Myanmar land of smiles

Yangon the former capital of Myanmar welcomed us with the local new year, the same that we hated in Thailand we loved here. Even though both celebrations are based on getting everyone drenched, here the difference was that the locals did it as a tradition and as a way to bring luck and put a bit down the intense heat of April.

After leaving our stuff at the White house hotel we did a first tour of the city. 10 meters further we were already soaked as at every door there was someone, young or old, with a big bucket of water ready to be poured on every passerby. The ambiance of the city was a whole party, western music was playing all around, while trucks filled with youngsters drove over the flooded streets.

We had a seat at a small plastic table in front of the Sule Paya, one of the city's landmarks, to have the first contact with the Burmese food and it was a very good one, a small green soup with some fried ingredients and a very fresh taste. This was the opportunity to enjoy the people passing and of course smiling at us. This would be a constant for the rest of our stay in Myanmar. Smiles from ear to ear.

Getting drenched resulted in a lot of coughing and some fever for Angela's part. Jonny's supposed malaria had probably strengthened him to Wolverine's mutant healing power and he only got some sniffles. The next morning the delicious and abundant breakfast at the roof top from our guest house made Angela feel a bit better. To avoid the water festival and to recuperate from the fever we spend the next day in the hotel, talking with other travellers and hoarding tips, while drinking mango juice and sweating a lot.

After dark and when the pouring of water had stopped (only allowed until 6pm) we went out for dinner at the lively China Town, were we had delicious noodle soup for only 300 kyat, less than 30 euro cents. With a full belly we wandered around the virtually deserted streets, looked at amazing colonial architecture and we sat at a tea house, had a coffee mix and a tea with condensed milk yummmm.

Tea houses or tea shops are usually an open air cafe where you can get some small snacks, soft drinks, instant coffee mix and black tea. On every table there is also a thermos of hot Chinese tea which is free and we drank litres of it during our stay in Myanmar. This is a real nice part of the Burmese culture. We are sure that if our Burmese was better we could have heard the latest gossip, who's wife got pregnant, what the government said they were going to do but actually didn't do and why are these foreigners staring at us all the time?

As the banks in Myanmar have the worst exchange rate, tourists have to exchange money at the black market. A very friendly Indian approached us offering a good rate to exchange our dollars into kyat. The friendliness of the guy, good rate and his very good English gave us confidence to follow him until the Mahanbadoola guesthouse. Yangon has the best exchange rate so we took out our 450 dollars, he took out his calculator, because each denomination had a different rate and he explained it to us while multiplying and adding up.

At that stage everything seemed ok, we were very cautious on counting every single note. Before we finished counting another tourist told us from outside to be careful but the transaction was already at an end, after a hand shake and a smile from the Indians we left, both of us with an awkward feeling.

Long story short; if an Indian shakes your hand, rest assured you've been scammed! What they don't expect however is for tourists to go back and demand the right amount and that's exactly what Jonny did. We got back $ 40 of the $ 50 and we didn't see the $ 10 as a loss but more as a valuable lesson learned: if something seems too good to be through it probably will be. $1 = 1.000kyat note so that means a ton of notes and you can see what it does to people...

We went to visit the magnificent Shwedagon Pagoda, the most important and impressive temple complex in Myanmar. Amongst the hundreds of beautiful Burmese people we walked through the golden shrines, and we were able to see the magnificent mix of Buddhism with the Nat, the 37 mystical creatures that are an important part of the Burmese religion.

The next morning it was time to head up north to Inle lake located 800 kilometres away. We were lucky because our trip ONLY took 18hours! It sounds worse than it actually was. Angela ,as usual, slept most of the time whilst Jonny took strength out of the french guy that was sitting next to the nauseous woman with the young crying baby proving yet another universal rule: No matter how bad your situation, someone else will be having it harder.

Our last stop was for breakfast at 4am. Was very nice actually to see the self employed / kleine zelfstandige trying to make a living at this spot. We got down and took a taxi for the remaining 11km with the driver destroying Angela's self confidence by claiming that she was fat and should sit in the front. Angela had so far lost 5 kg (now 7) and felt very good about herself. To put this into context: In Myanmar saying someone looks fat is actually a compliment as it means wealthy enough to eat excessively. I took the front seat of this 30 year old taxi of which nothing seemed to work anymore. The guy steered the car like you see in old Hollywood movies when the actor would just turn the steering wheel to create the illusion the car was moving.

We stayed at Aquarius Inn. The ambiance, the fellow travellers we met there, the warm and caring staff and amazing surroundings made this the nicest guest house we would stay at in the whole 4 months. After a delicious pancake breakfast we took a deserved nap in our romantic bamboo walled room. Inle lake is heaven on earth! The rest of the day we spent wandering through town and visiting the local market where they fixed my broken sandale.

Next morning we enjoyed a delicious potato pie breakfast and each took out a book from the owner's excellent book collection. “Burmese days” and “the pianotuner” would be our company for the next 3 days. We chose a spot in the nice garden and read the day away only disturbed by the occasional stretching, songs of birds, bells of the pagodas chiming and the everfriendly maids offering us tea, peanuts and “would mister and miss like banana with honey?”

Remarkable about Myanmar is the lack off the type of tourist we dislike and we considerate it a blessing. The people we will meet here come to Myanmar to experience the country, its culture and its people. What travelling should be about no?

