Trek to Angkor
I am staying at the Nam A Hotel. The staff doesn't understand English and I don't understand the staff, but they are very nice. They say for me to put my laundry in the hall. I do, and then they ring my doorbell to show me the laundry basket in the closet that I am supposed to use. Five hours later, neatly folded, the clean laundry comes back. I am staying in a smaller room than what they first showed me. So, I go downstairs and they show me that they are charging me 200000 VND($12.50) instead of the 250000 that we agreed. For a first quality hotel along the river, and next to the Cham museum, this is very good. Coming in from the sleeper car from Vinh to Danang (arriving 7 am), I needed a morning shower and short nap. So, it seems like I am getting two days use out of the room.
My M.O. is to arrive somewhere then walk until I think I understand the town. I walked from 7 am to 10 am throughout DaNang before landing at the Nam A Hotel. I really needed that morning shower, after a night in a sleeper car, and the previous night in a hot bus.
I ask at the front desk for a "ride to the airport" and get back a questioning expression. Then, I ask for "taxi?". An air-conditioned taxi arrives and takes me to the airport amidst a sea of bicycles and motorcycles. The airport is abandoned at 10:30 am on a Sunday. The Internet says the flight to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) is at 1:30 p.m.
At 11:30, the ticket office opens and I am the first customer. I am third on the waiting list to Ho Chi Minh City. They say come back at 1 p.m. I have lunch and come back. I talk to a Vietnamese native who has brought back his family from Belgium. He tells me that the world is a village. He left 30 years ago because of the communists. To him, this is distant past. Others are still bothered by what they call the "American War". (There was an announcement, in English, about how "Viet Nam won the war against the American invaders", soon after I boarded the sleeper car the evening before. The Viet Namese are proud "of defeating the Americans.")
I am issued a ticket and take the plane to Saigon (or HCMC). My ticket says 48H, the last seat in the last row. An elder Vietnamese man is sitting there. I show a female flight attendant. She shows a male flight attendant, who has the woman in 48G change seats, so that I can sit in 48G.
At HCMC, I go to the ticket office for Siem Reap. I am soon on the 4:40 flight. We land 45 minutes later and I am dropped off by motorcycycle at my guest house. I eat a good Thai and discuss science with a New Zealand professor of Botany.
This morning, I walk toward Angkor Wat. The trip is long in the morning heat. I buy a Diet Coke with a 2004 promotion on it. The Diet Coke can, with a 2004 promotion on it, has also felt too much heat, so I drink water instead.
I stop in a bakery, where I am told of the various meats in the pasteries. I buy a pastery which tastes like fruitcake and watch a mouse scurry along the floor.
I keep walking to an area that seems off-limits. Two dogs tell me so. There is a dump next to the river with a mountain of plastic water bottles. There are children running around in various states of dress.
I keep walking and discover the landmine museum. Here, I buy my first t-shirt of the trip. Children walk around-- one is missing most of an arm. There are tame monkeys here. It is serene.
I keep walking toward what I hope will be the ticket office. A man offers a ride. He takes me to the gate and then to a restaurant, but I need a ticket in order to visit the temples.
I find a checkpoint and they me I need to go back 3 km. I walk toward the ticket office, backtracking my cycle ride. The man at the check point meets me halfway to the checkpoint, and gives me a ride the rest of the way. No charge, he insists.
With ticket in hand, I pay a motorcycle driver $1 to go back to the gate, and I enter Angkor Wat, which is a behemoth ancient structure with carvings everywhere. I climb around Angkor Wat, then rest a few minutes, then go to the air-conditioned restaurant across the street to cool off and have lunch.
I pay a cyclist to take me to other temples and I see the Bayon and Phnom Bakheng. The cyclist reinflates his tire while I climb Phnom Bakheng. Two young freelance tour guides tell me all about the history. I end up paying them $1 each, though they ask for more, and are lusting at the cellphone that I use as a camera.
The cyclist returns me to my guesthouse, where they have relocated me to a nicer room. Tomorrow, the cyclist will take me to three more temples. Then, I return to Bangkok for Thai New Year.
My M.O. is to arrive somewhere then walk until I think I understand the town. I walked from 7 am to 10 am throughout DaNang before landing at the Nam A Hotel. I really needed that morning shower, after a night in a sleeper car, and the previous night in a hot bus.
I ask at the front desk for a "ride to the airport" and get back a questioning expression. Then, I ask for "taxi?". An air-conditioned taxi arrives and takes me to the airport amidst a sea of bicycles and motorcycles. The airport is abandoned at 10:30 am on a Sunday. The Internet says the flight to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) is at 1:30 p.m.
At 11:30, the ticket office opens and I am the first customer. I am third on the waiting list to Ho Chi Minh City. They say come back at 1 p.m. I have lunch and come back. I talk to a Vietnamese native who has brought back his family from Belgium. He tells me that the world is a village. He left 30 years ago because of the communists. To him, this is distant past. Others are still bothered by what they call the "American War". (There was an announcement, in English, about how "Viet Nam won the war against the American invaders", soon after I boarded the sleeper car the evening before. The Viet Namese are proud "of defeating the Americans.")
I am issued a ticket and take the plane to Saigon (or HCMC). My ticket says 48H, the last seat in the last row. An elder Vietnamese man is sitting there. I show a female flight attendant. She shows a male flight attendant, who has the woman in 48G change seats, so that I can sit in 48G.
At HCMC, I go to the ticket office for Siem Reap. I am soon on the 4:40 flight. We land 45 minutes later and I am dropped off by motorcycycle at my guest house. I eat a good Thai and discuss science with a New Zealand professor of Botany.
This morning, I walk toward Angkor Wat. The trip is long in the morning heat. I buy a Diet Coke with a 2004 promotion on it. The Diet Coke can, with a 2004 promotion on it, has also felt too much heat, so I drink water instead.
I stop in a bakery, where I am told of the various meats in the pasteries. I buy a pastery which tastes like fruitcake and watch a mouse scurry along the floor.
I keep walking to an area that seems off-limits. Two dogs tell me so. There is a dump next to the river with a mountain of plastic water bottles. There are children running around in various states of dress.
I keep walking and discover the landmine museum. Here, I buy my first t-shirt of the trip. Children walk around-- one is missing most of an arm. There are tame monkeys here. It is serene.
I keep walking toward what I hope will be the ticket office. A man offers a ride. He takes me to the gate and then to a restaurant, but I need a ticket in order to visit the temples.
I find a checkpoint and they me I need to go back 3 km. I walk toward the ticket office, backtracking my cycle ride. The man at the check point meets me halfway to the checkpoint, and gives me a ride the rest of the way. No charge, he insists.
With ticket in hand, I pay a motorcycle driver $1 to go back to the gate, and I enter Angkor Wat, which is a behemoth ancient structure with carvings everywhere. I climb around Angkor Wat, then rest a few minutes, then go to the air-conditioned restaurant across the street to cool off and have lunch.
I pay a cyclist to take me to other temples and I see the Bayon and Phnom Bakheng. The cyclist reinflates his tire while I climb Phnom Bakheng. Two young freelance tour guides tell me all about the history. I end up paying them $1 each, though they ask for more, and are lusting at the cellphone that I use as a camera.
The cyclist returns me to my guesthouse, where they have relocated me to a nicer room. Tomorrow, the cyclist will take me to three more temples. Then, I return to Bangkok for Thai New Year.
Labels: travel
posted by David Rasmussen at 5:57 AM
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