South East Asia – Page 9 – The Kinetic Canuck

Moseying Through the Mekong

We have now seen the Mekong River in 3 different countries: Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. We also saw where the Mekong acts as a border between Laos and Thailand. I’ve felt connected to this river since we saw the Irrawaddy Dolphins in Kratie nearly 2 years ago. So when we realized that we could see where the Mekong connects with the South China sea, I knew that it was a ‘must see’ destination for Dave and I.

mekongmap — The Mekong begins in the Himalayan mountains and flows into the South China Sea, off the coast of Vietnam.

About the Delta

The Mekong Delta is considered a “biological treasure trove” due to its fertile soil and an abundance of wildlife. More than 1000 animal species live in this small area. We didn’t see much wild life, unfortunately, but the plant-life in the area is absolutely gorgeous!!

The Mekong Delta is an area of agriculture. Dragon fruit, sugar cane, corn, sweet potato, and coconut are all grown in the Delta, but the area’s main agricultural purpose is for rice. More rice is grown in the Mekong Delta every year than in all of Northern and Central Vietnam combined! That’s saying something, given that the enormous Sapa rice terraces are located in the north of the country!

sapa-rice-terraces — We wanted to visit Sapa while in Vietnam, but we chose to go to Laos instead. The Long Ji Rice terraces in Guiln are similar and we really wanted to see something new. Some day, we both hope to make the trip to see these beauties too though!

Of the 17 million people who live in the Delta area, 80% of them work in rice agriculture, so you can imagine the rice fields we got to see!

Our Trip to the Delta

Michael, like Dave, loves driving motorcycles, so when we were all still in China, we planned a motorcycle trip out to the delta together. There are many places you can go in the Mekong Delta. My Tho is the most popular because it isn’t far from Saigon. It seemed a bit touristy for our taste though, so we opted to drive a bit further and went to Ben Tre instead.

The drive to Ben Tre was dusty and a bit boring, because we’d mistakenly taken the most direct route, which also happens to be the busiest. Our pollution masks came in handy on the ride there!!

A helmet protects your head…one of these fancy masks protects your lungs

We were thrilled to see the gorgeous pool waiting for us at our hotel. We all washed off the dust from our skin and hopped in to cool down.

In Ben Tre

We only had 1 day in Ben Tre, so we spent it doing the most popular thing to do in the Mekong Delta…we rented a boat (and a captain!) and saw some of the beauty the area has to offer!

Although we found plenty of boats, we had a bit of difficulty finding a tour office that was open during Tet! After some riding around, we managed to find one place that jumped at the opportunity to make an easy sale.

We had a grand time driving around looking for a shop though!

While we waited for our captain, we strolled along the river, admiring the boats and the view.

Motorbike tours in Vietnam

I noticed that all of the boats had ‘planks’ going down to them, which bothered me a bit. Dave, of course, didn’t care, but I was worried they’d make clumsy ol’ me walk across a rickety piece of wood to get to the boat!

I was right…I did have to “walk the plank.” It wasn’t too bad, and I didn’t fall, but getting into the boat was only step 1 to us getting on our way down the river. Next, we had to get the boat ‘unstuck’ from the muddy Mekong River bank!!

ichael and Dave trying to rock the boat out of the mud

We were finally rescued by another boat. They pulled us out!

Michael, unimpressed with our ‘stuckedness’

In the back of the picture, you can see the railing. We had to climb over that, and then walk along the boards to the boat. I was convinced I’d fall, but it was a pretty uneventful journey!

The boat trip was definitely longer than we’d wanted (3 hours…), but there were plenty of gorgeous sights to see along the way!

This was a coconut farm, I think.

I wasn’t feeling the best, so Dave ended up getting a bunch of these pictures. These 3 are my favourite though (and I no longer know who took which lol! We’ll call it a combined effort!)

The Way Home

None of us wanted a repeat of the trip TO Ben Tre, so Dave and Michael put their heads together and planned a less direct route home. Their efforts paid off, because WOW did we see some beauty along the way!!!

We also stopped quite a few times on the way back. Sometimes we stopped for ferry rides…

Sometimes it was the lure of hammocks that convinced us to pull over…

But the scenic stops were my favourites. As I mentioned, the Delta is home to Dragon Fruit farms, where we stopped for a few pictures.

This is what a field of them looks like

They are grown on concrete pillars

You can see lights hanging between plants

Coconut is synonymous with the region, and we definitely stopped for some coconut candies along the way back to HCMC.

My favourite stop was definitely for the rice fields. They were golden, green and beautiful and it was so nice to stop somewhere quiet and clean.

This particular field (like many in Vietnam) was also a cemetery of sorts. The Vietnamese often bury their dead family members in very specific places, close to the home and in a certain direction, so not to disturb balance in their afterlives. We saw many of these coffins during our trip.

I’ve gotta say, this would be a nice place to be laid to rest

With such a beautiful backdrop, we couldn’t help but take some pictures of ourselves as well, and I got some beautiful ones of my dear friends, Michael and Miya.

That wraps up our trip down to the Mekong Delta! It was a great experience and I’d recommend for anyone in the area to take the trip! Here’s the route we took both on the way there and the route on the way back (the one that’s slightly to the left is the boring route…the one on the right is MUCH better!)

c1705a804e066020a0e2a429745473285aff499b5cd4518c31pimgpsh_fullsize_distr — Special thanks to my husband for putting together this route for me!!

Up next I’ll be writing about Phu Quoc as well as some posts about Vietnamese and the things you realize being in these parts of the world!!

Cheers!

The Sights of Saigon

As the 3rd leg of our adventure comes to an end, I am realizing that I have a lot of catching up to do! I’ve been neglecting both my journal and blog, so I figure it’s best I get started now, while I wait 3 extra hours for my delayed flight to depart (at least they gave us access to the VIP lounge!!).

img_20170201_135143 — An Empty VIP Lounge 🙂

Ho Chi Minh City

Our latest stop has been in Ho Chi Minh City, also known as Saigon. HCMC is the largest city in Vietnam (but not its capital). Its population is around 8.5 million people, and I’m pretty sure every person here owns a motorcycle and driving them 24 hours a day!!! The bike traffic in this city is nuts!!

It’s difficult to get it on camera, but at this intersection there were probably 50 motorcycles and maybe 2 or 3 cars

The roundabout in front of the market (near our hotel) is absolute mayhem

We stayed in District 1, which is the Back Packer’s district. There are lots of overpriced bars and restaurants in the area and there is a much bigger party scene here than either Dave or I had expected! Liz was telling us that there are bars down that street that are open 24 hours a day!

Our hotel was down an alley off of this street

We did enjoy a few beers down this street, but we had a lot more planned than just Saigon Red and Iced Coffees!!

We also had plans for drinking lots of coconut milk…but more on that in my next post!!

Our Holiday

A few months back, when we were planning our holiday in HCMC, we discovered that our friends Liz and Jeff were going to be visiting at the same time as we were. We made sure to be staying in the same area, and then as we were planning it, a couple more friends decided to join in on the fun! It turned out that 6 of us were all in Saigon at the same time! The best part is that Liz actually lived in HCMC for 4 years, and she was super excited to show us around.

Michael and Miya were the first to arrive in the city, so we had beers and dinner with them while we waited for Liz and Jeff’s delayed plane to arrive

mmexport1485520478413 — When we estimated that Liz and Jeff’s plane arrived, we went to a crappy little bar and tried to get online. Liz and I messaged back and forth for a while until we realized that she, Jeff and their friend ‘Risky’ had been sitting at the bar RIGHT across the street from us for an hour already. We could actually SEE Jeff from where we were sitting!!!

Unfortunately, we didn’t get to do a lot of the things Liz had wanted to do, because it was Tet (Chinese New Year). Just like in China, everything closes down during the holiday. The few places that DO stay open, charge an extra 20% too, which was unfortunate. We still managed to have a good time though and we did lots of exploring in the city and also in the area.

