Cambodia: hey lady, you want to buy something?!

 Looking out the window of the bus as we arrived in Siem Reap, we saw a sign held up by a tuk-tuk driver reading, "Mr. Liz". Ly (Lee), the driver, got a big kick out of it when he realized that I was Liz, and not Dave. I had given my name to our really friendly, and persistent tuk-tuk driver in Phnom Phen who said his cousin worked up in Siem Reap. So, on the way to the hotel, we analyzed his driving skills, which were much more cautious and above par from past drivers, and thus, Ly became our driver for the whole time we have been here. He has taken us on two days of touring around the temples, including meeting us at 5am to see the sunrise over Angkor Wat.

Ly, Dave, and Liz with the tuk-tuk.

Our first temple stop was to see Phnom Bakaeng to catch the sun setting over Angkor Wat. We rode an elephant to the top of the hill where the temple was perched. Although we missed the actual sun set, we witnessed an incredible orange-lit sky.  It was great, minus the hundreds of people with the same idea.

photo by Dave

photo by Dave

The next morning we had a 4:30 wakeup, met Ly at 5am, and headed into Angkor Wat to watch the sunrise. After some debate and scouting, we decided to follow the crowds into the temple to watch from there instead of seeing it from the outside.  There must have been at least a thousand people and I couldn't help but be impressed that so many people were up so ridiculously early. The crazy part, however, was that about 90 percent of them left before the sun actually came up. As there were was a hazy but cloudless sky, the sunrise itself was rather anti-climatic. but still left for an incredible sight.

watching the sunrise after the crowds left - photo by Dave

sunrise over Angkor Wat - photo by Dave

We've visited 10 temples over the last few days and have been blown away by the intricacy and details of the stone carvings. Built only about 900 years ago during the reign of Jayavarman VII, the remains of these temples are all that is left of his empire. It was interesting to learn that only stone and brick were used in buildings dedicated to the gods, so there are no remnants of the people who lived in the cities surrounding built with wood. Supposedly, in the prime of the city of Angkor Thom, over one million people lived there. Enormous trees have grown over top some of the stones in a few of the temples which is visually amazing (although, I'm sure, has played a huge role in the decay of these buildings).

Bayon Temple in Angkor Thom

Bayon Temple

Ta Prohm Temple

Pre Rup Temple

Preah Khan Temple

Preah Khan Temple - photo by Dave

Angkor Wat - photo by Dave

Ta Prohm Temple (used in Tomb Raider and way overcrowded)

 Siem Reap is built around the tourism industry. The town itself is lined with restaurants, massage parlors (which we have gotten every day for $5 each an hour!), souvenir market stalls, and tuk-tuk drivers. Everywhere we go, whether it is out of a temple, inside the gate of the temples, or anywhere in town, we are bombarded with people trying to sell us things, or people begging for money. From every direction you'll have people trying to get your attention and once they've got it, it's almost impossible to get rid of them, no matter how many times you say no thank you. The begging children are the worst as it is a normal reaction to want to help a child, but the parents have recognized this and have their kids begging for money or trying to sell you things from the age of 4, sometimes younger. This has been particularly difficult for me as I see these kids are losing their childhood. When we were in one of the smaller temples, a four year old girl approached me with some postcards. She proceeded to recite the numbers 1-10 in English, French, and then we did them together in Spanish. After, she thrusted her small hand out and said, "you buy this... Just one dollar". For the next five minutes or so, she would switch between playing as a four year old and then back into selling mode. We played tic-tac-toe, and did all sorts of sticking out your tongue tricks, which she really enjoyed, but then would remember and again try to sell me the cards. It was incredibly sad to see only the flashes of youth, especially at such a young age.

Liz and little girl paying tic-tac-toe - photo by Dave

Liz and Cambodian boys - photo by Dave

Liz with a group of children talking about school before they began begging for money - photo by Dave

I've never been so popular. Count the heads and then add a few for those children too small to see (not to mention the four surrounding Dave). They were all trying to sell bracelets to earn a dollar. - photo by Dave

Tomorrow, we will take a six hour boat ride down to Phnom Phen where we will have our last day before beginning our now 50 hour trip home. The airline changed our flight a few days ago, which now leaves a day early, drops us in South Korea for 27 hours, and then continues onto NYC, arriving in on the 19th. It's crazy that the trip is coming to a close. Time goes so quickly.

