The time has come, the Walrus said... (Addendum 3)

To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings.


The time has come for my last post on Vietnam and Cambodia.  It's going to be, more or less, a scrapbook of my favorite photos and experiences.  Aussie Sue asked me on my last day in Hanoi what my favorite experience had been.  I was at a loss.  There were so many things I saw and did and ate and felt, it feels impossible to pinpoint a trip highlight.  But I'll try to narrow it down to a basketful of personal picks.

Cambodia was incredible.  Angkor, breath-taking.  Ta Prohm left me in awe.  This temple is definitely my favorite from our Tet-cation.  Vietnam is more difficult.  Five weeks...I don't know if it's possible to choose just one thing that stands out above all the others.  My first xe om ride?  The chocolate buffet at the Metropole?  Visiting the Temple of Literature and buying calligraphy along one of its walls?  Discovering the Buddha Forest inside the Fine Arts Museum?  Figuring out the bus system for the first time?  Taking my walking tour of the Old Quarter?  Watching Little Britain with Kyle and Roman after dinner and over Bailey's?  Seeing The Maltese Falcon at the Cinematheque?  It's probably going to sound like a corny cop-out, but I think the best part of my trip was meeting and getting to know so many amazing people, whether local, tourist, or ex-pat.  I'll be forever grateful to my favorite paternal uncles for opening their home and their lives to me.  Thanks, choo.

Dear Hanoi, I miss you. Do you miss me? <3 Mary