Tuesday, February 18th 2020
Well, we left our house 27 hours ago and we are still traveling! The dogs were totally confused when we took them out in the middle of the night! We were at the airport by 4AM and at our gate by 4:30. Our flight from Savannah to Dallas was the most un-First Class ever! Catering had forgotten to to cater so our "breakfast" consisted of crackers and cookies that the gate agents bought out of the vending machines! Fortunately things got better in Dallas where our first class tickets got us into the American Flagship lounge for our 4 hour layover. We had a nice breakfast and comfortable seating.
We boarded our flight for Tokyo and were pleasantly surprised by our luxurious accommodations! We had our own little cubicles with lay flat seating and bedding, and Bose headphones. They fed us constantly-we had 3 meals in our 13 hour flight. We both watched 4 movies and then I got a little sleep but not sure Oliver got much.
We arrived in Tokyo a little early and only had about 1 1/2 hours. Boarded our flight for Hanoi and again, nice accommodations. More separate cubicles-Oliver and I have to speak around a wall to see each other! I was too full to eat but he had dinner. Watched another movie and now getting ready to try to sleep. We are supposed to get to Hanoi at 11 so will be midnight before we get to the hotel.
Easy as pie checking into Vietnam. Went thru immigration quickly and had a little wait for our luggage and then met our AMA representative for our 30 minute ride to the hotel. Got here at 12:30AM but didn't get to bed until almost 2. Busy day tomorrow!
SOME might say I am too organized but I like to know what I'm wearing every day!
Off to sleepyland!
Peeking thru the window at me!
Time goes slowly when you're watching your flight on the TV!
Wednesday, February 19
After a very short night, we had a good breakfast before meeting Son, our cruise manager, for our first briefing. He will be with us now until we check out of our Saigon hotel at the end of the trip. This hotel, the Sofitel, is very beautiful. Built by the French 100 years ago and a new section was added later.
A good breakfast set us up for a long day of sightseeing.
Out first stop was Maison Centrale, or the prison known as the Hanoi Hilton. Vietnam has been at war forever with one country or another and at times, they have been badly mistreated. The prison was originally built to house dissidents protesting against French occupation. The conditions were terrible-overcrowded, awful sanitation, torture. One room was tilted downwards and they would shackle the prisoner with their head on the low side, forcing them to lie in their own waste. We saw a guillotine that they used for executions. The name Hanoi Hilton was coined by American POWs. Our guide Lily said no one in Hanoi calls it that and if you ask a local for directions to the Hanoi Hilton, you will actually end up at the Hilton Hanoi! Lily told us that most Vietnamese hold no grudges against the US but some of the exhibits would suggest otherwise. We saw several memorabilia from the captive Americans-flight suits, parachutes, parts of plane wreckage and pictures. Sad reminders of a sad time.
A depiction of Vietnamese prisoners under the French
American flight suit and parachute
The outdoor garden
After that somber tour, we visited the Temple of Literature, which was originally a Buddhist temple and later the first university in Vietnam. Now it is largely a tourist venue although they hold many ceremonial events there. Many students come there to pray before exams!
The temples usually have a water feature.
Offerings
The turtle is one of the most revered animals here
We returned to the hotel for lunch before our afternoon tour, which started with a walk through the chaotic Old Quarter. It was hard to look around and walk at the same time as the traffic is overwhelming, the sidewalks uneven and scooters parked everywhere! There are vendors selling everything imaginable from fruits and vegetables to duck feet to knock off clothing and jewelry. People sitting on little short stools eating fried rice and drinking coffee were everywhere! It was noisy, smelly and very interesting! After the walk, we boarded rickshaws to experience the traffic close up-and I do mean close up! I had to hide my eyes several times as I thought for sure we were going to be run over! It appears to make no sense at all but somehow they all understand how it works. There are only a few traffic signals and. as Lily told us, green means go, yellow means go, and red also means go. They are merely suggestions, mostly ignored. We were surrounded by motor scooters, cars, trucks, pedestrians, you name it, often I could have reached out and touched someone! After this fun but rather harrowing 45 minutes, we went to the theater to see the water puppet show. This is a very old Vietnamese tradition and was fascinating. The puppeteers are behind a curtain and they are actually standing in the water. There were 10 musicians with some very unique instruments. The puppets were amazing and in some cases very funny, such as when 2 swans did a mating dance and then an egg puppet popped out-and hatched! It was great fun.
Back at the hotel we had drinks and sinner before I spent a little time rearranging our suitcases before heading to bed. What a busy but wonderful day!
At the hotel, we took a tour of this historic place which included visiting the bomb shelter, which was only discovered fairly lately. Several famous people took shelter during the bombings, including Joan Baez, who wrote a song there, and Hanoi Jane Fonda.
We walked past the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum and the President's house
The water puppet show was fun!
Someone practiced his chopsticks!
Thursday, February 20
We were up early today and down to breakfast by 7:15. At 9 we boarded our bus for Ha Long Bay. AMA is so organized-once we arrived in Hanoi, we never touched our luggage again! They picked it up in our room and delivered it to our stateroom on the cruise ship on Ha Long Bay. We drove out of Hanoi through some very interesting countryside, passing rice paddies and many ornate cemeteries. They have a tradition in North Vietnam of burying their dead in wooden coffins for 3 years. Then they dig them u, usually at midnight, wash the bones, put them in ornate containers, and re-bury them! The grave markers at the new burial site are ornate, many resembling little pagodas. When a Vietnamese person is near death, the family gives him/her a name known only to them and then after death, when they pray for the deceased, they use that special name.
