Category Archives: Vietnam

Asia, Life, Random Thoughts, Short Story, story, Vietnam

Existential Side Conversations

Somewhere in Vietnam in 2019.

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“So where do you live?”

It was such a simple question. How could I know that this would open up Pandora’s Box?

I blinked for a what felt like the longest second of my life. 

It was early, too early to hastily register the words being digested into my brain but not early enough to know that the coffee I just drank wasn’t very strong. 

My eyelids were burning, but not from a lack of sleep or a flame dancing in front me. 

Well, a flame was dancing, but it was millions of miles away. 

The sun. Its crimson and blood orange grin pierced into my line of site.

I had happily continued the small talk with this woman from the moment we exited the terminal on foot then stepped onto the transfer bus that would drive us to a resting aircraft. 

It started with a remark I made about her husband’s University of Washington hat, an odd sight to be been in Vietnam. 

The conversation was jovial until she had to ask me where I lived. 

Internally a mental conflict started to sprout. 

I could have simply responded that I lived in California but my heart wouldn’t let me say those words.  

I was too far away from home, already weeks into a trip that didn’t have an ending date, living out of a backpack, under caffeinated, and not in the mood to just continue with the typical flow of conversation. 

The truth of the matter was that in this precise moment in my life I didn’t know when I’d be settling in a place to call home. I just knew that somewhere in Danang there was a hostel bed reserved for me.

The rattle of the shuttle finally jerked the words out of my mouth. 

“Well, ma’am, I guess I don’t really live anywhere.” 

I blinked and she blinked.

Damn. Do I really not live anywhere? When was the last time I felt at “home?” Where is my place in this world? 

The words came out and I felt my face turn red, probably not from the sunshine erupting into my consciousness. She looked at me like suddenly we’d entered a networking event. Maybe this woman who was sitting a few feet away from me was a guidance counselor in a previous phase of life. 

“Well, so what is your….expertise?”

The word expertise rolled out slowly and overly pronounced. Her eyelids narrowed. Her husband offered a soft smile but kept silent. He must have known that this was the wrong lady to strike a casual conversation with. 

I wanted to continue in a slightly sarcastic fashion but already she had struck me deep in my core. 

What the hell am I good at? 

I could have said that I was a college graduate at some point in my life and that I had x experience doing  y and z but once again I stopped myself. Why fluff myself up to a stranger in a bus driving thousands of miles away from what I used to consider a “normal” life? 

“I don’t think I have an expertise yet, I guess I’m still learning what it is.” 

I hoped my travel buddy would interject with a comment but he was smartly listening to music and not paying attention to the conversation. 

A few more words were shared between both sides of the aisle. I couldn’t help but feel sullen. We hadn’t reached the plane yet and already I was feeling a gap of purpose and belonging. 

My mind was circling these concepts so vividly that anything else coming out of the woman’s mouth would have been greeted with the most default answer imaginable just to stop the internal bleeding of my ego. 

“So what do you think about our borders?”

Oh shit. Be full alert Danny. Code red code red.  

The words exited her pierced lips and reverberated in my eardrums. A deluge of tension flooded my senses and soon I didn’t care about not belonging anywhere. 

I just wanted to be somewhere. The airplane, for example, would have been a fantastic place to be but for some reason this damn tarmac happened to be forever long. 

Was it the Vietnamese border she was talking about? California’s border with Oregon? California’s border with Mexico? Nevada? Was it the thin walkway that separated this prying retiree with this overwhelmed and groggy blog author? Did she believe we needed a wall somewhere? 

I wasn’t sure if she was being serious but as I examined her expression I could tell she genuinely wanted my opinion on the matter. She must have mistaken my scruff with Keanu Reeves or someone running for city council. Too bad I was just a thirty-something unshaven backpacker who didn’t know what border she was referring to.

I didn’t ask for clarification and answered in most neurtal and diplomatic way possible.

“..Being in the Bay Area…um…we are very diverse…and uh…we don’t directly see the effects of what’s happening along the border..” 

What the frick did I just say?

She scanned me for a fleeting moment, determining whether my response marked me as friend or foe. I hoped my words were enough to evade any potential tension.

