Row Row Row Your Boat (to Vietnam!)

So as the title might hint, we decided to make our way to Vietnam on a boat.
On a boat?
Yes. On a boat.
But Why?
So we thought it would be nice to combine the border crossing to Vietnam with a tour of the Mekong Delta...
And...?
All in all it was just great! On this two day boat trip we saw and did quite a lot:
We rode a mini van to the boat pier for about two hours while almost melting from the heat.
We were riding a not-so-nice boat from Phnom Penh to the border
Aammm... excuse me.. this doesn't sound so great.
You are right. But it got way better. Just read, will ya?
We then rode a really nice boat with fancy seats along the Mekong Delta, where we saw the locals in their daily life.
At the afternoon we stopped in a nice border town called Chau Doc where we spent the night. We walked along its promenade, ate some nice local food and went to sleep quite early (breakfast was at 6am.. who knew???)

Sounds nice.. and then what?
After breakfast we got into a really small rowing wooden boat, which was steered by an even smaller vietnamese woman. She took us (only one couple of people in each boat, so it was soley Abbey and me) to a local fishing farm (stinks!) , and to a Cham minority village (a muslim minority in the south of Vietnam)

So how was it?
It was very nice. First, we were lucky enough to escape the stinky water the fish were spraying (as oppose to some unlucky English girl...). Then, we saw the local Cham women making some silk scarfs. Last, we were molested by endless number of little girls begging us to buy their pastry, forcing us to promise that if we would buy it would be from them (we will probably never forget their cry "Buy from me! From mmmmeeeeeeee!!!")

Not so bad. So what was next?
Later, we visited some pagodas and climbed the Sam mountain (so many stairs, goddamn it!) to view some beautiful scenery of the area. And finally, we made our way to Ho Chi Minh City (a.k.a. Saigon) by a bus ride of around 5 hours.

WOW! Quite an adventure. But don't you forget something?
Matter of fact I don't. I just kept the best part to the very end. Happy Birthday Abbey! Yes.. Abbey turned 29 today and now we are going to celebrate. Bye Bye!

Sihanouk Ville (a.k.a. Rainy Beach)

Let me start this post with a question:

Do you know the Hebrew song "...זה לא כל כך נעים לראות גן סגור"?
(for those of you that cannot read Hebrew or just don't know it.. the words mean something like "It is not so nice to see a locked kindergarden".)

Anyway - this was my feeling when we made it to Sihanouk Ville - a supposedly nice beach town, in Southern Cambodia, that unfortunately we couldn't enjoy much since it was rainy every day, most of the day, while we were there :(

So Abbey and I ended up doing some not-so-beach-stuff like practicing our pool table skills, using the internet a lot, meeting some great people (Australian, British and others), drinking with them a lot of beer, and getting wet in the rain (alas.. not singing.)

After two days like that we gave up and headed back to Phnom Penh, before moving on to Vietnam on a boat ride. Read more in the next post...

Phnom Penh

The capital of Cambodia is apparently a real city: real roads, real people, and way less touristy compared to Siem Reap. We spent here two days walking around, eating at local restaurants (hint: trying to explain what you actually want to eat is not so easy), and visiting the interesting spots.

The main point of interest for us was the Killing Fields and the S-21 prison (now a museum for genocidal crimes). Both commemorate the crimes against humanity that were executed in Cambodia during the Pol Pot's regime between 1975-1979. About 1.7 millions Cambodians were murdered during this time. It was very sad and interesting to learn about this country's horrible history.

Angkor Wat - Cambodia's Amazing Temples

After just two days in Bangkok, we hit the road (a very bumpy one btw) to Siem Reap, Cambodia, where the famous Angkor Wat temples are situated. The road from the Thai border to Siem Reap is horrible. It is basically a path of heavy mud with the rare sight of a paved road. And it is swarmed with crazy drivers to make things more interesting. I can only say that if you are rich (get a flight!) or have a pair of wings on your back, you might want to skip this one. Anyway, after a long taxi ride which we shared with a nice Portuguese couple, we ended up in a lovely guest house. Siem Reap seems to be a city of contradictions: it is a very touristy place, with some hotels charging over $500, that almost all its streets are just muddy roads. Also, most prices are in US dollars, although you can pay with the local Riel or the Thai Baht.. very confusing.



