Southeast Asia - Spring, 2023

May 17, 2023: Home - final post

Home now and sharing a few more moments I will carry with me.

Hammock coffee shops are popular in rural Vietnam; such a brilliant idea!

Sleeping in Saigon, when and where you can.

Companions on errands in a Hanoi market.

A typical family outdoor kitchen in the Mekong Delta; I admire the practical storage of the lids.

This is 'Little Chef' whom we watched from our hotel window in Saigon. He/she works in this third floor kitchen for a restaurant located on the ground level.  Little Chef arrives about 4:00 pm, feeds the cats that live in the kitchen goes out to the terrace for 30 minutes of calisthenics (as seen here), and gets to work! Late at night after cleaning up, damp towels are hung around the patio to dry. A disciplined individual.

We hiked through two villages in this North Vietnam valley, just below the border with China, guided by a local Red Dao, May Lin.  She is from one of the many mountain tribes that migrated here from China centuries ago. Early in the hike she reached into some indigo bushes at the side of the road, grabbing bunches of leaves, thrust them into our hands, and told us to rub vigorously.  After a few moments she poured water on the ball of leaves. 'Harder' she kept saying! As we rubbed, she explained that when selecting a bride, men don't care about a woman's face or other features, they look at her hands to see how hard she works.  The Red Dao tribe uses indigo to make batik clothing and decorative items for use at home and for sale.  She had us drop the leaf wad, keep walking, and 10 minutes later looked at our hands.

The amount of indigo staining indicated our marriageability.  While Debby and Wanda received admiration from May Lin; she sighed at me (at 11 o'clock), saying I would never marry.  I simply did not work hard enough. May Lin, at 7 o'clock, is displaying the natural state of her hands.

This adventure was amazing in ways I am still integrating.  Although I fell in love with Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, it was Vietnam that we came to see. The Vietnamese War was a backdrop to our youth and young adult years and the opportunity to touch her soil launched us on this trip. Deb and I assuaged some demons from our past and learned a tremendous amount about the land, history, culture, and beautiful people of these countries.  And I got to spend time with the gentle soul I call 'Sista'. 

May 7, Saigon

Revisiting events from the Vietnam War in Saigon.

Remember the top photo as the US evacuated Saigon in 1973? It was taken at the Saigon CIA headquarters, although often misattributed as being at the US Embassy building. Turns out the place is sill standing, although now a Vietnamese government building (photographed here from a different side).  Amazing to see it while walking down the street.

The original US embassy as the evacuation airlift was underway and the site today. The building was torn down by the US and rebuilt as our Consulate in Saigon, the embassy now being in Hanoi.

One of the preserved bunkers beneath homes in Saigon used by the Viet Cong to support the 1968 Tet Offensive. That's a blocked tunnel entrance on the back wall.

The Cu Chi Tunnels west of Saigon extend for roughly 125 miles and were a base from which the Viet Cong harassed American and ARVN forces. In some places they are three levels deep, providing weapons storage, meeting rooms, bathrooms, wells, first aid stations, and sleeping and cooking quarters. Meals for the troops were all made in the morning when the vented smoke was camouflaged by mist.  A park guide demonstrates an entrance point and we had the opportunity to crawl around in several sections.

Fake termite mounds used to camouflage ventilation pipes.

We had the opportunity to meet with Mr. Mông, a Viet Cong veteran who served in the tunnels from age 17-23 as a guerrilla fighter. After losing an arm to shrapnel, he continued to serve in the tunnels as a supply clerk. He spoke openly with us about his experience and reflections, concluding by asking us to remember that no one should go to war.

My seatmate buckling in her stuffed animal as we head to Hanoi. She slept most of the way with her head in her mother's lap and her bare feet in mine. We were all quite comfortable.

May 4, 2023 - Cambodia

Falling behind here, but one more post on Cambodia -- the amazing experience of walking through Angkor Wat, the largest Buddhist, formerly Hindu, temple site in the world. Built in the early 12th century of stone brought by elephant and man from a quarry about 50 km away. The entire site composed the city of Angkor, former capitol of Cambodia, housing a mind-blowing population of 900,000 and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Ta Prohm, also called the Jungle Temple, another site within the area.

Bayon Temple, famous for the faces carved in the stone -- believed to be either Buddha, King Jayavarman VII, or a mashup of both.

Soeng

Our guides throughout this 14-person Overseas Adventure Travel trip have been wonderful and are folks from the areas we visit. Soeng grew up in the present town of Angkor Wat and used to play hide-and-seek with his brother in the temple sites. His knowledge and delight in the architecture and history of the temples is a gift. On our last night here we sat on the moat wall across from Angkor Wat temple with cold beers, watching storm clouds, and enjoying smoked snake, alligator, and buffalo.

April 30, 2023 - Cambodia

Actually I'm now in Vietnam and it's Reunification Day celebration, although the north and south were not officially unified until 7/2/76. But it's a wild night and I'm heading out soon. So just sharing a few more photos from Cambodia - I have fallen in love with this country.

Woman selling lotus pods at the side of the road.

Debby picking up our laundry.

One of hundreds of floating villages on Lake Tonlé Sap,

note the solar panel on the roof.

First time I've seen unharvested rice.

Bags of colored water hung around our outdoor restaurant to keep the flys away and it works!

April 28, 2023 - Cambodia

A somber part of this trip, yet one I am eager to continue learning about, is visiting the Killing Fields and the Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh; although it left me pretty hollowed out. I know my understanding of the Khmer Rouge is incomplete, but the messaging they promoted about what constitutes an enemy of the people and the paranoia of the leadership sounds an eerie echo to what is happening in the US today.  I realize that's a big leap, but ...

