Cambodia

After a very long and boring 'tour' from Ho Chi Minh to Phnom Penh we finally arrived on the afternoon of May 27. We left Chau Doc (a little border town in Vietnam) that morning and the tour took us to a fishing village and a Champa village. After a couple hours we got on the boat that took us to the Cambodian border crossing. We had to wait there for another couple of hours while they processed everyone's visas. But, finally, we all had our visas and our passports and we were successfully into Cambodia. Then we took a hilarious mini-bus ride from the border to Phnom Penh. Some of the roads seemed like little dirt alleyways and some had some massive bumps and potholes in them. It made for a very bumpy ride! But, we were happy to make it to Phnom Penh safe and sound. We checked into our guest house, had some dinner and did a little tour around the town before turning in for the night.

On our first full day in Phnom Penh we hired a tuk tuk for the day to take us around to some of the main tourist attractions. We started at the Tuol Sleng S-21 Genocide Museum. This used to be a high school that was converted into an interrogation/holding prison during the time of the Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge regime. Thousands of people were sent to S-21 to get interrogated and tortured, often for things that they didn't do. From S-21, most of the inmates were then taken to The Killing Fields - and you can imagine from the name what happened there. Since the time of the Khmer Rouge, S-21 has been turned into the Genocide Museum with photos, documents, personal stories from survivors and actual memorabilia from that time. It is just heartbreaking and totally eye opening to spend some time there and read the accounts as you look at the photos.

From the museum we went to The Killing Fields. This area used to be a fruit orchard before it was used by Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge to dispose of thousands of bodies. Since Cambodia's liberation by the Vietnamese, they have found multiple mass graves in this area. Some have been dug up and analyzed, while others have been left untouched so the victims can rest in peace. They have an audio tour that you can do, which is narrated by a man who lived through the Khmer Rouge regime. It is absolutely heartbreaking and totally sickening to spend some time here. The stories that you hear and the sights that you see are just terrible. It is amazing that something like this could happen in our lifetime, and so much of the world had no idea it was even going on. During the tour we actually learned that even after Cambodia was liberated by the Vietnamese and Pol Pot escaped from Cambodia, the UN still believed that the main governing body in the country was the Khmer Rouge and they were still giving them money - nobody had any idea of the devastation that was occurring in Cambodia. So sad, but so eye opening. I am really happy that Dave and I got to go and learn a little more about this.

The stupa at the Killing Fields honouring those massacred

After this very heavy and educational morning, we spent the afternoon relaxing and wandering the Russian Market. We both did a little shopping before heading back towards our guesthouse for dinner. We had some dinner and drinks at a rooftop restaurant by the river - it was a nice relaxing evening after a very eye-opening day.

Our second day in Phnom Penh was spent checking out the Royal Palace and the National Museum. The architecture in Cambodia is just amazing! It is so intricate and detailed and the colours are just beautiful. But man, do they ever love gold! We also got to see a Buddha statue carved out of a huge chunk of emerald. It was so beautiful! We also spent a bit of time at the Central Market in Phnom Penh. It was a bigger and more spread out market than the Russian Market, but sold pretty similar stuff.

The Royal Palace

 

That night Dave went to the park that is beside the Mekong River to have a workout. The park gets very busy at night as it is much cooler once the sun goes down. There were all kinds of people taking part in the free nightly Zumba class, many others getting in a workout of their own, or playing with their kids. Dave set up the TRX on a jungle gym and was the center of attention. It was hilarious. All kinds of men and young boys had to give it a try and soon there were about 10 people all doing the same workout. Who knows, maybe in a few years they will be selling knockoff TRXs at the Russian market.

