Xi'an- The China tour has been different since I am alone (no group) with different guides in each city. The terra cotta warriors were really quite a sight, as were the 22 types of dumplings I was forced to try and the famous Chinese "hot pot"... Off now to Guilin for Wednesday and Thursday. Happy July!

Xi'an- The drive into the city proved that Xi'an was indeed the longest standing capital city of Imperial China, as countless burial mounds of emperors rose up out of the surrounding fields along the highway. Xi'an still retains its city wall from roughly 600 AD, and I enjoyed biking along the top of the wall around the entire old city for a few hours this afternoon. I'm very excited to see the terra-cotta army tomorrow!

Beijing- Today began with a walk through the park, where we heard musicians and saw old folks dancing and playing games near the 15th c. Temple of Heaven. Then I hiked solo for 3 hours along the Great Wall on a beautiful (but scorching) day and was featured in at least 30 pictures with Asian tourists holding up the peace sign. After dinner I saw a traditional Peking Opera show. Walker, you would have died- the vocals sounded like Halloween animatronics

Beijing- Today I enjoyed a morning visit to Tiananmen Square, where I saw chairman Mao and watched the daily crowds gather before touring the Forbidden City with its Ming Palace- featured in "Hero", "The Last Emporer", and many other movies. Then we visited the Summer Palace, its imperial garden, and took a boat ride on Lake Kun. Tonight, I attended a traditional Chinese tea ceremony and had then ate an incredible Beijing duck dinner!

Beijing- Well, it took 20 hours to get here, but the journey was certainly not void of excitement. A team of folks dressed in Fisher Price space suits stormed the plane when we landed (at 4am local time!) and zapped all of us in the forehead with some gun that apparently detects swine flu... I finally got to the New World Hotel and just grabbed a pizza at the Kro's Nest, founded by a Westminster alum- delicious! Tour starts in the morning!

Bangkok- I bid farewell to the 7 other members of the group today after a really great tour. I spent the afternoon walking the streets of Bangkok (still filthy), eating some curry and thai noodles, and swimming in the hotel pool. Then, I rode to the top of Thailand's highest building and hit golf balls!

Siem Reap/Angkor- I REALLY enjoyed our two days touring the temples of Cambodia here in Angkor. Today was my favorite of the whole tour, and everyone in the group agreed that we wished we’d had one more day here. The highlight was certainly Ankur Wat from the early 12th century, but all of these Hindu and Buddhist temples were adorned with the most intricate carvings and designs considering their age and the primitive tools used in their construction. Other temple highlights included the carved faces at Bayon and the temple with giant gum trees growing all over and around it, which apparently was featured prominently in the Tomb Raider movie. Yesterday, we spent the whole day touring Angkor Wat, but since the weather was bad we returned for an hour today (which was absolutely perfect weather but incredibly hot) along with our visits to seven other temples. Whew, it was a long day, but really unforgettable. We just finished our final group dinner, which was concluded by Sandra (the lady who single-handedly jump started the Thai, Vietnamese, and Cambodian economies by buying almost every souvenir from every single vendor she encountered) saying, “You know, I’ve been doing tours like this for years, and I just want to thank all of you for being so normal!” It was a very pleasant group to travel with, and I think we all really enjoyed getting to know each other. We return to Bangkok tomorrow morning and have a free day to explore, and our tour ends on Thursday after breakfast. Then it’s off to China…

Cu Chi- First of all, Happy Father's Day!!! Dad, I hope the bluegrass out in Telluride is treating you well! Well, today we ventured from Saigon to Cu Chi to explore the iconic forest domain of the unification fighters against the U.S. troops and the Saigon army. These forests have been depicted in countless war movies about Vietnam. The woods seemed so peaceful, but we could see land mine craters, the horrible forest floor traps that were once hidden under leaves, and the incredibly disguised hideouts for these warriors. The Cu Chi woods are most famous for the system of secret underground tunnels, and we were able to crawl on our hands and knees in the pitch black darkness for 40 meters through one tunnel- I could barely fit my shoulders through some areas, and many Cu Chi peoples actually lived in these tunnels for years during the war! Children were born underground and people would light fires to make themselves sweat in order to cleanse their bodies. I can't even imagine- 4 minutes down there was more than enough. I thought several times about how these woods were really quite similar to those in south GA at the Kea Mill. I was handed an AK-47 and shot several rounds into a target on a shooting range before we left. On the way back to Saigon (the younger generation only refers to the city by its newer name, Ho Chi Minh City), we stopped at a temple of the Caodai religion, which is a mix between Buddhism, Taoism, and Confusianism. The service going on was an incredible sight to see. Designed more like a basilica than a Chinese temple, the floor was covered with worshipers in all different colored robes and hats in perfect lines facing forward. Traditional instruments and a very oriental sounding chant played through the entire service. The temple itself was extremely colorful so the pictures turned out really neat. Interestingly enough, Victor Hugo is hailed as a patron saint of Caodai. We then returned to Saigon, and when one of the kids looked out the window and saw Bud's ice-cream of San Francisco, he yelled and we all cried out to have the bus pulled over. We stormed the ice-cream shop and just went crazy! Delicious! I then went to the biggest bookstore in the city and miraculously found "Atlas Shrugged" on the bottom shelf of a horribly organized section, so now I can stop watching looped CNN spots talking about how awful things are in Iran right now. Only Sandra (the consultant from California) and I went to dinner (another French restaurant, thank goodness!), as the others were "too tired". I asked Sandra about her experiences being here having lived through the Vietnam war era herself. She told me many sad stories, one about her boyfriend who never returned and that she had found several of his letters in a box only a few months ago, and she admitted that these past two days had been especially hard for her. Tonight is our last in Vietnam. We're off to Cambodia tomorrow morning! Have a great week!

