Fantastic finale!

[Hillary] From the rooftop bar in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, we sit and enjoy the moonlight dancing on the water below us; the Brazilian bossanova behind us and the ladder to the partial moon setting the tone for the evening. [Leo] Gazing down at street level, the contrasts with home are obvious – a barge painted with a giant fluro coloured chicken, fake deer grazing on its deck. Closer still, Cambodian couples on motorbikes stare, equally amused at the foreigners looking down at them as a dried squid vendor passes yet another dried squid vendor on a bike-cart. [Scott] The last few days in rural Cambodia have been awesome. Homestaying amidst day-glo green ricefields and building a house for a needy Cambodian mother have been fantastic and rewarding. It has also been a nice escape from the intensity of Vietnam.

One week later and we're sitting at the airport in Bangkok, waiting to fly to beautiful Southern Thailand. Coming back to Bangkok felt like coming home for many people, recognizing places from before and planning the next exciting streetfood meal kept us all busy. As we drove into Bangkok, we were also excited reminiscing about how we all met and how far we've come as a group.

Our time in Cambodia was absolutely beautiful. From living briefly in a rice paddy to the majesty of Angkor Wat, we are all in agreement that Cambodia is a very special place. Our group is smiling, sunbaked and ready for scuba diving. As our trip is coming to a close, we are excited to spend some good quality time on the beach.

Touring the Khmer Rouge killing fields and Tuol Sleng prison, where many of the 2 million Cambodians were killed and tortured during that time, was sobering. A sad, yet important history for us all to see. I (Leo) was particulary affected by the bits of clothing and bone sticking up out of the soil where people were brutally murdered – Choeng Ek Killing fields, one of hundreds discovered in the late 1970's.

Siem Reap was a humbling and interesting time. We visited many beautiful ancient temple ruins. The many gorgeous sunrises and sunsets we shared as a group meant that we avoided the hot part of the day. Walking around these beautiful, crumbling creations evoked wonderment and awe at the time and effort taken to produce all the temples. Its hard to imagine the people actually living in and using the temples back in the day. A visit to the landmine museum provoked sadness and thoughtfulness about what hardships people have been through. The visit to the Angkor Childrens hospital in Siem Reap left some people with less blood, as most of the group donated blood to this worthy cause, helping save a childs life (don't worry folks, totally sterile and safe) felt awesome.

We are off on our final adventure as a team! Some of us are staying in the south after the trip, others are embarking on new adventures, and some returning home. Time to board our flight, see you soon!

Hugs
Leo and Hils

Lucky me!

Lucky me; to start off where the last blog left off – in Halong Bay, is a good thing indeed. Halong Bay was the stuff of dreams – amidst a busy port of hundreds of beautiful junk style boats, our excited group boarded two elaborately beautiful wooden boats owned by brothers. While motoring out to our first stop, we were served an amazing seafood feast, bird-shaped napkins and all (doesn't take much to impress me). The thought emerged "how will they top this next meal?" I'm not the only one who professed to be in food heaven – fresh morning glory, whole stuffed fish, fried squid, chicken nibbles, to go on would be inviting trouble as I'm making myself too hungry.

Over the two days our trip guide, Khang (pronounced 'hung') took us out on some fun kayaking tours of some Halong Bay islands. There are over 1000 in all, beautiful karst cliffs soaring into the sky. The rock climbers in the trip were salivating eagerly. The two days passed in beach visits, swimming and games on the beach and numurous gastronomical celebrations – the crew did manage to top every meal, every time. The days wouldn't have been complete without jumps and flips off the top level of the boats. The Halong Bay experience was a great group relaxing and bonding time, with the inclusion of our newest buddy, Sabrina, who met up with us in Hanoi to join us for the remainder of the trip.

Hanoi followed Halong Bay. The capital of Vietnam, this is a city on the move. Shared bunkrooms and group meals both nights ensured more ammunition for the 'not so quotable quotes' page – where things you said without thinking first, end up recorded for others to laugh at, often. Hanoi saw us busy soaking up the many things this city has to offer – morning runs round the lake, with locals joining in the exercise – running, badminton, tai chi, people watching. Excellent bars were on offer for celebration of Jeffs birthday. Shopping, shopping and more shopping for some. Mothers, your daughters will be well dressed when they get home. Delicious feasts – one group dinner at a busy restaurant specializing in street food from all around Vietnam, which was fantastic. A walking tour provided exciting insights into Vietnamese life, taking us around the different themed streets (decorate your temple street, holiday street, silk street, tools and hardware street, hair product street?) and bringing, for myself, more opportunities to try crazy, unidentifiable but mostly delicious Vietnamese food.

From Hanoi we traveled to Hue, a quieter, beautiful town flanking either side of the perfume river (named for the 'perfume' smell when the flowers along its banks are in bloom). Here we all jumed on the back of a moto with a local driver and did a moto-tour of the sights. I found the Citadel awe-inspiring, with its old buildings being restored, beautiful columns and statues, as well as the gorgeous pagodas and tombs with their crumbling ruins.

Today the team is enroute to Hoi An, on the coast. I have come to Saigon a few days early with Emily Robin to sort out passport issues. This has brought with it the unexpected joy of discovering 15 cent yoghurt and deliciously, but ridiculously cheap meals next door to the guest house. Oh joy of joys!


Leo signing out.

SE Asia adventure!

Greetings from the lovely town of Sapa, Vietnam! SE Asia 2009 is still trekking, moto-touring, river running and experienceing life to its fullest. It has been a while since we posted and we wanted to update you on some of the highlights of our trip.

Prior to our arrival in Vietnam 2 days ago, we spent 10 amazing days in Laos. We began in the north in the little town of Luang Nam Tha. The Boatlanding Guesthouse was the perfect place to relax along the riverside and regroup after our 17 days in Thailand. We reminisced over the elephant rides, time spent in Karen villages and caving/rock climbing adventures in Chiang Mai. After relaxing and enjoying some of the best food Asia has to offer we were off again to trek into the hills. Our Laotian mountain stays were exciting and very different from the villages of Thailand. We enjoyed spicy jeows (an amazing local cuisine), rice wine that the chiefs love to share, and leeches that were a fun and not-so-fun suprise for many of us. After trekking it was off on a 3 day river journey. We began in long boats down the Nam Tha river then out to our big Mekong boat. Chilling out in the sunshine and bunkering down in an attempt to stay dry during the tropical down pours, it was a journey of contrasts that lead us to the ancient city of Luang Prabang.

Luang Prabang is beautiful, old and modern all at the same time. A totally chill enviroment that boasts the oldest temple in Laos. At 6am every morning the monks walk through the streets collecting alms for the day, a beautiful site to behold as their bright orange clothing contrasts the rising sun on the stone streets. Many of us enjoyed renting bikes and visiting local markets and everyone has thus far agreed that Laotian food is by far the best.

Our arrival in Vietnam was exciting, the fourth country in 27 days! We have been trekking and mountain biking in Sapa, a steep city on the edge of Mount Fanispan. Many of us have already fallen in love with the local culture, great food and adorable girls wearing some of the most elaborate and skilled textile clothing. They spin the cloth, dye it and then sew and embroider it into such phenominal outfits. It is hard to escape their charm because they are all so kind and their english skills are impressive! I think that we will all leave with a piece of their handiwork. Tonight we head back on the night train to Hanoi and then out to Halong Bay where we will spend a few days sea kayaking and soaking up some sunshine before continuing south.

SE Asia 2009 is sending our love to you all! We must say goodbye for now...but our adventure continues!

Hillary