The whole city was beautiful decorated for the holiday!

Those balloons are all attached to the back of a bike

BBQ dinner with the gang!!

Beer Towers!

Delicious, delicious Vietnamese food!!

The Sights

There are a few cool things to see around HCMC. Dave and I had a day and a half to ourselves before everyone else arrived and we were able to explore the War Reminents museum (I’ll be writing about that in a separate post) and the Flower Street that is set up yearly for Tet.

Gorgeous Displays

The eggs were my favourite thing there. It’s now the year of the chicken so everything was sort of Easter themed haha!

This was Dave’s favourite one. He loves desert plants

There is a huge market near the backpacker street where we were staying called Ben Thahn Market. Dave and I explored on our own a little bit and we ended up back there with Miya and Michael later in the week. Our first visit was short and overwhelming, but the second time around we took some time to explore the place. Bargaining is always part of the experience and I learned a new tip from Miya! If you want them to drop the price a bit more, just tell them they’re beautiful!! It actually worked!!!

It’s literally just one shop after another. There’s hardly any room to move around

Dave and I have a rule that if anyone tries charging us more than 2x what the price should be, we walk away and don’t even give them a chance to earn our money. We always try and stick with people who are being reasonable.

Another stop we made with Michael and Miya was the Notre Dame Cathedral and post office, which are actually right next to one another. Both buildings are beautiful. I can now say I’ve seen Notre Dame cathedral in 2 different cities (I also saw it in Montreal). Unfortunately, I’ve yet to see the one in Paris…though one day I am sure I will!

The cathedral from behind

The inside of the post office

The outside

Saigon is home to several museums, including the War Reminents Museum (with information about the Vietnam War), an art museum and Reunification Palace. We went to the palace yesterday, mostly to escape from the heat. The building was the center of government for many years and it now acts as a museum where you can see original furniture, decor and even an underground bunker from when the palace was still in use.

Although the palace has a tonne of potential for being a great stop for tourists, there are definitely some key issues preventing it from really shining.

For one, there is a real lack of signage in the museum. On the main floor there are some explanations regarding which rooms functioned as what, but in terms of the smaller rooms, it would have been great to have some stories that tied people to the rooms we were looking at. Without that kind of information, we were just looking at dated desks and chairs.

And telephones….so…many…telephones!!

Overall it was pretty cool. The bunker was interesting enough and I found the kitchen pretty neat to see.

Now THAT’s a mixer!!

The bedroom was also interesting. They had a really cool old hair dryer and for some reason, there were 2 toilets in the adjoining bathroom.

Overall it was a fine way to spend an hour, but I think the War Remnents museum was a lot more educational and it definitely left a bigger impact on me.

Our ‘pompous’ faces in front of the ‘pompous room’

We also had a chance to find a Geo Cache while in Saigon. Miya was pretty excited because it was her first chance at this game. I, as always, dragged my heals until we were there, and then got into it. The cache took us to a very pretty fountain where I got some great shots.

I saw Michael trying to take a picture of Miya for her, and I offered to help. It’s nice having a willing model to photograph lol!!!

So that’s what we managed to see in Saigon proper. We also ventured out to Monkey Island, about 2 hours outside of the city. We rented motorbikes for the day and followed Risky and Liz all the way to Lam Vien Can Gio. There, you can see monkeys and salt water water crocodiles.

We had to take a ferry to get there!

Lizzy Bug

Dave and I 🙂

Once more, Tet prevented us from the full experience. We weren’t able to see the crocodiles, and we were given 5 minutes to take some photos of the monkeys before we were shooed of the park so that the guards could go home. To be fair, those guides did stick around and they even called the monkeys over for us, even though it was their holiday. That was pretty awesome of them!

Of course, as is often the case, we made a feline friend along the way….

When we left, he was sitting at the reception desk

He didn’t seem keen on our departure lol!!

The best part of this trip was the small detour we made on the way back. We stopped by the ocean to see where the Mekong mixes in. The water isn’t exactly clear, but it was a gorgeous way to see the sun start to set.

That’s about it for Ho Chi Minh City! Next, I’ll be writing about our trip to the Mekong Delta, which is one of the most lush and beautiful places I’ve ever seen in my life!!

Charming Luang Prabang

Traveling has its difficulties. Living out of a suitcase can get pretty old. Arriving at a hotel to discover that it smells like sewage can be pretty depressing. Travel days are exhausting. But the worst part of traveling is traveler’s diarrhea, or as I like to call it ‘Montezuma’s Revenge’

travellers_diarrhea-3 — For some reason, Dave and I love traveling in the most high-risk areas for this terrible affliction…

This is a special kind of ‘food poisoning’, where your gut bacteria decides that it doesn’t like a new cuisine and proceeds to evacuate everything from both your stomach and intestines at such a violent pace that you end up with sore ribs.

go-back-gallery-for-nausea-and-vomiting-diarrhea-hvjg38-clipart — For my readers who learn best through the use of visuals…

I spent the first 24 hours of our 3 days in Luange Prabang wishing for death…or that at least the smell of sewage in our hotel would subside. Luckily, this never seems to get me sick for more than 24 hours, and by day 2, I was able to go out and explore the city. I quickly fell in love.

The Mekong River

I definitely wouldn’t have lasted 2 minutes on these stairs!!

The bamboo bridge across one of the town’s two rivers

Luang Prabang’s History

Luang Prabang is located in North-Central Laos. The main city itself is a UNESCO World Heritage sight due to its many Buddhist relics and well preserved historical buildings.

It’s a small city, but has a tonne of history. Because it was the capital during Laos’ French Colonial period, there is a tonne of really cool architecture in the town. The mixture of colonial and traditional Laos buildings make it a great place for taking photos!

A great picture Dave got of an old French government building (which is now an ice cream shop)

The alley behind our 2nd hotel (we left the first one because of the terrible smell of sewage!!)

The owner of our 2nd hotel, and his son. These people were awesome!!!

Buddhism in Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang translates to ‘The Royal Buddha Image’. I imagine this is because this is the town to see if you want to see Laotian Buddhist Architecture. We saw countless temples while we were there. I actually lost count of which ones were which, so I apologize that I can’t properly label them.

Some temples were extra interesting. Dave found one that had this really interesting rock jutting out in front of it. Another is said to have Buddha’s footprint in it. Buddha was apparently HUGE!!!

A temple at the top of a hill in town

These steps went up to the temple with the weird rocks

Buddha’s Footprint

Luang Prabang is also known for a daily ceremony of local monks. Each day, at around 6am, monks walk the streets, asking for alms (donations). We never actually saw the procession, because as far as I’m concerned, 6am doesn’t exist when I’m on vacation, but it would be pretty neat to see. We did stop at one monastery, though, where I followed a cat around and got some really neat shots of it, with the Monk’s robes drying in the background.

This cat was also at this temple, but it was terrified of me and ran away ASAP

Handicrafts in Luang Prabang

As interesting as temples can be, they aren’t the only things Luang Prabang has to offer. There are several craft villages around the city. We attempted to visit 2 of them, but only one of the trips was successful.

The Pottery Village seemed to be closed down by the time we got there

The ferry trip across the Mekong, and cruising around on the roads in the area was a nice experience though!

We had better luck in the Paper and Weaving village, where we bought more than one souvenir!

I wish I could have bought of these magnificent blankets. Unfortunately, our cats would probably destroy them, and if we bought every piece of beautiful work we saw…we’d never be able to afford to travel!

On Our Way to the Waterfall

The best part of our trip to Luang Prabang though, was without a doubt, the trip to Kuang Si Falls.

There is more than one way to get to the falls. Most people take a tour with a group or with a Tuk Tuk driver. We opted to rent a motorbike instead, and found our own way, which was half the fun!

