It's hard to believe that you are in the same city that was taken over by Pol Pot and his army, the Khmer Rouge, only 34 years ago (17/4/1975)... and for four years turned his country into a land similar to the one described in George Orwell's 1984. He sent everyone from the capital to work in the fields, elimating money, class, education, libraries, religion, traveling, communication, and many other aspects of then everyday life. It's hard to not ask yourself how could someone live through such atrocities and how did people come to follow and allow a man to take [View Full Entry]

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Cue the children, by the dozen selling postcards, books, gum, nothing all day and night. You can add to that the adults selling glasses and other knickknacks. You can't get away from them. Even if you have on headphones they call out to you.. Oh and I forgot tuktuk and motorbike. Of course you have this all over SE Asia but I definitely felt as if it were 10 fold in Saigon.. or I mean Ho Chi Minh City. Otherwise it was a lovely stop before heading into Cambodia. The people are nice and helpful, just remember everyone here is an [View Full Entry]

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The Governor-General of Indochina, in te late 19th Century, ordered a hill station be founded in DaLat. The town is at an elevation of about 1500m, which leaves it a bit cooler than the areas I have traveled throughout Vietnam so far. Nonetheless it is an amazing area with many natural beauties to be explored. During the war there was no bombing on this town so everything retained its pre-war structure. I stayed in the Peace Hotel and was confused when I did not have a fan or anything in my room. The receptionist told me I didn't need one. I [View Full Entry]

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I have definitely lost track of the days and can't certainly tell you whether it's Tuesday or Sunday because other than banks and post offices its 'Same Same.' I had no set plans on arrival, just checking out the beach and enjoying the sunshine and warm weather. I ended up doing all that and more in the few short nights that I was in this beach town. I stayed at Oasis, which was cute and offered views of the beach from some of their rooms. The municipal beach was decent, yet due to the storms there is a bit of run-off [View Full Entry]

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So when we finally get to the border I go to get my entry stamp for 'Nam and it takes the guy 15 minutes of looking at my passport to finally give me the stamp that they gave about 35 other people, I am guessing I was supposed to give him money at that point, which I did not... nonetheless I am in! Yay. When we arrived in Hue, it didn't feel like a place I wanted to spend a couple days so I stayed on, paid a few more kip and made my way to Da Nang. From there I [View Full Entry]

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This was truly a quiet town and if this was the hub of Southern Laos then I can only imagine what the rest of the region is like. You can see French influence all throughout the town in the set up, the buildings, and the food. It wasn't a bad thing but I was expecting to maybe see a few more foreigners. I saw none the first day. By the time I left I made it up to 11 I think. My time here was basically spent wandering the town and trying to get out of town. There is a casino [View Full Entry]

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Vang Viang is definitely a natural paradise. Yes, of course there are the people that spend a month tubing the Nam Song and watching Friends and Family Guy everyday, but there is much more to see around. The four of us dique 'VIP'Mini bus to Vang Viang and were there by early evening. May Lyn Guesthouse, which is running by an Irish character is just across a suspension bridge. We found out upon arrival to the bridge that there was a 4000 kip fee per person to cross. Jan was tired and we had come this far, so we paid and [View Full Entry]

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I find it sad that America dropped over 2 million tons of bombs on this beautiful country in a decade... Laos is easily overshadowed by Thailand and Vietnam but there is so much natural beauty to be seen in this country. I only get to pass through a few cities but it will definitely be on my list of places to return to. Vientiane is a quiet capital city on the other side of the Mekong River via the Friendship bridge that links Laos to Thailand. I only spent a few days in total in Vientiane, I linked back up with [View Full Entry]

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Nong Khai is a great little town along the Mekong River. It was voted 7th best city to live (or retire in) in the World. The main attraction is the Mekong River, which was where I stayed along. At Mut Mee Guesthouse. A lovely place where I met 3 Germans who I traveled with for a bit after leaving. I arrived really early in morning via my overnight (party looking) bus from Bangkok and wondered into the quiet town. Other than the river there is a Buddha Park which consists of statues created by a guy who says he fell down [View Full Entry]

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So I have been a little delayed in updating this... Bangkok was nice. I spent a total of a week there, using it as my hub for getting to and from Myanmar. Which I am still slightly in love with. Bangkok is one of those city's that you love or you hate and I have decided to love it. In Thailand I particularly fell in love with Tesco, their version of Walmart/Super Target. It's great! =] I got to go to the Jatujak (Chatuchak) Market and Wat Pho while I was there as well as some good ole wandering around the [View Full Entry]

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