The Temples of Angkor, Cambodia

4:30 AM - The streets of Siem Reap were dark and quiet as we got ready to catch the sunrise behind Angkor Wat. It felt very strange after the crazy-busy streets of Saigon!

As we got closer to the UNESCO World Heritage Site I noticed that we were part of a long parade of tuk tuks, all carrying tourists, with the hopes of witnessing a colorful sunrise. The weather was as cool as it could be (26-28 degrees) but even with the wind on our face we were sweating already. For $17 US, Mala agreed to be our tuk tuk driver for the whole day, stopping at the main sites that we chose: Angkor Wat, Angkor Tom, Ta Prohm and Banteay Kdei.

Our excellent tuk tuk driver Mala.

5:30 AM - Under a slowly lightening sky we paid our entry ticket: $20 US. You need to show your pass at every temple. The amount of security at the gate was ridiculous. Beyond the gates I saw rows upon rows of small tables, open food stands, huts and tables all along the road to the temples. Hundreds of hopeful Khmer locals, living in near-misery, behind their shop, trying to sell souvenirs or food to tourists. But every vehicle was just whizzing by without giving a second glance. From what I've seen, in both Siem Reap and Angkor temples, there are way too many food/drink/souvenir stands for the number of people visiting.

Angkor Wat

6:00 AM - Despite the clouds, I still managed to get some sun rise colours on camera (thanks to my Vivid Colors setting. I know. I cheat.) The long walk over the moat and towards the main temple was spectacular. Almost every column, wall and ramp is covered in detailed bas-relief. I will never see the Cambodia flag the same way.

5:45 AM Sunrise on Angkor Wat.

We spent at least 2 hours at Angkor Wat (12th century) visiting the corridors around the temple and going as far in - or up - as the site allows. Many staircases are closed. For good reason too! They're very steep and unstable. Like any good tourist, I looked around in awe and tripped 3-4 times over fallen stones or door frames. I was trying hard to catch the perfect postcard photo: it should include the majestic ruins with vegetation growing on them, as well as a Buddhist monk in bright orange passing by. And it still counts even if he's on his mobile phone, we are in 2013.

Some of the Apsara carvings inside of Angkor Wat.

Angkor Thom

8:00 AM - Angkor Wat gets all the attention, but I think I prefered Angkor Thom! At most of the sites we visited there isn't much information about the structures and statues. You need a tour guide or book to know why they were built, in honour of what god, and what each carving means. However there is a lot of signage about the impressive conservation projects happening in every temple of the complex! In many cases, structures were completely falling apart... so they were taken down, the pieces were numbered and rebuilt with a solid foundation and replacement stones (for those missing or broken) like a massive 3D puzzle!

Side of Bayon, the biggest temple within Angkor Thom.  

After the Bayon (above), there was Baphoun (below), where I climbed about 100 steps to the top and met a couple with a baby. Canadian dad & Australian mom. 7 hours in the scorching heat, going up and out steep stairs... I'm impressed!

Me at the top of Baphoun, one temple of Angkor Thom.

Past the Terrace of the Elephants, my parents took a little break in the shade. I climbed (crawled) to the top of Phimeanakas, which is also falling apart. I noticed a broken, roaring lion statue leaning dangerously close to the edge. I don't want to be the next tourist to walk underneath.

You really have to watch your step once you get to the top of Phimeanakas.

Ta Prohm

11:30 AM - Hot hot heat! 35 feels like 45, I think. But it wơn't stop me from visiting Ta Prohm which is by far my favorite temple. Not because it appears in Tomb Raider but because it's just so damn beautiful. For better or for worse, because the massive fig trees growing all over the templ ruins are actually destroying it very slowly. The roots are very strong so they hold up the walls. But once the tree dies, everything falls apart.

12:30 PM - Lunch in an air conditionned restaurant. Thank goodness!

Banteay Kdei

1:00 PM - We went for one last visit: Banteay Kdei, "the Citadel of Monks", built in the 12th and 13th centuries. I think it looks like a mini version of Angkor Thom, with scultped faces on the top, with trees growing all over it like Ta Prohm, and with very well preserved carvings of Apsaras on the walls. Unfortunately this temple is full of wooden or metal beams holding the place together until a proper restoration project can be funded here. France? US?

A nice inside view of Banteay Kdei gives perspective...

There were adorable Khmer kids trying very hard to sell souvenirs and flutes. I took a 360 degree video of the temple in which they correct my "Banta Srey" to "Banteay Kdei" and within 5 seconds one of them yelled: "You take my photo, now you buy flute!" They learn quickly.

