NellieVA

Geo: 38.8921, -77.0241We said goodbye to Siem Reap that night -- Anna and I going through Ho Chi Minh city and Tokyo and Barbara and Charlotte back though Bangkok and then on to Beijing. We had an unfortunate incident, with confusion over what time our first flight actually left Siem Reap. The airline had made the change and we ended up with the old itinerary, which had us missing our original flight from Siem Reap to Ho Chi Minh City. I finagled us onto a later flight which, in a perfect world, would have allowed us to make our original connection to Tokyo. As Murphy would have it, that plane left early and we missed it by a few scant minutes. We ended up having to rebook on a Vietnam Airlines flight, but after an extended ... read more

Geo: 13.4256, 103.86Woke up Thursday and had a wonderful Cambodian/Western breakfast. Again, lots of wonderful fruit. We were so excited as today was the day we were to see Angkor Wat, the world's largest religious structure. We rather looked like scenes from a bad movie as we had on lots of sun lotion and lots of insect spray with deet, along with big hats. We were determined to not get any mosquito bites. Our guide took our appearance in stride, and we headed for the ticket counter to get our entry tickets. It was very busy and already warm, but we got to the Temple complex around 9:00am and started in! There is so much to see you can only do so much. We saw the main temple complex, the "Temple of Smiles,“ and the temples ... read more

Geo: 8.05, 98.91Barbara had pre-booked an early pickup for us all to take an all-day boat and beach excursion. What a day it was!! It started after breakfast, when the four of us loaded into a truck with only benches on which to sit. I was not sure I would have wanted to have an accident in that. We were taken to the outdoor office of the boat company, where we were asked to pay our deposit. I thought I had 1,000 Baht bill with me (about $28), but I had really only picked up 100 Baht note – more than a little embarrassing. Luckily the tour company must had decided I looked trustworthy and let me pay later, and I was glad that did not stop us as this was the best day! We walked ... read more

Geo: 8.05, 98.91Oh my gosh, it was Christmas in Bangkok!!! We had taken a small gold tree with us for our room and we had small gifts to exchange. There was a beautiful brunch at the hotel and we enjoyed it immensely. We had never seen a greater assortment of food in our lives. We had champagne and it was very festive. Far from home, we still felt merry and we did call home to talk with our families before we left for the airport in the afternoon to fly to southern Thailand -- to the beach area, specifically a place called Krabi. We were picked up from the airport after we got there and taken to our resort, where it is was already dusk. It was hard to see much but we did see that ... read more

Geo: 13.7308, 100.521We met our fellow travelers -- Barbara and Charlotte (B and C) -- the following morning and did a little shopping in the mall next to our hotel. They had traveled to Bangkok the opposite way around the globe, traveling from DC to Frankfurt, and then on to Bangkok. They arrived early on Friday morning, so we had the advantage of a least a few hours in a proper bed. It was fun to shop as it was very quiet early in the morning (the storekeepers always wanted to make a bargain with us as it was the excuse of "the first sale of the day!"). The Thai merchants do like to haggle, so it was fun. Barbara said I was a little rough with them at first, but that comes from those haggling ... read more