt go today because the clouds likely meant no view. However, 5-10 minutes after making that decision blue skies appeared! Oh well, we went to see some magnificent waterfalls in some very dense jungle. The drive to Mae chaem rivalled that of Sapa. It was absolutely stunning! So we are looking forward to driving it twice tomorrow - once to the peak then back to where we are to go another way back along the loop to Chiang mai. Fortunately we can see the peak from our jungle resort so if it's crappy tomorrow we won't waste the time.Read more
Katrin TammarkPictures are fabulous. Hope there was a big lesson learnt about food! Good that you called yesterday. It did take me by surprise.
10/3/16Reply
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Bye bye chiang mai!
October 8, 2016 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 24 °C
We are heading to the beach tomorrow (koh samuii). We spent our last few days in Chiang Mai playing with elephants, scooters, markets, a ladyboy cabaret show and topped it all off with a cooking class this evening. We better be almost done our trip because we have no more room for stuff in our bags! We shipped a bunch of cookware and a teak carving home today (not the one in the photo) be seen in 2-3 months.I still have like 5 books to read as we have been keeping ourselves busy! So beach time - here we come!Read more
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Hello koh samui!
October 8, 2016 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
We've arrived at the beach! Man it takes all day to get anywhere around here. We left our hotel in Chiang Mai at 8am and arrived at this hotel (Lamai Wanta) at 830pm. Makes sense when you consider we took a taxi, a plane to Bangkok where we had to get and recheck our luggage, plane to Surat Thani, bus to the dock, ferry to koh samui and then mini bus to the hotel. Sheesh! We grabbed some dinner and are chilling on our deck having a Chang beer. This hotel seems lovely in the dark. We will see what the beach looks like tomorrow. We splurged a bit on this hotel as we figure we won't really be spending money lying on the beach reading.

Oh and that blue sign means "no durians" not "no Grenades". We've seen similar signs everywhere due to their offensive smell. We have tried them. It's weird but not terrible. XoxoRead more
Nicola CampbellJust for next time.... there are direct flights between kph Samui and Bangkok... a little more $$ but worth it ;) Happy you made it to those islands! You're gonna love it
10/8/16Reply
Time for a resetYea we looked into that and opted for the more budget option. The flights with layovers were still and extra 100$ per ticket. The direct ones.... Like 200$. Would have saved had we booked earlier that a week before...but plans are fluid here! Xoxo
10/8/16Reply
Time for a resetProbably a good idea to book that way back to Bangkok though.....
10/8/16Reply
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Happy thanksgiving!
October 10, 2016 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
Well we have a lot to be thankful for this year.
1) wonderful place to call home
2) beautiful place to spend thanksgiving
3) once in a lifetime adventure with an amazing parter
4) having people (and food) to dearly miss
5) jobs that allow us to do this without having to quit!

2016 has been a truly fantastic year. We miss you all and home but definitely won't wish our time away in paradise. We are heading to koh phagnan tomorrow. We are doing a diving course there (very controversial as koh Tao is generally the island that you do that on). However, with some research we (Mikk) found that koh phagnan has comparable courses.....And it lines us up for the full moon party on the 17th! We got a place rented about 1-2 Kms from the big party. Most expensive accommodations to date (75CAD Per night). We heard it gets kinda crazy every month around full moon time. We're hoping we get to experience a blunted version of the party as it is technically rainy season. 😉.
Xoxo a&mRead more
Time for a reset Mikk monster
10/10/16Reply
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About to get on a boat
October 11, 2016 in Thailand ⋅ 🌬 32 °C
Waiting our boat to koh phangan at the pier. It's a pretty day ☀️
Nicola CampbellScuba diving? Meant to suggest Something re: scuba diving - for a school program, make sure they have a pool .... they shouldn't be taking you out into open water until you do a lot in the pool/dry land first
10/11/16Reply
Time for a resetYup! They do. 😀
10/11/16Reply
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4 day scuba course starts today
October 12, 2016 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
We are staying in a little bungalow on the beach here on Mae Hat beach. Missing the luxury of the resort but the view (and the price) can't be beat. We are getting picked up this morning to start our scuba course (PADI open water certification). Sounds like it is just us and a French guy in the class! We asked about diving here versus koh Tao and it sounds like it is cheaper in koh Tao because the classes are larger due to the demand - but it is the same course and the same nature so should be good. The guys who run this one seem super nice and it has good reviews. One of them came by the hotel with our books yesterday so we could get the reading done. We haven't found good food in this area yet. Its all pretty much the same as all the restaurants are at resorts. Since it is low season (very quiet here) there doesn't seem to be any stand alone restaurants open. But im sure we will survive! 😜Read more
Time for a resetGood news! The French guy didn't show up...well he did but he "wasn't feeling well". From the smell I detect a hangover. So Mikk and I get private diving lessons with this awesome German dude named Nicky. His hair is amazing. Picture and 80's hair band hair + sun bleached and salty. Oh and he had a large spider in his hair that Mikk noticed once we got in the water. The thing was massive (huntsman spider we think?) And then it ran across the water....that should not physically be possible. Arachcmaphobic Mikk will not be able to forget that ever.
