Come Along With Me!
Susie Ladnier, who traveled with me on our African safari,
and I leave on Saturday, February 20, 2016 for a seven (7) week journey through
Southeast Asia. We are again, like with
Africa, traveling with OAT, Overseas Adventure Travel. This, however, looks like it is going to be
very much a different kind of trip.
For Africa, four countries in 30 days, I expected tents to
be tents and meals to be one kettle stew pots over open fires. Our “glamping” accommodations were luxurious with
air conditioning and claw footed bathtubs.
The only nod to camping were the canvas upper walls. Meals were five star seven course chef executed
dinners, a continental start to the day was followed by made to order Sunday
breakfasts. Lunches were better than a Sunday dinner I might have at home and
11’s and tea time were part of the schedule and of course there was cocktail
time! Of course, I was anxious to sign
on again!
I suspect that this trip will not be the same! Our first week we will be in the Hill Country
of North VietNam. Temperatures should
top off in the low 50’s. So you know
that the night in the stilted, thatched cottages of farmers and villagers will
not be super comfortable. We will be staying
in homes in the countryside because there are no hotels there. We will be helping to cook the meals because,
you guessed it, there are no restaurants either.
All of the tabs seen in the books above indicate the places we are going to be visiting! You can see that this is going to be an amazing trip that
not everyone would have an opportunity to take.
From the Hill country we move to Hanoi and work our Way through all of
VietNam. Susie was stationed at China
Beach during the war and we definitely look forward to revisiting this iconic
site. We will be going from seaside to
inland lakes and on to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).
I did not want to fly all that way and not take the chance
to visit Angkor Wat in Cambodia. It looks
to be amazing. The recent excavation and
exploration by sonic and laser investigation have brought it back to the
forefront of archaeological research.
We then have a brief stopover back in HCMC. My friend Ruth has introduced us to her
brother and sister in law via email.
They will be meeting us for dinner on a Saturday evening and then we
will have a tour of the city and a drive to the countryside to see their home
and meet her family. Then we set out for
Japan.
When I went to Japan before it turned into a one afternoon
visit due to the tsunami. This time we will have a chance for deep survey of
the Land of the rising Sun. We will
start in Tokyo where we will meet Fred and Linda Chase. They are joining to tour and then reversing
to VietNam. We met the Chase’s in Africa and had such a great time together
that we are all really looking forward to traveling together again.
Our trip ends with another of my ‘must sees.’ We will go to Hiroshima and visit the memorials
to the event that changed the outcome of the last World War. It also changed
the way wars will be fought ever after that.
Our trip includes:
Hills of VietNam (7) Days -- Inside Vietnam (17) Days --
Angkor Wat, Cambodia (4) Days -- Cultural Treasures of Japan (11) Days --
Hiroshima (3) Days
(7) International Flights - (2) Internal Flights - (2)
Bullet Trains – (2) Sleeper Trains – (1) Train (1) Tuk Tuk – (1) Junk – (1)
Sampan –(3) Boats – (2) Ferries - (1) Aerial Gondola – (1) Cog
Railway – (1) Rental Van – (1) Motor Scooter
Are you exhausted yet?
I am. Just thinking about it is
overwhelming. Wish me luck!
