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Where is it?

We can hardly believe it, but more than seven months have gone by without our updating this web page. In this time we have managed to communicate via email with a lot of people, even possibly boring them with copies of our long annual letter and of a wonderful 4WD circuit we made through northern Vietnam.

What's happened since that last update? Well, we sort of got stuck in Southeast Asia. Starting in mid-January we went overland through southern China to Vietnam, entering Vietnam exactly a year to the day after we ended our first, 2000, trip there. Like the man with the razor company, we liked it, and renewed our visa and then renewed it again, spending a total of three months there.

We left Vietnam by all-night bus (20 hours) and arrived in Vientiane, Laos where we started 30 laid-back days. Visiting Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang as well as Vientiane, we did see lots of Wats, etc, but spent more time lazing about swimming pools, floating down rivers, exploring caves, and reading much more than in previous months. Our visa running out, we spent two days going up the Mekong and then popped out of Laos into Thailand for a second two-week visit; our first was early December,2000.

In Thailand we were royally taken care of by in-laws and hiked among hill tribes. Then we went back to Laos for another two weeks where we again hiked among hill tribes, read a lot, and got to really know what "leeches" and "rainy season" mean. Our 15 days visa up, we came back to Chiangrai, Thailand to start an even longer visit here; later we'll be going on to Cambodia to Angor Wat and for a beach stay. 

Stand-by (but don't hold your breath) for further detail.

Usual contest: Where was the above photo taken?