pardon the interruption

Perhaps when we were planning this trip, Aman and I should have chosen a blogging platform that would be accessible in China where we spent the past two and a half weeks... sans our normal social media.  And I use the phrase "social media" in it's broadest possible sense -- we were amazed/annoyed by how many Internet sites were off limits including Blogger and Picasa, which we use to post our travel updates.  But today, we are back in Hong Kong, happily reconnected to the world and busy organizing our stories/pictures of Vietnam and China.  Hope to have them up soon and, more importantly, hope you enjoy!

the cambodia chronicles

One of the first words that comes to mind in trying to sum up Cambodia is hot… really, really, REALLY hot… the kind of hot that makes you drink four plus liters of water a day, but stops you from ever feeling happily hydrated….  

Alas, before I belabor the point any further, let's start at the beginning.

We hit the ground in Cambodia a few weeks back realizing that we slightly miscalculated this leg of the trip.  The issue is that we originally booked plane tickets from Bangkok to Phnom Penh (in the south of Cambodia), not realizing that Siem Reap (in the north of Cambodia) has an international airport.  (Oops...)  And, we subsequently decided that we wanted to spend the majority of our time in Siem Reap touring the nearby ruins of Angkor – arguably, the best that Cambodia has to offer.  It would have been much more efficient to fly from Bangkok to Siem Reap.  But instead of dealing with the hassle of changing our flight, we stuck with our original plan, and arranged for a car to retrieve us in Phnom Penh upon arrival and drive us to Siem Reap.  A five-hour drive, it actually turned out to be pretty cool because the rural countryside that makes up most of the country is vastly different than Siem Reap, and we really appreciated seeing that on the front end of our visit.  

Our flight into Cambodia landed around 3:30 p.m.  After getting our visas on arrival, clearing immigration… double checking that our passports had their arrival stamps… and collecting our bags, we found our driver.  Thankfully, we had a full-size, air-conditioned van to ourselves, which made for a rather luxurious long haul.  We set off on a two-lane road with traffic of all sorts (cars, bikes, scooters pulling rickety old wooden carts) moving steadily in each direction.  As we made our way out of Phnom Penh, however, we became one of the increasingly few cars on the road.  

For most of the way, the road was lined on either side with a single row of houses and, beyond, vast squares of brown and green farmland and clusters of trees.  A lot of the houses reminded us of traditional Thai houses – simple one-floor, wooden dwellings built upon stilts and elevated off the ground.  (The less fortunate ones were built closer to the ground, slapped together with thatched walls and corrugated metal roofs.)  

Families seemed to use the ground floor, underneath the raised house, for a variety of purposes – storage, parking, and oftentimes, running a shop or simply hanging a hammock (Cambodians love their hammocks).  As we travelled, we passed few proper towns and saw no hotels.  Yet, all around, scenes of everyday life unfolded – children kicking around and running from house to house, men fixing motorbikes (surrounded by groups of other men simply observing), women carrying one thing or another from place to place, grandparents minding little ones.  We watched the sun fade to our left and, as night fell, we were amazed how incredibly dark and still the countryside fell.  There were no streetlights.  And, the inside of each house was lit by a long skinny fluorescent white light bulb that appeared no stronger than an ordinary porch light.  We could see silhouettes of people moving around through the open front doors and windows of most houses.  We would later learn (as if seeing isn't believing enough) that Cambodia has a real shortage of electricity problem.  

When we pulled into Siem Reap, however, things were very well lit and pretty busy. (Some places in Siem Reap get their electricity from nearby Thailand, or so we were later told.)  There was a relative abundance of large hotels, with full-size tour buses sitting idle in their parking lots for the night.  Shops and two-wheeler traffic sprang out of nowhere.  People gathered at roadside food vendors, sitting in little stools at miniature tables to eat.  

Aman and I stayed a little bit outside of Siem Reap at the – wait for it – Best Western Suites & Sweet Resort.  I mean, it looked good in the photos, the prices were reasonable, and someone had given it a super fun name.  Why not?  

By the time we checked in on our first night, it was late and we were beat.  With plans to hit Angkor in the morning and warning that it would be a tiring day, we had a quiet dinner and made it an early night.  We were tired, yes, but also excited for the day to come, having heard that the ruins of Angkor – and Angkor Wat, in particular – would be one of the most spectacular things we would ever see.

