Southeast Asia- Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos & Thailand

We hit the ground running. Our tour guide and driver met us at the airport and whisked us away to our hotel. I must give you a heads up about traveling in Vietnam. The driving situation there is crazy. They estimate that more than half the population drives a moped/scooter/motorcycle. The traffic rules/signs are not followed. People drive on the sidewalks, they drive the wrong way down the street and they basically just go when they want to. We didn’t enjoy walking while we were there because of this, except in pedestrian only areas. On our first day in Hanoi we visited the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the Presidential Palace and the Hanoi Museum of Art. After that we went to the Hanoi Hilton Complex. The Vietnam War is front on center in many of the places you visit in Vietnam as is the fact that there is definitely a certain spin the communist government wants everyone to hear. There were tons of school aged children at the mausoleum and they were fascinated by Vic and I. The small kids just stared at us and waved. The teenagers really wanted to speak English with us and wanted to take pictures with us. Our tour guide told us that many schools from small villages come into the city and we might have been the first Americans or Caucasian people they’d ever seen in person. We took pictures with three different groups of teenagers.

At the Hanoi Hilton, seeing where so many service men were held as POWs was chilling. The conditions were horrible. I can’t imagine how hard it must have been to remain a prisoner for so long and somehow keep the faith that one day you’d be released. Much of the complex has been torn down but thankfully they’ve kept at least a small portion to remind of of the horrors of war.

Our first full meal in Vietnam was delicious. We were introduced to a new style of spring roll that we loved and ate many, many times during the trip. They use a delicate, almost lacey looking rice paper that comes out super flaky and crispy, so delicious. All of the lunches that were included were multiple courses with different fruits for dessert. It was always way more food than we could possibly eat.

Our next couple of days were spent three hours north of Hanoi in Ha Long Bay. This is a beautiful area with blue green waters and limestone islands. It is just two hours south of the border with China. We spent two nights cruising through the bay on a small cruise ship. All the meals were provided and we did some kayaking that first day. This was our first realization into just how much time we were going to spend traveling in between destinations. Vietnam is an extremely long country, which means you have to cover a lot of distance if you want to see a lot of it. This is something to keep in mind if you are considering this sort of trip, especially within Vietnam. The suites were spacious and comfortable. On our second day we did a trip to one of the bigger islands and visited Trung Trang, Vietnam’s second largest cave. We really enjoyed the short hike through the jungle and the trek through the cave. This cave was unique in that it had some really small spaces you had to traverse. In the words of our tour guide, you had to do a lot of “ducky” walking.

After leaving the cruise, unfortunately, we had to drive the three hours back to Hanoi to catch a short one hour flight to Hue. For two people who get motion sickness pretty easily, car rides can be pretty miserable. Thankfully our driver kept it steady, it’s just a long time to be in a car. Hue is in central Vietnam. After a long day of travel, we thought we might get a massage that night at the hotel. The description made us laugh. We wondered how beat up we might be after all that.

The next morning we headed to the Imperial Palace. It was beautiful. This area was so massive that it had five separate, gated entrances. One was specifically designated for the concubines of the Emperor. It was constructed in 1804 and Hue was designated as the new capital of Vietnam. We learned something that morning that would stay with us for the rest of the trip. Due to all the inclement weather throughout Southeast Asia, almost all landmarks have to constantly be renovated. They get so much rain and wind that they’re in a constant state of repair. I never really thought about that before. So, as we traveled, we saw places that were over a thousand years old but had been worked on over and over again. They do a really good job at keeping the renovations looking like the originals but it is an endless task.

After the palace we took our first boat ride on the Mekong River. We would travel on this massive river many times during our trip. It winds its way through six different countries, Myanmar, China, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. We saw countless pagodas, shrines and temples during our month long trip. There were too many to count. We learned that morning that the levels of a pagoda depend on what rank the Buddhist monk held that is honored there. This particular pagoda honored a very high-level monk. The grounds were so beautiful.

