Well, the Internet is officially *everywhere*!! I just arrived in Vang Vieng, Laos...planning to go see some caves tomorrow, maybe innertube down a river, then head to Vientiane and back into Thailand, where I'll try to find a flight to Siem Reap. Arrived in Thailand after an exhausting 30-something hours traveling, and fell asleep for 16 hours!

Then I got myself into Bangkok to see some sights (very different architecture from South America), got a traditional Thai massage (one hour for about three dollars!), then headed up to Ayutthaya and Sukhothai to see some ruins. My guesthouse in Sukhothai was incredible -- bamboo bungalow overlooking a lush green field, huge bowls of fruit for breakfast. My Swiss neighbor and I rented a motorbike the second day we were there and wandered up to Si Satchanalai (another set of ruins), stopping at a local roadside market on the way. We were the main attraction! It's really interesting -- in Thailand, the Thai tourists want to take pictures of foreigners. We kept thinking they were asking us to take their photo in front of some wat, but instead they wanted *us* in the picture...too funny!

Went trekking in Chang Mai -- stayed in a small village one night, and then on the floor of a bamboo hut in the middle of nowhere. We wandered through hills, river valleys, and caves...the second night, we had rice cooked inside bamboo shoots with an amazing chicken curry stir-fried over a campfire; we drank out of hand-made bamboo cups, and ate out of hand-made bamboo dishes with hand-made bamboo utensils (note the theme?)...and I met some great women. Got back to Chang Mai, took a cooking class (more yummy food -- no bamboo involved) and hit the night market (I was with this Dutch woman who quickly became an amazing bargainer!), then headed for Chiang Khong to cross into Laos.

Crossed the border Sunday morning and ended up on a speed boat with three other tourists (normally they take six passengers, but we all paid another half fare and had room to stretch our legs!). Really fast, low-slung boat zipping down the Mekong: breathtaking scenery, cool breeze, and the fact that we were all stuffed into crash helmets and life vests just made the whole thing too humorous for words.

Spent the day with a couple of other solo female travelers (we split a room in Luang Prabang), hiking to villages and wats around L.P., checking out the markets, eating interesting new food, then we all went our separate directions this morning. They headed north, and I caught the early bus down south to Vang Vieng. No big adventures (except the bus today, which was interesting...full of people throwing up, but no random farm animals thank goodness!), just lots of dust and poverty and sandal-wearing white tourists everywhere. I think I'm gonna head off to wander around town now, then maybe just relax and read my book -- or better yet, catch up on my journal! -- which I haven't done for a couple of weeks. It's amazing how much work traveling can be!

---