Part 1
As another great year draws to an
end, I could not help but look back at all of the new places that I have been
to and the experiences garnered from a year in travel in 2017.
My favourite month of the year,
also my birthday month – January, took me to Vibrant Vietnam. While exploring
the length and breadth of this gorgeous country, I had many unique experiences.
I paddled a hand woven bamboo boat in Halong Bay. It took some practice before
it went in the right direction, luckily, the rest of my fellow passengers were
rather supportive. Away from the floating village, I paddled us through a cave
towards a huge water body land locked on all sides. There was a moment when we
thought the boat was going to capsize!
Later on this trip, I cycled
through rice fields and villages in Hoi An. A great experience overall, it was
a bit of a pain as well. In my derrière to be precise! After cycling for 14 odd
kilometers, I was ready to call it a day. But since it was my last night there,
I dragged my sore self onto the lantern lit streets filled with merriment and
awe, and revelled in the festivities.
A short distance from Ho Chi Minh
city, I visited Cu Chi tunnels, an intricate network used by the Vietnamese as
a hiding place during the Vietnam war. This is where I experienced the unimaginable
- firing a few bullets from an AK47! Out
of a group of 40 people, me along with a couple of fellow Indians opted for
this experience as it was expensive. My left arm hurt for a few days thereafter
due to the sheer weight and impact of the firing but it was well worth it.
I further travelled down to
Cambodia and got to witness the much talked about sunrise at Angkor Wat, the
largest religious monument in the world. While walking with my torch towards
the main entrance of the famous temple under a carpet of stars, I could feel
the magic and magnificence of this UNESCO heritage site. There were thousands
of tourists waiting to capture the sunrise. My friend and I tried to find the
perfect spot and waited patiently to capture it on our lenses. I have cropped
out all the crowds in this shot.
As luck would have it, I got some
beautiful shots of Angkor Wat after sunset when there was not even one person
in sight. I went back to Angkor Wat in the afternoon to explore it at leisure.
I got blessed by one of the monks in the temple complex and visited Bakan, the
temple’s central sanctuary, for which people generally queue up for hours.
Visiting Angkor Wat was a dream
come true, although looking back, it stills feels like a dream.
