Week 7: Ho Chi Minh, Phnom Penh and Siem Reap

Week 7: Ho Chi Minh, Phnom Penh and Siem Reap

We arrived to Ho Chi Minh City at night and sped through the city again dodging motorbikes and the like as we made our way to our Hotel. I said before that Hanoi was a city full of crazy moped drivers, but this place was even worse. One of our guides said it was a city of 8 million people with 4 million mopeds. We were only there for a day, and most of that was consumed by our visit to the Cu Chi Tunnels, just outside of the city. The tunnels were instrumental during the war for the Viet Cong’s defeat of the American forces in the area. We got to crawl through one part of the tunnels which was really intense. It is dark, you have to crawl, ventilation is obviously poor, and there are crossroads within the tunnels. If you aren’t sure where the person in front of you went, it gets really scary. I can’t imagine how they did it back then, I only crawled through about 60 meters and that was enough for me! There were videos covering the war in this area and they even highlighted a Vietnamese war hero who received three honors, among them was the poorly translated “killing many Americans honor”. Sitting there, feeling somewhat uncomfortable, watching the European and Canadian tourists laugh at lines like that only make me wonder how we’ll be perceived in Iraq 30 years from now.

We left Ho Chi Minh for Phnom Penh on a bus that seemed to be smuggling in duty free items to sell in Cambodia. Every seat on our bus had baby clothes in plastic bags shoved underneath it. The bathroom wasn’t available for use until after we crossed the Cambodian border and the bus crew unloaded all of the exports. The countryside was beautiful, the houses were all on stilts once we crossed into Cambodia. Some have roofs made of dried leaves, others of corrugated metal, which I’m sure would be delightful during a rainstorm for the occasional tourist, but would probably get old during the intense rainy season. The fields were a very vibrant shade of green as the rainy season has just ended. We got to the capital city, Phnom Penh around dusk. We stayed for 3 nights. Phnom Penh is many things: it is home to more NGO’s and expats than we’ve seen anywhere else on the trip, the Royal Palace for the King of Cambodia, and apparently the place that the Lexus RX300 SUV goes to die: the late 90’s model dominated the roads of the capital city but strangely the newer model was not seen.

We visited Choeung Ek and Tuol Sleng while in Phnom Penh. Choeng Ek was one of dozens of sites in Cambodia that were known as a “Killing Fields” from 1975 to 1978 under the Khmer Rouge reign. Urbanites and intellectuals from Phnom Penh, perceived as a threat to the newly formed “Democratic Kampuchea” were forced out of the city or imprisoned at Tuol Sleng and then taken to be killed at Choeung Ek.

The objective of the Khmer Rouge’s “Democratic Kampuchea” was to create a modern agricultural economy that would make Kampuchea independent from the west, globalization, etc (although ironically their plan relied heavily on the export of rice). The Khmer Rouge saw intellectuals as a major threat to their utopian society, even though Pol Pot and the other leaders themselves were from wealthy families and were educated at university in France. School was outlawed, it was believed that children should work Iin the fields for the common good. Doctors, perceived as part of the oppression were put in prison and/or killed, and replaced primarily with peasant women that had been given only 3 months of training to run the hospitals. They were mostly illiterate and unable to understand medical documents. Western pharmaceuticals weren’t used, instead pills that were a combination of human gall bladders and plants, were manufactured. They used these for most kinds of illness, and usually made people more sick. The amount of rice production demanded by the government to be produced was impossible to be cultivated with the tools that farmers were given. As a result, farmers would send what was required by the government to not get in trouble and get by with less for themselves, which led to starvation. Money was abolished, forcing people to work in exchange for food.

Tuol Sleng was the prison in Phnom Penh, formerly Phnom Penh High School. It was converted in 1975 and was the site where prisoners were tortured, did hard labor and were housed prior to being taken to Cheong Ek where they were executed. The regime lasted until 1978 when the Vietnamese Army came in and pushed them out. It was a devastating time, and yet many of the criminals have only recently been put on trial, if even that. There have been complications with the recognition of the crimes by the UN, which make the situation muddy for some reason or another that I still don’t fully understand.

