Back in Victoria

We returned home as scheduled on Mar 14. Great flight, Eva Air was wonderful as usual and of course travelling with rather than against the trade winds makes a huge difference: 9.5hr flight Taipei to Vancouver versus a 14hr flight Vancouver to Taipei!

Now we are unpacked, back on Pacific Time, and settled into our routines in Victoria. It was a great trip!

Until next time ...

Majestic faces from Angkor Thom

Buddha statues ready to be placed in a wat

From Vietnam to Cambodia

Options

When we were ready to move on from Mui Ne, Vietnam, we had a few options to consider: travel north along the main highway and visit Na Trang; go back to Ho Chi Minh City and fly to Phu Quoc Island – a beach paradise they say; or travel overland from HCMC into Cambodia, stop in Phnom Penh and then on to Siem Reap to revisit Angkor Wat. After considering the logistics and getting input from other travellers, we opted for Cambodia.

Mui Ne Bay

Fishing boats in Mui Ne Village

Bus to HCMC

First, we had to return to HCMC, a 5hr bus ride. We opted for the Phoung Trang bus line. The company was recommended by our hotel as well as others. All was well until the last 30min. With the sun setting and the lights of HCMC on the horizon, the bus came to a halt. It appeared to stall; however, the consensus was that the bus had run out of gas!! So there we were stranded on a ramp onto a short section of freeway leading into the city. Like rats leaving a sinking ship, the passengers were quick to hail one of the many taxis passing by rather than wait for the bus to start! We joined a group – 6 Vietnamese and a young couple from Australia – and boarded a taxi van. We shared the cost, and for 30,000 dong per person ($1.50), we were dropped a block from our hotel sooner than we would have arrived by bus!

HCMC is famous for narrow buildings.  This one was likely built into a former alley!

Phnom Penh

For the trip to Phnom Penh, we chose our favourite bus company, Sinh Tourist (formerly known as Sinh Cafe). The trip was uneventful, well organized and on time. Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, has a population of 2.5 million. It is located at the convergence of the Tonle Sap and Mekong rivers. While it does have a good museum, a beautiful palace, and a lovely walk along the Mekong. It is dusty, dirty, chaotic and choked with traffic. Definitely not our favourite and not on the return list.

Lance as Buddha at the palace in Phnom Penh

Seated Buddha: Perhaps the most common pose for Thai Buddha Statues is the one pictured above, which is known as the attitude of Calling The Earth To Witness or Subduing Mara. The story behind this image is that the Buddha was about to attain Enlightenment and was attacked by a demon named Mara who tried to both tempt and terrify him into defeat. The Buddha reached down to call the Goddess Of The Earth to witness that he had not been defeated, but instead had achieved Enlightenment and subdued Mara. Upon witnessing this The Earth Goddess released flood water that carried away Mara and all of the temptresses he had sent to defeat the Buddha.

Siem Reap – gateway to Angkor Wat

In January 2002, we visited Angkor Wat and several of the other temples in the Angkor group. Ten years later, we came back for another look. No surprise, much has changed. The temples are as grand and impressive as they were before. However, the hordes of tourists, buses and guides were a bit overwhelming. The town of Siem Reap, 8km from Angkor Wat, has grown to a city of nearly 200,000.  As the gateway town for the Angkor complex, it has changed from the sleepy little town with mostly dirt streets in 2002 to an international tourist destination in 2012. It is still dusty, but you can now choose from a wide selection of accommodation, from 5 star to budget, and restaurants serving food from every nation.

Karen as tree among the trees at Ta Phrom

Phan Thiet Market

Phan Thiet is the largest town near Mui Ne, approximately 12km from Mui Ne beach. One morning, we took a local bus into town and were rewarded with a typical, vibrant Asian market. Everything for sale – from fresh meat, fruit and vegetables, live chickens and ducks, and baguettes to house wares. Some things remain traditional like the conical hats, while others are changing like plastic containers. These are starting to replace woven baskets. Obviously they are cheap, but they will ultimately become garbage and never breakdown like the older woven ones.

Buyers and sellers in Phan Thiet

View the slide show for more:

Kite Surfing in Mui Ne

The main reason that we went to Vietnam, and Mui Ne in particular, was for Lance to try kite surfing. An item on the bucket list! Mui Ne is known around the world for the winds – the perfect, predictable winds just right for kite surfing and wind surfing. Mornings were usually still, but gradually the wind would build and by noon or 1pm the beach and surf would be filled with boarders.

Lance took 8 hours of lessons at Mr Lee’s Kite School. Mr Lee and his wife Flower operate the only Vietnamese owned kite school on the beach. They provided everything – training kite, full size kite, harness, and board – as well as the 31 year old German instructor named Mario.

For seven straight days, Lance was on the beach with Mario. He progressed from initial training on the beach - training kite and big kite – to body dragging with the kite in the water. Then the wind stopped for a couple of days. A good thing, as he was ready for a rest. By then we only had a few more days in Mui Ne. He decided to take a break and not take further lessons.

Overall he enjoyed the experience, but recognized that he needs more practice time, skill, experience, and equipment! Perhaps, he will take more lessons another place and time. Or perhaps, not!

Temples in HCMC

Buddhist temples in Ho Chi Minh City have a strong Chinese influence – from the round-bellied Buddha sculptures and the Chinese characters decorating the walls and pillars to pictures and effigies of Chinese gods.

During Tet, large numbers of people come to pray and make offerings to ask for good luck and prosperity in the new year. Temples are filled with incense and incense smoke. The smell is somewhat overwhelming, but the scene is serene and ethereal. The large spiral incense coils are particularly beautiful. People light the end of the outside edge of the flat spiral, and then an attendant lifts the other end up to the rafters. The spiral unwinds and forms a suspended cone.

Street Traffic – HCMC

It is hard to describe the chaos and constant motion of traffic in the streets of Ho Chi Minh City. While there are cars, buses, bicycles and cyclos, most vehicles are motorcycles. And most are small, less than 50cc, essentially scooters. Streets are jammed with motorcycles carrying as many as 5 people or loaded with cargo. Like schools of fish, they weave in and around each others, other vehicles and pedestrians. As a pedestrian you simply walk across the street, keep a steady pace and assume that the motorcycles will dodge you.

Here are some motorcycles in motion:

2012 – Year of the Dragon

In Canada, we usually refer to the lunar new year as Chinese New Year, but in Vietnam it is called Tet. The new year, year of the dragon, began Jan 23, 2012. Tet is THE holiday in Vietnam. Most people have a nine day holiday break 4 days before lunar new year and four days after. A time for families to get together and celebrate.

The dragon is the most auspicious animal of the 12 in the Chinese zodiac. According to a local newspaper, health officials expect birth rates to be higher this year because people feel that a child born in the year of the dragon will be more successful.

When we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City on Jan 20, festivities were already in progress. Businesses, houses and streets were decorated with lanterns, streamers, lights, but most of all flowers and dragon effigies. Some parks had flowers for sale, others had flowers just for display. One of the main streets, Nguyen Hue, running from the Rex Hotel to the Mekong River – referred to as flower street for Tet - was closed to traffic and filled with flowers and other displays. Flowers in the shape of birds, dragon flies, and of course countless dragons. In the evening of Jan 23, flower street was jammed. People were literally shoulder to shoulder from one end to the other. We had planned to walk the length of the street and then see the fireworks, but gave up. It was simply too claustrophobic.

Year of the Dragon banners on "flower street"

The dragon below, at the start of flower street, was 26m long and 5m high. This masterpiece was created with bamboo that was knitted and braided as well as dried water hyacinth.

Here are some other dragons - some from flower street, and others from around the city.