Quick travel: update: After almost 2 months in Vietnam, I am leaving tomorrow morning to spend about 20+ days in Myanmar (Burma). From Myanmar, I will make my way back to Thailand to catch my flight back to Budapest on March 28th. I know the next month will fly by and I'll keep updating the blog as often as I have internet. If you have any suggestions or tips for Myanmar, pass them on. I have a rough itinerary, but I am still open to suggestions! Back to the blog... If you've met me, you know that I love good food, I love exploring a city/state/country's food culture, and I love passing on my knowledge to others. Vietnam has been an amazing culinary journey and I have had dishes that are sold across the country and dishes that are specific to a certain region or city. One of the challenging (and most rewarding things for me) things while travelling internationally is being able to order food from a local restaurant when there are no menus in English. Below I have highlighted some of my favorite dishes along with the city in which I ate them. If you are travelling to Vietnam soon, take a look (or even try finding these dishes at your local Vietnamese restaurant)! You can always write down the name and ask your hotel/hostel/host the best place to find that dish. They will be impressed that you know about something other than pho or fried rice. BBQ It UpThis is at a sit down restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), but you can find BBQ skewers EVERYWHERE. Growing up in the Southwest, we grilled all the time because the weather is rarely cool. Grilling involves two of my favorite things - fire and food. I've eaten so many BBQ skewers in Vietnam it's a little ridiculous. You can eat them on the street (make sure they grill it in front of you) or you can find restaurants where you can order platters of meats or veggies to grill yourself. Also, SO CHEAP. I saw skewers for as cheap as 5,000 Dong (that's less than 25 cents), but expect to pay more at a restaurant. Noodle Soup It UpNoodle soups are in endless supply in Southeast Asia in general, but I'm a HUGE fan of Vietnamese noodle soups. If you see the words: pho, hu tieu, or bun on a sign, there's a good chance you can order noodle soup from that place. Here are some of my favorites: Wrap It UpMost of my favorite meals have involved meat/seafood/poultry, vegetables, and condiments. Then you put all those things in a rice wrapper, roll it up, and eat it. You just keep rolling and eating and rolling and eating and rolling and eating...until you're rolling on the ground stuffed with goodness. Condiment It UpI learned really quickly that condiments are just as important as the meal itself in Vietnam, and many parts of Southeast Asia. While in the States (and maybe other Western countries) it can be seen as an insult to the chef if you douse their hard work with sauce and seasonings, it's not here! Add on as much as you want. Make it as spicy as you want. Have it your way. Brave It UpIf you're feeling brave and wanting to try something really out of your comfort zone, look for "hot vit lan" or baby duck egg. In other parts of Southeast Asia you'll hear them referred to as "balut". Basically if you're lucky yours may have a beak or some feet in the egg. If you're unlucky, it'll just taste like a regular hard boiled egg. Get your condiments ready for this one, folks!
Leave it to me, the hopeless romantic, to unknowingly pick the quaint and charming town of Hoi An to spend Valentine's Day weekend...by myself. Lucky me! Honestly though, I loved it. At home and in my travels there are certain places that give you romantic feelings (even without a romantic partner). In Seattle, it's strolling the Ballard Locks with a hot beverage. In California, it's the Ramos House Cafe in San Juan Capistrano for brunch. In Nashville, it's sipping wine at Arrington Vineyards. In Athens, it's any cafe with a view of the Acropolis. In Cambodia, it was bicycling through Angkor Wat. This weekend it's Hoi An, Vietnam, all of it. I can't quite put my finger on what makes Hoi An special to me. It's fairly touristy, which I usually hate, but it keeps it's own spunk and charm with artsy shops and magical river walks by lantern light. There's no more cliche way to show your love than through poetry, so this week's blog features haikus on my favorite aspects of Hoi An (with pictures of course). Enjoy! At night, visit the River to float along with Small paper lanterns. Enjoy regional Specialties in Hoi An like Com ga and com lau. Tailor made dresses And suits for gentlemen Ready in one day. Reaching Out Teahouse Where they serve high quali-TEA While serving social good. Bicycle along Rice paddies and farmland to Relax at the beach. Have you ever played the trust fall game? It's the "game" where someone stands behind you and you fall backwards trusting that the person behind you will catch you. I guess it's supposed to demonstrate how much trust you have in the person behind you and whether they will catch you or not. I've never been dropped (although I know some people who have). Usually people do catch the falling victim even when you least expect it. Traveling in Vietnam is a lot like playing the trust fall game. As you are "falling", or traveling in this case, you just have to trust that they will "catch" you and that things will turn out alright. Sometimes this turns out horribly and other times you have a fantastic adventure with wonderful humans because you trusted the locals when they told you, "Don't worry!" or "No problems!". This past weekend is an example of the trust fall game in Vietnam going dreadfully wrong. Although I didn't actually fall down, the weekend left me laying flat on my back from pain and