Cambodia

This is entry is SO late.

We entered into Cambodia with no problems and arrived in Phnom Penh and checked into a hotel on the northwestern side of town. It was a great area, a little far from town, but good food nearby and within walking distance to some good spots. In PP, we did the normal touristy stuff, walked around, bought a lot of sunglasses, ate good food, etc. Two things that did stick out was going to the killing fields and going to the S21 museum. The museum was originally a school, that was converted into a prison/ torture chamber during the 1970's Pol Pot regime. Hundreds of thousands of men, women and children were taken here before they were brought to the killing fields where they were excuted and dumped into mass graves. It was hands down one of the most disgusting and depressing things I have seen. When you walk through the killing fields, there are human bones sticking up through the ground!! You can see teeth and parts of skulls and even clothing! It was awful.

On a lighter note, we sang karaoke that night and had a really good time.

We left Phnom Penh and headed south to Kampot and Kep, which are two coastal towns that don't get a lot of visitors. In Kampot, we rented bikes and cruised around the rice paddies, went to a local disco (where me and Tammy were two of maybe 6 girls out of 100 guys). In Kep we had probably the BEST seafood I have had. I got two crabs, squid, shrimp and fish and everything was caught to order and seasoned so well, ugh, it was amazing.

From the south, we headed back up north to Siem Reap, which was once upon a time a very small, sleepy country town, but is now one of the most touristy and developed areas due to the attraction of Angkor Wat. I did not like Siem Reap at all. The local people were jaded by seeing so many tourists and only saw us as money bags. The children were mean and crawled all over you asking for money, but of course you can't be mad because they are children and you know they are forced to do this! It was terrible, i really, really did not like Siem Reap. Plus, my camera got stolen from a drive by moto, which is why all these pictures were taken by other people (Thanks Tammy, Ben and Tom).

However, Angkor Wat is touristy for a reason. It was spetacular. These old temples were massive and so detailed and just absolutely breathtaking. You can spend days going around to all the temples, but we only did two days. The first day we saw the main sites, but the second day, we drove out of town about an hour to Beng Melea which is completely covered in trees and hasn't been restored, so it looks like it did when it was discovered. You got to climb all over the ruins and explore, it was totally awesome and worth the money and time.

From Siem Reap, we headed Battambang, which is a small town closer to the Thai border. I liked this town a lot, hardly any tourists and lots to see. Some highlights are this bamboo train you can pay to ride on. Its just a platform made from bamboo that runs on the train tracks with a motorcycle motor. When another train comes, you get off the bamboo train, take it off the tracks, wait for the train to pass and then get back on. It was really fun.

We also took a cooking class, which of course was delicious and now I have no excuse not to cook up a storm.

We headed back to Bangkok where were stayed near Patpong area. I loved Bangkok, I'll never get tired of it.

And then I headed back to the states.

Beng Melea

climbing all over

Asian pose!

so much detail in the fallen ruins

more Beng Melea

same

group shot

Ta Prohm in Angkor

Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat

cooking!

out in Bangkok, drinking with some construction workers

Saigon

I arrived in Saigon from Dalat in the early afternoon, I checked into a pretty nice room for about $6, my own bathroom and cable TV. Thats pretty cheap for Saigon, especially since the dorm room in the hostel was $7 a night and that is a shared room and bathroom. Anyway, checked in, wandered around a bit and just explored the local area. I was meeting Ben and Tammy the next day so I saved some of the big events for them.

Everyone trains their dogs to sit on the motorbikes like this, its amazing.

The next day, I met up with Ben and Tammy and we just explored Saigon. We went to the war history museum which was pretty interesting. Really sad, but had some amazing pictures and stories. Very anti American, but that was expected.

The day after we went to the Cuchi Tunnels, which were similar to the tunnels I went to the in the DMZ, but they were more for war purposes than the ones up north. These tunnels were soooo small! And they were actually widened for tourists, so I can't even imagine what they used to look like. They were used for the Vietnamese army to run around underground, spring up and attack the Americans, and then run back down underground.

Entrance to the tunnels

One of the traps set up by the Vietnamese army. Ouch!

Me, Tammy and Ben on an old army tank

Me with an AK47 or something

Tammy in the tunnel

View of Saigon

I loved Saigon, too bad we only stayed for a few days since my visa was almost up. Headed out to Cambodia.

South Central Vietnam

In all honesty, there isn't much I can say about Hoi An. It was pretty, and the architecture was cool as it is a world heritage site and was not damaged during the war, but there are sooooo many tailor shops and tourists stores that it takes away from the whole vibe. You can't walk down the street without eyeing the endless things you can have made. Shoes, boots, bags, coats, dresses, suits, you name it, they can make it. So of course, I spoiled myself and got a few things.

On the days I wasn't getting fitted and picking stuff out, a group of us rented motorbikes and cruised around out to China Beach, which is a beach where US soldiers would get some R&R when they were off duty. It was a really pretty beach, but since there were a lot of locals, I had to swim fully clothed as bikinis are not standard attire for Vietnamese, and unless you want to get stared at even more than normal, its best to swim in your clothes.

