July 14, 2006 – The Pre-Adventure Adventure
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  Today is the beginning of our last weekend in BC and we get to spend it with close friends in a place we love – the Asulkan Cabin in Glacier National Park (Roger’s Pass). We’ve got 13 people staying … Read More

Aug 2, 2006 – Arrival in Narita (Tokyo), Japan
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  Our arrival in Narita was an exciting event with Mary`s friends waiting for us. We were all pretty tired though after the 12 hour flight. Chasing the sun, the day that never ends and changing night into day and … Read More

Aug 10, 2006 – Kyoto
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  We made it to Kyoto on Tuesday night and were once again welcomed by one of the student`s from Funari: Toshi. We visited with him that evening in the Riokan we stayed at and he provided us with a … Read More

Aug 11, 2006 – Matsudo High School
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  After the sweltering heat of Kyoto ,we packed our bags and hopped on the Shinkasen to make our way back to Matsudo City. We all love the train because, it is COOL and SPACIOUS and quiet and you can … Read More

Aug 14, 2006 – Mount Fuji
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  Saturday Morning and it is pouring rain and thundering and lightening in Matsudo City! Hmmm, what to do? We woke up to absolutely miserable weather, but true to our Canadian nature, this did not deter the one chance that … Read More

Aug 14, 2006 – Back at Matsudo
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Sorry, no time to enter text right now – hopefully later. (Later never came)

Aug 15, 2006 – Thailand – Chiang Rai
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This morning we’re on our way to Chiang Rai where we’ll be helping out on a farm, visiting local schools and helping local children with their English. More to come later. (again… later just never came)

Aug 15, 2006 – The Farm
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We stayed at Mr. Tanaguchi’s farm for our first few days in Thailand. It is a 20 hectare educational farm that grows a variety of crops but mostly rice. It also has some livestock and fruit trees. There are groups … Read More

Aug 18, 2006 – The Dormitory
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This dorm was in much better condition than the one we visited on Wednesday night, mostly due to the support from Japan and the attention it receives from Mr. E and his students. Their fundraising allowed a new building to … Read More

Aug 20, 2006 – Chiang Mai
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  Chaing Mai is a very touristy spot with countless options for trekking, eating and sleeping. After saying goodbye to Mr. E and friends, we set off to find a different (cheaper) accommodation. We found the waterwell guest house on … Read More

Aug 27, 2006 – Hanging out in Chiang Mai
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  We spent a week in Chiang Mai, sightseeing and regrouping from Mr. E’s whirlwind tour. We found a comfortable guesthouse for about $13.50 a night situated just outside the east moat. Chiang Mai is a great city with lots … Read More

Aug 28, 2006 – Pai, Thailand
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  Pai is a small town a couple of valleys over from Chiang Mai and true to the Lonely Planet’s description it is a beatnik , hippie like kind of town , which many mid 20 year old tourist being … Read More

Sep 1, 2006 – Nam Rin
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  Nam Rin is a little hilltribe village about an hour south of Pai. We heard about a place there called the Lisu Lodge, run by a German\Lisu couple. It was a great spot tucked up against the hill on … Read More

Sep 7, 2006 – Nong Khai
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  We made it to Nong Khai on the Thai \ Laos border but are paying to price now. We left Pai at 9:00 Tuesday morning for Chiang Mai. Then took a brutal overnight bus to Udon Thani. They have … Read More

Sep 10, 2006 – Torin’s funny pics
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  These are a collection of pics that we found humorous – hope you enjoy

Sep 10, 2006 – The Sequence of Torin
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  Hello everybody, this is me with my new looks ya!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! by the way this is Torin.

Sep 19, 2006 – Vientiane
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  It’s always an interesting experience getting into a new town… You arrive by either bus or tuk-tuk and consistantly get dropped off somewhere where you don’t expect. The first task is to orientate oneself while fending off the tuk-tuk … Read More

Sep 21, 2006 – Vang Vieng
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  Vang Vieng is an interesting town catering solely to the tourist market. It is truly unfortunate that western tourists have driven the need for restaurants in this town to show continuous episodes of “Friends” or “The Simpson’s” on several … Read More

Sep 25, 2006 – Luang Prabang
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  Luang Prabang – What a Beautiful Place!! Sabaidee!(Hello in Laos) Upon our arrival in Luang Prabang we were greeted by many guest house owners trying to promote their places and trying to entice us to come with them to … Read More

Oct 3, 2006 – Stalled… in Luang Prabang
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  The night before we had planned to leave Luang Prabang for Oudomxay we met Anousack. We were back at our guest house for our “end of the day” shower (yes, we’re still in a climate that necessitates showering twice … Read More

