Good Morning Vietnam

Ok... so its not morning, but nearly 6pm... but hey, we're in Vietnam.

For all those reading the blog, sorry for not posting sooner. i'll try and give a brief summary of what we've done in the last few days.

more from Seim Reap. With Canadian friends lee and ulrik, we took a tuk-tuk 2hrs out of SR to tour Beng Mealea, really, just another old temple. However, it was one that the khmer Rouge bombed in the late seventies so its kind of falling apart, and if that's not enough, the jungle is trying to reclaim it. Bottom line, my favourite temple yet. it was absolutely beautiful and relatively free from tourists, and totally free from touts. A cute little old man guide took us through the temple, climbing up walls, sitting in tree swings, and explaining what different piles of tumbled stone used to be. It was great. I still haven't figured out how to download my pictures without too much trouble... so you'll have to wait for those.
On the way back to town, our tuk-tuk had a few problems. First it was a low tire, next it was an oil change, which led to the bike not starting. So we sat, in the drizzling rain for 40 mins. It wasn't until Lee starting cutting up her mango that the bike started working. They taste amazing, but are not great travel foods.

Back in Siem Reap, more great food was had, and we spent a great deal of time walking through calf high rain water (from the afternoon's rain). My favourite was watching the locals laugh at us, as they walked by on their too-wet motorbikes.

Next morning, we caught an early bus to phnom Penh, the capital. The ride was great, the touts at the end of it were not! They were almost clawing their way onto the bus offering rides and trying to get us to stay at their Guest houses (GH for my IRP staff :). It was unreal. We managed to catch the eyes of a Danish couple and "ran" away from the touts, Danish pair in tow, because they thought we knew what we were doing. kelly and i have noticed that we are really great for starting off not knowing where we are going, and it turning out to be the wrong direction. Don't worry, we quickly found our way, and began the long hike towards the lakeside. Along the way, Lee and Ulrik spotted us (they were on a different bus), and they had picked up a German guy, who knew the area. We stayed at a fairly reasonable GH, right along the lakeside, which offers some of the best sunsets in SE Asia, for free.

Next day (I think the 30th), the 4 Canadians rented bikes early in the morning, and set out for the Killing Fields. Adventure #1 was Phnom Penh traffic. Yikes. it was a bumper to bumper free-for-all. people going in the wrong direction, no signalling, bumping into the backs of our bikes as if to move us along. Absolutely nuts, but so worth it. And of course, 4 seems to be an unlucky number, as I managed to pick a lame bike. But with good determination we made it the 16km and toured the fields. it was a really heavy morning, taking in the sites and information about the atrocities committed against the Khmer people between 1975 and 1979. It is really beyond words, but i felt a sadness for all Cambodia. ON the flip side, I am encouraged by how resilient a people they seem to be. They have embraced the tragic past, and are moving beyond it, hoping that it never happens again.

Kelly was a great trooper, and took the lame bike on the way back (we even tried to double up and pull it behind or drag it beside to no avail). She just booked her all the way back to town, stopping 3 times to fill with air. It was a really hot and sweaty day. Yes, motorcycle mama, we're handling the heat fairly well, drinking lots of water, and eating fresh fruit to combat dehydration :)

We had a first real day of souvenir shopping, and Kelly became a pro at haggling with the vendors (the pocket book is still in good shape, as not much money was spent). The day was topped off with a beautiful sunset, and all you can eat Indian food by candlelight (the power went out...)

Final thing before moving on to Vietnam. We ate fried crickets!!! Best part, they were free, and worth every riel.

Today we left early for Chau Doc and the start of our Vietnam leg. Changing transportation modes, as we are sick of bad roads, we opted for a boat ride through the Mekong Delta. What a great choice. We traveled with a UK family, who currently live in Singapore. Their kids were pretty fun, and eager to impress a couple of foreign girls. The delta system is beautiful. The shores are lined with houses, boats, fish farms, and corn fields. You can really tell that they rely on the river system to survive.

What's next? We're not too sure, except for the longing for a day or two of lying around on the beach.

Adios,

A&K