exhaustion. It all started when my Couchsurfing host in Hanoi invited me to go on a weekend motorbiking trip to see flower blossoms in Moc Chau. Let me describe my host briefly. Basically my Couchsurfing host was like The Godfather of the Couchsurfing Hanoi Mafia. Not only was he the leader of the local chapter, he also was constantly shrouded in mystery, had minions (technically staff), and always told me "don't worry about it", which made me want to just say "forgetta 'bout it" in my most Italian mafia accent (I have the worst Italian accent). When The Godfather invited me on the trip, my curiosity got the best of me and I had to see what this was all about. Begin the trust fall game with The Godfather. Here's what I knew about the weekend: - We were going to a place called Moc Chau to see flower blossoms. - About 50 people were going. - It would be cold. - It would take about six hours to get there on motorbike. - We would stay in a minority ethnic village. Here's what actually happened: - We went to a place called Moc Chau. Our first stop was to a field of what we would consider weeds in America (see picture). - Probably more than 50 people attended. All Vietnamese except for one French man, a guy from Belgium (who felt it necessary to tell everyone how fat and stupid Americans are whenever I was within hearing range. He's an expert on America because he's been to NYC and DC for a few days each), and me. - It was not cold, it was freezing. There was also no heating any where. Not in the restaurants, our traditional house (expected), or anywhere else. - It took closer to eight hours to get there on the motorbike plus 2-3 hours of riding to the different sights. I spent close to 20 hours on a motorbike between Saturday and Sunday. Although I wasn't driving, my back and butt were stiff (we rarely stopped), my nerves were a wreck from weaving in and out of trucks and buses, and I'm still trying to regain circulation in my fingertips from the cold. - The ethnic minority village was more like a small town and we stayed in a modified version of what they used to live in originally. I would tell you more about the minority tribe but when I asked The Godfather he replied shortly, "I don't care about this." [insert Klarrisa's blood boiling.] While reading this, you might think that I had quite the adventure. I did and I was miserable. I spent most of the weekend sore, starving or dehydrated, freezing cold, and, at the end, angry at the disrespectful nature of The Godfather. You can only take so much ambiguity from your host! On top of that, he continually thought it necessary to teach his staff "lessons". One lesson included me and my driver having to drive up a dangerous hill. When I refused and said I would rather walk with my driver to enjoy the scenery, I was met with a laugh and told I could walk but that my driver (his staff) needed to learn a lesson. When my driver barely made it up the hill (I stubbornly walked and cursed the situation), The Godfather laughed at me and said, "See! This is how I teach my staff." When people are mean or rude to me or especially others I am loyal to, it kills me. I felt very loyal to my 18-year-old driver who endured my company on the back of his motorbike for 20+ hours. He was one of the saving graces of the trip. To see him disrespected and to be laughed at myself was unacceptable and maddening. I felt like I had no voice either because The Godfather was my host. I spent the last part of the trip fuming. The Godfather and I both failed at the trust fall game. Then Vietnam redeemed itself the past few days with my trip to Halong Bay. A typical tour in the US or maybe with an organized tour group involves several things like a schedule of events, reliable transportation, and a tour guide. My trip to Halong Bay had all these things ... just slightly modified in their own Vietnamese way. Begin the trust fall game with Halong Bay. Here's what I knew about the tour: - I would be picked up at 7:30AM from my house. - A bus would take us to Halong Bay where I would board a boat. - I would visit a cave and go kayaking. - I would spend one night on the boat and one night on an island. - I would return on a boat and then a bus to Hanoi. Here's what actually happened: - After waiting for an hour, I was finally told to call a taxi and my travel agent told him over the phone where to take me. - I arrived at a travel agency that was different than the one I booked my tour and was put on a bus with a bunch of other foreigners. - The first day was beautiful. We followed our tour guide to Halong Bay's biggest cave and then went kayaking between the islands. - The first night was spent on the boat in actually very clean and comfortable quarters. The evening ended with a party on the rooftop of our boat. - Everyone on my boat was only staying one night except for me and my roommate. Here's where it gets weird. Although my roommate and I were going to end up spending our second night at the same island, we took completely different routes to get there. I left our boat at 7:30 AM, took a small boat to a different cruise boat, then took that to Cat Ba Island, took a bus across the island, and then took a small boat to my final destination of Monkey Island arriving at 11:00 AM. My roommate spent the morning with our tour group and didn't arrive on Monkey Island until 2:00 PM. - Basically things continued like this for the rest of the trip. A bunch of Vietnamese tour staff from different companies knew my schedule and where I was supposed to go better than I did. I made it everywhere that (I think) I was supposed to go! The way The Godfather played the Vietnamese trust fall game was letting me fall back a few times a short distance and catching