TravelStream™ news feed for member jsbridgers on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/jsbridgers en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Thu, 22 Nov 2007 12:13:05 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jsbridgers/seasia2007/1195746300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jsbridgers/seasia2007/1195746300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jsbridgers/seasia2007/1195746300/tpod.html Thu, 22 Nov 2007 12:13:05 -0500 Southeast Asia- Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!! The time here is, of course, 12 hours ahead, so just as you all are about to dig into some yummy, sanitarily prepared turkey and dressing, we have just finished eating at....Outback Steakhouse. Yes, you heard me. And it is one of my carnal sins of traveling to eat at any establsihment that appears to have Westrn influence, mush less one that was born and bred in the US! But Allen really wanted a Bloomin' Onion and since it was Thanksgiving, we broke the rule. (And are thankful that we could!)

You see, we spent the day in Phnom Phen and toured the S21 prison and the Killing Fields at Chaeng Ek. We saw how thousand upon thousand of people were imprisoned, beaten, tortured, raped, mutilated and sent to death in mass graves. They had not broken any rules but were considered "threats" to the Communist regime of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge. I cannot go into a lot of detail because it is a long and tragic story, but here is the nutshell version.

The US-backed Republican gov't in the 70's was Lol Non and it was overthrown in 1975 by a huge group of basically peasant workers from the mountains of Cambodia called the Khmer Rouge. Many people were very glad that they had "liberated" the country from the weak and corrupt gov't but little did they know what was about to happen.

The new organization called "ANGKAR" sent all the people in the cities out to the countryside to work in hard labor camps planting rice and other crops, working out in the heat of 14 hour days with little to no food. Many, many people died of starvation, malnutrition, dysenntery (sp?) and other diseases. If you were an ex- Lol Non gov't employee, educated, spoke another language, wore glasses, were elderly or disabled, you were immediately disposed of. If you became weak or sick while in the camps, you were no longer needed and discarded like an old pair of shoes. People were bludgeoned to death instead so that this motley crew could save their bullets for battle with the Vietnamese and others trying to take over a weakened country.

Please take the time to google this if you can. It is a very sad and very recent story of genocide and similar to what is going on in Darfur today. The atrocoties really only ended in about 1978 or 1979, I think, and people are still trying to pick up the pieces and rebuild their lives with the dirty leftovers from this horrible time in their country's history. Yet, they all smile.

It makes us very thankful to be US citizens and for the thousands of men and women who selflessly defend our freedoms. We are thankful for the rights we have to speak our minds, to go to school, to voice our concerns in our government, to start businesses, to raise our families the way we see fit, to have choices of what foods we will eat for 3 meals a day and snacks if we so choose. And the list goes on and on.

I recall our 24 year old guide in Vietnam asking Allen, "Do you have many people in your city who do not know if they will eat each night or not?" And Allen explained about welfare programs and soup kitchens, etc. He was shocked. He said that many people go to bed hungry here and do not know when they will eat next. And we have seen it all over while on this trip.

Not to put a downer on your Thanksgiving dinner, but I do just want you to remember that today and always, we are blessed by the sheer fact that we were born where we were born and to whom we were born. Allen and I do truly give thanks this year, as we have seen in vivid color how many people in this world live day to day.

We love you all very much and are thankful for the blessing that each of you are to us!

Much love from Bangkok.

Jenna and Allen
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jsbridgers/seasia2007/1195662060/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jsbridgers/seasia2007/1195662060/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jsbridgers/seasia2007/1195662060/tpod.html Thu, 22 Nov 2007 11:44:52 -0500 Southeast Asia- Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

(Allen here again)
Today was our last day in Siem Reap. After sleeping late today (730AM) we got up and went into town for banana pancakes and coffee. It was nice to watch the small town of Siem Reap getting going in the morning as we soaked in the sun! We went back to the hotel to pack up all of our bags (which are getting more full and increasing in number as we get to a new place), checked out and went back to the "Old Market" area of town to walk around for a few hours.