After about an hour, we stopped at the Happy Room, other wise known as the bathroom! It was actually a rest area, much like we have on major highways! Another hour's drive brought us to our ship in Ha Long Bay. It's a new ship, very lovely, with dark teak wood everywhere, a beautiful dining room and bar, and king sized beds! Ha Long means Descending Dragon, named after all the rock formations sticking out of the water. Ha Long Bay is in the Gulf of Tonkin. After finding our stateroom, where our luggage awaited us, we enjoyed a wonderful lunch. Afterwards we cruised for a while before anchoring near a pearl farm. We boarded tenders to visit the farm and saw how oysters are inseminated to produce pearls. Very interesting.
Back to the ship for about 45 minutes and then back to the tenders for a visit to the Amazing Cave. And amazing it is! 700 steps up to the mouth of the cave and then about a 45 minute walk through several different chambers, one large enough to fit two 747s! And then of course 700 steps back down! There is a big tide here and getting back down some steep steps to our tender was an experience. It took 4 crew members to "pass" us each down, one at a time, but we all made it!
We had a wine tasting on the sundeck followed by a cooking lesson, teaching us how to make spring rolls. It was a beautiful evening. We went down for dinner and it was delicious but we were so tired we could barely make it through dessert!
Interesting countryside!
this was our ship
Our stateroom was big and comfortable
Leaving the dock
Ha Long Bay is just awesome. Pictures can't do it justice.
The Pearl Farm
From the mouth of the cave
The cave was just beautiful
These aren't really feet dangling!
This lady came under our balcony, selling things! She had a little girl wrapped up in a blanket next to her.
Friday, February 21
We slept so well last night! I want to write a few miscellaneous thoughts before I forget them. Lily is very knowledgeable about her country and remarkably open about the issues and problems they face. She shared with us facts about her life pre 1996 and it was very stark. They rarely had meat and raised chickens and sometimes pigs secretly in their bathroom. They weren't supposed to have them, as the government dictated what and how much anyone could have of every item so her father would hide a pig in his backpack and go out in the middle of the night to sell it! Or if they were going to eat it, they would smother the poor pig in ashes so it wouldn't squeal and alert the neighbors. She and her husband now both work in tourism, she as a tour guide and he as a bus driver. Their work is very seasonal-they work in February, March and April and again in the fall but the rest of the time they live on what they can make in those busy months. They have a 15 year old son and live with her in laws, and her husband's brother, wife and their children! Most people in Vietnam live in a multi-generational household and it is a tradition to live with the man's family. So Lily's 3 brothers live with her parents. Because most Vietnamese are self employed, they have no retirement plans-they call their first boy their pension! And though Lily's brother in law and family live with them, it is her husband's responsibility to pay all the bills for the household because he is the oldest. She wishes this was not the case but understands that it is just the way the culture is and she doesn't see it changing. Women are very definitely NOT considered the equal of men-again, she accepts this while wishing it was not the case.
There is an income tax, with rates from 5%-35% starting at about $500/month with personal exemptions. Many Vietnamese are paid in cash and don't necessarily declare this income. The minimum wage is about $170 US per month but 60% are self employed so this doesn't impact most citizens. There is a very strong custom of "giving" and "receiving". We might call it bribery but it is very accepted in Vietnam that you might trade favors with each other. She told us that a long haul driver or a bus driver might conserve fuel and then sell the excess and pocket the money. We saw little tents right along the highway where people were buying and selling diesel fuel.
We also passed the 2nd largest Samsung factory in the world. The biggest is also in Vietnam. Of the 170,000 Samsung workers in the world, 110,000 of them are in Vietnam. We also saw an enormous Canon factory where they make printers. There is construction everywhere! Ha Long Bay has many luxury hotels being built and there are highrises going up all over. A man named Vin is the richest an in Vietnam and he is everywhere. We saw Vinaphones, he has started manufacturing cars and we saw an enormous condo complex he is building complete with a man made lake and beach! There were probably 20 high rise units going up. She told us that in the Old Quarter of Hanoi, it can cost as much as $45,000 US per 9 square meters! But they only pay on the ground floor so houses are small but tall-3 stories or more!
We saw dozens of rice paddies along the way, It is the pre growing season right now and the workers were transplanting the seedlings. It is backbreaking work and is done mostly by older women. The men work in factories, the younger people move to the cities and the older women tend the rice fields. Lily wanted to be a teacher. She had to take tests and she took one for teaching and one to be a tour guide. She failed the teaching test, which was very fortunate for us. We've taken dozens of tours but never had a guide this good!
The Vietnamese language is very hard to learn because words have multiple meanings, depending on the inflection you use. So ending on a questioning note is different than ending with a flat tone or a downward inflection. So PHO can be a noodle soup, or a streetwalker! Very important to know what you are ordering! We had great fun with that. We were with the same group the entire time-we were the Green family and there was also a yellow and orange family. She would say to us-Green Family. Sticky Rice! That meant for the group to get close together, such as when crossing busy streets. We also had fun with the Happy Room and I will never go to the bathroom again without thinking of this!
