Today I got a real taste of Vietnamese culture in an active day of touring. We started by visiting a

It was the trip of a lifetime!  In late May 2013 I was fortunate to go on an Adventures By Disney (ABD) tour of Southeast Asia with a group of 17 other travel agents.  I had never been to this part of the World before and I looked forward to exploring new cultures and new lands.  I kept a daily log of our trip which I have copied below.  The activities described were just some of the sights we saw.  After my daily log I will give my impressions of Adventures By Disney as a whole and why ABD is a great choice for tours around the World.
I am now settled in my hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam after a long day of flying on May 19th my birthday! I left Denver at 9 am, connected through LAX where I boarded a Korean Air flight to Seoul, South Korea. This flight was a long one, made easier by the excellent service of Korean Air. The flight attendants were all immaculately dressed and active throughout the flight. The two meals I had on the 13 hour flight were excellent (for airline food). I would fly Korean Air again!
airline tickets to london I connected to another flight in Seoul to Ho Chi Minh City, this time a 5 hour flight that arrived at my final destination shortly airline tickets to london before midnight. There my Adventures By Disney tour company host was waiting to take me by shuttle to my Sheraton hotel, 30 minutes from the airport. I was surprised with the amount airline tickets to london of activity past Midnight on the streets of the city. I saw lots of people on small mopeds navigating the busy city streets.
I shared with my host that I had a special connection to Ho Chi Minh. Growing up in the late 60 s when it was my birthday (may 19th) the news always airline tickets to london reported celebrations in Vietnam for this date was also Ho Chi Minh s birthday. Why did my birthday have to be the same day as the chief enemy of the U.S., I wondered at the time! Those hostilities have long since ended and Vietnam now welcomes U.S. tourists like myself.
Unfortunate airline tickets to london for my roommate but fortunate for me, he was a last minute cancellation for this trip. So I have a room to myself for our 10 day tour! That s better for me as I have unusual sleeping patterns. This morning I was up early to take the picture of the sunrise shown above. I am looking forward to an active day of touring, including a river cruise. I plan to blog about my journey here as I experience Vietnam and Cambodia over the next few days.
On day two of my Southeast Asia trip I visited the Mekong River near Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Life on the river is quite different than what the average American like me experiences. Above is a picture of an open market on the river with merchants selling their goods on floating stores. On the banks of the river are houses and a number of business establishments.
After a delicious lunch at an open air restaurant overlooking the river we drove back to our hotel. Like the night of my arrival, I noticed many vietnam citizens use motorcycles as their primary means of transportation:
Many wore masks like the woman pictured airline tickets to london above. Was this to avoid germs? No, our guide said. She explained that in Asian culture white skin is valued, so the masks are used to keep the elements from damaging the riders faces. As someone who hasn t had a decent tan since the 1980 s my light skin tone would fit right in many vietnamese do not want a tan!
I enjoyed this glimpse into Vietnamese culture very much! While life on the river seems primitive by American standards our guide said Vietnam ranks #2 in the happy planet index of all countries measured.
Climbing airline tickets to london in tunnels used by the Viet Cong was part of a day reflecting on the Vietnam War for me. The Chu Chi tunnels were navigated by North Vietnamese fighters to outsmart U.S. troops. These tunnels, which stretched for 120 miles near the South Vietnam capital of Saigon, airline tickets to london showed me how the Viet Cong could defeat the better airline tickets to london equipped U.S. troops by using guerrilla warfare techniques. Bomb craters were still evident around the tunnel complex.
Earlier in the day I toured the War Remnants Museum. airline tickets to london Most sobering here were the pictures of the innocent victims of the war the civilians. One gallery showed the effects of Agent Orange which the U.S. military used to defoliate forests, airline tickets to london denying the Viet Cong cover. The herbicide airline tickets to london caused many birth defects among the vietnamese children. Our Adventure By Disney hosts said they did not want to sugar coat this dark period in U.S. history. We were given the option to skip the museum but all 18 members of my tour group attended and were moved by the graphic images presented. What I will remember most from this day were the present day vietnamese children on a school field trip greeting us warmly. Museums like this send an important message to the next generation airline tickets to london to avoid the senseless violence of war.
At the end of the day we left the disturbing war images behind as we are staying in the beautiful Sunrise Hoi An Beach Resort. Tomorrow we shop at a local market in preparation for a cooking class to make authentic vietnamese dishes.
