CONLEY.EARTH

Singapore in, Hanoi out

Sep 10

I fly into Singapore in September and leave from Hanoi in October. Four weeks. Five countries. Mostly cities.

Watercolor map of a Southeast Asia route from Singapore to Hanoi, numbered one through six: Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Siem Reap, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi.

Singapore first, so the jet lag has somewhere to go. Then the train to Kuala Lumpur. That’s the one rail leg on purpose. After that I fly. I already know how I feel about slow overnight trains: bad sleep, dark windows, a wasted day.

Bangkok gets the week. Siem Reap is short and pointed, for Angkor. Then Vietnam south to north, Ho Chi Minh City then Hanoi, and a night flight home.

I skipped the beach towns this time. I want streets I can walk at night.

I used to talk myself into long trains. Then I took them. This trip is walking, food, and enough nights that a place can actually start.

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