Southeast Asia 2023 February 16, 2023 I headed off to Southeast Asia -- Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. I thought that I knew a lot about Asia. In addition to my academic courses and personal reading, I'd been to Japan twice -- once for 3 1/2 months and once for 2 1/2 weeks. I'd gone to China 3 times, including to Yunnan Province in Southwestern China which is very different from the eastern part of China. I discovered Southeast Asia to be a very different world from these other countries. The tour started slowly as we all adjusted to time changes, and for me, 30 hours of travel. For the first few days we visited typical tourist sites. Then, our tour group made great efforts for us to meet with local people and experience the culture, not just see famous sites. We also discussed controversial topics in each country. Heads up: My favorite places were Luang Prabang in Laos and Vietnam. Here are some highlights of my trip. ...