Vietnam/Cambodia

Vietnam and Cambodia

While the bike remained safely tucked away in Bangkok, we joined up with a couple of friends, Rob and Kim, for a 3-week 'holiday' in Vietnam and Cambodia. We had an overnight stop in Bangkok to take in the obligatory 'banana bars' and buy a few moody CK shirts and Rolex's before heading off bright and early the next morning on a flight to Hanoi.

After finding ourselves suitable accommodation, we headed out into town and experienced first hand the mayhem of Vietnamese roads. Mopeds outnumber cars massively and the roads are swarming with them. With little in the way of traffic control and zebra crossings being purely for decoration we sought local advise. "Just walk into the road" our hotel manager said, "don't stop and don't run, the bikes will go around you". Despite initial trepidation about this cavalier attitude we tried it - and amazingly (as we're still alive) it worked. While still feeling rather pleased with ourselves for having mastered the road-crossing technique, we bumped into a couple from New Zealand who told us not to get too smug - this was like crossing a quiet country lane in comparison to Saigon! Nice to have something to look forward to!

Hanoi still has the mark of its previous French rulers. A lot of the architecture is French colonial and many people still speak French. A crossroads of traditional culture v modernisation seems to have been reached. Trendy bars, restaurants and department stores snuggle next to impoverished traditional Vietnamese life. Quite how this embryo capitalism fits in with the government's firm communist stance is hard to fathom, but that's just the hypocrisy of politics I suppose.

Ho Chi Minh - Vietnams late and most revered leader - has his body preserved in a large tomb in the centre of town. We were most interested to see this - apparently he looks like he is sleeping - but from September to December his body is taken to Russia for 'maintenance' so he wasn't there!

Water Puppet Theatre

One of Hanoi's traditional family attractions is the water puppets. Unique to Vietnam since the 11th Century, these puppets are made from wood and carved into the shapes of traditional Vietnamese farmers, animals and spirits. The puppets are operated using long wooden handles with their handlers hiding behind screens at the back of the stage. The action takes place in a shallow pond thus giving the impression that the puppets are floating on water. The murky water is an effective way of hiding the mechanisms behind the puppets and this form of puppeteering is apparently so specialised that the skill is only handed down from father to son in order to keep its secrets from outsiders. The puppets are used to act out stories of everyday life in the paddy fields and the fables of dragons and gods. In Vietnam, the omnipresence of paddy fields, rivers, canals, lakes and ponds of the northern delta makes water a logical backdrop and inspiration for this form of art.

Halong Bay

There are a number of trips you can do from Hanoi but we only had time to do one and opted for Halong Bay, a Unesco World Heritage site on the coast. According to legend, a great dragon, twisting and thrashing his way into the sea, gouged out the seascapes of Halong Bay. The result is pure fantasy: 3,000 limestone islets pocketed with grottoes, tunnels and caves. Our boat stopped at several islands giving us the chance to explore some of the larger caves and rock formations within. We then stopped overnight at Cat Ba Island, one of Vietnams numerous National Parks. Unfortunately due to time constraints we had no time to explore the island itself and settled down for a rather rowdy evening in the hotels bar playing 'ibble dibble' with some fellow travellers (you don't want to know more!)

A long train journey

Next stop was Nha Trang, a beach resort several hundred K's down the coast. We decided that the sleeper train would add a little more fun to the trip and embarked on what we thought was a twenty-hour overnight trip. Wires had been crossed however and it transpired that we had 36 hours and two nights to contend with, still, at least we had a pack of cards.

We arrived in the dark at 5am and to our surprise found the Nha Trang sea-front chocka-block with locals running, walking and Tai Chi'ing like there was no tomorrow. With a rich orange sunrise over the beach as a backdrop, it was quite a sight and I have to say I take my hat off to anyone who gets up that early to exercise. Rob and I contemplated joining in but settled for a sunrise fag on the soft sand whilst Lucy and Kim went off to find suitable accommodation. We spent the day as we started it, lazing on the beach and watching the world go by, interrupting our decadence only for the occasional swim.

Saigon

After our unexpectedly long train journey we decided to fly to our next destination. Pham Ngu Lao, backpacker centre of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) was our next target. There is a lot to see in this neck of the country so we allocated several days for exploring. Just as well really as there wasn't a dull moment.

