After saying goodbye to Robert’s parents in Cambodia, we traveled to Yangon, Myanmar with an unpleasant, overnight layover in the Bangkok airport. We took a nap at our hotel in the morning, then went on a walking tour of the city where we saw British colonial buildings in various states of disrepair; markets selling fried snacks, clothing, and jewelry, and the radiant stupa of the gilded Sule Pagoda, which every taxi driver took their hands off the steering wheel to bow to during the many times we passed it on the way back to our hotel. Though tourism in Myanmar has been growing since the country began opening up in the early 2010s, fewer than 80,000 Americans visit each year, so we stood out a lot more here than in other parts of Asia. Things are slowly changing in Myanmar after a half century of civil war and nearly complete isolation from the rest of the world. Tea HousesYangon (formerly Rangoon under the British) is teeming with tea houses that locals frequent to read, catch up with their friends and neighbors, and cautiously discuss the news of the day. Tea houses specialize in anything from Indian sweets to bao buns to curries and samosas, but the one thing they all have in common is the beverage of choice. The black tea is served with a combination of evaporated and condensed milks depending on how sweet, strong, or milky you like it. A pot of strong green tea is always on the table. Our favorites were Rangoon Tea House, a more upscale (and expensive) take, and Lucky 7 Tea House – the locally popular, casual chain. Longyis and BetelAlthough we occasionally saw younger people wearing jeans, most people here wear longyis: patterned pieces of fabric tied like a long skirt. Shorts or skirts above the ankle are rare. Betel leaf, often mixed with tobacco, areca nuts, and lime, is popular here, and those who chew it can be identified by their red lips and teeth. Betel chewers frequently spit out red, betel-tinged saliva, so the streets of Yangon often appear as if they were spattered with blood. Views from a Burmese TrainWe took the Yangon Circular Railway (a local commuter train) on the three-hour loop for 200 kyat (about 15 cents). In place of doors, there were large, open sections where locals sat with their legs hanging out of the train enjoying the much-appreciated breeze on the 97° afternoon. We read George Orwell’s Burmese Days while intermittently watching the scenes of life go by in farms, houses, and markets. Farmers hauled watercress, corn, onions, and other produce in large sacks aboard the train to sell at the central market in Yangon. Shwedagon PagodaAn hour before sunset we walked through the park at Kandawgyi Lake on uneven boardwalks, then visited Shwedagon Pagoda. The 326-foot-tall, gold covered stupa atop a hill was breathtaking under the setting sun. The pagoda, which some historians say was built by the Mon people between the 6th and 10th centuries AD, is said to contain relics of four Buddhas, and is considered the holiest site in the country. The pamphlet we received said it was built 2,600 years ago, making it the world’s oldest Buddhist stupa, and that the upper levels are decorated with 3,154 gold bells and 79,569 precious stones, including diamonds. We circled the massive complex filled with people praying and lighting candles at various shrines and statues, some of which featured flashing LED lights. We spent yesterday walking around the city, exploring the markets, and taking refuge from the heat in an indoor mall. We had afternoon tea at the Strand Hotel, a landmark built in 1901. For dinner, we went to the Parami location of Min Lan Seafood, a large, casual restaurant serving fresh Rakhine-style seafood, which Anthony Bourdain visited on the premiere episode of Parts Unknown. We had grilled fish, grilled prawns, prawn curry, roasted corn, and steamed rice with a delicious fiery sauce that we washed down with cold Myanmar beer. We are currently on a 10-hour ride to Bagan. When we pulled up to the station this morning and saw the state of the many buses there, I could not have been more grateful that Robert booked us in advance on one with large, comfortable seats and a good safety record.
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Our second and last stop during our brief time in Cambodia was Siem Reap. The city of 230,000 is located a few miles south of the 72 famous Khmer kingdom temples built between the 9th and 15th centuries, most notably Angkor Wat. There are hundreds of additional temples in the surrounding area. Angkor was the capital city of the Khmer kingdom, and is believed to be the largest pre-industrial city in the world, spanning at least 390 square miles, and kept running with a complex irrigation system.
