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.