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Hello, Suasdey, Xin Chao
  • Marja Hartley
  • Marja Hartley

Hello, Suasdey, Xin Chao

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  • Trip start
    November 23, 2019
  • Marja HartleyHello, Suasdey, Xin ChaoTraveler
    On a beautiful and windless day, you can see the temple twice – can you?
    Starting the adventure with our guide called Sokhum and driver called Lon on his tuktuk

    Angkor Wat

    November 24, 2019 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Angkor’s been the ancient capital of the Khmer, and Angkor Wat the biggest temple out of several hundreds – so, auntie Marja and uncle Rob had to go visit!

  • Marja HartleyHello, Suasdey, Xin ChaoTraveler
    This temple is a great man versus nature display – what do you think, who will win this competition?
    Here's also a famous film display: ask mommy and daddy for Lara Croft's Tomb Raider :-)

    Ta Prohm

    November 24, 2019 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Of course, we could also not miss out on the most miracle temple, that had made its way from the very middle of the jungle right into Hollywood...

  • Marja HartleyHello, Suasdey, Xin ChaoTraveler
    To reach "reception" you had to cross a big lake
    In the middle shrine, you were given your treatment eather in earth, air, fire or water department

    Neak Pean

    November 25, 2019 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Another temple was both dedicated to several gods and served as general hospital. Today, it seems incredible, that a millennium ago, patients have been diagnosed just with a look and a touch and been treated without any surgery and (modern) medicine!Read more

  • Marja HartleyHello, Suasdey, Xin ChaoTraveler
    Water buffalos in the rice paddies within the temple enclosure
    Only a little bit of culture for you, boys: look at still preserved detail of this ancient carving..

    Banteay Srei

    November 25, 2019 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    During our entire temple tour, we’ve been amazed by the peaceful harmony of different religions, king and staff, monks and farmers living together within one community. And: their farm animals!

  • Marja HartleyHello, Suasdey, Xin ChaoTraveler
    Kids on their way home from school
    Another journey by tuktuk with our driver LonThe river has still been swollen, so we had to swap into boat at the beginning of the villageOnly the first stilt houses have been accessible by land againBut most of the stilt houses can be reached only by boatIf you want to have a stroll in the jungle, there's a network of stilted paths installedSometimes it's easier to just take a smaller boat......when up for a restaurant visit in the middle of the jungle – can you spot it?They live in houses like you do, only theres a river instead of a road

    Kampong Phlouk Floating Village

    November 26, 2019 in Cambodia ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Today, we wanted to visit a floating village. It is situated along a river, which rises and falls around ten metres in height. Therefore the inhabitants have built their houses on stilts to be able to access them at any level. During monsoon season, it rains and rains every day all day, so the river swells up to its maximum, and the water level reaches the uppermost floor. After that, during dry season, the river shrinks, but the people can still entry their houses from the riverside by climbing up the stilts. Clever, isn’t it?Read more

  • Marja HartleyHello, Suasdey, Xin ChaoTraveler
    Staff on pause – so uncle Rob came at help and prepped some Banh Mi
    Banh Xeo's been just a gigantic pancake with a rich filling – it fed four people in the endSometimes, there's a pavement extension with mini stools for adults, so it can be cleared up quicklyA flattening machine, some oil in a wok pan on a hot stove: all, you need for a deli Giang fish dishWe got some top tips by locals – will you two show us your favourite Essex spots when visiting you?

    Street Food

    November 28, 2019 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    One of the great things to explore, is Ho Chi Minh City’s Street Food. There’s plenty of these little food stalls, which are mostly specialised just in their one and only signature dish. Some of them are even so little: they fit their whole kitchen on a scooter and drive around serving the guests “from the street”!Read more

  • Marja HartleyHello, Suasdey, Xin ChaoTraveler
    Nôtre-Dame de Saigon – do you know, where the original one is located?
    Banh Mi – a vietnamese equivalent to the french Baguette – can be bought everywhereSchool kids have got proper uniforms like you do, but are wearing funny t-shirts when touring aroundIn JapantownSometimes, it can take a little while to find the right hotel...Buddhist footageHot & sticky, but the christian community is prepping for Christmas – we'll be with you by then!Traditional southeastasian longtail river boatCould this be a proper chinese dragon boat? Auntie Marja has no idea :-)High-end modern skyscrapers along Saigon river

    Xin Chao Saigon

    November 29, 2019 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    Xin Chao means hello, and Saigon is the old name of the city marking the nowadays city centre. Meanwhile it has massively grown, and you can see a lot of different cultures living here together.

