Colorful Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) / Saigon

The first thing we want to share with you is the way we started out each day in Vietnam. We ate a common  breakfast dish called Pho (pronounced phaa) just about everyday. This dish is a huge part of the Vietnamese traditions. Pho’ is typically served from small food carts on the side of the street and usually not ordered in a restaurant. You sit on tiny plastic chairs and eat at miniature tables. When your dish arrives (about a minute after you order it) the noodles are cooking in the vegetable and meat broth. It comes boiling hot and you sit and wait for it to cool. Pho’ is served with lime slices, chilies, hot pepper, basil, and morning glory on the side. You can add what ever spices you want to make it to your tolerate heat level. As time went on we both learned to love our Pho’ really spicy After a few minutes of cooling you eat the noodles and vegetables with chopsticks you then slurp the broth with a spoon. One time while eating Pho’ a woman came over and had to explain to Hunt and had to give him pointers on his chop stick techniques. Eating Pho’ in the morning was a routine we learned to love. Not to mention it cost only a $1.00. When we found our favorite vendor in each town we would continually go to them every morning. We often got to mingle with the locals and enjoy this hot morning dish. By the last slurp of the delightful broth you are sweating from the hot sun and spices and ready to go about your day

We have to admit we were a bit nervous being American traveling through Vietnam. As most of you probably know our two countries have had some rough history. From our own research and reassurance from foreign travelers, there is no current tension between us and its citizens. Most Vietnamese respected the fact we were traveling as Americans to see what their country had to offer. It is really mind boggling to see what has happened in Vietnam over the last 50 years. We admired how the Vietnamese don’t dwell over the past even though many were very closely effected by the war.
Upon arriving in HCMC we couldn’t believe that we were now in a communist country. When we tried to log on facebook we quickly learned this site as well as many others (twitter, blogs, google maps) were blocked by their government.  It was a really weird feeling for us. We were not used to this government enforced internet censorship. We didn’t feel comfortable writing our blog in Vietnam for the slight chance the site might be shut down. Besides the internet censorship there weren’t many implications that we were in a communist country.

 While in Ho Chi Minh we decided to do two different historical war sites. The first was the Vietnam War museum and the second was the Chu Chi Tunnels. They both brought on lots of different emotions for us but we were glad we did them.

The war museum is located in the city center. We were able to walk there from our hotel. In the museum the first floor of photos showed citizens from many other countries protesting the war (including American’s).
The museums exhibits became harder as we reached different floors of the building. The second floor had very graphic photos of war experiences showing American soldiers doing awful things. The third floor was more graphic photos of “agent orange” and the effects and deformities it had on many Vietnamese people. It was hard for us to see pictures like this from ANY war exhibit much less one that was at the hands of our own country. The final exhibit was about how American’s spent more money, lives, and time in this war than any other.  We both left uneasy and saddened by what we had just experienced.
As we walked home we discussed how one sided and bias the exhibits were. Not that the information was wrong or untrue but the fact that there was never any discussion on how the Southern Vietnamese were at war along side the Americans. They were fighting to keep the Communist Northern Vietnamese out of their country.  It just made the American solders look like savages. There was no real education about why the war started or what the Vietnamese people were fighting for.


On our second adventure we decided to hire a private driver to take us to the Chu Chi tunnels. This is another historic war site we felt it was important to see. They are located about 45 Kilometers from downtown HCMC. We found this tour to be much more fact driven and educational than the first. For those of you who don’t know the Chu Chi tunnels are a section of a large network of tunnels that covered much of Vietnam. This is where many of the Vietnamese and their military hid so the Americans would not find them. Some Vietnamese lived under ground for up to 7 years and got out of the tunnels very rarely. They would only come up in the foggy morning to light a fire and make food for the day. The fog protected them from their smoke being seen by their enemy.  We got to crawl in the tunnels which were very small and claustrophobic. They have widened the tunnels to 3 times the size so tourists could fit in them. We learned about how these people survived with such little to work with. We learned how these Vietnamese solders would take bombs dropped by the US and make them into counter weapons. They were such a poor country that they had little metal to work with for fighting. They had many land mines, trap doors, and other brutal killing devices they would use to lour the American soldier. We got to see piece by piece how they made their weapons and traps. We even got to see and shoot the guns used in the war. We both shot a M30 machine gun at a target. It was quite exhilarating.

