We arrived in Singapore! Exhausted but comfortable.
More snaps from Singapore today. We had a true Singapore meal at the Paulaner Bräuhaus. Also the aquarium, and view from our hotel.
Made it to Siem Reap, tomorrow is Angkor Wat. Some first impression photos, it's a big change from Singapore.
Cambodian food is good y'all. Dinner at the hotel with an Apsara dance performance.
More Cambodian food, breakfast at Sala Kdei near Angkor Wat. My favorite was the Nom Bohn Chok នំបញ្ចុក, rice noodles with fish and coconut broth.
And finally the big event, Angkor Wat. There are zillions of much better photos you can find of the place, but these are mine. Also so glad to see it in person, understand how it fits together. The temple complex is mind-bogglingly huge.
But wait, there's more! We went this afternoon back to Bayon (Angkor Thom), an 800+ year old Buddhist temple a few km from the many Hindu temples. Very impressive.
The coolest part of Bayon are all these relief sculptures of daily life. I love this detail of a goat standing behind a cart wheel. Quite visually sophisticated for a relief sculpture!
Made it to Phnom Penh. Enjoying colonialist excess at the Elephant Bar of Sir Raffles.
Enjoying Phnom Penh's urban vibe. Cambodia has this sort of calm chaos in the traffic, everyone's chill even as motos and cars come from all directions and speeds. Not sure how to photograph it well, these aren't great.
We visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum today, very heavy. I've been to a lot of memorials to Nazi victims. This felt similar only the atrocities are from just 45 years ago. And of course a different history, but a similar form of totalitarian murder. Difficult visit but well done, the audioguide in particular was excellent.
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This morning we visited Choeung Ek (ជើងឯក), one of the "killing fields" from the Cambodian genocide. More of a memorial than an interpretive museum, it has the feeling of a rough open grave. They've left many bones in the ground, scattered on the surface. Skulls of victims are collected respectfully in a central stupa.
I'm very glad I visited these genocide monuments and learned some of the Cambodian history. It is very recent, a fresh wound.
The US has a role in creating this history and a responsibility for helping Cambodia recover. Unfortunately the Republicans have destroyed USAID, causing great chaos in many social aid programs in a matter of days. I am ashamed.
Back to happier tourist times in Cambodia...
Highlight of the trip so far was last night, a Street Food Tour of Phnom Penh. Tuktuk tour of seven different casual food places, sidewalk restaurants and old grandmas making coconut desserts on the side of the road. Super fun and delicious!
I really enjoyed a chance to eat a bunch of street food I have neither the knowledge or courage to find on my own. Some silly things (like fried spiders) and lots of delicious well made casual food. I need to do a guided tour like this in every city I visit! (Bonus picks: Russian Market grocery stalls.)
One striking thing about Phnom Penh is how functional the city is. The last major war here was just 45 years ago and the economy only normalized around 1990.
Morning visit to the Central Market, a 1937 art deco building from the zenith of French colonialism. Center is cheap shlock but the sides of the market have fantastic fresh fish, cooked foods, hair-dressers, toilet paper, etc.
Then a visit to the National Museum with beautiful art but also a reminder of how much has been destroyed or stolen.
Made it to our cabin on the Mekong River cruise for the next week.
It's a new day! Today we visit Koh Chen, a village with silversmiths. Then Udong, a Buddhist temple site. This afternoon we go to Kampong Prasat, a floating village.
We are on the Tonle Sap river these next few days.
Some commerce photos. In Koh Chen they make hammered metalwork, this one is a copper bowl. And Udong is a domestic tourist site so it has a market selling all sorts of delicious snacks for daytrippers.
And religion. Udong is home to the Cambodia Vipassana Dhura Buddhist Meditation Center, a well-funded monastery founded by Som Buntheoun. We got a nice overview of what Buddhist monastic life is like and the role of the religion in daily life. Photos include cute monk boys and a procession for the day's lunch.
Kampong Prasat turned out to be more of a new normal village (built along a road along the river) and not much left floating. Was a good introduction to what ordinary village life looks like. A lot of fishing, also small scale rice farming.
We are learning a lot this trip that is hard to convey in photos. Cambodia is poor but developing. And people here seem reasonably comfortable, well fed, sheltered. And most importantly: happy, content? It's humbling. I'm certain some of that well-being comes from Buddhist culture. It is particularly remarkable given the awful history of war and genocide in recent memory.
This morning's tourist visit was to Kampong Chhnang, an area that has traditional pottery. We had demonstrations of making pots, making clay stoves, and harvesting sugar palm juice.
