Vietnam, home of the American War

OK, no more pics for a month til I get my card sorted out :(. Cross your fingers for me that I haven't lost everything...

The bus ride from Phnom Penh to Vietnam was uneventful (a good thing with border crossings). I did meet a tour group and the guide joke that Cambodia's national pastime was sleeping in hammocks. I found that hysterical because you really do see loads of people all over Cambodia sleeping in hammocks. Often when you'd think they'd be working. Not that I am judging. I say more power to 'em.

First stop in Vietnam was Saigon (yes, it has been renamed Ho Chi Minh City, but everyone still calls it Saigon and Saigon is easier to type). I had been warned that the cities in Vietnam are absolutely crazy and it is true, I have never seen traffic like I saw in Saigon. And there are literally hundreds of electric wires crossing at every major intersection. This place is packed! My first day I walked up to the War Remnants museum. In Vietnam, the Vietnam War is called the American War. The museum is really sobering. It shows many terrible things our troops did to villagers and talks about the chemicals we let loose that are still crippling children today. There are also displays of protests against the war from around the world (including the US) and some peaceful artwork by kids. Definitely a must see if you go to Saigon. The next day I took a day trip to the Cao Dai temples and the Cu Chi Tunnels. Cao Dai is a hybrid religion that is popular in Vietnam. The temple reminded me of the Gaudi architecture you find in Barcelona (so I loved it). The Cu Chi Tunnels were a system of tunnels 200 km long where the Cu Chi Villagers lived during the war. We were shown all sorts of really painful looking booby traps that the VC set up for American troops and were able to crawl through parts of the tunnels. For a small additional fee, you can fire a real military rifle or AK-47, but I passed as I am not a fan of guns. My third day in Saigon I did a day trip to the Mekong Delta. We spent much of the day in varying sizes of boats along the Mekong and visited a few island villages. We got to try coconut candy, fresh honey, rice liquor, banana wine (skip it, so gross), and 5 different kinds of fruit (my first jackfruit!). I also got to wear one of the conical hats that are so common in Vietnam. I look ridiculous and yes, there are pictures.

I've been very excited about the food in Vietnam for, well the whole trip. I am addicted to the fresh spring rolls with shrimp and pork that you buy on the street for 4000 dong (25 cents). I also love the Pho. Yesterday I tried the Bun Hue which is a spicy noodle soup from the north. It was good, but I prefer Pho. Each area has its own specialties so I'm looking forward to trying loads more as I travel north.

Yesterday I took a bus up to Dalat in the Central Highlands. It took all day so other than walking around the lake and the market last night, I haven't seen much. This afternoon I am doing a motorcycle tour of the area and tomorrow I head off for a 5 day tour of the highlands on the same motorcycle. This trip is with the famed (locally anyway) Easy Riders that I have heard and read rave reviews about. So needless to say I am stoked! I'll let you know how it goes.

See some of you very soon!

From Killing Fields to beaches

Hallo everyone,

Unfortunately still no pics. I'm on my third cybercafe today and none will let me upload. I'm a little worried about a virus (cause the computer here says I have one) so everyone cross your fingers that it is the computer, not my card...

On my first visit to Phnom Penh, I did the Big 4 of sites here. They consisted of the Royal Palace (nice ornate buildings, lots of gold and silver statues, elephant carts, the usual), the National Museum (statues, history, more gold and silver) and then the starkly contrasting Tuol Sleng (aka S21) and The Killing Fields at Choeng Ek. The last two were remnants from the Khmer Rouge regime. Suspected "traitors" or "party enemies" were sent to S21 to confess their crimes. The confessions were extracted using medieval torture methods- sometimes over a period of months. Family and friends of the "traitors" were often also forced to confess. Once the confession was obtained to the satisfaction of the staff at S21, the people were taken to the Killing Fields and killed- usually with blunt or sharp instruments to conserve bullets. The bodies were then buried in mass graves which were treated with chemicals to cover the smell and kill anyone who may have been buried alive. It is so difficult to fathom this sort of cruelty, but the skulls in the memorial at Choeng Ek and the images in S21 make you realize it really happened. Quite a contrast to the museum and palace...

From PP I headed to the Cambodian coast. My first stop was Sihanoukville (I still can't pronounce it right). Sihanoukville is a total beach town. There isn't really anything else to do there (except get a super fast Vietnam visa- which I did). It was St. Patrick's Day when I arrived so it seemed fitting that I spent it in the company of some Irish girls who were staying at my guesthouse. Actually everyone at my guesthouse was great! The Irish girls, the Scottish crew, the English bartender, the Kiwi, the Yanks, and the German dude. Oh and Jesse, the Dutch guy learning hotel management. So I spent the next 3 days hanging out with the guesthouse crew, going to the beach and relaxing. I also ran into some guys that I've seen in 3 different cities now. Small world indeed.

