Tuesday September 22, 2009 Budapest, Hungary

Day 25 of 36

Budapest, Hungary

I woke up with the sun. Caught up on some sleep last night despite the "room service" incidents.

Showered, dressed, did email and then went to breakfast in the hotel lobby included with the room. Big breakfast. They have the redest tomatoes I've ever seen. A bit sweet - just blood red tomatoes. I've seen those all over.

And the style with facial hair on men seems to be to have a very thin line of hair running down the middle of the chin - very fine line. I've seen this everywhere.

Looks like another beautiful day so I'm off to walk around more and then take my city tour. The traffic is incredible in the downtown near the hotel as they are closing off several of the streets to make them pedestrian streets. I had to go to another spot to get my tour because of the congestion. I toured around for 2 hours and saw the highlights - a good introduction to Budapest.

Cruised down Andrassy Boulevard (the Champs Elysses or Budapest) to Heroes Square with monuments for those who helped free Hungary. There is a large park here and I'll tour that tomorrow.

By many large mansions - beautiful architecture - and churches. Across the Danube to Buda and Buda Castle and the castle district. Then to the Citadel, where they have a statue that is "the statue of liberty" for Hungary. Back to Pest and by the Basilica, then to the Parliament and then by one of the largest synagogues in Europe. After the organized tour I set off on foot and visited the Basilica first. The organist was practicing and it was thrilling - made the arm stand up on my arms. Beautiful - there is a concert there tonight that I may go to.

Then I walked to the Parliament that is right by the Danube. A beautiful historic building. Then to Gresham Palace (Four Seasons Hotel). Then down to shopping plaza, Besci Utca. Lots of shops and pedestrians. I had to try on of the gelato shops.

Walked around for a while and then stopped at a sidewak cafe for a Dreher beer and rested my feet. Around 4 pm I returned to Le Meridian for a rest. Will go out later for an early dinner and then to the concert at the Basilica.

Took a short nap and got dressed for dinner and the concert. Walked to the pedestrian mall and a guy was playing all kinds of songs on glasses - yep, glasses filled with water. He was really good. Over to the Danube and by a beautiful concert hall. Stopped at Ambassador Teracz for dinner - had Hungarian pork chops and a large Dreher beer. Then tried Hungarian "pancakes" for dessert, which are really crepes - these had been soaked in run, filled with nuts, and had chocolate sauce and confectioners sugar sprinkled on top. Good.

During dinner I got to watch the sun setting over the Buda Castle. And at the same time the moon (just a sliver) was setting too. Buda is hilly and Pest is flat, so the Buda Castle just across the Danube is somewhat imposing on the Pest side. The castle was occupied at one time by the Hapsburgs of Austria.

Beautiful, mild evening to sit and watch people walking the sidewalk. Two ladies were trying to sell their lace and embroidery ware. It was fun to watch them "working the tourists".

Then off to the concert at St Stephen's Basilica. I got to sit under the big dome. It was classical music (Ave Maria, Air, Alleluja) for organ, violin, trumpet, tenor and soprano. They were excellent. Lasted about 90 minutes and I enjoyed it all. Strolled back and there were quite a lot of people out eating tonight since it is still and mild.

I went out for a few night-time pictures of the lights on buildings and then to bed so I can get up early for my last 1/2 day in Budapest. The hookers were out in large numbers - right in front of where I had dinner tonight. There are a lot of big, expensive hotels here (Intercontinental, Sofitel, and Four Seasons) so these must be "high class girls". I was approached by no less than 8 of them. Then 2 Italian women stopped me wanting to know where a good nightclub was. I think that's what they wanted!!!! (:-) Then an Italian guy stopped me wanting to know where a good Italian restaurant was. What do they think I am? A straight Hungarian tourist guide?

Got my night-time pictures - they looked good and headed back to bed. I'm beat but the feet are feeling better!

Monday September 21, 2009 Bangkok to Munich, Germany to Budapest, Hungary

Day 24 of 36


Bangkok, Thailand to Munich, Germany to Budapest, Hungary
Flights 11 and 12 of 18
5816 miles of 22,121 total miles to be travelled

I am scheduled to leave Bangkok at 12:50 am Monday morning and arrive in Munich at 7:15 am. Then I just realized I have a 4 hour layover until my flight on Lufthansa from Munich to Budapest. Why did I schedule this like this? Oh well - a day of travel.

