Siem Riep: Amazing Hotels, Amazing History

So, we almost cried when we discovered that all of our Siem Riep pictures, minus the cooking class, would be forever lost. OK, I cried a little bit. That meant losing our Angkor Wat pictures and the pictures I was planning to use to boast about the awesome hotel we stayed in! Very sad, indeed, but I have a vivid memory of our time in Siem Riep- it was my favourite place that we visited in Cambodia.

We took a very long bus ride from the South in Sihanoukville to Siem Riep, which is more to the Northwest. We hadn't heard great things about the road to Siem Riep, and sure enough, it was bumpy and I got a bit motion sick. No biggie.

So here's the thing about buses in Cambodia: some of them stop every five minutes for bathroom breaks and refreshments, while some... well... drive for eight hours straight with no such stops. In the defense of our bus driver, there was only one place on the entire way that was decent to stop in, and he did stop- for five minutes. I barely got back from the bathroom in time!

The real issue of the day was the fact that Pat and I, being used to the buses that stop every five minutes, failed to bring any snacks with us. We were ravenous when we arrived in Siem Riep eight hours later. Funny enough, when we switched buses in Phnom Penh (all roads lead to the capital) a nice young man who worked for the travel company helped me with my bag and asked me if I wanted his friend to pick us up in a tuk tuk when we arrived. If this had been two months ago I would have told him to leave me alone (please). However, we had been on the road a long time and we were tired. I said sure. Why not. I know he'll just try to take us to a guest house that will give him a cut of the profits, but I would rather that than have to haggle with a non-English speaking tuk tuk driver. So I gave the guy my name.

Sure enough, when we arrived in Siem Riep, there were two young men holding a sign with my name on it. I forgot to tell Pat I had given the guy in Phnom Penh my name, so he was pretty surprised by the royal treatment we were receiving. We asked them to take us to a place we found in the Lonely Planet, but actually, they were able to really convince us- not because we were tired, but because they knew what they were talking about- to go to a locally owned guest house. It's true! All LP ever recommends are foreign owned businesses! Not fair. We decided to go see what the guys had to offer... and ... oh my God is all I can say. What a beautiful guesthouse.

Our room was pretty much poolside, with a nice little patio, air conditioning, cable, hot shower... mini bar... everything you could want for 20 bucks a night. And since it was our last place before going back to Korea, we splurged and were glad. The pool was surrounded by a beautiful, lush tropical garden and the pool itself was just gorgeous. We were a five minute walk away from the famous night market and "Pub Street", and we liked the look of this touristy, but still Cambodian town.

We arranged with the tuk tuk guys to take us around Angkor the next day... at 5:30 AM, to see the sunrise. We went to Pub Street and had Shepard's Pie and Angkor beer for dinner. Very satisfying.

The next morning, we got up early and our tuk tuk dude was already waiting for us. It was 5 AM but it was already hot. It was rainy season in Cambodia but that just means 23 hours of pure, hot sunlight and 1 hour of torrential downpour- if that.

The temples of Angkor are spread over about 15 kilometres (from the most famous to the most remote). The most famous temples are, of course, Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom (which is really a bunch of temples and was once the capital city of Angkor) and Ta Prohm- which is famous among travellers as the building that trees started growing around and on top of, and famous among everyone else as the temple in Lara Croft: Tombraider (I think- I've never seen it myself...).

We bought a one day pass for 20 bucks and went to Angkor Wat to see the sun rise. Angkor Wat is considered the largest ever religious building... or something like that. Anyway, you need to cross the moat before you even see it. It's huge. The moat itself is huge! We sat and watched the sunrise and then wandered around the temple. Every boy tourist (Patrick included) kept whistling the Indiana Jones theme song. It was amusing and annoying all at the same time.

