Bon Voyage to my daughter.

vc69

Very cool. Please keep the updates coming. What an awesome trip!

TECHNOKID

Looks like a very nice experience for her so far. Nice pics/good memories she'll be able to cherish for the remainder of her life :cool: Amazing the low cost so far, it cost me more than $8 a day duting the work week :cool:

heiney9

Thanks for sharing, keep us updated

H9

cfrizz

Awesome! Keep posting pics & updates Shack.

wodom1

The second picture, with the tree, is at Ta Prohm -- I was there in February. Attached is another pic of the same tree from a different angle. Definitely a cool place to explore. I recommend visiting Beng Melea if there's enough time, though it's an all day trip.

nclh7

No one on their deathbed ever said, I wish I would have been at work more.

Congratulations to your daughter for being the kind of person to do this.

What good life is all about.

shack

wodom1 wrote:

The second picture, with the tree, is at Ta Prohm -- I was there in February. Attached is another pic of the same tree from a different angle. Definitely a cool place to explore. I recommend visiting Beng Melea if there's enough time, though it's an all day trip.

You are correct. An interesting piece of trivia....

The temple of Ta Prohm was used as a location in the film Tomb Raider.

joeparaski

cfrizz wrote: »

Awesome! Keep posting pics & updates Shack.

I second what Kathy said...please post more pics and info as you get it. Very interesting indeed!!!


Joe

ratster

I wish I had done something like that when I was younger!

disneyjoe7

Very nice thanks for the update.

Fireman32

Very cool. Love the pictures keep them comming.

John30_30

shack wrote: »

She is about done with Cambodia...Next is Vietnam where they plan to start at the southern coast and travel the length of the country over the next month.

That's pretty similar to the itinerary my daughter did last year after her schooling in Singapore. Much of S.E. Asia. We couldn't talk her out of Thailand when they were rioting, or Cambodia, any of it. She had a school friend from Thailand whom she hung with.

She's home now for the 1st time in a year, then leaves next week for a year in Nepal. :eek:

shack

John30_30 wrote:

She's home now for the 1st time in a year, then leaves next week for a year in Nepal. :eek:

Nepal is their planned last destination in the area. Looking to do some hiking/backpacking in the mountains. Of course they could change their itennerary at any time.

John30_30

shack wrote: »

Nepal is their planned last destination in the area. Looking to do some hiking/backpacking in the mountains. Of course they could change their itennerary at any time.

I hope they go by the playbook there. It's still very wild and wooly, banditos, you name it, and the biggest mountains on earth. An American girl disappeared in the Nepal foothills a few months back.
My kid said the Vietnamese kids her age basically don't like Americans. She was kind of shocked by this.

shack

John30_30 wrote:

I hope they go by the playbook there. It's still very wild and wooly, banditos, you name it, and the biggest mountains on earth. An American girl disappeared in the Nepal foothills a few months back.

I remember seeing a story about the girl that disappeared. She had just graduated from college. My daughter knew about it as well, and we decided that was information her mother was better off NOT being aware of. :eek:

shack wrote:

Nepal is their planned last destination in the area. Looking to do some hiking/backpacking in the mountains. Of course they could change their itinerary at any time.

I didn't realize how prophetic I was. Seems like the airfare to Nepal from Thailand has gone through the roof...to the point it is no longer affordable. Due to the countries between the two, rail/bus transit is not an option...so they have changed the last month of the trip to Malaysia and Bali. Flights to Bali have been booked. They are really bummed because they wanted to see the Himalayas...but that will have to be another time.

Another interesting note. She finally was able to book her flight from Bangkok to Barcelona to meet her mom and it is being routed through Moscow. She may have enough layover time to get out and see a little of the city.

They are now in Vietnam. One of the last things they did in Cambodia was take a traditional Khmer cooking class from Toot, the head chef at Nary restaurant in Battambang. They selected three dishes they wanted to learn to prepare then were taken to the local market to purchase all the ingredients. They spent the rest of the time learning to make three dishes from scratch. Of course they were able to eat what they made.

Old school cooking. Here she is making curry powder from several different ingredients using a mortar and pestle to grind them down.



The results. Fried pork spring rolls, green chicken curry, and beef lok lok.