Having risked life and limb just flagging a taxi down - Saigon traffic proved to be exactly the mayhem our New Zealand friends had described - we headed for the 'American War' museum. As museums go it was a real eye opener. With an immense photo library documenting the violence and an impressive display of military hardware, the museum told the story of the 'war against America'. Its exhibits included deformed babies in jars of formaldehyde - a legacy of the use of Agent Orange - and extensive video footage giving personal accounts of the effects of the war. Although massively biased in favour of the communists, the exhibition left little doubt as to the almost impossible task the Americans, Vietnamese and their allies took on in confronting the Viet Cong in their own backyard.

The Mekong Delta and Cu Chi

From here we also visited the Mekong Delta, a vast area of water formed by the multiple canals and tributaries of the mighty Mekong River which has its origin in the Tibetan highland plateau 2,800 miles away. From its source, the river makes its way through China, Myanmar (Burma), Laos, Cambodia and South Vietnam before flowing out into the South China Sea. The Mekong's Vietnamese name, Cuu Long, means Nine Dragons for the nine mouths that terminate the flow of this great river as it is swallowed by the sea.

Our tour took us to several villages tucked away in the dense undergrowth accessible only in boats little bigger than canoes. We were invited to try honey tea, which was most pleasant, rice wine, which would've easily fuelled our bike to land speed records, watch coconut candy - surprisingly tasty green goo - being made and packaged and were finally serenaded by local musicians and a soloist singer. Slightly uncomfortable to the uninitiated ear, we were reliably informed that this unusual wailing was considered quiet beautiful in Vietnam. Obviously needs to be listened to a few times!

Next day we visited Cu Chi and had the opportunity to crawl through the tunnels used by the Viet Cong during the American war. Although reconstructed tunnels have been enlarged for tourists, it takes little imagination to envisage the conditions and experiences encountered by the soldiers on both sides of the conflict - some of the most appalling casualties were amongst those engaged in 'tunnel warfare'.

We'd so far managed to stick to a reasonable budget but as it was Rob and Kim's holiday we opted for a couple of days luxury before moving on. We booked ourselves a suite at the 'Grand Hotel', and grand it was, with all the trappings of a five-star hotel, (and the expense) still, you only live once.

Cambodia

The flight from Saigon to Phnom Penh was brief and for most of the journey we looked down over large areas of flooded farmland. In contrast to the madness of Saigon, Phnom Penh was a small sleepy town! It didn't really feel like a capital city. Most of its smaller roads were still dirt tracks and where there was tarmac it was full of rain-filled potholes. The town had a slightly 'Wild West' feel about it. We found ourselves lodgings at the (not so) Grand Hotel in the Lakeside area of town, a small but rustic labyrinth of backpacker bars and restaurants.

Cambodia has some of the world's most tragic recent history and we knew what we wanted to visit but 'John' our chosen guide and taxi driver insisted we visit 'The Ranch' first. There had been much talk about this place where for a fee a tourist can let rip with any manor of firearm. Lethal weapons are something I'd normally steer clear of but this had the makings of a memorable event.

AK47s

The Ranch looks much as you'd expect a firing range to look, an open-sided corrugated roof over a concrete hardstanding with black and white paper 'soldiers' aggressively advancing from various distances. We were offered a 'menu' of prices and our host showed us a veritable arsenal arranged in racks on the wall, all flanked by 'Death before dishonour' and 'Mess with the best, die like the rest' flags. AK47, M16, Uzi, pump action shotguns, revolvers, you name it, you can fire it. For US$200 we could even let off an anti tank rocket. We all decided that at US$20 the basic thirty rounds from an AK47 (Kalashnikov) would suffice and were shown to the indoor range, a 3 x 50 metre brick built tunnel. After a brief lesson on how to aim (safety be damned), and subtly ignoring the suggestion that a live chicken could be placed on the range for a small fee, I let loose with one of the worlds most destructive hand weapons. In no time at all we'd all 'shot our load' - the quickest $20 any of us have ever spent! One of the things that surprised me was how much smoke was exhausted, we literally couldn't see the target anymore. Not content with his US$80 the range master was encouraging us towards the M60, a Rambo style belt-feed machine gun. I have to say that Rob and I were both tempted but at US$100 for one hundred rounds we felt that Cambodia had more deserving use of our greenbacks. His offer of placing a live cow on the range quickly sealed the decision and we were off to our next destination.

