blood’s a rover

Just a note to let everyone know that after an arduous 20 hour journey we have found ourselves just outside the gates of Angkor Wat. Tomorrow we’ll take a rest day and then explore the ruins until the middle of the week.

Tonight we are taking a train back to Bangkok from the NW where we’ve been all this week, and then east over to Aranyaprathet for the crossing into Cambodia.

The last 10+ days in Thailand have been incredible. So incredible that we’ve been to busy or tired to write or post about it. Internet access isn’t very good here, and will probably be worse in Cambodia, so pictures are going to have to wait to.

A brief synopsis of the last two weeks:

• We spent a little time in Bangkok, got Traditional Thai Massages and saw about 20 Buddhas.
• We traveled North to Chiang Mai, a great town with good food and great markets.
• We took a Thai cooking class.
• We fed and bathed elephants at the Elephant Nature Park
• We spent a few days in Pai, a tiny hippie town where we rented a moped to explore the surrounding hills. We had dinner in a Muslim-Chinese village outside of town, and drove home under a densely star-filled sky.
• We spent a few days in Mae Hong Son, rented another moped and met Mati, a Karen Tribeswoman with 25 brass rings around her neck who spoke 5 languages (that she’d picked up from tourists), chewed betelnut and had a great sense of humor.
• We visited Sukhothai, the 12th century ruins of a city with amazing wats, one that had 24 elephants carved around the base, really cool.

And in a few days we’ll be in Ankor Wat, possibly the thing I was most excited about seeing on the whole trip. After that we’ll be in Vietnam, then back through Cambodia to Thailand for the beach and snorkeling part of the trip.

We’ll post when we can, and we hope everyone is well.

The sunburned country of Australia is still 30,000 feet below us, but soon we’ll be over the Indian Ocean, then the Java Sea and the Gulf of Thailand, finally setting foot in the land of smiles and semi-annual military coups.

***

We loved Australia. Though less varied in landscape than New Zealand, the greater chance of being bitten by something poisonous (or at least exotic) made our time there more exciting, and the parched brown and red hillsides everywhere looked like something out of a John Ford western, quite beautiful in their own way.

The wine was, on the whole, excellent. It’s a shame that most Americans are only familiar with mass produced swill like Yellow Tail, Jacob’s Creek and Rosemont Estate, because it is not at all representative of what Australia is capable of. We are leaving the country with a long, long list of wines we plan on finding and cellaring when we return home.

The beer was mostly terrible. For a nation that prides itself on its beer consumption, this was really surprising. Several boutique breweries do exist here, but they seem to be waging an uphill battle against popular tastes as well as straight economics. The best beer in Australia is made by Little Creatures Brewing over in Perth, but a six-pack of their delicious Pale Ale costs $20. With a case of god-awful Victoria Bitter costing about the same, most Australians will choose quantity over quality. So our nostalgia for the days when we could have a decent beer any time we wanted remains perfectly intact, and since our next stop is Southeast Asia, it will probably stay that way.

The wildlife was incredible. Where else can you find almost every kind of marsupial, two monotremes, endless parrots, giant birds and bats and spiders, and the most poisonous snake on earth all in one place? The phrase “Australian Wildlife Refuge” always strikes me as sort of redundant. It seems like Australia, being an island, is its own wildlife refuge. Kangaroos certainly aren’t in danger of extinction, despite the semi-truck drivers best efforts.

The people were… people. We met good ones, bad ones, great ones. Mostly good. Australians are generally very easy going and genuinely interested in the rest of the world. Geographical isolation has created a distinct and proud culture, but one that encourages travel and exploration. We met several world travelers in Australia, many of whom have seen more of the United States than some of our own families. Travel is a great common bond- it’s always cool to meet people who had explored our home turf just as we were now exploring theirs.

***

We arrived at the Melbourne Airport on Monday, January 15th and checked in for our flight to Bangkok. After passing through customs we made our final contribution to the Australian economy, purchasing a big bottle of Stoli vodka (for $15!) from the duty free shop. I convinced Brianne that this was an essential purchase with two magic words: Lychee martini. We were ready for Thailand.