She claims another traveler who ate one of her spring rolls said it was the best he had ever eaten. She now thinks she is ready to go on "Top Chef"....:rolleyes:

If you all would like me to keep posting...I will be glad to do so.

heiney9

Please keep posting............that food looks simply wonderful. I love Thai/Vietnamese food with Green Curry dishes being among my favorites.

H9

John30_30

shack wrote: »

I didn't realize how prophetic I was. Seems like the airfare to Nepal from Thailand has gone through the roof...to the point it is no longer affordable. Due to the countries between the two, rail/bus transit is not an option...so they have changed the last month of the trip to Malaysia and Bali. Flights to Bali have been booked. They are really bummed because they wanted to see the Himalayas...but that will have to be another time.

Another interesting note. She finally was able to book her flight from Bangkok to Barcelona to meet her mom and it is being routed through Moscow. She may have enough layover time to get out and see a little of the city.

They are now in Vietnam. One of the last things they did in Cambodia was take a traditional Khmer cooking class from Toot, the head chef at Nary restaurant in Battambang. They selected three dishes they wanted to learn to prepare then were taken to the local market to purchase all the ingredients. They spent the rest of the time learning to make three dishes from scratch. Of course they were able to eat what they made.

Old school cooking. Here she is making curry powder from several different ingredients using a mortar and pestle to grind them down.



The results. Fried pork spring rolls, green chicken curry, and beef lok lok.



She claims another traveler who ate one of her spring rolls said it was the best he had ever eaten. She now thinks she is ready to go on "Top Chef"....:rolleyes:

If you all would like me to keep posting...I will be glad to do so.

Way cool.

TECHNOKID

heiney9 wrote: »

Please keep posting............that food looks simply wonderful. I love Thai/Vietnamese food with Green Curry dishes being among my favorites.

H9

Yup and here I am eating plain old salmon burger while watching pics of great food That thread is very intersting/intriguing so yes, please keep on posting.

arun1963

If they can wing it to India for cheap, Nepal is a very resonable train ride away.

cstmar01

shack wrote: »

I remember seeing a story about the girl that disappeared. She had just graduated from college. My daughter knew about it as well, and we decided that was information her mother was better off NOT being aware of. :eek:



I didn't realize how prophetic I was. Seems like the airfare to Nepal from Thailand has gone through the roof...to the point it is no longer affordable. Due to the countries between the two, rail/bus transit is not an option...so they have changed the last month of the trip to Malaysia and Bali. Flights to Bali have been booked. They are really bummed because they wanted to see the Himalayas...but that will have to be another time.

Another interesting note. She finally was able to book her flight from Bangkok to Barcelona to meet her mom and it is being routed through Moscow. She may have enough layover time to get out and see a little of the city.

They are now in Vietnam. One of the last things they did in Cambodia was take a traditional Khmer cooking class from Toot, the head chef at Nary restaurant in Battambang. They selected three dishes they wanted to learn to prepare then were taken to the local market to purchase all the ingredients. They spent the rest of the time learning to make three dishes from scratch. Of course they were able to eat what they made.

Old school cooking. Here she is making curry powder from several different ingredients using a mortar and pestle to grind them down.



The results. Fried pork spring rolls, green chicken curry, and beef lok lok.



She claims another traveler who ate one of her spring rolls said it was the best he had ever eaten. She now thinks she is ready to go on "Top Chef"....:rolleyes:

If you all would like me to keep posting...I will be glad to do so.

WOW. The food looks amazing! As I sit here with a crappy salad and see that food makes my mouth water! That is really awesome she can do a trip like this and experience things like this. Sure does beat sitting in a office building staring at a cubical wall!

cfrizz

Wow that is just BEYOND COOL!!!

Please keep posting Shack.

TORI3

Shack,

I can totally relate to your daughter as I too went on a three month solo backpacking trip through SE Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines) a few years back. If I could do it all over again, I would definitely bring a partner in crime to share some of those life-altering experiences. Your daughter has the right idea!

Just my personal opinion, but the one thing that kind of disappointed me was the fact that there weren't too many fellow Americans traveling in those regions -- Instead, Europeans were plentiful. I think if more of us traveled we'd have a better grasp on how much we impact foreign countries and their cultures (it's truly amazing!).

Love the post, and I'm sure she's using those previous traveling experiences to keep herself safe!

