Our starting point in Vietnam was Ho Chi Minh City, a place packed with motorcycles everywhere.  Crossing the street as a pedestrian is an adventure.  The very first stop on our tour was the site of the landing of the very last helicopter to leave Saigon on April 29, 1975.  It is not a usual tourist spot, but our guide is friends with the building security.  There are no signs or plaques on the building; it is now just an ordinary office building.  But it was made famous by a scene captured by Dutch photojournalist Hubert van Es in one of the most iconic and dramatic photographs from the Vietnam War. The building was one the CIA had rented from the Chinese during the war.  We road up in the same elevator used by the CIA.

  this is the scene 1975

Our next stops were buildings erected by the French colonialists in the late 19th century: Notre Dame Cathedral and the post office, which is still a functioning post office today.  Notre Dame is closed for the next several years for renovations.

Next on our tour was the Museum of Traditional Medicine.  The building and its architecture were as interesting as the contents.  We took a tour and learned about the history of traditional medicine in Vietnam, which goes back to the 2nd century BC.  It covers acupuncture, acupressure, which predates acupuncture because bones were used before metal items that could pierce skin were utilized, and herbal therapies.  There are over 5000 plants known for use, 2000 commonly used today.

At night we explored the city on our own, dodging motor bikes.

The next morning we visited the Cu Chi tunnels, a vast net work of connected underground tunnels used by the Viet Cong during the war in their resistance against the Americans.  There was basically an entire city underground including places for sleep, cooking, eating, storage and movement of combat supplies, and hospitals.

Then we went back into the city for a tour of Chinatown, which was busy prepping for the New Year holiday Tet.

And we visited Ba Thien Hau temple in Cholon: Chinatown built in 1760 to honor the Chinese sea goddess Mazu, who protects ships.  The exterior statues are of porcelain.  We also saw a wedding couple having their photos taken.

In the afternoon we drove down to Ben Tre in the Mekong Delta, the coconut capital of Vietnam.  We stayed at a lovely resort Mango Home right on the river.

Our first morning started with a short cruise up the river.

First stop was a brick making “factory.”  The mud is brought in on barges from rice paddies, then put in the assembly belt with a mold and made into either solid bricks for foundation or with holes for walls.

Then it is stacked into the oven.  The man uses the ladder to climb to the top of the stack.  When the oven is full, he climbs out the hole in the top, which is then covered to keep the heat in.  There is a separate chimney. The oven is kept hot with a fire burning rice husks kept going 24/7 for 2 weeks.  Then the bricks cool in the oven for 7-10 days before being shipped out on barges.

Next we went to a coconut processing “factory.”  The coconuts also arrive by barge.  First they are split open and the husk removed.  The husk is then further separated into the stringy bits that are sent to China for weaving into string and netting materials.  The shake is used as fertilizer.

Then the nut is split open, the water is saved,  the nut meat is separated from the shell.

The shell is burned in an oven for 10 days and turns into charcoal.  The charcoal can be used for grilling food.  But most of it is sold to China who makes it into charcoal for activation, ie filters.

The meat is then further trimmed.  The scraps are squeezed for coconut oils.  The meat separated by quality, softer being better, and bagged, then shipped by barge.  It is generally freeze dried and used for cooking, candy, etc or turned to powder and reconstituted as coconut milk.  Every bit of the plant is used.  Dead leaves are used as fuel and the trunks of old trees are used for carving.

 

Finally, the water is cooked down over a low flame for hours until it caramelizes into coconut caramel, bottled, and used for cooking.

We then took a tuk tuk and visited the small local village.  Then we got back on our boat and cruised further on the river to a family home where rice wine is made.

 

Then we got on bicycles and rode a short distance through the jungle to a home where incense is made by a husband and wife team.

We then were rowed in a paddle boat through the jungle back to our big boat on the river.

Then we landed and cycled again, this time to a home where rice paper used to wrap fresh spring rolls is made.

After our busy day, it was back to Mango Home for delicious food and relaxing by the pool.

Next morning we were back on the river boat, this time in the opposite direction to the market.  Of the many markets I have been to, this was the most authentic/least touristy.

