Through the Mekong Delta

Sorry for the lack of photos but the computer is having trouble with loading them from the camera.


We left Phnom Penh on the 29th but not before visiting the Killing fields at Choeung Ek where more than 17,000 were killed by the Khmer Rouge and buried in mass graves. I wonder if in thirty years people will visit Darfur. Foolish humans...
The guesthouse in Phnom Penh had a happening commons and good food. We spent our evening amongst the backpackers and travellers there- mostly Europeans and Australians. People of the empire are not as common here.
When we left it was by bus south of the city where we boarded a 10m boat. The boat floated down the Mekong a broad muddy river. On the banks were rice fields, vegetable farms and an occasional village. At the border we stopped to be checked out of Cambodia. There was a rickety dock with two narrow boards to cross. Then we landed directly on the muddy bank to go to the Vietnamese border crossing. After looking through the papers they gave us the stamp stamp and we got on another bigger boat.
Further down the river divides into smaller channels where we were much closer to the shore and could see the people fishing and working. Once into Vietnam the better economic opportunity was obvious- people had more. Were they happier? I could not tell. The boat kept going and going, the trip totaling eight hours. We arrived in Chau Doc in the afternoon. There was no map in our book leaving us at the mercy of the drivers- we hired a pedal powered taxi to take us to a hotel. The trip turned out to be a few blocks. Once set up with lodging we walked the town and bought a large durian. At the docks a young man offered to take us to the floating village. We went with him in his row boat to houses where they raised catfish and carp below the floor boards. There were even pigs, chickens, dogs and cats floating on their own rafts. Then we went to a village of Cham people, an ethnic minority in Vietnam. They were weaving cloth on a loom but selling manufactured cloth for tourists.
The next day we headed down the delta to Can Tho. On the bus we met an Israeli traveller who works in China as a tour guide. He provided interesting conversation for the trip. Can Tho is a large trading city in the center of the delta but we found the people unfriendly so we carried in to My Tho where we stayed the night. The hotel had a beautiful view of the river so we relaxed near docks and went to have Hu tieu the local speciality- a pork noodle soup. We took a public bus to Saigon the next day.

Arrival in Phnom Penh

We made it across Cambodia and into Phnom Penh, the country's capitol on the Mekong River. The bus took about six hours to cross the nearly flat land between here and Siem Reap. While Cambodia I have discerned it to be a land of change and polarity. Eight hundred years ago the Khmer People ran an empire stretching from the South China to the Andaman Sea and its capitol was the glory of SE Asia, a place of pilgrimage for Hindus and Buddhists alike. Now it is a country poverty stricken and ravaged by wars and recovering from genocide. Many relatively rich foreigners come to see the ruined empire now while the Khmer youth come to the tourist meccas working for few dollars a day if they are lucky.

On the last day in Siem Reap we took our driver Piso out to lunch and chatted a bit. He told us that the typical wage for an unskilled laborer coming to work in Siem Reap would expect a salary of forty dollars a month. Which would mean that a typical meal at the restaurant would cost two or three days pay and everyday they see foreigners eating there twice or thrice a day. Piso gave us a short biography I will share to illustrate the life of many Cambodians in the last generation or so. He was born in a rice growing village fifteen miles from Siem Reap. When he was late teens or early twenties he became a monk at the nearby temple and then transferred to a larger temple. For six years he was a monk. Then wanting a family he resigned and became a security guard at the airport for several years trying to save for a motorcycle. At some point he quit and bought a passenger wagon for the motor bike and drives tourists around for $12-20 per day or short trips for a dollar or two. He said that he enjoys the freedom of being a driver but that for two months during the rainy season there are no tourists to drive. The competition is stiff for the drivers because there are so many and all the tourists are looking for the third world bargains. He has an employed wife ten years younger than he is and a child on the way. I can only imagine what most other's lives are like.
To be on the low income scale in America but be on the top in another country is not always pleasant. You can be treated like king but you have to step on all your subjects. Also you will be swarmed by more orphans, landmine accident amputees and homeless elderly than you could possibly help out. When one receive they all expect the same.
There are bright spots, I think that compared to Thailand the people are more honest and give you a fair price up front without as much bargaining. Children are often oblivious to it all while playing in the mud. In the country side the temples hold the people together with a common cause and belief in something greater than the expensive manufactured goods.

