Instead of Thailand for Christmas, I went to southern Laos & had an incredibly good time! The family made their plans rather late & ended up not having a hotel room for me, and possibly not for themselves either, so they said I could join them & take the risk or stay here....free time, 10 days off, yes!!! So I left the night of the 16th by overnight bus for a 12 hour ride to the capital, to take another bus about 6 hours to a small town in the mountains. I arrived at a nice guesthouse along a river (not the Mekong), I was the only person staying there, so needless to say, it was very quiet and peaceful! The next day I went for a hike & walked through some villiages, tourists do come to this part of the country, but not so often, people did seem a bit surprised to see me and many of the tourists I'd spoken to in other places weren't familiar w/where I was, so that may give you an idea of its remoteness.

The next day I booked a trip along the river through the 7km long cave, the main draw to this area....we go by a small, motorized canoe, I would have preferred to kayak, but those tours are quite expensive. so it was an interesting, DARK trip. I had a flashlight & the driver of the boat had a much stronger one. We stopped on & off to see cave formations, stalagmites, stalagtites, etc... it kinda reminded me of a cave we boated in when we were younger, back east somewhere. Otherwise it was much like sailing through darkness, like it'd be on the moon or some distant planet. The next day I left for my next LONG journey to the 4000 islands in the very south of Laos, near the border of Cambodia.

Now, there are buses, then there are these small trucks w/bench seats that drive throught the villiages on the dirt roads. I had to start in one of those for about 3 hours, imagine the dust, then another for about 3 more hours. Incidentally, this is also how I first arrived at the villiage near the cave....this is the local transportation....picture bags of rice & pigs (live) tied to the roof, as well as baskets of chickens, vegetables, etc...anyway, I finally get on a real bus, prepared for another ride through the night. I prefer travel at night so I don't waste daytime where I could be doing something other than sleep...plus sleeping on a bus saves money on a night in a guesthouse or hotel.

The journey started off fine, I have my book, my Ipod, it's a bit crowded, but I'm ok....off we go.....a while into the trip something happened, not even sure now how I realized something happened. but people look concerned, unsure....we pull over, we're stopped for a while, it's dark out, so hard to see what's happening. I exit the bus, no one speaks English, so no one can explain what's happened. I start using body language, I eventually begin barking & a woman nods, then I run my hand perpendicularly across my throat, the same woman nods.....supposedly we hit & killed a dog. we were stopped a good 40 minutes, and to be honest, I'm surprised it was taken so seriously, there's dogs, goats, pigs, cats, chickens, cows & water buffalo wondering all the streets!

So we proceed, the public buses stop at many towns to drop off & pick up people, we arrived at a town, people get off & I finally have an empty seat next to me, "yes, I can lay down!!!" and then a man comes to sit next to me....there are other empty seats, "why me, why is it always me?!" So he sits & says he wants to practice English, I tell him I want to sleep, he says when I'm ready to sleep, he'll move...by then there are no more empty seats. So I overcome my frustration, we chat & talk, he's studying English in college, his accent was terrible & he really didn't understand me too well. So after some chatting, I start to sleep, it's quite chilly at night & some of the windows are open, so he gives me his leather jacket to use as a blanket, sweet man. And he kept making sure it stayed in position, wasn't falling off. Then as I'm asleep, I feel the bus slamming on it's breaks and feel the man next to me throw his arms over me, holding onto me for protection, and then we stop! Again, not sure what happened, it smelled to me like there was a tire blow out, but when I went outside to look, the tires looked fine, but the driver was doing some work under the bus....maybe a broken belt? My protector couldn't tell me in English, I'd say he has a lot more studying to do! So on we went.

