Oh God...

Oh God... that was... ugh. Fried Crickets and Battered Frogs Legs... Guh. There were legs, and eyes, and feet, and weird things sticking off of bums. I've got to get some serious machismo points for pulling that off.

I think... I think I'm going to be sick...

Complete Chaos

Complete and total utter chaos. That is the only way to describe Hanoi. This place is mad! At all hours of the day the traffic and people are moving everywhere. And at top speed too! I thought some of the other cities had deadly streets, but they've got nothing on Hanoi.

All the more of a shock since last night after catching the sleeper train (not quite as icky as the previous putrecent railway venture) we headed to laid back Halong Bay. This place is gorgeous. The islands in the bay, of which there are many, are huge vertically towering karst formations. They thrust out of the water at practically perpendicular angles to the water. God, and what beautiful water! That amazing blue green that just makes you sigh. And although the sun was beaming full and unobstructed it wasn't too hot. The air was slightly cool with a gentle breeze. Absolutely perfect. Then of course there was the heavenly seafood lunch they served on our junk (Traditional sailing boat. No really! That's what they're called.) Fresh prawns in a light garlic, followed by squid and then grilled fish. And then more spring rolls, a sweet cabbage mix, and the obligatory rice. Oooh and fresh watermelon as a chaser. Nearly died from deliciousness.

Halong Bay town is pretty empty. I think most of the tourists (and there were many) just show up for the day then head back to Hanoi (about a 3.5 hour drive one way). So there wasn't much to do. But we found a small local place to get some grub for dinner. Was nice and simple. Though I was slightly trumatized by the "sea mantis" collection in their display tanks. One of many water beasties available to eat. They literally look like they're one part praying mantis and one part lobster. Weird!

So yes, you can imagine that after such a sleepy and somewhat boring evening being thrust into the chaos of Hanoi is quite a shock! It's actually exhausting to cross the streets here. Your heart is in your throat and your stomach is twisting like mad. Because although the traffic is non-stop and certainly doesn't give two shits about you, the only way to cross the street is to head straight out into traffic amidst all the cars and motos and hope for the best. Take a deep breath and head across at a steady pace and hope to god no one has anything against tourists. And somehow, someway, it works. Despite the complete random driving and impossible to understand road rules you make it across in one piece. After this Vancouver is going to seem positively empty!

Tonight I'm being gastronomically brave. We're going to restaurant that serves crickets, snake and frog. It'll be like Fear Factor in Vietnam!

And The Rain Keeps Falling...

So I was pretty sure that I read we were supposed to be entering the dry season right about now. But over the last couple days it's been pretty much steady rain. Heavy, unrelenting, rain. This of course makes it difficult to travel, not to mention being a major drag. Hard to wander whistfully around towns when it's bucketing down. Also impossible to keep dry. But there's still so much to see and if I have to get soaked to see it all, then by golly wet I'll be!

The My Son temples were alright. They haven't weathered the climate and wars well however and right now aren't much more than broken jungle ruins. Still, there's enough to give a hint as to what they must have been like. From what I can tell they bear a much stronger relationship to Indian temples than any I've seen so far. Neat stuff.

Hoi An has to be my favorite town so far. Because of the UNESCO protection the old town site has been preserved and my gosh is it ever picturesque. You can't go anywhere, in any light, without finding something that's worth of a photo. Lanterns swinging outside worn golden yellow buildings. Red shutters filtering light past twittering bird cages. And the slow passage of the chocolately river beside blue fishing boats, their ever watchful painted eyes protecting their passengers. And it's quieter than the other places we've visited. Sure there's still the ever present motos, but there's less of them here. A beautiful place to visit.

From Hoi An we headed to Marble Mountain. So named because it's a main source of marble and thusly marble workshops. Gorgeous! Though you do have to hike up a fair few stairs to get to the temples and pagodas at the top. This was like something out of a movie. Towering buddhist temples lost amidst twisting trees and cool caves sheltering shrines and statuary. Aleks (one of the girls on the trip) and I went exploring through one of these caves. Well... I feel a bit bad, I basically dragged her down the rabbit hole. But after some squeezing and scrambling (felt a bit like the caves under Budapest) we emerged and were instantly blinded by sunlight. Holy crap! We'd climbed up through the damn mountain to the very top! And it was worth it. The view was fantastic.