We woke up on the big day to a pale blue sky dotted with white clouds.  At breakfast, our hotel manager told us that we were lucky that it was not very hot out that morning (even though it was…).  Through the hotel, Aman and I commissioned a tuk-tuk for the day and set off down the red dirt road in front of our hotel towards Angkor, which was about 10 kilometers away.  

Along the way, the roads were busy and it seemed as though every local kid was riding around on a bicycle.  Some had bikes that were too big for them – standing up as they rode, hovering above the crossbar, unable to reach the pedals and the seat at the same time.  Others had bikes that were too small – sitting on the back seat with their feet flexed, so that their toes wouldn't scrape the ground.  But, all of them it seemed were getting around on a bicycle.

As we got closer to Angkor, the roadside restaurants and shops became fewer and more far in between, while the line of trees on either side of the road got taller and thicker, and the air got noticeably cooler (even though it was still hot…).  We paid our entrance fee for a three-day pass (Angkor is huge, and with ruins spread out over thousands of kilometers, it’s not a bad idea to break up your visits over a few days) and went straight for the magnificent Angkor Wat, the principal temple of the Angkorian region, which was built as a mausoleum and temple for a twelfth-century king.  Naturally, we kept asking each other repeatedly along the way (and throughout the entire day really), Angkor what??

Everything about Angkor Wat is impressive, from the size and height of the temple’s central chamber to the extensively decorated walls of its outer gallery depicting great scenes from Hindu mythology.  Despite the fact that there are some sections of the structure that have collapsed or deteriorated, we thought that it was in pretty decent shape for a structure that was constructed nine centuries ago (without cement and, in part, by elephants).

After an hour or two, we continued on, only minutes away, to the walled city of Angkor Thom.  First stop, the Bayon, a pyramid-shaped temple that was one of our two favorite sites.  The temple is covered in faces that have been put together like a jigsaw puzzle (i.e., several smaller pieces make up each giant face).  It is absolutely mind-blowing how well the pieces fit together.

We trekked north to see a couple of other sites within Angkor Thom (Baphuon, Terrace of the Elephants) and then reunited with our tuk-tuk, which was waiting under a tree nearby.  Before moving on, we restocked our supply of cold drinking water and grabbed some ice cream for lunch (it was hot...).  We joined the procession of tuk-tuks traveling east through the Gate of Victory on our way to see Ta Prohm, the second of our two favorite ruins.  It's been left in very poor condition despite some restoration efforts, but what an amazing sight to see – these massive trees have completely overtaken the temple, pushing up through the corridors and crashing over the walls.

After more than three hours of walking around in the hot sun (and four large bottles of water...), we were thoroughly exhausted and called it a day.  We had plans to return the next morning on bicycles to see more, so there was no need to cram everything into one day.  

The decision to rent bicycles on day two (despite the heat…) was an easy one – we love riding bikes, and the Siem Reap/Angkor area is very bicycle friendly with good roads and flat terrain.  We found a place in town that had some mean-looking mountain bikes in its arsenal, and negotiated a price for the day ($10 for two bikes).  We quickly were heading down the same route that we took the day earlier and ended up in front of Angkor what?? This time, it was just to take a few pictures.  

Continuing on, we opted for the second day in a row to have ice cream for lunch.  True to his generous nature, Aman bought a round for this little guy too and the three of us proceeded to have a little ice cream party in the cool shade of a gloriously thick-leaved tree.

Feeling good, we pedaled ourselves east in the direction of Ta Prohm to see a few other temples that we skipped the day before.  Every once in awhile, we passed a small group of women raking leaves on the side of the road, and Aman couldn’t help but shout an exuberant “SOO-A S’DAY!!!” (Hello!!!) as he passed.  The ladies ate it up – giggling, waving, flashing timid smiles and offering greetings in return.  It was hilarious.  

We made a quick stop at Banteay Kdei, amazing but (or because it was?) literally falling over:

Afterwards, we hopped (gingerly) on our bicycles and started the long ride back in the direction of Angkor Wat and the main entrance/exit to the archaeological site.  We motivated each other the whole way with reminders and descriptions of the cold, cold Angkor beer that we planned to enjoy when we got back to town.  And that was exactly how we ended our day – after more than 30 kilometers pedaling in the unrelenting Cambodian heat, we hit the happy hour circuit for a little while … and then treated ourselves to a round of unbelievable reflexology foot massages at a place that we spied across the street from our bar table.