A total contrast to the brutality and devastation seen at those sites was the visit to Siem Reap province, and more specifically the magnificent temples of Angkor. The seat of what was once the Khmer (pronounced Ca-mai) Empire, over 1,000 temples built between approximately 800 and 1400 AD are located here. The capital of the empire, Angkor Thom at its peak was a city of nearly 1,000,000 people, compared to London which was only 50,000 at the same time. All buildings were constructed of wood with the exception of the Temples which were stone. They are all that remains today within a jungle that has grown over many of the sites, which were more or less abandoned from the 15^th to the 19^th centuries when the Khmer people migrated towards Phnom Penh. The temples show the progression of the architecture from the beginning to the end of the Khmer Empire, and feature amazing bas relief carvings depicting everything from everyday life to the circus to great battles of the time. The temples underwent several conversions back and forth from Hinduism to Buddhism and in many places the sculpture and carvings were modified to reflect whichever religion was being worshipped at the time. The Khmer Rouge, after they abolished religion, cut the heads off of many of the statues and buddhas and sold on the black market.

We explored the temples for the last two days and have one day left to visit tomorrow. Next week we’re off to Bangkok and then starting the final month in India after that!

Photos:

01: Farmland, Outside Phnom Penh

02: Farmland, Outside Phnom Penh

03: Choeung Ek Mass Graves: Approximately 8,000 were killed and buried at this site. OutsidePhnom Penh

04: Tuol Sleng Prison, Formerly Phnom Penh High School, Phnom Penh

05: Truck with Bananas, En route to Siem Reap

06: Farmland, En route to Siem Reap

07: Bayon Temple, Angkor Thom

08: Stones, Bayon Temple, Angkor Thom

09: Sunrise, Angkor Wat

10: Bas Relief, there are approximately 800m of it at this temple alone, Angkor Wat

11: Tree growing over wall. In the late 19^th century, the French decided to leave this temple in its “natural” state as it had been overgrown by the jungle. The trees and stone support one another, if the tree dies, the wall will collapse as well, Ta Prohm

12: More ruin, Ta Prohm

13: This tower was separating, so they’re keeping it together with rope, Banteay Kdel

Special Edition: Halfway Report from halfway around the world

As I write this en route from Saigon to Phnom Penh in a bus through the Cambodian country side, I am at the exact mid point of my trip. I thought it would be interesting to tabulate a few things to share other aspects of my experience that my weekly postings don't really cover:

WAYS TO SAY HELLO

Guten Tag (Germany)

Hello (UK)

Ni Hao (China)

Tashi Delek (Tibet)

Xin Chao (Vietnam)

Choum Reap Sour (Cambodia)

NUMBER OF

Hours spent on long distance buses: 16

Hours spent on a trains: 129

Flights: 7

Dollars spent on Skype: $10 (it is soooo cheap)

Pictures taken: 2,333

Video taken: about 4 hours

Times we’ve heard Toni Braxton's "Unbreak my heart": 3!!!!!!!

Countries we’ve heard Toni Braxton's "Unbreak my heart”: 2

Days without internet: probably only 15

Boxes sent home thus far: 2

Magnets found for Chippie: 7

Temples visited: 17

Amount over budget currently: $800 (it’s okay, I have a huuuge contingency and the majority of that was from a new suit and camera I bought)

Weight of baggage: Probably around 25 or 26 kg

MOST/LEAST BEST/WORST

Most expensive meal: DON’T KNOW HOW MUCH IT COST, THANKS WINNIECHENG!!!!

Least expensive meal: noodle bowl: 42 cents

Best bargain: Magnet in Tibet: the woman wanted 70 yuan ($10), I got her down to 12 yuan (less than $2).

Worst Rip Off: Cab ride from Ho Chih Minh Airport to Pham Ngu Lao.

