Now, for those who’ve asked why the heck would we want to visit Vietnam on a vacation, these pictures should answer the questions…okay, not the snake one. Arriving in the heavily populated Saigon, we made quick plans to catch the city sights later and escape to the mighty Mekong river which supports a great deal of people throughout 6 countries. We visited the riverside towns of My Tho and Can Tho offering us boat tours of the river. We didn’t know what to expect and couldn’t imagine what was extraordinary about this river above all others but it was quickly realized [View Full Entry]

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Nha Trang gave us our first big beach experience since we've arrived in Vietnam and for many it appears to be paradise. We met numerous ex-pats who are now calling this city on the water and sand..home. Lobster and seafood of all types are sold by pajamaed women slung with flexing bamboo rods over their shoulders and perfectly balanced baskets on each end. On one end, 30 pounds of seafood, the other 30 pounds of boiling water in a pot. The beach is long and full of parks and appears to be well preserved from the large touristy resorts who's shadows [View Full Entry]

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We staged most of our activities in the North from the Old Quarter in the bustling city of Hanoi. The Hoan Kiem lake near the center was a popular area for the locals and visitors alike with it's winding walking paths and shaded benches looking out on the water. The serenity of the calm water clashed with the waves of weaving, chaotic mopeds zooming the surrounding streets. With Hanoi being the epicenter of Norther Vietnam national pride, we were quickly introduced to "Uncle Ho", the former leader and who's image is everywhere. We decided to skip the viewing of his "Lenin" [View Full Entry]

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A quick hello to our friends and family.... since we last wrote from India we have decided to join the ranks of the unemployed and spend some time exploring the exciting country of Vietnam.... The hilly region around Sapa near the Chinese border was our first destination that we set out for from Hanoi. The overnight train delivered relative comfort for the 7 hour journey. Arriving at 5am, we enjoyed a steaming bowl of pho before we joined up with a fun, international group made up of five others. The cool air of Sapa was a welcome relief after Hanoi's muggy [View Full Entry]

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Hello to all of you who we’ve been out of touch with since our return from our year long travel of 07. We took root once more in Seattle, WA and have been employed with a start-up consulting firm. The travel bug biting throughout the year persuaded us to bank our vacation time and escape for some worthwhile time in India. As with most trips we did very little planning and the entire trip was in question with the recent terrorist attacks and potential danger looming, but we decided to shrug off the warnings and continue on with our big adventure. [View Full Entry]

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Less than a two hour boat ride from Samos, we arrived in Kusadasi--a cute town full of knockoff shops and affordable restaurants. The meager number of tourists offered us great shopping deals but we used some restraint knowing that istanbul was the true mecca of merchandise. A 2 hour ride to the small town of selcuk sits less than 10 minutes away from the ancient city of ephesus ruled by the romans among other civilizations roughly 2000 years ago. The ruins here paint a vivid picture of what it must have looked like. The massive stone streets and pillars still remain [View Full Entry]

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after albania, we welcomed greece with open, loving arms! starting our exploration in corfu, we relaxed on the beautiful island for just over a week taking in the sights, beaches and fantastic food!.....from corfu, we toured the mainland enjoying the mountains, rivers and gorgeous, refreshing archeon springs. we drove to korinthos where we enjoyed perfect beachside camping....from there we took in the acropolis and spent a day enjoying the ruins! From Athens we decided it was time again for island hopping and started in paros, jumping over to santorini, naxos, mykonos, and samos. All this isl [View Full Entry]

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Our coastal driving of the adriatic sea continued down into the country of montenegro....the seaside stops to beat the heat continued here and it became tougher and tougher to find modes of communication or banks. we happened upon the huge lake skadarsko jazero. the small village on it's banks was too cute...the local fisherman/ hotel owner of the pelican hotel was so nice to take us on a tour of his home which included many generations of his ancestry and personal gems of his fishing years. We stayed that night in a old ladies home...she passed crazy the town of crazy [View Full Entry]

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Deciding to see the countries of eastern europe along the adriatic sea was as much about adventure as it was about escaping the summertime tourists. we were rewarded for it as soon as we crossed into slovenia from italy. we were treated to open roads with vast expanses of beauty through all three of the countries. slovenia sadly serves as more of a buffer of connecting roads for croatia than a true host to tourists but nevertheless, a beautiful country of well preserved forests and lakes. croatia is the gem of the 3 with so much coastline and beautiful parks to [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in spain excited to tour both the countryside and coast! we were lucky enough to coincidentally catch movistar KITESURF PRO PKRA 2007 WORLD TOUR in Tarifa which was an amazing sight ...these men and women are going superspeed, jetting across the water barely missing eachother, then pulling on the kite wires to launch them 30 feet or more into the air while tweaking, twisting, and twirling about for points..neat stuff. From tarifa we drove along the southern coast, stopping to camp along the way and this is when the adventure really began. our little malbec colored car "malby" began [View Full Entry]

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