After more than three lovely weeks in Vietnam, it was finally time to move on to our second Southeast Asian country, Cambodia. So last Sunday, Amit and I boarded a rustic motorboat in Chau Doc (a city near the Vietnamese-Cambodian border) and set off for the border crossing on the Mekong River. After a few hours boating through the remainder of the Vietnamese Mekong, we arrived at a building on the river's edge that housed Customs and Passport Control... luckily, this time Amit only used one passport, so we didn't get hassled or have any trouble. Once on the Cambodian part of the Mekong, it was like the Communist cloud that had been hanging over us in China and Vietnam lifted, and all of a sudden, the people began to smile at us! The Cambodians we passed during the rest of our boat trip waved at us and jumped up and down on the river bank... actions I'd like to interpret as our informal welcome to Cambodia (although perhaps they were just excited to see weird-looking foreigners!). What a difference compared to the generally dour disposition of the people we met throughout China and Vietnam. One of the even more heartwarming aspects of this experience was the noticably greater poverty that we immediately saw in Cambodia. Many of the people outside the major cities live in shacks or huts made of palm fronds, corrugated metal, tarp, cloth, and whatever other materials they can find. There are no beds (the kind with mattresses that we're all familiar with); the people sleep on straw mats on the floor or hammocks in their home or shop. Many times, those with business related to the river (fisherman and transporters of goods/people) live in their boats (i.e. they don't have another home... the boat is their work and home). But despite the appearance of extreme poverty, the people smile much more than others we've met throughout Asia. It truly makes you feel welcomed as a visitor! When we finally got to Phnom Penh, we took a tuk-tuk (a covered cart pulled by a motor bike) from the bus drop-off point to our hotel, and we were disappointed to find the hotel was more expensive and less attractive/clean than we'd experienced in Vietnam. But we decided for convenience, we'd tough it out. On a related note, let me quickly tell you about our accommodations in SE Asia. As you probably remember from South America, we stayed almost exclusively in youth hostels, renting dorm beds in co-ed rooms of 6-9 people. In SE Asia, these are much less common. Instead, the cheap accommodations are "mini-hotels," which are somewhat akin to motels (although they usually have indoor hallways). The rooms are simple and stark, although usually clean and serviceable. The reception desk typically doubles as a travel desk, with information about local sight-seeing and transportation to other popular regional destinations. There is an over-abundance of these mini-hotels, so we've mostly had our pick of the litter, and because of this, throughout Vietnam and now in Cambodia, we've been arriving at our destination, scoping out the hotel options, and choosing our favorite (rather than booking in advance). Sometimes it doesn't exactly work out, like in Phnom Penh, where we were disappointed with our hotel. But we've been lucky overall, and have enjoyed our privacy, as opposed to the communal living forced upon us by our budget in South America. Much of our time in Phnom Penh (pronounced P'nom Pen in Khmer) was focused on touring the sites related to the Cambodian genocide committed by the Khmer Rouge. Our first stop in the city was the Tuol Sleng Prison museum, which contains educational exhibits on the history, politics, and tragically, the inhumane torture and execution of 1.7 million people by the Khmer Rouge, a revolutionary Communist group that violently took control of the country between 1975 and 1979. The prison, formerly known at S-21, was mentioned in an Associated Press article today about the recent trials of the war criminals from the Khmer Rouge... you should read it! Our second stop was the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek, slightly outside the city, where the Khmer Rouge took the prisoners from S-21 for execution. This was a very moving experience, similar to visiting a concentration camp in Germany. The mass graves (i.e., pits) have grown over with grass, and a beautiful memorial (albeit a bit creepy, with hundreds of skulls on view through glass panels) has been erected, for the 17,000 people killed at this particular killing field. The serenity of the experience makes you realize how precious life is, and how devastating it is when millions of innocent people are killed in the name of a ridiculous and unattainable social ideology. Overall, while we didn't find Phnom Penh a particularly beautiful city, we had some very moving and interesting experiences, and we did see a few beautiful sites (see the picture of the National Museum and Palace to the right), ate at some great restaurants, and enjoyed a terrific introduction to the Cambodian people! A few side notes to add out of context: First, we have had the opportunity to eat