Anyway, the temples are quite amazing. They were built in the period between 800-1300 AD, and stretch on a huge area in the midst of a gungle. You actually have to drive around in a tuk-tuk (or bicycles for the more in-shape-travelers) in order to see them all, and even then it will take you few days to see it all. We decided to spend two days over here, the first one with a guide, that speaks lousy English, and the second one by ourselves. It was a good workout walking around, enjoying the beautiful temples, and trying to avoid the hundreds of kids that run towards you, offering umbrellas (yeah.. it was raining), water ("one dollar!"), coke ("one dollar!"), a book ("five dollars!") or whatever (you are right... "one dollar!").





Other than the temples, the city is nice. Nothing too special, but It is full of western food places - so we enjoyed a real burger and apple schtrudel. Next we are going to Phnom Pen the capital.

Abbey is Here!

So Abbey, my girlfriend, has finally joined me few days ago. We are going to travel together for the next seven months or so. First several weeks in South East Asia and then Australia and New Zealand for about 5 months. For those of you who don't know our story here it is in a nutshell.. so I know Abbey from my year in the States, when we both worked at Hillel. We met few times and didn't really keep in touch since. Then she came to Israel this last summer on a birthright (Taglit) trip. We met once again, and talked about travelling around the world... and from here to there she is here...

So although we know each other for considerably a short time, we hope traveling together for a long time will be fun, and we will not drive each other crazy. So far so good. Wish us luck.

Bohol, Panglao, and Balicasag

WOW - Let me start by saying that traveling with a group of 5 gays, 2 straight (that play with gays), and one married couple can be the funniest thing on earth. Really!



So it all started in a random day back in Manila where I was looking for a sim card for my cell phone. The salesperson was a nice gay guy named Francis. We started to talk and when he heard that I am new to the Philippines and intended to travel but don't know where and how, he told me that he and his friends are having their annual trip to the island of Bohol.. and he invited me to join them. Well, I had to play with the idea for a short while, but then decided "why not?". And this is how I ended up with this funny group: Francis, Skip, Pocah, Roel, Yhuan, Jason, Niño, Jaywill and Joan.



We stayed at Francis' house in Bohol and spent our days visiting the island amazing beaches, having a tour of the island and basically relaxing.

Borocay

I heard so much about this tropical island - Borocay - that I felt my visit to the Philippines will not be complete without paying it a visit.. and indeed, it was just lovely. Great white sandy beach (surprisingly named White Beach), yummy seafood buffe for funny prices, great night life, some island hopping and snorkeling as well.

In short, what the hell are you doing back home? Come over here already!

North of Luzon - Rice Terraces on the Mountains

From Manila I hit the road on a long night bus to the small city of Banaue. It is in the middle of the Ifuago land, which is known for its rice terraces on the mountains slopes. Unesco declared it a world heritage site and it is indeed very beautiful and impressive. The local villagers build those terraces around 2000 years ago and they dominated the view.

I also visited Batad and Banga-An before coming back to Manila.

Manila, The Philippines

So.. it all started when I figured out I have two weeks to burn and I don't feel like going back to the islands of Thailand. I looked on the map of Asia and decided that the Philippines seem to be close enough. The only problem was I didn't know anything about it or had any idea what I am going to do there.. well - who cares? I got myself a cheap flight ticket and yesterday arrived to the hot and rainy hectic city of Manila at 5:30am.

Now, finding a place to stay at this time is not that easy. But after few places I have visited I ended up in a nice guest house in a dormitory room, shared by 10 people - being a backpacker again is weird and fun all together.

More updates to come..