After being semi comatose in southern Cambodia lazing at the beach, we took off for Vietnam. It took nine hours and two taxi rides, two flights, and a long layover. We met a couple collecting our bags in Siem Reap after our first flight and asked them if they were Americans. They had Eagle Creek bags and the “look” of yanks. Turns out they were from Portland and after chatting realized her cousin lived in Cardiff, on Cambridge, no less. Small world. We had an hour to kill, and there was a Starbucks, so we crammed around a teeny table and talked while a Chinese family screeched with their loud, irritating, high pitched voices . Customs in Vietnam is tricky. We prepared and knew that there was a line you had to go through first, but they don’t really tell you. Lines are long and slow. No smiling! But once we passed through our driver was waiting with his little hand held sign and off we went in a big modern van. He didn’t speak much English, but he had an App on his phone that allowed him to speak Vietnamese which it then translated into English and repeated to us in a weird unnatural voice. Kind of a Steven Hawkings (RIP) voice... anyway he carried on a long conversation with us in this manner. He said he “was proud to drive “grandfather” safely into town! Yikes, do we appear that old?! Hanoi is an assault on the senses. Hundreds of motorcycles coming at you from every angle. Night life is alive and happening. Families strolling, eating along the streets on their proverbial tiny stools, hawkers and shop keepers beckoning, music pulsating, lights flashing. We had to up our game on paying attention to crossing the streets. It can be life threatening. You have to “drift” across the street while they drive around you. You never run, and never turn back. We often just hold each other’s hands and exhale a sigh of relief and giggle when we make it to the other side. Our hotel was near the central Hoan Kiem Lake, and it’s red arched bridge to the small island in the water. Many locals were walking around, young lovers taking selfies, brides and grooms posing for photos, and tons of adorable little kids. One street had miniature battery powered replica cars which the smallest kids were driving. It was so amazing to see these very young kids literally steering these cars around while their parents nonchalantly walked alongside. We had to jump out of the way of a couple wild little boys driving tanks! Shopping is amazing. Tons of North Face gear. Waterproof duffle bags, hats, rain jackets, phony down coats. Everyone wears them. We bought a duffle for our three day boat trip to Halong Bay. Food was pretty good. Pho everywhere. The best food is on the streets in small unadorned restaurants that only make one dish. Pho beef is in one place while pho chicken is next door. Bia Ha Noi is the beer of the north. Quite tasty and cheap. Our hotel was staffed with delightful young helpful people. They changed our dollars into “dong”. One hundred US equals two million, two hundred and twenty thousand dong. They sold us and set up our SIM cards, and warned us to protect our valuables. Everything was easy. We loved the neighborhood and our sweet small hotel, the Bonsella.
Journey through the slipstream
Thursday, March 15, 2018
Thursday, March 8, 2018
Otres Beach ~ Cambodia
Riding down from Kep to the beach in Otres took us through the countryside with simple small towns, wooden houses on stilts, farmland, untethered skinny white cows wandering onto the rode, fat green mountains shrouded in dark clouds, and lots of dusty roads with the usual day to day activity. Motorcycles, trucks, trailers pulled by motorcycles gushing exhaust smoke, kids playing by the sides of the rode, and a few newer SUV transporting the tourist back and forth. We passed markets selling produce and slaughtered animals, houses decorated with arches of paper flowers and a tent signifying a wedding party, a few older temples, and the occasional school with kids kicking soccer balls around the dirt field. As we were here two years ago, we were shocked at all the construction going on. The Chinese have started to build huge hotels and casinos, buying up most of the beach area. Sickening to see the dirt and trash and marred landscape. The end is in sight for this tiny pocket of uncrowded beachfront. Bouncing down the sandy rutted road we arrived at our “Secret Garden” near the end of the beach. Still lovely and well cared for, nine bungalow reside in a garden, each slightly offset from the other for maximum privacy. We were really upset to see the trash in the water and on the beach. We almost wished we didn’t have to stay here for the week. But as the days passed and the water became fresh and the beach was raked cleaned each day, we mellowed out. Seems the currents and a recent storm caused the majority of the trash. So much plastic! But the days of calm breezes and hot sun dappled with fat clouds, allowed us to reset our feelings. The few hotels at our end of the road all take great care to maintain their beachfront. So if we stay within our small radius we can actually feel like there is no horrible destruction taking place just beyond our viewpoint. Here too we spend most of the day on the chaise beneath the palapa, or swimming in the pristine pool. A lot of people come to our place as they have the best restaurant on the beach. Great sunset happy hour and cordial waiters bringing you delicious foods. Ron heads down early and places two towels and two books on our preferred spot. Then he brings me a cup of tea to have on our porch. It’s early. The birds have spoken. They go nuts just before dawn and wake me up. One of the owners dogs “Monster” cruises by. Then we head down for breakfast, a swim, and watch the action on the beach as the boats motor in and out taking tourist for day trips snorkeling to the nearby islands. Evenings we have a happy hour/sunset drink and watch the sun dip behind the small island offshore. Dinner, talking with new friends, and an early evening back in our bungalow. The WiFi is poor, and frustrating. My 3G not very good either. I am running out to the pool to wrangle up the best connection as I write. Mochitos are my enemy! Time to shift gears, move into high... taking off today on our flights to Hanoi.
