My Asia Favorites

Most incredible things I have seen in Asia:

Having a delicious omlette cooked with chopsticks
Women in Vietnam paddling using with their feet
Learning the word for twins in Chinese
Getting six coffee instead of two for breakfast in the train from Guilin (problematic comprehension)
Rain does not stop regular outdoor activities
Having our guide walking with flip flop in the deep mud
The HK subway
Walk in the hudongs of Beijing
Swim in the Li River
Taking a shower overlooking the Laotian forest
Having a natural jacuzzi in the water fall
The ruined temples of Angkor
Villages on the Mekong River
Waking up in Halong Bay

This list is getting too long.
   

Hong kong as almost New York

After days of nature we are back in the subway, skyscrapers and city life. HK has a good energy, cosmopolitan, clean and efficient.
People retain the concept of strolling, every night from Kowloon, there is a light show on the HK skyscrapers, people walk and enjoy the night breeze waiting for the show.
The malls are incredible but somehow they don't annoy me. It is just amazing to have so many luxury stores in the same area.

After few days in HK,I start feel the love for the city, the beautiful beaches 30 min. away, the view of the bay, the nature overpowers the city.
In a way it is nothing like NY.

Yongshou

Unexpected beauty and magnificent part of the world, driving through the road from Guilin to Yangshou is unique scenary. This pointy calcareous mountains that extend for miles are really astonishing.
Our retreat overlooking the Li river and the mountains, it feels as being part of a chinese ink drawing!
We have a little beach on the bank of the river, the water is warm and the kids have tons of fun.
We discovered the river by boat, kayak and rafting. We walk up to Moon montain to see it from above. On the kayak trip it is only us and the water buffalos, who might looking at us a little too close. In this part of the country it is still possible to discover some little old chinese village, it is refreshing after so much modernity. In this country that is in full speed there is still the young boy who is patiently learning to paint the repetitive mountain theme, and the old lady who hangs by her TV the poster of Mao or Den Xiaoping. You can peep on people's houses:  there are a couple of big rooms with multiple functions and a backyard which is also multi- functions. People seems smiling but direct and they argue a lot with each other but it seems more a way of comunication than a real argument. We end up learning the word for twins (shambotee), that create a lot of debate because the are twins but not the same hair color. 
Last night we went to see this light show, coreographed by the guy who did the olympic coreography. it was pretty spectacular to say the list, there were 600 actors...chinese scale!
As the lonely planet says: it is the must-see place in China!

Back in China

Arriving a Kumning from Vientiane and so youknow you are back in China. I guess Chinese suffer of gigantism...the bigger the better...the US of the east. Kumning is a bustling town, grown probably 10 times is size in 10 years: buildings, hotels, shopes everywhere...funny but it is considered the lay back city of China. That really proves that everything is relative. However Kumning has a clear advantage which is ideal temperature. We can walk in midday sun and it feels pleasant.
We check out our palace, we had an upgraded hotel room and we get ready for our last little flight.

Vientiane

Vientiane is such a little capital...I would say more like a provincial town. They are in the process of finishing the boardwalk by the Mekong. People are nice and generally not pushy at all. We are relaxing: little shopping, little visit to the look alike Arc de Triumph, and little restaurants. Actually Lao cuisine is really our top choice so far in the trip. We went to this restaurant were they train street kids in the restaurant business, the food was great and the program very successful. So many things need to be done in this country in terms of taking care of their own.  There seem to be still a large French community, French presence in Laos was smooth colonization, it was very strategic from the French to keep the Laotian happy. 
This is a part of the world you don't really flash your US passport. There are still a lot of unexploded mines in Laos that are still responsible for missing limbs.  

Drive to Vang Vieng

A famous and beautiful scenic route that lasted 6 hours, but my stomach was not as excited about the drive as my eyes. I moved to the passenger seat which felt better for both stomach and eyes. Unbelievable the number of turns! The day is clear, sunny and perfect to get the full experience.
We stopped on the top of the mountain in this little restaurant with an amazing view of valley, river and this amazing mountains.
The waitresses were letting the washed bowls and plates drying in the sun.
We got to Vang Vieng and decide to have a very easy day just looking at the river running litterally under our balcony.
Vang Vieng is very small and very laid back town, it is a backpacker's mecca but we are in the low season so you don't see any craziness just re-runs of Friends or Family guys in this little restaurant/bar/whatever.

Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang is a little historical town built on a peninsula between the  Mekong and Namkhan rivers. It is very well kept and the houses have a southern french architectures. If it were not for the many temples and the people who would not guess you were in Laos. Luang Prabang is still a backpakers city, but for the ones that have been out of college for a while but don't have a life insurance yet! 
We visited the royal palace that is now a museum, built by the French for a king who seems pretty sold to the foreign power and paid high price for it (probably dying with his all family in a cave). 
The temples are very different from the ones we have seen up to now, and one of the few that was not destroyed by pirates has still beautiful painting on wood from top to bottom