Before lunch we stopped in at a local market. Markets throughout Southeast Asia are truly something to behold. They are massive and they sell just about everything. This particular market had a huge section dedicated to all things seafood. Vic wasn’t a fan of this market or any other one. He hates shopping and he hates people trying to sell you stuff. Most of all, he hated the smells that came from within these markets. His face says it all. The combination of all things “fishy” made him want to run for the hills. I particularly like the first picture because you can see what a wide range of items they sell. Those are underwear right next to dried fruits. 🙂 You might also ask what that giant bowl of chocolate pudding is doing there, fun fact, that’s shrimp paste, not pudding.

After lunch we visited the mausoleum of Emperor Minh Mang. He designed it before his death in 1843. This was something commonly done by people of power. They often had their final place of rest designed if not completely built before they died. Emperor Mang built grand tombs that served as living quarters for his minor wives and eunuchs after his death. There are a lot of bizarre stories of Emperors instructions for their deaths. Emperor Tự Đức, despite having more than 10o wives and concubines, had no children due to a childhood illness. He was obsessed with preventing the desecration of his tomb and was ultimately buried in a secret, unknown location. All 200 servants who participated in the burial were beheaded to keep the location a secret. His concubines, if childless, lived out their lives in the mausoleum complex after his death, tending to his worship…uggggghhhhhh.

The following day we left Hue and headed further south to Hoi An. Along the way we stopped at Hai Van Pass. This was an integral stronghold for American soldiers that prevented forward progress of the Viet Cong during the war. The view down towards Da Nang Bay was beautiful.

We continued south and started a three night stay in Hoi An. We visited The Marble Mountain. It was beautiful with its many Buddha and Guardian statues. The caves that were used by the Viet Cong to hide in were a surprise to see surrounded by so many lovely areas. We visited a marble shop and of course I loved all the Happy Buddha Statues.

The following day we took a ride on a bamboo spinning boat (no spinning for us). Following that we had a outdoor cooking class which was a lot of fun. We learned how to make the very popular and delicious Vietnamese pancakes and spring rolls. We got to eat everything after we made it, and it was so good. I made sure to buy some of the ultra thin rice paper while I was there so I can make it back home.

After wrapping up our time Hoi An, we headed even further south to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon). It was here that we really got immersed in the history of Vietnam and came face to face with some of the realities from the Vietnam War. We spent one morning in the Cu Chi Tunnel Complex which has preserved many of the tunnels and caves used and lived in by the Viet Cong. They were certainly inventive and the fact that they lived in these tiny passages is mind boggling. They show a short film here but we left after only a few minutes. It’s a very slanted showing of what the war was about and we’d heard enough. There are several tunnels that they’ve expanded by 40% so the average sized person can crawl through and experience what it was like. We did the 60 foot tunnel and Vic became claustrophobic within about a minute of being in there, and that was in a tunnel that was almost twice the size of what it used to be. They also have an active firing range there that you can shoot AK-47s at and there is a full display of all the different forms of torturing devices that were used. It is very eerie to be walking through the jungle and hear live rounds being blasted continuously. This experience gave us a tiny glimpse into what hell everyone involved went through every single day.

Thankfully there are beautiful things to see in southern Vietnam too. We visited the beautiful Vinh Trang Pagoda & Shrine. The Buddhas were massive. That’s an 8 story pagoda to give you a realistic idea of just how big the reclining Buddha is. I want to give you a little background on Buddhism in Southeast Asia, from what we heard from our seven different tour guides. Roughly between 60-80% of the population in the four countries we visited practice Buddhism. The range of practice varies significantly. Every shrine and temple receives daily offerings from followers. You always see flowers, fruit, candles and other food items left at shrines. For some (and I think a very minor percentage), Buddhism is strictly followed. For most though, it’s something to believe in and hold onto when times are hard or scary (like many religions). There seems to be a lot of superstitions and everything has meaning, from numbers to colors, to the day of the week you were born. From what we learned, I think Buddhism at its core is a very kind and thoughtful practice.