Animal friends we met along the way

This dog darn near came home with us! I loved his little fox face!!!

The first thing you see when you enter the park, is actually a bear sanctuary. Asiatic Black Bears (also called Moon Bears) are incredibly cute, but are also becoming incredibly endangered. They are captured all over Asia for use in Chinese Medicine.

Look at his cute bear face!!!

The sun is just too much for this one…

Bear Bile has been used in Chinese medicine for over 1000 years. The bile is mostly used to help with gal bladder and liver conditions. Fortunately, there are herbal options that are equally effective as the bear bile; unfortunately, people in China still think the bear bile is better. As a result, Asiatic bears are captured and literally tortured for years for the sake extracting bile from their gal bladders.

I was happy to see this sign, teaching people about alternatives

This is the size of the cages that are used to keep the bears at bile farms

The bear sanctuary has saved their bears from these farms. They also rescue bears who have been injured in traps. We saw one bear lumbering around clumsily because it was missing one of its front paws He made me think of my sweet Hugo, and how adaptable animals can be.

asiatic-black-bear — I never got this good of a picture, so I stole it from the internet.

If you ever want to get me a Christmas or Birthday present, but aren’t sure what I’d like (and don’t want to pay outrageous shipping fees), please donate to ‘Save the Bears’ or any of the other organizations I’ve mentioned in past posts.

I’ll be writing about the UXO foundation in another post, but this is another cause I’m very passionate about.

The Kuang Si Falls

The falls themselves are well worth the trip, no matter how you decide to get there. They go on for ages, and the final view of the big falls is absolutely stunning. I’ll let the pictures do the talking for me…

The first set of ‘mini falls’ we saw

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the plants for acting as a gorgeous border for my photo :p

As you continue up the hill, there are places you can actually swim at the falls. Dave and I both regret not bringing our bathing suits, as this would have been a gorgeous spot to go for a dip!

As we continued on, the falls got bigger and more beautiful.

The scenery around the falls was very nice as well. Even the garbage cans were cute, and there was an old water wheel as well.

Waterfalls in Laos

Finally, we arrived at the big falls, which are even more beautiful than the little ones! I hadn’t actually looked at the pictures online, so I wasn’t expecting anything this gorgeous, so it was a rather awesome surprise when we arrived at this point.

So that’s it for Luang Prabang. I’ve got plenty more to write, as we are now in Ho Chi Minh City! Stay Tuned!!!

On The Road – Taking the Bus in Laos

South East Asia has a reputation for bad drivers. I’m here to clear some things up about Laos, as well as to show off some of the gorgeous views I saw on my way to Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang.

1.) Your Options

There are a few different options for tourists in Laos. Currently, there are no great train options in South East Asia, but it looks like soon, that will change. For now, taking a bus is the best way to get around in both Laos and Cambodia.

download — This is going to change things for these countries!

There are 3 types of buses. The first kind are standard, long distance buses. Think of a Grey Hound bus, but add in more people, more luggage and less air conditioning. Some tourists report that some of these vehicles are so old, they have difficulty climbing the steep hills on the way to Luang Prabang. We decided to avoid that option…

The next option is a miniature version of those buses. They are smaller and more narrow, but they are a bit roomier than the mini vans. We took one of those to Vang Vieng. It was pretty comfortable and I even managed to get a bit of sleep on the way…that is until our driver started showing off his driving skills….(more on that in a second…)

The last option is a minivan. This choice is slightly bigger than the mini-vans your parents drove you to soccer practice in at home, and they sit about 15 people. They’re usually pretty cramped, but they ride low and make for a smoother ride. They’re also usually in better condition than the buses. We took a mini van to Luang Prabang.

download-2 — They somehow manage to fit 15 people in that thing…

2. The Drivers Drive…Differently….

It’s common to see drivers pounding back energy drinks and trying to stay awake and alert throughout the long trips. This is terrifying. More than once, Dave thought of offering to take over for our driver, who didn’t seem to be affected by the M510s he was emptying and throwing out the window.

34630 — An M510 energy drink. There are rumours that they contain Amphetamines, which is untrue. In reality, they’re about the same as drinking a Redbull. Which still isn’t great…

Our drivers didn’t speak much English, but it didn’t really matter because it was obvious from the first kilometer…their only concern was getting us from Point A to Point B in as short a time as possible. This often meant speeding, weaving in and out of traffic and slamming on the breaks at the last second to avoid rear ending someone who has slowed down in front of them.

images-5 — I think it’s safe to say that ‘Drivers Ed’ isn’t a thing in South East Asia..

If you’ve driven in Asia, or have lived in Asia for a while, don’t worry. It’s not too much worse than everywhere else. If you’ve only ever driven in the west…prepare yourself. You’re in for quite the ride!!
3. The Passengers Suffer

Some blog posts I read said that passengers were throwing up from all the winding roads in the countryside. Others described anxiety during the trip and pure relief upon arrival. My experiences weren’t this bad. I felt a little car sick once or twice, but I get car sick even on the best of roads!

The roads are VERY windy. They wind all the way up the mountain

Luckily, many of the regular pit stops that these buses make, have stores that sell motion sickness patches and pills! You know it’s a problem, when…

They even have several different brands to choose from!

4. It’s Worth The Ride

Having said all this, I’d like to finish this post on a positive note. South East Asia is beautiful!! The landscapes here are simply stunning, so although you might feel sick, and you’ll probably be scared out of your wits once or twice, it can be worth the trip to take the ride. Remember, these drivers may seem crazy, but they have some of the fastest reflexes I’ve ever seen on a non-cat!!!

Pit Stop!!

We were so high up in the mountains, we were surrounded by clouds!!

5. Final Tips from the Kinetic Canuck

Don’t take the trip on a full stomach. It’s just not a good idea.
Don’t take the trip on an empty stomach. Some routes only have 1 or 2 stops with questionable food choices
Bring some music to enjoy. It can help keep your mind off of your stomach if you’re feeling sick.
Don’t worry too much! Enjoy the views and remember that these drivers take these roads every day! (and if they are falling asleep…offering to drive for them usually shakes them up pretty good and gets them to pay attention to the road a little better!!!)

I’ll be back soon with a blog post about our final stop in Laos; Luang Prabang!!

Visiting Vang Vieng

In about an hour from now, we’ll be on our way to Luang Prabang, our last stop in Laos. Vang Vieng has been everything we’d hoped for, and more. I can’t remember a time when I loved a landscape this much. It even rivals my love for Vancouver’s Stanley Park. Vang Vieng is lush, raw and it has everything I love: trees, mountains, animals and gorgeous winding rivers.

The view of the mountains from our hotel

There is plenty to do here, and although the main draw for tourism is tubing down the river, I much preferred our first day here, when we rented a motorcycle and spent the day cruising around the countryside. My former student, Ivy, said it best: a beautiful landscape can calm anxiety and help you relax. With scenes like this, I was finally able to unwind from my stressful fall term:

We spent 4 hours cruising around. I feel like it was impossible for me to take a bad photo! Even on the back of a moving motorcycle, I was in a photographer’s paradise!

We saw plenty of animals along the way. Cows, chickens and pigs roam freely in the area. Everyone watches out for everyone else’s livestock. And here, like India and everywhere else I’ve ever been, cows rule the road.

We gave this water buffalo LOTS of room!!!

Baby buffalo posing for me!

We passed countless children on their way home from school. I know that poverty is a real problem here; Laos is a 3rd world country and is on the UN’s list of the world’s ‘least developed countries’ (along with Haiti, Ethiopia, Bangladesh and others). Still, the people who live here have a sort of wealth that I envy. They may not have flat screen TVs, but they have a pretty spectacular view. They may not have Xboxes and Macbooks, but they play football with the world’s nicest backdrop. They are wealthy in their own way.

