Vietnam to Cambodia

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A quick recap in the event that I get stuck in the bush for 2 weeks and have no time to get to a computer! I meet with my new boss to work here in Siam Riep at an english school in a few hours and I never know what to expect...

I'm in Siam Riep right now, a booming tourism city in Northern Cambodia...So far, I am in love with Cambodia...the people are exceptional and the history is heart wrenching...so much horror has bred a nation of passionate, determined souls...

Back to Vietnam...

Leann and I headed south west from Na Trang to the mountain town of Dalat, known for its French colonial buildings, cool climate, and outdoor adventure sports...we met with some friends and had a modest billiard full July 1st to celebrate Canada day, and went out the next day to do some abesailing...We donned helmets and life jackets to walk along waterfalls to the edges of cliffs where we rappelled down 2 dry cliffs, 2 waterfalls (imagine!), jumped into the water off a 7 meter cliff, and went down 2 natural waterslides (made within mini waterfalls - a little bumpy)...I proved to be a master at rebounding off cliffs on the way down but Leann was a newbie. She fully wiped out descending the second waterfall, and from my position above, the first thing I saw was her helmet floating down stream, and the other guide jumping in the water to get her...

The only really scary part of the day was when we saw a snake which crawled out of the path and over the shoe of our female guide...she began to scream bloody murder, and Leann, who is afraid of snakes, began to cry and bolt in the opposite direction...too funny!

The altitude of Dalat makes it quite chilly, and I was wearing pants and a jumper in the evenings...a huge contrast to the steamy coast...we met for dinner with some other Na Trang folks and hopped a bus the next day to Ho Chi mihn city (Saigon)...

Saigon is massive - the largest city in Vietnam with a population of almost 5 million - it is laid out in districts and include district 7, the kite flying district, and district 1, the backpacker district among many others of course...we spent a night in the backpacker district before moving on to stay with my friend Kelsey from home...

We walked to the War Monuments Museum to find that they closed in half an hour...leann is pretty squeamish and this is one of the most gruesome museums I have ever seen...it's laid out in 7 buildlings, or displays, but we only got through 3 before we were ushered out for lunch...(in Asia, many places close for lunch, it's so annoying!)...Leann was in tears and I was feeling a little sick after that short period of time...learning about the Vietnam war through pictures and first hand accounts was alot to take in...

We walked down the street to the Reunification Palace which is the political monument in Saigon...it was here the Northern troops Broke down the gates with Tanks to secure the south and end of the war, and where policitians come for meetings and deliberations a few times a year...it's a massive, spotless place full of boring furniture and 'don't walk on the carpet' signs...I found the basement the best part, with rooms lined with '60's telephones and radios for communications during the war...

Staying with Kelsea was wonderful...she is a professor at a Melbourne University, teaching Commerce as an extension of her Masters in Business and her undergrad in Political Science...She is a great girl, super smart, and we met while working at the Spag a few years ago in Victoria...She lives on the 9th floor in an apartment in District 7, a $4 Taxi from central Saigon, or a $2 moto, and has a lovely hardwood floor loft style 1 bedroom...for $400 US a month! She graciously gave Leann and I her bed and slept on the couch...so sweet!

She has a zillion pairs of high heels in every colour and style along the wall on the first floor, and a huge closet full of dresses upstairs...we went and got our hair straightened for a night of bar hopping ex-pat style the first night, and I snatched one of her dresses on night 2...it was interesting being a part of the ex pat crowd, meeting foreigners from all over the world who come here to work, observing their dramas and conversations and getting to bring some backpacker friends into the mix...

After spending an entire afternoon wizzing around the city in cyclos and by foot in the rain looking for a kite for my papa (not really a good time weather wise, they're usually on sale right by the kite flying district in the early evenings), and exchanging some cash in preparation for Cambodia, we headed out for one more night on the town...after a complete all nighter, I said goodbye to Leann and Kelsea and boarded a bus bound for Cambodia along the Mekong Delta...

I sat beside an ingenius Swedish 4 language speaking Jane Austen reading 12 year old on the bus to Chau Doc, and ran into some American friends from Na Trang...after touring a coconut candy factory, a fish factory and a floating market in the South of Vietnam (Mekong Delta), we were put on a boat and taken to a small town where I met Molly...Molly is Kindie teacher from the States and so sweet...we had lunch, and toured the area on bikes when she told me she was doing the tour where you sleep on the boat...Josh and Arie said they were on the same tour as well so I paid a bit extra to sleep on a boat over night VS in a hotel in Chau Doc...

First, we took a tour in bamboo canoes paddled by women int heir 60's with big conical hats, huge smiles and itty bitty bodies...the sweetest women I have ever seen rowing our fat asses down the river...then we took a short bus to arrive in another small town where we had 1/2 an hour to investigate the local riverside market before embarking our boat...the market was well interesting, as we saw a few disheartening sights...i was glad Leanne wasn't there for the 2nd time that day (first was the huge snake they pulled out for tourists at the resturaunt), because we found ourselves surrounded by Vietnamese selling beheaded, skinned frogs that were continuing to move around and jump out of the pan (even when their feet and hands were cut off with scissors), squirmy eels in water in big baskets just itching to slide out onto your toes, slabs of meat hanging from dripping hooks, fish alive and dead flopping around and splashing everyone, and heaps of piles full of salted, dried fish (worst smell ever)...I loved it all!

We bought some yam chips (yum!) and dragon fruit and boarded a lovely wooden boat, with a large dining room, a patio upstairs with sweet recliner chairs, and lovely comfortable bunks to sleep on...from my all nighter the night before, I was a tired girl so after watching the sunset, I retired to my bunk to wake up on the river close to the town of Chau Doc...we hit up a hill tribe to see houses made on stilts to avoid flooding, and another floating market selling anything and everything with its customers paddling and motoring about collecting the days eats...we then were ushered to the Vietnam/Cambodia border and for $22 and a picture we were official visitors for 30 days to tour the country of Cambodia (Kampuchea in the Khmer language...)

If only I had time to finish...will have to wait for the Cambodian update...

Here's to flying kites on peaceful afternoons surrounded by family, the knowledge that we live in democratic, safe countries, and freedom...

Erin

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