Travels So Far…

Aaargh! I’ve just accidentally deleted a bunch of photos of my first outing in Vietnam. Well, at least I have them in print. *Maybe* I’ll have time to scan those for uploading to my website one of these days. Ugh.

During my first week in Saigon I went with a group of 10 (friends and siblings) to Mui Ne, a coastal town known for its beach resorts. It’s only slightly cooler along the coast compared to inland. My guess is it was at least 90 degrees (F) along the coast. The sun feels a lot closer and hotter, of course, as we’re near the equator. I got sunburned even with sunblock on. I had a great time wading in the tides and jumping with the waves. We stayed at the Saigon Mui Ne beach resort, which had lots of greenery (trees, grass, etc.). It’s nice and clean. I’d recommend it. We also visited an area in Mui Ne where the sand/hills/dirt were red. The name of the area escapes me now. We also visited some sand dunes, which were of decent height for sandboarding. But, it was way too damn hot for any strenuous activities—except for swimming in the beach. (Pictures accidentally deleted. Arrgh!).

During my second week, I went to Cambodia. We visited Phnom Penh, the capitol of Cambodia, and its tourist attractions like the Royal Palace--which was beautiful! The London Royal Palace can’t compare--, and the Terrorist Training facility of the Pol Pot regime--which was deeply disturbing. Pol Pot was a twisted, sadistic man. Quite the Asian Hitler!

I was surprised to find that Cambodia was even more poor than Vietnam--Siem Reap excluded. There’s not much to see in Phnom Penh. The buildings are old, circa late 60’s. Siem Reap is basically a tourist city where the Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom temples reside (see more on Cambodia). The temples, among the seven--or, now, ten--wonders of the world, are worth seeing in person. (My Cambodia pictures at http://www.qandco.com/photos/Cambodia0504).