This log is current to April 7, 2004

Beginning January 23, 2004 at Angkor Wat in Cambodia...

Of all the places we’ve been and things we’ve done over the more than 184,000 miles and four years of this expedition, no destination has been more dramatic or inspirational than Angkor Wat. It is jaw-droppingly amazing. No matter the difficulty and expense of getting there, no mission of world exploration -- whether you are on a vacation or a long-term adventure like ours -- should even consider skipping Angkor. It’s that stunning.

This photo was taken in an Angkor temple built more than 1,000 years ago, and not restored. The Rt Honorable M. McDonald once wrote:

“The temple is held in a stronghold of trees. Stone and wood clasp each other in grim hostility; yet all is silent and still, without any visible movement to indicate their struggle -- as if they were wrestlers suddenly petrified, struck motionless in the middle of a fight. The rounds of this battle are not measured by minutes, but by centuries.”

It will take a few days to organize and post dozens of similar photos from both Laos and Cambodia, to describe our recent travels in these logs -- and to create new log accounts, Q&A entries and essays. You’ll find that our photos from Angkor are among the very best we’ve taken in all our travels.

Getting to Seam Reap, Cambodia from Thailand, the town nearest the huge Angkor Wat complex, is not easy. Flying there from Bangkok is ridiculously expensive. Many people do fly because the road from the Thai border to Angkor is, well, wretched in the extreme. In fact, it’s hideous. Many people believe Bangkok Airways, the only airline flying between Bangkok and Seam Reap, pays off Cambodian authorities to forestall road repair. We hired a car a driver, who drove at insane speeds the entire 100 mile journey, ripping the exhaust system loose from the car. The entire trip was a barely controlled crash, and a torture test for the poor Toyota Camry.

By the way, the Cambodian town at the border, Poipet, is a real hellhole and one is best advised to get the hell out of there fast..Some people think of it as the worst city in all of Asia. We didn’t have problems, but we were very well prepared.

But once in Seam Reap, it’s all worth all the expense, discomfort and danger getting there. Sunrise at Angkor is something never to be forgotten. Even if you can fully appreciate what it took to construct this monstrous and stunning temple more than 1,000 years ago, the fact there are another 70 huge complexes and hundreds of individual temples spread across an area of 200 square kilometers is all the more boggling.

The best way to see the temples near Seam Reap is to hire a tuk tuk and driver ($10 dawn to dusk). He’ll drop you off at a temple and wait until you’re ready to motor to the next. That’s a good idea because the temples are spread of such a large area -- even on the “inner” drive. It’s no longer possible to rent a self-drive motorbike here. They say that’s because of accidents. We got the impression that self-drive motorbikes were taking too much business from the tuk tuk drivers, who support entire families.

We have just posted scores of Angkor Wat photos.

CLICK HERE for our new Cambodia photo galleries.

CLICK HERE to go to our new Laos photo galleries.

We’ve been asked about the horrible road from the Cambodia/Thailand border to Seam Reap, near Angkor Wat. Find the answer in our new Q&A entry.

We have just received updated news from Burma. The Burmese Army offensive against minority villagers continues, with horrifying results. People have risked their lives to collect this information.

In our more than four years of contionuous travel, we have taken more than 12,000 photos, and have saved abouty 8,000. Now, WE HAVE FINALLY COMPLETED OUR FAVORITE PHOTOS GALLERIES containing 140 of the best photos we’ve taken.

CLICK HERE for our new Favorite Photos Galleries.

Meanwhile, our country-by-country, state-by-state galleries contain 749 photos.

CLICK HERE for our these galleries.

March 9, 2004 in Arizona

Because of a grave medical crisis involving Don’s parents, we flew on an emergency basis from Bangkok, Thailand to the USA, and are now in Yuma, Arizona. We have no idea how long we’ll be here, but in our spare time we’re beginning to plan a trip back to Asia to include places dropped in the wake of this emergency (southern and far western China, Tibet and northern Vietnam).

Meanwhile, we’ll continue to tweak this site, drawing from our vast database of photos taken in our first 1,550 days of travel.

March 31, 2004....news from Burma
We have just received a new report on the chaos and trauma in Burma. It was produced at considerable danger to those conducting clandestine missions into the jungles of Burma.

April 7, 2004 in Yuma, Arizona
Good news for Don: he’ll have been married to Becky for NINE years as of tomorrow!

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