So.. the last time I wrote I was in Sihanoukville, Southern Cambodia. We ended up renting bikes there and riding to a beach much farther away than the more ''popular'' ones. It was well worth it - we were by ourselves most of the day relaxing on the beach.
We spent one more night in the capital before heading up to Siem Reap, where I now sit!
We bought 3 day passes for the Temples of Angkor - as we heard purchasing one day passes ''was a crime''. We hired Chea, a tuk tuk driver, to take us around the temples for 2 days. He is super nice and a great driver, especially considering how bumpy the roads are.
On our first day we left our guest house at 5 am to catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat. Before coming here, I didn't really know what to expect from these temples.. but after arriving, I know that they far surpassed any idea that I had in my head.
Here's my brief history lesson on the temples of Angkor:
Basically back in the day, by this I mean between the 9th and 13th centuries, a bunch of ''god kings'' ruled the land. Using all of their wealth and labour force they built these temples to glorify not only themselves, but also their ancestors. I look at it as a kind of competition!
In my opinion, Suryavarman II won! He's the guy who built Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is the most massive building I have ever seen and I have NO IDEA how this place was built so long ago. It is still considered the largest religious building in the world. WOW. I was more than impressed.
In this same day we visited quite a few more temples, including the one that tomb raider was filmed in. It was really neat. We also went to the Bayon, which is known for the many faces in the stone. There are a number of theories on what the faces on the stone are or mean, but no one really knows... Hmmmmmm.
On our second day, we checked out another group of temples known as the Roluos Group. They were much older than the first temples we visited.. but amazing all the same! In the evening we wanted to see sunset at Angkor but it was raining (boo). We did, however, manage to visit the Landmine Museum - it was well worth the REALLY bumpy road... and it put some facts and figures on the problem here in Cambodia...this is amazing as well... but not in a good way.
We catch a plane to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia tomorrow. I'm super excited to visit Malaysia - but at the same time, I am shocked at how fast our trip has gone by. WOW.
TL
29 June, 2006
27 June, 2006
Finally - More Pictures!
I apologize for the lack of pics on the blog - but its hard to find computers here that can do 2 things at once... enjoy!
This one is of me and Julie kayaking in Halong Bay, Vietnam
This is the sunset we were welcomed with on our first day in Saigon... we rode the Fokker 70 into the city
This pic was taken way back in Laos on our way home from checking out the caves.. they way this guy and his ox worked together was really amazing
These are the beautiful waterfalls I was talking about just outside of Luang Prabang, Laos - we swam here!
One morning in Luang Prabang we woke up at 530 am to see all of the monks collect gifts and foods from the locals ... they do this EVERY MORNING.. it was amazing!
TL
This one is of me and Julie kayaking in Halong Bay, Vietnam
This is the sunset we were welcomed with on our first day in Saigon... we rode the Fokker 70 into the city
This pic was taken way back in Laos on our way home from checking out the caves.. they way this guy and his ox worked together was really amazing
These are the beautiful waterfalls I was talking about just outside of Luang Prabang, Laos - we swam here!
One morning in Luang Prabang we woke up at 530 am to see all of the monks collect gifts and foods from the locals ... they do this EVERY MORNING.. it was amazing!TL
23 June, 2006
ENTER CAMBODIA
Alrighty - so far Cambodia has made me both ecstatically happy and very, very sad. Maybe I'll talk about the sad stuff first - then end with the happy stuff - just like a good movie.
We visited both a museum and a memorial site on our first full day in the capital city. We went to 'the killing fields' memorial first.
A little background on Cambodia if you didn't know already: (this is gonna be in a nutshell)
So in 1975 this guy named Pol Pot (a former school teacher - who knew?) decided that Cambodia needed a facelift. He started a revolution and recruited many followers saying that he was going to improve Cambodia as a country. He called 1975 'year zero' and decided to kill everyone who had any status or influence in the country: teachers, doctors, the wealthy, and even people who wore glasses (because they looked like intellectuals), etc. He even killed people who worked for them if they became too smart or too influential to others. He also destroyed all hospitals, schools, government buildings, etc. The guy was nuts. It lasted for 3 or 4 years and in proportion to the population of Cambodia was deemed the worst genocide. He was overthrown and killed.
The killing fields are 14 km outside of town and is the location where around 17000 people were killed and put into mass graves. Its sickly sad. The escavated after the genocide and pulled out 8000 skulls and put them on display in this massive tower where you enter the fields. Looking at it made me feel ill - then realizing that it was less than half of the people blew me away. You walk through these fields seeing the sites where all different people from all different social status' were killed - there's still bones and clothing in the ground around you. It was awful.
After this memorial we went to the 'S-21' or 'security prison 21' museum. Pol Pot had prisons all over the country... this one was a highschool before the 'revolution' that he converted into a massive prison. He had documentation of every prisoner that went through the walls and often tortured them until they would admit to somthing they didn't even do. It said he had kids that were 10-15 years old be some of his prison guards at this place. Apparently of the thousands upon thousands of people that went through that prison - only 7 people survived.
I can't really describe what these 2 places were like - other than the fact that they were extremely sad and disturbing. However, I am glad that I went and I feel that everyone that visits this country should go - because it gives people an awareness of what goes on in some places - and how recent these events were.
