HANOI to VIENTIANE The drive from Hanoi (Vietnam capital) to Vientiane (Lao capital) can be a whole blog entry in itself! There were several travelers who had warned me against taking the bus, but my broke self had to opt for the cheapest method. The 20-hour bus ride was an overnighter, roughly from 7 p.m. to 4 p.m.-ish the next afternoon. The bus that took me on this journey turned out to be a retired Jeju-do (island in Korea) bus! The things you see! Anyhow, let me paint a picture of the bus scene when I walked in: cheesy disco lighting; [View Full Entry]

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From Siem Reap, I flew to Hanoi, because time was not of luxury and I had to skidaddle. When I got out of the airport in Hanoi, there was a huge, loud Korean tour group. One of the guys came over and asked me if I was Korean. I said yes, and since I met his racial profiling (j/k), he invited me to ride in their luxurious Hyundai tour bus into the main city. It was pretty funny being in the bus with them, and I kept thinking to myself, "This is hilarious! I'm hitch-hiking on a Korean tour bus!" I [View Full Entry]

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Chenelle and I vegged out for a day and did nothing at all, except drink beer and use the internet. Siem Reap is a full-fledged tourist town near the Temples of Angkor. Away from the cheap tourist town is the Rodeo Drive of hotels. Apparently, there is a huge influx of Asian tourists to the region, so there are lots of people getting in on the market (blah!). I'm staying at a nice hotel with Chenelle b/c my dad knows a hotel owner in Cambodia. I'm delighted. Chenelle and I agreed to wake up at the crack of dawn to watch [View Full Entry]

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Koh Kohn After a hurried farewell to Earth, I was on the ferry back to the mainland, and after a lot of confusion, I was on my way to Koh Kohn (Thai/Cambodia border). I didn’t even know anything that was going on, and I was to only traveler in the van. It turned out, that all I needed for my safe delivery to Phnom Phen was a flimsy little white paper that had a number and the words “Phnom Phen,” which had been given to me by the Thai travel agency I had used. Getting to Koh Kohn, and finding [View Full Entry]

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I was in Bangkok for only two nights and wasn't able to do much sightseeing because (1) it was the start of Thai New Year and many temples were closed; and (2) I had to run some errands and prepare for the next month, since I didn't do anything while back in Seoul, except book a flight to Bangkok and buy a copy of Lonely Planet's Southeast Asia on a Shoestring . I was not entirely impressed with the city, but I don't think that had to do with the actual city... I was overwhelmed, tired, scared and confused as it [View Full Entry]

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