I got a bulkhead seat in Business Class on my Thai Airlines flight - on the aisle as I like. I had dinner - but didn't eat it all and watched "The Proposal" - funny movie. And that is one of few movies out that I have wanted to see. Then I put my seat down (but it didn't go back all of the way) and slept - probably for about 5-6 hours off and on. Pretty good for me.

I got up before they came around with breakfast so I watched "Imagine That" with Eddie Murphy and his daughter - it was good too. I had a big breakfast as I wasn't sure how meals would play out during the day. We arrived in Munich at 7 am - about 30 minutes early. Munich was very, very foggy and hazy - and very cool. I had to go through security to get to the Lufthansa Service Desk to get my boarding pass to go from Munich to Budapest. Got my boarding pass and then had to go through immigration to get back to my gate - does that make sense? The lines were long so this wait was a bit aggravating. Then I had to go through security yet again - and got the third degree this time. He patted me down over and over and questioned everything - "What's that in my pocket" - "A pen" - "Oh". Over and Over and Over.

Finally I got through and went to the Business Class lounge - she actually let me in the next higher level club since I'm Priority Gold with US Airways. Had some coffee, read an American newspaper, and watched the news on TV. Used their PC to update email. Left a bit early to get to my gate. They took us on a bus to a remote plane and we left early. Not many of us in Business Class. They served us a meal that was actually pretty good so that will be lunch today.

We arrived in Budapest early. The Airport Shuttle desk was just inside the terminal before we even got our luggage so I bought a round-trip ticket. My bag was one of the first out (I was surprised) and headed out to the shuttle. There was no immigration check - that really surprised me. I found an ATM and got some Hungarian florints. The driver called for passengers going to my hotel and off we went. It was about a 20 - 25 minute trip from airport to hotel. The driver had to take several detours as they seem to be working on lots of streets in Budapest.

I was the first stop for our shuttle so got off at Le Meridien. The bellman got my luggage while I checked in. They offered "an upgrade" to me that includes a junior suite, internet, and breakfast. So I took it. I like the attention!

The concierge escorted me to my room and it is magnificent. It has 12' ceilings, a hallway, huge closet, and huge bathroom. It is on the corner of the building on the front and has a great view of the park across the street. I couldn't wait to shower and shave and that helped me a lot to "get going". I took off on foot with a city map and walked to the Danube. Lots of sidewalk cafes in the area. Le Meridian is ideally located right near St. Stephen's Basilica and the river. Watched the river traffic for a while and the Chain Bridge. They walked to the Gresham Palace, now the Four Seasons Hotel. Beautiful architecture. Walked across the Chain Bridge and then took the funicular (Siklo) to the top of the hill to Buda Castle. Beautiful large old buildings here and gardens too. I walked all around and took pictures of Budapest from up above.

I then walked down a winding sidewalk back to the other side of the Chain Bridge and went back across. Near the Maquar Academy (beautiful) a group of people were setting up for some sort of ceremony near a large statue. They had a large band (more like an orchestra) of young people getting ready to play. I waited a while and listened to them practice. Then walked to St. Stephen's Basilica. Will go through it tomorrow. Stopped at a Budapest coffee shop (lots of them here) and got a frozen strawberry white mocca kozep. It was like a frappocino and was GOOD.

I then roamed through parks and neighborhoods off the beaten track. Beautiful architecture. People won't look at you here! I can tell my neighbors from Richmond (the Tolnays) were from here - strong features.

After walked the streets for several hours, I headed back to the Le Meridien to change for dinner. Bill and Lynn had recommended a restaurant to me, Cafe Kor. So I asked the concierge for directions and it was less then 2 blocks away - just on the other side of the Basilica. As I walked there I noticed that most restaurants were empty or only had 1-2 tables full. Cafe Kor was PACKED. I didn't have a reservation so she offered me a table behind (literally) the front door. I refused that table so rather than lose the business, she offered me a prominent table virtually in the middle of the restaurant near their daily special board. A couple I talked to from San Francisco told me that they apologized if I thought they were staring at me but they were just checking out the board. We laughed.

Being the first night in Budapest, I had a large Hungarian beer, delicious honeydew and proscuitto (sweet), and beef tenderloin goulash in red wine sauce with croquettes. It was all so good and filling. After settling my bill (I found out you don't say thank you until AFTER you get your change at a restaurant or they will keep the change), I went to Gelato Rosa for a gelato of strawberry and pistachio. They scoop the gelato out to look like a rose - it looked beautiful and was delicious - just like in Italy.

Short walk back to the hotel, did email, investments, etc and then to bed about 11. I am pooped. About midnight the phone rang and it was room service wanting to know if I ordered room service. NO! I had just gotten back to sleep when he did it again. NO ALREADY! Finally to sleep for a restful night not on a plane.

