Rockin' Phnom Penh

We've spent the past couple of days in Phnom Penh and I have to say I like the city.  We decided to splurge a bit on our hotel and are staying at an excellent boutique hotel with a nice pool just behind the Royal Palace.  Pretty cool that a splurge costs $50/night.  But at $50 this is the most expensive hotel we've had yet on our trip.

I have a bunch of pictures from Vietnam ready to upload but the wifi connection here is horrible so hopefully we'll get a better connection in the next few days.

We spent yesterday going to the Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng Prison (S-21).  It was a very moving experience and I am going to try and do separate post just on that.

Last night we went to the Foreign Correspondents Club for dinner.  This was a place made famous during the civil war as it had a great balcony overlooking the Mekong that the journalists would all hang out and drink/eat at.  It was quite lively last night and we had excellent pizza along with cheap beer and cocktails.

We also got our Lao visas sorted out so instead of having to fly into Laos (where we could get a visa on arrival) we now can travel overland through Cambodia into southern Laos.  That will be a haul but should be interesting.

Tommorrow we head to Battambang, the 2nd largest city in Cambodia but one not frequently visited by tourists.  We don't really know what to expect there but it sounds pretty laid back. We might rent some scooters and go explore the countryside.

After that we head to Siem Reap, we'll spend a few days seeing the temples of Angkor before heading back to P.P. for a day or two to begin the long slog up to Laos.

Travels Up the Mekong - Part II

If you haven't read Part 1 of our trip through the Mekong Delta to Cambodia see the previous post.

We woke up at 545am on Friday morning as we had to have breakfast and check out of our hotel by 7am to catch the bus.

The previous day our tour had actually consisted of 3 groups, those doing a 1 day tour and going back to Saigon that night, those doing a 3 day Mekong tour and those like us doing a 2 day tour ending in Phnom Penh.  The 1 day group left us when we got off the boat in Vinh Lung, and the 3 day group was going the opposite direction of us from Chau Doc so we were anxious to see who was going to be accompanying us to Phnom Penh (P.P).

We had met a couple of other couples we knew were going with us during  the previous days tour but figured there was more than just the six of us.  There was 1 other couple from Hong Kong and a Japanese couple as well so it looked like the 10 of us would make the slog upstream.

At our hotel in Chau Doc we were little late going as our tour leader was talking with a mixed group of French and Cambodians.  There seemed to be some confusion regarding them but they ended up getting on our bus with us, 4 french guys, 2 cambodian women who I think were wives and two cambodian guys along with 1 child.  They were all together but we never really did figure out the family dynamic.

I am not sure how they joined our tour at this late stage but they proved to be trouble right from the start with us leaving about 30mins late.  It turned out 1 of the french guys had overstayed his visa so they were trying to figure out how to get him across the border with the minimal amount of hassle.

First we had to finish the "tour" part of our trip. This involved  getting into rowboats where Vietnamese women rowed us through floating villages and we stopped to see how the people lived along with a fish farm they had.  This might have been interesting except that it was blistering hot and there was zero wind!  We were both sweating buckets and coupled with the fact we had done the floating village/rowboat thing in Halong Bay (where it was much more scenic and picturesque) we could hardly wait for the row boat to end so we could get on our boat to head upstream to Cambodia.

About 930 we finally finished rowing and got on our boat to the border.  It was about 40-50 feet long, covered with padded chairs you could move around as you pleased.  Relatively comfortable but even with the boat moving no wind and blistering hot.

We went upstream for about 2 hours, along the way we filled out the forms for our Cambodian Visas and paid the captain who was going to act as our fixer $22 each for the visa.  Now the visa's are supposed to be $20 each but we had read there was a tendency to overcharge at this border so we chalked up the extra $2 as the service fee for having someone take care of the visa for us.

About 1030 we stopped at shore and the Captain/Fixer and the overstaying Frenchman got off the boat.  From the sounds of it they were going to hop on a motorbike and go through the land border and meet us at the "boat border", at least we hoped that was what happening as the Captain/Fixer had our passports and documentation!

