Another day waking up at the crack of dawn…which suits us just fine, since we can’t seem to shake this jet-lag anyway. It’s asleep by 9 PM and up by 6 AM for us virtually every morning so far. We’d say we’re turning into our parents, but they are actually waking up later than us on this trip! We scarfed down breakfast just in time to meet our arranged transport to Ha Long Bay. For those of you who don’t know, Ha Long Bay is the #1 tourist attraction in all of Vietnam. Its waters are home to over 2000 islands [View Full Entry]

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We started the day off with another delectable (and offensively large) buffet at the Metropole. David was thrilled that they had dim sum here…and ate about 50 plates of it, before we all headed out to explore the great city of Hanoi, armed only with a map and a sense of adventure. We walked around Hoan Kiem Lake (basically the life-blood of the city…think Central Park in Hanoi)…it’s a gorgeous lake accentuated by a beautiful temple in the middle of it and an ensuing legend of an Emperor and a majestic turtle who took the emperor’s sword for safekeeping into [View Full Entry]

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Our long-in-the-making plans to finally see elephants came true today. We woke up at an ungodly hour on our last day here in Luang Prabang to meet the driver who would be bringing us out to the Elephant Rescue Center. It was about a 40-minute “hold-onto-your-vomit-bag” drive outside the city. This rescue camp cares for 6 adult females ranging in age from 24 to 37. The elephants all seem to have specific relationships with their mahouts (trainers), who care for the animals, bathe them, and prepare them for interaction with the tourists. This particular camp also offers the op [View Full Entry]

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We awoke on our third day in Laos to embark on our journey with Ta, our guide, who came highly recommended from one of Billy’s fellow Fodorites (the Fodor’s message board users that are nearly as obsessed with traveling Southeast Asia as he.) Ta picked us up at around 8:30 at our hotel and we got about 10 minutes through town before we had to check to see if our laundry was ready. It wasn’t (but this leads to a funny story about going there 3 times that day.) We had arranged with Ta to show us two of Luang Prabang’s [View Full Entry]

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Note: this blog entry covers both yesterday and today. Glad to reports that we're happy and healthy and enjoying the hell out of ourselves. We really love this part of the world and, come to think of it, we may never leave. That said, we've spent the past two days exploring the wonders of Luang Prabang. The first day was truly a lazy day: spent further exploring the nooks and crannies of this sleepy little town…checking out almost every shop in town and finding some magnificently crafted silks and woodwork. We stopped for lunch at a highly-recommended restaurant/hotel ca [View Full Entry]

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Good Morning, Bangkok! We woke up after a glorious night’s rest in probably the most comfortable bed known to mankind and prepped for our departure back to Suvarnabhumi (Bangkok Airport) to meet David’s folks. They’ve been making the rounds in Southeast Asia (Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Siem Reap) for the last 2 weeks and we’re finally meeting up with them to begin our amazing adventure! After a supremely gluttonous breakfast (the buffet here is seriously unreal, folks), David headed to the gym (okay, yes, we had to have an LA moment) and Billy packed up the bags. Min [View Full Entry]

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It's so nice to finally be back in the City of Angels (and I mean the REAL City of Angels, not the hellhole we call home)...not much has changed here in Bangkok. Thank God for that! Let's back up for a sec: we had a hell of a flight from Taipei to Bangkok--which was relatively uneventful until about an hour in, when the plane decided to take a good couple hundred foot plunge out of nowhere. We kind of lurched sideways and it all happened so quick and was over with even quicker...however, being such a debonair and suave guy (and [View Full Entry]

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Well we made it 3/4 of the way to Bangkok! And, honestly, we're not much worse off for the wear. This trip seemed a heck of a lot easier (and shorter) than last years. Guess we can just chalk it up to being old pros now... :) Flight was relatively uneventful and, even despite Billy's last-minute attempts to get us upgraded--we were denied! The lady behind the counter had to keep 'checking' in a suspicious routine with her 'manager' before we were told 'no, it's not looking good.' I think the literal translation of that was 'no, you're not looking too [View Full Entry]

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Let your love flow outward through the universe, To its height, its depth, its broad extent, A limitless love, without hatred or enmity. Then as you stand or walk, Sit or lie down, As long as you are awake, Strive for this with a one-pointed mind; Your life will bring heaven to earth. -Sutta Nipata So, it's been a whole year since we've not only left word with you all on our old, dear travel blog here, but it's also been a year as well since we returned from one of the best trips of our lives. It goes without saying [View Full Entry]

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Wow. A giant, great-big, awe-filled WOW! What a day we’ve had. We can only post a few of our pictures from today, as our time is limited, but wanted to fill you all in on. We woke just after dawn in our dreamy bungalow on the sea and headed out for an ENORMOUS breakfast. We’re talking eggs, pancakes, rice, noodles, all the mango you can eat, pastries, cereal. Now, as you know, we shun all things Western (cough, cough), but after existing on breakfast that’s only consisted of bread and…noodle soup for 2 weeks, we’re like pigs in you-know-what to be [View Full Entry]

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