a lot of strange fruits while we've been in Southeast Asia. I'm including several pictures in this post so you can get a sense. These unique fruits are available for sale everywhere, and the locals snack on them all the time (rather than our typical processes, packaged snacks). Second, Cambodian currency is a very strange phenomenon. They have their own unique currency, the riel, but for most things they actually use US dollars! Out of the ATM machines come US dollars, all of the prices in restaurants and shops are in US dollars, and when you receive change from a payment, you will usually get the large change in US dollars and the small change in riel (4000 riel = 1 dollar). Very odd to be all the way on the other side of the world, in a very foreign country, and have the most commonly used currency be our own! And third, I'm happy to report that we recently found out that we will not be assessed a Thai customs fee for the custom-made clothes we shipped to Thailand from Vietnam. The hotel in Thailand emailed us to tell us that the package arrived, fee-free, and they would hold it for us until we get there. Hurray!!! So that's all for now... look forward to a very exciting post soon to come about our visit to Angkor Wat, where we've spent the last few days. Love, Dena & Amit | Two boys on the Mekong River, waving to us from their boat  Little boys smiling and sticking their tongues out at us  A devastating display of children killed by the Khmer Rouge in Tuol Sleng Prison museum  The tower of remembrance at the killing fields  Amit, placing some incense and flowers at the memorial for those who died at the killing fields  The killing fields at Choeung Ek, with several mass graves (pits) visible  Amit with our tuk-tuk driver, Hung... check out the Cambodian smile!  Me, in front of one of the buildings in the Royal Palace compound  A few fruits stands near the market, displaying all of the crazy and delicious fruits we've been eating in SE Asia  Amit eating a spiky fruit that is probably related to a lychee (we don't actually know the real name)  Plates of the tiny tropical bananas, mango (2), and jackfruit  |
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Cambodia with a smile!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
A whirlwind tour of Ho Chi Minh City (a.k.a. Saigon)
| From Hoi An, we continued South to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon). Like no place else in Vietnam, our visit here, the capital of the short-lived Republic of Vietnam (a.k.a. South Vietnam) brought us face to face with the history of the "American War." Before I get to that though, a brief word about the transportation in Vietnam. In Hanoi, we booked an "open bus" ticket, which allowed us to freely get off / on the bus at a few key destinations along the Vietnam coast between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). We took the "sleeper" option, because the trip included two overnight legs. This bus was like no other I've ever seen. From the outside it looks like a normal coach bus, but once you step inside, it's like entering the dorm room from hell. There are three aisles of bunk beds, with two walkways in between. The beds are designed so that your feet are tucked into a cubby below the head of the person in front of you. The idea is great in concept, except for the following minor problems:
Back to HCMC. The first stop on our American War history tour was the Reunification Palace. This compound, formerly known as Independence Palace, was home to three of South Vietnam presidents (the first one for ten years, the second for one week, and the third for two days). On April 30, 1975 North Vietnamese tanks crashed through the gates of the palace, signifying the official fall of the South Vietnamese government and the victory of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (a.k.a. North Vietnam). The second stop was the War Remnants Museum (formerly known as the Museum of American War Crimes). Interestingly, of all the Museums we've been to in China and Vietnam, this one was the most visitor-friendly, with excellent English and French signage on all exhibits. The most powerful exhibit was a set of photographs showing victims of Napalm bombs (i.e., fire bombs) and Agent Orange (a chemical defoliant that was used to clear vast tracks of jungle in the fight against the Viet Cong guerrillas). It included the infamous photograph of Kim Phuc, 9 years old at the time, running naked, clearly in agony after being terribly burned by Napalm. For anyone interested, this photo is the subject of a worthwhile book titled "The Girl in the Picture," by Denise Chong. The Agent Orange photos showed dozens of horribly deformed children (including a couple of American children), allegedly as a result of their parents' exposure to Agent Orange. Overall, the museum left us with mixed emotions. Clearly, it tells a very one-sided story (the winners always get to write the history), with evident undertones and overtones of propaganda (nobody does propaganda better than Communists). However, putting that aside, the suffering