Vacation Within a Vacation (part 2)

Where else does an expat in Vietnam go on vacation? Cambodia, of course.

It's about a 6 hour bus ride to Phnom Penh, but it went by fast. The seats were relatively comfy, and we were entertained by a muted Jackie Chan movie with Vietnamese subtitles.

Despite its reputation, I liked Phnom Penh. I could sense its undercurrent of socio-economic problems, but it wasn't Saigon! I was ultra-cautious when we got off the bus, but the tuk-tuk driver who'd been soliciting the spot between my unfocused eyes for 10 minutes was actually a really nice guy. We hired him for the whole day: to our hotel, from our hotel to the palace, from the palace to the russian market, then to the night market and back to our hotel for only slightly higher than the local price, $12 in total.

Or hotel was near an interesting park (actually a huge traffic circle) with elephant rides and troops of wild monkeys.

The palace was very nice. It's still the residence of the King, though now he's tucked away in a minor building. We skipped the Killing Fields for another lifetime.

Shopping in Cambodia is an ordeal for me, but a true feast for a haggle-monster like Jenny. I played the reluctant keeper of the purse while Jenny would slash prices to under 1/3 of the outrageous starting price. Very often I was racked with Jenny pulling on one arm and the shopkeeper pulling on my other arm.

We had dinner at a fairly expensive Western restaurant, but had a nice sample dish of Khmer desserts. They're pretty similar to Vietnamese rau cau (fermented jello from algae), sweet soup and bean cake.

The road from Phnom Penh to Seam Reap was over 5 hours but seemed much, much longer. The minivan was not nearly as comfortable as the bus, and our fat, drunk neighbor who was constantly laughing and snorting into his cellphone put us in something under "coach." Though I probably shouldn't complain, the local buses were crammed with tons of crap and about 20 passengers hanging on the outside as an afterthought. Many, many times I'd prepared for death as a bus came barreling down the wrong lane towards us, or vice-versa. Sometimes we had to stop for cows or, outside a pagoda, people collecting money while a very, very unfortunate guy in a huge costume dances in the hot sun. We were very smart to fly back to Saigon.

Our resort in Seam Reap was over-the-top sumptuous. As always when we're traveling, we both had bad colds and didn't get to enjoy the accomodations much. But, we still had a splendid time.

Jenny playing the hit-a-mo-bobs.

Seam Reap town is a crazy, crowded tourist trap. After wandering in circles, we got desperate and dined in our usual dessert cafe.

Amazingly, the food was outstanding. We had a Khmer sample set, with Amok, curry and spring rolls. Khmer food is amazing, but it seems to be extremely limited.

These things are everywhere, but the Alien and Predator sculptures made this one special. You put your feet in a tank and let tiny fish extract your dead skin. It's actually an old practice for people with eczema, banned in the US for (probably unfounded) sanitation purposes. It's hardly a massage.

Of course, you go to Seam Reap for the temples. We saw the big 3: Tomb Raider, Ankgor Wat and Ankgor Thom, though there are many others. You must purchase a pass to enter the temples and there is so much information that you don't want to miss a guide.

Just next door to the King's getaway palace is a very plain little park, except that it has an enormous roost of flying foxes. Very neat to see and no one seems to know about it!

The bees keep curiously naked racks of combs.

Shopping in the Old Market was actually less crowded than the Russian Market in Phnom Penh, but stinkier and more expensive. The goods are quite ubiquitous--even the paintings in each stall are totally identical.

Tuk Tuks are the only way to get around. When you don't need them, you have at least five tuk tuk drivers soliciting you. And if not today, then for tomorrow or the next day. If you take one into town, the driver will ask to pick you up when you're done. It seemed strange to me that they're willing to wait for hours, but then there are just to many damn tuk tuks. They spend their days asking every passing tourist twice for a ride and they're very lucky to get one trip. That's just one indication of how bad the economy is here for locals.

Our souvenir spoils. This is--oh, one of those useless kitchen things, but handmade from silk and sequins. After haggling, $2!

We got many, many refrigerator magnets, $2 for 3 after haggling.
This is touristy, I know, but we wanted something from the wall that said "Seam Reap," and Bayon temple was my favorite. Only $6. Jenny had a blast with all the haggling, but I thought the whole thing was pretty sad. There are so many shops selling the same things, shopkeepers are quite desperate when dealing with customers. They didn't make much profit with us. I guess one solution, though unsustainable, is to be really really rich and buy everything at the asking price. And tip everywhere. Our guide confided that hotels do not give their VAT tax and service charges to the staff and some people are lucky to get $50 a month. Apsara dancing is a dying art since the tourist industry is unwilling to pay for it, and that was one of my favorite things. So, I love Cambodia, but it makes me sad.

Vacation Within a Vacation (part 1)

So I'm living in a prolonged vacation in Vietnam. Where do I go for vacation?

Thailand.

Right off the plane, the weary expat is thrust into temptation. I hadn't been exposed to old animal fat, oversized pretzels and congealed dough for over a year. But, not being into that sort of thing anyway, we pushed on to Phuket.

Phuket can be appreciated before you even land. It is a karst landscape, not unlike Ha Long Bay but way more spoiled, with tiny islands and inviting crescents of tiny beaches.

