Friends Along the Way

When traveling for four plus months, home, normalcy, routine and a comfortable bed can all seem very far away. However, when you're lucky enough to have several friends sprinkled through Asia and even some coming over to visit, that little taste of home alleviates much of the homesickness.
We have been graciously hosted by family and friends in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia & Indonesia. These folks are all doing amazingly cool things in their respective countries and they shared their overseas world with us.
The "ex-pat" lifestylei s different than our humble one back in Portland. Drivers, maids, cooks, nannies, international schools, security guards and housing stipends can all be part of the "package". Although it certainly is glamorous to have a staff and other such perks, the downside can be a total invasion of privacy or a dependency on others for some of life's essential tasks. However, we are more than willing to bite the bullet and give this lifestyle a whirl.
Our expat friends gave us the low-down on what it is like in their area, introduced us to amazing folks, gave great travel tips & allowed us to see the region from a more local perspective.
As a backpacker humping it through SE Asia, sometimes we feel like we are on a greatest hits tour where our main interactions are with our travelers like ourselves. Staying with our friends allowed us the opportunity to get out of the grungy backpacker hostels and see wheer the real people actually live, albeit the upperclass real people.
The lifestyles of our friends is vastly different depending in which country they live and if they are in a capital city or not.
The lifestyle of Ho Chi Minh City for our adidas executive pal is exciting, hectic & lacking no creature comforts, although she does have to maneuever around a few cows to drive down her street. The lifestyle in Phnom Penh is similar as it has many western style restaurants, bars, spas and lots of social activity.
However, things were a bit different when visiting our friends in Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia, located on the western tip of Sumatra and the area hardest hit by the 2004 Tsunami. Banda Aceh has a long history of conflict and muslim fundamentalism. The at-home comforts are available, but their is a distinct lack of western dining opportunities and mind-set. It is a dry area, although you can buy alcohol from the "chinese shops". Women wear jil bobs and are covered from head to ankly and it much better for western women if they follow suite with the exception of head wear. The town is small, living is easier than in the hectic capital cities and the beautiful beach and jungled mountains are only minutes away from the center of town.
A huge thank you to the hospitality, generosity & kindness that these folks offered to the us weary travelers!!