We took the Giant Ibis bus (highly recommended) from Phnom Penh; a 6-hour drive. After transferring from the bus station via tuk-tuk, we walked around town before enjoying a traditional Khmer dinner at our hotel. The dishes included beef lok lak (savory stir fry), goi ga (chicken and cabbage salad), sour soup, and fish amok (curry steamed in a banana leaf). Traditional Cambodian dancing accompanied dinner.
At 7:30 the next morning, we met our guide, Sotthorn, for a full day of exploring some of Angkor’s largest temples. Our first temple, Angkor Wat, was built by the Khmer King Suryavarman in the 12th century, and dedicated to the Hindu god Visnhu. Like many of the temples in the complex, Angkor Wat changed hands, and became a Buddhist temple toward the end of the 12th century. Fine engravings abound throughout the entire temple, many remaining in good condition.
Our subsequent stops at Angkor Thom, Bayon, and Ta Prohm, were also spectacular. For the sake of brevity, details about each temple are available online. Ta Prohm is known for the 400-year-old tree roots enveloping its stonework, as well as its appearance in the movie Tomb Raider.
The next day, we hired a tuk-tuk to explore the more distant temples of Pre Rup, Banteay Srei (about 1 hour north of Siem Reap), and Preah Khan. Banteay Srei’s exceptionally well-preserved carvings were an amazing sight. Preah Khan’s largess, symmetry, and beautiful natural setting also made it a favorite. At the end of the day, Alexa and I were sad to say goodbye to my parents, who flew to Hanoi for a final day of sightseeing before a long journey back to New York via Seoul. We had a wonderful time experiencing Vietnam and Cambodia with them, and look forward to our next opportunity to spend such quality time together!
Last Monday, we took a 7-hour bus ride from Saigon to Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital. We stayed at a resort with a beautiful pool where we had cocktails, fresh spring rolls, and mini toasts with tzatziki. That evening, we enjoyed an evening of traditional Khmer dancing and theater at Cambodian Living Arts. Cambodian Living Arts was founded by musician Arn Chorn-Pond, one of the few artists to have survived the genocide during Khmer Rouge rule from 1975 to 1979. His aim is to rediscover and preserve the traditions that Pol Pot’s regime tried so hard to wipe out when they murdered nearly a third of Cambodia’s population. The show was beautiful, and proceeds from the tickets go to preserving art and supporting education for young Cambodians. We had a delicious Cambodian dinner at Labaab consisting of papaya salad, morning glory, lemongrass chicken, and fried rice. On Tuesday, we visited Choeung Ek, one of the many locations throughout the country where civilians were killed and buried in mass graves by the Khmer Rouge, and Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, formerly Security Prison 21, where an estimated 17,000 people were imprisoned, tortured, and killed. When the Khmer Rouge took over in 1975, they forced everyone out of the cities into rural, agrarian communes where they were often starved, worked to death, or murdered, until the regime was defeated by Vietnam in 1979. The Khmer Rouge targeted anyone they believed posed a threat – doctors, lawyers, journalists, anyone who was educated or even just had soft hands or wore glasses. They also made an attempt to wipe out minority groups within Cambodia such as the Cham Muslims and those of Vietnamese descent. Using torture, they forced ridiculous confessions, and no one was safe from suspicion. If a person was condemned to die, their whole family was murdered with them to prevent survivors from seeking revenge.
