Ho Chi Minh City! (aka Saigon)

We took a night bus to get to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam and arrived there at the lovely wee hour of 3:45am. We had no idea where the hell we were and all these drivers cornering us to take a moto or taxi ride with them for outrageous prices. It was pretty frustrating, especially after a long ass bus ride and little sleep. No one spoke English; it took us a bit to even figure out where we were in relation to the city center. They were all trying to rip us off, so Simon and I walked out of the bus station to find a more honest driver.

After haggling for 40 or so minutes, we found someone to take us to the backpacker district. Simon already had a place to stay since his friend, Martin, was in town, but I had to look for my own place. I wrote down the names of a few places I saw on hostelworld.com, and eventually checked into one at 5:30 in the morning.

When I finally started my day after a good 4 hours of sleep, I was so curious about this city. It was so much more developed than I thought it would be. I guess having been in Laos and Cambodia the past several weeks, where their capitols/major cities were not too big, Ho Chi Minh, was a nice change of scenery. There are motos EVERYWHERE; outnumbering the amount of cars for sure. Everyone seems to have one because they completely take over the road. And there aren't a lot of rules to driving, it seemed. Crossing an intersection as a pedestrian can be intimating, but it's fun at the same time. The trick is to not walk too fast and whatever you do, keep moving forward!



I met up with Simon and Martin at the Reunification Palace. The building itself was really nice. A good example of 1960s modern architecture. But the interior decorating was...pretty dated. There were some pieces I thought were fun and retro, like the furniture in the game room, but some stuff was just plain tacky.






The rest of the day was more tourist stuff. We managed to see a lot. We went to the War Remnants Museum (which, as an American, was very horrible to see because it the exhibits showcased what really happened on Vietnam soil), the Notre Dame Church, the post office (beautiful building), the Ho Chi Minh statue, and took a little boat ride on the Saigon River.


Notre Dame

Ho Chi Minh Statue

Boat Ride with Martin

At night, I met up with some of my cousin's friends, Norey, Jennie, and Jimmy. They were from the US too, but had been living in Saigon for a couple years now. We met them and a huge group for dinner and drinks. Had some really yummy food too. (I'll write another post later).We were supposed to go out with them after dinner but our taxi driver had no clue where he was going, so we just called it a night. It was ok by me since I wanted to sleep after a full day!


Norey and Jennie

The whole dinner gang

Kept in Kep

I heard a lot of good things about Kep from other travelers. Many had said it was better than Sihanoukville because it was quieter and less touristy. I was pretty excited to go, but when I got there, I felt a little disappointed. I assumed the beach would be nicer, but that wasn't the case. It was a much smaller town and I can see how it could be relaxing, but...the beach was not even close to Sihanoukville. People didn't even hang out there. But that made deciding how long to stay easy.....only one night. It didn't look like there was much to do anyways.

We rented a moto for the day, since Simon knew how to drive one. Much faster than riding a bike. Things were actually pretty far apart in this town. We took a tour all around the area on the main road. It was really pretty and scenic...rice fields with a giant mountian in the back drop...very picturesque. We went to the top of Kep National Park to catch the sunset as well. That ride was so bumpy though. There were a couple times when I thought I was going to just flip over the moto because I was bouncing around so much. After a tour of the rest of the area, we planned on going to the Caves and the Pepper Farm the next day.





Squirrel Association?!



Aside from pepper, Kep is pretty famous for it's crab too.



For dinner, I treated myself to a crab with fresh pepper dinner. It was SO good...well worth it! It was cooked with this curry that tasted a little bit sweet, and it came with plenty of fresh pepper, which I don't think I have had before. Very tasty. The crab meat was sweet too. It was a lot of work to get the meat out, but I guess compared to the time I had to de-shell 1lb of craw fish for dinner, this was a better deal. I pretty much licked the plate clean because the curry was so yummy. Mmmm...I want some now.


Garnish in the front?! I am not a good food photographer.