“My granddaughter is a lawyer in Texas…she’s working to help undocumented immigrants…” 

She soon changed the topic and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Whatever missile of awkwardness that was being launched was a dud and the remainder of the conversation reached its organic conclusion once the vehicle’s doors opened upon arrival to the plane. 

We said a brief “good luck” and “good bye” and I mentally crossed fingers to have a seat really far away from theirs. 

She and her husband continued their journey while my friend and I continued ours.

Nearly two years after that morning, part of me still feels the internal monologue during that bus ride: 

What’s my expertise? Where do I belong? 

I’m still going through that process.

In the meantime, a blog post here and there is good medicine for keeping positive.

The biggest difference between me now and then is that now I’m ok with not having everything figured out yet. Life is still pretty damn good.

Have a wonderful day, thanks for reading, and I hope you’re doing what makes you happy.

-Daniel 

*******

P.S. Have you experienced any random conversations with strangers during a journey that left a profound effect on you? I’d love to hear about it!

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Asia, DACKasia2019, Travel, Travel Guide, Travel Tips, Vietnam

Take Three (Vietnam Part Two)

It’s about ten in the morning and the flavors of powdered coffee are loitering on my tongue as this update gets written.

Jack and I are in Ubud, Bali, a small town on a medium-sized island that belongs to Indonesia. 

I’d like to talk about the weather and the happenings that are taking place over here, but that will be for a different day!

Returning to where the previous post left off, Jack and I recently concluded our stay in Hoi An, Vietnam. This was on February 10th, exactly three weeks ago. We christened our Anthony Bourdain culinary-inspired quest with an unfortunate fail on the first try, however, we knew that there’d be more opportunities to rebound in our next destination.

Hanoi:

A perfectly stress-free Hanoi morning.

Welcome to a Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. 

The flavors that circle your palate during each meal are as varied as the visual sites you encounter while on the streets. After a shuttle to Da Nang, a flight to the Noi Bai International Airport, and a Grab ride to our Airbnb, we were already absorbed. Through the haze of either heavy mist or light smog, we felt an eery relation to the movie Blade Runner while we crossed the Nhat Tan Bridge at night. Engulfed in a swarm of motorbikes, none of which were obeying traffic laws, and an endless string of seemingly makeshift stores, I felt like I’d been transported to a future where this was the surviving colony after some grizzly apocalypse. 

Hanoi feels like a place with no beginning or end. There exists a forest of buildings with French and various Asian design influences that stretches as far as one can see. The pinnacle of this tangle of streets is the Old Quarter, also considered to be the heart of Hanoi. Jack and I rented an Airbnb here. The traffic was intimidating so we opted to either walk or call a Grab between destinations. 

The craziness and invasion of the senses make Hanoi a unique spectacle, and its lack of aesthetic beauty left me curiously enamored.

I could spend an entire blog post about Hanoi, but in order to save the headache and potential boredom, I’m going to mention three things that were pretty awesome about this city. 

The Food:

Fried Seafood Rolls in the “Obama Combo.”

Following the guidance of ever-so influential Anthony Bourdain, Jack and I gained a lot of weight in Hanoi. We sat next to the famous table where he and Barack Obama had lunch at Bún chả Hương Liên. We ordered the “Obama Combo,” a popular choice for foreigners. On our final morning we ordered pork noodle soup at Bún Chửi 41 Ngô Sĩ Liên, also known as “Cussing Noodles” to Bourdain followers. The place was packed to the brim and we didn’t get cursed at by the chef (at least I think), but the experience was as authentic as we could have ever hoped. 

Pork Noodles at “Cussing Noodles.”

Bia Hoi:

Meanwhile, at Bia Hoi Ha Noi

Continuing with Bourdain’s travels in Hanoi, we became fans of an experience he shared during the filming of Parts Unknown called Bia Hoi. What is Bia Hoi you ask? Well, it’s simple. There are specific neighborhoods in Hanoi where locals and travelers mingle on the sidewalk, ordering keg beer that costs about twenty-five cents and sitting on uncomfortable plastic chairs that could even reward a child a sore back. In certain places, a passerby can see hundreds of beer drinkers enjoying the water-like taste of beer in plastic cups.

