Beach realisations (by Joe)

So, whilst Laura was adventurously trail-blazing through Vietnam, I was spending a week and a bit contentedly sun-lazing on a white-beached island in the Gulf of Thailand. (The obvious associations between her description of the Vietnamese gender divide - see her blog below - and our own free choices seem just too obvious not to mention here).

There are no photos of my postcard-perfect beach, I'm afraid, as Laura had the camera. However I can confirm that I met some lovely people, tanned up nicely and relaxed deeply.

My week may not have involved great exertion, however I emerged with three significant learnings which I believe if channelled correctly, may have a significant positive impact on my long-term wellbeing:

1) Snorkelling in warm seas amongst coral and tropical fish is an awesome and deeply life-affirming experience

2) Bill Bryson may tell some mighty tall tales, but he is a very entertaining read

3) A dash or two of Worcester sauce turns a plate of egg-fried rice from 'good' to 'great'

... it was a big week.

Joe

Vietnam's women (by Laura)

I'm a bit concerned that this could be read as a wee bit sexist, which is not its intention; however, the most striking memory I have of Vietnam is of the women who I encountered there and their charm and energy.

I barely had to deal with men at all and encountered very few, except those lounging on street corners, making pitiful attempts to entice tourists on a ludicrously expensive tour of the city sites, then falling back, presumably exhausted from their efforts, into the comfort of their cyclos.

Our guide in the Mekong Delta commented, 'You may wonder why all the men are sitting in cafes; this is because they are waiting for the harvest to start'.

The women ran hotels, restaurants and shops, worked in the ricefields, tailored clothes, repaved the roads, led tours and dominated the street markets. In Vietnam, more than in any South East Asian country we have visited, the women were holding all the cards.

They were impressive in their dealings with tourists:

The women of the Mekong Delta were warm and smiling.

In HCMC, they were smart, business like and straightforward.

In Hoi An, they were persuasive. I went into the tailor's to have a cotton shirt made and left with two winter coats, three shirts and a suit. Everyone has a similar tale, the most extreme being one American gap year student who emerged with six suits and wild eyes: "I've never had one before; once I got one, I couldn't stop".

In the north, they seemed at first to be tougher, harder-nosed. But they were just playing games - if you met them square on, they would give you a wry grin and concede some ground with a beautiful wide smile. Perhaps most memorably and consistently, they they were vocal and noisy - a continual barrage of chat coming at you whenever you engaged with them.

It may all be part and parcel of Vietnam's long-term business plan that the women are the tourist face of the country, perhaps being more adept at persuading the tourists to part with their cash to feed the country's very rapid economic progress. But it works: industriousness coupled with innate charm.

Let's hope the harvest is just as impressive.

Laura

A pedestrian's guide to HCMC (by Laura)

To cross a road in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam is to embark on a treachorous journey (see top).

As you take that first step off the curb and enter the fray, it's worth keeping these key rules in the forefront of your mind:

- Do not survey the road at all before you leave the "safety" of the pavement. If you hesitate even slightly, chances are you will never make it. You may as well go back to the bar for the day and try again tomorrow.

- Move slowly and steadily, without stopping and never backtracking (the chain reaction to such a rash action isn't worth contemplating). Give the moto drivers a chance to swerve to avoid you but don't give your feet a chance to freeze in terror.

- If you reach the other pavement, this is no time to relax. Pavements as we know them do not exist in Vietnam; if traffic lights are red, our indomitable moto drivers simply nip onto the pavement and continue their journey along there.

Pedestrians, especially tourists are cheap and expendable in HCMC. The life expectancy of your average moto driver isn't all that promising either. And just don't mess with the buses.

Laura

Sport in SE Asia (by Joe)

They sure seem to love sport in SE Asia. After Thai boxing, as with just about everywhere in the world, soccer is number one. (It never ceases to amaze me how popular the English Premiership is everywhere we have travelled and just what an important 'export' this has become for England).