After Sihanoukville, I spent a day in Kampot. I wasn't too impressed with Kampot, although I did meet some cool people on a sunset cruise on the Mekong and we had dinner together. So I headed out the next day for the little seaside resort of Kep. Kep was another relaxing place to spend a few days. The first day I walked about 20 km between seeing the whole town (it is spread out) and hiking the trial in the Kep Mountain National Park. The second day, I took a moto to some caves with Buddhist shrines in them and on the way back stopped at a small museum dedicated to victims of yet another killing field in the area. My guesthouse in Kep was right on the water facing West so I saw some beatiful sunsets. Day 3 I took a day trip to Rabbit Island 5 km off the coast. Even though Kep is on the shore, the beaches are nothing to shout about. The ones on the island are much better. Seafood is super fresh in Kep so I had a lot of fresh shrimp while I was there. It was pretty neat to have dinner on the ocean and see the guys out catching the fish (at night) right next to where I was eating.

I think that is about it for now. Back in Phnom Penh trying to take care of a few last minute things before I head to Vietnam early tomorrow morning. I am very excited about Vietnam!!

Oh and Heather sent this link (thanks Heather!) where you can sign up to receive an email whenever I update the blog. Feel free to use it if you wish.

http://www.feedmyinbox.com/

Angkor

Suas'dei,

Right, Ban Lung. I seemed to spend a lot of time lost and dusty in Ban Lung. The first day I went looking for a couple of waterfalls. They were signed off the main road, but never again. I didn't find any, but I did get a nice 10 km walk through little villages were the kids would see me and come running out screaming "Hello! How are you? What's your name?". In one a little girl actually held my hand for the entire walk through the village. It was kinda cute. That night I met a bunch of really interesting other travelers and reconnected with a few from my bus from Laos. We've been on a similar schedule so I've hung out with them in basically every town in Cambodia. The second day I rented a bike to go to a volcanic lake about 5km outside of town. It was the worst bike ever and walking would have been much easier. Plus I got completely lost in a very hot and hilly area. But all this made the lake that much more refreshing when I got there. It was lovely!

From Ban Lung I headed to Kratie. Our bus broke down three times on the way (not at all unusual in Cambodia). Kratie is located on the Mekong River which makes fo great sunset watching. I joined a couple of other travelers and we took motorbikes (we didn't drive them, rode on the back) 15km north of town to get on a boat and see the endangered Irwaddy dolphins that live in the river. These are interesting in that they look much more like whales than any dolphins I have ever seen. They just kind of skim the surface making taking photos tough but we saw loads of them (and considering there are only about 75 left, that was impressive!). They are endangered because of fishing and also because the Khmer Rouge used to throw grenades into the Mekong when they were in power. After dolphin watching we went to a place called "the rapid"which is a group of bamboo huts on the river where the locals come to swim and hang out. It was Cambodian Women's Day so there were loads of people there. Our tour finished with a visit to a temple on a hill with great views (and about a million steps). I met a really cool French girl who is working for an NGO in Phnom Penh so I totally pumped her for information. I really didn't know much about the terrible things that went on in Cambodia just a few decades ago. When you are here though, remnants, signs, and information are everywhere. If you are interested, I recommend reading "First They Killed My Father".

From Kratie I decided to spend a night in Kampong Cham to break up the trip to Siem Reap. The best part was the bamboo bridge that the locals construct every dry season to link the town to an island in the Mekong. The bridge looks like it will collapse any second, yet motorbikes and horse carts and bicycles ply it constantly. I walked across to check it out. Also worthy of note was massive thunderstorm. I have been traveling in the dry season so with the exception of a quick shower in Khao Sok in late January, I have not seen rain since December. Needless to say, I loved it!

OK, Siem Reap and the temples of Angkor. Siem Reap is a total tourist town with loads of restaurants, markets, internet cafes, bars, and massage studios. It is expanding rapidly and I am glad I am here now and not in a few years. The temples of Angkor, however, are just amazing. Totally worth all the hype. I opted for the 3 day pass (thanks for the advice TK, Kara, Mish, Jaclyn and Erik). Day one I got a tuk tuk to take me on the short circuit where I saw Angkor Wat (incredible, but crowded), Angkor Thom (a group of temples and terraces), and a few other temples including the "Tomb Raider Temple" where they shot the movie. This one is also worth the hype because the forest has totally taken over and it really feels like you are in ruins in the middle of the jungle. There are a couple of smaller temples with a similar vibe and less crowds which were even better! Day two at Angkor I joined some guys from my guesthouse to watch the sunrise at Angkor. They were doing the circuit I had done the day before so I walked up to the Grand Circuit. I only got to four more temples on foot because they are 2-4 km apart (look closer on the map). So I hired a moto and headed up to Banteay Srei which is about 30 km away. My last day of temple climbing I went to the Rolous group which are the earliest temples and then caught the disappointing sunset from Pre Rup. I splurged on a hotel with a pool for my last 2 nights in Siem Reap which was terrific! It really gets ridiculously hot during the day. Oh and I forgot to mention the Doctor Fish. I did it twice. For $3 you get 15 minutes with your feet in a shallow pool filled with little fish who eat the dead skin. It tickles like mad at first but then you get used to it. After your feet are much softer and smoother. Definitely an experience!