7-elevens dominate the market infrastructure. Outside of the US they are vital resources--not just for trusted gooey snacks but also for phone cards, information, drug and hygiene supplies. Elsewhere we are left to haggle, and Phuket is not generous with tourists.

Phuket is a fairly large island topped by "The Big Buddha." It's a Buddha and it's very big. Anyhoo...

We were extremely fortunate to stay at Mom Tri's Boathouse. It has an excellent restaurant and is in a busy part of town, yet faces its own beach.

Thai food is better in Thailand. Thankfully, it is possible to avoid too much spice. Here we gorge on perfect Tom Yum soup and an incredible pepper-fried soft-shelled crab, served by one of many lady-boys.

Our trip was dominated by a day-long island-hopping tour on a fairly frightening and loud speedboat. The scenery is spectacular and the snorkeling is pretty decent. But it took sometimes around an hour between islands, and once we get there there's not much to do and no escape from the pummeling sunshine. We can take pictures of pet iguanas for a fee--even sitting under an umbrella will incur a charge. Shortly after this picture I got the camera wet, which really put a drain on the trip. Not shown is the beach famous for the movie "The Beach," which was nice but overcrowded, totally without shade and the mountains were reverberating with engine roar.

As a mixed blessing, our room was upgraded to a sumptuous and huge villa with private swimming pool. The day tour gave us no time to enjoy it, and the next morning we were off to Bangkok.

After Phuket, Bangkok was a shopper's paradise. A hot that cost us $8 in Phuket (the same as a day's motorbike rental) cost only $2.50 in Bangkok, and shirts cost from $1 to $3 dollars. A new camera cost about the same as in the US, which would cost more in Vietnam.

Our view from the new and ultra-modern Novotel. Bangkok is a huge, not-so-attractive sprawl with glassy skyscrapers shadowing rows of slums. The train system was extremely appreciated. Walking is not easy along traffic-dominated streets, but you can easily walk under the raised trail platform.

The King is everywhere, but he's always caught in the middle of a candid pose.

Shrines are also everywhere, sometimes surrounded with a mini-carnaval for tourists. There are cages crammed with munias that you can release for a donation, a sight that makes me think very non-buddhist thoughts about the captor.

The street food is interesting, but we didn't try any. This street smelled like a pig toilet, so we weren't very hungry.

Green spaces are hard to find, but I made a journey to a decent sized park (actually an overgrown golf course). After the commute, I had about 40 minutes of birdwatching--not ideal for any trip, but I got a few new common birds. I'd read about these contraptions in the inflight magazine. They are little waterwheels that oxygenate the water, but the magazine used the word "King" in every sentence, even credited him for designing the prototype.

Time for dipping our toe in an extremely modern pool on the 9th floor, then we're rushed back home. It was a time when we really, really needed to relax. We didn't get to to that at all--not a well planned trip. Oh well, we'll have to go back.

Tet leftovers

Tet is a very non-western holiday--Imagine Christmas with all the family and food but no presents. For Saigon, it's a major exodus as everyone hops on a bike for a long trip to their hometown in the country. All the English teachers take exotic trips to Thailand, Bali, India or wherever. We had the whole city to ourselves.

Tet is about yellow flowers and red tassles. While commercialism is limited for this holiday, people do often go all-out for decorations.

Lion dances are everywhere. One moment the streets are deserted, then the drums start and people grow out of the concrete. Here a lion pays tribute to our corner coffee shop, even though it's closed like everywhere else.

Love brings all sorts of folks together. My new relatives are a beautiful, exotic people who look like they'd be comfortable riding Bactrian camels. It is touching at times how they absorb me into the mix. Other times I have to endure the odd Vietnamese sense of humor. I just have to remember that they make fun of me because they love me--it's really true! Here, Dad and Uncle (likes me to call him "old man") are in the serious business of extracting tiny sunflower nutmeats.

A big Vietnamese past-time is gambling. The one game is blackjack, and it's an unusual variety that is very, very open to swindlers. For one thing, when they cut the cards they just put the top half back on top.

Karaoke is also serious business. There always must be someone in the chair, like a sentry guarding against...I don't know, peace and quiet. Dad is always the man for the job.

Ah, lucky money.

I did say this is a non-commercial holiday. So instead of presents, kids (unmarried adults are "kids" too) get cash in colorful red envelopes. They practically salivate for it. But to get it, they have to beg. Even me, in Vietnamese. Which means I stand around for an awkward five minutes until someone tells me what to say. I'd pay not to be in line.

Well, of course there's food. The main dish here is home-made springrolls. They look absolutely scrumptious. Unfortunately I didn't have a single one.

Because we had to crash another party. We had a communally shared jug of brandy from the highlands. Pretty pleasant, not that I swallowed.

A new tet ritual we invented. We did get out to Jenny's Aunt's in Bien Hoa. The highway was much less crowded/ dangerous during tet, but the amusement parks were full. So we had some refreshments and, after some hilariously bad planning, didn't go to Ho Coc, Binh Chau, or Vung Tao but had dinner at the country home and then back to saigon.

Tet 2011

Yay, Tet! Quite an ordeal. More crowded than Times Square, with a few sculptures and flowers that everyone crams in front of for pictures. We took a few and got the hell out.

Back on our roof, we had a good view of the fireworks.

Everyone else packs onto the bridges to see the fireworks. Here they are disentangling and going home.