On a happier note - the next day we asked some motorbike drivers to take us to an orphanage and they did. We got dropped off at an orphanage that a German couple started 6 years ago. They rent a house and have 23 kids in their care - ranging from 1 month old babies to 16 year olds. The couple wasn't actually there while we were there visiting (they were just leaving). We had a blast. All the kids were wonderful - so happy and generous and kind - it was GREAT. We played tons of games, had a traditional Khmer lunch with them (I was shown how to wash my hands by an 8 year old girl). They are all learning English and were very good at it. They asked me to read some books to them - I was reading books in not only English but also French (it was terribly ugly). I also had to read some religious stories to them - I didn't know how to pronounce some of the names and places - I kinda felt DUMB - oh well.. I tried! A 6 year old girl then decided she wanted to do my hair - OUCH. We left that place more than exhausted.
To top it off MY ride back to the guest house was terrible. First of all - after all of the insane driving in Asia - I finally witnessed my first accident... it wasn't pretty - a motorbike with a 45 year old lady and 75 year old man (yes, that's right, yet ANOTHER 75 year old man enters my adventures on this trip) T-boned a big SUV coming over a bridge.... RIGHT BESIDE US - they were under their motorbike and gas was leaking everywhere - NOBODY STOPS - I hope they are OK. Then - my driver gets soo lost coming back to my guest house....he tried to drop me off at some random hotel - then I said 'No, I am staying at KING GH' and he nods and starts driving... 5 minutes later he tells me to get off the bike at 'NING HOTEL'... and I said NO. So he asked for directions and started driving again. He got lost again - and then I finally recognized a landmark and told him how to get back to where I was staying. What a pain.
Now I am in Sihanoukville - Southern Cambodia. Basically its the only part of Cambodia that touches the ocean - the Gulf of Thailand. Its pretty. A good place to relax for a bit until we get back to the cities....
TL
We visited both a museum and a memorial site on our first full day in the capital city. We went to 'the killing fields' memorial first.
A little background on Cambodia if you didn't know already: (this is gonna be in a nutshell)
So in 1975 this guy named Pol Pot (a former school teacher - who knew?) decided that Cambodia needed a facelift. He started a revolution and recruited many followers saying that he was going to improve Cambodia as a country. He called 1975 'year zero' and decided to kill everyone who had any status or influence in the country: teachers, doctors, the wealthy, and even people who wore glasses (because they looked like intellectuals), etc. He even killed people who worked for them if they became too smart or too influential to others. He also destroyed all hospitals, schools, government buildings, etc. The guy was nuts. It lasted for 3 or 4 years and in proportion to the population of Cambodia was deemed the worst genocide. He was overthrown and killed.
The killing fields are 14 km outside of town and is the location where around 17000 people were killed and put into mass graves. Its sickly sad. The escavated after the genocide and pulled out 8000 skulls and put them on display in this massive tower where you enter the fields. Looking at it made me feel ill - then realizing that it was less than half of the people blew me away. You walk through these fields seeing the sites where all different people from all different social status' were killed - there's still bones and clothing in the ground around you. It was awful.
After this memorial we went to the 'S-21' or 'security prison 21' museum. Pol Pot had prisons all over the country... this one was a highschool before the 'revolution' that he converted into a massive prison. He had documentation of every prisoner that went through the walls and often tortured them until they would admit to somthing they didn't even do. It said he had kids that were 10-15 years old be some of his prison guards at this place. Apparently of the thousands upon thousands of people that went through that prison - only 7 people survived.
I can't really describe what these 2 places were like - other than the fact that they were extremely sad and disturbing. However, I am glad that I went and I feel that everyone that visits this country should go - because it gives people an awareness of what goes on in some places - and how recent these events were.
On a happier note - the next day we asked some motorbike drivers to take us to an orphanage and they did. We got dropped off at an orphanage that a German couple started 6 years ago. They rent a house and have 23 kids in their care - ranging from 1 month old babies to 16 year olds. The couple wasn't actually there while we were there visiting (they were just leaving). We had a blast. All the kids were wonderful - so happy and generous and kind - it was GREAT. We played tons of games, had a traditional Khmer lunch with them (I was shown how to wash my hands by an 8 year old girl). They are all learning English and were very good at it. They asked me to read some books to them - I was reading books in not only English but also French (it was terribly ugly). I also had to read some religious stories to them - I didn't know how to pronounce some of the names and places - I kinda felt DUMB - oh well.. I tried! A 6 year old girl then decided she wanted to do my hair - OUCH. We left that place more than exhausted.
To top it off MY ride back to the guest house was terrible. First of all - after all of the insane driving in Asia - I finally witnessed my first accident... it wasn't pretty - a motorbike with a 45 year old lady and 75 year old man (yes, that's right, yet ANOTHER 75 year old man enters my adventures on this trip) T-boned a big SUV coming over a bridge.... RIGHT BESIDE US - they were under their motorbike and gas was leaking everywhere - NOBODY STOPS - I hope they are OK. Then - my driver gets soo lost coming back to my guest house....he tried to drop me off at some random hotel - then I said 'No, I am staying at KING GH' and he nods and starts driving... 5 minutes later he tells me to get off the bike at 'NING HOTEL'... and I said NO. So he asked for directions and started driving again. He got lost again - and then I finally recognized a landmark and told him how to get back to where I was staying. What a pain.