We're finally approaching our final destination at about 2:30 a.m., apparently 8 km out of town, the bus stops, parks on the road, along w/other buses....apparently the police won't allow buses to enter the town until 6 a.m.....why? Don't know, again, no one can tell me & my protector can't tell me in English either. So I'm thinking "why doesn't the bus leave at 8:30 p.m. instead of 5 p.m. to avoid parking on the road for 3.5 hours...seems logical to me?!" There are many mysteries when traveling like this!! So I slept, we finally arrived, my protector went his way, I thank him & tell him he'll make someone a lucky lady someday. He was 21 & shocked at my 36...."why are you beautiful?" to them 36 year olds are already married w/3,4,5 kids!!!

So an eventful journey brings me to the islands....in the rainy season the Mekong rises so that all these islands form, there are 2 main ones, the one I was on has no cars or roads, instead dirt paths, and electricity on generators that stops at about 9 p.m...my bungalow was along the river & I immediately met my neighbors, 2 girls from Germany & their friend from Italy. So I had instant friends. The German girls left the next day & for the next 5 days it was me & Lucy (Italian) & some of the same other people we'd see around the tiny island. Lucy was lots of fun, we rode bikes & went to the beach & took walks, she's 38, nice to have someone my same age range, many travelers are young, in their 20s.

So for Christmas Eve there's a bakery/restaurant run by an Australian man & we had pizza there, then on Christmas Day, we made pasta!! I'm talking homemade pasta....Lucy taught me how, it's quite easy! We bought some flour from the baker man & one of the guys we'd met had a camp stove, we borrowed pots from the guesthouse family, and bought tomatoes, onions, oil, etc... for the sauce & had an honest-to-goodness Italian pasta dinner! carvatiella is the type of pasta we made. So I'd say my Christmas was about as unique & different as it's gonna get.

I know you all worry about me & some of the details of this journey may make you think I'm crazy, but some food for thought....most people in this region of the world are Buddhist. I know you don't know much about Buddhism, neither do I, it's quite elaborate. But what I do know is that Buddhists are quite peaceful, honest, caring people. They meditate & strive for inner peace & balance, they do not function by harming, cheating, or destroying others; violence is not part of their way....so when you find yourself worrying or wondering, maybe this will help ease your mind.

photos to follow...............

A hill tribe girl (homeless?) just outside of Sapa, Vietnam.
Me...at the river after a 4 km trek through the hill tribe villiages outside of Sapa, Vietnam.
Red Thai tribe woman & child.
Children at a local school in one of the villiages we visited.
More Red Thai women....Thai doesn't mean they're from Thailand....
Another assortment of "food" at the market in Sapa, Vietnam....heart and kidneys!!
"The Amazing Cave" Som Sot Cave (in Vietnamese)....in Halong Bay. MASSIVE CAVE!!!!
More "foods" available...notice the legs, feet, beaks, heads, waddles, etc....
Also at the market....you can make up your own story here!!
Need I describe? In the "Amazing Cave".....I think our guide said this was a finger....for some reason I was the only one who would outright say "no it's not, it's a penis...." of course it's mentioned in the guidebook as one of the "must-see" features of the cave!! This cave is so large & full of geologic features that one woman I met from Europe said "it looks fake, it's like being at Disney World or in a Star Wars film".

A woman outside a market in Hanoi, Vietnam
A fruit vendor in Hoi An, Vietnam
My bedroom at the house in Saigon!
A funeral procession in Hoi An.
An assortment of "foods" available on the streets in Hanoi.
Even though we left the house almost a month ago, I still feel the need to show where I was lucky enough to live during October 2006. This is the hallway, stairs leading to the second floor...I'm modeling the dress that I had tailor made by the ladies on staff!
This is the billiard room, also where we had our pedicures done!
The formal dining room where we ate our nightly dinners.
The living room, the wooden doors behind the red chair lead to the back yard/swimming pool.
The massive kitchen, notice the granite floors & countertops.

As the month of October comes to an end, so does the rainy season in Vietnam, however it is raining as I write....and our stay at this wonderful house is also coming to an end, we depart tomorrow. We'll spend 2 more nights in Saigon, then head north to Hanoi, making a few stops along the way to see some more of the countryside and traditional villages and people. Having stayed at this house, I've had unlimited, daily access to a computer so posting on the blog has been quite easy. I'll do my best to continue updating it regularly, but I'm reluctant that the internet cafes will not be as cooperative with me downloading photos in order to post. Keep checking though, please!