A good overview day in Budapest. More detailed touring tomorrow.

Sunday September 20, 2009 Siem Reap, Cambodia to Bangkok, Thailand

Day 23 of 36

Siem Reap, Cambodia to Bangkok, Thailand
Flight 10 of 18
350 miles of 22,121 total miles to travel

It was a toss-and-turn night last night. I got so hot from the duvee but the room was so cold. So I turned the AC off and took off the duvee. Much better. I woke up several times and finally turned CNN on about 6:30. Showered, dressed and packed final things. I'm hoping the hotel will let me stay in the room until I get back from my Tonle Sap Cruise on the large lake just outside Siem Reap. I leave at 9 - it's a 20 minute ride there - a 2 hour cruise - and a 20 minute ride back via tuk-tuk. So I should be back by noon to checkout. We'll see.

Off to breakfast - a light one today - I've been eating way to much and my stomach is telling me to "slow down". I checked with the front desk and they wanted to clean my room for the next guests so I checked out and they put me in Room 2 above the dining room and told me I could keep that until I leave at 4 pm. The bill was wrong as they had charged me for the dinner we had when the apsara dancers performed, but they fixed it.

My tuk-tuk driver was ready early so we headed out to Donle Sap Lake - there was a bit of confusion at first about which lake we were going to, but the other one was far away - and I don't have that much time - and don't want to travel that far in a tuk-tuk either ! But my driver knew exactly where we were going.

The ride was very bumpy but we got there in a little over 20 minutes. Only $10 for the round trip tuk-tuk ride and the driver waited for me at the lake while I went on my tour. I bought a boat ticket for $30 and went to my private boat with guide and driver. This area is all land in the dry season (January) and the boats all move out to the big lake. But during the rainy season this isall flooded and the lake is about 4 times bigger. These people live on these small boats and fish every day for a living. They had been out fishing in the morning and were "beating" the nets to get the small fish off.

There was a floating school, floating market, floating church, and even a floating basketball court. They took me to a school and requested I buy books and pencils for the small children. Today is Sunday and it isn't a school day - so I'm betting this is some sort of scam - you buy the books, give them to the teacher, and she probably returns them to the store and they sell them all over again. My guide was concerned I hadn't bought enough books for all of the children but there was boat after boat stopping here. Oh well, I hope the children get some benefit of this.

We went into the large lake - and it is very much like the ocean. A Vietnamese woman came up to our boat in her small boat and wanted me to take a picture of her daughter holding a water snake - for $1 of course. I don't think so! Not me - ugh!

Lots of women begging for money - these are really poor people. But it is life as they know it. During the dry season, the boats move out to the big lake but come back each year during the rainy season to the same spots. There were boat builders and one man was building a new house boat. Some men were bathing in the water (it wasn't clean!). Most of the boats had antenna for their TV - they use generators to get electricity. But there is no water out here - they have to bring it all in for use in large containers. I'm glad I don't have to live this way.

They dropped me back at shore and my tuk-tuk driver was right there waiting for me to go back into Siem Reap. Another bumpy ride. I'm now in Room 2 and will shower and change clothes before I go to the airport at 4 pm for my flight tonight to Bangkok on Bangkok Airlines. I'll have a 4 hour layover there and leave a little after midnight on Thai Airlines for Munich.

My tummy has been doing flips all day so I'm taking heart burn medication and eating Tums like candy. I decided to go into Siem Reap (Siem is the old Siam!) one last time. I took a tuk-tuk from the hotel for the short ride since it was so hot. Walked around but nothing to buy - same ol', same ol'. Went to Central Bar and Brasserie for a light lunch. I've got to get my tummy settled. Then back to the hotel for a great hot shower and a short nap. I'm going to try to stay awake on the plane until after dinner tonight. We will be leaving here at 1 am Bangkok time on Monday but that is like 8 pm on Sunday night in Budapest. So my thinking is if I stay awake and have dinner (hope it settles), then I can sleep for 6-8 hours and I'll be on Eastern Europe time. We arrive in Munich at 7:30 am on Monday morning. An 11 1/2 hour flight.

