All about the Benjamins (Cat Ba part 2)

True story: After a wave of sickness passed, I was feeling up to exploring Cat Ba city. Plus, we needed to get some dinner. We walked past a food cart and paused to try and figure out what exactly they were trying to sell. It appeared to be sticky rice with shredded coconut, mystery meat, and some other unidentified food to go on top. While we were standing there, a family had ordered a serving and paid 5000 dong for it. After some tasty yet unfilling pho, we cruised back to the food cart and decided to try the rice mixture (sans mystery meat). While my partner was getting out the 5000 dong to pay, they told us it was 10,000. We laughed and explained that we just watched someone else pay 5000 and it was not fair to charge us double the price. The man and woman promptly stopped speaking english, looked at each other, realized they were busted and took our 5000 dong.

Imagine if this happened every time we bought something. More often than not, this is the case in Northern Vietnam. Sometimes I feel cold hearted when I complain to other travelers about the dual pricing scheme. Sometimes I think I should stop obsessing. I have to eat 3 meals per day (roughly) and because I have no cooking facilities, I have to buy those meals from vendors or street stalls or restaurants. Am I just supposed to double my daily food budget and pretend like I don't notice when I am charged twice the price? I used to think it possible that the 'these people need the money more than I do' argument carried some weight. Now, I don't. I have observed the loafing all day and the prices that locals pay. I don't buy it anymore.

Yes, the exchange rate is favorable to us. But, I don't have unlimited money like so many people seem to think. When I go home to my country and support myself, it will involve working at least 8 hours/ day 5 days a week. Days full of work. Not just sitting on my motorbike calling out to all tourists within a 100 meter radius and trying to offer rides. I fully support people involved in legitimate ways to make money but I can no longer support the dual pricing scheme. It really gets to me. I don't know how other travelers do it.

Enough ranting... We have know developed a system for the remainder of our time in Vietnam: watch transactions very closely and then refuse to pay anything other than what the locals pay. It is really obvious and in the US, it would be considered super nosy, a violation of personal space, etc. But here, it seems to work.

All over the place (Northern Vietnam)

I begrudgingly admit that I might be suffering from mild burn out. The constant loud honking of motorbike horns, the long bus and train rides, and the constant struggle not to get ripped off are starting to get to me.

After arriving in Hanoi in the early morning, things have been less than ideal. Ok, well, the free shot of liquor with our noodle soup breakfast might have been a positive. We walked around looking for coffee but only found peculiar setups. Every other spot on the sidewalk was a little table covered with a few canned beverages, gum, and other miscellaneous items. Around the tables were men (sitting in mini-chairs) drinking either tea or beer and smoking out of something that looked like a bong. We concluded that it was probably just tobacco, but were confused about the extravagant smoking method.

Not having slept well the night before, we motivated for the last part of our mission: Get to Cat Ba island and go climbing in Halong Bay. We took a train to Hai Phong only to find out that we missed the 12:30pm (last) ferry. We didn't want to pay 3 times the price for a chartered boat so we decided to just spend the night in Haiphong.

Once again, there were no cheap options. So we settled on a place for 150,000 dong. It included hot water (for tea), tea, a tea set, towels, and a blanket. Yes, standards for hotels are higher in vietnam but so are the prices. I think we even had toilet paper. It was in Haiphong where we learned that Northern Vietnam is more expensive and the people are more focused on money.

The next day, we caught the ferry. I am still unable to comprehend how the boat took almost 3 hours to cover 40 kilometers, but somehow it did. We had to stop unexpectedly to rescue some people from another boat. I think that their boat sank (evidenced by the fact that only the very top was visible above water) but they were originally rescued by a tanker (the people were dry so we assumed that they were rescued quickly). The tanker was not going back to land anytime soon so the people jumped on our boat to get back and get sorted out. Sometimes you just have to fill in the pieces for entertainment value.

Cat Ba island was grey, rainy, and chilly the whole time we were there which is a negative side effect of visiting it in the low season. We did manage to score a room for $4/night though with a window/balcony overlooking the bay. Our climbing plans and motorbiking around the island plans were foiled by a) the rain and b) me being sick. It was really frustrating to try and find food that had any sort of nutritional value. Normally subsisting on pho and random snacks would be ok, but after a total system purge, I needed a little more...

After 2 nights, we decided to just cut our losses and head to Hanoi for a day and then leave Vietnam. Done, Done, and done.

Heading North (Hoi An to Hanoi)

Heading North

Hoi An to Da Nang:

We took the bus for this portion of the journey but this time without the chickens.

Da Nang to Hue:

I insisted that we take the train for this portion of the trip since it is supposed to be the most beautiful portion of train ride in the country. It was in fact really beautiful. The tracks follow the coast most of the way. I sat looking out the window and wondering how to get to all of the deserted white sand beaches we kept passing. I had plenty of time to ponder this as the train took 4 hours which is 2 hours longer than it is supposed to take.

Hue:

I had planned on being able to check out the Citadel for a few hours before heading on a night train or bus to Hanoi. Unfortunately, the timing did not quite work out and so Hue was only a brief moment in time for us. It seemed like a likeable little place though. There were lots of parks and flowers alongside the river. Also, it was obviously devoid of the 'made for tourists' feel of Hoi An.