These are either restaurants or bars that have taken over the sidewalk by illegally adding chairs onto the walkway for whoever wants to order something.  Many of these establishments offer a wide range of local cuisine and the magic words here are “Bia Hoi” because this signals to the order taker that you want the cheap elixir. When the police do their rounds, the staff hastily orders everyone to evacuate as they stack all the chairs and hide them from sight. It’s like a sting in a speakeasy except it’s outside. You don’t have to be a beer fan to enjoy this activity, simply watching the thousands of people walking during a now chilled evening by is worth the visit. 

The Friend Reunion:

John and some random guy.

It’s hard to say what was better than catching up with my good friend John. We met back in 2012 at a hostel in Quito, Ecuador and by a grand chance, he now lives in Hanoi. John’s an ESL dojo master and he had some time between classes to show me around Hanoi. I’m thankful for the existence of social media for these moments because if it didn’t exist we wouldn’t have been able to keep in touch. John’s a fantastic guy and I’m thankful that we got to catch up. Hopefully, our next reunion will happen sooner than later.

Halong Bay:

Views from a Halong Bay ferry

Halong Bay and Hanoi are similar to a perfect married couple; Halong is the Ying to Hanoi’s majestic Yang. Where Hanoi severely lacks in visual grandeur, Halong Bay picks up the slack with intense visuals of natural landscapes. Halong Bay is perhaps a culinary dungeon, one of the few destinations in Vietnam which can be given this title, so Hanoi balances the enigma by being a mecca for foodies. We didn’t take a four-hour bus to eat in Halong Bay, we wanted to cruise around the emerald waters and ponder life between towering islets. 

Halong Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and enjoys a tropical-style climate.  “Ha Long” translates to “descending dragon” because according to Vietnamese lore an emperor unleashed a mother dragon and her children to repeal an invading force. The dragons spat fire, jewels, and jade into the waters, thus forming a natural barrier to defend against the outsiders. Today, Halong Bay spans one hundred and thirty square miles and consists of nearly two thousand islands. A common stopover for tourists in Vietnam is Halong Bay, and a few weeks ago two good-looking Americans joined the fray. 

Our Airbnb was located in the town of Bia Chay, the nearest mainland town. A vacation hub with large apartment buildings and hotels, the appeal of this place isn’t its looks but its close proximity to the bay. Here are three highlights from our handful of days there:

Renting Motorbikes:

Drivers in Vietnam, especially the ones who sport Vespas, Hondas, or any other brand of motorbike, are a curious case. The driving laws, once again, don’t exist in Vietnam so navigating here can feel like a scene from Death Proof. Halong Bay is sparsely populated, the roads are nearly all straight, and they continue until the horizon practically disappears. This is unfavorable for anyone who doesn’t have their personal method of transport, but a dream to someone who does. Jack and I wanted to be in the latter category and rented a pair of motorbikes at the horrible price of $5.50 a day.

Cat Ba Island

Horsing around in Cat Ba.

Tucked behind a maze of limestone rocks in Halong Bay sits Cat Ba Island, the largest of the archipelago which also is a Vietnamese National Park. Jack and I took a day-trip here, riding our bikes onto a ferry and taking them to the island to do our own personal tour. It’s too large of a place to explore only on foot, so bikes are a necessary travel tool. People can spend the night on the island, as bountiful numbers of hostels and hotels are located along the southern tip. We explored a cave that was converted into a hospital bunker for the North Vietnamese during the “American” War and hiked up to the viewpoint of the Cannon Fort. Other options for Cat Ba include kayaking, sunbathing, and traversing the diverse landscapes of the National Park. 

Cat Ba Island

Halong Cruise

Ferries around Halong Bay.

Almost every single boat that one can spot in Halong Bay is most likely a part of a tour company offering cruises. Cruises can vary between a half-day, full-day, overnight, or multi-night experience. Part of the allure for Halong is watching the flow of boat traffic and see how small they are in comparison to the countless rocks that inhabit the area. Jack and I opted for a full-day cruise, getting picked up at 8:30 in the morning and not returning until about 4pm. Lunch was provided, along with pit-stops at Thien Cung Cave, Ti Top Island, the Kissing Rocks, and a tour of a pearl farm. A cruise through Ha Long is an obligatory activity, and it’s a nice site for any sort of traveler. 

Views from Ti Top Island.

Ninh Binh:

Lying Dragon Mountain, Ninh Binh

Ah well, here we go. Ninh Binh.

