Ho Chi Minh City - don't get hit by a motorbike!

The (slightly shabby) sign at the border reads: Welcome to Vietnam!

It was QUITE a 12 hour bus ride from Siem Reap to Ho Chi Minh City on Friday (with only a couple very short bathroom stops along the way), BUT, 1. we made it, 2. there were definitely some great views of the countryside out the window, and 3. I got lots of reading and reflecting done on the ride - always a bonus.

Sidenote: If anyone has some good book recommendations, I'd love some suggestions (just not anything TOO recently released because I think I'd have trouble finding them).

To backtrack a little bit, our final day in Siem Reap was awesome - possibly my favorite day of our time there.

We woke up, had some tea, bread and peanut butter, and re-rented our same bicycles (honestly the best bike I've rented EVER, and for only $1!). It was our last day at Angkor Wat, and we were excited/a little sad to use up our last day on our 3-day pass.

For our last big temple day, we chose to bike out to one of the most famous temples, Banteay Srei, which was about 40km from our hotel. It was a gorgeous ride (and for those of you that know how much biking kills my knee, it DIDN'T!). We also stopped at the Cambodian Landmine Museum on the way, which was really interesting and hit home. We have seen many disabled, landmine victims in town or begging on the streets, but this was the first time we had a chance to really learn and read about some of their stories and the history of landmine use in war, and especially in Cambodia in the 70s. It really is an atrocious practice and inhumane tactic to say the least--and the US, among other powerful countries, has not committed itself to not utilizing them in present or future wars. Read more about that if you're intrigued.

Anyway, the founder of this particular museum is a man, Aki Ra, who is a former Khmer Rouge Child Soldier. He created the museum right alongside the temples of Angkor Wat as a place to showcase many of the decomissioned mines, bombs, and other explosives from the war that he collected in his tremendous efforts to help make his country safer. Today the museum is a liscensed NGO and there is also a dormitory and education center for children affected by the war, many of whom have disabilities because they have been hit by landmines themselves. If this is a topic you have heard about, but not really understood or delved into, I'd definitely recommend reading the info on the website for this museum. Sorry to be "one of those people" who make you check out websites, but I'm going to anyway. It's cambodialandminemuseum.org.

After the Landmine Museum, we got back on the bikes and pedaled to the Banteay Srei temple, which was really beautiful. The most unique characteristic of this temple was the intricacy of the carvings and the ornate details on the walls, arches and doorframes (for lack of a better word!). This temple was also shorter in height and more sprawling than some of the others we'd seen, and it had grassy patches, rice fields, and a few ponds with lotus blooms around it - really pretty area.

After touring around the temple, we got back on the bikes for 12 more km to get to Kbal Spean - a waterfall temple up in a jungle area. We paused for a quick snack while the rain poured down, and then the sky cleared just in time for us to make it to the top of the small mountain. There were some really gorgeous panoramic views, and the carvings in the river and alongside the waterfall were really interesting. Luckily there were guides stationed at the top to show us where the carvings (of things like crocodiles, frogs, lingas, and other gods and goddesses) were loacated...we would have never found them on our own! We then got back on the bikes around 3 or 4pm to try and tackle the 60km back to town.

The countryside, rice paddies, and local people shouting and waving while I pedalled back were so surreal and exhilerating. One definite highlight--a Cambodian woman pedaled up beside me at one point and we rode together for a while, mostly in silence because she didn't speak any English and I still don't know much more than "Thank you" in Khmer...and then, just as she was about to turn off onto a side road, she handed me one of the items in her big basket. I had no clue as to what it could be, but it turned out to be a hollow sugar cane(?) husk with a mixture of sticky rice and beans packed inside. How adorable and kind was that?! Again, good people here. I have to agree with all the rave reviews people give Cambodian people--between our experiences in Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville at the school, and out in Angkor Wat, I have only great things to say about the people here. Maybe it is all the monks riding around on motorcycles...constant reminders to be zen-like? Well, maybe not. But, whatever it is, I like the vibe. So, back to the bike ride, I JUST made it back in time (though there was some very scary pitch black biking towards the end!). Needless to say, it was a muddy, sweaty, and wonderful day. And my body was VERY happy for dinner and the prospect of the next day being mostly sedentary on the bus!

