11/27/2006 Well we have been home now exactly a month and hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving (sorry for you non-Americans but feel free to drop…

10/23/06 After the Min’s dropped us at the dingy old Yangon airport we sat around waiting for our flight.  Cindy managed to lose her departur…

Min Min and Min Ko picked us up at the hotel after breakfast for a final little tour of some additional sites in Yangon before they dropped us off at…

10/18/06 So we were picked up early at the Royal White Elephant hotel and hopped in the Hyundai with the Mins for our final journey in Myanmar to Ng…

The Shwe Hin Tha Resort Hotel, Ngwe Saung Beach - Myanmar The Shwe Hin Tha Resort at Ngwe Saung Beach (near Chaungtha Beach and Pathein in …

The Royal White Elephant Hotel For our second and third stays in Yangon, we stayed at The Royal White Elephant Hotel which was definitely nicer th…

10/17/06 After a bad night's sleep on our prison cot, we had a really bad breakfast consisting of instant Coffee, Tang, one hour old and cold…

The Smile Hotel, Pyay - Myanmar The Smile Hotel in Pyay did not leave us smiling but luckily we were only there for one night.  We were…

Right on time, Myo showed up to trade paintings for foreign currency which he supposedly collects. We ended up getting another couple paintings f…

Silver Moon Guesthouse – Bagan, Myanmar The Silver Moon Guesthouse in New Bagan is a very nice, friendly place down a small dirt road off o…

10/13/06 So it’s Friday the Thirteenth and what better way to spend it than attempting to navigate through knee deep flooded roads in Myanmar? Min…

Well after a grueling day driving from Kalaw to Mandalay, the entrance to the Zegyo hotel was less than enthralling.  It is on a busy street and…

10/10/06 After breakfast we snaked our way down the fairly terrible mountain road for a while before getting stopped at another huge line of backed …

Eastern Paradise Hotel The Eastern Paradise Hotel in Kalaw is on a small street right off of the main road running through Kalaw and is a home…

It stormed all night and we awoke to a totally flooded courtyard wondering if we would be able to make it out today. Our original plan was to go to t…

Aung Min Galar Guesthouse The Aung Min Galar Guesthouse is located in a nice garden environment a few minutes walk outside the main street in…

10/7/06 This morning we left Taungoo for the 270 mile drive to Inle Lake. Based on yesterday's drive, we figured that this should be another six to …

10/6/06 Well after a thrilling breakfast of fried rice, instant coffee and Burmese Tang, we headed downstairs anxiously wondering if Myo Ngwe would …

Central Hotel The Central Hotel in Yangon is, well, centrally located next to Bogyoke market and is an OK but not great place in Yangon.  Rooms…

10/5/06 This morning we took a flight to Yangon, Myanmar (formerly Burma but renamed by the current ruling party to remove all remaining vestiges of…

Somehow, even though we have spent another four nights in Bangkok, there is not much to tell since mostly what we have been doing is researching our …

Malibu Bungalows The Malibu Bungalows in Sihanoukville, Cambodia are right off of the beach between Sokha Beach and Occheuteal Beach and are clean b…

9/29/06 Today we took a four hour bus ride to the beach resort of Sihanoukville in western Cambodia. We opted for a taxi from the bus station to Ser…

Hotel Bougainvillier The Hotel Bougainvillier in Phnom Penh is a nice, small, upscale hotel right on Sisowath Quay on the waterfront with large, ver…

9/26/06 This morning before catching the six hour bus to Phnom Penh, we went to a very slow Internet cafe to check email and find a place to stay. I…

Villa Loti Coconut House The Villa Loti Coconut House is a beautiful little guest house with nice sized teak rooms with a large, four poster …

It's a holiday in Cambodia - no really it is - and everyone is off at the pagodas celebrating today, guessing we could have timed this better... 9/2…

9/19/06 Everything was going fine in the minivan as we drove back to Pakse to get on the boat until I said something to Cindy about my camera. She r…

Vat Phou River Cruise For our twelfth anniversary, we decided to splurge and head to Southern Laos for a three day cruise up the Mekong on the luxur…