We sputtered up the Mekong for another hour before reaching the Vietnamese border.  We hopped off on to the border post and told to wait in the adjacent room where conveniently there was a restaurant.  We ordered a couple of mediocre meals and had a couple of lemon juices.  Soon the Captain/Fixer showed up with the overstaying Frenchman, however again there seemed to be confusion and we ended up waiting about an hour and a half in total (I blame the French!).

Finally the Captain/Fixer jumped up and told us to get our bags off the boat as we would be switching  to a Cambodian boat for the rest of the journey.  As soon as we saw the Cambodian boat we longed to get back on the vietnamese boat.  Whereas on the Vietnamese boat we had padded chairs (not comfortable but padded nonetheless) and we could stand up in the boat, the Cambodian boat just had two long benches facing inwards down below.  The ceiling was also less than 5.5 feet as even Betsy had to crouch down.  Finally the benches were quite high so that my toes could barely touch the floor while poor Betsy's feet were dangling 6 inches above the deck!

It was even more blistering hot on the Cambodia sign with even less wind than we thought possible but at least we were moving once again.  That wasn't to be for long though!

We stopped about 10mins after we got going to get our visa's stamped.  We had visa's but no arrival cards.  We got to the dock walked up a steep bank to a little building and lined up to have all our arrival paperwork scrutinized and a half dozen stamps added to our visa's and passports. It took about 15mins to process our original group of 10 and we headed back to the boat.   Did I mention it was still blistering hot and no wind??

So we all got back on the boat and waited and waited and waited....where the heck were the French/Cambodian group??  About 45mins after we had finished they sauntered down the gang plank to our boat.  Who knows what the problem was but once again we were waiting for them.  Finally underway again we hugged the shore of the Mekong for the next few hours, saw kids swimming, buffalo swimming, kids swimming with buffalos and fisherman doing their thing.  After a couple of hours we were ready to be done with the boat trip.  About 515pm we got to the dock (if you could call it that) where a minibus was waiting to take us the last 90 mins into P.P.

The dock consisted of a couple of 2x6's in varying states of rot held up by bamboo about 6 feet above the water.  Betsy thought for sure she wasn't going to make it across that with her backpack but she did as did everyone else.  

Ninety minutes later and about 2-2.5 hours later than scheduled we arrived at our hotel in P.P.  The hotel was decent (and free as it was included in our tour) but the location was terrible, we went out to try and find somewhere to eat with a Swiss/French couple that had been on our trip but after walking through some pretty dodgy areas and not finding anything decent or even not decent to eat we ended up back at the hotel to eat.  An average meal of rice and vegetables and it was off to bed.

Up at 545am and in Phnom Penh at 730pm it had been a very long travel day.  There had been trials and tribulations but it was one of the adventures we will probably most remember on the trip.  If we'd taken a 1 hour flight from Saigon to P.P.  we would have forgotten it completely by now.

After 27 days in Vietnam we were now in Cambodia, who knows what adventures we'll find here. Keep coming back to find out!

Gecko In My Bed!

CHAU DOC, Vietnam - After the first day of our Mekong Delta tour, our bus arrived at our hotel in Chau Doc; a border town with Cambodia. After dinner and a quick walk to the riverside, we went back to our hotel since we were going to have an early start to day two of our tour.  The next morning we were packing up and getting ready to go.  I removed the towel from my head and threw it on the bed.  I'm still not sure where he came from but at that moment a baby gecko ran across our bed (like the one pictured here).  He had either been in our bed the entire night or in the towel that had just been on my head.  My initial reaction was to scream until I realized it was just a little gecko and then my reaction turned to "oh, how cute" and then relief that it wasn't a cockroach.  Stacy just stood there laughing at me.

Good Night Vietnam! Good Morning Cambodia!

Phnom Penh, Cambodia - Well the last couple of days have been an adventure!  We are currently sitting by the pool at our hotel in Phnom Penh.

Two days ago we were boarding a bus to do a 1 day tour of the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. We left Saigon after 4 great days and headed west to the Cai Be Floating Market about 3 hours from Saigon.  