However, we'd run out of time and essentially had to run down the mountain in order to meet up with our bus on time. Ignoring the signs telling us to proceed carefully (actually read "carfully") we bolted down the hundreds of stairs, confusing more than a few tourists and locals with our fly-by prayers to buddha for not letting us slip and break our necks!

Yesterday saw us arriving in Hue. (Pernounced "way") And after a very wet (it rained like it never has before) tour of the Purple Forbidden City, we flopped down in our favorite local haunt and treated ourselves to some excellent banana pancakes.

Today we toured some of the tombs of past Emperors. Beautiful, but it would have been better if we didn't have to swim through the rain to see them. Still, was neat to see. And most importantly, we stopped off a local village where they make the iconic Vietnamese pointed hats. So I finally have my hat and I no longer have to annoy my tour mates with my constant hat babble!

Tonight we take another trip on that vile local overnight train. Ugh. But assuming the flooding hasn't totally wiped out the tracks we should arrive in Hanoi tomorrow and then on to Halong Bay after breakfast.

Monsoons, Banana Pancakes, And Chickens As Road Hazards

Nha Trang although touristy does have some absolutely gorgeous snorkling spots. Bright schools of rainbow fishes darting through the waters over crumply corals and waving sea anemones. However there was one downer: Jellyfish. Good lord they were everywhere! Now the ones in these waters were small and essentially transparent. This meant you couldn't see them until they were about 6 inches from your face. The first time I was stung I didn't quite get why my arm hurt. It was like someone had whacked me with a ruler. But I couldn't see any marks so I swam on. Then it happened again on my butt and a couple more times on my neck and hands. Ok, I'm not a total dunce, something's in the water. That was when I saw them. 50 some odd bobbing little snot balls afloat all around me. Ok, enough of this. I'm getting me a wetsuit. Unfortunately the little guys must have read my mind because between me and the boat was a literal landmine of jellies. Sigh! Oh well, by the time I reached the boat I was absolutely determined to get that damn wetsuit. After donning my rubbery protection I leapt back in and was pleased to find myself immune to their stings. I felt invincible! At least until I came across that eel I hadn't noticed and it poked it's head out of it's hiding hole only two feet from my face!

Now it's supposed to be the dry season here. Key word being "supposed". The weather must not have gotten the memo because it seems pretty determined to drown Vietnam. This rain is of the firehose variety, comes down so hard it blasts everything away. But at least it doesn't last too long. And as it happened, it decided to bucket down while we were snorkling. Very weird to be completely wet on one side of your body and have what felt like millions of fingers pattering on your back. Kind of neat actually.

After snorkling we headed back to town for some grub. (Not literally, that's in Hanoi!) Because I've had a bout of tummy trouble, I've had hard time finding things that'll be gentle enough on the ol' tum. Luckily there's Banana Pancakes to the rescue! They're essentially crepes filled with sliced or whole banana and drizzled with honey or chocolate. Yum! And doesn't make me feel like I'm going to die later.

Last night we left Nha Trang on another overnight train to Hoi An. Ugh. That was one of the sketchiest, ickiest, nastiest trains I've ever been on. They don't even change the sheets! Had to get creative with my scarves + extra blanket in order to avoid having it touch me. Ick! This train was pretty rough. I shant even speak of the bathroom! Very... um, rustic. Emphasis on the rust. :P

But today we landed in Hoi An and it's lovely. We're staying in a great hotel that more than makes up for the night of non-sleep I had last night. And the town is gorgeous. It's a UNESCO heritage site so all its old buildings have been preserved. They're mostly filled with touristy gift shops now, but the buildings are still neat. Today Cat took us on a bicycle ride around the down and out into the smaller villages. Was super neat to be trundling along the roads on our rickety one speed bikes (couldn't get the seat tall enough for me tho!). And there were no other tourists around! Looovely. Except for that suicidal baby chicken that darted out in front of me. Seriously, the thing was maybe two inches from my front wheel. Wings flapping and legs akimbo as it strambled back to it's mum. Who knew chickens could be road hazards!

On the way back we stopped off in one of the tailors that Hoi An is famous for (there are over 300). Now we just stopped in to have a look. You know, not to actually buy anything. Well that was short lived because pretty soon all three of us were being fitted and sized for out clothing items of choice. Noukla and I are getting handmade jackets and Maggie is getting pants and a shirt. We go for our fittings tonight and get the final garment tomorrow morning. And all at a fraction of the price it would cost back at home. Crazy!

