Heath

We flew from Dublin to Edinburgh, Scotland, which was to be our only stop in the country. Of all the airports I've visited on this trip, I have never experienced one that was so relaxed. Apparently, the Scottish are friendly enough to let just about anybody into their country because even though we were coming from Ireland, we didn't pass through customs of any kind. I must say, I was a little disappointed since this meant no stamp for my passport :( We stayed with Rich's cousin Charlotte, her husband Pat and their crazy dog Sam. Charlotte warned us about Sam on the drive to her house, explaining that they were his third owners and the previous ones were a big sketchy. She said he's a very energetic Border Collie (what BC isn't?) and that ... read more

Well, it has been a whirlwind month since I arrived in London. I had a few restless days recovering from jetlag and getting re-accustomed to Western quality of life. It was a bit of a culture shock but one I was certainly ready for; it didn't last long. I found myself appreciating the little things such as crossing the street using traffic lights and not having the smell of sewage lingering in the background. On Rich's first day off work (he took three weeks off), we began exploring. We covered some of the typical London sites - Big Ben, Westminster Abby, Buckingham Palace, the Tower Bridge, Piccadilly Circus, a ride on the London Eye, etc. However interesting those were, I must admit I was extremely taken by the little things - the number of big ... read more

Following Angkor Wat we flew from Siem Reap to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. We were lucky enough stay with Jo, a friend of Celia's. Jo has been living in Laos for about two years now. She works as an occupational therapist in the prosthetics section of Laos’ National Rehabilitation Centre. However, like any health clinic in this area, Jo is often faced with numerous health care situations sometimes outside of her expertise. Recently Jo has been setting up programs, fund raisers and basically managing the health care for victims of the unexploded bomb ordinance (UXO) in Laos. Unfortunately Laos is the most bombed country in the world. During the American Vietnam war, the US spent 2 million per DAY on dropping bombs on Laos. Each shell case contained individual bomblets and it is estimated ... read more

From Hoi An we set out for yet another grueling bus journey, this one lasted 24 hours! Never, never again, we said. The first half flew by, but the second was painful enough for both halves. We were seated on a bus with no air-con, on a stifling hot day and on this part of the journey we just happened to be driving through desert like landscape. Wonderful! As the only non-Asians on the bus we naturally stuck out, however we really made a scene with our frequent pleading for bathroom breaks. Every time our bus driver pulled over we would run to the front and say "toilet? toilet?"...and every time we got the same response..."NO! NO! NO!". The poor guy was on a "schedule" and we were not helping. It got so ridiculous that the ... read more

From Ho Chi Minh city we decided on a 4 day tour on and around the famous Mekong River. The first thing we noticed on the river was the horrible smell of sewage, garbage and rotting fish. I swear if any of us had fallen overboard we probably would have disintegrated right there and then. Right away I made a vow to avoid eating any more fish on this side of the world. Everyone literally treats the waterways as a garbage dump, throwing anything and everything overboard. It's so sad to watch the environment being destroyed simply due to a lack of education. Later that day we had a lunch where the recommended specialty was butterfly fish. The restaurant had built special trenches to keep the fish "fresh"...the only problem was all the fish were floating ... read more