Myra and Gerry Southeast Asia 2019

This morning we drove to Banreay Srei - a small, elegant Hindu Temple about 45 minutes from the hotel. Considered by many to be the jewel in the crown of Angkorian art, Banteay Srei is cut from stone of a pinkish hue. Construction of the Temple started on 967 A D.    The art gallery of Angkor, Banteay Srei  is wonderfully well preserved and many of its carvings are very detailed and ornate. After lunch, we left for a flight to Luang Prabang, Laos.

This morning we boarded our coach and traveled to see more ancient ruins nearby.  By far the most impressive was Ta Prohm. Ta Prohm is famous for the Temples that are overgrown and covered with tree roots.  It has been left as it was found and shows what the jungle can do when it takes over.  The roots of the trees are attached to the porous sandstone and extracts water from the stones. They are both destroying the Temple and holding  it up at the same time.  It is eerily beautiful. thanks One of the most famous spots in Ta Prohm is the so-called ‘Tomb Raider tree’, where parts of the movie "Tomb Raider" starring Angelina Jolie was filmed. Our next stop was the Elephant Terrace which was  named for the sculptures in high relief of elephants. At several sections large elephant heads protrude out from the wall, their very long trunks forming pillars extending to the ground. Our last stop to visit ruins was Anghor Thom which means ...

Today was a travel day, a five-hour bus ride from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap.   Tauck used to fly people between the two cities but found out that due to the airline unreliability, they were able to get people here quicker by busing them. The highlight of the day was a stop at “Spider City” where you can purchase fried tarantulas, scorpions, spiders, cockroaches, etc.   It was not something that any of us were used to.   We were greeted by children selling local fruits and holding live tarantulas that they would gladly let crawl on you.   One of our tour guides allowed them to put two on his shirt.   There were no takers in our group. Over a million tourists a year pass through Siem Reap, making it the fastest growing place in Cambodia outside of Phnom Penh, the capital city. One of the main  attractions is the ruins of Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat was built in the first half of the 12th century as a Hindu Temple and took 37 years to build....

After a short, early flight, we arrived in Phnom Penh, the Capital and largest city of Cambodia.  We toured a local museum and checked into our hotel. On Tuesday, we took a cyclo ride to the the Royal Palace, the home if the King of Cambodia.  The king is a figure head with no real power.  The current king is a single, ballet dancer with no children, no girlfriend and no heir.  The country is controlled by a central, mainly China - influenced, communist party and the leader of the party is a  former follower of Pol Pot (short for POLitical POTential) inwho defected and was protected by Vietnam - a traditional enemy of Cambodia.  Pol Pot was the former leader of the Khmer Rouge (from 1975 - 1979 ) who was responsible for one of the worst genocide operations in our lifetime. We visited one of the 160 "Killing Fields" where Pol Pot and his followers murdered approximately three million citizens (25% of the population) in his perverte...

The Mekong Delta, known as Cuu Long by the Vietnamese, is located in southern Vietnam. It is a vast maze of rivers, swamps and islands.  Mekong means “Mommy” and it seems an appropriate name because it is the source of water and a way of life for so many people. This area is known as the  rice bowl’ of Vietnam and three crops of rice can be planted and harvested aevery year. The delta is carpeted with beautiful green water hyacinths and is full of boats, houses and markets floating along the many arteries.  We stopped at a market along the shore to watch several demonstrations. The first was how to pop rice. They heated black sand and then put the rice in and stirred until it popped. They then sifted out the black sand and made caramel tasting rice that oozed like rice crispy bars. They then placed the candy in plastic bags and sealed it by melting a corner of the plastic with a candle.  (This is exactly how things were sealed in China in...

Today was our first full day in Ho Chi Minh City, a city of 13 million people and the former capital of South Viet Nam. It is interesting what the people actually call this city.  After reunification the government renamed the city Ho Chi Minh City.  However, most of the residents still refer to it as Saigon. After breakfast this morning our  first stop was the local market in downtown - the largest market in Viet Nam.  Everything from clothes, products, produce, fresh fish, meats and every animal organ can be purchased here. There are fixed price booths on the outer circle, everything else is negotiable. We love these colorful markets where locals come every day to purchase fresh foods. Next we went to a Buddhist temple. Approximately 73 % of the Vietnamese people are non-religious, 12% follow Buddhism, 8% are protestant, and 7% follow Catholicism. The most popular room in the Buddhist temple was one where Millennials come to pray for havi...