family in Angkor Thom

monk visiting Preah Khan

 

Dave and Liz in front of Angkor Wat

Cambodian barbeque

piglets being transported via motorbike

Vietnam Part 2: rocking the pointy hat

We had three nights in Hoi An at a hotel we chose because they brought the free breakfast up to the room where we could enjoy it on our balcony. It rained on and off the entire time we were there, including our motorbike taxi ride from the bus station to the hotel, but it provided a much needed break from the heat we have been getting everywhere else. It really doesn't feel like December since we are in shorts and T-shirts and still sweating constantly. Despite the rain, we did manage to make it to the beach.

beach in Hoi An - killer photo by Dave

breakfast on the balcony - photo by Dave

The streets of Hoi An were bustling with tailors lining the roads trying to lure you into their shops where you could have clothes, shoes, handbags, belts, ties, etc made specifically for you. The difficult part was choosing a tailor since every store looked exactly the same. We finally picked two at random who ended up being fantastic and offered us fair prices. We were really pleased with how everything turned out and were amazed at how fast they were able to make our garments and shoes.

at the tailor - photo by Dave

streets of Hoi An

The bus ride to Ho Chi Mihn City would have taken 18 hours and cost about $20. The flight would take 1.5 hours and would cost $40, so it was a really easy decision for us, especially since we are so burnt out from long bus rides. We flew. It was great. We spent one night in HCMC which reminded us of the massive city feel of Bangkok. We took the local bus to the backpackers area of town where the rooms are cheap and everyone is in your face trying to sell you something. We organized a 3-day trip down into the Mekong Delta, which included boat rides, bus transport, and 2-nights hotel accommodation all for a whopping $29.

Ho Chi Mihn City

We left the next morning at 8am on a bus with over 30 tourists and began our uber and over touristy trip (we knew what we were getting into though and read that this was the cheapest and easiest way to get around the Delta). It was a massive change of pace from the type of traveling we had been doing our entire trip. However, it wasn't anything like we expected as we ended up in smaller cities for the two nights when we thought we would be out in more rural areas. Some of the touristy stops included a coconut candy making operation, a honey bee "farm", a crocodile farm, a rice paper and noodle factory and fish "farm". We think the primary existence of all of these places was for tourist viewing as we were encouraged to purchase items at most of the stops at highly inflated rates.

rice paper factory

Tourists being paddled through the canals in Mekong Delta - photo by Dave

Our favorite part was the floating markets where farmers along the Mekong travel through the extensive canal system to exchange their produce. The larger boats displayed which items they had on board by hoisting one of them up on a flagpole. The smaller boats bring items from the land to trade with the bigger boats who don't have the opportunity to go on shore. This snapshot of such a different life was what was so incredibly intriguing.

smaller boats selling items to larger boat owners

floating market - photo by Dave

Pineapple on the pole shows what they sell on the boat

The markets dominate the trade amongst the locals in every town we have been to. The crowded streets don't deter people on bicycles or motorbikes from pushing their way through the narrow lanes in between stalls. Large pieces of very recognizable meat hang from hooks and the colorful produce stacks tall. There is a great energy in the markets which I absolutely love. In the Mekong land market we went to, there were all sorts of unusual things for sale including duck and pigs heads, chicken feet, live frogs, chick hearts, and live fish and eels, to name a few. No part of the animal seems to go to waste as the Vietnamese people eat every part of every animal, all of which are for sale.

hanging meat and dried seafood

mmm.. chicken feet

vendors plucking chickens and selling fish and eels

From Chau Doc, our final overnight on the tour, we took the fast boat across the Cambodian border into Phnom Phen. It was so much fun not to be on a bus and see the more rural countryside from the water. Crossing the border, although a little sketchy, went smoothly. Both Dave and I paid for e-visas which we were told was not accepted at this border crossing. This was frustrating as we felt we were being scammed and ended up paying the cost of the visa again.

on the boat to Cambodia

boating from Vietnam into Cambodia

We've been blown away by Cambodia so far. Extravagant temples line the water and appear around corners when you least expect them. The rice fields expand into the horizon in between small villages where the cows and chickens graze amongst the houses and the children run freely. After arriving into Phnom Phen we immediately caught the 6 hour bus into Siem Reap where we will be spending the next four days exploring the temples and the surrounding areas.

Cambodia