The Killing Fields

Most people have heard of the Killing Fields and the behaviour of the Khmer Rouge but precious little can prepare you for facing the stark truth of Choeung Ek. First impressions are of the Memorial Stupa, a white and gold Pagoda about forty metres high in the middle of an unassuming orchard. Closer inspection reveals glass walls behind which are shelf after shelf after shelf of human skulls. More than eight thousand, many cracked open (to save the Khmer Rouge bullets) and arranged in order of age. Words cannot begin to describe the emotion of viewing a countless pile of human skulls topped with a placard stating 'under tens'. As we strolled around the exhumed graves our guide indicated to the ground under our feet and the bones and shreds of clothes that were becoming visible as the path wore down, forty-three of the mass graves have yet to be exhumed.

Following their 'liberation' of Phnom Penh, the Khmer Rouge, under the leadership of Pol Pot, set out on a genocidal restructuring of the country. Between 1975 - 1979, they attempted to erase the countries pre-revolutionary culture. During this time it's estimated that as many as two million people were murdered (out of a population of eleven million), many tortured to death for offences such as being educated, speaking a second language and even for wearing glasses. Many found themselves in the city's S21 correction centre, where the cells, torture rooms and instruments are now on public view and leave little to the imagination as to the hideous experiences and ultimately the deaths of those held there. Many thousands of people went into S21, only seven people survived.

Happy Herbs

Some of the best and most amusing travel experiences come via word of mouth, as did our next encounter. "You've got to try a happy herb pizza" said more than one bleary eyed traveller. So one evening off we went to the blatantly named 'Happy Herb Pizza Restaurant'. Having chosen our desired toppings, the waiter asked if we'd like our pizza's made 'happy' and gave us a knowing grin when we requested 'extra happy'. Well it's not hard to see where this is going - within two hours of eating, the slightest mirth-worthy comment was to become the epicentre of side-splitting hysterics and that's how it stayed for the rest of the evening.

We spent the next day taking it easy, the rain had chucked it down to such an extent that John, our driver, had to detour most of the city for fear of getting his car stuck in the flooded roads. In the evening we relaxed on the wooden decking of the lakeside bars and whiled away the hours watching the Gecko's catch flies.

Up the Mekong

Early the next morning we caught a boat up the Mekong River to Siem Reap. The trip took 5 hours much of it through vast areas of floodland. People in this area are used to the rising water and most of the houses are built on stilts. But there were still many places that were submerged up to the roof tops. As we neared Siem Reap the weather improved and although the water levels remained high, the sun came out and the sky turned a rich blue.

We took a bus into town and found ourselves accommodation with a pool so we could take advantage of the good weather. The next morning we were up at 4am and drove into Angkor to see the sunrise over the famous Angkor Wat.

Angkor Wat

The temples of Angkor, built from 879 - 1191AD, when the Khmer civilization was at the height of its development, are situated in the middle of thick jungle. From the great citadel of Angkor, the kings of the Khmer Empire ruled over a vast domain that reached from what is now southern Vietnam to Yunan, China and from Vietnam westward to the Bay of Bengal. The structures you see at Angkor today, more than 100 temples in all, are the surviving religious remains of a vast community whose other buildings - palaces, public buildings, and houses - were all built of wood and have long since decayed.

These days there is a good tarmac road around most of the ruins, the undergrowth has been cut back and many of the temples rebuilt. Only Ta Prohm has been left pretty much as it was found. Large tree roots entwined around the stone of the ruins create a mystical and errie atmosphere. With the jungle creeping over it, you get a real sense of how long it's been there! The temple was also used in the recent film 'Tomb Raider' and it is easy to see why it made such a good setting. Later in the day we came back to Angkor to watch the most extraordinary sunset over the ruins.

A final day of relaxing by the pool and then we flew back to Bangkok. Rob and Kim took a connecting flight back to the UK and we headed into town to pick up the bike.

Photographs

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