Tomorrow we trek off to see the Cham ruins of My Son (pernounced "meeee sun" by the locals).

Hot Day In The City

Ugh... was so hot in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). But there were things to see so yesterday I packed my water and trotted off.

First a bunch of us headed out to see the Cu Chi Tunnels where the Viet Cong gorillas dug tunnels for shelter from the US Bombs. Was very interesting to see the propaganda tinged videos and their whole take on the war. Kept referring to the US as "the American Enemy" and had us sit through a brief documentry on the "American Killer Heros" along with a listing of how many they personally killed. I could see that some of the American tourists found this a bit hard to take. But honestly, what did they expect? Hugs and cookies?

Aaanyways, after that we scooted back to the city and dispersed. We didn't have long before the overnight train and everyone had a few things they wanted to get done. I headed straight for the main government post office for two reason: #1 - It's a neat building with wonderfully preserved colonial architecture and #2 - I needed stamps. :D

Most of the buildings in Saigon are a bit of a let down, they're old, moldy, falling apart. And there really isn't any noteworthy architecture to speak off. The exception being a few buildings like the post office left over from the French. The rest are hastily constructed pastel nightmares or stark communist blocks covered in Vietnam's signature flag. But really, the whole communism thing is really kept to a minimum here. Sure you see a few big pictures of "Uncle Ho" (Ho Chi Minh) around the city, but it's not like you're choking on the propaganda here. Hardly notice it at all in the countryside.

Saigon does have one other notable feature. It's telephone/electrical network. This stuff is everywhere! Massive black bundles of cables snaking through the streets resembling either noxious pasta or long strands of matted hair. Absolutely inescapable, it really is everywhere. My god I'd hate to have to fix something if it went wrong! And talk about your fire hazards!

So after a tour of the market to pick up some fruit we romped off to our train. Interesting trip. We were all in the same car and shared berths together. Actually pretty nice. Hell the toilets were nicer than some of the hotels we've stayed in. Didn't sleep much tho. Maybe it was the asian sized beds, the sensation of movement, or a combination of both. I just couldn't stay asleep. Regardless we arrived at 5am in Nha Trang. Now I know I complained about Sihanoukville being a bit souless, but I take that back. Sihanoukville is just trying to make a buck, it has nothing on this place. It is 100% a resort town. Local restaurants are hard to find and off the beach. Shops are extremely high end. I mean... the beach is manicured every morning! Most of the crew headed back to bed when we hit our hotel. But being awake already I thought I'd have a peek around. So I headed off on my own to the beach. Despite the obvious mega money that this place is swimming in it was neat to see the beach in the early morning. However it was far from empty. In fact it was full of locals. My guess is they're all wealthy Vietnamese here for their holidays while the tourists are away (it's not high season here). But the really neat thing is what they're doing at the beach at 5:30am in the morning. Exercising and badminton! While the badminton games looked fierce, the exercising looked more like calisthenics, lots of leg waggling and head nodding. Pretty funny to watch. But there were lots of smile and a few even looked like they were appraising my possible asset to their badminton game. I guess height is a good thing!

But for there rest of the day I think I'll take it pretty easy. I've been fighting a bit of the ol' tummy troubles for a few days now and I think it's finally caught up to me. Time to relax and take it easy. Good thing there really isn't much else to do!

Miss Saigon

Leaving Sihanoukville a bit later than we intended and a slow process at the Vietnam border (soo many papers to fill out!) meant that we arrived in the riverside town of Chau Doc a bit later than we wanted. (Good evening Vietnam?) We managed to sneak in a dusky boat tour around the local area of the Mekong, but it didn't leave time for much else. Such as the much advertised motorcycle tour up Sam Mountain to watch the sunset. But then, it was cloudy and raining so it would have likely been a let down anyways.

However, one of the girls suggested that we get up super early and view the sunRISE instead. I wasn't so sure I was into it, but hell... I didn't have anything else I was planning on doing at 4:30am. :P So there we are, pre-dawn, unfed and unshowered, and then tossed suddenly on the backs of motorcyles. Well... I can tell you this: There isn't a coffee in the world that will wake you up faster than blasting down streets on the back of a motorcycle, in pitch black darkness, then buzzing our way through a forest path up the mountainside. I might even have been scared if I wasn't having so much fun.