The next day we packed up and took a bus down to the south of Cambodia. Through our travels we have heard people rave of the islands off the south coast, so we thought we would go check them out. We stayed one night in a town called Sihanoukville. Some people didn't like Sihanoukville, but Dave and I did. It's a nice beach town with really good and cheap food. But from there we took a boat over to one of the southern islands called Koh Rung Samloem. It was described to us as a pretty rustic place with beautiful beaches and very few amenities. That is pretty much exactly what it was! It was a beautiful little island, with a really pretty beach. We stayed in a little beachside bungalow, which was pretty cute. But it was definitely rustic! Haha. It usually took over an hour to get any food that you ordered and often times they didn't have many of the items on the menu. Also, it wasn't a surprise to find ants in your food or flies constantly circling you while you tried to eat. There were a few people at our resort that were so unhappy that they cut trips short and headed back to Sihanoukville early. We enjoyed our one night on the island, but didn't really feel the need to stay much longer. It also didn't help that it rained for a good part of the time we were on the island - not much to do when it was raining. But the highlihgt of the our trip to Koh Rong Samloem happened late that night. One of the Americans we met on the island had heard that you could swim at night with glow plankton. He decided to go try it out and quickly came back to get the rest of us to join in. It was so cool!! Whenever the plankton were stimulated they lit up, so swimming through the water was such an amazing experience. Your hands, legs and arms were glowing! It was one of the coolest things I've done this year!

Our little beachside bungalow

 

We took the boat back to Sihanoukville the next day and stayed there for one more night before making our way back to Phnom Penh and up to Siem Reap. And if I thought the bus from the border of Camobodia to Phnom Penh was bad - I was seriosuly mistaken. The bus from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap was pretty much under construction for the entire 6 hour trip, which made for a VERY bumpy ride. I think i even caught air once or twice. We met an American on the bus, Steven, and just basically laughed the entire way because of how ridiculous the trip was!

On our first full day in Siem Reap we tried to make the most of it. We started at 4:30 in the morning for a sunrise at Angkor Wat. We made it to the temple just in time and got to watch the sunrise pretty much right behind it. It was beautiful! Then we spent the next 6 hours touring a ton of other temples. We spent a good hour walking around Angkor Wat before making our way through the south gate of Angkor Thom to Bayon. From there we went to the Terrace of the Elephants and finished the day off at Ta Prohm. It is so unbelievable that most of these temples were built over 800 years ago and are still in pretty amazing condition. Each one has it's own personality sort of. For instance, Bayon was made up of thousands of faces smiling in every direction and Ta Prohm has almost been destroyed by trees and tree roots growing on and through the walls of the temples. It's pretty spectacular! We were home from our tour by lunch time, but it sure felt like we had spent the entire day out and about. We had some lunch and then a much needed nap before exploring the night market in Siem Reap.
Ou last day in Cambodia turned into a pretty lazy one. We had stayed out a little late the night before so we slept in. After brunch and a little walk around town we went back to the hotel so Dave could go to the gym. Unfortunately he managed to tweak his back a little at the gym and was home in pain pretty soon after he left. We pumped him full of Advil and just rested/layed around the hotel the rest of the day to see if the pain and spasm would settle a little before our travel day to Thailand the next day.

Sunrise at Angkor Wat

 

Overall, we had an amazing experience in Cambodia. The people were always smiling and I really liked that about them. The country is so beautiful, but with such a tragic history. I am happy we were able to learn a little more about Cambodia and the world while we were there. We had a great time.

Thanks for reading
xoxo

The end of Vietnam

I was right - we loved Hoi An!! It is so beautiful, especially at night when all the restaurants and shops have lanterns lit up along the river and throughout the town. Also, they close down the streets to pedestrians and bicycles only, so you're not worried you're going to get hit by a car or motorbike. We spent 4 days in Hoi An because we liked it so much. The main thing to do there is get clothes tailored. In this tiny town there are over 400 tailor shops. We walked down one street and counted 16 tailor shops in a row. It's insane! But we got caught up in it and had some things made. Dave had some suits made for work and I had a couple of coats made. We were very happy with the results!

