Myra and Gerry Southeast Asia 2019

Our trip to Viet Nam, Cambodia and Laos was very special.   This is an area of the world that, as kids growing up in the 60s, we never thought that we would visit.   And while the three countries are similar in many ways they each have very distinct characteristics.   They are all third-world countries but are much more economically advanced than other third-world countries we have visited.   Peru, Bolivia and Zimbabwe come to mind. While each of the three countries are beautiful and the spectacular places we visited will remain in our memories forever as will the motor scooters.   It is impossible to explain the overwhelming vision of thousands of motor scooters on the roads in all three countries.   But when you get to the large cities they remind you of locusts swarming every possible piece of pavement.   And yet when you watch them on the streets it is like watching a beautifully choregraphed dance.   Hard to imagine but true. All of...

What a day we had today!   We started our day visiting a community-based, living rice farm where we learned the process to grow rice and were experienced each stage of the growing process.   We found this fascinating and fun. To do this day in and day out would be back breaking! 1 -  O ur guide began with a demonstration to show how they selected the best rice to plant for the next year. They place multiple handfulls of salt in a container of water, mix it up and place an uncracked chicken egg in the water.  When the egg floats the water is readiy for the next step.  They remove the egg and place rice in the bowl.  The rice that sinks to the bottom is the heaviest and best rice and is now ready for planting. 2 - The best rice is planted by mounding the mud in the cleaned and flooded field and throwing the rice on top of the mud. Two to three times a day the rice is sprinkled with water to keep it wet. 3- When the rice has sprouted and abou...

We arrived in Laos after dark last night and prepared for an early morning start at 4:00 am for the giving and receiving of alms for the local monks.   Every single morning over 100 monks walk approximately five blocks with tourists and locals lined along the sidewalk, each of whom place a small portion of food into the bowls they carry.  We sat on small chairs and provided a small handful of  cooked rice (what is known as “sticky rice”) to each of the Monks.   The process starts around 6:00 am. Laos is approximately 80% Buddist.  Families who are Buddists are expected to send their boys, anytime after they are 10 years old, to study Buddhism for at least three months.  Senior monks (20 years old and older) cover both shoulders.  Junior monks only cover one shoulder. The monks do not cook food as they are not allowed to touch “raw” meat.   (They also cannot touch women – including their mothers.)   Their food is cooked...