10/12/16Reply
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Had rin nai beach
October 17, 2016 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
We arrived at our new digs for the next 2 nights. The full moon party is cancelled due to the Kings death. We think this is a good thing because apparently this party is really insane with literally thousands of people coming from other islands and other parts of koh pangnan. Were thinking it will be much more toned down without the loud sound stages and presumably less people.
We had a great time diving. What a feeling! We loved our five instructor. His name was "Nischi" (I think) and he had the best hair I've ever seen. Also he was just a nice guy who has a passion for nature and lives a simple life. He was an excellent instructor and really wanted us to understand what we were doing and why so that we could be relaxed and confident under the water. We didn't have the best luck with the conditions. The visibility wasnt great at all. We went to sail rock for our last day of diving which usually has good visibility but of course the currents changed direction of the day that we went. It was still amazing and I really want to go again at some point. It was a great feeling to feel weightless and to be surrounded by animals! Swimming through schools of fish etc.
Yesterday we just spent relaxing and did a bit of snorkelling. The bay where we were staying was famous for snorkelling. Tons of fish around he corals.
Hope you are all well :)Read more
Gordon WalterSounds like an amazing few days.
10/17/16Reply
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Beach #3 on koh phangan
October 19, 2016 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
Wow! This place is spectacular! A beautiful beach and accommodations that are far better than our Mae haad accommodations for even cheaper! Looking forward to a day chillin on the beach tomorrow then koh Tao the next set of beaches....Read more
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Our last Thai island: Koh Tao
October 21, 2016 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 9 °C
We just arrived a few hours ago. The hotel is pretty nice. Things definitely have more of a "tourist" price tag here. We are planning on heading to koh nang yuan island tomorrow for the day. Google it. It looks super beautiful! So we will spend the day there. Our last few beach days we are going to splurge on a more deluxe resort. There are some truly beautiful ones here. Diving looks like it may not be great. It's super windy today and looks like the same for tomorrow. We learned that wind doesn't make for good visibility. So snorkelling it will be.Read more
Dorothy WalterNow you are getting into places I can relate to really enjoying and chillin' and relaxin' That's my kind of travel. You have sent some amazing pictures with incredible sunsets and beautiful beaches. If it is windy i would say the snorkelling will not be great either. it tends to stir things up and makes it difficult to see. Soooo just find a sheltered spot out of thewind and R& R. there's more than one way to ..... oh forget that ... you wouldn't find that saying amusing!
10/21/16Reply
Gordon WalterYou have found some real jewels of beauty and appeal. So glad you are having so much great R&R.
10/21/16Reply
Time for a resetMom are you talking about skinning cats???? It's cloudy this morning but still heading over to the island. We walked by a restaurant that sells "Canadian Caesars" with home made Clamato. I'm intrigued. Cocktail hour may have a Canadian twist today.
10/21/16Reply
Time for a resetWell we changed our mind on island away from the island time. The seas are so rough they wanted 2x more money to drive us over. Plus with the cloud/wind it didn't look like a great beach day so we aborted mission. Plus: my back has been a little angry ad we walked by a yoga studio with a class starting in 10 minutes! So I did my back a favour by getting my yoga on :)
10/22/16Reply
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Our last beach on our last island
October 23, 2016 in Thailand ⋅ 🌫 4 °C
Wow! Another beautiful spot. Mikk and I are splurging at a 4 star resort for the next 3 nights until we head back to Bangkok. This place is so spectacular! The rooms are beautiful and clean, and the infinity pool spills out into a beautiful bay.Read more
Oh Yes...now this is paradise. I'm envious of those surroundings! That's my kind of holiday. Enjoy it to the hilt! Love Mom
10/24/16Reply
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En route to bangkok
October 26, 2016 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
We have an hour wait here for the bus to Bangkok. We opted in the end to do things the long but easy/cheap way. There are SOOOO many options for getting to Bangkok, it was almost overwhelming but in the end this made the most sense for us. Fortunately it's raining a bit today so we don't feel like we are missing out on beach time. Miss you all - see you so soon now!Read more
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Last day in bangkok!
October 28, 2016 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
This city is so freaking big! It really does my head in. We were out from 10am to 10 pm yesterday. Hoping today will be more relaxed. One more market to check out.
PEETER TammarkSee you Saturday!! Been too long!!!
10/28/16Reply
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Back in hong kong
October 29, 2016 in Hong Kong ⋅ 🌙 27 °C
On the way home.
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Trip end
October 28, 2016