We did have time to stock up on food before boarding the bus. I got a dessert which is largely inexplicable but was very tasty. The old woman scooped bananas, gelatin, nuts, taro paste, and other fruits and random things into a cup. Then she topped it with ice and condensed milk. After a 2 day chocolate hunt, I decided to eat with the locals eat for dessert. Mostly because I refused to pay US prices for a Mars Bar. The Vietnamese don't really have any chocolate bar equivalent.

To Hanoi:

The thing about Vietnam is that it is not of an insignificant size. Coming from Cambodia where the distances are short took a little getting used to. The other thing about Vietnam is that the 'open bus tour' scheme means that almost all tourists make the same trek up the coast and stop at all the same places. The good news is that it is fairly easy to arrange transportation. The bad news is that it is really hard to authentic vietnamese anything.

Since we are running short on time, we're sort of relegated to covering large distances quickly and staying on the tourist track. The overnight bus to Hanoi was largely uneventful. The bus drivers and assistants always seemed surprised when the bus makes a dinner stop and we walk to another restaurant to eat. We are always surprised at the way people file in like cattle to the overpriced restaurants and just pay extra for the crappy food.

Hoi An

Hoi An

The chicken bus dropped us off a little ways out of town. The motor bike guys said is was 4 km but since we are super fit, we managed to walk to the middle of town in 10 minutes. Amazing how those 4 km just ticked by.

Ok ok. Sarcasm aside, Hoi An immediately proved to be ruined by tourism. We went to probably 7 or 8 hotels and it was the same story: rooms started at $12 and included AC, hot water, and a pool. Yes, all of the hotels had pools- this is not usually the case. A motorbike driver told us about a place for $8. I have adopted a new policy which includes Never following a motorbike driver to any tourist destination including hotels. Walking up to a hotel with one of those guys is just shooting yourself in the foot. This guy wouldn't leave us alone though so we noted where the hotel was, went and had lunch, and then went back.. After some light negotiation, we got a room for $8. Success.

Hoi An is known for tailor-made clothing. There are hundreds of stores. It is impossible to stand on the side walk for more than 30 seconds without someone coming up to you and trying to get you to have clothing made at their shop. In the end, it proved to be too much of a daunting task. I didn't have enough prior knowledge and I didn't´have enough motivation to become a tailor made clothing expert.

Instead, we did some relaxing. The beach in Hoi An was actually pretty nice. The people selling coconuts, etc. Were only marginally obnoxious. The water was cool enough to be refreshing and overall the beach was clean and uncrowded. Much better than the reports I had heard from Nha Trang. In true Vietnamese style, at both of the beaches, people tried to wave us into parking lots for our bicycles. One guy looked pretty official with a baton and a whistle but we had previously been advised that paying for parking was a scam and not necessary.

Biking away from tourist towns seems to be my favorite activity these days. From a main road, we turned down a dirt/ grass path which cut between uber green rice fields. Riding on this stretch amidst palm trees, green grass, blue skies, and cows just hanging out evoked the 'I love this life' feeling that has been happening less frequently in the past few weeks.

I often have that happy feeling when I feel like I am in a part of the country that is just that country-not a production for tourists. I also have that feeling with interesting meal experiences not only because of the food but because of the opportunity to have 'normal' transactions with locals.

While I disagree with the many people who claim that Hoi An has amazing food, I would say that the food is the best part of Hoi An. It is also the last place we were getting somewhat reasonable prices: fresh beer for 4000dong and 2 coffees (+ 2 teas) for 10000 dong. We found a 'vegetable' lady down an alley who hooked up huge piles of veggies + rice + watermelon for 20,000dong each. Sweet sweet vegetables....

One night while on the prowl for dinner with another American couple, we passed by a local restaurant which looked interesting. After some pointing, gesturing, and conversing with a slightly intoxicated vietnamese customer, we successfully ordered a few plates of grilled chicken and okra which we wrapped up in mustard leaves and lettuce with cucumbers. There were 3 dipping sauces to choose from: soy sauce, a sweet chili sauce rendition, and some other totally unidentifiable sauce which turned out to be amazing. Thanks to our new friend, we were feasting like the locals. Sweet sweet success. The icing on the cake was when we observed the elderly woman taking money tallying up another customer's tab with an abacus. We stared in disbelief, then laughed, then stared in disbelief again. Only in Vietnam.

Coffee with a side of Tea (leaving Dalat)

Coffee with a side of Tea

Leaving Dalat was not easy. In retrospect, I should have spent more time there. Motivated by desire to see everything Vietnam has to offer, I headed to Nha Trang. Nha Trang is one of the big tourist destinations mainly for the beach. As a beach girl, of course I am drawn to the water no matter how much of a scene it is. Even if it is only for a short swim, the salt water always leaves me with a smile on my face. So, despite my initial attraction to seeing the beach in Vietnam I gave into my partnerś logical reasoning that Nha Trang would be a total zoo. Instead, we took the night train to Da Nang since the train doesnt stop in Hoi An.

