We took the airplane from Hong Kong at 8:40 p.m. I had been helping out at a kindergarten all day long and was pretty tired...the moment I got off, it got me. I was going to Vietnam and Cambodia to fulfill one of my dreams, to see the Temples of Angkor, one of the human made world wonders.
Already with a couple of beers and wine on the plane intus, me and three of my Canadian friends arrived in Saigon/Ho Chi Minh at 10:40 p.m. The other groups were already settled in the backpackers district and all kinds of hostels. That same night, I did not want to sleep, because I had so little time to experience and see it all. After putting down my huge backpack and changing, we went walking around in Saigon/Ho Chi Minh. The weather was warm and humid and the streets were packed with people hanging out at stands eating, playing in the park or having talks on their parked motorbikes. A few of us headed off, two each on the back of a motorbike chauffeurd by a Vietnamese who was earning a little extra money. With a drink in the hand we hit the road to a Lonely Planet club named "Rainbow Forrest", which did not exist after all...we ended up at "Apocalypse Now", which is said to be a Communist Club. Two levels and an outside terrace with people eating. Great, you don't get that any other places. The music however was rather 1990's, however all HipHop and Pop. The people were black, white, yellow and brown. That same night we smoked tea. Was it tea? I am not quite sure, but it smelled like it and all the lights seemed lighter and yes, I was heapy and ready for this week to come!
Next morning. We got on our long busride to Siam Reap, a city in the middle of Cambodia. We left Vietnam after 2 hours and crossed the border. On the one lane highway, going 60 km/h and jumping up and down in a 1st class bus (airconditioning and toilette) we passed little villages, empty fields with single bony cettle grassing without fences, children playing on trash piles or in the streets barefooted, men selling handmade wooden furniture, householdgoods and religious accessories, women selling food or cooking on stands. Villages that consisted of wooden huts, huts on bamboo pillars 5 meters above a lake reachable only by crossing a small footbridge and incredibly beautiful temples with orange and golden rooftops, bended on each corner as if to reach the sky. At one point our bus had to cross the Mekong River and since there was no bridge for a big charter bus like you find in an industrialized country, we crossed on a ferry. And there we were, on the bus over the brown water where children were bathing naked at the shores. And on we were to a more beautful landscape, a more unique and peaceful country.
Siam Reap. 8:20 p.m. later than expected. There we were, taking a Tuk Tuk to the hostel. It had a pool in the lobby, a bar aswell and real Cambodian Angkor beer. It overall looked like an old colonial building, with an open lounge area with a pool table and sofas on each level.
4:00 a.m. Getting up to see the sunrise in front of the Angkor Wat. We ordered Tuk Tuks to pick our group up and take us through the national park to the temple. We had to get off at one point and walk to it. Not knowing where to go we followed the lights of people ahead. The night was still black like ink and the moon was nowhere to be found. We took a seat by the lake, the best seat after all and waited for the natural spectacle. As the first sunrays started lighting up the ancient monument in front of us, the concert began. I call it "cricket concert", but it was more than that. Some thousands of insects in the trees to the left started singing, a sign of a new day. They sang all the way until the sun rose completely and then headed off to follow their daily tasks. I was one with nature and nature was one with me...except the hundred people taking just that one same picture, a massive human factory battling for the best picture, in the end technology would beat them. It was a beautiful view.
All day long we took a look at many temples. Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Bayon, Ta Prohm and some more. We dove into the history of 12th century Cambodia and it amazed me the more I saw. All that for the gods, for a better life after death, a city behind walls, protected by stoned guard creatures and faces that looked so similar. We in comparison build castles to protect from an enemy and conquer the others lands and burn the castles. We did build churches, plenty beautiful and big ones, but for some reason ours are not at all comparable to these immense temples, our castles not to this big complex and everything else just looked like so much more dedication, believe and labour. The best temple was Ta Prohm also known as the one Lara Croft aka Angelina Jolie acted for Hollywoods cameras. Some of the temples had steep stone stairs and I am glad to see them as they are, climb them freely as they are and experience how it was to live around there back then. At the end of the day we took an elephant up on top of one mountain to another temple that overlooked 360°, all of Cambodia pretty much. We were hoping to get the sunset over a lake down in the valley....and breathe....in and out...as we flew....and took at all in to never forget.
Back on the ground we had Cambodian BBQ with 5 types of meat. Beef, Ostrich, Crocodile, Kangaroo and Snake. After we checked out the night market, I bought a small Airawan for my dad, since he collects elephants and this was the god of them. The salesmen had a story behind it. I bought a shirt and pants that looked amazingly comfortable. The fishmassage was the highlight of the night and of course the bucket of tequilla sunrise for only 6US$ that made our night with a bunch of HKU students meeting up in a bar(small world). Surprisingly they take US$ nearly everywhere in Cambodia, why that is, I haven't found out yet, but the native currency is RIEL.