So we disembarked from our ship this morning at 10:30. Son, our cruise manager, took our passports and our luggage was stored on the bus as either carryon or checked. After an hour of driving, we stopped at a large rest area and our checked bags were loaded on a truck and taken to the airport. We had some time to shop in a huge store and, because we learned that the star ruby is mined in Vietnam, Oliver bought me a beautiful ruby ring. Back on the bus, we continued a short way to a golf course, where we had lunch. On a side note, we are quite disgusted with the way the news media in the US has covered the coronavirus story. They make it sound as if the entire Asian continent is one barren wasteland of infected people! The reality is that it is business as usual here, with the exception of a lot of emphasis on handwashing. Every time we got on or off our bus, we each had a squirt of hand sanitizer. There are some people wearing masks but the majority do not. The Japanese jave always been prone to wearing masks and they still do. Also, most of the food servers wera masks. But the government has done a good job of closing their borders to the Chinese and isolating the area where 11 of the 16 cases in this country of 97 million occurred and there is not the agonizing 24/7 coverage of this virus that we see in the states. We have 3 doctors among our group and they are here and maskless, so we feel fine. Of course, we have another 12 days so hope I don't eat my words! At the golf course they were going to screen us all by taking our temperature but their thermometer didn't work so they said never mind!!
After lunch we had another couple of hours to the airport. When we arrived, Son handed us our passports and boarding passes and we were off to our gate. Never to see our luggage, as it had been checked! After we showed the agent our passport and boarding pass, Son took our passports again and we will be cleared through Immigration in Cambodia without having to stop. Our Customs form and Immigration form were provided by Son, all neatly typed out and awaiting our signatures! We will pick up our luggage and whisk through customs to our bus. Our hotel is just 20 minutes from the airport. We have a busy couple of days ahead of us before we board the AmaDara on Monday!
This is typical of the houses we saw as we rode along. A store on the bottom level and the residence on the 2 upper levels.
Our greeting at our hotel in Siem Reap
Again, our room is lovely and the Buddhist version of the Giddeon's has been here!
Saturday, February 22
We arrived in Siem Reap and were at our hotel by 8. We were too tired to even think of going to dinner but thankfully we had a well stocked mini bar. So 2 gin and tonics, some bananas and granola bars and a couple of cookies later, we went to bed. This is a 5 star resort and it is absolutely beautiful! There are flowers everywhere-over 90 different types! Breakfast this morning was a lavish buffet and then it was off to our first temple-Temple Bayon.
Angkor was the capital city of the Khmer Empire, which flourished from the 9th to the 15th century. It was a megacity supporting at least 0.1 % of the global population during 1010-1220. The temples are located in Angkor Archaeological Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Angkor Thom was built as a royal city and last capital of the Khmer Empire.
The first temple we visited was the Bayon, a well known and richly decorated Khmer temple. It was built in the late 12th or early 13th century as the official state temple of the Mahayana Buddhist king Jayavarman VII, just referred to as King 7. It has a multitude of towers adorned with 216 gigantic smiling faces. The restoration project lasted for over 5 years. We then visited Ta Prohm, known as the "Kingdom of Trees" for the way in which the trees have become intertwined with the temple stones. The move Tomb Raider was filmed here. Both of these temples were very close to our hotel.
The "KIngdom of Trees"
After lunch at the pool bar, we set off for a 45 minute drive through the countryside to the pink sandstone temple of Banteay Srei, the "Citadel of Women":, known for it's beautiful and intricate carvings. It was said that it was so beautiful, it must have been designed by women! It was interesting to see the way the people live in the rural areas, not quite as poor as in Vietnam but poor. We saw lots of water buffalo standing alongside the road and lots of dogs and children playing in front of houses. Lots of police and private guards along the way too. Until about 1995, it was very dangerous to drive through this area. Besides the unexploded land mines, there were armed robbers everywhere. Our guide had a cousin who was guiding a group of Australian tourists and they were stopped by robbers demanding cash. None of the tourists had much cash so the robbers shot and killed his cousin and a child. Now it is much safer, in part because of the landmine sniffing rats. There were 18,000,000 land mines in Cambodia-18% are still undiscovered. 80% were planted by the Russians, 15% by the Chinese and a few by the US. It takes 9 months to train a rat and they work for about 8 years but only 30 minutes a day. Rats have a better smell than dogs, are easier to transport and don't eat much-only $66 per year! Dogs will only work for their trainer but a rat will work for anyone! There are currently 30 rats in Cambodia but they have a grant for 28 more.
The economy in Cambodia is driven by tourism, clothing exports and agriculture.
In the evening, we were treated to a show with traditional Cambodian instruments and dances. The costumes were beautiful and the hand movements are exquisite. They are trained from a very young age. After the show we had dinner, which we shared with Leslie and Maureen, two lovely ladies from Scotland. We were really tied and were in bed by 9.
Our buses have been very nice. We were reminded that this is a 3rd world country but we had a/c, comfy seats and even fancy curtains!
A typical house
There was a stretch of road where the night markets set up. There were dozens and dozens of these little shops and restaurants right on the side of the highway selling everything you could ever think of.
The dancers were so lovely
The walk back to our room was beautiful
Sunday, February 23
We got up at 3:45 AM for our trip to Angkor Wat. This is the most iconic of all Angkorian temples. It was built by Suryavarman II as his state temple and was dedictaed to the Hindu god, Vishnu. They started building in 1113 and it took 37 years to complete. Angkor means city and Wat means monastery and it is still an active monastery. It was not used at all between 1664 and 1863 and it was Hindu, then Buddhist and then Hindu again. It is the largest religious monument in the world! It was very dark when we arrived and we made our way by flashlight across the large moat and to a small lake in front of the temple to await sunrise. There were hundreds of people and as the sun rose, the temple got brighter and brighter. When the sun was fully up, we walked to the temple, about a mile. As we were walking, we heard a big PLOP behind us and turned to see a big green snake that had fallen out of a tree! He quickly left us and we quickly left him!