The overnight trains tend to be 3 or 4 times the price of the overnight bus. There were 2 Vietnamese men in our 6 bed cabin. The Starer just stared at us all night. The Obnoxious guy played elevator music on his laptop all night and kept turning the main light on in the middle of the night. Finally, at 5:30 am, we made it to Da Nang. We walked towards the bus station and stopped for Coffee. The great thing about coffee in Southern Vietnam is that it comes with tea. Furthermore, it is perfectly acceptable and even encouraged to linger at the mini-chairs and tables for hours. I have yet to see anyone walking around (or on a motorbike) with a To go coffee.

From Da Nang, we caught the local bus to Hoi An. In an effort to blend in with the local women, I had purchased a SARS mask. Itś a nice blue flowery pattern. Women wear these things all the time. IT totally makes sense for dusty roads, but I'm perplexed about its purpose. So, I just refer to it as the SARS mask. The local bus had a marked price (10000 dong) on the side of the bus. The control freak assistant bus worker tried to charge us 20k each but backed off as soon as we pointed to the sign on the side. The control freak assistant #1 spent the remainder of the ride pushing people off the bus while the wheels were still rolling and practically hoisting new arrivals onto the bus. The highlight was when we stopped in the middle of nowhere and control freak assistant #1 loaded 15-20 large boxes on the bus. Upon further inspection, we realized that the boxes were chicken parts from Sanderson Farms in Mississippi.

I admit, I too am a (chicken) breast girl. My partner had been telling me all along that Americans only eat certain parts of chickens and ship the rest to Asia. Then all of a sudden we were on a bus with the evidence. I'm not sure how I feel about this. In Asia, Ive consistently been eating bowls of soup with chicken gristle, fat, and bones and only a bite or two of meat. There has to be a happy medium.

Arcoiris (Dalat)

This format is so cheesy- I know. I was trying to be creative and Dalat really left me feeling happy and cheesy so this is the result:

Red: The color of the cheapest wine I have ever bought. Grapes are 50000 dong per kilo but a bottle of wine is only 20000 dong- less than $1.25. The quality exceeded my expectations considering the price.

Pink: We arrived in Dalat on a pink bus. It pulled into a hotel parking lot diagonally where a security guard served as a physical barrier to keep out the touts.

Peach: The color of the hibiscus blooming on our balcony overlooking the lake. A middle aged woman popped out of her house as we walked down the street to invite us to look at her room for rent. I couldn't say no. The room had 3 beds, a canister with loose tea, a cute little tea set, a thermos of never ending hot water, a hot shower, and 4 glass door panels which folded back and opened to the balcony.

Yellow: Squash at the market. At 1500 meters, Dalat has a temperate climate which allows for beautiful vegetable crops. Baskets and baskets of artichoke, avocados, eggplant, greens, broccoli, cauliflower, purple cabbage, etc made my mouth water. It also made me wonder who was buying and cooking all these wonderful things which were not available at the market prepared food stalls. I did manage to find a roll your own spring roll stall. It was really fun for me and for the Vietnamese women who watched us flail at first.

Green: Green is everywhere in Dalat; the hills, grass, trees,etc. There are a few parks in town around the lake. I put on my running shoes for the first time in a month and did a lap around the lake and golf course. It was a great way to take in the scenery and the cool air.

Blue: The sky in Dalat is the perfect shade of blue. From the elevated section of the crazy house, i admired the beautiful hues of blue. The crazy house is the only touristy site we visited. Really, the only way to describe it is crazy. It brought to mind the gaudi architecture I had seen in spain. It was a small complex connected by curvy passage way and imaginative stairways which would not meet any us building codes.

Purple: I am not sure what kind of trees they are but there are tons of trees around with little light purple flowers. Overall, Dalat has a plethora of flowers; in the garden and surrounding the french architecture. Supposedly, Dalat is a honeymoon destination for the Vietnamese. The swan shaped boats paddling around the lake were a little too much but the rest was charming.

Brown: The color of the ca phe that is grown in the region. I was on a crack-uccino detox so I only had 1 iced coffee with the condensed milk. It came in a typical setup where the coffee drips through the grounds into the glass. When it is done, you remove the metal grounds holder, stir in the milk and pour it over ice. (this probably makes no sense without a picture of the contraption) The men-some with their moto helmets still on--huddled around an outside table playing dominoes completed the atmosphere.

Welcome to Vietnam (HCMC)

After the bus dropped us off outside of HCMC, we started walking towards the city center. One of the first things I did in Vietnam was weigh myself. I passed a pharmacy with a scale so I went in, took off my backpack, weighed myself, picked up my pack and walked out without anyone else even looking at me. Does CVS have free scales? If not, they should.

Next stop was my first bowl of pho in Vietnam. Once again, what started out as a pleasant experience turned sour when I went to pay. The first problem was that we did not have any Vietnamese Dong and so we tried to pay with US dollars. It is common practice in Cambodia to pay with dollars but not so much in Vietnam like our guidebook stated. The woman tried to give us an exchange rate that was about 60% of what it should be. I waited at the scowling ladyś food stall while my partner found an ATM to get some VND.

