Asia Steps

As you’ve probably noticed, there hasn’t been a lot of writing going on here at AsiaSteps over the past several months. That’s not to say that nothing has been going on in our exploration of Asia or Asian culture. On the contrary, Tamar and I have experienced many blog-worthy events, tastings, art and the like but we’ve just been so busy with other things that it’s been hard to jump back into the blogging. It’s tough to find the perfect subject to write about when you’ve been away from the blog for so long.

I’ve come to the conclusion that the perfect subject to blog about will never be found so here is something that at least caught my attention and something that appealed to my love for animals…the hairy-nosed otter! A couple of these folks were just sighted in Vietnam after many years. Here’s a link with another hairy-nosed otter photo from the Phnom Tamau Wildlife Sanctuary where we visited last January

I’ve never written about otters before so it’s not a subject I’m prepared to expand on here. But the fact that these guys have particularly hairy noses definitely makes me question my previous views regarding the amount of hair normal otters have on their noses.

Tamar and I also like hearing about nature sanctuaries like U Minh Ha National Park and we’re curious about these places. Perhaps we’ll swing by on our next trip.

So, when is our next trip and where will we go? We’re working on that right now!

Last week the British publication, The Economist, featured a 14 page special section on Vietnam!

Articles included:

Halfway from rags to riches
Vietnam has made a remarkable recovery from war and penury, says Peter Collins. But can it change enough to join the rich world?

A bit of everything
Vietnam’s quest for role models

Two wheels good, four wheels better
The rich are ever more visible - but where are the poor?

Entrepreneurs unbound
Business of all kinds is booming

The return of the boat people
Former refugees bring back skills and money

From basket case to rice basket
Can the agricultural miracle last?

Revealing its hidden charm
Tourism could do a lot of good if Vietnam handles it properly

We want to be your friend
And yours, and yours, and yours too

How long can the party last?
The communists have relaxed everything except their grip on politics. Might that be next?

A country briefing on Vietnam is at: www.economist.com/vietnam

Kevin and Tamar Blogging by the Nam Khan River in Luang Prabang, Laos

Our five-week adventure to Vietnam, Laos and Camboda is over but our journey through Asia will continue. Stay with us for ongoing content related to Asia including news, more reviews, cultural commentary and, of course, information about our upcoming trips. Now is the perfect time to subscribe to AsiaSteps.com by RSS feed or email to receive periodic notification of our ongoing blog posts.

With the start of the New Year, we wish you all the best and hope that you’ll continue to join us as we discover Asia one step at a time!

Kevin & Tamar

Ho Chi Minh City

Here are some new photos taken in Ho Chi Minh City. Hopefully the energy and beauty of the city will come through in those images.

Enjoy!

To continue the discussion about riding motorcycles in Vietnam, our recent daytrip outside of Hanoi and last week’s visit to Luang Prabang, here is a NY Times article about motorcycles in Laos which talks about the influx of Chinese motorcycles, toys and technology into this and other SE Asian countries.

We’ve both been to Vietnam in past trips but this trip we’re going to visit Laos and Cambodia for the first time. Just this week the New York Times website posted a list of The 53 Places to Go in 2008 and Laos was made it to the top of that list! You can also read the featured page about Laos.

One of the things we’ve heard about Laos is that the pace of travel is slow and relaxing. There are two areas in particular that sound interesting to us: Luang Prabang in the North and Si Phan Don in the South. But the best thing is that since Laos is near the beginning of our trip we’ll have plenty of time explore and to change directions if something else seems attractive in that country.

View last year’s photos from Vietnam.

We’ve purchased tickets. Asia, we’re coming back!