Ho Chi Mhin City and Phu Quoc, Vietnam

A view and some relief from the insanity that is below - Saigon.

The happy couple in front of Reunification Palace.

Now on their private beach in Phu Quoc.

Ashlei getting wild and feeling a need for speed

Our view for four days. I never did find out what was in this soup... It was tough to leave.


But we had to leave because Bali was waiting for us and that is where we are right now. We are in the city of Ubud and about to head south to the beaches. We only have a few days remaining in Asia and then we fly to Istanbul, Turkey. It's hard to believe that this trip as almost half over already. Much love to you all, thanks for all of your comments and emails. We'll update you next from Turkey.

Hoi an, Vietnam

Picturesque, the whole town ...

Delicious Vietnamese coffee with sweetened condensed milk and one handsome man.

Lanterns, quaint streets...

Beautiful temples. Beautiful lady.

Mr. Handsome getting fitted for a suit.


This town was great. We recommend it to everybody.

Halong Bay, Vietnam

A view from a cave. A really big cave.

Surrounded by over 3,000 tiny islands with some Spanish amigos.

Deep in the jungles of Cat Ba Island.

Ashlei can fly.

Hey guys, here you are on our blog! Now you're famous in America, because we're famous and you're on our blog. See you in Berlin.

Hanoi, Vietnam - we love you!

Hello, from Hanoi.

One of the many street markets.

Ash and old 'Uncle Ho.'

Awesome!


We love this city. It was wild and crowded and gritty and non-stop. It appeared that the only rule was to keep moving. We wished that we had a week to just hang out and watch it happen from the corner stalls and cafes and bia hoi (fresh unpasteurised beer!) stands. Some of the best entertainment yet is just watching Hanoi go, and go and go and go...

Luang Prabang, Laos

Ashlei at a waterfall outside of town

Tarzan my man...

Brian at an amazing temple in town

Taking a boat on the Mekong

Ashlei swimming near the falls

        Luang Prabang, a world heritage site, how exciting! I know that there are no pictures of the city but it was lovely. It felt more like Europe than Asia though - it was after all under French rule for quite a while in the 20th century. It was quiet and the streets were pretty calm, ie: you could walk across the street without it being an adventure.

       We stayed for about five days. It was a good place to relax and collect ourselves after over a month of moving and moving. We had a good time in Laos. It was a country that we knew very little about before arrival and it treated us well. We learned a bit of culture, a bit of language, saw some art and heard some music. What it lacks in Pizazz it makes up for in kindness and natural beauty.

      We're writing this from Hanoi, Vietnam. We are about to board an all night train south to Hoi An for a few days before we head to Ho Chi Minh city and then to the island of Phu Quoc. We'll try and keep you updated. Ciao.

Vang Vieng, Laos

Brian on our hike 

Ashlei with the view from town

Ashlei cave exploring

After our cave swim

            On the way to Vang Vieng We took my favorite bus ride of the trip ( and we are at over fifteen buses now). We ended up on a locals' bus, not a one for the tourists. It was really fun and packed to the gills. People sitting on huge sacks of rice, hundreds of pounds of onions, goods, produce, wares, textiles and a chicken! My seat was a bucket in the aisle, others' was to stand in the doorway. We were the only non-Lao people on the bus save for one other who seemingly lacked the disposition that embraced such a change from what we're used to at home. 

Vang Vieng is amazing. Well, the surrounding limestone cliffs in every direction you look are amazing and the winding Nam Song River is beautiful. The town seems to have become just another stop on the backpackers' party circuit with little to offer other than some uninspiring food and cheap beer.  No problem though, there was plenty to do outside of town. That is, after all, why many people go there in the first place.

We traveled deep into caves, so deep in fact that had we not been with a guide and lost our lights we would have been hard pressed to ever make it out again! Amazing being so deep inside of the Earth. After we hiked into a couple of caves we got to enter into a cave via a stream, floating on huge inner-tubes. Again we floated very deep into this cave. We'll never forget letting the water carry us through the cave and looking back and watching the last glimmers of sunlight fade as we were swallowed by the dark...oooh....afterwards we hiked through fields and later kayaked down the Nam Song for a couple of hours.

It was a good stay but we needed to head off to the former capital and world heritage site of the city Luang Prabang - another bus ride awaits!

Vientiane, Laos

Welcome to Laos!

Brian at Buddha park near Vientiane.

Ashlei at Buddha park.

Ashlei , alligator

Vientiane riverfront...

Now onto our third language as well as currency we are now in the habit f taking off our shoes before entering anywhere, never really understanding anything that is said around us, being hot as well as overstimulated and always trying to figure out what comes next.

Well, "next" was the country of Laos and we began in the capital city of Vientiane. man, what a sleepy capital. We only stayed two days as we found it to be a bit uninspiring. Not to say it was without merit, and in its defense I think that we came at a really bad time: the entire river front (Mekong river) was under massive construction which made it not only inaccessible but rendered the city a big dust-ball. We found some solace in the Buddha park a little out of town. As you can see both Ashlei and I were almost devoured by various beasts and or deities. We survived and came out of it a bit stronger.

We headed north afterwards to the little mountain town of Vang Vieng. On the way we got what we wished for and shared a bus with a live animal - it was only a chicken, we were hoping for a goat or two, but there's time yet in Asia for that.