Finally....
We would like to thank the many regular followers of our blog from 5 countries and your many comments and emails.
Many of you will want to know lots of things especially as many of you travel with inquisitive minds.
The question most are asking is which country did you like the most and this is a tough one.
Laos
We were all agreed that whilst Laos is pretty, its advanced in tourism terms and even for us it was a bit of a shock having come from Cambodia or Vietnam. Laos is probably best described as still a bleak communist dictatorship who has a good relationship with China and Tourism. The roads are good, the towns clean and relatively civilized but we all agreed that for that reason, we liked it the least as it was too manicured and so that leaves us three favorites.
Cambodia
We will always hold a very special place in our heart and many of you have already expressed an interest - we would say, go, you will love it. The people are the poorest and the happiest and the archaeology and culture sublime.
We jokingly ate tarantula just as a joke or as a dare but there was always was a serious point. The eating of spiders, crickets and all sorts of creepie crawlies which has become embedded in their culture is only as a direct result of the American and Allied blockades to the food chains over many war years and the need to eat whatever food they could get.
Tourism is not really too developed but the soft friendliness of the people make it all worth while. We did see beaches but not developed although they do exist.
Nobody could really get over the archaeology of the country and the history is fascinating but again, communist corruption and hard rule will ensure that the people will love you.
Our first experience of the happy people of Siam Reap was a great time and they all made us laugh with their "everything is great" attitude.
It was here that we first heard the expression "same same but different" meaning "near enough" and the dirt poor children melted our hearts at every turn. If you visit this country and are not moved with joy and sadness in equal measure, then you have a heart of stone.
We are not sure how much there is to do in Cambodia that we did not do in our trip but we would say that if your in the area - its a special place and visit.
Paul and Steve had developed an addiction for Khmer Curry although there were never two the same.
If there was ever any chance you would need reminding about the futility of war then the Genocide museum and the detention centre would sort you out well and truly.
Vietnam was a very different place in some ways and similar in others. Similar political controls but a much bigger country and as a result, very different people from the North to the South. There appears still to be an unspoken north and south divide but if people don't speak about it, you can easily work out where people are from from how they recount history.
Steve bought a book called the "History of Vietnam" in which the Americans are called the "oppressors" and refer to the "Will of the American president". all of this makes for fascinating reading but recent history texts are very suspect.
Equally, the photographic evidence on display in the "war remnants Museum" is also an eye opener on historic American brutality which was clearly censored during those years and US tourists rarely go here unsurprisingly.
The food in Vietnam was probably the best anywhere (and is totally world class) and although we did not do particularly badly in any country, the country is becoming a sophisticated "foofie" heaven. The food tour was an eye opener.
30C in the south, 12C in the central region and about 3C in the North shows the range of tempertures of this long thin country.
The Ho Chi Minh trail was a fundamental part of our trip and Phnom Penh, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi were completely enthralling.
The Cu Chi tunnels are fascinating and little things that we would remember was how they made their own sandals out of old car tyres but the soles were on "back to front" so the Americans would think that they were going in a different direction.
The Mekong Delta where we sampled normal farm life and still few tourists. How would we ever forget the little performance of the farm family for tour guests of a Vietnamese tragedy followed by Auld lang syne in Vietnamese and finally Frerer Jacques in French.
Hanoi was a brilliant city - tough going, not easy to get around but we never stopped laughing and seeing products to eat that we didn't think you could eat.
Our food tour took us to probably the worst looking kitchens on earth and yet we had by far the best food.
We will never forget the trauma of the overnight train to Sapa but equally, it rendered the most breathtaking stepped rice terrace fields we had ever seen and we would not have missed the Hmong locals market for the world.
Halong Bay - like a similar location in Thailand without the mass tourism, peaceful and beautiful and the day when we had travelled so much we went to bed early with a free bar on Christmas night.
So in conclusion, Vietnam was also brilliant and yes we would willingly go back there as well.
So that leaves Burma, a country that also has serious human rights defects but a country that in really only a couple of years old in freedom of movement terms. Only in 2013 were many of the places we went to opened up. Recent history has changed the country and to some extent, the freedom of the people but nowhere near enough. Hopefully this will change.
Despite all of this and possibly as we wanted to support it, we all felt in the end that this was the country that we loved the most. We were not really totally clear why but maybe it was for lots of reasons; the people were beautiful, the history and archaeology is on an astronomical scale and the country has great geological beauty. That combined with its great tragedy made us more warm to the people looking forward to their new world.
Maybe its because we always wanted to help the local people as they faced such hardship, we purchased more local manufactured products from here than anywhere and after years of isolation, they were so happy to see us. Not many days went by when we were not studied or photographed and this is because most of the people we saw had never seen westerners before late 2013.