Best deal: 3 days in Halong Bay, All food, transportation to and from Hanoi and accommodation (and 2 hours of free karaoke!!!) $58 total

Softest Bed: Golden Gate Hotel: Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Hardest Bed: Box Spring (no mattress!!), Guilin, China

Best Shower: Winnie’s apartment, Hong Kong

Worst Shower: Vinh Danh Hotel on Cat Ba Island

Best Cultural Experience: Tibetan Night Club

Worst Cultural Experience: 2^nd Class Train Toilet: Beijing to Pingyao

Best sense of place: Chongqing or our Hutong in Beijing

Worst sense of place: Lhasa, Tibet

THINGS WE GET EXCITED ABOUT HERE THAT WE’D NEVER THINK ABOUT AT HOME:

Fast-drying laundry

Menus in English or with pictures

Bathrooms that have toilet paper

Bathrooms that have western toilets

FRIENDS MET:

Jens and Tomas from Sweden who we spent 2 days exploring Pingyao with. We actually were in Hong Kong at the same time as well but didn’t find out until after they had already left for the Philippines.

Mike (Minneapolis) Matt and Gerson (LA) who we met at lunch one day and experienced the Tibetan night club with the next evening. Mike quit his job and is traveling for a year through Asia.

Simon from New Zealand who we spent 7 hours in the dining car with on the train from Tibet with and explored the city of Chongqing with the next day.

Jose the French Canadian from Montreal who we hiked the trails of Sapa with, had an interesting experience with karaoke in Lao Cai and who Chels and I had to share a bed with in Hanoi for a couple hours after arriving at 4AM with no rooms available at our hotel.

Tracey from Portland Oregon who we ventured Sapa with as well, and saved my life by giving me her extra tube of sunblock!!! Hopefully we will be able to meet up with her in Cambodia.

Ryan from Ireland who lives in NYC who we hung out with in Sapa and then ran into again on Cat Ba Island and hiked with him in the national park. He quit his job at the law firm he worked at and is traveling around the world for a year.

Mike from Oregon who we explored the caves of Halong Bay, sang a whopping 2 hours of Karaoke. He is an engineer who quit his job and is traveling for a year through Central America (6 months) and Asia (6 months)

Jono from Australia who stayed at our hostel in Pingyao, China and then we ran into a month laser at a sidewalk café in Cat Ba, Vietnam. He biked to Vietnam from Kunming until his brakes wore through the rim and he had to toss the bike off a cliff in Sapa.

Apart from those statistics, I have thoroughly enjoyed the fact that I can never remember the day of the week it is (although I’m still good with the actual date), I haven’t had to cook at all, and I have only read the Huffington Post once since I left (sadly it was yesterday morning to see that Maine Prop 1 marriage equality failed and equal rights have been denied yet again.) Other than that all is good and I’m looking forward to the second half of the trip and sharing many more of the experiences with you when I get back!

Photos this time: i'm big on patterns/textures/text so I thought i'd post some of those, enjoy!

Wall, Beijing

Masonry Pattern, Pingyao, China

Paint on Column, Forbidden City, Beijing

Temple Booklets, Pingyao, China

Wall Graffiti, Hanoi, Vietnam

I think these were tiles? Sapa, Vietnam

Masonry Unit, Sapa, Vietnam

Traditional red painted Mud and Straw: Tibet

Mailboxes, Hong Kong

Wall, Tsedang, Tibet

Week 6: Hanoi, Sapa and Halong Bay

This past week has flown by. We have been to Hanoi, up to the mountains of Sapa and down to the water at Halong Bay. All were great to see and very different from one another.

Hanoi was a city of mopeds, French colonial architecture, incredible coffee (they use condensed milk as sweetener I LOVE IT), very friendly people and more mopeds. Unlike in China where we at least learned how to say ‘yes, please, no, thank you”, everyone here we have encountered speaks enough English for us to communicate. The city is crawling with tourists, and equally matched by travel agencies trying to sell you any sort of trip to the mountains, coast, or elsewhere. You can pay for things in US dollars as commonly as you can in their currency, Vietnamese Dong. The exchange rates are so crazy that I saved the 5,300,000 Vietnamese Dong (about $300) price tag from the small camera I bought in Hanoi (long story, but I had to replace the little camera I was using for video because I tripped on a floorboard and sent the camera flying, cracking the lens—but it is captured on video, which is at least sort of humorous).

In the center of Hanoi is Hoam Kiem lake, where you can find Tai Chi in the morning and women selling fruit and postcards in the afternoon and evening. The old quarter is very interesting: winding small streets with mad tangles of power lines above and remnants of French beaux arts facades on the upper stories, standard shop storefronts on the first floor. Every block sells a different category of things: there’s a block for housewares, a block for shoes, a block for toys, one for funeral caskets and headstones (yes, an entire block of headstone and casket makers!), etc.

