We traveled to Vietnam as part of our 2023 “The Magnificent Mekong” river cruise with Viking. As a result, we were beholden to their itinerary, and saw Saigon, Hanoi and a few villages in the Mekong River delta only. This was a great introduction to the country, and left me wanting to come back another time to visit some of the other picturesque regions on the South China Sea coast and up north in the misty mountains. Vietnam delighted with us with food, of course, and interesting tidbits of history from the late 20th century. It is one of the rapidly growing countries in Southeast Asia, and so it was…

Cambodia was delightful, both urban Phnom Penh and more rural areas surrounding Siem Reap, where Angkor Wat temples are located. We loved meeting local people, and were blown away by their warmth, friendliness and hospitality. Cambodia is a devoutly Buddhist country, and there are thousands of temples. The temples are gilded in gold and red, with tall columns supporting ornately tiled roofs with curled up cornices. Each temple complex is filled with ornate stupas and seven-headed nagas – snake beasts representing the rainbow, and it’s magical powers to connect earth to heaven. We found Cambodia to be cleaner than Vietnam, and busy streets and markets a little bit easier to…