Three countries, three cultures, three weeks

River cruises. Fresh beer. Strong coffee. French baguettes. Bike rides along shaded canals. Cooking classes in secluded villas. Five-star hotels with sky bars and rooftop pools. Paris, Venice, London?

Try Hanoi, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur.

If it's your first time or your tenth, surprises await in modern Southeast Asia. More accessible and easier to travel around than ever, it's a place where English is widely spoken and the dollar still packs power. Beginning Monday, join in online as travel writer Carol Pucci reports from Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam. Follow her dispatches, see her photos and offer your own comments and tips.

Returning to Asia, where changes abound
BANGKOK — When my husband, Tom, and I made our first trip to Asia 19 years ago, Bangkok was our first stop. Up at dawn, despite only a few hours of sleep, we had breakfast in the fancy hotel that came at a discount with our airline tickets, then hit the streets to search ...More

Peaceful Bangkok: A visit with monks and a foot massage
BANGKOK — The young monks at Wat Rajbopit are a friendly bunch. Thirty or so have the privilege of watching over the king's private temple. We found a few of them relaxing over soft drinks this afternoon when we wandered inside to admire the colored mosaic tiles and gold Buddhas. ...More

Cycling through the City of Angels
BANGKOK — They call Bangkok the City of Angels, and when I first thought about signing up for one of Co van Kessel's bike tours, I hoped they'd be watching out for us. Bangkok bike-friendly? How could it be? This isn't Beijing or Shanghai. More

Eating for a cause
BANGKOK — Many Southeast Asian cities have one or two restaurants whose mission is to train disadvantaged children or support some other social cause. In Bangkok, it's Cabbages and Condoms, named so because its founder, a Thai businessman, felt birth control in Thailand should be as easy to obtain as fresh vegetables. ...More

Cooking is good exercise, and a way to share culture
TAMBOL BANGMAUNG, Thailand — As a 7-year-old growing up along the canal villages a few miles from Bangkok, Pip Fragrajang didn't walk to school. She rowed her own boat one hour each way. Today, an eight-lane highway connects the village of Tambol Bangmaung to modern Bangkok ...More

Cheap airfare worth the no-frills ride
PENANG, Malaysia — Sometimes you get what you pay for and more. I probably wouldn't be on my way to Penang in Malaysia if it weren't for AirAsia, the new budget airline that's making getting around Southeast Asia as easy and inexpensive as Ryan Air and easyJet have made jetting around Europe.More

Penang is a place of taste treats -- except, perhaps, for one
PENANG — Sensing that we're a little unsure about the menu, our waiter at the Bali Hai Seafood Market on Penang's Gurney Drive seafront invites us to "tour the aquarium." We watch as a boy in shorts climbs atop tanks ...More

A man who knew what to do in the rain
PENANG — Good feng shui — the Chinese art of placing buildings and everything inside them in harmony with the environment — depends on how skillfully a designer incorporates the five elements of water, wood, metal, earth and fire. ...More

Eating hawker style ... in Malaysia
PENANG, Malaysia — There's fresh crab, live from the tank, and bowls of miniature clams ready for frying in a spicy sauce with garlic and lime. The air smells of roasted ducks and skewers of charcoal-grilled chicken. One stall sells herbal soup; another grills seafood on a stick. ...More

The fireflies of Sungai Selangora
KUALA SELANGOR, Malaysia — We're leaving Penang for Kuala Lumpur, but first a detour to see the flashing fireflies perform their nightly light show along the Sungai Selangora River near Malaysia's old royal capital of Kuala Selangor. ....More

What's a little water on the floor compared to the view?
What kind of hotel does $85 a night buy in Southeast Asia? In the Malaysia capital of Kuala Lumpur, it buys quite a nice one. The economy's booming with conventions, business meetings and tourists coming from the Middle East.More

An urban hike through the 2 sides of Kuala Lumpur
KUALA LUMPUR — Not many people would consider Kuala Lumpur pedestrian-friendly, but Seattleites are used to walking, so when Marlene Zefferys describes herself as an "urban hiker," I'm intrigued.More

At home with a Malaysian family
KAMPUNG HULU CHUCHOH, Malaysia — It's easy to visit Western Malaysia and feel as if you're in India or China, or even somewhere in the United States. All that changed for us when we left our plush hotel overlooking the Petronas towers for a homestay in Hulu Chuchoh...More

"Hello, pineapple!" Good morning, Hanoi
HANOI -- "Hello, pineapple!" That's my next-door neighbor, the woman in the straw hat with baskets of pineapples and bananas balanced on either end of a bamboo pole, calling out to me over the din of the motorbikes whizzing by the front door of the Golden Lotus Hotel. ..More

Scooting around Hanoi
HANOI — "Madam, motorbike?" he asked, patting the seat of his beat-up Honda. His glasses, graying hair and mustache reminded me of my father. Perfect. When it comes to getting around Hanoi the way everyone does -- on a motorbike, experience trumps a fancy bike. ..More

A walk around Hoan Kiem Lake
HANOI — The man sitting on a bench smiled and motioned for me to sit down. I thought at first he wanted to sell me something, because on Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi's version of Seattle's Greenlake, a stroll usually calls for a snack, and vendors are at the ready with slices of chocolate bread, water, ice cream or oranges. It turns out that he wanted to show me his photo album ..More

Seattle to Vietnam: Traveling with a purpose
HANOI — Don and Diana Holmlund's packing list for their first trip to Vietnam included a case of toothpaste, six dozen toothbrushes and 18 pounds of Beanie Babies. ..More