Back Home

Yes, we are back in BC. The trip flew by as we knew it would, and we are now back in the comfort of our homes. It is crazy to think back to everything that we packed into the six weeks.

Our final few days were spent in the madness of Bangkok, which was actually a perfect conclusion to the trip. After exploring a large area on foot we were quickly ready to move on making the reality of heading home much easier on us.

We hope that you enjoyed following our little adventure. There are definitely more to come in the future!

Heather & Zay

Thailand

We are in Thailand now on a small island called Koh Phayam. We shot down south from Bangkok last week to the island of Ko Chang. From there we lucked out and jumped on a live-aboard dive charter to the Similan Islands. The dive trip lasted 5 days and during which time we were lucky enough to dive 16 times!! For those of you with dive certifications - definitely consider doing this trip. It was one of the best things that either of us have ever done, hands down. The sea life was unreal and we cruised in some of the most beautiful islands. At night we were able to sleep under the stars and we even did a night dive.
There is tons more to describe about the amazing dive trip, but the internet on this island is super expensive and slow.....
We will be here in Ko Phayam until the 24th and then back to Bangkok. Our bunglaw on the beach is another place that some of you would really enjoy. Every evening is a "family dinner" with dishes of tasty local thai treats. Following dinner is a night of live music and singing..... perfect!
Ok, we'll see everyone very soon i'm sure. We'll write briefly from Bangkok with flight details, etc for those interested.

~ Also - we have a bunch of underwater pics from the trip. We will post a few when we get to Bangkok so be sure to check back on the 24/25th.

Heather & Zay

Laos

We have been in Laos for the past week. After flying in to Luang Prabang, we had a few days there to look around. It is a really nice city on the Mekong River with a great climate at this time of year. As usual we explored on foot and spent a good deal of time sipping fruit shakes in the riverside restaurants.

From Luang Prabang we bused to Vang Vieng, a smaller town on the Nam Sung River surrounded by limestone hills and caves. It has become a travel destination centred on adventure activities. Some of our highlights included: renting a motorbike and touring around the back roads and rice paddies and tubing 5 km down the river. The tubing is madness as the river is lined with bamboo hut bars and the 2 hour journey takes much longer than one would think. The bars have trapeze-style rope swings and ziplines, which is not a good mix for intoxicated travellers.... pretty scary.

Another highlight of our time in Vang Vieng was a day long kayak and caving trip. It was just the two of us with a guide and we kayaked 15 kilometers down the river and visited two caves. The caves were very impressive and small entrance holes lead to caves that stretch for kilometers. We were able to learn alot about Laos from our guide and in turn taught him some new English words.

Now we are in the capital of Laos called Vientiane. We arrived yesterday and have not yet discovered any real charm to the city. We were lucky to find a place to sleep last night as all of the rooms filled up quickly. We have a night-bus lined up for later today that will take us across the Thai border and down to Bangkok. From there we plan to hit the beach and stay there for the remainder of our time away. The daily moving around is taking its course and we are both ready for a real vacation now :)

For those of you who have been to Laos we are sorry to say that it is no longer the place that it was a few years ago. From backpacker stories, five years ago Laos was considered "off the beaten path" and was quiet adventurous. There are probably many destinations within this country that are still remote and less travelled, but our experience was not exactly what we were expecting. The hordes of travellers has resulted in a boom of tourist infrastructure and none of it seems to be dialed-in yet. The tourist buses and tour packages are mainly commission driven and are consistantly hours late. The guesthouses have blown up all over the place and so have their prices.... This is not meant to discourage anyone from touring this country, but just be aware that things have definitely changed.

We talk to you all in few days from down south.

Heather & Zay

Angkor and Cambodia

After leaving Hoi An, we spent some time in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). We had heard rumours of the scooter traffic and the perils of crossing streets, and it definitely lived up to what we expected. Taking the first step into the hundreds of oncoming motos was always the "step of faith'' but everything after that was fine. We'd grab hands, each take a direction to look and then slowly shuffle across the lanes of traffic while they manuvered around us. The drivers are like a flock of birds and they seem to all read each other very well. We did witness one scooter collision in Hue and a few knock-overs, but it is not a lot of damage considering the scene!