We also went on a tour to the My Son Champa temples, did some other shopping, eating, strolling and took part in a Vietnamese cooking class. The cooking class was probably my favourite part. The food was amazing and the women running the class were so sweet. They even let us take a break from cooking and let us ride a water buffalo with a local farmer. Incredible! On our last night there Dave also got involved in a local game that the kids play in the street. You have a pile of cards that you are trying to hit by throwing your sandal at them. It was really cute watching him play with the kids. All in all, we had an amazing time in Hoi An.

Steph riding a water buffalo  

 

My Son Champa temples

We left Hoi An on an overnight train...remember, no more overnight buses for us! The train was definitely better than the bus, but still mayhem. It was over an hour late to get to Hoi An to start. Then we were in a 4 person sleeper, or at least, what was supposed to be a 4 person sleeper. At one point there were 6 of us in there - one woman had her child on her bed with her and another woman was sleeping on the floor! Some people got off and after a while we even had one of the train workers sleeping in one of our beds. It was hilarious. But, to be expected by now!

The train took us to a town called Nha Trang, or, should I say Little Russia. Honestly, I think there were more Russians than Vietnamese in the town. It is known as a party, beach town so we only stayed for one night. We spent the day at the beach relaxing and then had some dinner before we stumbled upon a microbrewery right on the beach. Obviously we had to go for a drink - Dave has been craving beer with a bit more flavour. The beer wasn't that great, but it was better than what we had been drinking.

The next morning we started a long day of bus travel, making our way down to Ho Chi Minh City. We thought it was supposed to be a 3 hour bus ride, with a 2 hour stop in Mui Ne, then a 5 hour bus from Mui Ne to Ho Chi Minh. We thought wrong. The first bus took over 5 hours to get to Mui Ne. We had enough time to grab a quick bite for lunch before hopping back on the bus for another 6.5 hours to Ho Chi Minh. It was a long and boring day, but it got us down to Ho Chi Minh safe and sound.

We spent 3 nights in Ho Chi Minh. Our hotel had a great location and we were about 5 steps away from all the restaurants, bars and shops. On our first day we took a tour to the Cu Chi Tunnels. Dave was really excited to see them. It was a pretty sweet tour. They take you to the town of Cu Chi and tell you all about the war and the tunnels; how long it took to make them, how they used them, the different tactics to protect them. You see some old war remnants, like uniforms, bomb shells, weapons and even an old USA tank that was bombed in 1970 and is still in the same spot. Then they actually let you go into the tunnels. They have widened them a little since the war for tourists and have added lights inside as well, but it was pretty crazy to actually walk through these tiny tunnels.

Dave entering an orienteering tunnel

The next day we made our way over to the War Remnants Museum, which has a ton of information about the Vietnam War. Why it started, what happened, tons of photos and first account photos from the war, especially on the Agent Orange that was used. They also had a big section on all the anti-war protests that were happening all over the world. It was very informative and I think we both learned a lot. That night we went to the night market and did some gift buying before heading back towards our hotel for a drink. In Hanoi, people sit on little plastic stools for drinks, but in Ho Chi Minh, they basically just sit right on the sidewalk. So, obviously, we had to try. We had a beer and sat on the sidewalk of a very busy intersection and just watched the mayhem. There were very young children trying to get you to buy gum from them, there was another kid blowing fire balls, there were kids coming home from prom, there were a million motorbikes driving by...it was so entertaining!

Some of the remaining American artillery

 

Sadly, that was our last night in Ho Chi Minh and the next morning we started a tour that would take us to Cambodia. The tour was through the Mekong Delta, up the Mekong river and to Cambodia. It was a 2 day, 1 night tour, including staying in a border town called Chau Doc at a floating hotel on the Mekong River. Overall, the tour was disappointing, but it was nice to see a little more of the countryside before leaving Vietnam. We took a boat tour on the Mekong River and saw a small floating village, where people trade fruits and vegetables from their boats. It also took us to this other small village where they make this delicious coconut candy. From there we drove for a while and even ended up at a random crocodile farm. The best part was probably the hotel right on the river. The second day we took a boat to a Champa village, then made our way to the Cambodian border to get our visas. Once in Cambodia we basically took a bus right to Phnom Penh.