HCMC traffic is slightly more organized than traffic in Cambodia, but the volume is so much more that crossing that merely crossing the street is a daunting undertaking. You just have to creep across the street without stopping or making any sudden moves. This gives the motorbikes time to change their path and swerve around pedestrians. They're used to it. The problems start when there are cars involved. Cars block the moto's ability to swerve and just clog things up in general. Anyhow, we were able to hail a bus and get to the city center for 3000 VND each. I can not even imagine driving a bus in the city. What a disaster!

Finding a place to stay in the backpacker district took about 5 minutes. Two Vietnamese ladies spotted us and started fighting over us. They led us down a maze of alley ways to peoples homes. We looked at a few rooms and finally selected one for $8. Basically, families are renting out their bedrooms to tourists. You don't have to find them. The ladies in charge of this operation will definitely find you.

Our place: You take off your shoes and walk through the living room/kitchen. There is no furniture. The people lounge on mats on the floor while staring at the TV mounted in the corner. The space is very narrow. After going upstairs, there are 2 bedrooms which are also for rent. We opted for the attic room. Getting to the room requires going up an additional staircase and then climbing through a trap door. Yeah, the trap door makes me laugh every time. It definitely feels really awkward when I come in at night and people lying on the floor have to scoot over so I can tip-toe between motorbikes and people through to the stairway. Prices in HCMC have increased a lot recently so I just hope that my $8 is helping them out. Wandering through the maze, it appears that most families have the same set up.

So far, the city has a vibrant energy and is far different than anything you would find in Cambodia. It feels decades ahead of Cambodia, but still much different than the US.

Leaving Cambodia

10 days is only enough to scratch the surface. I experienced pleasant bike rides, beautiful scenery, and satisfying transactions with the locals. I also experienced attempts to get short changed, locals changing the price when I went to pay, and people flat out lying to me.

In any country, there is always good and bad. I am in no position nor do I have adequate information to judge any country. I can only say that there are some unfortunate things happening in Cambodia: the corrupt government is selling its national treasures to foreigners, the Cambodians are attempting to base an entire economy on tourism, large NGO presence may or may not be producing any results aside from bringing large SUVs to the country, and foreign aid keeps rolling in.

I would love to see Cambodia emerge from its struggles and build a strong economy like its neighbors. I just think that some fundamental things have to change before it is even possible.

Phnom Penh (Cambodia)

Once again, I opted for the shared taxi system to Phnom Penh. It is a horrible system. The Cambodians need old school buses to use as public transportation. Locals get around on flat trailers pulled by small motorcycles, by shoving themselves into the back of pickup trucks, and by cramming into mini-vans. All of these forms of transport involve waiting in the vehicle until it fills up. This could take hours. Also, people travel with so much cargo that the vans are usually fully loaded down on the roof and out the back. It is common to see motor bikes and bicycles sticking out of the back of vans.

I took my first tuk-tuk ride in Cambodia because we got dropped off 5km from the city. That is usually our cut-off for walking. Plus, we have screwed ourselves over too many times by refusing transportation so this time, we went for it. Phnom Penh traffic is pretty crazy. Cars, bikes, motorbikes, tractors, etc come from every direction. Most intersections don't have stop signs or lights so everyone just weaves in and out until they get across. The stoplights at the few intersections where they exist are mere suggestions.

The backpacker section by the lake is definitely cheap, grotty, and slightly sketchy. Everyone wants to sell you something- lodging, transportation, drugs, tours, etc. The brown lake is pretty disgusting but the sunsets are pretty. The best deal in the district is the $2 all you can eat Indian lunch special. Indian is quickly becoming my favorite. It is always so tasty and provides what I can only describe as comfort as the flavors dance around.


On to serious matters: the next day, we rented bicycles and headed to the killing fields. Yes, despite being terrified of the traffic, I let my partner convince me that cycling would not be a problem. The 7 or 8 kilometers through the city were adrenaline filled and went by quickly. The intersections were the worst part. Since the traffic moves fairly slowly (20-30 km/hr) it was ok.

I admit- I was pretty ignorant as to the Khmer Rouge and its regime in Cambodia. After spending time at S-21 and the Killing fields, I feel like an expert on the subject. Visiting those two sites in one day was absolutely depressing. There is absolutely no reason that genocidal measures should take place anywhere ever again.

After not being able to stomach anymore information about the Khmer Rouge, we made plans to move on. Phnom Penh is an ok little city, but with less than 2 months to go, I am starting to feel the time crunch. Time to move on.

Who am I? (Cambodia)

Who am I?

After reflection upon my price-obsessed state of mind, I felt I needed to do a little clarification.

After 5 months out of the US and 3 months in SE Asia, I've been doing a lot of thinking about what I hope to gain from traveling and what motivates me to keep traveling. It is easy to sort of coast through Thailand, Cambodia, etc. and just stay in the tourist bubble. I have only met a few people who want to ask questions and dig deeper.