I checked email one last time and loaded my picture to the computer and then went down and my driver was waiting. They are punctual for sure. He was practicing his English on me the entire way to the airport - difficult to understand at times, but we made do. He make $30 a month as a driver (oh my God!), and he is going to school to learn information technology - he likes computers. He dropped me at the new Siem Reap International Terminal. I had to wait about 30 minutes to check in for my flight with Bangkok Airways. Security and immigration was painless. The plane arrived from Bangkok and they loaded us up about 45 minutes early. That went so fast that we left Siem Reap about 30 minutes early - that has never happened to me before! Plane was full with lots of Brazilians, Chinese, and Thai people. Small plane and a smooth flight. They even served a nice snack - I ate part of it that I thought would digest without any issues.

Arrived in Bangkok at their new airport - it's huge - and had to walk a long way to the Transfer desk. But they had given me a boarding pass in Siem Reap since I leave on Thai Airways and Bangkok Air does code share with Thai. So I went back through security as required and then to the Business Class lounge. Ate a small sandwich and a diet coke. Now I'm having my evening scotch - yum! It is only 9:30 pm here and my flight doesn't leave for over 3 hours (actually Monday, so this saga will continue on the next blog page!). I sure would like to take a nap, but I'm not going to do it - gotta stay awake and adjust to Eastern European time if possible. I'm just hoping I can sleep on the plane!

I'm listening to Yanni on my ipod and enjoying that. I may make reference to a few of his songs in my book. So today comes to a close in the Thai Airways Business Class Lounge - they do a such good job with service. Looking forward to my flight with them to Munich early on Monday.

Saturday September 19, 2009 Siem Reap, Cambodia

Day 22 of 36

Siem Reap, Cambodia
Tim's last day of vacation in Southeast Asia

We got to sleep this morning but woke up with the sun about 7 am. We had breakfast outside on the patio at the hotel and then went for our "city tour" of Siem Reap on our own. We first walked along the Siem Reap River to the Royal Independence Gardens and the Royal Residence of the King and Queen of Cambodia. Today is a holiday in Cambodia - and all families are supposed to go to the pagoda to pay respects to their relatives. The Preah Ang Chek Preah Ang Charm Shrines are by the gardens and they were filled with people lighting incense and setting small birds free (for a fee). We walked to the Raffles Grand Hotel D'Angkor by the gardens and then headed back into town. We walked on the other side of the river to the downtown market area - this is what we were looking for last night!!!!

Many of the shops were closed in the morning but lots were open so we roamed through the streets and looked. When we got back to the Central Market area we went in and looked at the merchants stalls - everyone wants you to look - and many want you to buy a t-shirt! They don't seem to understand "No"! We just kept walking.

I bargained for some gold earrings for Lauren - 20 carat gold - she didn't have what I wanted but "her friend" got them from another booth. Deal done, we headed on and crossed the Old Market Bridge to find Wat Damnak. We went right by it (Tim said - thi s is a school! - but it was the Wat!). We went around the block and came in the back. Interesting. Lots of tombs - some of different colors. Some of the tombs had pieces of paper on them - this has some significance relative to your ancestors.

We then walked up the east side of the river to Wat Bo. Another interesting site. They were feeding the monks at a large hall (all a part of the holiday celebration). Back by Viroth's Restaurant to the hotel.

We went to the pool and went swimming - it felt wonderful. Had rum drinks - then got dressed and went to the cafe for a "proper lunch" - Tim had a deluxe club sandwich made with lobster and I had pasta. My strawberry daiquiri was definitely weird!

We then took a short nap and relaxed by the pool. Back to the room so Tim could pack - he is taking my duffel suitcase back with him and some of my really dirty clothes so I can use his big red bag on wheels with a handle - that will be a bit easier for me. We got dressed and headed to the lobby to get a tuk-tuk for a ride out to Angkor Wat for one last visit - and to get pictures in the afternoon sun since we had been there in early morning. LOTS of people - especially Japanese. They can be so inconsiderate too!

The tuk-tuk ride was fun ($5 each way is the going rate). Our driver took us there and waited for us while we visited and then drove us back. Tim showered when we got back to get ready for his trip back to the US. Hey - someone has to work!

We got our same tuk-tuk driver and went into the downtown Siem Reap area (The Alley). We walked around a bit and ended up at "The Linga Bar" (appropriate don't you think?). We had 2 cosmopolitans each and they were discounted as it was happy hour so our total bill was $13.50 for 4 drinks - what a deal. We should have been doing this every night! We walked around a bit and went back to "Cambodian BBQ" restaurant that had been recommended in our small guide book. It was an experience. We had fried chicken spring rolls - they were just okay. But the main course was spectacular. They brought a heated contraption with an aluminum "cooker" on top with holes. They spread fat back on top to grease the cooking surface, and then we placed chicken, shrimp, and then beef on top to cook. Around the edge was a broth that they kept putting boiling water in. We put vegetables in this to cook - carrots, lettuce, cabbage, etc. That was good too. A new experience and good. Hopefully, the stomach will think so too.