The next day we went on a boat trip on Inle lake. It stretches out over 11km about 7 metres deep, surrounded by mountains and inhabited by the Intha people. The people have lived on stilt houses for centuries and continue to do so. We stopped at the huge market, visited silk weavers, blacksmiths, cigarmakers where we had lots and lots of tea and even though it sounds like a tourist trap it is not! As it was low season and tourists were few (because of some sort ridiculous idea there was an economic crisis) you could get some real bargains. A “silver” bracelet that at first cost $ 20 was eventually sold for 3!

We asked to have local food for lunch so they brought us to a floating restaurant filled with the people of the villages where we also found the most surprisingly cleanest squat toilet we had seen on our trip.

The best part of the day is actually just going through canals, enjoy the spectacular sceneries, seeing daily life on the lake, waving and shouting MINGALABAAA to the sweet people of Myanmar.

Late afternoon we got back at the guesthouse were we barely had set a foot in and were offered strawberries with sugar. They didn't have to force us this delicacy and we enjoyed it as we continued reading our books. Going out to diner they ran after us with an umbrella as there would be “many rain later” If Thai people make you feel like kings, Burmese make you feel as if you were Buddha. At times it feels uncomfortable but is really the Burmese way. You can't help feeling affection for the people. As foretold by the maid the rain came. Not only that but lighting and hurricane winds to accompany it!

Next and last day we explored the surroundings, welcomed by monks who took out all their alms and offering them to us. Tip: don't drink too much tea cause you'll be offered gallons of it and would be rude to refuse. We saw planting of rice that can only be described as backbreaking. If we work for a couple of hours in the garden we almost need surgery to recover but here these women were going on for hours, field after field weeks on end chattering away and even putting on a show for us tourists.

Next stop burning hot Mandalay!

Vietnam fever

All aboard the nightbus to Ninh Binh. There is no need, in Vietnam at least, to take the nighttrain as the nightbus is faster, just as comfortable but only half the price of a trainticket.


We stopped round midnight in the middle of nowhere to go to the toilet and also to witness all the vendors screaming and gesticulating to get your attention. Quite surreal when you have just woken up.

We were dropped off at the side of a road at 4.30 in rainy and dark Ninh Binh but thank God for early life in SE Asia as there was a coffee place right cross the street where we sat down waiting for the sun to rise enjoying a hot cup of Joe. The dark clouds got a bit less dark signalling daytime so we put on our ponchos and turned out we were only 10 minutes from the Ngoc Anh Hotel which hadn't opened yet. We took some chairs that were nearby and sat ourselves down to enjoy the free WIFI. Some time later the staff woke up apologising that they hadn't noticed us before, brought us to our cosy, meaning tiny, room where we slept till 11.

Ninh Binh is again not an attractive city and is skipped by many travellers that prefer going straight to Hue or Hanoi. It is more a big rest place for the highway that runs straight to the center. A bit like Antwerp will be if the Lange Wapper will be built...

The surroundings however are stunning! We hopped on a local bus and after an hour driving on a muddy road through waving green rice paddies we arrived at That Diem, a Catholic church that looks like a pagoda. The church is located in a little but bustling town and hardly any scooters but all the more bicycles. Waiting at the roadside for the bus we were quite the attraction. A motorbike driver tried very hard to convince us that the last bus was already gone and that he was the only option back to town. Patience was rewarded and the last bus for the day showed up. You can't blame the motodriver for trying.

During the night the rain fell plentiful and by morning had turned into drizzle. We rented bikes for the day, the ponchos came out again and we took to the highway.


Loads of trucks speeding by, signalling their approach 500 metres in advance using their horn and when passing they seem to make an extra effort in cranking up the volume and frequency of beeping. Not exactly relaxing drive but we took a side road that would lead us to the first attraction of the day: a boat ride to the Tam Coc caves. A mystical place surrounded by green rice paddies and limestone mountains. The grey clouds and drizzle just added more to the atmosphere as you can see if you click here. During the ride the boat lady will ask if you want to buy some nice fabric. Just say no as we saw many people who had said yes and had to fight through tonnes of the stuff. Except for the occasional ambush from vendors it's a very peaceful setting. Had some noodle soup and back on the road to Mua Grotti. A pagoda on top of a hill that can be reached by climbing the 500 steps but the view makes it more than worthwhile.


Met a couple of Spaniards that were going through Asia by bicycle and who accompanied us to the ancient capital of Hoa Lu where there was kind of a fair going on with lots of betting and scams! Following some dirt tracks and highways that were being built we arrived back into town just before sunset haven driven 50 km. After a rewarding shower we treated ourselves to fried gambas and fried bananas.

Had our last breakfast where the ever friendly owner gave us both a nice gift and receiving a hug from the cleaning lady. We met up with Bruno, a french guy that lives and works in Brugge for 4 years already and who would accompany us to Vietnam's capital city of Hanoi.

A smooth bus ride of 3 hours later we arrived to the city, checked into the hotel and went for a delicious lunch of bun bo soup. Time to explore the city and even though it's smaller than HCMC it seems more busy and stressing. In the extremely busy old quarter all items and services are grouped together. You find engine parts in street X, rattan baskets in street Y, cloth in street Z and so on. It's incredibly noisy because all the scooters beep constantly. We think that one of the skills you need to get your license is being able to beep at least 50 times per minute. All the impressions and noise left us exhausted and we headed back for a nap. Met up with Bruno for a hotpot dinner and a nice coffee and chat.

After a delicious breakfast in Baguette et Chocolate we visited the excellent ethnological museum where you can see the various customs, clothes and real size houses of the many minority groups in Vietnam. Another treat awaited us namely yogurt with honey in a store that was made famous by Catherine Deneuve whilst she was filming “Indochine” We went back many times after that first time as it is just heavenly. Also very close to the train station where we had a look at timetables and fares to go to one of the next locations. Hanoi trains are mafia practices. Never any tickets because “everything full” but if you go to a travel agent plenty of tickets there for double the price! Also booked our boat trip to Halong Bay where we met “the kids” Scottish Kirsty and Swiss Andreas who we travelled with for a week.