After Angkor Wat we were supposed to go to Angkor Thom, but we couldn't find our tuk tuk driver. Eventually we found him napping in a corner. Tuk tuks, or at least, bikes, are necessary in order to see the different temples. I think I read somewhere that Angkor was the biggest pre-industrial city ever discovered, so the temples are very spread out. Ankgor Thom was cool. We had to pass through the city gates and then, everywhere you look, there are piles of stones, ruins and well preserved buildings of the old city. We found out that Angkor flourished until the Thais sacked it and whoever was left fled and re-established a new capital in Phnom Penh. No one remembered Angkor until it was discovered in the 1900's by a Frenchman. Then they started trying to put everything back together. Then the Khmer Rouge came into power and destroyed all historical records and documents, so after they fell no one could remember where the stones were supposed to go. Also, they mined the area really heavily, so that had to be taken care of.

After Angkor Thom we went to the famous Ta Prohm temple, which was really a monestary! It's funny, Angkor started out as, I believe, a polytheistic society. Then they turned Hindu, and finally they were Buddhist. The artwork carved into the buildings is a mixture. It tells stories of great wars, of bare breasted dancers (they say the Thais took the dancers with them and that's where Thai dance has it's roots) and then there are Buddha's and Krishnas everywhere. It's great. Ta Prohm was amazing. It's crazy how the trees are holding the building together!

There was much more to see, but we were exhausted and all templed out. It was getting very hot and I could hear the pool calling my name, so we went back happily to our hotel where we swam, relaxed and had lunch. Lovely.

The next day we took a Khmer cooking class at a restaurant on Pub Street. It was fun, as our cooking classes always are! We cooked alongside an American Philippino couple who actually live in Korea and work as nurses on the American base in Yongsan (Seoul). Too wierd! They were really nice and we enjoyed a nice lunch together afterward. The four of us all made different dishes and shared. I made Amok, which is sort of like a curry, but with a different, more Cambodian paste. Sarah made a curry, her boyfriend made a stir fry, and Patrick made LocLac- Cambodian steak (very yummy). We all made salads- I made mango, Pat made banana flower and the couple made a papaya salad and spring rolls. Great lunch!

After lunch I thought I would treat myself to a mani-pedi. My first one, ever. And it cost me 12 bucks (for both). Very relaxing. After that, a swim and a smoothie and some BBC Newsworld, we hit the town!

Back on Pub Street we had a nice dinner and several glasses of wine and beer. Then we hit the night market. I loved it! The stuff wasn't as nice as the night market in Luang Prabang, but there lots of great dresses and we got a hammock and some scarves and some little ornaments. And then we found Dr. Fish! Yet another Korean installment! Of course we had a go, and I asked if the fish came from China (I knew that would be the first question asked by my Korean friends- no dirty Chinese fish, please! For whatever reason...). Of course the man running the pool said no! These are clean fish from Europe! A fish is a fish if you ask me, but I have fun teasing my Korean friends about their inherent racism towards China... and Japan... and almost everywhere else...

We didn't want to leave, and I certainly didn't want to go to Bangkok because I hate flying and the closer we got to Bangkok the closer we got to flying... but we were up bright and early the next day, ready for anything. We would be in Bangkok later that afternoon...



After we cooked our meals they were brought out so we could dine al fresco.

Pat, concentrating on making the perfect LocLac.

Ready to plate it up.

Us, our cooking companions and our teacher with our works of art.

Stirring up my Amok. I made this one with chicken, but it can also be made with fresh water fish.

Pat's banana flower salad in the foreground and my mango salad in the background. Both delicious!

Ingredients for Banana Flower Salad. After shredding the banana flower, Pat had to soak it in lemon for about 15 minutes. On the plate you can see sweet basil and shredded carrot.

Getting ready to pound up my curry paste.

Curry Paste ingredientsL lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, fresh root turmeric, small red chillis, galangal ginger, garlic and shrimp paste.

Mango salad ingredients: sweet basil (ribboned), shredded carrot and shredded mango. Easy!

For my Amok? Onion, oyster mushrooms, chicken and tamarind leaf (I think?).

LocLac ingredients: zucchini, tomato, beef and onion. And chillies.

Slicin'

The first thing we saw when we came in. Glorious!

Fresh produce at the market.

The fishmongers just sat on their tables.

Hard at work.

Of course, we had to try some crickets. They tasted really nutty, and actually yummy, but I gagged when I tried to swallow their legs and my throat got tickled.

Plenty of stuff for sale.

