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.

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.

Seven years ago we were on a beautiful island in Thailand, Koh Lanta. This predominantly Muslim inhabited island of fishing, beautiful beaches and scenic, green interior hills was our first experience with paradise in Asia. Having arrived directly from Israel, in the time of the second Intifada, we had traveled far to find peace and seclusion and managed to escape the demonstrations, bombs, killing and news coverage for a full week. But that escape ended on the night of September 11 (Thai time zone) when it was announced by one of the locals that “a plane hit a building in NY” and Tamar and I watched the twin towers fall on satellite TV, beamed live to the island. In the wake of those terrible events I remember feeling both proud and helpless at the same time. I felt helpless because I couldn’t have been farther from American life at that time. However, like other Americans, I felt proud of the way that citizens and heroes responded to crisis back home and proud of the American instinct to coalesce in search of unity despite inherent diversity.

So, now I’m writing from Koh Chang, another idyllic corner of the earth and after watching the day’s events on TV I’m again filled with pride even though I’m far from home. I’m proud of the American system of government and proud to have voted. I’m proud to be a member of a generation to witness such a major step forward for the country. The feeling of helplessness has now been replaced by an imperative of participation and a sense of empowerment. That only eight years ago I never expected to see America under the leadership and inspiration of a black president is reason enough to give me hope for the next eight years.

It is during President Obama’s first term in office that Tamar will be allowed to apply for US citizenship. She is patient and her patience is to be rewarded. I’m very proud that this is the America that she can now be a part of should she choose to accept, in the words of our president, “the price and promise of citizenship”. In the meantime, as we continue to travel together, we’re proud to see the rest of the world celebrating along with us and it’s so good to be on the road again!

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?

This complete set of questions really encompasses so much. I normally breeze through questions 1-3. Question no. 4 is a different story. In an attempt to diffuse the situation, I sometimes answer by saying that I do not have children but I have a “con meow”, which, as you can guess, means I have a cat. That really doesn’t go down very well. I get a look of pity mixed with bewilderment (naturally I don’t bother telling people about my face-to-whiskers video chats with Kevin and Cuggits while being away).

This openness, however, does not extend to all aspects of conversation. It would be no problem if I asked every person about their marital status, age, no. of kids etc but I would certainly not try to start a political conversation. It would just be too direct and perhaps, even rude.

That’s why I was very surprised the other night when a Xe Om driver started talking to me about the current situation in Israel/Palestine. Ever since the latest round of violence erupted in the region, many people have been giving me a piece of their mind (don’t get me started about the angry Frenchman lecturing me over breakfast). It is unavoidable as an Israeli traveling abroad and I’ve come to welcome that kind of debate (preferably not before noon). This was the first time a Vietnamese person chose to talk to me about the Middle East. The Xe Om driver showed me an article in the local Vietnamese newspaper about Hamas and Israel which I could not understand but it didn’t matter since he was offering his interpretation of the situation. Unfortunately, it was a very different view than mine but it was very refreshing to talk about something other than the “set of four”.

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!

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.

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!