Now I am in Sihanoukville - Southern Cambodia. Basically its the only part of Cambodia that touches the ocean - the Gulf of Thailand. Its pretty. A good place to relax for a bit until we get back to the cities....
TL
20 June, 2006
Missing 'Nam' already...
Greetings! Much has happened since we arrived in Saigon...
I must say having Mark around in the city was an absolute blessing! He speaks very good Vietnamese (an Irish guy speaking Vietnamese - quite the sight) so gets us very good deals everywhere we go...he knows all the right places to see and all the right things to eat.... it was great!
OK.. so we arrived in Saigon and Jonnie, Julie and I were sold the second Mark told us we could get GOOD sushi in the city. It was delicious! Mmmmmmmmmm.
Our first whole day in Saigon was spent doing our own walking tour of the city. BUT FIRST - Mark took us to the most amazing resteraunt ever invented. The name translated into 'delicious food resteraunt' and it didn't lie. Mark ordered food and drinks for the 4 of us and it was all soo tasty (and exceptionally cheap). We ate things that I would never have imagined to order - pounded shrimp wrapped around sugar cane....???
We visited the 'War Remnants Museum' and spent a long time there. It was reallly interesting to learn about the history of the Vietnam war, especially from a Vietnamese perspective. Some of it still confuses me - with the North and South, the so called ''çommunism'' of the country, and the politics behind it - but being a foreigner... I don't think I will ever fully understand what went and goes on here. After the museum we walked through "çentral park', checked out some markets and a shopping mall... basically saw a lot of the city on foot. I really like Saigon. It doesn't seem as busy and its quite clean and friendly. I can see how Mark lived here for 3 years.
Day 2 in Saigon started out BAD. Jonnie found out he got robbed the night before by a girl who 'wanted to take him home'. It was a bit of a blow to his ego to find out that she was just saying that to grab his wallet out of his pocket.. lesson learnt I guess. Anyway.. the 3 of us took a trip out to the Cu Chi tunnels - 2 hours north of Saigon. They are a 250km network of tunnels created by the Vietcong during the war in order to hide from the Americans. Not only are they underground (between 3 and 10 meters) but they are also WAY to small for any western body to fit into. I sure struggled getting around (and for only 90m) and thats AFTER they had been widened for tourist. Yikes!
The next day Jonnie left for Cambodia while Julie and I headed up the coast of Vietnam to a place called Mui Ne. It produces the majority of Vietnam's fish sauce - but thats not why we went there. Its a huge beach with guesthouses along it. It was nice to get away from the city and relax for a few days... the water was also COLDER and somewhat refreshing. On the second day there we rented a motorbike with a guy from London and one from France to drive out to the sand dunes (45km past Mui Ne). Julie drove on the way there (her first time - I was very proud of her). The dunes were great... we hired this kid and 4 slides to show us around. We hiked to the highest dune around and slid down them on crazy carpets... SO FUN (but i had sand everywhere - EW).
I drove on the way home. Big Mistake. It was dark... and when its dark.. the bugs come out. I HATE bugs. I drove home with one hand on the steering, the other one in front of my face, and my head almost at my knees to avoid the suckers. They HURT. It was like getting pelted with bebe gun pellets all over your body (I know what one feels like because when i was 16 Shawn shot me with one upstairs). Anyway.. it was painful. Part way through the ride Julies foot slipped off and rubbed the ground.. not only scratching her foot, but also throwing the bike out of wack... good thing i had ONE hand on the steering (and not 0 i guess) - ANYWAY - to wrap things up - it was by far the worst bike ride i have ever been on.
So .. we left Mui Ne and headed back to Saigon to roll in my 23 birthday with Mark. We ate at the delicious food resteraunt again and then Mark showed us a few hot spots in town.. it was FUN.
Now I sit here, in the capital of Cambodia. We took a bus this morning. The border was a gongshow. Listen to all of these lineups:
1. to hand in our Vietnamese departure cards
2. to get our visa stamped for leaving Vietnam
3. to fill out an Cambodian Visa
4. to fill out a health check for Cambodia
5. To fill out an arrival card for Cambodia and get our visa stamped
The whole process was so boring - If i was organising the border crossing (which i doubt i ever will) i would organize much differently - a lot less waiting in lines and more fans.
Anyway - a first glimpse of Cambodia tells me it is a lot different from the other countries we have been to. I'm really excited to check it out...
TL
I must say having Mark around in the city was an absolute blessing! He speaks very good Vietnamese (an Irish guy speaking Vietnamese - quite the sight) so gets us very good deals everywhere we go...he knows all the right places to see and all the right things to eat.... it was great!
OK.. so we arrived in Saigon and Jonnie, Julie and I were sold the second Mark told us we could get GOOD sushi in the city. It was delicious! Mmmmmmmmmm.
