Goodbye Asia

Am in my final hours in Asia and it's really starting to hit me now! My trip is over! I feel really really sad that I have to confront all the realities of home in Canada but really happy to see family again. But this past year has given me more motivation to travel more, be more active and to work overseas again (but maybe not in the near future). I can't even describe how wonderful the experiences I've had were and I'm sure all of you will be so sick of hearing about it after a while!! But I encourage all of you to take some time and do it, it'll really change your perspective about so many things... I may sound a bit New Age guruish now but oh well! Anyways, goodbye Asia! It's been a good year! Hello Canada!!

Homeward bound

Finally making my way slowly back to Canada! Looking back on the last year, it's really been a whirlwind, at times I felt like time was slowly creeping by but the last few months have just zoomed past me. I want them back! Not that I'm not looking forward to seeing everyone again, but the past year has been so amazing.
Am now in Macau, it's such a pretty Asian city, full of Portuguese architecture, cobbled streets and large gaudy casinos. Will see some family I haven't seen in almost 10 years! It will be a shock for both sides when we meet again. On Monday I head to Hong Kong for the last leg of my Asian travel before heading to Vancouver.
The past month I've been travelling around Laos. It's really a quiet spot in the noisy bustle of SE Asia. And it's worth a visit, full of things for everyone to do. There are beautiful areas with rolling hills, large limestone karsts overgrown with jungle and lots of rivers (for various activities, transport on speedboats, slowboats, long boats, swimming and tubing - basically in Vang Vieng you can rent an inner tube and float down the Nam Son river and pull yourself over to any bar that you fancy and in the meantime you can also throw yourself off rope swings!). In the north it's really untouched by tourism, many towns are trade towns between Laos and China. Not the most picturesque of towns but they are good jump off points for various treks into the jungle. We did one in Vieng Phouka to see these mysterious 400 year old ruins possibly left by the Burmese. It was really cool to see these old ruins just grown over and walking and discovering a little wall as you walk along. We also were invited to this housewarming party of this Laotian family where most of the guests were pretty drunk at about 2 in the afternoon, too much Lao Lao for them.
Travelled south after the north and took a slow boat from Huay Xai (where we had a great steam sauna and massage courtesy of the Laos Red Cross) to Luang Prabang, a beautiful lush city. We toured the sights, saw a waterfall, saw some wats and went bowling. Yes, it's the only place open after midnight. Then to Vang Vieng for the tubing, only one day for me but 3 for Jan! It is good fun and you have great scenery. Then to Vientiane and then to ThaKek, our last stop in Laos. We had intended to see the largest cave in Laos but found out too late that it would take maybe 3 days there and back as it's really remote. So we tried to find our own caves but since it's rainy season, most of them were flooded in. But we did see a pretty awesome cave Nam Aen Cave, it's a huge cavern with stalagmites everywhere, it was beautiful. Then we headed to Thailand where we intened to hitchhike but had no luck as every Thai person was laughing at us and then slowly driving off... what a tease. Took a full day of buses to head back to Bangkok. Enjoyed the last few days with Jan before he headed to Amsterdam and I headed to Macau 12 hours later.
Had some interesting and annoying company at the airport who I picked up while watching the soccer game. Was quite glad to get on the plane away from him!

Nearing the end

Hello all! It's been a really long time. Spent the last few weeks exploring the rest of Vietnam (along the coast) and then headed into Laos via the new Dien Bien Phu border crossing. Spent some time in rock climbing and doing some little hikes in these countries. Am now stationed in Vang Vieng for a few days as it's so beautiful here and also the tubing aspect has hooked Jan. It's a really cool concept, floating down the river in an inner tube and then stopping by bars along the way. Also there are these huge rope swings which I'm too chicken shit to try... but it looks really fun.
Only about 2 weeks until I return to Canada and I'm so looking forward to it! Life is Asia is good fun in the sun but am craving home cooked meals and my own bed! and of course seeing everyone back home as well!