June 4th - 12th, 2011 We finally made it into Cambodia and I loved the people right away. Everybody you pass, they are always waving and happy to see tourist. After a few more hours on a fast boat down the Mekong River, we reached the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. Instantly you can see how nice the Cambodian people are, they were always waving and always willing to help. I also loved the fact that they use the American dollar as their main currency so it was a nice break not having to always due the math on everything I bought. For dinner, I might up with everyone that was on the boat in at another “happy” restaurant and then out for some drinks but everybody was so “happy” that nobody said a word for ... read more

May 24th-30th First, thanks to everyone that responded with their opinions on what I should do, I will be doing more of that throughout the trip. I think the final vote was “Go with the girl” 16 votes, “Go with the tour” 0 votes. Those that know me might think I followed the girl, but the tour continues on...... without me. Of course I picked the hot British bird and regretted it right away. Just kidding about the regret but we will get into that later. I spent my last days with the tour in a small city called Hoi An. This was my favorite place so far in Vietnam. Its a real small town that is known cause they have thousands of tailors that can make any type of clothing for cheap but since i ... read more

May 18th-24th Sin Chow! After another questionable border crossing where my guard held me longer then everyone else, I finally made it into Vietnam, although i think its time i shaved. Our flight landed in Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi. Although this was another very hectic city with over 3.5 million motorbikes and it was near 100 degrees, I liked this city right away. Unfortunately, we only spent a day there. First we went to see the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum where he is entombed. “No bags of any sort, no talking, no folding arms, no short shorts, no shoulder showing, must stand 2x2, don’t stop walking....” all as signs of respect for their national hero. We then walked to the Presidential Palace and the one-pillar pagoda, which really was nothing special. A few people in our group, ... read more

May 10th-14th Got up early for our 3 minute boat ride across a river separating Thailand and Laos (I learned you are supposed to pronounce the “s” when talking about the country and you don’t pronounce it when talking about the people). After crossing immigration in Huay Xai, we spent the next 2 days on a private boat taking us down the Mekong River to Luang Prabang. The entire way we had forests covered mountains to our sides with tiny remote villages every once in awhile, most with boys swimming in the water (naked). Since the river is so low during the dry season, there is hardly any traffic and we could go almost the entire day without seeing other commercial motorized boats. The first day we made a stop at one of those small villages ... read more

May 6th-8th, 2011 I made it to Bangkok at 7pm and was feeling sick so laid down for a few hours and caught a dinner with a fellow American in my hostel. I had one of Thailand’s famous dishes, Pad Thai, which is fried noodles and vegetables, and it was delicious. The next day I had to check out of the hostel and check into a hotel where my next tour group started that night. This trip is a completely different makeup then my China trip, 11 people and our tour guide Bom (“but call me Mr. B in the airport for security reasons”). 6 girls, 5 guys, most are not on extended trips, and only one couple. 3 Americans (me and a couple from Florida) 1 girl from Australia 7 from England (4 girls, 3 ... read more