Our first whole day in Saigon was spent doing our own walking tour of the city. BUT FIRST - Mark took us to the most amazing resteraunt ever invented. The name translated into 'delicious food resteraunt' and it didn't lie. Mark ordered food and drinks for the 4 of us and it was all soo tasty (and exceptionally cheap). We ate things that I would never have imagined to order - pounded shrimp wrapped around sugar cane....???
We visited the 'War Remnants Museum' and spent a long time there. It was reallly interesting to learn about the history of the Vietnam war, especially from a Vietnamese perspective. Some of it still confuses me - with the North and South, the so called ''çommunism'' of the country, and the politics behind it - but being a foreigner... I don't think I will ever fully understand what went and goes on here. After the museum we walked through "çentral park', checked out some markets and a shopping mall... basically saw a lot of the city on foot. I really like Saigon. It doesn't seem as busy and its quite clean and friendly. I can see how Mark lived here for 3 years.
Day 2 in Saigon started out BAD. Jonnie found out he got robbed the night before by a girl who 'wanted to take him home'. It was a bit of a blow to his ego to find out that she was just saying that to grab his wallet out of his pocket.. lesson learnt I guess. Anyway.. the 3 of us took a trip out to the Cu Chi tunnels - 2 hours north of Saigon. They are a 250km network of tunnels created by the Vietcong during the war in order to hide from the Americans. Not only are they underground (between 3 and 10 meters) but they are also WAY to small for any western body to fit into. I sure struggled getting around (and for only 90m) and thats AFTER they had been widened for tourist. Yikes!
The next day Jonnie left for Cambodia while Julie and I headed up the coast of Vietnam to a place called Mui Ne. It produces the majority of Vietnam's fish sauce - but thats not why we went there. Its a huge beach with guesthouses along it. It was nice to get away from the city and relax for a few days... the water was also COLDER and somewhat refreshing. On the second day there we rented a motorbike with a guy from London and one from France to drive out to the sand dunes (45km past Mui Ne). Julie drove on the way there (her first time - I was very proud of her). The dunes were great... we hired this kid and 4 slides to show us around. We hiked to the highest dune around and slid down them on crazy carpets... SO FUN (but i had sand everywhere - EW).
I drove on the way home. Big Mistake. It was dark... and when its dark.. the bugs come out. I HATE bugs. I drove home with one hand on the steering, the other one in front of my face, and my head almost at my knees to avoid the suckers. They HURT. It was like getting pelted with bebe gun pellets all over your body (I know what one feels like because when i was 16 Shawn shot me with one upstairs). Anyway.. it was painful. Part way through the ride Julies foot slipped off and rubbed the ground.. not only scratching her foot, but also throwing the bike out of wack... good thing i had ONE hand on the steering (and not 0 i guess) - ANYWAY - to wrap things up - it was by far the worst bike ride i have ever been on.
So .. we left Mui Ne and headed back to Saigon to roll in my 23 birthday with Mark. We ate at the delicious food resteraunt again and then Mark showed us a few hot spots in town.. it was FUN.
Now I sit here, in the capital of Cambodia. We took a bus this morning. The border was a gongshow. Listen to all of these lineups:
1. to hand in our Vietnamese departure cards
2. to get our visa stamped for leaving Vietnam
3. to fill out an Cambodian Visa
4. to fill out a health check for Cambodia
5. To fill out an arrival card for Cambodia and get our visa stamped
The whole process was so boring - If i was organising the border crossing (which i doubt i ever will) i would organize much differently - a lot less waiting in lines and more fans.
Anyway - a first glimpse of Cambodia tells me it is a lot different from the other countries we have been to. I'm really excited to check it out...
TL
14 June, 2006
Wow.
WOW. I have a lot of 'WOW's' this time around.
Currently I am sitting in an internet Cafe in middle of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC - aka Saigon). We arrived this evening on a flight we took from Danang. Jonny, Julie and I are all still travelling together and just finished a good meal of SUSHI.
I looooooved the town of Hoi An. It was beautiful and had everything we needed. We all got our fair share of clothing tailored for us. Its a dream come true - you walk into a shop and pick exactly what you want and then you pick the material you want, how long you want it - ANYTHING.... if you're really creative you can even draw it for them and they'll whip it up. My Tailor's name was nee and she liked to slap my bum. Other that that awkwardness - she was great. They take your measurements and less than 24 hours later you go back to try it on and request alterations if you want.
A whole new world opened up to me and Julie when we discovered we can get SHOES made...WOW. Same idea as getting clothes made (any style, any colour, any special request) and they just trace your foot and WHABBAM - new shoes for 15 dollars. Its great. WOW.
So in Hoi An we spent a lot of time going from shop to shop picking out clothes. But in our time away from that we did a lot of biking around the town. We made a few trip out to the ocean - its soo quiet during the day and at night it gets packed with Vietnamese people having dinner and swimming (they don't like the sun). We had dinner on a mat in the sand with lantern... I have no idea where they cooked the food - but it was cooked, and none of us got sick - WOW.
I have also found that travelling during the World Cup is a TON of fun. It brings the whole world together.. much like the Olympics.... travelling with an Aussie - we were obliged to sit down and watch AUS versus Japan the other night. It was my first time watching a whole entire 'football' match... and it was soo much fun (if you saw the game... you will know what I mean - a great finish - Jonny was a very happy man). So now that I'm an official football fan, and Canada is nowhere to be seen - I'll deem myself an Aussie fan. I hope they win the whole thing. I might have to get a jersey for their next game against Brazil on the 18th.....