The only thing I can say to you is that Ninh Binh is a small town in central Vietnam. 

It’s a point, on Google Maps, and it’s pretty fast to find. 

It definitely wasn’t peaceful and by no means was it one of the most beautiful places we’ve seen before. 

Everything else, well, I think you have to go there and find out for yourself.  🙂

****

A major perk of writing this blog is knowing that there are some wonderful people who read it, so thank you for your time. Even if you just skimmed this post, and missed the part where I talked about getting scurvy, it’s totally fine and I still appreciate you a lot.

Have a wonderful day and take good care. More updates are on the way! Until then, lots of love.

-Dan Catena

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Travel, Travel Guide, Travel Tips, Vietnam

A Tale of Many Vietnams (Part 1)

It’s Sunday in Ninh Binh, Vietnam. 

The windows of our Airbnb are wide open and a flurry of almost soundless rain is washing the horizon. Through layers of mist, the Bái Đín Pagoda towers in the distance. 

Why are we in Ninh Binh? What the heck is a pagoda?

Firstly, we came to this rural northern town on a recommendation from someone back in San Francisco. Also, we needed an escape from the entanglement of motorbikes, noises, and large crowds of other tourists. A pagoda is another term for a tower built somewhere in Southeast Asia, most commonly to practice Buddhism.  

We dropped our belongings here yesterday, and it’s been nearly three weeks since arriving into the country from Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Dense vegetation, a looming pagoda, roosters clucking, and a cyclist donning a conical hat just peddled nearby. It’s a peaceful sight in what has been a beautifully chaotic experience so far in Vietnam. 

It’s hard to connect the dots between the last blog post and right now because a lot has transpired. Because of this, the story of Jack’s and my time in Vietnam will be divided into a few separate chronicles. 

Ho Chi Minh City

Mayhem in Ho Chi Minh City

In 1975 the United States evacuated their embassy in Saigon, officially marking an end to the Vietnam War. On January 31st, 2019, Jack and I set foot in this urban sprawl which has since been renamed Ho Chi Minh City. 

With eight million inhabitants in a Communist country where the national median age is about thirty years old, Ho Chi Minh City is in the south of Vietnam. 

Fifteen minutes was all it took before being confronted with the racing face of death, also known as crossing the street. We soon learned that sidewalks and crosswalks are more symbolic than actually serve a purpose. Crossing streets are like asking a hungry hyena to a romantic dinner. Trust in some higher force is imperative for avoiding a collision. Finding gaps in traffic, followed by no stopping or changing of pace was the key to preserving our bloodlines. 

We wanted to be in Vietnam to experience Tết, also known as the Vietnamese New Year, which coincides with the Chinese New Year. 2019 is the year of the Pig. We anticipated a large party, similar to how the lunar calendar celebration is started back home. We learned that this was actually not the case, and for ten days almost every business would either be closed or have oddly determined hours of operation. The decorations, however, were beautiful and we saw people buying bonsai-style trees as a symbol of good fortune. 

Tet festivities

Our five-day stay in Ho Chi Minh City was luckily pre-Tết, so we didn’t have to worry about sudden changes. By pure coincidence, we booked a hostel (Suite Backpackers Inn) located next to Bui Vien. This street is similar to Bourbon Street in New Orleans. With the help of the hostel owner, Lin, and another friend we made named Anthony,  Jack and I managed to take in various nighttime events without getting trapped in the neon lights and invasive sounds of this hectic street. 

  • Some new friends on Bui Vien
  • Pho Kings
  • War Remnants Museum
  • Chill traffic
  •  cà phê đá
  • Banh Mi hunt
  • Lost in Banh Mi
  • Ho Chi Minh City Scape

The highlights of Ho Chi Minh included shopping for vintage shirts at Mayhem, an introduction to Vietnamese coffee, exploring the wonders of Banh Mi and Pho, while also meeting some interesting people. Banh Mi’s are sandwiches with French style baguettes and Pho is a noodle soup that comes in delightful variations. Another somber yet vastly necessary place to visit is the War Remnants Museum. It sheds light on an opposing perspective of the Vietnam War, calling Americans “henchmen” and the former Southern Vietnamese government a “puppet”. 