Ho Chi Minh City- Today was a hard day to swallow, as we visited the Vietnam "War Crimes" museum and the Reunification Palace, both of which are propagandist outlashings against the U.S. Army. There really are 2 sides to every story. I did enjoy walking the streets of Saigon later to see Notre Dame cathedral and the opera house. There is still a huge French presence here, and I was extremely happy to see that influence turn up on my dinner plate!

Hue- On our way to the old imperial capital of Vietnam, we saw some incredible scenery out the window and stopped several times for pictures. We passed through the Hai Van mountains, which reminded me of the Blue Ridge mountains and C'Ville and saw the beautiful lakes at the foot of the pass. We stopped to take pictures of some goats at a rest stop and I almost had my camera bitten out of my hand! Though it is incredibly hot here, we enjoyed a tour of the walled citadel where the kings ruled from the throne at Hue. Then, we cruised the "Perfume River" in a wooden boat. Our guide asked, "Can't you smell the perfume?" I took in a big whiff and caught the aroma of dead fish... maybe the translation is off? Haha. I listened for several minutes to Buddhist monks chanting inside one of the temples of the Forbidden Purple City and was probably featured in about 40 candid photos taken by other Asian tourists... I tried the Emporer Minh Mang's special wine and it about knocked my socks off. Whew! Early flight to Saigon tomorrow so I'm off to bed soon!

Danang- After a short flight, we enjoyed learning about the Cham people at the Cham museum and then climbed the beautiful Marble Mountains and saw the Buddhist sanctuary caves used by Vietnamese soldiers as hideouts as well as the grand pagoda built into the marble cliffs. Every time we stop we get attacked by vendors! I had a gross lunch of noodles and mystery meat mixed together with what looked like hair gel. After that we visited the old port city of Hoi An and then back to the really nice Furama Resort hotel where I ordered room service dinner and watched the new ninja turtles movie on tv... Haha!

Halong Bay- We had a really peaceful and enjoyable boat ride on a traditional Chines "junk" boat all around the incredible limestone cliffs of Halong Bay today. We also got to climb into the Heavenly Cave and saw the amamzing rock formations inside. I learned today that there is no appreciation for personal space over here. We were in this amazing cave and all of these tourists were scrambling around with their heads down, touching me squirming right by as if they have somewhere to be. It's incredible. I felt like I was in a Lemmings computer game, haha. Nonetheless, it was a spectacular trip. We just returned to Hanoi and I went out by the lake and got some ice-cream! Tonight we have a "Western" dinner here in Hanoi... let's see what that's all about.

Hanoi- The rain pured down and thunder appropriately rolled as we made our way somberly through the "Hanoi Hilton," as the old French prison was notoriously dubbed by American POW's in the Vietnam War. We saw where John McCain was kept and his pilot uniform (he actually parachuted out of his plane when it was shot down and landed in the lake that my hotel room looks directly over). I got some pretty intense stare-downs by the guards at the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, where his body lies embalmed- I stick out like a sore thumb here, haha. We enjoyed seeing the one-pillar pagoda and Ho Chi Mihn's stilted house before the sun came out and we took a three hour ride to Halong Bay, the UNESCO World Heritage site. The limestone cliffs rising out of the water look like giant cypress root stumps- it's really an amazing site to see! We will stay the night here in Halong Bay and we are all excited about taking a boat cruise through the bay and into one of the caves tomorrow. All of the meals have had at least 10 courses, but I have still managed to lose all of my "crystal weight"! They have scales in all of the hotels and only eat fruit for dessert (maybe that's why everyone's so thin over here!). The Florida family and the Mexican couple often carry on in Spanish over meals, which is quite funny! Even the kids (ages 8 and 11) float back and forth between English and Spanish, so maybe I'll come back with some key phrases, haha. I started reading "Atlas Shrugged" and was really getting into it, but I accidently left it on the airport so I've got to find a bookstore. But the iPod has been a dear friend. Just tried my first Tiger beer at dinner too- not bad! Alright, I'm off to bed!

