Until the next one….
After one last bowl of pho at 5am at the Saigon airport followed by a round of dim sum at the Hong Kong airport, it was time to go back to clean bathrooms, hot water showers and mosquito free rooms. The trip was a great way of seeing the countries on and off the beaten path. I certainly have learned more than I can remember about the history and the people of these countries. For example, in Thailand boys are given a certain number of trial attempts of living the life of a monk before they are no longer accepted as monks. Raw rubber from the tree smells like dirty socks. A school bus in the village was a pickup truck packed with kids in the back. Cambodia imports almost everything including electricity and therefore prices are more expensive than Thailand. The edges of the large palm leaves (or some other tree?) are sharp enough that the were used as machetes in the killing fields. Floating village in Cambodia had schools, pool halls and even a basketball court. Floating houses in the Mekong are hooked up with antennas as everyone has at least one TV. Each boat in the floating food market ties the produce sold on a pole to anyone can see from afar. In Saigon, people celebrate New Year’s Eve by getting on their motos and cruising around town in what seems like crawling traffic.
Good times. Until the next adventure….. -JuAnne
