Phenomenal Phnom Penh

We made it to the capital of Cambodia from Vietnam via minivan to ferry (named the “Superdong”) to bus to minibus to tuk-tuk.  Crossing the border proved to be easier than expected after the stories we’d heard about bribes needed to enter the country.    We were only weakly asked once to pay, the “health officer” who makes you fill out a form stating if you’ve been sick in the last 7 days, asked  for 15000 VND ($0.75) to help him pay for his tea.  Really it was more a meager request than the demanding bribe we were expecting.  In the end we gave him our remaining dong which was about 20 cents worth.

We found Phnom Penh to be crowded, bustling, and on the move with high-rises in various stages of construction.  It reminded us of India on a much smaller scale, with tuk-tuks zipping around, store fronts spilling out to fill the sidewalks and lots of car horns. We also noticed what appeared to be a large disparity of wealth among the city’s residents with Lexus, Range Rover and Escalade SUVs a common sight as they forced their way through the streets packed with motorbike and bicycles.  

We met up with Sue’s Expeditors Cambodia counterpart, Sam, who showed us warm hospitality. He picked us up took us to a local Khmer lunch before driving us around all afternoon showing us around the city.  Sam also brought along two other Expeditors’ employees who helped show us the sights and gave us some great insights into the Cambodian society.  It was welcome change to have a few local guides to lead us around instead of having to figure it all out and we had a great time with our kind hosts.

On our second day we headed a little out of the city to visit the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center, better known as the Killing fields, where the remains of 8,985 Khmer Rouge victims were excavated from mass grave,s, 43 of the 129 graves where left untouched.  Between April 1975 to January 1979 roughly 1-3 million people (a very disputed number)died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. In the name of the working class and farmers, the Khmer Rouge seized power and ordered the immediate evacuation of the cities and began jailing (and eventually killing) anyone they considered an enemy of the state which generally included intellectuals, teachers, doctors, people who wore glasses, spoke foreign languages, etc.  The tour of Choeung Ek came with an audio guide full of personal stories of survivors and former soldiers giving us a better idea of the insane and tragic rule of Pol Pot and the consequences it had on the country.

The bustling city center

The central market selling everything from kitchen wares to diamonds to fake name brand clothes strait from the factory.

An economic use of space, you can get a tuk-tuk ride and get some tailoring done all at the same time

Graham, Sue, Ratina and Sam at the Wat Phnom

Cambodia's Royal Palace where the King still lives

Sue had to rent some large green pants to follow the royal dress code

Ratina, Sue, Savannayu and Sam

The unexcavated mass graves at the Killing Feilds, such a peaceful place where such horrors happened 

The Memorial Stupa where more than 8,000 skulls are arranged by age and sex

Phucking Off in Phu Quoc

We decided to spend our last few days in Vietnam on the beachy island off the southern tip of the mainland. The town of Duong Dong  proved to be just what we needed, with a nice mix of a few cheap guesthouses, fishing villages and just a sprinkling of resorts (it hasn't hit mega tourism yet, but it will soon) We lucked out with the weather and got 3 days of sunshine out of 4, which is pretty lucky during the wet season with typhoons straying about. Our reward for risking the bad weather was low tourist season and hardly anyone on the beach.

While we could have spent far more time exploring the relatively large island we stuck close to home and spent our days lounging in the sand, rotating between breakfast lunch and dinner at our three favorite (cheap) restaurants and getting massages on the beach at sunset for $3. Tough, very tough. Not much more to say than that.

Besides the beach, the town was home to a bustling (but small) fishing village.

Just a quick stop off at the chicken stand. Tied, weighed and still clucking as they're carried off on the moto.

Just about anything from the sea. Cephalopods, crustaceans, fish....  

Besides the fruits and fish there were also the designer motorcycle helmets. 

The local beachfront and a game of football (soccer)

Our beach bungalow. Like we said, it was tough.

Next we ditch the beach and get back to the grit of backpacker life as we head to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Strolling the Streets of Saigon

Ho Chi Minh City, formally known as Saigon was renamed for the communist leader following the Vietnam war.  Though the bustling business center of Vietnam is still called “Saigon” by many locals both young and old while the glowing neon signs, flashy luxury shopping and multi-story karaoke bars shout “capitalism” to the observer on the street.

