A C. T U. A L. L Y

MARCH 6:   We had booked a two-day tour of Angkor Archaeological Park through Get Your Guide .   The first day was billed as a sunrise tour; the second, a sunset tour.   We had arranged with our tuk-tuk driver to pick us up at 4 a.m. for a 4:30 rendezvous with our small tour group at a hotel in Siem Reap, from whence we would continue by bus to the site.   However, we over-slept! I awoke at around 4:30 in a panic, threw on some clothes, woke up my husband, and sprinted to the Dontrei Villa gate.   When I opened the door, there was our faithful tuk-tuk driver, asleep in his vehicle, waiting for us.   And it’s a good thing he was too, because, having missed our rendezvous, we had no clear idea where to go or what to do.   Furthermore, having paid him the night before for the ride from the airport to our lodge, we were completely out of cash.   Our driver knew the Angkor Wat protocol, though.   He drove us at top speed to the Angkor tourist ...

March 5:   Last day in Hanoi.   We stopped by Huulala to finalize the payment and shipping of the jacket (above) they were making for me. This city had been our hands-down favorite so far, but we were keeping an open mind, because at 16:20 we would board Viet Jet Flight VJ4913 to Siem Reap, Cambodia, the site of Angkor Wat.  Before then, though, there were still some things we wanted to see in Hanoi. We hadn’t yet visited Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum (above) or the Presidential Palace, so we put them on the morning’s agenda. The atmosphere at the Mausoleum was beyond sober; it was chillingly intimidating.   The Vietnamese take Uncle Ho, the father of their country, rather seriously.   Lonely Planet describes the scene: In the tradition of Lenin, Stalin and Mao, Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum is a monumental marble edifice. Contrary to Ho Chi Minh’s desire for a simple cremation, the mausoleum was constructed from materials gathered from all over Vietnam between 1973 a...