Hot Wats

The long and steamy bus ride from Laos to Cambodia was a good introduction to the heat and sweat that comes along with everyday here... it is HOT! I spent a few days getting to know Phnom Penh which is a city that seems to combine my Asian city experiences: it has the winding back alleys and poverty of Kathmandu, the posh(er) riverside and city center - not to Bangkok scale but reminiscent, and the quiet suburbs similar to Vientiane. I spent a morning at Tuol Sleng, the high school turned prison/torture center of the Khmer Rougue. I saw the small cells where the prisoners were shackled and the mechanisms of torture. There was also a video and some displays discussing the history, chain of events, key players and survivor accounts; these provided a great background and a stepping stone for understanding a small part of what Cambodia has gone through in the past four decades. I got chatting with two girls from Boston and we shared a tuk tuk to the Killing Fields a few kilometers out of town. After a tough day, we splurged on pizza (western style with cheese... amazing) on the riverside and then fruit shakes on the lakeside - a nice water-side evening.This past weekend I took a bus out to Siem Reap - a sleepy, riverside town. On the bus, I met two Swedish girls and we shared a tuk tuk to a guesthouse and then another to the temples the following day. They were very nice besides constantly speaking Swedish when they were both fluent in English.
Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples were incredible! We stumbled through the gates and the towering entryway in the predawn darkeness while thinking of all the people who had walked in and out of the temple in the past centuries - very spooky and atmospheric. The sun rose over the temples not as magnificently as we had hoped but it was beautiful to see them gradually light up. We escaped the early morning tours and went to the smaller (this is relative, it was huge) temple complex of Ta Prohm. The temples here were being left to nature which had let to some structure collapse and several huge trees growing over and around walls. This was by far my favorite temple - I'm not sure if it was the morning light, lack of tourists, or drama of ancient architecture and nature but it was fantastic.
The next temple will be remembered for it's amazingly steep steps. They were probably three or four inches deep and eighteen inches high. This was not too bad going up, although we were all holding onto the steps in front of us. Going down, if you were six inches back from the first step, you couldn't even see the stairs, it looked like a cliff. I am not afraid of heights and I had a hard time of it so I comend the girl I was with for doing it despite her fear (although it took her a half hour to get down).
The complex of Wat Thom, the second most touristed, was next on our list. We walked around the Elephant Terraces and a few temples before arriving at the crowning jewel of the complex - Bayon. The temple itself wasn't huge but the intracitely carved towers of faces surrounding the top of the temple were amazing. There were probably 100 large faces with eyes everywhere you turned (somebody's watching you...).
We saved our Angkor Wat visit for the heat of the day when all the tourists would be back in town. The complex was incredible but unfortunately the towers were under construction so we weren't able to explore the upper levels. The most memorable part of Angkor Wat wasn't actually the architecture (although it was pretty spectacular) but the intracitely carved stone murals covering the lenght of the four perimeter walls. There were scenes of heaven and hell, war, and gods and godesses. To think that this ancient empire not only transproted the stone, cut it into pieces, and assembled the temple without modern tools but also took the time to produce artwork on such a mass scale is mindblowing. I would definitely love to find time to spend a few more days exploring the periphery temples because I am sure that there are some amazing and frequently overlooked complexes that would be worth a visit (if only it weren't so hot). The three of us returned to town for Cambodian food and ice cream - a happy end to an absolutely amazing day.

Tastes like bubble gum

My travels in Southern Laos were indeed more successful in terms of being able to get out and see things than my time in the capital. I took an overnight bus with beds down to Pakse. This sounds like a really nice way to travel but as we found our beds, the only other westerner on the bus and I realized that these twin size mattresses were for two people, not one. We asked to be put together but there were no changes allowed so we spent the evening sleeping with strangers. This is not a recommended bus experience but we arrived in one piece at our destination and I suppose that's all you need.
In Pakse, four of us met up over breakfast and decided to rent motorbikes for the day and drive around the countryside to some nearby waterfalls. Two of the other travelers had experience with motorbikes so they drove the other two of us around. The scenery was spectacular and the waterfalls ranged from narrow falls with amazing height to wider and wilder falls. We stopped for mangoes at a fruitstand and escaped an afternoon shower by dining at a local roadside restaurant. I felt that I really got a taste of Southern Laos which is just what I was looking for.
My next stop was the 4,000 Island area in the Mekong. I took a ferry across the river to the island of Don Det - a mecca of relaxation with hammocks abounding, 3 hours of electricity a day and no cars or roads. There were, however, paths for biking and six of us headed out to explore another waterfall. The falls were great but seem like they would be at their grandest during the wet season. We found a swimming hole on the side of the river and took a dip before riding back to town. The afternoon was spent tubing down the river; the second time in Laos I was able to spend an afternoon on the river, - I think I need to find an appropriate tubing locale at home. The island is so relaxed that I managed to miss my boat since all the signs say 11am when it really leaves at 8am, oops. An extra day in a hammock by the river wasn't such a hardship.
Also, I just wanted to report, I finally tried the green fanta that I've been seeing everywhere and it tastes like bubble gum! Yuck!!! If you see green fanta, stay away.

