Apollo Hotel Utrecht

Everytime we are in Utrecht, we try to climb the Dom Tor. This tower used to be part of the church, until bombing during the war left it standing alone. I have climbed it before, many times. It gives a great view over the city and a feeling of vertigo I thought the children should experience. Peter suggested that we would be foolish to drive into Utrecht as there are many one way streets and parking is difficult. I was happy to go by train, as Nick's work means we get a discount ...

... as the Romans do and hopped on a bicycle tour. The biggest crime in Amsterdam is bicycle theft - possibly because everything else seems to be legal - but mostly because there are nearly 2 per person. The tour took us through Vondel Park which is really nice, big, progressive, and has a couple of Picasso sculptures. Went through a houseboat village, past a bunch of green areas and over several dikes. We were taught of how the Dutch saved their land from the sea ...

... someone else might look at as tolerant, to me is more of an ignorance. You can do what you want, you're free in lots of ways, but only on a level so that others do not interfere. If you want to dye your hair a strange color, if you go lie on a bench in the park, if you don't say congratulations on a birthday, in short, if you do anything out of the normal, they will let you. But it is not tolerance in a positive including sense ...

... have not changed in over 200 years. The navigation of Amsterdam is a great deal like Venice. Follow the signs and enjoy the walk. I visited three of the big sights: The Reijkmuseum: Amsterdam's major art museum and home of the world's most impressive collection of Dutch art. Unfortunately, most of it is closed for renovation. They have a few rooms full with their big stuff. There were quite a few examples of Calvinist art. These people were seriously repressed. I can't ...

The Friday that we pulled into Amsterdam there just happened to be a public protest in the town square. Our hotel happened to be directly across from the square so we had to pick our way through the mass of people to find a parking spot which was frustrating. We realized quickly that since we weren't in ...

... The entire show consisted of acts which ranged from sexy, to raunchy, to humorous.   It was packed with tourists having a good time, drinking booze and laughing it up.  But I think the funniest was the group of elderly Japanese tourists who walked in with their khaki trousers, white sneakers, and their sun hats to watch the show.   The people you'd least imagine seeing in a place like ...

We all split up early this morning so we could go our separate ways. I putzed around the Royal Palace area, sitting beneath that huge phallic national monument while writing out postcards. Eventually, I wandered around a huge local music chain that happened to be showing the same Van Morrison DVD we've been watching at HMV for a couple of weeks. A quick trip to the Apple House ...

... atmosphere there, but the rooms are kind of ****** for what you pay. Over the past few days, I have eaten some great Indonesian and Vietnamese food, went to the Van Gogh Museum (I think Van Gogh is a artistical genius, did you know that he decided to be a painter although he had never painted before just because he had failed at everything else?), went to the Heineken Brewery to do the Heineken Experience (their beer tour), and ...

Info over de reis en voor de thuisblijvers

Van dag tot dag beschreven waar we heen gaan, dit om een beeld te vormen.

1 Amsterdam - Bangkok
2 aankomst Bangkok
3 Bangkok, boottocht over klongs
4 Bangkok - Kanchanaburi - River Kwai
5 River Kwai
6 River Kwai - Ayutthaya - Khao Yai
7 Khao Yai
8 Khao Yai - Khon Kaen
9 Khon Kaen - Nong Khai
10 Nong Khai - Vientiane
11 Vientiane
12 Vientiane, vlucht naar Luang Phabang ...