Good Morning,
“It’s taking me a hot second to get back in the groove of life. For some reason the jet lag hit us really hard, probably because it was such a fast trip, whew.
First off I want you to know that the services that were provided to us for the entire trip were unbelievable, truly. As we left each country and our guide, big hugs and tears on my part were had. The agency truly picks the best people for their guides. I know you get what you give out of those situations and we definitely interacted with both guides fully, with each of them wanting to talk about everything, their country, our country.
The second best part of these guides was they sure know when, how and where to take you to the popular places on the agenda. We never ran into crowds per say, except at the Jungle Temple in Cambodia and there was no way around that one.
Our first morning in Cambodia, having arrived later at night and needing to be in the lobby by 4:45am so we could get our temple passes, we were taken by our guide up this mountain, 1/2 mile or so, in the pitch dark, he having a head lamp on him, with us following behind. Big trust on our part, ha! We end up on the top of the hill, with a small temple in the process of restoration, with the sunrise view over Angkor Wat, absolutely stunning! There were only the 3 of us seeing this majestic sight. I don’t think anything can prepare you for the heat and humidity, whew. Once you give in if you will, you just have to roll with it.
Then we went down to Angkor Wat, thru the south entrance I believe, again, no crowds, it was crazy. We were able to move around the complex, hike to the 3story of the complex with no crowds and just walk around at our leisure. It reminded us a lot of the temples of Egypt with the inscriptions on the walls. Just stunning. Then as we left thru I think the north entrance, all the people were coming in, I mean a ton of people. And it was sooo hot, ugh. Us being glad that portion of the tour was complete. Guide explained that these people were on the “old schedule”; breakfast before temple. Forget that.
Then the next morning, in the dark again, we went to this lake, not sure where but within the complex and watched the sunrise, I mean, again, we were the only people there.We were just completely blown away but the knowledge of how to work around the people part.
We skipped the cooking class as we were pooped by then and Mike was starting to get a nasty cold, so we laid low before we left back to Hanoi.
Speaking of Hanoi, what an amazing city! Again, our guide knew all the in’s and out’s of the sites. We were shocked when we were walking thru this little neighborhood of you will and came upon the downed B52 that Mike had wanted to see, but our guide didn’t know! Mike and our guide spent a lot of time talking war, etc. and I think both enjoyed it equally.
The boat cruise was mind-blowing, my god! The cruise line was impeccible and there were only like 20 people on the big boat. One of the excursions was kayaking and they took us out to this platform. Mike was not getting into a kayak with his back, so we just said we wanted to swim. They really didn’t want us in the water there as there was no way to get us back up on the dock. So instead, they got big buckets of water and poured them over us! It allowed us a chance to talk to some of the staff, one who we found was from Mexico City and all we did was talk food, I think he cried 🙂 We would not have had that experience had we kayaked. Back to our boat they then allowed us to jump off the back and swim. The rooms were amazing, made me cry, the food was amazing, the views…life just doesn’t get better than that. Plus, we woke up to our 15th wedding anniversary!
The accomodations in both countries were outstanding, truly mind blowing. Hanoi with the hustle and bustle outside your door which we loved, then Cambodia, with it’s gentle people.
I cannot thank you enough for hooking us up with this company. Everything was outstanding the entire time and we fell in love with both countries.”
Barbara & Mike