Tourists deciding what to get made

One of the cool buildings

I also went to some Cham ruins outside town known as My Son. These ruins are even older than Ankor Wat in Cambodia. They were pretty amazing, but I twisted my ankle really bad getting out of the bus. The bus driver jumped out, sat me on a stool and started poking my ankle and twisting my foot at every ankle while almost screamed out loud in pain. He clapped his hands together, gave me a thumbs up and walked away. Thanks Dr. Bus Driver.

Ruins

Hah!

Cutest lady ever

After Hoi An, I decided to do my own thing and went to this town called Quy Nhon (pronounced Wee Non). It was awesome. There is one hostel there actually, so besides myself, there were about 6 other western tourists in the whole city. I met some nice Americans and we rented bikes and cruised out to the Leprosy Hospital which has an amazing beach. It was really weird being on hospital grounds on a beach.

View of Leprosy Hospital Beach

Local fishing boats

USA or bust!

Bike and me

Those white things are jelly fish

Another beach in town

This tank was in the water for a long time, and at low tide you could see it. But they recently took it out and moved it to the museum! It would have been so much cooler to see in the water!

One of the many amazing things I ate in Quy Nhon. This town was great cause the street food was soooo good, and I got local prices, not tourist prices since they aren't used to our kind being there. One of the few places in Vietnam where prices aren't jacked up for us.

Sunset in Quy Nhon

I took the overnight bus to Dalat, which is located in the southern highlands. Its a cute place, bigger than I thought, but MUCH cooler than everywhere else. I can actually walk around without being soaking wet with sweat. And I wear a sweater at night! Yesterday me and this danish couple went out with what is called the Dalat Easy Riders, which is a bunch of dudes with motorcylces who give you a tour of the countryside. It was really fun!

We went to a silk factory, this is where silk comes from!

Beautiful view. During the war, this valley was used by the communists to try to sneak attacks on the American troops. It used to be covered in jungle but we bombed the bejesus out it so we could catch those buggers... didn't work, we still lost. They have replaced the jungle landscape with pine trees, which I thought was weird, but I am no botanist.

Team Denmark, Mark and Fia and ME

This place is known as the Crazy House in Dalat. It is still under construction, but it is a hotel built by a Vietnamese woman who studied architecture in Moscow. Other buildings that were too crazy for communists were torn down, but since her father was second in line to Uncle Ho, the building will remain standing. Its a hotel where you can actually stay. It really is crazy.

Only a few days left in Vietnam, off to Saigon tomorrow morning, then into Cambodia!

They really do wear those cone hats here...

After two overnight bus rides, I made it to Hanoi. I was with this English guy Tom who I had met back in Thailand actually, and we went to meet some of his friends. The four of us booked a trip to Halong Bay right away since I was short on time up north.

Hanoi is crazy. I am glad I went up there. There are soooo many motorbikes and I hear that its even worse in Saigon (I know, Ho Chi Minh City, but Saigon is easier to write). I really liked Hanoi, it is very busy and lively. People just set up their food stalls everywhere. You can barely walk on the sidewalks cause they are so full of food places.

Bananas

Entrance to old city

Old ladies doing massages in the park

Halong Bay was really pretty. There isn't much to it though, they suffle you from a bus to a boat, where you hang out and enjoy the scenery, go for a swim, we went kayaking a bit. Its supposed to be a protected area, but there was a lot of pollution and garbage in the water... and a lot of jelly fish. But it was still really pretty.

Party on the boat

Halong Bay store

Limestone rocks

After Halong Bay, I spent another two days in Hanoi just touring around. We went to Ho Chi Minh's tomb thing, where he was preserved and put on display, it was crazy! It was the first dead body I have seen.

Food stall and cone hat!

Bia Hoi, little beer places where you can get home brewed stuff for like 25 cents!

I took another overnight bus down to Hue where I stayed three nights. Hue is very different from Hanoi, its quiter, cleaner, but there are still a lot of motorbikes. I toured the citadel, which is an old fortress in the city with a lot of temples. The whole area is just really beautiful ride your bike around in. While I was riding around, I met a nice couple who invited me for dinner. It was a little strange, cause when I got there, they had already eaten and just watched me eat... The wife was really nice and took me to a good tailor she knew and I had a suit made up for me. At the first fitting, I wanted to cry because everything was wrong. the suit made me look like an old lady with a pea head, so I asked them to re-do it. Since it WAS the design I had picked, I had to pay another $15 for a new jacket. But in the end, the suit looks awesome, a little pricey but awesome. For a custom made jacket, pants and skirt, it cost $175. I think its a good deal, but we'll see how long the suit lasts to decide. haha.

Citadel

Quy and Tho, my local friends

Thien Mu Pagoda

Since I was in the area, I decided to do a tour of the Demiltarized Zone. This is where Vietnam was divided between north and south and actually became one of the most heavily militarized areas during the war. Gary, I should have you write this part...

Me on the Ho Chi Minh Trail

Me at Khe San Combat Base, where one of the bloodiest battles took place

Picture of child carrying supplies

The Vinh Moc tunnels were a series of tunnels that went up to 30 meters underground where over 300 local tribes people lived during the war to avoid the constant bombing. It was a highlight of the day, absolutely amazing.

A standard family room in the tunnels

I have just arrived in Hoi An, which is probably the worst place to be if you like shopping because you can get ANYTHING made here. I just ordered a pair of shoes and I will probably walk away with a few dresses... I should leave. haha.