The next day, we cruised on over to a pepper farm. Can't say I have ever seen a pepper tree, but here's what it looks like:





Then we rode out of town to get to the caves, shot gunned it a little to far, but found our way to the right place. It was nice, but there were all these kids trying to guide us with flashlights through the caves to get a donation. I hate to feel this way, but whenever a kid comes up and asks me what's my name and where I am from, all I think is, no, I am not going to give you money. It's not how their supposed to make a living...they're kids! They should be in school, playing or doing kid things. That's probably one thing I didn't like about Cambodia...I felt like a walking dollar sign a lot of times.




Anyways, that was Kep. We felt like we did everything we could in that town.
Up next, Vietnam!!

Si-Si-Sihanoukville

Oh Sihanoukville, I wish I spent more time here. It's THE beach to go to in southern Cambodia. I should have spent less days in Phnom Penh and more here. Oh well. It was just nice to go to a beach, since I haven't been at one in SE Asia yet. The sand was nice and white and the water was a turquoise blue (and salty).

Simon (who met me in Phnom Penh) took the bus with me and the plan was to go to Sihanoukville so I could get my Vietnam visa, and then go to Kep, which was supposed to be a better place than Sihanoukville (more about Kep in the next entry).

We stayed at a hotel that was connected to a convenience market; just had to walk through the store to get to our room. It was right around the corner from the beach entrance, next to an awesome sandwich stand, and it was cheap...couldn't ask for a better place to stay. Oh yeah, right above the convenience mart was a great bakery/breakfast place. They were so cruel...they displayed all their baked goods in front, like carrot cake, banana cake, lemon meringue, brownies....I was in baked goods heaven! (Ever since Luang Prabang, Laos, I've been craving Western baked goods).



We just went to Ochheutel Beach (didn't make it to Otres, sadly. That one is supposed to be beautiful). And it was ok, but there was not a lot of sand to lay down on because the restuarants took over the area with their chairs and tables. Also, there was always someone trying to sell you something. It was so annoying. I missed sunset because some kids were in my way trying to sell me bracelets. (The streets kids were probably the worse in Cambodia so far. They should be in friggen school, not trying to hustle money.) We had to walk further down just to get to an area where we could sit without being hassled.

But the funniest thing we did was order a "happy" shake. Simon really wanted to get a pizza, but we decided to wait for our friend Rachel to share one. We went with a chocolate happy shake. I drank it with my meal and didn't think anything of it. Didn't taste obvious, didn't taste bad. Didn't noticing anything happening until maybe half an hour after I finished it. I started to get really paranoid and slow. And I noticed Simon was asking me all these questions, and I thought, he is affected too!


Happy Chocolate Shakes

After lunch, we went swimming on the beach, but the whole time, i kept watching our stuff to see if anyone was going to steal it. And I felt like swimming was so tiring....I didn't do a whole lot of it. After the swim, we sat at a restaurant to catch the sunset, but we both passed out in hour chairs. Pretty sure it was because of the shake. You know the feeling. It basically messed us up for the whole day. Simon said he stil felt it the next morning! Ha! It was fun. I would try it again if I had free day to do nothing.


Beach time



Oh, and surprise! We also got to reunite with some of the Spicy Laos gang over breakfast.


Kim, Preeti, and Simon

Simon, Boris, and Julia

And that was Sihanoukville.

Enroute to Sihanoukville

I'm on a bus to Sihanoukville right now. We just watched "The Expendables", funny to see Stallone speaking Khmer. I still get aggravated a little when the bus honks. The driver seriously honks 30 times per minute, no joke. He honks at oncoming traffic, motos and bikes he is about it pass...it's a headache. And on a 5 hour ride...ahhhhhh!! That would not go well in the US.

Almost one week in Phnom Penh..

..and it was way too much time here -- 6 nights! I originally wanted to stay for only 2 nights, but things kept happening. I got in a day after the Water Festival bridge incident, so the city was in mourning, and several tourist sites were closed. It was enough reason for me to extend my stay. Then I found out Rachel and Marin (travelers I met in Laos) were coming in, and Simon was about to arrive; I had even more reason to stay.