Da Nang

Da Nanging out…

Da Nang is a coastal city in the center of the country. We were faced with two choices: Hop a fairly priced flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang that would last about an hour, or pay for an outrageously affordable bus ride that would take seventeen hours. We valued our time, and more importantly our fragile sanity, so in the end we headed north on a Jetstar plane. 

Besides a crying baby, water hoarding flight attendants, and a fake landing, we enjoyed the journey.  During the final descent, we were greeted with fireworks. At first I thought, “how did they know that Jack and I were here?” but then I remembered that it was Tết eve, so this was all part of the yearly holiday tradition. 

Morning in Da Nang, Vietnam. Good!

Staying at the Travellers Nest Hostel, we met some friendly folks ranging from the Vietnamese staff to laid-back weed growers who claimed to be programmers. We didn’t have much of an agenda for Da Nang, as it was Tết holiday, but we ended up with one of the best experiences of our trip. 

During the evening of Tết, we wandered the empty streets of Mỹ An and discovered an eating gem. The woman who runs Banh Mi Phan Tic is a wonderful person. The majority of travelers who come here make a visit to The Golden Bridge of the Ba Na. We, on the other hand, opted for a more independent activity and rented motorbikes in order to wander around the neighboring San Tra (Monkey) peninsula. It’s here where one can encounter the 236 foot tall Goddess of Mercy (Lady Buddha) statue. This is part of a pagoda named Linh Ung. We took photos here and then explored nearby San Tra Mountain on motorbike, a destination for spotting endangered Red-Shanked Douc monkeys. 

  • Linh Ung
  • Monkey Mountain viewpoint
  • The semi-quiet Americans

Hoi An

We took a forty-minute shuttle to Hoi An, a former trading port that sits along the estuary of the Thu Bon River, a bike ride’s journey from the South China Sea. Nowadays, Hoi An is a tourist magnet thanks to its well preserved historic quarter, culinary scene, world-class tailors, leather goods, and trademark Lantern Festival. 

When we arrived, the city was still recovering from Tết festivities. The streets were swarmed with visitors, both Vietnamese and from other countries. Hoi An isn’t an oasis from motorbikes, as honks serenaded us along most corners. It felt like we were in a city of aspiring social media influencers because there wasn’t a wall where someone wasn’t posing for a photo. The energy and motion of every street felt like my hometown of Sausalito on performance-enhancing drugs. Overall, Hoi An truly is a visual site to behold even with the vast numbers of crowds. 

Thu Bon River
  • Under lanterns in the Old Town, Hoi An

The fellow backpackers at the Tribee Kinh were fun and the staff there was also really nice. Vietnam has an infatuation with lemon tea, and we tried our first one at Mót. We found perhaps a new favorite food in Cau Lao, a thick noodle soup with pork. Finally, we started our quest to follow in the footsteps of the late great Anthony Bourdain by visiting restaurants he ate at during the filming of “Parts Unknown”. We started our hunt in disappointment because Banh Mi Phoung, in Hoi An’s old quarter, was closed due to Tết.

  • Cao Lau, nourishment of the demigods
  • Banh Mi paradise
  • Lemon Tea and White Roses at Mot
  • Getting buzzed

We eventually hugged Hoi An goodbye and booked a plane to  ___________________.

Well, this is probably a good place to say farewell! Hopefully this post was a nice distraction for five minutes.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, it truly means a lot! Another one or two posts about Vietnam will be coming soon. 

Have you been to Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City, or Hoi An? How was your experience there?

I’d love to hear about it. Take care and lots of love.

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Asia, DACKasia2019, Travel, Travel Guide, Vietnam

Bahts, Wats, and Feeling Krabi

Hey, is that you? 

Welcome back to my blog! 

It’s been a while, so please take a seat and relax! Now that you’re here again, where does this post begin? 

It might suffice to mention how it’s 6pm in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam right now. It perhaps is also appropriate to add that Jack and I have been here for exactly fifteen minutes. 

Kho Pha Ngan, the land of Massaman Curry

We just said farewell to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, in what was a quick two-day stop over after exploring Siem Reap in the northern part of the same country. 

I’d like to shed more light on what we’re doing here and what exactly are the plans we have in store during our wanders through Vietnam, but there exists a large time lapse of information between right now and the previous blog post.  

