"As expected from a 5-star resort" we were greeted with refreshing lemongrass towels and tea upon arrival. The place was beautiful, all it was missing was a friendly little elephant to swim with in the afternoons, but you can't have it all.

Our days consisted of lounging on the beach, lounging in the pool, and lounging in our room when there were afternoon showers. Questions such as "Do you want to go to the big pool or the pool with the water jets?" or "Should we lay in the hammock under the palm tree or on the sundeck in the Andaman Sea?" became commonplace.

Every evening, we would enjoy a drink outside on the beach while watching a spectacularly colorful sunset.

This resort had all sorts of activities to keep you busy, if sitting in a beach chair reading a book wasn't enough to entertain you. So we took advantage of this and did some kayaking, windsurfing, beach volleyball, and hobiecatting.

It was a beautiful end to a wonderful trip. We knew that in a few short days we would be looking down on the Pacific Ocean on our way back to familiar lands. We were of course looking forward to going home to see family and friends, but while watching the sunset with the warm breezes sweeping off of the sea, it made it just a little bit harder to leave. There is no such thing as a vacation that doesn't end and we know how fortunate we are to have been able to extend it for this long. What we've learned and will take back home with us from this trip is going to be the best souvenir of all.

Until next time....

One last hurrah remains copyright of the author rebmamber, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Before spending another 5 days in Chiang Mai, we took a quick jaunt up to the north into the mountains of Northern Thailand that we had missed on the first go. We spent three nights in the cute little town of Pai, which is nestled in the valley. Despite the fact that the town is overrun with hippie-minded westerners and lacks much Thai culture, it was a very relaxing place with yoga lessons and live music everywhere. Imagine being halfway around the world listening to a wonderful acoustic version of "Blackbird", pretty cool.

Our adorable bungalow along the Pai River.

A massive gecko. We have been hearing these in the evenings for a while, but this is the first one we actually got to see. It's easy to know when you are hearing one, they basically call out their presence: "Gecko, Gecko, Gecko".

A preview of Songkran (Thai New Year) - more to come.

We returned to Chiang Mai in time to celebrate the Thai New Year, or Songkran. The main festivity of the week, other than receiving blessings for the new year, is to get every person in sight as wet as you can possibly make them. People of all ages hit the streets with buckets, hoses, and water guns to soak passersby. It is physically impossible to not get wet, but considering that it is the hottest month in Thailand (and it is really hot), you don't try very hard to avoid it. Chiang Mai is widely known as the best place in Thailand to experience this, so we bought some buckets and threw ourselves into the madness.

The main street around the old city.

Us before we were soaked. We were only spared because we had our camera out, once that was gone, there was no escape.

The moat around the city where people have an endless supply of water.

Justin getting more ammo.

Justin getting his first soaking of the day from a few novice monks.

On the day before New Year's, there is a huge parade through the streets where people come to splash water on statues of Buddha (as well as each other and anyone else walking in or watching the parade).

The monks giving blessings to the parade and passersby - water guns deserve blessings, too!

It was so nice to return to Chiang Mai and to feel not-so-foreign in a foreign city. Songkran in Chiang Mai may not have the reputation of Mardis Gras or the running of the bulls, but it was a wild time and highly recommended on things to do in your life (if you get the opportunity).

Back to Thailand remains copyright of the author rebmamber, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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For our last hurrah in Laos, we had kept hearing a lot of great things about the Gibbon Experience program. The "experience" is located in western Laos within the Bokeo Primary Forest Reserve. The program was set up by a westerner trying to encourage the preservation of the forests in Laos by getting the villages involved in making a profit through eco-tourism rather than logging. The forest is also home to many families of gibbons and other wildlife. Gibbons are the smallest of all the apes, are the least protected and researched financially, and are the most endangered. The premise of the experience involves zip-lining through the canopy of untouched forest to treehouses where you sleep. The nice thing about it (other than being a really unique idea) is that they limit the number of people and only have 4 treehouses to minimize the impact of the tourism.

We started our "experience" by leaving Luang Nam Tha and heading south on the "new highway". We had heard the road was to be completed in 2006, but considering that 200 out of the 220 miles is still under construction, I don't think they're going to make their goal. Needless to say, we got to spend about 6 hours in the back of a dusty truck to get to the tiny village of Ban Don Chai where we were being picked up the next day.

The "new highway".

Typical Laos transportation.

This is the village of Ban Don Chai, this is about all there was to see.

The following morning we were picked up and whisked away for a hour drive into the surrounding forest to a village where we would begin trekking to the Gibbon Experience's base point. We hiked about an hour to a small base camp where we began the zip-lining. On our way up we passed a few people ending their experience and one of the guys said to us, "you're in for an experience". At the time we were not sure how to take that comment, but after three days with the Gibbon crew, I think we understand what he meant.

I'll spoil the ending now, just in case anyone is reading this blog who may be considering signing up for the "Experience" (if you don't plan on going to Laos and are not considering the Gibbon Experience, skip to the next paragraph). The Gibbon Experience is a great concept, with the zip-lines and tree houses, the forest at night sleeping high above the ground, and the project's goal to show the locals that they can make a good living by protecting the forest and not logging, poaching, etc. And apparently the concept is working as the forest people now carry full wallets to the markets and not bears, gibbons, and other such protected animals that carry a high price tag. However, the program is only about a year old and it shows a bit. For what it costs, a small fortune in Laos kip, the organization of the experience is very weak. We would suggest to anyone going on the Experience to check your accommodation over before your guide leaves, as one night there was only one small candle provided for us (lasting all of 20 minutes or so) and no towels were provided as promised in the brochure. Additionally, if you opt for the waterfall (hiking) option, make sure your guides understand what you want to get out of the hike. We felt quite rushed during the hikes and did not see a reason for the rush.

The main treehouse is the most spectacular, a tri-level structure built high up in the branches of an amazing banyan tree.

Looking down.

The view of the forest from Treehouse 1.

After that, the next zip-lines were wonderfully long and glided you through gorgeous canopy and stretches of open space over looking the region. Just spectacular.

Leaving Treehouse1.

View while zipping over the trees.

We opted for a route around the reserve that would include a night at a treehouse that overlooked a waterfall. However, this option also involved more hiking, but we figured it would be worth it. And as our first night's accommodation did not have water to rinse with, the waterfall proved to be very refreshing on the second night. The first night I (Justin) woke to thunder and lightning in the distance and a slight breeze kicking up. Remembering the safety instructions that read, "If wind, leave the treehouse", I thought, what constitutes "wind". And where do we leave to, we are an hours hike from the next treehouse and about another 1/2 hour of zip-lines from anywhere where there was a shelter on the ground. So, with no one to tell me that the swaying of the tree you are feeling is caused by the "wind" mentioned in the safety instructions, I closed my eyes and tried to sleep a bit. The storm never made it to us and in the morning we were woken by the gibbons singing in the distance. Their high-pitched song sounded like sirens and went on for quite a while.

Sunset from Treehouse3.

The second day we hiked along a river for a couple of hours to a tree that hovered over the surrounding forest and waterfall like it was planted their for the sole purpose of sleeping in. As we zipped to the tree house the sound of the waterfall below got louder and louder. In the tree house, the view was spectacular as we were the highest thing around. After a brief tour of our accommodation we zipped back down to the ground and headed to the waterfall for a swim and wash. Of course the water was cold and of course Justin swam alone, but again, he needed a good washing.

Our guides preparing dinner.

That evening we watched the sunset from our tree house and ate a great dinner cooked by our guides, who stayed in a hut on the ground not far from the base of our tree. The tree house had no facility so any bathroom trips involved putting a harness on and zipping to the ground.

Our hike back to the village the following morning took us through some gorgeous bamboo forests. At times we felt like we were underneath a giant game of pick-up sticks.

That evening (after another flat tire) we got dropped off in Houay Xai, the Laos border town where we would cross the Mekong the following day and enter Thailand. We were pleasantly surprised by the town and had a nice evening and morning before we said goodbye to Laos, until next time...

Last Laos sunset.

Gibbon Experience remains copyright of the author rebmamber, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Well-rested and full of steam, we left the tranquility of the river villages and headed to NE Laos in search of some trekking adventures. We booked a bus to the charmless city of Udomoxai in hopes of catching an afternoon bus out of the city and avoiding a night in the industrial Chinese trade city. However, when we reached the bus station we heard words from the ticket booth that we did not think were in the Laos vocabulary, "Bus full"????? We have been on buses with people sitting on rice bags in the aisles, people on top of the bus, and people standing on the bumper while the driver would stop for more people. Surprised and devastated, we put much effort into hiring a car to get us out of town that afternoon, but it was Sunday and the locals weren't interested. So we stayed the night.

"Speaking" Lao with some local children using our phrasebook.

An early morning alarm, a quick breakfast, a 6-hour crammed bus ride, a re-welded rim, and a spare tire later we made it to Luang Nam Tha in the early afternoon.

One of our bus passengers, a rooster on a string.

Every seat full including the "seats" in the aisles.

Changing the tire took way over 8 minutes.

The bridge made of bamboo baskets in Luang Nam Tha.

Luang Nam Tha's big draw is the surrounding Nam Ha protected area, so we hooked up with three other travelers that we met on the bus north and signed up for a three-day trek with the joint Laos/New Zealand government's Eco-Tourism group.

