Southeast Asia

I had a chance in the early summer to visit southeast Asia, a place I'd never been and had wanted to see.

So I hopped a ride a Qatar Airways from Dallas to Doha. I got to fly in their QSuite and I must say it was the best flying experience of my life.

I stayed in Doha for 3 days then flew on to Bangkok and then drove 3 hours to Hua Hin where I parked at the Cape Nidhra hotel for a week.

Thailand was so different from any where I've been. Everything was so inexpensive which was pretty fun.

After a week at the Cape Nidhra I moved over to the 16th floor of a Hilton hotel which had a wonderful view of the beach.

I enjoyed walks and meals on the beach. There are oysters growing naturally on the rocks and locals were out every day harvesting them.

The food was amazing. I already loved Thai food and being in Thailand eating Thai food was incredible. That coconut and pineapple meal below cost about $2.00 for my dinner.

I was there during the monsoon season. One day it downpoured for hours and the streets literally filled with water. It didn't slow down the locals on their motorcycles!

After being in Thailand for a couple weeks I decided to head over to Vietnam. This is a country I associated heavily with war and horrible stuff. I knew it had changed and was peaceful now, but I've always been reluctant to go there.

So glad I got over that and went because I loved it!

My first week was in a quiet(ish) town near Da Nang called Hoi An. They have these lantern boats on a river. I went there at night for dinner and enjoyed the festive vibes.

One of the nights was an international fireworks competition. I had dinner at the top of the 45th floor of the Hilton and the fireworks were going off pretty close to us. What a view being up at the same height where they were exploding.

I've come a long ways since being traumatized by fireworks because Tiffany died right after midnight on New Year's literally while fireworks were going off everywhere. I'm able to enjoy them again without being traumatized. Yay 😄

After Vietnam I went to Dubai and spend a week with my oldest brother Roark. He was living in Pakistan at the time and was in Dubai for a meeting.

We enjoyed the Waldorf Astoria in Ras Al-Kaimah about an hour north of Dubai.

While we were there Iran which is 50 miles off the coast of United Arib Emirates were firing missles at Israel. Then the US bombed the nuclear facilities of Iran.

Then Iran fired missles at Doha where I had just been. And instead of heading to Pakistan with my brother, I decided to head home and get away from the heat. That was too close for my comfort!

So I went back to the United States on Qatar of course. Spent a few days with Emily/Spencer/Laura/Haven/Taylor/Baylie/Winnie/Beau in Phoenix, spent a week in Mexico at Brandon and Mindy's new house, then went home for some doctor appointments, then headed to Utah for the Janis Reunion and Mitzi's birthday (next post).

I don't have pictures in Mexico because I left my Leica M11 camera at a restaurant there (accidentally) and by the time I realized it was nowhere to be found. Rats! That was a sickening feeling

So now I've been to southeast Asia and must say I would definately go back. Especially to Vietnam. I liked the positive energy in the air, the politeness of the people, and how well behaved everyone was.

They were so family oriented and orderly (except for the way they cruise around on their scooters and motorcycles like a swarm of bees!), the food was amazing, and the cost for me was so inexpensive compared to the United States.

If I ever run low on money I'll head there where you can live for 1 year on what it takes to live for 2 months in the States 😄