You guys are awesome... you gave me what should have been the title of the blog "The Secret of the East Gate" - so much better. It has been awesome following your current travels through Malaysia, Tara and I plan to go there in the next year or so and your blog is such a great guide.
The secret of the east gate! How fabulous is it to view Angkor Wat without the masses of tourists pushing past you? Looking forward to reading about the rest of your adventures around the temples :)
Reminds me of Bangladesh Your description of the Cambodian countryside remind me of my trip to the countryside of Bangladesh. It amazes me what people can do with so little. I am also reminded of how wasteful we Americans are. Thanks for sharing!
You guys are way too kind... what did you think about Hanoi and HCMC? I can certainly see where Am was going, about how Hanoi could really turn someone off if it catches you the wrong way, but I still found a lot to love in both cities.
Hanoi - a disappointment and a turn off for the rest of the country (for me) I flew in from Thailand and were planning a whole month in Vietnam, but the locals of Hanoi managed to change my mind in 2 short days. The Old Town where I, like most budget travelers, stayed was so disgustingly dirty, impossible to walk in - all sidewalks are occupied by peddlers and makeshift 'shops' so you forced to walk on the road, where locals just enjoy to push you with their scooters, noisy and just all-around a turn off. Though some hotel personnel were trying to be sweet (just 'trying', mind you), that didn't stop them from lying about amenities, misrepresenting charges on bills, and yes, even steeling part of my laundry! It is so frustrating that everyone aims to be 'sweet' and 'positive' and forgets that they also have a responsibility to be truthful when talking about travel. May be some had a better experience in Hanoi than I did but surely they were able to notice the pollution, the noise, the total disregard of locals for hygiene (they have actually SNEEZED in a dish that I just bought and still were gonna wrap it up for me, like nothing happen!) and a general hostile, money-grabbing attitude the people have toward tourists. If someone told me this I wouldn't have wasted valuable time and money to go and see for myself. Anyway, my take is: beware of Northern Vietnam, you are bound to feel disappointed and (may be) taken advantage of. There are better places in SE Asia you can visit instead.
I can understand that Hello Am, I hope I did an alright job balancing the positives and negatives in this blog. There can be no doubt that Hanoi is a city of scams, though I'm happy we found a $10 a night room in a clean and honest place. I think if we had stayed somewhere dirty and with an owner who was trying to scam us it might have put the experience over the edge. I still really found a lot to enjoy in Hanoi, but there is no doubt that many people will not take a liking to it.
Great wrap up of your trip through Vietnam... I've enjoyed reading your blogs. So where are you off to next...or are you both settling down for awhile?
Bob and Linda Hey guys, great to hear from you. We are currently recovering financially and taking time to get Tara's graduate work taken care of, hopefully preparing for a new round of travel soon - though I still have so much catching up to do to finish this last trip alone. I'm so happy to see you guys are still following. Always awesome to hear from you.
The art of war... A very thoughtful and beautifully written blog Dan. You voiced many of the feelings we had when we visited the museums of war in Vietnam. Enjoyed reading it very much :)
Awesome guys, great to hear from you again - as you can see I've fallen a bit behind in getting my thoughts from paper onto the blog. Hope you are both doing great whereever you are now!
inspiring writing - thank you This has just inspired me to start searching again for some worthwhile volunteer work to get involved in here in SE Asia - I really hope that NFO can find a replacement for Neville and continue the clearly much valued work he has been doing.. such a tragic loss as you say.
Glad to hear it... I really hope you get the opportunity to do so, please keep following NFO, their website is down for the time being but you can follow them on facebook for now. From what I have heard, they will try to bring back the volunteer program eventually so maybe you will get the chance to visit. We also visited an organic farm in Vang Vien, Laos where you can volunteer to work on the farm, but they also provide volunteer opportunities teaching under-privileged children provided you are willing to stay for a few weeks. We had an excellent time there although we didn't volunteer to teach - but my friend Mike did and he seemed to really enjoy it. You could probably get more information about that from his website http://threeruleride.com/ if you are interested. We absolutely loved Vang Vien, especially since the river tubing party scene has toned down. Good luck!
Thank You Bob and Linda, thank you as always for the feedback. As I continue to filter through your blogs and life of travel it keeps me inspired to really keep going so someday I can have my own detailed record of my experiences... Neville will really be missed at NFO, but I heard good news from my friend Andy the other day that suggests the organization will continue
Thank you Thank you so much for the encouragement as always Bob and Linda. I love looking back through your old blogs and hoping that I can have the same thing to look back on some day, it is really inspiring. We will really miss Neville and I can't imagine what everyone in Takeo is going through, but I have been hearing very encouraging things about the status of NFO for the future so we are remaining really optimistic.
Yes, I published a lot of pictures... of my early years there and subsequent visits. All my blogs are in chronological order for the dates the trips took place...NOT the entry date which many bloggers assume is the date they write the blog. Anyway, enjoy!
Can't wait... I can't wait to go through some of them with Tara tonight, it's really an amazing look back at history through your blogs, I'm really happy you took the time to put it all together
I first developed a love for travel writing on this site. Today I am a photographer specializing in portraits and events, as well as selling prints for my travel and fine art work. You can check me out at:
dansimondsphotography.com
IG: @sabaidandee @dansimondsphotography
Much love! -Dan (jaiyen)... full info
jaiyen
Dan Simonds
Ana & Dan - Thank you so much, comments like that from strangers are what make sharing our experiences so rewarding - you guys are great