So here's the big WOW: On our way to the airport we all hopped in a cab that our hotel arranged for us. Within the first 5 minutes our cabbie was asking us where we were from. When Jonny said 'Australia' the cabbie got soo excited over this fact (and the whole world cup victory over Japan) that we hit a 75 year old man who was sweeping the side of the street. Yes, that right, you read correctly, WE HIT A 75 YEAR OLD MAN WITH OUR CAB ON THE WAY TO THE AIRPORT. Now I don't mean like a head on, he went over the winshield sorta deal... but there was a definite connection between car and flesh... we kinda clipped him. I was in shock. We actually hit a guy. WOW. So the cab driver stops (I didn't think he would) gets out to check on him, and the old man is OK. AMAZING. I hope he's not sore when he wakes up tomorrow.
Oh yeah.. in the airport.. we ran into Mark.... from Ireland (see previous blog entries).. he used to live here for 3 years.. so he knows ALL the 'ins' and 'outs' of HCMC. Its great having him around... he gets all the local prices, speaks the language, and knows exactly where to go. Tomorrow he promises a GOOD lunch - I'm pretty excited.
Well, that's is all for now. I don't think we will phone those pilots. I guess we will see. I will take into consideration that I have been advised by 2 parents not to. TL.
Currently I am sitting in an internet Cafe in middle of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC - aka Saigon). We arrived this evening on a flight we took from Danang. Jonny, Julie and I are all still travelling together and just finished a good meal of SUSHI.
I looooooved the town of Hoi An. It was beautiful and had everything we needed. We all got our fair share of clothing tailored for us. Its a dream come true - you walk into a shop and pick exactly what you want and then you pick the material you want, how long you want it - ANYTHING.... if you're really creative you can even draw it for them and they'll whip it up. My Tailor's name was nee and she liked to slap my bum. Other that that awkwardness - she was great. They take your measurements and less than 24 hours later you go back to try it on and request alterations if you want.
A whole new world opened up to me and Julie when we discovered we can get SHOES made...WOW. Same idea as getting clothes made (any style, any colour, any special request) and they just trace your foot and WHABBAM - new shoes for 15 dollars. Its great. WOW.
So in Hoi An we spent a lot of time going from shop to shop picking out clothes. But in our time away from that we did a lot of biking around the town. We made a few trip out to the ocean - its soo quiet during the day and at night it gets packed with Vietnamese people having dinner and swimming (they don't like the sun). We had dinner on a mat in the sand with lantern... I have no idea where they cooked the food - but it was cooked, and none of us got sick - WOW.
I have also found that travelling during the World Cup is a TON of fun. It brings the whole world together.. much like the Olympics.... travelling with an Aussie - we were obliged to sit down and watch AUS versus Japan the other night. It was my first time watching a whole entire 'football' match... and it was soo much fun (if you saw the game... you will know what I mean - a great finish - Jonny was a very happy man). So now that I'm an official football fan, and Canada is nowhere to be seen - I'll deem myself an Aussie fan. I hope they win the whole thing. I might have to get a jersey for their next game against Brazil on the 18th.....
So here's the big WOW: On our way to the airport we all hopped in a cab that our hotel arranged for us. Within the first 5 minutes our cabbie was asking us where we were from. When Jonny said 'Australia' the cabbie got soo excited over this fact (and the whole world cup victory over Japan) that we hit a 75 year old man who was sweeping the side of the street. Yes, that right, you read correctly, WE HIT A 75 YEAR OLD MAN WITH OUR CAB ON THE WAY TO THE AIRPORT. Now I don't mean like a head on, he went over the winshield sorta deal... but there was a definite connection between car and flesh... we kinda clipped him. I was in shock. We actually hit a guy. WOW. So the cab driver stops (I didn't think he would) gets out to check on him, and the old man is OK. AMAZING. I hope he's not sore when he wakes up tomorrow.
Oh yeah.. in the airport.. we ran into Mark.... from Ireland (see previous blog entries).. he used to live here for 3 years.. so he knows ALL the 'ins' and 'outs' of HCMC. Its great having him around... he gets all the local prices, speaks the language, and knows exactly where to go. Tomorrow he promises a GOOD lunch - I'm pretty excited.
Well, that's is all for now. I don't think we will phone those pilots. I guess we will see. I will take into consideration that I have been advised by 2 parents not to. TL.
11 June, 2006
GOOD MORNING VIETNAM!!
First of all - OOPS. Let me apologize, I have not updated my blog in a VERY long time. Since then, we have picked up a new travel partner and switched countries. This entry will be long (maybe a tad boring at times) but nonetheless, it will cover all that has happened. Lets begin...
We headed to Vang Vien quite some time ago. The town was quite laid back, but a bit too catered to tourists for my likings. Every resteraunt you passed showed reruns of every season of 'Friends' ever produced. I have never watched that show before, but I feel as though I could tell you EVERYTHING about it. We tubed down the river on the second day we were there. I hate to be picky, but the Cowichan River is WAY better. Sure, there were stops for food and drinks along the way, as well as a few good rope swings and things to jump off (I bailed hard on one swing) but the Cowichan River is much more clean and peaceful.