We visited a market later that day. The bounty of fruits and vegetables was incredible. The weather there really lends itself to the most incredible bounty. The tropical fruits are amazing, something I really wish we had in Colorado. I’m definitely jealous of the climate there for that reason. Vic ate the freshest Dragon Fruit every morning during our trip. I think I ate my body weight in Passion Fruit. We were so spoiled. We finally got the opportunity to try Durian while we were there. This fruit smells so bad that it is banned on all modes of public transportation and most hotels won’t let you enter with it in your possession. It tastes really strange, almost like a custard. Once you get over the smell, it’s quite tasty. We also ate quite a bit of Jack Fruit, which also has a pretty strong smell.  

Our second day started with an early morning boat ride on the Mekong. This river is a lifeline for all of Southeast Asia. There used to be five massive floating markets in Vietnam, only one remains today, Cai Rang. People from all over the southern part of Vietnam come here to sell their produce or handmade goods. Many of these people live on their boats as well. They stay until they’ve sold everything, then they go back to the place where they grow/make their goods and start the process all over again. I loved exploring this market. We watched a woman making fresh rice noodles and I tried fried baby frog and snake. They were both super crunchy and tasted a lot like chicken. After lunch we took a small canoe down the canal to reach Unicorn Island. Here we tried snake wine, freshly made coconut candy, a variety of fresh fruit grown on the island, and the most delicious kumquat and fresh honey tea. The bees were literally swarming around us while we drank it. The snake wine was so creepy to look at, but thankfully it tasted a lot like vodka, not fermented snake. 

We got caught in a torrential downpour while we were in the canoe. It lasted only five minutes and then the clouds disappeared and it was sunny again. Thankfully we had rain ponchos. Vic was not pleased with the whole fried fish we had for lunch. Thankfully it was delicious, so he finally came around.

We spent our last night in Vietnam in Can Tho. There’s a lovely bridge that lights up at night. We took a stroll into town and admired the lights when we came back to our resort. I put the pictures of all the mopeds as a reminder to what road travel is like in Vietnam. This is what every intersection looks like in the big cities. There are over 10 million people in Hanoi and they estimate there are 7 million motorcycles/mopeds in the city. It was insane watching these daredevils zip in and out of traffic. Definitely not for the faint of heart. Traffic rules don’t apply. People go wherever they want even if it’s the wrong side of the road or on the sidewalk. We didn’t miss this craziness when we left Vietnam. The drive back to Ho Chi Minh City was long, and the hours spent at the airport were even longer. To anyone traveling in Vietnam, I would avoid this airport if at all possible. We’ve travelled around the world and this was by far the most annoying place we’ve ever been. It took us two full hours just to get through outgoing immigration. They had two massive lines that serpentine to no end. Once you finally got through that, there was one person checking everyone’s boarding pass before you went through the metal detectors, yes, one single person. The fun wasn’t over yet. Of course, our flight was delayed nearly two hours. Unfortunately, that proved to be a common theme through out our month long trip. There were only two flights in Southeast Asia that were on time, the one leaving Laos and the one leaving Thailand. We’ve had flight delays plenty of times, so it wasn’t that big of a deal. Just be prepared that air travel for even just a short hour flight can be a 6 hour event. We enjoyed our time in Vietnam but we were very excited to head to an all new country, Cambodia!

I knew nothing about Cambodia until 2002. I arrived at my new duty station in Stuttgart, Germany and was introduced to a woman who was born in Cambodia. We became good friends and did a lot of travelling together. She shared her families heartbreaking story of escaping Cambodia during the genocide that happened there in the 70’s. Thankfully her family escaped and created a new home in Virginia. At some point, she showed me a picture of Angkor Wat, and from then on, a seed was planted in me to see those glorious temples some day. Fast forward 23 years later, and that wish finally came true. For me, Cambodia was 100% about seeing all the incredible temples. It’s a very small country sandwiched between Vietnam and Thailand. It’s history is painful to learn about. Millions of people were murdered in a cleansing to rid the country of anyone who was educated, skilled or might possibly question the government. Hearing about this from our tour guide, Sun, really just made my heart ache. The people in Cambodia are so poor but they are so humble, kind and generous. They are making great strides to rebuild, educate and strengthen their country.