Jenna did some damage shopping in the markets and I got a few tshirts for myself (they are hard to find in this part of the world since I'm so big!). Jenna got hit up to buy bracelets and postcards from some of the local Cambodian girls. Check out the video I was able to record-it is the same song and dance everytime one of them comes up to you. After two days, and buying 2 packs of postcards from one girl, she started recognizing me and saying, "Hey, Mr. from the US will you buy something else from me!" They were all cute and we felt bad for not being able to really help them.

We had lunch and took a taxi to the airport. Siem Reap was a very small airport and when we walked out to the plane, Jenna was not happy. She had never flown in a prop plane before but it went fine. See attached picture of her face!

We arrived in Phnom Phen around 5:45PM and it was getting dark. The traffic was horrible and it took us awhile to get to our hotel-actually we hadn't booked it but we just showed up to the guest house and asked for the nicest room they had with A/C. Luckily, she told us it was availble and we would need to pay her the full 10 dollars for the night! On a side note-if other travelers are stil reading this blog, we admit we don't stay in the typical "backpacker" guest houses so this was an experience all in itself for us. As the security guard helped up to our room, he carried a can of something-(bug spray, air freshner, sanitizer-maybe all three in one!) and he kept spraying it and smiling at us. Jenna was a little worried. (I was too but didn't admit it.)

To finish off the night we had a tuk tuk take us to the river front, where there we lots of restaurants and little outside bars. We walked around and found a good place to eat and enjoyed the sites of the Phnom Phen passing us by at night.

Back to the hotel for hopefully a good night's rest. (On the way up the stairs I stomped on a huge cockroach about 2-3 inches long.)

Still having fun-tomorrow's Thanksgiving and will be our first one away from family.

Allen and Jenna

]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jsbridgers/seasia2007/1195573320/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jsbridgers/seasia2007/1195573320/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jsbridgers/seasia2007/1195573320/tpod.html Thu, 22 Nov 2007 11:40:54 -0500 Southeast Asia- Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Hey y'all. Thanks for the emails of concern over my bought with whatever it was I had. Being sick and away from home is no fun, but Allen took good care of me and I am feeling a lot better today. Stomach is still not at 100% but I am sure it will be soon. (Note to travellers: if you think you have food poisoning, go ahead and make yourself throw up! Get it out as quickly as possible!!)

Anyway, moving on! Today was a fabulous day! We got up at 4:30am to head to Angkor Wat for sunrise with the taxi driver we hired last night. It was $25 which is a little bit higher that most, but still a fair deal. He took us to every temple we wanted to see and then back to the guesthouse around lunch time and then back out at sunset.

This morning, in pitch-black darkness, we ambled up the stairs and across the moat to the gates of Angkor. We sat there in the quiet solitude of 350-400 other people whispering waiting on the sun to rise. It was absolutely surreal to see the sun come up and illuminate the structure we had only seen prior in pictures and internet satellite images (Allen, of course!) It was facing the west, so the sun came up behind it, so we took several shots of the silhouette and then moved around to the east for some better shots. Wow, it was just awesome. There are all these very detailed carvings that must have just taken years and years to complete. We should have hired a guide to really get the inside scoop on things but just wondered around on our own taking it all in. Got some great shots, but they will never do it justice. It was just awe inspiring to see what these people from so many years ago, and under different rulers, worked on to create.

We looked around at various sites all morning and took TONS of pictures! Favorites were, of course Angkor Wat, Ta Phrom and the Bayon (as all the guidebooks will tell you!) These places were just teeming with good photo opps (and annoying "tourist types" :)) Y'all just are going to love the photos!

At about 12:30 we headed back into town and...took a nap! Okay, I napped, Allen dozed while watching some old Eddie Murphjy movie (only thing in English, I guess) After that we headed to the Khmer Family Kitchen for lunch. Cheap, good regional food. I had some pumpkin soup and Allen had another serving of Khmer curry. I was still feeling kind of queasy and some fresh pineapple juice sent me over the edge, but after another little hour of rest we were ready to go back out for a little more temple viewing.

