Western Sahara

Country, Plot of Land, or Territory?

If you look at any map, Western Sahara appears to be a country.  Is it really a country though?

The country is administered by Morocco with the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic claiming it as its own, but Morocco runs a large part of it.  Spain gave up its claim to it in the 1970’s.

A few of us debated this time and time again.  It is a very sparsely populated place with only about 600000 inhabitants.  It appears to look like something out of a futuristic apocalyptic movie like Mad Max with endless sand, trash, and a few littered shanty towns.

The coastline is very beautiful in this country, however with high cliffs and no real beaches, it will never attract any tourists.  With not a lot of infrastructure we bush camped all of the nights here next to high sand dunes, where the wood was scarce and we had to watch what we burned.

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And our adventure continues to the next country…..

Gibraltar- A territory of UK stuck in South Spain
The start of my Africa trip began on a flight from Uk to Gibraltar for two nights. Although we could not stay in Gibraltar because of the size of our truck, we certainly spent some time there!!!!

We stayed in a little tiny campground in Spain and went into Gibraltar for the day. Even though it was only 7 Km sq, it had its fair amount of historical sites, as well as restaurants and pubs. Situated on the Iberian Peninsula, it has always been a strategic site in Europe. From the Moors, to Spanish, to British, to a decisive victory by Admiral Horatio Nelson in the Napoleonic Wars, to a strategic site during WW2, this place has seen its share of battles. Along with the aforementioned, they also have a sizable Jewish, and Muslim population that lives peacefully among one another.

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NOVEMBER 15, 2015…IT STARTS…

1 Big Continent,
1 Backpack 20 kg’s,
1 Day Pack 10 kg’s,
1 Camera Bag 10 kg’s
2 Passports,
6 Plus Vaccinations,
9 Plus Months
30,000 Plus Kilometers,
275 Plus Days,
20 Plus Currencies,
25 Plus Undiscovered Countries and Terrain,
25 Plus Visas,
20 Plus Regions with Varying Temperatures,
100’s of risks in every country,
100% Fun and life experience!!!!!!

APPROXIMATE ROUTE (click to expand)

Already being on the road for 5 months including Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore, Egypt, Greece, Germany, Austria, Tunisia, Albania, USA (Texas, Oregon, and Tennessee), as well as 58 plane flights in an 11 month period, I AM READY TO GET THIS TRIP STARTED!!!

What I will probably look like after 9 months?

Hair like this?

Beard Like This?

For a tad bit over three years now, I have been planning and looking forward for this trip. How many people can see they went across the whole of Africa while camping and cooking off the beaten trek? Along with this I will get to meet people that have no contact with the outside world, experience dangers from animals and people alike, do various excursions that you only see in movies, and see animals that are either endangered or you would see in Zoos!!!!  INCLUDING THE MOUNTAIN GORILLAS!!!!
My home for the next 9 months….

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Will it be difficult? Hell yea!!!! Digging the truck out of the sand, being on places with no paved roads, camping for 9 months without some of the most basic amenities, and living off basic things!!!!. But this is how people live life in most of the world. This is something I think everyone should experience!!! This in my opinion is one of the last of the Outback’s in the world. Everything is very basic including restrooms and campsites (when we are not bush camping).

I am excited and nervous and ready to get this started!!!!!

Cairo see you sometime in August, then back to work!!!!

A rapidly developing country with an old world charm
Five years ago I made a bold prediction that Albania would become the next big destination in Europe (Please read Albania 2010 and 2011) It looks like in my prediction I was not that far off as Tirana and all of Albania have changed so much in this time, FOR THE BETTER.  I love it here!!!!! Between food and cafes and bars, your options are limitless for a very cheap holiday!!!!

(Read about American Sports Bar in Tirana)

With an influx of foreign investment, great public transportation, as well as an amazing service industry, this place is expanding for tourism at an exponential rate.

Question:  What is a George Bush statue doing in a few thousand person town in Albania?

Answer:  He was the first US President to visit post Communist Albania.  They named the square after him and erected a statue

FREE ALBANIA WALKING TOUR!!!!!!

I had an opportunity to hang out with an Albanian local named Gazi for a better part of my stay here and he showed me around as well as took me down south to see some of the other small towns.