There really is not much to do in Phnom Penh, though. The important sites (in my opinion) are the Genocide Museum and the Killing Fields. I read a little bit about the Khmer Rouge before arriving in Cambodia, but going to these sites gives you a better understanding of what happened and what Cambodians (currently around the ages of at least 40 years old) had experienced, and the horror of genocide. What's really crazy was this all happened in the mid to late 1970s. Really not long ago at all.

The Genocide Museum(S.21) located in the city of Phnom Penh. It used to be a high school, but the Khmer Rouge turned it into a holding pen for prisoners, until they were taken to the Killing Fields, about 40 min from the city. I was definitely feeling somber during the visits to both places. There were a lot of graphic pictures showing types of torture methods and tools used. The Killing Fields are nice and peaceful now, but imagining bodies in the pits was quite disturbing. I felt like I wanted to cry several times. And I had the eeriest feelings while walking through the holding pens in S.21. And all this was on my first day in Phnom Penh.


S.21

Killing Fields

The next several days were really chill, since I took my time. Let's see, I...

- went to check out some markets. The Orussey Market was selling these bad boys.



- walked around the waterfront. It's a nice area, and locals do hang out there, but it's very touristy.



- went to a CouchSurfing Meet Up. That was cool to meet some other travelers and locals in the area. We ended up bar hopping and then dancing to hip hop at the end of the night.



- ate an expensive dessert at the Foreigner's Correspondence Club (FCC). Twice.


Rich Chocolate, Hazelnut, and Figs Tart. You devil, you.

- got my bangs trimmed at a salon. That was fun, since the hair stylist couldn't speak English. They had a look book though, so that made it easier. Telling them to thin the bangs out was a little tough, but they got it right.

- went to tourist sites: Royal Palace, National Museum, and Wat Phnom.


Royal Palace


National Museum


Wat Phnom

- went to Sorya Mall. This place was a trip because there was a rollerblading rink upstairs, some sort of chicken restaurant on every floor (fried, grilled, baked....), a cinema, and a Swensens's Ice Cream shop (not sure why but these are premium ice cream shops in SE Asia. I didn't know of any other shops except in San Francisco).




at one of the chicken restaurants


rollerblades!

- fell in love with mangosteen. Even though it was expensive.



- had some good Cambodian desserts.


herbal jelly, coconut milk, simple syrup, and some sort of fruit.

And that is all about I can remember... It was nice to take my time though. Probably the more relaxing part of my trip. Sometimes you do need a vacation from vacation.

Thanksgiving in Phnom Penh

I am supposed to be in Hong Kong today. Ideally spending Thanksgiving with my Step-Mom; not like Hong Kong celebrates Thanksgiving though. But nope, I decided to extend my stay, and I was by myself in Phnom Penh (PP). PP actually has a wide range of restaurants, from Indian, Malaysian, Italian, French, American, etc. I tried to find an American restaurant that was serving a Turkey dinner, that night, and walked into a place called Freebird (really). With the amount of ex-pats in PP, there were bound to be some Americans celebrating here. Yes, there were some Americans, but nope, no turkey.

So what did I decide to order? Eggs Benedict. It sounded good on the menu, and I love it (usually). But what's the one thing that can really mess up eggs Benedict? The Hollandaise sauce. This is tricky enough to get right in the US, so I don't know why I risked it in PP. It was pretty terrible. The sauce had too much lemon in it...I had to scrape it off the muffin. They kept the poached eggs separate from the Hollandaise sauce and the muffins, but the eggs were too undercooked, so the meal was just one big slimy plate. Excellent bacon though. That was the only saving grace.

Disappointed with my meal, and also not being able to chat it up with anyone at the Freebird, I went to the Foreginer's Correspondance Club (FCC), this western resturant that had great food (sandwiches, salads, pizza), but US prices (sandwich = $7). I had gone there for lunch the day before, and spotted a dessert I really wanted to try-- a rich chocolate tart made of hazelnuts, figs, and chocolate chips, served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and candied oranges. After such a bad Thanksgiving meal, I deserved it. Plus, I wasn't ready to go home yet.

