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 FlickrDid you ever read those choose-your-own-adventure books? Basically, you read a few paragraphs of a story, then it gives you some plot lines that could happen next, you choose one, and turn to the page that continues with that plot line. Sometimes I would purposefully choose all the bad options to see how awful the story would turn out. The last 48 hours of my life were a real life version of how I used to read choose-your-own-adventure books. It’s like I thought, “What is the worst possible thing I could choose to do next? Okay, do that one.” After over three months of traveling pretty smart and safely, I seemed to have stockpiled all my bad decisions to come out in the last two days. This is how I’ve ended up bagless in Saigon, ripped off $40 (2 days worth of my budget), and feeling like a total schmuck. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start off 48 hours ago…Two days ago I woke up for the third morning in a row on a gorgeous island with the sunrise shining into our open-faced dormitory. As the light slowly grew stronger, I made my way to the beach to watch the sun rise up higher into the sky. Then I continued to the restaurant/bar hut to have coffee and breakfast while chatting with my hostel mates and staff. To continue this story, choose one of the following options: A) Stay on the island forever waking up to the sunrise every morning, beautiful people and conversation every day, and the best woodfired pizzas this side of the world has ever tasted. You live happily ever after. The end. B) You have to catch a night bus to Saigon by 7 PM. Take the morning ferry from the island to the nearest town to wait for the bus, giving yourself ample time not to be late. C) You have to catch a night bus to Saigon by 7 PM. Take the evening party boat that’s returning to the nearest town so you can wait on the island instead of a crappy townie bar and hope they get there with enough time to spare. Klarrisa has chosen Option C. Please continue. After laying around the island all day reading “The Beach” and having one last delicious pizza, it was 5 PM and time to rally the party boat attendees to head back to town. This might have been easier if one of them wasn’t severely overweight and tripping on acid. He eventually made it onto the small boat, but because he decided to sit right on the bow for the entire trip we were moving a lot slower than we should have been. We took almost two hours to get back when it should have been a little more than an hour. I still had to take a motorbike taxi to the hostel where the bus was going to pick me up. A) You can’t find a motorbike taxi and they say you should let a tuk tuk take you to the bus station instead of the hostel. You agree and pay $5 to go to the bus station. You wait patiently for the bus to arrive. B) You can’t find a motorbike taxi and they say you should let a tuk tuk take you to the bus station instead of the hostel. You get into the tuk tuk but decide they should take you to the hostel instead. You arrive at the hostel to find that the bus has already left and that you need to take a motorbike taxi to get to the bus station. You now paid $5 for the tuk tuk and $10 to a motorbike taxi (that was clearly ripping you off because it was only a couple kilometers and they know you’re in a rush). Klarrisa has chosen Option B. Please continue I finally arrived at the bus station and waited patiently for my bus to arrive. I wasn’t looking forward to the bus ride because I had already had a pretty nasty night bus ride experience from Siem Reap to Sihanoukville. I was mentally pumping myself up for the next 12-15 hours (nobody knows how long anything takes here). The bus ride wouldn’t have been that bad except for the fat man spilling over into my “bed” seat, the kid behind me banging on my headrest for my attention, and someone within smelling distance eating dried fish and durian candy (a deathly combination). We were stopping midway in Phnom Penh where I would switch buses to continue on to Saigon. After five hours on that bus, we finally arrived in Phnom Penh around 1 AM. I was exhausted and could already hear the taxi drivers and hotel people clamoring for business outside of our bus. I just wanted to be left alone and find my way to the next bus. A) Take a deep breath, get off the bus, and kindly refuse any offers for taxis or hotels. Patiently wait for someone to get your bag beneath the bus and then walk to the bus for Saigon. B) Groggily get off the bus, brush past all the vendors annoyed, and head straight to the bus for Saigon. The bus you left leaves for Siem Reap. Klarrisa has chosen Option B. Please continue I picked out a bed seat towards the back of the bus. We had a few hours of a layover on the bus in Phnom Penh so I started playing on my phone after being without a connection for a few days on the island. That’s when it hit me. I forgot my backpack on the bus that had continued onto Siem Reap. I ran off the bus and into the bus office. The worker had to wake someone up who could speak English and they asked me what I wanted to do. A) Stay overnight 1-2 days in Phnom Penh, forfeit the room deposit for your place in Saigon and know that you can have full contact with the workers here and be able to check in every day on your bag. B) Decide you’ll continue onto Saigon because it’s late and you just want to leave. The guy shakes your hand as a “promise” that he’ll get your bag onto the bus to Saigon as soon as possible. He has your contact information and you have the bus’ business card that only has phone numbers. Klarrisa has chosen Option B. Please continue. Sitting on the bus, I started messaging and emailing friends back home who have contacts in Phnom Penh. While it was daytime in America, all of this was happening at 3 AM so no one here was able to do anything until the morning. When I started to have second thoughts about staying in Phnom Penh, my fate was decided for me when the bus started up and began the 8-hour journey to Saigon. The bus journey was filled with little sleep, silent sobbing at my stupidity, and sweet bus mates who tried to lift my spirits with their own travel mishaps. Eventually, we pulled up to the curb at 11 AM in Saigon. A) You are exhausted and should go to the hostel. You’ve stayed there before and you trust them. They can call the number for the Saigon office and find out where it is. Then you can take one of the two trusted taxi companies to the office and talk to them. B) You ask the bus driver where the office is and he just points in a direction and yells something in Vietnamese/Cambodian. One of the eager taxi drivers nearby says he knows where it is and can take you. Klarrisa has chosen Option B. Please continue. |