Then we visited a Cau Dai temple, a monotheistic religion founded in 1926 in  southern Vietnam combining Taoism, Buddhism, and Christianity.  The symbol is the left eye.

 

Then we bicycled to a husband/wife home/factory that bottles and sells coconut whisky.

And then took a long bicycle trip through the jungle and with homes interspersed  throughout.

Then it was back to Mango Home for another amazing meal and relaxation by the pool.

The next day we journeyed back to Ho Chi Minh City through the Mekong Delta, which is famous for its floating homes and markets.

Back in Ho Chi Minh City, we took the Saigon After Dark vespa food tour of the city.  It is a food tour by motorbike.  We stopped first at Cafe Zoom for chips and drinks  and got an overview of the city and the tour from  our guide Binh.

 

Next stop was at Seafood for delicious crabs, clams, mussels, all made ways we had never experienced, as well as fried noodles, plus beer.  And yes, we tried frogs legs; tastes like chicken.  Then it was on to District 4, over the water, to Banh Xeo for Vietnamese pancakes, and of course more beer.

Then we went to Hidden Cafe back in District 1.  At these intimate coffee bars each singer performs exactly 3 songs then moves on to his next venue and another singer joins us.  So it is rotating singers at any venue all night.

Then it was on for night caps at a Rock Bar, which has the same rotating performers system but much more lively.  Lots of 80’s music, so we had a blast!

Our last morning in Ho Chi Minh City we visited the Reunification Palace which had been closed for an event we we took our tour of the city a few days ago.  It is the sight where North Vietnamese tanks broke through the fence on April 30, 1975 ending the war.  The South Vietnamese president had fled the county 5 days earlier.  The South Vietnamese put down their arms once the palace had been breeched.  Prior, it had been both the home and offices for the President and offices for the Vice President of South Vietnam, similar to the White House in DC.  The original building Norodom Palace had been built by the french in the late 19th century but was destroyed in 1962 by a North Vietnamese pilot who had infiltrated the South’s army and was in an allied plane when he dropped the bomb.  The original building was cleared away and a whole new palace was erected.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once again we have managed to book a really lovely hotel convenient to everything.  The Golden Temple Residence treated us our very first night to dinner and a Cambodian show of singing and dancing, all poolside.

We then strolled through the night market which, compared to the others in SE Asia so far, was very commercial and unimpressive except from the outside.

The following morning we started with our temple tours.  First on the agenda was Banteay Srei  which is actually about 27 km outside of town.   The name means “citadel of beautiful women,” but it has nothing to do with women.  It was so named by the explorers only because of its exquisitely beautiful carvings.  It was built in the early 10th century as a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva, the god of destruction.  It is the only temple in the area built not by a king but by his counsellor, who was the teacher of the artisans, so he elicited the help of all his students for the carving of the temple. It is built in red sandstone, which lends itself to carving.  When looking at the photos, note the depth and intricacy of the carvings – and 10th century!

 

 

Our next visit was to Banteay Samre, the citadel of the Samre people, ie built for the common folk for prayer, unlike most of the temples that are only for the royal family’s use.  It was built in the early 12th century also as a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu, the god of preservation of life and truth.  The single ogival tower is of the Angkor Wat style.

Our next stop of the morning was Pre Rup, built in the mid 10th century, also dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva.  It is built mostly of laterite and brick, giving it its reddish hue.  It was built by the same king whose counsellor built the first temple.

After climbing around in the heat, we enjoyed a relaxing lunch by Srah Srang, an Angkorian royal pond.

In the afternoon we visited Angkor Thom, The Great City, the ex-prosperous city of the Great King Jayavaraman VII’s era, built in the late 12th century.  He has come to be my favorite king in history, but more about him later.  Angkor Thom was the last and most enduring city of the Khmer empire.  King Jayavaraman VII built his central temple, a Buddhist one, Bayoun,  in the center of the city, but he incorporated preexisting Hindu temples: Baphoun and Phimeanakas without destroying or altering them.  The city was abandoned  by the Khmer when invaded and then looted by the Siamese in the 16th century.

