Already one week back in Canada! Time for a little catchup before my last notes fade into oblivion :) August 20th Our last week has been full. We have spent a happy chunk of time gathering gifts and souvenirs. And Ubud has been buzzing with two major events. The 17th was Indonesia's independence day; marking 66 yrs of freedom from Dutch rule. The football field in the centre of town was packed with marching bands, children squirming in school uniforms, and offi...

It seems crazy now that I felt at all reluctant to return to Bali. It's so beautiful and unique. It's really nice to come back and reorient ourselves. Find familiarity and comfort in the things that haven't changed. Back to our favourite dishes - the Cap Cays and Gado Gados; back to Bintang beers and Crispy Crackers; back to roosters everywhere and swimming pools, frangipani, incense, offerings; back to bargaining and politely waving off taxi and vendor touts. We...

I love ruins! It's funny...I've never much been into fossils - the concept of millions of years is just too unfathomable. But hundreds of years ago...when civilization throbbed to a completely different beat, and then left it's bricks to quietly watch us buzzing through time...I get that. And it's quietly thrilling. Alot of the temples in Ayuttaya were built in the 1300s. And around the 1670s, Ayuttaya was the biggest city in the world, with a population of over ...

Where to start? Haha! Well let's say that Chiang Mai eventually grew on me... I decided this today, the day before we leave the city. We have spent just over a week here, and there has been very little flow to this part of the trip. Actually, it's been a bit of a messy ride in Thailand in general. I really don't know why. Anyway, our Chiang Mai adventure started with nearly missing our flight here (we neglected to factor in Bangkok traffic)...(oh and on the way i...

Marketed as an island escape just a short busride from Bangkok, our journey to Koh Samet actually took six hours instead of the promised two. First there was the confusing rearrangement of passengers in and out of buses and minivans at a busy highway onramp, followed by a two hour wait on the 'ferry' (old beat up wooden tugboat) while a goofy toothless first mate danced around and blamed a missing captain (who, as it turned out, was there all along). Then the ver...