A little girl on a tractor, smiling and waving at us as we passed them on a dirt road

Boys playing soccer after school

Some young kids swimming in the river near their home

Of course, this doesn’t mean that I’d trade my life for the life of a Laotian. As I mentioned in my last post, 300 people per year die here from UXOs from the Vietnam war. Laos’ GDP accounts for only 0.02% of the world’s economy, and as a result, people live in extreme poverty. They rely on donations from other countries to do things like build bridges or fix roads.

This is Vang Vieng’s best bridge. Only one vehicle can drive across at a time and it creaks and squeaks like nobody’s business.

Another small bridge

Dave realized he took the wrong way, and we ended up going over this bridge a total of 4 times……looks safe, hey??

Tourism is important in these parts, and I always take that into account when I pay more than locals for food, drinks and pretty much everything. I have the money. I don’t mind paying a bit more. Luckily, Laos does have incredible attractions for people to enjoy.

Have I mentioned the scenery?

Attractions like….
Caves

This cave was small and terrifying so I never went into it. There are more caves than I can even count around Vang Vieng. Dave braved his way up this terrifying ‘staircase’ and was at the top before too long, exploring. I stayed down below and took some pictures of the area.

Those aren’t stairs. They’re just really really sharp rocks…

The steps on this VERY rickity bamboo ladder are so far away from one another that I could barely reach with my short little legs

I gave up long before the platform, but I did try. Mostly, I just wanted a picture from up there. Alas, I value my life too much.

This is hardly recognizable as a path…

Lagoons

Blue Lagoon is one of Vang Vieng’s most visited locations. Unfortunately, it are very popular with the crowds, so we never went swimming. It was crowded and they were closing soon after we arrived, so we never bothered to try.

Instead, while the rest of our group swam, we explored the area a little bit.

First, I saw this chicken and I thought it was being stupid…as chickens tend to be…..

Then, this little head popped out from under it

Then, LOTS of little heads popped out! She had her whole brood out and about with her

We saw some people giving elephant rides, which was discouraging. There are so many attractions around these parts that there’s no reason to include elephant rides. The tour guide tried getting us to come over, but I snapped a picture and turned away. Mostly I just wanted a chance to remind my readers again how awful elephant rides are.

The Blue Lagoon did end end up providing us with some entertainment at the end of our stop there. A Chinese man had decided to jump off the high trunk of a tree. It was about 20 feet up, and he had climbed up, but didn’t want to jump. We watched him for more than 20 minutes. He jumped just as we got on the bus. It was pretty funny. I felt bad for the guy, but at the same time, I KNOW I’m a wimp, and that’s why I didn’t go up there in the first place.

His friends were all below, counting down for him. He looked like he was going to jump about 10 different times, but chickened out at the last second

Finally some girls went up and showed him that THEY could do it lol.

Zip Lining

I’m not going to go into much detail about the zip lining because I decided to write a short story about our experience. My major focus in all of my writing classes was creative non-fiction, and it’s been ages since I wrote a non-fiction story, and our trip out into the mountains had everything that a short story needs: humour, suspense and a clumsy and terrified protagonist. I’ll link that story here as soon as I’m done. For now, here are some pictures.

Ziplining in Laos

Tubing on the Nam Song River

Tubing down the river is the main reason people visit Vang Vieng. A few years back, the tubing experience was wild. People were getting drunk, getting high and dying on the river. In 2011 alone, at least 27 tourists died in Vang Vieng (the number is actually higher because many of the injured are sent to Vientiane, where they later die). Tourists hurt themselves jumping off of trees in shallow areas and many drowned after drinking shot after shot of Lao Lao (a local whisky) before hopping back on their tubes. It didn’t take long before Vang Vieng became known as South East Asia’s party town.

It’s such a beautiful place, and it was nearly ruined by tourists being irresponsible

In 2012, things began to change. South East Asian tourism was suffering because of Vang Vieng’s bad reputation, and the Laotian government was pushed into making changes. I’m happy to say that the river is now a lovely, relaxing place where there are still bars (but fewer of them), but, for the most part, the environment is controlled and safe.

There is still ziplining and places to jump into the river, but they are in safe, designated zones and locals are there to make sure everyone is doing it safely

There are still bars with loud music and drinking, but the drinks are expensive (putting a limit on how drunk people will get), and if drugs are still sold there, it’s not advertised and I didn’t see any signs of it

Vang Vieng has definitely found a great balance between the two lifestyles: They toned down the partying, but have still kept it a fun place to have a good time

One thing worth mentioning though, is that if you book your day of tubing with the wrong people, you may not have the best time…

I wasn’t trying to imitate the locals…I was just trying to protect my poor shoulders from further burning

We had planned to take the North river on own own. We figured that if we didn’t go with a guide, we could take our time on the river (which is very lazy and slow moving) and meet up with like-minded people along the way. Instead, we ended up going down the south river with a guide, along with 6 European 20 year olds…

I learned at the beer Olympics this year that beer pong is not my sport. I wasn’t too keen on 2 hours of it…

We were definitely not happy with the fact that we were made to stay at the first bar for nearly 90 minutes. Eventually, we told the guide we were going to leave with or without him. He realized that we weren’t there to get sloshed and assigned us a different guide and let us go ahead. That hour and half was gorgeous. I actually fell asleep once or twice because the river was so comfortable and relaxing.

Our tour guide also fell asleep on the way down. He realized quickly that he didn’t need to worry about us, so he enjoyed the ride down.

He uses his sandals as paddles and has an awesome hat that he can drape over his face when he naps. He’s thought this whole thing out…

I wish we’d had a couple of hours of this and that we hadn’t had a guide at all, but still, we made do and had a very nice time on the Nam Song River.

I took a video at one point down the river. Notice the silence. This sort of serenity is exquisite for someone who lives in China 10 months of the year…

When we reached the end of the tour, we found at ourselves at another bar…this time it was for 2 hours. You can’t exactly go flag down a tuk tuk in the middle of nowhere, so we were stranded and stuck waiting until our guide let us leave. We found out later that people who had started 2 hours later than us were leaving at the same time, because they hadn’t gone on a tour with a guide who forced them to stay at bars in the hopes of making extra money.

Dave found something to do right away: There were kids around who wanted to play soccer!

Travelling does something strange to nomads like me. When you visit all these different places, certain ones really stick with you. Kratie in Cambodia, Chiang Mai in Thailand, Goa in India… These places somehow manage to steal a piece of your heart, and they leave you feeling homesick for them, even if your time there was short. Vang Vieng is now a part of that list. I will always remember it and always feel drawn to it.

Vang Vieng, Laos

A little girl on a tractor, smiling and waving at us as we passed them on a dirt road

I hope one day we can go back and see Vang Vieng again. Until then, I have plenty more to look forward to!

Next stop, Luang Prabang!

Vivre Vientiane

South East Asia is one of my favourite places in the world. Cambodia and Thailand were both such fantastic experiences and Northern Vietnam lived up to the high expectations those experiences set. Now that I’m in Laos, I am sure: South East Asia should be on everyone’s bucket lists!

Architecture is only 1 of the reasons why everyone should visit this part of the world!

Where to begin???
About Vientiane

Laos and the only landlocked country in South East Asia. Though it is poor, Laos has been gaining popularity with tourists due to it’s beautiful landscapes, fascinating history and its vast cultural treasures.

Vientiane is Laos’ capital city. The Mekong River flows through the city, dividing it from neighboring Thailand. Vientiane is a small city, with a population of less than a million (tiny by Asian standards!). Although many tourist blogs tell people not to bother visiting Laos’ capital, both Dave and I have really enjoyed our time here. There’s been lots to see, great food to enjoy and the people have been just awesome!

Some of the best fried rice I’ve ever had!

This is a basil and pork dish. Fantastic!

Egg and bitter gourd. It was delicious

One of Laos’ most important exports: beer!

