Vietnam

Highlights of Vietnam so far:

2 day cruise on board a junk boat in Halong Bay
Water puppet show in Hanoi
A visit to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum
Motor bike tour of Hue and the countryside
My Son ancient ruins from the 4th century
The charming, small town of Hoi An
A Vietnamese cooking class
Hiring our own motor bike and cruising around the countryside

More to come...

Laos

We have fallen in love with Laos. We just love the country to bits. The lifestyle is relaxed, the scenery is gorgeous and the people are just so warm and sweet despite the language barrier. There's just a certain charm and warmth about the country and the people. And, even though Laos is one of the poorest countries in the world, it is by far one of my favourite all-time places to travel. It really is amazing- you must see it for yourself. It hasn't been destroyed by the almighty dollar and irresponsible tourism. I really hope it doesn't change too much in the future.

We did a boat trip down the Mekong River and it was awesome. Along the way we stopped in to some tribal villages and they had never seen any westerners before... they don't even speak Laotion- just their own language. And still, despite being unable to communicate, and the fact that "strangers" were in their village, they were shy yet genuinely interested and so welcoming.

We even did an overnight stay in a remote tribal village and that was quite an amazing experience. No showers, toilets, beds, hot water, electricity, etc. Very basic and we did just like the locals did... bathed in the river, ate their food, played with the children and helped with the rice and craft making. Again, the people were just amazing and the children were so darling.

Once again, I don't have much time and there's so much to write about but I'll end this for now. I will tell you that I was: 1. attacked by leeches and had to burn them off; and 2. we went kayaking down some rapids and capsized in the river. It was fine and actually quite fun but our dry bag wasn't quite dry and our passports are a sight for sore eyes. We're hoping they'll hold out until the end of the trip... fingers crossed!

Thailand

We have started our month long tour of South East Asia. This is will the first of many entries about our travels. Internet is hard to come by and when we do have it, it's rather slow so there will be no pictures and only short blurbs about our trip so far.

We started our trip in Bangkok and let's just say we were glad we saw it but happy to travel north to Chiang Mai after a few days. Bangkok is so crowded, dirty and polluted- it's just not our cup of tea. While we were there, we saw many temples, learned about Buddhism, visited the Grand Palace, rode down the river in a long tail boat, and took in the city itself. Bangkok is a very interesting place with a lively energy and tons of hustle and bustle. I could go in to lots of detail but perhaps I'll save that for another time.

After Bangkok, we took a 14-hour overnight train to Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand. This part of the country is less crowded, more relaxed and has natural beauty. We spent only one night in Chiang Mai but during the day, we did an elephant trek (where you ride the elephant) through the Thai jungle and then went bamboo rafting down the river. The raft is basically eight bamboo sticks tied together to create a raft. It was quite relaxing cruising down on our raft and we came out unscathed! After Chiang Mai, we drove to the Laos border where we crossed the border by boat in to Laos.

So for now, that's where I will leave it. Check back for more...