ChrisJenTravel.com – Honeymoon Trek

It’s going to be hard to be honest about Bali and still be nice. Having left now I can say we had a great experience but it was nothing close to what we expected. We just didn’t do our homework on this one. Bali is at once beautiful and horrible, overcrowded but sadly empty, pristine and trashed. As one British Expatriate told us, Bali now is nothing but a name. We, as many others, were drawn there by the name and the images it conjures. But the reality is that Bali is simply worn out by over 30 years of adapting to a tourist boom. [read on]

We walked about Bangkok, exploring the sights, sounds and flavors, still trying to recover from jet lag. The Royal Palace temples were a mile away and we thought that it would be an easy sight to see. However, as we entered the grounds, tour guides flocked towards us telling us that we would not be allowed in due to our inappropriate attire. I wore a 3&1/2 length sleeved shirt (down to my elbows) and cotton shorts that passed my knee (which was not acceptable) and Chris wore long shorts. In order to enter, I would need a skirt or pants; Chris would need pants. Understandably, we hailed a taxi and headed to Siam Square, a shopping district that we wanted to stroll through. The traffic was overwhelming – 30 lanes of traffic converged to one intersection. Lanes of traffic are a concept in Thailand. Most don’t adhere to the lanes; instead, the millions of scooters, motorbikes and tuk-tuks weave in and out of traffic and create their own lanes. Relaxed and happy to not be driving, we waited for our stop at Siam Square.

Siam Square is a large, expensive shopping square made of 24 streets. Disappointed that it wasn’t more of a simple market, we began to talk to some locals about the area. There are plenty of people who are overly nice simply because they want to steer you in a specific direction for a personal gain. Small-time scams abound here, [read on]

After waking at an excruciating 3:30am, we quietly crept out of the room, the North Shore and Hawaii. Our stomachs churned like rough waters, uncertain if it was due to waking up early or our nerves; today we were leaving ... [Continue reading this entry]

Jenny: We drove around Todos Santos - sort of an artsy town - for a while, looking for hotels and inquiring about their rates.  When we do this, we always end up finding the best places.  We knocked ... [Continue reading this entry]