The temple was huge. We started at the 3rd level, because our guide told us tat it would get very crowded later. We had to climb a very steep set of stairs, fortunately with good handrails! The view from the top was awesome and we enjoyed walking around until it was time to make our precarious way back down the scary stairs. We toured the other 2 levels of the temple before walking back to the bus, passing lots of wild monkeys along the way.
Waiting for sunrise, with the temple reflecting in the water
There was a big crowd!
This guy gave us all a scare
The monastery
Climbing the scary stairs!
The monks weren't scared!
But the view was worth it!
Just as scary coming down!
Now I know why our travel nurse warned us against all the wild animals! She said no matter how cute it is, don't touch!!
Back at the hotel, Oliver took a little nap and then we put on bathing suits and laid by the pool all afternoon. We enjoyed a couple of tequila sunrises (seemed fiiting) and some little naps. I packed our suitcases before we went down and had a drink outside. It was a lovely evening. We had dinner with Chris and Peta, a couple originally from the UK who have lived in California for the past 25 years. They are in the wine business, producing Castle Rock wines. He had interesting things to say about dealing with Publix!
Monday, February 24
We woke early, finished packing, had breakfast and checked out of our room. We boarded the bus, headed for the AmaDara, about a 5 1/2 hour drive away, with 2 stops. It will be good to settle in for the next week! We had to slow the bus for a water buffalo crossing the road!
Learned a lot of Cambodia facts along the way. The natives refer to Cambodia as Kampucheea. Don't ask for KFC here- you will get Khmer Fried Cricket! 96% of the people are Buddhists. There are 640 Buddhist monks. In Vietnam we saw national flags everywhere. We have yet to see the Cambodian flag. At the rest area, our guide stood by the bus with a roll of toilet paper which he handed out to us. We see very few cars. For every 100 houses we pass, we might see 1 car in a driveway. Lots of cows and water buffalo though! Cambodia has a 7% GDP groeth but a high 8% unemployment rate. the 2023 Asian Games will be held in Cambodia. There are 2 airports under construction, 2 new stadiums and an aquarium in Siem Reap. 9.2 million tons of rice are grown but only about 700,000 tons exported. Breakfast and lunch are big meals with a lot of rice, dinner not so much. October thru May is wedding season. They don't have weddings in the rainy season. 75-80% of marriages are still arranged. Only in the big cities do they have free choice. Our guide Whantey had an arranged marriage. His parents picked the girl and met with her parents to make the arrangements. A week later he met his bride to be and they both agreed. 850 people were invited to the wedding and they each donate money for the food. The amounts are written down and when those people get married, they will reciprocate at least the same amount. Whantey and his wife now have 4 children!~
After the long bus ride, we arrived at the AmaDara. We were served lunch and then checked into our stateroom. The ship is lovely-all dar woods and a nice large bathroom with plenty of storage space. It was wonderful to finally unpack and put our suitcases away. There was an excursion in the afternoon but we could not face getting on the bus again so just rested a bit until time to dress for dinner. We had a cocktail at the pool bar and then went to the Captain's welcome cocktail party, where we met the crew.
Taking the water buffalo home for the night!
These elaborate arches over dirt roads mean there is a monastery down the road.
This was the restaurant we stopped at, although we didn't eat the food ! We were given box lunches!
These guys were fishing in what looked to be a big mud puddle!
In case you wonder where you can get a big Buddha for your garden, this was a huge business by the side of the road.
We have watermelon buses in Beaufort. They have coconut trucks!
These cows watched us board our ship
Our first view of the Mekong River
So glad to be on the AmaDara
Tuesday, February 25
This morning we walked into the little village of Angkor Ban, the only village not destroyed b the Khmer rouge. It is over 100 years old. The walk was very interesting, passing by houses, each with a cow or 2 under it. People on scooters and ox carts passing by, lots of interesting vegetation. Our guide Peter stopped to talk to a young woman hanging out her laundry. She told us her mother and her 2 month old baby were in the house and invited us to go up. The house was very crowded-especially when the 20 of us went in-but was clean. The kitchen was sparkling clean but they do most of the cooking under the house because of the heat. We were told that the girl had 5 sisters but she is the youngest so she lives with her parents and will inherit their house. Oliver was very interested in how they sell fuel, both gas and diesel, in these little villages. There are little tables everywhere with 1 liter Pepsi bottles filled with fuel! After the visit, we returned to the ship. We were tied to the side of the river with crude steps cut out of the dirt. We're getting used to the crew making a human chain to get us all safely on and off the ship and make sure we don't roll into the river!
Notice the card table holding the gangway up. That seems safe! Apparently Cambodia doesn't have OSHA.
The entrance to Angkor Ban
The house we visited. They are built on stilts because of termites. Most of the cooking is done outside because of the heat. The yellow room is their bathroom.
Every house had a cow or 2. This little calf was playing with the family dog.
The propane dealer
These little houses are called Spirit Houses. If you by a house, you build one for the people who used to live there! Or for your departed loved ones.Harvesting tobacco
Drying fish
Here is how fuel is sold!
Getting us back on board!