Currently the bi-annual Association of South East Asian Nations' Football tournament is running. Thailand (who play a bit too fussy for my taste - or did when I saw them draw 1 - 1 with Myanmar on the TV) tend to dominate and have a semi-final tonight against Vietnam. The winner will meet Malaysia or Singapore.

An offshoot sport from football is a sort of volley-football played with a bamboo-strand ball (see top - spot the ball). Rules are the same as volleyball (three touches a side) but only feet and heads (not hands and arms) are allowed. It is widely played and we have witnessed some incredible skills. Volleyball, too is popular.

Perhaps surprisingly, snooker, not pool, seems the more popular ball and cue sport (see above left). Although pool is widely available in tourist areas of Thailand (usually with tables with extra large pockets to increase turnover on the games), snooker is far more popular with the locals in north Thailand, Cambodia and Laos.

At our guesthouse in the remote 4000 islands region in south Laos, there may have been no running water and very sporadic electricity, but we were astounded to find a full-sized snooker table under the main house. It was nearly always in use by the owner and his sons, and was well looked after - there was even a small dustpan and brush on hand to clear away the bugs which liked to settle on the table.

Given the French influence in the region it is less surprising to find boule played widely and competitively (see above right).

As for racket sports - badminton is popular, but for us comes second to the very satisfying sport of 'mosquito-racket': starting at dusk and sometimes carrying on late into the night, highly fired-up up players zap all the mozzies they can with battery-charged toasting-rackets (see left - Laura having a game).

Joe

Tragic Cambodia (by Joe)

Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh, reminded me of two European cities. By day you would notice impressive (if occasionally crumbling - see top) French architecture, very much like Paris; meanwhile by night you could pretty much smell the despair, crime and danger of the streets, very much like Liverpool. (Note of apology to my good cousin Duncan).

Phnom Penh was really an image of the whole of Cambodia - and in truth it is a very tragic image.

Everywhere we went was terribly polluted (I'm not sure what they use in their motor engines but I'm fairly certain it's not Super Unleaded); the museums and monuments tell appalling tales of genocide and torture under the Khmer Rouge (see right); there are many many cripples (land mine victims mostly); the infrastructure is poor with towns and streets full of dust; there are many beggars; and there are many many none-too-subtle prostitutes and, sadder still, associated packs of unsavoury western males of varying ages.

On a brighter note, the people were friendly and very kind when I came down with a bout of food poisoning.

We also came upon what must be some of the world's most intelligent, smart and educated tuk-tuk drivers (see left). But in the context of Cambodia you can't help but see them as a little tragic too: intelligent they may be, but their opportunities to progress are so limited they jump at the chance to take you all around town all day for what, in the UK, is less than the price of a Starbucks Latte.

It might all be more bearable if you felt the country was on a road to recovery, but it's hard to see it. National politics are notoriously corrupt and in a mess, the country has no major natural resources to invest in itself, and even Angkor Wat, the only truly world-class 'resource' it has is managed by a Vietnamese company which takes the lion's share of the profits.

I am very sorry to say it, but you can't help but leave Cambodia with a bitter taste in your mouth - and not just from the dust and toxic fumes which hang everywhere you go.

Joe

Angkorland (by Laura)

The famous temple site at Angkor, north west Cambodia (see above), boasts impressive stats. It stretches over a huge area of 120 square miles (323 sq km), is home to nearly one thousand temples and at one time housed a population of close to one million. In Cambodia's burgeoning tourist industry, Angkor is the main draw.

We decided to arrive at Angkor for dawn (along with an overwhelming number of other eager tourists) and since our chosen transport to see the temples was bicycles, this involved negotiating our way through Siem Reap's streets blind and in pitch black. Not a problem, since all consciousness of health and safety abandoned us a long time ago, about when we first set foot in Old Delhi.

