Three Nights in Don Det, Laos (written by Andrew)

BEEN THERE, DON DET

After 3 stressful days sorting out my passport and other necessary documents, I was more than ready to start my adventure in Laos and to chill on the 4,000 islands. This is an area in the south of Laos near the Cambodian border on the Mekong River, and while there are a ton of (mostly uninhabited) islands, we stayed on the backpacker friendly island Don Det. 

Time moves slow on this laid back river island. Our riverside bungalow (for less than $4) had two hammocks strung up on the porch, and it was all too easy to spend some hours just lounging. Many of the guesthouses and restaurants on the island offered ‘happy’ dishes (essentially, cooking your food with weed). Happy pizza, happy shake, happy mashed potatoes…essentially anything on the menu could be served happy. That combined with the reggae music playing from most bars makes it all too easy to get stuck enjoying Don Det longer than you planned. In fact, Jess and I met many backpackers that had spent well over a week chilling out on the island. Another great plus about Don Det is that while the island is geared towards backpackers, it still maintains a rustic feel and you aren’t bombarded with any hawkers or shops selling tourist t-shirts and goods.

Jess and I ended up spending a total of 3 days/4 nights on the island. Our first full day we rented bikes to explore the island. I was incredibly proud of Jess, who got on a bike with a big smile for her first time in over 3 yrs. The ride was quite peaceful and beautiful, as we followed a dirt path around the perimeter or the island, passing guesthouses, local villages, and plenty of farmland. The only others on the road were the occasional motorbike as well as cows and other farm animals that come and go as they please. That afternoon we ended up at a guesthouse called King Kong. While I would have struggled to guess what day of the week it was, we got lucky and stopped in just in time for the weekly Sunday Roast. The place was owned by an older Brit and a few other expats and tourists were hanging around. We all talked and shared stories until our dinner arrived - Jess and I shared a heaping plate split with turkey, pork, mashed potatoes, veggies, apple sauce and gravy. After dinner Jess went off to a nearby hammock for a nap and I joined in on the weekly game of poker. It was quite fun playing with older expats and I ended the night up. A heavy rain started up at around 6 while we were playing, and the electricity went off around the island within the hr. Jess and I waited for the rain to die down before making the slow, dark, a d muddy ride back to our bungalow. As the rain kept up and the electricity didn’t turn back on, we spent the evening lounging on hammocks on our porch before heading to bed early. 

As you can never strive to accomplish too much in 1 day on Don Det. Jess and I rented bikes again our 2nd day in order to explore some waterfalls and sites on a neighboring island. In the evening we arranged the iPad so that we could each lie on a hammock on our porch and watch a movie (we went with the classic Good Morning Vietnam).

We spent much of the afternoon of our 3rd day lounging at the reggae bar, playing cards with friends and having beers. There is also a wooden plank hanging off the porch of the bar that serves as a perfect jumping off point into the river below (we all tried it at least once). Later that afternoon, 5 of us chartered a boat to take us to a small island with a beach for some leisurely fishing.

CAMBODIA RECAP

Phnom Penh--> Sihanoukville--> Koh Rong--> Siem Reap

I really enjoyed Cambodia overall and if i were to go back i would probably spend a week or two more going to some of the less touristy cities.  Some things that stood out to me overall:

Tuk tuks: there were probably more Tuk Tuk drivers than there were tourists and it became hard not to be rude to the. Many of the Tuk Tuk drivers also appeared to double as drug dealers.

Haggling: It wasn't just the Tuk Tuk drivers that were pushy-- there were tons of people trying to sell things on the street (many of the, children) and they didn't like to take no as an answer. It was almost impossible to have a meal without a child coming up to you trying to sell books or bracelets.

Poverty: Definitely the least developed country we've seen so far and I think a lot of this is a consequence ofthe Khmer Rouge regime. All schools were destroyed so many of the older Cambodians couldn't even read or write their own language. However, the country has a promsing future with a young eager population who spoke English surprisingly well.

Landscape: Compared to Thailand and Vietnam the country was extremely flat and dominated by rice fields, farmland and houses on stilts.

***To see Andrew's post on Cambodia to to andrewandjess.tumblr.com

Two Weeks in Cambodia

Three Nights in Phnom Penh

We took an early bus from Ho Chi Minh City to Cambodia which was relatively painless.  We arrived in Phnom Penh around noon and spent the afternoon walking around the city trying some of the local cuisine and bars.  I called it an early night since we had a long day of travel and a big day ahead of us.