On day three, we deliberately planned for a late start, because we wanted to see the sunset at Angkor…  and it seemed, based on two days of experience, that we were having a hard time lasting the entire day when we got an early start.  We hit Banteay Srei, which was a one-hour tuk-tuk ride from our sweet hotel and a bit of an outlier ruin.  Built in the tenth century, it served as a temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva.  The walls were redder in color than most of the other temples we had seen over the two previous days, with exquisitely detailed scenes from Hindu mythology.

For our next temple, we went to one of the two ruins that are best known for watching the sunset.  Not Phnom Bakheng, which is notorious for being overcrowded at sundown.  We went to Pre Rup, the less popular one…

The sunset was beautiful, of course.  Aman and I lingered, after the sun dropped from the sky and the crowd cleared out, to enjoy the temple by ourselves for a little while.

As for our non-ruin/temple-related activities, we hit the town on several nights while in Siem Reap to find a lively mess of bars and restaurants in the Pub Street area.  I’m not sure that we loved Cambodian cuisine as much as that of Thailand, Singapore or Indonesia.  But, we did find some really good fish amok (the Cambodian culinary specialty) at a restaurant named Angkor Palm, which I was naturally drawn to after hearing that they serve a lot of local, organic food. 

Further away from Pub Street, we made a stop one night at Amansara, of the Aman family of luxury resorts.  We only intended to go for one drink, as an excuse to check out the property (which was beautiful, but way overpriced for Cambodia).  Somehow, we coincidentally popped in on the same day as a beautiful traditional dance performance (which they only feature once a month).

On the other end of the spectrum, we got adventurous one night and tried a local sidewalk “restaurant” opposite the night market, which was … well, interesting.  Plastic chairs and tables covered in banquet-wear and arranged haphazardly on a large sidewalk, it was hard to discern where one “restaurant” ended and another began.  We sat at one table and placed our order, but within minutes Aman had spotted some appetizing noodles at a street vendor in the opposite direction.  We tried most everything – some hits, some misses.  It was a street food free-for-all.

After five fun (and hot…) days in Siem Reap, it was time for us to check out Phnom Penh for a couple of nights.  The bus there followed the same familiar road, National Route 6, which brought us north five days earlier.  We stopped only once at a restaurant, what appeared to be a regular pit stop for the buses traveling up and down Route 6.  A fairly large establishment, it was almost full during the busy lunchtime hour when we arrived.  Aman and I surveyed the room before grabbing one of the last few tables.  All around us, patrons dined family-style.  A little plastic dustbin sat beside or underneath each table for ... table scraps??  A peculiar odor filled the room… Aman and I looked at each other.  There was no need to say anything.  The waiter approached our table, and Aman ordered two Angkor beers.  Umm, that’s it for now, thanks, Aman said politely to the waiter when he returned with our beers.  The man walked away without a word, at which point, Aman and I got into a deep conversation. 

AP:      Beer, lunch of champions.

AS:      Yeah, maybe we should order something.

AP:      Here??

AS:      Yeah, maybe not.

AP:      There was a woman selling Pringles outside.

AS:      Do you think they’re real?

AP:      You think they’re counterfeiting the Pringles?

AS:      Don’t know, she had a lot of strange flavors…

Twenty or so minutes later, we were back in the bus with two more beers and a container of sour-cream-and-onion Pringles (they tasted authentic to me). 

When we pulled into the bus station in Phnom Penh, it was the routine mob scene of tuk-tuk drivers trying to cash in on the unprepared traveller who had yet to secure a ride to his or her hotel.  Thankfully, Aman and I arranged a tuk-tuk on the bus ride a couple of hours earlier. 

We cruised the dusty streets of the capital to our hotel, our gear piled high on the bench opposite us.  It was late afternoon by then, and neither of us had eaten much (besides the potato chips), so our first priority (after dropping our stuff) was finding a place to eat.  We had heard that Phnom Penh had a good cluster of restaurants on Sisowath Quay, overlooking the Tonle Sap (the “Great Lake”), so we took off on foot to check it out.  After a short walk, we found a bustle of activity on the riverfront and plenty of options.  Similar to Siem Reap, a throng of tuk-tuk drivers strategically positioned themselves in front of every restaurant, casually asking, at every passerby, tuk-tuk? tuk-tuk?   