The temples at Angkor are without doubt magnificent and beautiful- not just the size and detail but their construction from huge slabs of stone - an awe-inspiring feat without any of today's modern machinery. You could spend several days finding your favourite spot and many people do.

However, with just a day to explore, losing the crowds can be tricky; but since there seems to be such an established route around Angkor for the tour groups, all it requires is a little imagination, a bit of quick pedalling and you can find a few peaceful moments.

Even though the number of tourists there seems at times to engulf you, this may be just the beginning, as more and more people flock to Cambodia as an accepted package tour destination.

Angkor Wat is said to be the largest religious building in the world; ironically, even it may soon not be big enough to hold its own devoted congregation.

Laura

Snapshots – meet Joe Sciacca (by Joe)

This is Joe Sciacca. He is a mid-fifties roofer from Long Island, New York State. We met him several times on the trail between southern Laos and Phnom Penh.

The first impression you get of Joe is exactly as you might expect if the only Americans you'd ever seen were in certain films: a combative, tough-talking Italian New-Yorker with an occasional Robert de Niro (in ‘Meet the Fockers’) menace, and at least his fair share of firm to strong opinions on any number of subjects.

However after meeting on a few occasions you soon realise that this persona belies a far more sensitive soul.

Joe is big on South East Asia and has been a regular visitor to Vietnam for the past 15 years. His relationship with the country began some 40 years ago when, aged 18, he joined the call to go to the Vietnam war.

He makes very little of his ‘Nam Vet status explaining that he was posted ‘far from the real action’ in a small coastal town. They were shelled ‘occasionally’ he tells me, but only once or twice a week and never for a prolonged period. He says that the sound of the alarm claxon 'sure sent your nerves racing though'.

He now loves the country and has many friends there. He is always keen to explain entertainingly the idiosyncrasies of the people and culture and to tell a few anecdotes about how things used to be 10 or 15 years ago.

Joe had been traveling with Bill, an old friend (from his army days). However it was noticeable that they were rather different people. Joe liked to be active and we’d invariably see him out and about walking, seeing sights or on a bicycle. Bill was rarely to be seen taking exercise, rather sitting in restaurants and bars spending 2 or 3 hours in the afternoon sipping Beerlaos.

When we last saw Joe in Siem Reap (north west Cambodia), he told us that Bill had stayed in Phnom Penh and that he himself had booked a flight out of the country … to Vietnam.

(P.S The other thing about Joe is that whenever you try to take a portrait picture of him he is happy to oblige, but only ever gives you a profile - see top).

Joe

Cambodia: the great and the terrible (by Laura)

At the top of any tourist 'must-see' list in Cambodia are Angkor Wat and the Killings Fields outside Phnom Penh. The two stand in stark juxtaposition evoking on the one hand the golden age of Cambodian history, the Angkorian era and on the other the dark days of the Khmer Rouge's regime.

The Angkor Empire was the greatest in South East Asia over four centuries. It produced a period rich in art and architecture, culminating in the famous temple of Angkor Wat, said to be the still the largest religious building in the world.

Cambodia has had a torrid time since it gained independence from the French in 1953; however it was the reign of the Khmer Rouge, from 1975-79, which brought most notoriety.

King Sihanouk was ousted from power by a US-supported coup in 1970. Exiled to Beijing, he forged an opportunist alliance with his country's revolutionary party, the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge's popularity soared as the King urged his people to fight against the government. Cambodia was essentially at civil war.

Meanwhile, the US was withdrawing from Vietnam and no longer had funds to support the Cambodian government it had installed. The Khmer Rouge took Phnom Penh just two weeks before the US fled Saigon.

The new regime's approached its goal of a communist agrarian revolution with a ferocity not previously witnessed. There followed executions, displacement of families and quasi-slavery for Cambodians as they were forced to work in the fields for the 'benefit of the state'. It is estimated that 2 million people were murdered during their time in power.