Back to Angkor Wat

2:00 PM - Before leaving the complex on our tuk tuk with Mala, I couldn't help but running back to the main Angkor Wat temple to get a good glimpse of this beauty under the full sunlight. Even with the scaffolding and green tarps in the middle, Angkor Wat is still breathtaking.

Tạm biệt Angkor Wat!

We could have fallen asleep in the tuk tuk on the way back... We had a quiet dinner by the pool: traditionnel Khmer dísh called "Amok" with a well-deserved mango smoothie.

Sleepy time!

Biking around Siem Reap, Cambodia

Humid, sweltering hot weather sounds perfect for biking around town. So after a quick breakfast at the Golden Banana, that's what we did!

We first went to a small buddhist temple, then around a park, then way off the map and got completely lost. By noon the sun was sizzling hot so it was time to ask for directions back downtown. But the two people we approached could not read our map. We just turned back to retrace our steps.

Biking around a small town is the best way to see more, get off the beaten path and get lost. You end up with interesting stories to tell. 

My Dad read in many websites and guidebooks that men can get a $1 haircut in Cambodia. So we walked into a small barbershop which was also a living room, with two kids running around. I carefully explained in multiple ways with hand gestures "Please don't shave off his sideburns" and the barber nodded and said "Ok, ok, ok!" Then he proceeded to shaving his sideburns. Oh well, I tried! We still gave him $3. Meanwhile I drank a "winter melon" drink that tastes strangely like maple sap, and watched a bit of Ghost Rider in Vietnamese with the kids.

Dad getting a $1 hair cut in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

On the otherside of the road there was a cinema: A big room sheltered from the sun, with 30-40 chairs, and one large flat screen playing a cheesy soap in vietnamese. Once my Dad's shor' shor' haircut was done, we biked back to town, around the market and to the B&B.

Siem Reap market - I noticed this local delicacy, among many other insects on display. But I didn't dare have a taste.

Before going back to the Golden Banana to pass out in the pool we got a dead-skin-eating-fish-massage. That sounds disgusting. It kind of is. But I'm sure it has a fancy name. The little "Doctor fish" wriggle around your feet to nibble off the dead skin. It's really funny! And it was nice to sit in the shade, feet in cool water and beer in hand.

Our feet getting eaten away by tiny fish. Weirdest feeling.

Finally back at the pool, I was greeted by my little welcome committee of geckos on the outer walls and ceilings... also there are always a dozen flowers floating on the surface like someone put them there for me.

I did a bit of reading: Les Chroniques Vietnamiennes written by Claude Potvin, a friend of my parents. He wrote it in 1995 and has been living in Hanoi for many years now with his vietnamese family. Interesting anecdotes, very well written and quite funny at times!

Walking like an egyptian under the soothing, refreshing "waterfall" at the Golden Banana B&B.

After a relaxing pool time & nap we dressed up (however you can dress up in 34 degree heat) to go to a traditional Khmer food buffet and Apsara dance performances. They wear lovely outfits, bracelets, headdresses and of course... they dance so well! It requires a lot of balance and strength to pivot ever so slowly on one foot. Also... I think they are all double jointed. Fingers and elbows can't possibly bend that way.

An evening of delicious Khmer food and traditional Apsara dancing at "Angkor Mungdial".

The Tunnels of Củ Chi (near Sài Gòn)

*Desolee du manque d'accents.

Debouts super tot, on a profite du buffet-petit-dejeuner du Elegant Hotel. Delish! Melange de bouffe traditionnelle vietnamienne pour les curieux, et quelques options western pour ceux qui se sentent un peu "home sick". On a vite embarque sur notre demie-journee organisee, avec Sinh Tourism, direction Cu Chi District!

La visite des tunnels de Củ Chi etait superbe! Malgre les 35 degres + 60% humidite. Notre guide Anh (prononce "ang") etait fantastique. Son anglais est excellent et il fait des bonnes petites blagues que 1/3 des personnes comprennent.

Avant de rentrer dans les details des Cu Chi Tunnels Anh nous a fait un bon resume de la Guerre du Vietnam de facon plus ou moins neutre, en comparant South Vietnam & North Vietnam a la Coree, et en terminant avec "les vietnamiens l'appellaient la Guerre anti-communiste."  On a aussi regarde un video de propagande de "la jeune heroine vietnamienne qui tuait des americains pour venger la mort de sa famille." Tres patriotique...

Anh nous explique que des petits trous comme
ca servaient a aerer les tunnels 3-6m en dessous.