The next day, we awoke early with plans of going to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.  As you might imagine, our visit was a sobering one.  The museum is set up in a building known as “S21,” which was originally a school, but later used as a prison and interrogation center under the reign of the Khmer Rouge.  Prisoners were held and tortured there, forced to make bogus confessions and then brought to the killing fields and murdered.  Their faces can be seen throughout the rooms of the museum in mug shots that were taken at the time of their imprisonment.  As we stood there looking at them, Aman remarked how much fear he saw in the people’s eyes.  I noted confusion, defiance, anger, and pleas for mercy, too.  It was very intense. 

Barbed wire, used to keep the prisoners from jumping off the corridor, and committing suicide:

The rest of our short time in Phnom Penh was spent on lighter activities such as visiting the Russian Market (awesome, but Aman wouldn’t let me buy anything…) and the Grand Palace (okay, but not enough access to the grounds), and enjoying the sights on the streets (e.g., sidewalks full of miniature plastic tables and chairs, where all the locals dine). 

Definitely a good week in Cambodia.    

one night in bangkok

Okay, we actually spent two nights in Bangkok.  But, we couldn't resist starting this post without a throwback to a classic, which my brother reminded us about shortly before we landed in Phuket (thanks Dre).  Incidentally, although this song may have topped the charts from South Africa to Switzerland in 1985, the Thai government banned it around the same time - they didn't want it to give anyone the wrong impression about Thai culture and society.  We would hate to give anyone that impression either - so, to be clear, we thought the City of Angels (of the East) was awesome.  Full of unique culture, history, buzzing energy and modern charm.  It was an excellent end to our travels through Thailand.

For starters, we were in very good company for this portion of the trip.  Aman's cousin, Sonia, who was wrapping up a trip to Delhi, decided to drop in for a couple of nights before heading back to the States.  We also met up one night with two of Aman's classmates from business school (and their lovely families) who all live in and around Bangkok.

We were fortunate enough to visit Bangkok on the day of an especially important Buddhist holiday, known as Magha Puja.  Translation: the wats were teeming with devotees clutching lotus flowers and incense, and dotted with monks in colorful robes leading prayers.  It was all very impressive to see.

Unfortunately, we didn't make it to the Grand Palace because the prince was there on official business (what nerve), so almost all of the buildings were off limits.  But we did make some worthwhile stops to Wat Arun ("Temple of Dawn") and Wat Pho.  The former has a classic prang (tower), beautifully decorated in porcelain flowers and mythical figures, which you can climb for spectacular views of the city.  The latter has a chapel that houses the world's biggest reclining Buddha (47 meters long).  It was a sight like no other.

Wat Arun:

Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho:

As always, be careful with your personal belongings when touring these sights.  Here is a helpful reminder that we saw at the entrance of Wat Pho.  It's not just the locals you have to watch out for...

Yet another one of our Bangkok favorites was the Jim Thompson House.  None of us had heard of Jim Thompson before we got to Thailand, but we all thought the details of his personal story (and his house) were fascinating.  An American born, one-time spy who fell in love with Thai culture and moved to Bangkok after World War II.  He is credited like no other for his contribution to the Thai silk industry in the 1950s and 1960s.  Some people say he revitalized it, others say he started it.  He was equally well-known, or so they say, for smuggling art into Thailand from neighboring Asian countries.  His impressive private collection of art is on display at his house, which itself is a piece of architectural genius - it was constructed (without nails) in traditional Thai style from six teak structures that Thompson brought in from various corners of the country. Thompson, of course, is not there.  He disappeared from Malaysia (without a trace) in 1967.  His story is amazing to take in as you survey the grounds, which have been kept as he left them.  A good place to go, especially if you are looking for a break from the temples.

We ended our stay in Bangkok with a fancy night out at Lebua, that trendy restaurant on the roof of the State Tower....  you know, the one where they shot some scenes for the Hangover 2?  (Please don't spoil it for us, this is another one on our "to see" list...)  Great views of Bangkok after dark.

So, in short - no, Bangkok definitely did not disappoint.  After 18 days and hundreds of miles traveled, Aman and I brought our Thailand adventures to a close here.  Our mini-journey brought us from sunny, pristine beaches and turquoise blue warm waters, to a cultural capital situated among the highest mountains in the country, to one of the world's greatest metropolises bustling with life.  We easily could have used another week before moving onto Cambodia.  But, the adventure must continue...

planes, trains and automobiles...

