As expected, the trip was AWESOME. No, it was even beyond awesome. Its totally something else. It was spectacular, magnificent, fabulous, fantastic and all adjectives to that effect. I could not have asked for a better vacation.
Why? Okay, let me try to write the reasons down:
1. Vietnamese Coffee- the hype is worth it. This is just the best tasting coffee I ever had. And the greatest thing is that it is ubiquitous in every street corner of Saigon. For coffee addict like me, Vietnam is paradise.
2. Cute Tourists- everywhere. Guys from all over the world in their sandos and board shorts and flip flops. You can just sit in a cafe and watch cute people pass you by, all while drinking the best tasting coffee (see above).
3. Angkor Wat- Angelina Jolie and National Heritage site. Need I say more?
4. Shopping- although i dont consider myself a shopaholic, I totally understand why people go ga-ga over Vietnam and Cambodia. Night Market and their version of tiangge offer dirt cheap items. Total bang for your bucks.
5. Warm,Friendly People- being total magnets of misfortune, we dont know how we would have survived without the help of the locals. We have Kelvin, the tour coordinator who got us tickets to Siem Reap when no other bus companies would take us in, and apparently, he exchanges currencies too. Just a blessing especially on our last day when we were becoming poor from too much shopping (see #4). Vannak, our Ankor Wat tour guide who was just amazing. His knowledge of Siem Reap and his patience and enthusiasm to take our pictures are just commendable. Certainly the best tour guide I met (and I had a lot of tour guide from previous travels, i.e. Paris, Japan, Thailand etc). There was also Mark, the front desk guy from our Saigon hotel who was just too willing to do things for us. Of course, we also met other back packers who made our trip more memorable like the British couple named Nick and Nikki, the Russian couple who spoke little English but smiled and conveyed messages through hand gestures, Simon, the Singaporean photojournalist, The two Canadian bus mates whom we call Prince William (PW) and Prince William's Friend (PWF) and Guy with Great Hair (GWGH)/ Ken who was an inspiration during the long, bumpy ride to SR.
I could go on and on and on but really, the reason why this trip is spectacular is because
6. I am in the company of my bestest best friends
...and that made everything perfect.
I cant wait to discover where our feet and lust for traveling will take us next year.