Out of a population of 9 million, between 1.5 million and 3 million people were killed. The people we met in this country were warm and smiled often, somewhat astoundingly given their history. Before the Khmer Rouge even came to power, an estimated 500,000 people were killed and millions were displaced by the 2.7 million tons of bombs the United States dropped on Cambodia during the Vietnam War. Cambodia’s leader at the time allowed the North Vietnamese to traffic weapons and military personnel through Cambodia on the Ho Chi Minh trail, and the US responded by bombing the trail heavily. After doing research on the Cambodian Genocide at Penn last semester, it was very meaningful and heart-rending to visit the places where the unfathomable cruelty and suffering occurred. It was hard to forget that everyone we met who was in their 40s or older would have memories of the Khmer Rouge and possibly the time that came before. Everyone knew people, likely family members and close friends who had been killed during that time. This harrowing fact, combined with the poverty of much of the country (Cambodia’s GDP per capita is only $1,270), is starkly juxtaposed with the smiling, friendly people we met during our week in Cambodia. Marcy and Henry just left for Hanoi for a brief visit before heading home to New York via Seoul. We had an amazing two weeks with them, but have been too busy to keep up with the blog, so we have some catching up to do. Last week, we flew to Saigon (officially renamed Ho Chi Minh City after the war). We had dinner at a Turkish restaurant and went to bed exhausted. The next day, we visited the War Remnants Museum, which presented images and artifacts from the war between communist North Vietnam and US-backed South Vietnam. In the afternoon, we went to the Reunification Palace, the iconic site of the South Vietnamese loss on April 30th 1975 when a North Vietnamese tank crashed through its gate, ending the battle for Saigon and the war over Vietnam’s future. After a swim at the apartment, we had dinner at a very local restaurant with no English menus or English-speaking waiters. Through a combination of pointing and Google Translate, we managed to order grilled prawns, fried fish (plucked out of a large tank to order), fried rice, and plenty of Saigon Beer. On our second and last full day in Saigon, we took a tour of the Mekong Delta, where the river feeds into the South China Sea at the southernmost tip of Vietnam. Lined with stilt houses and filled with tourist boats, it was very different from the relatively uninhabited section of the Mekong that Robert and I visited in Northern Laos. We learned about local production of honey, rice paper, rice wine, and pop rice (the rice version of popcorn). We finished the tour with a traditional lunch of prawns and river fish at a local homestay. On Tuesday morning, we took a bus to Hoi An, a charming (and touristy) town about four hours south of Hue. Hoi An is an ancient port city where maritime traders met for commerce. Even though it left in the morning, the bus had reclining “sleeper” seats. We had lunch at Banh Mi Phuong, which was made famous when Anthony Bourdain declared it the best banh mi in the world on his travel show, No Reservations. The simple sandwiches (we tried the barbeque, chicken, egg, and cheese/vegetable ones) were all delicious, but the fresh baguette-style bread they were served on was the real highlight. We spent the afternoon walking around the town, stopping at a few temples and Hoi An’s Japanese Covered Bridge. On Wednesday, we took a cooking class on Thuan Tinh Island, which began with a trip to the local market to pick up ingredients including chicken, lemon basil, lemongrass, rice noodles, and pineapple. The food in the market all seemed very fresh, but the meat section was very confronting and a bit difficult to walk through (we later witnessed the actual slaughtering of chickens nearby). We then took a boat ride to the island, where we made fresh spring rolls, pan-fried rice pancakes with scallions (banh xeo), South Vietnamese beef noodle salad, and pho bo – beef noodle soup. We spent the afternoon walking, drinking coffee at 166 Tran Phu, and visiting the Precious Heritage Museum. The artist, Rehahn, travels to remote areas of Vietnam to photograph and document the traditions of Vietnam’s many ethnic minorities. We went to a rooftop restaurant for cocktails and Vietnamese food as the sun set, then got foot massages by the night market. They were considerably more enjoyable than the massage Marcy, Robert and I got several nights before in Hue, where we were punched and slapped for an hour in a dingy room of what looked like an insane asylum from a horror movie (Henry wisely stayed at the hotel). On our final full day in Hoi An, we took an eco-tour about local fishing and farming practices. We cycled a few miles to the river, and tried our hand at several methods