Well, I biked and hiked and kayaked and zip lined and crossed shaky bridges over deep chasms but simply walking on a dock was the thing that ultimately took me out. A few days ago in Vanuatu, the first of 3 stops we are making between Sydney andLA, this happened: Yeah, that’s me being wheeled back to my room with my right arm in a full plaster cast. I slipped and fell and during my excursion to the riri river and swimming hole and broke my wrist. Formally, I have a colles fr

I was so happy to have a stretch of 8 nights in Sydney. It’s a great city - lots of water, great restaurants, beautiful gardens, interesting history, and friendly people. I had two awesome beach days. On Sunday, I took the ferry to Manly Beach. I half joked that I chose this one because of its name, but truly it was an amazing day. Beautiful ride through the harbor there, and the beach itself was gorgeous. I love nothing more than a windy, sunny boat ride! I mean look at t

I had one of the best meals of my life last night. Allta is a Korean restaurant with a strong French influence that has been consistently cited of one of Sydney’s best. I booked it a few weeks back, knowing that I wanted at least one splurgy meal while here. It totally lived up to the expectations! I dressed up a little. Sequined tank and a navy satin skirt. Very country club chic (or so I told myself) Excuse the messy room. It’s a nice thing to be here long enough to set

Today I ventured out a couple of hours west of Sydney on a day trip to the Blue Mountains, a UNESCO World Heritage-listed region known for its dramatic sandstone cliffs, deep valleys, eucalyptus forests, and the iconic Three Sisters rock formation. The Three Sisters (four with me) I’d visited this area when Mike and I were in Australia in 2003, but the weather then was sub-optimal so I wanted to see it again. The day started rainy, which made me imagine it would be another wa

I’m now in Sydney, which feels light years away from my time in SE Asia. The first difference is that I am settled into a very nice hotel (The Langham) for 8 whole nights, which feels luxurious and extremely slow compared to the 2 nights per place we averaged on the tour. I also had very little planned when I arrived, so it’s a wide open agenda. I do miss Asia, but this is great. I’m sleeping a lot, eating well, and exploring in the sunshine! A few highlights so far. Last

Spent our last full day in SE Asia at this elephant sanctuary outside of Luang Prabang with Daryl and Leslie, a lovely Canadian couple who were the only people who did the full 31 day tour with me. This was an amazing experience. - we donned knee high mud boots, took a small boat downriver, and set off into the bush to get up close and personal with an adult and child elephant pair. Showing off my oh so stylish mud boots This sanctuary rescues elephants from bad conditions,

Left for Luang Prabang at mid-day, and arrived quickly via high speed train. The train took less than an hour, much more efficient than the 6 hour drive over poor roads that was necessary until recently! Luang Prabang is a UNESCO heritage site, and I understand why. The town is a really beautiful mix of French colonial and traditional Asian architecture, located on a peninsula at the confluence of 2 rivers - the Mekong and the Nam Khan. And so many monks, including novices

We drove about 4 hours to Nam Kat Yorla Pu, a protected forest along the Nam Kat River. This hotel was really beautiful, with lush foliage, streams, koi fish, and private villas overlooking the river. The highlight was a great hike over many rope bridges to a waterfall in the forest, with a zip line adventure down. So fun! The hotel setting was very beautiful, and several of us enjoyed some downtime poolside before a yummy dinner (with way too much food, although deliciou

Nong Khiaw was a welcome respite after a day and a half on the Mekong and a 4 hour drive over mostly dirt/bumpy roads. The hotel was lovely, and provided a brilliant sunset view from my balcony (making me feel less guilty about skipping the climb to see the sunset from the nearby hill top) Got a moderately early start the next day and set out for Nayang Tai, tai lui village about 30 minutes outside town. This is the same tribe we had visited outside of Pu Luong in norther

We crossed the border from Thailand to Laos by land, then boarded our transport for the next day and a half - a slow boat on the MeKong River. It was slow travel at its best - a vintage wooden boat moving quietly past beautiful scenery, locals fishing and panning for gold, and many water buffalo. Boarding the boat was treacherous …steep sandy river bank down to the water, where the boats just pull up to the beach. But it was pretty cozy on board And the passing scenery was

