Itinerary continued

On Feb 21st we will cross the border from Laos into Thailand at Chong Mek and continue on to Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubon_Ratchathani_Province where we will catch a late flight to Chiang Mai, Thailand http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiang_Mai. In Chiang Mai, we will be staying at this hotel for 3-4 days http://www.maninarakorn.com/ while making the best of our short time there.

On around February 24th, we plan to rent a car with GPS(yes, it's available) and travel to the area of Chiang Rai, Thailand http://www.geocities.com/rainforest/7153/crai.htm. If we arrive there safely after driving ourselves in a right sided car on the left side of the road, our schedule is extremely fluid but do plan to spend a night at Phu chi fa so that we may get up early in the morning to see this http://www.flickr.com/photos/atomdocs/3181609643/ spectacle. We have also learned that there are some more relatives in a nearby city called Wiang Kaen that we may go see or meet in Chiang Rai. We will spend 2-3 days in the Chiang Rai region.

On Approx Feb 27th, we plan to drive south to the city of Sukhothai, Thailand http://travelhappy.info/thailand/sukhothai-thailand/, the 1st capital of Siam and spend a day taking in the historical park there.

On February 28th, we will catch a plane from the nearby city of Phitsanulok and fly to Bangkok where we will enjoy our last four days while staying at this hotel http://navalairiverresort.com/ on the river.

On March 4th we'll begin the LONG journey back and will arrive in Charlotte on the 5th. Many will notice that we have omitted the BEAUTIFUL southern Thailand islands and beaches from our itinerary. As tempting as it is, we cannot justify at this time, going halfway around the world to lay on a beach but are jealous of those that have done so! We are finding that there is SO much to do in these countries that 6 months or even a year wouldn't be enough but we hope to make the best of the 3 and a half weeks we are so fortunate to have!

Proposed itinerary

Our proposed itinerary is as follows......... On February 9th at 9am we will take a short flight on US Airways from Charlotte, NC to Washington Dulles(approx 1 hour.) From there, at 1145, we will take a Korean Air flight to Seoul, Korea, almost 7000 miles and approx 14.5 hours!!!!!!!!!! Here we will arrive around 420 pm (hey, it's 420!!!!, cool!!) and enjoy a 4 hour layover until we take a 4 hour Thai air Flight to Bangkok, arriving about midnight. Here we will spend the night at this http://www.convenientresortbangkok.com/ "convenient" hotel, get up in the morning, and take a 1145 am flight (one hour) to Vientienne, Laos, (the capital city) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vientiane arriving on February 11th!! I believe that is about 20 hours on a plane!!!!. As noted in another post, in Laos, (click below for a brief history and statistics on the country of Laos)http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107702.html we don't really know too much of what we'll actually be doing as it is more of a family visit, governed more or less by Seng's parents, "Ted" and "Chan". Seng's mother, Chan has a large family in Laos. In fact, she has a brother in Vientienne who is a high ranking official in their military! We suspect we will stay in Vientienne for a few days before traveling, probably by bus, WAY down to an area near the southern city of Pakse http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakxe . We will be in this area until February 21st, and hopefully will be able to make some posts during that time.

To be continued.............

Trip Background

Some( not many) may be wondering why we have chosen to go to these areas instead of heading to many of the awesome areas we have here in the USA to which we have not been. Well, it's not as random as us throwing darts on a map and ending up living and working in places such as Tucson, Vegas, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Reno, Memphis, and St. Thomas. It's definitely not as random as Roger, Leighton, and Curtis landing in Bolivia at a moments notice with no plan and ending up sitting with the Bolivian mafia at a soccer game pulling for the local team "the Strongest" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Strongest and their superstar "Tigre".

As many of you know, or would have surmised, Seng's nationality is not "American". No, it's not Taiwanese, Chinese, Cambodian or Filipino. Seng was born in Laos and lived there until the age of 6, barely escaping with her life. Laos, more so at that time ( 70's, early 80's) is a communist country and during that period, those that did not support the government ended up in prison camps, aka "re-education camps" including her father, who was captured after a plane crash while "unofficially" working for the US air force. While in prison, he managed to plan and accomplish an escape from this camp and the country with his family. In doing so they spent many days traveling barefoot and hungry while several times coming in direct contact with Laos military and providing them with false paperwork, which, lucky for them, worked. Did we mention that Seng was pulled from a hospital with an unknown sickness for this plot to work?

Seng has grandparents and many aunts, uncles, and cousins in Laos, most of whom she does not remember. She has always embraced her culture, is fluent in the language, and is extremely talented in the culinary arts of the area. It is the perfect time in our life to go on this adventure and meet her extended family and experience the culture, along with her parents who brought her from there for a better life. Seng's parents, Ted and Chan, (see above) have gone back to Laos as recently as 4-5 years ago and therefore we are putting our 1oo% trust in them for the Laotian portion of this trip. It will, undoubtedly be the most realistic, cultural, non-touristy vacation experience of our lifetime. There are no popular vacation spots in this landlocked country. The main water source is the MeKong river (click on left photo). If you look it up, Laos has the distinction of being the most bombed country in the world, mostly because of it's close involvement with the Vietnam conflict and the Ho Chi Minh trail http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho_Chi_Minh_Trail going right through it. This country is very poor and "third world". In fact, we are bringing with us 8 full suitcases(2 per person), filled to the maximum limit of 50lbs with clothes/hand me down items from our lives here in the US to give to the people in Laos. Our personal clothes, etc will be in our "carry on's". In this country our 1 dollar equals approximately 8800 Laos "kip" and goes a long way even coming from this poor economy. At some point in our Laos travels, we do anticipate sleeping in mosquito nets, with no AC in 85 degrees(F), no running water, or traditional toilets. We have all had vaccines for Typhus, Hepatitis A, B, Tetanus Booster, and will be taking Malaria pills. We will also have with us antibiotics in case of "Montezuma's revenge". Roger anticipates having people stare at him and flocks of children following the white giant around but already knows that the Laos people are very loving and and accepting. Roger can count and understand very basic phrases in Laotian language but is thankful for Seng and her parents presence!

The Thailand portion of this trip is planned by Roger and Seng and is occurring for no other reason than we cannot be that close to Thailand and not go there!!! Seng also has family in the Chiang Rai area. The currency there is the Thai "baht". Currently, 1 USD= approx 35 baht. While we will not be living in luxury, we anticipate a greater internet access, traditional, showers, better transportation, less risky food, and just a general greater sense of normalcy while still quite far from it. We have decided not to plant ourselves on a beach in Phuket, etc as we can see beaches just as beautiful anywhere in the Caribbean and some places in the US. We will be concentrating more in northern Thailand on history, culture, fun, and food, while trying to avoid tourist traps.

Welcome

Welcome to Roger and Seng's blog! We barely know what blogging is, how to blog, what one looks like, and definitely have never tried to do so. That being said, don't expect too much but after encouragement from many we have decided to attempt to blog our way through parts of Laos and Thailand while traveling between the dates of February 9th, 2009 and March 5th, 2009. Hopefully we will be able to post a few pictures along the way and share some of our thoughts and experiences while traveling through these areas so you losers at work can live vicariously through us. The time and date posted on these entries will be the time and date in Laos which is 12 hours ahead of Eastern US time. Feel free to "join" the blog, make comments, or whatever else this thing will let you do. Warning, this blog is at risk to be poorly attended to by us d/t lack of access, time constraints, and maybe even laziness! lol. We hope it turns out well.