Cambodia: From Phnom Penh to Angkor... What?

Soursdei! We arrived in the Cambodian Capital of Phnom Penh exhausted after our two day tour of the Mekong Delta. We woke early the next morning with plans to make the most of our one and only day in Phnom Penh. We set off right away with our friends Tom and Cat, as well as our tuk-tuk driver for the day. Our first stop of the day was at the S-21 Tuol Sleng prison where members of the Khemer Rouge held over 20 000 prisoners under the Pol Pot Regime. We walked around the complex which was a school before it was turned into an interrogation and torture centre. The longer we walked around and learned about its history, the more our hearts ached for those who were taken innocently from their homes and dragged to this terrible place. Of the approx. 20 000 people who were placed and tortured within the prison between 1975 and 1979, only 7 people made it out of the prison alive. Our day didn't brighten any as we made it to the next stop on our tour of the city. About 15km outside of the city, we made it to the “Choeung Ek Killing Fields”, the place where the prisoners from the S-21 camp were taken and beaten to death (since the Khemer Rouge didn't want to waste bullets they simply bludgeoned them with metal pipes, garden hoes, etc.). As we walked around the fields, we were stunned to see that the area was still littered with clothes, teeth, and bones of the victims. It was disturbing to see and it made us truly understand how terrible and grisly the genocide in Cambodia truly was. Our last stop for the day was along the river, and what we saw there reflected the outcome of the recent genocide. Many poverty stricken and disabled people lined the streets, asking for anything to better their lives. However, although these people were so poor, their attitudes and spirits were some of the warmest and most friendly that we have run into in our travels. The Cambodian people, although they have suffered a horrendous past, were some of the sweetest and most open people in the world. Tom & Jono capped off the evening with the ingesting of a huge deep fried tarantula like spider (a local treat). Mmmm... Spiderlicious! We left Phnom Penh with a heavy heart and a newfound admiration for the Cambodian people. After another six hour bus ride, we made it to our next stop, Siem Reap. As we settled into our new guesthouse, we were greeted by our old friends Steve and Laura. Along with Tom and Cat, the six of us hung around for the night and planned out our time in Siem Reap. Bright and early the next morning, our small group was out and about and ready for a day of fun. Our tuk-tuks picked us up and we were off to Angkor Wat, one of the Seven Forgotten Medieval Wonders of the World, and it is also considered to be the worlds largest religious complex. This complex was built from the 9th to the 13th century by the Khmers, and these groupings of temples made up the capital of their ancient kingdom. We spent a good eight hours traveling by tuk-tuk from one unique temple to another. We were able to explore the temples and, at one point or another, we all felt like either Indiana Jones or Laura Croft (which reminds us that Angkor Wat was in fact one of the principle locations for the Tomb Raider). We spent the next two days at Angkor Wat as well, exploring the ancient ruins, talking with monks, and just enjoying each other's company (it's nice to have friends with you along the way). We finished up our time in Siem Reap with the boys exchanging Angkor Wat photos (there must have been 3500 between the three of them!) and the girls enjoyed some “chill” time over foot massages! The next day we were up (early, once again) and back on the road. As we looked back on our time in Cambodia, we realized how special this small country was to us. Although our time here was short, we felt as though Cambodia will always be in our hearts.

Vietnam: Never Leave A Man-da Behind.

