Katie and Mike 2 SEA

Well we've been back stateside for a month and have been quite delinquent in finishing up our final blog entry so we apologize.

The last week of our journey we decided to add yet another country to our itinerary and visit Malaysia.

The trip got off to a rocky start when Air Asia told us we owed them $125 for overweight bags (double the cost of our actual ticket from Siem Reap to KL). Katie let them have (and mike carried on a large sack of dirty laundry) it and we got the fee down to $25.

We spent our two days in KL exploring the Petronas Towers "Twin Towers", Merdeka square, the KL Butterfly Garden, China Town where we had a delicious lunch at a hawker stall. Our last night in KL, we classed it up a bit and had a drink at the Sky Bar which had an amazing view of the Towers. Unfortunately we were regulated to the back of the bar, as the waitress didn't appreciate Mike's faux Havianas.

drinks at Sky Bar

Merdeka Square

butterflys

hawker stall in chinatown

We spent the remainder our the week in the beautiful island of Langkawi, located in the northern part of Malayasia / south of Thailand. The Westin resort was truly a slice of heaven...extremely relaxing spot to wind down. Most nights we spent in the Breeze lounge with an amazing hotel band that sported matching outfits. We enjoyed a few dinners at the hawker stalls and any local establishment that would serve us alcohol with dinner (they were many that wouldn't).

paradise

Aside from chilling by the amazing infinity pool during the day, we took a few side trips. The first one was a snorkeling / scuba trip with East Marine. Mike had a crazy instructor who we thought had some water damage from too much diving. He was more then willing to pick up sea urchins and disrupt marine life. The end of the trip concluded with the reef shark "feeding" ...I was just thankful they didn't feed on any of us. The adventure continued the next day, when Mike felt up to the challenge of driving on the island (all cars are manual and they drive on the other side of the road). Our friend at East Marine was more then willing to "rent" us her friend Ringo's car for the day. After a few close calls with the side mirrors, we made it to Tanjung Rhu beach for a remote and relaxing final day in Langkawi.

fish at the beach

shark feeding

our ride

Our Journey back to the States had us flying through KL to Bangkok (where we had a few nights out with Mike's friends Ace and Shady and lunch with Andreas.) and a final night in Hong Kong.

pat pong nightmarket with shady and ace

lunch w/ andreas and family

taking the gondola to the big buddha

our final night in Asia spent at the temple street night market

We hope you all enjoyed reading our BLOG and we are enjoying being back in NYC. Hope to see those of you that we haven't seen yet soon.

- Katie & Mike

We arrived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia relaxed from our 4 days on Phu Quoc.
Our first day was spent escaping the heat at Hotel Billabong's pool and enjoying some Beer Angkor's at the Foreign Correspondent's Club. The FCC, which we passed through 4 times in our 2 days in PP, was patronized by American journalists (including Sydney Schanberg from the killing fields) during the Vietnam War and has become an institution in PP. Located on the river, it has 3 floors of river views, great western food (w/ western prices) and an impressive photography collection on its walls.

Hotel Billabong Pool

Hanging out at the FCC

sight seeing via tuk tuk

locals on the way to school

The next morning we set out to see the Killing Fields of Chuong Ek, the detention and burial sight of thousands of Khmer Rouge victims. With a monument containing the skulls of exhumed victims and tattered clothes visible throughout the grounds, it was a sombering experiience.
Equally as brutal was the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, a former high school in Phnom Penh converted into a Khmer Rouge prison and interrogation center known as S-21.
Not one of our most uplifting tour days but a worthwhile experience.
Any Cambodian you run into older then 40 is sure to have some recollections of the Khmer Rhouge time, which made the experience even more harrowing.
Khmer Rouge leaders are currently appearing in a UN sanctioned trial in Phnom Penh.

Spending the morning outside caused us both to lose about 15 lbs in sweat, so we opted for the Billabong pool once again for the afternoon. Phnom Penh has an assortment of restaurants run by NGO's. That night we ate a great dinner at Friends Restaurant, which trains street kids to cook, wait tables and manage restaurants.

Another notable occurence in Phnom Penh was our $20 purchase of a GIANT roller suitcase for all our souviners. It weighs over 20 kilos

Thursday afternoon we boarded the bus from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, a scenic 6 hour journey through the countryside of Cambodia. After checking into the Le Meridian we headed to the town of Siem Reap which really consists of one street called fittingly "Pub Street." Had some delicious food at the Red Piano, which was a favorite of Angelina Jolie's during filming of Tomb Raider (they have a drink named after her...of course Katie tried it). Afterwards, we joined in Quiz Night at the Funky Monkey. Mike and I both think we are really good at Trival Pursuit so we assumed Quiz Night would be a piece of cake....we came in last and i think scored 22/ 80....

