Day 8 - Siem Reap, Cambodia

Landing in Cambodia last night was an experience!  Don't be fooled by the simplistic, Hawaiian-style terminal.  Going through the short immigration line was a long process.  One main difference is that they scan your fingerprints.  We got to the baggage claim before all of the other passengers (I highly recommend the online e-visa process).  It turns out that quick wasn't very lucky for us because they have a highly sophisticated conveyor system that only releases luggage if you pick up luggage, and since we were the only ones there, the belt was full of the luggage of people still in immigration.  Greg said we had nowhere else to be anyway and proceeded to engineer the process as best he could by condensing the luggage as it passed by.  It took an hour!

We are visiting Cambodia for one reason: Angkor Wat, which is recorded by Guinness World Records as the largest religious structure ever built.  The entire complex is 400 square km.  There were about 100 temples built in the 11th century in this area because it was fertile and easily defendable.  I do not know much about Cambodia but it is a poor country and even up to 1992 you couldn't safely visit due to civil war and land mines.  However after a day here, I've discovered I already love it!  Particularly, it is a photographer's dream!

I arranged for our guide, Bun, to pick us up before the temples open at 7:30. I don't know who was more excited, me or him.  He was awesome about prioritizing my quest for good pictures, and focused more on the best photo locations and less on drowning us with history.  He was particular about choosing our route to avoid crowds and bad lighting.  I was absolutely thrilled, and he was well tipped!  (He came with a polite Lexus driver who kept us well stocked with ice cold water and towels.)

A tuk tuk is a popular way to get around the temples.  I like how this driver hung his hammock inside his tuk tuk!

We started by driving right past Angkor Wat, the typical first stop, to get to the popular South Gate entrance of Angkor Thom.

The left side is flanked with statues of gods

The right side is flanked with demons.  Both sides are holding a long naga (serpent).

As we passed through the gate, and Bun directed us to climb onto the wall that completely surrounds Angkor Thom for closeup pictures, I realized our adventurous guide was going to treat us to a spectacular day!  I was drawn in by the serenity and beckoned by the lush, peaceful jungle - and easily could have spent the day climbing around there.

We drove to another less busy one of the five gates to take more pictures 

One of the most popular temples is Ta Prohm and is therefore busily on the main circuit.  It is the reason we got our early start.  It is more popularly known as the "Tomb Raider" temple (assuming you saw the movie starring Angelina Jolie).  The sprawling Buddhist monastery was intentionally left partially unrestored and is smothered with the roots of giant spung trees.

Ta Prohm "Tomb Raider" temple

The roots of giant spung trees are smothering the temple

Minus guys trying to kill us, I felt like we were on an adventure straight out of a movie - playing hide and seek with Indiana Jones!  (Cue the music...)

Our guide kept us one step ahead of the crowds, who were streaming in like ants as we walked out the side.  We stopped at another maze like temple - called Banteay Kdei - and enjoyed exploring its quiet beauty.  Bun kept weaving us through open doors and passageways to excellent vantage points, and without him we'd be lost!

There are framed windows and doorways every direction you turn 

Monk collecting offerings inside the temple of Banteay Kdei

The little girls selling stuff outside each temple always chose Greg.  "You buy me one - for only one dollar.  One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten - one dollar for ten."  You are not supposed to buy from them because it encourages them to ditch school, but school in Cambodia is only half day (they have more kids than schools so go in half day shifts); the girl told us she already went to school today.

We entered the legendary ruins of Angkor Wat from its quiet east entrance, giving it the feel of just another undiscovered, amazing temple.  The area is so natural and undisturbed that stepping over a scorpion seems commonplace, and in his usual way, Greg nonchalantly pointed it out after I've safely passed.  We walked around the inside protective walls of the temple to appreciate its symmetry, then around the infamous interior hallways to see the walls covered in etched stories, and finally climbed to the top for the views.

The quiet east entrance to Angkor Wat

Only 100 people are allowed to the top level at a time, so we waited in line for 15 minutes

We exited out the main entrance of Angkor Wat

After our lunch stop (conveniently just outside Angkor Wat), we backtracked to Angkor Thom, the last capital city from the Angkor period. The walls enclose nearly four square miles and contain several more structures.  Bayon is the highlight with its many huge smiling faces; each tower is surrounded with four faces looking out in the cardinal north-south-east-west directions.

The Bayon temple inside Angkor Thom

The giant stone faces of Bayon are one of the most recognizable images connected to classic Khmer art and architecture

The many ruins inside Angkor Thom were our last stop for the day.  We continued to the large temple-mountain called Baphuon and then to the Terrace of Elephants.

