Southeast Asia 2001

Our first trip to Asia was from August to November, 2001. Neither of us had ever been to Asia in our previous travels but it always seemed like one of those far off places we thought we’d eventually get to one day. Tamar was already enrolled in the Department of East Asian Studies at Tel Aviv University for the coming fall season so she thought it would be a pretty good time to actually check out some of Asia first hand. Kevin, who dreamed of returning to Vietnam where he was born 27 years earlier, felt that the time had come for yet another adventure after living nearly 2 years in his new home, Tel Aviv, Israel. After a few months of saving up and a lot of planning and anticipation, the population of Asia was about to increase by two, at least for a couple of months.

Vietnam was chosen as the logical place to start this first trip. At that time there were no direct flights from Israel to Vietnam but the Tel Aviv – Bangkok route was already operating at full bandwidth. We flew SAS Scandinavian Airlines with a stopover in Copenhagen which was a chilly but pleasant detour on the way to Bangkok.

Vietnam 2006

From November to December, 2006 Kevin was teaching in Vietnam and consulting. He taught the first 3-day ActionScript Course in a partnership with the STA Training School and VegaVietnam. He also provided on-site Flash training to the staff of New Media, a Bangkok-based company that had recently opened up its new branch in Ho Chi Minh City. While not busy in the classroom or working on his laptop, Kevin also visited the Mekong Delta and the capital city of Hanoi.

Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia 2007-2008

In the fall of 2007 we founded AsiaSteps.com. This was in preparation of a 5 week trip to Laos and Cambodia and a few areas of Vietnam, some familiar and some totally new to the authors. Starting out in Hanoi, we ventured out of the city on motorbikes. We relaxed in the northern Laotian town of Luang Prabang and also on the Mekong islands in Si Phan Don, a less traveled destination which we highly recommend. From there we crossed the border into Cambodia and bused our way to Siem Reap and the ancient ruins of Ankor Wat just in time for a fabulous New Year’s celebration. We then saw the sights of Phnom Penh and took a boat down the Mekong to cross the border into Vietnam at Chau Doc. We enjoyed the daylife and nightlife of Ho Chi Minh City, meeting with friends and business contacts along the way. The trip was topped off with a very enjoyable visit to the island of Phu Quoc where we alternated between motorbiking along coasts and through forests and tanning on gorgeous beaches, eating great food.