Best of Asia

Gustatory pleasures: Thailand, by far! Who can beat Papaya Salad, Mango Sticky Rice, Pad Thai and fresh fruit on every street corner? Even though I did get sick there THREE times. I forgive them.

Where one could sit forever: Laos, travelling on the 12-14 passenger slow boats between small towns- it's the best way to combine sight-seeing and transport into one, as you pass by villagers, elephants, water buffaloes, and jungle.

Exhilaration by public transport: Carrie and I hanging off the back of a motorbike chauffeured by a shoeless 12-year-old Cambodian boy on our way back from Angkor Wat.

The Brew-ha-ha of choice: Dark Beer Lao. Really the only beer with any flavour. The rest were variants of Budweiser.

Caffeine to pop your eyes out: Vietnamese. Who can top a personal filtered coffee (so strong, you have to chew it) atop sweetened condensed milk?

Most sterile: Singapore. Also most regulated. Least fun. Most western. But I still liked it.

Most hearing damage: Vietnam. The horn is ON more than OFF. We tried to call my mom from the bus and every time the horn honked, it created massive cell phone interference. The call lasted about 2 minutes.

Biggest gut-wrencher: Taiwan. Everything there is FRIED! Deep fried. Guaranteed to stop up your Montezuma's revenge/Delhi-belly, butt-pee in hours, perhaps minutes.

A little slice of Eden: Mut Mee Guesthouse in Nong Khai, Thailand. Where else can you sit in the garden, overlooking the Mekong and Laos for $4 a night? And it was clean too. Score.

The land of guardian angels: ALL of Asia. I can't tell you how many times a local went out of their way to help me- whether it was drawing a map, walking me to an English speaker, offering a ride, showing me the bus stop, telling me where to wait for the right train carriage, people went beyond my expectations over and over again as I traveled through the various countries. I do believe we are all good people inside.

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