[welfare]

The wife and I went to kanchanaburi couple years ago to see the elephants. I believe it was elephant haven.
It was great! My god man, they're so huge yet you can't even hear them come up behind you. They're really quite graceful. Amazing creatures.

Stayed in kanchanaburi for only couple days. She just wanted to see the elephants. And I have to say it was worth it for sure.

Started the trip landing in Saigon. Then stayed in bien hoa. Then flew to phu quoc. It's an island just off the southwest coast of Vietnam. Very beautiful.
From there, flew to Can Tho to visit her family. Stayed couple days there. Beautiful city right along the Mekong Delta.
From there bussed it to Saigon and flew to Bangkok. Then bus to kanchanaburi.

After that, flew to Hanoi. The wife's first time visiting the North. Very interesting city. Everything is very narrow and tall! Very nice tho. Went on halong Bay tour. Checked out the caves.

Then from there, flew to Manila. Then to Palawan. Bussed it to El Nido. Very beautiful place. So many great island hopping tours in Philippines. Beautiful water and reefs.
From El Nido, took a boat to apulet island. Another beautiful island with excellent boat tours and diving. Lots of activities there.
Was a little scary at the time tho since we were hearing reports of the airport security planting ammunition in travelers bags and then demanding payment to leave lol.

Price wise, I found Philippines to be most expensive. Food was typically the same cost as here. But with the enormous number of islands and reefs, it's well worth it. Nice thing there is that they're very big on preserving the land. They shut down areas for certain months to keep foot traffic down.

Vietnam is quite the opposite right now. They're undergoing huge foreign developments everywhere now. I noticed a big difference from when I was there in 06.
Honestly tho, Vietnam is still my favorite. The people are just so nice. Away from the city I mean.

The wife and I may go again in January to scout some land. There are a few little islands off the southwest coast. One of which has just received a transmission line. Seriously thinking about setting up a small resort.

You're gonna love it. I'm excited for you dude. I'd never been further than Seattle outside of Canada first time I went. You get off the plane and the atmosphere, the humidity, everything, it just hits you like a punch in the face. Oh and the driving! Hahaha.
Feel free to update this thread when you get back, please!