of fishing, all unsuccessfully. We then visited a rice paddy, where we practiced plowing, planting, and processing rice. The next morning, we had breakfast and relaxed by the pool before heading to the airport for our flight to Ho Chi Minh City. Having traveled alone for about 6 weeks, we were joined by some familiar faces: my parents, Marcy and Henry. After a long day flying from New York via Seoul, they met us in Hue, the former imperial city that was the seat of the Nguyen Dynasty emperors from 1802 to 1845. We took in Hue’s history with our first outing together to the Imperial City, protected within large citadel walls. During the Battle of Hue, one of the longest and bloodiest of the Vietnam War, nearly 150 out of 160 buildings were destroyed; however, we still got a strong impression of Hue’s former imperial glory. The next day, we hired a boat to steer us down the Perfume River in search of more monuments to the emperors. We stopped at the Pagoda of the Celestial Lady and the tombs of Khai Dinh, Tu Duc, and Minh Mang. The brilliant inlaid porcelain in the tomb of Khai Dinh made it stand out from the older, more weathered tombs of his predecessors. The Nguyen Dynasty collectively modernized Vietnam through agricultural innovations, a standardized measurement system, and localized government. On our last day in Hue, we joined Mr. Duy of DMZ Tours for a full-day tour of Vietnam War sites. Because North and South Vietnam met at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in the country’s center, the area was one of the most heavily bombed and devastated during the war. Mr. Duy lived through the war, and shared his vivid memories of its horrors. His village was bombed by both the North Vietnamese, as well as the South Vietnamese and Americans because of its location near the edge of both sides’ territory. He recalls meeting American soldiers, the C-130 landing strip that used to be downtown in Dong Ha, where he lives, and the pain that so many of his neighbors faced because of the war. We visited Khe Sanh Combat Base, a U.S. base in the steep mountains near the Laos border. The thick vegetation, windy roads, and tall peaks illuminated how difficult and trying the war must have been for soldiers and civilians. This reality was especially underscored by our visit to the Vinh Moc tunnels, which housed hundreds of villagers 10-30 meters underground for 6 years. Over a dozen babies were born in the stone tunnels’ maternity room, and the single toilet room served everyone. It was rare to get more than an hour of time outside in daylight, as the villagers usually emerged at night in the safe cover of darkness. We thank Mr. Duy again for sharing his stories and for his broad historical knowledge, which made for an excellent tour. Ninh BinhAfter our Ha Long Bay cruise docked, we took a cramped, 4-hour local minibus to Ninh Binh, a scenic region 2 hours south of Hanoi that is best described as Ha Long on land. We had a casual dinner, and went to bed early. Our homestay, the Tam Coc Mountain View, served a delicious breakfast with a great view. We enjoyed our eggs, baguettes, ginger tea, and mango juice overlooking rice paddies and massive limestone karsts. The homestay lent us bikes, and we rode about 18 miles during the day. At our first stop, Trang An, we joined a Korean couple for a 2-hour rowboat tour of a turquoise blue river with dramatic karsts and low-ceilinged caves. We had pho and rice for lunch, avoiding some of the menu items we hoped were simply mistranslations. We continued on to Hoa Lu, an ancient city celebrating its 1,050th anniversary, and walked through a few Buddhist temples built for the Vietnamese king. We biked for an hour back to the homestay, where the family invited us for a Vietnamese hot pot dinner. We took off our shoes and sat on a bamboo mat, using Google Translate to make some conversation with our hosts. In the pot of boiling broth, we cooked beef, bok choi, mushrooms, greens, and onion, accompanied by sides of rice, spring rolls, and garlicky, spicy fish sauce. Alexa and I enjoyed talking with Lien, the family’s eldest daughter, who had her wedding just 4 days before we arrived. She explained how Vietnamese weddings are elaborate, 3-day affairs with multiple photoshoots, changes of attire, and hundreds of guests. As with many of the younger people we’ve met in Vietnam, Lien spoke great English and had a wonderful sense of humor. The men passed around shots of happy water (rice wine), and we sat for a while after the meal sipping strong Vietnamese green tea and having bananas. The family could not have been more hospitable, and we are grateful that they invited us for such a special experience. The next day, we started with an egg coffee. During the Vietnam War, milk was in short supply, so the Vietnamese created an inventive solution: whipping egg yolks with sugar and condensed milk to add a thick, rich layer