Cambodia II – Day 7

Work officially ended by 9:00am, so then it was off for a day of fun at the temples.  Todd & I went out with our guide, Nary, to Bantey Srei, an older temple farther out from town.  It’s kind of a precursor to Angkor Wat, built 200 years earlier.  Flooding was evident on the grounds and as we toured more rain fell.  We had to seek shelter in a hut the guards use for cooking.  One of the building at this temple had to be completely reconstructed after the french dismantled it and tried to move it to France. 

Next we drove closer into town to see some restoration projects Nary and his team have been working on.  Once again a big downpour appeared and we sought shelter under a tarp with a giant lion statue.

We took the scenic road back to the hotel and bid farewell to Nary.  Once packed, we met Bill & Steve for happy hour on our way to the airport.  The waters had started to recede in town but the roads were a mess in the wake of the storm – potholes and crumbled roads everywhere. Sadly Angkor What? was still cleaning up from the floods and closed, so we had to go across the street for our 50 cent beers.  Our waitress was fascinated by Bill’s size, questioning him about his height and weight.  Once he told her (2 metres, 128 kilos) she was in disbelief and wrote it down to share with her friends later.  As we got up to leave, she exclaimed “wow!”

Our flight back to Saigon was uneventful, despite the lighting storms I could see flashing around us at times.  Our last evening was spent doing a little more shopping and hitting up the Temple Club at dinner time for Hue style spring rolls and more.  In addition, Arnaud had told us the place next to it (Fanny) served the best ice-cream in Vietnam, so down the stairs we went for dessert.

Afters 4 hours of sleep and a 3:30am wake-up call, we began our long journey home.  The flight to Tokyo had to swing south to avoid typhoon Parma – I was expecting the worst but it was a pretty smooth flight.  Tokyo-Seattle however was bumpy at times.  Landed home safe & sound Monday morning.

Movies watched on the way home:  Land of the Lost (thumbs down), My Sister’s Keeper (Thumbs Up)

Estimated spring rolls eaten during the week:  33

Cambodia II – Day 6

We left early for our morning at the Angkor hospital for Children, and the scene throughout Siem Reap was drastically different from my visit last month.  The previously half empty river had breached to flood the streets.  Our SUVs waded through the water easily, while motorbikes, bicycles, and walkers trudged through the floods.  Some storefronts were sandbagged, others tried in vain to sweep the water away.  Amazing.  I wasn’t sure what the flood waters would mean for our planned home visits in the country side but we were still on.

 

Driving through the countryside you could see flooded rice fields and houses in many spots.  As we arrived at the house we were to visit, I wasn’t sure we would make it all teh way.  we had to lay down boards at times and traipse through teh bushes to get around teh mud.  Later in teh afternoon as we toured the temples, we had to buy flip-flops and wade through the water to get to Ta Prohm.  The water seemed clear and clean, let’s hope that proves true!

As we toured the temples this time we had a great guide, Nary, who works as a stone conservator at Angkor Wat.  He was able to point out lots of details we would have ordinarily missed and he could take us to restricted areas.  So, we got to go up to the third level of Angkor Wat which is no longer open to the general public!  There were cools views form above – and a strong stench form all the bat droppings.  Nary also pointed out teh large stone that fell from one of teh towers about a year ago, which is why this level is now closed.  Its is such an amazing place to walk around, much like Machu Piccu.  How did they build this?

Restaurants were still closed today, so we sadly just had a nother dinner in the hotel and called it a night.

Side note:  The Angkor Hospital for Children is a remarkable program.  I encourage you to check out their website ( http://angkorhospital.org/default.php ) and if you feel inclined, make a donation to their US fundraising arm “Friends Without a Border.”  I can verify first hand the quality of care provided and importance of the medical training they provide throughout Cambodia.  Many thanks to all my co-workers who donated coloring books & crayons for this trip – they arrived safely and are ready to be distributed!

