Laos New Year - Pii Mai

Our guesthouse

These flowers bloomed on the trees in front of our bungalow for the new year.

Playing petanque.

Kids carry squirt guns and buckets to shower unsuspecting passers by.

 

This monkey was asking for it.

Locals washing the sacred buddhas.

Fishing Trip

We hired a guide and went fishing for a day.

Our grubs for bait, and our catch.

Hangin' out in Laos

We spent about a week relaxing on Don Det, a small island in the Mekong River, near the border with Cambodia.

Aahhuummm, pumpkin burger!

Phnom Penh

 

We visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, a highschool which was converted into a prison/torture camp during the Khmer Rouge era. Photos of the victims were displayed.  Spooky place.

ANYthing is available in Phnom Penh, including spider & bug snacks...

...and a real live Shouting Rage!

     

Siem Riep - some more food!

This man makes a mean papaya salad.

Three chilis, probably should have gone with less :)

 

Fried egg noodles and spinach patty.  One of our fav meals of the trip!

Ankor Wat - a few more pics

 

Ankor Wat - Exploration

Ankor Wat

Adam makes this look easy, but I used my hands when I climbed these stairs.

A New Fruit - orange and fleshy on the inside with seeds.  The skin had juice in it that was like elmers glue.

 

Siem Riep, Cambodia

The locals feeding Adam to the fishes.

 

Our condiment selection (the one on the right is catsup), not quite as large as Vietnam, but provided us with adequate spice for our sandwiches.

Our transport for the first two days - tuk tuk

Saigon - Sights

There are many beautiful Buddhist pagodas in town, this one was filled with incense.

There was no climbing in Saigon.  Sigh.

The War Remnants Museum (formerly Saigon's Exhibition House of American War Crimes) was explicitly informative about atrocities committed by Americans during the war, including fetuses deformed by Agent Orange. Despite the propaganda, one message was clear: War is brutal.

Saigon

We took a rest day today and didn't go to the Internet cafe to blog. Sorry!

We're leaving for Siem Riep, Cambodia tomorrow morning to see Ankor Wat. Visas at the border, wish us luck! :)

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

Be glad you're not a Telecom worker in Saigon.

Traffic was pretty hectic too, lots and lots of motorbikes.

The public buses though were uncrowded and dirt cheap.

We had our hair washed, head massage included. Don't ask how long it had been...