Well, these aren't only scenes from the streets, but also scenes from the Mekong and from some villages along the Mekong. As you can see. there's a lot on offer in Luang Prabang and environs: drying algae, corn, papadums, mulberry paper and loads of hand-made crafts. I was especially lucky to hear some music and entered a courtyard where some teenaged girls were performing this dance that is pretty typical in Southeast Asia. I'm not sure what it's called in Laos, but in Cambodia, the girls are emulating the movements of the Apsara dancers carved into the walls of Angkor Wat [View Full Entry]

---

---

The kids are just phenomenal. When I bent down to say hi to one little guy, he reached out to the bush he was near, picked some flowers and offered them to me. Some of the kids followed us around town as we walked around, and one girl burst into tears when saw me coming over. I guess she hasn't had much exposure to falangs... but in general, people just kept doing what they were doing. In this particular village, their economy wasn't based on tourists dropping by, though the ones by the Mekong certainly were. They had shops set up, [View Full Entry]

---

---

Luang Prabang is a sweet little town in Laos. It's full of beautiful wats and colonial style buildings, and you can take little day trips to nearby villages, waterfalls, caves filled with little Buddha figurines, etc. The old city has been taken over by travel agents, restaurants and hotels, but is still quaint. And despite catering to tourists in many ways, Luang Prabang keeps up its own traditions. They rise at 6 a.m. to bring food out to local monks and end their day around 10 p.m. at the closing of the evening market. I was there for a week, and [View Full Entry]

---

---

The people of Cambodia are the kindest, gentlest and most sincere people I've met in a long time. Of course, you have people trying to sell you things at touristy places, but most of the people seemed so genuine. Despite not speaking a word of the language, I think I could actually live there. That's how great the people are there. [View Full Entry]

---

---

Beth and I were really lucky to be in HCMC during the holiday season. Before we'd headed to Cambodia, we saw tons of workers setting things up, and then when we returned, the streets were lit up with amazing Christmas lights, and there were all kinds of activities going on, including plays and a games area for kids... It was just great being a pedestrian. HK is also a pedestrian city, but I guess I'm already used to its sights and sounds. It was just fabulous walking around HCMC, Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, and Phu Quoc. Oh, and check out the [View Full Entry]

---

---

There's never a dull moment in Ho Chi Minh City, though as you're dodging through the scooters, bikes and cars, sometimes you wish there were... Beth and I walked around a lot, but we also often opted for the quickest way to get around, which was to hop on the back of someone's scooter. I have to say that those rides were spent listening to the voices in my head in a dialogue similar to this: "Oh my God! I can't look, I better just look to the side and enjoy the scenery. What the h--- was I thinking? I'm too [View Full Entry]

---

---

Unlike many of the surrounding countries, you don't see that many signs of religion in Vietnam, but there's the cathedral beside the General Post Office, and not too far outside of Ho Chi Minh, there's the center of the Cao Dai religion. I don't know all that much about it, but one of their main saints is Victor Hugo, author of Les Miserables! The pictures are from their daily mass at noon. [View Full Entry]

---

---

As I have said over and over again to anyone who's asked me, this trip was like a history teacher's dream. The obvious draw to this region of the world was Angkor Wat and its surrounding temples. Beth and I did all the typical things: went to this specific temple at sunset, and then this particular spot for the sunrise, saw all the important temples in the two main circuits and some temples outside the city. I could go on and on about the grandeur of the temples and whatnot, but instead, I'll just give you some highlights: Tha Prom and [View Full Entry]

---

---

She tried the spider! Yup, my brave friend Beth tried the fried furry legged sucker. As you can see the look on my incredibly sunburned face, I wasn't gonna try them. In fact, I was pretty proud of myself just for holding them. But, there were a couple of locals who delighted in eating this local treat. [View Full Entry]

---

---

This November, HKIS had its PEAK trips. I can't remember what PEAK stands for, but it's a week when the school closes down and all the kids are off on trips around China. Sixth graders all do the same trip - this year, to Beijing and Xian. Eighth graders go on adventure trips in pretty large groups. And seventh graders have the best trips of all - they get to choose four of the trips on offer and get placed in one of those four. the trips are either hiking, biking or community-service oriented. This year, I went with the trip [View Full Entry]

---

---