We walked to the end of the alley and got a tuk-tuk back to the hotel ($2). Tim changed and packed up and we took him down to meet his driver to the airport for his 11:30 flight from Siem Reap to Seoul. He'll arrive there tomorrow and after a several hour layover, he will leave for Atlanta - then on to Ft Lauderdale, where he'll arrive back mid afternoon about 3.

I was full and zonked after the drinks and big dinner - so I watched CNN for a while, updated my blog and then went to sleep. I have a tour to the large lake - Tonle Sap. This is about a 20 minute tuk-tuk ride from the hotel and then a 2 hour tour on the lake where there are "boat villages". Should be interesting. But for now, I'm beat and off to sleep.

I was reflecting on this trip over dinner. Tim's favorite parts were Halong Bay in Vietnam and Ta Prohm (where all of the trees were overtaking the temples). My favorite was the thrill of visiting Vietnam and Cambodia where the US used to be an enemy and now they welcome us with open arms. The people are so friendly and it is always amazing what a smile accomplishes. Especially the small children - they want to wave to you and have you wave back. So we did that a lot.

This has been a physically hard trip - and my knees are telling me to lighten up. I didn't realize it would be so physically demanding but I'm proud that I did it all and experienced the things that I did. Wonderful. This is living.

Friday September 18, 2009 Siem Reap, Cambodia

Day 21 of 36

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Today started at 4:30 am with our wake up call. We had to shower and get dressed and meet T and our driver at 5 am. We headed off to Angkor Wat for sunrise. There were a lot of people there and it was very dark. We entered from the west and headed up the long walk over the moat to the wat. The sky was still dark and we could only see 1 star in the sky - let's see - is that Venus of Mars?

We stopped just inside the first gate and waited for the sky to lighten. As it did the outline of the temple came into view. There were pink and blue stripes in the sky over Angkor Wat - it was beautiful. We walked closer to the wat and went to the south where we could see the reflection of the sky and the temple in the water. It was beautiful.

We then went on our tour of Angkor Wat. Unbelieveable bas reliefs showing battles, the milking of the seas, and other historical recollections. There are several places, including the entire main tower, that are under renovation. We spent almost 3 hours at the temple and then left and T dropped us back at the hotel for our breakfast (and a short nap).

T and the driver met us at 10 am and we headed into Siem Reap to Artisans d'Angkor - a facility where they train handicaped people to do crafts - wood carving, weaving, metal working, etc. In one room, we were told the young people were deaf and dumb, but I found it interesting that a couple of them were listening to their ipods. They had some beautiful things but we don't need "things" and the prices were high. I saw a Japanese woman outside of the training facility who reached into a flower bed and pulled up 3-4 flowers and put them in her pocket - we were shocked. Then other Japanese tourists were taking pictures in the gift shop with pictures prominently posted - No Pictures. So much for the MANY Japanese tourists we have seen here.

We then headed north to Banteay Srey, a smaller temple from the 9th century (built 965 I think). It was so hot. We had driven about an hour out into the countryside and we saw how many people live - in small one-room houses up on stilts. Children without clothes in the yards in some places, pumping well water, no toilet facilities in the houses, etc. Lots of rice fields. They only get 1 crop per year here in Cambodia and the saying during the rainy season is "No rain, no rice!". So they like the rain.

After touring Banteay Srey, I negotiated with T and the driver to take us to "The River of 1000 Lingas". Lingas are penises and they are stone carvings put in Yunis (the female sex organ). Educational, isn't this?

So I found out we were only about 13-15 km from the river. Instead of doing another entire tour tomorrow and coming all of the way back out here, it was best to go there today. So T and the driver decided that for an additional $20 they would take us there if we didn't tell the hotel or the tour company. Fine with us. So off we headed to Phnom Kulen. We parked the car and began a 15,000 meter walk up a hill through the jungle. It was really tough on my knees. Very steep at places, rocky, and we had to navigate over large roots that looked like big snakes in the jungle. At least most places were shaded. It took us about 45 minutes to get to the top and there were carvings in the river beds of yunis and lingas. Thousands of them. It was fascinating that they chose this place for this. There was a water fall and many young people were swimming. The women come here to become fertile if they want to have children - or that is the belief. I waded in the water and it was very cool.

