As some of you might know, the Bangkok volunteer project that I was going to be a part of has been officially canceled due to the political unrest in Thailand’s capital. Not wanting to spend the next three weeks driving myself mad from restlessness and boredom, I decided to trade my tickets to Bangkok for tickets to Hanoi, Vietnam. Here’s what I’m planning:
- Two days in Hanoi, the capital of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam which boasts a Museum of Ethnology (woot! I’m such a freaking dork), Temple of Literature (double woot!), a massive mausoleum complex and all sorts of goodness.
- Catch a train to the nearby city of Ninh Binh and spend three days wandering around its famous scenic views and national parks.
- Keep pushing south by train to the former capital of Hue where I’ll spend two days basking in the glory of Kinh Thanh (The Citadel), royal tombs and Buddhist temples.
- On to the beach town of Nha Trang for two days of temple hopping and developing skin cancer.
- My final stop in Vietnam will be in Ho Chi Minh city where I’ll probably skip self-guided wandering and hop on a boat down (up?) the Mekong to Cambodia’s Phenom Penh.
- Two days in Phenom Penh will allow me to see the horrors of the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot’s “Killing Fields” before I move on to Siem Reap.
- I’ll spend the next seven days in Siem Reap and Angkor before heading out on the 29th, just in time for Sydney’s spectacular New Years Eve extravaganza.
A bit of a whirl-wind adventure, but I’m planning on enjoying every minute.
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