Leaving Asia

As we come to end of the Asia leg of our trip, it seems like a good time to reflect on what we've seen so far...

The first thing that springs to mind is the local people we've met, so friendly and positive, much more laid back than anywhere in Europe or the US (except on course on the roads where you'd think everyone's life depended on getting to their destination NOW! Slightly counter productive given mayhem and accident potential that approach produces). The smiley, welcoming nature of the people we've met was most notable in Cambodia where despite their countries tragic recent history and poverty, everyone we met was keen to chat, and not just so that they our sell us something!

Seeing how faith is practiced here has also been fascinating. I've seen churches in all the countries we've been in even though 90%+ of the populations here are Buddhist, so that's been very encouraging for me personally. The most striking aspect of the Buddhist faith in north Thailand and especially in Lao is how beautiful and ornate the temples are. There is often one in every village and even when the vast majority of people live in small, slack like homes the temple will be the only brick building and be decorated so lavishly it leaves you in little doubt that their faith is central to their lives and community and it takes priority over their standard of living and what we would consider basic essentials.

The final thing that I think I'll remember this month in Asia for is the food (of course I'll remember the Dengue Fever too but as H has fully recovered I won't dwell!). One of the best things we did was right back at the start when we took a Thai cookery course and I can't wait to use my recipe book once I'm back home! We've eaten amazingly well and done our best to try all the local specialties. I'll admitted that I've succumbed to a couple of pizzas and a burger but on the whole we've kept it real and eaten authentically. We've also drunk our way through Indochina sampling all the local beers, they're often the cheapest thing on the drinks list so really it was just economic prudence :-)