Ho Chi Minh City
Day 17 – Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam First, nothing says dehydration more than drinking 1.5 litre in less than an hour. Go me. I started my quiet day by waking to a park with the intention of finding a congenial bench and reading a bit in the shade. (Today was almost sunny.) That’s the…
Mekong Delta
Day 16 – Mekong delta, Vietnam So yesterday, I had booked this wonderful-looking tour of the Mekong delta, with floating market, coconut candy factory, orchard, local music, local lunch organised… looked very nice. All that for 12.5 euros, it seemed a very good choice. But first, someone asked for more pictures of my daily life.…
Vietnam
Day 15 – Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam A long bus ride later, with several stops and a border control, I’m in Vietnam, in Ho Chi Minh City. I can’t describe the relief, the overwhelming familiarity of getting back to a Western alphabet. I couldn’t have conceived that it would make a difference, especially since…
The Silver Pagoda
Day 14 – Phnom Penh, Cambodia First, let me say that after the bad day I had on Monday, I met a Canadian in Battambang Tuesday who restored my faith in Cambodia. He bought the bar/restaurant I went to wait for my bus 6 months ago and was delighted to talk and share his experience…
Lost in translation
(I haven’t seen the movie, so, if you have, this has nothing to do with it.) Day 12: Battambang, Cambodia After a bit more than 5 hours in a bus, I arrived in Battambang, the second biggest city in Cambodia according to my guide. Before the bus has even stopped, tuk-tuk drivers wave placards with…
On the road to Battambang
I’m a bit late in my logs: I’ll catch up, but a quick summary is temples, temples, swimming pool, temples, lotus farm, swimming pool, and now, a bus to Battambang.
More temples than I can remember
Day 7 – Siem Reap, Cambodia After this morning’s switch of hotel, my tuk-tuk driver took me to see several, smaller temples -but some of them are not less impressive! Many of the pictures I took yesterday were hard to exploit because of the sun’s orientation, so I was more careful today. The first temple…
Water management
You know they tell you not to drink any water that doesn’t come from a sealed bottle in Asia. That makes for a costly thirst in weather that makes you sweat buckets and leaves a heavy ecological footprint. Is there an answer to that problem? Patience and purifying tablets. You can’t escape having to buy…
Sunrise at Angkor Wat
The call comes early in the morning, while the night still holds sway. I take the road northwards. More and more people appear, all going in the same direction. Finally, I am almost in a throng of pilgrims, torch in hand, crossing the causeway, in the pre-light of dawn. I chose to go without a…
Angkor Thom
Day 6 – Siem Reap, Cambodia – Part 2 So, Angkor Thom. Today, the best-known ruins in this site are the Bayon temple, the Baphuon temple, the Terrace of Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper King. The towers in the Bayon Temple are carved with the giant faces of Avalokiteshvara, giving you the impression…