Author: tarakauffman
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Back to Hanoi
We slept in this morning and then had a walk around the hotel grounds. Gardeners were everywhere working on planting and trimming. This island was man made and they have boats to take guests to the hotel. They scan for face recognition to get on the boat and into the dining room. This would be…
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Ha Long Bay
Today is a long travel day, about 3 1/2 hours by bus. Traffic in Saigon and Hanoi looks like motorcycle ants swarming around cars and buses. Yesterday we were starting to load our bus and a motorcycle tried to cut between us and the bus at the exact time when the bus driver opened the…
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Hanoi
Staying at the Lotte hotel is an elevating experience. To get to breakfast it is up to 63 from 44. Then to get out for the day it’s down to 44, pick up the backpack, down to 38, switch elevators and down to 1 and out for the day. I miss our last hotel on…
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Golf and Moving Day
Up at dawn to play 9 holes at Phokeethra Golf Course or in English the dragon course. We both had a caddie and it was a beautiful place. After our first charter flight from Siem Reap to Hanoi we had a drink on top of the Lotte Hotel’s 65th floor rooftop bar. I tried not…
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Angkor & Back to School
Angkor Thom means “big city”. It is not a temple, but where people lived. Bayon Temple inside the gate had 54 towers with only 39 left. It only took 5 years to build this temple. We were a bit distracted from Bayon Temple by the trimming of trees with scaffolding. It was a tall job…
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Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat was built from 1113 – 1150 as a Hindu temple. It was only later that it became Buddhist. It is the largest religious site in the world. It is the size of 400 soccer fields. The intricate carvings and stories told on the walls are amazing. The steps are at 70 degrees, very…
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Moving Day to Siem Reap
Once we made it to the hotel we had a relaxing afternoon and evening at the beautiful pool.
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Kampong Cham
Just outside of Kampong Cham is a little impoverished village. We were able to walk all over the village and look into their homes. Some were cleaning fish and others were preparing sugar cane. Our guide showed us the types of fish sauce that they ferment. One woman shared her soup with us. The children…
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Farewell to Phnom Penh
This morning our boat pulled out of Phnom Penh. We traveled about an hour upstream to an island in the middle of the river. This island, about 1 3/4 miles wide and 3 1/2 miles long, is home to 1500 families, 7,000 people and 2 public schools. It is also home to a silk workshop,…
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Phnom Penh, Udon Monastery, Silversmith
There are more than 5,000 Buddhist temples in Cambodia. Udon Temple is newer, built in 1996. Boys can begin the process to become a monk at 12 years old. Monks must follow 110 rules and cannot be touched. There were priests and nuns who lived at this temple. They have a retirement community there too.…
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Phnom Penh, Cambodia
The capital of Cambodia is known as the “Pearl of Asia”. Both Khmer (Cambodians) and french influence can be seen together in Phnom Penh. It can be seen through the architecture and education systems. Before the French there was basically a pagoda education, meaning the boys were educated by the monks. The girls were not…
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Tân Châu, Vietnam
This town is on the border between Vietnam and Cambodia. It is known for producing high quality silks. They produce a special black silk called “Heavenly Beauty” which is dyed with locally grown mulberries. Tân Châu means “New City” in English. We took a Sampan boat from the ship to Evergreen Island, just off the…
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Cái Bè and Sa Déc
Life is so fascinatingly different along the Mekong. The markets, ferries, fishing boats and Sampan boats are normal sights. We took a Sampan boat from the ship to take our tour today. The Mekong is 4350 km or 2700 miles long and goes through 6 countries. China, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam. It is…
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Moving Day to the Ship
Today we went from the big city to the countryside. Even the outlying areas are very busy. Lots of cars, trucks and motorcycles still. The French had introduced many things to the country: rubber trees (for latex), cashews, pepper and coffee. Between Saigon and the port is the area where the VC dug and fought…
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Sights of Vietnam
First stop today was the President’s Palace or Reunification Palace. This is where the Viet Cong drove two tanks through the gates in 1975 to declare themselves victorious and force the South Vietnamese to surrender. The original building was bombed and rebuilt in 1966. This Bell Huey sat on the roof for the president’s use.…
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So Long Siam, Good Morning Vietnam
We will miss the morning breakfasts in Bangkok. The best mangos! We took a flight to Vietnam this morning. It is just an hour and 20 minutes. Nothing much to do today, so we attempted to walk and do laundry, but it started raining buckets. Plan B, we grabbed a taxi and went to the…
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Ready. Set. Go…2023
We knew it was coming, but the deafening explosion of the first fireworks shook the windows and threw us out of bed. There were 5 barges in the river shooting off the best display of fireworks that we had ever seen. As the new year came in we watched the first half of the Sugar…
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New Year’s Eve Day
We both popped up at 7:00, feeling pretty good on a short night’s sleep. The suitcase fairy did not come while we were sleeping, but Japan Air did call to say they were found and would be delivered in the evening on the 1st. Boo! After a little breakfast by the canal, we took a…
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Travel Day
Well we didn’t quite miss the snow in Denver, but they do keep their highways clear. And we were ever so happy that we didn’t have to stand in the lengthy line at the Southwest counter. There were no lines at the AA lounge and we enjoyed a good breakfast and coffee while waiting on…
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Denver
Woke up early this morning to a fresh snow and the first leg of our journey. It has been a long year waiting for this trip to come to fruition.
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Bangkok
Flight time to Bangkok is about 22 hours and it is 13 hours ahead of Texas time. We jump from Amarillo to Denver, Denver to LosAngeles, LosAngeles to Tokyo and Tokyo to Bangkok. We hope to get some sleep on the plane, but time it so that we can sleep when we get there at…
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