Coming Up: A 9-day Sweet Escape in Indochina!

Selamat Datang! Xin Chao! Jumreap Soa!

I will be using those words frequently over the next few days! Ed and I will embark on a sweet escape tonight. We are traveling to 3 countries in Indochina (3 cities, actually) in 9 days. We will start and end the trip in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We will spend 3 days in Hanoi, Vietnam and another 3 days in Siem Reap, Cambodia!

What is Indochina?

In case you're wondering, Indochina is a term that is used to address a region in Southeast Asia bound by India and China. It is composed of modern day Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and peninsular Malaysia. Hmmp! Yeah, I did my research! :)

I wouldn't call this 9-day sweet escape as the ultimate Indochina adventure because, not like most Indochina backpacking route, we are skipping Laos and Myanmar. We only have 9 days and we don't want this trip to be another episode of Amazing Race: Ed and Lady edition. Hahah! So, tubing in Vang Vieng  and sunset watching in Bagan will probably happen some other time.

So, what is our plan? 

We will spend more time in each city to experience the culture, visit the must-see (as well as  the off-beat) attractions and taste the local cuisine. I will tick off some entries in my 20 before 2020 list and Ed will probably do something adventurous (as usual)! Hopefully, we'll also have the opportunity to interact with the locals and fellow travelers. 

Itinerary Overview

Our detailed itinerary will be posted soon. For the meantime, here's an overview.

Leg 1: Kuala Lumpur

From Dubai, we fly direct to the vibrant capital of Malaysia. It is my first time in Kuala Lumpur, while it is Ed's second (his first was a work trip almost a decade ago). So, we will basically do all the cliches! We will see the famous landmarks - the majestic Petronas Twin Towers, the soaring Menara KL Tower and the iconic Batu Caves. Leg 1 will be capped off with a Malaysian street food dinner in Bukit Bintang's Jalan Alor. 

Leg 2: Hanoi
Our days in Hanoi will be spent walking through the beautiful chaos of the Old Quarter and the regal atmosphere of the French Quarter. We will take a break in Hoan Kiem Lake, visit the prominent Ngoc Son Temple, and say our prayers at St. Joseph Cathedral which somehow reminds me of Notre Dame de Paris. Then, we will hunt the town for the best pho, banh mi, and egg coffee! In between our stay in Hanoi, we will take a short trip to Ha Long Bay and cruise amidst the tranquility on board a traditional junk.

Leg 3: Siem Reap
From Hanoi, we will take a budget flight to Siem Reap. We planned out a very relaxed itinerary for this leg. We will catch the sunrise in Angor Wat, visit Bayon Temple, Banteay Srie, and Ta Phrom (where the movie Tomb Raider was filmed). We want to avoid temple fatigue; hence, instead of seeing all those temples in 1 day, we will purchase a 3-day Angkor pass. We will visit one or two temples a day and balance it out with non-temple activities like getting a Khmer massage, watching the Phare Circus, and having a night out at the pub street or at the night market.

Leg 4: Kuala Lumpur
We will have a full day in KL before flying back to Dubai. We actually don't have an exact plan for this short stop yet. We'd probably go to the sights we missed on our 1st leg - Merdeka Square, Masjid Jamek and Sri Mahamariamman Temple. Or we'd laze around the hotel; simply because we booked a night in an all-suite hotel with an amazing infinity pool overlooking the city. Anyhow, we'll see how it goes.


Having said all that, I bet by now you know how ecstatic I am for this trip!  I'll share some snippets on social media.  Join us on Instagram @ladyandhersweetescapes and on Facebook.  And I'll spill all the details - experiences and expenses - when we get back! :)