The South East Asian Loop

As some of you know, my sister Lydia and I went on a three month getaway to South East Asia in the winter of 2006. A few posts ago, I showed the first month of photos from touring around Northern Thailand. The following pictures are from our second month.
After racing around for a month, seeing every site possible and running from place to place...we were worn out, and decided we wanted a little more "laid-back" pace, so we started hittting other countries. First, Laos. This was a beautiful little place, and probably the most laid-back place on the face of the earth! We didn't stay for very many days, but met some friends we traveled with for quite some time, and got our Vietnan Visas while seeing the sites. Everyone seemed to think we were twins, and when we insisted that we were only sisters, they insisted right back, that we were "Twins, but (born on) different days."

After spending a day with "Micky and Mi" back in Thailand, we headed over to Cambodia...just for a quick drive through the country to get to Vietnam.  I have never seen a rougher road. Pot holes that I swear could swallow a bus, and at least five vehicles a breast at all times on a one and a half lane dirt road...

And then we hit Vietnam...a completely different experience than any other country we had been in. We left the big city for a small beach village as fast as possible, and then we saw it. The Ocean. The most beautiful sight we had seen in over a month of traveling. We were hooked. From that day on, we decided to just relax and enjoy every minute of the time we had left instead of trying to "see and do" everything. This is where we met up wth Odin and Leanna Hougen from back home, and spent a blissful month relaxing in the sunshine, making friends and exploring Vietnam.

We both took our "padi" diving course, what a rush! I love diving and can't wait to go again one day. We also got a whole bunch of custom-designed clothes and shoes and ended up having to send a huge package home. We spent every single day of our 30 day visa in Vietnam, and wished we could stay for longer.

We then travelled back into Cambodia with some friends we had met and spent the day touring a genocide museum and exploring the local hang outs. Again, we didn't stay long in Cambodia, but headed back for Thailand and the final month of our adventure together...