The view from the top was increadible. My poor camera did a meagre job of capturing that vista. Imagine an endless series of muted green rice fields, filled with odd geometric shapes of flooded water cutting and dividing the Mekong delta. Then where the ground meets the sky, hazy blue mist blurring the earth into the heavens and giving way to soft purple clouds. As more light comes, an impossibly huge red orb rises through the clouds casting vibrant light on the waters below.

Then of course we had to head back down the mountain. While not nearly as thrilling as the ride up, my driver did take time to teach me a few words in Vietnamese. Mostly animals as we passed by them. Goose. Water Buffalo. Cow. Dog. Unfortunately the only ones that stuck are "Hello" and "Chicken"!

After the sunrise tour we hopped back on our happy bus (But not after incurring the wrath of a local market woman for offering her too much money!) and headed for Ho Chi Minh City. Better known as Saigon. Saigon, now there's a name laden with history. Wasn't sure what to expect. And I must say for a communist country there sure are a heck of a lot of advertisements. There's one section, filled with skyscrapers that looks a little like Times Square or Tokyo. Filled with massive animating signs for electronics. Weird. Tomorrow I'll get to know Saigon a bit better before heading out on our sleeper train.

On the whole Vietnam seems like a neat country. Haven't gotten to know it much, but the food is great. And the best part, it's filled with extremely happy people. Seriously. You smile and wave at someone and they smile back. Mothers hoist up their babies to wave at you too. And everyone is super friendly, but not in a way that seems like they want something from you. But I'm in danger I think. I'm in danger of falling seriously in love with this country!

Halloween in Cambodia

Alright, it's time to crank the jealousy-o-meter up a notch.
Here's how I spent my Halloween. Muahahah...

After departing yesterday from our hotel in Phnom Penh at the crack of dawn, wading through the throning crowds of touts selling english language newspapers, sunglasses, watches, and friendship bracelets (they're not even my friends!) we arrived in laid back beachy Sihanoukville, so named after King Sihanouk. (I think he was the one that liberated Cambodia from French rule, only to screw it up by creating the Khmer Rouge... for some reason Cambodians still like the guy.)

It's a crass touristy place without much hint of tradition. But then, there probably isn't much to be had. The place was built as a sea port 50 years ago and has only in recent years become a tourist place. To give you a hint: As I type this I'm listening to some bad techno music being pumped out by a nearby bar called Pim's and looking straight at a place called "Happy Massage" which is partially obscured by a Tuk-Tuk bearing an ad for Angelo's Greek Specialty BBQ, Taverna & Sports Bar. Sigh...

But anyways, on to the jealousy thing.
Today, being halloween but not actually having any impact on what I did, a bunch of us rented out a boat to tour the nearby Bamboo Islands. And after an exciting entry into the boat (had to wade out to get to it) and a couple downpours (but hey! at least we were wearing our bathing suits!) the weather broke into brilliant sunshine just as we landed on a beautiful tropical island for lunch. Lunch was a local curry (Amok), a fabulous baked fish, fresh salad, and a baguette. And then followed up with a fruit plate full of juicy pinapple and sweet mini bananas. Jealous yet? No? Alright then, continuing on!

Next we took a romp through the jungle. Yes, I did say jungle I'm glad you asked. Beautiful lush dense chittering alive jungle. And other than a bit of foolishness on my part (forgot my sandles on the boat and waded into the jungle barefoot) it was looovely. Though I must say they do grow some mighty huge centipedes here. They're like huge round black jelly worms. But, and I think this goes without saying, less tasty.

After that... yes it keeps going. Now hush, I'm on a roll. After that we broke through the trees into an increadible broad sweeping beach. Sand like golden brown sugar. (But again, less tasty) Blue green waves curling and splooshing onto the shore with puffs of salty spray. And the best part? Completely and utterly devoid of people. That's right, it was just us and some of those weird long necked chickens they've got here. Heaven!

But if that wasn't good enough we hopped back in the boats and headed for another island for some snorkling. Now here I'll admit there was a bit of a downer... The current was so strong it was a real effort to get back to the boat. But while the sights down under the water weren't as fabulous as say Thailand or Mexico, it was still neat to see all the fishes darting in and out between the strange sea grasses and coral.

