The Journey Begins... Laos

As promised, this starts a series of blogs walking you through my recent trip to Laos and Vietnam. For those who don't know, my dad started a non-profit with some friends years ago to raise support for a few orphanages in an area they were in during the Vietnam War. Over the years they have been able to help improve the conditions for so many children who live in the orphanages. It has been truly great to be a part of and makes me so proud of my dad and the group he works with. This year a group of 24 involved with the non-profit traveled for 2 weeks to visit the orphanage and tour Vietnam and Laos. These are some snapshots and captions from along the way. Please don't let reading these updates replace a chance for us to catch up personally. I just hope to be able to share some pictures and small notes, broken into small digestible portions for those who aren't brave (or unfortunate) enough to endure looking through an hour of photos like Keith had to.

Let the fun begin.

First, let me introduce my parents, Dave and Elaine. Aren't they cute? :) You will see plenty of them through the photo journey. This is day 1 in Laos before our baggage had even arrived. Lesson learned: always pack a spare outfit in your carry-on!

Giving alms to the monks at 6am, a daily part of the culture in Laos.

Long-tailed boats on the Mekong River, which we took to see one of many temples and pagodas while in Laos.

Tuk Tuks, our means of transportation while in Laos. It took 4 to cart around our crew.

A view from our tuk tuk of a typical street in Laung Prabang, Laos. Tourism is still getting going in this area so it is far less crowded and modern than what you will see in Vietnam. Laos really took our group by surprise. Since we were only spending 2 days there I didn't spend much time thinking about this portion of our trip before we left. I was blessed by the culture in Laos, the amazing people and food, and the beautiful scenery. A wonderful place to check out yourself if you ever get a chance.

Up Next... Hanoi and Halong Bay, Vietnam.

*Special thanks to the many Vietnam travelers for the photos used during my photo essays.