Baphuon temple has several levels to climb

The stairs at the temples are so steep that they have added wooden, staircases - that are still quite steep.  Greg purposefully took a "wrong" turn to avoid the last set of stairs to the very top.

The view from the top of Baphuon 

Collapsing by the pool with icy Angkor beer is the only way to end a hot, tiring day of visiting temples

After a much needed rest we ventured out to the hubbub of the Night Market for a cheap dinner and shopping.  I bought a large rustic bronze statue of an apsara to lug home.

Siem Reap's night market

Tarantulas, snakes, worms, crickets...Greg was supposed to try a local treat but chickened out.  Local kids were actually buying them by the bag full.

Traveling around the busy streets of Siem Reap by tuk tuk is an epic experience!

Day 7 – More Village before Leaving Vietnam

We were given a late start this morning so went on a short walk before breakfast.

Yen Duc, and our home-stay, is surrounded by rice fields.  Greg is obsessed with the rice growing process and keeps asking me, but I'm not so curious.

Fertilizing the rice fields

Drying the rice

Typical street in Yen Duc Village

Several people were doing their laundry in the brown water of the canal.  Were not sure how they can get their clothes clean since Greg's sock is still brown from fishing.

Beautiful water lilies in the bodies of water here

After breakfast we started with a visit to the local market.  At first glance, there was very little to it, but Cherry took her time explaining all the Vietnamese food and goods we were looking at – which made the excursion interesting. 

Food market

Dog for sale at food market

Talking about US politics (Trump) over tea with the local men

As I go through the next series of activities in my head, I realize that although there isn’t much of a story to tell, my eyes were absorbing every bit of it and we thoroughly enjoyed cycling everywhere.  We visited the oldest house as well as the pagoda in the village.  We ended by returning to the home-stay to make floating cake and eat a massive lunch.  We spent the remainder of the day traveling to the airport and Cambodia.

Biking around with new friends from Texas

Outdoor kitchen of oldest (nicest) house in village

Reflecting on our week in Vietnam, we are sad to leave the people and amazing scenery, which only left us craving more. Hopefully some day we can return to spend more time in remote areas interacting with locals.

Day 6 – Yen Duc Village

Of course I got up early.  In addition to the fact that I don’t sleep when I travel, I wasn’t about to miss out on a sunrise over the beautiful bay.  Due to the overcast sky, it turned out to be uneventful. We were served an early breakfast because all 500 of us had another date: to see “Surprise” Cave, officially known as Hang Sung Sot.  Despite the Disneyland crowd, the cave was indeed surprising!  It opened to a cavernous room full of stalactites and stalagmites that were gently lit up with soft hues of colorful lights.

Of the 5 famous caves in the bay, Surprise Cave is considered the most magnificent

About 1,600 people live in floating houses on the bay.  These ladies row around selling their goods.

Back on board they were anxious to feed us again as we sailed back to the port. We don’t normally gain weight when we travel but if we keep up at this rate, and the 7-course meals, we’ll be rolling off the plane in SFO.  During brunch we were informed that all cruises were canceled for the day – using threatening words like typhoon and cyclone.  The water in the bay was definitely choppier than the day before, and when the ship turned to position into the port, the strong wind hit us broad-side causing quite a bit of lean.  It made me feel exceptionally appreciative that we had an opportunity to see the beauty of Halong Bay.  I felt bad for the 1,000 tourists who had just arrived from Hanoi after driving 4 hours only to discover that they would be promptly turning around to drive another 4 hours back to the city.  What a crushing disappointment that must have been for them!  The downside for us was that they took our transportation with them, so we were stranded for 2 1\2 hours at the port until a fresh convoy of vans could rescue us.  The company, Indochina Junk, made it up to us by giving us each an Oreo, cup of coffee, and horrible WiFi.

Reunited again with our Brazilian friends, we drove the 1 hour to Yen Duc with them and three Americans who chose the excursion at the last minute when the second night of their cruise was canceled.  Their misfortune worked well for us because without them, it would have been just me and Greg on the Yen Duc Village home-stay tour, and it is definitely more entertaining when shared with good people.  Our Hanoi tour guide Dory informed us “there is no reason to go to Yen Duc.” However, the Indochina agent sold me with “people like the night in the village better than the bay cruise”.  It turns out they were both right – for different reasons.  Dory thought someone duped us into thinking we couldn’t drive the 4 hours non-stop, and Yen Duc proper is a dusty hole on the side of the highway. But Indochina-Junk saw an opportunity a mile into the country and created a successful business showing people the peaceful, farming village life in a rural, beautiful setting.