I was so excited the morning we set out to visit Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom. These incredible temple complexes were built in the 10th Century. Let that settle in your brain for a minute. We’re talking nearly a thousand years ago. Everything built by hand with manual labor. Angkor Wat is the largest religious temple in the entire world. We learned that in the 1400’s, almost all the temples were abandoned and overgrown by the jungle. Military defeat caused a drastic shift in the population fleeing to the south. They weren’t rediscovered and reintroduced to the world until the 1800’s. I can’t even imagine the surprise of Henri Mahout when he rediscovered Angkor Wat. What must he have felt when he stumbled upon the complex in the 1840’s?

For being nearly a thousand years old, there are still so many original buildings and ornate decorations still in incredible condition. It’s fair to say that almost every landmark in Southeast Asia is continually being repaired and renovated. The wet, hot and humid climate doesn’t lend itself in being kind to rock, mineral or wood. The picture of the Asparas (dancing women) is a good example of something that has been repaired/replaced probably, several times over the decades. The dark portion is old, whereas the light area is new/newer. I loved all the depictions of the Aspara. There are nearly 2,000 of them inside Angkor Wat and every single one is unique, not one is replicated.

There was one more temple to see before our three days in Cambodia was complete. We visited Banteay Srei, the unique, pink sandstone temple last. It is also called Temple of The Women. It is much smaller than the other temples and has a very unique style of Khmer carvings. It was the only temple not built by a ruler, it was built by courtiers and dedicated to the Hindu Gods Shiva and Vishnu. The ornate carvings in this temple feature flowers and many female carvings. The carvings go from very large to teeny, tiny. The amount of detail was really spectacular.

Before leaving Cambodia, we visited the Kampong Phluk Floating Village. During the monsoon season, the entire area floods and only boats are used for transportation. During the dry season, the water recedes and they can drive their mopeds along the dirt road through the village. They live a simple life, relying on the water to provide for their families.

We started the day visiting the Royal Palace and the adjoining temple Wat Sene. The giant golden dragon that’s used to carry the remains of royalty was pretty impressive as was the ornate temple and shrine. You might have noticed how often dragons appear in temples and palaces. They’re very common in all the places we visited. They’re known as protectors and as a symbol of power. They’re called Naka throughout Southeast Asia. Another thing to point out, whenever you go in a temple or shrine, you must take your shoes off as a sign of respect. Make sure you wear shoes that are easy to take off and on, it’ll make your life a lot easier. From there we visited Wat Xieng Thong, which sits along the Mekong River. The glass work was beautiful. It’s hard to see in the pictures, but they use tiny glass tiles to create the beautiful images.

We boarded a long boat directly down the bank from the temple. We headed north to visit the Pak Ou Caves, which can only be reached by boat. More than 400 years ago, Buddhist Monks started placing Buddha Statues within the caves for safekeeping. The tradition has continued since then and there are now over 4,000 statues within the caves. They vary in size from massive to sometimes as small as a thimble. They’re blessed by a local monk before being placed inside the cave. Afterwards we crossed the river for a lovely lunch. Following that we stopped by a tiny distillery that makes some pretty crazy whiskeys. We tried the snake and scorpion one. They’re 55% alcohol, and the locals swear they heal all sorts of ailments. Two shots of that and I’m pretty sure everyone takes a long nap.