Sapa made me Cheat on my Island

After Halong Bay, we didn't want to waste any time in Hanoi before heading straight to the former hill station town of Sapa, which is located in Northern Vietnam (extremely close to the Chinese border). Like the rest of Vietnam, Sapa was under the control of the French for quite a long time and the buildings in the town of Sapa are very French in style. Combine this with the looming mountains that surround the town and the vast sheet of impenetrable fog that rolls in at around noon every day, and you can almost make yourself believe that you aren't in Vietnam at all, but have instead stumbled into some European fairy tale town in the Alps. Needless to say, I enjoyed Sapa immensely.

From Hanoi we took a night bus that would drop us off in the town of Lao Cai early in the morning. From Lao Cai it is a climbing, one lane, winding and very scary 30 kilometres to the top of the mountain and the town of Sapa. The bus was very comfortable- air conditioned, fully reclining seats, blankets and a pillow provided- but it was almost impossible for anyone to sleep because of the booming Vietnamese pop music that the driver refused to turn down for more than five minutes at a time. Not a huge deal for me, I took half a xanax and managed some shut eye. My friends and Patrick were not so lucky, and as soon as we arrived in Sapa we made for the cheapest and most comfortable beds to be found and didn't get up til noon.

The cheapest beds in town, it would turn out, were great value for the price we paid! I'm beginning to see in Vietnam that, as far as guesthouses go, you pay for exactly what you get. For 8 US dollars a night, Patrick and I got a cozy double room with the hottest shower yet (the fog chills you right to the bone in Sapa, making very hot showers necessary), a TV with cable and an amazing view of the terraced fields that line the valleys below. It was wonderful.

At lunchtime we met up with Gen and Scott, famished as we were. Scott wanted to try some special Sapa pho which is just a spiced up chili version of regular pho (Vietnamese noodle soup). We made our way through the market, past the dead carcasses of former animals, past the screamingly fresh produce and with two small hilltribe girls following us the whole way. They weren't annoying. Actually, they were well spoken and quite witty, for the little English their mother's taught them in order to sell trinkets.

"You buy something?", one would ask.

Gen and I would shake our heads and smile at them.

The little girls would smile back brilliantly and give a little laugh, knowing full well that they were already wrapped around our little fingers. It was only a matter of time before Gen or I would break down and buy one of their little silver bracelets.

They took their time, didn't rush us, but never strayed too far away. Whenever we would see them, watching us from afar, we would laugh and they would smile at us and give a knowing little wave.

We made our way to the eating area of the market, saw that all of the stalls sold the same thing, picked one at random and got some pho and fried rice for lunch. The pork was fresh and, like the other pork we would see, the skin was a bright red from whatever spices they cure it with. The woman at our stall made the best pho I have ever tasted. The cilantro was fresh and not overpowering, the rice noodles were perfectly cooked and the pork was all meat- no grit or bones top be found. The rice was delicious as well, with a sprinkling of lime juice and a garnish of cilantro. When the woman handed us the chili sauce that one gets with every Vietnamese meal, however, I misjudged the power of her homemade concoction since I'm used to putting tabasco on everything and use chili sauce instead of ketchup. I put the same amount of her chili sauce that I would normally use with regular bottled chili sauce and ended up breathing fire. But it was all good.

Of course, the little girls were waiting for us while we ate and I finally broke down, buying one bracelet from each little girl, giving them one American dollar each. No problem, since Patrick has two small neices that the bracelets will fit perfectly. The little girls were very grateful and gave Gen and I two little homemade bracelets that look like the friendship bracelets I would make as a kid. I've been wearing mine around my ankle ever since. I don't usually give in to the pressures of street vendors, but these kids were completely professional and it broke my heart a little.

We did a little hike to the top of the hill, then went back for a rest and a hot shower followed by some BBC Newsworld. We met for dinner and, just as we sat down, the power went out. We ate by candlelight and had a yummy meal of "Sapa soup" (beef and cilantro), fresh spring rolls, fried spring rolls with shrimp and apple (delicious), and, of course, a cheeseburger and fries. Gluttons or what?