We started at the elephant terrace, which was added on to the Phimeanakas temple  by King Jayavaraman VII to view his returning army.

And Phimeanakas,  which is a Hindu temple in the Khleang style, built at the end of the 10th century, during the reign of Rajendravarman, in the shape of a three tier pyramid.  King Jayavaraman VII adapted it as a buddhist temple and used it personally.  He built his royal palace behind it, none of which remains.

Then on to Baphoun, also a 3 tiered temple built in the 11th century as a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva.  It was built on sand, which was very unstable, and much of it collapsed through the centuries.

In the late 15th century it was converted to a buddhist temple, and a wall of a reclining buddha was constructed using stones that had collapsed from the central tower.

Then it was on to King Jayavaraman VII’s temple: Bayoun, one of the glories of all Siem Reap.

Notice the 4 faces of buddha on each of the 49 towers.  They point exactly to each of the 4 magnetic coordinates: N, E, S, &W.  In later years when the temple was converted to Hindu, all of the buddha statues were removed.  But the Buddha faces on the towers were allowed to remain because they were made in the image of King Jayavaraman VII, so were considered images of him, not the Buddha.

It was also at this temple that I became aware of Apsara.  She is the dancing lady at the sides of every entrance in every temple, both Hindu and Buddhist, thus making her symbol ubiquitous and truly Cambodian.

The next morning we were out by 5 am to watch the sun rise over Angkor Wat, Siem Reap’s crowning jewel, one of the largest religious monuments in the world.  It was built in the early 12th century  by the Khmer King Suryavarman II as a Hindu temple devoted to Vishnu, then converted in the late 12th century to a buddhist temple.

Luckily we had gotten there early for a front row seat.  This was the crowd behind us.

Then we rushed up to the top level to further enjoy the sunrise and beat the crowds to the top.

When the king died, the temple was unfinished.  But since it was being built as his shrine, it was believed that the gods had decided it was finished, so some of the bas-reliefs were never completed.

Next temple on our agenda was Ta Prohm, probably the most fun.  It was built in the late 12th century by King Jayavaraman VII to honor his mother (first, before he built one for his father) and was used as a monastery and university. It was abandoned in the 14th century with the fall of the Khmer empire, and when found later by explorers, the jungle trees had grown so entwined with the structures that it is felt that to remove them is structurally unsound.  It was used as a site for the filming of the movie Tomb Raiders. 

Yes that tree is growing on top of that building

Most of the buddhas and bas-reliefs were later removed by Hindus.

That is again the image of King Jayavaraman VII on the tower at the entrance to this complex.  Let me now add more of why I love him so much.  He became king at the age of 52 and then reigned for 40 years!  During that time he not only built shrines to both his parents (mother first) and many temples throughout Cambodia, Laos and Thailand – all part of the Khmer Empire – he built 102 hospitals with rest stops with water every 15 km along the way for the sick traveling to the hospitals.  His second wife was the older sister of his first wife, which was the first wife’s dying request.  His second wife was a learned lady who read and wrote books and believed in education for all and helped him expand the empire.  Also, although he was a buddhist, only the second in the Khmer empire, and his temples were built for Buddha, he never destroyed anything Hindu.  He invented a symbol of peace which incorporates symbols of both religions because he believed Hindus and buddhists should coexist peacefully.

After Ta Prohm we were treated to a boat ride on a huge lake Tonle Sap with whole villages of fisherfolk that live out on the lake on floating homes.  What is interesting about this lake as that it has a river that flows from it and joins the Mekong River in Phnom Penh.  During the rainy season, the lake is high and the river flows south.  During the dry season, the lake is low, the river reverses course and flows from the Mekong into the lake.  It is the only river in the world that flows in opposite directions at different times of the year.

 

We were then taken by oxcart, the means of transport for the local farmers, to our restaurant for a sunset barbecue  on a rice and lotus flower farm.