Patuxai Victory Monument

The main complaint people have about Vientiane is that there is ‘nothing to do there’. I disagree. As I’ve said countless times in the past, my favourite thing to do on holiday with my handsome husband is to rent motorbikes. We rented one for Vientiane and boy did it pay off!

Because it runs on gas, we can go much further with it than we can with our e-bikes back in Suzhou

See here: handsome husband

Our first stop was the Patuxai Victory War Monument. This beautiful monument was built to commemorate all the people who died in Laos’ fight for freedom. Laos has been occupied on more than one occasion; most recently by France. That’s right…Laos was a French colony! You actually see French architecture and road signs all over the city.

The ceiling from the bottom of the tower

The monument took 9 years to build, beginning in 1957 and the materials to make the structure were donated by the USA. China also donated a musical pond and Indonesia donated a Peace Gong for the park as well. It’s a nice place to take a stroll.

The Peace Gong is located at the entrance of the park

Musical Ponds are very popular in China

Inside the building you find a small market where you can buy souvenirs. Everything is very overpriced (35,000 kip for something that sells for 15,000 in a regular market), but nobody chases you down or tries pushing you into buying things, so it was a fine little place to take a break between flights of stairs.

The Market

One of the columns from the top of the tower

Another little break on the way up. This tower has all sorts of details

The view from the top. Our hotel was right down this road, and at the end of the road, the Palace is located

A fancy building nearby

Once more, my handsome husband

Laos’ National Museum

Our next stop had to be indoors because the heat was pretty much unbearable. We head down to the National Museum where we learned about Laos’ ancient history and modern history. It was very interesting to see propaganda posters from the other side of the Vietnamese war!

Ancient Lao Tools

I swear, China still uses baskets like these for construction!

I was a little bit surprised that the museum didn’t have anything about the bombing Laos endured during the Vietnam war. It’d be great if the museum offered information on that, and the gift shop would do well to sell trinkets made of UXOs. You find bottle openers, key chains and magnets made of these old bombs in the markets and proceeds are suppose to go towards disarming the nearly 78 million bombs that are still killing people in Laos every year. (Don’t worry Mom…the areas we are going have been thoroughly checked!!)
Temples

There are plenty of Temples to see in Vientiane. So many, in fact, that we didn’t even try to stop at all of them. We did see 2 though. Dave noticed right away that the architecture is quite different from temples in Thailand, Cambodia and India. I, of course, didn’t notice haha! They sure are pretty though!

Our first stop was Wat Si Saket

This temple was right near our hotel, across from the Palace

There are both new and old structures here, which I really liked

The second ‘temple’ we saw was actually called the ‘City pillar’. I asked Dave why Winnipeg doesn’t have anything this cool…he reminded me that the snow and the cold would destroy it…

Buddha Park

The Buddha Park was definitely my favourite stop in Vientiane. Located 25km south east of the city, we would never have been able to see this cool place if we hadn’t rented a motorbike. The drive there was half the fun!

The Mekong River. Across the water you can see Thailand

Some cows 🙂

A little girl on a motorcycle

Beautiful countryside

A Lao Stop sign

The Thailand/Laos friendship bridge. It goes across the Mekong, into Thailand

We entered the park and realized we were starving, so we began by eating a local snack. I have no idea what it’s called, but it had some sort of coconut in it. It was delicious!

My best bet is coconut, egg and onion..

The first thing you see when you enter the park is the giant reclining Buddha. He’s beautiful. We were there just before the sun started going down too, so the light reflected off of his face, making him look like he glows.

There are various other statues around. The buddhas are made to look old, but they are actually quite new. The park was built in 1958, and it has mythology from both Hinduism and Buddhism. I personally enjoy Buddhist art more, as it’s less extreme. Hinduism is sure spectacular, though!

Buddhist art

Hindu Art. The large thing in the background is holding a dead body…

It’s really neat seeing the mixture of cultures. Buddhism and Hinduism actually have quite a few of the same roots, which is interesting. An hour in the park is all you really need, and I’d say it’s well worth the trip out there. It’s definitely one of the most bizarre things we’ve experienced in Asia!

Without a doubt, the strangest thing in the park is the gourd, or pumpkin.

It’s suppose to represent Heaven, Earth and Hell…I’m not sure about the first 2, but the 3rd one is definitely depicted. The inside is full of creepy art and scary staircases. I actually hated it in there and got out as soon as I could. Dave made it up to the top for some pictures….

Notice the skulls….

Me, at the bottom, hoping Dave would return alive

Dave, at the top…still alive

The ride back was also beautiful. I really enjoyed the parties that were going on everywhere! Lao people like loud music and dancing, we learned! When I’m back home, I’ll be sure to stitch together some videos, but for now, some pictures of the parties will have to suffice!

The sun was setting on our drive home, but we got back to town before it was dark. It was timed perfectly!

Around Vientiane

Dave found a Geo Cache while we were here, which was pretty cool. It was in at an old stupa that reminded me of ruins of Ayutthaya. The sight is called That Dam or The Black Stupa. It’s said to contain relics of the Buddha and legend has it that it was once covered in gold. Unfortunately, it was attacked and pillaged by Siam in this legend (which some say is history…the line can be blurred) and that the Thais stole all the gold, leaving behind this black mound of brick in its place.

Vientiane really is a charming place. From the night market, to the Mekong Exercise clubs, it was all a very nice way to spend a couple of days. I definitely suggest renting a motorbike and I absolutely suggest that you try as much Laotian food as possible, because WOW it’s fantastic! And of course, enjoy some BeerLaos when you’re here!

The sun setting over the Mekong

Arobics

The Night Market

Our next stop is Vang Vieng!! Stay tuned!

Ha Long – How Beautiful

The first leg of our holiday is coming to an end. At 5:20pm today we fly to Vientiane; the capital of Laos. I must say, I’ve fallen deeply in love with Northern Vietnam. I just finished the best bowl of soup of my life; Chicken Pho to rival grandma’s best noodle soup. The rice noodles are light and delicious, and the fresh lime sits at the top of the soup, too light to sink, and coats every noodle in delicious fresh flavour. Now, I’m ordering my second Vietnamese coffee for the day. Dave pointed out just now that it tastes like Baileys, without the alcohol. He’s right. Motorbikes are zooming past us, and we’re eating on a balcony on some little side street of Hanoi’s old quarter. Life is good.

Halong Bay – History and Modern Uses

Last night we returned from 3 days in Halong Bay. Translated, it means ‘Descending Dragon Bay’, and it’s located in Northern Vietnam, about a 3.5 hour drive from Hanoi City. It’s famous due to its karst limestone landscape, 2000 islands and its many fishing villages.

Historically, Ha Long Bay is significant. People have been living in the area for more than 20,000 years. The bay has also saved Vietnam from Chinese and Mongolian Invasion on more than one occasion. Now, it’s known for its beauty and tourists flock to Northern Vietnam to experience its gorgeous views.

Halong Bay Cruises

The primary way people choose to see the bay is through cruises. There are hundreds of choices to make when taking a Halong Bay cruise, we decided to go with a mid-range, 2 night trip with a night on Cat Ba Island. There are also day trips, 1 night trips and some people choose to spend the night on Monkey Island or other places in the area. 1 night on the boat was enough for me. I don’t know if it was because I was reading Life of Pi, or if the boat noises kept me up, but either way, I didn’t get much sleep during our night on that Vietnamese Junk.

Some of the other boats in the bay

A recently added regulation in the bay forces all boats to be painted white, to lessen the chance of accidents. As a result, some of the individuality of these tours has been lost

Our boat was comfortable enough. We had a comfortable bed and a nice little bathroom to ourselves. The cabin was small, but space isn’t something I expect in Asia, so that was no surprise. We had a fan that worked and an air conditioner that didn’t, and all in all, it was a cool way to spend a night in Halong Bay!