As for us, we have been eating excessive amounts of fruit. Small yellow banana, mango, mangosteen, durian, milk fruit, rambutan, pineapple and others I do not know the names of have all been on the on the menu. Especially rambutan- we have been eating about a kilo a day between the two of since we found them and they are cheap. We are avoiding the restaurants because they are relatively expensive and opting for food from street vendors who have original inexpensive choices. No one should fear for us having a lack of good gastronomy!

Into Cambodia

So Continuing from the border.....

We got our stickers that indicated we were part of the group and we departed for a brand new bus station a few miles out of town to await the long distance bus to Siem Reap. Well, actually the station was new but empty and unfinished. There were some Cambodian ladies there with a cooler full of cold water, beer and soda and an assortment of snacks. After waiting a while the group began to become a bit concerned about the bus. Eventually our agent showed up and explained that the bus was in disrepair and he had arranged for cabs to drive us to Siem Reap. As paranoid as we were no one was willing to go it alone in fear of being ripped off or brought somewhere undesireable so we stuck together and demanded the bus. This turned out to be a misunderstanding and the man found a van to bring most of us to Siem Reap for no extra charge. Perhaps they were trying but we resisted or we were just over cautious from being in Thailand.

Anyhow we arrived at Siem Reap later at night and were dropped off at a decent but poorly located hotel. Anh and I stayed the night and two more - it was hard to beat the price. From there we set out to Angkor the ancient Khmer capitol. The place is enormous spanning centuries of Kings buiding bigger and better temples and cities. The size of the the buildings is impressive but it is the intricate reliefs carved from stone adorning almost every surface. One temple, Bayon, had towers with four Buddha heads facing each direction, at Ta Prohm the tree roots are straddling the vaulted halls and Banteay Srei bears reliefs of the finest detail in excellent condition. There is too much to mention here. The place inspires the imagination- trying to envision it painted and fully decorated and hosting an ancient ceremonial precession.

To get around we hire a motorcycle with a carriage attached and a driver who will wait while we go and see the buildings. They also call these tuk-tuks. The first day Mr. Dany drove us around and agreed to the second day but Piso showed up in his place. Piso drove us the last two days and he turned out to be a fine honest fellow. This afternoon when we returned from the last sight and offered him lunch. He took us to his cousin's restaurant and had some very excellent Cambodian food. We changed hotels to a more central location for our last night in Siem Reap. Tomorrow we are heading out to Phnom Penh.

Out of Bangkok and the real Thailand

(sorry few photos- the internet is too slow here)


We left Bangkok on the 22nd but not before visiting Wat Pho the center of Thai Buddhism. The Temple is an enclosed area filled with the typical structures found at Buddhist sites: shrines, stupas, colonades and statuary everywhere. The style is distinctly Thai- the gables and glitter give it away.
Next we caught the bus to the northern bus station where the real adventure began. Arriving we found that the romanized names were missing from the signs. This proved to be rather disorienting but we located the lone english speaker in the station and got a ticket to Ayuthaya. The bus lacked foreigners but after a few hours we were in Ayuthaya, the old Thai capitol. There we ran into the wrong kind of Thai. While we were becoming oriented to the street names and figuring out where to go first a man offered to help. He was a tuk-tuk driver and said he would take us around for what we thought was a fair price and we agreed verbally. We went to some ruined temples and palaces trying to mind the time. At the first temple there was a woman and her children begging for money and selling incense when we explained we did not want anything she hounded us until we gave her five baht and explained we sought the quiet. When we went from place to place the driver would stall by running in to buy cigarettes or taking off course to somewhere we did not want to go. After the central temple: a tall prang (temple tower) surrounded by four smaller prang and various courtyards, he was drunk. This was not noticed until we were on the way to the guest house. He brought us to a guest house though we specifically asked for one by name and we had to goad him to go there. When we arrived he pulled a laminated sheet the said we agreed to pay him 200B per hour (which is thrice normal rates) and would agree to leave when we offered the original price. Besides he was tracking time on different watches to make it seem longer. The lady who ran the guest house helped us out and called the tourist police at the driver's insistence. She told them that he was drunk and more. So he left.

