Champaca Journeys

31/10/2024

Street food in Bangkok is everywhere & feast for all senses with flavors & textures & aromas. These 2 ball sausages are everywhere from morning to evening. Isaan sausages made from fermented pork & spices. Fermented food, like kim chee, sauerkraut, kombucha is good for the gut & same claim is made for these. They are ridiculously delicious and cost about 60 cents. Couple of these, some vegetable dumpling & any other the other myriad variety of street food & you have a fantastic meal for just a few dollars.

31/10/2024

January 9-24, 2025 Ethiopia trip. We visit the remote & off the charts beautiful Omo Valley where we’ve become friendly with tribespeople who way of life has not much changed in past 100 years. Meet these remarkable & friendly people & see a part of the planet few others get to see. All in safety, comfort & with delicious Ethiopian food.

https://www.champacajourneys.com/ethiopia-jan-2025

30/10/2024

Kampong Phluk is a village on stilts on Lake Tonle Sap in Cambodia. The seasonally flooded lake means the village is never on dry land, but during & after the wet season it gets very impressive when the forest floods & all transport is by boat. A community eco-project has locals paddle visitors at tree top level (the trees grow to 45 feet tall & are commonly called freshwater mangroves but in fact are mostly Barringtonia acutangula & Diospyros camboniana. It’s an experience that certainly qualifies as surreal, as well as serene & beautiful.

29/10/2024

Bangkok just after sunset.

29/10/2024

Dusk In Bangkok’s Lumpini Park.

29/10/2024

Angkor Wat, day, sunrise & middle of afternoon. Spectacular any time, this is the largest religious structure in the world, & to further stagger your mind, pictured is only Angkor Wat, just one of the very many temples that sprawl across this vast area, making the temples of Angkor the largest city on the planet when London was a mere village. Every time I visit my mind boggles at the beauty, complexity & grandeur of the place and how 1000 years after construction it still is in near pristine condition. Need a place to boggle your mind? Let us take you here!

16/10/2024

China Beach, Danang, Vietnam. Now mostly called by its Vietnamese name, was R&R center for US military during the Vietnam War (which the Vietnamese call the American War). Pretty enough to attract tourists from all over, Danang is like Miami Beach in that it’s all shiny expensive hotels & tons of restaurants & places to spend your money & have some fun.

16/10/2024

Morning on China Beach, Danang, Vietnam. Famously or infamously known as China Beach during the Vietnam War (which is called the American War here), this beautiful long strip of sand & sea is now full of hotels & resorts & tourists from all over the planet come to enjoy.

15/10/2024

Next LAOS trip is December 3-16, 2024. Join us to visit one of the most dramatically beautiful and friendly countries in Asia. Great food, amazing scenery, luxury hotels and unforgettable experiences. Message for more information.

14/10/2024

The overwhelmingly yellow color of Hoi An, Vietnam is bcoz the color is thought to be good luck by Vietnamese. It certainly makes for beautiful city, these old buildings with their yellow patina of age.

14/10/2024

Nith is the star of Cambodian actors & we met her filming movie at the remote Koh Ker Temples a couple hours from Siem Reap. Her entire crew stopped to welcome us & all posed for pictures. Of course we were star struck. My friend Sopheara poses with her in one picture. He was recruited to act & model when he was 17 (this what happened to the criminally handsome) but remained at home with his family. My great good fortune as he’s become good friend & one of the best guides in Cambodia. Cambodia certainly agrees with me!

13/10/2024

While all the temples of Angkor in Cambodia are remarkable, I’m most intrigued by Koh Ker which is remote & far from all the other temples. Koh Ker was built by King Jayarvarman IV in the 10th century & was briefly the capital of the entire Angkor Empire. Its stepped pyramid form is unique. It’s remoteness part of the appeal for me, and the surrounding forest only adds to its appeal. All of Angkor is fabulous. My advice: go! And be sure to visit the lesser known temples.

13/10/2024

Bayon Temple, one of the many temples of Angkor in Cambodia dates from the 13th century. Visiting its grandeur again I was stuck by the poise of this young girl whose mother was having photos of mother & daughter taken. The young girl motioned for me to take her picture, mother nodded it was ok. Here’s the young beauty.

13/10/2024

Yellow seems to be predominant color in Hoi An.

13/10/2024

Street scene.

12/10/2024

Streets of Hoi An, Vietnam illuminated by these many paper lanterns.

12/10/2024

Streets of Hoi An, Vietnam.

12/10/2024

Many moons ago I spent month in Madagascar. It was a magical month with so many memorable experiences. I met lemurs of many species & many interesting people & spent New Years Eve with group of Italians who found enough booze to party all night long.

12/10/2024

We have few spaces still available on our January 9-24, 2025 ETHIOPIA trip. This adventure will visit the highlights of our favorite African nation.

Ethiopia fascinates us, a heady mixture of ancient and modern cultures and sights. Many of the ancient sites have been continuously occupied since their construction lending a timelessness to the country. The rock hewn churches of Lalibela, carved out underground from single solid piece of stone are...

10/10/2024

Plastic bottles repurposed as ornaments, Hoi An, Vietnam.

10/10/2024

Four university students approached me in Hoi An, Vietnam this afternoon. “We’re doing class project and asking visitors about their Vietnam experience, can we interview you?”
Of course & then they had series of intelligent questions. I think I passed & they were totally delightful.

10/10/2024

Hoi An, Vietnam. Aside from the fact that pretty much every business establishment is tailor where they can tailor your clothes for not much money, it’s very pretty & atmospheric city.

10/10/2024

Hoi An, Vietnam which I visited 12 years ago still retains its charm despite the huge numbers of visitors. Hoi A the place for tailor made clothes, though I’m here to soak up the vibe, eat the food & do bit of recce for possible upcoming trips.

08/10/2024

Durian is fruit that people either love or hate. I’m in the love camp. It’s has yellow creamy custard like texture. And tastes fantastic. And smells horrible. People say it’s like eating ambrosia while sitting in a cesspool. Really think this is going too far. The smell is off putting until you taste how delicious it is. But its smell does prohibit it in hotels, public transportation & airlines in Asia. Just one more reason to visit southeast Asia.

08/10/2024

One way to see Penang, Malaysia is from a pedal car. I’m exploring on foot. It’s all so compact & atmospheric.