The Final Bus Ride

Karoake on the Bus...we will definitely miss it

7:00am Friday morning we had a lovely wake up call...one would think we were rising early to get to Angkor Wat BUT no we had to get up in time for the Duke / Nova game. After calling an assortment of bars (none of which were open at 8am) Mike had to settle on a nice internet cafe. Unfortuntely he didn't get the live satelitte view but was able to hear the game on some nice headphones. That afternoon we arrived at Angkor Wat around 3pm. Most people tour during 8-11:30am and 3-6pm because the heat is sooo unbearable during the day. We had a relaxing time touring Angkor and then watched the sunset from Bakeng Hill.

Then it was time for some drinks at the FCC Siem Reap (we can't escape the place). Mike also dined on some tasty Duck Fuke that evening.

Mike riding horseback...this was a popular tourist attraction for the 5yr olds

Angkor Wat

Another early wake up on Saturday, this time we had a guide meeting us to take us on a tour of Angkor Thom in the morning and then Ta Prohm in the afternoon (Mike's favorite and the sight of the Tomb Raider Movie), with a much needed midday break at the Le Meridian pool.

Nose to Nose

Le Meridian Pool

Hanging out with some monkeys on the side of the road

We enjoyed our last night in town watching a puppet parade, put on by all the local kids and then hitting up some local bars on Pub Street.
The next morning mike called his dad from the plane to wish him a happy birthday and it happened to be during the last 2 minutes of the Nova/ Pitt game. He was happy to experience the biggest play in Villanova history, even if it was from a plane halfway around the world.

Luckily we escaped Cambodia without katie filing any adoption papers -

Ron Brilli relaying the play by play of the villanova game [Dick Vitale your job is safe]

We arrived in Saigon expecting the worst. Everyone we've met a long the way, was quick to tell us that it was grimier, more crowded and had double the motorbikes of Hanoi.
To our surprise we ended up really liking the city. It has more of a lived in feel then Hanoi. People seemed more occupied with going to work then constantly hassling us to buy a postcard, motorbike ride or massage.

Our favorite method of crossing the street in Saigon was to walk step by step next to old vietnamese ladies

We gave in on the night we arrived and had our first burgers in a very long time.
This may actually be a record in my life of time gone without a cheeseburger.

The next day we set out to see the Chu Chi tunnels, outside the city. The tunnels were used by VC guerillas during the Vietnam War as a vast network of hiding spots used to conduct surprise attacks. Despite some reservations, we enjoyed the tour and had a very friendly guide who expressed Vietnam's eagerness to put the past behind them.

This idealogy was less apparent at The War Remnants Museum which was fully dedicated to US involvement during the war and its effects. Pretty "warred out" by now, we left after an hour and had some great Pho (vietnamese noodle soup in beef broth) at a place that Bill Clinton visited in 2000.

Enjoying the Pho Bo

and Pho Ga

The Vietnam tourism network is about a fraction as developed as Thailand.
At times this can be very bad (14 hour overnight disgusting hell-train from Hanoi to Hue) and at other times it can be great. On Phu Quoc island it was awesome.
Phu Quoc is located in the Gulf of Thailand south of Saigon. Tourism is just starting to get underway here. So we were able to stay in some huts at a place called the Beach Club, owned by a friendly guy from London for $20 a night. We also got a chance to see some other small islands and beaches on a snorkelling trip.
All of the beaches were empty and nicer then anything we've seen so far in Thailand.
You can see that development is not far off as you make your way around the Island. Hotels are under construction everywhere and Phu Quoc is taking the big step of paving a road.
You can tell when the New Yorkers have arrived in Phu Quoc though, when we found ourselves asking the hotel staff to remove the Jurassic Park sized insects from our hut.

Our accomodations

hotel cafe at sunset

snorkelling trip to the vietnamese tropics

young children in shock & awe of katie's sleeping habits

Sao Beach on Phu Quoc

After departing Hanoi on a dreadful 14 hour overnight sleeper train (I thought it would be a romantic trip...boy was I wrong) we arrived in Hue around 8am completely exhausted and without a place to stay. After a stop at the Mandarian Cafe, i think Mike finally started to forgive me for making him stay in a four person sleeper chamber with a 60 yr old German and his 30 yr old Vietnamese "tour guide." The real kicker was that the cost of the train was only $5 cheaper then the hour long flight.

We took to the streets of Hue after finding a room at the wonderful Orchid Hotel...this hotel was one of the best budget places we have stayed. We had our very own computer and flat screen tv

Hue is centrally located along the coast of Vietnam (right near the DMZ). The city has tremendous history (site of the former imperial city, it served as the capital from 1800-1945, and also the site of the Tet offensive in the Vietnam War). Most (if not all) of the historical buildings were badly destroyed during the wars and the city has since become a UNESCO World Heritage site with numerous renovations under way. We toured the Citadel and the Imperial City.