With Northern Vietnam behind us, we popped on a 10 hour night bus and headed down to the centrally located city of Hue. Although we were dead tired (due to lack of sleep and one of the worst night buses imaginable), we decided to venture out into the city for the day and make the most of our time. Our first order of business was to see Hue's Ancient Citadel which was both the Ancient Imperial Headquarters for the nation as well as a strategic location during the Vietnam War (known in Vietnam as the “American War”). After strolling around for quite some time, we decided to spice up our day with a motorcycle tour of the city. Our guides took us to some beautiful and historical sites, including temples, covered bridges, pagodas, rice fields and even to one of the royal tombs. We returned back to our guest house, and after a tasty waterfront dinner we thought it best to lay down our heads and catch up on some much needed sleep! The next day we were up and at it again, heading out by bus to our next destination. We arrived in the city of Hoi An just after noon, and were thrilled to have the rest of the day to enjoy ourselves. We decided to up our usual budget-backpacker standards and book ourselves into a hotel with a pool. We spent three days just lazing around the pool, enjoying the sun and doing absolutely nothing at all (A sort of “backpacker's vacation”). We only managed to drag ourselves out of our hotel for two reasons. The first of these was to get some custom made clothes for Amanda (at amazing prices!), and the second was to meet up with some friends who we'd met along the way. After a few days of recuperating and lazing about, we set back out on the night bus for the beach city of Nha Trang. We arrived in town at six in the morning, and got settled in. Three hours later, thanks to our good friends Steve and Laura, we were out the door and on a boat around the beach. We had fun with our friends snorkeling, swimming and partying on the boat (even though we were beat from the night bus). We spent the rest of our time in Nha Trang in similar fashion to our time in Hoi An (poolside). We lazed on the beach, sped through a couple of books and soaked in the sun. After a quick couple of days, we once again boarded the bus (our final Vietnamese night bus) and headed down the densely populated Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon).Upon arrival, the first order of business was to head to the hospital and look after Amanda's ear ( as she somehow managed to pick up an inner ear infection somewhere along the way). After that we were out and about, checking out the sites of HCMC. We took in the War Remnants Museum, which was a real eye opening and heart breaking experience. The museum helped us to understand the horrors of the war, and also to understand how those events are still affecting the country and its people today. Not only does the country have to deal with the lasting horrors of dead family members (approx. 3 Million) and the countless war amputees and napalm victims, but they must also deal with the reality of the lasting effects of “Agent Orange”. In an attempt to gain territory & advantage, American forces sprayed hundreds of acres of land with this deadly chemical which literally destroyed any organic material it came in contact with. We were faced with countless photographs showing Vietnamese people whose skin and eyes were chemically burned to such a grizzly degree. However, while the war eventually came to an end, the horrors... did not. Even today hundreds of children are born with shocking birth defects such as lack of limbs or eyes, which was something that touched us to the very core. In the same vein, we came across dozens of photos of nations all over the world who marched to see the end of the War in Vietnam. Perhaps the most moving moment for us was when we saw a glass case which held numerous medals of honor, strength and awards which had been donated to the Vietnamese Government by a former US General who had served during the Vietnam War. In the top corner the General had included a small plaque in which he expressed remorse for his actions during the war. With sadness in our hearts we made our way to the market to escape the heavy “wet-season” rain. We returned to our guest house and met up with our friends Tom and Cat (who we'd met in Chiang Mai) and spent the rest of the evening catching up with them. We started the next morning bright and early, with a two hour trip outside of Saigon to the Cu Chi tunnels. Here we were able to see how the war was fought from the Vietnamese perspective. We were able to see how they melted down exploded US bomb shrapnel to create booby traps and makeshift weapons all in underground huts and tunnel networks hidden deep in the jungle. Tom & Jono were brave enough to venture into the extremely tight tunnels which were dank, dark, low & lengthy. After only a few minutes they were glad to be above ground and were thinking how amazing it was that people spent literally years living, working and fighting in such confined spaces. We were up bright and early the next day and heading out to our Vietnamese exit point which was to be the Mekong Delta. Along with Tom and Cat, we spent two days on various boats and buses, taking us through different parts of the Mekong Delta. We stopped in many small fishing villages and saw what life is like for many Vietnamese people outside of the main city centres. As we looked back at our Vietnamese adventure we realized how fortunate we were to be able to be friendly greeted by a nation with so many scars and hardships, and we would not soon forget the example of forgiveness seen across the faces, and the nation of Vietnam.

