Trip 3 - USA, SE Asia 2014-15


August 2014 to March 2015
Map overview of trip:


Key to place markers:

Our third trip was a full 'round the world tour' and would have been longer had we not had so many requests from people in the UK asking if we would like to housesit for them over the summer. When we realised we would be able to completely fill our summer in this way it seemed sensible to return and take time to plan our next adventure.

We left the UK in early August and spent three months in the USA, mainly in Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, but starting in Boston, Massachusetts, a side trip to Minnesota to visit friends and finished in San Fransico, California, from where we flew across the Pacific to Vietnam. To get around we hired a 'full sized' saloon car after we arrived in Denver from Boston, staying mainly in lower cost hotels, but also rented some cabins on holiday parks and a ski apartment in Brian Head (which was very nice and quite cheap as it was outside the ski season, but very well situated for the Utah National Parks). We also had a couple of weeks staying with friends in Colorado and another couple of weeks with friends in Minnetonka.

We spent two and a half months in Vietnam travelling the length of the country on busses before crossing over by land into Northern Laos to take in many of it's sights, again travelling by bus. From the south of Laos we travelled overland by bus into Cambodia to do a circuit of that country including Siem Reap and Angkor Wat and then flew to Sumatra in Indonesia for a month.

We finished the trip by flying from Padang on Sumatra to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and then a bus to Malacca for a few days before flying back to the UK.

For more details of this trip see below, It's divided into the following:
  1. Boston, Massachusetts
  2. Colorado, Denver and around
  3. Minnesota and trip back through Dakota
  4. Colorado, North to West
  5. Utah
  6. Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, Red Rocks
  7. Utah to Arizona & The Grand Canyon
  8. New Mexico including 'Four Corners'
  9. Los Alamos, New Mexico back to Colorado
  10. San Fransico, California
  11. Vietnam
  12. Laos
  13. Cambodia
  14. Sumatra
  15. Malacca, Malaysia
  • Boston, Massachusetts:


  1. Arrive Boston from Birmingham UK, via Shannon, Ireland
  2. Walked sights of Boston:  Boston
  3. Flight to Denver





  • Colorado:

  1. Arrive Denver from Boston, Massachusetts: Denver
  2. Drive and climb to summit of Mount Evans, visit Red Rocks Amphitheatre, stay in Colorado Springs: Colorado Springs
  3. Garden of the Gods and Red Rocks Canyon, rock climbing:  Colorado Springs
  4. Drive to Estes Park, hike with Jane & Roger, rock climb in Boulder: Estes Park, Page 2


  •  Minnesota and trip back through Dakota:


  1. Estes Park to Lincoln, Nebraska: Estes Park to Lincoln
  2. Lincoln to Minnetonka, Minnesota, Duluth and Beaver Bay: Minnesota
  3. Minnetonka, Blue Mounds, Badlands, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse: Minnetonka to Black Hills, Dakota
  4. Deadwood, Devils Tower, Cheyenne to Colorado Ranch: Deadwood to Ranch

  •  Colorado (second time):


  1. Ranchsit, Livermore, Colorado: Ranchsit, Colorado, Page 2
  2. Livermore to Dillon via Estes Park: Livermore to Dillon
  3. Dillon to Glenwood Springs via Independence Pass and onto Utah: Dillon to Glenwood Springs





  • Utah:
  1.  Colorado to Arches and Canyonlands National Parks: Arches and Canyonlands NP
  2. Capitol Reef NP, Grand Staircase NP, Cedar Breaks NM, Brian Head: Capitol Reef, Grand Staircase, Cedar Breaks, Brian Head
  3. Brian Head, Cedar Breaks NM, Kolob Canyon, Bryce Canyon: Brian Head, Cedar Breaks, Kolob and Bryce Canyons

  • Las Vegas: Las Vegas, Red Rocks, Hoover Dam:
  1. Las Vegas, Red Rocks, Hoover Dam: Las Vegas, Red Rocks, Hoover Dam










