Only a few more days to go!

Hello from Cambodia! I definatly slacked on the updates the past few weeks. Yes, the internet is all over SE Asia, but it's a matter of finding a good computer and connection. I will update more extensivley when I get home, but wanted to write a brief overview of what we have been up to the past few weeks.

Vietnam ... We left Kuala Lumpur and arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon) in the early evening. We stayed in Vietnam almost two weeks and did not get to do everything we wanted, but were kept very busy! We were only in Saigon not even 2 days because we were there last year. One day we took a cyclo around the city to the Reunification Palace, former US Embassy, Notre Dame, through streets and ally ways and some bonsai garden. It was a nice cool day and out cyclo drivers were really nice :)

We left Saigon on a 5 hour bus to Mui Ne - a wonderful little beach town in Vietnam. We went last year and just had to come back again! Last year we stayed at a lovely boutique hotel called Cham Villas and wanted to stay there again, but the prices went up and we decided to try another accomadation. This year we stayed at recently renovated Blue Ocean and enjoyed it just as much. They had a restraunt and pool there as well. We didn't do much in Mui Ne, but relax and figure out what we were going to eat for dinner that night (have I mentioned enough times how good the food is in SE Asia?! lol). After a few days at the beach we boarded another 5 hour bus and were off to Dalat.

The bus ride to Dalat was quite an adventure through the country side and mountains. It was a two lane road full of potholes, sometimes part of the road was erroded away and we were lucky if we got smooth pavement. The ride was quite enjoyable though because the cutest little Vietnamese boy sat next to us with his father. He was about 3-4 years old and when he boarded the bus hadhad the biggest smile and was full of excitement. Even though he didn't speak any English, he gave us a big thumbs up when he got on the bus. I shared some of my snacks with him and he gave me some candy in return. He and Aaron played shadow puppets with their hands. When we arived in Dalat it was quite chilly and got very cold at night -a huge change from the sweating hot beach we were at just a few hours ago. We were greeted by 2 gentlemen holding a sign with my mis-spelled name on it: "Caca Heggi". They took us to our hotel and invited us for a cup of coffee and tea, they asked for no money but offered to take us on a countryside tour the next day for only $20 usd each. They seemed like honest guys and ya gotta take chances sometimes. Thank goodness we did! We one of the best days of our trips with them. We spent the whole day on their motorcycles and had a wonderful tour of Dalat. Our guides were Yang and Ocean (Ocean is in the pic with me - I think he looks like my uncle Victor!) Some of the highlights of Dalat: Waterfalls, Crazy House, silk farm, coffee farm, flower farms, and just amazing countryside. Thank you Yang and Ocean for a wonderful time in Dalat!! So from Dalat we took a flight all the way north to Hanoi. If we had more time we would have bussed it all the way north and stopped in more cities, but that will just have to be done next time :)

In Hanoi we did the typical touristy things: water puppet show, visit the museums and Hao Loa Prison, hang out around the lake and the Old Quarter. The main reason we headed north was to see one of the "Wonders of the World" and UNESCO World Herritage site known as Halong Bay. We took a 2 day/1 night boat trip around Halong Bay. Being warned several times by fellow travelers, travel sites and travel books that you"get what you pay for" and after extensive research we decided on Colombus Travel and we boarded the boat (known as Chinese Junks) named the Pinta. It was a little on the pricey side, but we were extremely happy with the results - clean boat, wonderful food, and no rats! We sailed around the bay, saw a some cave, went swimming and kayaking. It was a great time and we met some other cool travelers as well :) We headed back to Hanoi for 2 more days and then we boarded a plane for Cambodia.

Cambodia... We arrived in Siem Reap to see the famous Temples of Angkor Wat. And man, they were amazing to see in person! These structures are 1000's of years old. Can't believe we were really there. Here's just a few pics we took around Angkor Wat. Enjoy...

We celbrated my 25th birthday in Siem Reap. Aaron treated me to a wonderful Camodiam BBQ dinner :) From SR, we headed to the captial on a 5 hr bus to Phnom Penh. PP is alot different then SR. SR is a bit more laid back, PP is a much bigger city more fast paced. We are staying in a nice hotel for only $20 usd a night, near the river. We went to the Genocide Museum (aka Killing Fields) and the S-21 prison sight one day. It was pretty hard seeing the images of the Genocide that took place here (I will have to write about it in another entry). We did the Palace and Silver Pagoda, central market and stuff. Sounds like the typical tourist I guess. But I want to come back, and see other part of Cambodia in the near future.

Cambodia - it has been quite an experience here! It has been a bit harder for me to handle than Vietnam and China. I've seen beggars before and people with out limbs, but it's hard to see here and after you know hat the country has been through. They say the rich is getting richer here and the poor are only poorer. I've seen RangeRovers driving through the streets and I see a poor family with a naked baby bathing in the brown waters of the Mekong. Children as young as 2-3 years old trying to sell us things. You feel sorry for the kids, but are told that if we buy things from them they won't go to school. A beggar asks for money, but you feel that if you give him a dollar then you have to give them all a dollar. An elderly person sifts though trash for a meal, but if you buy them a meal you have to buy them all a meal. Then a teenager asks us to buy a water and when you don't they get mad and curse you in Cambodian. I did not know what to think when I saw a naked child 1-2 years old walking down the street with a bag of empty plastic bottles, no one even paying attention to him. I just watched him walk off into the distance. I'm full of emotion, guilt, and confusion. I know I'm just one person but I definately want to come back again someday soon I hope. Maybe do some volunteer work and teach in the future.

Well I have been on this computer for over 2 hours to fill you all in!! I will do more detailed entries when I get home and will put up alot more pics as well. Take care everyone and we will be home soon - headed to Bangkok tomorrow and catching our flight home from there :)

<3 Cara