Return to Southeast Asia

Finally! After five years, Phillip and I have returned to SE Asia. We are currently in Ho Chi Minh City, the first stop on our six-week visit which will include several weeks in Cambodia and Laos. We have four nights here to recover after our long flight from DFW Airport. 

Our route, shown on the map, will take us from Ho Chi Minh City to Siem Reap then Phnom Penh in Cambodia, Vientiane then Luang Prabang in Laos, and back to Vietnam for stays in Hanoi and Hoi An before returning to Ho Chi Minh City to fly home on May 29. 

The flight here was tiring, over 13 hours from DFW Airport to Tokyo's Narita Airport, a weather delay at Narita, then another 6 hour flight to Ho Chi Minh City. We didn't arrive at our hotel until after midnight last night. Our hotel had a driver for us at the airport and the hotel owner/manager met us and took us directly to our room with no actual check-in to delay us. 

Our hotel, Ben Thanh Retreat Hotel, is located in what we would call an alley, but it is just a minor street here. Comfortable room, excellent vegetable omelet with fruit and French bread for breakfast, such friendly staff. 

This morning, we set off after breakfast to revisit some of the sights we toured on our previous visit. First, however, we had a delay in the alley. Staff from an elementary school were walking the students from one area to another, so they roped off the alley. Good thing because while we waited, a line of about a dozen motorcycles had to wait with us. 

We checked out the Notre Dame Cathedral. During 2018, scaffolding for renovations had obscured the building. As you can see, they haven't finished the construction. 

Next to the cathedral, we walked again thru the Saigon post office, a historic location. It was open and had not changed. The phone booths that journalists used in the 1970s were still there.

We stopped at the famous Opera House to see what was playing. Unfortunately, it is the same show we saw in 2018. A new show will start May 14, but we won't be here for it. 

We continued south to the Mekong River and walked around a bit there before stopping for smoothies (coconut for Phillip and avocado for me). They were as delicious as we remembered and cost the equivalent of $2 each for 16 ounces. In addition to the smoothies, our morning walk also brought back memories of the humidity. At one point, at about 10 am, we stopped in a park and I check the temperature. It was only 90 degrees, but the heat index was 111 degrees. And of course, the motorcycles! Everywhere motorcycles, especially on the sidewalks. When we began our walk, people were coming to work, so frequently we had motorcycles pulling and driving on the sidewalk. By the time we were returning to the hotel, a lot of them were parked... on the sidewalks. 

We knew how to cross the street, just walk at a steady pace and they will go around you. I let Phillip assess the motorcycles' approach and set the speed walking across the streets. It worked out well as we never came close to being run over even though we, even in crosswalks, frequently had motorcycles pass by with less than a foot of clearance as we walked.  

We are very happy to return to our adventures and look forward to the next six weeks!