Activities During The Cruise

I feel like we spent all 3 days getting on and off boats for different activities. There were a variety of things to do, including kayaking, exploring a cave, visiting a Pearl farm, visiting Monkey Island and floating past a fishing village. All were interesting in their own way.

The little boat we took to each excursion

Kayaking was probably the most beautiful of all our stops, but the weather made it less enjoyable than it could have been, but still…being on the water was very nice. This activity made me very happy that I still have a water-proof camera 🙂

We visited a huge cave shortly after kayaking as well. It was beautiful and had some pretty spectacular views.

Vietnamese uses the Roman Alphabet. The little symbols above letters indicate tones

Dave and I just outside of the cave

We took this little bridge back to our boat

Day 2 began at a Pearl Farm, where locals have found ways to get oysters making pearls in a sustainable way. It was an educational stop! We learned how pearls are artificially implanted to produce real pearls. This is much better for oyster populations, because before this process was discovered, oysters were found in the wild, opened up and killed just on the off-chance they were carrying pearls.

Oysters are kept in these cage thingys

They are opened up carefully, and 2 things are put inside

This is a piece of donor oyster that helps create the pearl

This is a bead that the pearls will grow around

2 years later, a pearl is ready for harvest!

Monkey Island was our last stop before Cat Ba Island. There’s no surprise regarding what we found there…Dave also went hiking up a steep mountain. He didn’t take any pictures (because, of course he didn’t :p), but he did scrape up his leg on the jagged rocks. Vietnam doesn’t baby its tourists the way Thailand and Cuba does. They let you decide for yourself if you can do something. As a result, Dave saw 60+ year old grandparents hiking up the mountain on his way down.

Cat Ba Island

As I mentioned earlier, our second night of the tour was not spent on a Junk. Instead, we went to one of the only islands in Halong Bay where people live: Cat Ba Island. Cat Ba island is home to about 13,000 residents, and its main purpose is hosting Ha Long Bay tourists.

Docking at Cat Ba Island

It’s a lovely little town

Like everywhere in Vietnam, Motorbikes are the primary means of transportation

As we came into the area, we passed a floating village, home to about 1000 people. These villages are an incredible sight, even when you’ve seen them before. We were able to see a floating village in Cambodia during the dry season. It was very cool seeing one completely afloat!

Fishing villages like this are found all over south east Asia. The most famous ones are Vietnamese

They have everything a normal little town would have; including pets!

Once we checked into our hotel, we rented a motorbike and headed for Cat Ba’s most famous sight: Cat Ba National Park.

The road to the park was stunning

It was about a 30 minute drive, and it was gorgeous the whole way!

Of course, we passed overloaded motorbikes along the way!

The park itself is quite nice. We didn’t see much for wild life, but I made some canine friends! Mostly, we were just happy to be out in the wilderness, enjoying the fresh air and the peace and quiet. The hike up was hard work, but it felt so good to get some good exercise in! I’ve been too busy this year to get to the gym, and my body was definitely not happy with me on the way up, but it was well worth the trip!

The steps were pretty slippery at times. We had to be careful not to fall

A friend of the canine variety

Some random deer we saw fenced in on our way to the mountain

Near the peak we saw this sign. We didn’t go any further because we couldn’t find the way, and when we did finally figure it out, it was time to leave (so we wouldn’t have to drive home in the dark!)

My handsome husband, enjoying the hike!

We stopped at a little shop at the end of the hike and ordered some iced coffees. We figured they’d probably be instant, given the location of the cafe, but this lovely Vietnamese woman made us fabulous Vietnamese iced coffee with fresh grinds and sweetened condensed milk!

We spent the evening walking around and enjoying the town. I think my favourite part of this whole tour was Cat Ba island. I never really feel like I’m on a holiday with Dave until we’ve rented a motorbike! It was also nice not to have a guide following us around. We both enjoyed the freedom to explore the things we were interested in, at the pace we wanted.

One of Cat Ba’s beaches

Dave insisted we take this picture. My helmet hair isn’t as bad as I thought it was!! haha!

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end, and before long, we were on our way back to Hanoi. We met some very nice people on the way back and it was great chatting with them and hearing their stories. We also learned how to make spring-rolls, which was fun.

Spring Rolls are a traditional Vietnamese food. In the north, they enjoy deep fried spring rolls and in the south, fresh.

This was our guide for the second half of the trip. I kind of hated him…he was always angry!

It was a lovely trip and I’m very glad we made it! Halong bay is definitely a must-see for anyone travelling through south East Asia.

Next, I’ll be writing about our time in Vientiane, Laos! Exciting things are yet to come!!

laothingtodo2 — Photo from vientienbackpackershostel.com

Cheers!

Initial Impressions

Day one of our 33 day holiday is coming to an end, and it’s time to recap and reflect.
Hanoi City – Organized Chaos

We have begun our trip in Hanoi: a bustling and historic Vietnamese city. We’re staying in the Old Quarter of Vietnam’s capital, where coffee shops are on every street corner and motorbikes are the primary means of transportation. There’s an organized chaos here, in every sense of the word.

There are thousands of shops piled atop one another, and everywhere you look, there are people eating bowls of Pho on the sides of the street, and sipping coffee at tiny tables, sitting on tiny plastic stools. What’s interesting, though, is that all those tiny little shops are organized and neatly merchandised. My (extremely neat) sister would be impressed by the level of organization these shop owners manage to have in their little side-of-the-road shops.

A small and popular restaurant in the Old Quarter

A good friend of ours lived in Vietnam for 4 years and she gave us valuable advice before we left for Hanoi. She told us that the roads here are like a river; vehicles weave in and around one another and never really stop moving. She told us to walk boldly but slowly and that vehicles would mostly just part around us. It was terrifying at first, but she was right. There are no crosswalks in the North American sense, but somehow, we got around just fine. In a lot of ways it was less scary than India. Ok…in every way.

French colonialism is easily identifiable all over the city. The streets, buildings and even French language are visible everywhere you go. Cambodia was also colonized by the French, but the impact there wasn’t as obvious as it is in Hanoi.

Hoàn Ki?m Lake – Passive and Pleasant

After a long day of travel yesterday and a long semester of 60-hour weeks, I wasn’t up for much today, so we mostly spent our time down by Hoàn Ki?m Lake, which was a lovely experience. The lake is a beautiful spot for wedding photos, so we saw several happy couples being chased by photographers.

A Monk, enjoying the view

Some interesting trees

A cobblestone bridge. I love cobblestone!!!

A happy pair of newliweds

Some beautiful bonsais

There was a small temple by the lake as well. We paid 30,000 dong each to enter (less than $2 Canadian) and enjoyed the quietness of the place.

There’s plenty to see walking along the lake. The Old Quarter is a lovely place to spend the afternoon!

Different from Delhi / A Change from China

One of my favourite parts of travel is walking around at night, when the shops are lit up and the weather has cooled. Vietnam is so different from India. While there are shops everywhere, just as there is in New Delhi, nobody grabs you by the arms and nobody is too terribly pushy. South East Asia, though hectic and tourist oriented, seems to have more of a dignity about it. People bargain, but don’t try and rip you off. People try and sell their goods, but if you say no, they move on with their days, un-offended and un-worried.

The restaurant where we had dinner. They greeted us when they saw us looking at the menu, but never grabbed me by the arm to try and pull me in, as was the usual experience in New Delhi

Tonight we walked around for a little while and found a restaurant where we enjoyed the best Vietnamese food I’ve ever had. Although I love Chinese food, the oil has started to gross me out a bit. Vietnamese food is fresher and crispier…with more raw vegetables and coconut sauces. Dinner was delicious…and the coffee I just finished was an excellent way to end the night!

Tomorrow we set off for HaLong Bay…another UNESCO World Heritage Site to add to our list. We’ll be spending 2 nights and 3 days enjoying one of Vietnam’s greatest treasures.

