Same Same But Different, Part 2 and Cambodia - Christmas at Angkor Wat!

Merry Christmas and Seasons Greetings to everyone back home, we hope everyone has a great day and Santa is good to them. A break from work will be the perfect remedy to any ills. Hopefully everyone in Mosgiel won't overdo it at the Tav on Xmas eve either. At the moment we are in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Siem Reap is quite close to the Thailand border, a pretty big 600km detour from our Vietnam adventure, but after we were kidnapped by militant extremists and used as drug runners into Cambodia we have decided to stay for a while and check the place out (Just joking!!). We actually decided to come to Cambodia when we arrived in Vietnam as we heard so much about it and realised that visa arrangements and buses were easily arranged.

Before we go into that here are some more photos from Nha Trang, the beach town and Dalat up in the hills.







In Nha Trang I went to a barber and got a shave. It was a cut throat razor shave and having never gone under the razor before it was quite a daunting experience. The girl who was doing the job assured me that she was a pro so I took her word for it. It hurt a little but wasn't to bad and I even got a head massage at the end, which felt so funny I started grinning. The girl looked puzzled and said;'Why you smi?' (Why do you smile?) It was such a close shave I went back 3 days later for another one. However, this time wasn't nearly as good. Maybe because I wasn't so tense I moved around more. Anyway, she slipped up and cut my chin right up the middle and it wouldn't stop bleeding. It wasn't deep and was patched up quickly but I have decided to stick to Gillete from now on.

Our bus from Nha Trang to Dalat was interesting as it was a big hill climb. Buses can only manage about 30km up the hill because the air-con is always cranked up so there was plenty of chances for photos of the impressive views of the hills and the plains.

Dalat was a bit of a minefield on arrival. We got hounded by 'Easy riders', freelance motorbikers who offer tours into the hills. They were very helpful in giving us directions but we quickly realised they do this so they can follow us and see what hotel we go into. We were wise to this trick and knew that they would stake out the front door and bother us to take a tour everytime we left the hotel. It was kind of funny really, we hid from them in a shop and we could see them down the road wondering where we had gone. We eventually lost them and settled into one of the best hotels we've had so far for $20 a night.

We organised a tour for the next day and went out to get tea. After an uninspiring meal at a fancy looking restaurant we went to a bar where you can play pool and board games. We played the Game of Life and then walked home. It was seriously cold in Dalat, like 20 degrees and people thought I was nuts in a t-shirt and shorts. Anna had pants and a cardy but the locals look like they have just got off the ski-field.

We tried some street food that night and it was delicious. The food in the mini stalls on the street is about 50c a meal and so good, its just the conditions its cooked in and lack of seating that put you off. But when in Rome...and when we have ventured into street food world we have definitely eaten some great food, accompanied by interesting chats with the stall vendors.

The tour we undertook in Dalat went deeper into the hills and gave us a glimpse of life here. We went to a silk farm, a minority village, a Buddhist temple with a waterfall, a coffee plantation and the Dalat Crazy House, a large surrealist building/hotel/structure. The Crazy House would definitely not meet OSH standards in NZ but I guess here if it bridges the gap, who cares how precarious the ledge is? It kinda seemed like art for art's sake as the rooms would have been very impractical if you decided to stay there. A couple on our tour were both architects and they refused to go in!

Dalat Photos
















After Dalat it was off to the big one! - Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) has a population of 7.5 million. Too much for a country boy and a Dunedin girl. Saigon was everything we expected, busy, bustling and booming. Hot, sticky, noisy and chaotic. We arrived at about 3pm and got lost pretty quickly trying to find a hotel. Coincidentally we bumped into an American ex-pat that we met in Hoi An and he pointed us in the right direction.

To be continued....Sorry I have run out of time, but I will finish this post soon and add a Cambodia one. It's 9pm on xmas eve here in Cambodia so Santa will be on his way to NZ now. Hope he spoils you! Have a marvellous Christmas everybody, we will be thinking of you. Tommorrow we are up at 5am to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat. A bizzare xmas for us!

Thinking of home

Anna & Jamie