The tour we took showed how us how the Vietnamese used our tools to outsmart us. They were much more handy than the stronger Americans. It was interesting that our guide quickly changed the subject when a German tourist asked about the Southern Vietnamese who fought with the Americans. We learned a lot of interesting facts from this tour. We headed back feeling better then we had at the downtown war museum.


The nightlife in HCMC was great from our eyes. We would walk into a more touristy section of the city and sit on little plastic stools and order very cheap beers (about 50 cents for a big Liter bottle). We found this was good place to meet other travelers and exchange stories and advice about our adventures. One night we were trying to go to a traditional water puppet show and ended up stumbling upon a pop music concert. We were the only western attendees. The music was actually pretty good and as they say everything happens for a reason. After a few days in bustling Ho Chi Minh City we decided to move north up the coast to a great beach town called Mui Ne.

Mui Ne

We fell in love with Mui Ne as soon as we arrived. At first glace it seems to be a ritzy resort beach town but with a closer look you can find some great budget options with the resort feel. We found a resort we really liked with very nice air conditioned rooms. It had a picturesque pool right on the beach. We ended up staying there for 5 nights and eating really cheap great local seafood. We explored the beaches with our little motor bike. We drove the bike about 30 km along the beach to the Sand Dunes. We made the rather tiring hike up them. An interesting face we found out the hard way was the smelly scent as you drive down the beach. Mui Ne is Vietnam’s largest producer of fish sauce. This is not a very pleasant smell. We both had to plug our noses while motorbiking through this area. 

 After our few nights of relaxing in Mui Ne we decided to head further up the coast to the more lively and young town of Nha Trang. We took a one night stop in the mountain town of Dalat. It is full of strawberry fields and where most of the Wine in SE Asia comes from (which is not very much as tourist are the main wine drinkers). Being wine drinkers we were both very pleased to find $3 bottles of wine (cheapest in Asia). Dalat was covered in fresh vibrant flowers. They had some many different kinds of plants there we were amazed. It felt more like you were in the Swiss alps then the middle of Vietnam. This sleepy mountain town didn’t really have much to offer so next to Nha Trang.

Nha Trang

When we arrived in Nha Trang we immediately noticed a big city directly on the Beach with lots of action and night life. We found a balcony room in a guesthouse overlooking the beach and water for $12 a night. We settled in to this lively town right away. We spent the next few days eating great seafood food along with taking tour’s guided by motorbike drivers. By motorbike we went to the Waterfalls, Pagodas, hot springs and mud baths. We really enjoyed this city but knew our time was limited. We were very excited to move on and get to the custom tailor beach town of Hoi An.

Hoi An

We took a overnight sleeper bus to Hoi An. They are actually pretty comfortable for a bus with a small bed. We arrived very early in the morning.

                                       * Japanese lantern bridge in downtown Hoi An

 After checking into a hotel we went out for breakfast. We returned to a very funky unusual smell in our room. We had no windows to ventilate the smell. Hunt thought the smell was awful so decided to investigate. He went upstairs and found they were spraying PEST CONTROL mixture on all the walls in every guest room. They did this while we were out and all of our luggage was in the room. The pest control guy himself was wearing a mask so we knew it was not good for us to breath. We immediately put our foot down and demanded to check out with out payment.
After a short search we found a better fitting hotel on the other side of town and began to explore the city. Hoi An is the tailor capitol of Vietnam. Most of the downtown is just endless stalls of tailors trying to custom make anything for you. They make clothing for men and women, shoes, handbags, as well as anything else you can find a picture of. This was a dream come true for Kim especially because of her love for fashion. It was really amazing to be able to custom design items tailored exactly to your own body. Kim had two custom dresses made and a pair of shoes. Hunt had a Greatful Dead pair of high tops made and some custom leather flip flops. When you order the shoes they literally draw your feet on a piece of paper to measure the exact size. We were both really excited about our new purchases. When we purchased our custom new shoes we discovered a interesting Asian superstition. The Vietnamese (and other Asian cultures) believe that if the first person in their store walks out with out buying anything then they will have a unlucky day with little sales. They believe that if the first person does purchase something that it will bring good luck and many sales for the day. We realized that when negotiating with the shoe tailor that we were her first customers and she did not want to loose our sale. So we negotiated strongly and got the shoes at about 40% of the original quoted price. We found Hoi An to be one of favorite towns in all of SE Asia.