We went back to Angkor, which is the main "tourist attraction" and took the obligatory shot in the reflection pool. It's a pretty cool shot aside from the green tarps over a couple sections of the temple. Then we busted hump, literally running ap this mountain path to get to this place that people said was great for sunset. I forgot the name, but it was totally not worth it. A pretty view, sure, but not worth spending your sunset moments there. There were TONS of other people there too which kind of made it less magical. Glad we had at least seen Angkor again before the sun went down.

Made our way back to the guesthouse and took good hot showers and headed to the old market for dinner in an Indian place that Allen thought looked good. He was right! I ate mostly bread b/c of the still "delicate" stomach, as the Brits called it, but it was really good. I ate a few bites of what Allen ordered too and it was yummy!!

Then we both has great hour long massages for a grand total of $15 with the tip and are now off to bed. Sleeping in tomorrow!!

Love J and A
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jsbridgers/seasia2007/1195501020/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jsbridgers/seasia2007/1195501020/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jsbridgers/seasia2007/1195501020/tpod.html Tue, 20 Nov 2007 10:39:59 -0500 Southeast Asia- Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Hello family, friends, and travelers from the Bridgers. Don't have too much to discuss from yesterday. Jenna and I went to an established restaurant (note I say established becuase we've sent pictures of Jenna eating street food from all over) and had a good meal. Jenna's got a buy one get one free deal though. She bought the meal and then got a free case of the nausea! She spent most of the night Sunday night "ralphing" in the toilet from food poisining. It was a bad night for us both but mainly for her. Poor thing-she kept most of the hotel up with her loud yelling when she would be sick. I kept trying to hold her hair, flush the commode, and tell her to quiet down at the same time (akward to say the least!) Monday morning she woke up and felt a little better so we went to breakfast-she had half a piece of toast and felt worse, so she went back to bed until noon (checkout) and then we left for the airport. Our flight wasn't until 6PM however she was able to talk them into bumping it up to 4PM.

We left Ho Chi Minh City at 4:35 and arrived in Siem Reap, Cambodia around 5:45PM. We love Cambodia! It's been soo neat to be in this laid back small town. This is probably one of our favorite places thus far! The people are so nice and warm to tourists (I'm sure most of the income comes from tourism however they are still so warm!)

Got to our hotel from the airport and they had us a room waiting (I had emailed them the other day to set it up). Nice room with Air Conditioning, fridge, recently updated, etc. The name of the place is Mom's Guest House.

We came to the Old Market part of town which has a trade market and lots of neat shops and restaurants. We had dinner at a nice place with lots of atmosphere. I had curry chicken and Jenna had traditional Khmer amok. It was a sweet-tasting dish that was kind of like basil chicken stir-fry from Lime Leaf in Spartanburg. Beer (local brew called Angkor) was only .75 per glass!

Back to the hotel for a early night in. Jenna's stomach still was a little unsettled too but we were heading out to Angkor Wat tomorrow for sunrise at 5:00AM. We've rented a taxi for the whole day and will explore this "ancient world" most of the day. Google it-its facinating!


On another note from a previous entry from Halong Bay Vietnam:
We had a special guest in our cabin on the boat. I had purchased a candy bar in case I didn't like the food on the boat. The food was fine but on the 2nd day I wanted my candy bar. It was missing-I asked/blamed Jenna (saying she had taken it from me) however she denied it. We later found a hole had been chewed in the backpack and the Snicker bar had been taken. Turns out another couple had the same thing happen. Must have been a rat on the boat! So glad we didn't know that before we got off!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jsbridgers/seasia2007/1195436220/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jsbridgers/seasia2007/1195436220/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jsbridgers/seasia2007/1195436220/tpod.html Mon, 19 Nov 2007 10:17:20 -0500 Southeast Asia- Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Get your minds out of the gutter people! Dong is the currency and Cu Chi are tunnels!

I'll write this out as Jenna's getting quite frustrated with a girl who
decided to light up 2-3 cigarettes in a small room! Hard to breathe!