I think my main motivator is curiosity. I want to know how things work in other countries. What kind of transportation they have, what kind of food they eat, what kind of beliefs the people have, what kind of customs still exist, etc. As my partner puts it, I am after the fly on the wall experience. I want to be able to experience life as the locals do. I don't feel like I deserve special treatment because of my skin color or nationality. I love pristine desolate beaches as much as the next beach girl but I don't think that the Thais or the Vietnamese should cater that to me because I am a westerner. By the same token, I don't feel like I should be taken advantage of because of my skin tone or nationality. If I want to sign up for a $500 per night resort, then I will do that and pay $500. But if I sign up for a meal on the street, I want to pay approximately what locals pay. Not 2 or 3 times the price that the people beside me pay for the same meal.

I enjoy checking out some tourist attractions ( Angkor Wat, etc.) but the more I travel, the more rewarding I find local markets and the less rewarding I find the tourist attractions. Markets tend to be the places where I seek refuge after being ripped off or being part of the tourism zoo. Jumping on a bike and getting out of the town or city a little ways also helps too. If I had to sum it up, my mission statement would be: to learn, to understand, and to grow. All of this of course being done with as little impact as possible on the Earth and on the cultures I visit. I don't tip or hand out candy to kids. I don't buy bottled water. I don't hand out money to beggars but will share my fruit with them if they will accept it (many won't.) Ok, soapbox mode is off.


What is my blog about?

Originally it was more geared towards sharing personal growth while chronicling my travels. At this point, I feel like it should include some trip report content in addition to isolated stories and feelings. After looking at other peoples blogs, I have realized that things are really different in this part of the world and I have normalized a lot of it which makes it hard to explain myself to those people who have not traveled here. So I am switching over to documenting some of those differences to provide more context.

Khmer Food (Cambodia)

So at this point in my journey, I admit that I might have been a little obsessed with food and food prices. But, checking out the local food and avoiding getting totally ripped off all the time are priorities for me.

One of the good things about this fairly small country is that there is not a lot of food variation by region so prices are pretty standard. How much one pays is largely dependent on the types of places where he eats and how willing he is to negotiate. Here are the prices I paid. I know for a fact that the noodle soup was local price. As for the rest, I'm not sure but I think I was paying fair prices. This is not meant to brag about low prices but to give an ideal of how much things cost.


Exchange rate: $1US=4000 riel if you pay in dollars and get change (dollars are accepted everywhere). If you change money at the market, you can get 4100 riel for $1US. The XE.com rate is irrelevant. Not sure why they bother.


•Noodle soup: Found in food stalls and food carts in the morning. It is usually green, red or clear. Add the miscellaneous leaves, green beans, sprouts, sauces, and lime. I routinely paid 2000r for 1 bowl of basic soup around siem reap and central cambodia. They will usually try to charge 4000 for one but come down in price immediately. When the mystery meats get involved, the price goes up to around 3000. The 5000r soup is better but it's not worth twice the price for a few bits of chicken gristle.

•Fried rice/noodle/vegetable stands. 4000r is what I would expect to pay for 1 plate of vegetables and an accompanying plate of rice. If the food stall has a menu in English, it is the same as all the others floating around. The price might be different but it is more of a suggestion which is open to negotiation-especially around sr.

•The cauldrons: Another way to load up on veggies. The food is made fresh twice a day. In the market it is 3000 for a bowl of rice with a few scoops of veggies on top. The precooked veg are usually dark green and have bits of meat mixed in . At one food stall in kampot, I paid 2000r for each plate of veg and 1000 for rice. Usually, there's a wide selection of meat and meat products as well.

•Baguette sandwiches: Standard price is 3000r for the pate special. I usually get everything except for the fat globules. If you just want bread, find the ladies selling only bread and it is 500r for a sandwich size a d 1000 for the bigger size.

•Fruit shakes: No need to pay more than 3000r. Best price I found was 2000r with the option to add an egg for 500r. Soursop, winter melon, and jack fruit are the tropical fruit stars for shakes.

•Coconuts: Best price 1500r for 1. Highest price I paid 2000r

•Coffee: Iced coffee with sugar is 1000r to 1500r. Iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk is 2000 to 2500r. Go to the places with old men sitting around and don't neglect the post coffee free tea.

•Fruit and veg: oranges-4000r for 1 kilo of the smaller, less pretty ones. Bananas-2000/kilo. Dragonfruit- 4000-5000r/kilo. Cucumbers- 700r/kilo. Eggplant-3000/kilo. Mango-3000r/kilo. Most fruit starts around 4000-7000r/kilo. Must negotiate.

•Pau: Pau is the omnipresent breakfast/snack food. I believe it is of Chinese origin. It is that white bready blob with pork, chicken, red bean paste, coconut, etc. inside. In Cambodia, I routinely paid 1500 for one.

•Baby duck egg (duck embryo) 1100-1500r for 1 egg. Don't forget the condiments. See Quest for Nutrition post for details.

Kampot (Cambodia)

Discouraged and disgusted with Sihanoukville, my partner and I set off for Kampot. One shared taxi ride and a few hours later, life improved dramatically. Normally, I am anti-taxi. In this case, the taxi was the same price as the bus and it was faster. Also, since we stuffed 8 people in the Camry for the 2 hour trip, I did not feel like I was really indulging in a luxury.