We visited the Hoa Lo Prison (also known as the Hanoi Hilton), which was not what I was expecting. Located only about 2 blocks from the Lake in the center of the town, the prison was built by the French in 1896 and was where they imprisoned Vietnamese Revolutionaries prior to American’s during the Vietnam War (which here is called the American War). They had pictures on the walls of the Vietnam War vets decorating Christmas Trees, attending Christmas Service, playing sports, etc. A little too Disney for what I assume really went on there, but interesting enough to see it and the way its is trying to be portrayed.

We made our way to the mountains after 2 days in Hanoi. Sapa is in the northwest corner of the country and where Fansipan, the highest peak in the country, sits at 3150m above sea level. The town was originally established by the French as a lookout, but now the majority of the tourism is centered around the hill tribes that live in the surrounding area. We arrived there from overnight train from Hanoi. Chels and myself got in a van with about 10 other westerners to have Haddaway’s “What is love” busting out of the van speakers. Chels and I both erupted in laughter, thinking of Chris Kattan and Will Ferrell doing their night at the Roxbury dance, but the others did not seem to be as amused, but then again, it was only 6:30 am. We made our way up the mountain with winding curves revealing glimpses of where we were going to spending the next two days. We did about 10 miles of hiking over those days, up and down parts of the mountain, through rice paddies, past water buffalo grazing, seeing small villages and hill tribes going about their daily life. Unfortunately, Sapa is a bit touristy, so part of their life now includes trying to sell stuff very persistently.

From Sapa, we went back to Hanoi to catch a bus to Halong Bay. Halong Bay (which translates to “where the dragon descends to the sea”) is on the Gulf of Tonkin with about 2000 karsts rock islands jutting up out of the water. It is kind of like Guilin (posted last week) on crack. We boarded our junk (old boats fitted out for tourists) around noon and set off going around the mountain islands. Our boat was a little beat up, most of the deck chairs were broken, the railing was missing at a couple of places on the top, but it was clean and there were only 15 people on board which was perfect. I sat at the bow of the boat, sans railing for a good 45 minutes watching fishermen in the distance go about their daily life as the islands went from foreground to background. Our junk stopped at a floating fisherman village where we picked up dinner which the crew prepared. We moored for the night near other junks. There were women on rafts stocked with beer, coke and oreos who would row from junk to junk trying to make a sale. After a beautiful sunset and dinner, Chels, myself and our friend Mike from Oregon who we had met did Karaoke. No one else on the ship wanted to sing (except the crew, and one random Czech guy) so we got about 2 solid hours of voice-losing hits in. Simon and Garfunkel, Bobby Darin, Rod Stewart, Vanilla Ice, Coolio, CCR, Rolling Stones, The Doors, Sinatra, etc. Towards the end just after finishing a smashing version of Proud Mary, we heard a shout from outside “YOU BUY SOMETHING, COLD BEER?” I don’t know if it drew as much laughter as when Mike and I attempted the theme from “Shaft”, but I thought it was the funniest moment of the week. We were up kayaking the next morning just after dawn and then headed to another island, Cat Ba, where we hiked to a peak in the state park and then spent the afternoon at the beach.

Halong was definitely more of a vacation pace than Sapa, but the experiences were both beautiful and fun. We’re off to Saigon today and then Cambodia for the rest of the week!

01 Graffiti phone numbers, Hanoi

02 Tree and Mopeds, Hanoi

03 I was slightly obsessed with wire mismanagement, Hanoi

04 Woman selling fruit, Hanoi

05 Power Lines again, Hanoi

06 I liked this because we spec’d Kimberly Clark for NYLS and they seem to have adopted Obama’s signature line, Sapa

07 Façade Layers, Sapa

08 Man on Rice Paddy, Sapa

09 Rice Paddies, Sapa

10 Girl with younger siblings, Sapa

11 Rice Paddies, Sapa

12 Kids playing in the river, Sapa

13 Roof joinery (although the roof was ripped), Sapa

14 Boats, Halong Bay

15 near Sunset, Halong bay

16 Shades of Cool Gray 1-10, en route to Cat Ba Island