Northern Thailand - Pai and Chiang Mai Pai is a village in the mountains of Northern Thailand along a scenic, winding road. At the higher elevations here, it was cold at night (40F), but very hot during the day (95F). The first two photos are from Pai. The rest of the photos are from Chiang Mai, the largest city in Northern Thailand... [View Full Entry]

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The Little Library Boat for Lao Children Before continuing on to Northern Thailand, I decided to return to Luang Prubang in Laos for a day or two, since the flights stop there on the way. Xuyen had arranged for me to make a quick visit to the Orphanage School of Luang Prubang, one of her husband's projects in Laos. She connected me with Chantha, the city libarian, who coordinated my visit and also offered me another unique experience, completely unrelated... When I arrived, Chantha asked me if I wanted to go with her on the "Library Boat" the next morning. It's [View Full Entry]

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Volunteering in Vientiane I'm not much of a city girl, but I travelled to the capital of Laos for one reason... to experience volunteer work with children. It's something I've been looking forward to since I started planning my trip around the world, and it was a fantastic experience! I was pleasantly surprised that the city of Vientiane, Laos was more calm and quiet than the other capital cities in SE Asia. I could actually cross the street and get to the other side intact, since the traffic wasn't too heavy. The day after I arrived, I met with Xuyen, the [View Full Entry]

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Laos - Luang Prubang This city has been granted World Heritage status. It has retained its charm over the centuries with its French-era architecture mixed with tradional Lao-style villas. Despite all the tourists, it has a relaxed attitude, which I noticed right away when I arrived. It's not a party town, probably due to the 11:30 pm curfew (and I really appreciated that). There are 34 temples and several hundred orange-robed monks that help contribute to that peaceful feeling. Luang Prubang was originally established in 1353, and was the royal capital of Laos. The capital mo [View Full Entry]

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Serene and Mountainous Laos "Don't worry, be happy" could be the national motto for Laos. And no wonder, with all of its natural beauty. This is SE Asia's most relaxing destination, and a welcome reprieve from the traffic congestion of the more developed countries. The official name is "Lao People's Democratic Republic" (PDR). In Laos, the "s" is not pronounced (the spelling comes from the French, who colonized Laos up until 1954). Dave and I arrived in Luang Prubang, Laos on January 26th. Before I post my photos from the city, I want to show you one of my favorite getaway [View Full Entry]

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North Vietnam - Hanoi, Halong Bay and Sapa These photos were taken in January, while I was in Vietnam. Soon afterwards, my memory card got a "virus" at an internet cafe, while getting the photos copied to a DVD! As a result, I lost most of my photos from Vietnam. Fortunately, Dave was travelling with me and was able to email his photos to me when he returned back to Seattle. Thank you Dave! Since we only had one week in Vietnam, we wanted to make the most of it, so we used a local travel agent that my friends, Lena [View Full Entry]

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Angkor Wat in Cambodia I was in Angkor Wat back on January 16th, and I finally got the chance to update my blog now. The internet connections here are painfully slow, but it's worth it to share these photos with you. My friend from Seattle, Dave, joined me in Bangkok and we flew from Thailand to Siem Reap in Cambodia (the city nearest Angkor Wat). Angkor Wat is only one of several hundred temple ruins near Siem Reap. Most of the temples were originally constructed between 800 and 1200 AD... [View Full Entry]

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Ayuthaya From Bangkok I took a train 1-1/2 hours north to get away from the pollution and traffic for a few days. The town of Ayuthaya was actually much larger than I expected, and had its own share of traffic and pollution. However, the historical ruins were well worth it. Ayuthaya was the capital of Thailand (then called Siam) for 400 years. With a population of 1 million at its peack, it was actually one of the world's most cosmopolitan cities until 1767, when the Burmese eventually conquered and destroyed it. Fifteen years later, the new capital was moved to Bangkok [View Full Entry]

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Happy New Year from Bangkok! [View Full Entry]

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Happy Holidays from Singapore! I arrived in Singapore just in time to celebrate Christmas with my American friends, the Sauer Family. It was exactly what I needed after almost 3 months away from home. The Sauers live in Singapore with their 3 kids, and Christmas was a blast with them. [View Full Entry]

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