me every time. Then the final time I "fell" back, he dropped me in his desire for me to experience "the REAL Vietnam". By his definition though, it would be like if someone came to Seattle and I took them hiking in the freezing mountains for a few days with no supplies, just expecting them to know what they needed so they could experience "the REAL America." However, I could also give them a completely different experience that would be totally "American" and require far less pain or tests in endurance. While Halong Bay was definitely a touristic experience and so they are used to accommodating foreigners, I have had other Vietnamese trust fall games that also ended well. Like the time my bag was returned from Cambodia. Or like when my hosts in Saigon took me on a short motorbike trip to see a waterfall. Or like when my Vietnamese friend took me under her wing for the entire month I lived in Saigon. Traveling is one huge trust fall game. Other countries I've visited and the ones in my future will all have their own versions I'm sure of it. Vietnam has it's own version with a unique way of structuring and communicating to others. In the end, it involves trusting in the kindness of total strangers to catch you and letting go of the ones who drop you. I've been pretty vulnerable here the last couple weeks. I started with a post on traveler's diarrhea. If you were still reading after that, thank you. As my mom said, "It was funny, but, I mean... it was about diarrhea." Thanks, mom. And then last week I learned some important lessons in learning to live with my decisions no matter how stupid they were at the time. Luckily my story had a happy (and very surprising ending). This week I'll keep the entry about my time in Siem Reap and visiting the Angkor Archaeological Site (better known by the main temple, Angkor Wat) along with some tips I learned along the way. Although there are no stories about traveler's diarrhea or stupid mistakes, I hope you'll read along anyways even if it's just for the pictures. ;) My Planning "Process" for Angkor WatOne of the most common phrases you hear in Southeast Asia is "same same but different". This along with "tuk tuk", "one dolla", "cheap for you", and "hey lady". Anyways, "same same but different" is my favorite. When shopping there might be a shirt you like and ask for in a different color. They'll bring out a totally different style shirt in the color you want and you'll try to explain you want the other style just in a different color. They'll continue to point to the new shirt and just say "same same but different". Yes, very different! I got the same reply when I started asking locals about the different temples and even some travelers started describing the temples this way, "same same but different". There are a LOT of temples and things to see at the Angkor Archaelogical Site and depending on who you ask it can all start to look "same same" or all be very different. Visiting Angkor Wat is one of those sites that almost everyone visits on their tour of Southeast Asia. This means everyone has an opinion of how to best see and experience Angkor Wat. People will tell you that you HAVE to get the 3-day pass to see all the temples, that a 1-day pass is enough, that you have to book a tour, that you can find a tuk tuk to take you all day, that you can bicycle or motorbike it, or that you really must rent an air conditioned taxi with a tour guide. The options are really endless. My new tactic in visiting popular sites like this is to gather all the information possible from other travelers, blogs, and guidebooks. This can be overwhelming, but I'm getting better at filtering to people and advice that mesh with how I enjoy traveling. From there, I figure out what kind of experience I want to create. More and more I'm trying to do things that push me a little and may not be things that I would typically do. I usually dislike mornings, extended exercise, and crowds. For this reason, I thought it would be a good idea to see the sunrise, ride a bicycle vs. taking a tuk tuk or tour, and brave the thousands of tourists that visit Angkor Wat every day. What Ended Up HappeningTo prepare for my visit on Monday, I started by renting a bicycle on Sunday afternoon. From the bike rental, I rode out to visit the Angkor Wat Museum. To be honest, I didn't know much about the temples besides what I read online and heard from others. The museum had a lot of information on the history of Cambodian royalty, religion, and the temples. I don't think I absorbed all the details but I came away with a big picture understanding of what lay ahead. Around 4:45PM on Sunday evening, I rode out to buy my ticket for Monday. I heard that you could buy your ticket right before closing (5PM) and see the sunset for the day before your ticket is issued for. While waiting for the ticket office to start selling Monday's tickets, I met this older Belgian woman who is a circus performer, workshop facilitator on "burnout", and was on holiday riding a bicycle around Cambodia. Seriously. You meet the most random people traveling. We ended up buying our tickets and riding out to watch the sunset together. Monday morning I woke up at 5AM to watch the sunrise. I hope anyone who I have ever lived with is reading this because I know you are in disbelief knowing how tortuous mornings generally are for me. I am still in disbelief that I willing woke up that early, but it was so worth it. I will never forget riding my bike along 10 kilimeters of dark road with my headlamp and buses, tuk tuks, and motorbikes whizzing by me. Then arriving to the temple of Angkor Wat, still in the dark, and making my way past tour buses and crowds to find a spot to watch the sunrise. It