The sun sets and rises no matter where you stand in the world :)

The sunrise at Angkor Wat in Cambodia.  I would get up at 4 30 every morning if this is what I would be waking up to!!!

This is how we spent our first night in Cambodia, not so shabby.  After hiking up a mountain for 15 minutes we reached an ancient temple, where we had to climb super steep steps in order to sit at the top and watch the sun go down.

Laos

I got soaked at this waterfall and ended up slipping in the mud.  My clumsiness got the best of me and I was covered in mud, so I had to rinse my bum off in the river like a child.

We come from different worlds...

At a temple in Laos.  The girls had to wear these traditional skirts.  I was not a huge fan, they were not very fashionable and they were very itchy.

I liked this tree.  Isn't it pretty?  Very colorful, just my style ;)

This man is cool

Your typical rest stop......in Laos

So we were on our way from Central Vietnam to Laos and we asked to stop for some snacks, thinking we would end up at a convenience store or something relatively close to one at least.  Instead, the bus stops on the side of the road and we all pile out.  There were probably around twenty wooden stalls, all operated by women, selling different kinds of foods.  Not chips or candy but......

Crickets, yes I had one.  They were kind of like peanuts, salty and crunchy.

Frogs

Birds, some were happily alive, others looked like this...

Bag of snakes just on the ground in the middle of where we walked, a couple of us almost stepped on them.

The Thien Mu Pagodo in Hue is the stacked looking figurine in Hue.  One of the oldest Pagodas in Vietnam.

Sam and I getting some shade under a royal vern at the royal palace in Hue.

The image with the house was the King's stomping grounds in the early 1900s, also in Hue, Vietnam.  The man had 103 wives and no children.  I can only think of two reasons why one man could have so many wives and no offspring.....

These are cool Buddha sculptures from the ethnic group Champa in Central Vietnam.  There were so many I just chose a few to show you.  All were very cool!!

The Vietnamese woman in this picture with me was the woman who made my nice silk shorts for me.  She was hilarious, but tried to rip us off at the same time.  We would try to negotiate with her and she would raise the price from her original quote.  She actually hit one of my friends when he gave her a lower price and giggled about it and then when he paid her she "forgot to give him change."  She is also half my size as you can see, everyone here is.

The sunset at the beach in Hoi An, so pretty.  We went swimming, well three out of eleven of us did, myself included.  The water was perfect.  Women walk around trying to sell things and they always sport the conical hats.

Sam and I on bikes in Hoi An (Central Vietnam).  A historical town with historical prices.  We rented bikes for about 60 cents for two hours!  Totally worth it!!!!

All the roads were dirt in this town.  It was a blast to pedal through them!

The bridge is an ancient Japanese bridge built during the 17th century on the river, very beautiful!  

UNESCO world heritage site the Champa Sanctuary at My Son in Central Vietnam 

My Son

The remains of the early Champa civilization in Central Vietnam (7th Century BCE).

If you look closely you can see the old script on the stone.

The Holy Mountain in My Son

The silk worms used to make Vietnamese Silk, which they are very proud of.  I had some shorts made for pajamas.  They were about 8 bucks, made for my measurements and delivered to my hotel within 12 hours.  ;)

Tree outside Pagoda

Inside the Temple

A pagoda in Hoi An.

Inside there were so many of these incent burners hanging from the ceiling.  They last for three months.  People write messages and wishes for the gods and place them inside the incent burners, once the incent is done burning their wishes have reached the gods.  I took a picture of a spanish one, but there were so many in many different languages.

Hoi An

Central part of Vietnam. 

  

Hoi An is a historic town, very small and beautiful

The Cu Chi Tunnels go for miles and miles under Vietnam's surface.  There are three different levels which the Viet Cong used to out strategize US troops and Southern Vietnam forces.  

You can see me getting into one of the secret entrances that was camouflaged with leaves.  The hole was probably only a foot wide (my hips barely fit).  Once I got inside the tunnel was even smaller and soldiers would spend weeks down there!!  The tunnels consisted of larger cubbies where men would meet up and hang out for a while, eat, play cards, drink beers, you know the usual things you do underground when there is a war going on above you.  

The pictures here are of me getting in, going down, completely gone underground and then coming back up again. 

Cao Dai Temple

A huge temple for a relatively new religion, Cao Dai.  They definitely aren't afraid of color, yikes.  

Cao Dai is a mixed religion of Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and Catholism.  Who knew...