Back on board, with no one in the river, the ship sailed while we ate lunch and then we set off for our afternoon expedition to Oknhatey Village, also known as "Silk Island". We visited a school that AmaWaterways supports and we spent quite a bit of time with a class of 4th graders. This is a private school and there were about 36 students in our class. In the public schools, there are usually over 70 kids in a class! We worked on their pronunciation. Although they have 23 vowels and about 50 consonants and dipthongs, they don't have V or CH or TH or SH. Makes saying Oliver a challenge for them! So we used sentences like "I am going shopping in the shop for food and water" or "Thank you school children very much" or "I think I see a very large chicken". They would watch our lips and tongues and then copy us. They were so adorable and we all left money and school supplies. Then we walked for what seemed like miles on hot dusty roads to the Silk Farm. We saw the silk making process from the tiny worms through the spinning all the way to the finished product. Of course we all bought silk scarves! Fortunately we went back to the ship by tuk tuk. I have never been so dusty in my life-we were coated and so hot and sweaty. After long hot showers, it was cocktail time followed by another great dinner then off to bed. We continue to be surprised by just how strenuous this trip is!
The entrance to the school
Silkworms
the eggs
the larvae
spinning the silk
Weaving the silk
tuk tuk back to ship
This was our dock. When we came back, there was a dog sleeping in the middle of the sandbags and they told us-go around the dog!
Wednesday, February 26
Today is Ash Wednesday and we are off to a Buddhist monastery for a blessing. There are less than 1% of the population that is Christian so no imposition of ashes for us!
The ship sailed just a short way and docked in the heart of Phnom Penh. After we boarded our bus our guide shared info about Buddhism with us. In the Hindu religion they have 3 gods: Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma. The Buddhists have just 1 -Buddha. He explained that it is more a way of living than a religion. They believe strongly in karma-you get served what you deserve. There are over 500 million Buddhists around the world. Interestingly, they don't all worship the exact same Buddha. There is Skinny Buddha in Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam and Smiling Fat Buddha in Hong Kong and other countries. The first precept of Buddhism is no killing, no stealing, no slander, no intoxicants (why I will never be a Bhuddist) and no adultery. The second precept is no makeup (reason #2 for me), no entertainment and no dinner on Buddhist days-new moon, half moon, waxing moon, empty moon.
There are lay men and women in the monastery who are not monks but they adhere to a very strict lifestyle including no sex and no dinner-only 2 meals a day. Meditation is key to clear your mind of the monkey mind! They learn how to be happy inside your own mind. And there is a peacefulness that is noticeable in these people.
We visited Oudong, which was the former capital of Cambodia, about 22 miles north of Phnom Penh. Much of the village was destroyed in the 1970s when there were air strikes against the Khmer rouge fighters based there. The Oudong Monastery was built between 1997 and 2004 at a cost of 24 million US and is the largest monastery in Cambodia. There are about 100 monks and a couple hundred laymen and women. Older people who have no homes can come here and live free for the rest of their lives.
We removed our shoes, went into the temple and sat down. There were 2 monks sitting facing us and after explanation from our guide, the monks started chanting. They each had a bowl of jasmine flowers in front of them and towards the end of the blessing, they tossed the flowers at us. After the 8 minute blessing, we had our picture taken with the monks. We had to be very careful not to touch them. If a woman touches a monk's robes, they have to be thrown away! We walked around to see the other buildings in the monastery-the dining hall, the residences of the monks, the "rest home" and tiny little one room houses where up to 4 people live!
Every morning t 5 they do the chanting. Then they clean and have breakfast. Then men carry bowls of rice around the village for donations or money. They must eat their lunch before 12. At 1, they go to school until 5 and then go back to chant. How to become a monk? You must have permission from the Authority, the Master Man and your family. Monks follow over 8000 disciplines!!
Buddha is lit up with LED lights!
This is another Buddha on the grounds. You can see he is Skinny Buddha!
This lady was on her way to lunch and our guide talked with her and showed us her utensils. She lives in one of the tiny houses behind her. She has family who would like her to live with them but she says she is happy in the monastery.
Having lunch
We continued on national highway 5, which is under construction, before we reached the village of Kampong Tralach. There we all got into ox carts for a 25 minute ride.It was quite rough but lots of fun. Little children followed us, handing us flowers and woven rings. We were told not to give them money, as this encourages them to follow tourists instead of going to school. They were so precious it was hard not to give in, but some of our group had stickers and little books that they gave them. Another hour bus ride brought us back to the AmaDara for lunch.
This "safety bar" kept me from falling out and being trampled to death
Not everybody here is poor
This mausoleum, which holds one person, cost $70 US
Most of the towns look like this
After lunch we all piled into tuk tuks for our tour of Phnom Penh, which is famous for it's French architecture and wide busy boulevards. We visited the Independence Monument, built in 1958 to celebrate their independence of the country from French rule. We returned to the ship for a quick shower and then we were treated to a dance performance by a group of young people. They performed a blessing dance, a couple of classical dances, and a social dance. They were all between the ages of 17 and 22 and want to be teachers, a lawyer, an engineer and a hotel manager! Very entertaining. We had a traditional Cambodian dinner and all the servers were dressed in beautiful Cambodian dresses.
