Category: Southeast Asia 2016

Our trip to Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Penang and Singapore in July and August of 2016.

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Grants 12th Birthday – Siem Reap & Penang

Prasat Bakong, Cambodia

Grant had a whirlwind 12th birthday this year! On his birthday we were traveling most of the day so we decided to celebrate on the day before. As you know from the previous post, we spent the day exiting the temples at Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Then Grant wanted to go back to the hotel and go swimming and relax. As we opened the hotel door there were balloons all over and on the bed it spelled out “Happy Birth Day Grant” beautifully displayed in hand cut pieces of green bamboo. His face lit up when he saw it, I was so happy to see him excited! He spent the rest of the day swimming and relaxing, just what a kid wants to do! Then the wind picked up so fast that it knocked stuff over at the pool! We went in and enjoyed a great thunderstorm with lots of lightning! At dinner that night we had champagne and a beautiful dinner, the boys were very happy and in a great mood! Rowan was even hugging Grant 🙂 Then they came out singing with a cake. They weren’t that good at singing Happy Birthday and the tune was something totally different but we didn’t mind. Then at breakfast the next day he got happy face pancakes! The day of travel was long but Grant loves flying so he thought it was special to be taking a few flights on his actual birthday! We arrived in Penang in the afternoon and we’re ready to eat! Penang is one of the greatest food destinations in the world. It is a small island off the coast of the Malaysian peninsula. So food is a fusion of Chinese, Indian, Malay and more! We went to the Red Garden food hawker-food paradise in the middle of town. It was AMAZING, probably 50 stalls of all different kinds of food, you order from a bunch of different ones tell them your table number, you sit in the middle at a table and they bring them to you as they are ready while your waiter brings your drinks. There was so much to choose from it was so hard but we managed to pick a few and all share. There was also live entertainment, some singers and music on the stage. It was a lot of fun and very popular there were tables of people just drinking and talking and having a good time. We certainly did! What we ate is shown in the pictures and descriptions are here: Hokkien Hae Mee- flash fried noodles with a flavorful broth, prawns, chicken, squid, fish cakes, hard boiled egg and hot chili paste. It’s a very popular dish here. Char Kway Teow – total comfort food, big, fat, flat and sloppy noodles with prawns, cockles, bean sprouts, Chinese chives, egg, soy sauce chili, belachan and all fried in pork lard-not for the health conscious! Assam Laksa – one of the most famous Penang dishes and ranked 7th of the best 100 foods in the world! The broth is made by poaching mackerel with tamarind, lemongrass, chilies and shrimp paste and spooned over rice vermicelli. We got back to the hotel and there were even more birthday surprises for Grant! They decorated his bed with candy and balloons and had a nice piece of birthday cake waiting for him. I think he had a really nice 12th birthday 🙂