and hardship caused by the U.S.'s actions in the war are unmistakable. The museum's portrayal of this suffering reminded us why many people outside the U.S., who seem to have longer memories than we do, do not always view the U.S. in the same positive light that we do. The third and final stop was the tunnel complex at Cu Chi, about two hours outside of Saigon. Like other tunnel complexes across southern Vietnam, this was used by guerrilla Viet Cong (VC) forces to harass and attack U.S. and South Vietnamese forces. The camouflage used to conceal the entrances to the tunnels was amazing. The guide pointed to a spot in the ground, and even knowing the entrance was there, we could not find it. He then lifted the tunnel cover, got in, and restored the cover, and still, knowing exactly where it was, you couldn't see it. We then got to see some very nasty-looking booby traps, typically involving a camouflaged trap-door and some combination of sharpened bamboo and spring-loaded 6" nails. Apparently, the traps caught very few soldiers, but were a useful psychological weapon. Finally, the time came for us to go through the tunnels ourselves. The original tunnels were too small for us Westerners, so they have doubled the size of a short 100 meter section. These enlarged tunnels were just large enough to "duck-walk" and crawl through. Nevertheless, the two minutes we spent in the tunnels were intense. It is hot and humid, the air is stale, and duck-walking for that long is pretty tiring on the quads. After several incidents with claustrophobic tourists, the park officials had to create six "emergency exits." Dena and I made it all the way, but several people in our group did not. The experience gave us a new-found respect for the tenacity, persistence, and patience of the VC guerrillas. From Saigon, Dena and I wound our way through the Mekong Delta to the island of Phu Quoc, off Vietnam's very southern tip. We went there to take a vacation from our vacation (life is rough) and to do absolutely nothing for a few days. Now we're in Cambodia, and we have only six weeks to go... -Amit (and Dena) | The "no-sleeper" bus  Dena holding our "Golden Bible" (as our Lonely Planet guidebook is commonly referred to) in front of the Cathedral in Saigon  Reunification Palace  A model of the tank that first broke through the palace gates  Pictures of Agent Orange victims at the War Remnants Museum  Egg shell art at a workshop staffed only by Agent Orange victims  Near the Cu Chi tunnels sits the Cao Dai temple, the holiest site of a religion combining Christianity, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism  One of the four daily services inside the temple  Guide entering a tunnel via the camouflaged entrance  Can you spot the entrance now?  Grass-covered trap door with razor sharp bamboo poles underneath  American tank destroyed by Cu Chi guerillas  "Duck-walking" through the tunnel  Sunset on Phu Quoc island  |
Spending some quality time in Hoi An
Hello again from SE Asia! As we've told some of you in one-on-one conversations, Amit and I decided that during our travels, we would try to spend more time in fewer places, rather than spreading ourselves thin moving from place to place every day or two. We heard from other travelers that one of the best towns on the Vietnamese coast between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) was town of Hoi An. A little worn out from our fast-paced tour through Northern Vietnam, we decided to skip some of the other well-worn backpacker stops along the coast and go straight to Hoi An for some quality time. Hoi An is known as a quiet, quaint "old town," with some beautiful historic sites, several gorgeous white sand beaches near by, and a slow, country-style pace. Hoi An is also known for its very talented tailors... but more on that later. Our first few days in Hoi An, we wandered the streets of the historic district, visiting the ancient Community Assembly Halls (which used to be fancy, ornate government buildings) and temples. On our second night there, we had the privilege of attending Hoi An's Legendary Night, a monthly celebration of the full moon where the historic district fills with street performers and food stalls, and tons of people from around the area come into town to party. This month's Legendary Night also coincided with the city's annual Heritage Festival, so there was a big performance in the town square, with lots of local government officials and other big wigs in attendance. As "special guests" to the town (I think all the tourists were considered special guests!), we got free seats to watch the performance, which was a more amateur version of the fancy Wine Harvest Festival performance we saw when we were in Mendoza. Fun to be able to time our visit for this event! As part of the Heritage Festival, a large flea market opened up across the river from the historic district. We suspected that we needed tickets to get into the flea market, but pretended to be dumb tourists and the security guards let us in for free (hey, we're on a budget!). What the guards probably knew, but we didn't know at the time, was that our low tolerance for Asian crowds would quickly drive us out of the flea market, making our ticket purchase a waste. There were SO many people in the market, it felt a little like our picture of the Koi from Shanghai (I'm trying to get you to keep up with our blog by making past references! Tricky, eh?)