Ten days ago, my good buddies Jack, Eric, and I were in Koh Pha Ngan, Thailand.  We capped off our five days there with partaking in a Full Moon Party, which in the end gave the sensation of attending a massive frat party along a widespread beach. Haad Rin is a town along the southern edge of Koh Pha Ngan and serves as the entry point to a beach that dons the same title. It was here where countless makeshift bars were constructed along the shore, with DJ’s spinning various genres of music, and gangs of fire-dancers drawing in swaths of people like moths to a vibrant lamp. It was similar to a music festival with no headlining acts blended with a county fair. Overall, it was an interesting experience and we enjoyed the evening, but it felt nice knowing that we’d be moving on to a new destination soon. 

The next morning was a farewell to the island and also to our friend Eric. He took a ferry to Surat Thani and flew back to the capital, while we boarded a vessel to the mainland then bussed to Phuket. Phuket is Thailand’s largest island, located southwest of the mainland. It took us about nine hours via a ferry, a bus, then finally a shuttle van before we reached our AirBnB. During the next five days, Jack and I split our time between Patong (Phuket’s most active city), Phi Phi Island, and various beaches in Krabi.  

Malin Plaza, Patong

Patong is a seaside city that doesn’t have very much to offer besides sweltering heat, bustling night markets, and many opportunities to lose money. At first glance it’s a tourist hub, with lots of Russians, English, French, and Thai tourists on vacation. Its allure is the weather, the affordability, and also nearby Patong Beach. Patong could be Las Vegas, except the hotels aren’t as tall and there’s no ferris wheel. The traffic is heavy with racing motorbikes and, contrary to Koh Pha Ngan, internal stress from so many accelerating gears brought back memories of Bangkok. We primarily just relaxed, ate at some delicious street food at Malin Plaza, and looked for a quality kebab after checking out the energetic nightlife along Bangla Street. We turned down offers for massages and bouquets of roses but got suckered into a few games of Connect 4 with the bartenders and a “working lady” of one only slightly-seedy establishment. 

Phi Phi Island is a haven for visitors in search of sunburns, scuba certifications, snorkeling, and anything related to playing in turquoise water. With endless postcard-worthy sights such as Maya Bay (famous thanks to the film The Beach), Monkey Beach, and Long Beach, guests of the island have plenty of distractions. We snorkeled for a day, relaxed at our hostel, then hopped a ferry the next morning across Phang Nga Bay to Ao Nammao Pier. On this day we checked into the Reset Hostel (it soon became our favorite of the trip), which is located in Klong Muang. At the last minute, we made an agreement with a longboat taxi to take us to Kong Island. With limestone rock formations, mirror-like water, and temperatures reaching the high 80’s, we found a gem. The longboat taxi didn’t try to swindle us, making us feel certain that Krabi was our favorite part of Thailand. We also wandered along the rock-climbing mecca of Railay Beach, which is located along an opposite shore of Krabi. We opted to rent kayaks instead of climb and ferried back to Patong. This was on Friday, and early on Saturday we reserved two seats on a plane destined to Siem Reap, Cambodia. 

Koh Hong, Krabi

Writing this post, Thailand feels like a lifetime ago. It’s been a whirlwind of ten days, and I’d like to keep going but it’s probably best to wrap this post up. Now that Jack and I have migrated east, through Cambodia, and now to Vietnam, it’s easier to reflect on Thailand. 

Thailand has many good’s and bad’s. It’s fantastic for spice and an endless selection of mouth-watering dishes. It’s wonderful if you want to start your day with strong coffee or with a blended fruit shake. If you want to ride a cheap motorbike or stay up until sunrise on a beach then you’ve found the place. It’s not good if you don’t like humidity, mosquitos, or people constantly soliciting you for a massage, tuk-tuk ride, or something else. If you need a 7-11 then you’re in luck, but if you want to throw away your garbage there aren’t many places to toss your rubbish. Due to the overly developed tourism industry, the interactions with locals in Thailand felt more transactional than personable. The language barrier didn’t help, and very rarely did we meet a Thai who could speak conversational English. Overall, Thailand is affordable and scenic. It makes sense why so many people come out there and I’m glad we started our trip there. 

Well, it’s time to go. Thanks for reading, you look great! Have a wonderful day, the next post will be about our stay in Cambodia and a visit we paid to Angkor Wat. Take care. 

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