The next morning, with the 2 Belgians and one Kiwi, and two fairly good English-speaking guides, we headed out into the jungle for a few days. We drove out of the city a little ways before making our first stop at a village where we would begin our hike. We also gained a local guide, who carried our lunch, and we headed up (straight up) into the mountains. After a couple hours of exhausting hiking, we made it to a small bamboo shade structure where we had lunch and a much needed break.

Being followed by the village kids.

Our lunch.

After lunch, the trail leveled out a bit and we got under the canopy of the forest and into the shade.

Our first night we stayed at the Saam Ngord village where we had a fine little structure shaded by the largest mango tree we have ever seen. As soon as we arrived, villagers made their way to us to check us out and bring us a refreshing papaya to munch on while dinner was prepared. We noticed one villager carrying a chicken upside down to the small kitchen in our hut. Low and behold, a few clucks from the bird and a little cleaning from the chef and we were eating (well, not Amber) Chicken Laab, a very typical minced meat dish in Laos (made with basil, green onion, garlic, chili, and mint). The town chief came to talk to us after dinner and we had a nice question and answer session with the help of our guides translating. They managed to rustle up a few beer Laos for us to enjoy and out came the cards and our guides now know how to play Shithead (quite well actually).

Mango Tree.

The village shower/watering hole/laundry/dishwasher, etc.

Some curious village kids.

Feeding time for the pigs.

The small village school.

Inside our hut.

Day two we hiked along the ridge tops for 5-6 hours with stunning views of the forest below. Again we had a local guide come along with us carrying our lunch. At lunch we discovered why we heard a pig making a heck of a racket the following evening. Yep, we got pork stir-fry for lunch (well, Justin did). At one point the local guide stopped, apparently, in the spot where a month ago he had seen a tiger. Maybe a set up to get a tip, well it worked.

The second evening we stayed at the Nam Khone village, again in a pleasant little hut. This village was blessed with a small creek so once again, Justin bathed with the locals, but he needed it.

Our hut.

Our bathroom.

That night we got to meet this village's second chief, which happened to be an attractive woman 48 years of age. She was pleasant to speak with, again through our guides and we were invited to come see her house in the morning. After the 2nd chief left, the beer Laos and cards were busted out as our guides wanted revenge for the whooping they took the previous night.

Our dinner - who knew ferns and garlic would be so tasty.

The next morning we went to see the second chief at her house and got a quick tour of her house where she, her husband, 8 kids, and 1 grandchild lived. She was adorably shy to have us in her modest house. We also got to check out the village and to see the village school in session, however, we distracted them from whatever they were supposed to be learning.

Interesting poster at the school depicting one of the problems kids are faced with here.

A shy village kid.

After breakfast we were off to make our way down through the beautiful jungle for a 5-6 hour hike. The hike took us through many lush bamboo valleys, up over peaks and back down to small river streams. It was very beautiful, the only downfall was that we had to keep checking ourselves for leeches, which all of us had hitch-hiking on our shoes at one point and time.

Our 3rd lunch consisting of sticky rice, bamboo shoots and rattan mixed with garlic.

Our guide Xeng and Amber.

Our local guide smoking the traditional way.

"And then I said 'Hi' like a spider to a fly"

After a pleasant day we made it back to town in the early evening. That evening, after some much needed showers, we met our guides for dinner and came up with a plan to rent motorbikes the following day and go to Muang Xing, a small town about 2 hours north of Lunag Nam Tha. We were pleased to have one of our trekking guides, Xeng, coming along. Either he thought we were really great people, or he had a crush on the single blonde New Zealand girl that was with us?

The next morning we hopped on some motorbikes and headed north. We rode another beautiful protected area, taking occasional breaks to stop and rest our bums and take in the scenery.

Xeng and Leah.

Some village girls wearing our helmets.

Don't ask me how he tied this bird to his stick, but it didn't seem to mind.

Muang Xing is about 10 km from the Chinese border, so the town is quite influenced by Chinese culture, food, etc. We found the town with more charm than Luang Nam Tha and definitely less touristy. Amber and I decided to stay the night just outside of Muang Xing at a small lodge overlooking the rice fields, so we said goodbye to our friends and relaxed with our nice view from our balcony.

The Muang Xing nightclub, unfortunately we didn't get to go back and check it out, but I'm sure it would have been hopping.

Three-Day Trekking remains copyright of the author rebmamber, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Having relaxed in the tranquility and relative moderness of Luang Prabang for 5 nights, we decided to take a slow boat north to a less-traveled and more remote area of Laos. The “6-hour” boat ride as expected took 8-hours, but the scenery was amazing and the occasional splash of cool mountain water was refreshing. It being the dry season in Laos, the river was a bit low in places and going up river there were numerous rapids we had to traverse, practically reaching a stand still on a few of the bigger ones. At one point the boat stopped along shore and the captain made hand motions which either meant to get out of the boat and walk up river or he was being annoyed by a very persistent fly. So we stretched our legs a bit while the captain and first mate pushed the boat up river (and I say boat loosely, we're talking a wooden canoe with a engine). But, two sore butts later, one new propeller, and a bunch of pictures, we made it to the small town of Nong Khiaw.

A view of the first mate in his skivvies.

Nong Khiaw

View from the bridge over the Ou River.

The alleyway to our guesthouse.

We spent one night in Nong Khiaw and then headed up river the following day another hour to the village of Muang Ngoi.

Packed in like sardines, no inch is wasted.

The mountains that surround the small village of about 500 people are impassible by motor vehicles, so there is not a car, motor bike, tractor, etc anywhere to be found or heard! The coconut tree-lined dirt footpaths and the tropical jungle right down to the clear river give this town a real "south pacific" feel, although we haven't been to the south pacific, but we're guessing it's pretty nice.

We stayed in a small bamboo bungalow on the bank overlooking the Ou River. A basic place, but what a view (I should mention it cost a whopping 1 USD!) Every night, the geckos chirped us to sleep while the roosters gave us our morning wake up call, which is quite typical throughout all of Laos.

This is literally our view from our bungalow.

The village only has power, via generators, from 7 pm - 10 pm and very little running water. All day, kids played in the river, most buck-naked, as all kids love to be. Every evening before sunset, most of the villagers would make their way down to the river to clean themselves, their clothes, or whatever else in the river. I (Justin) partook in this bathing ritual and got many a strange look when I bared my pasty white chest.

We went on a nice hike into the surrounding mountains and villages one day and did a bit of tubing and canoeing as well another day. But our three days in Muang Noi pretty much involved relaxing and reading.

Yes, the water was a little chilly.

The water buffalo enjoying a dip at sunset.

View of the town from the river.

An adorable baby, called "Et Noi", which literally means "baby". We were told that the children are not given official names until they can walk.

Some of the many bomb casings used around town. You'll see them as decoration, used as flowerpots, animal feeders and even supports for houses.

Taking the local boat back to Nong Khiaw.

Northern Laos remains copyright of the author rebmamber, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The road to Luang Prabang used to be considered unsafe, due to rebel activities, however, it has been over three years since the last bus was hijacked and a few tourists killed. Plus, the road is now heavily patrolled by machine gun-touting Laos Army men. Now, the only risk one can expect on this stretch of highway is loosing their lunch, as the road is ridiculously curvy, but luckily for us (kind of), our driver averaged a snail’s pace of 30 km/hr (~20 mph), so we just ended up with sore butts and a two hour longer than expected bus ride. However, who can really complain when the scenery is this beautiful!

Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang is a UNESCO World Heritage site selected for it's outstanding traditional architecture, still intact, which is rare in SE Asia with all the wars and bombs that have been dropped over the decades.

The town is exceptionally charming with brick-lined footpaths that criss-cross small alleyways. It is located on the banks of the Mekong River and we got to see some nice sunsets over the waters of the mighty Mekong (although it's pretty low now during the dry season).

There are over 30 temples in the small town and everywhere you turn novice monks are crossing the street or inviting you into their temple in order to practice their English. Luang Prabang strongly upholds the tradition of giving daily alms to the monks and every morning at 6:30 am, people line the streets to hand rice, fruit, etc to passing by monks. Amber managed to get out of bed for this, not only to take some photos, but also to participate.

While in Laos, we have accepted the slow-paced attitude and decided to go with the "less is more" mentality, so we ended up spending 5 nights in Luang Prabang. Some people we met said, "What are you going to do in Luang Prabang for 5 days?", well, we ended up filling the time easily with walks around the town, many stops in cafés and temples, and a couple of really good massages. There are also some great markets where you can pass your time (and money).

A great vegetarian buffet, you could fill your plate for 50 cents! We enjoyed this place several nights!

We hooked up with a few other travelers one day and headed to a beautiful waterfalls, Kwang Sy, about an hour outside of town, where we killed a day hiking to the different falls and swimming in several pools (well Amber didn't venture in the crisp water, but I couldn't resist).

The waterfall even had a tiger onsite. We had heard of sites in Asia where they use animals as mere tourist attractions, and have seen a few, but we were very pleasantly surprised to find "Phet" in a huge "natural" caged area, complete with a small creek and many large trees. Apparently she had been rescued from poachers when she was a baby and has been taken care of ever since. We were there for feeding time, where Amber got to pet Phet, while she chowed on some buffalo meat.

