Scott's Southeast Asian Adventures

If there’s one positive to jetlag it’s that you don’t have to fight getting an early start on the day. Even in the din of a well-draped hotel room, you’re up and at ‘em at an hour you normally don’t see. That’s always been my experience, at least. Today was no exception. Despite being comfortably cocooned in my villa at the Sofitel Centara Grand in Hua Hin, and despite being three days into this trip (i.e. far enough removed from the long journey from Salt Lake City to Southeast Asia) the eyes opened and stayed open. My internal clock still has me somewhere over the Pacific, I think. So I took to the beach, about 100 yards down the orchid-lined footpath between the resort and the Gulf of Thailand. I’m not a religious person, but this morning’s walk was nothing short of spiritual. First, the sunrise. It was dark when I embarked, but within what seemed like 15 or 20 minutes — hard to say exactly, because I didn’t have my watch or phone — I could sense night giving way. With each step, th...

As I get set to return to Asia next Friday, to meet with clients and visit with friends, I'm reminded of August 2007, when I became a resident of Saigon, on a peninsula of District 2 called Thu Thiem. The reminder is in the form of a photo (see below) snapped recently and shared the other day by Carl Robinson, a former AP correspondent who loves nothing more these days than to share memories, stories and images with the 250-plus-member Google discussion group "Vietnam Old Hacks". The photo was taken from the observation deck of the new Bitexco Financial Tower , by far the tallest building in Vietnam now at 68 stories high. The frame transports me back in time because of what it shows. Or, rather, what it doesn't show. And that is so much of what surrounded me when living in Thu Thiem -- miles-long rows of modest houses, restaurants, shops and markets that line Luong Dinh Cua Street, and giant billboards along the Saigon River and next to the little ferry terminal th...

Three years ago last week, when Claire and I were living in Saigon, we flew north to Hue , Vietnam's imperial capital, and spent about five days there with my colleague Jim and his family -- wife Thuy, son Cullen and daughter Vivian. I remember it being cold and rainy in the same way my native Seattle is around this time of year. I also remember how fun it was to be in Hue that week, mainly because it was Tet, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year. The streets and markets were crowded with shoppers of all ages on the prowl for things like flowers and cakes and decorations and gifts. Despite the gray skies, there was color -- reds and golds and yellows and greens, everywhere you looked. We roamed places like the Citadel and Thu Duc's Thomb. We drank cafe sua during the day, and in true locals style, warm beer at night. We munched on Hue specialties, in the homes of Thuy's relatives. We cruised around the wet city on a rented motorbike. We played pool in the lobby of La Residence Ho...