Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos - Un–baguette–able

The four weeks that we spent in the area known as IndoChina, Vietnam Cambodia and Laos was condensed from our originally planned 6 weeks, caused by our slight detour to Bali! However, these four weeks proved to be unforgettable. Each country has a fascinating mix of culture and heritage, with shared similarities. All have a large dose of French influence, resulting in daily baguettes for breakfast and pretty French riviera architecture. Add a pinch of Chinese (Vietnam) or Thai (Cambodia, Laos) food influences and then a splash of that countries own personality, and you three separately distinguishable countries.

Cambodia was our starting point. Arriving in Siem Reap, where we fell on our feet meeting Joe from Leeds who helped guide us to a fantastic hostel and away from the irritating Northerner who bored us all the way from Bangkok with his ‘I did this, I did that’ stories. We got an early night sleep, for the following morning we were up by 5am for our trip to the Angkor Wat temples with Joe to watch the sunrise. However, we had not planned for an overcast morning! Still the age old temples set amongst the green background of the forest proved charming. Our favourite was the Bayon temple, or known as the temple of200 faces. Here we met some local dancers dressed in traditional clothing who posed with us for some photos (at a charge!). We also enjoyed what was known as the ‘Tomb Raider’ temple, which was used in the movie, where trees entwine themselves with the stone building and sore northwards towards the sun. In the evening, we watched a traditional Cambodian dance through 7 different styles of dancing, including a peacock dance and a dance of the local fisherman.

From here we headed to the capital Phnom Penh. The city is large and chaotic, and having visited many large Asian cities we were less than keen to spend too much time here. In our time here we visited the two main memorial sites relating to the Pol Pot - Kymer Rouge regime and the genocide that followed. The Killing Fields was a chilling walking museum located at the site where approximately 20,000 innocent people were slain, and the details send a chill down are spine even now. S21 in central Phnom Penh was a more detailed memorial, a school converted into a prison converted into a museum. Left untouched from when it was discovered by the ‘Youns’ or the Vietnamese, the torture cells left traces of the horrendous acts committed against their own countrymen for ‘acts against the state.’ The graphic detail was sickening enough to make us leave, which we did shortly after. In a blog covering 3 countries, there is little worth in mentioning our next two locations in Cambodia Kampot and Kep, which we found left us with few memories for us to be able to recall.

From Kep, we took a very long yet scenic Tuk Tuk across the farmlands of Cambodia to the border of Vietnam. Our crossing was smooth, and we shortly arrived in Ha Tien Vietnam. This quaint fishing town was full of character primarily as it was well off the tourist trail, and we felt like the only white people in the area! The town had a grotesque market, where alongside fruit and vegetables, the likes of snakes, eels, frogs and fish were slithering in silver pans hoping to escape the inevitability of their fate. The butchers here, wooden stalls with women resting in hammocks, included all types of meat: intestines, pig’s ears, pig’s heads, livers and just about anything else you can imagine, including the smell. When searching for a bicycle to hire, we instead ‘hired’ a locals personal moped. With this, we sped away through the countryside and down to the coast, being welcomed along all the way by the friendly locals. We found a beach where many Vietnamese were bathing fully dressed, but the choppy waters were enough to put us off – we only deal with crystal clear bays!

We then continued through the Mekong Delta. Our next stop was Can Tho, a charmless town built around the Mekong River. The supposed highlight was the floating markets, but we both found these disappointing; however weaving through the green canals proved very entertaining in the rain. We later come to realize that we had been subject to the local mafia. In trying to book our boat trip, we had asked our hotel manager for a tour, but his price was too high, so we went out in search of a better price. However, no one seemed willing to even take our business. We then realized that we had been followed by a scraggy woman who had been warning off all the local providers – nice!

On to Ben Tre, and a completely different experience, where we stayed in a guesthouse 11km outside of the town, in and amongst the coconut palm trees, rice paddies and small canals of the Mekong. Our host, ‘Phat’ was a charming man who was totally genuine and trustworthy. We stayed in a wooden shack, where mosquitoes easily found their way in, and relaxed in the homely hammock atmosphere (us not the mossies!). We met a Dutch woman named Dorien who had travelled Vietnam so much that she had even published a book, with her photos and experiences detailed. She was the perfect person to show us around the town the following day, where we cycled to visited the very colourful fruit and veg market. Here we tried many new foods, cherry-like fruits, dried flavoured bananas, sugar cane drinks, Hu Tieu – a noodle soup, and the local tea. We then continued our journey home, however we managed to get extremely lost and ended up cycling about 30km. In the evening we shared ‘elephant ear fish’ with Dorien, caught from their own pond, the fish was presented as if it were toast (on a toast rack), and was combined with various vegetables and then wrapped in rice paper. We found it delicious!!

We then ventured to Mui Nee by local bus, where we were held up for 2 hours waiting for a passenger to be fined for transporting livestock on the bus – eggs which were beginning to hatch was apparently frowned upon by the Ho Chi Minh authorities. Mui Nee is a kite surfer’s heaven with heavy winds creating choppy waters against the beach. In the short time we were here, we again hired a scooter and travelled for 40km, stopping at the beautiful fairy waterfall, a stream that runs alongside red and white sand formations resembling the Grand Canyon. We then headed to the white sand dunes, which were natural formations looking down over a lily-pad clad lake, where we tried our hand at sand-boarding which we found to be an exciting adrenaline ride. In the evening we treated ourselves to a luxurious meal, in an Ibizan cool restaurant, where we enjoyed two courses, milkshakes and some well deserved alcohol!!

