Summary So much has happened since we left Phnom Penh, Cambodia for Bangkok, Thailand. We spent two nights in bustling Khao San road, which is known for its embarrassingly high concentration of white people, the largest collection of Anglos this side of the Pacific. While the area was bereft of legitimate Thai culture, it did offer very cheap eats, including dollar Pad Thai, which became an immediate "go-to". Chiang Mai, Thailand After the two nights in Bangkok and some cheap theatre, we headed North to Chiang Mai on a 12hr bus arriving at 6am. Having only an hour or so, w [View Full Entry]

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Siem Reap Okay, so Chris has been doing a wonderful job of keeping up to date with the blogging (thanks largely to my continuous nagging) and so I figured I better finally chime in and contribute a little something. It is just so much easier, and fun, to bug him to do it .:) We made it across the Cambodian border and were able to spend about five days in Siem Reap. I grew quite fond of this little city. The people here in Cambodia are so inspiring. They have so very little but always have a big smile to share [View Full Entry]

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We arrived by air in Siem Reap, Cambodia yesterday. The consensus was that everyone was quite tired of bus travel through mountain roads, so we booked four airline tickets through Laos Airlines and here we are. It was a funny thing, compared to the hell on wheels approach to ground transportation we had gotten used to, our three and a half hour flight to Cambodia was downright pleasant. Laos Airlines spared no expense for our comfort; hot coffee in a clean cup, a nonsuicidal pilot, and a toilet made to actually sit on. Simple pleasures, eh? As a town, Siem Reap [View Full Entry]

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We're in Luang Prabang, Laos, and it's hot So before I get to what Luang Prabang has been like, let me take a minute to get everyone caught up to things thus far... We spent our last couple of days in Vietnam by taking a two day, overnight trip to Halong Bay, which is arguably the prettiest place we had seen. To get there, it was a pretty standard three hour drive from Hanoi. When we arrived at the boat harbor we were surprised to see an entire armada of junk boats that were converted for these types of tours. We [View Full Entry]

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We've jumped the border! Vang Vieng, Laos-I just wanted to let everyone know that we've made it to Laos after a few more days in Northern Vietnam. We don't have time to go into too many details, but here's a very abbreviated rundown of our pitstops from the last update. After Sapa, we took a 2 day, overnight boat trip to Halong Bay on the coast of Vietnam. After returning to Hanoi, we took thrilling 33 hour bus ride to Vientiene (the capital of Laos), then on to Vang Vieng where we have hanged our hats up to now. That's the [View Full Entry]

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Weve made it to Hanoi, why don I tell you how? The last you all heard from us, we were in Nha Trang, enjoying the beach and sun. We only ended up staying there for a couple of days, and since we didn waste any time at all in getting 2nd degree tans, we were basically forced to avoid the sun and sequester ourselves inside a bus. Our trip from Nha Trang to Hoi An was comparatively better than the prior trip from Dalat to Nha Trang. The route North sticks to Highway 1, which is the primary vein for travel [View Full Entry]

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Leisure Time in Nha Trang Well, we have been in Nha Trang now for two days and have definitely had plenty of time to relax and sunbathe. Yesterday, we jump started our morning with a delicious breakfast from a cute little restaurant along the beach. Chris had his usual two cups of coffee and an omelet with fresh mushrooms, tomatoes, and basil...it was absolutely divine. I enjoyed a fresh glass of lime juice and a banana crepe with lemon and sugar. The coffee in Vietnam is seriously to die for with the only disadvantage being the very small serving sizes. [View Full Entry]

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Summary So we've been in country for a week now and boy have we been busy. Saigon, Vietnam- We landed in Ho Chi Mihn City last Tuesday after flying for a total travel time of approximately 12 light years. Between our exhaustion from such a long trip, the relief of finding our baggage, visas verified, and the time adjustment, we were lucky enough to have had a fine young man offer us a ride to wherever we wished. After Char had the wherewithall to ask whether this guy was actually a taxi driver did he suddenly pull a plastic "Taxi" sign [View Full Entry]

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We're Almost Off! Home Base, Alaska - So we leave in 12 days to Saigon and the rest of Southeast Asia and we've got everything we think we need at this point. The backpacks came in last week, as did my uber-dorky secure fanny pack (to carry both of our passports, cards, handguns, etc.) The fact that we're embarking on this rather extended vacation to the far east is becoming more real everyday. Char and I have both been taking turns worrying and stressing out about every possible element to the trip, thanks in no small part to her penchant for [View Full Entry]

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