  • Utah to Arizona: 
  1.  From Las Vegas to Zion NP, Grand Canyon North Rim, Grand Canyon South Rim to Williams, Arizona: Las Vegas to Williams
  2. Route 66, Sunset Crater, Walnut Canyon, Meteor Crater, Petrified Forest, Painted Desert: Arizona




 New Mexico:

  1. Canyon de Chelly, Shiprock, Cortez, Mesa Verde, Four Corners Monument, Monument Valley, Canyon of the Ancients: New Mexico 1
  2. Durango, Albuquerque, Santa Fe: New Mexico 2
  3. Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks NM, Los Alamos, Rio Grand Gorge, Taos: New Mexico 3



  • Colorado (third time):

  1. Red Rocks Park, Colorado Springs, Estes Park: New Mexico to Colorado








  • San Fransisco, California:

  1. Arrived San Fransisco from Denver
  2. Three days sightseeing
  3. Departed for Hanoi Vietnam: San Fransico







  • Vietnam:
  1. Arrive Hanoi on flight from San Fransisco, four days in Hanoi: Hanoi 1, Hanoi 2
  2. Bus & boat journey east to Cat Ba Island in Halong Bay: Cat Ba 1, Cat Ba 2
  3. Bus and boat journey to Ninh Binh: Ninh Binh
  4. Night train to Hue, trip to DMZ: Hue & DMZ
  5. Hoi An via Hai Van Pass: Hoi An
  6. Night bus to Dalat: Dalat
  7. Bus journey to Mui Ne: Mui Ne
  8. Bus journey to Ho Chi Minh City: Ho Chi Minh
  9. Bus journey to Mekong Delta: Vinh Long, Can Tho & Chau Doc: Mekong Delta
  10. Bus journey to Ho Chi Minh City then flight to Hanoi: Ho Chi Minh 2
  11. Hanoi Housesit: Hanoi 3, Hanoi 4, Hanoi 5
  12. Night bus journey west to Dien Bien Phu: Dien Bien Phu
  •  Laos: 
  1.  Bus journey from Dien Bien Phu to Muong Khua
  2. Bus journey to Luang Prabang: Luang Prabang
  3. Bus journey to Nong Khiaw: Nong Khiaw
  4. Bus journey to Luang Prabang: Luang Prabang 2
  5. Bus journey to Vang Vieng: Vang Vieng
  6. Bus journey to Vientiane: Vientiane
  7. Bus journey to Thakhek
  8. Bus journey to Pakse: Thakhek
  9. Bus & boat journey to Don Det island, 4000 Islands: Don Det, Don Det 2
  •  Cambodia:

  1. Bus journey from Don Det in Laos to Stung Treng in Cambodia: Stung Treng
  2. Bus journey to Ban Lung: Ban Lung
  3. Bus journey to Kratie: Kratie
  4. Bus journey to Phnom Penh & the Killing Fields: Phnom Penh
  5.  Bus jouney to Kep: Kep
  6. Bus journey to Phnom Penh 
  7. Bus journey to Battambang: Battambang
  8. Bus journey to Siem Reap & Angkor Wat: Siem Reap, Siem Reap 2
  • Sumatra:  
  1. Arrive Medan on flight from Siem Reap, Cambodia: Medan 
  2. Bus journey to Bukit Lawang & Orangutans: Bukit Lawang 
  3. Bus journey to Berastagi: Berastagi 
  4. Private taxi to Samosir Island, Lake Toba: Samosir Island
  5. Bus journey to Medan, flight to Padang, shared taxi to Bukittingi: Bukittingi
  6. Private car to Harau Valley: Harau Valley
  7. Private car to Bukittingi, shared taxi to Lake Maninjau
  8. Shared taxi to Bukittingi, shared taxi to Padang: Lake Maninjau
  • Malacca:

  1. Arrive at Kuala Lumpur on flight from Padang, Sumatra
  2. Bus to Malacca: Malacca
  3. Bus to Kuala Lumpur, flight to Heathrow airport, UK via Ho Chi Minh City airport






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