Thailand: Visa runs and Buddhist Temples

We've finally reached the most modern country in Southeast Asia. We stopped in Bangkok for a few days, which was a culture shock. Khao San Road is infamous for its abundance of crazy nightlife and philandering tourists that come to take advantage of the industry there. Walking in the neighborhood was like walking around any Western city. There was hardly a local person in sight. We caught a movie there (Public Enemies, not bad), and then took a night train to Chiang Mai in the North. We've been here for four days preparing for the 10-day meditation retreat that starts tomorrow. Yesterday we made the popular visa run to the Myanmar border to extend our stay in Thailand by 15 days (our permit would have expired while we were attending the retreat). We crossed the border for a few hours and upon return to Thailand, received a new 15 days of travel. We'll do the same thing once we get out of the retreat and head south to the beautiful beaches. We'll be out of touch with the world until the 10th of August. Until then, everyone take care.

Stage 3 - Cambodia

After a 7hr boat trip and a few hour van ride we finally made it to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. Surprisingly, unlike the country side, the city itself was a little more developed and westernized than we expected; a lot more cars/suvs, modern buildings. At first glance, the countryside of Cambodia is noticeably poorer than Vietnams’, however I have never seen so many Lexus’ and Land Rovers in my life, putting the social class breakup into perspective. Seems that there is a huge gap between the upper and lower classes. Moving on, we were able to find a little sanctuary within the city that catered towards tourists; hamburgers, pizza, English movies, book stores, real milk. After traveling around for awhile, however wrong it may seem, its nice to step back and get a taste of life back home. We spent the majority of the day running errands; washing clothes...actually that’s the only productive thing we did all day, aside from eating about 4 meals and watching a few movies. A few days in the city and we were ready to move north to Battombang. For being the second largest city in the country, it is tiny, population of 160,000. We walked around a bit, saw the central market, took a siesta, both finished our books. Tomorrow we are of to the Siem Reap / Temples of Angkor. Until then, hope everyone is doing well back home, miss you all.

Saigon and the Delta

Hello faithful friends,
Just a quick update. Spent a night in the wild town of Saigon, known for its abundance of motorbike's. There were literally hundreds of drivers at each intersection. It took us on average 5 minutes to cross a street. All part of the challenge. I'm not sure if even Matt Egan could manuever those wild streets in a motorbike. We decided to sign up for a 3 day tour of the Mekong Delta, welcoming the ease of being herded like cattle from one place to the next. We've done some pretty random things on the tour: Bet on and watched a pig race, fed crocodiles with a fishing pole, and stayed at a Vietnamese family's house on the river. We're on the border now between Vietnam and Cambodia. Tomorrow we'll say goodbye to this lovely country, and embark via river boat up to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. We'll have the luxuries of internet at our hostel there, so we can finally upload some videos and pictures for everyone to enjoy (especially the pig racing). Our mission for tonight is to find a place that serves pizza, as rice and noodles are starting to get repetitive (we did have KFC in Saigon...wonderful). Hope all is well at home!

The Central Highlands

On our continuing quest through Vietnam, we find ourselves in the mountainous region north of Saigon. Our Lonely Planet book referred us to a town called Kun Tum, where we find ourselves now. It sounded appealing because of the "warmest people in Vietnam," and "beautiful scenery." Unfortunately, we've found the people here to not be very friendly, especially when we say we're from the U.S. We've been playing our Canada card here quite a bit (because who can really stay mad at someone from Montreal)? While the city itself is somewhat drab with a communist feel, the surrounding countryside is beautiful. The Central Highlands saw some of the most intense bombing campaigns of the war, and you can still see some signs of it (Huge areas with little to zero trees, people with birth defects from Agent Orange). We've only spent two nights here, and are leaving tonight on an overnight bus to Saigon (HCMC). We did have some good movies on in our room, including Psycho and Mrs. Doubtfire. Quite a combination. We've only until July 21st (Our visas expire), then on to Cambodia and mighty temple complex of Angkor Wat. We'll get some new photos and videos up at our next stop.

The Land of Tailored Clothing

We've been in Hoi An for three nights already. It's a very laid-back little town. Every other store is a clothing shop. I've officially bought my first suit and silk tie, and Mike has gotten suits of his own. The value here is great, and much cheaper than in the U.S. We tried them on yesterday, and not that I've had much experience wearing suit jackets, but I have to say we looked pretty sharp. Mike's pants were too tight around his thick farmer ass and legs, so he's getting that refitted today. We've picked out our restaurant (kind of like in Seinfeld) that we go to every day. Beers cost .15 cents there! And the foods great too. The beach is only a few miles away, and our hotel provides us with free bike rental. We soaked some rays and checked out the babes yesterday, occasionaly taking a dip in the ocean. The water is warm and clear, and the only downside is that you have to watch out for jellyfish. Went out with a few Australian ladies and a German last night for a few drinks. We'd met one of them before in a different part of Vietnam. This isn't the first time we've run into people we've met days or weeks ago in different places.

Halong Bay

After 24 hours of travel from Sapa, we reached our destination at Cat Ba Island, which is the only inhabited island in Halong Bay (which is a series of thousands of little islands in close proximity to one another. We took an overnight bus to Hanoi and continued straight on to Haiphong, the main port for travelers to see Halong Bay. We figured Hanoi was another bustling city that we weren't in the mood to see. When we arrived at Cat Ba Island, it took us nearly four hours to find a room. Apparently it was a Vietnamese holiday (not the 4th of July), plus it was a Saturday when we arrived. Since then we've gone to a beach and loitered around the main strip on the water. We'll be leaving tomorrow for Hoi An, which is the place to be if you're looking to buy a hand-tailored suit for cheap. If anyone has recommendations for us as far as what our suits should look like, feel free to comment. The weather in Halong Bay has been crappy, and there are many tourists, which took away some of the experience for us. Personally Sapa has been the most memorable experience thus far. The Hmong Villagers are a fun bunch of people. We've got videos posted now. They're directly on this web page or you can go onto YouTube and search 'Jayd22j' which is my account name.

Into Vietnam: The Northern Mountains

We finally reached Vietnam on the 29th of June. China was a great experience. We headed back to Kunming from Dali, and in the same day took an overnight bus to the border of China and Vietnam. If you've never been on an overnight bus, let me tell you that it can be a very intimate experience with other passengers. Imagine a coach/greyhound bus with the seats gutted. There are three rows of bunkbeds that run the long way of the bus, with two isles separating them. The space is very unforgiving for a man my height. I sat down next to a cute Chinese woman. I mistakenly told her in Mandarin that she was beautiful. Moments later, she had moved seats and Mike swooped in to take the newly available room. 12 bumpy, stinky, and loud hours later, we arrived at the border. After crossing the river into Vietnam, we took a bus up through mountains to the village of Sapa. It is quite possibly the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen. Picture being on the side of a mountain with green jungle and fog surrounding you. There is a waterfall that runs into a stream a short walk away. We went swimming in the crystal clear water and walked around a few Hmong villages. Lots of chickens, pigs, and cows (which look more like water buffalo here). We'll be here a few more days, then on to Hanoi, where we plan to celebrate the 4th of July (definitely being much more inconspicuous of course). Mike and I weren't sure of what reception we would get from the Vietnamese (with the war and all). So far, they've been very similar to the Chinese: curious, friendly, and eager to practice their english. We'll try to get some pics and videos up very soon. Stay tuned.