Vietnam definitely had its ups and downs for us. We loved experiencing the culture and learning more about the history and the people. Now we are off to new adventures in Cambodia!
 

At the start of our cooking class

Thanks for reading

xo

Who wants to go to the hospital?!

We took the overnight bus from Hanoi to Dong Hoi because we wanted to take a tour to the Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park. In 2011 the National Park opened to tourists because a series of amazing caves were found there. Our day tour took us to two of the caves. The first was Phong Nha cave, which is the cave with the longest underground river in the world. It was so amazing - we got to take a boat into the first kilometer of the cave. After lunch we went to Paradise Cave - the largest dry cave in Asia. Again, it was so spectacular to see the stalagmites and stalactites and all the different colours.

Not many colours in this picture, but we like it

 

By the end of the day I started feeling sick and had a fever that night. I woke up in the middle of the night with a rash on parts of my body. I figured it was a heat rash from being outside most of the day and then having a fever, so I took a cold shower, some Tylenol and went back to bed. The next day the rash was still there and it was getting a bit worse so I tried an OTC antihistamine with no real luck and still had a fever on our trip from Dong Hoi to Hue. That night the rash got even worse and I was starting to get really stressed out so the next morning when I was covered in red I decided I may want to go to the hospital. The OTC meds weren't doing anything and I was still feverish and lightheaded, so off we went to the hospital in Hue. Can you say terrifying! No one spoke English and no one was willing to help us find where we needed to go. We tried asking a nurse where the emergency department was and she said something in Vietnamese and just laughed at us, as did all the men sitting around us at the time. Dave eventually left me in a chair because I was feeling very faint and found the emerg dept. Once in emerg it was a better experience. They had a good doctor who spoke pretty good English and everyone was nice. Plus it was inside and air conditioned, unlike the rest of the hospital, which had open shutters and fans everywhere. It wasn't the cleanest of environments. I actually watched someone get off the bed that they then asked me to sit on, without changing the sheet or cleaning it. And I did not see one person wash their hands the whole day we were there. They did open instruments from packages and wear gloves, so I guess that is good. We spent about 8 hours there, while they gave me an IV and some stronger meds. They did some blood work and an abdominal ultrasound, which didn't show much. So, I was diagnosed with a reaction...to what? Who knows. The more research we did on the internet, the more I think it was a post viral rash, but it could have been an allergic reaction for all I know.

I felt pretty good leaving the hospital - the rash was almost gone and they had given me some meds to take for the next 5 days. Unfortunately, by the next morning the rash had returned and was way more itchy than before. I took the meds they prescribed, but they didn't do anything. Luckily, the doctor I had at the hospital had given me his email in case I needed anything. I emailed him immediately and he got back to me pretty quick with some other drugs I could try. That is one good thing about Vietnam - you can walk into any pharmacy and ask for any medication and they will hand it over to you. So, Dave went to the pharmacy to pick up the rest of the meds, while I tried to relax and stay calm. Then Dave went on a crazy hunt around Hue to find aloe or baking soda, oatmeal or calamine lotion - anything to try and reduce the itching. He was awesome and managed to find some aloe vera gel. That, cold showers, ice and about 6 different pills finally calmed the rash down again.

By the next day I was still breaking out in hives, but not as much. Dave went on a tour of the Citadel and other Vietnam war memorials around Hue while I spent the day in the hotel. Heat seemed to increase the hives, so I didn't dare go out in the 40 degree weather. But, Dave really liked the tour and learned a lot about the war, and about Vietnam. We ended up spending 5 days in Hue, when we were only going to spend 2. It took almost 10 days of meds before the rash went away completely. I am still not sure what happened, but I am happy it has stopped!

A pagoda in Hue

We were eager to leave Hue and continue our way down to Hoi An. I really liked this town the last time I was in Vietnam, so I knew we would have a good time there.

Thanks for reading

xo