Landed in New Delhi. Went to my first ever Indian wedding (which was incredible - do it) and ate a lot of food. I’ve been to Delhi in the past so I skipped a lot of the usual (Taj, Agra, etc) and just browsed around. The best north indian food (curries) I had was at Gulati on Pandara Road ($9 gets you a superb buffet). The best south indian food (dosa, idly, etc) I had was at Saravanan Bhavan in Connaught Place (get the Rava Dosa which will come with three different chutneys - the coconut one is to die for). It’s important to pace yourself when it comes to indian food or else the masala will oversaturate you. I made sure to go to Khan market for some french toast just to give my palette a break. Once I got a breather, I headed over to Old Delhi which is where you’ll get superb mughlai cuisine (kebabs, tandoor based food, etc). I went to Karim’s and had their chicken tikka, paneer, and roti. Mango stuffed kulfi from Kuremal Kulfiwale. I used Uber to get around which was about $1-2 per ride. I went to India gate which was a mistake - crowded and non-stop hawkers hassling you all the way through. The traffic in Delhi is real and the smog even moreso. In retrospect, I wish I had brought a mask. If you just want to explore Delhi, 3-4 days is the minimum you’ll need. My lodging was booked through the wedding so I can’t speak on lodging/hostel recommendations.

Then I flew to Siem Reap via Bangkok. It’ll cost you ~$35 for a VOA + passport photo. The taxis are fixed fare and $10 via car will get you to downtown SR. I stayed at a hostel called lubd for ~$8 a night. It’s hard to put this into words but this is probably the best hostel I’ve ever stayed at in my life. It has a premium, luxury finish to it but the crowd are the coolest, down the earth travelers I’ve met. I went to Angkor Wat and did the sunrise tour + 3 temples tour. I’m not sure how worth it waking up at 4AM was for that - it didn’t feel magical. There was also a huge crowd so that may have dampened the mood. The other temples are cool too. This was one of the those checkbox destinations; I’d regret it if I didn’t go but at the same time, there wasn’t that much there for me. I left after two nights which was a mistake. Though there isn’t a whole lot do outside of seeing AW, the crowd and vibe at the hostel was amazing and I wish I had more time to meet some people there. As far as food goes, I couldn’t detect a drastic difference between Cambodian and Thai food. I did have the signature Amok Curry which was OK, nothing amazing.

From SR, I took an overnight bus using Giant Ibis to Phnom Penh. The bus ride was surprisingly comfortable and took about 7 hours. In PP, I went to the S21 prison and the Killing Fields. Both are sobering sites and worth going to if you are into history. For the Killing Fields, you are given an audio headset. I thought the recordings and narratives were very well done. I stayed at 88 backpackers hostel which wasn’t great. It seemed pretty empty and the vibe was the complete opposite of where I had come from in lubd. I couldn’t get a read on PP but I also didn’t dedicate enough time for it. I very much sensed an elite upper middle class (RR Wraiths et al) and then everyone else.

From PP, I took a Giant Bus bus to Ho Chi Minh City. This took around 9 hours. The $80 or so in savings for a plane ticket was not worth it; I’d just fly next time. Make sure you get your visa! I got mine through the official Vietnam government website way in advance for $15 or so. I was traveling with a couple that assumed it would’ve been VOA. Instead, they had to pay $150 each and wait for the next bus.

In HCMC aka Saigon, I stayed at The Hangout hostel (~$6/night). This in the backpacker street in District 1 (tourist zone). The hostel is OK - I very much got the sense that the staff weren’t really into meeting anyone new. They do organize a pub crawl which I participated in. Unfortunately, they just take you to multiple very loud bar and clubs. Many of us who had just met for the first time wanted to hear about each other’s travels and experiences. We were frustrated that we couldn’t talk.

Hostel aside, HCMC is one of the best places I have ever been. You can sense the energy in the air; everyone and everything is buzzing. My favorite moments from this entire trip are all here. Getting on a Grab scooter and just going from district to district was incredibly fun for this American who only uses cars and trains. The food was excellent - I went to Pho2000 and had a Pho Ga paired with delicious, cold coconut water. The hot-spice + cold-sweet combo was just something. Like every big town in Asia, you can get any cuisine you like. I headed over to Little Tokyo to the Ramen Bar for delicious ramen. I had some Indian food at Baba’s Curry. I went to some patisseries to have desserts. I had some great sushi at Sushi Nhi. Food aside, The War Remnants museum is quite good and was fascinating to take in as an American. I didn’t have time to make it to the Cho Chi tunnels.

I then flew to Phuket and took a taxi to Khao Lak for 1000 baht using BOSS (guy on facebook who runs a taxi company - booked it through FB messenger). Here, I stayed at the Centara resort for ~$100/night before my three day liveaboard (I wrote separately about that experience here). After the liveaboard, I stayed at the Briza resort for ~$80/night. I didn’t know this coming in but Khao Lak is a resort town built for families. It was definitely strange being a solo traveler in these parts but still fun. There are restaurants in and around the resorts which are generally cheaper that I ate at. If I had more time, I would have checked out the national park nearby. After a couple days, I headed back to the airport (booked again using BOSS) and then flew to Singapore.

I only went to Singapore because of Crazy Rich Asians. I wanted to check out some of the sights I saw in the movie. I stayed in the Boat Quay neighborhood at the MET Space pod capsule hotel for $35/night. It was fantastic, the staff were really friendly, and the pods were comfortable. Definitely not a place to meet other travelers but that was OK with me. If you’re a foodie, you’ll love singapore because of the hawker markets. Think of it like street food but a little more organized and housed inside. I walked around chinatown and went to the Tekka Hawker market where I had the egg paratha for breakfast. I went to the Maxwell hawker market where I ate some bibimbap. I went to Liao Fan Hawker Chan (the michelin starred place) to get the Chicken rice (which was OK, didn’t blow me away). I went to the Old Airport Road Hawker stall where I had some diced chicken w/chilli and a Kachang (dessert). I went to the ground floors of the Marina Bay Sands which was a waste of time. It’s pretty much like the bottom of the Burj Khalifa - tons of luxury shops I’d never shop at one after the other. I suppose it’s nice to walk around and window shop if you’re into that type of thing. There’s a casino in there as well as a food court. I also went to the Raffles hotel to drink a Singapore Sling - this was worth it. Probably the best cocktail I’ve ever had.

Coming from America, Singapore felt the most familiar to me. Putting aside the lack of language barrier, what I really liked about it is the melting pot element to it. There are people from all parts of the region who live there. It also was the most livable. I appreciated the clean streets, the lack of scooter honks, and the running paths + parks.

Overall the trip was great. My favorite food was the dosa I had in India followed by the Pho + Coconut water combo in HCMC. My favorite experience (excluding the wedding) was riding around in HCMC on a scooter. If I had more time, I would have spent more time in Vietnam (and maybe explored the central and northern parts of the country) and in Singapore.