of foam to dark coffee. It is particularly tasty with some cocoa or cinnamon sprinkled on top. While Alexa took a break from sightseeing, I biked some more to take in the scenery. After saying our goodbyes at the homestay, we took an 8-hour train to Dong Hoi, then transferred to Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, home to the world’s largest caves. The caves were only discovered in the 1990s and confirmed as the world’s largest in 2009. We enjoyed dinner with another beautiful view from our new guesthouse. Our full-day tour of Paradise Cave and Phong Nha Cave was spectacular. We walked through a platform in Paradise Cave, and took a rowboat through an underground river in Phong Nha Cave. Many of the caves in the park were only discovered in the 1990s, and Son Doong was confirmed as the world’s largest in 2009. The structures we saw were otherworldly: stalactites (from the ceiling), stalagmites (from the floor), and pillars (stalactites and stalagmites that joined) were unlike any natural formation we’d ever seen, full of shapes resembling melted wax, columns of jellyfish, and giant mushrooms. The forms are created by dripping water that deposits some limestone from the rock, causing growths on the ceiling, ground, or side of the cave. The guide told us that they grow at a rate of 0.1 millimeters year, and that the caves have been evolving for some 400 million years. Walking and riding a boat through these caves felt like being transported to another world, an environment so different than that outside. Our second stop in Vietnam was Ha Long Bay, the UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Gulf of Tonkin with about 2,000 limestone karsts rising from the water. Ha Long means “descending dragon.” The famous karsts formed over 500 million years, and our guide informed us that climate change 20,000 years ago brought the water we see now from melted ice caps to the bay. The organic limestone was formed by the accumulation of shells from sea organisms that create calcium carbonate; plate tectonics then forged the limestone into the tall karsts, some hundreds of feet high. We took a cruise to Bai Tu Long, a farther, quieter section of the bay that sees 40 cruises per day, as opposed to the 500 that crowd the area closer to shore. Swan Cruises provided a comfortable room and a few relaxing days of kayaking and cave exploring with excellent views everywhere. We stopped in a model of a local fishing village, where we saw a demonstration of pearl farming. After dinner, Alexa tried her hand at squid fishing, and I came in second place playing a game in which I tried to balance two forks on a toothpick stuck in a lime on top of a beer bottle. While much of the experience was enjoyable, the food on the cruise was memorably bad – worse than any meal we’ve ever had in a highway rest stop or bowling alley. Here is a selection: Last Wednesday, we took a night train from Hanoi to Sapa. I was so excited when we got to our cabin and there were nice looking, albeit tiny beds, snacks, and red velvet curtains over the window. There are two bunk beds in each room, and we were assigned to the top and bottom beds of one. We sat on my bed watching TV, talking, and waiting excitedly to depart. Unfortunately, once our cabin-mates arrived, things began to go downhill. The two men spent the first part of the trip talking on their phones in Chinese and watching loud videos. They reeked of cigarette smoke, which was unfortunate because we had to sleep about 3 feet from them. Eventually, Robert climbed up to his bed and we turned out the lights hoping for a decent sleep. I drifted off briefly before being woken by the most thunderous snoring imaginable. The noise was so loud and intolerable, but this wasn’t the worst of it. Periodically, our roommate bolted upright and began yelling and mumbling in his sleep – we should have brought whatever sleeping pill he had. The train clattered and lurched as it made frequent, screeching stops. When we finally pulled into Sapa Station at 6am, we had never been more excited to leave a train. We piled into a van for an hour drive to Sapa town, where we had breakfast at a hostel and met our guide, Cheng. Cheng is a Hmong woman (a minority tribe in Vietnam, Laos, and parts of China) a few years older than us. We spent the day hiking with her through winding dirt roads and rice terraces, passing by dozens of water buffalo, pigs, chickens, ducks, and goats. We stopped for lunch and to warm up by the fire at a family’s home. It was drizzling and snowing on and off throughout the day, and so foggy that at times we couldn’t even see a few feet ahead. Cheng spoke English well (she taught herself), so we were able to learn a lot about her family and culture. The final stretch of the trek was down a very steep, muddy path that was due to be paved on a drier day. In the evening, we arrived at the homestay and were greeted by