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Siem Reap, Cambodia

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Landing here felt like landing in a Caribbean airport years ago! It looked tropical with Asian style roofs that curl up on the edges and no gangway to walk onto the plane, just walk across the Tarmac and up the stairs into the plane. The immigration officials were very gruf and have no personality at all, they just yell and scowl, a little scary! Cambodia has a Monarchy with a King who has no power. The Prime Minister rules “as a democracy” on paper but it is run more like Communism or a Dictatorship. But after their horrible past and the Khmer Rouge, this is much better. Unfortunately the country is still littered with land mines and many Cambodians have missing limbs. Many NGO’s have done a lot to de-mine areas and Princess Diana was a very strong advocate and supporter of these programs. There has been a lot of progress but you still can’t wander off in rural areas especially close to the border. The tourist areas are safe thankfully. We visited a land mine museum that was very interesting. The money raised helps support an orphanage on the property that houses and schools children victims of land mines. The locals are some of the kindest and most gracious people I have ever met. I really enjoyed every interaction with each Cambodian I met. The staff at our hotel were falling over themselves to help us, our guide and driver were so patient and helpful. The heartbreaking part was the children beggars who try to sell postcards to tourists for $1 each. Some are as young as 4 or 5 and their English is pretty good. They follow you around and you can see their desperation. Many times we gave them part of our meal that we weren’t going to finish and their eyes lit up. It seems that they don’t get much to eat so that is why they push so hard but they aren’t rude. All the people really made an impression on me in a positive way. The main reason for traveling to Siem Reap is to visit the worlds largest religious site and a UNESCO World Heritage Site-Angkor Wat. I have dreamt about visiting here since I was young and can’t believe I am finally here! There was always something that interested me about Cambodia, not just Angkor Wat but the Khmer Rouge regime and the killing fields and the horrors they endured up to the people helping de-mine the country. We hired a guide and a driver for our time here. It is really needed, there are so many temples to see in these complexes that you really need to tailor your visit to what you are interested in and how much in depth you want to go. Plus it is brutally hot so you need to get there at sunrise to get a head start and end by 12. The van is also needed to drop you off and pick you up, hold your bags, keep cold water, etc. These guys do it everyday so they know the ins and outs. Since we have the boys, we kept things easy, I read up a lot the night before so the guide didn’t have to go through too much with the boys. But he did tailor some fun history towards them. He was a very patient and wise man, he is a former school teacher and has many books written on the temples us he loves photography so he showed us all the good shots and at what angle for the current light! Loved it, and he took our pictures. Poor Grant complained the whole first day but I thought he was being a baby because of the heat. We got back to the hotel and he had a 102.7 fever and slept for about 5 hours, poor thing, I felt so bad an apologized to him and snuggled with him until he went to sleep. We got his fever down and he was ready to go to the pool where we relaxed for the rest of the day. That’s how we spent each day, up way too early, sweat at the temples but stand in awe at each one. Nothing else could make me endure that heat, humidity and still air! Then back to the resort for a shower, nap then pool. Visiting the temples took a lot out of you but was worth every minute. The most memorable was making it to Angkor Wat before sunrise, up at 4, at the temple by 5 and sunrise at 5:30….I’m so happy I got my lazy butt up and out. Our resort was really nice, not a large chain but had all the amenities and local charm. The food was great and the spa was so relaxing! The traditional Cambodian massage is so different but just as nice as others. You get dressed in a loosely fitted “uniform” and get on a cushy mat on the floor. Your clothes stay on and there is no oil. They work your body and move and stretch it in addition to massage. It was a great experience, especially the different teas served before and after the massage. The restaurant served local Cambodian food which was really good! They also offered “western food” but who wants a cheeseburger in Cambodia?? Our guide brought us to some great little spots for lunch totally off the tourist circuit-most memorable! The pictures speak for themselves, besides looking at the whole picture, look at the intricate details carved into the walls, columns, window and door frames. Then remember that Angkor Wat was built in 967 AD! They estimate that there were more than 20,000 people who lived inside the complex just to maintain the temple. It used to be covered in red lacquer and you can see some parts of it still. The temples also had a lot of looting over the years since they were uncovered from overgrown jungle in the late 1800’s-early 1900’s. During the height of the civilization they estimate that there were over a million people living in the area. Today there aren’t that many people living here even with all the tourism that is here now, just amazing to think about that! There are almost 400 temple complexes in this area and we only saw 4 or 5!