The next morning we went to Preah Prom Rath Pagoda.  It is currently a monastery and school.  There our guide Sam took us picture by picture inside the temple and told us the entire story of the life of Buddha.  It turns out Sam was once a monk.  He shared his story with us.  He is the 4th of 11 children to a now still working 78 year-old rice farmer.  After Sam finished primary school, his father told him he did not have the money to buy Sam any more school uniforms or transportation to school, so it was time for Sam to work in the rice fields.  Instead Sam joined a monastery and was schooled further there.  He ultimately won scholarships for university. After many years, he left the monastery, and at the age of 30 he married.  He, his wife, their 8 year old son and daughter-on-the-way live in the same village where he grew up near his extended family.

Next we went to the market to purchase ingredients for our Cambodian cuisine class. I am not a huge fan of the foods here which use a lot of fermentation and sour bases.

In the afternoon we visited Preah Khan – Royal Sword, King Jayavaraman VII’s temple to honor his father.  It was later converted to a Hindu temple and the many buddhas removed.

And our final temple was Neak Preah – encircled Naga , also built by  King Jayavaraman VII, one of the smallest but most beautiful temples in the Angkor complex, a fountain with four surrounding ponds set on an island in an artificial lake.  The lake’s existence was only first discovered about a decade ago due to satellite images revealing its outline.  The damn was reconstructed.

And finally, we had a sunset cruise on a Royal King boat on the man made moat at the southern gate of Angkor Thom.

On out last morning in Cambodia we visited the artisan village where future crafts people are trained in all the arts of the Khmer.

Now we are off to Vietnam!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I cannot gush enough about how much we loved Laos, a surprise favorite so far. Thank you Angela for encouraging us to come here.  At first blush, the people and culture seem very similar to the Thai, so friendly.  But the architecture and cuisine as well as the art are distinct.   The entire city of Luang Prabang is a UNESCO heritage site because it uniquely captures the French colonial influence mixed with the Siamese (Thai) influence blended with the local Prabang style.  We started to notice this the very first night wandering the night market.  Where in most of Thailand one sees the same products of clothes, jewelry, trinkets over and over in markets in various cities, in Luang Prabang, there are many more hand made items, beautifully capturing those influences mentioned.

Our hotel Maison Dalabua, which was absolutely gorgeous,  surrounds a UNESCO protected lily pond.

In the morning, our first visit was to the Royal Palace Museum, which was built as the king’s residence in 1904 during the French colonial period and remained the monarch’s home until 1975: communism.

Photos were not allowed inside, but most of the furniture are wood antiques imported from Europe.  The floors are also wood, very unusual in these hot climate countries.

Walking along the riverfront, the homes show the mixture of architectural styles.

And of course we visited some local temples.  Wat Xienghtong is considered the most beautiful in the city.  Noticeable differences include the intricately carved wood paneled doors to the temple, and the outer wall colored mirror mosaics.  The interiors are relatively undecorated.

The below buddha has the wide forehead and mouth of the Khmer and the narrow waist of the Siamese.  Those features together with the pointed nipples and his “Calling for Rain” pose make him specifically in the Prabang style.

In the afternoon, we took a somewhat treacherous ride in a tour minivan so we could hike up the Kuang Si Waterfall.  At the bottom is a rescued bears preserve.

The next day we hired a private boat to take us 25 km – 2 hours – up the Mekong River to the Pak Ou Caves which house thousands of buddhas.  History has it that originally the caves were shrines.  But currently they are a home for used Buddhas, which cannot be discarded.  Also, yearly the locals take their household buddhas there for a cleaning in the vessel.

 

Along the way, the homes on the city side of the river are clearly more expensive than the homes in the villages and farms on the other side of the river.

We stopped for gas at the station.

Once we reached the caves, we had to climb up very steep steps from the river to enter.

Once inside, there are buddhas literally in every nook and cranny of the caves.

On the way down the river we stopped at the Whiskey Village know for its local moonshine as well as for textile weaving.  And of course, every local village has its own wat.

 

After our long day on the river, we had a huge late lunch at a restaurant on the riverfront.  The food is somewhat similar to Thai but with less coconut milk, way more use of lemongrass and liberal use of a local spicy jam.  We loved everything we tried.

