The land of conical hats and endless bowls of steaming white rice, where the cities are alive with beeping horns and striking architecture and the countryside is vibrant with tropical flowers, steep rugged cliffs and picturesque scenery. Welcome to Vietnam! Our month in Vietnam began with crossing the border from Cambodia. I've learned that there is absolutely no truth in advertising anywhere in Asia. Although our bus company promised that the same vehicle would take us from Phnom Phen all the way to Saigon, we were dropped off at the border with no explanation of where to go or what to [View Full Entry]

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The sun in sneaky today, dashing behind clouds and casting deepening shadows across the ocean stretched out before me. I’m sitting on a balcony overlooking the gulf of Thailand, a broad body of water that cradles the southern coat of Asia and meets the South China Sea to the east. We came down to Sihanoukville to escape the oppressive heat of interior Cambodia and catch some tropical breezes before hurrying across the Vietnam border. Teaching ended much too quickly. I was sad to leave the children whom I had grown so attached to. I don’t know what sort of impact [View Full Entry]

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The students greet me in the early morning hours with a chorus of little voices and a sea of excited, smiling faces. I wave and say hello in Khmer before they sit down and pull out their pens and notebooks. As a sign of respect, the students always stand and bow whenever Jen, Liz, or I leave the room. It makes me feel almost like a real teacher! The plastic yellow flowers on my tiny wooden desk add even more to the classroom atmostphere. I’ve been teaching English for over two weeks in Siem Reap, Cambodia. We are volunteering in a [View Full Entry]

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We did it. We gave in to the hype of every teenage and twenty-something's island dream and followed the masses to Ko Phan-ngan, home of the legendary Full Moon Party, perhaps the largest, most popular beach party in the world. As the sun sets on Hat Rin beach, the sand comes alive with dancing backpackers, fire jugglers, thumping, pulsating music, and hundreds of buckets of booze. I don't know why we went. These types of parties are usually not my cup of tea since I am much more of a low-key, jazzy bar, small pub sort of girl. The idea [View Full Entry]

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We quickly passed through the small capital of Vietiane, staying only two nights and hitting the hot tourist spots before moving on south. Our goal was to get to Si Phan Don before the full tilt of the Lao New Year began, also know as Pii Mai. Otherwise we were likely to either have a very delayed bus or a slightly drunk Lao driver. Neither sounded very appealing. A 6 a.m. bus ride brought us down through the mountains and dropped us off on the southern side of the city, near the Mekong River and by a huge indoor market. [View Full Entry]

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Okay, so it didn’t rain for forty days and forty nights so I can’t quite compare myself to Noah, although we did see some irritated chickens fluttering around on the patio and some very anxious looking bison wandering around town during our 90 hour rain shower. The same day that we arrived in Vang Vieng, eager to test our paddling skills on the bubbling rapids, the sun decided to take a break and hide for three days while the rain and gray clouds took over the spotlight. Various eateries and cafes took advantage of the stranded travelers, pulled out their [View Full Entry]

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Luang Prabang is nestled on a tiny riverine peninsula. Build around Mt. Phousi, the town stretches along the Mekong river to the north and south and the many wats shine golden rays of light through the palm tree canopy. Maxang House, our humble abode for the moment, is a huge concrete building with an open patio near the rear. When the afternoons reach unbearable temperatures, we hang out in the lower levels, where the cool cement offers a cool respite from the outside humidity. It's hot here, very hot - above 100 every day. We don't tend to be very ambitious [View Full Entry]

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Tom Sawyer did it and Tina Turner sang about it, but this wasn't exactly a do-whappin' ride that merrily, merrily took us gently down the stream. We enjoyed our two full day boat trip down the Mekong river though I think we will all be rather stiff and sore for a couple of days as we iron out the aches. DAY 1 - We are not off to a very promising begining. The "large ferry" is actually quite small with 2 rows of wooden benches and a floor filled with holes. After waiting an hour to ensure that every available inch [View Full Entry]

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The morning begins with the reville of roosters. Their throaty exhorations seem to command that I wake up and roll out of bed - literally, for our matresses are now on the floor of our bamboo bungalows. I'm awake before the rest of camp this morning and have to tiptoe past the sleeping bodies out to the veranda, just in time for sunrise over the mountains. The jungle is silent for the brief moment before the sun breaks over the mountaintops and casts small bursts of pink and apricot across the sky. Then, the thick foliage comes alive with gecko and [View Full Entry]

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8:42 p.m. - We are sitting at the Moon Cafe, trying to will time away for the next 3 hours before our night train leaves for Chiang Mia. After failing to make the 4:00 train this afternoon and finding out that we would have to stand on the 9:00 train, we decided to stick it out the extra hours and actually have a seat. This just isn't any seat though. This is a low budget, hard wood bench, 191 baht, 3rd class seat. We were in for a wild night!! However, we were very hopeful. We had a new deck of [View Full Entry]

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