Powered by girls - Trip to Vietnam and Cambodia

 July 21 -Friday. The much awaited trip !

My first personal international trip. It was expensive but Sree agreed to give dollars which would cover food and shopping. Since it was Shalini's meticulous planning, I was more than 100% certain, nothing would go wrong. It was the week after kid's birthday (there were no big celebrations but as a mother it is nice to see them grow and reach milestones) and i applied for a week's leave.

July 21, Accenture had an annual party at Leela Palace. After a quick lunch, i headed to the Bangalore International Airport, met Shalini and Leeja (Shalini's bestie) and soon we 3 became a good travel trio. Shalini's reel ideas began right when the journey commenced and we went back in time, like school kids. We had got a customised T-shirt which read 'Caution : Girls Trip In Progress', so almost everyone who could read English noticed us in the airport and in the flight. After a brief overlay in Calcutta, we landed in Hanoi in the odd morning hours. Luckily the hotel cab was waiting and we checked in at the hotel in old quarter town. It was a cozy room and after settling in, we went to sleep. 

Day 1 : Roaming in Hanoi old town, literally drenching in sweat in the tropical weather. Everything was very colorful in the town and we wandered late into the night. By Sunday evening, the old quarter town main road had tents put up and we found ourselves indulged in shopping.

Day 2 : The next day was a day tour in Hanoi arranged by the tour, a visit to ancient architectural buildings, cycle rides, countrysides etc. We came back to hotel, refreshed and then went back to night Beer Street ,walked till late night. It felt like a known place ,even though we had been there for just 2 days. Thanks to the stars, we werent pickpocketted or had any bad experiences.

Day 3 :Cruise on Ha Long Do. Must Do. My first cruise. I had longed to go on a cruise while in US but it was too expensive and we never made to it. Our ship was huge and we had a cozy stay in a wooden . The deck view was lovely and post dinner ,we stood out watching the sky. We 3 had planned bohemian dresses for the cruise trip and took loads of pictures. We also met a famous Indian Canadian Chef who was on a holiday here.

Day 4 ; After kayaking and some water sports, we were taken back to hotel , did more roaming before catching flight to Siem Reap

Day 5 : Lovely hotel and stay was amazing. We had a taxi all by ourselves for the 2 days in Siem Reap. The splurge continued and we were buying everything from bracelets to dresses to budhas, apsaras and what not !  Took loads of pictures and even did some dance reels. Our tour guide was knowledgeable and also was kind enough to take pics for us. With the climate change , ice cream eating during the day etc, i felt feverish but with medicines, it was all fine. Ate lot of mangoes in both countries and in this hotel, we did a sauna also. Since this was not the tourist season, the places we visited werenot crowded, which meant no queues. We had a peaceful time.

Day 6 : Some more roaming around, shopping and dinner watching apsara dance. 

Day 7: Back to base via Bankok

Some very nice memories etched during the trip. Also got to know Leeja  -her art, her family etc. Girls trips can never be boring !

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