Author’s Note: I intended this to be one long post. It’s four. Mostly because I uploaded too many photos. If I kept it as one, the photos won’t load at all. So, please enjoy the beauty of the Southwest…(Link to post #2, Link to post #3, Link to post #4) Another note: If you have trouble with any of the […]
Welcome to Kanab (Utah, Feb ’24, part 1 of 4)
Holiday in Cambodia (2010)
From Laos, we flew down to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Our main goal was to see the Khmer ruins near Siem Reap, further to the west, but as I mentioned earlier, Jessica was doing a tiny bit of research on this trip, so we went to the capital for her to do a quick interview and to generally check the city […]
Treasures of Laos (2010)
After our at-first-adventurous-and-then-incredibly-gorgeous introduction to Laos, the next week-plus there just continued to cement it as one of the most amazing places I’ve ever had the chance to visit. We left off just as we were arriving in Louang Phabang (aka Luang Prabang and other English transliterations)… Louang Phabang has a population about the same size as Santa Cruz (~55,000), […]
By bus and by boat – from Vietnam to Laos (2010)
After our hiking adventures around Sa Pa, the next four days were dominated by transit as we made our way first by bus and then by boat across the border from Vietnam into Laos and then down the Nam Ou river to Louang Phabang. While we knew we were taking a slightly unconventional route in crossing the border, we didn’t […]
Peak Experiences in Northern Vietnam (2010)
From Hue Jessica and I took a short flight up to Hanoi. Back to the big city bustle. If anything, Hanoi might have been a little busier than Ho Chi Minh City. We spent four days in Hanoi, wandering the streets, visiting museums and historical sites, and generally just having a chill time. Except it wasn’t actually chill. We definitely […]
Cruising through Southern Vietnam (2010)
As many of you know, I am between jobs at the moment (December 2023), having decided to leave teaching behind for the time being. So, with a bunch of time on my hands, I’ve been trying to fill it with some meaningful activity. I’ve been on some nice hikes, I’ve started work on a couple of games, and I’ve decided […]
A wild time in the Galapagos Islands
We didn’t plan to go to the Galapagos. We first chose to go to Ecuador because we were feeling a bit iffy about travel around Peru given the political situation there. Of course, as we were planning our trip, the question kept coming up, “Should we go to the Galapagos Islands?” It’s on so many people’s “bucket list,” but it […]
A Gem in the Southern Highlands
After our exhausting, twisty, multi-leg bus ride down from Latacunga, we finally arrived in Cuenca, a city of 300,000+ people famous for its cathedral and universities. We ended up at Pepe’s House, a small hotel named after its proprietor’s cat, Pepe. In fact, there are usually three cats living there, but it turns out that while we were visiting, there […]
The Breathtaking Mountains of Central Ecuador
After our half-day stop back in Quito, we headed down to the area around Cotopaxi, the second highest volcano in Ecuador. We stayed at the Secret Garden Cotopaxi, an outpost of a popular backpacker hostel in Quito that was located just outside the boundaries of Cotopaxi National Park. The setting was amazing. The Secret Garden is located at the foot […]
Birds, Bailes, and Bad Geography in Northern Ecuador
***Some of the pictures and videos don’t always show up on this post. Usually rebooting the page works. Try that if things are missing.*** Our first trip out from Quito was a week of varied adventures in the northern part of Ecuador. John and Annie Rose joined us for this whole segment of our trip, sharing their bounty of snacks […]