Ha Noi and Halong Bay, Vietnam

Vietnam. It was only 35 years ago that Saigon fell and the U.S. embassy was evacuated. Even though Jim was young and I was not born yet, obviously the Vietnam War (called the American War here in Vietnam) affected us all from stories of friends and family to its influence on film, television and a generation. Today Vietnam is reestablishing relationships with former foes (US and Vietnam reestablished ties in 1995) and is becoming a major tourist destination due to its beauty and history. I had wanted to visit Vietnam ever since my sister visited the country when she was on Semester at Sea.


We flew into Ha Noi and settled into our hostel after dodging the touts at the airport claiming that they were our driver to the hotel. It is a common scam in Ha Noi airport, a driver will claim they are from your hotel, but actually take you to a different hotel where they receive a commission. They are pretty amazingly good and the hotels will even have a card from your hotel to try and convince you that you are at the right spot!


On the way from the airport (with our driver from our actual hotel) we witnessed Ha Noi streets. Simply, the streets are crazy. Small streets PACKED with motorcycles. It is pretty amazing how everyone gets around and you do not see more accidents. Every time you cross the street it is an adventure. After watching the locals, we realized that the best way to cross is simply to walk slowly and let the motorbikes dodge you.

Whole families can ride one bike. The record that we saw was five on a motorbike! Mom, dad and three kids!


We stayed in the Old Quarter of Ha Noi which is the historical center of the town. Near the Old Quarter is Hoan Kiem Lake which has a beautiful pagoda and a little respite from the craziness of the Ha Noi streets.

After dragging Jim to street food stalls all around the world, we finally found the street market made for Jim... Street beer!! Our friend Jed, knowing Jim is a beer geek, sent along a New York Times article "In Vietnam, Traveling an Unlikely Beer Trail" which pointed us to the intersection of Luong Ngoc Quyen and Ta Hien to try the bia hoi or "fresh beer." Bia hoi is brewed each night and delivered fresh by 8:00 AM each morning and scores of bia hoi joints pour the stuff from kegs right on the sidewalk for 4000 Vietnamese Dong or about 15 cents per glass.

Locals and tourists alike crowd the sidewalks sitting in tiny plastic chairs to drink the lager-like beer. We both agreed that it is much tastier and creamier than the large brewery stuff. Plus at 15 cents per beer and only about 2% alcohol you can enjoy several on a hot afternoon while watching the chaos on the streets in front of you.

While in Ha Noi we booked a trip to Halong Bay. Halong Bay is a beautiful bay surrounded by limestone islets. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and they are trying to get it voted as one of the 7 natural Wonders of the World.

There are a lot of tours that go to Halong Bay where you cruise around the Bay on a "junk" boat. We had heard from a lot of people and the Lonely Planet guide book that you get what you pay for when booking the junk boats. We even heard horror stories of rats on the boat and so on. However, we also heard from others that, it is just that the food is not THAT good (just tofu and sticky rice), but you could get the three day/two night (one night on the boat, one night on Cat Ba Island) for $45 (which includes transportation and all meals). Well, being the cheapskates we are, we figured we can deal with anything for two nights (even rats!) and all the boats go to basically the same spots on Halong Bay. So we searched out the cheapest tour we could find.

When the tour picked us up from our hotel, the guide took us aside and said, "I know how much you paid, so don't tell anyone else on the tour because some people paid $120." And that was for just two days/one night. Ha! Sooooo.... somehow we ended up on one of the nicer boats. Nice room on the boat and good seafood meals. So essentially we found out that we could have been on the cheap bad boats, but sometimes when the fancier boats have space, they fill them up with those who paid less. Just like on an airline you may have paid $300 whereas the guy next to you paid $100.

Cruising along the bay was beautiful and then we got to get out of the boat and do some kayaking. After that and before the sunset everyone on the boat swam and jumped off the top of thee boat.

We had a great group on the boat, and after dinner there was karaoke which was ... interesting.

The next morning the boat fired up and started moving at 7am. We headed to Cat Ba island and had a 2 hour hike in the National Park on the island. It was hot and humid, and Jim and I think it was possibly the most we have ever sweat in our lives. We had a quiet night on Cat Ba and headed back to Ha Noi the next day after another boat cruise on Halong Bay.

