As I mentioned at the end my last article, touring through Ho Chi Minh City was a marvellous experience. The city itself has many attractions to experience and part of finding those places, and experiences is in knowing where to go.
Travel books are usually a great way to locate the sights and sounds of any destination, but another great way to find your way around is to have local residents act as your guides. In this we were blessed by having two of Tran's (our daughter-in-law's) friends act as our guides for the first couple of days we were there.
For the first few days we stayed in a hotel in an area away from the main tourist district where we had the chance to see the local culture as the people went through their daily routines. From there our guides took us on excursions to some of the most pleasant tea houses in the city where we could enjoy relaxing after the 14 or so hours of travelling to get there. It was a pure delight to sit in these open air restaurants and enjoy some of the local food and drink in an atmosphere that is very different from what we are used to, but so enjoyable we could not get enough of them. During the trips to and from these cafes we travelled many of the byways of the city and totally enjoyed seeing the open markets and generally seeing how the citizens spend their days.
After the first couple of days, we moved down into the tourist district to continue our adventures from there since it was closer to Tran's family. No matter where we were though one thing that struck me was the friendliness of the people of Saigon. As most prairie residents do, when we looked someone in the eye I would either nod or give a wave. To these greetings I never failed to get the most wonderful smiling greetings in return. Then, once I learned to greet people in Vietnamese, the return greetings were even more sincere.
Having settled ourselves in a new hotel we decided to take a more in-depth tour with a professional guide. In this we hit the jackpot when we tied in with a hotel and tour operator who goes by the name of Hero. This gentleman became a regular part of our lives for the rest of our time in Asia and I would recommend him to anyone who wants a personal tour with a level of service that I have never seen before.
He organized the tour of all of the buildings I have already mentioned, but also set up a tour for us to travel from Saigon to Phnom Penh and on to Siem Reip in Cambodia to tour the ancient Khmer temples there. Hero set us up with an epic bus trip (we had decided on the bus so as to be able to take our daughter-in-law's parents with us) that took us on an extremely scenic, educational and comfortable 12-hour drive.
I must note the buses we travelled on were extremely comfortable and thus the ride was not too bad. Along with setting up the travel arrangements Hero looked after the hotel bookings, the entry tickets to the temple sites and everything else in between.
Travelling through the countryside through both Cambodia and Vietnam is quite a different experience to what we are used to here in Canada. Here we have numerous back roads that give us access to all areas of the country. This was not the case there. They have main highways and from here access to the rest of the country is by trails that access the fields, thus all rural people live along the highways and are not separated by distances as we are here. There were some open areas along the trip but for the greatest part the road was constantly bordered by residences and markets. There was never a time when we were out of sight of people going about their daily lives. We regularly stopped along the way to pick up and drop off passengers and to pick up food and drink. At Phnom Penh we had to change buses and to do so had to be transported from one area of the city to another via Tuk-Tuk, which is like a two wheeled cart hooked to the back of a motor bike that has room for four larger or six smaller passengers.
When we arrived in Siem Reap, which is the tourist city right next to the national park in which there are numerous Khmer temples, we were greeted by another fairly modern tourist destination. This vibrant city, that in 1991 had one hotel, now has numerous fine hotels to meet the needs of the most discerning taste. From here we spent the next two days touring the temples of Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, the Bayon temple and some of the smaller temples, which are still breathtaking. These complexes were the centre of power of the ancient Khmer dynasties and were built by a succession of kings. Over the years I have read many articles and seen many pictures of the fabulous structures, but no matter how much information I had perused none had given me the concept of the full grandeur these people had created without the use of modern machines.
When you read about these temple complexes you are given the impression they were totally lost in the jungles and the French Colonials rediscovered them in the early part of the 20th century. A guide from Siem Reap pointed out the local citizens had always known of these structures. which had been religious sites of pilgrimage for the Buddhist and Hindu religions of the area. It was in the colonial times, that the restorations that are still going on today, started.