Kampot is a lovely little town on the river. You can pay $50US to stay at the lodge just across for the river. We spent a little while contemplating what exactly you get for that amount of money- AC, hot water, and breakfast included should only be around $15-20. What could possible justify the extra cost? I guess we'll never know. The river view wasn't that amazing. Anyhow, we stayed at LongVilla. Despite the mention in the LP, the rate has not tripled like all the others. $5 still gets you a decent room.

Part of the intrigue of Kampot was visiting Bokor Hill- a national park up a hill. Unfortunately, the Cambodians have recently sold it to the french who are constructing a 500 room resort. It is now closed to visitors as the road is being used for 'construction vehicles' which may be 'dangerous.'

With Bokor out of the running, we rented a motorbike and headed East. Kep is a small town nearby which represents huge contrasts. There are abandoned buildings next to nice, new resorts. Also perplexing are the stalls of pre-set up hammocks. I wasn't sure if the locals rented them for hanging out or if there was some other system. Cambodians tend to do quite a bit of lounging. We took advantage of a lounging structure to stop and have a snack.


Once of the coolest stops of the day was at a pepper plantation. (Pepper as in the companion of salt, not chili peppers). I had never seen the way the peppercorns grow on trees. It is pretty neat. The owner of the plantation also provided us with some of the best jackfruit I have ever had. I have been eating jackfruit for only a few months but I have eaten it in enough countries to know that this was pretty amazing. I wanted to purchase a bag of peppercorns but couldn't really justify carrying around 1 kilo of pepper for 6 weeks.


Kampot was a very necessary stop and more of the relaxed pace of life I have come to love.

Sihanoukville and Kampot (Cambodia)

I arrived in Sihanoukville just before dark. I always try to avoid getting to new places at nightfall, but sometimes it happens. My guidebook painted a very lovely and rosy picture of Sihanoukville- a coastal city in southern Cambodia. After walking from the bus station to Victory Hill area (supposedly the cheap backpacker area) I realized that something was amiss. There were 6 or 8 girly bars with middle-aged western men and young Cambodian women wearing a little to much make-up and not enough clothing.

At the corner, my partner and I got offers for every type of imaginable thing that would be illegal in the US. I don't consider myself a conservative prude, but I was definitely thrown off by the description I had read. Apparently, things are changing really fast. Cambodia is more than willing to sell its land (and national treasures) to foreigners. This saddens me. Foreign ownership should not come at the expense of the local economy as it does in Sihanoukville. Is it really necessary to have an Italian, Swedish, Austrian, and Mexican restaurant in one little tourist area?


The next day, we headed to Serendipity beach. It was absolutely horrible. Hundreds of tourists lounging in chairs on the sand. Half as many Cambodians trying to sell goods and services (massages, etc.). The beach was not pretty. The water appeared especially dirty. Out of curiosity, we checked out accommodations. For the same price as we paid in Victory Hill ($5), the standard declined considerably.


Maybe I am unaware of the benefits of the ex-pat presence in places like Sihanoukville. But after seeing the disgusting state of affairs, I have renewed my commitment to eating at local establishments and staying at local owned guesthouses. It is the least that one can do for the struggling Cambodians.

Quest for Nutrition

After biking around siem reap for 3 days, Evan and I decided that we needed a healthy dose of veggies and some protein. This was a huge undertaking considering the minuscule amount of both that the Cambodians subsist upon.

I have been lusting after the beautifully shaped deep purple eggplants that I see in all the markets. I'm not sure where they end up but we never see them in restaurants or at food stalls. I acquired 2 medium sized eggplants for .50$ at the market. Next step: find a food stand to cook them. This project would have gone a lot more smoothly in siem reap where hot woks abounded. But here in kompong thom, all of the food carts and stalls had pre-prepared food with no means of cooking. Finally, I caved and went to a restaurant where an all too eager kid immediately understood what I was after and escorted my eggplants to the kitchen.

As suspected, only about ¾ of 1 eggplant made its way back to the table. I enjoyed my pile of mixed veggies and learned my lesson: next time find a wok on the side of the road and watch them cook all of the food I give them. I asked the kid what happened to the rest of my eggplant after he begrudgingly made his way back to our table when I spotted him trying to hide and motioned to him. His English capabilities suddenly diminished to only knowing how to say the number of riels that we owed him.

With one project complete, we set off in search of protein. I spotted a few ladies with rotisserie chicken setups but $4 for a chicken was too much. The options were dwindling to meat on a stick and the baskets of eggs that everyone had. Not in the mood for mystery meat, we opted for the eggs. At 30 cents each, the eggs were also expensive. Determined not to get the special tourist price, we shopped around. After getting the same price over and over we also learned that these eggs were baby duck eggs. I thought to myself what's the big deal, we eat baby chicken eggs all the time.

We ended up taking the plunge and buying 2 eggs. The first indication that something was different was that the eggs came with a bag of condiments including limes, black pepper, and a pile of little green leaves. Back at our hotel, Evan started to peel his egg. He immediately put it together- baby duck egg means duck embryo. I'm not sure how far along the ducks were but there was quite a bit of development already. Thinking back, I don't think it was a question of if we were going to eat the duck embryos but how we were going to eat them. The eggs naturally broke into 4 pieces. The first 2 were harder than a hard boiled eggs yolk and more chewy. We developed a method of squeezing lime juice, coating in pepper, and then covering with leaves. The last 2 pieces were more challenging. Evan went for the get it down quick method and then had fun taking pics of me making faces. The egg itself had little flavor and the leaves helped with the consistency which wasn't as disgusting as it seemed.