An impressive site is the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum where the former leader of Vietnam lays embalmed for everyone to see. It's not a stroll however. Strict rules have to be followed: proper clothing, no photos, no smiling, no hands in pockets and always keep moving. We heard some tourists say that it was silly and ridiculous and those are the ones we try to avoid. The place is like a pilgrimage site and you can't help but also have a high reverence of this mummified body that embodies the hardship and fighting spirit of the Vietnamese people.

Walked around the city some more and to be honest we got more and more stressed by it. Neither of us liked the city. It's just too noisy and we just wanted to find a quiet spot which we eventually stumbled across round the cathedral. Hallelujah! Still noisy less which made this area our safe haven where we enjoyed many “frozen lemons” at Laplace.

Next day we couldn't wait to get out of the city to yet another UNESCO site namely Halong Bay famous for the roundabout 8.000 limestone formations that sprout out of the crystal clear water of the China sea. Checked into our cabin of the 6 cabin boat and we set off for a 2 day “cruise”. Whilst the mountains passed by, we enjoyed a nice seafood lunch after which we arrived at a huge cave that was made up out of 3 chambers with wonderful stalagmites and stalactites that, left to the imagination, looked like crocodiles, elephants, angels, dragons...



Now it was kayaktime and after shouting instructions to Angela on how to paddle (stress from Hanoi was still present) we rowed through a cave to end up being completely surrounded by mountains and peace and quiet. A dip in the water and a hot shower later, dinner was served after which we moved to the upper deck where the clouds denied us a view of the stars but it was nonetheless pretty to see the lights of the other boats and the dark ominous looking shadows of the mountains.

It must have been the smell and the gentle rocking of the sea that made us have a great night sleep. Breakfast awaited us and it was back to the deck to enjoy the view of Lan Tha Bay where not many boats go so we had the place to ourselves for half an hour before heading back to the pier passing by truly an amazing landscape... but then in the sea. Our drive back to Hanoi was less than pleasant as the driver thought he was on the race track, accelerating and braking all the time. By the time we got back to Hanoi we were well shaken and stressed again. We headed directly for the safer neighbourhood of the cathedral till it was time to head to the station to catch the night train to Sapa.


No durian on board this time and 9 hours later we arrived in the cooler hill station of Lao Cai only 3km from the Chinese border and a spectacular hour drive away from Sapa. We arrived there surrounded by clouds resulting in not being able to see more than 20 metres in front of you. Hard if you're looking for your hotel. Found a basic place to sleep for 1 night after which we changed to the nicer Queen hotel where we had a spectacular view of the highest mountain of Vietnam, the more than 3.000 metres high Fansipan. Not only the view is amazing but also the behaviour of the clouds appearing, engulfing, dissolving this only in a matter of minutes.


Sapa is the base station for treks to minority villages around. Many Hmong also swarm you the moment you arrive to town all wanting to be your friend and take you to their home in the village and speaking the best English we heard so far in the months we've been travelling. You can climb Fansipan which was the initial plan for Jonny but he wasn't feeling all that good so no flag waving for him at the top.

Actually Jonny's condition didn't get better but worse. Fever started and went as high as 40.5, shaking, yellow eyes (jaundice), intestinal pain all symptoms of malaria so it was time to start taking the treatement dose of Malarone being 4 pills at once with milk and food and this for 3 days. Jonny felt better the next day and it was off to hospital for a malaria test which turned out negative but could have been a false negative because of the first dose of Malarone. Contacted the insurance who had a doctor on stand-by who advised us to get to Hanoi where they have excellent care. Booked a ticket for that same night for a full train (mafia) and headed back to Lao Cai where Angela had something that was supposed to be fried rice. 4 hours later she would damn the restaurant whilst she was talking to the big white telephone (=WC)

In Hanoi straight to the fancy French hospital where they diagnosed it as being a viral infection. In Myanmar we told this story to 2 doctors of MSF working in Malaria zones and they were almost certain it had been malaria. In any case I was doing a lot better so we went and visited the war museum. The one in HCMC was the better of the two but the Hanoi one had the most war objects on display: planes, bombs, tanks,... it's great to see them on display but it must be a horrific experience seeing them in action. Let's hope that one day all such things are only to be found in a museum.

The last night in Hanoi we went to a coffeehouse on the 5th floor with a nice view of the traffic below.

Except for Hanoi Vietnam treated us nicely with excellent transportation, a wide variety of interesting and awe-inspiring places to visit and culinary discoveries.


A flight later we arrived to our beloved Bangkok where protests had broken out that saw images of buses on fire broadcast around the world. Might as well happened on the other side of the world as most people in Bangkok went on with their daily lives that was now all about Songkhran or Water festival. Avoid Bangkok during this time as you'll be soaked to the bone constantly which might sound like fun for a while but not for 3 days in a row, especially not when drunken tourists are the ones doing the soaking thinking this is all “like, you know, soooo coooool maaaan”

We managed to remain dry on our visit to the house of Jim Thompson, an architect that took 6 traditional Thai houses and made it into one. An absolute must see when in Bangkok. Only a short stop in Bangkok as it was time to fly to the last of the five countries: Myanmar!