We ended the day with an hour of local Lao storytelling with a live music accompaniment: the guy on the right.  So fun!

Our final morning in Luang Prabang we spent visiting local wats and markets for the town’s people.

Our only regret is that we did not allow ourselves more time here.  I hugely loved this small country.

 

This is our final destination in Thailand.  We have loved the friendly people and the delicious food and will miss them both.  We have particularly become street food junkies.  Of all the many night markets we have been to in Thailand, the Sunday night market in Chiang Mai was by far the best for street art and crafts.

We visited several of the many temples – wats – in the old city of Chiang Mai.  Our first one was Wat Chedi Luang, which houses the city pillar, with its historic relics.  Unlike other wats we had visited, this one had both ancient and modern buildings; parts of it were erected in the 13th century.  Also, at the time we were there, the monks were holding an outdoor prayer service.

Next we went to Wat Chiangmun, which is the oldest temple in Chiang Mai.  It houses the crystal and marble buddhas.

Then we met Pon, our very friendly tuk tuk driver, who insisted we go outside the Old City to visit Wat Suan Dok, as it was nearing sunset.  He insisted it is the most beautiful temple with the sun low in the sky; he was correct.  Ii is also the burial ground for many of Chiang Mai’s and Thailand’s royalty.

Our final temple on the day was Wat Pra Singh.

After all the sightseeing, it was time to hit the bar for happy hour.

We had arranged with Pon that he would pick us up the next morning in his car and take us out of the city to the temple high on the hill overlooking Chiang Mai: Wat Prathat Doi Suthep.  This is probably the most famous temple in Chiang Mai because legend has it that the elephants carrying the buddha relics chose the spot for their resting place.

Pon then took us to an orchid and butterfly farm.

After a delicious buffet lunch at the tiger kingdom, Pon then took us to the Thai factories where jewelry is hand made as well as jade carved and polished.  But the factory we liked the best was the silk factory.  There they had the worms actually making the silk as well as the women extracting the silk threads, spinning it, dying it and finally weaving the silk materials.

The next day we took a break from touring and spent the day indulging in that quintessential Thai experience perfected like no other: massages!  After a day lounging and lapping in the luxuries, we had another quintessential Thai experience and visited an elephant park.  We chose one that is a sanctuary in which all 80 current elephant residents are rescue animals as well as their numerous water buffalo, dogs, cats, and horses.  We spent the entire day there, including a fantastic vegan buffet Thai lunch.

And for our final day in Thailand, the final quintessential Thai experience: a cooking class.  We chose the Baan Organic Farm Thai Cooking School.  Phoy picked us up at our hotel and took us and the only other couple in the class (visitors from Argentina) to the local market.  There she taught us how to recognize the ingredients that would go into our dishes.  She then drove us out to the organic farm where we picked our own fresh herbs.  We each individually made 5 dishes: a soup (Eric:Tom Yum; Me: spicy pork), an appetizer (E: fried spring roll; Me: papaya salad), a stir fry (E; chicken basil and chili, Me: Pad See Ew), a curry( both Masaman), and a dessert (E:sticky rice and mango, Me: fried banana).  We learned so much, and it was all so delicious!

 

 

We are sad to be leaving Thailand, but on to Laos!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We travelled north to Pai on the suggestion of Adam and Nikki, who had been prior to joining us in Koh Phi Phi.  We stayed in the bungalows they recommended: Paiklangna Cottage.  We had our own bungalow.

The only “surprise” was the semi-outside shower.

Pai was exactly what we expected Northern Thailand to be: friendly, rural, and youthful with such delicious food!  We spent our time hiking around visiting waterfalls and local villages.

The village of Bann Pam-bok built the Kho-Kuu-So Bridge so the monks in the village could travel to the monastery in all weather, including the rainy season when the rice paddies are completely flooded.  The bridge building was an entire community event which took only 3 months to create an 800 meter network of bamboo bridges.  Tourist fees to visit help maintain it.

