Hello Hanoi!

Literature Temple:

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

Ho Chi Minh Residence

Ngoc Son Temple & Restored Sword Lake

Bat Trang Ceramic Village

Walking through Hanoi old quarter

Traditional Water Puppet Show:

Our first impression of Vietnam was quite different to Cambodia. We arrived at 11pm and found the streets to be surprisingly empty and quiet. Our guide explained Vietnam has a strict midnight curfew whereby all restaurants, bars and shops must be closed and everyone must be in their homes. This gave us insight into the way the communist government rules in the country. 

The following day was jam packed with the main sites to see in Hanoi. We first visited the Literature temple, the first university of Vietnam where many Vietnamese intellectuals of the past have studied. The site was then converted into a Temple and is today a popular worship place for students to pray for their exams to go well. Not going to lie we were very tempted to pray ourselves for our upcoming exam results. 

Second, we walked along square where the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum lies. The large square reminded us a lot of Beijing's Tiananmen square. At the end of the Mausoleum was Ho Chi Minh's famous residence. To our surprise his actual was quite humble but was surrounded by a beautiful botanic garden and lake. 

Our afternoon was divided between the Ceramic Village, Ngoc Son Temple and a traditional Water Puppet show. We thought the temple was pretty cool as it was situated right in the middle of Hanoi's West Lake. 

Perhaps the most exciting part of our day however was walking through the lively streets of Hanoi and exploring the local markets filled with strange foods and many chickens. We had a number of near death experiences crossing the streets packed with motorcycles coming from every direction. We can proudly say we have mastered the art of crossing busy streets in places like Hanoi: just close your eyes and walk with confidence!

Food, Food, Food...Cambodia Edition!

As per usual our last post about our visit to Cambodia is all about food. We were pleasantly surprised by Khmer (Cambodian) cuisine as non of us had any idea what to expect. Cambodian food is very similar to Thai food but is not as spicy and instead uses a lot of pepper. In particular, Cambodia is known for its Kampot Black Pepper, an ideal souvenir to bring back. Our favorite dishes were Amok and Lok Lak. Amok is a delicious coconut based curry dish usually made with fish and served in a coconut shell. Lok Lak on the other hand is a beef dish that is accompanied by steamed rice and lime juice and pepper sauce which was a simple yet perfect addition to the dish.

Amok

Lok Lak

Paying Our Respects

The most striking part of our time in Phnom Penh was visiting the S-21 prison and the Choeung Ek Killing Fields. We were shocked by the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge regime who terrorised the country in the 1970's. Words cannot describe the emotions felt and chilling effect of walking through 86 mass graves at the Killing Fields and the torture and holding cells at the S-21 prison. Our guide Sarik told us of the brutal manner in which the Khmer Rouge executed innocent people. It was particularly painful learning about The Killing Tree, where hundreds of babies and children were massacred, keeping in line with the Khmer Rouge maxim: "When you dig up the grass, you must even remove the roots".

We still find it difficult to understand why and how this genocide occurred. It's heartbreaking to hear how the whole country is still plagued by the cruel acts of the Khmer Rouge to this day. However, it is important for us to hear these heartbreaking stories and visit these chilling sites to raise awareness and prevent such horrors from happening again in the future.

Promanading in Phnom Penh

The rest of our time was dedicated to Cambodia's capital. This was a vast change in scenery from the ancient ruins in Siem Reap to the bustling streets of Phnom Penh. Upon arrival, our touring of the city began. We visited Phnom Penh's main attractions: the Royal Palace, the symbolic Wat Phnom buddhist temple and Ounalom Monastery. We had the opportunity to experience an authentic buddhist worship ceremony, where we learnt how to chant a Buddhist hymn and received blessings from a monk. 

Royal Palace

Wat Phnom 

Ounalom Monastery

Our second day took us outside the city and truly into the wild. At the Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center, we were ambushed by monkeys and a strange reindeer-like animal who slobbered all over Ila (although this was probably due to the fact that we were carrying a whole bunch of bananas). Louise managed to capture on video a brief moment of Ila and I-Mae's freak out. The rest of our trip to the wildlife rescue center went a bit more smoothly and we got to see lions, leopards, bears, more monkeys, tigers and elephants. 

Our tour guide Sarik kindly showed us around the village he grew up in. We were warmly welcomed by his large family and were offered fresh coconut to drink. It was really nice to experience a local Cambodian village and their way of life.  

Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center

Local Cambodian Village

Tuk-Tuk ride

So long Cambodia, it's been a pleasure and we'll definitely be coming back! 

The 8th Wonder of the World

Our visit to the 8th wonder of the world began with a slight fashion hiccup where Louise's pants ripped. This was easily fixed thanks to I-mae's scarf and Ila's sari-wrapping skills. Despite this hitch, we spent an amazing day exploring one of the most beautiful sites we've ever seen. Below you can see a snippet of the incredible sites we were lucky to visit (although of course even a good camera lens cannot capture their true magnificence): 

Angkor Wat: 'The 8th wonder of the world'

Ta Prohm: 'The temple grounded on tree roots'

 Angkor Thom - Bayon Temple: 'The temple with the multiple faces of the Buddha'

Our day was made even more memorable by a number of interesting encounters. At Angkor Wat we were approached by a curious young monk who wanted to briefly chat with us and share words of wisdom. We later learned that many monks enjoy coming to this site to improve their english skills by speaking to tourists. In a unique shot I-mae managed to capture this moment.

Our second encounter was a little less enlightening. We had a true paparazzi moment while attempting to take a picture of the three of us in one of Ta Prohm's tree roots. We were swarmed by a group of Chinese tourists who were fascinated by our European looks and had to stand in the heat for a good 15 minutes whilst we took pictures with each individual of the group. 

As Louise told her mom "The temples in Siem Reap should definitely be on anyones bucket list"

Sour Sday Cambodia!

After an early start we finally arrived in Siem Reap, Cambodia, ready and excited for our second week of travelling. 

Chong Kneas Floating Villages 

Fresh off the plane we visited one of Cambodia's authentic floating villages. Setting sail from the local fish harbour we travelled along the Tonle Sap Lake to reach the village. 60 families lived in these unique floating homes. We were impressed to see a fully working community with schools, supermarkets, a church and temple, and even the typical souvenir store. A funny site was watching kids on barrels making their way to school. To round off the tour our guide showed us the village's crocodile farm, a small enclosure in the lake. Walking around the enclosure freaked us out quite a bit as there was only a thin piece of wood beneath our feet and the crocodiles.

Siem Reap Buddhist Temple:

Artisans Angkor Workshop:

Lunch and Dinner:

We could not start our first day without tasting traditional Cambodian (what they call Khmer) cuisine. For lunch we had the local Amok dish, delicious! At night we walked to the centre of town narrowly avoiding being hit by the thousands of Tuk Tuks and motorcycles around us. We got a feel of the night life on pub street and had some really good stir fried noodles for only $2! We also got the chance to practice our bargaining skills at the busy night market and made some pretty good deals which will definitely be worn in future posts.