On the Home Stretch

With two and a half months of traveling behind me I am looking forward to the cross into Thailand for our last 5 weeks of backpacking. Right now I am in Siem Reap in Northern Cambodia - I've spent the last couple of days exploring the ancient Angkor Temples that were once the epicenter of the Khmer Empire in Southeast Asia. I've been fortunate enough to sit in front of the great Angkor Wat at sunrise among many of my experiences here. With Laos and Vietnam behind us there is still much more that awaits - the monsoon rainforests of eastern Thailand, the lazy charm of Mekong River villages, the vibes of of Pai, Chaing Mei, Chaing Rei, crazyBangkok, and the white sand beaches of the south for some R&R (rock climbing and rest).

Here is the route we have taken so far through southeast Asia: starting in Hanoi south to Ninh Binh, back up to Halong Bay, north to Sapa, into Laos at Tay Trang, following the Nam river south to Muong Khua, Non Khiao, and onto Luang Prabang. From there it was 9 hours north to Luang Namtha for trekking then back down to LP before heading south to Vang Vieng, Vientiane, and Savannakhet. This was our last town before heading back into Vietnam at Hue. The road south took us to Danang, Hoi An, and Nha Trang before catching some cool highland climate in Dalat. Ho Chi Minh was our last destination in Vietnam before moving along into Cambodia as we didn't have the time to get to the Mekong Delta. In Cambodia we moved rather quickly stopping only in Phnom Penh, Battambang and here we are now in Siem Reap.

There has been alot of change in plans as you meet other travelers and things don't always go your way because of time, money, and illogical bus schedules. There are many ways to do the route, this was just our way. If youre not already traveling, I advise to get on the road - there are more people out here than you think. It's easy and undoubtedly inspiring.

Talk soon, justin