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.

I never thought I'd be so technical and I never thought I'd have the capability to do this from all the way across the world, but here I am. Acutally I'm living in the lap of luxury, we're currently staying in District 2 in Saigon, aka Ho Chi Minh...we were told it's still referred to as Saigon as a matter of history & tradition. Were living for the weekend at a house that used to be occupied by the prime minister & is now occupied by a couple we'll be doing some volunteer work for through an organization called East Meets West (more to follow about that soon). We'll be staying at this same house for 3 weeks in October when the couple goes to the U.S...the house has granite floors, stairs, and walls, a nice, large pool in the back yard, 7 bathrooms, and a staff of 10 (chauffer, cooks, maids, etc...) today I had a massage & facial poolside!! I digress...

Many of you have been requesting photos, which is largely why I started the blog, those you see so far were taken in Tibet, which are some of the best. Then I'll back track and post a few from China, then I'll jump ahead to Nepal and my current location, Vietnam. All in all so far I've been to Nanchung & Chengdu (China), Lhasa (Tibet), Kathmandu (Nepal), Mui Ne & Saigon (Vietnam). We only stayed in Kathmandu a week because of political protests & riots due to Maoist activity. It wasn't necessarily unsafe and they don't necessarily target tourists or Americans, although they do throw stones if you happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. We found it extremely difficult to get around because the streets would be blocked and the taxi drivers would threaten to strike, so we decided it didn't makes sense to be stuck in a hotel room, moved on sooner than we'd planned, but may go back later when things settle down.

Alrighty, I'm anxious to post more photos & post this blog as my first test page....so far I can only post 5 photos at a time. FEEL FREE TO WRITE/POST COMMENTS!!!!!

Much love to each and every one of you,
Lori