In Ho Chi Minh city we spent some time at the War Museum, which opened our eyes to various accounts of the war history. We both found it very heart wrenching and educational.... some amazing pictures! From Ho Chi Minh we headed in to Cambodia by bus. We spent a short time in Phnom Penh before leaving for Siem Reap. After the War Museum in Vietnam, we decided to pass on some of Cambodia's tragic sites. They have had a crazy history with the Khmer Rouge and just learning about it and seeing how happy the people are in the aftermath is inspiring...

Our last few days have been spent exploring the temples of Angkor. The expanse of Angkor is much larger than we both expected; it goes on for kilometers with temples all around the city.

We hired a tuk tuk driver who drove us to a good portion of the temples (about 25) which barely scratched the surface. It would be easy to spend weeks appreciating the ancient architecture and art. The temples are a split between Buddhism and Hinduim depending on the dominant religion during their construction. The intricacy of the carvings blew us away time after time. We've got PLENTY of pics for those who are interested :)

Today we fly to Luang Prabang in Lao. You may have noticed the change in our travel style from dirt cheap buses (generally slow) buses in South America to one hour flights here in SEA. We have realized that with our limited time frame it is the only way to see all that we are hoping to see. To get an idea:

Siem Reap > Luang Prabang by bus and boat = 4 days

Seim Reap > Luang Prabang by air = 1.5 hours

We've heard great things about Lao and we are both super excited to get there. We'll update in a few days.

Heather & Zay

our new look....

we had to post again today to show off our new digs.
a few pictures of our new found sense of fashion....

the women who made them.

my new suit....look at the silk liner.

working towards some middle ground on the price.

ps we are having a hard time looking at our blog from veitnam, can someone let us know if it is working out on your end.

thanks zay and heather

Vietnam - Hoi An

We are now further south in Vietnam from when we last signed off. From Hanoi we enjoyed a two day trip on Halong Bay which was one of our goals from the beginning. With our limited time in this country we decided to join a tour group for the two days, which is often hit or miss (in this case a bit of both). The Bay is absolutely beautiful and our time was spent cruising on a 16 person boat. We had fairly cool weather which is how we imagined it would be - but we hear in the summer there's lots of swimming, kayaking, etc - so it must be warm. The only part we didn't like was being the ultimate gravy train of tourists and the overpriced beverages on the boat!

Now we are in a little town called Hoi An. It is going to be very difficult to pack up and leave tomorrow after spending 4 days falling in love with it. You guys would love it here! It is on the Coast just south of Hue set back from the ocean along a riverbed. It is a historic site with many old buildings, great food and friendly faces. We rented cruiser bikes today and explored the area at our leisure. At night the whole place lights up with colourful silk lanterns. We have also gone a bit crazy in many of the local tailor shops (which are EVERYWHERE). Right now we're contemplating how we are going to get our sharp new wardrobes home.....hmmm.

From Hoi An we fly to Ho Chi Minh City tomorrow night to spend a few final days in Veitnam. From there our plan is to head to Cambodia. We will keep you posted!

Vietnam - Hanoi

We arrived to Hanoi with the pleasant surprise of 21 C weather instead of the up to minus 10 we were dealing with in china.
our usual way of arriving with no plans worked out nicely, we managed to get a funky room down in the old part of the city. heather thought that she escaped the Chinese food bug but it caught up to her in the middle of the night. needless to say it was a long sleepless while for her, but all 'seems' ok now (fingers crossed).
this morning we rather easily slipped into Hanoi life, sitting back and enjoying Strong coffee watching the crazy scooters zip by, relaxing with an hour full body massage and sampling the local food. what more can i say the people are fantastic beer cost penny's, and we are off to Halong Bay in the morning and then Hue from there.
hope all is well at home.
zay and heather