We had 2 nights in Chiang Rai, 1.5 hours north of Bangkok by plane. This is a smallish city of just over 1 million people, and we stayed outside the city center, beside the river Kok, at a very lovely and modern hotel. We arrived mid day and had a few hours before our group outing that evening. I chose to walk over to the blue temple, which was quite striking. As you could guess from the name, its blue! Very recently built, but in the testimonial, very ornate Thai style. T

After leaving Bangkok, we headed a few hours north to Kanchanaburi. We had the chance to learn a lot about the Second World War, but before I dive into that, let me tell you about our accommodation, which was fantastic. We stayed at the Float House River Kwai, which as the name implies, consisted of floating bungalows. Access was by speedboat, which made me very happy given my proclivity for wind and water… Me and our bags enroute to the Float House, Each room was a small v

Actually two nights, but who’s counting? Bangkok was a jolt after spending the last week in the relative serenity of Cambodia. It’s a big, active city and we dove right in with a very bumpy boat ride followed by a rushed meal of Pad Thai and mango sticky rice followed by a crazy night drive in tuk tuks and a walk through Chinatown. Sensory overload all around! Me in my VIP ride in front of Wat Suthat and the giant swing China town was hopping, though it was relatively quiet

Our final two nights in Cambodia were at the beautiful island of Koh Rong. Getting there was an adventure - speed boat on the river from the tented camp, to a bus, which took us to the coast in Preah Sihanouk, where we stopped for lunch. We ate at a beach club called Angkor Beach Bar, which made me laugh because of its similarity to Anchor Beach in Milford where I grew up. The tables opened to the beach, where there were locals selling many different foods, often from trays

For the past two days, I have been on an eco-adventure at the Cardamom Tented Camp, which is in Cambodia’s Botum Sakor National Park. This park is an important habitat for Asian elephants, clouded leopards, and many other endangered animals. Profits from this resort support the wildlife alliance and are reinvested in the preserve. It’s a very cool place. The trip to get there took some time - a plane from Siam Reap to Phnom Phen, a 4 hour bus ride, then a 40 minute motorboa

We left our hotel at 5am on Wednesday to get to Angkor Wat in time for dawn. It was tough to get up after the long day (and bike ride) the day before, but the drive there was by Tuk tuk, and it was pleasant to relax in the dark with a nice breeze on the way. The early start was totally worth it. A happy woman at Angkor Wat just after dawn It was really amazing to see the various colors of day break, first from across the water with the main temple in the distance, and later

I’m a little behind on posting because it’s been a whirlwind few days. We flew from Ho Chi Minh City to Siam Reap in Cambodia Monday morning to start the next segment of our tour. 2 couples and me continued on from our last group, and we met up with 2 more couples, so now it’s a party of 4 Canadian couples and me, the token American, plus our CEO/chief experience officer Ratha. Our group of 9 on the Cambodia leg of the journey After meeting up on the hotel rooftop for introdu

We had a short but really great stay in Ho Chi Minh City, aka Saigon. Our arrival from DaNang was delayed a few hours, but our CEO (Chief Experience Officer/guide extraordinaire named “Happy”) was able to rearrange most of our activities. After check in to the Continental Saigon, which is a heritage hotel, operating since 1890, we went for a sunset cruise along the Saigon River. I was sort of unimpressed for the first few minutes, but shortly after we got underway the sun beg

Now on day 7 of this 31 day tour. Hard to believe we have covered so much ground, seen and done so many things, and still have 3 full weeks to go. OMG! And yes, I am carrying a bottle of wine. Don’t judge me…we all were! Yesterday, 2/11, was a very long travel day. We left beautiful Pu Luong first thing, drove almost 5 hours back to Hanoi to catch a flight to Da Nang, then arrived to Hoi An about 6:30. Had a great dinner at a local restaurant, drinks on the hotel terrac

On a bus again - this time heading to the airport to fly south to Hoi An, so time for another update. We spent the last 2 nights in Pu Luong, a nature preserve located 4 hours southwest of Hanoi. According to the internets, it is a “tranquil, off-the-beaten-path paradise renowned for its breathtaking limestone mountains, lush, terraced rice fields, and traditional Thai/Muong stilt-house villages.” Having walked many miles among the rice paddies and small villages yesterday,