Today I left Siem Reap and am in Phnom Penh for a couple of days before I head south to the Cambodian beach and then into Vietnam. I'll try to get a couple of pictures added in the next day or so. All for now.

Sold Out CAKE!

So that was a sign in a restaurant in Cambodia and for some reason it struck me as very funny. Especially because cake wasn't even on the menu....

OK, since my last post I basically had a whirlwind through Southern Laos. I spent one day in Vang Vieng and really was not impressed. It is kind of like Spring Break meets Laos. The scenery is gorgeous, but the town is overflowing with drunk Westerners. There are restaurants that play Friends all day long. Episode after episode. Same is true for the Simpsons. I did the tubing thing which was fun but after the one day, I was totally ready to leave. Instead of taking the minivan to Vietnienne, I opted for the back of a local pickup truck. And this is something I love about Laos. If you want to get away from all of the other tourists, just travel like a local. Every time I was the only Westerner and all the locals smile and try to talk to me as well as they can (most don't speak English). It is really fun!

I didn't really do a whole lot in Vientiene. I wandered around and checked out the riverside restaurants and the night market and went to the National Museum which was part historical and part propaganda (did I mention that Laos is a communist country?? foreigners have a curfew and are forbidden from dating locals). The main thing I did was to get my visa for Cambodia (although it turns out I could have gotten it at the border). After two days in the capital, I headed down to Pakse with a quick overnight stop in Savannaket. I quite liked Pakse. Its small and cute and on the intersection of two rivers. I took a day trip to the Bolaven Plateau which has loads of waterfalls and coffee and tea plantations. We also stopped at a few villages. One of them was interesting in that the villagers make their own coffins when they hit adulthood so they know they have something to be buried in.

From Pakse I went to 4000 islands- again in the back of a pickup with the locals. Since I didn't take the tourist bus, I got to share a boat with a group of Lao people having a Sunday picnic. They chatted to me for a bit and gave me a beer. I found a bungalow on the river with a hammock and set up camp on the island of Don Det for a few days. My guesthouse was run by a sweet old woman named Mama who spoke of herself in the third person ("Mama is going to cook fresh fish tonight", "Mama gives you change tomorrow") I ran into an Irish guy, Collum, I'd met in Khao Sok in Thailand. He told me about a festival that was going on at the wat on the island that night. So I met up with his group there. The festival was great. I won 2000 kip (40 cents) playing a game where you pick a number and then get two darts and have to make your numbers add up to the one you picked. We met some locals and hung out by the dance floor for most of the night. I was tired from traveling so I went home by midnight, but I could hear the party going at 4 AM. The next day I rented a bicycle and rode over the bumpy island tracks (on a one speed cruiser with bell and basket but no shocks) to the neighboring island of Don Khon. There is a nice waterfall there. I also swam in the Mekong and did some reading in the hammock. It was a very relaxed atmosphere. My last night on the island I met a British couple who had been there for two months. They invited me to a wedding at their guesthouse that night. The son of the couple who run the guesthouse married a girl from another island. Of course I had to go. It was so much fun! There were very few foriegners and the locals treated me like one of the family (I met 5 women named Mama....). We drank and danced and ate and it was quite the celebration. The party continued for 3 days, but I left the following morning (and getting up for my boat was not fun!).

After a long day (11 hours) of travel yesterday- including a bit of sketchiness by the transport operator (who completely overcharged us all) I am now in Ban Lung in Cambodia. Cambodia is country number 7. Oh and I am four months in- crazy! Since it is the dry season, it is very dusty here in NE Cambodia (most roads are unpaved). My legs and feet look like I spent too long in the tanning beds from walking to local villages this morning. And my guest house here is brand new and has incredibly comfortable beds! I am going to try and slow down a bit from here on out. I was pretty exhausted from rushing through Southern Laos and I'd like to spend more time in fewer places. But then again, I do get antsy easily....

All for now! No pics cause Internet is slow here.