Into the past with Lara Croft

Todays adventure was one that I had been looking forward to since first thinking about coming to Cambodia.  We were off to see Ta Prohm temple which featured in the Tomb Raider movie in 2001.  Not surprisingly our guide Kim San was a wealth of knowledge about the time they spent here filming.  The film was made before tourism really fired up here so it would have been quite a different place then.  At that stage there was only 3 hotels around Siem Reap - now there is well over 100.

The temple was built in the late 12th century and was later to serve as the tomb for the mother of one of the ancient king's (she actually died at 89 years of age which I think was remarkable.  It differs from the other temples we saw in that it is a) mostly flat - really only one level, b) the central tower is quite plain because originally it was covered in silver and gold (of course that was all stolen in the past) and c) it is over run by these gigantic trees.  In fact, these trees have become interwoven with the stones and bricks of the temple so have become part of it.  It sits about 1 km off of the road, and as you walk down the jungle path to the temple its incredible that they ever found it again here.  They are still in the process of restoring it - its been nearly 10 years so far and they've been granted another 10.

The temple itself is very serene and peaceful.  Quite unlike the entry outside the temple which has swarms of souvenir sellers.  I think the look on my Dad's face says it all!

Next up was a little journey to the river village in Siem Reap where people live a very simple and yet happy life.  The road through the village is alongside a small river so the houses on one side of the river are built up on stilts to accomodate the annual flooding.  Once again the conditions in which these people live makes me very grateful for what we have.  Many of them combine their work and their home so their front room will be full of containers of dried fish, or machine parts or whatever their trade is.  Some homes were just that - a small, probably 2 - 3 metres square little hut constructed from wood and palm tree fronds.  Most often a couple of hammocks strung up in a small little shack.  There were a handful of very large and expensive homes built in the area too, but the majority were certainly not like that.  Apparantly the government is trying to move some of them away by offering them $8k US.  At first that sounds a lot, but considering that most of the land here is about $1k a square metre it doenst go a long way.  Some people choose to move if they have somewhere cheap to move to.  Looking at most of these houses Id think you could pack up the contents and put them in the boot of a car. 

We drove for about a half hour to a little marina where we boarded a small river boat to go for a ride up to the Tonle Sap river.  This is a living fishing village - everything here is on the water, including schools and a volleyball court.  None of us was overly excited about getting on what looked to be a very dodgy boat, but it was well worth the time.  Lots of kids here, some rowing to school, some swimming in the brown muddy water and some helping their parents with the fishing nets.  Most of the people here fish for a living - the dad fishes at night and sleeps during the day, the mum processes and sells the fish during the day.  Theres no running water or electricity here - they get free bottles of drinking water delivered from the govt, and their tv's are run off of a car battery.

We finished up around lunchtime and that was the end of our time touring Siem Reap.  One thing I can say about tourism here is that its pretty clear that most of the tourist attractions are pretty expensive (ie the boat ride was $20usd each, entry to Angkor Wat was $40 each))  They do however make it pretty clear that the money you spend is getting put back into developing the local communities so that takes the sting off of the prices a little.

Getting closer to Buddha

Once again slept rather poorly as the room now was too cool ha ha - the fantastic air conditioner blew right onto Tony's newly balded head.  I'm sure that at some stage during these 4 weeks we will get the room climate just right.

For our first two days here in Siem Reap I had organised a tour guide to take us around Angkor Wat and the surrounding areas.  I kinda just stumbled upon some recommendations about him on Tripadvisor.  His name is Kim San and he is a native to these parts.  During our tour when we remarked about the bullet holes in the sides of the temple walls, he casually remarked that as a child he suffered a bullet wound to his knee while out riding his bike.  A stray bullet.  On returning to the hotel this afternoon he told us that both his Dad and his Granddad were killed in 1977 in the killing field that was here in Siem Reap.

We started off to Angkor Wat at 8 30 this morning.  And damn it was hot.  We struck the double whammy today of hot sun and humidity.  Our hotel is actually on the road that goes straight to the complex so it was only a 5 minute trip.  We purchased our 3 day passes for $40 US - its like an ID badge complete with photo.  Oh yes the main currency here is USD.  You even get change in US dollars - unless the change is under a dollar and then they give you local currency.