Venturing into Vietnam

Xin Chao! After a hot (40 degree) 12 hour bus ride from Phonsavan (the “Jar” capital of the world), and with no problems at the border, we entered into the Communist Republic of Vietnam and headed toward the city of Vinh. Once there we boarded yet another bus (and paid 3X's the local price... which according to most other travelers to Vietnam is a common occurrence) and we headed for the nation's capital. 6 hours later (at nearly 2:00am) we found ourselves pulling into the city of Hanoi. We expected to find a bustling nightlife scene, however, what we found was somewhat unsettling. The streets were dark and empty and as we were escorted from closed guesthouse to closed guesthouse we were dismayed to learn that each and every one of them was full (and none to happy about our rapping on the windows at such a dreadful hour). We were finally dropped off at a sympathetic hotel who allowed us to wait out the morning on their lobby's floor. The next day we quickly found an open guesthouse and were blown away with the amount of activity on the streets that were empty only a few hours before (it was literally like, “night and day”). We booked ourselves in and spent the rest of the day exploring the sights, sounds, and smells of Hanoi. We visited the centrally located Hoan Kiem Lake and the Ngoc Son Temple, as well as the Temple of Literature with a few other sites dotted along the way. The next day we were off again to the Northeast coast of Halong Bay where we boarded a boat and spent the next few days sailing among huge natural limestone islands which spring up unnaturally out of the water. The legend behind these islands are that the celestial Dragons from heaven descended down to the bay to protect the Vietnamese from foreign invaders and once the enemies were defeated the Dragons refused to return to heaven. While the water wasn't as pristine as some of the other locations that we had been to, we still enjoyed a dip in the water to beat the mid-day heat. We spent the rest of our Halong bay trip kayaking and boating around the area stopping off at fishing villages where the entire community lives on floating houses deep in the bay only returning every couple of weeks to the mainland to sell their wares and pick up some supplies. Every once in a while we would catch a glimpse of our friends (Steve & Laura) who we met at our guesthouse in Hanoi. We rounded up the rest of our trip in the bay and were back in Hanoi in time to catch the nightly performance of the age-old cultural showcase known as the Vietnamese Water Puppets. We went with our friends not expecting much, however we were all pleasantly surprised and intrigued to contemplate the mechanics of this strange art form. We went to bed completely unaware of the unlucky circumstances that would be waiting for us the following morning. Goooood Morning Viet-Nam! (I couldn't resist) When we awoke bright eyed and ready for the day we were shocked to find that our one and only ATM card had “magically” disappeared. After checking every single bag, pocket, and article of clothing we were on the phone back to Canada to cancel our financial link to our home bank. After doing so, it dawned on us that traveling without any means of money withdrawal might not be so easy, we decided to see if we could remember any of our PINs for our Credit Cards. Amanda was the first to give it a shot and was once again thrown into panic as her first attempt to remember her PIN was promptly greeted with the machine “eating” her card. After speaking with the security guards in a garbled sort of broken Vietnaminglish we were informed that because it was Sunday we could only get our card back during regular business hours. This would have been fine if we hadn't already booked our overnight train to the Northwestern village of Sapa. We said a quick prayer and hoped that our card would stay safe and sound in the bank until we returned on Wednesday. Then we packed our things and headed for the train station. After a short and bumpy night sleep we found ourselves pulling into the Train Station in Lao Cai a Vietnamese city located only 6kms away from the Chinese border. After searching the dozens of “tour operators” holding name signs we soon found that a sign with our name on it, simply wasn't there. As nearly everyone else on the train had left the station an hour before we quickly and quietly stowed ourselves aboard one of the last buses which was getting ready to pull out of the parking lot. Once we arrived in Sapa we showed our ticket around and were eventually sent to the Summit hotel where we were relieved to hear that there was indeed a tour arranged for us, however, it was scheduled under the name of Christopher. We shrugged our shoulders and signed up for the rest of the excursion (PS> our extreme apologies to the real “Christopher” if he did indeed exist... your tour was great!). We spent our time in Sapa walking up and down the beautiful cool mountains seeing the rice terraces and chatting it up with the Hmong tribal people who were there to lend a hand down the slippery mud filled slopes that led to the various waterfalls and villages we passed by. Of all the tribal people we've encountered, the Hmong people seemed the most genuine and eager to spend time in conversation about something other than the various handicrafts that they had to offer (although they did have handicrafts a plenty)! As we said our goodbyes to Sapa we pulled once again into Hanoi in time to grab our Credit Card, call Canada to work out some sort of solution to our financial crisis, take a cyclo tour, and bump into some of our traveling companions (Tom & Cat) who we met during our cooking course in Chiang Mai. Then it was time to get down to the overnight bus headed for central Vietnam. On the road again...