The good news is that we were no longer pissed about paying for eggs, we got some protein, and we were able to try a new interesting food. It's always an adventure.

Kompot Thom

Imagine a town where there are less than 50,000 people. The sprawling market serves as the center. You can buy hammocks, fishing nets, cell phones, stainless steel kitchenware and anything else you might need. Now imagine most of the women and some of the children are wearing pajamas. Not victoria's secret stylish nighties but sets of matching pants and long sleeve button up tops. Welcome to Kompong Thom.

A few months ago, I would have been unable to comprehend the scene where women were going about their normal market shopping while wearing pajamas. Fortunately, I had listened to a planet money podcast which put this scene in context. Cambodia produces the majority of the pjs that the US imports. Unfortunately, things are going downhill for the pj factories. I can't explain it as well as the podcast but the decline is essentially based on American stupidity and a lack of ethical practices in China. The bottom line being that it sucks for Cambodia.

Anyhow, for now, the Cambodians still wear pjs as daytime apparel. I thought that thai pants might be the most comfortable getup in se asia or possibly a sarong. But the Cambodian pajamas might have them beat.

The other interesting thing about kompong thom is the guesthouse scene. There is a secondary road with 7 or 8 guesthouses in a row all offering varying degrees of small, dingy, and dirty rooms for $3. For $5 you can upgrade to a clean room with a tv, balcony, and bathroom.

Back on the main road, you can find the tallest building in town which is also the hotel recommended by our guidebook. In an attempt to avoid the guidebook circuit, I checked out a room around the corner from the main hotel only to find that for the same price ($5) the quality and cleanliness did not even come close. Once again, I am baffled by Asian business practices. It's like a Comfort Inn competing with a Hilton but charging the same amount. Who stays there?

Bottom Line: Kompong Thom is a somewhat easy stop over on the way from SR to PP to get a little closer to seeing the locals in Action.

Intro to Cambodia

Cambodia has beautiful countryside. I'm not sure what it is about they sky, but it seems bigger and more blue than many other places I've visited recently. Also, the hues of pink and red that illuminate the sky during sunset are ridiculous. I'm sure that if you could find a high point (cambodia is sort of flat) then sunset would be absolutely amazing.

After 1 week here, I'm fairly certain that there is no economy here besides tourism. Cambodia is using Angkor Wat and its proximity to Thailand for all it can get. Well, it might not actually be the Cambodians since they don't really own AW anymore. I saw an article in a newspaper yesterday which said that Cambodia had "increasing exposure to the global financial crisis." But not to worry, the IMF is already preparing to help Cambodia through this economic retraction. Essentially, westerners can't afford to travel so much these days, so Cambodia needs a bail out too. This country needs more than the IMF and NGOs throwing money at it. What I see in Cambodia are the effects of the worst possible type of corruption.

That being said, I've enjoyed my travels here. However, after 3 months in SE Asia, it is no longer merely amusing to me the way things (sort of) work. Now I want to understand why things are the way they are. I want to rack my brain for solutions and help these people (and the rest of the world) just as much as the next person. I just don't think that throwing money at the situation makes it any better. Just like giving candy to the kids begging does not help. It just rots their teeth. Really, I don't understand why foreigners think that kids with their teeth already rotting out of their heads need candy. They need nutrition.

So, my trip planning advice for Cambodia in a nutshell: Spend 1 week or 10 days on the tourist circuit (Siem Reap-pnom penh) renting bicycles or motor bikes as much as possible or bring a dirtbike and prepare for a few months of really getting out there

Border Crossing- Thailand to Cambodia

Border Crossing:

There's tons and tons of info out there on crossing the border from Thailand (Aranyapathet) to Poipet (Cambodia). With a little research, my partner and I felt adequately equipped to take on the border crossing which is famed for its scams. If you're doing the crossing and don't read any thing else that I write, read this: The Cambodian Consulate on the Thai side is a scam. Your visa will be official, but you will pay $30 (1000BHT) instead of the $20 charged at the actual border. Tell the tuk-tuk driver to keep moving.

Part 1: BKK to A

5AM: arrive at bus stop and start waiting

5:25: Get on bus

5:50: Arrive at train station, sprint inside, buy ticket.

5:52: Secure seat as my partner runs to get breakfast

5:55: My partner boards the train seconds before it pulls away.

Part 2: A to Market at Border

Roughly 12pm: Arrive in Aranyapathet. Tuk-tuk drivers swarm the train. We secured one for 20 BHT. Not sure how that happened. As expected, the driver brought us to the rip off consulate and we told him to keep going. Didn't even think about getting out. He gave in pretty quickly and took us to the border.

Part 3: the Market

This is the part where we bought some (over priced) rations and some jet fuel coffee. We also marveled at the cattle cars. Tourists do this crossing as part of a group tour bus thing (SCAM). I thought it most appropriate to photograph the name tags these tourists were sporting. The name tags were pretty much equivalent to "rip me off please." tags.