Vietnam & Cambodia II – Day 5

Another big day of site visits kept us busy.  But first, Doug and I ran around the corner to a little bakery we had spotted the night before to grab breakfast treats – we got a bag full of delicious stuff for $4 that we munched in the van on our way to the TB & Lung Hospital.  This campus also houses the building you would get sent to if you arrived at Saigon airport and they suspected you of having H1N1.  As Todd said, “If you weren’t sick before, you would be soon…”

From there we spent time at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, meeting with many of their students who had set up poster presentations and then a grand feast for lunch.  I felt bad because they were all so eager to present and I could only understand about half of their work, if that since it was all science-y.  It was fun to chat with them though.

In the afternoon we flew to Siem Reap, Cambodia and thankfuly our flight this time was much less dramatic than last month.  Last month we flew through heavy rain and got put into a holding pattern, unable to land due to winds.  We were pretty sure we were going to be diverted back to Vienam or down to Phnom Penh when all of sudden we started descending.  Landing actually went fine, but upon arrival we learned that the plane before us had landed on the wrong vector, immediately took off again when realizing that, and almost took out the air traffic control tower.  So, the nice easy flight this trip was very welcome.  Flying in though, we began to see the remnants of Typhoon Ketsana, which soaked northern Cambodia and left behind big flooding.

For our first night, this flooding impacted us mightily as we learned that Madame Butterfly, our favorite restaurant from the last trip, was closed, as were many others.  We were forced to eat in the hotel, very sad.

Vietnam II – Day 4

Big day of site visits, all of which went well – at the fish sauce factory we got to wear hairnets along with our jackets and fresh shoes this time   I love the bottling and labeling area because it reminds me of Sesame Street showing how things are made:

Once work was done, I went down the street to pick up my finished Ao Dai – I really like the green silk for the top.  Across the street from there, Doug and Todd each bought paintings from a cool contemporary Vietnamese Art Gallery that had really neat pieces.  Dinner was around the corner at XU, which is pretty swank and pricey for Saigon.  I also remembered the menu having more Vietnamese food than what we saw tonight.  It was still good, but service was slow so it wasn’t the best spot we could have chosen sadly.  After dinner, we checked out the rooftop bar at the Caravelle hotel.  It is only the 9th floor, so you feel like you are sitting in teh city which is great.  We all ordered teh Saigon Special, which was like an orange cosmo.  Back at the hotel I dressed to go to the gym and then realized it closed in 15 minutes – where’s 24 Hour Fitness when you need it?

Observation of the Day:  I now have a “fortification skirt.”  During lunch I realized that the skirt I was wearing today to the fish sauce factory is the same skirt I wore to the flour mill in Ghana.

Vietnam II – Day 3

First thing we left to scout out the two hospitals we would be visiting over the next couple days.  Pediatric children’s Hospital #1 is unbelievable – they see 6,000 kids A DAY! There were people everywhere, but it was all very controlled and organized for the most part.  Families line the halls waiting on bamboo mats for hours:

After our hospital visits, we scooted back over to the backpacker area so Todd could buy a bag, but we stopped at Sozo bakery once again as well – they even recognized us from the day before (though it’s not hard when you’re two gringos pulling up in a giant van.)  Next we went to a grocery store to buy snacks and do market research on our fish sauce visit.  there are more than 40 varieties of fish sauce but we easily spotted our fortified version.  Sadly it was 1) on the top shelf so harder to reach and 2) the bottles were kinda dusty which means it’s not selling very fast. 

Next we picked up Doug and went in search of Banh Banh “>Xeoaka sizzling crepes.  The best ones according to Lonely Planet were at Banh Xeo 46A which was an outdoor stand with tables – very exciting to be eating street food!  and a little worrisome ( but it turned out ok).  The crepes were good though the shrimp still had their shells on them which made it slightly annoying to eat.

The afternoon was a mix of meetings and shopping.  I checked in on my AoDai outfit – the pants were too big (which never happens!) so I will have to go back tomorrow after they pull them in a bit.  In the evening we walked down the street to Lemongrass where we had a feast for just $60 for 4 people.  awesome.  Another meeting after dinner, drinks on the roof, and we called it a day.

Observation of the Day:  How do cab drivers in developing countries survive?  We took a cab to a meeting that was only $2 each way for a substantial ride.  I remember the same thing in Peru.  How do they make any money?