Asia - KathyDecember 2, 2013
We are still in Seattle, but waiting for a ride home, so thought I’d sit down and let you know what we did. The trip started out on the day the earthquake happened Taiwan, which shut down all the computers in the PHilippines, but we managed to get to Hanoi anyway, long enough to sleep at the hotel for 3 hours! Then we headed on the Hue, which is one of our favorite places. The hotel we had there was, by the way, beautiful….Saigon is the same as ever. Our time in Cambodia was a very memorable one. The hotel upgrade was undoubtably the best hotel I will ever stay in my whole life, and the spa was fabulous. The tour guide was a local person, whose uncle was on the early conservation team in Cambodia. He grew up playing in Angkor Wat, so his stories had a “real” quality that made him probably one of the best tour guides you could get. Laos was a surprise. Again, the tour guide adapted to the fact that we have a lot of experience in Asia, and he took us to some Hmong festivals and markets where white faces are a real surprise. Needless to say, we began to have a high respect for the quality of the Indochina Services guides. Myanmar was my real focus on this little overview, and again the g uides came through. In Rangoon, I spoke to the guide about our interest in the Andaman Sea, and upon our return he met us and took us to a tour guide that has some connections to try and open that up.
All in all, the trip was as smooth as silk, and always above our expectations. Corrina, I have been a travel agent, I know what it takes, and you did a fabulous job. We also want to say that Indo China Services must have heard we were coming. They provided excellent tour guides. We knew going in that this was a rush trip, and we thought maybe we were pushing the envelope. We never wasted a moment, and neither did they. Thanks so much.
