Road trip from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap

We got thru traffic pretty easy this morning and drove Hwy 6 tp Siem Reap in about 10 hours.  Vuthy, our new guide, rode with us and he is delightful!  We stopped and interviewed a woman and daughter selling lotus fruit.  He bought some and we tried it on the bus.  The scenery was rice fields and small villages.  The road is partially paved.

We stopped at a village that specializes in tarantulas, catching and selling them for food.  A lady  caught some for us, fried them up and I tried two.  They were pretty tasty!

We had a delightful lunch at a resort and stopped at a neaby rice field and Vuthy, our guide, explained how rice is raised and harvested.  Along the side of the road were rice farmers that were cooking and smashing the rice to make rice cereal.  We stopped and some of the guys tried the smasher.

Our next stop was a very old bridge dated in the 1100's.  Most of the old bridges have been destroyed with the construction of the highways but this one is preserved.  Our bus could not drive across so we walked across.

We arrived in Siem Reap late afternoon and walked in the gardens before going to the hotel.  This is a very touristy town with more hotel beds than homes but it is not as crazy as Phnom Penh!  There are bats in the garden areas, temples with monks giving blessings, and we tried another common street food - boiled eggs that have baby chicks in them.  This was harder to eat than the insects but it tasted like egg.  

We tried our hand at folding the lotus flowers for the offerings but we weren't very good at it.  Dean did pretty good.

Phnom Penh

We flew to Phnom Penh and upon arrival we drove to Tuol Sleng Prison Museum.  This is a grim reminder of Cambodia's bloody past under Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979.  The museum was a high school before the fighting began and then became a prison during the Khmer Rouge, used to torture their own Cambodian citizens.  Over 9000 were brought thru here and killed.  We met one survivor and I bought his book and was honored that I got a picture with him.

Some of the victims and the above picture is the survivors cell.

We were suppose to see the Royal Palace but because of the Water Festival, no one was allowed in during the days we were in Phnom Penh.  The city is normally 2 million but there was an extra 1 million here for the festival.  The first night we were there we took Tuk-tuks down to the Mekong River after dinner to see the lighted floats.  I have never in my life seen so many people.  The traffic was almost unbearable!  But the floats were beautiful.

This was all we got to see of the Royal Palace, the outside.

The next day we went to the national museum and then drove out to the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek about 10 miles out of town.  At one time this was a Chinese graveyard but the Khmer Rouge turned it into a killing area for Cambodia citizens.  There is a large temple, 9 stories high, with the skulls and bones of around 9,000 victims.  They have unearthed around 80 mass graves and there are a lot still uncovered.

After lunch we went to the Russian market.  It does not look like much from outside but on the inside there was a lot of merchandise, food, souveniours.

That night we had dinner and drinks at a roof top restaurant.  Again the traffic was incredible.  We saw up to 6 on a bike but I could only capture this shot of 4.

This is my least favorite city.  Tomorrow we are off to Siem Reap.

 

Vientiane, Laos

On the last morning in Luang Phrang we toured the Royal Palace which was built from 1904-1909 and served as the king's home.  Today it is a museum where you can see the royal throne and other artifacts, especially gifts from various countries.  The grounds were beautiful and contained some colorful stupas.  Below is a picture of beloved Laos tour guide.  We stopped to order lunch and then went to the airport for our flight to Vientiane which took about an hour.  Vientiane is the capitol of Laos and home to about 700,000 people.  And they seem to be all in the streets because, again, the traffic is terrible!  We checked in to the Sabaidee hotel and took an orientation walk around the neighbor.  Dean stayed in the room because he was not feeling well.  Todd and Chimeau bought us fried grasshoppers and silkworms.  We bought the beer.  I liked them and ate quite a few.  I brought some back to Dean but he was not impressed.  Dean stayed in this evening while the rest of us bussed to a local restaurant for more Thai-Laos food.  The rooms at the hotel are not quite as good as previous, king bed, no bathtub and shower that sprayed into the room, but it was good for two nights.  The breakfast was typical - eggs, bacon, rice soup, fried veggies and meat dishes, toast and jam.

