Email: Merry Christmas from the Red Centre
We are now in the dead center of the country – Alice Springs. It’s been in the 90’s and 100’s degrees F for the last week. And because of wet weather to the north, it’s a bit humid as well.
We are now in the dead center of the country – Alice Springs. It’s been in the 90’s and 100’s degrees F for the last week. And because of wet weather to the north, it’s a bit humid as well.
After leaving Australia, we stopped in Brunei for 36 hours before continuing to Bangkok. This country, on the island of Borneo, is one of the wealthiest in the world.
We just arrived in the sultanate of Negara Brunei Darussalam (which translated means the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace). Brunei is a quirky place located 1,800 miles northeast of Darwin, Australia on the island of Borneo.
We are currently on an all-night train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. This is the sixth night we will spend on a train during our journey.
We are currently flying from Ko Sumui to Bangkok. The Ko Sumui archipelago is located in Southern Thailand. We spent three days on Ko Pha-Ngan mostly eating, sleeping, swimming and reflecting on our trip.
We took a 12 hour all night train from Bangkok to Surat Thani, on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand. From there, we boarded a ferry for a five hour trip to Ko Pha Ngan.
Our first extended bullet train ride to Hiroshima was a great event. Once there, we spent time exploring the beauty of Miyajima Island and also visiting the important and sobering sights associated with the atomic bombing at the end of World War II.
Nearly everyone has heard of Japan’s famous bullet train. Our first experience was not actually riding one. Instead our first experience was in a train station. We were waiting for our train to come when, whoosh, one flew by at full speed.
China is a unique destination and we spent three weeks exploring this country. Our goal was to go from Beijing to Hong Kong, relying primarily on trains.
Our last stop was Hong Kong, which we reached after an all-night bus trip from Yangshao to Guangzhao (Canton) and a hovercraft voyage down the Pearl River from there. We spent a day and a half in the area before flying back to Los Angeles.
