Cambodian History Lesson

Norm:

The second day, we had an early start to a more rural area to do an ATV trip. The trip was meant to see the more rural and agriculturally focused area of Cambodia and we had a 3 hour ride ahead of us. It was a great way to start the trip though - Mandy and I were the only ones taking part in the tour in the morning so it was great to have the whole dusty road to ourselves. The landscapes we rode by were beautiful and the people were nice and waved at us whenever we drove by. We stopped by a stand to buy some candy for the kids we drove by and their eyes would light up and they would swarm whenever they saw us driving by.

Our tuk tuk driver gave us masks for the ride

Scenic ride

The day we got farmer tans

Little kids want to play =)

Mandy's swarmed

The people were friendly and waved to us

Exhausting ride

Delicious sugar cane juice

The second part of the tour was to visit the Killing fields in Cambodia, the site where many Cambodians lost their lives in a genocide of the Khmer Rouge from 1975-1979. We had the audio tour with us and it really helped contextualize the brutality of the Khmer Rouge and the sadness of such an event happening not too long ago, all to fulfill the twisted communist ideals of Pol Pot. He believed in a self-sufficient agricultural Cambodia where all property belonged to the state. Those who were educated (engineers, doctors, professors, lawyers) were sent to the farms to work in slave-like conditions and many were executed. Executions can come from as frivolous a criteria as having hands that were too soft: a sign that one didn't labour hard enough in the fields. The killing fields were a site for mass execution and burials. Revolutionary music blared in the background to cover up the screams of the executed and DDT was used to cover the stench of decaying bodies. It was an extremely sobering experience and I felt slightly numb after that.

Memorial building

Definitely worth it to get the audio guide

The fields

From then, we took a tuk-tuk back to the hotel (Mandy managed to somehow sleep on the bumpy dusty ride back). After a short nap, we went to check out the National Museum, which was full of statues of Buddha, Vishnu, Shiva  and Harihana. Afterwards, we went to check out the National Palace at night, and caught happy hour again along with some beef nachos. After sitting on the ATV all day, we ended the day with a traditional Khmer massage and then bed time!

Hot pot

We were starvinggggg

National Museum

So pretty

CBC

Restaurant we were at the night before

Double fisting (again)

Phnom Penh (the "Ph" is silent?)

Norm:

Our flight to Phnom Phen was in the afternoon, and after having so much local food, we were craving some fast "American-style" food. We went to a fast-food place called Lotteria. As far as I remember, I only remember seeing Lotterias in Korea and we ate some "exotic" fast foods such as bugolgi burgers, shrimp burgers and my favourite: fried chicken. Afterwards, it was straight to the Saigon international airport! The flight was small; I think this was first time I was on a plane with propellers on the wings.

Shake Shake Fries

We arrived in Phnom Phen 45 minutes later and my first impressions of Cambodia are that there are beautiful temples and that the city is the least developed of all the countries we have visited. There is a main strip along the river where many of the tourists stay and play. We went to a 2nd story restaurant and luckily we were there as happy hour started. I had a hoi nam chicken rice (Americanized though, since they used grilled chicken breast, rather than steamed chicken thigh) and Mandy had the fettuccini carbonara. I also had a Long Island iced team, a California Tea and a Passion fruit mojito that Mandy couldn't finish. All of the attractions and markets in Phnom Phen close early, so we just went back to the hotel to relax. Actually, I relaxed, Mandy did laundry :).

Outside of the Royal Palace

View from the restaurant

Happy Hour!

Good Morning Vietnam!

Norm:

Today was the day we had both of our Saigon (or HCMC) tours. We woke up super early for the first tour, which was the Cu Chi tunnels. The tunnels began during French colonial times when the Vietnamese wanted to hide their property and valuables underground from the French. Eventually, the network of tunnels grew and it was in that area where a lot of fighting between North and South Vietnam took place, the majority of which was between the Vietcong and the Americans. We took a one-hour speedboat to the Cu Chi area, which is actually significantly faster than driving there. The tour started with a video talking about fighting in the Cu Chi area (it was a very old black and white video, which made it very propaganda-y), but actually seeing the traps the Vietcong used and the guerrilla warfare tactics was really interesting. The traps were designed to maim and injure severely, rather than kill because caring for the wounded slowed down the enemy progression more. Even the methods used in addressing the American counter-measures of flooding the tunnels with smoke, water and chemicals were quite ingenious. The Cu Chi tunnels were very hot and very claustrophobic. It is no wonder that the American GI's did not venture into the caves - 200 km of weaving tunnels and tight spaces would deter even the bravest person.