Vietnam finally took action against the regime following incursions into its territory in the Mekong Delta. Pol Pot and his men were ousted from power in 1979.

Although eventually defeated, for years the Khmer Rouge's presence continued to be felt in the country as they received indirect support from, it is said, Thailand and the US (the common factor being anti-Vietnamese sentiments). They even continued to represent Cambodia at the UN.

The future for Cambodia now seems unclear. There is huge poverty, as well as little infrastructure and few basic services.

Great and terrible, both the Angkor Empire and the Khmer Rouge left their own legacies. It is as yet unclear what legacy any future government may leave.

Laura

Laos - our summary (by Joe)

After four weeks travelling from the very north to the southern border, we both really liked Laos.

Louang Phabang (UNESCO World Heritage city) and the Mekong (especially the 4000 island region in the south) are truly world-class traveller destinations.

Laos is a poor country, yet the people are (seemingly) content, healthy and very very friendly - we found it peaceful, very safe and warm towards us. It may be poor by all statistical analyses, but demands of visitors no pity.

Yet the real 'thing' about Laos (its unique attraction) is that it is only in the last 10 years (after years of xenophobic socialist rule) that it opened up to tourists or to foreigners of any sort. There remains real novelty in visiting the country (novelty for both 'the visitor' and 'the visited').

Tourists to Laos' confident and commercially-savvy neighbour, Thailand will continue (for a few years yet) to find a trip to Laos a fascinating excursion just across the border, yet also into a different world.

But once the 'novelty' fades ... (?)

Joe

Laos - top 10 pics (by Joe)

Having now left Laos, here are my 10 favourite pictures.

Misty valley in north Laos/ Parasols for sale at Louang Phabang night market/ Monk about town, Louang Phabang/ Monks' robes out to dry, Loang Phabang/ Field shack, Vang Vieng valley / Lovely Laura, Vang Vieng valley/ Dirt road tractor, Vang Vieng valley / Longtail boat, 4000 islands/ Mekong fisherman, 4000 islands/ Sunset, Don Kon, 4000 islands.

Joe

Tractors (by Joe)

In Laos much rural transport is by special tractors. These travel slow and bumpy, but carry many and can (it appears) cover pretty much any terrain. We saw them ford rivers, ride the roughest dirt tracks and cover seriously rough ground. They are a regular feature of rural life.

Here's a few pics:
Joe

Poor Laos? (by Joe)

By any standard economic measure, Laos is extremely poor. Yet this could be a little misleading - we encountered poverty but not great deprivation.

Many Laos people live rurally. They raise their own livestock, fish their own dinner (see top), grow their own crops and barter is a central means of transaction. Yet none of this shows up in GDP measurements of wealth.

A great many may not have electricity, telephones, cars or domestic appliances (nor do they eat a lot of Pringles or drink much Coca-Cola), but they seem to know how to live successfully with what they have: they are generally clean, well-fed, healthy and remarkably content. We encountered only one beggar in Laos (we have encountered many more everywhere else we've gone, including Thailand).

We definitely wouldn't describe them as 'desperate' or 'deprived' in the way that we saw desperate poverty in India.

I hope I'm not sounding naive - life is hard, and, to put it mildly, there are very limited opportunities to progress, but they seem to lack very few genuine essentials.

Standard analyses of wealth are not neccessarily standard analyses of well-being.

Joe

Lovely Laos kids (by Joe)

One of the nicest things about Laos is the genuine (and occasionally overwhelming) friendliness of the people - especially the kids.

Going down a street, kids sprint out of their houses into the road to wave and shout out frantically 'Sabai-Dee!!' (hello) as you pass. This is particularly alarming if you happen to be on a bicycle going downhill at speed.

Top - a photo of some lovely kids we met on Boxing Day after a kayak tour.

Joe

Si Phan Don – Laos' archipelago (by Laura)

Laos may be a landlocked country, yet it still manages to boast an archipelago of tropical islands in its deepest south.