Gazi has his own tour company and is an excellent guide that knows so much about the history, geography, and culture of not just Tirana, but all all over Albania and the Balkan Region. He can give you an in depth look at what is what like growing up in Communist times and how it differs from now. He gives the only free walking tour in all of Tirana and takes you to the main points in the city center. He also does different day or overnight excursions to other hot spots all around the country. He can tailor your experience to whatever you want it to be.

His website and information is found here:

Free Tirana Walking Tour

He took me all around to different parts of the south and also to places a little nearer to Tirana. Thank you Gazi for all you did as I consider you a very good friend!!!!

Besides Tirana, this country has very good places to visit.  Some of the towns take you back to a time where people lived a simple life years ago, and some are thriving tourists destinations!!!!!!  You have anything from Greek and Roman Ruins, to Ottoman style Castles and fortresses in which people live inside the walls and they have started making hotels in them.  The pictures do not lie about this magnificent beautiful country!!!

Tirana(Capital and most Cosmopolitan City)

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Kruje(fortress on a hill and also home to liberal Muslim Sect)

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Elbasan(Ottoman Fortress)

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Gjirokaster(Unesco City)

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Apolonia(Greek and Roman Ruins)

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Berat(Middle Age Fortress overlooking the city)

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Durres(Coastal and Second biggest city)

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Duff- An American sports bar in the heart of Albania!!!!

From Hoxha’s stronghold to Nightlife Central…..

Brilliant CNN Article on THE BLOCK and Duff Sports Bar

In the middle of the ever so bustling Albanian capital of Tirana lays a bar like no other. The Bars name is Duff (based off Homer Simpson’s favorite beverage), and it can be said this is more of a sports bar then some American bars.

Situated in the once infamous “Block” which was where Enver Hoxha, and a somewhat secretive area, this place now boasts one of the most vibrant hangouts in the Balkan Region. Bars, Restaurants, and Café’s line the area which you can compare with Austin, Texas famous 6th Street.

Duff Bar is owned and managed by Stefi Ilo(lived in the US) and Ledion Ilo . The walls are adorned with memorabilia from different sports teams across the United States. The different televisions around the bar enable patrons to watch different American or European sports simultaneously, and the big screen outside is situated around tables to watch any big sporting event. Inside and outside on the patio you will find stools at the bar, couches, bar tables and eating tables.  They also have a table to play beer pong in which they hosted a tournament with different teams of Albanians and Foreigners!!!!!

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They use European sports stations to get the different games on, whether it be NFL, NBA, College Sports, Hockey, or Soccer, there is something for just about everyone. The stations they usually use are the following:
ESPN UK
Sport US1 Germany
Canal+ Deportes1 and 2
Sky Sport 3 Italy
Sky Sport 3 UK

Literally there is something for everyone!!! In addition to the sports, different types of liquor and coffee’s, there is a menu based around bar food you would find in most sports bars in the United States.

The menu of food includes different types of Burgers, Fries, Wings, Chicken Strips, Hot Dogs, Mozzarella Sticks, Chips and Queso, along with specialties of the house on certain days. All the meals will usually run you no more than 450 LEK (3.50 USD), for a meal that would typically cost 6-8 dollars at a sports bar in the United States. I can attest that the Chips and Queso, Bacon Burger, and Wings were all fantastic and would definitely order them again!!!

If you head to the block (which you will if you are in Tirana), then be sure to make the Duff Bar one of your many stops as I have done!!!!!

Contact info: Duff Bar, Rruga Brigada VIII, Tirana, +355 694 03 4376

You can also contact them on their Facebook Pages:

Duff Tirana

Duff Sports Bar

Djerba Hood- Street Art Spectacular that transcends borders:  1 ISLAND, 1 VILLAGE, 150 STREET ARTISTS, 30 NATIONALITIES.

SEE THE TWO SETS OF GALLERIES BELOW FOR THE DIFFERENT STREET ARTISTS

Click here to see Tunisia- Off the Beaten Path

Click here to see Return to Tunisia

Many of you have never heard of Djerba and if I ask you where Tunisia is, it would be hard for you to point it out on a map, but this tiny island(in Tunisia) which in folk tale could be where Odysseus was stranded on his voyage and with the Lotus Eaters!!!!! Who knows, we will leave it up to the imagination….