Sunday morning we woke up around 8AM and went down for breakfast in our
hotel. Many of the hotels (for travelers) in SE Asia provide a
small/light breakfast for you that is included with the cost of the
room. So for this whopping 20 bucks we get a roof and breakfast! We
sit down and had a loaf of bread, banana and coffee. While we were
eating I noticed a tour bus outside a nearby travel agency. I inquired
if that was for the Cu Chi (Pronounced Coo-chie) tunnels. It in fact
was-we were able to get on that bus at the last minute and at 8:10 we
were on our way. This was about a 2 hour drive (could have been done
in 1.25 hours however we had to stop at a small village to let the
other tourist buy stuff). Along the way we were entertained by a local
tour guide who started with "Welcome, I'm glad to be your tour guide to
see Cu Chi Tunnels and how the Americans were beaten and abused our
land." Needless to say he talked for 45 minutes and I stared out the
window in shock at some of the things this guy was telling the rest of
the tourist bus. Oh well-he finally stopped and we had a break in the
US-Bashing until we arrived. Then we were delighted in seeing a film
saying about the same thing-followed by another 1.5 hours of him
explaining everything he had already mentioned. It was very
interesting and we were glad to have seen this account of some part of
the war. Jenna and I have been thankful to have seen this part of
history through two different sides (either way you slice it) and it
has been as positive an experience as it could be. He also showed us
several barbaric methods used by the Cu Chi tribes to capture/injure US
GIs. This was astounding to see in person after only hearing stories
about them and seeing them in the movies.

See pictures-I have a whole new appreciation for Dad telling me about US GIs who were "tunnel rats" which meant they would have to enter these tunnels (had to be small guys) with a pistol and flashlight! I was in a tunnel that was widened for westerners and I had to crawl. Also glad I had my camera-I kept using it to take pictures and let the flash illuminate the tunnel so I could see where to go-didn't want to get lost!

At the end of the tunnel there was also an opportunity for you to purchase live ammo and fire an AK47, M70, or another soviet machine gun. I couldn't belive this was possible. I didn't waste the money on the shot (1.50 USD per shot) however these guns were in full auto mode. Meaning you pull-it fires until you stop. (For some of you-and if I'm telling this wrong current military men please correct me-the typical weapon used today has single shot and 3 shot burst options-no longer fully auto)

We returned from the "Anti US" trip to HCMC around 2:00. We had a bite to eat near our
hotel and ran into the Brits from our Ha long bay trip (Small world).
Shared a drink with them and departed for some more exploration on the
town. We caught a taxi to Cholon which is the Chinatown area of HCMC.
Big disappointment (Traveler's note-don't waste your time and money)
we walked around a few minutes and got another cab back. (It's a good
thing the cab rides aren't too expensive around here-although it cost
us 110,000 Dong (yes Creech-that's the Vietnamese Currency) about 6.25
bucks and it only cost 43,000 (3 bucks) to return-Go figure)

We caught a ride with two motos to the "American Market" (which they
assured us was still open and happening) (cost 2 bucks). The market
was closing, however they had old GI relics as well as some
manufactured army stuff. Jenna saw several class rings and watches in
some of the display cases which was sad to see. We walked around for a
bit more and then came back to our hotel area to get cleaned up and
head to dinner. Had a decent meal (actually found onion rings as an appitizer) and headed back to do blogs.

We're off to Siem Reap, Cambodia tomorrow late afternoon (however we might
try to change our flights to an earlier time to get to see the sunset
at Ankor Wat (google it!).

Peace out-Still having a blast! Love AB and JB
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jsbridgers/seasia2007/1194678780/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jsbridgers/seasia2007/1194678780/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jsbridgers/seasia2007/1194678780/tpod.html Sun, 18 Nov 2007 22:13:56 -0500 Southeast Asia- Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Bangkok, Thailand

Hello from Bangkok!! Well, we got here last night after 1am tired as I don't know WAT. Got to out guesthouse and got showered since we hadn't done so in over 24 hours and went to bed. We are staying at the CK Guest house. It's great. http://www.bangkok-hotel.net/ck-house-thai-bali-suite-bangko k-thailand/

Got up the a.m. around 7:30 and headed for the skytrain and the River ferry to Wat Arun and then on to Wat Pho with the reclining Buddha. Wow that thing is enormous. I have got a ton of pictures, but can't upload right now. Check back later and I will add them.