With Halong Bay being on everyone's must do list for Vietnam, the bay is packed with junk boats all going to the same spots. While the bay itself is certainly beautiful we definitely would have liked a less touristy experience.

So far we have loved Vietnam and the people here. Vietnam has the beautiful landscapes and open people who are always smiling. We head South after Ha Noi to Hoi An on a long overnight bus ride to continue our adventures.

Siem Reap and the Angkor Temples

Arriving in Cambodia there was some anticipation about what exactly we were going to experience. Here is a country that was controlled by Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge in the 1970's who brutally tortured the people and executed a fifth of Cambodia's population. The fighting and terror did not end completely until 1998 after a protracted guerrilla war. It was amazing to find that despite poverty, war and genocide the people of Cambodia are so warm, friendly and have a great sense of humor.

We flew from Kuala Lumpur directly to Siem Reap. Siem Reap, or more the temples near Siem Reap, was once the heart of the Khmer Empire from about 802 AD to 1431 AD. (note: Khmer are the Cambodian people, and the Khmer Rouge was the name given to followers of the Communist Party led by Pol Pot). The temples were abandoned in the 15th century and most of the temples were overtaken by the jungle surrounding them. In the late 1880's the temples were "rediscovered" by a Frenchman and the temples have been slowly restored and cleared since that time.


The temples of Angkor are spread out over 300 square kilometers so we tried to make a plan for seeing as many temples as we could without getting too "templed out" or soaked because of the ridiculous heat and humidity. Our hostel suggested a tuk tuk driver that they often use, Sambol, who turned into our de facto guide for the temples. Sambol was great and drove us around the temples for three days.

We started off in Angkor Thom where outside of the entrance we got to feed an elephant bananas (which was certainly a highlight of the trip!).


"I call him Stampy."

The major temple Angkor Thom is known for Bayon which from far away looks like a pile of rocks, but once you get closer you realize there are faces enigmatically looking down at you. The faces supposedly are the face of King Jayarvarman VII to represent the omnipresence of the king (as the kings were considered god-like at the time). Mostly these temples were built for either Hindu or Buddhist religion (depending on what king was in control at the time). These temples are huge and it takes forever to see all the hallways, small passages and reliefs on the walls.



After Angkor Thom we headed to Ta Prohm. Ta Prohm's beauty is that it has not been restored and there is little of the jungle that has been removed. Therefore it has a mysterious aspect that makes you feel like you are walking into the temples as they were when they were rediscovered. This is also where a lot of the Tomb Raider shots were filmed (for the Angelina Jolie fans).

Our final stop on the first day of temples was Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is one of the few temples that was never abandoned. After the Kings left Angkor, Buddhist monks continued to worship at Angkor Wat. As it was never fully left to the elements, Angkor Wat is one of the best preserved of all the temples.

While we were walking through the massive hallways and corridors of Angkor Wat we ran into a group of four monkeys who make the temple their home.

Day two of temples brought us to Preah Khan, Neak Pean, East Mabon and Pre Rup. These temples were surrounded by huge lakes that required boats to reach them. Now, the lakes have dried and you can only imagine the huge moats and reflecting pools. One of these temples was still being excavated while we were there.

Finally, on our last day visiting the temples we headed about 40 kilometers outside of town to Banteay Srey and Banteay Samre. Our guide book from 2000 warns that these two temples are isolated and even dangerous because of their isolation. It is amazing how things have changed in 10 years as Banteay Srey was the busiest temple we visited now complete with a visitor's center. Banteay Srey is popular as it has some of the best preserved and most intricate carvings of all the temples.

Banteay Samre had some amazing carvings, however there was barely anyone there. Both of these temples feature a deeper red sandstone and were constructed during a different period.

In addition to visiting temples, we noticed that a lot of the restaurants in Siem Reap advertised Khmer cooking classes. It was a deal as the class was only $12 to learn to make a stater, main course and dessert (and it would cost about $11 to order all this in the restaurant) which you get to eat too!

For the class we first headed to the local market where we saw the local foods that we would be using to make the dishes. It is a great market with river fish moving around on trays, crabs trying to get out of baskets, buckets of eels, beautiful fruit and spices, even "aged" eggs considered a delicacy . 
I made a green mango salad with sweet and sour sauce, Amok fish and some crazy tapioca, jellied dessert. Not only did we make the food, but we also learned how to make little chili trees and a rose out of a tomato! It was a ton of fun and I am hoping to recreate the meal back home (I have to find a good Asian market in Boulder though for some specific ingredients!).

