Bye Bye Oregon

We have thoroughly enjoyed our time

 in Oregon. This state has a wide variety of outdoor wonders to choose from. We started in Ashland, which is a great little town. It is nestled in between two large mountains. It is known for its artsy vibe and Shakespeare festival. There is quite a bit of hiking to do in this area. We then headed toward Crater Lake, only to find it was closed for the season. That was a bummer. We went north, on to Bend. I think Bend could be a great town. It was hard to say. We could not see any thing. Literally, there was a blanket of pea soup fog over the entire town. It did make the trees stunning. The fog froze on all of the trees. It was a beautiful sight. We decided we wanted to miss the snow that was heading our way so we moved on toward Portland. Chris and I were only there for a couple of days. Just long enough to decide the gorge was an extremely windy place in the winter. We held on tight and tried to not be blown to Oz. At this point, I wanted warmer weather and some SUN!!!! We drove west toward the coast. For the first time in a week, we felt like were on vacation. We rented a yurt near the beach. Chris looked up the local hiking trails and away we went, hiking that is. The scenery was stunning. We have enjoyed our time on the coast. We have checked all of the antique shops. Chris is looking for that perfect hand tool. Chris has inspected all of the tide pool, and we finally saw some sea lions. Our next stop is California. Red Woods here we come.

More photos from the Canyon

Hiking in the Grand Canyon

Chris and I left Tennessee on the 4th of January. After five days of driving and playing tourist, we arrived at the Grand Canyon. We were lucky enough to reserve a cabin at Phantom Ranch for the night of the 10th. We left early saturday morning and began hiking down the South Kaibab trail. It is 7.5 miles long. The first 2 miles had snow and ice. For those of you who know about my fear of heights, hiking this trail was a feat in itself. After five hours of hiking down, down, down, we arrived at Phantom Ranch. It is a neat little oasis in a huge canyon. The ranch sits back in its own little canyon. The cabins are made out of stone and lumber. Chris and I stayed at the ranch for one night and then set up a tent for the second night. We enjoyed our stay at the ranch, however, we really enjoyed camping in our tent next to the little creek that runs thru the canyon. We stayed down in the canyon for two days. We left the third day and hiked 5 miles to Indian Garden campground. This campground sits on the plateau. It was beautiful. We hiked an extra 3 miles so we could sit at the edge of the canyon and watch the sunset. After a restless night of sleep, we awoke the next day and prepared for our hike out. It was only 5 miles, but it was a long, long, slippery hike out. The sites were beautiful and the experience was remarkable. I would do this again in heart beat.

California here we come!!!

Road trip 2009 has officially begun. We have made it to Little Rock and are heading west. The weather has been unpleasant to say the least. Lots and lots of rain. Our plans are to stop in the Grand Canyon and do some backpacking. We will then head north toward Oregon, where we will spend a couple of weeks checking out the scenery. We will then turn south, down the coast of California and hopefully catch some warmer weather. We should be back in Tennessee in about seven weeks. I will try and keep you posted on all of the happenings along the way. I want to wish our friends and family a happy new year. May you all be blessed with good health an much happiness.
Love
The Virdens (aka the Vagabonds)

On the road again

After 8 1/2 months on the mountain, Chris and I are resting and getting ready for our winter trip. Chris has gone to Vermont to continue his studies in windsor chair making. Our plans this year include heading to the Grand Canyon and hiking down to Phantom Ranch. We will then make our way toward Oregon and down Highway 1 thru California. We will be stopping and visiting family and friends along the way. We hope you will stay tuned for our adventures. We will try and find some cool places and have some good stories to tell.

Back on the mountain

Chris and I are back at work. Life on Mt. LeConte is good. I must say, it is nice to be in one place for a little while. Some people have asked me to post information about the hospital and orphanage. I added a link to the children's hospital and a link to another Non-Government organization in Siem Reap. They do some great work. I am still researching the orphanage. I will update the blog when I am done. I am still working on the pictures and will add those at a later date. We are working on getting donations for these wonderful organizations. If you have any questions please feel free to email me.

