Japan - Trains, Buses, and Taxis!

Day 1:

It was just a hop and a skip from Shanghai to Kobe, Japan. I had barely recovered from climbing the Wall and before I knew it I was being shuffled through customs in the Japan Port Terminal like a lost and confused sheep. Our ship wasn’t fully cleared until about 1 p.m. – I was able to get off around 10:30 but I had to wait for my friends who didn’t get off until noon. I, like the rest of the SAS population, got myself a handy dandy Japan Railpass so I could zoom up and down the island as much as I wanted in four days! I made plans with my friends, Dan and Clare, to travel to Mt. Fuji, Tokyo, and Kyoto (in that order). We only had a hotel booked for the very first night at Mt. Fuji and our plan after that was to wing it!

We had to pick up our actual railpasses at Sannomiya Station – we made a brilliant decision to take a taxi instead of the subway because we wanted to make the 1:30 train to Tokyo. We just barely beat the massive flood of SASers scrambling to make early trains. We were in and out of there like three moles in Whack-a-Mole. We hopped on the subway to Shin-Kobe Station then boarded our very first bullet train to Tokyo. We weren’t actually going to Tokyo, though, we were going to Mishima where we would take a bus to Mt. Fuji. It was a fairly quick three hour train ride to Mishima then another two and a half hour bus ride to Kawaguchi-ko. None of us had any idea that it would take so long to get to Mt. Fuji – it’s definitely not a place you can just pop in for a day to say “Hi” then peace out later that night. We had a night booked at the Sunnide Village which conveniently had a shuttle from the bus stop to the hotel. We did actually make it to the hotel until 7 p.m.! Oofta! Nonetheless, our room was fantastic – it was a traditional Japanese style room with beds and chairs on the wood floor, a tea set, robes and little straw shoes to wear to meals, and a magnificent view of Mt. Fuji! The mountain is unlike any in Montana – it’s one single peak stretching high into the sky (sorry, no figures, I’m not a guide book), three-quarters of it covered in piercingly white snow. Earlier on in our planning there had been discussion of climbing the most-climbed-in-the-world mountain until we read multiple articles claiming the severe dangers of hiking in the off season and something about how it was suicidal. We decided to go for just plain sight-seeing purposes only.

After we got settled in our room, we set off to find some Japanese grub. We walked about a mile and a half down the main road from our hotel and found a cute little house serving Soba noodles and tempura! It was perfect and smelled like heaven. We sat down and were all ready to order when we realized that we only had a thousand yen collectively. We asked the sweet, old lady who ran the restaurant if they took credit cards and, like everywhere else in Japan, they only take cash. We were kind of in the middle of nowhere so we needed her to call us a cab to take us to an ATM in town. While we were waiting for our taxi she served us the best I’ve had in all of Asia…and I’ve had a lot of tea! A little about the taxi ride – the first thing I noticed was the man was wearing a very nice suit. The meter started at seven dollars and jumped like a frog on speed. We ended up paying twenty dollars for a five minute cab ride to the seven eleven! I was completely shocked and, quite frankly, pretty upset. I thought it was some kind of a joke. Due to the expensive cab ride we ate dinner at a Japanese fast food restaurant and then took another awesomely pricey ride back to our residence for the evening.

Day 2:

Clare and I woke up at 6:30 to take a Japanese bath, which requires you to be completely nude! There were strict signs saying NO BATHING SUITS and NO TOWEL. There were two baths, one indoor and another outdoor. There were only two other Japanese women in the bath – one was trying to tell us to do something but I hadn’t a clue what she was getting at. A fun thing about Japan is people will talk to you in Japanese as if you spoke the language even though it is clear you have no idea what they are saying. The experience wasn’t as awkward as I thought it would be.

Clare and I decided we wanted to stay in Fuji another night and Sunnide Village was all booked so we had to go on a quest to find another place to stay. We grabbed a little breakfast at the hotel before checking out. We had no desire to spend another twenty dollars on a taxi so we footed it all the way to the bus station, about an hour and a half away, bearing our backpacks and all. We tried to hitchhike into town but none of the Japanese tourists in their super slick vehicles were giving us any love. It was a pretty morning and the scenery is straight out of a story book, so it really wasn’t a bad walk. We finally made it to Kawaguchiko Station where the tourism center is located and we were able to get a room at the Plaza Hotel just adjacent to the bus stop – how convenient! My friend, Dan, took off for Tokyo to go to a baseball game with his friends at 11:30 while Clare and I began our sightseeing adventure.

