Adventures at Vietnam & Cambodia

This is a post about my Vietnam - Cambodia trip.  Honestly, the trip didn't come out as close to the heart compared to my NY trip. But nonetheless, it was an exciting and eye-opening experience. 

I arrived in Ho Chi Minh and saw a flurry of motorcycles and mopeds on the streets zooming in and out.  It was a jam-packed city of these bikes, more than cars even. 

Parking areas alloted for just bikes; shot taken while crossing the street

Traffic seems bearable (comparing to Jakarta) and the pollution wasn't suffocating (comparing to Manila). Ho Chi Minh city felt slightly like Old Manila mixed with the renovated Roxas Blvd along the coast of Manila Bay. HCM also has this coastal road lined up with hotels on one side and a pedestrian walkway on another side beside the Saigon River. For me, it wasn't a place fantastic enough to visit again once you've been there.  My mom told me prior that the food was fantastic. It was good for me, but I guess coming from Singapore, where you can find all types of food around the region, it was just okay.  The prices here though are cheap so might as well enjoy the good food. The first day was spent alone, so I walked around the HCM city and arrived at the HCM Museum by accident.  I enjoyed a cold coconut drink and walked inside to keep away from the sun for a spell.

 Coconut Drink; Reflection on the Old Cabinet at the HCM Museum

My first Pho Bo (Vietnamese Beef Noodle)

Flaming Shrimp (first, it was heated like in the 1st pic, then the guy will remove the skins and place in the coconut to be heated up with the cocounut soup)

 Loved this dish! (Kuhol/Snails in Coconut sauce)

Fried Fish (forgot what kind it is) & Giant Veggie Omelet

My mom and sister joined me the next day and we especially enjoyed our trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels.  This is part of the history of how the Vietcong eluded the Americans during the Vietnam War. It's different from the usual sightseeing.  It's 45 mins away from HCM but a trip quite worth it to find the ingenious way the Vietcong created this underground abode both for a war base camp and home living.

Going in one of the numerous trap doors; Sister posing by a mock entrance of the Cu Chi Tunnel. 

Took a pic inside the actual Cu Chi Tunnel.  

That's my sister's eerie hand. Told her to stop for a pic, but she just showed her hand to me

Tapioca with mixed peanut & sugar dip (the food the Vietcong ate almost everyday during the war, hence the reason why they're skinny and can fit in the tunnels.) 

Group Pic with the Austrian tour mates, and of course with the wax mannequins

The next stop was at Phnom Pehn, Cambodia.  We (my mom, sister and me) took the bus crossing the border to Cambodia.  It was a grueling 6-hour bus ride.  It was quite an experience which my mom swore she will never ever again take. I did tell her we are cowgirls in this trip and we have to rough it so we can make the most of it.  The trip going to Cambodia had us seeing the countryside, which was very brown and dusty.  I guess it's because of the dry season. I saw a lot of garbage on the streets though, even more so than in the Philippines, I believe.  I checked the books, Cambodia is one of the poorest country in Asia, maybe even the world.  Another bit of trivia, the country considers foreign aid as one of their sources of income.  I guess we now know what Angelina Jolie started when she adopted a kid from this country.

Phnom Pehn seems to me a very small city. You can see the whole place in a day by taking a tuk-tuk. Yes, there are no cabs here and motorised tuk-tuk is the way to go. Be forewarned.

  Sis and me riding the tuk-tuk; Saw an elephant casually walking down the street. Neat-o. 

The first place we stopped by was the Tuol Seng Genocide Museum. It felt very eerie and heart-wrenching to go to this place. If you know the Polpot story, you need to visit this place. If you don't, you will get to learn about this atrocious event in history. The place is a classroom turned torture/jail centre during the Khmer Rouge era. It's quite new because it only happened in the 70s so story and atmosphere is still fresh.  The images posted there were haunting and the story can get disturbing. I have watched a lot of different crime series but this feels too real. Every time I entered a torture chamber with some of the iron beds and iron cuffs still there, the air seems to change.  Honest to goodness, I'm not the type who sees and feels this kind of stuff, but there's definitely a bone chilling feeling that you won't easily forget for a long time.

