TravelBio

Considering I haven't posted anything new in awhile I thought it a good idea to give you an update.  The last post was my finale for Laos.  Following Laos I spent a month in Vietnam, then flew to Singapore.  I am now in Indonesia...hard to think all that has happened since the last post!  Unfortunately I have had little in the way of Internet access of late, so individual posts will have to wait. I'll put up more info on Vietnam once I get wifi and can upload the info and pics to the blog.  By September I will be in Korea for a short visit.  Considering the wifi situation there, I should have no problem getting access and (hopefully if I am not lazy) putting up more info from my trip.  Hope you will check back soon for my new posts!

I planned one more stop in Laos before heading to Vietnam, to a place called Xam Nuea (the X is pronounced as an S sound, and I have seen both letters used in the spelling for some reason).  There really isn't much to see in Xam Nuea, but nearby Vieng Xai is an interesting stop.  Scattered around the countryside are hundreds of caves which sheltered the Pathet Lao leadership during the Secret War. Xam Neua/Nua is in northeastern Laos, near the border with Vietnam Overlooking part of Xam Neua This part of the Vietnam War is probably unknown to most Americans, and was to me as well before I came to Laos.  In addition to bombing Cambodia, the US did the same in Laos to try and disrupt the Ho Chi Minh Trail.  The trail was used by north Vietnamese troops to send supplies and soldiers to the battlegrounds of South Vietnam.  Unfortunately for Lao the trail ran through its territory.  Many Lao people were sympathetic toward the north Vietnamese Communists, and the Pathet L