The Acadamy Travel Awards

Here are our picks for the Academy Travel Awards

Best Country -  Cambodia

Best Accommodations  -  Cambodia  (the $15 beach bungalow)

Best country offering something culturally significant - a tie between Angkor Wat,                                                                                                               Security Prison 21,and the Killing Fields

Best Pizza -  FCC Club Phnom Penh (shrimp and pesto)

Best Beer - Vietnam (beer Saigon)

Best Breakfast - Laos (JOMA Bakery ham and cheese croissant)

Best one day excursion for under $20- tubing down river in Vang Viang,Laos

Best souvenir- hand made stamp custom designed in Vietnam

Best transportation - bus in Cambodia

Best boat - Junk in Halong Bay

Best meal -  Seafood feast in Halong Bay

Best coffee -  Cambodia

Best beaches - Bamboo Island, Cambodia

Best basic cable package in hotel - Phnom Penh

Best local flavor -  Cambodia's Khmer food

Best wildlife - a tie to Cambodia and Vietnam (the most amount of rats spotted)

Best scam for earning a dollar - Cambodian's for renting kids to beg on the beach at night

Best drug - Imodium

Best fruit shake - Thailand

Best location for purchasing pirated movies -  Thailand for quality and Vietnam for price

Best cheese - laughing cow (no refrigeration required)

Best cultural handicrafts - Cambodia (weaving, carvings, jewelry making)

Most polite touters - Luang Prabang, Laos

Cutest children - Cambodia

Best insect spotted - scorpian in Laos

Best birds - Cambodia ( the Khmers don't find them as tasty)

Most fun way to travel - back of motor scooter ( not in front of )

Best house pet - Mr. Hello the friendly baby monkey

Best job for Chris's sensitive nose - fish paste maker

Best shower - TT First guest house Luang Prabang, Laos

Farewell to South east Asia

                                        

                                           

                                        

We were last seen climbing into a boat to take painful 8 hour ride to Battambang from Siem Reap. The ride was a bit hard on the on the old tale bone, but the views of the floating villages were incredible. Battambang was nothing to write home about, so I won't.  We did take a Khmer cooking class. The Cambodian food is excellent. After a day in Battambang we decided to head south. Time to head to the beach!!! Two days later we had made our way to a small island named Bamboo Island, off the southern coast of Cambodia. We found it to be the perfect place to chill for the next 5 days. Plenty of hammocks, beers, and fresh seafood. All of the makings for a perfect beach get away. Oh yeah, and a little bluegrass as well. 

Life changing Siem Reap

Well, our time is coming to an end. I apologize for the lack of posts. Wi-fi is a hit or miss thing in Cambodia.
Last you heard from us, we were heading to Siem Reap. The glorious home of Angkor Wat. What a grand display of history. Angkor Wat is the master piece of Khmer architecture, built by Suryavarnan II. This is just one of many spread over 40 miles around Siem Reap. Chris and I spent 6 days in this enchanting Cambodian town. We spent hours exploring the temples and photographing them. We spent a day with a photography guide. Chris saw more birds here then any other place we have been in Southeast Asia. I am sorry I can not download any photos at the moment. I was having a hard time finding wi-fi.
We met up with our friend Kim, the woman we met in Laos. She spent the next 2 weeks traveling with us thru Cambodia.
As I explained before, this country captured my heart. The history of the people and what they have been through is heart breaking. The amazing thing about these people is that no matter how much lack of money, food, clothing, or hope for the future, they are amazingly happy.
The only time I witnessed a child crying was because of our lack of speaking the same language.
This moment was a life changing moment for me.
Chris, Kim, and I were going to a mini mart one night to purchase snacks for a long boat ride the next day. As we were walking into the store, a young woman with a small baby asked us to buy her formula for her child. Seeing as how she was not begging for money or for herself, we of course purchased her a large can of formula. While I was in the mart I saw a young boy, around 8 years old, standing outside and pointing into the store. I thought he was pointing to candy. I told him I was not going to buy him candy, but I handed him some bananas out the door. When I got done with my purchase, we left. I walked out side to find the boy with his little sister, around 1 years ol ,on his back. He was balling. As I was walking and trying to understand him, I realized he had been asking me to purchase some "milk", which was formula, for his sister. Kim and I looked at each other and turned right around and went back in side and bought him some "milk" for his sister. After that moment, I new this was how I needed to help. Chris and I discussed it in great length and decided next year we need to return to Cambodia and volunteer with the Siem Reap Children's Hospital and a local orphanage. I will keep you informed of our ideas and how you can help if you so desire. I will post pictures at a later date to show you the faces of these amazing children.
Stay tuned for a few more posts to tell you about the south of Cambodia and the beautiful islands.

