a little vietnam, a little cambodia, and whoa, tons of fun!
we are in siem reap now, staying in cambodia until the 28th, when we catch a plane for jakarta, indonesia. yay!

beep beep!

honking horns, engines whirring, shouts, barks, roars, screeching, and hollering - - - we are in HCMC - ho chi minh city - otherwise known as Saigon. it's CRAZY here! the traffic is no joke and motorbikes rule the roads. fresh baguettes on the street are so so yummy, especially when filled with soft cheese and tomatos. and the coffee? probably the best we've had since we left new zealand. you can get it right on the street, as you kick back on your plastic stool and watch the city zoom zoom around.

needless to say, we're having a grand old time in Vietnam. we crossed the border from Laos and headed to the town of Hue. we got on bikes there and toured the city for the day, realizing that our minimal vietnamese phrases were in vain - everyone speaks english here. we headed south to Hoi An where sondre upped his swank and bought a suit, made-to-order. it's really the only way to buy a suit. it fits PERFECT and he looks very smart in his new suit, shirts, jeans, and shoes (leather of course). i didn't have such good luck with all my buys, but i did walk away with some perfect jeans and sassy shoes.

from there we beached it out in Nha Trang, a place that reminded us very much of Thailand, even though we've never been. we played the part and swam in the pool of the foreigner club, drank micro brews, and sailed a catamaran in the bay surrounded by islands and mountains. !!!!

what else to say about vietnam? the only complaint is that it is too easy to travel here! don't know how to explain that really, but there is really no miscommunication, no late buses or delays, and no real need to plan. where's the fun in that?

sabaidee! (hello!)

since we can't show ya'll our own photos (misplaced cord, of course), i found some nice ones on the web that other travellers have posted. just a few shots of buildings here in savannakhet and luang prahbang, rice paddies in luang namtha, and fairly typical rural houses. plus a map courtesy of the u.s. embassy, of our very dear laos, which we plan to leave tomorrow, for the much busier and wilder vietnam.

we've really fallen for laos. it's easy and friendly and there isn't much to do, something we like very much. the population is small - comparable to norway - and the people are so relaxed and willing to talk. just today a man gave us some chewy candy after we asked him for directions and the woman in the tourist office sat us down for a free on-the-spot lesson in lao. how nice is that? also, if you see it, you should treat yourself to a beerlao, the only beer made here and made pretty well.

much love!

We're OK!

We have not at all been affected by the earth quake in southern Laos. Didn't even hear about it until I checked my email... Thanks for thinking about us though!

Laos

It's been so long since we updated this blog, so I'll quickly explain what we've done since then. After some days in Beijing we got on a 42 hour (!) train to Kunming in south west China. Then we did a 3-day hike in Tiger Leaping Gorge and went back to Kunming for a few more days. Danielle contacted some distant relatives and we meet up with them, which turned out to be really wonderful! We were expecting one distant relative and got about 20 not-so-distant relatives, including Danielle's grandma's sister, many of her dads cusins and two really cute baby twins. This was a truly wonderful experience and anyone reading this who have relatives in China should book their tickets right now.

Then we headed soutwards for Laos, which is where we are now.

Right now we're in Luang Namtha, but we're heading south to Luang Prabang tomorrow. Hana and Jake are getting married in Indonesia June 30th, and we are planning to be there then. All is very well with us. Internet cafes are expensive.