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Saigon

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Another big city, Saigon is the biggest located in the south. It is also newer than the capital Hanoi. They still don’t like each other but can’t really talk about it. Since the fall of Saigon in 1975, two years after America left, Vietnam has been ruled by the Communist Party from the north. The south wasn’t happy to be defeated by the north and the north is very happy to have the south now too thus expanding their reach. Most people work for the government and you won’t get any information from them. The few that don’t work for the government, like tour guides for example, will talk, especially southerners. The government has their hand in everything and they don’t like it, especially email and Facebook. The Internet is heavily censored so they don’t see a lot of news, only select things. Plus they watch who they are friends with and what they are saying if they aren’t happy they will be called in. Most of the police are corrupt and the traffic police make a lot of money detaining people for bogus traffic offenses and since they usually have plans, they hold them a long time until they finally pay them to let them go. I am sure this is money that never gets reported to the government! Then when people warn others on Facebook about areas of these traffic stings, they are punished! If you noticed, the city is officially called Ho Chi Minh City because he was the leader of the north and who wanted to reunify the north and south under the Communist Government. Up north in Hanoi he is a hero, down south he is not but they have to pretend he is. They never wanted him or to change the name of the city, so they still call it Saigon. Up north and officially it is called Ho Chi Minh City. Our guide was amazing in the fact that at a lot of the tourist attractions, he skipped all of the HCM statues and propaganda films about how they won the war, and their defeat of America. He was just as unhappy with these tributes and monuments as we would be. The city is separated into districts similar to the way they do it in France with most of the tourist attractions in district 1. Mostly everything was in walking distance so it made things easy for us, especially in the heat. We took a trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels and saw some of the tens of thousands of miles of tunnels in the area northwest of Saigon. The Viet Cong, or VC, were the Communist guerrillas from the north, who dug these tunnels and used them to their advantage against the better supplied American and south Vietnamese. It was amazing to see the tunnels and to try to imagine what it was like for our troops here in this brutally hot, humid jungle climate. The boys loved crawling through the tunnels, I found them a bit claustrophobic! Then when I saw 4 inch long millipedes all over I had no interest in any more tunnels!! Jeff had fun getting to shoot some of the guns used back then like the AK-47, wow was it loud!! We went out to the Chill Bar at the top of a high rise hotel and it was just beautiful! The skyline of Saigon is gorgeous and we had Martinis with a very clear view of the city. A great experience. Some typical tourist attractions to the gorgeous Post Office that looked like an opera house! Amazing architecture and beauty. Notre Dam cathedral is in the middle of the city and beautiful, most of the building materials were brought from France during their long occupation. They converted a lot of poor Vietnamese during the colonial era so you still have a small community of Roman Catholic Vietnamese. How does this work in a Communist government? They are free to choose their religions but they will never have jobs working for the government. The gates in front of the Reunification Palace are a very famous place in history. It is where the Northern tanks crashed through in 1975, two years after America withdrew. They weren’t able to compete with the north who was supplied by Russia and China and without our support anymore, the fell to the north and Communism. After spending a week in this country, I still feel like I am just skimming the surface of understanding the people and politics. There are still so many places we didn’t see in this large country that would allow more understanding. I would have to come back and see more of the central area and countryside. I am happy that the people we have spent time with have been very friendly and gracious.

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Hanoi, Vietnam

Hanoi, Vietnam

Whoa, Hanoi is like nothing I’ve seen, crowded, frenetic, hot, beeping horns, mopeds, heavy traffic but amazing food! It’s a very large city so we situated ourselves right in the heart of the Old Quarter so we would be surrounded by everything we wanted to see. We were also close to the beautiful Hoan Kiem lake a bit of peace and serenity in the city. We did some exploring but had to keep it in short spurts due to the heat. We’d go out for 1-2 hours, see a museum or part of the city then back to the hotel for another shower and rest or swim. We did this a few times a day in order to not burn out and get on each other’s nerves! There’s nothing worse than profusely sweating in mid 90’s temperatures and 100% humidity and to have the kids hanging on to you. So far we have been lucky with no rainy days. It has rained a lot at night and we have had a few quick sun showers but nothing that affected our plans. I thought we would be in rain jackets and umbrellas most days. I like Hanoi but it took a little getting used to! The noise and traffic was annoying at first, well it still is but I’m acclimating to it. We were terrified to cross the street in the beginning because the cars and scooters don’t stop for you or red lights! Everyone drives on both sides of the street and there are always almost head on crashes, even on the highways with the trucks and buses-I just sat in the back with my head down, if I watched I would have had an anxiety attack! In the city it is mostly scooters with a few cars and a few buses here an there. The intersections are so much fun to watch! Complete chaos with horns just beeping and everyone going in every single direction at the same time! So to cross, you just walk into the traffic and slowly navigate through…nerve wracking! (See video) You really can’t walk on the sidewalks because they are full of parked scooters and people sitting eating or drinking or cooking right there. So you must walk in the street most of the time with the crazy driving! It has some really cool things to see and great markets. The food was the most exciting part of the city!! Every shop is full of fresh meat cuts each morning and produce just sitting out for sale. By the afternoon it’s all gone and all the restaurants have prepared it for the days meals. They don’t have many refrigerators and don’t order ahead. Buy in the morning, prepare, sell and they are empty by nights end. The way they eat is pretty interesting too. Since it’s a big city, rents are really expensive so they have very narrow storefronts with seating inside in the back and/or on the sidewalk. But you don’t eat at regular tables and chairs. Since they have to fit more people in, you have a preschool sized table and mini stools to sit on-see the pictures. I felt like I was in a kindergarten lunchroom! But all of this doesn’t matter once you eat the amazing food! You need a whole book to explain the different foods, how to order, where to order, how to eat, etc! Luckily we hired a local guide to bring us to the best places and she explained everything to us. It was so exciting to learn about all this new food and the boys loved it too. But three hours in, we had to throw in the towel…we were done! I couldn’t look at anymore food! I think this night was the most exciting in Hanoi-see all the food pictures from each stop.

