January 21, 2017

January 21, 2017

Our Indochina adventure is over and now the long journey home begins.  After a leisurely morning we head to the small Phnom Penh airport for our 11am flight to Taipei.  I waited in the Business class line to see how much an upgrade would cost.  I was hoping it would be reasonable; it wasn’t.  In any case, we got checked in a few seconds earlier and managed to get one aisle seat on the second leg to LAX.  We thankfully had a tail wind and the flight was three hours shorter than before.  We made it through customs fast enough to catch an earlier flight to Tucson.  We are more than ready for some dry weather.  Unfortunately I think we must have landed in the wrong city.  It is cold and damp here!

We had a wonderful time in Vietnam and Cambodia with many fond memories.  The two countries have a long and interesting history that most Americans know little about.  Our view is so clouded by our troubled involvement in the War.  Both countries seem to have mostly forgotten the war.

 

Indochina is still mostly rural and agricultural. Everywhere we went, we saw rice paddies in various stages of production.

 

Yet, both countries have embraced capitalism and free-market reforms, which are driving their economies with people surging into the cities.  The dominant form of transportation is the Motorcycle.  One in two people own one. It is common to see an entire family crowded on one or another motorcyclist transporting a truckload of merchandise.  We even saw motorcycle UPS drivers and 2-wheeled Uber “cabs”!

The pedestrian is at a distinctive disadvantage.  Sidewalks are plentiful but they are crowded with vendors, motorcycle parking, eateries, and drivers avoiding traffic congestion.  That leaves us walkers to the dangerous edge of the road.

One of the joys of travel in Indochina was the food.  It was wonderful, fresh, full of seafood, and immaculately displayed.  It is an interesting mix of Chinese, French, and local traditions. With so many good choices, it is no wonder that Vietnamese eat street food for many meals. Aimee and I are just surprised that they love to eat sitting on miniature kid-size plastic seats!

One of the other surprises of our trip was how often we saw people getting their picture taken in traditional dress in front of local scenery.  And it was not just the girls, but guys too.  One fellow traveler said it was an Oriental preoccupation with their online persona.  Either way I took advantage and took lots of photos of pretty girls.