Vietnam and Cambodia

On the canoe ride in the Mekong Delta

One of the many statues of Buddha at the temples of Angkor Wat. Many of the small temples are still used by Buddhist monks.

Kathleen and Danielle at one of the central temple areas of Angkor Wat.

At the entrance of Angkor Wat with our fabulous guide, Savi, who is teaching us about the Khmer civilization.

All of us on the City tour in front of the statue to "Uncle Ho."

Approaching Ho Chi Minh City

We had just one day of sailing from Singapore to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). The city is a ways up the Mekong River so the trip to HCMC was interesting. We arrived early in the morning and there were quite a few small boats (fishermen, taxis and cargo) already on the river.  When we approached the city we were quite surprised to see how modern it has become. We knew that Singapore was modern but most of us were expecting Vietnam to be way behind economically. Despite the terrible, long wars against the French, the United States, China and Cambodia, Vietnam is now having its own economic boom. Unfortunately we did not spend enough time in Vietnam since on the second day we flew to Cambodia, to the small city of Siem Riep, to see the legendary ruins of Angkor Wat. The Khmer civilization and empire built large, elegant cities and temples that have held up quite well after over one thousand years. These ruins are simply magnificent. In addition to a city tour of Ho Chi Minh City, I went to the Mekong Delta, south of HCMC, and got to go on a fun canoe ride. After it was all over, we wished that we had been able to spend more time in both Cambodia and Vietnam. Too much to see, not enough time! And then, we left for Hong Kong …