According to the website below:

DJERBAHOOD is a place invested by artists from all around the world to transform the village into an open-sky museum. The town of Erriadh in Djerba has hosted the works of around a hundred of artists from thirty different nationalities. Erriadh, an authentic and traditional town, has become a major place of expression for artists from diverse cultures, a worldwide panorama of Street Art and an essential cultural attraction in Tunisia.

GALLERY 1

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Locked inside this quiet tiny island is quite possibly one of the best street art spectaculars known to man. Artists from 30 countries enveloped a small town almost in the central part of the island to do street art from different cultures and perspectives…..As the website below outlines in their tagline-1 ISLAND, 1 VILLAGE, 150 STREET ARTISTS, 30 NATIONALITIES.

GALLERY 2

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Website to Djerba Hood

Facebook Page of Djerba Hood

Unfortunately some of the street art stands in ruins and has been torn down, but new ones pop up every so often, even going beyond the borders of the town of Erriadh into the countryside on dilapidated old houses with domes on them which makes them stand out even more…..Take a look and see for yourself. This could be the start of a great tourist destination in Tunisia for years to come and a way for people to express themselves and show off their different styles….

Return to Tunisia:  Star Wars, Street Art, and a place that looks like Greek Island Parts

Click here to see Tunisia- Off the Beaten Path

Click here for Djerba Hood Street Art

My return to Tunisia 6 months after I was there, could not of been any better!  I spent a few days in and around the capital, just going around the city and seeing a place I always wanted to see called Sidi Bou Said, which looks something like houses on the Greek Island of Mykonos

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The Island of Djerba is one of the most fascinating Islands I have been too.  With Three Star Wars sites as well as a very relaxed way of life, makes this place a must go for any traveler!!!!

The House of Obi Wan Kenobi on Tatooine

The outside of Mos Eisley Cantina where the R2-D2 and C3PO stayed

Anchorhead and Toshi Station

On the island you will find a great museum, markets, good food, and a hell load of alligators

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Oktoberfest!!!!! Two days takes ten years off your life!!!

For my whole life I wanted to attend Oktoberfest in Munich. Little did I know that with the combination of camping and being in the huge tents all day, would definitely take years off my life.

I was with six friends that I teach with (all couples). We left out of Cairo in the afternoon, and barely made our connection from Frankfurt to Munich. We arrived in at night and took a bus to the central train station. We then jumped on one train, then another train finally arriving in a quiet part of Munich, where we walked almost an hour to find the campground (all of us ignoring signs along the way). We finally arrived at the campsite, had a beer, then languidly went off to bed and proceeded to freeze our butts off.

We woke up the next day and went into 3 tents. I can honestly say that by five o clock we were all finished with (keep in mind they serve liter beers and the alcohol content is over 5 percent. We lost one of our friends who got separated from us and went back to camp and proceeded to have more to drink at the camp bar…..After that….the haze hits until we woke up the next morning.

We went back to Oktoberfest and proceeded to have more to drink and eat and had a blast meeting and talking with people as everyone is so friendly. Mind you that I stuck out like a sore thumb as I was the only person wearing a baseball cap. We went to a couple different tents and proceeded to drink and drink and drink. We finally got back to the campsite and proceeded to drink more and I actually ended up dancing. The end of the night would prove to be disastrous as while I was sleeping in my tent, I had my D7100 camera stolen from my tent (they didn’t take my other one or my iphones). I went around the next morning looking for it, but to no avail…….I call it collateral damage, but lost most of my good photos from the trip, luckily I had some friends there with their photos!!!!!……now it was time to jump on a train for a couple of nights in Salzburg……..

Continue to Lana and Steve’s Engagement in Salzburg

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Salzburg- Beer, Pork, Beer, Engagement

For the first part of the trip please click on Oktoberfest

Because of the hangover, I took my time of getting to my train from the campsite and also barely made it as it left about three minutes after I got on. It was about an hour and a half train to Salzburg but what I had forgotten is they closed off any trains going from the German to Austrian border in which they made me disembark at Friessling Station which was on the German Austrian Border!!!! Why? The Syrian Immigrant crisis is causing a lot of problems. If you would of seen what I saw on the border, it was hundreds and maybe even thousands of Syrian immigrants huddled together and sleeping in a shanty town. Probably one of the saddest things I have ever seen!!!!