Once we arrived we boarded a boat that toured us around the floating market (which by time we had arrived was pretty quiet), then we were dropped at an area where we were shown how they made coconut candy (not bad, tasted like coconut taffy), puffed rice (made like popcorn and mixed with coconut, sugar & salt to make what tasted like rice crispie squares) and rice paper which we made in our cooking class in Hoi An.

It was what you'd expect of a tour, show  you how some products are made, let you try a sample and then stand around for 10 or 15 minutes giving you 'time' to buy said products.  Not really my thing.  We did buy some prawn chips to snack on however and they were yummy!

After a stop for lunch we headed by boat through the delta where we met up with our bus.  The boat tour was nice and we passed through some small channels and saw a lot of local life.  We also had a bit of a rainstorm which helped to cool things down ever so briefly.

Once back on the bus we had a 4 hour drive through the Delta to our hotel for the night in Chau Doc a border town in Vietnam.  The drive was uneventful if a little long but we got to enjoy the scenery as we passed through the countryside and towns of the Mekong Delta.

We arrived in Chau Doc about 630pm and quickly got settled as our guide was going to take us to the best restaurant in town.  Since it was dark and we were tired and didn't feel like exploring much ourselves we decided to go with the group.  Our guide took us a few blocks away to a local establishment where about 12 of us sat down at two tables.  The food turned out to be pretty mediocre and our guide left as soon as we were seated probably to go find a better restaurant for himself after collecting the commission from bringing us to that restaurant!

See the next post for our adventurous boat trip up the Mekong River to Phnom Penh.

Saigon...Be gone...

Saigon, Vietnam - Well after a few hot & steamy days in Saigon we are moving on.  Saigon has definitely been the hottest part of our trip so far, the rainy season can't get here soon enough!

We've spent the past couple of days going around seeing the sights like the Reunification Palace Ben Thanh Market and the War Remnants Museum formerly known as the American War Crimes Museum, I guess that name became politically incorrect when Vietnam and the USA normalized relations in the mid 90's.

They may have changed the name but the exhibits I don't think have changed at all.  It was interesting but also a little like listening to the former Iraqi Information Minister Baghdad Bob!

Apart from the heat we did enjoy Saigon.  Good food, good sights, very interesting and cosmopolitan city.

Tomorrow we are headed off on a 1 day tour of the Mekong Delta and will overnight near the Vietnamese border.  On Saturday we will take a boat about 8 hours up the Mekong River to Phnom Penh the capital of Cambodia.

We will spend a few days in P.P. getting our Lao Visa and then head to Battambang (2nd largest town in Cambodia) and Siem Reap (home of Angkor Wat).   From there it will be back to Phnom Penh for a couple of days before we start the long slog north up to Laos.  

We expect to be in Southern Laos by around May 10th.

Yummy! Banh Xeo!

Saigon, Vietnam - Today we made the trek up to Banh Xeo 46a which supposedly has the best Banh Xeo in all of Vietnam.  Banh Xeo are rice batter pancakes that are cooked quickly until they are crispy and contain shrimp, pork belly and bean sprouts.

You then add herbs and roll the Banh Xeo pancakes in rice paper or green leaves like a lettuce wrap.  

We took a cab up to where we thought the eatery was but got our wires crossed and had to walk about 5 blocks further to get there.  Down a narrow alley we  walked until we saw a sign that said "Banh Xeo 46A".  We sat down on the little plastic stools and ordered a large Banh Xeo and some BBQ pork with rice vermicelli.

The pork came out first and it was excellent, crispy, sweet and caramelized it went perfect with the cold noodles, peanuts, sprouts and herbs.

Next came the main attraction  the Banh Xeo!   It was folded in half about the 10" long and 6" wide stuffed with bean sprouts, pork belly and shrimp.  On the side  were lettuce leaves and vietnamese herbs like mint, basil and other small peppery leaves.  It was excellent and well worth the trek up there.

Total cost for the Banh Xeo, BBQ Pork w/vermicelli, and two lemon juices was about $7.

Haircut & A Shave!