Luang Prabang remains copyright of the author rebmamber, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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We heard several hellish stories about the overland trip from Hanoi to Vientiane, involving people relieving themselves on toilet-less buses; buses not departing until every square inch of space is filled with a person, an animal, or thing; getting to your destination days behind scheduled arrival, and the ever common puking Asians. So, we opted for the 1.5-hour flight. But, in true Vietnamese-style, Vietnam wished us a fond farewell which goes a little something like this...

We decided to fly with Vietnam Airlines, even though it is a little more expensive than Lao Airlines, as every guide book and travel agency does not recommend flying Lao Airlines (they don't release their safety records and some of their planes have a fond attraction to the ground). So, we dropped a little more cash at the VIETNAM AIRLINES office, booked our flight, and headed to the airport. At the airport, we checked in at the VIETNAM AIRLINES desk, went to the VIETNAM AIRLINES gate, were led by VIETNAM AIRLINES staff to a LAO AIRLINE plane! I (Justin) being the semi-nervous flier, kindly asked the VIETNAM AIRLINES women at the stairs to the plane, what was going on. She said, "We sold the flight to Lao Airlines a couple of hours ago". No need to rant and rave anymore, we made it unscaved, but we were treated to a nice 180-degree turn at a 45-angle as we approached the airport in Vientiane.

VIENTIANE

We stepped off the plane to be smacked in the face with a blast of hot, humid air, something we haven't felt in awhile. We arrived in the capital of Laos, Vientiane, which could easily be described as the most laid-back capital in the world (we were soon to learn this was true of the entire country). Maybe we had actually gotten used to the incessant honking of horns, risking your life to cross a street, and being asked constantly to purchase things or go somewhere. We found none of these in Laos, a very relaxing change of pace. There is a saying in SE Asia that the Vietnamese grow rice, the Cambodians watch rice grow, and the Laotians listen to rice grow. We believe it and we like it.

Even though Laos is one of the poorest countries in Asia, this town seemed to be booming (more new cars and trucks than all of Vietnam). We later learned that the City is a magnet for foreign aid workers (NGO projects seem to have nice vehicles).

Sticky Rice baskets, a Laos staple.

Given that it was ridiculously hot in Vientiane, we thought riding bicycles around town would alleviate some of the heat. We checked out the Putaxai Arch, sometimes known as the Vertical Runway because this concrete monster was built with US concrete that was supposed to be used to enhance the local runway for our big planes. During the war in Vietnam, the US secretly had airbases in Laos (which went against the Geneva Accord, but so did the Vietnamese) and performed secret bombing missions in North Vietnam and in Laos. In fact, to this day, the CIA's presence in Laos is the largest and most expensive paramilitary operation in US history (as far as we know that is!). Also, the US dropped so many bombs on Laos in the 9-year-period, that per capita, Laos is the most heavily bombed nation in the history of warfare. I never learned that in history class, damn Largo High!

Vertical Runway.

View from the top.

There are numerous temples in this primarily Buddhist country, so we wandered about town checking them out. One of them even had a sauna and massage, and for $3, who can pass that up!

Wat Pha That Luang, the most revered temple in Laos and also their national symbol.

Temple kitten. ''Dad, can I have it!!''

VANG VIENG

The winding bus ride up to the town of Vang Vieng was a lot better than we had anticipated, although it did leave 2 hours late and took two hours longer than expected (231 km in 8 hours). Limestone mountains border Vang Vieng to the west providing magnificent views along the Nam Song river. We splurged on a $10 room with a view of the river and the mountains. Every night we "listened to the river sing sweet songs to rock our souls", literally! Anyways, it was amazing.

Interesting warning.

We decided to accept the Laos’ laid-back lifestyle and pretty much just wandered the town for a couple of days doing pretty much nothing, but loving it all along the way. The town is pretty much set up for backpackers, and unfortunately, it lacked a lot (or any) Laos culture (unless I’m unaware of the ancient Laos version of Friends, which plays incessantly in half of the restaurants). Also, the town was currently getting a sewer system installed, so it was a bit torn apart (though I deemed that the construction was not up to code). We did rent bicycles one day where we rode them outside of town to have lunch at an organic farm by the river.

Getting a button sewed back on by the side of the road.

We did hop on a kayak/tubing/caving tour one day, which turned out to be a good time. We visited Elephant Cave, where there is a stalagmite-like structure shaped as a, you guessed it, an Elephant and Buddha's "footprint". Unfortunately, not all of us made it as the cave was guarded by the rabbit of Caerbannog, but it was worth the casualties.

Next we headed to a water cave, where we tubed in the darkness for about 45 minutes to the source of a fresh water spring. Amber needed a little bit of persuasion to get into the freezing water, to say the least.

Don't look directly at Justin's chest without protective eyewear!

The rest of the day was spent kayaking approximately 15 km back to town, despite a much dreaded stop at one of the ubiquitous river bars as we made our way back to Vang Vieng by kayak in the afternoon. These bars should be stopped, or at least no more allowed, as they will surely get out-of-hand in a few years. Picture kayaking a crystal clear river, with limestone cliffs hovering over you and a few swift moving rapids, after a pleasant hour or so, you turn a bend and you hear Shaggy and Maroon 5 songs performed by some cover band being blared from huge speakers. Ahhhhh, nature.

We ended most days as they should be ended, watching the sunset, drinking a beer, and hanging out with some new friends. We may not return!

Lovely Laos remains copyright of the author rebmamber, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Like being woken from an afternoon nap by puppies licking your toes, Sapa greeted us with that warm fuzzy feeling that can only come from sunshine and beautiful scenery especially after 3 weeks in the busy and loud city of Hanoi.

We took an overnight train from Hanoi to Lao Cai, a town about 35 km from Sapa and 5km from the Chinese border. The train bounced around a bit, but was pretty comfortable (as long as you don't mind peeing in a hole on a moving machine). We were able to sleep some in our soft sleeper cabin, which was a huge advantage compared to the overnight bus rides we've taken.

Our 4-bunk cabin

From Lao Cai we hopped a ride to Sapa, which took about an hour as we were heading uphill the whole way on super curvy roads. I managed to score the passenger seat, Amber was not so lucky and was a couple of rows back with no view of the road to speak of. Luckily for her, and everyone else in the van, John, Paul, Ringo, & George sang to her from the i-pod and no chunks flew. Most of the drive was overcast and misty, but suddenly we broke through the clouds near Sapa and we were smacked in the face with blue skies and bright sunshine.

Our guidebook gave one of those "travelers secret" tips to visit Sapa during the week as the town is empty and prices are way cheaper. Our experience with those great tips usually goes something like this...

Lonely Planet: Coome's Coffee Shop is a terrific place to have a fine cup of joe where the prices are disgustingly inexpensive, great jazz is played, and the friendly staff is always there to top your cup off.

Then, you go there and find a packed coffee shop with high prices, lousy service, and Britney Spears blaring.

So when we got out of the van in Sapa Monday morning and noticed very few westerners and tons of hotel owners offering big hotel discounts, we were delightfully surprised. Don't ask me why tourists stay away on the weekdays, but they seemed to. Sapa is how a mountain town should be, with just the right number of places to grab a coffee or a beer, not an absorbent amount of tacky souvenir shops, and a good mix of mountain bikes and pickup trucks occasionally making their way along the small streets.

The saleswomen of Sapa.

We settled on a nice room above the town with a panoramic view of the valley and mountains and a fireplace for all of 10 USD

Our room is the one sporting the towel on the balcony.

Morning cloud cover over the valley south of Sapa.

Mount Fansipan in the distant, the highest peak in Vietnam.

Figuring that it was a gorgeous day and we couldn’t spend all our time looking off our balcony, we headed out to a village about 13 km from town. The slow downward walk through the open valley to Ta Phin village was spectacular. Along the way we passed several small "homesteads" with the Mom & Pop working in the fields and the children playing around the house. The rice fields are currently between seasons, but the views were still amazing.

Recently cultivated rice terraces.

A friendly water buffalo.

The different tribes in this region dress in varying traditional clothes. It sounds a bit Disney, but it didn't feel like a tourist attraction, as men and women far from the tourist areas worked in the colorful handmade clothes without attempting to sell anything to us, unlike the villagers who travel the town of Sapa, who surround you trying to sell all kinds of textiles.

Amber showing the kids how to operate a camera, but with a subject like me it's a breeze...

About the coolest kid in Sapa.

Once in the village of Ta Phin, we wandered around a bit, then were invited into a home of a Xao tribal woman, where we got a no-pressure viewing of some blankets, bags, etc, that she has embroidered.

After walking for most of the morning/afternoon, we opted for a motorbike back to Sapa where we relaxed in a nice café with a hot chocolate. Later that evening, we watched the fog roll back into the valley like a slow-moving body of water. It was breathtaking!

Better than TV!

Pleased with our navigation abilities and quite sick of being told where to go, how long you have, and when to come back; we decided to venture out on a more ambitious trek the following day. We bought what later turned out to be a horrible map of the area (no operator error, of course) and headed down into the valley south of Sapa, with a few villages to see along the way and a 3 pm pick up by our trusty moto-driver, Lum.

The scenery was amazing and even more spectacular was that we saw virtually no westerners, and for several hours of the hike, I can safely say we saw none. So, long story short, we ended up way west of where we intended to go, although on wonderful trails through terracing rice paddies and small villages where we got puzzling smiles from the locals and a few encouraging jesters helping us snake through the village.

An amazing trail that we had all to ourselves.