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If I can pretty much sum up Salzburg, it would be to continue the drinking from Oktoberfest, see a lot of the sights, as well as try every food imaginable. I had seen parts of the city that I had never seen before in my previous four visits there and I became more impressed with the city than I already was!!!!!!

Just walking around, you get a sense of how peaceful and relaxing everything is!!!!  From the beautiful sights at the castle overlooking the city to the Augustiner Brewerey/Beer Garden/Food House.

This time was great!!!!!  And I even got a replacement for my camera…

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Oh yea I forgot to mention two of my good friends got engaged there at the Rose Garden.   Laina attended a semester abroad there and Steve wanted to propose to her there……HMMMM I knew there was a reason for going to Salzburg!!!!! Great place and I will return to both places again…CONGRATS STEVE AND LAINA!!!!

Things I learned from my jaunt through Asia:

OVERALL:  THE PEOPLE ARE WONDERFUL!!! (1-12 BELOW)

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2. Vietnam is one of the most beautiful countries with friendly people and an up and coming economy that will flourish for years. The food was probably one of my most favorite in the world.

Vietnamese food

3. The US just didn’t do damage to Vietnam during the war but it spilled out into other countries causing a chain reaction-Cambodia and Pol Pot, Land mines and bombs in Laos. This just touches the surface of things. The effects are still seen today. This was a perfect example of leaders to institute their own twisted ways of thinking on the populations
4. In Cambodia I noticed a strong hint of French Revolution Reign of Terror tactics used…..wiping out traces of Cambodia’s History with the systematic annihilation of people that were educated or religious leaders or even knew a foreign language. Also he tried to start their history over with Year 0, I noticed a strong similarity with what Robespierre did with the new French Revolution Calendar which wiped out traces of Religious and Royalist Influence Interesting to note that Pol Pot was educated in France, although he failed out of school. The killing fields and the Prison was very hard for me to be at. Finally Khmer Rouge=Jacobin Party!!!!! PERFECT EXAMPLE OF HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF!!!!

History repeats itself years later-Louis 16 and Marie Antoinette being executed, Maximillian Robespierre being executed, Directoire giving up power to Napoleon-All had consequence’s eerily similar in Asia.

Killing Fields in Cambodia-the result of a crazy leader with Marxist inspired and French Revolution thought=2-3 million educated dead and the loss of an entire generation

5. Beer Lao is one of my favorite beers on the planets!!!! I never got tired of drinking it and the Beer Lao Gold and Dark are some of my favorites!!!! A friend of mine George Marinkovich who lives in Thailand said “BeerLao is the best beer in THAILAND.”

Beer Lao

6. Laos is probably one of the most beautiful and scenic countries in the world with low clouds and beautiful majestic mountains. The people are friendly, the food is spicy, and the beer is cold. What more could you ask for in life?

Waterfall in Laos

7. After talking to many people in Vietnam. I figured out that the Vietnam War was just another war that shows it is very difficult to defeat guerrilla warfare. It is also a great example of how people fighting for an ideological cause can always trump over a strong power. Shows that ideas are stronger than money. Just ask Napoleon in his march through Spain to take over Portugal, or Britain during the American Revolution. You get invited into a country, you better know the land or you will fail.

Tunnels close to North and South Vietnamese border

8. Many of these countries do not use supermarkets to buy food. They have local markets in each city. Fresh food=no preservatives=no frozen food= a healthy lifestyle and a lot of walking!!!!!

Markets are the way to go

9. I had a blast traveling with my cousins Zach, Kelley, and David for the first part of the trip. We have already started planning another trip in a couple years!!!!! Vietnam Cousins forever!!!!  The people i met along the way both locals and foreigners really made my trip a great one, especially traveling to the villages

The Cousins invade Vietnam

10. I believe that Singapore is a perfected version of the UAE. The food is great yet expensive and it has perfected a blend of food a and cultures that share a common understanding of each other in just 50 short years. Well Done!!!!!