We left Vang Vien for Vientiene on the 5th of June. We stayed a pretty dodgy guesthouse, but it seemed to do the trick for one night. We took a small walk around part of the city : Vientiene was a beautiful and you could really see and feel the heavy french influence.
The next morning, before our flight to Hanoi - we found ourselves hanging out in a nice air conditioned cafe...where we met Jonny - a fellow traveller from Sydney Australia on our slow boat into Laos (he stayed at the rat infested guesthouse in Pak Beng as well). Turns out we were taking the same flight into Hanoi, Vietnam.
In the Vientiene airport we were greeted by a guy promoting his guesthouse. He promised our ride into town for only a dollar and all we had to do was look at this place... saving money already I thought. It claimed to have air conditioning, free internet, free breakfast, good location, etc etc. The GH sounded too good to be true - so, I put my name down. Our flight to Hanoi was GREAT - way better than a 26 hour bus ride! We even got stuff to eat (tops Air Canada already).
In Hanoi - we were greeted at the baggage claim by a man carrying a sign with MY name on it - best thing ever! We ended up staying at this GH with Jonny for 12 bucks a night - A/C, TV, free internet - it was the poshiest place so far. We did a small walking tour of Hanoi that night to discover that this place can easily be deemed 'motorcycle nation'. The traffic is NUTS. The trick, we discovered, is to walk, and not panic wehn motorbikes are heading straight for you - its a but difficult at first - but you get the hang of it.
The next morning we all took a trip over to the Ho Chi Minh museum where we attemped to view his embalmed body. Well, we got too hooked up in this great museum about the history of his life and of Vietnam - that we were too late to view his body (it closed at 10 30 - who knew?). After that failed attempt, we hopped on the back of three motorbikes and zoomed over to a 3 story market - I reckon the ride was the funnest part..
That night for dinner we found ourselves in what appeared to be the upstairs of someones house. It was like they converted the place to a resteraunt and served only one dish a night. The 3 of us sat down and had food tossed in front of our face at once. It came out in this big clay pot with hot coals in the bottome keeping everything really hot. It was GREAT (and fun too). After dinner we were asked to join a group of men for a drink. Turns out they were all pilots for Vietnam Airlines that just came back from Frankfurt. They were heaps of fun to talk to and had tons of jokes for us. The chairman of VA was even present, and from what we understood he was ready and willing to give one of his pilots 15 days off with salary to be our personal tour guide for our stay in their country. They also want us to phone them when we reach Saigon so some of them can show us around... we'll see. My dad doesn't sound too impressed with this last idea...sounds fun though!
The next morning we left for a 3 day tour of Halong Bay. It farther north that Hanoi and is a a UNESCO world heritage site that contains over 3000 limestone islands. The tour was well worth my 70 bucks - they pick you up right at your hotel door and drive you 3 hours north where you get on a huge 'junk' boat and have a 'white linen lunch' thats delicious. We cruised for a bit and stopped at one island to go into some caves, and another island to hike to the top for a great view. We anchored down for the night after some swimming in the (a little too) warm ocean.
Day 2 of the trip was by far the best. We kayaked amongst some of the islands for a few hours in the morning and then changed boats after that. On this new boat it was literally just the 3 of us and our guide. We ended up stopping on a tiny beach for the afternoon and sat on lawnchairs in the water before (and after) having lunch. That night we stayed at a hotel on Cat Ba island and watched the first game of the World Cup at a pub. We got the time changes a bit mixed up so we played fooseball with some Swedes to pass some time. The last day of our cruise was just heading back into the port - the scenery is amazing!
Later on that night (June 10th) we took a sleeper train down the coast of Vietnam to Hoi An. The train wasn't nearly as nice as the ones in Thailand, but still sleepable nonetheless. In our taxi ride from the train station into the center of Hoi An, our cab driver, as always, had a great suggestion of where we should stay while here. We checked it out.
I feel as though i will never stay in a place as nice as this. I mean, it is 20 dollars a night (so about 7 bucks each) but I think it might well be worth it. The rooms really nice, it has a TV and a minibar, as well as a bathtub ( a rarity). They even gave us silk bathrobes in the closet. They give us bikes for free to explore the city and theres an all you can eat breakfast buffet. Good deal I think - too bad its STILL out of our budget....
So our first day in Hoi An was great. After a swim in the pool (oh yeah - it has a pool too) we took some bikes to the center of town and had some clothes tailored for us and then went on a marathon bike tour of the city - Hoi An is awesome - very nice people, there's a river running through town, and about 6km away is a great beach that will be visited frequently during our stay here....
We headed to Vang Vien quite some time ago. The town was quite laid back, but a bit too catered to tourists for my likings. Every resteraunt you passed showed reruns of every season of 'Friends' ever produced. I have never watched that show before, but I feel as though I could tell you EVERYTHING about it. We tubed down the river on the second day we were there. I hate to be picky, but the Cowichan River is WAY better. Sure, there were stops for food and drinks along the way, as well as a few good rope swings and things to jump off (I bailed hard on one swing) but the Cowichan River is much more clean and peaceful.
