SE Asia During COVID-19

In early 2020 when the COVID-19 cases were being discovered in China at a high rate, my wife and I decided to continue with our plans for a Southeast Asia trip. You see, we had planned for this trip a couple of months ahead of time, so no one had ever heard of COVID-19. As we came closer to our departure date (February 1^st), we contemplated whether to continue with our trip and decided that we would take precautions with medical masks. So there we were with 100 so medical-grade masks in our bags, ready to take the plunge!

We flew from Chicago to Bangkok via Abu Dhabi on Etihad. Etihad has decent business class cabins but the planes seemed dated to me. The service however was just wonderful. After a quick few-hour layover in Abu Dhabi, we continued to Bangkok.

Coughing Etiquette

So this happened! We were in a lounge in Abu Dhabi. We chose to seat away from everywhere and had our masks on. Someone walked and sat in a nearby seat. They also had a mask on. All of a sudden this person felt like coughing. He took his mask off and started coughing! Isn’t the whole idea of wearing a mask is to not throw your germs around! That was bizarre for sure.

When we arrived in Bangkok, there were mobile thermal scanners throughout the airport. It read your temperature and if it was high, they would pull you aside. Otherwise, you just go about your business. I had pre-booked a car for the three days we were in Bangkok, so our driver was waiting for us as we walked out. A quick 30 minutes later and we were at Lancaster Bangkok. A beautiful hotel. They performed temperature checks upon arrival and had a no-contact process for check-in. After getting fresh, we were ready to see Bangkok. Before we did, we decided to go out for a quick meal. I had found a highly rated vegetarian restaurant near our hotel, so we walked to the place. The food was certainly good but let me tell you, the pricing was insane. A meal in Bangkok should not cost you $40 per person without alcohol, but it did! Anyway, the food was good so we were happy and ready to take on the city! Our first stop was the Royal Palace. It is a beautiful property. We were wearing masks and keeping social distance. Our driver was also masked up and was good about keeping the car sanitized, so that was certainly a big relief.  After the Royal Palace, we continued to Wat Arun and then on to Wat Pho (sleeping Buddha). I was really impressed with Wat Pho. It is a gigantic statue. It was a beautiful evening.

 We had a long day ahead of us the next day, so we started early in the morning. Our driver took us to the famous floating market. It seems that there are multiple entrances to this floating market so drivers take you to the one that gives them a kickback! We rented a boat and off we went. The small canals you go through have shops lined up on the side. After a few miles, we entered the real floating market. It is an amazing scene to see. There were vendors and hacklers, and they were selling everything under the sun. I really enjoyed the floating market and the hustle and bustle of the market. After a long day, we were back at the hotel just before sunset.

The next day, we were ready to leave Bangkok for Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is rural Thailand and a beautiful place. Our hotel car was waiting for us at the airport and quickly took us to the hotel. After settling in, we decided to visit Wat Phra That, a beautiful temple. The temple is on a hill and has a few hundred step hike. All along the hike, small vendors are selling a variety of things. We actually ended up buying a few things from these shops! After the climb down, we checked out some local street food and made our way to this marble query. They had some beautiful hand-carved marble statues. After a few hours, we made our back to the hotel. Our hotel was within walking distance from the famous night market of Chiang Mai. So that evening, we walked to the night market. It is just a big touristic thing to do I suppose! The next morning, we went to the town to visit Wat Phra Singh as well as the famous Suthep. Suthep has beautiful grounds and an all-around beautiful property. After a few hours, we made our way back to the hotel and relaxed for the rest of the day at the poolside.

The next morning, we were on our way to Hanoi, Vietnam. Hanoi is a big city. Our hotel car was waiting for us at the airport and as soon as we checked in, we decided to walk the city.

Language Barrier

To our surprise, right outside our hotel was a vegetarian restaurant. We walked in and realized that language was going to be a barrier! They had a number of items on the buffet, and we had no clue what was on the menu, or how to serve or eat those items. To our luck, there was another guest who spoke just enough English to explain to us and was kind enough to answer our questions. It was a wonderful experience.

