Cambodia is already a much more intriguing and inspiring place than vietnam. There is the never ending calls by passing drivers, "tuktuk?" and "motobike?", but otherwise people are much more easy going. Cambodian history is one hell of a boondogle we both have been reading about the place since we were teenagers. The history is one of dominance and the constant struggle to oppose dominance. Trapped between two larger powers, Thailand and Vietnam, there was raraely a period without conflict on borders or political meddling. Both powers had hteir vision for how to change and modernize the Khmer without consideration of their sovereignty. Cambodia finally has its self-determination but it is a shaky calm at best. Conditions here socially much resemble India but there is no caste system. India was the most important foreign influnence in ... read more

For those who haven't been following weather in Vietnam, which i assume to be most, its damned wet here. To be honest the only real thing i knew about the monsoon before experiencing it was the running gag from the movie "Forest Gump" when he is in Nam and it starts raining and he describes all the different kinds. (my fav. being "big ol' fat rain") Right now vietnam is flooded is massive areas, thankfully ones we are not in nor need to pass through. We missed the problem by 12 hours. When we were driving south to get to Hue there was a section of highway under 1 meter of water that we had to drive through which filled our luggage compartment with lots of water and thoroughly soaked all my stuff but Jenna's remained ... read more

Got a bit sidetracked the last 2 weeks it seems... We had a remarkably uneventful and kind of downer last 6 days in Lao. There is a massive complex of caves near the Vietnamese border where the revolutionary soon-to-be government of Lao lived during the massive US bombing campaign called Pathet Lao. We tried 2 times to go see them but ran into funny hitches along the way. Lao is the kind of place where the phrase later doesn't nessesarily mean later today and often mean much later than you thought possible. This is fine as long as you realize that you may just not get to do what you thought you could. We were, after 3 1/2 weels in Lao very aware of this but it still hung up our Caving plans. The first day ... read more

It is a complex, long winded and messy process that makes a tiny village into a travel mecca. Sometimes it destroys whatever was nice about the destination and other times it is the best thing to happen to the locals since whatever revolution was last. Vang Vieng is somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. At first glance one may look at the crowds of drunk tourists and immediately declare the town a hell hole but here i think the locals really get a kick out of it. As for the town itself, there are 100 guests houses but everything is clustered in with local homes, schools and livestock. For the most part those who live here aren't displaced by their towns' popularity on the tourist trail. Vang Vieng has LOADS of attractions, piles of charm ... read more

Every time we have asked someone who has traveled asia what their favourite country was, the 2 answers we invariably get are Iran and Laos. Iran is not part of the itinerary.. this time, but as for laos i can understand. Laos is truly unique with 80 percent of the population living in villages and capital, Vientiane having a population of mere 200 000. The villages are dotted evenly across the country and you are usually entering or existing a village if you drive for any distance. Even with that, most of the country seems to be rice paddies. The people smile wider than thais, cook better curry than indians, and you are never far from the national icon, Beerlao. Beerlao is the national lager and damn tasty for a commercial beer. You are often offered ... read more