... and a ferry boat.  There was also a ferry boat.

Aman and I used every conceivable method of motorized transportation to get from the islands of Thailand to the mainland.  From Ko Tao, we took a boat to Ko Samui and then flew to Bangkok.  With only a few days to cover the north, we didn't hang out there long but rather jumped on an overnight train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai that evening.

The process of getting from the airport to the train station in Bangkok certainly was a fun one, due to the fact that we had to first stop at the travel agent's office to pick up our train tickets.  When we explained this to the person at the airport who was responsible for directing people to taxis, and telling the taxi drivers where to go, it created massive confusion.  Probably because our taxi driver neither spoke English, nor understood the concept of making two stops.  In fact, he initially refused to do so.  We got in the car anyway determined to change his mind along the way.  As we pulled away, Aman pulled out our local phone, called the travel agent, communicated the situation and put our man on the phone.  A conversation in Thai ensued...  Minutes later, we were on our way to the travel agent.  Another crisis averted, thanks to traveling with a local phone.  It's been one of the few things that have saved us repeatedly, and we wouldn't recommend doing it any other way.

Despite an unruly bunch of twenty-something year olds in our car, the train ride to Chiang Mai was comfortable enough, and fairly uneventful.  In fact, by some stroke of divine intervention, we were lucky enough to share a compartment with the tour guide for our unruly neighbors.  She was a young woman from Chiang Mai who worked for a local not-for-profit organization called Bring the Elephants Home.  We got to chatting and she asked me what Aman and I intended to do in Chiang Mai.  Uh, we're still figuring that out....  She asked me how long we were staying.  Um, just two nights....  She asked me where we were staying.  Yeah, we're not sure yet...  She looked at us with mix of puzzlement and pity, before taking out a piece of paper and pen.  By the time Aman and I got off the train, we had a suggested two-day itinerary, a stellar hotel recommendation, a rough map of the town area, estimated travel costs to and from major points of interest, and her phone number, in case we needed anything.  Lovely.

Chiang Mai - the cultural capital of Northern Thailand - was awesome, as expected.  This is true even though we visited during one of the most polluted times of the year - the so-called "burning season," which starts around January/February and ends when the first rains come in early May.  During this time, the farmers systematically slash and burn the fields that cover the hills to prepare them for the next season.  It creates a constant haze, not to mention, the distinctive smell of burning leaves.  It was a little bit irritating (for the eyes mostly), but not that bad.

The first stop for us in Chiang Mai was Doi Suthep, the city's most famous Buddhist temple perched on a hilltop about 15 kilometers outside of town, which we thoroughly enjoyed.  Our timing, though unintended, was brilliant.  We got there around 3:00 p.m., and the late afternoon sunlight reflected on the copper-plated pagoda was just beautiful.

Due to the hazy day, we really couldn't see much of what was supposed to be a great view of the city.  But, I loved these little garden monk-gnomes that I spotted in one of the gardens surrounding the pagoda:

That night, we took a lazy stroll through the very busy Sunday night market, a cool sight with people streaming up and down Rachadamnoen Road, before we realized that we were absolutely exhausted from the previous day and night's travel (it's approximately 900 miles from Ko Tao to Chiang Mai), and called it an early night.

We woke up the next morning with a lot to do.  Namely, an all day tour that involved floating down a nearby river on a bamboo raft, an elephant trek through the woods, a foot trek to a waterfall, and visiting a local hill tribe.  It was a good package for us since we didn't have a lot of time up north, and we wanted to do a little bit of everything.  Plus, it brought us out to the countryside for a calming day.  I was particularly fascinated by the thatched huts that we saw in the hill tribe village.  They are made of bamboo and dried leaves, and I am still not convinced (as I was told) that the roofs only need to be replaced every two to three years.  Amazing.

On our third and last morning in Chiang Mai, we hit the streets of town for some good ole foot exploration.  We walked around for hours, and peeked around in a number of really cool wats (monastery temples).  Giant golden Buddhas, balustrades adorned with fiery dragons, temple roofs and facades elaborately decorated in red, green and gold.  It was quite a change of scenery from the islands, to say the least.

Alas, before we could say pad thai, we were back on an overnight train to Bangkok.

It was not enough time up north, but we enjoyed every bit of it.