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Halong Bay, Vietnam

tp. Hạ Long, Vietnam

We landed in Hanoi late last night, it is the capital of Vietnam and located in the northern part of the country, close to China. Just like in Laos, it is a Socialist Republic but has good international relations with the U.S. and other countries. There are only five remaining single-party socialist states that officially practice communism-China, Cuba and North Korea are the others. We will be exploring Hanoi more after our cruise. An early morning transfer to Halong Bay brought us to one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen! Besides being a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is also one of the New Wonders of the World. There’s not much to tell about this area so pictures tell it all. It is karst topography, limestone formations that were carved from water to make these formations that jut out of the beautiful emerald green water. There are also lots of caves and grottos around every corner. Our junk, the Paloma is so pretty, exactly what you would expect to be plying these mystical waters. All dark polished wood and very comfortable. Our cabin had a beautiful deck with lounge chairs right on the front of the boat so it was perfect to just sit with a cocktail as we sailed through the bay. We had delicious local food prepared for us each day, it was too much! We went kayaking, swam from a beach or the boat, explored a spectacular cave, visited a pearl farm and just relaxed. The boys met two girls their age so they were happy too and played lots of card games. Halong Bay means bay of the descending dragon. The legend of Halong Bay is beautiful: “Long ago, in the first founding days, the Viet people were attacked by foreign aggressors. The Jade Emperor sent the Mother Dragon and her band of Child Dragons to help the Viet people fight the invaders. While the enemy vessels were launching massive attacks against the mainland, the dragons descended in flocks from the sky. They spat out innumerable pearls which changed into jade stone islands the moment they touched the water. These islands linked together to form firm citadels that checked the enemy’s advance and smashed their vessels to pieces. After the invaders were driven out, Mother Dragon and her Child Dragons did not return to Heaven but stayed on earth, right at the place where the battle occurred. The spot where the Mother Dragon landed was Ha Long, and where the Child Dragons came down was Bai Tu Long. The place where their tails violently wagged was called Long Vi, the present-day Tra Co Peninsula with its soft sandy beach stretching many kilometers.”

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Luang Prabang, Laos

Luang Prabang, Laos

Luang Prabang is beautiful and almost magical. There are ancient temples, French colonial architecture, no buses or traffic, located at the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Khan tributary and surrounded by jungled clad hills and mountains. UNESCO designated it a World Heritage Site in 1995 so thankfully it has been spared from the overdevelopment that has tainted many other cities in Indochina. It hasn’t been too hot since we started the trip but now I know what everyone is talking about-its hot here. It’s very similar to inland Florida in August, hot and humid. We are located inland between Thailand and Vietnam but on the Mekong River so we get some nice breezes from that but nothing like an ocean breeze. So everything we do requires a break and a cool drink, we are moving in slow motion. Except for the nice hotels, nowhere has air conditioning. We are averaging 2-3 showers a day and little siestas in our cold villa! We just slowly explored the city during the days, sat in cafes and ate amazing food. I now need to find a great Laotian cookbook. The French food is also amazing since they colonized here for 60 years, you can see it in the architecture and food. What a beautiful place. Everything here seems to move in slow motion and it’s a nice change. It’s like an old French outpost that time has forgotten…except that everyone has a phone! The Night Market is amazing yet stifling at the same time. With all the tents lined up against each other, there is no open area for air movement so you just sweat as you stand there! During the cooler winter months they don’t use the tents, but we are not in luck now. Besides the many locally made items, the food is the best! There are stalls with everything imaginable and at each stall you get a plate and fill it up as high as you can for anywhere between $1.20-$1.80!! That was plenty of food for me and the boys, a man might have two plates but all the different choices and flavors were mind blowing!! One afternoon we all got traditional Lao massages. They aren’t as good as Thai massages but pretty good, especially when it costs $20 total for all of us to get an hour long full body massage! It was great having our friends we met in the slow boat here. We met up each night and had a great time at the market or dinner. The boys really enjoyed having kids their age to play with. We will miss them on the rest of our journey.

