My drive from Chiang Rai south was thankfully, uneventful. There were reports of flooding on part of my route through Phayao so I considered briefly taking the long way through Chiang Mai. Good thing I looked at the radar online though before leaving because Chiang Mai was getting pounded. I took my chances with my original plans and made it to Sukhothai with no problems. On the news were lots of pictures of Chiang Mai flooded with water and mud….
The flooding danger seems to have gone away for now in the two stops I decided to skip. So, I’m going to attempt them now, starting in Chiang Saen. Chiang Saen never did flood, but it is one of the villages that they were most worried about since it’s located right on the bank of the Mekong River. And just as a precaution I decided not to sleep there and instead stay in Chiang Rai about an hour away. It’s…
Greetings and welcome to Thailand! After having my visa rejected over a typo about six months ago, I finally got everything straightened out and NOW, I can enjoy another Holy Crap Adventure in this beautiful part of the world. Thankfully, my journey here went super smooth. But I also arrived super late, so I just stumbled into my hotel and crashed for the night. After a good night’s sleep I’m ready to start exploring my first stop, Chiang Mai, in…
It was a very long drive from Anton Valley west to Boquete, almost six hours. I was more than ready to get out of that car when I arrived. While Anton Valley was seemingly abandoned in its idealic setting in the mountains, Boquete, on the other hand is packed with people and all the traffic that goes with it. Not that’s its not a pleasant town, just a busy place. My hostel is pretty unique. They have the typical hotel…
From Uvita in Costa Rica I had a couple of big travel days. First, a long drive back to San Jose to turn in my rental car and to spend one night. The next morning I was on a plane to Panama City, then a quick Uber downtown where I rented another car and then braved the Panama City traffic west for about eighty miles until I reached Anton Valley high up in the mountains. It was a busy couple…
I left the beautiful mountains of Costa Rica down some really stunning and curvy mountain roads until I hit the Pacific coast and then made a hard left to the south. Before I reach my destination, though, let’s make a quick stop at the Crocodile Bridge. It’s a section of Highway 34 over the Río Tarcoles. My guide at the animal sanctuary, which I’ll visit later, said after the fact that the crocs hang out here because the locals used…
My “easy” travel day from Granada to Isla Ometepe turned out to be quite the adventure. I found the bus easy enough, but since they don’t leave until full, I ended up waiting for an hour and a half. And by full, I mean we were stuffed in there like sardines. By now I’m already pretty sweaty and gross. The bus only goes to Rivas, so next I had to find a taxi to the San Jorge boat dock. I…
My flight from San Salvador to Managua, the capitol of Nicaragua, was quick and easy. And the driver of the shuttle I booked was waiting for me to whisk me away to my next official stop in Granada. The first thing I notice about Granada is how insanely hot and humid it is. This has to be in the top three hottest and most humid places I’ve ever been on earth. I don’t know if I can do this. I…
I left El Salvadors Ruta de las Flores via a chicken bus to the bustling town of Sonsonate where I grabbed a quick snack and then hopped on another bus to the nations capitol, San Salvador. I’m only spending one full day here, so this will be a quick post, but I thought the capitol was worth exploring a bit. I started at the National Museum of Anthropology, right around the corner from my hotel. They had a pretty impressive…
I’m learning that getting around Central America is pretty darn easy. There are lots of cheap shuttle options that usually pick you up right at your hotel, and when there’s not, there’s an easy bus going right where you want. Just two blocks from my hotel in Guatemala city was where the bus left for my next destination, Santa Ana in El Salvador, and the next country on my list. The border crossing was easy and quick, and in just…