Bangkok is amazing. The weather is perfect, like 90 degrees with clear skys, not tropical at all, just a nice day. Kinda gets hot after you have been walking around a while though. We have been drinking bottled water alot and it's a good thing it's so cheap. Like 10 baht for a bottle. That's about .30!

We have had a fantastic day so far. Took tons of pictures and have seen some neat buildings. The thing I have LOVED has been riding around in the tuk tuks and seeing the city. It's a big place, but it doesn't feel that way after riding around for a while. We had a driver take us to 4 different places and wait for us as long as we wanted for 50 baht... that less than $2!! That was about 2 hours worth of sightseeing right there!

The food has been good so far, though we've only really eaten one thing! At the Grand Palace, the street behind it has all these food vendors and people selling amulets and watches and all kinds of odds and ends. We walked past this one food stall and it smelled so good that I went back and asked for some of what they were cooking . No english was spoken but they understood chicken and served up a fantastic plate full of rice and chicken stir friend with chilis and basil and lots of yummy spices. Allen even liked it! We shared the plate for 50 baht. Yummy!

Now we are sitting in an internet cafe at Khao San Rd. having a Coke and emailing. We are arranging Visas for Vietnam and our lodging for the next two nights and then off to Vietnam and Cambodia. More later on the exact itenerary.

Jenna and Allen
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jsbridgers/seasia2007/1195313940/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jsbridgers/seasia2007/1195313940/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jsbridgers/seasia2007/1195313940/tpod.html Sun, 18 Nov 2007 09:55:28 -0500 Southeast Asia- Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Hey everyone! We are here in Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City. Henceforth known as HCMC. Today we got up aroud 9 and it was so nice to have a little more of a relaxed schedule. We ate breakfast at this neat little place called SOZO. It is a run by Vietnamese children who used to live on the streets and sell various odds and ends to survive. Now they are learning how to serve customers, handle money and run a business. A Christian couple from I can't remember where started it in 1994 (I think) as a one woman muffin and cookie cart and now there are 2 restaurants in the area. Our waiter was this little 12 year old (who looked to be about 8!) named Tin (pronounced Ton). He was so cute. Here's a picture of him. We called home after breakfast and talked to the rents (it was great to hear your voices. Dad I hope you are doing okay!) It was only 1000 dong per minute; there's 16,000 dong in a dollar! So that was nice to be able to touch base so cheaply. We called at 10am here which was 10pm back home.

Then we headed to the War Remnants museum. This is a really interesting place because of all the neat photos from the war. Lots of them were quite disturbing but they really told the story in graphic detail. Of course, the captions below told another story. They were very anti-American, full of propaganda. I think Allen got kind of ticked reading some of them. Of course, their views are going to be skewed but we had no idea how bad until seeing this.

The place shut down at lunch so we left and went to find some of our own. I wasn't too hungry (suprise!) but we found this neat place where you grill your food in the middle of your table. Allen ordered these steak rolls with cheese and onion in them and grilled them to a crispy perfection, so he was in heaven!

After lunch we got suckered into an hour ride in a cyclo, but we enjoyed it. It was hot as all get out but we got to see some interesting sights in the city including the Emporer of the Jade Pagoda
and the Reunification Palace. We went inside of the palace after the ride and had a look around. It's not been uised since the fall of Saigon in 1975 so it was stuck in the 70's with the horrible color schemes and maps on the wall that are far outdated.

Then it on to the Ben Thanh market for some shopping. It was jam packed full of everything you could need, though not even close to the size of the Chatujak market in Bangkok. There was tons of stuff; clothes, jeans, handbags, jewelry, perfume, makeup, shoes, dried fish, squid, beans, rice of every different color, vegetables of all sorts, Vietnamese handicrafts, candy and so on. A definate aroma that can only be understood if smelled through one's own nostrils! Since you won't probably be coming here yourselves, I'll try my best to give it to ya. Imagine, dried salty fish, about every kind you've ever seen (and many you haven't), mixed with the smells of fresh, ripe fruits and flowers, incense burning, meats grilling and sewer smells wafting in, along with the ever present deisel exhaust and there you have it. As Allen put it today, "When I see the dried fish coming, I take a deep breath and hope I can hold it until I make it to the fruit stands."