Angkor Wat itself is a) huge and b) totally breathtaking.  It dates back to the early 12th century and has been added to, parts of it broken off in civil wars, rebuilt, damaged by gunfire and yet it still remains solid.  Tony took some amazing photos so Ill chat a bit and then show you just a glimpse.
 
We walked across the bridge and into the main area. The temple grounds is about 1 km square but we only saw a little bit of it.  The artwork on the walls and statues have both Buddhist and Hindu deities.  In a couple of areas he explained the stories that they depicted and it was incredible.

After about an hour we all rested at what was a very spiritual place.

My poor mum had been feeling poorly all morning and the added heat didn't help.  We were sitting on the edge of what used to be a pool of water when she suddenly went white as a ghost and passed out.  Our wonderful tour guide grabbed her first and stopped her from falling face first onto the concrete.  My dad moved quicker than Ive ever seen.  You see he thought she was going to vomit and didn't want to get it on his pants!.  Later when mum had come to enough to figure out what was going on she said she thought she was dreaming.  I think maybe it was one of the ancient spirits trying to contact her...

After that excitement we went on to the Angkor Artisans workshop.  This is a place for the disabled and the very poor to get training in arts and crafts.

They also train people here to do the repair work on the temples.  They learn their crafts over about a year, and then the best get the honour of being able to work at the temples.  At this workshop they get food, lodging and a minimal amount of pay.  They also get the honour of contributing to their community.  Such a shame that the Aust Gov couldn't do similar for those willing to take their regular gov paycheck to do nothing.

Our day had been planned with the weather in mind so next stop was lunch and a rest break at the hotel.  Our guide was ready and waiting again for us at 3pm to start off again.  This time was Angkor Thom.  This place was just down the road from Angkor Wat, and was for some time the main city here in Cambodia.  The Kings and over 1 million people lived here from the 12th century onwards.  They all left when Phnom Penh was born.  The largest temple area inside the compound was called Bayon and the 52 parapets all have faces of the king on them.  Obviously it is similar looking to Angkor Wat and is equally as astounding.  Tony, Nate and I climbed up to the higher level and it was well worth it.

Changing Country

Not much to say today, the only thing we scheduled was a flight from Ho Chi Minh to Siem Reap in Cambodia.  The boys were worried about the quality of the airplane, in fact they were convinced it was going to be a biplane.  It wasn't, but we did have to start the trip by catching the little bus to board the plane out on the tarmac.  We flew Cambodia Angkor air and although the flight was only 40 minutes they still managed to serve us a snack - a bologna and sauerkraut roll, yes very Vietnamese.

Leaving Ho Chi Minh City

Arriving Siem Reap

The trip from the airport to the hotel took about 20 minutes.  Its actually quite close, our van driver was ambling along at about 40 kms and hour.  It certainly fit well with the first impressions of the place - very laid back.  We drove through the city centre and it feels very similar to rural thailand.  Lots of cows on the side of the road, lots of little kids playing in the street, families moving about in their tuk tuk.  I know were going to love it here.  Pretty much everyone didnt really ever feel at ease in HCMC - already this place feels very familiar.

Were staying at the Tara Angkor hotel which is really nice.   When we arrived we scored welcome drinks which was lemongrass tea - complete with a straw made from lemongrass ; really really delicious.  The folks were just a little miffed that we seem to have scored a bigger and better room than them - complete with an air conditioner above our bed that is the same that cools the hallway here.  I'm glad it doesn't have a reverse setting or I'm sure we'd get sucked up into it.

Random Bits

Were off to Cambodia today, but before we do I thought Id just post some of Tony's photos that didn't really fit into Blog posts, but add to our impressions of Ho Chi Minh City. Like in a lot of Asian cities there is a very obvious contrast between those people who have little and those who have a lot more.  The locals transport ranges from rusty old bicycles to a brand new Bentley Supersports.  Their houses range from a few sheets of plastic on a bridge to a multistory mansion.  Where they shop varies from a cart on the side of the road to a sparkly air conditioned shopping plaza.  Its really what we love about traveling in Asia - the contrasts are everywhere you look.