Everywhere we went in Myanmar such as Yangon, Inle Lake, Mandalay and finally Bagan was totally enthralling. We don't think we have bought anything that we did not see in manufacture or its place of manufacture and the people who made it and we bought lots of beautiful craftware.
Quite frequently the local people were looking for acknowledgement or recognition. At breakfast on our last day, the assistant hotel manager quizzed Steve on his views of the country and asked if he felt that the hotel and the country had done a good job.
Sometimes its been difficult to buy things that don't "feed" the corrupt government and some hotels we stayed surely must have but wherever possible, we used the people and ensured that they got the money directly. This was always the advise given to us and there the advise we give here.
Where possible, we have used hotels that we have ascertained to be privately owned and that is also true of the restaurants but in some areas you cannot escape. In these cases they are very expensive.
New hotels have already opened up since we visited and the base of development will be rapid.
One can never go to these countries without wanting to contribute to them in a meaningful way and its never enough just to say you've been there so you have contributed.
The children in these countries are not begging but they are working. We have bought things from many many children very often at ten times the asking price. Mandy has even bough items and non of us are really sure what they are. We have sponsored an book program for schools in all four countries.
We have even paid for one years English education (about $200) for one of our guides in Mandalay but all of this is a world away from what is needed.
Janette found $80 of Burmese currency in her handbag wrapped up so we have posted it to our travel guide to send it on to the village of Kyet Su Kin where we saw the children making incense sticks for a big company to earn a living and who provided us lunch. This will no doubt be a very substantial donation to a village that was so clearly very poor but whose children played with us and whose parents were very happy to make us lunch us and in doing so, realigned or moral compass.
So its for these reasons that we will remember Burma the most and the one country that we say you should go to if you have to chose one. OK, the hotels are more expensive but it will be worth it.
Maybe, when the only hotel game in town is not the military owned ones, then prices will come down bit don't wait...its changing fast.
Finally, we have made a contribution to the Mae Tao clinic, a clinic run by Dr Cynthia Maung on the border of Thailand serving Myanmar with critical healthcare that it does not provide for its people. If anybody is moved by this blog and wants to help in some tiny way but a huge way for them, then maetaoclinic.org is an organisation that could do with a bit of loose change.
As Janette put it eloquently..."Beautiful people, shame they don't have the government they deserve"
We would like to thank the many regular followers of our blog from 5 countries and your many comments and emails.
Many of you will want to know lots of things especially as many of you travel with inquisitive minds.
The question most are asking is which country did you like the most and this is a tough one.
Laos
We were all agreed that whilst Laos is pretty, its advanced in tourism terms and even for us it was a bit of a shock having come from Cambodia or Vietnam. Laos is probably best described as still a bleak communist dictatorship who has a good relationship with China and Tourism. The roads are good, the towns clean and relatively civilized but we all agreed that for that reason, we liked it the least as it was too manicured and so that leaves us three favorites.
Cambodia
We will always hold a very special place in our heart and many of you have already expressed an interest - we would say, go, you will love it. The people are the poorest and the happiest and the archaeology and culture sublime.
We jokingly ate tarantula just as a joke or as a dare but there was always was a serious point. The eating of spiders, crickets and all sorts of creepie crawlies which has become embedded in their culture is only as a direct result of the American and Allied blockades to the food chains over many war years and the need to eat whatever food they could get.
Tourism is not really too developed but the soft friendliness of the people make it all worth while. We did see beaches but not developed although they do exist.
Nobody could really get over the archaeology of the country and the history is fascinating but again, communist corruption and hard rule will ensure that the people will love you.
Our first experience of the happy people of Siam Reap was a great time and they all made us laugh with their "everything is great" attitude.
It was here that we first heard the expression "same same but different" meaning "near enough" and the dirt poor children melted our hearts at every turn. If you visit this country and are not moved with joy and sadness in equal measure, then you have a heart of stone.
We are not sure how much there is to do in Cambodia that we did not do in our trip but we would say that if your in the area - its a special place and visit.
Paul and Steve had developed an addiction for Khmer Curry although there were never two the same.
If there was ever any chance you would need reminding about the futility of war then the Genocide museum and the detention centre would sort you out well and truly.
Vietnam was a very different place in some ways and similar in others. Similar political controls but a much bigger country and as a result, very different people from the North to the South. There appears still to be an unspoken north and south divide but if people don't speak about it, you can easily work out where people are from from how they recount history.
Steve bought a book called the "History of Vietnam" in which the Americans are called the "oppressors" and refer to the "Will of the American president". all of this makes for fascinating reading but recent history texts are very suspect.
