Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh City a.k.a. Saigon

As the days drew closer to the expiration of our Cambodian visa, I had a mix of emotions. Primarily, I was thrilled at the prospect of going to Vietnam, adding another country to the list and experiencing a new culture. After that, I realized that I was sad to leave Cambodia. Spending one month there, with the latter portion in smaller towns making more meaningful connections with the people I met, I had become very comfortable in this country that was one month ago completely foreign to me. I was nervous about starting all over again in a new country - not to mention enduring another border crossing.

Suddenly, our bus was on a boat - like this.

Cambodia: Tuol Sleng (S-21)

As I mentioned in my Battambang post, there are many memorial sites for the genocide that occurred under Pol Pot's regime in Cambodia. One of the most well-known is Tuol Sleng, also called S-21, which was formerly a high school in Phnom Penh. Here, more than 20,000 people were tortured, interrogated and forced to confess to made-up crimes against the Khmer Rouge (often saying they were spies for the CIA or KGB) before being killed.

"And we also want the younger generation not to forget this regime and
not to allow that kind of regime to happen again in Cambodia and other countries."

Cambodia: Phnom Penh

We left for Phnom Penh at 7:30am for what I now expected to be a breathtaking journey - and not in a good way. Having had a few experiences on the roads in this part of the country, I knew the potholes would be plentiful and every time we approached an especially large one, I'd hold my breath as the bus swayed left then right and back again until we finally lurched onto more solid ground. This was in addition to what driving is like on the smoother roads - constant honking and overtaking the cars/motorbikes/tractors in front of us - at a dizzying speed. To ease the anxiety, they usually play Cambodian music videos or a cheesy karate film.

Public Service Announcement at the toll booth.

Cambodia: Koh Kong

We had an almost equally interesting journey leaving Koh Sdach as we did arriving there, but we were lucky enough to have met See, a Khmer guy who also spoke English, while in Koh Sdach. He helped us arrange a boat back to Poi Yopon and told us when the car left from there for Koh Kong. Apparently, one leaves every morning so there was no real problem there. It did get exciting when 8 adults packed into the 5-seater sedan and set off for the 2 hour ride.

Driver sitting on the cupholders with a woman to his left
and two passengers on the right.

Cambodia: Koh Sdach

If I thought Koh Rong was remote feeling, that opinion changed quickly even before getting to our next destination. We spent an entire afternoon walking to various travel companies trying to figure out how to get to Koh Sdach from Sihanoukville. The language barrier had a lot to do with the difficulty we encountered, but I also realized that many of the people we asked weren't accustomed to using maps and even when we pointed to the place we wanted to go, they couldn't help us. Eventually, a woman was able to help us and we learned that we needed to take a bus in the direction of Koh Kong, but hop off at a cafe along the way and wait for a minibus to take us to Poi Yopon where we could hire a dingy to take us across to the island of Koh Sdach. It was a bit scary to think of doing this and know that the places we'd be going probably wouldn't have many English speakers to help if we got lost or ran into trouble. Luckily, we were seated near an English speaking German man who also spoke Khmer and he helped us make the connection to the minibus.

View from the road.

Cambodia: Sihanoukville + Koh Rong

Having our fill of the quiet city of Battambang, Sam and I decided to get on to a more lively setting. Sihanoukville is a popular beach destination for travelers and boasts beautifully undeveloped islands that are on their way to becoming like their Thai competitors in the tourism market. We bought a ticket for a night bus from Battambang to Sihanoukville and were excited that it was a sleeper with a toilet and wifi. After hopping on the back of a moto and arriving at the bus, we were met with a bus with 70% reclining long chair/beds and no wifi or bathroom. That was to be expected because you never know what you're really going to get over here, so we settled in.

Packing a moto into the luggage compartment of the bus.

Cambodia: Battambang

After seeing the temples at Angkor, I wasn't sure where the rest of our month-long visa in Cambodia would bring us. We ended up buying a bus ticket to a nearby city, supposedly the second largest in the country, Battambang. The road between Siem Reap and Battambang was pretty decent and the trip took only a couple hours. We found a guesthouse for $3/night and went out to walk around the city center. Not at all what I would consider a big city, it is a quaint place with the bustle of street vendors, motorbikes, tuk-tuks and a few cars (many from humanitarian organizations) alongside remnants of French colonial architecture and a small river. Most places are closed by 8pm. After that, you can find some local bars open, a night market or the main hostel for backpackers still operating and serving your choice of Cambodia, Angkor or Anchor beers. (They get around the fact that the latter two have such similar pronunciations by calling "anchor" "anshor.")

Central Market.

Cambodia: Angkor Temples

Okay, the temples at Angkor are amazing. I hadn't realized that Angkor was an entire city, meaning that the temples are several kilometers apart - up to 30km! Here's a map.

Angkor Wat + kids.

Cambodia: Siem Reap

I have long wanted to visit Cambodia and finally getting there and still being here continues to be a dream come true. After Joe and Jack left Thailand, Sam and I took a couple days to rest up in Bangkok and then took a 5 hour local train to the border town of Aranyaprathet. It was a beautiful ride through the rice paddies. Little did I know it was like the calm before the storm that is crossing the border from Thailand to Poipet, Cambodia.

Train crossing in Thailand. 23 August 2013

Thai-island Hopping

We had an excellent adventure with Sam's brothers, Joe and Jack, spending most of our time in the islands in the Gulf of Thailand - Koh Tao, Koh Phangan, and Koh Samui. Here are some of the highlights of our two-week trip together. Check out the map page for Thailand to get a better idea of where these places are.

Joe, Jack and I left Chicago in the afternoon on Monday, August 5 and arrived in Bangkok at midnight on Tuesday, August 6, which is twelve hours ahead of Chicago in addition to an almost 24 hour journey. We were exhausted, but so excited to meet up with Sam in the airport and get our bags to our hotel. We cleaned up and went to have a celebratory beer near Khao San Road (a popular backpacker destination full of bars and souvenir shops). We had two days in Bangkok to get accustomed to the time change and visit some historical sites in the capital.

Brothers at the National Museum. Bangkok, Thailand. 7 August 2013