The stunningly modern local office of Lao Air, which I will be flying to Bangkok on Friday. (note: sarcasm)

This flight will be my 3rd regional flight. (1. Saigon-Hanoi on Vietnam Airlines 2. Hanoi-Bangkok on Asia Air 3. Luang Prabang-Bangkok on Lao Air)

Vietnam Airlines was very nice and up to the standards I'm used to. Asia Air was a pretty bad experience as the staff blatantly lied to us about the departure time several times (as they knew the incoming flight had yet to take off- they still told us our flight was leaving shortly- a common problem I later found out)

I'm curious to see how the Air Lao experience is.

A Wat in Luang Prabang, Laos. I have seen countless Wats (aka Temples) all over SE Asia, however, I have yet to actually step inside any. (well, with the exception of Angkor Wat)

I told some guys about my lack of Wat visits yesterday and they said, "What the hell have you been doing". Their surprise reminded me of how much I've been able to see and experience by avoiding the traditional tourist trails in each city I visit. Mostly I've spent my days eating at markets, street stalls, and food courts. I'm certainly not opposed to visiting Wats, I just haven't gotten around to it.

Luang Prabang, Laos

Luang Prabang is an UNESCO World Heritage Site in Northern Laos. I arrived here after a 6 hour bus ride from Vang Vieng. Unfortunately this region of the world is quite hazy this time of the year as evidenced by my photographs. (Northern Vietnam was the same)

This photograph shows the bank of the Nam Khan River which meets the Mekong in Luang Prabang.


View of the Mekong River from a temple that sits on Phousy Mountain in the center of "Old Luang Prabang". It is divided by the Mekong and the Nam Khan River.


A view from the Phousy Mountain Temple looking at the Nam Khan River.

Vang Vieng is a strange town midway between Vientiane and Luang Prabang, Laos. Surrounded by stunning limestone peaks, it is home to a strip of bars and restaurants running a constant loop of the television series, "Friends". The bars offer "Happy" shakes with choice of fruit and illicit drug. I decided to skip my usual banana shake as the language barrier could easily result in a wrong order. I had some dinner, beer Lao, and watched 6 episodes of Friends.

I took the Thailand Railway from Bangkok to Nong Khai overnight on November 10th. My 2nd class A/C seat folds out into a flat bed with privacy curtains and a reading light. This was my 4th overnight trip in 2nd class. (I hope to try 1st class before I go home in December)

The 12 hour journey landed me in Nong Khai around 8:30 am where I took a tuk-tuk to the Laos Border. After paying a $36 Visa fee and borrowing a passport photo from a Dutchman (I forgot to bring one of my own) I walked into Laos. (The Laos immigration photo didn't seem to notice the photograph was of a light-brown long haired man.

Thai-sized Dairy Queen Blizzard. They have Oreo, Coffee Oreo, and Kit-Kat. Aaron got the Coffee Oreo.

Aaron eating a delicious unknown substance on the other side of a fish tank in the Paragon Food Court.

Crispy Crab Omelet

We went to the nicest movie theater in the world... based on my experiences. Bangkok is known for its high tech movie theaters and the Siam Paragon may be among the nicest. Seating is assigned and there are several types to choose from. Leather massage chairs, private viewing boxes, and luxury lounges are all offered. Going to the movies here appears to be a big deal. About $4 gets you the lowest level of seating with a reclining leather seat and large armrests. $1 buys a Coke light in a can.

After the movie you can head downstairs to buy a Ferrari, Lamborghini, then maybe some Jimmy Choo shoes, and a Versace suit. (all real brands and all real prices) And if the Paragon doesn't have what you are after there are several more shopping centers just like this within walking distance with every designer shop you could imagine. And if you don't have $30,000 to spend on a watch you can walk outside and buy a nice copy for $20.

Hanoi, Vietnam

Halong Bay is an UNESCO World Heritage Site in Northern Vietnam. We desperately wanted to visit alone, without taking a packaged tour, however that seemed to be impossible. We signed up for a packaged 2-day 1 night trip aboard a "Junk" boat. The tour operators promised a max of 16 people, hours of kayaking, swimming, and great food. Our boat had about 30 people the first day (22 overnight), 20 minutes of kayaking (before breakfast on day 2), 20 minutes of swimming (day 2), and terrible food. The bay was beautiful but it was hard to get passed the tour we were on. The bay is completely filled with tourist boats (like ours) and the caves we visited were disappointing.



At night we docked in a bay for dinner and some rest. There isn't much to do on the boat so most people go to bed pretty early. This may be the only place in Vietnam where you can't hear a car horn.


Surprisingly our boat was quite nice and our cabin had 2 bed, a bathroom, and hot water.

The docking process is a "free-for-all" and as a result all of the boats are pretty banged up. The most entertaining part of the tour was watching the boats crash into eachother. Our boat lost a few boards and we watched another boat sink in the middle of the bay. When we returned to the dock we saw another sunken "Junk" boat (that's really what they are called) sticking up out of the water.

I guess that lighting a cave with colored lights and filling once tranquil ponds with electronic water fountains kind of takes you out of the natural element and makes you feel like you are in a crappy version of Disneyland. The caves were beautiful but because of what has been done to them I was thoroughly unimpressed.

