So, I am not sure how much I will blog this next trip -- my sixth adventure to SE Asia -- but I wanted to at least create the blog space and get it started. My previous 5 trips are captured in these four blogs:
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Penang, Phuket, Bangkok, Thailand - April/May 2016
Bali, Indonesia; Singapore; and Shenzhen, Qingdao, Ciyao, Shanghai, China - October 2015
Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Wenzhou, China - October 2013
Hong Kong and Shenzhen, China - Dec 2009 and Beijing, Shenzhen and Xian April 2010
Using the same process that I described in my prior blog "Wanderlusting Cheaply" I purchased a ticket from Portland to Shanghai with a return from Kuala Lumpur for $463 (Alaska, Delta and All Nippon Airways) - and later filled in with flights from Shanghai to Siem Reap, Cambodia ($189 Air Asia) and then onward to Bali ($161 Air Asia).
My interests in returning to Shanghai and Bali were developed by my prior trips there including opportunities to visit friends in both places (detailed in the blogs). To understand why I added Cambodia to this trip, it is helpful to know/remember that my entire interest in traveling to SE Asia began when my younger daughter and her husband accepted one year English teaching assignments in Shenzhen, China in 2009 -- prompting my first trip to SE Asia. During their assignment, they were able to travel extensively in SE Asia and kept their own blog here and when I asked them which places I should prioritize in my journeys, their joint answer was Siem Reap, Cambodia - home to the Angkor Wat - and Ha Long Bay near Hanoi, Vietnam. So, I decided to add Siem Reap to this trip and save Ha Long Bay for my next trip to SE Asia.
So, this trip begins tomorrow morning (August 29, 2016) with a 45 minute Alaska Airlines flight from Portland to Seattle, connecting to a 12.5 hour Delta flight from Seattle to Shanghai.
One of the bands I play sousaphone with (the Portland Power Pep Band) likes to end performances with the George Bernard Shaw quote: "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." I'm hoping the saying may also apply to traveling!