We tried to relax but I was a bit flummoxed at the whole affair and began to rethink Thailand. Later the driver came back with the tourist police and his wife and children. He had sobered up and was playing the sympathy line. I think he and the police were in it together because he tried to settle at 200B but we finally went for 160B (still two to three norma) just to get him to leave. The guest house lady talked to the police about it but I an not sure it did any good. After this fiasco we decided to skip Phimai (a Khmer ruin further north in Thailand) and head for Cambodia in the morning.
The old lady at the guest house was very kind but talked in a funny slow manner. She gave us advice about the bus. We had breakfast then walked to the bus station a few blocks away. The driver was there and we got a photo of his tuk-tuk to post online and warn others. The bus went down to the northern station, then we boarded another for the border. The trip cost about $15 for both of us and was nearly 6 hours. They dropped us in Aranya Prathet and we rode a tuk-tuk to the border station but had to steer him away from the travel agencies who wanted to sell us visas. The area near the border was crawling with travel agents trying to sell us a visa or a bus ride to Siem Reap.

Leaving Thailand was as easy as entering- they looked at us and stamped the passport and we were gone. Entering Cambodia though the visa should cost $20. Because we did not have photos they wanted $25 each and some baht to make it easier. They never did take a photo but with a "tip" they went in the back and set it up. We were in Poi Pet, Cambodia. Poi Pet is the kind of border town that makes Tijuana look nice. The drivers were on us like dogs on meat again and we were bargaining away stating at $40 then to $20 and finally to $7 for passage to Siem Reap. Before we paid we boarded the bus and got our sticker "BKK-SR" to go on our shirt and blend into a pre-paid group.

More to come and fill in.... I want to keep this chronological..... but now things are good, I have spent two days at Ankor Wat so far. Need to seek food.

Chatuchak Market Day

Today we went to the market. Not just any market but the Chatuchak Weekend Market-a 35-acre area covered in 15,000 stalls all covered by an intricate but somewhat makeshift roof network. Inside there are almost anything you could want or not want: animals- alive, dead, cooked; ceramics, metalworks, furniture, fabrics, textiles, clothing, jewelry, woodcarvings, live plants, cut flowers, and so on and on and on.

(deep-fried cockroach anyone?)

There were several dealers that were selling at higher prices than we have seen around near the river. But with some searching and hard bargaining there is much to be obtained for good prices.

Afterward we took the underground "skytrain" back to downtown but we could not figured out how it got the name. Perhaps because it is the most modern transport system in the city- very similar to the trains in Japan in high-tech features such as a plastic coin that you touch to a pad to gain entrance and the perfect alignment of the smoothly opening doors.

Then we went into the street for a meal of very fresh seafood including some of the best squid I have every had; it was soft easy-chewing and the mussels were not too fishy.

We went for a massage an hour or so ago- by professionals trained at Wat Pho Massage School- just to relax and ease the hard working feet.

Now we are deciding just how to escape Bangkok. Despite the multitudinous glories I have been writing about the city has a dark side- it is dirty. Once you have walked down the street where a dozen two-stroke tuk-tuks are shambling down you will gain a new appreciation for the smog check requirements for registration and the emission standards on trucks. On top of the exhaust there are charcoal and propane street kitchens cooking away and last night's trash in heaps and bags awaiting pick-up. None of this is helpful to maintaining you respiratory tract. If I only had a smell recorder for you. Tomorrow night we will be somewhere else.

Now in Bangkok

We made it! From San Diego to Bangkok there was a gruelling 20 hours of fight time broken by a a layover in LA and in Seoul.