Support wall along the Ho Chi Minh highway in Northern Vietnam.

We found the only place in Vietnam (according to the owner) that rents large dirtbikes. For $22/day you can rent a Honda 250 XR and be the king of the road. We rented 2 bikes and became instant celebrities with the locals.

We took a 3 day trip through Northern Vietnam from Hanoi to Mai Chao and back on a loop. We definitely got off the beaten path on roads you won't find in the guide book. We encountered spectacular scenery, shitty roads, and a lot of curious looks. Upon arrival we generally attracted quite a crowd.

Everybody drives a motorbike in this country (very few personal cars), however, they all drive bikes that are 150 cc's or less. You can't buy anything bigger so you can imagine the reaction when some foreigners roll into town on something most Vietnamese people have never seen in person.

More fun with a monkey at a Bia Hoi establishment in Hanoi.

I am pretty sure that the Thai word for beer translates to "terpentine". It is expensive (compared to other costs here) and good beer in Thailand does not exist. Singha is shit, Leo is ok, and Heineken brewed in Bangkok is tolerable but exensive. Thai whiskey is awful and liquors are expensive so basically you are stuck drinking Singha or Leo. Wine is taxed heavily and much more expensive than it is back home. Basically, Thailand is not a beer lover's paradise... rather it is hell.

Cambodia was worse with Angkor beer being a mix between Singha and the curb water in Phnom Penh.

I didn't expect much different in Vietnam, however, I'm happy to say I was wrong. Bia Hoi is the world's cheapest beer. It is about 2,000 dong or 12 cents a glass and is available everywhere. It is "fresh beer" and has no preservatives as it is ready for drinking right away. It is generally served street side in the cities and the taste varies greatly. I found one I really like and have been back a few times in Hanoi. Finally a beer that fits the other prices in this part of the world and it actually tastes great.

A good Bia Hoi is accompanied by some squid jerky. (pictured above) This street vendor walks around with a basket of dried and flattened squid and a bucket of coals. She said it went great with beer so we ordered some. She grilled it on the coals and ripped it up into strips and served it with chili sauce. It was good.

This was our room at the Spirit House in Hanoi, Vietnam... the room sucked but we talked them down from $25 to $14 so we took it.

We visited the War Remnants Museum (formerly known as the "Museum of Chinese and American War Crimes") in Ho Chi Minh City, Saigon. It is incredible how warm and welcoming the Vietnamese people are to Americans considering the devastation the US caused the Vietnamese people. It is hard to understand how anybody could support this sort of aggression.

The exhibits documenting the effects of "Agent Orange" are disturbing to say the least. This museum is interesting as it offers a glimpse of the war from the perspective of the Vietnamese people. More than anything else, it reminds us that the biggest losers in most wars are the civilians.

The images are a French Guillotine and an American Tank. (You should be able to read the description by clicking on the photo)

Noam Chomsky said about the Vietnam War, "The war is simply an obscenity, a depraved act by weak and miserable men, including all of us who have allowed it to go on and on with endless fury and destruction - all of us who would have remained silent had stability and order been secured."

Saigon is a great city. It is strikingly modern and the people are friendly. Something interesting awaits you on every street corner. There was a lot of things that seemed strange to a typical westerner. A racy fire-eating, flag-burning, show celebrated the lives of some neighbors who passed away the day before (3 in the same day). Bicyclists with wooden rattles roam the streets after dark with small black bags. We later found out (by asking our hotel) that they are advertising "gay massage" for locals and tourists. It was the strangest thing as they were everywhere... you couldn't sit outside a cafe and not hear one for 30 seconds.

One of the most exciting things to do in Vietnam is cross the street. Traffic is mostly motorbikes (scooters) and it is common to encounter streets with more than 10 lanes of traffic. Traffic lights are uncommon and even when there is a light few drivers stop. Riding on a bike is a lot of fun and approaching a busy intersection without slowing down is pretty exciting.

Crossing by foot may be more fun. Basically you just walk across the street at a consistent pace and people drive around you. It's an interesting concept. The rule is don't hit anybody. If the street is full of traffic it is also acceptable to just drive down the sidewalk. We found ourselves surrounded by multiple lanes of traffic on both sides while just standing on a street corner curb. They drive on the right but driving on the left is common as well if the right side of the road is full. Besides not hitting people it is good to make way for larger vehicles or they will hit you. Oh yeah.. the final rule is to honk your horn all the time for no apparent reason. (and never get angry... everybody remains completely calm and horn honking is rarely a sign of somebody being upset)

We found some nice accomodations in Saigon, Vietnam. Our hotel was just 17 days old and we got a great room for $16 per night. The hotel treated us to a free dinner on the top floor bar, where they proceeded to take dozens of photographs of us eating. We ate with a European couple staying at the hotel and we got the feeling they were taking pictures for their website or something.

We stayed at Hotel Duc Vuong. They were very helpful with booking our airline tickets from Saigon to Hanoi.

Cafe chairs can be somewhat small in this part of the world. (Hanoi, Vietnam)