The salon.

This little guy whizzed passed us on his bamboo stilts.

Beautiful scenery and the mountains and rice terraces ain't too bad either.

Yes, we're bringing her home with us.

Our internal compasses got aligned and we made it back to the main trail and managed to cross paths with a couple of guided tours. We were excited to get a local to tell us (in English) exactly where we were, but were quite disappointed when he told us that we were a 10-hour walk from where we were supposed to be in less than 3-hours. This seemed ridiculous, an even though we knew the map was bad, there was no way it was that far off. So, we continued on assuming we were correct and the local guide wrong, we "stayed the course" and made it to meet Lum 15-minutes early.

Our last day in Sapa we decided to hit the road on our own, and we rented a scooter. Our destination was Tram Ton Pass, elevation 6,200 feet and the highest mountain pass in Vietnam. It is a place where two climates collide, the cool, wet east (towards Sapa) and hot, dry west. We made our way to the west ascending in elevation while the temperature continually decreased. But once we made it to the top of the pass, we were smacked with warm breezes coming towards us from the valley below.

The road into the warm valley west of Sapa.

Thank you for all the comments and Justin will keep the stach a bit longer as it seems to be getting warm receptions.

Anyone know a good spot to watch the SEC final in Laos??

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Here are some photos from the Peace house where we stayed:

Our humble abode.

Our daily van ride to the village where we passed new condos, supermarkets, rice paddies, and BBQ-ed dogs on tables. Yes, dogs, whole or in half, smiling at us - more on that later...

Most of the time in the house, we hung out together. One very common pastime was playing cards with Khiem and Khai, two very competitive Vietnamese brothers. They were fantastic at counting cards and we were lucky they didn't gamble or we would probably be asking for handouts right about now. While they killed us in playing Hearts, we managed to take the lead when we introduced them to Big 2.

We also ate most of our dinners together in the house. They were usually prepared by a Vietnamese girl, Hung, but USA took over one night to make an authentic American meal - Mexican food, of course. Ingredients were a little hard to come by, but a little experimenting and the meal was a success (who would have thought we would have to go Vietnam to learn how to make flour tortillas)! The Korean volunteers also took a night to cook, and yes Dad, we tried Kim Chi and Justin liked the cabbagey dishes! Justin tried his hardest to curb the use of MSG, but communication skills were weak and we are now numb to salty food.

Helping out in the kitchen.

Joanna makes salsa.

I make tortillas.

In our free time, many of the Vietnamese volunteers and staff showed us around Hanoi. It was wonderful having our own personal tour guides that would prevent us from getting overcharged for everything. Here are some photos from around town:

We visited a night market.

We were very tempted to buy this tasteful clock honoring Ho Chi Minh, but we couldn't fit it in our packs.

Justin picks up a smoking habit.

The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, where Ho's embalmed body is on display. Too bad you're not allowed to take photos inside! The experience of just getting into the Mausoleum is worth a trip to Vietnam. We have never experienced such unnecessary waiting in line, dropping off of bags, security screenings, picking up bags, dropping back off bags, single-file walking, no hands in your pockets or crossing of the arms (yes, I (Justin) was tapped on the shoulder for both), picking up of bags (in a different location from where we dropped them off), etc. The guy is pumped full of formaldehyde, do you think he minds if I have my arms crossed?????

Out for some famous Vietnamese Pho.

Aerobics by Hoan Kiem Lake.

Bridge in Hoan Kiem Lake.

Hanoi is famous for it's water puppet show.

Army training.

A visit to the Ho Chi Minh museum and house.

Inside the Temple of Literature, a 1,000 year old complex and Vietnam's first university.

A visit to Vietnam wouldn't be complete without a romantic tour on a swan boat. AWWWWW!! (We were forced, I swear)

We were invited to one of the volunteer's (Linh) family's house for dinner one night and were fed a huge meal of spring rolls and soup. Linh lives with her parents, brother and grandparents, which is the norm in Vietnam. Her entire family made us feel right at home. After dinner, I (Justin) won the ping-pong tournament, so I think we are even with Vietnam!

They lived across from a dog meat restaurant, which kept us entertained for a while. The place had some chopped up pooch on the table and a big live dog hanging out inside. When we asked if the live dog was on the menu for tomorrow, they laughed and said, "No, he's a friend".

Linh's family dog was being a bit annoying, so Justin took him to the restaurant to give him a little scare.

Our final night together with all the volunteers we had a huge farewell dinner and managed to jam about 30 people into the "dining room". It was one heck of a meal and we had a great time.

Volunteer Life remains copyright of the author rebmamber, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Week two proved to be a little less hectic than week one, partially because we pushed the starting time back about an hour (lazy Americans on holiday). The work at the village continued with some gardening and quite a bit of weeding, but we also were given a couple of new projects to keep us entertained. At the beginning of the week, we were given the task of repainting the playground's old and rusty equipment.

The ever-sharp dresser Khai in his painting sweater vest

We did our best to sand all of the rust and whatever old paint remained, then slapped a new coat on. No Home Depot in Vietnam to rent a pressure washer, so we had to do it the old fashion way. Since we were in the center of the playground, we were also the center of attention for many of the kids. After their initial intrigue wore off, they decided they wanted to help. It was not always "helpful", but it was fun to have them work along side of us.

Joanna and Bach

Linh

Hai and Hoa

Joanna and Hoa

This little guy was so focused on painting…

…so was Quan.

The kids during the second week were even more comfortable with us and were always around to distract us from what we were supposed to be doing. Hoa, you may remember him from Week 1, is very into karate, and we all got into many "fights" with him. I think he would win if it were for real!

We also moved quite a bit of dirt from one side of the village to the other in order to make a new pathway. This was quite a messy job, but we were all glad to not be weeding!

On our last official day volunteering we got to visit a primary school in Hanoi that is geared towards English speaking, and mainly middle class, kids in the area. The kids here were very, very active and for some reason loved to jump all over me (Justin). Amber & I were asked to teach the kids an "American" game or song. So we are pleased to say that the hokey-pokey has been introduced to Vietnam.

Reading an English story to the kids.

A couple of adorable girls treated us to a song.

And speaking of adorable, look at these outfits!

We were also brought to the school to paint a mural and help work in their garden. But, I have to say I mainly played.

We were treated to a wonderful lunch at the school before heading to the Friendship Village for a goodbye party. We brought pictures of the kids to hand out, small toys, and a lot of sugary snacks. The kids seemed to really enjoy the pictures and many showed us the pictures of them and pointed to where they were taken. It was a nice send off, but we could help not feeling a little sad as some of the kids seemed to have grown attached to us and we just left them. We hope for them it was better to have had a short relationship with us than none at all.

Hai, the happiest guy I have ever met.

One of the many skills some of the people are taught at the village.

This kid was amazing at soccer.

All in all, it was a great experience and we are so happy to have been able to volunteer over here. It was wonderful to get to know the other volunteers and learn about their culture, especially the Vietnamese volunteers which loved to ask us questions about our culture and quick to introduce us to some of theirs.

Volunteering: Week Two remains copyright of the author rebmamber, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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We went to Halong Bay with the volunteering group for a two-day one-night adventure. About 20 of us left Hanoi at about 8 am and 3 hours later (and a few car sick Vietnamese) we got on a boat and headed off into the bay.

We didn't have the best weather, but the fog and misty rain added an eerie effect to the spectacular scenery of this UNESCO World Heritage site. There are literally thousands of limestone mountains descending out of the water. For a few hours you are completely surrounded on all sides by these mountains and calm blue waters.

Fishing villages in the bay.

Justin and Cuong.

The never-ending card games!

Khai entertains us with his beautiful voice!

On the way to Cat Ba Island, we made a visit to "Surprise" Cave. Which despite it's quite corny name, did surprise us, as it was massive and beautiful.

After a 4-hour cruise on the 2-story wooden boat, we arrived at Cat Ba Island for the night. We checked into our hotel and it was very nice to have our own room and bathroom for one night after living with about 18 people for a week! We then went out to explore the island, but unfortunately, we only had about an hour before dark. Us Americans got wind of a restaurant with a happy hour special and organic (and no MSG) food, so we spent our free hour before dinner to check it out. We were very pleased with our black bean nachos with real guacamole and sour cream!

We all had dinner together and then tried to decide what we would do for the evening. However, with a group this big, it is very difficult to find something that everyone wants to do, so we eventually split up into 2 groups, and we went to a pub to relax, which turned into a karaoke session. There is not a day that goes by in Asia where you don't see, hear or participate in karaoke (However, this was our first time participating, thankfully). The Vietnamese can really sing, and I think they enjoyed showing off their skills. However, the westerners brought down the house with our ear-piercing rendition of "Sweet Caroline". Neil Diamond would have been proud.

After leaving the pub, we were greeted with pumping sounds of techno music pouring out onto the street. A few of the Vietnamese girls were very eager to check it out, so we said, "Why not?" and went in. It was only 10 pm and the dance floor full of energy. We soon realized that what we were dancing to was a techno version of the anthem "Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh". It was hilarious and we busted some moves in honor of "Uncle Ho".

We retired somewhat early (around 11pm) since we had to get up for the ride home the following day. We would have loved to have more time out on the island, but it was great to get a chance to see it. We got home Sunday and got ready for another week of volunteering.