We left Vang Vien for Vientiene on the 5th of June. We stayed a pretty dodgy guesthouse, but it seemed to do the trick for one night. We took a small walk around part of the city : Vientiene was a beautiful and you could really see and feel the heavy french influence.
The next morning, before our flight to Hanoi - we found ourselves hanging out in a nice air conditioned cafe...where we met Jonny - a fellow traveller from Sydney Australia on our slow boat into Laos (he stayed at the rat infested guesthouse in Pak Beng as well). Turns out we were taking the same flight into Hanoi, Vietnam.
In the Vientiene airport we were greeted by a guy promoting his guesthouse. He promised our ride into town for only a dollar and all we had to do was look at this place... saving money already I thought. It claimed to have air conditioning, free internet, free breakfast, good location, etc etc. The GH sounded too good to be true - so, I put my name down. Our flight to Hanoi was GREAT - way better than a 26 hour bus ride! We even got stuff to eat (tops Air Canada already).
In Hanoi - we were greeted at the baggage claim by a man carrying a sign with MY name on it - best thing ever! We ended up staying at this GH with Jonny for 12 bucks a night - A/C, TV, free internet - it was the poshiest place so far. We did a small walking tour of Hanoi that night to discover that this place can easily be deemed 'motorcycle nation'. The traffic is NUTS. The trick, we discovered, is to walk, and not panic wehn motorbikes are heading straight for you - its a but difficult at first - but you get the hang of it.
The next morning we all took a trip over to the Ho Chi Minh museum where we attemped to view his embalmed body. Well, we got too hooked up in this great museum about the history of his life and of Vietnam - that we were too late to view his body (it closed at 10 30 - who knew?). After that failed attempt, we hopped on the back of three motorbikes and zoomed over to a 3 story market - I reckon the ride was the funnest part..
That night for dinner we found ourselves in what appeared to be the upstairs of someones house. It was like they converted the place to a resteraunt and served only one dish a night. The 3 of us sat down and had food tossed in front of our face at once. It came out in this big clay pot with hot coals in the bottome keeping everything really hot. It was GREAT (and fun too). After dinner we were asked to join a group of men for a drink. Turns out they were all pilots for Vietnam Airlines that just came back from Frankfurt. They were heaps of fun to talk to and had tons of jokes for us. The chairman of VA was even present, and from what we understood he was ready and willing to give one of his pilots 15 days off with salary to be our personal tour guide for our stay in their country. They also want us to phone them when we reach Saigon so some of them can show us around... we'll see. My dad doesn't sound too impressed with this last idea...sounds fun though!
The next morning we left for a 3 day tour of Halong Bay. It farther north that Hanoi and is a a UNESCO world heritage site that contains over 3000 limestone islands. The tour was well worth my 70 bucks - they pick you up right at your hotel door and drive you 3 hours north where you get on a huge 'junk' boat and have a 'white linen lunch' thats delicious. We cruised for a bit and stopped at one island to go into some caves, and another island to hike to the top for a great view. We anchored down for the night after some swimming in the (a little too) warm ocean.
Day 2 of the trip was by far the best. We kayaked amongst some of the islands for a few hours in the morning and then changed boats after that. On this new boat it was literally just the 3 of us and our guide. We ended up stopping on a tiny beach for the afternoon and sat on lawnchairs in the water before (and after) having lunch. That night we stayed at a hotel on Cat Ba island and watched the first game of the World Cup at a pub. We got the time changes a bit mixed up so we played fooseball with some Swedes to pass some time. The last day of our cruise was just heading back into the port - the scenery is amazing!
Later on that night (June 10th) we took a sleeper train down the coast of Vietnam to Hoi An. The train wasn't nearly as nice as the ones in Thailand, but still sleepable nonetheless. In our taxi ride from the train station into the center of Hoi An, our cab driver, as always, had a great suggestion of where we should stay while here. We checked it out.
I feel as though i will never stay in a place as nice as this. I mean, it is 20 dollars a night (so about 7 bucks each) but I think it might well be worth it. The rooms really nice, it has a TV and a minibar, as well as a bathtub ( a rarity). They even gave us silk bathrobes in the closet. They give us bikes for free to explore the city and theres an all you can eat breakfast buffet. Good deal I think - too bad its STILL out of our budget....
So our first day in Hoi An was great. After a swim in the pool (oh yeah - it has a pool too) we took some bikes to the center of town and had some clothes tailored for us and then went on a marathon bike tour of the city - Hoi An is awesome - very nice people, there's a river running through town, and about 6km away is a great beach that will be visited frequently during our stay here....
02 June, 2006
Nong Khiaw and beyond...
Laos continues to far exceed its expectations. I had a Laos massage and a facial the other day in Luang Prabang for 6 dollars. First time my face felt clean in a while.. In LPB we took a truck out to some waterfalls that were about 30km away. These falls were EXACTLY what I wanted. First of all, they were absolutely beautiful - at least 6 different tiers to it, secondly it was a great workout to hike all the way up to the top and then all the way back down, third: the water was turquoise green and actually COLD (and therefore refreshing), fourth: there were cliffs to jump off of, and fifth, our company was great (a guy from Ireland and another fellow Canadian; Mark and Tracy).
