Sunday, May 8, 2016

8 million people on motorbikes

Last country, last city, last Asian experiences, last days. Our trip was coming to an end and we had only a couple of days to enjoy Vietnam. Definitely, not enough!

Our trip, as for the rest of the days, was done by bus. 6 to 7 hours on a bus got us to the centre of Saigon (how people still refer to Ho Chi Minh around here). On our first minutes on the city, with our backpacks back on our backs, we got a first glimpse of how busy this city is! We had experience the crowds in Bangkok and the disregard for the rules in Phnom Penh (in all of Cambodia, really), but here... here we saw both at the same time! 8 Million people on the streets, all with scooters or motorbikes! This made crossing the streets a true adventure! Every time!

But Saigon is an amazing city (our favourite out of the 3 capitals we went to). It blends a traditional side (with its markets and lively parks) with the a most modern and high-end one (with fancy restaurants and it's multicoloured lighted roller skates and self-balancing two-wheeled board). Yes, it is a bit touristic and we did stay quite close to the backpackers area, but it was the life of the city that captivated us! Another interesting part of it, is also how different it is from its neighboring countries, especially in regards to Religion. Whereas in Thailand and Cambodia almost all houses have a little temple at the entrance (that is supposed to provide protection), here what you could see in every street were the Vietnam and communist flags. They were everywhere! This nationalist side of Saigon could also be seen in the War Remnants Museum. Here, they present their side of the story (and is always interesting to see the other side of the story), but they don't even try to hide the propaganda behind it (e.g. on the section where they mentioned the reporters that had died whilst covering the War, the Vietnamese ones were called "patriotic and martyrs", the American, French and all other reporters, were mere reporters, nothing else).

In the 2.5 days we spent in this country, we were also able to squeeze in a trip to nearest branches of the Mekong River for a day tour which, despite being overly touristic ("Now you go here! Now you try the tea! Now you look at the bees! Now you listen to the traditional music and eat the fruit! Now you buy caramels! Now you go to the boats! Now you... " - I think you can get the idea!) was good for the setting itself. It would have been quite difficult to do such a thing on our own and, honestly, at this point we were a bit too tired to think of the logistics of such a thing! Talking with other travelers in the same day-trip that had spent a few weeks in Vietnam, our will to come back and continue to explore this side of the World (and Vietnam in particular) went up exponentially!

So as the last day came, we had this feeling that we usually have. This feeling of unsatisfaction, of a job half-done, of an opportunity that was there but that could not be taken. From our days on the Koh Kood island, to the streets of Battambang (that we just quickly skimmed through), to the most rural side of Thailand and Cambodia, to the whole rest of Vietnam, we wanted to see more. But time is finite, and so were our holidays. The World is too big for 2-weeks holidays! This is the feeling of the ones that want to see more and want to experience more! Considering that, I am actually happy we feel this way! Because it is this feeling that will keep us searching for more, even if our next search is done somewhere else in the vast, amazing, sometimes incredibly cruel, sometimes incredibly kind, World of ours!

Here are some photos of these 2.5 days (as I am at home already, I uploaded a bunch! :)).

Our last long bus trip from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh (Saigon)
I was so happy when I showed him this photo afterwards!
The modern side of Saigon
ALF @ Saigon by night
This was a Japanese restaurant (there were so many types of restaurants around!)
@ The World Remnants Museum
Imagine crossing this street!
Like this one is! (she survived!)
Street Vendors
And some (a lot!) just decided to sleep on their bikes!
Arriving at the Mekong
On the boat!
"A volunteer to touch the bees?" Guess who that was!
On the canals of Turtle Island
Us! ALF was able to close his eyes even more than usual! :P
Our rider
She pointed us her house (this one). She looked so happy/proud of it!
Making the coconut candies
At a first glance they looked like rocks! They weren't!
This is your expression when you're photographing a very big, maybe lethal, snake!


Friday, May 6, 2016

The time we met Lucky and Chhouk

When we were planning our trip back in London, we planned things so that we had an extra day for unexpected events or if we wanted to fit in something else that we'd heard about during our first days. In Battambang we knew, after saving one day in the border between Thailand and Cambodia (see "What now?" post), that we would have a day to spare so we discussed how we could use it. A few ideas came up, but the one that stuck was about the possibility of visiting an elephant centre. Searching on the guide and online we both read about a rescue and shelter centre near Phnom Penh ran by Wildlife Alliance - Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center. They had a tour where we would be able to actually feed and meet different animals, including some baby animals that had been rescued. It was a bit expensive, but this became the perfect gift for ALF's 30th birthday that would happen in a few days.

Arriving at Phnom Penh I confess that my mind was mostly set on that experience. I was trying not to create very high expectations (always the first step to delusions) and finally, one morning, we wake up bright and early before 7am to meet our ride in the rendezvous point.

The staff, an Australian and two Cambodians were very nice and it was great talking to them the whole day, not only about the centre and the animals, but also about Cambodia in general.