We then started back down only to hear thunder in the distance and hear it raining on the leaves of the trees. But we didn't get wet due to the heavy tree cover. This area had a lot of land mines planted by the Khmer Rouge but these have now been removed. Whew!

I was exhausted - no, WE were exhausted when we got down. T needed lunch so while he and the driver had rice with some dish, Tim drank a fresh coconut that the woman cut open, Larry had 2 beers and we shared some french fries. This was probably the safest thing we could order that would be cooked at a small shed like this.

We then headed back to Siem Reap but there were 2 other temples on our itinerary. We decided to go to only one of them - Pre Rup. Tim and I walked to the top - more steep, narrow stone steps - but we made it up and down. Beautiful view from the top.

Back to the hotel - we bid our guides goodbye and we headed upstairs to our room to let our feet and legs recouperate. Ouch, they hurt. But it was worth it. After updating email, and my blog we headed to the hotel bar for a cocktail (our usuals but doubles!). Then we decided to walk - can you believe it? - to the Night Market in Siem Reap. T had told us it was very close.

Well, we headed out with instructions to go to the first stop light and turn left. Well, there was no stop light - it was broken - so we walked way too far. We were approached by a boy wanting to know if we needed help and we told him where we wanted to go. He told us he would take us there - and we declined - and then he told us he would tell us how to get there for $1. Everything has a price. I declined and he told us anyway to be friendly.

We walked to the broken stop light but saw no night market - it is much further than either of us wanted to walk - so we got a tuk-tuk for $2 to take us to the Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC) for dinner. We shared pork dumplings and then had a Khmer Sampler Platter for 2. It was good but a lot of food. Larry had to have his ice cream for dessert as he was so hot and sweaty yet again. We were sitting outside for dinner on the balcony and the night is still.

The restaurant had a promotion for the Pchum Benh Day holiday - after your dinner you roll the dice and you get a discount - 1 = 10%, 2 = 20%, etc. Tim rolled the dice and got a red one - so we got a 10% discount on our entire check including wine. Total after discount was $64. Tim is convinced the dice is weighted and we were gipped! Oh well, it was funny.

We left the FCC and walked along the river back to the hotel. We are both pooped since we got us at 4:30. So Larry updated his blog and Tim went to sleep.

Tim leaves Cambodia tomorrow night to return to the U.S. His 2 weeks of vacation is drawing to a close. We think that tomorrow we may wander through Siem Reap and then return to Angkor Wat for one last visit - this time by tuk-tuk.

Another great, great day.

Thursday September 17, 2009 Siem Reap, Cambodia

Day 20 of 36

Siem Reap, Cambodia

We woke up early at 6 with a wake up call since we have to meet our tour guide at 7:30 to begin exploring the Angkor temple ruins. We showered, dressed, and went to the breakfast buffet at the hotel that is included with our room. The La Residence d'Angkor is fabulous - a 5 star hotel - beautiful and there aren't many people here so we feel that we have the place to ourselves.

After breakfast we met our guide "T" in the lobby and headed off with he and the driver in our air conditioned van. It was only a short ways to the ruins area. We stopped to buy tickets and got 3 day passes for $40 each. We'll be with the guide for 2 days and then on our own on Saturday. First stop was Sras Srang, a large man-made lake with the ruins of a temple on the side. The lake was used for ritual cleansing services to purify the body. There used to be a tower in the middle of the lake but it has fallen. They can see the remains of this when the water is low in the lake when it isn't rainy season. We were approached by children at every stop trying to sell us post cards, fans, you-name-it. But they didn't touch - just talked. Seems like everything was $1. At one temple, Larry bought 10 postcards from a small girl (who was very dirty) for $1. What a deal.

We got back in the van and drove a short distance to Ta Prohm - this is where the Angelina Jolie's movie, Lara Croft - Tomb Raider was made. Here huge ficus trees (and others) have overtaken the structures and caused many of them to fall apart. We had our picture taken at the famous ficus tree covering the structure - shown above. T explained the purposes of the various buildings and rooms. There were yuni (female sex organ) about but not many linga (male sex organ). They built these to run water through thinking that this would help humans with fertility. Women would touch or drink the water and become pregnant. This was dedicated to the king's mother.

We then went to a remote temple, Ta Nei. We parked the car and walked for about 20 minutes. We were the only tourists there. Some Japanese were cleaning the grounds as volunteers and other yardworkers who were hired by the government to do this. We climbed through the structures, some of them precariously positioned above. The stone roofs had collapsed on some and were ready to fall on others.

