My last night in Koh Phangan -- and last real night in Thailand and Asia -- was unbelievable, but in an unexpected way. I ended up going to the pool party with a Swedish girl from my guesthouse. But neither of us really felt like it was our type of crowd or music, so we left early with the vague plan of just going to sleep. On the walk back though, we passed a raggae bar with one group of people around a table so we went in, got a drink, and joined them. It was a group of about twelve English people and they were awesome. Seemingly, we didn't really do anything exciting. We just lounged out on a bunch of pillows and been bag chairs on the floor until well after sunrise. A highlight ... read more

The overnight bus down to Saigon was spectacular. I ended up with the entire back row of five seats all to myself, so I lounged out and pretended it was a bed. Definitely one of the more pleasant overnight trips yet. I ended up in a really nice guesthouse in Saigon, centrally located, complete with a huge bed, air conditioning, and a refrigerator, all for $8 per night. And a Bia Hoi stand was right next door. I spent the first day catching up on some sleep and then went to the War Remnants museum, previously known as the American War Crimes Museum. It's really striking how different things can be portrayed depending on where you are. I was literally jaw dropped several times. I definitely missed the day in school when we learned about this ... read more

I ended up spending two full days in Hanoi. I went all out and bought a total of 86 DVDs. I shipped them home via sea and they'll take longer to arrive than I will. It rained very heavily on and off during the two days. People were saying it's been the worst rains in 25 years here. It hasn't really affected me as much as you'd think though. I went to Hanoi Hilton, as it's affectionately known as, the place were McCain was held POW. Being election day eve back in the states, I suppose it was an interesting time to be there. What is striking about the prison is all of the pictures of the American prisoners are of them smiling, playing games, decorating Christmas trees, playing basketball. It's an utter contrast to the ... read more

I didn't realize the two day Mekong boat trip involved one full day of bussing it from Chiang Mai to the river town of Chiang Khong. So my itinerary was pushed back a day. The bus ride was about eight hours and it wasn't bad. I checked into a guesthouse right on the river and could see Laos on the other side. I ate, and set off to check out Chiang Khong, which consisted of one main road about a half mile long. I ended up in a football pub and met a huge group of English people that were on the slow boat the next day. Most of them were traveling alone and it was just a coincidence they were all English. I walked up to their table and asked if I could join them ... read more

On my last day in Bangkok, I walked around all day in the scorching heat to check out the "must see" sights. Most of them were about within an hour's walk from my hotel. I walked all the way to the Grand Palace only to find out shorts were prohibited. On my way back, I took care of some things like burning my pictures to DVD, haircut, all that kind of good stuff. I also had another terrific meal. Did I mention how much I love Thai food? I changed into long pants and walked all the way back to the Grand Palace. I think this was the first time I ever realized that the sides of my knees are actually the first part of my leg to start sweating. Minutes after that, my calves came ... read more