Although Hoi An is not on the beach it is located on a gorgeous river. The beach is only 4km away from where we were staying. It was easily accessible by motorbike. We grew fond of Hoi An especially because of its cheap beer. It was the cheapest beer either of us had ever had. Most restaurants serve a 15 cent 10oz draft beer all day every day. They call it fresh beer. Hoi An also had some of the best Vietnamese food. They have some dishes that were strictly unique to the city. They are a port city so they were heavily influenced by both the Japanese and Chinese cuisine. In turn Hoi An’s specialty dishes were a fusion of all of these.

                               *White Rose dish

                                 *Cau Lau (Pork, noodle, bean sprouts, & wonton dish)

We loved the food in Hoi An so much that we decided to take a cooking class. Our goal was to be able to prepare some of these dishes back in the states for some of you lucky folks. So we did a ton of online research and found the highest rated cooking class. The class (Morning Glory, which we highly recommend if ever in Vietnam) starts out with a tour through the bustling local market. Our guide took us through the areas with all the ingredients we would be cooking with that day. We started in the fruits and vegetables section and were taught how to pick the ripe and perfect fruits. We got to taste some of them and learn what flavors they give to certain dishes. In Hoi An there is not a grocery store. The market is where everyone gets their items they need to live. Of course food but also any other items you would need on a daily basis. Each restaurant chef or family member visit’s the market twice a day to get the freshest product. Once in the morning and once in the afternoon. If you want the best fresh fish for your restaurant, you have to arrive at 3:30 am when the boats start to come in and the fish market officially opens. After our interesting market tour (which also included a meat and spice section) we returned to the restaurant to prepare 5 Vietnamese dishes. The school was on the top floor and the restaurant was on the bottom. Everyone had a hot plate in front of them and a teacher in the front of the class demonstrating and then guiding us through the preparation. We made some amazing dishes and learned a ton of techniques and theories to add to our cooking repertoire.

 We loved Hoi An SO much but one night at dinner we realized while looking at our calendar we only had 30 days left to travel. I know this may sound like a lot but we still had so much to see and experience. So that night we booked a flight back to the hub city of Bangkok to prepare for our trip to Northern Thailand and Laos. We hope your enjoying our blog and getting a small taste of our experiences. Our time is running short so we are going to make the best of our last month. Love you all


HK

Cambogia

Cambodia was a momentous experience for us. We stayed in Cambodia for about three weeks. We felt some of the deepest and darkest history of any country we have visited. We wanted to start this section with a quote from the book “Off the Rails in Phnom Penn” by Amit Gilboa. It is about Cambodia’s harsh history. It says “This is a society (Khmer/Cambodian) that’s been through hundreds of years of agrarian feudalism, twenty-three years of civil war, ten years of Communism and isolation, ten years of foreign occupation, and then the world just flipped a switch and turned Cambodia into this democratic, capitalistic, open, developing country. You think there might be some tension created?”

For those of you who don’t know in 1975-1979 the Khmer Rouge murdered in a mass genocide  between 1.7-2.5 MILLION Cambodian people. The population at the time was around 8 million. They buried them in mass graves outside of the current capital of Phenom Phen. This is now what is known as the killing fields. The Khmer Rouge targeted citizens who did not fit the ideals of the Khmer Rouge regime including people with an education, musicians, artists, Buddhists, Christians, doctors, lawyers, as well as women and children. It was a horrific tragedy we could not help but think about while visiting this country. We ponder, how can a country thrive and grow if they have eliminated the smartest and most artistic citizens. It was 20% of their country. Most all current Khmers people we met have been affected in some way by the tragedies of the Khmer Rouge. Here is a link to more information.
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_Fields 

We found some very interesting facts about the history of Cambodia. Until 1994 it was illegal in Cambodia to learn or to speak English. After 1994 everyone wanted to learn English because it was previously forbidding and the way to communicate with new tourists from around the world. People speak English very well for having only been allowed to practice it for 17 years.

