Exotic Southeast Asia has always fascinated me and when my brother, Joseph Steirer, a former U.S. Army intelligence officer stationed in Vietnam during the Viet-nam War, wanted to return there, we organized a tour.

Starting in Seoul/Inchon, Korea, we flew to Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City as it is now called. This “Pearl of the Orient” is very crowded with bustling motorbikes and vehicles of all description and features a war museum, one part of which is called “American Atrocities.” But there is no mention of Hanoi Hilton, the place where our POWs were tortured. Unfortunately, the continuous presence of the French, Japanese and Americans has hurt the country’s development severely. We’ll let the historians decide how Vietnam, whose chief exports are coffee, rubber and rice, could have threatened our national security.

Officially a communist state, Vietnam is moving slowly toward free-market socialism and capitalism, but the poverty there is pervasive and severe. Evidence of this can be seen traveling up the Mekong River up to Cambodia. Starting in the Himalayas, this mighty river carries the lifeblood of the nation and flows with such force that it cannot empty fast enough to the South China Sea.

As a result, the river backs up and starts to flow in the opposite direction, creating the Tonle Sap Lake and River. Floating, impoverished villages and markets reflect the simple, struggling life of the inhabitants who are generally friendly, courteous and helpful.

Upon reaching Cambodia, a country in even worse shape than Vietnam, we were told to seek medical attention in Bangkok if we got sick. Our destination was Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, the world’s largest religious complex. Built completely of sandstone in the 1200s, this Hindu-Buddhist monastery was abandoned and overtaken by the jungle and giant banyan trees, whose roots coil in and out of the stone blocks like a giant python. A Frenchman discovered the ruins in the 1800s, and since then they are slowly being restored by Cambodia, interested countries and the United Nations.

After Angkor, we flew to Bangkok and later took a train to the famous bridge on the River Kwai. Actually, the Japanese army built more than 600 bridges using slave labor from captured Allies. The original bridge of movie fame is long gone. Another sad fact is that more than 7,000 British and Dutch soldiers died constructing bridges and railroads for the Japanese army during World War II, and their remains are in a local military cemetery.

Thailand is a beautiful country, probably the most advanced and prosperous in Southeast Asia. I enjoyed the exotic food, but not the oppressive heat and humidity. The distance to get there is immense — about 10,000 miles and a 25-hour flight. It’s definitely not a place for the timid and fainthearted. The sights, sounds and smells are distinct and sometimes offensive, but provide a unique experience to see a people and culture far different than our own.

Medina resident Michael Steirer is a frequent contributor on The Gazette’s Opinion Page.