thanks for the great report....sorry bali did not measure up, but i think it is more adult orientated, so i was pleased that you did find things to do with the kids...

glad putu worked out also....we will have him again for a couple of days on our trip next spring with the pandas...

speaking of which, i have my fingers crossed about kajane...we have 6 nites there in Loji 2 bedroom....they will have to bring us at least one additional chair for the room... was there a bug problem, as in flying annoying bugs while sitting outside?? do they spray?
i also am not looking at all forward to those stairs...
we will make the best of it...but you are right for the price it should be better...
in any case if its bad i will give gpanda a terrible time until he runs away...

we also tired of the indonesian food....we often had western food in ubud. we found some excellent restaurants without having to pay the fare at ultra expensive places like mosaic..

so do you have thailand booked again yet?? i can't wait for our 2 weeks there in november...

i've got to reread you thai part....did you go to hua hin? i think not... put it on for next time and stay at the hyatt, the kids will be blown away with it...

i think you had a fabulous trip for a first SEA excursion....each return trip gets easier...

amarena - I'd be happy to give you our thoughts about S. Africa. Drop me a line any time.

rhkkmk - we did have a great time. It was a million fold better than we expected. I'd go back to Thailand tomorrow, but Cheryl wants to go somewhere we've not been yet. It'd be Galapagos if the kids were a bit older, but we're thinking hard about East Africa.

We did not have many bug issues at Kajane. I forgot to mention in the report that you need to plan for plenty of time for breakfast. Sometimes it came earlier than we asked while other times it was later (+/- 20 minutes). Also, we had breakfast in the restaurant a couple of times and it took an hour each time...

And don't forget to ask them to drop you off at the back of the property in the evenings. You might even be able to con them into picking you up there as well.

thanks....i will not have to con them, for me tips work---usually....and my big smile...

thanks for the note about breakfast too..

have you done istambul?? morocco? mauritius islands?

egypt red sea areas...?