Cambodia

After 6 hours of horrible karoke, yes they have karoke on the bus, we arrived from Saigon to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. After walking around PP, Chris has already decided this is his favorite country. The locals are friendly and the vibe is laid back. We decided to spend a day in PP before heading toward Siem Reap. 

Our goal for the day was to visit all of the sites of the Khmer Rouge genocide. What an eye opening experience. For those of you not familier, let me share with you a little history.  

The Khmer Rouge was lead by a monster named Pol Pot, or Brother number 1. He led this regime between 1975 to 1979.  When Pol Pot was a young man he left for Paris to study. This is where he was believed to  have developed his radical Marxist thought, which later turned into the politics of extreme Maoist agrarianism. The Khmer Rouge started as a gorilla movement in 1963. After the overthrow of the government, Pol Pot  remained a shadowy figure until 1975. 

The movie "The Killing Fields" explains the history very well. The United States had bombed Cambodia leaving the civilians very worried. When the Khmer Rouge marched into Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975, the citizens were relieved. Little did they know what hell they were about to face. Pol Pot declared this year zero. Cambodia was about face a radical and brutal cleansing. 

We started our tour at Tuol Sleng, aka Security prison 21. The Khmer Rouge took over a high school. This operation was top secret. This prison was set up for the interrogation and extermination of anti-Angkar element. This list included the educated, political, foreigners, anyone who spoke english, women with long hair, people who wore glasses, etc. They would kill the accused adult and any of their family, including babies. The torture that was horrific.

 Our guide, Diep Daravann, was a survivor of the Khmer Rouge. She was orphaned at the age of 14, after they killed her entire family. She was then forced to work heavy labor for 16 hours a day. She was fed 4 spoons of rice at 8 am and 8 pm. The guards, which consisted of kids her age, beat her with bamboo poles. She showed us the scar where they broke her leg. She claimed they tried to kill at least 3 time.  The pictures on the walls that displayed the brutality were proof of a mad man. Daravann proceeded to tell us that a lot of the soldiers are now running government owned farms in Cambodia. You could hear the fear in her voice as she told us that Pol Pots top 2 men were not arrested until 2 months ago. You read correctly, December of 2007.  Another bit of disturbing history was the fact that when Vietnam

 liberated Cambodia in 1979, America helped to aid Pol Pot in his flee to Thailand. America gave the Khmer Rouge money to help in the fight against Vietnam. Pol Pot did not die until 1998 from natural causes.

                                      

We then proceeded to the Killing Fields. This is one of many mass murdering sites in Cambodia. The large wholes you see in the photo is where they buried the victims.

The skulls are housed in a monument which is memory of all of the Cambodians and foreigners that lost their lives to this madness. 

What I do not understand is how our government help support this. I am almost embaresed to tell people where I am from.  What if Hitler had been set free and given money to live where ever he wanted? I was ashamed. Although our guide was not allowed to speak about her government and the fact that that so many soldiers from the Khmer Rouge are still free, the fear in her voice spoke volumes. Why are we allowing this kind of genocide to happen today in Africa? We need to open our eyes and see what is going on in this world around us.

 

Watch out Krispy Kreme

This was our entertainment on our tour of 

the Vietnam country side.

