Jim and I started our adventure on January 6, 2016 by spending a few days with Jenny, Jim's daughter, and family in California. We watched Hans play basketball and enjoyed family time.
We would travel to Thailand Jan 12-27, Vietnam Jan 28-Feb 13, and Cambodia as a post-trip extension from Feb 14-19. We flew to Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on 19th and flew home Feb 20, 2016 arriving in FL February 21 (41 days).
We have 1000+ pictures but will limit this blog with a selection of pictures to give a flavor of what we saw.
THAILAND
We flew in two days before the start of our tour with OAT. We were able to see some of the sites before the tour started.LaPorte and Blake flew in early also. Jon Blake's 70th birthday was January 14.
Deb Anderson joined us Jan 15 for start of tour.
Jan 15 - Floral market at Pakklong Talad, cruise on the river and canals, Royal Barge Museum
Jan 16 - Grand Palace (1782) and the Emerald Buddha (1785), Wat Pho temple
Jan 17 - Floating Market of Damnoen Saduak, Kanchanaburi Province and the (Kwae Noi River) River Kwai (1942 when the Japanese used laborers to build a railroad from Burma into Thailand. For every half-mile track 38 POW's perished.), Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, Hellfire Pass Museum, camping at Hintok River Camp.
Jan 18 - A Day in the Life where we walked a local market, Tha Sow Market, of a western Thai community. Met and interacted with children at Ban Phu Toey School, and had a community lunch at Baan Pee Noy. Saw Ban Phu Toey Village and took a cruise on the River Kwai (Kwae Noi River) on a "Jamesbond" boat.
Jan 19 - Drove from Kanchanaburi through rice-growing country to Uthaithani and stopped at a bat sanctuary. We went on a rice barge, named Khiri Nava, on the Sakae Krang River for a lunch cruise. Stayed in Phitsanulok.
Jan 20 - Drove to Sukhothai (Dawn of Happiness) which has Thailand's largest collection of historic ruins because the Thai nation was started here. Rode salengs (Thai open-sided taxi) around this UNESCO historical site. Ramkamhaeng invented the Thai script, he was a famous king, and he spread Theravada Buddhism. Stopped at a Celadon ceramic factory and a rice mill museum (mill from 1955).
Jan 21 - Went to an indigo workshop and learned how they dye cloth and then traveled to city of Chiang Rai.
Jan 22 - Briefly walked by the Chiang Saen old city wall (in Chiang Rai Province). Visited the Opium Museum in area known as the Golden Triangle (Laos, Burma, Thailand). For lunch we took an Etan farmer's truck to La Valley. In the evening we drove to the local hill tribes known as "Long Neck" for the golden rings the women wear to push down their collar bones. We also saw the Akha who wear elaborate headdresses. There are more than 20 distinct, semi-nomadic tribes in northern Thailand.
Jan 23 - Drove to Chiang Mai which has medieval walls and more than 30 active Buddhist temples and 80 religious sites. We toured the Wat Rong Khoon (White Temple), went to a gem gallery and walked the night market.
Jan 24 - Went to the Mae Taman Elephant Camp where we watched trained elephants. They did various acts and also painted pictures with their trunks. We had the opportunity to ride an elephant for about one hour, and then took a bamboo raft down a river.
Jan 25 - We got up early to arrive by 6 a.m. when the monks leave the temple to gather food for their lunch meal (Buddhist almsgiving). We then met a monk for discussion at Wat Saundok, and also saw a temple called Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep. Our group of 16 broke into two groups for a home hosted dinner where we get to meet a local family for dinner and discussion.
Jan 26 - Flew back to Bangkok. In the evening we took a boat cruise for our farewell dinner in Thailand.
Jan 27 - Wat Trimitr and Golden Buddha (largest Buddha in world made of pure gold). Jim, Deb, and I walked the local markets. We went to the Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall (Marble Hall), and saw a Thai musical production at Siam Niramit. Benny was our tour guide while in Thailand and she added great fun and education.
VIETNAM
Jan 28 - Flew to Hanoi, Vietnam, and had an orientation walk and dinner.
Jan 29 - Drove through French Quarter, Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, One Pillar Pagoda, Temple of Literature. Saw the Water Puppet Phan Thanh Liem (1,000 year old tradition) where puppets are suspended over water and the puppet master sits behind the curtain semi-submerged. Puppets are made of water-resistant wood of the fig tree.
Jan 30 - Bat Trang ceramic village. Museum of Ethnology
Jan 31 - Tho Ha countryside tour. Took a ferry to the village where we saw people make rice paper and we walked the village. Toured "Hanoi Hilton" which was were the pilots were kept during the war, but it was also used as a prison when the French had occupation. 
Feb 1 - Drove to Halong Bay. Halong Bay is the "Emerald Bay of Vietnam" and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. On the Gulf of Tonkin and has more than 3,000 mountain islands. Spent one night on a junk, a wooden sailboat. Went into some caverns. We also celebrated Deb's birthday.
Feb 2 - We cruised our boat back to port, and took a flight to Hue (central coast and north of Da Nang). During the evening we went to the Minh Tu orphanage and the nuns served us dinner.
