Pre Tour (Nicky) Well after waffling around for a while, we finally decided if we were going to go to Asia we needed to firm up on our plans….so 10 days before we were leaving we finally booked our trip. We had hoped to go through Vietnam, however, if seemed as if it was going to be impossible to get a visa, so we opted for Cambodia and Laos – the only tour in fact through Gap Travels, which still had space available. We didn’t book the Chinese leg of the trip as we had to get a Chinese visa and weren’t sure this could be accomplished at short notice. So, we went to Vancouver, hit the Chinese visa office and discovered that because we were “out of towners” we were given preferential treatment –much to the consternation of the other people who had been waiting there for 2 or 3 hours!! When you went in you had to take a number – then someone who had a spare number, handed us a lower number – so then people were really furious!! So we ended up spending thirty minutes in the visa office and getting our visa the same day. So… it looked as though we were all set … arrangements had been made for horse and dog sitting -Cooper was going to be looked after by our neighbor – as he’s nearly 14 we felt he needed to be in his own environment….however…… the week before we left his arthritis flared up – he lay on his bed refusing to eat, unable to get up, collapsing when he did… it looked like we needed to make some tough decisions. : (Wally had some pain medication so we started giving that to him as the vets office was closed for the weekend….it was absolutely amazing – by Mon night he was bounding across the yard to greet me, playing with Wally and Angus…so on the Monday I went to the vets to see what we could do to mange his arthritis. Cooper is now happily livin’ the high life at the Bark ‘n’ Fly, the 5 star dog kennel, with a free upgrade to first class in view of his elderly status and recent ill health!! Heated floor, play area, dog treats ... need I say more!! Great to be able to go away and know all the pooches are being very well cared for! Day 1 - Kelowna to Bangkok (actually two days because of the international date line) (Colin) We’re off on this adventure that was only conceived at the last minute and hastily arranged, in true Adam style. The flights were quite intensive going from Kelowna - Vancouver-Beijing-Bangkok in one operation. 26 hours door to door. Interestingly, while moving through Vcr airport, I bumped into (almost literally) a colleague who was actually on the same conference call as me at the time. The Air China flight from Vcr – Beijing was pretty tough as the seats weren’t at all comfortable – not built for our western physique perhaps? I tried out some interesting yoga type moves to try to get comfortable, but they didn’t work! (and they annoyed Nicky!!). It was cool calling Cameron from Beijing airport to chat as we’re passing through. We’re very excited about the plans Cameron is busy making for our return leg where we’ll spend time with him in Dalian and NE China. It is really nice to be back n Bangkok. Many of the early impressions bring back fond memories of our last visit with the Haworths & Billys – such as the over loaded mopeds, tuktuks, Sihnga beer, happy local people, unusual chips at the 7-11 – all of which was soaked in at 2:00 am local time when we arrived. Better sign off for tonight, as I’m technically infringing into Day 2, which is Nicky’s. Day 2 - Bangkok (Nicky) Well… back to last night….Colin was really busy before we left , and didn’t have too much time to read through the information…I didn’t clue into how significant this was until we got to Bangkok and he was telling our taxi driver that we were travelling to Chang Mai (Northern Thailand) … well darlin’, do I have a surprise for you...we’re actually going to Cambodia!!! To be continued…. Photo’s to follow when we know how… Day 3 - Bangkok - Seim Reap, Cambodia (Colin) Today we were up at 5:30 am and off at 6:30 am with the 8 others on our tour plus our guide enroute to Seim Reap in Cambodia. All a very nice group including people from Australia, England, Ireland, and some from BC (Ft St John & Penticton). A fairly long day when all of the various border protocols are taken into account - many forms, photos, security guards etc. The border it's self is quite odd with massive amounts of goods being transported by hand carts. The countryside is quite rural with lots and lots of rice fields that are between crops at present. At the border, our guide appeared with grass hoppers - dried and ready to eat! After some deliberations we both decided to give it a go. More mind over matter as it turns out - fairly dry with no objectionable taste. Here's Nicky snapping hers up. Our hotel in SR is very nice, with a swimming pool right outside our window - very welcome in the 34C heat. In the late afternoon we went for a tuktuk tour of the city which was great fun