The pot making was really impressive. She makes 50 consistent round pots a day without a wheel. Mostly walking in a circle around the pot and shaping it with hands and tools. Very high skill for a humble product. Short video clip: https://photos.app.goo.gl/6NujDvrFHzoNDNUGA
There's something really special about the light on the Tonle Sap river, a tributary to the Mekong. Limpid sunrise and sunset, a stillness and glow that fills the sky.
Good night Phnom Penh!
Woke up this morning for a tour of the silk industry at Koh Okhnatey, near Phnom Penh. They still hand spin silk and hand weave scarfs on simple looms. A lot of work and very delicate, beautiful fabrics.
The work is intricate but repetitive, seems sort of meditative. This woman worked very quickly and precisely. The slide of the shuttle across the warp is particularly satisfying. https://photos.app.goo.gl/54v1owAvUFvJ4RwYA
Some more shots from our morning: a sunrise, a tuktuk ride, a fancy chicken coop, and some silkworms and cocoons.
Good evening from the Aqua Mekong in Cambodia!
We visited Preah Prosop, a small temple where we had a chance to learn a bit about Theravada Buddhism and talk to some young novitiates and monks.
Back in Phnom Penh this morning, definitely have spent enough time here. But got to visit the Royal Palace which is indeed lovely. Unfortunately the most interesting stuff can't be photographed, particularly the treasury of gold religious sculptures that's stored in an enormous room with a floor made of metal silver tiles.
Finally got up the Rosewood hotel building with a fabulous view over Phnom Penh. First photo is looking east over the US embassy, past Wat Phnom, and to our boat in the river. Second is looking south over a more typical area.
Arrived in Vietnam this morning. It's so different! Way more commerce on the river, everything built up and dirtier and more hectic. More honking. It's good, the density reflects a more prosperous economy. But now I'm appreciating how calm and beautiful Cambodia has been.
This morning we went to Châu Đốc, a city of 150,000 that's on the border with Cambodia and is popular with domestic tourists. Took a cyclo tour to get to a market with amazing fermented fish.
Afterwards we drove up the Sam Mountain to the pagoda there. The altars have offerings of pomelo, chococakes. and Coca-Cola.
This afternoon we took a boat tour of small canals in the Mekong delta.
We ended up in My An Hung Village where we got a performance of a unicorn dance, something similar to a Chinese dragon dance. Very energetic teenage boys, they were delightful.
Non-sequitur but I don't want to forget: Cambodians make a really great sauce called Tuk Meric, it's just black pepper, lime, salt, and a bit of sugar. A lot of black pepper. Good black pepper, Kompot pepper. We're bringing home a pound and a half.
Went to Sa Dec to shop at the really impressive market there. Lots of amazing produce, fish, chicken.. But mostly I loved the market ladies and their outfits.
I was also moved by the warehouse of a rice salesman. He's made enough money to send several nieces and nephews to California for school. One is becoming an MD dermatologist. Congratulations, Nguyens!
Made it to Saigon. Huge modern city, eager to explore!
Seeing a bit of Saigon now! It's Women's Day which is a big thing here, special menus in restaurants and women wearing beautiful traditional long dresses. Definitely a big city vibe on the streets, lots of people and places of leisure. We had a good lunch at Hoang's Kitchen.
Today we visited the War Remnant Museum, a depiction of the American war from the Vietnamese side. Really interesting. Displays of war trophies outside, then inside lots of history and documentation of destruction and war crimes. The Agent Orange exhibits were particular upsetting, what an awful thing we did.
Also visited the Independence Palace, the former center of the South Vietnamese puppet government. Now preserved as a sort of monument to its time and beautiful construction.
Crazy food experience at Ốc Loan, a famous shellfish restaurant specializing in river snails. And run by a remarkably costumed gentleman. Impressive seafood, overwhelming experience.
This was part of a Saigon street food tour that wasn't as amazing as the Phnom Penh one but I'm glad we did. Had some delicious Bánh Xèo, my new favorite Vietnamese snack. And excellent beef cooked in betel leaf and served with a mountain of fresh herbs.
Our hotel room is also remarkable, a very nice suite with a panoramic bathtub. And the kind of outlandish decor I associate with nouveau riche Chinese. It's beautifully done with excellent materials and all just a bit too much.
Last day of the trip, and frankly too worn out to enjoy what Saigon has to offer. Still making the most of it, some tourist sites this morning. This evening is cocktails + fine dining.
Found the energy for one last outing. A secret cocktail tour of some cozy and cool bars making remarkably good drinks. And then a world class dinner at Quince Saigon, excellent cooking at a level that'd impress anywhere in the world.
