Author Archives: lisanordlund1

It’s funny how different cultures eat different foods, have different hygiene habits and basically live differently. In Cambodia we were told KFC was Khmer Fried Cricket. The Cambodians are known to eat all exotic insects including tarantulas. In Borneo, we never were served any form of bread during meals. Boy was I missing morning pastry.Continue reading “Back to Western Civilization”

We woke really early for our morning river cruise hoping to spot an orangutan in the wild. Since Bruce and I retired, we generally sleep in until 8 am. This trip has not been a vacation in that sense. Rising at 5 am sometimes feels like pure torture. I wish I could say I likeContinue reading “The Man of the Forest – Part 2”

Those who know me, know I have a fascination with primates. In fact, if I was younger and had time for yet another career, I would have loved to have been doing the work of Jane Goodall or Dian Fossi. Well I wouldn’t want to meet my demise in similar fashion to Ms. Fossi butContinue reading “The Man of the Forest”

There were no direct flights from Hanoi to Sandaken so I figured it would be fun to spend two nights in Kuala Lumpur. It really was only one full day, since we arrived at 8:30pm on Friday night and were leaving 6am Sunday morning. Getting through the airport was a feat in itself. It wasContinue reading “A Quick Visit to Kuala Lumpur”

We took a leisurely trip back from Halong Bay. We first stopped at a little farm on the side of the road. They were growing green onions, basil, beans and a variety of other herbs that I did not know but have recently tasted. Our next stop was a huge shop with very clean happyContinue reading “Saying Goodbye to Friends and Vietnam”

When I was planning this trip to Vietnam, I knew I wanted to go to Halong Bay. I found the riverboat cruise company that offered a two day package out on the bay and we were set. Many of you have seen the iconic shots of pillars of rocks shooting out of the water surroundedContinue reading “Breathtakingly Beautiful – Halong Bay”

We arrived in Hanoi in the early evening and greeted by our new tour guide Ang. As we drove to our hotel he pointed out various sites including the neon lighted bridge. It changed colors as we drove over it giving a feel of Las Vegas rather than Hanoi. He also told us that HanoiContinue reading “Hanoi – A Vibrant Historical City”

Out the window of our cabin, we could see the gathering of the ox carts for our morning excursion. The ox carts were set up for two people and they put a pad across the wooden bottom to make it more comfortable for us. It was a lot of fun but it would have beenContinue reading “An Ox Cart Ride Through the Cambodian Countryside”

Our morning excursion began with a bus ride up the mountain to Wat Hanchey, a hilltop temple overlooking the river. Some of our fellow travelers chose to hike up but Bruce and I decided to take a nice air-conditioned bus. We feel at our age we don’t have anything to prove and I know weContinue reading “Water Blessings from a Buddhist Monk”

As was the day we visited the Vietnam War Museum in Ho Ch Min City, this too was a somber day looking back on the genocide that took place in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. The Pol pot reign of terror began when the people thought he would bring Cambodia into an enlightened age. InsteadContinue reading “Into Cambodia’s Dark History”