We walked back out the muddy, puddled dirt road and stopped at Ta Keo - a very tall structure that was well preserved. Tim and I climbed the very, very steep steps up 3 levels to the top. Great view of the grounds. Hard climbing at times since it was so steep. We were sweaty when we got back down. This would have been one of the finest structures in its time and was built entirely with sandstone and dedicated to Shiva. It was never completed and they think the sandstone was too hard to carve.

Then off to our last stop for the morning, Banteay Kdei, a beautiful large structure with many rooms in the middle. Lots of ingraving on the walls. This is a massive Buddhist monastery built in the 12th century. The inside of the central tower was never finished. Fascinating.

T talked to us about death in Cambodia, how funerals work, and cremation or burial. He talked about courtship and marriage. And he freely talked about the dark period in Cambodian history with the Khmer Rouge - 1975 to 1979. His father was killed when he was 10 and he was raised by his mother on a farm. He was the youngest and the only child to get to go to secondary school. He is in University now taking English history. He has a small daugher - 7 months old - and his wife teaches Japanese. His wife was an orphan. Gee - we learned a lot from his this morning.

He dropped us back at the hotel at noon and we had lunch outside at the hotel - Tim had fish brochette and Larry had teriyaki beef. The french baguettes were excellent and the vanilla ice cream taste for dessert was yummy.

T picked us up at 2:30 for the afternoon visit to Angkor Thom - this was the city where the people lived in the 12th century or before. In 1181 the Cambodians threw out the Cham invaders and this civilization blossomed. They abandoned the area in the 14-15th area when the Thai were constantly invading. So the emperor moved everyone south where they could be closed to the Mekong River so trading was easier. Can you imagine just walking away from these palaces and temples and moving everyone - and I mean everyone?


This was a large fortified city 6 sq miles total built in the 12th century. At its height it most likely supported 1 million people. The outside wall is 24 ft high. We entered through the south gate where the giant statues of 54 gods to the left and 54 demons to the right stood on a causeway that was originally built over he moat.

Inside the south gate was Bayon that had 54 towers decorated with large smiling faces of Buddha, that looked strikingly like the face of the king who built it! There were 54 since there were 54 provinces in the kingdom. There were bas reliefs - some deeply carved in the stone. Very extensive - estimated to be about 1 mile with 11,000 figures. Every day life, battles, etc.

We then walked to Baphuon more commonly referred to as the worlds largest jigsaw puzzle. The French were restoring it but when the Khmer Rouge started work stopped for over 20 years. The Khmer Rouge destroyed the plans so there are over 300,000 pieces that they are trying to figure out how to put back together. They had the pieces all laid out in rows and rows and rows. What a formidable job. On the western side there is a reclining Buddha laying on its right side - it is unfinished and somewhat difficult to make out but it is massive.

We walked through the gates to hte Royal Palace and went to Phimeanakas, a temple near where the king lived. He used to meditate with the gods on top of this temple. The stairs were very steep and narrow - a bit disconcerting.

We then walked past Sras Srei where they used to bathe. There were young boys skinny-dipping in the pool (which was a bit dirty looking!). On to Preah Palilay, another temple with a Buddha and then to Tep Pranam where the Buddhist monks were calling people to prayer with drums. It was here that we walked past a Buddhist temple and the monk was doing a water blessing on a family - unlike our sprinking he was dousing this family - over and over again - with buckets of water. They sat there and took it in. Supposedly this washes away your bad luck and purifies you. I suggested that Tim needed to do that, but he declined.

Thenn on to the Terrace of the Leper King. The guide book says one of the kings was a leper but T, our guide, says no. Who knows? There was a huge parade ground here where the shoulders paraded for the king.

We then went to Phnom Bakheng for sunset, the ruins of a temple on top of a high hill. This overlooked the area and we got to see Angkor Wat in the distance. A large fresh water man-made lake was in the west. We watched the sun setting but there were so many people we decided to beat the crowds descending and we left before the crowds.

T took us back to the hotel and we showered and changed clothes - we were so sweaty again and that felt really good. Off to the lounge for martinis and scotch! Our dinner tonight is at the hotel (included with our hotel is one free 3 course dinner!) and tonight they have a "show" of some sort. Tim is so excited about this. The server didn't seem to know about the free dinner so we ordered and then were informed that most of the menu wasn't available. We were shocked. But the short show of the "Apsara dancers" was entertaining. There were 9 young women and 4 young boys and they had colorful costumes, the dancing was good, and the Cambodian music was interesting (yet a bit monotone with no harmony).

A full day of walking, climbing, seeing new things and learning about things we had never dreamed of. Bring on tomorrow!

