Blogs from Asia - page 12998

To me, Laos was an award-winning country. I fell in love with this country’s rugged terrain of emerald mountains and dramatic limestone peaks crisscrossed with rivers and forests. Laos seemed relatively untouched by tourism. The people were warm, friendly, relaxed, and kind-hearted. Laos is socialist country with a population of 5.6 million. 80% of the population live in remote rural areas. Many areas can only be reached by boat or by plane. Most of the small villages or tribes have never seen a Westerner. (e.g. The Yellow Banana Leaf tribe. This 21- member tribe lives under yellow banana leaves and, sadly, will soon become extinct). After our 12-day visit in Laos, the following prizes were awarded by a panel of one lowly judge (aka moi): World's Most Heavily Bombed Country Tragic Winner: Laos Per capita, ... read more

Greetings from Thailand! I am finally settled and able to attempt to create a blog entry (obviously new to the world of blogging so please excuse the amateur nature of my blog). Thailand is absolutely amazing its such a surreal experience! The night we arrived, Brenda and myself were lucky enough to have been able to touch base with another ex-pat (friend of a friend of Brenda's named Richard ) who showed us all Bangkok had to offer. Oddly enough, we met our first night in an irish pub called "The Dubliner." This was soon followed by a mardi gras themed bar, and then a really cool (pardon the pun) ice bar called "Titanium" where we made friends from Tokyo and Colorado (what a mix). The next day we decided to do some cultural activities and ... read more

written at 6:15 3/17, but for events from 16th: had an great adventure today as we hired a taxi forthe day and went to Tamel for maps and ATM, then to the Everest Hotel to meet a professor from Kathmandu U. What a fantastic experience to sit and talk with him for an hour! All of the info that I found about ICT infrastructure and use was put into cultural / political / social context. On our way there we passed bus after bus of Newari Maoist demonstrators. Drove by the Supreme Court building, the King's Palace, the Department of Education. After our meeting we went to Patan to the museum and market. Found some wonderful Nepalese handmade items, too. Gotta run so I can upload photos! Love and hugs, Sarah... read more

Whew! It's been a packed 3 weeks - sorry for the lousy non-updates! We are now in the very far south of India, in the state of Kerala, enjoying our "luxury" portion of our trip - recharging our batteries, one could say. Kerala is beyond beautiful. It's worth googling "Kerala backwaters" to get an idea of what I mean. It's as if God himself took a step here and his footprint filled up with a calm, even sheet of clear water. The water is flat as can be, for miles and miles. We are staying in the backwaters and it's so interesting to see the way of life here. Homes sit in narrow strips of land between canals and water-logged rice paddies. Men in long, narrow, dark-wood canoes slowly drift by, propelled by long bamboo sticks. ... read more

Sorry, but this blog isn't going to be filled with loads of amazing pictures as i am in an internet cafe somewhere in Beijing and all of the instructions are in Chinese, of which I still only speak two words! We're getting by with a lot of pointing and sign language, which I think is improving all the time! I can however tell you that we're having a fantastic time! Started off last Tuesday by flying into Hong Kong, where we sorted out the visas for Vietnam & China as well as seeing & doing all the touristy areas - Stanley Market, Big Budda, the light display and the markets. Hong Kong was fantastic - completely mad and there was no way of avoiding the crowds - you just get caught up with the whole thing ... read more