LES TUNNELS

Un reseau de tunnels souterrains, etroits, chauds, sombres, sales et dangereuxs... construits pendant la Guerre du Vietnam, dans la region de Củ Chi (nord-ouest de Sai Gon) de presque 250 kilometres au total!! Environ 60cm de large et 90cm de haut, les Viet Cong pouvaient se faufiler sans trop de problemes dans le differents tunnels jusqu'a 10m de profondeur. 

Les americains qui sont alles combattre dans le coin preferaient bombarder la place en esperant frapper les bons endroits que rentrer dedans, se perdre ou se faire blesser par les trappes.

LES TRAPPES

Partout sur le terrain et dans les tunnels il y avait des "booby traps" hyper dnagereuses avec des tiges de bamboo affilees, des trous, des trucs assez barbares, quoi...  Des milliers de vietnamiens, hommes, femmes, adultes, ados et enfants, ont resiste a l'offensive americaine.

Papa et moi, avec aucune idee qu'on va vivre 10 minutes INFERNALES, sous terre. Ce tunnel n'a pas ete elargi pour les touristes. Donc 60cm de large par 90cm de haut. On commence accroupis, on fini a quatre pattes, le front, le dos et la craque de sein degouttent... c'est tellement desagreable! Respect a ceux qui ont peri la-dedans.

 De retour a Sài Gòn pour se decrotter et se rafraichir, on prend un taxi vite vite vers Siem Reap (Cambodge). Notre tuk-tuk driver nous attend avec une petite pancarte qui dit "Francine" et nous conduit de l'aeroport au centre de Siem Reap. Il y a une grande avenue de plusieurs kilometres avec juste des hotels 5 etoiles, et d'autre bigga-hotels en construction. Contente de reste au Golden Banana Bed & Breakfast!

Le personnel du Golden Banana est super gentil, je pratiques mon "khmer" (langue du Cambodge) avec eux. La piscine (et l'air climatise) est rafraichissante et le voisinage super mignon. Sauf le coq du voisin. Tout le monde veut l'egorger. Mais ses enfants sont cute, alors ca compense.

Les enfants khmer du voisin sont cute. Mais pas son coq qui chante a chaque heure de la journee.

La journee n'est pas complete sans une photo de nourriture khmer:

Une vieille dame de 4 pieds de haut, avec un chapeau pointu nón lá poussait son chariot... Ca m'a pris du temps avant de comprendre qu'il etait PLEIN de petites mini-moules salees & epicees.

Ho Chi Minh City (Thành phố Sài Gòn)

I will only say it once: Damn it's hot out here!

It's just the contrast with Ottawa that's a bit of a shock... So far we are coping quite well with the heat. It was only 28 degrees today, it might be 30 tomorrow.

Our highlight of the day: the traffic. There's no perfect way to describe it. You have to be in it, holding on for dear life, to understand the organized mess that are the Saigon streets. Cars and motorbikes and bicycles all rushing through. Motorbikes carrying an entire family. One of them holding a 5 month old baby under her right arm and a basket of EGGS in her left. Cyclists pushing or pulling loaded carts piled so high they can't even see where they're going unless they stand up.

The first intersection I saw with lights. But they're more like guidelines anyways...

But the most impressive thing is their driving. I haven't seen a single car or motorbike signal left or right, and they never do shoulder checks. They just focus on what's in front and beside them. Those behind have to adjust. If you need to turn left and there are no lights? No problem, my friend! Just drive straight into the oncoming traffic, slow down a little bit so your moves are predictable, and the 30 cars and motorbikes coming your way will merge around you and find their way through. I just can't get used to it.

First meal in Vietnam. Dad already bit into some really spicy hot pepper. Yaouch!

Another one of our big fascinations in Saigon is the electricity: This is just a glimpse of the tangled mess that are electric lines everywhere in Saigon. Enough to make any electrician cringe. Why have they not planned installation in advance? Why are there open wires? It really feels like locals improvise and set up their own electricity when no one's looking.

After a good jetlag siesta we went back to the hot, noisy, busy, crowded streets to go stop by the War Remnants Museum and leanr a bit more about Vietnam War.

Quick stop at the War Remnants Museum. Very, very interesting and somewhat neutral information on the Vietnam War.

Then we went to see the Water Puppet Show! ... I thought it would be a tourist trap... but it turned out to be wonderful. Accompanied by 6 live musicians and singers, the 6 puppeteers are behind the green curtain, and I think they control the puppets with long poles. But I still don't understand how they can make the little characters and water buffaloes and dragons dance, turn in circles and change positions without stepping all over each other behind that curtain.