Our Captain
Independence Monument, shaped like a lotus flower
Monument to King Sihanouk
The dancers were so graceful
Thursday, February 27
After our usual hearty breakfast, we boarded our bus headed for the Killing Fields. The Khmer rouge took over Phnom Penh from the Republican Party, primarily because the US quit supporting the Republicans.In 1962 the King of Cambodia visited China. The Viet Cong hid along the Ho Chi Minh trail. Cambodia presented itself as neutral but secretly supported the VC, often hiding them in their homes. Over 70% of Cambodia was dominated by the VC The US bombed in order to root out the VC. The people were angry at their Republican Party for inviting the US to bomb their country. The people welcomed the rouge because they thought that the Khmer rouge would keep them safe. Within 3 days, there were soldiers on the streets with loudspeakers telling the people to leave and go to the rural areas. The people had to walk, because there were no buses. Then they started calling people back into the city, teachers and lawyers and doctors, locking them up and torturing them, forcing them to say they were either CIA or KGB. Once they admitted this, they were forced to give 2 or 3 other names. Then they were killed. Their relatives many times never knew what had happened to them. A reporter came to Cambodia and reported to Congress that the genocide was happening. On December 2, 1978 the Vietnamese sent over 200,000 soldiers to force the Khmer rouge out, two weeks before the United Nations was going to come in. The UN supported the Khmer rouge in exile in Thailand because the KR said that the Vietnamese had invaded Cambodia. In 1977 Pol Pot was arrested and died 8 months later. In 1993 there were elections that resulted in 2 Prime Ministers, the losing party and the winning party. Crime was rampant-the soldiers were armed and robbed people on the side. Although there are elections here, they are not fair and the same people have been in power for 34 years. The war ended in 1998.
8986 bodies have been excavated from 86 mass graves. Our guide Peter lost 2 uncles, and aunt and his 14 year old sister. His older brother was found alive 2 years later. 200 executioners were used, all 15-16 years old. They dug graves all day, then drank, then killed. There are 385 different killing sites. Sometimes as many as 500 people were killed in 1 night. People were led from trucks, hands tied and blindfolded, stood in a grave and hit with an axe. Then DDT was poured over the bodies to make sure they were dead and to make room for more bodies.
China backed the Khmer Rouge and Russia backed the Vietnamese, which is why the Vietnamese dared to come into Cambodia. The Paris Peace Accord in 1991 freed Cambodia from Vietnam.
What a terrible place. We saw a building of skulls, all categorized by age, sex and method of death. When mothers with tiny babies came here, the babies were killed in a very brutal way. There were 600 people who worked in the prison in Phnom Penh. 20000 people were held there but just 7 people were known to have survived. A guy who could repair typewriters was spared, as did a painter. The other 5 have died in the past few years. Children as young as 5 were tortured and brainwashed to follow the regime. We saw the 2 survivors and were told they are happy to have visitors so that the story is not lost.
It was just in 2007 that the head of the prison and the head of state were sentenced to life in prison. The current government discouraged trials in international courts because they were implicated in the genocide. The US has sent $34 million a year to Cambodia to help fund land mine location, education and other projects.
I took lots of pictures at the Killing Field but don't want to post them because they are so upsetting. Here are a few, though.
This is what the mass grave sites look like. There are signs telling how many bodies were found.
Visitors, often relatives of victims, come and bring bracelets and other mementos.
This building is packed bottom to top with the skulls of victims. There are also displays of clothes that were found as well as other bones.
the 2 survivors
The key perpetrators of the crimes
At the prison. There were hundreds of pictures of those imprisoned here, many young children.
We were all very quiet on our way back from this distressing excursion. In the afternoon we took a trip to see the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda. In 1993, the King became something of a figurehead and many of the buildings on the grounds of the Royal Palace are closed. The Palace was built between 1432-1434. It was abandoned until 1866. It was moved from Oudong when the French came and was reconstructed in 1916-1920. The current King was crowned in 2004. He is the son of King Sihanouk. The throne room was where the thrones of the King and Queen were, except there is currently no Queen! The current King is 68 and single and it is considered an offense to speculate as to why that might be. The silver pagoda had a solid gold and diamond statue and an emerald Buddha. The floor was silver, although we walked on a rug and the silver was very tarnished. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside.
The building with the blue shutters is where the King lives.
The coronation clothes for the King and Queen-if there was one!
Traditional Cambodian clothes for each day on the week. Kind of like day of the week underwear!
We saw this mobile funeral parlor!
After a quick shower, we had another delicious dinner followed by karaoke, which is a HUGE deal in Cambodia and Vietnam. It was hilarious and Son made it even more fun. He kept us laughing non-stop for 2 hours. Of course Oliver was a willing participant!
Friday, February 28
We are cruising from Cambodia to Vietnam today so we slept in, had a big breakfast and sat on the deck and enjoyed the scenery. We had a presentation on Life in Vietnam after 1975 by our cruise manager, Son. In 1958 the French invaded Vietnam and basically treated the Vietnamese as slaves. Ho Chi Minh signed onto a ship to travel and learn about the French and the Russians. He founded the Communist party in 1930. In 1946 a war between Ho Chi Minh's army and the French started and continued until 1954. The US supported the French to prevent the spread of communism.
The Vietnam (American War it is called here) started in 1965. Saigon was supported heavily by the US and thrived. High rises, premium liquors, cigarettes scooters and cars were available. In the north, in Hanoi, life was very rudimentary. On April 30, 1975 Saigon fell and the name of the country was changed to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. There was a centrally planned economy from 1976-1985. North Vietnam was used to this but in South Vietnam the rice farmers were stripped of their land and all their equipment, The farmers had to give all their crops to the government and they received in return 30%. The government kept 70% and distributed it to people who didn't farm.
Son's father joined the army in 1969 and was sent to Cambodia, on the Ho Chi Minh trail. He was shot in the leg and sent home. Son says his father is grateful to the American who shot him because otherwise he might have been killed. There were no jobs so his dad worked on a farm collective. Someone asked what the Vietnamese think of Americans. He said that most Vietnamese were born after the war and feel no attachment or attitude towards the war. Also, Vietnam has always been at war so in many ways, this was just another one. A passenger once asked Son if he could meet someone who fought in the war because he had been an American pilot. Son introduced him to his father and Jim, the American, said I'm so sorry. I was just a teenager and I did what I was told. Son's dad asked why is he saying he's sorry? He didn't start the war! Son's dad went to school to become an accountant. His education was free but then the government got to tell him where he had to work. He ended up in a train station as an accountant.
