Family in the pool at the Palm Garden Resort near Hoi An, Vietnam

Karen and Emre in Hoi An in front of Tam Tam cafe

Karen in Hoi An with a Vietnamese lady. It was TOO hot and humid! I am pink, puffy and frizzy in all the photos.

Karen is gatting a dress from a Vietnamese tailor 

Emre and Karen in front of Angkor wat 

Angkor monks

Angkor wat after a rainy evening

Eda-Emre-Karen-Heiko 

Angkor wat in black and white 

a cambodian wedding 

Ko Chang village, Thailand

Angkor Wat

Ayuthaya (Ancient capital of Thailand)

Ayuthaya

Heiko, Eda (Emre's sister), Emre and Karen 

Karen and Emre in front of the old center of Bangkok. 

Our trip to Southeast Asia

We'd been dreaming of a trip to Asia for a few years. We finally went for two weeks in November 2005 with Emre's sister, Eda, and her husband, Heiko. Was one of the best trips ever!! Here was our itinerary:

3 days in Bangkok
day trip to Ayuthaya (ancient capital of Thailand) and a cruise back to Bangkok
2 days in Ko Chang (fabulous island! took too long to get there on the bus though)
then a short flight from Bangkok to Siem Reap, Cambodia
2 more days touring the ruins of Angkor Wat
a short flight to DaNang, Vietnam and 2 days at an amazing resort near Hoi An, a charming port city with lots of Chinese and Japanese influence

We really wished we could have seen more of Vietnam. The food there was the best! Next time we want to visit Saigon and Halong Bay. We'd also like to see Phnom Penh and Battambang in Cambodia.
Although our visit to each country was short, it was very interesting to see how distinct each one was. All three have completely distinct languages and alphabets.
In Bangkok we really enjoyed the Jim Thompson house and the cafe there was super. We also loved the night market. We were suprised to realize that Bangkok is younger than NYC- only 200 years old. It is a very polluted city with many stinky/pretty canals, but still fascinating and energetic.
The ruins of Angkor Wat are not to be missed! We had the best guide there, Thy. Thy even took us to his friend's wedding, which was really incredible. We organized everything with him ahead of time through email: khounvuthy@yahoo.com and here is his site: www.tourangkor.com
Eda booked all our hotels from Germany ahead of time and I think that was much cheaper and nicer than just showing up (as I normally do).
We booked our small flights within the region through a travel agent based in Bangkok, recommended by Nina and Sara. His name is Surapong and his email is: suvanair@mozart.inet.co.th
In Cambodia they use almost exclusively the U.S. dollar. The dollar is used in Vietnam too for most larger purchases (at least in touristy Hoi An). It is good to bring lots of cash and travellers checks.
For more info, check out: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/destinations/asia/thailand/see?a=browse