First Week in Vietnam

On Friday we flew from Siem Reap to Ho Chi Minh City (a.k.a. Saigon), Vietnam. We had been looking forward to our time in this country, and it was hard to believe we were already on our way there. After our short flight, we took a taxi to a guesthouse in one of the city's many alleyways. We were immediately overwhelmed by the traffic in the city. We were pre warned about this but until you see it, you cannot imagine what it is like. Vietnam is filled with motorbikes. Everyone has a motorbike and packs it full of things from bags of goods to three passengers. There are traffic lights on most corners but most people don't follow them. Crossing the street is extremely hard. We learned that once you go you do not stop. Just walk and cross your fingers that the motorbikes avoid you. We settled in and gained our bearings before heading out for dinner. We found a small outdoor restaurant that had cheap beer and good Vietnamese food that was not too far away. We both got a bowl of pho, then headed back to plan our only full day in the city.



We woke up early on Saturday and grabbed some coffee and pastries at a bakery down the street. From there, we decided to head to the War Remnants Museum. We had heard a lot about this place from other travelers that we met and from the owner of our guesthouse. The building looked kind of similar to the Korean War Museum in Seoul with all kinds of military aircraft and tanks out in a courtyard, but the inside was very different. Many of the galleries had some pretty graphic images that were very powerful. The most powerful of which was the "Agent Orange" gallery. After we toured the various rooms, we felt bad about what had happened to a lot of people in this country and about the role our country played in everything.

After we left the museum, we headed to the Reunification Palace. This building was the old estate for the president of South Vietnam until the end of the war. The cool thing about this attraction was that instead of renovating and updating the place, they left it in the same condition as it was in 1975. Walking around it felt like a time-warp. The furniture and decorations were really retro and fun to see. The basement of the building was even stocked with the usual bomb shelter gear from a few decades ago. Overall, it was definitely worth the hour or two that we spend there.



Reunification Palace















Later that evening, we headed back to a street where we saw some food carts that an expat had recommended the day before. We stopped for a quick bowl of pho on the street that was probably the best we have ever had. We thought about getting another bowl, but decided to save room for snacks at a local night market. That ended up being a bad decision in the end. The seafood place we stopped at was overpriced and the food was terrible.



Best pho ever!







On Sunday morning we took an early bus to Mui Ne for some beach time. We have been here for a few days and have enjoyed the slow pace of life after the chaotic traffic of the city. We visited some sand dunes and other attractions nearby on a short tour yesterday, and had a relaxing morning at the beach today. We head back to Ho Chi Minh tomorrow for another day, then fly to Hanoi on Thursday. When we were planning our trip, Vietnam was one of the countries that we were most excited for and it has not disappointed us yet. Let's hope the next leg of our trip is just as exciting.



Fred on the crazy sleeper bus to Mui Ne.

Location:Nguyễn Đình Chiểu,Phan Thiết,Vietnam

Siem Reap, Cambodia

On Monday morning we woke up, left Bangkok and headed to Siem Reap, Cambodia. We took a mini-van with six other passengers, four from Japan and two from England, to the Thailand-Cambodia border. The drive took about 4 hours, with one short break. Once we reached the border we had to stop and fill out papers, and give up our passports for about 20 minutes as we waited for our visas to get processed. Once we had our visas, we headed to immigration. We had to go through Thai immigration before wandering through this small area between the two countries. The five minute walk was filled with people trying to sell things, busy motorbikes and casinos. When we reached the Cambodian immigration point we again had to fill out papers and get our visas checked. When all of this was finished, we had officially entered Cambodia. From there, we were paired up with the British couple and jumped in a taxi. We took the taxi for two hours, from the border to Siem Reap. We were all worried as we approached the city as we had heard that there might be flooding. We were not prepared for what we saw. Some of the small villages along the way were completely flooded. Grown men walked in water up to their mid-chest. The taxi cruised down the road spraying water in all directions. After reaching the city, our fears were not diminished. The British couple was staying at another guest house and they were dropped off first. People at their guest house kept telling us that we could not reach our guest house. They said that the water was past their waists. I was so nervous and feared that we would be without a guest house. Fred was more calm and he convinced me that we should at least check out our guest house (He had received an email from the owner the night before stating that they were find and to not believe others.) Our taxi driver said that he would not take us due to the water levels. Fred called the guest house and we were soon picked up by their tuk tuk. As we drove, we passed a river that had flooded into a park. You could not see where one began and the other ended. As we turned down bumpy and muddy roads, we reached our guest house. To my surprise, and great relief, it was not flooded. We checked into our room and stayed in for the night.