We went to see a funny, ingenious "Water Puppet Show"

 Then I picked a restaurant suggested in the Lonely Planet (edition 2010) and had my fears confirmed. A small business who gets recommended by a popular guidebook like the Lonely Planet with eventually be a victim of its own "fame" (or good review). They have nothing to lose and everything to gain in increasing their prices because they know they will have a good crowd of tourists like me for 2-3 years.

In the side street Barbeques and small, sketchy restaurants I can get a delicious dinner for 20,000-40,000 vietnamese dongs, which is 1-2 US dollars.

Yet this Huong Lai restaurant, friendly and clean thought it was, had dishes starting at 4 or 5 US dollars. This happens a lot with restaurants, shops, hostels, hotels and attractions that find their way in the Lonely Planet, Footprint, Le Guide du routard, le Petit Fute', Frommers, etc.


Ok bed time! Cu Chi Tunnels tomorrow!

Montreal, Paris, Saigon

Oui, j'avais tout ce qu'il em faut dans ma valise. Mais il me manquait mon billet d'avion!

Heureusement un gentil monsieur d'Air France m'a demontre qu'avec la nouvelle technologie, pas besoin d'imprimer son billet. Il suffit de "scanner" son passeport pour imprimer ma boarding pass.

Mercredi soir 20h00: depart de Montreal

Jeudi matin: 3h00 arrivee a Paris. J'ai pas dormi.

Tout petit somme a l'aeroport de Paris... 

Dans ma tete il est 5h00 du mat, je suis en train de passer une nuit blanche.

Jeudi 7h30 depart de Paris (il est deja 13h30 ici!)
Jeudi 18h30: j'arrive a Ho Chi Minh City! Mais ici c'est pas le soir. On est deja rendu vendredi le 19 avril, 6h30 du matin. Pas l'temps de niaiser, il faut saisir le jour!

Ca fesse, le decalage horaire.

Packing List

When going on a backpacking trip, one must travel light! But I must have forgotten something. My backpack is almost TOO light! :/

Let's see if I have everything I need:

Non... Bébé Léo peut pas venir.

Pochette de ventre: passeport + carte d'immunisations

Photocopies de passeport, de cartes, de numéros d’urgence
Travel Insurance copy
Vietnam tourist visa: letter of approval + 95 USD
Cambodia tourist visa: 2 photos (2x2) + 20 USD
Laos tourist visa: 2 photos (2x2) + 42 USD
Thailand visa - already received

LonelyPlanet South East Asia
Travel diary + pens

Currency card (table comparing USD with Dongs, Kips, Bahts!)

iPhone + charger
Canon Powershot
Batteries x2
Battery charger
Ridiculous amounts of SD cards (92G)
3-4 USB keys (28G)

Swiss army knife
Lampe de poche
Head lamp
Batteries AA
Corde + épingles à linge

Mousqueton + sac en filet
Serviette qui sèche vite
Sac mince qui se roule en boule
Casquette
Lunettes de soleil
Crème solaire
Afterbite

Bug spray
Wet ones

Taie d’oreiller
Plastic cover for backpack
Pleins de sacs en plastique
Sacs Ziplocs grands et petits
Cadenas
Rouleau de P-cul

Trousse:

Mini-bottles (Shamp/Con/Soap/Cream)

Brosse à dents, dentifrice
Tweezer, épingles, kit de couture
Earplugs
Hand sanitizer
Malarone prescription
Malaria prescription
Gravol, Imodium, Réactine, Advil
Bandaids
Élastiques à cheveux x300
Diva cup (j'peux pas l'oublier ou je l'ai mise, hein Catou?)

Poncho?
Coupe-vent rouge

Espadrilles brunes
Sandales
Flip flops

Foulard / bandanas

Pantalons de camping khaki
Shorts x2
Yoga pants noirs

Petite robe de plage
Maillot

Manches longues polypropylene d’NZ
Tshirt sport x3
Tanktop sport x2
Chemise à manches longues
Bas x5
Sports bra x2
Underwear x7
PJ léger

Deuxième blogue

Now let's see how each Dynamic View displays the images and text. Magazine and Mosaic are pretty cool... but the important thing will be my beautiful photos, right?

This elderly Chinese woman was in shape! Followed us all the way up to Jinshanling Wall of China (2011) and insisted on giving an improvised tour:

"You buy souvenir? Later? Ok. Later... Every day, I come. Every day five hours! This side Mongolia, this side China. This part, Xing dynasty. That part Ming dynasty. Now you buy souvenir?"

"Ok now you buy souvenir!? Ok?"

Noisy miners - native birds from Australia