My first impression of Vietnam is Ho Chi Minh City. It is wonderful! The people that are serving food or drinks are easy to talk to and we spent a night just cracking up with them. There are tons of motorbikes everywhere - I guess 4 million in the city and traffic is crazy. It is a little hectic, but from what I can see it is much more well off than Cambodia and there doesnt seem to be many people begging. There are lots or tourist, but I feel like you can get away from them when you want too. [View Full Entry]

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Today I got up and went out with my two New Zealand friends on a tuk-tuk to Tuol Sleng (an old high school turned into a prison during the KR rule. We watched a documentary and then walked around...there is still blood on the ground and the pictures are gruseum. 14 people were found there and they have a picture of some of them in a room and you are basically standing right where they died and looking at a picture of them. From there we went to the Killing Fields. It is this hugely pitted area (they dug up over [View Full Entry]

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So it has been an exciting time here in Phnom Penh. The 'backpacker' scene near the lake that lonely planet recommends involves prostitutes and pot everywhere...and i guess is the most dangerous area in the city. After getting my money back, I moved closer to the center of the city and ended up in a way better location. Things were good for a day and then I felt tired and my stomach was messed up. I spent the night diagnosing myself with malaria and drinking gatorade. If you want to know more details..ask me. But i ended up falling down...i think [View Full Entry]

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The last entry was really big and started lagging. Here is some more exciting stuff I have been seeing around town. The video is of crazy cat fish and crazy little kids trying to catch them with a plastic bag. [View Full Entry]

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Taking a break from the heat and I am in Cambodia's big shopping center...internet cost 50 cents an hour...so I am enjoying the AC and catching up with some emails. Here our pictures from the last few weeks of travel that I didnt post yet. [View Full Entry]

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I have fallen behind so I will update with bullet points... - Went to a temple on a huge hill in Chang Mai. Couldnt see the view over the city because of fog, but the temple was nice. - Decided to reverse my loop around SE Asia because of flooding in Laos. - Getting to Cambodia: Got on a bus to Bangkok (overnight), then taxi to bus station, then bus to border city, then motorbike to border. All of this went well and I got my visa for 20 dollars and didnt get ripped off. I was amazed at how smooth [View Full Entry]

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Trekking was really cool. I didnt learn much about the hill tribe people, but met a bunch of cool travelers and had a wonderful three day hike through the jungle. We saw a few lizards and some butterflies, and no snakes. I learned the importance of a walking stick because if we didn't have those I know we would have had some broken bones or had someone fall over the edge. [View Full Entry]

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Chang Mai is very awesome... There is a ton to do and its all so damn cheap. You can paint ball, take cooking classes, bungee jump, massage classes, or go trekking. Here are some of my adventures from the last few days. [View Full Entry]

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The last few days I feel like I have been moving around a lot. I have now spent nearly two days in Sukothai...and met some friends so all is well. Today was an eventful day. I saw a life snake and three dead ones (on the side of the road), a dead rat, lots of ruins and buddas, a preying mantis that was pretty huge, and a thai guy tried to grab me. I also had a really good fruit and some green curry. Now its time for my nap and tonight going to explore some dollar meals at the night [View Full Entry]

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I havent been on much because the night I was going to post pictures it started pouring and all the internet went down in Kanchanaburi. That was my first monsoon rain...it was very exciting. But now I am in Ayuthaya...which use to be the former Thai capital. I visited some of the ruins today and they were beautiful and surprisingly peaceful. This city is less touristy than Kanchanaburi and when you walk pass young kids they shout hello....and then you say hi, and they they say hello! and that goes on a few times and they giggle the whole time. While [View Full Entry]

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