Si Phan Don (Four Thousand Islands) is created as the Mekong river runs out of Laos towards Cambodia; the area stretches to as much as 14 kilometres wide, full of small rivers, streams, sandbanks and a few more substantial inhabited islands.

The islands really do have a tropical feel, with a pace of life to rival any in the Caribbean and even its own family of dolphins. There are endless white sandbanks and hoards of longtail boats criss-crossing the river at all times of the day (see left).

We spent our last few days in Laos there, which included our New Year celebrations.

The culture of the islands is said to have largely been preserved over the years with little impact from the French and American wars.

Development of the area is arriving, but slowly- the islands’ accommodation is very basic, there is limited electricity (run off private generators which switch off at 9 or 10pm), no phones and just one main dirt track crosses from one side to the other- this being the former railroad built by the French to transport goods up the river.

Watching the world go by on the Mekong (very, very slowly- this is Laos after all) was the perfect way to end a trip in a country where river life still plays such a key role.

Laura

Beerlao (by Joe)

One of the (few) truly world-class things about Laos is the national beer: Beerlao.

We understand Carlsberg has recently bought a 25% stake in the company. The beer is genuinely good and it’ll certainly make for a quirky/ interesting brand.

Four weeks in Laos makes me think Carlsberg may be on to a winner.

Joe

Coinless economy (by Joe)

One of the (many) quirky things about Laos is the currency (the kip).

Years of hyper-inflation have resulted in an exchange rate of around 18,000 kip to the pound. This makes for something of an administrative nightmare, especially as the highest denomination we’ve come across so far is 20,000 kip (about $2 US or 1 pound) - so change just a couple of hundred pounds and you end up carrying around wads and wads of notes (see left - Laura modelling half a million kip).

One consequence of such an inflated currency is that there are no coins used in Laos. It’s taken a while to get used to that, but we’ve actually quite liked it - you don’t have to carry around the weight in your pockets and notes just seem cleaner than coins (coins of course remain in circulation for far longer).

The Laos people seem to hold little confidence in the future stability of the kip – everywhere you go they are keen and willing to receive payment in US dollars or Thai Baht.

Often, they’ll also take payment in one currency and return change in another. It takes application to continually juggle the various exchange rates, ensure you know what you’re paying and that you are not being short-changed at the end of it.

Joe

Unremarkable Vientiane (by Joe)

Other than there being remarkably little of note about it, Vientiane, Laos’capital, is an unremarkable place.

We had a pleasant enough time. We enjoyed some nice French colonial architecture; a few nice markets; some reasonable views of the Mekong; a couple of quirky monuments and buildings; some very nice tourist-friendly cafes and restaurants; and a (remarkable) lack of traffic (see top).

It’s just that once we’d got to grips with the fact that it is possibly the world’s most unremarkable capital city, there was remarkably little left to discover about it.

We understand that some tourists spend a remarkably long time in Vientiane sitting in pleasant cafes remarking to one another just how truly unremarkable it is. “A capital city, like this” they say, “… it’s remarkable!”

Indeed it is. We decided to move on.

Joe

Apologies for the break in transmission (by Joe)

This may sound like 'dog ate homework' but we've had real internet problems recently due to an earthquake near Taiwan damaging one of the major telecoms cables connecting SE Asia with the rest of the world (see Vientaine Times' take - top).

To summarise - since the last time: we enjoyed Laos over Christmas and New Year (Vang Vieng a limestone valley in central Laos where we spent Christmas is stunning; Laos' capital Vientiane is unremarkable; and the 4000 islands on the Mekong in the south of Laos are just fantastic). We then traveled across the southern border into Cambodia and are now in Phnom Penh (a wonderfully raw, 'lawless' city).

We are heading over to the temples at Angkor (West Cambodia) tomorrow with a big backlog of blogs and pictures to post from experiences in Laos.

'We sincerely hope that normal service will resume soon ...'

Joe