On our own

Today was the first scheduled rest break day.  I am well aware that I like to pack as much as possible into the few days we have in any one place.  I am equally aware that not everyone likes my 'scheduling'.  So, Ive done my best to put in a rest day for my troop to recover every few days.

We had nothing pre-organised today but opted to take the free hotel shuttle bus into the centre of the city in search of a supermarket as there were a couple of things we needed.   We went out at 11 so that my need to shop could be disguised as an opportunity to get lunch. We drove past the Ben Thanh market where Poppa got 'assaulted' 2 days ago.

Tony was also desperate to get a head shave.  I had figured out the name of the barber shop a few days ago, but finding a "Hot Toc" near where we were proved more difficult.  After getting dropped off by our bus we walked to some random street and came across a little lady handing out beauty shop brochures.  I flicked through it and a men's haircut was $7.  So we told her that Tony wanted a haircut and the adventure began.  I don't know why I didn't pay attention to the name of the salon - if I had I might have reconsidered it. 

We were lead in through a camera store up two flights of stairs and into the 'salon'.  It had one hairdressing chair in the front room, and beyond that was another room with 6 lounge chairs.  The rest of us were ushered into the back room and forced to 'relax' in these great big chairs while Tony went into the salon.  They bought out glasses of what I hope was water - I didn't drink mine in case it was supplemented with a special 'vitamin' to help relaxation.  They kept telling us to relax and lay back.  Nate of course thought it was great as they also had bowls of lollies.  I sat on the edge of the chair the whole time so I could go and see how the head shave was progressing.  In the end she didn't really shave it, but it was certainly shortened, and it was the longest time ever to cut a head of hair that was already short.  We paid the $7 and got the hell out of there.  As we were leaving she said to Tony - "you come back tomorrow at 10 o'clock".  I'm thinking that was the "lucky" part of the service.

Thank god for the Internet as I was able to find one of the very few supermarkets in HCMC in advance and was then able to successfully navigate us to it.  We decided to try the KFC for lunch as I have this thing about comparing the junk food in each different country we go to.  There's no McDonald's here, and actually remarkably little western named stores in the streets.  Id seen one Gloria Jean coffee place, one Pizza Hut and only 2 KFC outlets in total.  Theres certainly none of the 7/11 stores that are everywhere in Thailand.  I was doing some reading about it and its because the government here doesnt want the western look here - they want to look Vietnamese.  I must say I do have to commend them for it.  I do think though that if we came back here in 20 years the place will look quite different.  At the moment there is a distinct lack of high rise buildings and there really isn't much of a skyline to look at.  We did go past a few building sites with pictures out the front of what they are planning to erect and it does appear that some mega glass fronted buildings aren't too far off.

For our last night in Ho Chi Minh I had organised for us to have a dinner cruise on the Saigon river.  We ventured out into the night in a 6 seater taxi which not surprisingly was dirt cheap.  We boarded a replica 19th century royal Vietnamese Dragon Boat called the Bonsai 1.  We were greeted by the staff in traditional costume and were handing cocktails and canapes as soon as we boarded.

Dinner was an amazing buffet of western and Vietnamese foods, but the highlight was certainly the atmosphere.  Cruising up and down the river, being entertained by traditional music and dancing and a mini massage on the upper deck made for a very memorable night - a perfect end to our visit here.  We caught a taxi back to the hotel again, and the only reason I mention that is that the traffic is no better late at night, in fact in some areas it was worse - heavier and lots of people don't bother to use their headlights!

The path to Enlightenment

I figured in advance that today was to be all about enlightenment.  I was pleased to be right.  We took off early today because we were heading into the northwest, about 90 kms out of Ho Chi Minh City.  We were reminded all too quickly of where we were because even early morning the traffic here is nuts.  Very few cars on the roads - really only the little tour buses, a few taxis and a handful of cars.  I know Ive already mentioned it but there seem to be a bazillion motorcyclists getting around.  Vietnam is home to 90 million people, and 9 million of those live in HCMC itself.  And Id hazard a guess that most of that 9 million own a motorcycle and that the majority of those were out on the roads this am.  The traffic lights are hard to see because they are halfway down the posts they're on - kinda at eye height if your on a bike.  They use the countdown to light changing thing that most Asian countries seem to.  The only thing is that if you're in the lane turning right you can ignore the red light and keep going through!!

