May 15, 2001
China, Hong Kong, Vietnam

July 20, 2001
Laos, Thailand

November 10, 2001
Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, England

December 25, 2001
USA, England

January

Finish ZTE, tour southern China starting with Guangjhou, the capital of Guangdong province where we ate the best egg custard ever. From there we visited Seven Star Crags (Chi Xing Yan) National Park and almost froze to death.

February

We continued our exploration of Southern China spending time in and around the capital of Guang Xi province, Nanning, and spending two nights at  De Tien Falls which span the Vietnam border. We officially crossed the border in mid-month and headed for Hanoi to meet Gerry's Aunt Zelda.

March

We spent the whole month inVietnam, recapping some of our travels in 2000 by flying from Hanoi to Nha Trang beach resort before continuing on to Ho Chi Minh City, still better known as Saigon.  There we took a Mekong Delta Tour and said hello to Aunt Zelda again.

April

Still in Vietnam we travelled by bus to Dalat then on to Buon Ma Thuot, Pleiku, and Kon Tum before heading down to the coast at Da Nang for a week on the beach. Here we extended our visa for the last time and got visas for Laos. Worked our way back up to Hanoi via the royal capital, Hue, then made a stunning 3-day excursion to Ha Long Bay.

May

Our last two weeks in Vietnam were spent seeing the far northwest from Bac Ha to Sapa to Dien Bien Phu in a magnificent 10-day jeep trip. 

A 24-hour bus ride took us from Hanoi to Vientiane capital of Laos where we spent ten wonderful days in a peachy hotel complete with pool.

June

From Vientiane we went by bus to Vang Vieng, a backpacker's paradise on the Nam Song (river Song). Then on to the old royal capital of Luang Prabang with its myriad temples on a peninsula flanked by the Nam Khong (Mekong) and the Nam Tha. Six days took us by van from LP to Phonsavane to see the famed Plain of Jars. Finally, running out of time, we took a boat up the Mekong to Cheng Khong in Thailand.

July

In Thailand we said hello to our sister-in-law Jhap's family in Ban Sang, Phayao, hiked in the Wawi valley, and got visas for a return trip to Laos. Back across the Mekong in Laos we took a 9-hour ride to Luang Nam Tha then another 4-hour truck to Muang Sing and the Adima resort. Back to LNT we stayed at the Boat Landing Guesthouse before high-tailing it back to Thailand for another stay with relatives.

August

We took a train from Chiang Mai to Bangkok then buses to Khao Yai National Park, and the Khmer temple sites of Phimai and Phanom Rong.

Crossed the border into Cambodia and bus to Siem Reap & Angkor Wat where we met up with Jan's brother Dave and his wife Jhap.  On by river boat to Phnom Penh.for a few days.

September

From Phnom Penh we took a bus on the only good road in Cambodia to Sihanoukville, a beach resort on the Gulf of Thailand where we spent a blissfully restful ten days.

A boat ride, jitney, and then bus ride took us back to Bangkok just in time to learn about the attacks on the World Trade Center.

After another brief hello to Dave & Jhap it was back to England.

October

England. We spent the month catching up with family.  We managed to invite almost everyone in the family to dinner but in twos and threes rather than all at once. We did have a Saturday hamburger lunch for the whole family.

November

England, USA.

A few days at the beginning and end staying with or friend Moshe in the heart of NYC.  In between we spent a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration with our old neighbors and friends the Daggetts and the Ryders in NJ. 

December

USA, England.

We rented a car and went south stopping in Virginia to see Caroline, in Atlanta, Georgia, to see Merrill and Paula, and near Charleston, South Carolina, to see Mike and Beth.

Back to England for the Holidays.