Living, Lazing and Losing in Laos

Sabaai-dii! After crossing the Mekong River from Chaing Kong, we officially entered into Laos, which holds the unsettling title of “the most bombed nation on earth”. Between the years 1964 and 1973 (During the Vietnam War), the US Military are reported to have dropped over 2 million tons of bombs on Laos. While the war has ended the carnage still continues. Approximately 30% of the bombs dropped did not explode on impact as intended, but instead have been buried inches underground and are still as deadly as they were 30 years ago. Sadly, only a small percentage of these UXO's (Un-exploded Ordnances) have actually been cleared. The country is still working to remove all of these bombs, but it is a slow, dangerous and tedious procedure which at its current rate of clearance is calculated to take over 100 years. We began our trip through Laos with a two day slow boat ride down the Mekong River (sounds romantic doesn't it!). Our boat, which was packed to the hilt with at least 150 other passengers, was indeed slow (and the romance of it wore off after about an hour). However, we were able to see the countryside and the villages that were scattered along the river, as well as several animals cooling off at the water's edge. We were also able to meet many fellow travelers, share a few laughs and swap travel stories (not to mention complain about how slow the dang boat was!). We stopped for the evening after about 7 hours of travel in a small village called Pak Beng. After we ate our dinner, we headed to our room to pack it in for the evening. As we settled in, we read the rules of the guesthouse and had ourselves a much needed chuckle or two. We thought they were so funny that we took a picture of them to share with you. Click here to check them out. In the morning we hopped back on the slow boat and continued down the river. Overerall, the slow boat trip was pleasant, although at times a bit uncomfortable, but if we were to do it again, we would definitely look into taking a faster boat. Upon arriving in Luang Prabang, our first official destination in Laos, we were thrilled to climb out of the boat and be on dry land. We were greeted by friendly touts, trying to get us into their guesthouses. We decided on one, and within minutes we were settled into a comfy room. We strolled along the streets of Luang Prabang, and we were in awe of the quaint town which was the former capital of the nation. It was an interesting mixture of Asian and French architecture which was eye candy through and through. The next morning we woke up bright and early, ready to start our day. We had decided to rent bicycles and take a tour of the city. We rode them for about two hours, when we stumbled upon a beautiful old stupa in the middle of the town. We locked our bikes up and took a look around. We had been less than 10 minutes when we were all too pleased to find out that someone had stolen Amanda's bike. As she wept over her loss, Jono went to investigate the situation. After talking to a few locals and tourists, it was concluded that no-one admitted to seeing the culprit, and that the bike was indeed gone for good. We rode back to the rental shop on the one remaining bike and explained the situation. They politely opened a book, and pointed to a page that said we had to pay $60 if such a situation were to arise. We explored the alternatives (with much frustration and displeasure) and after doing so, Jono went out to try to purchase a bike to replace the one that had gone missing. Twenty minutes later, he brought one back, but despite the fact that it was nearly identical to the stolen one, it wasn't considered “up to snuff”. In the end, they ended up taking $35, but we're pretty sure that we had fallen into a scam (apparently this happens on a regular basis). The lesson learned here is twofold: #1 - Don't rent bikes in Luang Prabang; #2 – If you are silly enough to rent bikes in Luang Prabang, don't let them out of your sight! However, our day was revived when we ran into Kat and Tom, two friends we had met during our cooking course in Chaing Mai. We spent the rest of the day together at the Tat Kuang Si Waterfalls, playing in the water and enjoying the afternoon. We spent another day in Luang Prabang just exploring the city's hilltop temple and more or less killing time while waiting for the bus. The next day we were on a bus and on our way to Phonsavan (which runs once each day). After a good seven hours on the public bus fitted with “Lao-sized seating options” we arrived in the small town of Phonsavan (which was slightly over 100 kilometers away). We checked into a guest house and dropped our bags once again. We were getting ready to go for a stroll around town, when our guesthouse owner invited us to go to a barbeque with him. Not being the type to turn down food (ever!!) we went along. Dinner consisted of BBQ Dog-meat or Steamed Dog-meat and a spot of “lao-lao” moonshine. Together we ate our fill and we also engaged in some very interesting conversation. One conversation in particular was with a local man, who worked for the Mines Advisory Group, which is the organization responsible for removing UXO's and land mines. He told us about his dangerous job and gave us a ton of information on the post-war situation in Laos. The next day we were up and ready to go to the main (and only) attraction in Phonsavan. We crammed in a van with 7 other travelers and headed to the Plain of Jars. Their were three sites in total, each home to various sized jars, made out of solid limestone. No one really knows how or why these enormous jars came to be, but they are estimated to have been there for anywhere between 2500-3000 years. They are really quite unique and would be best compared to a type of “Stonehenge of the Orient”. We also stopped off at a local village where they explained how “lao-lao” was made, and we met some very kind people there. Our time in Laos was short, but we feel as though we got a good taste of the country where there are plenty of friendly faces to be found. Just don't rent a bicycle!

