The elephant trekking didn't happen in Luang Prabang. Apparently, the tour involved only 1 elephant and each person had to take their turn to ride it. Fortunately, I am now in Chiang Mai and can elephant trek until my heart's content. I've just arrived this afternoon and have said goodbye to my group as they continue on to Bangkok via night train. I must say I am not sad that I will not be boarding that train. The excitement of night trains has been lost. It has taken 2 1/2 days to reach Chiang Mai. I have spent 20 hours travelling down the Mekong in a less than comfortable ferry. Plus, 6 hours by bus. However, we did end up on a private boat, apparently saving ourselves a ride with chickens and goats. As usual, the scenery was absolutely amazing and changed considerably from Laos to Thailand. Quite strange to see the contrast on either side of the river when you near the Thai-Laos border. Shacks on one side and large buildings on the other. I can't say that the Mekong is the prettiest river I've seen but that could be because I saw people's plumbing draining into it and garbage all along the side of it. Yet, you see kids swimming and adults washing themselves and dishes. Stayed in a strange town along the way called Pakbeng. The town runs on generators so the electricity cuts out at 1030pm. It also blasts back on at 530 am. So nice waking to glaring lights and a super strong fan blowing on you, not to mention the roosters doing their cockadoodledooing not once, but several times . . .

There were a lot of strange-looking dogs as well, mixed breeds and inbreds, short legs with long bodies and heads that didn't fit. It was all a little weird.

Am now in Chiang Mai. Have a couple friends from Australia meeting me in a couple days. Looking forward to seeing them and then making my way home.

Unfortunately, I have a 14 hour layover in LA.

Am now in Luang Prabang, Laos. Arrived yesterday after a 7 hour bus journey through the mountains of Laos. The scenery was incredible. Little towns dotted the snake-like roads, almost as if in the middle of nowhere. Vang Vieng was definitely an interesting experience. We spent the day checking out the various caves in the area. It was a little treacherous in flip-flops trying to navigate the muddy rocks and cliffs to get into the caves but definitely well worth it and . . . all part of the experience. The best part of the day was tubing down the Nam Song river. I felt like I was in a scene from the beach. There are bars all along the river and you stop to drink along the way. They stick out an oar and everyone in the group makes a chain as they reel you in. There's techno and dance playing, everybody is ripped and jumping into a river from 25m above the water. After getting bored at one bar, you hop back into your tube and move on to a new bar. Quite an experience. OFf for elephant riding tomorrow.

Just got into Vang Vieng this afternoon after spending yesterday in Vientiane, the capital city of Laos. Walked to the internet cafe in an absolute downpour! Such a reprieve from the hot, sticky weather we've had. Unfortunately, before reaching Vientiane, I had one last agonizing 6 hour train journey, followed by an 8 hour bus journey the next day. SO MUCH travelling in two days but the views were pretty incredible. (just to catch you up, pics 1 & 2 are of Halong Bay in Vietnam). It was a relief to finally arrive in Vientiane. Not much to it, but managed to see the main sights. Went to Xieng Khuan via jumbo (the tuk-tuks of Laos, pic. 4), a buddha park outside Vientiane. The Buddha Park, built in the 1950's is filled with yes, buddhas, but is based on one man's interpretation of buddhism and hinduism as a combined religion. Pic. 3 is apparently a representation of heaven and hell. Quite interesting. In this sculpture, you can walk completely around the inside and climb to the top as well as down into the middle of the sculpture where there are all sorts of creepy figures and skulls. After the Buddha Park, we took our 50min journey back to the city to see Pha That Luang (pic. 5), the most important monument in Laos, symbolizing buddhist religion and Laos sovereignty. I have read that the spire is meant to appear as an elongated lotus bud, a depiction of a lotus from seed to bloom - a metaphor of man's growth from ignorance to enlightenment. It's so interesting to read about all the history behind the monuments and sculptures that you see on a day to day basis. Hope you're not bored.

Again, have not been feeling well and the hotel breakfasts have been less than appealing. Deep fried eggs, yolks so hard they feel and taste like rubber, three pieces of white bread (oh, the nutrients) and some random meat sausage. I've had a nagging hunger for the last two days. Trying to sustain myself somewhat with cashews, ritz crackers and laughing cow cheese. Yum. As I said, we have now arrived in Vang Vieng, a small town of 25,000. Tomorrow, we tube down the river, swing from vines and check out caves. Looking forward to it. Have also spotted some restaurants with muesli, yogurt and fruit shakes. You have now idea how happy this makes me at this very moment!

That's all for now. Think I'm almost down to two weeks left of vacation. Back to life, back to reality.