When you bought something, you paid in coupons and cash. If you had cash but no coupons, you couldn't buy. If you had coupons but no cash, you couldn't buy. It was the government's way of making everyone equal! The amount of everything they could buy-rice, meat, vegetables, etc.-was set out every month.
Son's family had no electricity until he was 17. Every day the government would have loudspeakers telling the people how lucky they were to live in Vietnam, the richest country in the world!
Son says-the planned economy produced a generation of very lazy people. Since everybody received the same amount, why work hard? But what happened was, the 705 the government got kept getting smaller and smaller and the 30% the people got was less and less. If you had a pig, you couldn't slaughter it and feed your family. You had to give it to the government and they would distribute YOUR pig and you might not get any of it. If you were caught slaughtering a pig, you went to jail. Does this sound familiar? In 1975, all the property of 60 wealthy Vietnamese was confiscated because "you made this money off the blood of poor people", They were sent to prison-for being rich. In 1986 the government decided to move towards a market economy, allowing people to work their own rice fields and keep or sell what they raised. By 1989, not only did they raise enough for themselves, they started exporting and now are the 3rd largest rice exporter in the world. Go figure.
We had a good lunch and then Oliver took a long nap. There were lots of activities going on all day. At 4:45 we arrived at the Vietnam border and the local authorities boarded the ship to check passports and take everybody's temperature, including all guests, the crew and the Captain. We were all relieved that the Captain passed! We got ready for the cocktail party that AMA always gives for passengers who have been on other cruises. This is our 5th cruise but there was a travel agent on his 9th! We were invited to the Captain's table for dinner-except the Captain wasn't there! We were hosted by Son and Conny, the hotel manager and we had a great time with them and the other 3 guests. After dinner the crew put on a talent show and it was a hoot.
The Vietnamese officials leaving our ship at the border between Cambodia and Vietnam
Approaching our anchorage for the night
Saturday, February 29
We anchored in the middle of the river overnight so this morning after breakfast we got on small local boats for our morning tour of a small island called Evergreen Island followed by a tour of Tan Chau, a city of about 200,000 people. The island is home to 1000 people and is a very poor area. We docked at a VERY primitive dock and then walked around the island. We stopped at one house and chatted with the man and woman who lived there-via our guide of course as they didn't speak English. They told us they have 7 children, most of them living in the city. They have a young grandson who lives with them. They make money selling cow manure to farmers-they have 8 cows themselves! As we left our guide gave them some money to thank them for their time. After that, we visited the home of a young bachelor! His house was neat and clean, he had a refrigerator that he opened-it contained just water and vegetables. He also had a real bathroom, with a shower! Many of the houses don't even have doors and our guide said if you want to visit someone, you just go to their house. No invitation or calling ahead!
We passed many interesting sites along the river.
This is someone's houseboat!
This is a dock! You walk along that tree limb to get to shore!
These ladies were working in the field
Good thing he's got those tires to keep from messing up his boat!
I guess our dock wasn't so bad after all!
After we got back in our small boat, we went to Tan Chau. First we stopped at a mat making factory. They mostly make mats by machine now but some are still handmade and are VERY expensive! They had a great gift shop and everybody bought something. We all climbed into rickshaws-after we got a lesson in how to get in and out-and went to a silk factory. We saw how they make silk by machine and then-the gift shop! Lots more buying by everyone. We've done more shopping on this trip than we have ever done. Another rickshaw ride took us to the small boat that took us back to the ship. We had a great lunch today! Oliver took a nap while I showered and went to the lounge to see Son's presentation on Vietnamese marriages! Surprisingly, Oliver was not interested in that!
We had dinner in the Chef's Table restaurant and it was amazing. It's a 7 course tasting menu and everything was wonderful but especially the steak, perfectly cooked and fork tender.
We passed this rice factory.
Taking a bath in the river!
On the rickshaw
Good job getting out Oliver!!
At the mat factory
Dinner at the Chef's Table
Our treasures!
A lovely evening on our balcony
Sunday, March 1
Impossible to believe it's March already! Every day here has been the same, hot and sunny. Last night we were anchored once again in the middle of the river, so for our morning excursion, we hopped back into our little boats and headed into Sa Dec. We visited a house called the Lover's House, named after a book and later movie written by Marguerite Duras. She was French but lived in Sa Dec where her mother ran a school. When she was just 15, she met the 27 year old son of a wealthy Chinese family and they fell in love. The affair was not to be and they both went on the marry someone else.
Sa Dec was at one time a very large city. During the Vietnam war, it was the site of an American Swift Boat base. Today there are about 103,000 people here. We then visited the colorful, crowded, chaotic market! There were people everywhere on scooters with huge bags of fruits and vegetables, and men pushing pushcarts yelling Yo-Yo, which I gathered meant Get Out of My Way! Fruits and vegetables like nothing we have ever seen. And then the fish! Buckets of live frogs, eels, fish flipping around. Chickens waiting to be "euthanized" and other swimming animals I didn't recognize. Our guide told us his Mom goes to the market twice a day to shop for the family.
The Lover's House
The outside of the market
The crazy chaotic market
We returned to the ship and I packed while we waited for lunch. While we ate, the ship moved downstream and anchored near the town of Cai Be. At one time this was the administrative, economic and political center of South Vietnam. Today it has about 275,000 inhabitants. The big draw is the floating markets. All transactions are conducted on the water, where stall holders sell from larger boats and hang tasting samples from poles. 