Durian Express

You can spend a lot of time planning your itinerary, but on a trip like this plans are bound to change as was the case for Dalat. Not on our list but we had read about a group of guides calling themselves the “Easy Riders”. They can show you the surroundings of this hillbased town or even drive you all over Vietnam if you want. This is done on their nice vintage motorbikes. The moment we got off the bus they had already spotted us, guided us to the hotel we wanted to stay and said they were going to wait for us downstairs. Might seem a bit pushy but we wanted to take a tour with them anyway so we didn't mind. Checked in at the hotel where we were given a room with two double beds and nice wooden floors and this all for only 8usd. Went down and arranged our tour with the ER for the following day.

When we arrived at this city,located in the middle of the coffee growing region, we saw something that we hadn't seen since we left Belgium: sweaters and jackets! What to us was a cool breeze probably felt like a siberian chill to the Vietnamese living here. In all honesty at night we put on sweaters and long pants aswell and Jonny's Cambodian Krama came in very handy here and has since then never left his side.

At night we had a nice stroll around the city and we saw an outdoor warm drink stand with some tasty looking pastries. We sat ourselves down on tiny plastic chairs ordered 2 coffees with milk and watched life go by. This is the best way to get the feel of a city and what this city lacks in architecture, being a concrete monster straight out of the USSR, it makes up for in atmosphere. Instead of milk we got a big dollop of sweetened condensed milk, that congregated at the bottom making for an ebony/ivory division and when stirred gave a strong yet rich and creamy hot coffee that reached all the way to your toes casting away the evening chill. The accompaning pastries were just the icing on the cake and we fell in love with this city.

Not only with the city but also with eachother. We had been travelling for 2 months now and were always busy plotting the next step, looking for places to stay and to visit, soaking up impressions and just giving ourselves enough time to process them, but not fully grasping the totality of it all. Here in Dalat it all seemed to fall into place. We felt very fortunate and extremly happy and it hit us that we were experiencing this wonderful journey together as a married couple, something that seemed hardly feasable many years ago when the only connection we had was the one through the internet with an ocean in between us.

Enough smoochie smoochie!

The next day was motorbiketime VROEM VROEM! We each took place on the back of our motorbikes and our virtualy perfect english speaking guides kickstarted their engines and we set off, for one of already many highlights of our trip.



It's an amazing feeling sitting on the back of a proper motorcycle (not like the scooters from Mui Ne) looking at the magnificent scenery passing by. Wasn't just a ride but also a tour of local sights.

The ornate Linh Phuoc Pagoda, where you could witness the art of tessalation (breaking... well...breakables and then remaking them ie Barcelona at Gaudi's Park Guell); the crazy house where the daughter of the second Vietnamese president got carte blanche building a hotel, made up out of weird structures linked with eachother through cavelike stairs;



the ricewine factory where we got a sample (hickup) and where the huge pigs were always drunk, as they got the fermented leftover rice to eat; a silkfactory where you could see the process from silkworm to scarf; delicious and abundant lunch, that our drivers picked out for us. Was also perfect timing as the rain fell in biblical proportions, turning the roads temporary into rivers. Then time to hop back on the motorbike to see the elephant waterfalls where Angela feared (yet again) that Jonny was going just a bit too far trying to get a nice picture and needlesly risking his life by doing so. Time for the hour long ride back home feeling at peace looking at clouds breaking lose from the treetops and being stretched out by the winds that roll off the hills.

We said goodbye to our guides and thanked them for a lovely day, wishing them more tourists, as the so called economic crisis causes a downfall of tourism of 30% or more in all the countries we visited, which means less income for the many people depending on tourism.

As the romantic mood lingered on, we sat down in a nice cosy restaurant with an attentive owner where we had an exquisite fish caramel pot and a rice and vegetable dish topped with roasted cashew nuts. After softly singing along to the instrumental pianothemes and improvised short dance, we left a happy owner and a smiling audience, that probably was wondering how much Dalat wine we had enjoyed (only one white for Angela, one red for Jonny) Time for coffee and a pastrie and dare I say that we would look great in a commercial promoting this black gold...




We left the cool of Dalat for the heat of the beach of Nha Thrang, where we got traintickets for the nighttrain to Hoi An that same night. Nha Thrang is a coastal city that reminds you of the ones in Spain with big hotels close to the beach. We left our backpacks at the station and went for a nap in the park next to the beach. Aaah the life of a hobo! Found a nice coffeehouse next to the station, where we passed time enjoying the free WIFI yet again till it was time to take our spot on the train. We were in the hard sleeper which sound less comfortable than it actually is.
There is a fruit in SE Asia that is called Durian which is actually prohibited in certain places, the reason being the smell. We were ever so lucky that someone in our cabin had brought a tiny amount of it with him and after nine hours marinating even the clothes in our backpack smelled like it.

Hoi An is a stop over for many tourists as it is the place where you can get clothes made for relatively cheap prices. Angela got sized up for a shirt and Jonny got very tired of the abundance of choice and decided not to get anything.

Our hotel came with pool, which was welcome at 39 degrees every single day and this only for 12usd. Of all the staff there was only one friendly guy Tuk. Jonny always smiles at people but that seemed to make the owner even more cranky, so Jonny went out of his way to smile at her at every possible occasion.

Vietnamese food is excellent and was enriched here with specialties of the region. We came across a Belgian couple, that we met at the Sherathon in HCMC and they advised us to eat at one of the street stalls for even better and cheaper food and they were absolutly right.

Except for having clothes made Hoi An is also on the Unesco World Heritage list for its nice architecture, which was influenced by Western and Chinese culture, as it was an international trading port in the 17th century. Almost all the houses are converted into a clothes shop or a restaurant, so you tend to look more at fabrics and menus than at the structures which is pity.


