August 23rd, 2019 Today we had an amazing day exploring Cat Ba Island from dawn till dusk! And when I say dawn, I mean like 10am. It felt like we had been going since dawn by the end of the day for sure. Our hotel came with breakfast and we had a nice coffee and…
Author: Shanti
Day 197 – Cat Ba Island, Vietnam
August 22nd, 2019 Our day started at 2am when we had to get up for our very early flight to Hanoi. My Grandad was stationed here during the war at Tan Son Nhut Air Force Base. I looked it up to find it is now the civilian international airport here in Saigon. I took a…
Day 196 – Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
August 21, 2019 Today we wandered around the city finding some of the highlights. We got our first Vietnamese coffee which is very good, and very strong! Brendan and I both have to add water to any coffee we order here. It’s a nice change to have real coffee since everywhere else in Asia has…
Day 195 – Farewell Cambodia, Good Morning Vietnam
August 20th, 2019 We got up bright and early and took a shuttle from Phnom Penh, Cambodia to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), Vietnam. It was about a 6-hour journey and when we reached the border we had to carry all of our stuff while we walked across, and then run it through security…
Day 194 – Phnom Penh, Cambodia
August 19th, 2019 Today we had a very relaxed day. Our visa for Vietnam was not valid until tomorrow so it gave us an extra day to just chill in Phnom Penh. We slept in and then had the opportunity to go to our hostel’s sister hotel across the street and use their rooftop pool. …
Day 193 – Phnom Penh, Cambodia
August 18th, 2019 Today we hired a tuk tuk to take us to “The Killing Fields” and S-21 detention center. We learned a lot of history of the genocide that happened in Cambodia in the late 1970’s. It was a shocking and eye- opening experience. To give a little background for those that don’t know,…
Day 192 – Bus to Phnom Penh, Cambodia
August 17th, 2019 We had a quite an adventure just getting on our bus today. The tuk tuk driver we had from yesterday was forty minutes late picking us up. He raced us to the bus station, and it must have been the first time in history a bus left on time because we pulled…
Day 191 – Sihanoukville, Cambodia
August 16th, 2019 All the staff members in our hotel were children. I would guess they ranged from about 13-16 years old. I have noticed it does not seem uncommon for the employees in restaurants, shops etc. to be children in Cambodia. This hotel was called Don Bosco Hotel & School. When I asked what…
Day 190 – Getting off the Islands
August 15th, 2019 For myself, today was the hardest day of our trip. It was because I had the same stomach sickness Brendan had the last couple of days. The dreaded Montezuma’s Revenge wrecks your GI system. Thankfully Brendan is better, but today was my sickest day. We have been pretty lucky that in all…
Day 189 – Koh Rong Sanloem, Cambodia
August 14th, 2019 This morning I opened the door to the bungalow at sunrise and saw this! It was so beautiful I ran down to the beach to watch. It was one of the most beautiful sunrises I have ever seen! Luckily Brendan was feeling a little better today, so we went to breakfast and…