Once again, being in a country where something “happens” is very instructive. When we leave Bangkok after 10 days, the crisis that is playing out in the streets of Bangkok remains opaque. It doesn’t seem clear how the…
Wat Phra Keo ~ Temple of the Emerald Buddha. Bangkok, Thailand
Wat Phra Keo has some of the most stunning architecture in South East Asia. The emerald Buddha Wat Phra Keo is the holiest of all Thai wats. The small green jade statue of the Buddha, high on its golden altar…
Wat Po ~ a magnificent ode to Buddha. Bangkok, Thailand
Bangkok’s oldest and Thailand’s largest Wat (temple complex) is Wat Po. Wat Po houses a giant reclining Buddha – 46 meter long, and 15 meter high. When you walk in and see this HUGE, gold figure which completely fills up…
Vietnamese Nest ~ first stop Hanoi
Of our four sons, Adam is the first one who makes the move to meet up with us on our Southeast Asia adventure. He is of course primarily motivated by his passion for food and we had talked about a…
Life on the other side of the Hanoi river, Viet Nam
With this last minute, surprise exchange, we once again rediscover why we like home exchange – because it takes us to places we wouldn’t otherwise go see and meet people we wouldn’t meet. Witness the bridge we cross to the…
Flying from Kuala Lumpur, post Malaysian Airlines 370
A couple of days ago I find out from Ben that when we leave Indonesia, our flight to Vietnam is on Malaysia Airlines. (Yup, the same airlines which just had a plane disappear mysteriously from the sky.) We are scheduled…
Visit to a dentist in Yogyakarta, Indonesia
It is not without some trepidation, that I find myself in a dentist chair in the city of Yogyakarta, in desperate need of a tooth repair. I am a big baby when it comes to my teeth. And….I am very…
Yogyakarta, Indonesia ~ city life vs village life
We finally decide to brave the big city… A bit of geography (but see below for amazing street art if you are not interested in the geography bit); …