Something we noticed unique to Cambodia was the people here listen to their own Khmer musicians.  Most bars and restaurants we were in were not playing classic western hits but old  time Khmer music and Khmer/western infused music. From a conversation with a Cambodian resident on the beach, we learned in 1974 all music  heard was of Khmer traditional. Then in North Cambodia some people got a radio station playing western music that was intended for the American troops in Vietnam. This TOTALLY changed their music and gave them a Khmer/western combination. This was something totally new and great for the Khmer people. It would change the sound of Khmer music forever. During the time of the Khmer Rouge and the mass killings almost all the musicians were murdered and all their music was destroyed. We have to imagine this was highly inspirational music in the hard times of war and oppression for the Cambodian people. There are a few groups bringing back and playing the music of the 1970’s in Cambodia. They are doing quite well. This is by far the most unique and interesting music history of any country we have been to.

Here are some links to two classic Cambodian artists if you would like to check them out.

Sinn Sisamouth (died in 1975 but considered to be “The Cambodian Elvis”)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQt9Qan_zsg 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wXPuITCyyg 

Dengue Fever (a current group playing traditional Cambodian Music but with Western influence)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcdgLclFWOU

Cambodia is more raw and unaffected by the western world then any country we had been to. We really liked that about it. It is the only country where we have been to without a Mcdonalds or other western restaurants. We really hope they stay a free country but never forget their roots in their deep and dark history.

Cambodia has a really intense feeling to it.  You can sense it as soon as you cross the border from Thailand. Between both of us we have visited over 25 different country’s and we agreed this was one of the most confusing and bizarre border crossings.  We would not say it was dangerous but very unusual. It started with us getting dropped off by a mini van full of people. We happened to be the only westerners on bus. They dropped us off in front of the alleged “Visa Office”. After grabbing our bags a few men in suits come up and say “Hello sir, right this way for your visa”. We were forewarned the Thai might try to get you to buy a visa on their side of the boarder so immediately we knew it was a scam. Both of us pretend not to speak English and walked ourselves to the Cambodia boarder. From our research prior to getting there we found out these “Outside visa agency’s” will get you an actual Cambodian visa but you pay double versus walking 500 meters to the actual border.

 After some confusion we arrived at the official Cambodia side and filled out our Visa forms. Even the actual Cambodia Border officers would ask for kick backs of $5 to make your Visa “express” (Express doesn’t exist).  Luckily we didn’t get asked and made it all the way through without much hassle. In line we met another couple of backpackers (newlyweds) named Paula and David from London. We started talking and decided to pay the extra $3 each to take a private cab for the two hour ride to Siem Reap. They had just been to Vietnam and Laos so they had tons of advice to share on places they had been . We soon realized these two would be our buddy’s for the next few days. We ended up spending most of our meals and days together.

We checked into a really nice resort/ hotel called Lotus Lodge. It was on the edge of town but had had a pool, delicious affordable restaurant/bar, and nice rooms for $16. We spent the next two days exploring the town of Siem Reap (city outside the temple Angkor Wat) and laying by the pool. Siem Reap was a tourist trap type town with lots of beggars and most people trying to make money off the tourist. It was hard to trust people because you couldn’t tell if they were being genuinely nice or trying to rip you off. Cambodians in Siem Reap have seen many  tourists over the past ten years so they defiantly know what they can do to make a few extra bucks.  On our second day there we hopped on a Tuk Tuk (Motorcycle with two seats in the back, picture below) for a tour of Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples. We did not know much about the temple of Angkor Wat but we learned lots of information from our tour  guide. He was an amazing man. 
Here are a few quick facts on Angkor Wat.

-Angkor Wat was built in the early 12th century and it was never abandoned (unlike most other ruins from its time)

-Angor Wat temple is 10km by square10km and contains dozens temples.