Mao and her husband (Cheng’s sister-in-law and brother) and some of their family members. They brought us tea, and we sat talking around the fire. A little while later, the other homestay guests arrived. We had a great conversation with them and realized we had a lot in common. Gadi and Nike are from Tel Aviv and have both traveled extensively. They became friends after meeting in India. Gadi left corporate law to work in startups, and Nike is a general surgery resident (and two-time Olympic sailor!). It was so fun to get to know them and exchange stories about the places we’ve traveled. At around 6pm (people go to bed and wake up very early), dinner was served. We sat around a long table with the family and some friends who were helping to build the house, and ate delicious home-cooked food. Everyone ate from a small bowl of rice, and we used chopsticks to add the spring rolls, chicken, green beans, mushrooms, and other meat and vegetable dishes on top. After dinner, Mao’s husband brought out a large plastic container of homemade rice wine, which the locals call “happy water,” and showed us a variety of games, all of which encouraged everyone to drink more. This also had the pleasant effect of making us less concerned that it was currently below freezing and the house didn’t have any heat. We got in bed under a massive heap of blankets and slept surprisingly well. The next morning, we decided to do the long trek (~13 miles) with Nike and Gadi. Cheng led the four of us through stunning rice paddies shrouded only partially by the fog. We got back to Mao’s house in the evening. There were many other guests that night. We had another delicious dinner, and sat around the fire talking until the last coals’ glow turned to smoke. Everyone was traveling solo or as a pair. There was a father and son from Canada, a woman from the Cayman Islands, a couple from Switzerland, a man from Germany, a couple from Malaysia, and a couple from Argentina, and of course, our Israeli friends Nike and Gadi. Most were in their 20s or 30s and had a variety of interesting careers – lawyer, chef/restaurant owner, biologist… The next morning, we went for our final hike with Nike and Cheng (Gadi went down by motorbike so he could explore the town for longer). We said goodbye to everyone, and boarded a bus back to Hanoi. Despite the cold and the difficulty of getting there, our time in the Hmong village with Mao’s family was one of our favorite travel experiences to date. The people we met (both our hosts and other travelers) were all so warm, funny, and interesting.
After a late-night arrival in Hanoi, we had trouble sleeping because the city was having a massive celebration for Vietnam’s youth soccer team, which made the finals in the Under-23 Asian Federation Cup. Although Vietnam lost to Uzbekistan in the last minute, hundreds of motorbikes with Vietnamese flags honking their horns sped through the night. Plenty were wearing headbands that declared, “Vietnam Wins!”. When we met our walking tour guide, a junior at a local university, we wanted to wake up, so we had bun bo (beef noodle soup) at 56 Hang Chieu and coconut iced coffee with chocolate and at Cong Caphe, a communist-themed coffee chain. We then took in the history and charm of the Old Quarter and French Quarter. Some local teenage soccer fans stopped me for a picture on the way to the Hanoi Opera House, which was built by French colonialists in the early 20th century. The guide pointed out motorbikes carrying kumquat trees to homes in preparation for Tet, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, as well as octopus-shaped fruits that are used to decorate family altars. For lunch, we had pho, Vietnamese noodle soup, at Pho 10 (10 Ly Quoc Su) – and it was absolutely delicious with half-done, tender beef and fresh herbs. Adding just 2-3 sliced chilies makes the soup very spicy! The next day, we visited the Temple of Literature, a Confucian school that educated the Vietnamese king’s staff from 1076 to 1779. Students who did well could take the National Exam and, if qualified, the royal exam to work for the king. After lunch, we walked to the Hoa Lo Prison, the “Hanoi Hilton” where John McCain and other POWs were held during the Vietnam War. The Vietnamese government’s description of the events that took place there is in a photo below. I also stopped by the Ho Chi Minh Museum, dedicated to the communist leader’s life. It is clear that “Uncle Ho” remains an important figure in Vietnam, and his portrait hangs throughout the country. Hanoi has some of the best and cheapest food we’ve had so far in Asia. Pho (noodle soup), banh mi (toasted baguette sandwiches), and Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk were some of our favorites. Our most important tip for Hanoi is to cross the street with omnidirectional awareness because of constant traffic:
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