This is getting to be a little long again (shocking...not), but I definitely want to write a little bit about Vietnam so far. We got here in the middle of a downpour on Friday night, and made our way to "Yellow House" hotel along with a new (Canadian-shout out to Abby!) friend we met on the bus. We immediately noticed the economic differences between Vietnam and Cambodia, with things like taller, cleaner buildings, fancy stores every once and a while, and shiny new cars on the road. Pretty crazy to think about it being a Communist country too... Anyway, we got settled, fed and tucked into our new "home".

Saturday was our first real day here, and we got up bright and early per usual. I started with a great morning run to get my bearings and some initial reactions to the bustling city that I've heard so much about. First of all, the traffic here is absolutely insatiable (I hope that word makes sense there!). It is absolutely intense, but at the same time, it is really organized and there seems to be no road rage to speak of. People cross the street while thousands of motorbikes are headed right at them, but no one gets hit. There are horns beeping warning once and a while, but I have not seen anything like an impending accident or disaster. I will not be renting a bicycle here - that is for sure! Anyway, I survived the run and street crossing without disaster, and I got to seem some pretty cool streets, buildings (like Notre Dame Cathedral and the Opera House) and views of the Saigon River.

Arati and I then ventured to the "War Remnants Museum," where we got a huge dose of history about the Vietnam War. I have always been interested in the Vietnam War, but never understood so much of what actually happened, and finding out at this museum was definitely an eye-opener. The placards were definitely not glossed over, and the American involvement was not referred to calmly to say the least ("external fascism" was used on one sign). There was also a whole section of the museum devoted to the use of toxins and Agent Orange, and, for me, that was one of the most insane things to process. One placard noted that a tabelspoon of dioxin could kill a whole city with a population of 8 million people, and there were tons of photographs of the horrific ways that people and their children were disabled from the poison. Awful.

From the museum, we went to the Reunification Palace (or Independence Palace), where there are (supposedly) still events held by the current president. The architecture of the building was really strange and boxy, and it looked like something out of the 60s I'd say (though I'm not really sure about decades for architecture). The decor in each room was focused on one color, like one room was all mustard yellow, one pea green, etc., and, for the most part, the furtniture was all very straight and stiff looking. Basically, you would NOT be able to snuggle up on a cozy couch at this place...but I'm not really sure that the government really wants to promote such warm and fuzzy feelings anyway. Just saying.

Our legs were a little tired by this point, but we split up for some solo wandering anyway, and I went to the big market for a little while. Much bigger (or at least taller) than the Cambodian or Malaysian markets that we visited, the market had everything from coffee and trinkets to "Adidas" shoes and silk robes. It was definitely fun to browse and I even bargained (not very well) and got some almonds and shampoo - 2 necessities, clearly. Dinner followed and consisted of a delicious, basic meal of veggies and red rice in a clay pot that I watched the women cook in front of me. For lunch I had ended up in a restaurant that had duck in every single dish...it was good, but a whole restaurant centered around duck? Really?! The food here is definitely cheaper than it was in Cambodia (which was suprisingly NOT that cheap!)...so that's been a nice relief. Fell asleep pretty soon after that, one big whirlwind of a first day in Saigon.

Today was day 2, and it has been a more chill day for me. I ran this morning through the park (did NOT cross nearly as many streets this time!) and then walked around a while before going to church at Notre Dame with tons of other Vietnamese and foreigners. It was a really cool experience, and it was probably the first really big church I've been to since travelling began. The priest was Vietnamese (I think), but spoke English, so that was also really nice for me! Then, I took a motorbike (I did NOT drive, only rode on the back!) to get to the Ho Chi Minh Museum, where I got to look at lots and lots of photos (and propoganda) from the former President. There was also a big series of portraits done of him all made out of buttons--like the ones you sew onto clothes--and sequins. Not sure whose idea that was, but they were really fun to look at! After that, I did some more wandering and browsing around, and now I'm in a cafe hanging out until our bus leaves for Mui Ne at 3pm.

Although we were only here for a short while, I definitley feel like I've gotten a good sense of Ho Chi Minh City/ Saigon, and while it is chaotic, I do think that the overwhelmingness would start to wear off with time. There are plenty of parks to get some respite in and there are lots of little side streets and small shops to duck into and get away from the pollution and traffic.

Mui Ne is a little town on the coast, about 4 hrs. away from here, where there are supposed to be lots of windsurfers and we should be able to "sled" down sanddunes...I'm excited!

On that note, I should get moving - the joy of repacking and hauling my big (and growing) backpack never fades. Ugggh!

Keep in touch - thanks for all the good updates and notes I've been getting from you all! I'm trying to absorb and suck up everything as much as I can, but I miss you all!