-Angkor was originally Hindu religion (derived from India) and now is Buddhist. There was a portion of time where the Hindu took back over the temple. They cut all of the heads off the hundreds of Buddha statues and defaced all the Buddhist art work. It is still occupied by Buddhist monks today.

If you are interested in more about Angkor Wat check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Wat

We took a 7 hour tour and climbed and explored over 10 giant temples. After each temple we would get back to our Tuk Tuk to go to the next site our driver “Srapon”. He would have a cold bottle of water and a cold hand towels to wipe the dripping sweat off our faces. It was hot and we both just sweat constantly. As a woman you cant show your shoulders in most of the temples and you have to have your knees covered. This made the climbs even hotter. We drank more water than we could have imagined.  Srapon would give us a 10 min history of each temple before we visited them in perfect English. Most tuk tuk drivers don’t share information and most don’t even speak English. At the end we decided to give Srapon $22 instead of the agreed to $15. We were so pleased with his service. We decided this was the type of behavior a Cambodian person should be rewarded for. He learned English, learned about his peoples history and tons of information of Angkor Wat. He worked hard to get where he is. It felt great to give our money to a hard working person instead of a beggar on the street grabbing at your body and not giving up. We slept really well that night and embarked on our journey south the next day.


We spent one night in the capitol of Cambodia, Phenom Penn. This is a really chaotic city like New York or London. We were a bit intimidated and took the first bus to the coastal town of Sihanoukville. Looking back on it we should have spent a couple days exploring the former French city. It took us a few long bus rides to get there. You can always multiply the time they tell you for your arrival by 2. We arrived in Sihanoukville, a happening beach town with fresh seafood and 50 cent beers everywhere.

 We knew this would just be a port city to get to the untouched Island of Koh Rong (25 km off the coast) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koh_Rong .
We soon found the Island of Koh Rong only had 5 bungalow resorts with VERY basic rooms. The islands resorts weren’t more than three years old. Very new for a paradise place like this. We checked all of them and because it was high season every one was booked. Instead of making a reservation as suggested by the boat company we just went there crossing our fingers and hoping somewhere would have a room. We took a two and a half hour boat ride going about 8kmp. Slowest boat ever. We shared the boat with many divers who were making a pit stop on Koh Rong before their day out in the gulf. Upon arrival we were amazed with how big the Island was. It is 81KM around. We were also stunned by how little tourism and people in general there were here. Koh Rong has a population of 1,100 people without tourists. We arrived to our bungalow of choice called “Paradise Bungalows” and asked if there was room. All the bungalows on Koh Rong are very basic as the Island does not have electricity or a main sewage system. The bungalows only get electricity (run by generator) from 6pm - 10pm. We were told they were totally booked up for the next two days but to wait until 1pm to see if anyone didn’t show up for their reservation. After waiting until 1 we found they did have a shared bathroom bungalow for us for the first night but the second night they had nothing available. The owner a very nice German man, assured us that if we could not find any other accommodation they would make sure to take care of us and not leave us sleeping on the beach. Because of the lack of bungalows we ended up sleeping in the dinning room (which is a huge open air bungalow) with the full staff.

We were about 14 people total. They made us an amazing comfortable bed on the floor. They all slept on the lounge areas around the tables. The vibe on the island is to eat in a comfortable position with lots of pillows and even doze off for a nap after your meal. Our stay with the staff was actually quite amazing, very comfortable, and gave us a new respect from the staff. They were quite surprised we would be staying with them. We spent our days on Koh Rong doing day hikes and finding desolate beaches. We enjoyed walking to other remote bungalows and trying their restaurant. We did a hour and a half jungle hike which involved using some ropes to climb up rocks. It was quite intense at points. We ended up at one of the most amazing beaches either of us had ever seen. The craziest part about the island is the picturesque beaches are full of sandflees. They bite you and really are annoying. It made it hard for us to lay on the beach. We did it one day but after you realize how many bites you have and how the itching is annoying you think again. It was a part of the experience the beautiful pictures don’t tell you.
Another interesting fact about Koh Rong is there was a tv show being filmed while we were there. The show is a French version of survivor. At the beach one day we were able to watch them do a challenge and see the helicopter filming from above. It was quite neat until they asked us to move down the beach a little so we wouldn’t be in the view of the camera.  There was a small restaurant at the remote resort called “Broken Heart Bungalow”.  We swam in the crystal clear water and then split Phad Thai at their little restaurant. We both consider ourselves very good at relaxing but we agreed this island allowed us to reach a whole new level of simple and amazing relaxation. Some days our whole day would consist of a hammock, a book, the sound of the waves, and eating great authentic food. It will honestly be what we think of when we think of “our happy place”.  Here our some photo's of our happy place