You can buy a ticket with which you can visit 5 of many sights of the town, of which the 200 year old Tan Ky house and the Phuc Kien Assembly Hall are the ones worth visiting the moat.

Said goodbye to Hoi An with an extra smile for the hotel owner and it was off to yet another Heritage town namely Hue, famous for its citadel and mausoleums of previous emperors.

When we arrived into a town Jonny always gets out the map and follows the trail the bus is making. We drove past the area with all the accommodation to drive out of town, where the bus stopped at a hotel claiming this was the final stop. All the tourists got off and it struck Jonny that all the Vietnamese stayed on the bus. He asked one of them and they said this is what the buses always do but eventually drive back to town. He explained this to the others and all the tourists got back on board which made the hotel owner and busdriver (bye bye commission) less than happy and sure enough they drove back into town where everyone needed to be.

After checking in at the Phong Nha Hotel, it was off to the citadel with its imperial enclosure and forbidden purple city which was the private living quarters for the emperor, his concubines and the eunuchs. Before we got there however Angela was mobbed by a group of middleaged vietnamese that wanted to have their picture taken with this exotic colombian princess. Many full memorycards later we got in to the imperial city.



The tourgroups don't venture too far so if you walk away from the central building you are virtually alone and rewarded with nicely decorated ceremony halls and a tomb here and there.



After our two hour stroll it was time to treat ourselves to some pain au chocolat from the french bakery, which employs street kids to give them a better future.

Hue is only a 4 hour bus ride away from Hoi An and even then does it have excellent additions to the Vietnam cuisine which is best enjoyed at Lac Tien's restaurant which is run by a deaf mute owner, who is all smiles and gratitude when you empty your plate and come back the second day for more!

The city also has a nice boardwalk where at night you can enjoy the changing lights that illuminate the motorcycle bridge and we did just that.
Next and last day we hopped on the bicycles and had a fun day visiting the Thien Mu seven storied pagoda. It was made famous by the monk Thich Qaung Duc, who publicly burned himself to death to protest against the cruel regime of president Diem, who was helped in power by the USA and, as on many other occasions in which the US intervened, they would proclaim: “He's a son of a bitch but at least he's our son of a bitch!”

The mausoleums are grand and represent the megalomaniac characters of the emperors who, we must say, had a great eye not only for aesthetic beauty, but also for location. The mausoleum of Tu Duc has nice water parts and Forrest incorporated in its outlaying, whereas the mausoleum of Khai Dinh is set on the side of a hill overlooking the surrounding rice paddies.



Even though we had already checked out of the hotel they offered us to use the shower and who were we to decline such an invitation being covered in sweat and dust? We have stayed in many hotels so far and they were all more than ok offering virtually the same standard. The difference however is in the people that run it and can make a stay memorable or just another place where you slept and showered.

After looking into the prices of transport too Ninh Binh (our next location that wasn't on the initial itinerary) we decided to take the sleeper night bus this time. To find out about this means of transportation and the conclusion of our Vietnam trip tune into our next post.