The skyline!!!

11.  I love pork and think that it should be a staple in everyones diets.  I also like pigs too, so I have a conflict of interest!!!

Smoked Ribs

VS.

lovely pigs

12.  Barring a twist of fate by one of the many deities that humanity worships or a natural disaster i am positive I will live here and work here(SE Asia) in a couple of years. Endless opportunities for work and/or to start a small business will arise in the future.  Perhaps I will live and work here for the long haul.  Usually what I say or do happens, because I make it happen.

Thank you to John and his family for putting me up.  We ended just how we met, at a Japanese Izakaya eating a lot of food!!!!  His parents and wife are amazing people and his kids are beautiful!!!

THEN IN AKITA JAPAN 2007

Financial Hub! Expensive! Hot and Humid! But great place and great atmospheres .

I have never liked cities or countries that are financial capitals and lined with concrete buildings, however Singapore is a little different. In just 50 years (Independence was in 1965 from Malaysia, this country has prospered and grown into one of the great cities in the world. Unlike other cities like this I have traveled to, namely Abu Dhabi, and Dubai, this city has its own unique culture and a different feel to it. Its streets are lined with the most pristine and well kept sidewalks and to find a piece of trash on the ground is rare. Everything is quite expensive here, but you have to pay, if you want to play.

Haw Par Villa-this is a theme  park that is probably one of the most tripped out places I have ever been. It was made years ago by the inventor of Tiger Balm and puts all these old Chinese legends, philosophies, and tales into concrete sculptures.   Even now looking back at the pictures I can honestly say that it was a place that I just dropped my mouth out at every turn. Take a look at the pictures and tell me if you think so….Remember the 10 Courts of Hell of Buddhism and Chinese Mythology is awaiting you.  Many of these predate the Western Monotheistic Religions by hundreds of years….hmmmmmm

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Jaunts around the city seems to be my favorite thing to do. I like getting dropped off in the middle of town and just meandering and finding my own way to see what I run into.  With so many mixing of cultures here, they have different neighborhoods with a variety of ethnic groups, all bringing their style and taste.  The buildings are awe inspiring and all paint a picture of this country that is soon to celebrate its 50th Anniversary.  The Merlion spitting water into the marina and the new sports complex is something not to be missed!!!!

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Museums in this city are very well kept and elaborate with a simple taste. Here is an example of a few of them:

Art Museum:

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Singaporean History Museum:

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Stamp Museum:

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Peranaken Museum (Chinese Immigrants who came to Malay Peninsula during British occupation):

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Asian Civilizations Museum:

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Another Cooking Class.  Must i say anymore?

The Cookery Magic school is found in a lady named Ruqxana’s house on the East Side of Singapore.  She has her classes very well planned out with menus for each day so people know what they are making.  I was impressed with how well she was organized and enjoyed my 7 and last cooking class of this trip!!!!

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The sites of this city make it what it is. From the Merlion, to the walks in the park, to going to different parts of the city…..this place has it all. Take it that it was very hot, but that didn’t stop me from doing anything at all, even if it meant wearing me out!!!!  Well done Singapore and congrats on your 50th Anniversary!!!

BeerLao, Cooking, and outdoor adventures!!!!

A glimpse:

Click on the Links below:

Luang Prabang and surrounding villages/countryside

Vientiane and surrounding villages and countryside

The people and life of Laos (a must see)

 
I can say that Laos was a brilliant country. From the hotels, to the pork, to the Eco Tourism adventures, this place took a piece of my heart and will not give it back. I believe if the world rankings came out, then this country would also be one of the biggest beer consumption countries per capita!!!!! I could of easily spent more time here….Perhaps the rest of my life!!!!! I met some great people and had some good times…

Beer Lao, Cooking, and Outdoor adventures can pretty much sum up my lovely time in this up and coming country!!!!

How much does a person need for happiness?

As my main hobby in traveling to countries is to see Markets, Villages and people of Laos, I found all of these people friendly and always wanting to ask questions and understand foreign people.  This place was no different from Vietnam, Cambodia, or any other country I have visited.  The village life was lovely here with people living with very little, enjoying stuff that we take for granted.  Plus it is always a plus when I see pigs running around!!!!