Going South

Tired of the cold, we were in search of sand and sun, with a little detour. Garry,being the war junky that he is, really wanted to visit the Vietnam war site of Kha Sahn. We visited the museum which had many interesting facts about the war and the siege of Kha Sahn. I was ashamed, after having visited this area as well as the Vinh Moc tunnels. The museum showed a picture of the fishing village before and after the U.S. bombings. The devastation was powerful. It is a surreal experience to be here and visit these places after growing up hearing about the war. After seeing the land and the people who live "in" it everyday,  we never stood a chance. The whole country seems to be a dense jungle. Next stop, Nha Trang.

Halong Bay

Wow, what a place. Even in the rain and mist, it is a wondrous place. Halong Bay is a UNESCO world heritage site. The bay features almost 2000 limestone monolithic islands. As the sea erodes away the limestone the islands eventually tumble into the ocean. Many of these islands support floating villages. The fishermen and their families live on small floating houses. The children attend school on a small floating building. 

We boarded our boat and proceeded to check it out. It was a beautiful Junk boat. They served  us lunch, dinner, and brunch the next day. We took shore excursions to a few of the islands. It was truly an awe inspiring trip. 

Here are the pictures of the kids that received the books we bought for their school. Thanks Kim for delivering them and emailing us the great pics.

Leaving the sites and sounds of Hanoi

After 4 days in Hanoi, we finally figured out that crossing the road was the like the old video game Frogger.  Apparently, I need to practice.  Chris and I met up with our boys from K-town, Rusty and Garry. After a day of walking around town with them, I thought I had mastered the motorbike stare down. Walk slow and make eye contact with the drivers. I made it half way across the street and was waiting on a bus to pass when a motor scooter decided to "scoot" around the bus. I guess he did not see me. So yes, mom and dad, I was hit by a scooter. Luckily I have been lifting weights, so I pushed him out of the way. No broken bones, just a couple of bruised toes and leg. Now that we have that out of the way, on to Hue (pronounced "way"). Thank you God. After, four days, I am over the guy trying to take us on a cyclo tour, or the lady trying to sell us books, the other lady trying to get us to buy her fruit. Not to mention all of the motor bike horns and the constant flow of traffic. Get me to the country side. We are leaving  in the morning to visit the World Heritage site of Halong Bay. We are going to spend the night on a Junk boat. No, that is not an old run down boat, but a large wooden boat  with big sails. I will post pictures when we return. That  is the excitement so far for Vietnam. Will keep you posted.

Where are the traffic lights?

Can someone tell us how to cross the streets???

Southeast Asia update

I thought I would add some photos and get us up to date on the trip. 

We arrived in Thailand on Jan. 7th. We explored the canal which also included a snake show.  Those of you who know how much I love snakes, I am sure you find this amusing. We then proceeded to shop for some clothes to take with us on our travels. After getting caught up on our sleep and bad Thai TV we headed for Lao.

We flew from Bangkok to Udon Thani where we met a couple from Minnesota. They were Laos refugees from the 80's. Bp is a Presbyterian minister and Som is a seamstress that makes wedding dresses. They took us with them and their family that picked them up at the hotel. They helped us get through immigration and on to Vientiane, the capitol of Laos. Som proceeded to tell us about the communist occupation in Laos. They escaped in the 80's to keep from being murdered. She told us how they swam across the Mekong river, where they ended up in a refugee camp in Thailand for 2 years. Her first born child was born in a jail cell with a midwife. After escaping, they did not see their family for 17 years.  I think sometimes we forget how lucky we are to live in the United States. We spent a few days in Vientiane and then took off for the backpackers paradise known as Vang Vieng. What a town! This is the town that is set on the banks of a beautiful river which is home to the frat party on inner tubes. I have added pictures so you will understand. We left Vang Vieng heading for Luang Prabang, on the white knuckle, gut wrenching, tummy tumbling minibus ride from hell. Luang Prabang is a stunning town. We spent a week checking out the locals and the markets. You know how I love a small town market. We met some amazing people and been able to help out some of the local children with school books.  Our time came to an end and we headed to the next country. Crazy Vietnam. 

Welcome to our thoughts

Welcome to our official blog. Chris and I decided this would be an easier way to share our experiences of life on the road.  We hope you enjoy our thoughts about the different cultures and places we visit.