During our tour we saw numerous sites where there were groups of people from around the world working with local residents on the restoration and maintenance of these wonders of the world. It was interesting for me to note how much time has been spent on the restoration and compare it to how these structures were originally built in such short time periods by the original builders. This is something like our home here in Meota on which we have an ongoing renovation for the last four years when it was probably built in a few months originally.
The awe that is inspired by these massive structures from a distance is only overshadowed by the phenomenal interiors that are a maze of stairways, promenades and beautifully carved walls.
The Bayon Temple has 49 towers that all have faces carved facing each of the compass directions. These faces are about 20 feet high and are amazing in their detail even though they have been weathered for up to 900 years. Inside this temple and all others the bass relief carving that tells stories of battles and religious myths are purely breathtaking.
The overall size of these complexes is staggering. Angkor Wat is surrounded by a moat that is 45 metres wide and surrounds a complex that is eight kilometres a side. This moat was not just for protection but was an integral part of the water conservation plans for the dry seasons. Beyond this there is another water reservoir nearby that is a rectangle eight kilometres long by two wide. Remember these were built without use of heavy machinery. These reservoirs were the backbone of an agricultural society that was able to grow three rice crops a year since they controlled their water supplies so well. In the modern day we are not any more advanced in the area of water management.
Besides touring the temples we took in some of the local highlights and restaurants. The high spot of this was the Koulen II restaurant, which is an experience that shouldn't be missed when touring there. Dining is an unforgettable experience in that the buffet offered a myriad of choices of local cuisine along with a stage presentation of the traditional dances of Cambodia. My only problem was there were too many selections to be able to even start to sample them all thus I shall have to go back and spend more time at the table there. The stage presentation was superb, presenting many different forms of dance in which the variety of costuming was impressive. Here is where Dallas, our 16-month-old granddaughter, was intent on going on stage and dancing along with the performers. This kept her mother busy. In the end though, she did manage to get her picture taken with the dancers.
The experience of visiting this area that I had read so much about was far beyond what I could have imagined it to be. In the two days visiting the temples we saw a lot and were very appreciative of what we saw. The feeling I have looking back is that the first visit gives you a concept of the area, but a couple of days does not do justice to all that is there to see. We hope to delve deeper at some day in the future.
Here I must also give more praise to our guide from Saigon who accompanied us on this tour. First of all for the trouble free arrangements, but most of all for the way he constantly looked after us. Throughout the tour, since I could not take my trusty scooter with me, I used a wheel chair. Hero spent the whole time propelling me over none too wheel chair friendly terrain to ensure I got the most out of everything. In all, he truly was our Hero.
For the ride back to Phnom Penh our guide booked us a van rather than the bus to shorten the ride. Again we travelled through the roads on which numerous people reside and got to see more of the cultural aspects of both countries. It was interesting to see some folks living in thatched homes that are very open with a satellite dish mounted on the side. At a couple of points on the trip we saw weddings in progress. The surprising part of these was they had set up an event tent to house the celebration and that this tent was set up covering one lane of the highway. It left enough room for the traffic to squeeze by, so there was no problem.
We also saw many trucks with rail sides crammed with kids. These were the transportation to and from school. In the rainy season they would cover these with a top like a chuckwagon to keep everyone dry. It reminded me of trips to ball games, in the back of a grain truck only we weren't crammed in as tight.
At one point we stopped at a gathering of dwellings where their front yards were their sculpture studios. Here, for at least a couple of kilometres, we were able to watch the sculptors chisel away at rock to produce some of the more beautiful art work I have see. We could have brought home a two metre lion or a seven foot high Buddha made out of solid rock that was just beautiful for about $400 (imagine the shipping costs though).
The big question that I have been asked is how we enjoyed ourselves. I think already from what you have read the idea that the trip was phenomenal has come through. We would like to return some day and take in more of what both countries have to offer. Oh, and yes, the climate of 25 to 29 was not hard to handle in the least. The other advantages of touring there are that it is economical. The hotels we stayed in cost between $23 and $30 a night which also included breakfast. A taxi ride that took over 20 minutes cost the equivalent of about $4.25 US. You can eat well for less than $15 a day for a couple. There are so many great things to see and do - great food, great rooms and hospitable people - all at an economical price. What else is there to say?