The next day we headed off into the jungle to visit the Kuangsi Waterfall Park. I went into it feeling pretty skeptical. I’ve been disappointed by waterfalls before. It was nearly an hour and a half drive over very bumpy and twisty conditions. I prayed it would be worth the long drive. You have a short hike through the jungle to get there and you pass through an Asiatic Black Bear Sanctuary on the way. I loved how the bears would just stand on their back legs and stare at you. I was overjoyed when we finally caught sight of the lowest pool coming off the waterfall. It was so beautiful. The color of the water is a pale greenish-blue that comes from the minerals in the rocks that water the water flows over. The pools look so perfect, you’d think that they’re man made but they’re all created naturally.

You do need to brace yourself for the crowds. This might just be the most popular place for tourists to visit in all of Laos. You have to get a ticket to enter and then wait in a line to take a shuttle up to the park. Keep in mind, this is their idea of winter even though it was in the high 70’s while we were there. We couldn’t wait to get into one of the beautiful pools. Needless to say, there were probably a lot of people who thought we were insane for swimming. Yes, the water is cold, but not nearly as cold as other water we’ve been in. I’m pretty sure that every person near the pool took a picture of us. When they go back home they’ll point out that we were the crazy people who decided to swim. The water was heaven after hiking through the muggy jungle. This turned out to be one of our favorite outings of the entire trip.

Our three days in Laos were well spent and we really enjoyed our adventures and the lovely people. We enjoyed a stunning sunset on the Mekong River our final night there. Our departure from Laos heading to Thailand was the smoothest of our entire trip. The flight was on time and quick and they gave us a giant oatmeal chocolate chip cookie during the flight. Win, win!

Our next place to explore was Chiang Mai, Thailand. This city lies in the northern part of Thailand, just west of Cambodia. There was definitely a jump in the temperature from Laos to Thailand. So far, we’d enjoyed temps in the low to mid 70’s. As soon as we stepped out of the airport in Thailand we noticed it was about ten degrees warmer and quite humid. Our first full day in Thailand was spent in the most incredible way. We visited the Baan Chang Elephant Park. It was a truly magical experience. The description on what we’d be doing was pretty non-specific. I went in thinking that we’d get to feed elephants that were in a corral and maybe spray them and help scrub them. It was so hands on and we got to spend so much time with the animals. This incredible place rescues elephants from abusive and ill-prepared owners. Many of the elephants worked in the logging industry or were in circuses or other shows where they were mistreated. Some were owned by regular people who just weren’t equipped to properly care for them.

We first met two youngsters and a mama. The mama kept doing a little dance for us, and we learned that she’d been a performing elephant. She equated dancing with being fed and treated well, so she was always putting on a show. Her little baby reminded me of a puppy. He had so much energy and loved climbing up on the fence. The other baby was very sweet and seemed quite shy. We quickly learned that every elephant has a unique personality. The teenage elephants are just like humans, they seem annoyed whenever you want them to do something. The older ones knew they weren’t going to get the delicious bananas and sugar cane unless they did some walking and got some exercise. This park has its very own veterinarian that specializes in elephants and they closely monitor each elephants weight and health to make sure they’re always getting the right amount of food and exercise.

After feeding the mama and babies, we moved out to a giant field where there were five massive elephants. There were no fences, just a gigantic open space. We each got a giant bag with a strap and were instructed to fill them up with bananas and sugar cane. This activity is where the elephants get their morning round of exercise. The idea is to get them walking and reward them with some tasty food. The older elephants (the ones from 30-56 years old) knew exactly what to do. The one teenager in the group was really stubborn at first, she didn’t want to be troubled with walking. Eventually she joined in, she couldn’t resist the sweet bananas and sugar cane. This was such an amazing experience. To move freely amongst these five gentle giants was a once in a lifetime experience. My favorite was the oldest of the bunch. She was so sweet and she loved to rub her trunk along your arm or your back. She was so sweet. Each elephant at the park has their very own care giver. Some of the care givers will work with their elephant for their entire life. They know everything about the elephant that they care for, including their quirks and they easily pick up on things when something isn’t right.