Wednesday September 16, 2009 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to Siem Reap, Cambodia

Day 19 of 36

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to Siem Reap, Cambodia
Flight 10 of 18
263 miles of 22,121 total miles to travel

We awoke at 7 am and had our usual morning ritual ending with a large breakfast in the Executive Lounge. I updated my blog and email and then we took a walk out in HCMC. We went into the Park Hyatt Hotel - beautiful but we like our hotel better.

We walked to a large park with a concrete structure over a pond. The tower looked like a lotus flower with small fountains and walkways out over the pond. We rested there - it was hot - and then headed back to the hotel. We stopped in a modern shopping centre - we could have been at the Galleria. But it was cool inside. They had a huge Korean Ginseng display - this stuff is expensive. Tim got a cold diet coke and then we headed back to the hotel to finish packing and check email, etc one last time.


We went to the Executive Lounge and had a cold drink and looked at the city sights one last time. Tim checked us out with the concierge, we retrieved our bags and went to the lobby to get our hotel car (a Mercedes of course) to go to the airport. Traffic wasn't that bad and we made it there in about 20 minutes. Amazing considering the minibikes zipping around.

The chauffeur dropped us off and we checked in with Vietnam Airlines. Then to immigration, security and customs. An easy process. They didn't even find the bottle of water that was in my backpack!


We checked out the duty free shops - they were expensive - looked for wine (too expensive and not much choice) and then went upstairs and had a small sandwich and diet coke since we hadn't had lunch. We then headed to our gate but Tim was nervous "Why isn't our flight posted?", "This isn't the right gate!", "This isn't right", etc, etc, etc. I asked the attendant and she told me this was where we should be but he still didn't believe it. It was right. The flight was late coming in so they were late loading, but we got on the bus and went out to the plane. We left right on time with cloudy, hazy skies over HCMC. Goodbye, Vietnam.

The flight was bumpy - they gave us a snack (small ham sandwich and a small container of water) and lots of papers to fill out for our arrival in Cambodia. We had gotten eVisas so this was going to expedite the process for us. We hoped to see some of the ruins from the air but no such luck.

We landed at the new Siem Reap airport. And because we had our eVisas we were the first through the immigration counters. But the agents took forever. Especially with Tim. Lots of stamping, looking at us, checking the computer, etc. While he was finishing, I retrieved our bags since they were among the first ones out and waited for him. Tim exchanged some USD into Cambodia real.

Our driver from the hotel was waiting right at the exit for us. Nice guy and friendly. While he loaded up our luggage, I went to an ATM at the front of the hotel. I was so surprised when I got USD out instead of CVR! I had to laugh - come halfway around the world and the ATM is giving me US currency!!! Amazing. We wondered how much of the US currency is outside of the US?

Short drive to La Residence d'Angkor. LOTS of new hotels being built on the way from the airport to the city. We love the location of where we are - right on the river with a lanai overlooking the river - beautiful grounds - just lovely. We checked in and made some dinner reservations for tonight and tomorrow night (show dinner at the hotel). We were led to our room which is lovely - large room with separate tub/shower, and the lanai over looking the river. Tim was excited and loves it.

We went to the lobby bar for drinks - it is happy hour. We learned from our experience in Hanoi and asked what "happy hour" meant. Buy 2 drinks and get 1 free (for each person). OK - so that's what we did. It was attitude adjustment hour. The concierge made a reservation for us at a restaurant right around the corner - Viroth's. It had started raining - hard at times - but the hotel had lots of umbrellas that we could use. It was a short walk around the corner. And Viroth's exceeded our expectations for our first meal in Cambodia. We had a bottle of South African Chenin Blanc. Tim had Khmer fish sour soup and Larry had pumpkin soup with sesame seeds. Delicious. For main course, Tim had akoc fish and Larry had Khmer chicken with morning-glory wine steamed. We both had steamed rice. It was delicious. For dessert we shared bananas flambed in rum. We are stuffed and very satisfied with the Cambodia food after one meal. We look forward with anticipation to trying more things.

We made the short walk back to the hotel, updated our blog and emails, and headed off to bed. We have to get up early to meet our tour guide to begin exploring one of the greatest ruins on earth - Angkor Wat.

There is a mosquito net over our bed and we are tempted to use it but the concierge told me that this is for "atmosphere" only. We wonder. Tim swears that there is a big mosquito in our room!!! (:-)

Off to bed - we are excited to be in Cambodia for the final leg of our adventure in Southeast Asia.