I've been sick as a dog the last few days. TD has confined me to my room with loads of cramping and pain in my tummy. The ONE medication that I didn't get from the doc before I left. Figures. So, obviously haven't updated my blog. I'm still in Hanoi. Halong Bay was incredible and I've got some great pics that I will post a little later. Had some drama getting rooms at the end of the tour but all seems to have been worked out. Was supposed to be off on a day trip today but as I was not feeling well, am again watching tv. Just what you want to do when you're in a new city. Am off to Laos on the 17th. Looking forward. Will have to fill up some time here first though. Was really pumped about going to Sapa but turns out the trains were all booked. This means, I will have spent 7 days in Hanoi by the time I leave. Not really the place you want to stay long-term but I guess it will give me a good chance to explore a little more . . . when I feel better. Off to bed. Talk soon. Vanessa, if you read this, the motorcycle tour was organized by the Intrepid group. It was so incredibly cool though. You should definitely do it!

Absolutely incredible day today. The motorcycle tour was amazing. Just on the side, this internet cafe is really creepy. I think people are really interested in how I'm plugging my camera into the computer because everyone stops behind me and just stares. A little disconcerting. Anyway, I was a little apprehensive at first, but as soon as you're in amongst the traffic and the people, excitement takes over. We drove down narrow alleyways, over bumpy dirt roads, alongside houses and shacks, the rich and the poor living side by side. The countryside is breathtaking; bright green rice paddies, temples and statues. There were also a tremendous amount of cemeteries, all with very ornate tombstones. And the people. The people are generous and kind - the kids run out yelling, "Hello! Hello!" and have their hands out for high fives. I'm pretty sure I had a grin from ear to ear throughout the tour.

We also stopped at an orphanage outside of Hue. The orphanage, run by nuns, has children of all ages and abilities. Some of them victims of Agent Orange, some whose parents have been injured or killed by landmines. The children were so intrigued by us and were all smiles; it's quite an experience to witness the resiliency and innocence of children. We brought rice, notebooks and pens for them, as the orphanage relies on various groups that visit. After spending a little time with the kids, we were taken to a nunnery for lunch. They had prepared a vegetarian feast for us, no garlic or basil, as this supposedly precipitates the sexual drive. The meal was amazing and we had a mini siesta afterward. I had the best nap I've had in ages! After filling up, we were off down the road to be shown how incense is made. We were then driven through a small village to the home of the most famous conical hat maker in Vietnam. Her name is Thui and with only one full arm, she produces 2 hats per day. She was born without an arm due to pesticide exposure while in the womb and her father died during the Tet Offensive in 1968. She spent 10 years learning how to make the hats, when it usually only takes 3. She has now been making them for thirty years. A very unique experience to be welcomed into her home. Our last stop of the tour was at the highest point around Hue, where we had amazing views of the Perfume River.

We decided to stick with the vegetarian theme for dinner and went to a place called Tinh Tam, specializing in vegetarian meals. Vegetarian meals with a twist. All of the meals are made with tofu so we had "deer" with lemongrass, sweet and sour "chicken", "pig ear" with vegetables and some other random appetizers. Interesting meal. The deer tasted the best, the ear was the worst, it looked like a chewy candy and had a rubbery consistency, much like ear I presume? And that was the day. Definitely a highlight of my time so far in Vietnam. Tomorrow we are off on our last overnight train to Hanoi, 13 hours of fun!

The overnight train to Hoi An was a nightmare. There was garbage in the room, black hairs over all of our sheets and cigarette butts scattered around. Unfortunately, I threw out my sleeping sheet in Bangkok to make room for other things. When we reached Hoi An, the train trip was forgotten. We arrived in Danang around 0530 and took a bus to Hoi An. The beaches were packed with people playing sports, swimming and doing tai chi. It was quite a sight. Hoi An itself has an old town historical feel to it (pic. 1). Small, with few cars, mostly motorscooters and bicycles. The old part of town is filled with tailoring, shoe and souvenir shops and quaint little restaurants along the river. As Hoi An is the place to get tailoring done, Sarah (England), Allie (Australia) and I decided it was something we definitely had to do. Little did we know the nightmare that was about to unfold. Because there are so many shops, it is completely overwhelming. Clothing and shoes in every style imagineable. We spent our first day walking from store to store, everyone telling us they had the best deal, "You buy, I give you good deal". We finally settled on a tailoring and shoe shop for no other reason than convenience, as it was close our hotel. I had decided that I would be getting a dress, pants and shorts, and of course, shoes. Very few of the shops are airconditioned which makes trying on clothes a little tedious, especially when three girls are trying to change in a room made for one. We had our first fitting done, I decided my dress would be better as a shirt and then had some linen pants and shorts made. We then headed off to choose some shoes. Now, the plan was to end up with ONE pair of shoes but faced with the $9 per pair of shoes reality, I ended up with more. Looking at them now, they are not even very different from one another, but hey, they were cheap. What made the experience so dreadful was that we had to go back 3 times to the store for further fittings and to have shoes taken in or taken out. In the heat, this is not fun and the last thing I wanted to do in a new town was to walk around the same streets for two days. It all ended rather pleasantly though when we received the finished products; 1 skirt, 1 pair linen pants, 1 pair trouser shorts, 3 pairs shoes, 1 pair sandals and 1 shirt, all for under $75 USD. Not too shabby.