In addition to the temples, Siem Reap also has a vibrant night life. In the heart of town there are literally hundreds of bars, cafes and restaurants and most offer the local Angkor beer on draft for the low low price of $0.50! While certainly not the best beer in the world you can't beat that price and we had a few. We met a bunch of other travelers that were able to last much longer into the night (well dawn, really) than we were. It was with a few Brits that we sampled the cobra wine and absinthe.

All in all we enjoyed our short time in Siem Reap. The temples are certainly worth the trip and the town itself is the perfect size for us, allowing the local culture to thrive and not be totally engulfed by the tourism.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

We had not planned on going to Kuala Lumpur. However when the political situation in Thailand (mostly Bangkok) was becoming hairy with standoffs between the government and protesters we decided to go somewhere else to get our China and Vietnam visas.

There was an inexpensive direct flight from Koh Samui to Kuala Lumpur and so we decided to get a ticket to Malaysia. Neither of us knew much about Kuala Lumpur besides (of course) the Petronas Towers. The Petronas Towers were the world's tallest buildings from 1998 to 2004. The towers remain the tallest twin buildings in the world. We walked by these towers numerous times as most of the embassies are located near the towers. We were both impressed with their uniqueness, and they are really beautiful buildings. We stayed in a great hostel right in a colorful part of the city as evidenced by the downstairs neighbor...


The city of Kuala Lumpur is very modern and (maybe it was just the area we were in) has some of the fanciest malls I have ever been in. If you need a Louis Vitton, Jimmy Choo shoes or a new Bentley this is the place to find it. Luckily Jim and I are not in the market for any of these expensive things, but going though the malls provides a shortcut to get to the embassies. Also it provides a little A/C because it was extremely hot and humid. Also Kuala Lumpur has good public transportation, but we were close enough to most sights that we only took the monorail a few times.

As I am a food dork, I was really excited to find out that Kuala Lumpur is a hot spot for food as numerous different cultures and people (Malay, Indian, Chinese, Pakistani, Afghan, Thai, etc.) have settled here. Right near our hostel was Jalan Alor. Jalan Alor is a tiny street food haven surrounded by fancy malls. There are rows of hawker stalls with people out front trying to reel you into their open air restaurant where the seating is right on the street. You have cars trying to squeeze through next to the plastic tables and chairs as well.

Both Jim and I were excited to try the grilled fish and Meng Kee Grill Fish was recommended. We tried both the grilled stingray and the grilled "chicken" fish. We are not sure if "chicken" fish is a type of fish we have never heard of, or just a different name for a more common fish. Either way, the chicken fish was good, but the grilled stingray was amazing. Both are grilled crispy brown and the fish inside melts in your mouth.

I had to try one other Asian delicacy that is pretty hard to find in the U.S., and that is the infamous durian fruit. Durian fruit has been described as smelling like smelly feet, compost or onions (or all of those in some freakish combination). Because of this smell, the fruit has been banned from most hotels and public transportation. People either love it or hate it, and with this kind of reputation.... I had to try it. I loved it. It tastes like sweet cheese or a custard. It is a taste that is hard to describe but I thought had a perfect balance of sweet and creamy. Also, I didn't think it was THAT smelly. Besides being tasty, I read that it is also a very healthy fruit, high in B vitamins! I think they are really hard to find in the U.S, so no worries! I will not be bringing one over as a dessert!

The last "interesting" food I had to try was a "dried meat and meat floss bun" burger. This is a Chinese delicacy and the store is filled with vacuum packed dried meats and a grill up front cooking all sorts or dried meat in a sauce. They put a bun on the grill, heat up some dried meat, and then top the bun and dried meat with cucumber, mayo, chili sauce, and finally shredded pork floss. For about U.S. 80 cents, this was another great food find!

Malaysia was another country where the people couldn’t have been friendlier. In fact it might be the safest we’ve felt in a city of this size anywhere, including the U.S. The mix of expensive high rises and street stall markets, women shopping in fancy malls in full birquas, the vibrant art and cultural communities, and Kuala Lumpur’s explosion as financial capital all contribute to make the city a very great (and, sadly, overlooked by most tourists) place to visit.