3 Countries in One Week

Our last night in Ho Chi Minh City, we had a delicious dinner out and then met up with a friend of a friend named Beatrice.  Together with her husband, she owns the bar Alibi (it was very cool with brightly colored lamps and a lounge-y feel.)  Just like Ngen (our guide in Hoi An), it was refreshing to be able to spend time with someone that lives in Vietnam and learn about their life (Beatrice grew up in the US, but is Vietnamese and French.)  The next morning we flew to Siem Reap, Cambodia.  I've noticed on the flights we've taken here, that they humidify the cabin during the flight, and on each flight we've received a cold meal.  Flight attendants also distribute "Refreshing Facial Towels" which are like wet-wipes but highly popular here, and in many restaurants they put them on the table and charge 2,000 dong if you use them.

Our first night in Siem Reap, we headed out to Pub Street, which is the center of town and chock full of restaurants, small shops, and massage parlors.  In Cambodia the typical transportation is a Tuk Tuk, which is a motorbike with a small carriage on the back (covered, with two benches.)  Tuk Tuks cost a fixed $1 per person, per ride (typical cab fare in Vietnam ranged from 75 cents to $2, depending on the distance.)  We ate dinner at the Temple Club while watching a variety of dances performed by Apsara dancers, the traditional Cambodian female icon.  Our food was delicious and Ally and I were delighted to find a separate vegetarian section.  As I mentioned in my last entry, almost everything is made with fish or meat, or at least with fish sauce.  So we have to be careful of eating things that appear vegetarian but are made with fish sauce.  Even things like potatoes or rice often have bits of ham or bacon in them.  Our last night in Ho Chi Minh City, we ate some free "chips" that were brought to our table that we assumed to be rice paper chips.  While we ate them I commented to Ally that they tasted slightly fishy and we chalked it up to a seaweed flavor.  When the bill arrived, the chips were listed as "Shrimp Chips" !

For our first full day in Siem Reap, we left our hotel at 5 a.m. to catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat Temple.  In the pitch dark, we walked across the bridge over the moat and settled into chairs to watch the sunrise (the chairs are free, but you have to buy a drink.)  Huge crowds of tourists jockeyed for the best spot to take pictures.  The sun rose slowly and the sky was hazy until it finally made an appearance to the left of the temple and glowed orange for about 15 minutes.  There was a small pond in front of the temple filled with lily pads that provided a beautiful reflection.  After sunrise, we returned to the hotel for breakfast, then went back to Angkor Wat for a full guided tour.  It was amazing going through the ancient temple and studying all the detailed stonework, the crumbling (but beautiful) columns and archways, and even watching the families of monkeys that hang around outside.  Angkor Wat took 37 long years to build and seeing the sheer size of it, it's not surprising.  Throughout the temple there are restoration projects going on and portions were covered by scaffolding, including a large section on the front.  After visiting Angkor Wat, we went to Ta Prohm Temple, which is a much smaller temple that is practically in ruins.  There were large chunks of concrete scattered everywhere and massive trees (rivaling California Redwoods) were growing through the temple buildings.  The huge trees and their massive roots covering the temple buildings made it look like a forgotten city.

Our second full day in Siem Reap, we visited the South Gate of Angkor Tom and the Bayon Temple, built for King Jarrwaraman 7.  The Bayon Temple is characterized by large figureheads that are relatively intact, although the outlying areas of the temple are crumbling.  The Gate and the outlying buildings and walls contain large and small elephant carvings.  After the temple tours, we headed into town and discovered a lovely little vegetarian restaurant where I had the most delicious dip I've ever tasted... coconut milk, peanuts, and mushrooms blended together and served with French bread.  After lunch, we headed out in search of the infamous Blind Massage shop -- we had heard those were the best.  Ally got a massage there ($5/hour) and I headed over to another shop to get a foot massage ($6/hour).  While waiting for Ally to finish her massage and head back to our hotel, the Tuk Tuk drivers would not leave me alone!  I chatted with two of them and taught them how to play Rock/Paper/Scissor/Shoot and they played each other to get our fare.  That evening for dinner, we ate South Indian food and tried the infamous "Dr. Fish" massage.  You put your feet in a huge tub of little fish that nibble on the dead skin on your feet.  We were really excited to try this massage ($2/each for 30 minutes) but it tickled like crazy!  We also discovered a fine art photography gallery with a exhibit of beautiful black and white prints of Angkor Wat.

The next day we flew to Bangkok, Thailand.  Unlike Vietnam and Cambodia, US dollars are not accepted in Thailand, and hotels generally do not exchange money.  We got in shortly before dinner so we had time to check out the rooftop pool and our very modern hotel room (each floor is done in a different color theme, ours was pink.)  For dinner we headed out to "Cabbages and Condoms" restaurant with the tour.  This restaurant was created to generate income for a organization that promotes sexual health and provides family planning services.  All the decorations were condom themed, for example lamps made out of condoms, and they had several mannequins wearing outfits made entirely out of condoms (there was a Santa family, Tiger Woods, and a Superhero.)  There was also a shop where you could buy hand made goods and condom-related products.  It was pretty neat.  The next day a few us took a Longtail Boat along the Chaophraya River.  The boat also went through the Khlong Bangkok Yai Canal.  The canal was quite a different experience from being on the main part of the river.  The canals are crowded and lined with run down shacks built on stilts over the water.  The porches of the shacks were jammed with plants and flowers and lines of laundry blowing the breeze.  I even saw a shack that was crooked -- like it was about to fall in the water!

After roughly an hour on the river, we arrived at our destination, which was a pier close to the Grand Palace.  The Grand Palace was incredibly beautiful and the most elaborate, ornate temple I've seen.  Every surface was covered with gold, some type of stone or jewel, or mirror pieces (and not crumbling or damaged like the temples in Siem Reap.)  Touring the Grand Palace we mostly walked around outside, but there is one building that you can go into (no photos though.)  Later that afternoon, Ally and I took a lengthy train ride to get to the weekend markets.  In Bangkok, they have a Sky Train and an Underground Train.  You have to buy a single one way ticket each time you ride and the price depends on where you are going.  When you arrive at your destination, you have to swipe your ticket to get out and the machine keeps it.  The trains were fast and very clean (and air conditioned!)  We enjoyed watching the television ads on the TVs mounted in the trains and comparing them to Western ads.  Once we got to the weekend markets, we were overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of stalls and people!  The market wasn't quite what we expected in that most of the stalls were selling modern style clothing, shoes, and accessories, rather than tourist goods.  We bought a few small items and tried some fresh made coconut ice cream, which was delicious!

That evening, our last of the trip, was spent with our group doing a Chaophraya River dinner cruise.  I enjoyed seeing the river at dark and how the lights on the bridges and temples lit up the water.  There were a number of dinner cruise boats out and each had elaborate neon lighting on the side.  We had a buffet dinner and then the "entertainment" began: a band very enthusiastically singing cheesy Western music and trying to engage the guests in dancing.  It was a great way to spend the last night with the group and we went home exhausted.  The next morning we left our hotel at 5 a.m. to catch our flight to Tokyo and our trip was official over!