Our first full day in the Cambodia we knew would be a depressing yet an essential part of anyone's visit to the country: the sites of the Cambodian genocide. I took a class in college that went into detail about the Cambodian genocide but I've found that it is not well known by the majority of the international community. Since the atrocities happened only about 35 years ago, the consequences of the Khmer Rouge are still seen today.  Phnom Penh is the city where a tourist can learn the most about the genocide with the two main sites being the killing fields and the Tuol Slong Genocide Museum also known as S-21 prison.  We had a Tuk Tuk driver first take us to the killing fields-- one of the many locations that Khmer Rouge rouge used as a mass grave for thousands of Cambodians who they thought were a threat to the regime's power.  At first glance it just looks like a medium sized field with some trees and huts surrounded by farmland and is actually quite beautiful and tranquil.  When you look a but closer, however, you learn that the field has many indentations where mass graves were built, that the trees were used for unspeakable things and that women and children were not sparred from the massacre.  The next stop was the S-1 prison which was originally a high school turned into a prison/ torture center/ execution center and is now a museum.  This was a morbid site with most of the prisons still intact and a huge thunderstorm started while wewere there which added to the spookiness. I am happy that this was one of the first things we did in Cambodia because it is important to remember the country's sad past while traveling through the cities and countryside.

Monument at the Killing Fields

S-21 Prison

My first night out in Phnom Penh introduced me to a dark side of modern day Cambodia: Sex tourism. In the daytime I thought that the groups of older white men were visiting the city for the cultural experience but I soon learned they were there for one main reason-- the very young and inexpensive prostitutes. It was difficult to walk down a street or go into bar without seeing some type of this interaction. It was definitely an eye opening experience for me and I unfortunately am now quick to judge any older white man in this region of the world.

My final full day in Phnom Penh I woke up early to go to the US embassy to add pages to my passport which actually was a very easy process.  We then spent the rest of the day touring some museums, looking at temples and bargaining at the central market.  Andrew also decided to get a haircut at a street stall (it didn't turn out bad). That night we were able to find a bar that did not have any older white men in it and hung out with some friends we had met in Vietnam.

Random restaurant in the center if town...

One Night in Sihanoukeville and Three Nights in Koh Rong

We left the next day for the southern coast of Cambodia called Sihanoukeville which is the beach/ vacation destination of the country. I didn't find the city or the beach quite  scenic but the nightlife was extremely fun with 25 cent beers. We only spent one rainy night there because our ultimate destination was an island about 2 hours of the coast called Koh Rong.  Koh Rong is described as "the Thai islands before they became overdeveloped and touristy".  It was a beautiful island with pristine beaches and barely any development-- there were less than a dozen guesthouses (all bungalows) and electricity usually cut off from 11pm to 7am.  The island had a really chill vibe and I could see myself wanting to stay there for a week HOWEVER we happened to be there during one of the rainiest weeks of the year. We spent three day and nights on the island and didn't see sun once-- it basically down poured for three days straight (I now know what they mean by the "rainy season"). Luckily, we met a really good group of friends, stayed in a treehouse, ate tons do fresh seafood and enjoyed the lazy feel of the island enough that the bad weather did not ruin our trip. Nonetheless, after three days I was ready to get away from the rain.

Night Bus

To prevent wasting a day of travel we decided to take a night bus to our final destination in Cambodia, Siem Reap. We had taken several night buses in Vietnam but this was by far the most dysfunctional experience. Our bus broke down at about midnight and they moved us onto another bus that was already half full, leaving about 6 passengers with  nowhere to sleep. The angry passengers argued with the bus company who acted clueless about the situation, wouldn't give them a refund and made them sit in the isle of the bus. THEN at about 5am our second bus broke down ad we had to wait 2 hours for another bus to pick us up. This last bus did not have reclining seats so sleep was nearly impossible and the air conditioning was broken. I am not one to complain, especially when it comes to transportation, but this was just as bad as it gets. Luckily, 4 hours behind schedule, we got to Siem Reap safe and sound.

Five Nights in Siem Reap

Siem Reap probably ended up being my favorite city in Cambodia.  It has tons of restaurants, the amazing angkor wat temples, a huge market, cheap cheap massages and a really fun night life Night life.  Our first night out was particularly fun.  We hung out on pub street (the main street full of bars and clubs) with the friends we met on Koh Rong (alex, kate and ryan) and our friend Rafael who we had met in Thailand. 

