We also saw the
painted Stork, the Common Flameback Woodpecker, Baya Weavers with nests hanging from the trees, thousands of Lessor Whistling Ducks, huge fruit bats hanging from a tree and many other smaller birds. On the way home we stopped at the village near the lake ad watched them processing and then weaving silk into beautiful scarves.
Siem Reap has grown a huge amount in the last ten years but it is still very cute and a fun place to hang out. Lots of good restaurants, really cheap massages, foot cleaning by submersing your feet into a tank of fish and many places to sit around and watch the action while sipping on two beers for a dollar.
We rented bicycles for a dollar a day but, even though the terrain is flat, I would have paid twice that to have one several inches taller. For two days we biked around the ancient ruins of Ankor Watt and on the third day we saw the further ruins in a motorcycle pulled cart (a tuk tuk).
The ruins, mostly from the eleventh and twelfth century during the reign of
Javayaraman five to seven where built during the peak of the Khmer empire. At one time the Khumer occupied most of S. Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and even into Burma. They were grandiose and amazing with a style influenced from India and many particularly well preserved stone carved statues of Khmer royalty, warriors, religious figures, demons, monsters, dragons, monkeys and elephants.
The walls of the main building in Ankor are decorated with carvings of the great mythical battles of their folklore.
Phnom Penh was the only other city we visited in Cambodia. We visited S-21 infamous political prison of the Khmer Rouge but took a pass on the "killing fields", the Dachau of Cambodia. We hired a nice and interesting Tuk Tuk driver/ guide for the day. His driving was amazing as he never looked back to see who he was cutting off, just waved his arm out and down before turning from the wrong lane, making an illegal u-turn or cutting across several lanes.
He had read quite a bit of history, especially communist political history, for a twenty-one year old. Glancing back at us, as much as looking forward at the road, he gave us his communist perspective of how Cambodia got to where it is today. He had left his home in the country-side with nothing a couple of years ago and was working to save money to study Economics in college . He told us he really like writing and history, but his mother thought studying economics would make more money. He has a French girlfriend he loves, but his mother has other plans (the girl next door). If only our boys were so obedient!
The riverside in Phnom Penn, the confluence of the Tonle Sap river and the Mekong, is lined with cafes and hotels in old but well kept French Colonial buildings. There are lots of seedy bars on the side streets by the river. Some western men seem to have found a young local female companion to tour the country with. Kind of a guide/concubine combination. If you can dodge the motorcycles and cross the street to the park by the river at sunset you might encounter groups of 20 to 30 middle aged people doing jazzersize to blaring speakers, young couples strolling the promenade, evening dinner cruises and cart vendors selling deep fried shrimp, 3 inch waterbugs, and black shiny tarantulas.
We had dinner with some Australians overhanging the river on the top floor of the FCC, the Foreign Corespondents Club where the Journalists congregated during the Vietnam War.
Down the mighty Mekong was such an appropriate way to cross the boarder of Vietnam. Lined by jungle and old junks, hot and humid, rickety buildings and piles of rice hulls it brought back memories of TV footage from the seventies or maybe from the movies that later depicted the war.
We arrived in Chau Doc a seedy boarder town to discover an entirely different culture that shocked us a bit at first. Market odors of meat and fish filled the air, buildings were in disrepair, musty thick tropical air enveloped us and we were tired. The Vietnamese language is coarse, abrupt and they speak loudly. Think of Asians talking like Italians. Not only do they drive all over the road with no regard for any traffic rules but they do so very aggressively, giving the impression that they would really run you over if you did not move. We decided to be extremely careful.
Despite our good intentions we immediately made a mistake. On the recommendation of our hotel we bought tickets for a mini van ride to the next town, CanTho ,as opposed to the bus. It drove a break neck speed through traffic, passing, honking, and running motorbikes nearly off the road. The only time it slowed was to nab another passenger until the vehicle was jammed full. We survived, but will stick to large tourist buses from now on.
Along the many tributaries of the Great Mekong River we visited several small towns, spending most of our time exploring the waterways and floating markets in small wooden "long boats" boats driven by Vietnamese women.
The Mekong is a huge network of big and small rivers and which are teeming with commerce. Boats of all sizes are carrying rice, vegetables, fruit, sand, equipment, fishermen or you name it.
Entire villages are built on the edge of a river. In one area bamboo houses float above net cages as large as the bottom of the house in which fish are farmed, being fed through a hole in the "porch". The Vietnamese here manufacture their own fish food each day by grinding up rice hulls and left over fish parts into a paste, then it is pelleted and dried.
There are daily markets on the river near each town- a congregation of boats selling their produce, wares or food-to-go. We spent one night on a small island at a "home stay" which was promoted, by the woman who cornered us as soon as we got off of the bus, as peaceful and quiet. It was quite lovely and scenic, but not quiet. The neighbors dog barked until midnight with additional outbursts throughout the night. At two AM a cat entered our room via the gap between the roof and wall carrying a rat in his mouth and then, to add insult to injury, the roosters woke up at five AM.
Our next stop was Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City or HCMC). It's truly a bee hive of motorcycles ceaselessly careening through the streets. Although there are marked crosswalks, no one pays any attention to them, traffic lights are rare, round-a bouts more common. To turn left at an intersection people cut diagonally across the inside of traffic rather than going to the middle and waiting for a break like we do. And believe it or not the person in the car, motorbike or bicycle that is behind is responsible for avoiding a collision, meaning that the driver in front can turn right or left in front of you, change lanes or even make a U-turn without looking back to check to see if anyone is in the way. They may signal but they almost never even glance back.
As you might imagine, crossing the street is one of the scariest things we have ever done. Nevertheless, Saigon was interesting as a totally bustling, cosmopolitan city. We enjoyed the experience, had some great food and saw many of the major sights but were ready to leave after one day.
We headed North to Cat Tien National Park.
Location:Dalat