Halong Bay remains copyright of the author rebmamber, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Of course, everyone is familiar with the Vietnam War, whether you lived through it or have only seen "Apocalypse Now". The country has gone through some very difficult times since the war ended, known here as the "Dark Ages". Many people forgot about Vietnam once we left, but unfortunately the Vietnamese people are still suffering the effects of the war today. I just want to list a few things that we have learned since our time here.

During the war, twice the tonnage of bombs was dropped in Vietnam, a country about the same size as California, than were dropped during all of WWII in both Europe and Asia. One of the most devastating weapons used was the defoliating chemical known as Agent Orange. From the years 1965-1971 (when the use of Agent Orange was stopped 2 years before America left Vietnam), the US dropped more than 100 million pounds of Agent Orange, which was more than 3 lbs per person at the time including women and children. The U.S. government recognizes 13 medical conditions stemming from exposure to Agent Orange/Dioxin affecting U.S. veterans. But Washington denies any connection or culpability with regard to the millions of Vietnamese who were “the direct targets of the spraying, and who are living in areas that were sprayed and are eating the food from the sprayed land.” On the other hand, the Vietnamese government has spent little money in doing sufficient research that would back their claims and it will be very difficult, maybe impossible, to pin-point agent orange as the culprit of any deformity or disease as nearly everyone alive has some level dioxins in their system. However, it is difficult to ignore the fact that the Vietnamese people are suffering from an abnormally large amount of diseases and deformities in past and present generations. Even scarier is that no one can be certain how long it will take for the dioxins from Agent Orange to stop affecting this country.

There have been very little monetary contributions for pain suffered by the innocent victims of the war (by both governments). For example, in the United States, veterans and their families who have been determined to suffer from the effects of Agent Orange get a payout from the government of from $500-$5,000 per month. In Vietnam, the Vietnam government supplies disabled soldiers (of the North Vietnamese Army) about $7 per month. There is a petition to the US government to assist in the compensation process at http://www.petitiononline.com/AOVN/petition-sign.html?

The Project

We are working for a little over 2 weeks at the Vietnam Friendship Village outside of Hanoi. The village was established by an ex-Vietnam Veteran, once an active member of Vietnam Veteran's Against the War campaign. Once Vietnam reopened its' doors to foreigners in the early 90's, this man worked on establishing a project to help the Vietnamese people. The village currently houses 120 children suffering the effects of Agent Orange and about 40 war veterans. There are medical facilities, therapy, school, a small clinic, work training, and an organic garden to supply food all on the property. The best part about it is that it is free for the people and is continued by grants from the Vietnamese government and foreign donations.

You can check out the websites for some info on the village:

http://www.vietnamfriendship.org/

http://www.post-gazette.com/magazine/20001105agentorange1.asp

http://www.agentorange.org.au/

The Work

Our main goals with this project are to help out in the garden (i.e. harvesting vegetables, weeding, cultivating soil, removing bugs, planting trees, etc.) and to interact with the children and the Vietnamese volunteers. There are 8 foreign volunteers in total, from the US and South Korea, and about 10-15 Vietnamese volunteers who periodically assist us.

A portion of the garden that we are working on.

Inside the net house doing a bit of hoeing.

The Vietnamese volunteers literally dress nicer for gardening than we both did at our jobs. This is Hoa, the secretary of VFP in Vietnam.

Cultivating green beans.

A bit of dirt hauling.

Haul one-way, ride back the other.

Weeding.

Waiting to be plucked.

Joanna (Californian) & Amber (Alien)

Enjoying the organic carrots.

We dealt with a lot of off-and-on light rain the first week. The other volunteers: Young-Ji, Jeong-Ha, Tenley, Dung, and Joon-Hyun.

The Kids

The kids have a variety of deformities, some physical and some mental. So far, we have only had contact with less than half of them, since some are unable leave their beds. The children are extremely friendly, and even though some may not know their ABC's, they definitely know the definition of love and fun; and hugs are given out as though it were as essential as breathing.

Amber & Hoa, who is mute and deaf.

A different Hoa. He is a major picture hog, but with a smile like that how can you say "get out of the picture"?! Hoa (pronounced "Wa") is 20 years old and loves karate and dancing and is excellent at both!

Hoa jumping in another photo with "the organizer", Quan.

Quan, Hoa, and Truoung.

Amber and a few of the children, the little guy is 28 years old.

This little girl, also named Hoa, is blind, but has no problem with legos. She feels the pieces in her mouth and then stacks them on.

This boy worked on this same puzzle over and over for about an hour. He really had to work to get his hands to place the pieces where he wanted them, but he never gave up.

Bach is 16 and speaks pretty good English. He is so polite and a really nice boy.

Some of the other kids:

Justin being hugged by his shadow, Hien.

The boys like to treat Justin as a jungle gym.

Phu is so adorable and loves the camera - trying to steal them from you that is!

Quy (pronounced "key") is very friendly and also speaks a little English.

The children stay on average of about 2-3 years at the village for treatment and skill training. However, several of them have been there for much more that 3 years and will probably spend the majority of their lives there. Most of the children’s families live far from Hanoi and are unable to visit them.

Volunteering: Week One remains copyright of the author rebmamber, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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We touched down in Hanoi after a 4-hour delay and were greeted with a blast of cool air as we exited the plane. We were impressed to de-plane at a proper terminal instead of exiting on the tarmac like all our previous flights in SE Asia.

Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, is located in the northern part of the country (as I'm sure most of you who lived through the war years remember). The city buzzes with traffic, mainly scooters, but a few more SUV's mixed in for added excitement. The city feels more sprawling than Saigon and there are a lot more new construction and buildings all around. However, the older buildings are definitely more eclectic and have a little more character. For the most part the people seem similar to the Vietnamese in the south, although maybe a little more traditional and definitely less modern and westernized. The city seems less touristy than the majority of the ones we have been to thus far, but we certainly see a fair share of smiling faces wanting to sell us something.

A few locals chillin' on a street corner.

The little alleys in the Old Quarter of Hanoi are designated for different products and are also named accordingly, although in Vietnamese. For example, “Silk Street” contains silk products, "Steel Street" is full of things made from steel, etc. It is so funny to see shop after shop overflowing with the exact same products. They even have a street specifically for wooden birdcages.

A scene from "Toy Street”.

Get your spices on "Spice Street”.

And of course, your sewing products.

We were scheduled to report to our volunteering stint on Monday morning, so we spent all day Sunday unsuccessfully searching for a couple items that we needed for the work we were to do. (We later found out we were fine without them) Due to this, we didn't do much sightseeing, but it's fun enough walking along the tiny alleys. The "roads" were made for bicycle traffic, but now handle gobs of scooters and a few cars and trucks manage to squeeze through as well. Walking around is an adventure sport as the sidewalks are littered with parked scooters and the roads are streaming with traffic going every which way in any lane open.

Pagoda in the middle of Hoan Kiem Lake at day…

...and night.

Technology is great! Our webcam conversation with the entire fam.

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Hoi An - With photos (back by popular demand)!

Hoi An is a small city of around 75,000 along the Thu Bon River with charming streets lined with French architecture.

Every narrow street has just enough cafés and a ridiculous amount of tailor shops. Nearly every traveler leaves here with an extra bag or two full of custom-made clothes/shoes. We were no exception and are sporting several more items to carry around for a while. The shopper in Amber surfaced and I even got into it a bit. It was good fun being measured for a couple of pants and coming back later that day and trying on the finished product. If a bit more room is needed, no problem, come back in an hour and taaaaadaaaaa, perfection!

Our first night in Hoi An we stayed at a small guest house built in the early 1800's. The entire place was wall-to-wall wood work and just spectacular. Step out of this guesthouse and you are immediately immersed in the buzzing central market. To get to the guesthouse, we had to hike through the market, luggage and all, which was good fun. However, we learned quickly the next morning that markets buzz very early and decided to relocate after one night to a place where we could sleep a little past 5 am (we're on holiday after all).

Our second hotel.

Good fortune blessed us and we happened to be in town for some sort of night festival, complete with floating lanterns, mock "ninja" fighting, a parade, and such. The entire old town, which is a World Heritage Site, turns off its’ electricity and the streets are filled with torches and candlelight. Complete with the ancient looking architecture, you felt as though you just got out of the Delorian in 1750!

We rented bikes one day and headed out a few kilometers to the beach, which if you walked about 20 kilometers north, you would reach the famous China Beach. After chilling on the beach for a while we rode further along the beach to a small village, where we were overwhelmed by school children. A little bit out of the tourist area, we quickly became a spectacle to see, touch, and talk to.

West vs. East

Some photos around town:

A typical Hoi An dish, Cao Lau noodles drying by the side of the street.

Propaganda

Hué

We left peaceful Hoi An, taking a 4-hour bus ride up the coast to the busier, less manicured Hué. Hué ranks third in size, behind Saigon and Hanoi.

The picturesque perfume river flows through Hué. On the south side is the main city (where we stayed), and on the north is the old city - in fact, it used to be the Vietnamese capital and cultural hub a few hundred years ago. Most of the city was destroyed during the French war, and most of what was left was destroyed in the "American War", but there were still a few sites to be seen. We rented bikes and rode around the Citadel and entered the Forbidden Purple City (no longer forbidden!).

Justin loves cannons!

We ran into our friends from Québec again, so we ended up hiring a dragonboat for a little sunset cruise on the Perfume River.