Urban madness and sandy games

This post is sent from Myanmar where internet is restricted. That's why it looks a bit different than usual.   During our journey we came into contact with other travelers that went to Vietnam already and in most cases the story had a negative connotation: the hassle, the traffic, the noise, the not set prices, etc... and some even suggested to skip Vietnam which even the German couple from Laos ended up doing... and it was their loss. We are so glad we didn't let others' experiences influence our itinerary.   Whenever you come in contact with horror stories you have two options: either you believe them and change your plans or you listen to them carefully, keeping in mind that everyone has a different way of seeing and experiencing places and you decide to experience it yourself and that's what we did.   A 12 usd package was our entry ticket to Vietnam on board of a spacious and comfortable bus we did the route from Phnom Pehn to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). The border crossing was very different from the Lao-Cambodia one. In this case we crossed by bus, just getting off to pass our luggage through X rays scan, our visas checked and yet another entry stamp appeared in our passports.   The closer we got to HCMC the more motorcycles that appeared on the road and the more beeping sounds we heard, the avenues looked like a river of colorful helmets that mengled with some cars and buses. From the more than six million people living here around four million own a motorbike. That explains the picturesque scene of the local traffic.   We were welcomed by heavy rain, that stopped soon enough to let us find the Thai Nhi Mini (get it?) hotel, were we had to climb up 5 floors to get a nice and affordable room, with free WIFI and an excellent location.   After our first walk in HCMC we were fascinated by looking at the crazy traffic. As Angela once said, her hearth contracted like a raisin skipping not one but several beats every time we had to walk in between the monsoon of two wheelers. For a taste click here.   The next morning we kept on training our street crossing skills and went walking around trying to find an affordable camera, while discovering the city under 39 degrees, but for us this temperature is now normal so nothing to complain about. We found the newer model of our previous Canon and it was cheaper than in Belgium so yet another item on the list of unexpected expenses.   To celebrate our new addition to the family (we call it Hochi) we went to Fanny's ice cream. We are sure that there must be one place in the world where you can find the best ice cream in the world NAY the universe! Well ladies and gentleman, look no further; Fanny is ice cream paradise. The rum raisin one was not a scoop with some rum essence and a lost raisin in it au contraire mon ami, it was like they put a whole stake of dried grapes in and we are sure that we could have set fire to the ice cream as you could feel the rum going down to your stomach. If you have tasted cinnamon ice cream before and thought it was nice then you would feel cheated after you tasted the one from Fanny. You could imagine the magnificent prize winning cow that provided the milk for the rich creaminess and you were teleported to fields full of cinnamon orchards. Feel like an ice cream yet?    Sightseeing is very rewarding here, the french influence is evident in the architecture of many buildings, like the Mayor's house, the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Opera, the Ho Chi Minh Museum amongst many others.   This last one was a very nice place to visit, not because of the artifacts inside but because of the nice wooden floors, spacious rooms that were accentuated by the sunshine coming in through the original white wooden shutters. No wonder it's a popular place with couples to have their wedding pictures taken.   On the way to the Reunification Palace we passed the fortress of the US embassy, were we saw a small group of Vietnamese women protesting of which Jonny wanted to take a picture, only to have a soldier coming up to him waving his hands in disapproval. Our walking tour went further to the Cathedral and the magnificent post office, the luxurious Diamond Shopping Centre, and the botanical garden, including a very poor zoo.   Once again we needed to pamper ourselves after a long walking day so Fanny welcomed us again, this time to taste the mint and chocolate and the nougat flavors. Imagine yourself being Marco Polo going to the Orient and discovering tastes that have never touched any Westerners' pallet... Well, you get the idea.   Concerning our stomach Pho Ga (chicken noodle soup) was the tasty welcome to the exquisite Vietnamese cuisine that just got better every day.   We also visited the famous Jade Pagoda, a Chinese temple, very dark but popular place, you can see it by the huge amount of smoke from the incense sticks burning there. It is one of the oldest pagodas and is considered one of the most spectacular  in the city, but it did not seem so spectacular for us. Nonetheless we got a nice pictures.   To close our visit to HCMC we went to the War Museum containing evidence of the horrors committed by the US during the Indochine war. It is a very well organized exhibition with many documents, striking/shocking pictures and testimonials of Vietnamese and American people. Visiting this place only awakens the feelings of anger, frustration, impotence,sadness, ... Once again like in any war innocent people are the ones that pay the highest price.   The most striking part was the one related to the still growing numbers of victims of Agent Orange. This defoliant not only destroyed all the Forrest, but was also highly toxic for every living thing (dioxin being the major component). How can someone think of such a method to be used against an 'enemy'. The effects of it were so devastating that even today people carry it in their genes of which you sadly see examples of in the streets.   This said we could not leave the capturing Saigon with feelings of war. We had to move on and decided to end our visit with a flashpacker practice spending over half our day budget at the bar on 23rd floor of the Sherathon hotel. We had 2 for 1 happy hour cocktails, looking at the sun setting and as darkness set in enjoying the show of lights being turned on over this vast Metropolis.   Next day it was time to head for the beach. If you like the high buildings and inflated prices of Oostende/Benidorm/El Laguito Cartagena go to Nah Thrang. If you like peace and quiet go to Mui Ne where it's not allowed to build higher than 2 levels. Also a favorite spot for wind and kitesurfers of which you see many wetsuits and kites drying on the lines of the hotel.   We found the nice Hong Di bungalows with beautiful sand garden area shaded by palmtrees that double as hammock supports, only 20 metres from the sea. Falling asleep to the "wooshing" of the waves and the wind blowing through the palm trees, we were certainly able to do what we planned here, namely rest after more than two months of traveling. Life is wonderful!   However you shouldn't come to Mui Ne only for the peace, quiet and relaxed atmosphere but also for the red and white sand dunes. After a nice night of rest we went to the small fisherman town to get some transport to the white dunes. At our arrival a group of 15 motorcyclists got around us to offer transportation.   We used many methods to convince them: writing in the sand, pointing, discussing  petrol prices (nothing in Vietnam), etc.... and in the end we got half the price of what they offered and a pat on the back from the oldest guy saying "good deal".   It didn't take long for Jonny's motorbike to get a flat tyre so he moved to Angela's one. We ended up doing 15 kilometres with 3 adults on one scooter plus one kid. Might seem a lot but is a common site round these parts. Next to the sea we arrived to the magnificent white dunes. It was around 9 am and the sun was already merciless. The only sound you heard here was the hot wind rearranging the dunes. Walking on the dunes takes a lot of effort as the sand is very hard on the side the winds blows and very soft on the side where the sand, that is carried by the wind, is dropped but it's loads of fun to jump into it and sink knee high. After more than an hour of ravotten/patanear (of which you can see proof if you click here) it was time to enjoy the ride back into town again. This time each had a motorbike.   We had a well deserved splash in the South China sea, some posting on our blog (courtesy of the WIFI of the next door hotel) and some swinging and napping in the hammocks. The sun was setting which made us take the shuttle to the red dunes. The angle of the sun makes for nice colours and shadowplay on these dunes. Some kids walked along with us offering us rides on their sheets of plastic which we kindly declined. Again some ravotten/patanear and watching the last rays of sun on the dunes.   The day before we had placed an order at the restaurant we ate at and now we were ready to devour our first lobster and crab ever and my o my did we enjoy it.   Time to move on after these days of relative rest.   Be sure to check out our next post covering easyriding, coffee slurping, durian train rides and much much more.

---

¡Obtén la mejor experiencia en la web!
Descarga gratis el nuevo Internet Explorer 8
http://downloads.yahoo.com/ieak8/?l=e1

9 days in the land of Khmer

WARNING : Next post might be very contrary to the horror stories you hear about Cambodia and might even convince you to go...

Last breakfast in Laos and then small boat ride and minivan ride, later we arrived at the Laos – Cambodian border. Got off from the bus and walked into no man's land, to be greeted by officials waving the visa-on-arrival documents.