 Torture & Jail cells

Tuol Seng Genocide Museum Facade (each classroom was turned into either a jail cell or a torture chamber)

Security Regulation during the Khmer Rouge Regime (If this is not inhumane, I don't know what is...)

After this visit, we felt we've had enough depressing moments to last us the whole trip. We visited the Russian Market (which wasn't much) to see some artifacts, souvenir goodies and what-not. Bought a few souvenirs, and then went to eat an authentic Khmer dinner (it wasn't fantastic).  After that, we headed to the Pub Street.  This is where the restos and bars are found.  Here you can find a lot of Europeans eating alfresco and/or drinking beer. Then we just had to try the Happy Pizza. Let's just say, it was a good thing we decided to bring back the pizza to the hotel. 

 The famous Fish Amok from Cambodia

The next day, since we overslept, we only had enough time to visit one place. This was the Royal Palace. For me, it wasn't much. I've seen better palaces but it was still a good tour. The gardens are well-maintained and seeing some of the statues, figurines, royal props etc were interesting too. (I think I couldn't remember much though since I was still buzzed. :P)

The Royal Gardens @ the Royal Palace, Phnom Pehn, Cambodia

White Pagoda; Especially like the intricate design on this gate

Interesting Story of the Fight Between Good and Evil

Then in the afternoon, we've packed our stuff for another 6-hour drive to Siem Reap.  Another groan from my mom who said "not ever again!"  But we did arrive in Siem Reap. Finally! It was already night, so all we did was booked our tours for the next two days. Had a quick dinner, took long baths, hit the sack, and waited for the next day to arrive.

The next day arrived really early. We woke up at 4:30 AM to catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat. With our eyes blurry with sleep and stomachs grumbling from the cold, we headed to Angkor Wat.  There were some tourists who came to see the sunset.  Finding the right spot was a challenge especially since we didn't get a tour guide (we had our own guide book and my mom thought listening to heavily Cambodian accent English will just confuse her even more). So we followed and listened closely to other tour groups on where exactly the sun will be rising.  Good thing my sister read the book prior to coming to Cambodia, so she was able to give us a summarised version of what to expect in certain areas. So here we are 'click, click' at the sun as it rises behind the Angkor Wat cone-shaped temples.  After the sun had fully risen, we headed back to the hotel for our breakfast and then back again to tour the numerous surrounding temples.

Blue Skies at Angkot Wat; Sunrise Silhouette (loved this quiet moment)  

Angkor Wat Walkway

Angkor Wat is the most famous temple here in Siem Reap, which was built I believe in the 13th century. It's the largest temple in the world. There are a lot more different temples and even older ones in the vicinity.  We  visited Ta Phrom, the famous place where Tomb Raider was shot.  Angkor Thom, a temple famous for Buddhist monks to visit as part of the Buddhist pilgrimage. One of the farther temples is Banteay Srei, the pinkish-stoned temple that show the Hindu legends of Vishnu, Shiva and other Hindu gods/goddesses. Another one we visited secluded in the mountains is Kbal Spean.  This is where you will see the Hindu carvings by the stream depicting another legend. There are other various Buddhist altars at different sites. The interesting part of the Khmer Kingdom history is that it revolved around religion. The first king brought Hinduism from India and adapted it to their culture.  Then, there are rulers thereafter who converted to Buddhism, then back to Hinduism, back and forth through the centuries. Hence, there's a mix of different religious artifacts on the temples.  You can see some carvings of Vishnu, while some places have defaced images to make room for Buddhist images and statues. It seemed like a war of sorts on who can make the better temple wherein they can worship their god and/or king.

