HK, Cambodia, Vietnam

In mid April, Dad came came over for a ten day, three part
Asia Trip to Hong Kong (to meet Carmen's family and see where I'll be situated next), Siem Riep, Cambodia (The home of the largest Hindu temple in the world, Ankor Wat) and Hanoi, Vietnam (another booming Asian country, startlingly similar to China.)

After one jet lag recovery night in HK, we flew to Siem Riep and eased into a really nice luxury hotel my buddy recommended. The place was probably a little more romantic than what we really needed, what with loads of aromatherapy oil burners everywhere, and mostly couples walking around hand in hand, but it was still the best hotel i've ever been to.

Tourism in the area is built almost entirely around the ancient ruins of Angkor, one of the most important archaeological sites in South-East Asia - mostly temples. Ankor Wat is the biggest temple, but i preferred the small ones deep in the forest that have giant trees growing into them, like the one you see behind my dad in the picture.

One thing which struck me was that there were loads of Chinese mainland people in Siem Riep, both travelers and business people. An Australian guy i spoke with while getting a foot massage at a Chinese run massage parlor mentioned he was starting a travel website directed towards Chinese mainland travelers because they are really starting to travel now and the market for it will be huge.

Then we went to Hanoi, Vietnam, and more things related to China appeared. Both are Communist countries, both of their legendary communist leaders died about 35 years ago, their economies are booming (Vietnam's stock grew faster than any other last year with more than 100% growth); even the languages are remarkably similar. Words like flower, man and woman sound almost the same. This makes a lot of sense, because China tried to colonize Vietnam many times over until the 1800s. Then the French came in, leaving modern Hanoi with loads of balconies and other french architecture, as well as good coffee, chocolate, and bread. The Americans didn't leave much and luckily didn't engender very much long term hate. In fact, Vietnam feels very peaceful and filled with entrepreneurial spirit, and the three groups its probably trading with the most right now are its former colonizers.

The last stop was Hong Kong, a mega city which felt much more difficult to explore just because of its size, and definitely not because of its transportation system, which is state of the art: a team of double decker buses, minibuses, and a brilliantly designed subway system. All of which run frequently, till late at night for cheap. We got to the beach from the center of the city in 30 min for $2. Saw a few other things as well, but i was so hypnotized by the size of the place i hardly remember it. Really looking forward to figuring out HK eventually.

All in all, a perfectly timed trip to three really interesting spots in the world. Oh, and the family meeting went pretty well. Dad and Carmen's mom weren't able to engage very much because of the language barrier, but everyone still had a good time.