The killing field at Choeung Ek, is one of over a thousand mass grave sites attributed to the reign of the Khmer Rouge (1975-79). This is a Buddhist memorial in the center of the site composed of skulls from a portion of those interred here. It is estimated that 25% of Cambodia's population were killed under this regime through execution, starvation, forced labor, or withheld medical care. All living Cambodian's seem to have a personal story connected with the Khmer Rouge. Our 35 year old guide lost seven family members.

We had the opportunity to meet with two survivors of the brutal S21 prison. Norng Chan Phal, on the left was 9 years old when he arrived at the prison with his mother and younger brother days before the collapse of the KR.  The boys were abandoned a few days later as the guards killed as many prisoners as they could (which including their mother) before abandoning the prison to the Vietnamese who successfully routed the KR. The children hid under a pile of dirty laundry for ten days in the vacant prison kitchen, scavenging food until the Vietnamese soldiers found them and eventually got them to an orphanage. The other gentleman, Bou Meng, now 92, spent two years in the prison. As an artist he had value to the KR and they had him document images of prison life. Although they continued to beat him, they avoided injuring his hands.  He was found in his cell by the Vietnamese liberators.

Leg Shackles

We also visited the Genocide Museum in the former high school that became the S21 prison.  Although an overwhelming experience, it was an opportunity to learn more about these events and to be reminded of our human capacity for cruelty.

Madonna of the Remork. 

I close with a moment in the evening when our remork (motorcycle-pulled carts that transport up to four people around Phnom Penh) passed another and this woman made eye contact.  (Regretfully out of focus.)

April 23rd, 2023 - Laos

I have a thing for confluences and this one is the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers in Luang Prabang. The city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We heard a lot about the trade-offs (public health and ecological management requirements vs. slowed community growth) of such a designation, but apparently the leadership in Luang Prabang feel it's an overall benefit. 

Commuters from smaller villages cross the Mekong to work in Luang Prabang, the largest city in the area.

Unknown to me a 'secret war' led by the US from '64 to '73 made Laos the most heavily bombed neutral country in history. 30% of the remaining ordnances are undetonated and a serious risk to the rural people, as they continue to work their way to the surface. This home across the street from our guest house uses old bomb casings as a statement. The second photo shows trinkets made from bomb scrap metal sold in the street markets.

65% of the Laotian population is Buddhist and this is the best dressed monk I have ever seen.

Women preparing to enter a temple courtyard with flowers and water to participate in washing the temple's Buddha statue. This special ceremony was initiated in response to the severe drought in Laos, in hopes of bringing rain.

Caves outside the city where figures of the Buddha continued to be placed as they have for the past 800 years.

Door handle

A friendly, but shy boy followed a group of us around this village outside Luang Prabang as we met with village elders to learn about their economy and taste local food (deep fried buffalo lung).

I was curious about these eggs and learned (via gesture) that the woman who runs this food cart chips a small hole in each egg, pours the contents out, whips them together, adds seasoning, pours them back in the shells, and cooks them on a brasier. Customers pop them into their pocket to enjoy later. I had mine immediately and loved it.

Deb and I enjoyed cold beers and people watching above the night market on a 95-degree evening.

April 20th, 2023 - Bangkok

Breathtaking to observe how traffic culture in Bangkok allows two-wheeled vehicles to ride on the lane line, between cars and buses.  At red lights motorized two-wheelers slide up to the front of the pack and take off together as the light turns green.  (Photo from the front seat of a bus.)

Visited the Grand Palace Complex, over 300 years old, and a mix of Thai, Cambodian, Hindu, Buddhist, and probably more architecture and art. I love that the courtyards seem to embrace the centuries of influence from the broader region into Thailand.

My favorites are the Chinese carved limestone figures that arrived as ballast with Thai traders returning from selling rice to China.

A beautiful Banyan tree of the type it is believed The Buddha received enlightenment under.

The impressive Yaksha. Large mythological Buddhist warriors who keep away evil spirits and exist in both male and female form, most often located at temple sites, but also in the Bangkok airport.

A street vendor outside the Palace Complex. I am befuddled that so many Thai respond to the heat (100 today) by covering their bodies entirely as this woman has. They say it 'protects' them from the heat.

Random street art - loved that the artist just chipped this out of a cement (?) wall.

During a cruise on the King's River (Chao Phraya), we find this little shrine at the front of the boat -- I'm told it's part of the animism that comfortably sits within this 90% Buddhist population. Such offerings are apparently often seen on various forms of transportation honoring the spiritual essence of natural phenomena. In this case honoring the spirit of the river and therefore protecting our boat. I certainly didn't see any such offerings on the motorcycles.

April 17, 2023 - Bankok

Bangkok airport is as modern and digital as you'd expect, however, if your luggage does not arrive, a tape recorder placed in a luggage bin circulates providing instructions on what to do - human problem solving is amazing and my luggage did arrive.

First Day - beauty is everywhere. Debby and I attended a red curry cooking class and the chicken curry produced was delicious. Although, truth be told, I'll likely continue using 'Thai Kitchen' red curry paste in a jar.

Although 95 degrees today, the pool at our hotel did not beckon these guests.

The street food looks amazing! But Debby and I held out for a little place we had heard about -- where we did not order the 'minced pork placenta with basil' or the 'serpent head fish' options. Here I am finishing off the tail of the fried sea bass which was fabulous!