Chillin' in Chaing Mai

We arrived in the northern Thai city of Chaing Mai after a long and uncomfortable 12 hour bus ride across the country. We pulled in at six in the morning, and quickly found a place to drop our bags, and our bodies for a few hours. After a bit of rest, we were up and ready to tackle the Chaing Mai Night Market. We wondered around the market for over four hours, and we still didn't see half of what there was to see. It was huge!! So, in our weary state, we resolved to return the next night when we had a bit more energy. Our second day in Chaing Mai was spent organizing the rest of our time here. By mid-afternoon we had booked ourselves a solid week of experiences. In addition, we had also found some time that day to make it up to Chaing Mai's highest peak and see the beautiful temple perched high on the peak of the mountain. And of course, as we had vowed the night before, we returned to the night market full of energy and with our bartering gloves on. We scored some great finds at the market, and returned as satisfied customers to our cozy guesthouse! The next order of business while in Chaing Mai was to master the art of Thai cooking. We signed up for a full day of cooking, and it turned out to be worth every baht!! Not only did we learn how to cook tantalising Thai dishes such as Pad Thai, Green Curry, Spring rolls and Masaman Curry (if you're really lucky we'll cook them for you one day!!) but we also had a load of laughs and met some really great travelers!! On top of that, we were able to eat all of the tasty dishes that we had made. Eight hours and six courses later, we went back with big grins and bigger bellies. As usual, we don't like to waste too much time lazing around, so the next day we began the first part of our three day/two night trek into the misty mountains of Northern Thailand. We were ready to go, had our bag packed, but there was one small problem... the rain. And not just any rain, but the "monsoon that will soak you to the bone in 3 minutes" kind of rain!! This didn''t stop us, or the 10 other travelers who were joining us on the adventure (including DAVE, a 76 year old Aussie bloke who was still "alive and trekking"). We tossed on our raincoats and headed for the hills. About 5 hours later we arrived at our campsite, soaked to the bone and drenched in mud. However, we were all smiles because rain or no rain, it was still an amazing experience. We settled into a large thatched roof stilt-house in the local village, ate our dinner and sang by the firelight! The next morning we were up again and ready to head out. We trekked again for about 5 hours through the mountains, visiting different hill tribes along the way and even stopping for a dip in a beautiful waterfall. It rained off and on throughout the day but it usually did nothing more than cool us down. The group morale was high, and we enjoyed the laughs and bruises together! Our third and final day was spent with less trekking (only about an hour) and more activities. We went elephant riding through the hills for an hour, white-water rafting (this time we had helmets and life jackets, woohoo!) for another hour and finished it all off drifting down the river in on a "half-submerged" bamboo raft. It really was a great time, and a great experience overall. Upon arrival back into the city we couldn't pass up the chance to browse through the Chaing Mai Sunday market! What was only going to be one hour ended up being about 5 because it was so darn big (seemingly endless on closed-off streets and alleyways), and it was so interesting to walk around and see the arts, crafts and other goods that were on display. Our next day we woke up much sooner than our bodies desired and we hopped in a van bound for the Thai border with Myanmar (Burma). We drove for about four hours, stopping along the way at a butterfly farm and a Burmese cave temple. By mid-afternoon, we arrived at the refugee village that is home to the "longneck" tribe, from Myanmar (the women wear large metal rings around their necks to enhance their beauty) as well as the "big ear", and the "black tooth" tribes. It was quite a sight to see and we were able to talk with the villagers and spend some time with them. After a few hours it was back in the van to our cozy guesthouse in Chaing Mai. Our journey through Chaing Mai, as well as in Northern Thailand had been a blast, but, like with any good thing, it had to come to an end.

