SE Asian Invasion 2007!

Hi. I said a while ago that I was going to post some pictures of my trip through Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. Work, school and readjusting to my new life has been keeping me pretty busy. So, I'm just getting around to posting some pictures now.

I'm not in a very chatty mood today, so I'll let the images pretty much speak for themselves.

Having dinner next to the Mekong in Laos.

Taking the slow boat down the Mekong. We crossed the Thai/Lao border and took a two-day boat ride down the river into Luang Prabang, Laos.

The town where we stayed to split up the boat ride.

Inside a temple in Luang Prabang.

The city of Luang Prabang doesn't appreciate french horns.

Here's the view from outside our bungalow. We stayed at a place called Thong Bay. It was probably my favorite accommodation of the whole trip.

We flew Vietnam Airlines from Luang Prabang to Hanoi.

We visited Ho Chi Minh's resting spot.

Coconuts on a moto bike.

Vietnamese beer.

Market in Saigon.

Self portrait. On the bus crossing from Vietnam into Cambodia.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Pol Pot--a dictator of Cambodia--carried out a genocide. The killing fields (where victims were murdered and buried in mass graves) have been made into a memorial. S-21, the headquarters and detainment camp which was housed in a Cambodian school has been turned into a museum. Some of the following pictures are rather gruesome. I'm putting them here because it's a part of Cambodia's history. Also because many of us--myself included--have no idea what genocide really means in the modern world. Our modern history is rich with them, and most of us only know of one or two. I would encourage you all to take the time to do more research on the Khmer Rouge's dictatorship in Cambodia and the torture they inflicted, as well as situations that are occurring today in Africa, like in Sudan.

One book that was widely recommended to me that I have yet to read is First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung. I'm going to check it out at the library today.

Anyway... Here are a few pictures.

Victims of the genocide.

Along with the very sad history of the genocide, Cambodia also holds onto some more positive moments of time. Cambodia is home to The Temples of Angkor. Like with the genocide, I'm not very informed about the history of Angkor and would encourage you to do further research on your own as to their origin and meaning. From the brief bit I read, I know that the temples were erected by kings in their own demi-godlike honor, or in the honor of Hindu/Buddhist Gods.

I've got many, many, many more photos, but I don't have time to post them now. I think I'll have to leave it at that for the moment. I don't have any pictures up of Thailand yet. I promise them in the second edition of photos.