 At our resort Paradise Bungalows there was a baby Monkey. He was rescued by a couple who were taking him to an animal sanctuary. Many of the local jungle people set up traps and eat the monkeys they catch. The couple was taking the one month old baby as well as a 4 month old female who got trapped and barely escaped. She had a broken arm and lost an eye. The couple who was helping them was feeding her antibiotics and the week they had been there she was making incredible progress. It was really cute that we got to play with the baby money. His name was Charlie (for Charles Darwin) and would just hang out in the restaurant. He was constantly getting into trouble. He would eat anything he could and just be so curious about everything. He actually ate one of our playing cards when we were in the middle of a game. Like a kid he would play for an hour or so and then fall asleep in someone’s lap.

We spent 5 days and 4 nights on the Island and left being a little sad but very excited about the rest of our trip.

We returned to Sinoukville after a traitorous two and a half boat ride back. We picked the worse day to travel back because the sea’s were very rough. There were people getting sick all over the boat. Waves were splashing over the edge and we were all soaked. We both had taken some medicine to help calm us down. The boat is very low to the water so a small wave can soak everyone. When we got back to Sinoukville we stayed in a nice bungalow near the pier. One side of the pier is very loud and partying all day. The other side has nice cheap bungalows and a chill quite atmosphere. The seafood here was quite amazing. We shared some Cambodian lobster. They spice them full of flavor. They are really only big enough to eat the tail. But still they are good. The women walk around with them on their head and when you order them they clean them and put citrus and pepper spice on them. It was quite delicious.  We spent the whole day getting 50 cent beers and enjoying every minute we could on the beach. Needless to say the next morning we were feeling all the fun we had.

From Sinoukville we took a mini bus to a small town called Kampot. This is not really on the tourist loop but it was on our route to the Vietnam boarder. We got there on a mini bus and decided to see what this little town on the river was all about. It was at one point run by the French so you could see some of the French architecture here. We ate at an amazing bakery/breakfast place owned by a Canadian. He was teaching his Cambodian wife how to bake and make many western pastries. They didn’t have any western style cookies or brownie type sweets in Cambodia. They had been only open a month and they are on the road to success. There cookies and cakes were amazing. They are the first bakery in Cambodia to make cheesecake. You can’t get the ingredients there so they altered the recipe. We got to taste the first one they ever made and it was so marvelous. With not much more to explore we decided to keep on trekking and the following day we took a tuk tuk to the town of Kep.

Kep is a small beach town on the Gulf of Thailand. It was again a very small town with about 20 resorts. Some on the beach and some in the mountain of the jungle. Its really neat terrain here. The jungle runs straight up to the beach. We walked to the crab market and had crab Amok. This is a traditional Cambodian dish that had amazing flavors. It was so good we had our Valentines day dinner here both ordering the Amok. Our second night in Kep we splurged for Valentines day and got a nice French run resort with beautiful bungalows and wonderful pool. It was more in the mountains so as you look around all you see if palm trees and lush greenery. We took out their “free bikes” which ended up breaking in the first ten minutes of riding them. We hid them in a field and trecked ourselves to see the other areas of the beach. We walked along the boardwalk and got to admire locals who very seldom see tourists. Many times we have come across kids who yell “Hello” to us as they ride by. They are so cute and both of us give an enthusiastic “Hello” back to them. They get so eager to say an English word and get a reaction back.

We are now sitting in Ho Chi Mihn City (Saigon) Vietnam and really excited to explore the War museum and see what Vietnam has to offer. We are having such a amazing time its hard to find a few hours to write the blog and upload it, but we will try to blog again soon. Much love to our wonderful family and friends.

HK