We flew from Hong Kong to Siem Reap on Dragon Air in 2.5 hour, almost 1,000 miles SSE. Dragon Air is the "low cost" affiliate of Cathay Pacific. After flying with Asia's low cost carrier I realize how poorly we, as customers, are being treated by the North American carriers. There was a quick efficient check-in, no charge for checked baggage and a hot meal service. I don't even remember how long ago that was in North America. Our arrival in Siem Reap was not quit...

A short 14 hour flight with Cathay Pacific from Vancouver and your in Hong Kong. We arrived at 7:30pm local time.....who knows what time it was back home. Our guide was at the airport to gather us and our luggage and transport us to Kowloon and the Peninsula Hotel. Wow this is how all future hotels in my life will be measured! The hotel maintains a fleet of 14 Rolls Royce autos to transport guests around the city. One of many "nice touches" at the Peninsula. The...

Back to the big city......Brussels. The European Union has caused a big building boom in Brussels, huge areas of modern buildings housing all the branches of the governing bodies of the European Union. Brussels was the epicentre of the Art Nueveau movement in the late 19th century and there are many preserved residences constructed in this style. We took a bus tour of the city on our first afternoon in the city and we could see the contrasts in Brussels. The ver...

A quick connection in Antwerp and we were in Brugge (Flemish), Bruges(French)......... complicated history. Beautiful small city with a very long and rich history. Early Bruges was a very powerful trading centre specializing in textiles. In the 16th and 17th century this was a very wealthy city and their buildings and town square are a testament to that wealth. Again, canals brought trade goods into town and the Guild Houses along the canals were the center of in...

We left the wind and rain in Amsterdam and travelled to Utrecht by train. Utrecht is a small university town with a very young and sophisticated vib with lots of shops, restaurants and bars. The city is ancient with many wonderful buildings, churches and cobblestone paved streets. Similar to Amsterdam (and all towns/cities in Holland) there is a network of canals winding thru the centre of the town, which enabled commerce in centuries past. This past week we us...