Kep ~ Cambodia
After short but interesting ride from Phnom Penh we arrived at our old favorite sleepy resort in Kep. This is a sleepy coastal village along the southern coast. Famous for its blue crabs. There is really nothing much to do here. Hang out and relax. We stay at the Raingsty Bungalows, where the french owners have created a small secluded and very quiet retreat. Nearby is the National forest, Kompot pepper farms, a dozen or so rustic restaurants mostly built on stilts and extending over the water. We stayed a week. Bungalow 2 although we were meant to have bungalow 3. A squirrel lived in our ceiling (we think it was a squirrel!) and scurried around at night waking me up. There was a wonderful white dog who slept often on our porch, and ate my butter and croissant in the morning. Aloof but mindful, he kept an eye on things. Mark, our host, went each morning on his cycle to the one very small French bakery to pick up the fresh baguette and croissant served with fresh pineapple jam every morning. He told me the flour was flown in from his village in France and that was why it tasted so good. He also served a different medley of fruits each morning, eggs, and the worst coffee I have ever tasted! Really beyond drinkable. We were forced to drink tepid tea. We pretty much laid in the same two chaise around the pool every day. Read, and didn’t do much of anything. Happily we met the most wonderfully enchanting Dutch couple. I knew the minute I saw them arrive on their cycle to inquire about a room that they were special. I hoped they would return and they did, for four days! We first spoke with them late in the night as we were in the pool and they were returning from their dinner. Like talking heads! But we became fast friends and enjoyed hours of conversation and dinners together. Every evening we would walk down the dirt road to the coastline, choose a restaurant, usually Holy Crab, and have a beer or two and dine on fresh seafood. Our last night with Raymond and Yvonne we actually had two bottles of wine during a windy wild night eating beneath the sky and large full moon. The week slipped past with no effort on our part. Except for a few mosquitos, and a squirrel, all was quite simple.
Phnom Penh ~ Cambodia
We left Luang Prabang in the early morning before dawn. Our final vision of empty streets, wooden fires burning with large blacken cauldrons cooking the daily rice, and the monks in their orange robes walking in the dark through the quiet neighborhood street. It was an easy, but long day. Flying first to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Our bags were unloaded by hand, placed on the carousel by hand, and were pretty dirty by the time we grabbed them. Then we rebooked them for the next flight, changed our last remaining Kip into $5 dollars, and sat in a small cafe and ate the boxed breakfast our hotel was kind enough to pack for us. We arrived in Cambodia and went through the process of getting a visa on arrival, filling out the forms and giving them a photo and $60 dollars cash. Everybody wants American dollars! Very easy. We arrived at our beautiful hotel, The Pavilion. We had stayed there two years ago and loved its olde world charm. It had originally been the home of the last kings’ mother. Central and close to the river, the palace and temples, but enclosed within high walls and tropical manicured gardens. A secluded retreat in the city. The staff were so kind. Showed us a couple of rooms, but we choose the same one we had last trip. Beautiful embellished high ceilings, netting around the four poster bed, modern bathroom, and sweeping staircase up to the second floors. Outside a pool where we immediately went for a swim. Coffee and a small cookie were offered upon request, a treat from the management. We felt like royalty! We only spent two nights in Phnom Penh, but it was actually nicer than the last trip. Air quality was better as there had been some rain. The temperature was around 90 instead of 100, and we were happy the to see blue sky after the hazy and dusty pollution in LP. After a shower we wandered through familiar streets to the riverside, where we went to the Foreign Correspondents Club, or as it is known by locals, the “F”. Housed in an old colonial building, a storied cast of foreign war correspondents and diplomats frenquented this funky bar all during the french and American wars. Now, “happy hour” means Khmer foods and stiff drinks. We happily drank our gin and tonics beneath the ceiling fans watching the scene in the bar as well as the river beyond with the many small boats cruising slowly by. I love cities with rivers passing through them. Later we found our way to the homemade noodle cafe we enjoyed our last trip. It is on a corner surrounded by girly bars, tiny beautiful Cambodian girls sitting around in teeny black formfitting dresses, high heels and long black hair. As we ate our noodles we caught some of the action. Yep, we were back in Asia! The next day we hired a tuktuk to go to the Smart Shop, where we bought our new SIM card. So cheap, $2 a week for 4 G. Plus a dollar for the SIM card. Off to the old central market, housed in an incredible deco round building. Very hot and a tad frustrating, but so many small venders with beautiful silver, textiles, sunglasses, foods...you name it, they have it. We happily bought a few carved small Ganesh, a few silver bowls. Lots of sweaty fun. Then it was back to our lovely sanctuary for swimming and relaxing. I seem to be really perfecting the “Art of Relaxing”. It is a required skill here in the heat of Asia. No guilt! Then it was back out walking through the evening traffic, streets alive with street venders, small stalls grilling food, sidewalk Restaurants and bars, and the usual broken treacherous sidewalks. Dinner at Dave’s Homemade noodles, with a young guy out front pulling a slab of dough into hundreds of thin fresh noodles. Simple crowded room, filled with young travelers and a few expats, the owner running back and forth serving draft beers and sweating. Asking everyone to share their tables. Making new aquatinences. That’s what I love about traveling here. The energy, the night life, the never a dull moment. We happily walked back to the hotel. Went into the pool for a swim under the stars. After about ten minutes, the wind picked up and swirled around, baby mangos dropped from the huge tree draped over the pool, lightening flashed in the sky and thunder announced the coming storm. We got out as the first rain drops hit, went up to our room, and enjoyed the sounds of the storm raining like only in the tropics sounds. The next morning it was clean and clear. Breakfast was served around the second pool. All very serene and peaceful. Fruit, eggs, fresh croissant and rolls, and good coffee. The waiter took the time to teach me how to say good morning, good afternoon, and good evening. I had to write it down. He was smart and his English excellent. Later, we were rolling our bags down the walkway, saying farewell to the wonderful staff. Our driver was waiting for us to take us to our next destination. We were sad to leave...
Thursday, March 1, 2018
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