We arrived at Siem Reap airport at night. Our first impression was how nice the airport is. It is clear between the airport and the number of large 4- and 5-star hotels that a lot of investment has gone into this area. As this was the last destination on our trip, we stayed in a nicer hotel. The Prince d'Angkor. The hotel was great. One of the biggest pluses was the huge pool that seemed to be around 30 meters (100 feet) in length. We also had 3 movie channels, a comfortable bed and the nicest bathroom on our trip. It was not until this trip that I really began to take the importance of a nice bathroom to heart! Visiting the Temples Quick note: Angkor Wat is the main temple in the area that everyone ... read more

All I can say is thank goodness the Sapa area is beautiful because getting there sure wasn't fun. We were taking the overnight train for the 9 hour trip and after having good experiences on the Chinese overnight trains we were looking forward to it. Unfortunately our Chinese trains were in significantly better condition. Our compartment was seriously dirty (thank goodness for the sleep sacks, mom!), we couldn't figure out how to turn the lights off and the ride was noisy, bumpy and hot! Upon arrival at the town where we had to wait over an hour for a minibus to Sapa, both Mike & I were trying to figure out how to get home where we could get some good sleep again! But once we were on our way up the mountain to Sapa, the ... read more

**Lots of Pics on today's blog!** We had a great time in Laos. Going into the country we were not sure what to expect. We knew that the country has great scenery (a positive), but wondered whether it might be similar to Myanmar (a negative) given how undeveloped it is. Overall, we found Laos much more comfortable to visit than Myanmar. Luang Prabang We flew into Luang Prabang which is a UNESCO world heritage town. As it was Laura's birthday, we splurged for some great accommodation at the Maison Souvannaphoun. It was a really nice place. Comfortable bed, nice bathroom, cable TV, and a balcony with a great view. The staff there was great. Checking in, we mentioned that we were on our honeymoon. That evening, the staff had put a small cake in our room ... read more

Yep - we did it! At about 90 feet under we swam with (okay, watched) 6-foot long reef sharks. Very cool! It was our second "deep" dive of our advanced open water scuba course. To back up and give you the context: We arrived on Koh Tao (Turtle Island) on Thursday after two days on Koh Samui. Samui was fun although the beach at our hotel was a bit of a let down. It was very susceptible to tides so at low tide it was way out and filled with coral. We both cut ourselves when we tried to venture in. Our second day on Samui though included a several hour trip on a restored Chinese Junk boat which was just beautiful and we stopped in a island bay for some swimming - quite fun. But ... read more

The long painful bus ride The taxi (a 1960 Zepher) picked us up at 4:45am and took us to the bus pickup. The bus came at 5:25, 25 minutes late. It was a small mini-bus. The fact that there are 24 seats in it is ridiculous. Our seats were right behind the driver. And these seats were small! Unfortunately for us, there was also some kind of compressor right in front of us and the engine was just below the floor. We started driving and it quickly became apparent how uncomfortable the ride was going to be. Not too long into the trip, the bus stopped at a place for people to get breakfast. Neither of us wanted anything. A half hour later, the bus picked up some people who apparently were moving just about every ... read more