Pre-trip thoughts

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We left Toronto on September 22. We went to Kingston, Ontario area and cruised the Thousand Islands. Then we went to New Jersey to stay with my sister Cecilia and her husband Lloyd.

We leave for our backpacking trip in 2 weeks. Our general itinerary is: Hong Kong (2 weeks), China (Yunnan - 3 weeks), Laos (3 weeks), Thailand (7 weeks), Cambodia (3 weeks), Vietnam (6 weeks), China (1 week) ,Hong Kong (1 week)

We are excited about the trip. Here are our some of our pre-trip thoughts.

In Yunnan, we will visit the smaller towns near Kunming.

In Laos, we will visit the UNESCO site of Luang Prubang and stay a few days on stilted houses (with no electricity) by the river.

In Thailand, we will visit the National Parks and minority tribes in Chiang Mai (Northern Thailand), spend a few days on the beaches of Koh Chang Island and perhaps play a bit of golf in Rayong.

In Cambodia, we will visit the Angkor Wat.

In Vietnam, we will travel from south (Saigon) to north (Hanoi) and especially look orward to Halong Bay, near Hanoi.

On this trip, we will in most cases stay at hostels and guest houses. We will learn how to live efficiently with one backpack's full of belongings.

We expect corruption (from border guards) in Cambodia. We will encounter primitive living conditions in certain parts of Yunnan and Laos, where electricity is a luxury. We will see maimed citizens who lost their limbs to land mines. We will see pedophiles and young prostitutes in certain parts of Cambodia and Thailand. We will hear stories from those who lost their loved ones in Vietnam and Cambodia. We will see how minority tribes live, who grow their own food and weave their own cloth. We expect to be up close with poverty, in some areas that we will visit. We may be cheated or robbed, but hopefully they are minor instances.

On the other hand, we expect to see some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. We will experience different cultures, taste different foods, learn different languages, drink different beers (Beer Hoi in Vietnam, Beer Lao in Laos, Beer Chang in Thailand, etc).

We will have opportunties to ride on different modes of transportation, motorcycles, local buses, river boats, converted pick up trucks, trains, bicycles, tractors and motor-rickshaws.

We will see some of the most famous temples, ruins and museums. We expect to meet some of the most wonderful people in every country that we visit.

More importantly, this trip will give us an opportunity to expand our horizon and allow us to explore the world. This trip will make us think hard of our own priorities, what is important and what is not important. This trip will likely change our attitude on how the world works, how things work around us, and how we can and cannot make changes. This trip will allow us to focus our energy on things that we should care.

When we return, I believe our attitude will have changed, our priorities
will have changed. How we felt and believe so firmly now may become inconsequential.

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