Hanoi- After a 4am wake up call, we took a short flight to the Vietnam capital and enjoyed a HOT AND HUMID day here. The weather reminds me of football camp in Florida... But we really enjoyed seeing the Temple of Literature and taking pedicab rides through the Old Quarter of Hanoi. There are basically no trafic laws, so we were right in the middle of the action and got to see an up close and personal view of street life in Hanoi. We then saw a traditional water puppet show, which sounds funny but was actually incredible to watch. The tradition goes back over a thousand years. Our guide mentioned that Vietnamese people eat dog and horse meat on the way to dinner, so 2 people in the group have vowed to stay away from meat for the rest of the trip! Oh yeah, and yesterday when we visited one of the temples outside Bangkok, the greeter was wearing a UGA polo shirt- I said "Go Dawgs!" and he gave me a priceless blank stare... oh well.

Ayyuthaya- Today we enjoyed a tour by bus to Thailand's ancient capital city, where we saw the ruins of the old palace and temple, along with the summer palace of the Thai royal family, which was surprisingly Western in design. We then had another great Thai meal aboard a river boat cruise, which brought us back to Bankok in the late afternoon. We were able to see the Temple of the Dawn from the deck. Tonight we ventured to the night bazaar for a crazy shopping experience second only to the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. We have to wake up at 5am for our flight tomorrow to Vietnam- yikes! our group consists of a family of four from Florida, a honeymoon couple from Mexico, and a IT consultant older lady from California- a pretty funny mix, but all seem very nice!

Bangkok- Tour highlights today were the incredible Royal Palace, the Emerald Buddha Temple, and the beautiful Thai art/design collections at the Jim Thompson house. We had 2 delicious traditional thai meals and got to see a Thai dance performance tonight! People keep pointing and staring at my hair, haha

Bangkok- I arrived safely this morning and spent the day exploring the city on foot and by "tuk-tuk" taxi carts. It's very busy and pretty trashy- vendors' carts flood the streets with strange foods, but the tour sarts tomorrow and we'll get to see the more appealing Bangkok, including the Royal Palace!

Happy birthday Granddad! Hope everyone's having fun at the beach- I'm off to Bankok tomorrow and will write when I arrive!

Assisi- Beautiful day in the Umbria region of Italy in the hillside town where the Franciscan movement began. S. Francesco basilica is decorated with frescos and the buildings of the town are made with pinkish and pale stones. I visited all churches and the fortress atop the hill. Oh, and gelato of course

Rome- Saw 8 beautiful churches today (guidebook suggested them)- favorite was S. Giovanni Laterano. Dinner at he famous Pizzeria da Baffetto and gelato, then saw a piano concert amidst the ruins at Teatro Marcello. Finally, I went to the Forum overlook for the nighttime view before a long walk home!

Rome- 2 great days in one of my favorite cities with the VG's. You name it, I think we saw it! I think the Vatican was the favorite. I saw the guys off to the airport this morning, and thus begins my solo journey. I'm going to see churches and a concert tonight and travel to Assisi tomorrow hopefully!

Sorrento- Final sea day yesterday was spent getting a Crystal haircut, trivia, and a drawing class (and food...)- 9 lbs total gained on board. Today we explored Sorrento and took a boat out around Capri while those who hadn't seen it visited Pompeii. Capri's limestone cliffs were unforgettable. On to Rome

Santorini- The VG's storm the volcanic island on ATV's, riding through Fira, Ia, Thira, vineyards (sample their famous wine and tomatoes), and the black and red sand beaches. A 1st-year broke his shoulder... Well, this is probably the most beautiful place I've ever seen- great pictures today! Gave our final VG performance tonight, ending with "Lonesome Road"- I really can't believe it's over. Final sea day tomorrow before our Italian ports!

Kusadasi- The VGs enjoyed a group tour of Ephesus, the House of the Virgin Mary, the Temple of Artemis- a wonder of the ancient world- and a leather and Turkish rug factory. Hill Jeffries was forced to walk down a runway modeling a leather jacket as house music and strobe-lights blared. Wow. İ walked through the port town of Kusadasi and returned to the ship for a late lunch. The much-antipated port of Santorini is tomorrow, as well as my final performance as a Virginia Gentleman. İts hard to believe...

Rhodes- Walked with Larry around the old walled city and learned the history of Rhodes and the famous colossus in the palace museum. We walked along the wall above the town and got a great view of the island. Off to sing "GA On My Mind" with the VG's at our gig tonight! Happy birthday Nonnie!

Mykonos- we had a great day at the most popular vacation spot in Greece. The port town had the picturesque white stucco buildings, but we also rented ATV's and rode around the island to get the great views similar to those on Santorini and to visit a few of the famous beaches and windmills.