Vacation's over

In the past three weeks, I've sure seen a whole variety of scenery.

I feel like I've come full circle since the trip started and ended with the snowy landscape of Kuji. It was so wonderful to escape the coldness and travel around southeast Asia, taking in the sights of four different countries with travel buddies Kristen and Jarlath.

The adventure began on the emperor's birthday, with a visit to the Imperial Palace grounds in Tokyo...

Tokyo wasn't near as cold as northern Japan, so it was nice to take a stroll around Ueno, which is probably my favorite area in the giant city.

We joined a crowd of people to watch this juggler in Ueno.

From Tokyo to Bangkok, the flight was about six hours. The bus ride from Bangkok to Buri Ram, Thailand was also about six hours long. Here's a map of the route we traveled...

From Buri Ram to Siem Reap, Cambodia by bus and then taxi. From Siem Reap to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia by plane. Then a flight to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam where we spent the afternoon before taking a bus to the beach in Mui Ne. We took the bus back to Ho Chi Minh a few days later, where we caught a flight to Bangkok. After spending the night in the airport, we took an early morning flight to Tokyo. Whew, we were on the move!

Dec. 24 - 29: Buri Ram, Thailand -- Volunteering

Stayed at Tree of Life Orphanage, where we enjoyed time with the kids and a bit of sightseeing.

This was our transportation the whole time -- the back of a pick-up truck!

Dec. 30 - Jan. 1: Siem Reap, Cambodia -- History
Toured famous temple complex Angkor Wat and celebrated New Year's.

Jan. 1 - 5: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia -- Modern city
Sightseeing in the city and window shopping.

The view from our hotel.

Jan. 6 - 9: Mui Ne, Vietnam -- Relaxing

Taking it easy at a beach resort.

This is me in my element. :)

I'll go into more detail and share pictures from each of the four countries over the next four blog posts.
Stay tuned...