The Buddha said that “It is better to travel well than to arrive.” I am reminded of this as we voyage in five star luxury on the Viking Orion. Our port for the past two days was Sihanoukville, Cambodia. Last year we visited Phnom Penh and witnessed the sites of the horrifying genocide committed against
From 78 stories above Ho Chi Minh City, the metropolis still known as Saigon, dazzles with color and light, even in darkness. After past visits here, we have stopped feeling like tourists. We know how we like our Vietnamese coffee and we venture out without a care, stopping into local bars for a drink and
A private boat trip around Ha Long Bay, Vietnam reminded us of how beautiful life can be. A cool breeze tamed the temperament of a hidden sun, while plate after colorful plate of delicious Vietnamese food arrived, perfectly timed as we sailed toward the island strewn horizon. Lost in the distant shadows that rose and
Sunset cruise of Victoria Harbor with this beauty…our last evening in Hong Kong before we begin our voyage through SE Asia tomorrow on the Viking Orion. Viking is our home on the water, taking us around the world more times than we can count. We are always glad to be back among friends and those
We in Hong Kong to a stunning sunset, the golden sunlight iridescent over Kowloon Bay. This morning, we ventured by high speed ferry to reach Macau, spending a beautiful morning and afternoon touring this incredible city steeped in Portuguese and Chinese history and culture. Did a bit of gambling at the Wynn casino and won
We have been fortunate to have visited some of the most incredible cities in the world. Shanghai is perhaps the most impressive city we have ever visited. It is immaculately trash-free, efficient, elegant and focused on the future. With 25 million residents, it is one of the largest cities on the planet, but it feels
The streets of Sofia, Bulgaria. This is my first time in Bulgaria. Sofia is an approachable, pedestrian friendly city with lots of reminders of her communist past. The food is incredible, the people are welcoming and the weather has been perfect. Looking forward to exploring more! The bronze sculpture is of Milyo the Crazy. Milyo
Not every day is a great day. Some days, you make decisions that open your eyes to painful realities. I’m not proud of my decision to ride an elephant on our first day in Bangkok, Thailand. I had always wanted to ride an elephant. The romanticized idea of scaling and sitting astride a gargantuan pachyderm
WARNING: This is a long post that includes some disturbing descriptions of historic events in Cambodia. It also includes images of smiling Buddhist monks and children at play…to remind us that life, while painful, is also beautiful. Sitting cozy in the back of an open air tuk-tuk, gazing at a fat smiling golden Buddha figurine
An early morning drive from Ho Chi Minh City brought us to the banks of the Mekong River Delta. Our colorful wooden skiff, cobbled by hand and held together by collective hope and hundreds of layers of paint, traversed the river’s wide water, past hundreds of floating villages, home to tens of thousands of people