The Mighty Mekong

After a bleary eyed good-bye with Jenny at 7:00 am, I was off for my adventure in the Mekong. I waited for my bus for almost an hour and was worried the entire time about missing it. I climbed aboard and saw friendly backpacker faces, so I knew I'd find friends in no time. We started the trip with a bus ride to the river and the floating market. The market consisted of boats with produce for sale. The seller would stick their product on a pole to advertise for the customer. We didn't buy anything, but it was quite interesting to see the wares for sale. After a quick ride through the market, we stopped at a honey farm and sampled the product. While it was quite yummy, I was not tempted to try to pack a jar of honey for 6 weeks through the tropics. We also saw rice-paper production, coconut candy production, and popped rice sweets production. The samples were delicious at each spot, but once again I held strong and bought nothing. We had a sample of snake wine, and I think I'm becoming quite the aficionado. I still haven't bought any for a souvenir, but don't be surprised if that's what I bring home. We hopped another boat and started our exploration of the Mighty Mekong. The land was lush and picturesque. I wanted to capture the warmth and the fertility of the land, but my camera was insufficient. We stopped in the afternoon at a Cham village and toured the Mosque. It was the first Mosque I'd ever been in where I didn't need to cover my head or shoulders. It felt bizarre. We saw lush rice paddies and interacted with small children who liked to follow us. One little girl was in love with my polarized sunglasses since she could see her reflection.
We ate lunch in a little village where we could rent bikes and tour around. Unfortunately, we weren't given enough time to explore properly, but we did get a bike ride to the boat. The bikes were rusted, without gears, and all one size. It was awesome. The boat took us to a larger boat, where we met up with a couple of other groups. The afternoon boat ride took about 4 hours. A couple of us found a spot on the roof and soaked up the sun and countryside. The Mekong was busy with ships and fishing boats. The crafts on the water were a mix of giant shipping boats, small fishing boats, and row boats manned by women. The clash of the agrarian culture with the industrializing nation was no more hidden here than on the streets of Hanoi. We ate dinner on the boat and started getting to know one another. The travel stories were shared, and I kept taking mental notes of things I wanted to see and do. After a minor confusion over rooms, we arrived in Chau Doc and got settled. I had paid for a single, yet when we got close, the guide informed me that the only rooms left were a triple or a double. The people left to fill those rooms were one German couple and 2 guys and me. I was NOT interested in spending the night with two guys, so my lovely new friend, Uli, offered to share the room with me and her boyfriend, Mattias would share with the other guys. I was saved! The hotel was bug-filled and not quite as beautiful as it sounded. I fell asleep super early and slept well. Our wake-up call came in the form of pounding on our door and window and yelling at us to get up. It was 5:55am. I slowly emerged from my mosquito net and got ready. We were back on the boat by 7:00am and off to see the fish farm. The farm has multiple kinds of fish and exports to all over the world. We got to see the feeding, before getting back on the boat for our journey to Cambodia. I had opted for the "slow" boat. I was unsure of what this really meant and no guide could tell me what it really meant. We arrived at the border without incident and began our wait. On the way, I discovered that I had never received a departure card in Vietnam. Apparently, this is a big deal. The guide was almost hysterical when he found out I didn't have it. After 15 minutes, he returned with a new departure card, told me to fill it out, and slip $1 in the card. I was buying my way out of Vietnam for a $1. The guide collected our passports and was off to get our Cambodian visas. Unfortunately, he was back shortly and not so kindly informed me that I was out of passport pages. I wasn't really out of pages, but there wasn't one completely clear one for a full page stamp. I had two options. 1. Go back to Saigon and visit the consulate for more pages...or...2. Slip $10 in my passport and write a note saying I would immediately go to the embassy in Phnom Penh and get more pages added. Ten minutes later and $10 poorer, the guide was off again to get the visas. He returned after an hour and we escaped the holding tank long enough to scarf down some food. The slow boat arrived and was the same model as the fast boat. The only difference was the wait time. We hopped aboard, arrived at the Cambodian border and cleared passport control. The boat ride to Phnom Penh was 3 hours and not quiet. The countryside was prettier than Vietnam with much less industry. There were more farms, and I spent the afternoon watching the daily life. I saw farmers washing cattle in the river and rice being planted in the fields. It was peaceful and welcome after the chaos of the city.