After lunch we got to make their nutritional supplement snacks and hand feed them. You literally place the baseball sized snack directly on to their tongue. We then helped them clean their teeth which is done by feeding them long stalks of sugar cane. The motion of chomping the stalks and the rough texture helps keep their teeth and mouths clean. The cracking sound it makes is surprisingly loud. After the teeth brushing we took them for a walk along a shaded bamboo path to the giant pond used for their bathing. Bathing them was so much fun. They lead them out into the water where they lay down and then they let you give them a good scrub. It is essential that they get bathed every day to keep their skin healthy. Being so close to these gigantic animals might seem a little scary but we learned that they have very sensitive receptors on the bottom of their feet. If they so much as touch something that doesn’t feel sturdy to step on, they’ll pick their foot up. That’s why it is very rare for an elephant to step on a person that is close to them. At the end, our elephant gave us a good soaking when we’d finished bathing her. I don’t know if I can express just how special this whole experience was. It was truly one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever had. To spend the day with these smart, sweet and just incredible animals was something that I will never, ever forget.

The following day was extra special, it was Vic’s birthday. We had a free day to do whatever we wanted, and boy did we find something cool to do. Fresh off our sensational elephant adventure, we learned about a place called The Tiger Kingdom. This place specializes in domesticated and rescued tigers. You can spend time with tigers as young as 4 months up to the full grown, biggest males of the pack. When we decided that’s where we were going to go, we went all in and bought the package that lets you visit all the tigers available. This included the youngest cubs, medium sized Bengals, a white tiger, a golden tiger and the big daddies. Of course they conduct a thorough safety briefing with you before your visit begins to make sure you don’t do anything stupid. We basically had the place to ourselves as we arrived as soon as they opened. Looking back on it, there is definitely some risk involved. They’re wild animals and they can be unpredictable. It was an easy decision for us though, we live by the mantra that life is meant to be lived, not observed from the side line.

The tigers were all really calm while we were there. We went right after they’d been fed, so they were all full bellied and relaxing. The cubs were just like infants, totally milk drunk. The tiniest of cubs were just one month old. You can’t touch them yet but one of the owners took my phone in the nursery and snapped some photos for me. There was one Bengal, one white and one golden cub. Their daddy is a golden and white mix and their mama is a full Bengal. They were just so cuddly and cozy. From the cubs we went to the biggest tigers they have. The biggest one tips the scale at over 900 pounds. He was massive. His paws seemed as big as my face. He was such a gentle giant. Some interesting things we learned: tigers love to have their paws massaged, tiger tails are so dense and heavy, and tigers can’t purr like traditional housecats do.

I felt like my heart was pounding outside my chest when we first went into the enclosure with the biggest male. They’re so majestic and terrifyingly strong. We definitely relaxed more as we went along. There was only one time that I felt a little unsafe. That was with the white tiger. She’s a teenager, and they warned us that she’s a little feisty sometimes. She was fine with me but when Vic attempted to stroke her back she turned and gave him a look that stopped him in his tracks. The handlers told him to slowly back away and she watched him the entire time. They had us come around to the front of her and then she decided it was time to play. She hid behind a wall then jumped out and started rolling around on the grass. It was a good reminder that their moods can quickly flip from happy to pissed off very quickly. We loved this experience. It seemed like a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I’m so glad we did it. We’ve certainly never seen something like this in the states, and we may never see something like this ever again.

The photo above is the biggest tiger at the park. Doesn’t he look like he’s licking his lips thinking about how yummy I’m going to taste? We wrapped up celebrating Vic’s birthday that night by a walk into old town Chiang Mai. We found this cool spot called The Castle. It was right up our alley. They played good music and the kids running the place were super friendly and we had a great time chatting with them about the club/bar scene in Chiang Mai. 