After filling in the form, we paid the $20 visafee and as it was weekend we also had to pay $2 overtime fee to the poor officials that had to work on their “free” day. You can either complain about it, raise your voice, bang on the table, even threaten the man's offspring but in the end if you want the visa, you better pay the fee.

Our bus was full so we were put in a car where it was a comfy ride to Stung Treng, where we had a lunchbreak. I walked to the market five minutes away to exchange $ for the Cambodian Riel and bought some watermelon, which Angela happily dug into only to dispose off a couple of hours later when we arrived at Kratie, our first overnight stop in Cambodia. Angela stayed in the room to dispose the watermelon some more whilst I went into town. Kratie is the spot to also go and visit the same dolphins we saw in Laos, so many offers to go and see them again which I politely declined.

You hear many tourist complain about all the hassle from sellers to buy their goods or offering you rides. Just acknowledge their existence with a nod and a “no thank you” preferably in their language. You'll be doing this many times a day but it's up to you to let it get to you or not. The first is an assured irritation which will lead to not liking the people or their country, the latter an assured peaceful walking down the streets.

Next day off to Phnom Penh, where we checked in at the OKAY guesthouse were we got the mushroom room. Not because of the painting but because of the fungus decoration. Next night we moved into a well ventilated clean room.

Phnom Pehn is a so called danger zone where it's dangerous to go out at night, have to keep your guard 24/7 and need 360 vision to cross the street. Not sure if everyone was talking about this Phnom Pehn cause we saw nothing to justify this. Traffic however is hectic. Just cross with a steady pace and the traffic will swerve around. A sea of cars, motorbikes and cyclos that opens like the sea for Mozes. Never stop however cause this will be erratic behavior and a certain method to get run over. This is how you cross streets in all major cities, Saigon being the most fun and spectacular city to do this.

We immediately took a liking to PP and also knew what others didn't like about it. PP is a city of contrasts, which you love or you hate. It has a nice riverside promenade, with their version of the blauwe steen at the Schelde with many cheap or expensive eats, easy transportation, nice buildings to visit and nice people to add a nice touch.

However it's a very dirty city as people just throw away any garbage on the street, but next morning it is all clean again. Cambodia is ridden with NGO's all working their own field and bringing in a lot of money for the country. With them also come many well paid expats and thus fancy boutiques, big cars, high shiny skyscrapers. On the other hand, you see tonnes of beggars, young and old, families living on the streets and this not just in a back alley but right there on every street. While you are having a $ 4 gourmet meal (what an average Cambodian could live of for 4 days) about 5 beggars will come up to your table asking to buy something from them or just give money. The waiters just leave them be and allow them into their restaurants.

This is were the fun starts for us. People really don't like to be disturbed on their holidays by beggars or scenes of poverty. Some tourists get angry, some get sad. But generally, all ignore this frail, begging, malnourished hand that asks for help. We always say hello and tell them we are not going to give anything. This might sound harsh but if you give money to kids they will first of all never be able to keep it and second will learn that begging is rewarding and so remain beggars and dependant on charity all their lives. We gave occasionally but never to children. Always to victims of mines or of diseases like polio and then never more than 2.000 riel = $ 0,5.

The difference between the rich and the poor is baffling and we'll find it nowhere else in any country we'll visit.

What people see when they see poverty is in fact a mirror and they don't like the reflection : there you are flying all the way across the world, your nice clothes, digital camera, hundreds of $, staying in a nice room and there the poor are with hardly any option to ever get out of it. If you think they are annoying, just know that you can always go back to your country but they will stay begging there forever...

PP is not only about people watching but also sightseeing.

We went to a restaurant where former street children were trained to be waiters. Excellent food with perfect presentation and there we met an english couple that were on their way to Laos so we exchanged our Rough Guides for theirs and there was great rejoice.

After dinner we went to the river promenade to have an Angkor beer next to the locals, where we saw a thunderstorm getting closer and closer with the lightning getting more intense. Very nice spectacle indeed.

Woke up at 4 thinking about poverty, couldn't fall back asleep again so decided to get up and go for a walk. I expected a quiet sleepy city but nothing could be further from the truth. People setting up their marketstalls, tuk tuk drivers arriving at the hotels so they would be the first in line to pick up passengers,

tonnes of people at the park getting their morning exercise playing badminton, soccer, volleybal... People sweeping the street to get it clean. Not with a truck equiped for that, but just with an oldfashioned broom and a lot of sweat. Next time you wonder why they are all taking an afternoon nap is because they were up since 4 while you were still in dreamland.

After a nice bagel with cream cheese we headed for the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda, where we found a tremendous collection of Buddha images from all over SE Asia with a very remarkable marble one from Burma and a golden one encrusted with lots of huge diamonds.

Here we also had to arrange our Burmese visa so we went to the embassy, left our passports there and it was time to move onto Siem Reap and the amazing temple complex of Angkor!

A 6 hour bus ride later and almost deafened by the constant beeping of the driver we arrived at Siem Reap and checked into the Red Lodge GH.

The chique in PP pales in comparison to SR. Here the gap is even bigger thanks to the tourism industry, where expensive hotels and resorts are everywhere, mixed with the poor locals. Went for a walk around town and found a nice park with beautiful tall trees. Dusk was setting in and we could see that the trees where inhabited by giant bats that started flying to get their meals. There in my hair, there in my hair!

Next morning was time to visit the temples. Got ourselves a tuk tuk driver Non who would drive us around for the following two days.

We decided to leave Angkor Wat for the last and work our way upto the older temples first. Angkor is not just one famous temple but a whole bunch of them built by kings, who always wanted to make a nicer one than that of the previous king. You really see the sandstone carvings get more elaborate and the temples getting bigger.