! I've included a picture to the right so you can get a sense of the experience. We were able to walk around for about 10 minutes before desperately breaking for the exit in order to breath again! The rest of our time in Hoi An was spent relaxing on the beach (see picture to the right), renting bikes and riding around some of the area villages, taking our first regional cooking class, and visiting a local tailor for some custom-made clothes. Yes, we caved to the classic Asian shopping experience of having custom clothes made for us. We decided to limit our clothing purchase in Hoi An because we've also heard that the tailors in Bangkok make very good business suits, so we just had a few dress shirts and pants made to get started. After our clothes were finished, we decided to ship them to our final hotel in Thailand, saving both the extra cost of shipping them all the way to the US and the inconvenience of carrying them around for the next two months. What we didn't know was that there are some strange, and potentially very expensive, customs fees in Thailand that may end up costing us more than the clothes themselves! So we'll see if these clothes actually end up making it home. Bummer! After five days in Hoi An, it was time to move on... our visa in Vietnam only lasts so long! Check out the beautiful picture I've included of the sunrise we saw on our bus ride to Ho Chi Minh City, as well as the entertaining picture of Amit with a 10-day old beard. More to come VERY soon (in fact, Amit has already written the post!) on our time in HCMC/Saigon. LOTS of love, Dena & Amit | Amit with a 10 day beard, right before he reached his breaking point (note the killer farmer's tan)  Standing in front of a beautiful dragon fountain at one of the Assembly Halls in Hoi An  The Japanese Friendship bridge in Hoi An  Amit standing next to the yearly flood markers in one of the ancient houses in Hoi An  Incense coils hanging in one of the temples  The Hoi An Annual Heritage Festival Performance  The intense crowd of the flea market  Making spring rolls at our cooking class  Amit and me, enjoying the feast we cooked  The beach in Hoi An  Biking through a village known for weaving mats from dyed grass  The sunrise on our bus ride from Hoi An to Saigon  |
Sunday, June 7, 2009
At last, Southeast Asia!
After a fun, but intense and tiring, few weeks in China, we finally made our way into our next Communist state, Vietnam. Despite the similar political philosophies, Vietnam has actually not been very similar to China at all so far! (I'm certainly not a history buff, but for those who are, I'm guessing this might not come as a big surprise... I don't think China and Vietnam are very good friends.) First, and most obviously... China blocked our blog, while Vietnam doesn't filter the internet at all (as far as we know)! Second, and more importantly, finding food in Vietnam has been MUCH easier. In China, I used to call it our Thrice Daily Challenge. There were very few restaurants in China that had English menus, and even in the restaurants that did, the waiters and staff almost never spoke English, so asking questions about the dishes was out of the question. In Vietnam, MANY people speak English and there are lots of restaurants that have English menus (not to mention stores, hotels, street vendors, and even beggars who have signs and information in English!). In fact, except for the ad hoc sidewalk restaurants that are usually set up by neighborhood families with little plastic tables and chairs and that usually only serve food that appeals to Vietnamese locals, almost all restaurants can accommodate non-Vietnamese visitors. As a side note, eating out in Vietnam is also very cheap! We usually spend about $2/person/meal here for mid-level restaurants. Third, the "backpackers trail" in Vietnam is a bit more clear than it was in China. As soon as we arrived in Hanoi, our hotel (which was only $10 with a nice bed, private bathroom, AND A/C!) and all of the surrounding travel agents (which made up about 25% of all of the surrounding commercial establishments) began to tell us about the local tours we could take and all the destinations we would want to go to next on our trip. We also discovered something called an "Open Bus Ticket," which Amit and I recently purchased, that will take us from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City (commonly referred to as Saigon, with no perceivable tension) with several stops in different cities where we can get on and off as we please for as many days as we please. Overall, our time in Vietnam so far has been much easier... and very enjoyable! We started off in Hanoi, where we spent a few days taking in the city sights, and then we took an organized tour (not our