Bangkok!

Our last stop is Bangkok. And we decided to avoid the tourist hubs and plunked down in the middle of Chinatown. We checked into the Shanghai Mansion Hotel and it is perfect. It is a 1930's boutique hotel with a classy jazz bar nestled amid the buzz of the street markets. Marina and I have enjoyed the sitting by the goldfish pond, lounging in the huge bath tub, and dancing to the jazz band in the evenings.

We love the romantic surroundings and we are all trying to pack in as much last minute shopping and sight-seeing as we can. It is Deb's first time here, so it like seeing everything again for the first time. We went to Wat Pho and walked around the markets. A pigeon pooed on my head. Marina says it is good luck, but yuck! It is the 4th time it's happened to me, so I suppose I'm super lucky.

It's almost time to leave and we're both excited to be coming home but sad to be leaving Asia. We saw new sights, met new people, and revisited places we loved. It was tiring, difficult, beautiful and magical, sometimes all at once.

Koh Chang

Getting to Koh Chang from Siem Reap was a full day. It was an easy and efficient trip but a roundabout one. Thankfully Deb bought us plane tickets, but we had to fly to Bangkok, then to Trat, then bus to the dock, then take a ferry over to the island, then drive around the island to the far side where we stayed at a fishing bay. On our six hour stop over in Bangkok we even managed to store our extra luggage and cab into the city for lunch.

Our stay on Koh Chang was unexpected in many different ways. First off, Marina and I spent a wonderful month there almost 5 years ago. It was a sleepy island, with beautiful beaches, welcoming locals, winding roads, and large hills of dense rainforest. We drove scooters from one end of the island to the other and passed exactly 6 other riders on the entire drive. Speed boats were the only means of reaching the island. It was all hammocks, cold beer, thatched huts, and warm, clear blue waters.

Fast forward. We arrived on the island via one of two ferries, packed with vehicles, themselves packed with Thai families. It is a holiday weekend. There are more cars on the one ferry then there once was on the entire island. As we drive around the island we pass Sandy Beach, the short developed street where we once stayed. But our thatched huts were gone. Everywhere there were resorts. And the tiny stretch of resturants and shops kept going. And going. And going. The clinic that once was a ways out of "town" passed by and the buildings kept passing on and on. It was dizzying. It was a little like driving into Vegreville and finding Reno.

And it rained and rained. The wind blew and the precipitation ranged from drizzle to downpour.

But Deb, Marina's mother, kindly set us up in the Tropicana Resort. So we could hide out in a lovely room and play cards and eat dinner sheltered beside the pool. We no longer had to rely on a plastic bucket of ice, the 7-11 and a couple of 2 dollar hammocks for our leisure time. Room service! Thanks to Deb for saving the day.

It was a bitter-sweet time. We realized that you can't always return to the same place twice.

Pictures of Siem Reap

Siem Reap

So we finally arrived in Siem Reap. Marina and I had a day or two to relax waiting for Marina's mom, Deb, to arrive. We got up early (4 am) and ran around to temples until midday, then retired to the pool to cool off. Siem Reap is a large town and a tourist hotspot. There are Mexican, Italian, and anytypt of resturant that you's care to try there. It's all shops, hotels, resturants and tuk tuks. But it was picturesque and quieter than Phenom Pehn.

The number of temples in the vicinity is staggering. A book I read said 52. The major ones are somewhat grouped together, while the surrounding area is peppered with more. The Khmer kings that constructed them led huge empires that stretched covered parts or all of modern day Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Laos and Myanmar, as well as Cambodia. Their religon was Hinduism but later became a mixture of Hinduism and Buddhism. Hence, the elaborate and intricate artwork and confusing mish-mash of gods.