The Clare Valley is a beautiful area located about an hour and a half north of Adelaide known for producing fine German wines varieties, especially their Rieslings.

We didn’t want to miss it, but after four days of driving all over creation our arms were sunburned, our palates were fatigued, and (it had to happen sooner or later) we were quickly tiring of tasting wine.

The morning had started out well. After visiting Elderton for a private tour with Allister Ashmead and visiting Henschke’s tasting room in the Eden Valley we drove up to the Clare (we got pretty lost along the way and it took us twice as long as expected) to meet with Richard Crabtree of Crabtree Wines. There toured his winery and very much enjoyed Crabtree’s range of wines.

But every stop after that seemed less and less impressive, and I’m pretty sure it had more to do with us than them. By early afternoon we found ourselves at Sevenhill, a Jesuit-run winery that produces sacramental red wine in addition the more traditional area varieties. Sevenhill’s wines were much nicer than its tasting room staff, and we soon decided to pack it in.

Before we left we ducked into the St. Aloysius Church that is owned by the Jesuit order along with the winery. The church was completely empty when we entered it. I sneaked upstairs to an unused balcony to get a better view of the roof beams, which led to me snapping one of my favorite photos from Australia as well as the trip so far:

We only spent a few hours in the Clare Valley, but we happened to arrive there at just the right time to get that photo. Immediately after taking it I felt better about the day, as though it was worth all the hassle to get there.

After that we headed south again, and were back in Adelaide by 4:00.

***

The last few weeks had been like a Russian matryoshka (nesting doll) of travel, with our itinerary of Melbourne-Adelaide-wine-Adelaide-Melbourne, so we were pleased to be returning to a more linear travel experience.

We began our first full tasting day in the Barossa Valley at Charles Melton Wines. Because we arrived before they opened we spent a few minutes walking around the vineyard and playiing with their cats; Rocco and Max. Rocco was a sleek black kitty and Max was a handsome orange tabby.

“They’re gay”, proclaimed Renee, the cellar door host, “They’ve been having a lovers spat”. We eyed the cats with this unsolicited information; they did seem a bit diva-like.

Continue Reading…

The sunburned country of Australia is still 30,000 feet below us, but soon we’ll be over the Indian Ocean, then the Java Sea and the Gulf of Thailand, finally setting foot in the land of smiles and semi-annual military coups.

***

We loved Australia. Though less varied in landscape than New Zealand, the greater chance of being bitten by something poisonous (or at least exotic) made our time there more exciting, and the parched brown and red hillsides everywhere looked like something out of a John Ford western, quite beautiful in their own way.

Continue Reading…

The Clare Valley is a beautiful area located about an hour and a half north of Adelaide known for producing fine German wines varieties, especially their Rieslings.

We didn’t want to miss it, but after four days of driving all over creation our arms were sunburned, our palates were fatigued, and (it had to happen sooner or later) we were quickly tiring of tasting wine.

The morning had started out well. After visiting Elderton for a private tour with Allister Ashmead and visiting Henschke’s tasting room in the Eden Valley we drove up to the Clare (we got pretty lost along the way and it took us twice as long as expected) to meet with Richard Crabtree of Crabtree Wines. There toured his winery and very much enjoyed Crabtree’s range of wines.

Continue Reading…

Continue Reading…

We had very high hopes for the Adelaide Hills. Almost without variation we had been told by several wine lovers to visit Ashton Hills, Nepenthe, Shaw & Smith, and Chain of Ponds. On the day we were driving around the winding roads of the Adelaide Hills we ended up doing far more driving, map peering, and turning around than tasting. Nepenthe happened to be closed, Shaw & Smith had moved the location of their tasting room, and Chain of Ponds was frantically setting up for a wedding.

Despite all that, we left the Adelaide Hills happy. The sole reason was Ashton Hills Winery.

Continue Reading…