Saise Resort The Saise Resort at the Tad Lo waterfalls in Southern Laos on the Bolaven Plateau is a nice, relaxing place with several different opti…

Pakse Hotel A fairly large and centrally located hotel right in the heart of Pakse, it actually was nicer than we thought it would be. They have sev…

9/17/06 Well we woke up way to early and arrived at the airport and went through the most laid back security I have seen at an airport in a long whi…

Tad Fane Resort The Tad Fane Resort outside of Pakse in Southern Laos on the Bolaven Plateau has simple but clean bungalows with great views overloo…

Mali Nam Phu Conveniently located in Vientiane and an excellent value, Mali Nam Phu is a reasonable, inexpensive place but nothing too special compa…

La Cave des Chateaux – Vientiane, Laos La Cave is a cute little bistro centrally located in Vientiane close to the river on a large round-about st…

9/15/06 So at breakfast in Luang Prabang today we were chatting with a couple from Australia whom we met the other day that are also staying at Sala…

Tamarind, located at the end of the Luang Prabang “peninsula” by Wat Nong in the old quarter specializes in very authentic Laotian food.  It…

Sala Luang Prabang Sala Luang Prabang is very centrally located overlooking the Mekong River with very comfortable, air-conditioned rooms (no TV) …

9/11/06Well we had to get up at the crack of dawn this morning in order to get to the bus station on time.  I road the scooter into town to retu…

So we woke up early and it seemed to be nice out, however by breakfast time, it looked gray and like it might rain.  Not wanting to laze around …

The Boat Landing Guesthouse in Luang Nam Tha, Laos is another really friendly, comfortable, somewhat upscale location about five miles out of the mai…

Well we went through Thai immigration this morning and paid our huge exit tax of five Baht (about 13 cents) and then hopped aboard the "ferry" whic…

The Boat Landing Restaurant attached to the Boat Landing Guesthouse has undoubtedly, the best food in northern Laos.  They specialize in authent…

Well we decided to take a minivan bus for the six hour journey to Chiang Khong, the border town between Thailand and Laos. The last bit of road betwe…

The flight back to Chiang Mai was quick but very hot - the entire plane was busy fanning themselves for most of the flight.  We are staying anot…

9/4/06 Well today is our anniversary, so I figured I would treat Cindy to three hours of sitting in the Soppong bus station, really nothing more tha…

The Mountain Inn and Resort in Mae Hong Son, Thailand seems to be targeted at large groups of young travelers who are less discretionary about both a…

The Soppong River Inn is a nice, fairly remote set of bungalows perched over the river in Soppong Thailand.  Set in a lush garden setting, there…

9/02/06 After breakfast we decided to take a minivan to Soppong, figuring that it was a bit more Thai and remote than Pai. Another hour of windy, mo…

After a leisurely start in order to recuperate from yesterday's partying with Chuck and Jane, we took a four hour mini-van ride to Pai along a mounta…

The Pairadise Bungalows in Pai, Thailand, nestled in the hills on the other side of the river, is about a ten minute walk into town. The property is …

8/28/06 Well we finally decided to forgo the arduous route through Mae Sot and Mae Sariang to Mae Hong Son and opted to head for Chiang Mai first, f…

Baan Orapin is a fantastic bed and breakfast type place located just across the Ping River in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  It has beautiful, large roo…

We stumbled on this fantastic little place on the Travelfish site (www.travelfish.org) which is a travel site dedicated to travel in Thailand, Cambod…

Well the bus ended up being late so we didn't get to Sukothai until almost ten p.m. and of course it was raining. We were the only farang (a sometime…

The Dream Café in Sukkothai is a cute little restaurant, crammed with old antiques from around the globe in a somewhat dark, wooden environment.&nbs…

OK so it is probably beyond most people’s budgets (unless of course you are a lucky Hilton Diamond member like me and can use points J), but this i…

Well we ended up spending the next four days in Bangkok which is an incredible city filled with strange smells, noises and sights.  I hadn't bee…

Le Lys is the restaurant that we unsuccessfully searched for at their old location before finally finding it another night.  It is owned by a co…

Well, somehow the week between getting home from Chicago and leaving for Bangkok flew by, and here we are heading off for the airport for our fligh…