This pagoda was made famous in the 60's as it was the place where the monks who set themselves on fire in the streets to protest the war came from.

There was not a whole lot else to do in Hué, but it was a good place to relax and recover from our constant traveling.

Our "private" balcony on the 4th floor of our hotel.

A cat helping me finish my vegetarian sweet and sour "pork".

Justin gives a cyclo driver a ride.

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1) NOTHING happens on time, nor goes as planned or as described in the brochure, by the person that sold you the whatever, or as written in your tour guide. (Case in point, I am sitting at the computer right now due to our flight to Hanoi being delayed 3 hours)

Another example that happened the other day goes like this:

AMBER: Can I get this one photo printed off of my memory card?

PHOTO BOOTH GUY: Yes.

AMBER: How long will it take because I am catching a plane in a couple hours?

PHOTO BOOTH GUY: One hour.

AMBER: Because if I can't get it in one hour, than I'm not going to bother.

PHOTO BOOTH GUY: Yes, no problem. Come back at 2:30 (pointing at the hands on his clock)

AMBER: Ok

Fast-forward to 2:30 -

AMBER: Hello!

PHOTO BOOTH GUY: (smiles)

AMBER: It's not ready?

PHOTO BOOTH GUY: Come back at 8 o'clock this evening.

AMBER: I will be in Hanoi (600 km away) at 8 o'clock this evening...

2) Everything is negotiable. Try this next time you go to Publix. Pick out a bottle of water and take it to the cashier and when she "says that will be $1", say no, no, how about .50 cents. In Vietnam every price is inflated (especially if you are a westerner) and by low-balling the sales person, the price can be brought a bit closer to what the locals pay (but still more).

3) There are NO RULES, consideration, or morals for walking, driving, or any other means of transportation. "He who hesitates is lost", that's the golden rule here. Never let anyone ahead of you or you will be left letting the whole country ahead of you through the door/aisle/whatever for hours. It is unbelievable how many times we have been shoved by someone passing us while we were slowing to let someone else ahead of us. Similarly, when crossing the street, do not wait for the light to turn (if there is a light), just go at a slow but steady pace and let the traffic zigzag around you. If driving, never let off the horn, do not signal, and don't bother with lights at night. JUST GO!

4) EVERYONE has something to sell, somewhere to take you, or a special deal for you. It amazes me that we can say "no thank you" to 7 motodrivers in a row, that ask us if we want a ride and the 8th motodriver 3 feet away from the 7th asks us again if we want a ride. A recent example of this selling drive was minutes ago when I walked outside and found it raining a bit. As I am putting on my rain jacket, two separate women, seconds apart, asked me, "You want rain jacket"? I point to the jacket that I am putting on and say "No, thank you", once to each of them. We are walking dollar signs.

Ok, enough ranting a raving, it never gets me upset, it just amazes me.

Plus, it is real hard to get upset at anyone that asks you if you want to buy a banana (when you are eating a banana and carrying 20 more) because they all ask it with a huge smile and when you say "no thank you", they smile back and say, "maybe later". Yes, maybe later I will want another banana...

By the way, we love ALL the comments, keep ‘em coming and don't change a thing!

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After a short visit in Saigon, we had to leave in order to be able to catch a glimpse of a couple of spots along the coast. We hopped on a 5-hour bus journey to a little beach town called Mui Né. There really is only one road in this town with resorts on the beachside and restaurants, bars and resorts on the other. Since we love the beach so much, we opted to pay $5 extra ($15) to get a nice room in a hotel on the beachside, where you could hear the waves crashing from your doorstep! Unfortunately, the water was a bit rough (and cold), so we just enjoyed the nice weather on the beach. This is apparently a huge spot for windsurfers and kite surfers since the intense wind and sunny skies are fairly consistent here.

The following day, we hired a motorbike to check out some of the local scenery. Some of the major attractions are a couple different sand dunes in the area. We didn't associate Vietnam with dry land and sand dunes, but much of the scenery around here looked like it was straight out of the desert (but with a couple of palm trees sprinkled in).

A couple of kids off to school.

We headed first the White Sand Dunes, which were about 35 km from town. We took a beautiful coastal road to get here, and the best thing about it is that there was hardly anyone else on it.

Some red canyon views along the road.

We arrived at the White Sand Dunes, and since neither of us like to get up too early (especially me, Amber), we managed to get there in the middle of the day. Thinking back, it was probably not the best idea to visit a large expanse of sand where you have to climb up steep, sandy hills in the heat of the day, but it was very nice nonetheless.

On our way back, we passed by a nearby fishing village with beautiful boats docked together in the water. There are boats that are used here which are completely round! When we stopped for photos, a couple of schoolgirls on their way home were interested in us. I let them take a look at the boats through my telephoto lens, and then they asked if we could get our picture together!

We made it to the Red Sand Dunes right before sunset. On the way in, we were attacked to buy a barrage of "sand-slide salesmen", this one using a new technique which we hadn't seen before!

It was great to eat our last meal at a nice restaurant on the beach with these guys running around your feet!

The next day, we hopped on another bus up to the town of Nha Trang. This town was definitely bigger than the last with a lot more to do, however, the first night, we hit a spout of rain which quieted the town down to a whisper.

Nha Trang in a fog.

The next day was sprinkling on and off, so we just putted around the city. We went to an art gallery for a Vietnamese photographer, Long Thanh. It was quite a spectacular exhibit and we got to meet and speak with Thanh, himself. Check out the “Galleries” at http://www.elephantguide.com/longthanh/home.htm

On our way back to our hotel, we ran across another Bia Hoi establishment. As it was the middle of the day and hot out, we thought it would be a good idea to pop in and have one liter between us both. However, we ended up getting invited to sit with a group of Vietnamese photographers who felt it was their personal obligation to be goodwill ambassadors for their country. Many beers and interesting food bites later, we were a little past our initial one liter! The Vietnamese will not take "No, thank you", or "Cam on, kom" for an answer!

After this, we thought it would be best to relax and enjoy a cup of the amazing Vietnamese coffee - it's nice and strong - along with some pizza!

Another adorable kid we met in the market.

Signs of Communism, so cheery, isn't it?

The following day turned out to be less cloudy, so we hopped on a boat cruise around the islands of Nha Trang. The scenery was beautiful, and the tour was quite entertaining, complete with snorkeling (for some), onboard karaoke, (forced) dancing, and a floating wine bar.

Justin's reaction to the cold water.

Our French singing tour guide belting it out.

Preparing sea urchin soup.

We also stopped at a fishing village where we were able to get a ride in one of those circular boats. Justin gave an attempt at rowing, but he was not as good as the 10-year-old.

Justin with Sam & Catherine.

We met the above Aussie girls on our boat, and met up with them later in the evening. We ended up running into a few other people that we had previously met (or seen) in another city. The interesting thing about traveling is if you've met someone for a minute, whenever you see them again, you are best friends - "Hey, I know you!". This turned into quite a late evening, complete with dancing at a backpacker hang out. It was fun since this was the first time we have really done this since we arrived; however, the next morning was not as fun. Luckily, we had booked a 1-hour plane instead of a 12-hour bus ride, so we were thankful for that!

A slightly strange Swedish expat we met.

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After a few days of busy touring to get to Saigon, we really had no itinerary once we arrived and we were happy about that. As you might suspect, Saigon is a very bustling city, with more motorbikes than you can count. We arrived into Vietnam at the end of the Tet holidays (New Year's), so it was actually a lot quieter the first two days, but on Monday, the motorbikes were out in full force!

The street where we stayed.

The first night we found a vegetarian restaurant that was calling Amber's name. She was able to get all the local favorites, meat free! "Seafood" pots, "fish" cooked in clay pot, fried "shrimp", etc. I tried them all and still feel the real thing is better tasting, but I have to say, they do a pretty good job imitating.

Fish head and all!

After tempting our anti-carnivore taste buds, we walked around the city and managed to find a few places to poke our heads into.

Justin LOOSING at Big 2!

Justin wishing he was as cool as Axl in the GN'R bar.

Amber is showing off her 1 MILLION DONG!

The first full day in Saigon we went on our own "walking" tour of the city, complete with the hiring of a cyclo, Vietnam's version of a tuk-tuk, human-powered, with seating for 1.5 people.

The Vietnamese Flag in flowers.

The Communist Party Flag.

A bowl of Pho, a famous Vietnamese dish. This was eaten at Pho 2000, made famous because President Clinton ate here in 2000 when he visited.

The traffic going by.

The endless stream of motorbikes.

The Municipal Theater.

The following day we headed out to the Cu Chi Tunnels, part of the Viet Cong's tunnel network constructed to combat the southern Vietnam and American alliance stronghold around Saigon. This highly visited tourist site was actually really interesting and impressive. The introductory video was not very kind to us Americans ("evil-doers"), but you have to realize that this is a government-run attraction in a "communist" country. The ingenuity and adaptability of the people who lived in these tiny tunnels for weeks and months was amazing. We got an opportunity to try out a 100-meter (~350 feet) section of the 240 km narrow tunnel network, including going to the second level which is about 20 feet below ground.

Snake Wine - we bought you all these for gifts!

We also visited the War Remnant's Museum (formerly called the Museum of Chinese and American War Crimes), again a gov't-run institution. It mainly contained photographs of many atrocities committed by the Southern Alliance (i.e. America) during the Vietnam War, or American War as it is known here. Despite the one-sidedness of the photographs displayed, it was a very chilling and horrific view of what happens during wartimes (and is surely happening somewhere as we type this).