Back in Bangkok

Two planes rides and one full day later, we were off Indonesian soil and back in Bangkok, Thailand. We were delighted to be back in Thailand, not only for its beauty, but also for its food! A month of Indonesian food really makes you appreciate how delicious Thai food really is. After getting things straightened out at the airport, we made our way to the popular Khao San Road area, and arranged accommodations for the next few nights. Our first day back in Bangkok we spent arranging things so that we could get out of the city as fast as possible. Don't get us wrong, Bangkok is a fabulous city, with many things to see and do, however it offers only a slim scope of Thailand, and once you've already seen it, it's easy to want to move on. We found out that it would take 5 days to process our Vietnamese visas, (our main reason for returning to Bangkok) and so we had five days to fill in the city. We spent our time slowly seeing some different sights of Bangkok. We made our way to a few different Wats (temples), including the famous Wat Pho, temple of the reclining Buddha. We were lucky enough to meet up again with our friend Gib, who took us to see the weekend market (quite possibly the world's largest market) and the famous pottery village, that lies on an island in the middle of the Bangkok river. We were also lucky enough to meet up with a few other students who had previously stayed at Jono's house, Sandy and Pete as well as their English teacher Mrs. Pom. They all treated us so well, and we are lookng forward to doing the same when they visit Canada again. We spent our last afternoon in Bangkok dining on duck with Mrs. Pom and Gib, and while we waited patiently for our six o'clock bus, we took a ride along the Bangkok river, from one side to the other. It was a a clam ride, until the rain began, but we enjoyed ourselves nontheless. Six o'clock quickly approached, and once again we reached for our packs, slung them onto our backs and were on the road, heading north.

Surf's Up Indo Style...

After a short, and sketchy plane ride (we were flying on a local Indonesian propeller plane) we made it back to Bali safe and sound. We had only a few days to enjoy the Indonesian paradise, so we got right to it. After landing, we dropped our packs at Hotel Sorga and decided that it was time for us to try our hand at surfing. We were at one of the world's most popular surf spots, Kuta Beach, and it would have been a shame to let the opportunity pass us by. We made our way to the beach, where we met up with some locals that we had met on our last trip. We arranged the details, and within minutes we were out in the surf. It took only a few tries, and Jono was up on the waves. He went down quickly, but he gets the title of being the first up. It took Amanda a little longer, but once she got it, she was able to ride the waves right into shore. We practiced surfing for what seemed like hours, but was actually more like one and a half. After this our bodies were near lifeless (it's really quite tiring) so we decided to pack it in and give it another try the next day. After a beautiful sunset stroll and some good eats, we passed out in our bed (again, surfing takes a lot out of you). We were up early the next morning, with high hopes of catching some great waves. We made it to the beach, and got our boards (and this time we even had our camera). Jono was up and riding in no time at all (despite the soreness that was induced from the previous day). Amanda on the other hand, was not so lucky. She got up a handful of times, but her body was just too darn tired! We gave it a few hours (and got some decent shots) and then we were ready for a change. On our previous trip to Bali we stayed in Sanur Beach, which is about 45 minutes from Kuta and it was a really beautiful area, so we thought we would return there for the day. We hired a scooter, popped on our helmets, and were off on the open road. After only a few wrong turns, we made it to Sanur, but with a little dissapointment. The beach (do to the season and the tide) was almost dried up and definitely not as we remembered. What was once a bustling and gorgeous beach in January, was now almost deserted and the swimming area was more like a shallow tide pool. We enjoyed a nice lunch, and then hopped back on our motorbike and sped back to Kuta just in time. We spent the rest of our time along the beach enjoying the sunset and soaking in our last moments of Indonesia. It was a short visit in Bali, but we were able to learn how to surf and enjoy one of Indonesia's most beautiful islands before we headed back to the northern hemisphere! Also, check out our video and previous photo album from our last trip where we saw more of the “cultural” side of Bali. Enjoy!