Traveling around South East Asia
In my experience, traveling around Thailand can be exciting, fun and educational all at the same time. Add amazing Thai food and you have the best vacation ever! The people of Thailand really make traveling in their country enjoyable. Thais are known for their smiles, friendliness and hospitality. In fact, I met several travelers that after spending their vacation in Thailand decided to remain. It was definitely a tempting thought that I can saw often crossed my mind.
Another South East Asian country that is fun to explore is Cambodia. I was a bit trepidatious about traveling there only because I didn’t know much about it beforehand. As it turns out it was my second favorite country to Thailand. Once again the people were incredibly friendly and welcoming. It is obvious that many of the towns and communities are catering to tourists and hopefully in the future that won’t take away from travelers getting to know the real Cambodia. Cambodia still has a ways to go before they catch up with some of the conveniences and luxuries that Thailand offers but perhaps that is part of the charm.
While I loved Thailand and enjoyed traveling around Cambodia, I think I was most surprised by Vietnam. I expected Vietnam to be much like Cambodia and really the southern part of the country is quite similar. However, once you start to head north, the differences become less subtle and Vietnam becomes more developed. I wasn’t really expecting the beauty of the country either. Perhaps this was ignorance on my part because any search online of Halong Bay results in amazing photos and picturesque scenes. Vietnam is also making the effort to be more welcoming for tourists. Roads are being paved and buses are kept to a higher standard than in Cambodia. It would be difficult to choose one of these countries as my most recommended of South East Asia because each is unique.