I will not go on and on about all the temples we saw (only about 10 or so). After four days of temple-seeing it all becomes a bit too much. They blend together. But at the same time each temple was so unique. Angkor Wat was overwhelming. It is the largest single religous structure on earth. I did not capture it's grandeur in my photos. It is just too big. You either capture something that looks like a backdrop in the distance, or you capture one spire, a tiny corner of a massive courtyard looming over the landscape. We went before dawn, in the dark, to capture the Wat at sunrise, and you walk over a massive moat and through a gateway and then over a cobbled walkway that goes on and on and on, before arriving at a small lake overlooking the main complex. And then the sun rises and you look around and at the open space and it's humbling. Then you walk up to the temple, and climb up a level and there are intricately carved reliefs stretching 100-150 yards in both directions. You then climb into a huge collection of courtyards, then up again to a another level, another huge open space with another huge temple rising up to the sky in the middle. And looking down you see grassy fields with samller temples in them wrapping around below that you somehow missed in your climb up.

The other temples may not be as massive but each was awesome. Some where decimated piles of mossy rubble, with massive lurching temples, ancient trees growing over and through the stones. One temple was a huge pyramid-like structure, almost like an Mayan ruin. Others are smaller, catherdral-size building, but with much of their intricate carvings intact. My favorite was a later one, Bayon. It is a massive, towering structure with dozens of Buddha faces staring in every direction. The stone of all the temples is discoloured from centuries of weathering and you can climb all over all of them, except for the parts being reconstructed. All the sites have piles of ruins strewn around and no security to speak of. You could literally pick up a hunk of an ancient carving and throw it in your backpack and leave.

Well, I supoose I went on more than I intended. It is definantly a wonder of the world and bucket list worthy. Just make sure to give yourself a few days.

The first picture is of me with a statue of Ho Chi Mihn. Marina and I got caught in a massive rainstorm while walking to this building. We bought rain slickers but mine was too short. The second picture is of Marina in Siagon. The third is of a woman in Hoi An.

Pictures!

The first picture is of our lovely dinner in Hoi An. The second is of Marina in Siem Reap.

Cambodia

So we made it out of Vietnam. Siagon was a blast. It was huge and bustling. We did a walking tour of District 1 and saw the War Memorial Museum (wow). But that is for another post. Cambodia. Coming into it for Vietnam the most striking thing was the landscape. Vietnam is all twists and turns, hills, jungle and poorly kept roads. Cambodia is flat and open. Open fields dotted with tall palm trees. The roads are less congested, and although they are in poor shape in most of the country, the main highway to Phnom Penh and onto Siem Reap is paved and smooth with relatively little traffic. Cambodia is somehow quieter. The country, like Vietnam, has been to hell and back over the last half century. I won't go through the horrid details. Rent "The Killing Fields". But the people are kind and playful. When they aren't working they chase each other and joke. Smiles are open and honest. But the scars of the past are everywhere. It is poor here. Poorer than Vietnam. Not quite India -starving in the street poor- but it's everywhere in the capital touristy areas. There are many limbless people selling postcards or photocopied books. And many children doing the same.

Phnom Penh seemed small and sleepy compared to Siagon, but it is still 2 million people big. The riverside is beautiful, with a long, lit walkway stretching for kilometres. It is lined with restaurants and bars. We had the best pub grub I've had in my life at an English pub called the Green Vespa. But it was tough on Marina and I, eating so well and enjoying ourselves out on the town while surrounded by such sadness. We loved it, but it is a very bitter-sweet feeling leaving.

We're in Siem Reap now. It has been great. There is still the poverty, but the town is small and picturesque. It doesn't have the underbelly of the capital, ans we have 4 days here, by far the longest we have stayed anywhere so far. We are enjoying the pool and taking it easy in a lovely clean hotel. We have hired a tuk tuk for 4 days and have already spent a morning exploring some temples. Marina's mother arrives tomorrow and then we'll see Angkor Wat. We are missing home but enjoying this last leg of the trip.

Sorry there are no pictures posted. We're having computer problems. We'll try again soon.