Angkor is big business and you see hordes of tourists, so get in early if you want peace and quiet.

At every temple you'll also get the company of kids wanting to sell you postcards or steering you to their families' stand for water or soft drink. “buy postcard mister? Only $1. Maybe later OK? You remember me and buy my water OK? Why don't you buy? You don't like my postcards?”

Almost all the temples we visited are worth a visit cause they all have one or more features that seperates them from other temples. Don't try to see them all, just pick out a few and really absorb them instead of trying to visit as many as possible, without really seeing them. Ta keo, the famous Ta Prohm surrounded by jungle, where they filmed some scenes from the Tomb Raider movie, Pre Rup with its brick towers, Ta Som and Neak Pean..

You also see the power and time nature has...

Walking a lot and the heat take their toll and after a day of visiting temples is nice to have a cold shower and go to the $1 street stalls for some delicious noodle dish and refreshing lemon juice and treat yourself to some cake that is 50% off because the shop is about to close.

Another day, another temple. First a 38 km drive to Bantaey Samre which is off the main tourist trail and was completely deserted. It was without a doubt the most stunning temple we saw. When I took my last picture there our camera also died. Cambodia has luxury items but they are very expensive so we bought a disposable camera for the rest of Cambodia and decided to buy a new one when we arrived to Vietnam where they produce the stuff, so no more photos for the rest of this blog.

Off to Bantaey Srei for wonderful sandstone carvings. On the way back we visited the landmine museum funded by Aki Ra a former Khmer Rouge soldier who specialized in land mines and now with his knowledge is trying to have a mine free country, which will also help him to stop his nightmares.

Back in SR we look for a hotel with a pool and go for a swim to wash away the yellow dust, mixed with sweat and sunscreen.

Driving to and from the complex of temples, we passed by Khanta Bopha hospital, were we saw posters of a Swiss doctor “Beatocello”. On tuesday and thursday evenings you could see a movie at the hospital about his project and on saturday he always plays the cello for the audience showing up in big numbers.

He's quite the controversial figure, as he at one time sued the WHO and UNICEF for their passive genocide of children as he calls it. We really liked what he said. Stepping into the hospital you think you've stepped into a very fancy western hospital that makes you think what this kind of hospital is doing in this kind of country? He explains why. He believes that you can't help the people enough in a third world hospital. What's the use of a band aid when the kids need surgery? All kids in the 4 hospitals nationwide receive all treatment for free!!! A cough or a landmine victim, all get treated free of charge. The average consultation brings with it a cost of $170. Biggest cost is medicine and only 35% is cost for personnel and administration whereas with UNICEF can reach as high as 85%. The 4 hospitals are privately funded and need $ 20 million dollar a year. To the young he asks blood, the old he asks money, from us he got both.

Last day in SR and we take the bikes to cycle the 10km to Angkor Wat but first we go and see Angkor Thom with the spooky and mysterious Bayon, displaying hunderds of identical massive smiling faces, that seem to look back at you. Phnom Bakeng which is worth the steep climb just for the view. I fall victim to a flat tyre which is easily and skillfully repaired, so we can visit Angkor Wat.

The vasteness of the temple is enormous. The closer you get the smaller you feel. Because some people not knowing how to use stairs thereby breaking their legs and even losing their lives it is no longer allowed to climb the stairs, for a surely amazing view of the surroundings.

This all said Angkor Wat isn't the nicest or most intruiging but it's surely an impressive piece of architecture.

Back to PP to visit the Killing Fields and the prison of Tuol Sleng.

During the Khmer Rouge reign of terror from 1975 to 1979 reportedly in between 1 and 2 million people died either through torture, killing, malnutrition,... We met a Canadian who married a Cambodian who survived the camps and she told us that the movie “the killing fields” gives a good idea but in reality it was much worse.

We hired a tuk tuk driver to take us to the Killing fields for $8 and what we saw there can only be described as suffering. You see a tall glass obelisk, of which in the bottom you can see a pile of clothes of the people that were brought here to be exterminated. The rest of the obelisk is filled with the almost 9.000 skulls they found in the mass graves surrounding the site, of which many are still to be uncovered. When walking around the site you see different pits : one where they found only old people, one where they found many children, close to a tree where they could throw them against first... You also see that in the ground are still pieces of fabric of the clothes the people were wearing. You can only be silent and think about how the world let this happen and even supported the Khmer Rouge, but then you realize that it still keeps happening now and that we still don't do anything about it.

How lucky we are with our Western way of life.

On the way back our driver changed the rules and decided to charge us $ 8 to and 8 back, which lead to a big discussion, after us threatening him to pay only half and taking another tuk tuk, he took us back to the city and still claimed more money. Too bad for him, we had plenty of time, so I just sat down on the curb having a sip of water while he was losing time and possible fares. After 5 minutes, he was happy with the original 8 we agreed upon.

Now it was off to Tuol Sleng where we visited the s-21 school, which was a school that was converted by the Khmer Rouge into a torture center, or re-education center as they used to call it.You can see many portraits taken of victims, as well as the beds and pictures of the last burned victims found, the small prisons where they were kept and the torture techniques used by the Pol Pot regime. The whole exhibition leaves you speechless and at a loss for words.

We picked up our passports and next day it was off to Saigon in crazy Vietnam.

Cambodia was the victim of our trip as we only have 4 months to visit 5 countries but our 9 day visit was a highlight in our trip, because of the violent history of the country, beautiful Angkor and the contrasts between rich and poor all made this a very interesting country.