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Day Two Slow Boat

Pakbeng, Lao Peoples Dem Rep

I slept surprisingly well for the heat last night. The mosquito netting really kept us comfortable and bite free. The pouring rain while we slept was very nice to listen to. I didn’t want to leave the lodge this morning, it was so peaceful and beautiful. Ban Baw was our first stop today. It is another little village on the river bank. It’s very small, about 50 families. Here they make a traditional rice alcohol called lao-lao, it wasn’t very tasty. Local women weave beautiful scarves out of silk and silk and cotton right there in the village on looms in front of their homes. So of course I had to buy one of each. The kids were adorable there, they were very interested in our kids the same way ours were interested in them. After that my boys just spend the rest of the time trying to pet the baby pigs, chicks, goats, ducks or whatever other animals that are running around the village. Pak Ou Caves was our second stop after lunch. It is located on the Mekong and opposite the mouth of the Nam Ou River. There are two caves and thousands of Buddha statues inside. This is where they bring the damaged or worn out ones. It’s set up a lot of steps and into the cave, a lot of different areas to explore. I just opened the August issue of National Geographic and saw an article on Laos. It was a very interesting read and perfect timing for me. We arrived is beautiful Luang Prabang around 4pm after another beautiful day on the river. I read a lot and even napped today. I think the two days on the river was perfect, one would definitely not be enough and three too much. We were really lucky with the weather which was sunny and hot, but on the river with the breeze it was absolutely perfect. The boys had another fun day with their friends playing Yahtzee and all reading their Harry Potter books. Everyone is excited to explore Luang Prabang!

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Slow Boat to Laos

Huay Xai, Laos
We crossed the border from Thailand into Laos early this morning to board a slow boat down the mighty Mekong River to Luang Prabang. Over 70% of Laos is inaccessible mountain terrain so the Mekong is a major mode of transportation. It is a Communist country since 1975 after the Vietnam war but they are more tolerant than the Communism we know. They are allowed to practice religion, mostly Buddhism but Christianity is very scarce because they frown upon it. It was bombed by American forces every 8 minutes for 9 years during the Vietnam War because they border Vietnam and we were trying to suppress the spread of Communism. But the people are very friendly to Americans and just want to move forward in peace. Fifty percent of those bombs are still undetonated here in the country which causes a lot of problems so they still live with the war everyday In some areas. We took the slow boat because the trip along the Mekong is very scenic and such an experience. We are on the luxury boat because there are many that ply these waters and we don’t want to be stuck with a bunch of back packers! The boat holds 40 comfortably but there are only 17 on our journey. Luckily there are two boys from the UK almost the same age as Grant and Rowan! We couldn’t have asked for any better. They are happy and we are happy. We are spending the day reading, watching the scenery, eating….the food is amazing, they keep feeding us. Snacks to start, then a full Laotian lunch, then fruit plates, oh and there’s a bar! Nice bathrooms and outside decks, it’s perfect! I love the fact that we have nothing to do or no where to go, it’s such a great vibe. We stopped at a Lao village on the banks of the river. What an eye opening experience for the boys. They are a fortunate village because they moved from the mountains to the river bank and now they have electricity, running water and better huts. There still is no plumbing or modern conveniences but it is much better than before. Tourism is helping them sustain their village by building a school and giving them more opportunities. The boys saw that they don’t have TV……or Wii and Playstation!! Around 4pm we arrived in Pakbeng, a tiny village on the river bank half way to Luang Prabang. It isn’t really a village, just a few lodges for overnight stops. You don’t have to leave the lodge, we had cocktails on the deck overlooking the river, then a great dinner after. Since there are so few of us, we got to know each other pretty well and had a lot of fun. Everything is open air and natural. Each room is an individual hut on stilts overlooking the river. All the windows open up to the jungle and have no screens so there is mosquito netting on the beds. All the huts are situated along a beautiful raised walkway that meanders through lush landscaping with orchids and haleconia hanging off the branches. This is a place to really unplug, no phones, televisions, air conditioning, etc. There is wifi in the lobby but in the huts just time to read and sleep to the sounds of the jungle. I won’t need a sound machine, I have the real rainforest sound!

