Thursday 1-6 Oh my god, Vietnam is the country of early risers! We had to be up before 6am every day so far and today was even earlier! We headed out on a guided tour of the Mekong Delta. It’s interesting how the “tour guides” here don’t really guide you around so much. They’re more like tour coordinators that get you from place to place, tell you which vehicle to hop on, where to be and when but that’s about it. We’re left to interpret what’s going on in the places they drop us off at. Our first day on the Mekong River was a combination of long bus rides and multiple tiny boat rides. We went to go visit a bee farm, where we got to try “royal jelly” tea. It’s not just any honey, ... read more

Tuesday 1-4 We’re in Vietnam with Jane & Raelene! Saigon is a cool city! I’m so excited to be here with them! We get to stay with Jane’s dad, just outside the city. Our first night, he took us out for street-side pho – it was delicious! I’m so excited to eat the food here. We spent out first morning sorting out our travel plans at the travel agent office, but we were treated to Vietnamese breakfast sandwiches: basically yummy French bread with veggies and roasted pork. Mmmmm! Things are MUCH cheaper here than in our previous 3 countries (thank goodness!) – for 4 days/2 nights of tours and a border crossing, we’re paying about $80 per person – such a good deal! My first impression of Saigon is that it’s a very Westernized city for ... read more

Thursday 12-23 / Friday 12-24 Back to Queenstown for a couple days to do laundry, pack our stuff and catch up on the internet. Was hoping I could magically find the bottoms to my zip-off pants once we got back to the hostel but, sadly, no such luck. Fortunately, Nick found a way for us to watch American tv online internationally. We were able to catch up on a few Simpsons & Daily Show episodes. Ah how I’ve missed them! The Simpsons “Fight Before Christmas” was a brilliant episode! While I’m updating the blog, Nick is taking his routine nap – since we’ve been sleeping so much on the trails, he really can’t stay awake for too many hours at a time anymore (he knows it’s true). Our last night in Queenstown was spent, thanks to ... read more

Tuesday 12-14 Off we go! A good night’s sleep and we feel much better, less frantic & worried. F’ing migraine hit, though. Oh well. We headed out to the Routeburn Track good & early. Started hiking @ about 10am and arrived at our overnight hut @ Routeburn Falls by 1pm. Not too bad. The forests here are very beautiful – not exactly dark, foreboding Lord of the Rings – but lush, green, moss-covered fairy-tale-like forests. VERY different than the Na Pali Coast; still wet & rocky but this time cold & alpine. We hiked over the craggy rocks, alongside a river & passed by a few waterfalls. The overnight cabin was really nice! The bunk beds remind me of Scout camp, though. We were told to be aware of keas and possums who like to come ... read more

Tuesday 12-7 We spent today exploring the South and West Shores of Kauai. The western side of the island is much different from any other. It’s VERY dry and several degrees hotter – quite a different looking landscape. No lush forests or much green at all. In fact there are a lot of flat fields, perfect for dry crops like corn and sugar cane – which we saw a lot of. Everything – from the roads to the tops of telephone poles – are covered in red dust from the dark red volcanic mud on the island. It’s hard to believe that both the north and west side of Kauai are part of the same island – they’re so different and only about 30 miles apart! We drive up to Waimea Canyon, which has been described ... read more