On our second day in Vientiane we set out to explore the highlights of this city.  We started our explorations with a visit to the golden-domed Phra That Luang (Great Scared Buddha), a national symbol of Laos built in the 16th century.  This was the start of the full moon celebration and there were lots of people, monks, food stalls, etc.  The women had to put on sarongs to go into the Stupa area.  

Next we walked up to the top of Patuxay Victory Gate Monument which was built by the French.   It resembles the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.  Their are about 6-8 floors and over 200 steps but the views were very good.  

We visited the Haw Phra Kaew (house of the emerald Buddha) which contains some of the best Buddha sculptures in Laos.  It also had some incredible carvings on old tree trunks.  Nearby was Wat Sisket, the oldest monastery in Vientiane, dating back to 1818.  There were a lot of monks also visiting these temples.  It is so surprising to see monks with cell phones and cameras.  Young men are expected to become a monk for at least a month or longer starting as early as 10 years of age.  Some stay but most go in for the education.

We had a free afternoon and we went to a shopping mall and it got a massage.  Last night in Vientiane Todd, our guide, bought us a beer since he won $40 in the lottery and then we went for PIZZA.  it tasted pretty good after all this rice.

Luang Prabang, Laos. Day 3

Today we got up early (5am) and participated in the alms giving ceremony.  There are over 400 monks in this town and each day they walk the streets single file and people give them food or offerings.  They, in turn, give prayers to the givers and their families.  Dressed in orange robes, the monks provide a sense of calm and solemnity to the inhabitants of the city each morning. OAT had mats, chairs, rice ready when we arrived at our area of giving.  They also provided scarves since every one is to wear a scarf draped across their left shoulder and either tied at the waist or draped back over the shoulder.  It was a very quite, humbling experience.  Some of th monks were so young and a few very old.  It is a right of passage for SE Asia young men to become a monk for some time during their lives, usually when they are young.

After the alms giving we went to the morning market.  We had to buy everything we needed for lunch.  Each of us had a different item that we had to find and buy, and we only had the Laos name.  The market had fresh fruit and veggies, fish and meats, live chickens and ducks, eggs, dried fish, all kinds of rice, grasshoppers, worms, and even guienea pigs.  A very large market!

After a stop at the hotel for breakfast we set out to experience " A Day in the Life" of a Laos village.  This is an activity that all of the OAT trips have.  We visited the town of Ban Tin Keo.  First we were introduced to the village leaders and their families.  It is so nice to have guides who can communicate for us.  Then we walked to a blacksmith who was making knifes and he demonstrated how the knifes were made.  He does the hammering and his wife works the primitive bellows.  Some of the couples tried to copy the technique.

We met the young students of a local elementary school which is supported by Grand Circle foundation, at subsidiary of OAT.  These were first and second graders.  They were so cute.  When we arrived at their 3 room school house they came out, put flowers around our neck and took us by hand into the classroom.  My little girl was 7 and her name was Korn.  I had brought pencils, colored pens, and candy.  She kept eyeing my gifts until I let her pick a pen.  Some of the teachers in our group, me included, got up and taught the students some English words.  I taught eyes, nose, knees, and toes.  Then they sang us two songs and we all sang one together.  We went to the library where each student got a book and we helped our students with some English.  My little girl knew a lot.  When we left the students Korn hugged me and waved goodbye as we walked off to our next visit.

We passed from the Laos side of the village to the Hmong side.  These people were relocated to this village 7 years ago from the hills.  They live much more primitive than the Laos people.  Where the Laos people had brick walls and tile floors, the Hmong people had bamboo walls and dirt floors.  They believe in spirits and we visited the local shaman.  He explained how he became a shaman and how he could heal the sick.  He played his flute for us and then we went outside and everyone tried his wooden crossbow.  Some hit the target but most were high.  The shaman was dead-on.

We returned to the Laos leaders home where we participated in the cooking of our lunch.  We each added the ingredients we had bought from the market into the wok they had set up in the front of the house.  It was a wonderful Pad Thai.  We thought that was lunch but the leader's wife prepared sticky rice, pork wrapped in banana leaves, soup, and another rice dish in banana leaves.  Dessert was fresh fruit.

The above picture is their kitchen.  The only method of cooking is on the little stove in the corner.  No oven, no microwave and they have to squat down to cook.  My knees would be killing me!