We spent our three days weaving through the dense motorbike traffic to explore the city’s numerous markets and river front financial district while enjoying some of the best Vietnamese cuisine we’ve had for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Anytime we stopped for a break in one lovely parks we’d soon be approached by university students hoping to practice their English which lead to some interesting conversations. 

These two videos show the regularly chaotic traffic in Saigon, neither is particularly special or amazing, but just the normal "flow" to be found around Saigon and many of the busier parts of Vietnam.

How to cross traffic. You can usually wait a few seconds for a natural break in one direction, but if you actually waited for both lanes to be clear you'd be there all day. Note this is in a crosswalk.

Some teens playing Dau Cau  a popular sport played by many, it wasn’t uncommon to see middle aged men still in dress shirts and slacks playing around with university students. Something similar to hacky sack but played with something like the shuttle cock from badminton, there is also a version with a volley ball net.

The main post office built in grand French Colonial fashion

Some left overs at the War Remnants Museum dedicated to showing the impacts of the Vietnam wars (French and American) and the lasting effects of chemicals defoliants like Agent Orange which have caused a wealth of multi-generational birth defects.

A collection of propaganda posters from around the world

Many of the exhibits focused on the defeat of the USA despite the technological might of the US Army and the “war crimes” committed by the “American aggressors” despite international protest. While many of the images were quite disturbing, and the war was undoubtedly terrible, but the complete one sidedness, with the notion that the Communist north never did anything wrong or hurt anyone, undermined entire exhibit’s creditability, but I suppose that’s to be expected from a government controlled museum.  

Reunification Palace where the North Vietnamese tanks famously crashed through the gate to seize power after the final days of the Vietnam War.

Along with the tangle of motorbikes came tangles of power lines.

Working in the rain

Vietnamese pancake with shrimp, pork and bean sprouts inside. Delicious 

Best bowl of Pho to date.

Squid paste vendor. The dried squids hang from a stand built onto a bicycle also equipped with a car-battery powered grinder. Yum

The women of the fresh meat carts at the market.

Next we're off to hopefully catch some rays on the beach island of Phu Quoc off the southern tip of Vietnam.

History in Hue and High Fashion in Hoi An.

After our Cat Ba Island retreat we headed back to Hanoi to catch a 14 hour overnight train to Hue.  The journey went amazingly well and we woke up near the central coast area of Vietnam.  Hue was once the political capital of Vietnam and from 1802-1945 it was home to 13 emperors of the Nguyen Dynasty.

The Perfume River in Hue.

Hue is home to a former moated and walled imperial city.  Further inside is a citadel within a citadel, the imperial enclosure where the emperor carried out his official functions.  

Some boys fishing the moat

The expansive grounds within the first wall.

Hoi An seemed to be the tourist capital of Vietnam with more camera touting, matching t-shirt wearing families per square block than anywhere else. The beautiful and tranquil old town boasts wonderfully maintained huge houses (more like miniature complexes) which were once belonged to the wealthy classes. These days many of the great mansion homes now house the tailor shops and art studios Hoi An has become known for.   There are literally whole streets of tailor shops with store fronts bursting with well-dressed mannequins, offering to turn around almost anything you could think to have made within a matter of 12-24 hours.  With returning to the real world in mind, Sue had a suit made and Graham a couple of dress shirts tailored.  Between fittings we managed to rent some bikes to see the sites around town and relax on the beach a few miles out of town. Cutting short our beach time to make it back in time for our meetings with various tailors was a bit of an odd feeling and quite all together contradictory to our typical backpacker schedule (wake up, eat, wander around, eat, visit impressive/historic sights, wander, eat….etc.)

Some wee ones practicing martial arts. Some looked to be as young as 5 and quite cute (I'm sure they'll grow up to be fearsome)

Some fresh Vietnamese spring roles.

The beach a short bike ride out of town. Surprisingly nice and rather deserted.

The boats lined up eager to whisk a tourist off on a river cruise.

Giant incense coils lit by temple goers to keep their prayers going strong for days or weeks, depending on how big a coil you buy....

Practicing their dragon dance, drums and all.

Half of Sue's prudent purchase, watch out business world, she's coming back (in a couple months....and probably without the Chaco sandals)