Southeast Asia : )

I LOVE to travel!  I always have... there is something about not knowing what to expect and stepping out into the unknown that makes my heart pulpitate in a good way.  I have done some backpacking in Western Europe and now had the Chinese New Year break to give Southeast Asia a try.  There are certainly differences between the two.  If you enjoy romance, art, museums, breathtaking architecture (I was teary with joy when I saw the Effile Tower) and good food... I highly recommend Western Europe.  I loved my trips through France, Germany and Italy.  

Southeast Asia is a totally different story... If you enjoy ambiguity, adventure, cheap food, multiple near death experiences (that somehow become everyday life) and conditions that simply can't be sanitary, visit Southeast Asia... You won't be disappointed!

Here are a few of our memories... Shopping for $1.75 sunglasses with the sounds of rice farmers protesting a corrupt government in the background (who is no longer in power apparently... I can't figure out who is running the country but it apears that no one is), mysterious bathroom situations at every turn (the only mystery in China is if there will be water in any form to wash the waste away or if it will sit there in a pool for the next decade... I quit dreaming of toilet paper weeks ago... there is only so much disappointment I can take on one trip to the bathroom.  Thailand is totally up in the air.  Sometimes it was China style, sometimes there was a seat warmer and bidet, mostly there was one of those ktichen sink sprayers to be used to wash yourself but we truely never knew what to expect!), Standing in a Cambodian hostel debating on what to say about the bloody sheets in our new room that we waited for them to clean  (it's true... there was blood on the sheets of both mine and Janelle's bed in Cambodia... the odder thing is that the staff seemed confused when I asked if they could give us clean sheets.... I'm glad there are no life threatening diseases transmitted via blood in Cambodia... oh wait, I think I read somewhere about something called AIDS), the joys of trying to find a hostel that apparently  has another name in which no one cared to share with you at booking leading you to wonder the dark streets for over an hour while passing the sign for your hostel, riding on the back of an elephant through the jungle of Thailand in a basket contraption that would never pass inspection in the U.S. (I was sure that I would fall to my death and screamed and laughed for at least half of the trip) while on a trekking adventure-some of the people on our trip had a difficult time crossing the river and a group of elephants with their guide came to the rescue and rode the people across, getting 19 bug bites in about 30 minutes (I am a little scared about the bug situation in Cambodia... they have A LOT of diseases here that are transmitted via mosquito), getting up at 5am to catch a bus at 6am to take you to a boat that leaves at 7am....in real life a car came to get us at 7:30 to take us to a boat that left at 8:30.  The  best thing is that the fun hasn't ended yet!  In all seriousness, I do love travels in Asia... it build character : )   Let the madness continue!