Planning - where to start

 With a pin in the date of November 18 needing to be in Bangkok for the wedding, we began looking at the options for where to go, what to see and how to get around.  I will confess that it was a bit overwhelming. 

Shirley's daughter, a major traveler, had told us that Vietnam is one of her favorite countries on the planet, so we knew we wanted to include a stop there as part of our trip.  

I should mention here that Shirley has some health issues and we wanted to make sure what we planned wouldn't overwhelm her.  The idea of a guided tour on a bus was quickly tossed out, as the rigidity of those trips simply didn't work for us.  I ended up Googling "traveling SE Asia with mobility issues" and among the hits was a link to a travel agency that could put together customized trips.  I filled out their web form...

I got a call the next day from Nick, at Audley Travel.  Nick and I spoke for about an hour.  He asked a ton of questions and said he'd be back in touch in a few days.  When he called back, he had a link to a custom website they had created for our trip.  In addition to Vietnam and Thailand, he recommended we also visit Cambodia, so the proposed itinerary included stops in both Seam Reap to visit the temples of Angkor What, and Phenom Phen.  The trip even included a multi-day river cruise down the Mekong.

After a few tweaks, we had a customized tour put together, with stays in small, boutique hotels, day excursions, and guides and drivers to meet us for every stop along the way.

I'm withholding final judgement on the Travel Agency until after I get back, but so far we have received five-star service and are very pleased with what they have arranged for us.

Our Itinerary:

Depart home early Saturday morning, October 28.  Arrive in Hanoi, Sunday night.

3 nights in Hanoi

1 night on Halong Bay

3 nights in Seam Reap

3 nights in Phenom Phen 

4 nights on the Mekong River

3 nights in Ho Chi Mihn City

4 nights in Bangkok

3 nights in Phuket

Fly home arriving Thanksgiving afternoon.

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