$2 massages on the street 

The main attraction in Siem Reap are the Angkor Wat and surrounding temples (think tomb raider and/or legends of the hidden temple).  Andrew and I decided that we wanted to tour the temples separately: he wanted to leisurely take his time touring the temples on a bicycle for three days while I decided I wasn't ready to get back on a bicycle after my last incident so opted for a one day Tuk Tuk ride tour instead.  Luckily, our friends Kate, Alex and Ryan also wanted to do the Tuk Tuk tour so I joined them for the day.  The temples were truly amazing.  They were enormous and each stone had beautiful carvings. It was crazy to think how much time and energy went into making this temples and it was sad to realize that be Khmer Rouge had destroyed so many of them while in power. Almost as amazing as the architecture were some of the trees that were growing around and/or through the temples.

Since Andrew still had two days left of temple touring, I decided to do a yoga/ meditation retreat in Siem Reap that our friend Rafael was about to do.  While I was clearing my head, stretching and relaxing, i received and email from Andrew informing me that he got his daypack stolen from him while touring the temples.  He had put the small backpack in the front basket of his bicycle and two men drove up in a motorcycle and snatched it right from him. The worst part was that it has his passport, camera and nook. We decided that since he had to go all the way back to Phnom Penh to get his passport. I would just stay in Siem Reap and we would meet a few days later in Laos. 

I spent a total of 2 days and nights in the yoga retreat and enjoyed every second of it.  It was run by the nicest Australian man who specialized in stretching and made the experience feel very intimate and homey.  There were about 6 of us staying at the retreat, all in our 20s and with minor experience with yoga and meditation. We started our mornings with a 6:30am meditation session and 7:00am breakfast. We then had a few hours to relax, read or explore the town until our 10:30am stretching session (which was particularly good).  Afterwards we'd usually end with a bit of mediation and then have the rest of the afternoon to do whatever we wanted.  My first day I went into town with Rafael and met some of his friends for lunch. Around 5pm we went to a pagoda to meditate while watching the monks chant and then we had 6:00pm yoga session.  Dinner was served around 7:30 and we ended the night with mediation before bed. The owner of the retreat also spinsters many local schools so one option during free time was to volunteer teaching English at one of the schools.  I decided to take this opportunity up my second day of the retreat and assisted in teaching a class of 17-27 year olds English for an hour-- this was a great experience because it gave me a glimpse into Cambodian education and also showed me how difficult teaching English is!

My last full day in Siem Reap I did a bit of shopping with some of the girls I met on my retreat (Andrew is very patient with shopping but its always nice to have girls opinions once in a while).  I checked into a huge hostel called garden village where I met a really nice group of backpackers who I joined for dinner and drinks. Since my bus to Laos picked me up at 4:00amthe next morning I decided it made more sense to just not go to sleep so that I could sleep on the 14 hour bus trip ahead of me.

VIETNAM RECAP (written by Andrew)

3.5 weeks traveling north to south

Hanoi > Halong Bay > Hanoi > Sapa > Hanoi > Dong Hoi > Paradise Cave > Hoi An > Nhatrang > Dalat > 4 day Easy Rider > Ho Chi Minh

And in addition, an assortment of thoughts and revelations I had while traveling the country:

Traffic & Transportation- The traffic in Vietnam might just be the most hectic in the world. Motorbikes are by far the most favored form of local transportation and the rush hour traffic in places like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh are swarming with these vehicles. I heard early on that in Vietnam, the horn is more important than the brakes, and as you walk down an urban street, the honking is near constant. Sometimes the traffic is so heavy, simply crossing a street on foot is a mission. I also learned early on that the best way to cross a street is to just walk slow and steady and not to make eye contact with the drivers and they will (hopefully) drive around you. So essentially, just close your eyes and walk. It’s also amazing that I never saw an accident. There would be 4 and 5 way intersections with bikes crossing from every direction. I sometimes thought that the traffic was like a living organism, moving and honking constantly but always avoiding disaster. Another interesting fact about life on the road in Vietnam is that bikers don’t bother to yield or even look both ways before turning onto a busy road or intersection - this was the source of a close call my first day on a motorbike, as a bike pulling a carriage pulled out of a small road on to the highway right in front of me without thinking to look or even honk. Similarly, it is not out of the ordinary for motorbikes to start by driving on the wrong side of the road before crossing over to the right side of the road.  Sleeper buses & trains are an inevitable part of traveling Vietnam on a backpackers budget. I took a sleeper train from Hanoi to Sapa and back. Besides arriving at the miserable hr of 5 am, the actual journey is quite pleasant. Typically, the sleeper train is divided into many private cabins that each have 2 bunks and air conditioning. Sleeper bus is an even more budget option and I used this method from Hanoi to Dong Hoi and from Hoi An to Nha Trang. A sleeper bus typically has 3 rows of beds going front to back, and with each row double stacked with an upper and lower bunk. The comfort of these tends to vary by company. Some seats recline far enough for you to nearly stretch out completely, others are much tighter so that you can only sleep in the fetal position. While the 2nd ride wasn’t too bad, my first experience was quite unpleasant, especially because there were several bugs crawling around in the crevice between my bed and the wall. There is also no such thing as a multi-lane highway in Vietnam, so passing trucks around blind corners is the norm.

Food- The cuisine is one of the highlights of being in Vietnam. One of the most popular dishes, called Pho, is a rice noodle soup served with veggies and typically your choice of chicken, beef, or pork. While I enjoyed the dish several times for lunch and dinner, pho is the typical breakfast dish for the locals. Nothing like starting off your day with a steaming bowl of noodle soup. Vietnam also serves up some damn good coffee. However, since the coffee is usually quite strong, the portions are small and might not satisfy someone used to large dunkin donuts iced coffees. 

Face masks- One of the more obvious cultural differences is that many people (though especially women) wear face masks. Jess and I were perplexed by this and heard a wide range of answers from the people we spoke to. The first main reason is that the locals wear the masks to avoid breathing in pollution and so not to spread illness when they are sick. However, after seeing many local women walking the beach while wearing a face mask, we were still perplexed. So the second main reason is so women can keep try coloring of their face more white. Whereas many Americans will go out of their way to get a nice tan, having lighter skin is apparently more desirable in Vietnam and women will wear the masks to keep the sun off their faces. 

Sitting and seats- The way the Vietnamese sit might be the strangest cultural phenomenon from my American perspective. First, the tables and stools used at most street side restaurants and bars are ridiculously small. Imagine that little play table your parents got for you when you were a toddler with seats no higher than 2 ft off the ground. This is what grown adults in Vietnam use to eat their dinners. Took a little getting used to before I was comfortable while sitting to eat. An extension of the normal table and stool is how the Vietnamese typically sit when they do not have a proper seat. I would think that in America, people might sit in the butterfly position, or with their legs stretched out, or maybe find something to lean on like a wall or a fence, or simply stand. Not in Vietnam. Instead, they squat down similar the position that you would use to stretch your groin, but an important addition is that both feet are always flat on the ground. Piling out of a 4 row minibus at a rest stop, every single local sat this way on the ground, while having a smoke or a drink or just chilling. Maybe I’m not that flexible, but when I try to do it I nearly fall over.

North vs. South- Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi are polar opposites and in some ways capture the differences between the north and the south. Ho Chi Minh is loud and stylish, with young adults partying at nightclubs into the early morning, whereas Hanoi is old and conservative, all bars have a mandatory closing time of 11 and the local commerce seems as if it hasn’t changed much over the past few decades. Ho Chi Minh is glitzy with new skyscrapers and flashing advertisements. Hanoi, on the other hand, has a timeless feel to it, especially in the old quarter that has tight windy roads with beautiful flowers and blossomed trees.  While I had quite a pleasant time in he North, it was interesting to here from locals living in Ho Chi Minh that they do not always feel welcomed in the North - they are charged higher rates for food and goods when they travel north and are not always greeted warmly. The only time I lied about my nationality was when speaking with a man in his 40s at a bar in Hanoi. Turned out he hated the Communist Party and had only good things to say about America. And while most of the country has undergone a dramatic change over the past few decades as Vietnam’s economy has opened up to foreign investment, there were still times when I could notice the difference of living under a Communist Party. For instance, it is illegal for any citizen to own a gun (no guns, no rebellion). Also, locals tread very lightly when talking about politics. For example, easy rider guide Hong spent 3 yrs in a ‘re-education camp’ after being a cpt in the south Vietnamese army, and while he spoke a bit about this experience, he never once bad mouthed the communist party.