 

The Santichon Chinese village was originally comprised of refugees  fleeing Mao Tse Tung’s China in 1949.  Opium became the economic mainstay throughout the second half of the twentieth century.  When Thailand cracked down on the opium trade, they helped the descendants still living there convert their crops into tea. The village showcases the traditional Yunanese way of life including dress, cuisine, reproduction traditional clay houses, and trinkets.  Tourism as well as tea trade now sustain the 200+ families living there.

Then we drove to the mountain top above the Santichon Village for the view of Pai which is in the distance below.

Our afternoon beer break by the river.

On our final evening in Pai, we realized we had not yet made it up to Wat Phra That Mae Yen – The Temple on the Hill.  It had been recommended that we watch the sun set from there.
As the sun was low in the ski, we sprinted up to the top (the stairs seen in the first picture were already about 2/3 of the way up!)

And we made it in time!

 

 

We added Chiang Rai to our itinerary thanks to Phyllis and Jay and were so thrilled that we did.  Firstly, we stayed at one the cutest places so far our our trip: Nak Nakara, which is named for Nag, the serpent.

Second, under the heading of better lucky than good, we picked the dates based on logistics of air travel, availabilities, etc., and lucked in to being in Chiang Rai on the exact 2 days of the annual flower festival!!!  How lucky are we!  There was a smaller festival in town that we ventured out into the first night. The pictures do not even begin to capture the enormity of the event and the beauty of the flowers.

There were 2 stages with live music, one with classic Thai performers, the other with modern artists including hip-hop.

The street food was amazing.  We tried at least 5 things we had never tried before, and all were delicious!

The next day we had so much to pack in.  First we went to Wat Rung Khun – The White Temple.  It is a modern art museum in the style of a Buddhist temple built by artist Chalermchai Kosipipat.  Again, the pictures do not even begin to show how amazing this place is.  Photos are not allowed inside, where the artist really expresses both his sense of humor and his anger at the corruption of and destruction caused by modern life.  Outside is white for purity with glass inlays throughout, shimmering brilliantly in the sun.

The reaching hands in front we are told represent unrestrained desire.  We cross from here to the main temple, passing toward eternal bliss by crossing over a bridge that proclaims the way to happiness by forgoing temptation, greed, and desire.

Inside there are pictures with a mix of classic Buddhist stories and modern ones including super heroes, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, and the twin towers burning, to name a few.  There are several other buildings, again mixing classic and contemporary.

Next we went to Baan Dam – Black House, which is also an art museum in the Buddhist Temple style by a private artist, Thawan Duchanee.  It is actually 40 buildings on a several acre property. Both of theses temples/art museums are both revered and reviled by the Thai, depending on one’s point of view.  As expected, the Black House has a much darker, death related theme.  But it also has functional rooms for living.

 

Then we visited a tea plantation and had a tea tasting.  Yes, believe it or not, I went to a tea tasting.

Then we drove up to the Golden Triangle, which is where Thailand borders both Myanmar and Laos.

The peninsula in the middle is Myanmar; the far coast Laos.

Finally on the day, we made it back to Chiang Rai in time before the sun set to visit the much larger flower festival by the river, again eating our way through the many food stalls surrounding the gardens.

The next morning we found the energy to visit one last temple before leaving Chiang Rai, the Blue Temple.

 

Our first night in Bangkok, after already 10 days in Thailand, we decided to westernize for the night and visited a mall: Terminal 21.

It was an amusing mall because each floor was themed based on a city: women’s clothes in Paris and Tokyo, men’s clothes in London, jewelry in Istanbul, etc.  The top floor is Hollywood, which is a multiplex cinema.

Our favorite was San Francisco, which was a giant food court.

We wandered the city a bit.

The next couple of days we did the typical tourist attractions.  Having been warned about the traffic in the city, we were proud of ourselves figuring out how to get around with a combination of the sky train and the public water buses.

First he Grand Palace

Wat Pho with the famous reclining Buddha

 

And then the ferry across to Wat Arun

And finally, another mall, one of the highest class I have ever seen.

And now it is on to Northern Thailand, ahead of the storm!