The next day we woke up bright and early. Pat and I spent a fortune on train tickets to Hoi An for the next day, and Scott arranged for some scooter rentals. We spent the most amazing day driving for 35 kilometres in the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. In the heat of the moment, I even dared to say it was more beautiful than Cape Breton. That's the closest I have ever come to cheating on my island, but Sapa deserves the praise. It definitely rivaled the Cabot Trail, and we had the most awesome picnic with the most gorgeous scenery ever.

OK, Pat is hurrying me along as we have to catch a bus to Phnom Penh. I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves. Bye for now! Next is Hoi An.

Hanoi: I can't cross the road.

While planning our trip to Vietnam we, of course, asked our friends who had been there how they liked it and what their experience was like. We invariably got two answers: the first half of our friends said that they loved Vietnam so much. They want to go back and live there forever with the wonderful Vietnamese people and among some of the most beautiful scenery they have ever seen. The other half said they hated Vietnam and anyone associated with it. The people there cheat and lie and never give you an honest answer or opinion. You lose so much money getting ripped off that you're forced to leave earlier than planned. It's a lousy country full of jerks.

Hmm. Makes you a little nervous, no?

So, about a week ago we hopped on a bus (Korean made, of course) in Vientiane and tried to mentally prepare ourselves for the next 24 hours. We would have no reclining chairs, no leg room, few bathroom breaks, one very long break at the border (where who knows what will happen with finicky or bribe crazed border officials) and will try, to no avail, to sleep on a small bus absolutely packed to the brim with smoking, vomiting, coughing locals. Indeed, they even set up plastic chairs in the aisle of the bus to accomodate more people. Add this to the twisting, winding mountain roads of Laos and you can guess how I felt about the whole venture. Not great. But I took a xanax and, after the first of only two pit stops, managed to put myself to sleep. Unfortunately for Pat, he had no pills to take and was constantly used as a pillow for the guy sitting in the asile next to him.

Soooo, the bus wasn't great and certainly isn't recommended unless, like us, you are absolutely stuck in Vientiane for days and are behind schedule. We wanted to mosey on through Laos at a snail's pace, but we needed our Vietnamese Visas and it was a long weekend. No moseying allowed.

We arrived at the Vietnamese border at approximately 8AM. We fought a huge crowd of backpackers and sharp elbowed Laos women (no such thing as a line up) and somehow managed to get stamped out. We got a shady meal of pho (Vietnamese noodle soup) sans meat on the Laos side of the border and realized that our bus had already gone through to the other side. We had to walk to the Vietnamese side of the border, about 500 metres away. No biggie.

We paid the border guards an American dollar each (it was "required", but not required) and got through into Vietnam without incident. I was a little nervous ever since news of that girl from Britain being sentenced to death in Laos got out (she says she never saw the heroin before, and I didn't want anyone to plant stuff in my bag so I duct taped it like a madwoman so I would know if it had been touched by someone). But there were no such incidents; nothing to worry about, and we got through to Vietnam with no problems.

Back on the bus and finally in Vietnam, we still had about 12 hours to go until we arrived in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. I don't want to talk about the next 12 hours. They were long and boring and when we stopped for lunch I saw a big rat in the lady's bathroom. What I also noticed was that there was finally some noise in the background. In Laos you only hear passing traffic and that's about it. In Vietnam people are screaming at each other, singing songs, puppies are crying in their cages, birds are screeching in theirs, people are selling you stuff at the sides of the road (and they even climb on your bus when it stops). I missed the social butterfly-ness that was so lacking in Laos. It was a nice touch. Plus, people were smiling at me again. Thank God! For the longest time I thought I was walking around Laos with a dirty face or something. No one EVER smiled at me, ever! Don't get me wrong, Laos was amazing and the people were very kind and hospitable, but that doesn't mean they like you.

So finally, at 7PM, exhausted and dusty, we arrived in Hanoi.

A man on our bus stood up, introduced himself and said that he would take us to the old city (where all the accomodation is) for free if we would take a look at his guesthouse. We took a look and it was too expensive, but we were so tired that we paid 16$ US for two nights and had, for the first time, hot water and cable TV (with BBC Newsworld) in one room. Since then we have realized that guesthouses in Vietnam have amazing value for the money you're paying. We've had hot water and cable TV (even swimming pools) for 10$ a night. Anyway, we paid more than usual, but we were happy with the free breakfast and free internet and the comfy bed and morning cartoons.