Feb 3 - Hue was built by the first king of the Nguyen Dynasty. There is a walled citadel surrounded by 11 stoned gates. We toured the citadel, the Imperial Enclosure, and the Forbidden Purple City. We stopped at the Thien Mu Pagoda, Dieu Thanh Pagoda, and took a boat ride along the Perfume River.
Feb 4 - Drove to Hoi An and stopped at Lang Co Beach, China Beach (My Khe Beach), and Da Nang. In the evening we took a Vietnamese cooking class and then enjoyed the food.
Feb 5 - Walked the old town of Hoi An and saw the Japanese covered bridge. The village was filled with lanterns in celebration of upcoming Tet New Year. We did the optional tour of a cycle-rickshaw ride to Cam Nam village and a Thu Ton River cruise.
Feb 6 - Drove by some rice fields to My Son Sanctuary, a ruin from the Champa Kingdom which prospered from 2nd to 15th century. My Son was a religious center in the 4th century.
Feb 7 - Flew from Da Nang to Nha Trang. A Day in the Life by visiting Xom Gio village. We met the village chief and saw the locals make bamboo baskets and chopsticks. It was Tet New Year Eve so the city was packed with people to bring in the lunar new year of the monkey.
Feb 8 - Today was Tet New Year (Tet is based on the lunar new year and this year is the year of the monkey). We went to a temple in the morning and late afternoon. During Tet people take time off, for up to a week, and go wherever their home is to visit family and friends. We took a wooden "drawing boat" to Mieu Island where we stopped at a beach.
Feb 9 - We drove to Dalat which is called "City of Eternal Spring". The area has gently sloping hills which are covered with greenhouses growing flowers and various vegetables. We had lunch on an old train that had been converted to a restaurant. We also took a cog railway
train out from Dalat to Trai Mat and visited the Linh Phuoc Pagoda. We went to a local home for a home hosted meal.
Feb 10 - We saw the local agricultural production and village life of Dalat. Our group went to an isolated village called Buon Chuoi (Banana Village) to the Chil people (hill tribe) who practice subsistence farming. We then went to the Crazy House which was built by a local woman who still lives there. Young, our tour guide, surprised us with a stop at his home to meet his wife and two boys.
Feb 11 - Flew to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Went to the War Remnants Museum, walked by Cathedral of Notre Dame (1880), and Independence Palace. The museum was interesting as it was from the perspective of North Vietnamese on the "American War". We walked around the city in the evening.
Feb 12 - Went to the Cu Chi Tunnels (Ben Duoc) which was a vast networks of tunnels of more than 125 miles. The tunnels allowed the Viet Cong to control the area during the Vietnam War. We then had a group meal with two men who had been Viet Cong and also one man who had been a farmer during the war. Walked the city again during the evening.
Feb 13 - Drove south to the Mekong Delta and province of Ben Tre. We took a sampan ride along the canals, saw a coconut candy workshop, and cruised to Phoenix Island.Tonight was our last night with our current group of 16 and our tour guide, Young. At this point seven of us will continue for the extended tour to Cambodia while the others will be going home in the morning to USA.
CAMBODIA
Feb 14 - Jim and I flew to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, along with five others from our original group. Went to the Royal Palace (1870) which is home to the present King Norodom Sihamoni. Saw the Royal Residence, Throne Hall, and Silver Pagoda with the Emerald Buddha.
Feb 15 - Visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. The Khmer Rouge used this former high school as a place of torture for prisoners throughout the years of 1975-1979.We then went to the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek which has an estimated 1.7 million victims of the Pol Pot genocide. This execution site was one of many throughout Cambodia.
Went to the Russian Market (local market), National Museum and Fine Art, and toured Wat Phnom temple.
Feb 16 - We drove to Siem Reap, a town within the ancient city of Angkor, via Kampong Cham and Kampong Thom. Along the way we stopped at Skuon (a village famous for raising tarantulas), stopped at a stone carver village, and the ancient Kampong Krei bridge. Upon arriving in Siem Reap, we had an orientation walk.
Feb 17 - We took a buffalo cart ride and then a boat ride on Tonle Sap Lake where we saw Cambodia's river people. The Mechrey floating fishing village was amazing. They move periodically throughout the year as water rises and recedes throughout the year based on rain.We saw the spectacular ancient temple of Banteay Srei (Citadel of Women) which is one of the oldest and best preserved temple sites in Cambodia (built AD 967) and is made of pink sandstone.
We drove by the Angkor Pyunyu Fair which is a nightly market for locals.
Feb 18 - Went into Angkor which is an area of 96 square miles. The temples were built of gray sandstone between AD 800 and 1200 and were motivated by Hindu and Buddhist beliefs. We went to South Gate of Angkor Thom, Bayon Temple, and Ta Prohm Temple. Angkor Wat is Angkor's main temple (AD 1113-1150) and has a moat 570 feet wide. We went to Angkor Wat earlier in the day and then went back for the sunset. Mid day we went to a home hosted meal.
Feb 19 - We rose in the morning and Niht, our tour guide, took us for the sunrise at Angkor Wat. He took us to various viewing sites from the first daylight to seeing the sun rise above Angkor Wat.We took a flight from Siem Reap, Cambodia, to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.
Feb 20 - Jim and I enjoyed the day walking around the markets and having one last full body massage before taking a night flight back to USA.
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