Some of you may know that I am leaving Portland, Wednesday, July 30 for Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. I think I am ready. I plan to be gone 10 weeks, so returning Oct. 14. I will end my travel in HaNoi with Global Volunteers. My last stint with GV was in Queretarro, Mexico in June.(I have finally completely recovered from my stomach problems thanks to "Cipro" and the doctor) Every GV program is different, yet with lots of similarities. For example, one difference is you are always with a different group of people.  This will be about my  7th team but rarely do I meet people who I have been with before. The GV program was stopped in Vietnam after 2002, after I had volunteered in VungTau, which is not far from Saigon(many names of cities all over the world have changed, so this is now called Ho Chi Minh City). Now the program has restarted and I will be on the second team, so there will be lots of kinks to work out. Ha!!

Before volunteering, I will travel throughout Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. I have laid out a tentative itinerary but it could all change if necessary. Basically, I plan to spend the first month in Vietnam. I have been here many times, but there is always new things to see and do.  For example, I had coffee in PDX with an Australian woman volunteer who is teaching English in a small city in VN called Tuy Hoa, north of Nha Trang. I plan to visit her and her school. She is teaching there for 18 months and earns a stipend of $100 USD per month, which she lives on.  I want to visit her and learn more about this because I might do this in the future. (but I can't wait too long. Ha!!). 

In the second month, I will go to Cambodia for two weeks, then on to Laos for two weeks. I am excited to see Laos, because I have never been there. I hope to met a man in Vientiane(the capital) who will help me get my started. I know his cousin in Portland.  After Laos, I will travel back to Vietnam to do my volunteering and then come home. 

I will be gone 10 weeks. I know that is quite a chuck of time, but this is a part of the country where I enjoy the people, the countryside, and the challenges. I know lots of people in Vietnam, some of which will help me if I need it. I also know a person in Cambodia. I also like travel, and plan to go to China and Myanmar in the near future. There is just not enough time to do it all, but I am trying. (Right now, I am helping a Burmese family in Portland with English)

I did write a blog one other time, in Mexico with my laptop. This time I am not taking my laptop, and will use internet cafes, so this will be trial and error. Ha!! Bear with me. I will have my camera, but getting them online, or in this blog might be another thing, so be patience. 

If you want to bookmark my blog, then you can check it every so often. I am sure reading this today is quite boring. And that might be how most of my trip and writing will be..But thanks for keeping in touch.....Hen gap lai(See you later, VNese).