Part 4: The Visa

Just a little ways past the market is where you get your Cambodian visa for $20. There's a sign that says it is $20. They ask you if you want the "express" service and if you decline, they may or may not try to charge you more than $20 anyway. We stayed firm on the $20 and did not pay for an express visa. They told us we would have to wait 'very long time' which turned out to be 3 minutes and 46 seconds. Bring a passport size photo. Piece of cake. Continue the stroll into Cambodia.

Part 5: Taxi from Poipet to Siem Reap

Basically, everyone takes taxis. There's a 'free bus' to the bus station out of town but no one really goes there. And if they do, they don't get anywhere else. Taxi intermediaries tried to negotiate with us while we were waiting for our visas. Starting price is $15/person and they'll take groups of 4.

Finding friends at the crossing is not hard. Everyone (the backpackers) are excited to share what they read or heard or where they've been, etc. It is quite understandable since traveling alone or even with just 1 other person can leave people sort of deprived of social interaction (in english). It is just really funny to observe.

There's really no need to negotiate with an intermediary b/c that's not helping the price go down. My partner and I found the two only other people willing to walk down the road and find the taxi drivers and deal with them directly. Some people didn't even want to negotiate. Our taxi buddies turned out to be inspirational negotiators. The taxi driver followed us for 1 or 2 kilometers while we discussed the price and told him we didn't mind walking. Our biggest accomplishment of the day was talking him down to $25 for the whole trip. That's $6.25/person instead of $15. We got to Siem Reap in under 3 hours with only one unplanned stop. As always the transpo guys stop at a store or restaurant where the passengers are supposed to buy stuff. With a little preparation, it's always possible to avoid spending any money on overpriced food. The road is absolutely fine. It's a little bumpy during one little part, but we chattered away oblivious to any discomfort.

Part 5: Success

My border crossing experience included one weak attempt at charging too much money for the visa. Based on the ease of the crossing and the much lower transport prices for independent travelers I wonder how so many people actually get ripped off. There is so much information online- including current road status updates. Doing a little research can really go a long way. Oh and I just looked at the newest Thailand LP which details this entire journey. HA

Market Day (Bangkok)

Markets have become a happy place for me. Whenever I am annoyed with the locals for trying to rip me off or I am feeling overwhelmed, I find myself gravitating towards the market. Normally, it is just a typical fruit and veggie market where I can ogle the vegetables, haggle for fruit, find a sweet iced coffee, and try some new foods that can be described only through sharing pictures.

I landed in Bangkok on the weekend so I headed to the Chatuchak Market. Getting there involved taking a local bus and so on the way, I couldn't´help thinking about the Brady Bunch scene where one of the parents says ¨Ok kids put on your Sunday best, weŕe going to sears. Like the Bradyś, I put on my Sunday best and headed to Chatuchak. What an amazing place to spend the day.

There were tons and tons of stalls. There was actually some organization with maps color coding the different sections. My favorite part was the trendy clothes and housewares part. Most of the little stalls looked like an artist type started creating jewelry or clothes or whatever and they were using the market as their outlet to reach customers. With low overhead, I think it is a really great way to get started. All of the goods had a really trendy, funky style about them.

Of course, there were some stalls with the oh so famous thai pants as well. I splurged and bought 1 pair of thai pants and 1 cute dress. This almost doubled my wardrobe. I had been thinking about buying each of these items for a long time and it was really fun to negotiate and then complete the transaction. Later that night and for days afterwards, I felt guilty about being such a consumer again. The clothes hardly add any weight to my 10 kilo (22 pound) pack but I just felt sort of indulgent for having so many clothing choices. ( Skirt, shorts, button up shirt, tank top, thai pants, dress. Thatś my wardrobe) How am I going to be able to reconcile a whole closet of clothes when I get home???

Ok, back to the market. My partner dragged me away from the furniture, lamps, etc. You could seriously outfit an entire house (including a pet) at this market. We decided to spend more time trying out food because our packs are obviously too small for any couches or real shopping. One of my favorite foods of the day was ice cream. It was divided into little cubes (the size of cheese cubes) and you got to pick out all sorts of crazy flavors. Of course, we had to try the durian. Also, coconut, coffee, pandanus, taro, black bean, etc. The crazy flavors of asia don't seem quite so crazy anymore.

My favorite drink included a performance where the server wore a costume and twirled around while pouring pulled tea. It was the yummiest teh tarik (cousin of indian chai tea) that I'd had in while. We sampled what looked like tacos but turned out to be orange grated coconut (not cheese) with a dollop of cream and a raisin. Mano and papaya salad rounded out sushi lunch. At 5 baht per piece, we couldn't´ say no. (35 baht = 1 dollar). Plus, the whole experience of picking out pieces with little tongs and placing them on a little tray was part of the fun.

I think we spent 6+ hours at the market and I could have gone back the next day and spent 6 more hours. I was struggling with the thought of buying unnecessary goods but the entrepreneurial spirit provides a feeling in the air that I can appreciate and relate to. From the funky fresh hipsters to the waffle makers who put their own logo on the perfect size and shape little waffle bags, this was truly a great market day.