usual mode of travel, but this seemed like a good buy) to Halong Bay, a very scenic coastal area about two hours from Hanoi. On our three-day Halong Bay trip, we spent a day cruising the bay on a restored "junk" (fishing boat) and kayaking through the grottoes, a day hiking up a mountain on the largest island in the bay (Cat Ba Island), and a day biking along a mountainous road on Cat Ba Island. All very cool adventure activities... and topped off by nights sleeping in a beach bungalow on a private island in the bay! See pictures to the right... After our Halong Bay trip, we briefly stopped back in to Hanoi to swap out clothes, and then we set off on another short, four-day trip to the mountainous region in Vietnam's northwest, casually referred to by travelers as Sa Pa (actually the name of the most visited city in the area). The exciting things to see in this area are hill tribes (small groups of Vietnam's ethnic minorities who still live according to their ancient traditions), the local markets (which also provide a lot of hill tribe exposure), and the beautiful scenery... rolling, lush green hills/mountains and lots of beautiful rice paddy terraces. And on our visit, we got a lot of all of these things! Our first two days were spent visiting markets, which are only set up on certain days- Saturday, we took motorbike taxis to the Can Cau Village market and then on Sunday, we spent the morning wandering in the Bac Ha Sunday market, the largest and most exciting market in the area. At the Bac Ha market, you can buy local traditional clothing (this is where most of the women do their clothes shopping), vegetables, rice, meat, tourist souvenirs (e.g., purses, scarves, table clothes, chop sticks, Buddah statues), rice liquor, storage baskets, a plow or other farming tools, water buffalo, chickens, ducks, pigs, puppies, and pretty much all other life necessities. It was a terrific experience, but maybe more for the people-watching than the shopping. Amit got a bit tired of my obsession with the hill tribe women, but they were so unique in their dress and amazing to watch in their socializing! See more pictures to the right... Finally, on our third and fourth days in Sa Pa, we hired a local guide who is a member of one of the hill tribes to take us trekking through the hills and rice paddies. We started off the trip with a visit to the market to buy our food (much of the food in the villages is bought in the city and carried or biked in), and then we began our trek, taking the local "commuter" path that the hill tribe people take to get in to Sa Pa city, rather than the normal tourist route (hurray for having a great guide!). Our guide's aunt walked with us from town, and we ended up stopping at her home for lunch. Although we had brought our own food, the family of our guide's aunt asked us to join them for lunch and share their food. It was an amazing experience... about 10-12 family members came in from the fields to have a lunch of steamed rice and stewed vegetables. This was one of the most unique experiences of our two-day trek, because we got to experience a normal family in their normal life... not a special set-up just for tourists (as some of the things in these villages are). After lunch, we continued our trek through some terribly muddy but beautiful hills, and ended in a village of the Dzay people, where we stayed for the night. The next day we trekked through a Red Dzao village, again off the normal tourist trail, and despite my unfortunate fall into a rice paddy, it was an amazing day of scenery and people! In total, we saw five different hill tribes, all within 10 km of each other, all speaking different languages, wearing different clothes, and following different traditions. It was truly an amazing few days! In our first ten days in Vietnam, we've had some very positive, unique, and beautiful experiences. On the flip side, however, we have also been regularly fighting the unfortunate tourist price inflation (which many people warned us about in Vietnam), and I thwarted two attempts by pickpocketers to steal my wallet from my backpack (while it was on my back!) in Hanoi. So all is not roses and bon bons here, but overall we have gotten off to a great start in our second country in Asia. Please stay in touch, comment on our posts, and send us emails... we miss you! Lots of love, Dena (& Amit) | A neighborhood sidewalk restaurant in Hanoi (not for foreigners)  Halong Bay  One of the restored "junk" boats that litter Halong Bay  Kayaking in Halong Bay  Posing with my motorbike taxi driver, overlooking beautiful mountain scenery  Amit at the Can Cau Market  Hill tribe women selling fruits and vegetables at Can Cau  The crazy Bac Ha Sunday Market  Hill tribe girls shopping for new skirts  Amit in the animal section of the market (those are pigs in the cage beside him)  Our guide on the left and her aunt on the right (both of the Black Hmong tribe)  The house of our guide's aunt  Beautiful Sa Pa rice paddies and mountains  Amit and me on our trek through Sa Pa  |
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