Journey out of Saigon

After a heartfelt and nostalgic goodbye to a city that we once called home, Mike, Linda and I boarded a bus on a backpacker street in Saigon and came to Cambodia. While I buried my nose in a fantastic memoir of a Cambodian orphan who lived through the Khmer Rouge terror, Mike reminisced of our time in Vietnam and composed a wonderful blog post in his mind. Three hours later and we were at the border. I made it through fairly quickly and then watched as ten, maybe twenty young men slipped money into an official's hand and then got sped through the customs line and then slipped some more money into their passport for their official stamp. Standing their ground of morality, Linda and Mike waited for 30 or more minutes as this process took place.

And then we were gone, out of Vietnam and no longer able to claim that our home is a massive, seething, bustling city called Ho Chi Minh City. None of us have careers, obligations or bills to pay and we've hit the road. In 10 days we'll say our farewells to Linda and then Mike and I will continue on for four months through Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Myanmar. In May we'll return to the States as seasoned travellers with a well-rounded view of Southeast Asia. Until then, stay posted to Mr. NoStarTravels and the blog you're on as you read this!