Upon arrival the visas were stamped with no questions and we walked through customs without a word out into the humid warm Thai night (it was 1 am local time). Several people offered a limousine into town but to stick with the budget we bargained with the independent cabbies and got a ride at 1/3 the original price. But he did not know where the street we were going was so he and his son drove us all over asking people on the street for directions. Eventually we were dropped off near Khaosan Road- an area with many guest houses -and we walked amongst the many foreign and local revellers. There were street vendors, drunks, prostitutes and ordinary folks wandering around on the streets. We went a few blocks away and obtained a room from "Four Sons Guest house" to say the best it was adequate.

(photo: Kaosan Rd at night)

In the morn we left to find food and look around. The empty stalls on the street edge filled with vendors of many types. We bought a bottle of fresh orange juice and a bowl of noodle soup for about 60 cents (20 baht ; $1 = 35B : 100B = $2.84). Just walking around in a novel environment was entertainment enough for the morning. We retrieved our bags and key deposit and went to the National Gallery to check out some art. There were a wonderful set of relief panels illustrating aspects of Thai culture such as family, piety, charity and virtue. (no photo allowed there).

Then we wnet for a ride in two ways. While trying to find the Amulet Market a man told us about a Buddhist holiday today and that the government was promoting it with free gas to the tuk-tuks (motorized ricksaw) and that we should not pay more than 10B for one today. Strangely perfectly conviently there was one waiting right there on the quiet street (yeah we saw it coming). So we agreed to go to two temples for 10B (a ride that usually cost 100B). First it was at the feet of a tall Buddha and associated complex, the driver agreed to wait so we took our sweet time imploring Buddha to keep us safe while travelling in his lands.

(supplicants at the feet of a tall Buddha)

Then we went to a second temple and when we leaving an over-friendly Thai man chatted with us about where we were from and where we were from and going. When we told him about Cambodia he warned us about excessive hassles there and had a travel agent to reccommend (yup). So our driver took us there without our instruction when we asked him about another specific travel agent, he let us in and explained that if we go in and talk he we get his fee. So we did and the agent offered us a grossly overpriced bus ticket through to Siem Reap. I told him we did not know when we were leaving and asked politely for a buisness card "so we could come back and get the ticket later."

Then the driver brought us to a fancy suit store and we avoided buying a suit and soaps. Then at jewelry store we asked if they had hand-made fashion. At that point the driver got his fee and brought us to the Amulet Market. Perhaps we wasted half an hour or so in their scheme but it was a cheap thrill.

At the Amulet Market we bought a few charms to bring us various benefits: luck, protection, fertility and others unknown. These were in the form of small statues of Buddha, Shiva, Ganesh, other mythological figures and creatures. The Thais are no prudes so the virtues of some of these go without explanantion.

(various amulets)

Aferwards we found a better guest house (cheaper, too) and rest for a bit (Jetlag is why I am up now at 5 am to do this log). Then we had Indian food for supper.

Last night we fell asleep a bit too early and were awake in the middle of the night so we took a walk to gawk at the revellers on Kaosan Rd. Soon we go to the weekend market.

Kinks worked out

While you found this site and had difficulties commenting or other problems. I have been wondering why no one has commented to indicate that they located this web-log. I have loosened the requirements so anyone can comment.

If still you are unable to comment- leave me comment and I will try to fix it.

(or email me.)


We leave tomorrow!


But because we are crossing the international date line we do not arrive in Bangkok until 12:30 am on Saturday (local time).

The stops are in LAX and Seoul Inchon airports and many hours spent inside a crowded aluminum tube at high altitude.

Once the tripod aerial legs of the journey are complete we will be set free into a Bangkok Friday night.

Calochortus weedii-- test photo post

The Journey from Bankok to Hong Kong

Under this heading is where the real log entries will begin.

Testing, Testing, is anyone out there?

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This is a test of the 'blog broadcast system. In case of an actual 'blog you will read the message here. This is only a test.
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If you are reading this it is likely that I gave you a link here. You will find a log of my travels and exploits at this site.

The reason for beginning this 'blog is to provide easy mass communication of my status to all interested parties including family, friends and co-workers. I hope this will allay most concerns about my health and safety during my time in South-East Asia. The frequency of entries is subject to availability of internet access and time constraints. I intend to post brief descriptions of places and activities as well as photos and other media relating to the journey abroad.

Please return in after I have embarked to find logs here.