Dear Colorado College alumni and friends,

I invite you to join Dan Johnson, Professor of Economics & Business, on an 11-day adventure through Southeast Asia. Throughout this trip, you will stay at excellent hotels, enjoy many delicious, included meals, and learn from Professor Johnson about different facets of these countries’ economies.

Your journey will begin in Bangkok where you will spend three days touring the city and its many unique sites including the Reclining Buddha, the temple complex of Wat Pho and the city’s largest flower market. You will enjoy a longboat tour and have the option to tour the Jim Thompson House and shop for silk products in its high-end store.

After flying to Siem Reap, Cambodia, you will spend four days where you will tour Angkor Thom, the ancient capital of the Khmer Empire, including the magnificent Ta Prohm Temple, known for its dramatic fusion of nature and architecture built in the 12^th century. You will also tour Angkor Wat, considered one of the World’s Wonders, and explore rooms and chambers tourists rarely see. A trip to Banteay Srei Temple, the "Women’s Temple," is also on your agenda. While in Siem Reap, you will visit Phare: the Cambodian Circus, the Angkor National Museum and Pub Street.

After a flight to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), you will spend your final four days in Vietnam where you will tour the Independence Palace, the Central Post Office, Notre Dame Cathedral and go to the top of the Landmark 81 Tower to enjoy fabulous city views. The group will also have the opportunity to visit the War Remnants Museum, the Ben Thanh Market or shop on Don Khoi Street.

John Shors ’91, P ’26, designed and has led this tour for many groups. He looks forward to sharing the wonders of Southeast Asia with the CC community. For more information, check out the full itinerary.

Colorado College Faculty Leader

Dan Johnson is an international economist with specialization in policy analysis and innovation in the Global South. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Ottawa, his master’s degree from the London School of Economics, and his PhD from Yale University. At Colorado College, he teaches courses on public policy, racism, healthcare, and innovation along with the standard economics tools (micro/macro/metrics), and built the popular first-year course Markets and Morality. On his most recent sabbatical, he served as a Senior Research Fellow to the Thurgood Marshall Institute, where he is now affiliated in emeritus status. Last year, he co-taught the first Career Catalyst Block while embedded at Mattel in Los Angeles.

Dan has published over seventy research papers, dozens of them with CC student co-authors, mostly focusing on questions of equity and distribution. Serious examples analyze how police respond to public protests, how informal lending affects agrarian suicides in Punjab and how COVID fell disproportionately on people of color in the US, but his work also strays into lighter topics such as game show contestant behavior, Steve Jobs, and Olympic medal counts. His work has been covered by hundreds of press outlets including The Economist, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Times of India, Fox Business, and BBC World News.

Dan has spent time in this region before, as a Fulbright Specialist in Myanmar where his emphasis was teaching innovation/ entrepreneurship to college students and former political prisoners. He loves to travel to new places, has prize-winning photos published in two travel magazines, and is finishing up a humorous book about his travel adventures. Dan wrote music performed at CC’s commencement in 2020, and performed stand-up at a NYC comedy club in 2023.

Tour Prices

Price of Tour Per Person 

• $7,995 per person, based on double occupancy
• $10,595 per person, based on single occupancy

If interested, please submit this form. Learn more here.

Itinerary

Sunday, January 18: Arrive Bangkok International Airport | Transfer to your downtown hotel | Welcome dinner

Monday, January 19: Walking tour of Bangkok | Reclining Buddha | temple complex of Wat Pho

Tuesday, January 20: Private longboat tour | flower market | Jim Thompson House

Wednesday, January 21: Fly to Siem Reap, Cambodia

Thursday, January 22: Angkor Thom | Bayon Temple | Ta Prohm Temple | Pub Street

Friday, January 23:  Angkor Wat | “Killing Fields” memorial | Phare: the Cambodian Circus

Saturday, January 24:  Banteay Srei, “The Women’s Temple”

Sunday: January 25:  Angkor National Museum | Fly to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

Monday, January 26: Independence Palace | “Book Street” | Central Post Office | Notre Dame Cathedral | War Remnants Museum or Ben Thanh Market or shopping on Don Khoi Street

Tuesday, January 27: Cooking class | Landmark 81 Tower | Farewell dinner

Wednesday, January 28:  Depart Ho Chih Minh City

For questions, contact john@johnshorstravel.com, (303) 885-3885