Delat, our next destination was dubbed by Lottie as Delame, she was least impressed! Set several thousand metres high, the town is very modern and lacking in character. Here we visited a flower garden and were on our way to the ‘crazy house’ when the heavens opened and streets turned into rivers. We spent 15 minutes waiting in the freezing cold and attempting to flag down a cab in the rain. The highlight was definitely the onward trip to Nha Trang, where we weaved through beautiful mountainous scenery covered in green forests. Nha Trang, a beach location has long been a tourist attraction, and is built up to deal with this. Here, we spent one day cruising on a boat visiting local islands where we snorkeled in the extremely cold coral reefs, warming up on deck by soaking up the sun, and then finally enjoyed a huge buffet lunch we a dish for everyone’s taste. We then spent the last of our ‘treat money,’ $40 kindly donated by Carlien, on a fantastic day out at a local mud and mineral water spa. We enjoyed mud baths, hot mineral water showers and hot tubs, before relaxing by the poolside with the occasional trip to the jacquzi. A fantastic way to unwind!

Hoi An was our last stop in Vietnam, and what a way to finish! This quaint town is strongly influenced by the French, and the old city is a series narrow streets lined by buildings with yellow washed walls and teak brown window shutters, with hanging baskets or ivy interweaved. All the buildings had been decorated very stylishly, and as a result the choice for cafes and restaurants, souvenir shops, boutique and tailor made clothing shops was overwhelming given our budget! We enjoyed a cycle ride down to the beach, walking along the river at night to see the local festivities, and meandering through the local markets to buy gifts for those back home. Overall, despite some off putting rumours, we thoroughly enjoyed Vietnam. It is a beautiful country with many different landscapes, and the people we found were extremely friendly, their smiles contagious.

Our next stop was Savanaket Laos. The border crossing that we decided to do by local bus was a stressful and chaotic experience, but after a full days worth of travelling, some frustration and starvation, we made it to Savanaket. This town is not one of the prettiest places that we have visited, but we found refuge in Café Anakot where the friendly Japanese lady helped us to gain our bearings and warmed our stomachs with great food. Here we hired a moped and explored the local countryside, temples and lakes, which in contrast to what we have seen so far was dull if not relaxing. Paul’s highlight was definitely taking the moped ‘off-road’ and scaring the wits out of Lottie as we weaved in and out of the foliage.

We then ventured into the capital Vientiane, which again had a strong French influence with many cafes and coffee houses. Here we ventured to the local market, where we enjoyed Belgian chocolate waffles and fresh fruit shakes, returning only with 1 pad of post it notes – an exciting purchase! We spent a day travelling to and wandering around Buddha park, where you guessed it there were many statues of the Buddha in various different guises. Our night bus to Luang Prabang followed, and was one of the worst that we had taken in 4 months – bendy and bumpy roads combined with upright and uncomfortable seats made for a very tiring night. We were lucky to land on our feet in finding a guesthouse the following morning, stylishly decorated with a huge comfortable bed and plenty of mood lighting, a bargain at 5GBP that would be worth 120GBp in the UK, and at 7am in the morning, we crashed asleep until midday...oh to the life of a traveler.

We woke to find the most charming town that we had visited in our journeys to date, Luang Prabang, which was surrounded by two rivers and again strongly influenced by the French. Similar to Hoi An Vietnam with old buildings with big wooden shutter windows, yet here the buildings were all of differing colours and adorned by different ivys. We felt like we were in the South of France. Again, cafes and restaurants were abundant, high in standards and had a fantastic evening street market. We again indulged in plenty of gift shopping and were busy decorating our home to be, with lampshades and paintings. The following day, we visited the local waterfalls, where we were over oared by the beauty of the multiple tiered waterfalls. Crashing into blue pools, the natural waterfalls were set amidst a lush green rainforest, and by midday the place was quickly filling up with tourists. Here we enjoyed jumping from the tops of waterfalls and from a rope swing into the pools of freezing cold water. In the evening we ate a at local market, where the buffet food was thrown into a pot and reheat, and mulched together into one heap of mixed flavour. We also enjoyed some food on sticks, including sausage and duck, but we avoid having a nibble at the roasted dog’s head and chickens feet.

The next day, we travelled to Vang Vieng. A small town, based along the river is known for one thing and one thing only – tubing. Tubing involves jumping into the river on a man sized rubber ring and floating down it. Simples! The catch, and the draw, is that along the river are many bars selling all sorts of alcohol (and drugs although we didn’t indulge) and then setting these drunken people back onto the river. We found relative refuge in joining up with two other couples, Matt and Anna from Poland and Mark and Jess from the UK, but living in China. We began visiting the local bars, but remained ahead of the drunken hoards so enjoyed a relaxing few drinks and peaceful cruise down the river. Drinking games were later introduced, including ‘bust a rhyme’ and the cereal box game. By the time we returned to town, at about 6pm we were all a little on the drunken side, collapsing into our beds or wherever we could find that felt comfortable! When we met at 8pm, we realised as older couples that we were lacking any desire for drinking into the night, so we all retreated back to our beds!! Good fun and friends made however!

We then began preparing for our trip back into Thailand in order to catch our flight to China. Mark and Jess helped comfort us into China, having spent 2 years there they knew the country well, and dispelled most of the rumours that we had heard. We stopped briefly into Vientiane before catching a night bus to Bangkok. In Bangkok we spent our time searching out for quirky dresses for Lottie to buy in order to set up an ebay shop in the UK – girls look out for these dresses as they’ll be heading your way soon! We then took to the air again, heading for China….