Oct 19, 2006 – Luang Prabang —–> Hanoi
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Goodbye Luang Prabang….. Good Morning Vietnam! The plan was a good one. We had done the research. We had our Vietnam visas. We knew we could make it to Hanoi via the northern route and we knew how to do … Read More

Oct 21, 2006 – Ha Long Bay
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It was one of our first tours in Southeast Asia and we were a bit nervous seeing that weren’t big toury kind people. The one thing was that we were all anxious to get out of Hanoi and the noise … Read More

Oct 25, 2006 – Sapa
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Oh, Beautiful Mountainous Sapa!! After the beauty of Halong Bay, with dread we made our way back to the city of Hanoi. Back at our guesthouse, we found out that if we wanted we could catch a 9:30pm overnight train … Read More

Nov 3, 2006 – The Coast – Hoi An
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We made it to Cua Dai beach near Hoi An in central Vietnam. We took the day train down from Sapa to Hanoi where we spent the night. We then went through a tough discussion on whether to take the … Read More

Nov 5, 2006 – Our Christmas Wish!
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A Wish for the Up and Coming Christmas Season! It’s hard to believe, but it is November already and though we’re still basking in the heat and sunshine, our thoughts are turning towards Christmas and the uniqueness of our current … Read More

Nov 10, 2006 – The Coast – Mui Ne
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We had heard a great deal of the beaches of Mui Ne and the sand dunes around the village. It was thoughts of trying some sand sledding and more playing in the waves that brought us here. There was some … Read More

Nov 14, 2006 – Saigon \ Mekong Delta
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Saigon – it was never on our original itinerary but we found that the best way into Cambodia was from the south. So here we are. It really isn’t much to look at but it has quite a history to … Read More

Nov 17, 2006 – Phnom Penh
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Phnom Penh was a city we wanted to avoid. We hadn’t heard a great deal of good things about it and felt it would be best to avoid it altogether. We were pleasantly surprised. It’s a city of about 1 … Read More

Nov 23, 2006 – Siem Reap \ Angkor Wat
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Off we go to Explore the Temples of Angkor Wat! We took a bus up to Angkor Wat – a 6 hour ride. We’re so used to riding in buses that a 6 hour ride was nothing. This one was … Read More

Nov 29, 2006 – Sihanoukville
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Sihanoukville is a bustling little town on Cambodia’s little coast. It’s a very different atmosphere than either Cua Dai or Mui Ne. Most of the beaches in this area are small and you can walk the full length of the … Read More

Dec 6, 2006 – Ko Chang
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Thailand Here We Come Again! After 5 or 6 glorious days of beach bumming and eating fresh seafood and saying Good Bye to our Australian friends, Jenny and Tom, we decided to depart Cambodia, so that we would have the … Read More

Dec 13, 2006 – Memories of Japan and SE Asia
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5 Months – My How The Time Flies When you Are Having Fun! While we get ready to wrap up our time in SE Asia,(which is hard to believe) we thought we would put together a list of people, places … Read More

Dec 15, 2006 – Merry Christmas \ Happy New Year
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Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to Everyone!!!! It is now December 14th and we are about to leave for Chiang Rai on December 15th. We have plans to visit Myanmar with Po Vi for about a week. He … Read More

Dec 15, 2006 – Bangkok
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Back to the Big City! It was hard to leave the Island of Ko Chang,the ocean and the spectacular scenery, the jungle, the ocean, the sand, the trees, the food, the lazy relaxing days, oh my why did we leave??? … Read More

Dec 16, 2006 – Myanmar
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Myanmaar, Here We Come! We knew that the border crossing into Myanmaar might not be easy and that did indeed turn out to be true. We left Hiyoko Home, early in the morning with Paw Ve and several of his … Read More

Dec 22, 2006 – Christmas in SE Asia
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Merry Christmas!!! It was December 24th and we had completed our Christmas shopping,and Ger Tor and I were waiting in anticipation of Mr. Enomoto’s arrival. It really was a kinda of weird day because Paw Ve, the only person that … Read More

Dec 29, 2006 – Kathmandu
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Namaste Nepal! On a bright sunny chilly morning of December 29th, we jumped in a tuk-tuk and made our way to the Chaing Rai Airport. All of us excited in anticpation of the flight to Nepal but sorry to say … Read More

Jan 21, 2007 – Volunteer Life in Bistachhap
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Life in Bistachap! Oh, it is a very beautiful valley and life is idyllic here. Cows and goats grazing everywhere, rice fields, vegetable gardens, kids playing jungi,(a kind of hackisack) or marbles or soccer. Women washing clothes and themselves at … Read More

