1 day before I take on S.E. Asia

The excitement is building as my departure date of Novermber 28th quickly approaches.  I will be visiting 5 S.E. Asian countires in as many weeks and I am so excited, I just can’t hide it.  My flight is scheduled to depart Newark’s Liberty airport at 9:25 pm on November 28th and I am scheduled to arrive in KL (Kuala Lumpur), Malaysia on my birthday, November 30th at 6:00 am local time.  Just so you know, that is about 21 hours of travel time.  I have a brief 1.5 hour layover in London, then I will be off to KL.  I will be in KL for just one night before heading to Phuket, Thailand.  Phuket is located about 840 km or 500 miles from Thailand’s bustling capital city of Bangkok.  Phuket reportedly has some of the most beautiful topography in the world.  Magnifiscent limestone formation can be seen jutting from the water in many places around island.  These limestone formations are the product of India slamming into Asia about 50 million years ago when the tectonic plates beneath its surface shifted.  I will be in Phuket for several days before flying to Bangkok on Air Asia (www.airasia.com), where I know I will have a wonderful time.  I have been chatting with some locals with whom I plan to hang once I arrive.  I will be in Bangkok for a week before heading to Cambodia by train for about $1.50 as opposed to the $200.00 airfare on Bangkok Airways.  (http://www.seat61.com/Thailand.htm).  Getting from the border of Thailand to the town of Siem Reap, Cambodia is bound to be an adventure, but I am certainly up to the challenge.  Once in Siem Reap, visiting Angkor Wat is on the very top of my top of my to do list.  Angkor Wat is a temple complex in Angkor, Cambodia built in the early 12th century.  After spending several days in Siem Reap, I will bus it to Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital city where I will check out the sites before heading to Sai Gon, officially known as Hồ Chí Minh City, Vietnam.  With a population of  7,123,340 (as of Census 2009 on April 1, 2009), Hồ Chí Minh City is one of the largest cities in S.E. Asia and one of the largest in the world.  Several people have asked me why I would want to visit Vietnam and I always answer the same way, “Why not?  There are people there, there is culture there and the current Viet Nam is not the same Viet Nam that kicked our butts in the Viet Nam war.  By the way, Viet Nam is the correct spelling…While in Viet Nam, I may make my way tot he country’ capital of Hanoi, but I am not quite sure yet.  I will have 7 days there, so I may want a change of pace after a few days.  Perhaps, I will just head tot he country side to hang out with some rice farmers or something.  From Viet Nam I had back to Malaysia for 10 or 12 days (I forgot exactly how long), this time I plan to see more of KL plus some of the islands off the coast as well as taking the bus to Singapore where I will make sure I don’t break any of the local laws.  On January 2, 2010, I head back to New York before heading back to South America and back to Asia (the Middle East in the spring to visit a dear friend who lives in Turkey).

I love to travel.  When I return from S.E. Asia I will have to have more pages added to my passport…it feels good to have so many stamps on this darn thing with 7 years left to go, before its expiration date, even if most of the stamps are from one country (Brazil).

My plan is to use this blog as my travel blog from this point forward and I will try to update it several times per week while I am traveling, as time permits.  There will be pictures and videos as well as reviews of shows and local cuisine.  I will try not to post any nude pictures of myself, but most of you who know me know that I like to get nekked on the beach (Haulover clothing optional Beach, Miami…I miss you)…lol.

Que Dios me bendiga!

Hasta la próxima vez mi gente bonita,

A1globetrotter