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Travel Blog: Our Journeys Within

Rocket Festival, a fun and meaningful Thai tradition

Posted by April on (Updated: )  |  Leave a comment

The rocket festival is a uniquely-Thai celebration. It takes place annually over 2 days in May in a region called Yasothon in Isaan – the northeast of Thailand. This is an ancient tradition where rockets are fired into the sky as offerings to the gods in hope that there will be plenty of rain during the coming rice planting season. Nowadays, there is also a competition between neighboring villages as to who can build the rocket that stays in the air the longest and the festival is also associated with a lot of fun!

The rockets are fired into the sky from a wooden structure that acts as a launch pad. The rockets themselves are huge – it takes 5 or 6 men to carry one and secure it. The thrill and excitement you feel watching… Read more »

Guide Training, Bangkok 2008

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Guide Training! Bangkok 2008

This review is not perfect,  because there is no way I can describe how much I enjoyed this year’s guide training! The only way it would be better is if next year we could all travel to Cambodia or somewhere else (hint hint !!)

How lucky I amto be able to work independently here in Bangkok! I wish Andrea could come visit more often (how many people say they want there boss to visit more? – no one else – just me!)

I had a chance to talk to each of our guides and here is what they had to say when I asked them to attend guide training:

Guide Kie says : Training again? I will come for training, but can I please skip the dinner cruise? That way I don’t feel like I’m working 😉 I always try to give … Read more »

My own "First Time Asia" tour

Posted by April on (Updated: )  |  1 Comment

May 5th I started my very first journey to Southeast Asia. Although I had an itinerary in hand and what I thought was an extensive knowledge of the land, there was no amount of books or movies that could have prepared me for the beauty of this part of the world. The people’s warm attitudes and kind smiles are the only thing that could over out shine the surrounding scenery. I have completely and utterly fallen in love with Southeast Asia. I could go on and on and on about each and every incredibly amazing detail, but I don’t think the space in this blog would allow for it. Below is a highlight from each city my family and I toured.

Bangkok, Thailand- The phone rings. I look at the clock 06:00 – is it morning… Read more »

Village life

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One of Siem Reap’s many squatters’ villages is a short walk from the Journeys Within B&B. JWOC built its first wells there and I went to check it out with Brandon and some volunteer students from Loyola Marymount University. Brandon wants to get a business started that the JWOC scholarship students can run themselves, so we went into the village to research business ideas and assess the need for different services.

There are places blocked off where potential roads will go if they’re ever built, but for now the village is connected by a sequence of dusty tan trails. Some structures are built with corrugated metal or wood and seem relatively sound, while others are thatched with palm leaves… Read more »

A Bumpy Start

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Our Vietnam guide training got off to a bumpy start this year. As Brandon pointed out, the positive side was we got to check out the response to an accident at the Siem Reap airport and we got to try out the SOS clinic in Hanoi, the negative side was why we got to try these out.

We arrived at the Siem Reap airport nice and early for our big trip. We loaded up the luggage carts and I checked us in while Narla and Brandon got ice cream with the kids. As I was paying the departure tax Callie came running up, singing her “we’re going to Vietnam” song. She grabbed the back of our luggage cart and swung. With all the luggage now out of it and only hand luggage on the top basket it was top heavy and crashed down on top of her.… Read more »