The road to our guest house



Park or river?

On Tuesday we woke up and were determined to explore the city despite the rain. We jumped into a tuk-tuk and headed for the central market. The driver could not bring us directly to the market because of flooding in the area, so we were dropped off a few blocks away. We wadded through streets with water past our knees while it continued to rain. After a few hours, we stopped for coffee to get out of the downpour. We then walked to a temple and back to the guest house.


Fred going to help push a stalled car

On Wednesday we woke up early and headed to Angkor Wat. We bought a one day pass and hired a tuk-tuk driver for the entire day. The temples were all majestic, massive and impressive. As we walked we passed numerous groups of Korean visitors, all decked out in their brightly colored, mis-matched hiking gear. We tried to listen to their tour guides and Fred translated what he could. We saw five of the main temples before we were exhausted and sweating (it was a sunny and humid day). We headed to a restaurant near our guesthouse for some delicious pizza before heading to bed early.













































Today we slept in late, and walked around the city. Again we were lucky, as the weather was beautiful. We sat and planned out a little more for our next leg of the trip, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

We have loved out time in Cambodia and wish that we had planned out more time to explore this country. Everything is gorgeous, cheap and historical. The people are so friendly, happy and helpful. Here are a few interesting things we learned:
1) US dollars=King. Everything is priced in dollars. No one uses Cambodian Reils.
2) There are a lot of Korean people, supermarkets, restaurants and soju in Siem Reap.
3) Even though the city may be flooded, life goes on as usual.
4) Siem Reap feels like a small US suburb but is one of the biggest cities in Cambodia.

Tomorrow afternoon we are off to Vietnam! Lets keep our fingers crossed that no more typhoons head that way!
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Last Days in Thailand-Bangkok

For the past three days we have been exploring Bangkok. On Friday, we took a short one hour flight from Chaing Mai to Bangkok. We quickly boarded the subway and ventured to our guesthouse. After checking in, we went out to explore the area. We stumbled onto the main backpackers street and enjoyed some delicious curry and chicken-basil-chili rice. After dinner, we walked around for a bit then headed back to our guesthouse for an early night.

On Saturday we woke up, had breakfast at the guesthouse, and set off in search of temples. We soon found a tuk-tuk (a small three-wheel, open-air taxi) driver and negotiated a price for him to take us around the city. For 50 baht (around $1.80) he drove us to numerous temples, markets and to the royal palace. We toured the most important temples at a quick pace and had a lot of time to wander around the royal palace. At the palace we had to adjust our wardrobes. I had to put a t-shirt over my tank-top, knee-length dress. Fred had to put on linen pants because shorts were not allowed to be worn inside. Once we were properly dressed, we were ready to enter. The royal palace is magnificent. It consists of numerous ornate temples, shrines, and statues. After a few hours we were tired, sweaty, thirsty and templed-out. We left the royal palace and headed to the train station. We needed to decide how we are going to get to Cambodia. After much deliberation, we decided that we are going to take a bus, not a train. Once we left the station, we headed out for dinner. We each had delicious sandwiches then sat around playing cards and watching soccer. Around 9pm we ventured back to our guesthouse.



View of Bangkok



The Golden Mountain










The Royal Palace



Royal Palace
















This morning we woke up with a short list of must see sites. We headed directly to the river. We walked along the waterfront and came upon a pier that had a ferry to Wat (Temple) Arun. Wat Arun is one of the oldest and most important temples in Bangkok. It is breathtaking. It is made out of porcelain and is painted with beautiful designs. After climbing the steepest stairs in Thailand (this is quite possibly true) we were walking around the temple and overlooking the river. We could even see the royal palace directly across the river. Once we ferried back across the river, we stopped for some Pad Thai and enjoyed the river view. We then headed to a market and enjoyed pineapple, fruit smoothies and tons of new sites. We are now back at the guesthouse, preparing for our long 12 hour journey to Siem Reap, Cambodia. We have had a wonderful time in Thailand for the past 2 weeks. We are not ready to leave this unique place however we are excited for our next adventure!



Wat Arun

















View of the Royal Palace from Wat Arun








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Location:Soi Samsen 3,Bangkok,Thailand