Anyway, after that we were tired and decided to go home and shower up and head out for dinner to a nice restaurant I'd read about in the Lonely Planet. We got there and saw something we knew meant disaster.... A TOUR BUS!! How could it be? This place was in the middle of a very unpopular area of town. We went in and the girl said, "Sorry, it's Friday night and if you no have reservations, I cannot seat you. We are full." Damn those guided tours! So off we went for option #2. But it had zero ambiance, so we just started walking until we found a place that looked nice and had a good looking menu. Can't remember the name but the service was great. Allen had a steak and I had grilled eel. Allen's was mediocre, mine was pretty tasty. Although when Allen told me he saw the eels swimming around in the tank on the way to the restroom, I lost my appetite. At least I know it was fresh!


Finally, we headed to the Saigon, Saigon bar on top of the Caravelle hotel and spent $15 on a coffee and one dessert! That's PRICEY for Vietnam. We are spoiled!

More to come from Vietnam tomorrow! (Make sure you check back on the prior blogs since Allen has recently updated with photos!)

Love J and A
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jsbridgers/seasia2007/1195273620/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jsbridgers/seasia2007/1195273620/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jsbridgers/seasia2007/1195273620/tpod.html Fri, 16 Nov 2007 13:33:11 -0500 Southeast Asia- Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Update from Friday:

I'm writing this one tonight as well-getting caught up after having been away from a computer for two days.

We
got up early this morning to see the sunrise at the lake-downtown
Hanoi. It was neat to see all of Hanoi waking up and getting a start
on their day. Shop keepers preparing for business, Fruit ladies loading
up to hit the streets , etc. Got to the lake to see Smog... No good
photo op since the sky had so much haze to it. There were lots of
people (young and old) doing Thai Chi (not sure how to spell it) around
the lake. There were also people playing badminton for exercise where
ever they could find a place-even in the middle of traffic! See
picture.

note: Also check out the picture of the lady practicing her belly dancing! It was hilarious.

Went
to a cafe to have coffee and breakfast as well as use the internet to
get a room in Ho Chi Ming City. Jenna had Pho Bo (Soup with noodles
and beef) which is a very common meal for breakfast and late night
snack. See Picture. I had two coffees (not a big fan of pho bo
myself). Couldn't book anything online in Ho Chi Ming city so we'll
just wing it when we get there.

Explored the the last things
we haven't seen in Hanoi Friday morning. We went to the famous Hanoi
prison (Hanoi Hilton) which was mostly torn down for new construction
however they left 1/3 of the building in tact for a museum. It was
very sobering due to the high number of prisoners (both old Vietnamese
political prisoners from 1900-1950) as well as many American Pilots who
were shot down who were tortured here. My man and Favorite Candidate
for President-John McCain was among those who suffered here.

We
then traveled to Ho Chi Ming's Mausoleum and to see the presidential
palace. Ho Chi Ming wasn't there-his body goes to Russia each year for
3 months to be "touched up" by the specialist who preserve the body.
The presidential palace was neat as well as the other buildings in the
area.

We then met two Vietnamese guys who offered to show us
the B52 bomber museum (or so we thought) and a few other places on
moto. We negotiated a price with them for the ride and left to see
them. It was a neat experience to ride though the city and
neighborhoods with them. The place they took us was a small pond area
where a B52 had been shot down and you could see some wreckage that has
been preserved as a historic site (note: I thought this was the
"Museum" but this was different-I'm sure these guys knew this all along
but found out later it wasn't the right one.

