Hue, Vietnam

Today we took a ride around the Citadel in Hue, Vietnam. This pedicab is half baby carriage, half bicycle. Tonight we take our last night bus to Ha Noi, where we will stay for one week and then we go home!

Hoi An, Vietnam

Here is another UNESCO World Heritage site. I love these, they are so quaint and charming. The best part was visiting an orphanage right next to our hotel. The children were in school this morning.

Nha Trang, Vietnam

Vietnamese women's traditional dress is similar to the Chinese qipao, but with pants! I think they are so pretty. Here are two lovely Vietnamese girls strolling down the busy street in their flowing tunics.

Saigon, Vietnam - the Home Stretch

So we've made it, our last country. We've arrived in Vietnam with a plan to do a 2 week bus tour up to Hanoi with a couple of stops along the way. Here in Ho Chi Minh, we spent a couple days. The first, we went to the Cu Chi tunnels - cramped, scary, and dangerous. You can see one of the traps set up by the Vietcong in our pictures. On day 2, Jenny took a cooking class - learning to cook some wonderful Vietnamese dishes. First she went to the market and found softshell crabs squeezed together, still blinking and blowing bubbles. To view all the pictures from Ho Chi Minh, go to http://picasaweb.google.com/timothyandjenny/

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

This is our tuk tuk driver. We have taken tuk tuks throughout SE Asia. They are everywhere, from Tailand to Laos and now Cambodia. A combination of a motorcycle and a cart, they will take you anywhere for a few dollars. We hired a driver for the day, to make sightseeing more convenient. Tomorrow we are headed to HCMC, Vietnam.

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Yesterday, Tim and I rented bikes and toured what seemed like a giant park full of ruins straight out of the movie Tomb Raider or Indiana Jones. This is Angkor Wat, Bayon and Ta Prohm, three main temples. We’ll be back tomorrow to tour a few more. Built around 1112-52, these temples depict giant stone Buddha heads smiling down at visitors or trees perched above with sprawling roots crushing the inner walls. The heat was unbearable, so we were happy to get back and hide from the sun. Temples open at 5:30 am, so we are thinking about an early start, but I wouldn’t make any promises.

Luang Prabang, Laos

This is Luang Prabang, a World Heritage site in Laos. It is a very charming town with a direct view of Mekong River. Mixed with both European and Asian influences, windows are framed with wooden shutters and lined with traditional local weavings. A brick-laid sidewalk led us to a pair of goats having lunch. Today I dyed my own silk and wove a placemat using a loom.

Vang Vieng, Laos

Vang Vieng is the Laos version of Padre Island or Cancun. Everyone here seemed to have the Spring Break attitude, so we decided to join along, at least in one activity. This is a swing attached to a very rickety platform placed over the river. The object is to swing and then jump. To get to the swing we kayaked along the river.

Vientiane, Laos

Did you know that Buddha likes to drink soda? He especially enjoys drinking soda with a straw no less! We have seen several small shrines dedicated to Buddha within businesses or hotels. These tiny shrines have a bottle of red soda, specifically strawberry Fanta. I guess Buddha has a sweet tooth. Here is a Buddha sitting in Wat Sisaket in Vientiane, Laos drinking a coconut juice.

The Gibbons Experience (Aka the Muddy Leech Experience)

We just finished up The Gibbons Experience. However, we did not get to see any monkeys. We think they went home because of the rain or decided to move because there were too many tourists. The total journey was three days, with the first day sloshing through mud and leeches until we arrived to our glorious treehouse in the sky. We shared a one room treehouse with 8 other people we did not know. We ate food cooked by local village people and brought to us via zip line. The trip back included a laborious 7 hour trek to the main village and then a 2 hour ride in the back of a pick up truck to our hotel. Here is a sneak peek of the zip line our primary form of transportation in the jungle.