Dear friends, we’re back! Our first night in Costa Rica is in San Jose where we’re waiting at a very nice hotel for Tiffany and Alexa to arrive.It’s a long time to get down here ( thanks Boeing), but we’re finally feeling the tropical heat. We spend the day doing some local eating, local driving, and relaxing in the pool. The traffic is a little bit crazy (I wonder why there’s so many accidents) But we managed to make it to the mall to pick up a Sim card, greet Tiffany and Alexa at the hotel, and have a nice dinner. Tomorrow is an early morning to start a long drive to our destination on the beach for a week.... read more

Buenos tardes, Just a quick entry...post dip in the pool and after a lovely cerveza ;) As predicted (and promised) Oaxaca is a nice spot to visit. This time of year seems perfect, the rainy season is mostly over so the city is lush and the festivals are in full bloom. Monday when we arrived we had tickets to the 80th annual Guelaguetza (regional dance festival of sorts). On our way up to the hilltop venue we stopped for our first mole. It was delicious! Just as we were finishing the next reservation (local celebrities) had arrived and excused us from our table with photos and a Mezcal shot. Nice to meet the dancers up close! Walking up the hill was fun too - lots of food to buy on the street. We polished of a ... read more

So...our last couple adventures were to the Cu Chi tunnels and a two day tour of the Mekong Delta area. We must be getting brave cause we signed up for a trip to Cu Chi tunnels on motorbike. One thing to be on the back of a motor bike in the countryside...quite another in Saigon. 1.5 hours each way....oh boy...where to start! We'll just promise a video clip when we find a USB-friendly computer. Cu Chi tunnels are pretty neat - these folk built over 200 kms of tunnels (multi-level) and an assortment of traps - all with either recycled US bombs or collections of mutilating spikes. Thousands of Vietnamese (men and women and children) hid out here while the americans were "visiting". One tunnel travelled an entire kilometre to the river, should a major escape ... read more

Hey folks, Not that we like to be reminded as to how little time we have left (ahem, we mean we miss you dearly and can't wait to arrive home to colder weather - is there at least skiing yet?)....but we thought we'd give you the highlights of what we've been up to lately and before we're home where blogging may be redundant. Our first (and there have been many) arrival in Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) was fairly quiet - took care of business (tickets and such) and found a great place to stay - down a little alley with a family. They occupy about 200 sq ft - and us, not so much less. After the quiet bits we returned home to find expats, locals and our hosts drinking beer and (awful) rum on the ... read more

Thanks to Mr Tung, we had travel arrangements that took us from the coast - on buses, boats and an overnight train - to Lao Cai. A little groggy (it was just after 5 am) we refused enticing purchases outside the train station including sexy lighters (damn - if we were more awake we would have bought one - lighter PLUS porno projector...), we boarded a bus away from the Chinese border town to climb 1,000 m to Sapa. Most of us slept, but the winding hills and motion sickness kept Jen awake (and sympathetic Rob) - silver lining was a great view of rice terraces / hills on the voyage up. Sapa is a beautiful (albeit rainy) mountainside village - lots of locals and two local hill tribes willing to house us, and sell more ... read more