Day 19: Siem Reap

On our last day, we stayed in Siem Reap. We took a tuk-tuk to the gardens in the center of the city, saw the royal residence and walked along the river. We also went to the Angkor Children's Hospital and donated to their facility. We were able to tour the hospital and see all the great things they are doing. They are the only major pediatric facility in all of Cambodia and they provide their services for free to the communities. It was very moving to see all the hard work they do!

We then went to the airport to begin our epically long trip back home. We have a fairly long layover in Seoul, Korea, but not really long enough to go into the city. We are hoping for smooth flights and easy connections all the way back.

We do have some more videos we will post soon - touring Angkor temples and walking the streets of Hanoi.

Day 18: More Angkor

Prasat Preah Kahn

Prasat Preah Kahn

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Well, we are reaching the end of our trip. We spent another day touring the Angkor temples, including the famed Angkor Wat. We started our day at Prasat Preah Khan temple. This temple was a monastery and college originally dedicated to Buddha, but was vandalized by later Hindu rulers. It is huge and we wandered around the whole complex. One cool aspect was that it had 4 very long corridors that intersected at one spot. While there, we stopped for a Hindu blessing. A kalava was tied around out left wrists and we received a blessing by the giver of the kalava. The wearer of the blessing, symbolized by the strings should leave them on until it falls off naturally.

Celestial Dancer

Next we went to Preah Neak Pean - it was flooded so we didn't get to wander around much, but it was still interesting to see a different architectural style. The temple is a representation of Buddhist Mythology - and when functioning served as a place for devotees to bath in the holy waters. On the way to Angkor Wat, we stopped at a small temple named Baksei Cham Krong that had this amazing staircase that we climbed. On the way out of this temple and to Angkor Wat, we stopped at the side of the road to take photos of the monkeys hanging out.

Preah Neak Penh

Our last stop of the day was to Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat literally means "The city which is a temple." It was dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu (protector of creation). The complex is the largest temple in the Angkor series. Most notable is the central sanctuary. We climbed to the top of this area - really steep - and saw many figures of Buddha. Almost the entire temple is highly carved, but there are areas that were not finished. Some of the carvings are Apsara, celestial dancing girls, bas-relief galleries that tell stories from Hinduism and battles.

Angkor Wat

After Angkor we had lunch then went back to Siem Reap. We wandered around the markets and stopped for coffee and shakes. We then decided to try the "fish massage" that is all over the place. Basically you put your feet in a tank of fish and they nibble on your skin. It is a strange feeling - doesn't hurt but it does tickle a bit. We then had dinner on pub street.

Baksei Cham Krong

Angkor Wat

Bas-relief

Leaving Angkor Wat

Days 16-17: Siem Reap & Angkor

We are staying in Siem Reap - a bustling tourist town. This is the first time on our trip we have felt surrounded by tourists. Siem Reap really caters to the tourists coming to visit the Angkor temples. There are lots of markets and a pub street filled with restaurants serving Khmer food and Western food. We had a mixture last night of pizza and Khmer fried ginger fish. And of course spring rolls! It was very good.

Bayon Temple

Bas Relief

Today we got up and started our tour of the Angkor temples. There is a mixture of Hindu and Buddhist artwork throughout the temples, depending on exactly when they were built. Many have figures and symbols of both religions. As the religions moved back and forth between Hinduism and Buddhism, you can see many Buddhas removed or re-carved to look more like Hindu gods.

Buddha changed to look like Lotus

We first visited Angkor Thom. The first temple, Bayon, is shaped like a pyramid and has many towers with smiling faces. The bas-reliefs are fascinating and tell stories of the city. We then went by Baphuon, a Hindu temple. However, along the back of the temple is a Reclining Buddha over the whole length. We wandered around a whole host of other smaller temples and then went to the Terrace of Elephants - a long terrace used for royal military reviews and parades. The entire terrace is decorated with sandstone elephants. Next up was the "Tomb Raider" temple - Ta Prohm - made famous by the Tomb Raider movie. This temple is filled with silk cotton (Kapok) trees and baryon trees that are growing out of the walls and over roofs. The trees have become a part of the temple, so during restoration, they left the trees.

