We grabbed our scooters and headed for the hills. This meant actually gettin past a monster roundabout which has no method or system just pure madness of 5 exits! We got into it and between the trucks, motorbikes and bicycles we managed to exit it without harm! Soon we were cruising out amongst the rice paddy fields and cows! When we got to the temple we had to climb so many steps. It was 600 meters up and the it was hot as hell. We were drenched in sweat but we knew once we got to the top we'd have a refreshing waterfall we could cool down in! Unfortunately when we got there the waterfall was not flowing as it still wasn't wet season! The view was amazing and we sat in our sweat drenched clothes enjoying it. We checked out the mini temple at the top and bumbed into a monk, he gestured for us to have tea so we did, then he brought us mangos and showed us some of his boxing equipment. When the rain came lashing in we headed indoors in a shack where we were served some cold water, it didn't look clean at all but we all obliged out of respect for the monk! He started showing Sarah some self defence moves and we all tried to communicate through google translate! It was funny as! On the way back to town we went around a few more manic roundabouts and soon we were enjoying the madness and couldn't wait to hit another roundabout! It involves a lot of control of the bike, a lot of predicting where people will move their bikes, some respect for bigger vehicles tat will kill you and some balls to move out in front of other vehicles before they block your path! After we got ourselves cleaned up at home, leah and Sarah checked out a glasses store and leah ordered prescription glasses that were constructed in 10 mins! It was crazy to watch how easily they made them! We has so amazing Thai food and finished the night off with a massage and some cold tea! Random day around th Mekong Delta. The area where the Mekong flows into the ocean at the southern tip of Vietnam. We started with a 2 hour bus ride complete with guide/historian who explained that a great percentage of Vietnamese people are "freedom" or without religion. This is particularly due to the communist government, most people worship ancestors. However there remains Buddhists, Muslims, Taoist, Hindu, and catholic followers. We had noticed a lack of religious pariphanalia around. This explained it. Anyways. Our first stop was a Buddhist temple. Sarah's first experience with monks! We whitnessed prayer and lunch time. A lot of chanting happened. There were enormous Buddha statues on display as well. We got to see a few of the businesses that run in the Mekong. Any and everything made from coconut. Including candy seen here We had had coconut candy before and we're excited for tasters. There was a pod of crocs that you could feed for a small feed, a honey bee farm, orchard, lizards and a few pythons. We were offered snake massages, which consisted of a python wrapping around your body. Apparently when small they aren't much to worry about. We were told that this island also followed the coconut religion and had a coconut temple. It was the not impressive, but was totally weird. We were whisked through the island estuaries in small canoes manned by woman young and old. Craving some pizza we headed for a recommended Italian restaurant complete with overpriced, but delicious wine. The shared bottle made us just sleepy enough for the bed bus ride we had that evening to take us to Nah Trang. The beds were pretty cool. We tucked in and were ready for the bumpy ride away from Saigon. The alarm went off this morning, waking us in the darkness of our room. We had a package to collect, at least so everyone at home was reminding us. Leah's sister Sarah was arriving in ho chi min today. After a quick breakfast we adventures into a taxi. We'd heard of a scam where the taxi meter is rigged to charge more than it should. Our taxi driver couldn't understand anything we were saying. So I drew and airplane. And motioned a plane landing. He seemed to understand but to make sure called a colleague who I spoke to and translated to our driver. We were shortly at the airport and joined the emmense crowd of 100s of people waitin g outside for their packages We took it easy heading to the market for some yummy Pho. And because it was pouring rain we attended the war relic museum. The pictures and memorabilia leave little to the imagination. It was confronting and sad to reflect on. It was great watching Sarah experience the madness that is South East Asia. We love it. But it's something to adjust to. We all had a nice sleep included our jet lagged companion. Breakfast was in order. We took advantage of the delicious French influence with baguettes for breakfast then boarded our trusty bus to the Cu Chu tunnels. We felt every rock and crack in the road on the 2 hr journey our to rural Ho Chi Min. Slowly the buildings were replaced by rubber trees and rice fields. It was so nice to get out of the city. We were entertained by the history lesson given by our tour guide as we walked through the forest above the preserved war tunnels below. We are tunnel rats! We landed into Vietnam and found our way to Ho Chi Minh City. We had heard it was a crazy bustling city but nothing could prepare us for the amount of motor bikes and traffic and how it all moved so fast! It took us a while to figure out how to cross the road, it entailed walking out in front of traffic and maintaining a certain speed and direction and do not change!! The streets are all divided with narrow lane ways where everything is! All the restaurants and hotels and guest houses are squeezed down these lames with scooters flying down them too thinking there roads! We ate at a cool restaurant called cyclo resto, it was a set menu and we weren't sure about the snake head fish but we tried it all. Every dish came with a story about the area of Vietnam it originates from. Our waiter was so informative and helpful! It was a truely amazing place and the food was flavours we've never had before! Later we left a message on the wall like the thousands before us had! One drawback of staying in a really really cheap room in Asia is it comes with no windows! This leads to waking up in darkness assuming it's 3am but finding out it's 10am! After a slow start we hit the big central market. We had fun negotiating our way through a million stalls that make suits in a day or dresses and fabrics and spices and wooden crafts! We ate tasty street food for lunch that barely came to $1 and had fresh fruit shakes while watching the market madness! We wandered around the touristy parts and bars before torrential rain trapped us at home, luckily either side of our guest house were many options for food. We had some nice Indian food and learnt some new card games with our newly acquired Vietnam deck of cards! We headed back to siem reap for one more day before we fly out to Vietnam. The bus was better this tune as we went for a mini bus rather than the big bus who's air con was brutal. We checked into a hotel and they gave us free bikes to cycle around the city! We cycled until we lost about 4 litres in sweat and decided to take refuge in a foodery! Later our hotel gave us free massages and complimentary drinks! We finished the evening off at the night markets haggling prices for gifts for family! Some of the craft and handiwork was amazing out of authentic materials. We upset a store women when paddy paid for the item only for leah to arrive on the scene after getting the same thing for cheaper! The lady gave us the death stare but she did give us back the money which was nice! We felt as though we're leaving Cambodia on a good note, it's been a great country. So much sad, devastating history, poverty and corruption but again we find the people prevail and are the silver lining for the country with their constant smiles and willingness to engage and learn. In the morning paddy found a gym and the entrance fee was 20 cents! After a good sweat out we hired some bikes to get a good look around Battambang. It's a good way to see the town and the breeze was nice as you cycled along. We felt pretty safe as all the motorbikes and cars weren't going to fast and there was a great path all along the river that we could hide under trees for shade! As we cycled we passed countless amounts of schools, they seemed to be on every corner! |
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