Equally, the photographic evidence on display in the "war remnants Museum" is also an eye opener on historic American brutality which was clearly censored during those years and US tourists rarely go here unsurprisingly.
The food in Vietnam was probably the best anywhere (and is totally world class) and although we did not do particularly badly in any country, the country is becoming a sophisticated "foofie" heaven. The food tour was an eye opener.
30C in the south, 12C in the central region and about 3C in the North shows the range of tempertures of this long thin country.
The Ho Chi Minh trail was a fundamental part of our trip and Phnom Penh, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi were completely enthralling.
The Cu Chi tunnels are fascinating and little things that we would remember was how they made their own sandals out of old car tyres but the soles were on "back to front" so the Americans would think that they were going in a different direction.
The Mekong Delta where we sampled normal farm life and still few tourists. How would we ever forget the little performance of the farm family for tour guests of a Vietnamese tragedy followed by Auld lang syne in Vietnamese and finally Frerer Jacques in French.
Hanoi was a brilliant city - tough going, not easy to get around but we never stopped laughing and seeing products to eat that we didn't think you could eat.
Our food tour took us to probably the worst looking kitchens on earth and yet we had by far the best food.
We will never forget the trauma of the overnight train to Sapa but equally, it rendered the most breathtaking stepped rice terrace fields we had ever seen and we would not have missed the Hmong locals market for the world.
Halong Bay - like a similar location in Thailand without the mass tourism, peaceful and beautiful and the day when we had travelled so much we went to bed early with a free bar on Christmas night.
So in conclusion, Vietnam was also brilliant and yes we would willingly go back there as well.
So that leaves Burma, a country that also has serious human rights defects but a country that in really only a couple of years old in freedom of movement terms. Only in 2013 were many of the places we went to opened up. Recent history has changed the country and to some extent, the freedom of the people but nowhere near enough. Hopefully this will change.
Despite all of this and possibly as we wanted to support it, we all felt in the end that this was the country that we loved the most. We were not really totally clear why but maybe it was for lots of reasons; the people were beautiful, the history and archaeology is on an astronomical scale and the country has great geological beauty. That combined with its great tragedy made us more warm to the people looking forward to their new world.
Maybe its because we always wanted to help the local people as they faced such hardship, we purchased more local manufactured products from here than anywhere and after years of isolation, they were so happy to see us. Not many days went by when we were not studied or photographed and this is because most of the people we saw had never seen westerners before late 2013.
Everywhere we went in Myanmar such as Yangon, Inle Lake, Mandalay and finally Bagan was totally enthralling. We don't think we have bought anything that we did not see in manufacture or its place of manufacture and the people who made it and we bought lots of beautiful craftware.
Quite frequently the local people were looking for acknowledgement or recognition. At breakfast on our last day, the assistant hotel manager quizzed Steve on his views of the country and asked if he felt that the hotel and the country had done a good job.
Sometimes its been difficult to buy things that don't "feed" the corrupt government and some hotels we stayed surely must have but wherever possible, we used the people and ensured that they got the money directly. This was always the advise given to us and there the advise we give here.
Where possible, we have used hotels that we have ascertained to be privately owned and that is also true of the restaurants but in some areas you cannot escape. In these cases they are very expensive.
New hotels have already opened up since we visited and the base of development will be rapid.
One can never go to these countries without wanting to contribute to them in a meaningful way and its never enough just to say you've been there so you have contributed.
The children in these countries are not begging but they are working. We have bought things from many many children very often at ten times the asking price. Mandy has even bough items and non of us are really sure what they are. We have sponsored an book program for schools in all four countries.
We have even paid for one years English education (about $200) for one of our guides in Mandalay but all of this is a world away from what is needed.
Janette found $80 of Burmese currency in her handbag wrapped up so we have posted it to our travel guide to send it on to the village of Kyet Su Kin where we saw the children making incense sticks for a big company to earn a living and who provided us lunch. This will no doubt be a very substantial donation to a village that was so clearly very poor but whose children played with us and whose parents were very happy to make us lunch us and in doing so, realigned or moral compass.
So its for these reasons that we will remember Burma the most and the one country that we say you should go to if you have to chose one. OK, the hotels are more expensive but it will be worth it.
Maybe, when the only hotel game in town is not the military owned ones, then prices will come down bit don't wait...its changing fast.
Finally, we have made a contribution to the Mae Tao clinic, a clinic run by Dr Cynthia Maung on the border of Thailand serving Myanmar with critical healthcare that it does not provide for its people. If anybody is moved by this blog and wants to help in some tiny way but a huge way for them, then maetaoclinic.org is an organisation that could do with a bit of loose change.
As Janette put it eloquently..."Beautiful people, shame they don't have the government they deserve"
