Patong Beach took the No. 4 spot and Koh Pi Pi Islands landed the No. 7 place in a recent Travel Channel survey of the World’s Sexiest Beaches!

The “sexiness” of the beach destinations was evaluated based on a combination of how sexy the local population is thought to be, the sexiness of the tourists crowd and the overall sexy nature of the nightlife or party scene. Most of the beaches were top quality in terms of standard beach criteria as well: sun, sand, water, etc.

We have not yet been to either of these beaches but Koh Phi Phi has been on our list for some time now.

We love to write about all of the beautiful and interesting things we see in our travels around Asia. However, not everything in the world is so pretty and Asia is no exception. We wanted to share with you a sad article about the abduction and trafficking of women from Vietnam to other countries in the region like Cambodia.

Click here to read the NY Times article that was published just last month.

Reporter Nicholas D. Kristof has covered this issue as well as others extensively in several parts of the world and he has a page of video reports on YouTube.

Barack Obama's Inauguration 2009

This is my first post that I am writing from Asia on this trip. Last night Tamar and I stayed up late, fully absorbed by the TV coverage of the inauguration of the first African-American president of the USA. These two firsts coincided to remind us of another, that of the very first time we traveled to Asia in September 2001. Continue Reading »

I think the Vietnamese equivalent of shaking your hand is the “ritual of 4 questions” (not to be confused with the Jewish 4 questions of Passover). Whenever I meet new people, be it random people on the street or curious co-workers at the office, the conversation starts with the obligatory four questions:

1. How old are you?
2. Are you married? (sometimes replaced with simply pointing to the ring finger and raising the eyebrows)
3. Do you have children?
4. Why not?
Continue Reading »

A tragic fire and stampede has resulted in nearly 60 deaths in an upscale nightclub in Bangkok. Read the full story on CNN and the NY Times.

Example of a Visa Exemption in a Passport

Great news! As of fall 2008 Vietnam has established visa exemptions for Viet Kieu (Vietnamese overseas). In theory, that means that as a Vietnamese-born person I can apply for an exemption ($20 the first time, only $10 for subsequent applications) and receive a visa exemption valid for 5 years! That’s awesome! That sure beats the expensive cost of getting a 1-3 month visa, especially a multi-entry visa, which is more expensive (with expedited shipping this can add up to well over $100). And I wouldn’t need to worry about visa issues for 5 years at a time which saves time and money. Ahh, membership has its privileges. As an adoptee I hope that they accept my paperwork since it’s different and not as complete as my fellow Viet Kieu, most of whom left Vietnam with their families and parents who were already Vietnamese citizens. I was only 10 months old and so I never had a Vietnamese passport and there’s very little in the way of documentation about me in Vietnam during the war. I have to call the Vietnamese Mission to the UN (an official Vietnamese office here in NY) first thing on Monday morning to get some questions answered. I guess we’ll just have to see how the application process goes!

For information regarding the new 5-year visa exemption for Vietnamese-born people, click here!

In an attempt to comply with blogging restrictions that have recently been publicized from several news sources, I’ll simply post the relevant links here.

An article from the Associated Press on Dec. 24, 2008

An article posted today on the official Vietnam News Agency (Ministry of Culture and Information)

People Committee Hall

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous here and tonight was particularly beautiful. After spending time relaxing and drinking tea at “La Fenetre du Soleil”, I decided to walk around and enjoy the cool breeze. I took a leisurely stroll stopping to admire how festive and happy the city is in preparation for Christmas and Tet (Vietnamese New Year).

Tonight, however, people were celebrating for a different reason – Vietnam won a soccer match against Singapore and took Southeast Asian championships for the first time in a decade! It was a mob scene, much like Times Square in NY the night Barack Obama won the election but roughly 50 degrees hotter…

photo credit: JasonDGreat

Thailand has a new prime minister and the country looks to be bouncing back from its relatively brief period of instability caused by mass protests and the blockage of Thai airports. The airports have reopened and things are returning to normal. We’re following the news closely as we prepare for our upcoming trip. Even if nobody closes down the islands and beaches we still may need to enter the country by plane so we’re hoping that there will be no further disruptions to the Thai way of life as well as our upcoming visit. Read more about the current situation here: Thai PM vows to restore stability – CNN.com.

We love animals and it’s always fun to read about new and exciting things in the animal world, especially when they happen in Vietnam and the rest of Southeast Asia!

Two articles recently appeared on CNN.com and both feature some cool creatures that were recently discovered.

Laotian Rat, thought to be extinct

You can read about rare monkeys found in Vietnam or you can find out about all of the newly discovered species found in the region of the Mekong!