Christmas break 2015

This year, we went to Vietnam and Cambodia during Christmas break. 

We flew to Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) first for a couple of days. Walked lots around the historic downtown area, went to the market, ate at restaurants and street stands, and drank iced coffee near the riverside. 

Bloom was the name of one place we ate at that served modern Vietnamese cuisine. The restaurant is in a renovated French Colonial home and the staff and two head chefs train local youth in the hospitality industry as cooks, waiters, etc. to give them a possible career and a way out of a life of poverty.

Next, we flew to Siem Reap for a couple days where we went to, up, down, around, and through the many temples around Angkor Wat and for an excursion out to the floating village on Tonle Sap Lake. 

We watched sunset from atop a hill at Phnom Bakheng on the first evening and gazing at Angkor Wat the second. We all took so many photos!

We flew to the port town of Sihanoukville Christmas eve in time to join the "gala BBQ buffet dinner" at our resort with private access to Sokha Beach. Christmas Day we went to check out the local market, a Buddhist temple, a Christian university on a hill overlooking the sea and St. Michael's Catholic Church - one of only two in Cambodia to survive the Khmer Rouge. Saint Michael is the patron saint of fishermen and the structure, being shaped like a ship's sail reflects that.

Our last two stops were to be work-related for Paul, so on Boxing Day we rode in a van from the coast for over four hours on local roads to Phnom Penh in time for dinner with some people Paul works with, then checked into our hotel along the river. We went to the rooftop bar to enjoy a view of the moon and stars, as well as a view of a casino with flashing lights across the river (!)

We didn't have much time for sightseeing since we joined Paul at work and for a factory tour the next afternoon, but toured the Royal Palace grounds and went to the Russian Market to buy souvenirs.

After a couple nights, we flew to our original point of entry, Ho Chi Minh, for another dinner and factory tour, but we went for a massage and a stroll around a new mall while we waited instead of hanging around the office.

We enjoyed our family time and allowed a few days once home to rest and wash clothes before school and work started again.