Hanoi Gray

Hello, xin chào, and ជំរាបសួរ (chom reap suor)  ! After Kampot, I headed to Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh. Based on what I had heard and read about the city before, I wasn't expecting too much, but I really enjoyed it! Its beautiful architecture reminded me of Thailand, but it also had the chaotic, anything-goes energy of Vietnam. The Royal Palace and Phnom Penh skyline from the roof of my hostel. Anyways, picking up where I  left off , I caught an 8:30am bus from Kampot to Phnom Penh. Though the bus itself was relatively spacious and comfortable, it ended up being quite possibly the worst bus ride I've ever been on. And that's saying something . Long stretches of road were unbelievably bumpy, and a construction boom meant traffic jams in the middle of nowhere. The roughly 100-mile journey took 4.5 hours—meaning an average speed of 22 mph. The last 10 miles of the trip took a full hour. As I mentioned before, Cambodia's infrastructure is far from adeq...

Hello, xin chào, and ជំរាបសួរ (chom reap suor)  ! Here in Hanoi, the arrival of April means we're inching into summer—highs are starting to reach the 90s, and the unrelenting humidity pushes it up to feels like 100°F. Last night at 9pm, it was 82°F, feels like 93°F. At 9pm. Three hours after sunset. The next four months are going to be interesting. About two weeks ago, meanwhile, I took a convoluted trip to Cambodia. Last January, I had visited Siem Reap and the temples of Angkor, but it was for only one full day—on which I came down with a nasty cold. Angkor was spectacular, but Siem Reap might be my least favorite city I've ever been to. I wanted to check out a different side of the country, so I pulled out my Lonely Planet SE Asia book for inspiration. I settled upon a visit to Kampot, a coastal town not far from the Vietnamese border, and Phnom Penh, the capital. Kampot's riverfront at sunset. As the trip approached, I realized that I didn't know too much...