Angkor National Park – Cambodia’s Treasure (Part 2)

We had limited time in Cambodia (7 days is hardly enough to experience an entire country, after all!), and had to pick and choose where we would spend our time during our May Holiday. Although there were several places that we wanted to visit, Angkor National Park was our main reason for visiting Cambodia, so we decided to book a 2 day tour with Happy Angkor Tours, instead of the 1 day tour that we allocated at all our other stops.

tempguidemap — After all, there are hundreds of temples to see in Angkor National Park. Even 2 days wasn’t nearly enough time to see everything we’d wanted to see.

Dave and I aren’t usually big fans of tours (mainly because we hate other tourists) but this one wasn’t too bad. Our guide had passable English and knew a lot about the Buddhist history in all the temples. He tried very hard to keep us happy, even in the heat, and ended both days a little earlier than had been planned because we were both dealing with pretty awful sun stroke. This meant that we missed the sunset part of the tour we’d booked on the first day. It’s too bad, as it would have been beautiful to see the sun go down behind Phnom Bakheng, but by the time we had finished at Bayan Temple, all either of us wanted to do was make our way back to our hotel to take it easy. Looking back now, I’m kicking myself, but of course, in addition to the heat, we had spent the previous night on a bus and neither of us had gotten much rest, so the idea of an air conditioned room with a comfortable bed was more appealing than seeing the sun go down.

We stayed at Villa Medamrei while in Siem Reap. The hotel was beautiful and the staff went above and beyond (letting us check in about 6 hours earlier than they had to so we could shower before our tour started). If you're looking to stay in Siem Reap...I strongly urge you to check this place out. Great pricing for a beautiful stay! — We stayed at Villa Medamrei while in Siem Reap. The hotel was beautiful and the staff went above and beyond (letting us check in about 6 hours earlier than they had to so we could shower before our tour started). If you’re looking to stay in Siem Reap…I strongly urge you to check this place out. Great pricing for a beautiful stay!

And it was a good thing that we got that additional rest, because Day 2 of our holiday started an hour before the sun came up…

Angkor Wat – Round 2

We woke up at around 4:30am, showered (we couldn’t do enough of that in Cambodia!!!) and met our tour guide outside our hotel. It was still very dark out and there was nobody in the streets. A half hour later, we were walking up to Angkor Wat again, though we couldn’t see it against the black sky. Our guide found us a fantastic spot on the bank of the man-made pond, we bought some iced coffee from a vendor who was selling them to tourists who were there for sunrise, and we waited.

2 angkor — At first, we could only see the beehive shaped outline of Angkor Wat

As it got brighter and brighter we realized not only why it was worth waking up at 4:30am for this, but also that we were not the only ones who’d made this trip. The gratitude I felt for our tour guide, who had gotten us here before the crowds, also multiplied as I looked around me.

Eventually, the sun rose completely, giving us this spectacular view to start our day:

Chong Kneas – A Floating Fishing Village

Cambodia has 2 seasons: wet and dry. The wet season runs from May to October and the dry season from November to April. The Mekong River varies greatly between these two seasons, as Cambodia receives 75% of it’s rainfall in the wet months. So believe it or not, this is the same river:

Mekong 2 — The Mekong River at the height of the rainy season.

But human beings have survived for all these years because we are so adaptable. As a species, we survive all over the globe in a variety of environments and conditions, and just like Canadians bundle up into layers of clothes to survive the winter, Cambodia has found ways to survive the rise and fall of the Mekong River.

mirelescambodia-4723-L — A Cambodian home in the dry season

vylet-plovoucivesnice-002 — A Cambodian fishing village during the wet season

Entire villages are built on stilts to account of the rise and fall of the Mekong, and we were lucky enough to visit one of these villages. Here, people don’t walk down the street. Instead, they hop into a boat and row to their destination. Even livestock is kept above ground.

10 Chong Kneas — The type of boat we took to the village

11 Chong Kneas — This was a convenience store of sorts

12 Chong Kneas — These fishing villages are quite multicultural. Many of the fishermen here are Vietnamese and this is a Korean School

A fishing trap used by locals — A fish trap used by locals

14 Chong Kneas — We also got to see some of these traps outside the water. I honestly still don’t understand how this one works haha!

This is Sap Lake. There are several fishing villages on it, including the one we visited. It is fed by The Mekong, which begins all the way up in Southern China and flows all the way into the South China Sea

Banteay Srei – The Lady’s Temple

Next, we set off to see another temple…and though I’d never heard of it, it is quite famous within Cambodia. Unlike many of Angkor National Park’s temples, this sight was not built by a King of the era…it was built by a Hindu Brahman who happened to be the spiritual teacher of the king at the time. He had the temple built in honor of the Hindu deity, Shiva, but today it is known as the ‘Lady’s Temple’ because of it’s most unique feature: the temple is constructed entirely of hard pink sandstone. It is truly a beautiful location to visit and I got some amazing pictures while we were there.

20 banteay srei — The temple is also famous for its intricate carvings

18 banteay srei — All windows had an odd number of pillars. This one has 5, but many have 7. Odd numbers are lucky in both Buddhism and Hinduism.

23 banteay srei — So many beautiful structures in this “small” temple

24 Banteau Samre — The pink sandstone was so beautiful! It made the whole temple glow 🙂

Banteay Samre – Our Final Stop

Our last stop of the tour was at Banteay Samre, a temple built in around the same time as Angkor Wat. It was dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu and once had an impressive mote surrounding it, that would have made it something to see in its day. The colour of these ruins was gorgeous. Just like at Bayun Wat, I feel like we were too tired to truly appreciate how elaborate this sight is. I guess we’ll just have to go back some day 🙂

26 Banteau Samre — There were so many beautiful buildings at Bateay Samre

27 Banteau Samre — Many of the towers are shaped in the same fashion as Angkor Wat

25 Banteau Samre — This sight was restored quite effectively a few decades ago, though it hasn’t had any restoration for a while now.

30 Banteau Samre — The spikes on many of the roofs are what stood out for Dave. I honestly hadn’t noticed them at the time but they definitely added a lot of texture to the buildings

32 Banteau Samre — The back entrance to Bateay Samre

So that wraps up our stay in Siem Reap! Next, I’ll be writing about Kratie…home of the Irawadi Dolphins!! Stay tuned!!!

Angkor National Park – Cambodia’s Treasure (Part 1)

Around 7 years ago now, I decided to sit down and come up with a bucket list. I decided that there would be 100 items on that list and I knew, even before I began, that a lot of those items would involve traveling. In the last year I’ve been fortunate enough to cross 10 items off of that list, and I plan to be crossing off several more before 2015 ends. One of the things I’ve accomplished this year was our trip to Angkor National Park, which was the main reason we traveled to Cambodia for China’s May Holiday. Although I planned on finishing what I had to say (and show) about Angkor in 1 post, once I went through my pictures again, I realized that that would be impossible. There’s just too much to see and too much to tell to do it all in one post. So this will be part 1 of 2 on our stay in northern Cambodia, where we toured temples, met locals and visited a floating village.

We started our trip in Phnom Penh and then traveled to Siam Reap by overnight bus.

20150429_221737 — This is a night bus. It’s not the most comfortable way to travel, but it was better than the one I took in China. Also, it gave us the benefit of traveling while we slept…we only had 7 days to see 3 cities so time was of the essence

index — Angkor Wat is so representative of Cambodia, that it is even on their flag

The Cambodian Empire

Angkor National Park is all that remains of the Kampuchea empire, which reigned for over South-East Asia for over 600 years. Covering parts of Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and even Burma, the Cambodian Empire was fierce and wealthy, and as such, its kings erected massive temples both in Cambodia and in its conquered lands. The most impressive group of those temples is near Siem Reap (named after a defeat against Thailand at that location), which is where we visited during our stay in Cambodia. Interestingly, during Kampuchea’s hay day, there was both Hindu and Buddhist influence in the area, so these temples vary quite a bit from one to the next, making Angkor National Park a fascinating visit.