In between fittings, we had a cooking lesson and went on an absolutely amazing bicycle tour through the countryside of Hoi An. In the end, it all ended rather pleasantly. Our Vietnamese Cooking 101 Class was incredible. The menu: hot and sour soup, green papaya salad, spring rolls, tiger prawns in coconut sauce, fresh tuna that had been marinated for over 2 hours and fruit salad. Not to mention the free rice whiskey shots and sangria included. We got to watch how it was prepared, participate if so inclined, copy out the recipes and eat everything that was made. Each dish was absolutely delicious. Who knew that fish soup could be so good?! That night, we also decided to live a little dangerously and hopped on a moto to our restaurant. Mine and Sarah's first time on a motorbike, quite exhilarating. I had nowhere to put my left leg, I was in the middle, and was paranoid about it hitting the ground. Ended up with a major cramp in my left hip but we giggled like little kids the whole way. It was great fun. Too bad Allie got dropped off on some random road that was nowhere near the restaurant. Good thing she's a great navigator!

At Cau Dai Beach (pic. 2)the following morning, my stomach was not as enthusiastic about the food we had tried at our cooking class. Without getting into any great detail, I will say that I was feeling rather nauseous and crampy and had to make a couple trips to the squatter toilet *big sigh* that had no light. It also ended our day at the beach ( it was 1030 and we had only gotten there at 1000) as we felt it would be better to have the comfort of western toilets should the episode persist. However, after cycling back to the hotel, I was feeling much better. It had been raining intermittently throughout the day but that didn't stop us from going on our cycling tour (our guide wanted to cancel it! the only exercise I was about to have for the whole trip!). We talked him into it though and it was well worth it. We headed out with our cagouls sp?, as Sarah calls them, I call it a rainjacket or poncho, and cycled through and around town. Little kids come out of their houses yelling "Hello! Hello!" The countryside is spectacular; the colors, the landscape, the poeple, all of it amazing (pic. 3&4). I'm loving Vietnam. It rained off and on throughout the ride but there's something a little unique and childlike about riding around in the rain with a purple poncho on.

We had a final dinner out in Hoi An and went back to the hotel for some drinks. The fish I ordered came out whole, not surprising but if you pretend the eyeball is not looking at you, it actually tastes really great. No idea what kind of fish it was.

This morning, we left Hoi An by private bus and made our way over the Hai Van Pass (pic. 5)to Hue. Again, more amazing scenic views. Tomorrow, we have an all day motorbike tour. Good thing I've already tested out the waters a little.

Well, the overnight train to Nha Trang was kind of exciting. 4 of us girls in a room, felt much like a sleepover party. Took my handy sleeping tablet and was out, woke only once during the night. The toilet on the train was interesting. Basically, a squat toilet with a hole that goes directly through the bottom of the train. So yes, you actually pee right onto the track. Strange. Nha Trang has been quite hot. Spent the first day on the beach for a bit, then headed off for a soak in the mudbaths, followed by a hotwater mineral bath, followed by a hotwater pool, followed by a 60 minute massage, all for 12USD. My second massage since being here. It's so cheap. Apparently, Nha Trang is the place to party. Not a lot going on for a friday night though. Sarah and I left the bar on our own and walked right by our hotel, of course. Ended up walking around for half an hour or so asking random people if they knew where our hotel was. Most had no clue what we were saying and we did run into some sketchy individuals. Mostly, cyclo or moto drivers wanting to give us a ride. We did finally find the hotel, waking up the hotel attendant that was sleeping on a mattress in the lobby of the hotel on our way in . . . it was clearly a very posh hotel.

Today, we had a bit of a lie-in, 0800, had a leisurely breakfast and then headed off to a high class restaurant with pool. That's where we've spent a majority of the day, relaxing and recovering from the hectic mud pool and massage therapy yesterday. We leave tonight on another overnight train to Danang, where we catch a bus to Hoi An, central east Vietnam. Looking forward to doing some much needed laundering. It's becoming rather monotonous, wearing the same clothes day in and day out. Not only that, but as soon as you put something clean on, you step outside and you're already sweating in it. Ah well.

Unfortunately, I cannot upload any pics as there is no USB connection, not as common as in Cambodia, strangely enough. Hope everyone is well. Will update soon.