Keep us posted!

dee1949

...I "TOURED" the world as I knew it in the early 70's. Was never the "SAME". Opens up a whole new world for the NEXT generation. Makes a break from.....???....to another belief.

...You will welcome back a new "SOUL" on return.

shack

It's been a couple of weeks since I've posted about my daughter's adventure, so I thought an update was in order.

One of the last things they did in Cambodia was a visit to the Temples and Lost Caves at Sampeau. The way to get there is know as "The Thousand Steps" (she swears that was a gross under-calculation). Some of that perception may have had to do with the fact that it was 95° and 90%+ humidity.



The Thousand Steps...



The Temple at the top...



The Lost Caves...

Before they took the bus to the Vietnam border, they rode the Bamboo Train. If you don't know what that is, here is her description:

What is a bamboo train? It's not quite what you are imagining. Think of it as a bamboo platform about 10 feet by six feet with an outboard motor going through the floor to the axle. Now considering that there is only one line of track and about twenty or so trains, there poses the problem of how do they all manage to run on it. Well let me give you the answer. They dissemble which ever train has the least amount of people and cargo on it. That’s right. They literally take the train apart and put it off to the side so the other can pass by. Then it is reassembled and back on it’s way. Pretty cool. The locals use this to get their produce to the markets. The tourist use this for a beautiful scenic ride through the countryside. I’m not going to lie here even though it was touristy it was really fun.

Riding the Bamboo Train.

She really liked Cambodia, but has been a little disappointed in some of Vietnam. Much of Vietnam is now geared toward the "bus tour tourist". They went to a mountain village with a main street that was a replica of the Champs-Élysées...Eiffel tower and all. They went to the "Valley of Love" that made some Las Vegas "attractions" look upscale, they went to a beach town that could have been Myrtle Beach, complete with wave-runner rentals, para-sailing, hair-braiding stands, junk souvenir shops, etc. The Vietnam War Museum in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) was just a tad bit biased (well maybe totally biased) and of course they went to see the glass Sarcophagus of "Uncle Ho" in Hanoi (smiling, laughing, talking, etc were all a crime while in his presence). Even though they don't get off the beaten path too often (for obvious safety reasons), and are compelled to see some of the "main attractions" of Vietnam...they prefer seeing the "real" Vietnam and not just the tourist stuff.

One thing that was kind of cool for them...thanks to the worldwide interconnect that is known as facebook, they were contacted by a friend of theirs that was with them in the Interior Design program at UT. Even though she was a year behind them, she went with them on a class field trip to Chicago. She is Vietnamese and is now living in Hanoi. They were able to hook up for a short visit. It really is a small world.

Once away from the main cities they found various types of transportation besides a bus or a train.



A donkey cart...



A canoe...



Bicycles...



Motorbikes...

As I understand there have been a couple more modes of transportation...but that will be for another post.

Did I mention it is the rainy season in SE Asia?



There are some really beautiful costal areas...as long as you can get away from the crowds.



Here is the beach near Na-Trang.

Their next stop is the Hanoi/Hailong Bay region, to be followed by the northern mountain region near Sapa for a few days before heading into Laos.

Unfortunately their plans to go to Nepal have been cancelled. The flights into that area have skyrocketed to 3 or 4 times from what they were when planning the trip to nearly $1,000 each. The cost is just too prohibitive. They have added Malaysia and Bali to the itinerary. So next is Laos, back to Thailand for a while, then to Malaysia, then Bali then back to Thailand. She plans on doing some diving in Bali and Thailand.

We get to either talk or video conference ever few days or so. When she sends more pictures I will do another update.

cfrizz

Thanks Shack!

schwarcw

Steve, absolutely fantastic photos! I'm glad to see that she is really enjoying herself. Thanks for posting!

joeparaski

Wonderful! I enjoyed those pictures.

Joe

cstmar01

great photos again. Keep them coming its always cool to see photos of difference places of the world that a lot of people don't get to travel to.

hearingimpared

Just saw this! That's awesome Steve, you brought her up really well.

jflail2

Wow, good for her. She'll carry these positive experiences for the rest of her life. I'm a pinch jealous as well

I like some of the things she chose to do, like the cooking session. What a neat change of pace from the normal trip abroad.

Safe travels for the rest of her journey.