Saigon, farewell Vietnam and hello Cambodia

Saigon is a much more worldly city than the Vietnam capital of Hanoi. It's vibrant and exciting, but maybe lacks the honesty of Hanoi. I think people tend to fall into one camp or the other, I think I preferred the more rustic charms of Hanoi but one thing for sure is that Saigon (Ho Chi Min City) certainly has a more interesting night life. Staying in a charming little hotel we had an An afternoon and evening to explore. Must say I was getting a bit bored of towns and cities but it's hard not to like the pop-up bars that seem to be set up outside shops on the main drag. Each with chairs or benches facing the street to provide you with free people watching entertainment in exchange for buying a beer - a lovely way to spend an evening. Certainly it did not disappoint, we a pleasant mix of drunken westerner watching nicely tempered with Vietnamese getting on with their lives (some also drunk!). There was certainly a lot more harmony here between the tourists and locals than some popular drinking locations you find in some European cities.

During the day we also made a visit to the War Remnants museum, which is pretty much an essential stop here. It is highly charged post-war propaganda (it was presumably built not long after the end of the war) so has an uncomfortable anti-US stance. It is however brutal, hard-hitting and very moving and a reminder of the savage nature of war and a reminder of this countries battle worn history. The war journalist photographic exhibition is stunning.

The next morning we flew to Siem Reap, the town that hosts Angkor Wat. We were grateful for the easy flight with Cambodia Angkor Airlines which was certainly a better option than the 10+ hour bus journey with the uncertainties of road border crossings.

We arrived and had enough time to squeeze in a few 'warm up' temples and go on a boat trip to visit a fascinating and wonderful floating village (all the houses are on stilts) and then on to watch the sunset across the massive Tonle Sap lake which is one of the largest lakes in Asia. Our tuk tuk driver had a puncture on the way back at the end of a dirt road. This at home would have resulted in lots of panic, inability to use the spare tyre kit in the car, issues which phone signal and a lengthy wait for the AA as they tried to find your location. Here, a quick dash to a local shack results in finding a man with a well stocked car repair kit and 3 generations of a family working on the tyre tube which is fixed in about 15 minutes and we are on our way. 

The Cambodians we have met so far have all been a delight. They seem perhaps a little more shy than their Vietnamese brothers and sisters but a wave and a smile will be responded to with wonderfully happy smiles in return. Siem Reap is a very curious city. MUCH calmer and more relaxed than anywhere we came across in Vietnam, but also full of massive hotels, resorts and spas to service the wealthy tourists. It kind of has a Disneyland feel to it on one part of the city (this is certainly not the 'real Cambodia'!). We are staying in a nice guesthouse with palm trees and sun loungers in the more Cambodian side of town and hopefully we will be able to explore this part of town more over the next couple of days. 

Anyway, that's enough blogging time to go and see some temples...!!