Exploring Laos,
Vietnam and Cambodia
story and photos by J. Helen Parkyn

Ankor Wat had been in my dreams for many years. So in April of 2008 I started looking for a small group adventure tour through Indochina for November that included this site. There were many to choose from: Canadian GAP, British Explore and Exodus, Trek, Peregrine and Australian World Expeditions. The last one, World Expeditions, met my needs with a 1 November start date and three weeks for the three countries, a good comfort level (i.e. mid range hotels) and an interesting itinerary. Also, I had been with this company in Morocco and had been favourably impressed both by their standards and their policy of using not just local guides but also a local tour leader if possible. The cost was C$3390 from Bangkok and booked through Worldwide Adventures - the Canadian agents for World Expeditions. So I signed up for Indochina Traverse and shortly thereafter two friends joined, then two more. We were all Canadian and in the 50 plus age range, the only other person on the tour was a 32 year old Aussie. Fortu-nately he was extroverted and we all enjoyed his company.

The 'Canadian five' flew from Vancouver to Bangkok via Hong Kong. Cathay Pacific was as comfortable as any flight this length can be: 16½ hours flying time, plus about an hour and a half in Hong Kong Airport. We arrived in Bangkok on a sunny day and were met by Nuna, a local guide for this city from Exotissimo. We went to our hotel, the Best Western Swanni, where we had planned to sleep that afternoon, but Nuna said we really should see the Royal Palace in the afternoon sun - could we be ready in an hour? Surprisingly we could and enjoyed the wonderful temples and stupas that form the Royal complex. We took many photographs of everything except for the Emerald Buddha, which is forbidden. We also visited temples with the tallest Buddha and the reclining Buddha. <more>