@ Angkor Thom

Linga (or commonly interpreted as the phallic symbol of the deva-raja - the monarch King of the Khmer Empire); 

Some Hindu carvings at the Elephant Terrace (some are already defaced)

 @ Ta Phrom (the famous place where Tomb Raider was shot)

@ Bakan (uppermost terrace of Angkor Wat). I took a shot from the top window.

Saw a lot of monkeys on our walk going to Angkor Wat

@ Kbal Spean (some of the carvings are already destroyed, perhaps by the gushing stream or harsh weather)

@ Banteay Srei (means Citadel of Women) 

Detailed depictions of Hindu legends @ Banteay Srei 

Not too sure if it's a window or a door, but look how small it is; My sister and I mimicking the traditional Khmer dance @ the hallway of Aspara Dancers 

 Close-up shot of one of the wall carvings @ the Royal Dance Hall 

Buddhist Monks loitering around the temples

Here are some of the queries we had on our trip to the temples:

1. My mother thought of the architecture. She asked how the people built these temples, like where did the big stones come from? How long did it take?

The different temples had different kinds of stones and even mix and match of stones ie. sandstone on top, brick below. 

2. My sister inquired about how the royalty travel from one temple to the other? How did the king go all the way up the temple on top? Did he just walk? Was he carried everywhere we went?

* Had to interject this legend of the king who had to copulate every night with the 7-headed snake who represents their god Shiva atop of a temple.  Can't imagine what that was like...

3. My queries were what kind of people lived back then? What did they look like - height? weight? stature? What kind of life did they lead? Were they subservient or aggressive type of people?

Some of the hallways and door sections seem quite small to walk in normally.  You always have to bend to get to the next area. That's saying a lot of its size coz I have a small stature.  Some of the steps leading to the top were small in width, and we had to step sideways when we climb the steps.

Based on the historical findings, there were not much information left after the glory days of the Khmer Kingdom. The people seemed to just vanished and the temples were swallowed up by the forests until finally a French man discovered it.  But that's another story. :)

The whole Siem Reap experience was very Tomb-Raiderish, there are quite a few legends behind the stones, carvings, and walls of the places we went to. We felt like explorers trying to piece together what really happened. The only sad part was some places are slowly deteriorating.  There are some evidence of modernity trying to keep it altogether. Planks and ropes were in place. Some stone walls are already patched-up work by conservatists who maintain the place.  The centuries are starting to catch up on these places, and before you know it, they'll eventually become dust. Or if not, it will just become a fake patched-up work of the originals and the place will turn into a museum cum amusement centre for tourists to visit and private companies to sell tickets out of.

*Currently, the whole area is indeed being managed by a private company who sells 1-day, 3-days, & 7-days tickets to tour the whole surrounding area. A 1-day ticket will cost you 20 USD. 

 Here are some shots of the areas with ropes and planks holding the structures together; a tree was also cut off coz it was weighing down the structure about to collapse, boohoo on the tree :(

Overall, the trip was tiring. Every place we went to was hot with a capital H. There were drops of rain now and then during our Cambodia trip, but it was still very humid.

For people who are interested to visit, my advise is to make sure you're up to walking, climbing, or even crawling under the heat.  It's also dusty and there are a lot of mosquitoes especially if you're not careful.  Despite all these nuisances, it's a very worthwhile adventure trip.  Like I've mentioned, these places won't last forever especially the temples in Siem Reap, so if you get the chance, hop on that plane and visit these places while you're still young ang agile.  This is subjective coz my mom still have it in her and she's reaching 50 already. :) Of course, never ever forget to bring a camera to take pictures of the wonderful sights. I still have a lot more shots which I haven't sift through but for now, I've placed a few shots here. 

Any questions about the trip, feel free to ask me or make a comment esp. if I have incorrect information.  I apologize in advance. These info are all from top of my head from what I remember from our trip and/or from the guidebook my sister had.