The next morning we headed to Wat Umong, a very old monastery that is nestled at the foot of the Doi Suthep mountains. It is known for its serene atmosphere, and its historic temple that features unique meditation tunnels, and 700 year-old wall murals. There were lots of giant eared bats in the tunnels who silently welcomed us. Following this we drove up the mountain to the iconic Wat Phra That Doi Suthep.  This mountainside sanctuary is famed for its stunning golden stupa, which glows majestically under the sun. This was one of my favorite temples from the entire trip. It was just so beautiful and ornate. Everywhere you looked there was something incredible to see, and there were so many different styles going on.

Sadly, I didn’t fair too well on the drive down the mountain. I got very motion sick and had to sit outside for an hour once we reached the bottom. I figure I was pretty lucky that with all our boat, car, train, subway and plane rides, I only got sick the one time. Visiting Wat Phra That Doi Suthep was worth it though. It is truly a spectacular site. I loved that even though there were a lot of people there, you could still easily find a quiet spot to just sit and take in all the beauty and serenity.

From Chiang Mai we did the short but of course, delayed flight to Bangkok. This was our final location in Southeast Asia. We stayed at a beautiful resort right on the Chao Phraya River. It was dark by the time we got to our resort. Our suite was on the 22nd floor. We had this incredible view of the night skyline. The heat in Bangkok was really intense. I can’t imagine how hot it gets there in the summer. I was so happy to get inside with air conditioning. First thing in the morning we took a leisurely ride down the canals, taking in several temples and we even saw some Komodo dragons in the wild sunning themselves.

Next stop was the Grand Palace, home to the revered Wat Phra Kaew and the sacred Emerald Buddha. Hands down, this was the busiest and most crowded place we visited during our entire 25 days in Southeast Asia. It was especially busy because the Queen Mother of Thailand, who passed away at the end of October is lying in state in the Dusit Maha Prasat Throne Hall there on the grounds. Thousands of people have been arriving every day to pay their respects. She was the queen of Thailand for 66 years. There were shrines set up to honor her all over Thailand. This was another gorgeous location, had it not been so crowded and so hot, I could have easily spent half a day there wandering around. 

After a super spicy lunch, we headed back out in the afternoon heat to see one more thing, Wat Pho, famous for its magnificent Reclining Buddha. Its length is 46 meters and is 15 meters tall. On the sole of each foot, there are 108 auspicious images made of mother-of-pearl. The tiny images on the soles of the feet were incredible. You have to capture it in 3 pictures since it is so massive. Wat Phra Chetuphon Wimonmangkalaram Ratchaworamahawihan, thankfully known as Wat Pho, was built by King Rama I, for monks to study Dharma. During the reign of King Rama III, the temple was renovated and academic texts from different fields were brought and inscribed around the temple in order to disseminate knowledge to the people. It is considered the first university of Thailand.  

On our free day, we slept in and then walked a bit and had a leisurely lunch. That evening we went to a fantastic show called Lights, Lipstick and Ladyboys! We really enjoyed the show at Calypso Cabaret. The theater was really pretty. The costume changes were gorgeous, the choreography was really good and I loved the music too. All the performers were super talented and beautiful. If you didn’t know, Bangkok is one of the most welcoming cities to transgender and all members of the LGBTQ+ community. If I hadn’t been told the cast was primarily transgender, I’d have never known. I wish there were more places that acted as a safe harbor for all people, whatever their gender or sexual preference might be.

So the next morning we got up and headed to the airport. It was a five hour flight from Bangkok back to Tokyo. We spent two more full days in Tokyo before flying direct back to Denver. There’s no way around it, those long 10+hr flights are rough. I wish I was one of those people who can just sleep a flight away. Unfortunately, I can never get comfortable and about four hours in, my back and butt start to really hurt. I’ve tried just about every medicine possible to help me sleep but none of them work. So, alas, I must continue to tolerate long flights in order to visit all the far away places I yearn to see. 

