You know that old saw, about giving someone an inch and they’ll take a mile. Mary, as is her wont, has taken this to new heights, or if I want to be more accurate, new lengths. My idea for her birthday present was that we’d pop over to Angkor Wat, catch a few temples, eat some Cambodian food, and pop back home to Colorado, with total time expended under a week. Silly, silly me.
As Mary thoughtfully pointed out, if we’re going to travel all that way in the first place, we should take advantage of the situation and visit a few other places, just while we’re in the neighborhood. It’s hard to argue with that kind of thinking, primarily because it’s Mary, and she has a habit of both being right and she can, if pushed to it, unleash the terrible power of the puppydog eyes. So, even though I have a well-known antipathy towards all things involving heat, humidity, small biting insects, and the possibility of contracting any of a thousand exotic tropical diseases, each with symptoms more horrifying than the last, I acquiesced. Besides there was a theory, unfounded as it turned out, that once we visited the far reaches of SE Asia, I’d be off the hook and we wouldn’t ever have to go again. Mary enjoyed her trip so much that I fear that we will have to return again and again. And truth be told, I managed to enjoy myself a good bit too, and didn’t contract anything a little penicillin couldn’t clear up in a jiffy.
The Southeast Asia 2013 Tour eventually, after weeks and weeks of planning, none of which I participated in by the way, consisted of:
- Fly to LA. Because, you have to start somewhere.
- Fly from LA to Singapore, a trip that takes a total of twenty one hours, including a stop in Tokyo where we got off the plane for a couple of hours while they cleaned it and replenished the wine cellar.
- A day in Singapore to adjust somewhat to the time difference (15 hours total at this point).
- Fly up to Chiang Mai, Thailand where we’d enjoy the Lantern Festival and some temples. Then a flight to Luang Prabang in Laos, for more temples (you can never visit too many temples).
- A flight to Hanoi to catch the vibe there, with an overnight side trip to Halong Bay.
- A flight to Siem Reap in Cambodia and several days touring temples, but Cambodian temples this time.
- Finally, a few days back in Singapore, trolling hawker stands and not touring anything, whatsoever.
- Fly back to the States, with an overnight stay in LA, before the last leg back to Colorado.
Total distance traveled, not counting time spent in tuk-tuks, approximately 24,000 miles, or considerably more than the proverbial inch. 