Today I got a real taste of Vietnamese culture in an active day of touring. We started airline tickets to london by visiting a farmers market in the town of Hoi An. The streets were bustling with activity as we strolled down the streets of the market.
Under the guidance of our veteran vietnamese chef my lunch actually turned out to be good! Pictured below is me with my spring roll creation. I also cooked a vietnamese pancake and an eggplant airline tickets to london dish. I was a bit apprehensive about this cooking lesson but it turned out much better than I thought, and gave me a new appreciation for the vietnamese cuisine.
After lunch we had some free time to explore the town, before heading to another active project lantern making! A visit to a lantern factory where we each put together a lantern to take home was fun (the picture below shows my lantern creation)
It was a hot day with temperatures close to 100 degrees. The coastal town of Hoi An also had its share of humidity. While the active day of outside touring airline tickets to london was stimulating, it was a relief to return to the beauty of our hotel the Sunrise airline tickets to london Hoi An Resort on the shores of the East China Sea for a quiet evening. I loved the view out my window:
We drove past Truc Bach Lake where U.S. Presidential candidate airline tickets to london John McCain crashed his plane during the Vietnam War. I knew that McCain s plane had been shot down during the war but I didn t realize airline tickets to london he crashed right in the middle of Hanoi. For those of you in Denver it would be equivalent to crashing a plane into Sloans Lake.
Water puppetry goes back to the 11th century airline tickets to london in this region. In its day water puppetry was the equivalent of Star Trek in special effects complete with a live orchestra, narrator, and singers in addition to the skilled puppeteers behind the scenes. I liked how at the end of the show the puppeteers came out and showed how they maneuvered the puppets in the water very creative.
Day 6 of my Southeast Asia tour featured a full day of touring in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. We started bright and early with tai chi in a downtown park. Our travel agent group, clad in our tai chi outfits, were led by a tai chi master in different poses. This one was easy hand in the fist:
The lines were long this Saturday airline tickets to london morning. We waited over an hour for the opportunity to enter the mausoleum. No pictures were allowed inside and security was strict. The Vietnamese soldiers guarding the monument reminded me of a visit to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier back home in Washington DC. Though Ho Chi Minh died long ago (1969) his impact on vietnamese society was evident from the huge crowds that still come every day to view his memorial.
airline tickets to london Former U.S. Presidential candidate and war pilot John McCain was highlighted here with several photos. Here is McCain with other pilots on the day of his release. The displays showed how the pilots were well treated during the captivity pictures showed the prisoners celebrating Christmas, playing basketball, and in other activities. I m sure the actual conditions were worse than the idealized pictures shown in the displays, but the pilots did look to be in much better shape than photos I ve seen of World War II prisoners in German concentration camps.
We returned to our hotel, the historic Metropole, in the afternoon. This hotel has hosted a number of celebrities over the years. Jane Fonda lived here for two months during the war. The Clintons have stayed here as well as Hollywood stars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. airline tickets to london It was a great place to stay as the base camp for our two days in Hanoi. I found the hotel s historic tour very interesting, featuring a tour of their bomb shelter used during the war.
I could imagine the terror people felt as they huddled into this shelter. Our guide said up to 40 people crowded into the shelter at any one time as they heard the bombs outside. The hotel was spared during the war.
After an excellent lunch at the Pots and Pans restaurant in downtown Hanoi we were off to the airport for an hour and a half flight to Cambodia. We arrived in Seam Reap after dark. The staff at the Sofitel Angkor Phokeethra hotel had a welcome party for us as our bus pulled up after 8 pm.
The final day of my Southeast Asia adventure was a good one! We started by visiting the Angkor Archaeological Park in Cambodia. airline tickets to london We were transported to the park in these open air tuk tuk vehicles the cool breeze while driving felt good on this hot day:
We first toured Angkor Wat the largest religious structure in the World. This temple airline tickets to london was built in the 12th century, first a Hindu temple then later converted to a Buddhist one. The temple towered over the Cambodian countryside this day:
Here my teammate Bill shows a picture puzzle we pieced together as part of the challenge, then we had to find the location of the picture somewhere airline tickets to london in the temple complex. We could only ask the locals for help. It was a fun way to see more of the temple complex different from a straight tour. The game had two challenges and took about an hour to complete.
It was a great way to conclude my i