Tạm biệt Saigon! Next stop: Phnom Penh, Cambodia

(I'm writing this post on the 7 hour bus ride to Phnom Penh! This luxurious bus company, Giant Ibis, has comfortable seats, AC, wifi, and power outlets - all for $18/person, how sweet is that?!)

My sista has arrived in Asia!! I picked her up from the airport after her 19 hours of traveling and she was in great spirits!

 Now my parents only have one "child" left as my brother is in Malaysia for a friend's wedding - hahaha yes Tuck is our brother. 

We went to the shelter for lunch and goodbyes. They presented me with 2 t-shirts that they made for me - it was really sweet! We took a group photo and Sister Theresa loves to set up self-timers so we were able to get us all in a photo after lots of balancing of the camera.

After lunch, we finished up some of our travel plans for the rest of the trip since we're not sure what the wifi situation will be like for the rest of the trip. We had dinner at my favorite restaurant, Cuc Gah Quan, that has modern Vietnamese dishes. 

Friday we went for a tour of the Cu Chi Tunnels which were used by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War against the Americans. We had an hilarious tour guide, Chu, who made the tour engaging and interesting! It was hard to hear about all the traps they made to kill Americans...the US had no idea what they were walking into...
Chu said he is always asked, "Why did the Americans come to fight the Northern Vietnamese?" His answer was that the Geneva Conference in 1954 separated Vietnam into two parts, Northern Vietnam (communist led by Ho Chi Minh) and Southern Vietnam (French and US backed government) and both had agreed to not fight for 2 years. Well Ho Chi Minh wanted to unify all of Vietnam so he attacked Southern Vietnam in 1955, thus breaking the agreement. Darn those communists!

He showed us the hidden entrances to the tunnels and told us "Americans can't fit in here because they have hamburgers and beer. I used to be able to fit in these but now I eat hamburgers and beer."

Wow I love people's view of America hahaha. Then for the real part: the tunnels. They have separate tunnels that have been widened for tourists but they were still pretty cramped!! It was definitely an insane experience, I can't imagine living in those tunnels for as many years as they did.

Today I said goodbye to Saigon, my home for the past 6 weeks. Although I am ready (well more than ready) for a change of scenery, I feel a bit nostalgic about leaving here. I can't believe how fast these weeks went and how far I have come. I have been through many ups and downs here - both emotionally and physically - and I am so thankful for time here. I lived in a c r a z y city with thousands of motorbikes, hot humid weather, an extremely difficult language, and gracious people even though this country has a long history of wars. Even though I was lonely at times, the feeling of independence is such an adrenaline rush and I know I'll have solo travels in the future. These next 3 weeks will be fun with my new travel buddy; nothing like some good sister time! 

Our official travel route: Saigon -> Phnom Penh -> Siem Reap -> Luang Prabang, Laos -> Chiang Mai -> Golden Triangle -> Bangkok -> Hong Kong 

We have a lot of exciting travels ahead! 

Love

Whit