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Thai Elephants!!

Tambon Ki Lek, Thailand
Today we drove about an hour to the mountains to spend the day at an elephant conservation and rehabilitation center. I did a lot of research to find one that cared about the welfare of the elephants more than the tourist bucks. It is the highlight of our trip so far! Grant said that it was the best day ever. We started out by learning about the elephants and their history, conservation, etc. We took a ride and got to bathe with them in the river! They were so playful and fun, especially in the water! They were rolling around and squirting water at the boys then picking them up. I haven’t seen the boys laugh so much in a while. The elephants are amazing gentle giants and so smart. Now I know why they are so revered in this country. We also spent some time with one of the hill tribes that live here in Northern Thailand. The tribe we met were called the Long Neck Karen. The women wear these coiled neck rings? As they get older they get more rings, so the old ladies are really long! The boys were fascinated!

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Chiang Mai, Thailand

Amphoe Mueang Chiang Mai, Thailand


After a quick hour flight from Bangkok we arrived in Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is nestled into the foothills of northern Thailand and is a sanctuary with a laid-back pace yet is modern and has an international flair. It’s a nice balance between yesterday and today. We have a few days here so a lot of it will be relaxing since we have been jetting around the last week from big city to big city. Cocktails by the pool with a good book while the kids play. Our resort has the prettiest tropical jungle feel to it. There are maybe 10 teak bungalows that are dark wood and have hand carved designs on them. The insides are very comfortable and plush. It is family run and they are the sweetest family, plus the food is so good, real authentic Thai. Right outside of the resort are rice paddies, the boys loved looking for fish in the shallow water-they wanted to see where the Siamese Fighting Fish come from. Today we went to the temple on top of the mountain that Chiang Mai is famous for, Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep. Even though it was overcast, the view down to the city was beautiful. Of course the temple was gorgeous, watching the monks chant was surreal. The boys sat silent in awe. The one thing that bothers the kids are the stray dogs that are around. They want to pet them because they think no one loves them. They are also afraid that they are going to get hit by cars as they run around! They have big hearts and keep thinking of Stanley. Our driver brought us to a local restaurant that was so pretty-it was set at one end of a huge reflecting pool surrounded by elephant figures. The food was amazing and we are like kings and had a few drinks for under $20! The Thai Silk factory was next, can’t leave Thailand without learning about how it is made and maybe buying a lot of things!!! It was a really cool tour, they showed us all the stages from moth to eggs, larvae, caterpillars, cocoons, etc. The best part is that all those stages we saw were alive and we saw them wriggling!! Then they showed us how they take the silk off the cocoons then finally the ladies hand weaving on the looms. Of course we spent about an hour shopping after that! Eating here is really stressful. I live to eat and I made up cards for every language explaining my food allergy. I even put it in pictures in case the people cooking couldn’t read. Then I laminated each of them. I have cards in Chinese traditional, Chinese simplified, Thai, Laotian, Vietnamese, French, Khmer and Malay. It has really helped me but it still isn’t easy. I put each bite of food in my mouth and wait about 5 to 10 minutes before I’ll swallow it. If I’m okay then, then I know I can eat it. I just wish I could eat everything…it all looks so good. It’s worse on when flying, I’m afraid if something happens then it would be worse! I have my Epi-pen but still want to know I am close to a hospital. But it’s all worth it to experience the beauty here. The Thai people are very friendly and Grant is like a movie star, everyone wants to touch his hair and look at his eyes and the ladies keep hugging Rowan because he’s so sweet.