tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225389822012-03-20T05:48:10.363+07:00YOU MADE IT!!! Welcome to the gonzofire in asia page. Hope you all enjoi. If you have any questions, comments, concerns (which I will definatly ignore), or just want to say hi, e-mail me at Max.Blumenthal@gmail.com or just leave em here. -Max--Max-http://www.blogger.com/profile/15781517927024166369noreply@blogger.comBlogger101100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22538982.post-1142263525667790092006-03-13T22:14:00.000+07:002006-03-13T22:25:32.243+07:00

Hey everyone. Sorry I've been a little slow on keeping up to date with my postings. Things here happen so fast and I've been super busy (lazy). Right now We're in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. We've kinda cruised through Vietnam so fast that we're coming back here in a week.Tomorrow we're flying to Cambodia to meet up with Mike's parents at Ankor Wat - the worlds largest religious building. So

-Max-http://www.blogger.com/profile/15781517927024166369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22538982.post-1142243526491228152006-03-13T16:07:00.000+07:002006-03-13T22:14:23.060+07:00

Ponsavan, Laos is a place where the importance of life really comes into perspective. Between 1964 and 1973 the United states held a secret war in Laos, spending 2.2 million dollars each day bombing small villages throughout the country. In an attempt to cut of what it believed to be a supply route for North Vietnamese to the the South, the U.S. flew over 580,000 missions dropping 2 million tons

-Max-http://www.blogger.com/profile/15781517927024166369noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22538982.post-1140621889981065342006-02-22T22:22:00.000+07:002006-02-22T22:43:52.440+07:00

I think it was about the time I was hanging about three fourths of the way out of the window as the bus flew down the winding road - if you could even call it that - that I really realized why all of the bus booking agents gave us concerned looks when we told them we were planning to take the night bus. And why nobody would sell us tickets."Night bus not VIP." "No farang." "You no want," they

-Max-http://www.blogger.com/profile/15781517927024166369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22538982.post-1140619036660466722006-02-22T20:40:00.000+07:002006-02-22T22:21:05.973+07:00

Praying Mantis anyone?A tradition in almost every town. But in Laos, since there is technical and 11:00 o'clock curfew the feeding of the monks takes place at around 6:00. It's a pretty common Buddhist tradition that the monks will eat before anyone else. And everyone from town feeds them. A very cool spectacle to see about three hundred monks lined up with the entire town on their knees giving

-Max-http://www.blogger.com/profile/15781517927024166369noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22538982.post-1140613404441687862006-02-22T19:18:00.000+07:002006-02-22T22:10:13.720+07:00

This was the first thing we saw when we got into Vang Vieng. Seven days later, when we FINALLY left, it's not hard to see why we were sucked into this little paradise in the middle of Laos for so long.This was what we saw 15 minutes later. Sorry about being repetitive, but it was just such a fun place to take pictures of.Hanging out in front of our guest house.Hanging out in our new guest house

-Max-http://www.blogger.com/profile/15781517927024166369noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22538982.post-1140609703768604172006-02-22T18:13:00.000+07:002006-02-22T21:49:49.863+07:00

After taking about a half hour longboat ride from Riley we came to this place called Ton Sai which is definitively classified as a climbers paradise. Limestone cliffs hundreds of feet high rise straight out from the water and the jungle surrounding the beaches to create this perfectly picturesque scene no matter where you're looking. Plus when we weren't climbing there, there were more

-Max-http://www.blogger.com/profile/15781517927024166369noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22538982.post-1140602316636455902006-02-22T16:15:00.000+07:002006-02-22T18:13:24.253+07:00

Can you see me standing in the bottom of the picture. That little blob of blue...That's me. This really was one of the most interesting and amazing places I have ever seen. It's a sculpture garden in a small town in Northeast Thailand called Nong Khai. The town is right on the border of Laos, and we were in such a hurry to get across the Mekong to Laos, we almost missed it. But thankfully to the

-Max-http://www.blogger.com/profile/15781517927024166369noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22538982.post-1140599121189605112006-02-22T15:22:00.000+07:002006-02-22T16:06:03.663+07:00

We went to visit our friend Austin in Khon Kaen, Thailand. Austin, among other things, is working with an alternative school to reform their educational system. When we were there he was running around from meeting to meeting, teaching English, working on a proposal for financing from Australia for the school, entertaining us and just plain being Austin.If you read this Austin, there is no way we

-Max-http://www.blogger.com/profile/15781517927024166369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22538982.post-1140593546778330992006-02-22T13:57:00.000+07:002006-02-22T14:54:25.333+07:00

1. The Royal Palace in Bangkok. This place is absolutely beautiful. There is a tiny Jade Buddha there that's only about the size of an apple. But people will pilgrimages from all over to pray to it. You're also not allowed to take pictures of it, so you'll have to use your imagination or head to Bangkok.2. To show the how intricate every detail of the Palace is. And the grounds there are huge.3.

-Max-http://www.blogger.com/profile/15781517927024166369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22538982.post-1140591385194378572006-02-22T13:47:00.000+07:002006-02-22T13:56:25.193+07:00

Long boats, the local form of transportation, in Koh Tao, Thailand. This was the first place we went after spending about 15 hours in Bangkok. Bangkok took us in the first fight, but when we went back a few weeks later we defiantly recaptured the belt. Koh Tao, however, was as peaceful as the picture conveys.

-Max-http://www.blogger.com/profile/15781517927024166369noreply@blogger.com6