was stunning and set the precedent for everything that came that day. From the sunrise, I explored Angkor Wat and then started on the short circuit tour of the temples. Some temples were huge and I would unfortunately pull up on my bicycle at the same time as a tour bus. I would be shoulder to shoulder with Chinese tourists and it was impossible to see anything. Some temples were down little dirt paths and would maybe have one to two other bicycles parked out front. With those temples I could hike around the ruins and feel like Indiana Jones, or I guess more appropriately, Lara Croft (Tomb Raider was filmed at the Angkor site). My opinion is that after awhile the temples start to look the same. I was walking through one temple and started to feel this way after a few ruins and even some of the trees started to look exactly identical to the temple I had just visited. In fact, it was the temple I had just visited. I had just rode my bike to the other entrance. Not only do many of the temples look the same, but they are also HUGE. A temple could stretch 5 kilimeters in one direction. Whatever the case, that made me feel like an idiot. Moving on.... I finished my day at Phnom Bakheng. Thinking I could catch the sunset at the top of the hill, I hiked as fast as I could past the other tourists only to come to the longest line and a huge amount of people perched at the top of the temple. At that moment I decided I would see part of the sunset from a lookout point halfway up the hill and ride my bike home before dark. It was after 5PM at this point and I had been awake and moving for 12 hours. Different Ways of Visiting Angkor WatRiding a bicycle is one way to visit the temples but there are a lot of other options. Passes There are options are for one day, three day, and even one week passes. It is really up to you on how much you want to see and put yourself through. Read below for some things to take into consideration when planning your time. Transportation Options -Arranging a tour: Most hostels, hotels, and tour offices throughout Siem Reap will arrange a bus tour for you. My hostel was charging $13 (plus the $20 one day ticket) for a tour. -Taking a tuk tuk: As soon as you step out of anywhere in Siem Reap, a herd of tuk tuk drivers will surround you and offer you a ride to your current destination or they are ready to negotiate a price to take you to the temples the next day. Most people I know paid about $15 in total for one day (not per person, but per tuk tuk) and were able to negotiate a cheaper price for multiple days. -Bicycle Tours: There is a social enterprise that provides a tour while you ride bicycles. A little out of my price range for this trip, but an option if you're not up for exploring by yourself. -Motorbike Rentals: I heard varying reports on blogs and forums about renting motor bikes for the temples. Most people said that police were cracking down on motorbike rentals. I didn't see that and I did see plenty of places offering. One intriguing option was the electric bike rental (http://www.greene-bike.com). They even had charging sites around the park. The Other Side of Angkor WatA Latvian guy in my dorm was complaining the next day that there really was nothing so special about the sunrise at Angkor Wat. Nothing that special except that it's a sunrise in Cambodia at one of the most sacred temples in the world. No big deal. His thoughts on his experience were a great reminder in just that - that was HIS experience. Angkor Wat is beautiful and truly something to see. There's a reason I asked and read so many people's different opinions before I visited. That's because I had heard a lot of comments like that and about some of the downsides that you don't see in most pictures. I'm sharing some of those things now not to take away from my experience, but to share some of the realities of visiting. -Heat: It is so hot. Bring lots of water with you as it's more expensive inside. If you can, visit between November and March when it's a little cooler. I would not have biked if I had come during the summer. -Crowds: I was warned so many times, but you really have to see it. You think, I'm in the middle of Cambodia surrounded by farmland. How could there be that many people visiting? There are so many people. It's possible to get away from them, but not at the bigger temples. -Children: I have a heart of stone after visitng the temples. Children, as young as 3 or 4, surround you with trinkets and postcards for "only one dolla, lady. help me go to school. ten postcards, one dolla, lady. very cheap for you.". To put it politely, you feel like an asshole saying no. I don't want postcards and I further doubt the money is helping them go to school and not to what's more common, a "begging pimp" (who you see standing just a few feet away usually). If you feel bad, consider donating to a local organization instead. -Photo Helpers: While inside a temple, a friendly local might tell you that it's better if you take a photo over by this window or the view from this doorway has no other tourists. Then they strike up a friendly conversation with you and start telling you about the temples. I saw this happen to a few people, so was prepared when they came towards me. After they've given you this "free" tour, you are asked if you'd like them to continue as your tour guide and are sometimes asked for money for their time so far. If you're not looking for a tour guide, politely thank them for the photo advice and just say you want to go by yourself as soon as possible. -Things that move: This isn't a bad thing, unless you're scared of spiders...But your trip will probably also include some encounters with these guys: See more of my pictures on Flickr |