Saigon, Vietnam - It's been 6 or 7 weeks since I got a hair cut (usually it's 4 weeks between cuts) and I've been thinking for a week that I needed to get one when I got to Saigon.

Over beers last night Betsy and I watched a barbershop across the street as people poured in and out.  Seemed like as good a place to go as any so this morning after the Canucks OT winner was scored we headed around the corner from the hotel to the barbershop.

It was with some trepidation that I walked in the door, a guy motioned me to a seat and asked if i wanted a haircut and a shave? Shave? Sure, why not?  It had been 4 or 5 days since I'd shaved and I'd never had a barber shop shave before so what the heck!

The guy pulled out the clippers and proceeded to buzz me, it took about 15mins and he was done.  So far so good.

Next was the shave.  He sprayed some water on my face massaged it in and then put on the shaving cream.  Pulled out a new razor, slapped it on to the straight razor like an exactor knife blade and went to work.  Ten minutes later he was done. It was the best shave of my life!  

After the shave he grabbed an ice cold facecloth and slapped it over my face and rubbed it around to get off the leftover shaving cream then he folded it in half so it was covering my eyes and forehead, next thing I knew he was doing karate chops on my forehead!!?!   

Next he put on a glove that had what looked like a small air compressor attached to it.  What the heck was this thing?  He plugged it in and proceeded to massage my scalp and neck.  It felt good but also thought my teeth might fall out from the vibrations!

A few minutes later we were done.  Excellent haircut, great shave, nice neck/head massage total cost <$4!

Dalat, in a nut shell

DALAT, Vietnam - We only had a couple days in Dalat but here are a few things that made it unique...

* enjoyed artichoke tea

* walked through the pine trees enjoying the cool breezes

* watched women weave traditional silk and cotton into scarves and table clothes

* "stalked" by an EasyRider (motorcycle guide) until told him we booked a tour with someone else

* fields and fields of all sorts of fruit & veg.....not a rice paddy in sight

* enjoyed nachos; the first Mexican food we've had since we left home

* parted with my walking boot after having it strapped to my backpack for over a week just in case

A Ride on the Wild Side!

Enroute from Nha Trang to Dalat, Vietnam - Today we took a bus from Dalat to Saigon.  We were "lucky" enough to get what I affectionately refer to as the "Oh Sh^t Seats!".  Those would be the front row opposite the driver so you can see out the front window.  I refer to those seats as the OSS because you get to see up close and personal how many times you almost hit somebody and how many times you were almost hit by someone else.

I have no idea what the number for either was on our 8 hour trip but we did make it to Saigon safe and sound and didn't manage to kill anybody or any thing.

Our intial impression of Saigon is very positive especially compared to Hanoi.  Hanoi seemed dour and depressing while Saigon has a vibrancy and excitement about it.  Both places are chaotic and crazy but Saigon just seems like a lot more fun!

We have a week left on our visa here before we head to Cambodia.  We are scheduled to be in Saigon for 3 days and want to try and do a Mekong  Delta tour.  If we can't organize that we might spend a couple more days here before heading to Phnom Penh.

Dalat Observations

We spent the last couple of days in Dalat which is a town in the mountains about 7 hours north of Saigon.  Dalat is 1500m high and subsequently has a much cooler climate than the rest of Vietnam. It is cool enough that our hotel didn't even have AC!

I would say the best thing about Dalat is the weather.  Yes its a pretty town and reminds me of some of the swiss mountain towns we spent time in but it is also pretty boring.  There are a million hotels but very few restaurants or at least good/decent looking restaurants.  Compared to Hue/Hoi An/Nha Trang the choice of where to eat seemed much more limited.

We did take a trip on the cable car which goes over the mountains (~2.3km) to the Quang Trung Reservoir.  We walked around the reservoir and saw some interesting temples.  That night we actually did have a very good meal at a restaurant called Da Quy that served some excellent (& cheap)  vietnamese fare.  Shrimp mousse on sugar cane wrapped in rice paper with a variety of herbs and vermicelli noodles and beef with lemongrass and chili.  Yum!

Two days was plenty for Dalat.  A nice enough town and a nice respite from the heat of the rest of the country.