Category: SEAsia13
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South East Asia 2013 – First Thoughts & Index of Links
“Indo-China is a great bay-window bulging from the southeastern corner of Asia, its casements opening on the China Sea and on the Gulf of Siam. Of all the countries of the Farther East it is the most mysterious; of them all it is the least known. Larger than the State of Texas, it is a…
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South East Asia 2013 – Introduction
“No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow. ” ― Lin Yutang I’ve always found it easy to become inspired, and equally easy to be complacent. It is the complacency that I am always attempting to quell. Sure, my pillow is the…
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Cambodia – Day One – Siem Reap
We arrived on time in Siem Reap. It was wet and dark, sometime after 10:30 PM. I had flown from JFK to Seoul, I wandered the airport for a bit and was listening to a string quartet when I found my girlfriend and her sister who both had flown in from Hawaii. The airport in…
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Cambodia – Day Two – Angkor & Temples
It was a wet morning, drenched actually. We find Sohm and three other tuk-tuk drivers awaiting people to rise in the lobby of the hostel. Much debate among our peers whether the trek out to the temples is worth it in such weather. With very limited time to travel, we did not really have the…
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Cambodia – Day Three – Let’s Play Chicken
“I dislike feeling at home when I am abroad.” -George Bernard Shaw This is the day we had to say goodbye to Siem Reap, and to our nicest of hosts at Siem Reap Rooms. Seriously, they were so nice. Despite their sadness, they helped us arrange a ride from Siem Reap to Cambodia’s capital, Phnom…
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Cambodia – Day Four – Phnom Penh & Khmer Rouge
“Cities were always like people, showing their varying personalities to the traveler. Depending on the city and on the traveler, there might begin a mutual love or dislike, friendship, or enmity. Where one city will rise a certain individual to glory, it will destroy another who is not suited to its personality. Only through travel…
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Cambodia – Day Five – Phnom Penh Palaces
Our last day in Phnom Penh we decided to make it over to the Royal Palace. Built in the 1860s, it has served as the seat of the King of Cambodia since. It is a complex of buildings and below are a few of the photos I took while wandering the grounds. No photos are…
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Vietnam – Day Six – Saigon & Cu Chi Tunnels
We woke in Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City. I had read many of the locals still prefer Saigon, and after spending a day with a guide it does seem true. Saigon has been the city’s name since the 1600s, deep roots to try to pull up, which made me want to look up the history…
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Vietnam – Day Seven – Saigon & History
We took in more history today by going to the War Remnants Museum and the Reunification Palace, otherwise known as Independence Palace. It had been renamed after Saigon fell to North Vietnam, much like the city itself. We start with Independence Palace where the the president of South Vietnam had his headquarters, living quarters, war…
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Vietnam – Day Eight – Hoi An
We stir early for an AM flight from Saigon to Da Nang. From Da Nang we hire a taxi to take us slightly south to Hội An. We had already scouted a couple B&Bs before getting there, and luckily the first place we chose to inquire, La Tonnelle, had room for us. A three room…