They then took us
to see the Museum of Ethnology. This was about 5 minutes outside the
city. Once there I went to pay them the agreed amount and that's when
the scam started. We had been warned about this but it still took us
by surprise. After haggling over what we owed them I gave him what I
thought was fair and we went in the museum. No more trouble from those
guys but I was worried for awhile (travelers note: Get them to write
down the agreed price and stops on paper-then they won't question the
price once you've arrived.) This was a neat museum that showed the
history behind all of the different cultures in Vietnam. They had some
houses made on stilts to show how many cultures lived and how they were
constructed.

We took a metered cab back to Hanoi and shopped
around the rest of the afternoon until it was time to head to the
airport. We had the hotel arrange us a taxi "for a good price" and
were off to the airport. After typing my last blog this guy wasn't
qualified to ride a bike-not to mention drive a taxi. His brake drums
(I think-I'm sure my dad and Dale are thinking-that boy doesn't know
what he's talking about-quit laughing Creech) were worn out and were
roaring so loud we couldn't even hear each other talk. He stayed on
the horn the entire time and needless to say we arrived at the airport
safely.

Plane was delayed but we flew Vietnam Airlines again
and this was very nice too. 2 Hour flight to Ho Chi Ming City
(Siagon). Got a cab to the "Backpacker" area of the city and started
looking for a place to stay. Finally found one for 20 bucks. It's not
the best but it's a room. Had a late dinner and came back to the
hotel.

Tomorrow we begin to tackle Siagon. All is well and love the comments your leaving!

AB
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jsbridgers/seasia2007/1195174800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jsbridgers/seasia2007/1195174800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jsbridgers/seasia2007/1195174800/tpod.html Fri, 16 Nov 2007 13:32:43 -0500 Southeast Asia- Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Halong Bay, Vietnam

Hello all armchair travelers. Hope you are enjoying reading as much as we
are enjoying doing the "research" to write them! Sorry for the two day delay but
we've been in Halong bay. I typed this last night to post but lost it AGAIN.
Gotta love these slow connections!

Anyway, we left for Halong Bay Wednesday morning and enjoyed the 3 hr trip
with some British girls. They have been all over for the last several months so
it was good to get some pointers from them on the next few stops we'll be
making.

HB was absolutely A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!! We got to our Chinese "junk" as they call
them and climbed aboard. Our fellow travellers were from all over the world,
most in theier mid twenties. Australia, Japan, Argentina, Portugal, Denmark,
Britain and Germany were all represented. We had an awesome luch of fresh fish,
spring rolls, french fries, rice, steamed fresh veggies and fruit! Then we were
off to cruise around the bay- it's full of limestone islands, about 3000 of
them!

We went to this really cave inside one of the islands and it felt like we
were on the moon or something. I hope the pictures come out for it. It was
really neat. Then we climbed to to the top of the island and got some neat shots
of the bay with all the boats floating around. Then we went kayaking around to
explore on our own for a little while. Got back to the boat about sunset and
just sat up on deck talking with everyone and taking in the awesome views of the
islands and boats at sunset. WOW!

We had a great dinner and just talked late with everyone hearing travel
stories and getting ideas for things to do in Ho Chi Minh City and Cambodia. We
also compared notes about how we do things back home versus how the others did.
It was neat to learn and share with each other. To me, that's what traveling it
all about!

Went to bed and woke up early for sunrise. We were the only 2 up for a while
and it was so quiet and peaceful looking out over the water and waiting. All you
children of the 80's will remember The Goonies. That's what some of the scenery
and the boats look like to me. We cruised back towards the pier after breakfast
and stopped at a floating village. It was really neat to see. This is a vilage
in the middle of NOWHERE and they are thriving, though poor by Western
standards. There are some very enterprising women who will paddle up to the
junks in their small boats and shot for you to buy something. Thay have all kind
of things from Pringles and Oreos to wine and beer. Very interesting. And of
course people buy because we are a captive market! No 7-11 around the
corner!


We got back to Hanoi about 4pm and just walked around the Old Quarter in and
out of neat little shops with paper lanterns, ties,silks and linens, wooden
laquerware bowls and other "bits and bobs" as the English girls say.