We arrived at the port and climbed off the boat with packs in-tow. A mini-bus awaited and our hour journey to Phnom Penh began. The difference between Vietnam and Cambodia was immediately visible. There were no old people and the infrastructure was majorly lacking. I spent the hour watching out the window and wondering what the next couple of days would have in store. The mini-bus dropped us off in the center, and I wanted to head towards the lake to find a place to crash. Uli and Matthias opted for the lakeside lodging as well, so we shared a tuk-tuk to the Number 10 guesthouse. An Austrian was along for the ride, so our group totaled 4. We looked at a couple of guesthouses before settling for a cheap, yet barely tolerable place. Our first order of business was showers and then dinner. We wandered away from the backpacker area and negotiated dinner for $1 per person. Gotta love those street restaurants! Dinner was Lok Lak and delicious! We took an after dinner stroll to get a sense of the area and check out the river. Uli and I were suckers for street kids, so we bought them some food before heading back to the guesthouse. I got into a minor scuffle with the vendor, since he tried to overcharge me. In the end, I was victorious and the kids were fed. I know that the food thing is usually a scam, but who am I to say the little ones didn't need food. They were so incredibly cute. By the time we left Cambodia, I would come to realize that begging children do a number to my heart and my wallet.
The next morning, I awoke early to start the sight-seeing. The first stop was the torture museum at the S-21 Prison. We had an hour there, before I had to head to the embassy for my page run. It's hard to escape the recent history of Cambodia and no where is the history more alive than at the prison. Our guide's father, sister, and brother were killed by the Khmer Rouge. She was emotionless as she shared the horror-filled history of the building and showed us photos of not only the victims, but also the torturers. She kept repeating that the torturers are now walking the streets free. I was struck by how young the Khmer Rouge were and how quickly those doing the torture became the tortured. It was humanity at its absolute worst. Considering the very recent history, I'm amazed Cambodia is as developed as it is. The Khmer Rouge meant to destroy everything that made Cambodia. Phnom Penh was harsh and depressing after the museum.
I had to leave before completing the museum, but a part of me was glad to get away. I hopped on the back of a motorcycle and zoomed off to the US Embassy. I had made an appointment and was welcomed in. After two security checks and relinquishing all of my electronic devices, I was in. I joined the 25 Cambodians waiting to hear about their visas in a room very similar to the waiting area of the DMV. I sat down to wait my turn, but the security guard followed me in and told me to go to window 7. As a US citizen, I jumped the line and was helped immediately. I handed over my passport after filling out the form and waited. I felt terrible for the people waiting as I listened to the embassy worker explain again and again that the application was being processed. In one instance, an entire family had to submit new documentation before the application could proceed. So many people wanting to get into the US, yet so few visas available. In less than 15 minutes I had my passport back and was on my way.
I met Uli, Matthias, and Patrick at the National Museum. I checked out the artwork and almost got suckered into buying another book from a small child. While I was at the museum and the embassy, they went out to the killing fields. I'm glad I didn't go. I'm not sure my spirit could have taken so much violence. We grabbed lunch before heading towards the Silver Pagoda and the Russian Market. The Russian Market has nothing to do with Russia and everything to do with clothes produced by big name brands in Cambodia. Lots of cheap clothes and textiles. I bought a krama, which is a traditional Cambodian scarf. It's now my favorite accessory. We wandered around the market for a long while. As a group, we had decided to go towards Siem Reap on the midnight bus, so we had an evening to kill. We grabbed dinner and sat by the lake until it was time to head to the bus station. After waiting for 2 hours, the bus arrived and we hopped aboard. I have never been so cold instantly in my life. For six hours, I shivered and shifted trying to find a comfortable place to sleep. We arrived in Siem Reap at 6:00am and headed straight for the guesthouse. We negotiated down to $5 a night for a single and showered immediately. The plan for the day centered around Angkor, which deserves it's own post. I'm hoping to fully catch up on my posts soon! I slightly miss Wisconsin, totally miss family and friends, but love traveling and my new friends! Much love!