Then we finally headed out on the long ride back to Sihanoukville. I threw my feet over the edge of the boat (traditional brightly painted Cambodian boat of awesomeness!) to be tickled by the sea spray. I had the sun in front of me, partially hidden by swirling clouds left over from the storms and tossing it's golden rays onto the sparkling sea. It was lovely. And somewhere between gazing out over the twinkling waters of the Bay of Thailand, staring at my sandy toes, and wondering if the local ladies shoreside who constantly harass me for a pedicure might have a point, I found a curious sense of tranquility. The gentle splashing of the water against the boat. The rolling waves. The sun. The sand. Over the last couple days I had been feeling bit disappointed with Cambodia. Too touristy, too commercial, no spirituality, no soul. But here, not in the temples as I'd expected, I found a wonderful sense of bliss. Time was nothing. It was just me, the sun, and the waves.

So. That ladies and gentlemen is how I spent my Halloween. Jealous? ;)

The Killing Fields

This one needed a post of it's own.

The Killing Fields of Cambodia.
I knew it had to be done. You cannot take the glories of Ankor Wat without acknowledging the Khmer Rouge. But it didn't make the duty any easier.

We started at Tuol Sleng, the former Khmer Rouge S-21 prison. This is where they detained and tortured thousands of Cambodians before taking them to the killing fields. Almost immediately upon arriving you could tell that this former school had become something altogether more horrible. The crumbling buildings were left bare, barbed wire exposed and tiles stained. The concrete walls pockmarked with chips from the assorted implements used on those detained here. These rooms are bare now. But the iron bedframe remains, shackle in place, and the metal bullet cartridge used as a toilet laid bare for all to see. With each progressing room I felt the unease, the unimagineable horror creeping up my skin and clawing at my stomach.

Our guide began to relate the methods and the questions asked of the detainees. And throughout it all she drove home the pointlessness of it all. They wanted nothing more than addresses and family history. And like so many torturers throughout history, they wanted confessions. But it was never made clear specifically what they wanted confessed. To them, there was no right answer. Only "the enemy of the revolution". And for them that was enough reason to commit such crimes.

In another building were the methodically collected portraits of the prisoners. Many of whom were Khmer Rouge themselves, for they didn't even trust their own people. The most heart wrenching of these portraits was of a mother and her newborn son sitting in the chair reserved for interrogations and pictures. She is crying, eyes filled with horror. Our guide said she had faithfully served the regime and in the end had her entire family killed before her eyes.

Later we headed on to one of the nearest killing fields to Phnom Penh. And this one hurt, but it a very different way. The fields themselves are quite idyllic. Green grassy meadows with flittering butterflies and lazy bees. All the more shocking them when you see the stupa containing over 8000 human skulls. And again when you look down at the ground and see that your feet are resting on the exposed bones of someone brutally killed long ago. Auschwitz was painful and a shock, but there is something primal about physically coming into contact with those nameless many dumped in these mass graves.

The day was sad for us all, but there was still more to see in this city and with our last day here we plodded on. It was somewhere in the bright golden splendor of the Royal Palace, bejeweled in silver and graceful curving sculpture that I realized that you cannot take the good without the bad. And that somehow, knowing the horror that is so entwined in this country somehow makes the beautiful things all that more precious and meaningful. And that both, in equal measure, are the essence of Cambodia.

Swollen ankles and one dollar bills

No idea what this country is doing to my ankles. But I basically don't have them anymore. Terrifying truly! Probably just water retention but come on! Cut a girl a break. :P

Our bus ride from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh was pretty wild. Tearing down a rural highway (ie: dirt road) at breakneck speed, throwing traffic laws to the wind. I figure he must have been going 120-130 km/h. Which makes me wonder what the heck the 40 posted as the speed limit was supposed to be for.

But I loved that bus. It had a TV that played Mr. Bean, Cambodian kareoke, and some Hong Kong kung fu flick I've never heard off, but which amused us greatly with our impromtu translations. We figured it was actually a love story between the two male protagonists!

Phnom Penh is absolute crazy! This city is massive and chaotic. Blows my mind to think that 60% of the population is under 30. 60%! And it seems like they're all in this city. Somehow doesn't seem to have the rep that Bangkok does, but it isn't hard to see where it's getting it's inspiration.

In other musings: This country seems to run on $1 US bills. I'm not kidding. You go to the ATM and it spits out US cash. Cambodian riel are only used as change. (4000 riel = 1 US dollar, so 2000 riel = 50 cents etc). But everything costs somewhere between 50 cents and 4 dollars. Sooo... the dollar is the thing. Least it makes it easy to budget!