Indochina-Junk's home-stay in Yen Duc Village

Arriving a few hours late, our host quickly distributed bikes and pedaled us to the water puppet show.  Luckily there were only two scenes because it wasn’t the most interesting show we’ve seen.  The concept is unique: the puppeteers hide behind a screen to tell folklore by manipulating puppets using a curtain of about two feet of water to hide the controllers.

Water puppet show

Talented puppeteers

Next we practiced the old-world style of harvesting rice. It was fun and hard work, and of course they use more modern techniques now.

Separating the husks from the rice

Then we modeled the latest fashion of (semi) waterproof gear so we could go fishing in a pond. It was rather entertaining!  I started as the photographer and laughed with each step Greg took; he was stuck in the mud so used the trap more as a support.  There was no way we would be sneaking up on any fish!  We aren’t the first visitors without skills so they actually trapped a fish for each one of us. Then we were to stick our hand into the trap to swish around and tire the fish – at which point we can grab it and drop it in the bucket. As soon as my hand made contact with the fish, I screamed and became the photographer again.

It was as funny as it looks!

Our fishing ensemble

It seemed like it couldn’t get better, especially since it was getting late, but our guide “Cherry” took us to the broom lady’s house. She was absolutely delightful, expressive, and had a great smile and laugh!  She taught us how to make a broom.  For whatever reason, Greg and I instinctively combined our effort to make just one broom.  It isn’t exactly easy to create something out of sticky rice stalks, so there was a lot of laughing going on.  Somehow the two of us pulled off a pretty respectable broom and I suspect it is going to be a special souvenir reminding us of the time we spent together in Vietnam. 

Wonderful, expressive broom lady

Our cherished broom

At this point the only thing between our grumbling bellies and dinner was winding through pitch dark, narrow streets on our bikes warning “beep beep” like a human horn at every blind turn.  It was unforgettable! 

Day 5 – Halong Bay

With a 4 hour drive to Halong Bay ahead of us, we were scheduled for an early morning pick up.  Wanting to see Hoan Kiem Lake one last time, we ran out for a quick look – and were surprised to find that an ad-hoc market had been set up on the street surrounding our hotel. We were even more surprised to find the market completely gone when we returned 15 minutes later (by 7am)!

Early morning market.  Check out the meat lady - one shoe on and one shoe off??  A shopper picked up the meat looking for a good piece - handling it just like it was fruit.

The Huc Bridge leading to the Temple of the Jade Mountain on Hoan Kiem Lake

Our hotel was a block from the Old Quarter

At 7:30am we were picked up by a “luxury van” similar to a limo, and accompanied by 3 other delightful travelers: a couple from Brazil and a lady originally from Africa.  Talking with them made the time fly by, and I was very disappointed to discover that we weren’t on the same ship.

As one of the most beautiful and breathtaking places on the planet, Halong Bay was declared one of the New Seven Natural Wonders of the world. It is famous for its emerald waters, thousands of limestone islands, monoliths and caves. Legend claims the islands were created by great dragon sent to protect the Vietnamese from the Chinese; to create a barrier, the dragon spit pearls that turned into islands.

It was magnificent to be completely surrounded by the limestone monoliths in Halong Bay

Happy to be here!

Our junk ship, the Dragon Pearl, was 29m long and 6.9m wide with only 11 cabins.  In keeping with ancient Chinese tradition it was made completely of teak wood – known for its durability and versatility on high seas voyages.  Until a few years ago they were all brown but the bay officials mandated that all 500 registered tour boats in Halong Bay be painted white so they could be found easier in case they sank.   

Indochina-Junk's Dragon Pearl

Our room on the ship - there was no space to open our luggage except on the bed

I was quite anxious to see Halong Bay yet apprehensive that our cruise might be canceled due to weather like it was a day ago.  On our ship we waited in the harbor, eating lunch, for the local government to report if the bay would be open. We were so lucky – despite the wind, they granted us access.  They restricted all routes and split all the tour boats to share 2 locations in the huge bay.  We headed to tiny Tiptop Island where we had an hour to either swim in the cold weather (60 and cloudy) or hike to the top of the monolith – crammed with 500 other curious tourists. We hiked and were rewarded with a spectacular view!    

View after climbing 524 steps on Tiptop Island