Whirlwind Itinerary of Southeast Asia

The last two weeks have flown by, as my parents and I have flown all over Southeast Asia. I gave them a whirlwind two-week tour of some of the best spots in this part of the world. Here was our itinerary:

• Bangkok: A tour and lunch at Jim Thompson's House. A ride on a tuk-tuk to see my new company office. Haircuts for all three of us on Silom.

• Cambodia: Floating Village, Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, the Bantey Srei temple in the countryside. A tour of a farm where silk thread is pulled from cocoons and made into beautiful silk cloth.

• Laos: Several relaxing days on the banks of the Mekong in Luang Prabang. Boat ride to Pak Ou Caves. Picnic at the Kruang Sri Waterfalls. A hike to the top of Phusi (Color Mountain). Lots of great Lao food and Beer Lao Dark.

• Chiang Mai: Day trip to the top of Thailand's tallest mountain, Doi Intannon, and the waterfalls there (with one jungle hike to see Chiang Mai's tallest). The kilometer-long Sunday-Night Market (not the touristy one that goes on every night). Recently uncovered ruins at Wiang Kum Kam, the city that predates Chiang Mai.

• Lampang: My favorite temple in all of Thailand: Wat Prathat Lampang Luang. Elephant show and a ride through the jungle on elephant back. Visiting the kids at an elementary school in Baan Samkha (Three Leg Village).

• Historical Drive through Central Thailand: King Naresuan's Palace in Phitsanulok. The ruins at Sukothai and Ayutthaya

• Bangkok: Lots and lots of shopping, another haircut for Mom, international foods, and finally to finish it all off, an amazing oil massage at Heathland Ekkamai.

From what I could tell, they had a great time. Mom was ready to pack up her hairstylist from Silom in her luggage and they both wanted to import their masseuses from Healthland. And for a couple of senior citizens, I was very proud of the way they scampered over the various temple ruins, or hiked through the jungle to waterfalls, or climbed down steep embankments to get on a boat. I'm tired just thinking about all the things we did and saw.

It was a great trip, but I had been to most of these places before and written about them a lot already, so I didn't do so this time around. Instead, I have invited my mother to be a guest blogger here, and she has promised to send me some of her impressions of all that they saw. I hope she can do it because I think she has an interesting story to tell...