The next morning, three of us and a whole different group headed back to Phom Penh. We travelled through on our first day to get to Siam Riep. But this time, we would head back by boat, so-called "Speedboat". It had hells of speed going. Nearly all of us just slept downstairs inside, but it was too beautiful too miss the view. I noticed that there are different travel people, those who take in all they can, those who forget time and just travel for a good time and those that even study or read inside with 29° and standing air. I would be the first two for sure....so there was just Teagan, Scott and me with two 50-70 year old ozzis that drank all the way and even smoked a joint. We were tanning and Scott saved me from a creepy third man taking pictures of me while sleeping in the sun. The funniest part about this boat trip was most probably the grey haired old ozzi. He went to the bathroom and by coincidence I was grabbing my water and could see the whole scene go down. He couldnt get out, because of what not and he banged against the door and screamed for 15 seconds. I didn't really realize it and was just wondering what the hell was going on. I guess I was just in a beautiful world in my head and there could not be anything wrong disturbing my moment. So a woman came to the door. And there is no air in the boatinterior and no wind. She simply opened the door and the grey head ozzi stumbled out, completely red and sweaty with bloodshot eyes, breathing hard and carrying a beer. I still wonder why that door wouldnt open for him. Of course I also pitied him for that miserable toilet break. :-) The next hours passed by smoothly, with undescribably beautiful things surrounding us on the shores... Then Phnom Penh was under my feet.
However, I do not remember too much about it. Picture tell the few bit I could enjoy. I got a heatstroke from that day and the worst sun-hyperreaction because of my Malaria pills, so I laid in bed all of the night. It was an unbearable pain as my legs burnt and if I tried to stand up, thousand needles would take my muscle power away and I would fall. Ever since I stopped the pills and became some lotion from a guy, who used to work in a refuge camp in Africa, therefore he knew a lot about body pains, he saved me from dying of pain, he was an angel send from all the others guarding over me. His name was Oliver.
The next day I decided to head on on my own and go back to Saigon, Vietnam. I planned on staying with Daphne, my old highschool friend from California, and her family for the rest of my time, which would be 3 days and 4 nights. It was just me on the bus going back, weird feeling but great aswell. I had my music. I had my camera and my water. That's all that mattered.
I arrived at 9 p.m. and Daphne picked me up to go eat Vietnamese. We had pigsbrain omelette. Crabsbrain and Crab. Pigsskin in sauce. The best part about this dinner was authentic Vietnamese Coffee, that beats every other coffee in the world, it's strong and sweet. We had a coconut juice in a coconut at a nice outdoor café. A different Saigon than from my first night. Then we went home and all I wanted is just sleep, sleep in a nice big bed in a cleaned home that was cooled by airconditioning with a real blanket and an old friend and all the catching up stories. I remember saying: "One day somewhere out there in the world we will sit together again." It was only 2.5 years and there we were in District 2, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.
The next day the family took me to the Cu Chi Tunnels. Surprisingly, they have never seen them and enjoyed it just as much as I did. Diving into the bloodiest war of world's modern history. With my 5'6'' or 1.68m, I had great troubles getting through the tunnels, especially the 100 meter one...if we we would not have been monkeys back in the day, I could have never crawled out. We saw a temple built to honor Ho Chi Minh, the first president of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the men portrayed on every single money note.
A highlight of my stay with Daphne's family was the traditional engagement party that I was allowed to join on my last day in the countryside of the Mekong Delta. Dressed up in a traditional vietnamese dress, that was given to as a present in the end, I was playing a big part in it. It was a set up engagement, something that does not exist in the European or American world, but most probably still in every other part of the world. It was amazing to be carrying one of the gifts, the fruit for 30 minutes which almost fell out of my arms because they were very heavy. Then again, the food was plentiful and since I was the only white woman, an attraction to some of the younger children who have never seen something like me and even older people came up to touch my hair. Overwhelming. The fiancé's family owned a soy bean farm, which is my favorite vegetable, soy beans in soy sauce. They showed me how it was made. And on our way back, the grandma was sleeping on me and the smaller brother on each end of the backseat. She was cute and very nice. The best part about the ride back was the monsoon rain. It was pouring and I taped everything. I have never seen that many raindrops coming down in 1 second anywhere I have been. I love the rain.
My trip ended with a vietnamese hot pot dinner with all of Daphnes friends and a club visit at "Bounce", I never drank Whiskey in a club before.:-) I have never eaten bird, big frog, brain, skin of the cow and the pig and ear of the pig before. Without thinking of what excactly I was eating, I have to say, I didn't like bird at all and I most probably would not liked all the others aswell if I would be impolite and disguised by the origin of the meat. But the flavor was never too hideous.
5:50 a.m. Sunday morning. Flight back to Hong Kong.
And I would need to come back....and stay for longer, see for longer and experience it all.
What a beautiful world.
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