A Buddha we encountered in Angkor Wat — We saw this Buddha as we entered one of the main buildings of Angkor Wat….

But saw these carvings depicting stories from the Hindu Vedas a few minutes later

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Angkor National Park spans an area of over 400kms square and contains over 100 individual temples, ranging from Angkor Wat (an enormous temple with many buildings within its walls) to small ruins that are merely a wall left over from a previous sight that was destroyed.

ph-tempn-t-krolromeas — This is Krol Romeas, one of the smallest ruins left in Angkor National Park

Angkor Wat before sunset, Cambodia. — Angkor Wat Temple before sunset, Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Written records weren’t kept at this point in history, and much of what we know about the 9th-15th centuries has come from Angkor Wat and it’s surrounding temples. Carvings in the stone, as well as refinements of past culture still remain in these spots and they’ve told archeologists a great deal about South East Asian history. As someone who studied classical Roman and Greek history in University, I found that aspect of the park to be enthralling. Because of its cultural relevance, Angkor National Park was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it is preserved and has been repaired as a result. People flock from all over the world to see these sights, which are some of the most famous and awe inspiring temples in the world.

Apsara are relevant to both Buddhism and Hinduism. We got to see a traditional Apsara dance while in Phnom Penh. This carvings tell a story of the culture in ancient Angkor

The entire interior of Angkor Wat is gorgeous…so many stone carvings

Some carvings tell stories about battles that were won (or lost) by the Khmer Empire — Some carvings tell stories about battles that were won (or lost) by the Cambodian Empire

Angkor Wat

Our first stop in Siem Reap was Angkor Wat, the temple after which the national park was named. It spans 1km square and is the home to several libraries, halls and pools. It’s fared well against the test of time and has been restored through the years, where needed. We were lucky enough to visit Angkor Wat twice…I’ll be writing about our sunrise visit in my next post. Our first stop was a very hot one (the temperatures in Cambodia during the dry season go up to 40 degrees celcius…and stay there…all…day….long…), but well worth the trip. Our guide was a decent photographer too, so we even got pictures of the two of us in Angkor National Park, which was nice 🙂

Dave and I outside one of the front pools. During the dry season (we caught the end of it), there shouldn’t be any water left in these pools, but apparently tourists were complaining on Trip Advisor that they couldn’t get reflective photos, so the Cambodian Government decided to fill the pools with hoses. Tourists complain too much, I think…

These are just 2 of the many libraries at Angkor Wat. Although they are fairly empty inside now, I loved being in them. It’s some of the only refuge we got from the blistering hot sun.

I dislike that our guide chopped off the top of this library. Otherwise it would have been an awesome picture. I still like it though…we both look so purposeful. For me, my purpose was mostly just to get out of the sun 😛

Restoration was being done in some of the buildings.

These were both taken at the exact center of Angkor Wat. Our guide decided to pop his foot into the picture too haha

The view from the top tower, which in its time, was reserved for the Royal Family alone. Sadly, I was feeling pretty heat stroked at this point so I wasn't able to enjoy it as much as I would have liked. — The view from the top tower, which in its time, was reserved for the Royal Family alone. Sadly, I was feeling pretty heat stroked at this point so I wasn’t able to enjoy it as much as I would have liked.

The heat definitely played a factor in our enjoyment of Angkor Wat (along with our guide’s underestimation of the amount of water we’d need…we ran out early…), but Dave was brilliant enough to make a video before we got too exhausted:

Ta Prohm

We left Angkor Wat and hopped into a nicely air conditioned van, where we enjoyed the rest of our iced coffees to cool down. Iced coffee is AMAZING in Cambodia!!! Instead of sugar, they use sweetened condensed milk, which gave it a nice flavor. Plus, they get their coffee from Vietnam, which has some of the world’s best :). My favorite part though…it’s served in a bag…

Yes...that bag is full of a bag of coffee haha! (They put it in a plastic bag, put that bag into a paper bag and then put that one into another plastic bag....) — Yes…that bag is full of a bag of coffee haha! (They put it in a plastic bag, put that bag into a paper bag and then put that one into another plastic bag….)

Ta Prohm is, without a doubt, one of the coolest looking places I’ve ever seen in my life. It was built in the late 12th – early 13th centuries and unlike Angkor Wat, which was built under a Hindu King, Ta Prohm was built primarily as a Buddhist school. What makes Ta Prohm so interesting though isn’t it’s Buddhist ties. The fact that the temple has been kept as it was found, wild and grown over by trees, makes it the perfect spot for photos.

The way the trees have grown over and through the temple is why Ta Prohm is so famous today

One unfortunate thing about Ta Prohm is that it is incredibly tourist. We had to wait almost 5 minutes just to get this photo because Chinese tourists kept cutting in front of us and hogging the area of selfie after selfie…our tour guide eventually told them off so we could get our 1 picture in haha!!

The outer walls are something to see. Most of the stone used to create the temples in this time period is either Lava Stone or Sand Stone. This is Lava Stone.

It's possible you recognize Ta Prohm from Lara Croft Tomb Raider. This is where it was filmed :) — It’s possible you recognize Ta Prohm from Lara Croft Tomb Raider. This is where it was filmed 🙂

Ta Nei

Ta Nei is one of my favorite spots we visited. It was a long way away from all the other temples, (our driver had to go down some roads that looked like they were just walking paths in the middle of the jungle in order to get us there), but once we arrived, we saw why it was worth the trip.

Not only were there no other tourists there, but the sight is gorgeous! It’s definitely seen better days, and it hasn’t been restored the way Angkor Wat and Ta Prohm have been, but there is such a rawness to this old temple…I got some of my favorite pictures of the whole trip during this visit.

A lot of what’s left of Ta Nei is rubble.

And, like Ta Prohm, there are beautiful trees here

We loved this sight so much, we even remembered to take a video for it! I love how beautifully quiet it was there 🙂

Bayun (or Bayan) Temple

Our last stop on day one of our Siem Reap Tour was in Angkor Thom, the last (and longest enduring) city of the Cambodian Empire. Although there are several sights to see within Angkor Thom, Dave and I were suffering from pretty terrible heat exhaustion, so we only saw some of them from within the air conditioned vehicle. Our tour guide wanted to save our energy for Angkor Thom’s greatest masterpiece: Bayon Temple (I’ve also seen it spelled ‘Bayun’ Temple).

Built in the late 12th century, 100 years after the building of Angkor Wat (our first stop of the day), this is clearly a Buddhist temple. From afar, it is a beautiful sight to see, but when you see it up-close, you realize how fascinating this temple truly is.

Every tower at Bayon Temple has a beautiful Buddha face carved into it.

Each of Bayon’s 54 towers has a large face carved into each of its 4 sides. That means that this magnificent temple has a total of over 200 faces. It made for some incredible photos!!

A photo taken from within one of the many halls. One of my favorites of the trip

I should add that these faces are enormous…here is Dave and I standing directly in front of what is considered Bayon’s most beautiful Buddha.

I was very happy to have a guide at this point, as he was able to point out some of the best shots. There were so many faces everywhere that I could have easily missed shots like these ones:

He also got some great pictures of the two of us. By the end of this part of the tour, we were both feeling like we did on our wedding day…tired of smiling! But it was all worth it in the end! I would have been devastated had I not gotten some of these pictures!!

At the most famous entrance of Angkor Thom

So that was day 1 of our Siem Reap stop. I’ll be back next week with Day 2, where we experienced Angkor Wat at sunrise, a floating fishing village and Cambodia’s beautiful ‘Lady’s Temple’.

Thanks for reading!!