Dinner at Tropical Garden followed..a cute local establishment that caters to the tour groups. The restaurant was packed with white 50+ tourists...i think it was the nightly folk music.

touring the imperial city:

As in Hanoi, US tanks were on display w/ interesting and completely unbiased description plaques

Feeding the Koi fishes

Monday (3/16) we departed to Hoi An this time via VIP tour bus. The 4hr drive was both beautiful and probably the most comfortable trip we've had yet. Hoi An is an adorable little city on the coast of Vietnam that specializes in custom made suits / dresses / shoes etc. It seriously is a shopper's paradise. We splurged and for 2 nights stayed at an amazing room at the Riverside Resort that looked out to the river. It was an extremely tranquil place to stay.

View from our room at the Riverside Resort

Lanterns that illuminate Hoi An at night

Japanese Covered Bridge

First Ride on the Motos..i was very nervous and insisted on putting my hands around my driver's waist

Mike taking to the streets with his Moto helmut on

Unfortunately, after purchasing 3 suits, 7 shirts, 5 jackets etc etc between the two of us, we were forced to down grade to the $12 a night budget option. The only way to sleep is to have a lot of drinks beforehand.

Trying on our new custom suits

to give you an idea how these places work. the australian gentleman below in the wife beater tank top and camo shorts walked in the store probably never having wore a suit in his life. within a couple minutes he's fingering some cashmere/wool blends. the next morning he comes in for his first fitting (we had about 4 fittings each) and then he's got a brand new suit for $110 thanks to the ladies at A Dong Silk.

View from the Budget Hotel

One of the great things about traveling the "circuit" is that you meet alot of people along the way and then re-meet up further along your trip. We ran into one Canadian couple we rode the dreadful bus in Laos with on the streets in Hoi An. We also met up with a New York couple we had met in Hanoi for a delicious dinner at Mango Room.

The Canadians and Swedes

The New Yorkers and Brits

We arrived in Hanoi late Tuesday night after a quick stop in Vientaine Laos. Our cab ride over to the hotel was a bit of an adventure as we slowly realized we were being scammed by the driver...but not to worry the New Yorker in Mike came out and we were able to resolve the issue without over payment. We took to the streets early Wednesday and quickly realized how difficult this city was to navigate on foot. Aside from the streets constantly changing names it was virtually impossible to cross them without getting run over by a motor bike. Our first stop was the Hoa Lo Prison (aka the Hanoi Hilton) where John McCain spent 5+yrs as a POW. We thought it was rather ironic to see a "Welcome" mat greeting us. One visiting the Hanoi hilton would think it was a luxury resort as photos of American GIs playing basketball, billiards and decorating a Christmas tree together lined the walls. After the Hanoi Hilton , we journeyed over to the Army Museum which was quite a spectacle. The museum's courtyard contain numerous US & French tanks, B-52 Bombs, Choppers etc. It was definitely a sight to see.

Welcome Mat at the Hanoi Hilton Prison

McCain's flightsuit

Army Museum Courtyard

Thursday we continued our tour of Hanoi (this time I was much more brave and confident in crossing the street). We traveled to Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum only to find out it was closed. We had a delicous lunch at Cafe 69 where Mike was finally able to get some proper Pho Bo and Bun Cha. We also ventured to the Temple of Literature, Vietnam's first university, and its beautiful pagodas. I randomly ran into an old Citigroup colleague. You never know who you'll see roaming around Vietnam. At night I dragged Mike to see somw Water Puppetry, an art form made famous in the rice paddies of Northern Vietnam. The farmers make amazing wooden puppets and then float them on water narrating tails of farming and village life. I think even Mike would admit it was worth the $3 admission. That night we had an amazing authentic Vietnamese dinner at Le Club Oriental.

Pagoda at the Temple of Literature

Water Puppets

Friday we were up early to take a Junk Boat to Halong Bay. After a 4 hour van ride, we boarded our Junk, the Jewel of the Bay, with two other couples. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate and we were stuck out at sea during a monsoon. We were, however, able to see the Sung Sot Cave which had some interesting rock formations (google it) and get some kayaking in after the rain stopped. That night we enjoyed a dinner of fresh seafood all caught by our crew. The next morning, we finally had some decent weather and hiked to the top of Ti Top island which provided gorgeous views of the Bay.

Matching ponchos....aww so cute

Mike boarding the Jewel of the Bay

Ominious weather

Dinner party with the randoms

The next morning

At the top of Ti Top Island

Stunning halong bay

Sans hat that Mike hates

Working in the Rice Paddies