Is village life a perfect example of people living with what they need only.  Do they look for the next i Phone or the next rain for their rice to flourish.  Wants vs. Needs in life.  We all in the first world are guilty of the Wants in life. However will these small village people that KNOW how to live off the land be able to flourish if technology or electricity is taken away one day.  The answer is…..THEY WILL BE THE ONES THAT RULE THE WORLD……

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Vientiane and surrounding villages and countryside

Luang Prabang
This could possibly be the most quaint little city in SE Asia. Is dubbed a UNESCO World Heritage site, this place is what I call a quiet Chiang Mai. My time here consisted of Treks in the Mud, Bicycles in the rain about 40 km to remote villages, Kayaking down the Mekong where I said goodbye to one of my cameras (it was the Kayaks fault), and of course a cooking class.
My hotel (Indigo House) was located right upon the main street with the night market in sight. Easily accessible from the airport, and a great café for breakfast or any meal, this hotel is a place people must stay in Luang Prabang.

I frequented a restaurant three nights in a row owned by a Canadian man and it had some of the best smoked meats I have had outside of the United States. The Hive has a perfect mix of different styles of foods with a smoked SW USA flare.  Plus the beer is very well priced and has a mix of outside and inside sitting areas.  I would love to see this place during high season as it probably flourishes with all the food and drinks your heart desires!!!!

POOOOOOOOORRRRRKKKKKK!!!!

Memories of Luang Prabang? Pure outdoor activities and villages. I think this is the best way to see surrounding areas. A company that speializes in Eco Tourism that I used is Green Discovery Laos. My guides name for three days was Bounsou.  Absolutely brilliant guy-12 k hike in mud to waterfall, 40 km bike, and 14 k kayak.

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Vientiane and surrounding villages and countryside

The people and life of Laos (a must see)

Vientiane

Hotel-  Sengtawan Riverside Hotel-Good hotel with view of the Mekong and a nice rooftop bar.
Everyone told me that a day is enough in this capital city of Laos. I will strongly disagree with this. This city has a long way to go in terms of what we would think as a good capital, but don’t we travel to places because they are different. Isn’t this what we do in life? Isn’t life about seeing new things? You can quite easily bike around this city in just a few hours, but there are so many little nooks and crannies to be explored here that it is endless.

Please take a look at Green Laos Discovery!!!!  Brilliant company!!!!
Day 1-Bicycle around the city to see the many different monuments and Cope Center(these are many victims of land mines all over Laos and they already started accepting other disabled people). I also took a quick jaunt to the international school which seems to be a good fit for me. The center arch is a throwback to the Arc d’ Triumph in Paris and you can get a good view of the city from here….

Gallery:

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Luang Prabang and surrounding villages/countryside

The people and life of Laos (a must see)

From Angkor Wat to French Colonization to Khmer Rouge Annhialation to New Beginnings on the horizon

For the last ten years, Cambodia was a country that was high of places I wanted to go. I had three main things that I always wanted to do here thus outlining my three goals:

1. Angkor Wat is a wonder of the world I have always wanted to see and the whole area impressed me even more than I dreamed out
2. A village girl from the Koy minority in Cambodia that I supported to go to school for five years as she was from a very poor village. I wanted to finally meet her.
3. The Killing Fields at Choeung Ek and the Tuol Sleng S21 Prison from the Cambodian Genocide during the Khmer Rouge Era

This country is very poor yet the people were always so friendly and warm and were eager to please. Sometimes it makes me think…..What does a person need to be happy? The answer is very little as many of these people live on dollars or less than a dollar a day, they are still able to live how they need. They have smiles on their faces and perhaps they are hiding something, but they do not complain about what they need. The following is quick blurbs with pics about what I encountered here from travels and speaking to people:

Siem Reap- Angkor Wat, Country Side, and Thy Sothi’s Village

Phnom Pehn-The Country Side, Cooking Class, and The brutal Genocide

Motorbikes, People, Tuk Tuks, and Markets

Examples of what you will see:

This page is to show the different people all over Cambodia.  I had the chance to visit many out of the way villages and go to many markets in order to see the diversity of people and their daily life.  It is amazing how people with so little can be so happy, but as technology slowly creeps into these villages, life will surely change.  Please enjoy these great people!!!!!!!