And then we arrived to the centre and the first stop was for us to meet Lucky, a 17-years old female elephant that was rescued when she was still a baby. She was found wandering alone (probably forcibly separated from her mum and the rest of the herd) and brought back to the centre where she found a new mum. She was adopted (or maybe it was the other way around) by the first keeper that fed her and that stayed with her 24/7 (including sleep) for 2 years! Lucky went through a lot since, as she got sick a few years ago and is only now recovering from it. We met her as she was around in her morning wandering around. I fell in love immediately! I don't know if it was because she was the first one we met, or because I felt a special connection with her, but meeting her, feeding her and saying hello, was my favourite moment of the day. And the day was full of great moments, from more elephants to lazy tigers and leopards, to crazy otters, to tiny bears, to strange birds and big and baby gibbons! Another great moment was when we met another elephant, Chhouk, who lost his foot in an animal trap when he was very little and now uses a prosthetic one! An amazing story of survival!

This was a great day and we both agree that it was the best experience of the whole trip. And because of that, I am going to break my own rule and upload more than one photo, because the animals and the great work being done at this centre are worth it.
ALF and Lucky (you can see here the damage on her ears that she suffered after being sick)
Feeding Lucky :)
Because she can't cool herself (due to the damage on her ears) she needs these baths when it is really hot
This is the best photo of Chhouk's prosthetic leg
This was another female elephant that we were able to feed! She was really sweet as well
They are such beautiful and intelligent animals!
The centre also has some old tigers. It was so hot all they could do as lay down (just like cats)
The bears :)
The otter after he catch his fish
Don't try this as home!
This female gibbon was raised by humans so she doesn't even recognise other gibbons as her own; she is more comfortable with humans!
And she loves to be petted
She kept asking for more
This is a baby bird, a huge and strange baby bird
He was sleeping while standing. So cute!
ALF surrounded my baby gibbons that we fed 
Baby gibbons - part 2
Eating the greens!
They are actually really picky, they were putting aside most of the leafs

Thursday, May 5, 2016

The city where there are no street lights

Cambodia is a country with a recent troubled past, I would say, even more than its neighbour countries. It was less than 40 year ago that the Khmer rouge ruled for more than 3 years leaving behind a trail of physical and psychological trauma along with 2 to 3 million dead people (from exhaustion, hunger or political persecution). It is strange to think that this really kind and peaceful people endured all that, specially when you look at the faces of older people and you are sure that they have been through some really rough years.

Phnom Penh itself, the capital, shows that the country is poorer than Thailand and Vietnam, but also that it is changing very quickly with a lot of construction work all around (which includes all the ruble and noise that come with it). And in all this change it still makes an effort to preserve its temples and to pay homage to some of the victims with Museums dedicated to what happened under the Khmer Rouge ruling. One of them is S-21, a former primary school turned to prison/interrogation facilities that is now a museum. It is painfully real and the photos of prisoners, taken by guards, look like ghosts of people that came back to tell their story.

And then we have the traffic. Most interactions don't have street lights, and the street lights that exist are not respected (apparently, there is only one where drivers and pedestrians actually respect street lights). On the small streets where the traffic is low, this is not so bad, but in larger intersections, this means that crossing the street is always an adventure.

Looking back at this post, it seems that I haven't enjoyed the city that much, but that is not true. It is not an easy city, no, but you can see that it has soul and that it is open to people from everywhere - there is a large community of ex pats which brought along a lot of restaurants. I am quite curious to see what becomes of Phnom Penh in a few years and I would gladly come back to stay for a bit more time.

Tuk-tuks, motos and these kind of bicycles are the best way to move around

The kids were some of my favorite part of the city. Some were quite shy so I didn't take a photo, but these liked when I pointed my camera to them! :)

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

The World wonder that did not make the 7

I know the 7 World wonders were chosen by a world-wide popularity context where everyone could vote. This system has large advantages but some disadvantages as well. And for me, it is highly unfair that Angkor Wat did not make the top 7! Beyond the fact that it is the largest religious complex of the world, it is also an awestrucking monument.

Angkor Wat at sunrise. It was worth it getting up at 4h30am
But the historical site near Siem Reap is way more than Angkor Wat, it is like the Himalayas where Angkor Wat is the Mount Everest. Most advice that we got told us that 3 days were the best amount of time to spend in here. However, we could not afford more than 2 nights in the area if we wanted to do everything else. So after a quick first look at Angkor Wat at sunset when it was just closing down, we asked the tuk-tuk driver to pick us up at 5am so we could catch the sunrise and make use of the first hours in the morning before the temperatures rise.

Witnessing the sunrise at Angkor Wat is not a lonely experience as there is a huge crowd sitting around with all cameras pointed to the same place. But is an amazing experience to have. Afterwards, walking around the centuries old corridors and looking at the images sculpted on the walls, is inspiring and peaceful at the same time.

Some monks still live in the area
Me and Bayon
Moving forward, to the old city of Angkor Thom, Bayon was the site that impressed us the most. The mystical - all similar, all different - faces that watch over the forest around, that watch over you, that seem to watch over all the ghosts in past, are something difficult to leave someone indifferent. The pagodas with burning incense sticks are still used by locals and monks. And Angkor Thom has an eerie feeling to it (specially as it was raining slightly when we walked around it) with the building still having an impact even if nature has been slowly conquering this place back, inch by inch, tree by tree.

To top all this, our tuk-tuk driver (the one that picked us up at 5am) was the best driver ever. With all communication being done by gestures and by words completely lost in translation, we did not get any kind of guided tour, but we got his kindess, two fresh bottles of water just when we needed them, fresh towels and even our phone music blasting from the tuk-tuk (he actually asked us to put our music and increase the volume, and it wasn't enough, he amplified the sound in the sound system itself to a disco-level!). He made this experience just a little more special! :)