The floating markets
You can even buy trees
People live in these houses, some of which are falling into the river.
After lunch on the ship, we once again took the small boat into town. We visited a family rice paper and coconut candy workshop. Oliver was brave and tasted the Mekong whiskey-moonshine made with snakes in it/ Supposed to be very therapeutic, especially for bad backs.
This lady is making rice paper, used for spring rolls
popping rice
They poured sugar in the huge wok and caramelized it, then added popped rice
Then they press it out like Rice Krispies Treats
The Mekong moonshine
Then we went to Kiet's house, a 150 year old house in the traditional Vietnamese architecture. The house had very detailed carvings and was surrounded by beautiful gardens with many different types of flowers and fruit trees. Our small boat had to make it's way down a narrow canal, very African Queen like!
On our way to Kiet's house
Inside the house
It was good to see our ship at the end of this long afternoon
We quickly showered and changed and then we were treated to a beautiful show with traditional Vietnamese instruments and songs. It was really lovely and of course, as always, we bought the DVD!
We were introduced to the Captain and crew before our wonderful farewell dinner. Our sweet little waitress was Phallin (pronunced Pal-un) and she really liked Oliver. He was the only one that got FOUR scoops of ice cream!
Monday, March 2
We had our last breakfast with our friends from Glasgow, Leslie and Maureen. We all gave Phallin a little something extra-and she told Oliver she loved him!!
We boarded our green bus again and headed for Ho Chi Minh city-parts of which are still called Saigon. We stopped for a Happy Room break before arriving at the oldest temple in the Chinatown area. The temple is 260 years old and is dedicated to the Goddess of the Sea. It is a working temple and we saw people lighting incense and praying for relatives. After that we stopped at the beautiful post office, a busy place with lots of gift shops inside. Afterwards we went to the beautiful Sofitel Plaza hotel. We had a great lunch and checked into our lovely room.
The temple
These baskets are incense and the place really smelled!!!
The Post Office
Notre Dame Cathedral
The white building in the background is the same one as in the picture our guide is holding. It shows the building, which he said was our CIA office, being evacuated as Saigon fell. Our embassy was also near here but has been moved since.
A brief rest
Our view was beautiful
Back on the bus, we stopped at the Reunification Palace, which used to be the President's home and office. When Saigon fell, 2 tanks came through the front gates. The President fled to the US.
The rooms were very lavishly decorated.
Next we visited the War Remnants Museum. It was previously known as the War Crimes Museum-and that is all I have to say about that. The attitude is somewhat different in Saigon versus Hanoi. After that very disturbing visit, we went to the Ben Thanh Market, one of the biggest markets in southeast Asia. It is huge-with over 1500 separate stalls. Some are controlled by the government and are fixed price, but the rest you can bargain with. We bought a couple of small things before returning to the hotel. We were exhausted so we just went up to the beautiful pool bar for drinks before bed.
I had a very restless night. Karen texted me to say that Skipper was quite sick. He had diarrhea and was very lsitless. I aksed her to take him to our vet and he stayed for several hours for blood work and xrays. Between texting with Karen and Dr. Jess, I didn't get much sleep. He came home and is kind of mopey but did eat dinner. He will have an ultrasound when we get home. We're really thankful to have Karen.
Tuesday, March 3
Our last day here! We had a great breakfast and then set out for the Cuu Chi tunnels. About 1/2 million tons of bombs fell on this 50 square mile area. The Viet Cong hid out in the forests near the tunnels so napalm was used to clear them out. This was where the picture of the naked girl running down the highway was taken. The tunnel is now 150 miles long and 3 levels deep. It took 20 years to build the tunnel. It was started in the French War. There were 16000 Viet Cong and guerillas in the Cu Chi area but only about 2000 in the tunnel. So right at the beginning of the tour there's a sign saying who should NOT go down into the tunnel. Number 4 was "People of an old age-70 or more". Someone called out :Everybody back to the bus!".
We had a tunnel guide who showed us how they hid the tunnel entrances. He went down one little bitty square entrance and then came out of another one several yards away! We went thru several bunkers and then thru several tunnels, crouching down because it's very low and narrow. There were cooking bunkers, resting bunkers, medical bunkers. They had an ingenious method of venting the smoke far from the kitchen and close to the ground so it looked like mist and not give them away. Smaller American soldiers would go into the tunnels looking for the VC. They were called tunnel rats and were often ambushed. We saw a very disturbing exhibit of different kinds of booby traps, all with spikes designed to puncture different parts of the body and most covered with something nasty on the spikes to cause infection.
One of the interesting things we saw was how they made sandals out of old tires. They would make some of the sandals to go on the foot backwards so that it was harder to track them-it looked like they were going the other way!
This was a fascinating tour and definitely one of the highlights of the trip.
The Viet Cong
The tunnels
The Medical Bunker
Into the tunnels
A bunker where clothes were made
Our tunnel guide
He's behind you!!
Demonstrating sandal making
Back at the hotel, we had one last drink on the pool deck and turned in for our 3:45 AM wakeup call.
March 4, 2020
Heading home
March 5
Home safe and sound. This was an amazing trip on so many levels and we will never forget it. We learned so much and we enjoyed getting to know the Cambodian and Vietnamese people up close and personal. They are a friendly and cheerful people, despite the conditions they have and still endure. We have a much better appreciation of this part of the world and we would love to return some day.
A tired boy says it all