The next morning Jules and I left for Nong Khiaw by boat. Boat left at 830 (AKA 945). It was supposed to be a 6 hour boat ride - turned out to be a tad longer due to some torrential downpour that made us stop for a while on the side of the river. The people along the river are great - all the kids wave at you and then show off their swimming skills to us.. its soo funny to see. The scenery was also fantastic - HUGE limestone cliffs surround the river.
The town of Nong Khiaw is really neat. There are no paved roads, and a few guesthouses. We stayed in one that gave us our own bungalow and we shared a bathroom with everyone. Upon arrival there was the most massive moth I have ever seen in my life right above our bed. If you have read the last entries to my blog than you may have assumed that Julie would take care of this. WRONG. She wimped out and I attempted to deal with it. I ended up getting it in a plastic bag and dropping that on our bed and running out of the bungalow screaming. At this point the owner of the place came in to get the bag.. once he touched it, the bag almost started flying away - he was spooked too, so I don't feel like a big wimp like Julie should!
Anyway - other than the massive insects... the place is great. There's not much to it, but its still manages to be amazing in my eyes. On the second night there we went to a talk by an american man who goes by 'MarkO' who has been 'travelling' for 34 years. He's not exactly proud of his country and what they did - so he decided to help out Laos in return.
(Laos was supposed to protected during the Vietnam war but after some slight changes it ended up being bombed more than any other country in the world. The equivilent of a plane full of bombs were dropped on Laos every 8 minutes for 9 years or something like that - absolutely ridiculous. To top it all off, 30% of the bombs didn't detonate ( I don't know WHO made them) so now the land is not safe to be on unless it has been cleared of these 'unexploded ordanance (UXO).
Anyway, this guy is raising money to help the people of Laos not only in debombing it, but also in the fight against opium and the sex trade. It was very interesting to hear him talk.
We were planning on going back to LPB the next day, but Mark and Tracy convinced us for one more night. Good thing. The next day we rented bicycles (I by far got the worst one out of the group.. it was terrible) and bikes to the entrance of some caves. In the second indochina war, over 300 villagers lived in this cave system to avoid the war and bombs that were happening outside. Inside the caves they had areas designated for cooking, banking, a hospital, etc. Conveniently, by the end of the trip Mark and I were the only two who managed to get leeches on our bodies. EW. EW. EW.
So now, I sit here, after a 3 (4+) hour bus ride back to LPB. Tomorrow we are heading to Vang Vien. Supposed to be just as amazing as the rest of Laos (slightly more catered to tourists...). TL.
The next morning Jules and I left for Nong Khiaw by boat. Boat left at 830 (AKA 945). It was supposed to be a 6 hour boat ride - turned out to be a tad longer due to some torrential downpour that made us stop for a while on the side of the river. The people along the river are great - all the kids wave at you and then show off their swimming skills to us.. its soo funny to see. The scenery was also fantastic - HUGE limestone cliffs surround the river.
The town of Nong Khiaw is really neat. There are no paved roads, and a few guesthouses. We stayed in one that gave us our own bungalow and we shared a bathroom with everyone. Upon arrival there was the most massive moth I have ever seen in my life right above our bed. If you have read the last entries to my blog than you may have assumed that Julie would take care of this. WRONG. She wimped out and I attempted to deal with it. I ended up getting it in a plastic bag and dropping that on our bed and running out of the bungalow screaming. At this point the owner of the place came in to get the bag.. once he touched it, the bag almost started flying away - he was spooked too, so I don't feel like a big wimp like Julie should!
Anyway - other than the massive insects... the place is great. There's not much to it, but its still manages to be amazing in my eyes. On the second night there we went to a talk by an american man who goes by 'MarkO' who has been 'travelling' for 34 years. He's not exactly proud of his country and what they did - so he decided to help out Laos in return.
(Laos was supposed to protected during the Vietnam war but after some slight changes it ended up being bombed more than any other country in the world. The equivilent of a plane full of bombs were dropped on Laos every 8 minutes for 9 years or something like that - absolutely ridiculous. To top it all off, 30% of the bombs didn't detonate ( I don't know WHO made them) so now the land is not safe to be on unless it has been cleared of these 'unexploded ordanance (UXO).
Anyway, this guy is raising money to help the people of Laos not only in debombing it, but also in the fight against opium and the sex trade. It was very interesting to hear him talk.
We were planning on going back to LPB the next day, but Mark and Tracy convinced us for one more night. Good thing. The next day we rented bicycles (I by far got the worst one out of the group.. it was terrible) and bikes to the entrance of some caves. In the second indochina war, over 300 villagers lived in this cave system to avoid the war and bombs that were happening outside. Inside the caves they had areas designated for cooking, banking, a hospital, etc. Conveniently, by the end of the trip Mark and I were the only two who managed to get leeches on our bodies. EW. EW. EW.
So now, I sit here, after a 3 (4+) hour bus ride back to LPB. Tomorrow we are heading to Vang Vien. Supposed to be just as amazing as the rest of Laos (slightly more catered to tourists...). TL.
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