Cambodia and Vietnam

Ahhh summertime. After a great last week of school ( see previous post), and a late night of dancing and chingu time, I got up and headed to school for my last workday of the 2011-2012 school year. My classroom was already clean so the day was spent going through my end-of-the-year checklist      ( all you teachers know what I'm talking about), saying goodbyes, and napping on Kristen's classroom couch.
After a faculty luncheon and farewell ( which btw, it seems that the reputation I will be leaving behind includes dancing and sunglasses), I headed back to the House of Glitter to quickly pack any last items for SOUTHEAST ASIA. Woot!


A whole bunch of us SFSers headed down the hill to grab the 4pm airport bus. Goodbye school: hello wonderful summer vacation.

Cambodia and Vietnam have been on my list for years so I was so happy when I was able to finally book this trip.


The two days in Cambodia were spent being tourists at Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples. We also were able to relax at the cool eco hotel where we stayed.
Highlights:
the BANGIN' breakfast
Angkor Wat (duh!)
Ten dollar massage

On Monday, we headed to the airport to explore our next country, Vietnam. We landed in Ho Chi Minh around 3pmand then headed to our guesthouse where we quickly got ready and went out exploring. What was our first meal? Pho, of course!!! All those evenings of finding the best Pho all over Virginia and now here I was in the actual place! It was delicious! We then ran in to Kristen in the middle of the street ( I'm serious!) and then wondered the streets and explored.

That night, we ate some more Pho, I got a much needed pedicure, we had multiple papaya/mango/coconut shakes and went souvenir shopping.

The next day, all four of us went on a tour to the Cu Chi tunnels- a large underground network of tunnels used during the Vietnam War. Once we got back to Ho Chi Minh, we ate a lot more Pho. Notice the pattern?

On Wednesday, it was time to split up and head to Hoi An.

Hoi An is a quaint little town that is known for its cao lau- a tasty noodle dish that can only be found in Hoi An. Anthony Bourdain did one his shows here basing it on cao lau. It really is an amazing dish-- I think we had it about 4 times per day.

Besides eating, we walked around, got pampered (more inexpensive massages? Neh, juseyo!), got outfits and shoes made, went to the beach, drank way too many papaya smoothies and took a lot of pictures.
Highlights:
Food
Hoi An
Shakes
Did I mention food?

Now I'm at the airport, having more pho and a coconut shake and getting ready to head back to Korea. This was definitely a trip of a lifetime--Kamsahamnida Hananim for all of His provision for these travel opportunities!

Here's to two more countries to color in!