Wish You Were Here
BAJA: Morgan Hill resident Lee Anne Kientzy — “I am the one with the black hoodie touching the whale,” she says — took a weeklong trip to Baja with the Road Scholars this winter. “We had a wonderful trip learning about the ecosystem of this beautiful area. The highlight was the three trips to see the gray whales. The mothers and the babies like human contact and we could rub them as they all came to our 12-person boats, or pangas, in Scammon’s Lagoon at Guerrero Negro. A magical experience.”
Travel tip: These trips are only offered from December through mid-March, she says, “as the whales are there to mate and give birth. The lagoon is not easy to get to, but worth the drive.”
CAMBODIA: Dublin residents Elaine and Ron Lingle took a 13-day river boat cruise in January up the Mekong River from Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) in Vietnam to Siem Reap, Cambodia. Among their stops was the 12th century temple of Angkor Wat, pictured. Elaine says they also visited “the CuChi Tunnels out of Saigon, the Khmer Rouge killing fields and the school where the prisoners were kept until they were sent to the Killing Fields in Cambodia during Pol Pot’s regime (and) the floating markets on the Mekong River in Vietnam and Cambodia.”
Travel tips: “January and February is their winter — even then it is 90degrees, but it is the best time to visit. Travel early in the day to Angkor Wat; try to arrive before sunrise for the spectacular view. Stand over on the right side behind the moat to get a less crowded view. And most of all, visit these countries with an open mind.” Share your travels with us! Send your vacation selfies to jburrell@bayareanewsgroup.com. Be sure to tell us who’s who, where they’re from and where you are — and include a couple of travel tips to help fellow readers globetrot, too. Find more Wish You Were Here features at www.mercurynews.com/tag/wish-you-were-here.