I plopped down on a bar stool along the edge of the balcony, overlooking the riverside. That's the good thing about FCC, it's in a great location with a nice, relaxing atmosphere. There were two guys sitting a couple chairs away and they noticed the dessert I ordered. We started to chat and it turned out they were from the US too, one from Boston and one from Carson City. They didin't realize what day it was until I said Happy Thanksgiving. We spent most of the night talking about SE Asia travels (they had been to Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam) and just the sheer awesomeness of taking a long break to travel. It made me feel good about extending my trip :) They were good company. Glad I didn't have to spend my entire Thanksgiving meal alone.

Battambang: Part 2

Determined to make the most of my 24hr stay, I got up early and went to a few sights outside of Battambang. I hired a tuktuk driver to take me out to the Banan Temple and Phnom Sampov, two temple sites with great views of the Battambang area. The rides themselves to the sites were lovely and scenic, with a nice glimpse of rural life.




The Banan Temple was a tough one. 358 steps to get to the top! But there was a nice view once you got up, and the ruins were simple - large blocks stacked up - but interesting to see how well the temples were still preserved.




The Phom Sampov/Killing Caves are located high on a hill, so my driver suggested I hire a local to lead me so I won't get lost. He connected me with Siephon (not sure how to correctly spell his name), who the tuktuk driver said "he's a man, but don't worry, he's a lady boy". Throughout my tour, the town people would see him and would laugh and tease him in a playful way. He didn't seem too annoyed by it; he was playing along with it. It was pretty entertaining to hang out with him. Our communication was so limited because he didn't speak that much English, only enough to tell me what sight was what and some directions on where to go. But he would bust out singing Khmer pop songs as we walked.





He definitely made my trip up to Phom Sampov brighter! Especially considering we were looking at the Killing Caves too. I wasn't sure if I was ready to come face to face with it, but I figured going to the Killing Caves would prepare me later for Phnom Penh's Genocide Museum and the Killing Fields from the Khmer Rouge period.

I wanted to go to the Pepsi Factory that was abandoned in the 70s, but the tuk tuk driver said they had closed the doors to the public. It would have been cool to take some pictures there, because I read that it has been left untouched; there are still full bottles of Pepsi left inside. Ah well. Would have been neat to see. But I'm glad I got to do and see more of Battambang, besides the Bamboo Train. Would've been a shame if that was my only impression of the area.

Bamboo (Battam)banger

I stopped in Battambang on my way to Phnom Penh, for less than 24 hours, mainly for the Bamboo Train. This "train" is a raft made of bamboo with 2 axles/wheels and is powered by a motorcycle engine. There is only one railroad track for 2-way traffic, so whenever there is a jam, the lighter train would disassemble and move around the other train. Pretty ingenious.


When I got into town, I rented a bike and tried to find the Bamboo Train Station, but it took me forever. All I had was this to follow by:


Not quite the most descriptive map, but I could see why after riding around. The landmarks were obvious, but none of the roads were named! But after 45 minutes on the bike, and asking people if I was going in the right direction, I finally arrived at the station. It's run by the Tourist Police, so an officer greeted me and said the train would take me to a small village about 14km away, where I can walk around and get a refreshment. Sounded like a good time to me.

The ride itself was really fun. The train runs pretty fast with the motorcycle engine. It shakes so much and makes loud rickety noises as you are flying by the rice fields. There were the occasional oxen eating greens by the side, or sometimes locals would pop up from their walk through the rice fields. I probably stopped about 3 times to do a change/disassemble.

Bamboo Train Ride


Assembling the Bamboo Train


So...the "village" was really a few refreshment stands, where foreigners could by a pop or have a snack. And of course, right when you got in, they would call you over and try to buy from their stand. There were some tourists sitting around and hanging out, so I guess that was all you could do. I didn't see a path for you to walk around on, beyond the stalls. Kids were playing soccer a little further down, and that was about it. I talked to a nice Dutch couple and a lady from Australia.

The "Village"


Maybe about a half hour later, I could see that my train driver was ready to go.
On the way back, a couple locals had huge bags of hay to bring back into town. I was lucky enough that our train was stopping to pick them up...it turned out to be an even better ride back! We arrived at their stop, a crew of kids jumped on for the last stop of the ride. Sounds like a silly attraction, but it was a memorable experience.