Evidence Based Travel

An Amazing Race

matt_and_alson — Sun, 4 May 2008 23:13:00 GMT

Sure, the highlight today should have been the magnificent visit to Angkor Wat, but I'll be the first to admit I was a little obsessed with the filming of a certain, unnamed reality show that airs on Tuesday nights on CBS, that features pairs of people adventuring on a global scavenger hunt. I think you catch my drift. I even got filmed helping one of the contestants find her clue and signed my life away to CBS, or at least signed away any shot of royalities from a brief glimpse of fame! We'll definitely be watching when the new season starts to see if we can spot ourselves in the "travel documentary" that two of the contestants said they were in :)

We arrived in Siem Reap a mere 13 hours after leaving Ho Chi Min City by bus, with a brief stop in Phnomh Penh for a little monsoon and a side of lunch. We settled in the "popular" guest house to rest up for our big day of temples.

The temples truly are spectacular, and even more so when you think of how they were constructed so long ago. We had our private tuk-tuk driver taking us around, and we ended the day watching the sunset from top of a hillside temple, the highest point the region.

Gallery: wk 2-3 - Vietnam

matt_and_alson — Sat, 3 May 2008 23:51:00 GMT

Hip Hip Hoor-Hue!

matt_and_alson — Fri, 2 May 2008 22:57:00 GMT

Hanoi and surrounds

matt_and_alson — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 22:48:00 GMT

After spending a few hot but memorable days in Chiang Mai, we traveled east to Hanoi. Our cab ride from the airport provided a great introduction to Vietnam driving. Vietnam has driving laws similar to other states, but these laws are more of a suggestion than hard fast rules. Swarms of motorbikes mixed with a few cars and trucks barrel into intersections with blinders on and dance through cross traffic with their horns blaring, and by miracle or skill everyone comes out unscathed on the other side. To throw another variable into Vietnam driving, pedestrians play a game of chicken as they cross streets. Pedestrians pick a slow steady pace and step into the street with their fingers crossed as motorbikes carrying at minimum 2 people (I have seen 4) dodge around them without hesitation. After we spent a day trekking about Hanoi seeing a few sights and trudging through a flooded street after an unusually long downpour, we elected to escape the huste and bustle of city life and head for Halong Bay. We booked a 3 day trip aboard a renovated "Junk" with a few other people from the States and Europe. While in Halong Bay, we spent time exploring caves, kayaking, swimming, and trekking on Cat Ba island. Those few days allowed use recharge our spirits before we continued our trip through Vietnam. We originally planned to work our way South through Vietnam upon returning from our boat tour in Halong Bay, but we elected to make a quick pause in Hanoi before taking a night train North to Sapa. Sapa is located near the China/Vietnam border in the mountains. When we arrived at about 8AM in Sapa it was about 20 degrees celsius, quite a change from the mid 30's to 40's we had been experiencing in other parts of our trip. After finding a room overlooking the valley for about $7, we spent two days hiking to neighboring Hmong villages. The minority people make their living farming and selling handmade crafts to tourists. Their selling tactics are aggressive but done with a smile on their face, which makes it hard to say "no". After our two days in Sapa, we again took a night train to Hanoi to continue our trip South. Onward to Hue and Hoi An

Gallery: Week 1 - Thailand

matt_and_alson — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:41:00 GMT

Bangkok - Chiang Mai

B. Cereus

matt_and_alson — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:18:00 GMT

So a brief 18 hours after our outstanding welcome to Thailand, I was welcomed to travel by some sort of fantastic bug (personally thinking it was bacillus cereus if only because it was one of my favorites in first-year micro, and I definitely had reheated rice...

24 hours of glory, that you can ask me about - including a very embarrassing incident in the Bangkok airport on our way to Chiang Mai, again worth the story, probably not good fodder for online posting! I recooperated in our guest house, while Matt went exploring and in search of Gatorade. He visited some great Wats, and saw the Emerald buddha, and I half-opened my weary eyes to look at the pics.

Thankfully, I was recovered within 24 hours, and back to my old self (ie, eating the street food, that probably got me into trouble in the first palce). We enjoyed a day exploring Chiang Mai on our own, then a day of cooking school, where we learned 6 wonderful dishes...looking forward to sharing some tasty treats when we get home.

We met up with our friend, Chuck, Friday evening and a wonderful weekend with a personal tour guide began. I first met Chuck in 5th grade at Epiphany, when he was newly arrived in Seattle. Our paths crossed again in med school - both having taken several years off before heading back to school. Chuck has a fantastic fellowship in Chiang Mai, and has 10 months in Thailand conducting a few clinical research projects - the coolest of which involve working with people in Northern Thailand, improving their access to medical care. Having been in the region for 9 months, he was a fantastic host, taking us to amazing eateries in back alleys, where we tried Shan and Burmese food, as well as tradtionally Northern Thai cuisine. After a jam-packed weekend, we left Chuck, to get a little work done, and we headed on to Hanoi, Vietnam.

Happy New Year!

matt_and_alson — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 19:16:00 GMT

After a weary haul across the Pacific, Matt and I found ourselves in the heart of the Songkran festival on Khao San Road. Songkran, orginally a festival to bathe Buddha images and relics, has turned into the worlds largest water fight, with some talcum powder paste thrown into the mix. Luckily, we'd been warned, and had our stuff safely secured in Ziplocs, as we were thoroughly soaked by the time we made it through the busy streets to our hotel. After dropping our things, we braved the streets again, where the party lasted until after midnight, although we pooped out well before then. After a good night's rest, we were on our way north to Chiang Mai.

Gallery: The Big Sell

matt_and_alson — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 18:00:00 GMT

Pre-trip garage sale