Dubai United Arab Emirates

A seven hour flight from Bangkok put me into Dubai at 1:30 am so I grabbed 5 hours of "sleep" in the airport and then headed out for my day in Dubai.

Flying into Dubai as the world whizzes by.

Even with the recent bankruptcy crisis, Dubai is still a city under constant construction.


My first glimpse of Burj Khalifa, the worlds tallest man-made structure ever built.

Catching the metro around town.

Even the metro station feels like a grand ballroom.

The Burj Khalifa, Dubia fountian, and surrounding metro area.

The building looks much smaller than in real life due to the distortion of stitching photos together to capture the entire thing.

Inside the Dubai Mall.


The mall directory of approximately 1,200 stores. You want it..they got it.


The Prime Minister of UAE, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.


A full size hockey rink in the mall.

A 10 million liter aquarium with 33,000 fish also in the mall.

The Burj Khalifa is almost twice as tall as the Empire State Building at 2,717 ft.

After wearing out my feet from the enormous mall and cranking my neck looking at all the skyscrapers, I headed to Jumeriah Beach for the last few hours before my flight.

Taking a refreshing dip in the Persian Gulf.

After 22 countries, many many miles, and about a liter of motor oil from my bike on my left shoe, it's time to hang these guys up.

I feel they deserve a special place on the wall.....we'll see what Emily thinks.

Enroute to Switzerland and my very eager reunion with Emily.

After two months in a far away place I have learned a few things.

1. Enjoy Life-The common phrase of life is short rings clearly in my head, therefore why wouldn't you spend it doing the things that bring you happiness?

2. There are a lot of good people in this world- The more people I meet from all over the world, the more I realize no matter where we come from we are all much more alike than we are different.

3. Next time I go on a two month travel vacation take Emily with me.

Phnom Penh Cambodia

Unfortunately I ran out of time and wasn't able to get to Vietnam. I guess I enjoyed Laos and Cambodia too much. I headed up to the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, with the main goal of selling my motorcycle. After five weeks on my Minsk I was no where near wanting to get rid of it, but I think shipping it to Switzerland or the States was out of the question.

Grabbing a bite to eat at the local market.

Washed and unwillingly ready to sell.

On my way to the scooter slums to look for a buyer I noticed my back tire was flat. I took it as a sign that my motorcycle didn't want to leave me either. Every other corner you can find someone that will fix your bike. Here they are melting on a patch .

Crazy traffic in the big city means that the sidewalk is often used as the street.

After some painful bargaining I sold my bike for a mere $110 to this local. I figure the whole motorcycle experience was worth far more than what I paid anyway.

A common game played by locals is similar to hacky sack but played with a birdie.

Disappointed (lucky) that I never got to use my motorcycle rain gear, I tried it out in my hotel bathtub.

Good thing it never rained.

My last hurrah with Hannah and Anthony.

Time: 4:10 am.

Alarm set for 5:15 am for my 14 hour bus ride to Bangkok.....woke up at 8 am and arranged plan B to Bangkok.

Plan B was a 1 hour plan flight for $100. I am really glad I missed that 14 hour bus.

To Bangkok for a night, then a day layover in Dubai, and finally back to Switzerland and my FIANCE!!!

Kampot Cambodia

After a relaxing week in Sihanoukville we headed two hours down the coast to the riverside town of Kampot.

Pepper and shrimp in the local market. Kampot is well known for growing all kinds of pepper. The local dish of choice is delicious peppered crab and shrimp.

Nothing goes to waste here. I'm guessing this bike was made in the late 12th century.


The next day we took a tour through Preah Monivong National Park.


How many Cambodians can you fit in the driver's seat? Answer: 3
How many people can you fit in a Toyota Camry? Answer: 8


Bokor Hill Station is an abandoned French town at the top of the mountain.

Sitting 3,500 ft above sea level.

The jungle below.

The Royal Palace Hotel.

View from the Royal Palace Hotel looking toward the sea.

Bokor Hill Station church.

Unfortunately the Cambodian government leased Bokor Hill Station to a Vietnamese oil company which has started to build the above resort and ruin the tranquility of the park.

We decided to take the hard way down and hike 2 hours out through the jungle. Curiously I asked our guide what kind of animals are found in the jungle and was told that a tiger visits the nearby Pagoda every night. Hmmmmm.

A few days later we decided to take a few dirt roads into rural villages.

The kids learn how to ride whatever bike is around.

We came across this unfinished bridge and decided to hang out for awhile.

Sipping on an Angkor beer. Everyone uses straws because you never know what else has been transported on top of the beer....fish, chickens, gasoline?

The Guest House guard dog.

We took a day trip to the beach town of Kep.

Celebrating Hannah's 21st at the Wunderbar.

Jenna and Boots (Swiss owner)

I'm guessing Hannah might not remember this.

After a long birthday celebration we decided to relax at the riverside guesthouse called Utopia.

The rope swing across the river.

An ore frame canoe. I wonder how it handles the rapids.

Thank goodness for the tubes or else we would have actually had to exert some energy to get across the river.

Anthony seconds before jumping and then getting the rope ripped out of his hands.

Hannah getting the swing of things.

This pretty much sums up the day.

Gassing up for my last ride to Phnom Penh.