We continued walking around the city and ended up walking towards the famous puppet theatre. The puppet theatre is right on the lake and there were all kinds of vendors on the lake. We found this one vendor who was selling hand-cut pieces of paper with amazing art! We decided to buy a few. Afterward, we made our way to the puppet theatre. The puppet theatre was full of people and no one was wearing a mask. We did not feel comfortable; I had read in the newspaper earlier that they found a few dozen COVID-19 cases in one of Hanoi’s neighborhoods. Anyway, after the puppet show, we made our way back and called it a night. The next morning we had a car picking us up for the Halong Bay cruise. Halong Bay is a good two hours from Hanoi. After picking up a few other tourists, we reached Halong Bay around mid-morning. Our boat was waiting for us. Being in COVID-19 times, there were very few tourists. Our boat had a capacity of 60 people and there were 6 of us on the boat. So we had the entire boat to ourselves! They served lunch on our way to Halong Bay. The boat had a private cabin where we could relax while we were making our way in. Once we reached the Cat Ba National Park, we saw a number of natural caves that were formed over the years. Next, we visited an actual floating village! All of the houses and structures are floating. They are owned by fishermen and it is their way of life. They took us on a smaller boat and showed us around the village. There is no land around… how people just live on the water in the middle of nowhere is just beyond my imagination. This was such a treat for me. We return to the bay at around 4 pm and were back on our way to Hanoi.

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The next afternoon, we flew out to Ho Chi Minh (Saigon). We reached our hotel in the early evening and decided to pick up pizza from a local pizza place next door. It was probably the best pizza I had outside of the US and Italy. The next morning, we had a car take us to the famous Cu Chi Tunnels. The Cu Chi Tunnels is quite a drive from the City Center, but it was worth the drive. It is an extraordinary site, especially for a history buff. If you want to know why the US lost the Vietnam war, you must visit the Cu Chi Tunnels. They let you walk through the tunnels that the rebels used to fight the US army. And to my delight, in the end, we were able to buy fresh-squeezed Sugarcane juice at the restaurant on-site! After a full afternoon, we returned to the hotel in the evening. We walked to the City Center for dinner. One thing I noticed about Vietnam is that the people eat out a lot. During lunch and dinner times, we saw almost every local going to restaurants, sitting on the small stool on the floor, and ordering meals. I was surprised that many average earners were eating out on a daily basis. Just an observation!

The following day, we walked the City Center and saw the famous Post Office and other landmarks. That evening, we made our way to the airport for our next stop to Siem Reap, Cambodia.

At Ho Chi Minh City airport, we met an Indian couple on their honeymoon. We started chatting and they were also going to Siem Reap. We asked them about their plans in Siem Reap and they did not have any, so we invited them to join us since we had a private car for the three days in Siem Reap. That evening, we decided to have a traditional Cambodian dinner at our hotel. It was a really nice meal. The next day, we were ready to tackle Angkor Watt. Over the next three days, we visited the famous Angkor Wat, Banteay Srei, Ta Prohm, and Angkor Thoms. These ancient ruins not only are architectural wonders, but they tell you stories of the glory days. After three days in Siem Reap, we were off to Kula Lumpur, Malaysia, before we made it over to India to visit family.

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Kula Lumpur is a very modern city. I was impressed with the highway system and of course the world-famous Petronas Twin Tower (made famous in the West by Mission Impossible)! They actually have five-star malls. Who knew there was such a thing! I decided to get a haircut at a barbershop in the mall since it had been a few weeks since we left home. It was my only haircut anywhere outside the US in the past 30 years, and the last professional haircut for the next eight months since the world locked down as soon as we were back in the US!

That’s it. It was the end of our SE Asia trip and we had a great time. Even though we traveled during COVID-19, for the most part, we felt safe. Everyone was wearing masks and taking precautions except for the one place in Hanoi. I am glad we decided to continue with that trip since lockdowns ensued for the next few months.

Did you take a trip during COVID-19? How was your experience? Please do share below and participate with your comments.