We upgraded to the soft beds on the overnight train. I did manage to sleep despite it being the hardest mattress that I have ever slept on. The train arrived at the Lao Cai station about 5:30am where a driver was waiting for us. It was still dark so I closed my eyes as our car maneuvered turn after turn after turn, climbing the mountain. It was cold enough to wear …
Good morning Vietnam! We hopped on a tour bus at 8am. I am always hypnotized by the traffic. A little old lady with a cane slowly wandered out into the hectic traffic. Everyone veered around her. She walked as though alone in a field. Hanoi has 7 million people and 5 million motorbikes. It’s a 2 1/2 hour drive to Ninh Binh Province. On the way there we pass many …
One of the things about travelling is that it causes you to ponder and appreciate how blessed we are to live in Canada. Life expectancy here is 68 1/2 years. We drove an hour outside of Siem Reap to Kompong Khleang which is a fishing village on a river (not the Mekong). Over 3000 families live in this village. People were sun drying and smoking fish. Most homes are …
Our guide, Saravy picked us up at 4:45am and we made our way with hundreds (thousands?) of others to Angkor Wat to see the temple at sunrise. We still hadn’t seen Angkor Wat so this promised to be a dramatic introduction. There was a hum of many voices in the dark. Angkor Wat is arguably one of the seven wonders of the world. It is also the world’s largest …