Like water cooler talk at work, travelers have go-to topics of conversation too. As a person from the U.S., I am often asked about the election and Donald Trump. People ask for my opinion without regard for social conventions dictating politics is off limits. It is great to discuss a topic that we avoid in some settings at home.

I have had the election conversation many times with people representing different countries and I always hear similar comments from my conversation partners. They say:

• How has this happened? I cannot believe it!
• We think less of the United States because of Donald Trump’s candidacy.
• We love Obama. Regardless of the election results, the new President is not as exciting.

I know backpackers are a homogenous group – millennials, people with some financial means, people interested in travel even if it is not always comfortable or easy. Even given this homogeneity, I am intrigued that no person I have talked with supports Donald Trump.

I am happy to be out of the country during this election cycle so I can avoid the non-stop coverage. I still read my newspaper daily and also listen to election podcasts. For two of the three debates I streamed the audio live. (An aside: technology is amazing!) It is excellent to be able to choose how much election coverage I hear every day.

I am aiming to be in a larger city for November 9 (a day later because of the time zones) so I can continue my tradition of watching the voting results live on television. I am excited to see what an election watching party outside of the U.S. feels like.

Quick note: I returned this afternoon from 6 nights on the Cambodian Island Koh Rong Sanloem, a place with no roads, no ATMs, and no wifi. It was fabulous! A number of blog posts will come in the next few days. 

I met these fabulous German women, Pia and Marina, in our hostel in Can Tho. Because it is the end of the low and rainy season, we were the only people staying for both nights. I am grateful we had each other!

The big activity in Can Tho is a daybreak visit to the floating markets. Many other tourists also joined. We boarded a small wood boat without life jackets.

It was a grey day and the water is really this brown. I was told the water is less brown in the dry season when there is less run off.

This market is a working market. Each boat advertises their produce item by hanging it from the tall pole. The buyers must purchase in bulk and usually re-sell in the local markets in town.

Eyes are painted on almost every boat I saw in the delta region and also in the north in Halong Bay. They ward against evil and are also lovely to look at.

Pia, Marina and I along with our boat driver toured a family’s rice noodle factory. No one spoke English, including our boat driver, so I did not learn much about the factory. It was interesting to observe.

I left Can Tho and slept one night in a border down called Chau Doc. From Chau Doc I took a larger ferry (with life jackets!) for a 5 hour boat ride from Vietnam to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It was cool to cross a border through a river crossing. The blue sky pictures are from the border crossing trip.

Yom Kippur passed while I was in Can Tho. I streamed services from my synagogue. The cyclo taxi that would have picked me up for the boat ride across the border did not arrive. The kind and helpful front desk person at my hotel drove me on his moto the short distance to catch the boat. This was my first moto ride!

Photos from the boat ride on the Mekong to Cambodia.