Windy and cold speedboat ride

Excuse the poor quality

It's a trap!

Tunnel entrance

Bigger tunnel entrance

Mandy has a smile on her face but she feel claustrophobic

Tapioca snack

From then, we enjoyed lunch on the speedboat back to the hotel for a nap and rest for our next tour, which was a motorbike ride around Saigon with numerous stops for restaurants! Probably my favourite tour in Saigon, girls in motorbikes came to pick us up from our hotel and then drove around to various districts. Typically, most of the tourists stay in District 1 and rarely venture outside of it, so it was interesting to see how different parts of Saigon looked. Not to mention the tour was all you can eat and all the beer you can drink!

Food was average but we were hungry

Speedboat view

Our first stop was a street stand selling Vietnamese noodles, but rather than pho, it was a thicker noodle that was spicy. Then we headed to the Chinatown. On the way there, we drove past the Chinatown market, where fresh produce and livestock were being sold (including frogs)! Unsurprisingly, our next stop had frogs (both with skin on and skin off) on the menu. Also on the menu was goat breast, prawn skewers, and roasted okra.

Bun Bo Hue

Excited for the food

Kitchen

Goat

Okra

Prawns

Frog, skin on and off

From then, we stopped by District 7, which is the newest district in Saigon and very reminiscent of a developed Asian city like Hong Kong. Condos, fancy malls, clean streets stood in stark contrast to what we were used to in District 1. The difference was further highlighted when we went to District 4, which was the poorest district in the city. However, our guides told us that was where the best seafood in the city was. On a street side restaurant, we had crab, clams, and more prawns. It was also there that we tried the infamous balut: a partially developed embryo egg, served with salt and chili. The taste was actually milder than I imagined and tasted quite close to a hard boiled egg. After that massive meal and a decent number of beers we headed back to the hotel. Tomorrow we begin our last leg of our journey in South East Asia to Cambodia.

District 7; calm and clean

Yummy crab

Scallops

Peace!

Our turn to drive

Norms a bit inebriated

Balut kiss

Ho Chi Minh City

Mandy:

The first stop of the day was the War Remnant Museum. Like all the war museums in Vietnam, this one also only showed the Vietnamese perspective. We realized that the museums in Vietnam do not teach you the history of the wars but only to show the impact of the wars to the Vietnamese people. Not to say that the wars were not terrible to Vietnam, but we had to keep in mind that the information was slightly biased. Nonetheless, the museum was very interesting. I have to admit that I am ignorant about the Vietnam war so I will definitely do some more research after our visit. The section that had the most impact on me was the affect of the Agent Orange chemical. Pictures of the deformed babies were overwhelming.

War Remnant Museum

War Planes

After a heavy start to the morning we decided to walk around the city. We stopped by the Reunification Palace but weren't allowed to go in until a later time, a cathedral, some shopping malls, and an open market place. Along the way a local was being "friendly" and helped us with directions but we got conned in buying two coconuts lol.

Heavier than it looks

Double fisting

Reunification Palace (We weren't allowed inside)

We also stopped by a Vietnamese coffee shop chain called Trung Nguyen Coffee for a weasel coffee for Norm and an iced cocoa for me. Vietnam is known for the weasel coffee which has a strong coffee taste.

Noodles for lunch at a food court mall

Most expensive coffee

Making an iced coffee

Hot cocoa

There's actually not too much to do in HCMC. We finished (slowly) walking the city and passed the time by getting a foot massage and a foot scrapping. Norms feet really needed some love. The poor lady kept scrapping and scrapping his feet for much longer than they did on mine =P

Ben Thanh Market

For dinner we went to a local spot close to our hotel for seafood. Norm and I agree that it was one of the best meals we have had during our entire SE Asia trip! Yummy!!

Lottery ticket we bought from an old lady

Crab, prawns, veggies

Snails + paperclips = delicious

Saigon traffic