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A city coming into its own.  It will take time but spectacular food, bar scene, and restaurants will make this place a great destination for years to come……

THE KILLING FIELDS AND TUOL SLENG PRISON- THE GENOCIDE

Of course one of the saddest moments in the great history of this country was the reign of Pol Pot aka Brother Number One.  This is of course a spillover from the Vietnam war.  His idea of Marxist Communism compared with ideas of the French Revolution Reign of Terror was one of the most dreadful events in history.  Think about if in the United States, 1 in 4 people were killed for being educated, speaking a foreign language or being the head of a religion.   Trying to create a pure Communist system is one thing, but what happened here is another thing. Kids killed in front of their parents and vice versa.   The world would be in uproar, but this happened in the mid to late seventies here.  Walking through the Killing Fields and also Tuol Sleng prison, you get the filling of being transported back to this time.  Both places hit me very hard as I had to cancel the rest of my days activities to be alone.  I have been to concentration camps, Srebrenica in Bosnia, and various other places, but this one was different.  I will leave out the gory details of the stories I heard, but they were horrible.  I did get to meet one of the 7 survivors of the Tuol Sleng prison camp through a translator and he had a certain sadness in his eyes…….This should be a place everyone should visit once in their life to get a feel for something hat happened just 40 years ago…..

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One of the Seven Survivors of the Prison

On a brighter side, cooking classes are always fun wherever you are at, especially when you know you are starting to excel at making random dishes….The Feel Good Cafe.  Is where you can book this cooking class with an instructor Nara (nara@feelgoodcoffeeshope.com), who really takes his time and knows his dishes.  Very good experience at this class!!!

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A great place to stay- THE SAM BOUTIQUE HOTEL

A quiet and relaxing place to stay with peaceful ambience.

This small boutique hotel is close but not too close to the city center (about a 5 minute tuk tuk ride). The rooms are very spacious and are cleaned perfectly each day. The minibar is stocked with whatever you need and there is liquor bottles and snacks in the room. They refresh two water bottles every day and any toiletries you may need.

The place boasts a nice little pool and garden area where guests can chill out and relax and happy hour specials for drinks are always on the cards every day. You can order food to eat from a local restaurant which they will deliver to you!

The staff is always so cordial and friendly and always willing to give a helping hand in anything you do like organizing day trips and tuk tuk drivers for the whole city and countryside.  A good Tuk Tuk Driver that works for the Hotel is named Prum Vaney, and his email is vannyprum04@gmail.com.  He organizes just about anything you want to do for a low price!!!!

This has been the most relaxing four days of my trip!!!!

Obviously this city is known for Angkar Wat but it boasts some of the most beautiful scenery around Cambodia. The Town is small and very easy to get around with the notorious pub street lined with restaurants and clubs!!!!!  If you want a good and relaxing hotel, then stay at the Landing Gold Villa.  You can read the great review I gave on trip advisor here Landing Gold Villa by Daniel Yenshaw.  And dont forget to ask for Mr. Bean as your Tuk Tuk Driver.  He works wonders!!!!-sr.mrbean@yahoo.com!!!

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Mai Chau

Climbing 1000 Steps is not easy in the heat….

Click here for Mai Chau Trek and Bungalow stay and Accomodation

Perched in the mountains of Northern Vietnam, this collection of tiny villages is a thorwback from hundreds of years ago when rice farming ruled the country. Many villagers still use methods used many years ago to cultivate rice and not so much the common ameneites seen today. Bike Riding through the country side and staying in bungalows overlooking the rice fields, gave me a glimpse on how hard but simple the life is for these people.  Walking through the market and climbing up 1000 steps to a cave showed me how much beauty was instilled in this land….

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Jump to:

• Hanoi
• Ha Long Bay
• Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)
• Viet Cong Cu Chi Tunnels
• Hue
• DMZ and HCM trail by motorbike
• Hoi An
• The Vietnamese Motorbike Diaries and people
• The food