I've enjoyed the comments some of you have emailed to me and I appreciate the interest you're showing in my journey this year. I spent 4 days this past week at Nha Trang, a town about 400 km north of Saigon on the coast. It's a party beach town, I relaxed, sunbathed, ate good food, and hung out with some people I met from the UK. As I am aware that the decision I made to join the Wright family has turned out to be a great one. When I meet fellow travelers and tell them what my story is, what I'm doing, to hear their responses, "how'd you manage to get this opportunity?" "where did you find these people?" "so you're getting paid to travel?" "you've got the greatest gig i've heard of yet!".....makes me glad I chose to join them!!

Life could be much worse, I am fortunate and lucky to be here!!

A woman making laquer wall hangings, using broken pieces of eggshell to create the mosaic design.
Woman walking outside of Cao Dai Cathedral. Cao Daism , which started in the 1920s, is a fusion of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism, as well as some of the Catholic and Christian beliefs.
Me standing inside one of the tunnels at the Cu Chi tunnel compound. These were built during the Vietnam war as network for the people to hide and get to safety.
Musician at the Cao Dai Cathedral.
Cao Dai worshippers during a service at Cao Dai Cathedral. The yellow, blue, and red signify the Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian elements. The priests wear the square hats.
Lovely beach bungalow in Mui Ne, Vietnam
One of the pagodas in Saigon, the hanging spirals are incense rings.
Children praying at another pagoda in Saigon.
Motorbike traffic in busy Saigon.
A variety of offerings at an herbal medicine shop in Saigon.

Me in Patan Durbar Square, just outside of Kathmandu.
The cremation of a 16 year old girl at Pashupatinath near Kathmandu...The ashes get swept into the river below that flows to the Ganges...both sacred waters in the eyes of Hindu people.



You could say I'm playing catch-up as I'm just now posting photos from Nepal but have been in Vietnam for about 3 weeks. Photos of Saigon will soon follow!

A variety of nuts & dried fruits. (Lhasa, Tibet)
Candles-photo taken through the window of a monastery in Lhasa.
Back to Chengdu, China. This is a rather touristy area near a temple, although the picture doesn't quite show it. We nicknamed it "Fisherman's Wharf".
An assortment of the foods available at your typical restaurant in China. Most often you don't order from a menu, you look at foods on diplay in the cases and point to what you'd like....We didn't eat any of this (needless to say), we did however have some unidentifiable foods...thank God for rice!!
Yak wool (Lhasa, Tibet)

We visited the Panda Reserve in Chengdu, China...at the time we visited in August, this baby panda was only 10 days old and hadn't yet been named.
We saw many Giant Pandas eating bamboo and playing together.
Red Pandas, not raccoons...who knew?!
So they don't eat pandas, how about dogs & cats, &.....?!

Yak!! Yak butter tea isn't so tasty, but yak burgers are quite yummy!!!
This may seem an odd, uninteresting photo, however Bob, Diana (the parents), Niulan, and Isobel (the daughters) are in the midst of this crowd. In the evening we'd stroll the Barkhor Square and people watch, inevitably we'd draw a crowd, most people were first drawn to Isobel's long blonde hair & blue eyes, but they'd quickly move to Niulan (aka Nunu) and try to figure out where she fits into the group because she's Chinese, we, of course are not. Then finally they'd move to me and try to figure out how I fit into the entire group, "American men have 2 wives?!"

MT. EVEREST!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A crystal clear day as we flew from Tibet to Nepal I managed to snap some incredible photos all from the comfort of my airplane seat, coffee in hand, no ill effects from the altitude, or a treacherous trek!! Now that is Everest in style.....really I would have like to do some trekking : )
A monk sewing at a monastery in Sigatse, Tibet, a smaller town in the outskirts of Lhasa.