No trip write-up would be complete without a breakdown of what the food was like during our trip. First and foremost, we absolutely loved all the fresh fruit. All of the breakfast buffets we encountered throughout our trip were absolutely amazing. They had such a big variety of foods and most of them had egg bars where you could get almost any preparation made to order. Most places also threw in some American/European options like pancakes, waffles or french toast. Across the board, I really enjoyed all the food. Vic didn’t like it as much as me because he doesn’t like anything spicy and he’s not quite as an adventurous eater as I am. During all our time spent in Asia we’ve come to notice that most places do not eat the white meat when it comes to chicken. They also don’t mind eating fat, skin and cartilage, which isn’t something we don’t like. So the meat (chicken, pork & beef) were often disappointing outside of Japan. The seafood was really excellent. We ate tons of super fresh and delicious seafood throughout the trip.

It was good that so much of their diets are made up of rice and rice noodles. This made it a lot easier for Vic to stay gluten-free. They also don’t use a ton of dairy in their traditional cooking, which helped as well. Thailand had the spiciest food by far. Their idea of a little spice is much different than mine. There were a couple dishes that I could barely eat because they were so spicy. The other countries really didn’t use very much spice. Fish sauce, ginger, lemongrass and coconut were used a lot every place that we went. There is a very large French influence throughout Southeast Asia. They love all their French pastries over there, but unfortunately it isn’t the same as say, getting them in Paris. Because of the humidity, things like croissants, lack that wonderful crispiness. Everything in the pastry world was softer than what I would prefer, but still delicious. 

We managed to slip in some comfort food from time to time when we really needed a break from rice. We found an awesome burger place in Cambodia. The staff was great and the food was amazing. We went back for a second time it was so good. The Vietnamese are really crazy about their coffee. They typically sweeten it with sweetened condensed milk rather than sugar. They also drink egg coffee and salt coffee. Both of them were really good but so rich. It tasted like I was drinking a dessert. Vegetables were very plentiful in pretty much all the dishes, sometimes the table would have five dishes on it and three of them were completely vegetarian. Eating healthy over there is really easy if that’s what you’re looking to do. I did miss my daily gelato that I typically get when I go on vacation. We didn’t drink a lot of alcohol over there, primarily because it didn’t really sound good. We were hot and tired so much that by the end of the day we just wanted a shower and a comfy bed. We ate a lot of really good Pho in Vietnam. My favorite meal of the entire trip happened in Laos. This small restaurant hires and teaches young kids to work both in the front and in the back. The food there was exceptional and the young boy who served us was just so professional and you could really tell that he cared about what he was doing. It was a really special meal. The three photos below are from that lunch.

So, here’s my final wrap up from our massive trip of 25 days in Southeast Asia. There were so many good things about this trip but there were also some things we would have changed had we known more about where we were going and what we were doing. Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos are all very poor countries. It was hard not to feel really bad when you spent so much time driving through really run down and just sad looking places. On the one hand it made me happy that we spent money in these countries, helping to support their economies that depend so much on tourism. On the other hand it made me feel like a very spoiled and entitled. You want to feel at ease every place you go, but sometimes you just aren’t. I tried to focus on the good but it was hard sometimes when you are surrounded so much misfortune and such sad histories.

I think the hardest part of our trip was the amount of time we spent travelling from one place to another. If I were to do the trip over again, I would spend more time in fewer places. I don’t regret going on this trip one bit, and I am so glad we did it. Perhaps if we were in our 20’s or 30’s, all the driving and flights wouldn’t be so tiring. For anyone thinking about going, I would say you should absolutely do it. Ideally for me, I think Spending time in Laos, Cambodia and Chiang Mai would have been more ideal. Our favorite outings were the temples in Cambodia, the waterfall in Laos and the elephant and tiger experiences in Chiang Mai. Overall, it was an incredible, once in a lifetime trip. We learned so much and met so many wonderful people. Our tour guides were really superb. They were all so kind, helpful, knowledgeable and sincere. We really got to know them and we also learned about their families. I honestly felt really close to several of them by the time we moved on to our next location. They really made our trip special in so many ways. Happy travels!