Rick Steves’ Travel Blog

My daughter Jackie continues her blog reporting on her Southeast Asian adventure. Here are a few random bits from her latest entry. After reading these excerpts, you can head on over to get the full story of her first day ever in that amazing hemisphere:

When I experience a new place for the first time, I want to find all of the reasons to love it and to embrace even the apparent “negatives” as opportunities to step outside my comfort zone. From what I have heard (from friends, pop culture, and Eat, Pray, Love), Bali was going to be heaven on earth. My first evening here, however, was less than blissful.

Airport ATMs that take Visa — all broken. Seas of men approaching me, saying, “Taxi? Transport? Where you going?” “No thank you,” I would reply. But then they would follow me. Dude, no means no.

Imagine streams of motorcycles and cars braiding in and out. No one bothers to check their blind spots. At multiple-lane intersections with no stoplights, cars don’t stop — and barely yield — creating a massive convergence of vehicles absent rhyme or reason (at least, to my Western eyes).

We were fairly warned: Kuta is where Aussies go to party. We somehow found the exception: a quirky local surfer party. Balinese surfing instructors rocking Billabong and long wavy locks. Love it.

Read more about Jackie’s Southeast Asian travels!

As a father, I am so excited that our two twentysomething children, Andy and Jackie, are embarking on a one-month adventure in Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand. Jackie is a great writer, and Andy is an expert at stirring up fun with his video camera rolling. Together they’ll be reporting on their Southeast Asia vacation over the next month in our Travelers’ Café. I’ll be connecting Jackie and Andy with you a few times here on Facebook. Check in on their fun if you’re curious about how college-aged American travelers backpack around Southeast Asia these days.

Read Jackie’s blog!

Jackie had an overnight layover in Hong Kong on the way to Bali. Here’s a bit of her report. Click through for the whole story to see how young, thoughtful Americans find constructive challenges to their long-held perspectives.

From Jackie Steves in Hong Kong: “I wandered down a thoroughfare of Kowloon to the city’s famed harbor. The “Avenue of Stars” is a double-entendre — a tribute to the stars of the silver screen, and a salute to the bright lights of Hong Kong Island’s skyline across the water. My Chicagoan ego suffered a bruise. We boast tremendous, glimmering skyscrapers, but I’m afraid Hong Kong still outdoes us. It made me feel like a member of the humanist Enlightenment; rather than focusing on a God who, on the seventh day, looks upon His creation and says “It is good,” this manmade spectacle inspires any human to say, “Damn, we did good.” And even as a liberal who loves to disparage the drawbacks of capitalism, I had to acknowledge that this massive symbol of modern materialism — riddled with names of corporate brands and massive banks — was just plain beautiful.”

Thanks to all of you for playing along with my silly photo caption posts. (I’m sorry if some of you didn’t realize I was just goofing around.) Here are my favorites of the hundreds of clever captions you proposed:

I shot this killing time with a fine sunset on the south coast of Greece. I liked these clever captions:

• Best OB/GYN visit ever.
• I started my juggling class, but got hungry instead.
• Who needs Viagra?

This sign on a coffee machine at breakfast in Antibes caught my eye. While it means “out of service,” I like your captions much better:

• Blonde, brunette, or redhead?
• The service of our hors will have you screaming for merci.
• Fingering it here should make it work.
• Either this means “out of service,” or we’re in for a real treat.

This painting of the French war hero Massena in Nice came with a remarkable moustache, and these captions explain it all:

• Clearly, this fashion trend has yet to come around again.
• I mustache you a question.
• Beard or mustache? Decisions, decisions… Oh, wait! Both!
• Now, son, everything my beard points to is our land.
• Nigel was disappointed to only win third place in the Portland Mr. Hipster Pageant.
• And that was the end of the royal bloodline.

Friends back in my hometown of Edmonds, Washington, asked me to help celebrate our town’s 125th birthday with a sign. So here, at Pisa’s Camposanto Cemetery, I let my fingers do the talking: 125. But I like these captions better:

• Look Mom, I can count!
• Tour guide gang sign.
• How does a bad left-handed carpenter order ten beers?
• This explains everything you need to know about the metric system in Europe.
• A quick satanic blessing…and…action!

This is simply my toiletry kit with my late-night snacks, but these captions work great:

• Every good traveler knows: Keep your oranges clean and well-shaven.
• My expense account isn’t what it used to be.
• Items confiscated by Italian airport security.
• What? Oranges and no deodorant? What was I thinking?
• Sometimes, even for seasoned travelers, the language barrier presents insurmountable room service hurdles.

This advertising poster behind bars caught my eye in Santa Margherita Ligure. And your captions make it fun:

• Here, on a tiny alley in Venice, we see a shrine for the patron saint of ugly swimsuits.
• European prisons take a progressive approach: Prisoners don’t do time, they do yoga and water aerobics.
• What happens when the fashion police actually catch you.
• Just press the button on the Hors Service box to get in…

I was surprised how many knew this restaurant in Avignon (and really liked it). I just shot the photo because the sign struck me as goofy (since I don’t speak French). With a name like “The Gout of the Day,” I figured, “It’s no wonder the tables were empty.” Here are your captions:

• I’ll have the Gout du Jour, with a side of acid reflux
• Le Gout du Jour, a place to stop and put your feet up, with hopes that pain in the toe will go away.
• Le Gout today, Le Gone tomorrow.
• So gout it hurts!
• Gout to get you into my life.

These statues in Nice seemed to make a fun pair. Thanks for the explanations:

• Where’s that smell coming from?
• Photobummed!
• Oh, to relax under a full moon and watch the sky.
• My pigtails are up here.
• Emboldened by her new shampoo and conditioner, Annabel visits a nude beach in Europe…but cannot stomach all the views.
• Moon Over My Mammaries