SCENE 6:14am Halloween morning. A deserted street in Vientiane, Laos: “You go wrong way!” “What? Huh?” “You go wrong way!!! “How do you know where I’m going?” “You go to bus station, yeah?” there’s a sly smile on my stranger’s face while he takes another drag from his rolled smoke. I can tell he loves spotting a foreigner. “Umm. Yeah, okay then, bye!” I continue on my way, seriously lacking the caffeine to deal with to [View Full Entry]

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My Dad: "So Kryst, is Laos a country, or a city?" Me: "Are you serious? ....yeah, it's a country..." It's a country alright, but without much of a capital. With 200,000 people, you'd hardly know it was a city at all. In fact, the only pictures I managed to take were mostly of signs. And not that I find that incredibly boring, but there weren't many sites to try out my 'self portraits' on! The bus from Bangkok wasn't that bad...only 13 hours. However I was shocked at the Friendship Bridge (Norther [View Full Entry]

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It's October 24th and I've finally found a bus willing to take a group of us foreigners through the flooded regions of Western Cambodia to the Thai border of Poipet. The bus is three hours late to depart from Siem Reap. We all wait patiently on the bus which grows more humid and rancid with each passing second. All our packs occupy the back seats of the bus, as none of us will risk putting them under the cabin, for fear of them being submerged in dingy river water during the trip. At 10am, we finally leave the centre of the [View Full Entry]

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The history, the temples, the "Bar Street"...Oh MY!!!! Siem Reap is one of those places that you need to see for yourself, because no amount of pictures can do these temples justice, and no video clip can capture the pure heart breaking chill of a small child cursing at you for not buying his crap. The leisurely 6 hour bus ride from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap was blissfully uneventful. When we arrived, about 50 moto/tuktuk drivers swarmed the bus door and yelled with all their might for our patronage at their guesthouses. [View Full Entry]

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I was SO happy to have finally reached Phnom Penh, I would have slept in a barn if it meant getting some rest! Luckily I didn't have to though... Through my host organization I arranged to stay with an expat who lived right in the city, named Marylin (from the UK). She picked my tired ass up from the FCC (Foreign Correspondents Club) and took me back to her place on the back of her motto. I think I've become so used to riding these bikes that I might have to get one when I come home! EK! Streets of [View Full Entry]

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**Warning: If you're an animal rights activist, don't look on page 2 of the pictures** I had the option: an 8 hour bus ride, or three days thraveling through the Mekong Delta stretch. Hmmmmm.....quick decision! Boat trip! From the back packers district in Saigon, myself and 20 other foreigners (ranging from every age and country) boarded a small bus to be driven out of the city and 3 hours South to the first stretch of river. It was Wednesday October 11th, and I expected to be in Phnom Penh. Cambodia by Friday night. Not [View Full Entry]

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**Don't forget to click to page two for the rest of the photos from this blog. If you don't see me with a Royal Canadian Mountie, then you need to find the 2nd page of photos!!!** Other possible titles for this blog entry: "Madame Saigon" "Death by motorbike" "Why don't you honk your horn a little louder?!!" "Addicted to Vietnamese coffee and daiquiries" "Uncle Ho" "Good & Bad times with Communism" "The not so quiet Canadian" But I had to settle on what I heard the most often: "You want motabike madame???" Everyw [View Full Entry]

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Why I keep taking buses is beyond me. Frankly, they irritate me, but in most countries they’re the only way to get around. My next one took 7 hours: from Saigon to Dalat, in the highlands of Vietnam. Dalat is 1500m above sea level, and is home to roughly 130,000 people. It’s a quiet area with beautiful mountains, jungle and hardly any foreigners. Its cool temperature made it a welcome retreat from the humidity of the city and with its numerous lakes, waterfalls, and forests, I was looking forward to some serious exploring. I was in Vung Tau during the huge [View Full Entry]

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6 days of Japanese translating had been as much as I could endure. I said goodbye to Yusuke as he left on his Mekong Delta trip and I departed for the Southern coast of Vung Tau, aboard a local mini bus. In Japan, honking your horn is polite. Ie, thank you for letting me in the lane, thank you for backing up to let me through the small alleyway etc. However, in Vietnam the horn is used as a battle cry. Up and down each and every road, the one commonality is the sound of perpetual honking. “I’m coming! You better [View Full Entry]

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Now I must admit, I wasn’t planning on heading to Mui Ne or anywhere else for that matter for a couple more days. I got into Saigon on Friday Sept. 22nd and was planning on enjoying the city sights, doing all the highlights and THEN taking off for the countryside. However, I met a very cute J boy who happened to be utterly lost without my help in translating, and come on…twist a girl’s rubber arm, we went to the beach together for three days;) So, that means I’ll write about Saigon at the end of my time in Vietnam! Mui [View Full Entry]

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