When we awoke the next day we were pleasantly surprised by my friend, not only from university in Canada, but from Korea as well, Genevieve and her boyfriend Scott, who were in Hanoi at the same time as us and who were staying just down the road from us. I was so happy to see them! Sometimes it's hard to meet people if you're backpacking as a couple- the singles tend to stick to themselves- and I was feeling a bit friend deprived after saying goodbye to our friends in Luang Prabang, so Gen and Scott were a great addition to our travels.

We all decided to book the same trip to Halong Bay and then to meet up for dinner and a traditonal water puppet show later that evening. We booked a nice looking trip on a traditional junk for the next three days and arranged where we would meet later on. Then, Pat and I took off to explore the Old Quarter of Hanoi.

I loved this city! The climate was cooler than we had been getting in Laos and Thailand, which was a nice surprise. The buildings, some in shambles and some looking quite spiffy, were the traditional colonial French buildings we had been seeing in Laos, but the streets were winding and full of motorbikes and cars that didn't care if they ran over pedestrians. It was hard to learn to cross the street, even though the streets themselves were very narrow and it would only take half a second to cross. Everywhere you go there is a constant scream of horns honking as everyone tries to maneuver themselves around the city.

We grabbed a typical Vietnamese snack, known as a pate baguette, which actually has no pate inside. It's a homemade, crusty baguette filled with all kinds of seasoned and smoked meat, some fresh cilantro and cucumber and then drizzled with a chili sauce. It's delicious. And worth risking running to the bathroom immediately after eating it (not that we ever had to, but you never can trust street food). It only cost 10,000 Vietnamese Dong, or about 75 cents Canadian.

Anyway, with baguette in hand, we took to the streets of the old city. We walked the diameter of the lake, which had a small island with a pretty buddhist temple on it. Then we walked through the market where I saw lots of cool spices and found some coffee beans that a weasel pooped out before they were collected and roasted (poop coffee is all the rage these days, but it's generally cats that I thought pooped it out- not weasels). Needless to say, I bought some for my Dad.

We went to an old traditional house that was restored and turned into a museum which shows you how the merchants of the old city lived at the turn of the century (called Memorial House). It was nice to see how the streets were organized according to what trade they were selling- it makes me understand Korean culture a bit better, actually, since there are still entire streets in Seoul devoted to selling the exact same thing.

We wanted to go visit Uncle Ho's corpse at the Ho Chi Min Masoleum but unfortunately you can only visit in the morning, so we missed our chance. No problem, we had a cup of tea at a roadside cafe, wrote some postcards to family back home and made our way back to our hotel where we watched movies on HBO.

We met up with Gen and Scott and had dinner at "Little Hanoi"- a restaurant recommended in the Lonely Planet. It was standard, serving more Western dishes than Vietnamese (although I ordered their traditional claypot eggplant and it was delicious). In my opinion, you should stay away from any business recommended in the Lonely Planet. Why? Because while they may be inexpensive and honest businesses when the author stays there, it still takes two years for the publication to come out. By the time you read the recommendation, the owners have already become cocky and raised their prices. At least, that's been 90% of our experience. The businesses that are striving to be recommended by LP are the best places to stay and eat. Actually, the best places to eat are the markets and food stalls if we're going by taste and not sanitation.

After dinner we got a cheap and tasty Bia Hanoi at a street restaurant and then made our way to the puppet theatre. The performance was one of the best I've seen in all of Southeast Asia. The music was absolutely amazing! I loved the guy playing the flute and the two women singers that just sat there fanning themselves, clearly bored to tears, but still making beautiful music. The puppeteers were on one side of a curtain and the puppets came out dancing and making everyone laugh . Of course, all of the puppets were in the water so they showed special stories like "fishing" and "working in the rice fields", etc etc. It was very cool!

Stay tuned for our Halong Bay, Sapa and Hoi An experiences...