A snapshot of the traffic today from our van


First stop today was at the Cu Chi Tunnels.  Before stepping out of the van we armed ourselves with anti bug spray and these funky little badges also to scare away mossies.  This place was down a very long road in a tropical forest - a haven for little nippers.

The place itself was really quite eerie considering it played such an important part in the American War.  It really only took a few minutes to understand why Post Traumatic Stress features so heavily amongst those men who served here.  The villages made this massive underground tunnel system that was in some areas four levels deep.  They could pop out in one spot and then vanish only to reappear elsewhere like a ghost.  In the thick vegetation with no light it would have been terrifying.  It was really hot and steamy and with all the tropical forest they would have felt smothered.  We had quite a long walk around looking at some of the bunkers and bomb craters and tunnel entrances.  They have an American tank that was pretty well just abandoned after it struck a landmine, typical that they'd think a tank would work here in the jungle.

There was a whole collection of booby traps that they made with all kinds of metal and wood designed purely to trap and maim the American soldiers trying to find them.  Trouble was that they also got their own people as the whole area was very easy to get disorientated in - so much so that they really stayed in their own little areas so they didn't stumble upon their own traps or landmines.  They were really quite clever, not just about the very creative ways they found to take out their enemy.  Cooking was something that they needed to do, but it posed great risk as it could give away their location.  So, they created smoke vents that were 10's of metres away from their bunkers so even if that was found by the sniffer dogs there was certainly no guarantee of finding the source.  Likewise with the dirt that they removed from the tunnels - clearly a great pile of clayish mud would be a giveaway.  Instead they created "termite mounds" and filled in river beds so the soil just kinda vanished.  Amazing.

There was one  40 metre section that had been widened so that visitors could get a closer look.  Of course Nate (and then of course his mum) wanted to climb down into it to get a better look.  Nate could barely stand in it, and I had no hope of getting through as my shoulders got stuck even being bent over.

The highlight for Tony was his chance to fire off some rounds from an AK-47.  At $15 for 10 bullets he thought it was a bargain.  The rest of us were shocked about how noisy it was.  There were some other tourists that were using a 50 cal machine gun that certainly made the ground rumble.  Nate was terrified the whole time we were near the firing range - I think he must have very sensitive ears.  They were soothed by an ice cream though (thanks grandies!).

Pew Pew video footage

Overall it was a very thought provoking visit.  Not often you get to spend time where many people lost their lives in such horrible conditions. 

Back in the van and another 45 minute drive onto the Tay Ninh province to the Cao Dai Holy See Temple.  On the way to it I'm pretty sure that we were all thinking we could just skip it as we've seen pretty much all types of temples here.  So wrong.  This place is amazing.  The religion itself is very complex (wiki link).  Its actually relatively new, 1930's - some dude woke after being contacted by god in his dreams to create this religion and build this temple.  It certainly caught on and is the main religion in these provinces.  I guess to describe it, it has 'borrowed' tenets from Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism and Confusicsm.  The followers pray to a great big gold ball with an eye painted on it that sees all.  The devout pray 4 times a day - 6 hours apart.  We arrived just before 12 so got to roam around the non restricted part of the temple.  A couple of minutes before 12 we were ushered upstairs by these cranky wizened up little old worshippers who were more like ancient military police (or something out of Big Trouble In Little China).  The prayer service is quite long and can go for 50 minutes - they were all lined up, sitting on the floor chanting and swaying.

After feeding our souls it was off to another little restaurant to feed our bellies with yummy Vietnamese food.  Once that was done there was nothing left but to snooze during the 2 hour ride back to the hotel.  Such a great day and the last of our touring days here.  Ive learned a lot about southern Vietnam but am certainly aware of how much more there is to learn.

The last photo here is Nate with our driver and tour guide - hes a bit sad to say good bye to them after getting to know them over the last 3 days, but then thought that when we come back here again we can just order them up again!