Visiting Southeast Asia was a life changing trip. For the longest time, I never imagined myself exploring Asia. I wanted to visit Europe so badly. After my trip to Italy, I suddenly became interested in other parts of the world. I am glad my curiosity led me to Vietnam and Cambodia. The people of Vietnam and Cambodia were nothing but gracious. I never once felt discriminated against in either country.

My favorite things about Vietnam:

• Motorbike rides through Hanoi – Cheap and safe but mostly, very exhilarating
• Deep fried pork ribs – I ate these at the Bia Hoi and I would eat them again in a heartbeat
• The Old Quarter  – So much to see and great bargain shopping. You can haggle with almost every shop owner for a better deal.
• Cheap taxi and Uber rides – We didn’t take a ride over $5 USD our entire time in Hanoi
• How kind and honest the people are – They help you convert your currency without ripping you off. It took some time to get used to the Dong bills but it was nice to know that the Vietnamese people only want to help you
• Meeting people from around the world – From random bars to our Dragon Legend junk cruise, you are constantly meeting people from all parts of the world

My favorite things about Cambodia:

• How affordable a 4 star hotel is ($55 for Diamond D’Angkor Boutique: //www.diamondangkor.com/) This is where we stayed and I would highly recommend it. The rooms are large and the staff are more than accommodating. They organized all of our tuk tuk rides to and from the temples. They even gave us a to-go breakfast when we wanted to see the sunrise at 5:30 am at Angkor Wat!
• Angkor Archaeological Park – After 3 days of temple hopping, it wasn’t near enough time for this park. Although the heat was suffocating, I would recommend everyone make the trek to Angkor Park one day
• How innocent the children are – Riding on a tuk tuk through Cambodia allowed me to see lots of small children running around. It was the first time in a long time that I saw kids being kids. No cell phones, iPods or laptops. They were playing with toys and small water guns. They were chasing each other and laughing. It was a beautiful sight!

I don’t know when I will visit Asia again but I know I want to go back soon. Southeast Asia made me more compassionate and patient. I hope to visit Asia again soon.