Baphuon

We had lunch at a Khmer restaurant and then went on to another set of temples. We drove through a farming village and saw houses up on stilts. We went to Banteay Srei - the temple of Women. This was made of pink sandstone and was a Hindu temple built by Hindu priests. It isn't a royal temple, like most of the other monuments. The carved lintels show scenes from the Ramayana. Our last stop of the day was at Praset Kravan, a temple that was built of smaller bricks - the others were mostly large lava rocks and sandstone for the carvings. We climbed to the top and could see Angkor Wat in the distance.

Terrace of Elephants

Tomorrow we will start at Angkor Wat and go from there!

"Tomb Raider" Temple

Banteay Srei

Praset Kravan

Melanie Biking in the Mekong

Days 14-15: Mekong Delta & Saigon

We got up early in the morning to get on a bus to take us to the Mekong Delta. It is about a 3 hour drive (the traffic doesn't move very fast here - the highest the speedometer got was 60 km an hour)! The tour group consisted of us, 2 sisters from Hong Kong, a couple from Holland, a couple from Oklahoma and a couple from California. Everyone was really nice!

The tour started with a cruise around one of the numerous floating markets in the delta. The market we went through was for locals only. The way the boats advertise their wares is interesting. For example, say they were selling pineapple - they would hang a pineapple from a pole on the front of the boat.

After touring the market, we cruised around the delta for a bit and then went into several workshop areas. The first was a place where they made coconut candy (yum!), rice paper snacks and sweet puffed rice (almost like Sugar Crisp cereal). It was fun to see - even if it was the first "tourist trap" of the day! Next we went to a bee farm, where Melissa was brave enough to hold a screen filled with bees. Melanie was NOT brave enough...

We went down a small tributary and got into small rowboats to go further down the river. Next we had a nice lunch, listened to some local music and then it was bike riding time! We had the opportunity to ride bikes through the small stone and dirt pathways of a Mekong village. As Melissa is banned from driving or riding anything with only 2 wheels in foreign countries (motorbike in Croatia anyone?), she hung out with a few others from the group in hammocks while Melanie braved the crazy pathways. It was fun - parts we paved while others were not, Melanie shared the path with people, motorbikes and animals but got to glimpse the Mekong countryside. At the end of the bike ride it started raining and by the time we got back on our boat it was pouring. It reminded both of us of those scenes in Vietnam war movies.

We got back on the bus and three hours later were dropped off at our hotel. The rain stopped and we went to a lovely sushi dinner that only cost us $12!

Today we wandered around Saigon. First we went to the Jade Emperor Pagoda. This is a beautiful house of worship. Next we decided to go to the Saigon Zoo. We saw lions and tigers - but the bears were sleeping! Our next stop was to get Melissa some bao, a steamed bun that she loves. After that we headed to the Reunification Palace, where the South surrendered to North Vietnam and the country was reunified.

After lunch, it was pampering time! We sat at a cafe and had iced coffee and ice cream then headed off to get pedicures - $5 bucks each :)

Tomorrow we leave Vietnam and head to Cambodia to visit Angkor Wat!

Diving video from Phu Quoc

Video of the diving in Phu Quoc. The video doesn't really do the color justice. There were lots of blue's and red's in the corals and brightly colored fish.

Days 12-13: Phu Quoc to Saigon

We spent our last day in Phu Quoc lounging on the beach. It was so nice to listen to the waves.

In the evening we went back into the main city and the night market. We had a sugarcane juice while watching the sunset. The juice is made by mashing the sugarcane until the juices are out. It tastes woody, sweet and lemony all at the same time. Very refreshing!

After the sunset we walked back to the main night market. We had an amazing meal at one of the street stalls. Fresh fish, jumbo fried prawns, noodles and vegetables and, of course, nem (spring rolls). We stuffed ourselves, but it was so yummy.