Luck of the Lao

Well, my travel luck seemed to run out about halfway through Laos. It was all going fine - the people are friendly, the landscape is stunning, the food is good (generally), and the travel buddies are plentiful. I had a wonderful few days in Luang Prabang and sadly said goodbye to my Gibbon/slowboat crew as I headed up to the small town of Nong Khiaw. I met Kim and Johanna on my way and upon arrival we set off through town to explore the nearby caves. The village and surrounding area was breathtaking - set on a river and surrounded by dramatic limestone cliffs and deep green jungle - absolutely spectacular. The people in the small town were extremely friendly, showing off their baby ducklings and chicks and giving us smiles as we passed. We stopped to try to figure out what was drying on racks by the path when the woman came out to show us. Apparently it was Mekong seaweed, a regional specialty; they make it into a paste, add tomatoes and garlic, and spread it thinly to dry in the sun. We wanted to try just one piece but the lady brought out three bags (each containing about a dozen of these large squares), thinking we each wanted our own. After lots of gesturing and laughing, we were on our way with our single piece.
We arrived at the cave in the side of a cliff surrounded by a small stream with rice paddies and a peaceful grove of trees. We dined on seaweed (not particularly good - although we found out later that it is supposed to be sauteed which greatly enhances its edibility) and checked out the cave which served as home/protection to the local people during the Indochina war. We found a fruit shake stand on our way back and spent the afternoon relaxing by the river.
After the downpour the next morning (it is supposed to be dry season but it keeps raining!) we boarded a small boat and traveled upstream to the small outpost of Mung Ngoi Nuea. This town had similar idyllic scenery to Nong Khiaw and we took it all in from tubes on the river (there's really no better way to spend an afternoon).
Following a restless night's sleep (the locals were having quite a party with drumming and singing), Kim and I struck out to find the town of Huay Bo (or Hoy Bob or Ho Ba... I don't think they've quite standardized the English translation). I was feeling more than a bit under the weather and was miserable on the trek - although this gave us lots of opportunities to walk slow or sit down and admire the scenery. We nearly got lost in a buffalo pasture (it was huge with many many paths) and had to follow the local kids through rivers (who knew that's where the path went) before stumbling upon the lovely village. I was a definitely party pooper and went straight to bed. I had a short-lived second wind and walked to a local viewpoint, learned a game from the kids, chatted with the 'mama' of my guesthouse/homestay who was so incredibly kind and friendly, held and dressed her grandbaby, and wandered around the town. One amusing moment was when all the kids suddenly went running in one direction. I followed them and saw them clustered around a TV outside a home. There was a man tinkering with a generator and another had to hold the large satellite dish and make continuous adjustments during the hour of cartoons - priceless.
My evil tummy bug lasted throughout the night, throughout the trek in the POURING rain the next day, throughout the boat ride back to Nong Khiaw and bus ride back to Luang Prabang. Throughout my harrowing minivan ride around clothespin turns bringing me to Vang Vieng in 4.5 hours (it usually takes 7-8), and throughout 4 days in Vang Vieng.
My tummy luck got better as I arrived in Vientiane but my tourist luck was down for the count. I have checked everywhere and not a single tour, not a hike, not a kayak trip, not a caving adventure, is running in the entire province for the next week. There are supposed to be beautiful waterfalls and caves that are near impossible to reach via public transportation and all the tourists seem to have vacated the capital city for Luang Prabang which is hosting a huge party next week.
So in conclusion, I have seen the lovely but not too exciting Vientiane and am heading on the night bus to Paske; another home to beautiful natural wonders, and hopefully, if I'm lucky, to a few tourists who want to see them.