  • Marja HartleyHello, Suasdey, Xin ChaoTraveler
    Some of the merchants had to start their trip very early – some just past midnight...
    ...and can be a very peaky cabin seat as well, when on the pineapple boat!Cai Rang Floating Market calling – we've been proper early birds as well and up at 6.00 am!It's a wholesale market: you can not just buy a watermelon, but you must do some tens of kilos!After selling out, a quick pit-stop at the floating gas station, before heading back home

    Cai Rang Floating Market

    December 1, 2019 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Mekong Delta is, where the Mekong River meets the Sea. Therefore, in the last sequence, it spreads up into nine smaller rivers, which all are also connected with each other. That historically made it easier to get around by boat than cutting your way through the dense jungle. And still today, farmers from the whole region bring in their harvested fruit and veg of the day into the so called Floating Market.Read more

  • Marja HartleyHello, Suasdey, Xin ChaoTraveler
    Bending into one of the side rivers of Hau, heading into an eco-agricultural fruit garden
    Quiz! The yield of this plant is only 1 piece of fruit – yellow/juicy inside, woody/spiky outsideA variation of England's most popular fruit; reflecting its taste, Vietnamese call it "Milky ....."When ripe, these weigh several kilos. You crack the shell to find many pear-shaped fruits insideBeside the taste, this is a great fruit for decoration: slice it up into a sky of stars!Our favourite Asian sweet! They turn red when ripe and provide their yellow yumyum insideThis one might be tricky: green shell, orange pulp – ever tried it before?So, this is probably your favourite! But did you know, it all starts with this fruit?You'd have to be quick to harvest these nut-like fruits before the monkeys do!An easy one for the final: these have to travel a long way from their trees into Waitrose...

    Phong Dien Fruit Garden

    December 1, 2019 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Are you two big gardeners in Essex? What you need, is nutritious soil, enough water and a daily kiss by the sun. It’s all there, in the Mekong Delta – so, let’s see, what comes out with a little bit of true love and care of a riverside farmer?Read more

  • Marja HartleyHello, Suasdey, Xin ChaoTraveler
    Language students with their lovely teacher (first from left in front row)

    Be curious!

    December 2, 2019 in Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Downtown Can Tho at night, it appeared, that most day-trip tourists had made their way back to their hotels – and we two remained kind of the only “odd creatures from the western world” within the local crowd. Hence, being different, we had become target for further investigations... An English studying school class took their chance: some very outgoing characters and some behaving very shy. But in the end, they backed each other up in a group – and have obviously been very proud of their first proper chat with some foreigners!Read more

  • Marja HartleyHello, Suasdey, Xin ChaoTraveler
    Spot the crabs!
    Know your tools!If you're too much into a crab, you'll look like a crab yourself :-)

    Crab Silliness

    December 5, 2019 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Crabs! So cute creatures alive, we could watch them for hours... But as delicious on the dinner plate: just need an appropriate tool kit to extract the yummy meat out of their hard shells.

  • Marja HartleyHello, Suasdey, Xin ChaoTraveler
    Timeout
    Uncle Rob bombingAuntie Marja floatingSeeking awareness for the global wastingName: Goby. Diet: Single Use Plastics.

    Beach Bliss

    December 6, 2019 in Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 5 °C

    After all of that cultural exploring: some fun time at the beach highly needed! Beside the public pool, it’s been very great to have our private tub, where somebody could just behave like your age – with no behavioural consequences to fear. But the best thing to do on a remote island, is, of course, to dip into the big blue sea: and with its salt level as high as on french fries, you can keep yourselves over water without any effort. Sad to see, that these paradises are growingly threatened by global wasting. But you’re the ones, who can help it to stop – I guess, you’re using resources responsibly already.Read more

    Trip end
    December 7, 2019
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