We packed up this morning and headed off to Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon). It is hot and humid here! About 90 degrees and full of moisture in the air. We went to the old post office building - a french colonial design to send off some post cards. Then we wandered to a few of the markets for shopping! The Ben Thanh market is this huge space under one roof that houses probably upwards of 400 different stalls with coffee, clothes, spices, candies, shoes, souvenirs and places to eat. It was fun wandering around, but as it is inside and not air conditioned, it was stifling. We also found the Tax Market which was four stories in a mall-like building. Since it was air conditioned we spent more time here! We went to the grocery store in this market and found Coors Light in bottles and cans on the shelves. One thing that has been very interesting is all the Christmas displays and Santas everywhere. We weren't expecting much of that holiday spirit.

We are heading on a day trip to the Mekong Delta tomorrow.

Post office

Christmas in Saigon!

Ben Thanh market

Days 9-11: Phu Quoc

Sunset at Paris Beach Hotel

We arrived in beautiful Phu Quoc a few days ago. Phu Quoc is an island off the southeast coast of Vietnam. We were so happy to be in the sunshine and on the beach!

Our first day we swam and stayed by our hotel. We are on Long Beach, about 10 minutes from the main city (or an hour if you walk!). We had a great dinner on the waterfront our first night.

We have spent the last two days diving and snorkeling around the island. We saw some great reefs, but the visibility could have been a bit better. It's been windy, so that stirs everything up. That said, there is some great coral and today we saw lots of schools of fish. We'll post a video of the diving tomorrow. We had a United Nations on the boat - people from Holland, Germany, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, France, Sweden, Vietnam and us.

We spent last night in town at the night market. We met a couple on the dive trip from Holland and they were at our hotel, so we all walked in along the beach together. It's a lot further then it seems by taxi! The night market has fresh fish and vegetables and dinner was yummy. We plan to go there again tomorrow night.

So far, it's been great on the beach! It's so nice to have some color again :)

Phu Quoc from the plane

Turtle Island dive spot

View from the deck of Paris Beach Hotel

Melanie

Fish at the Night Market

Day 8: Hue

Perfume River

It has been raining all day again, so we didn't get to do as much as we planned. We did still get out and see a bit of the city. Went to the market to do some shopping. It's a small area jam-packed with shops and people. We had to be careful the further back we went because the aisles were very narrow and there were people pushing around you at every step. Very much like the streets, the areas are close together and and a bunch of them sit side by side and sell the same thing. We heard "Madame, t-shirts!" a few dozen times on each row.

Dragon Boat on Perfume River

That said, we still found some fun stuff and it felt good to get out, even in the rain. It's not cold, so the rain is more nuisance then really bad, but the streets and sidewalks are flooded easily. We stopped at a bakery after dinner and had some yummy cakes - a chocolate loaf and pistachio something - it was good, but we aren't sure what it was!

Tomorrow we are heading to the island of Phu Quoc. Hope to have more sunshine and beach time!

Hue Market

Yummy cakes

Days 6-7 Hue

Dragon on gate to Imperial City

So we left the crazy streets of the Old Quarter in Hanoi behind and made our way to Central Vietnam, namely the city of Hue. Today Hue is known for all the historic monuments, pagodas and tombs within the city. We are not far from both the old DMZ (demilitarized zone) or the coast. During the war, Hue saw very heavy fighting. It is slightly warmer here, but we are getting rain - its not stopping us from seeing what we want to though!

We arrived kind of late yesterday, so didn't see much besides the streets close to our hotel - there are a lot of Europeans in this area. Today we spent most of our time in the Imperial City - also known as the Citadel or in Vietnamese Dai Noi.  It is HUGE! It was established by Emperor Gia Long in 1805. There are numerous buildings within the walls of the city. We spent 5 hours exploring different areas.

Looking in on the queen's palace

Tomorrow we plan to hit some historic pagodas and tombs that lie on the amusingly named Perfume River (it does not smell like perfume....).

There are several local bars in the area quite near our hotel that we have spent our evenings at, enjoying the local brews. The names of the bars are funny: The DMZ and the Why Not? bar. As for food (this is for you Dawn) we have mainly been eating Vietnamese style noodles and spring rolls in this area.

Heading in to the Imperial City

A gate decorated with carvings

Yummy crispy noodles