One of the highlights of the day was our guide, Cao. Cao served in the southern Vietnam army during the end of the "American War", after which he was sent to a Re-Education camp for two years by the north. It wasn't until 1990 that he was legally allowed back into Saigon, although he had been living there illegally for many years.

We also had the opportunity to hang out some more with our Canadian and Dutch friends, including spending our last night together having a few drinks at a Bia Hoi establishment. "Bia Hoi" literally means "fresh beer", Vietnam's very own microbrew. Basically, they are set up wherever there is room, and this one spilled out into the streets every night. I guess that's because for a 1.5-liter jug, you pay 8,000 dong (or 50 cents!).

Nathalie & Steve

Jeroen & Jos

Saigon remains copyright of the author rebmamber, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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As much as we would have liked to stay in Cambodia and seen more of the country, we had to make our way to Vietnam if we wanted to see the sites up the coast.

We decided to take the less traveled route to Vietnam and hopped on a 3-day tour down the Mekong River, through the Mekong Delta, all the way to Saigon. It was very nice to not worry about the next place to stay, the next stop, the next bus, etc. for a change. We managed to be "paired" up with a couple of French Canadians and a couple of Dutch guys. We left Phnom Penh in the morning and headed down the Mekong for about 5 hours, through the Cambodia/Vietnam border, and to the town of Chao Doc.

Our "deluxe" yacht in Cambodia - just like the brochure!

This border crossing was a little less hectic than coming into Cambodia!

The trip along the river was very scenic, passing many farms (mainly rice paddies), men tending to their water buffalo (look like oxens) and small villages. Every village greeted us with smiling children jumping up and down along the riverbank screaming "HELLO!"

All the houses are hooked up with TVs, as you can see by the number of antennas.

The Mekong sustains an incredible amount of life, from fishing farms to vegetable farms to rice fields to live stock. The Mekong Delta region produces 70% of Vietnam's rice, plus all the rice that they export. This all surprised us greatly considering that the river is the place where everyone washes themselves, their clothes, pets, dishes, whatever; where all waste (trash, human, etc.) is disposed of and the list could go on and on. But, I'm sure that is how things were done (and maybe still done) not so long ago in the "first worlds" of the world.

We stayed our first night in a guesthouse just outside of Chao Doc at the base of the Sam Mountain (all of 230 meters high). We hiked up to the top of Sam Mountain/big hill for sunset where we could see Cambodia to the west and the Mekong to the southeast.

The next day we went by bus to Can Tho where Amber and I went to a home stay for the evening. We were picked up from the town and taken by motor scooters to the home of the family we were to stay the night with (I (Justin) just happened to see (and be involved in) my first scooter accident, just minor rear ending, I survived unscaved!)

Safe and sound at the home of a family of 8, we had lunch and enjoyed a little nap in the hammocks under the banana trees. In the afternoon, we took a walk through the village with Niem where we met his grandparents, who in perfect grandparent-style, fed us fresh food from their garden. Niem fired many "how do I say in English?” questions to us while telling us about the different farms in the area.

This is called a monkey bridge - I think you can see why.

That night we had dinner and homemade rice whiskey with the family. We ate dried fish (well I did), steamed banana flowers (we didn't even know those were edible), rice, and veggies w/tofu. One shot glass was passed around while two people would share each shot, half & half. Despite our attempts to claim our "last shot", it wasn't until the bottle was empty that we were done. Luckily, rice whiskey is not very strong (unluckily, it's not very good).

Our Vietnamese breakfast - noodle soup and tea.

The last day we visited a floating river market, saw how rice noodles were made, and then made our way to Saigon.

Rice Noodles drying.

We look just like the locals!

Mekong River remains copyright of the author rebmamber, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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This was our route.

We found ourselves at a little riverfront guesthouse with air-con, hot water and cable TV (all the luxuries for only $10/night). We did not have any itinerary planned while in Phnom Penh, just relaxing and seeing the city a bit. We managed to stumble upon the Foreign Correspondence Club (FCC) the first evening where we sipped some drinks, watched the sunset, and pretended to be journalists. The prices were decent since it was happy hour, and the views from the balcony onto the streets below were great!

The national museum of Cambodia at sunset.

The first day we simply walked around the City and let the sites come to us. We stumbled upon a bustling street market that kept us entertained (and disgusted) for a while. Brilliant fruit and vegetables abound, people everywhere, and some not so pretty sites (especially for the vegetarians in the crowd). Scooters, people, vendors and the occasional stray dog filled every inch of this street.

The following day we hired a tuk-tuk to take us about 15 km out of town to the "Killing Fields" of Choeung Ek. This was just one of thousands of horrific sights in Cambodia where the Khmer Rouge practiced genocide from 1975 to 1979. Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge soldiers killed 1.7 million Cambodians, or 21 percent of the population, in an effort to return the country back to "year zero" (a completely agrarian society) by exterminating or "re-educating" the intellects and those against the regime. It's hard to imagine that such atrocities happened just a couple of decades ago and they are surely happening elsewhere now. We were also surprised how little we knew about it before coming here (almost nothing).

The Killing Fields at Choeung Ek contain approximately 8,000 human skulls in a glass shrine that were excavated from this location. As you walked around the grounds there were many human bones and tattered clothing that were partially exposed, which was equally hard to stomach.

After the Killing Fields, we headed to the S-21 prison memorial site in Phnom Penh where 17,000 people were detained, interrogated, and tortured from 1975 to 1979. This former high school was taken over by the Khmer Rouge as a prison. In the prison cellblocks, there were haunting photos of the former prisoners; young, old, men, & women. If you could read or write, or even wore glasses, you were a target of the Khmer Rouge. Only about 15 people who were detained in this prison survived.

We spent a lot of time just walking around and exploring the city, as there are not too many "tourist" attractions. Here are a few photos:

One of the local kids you see around town. Some are clothed, some partially, some not at all. His family was nearby enjoying the park.

In Cambodia, gambling is a national pastime. Almost every alley you look down has a group gathered around a deck of cards. At night, they play by candlelight on the street.

A comfortable place to nap?

Two different worlds - girls walking down the street with buckets on their heads next to a Mercedes.

Phnom Penh remains copyright of the author rebmamber, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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After a 6-hour bus ride from Bangkok, we arrived at the lovely Cambodian border town Poipet. I (Justin) overpaid our visa fee, which zipped us through the border in about 1 hour, instead of 2-3 hours (basically sweetening the coffee of the border patrol, you gotta love corruption!). We had heard that the town of Poipet was about the worst place in all of Cambodia, and it definitely lived up to it’s reputation.

The chaotic border crossing. Adding to the confusion, the two countries drive on different sides of the road!

From there we had two options to get to Siem Reap, a 5 hour bus ride or a 3 hour cab ride on the infamous “nightmare road”. The bus ride was $10 pp, and the taxi was $40 for the whole car. We asked everyone around the border we could find until we managed to locate a Finnish couple who had the same timesaving idea that we had. So we were off! We think the taxi drivers either have an ongoing bet who can make the best time, or who can make the most people in the car pee their pants, because this guy flew. While speeds of 55 mph may not seem like that fast, you have to realize what this road is like. I had to remove my sunglasses as they kept on falling off and my head literally hit the ceiling many times. In addition to the road conditions, there are no real traffic lanes, nor considerations of imaginary traffic lanes in Cambodia. We were all over that road, into oncoming traffic, swerving around animals, people, whatever. It was like we were in the Baja 5000 in a Toyota Camry; I can't believe that car made the trip. After a 12-hour day of travel, we kissed the solid ground in Siem Reap and made our way to a guesthouse.

The next day we headed off to explore the ancient ruins of the Khmer Empire. The Khmer Empire established it’s capital in the area of what is now Siem Reap in the early 9th Century. The empire at its greatest extended over the valleys of the lower present-day Thailand and the lower present-day Cambodia and Vietnam and north into Laos. The capital city was centered around the massive Angkor Wat, the world’s largest religious structure. When Europe was in the Dark Ages and London only had 50,000 residents, Angkor has 3 million inhabitants and the ability to build some of the greatest temples ever built.

Angkor Wat

Justin at the top of Angkor Wat.

The view above the trees.

They built glorious temples throughout the city, all with extensive carvings. The temples were all made of stone and were built to house the Gods. The empire thrived for hundreds of years until the Thais captured Angkor and the capital was abandoned in the 1400’s. The only surviving structures today are made of stone, as the wooded ones were either burned or taken back by the jungle.

The size and ornateness of the temples is quite mind boggling, I hope these pictures do it justice, a few of them have a good looking model or two in them for perspective.

Banyon

There are over 200 of these large faces on this temple, pointing in the 4 directions of the compass.

Ta Prohm

This temple has been taken over by the jungle and the massive banyan roots.

Preah Khan

Justin showing some novice monks a few pictures from home.

We toured the temples for two days with a guide that took us around in a tuk-tuk. The third day we rented bikes from town and saw the sites on our own.

