Destinations

The Malaysia Countryside Seen Through a Bus Window

Having spent three days in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, it was time to travel on to Singapore, the final destination of our Southeast Asia trip. Singapore is an island off the southern tip of Malaysia. Flying into Singapore was certainly feasible, but getting to the airport and going through all the security and immigration seemed like a lot of hassle. We decided to take a bus. We looked into a train, but no trains travel that route directly. There were several…

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Kuala Lumpur’s Petronas Towers and Its Unique Skyline View

Kuala Lumpur is not on a lot of American’s radar. Likely many people would have trouble identifying the country it represents. Despite its relative obscurity, the city has managed to have a skyline that puts it in the record books. Currently the second tallest building in the world is in Kuala Lumpur. That building, the Merdeka 118, has been recently constructed and is still not yet ready to receive visitors. However, another building, the Petronas Towers, does receive visitors. This…

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Kuala Lumpur, Gaining Understanding of Its History and Culture

Kuala Lumpur has an impressive skyline. I’ll tell you more about that next time. The point is when you look at the skyline the city seems to stretch for miles. It is a city of a little over two million people so it’s not small. I say this as it surprised me to discover that some of the central areas of the city were not far from our hotel. After I found a self-guided walking tour on the internet, I…

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From Vietnam to the Batu Caves of Malaysia

When we were planning this trip, we knew that Vietnam would be our main focus. However, since we were in Southeast Asia already, we felt like it was a good opportunity to explore some other areas. We decided Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia would be a good place to start. With the kids returning to the United States, it was time for us to venture out on our own kid free. Our flight from Ho Chi Minh to Kuala Lumpur wasn’t…

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A Glimpse of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s Largest City

After spending nearly a week in Da Nang, Vietnam, it was time to visit the largest city in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh, formerly named Saigon. Our visit was a bit different than to Hanoi or Da Dang. We had come to Vietnam because our daughter-in-law is Vietnamese. Her home town is actually south of Ho Chi Minh. Initially we planned to visit her home town as her parents have built a home there. Her parents planned to be there during…

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The Delights of Ba Na Hills Hiding in the Fog

One of the interesting sights that has appeared recently in tourist photos is of a bridge being held up by large hands. This has become a somewhat iconic photo of Vietnam. While the bridge may look old, it is actually fairly new having opened in 2018. It sits in a large resort built in the last fifteen years just outside of Da Nang, Vietnam. Known as Ba Na Hills, this resort area has become one of Vietnam’s major attractions. With…

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The Challenge of Exploring Vietnam’s Marble Mountains

One of the aspects of travel in Da Nang is that many of the recommended sites to visit are not really in the city of Da Nang. They are outside the city and thus require transportation to get there. While cab fees are not particularly expensive, nevertheless they do add up. The drivers we used were all polite and business like. They also had nice vehicles. That surprised me to be honest. Many of the vehicles had the modern safety…

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Da Nang, Vietnam, A City on the Rise

The Vietnam War was fought when I was in high school and college. I could have been drafted, but I managed to escape that and did not serve. However, I couldn’t escape the war as seemingly every day the news focused on it. I became familiar with some of the cities in Vietnam. Saigon and Hanoi were often in the news. Da Nang was another name I heard frequently. Da Nang was actually the entry point for most American soldiers…

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Hoi An: An Ancient City with Unique Architecture and Lanterns

Our first full day in Da Nang wasn’t actually spent in Da Nang. We spent most of the day in the nearby town of Hoi An. We knew we wanted to go to Hoi An. At one point we planned to get a hotel there. However, we decided we should stay in Da Nang and just make a day trip out of going to Hoi An, so that’s what we did. We went to Hoi An on our first day…

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