Feb 13, 2007 – The Orphanage- Brighter Future Children’s Home
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The Orphanage- Brighter Future Children’s Home! It has been 6 weeks of living , eating, working and becoming involved in the rural community of Bistachaap, in the Katmandu Valley. Last time we explained our daily routine and this time we … Read More

Feb 13, 2007 – The Faces and Daily Life in the Community of Bistachhap
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Nepalese Customs, culture , hinduism, daily life, are needless to say incredibly interesting. Nepal definitely has a way of tugging at your heart. Life is never dull here and you never know what is going to happen! By this I … Read More

Mar 10, 2007 – Annapurnna Circuit (by Torin)
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Day 1- The day before today was the day we were supposed to go but because of the regular strikes in Nepal we had to wait an extra day for the buses to get running again. But we were all … Read More

Mar 27, 2007 – Langtang Valley Trek
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The Langtang trek was a completely different kind of trek for several reasons. First and foremost, Carole was with us which made it that much better, especially as Mary had been whining about spending so much time with just guys … Read More

Mar 29, 2007 – Everest base camp trek
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It was an 8.5 hour bus ride from Kathmandu to Jiri where we had planned to start the trek to Everest Base Camp. Most normal people fly to Lukla and hike from there but for some reason, and I can’t … Read More

Mar 29, 2007 – Mary and Carole’s India Adventure
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Only in India! No wife, no life! No college, no knowledge! No hurry, no worry! (common sayings that you hear men saying); Men, men men and more men; The smell of urine; Cows and cow dung everywhere,(in the middle of … Read More

Apr 25, 2007 – Cairo
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Torin and I arrived late on the 25th in Cairo. Since our hotel failed to pick us up at the airport, we had to make our own way downtown. It wasn’t an altogether easy task given that physically and mentally, … Read More

May 3, 2007 – Alexandria
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Alexandria is about 2.5 hours north west of Cairo on the Mediterranean Sea. The part we frequented was quite beautiful and the air was salty and fresh as long as their was a breeze coming off the sea. It’s a … Read More

May 7, 2007 – Siwa Oasis (via Marsa Matruh)
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Siwa Oasis, have you ever heard of it? Well, we hadn’t. When Tor was scouring the Egypt guide book, he had highlighted this particular spot as a MUST to see. And right he was! But before I tell you about … Read More

May 22, 2007 – Luxor
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Our travels took us from Siwa to Luxor via Alexandria. It was difficult leaving Siwa because we had grown fond of several local people and the setting. However, we’ve also grown to love Alex -the location is superb, the people … Read More

May 25, 2007 – Dahab
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Luxor to Dahab!!! Yes, believe it or not despite the news that we had read when we first visited Egypt about suicide bombings in Dahab and surrounding area over the last 3years we decided to venture into this area seeking … Read More

Jun 1, 2007 – Cairo (Pyramids & Museum)
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Cairo is the staging point for visiting a couple of the highlights in Egyptian history. There are of course more than a couple but by the time we got back there, our energy level was such that only 2 of … Read More

Jun 6, 2007 – Egypt Travels – by Torin
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Before arriving in Egypt, I really didn’t know what to expect. People had told us that when we get out of the airport and taxi drivers would be hassling us and grabbing at our stuff so when we arrived we … Read More

Jun 7, 2007 – Tripoli
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……I can remember the nights by the sea in Tripoli, we were so much younger than, I’m white hot……………( can you guess who sings the song with this line in it, we listened it to a lot during our short … Read More

Jun 10, 2007 – Sousse, Tunisia
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Tunisia, yes that’s right, this teenie little country is located in the very very north part of Africa. Its hard to believe that we are actually ending off our travel in the country that we had in our planning stages … Read More

Jun 19, 2007 – Tabarka
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When we chose Tunisia as the place we would end the international part of our trip, we really didn’t know where we would end up. Torin did a significant amount of research into the best places to be. After our … Read More

Jul 10, 2007 – Tunis (including Ger’s summary)
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We wrapped up the international portion of our adventure in Tunis. We had 2 full days there and spent most of that time shopping in the medina. We still weren’t interested in doing any of the touristy stuff and wanted … Read More

Jul 13, 2007 – Waterloo
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Friday, July 13 was a long day of flying – Tunis to Cassablanca to Montreal to Toronto. 4 airports and 11 hours in the air and we were back where we started from almost a year earlier. It was very … Read More

July 17, 2006 – To Southern Ontario
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  We left BC on July 17 and traveled to Southern Ontario to visit family for two weeks. The first week was spent with the Regier side of the family in Waterloo. We had a great time together and even … Read More

Jul 19, 2007 – The Cottage
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Saturday, July 18 we headed for Mary’s family cottage on the shores of Georgian Bay. Like Point Farms, this too was an area where one can focus on the family without the distractions of daily life. We spent a considerable … Read More