The town of Siem Reap was very nice with lots of restaurants and nightlife to keep the tourists happy. We were overwhelmed at times by the constant begging and the onslaught of people selling the same thing over and over again. It was very heart wrenching to have a 5-year-old carrying a 6-month-old follow you saying, “poor, milk, help”. We at times would buy a carton of milk for the child, but once that happened the kids came out of everywhere after you, which made us feel that we were not greatly impacting the child’s life by this small offering. We decided that money was not the best thing, because it would probably just go to the parents sitting around the corner, so we mainly have given food, which the kids usually eat on the spot. Hey, we can’t all be like Angelina Jolie, who by the way has a drink named after her at one of the places in town. We have had many discussions between us and other travelers about the children and the overall poverty situation in Cambodia and we have not found a solution (big surprise), but maybe the fact that we are openly discussing this between us, other travelers, and now you is a step in the right direction to finding a way to help.

Overwhelmed by bracelet sellers.

To follow are just a few other photos of some of the things we have seen here in Cambodia. You’ll notice several pictures dealing with various methods of transportation by the locals, which still amaze us.

They will ride for hours on the top of trucks and vans like this. This was a mild case, we saw many much more loaded.

Supposedly, this is not a frog or a toad. Not sure what it is, but it's cute!

We accept the photo assignment given by Coomey (iwannafly), and will be keeping our eyes open.

Off to Cambodia remains copyright of the author rebmamber, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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We left the islands on a 12-hour overnight bus journey back to Bangkok. It was a very interesting evening to say the least. It is nice to save a night's accommodation, but you really never get much sleep, nor do you get to see any of the countryside. Also, the bus drops you off at 5:30 in the morning in downtown Bangkok, which is an adventure in itself. Having nowhere to go, we hired a tuk-tuk to drop us off at Wat Arun, a temple along the river, where we were able to see the sunrise.

Back in Bangkok, we were lucky to stay with Jup, Pum and Patty, the Thai family we have befriended thanks to Eric & Ying. The first night we were with them, they took us out to a German restaurant. We initially thought it was funny to be visiting a German restaurant in Thailand, but we stopped laughing when we realized they had dark beer on tap. Any of you who have been over this way will understand that the beer in Thailand is horrible, unless you like flavorless lagers (Brian). An interesting thing that we finally learned that night is that Thai servers will keep filling your beer unless you tell them not to, hide your glass, and run out the door.

The next day Jup, Pum, & Patty all took the day off and we headed out to Ayuthaya, the old capital of Thailand. We saw the ancient ruins that were abandoned in the 1700's when the Burmese attacked the capital city and burned everything that could burn and did their best to destroy everything else. They even cut the heads off all the Buddha statues, which boggled our minds, as the Burmese are Buddhists themselves. We also visited several wonderful temples and, of course, ate well.

A wonderful Buddha face being taken over by a banyan tree.

To get the scale, notice the person in his hand.

One of the ubiquitous portraits of Thailand's king, Bhumibol Adulyadej.

The lunch spot was along the Chao Praya River, where we were greatly entertained by spitting Tiger fish. Notice the piece of shrimp on the right is airborne.

Our final dinner.

From our experiences; Thailand is an assault on your senses. You are bombarded with smells, sights, and sounds everywhere you turn. The streets hit you with good (food) and bad (open sewers) smells; the temples smack you with incense, quietness, and colors; the beaches meet you with salty air, hot sunshine, and crystal clear water; the people greet you with kind words and leave you with a wonderful respect for their culture.

Thanks for the compliments on all the photos. I (Amber) must admit however, that Justin has taken a good share of these as I am usually off fiddling with my SLR - so he deserves at least half of the credit! Here is another one of his "award-winning" shots of a Thai "school bus".

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After a few days of being spoiled at the Sheraton, we headed to the Phi Phi Islands. Phi Phi Don Island is in the Andaman Sea, about 2 hours from Krabi by ferry, and consists of actually two rock formations connected by a small sand bar.

Prior to the tsunami last year, the sand bar was very built up; now, there are only a few structures remaining and a lot of recovering palm trees. Approximately 2,000 people lost their lives on this small island last year when the tsunami hit, but the island is working feverishly to recover and great "progress" is being made. The memorials on the island and the stories of lost lives and unbelievable survivals were quite humbling. Here are a few photos of some tsunami-affected areas - those of you who have been here may recognize these places.

Due to the reconstruction, there is work being done all over the island. This is the pier where all the construction materials arrive.

A barbershop, with mirror and chair still in tact.

This was the main tourist beach. Before, there were shops and hotels, but until it is rebuilt, the beach has tents for rent.

The first day we went out to Phi Phi Ley Island on a snorkeling tour. Phi Phi Ley is protected from development and was made famous by good old Leonardo and the movie "The Beach", which was filmed at Maya Bay. Amber's quest to visit the set of every Leonardo Dicaprio movie is going well.

This is the beach where "The Beach" was filmed.

The snorkeling was pretty amazing around Phi Phi Ley, with schools of colorful parrot fish swimming by, beautiful coral formations, and we even got a great look at a Moray Eel. The bad part was that there was a ridiculous amount of boats in some of the areas and we feared being chopped to chum a few times.

The town of Phi Phi Don was actually quite nice and we spent the second day on the island just strolling around and hitting the beach now and then. There is also quite a bit of nightlife on the island which kept us entertained as well.

Amber's not the only one who picks up stray cats in the street!

We caught a "traditional" Thai boxing match, but it was more like WWF since everything seemed pretty staged.

Notice the mural behind the band.

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We entered the lobby with our backpacks, smelly and looking like we needed a shower. They greeted us with cold lemongrass tea and chilled lemongrass towels, the service that we expect when we return home. The grounds and buildings were very beautiful, and we knew we were going to be spoiled here.

Our first night we relaxed in the "infinity" pool for a while, watched the sunset on the beach, then watched "The Gladiator" on the big screen set up under the Australian Pine trees and the stars.

The next day we pretty much just hung around the resort. Our main highlight of the second day was our afternoon swim with "Ra-Ra", the Sheraton's baby elephant! They bring Ra-Ra out to the beach for a swim at 3 pm and you can join in, feed her, ride her, whatever. Yes, I (Justin) was bucked off Ra-Ra in under 8 seconds, but you'll have to wait to see the video!). Ra-Ra has a pretty good life from what we saw; she even had a trainer that would carry her poo out of the water with his bare hands, now that's love. After Ra-Ra has an accident in the water, everyone just shakes their heads, puts their hands on their waists and says, "Oh Ra-Ra". In fact, Ra-Ra can pretty much do whatever she wants. It was very interesting to see how the baby elephant would play almost like it was a very large puppy, splashing about, diving under the water, and enjoying the people around her.

After swimming with Ra-Ra, I was so inspired that I joined some local guys for a game of "soccer" on the beach. They actually called me over as I jogged by them, probably thinking that I was a lousy western soccer player. But, I showed them a few things and even got called on a foul (unjustified). Sorry that there are no pictures of me tearing up the beach, Amber was not with me.

The following day we hired a long-tail boat to take us and a kayak to Hong Island, which was beautiful, of course. We kayaked around the island, fed some "wildlife", and relaxed on the beach.

A monitor lizard on the island.

On our last night, we watched the sunset and then spoiled ourselves (again) to a nice dinner at the Sheraton's restaurant overlooking the beach - although, with 50% off discount on food, how can you pass it up!

Thank you for all the wonderful comments, especially the one about my (Justin's) abs. You too can have abs like me if you follow my simple plan! Just send me 4 payments of $9.99 and you will receive my MONEY BACK guaranteed ROCK hard ab plan...

A Backpacker's Life? remains copyright of the author rebmamber, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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I'll begin with our arrival to the islands via a delayed flight from Bangkok to Krabi - a town on the west coast of Thailand near the spectacular Andaman Sea. We planned to stay on the peninsula of Railey for a couple of nights, which can only be reached by boat due to the impressive limestone cliffs that have made this region famous (it also means there are no cars anywhere on the peninsula!). We got a taxi to take us to the beach, and then caught a long-tail boat, the main form of water transportation, to take us to Railey Beach.

Getting ready to board the long-tail boat from Ao Nang beach.

Our first impression of this place was literally of disbelief - I don't think I could have imagined this place if I had tried, it looked like something out of a dream. "This is unbelievable" was a common utterance from our mouths. Picture massive, lush limestone rocks descending into crystal clear turquoise waters. I will venture to say that this is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen (granted, I love beaches!)

I took many photos as you may have suspected, but none of the digital pics even come remotely close to how it is in real life. Here are a couple of Railey Beach and the sunset on our first night's arrival.

That evening was an event of the full moon, which is a huge celebration on the islands here in Thailand. While the big party is on an island in the gulf, there was supposedly going to be a full moon party on the beach just north of us. So, we took a boat to Hat Ton Sai and had a few drinks. While there were many young backpackers hanging out and a couple of fire shows, it was a pretty mellow evening - but we've noticed that a lot is mellow in the islands.

The next day, we took a long-tail boat tour out to four nearby islands. It was an all day event and was amazing! We snorkeled with and hand fed beautiful reef fish, watched monkeys on the beach, and just relaxed in the warm, clear waters.

PADO ISLAND

TUP ISLAND

Returning to Railey Beach, set between two awesome rocks.

Since we had gotten a view of the surrounding islands, the next day we set off on our own by renting kayaks for a couple of hours.

We stopped at a nearby beach, where a local boy, Patah, befriended us. Even though he didn't speak a lick of English, we managed to entertain each other. Before we left, he hopped on the front of our kayak - I think he might have come home with us!

More to come...

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