A great time had here and we are not done yet! More to come
later!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jsbridgers/seasia2007/1195234500/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jsbridgers/seasia2007/1195234500/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jsbridgers/seasia2007/1195234500/tpod.html Fri, 16 Nov 2007 13:31:01 -0500 Southeast Asia- Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Hanoi, Vietnam

Hello friends, family and other travelers. It's midnight here-Jenna's out like a light so I'm typing this one.

We
got back into town last night from our trip to Ha long Bay and arrived
at the hotel that I arranged the night before. They had good rooms,
good computers, fast internet and I figured it was a good thing since
most of the hotels in Hanoi were already booked for Thursday Night. I
put a deposit down on the room so they would hold it for us. Got to
the counter and they acted like they had no clue who we were or what I
was asking. They seemed to have "forgotten" about the deposit I put
down the other night. (travelers note: Always get a paid receipt) I
pulled it out and showed them and they said "Oh Yes, We are having some
problems with some of the electricity in some of the rooms-we don't
have a room for you...So Sorry" Jenna and I had heard about these
"electricity" problems which was just simply overbooking for a better
rate so we held our ground. They eventually agreed to put us up in
another hotel they owned a few miles away. Here's where the next
adventure lies...

We then get on two moto bikes (sorry moms) and
rode with two guys from the hotel to this new place. We didn't go too
fast (15 mph) since there was so much traffic so it was harmless. It
was a neat experience to be party of the "Moto Madness" Jenna talked
about the other day.

I have learned the following about Vehicles in Vietnam:

1.
Buses, Transport Trucks, Dump trucks, etc have the right of way
period. It doesn't matter if the light is green or red (the lights and
signs are simply "suggestions" to the drivers). Surprisingly we
haven't seen many accidents-every seems to get out of the way.

2.
Taxis (2nd on the Transportation food chain) are the King of the road
in the city as the buses and trucks can't move fast enough to build up
the much needed speed to intimidate everyone else. To be a taxi driver
it seems as though you have be able to say 5 dollar, drive a stick
shift (somewhat), and be able to honk the horn. Actually knowing how
to read a map or knowing where the places in the city are would only
come after the first 3 skills had been acquired.

3.
Motorbikes (AKA Motos) make up the great majority of travelers in
Vietnam. They also have to learn to use the horn frequently and dodge
#1 and #2 unless they are traveling in a pack-then this would be their
strength (Teamwork). If enough of #3 get going in one direction both
#2 and #1 will stop until they pass.

4. Bikes (Yes Bicycles) come next to last. Same rules except instead of a horn they use small bells.

5. Walking (This is where we fit the bill most of the time) Lowest on the moving food chain-it's fun though.

I'll throw in some short video of typical traffic, crossing the street, etc.

So
back to the updates-got to the hotel-it's okay-place to hang our hats
for the night and then go out to have dinner at a trendy place called
Cafe Mocha. It was very westernized (which we normally try to stay
away from while traveling) however some of the Aussies on our trip had
recommended it. Food was great, good atmosphere, fairly cheap and we
ran into one of the British girls on our trip so she joined us for
dinner and drinks there. We explored the rest of the city last night
and we back for some much needed rest.


We leave Hanoi tomorrow and head to Ho Chi Ming City, (Saigon) Vietnam.

Side
Note: Some of you have emailed about the country side: We were able
to see about 3.5 hours of the northern part of Vietnam on our trip by
bus to Ha long Bay the typical countryside is farm land mixed with
houses. There are a lot of new houses being built throughout the
country. We've noticed lots of narrow (like Charleston row houses)
houses that are 3/4 stories tall and very deep. On of the locals told
us that many people live with their entire family. From Great
Grandkids to Great Grand Parents so they build big family houses to
live in.

Also several people have asked about how the vietnamese
view americans. Most people can't tell we Americans. Surprisingly many
people ask me if I'm German! There are a lot of travelers from all
over the Globe but a lot from Europe, Austrailia, and New Zeland. The
Vietnamese people (that we've talked to) don't really like to talk much
about the war as this is now a country that is trying to get away from
that image. More to follow on this in a few days.

Sorry if this isn't as catchy as Jenna's are. I'm tired and wanted to update you all.
]]>