Adventures and Street Life in Cambodia and Vietnam

Four couples, 3 weeks, on a private tour with Journeys....seeing and experiencing life in SE Asia.

Cambodia, the first week

Many pagodas, Buddha statues of various colors and hand positions, plus Royal Palace architecture.

Angkor Wat is a Wonder of the World. It is full of history and our guide had lots to share. On the grounds were ruins that had large trees with huge roots that over the centuries engulfed the remaining structures.

Occasionally we needed to say to our guide that we were old and needed to keep walking so our backs didn't get sore!

There are many coveted temples where folks would lay food or money in or on the statues. At these sights, you could buy stacks of money to offer.

At one Chinese Temple, one can pay or not and get a plate of a raw egg and a slab of fat. The ritual is to stuff the fat into the jaws of the animal and then crack an egg so it drips the meat down to the ground!

The Monks were out and about in civil society. Some men were Monks for life but other young men might become a Monk for 2-3 years and be provided with food and a roof over their head or earn a little money to support their family. In public places, near a temple, where the monks would be living, the public could come and bring their offerings to the Monk who in turn would bless the family and their ancestors

Food items we tried or just starred at!

Top offerings at a road side stand were a plate of three items: fried spiders, fried cockroaches and fried baby birds! "Oh My Buddha!"

Bento box for a lunch, occasional elegant dinners and making rice whiskey inside a family home. Peter sampled the cobra whiskey!

We watched men gathering coconut blossoms, a woman pressing rice to make rice paper that, among many other uses, is the wrap for spring rolls.

Market in Phnom Penh where we had breakfast. Not to be missed. Rice is central to their diet and at the market one can purchase 8-10 types of rice with varying quality as priced.

The guides would refer to rest rooms as "Happy Places"

Drying rice for whiskey below. We were waiting for hours to see thousands of bats fly out of the cliff caves at dusk. Our "seats" were reserved by the sign "Booked".

Below that is a photo of plastic bottles carrying gasoline. That is the most common way to buy your fuel. Rural travel by Cambodian Tuk Tuks

These three white high-rise buildings were mostly built by the Chinese. They forced the long time community out of the city, drained a pond and built these buildings, which flood yearly. With the economic situation in China, they have left the buildings unfinished. China often agrees to build something as a loan to Cambodia or Vietnam, leaving those countries with huge debts.

We went to a village where houses are built on high stilts as the water rises 15 or more feet during the rainy season.

From biking through rice fields and rural communities to walks among temple ruins, we witnessed the country lifestyle.

Typical family scene on the scooter. Below that, an example of the friendliness of the Cambodian people. This is the staff at one of our hotels that came out to our bus to wave good-bye.

Faces of the Cambodian people we encountered;

We were constantly haunted by the cruelty of the Khmer Rouge from 1975-79. At least 1.7 million people were killed, nearly 25% of the total population. Visits to the Killing Fields are very poignant.

Enlightening and sobering yet an enjoyable time in this country. Rice production dominates the economy. The philosophy of this 95% Buddhist culture results in a caring and compassionate people.

Vietnam - A country on the move economically and balanced against a Communistic Government

Facts about this country:

Vietnam is the second largest exporter of rice in the world.

The average age is 32. There were 35 million people in 1975. Now there are 100 million people and 75 million motor scooters..

The mantra of the people seems to be: "Prosperity plus Longevity = Happiness"

Some of our adventures during our two weeks in the country are:

Night of driving on the back of a Vespa through the crowded traffic in cosmopolitan Saigon. Skyscrapers galore and eating the famous pancakes with frog legs.

Music in a Vietnamese home. The entire town makes hundreds of thousands of rice paper squares which dry for three days in every park, sidewalk, against buildings and inside houses.

Silk production starts from bugs in the silkworm trees, building nesting racks to harvesting threads. Beautiful silk clothes and artistic almost photographic embroidered pictures.

Trip to the village growing only gorgeous organic vegetables and fruits

Boat ride with woman using her feet to row.

Train Street in Hanoi. There is a train track running down a narrow street. On either side are bars and cafes with seating right on the edge of the track. Every 20 minutes or so there is a loud train whistle and the bar owners grab the small chairs and tables and have you stand back while the train comes through.

Testing our hiking ability on the mountain "walk" across water hanging on to cables at scary angles!

Street life is bustling. Of course we had to have Banh Mi, made with a baguette, created when the French occupied Vietnam at the beginning of the 20th century. Electrical street connections were crazy.

Politics and the way Communism enters the Vietnamese peoples lives day to day is backdropped against their healthy commercial life

The Vietnamese flag has a 5 point star. Each point represents the 5 civic groups: military, entrepreneurs, farmers, workers and intellectuals.

Our guide said the country"s motto is

"You take care of your family and the government will take care of you"

You could get in trouble if you don't vote for the ONLY party. Your employer can vote for you.

"Go with the flow", as they said many times.

We were in Vietnam until the eve of the Lunar New Year. This is a BIG deal. From the red and yellow decorations in every small store, decorations in the hotels and restaurants, sculptures out of chickens and pigs in front of small stores, lanterns and celebration signs in the rice fields

There were hundreds of scooters carrying the 5 foot high good luck kumquat trees and cities were buzzing with merriment and anticipation.

The Year of the Dragon was exiting and the Year of the Snake was being ushered in. It was told to us that being born in the Year of the Dragon brings the best luck of all the various zodiac signs. People take these signs so seriously that there was an uptick in women having cesarean births to deliver during the Year of the Dragon before the Year of the Snake began!

A few food items: The man has duck egg embryos in his basket that people eat raw. Visiting the temples, we witnessed many people placing incense and also offering quantities items from beer, cookies, candy and most common were these Choco Pies at the foot of the Buddha. Our guide would hide a box and we would try to find it!