There are five lakes that surround Mt. Fuji and Kawaguchiko revolves around one of them. We walked down to the lake front where we climbed into a little boat shaped like a swan and peddled around the lake for a while. It would have been a little more idealistic if Mt. Fuji wasn’t hiding behind the clouds the whole time. Afterwards we walked around the lake for a couple of hours stopping in at the various souvenir shops. We checked in at our new hotel in the late afternoon to take a nap before heading out again for dinner. We decided to shake things up a bit take the bus to Fuji Yoshida (a nearby town) for dinner. We had the names and vague directions of a couple of restaurants from Lonely Planet, but when you are on foot in a town you have never been in before it is a lot more difficult to find a place than Lonely Planet makes it out to be. We ended up so stuck and lost that we had to call a taxi to pick us up and take us to one of the restaurants…which ended up being very far away. It was called Fujiyama Beer Brewery – it kind of reminded me of the Ale Works in Bozeman, but more family oriented. We grabbed the train back to Kawaguchiko for a goodnights rest before heading out the next morning.

Day 3:

We took a 7:30 bus back to Mishima Station where we got on a train to Kyoto. I had mastered the train schedule and planned it so Dan would get on the same train that would pick us up in Mishima – it worked out perfectly. When we arrived in Kyoto we got on yet another bus to take us to Southern Kyoto where there is a sightseeing walking tour – we got on the right bus but had absolutely no idea where to get off! I asked a nice older couple where we were to get off and the man told me we passed our stop a long time ago…oops. We got off at the next stop, whipped out our maps like the good tourists we are, and figured out where to go. Turns out the man was wrong, we got off the bus too early. We strolled down to this humongous temple site with a gorgeous Japanese garden then took a walk through a lively park with vendors and the famous cherry blossom tree (although it didn’t look too famous at the moment).

THEN Clare and I got dressed up like Geishas! They did the whole bit and they did it fast. I felt a little like a rag doll being slathered with the pain-like make-up and tossed in numerous layers of brightly colored clothing. It didn’t feel right to be dressed this way – for one thing, I definitely don’t have the face for the gig. We were able to take pictures but you aren’t supposed to smile showing your teeth, which is not natural for me. The whole thing was strange but an interesting experience to have.

Afterwards we went to find some Tempura, instead we found a Mexican Restaurant! We were all a little reluctant to go to Mexican when we were in Japan, but I have to say it may have been the best choice of the day! The food was decent, but the people were amazing – they were dressed in Mexican outfits and said things like, “Hola” and “Bienvenidos”. The man who owned the restaurant began serenading us with his guitar and his Spanish lyrics, then he us join in with maracas and tambourines. It may have been the most abnormal and wonderful thing to experience in Kyoto. Our waiter, Tommy, spoke English very well so we joked around with him and asked him questions about Japan. We ended up taking pictures with the owners and our waiter and exchanging e-mail addresses. It was precious. To conclude the evening we went to an internet café, got some yummy dessert, and then caught the 10 p.m. train back to Kobe.

Day 4:

We woke up early again to catch yet another train to Hiroshima this time. We didn’t decide to go to Hiroshima until the last minute, and I’m sure glad we did. The train ride was only an hour and a half so we were there by 9:30 a.m. The stations and the train were crazy busy because it was a Monday…and we all know what people do on Monday mornings. We got to the Atomic Bomb Dome by street car. The area was picturesque with the green grass, cherry blossoms, big flowing river, and the ravaged building in the center of it all. The whole Peace Park is scattered with memorials dedicated to those lost in the bombing - each is decorated with thousands of colorful paper doves to represent peace.

We went to the Museum at the opposite end of the Peace Park featuring every aspect of the bombing. At some points it was a little too gruesome and depressing to handle – I felt drained by the end of it. Bombing is never a good idea, kids. We visited another memorial site where we read more gloomy stories about victims begging for water and soldiers not being allowed to give it to them because they would just die anyway.

After that uplifting morning, we found a super cheap lunch, walked around Hiroshima a bit more, and then took our final bullet train back to Kobe where I had just enough money to take the subway back to the ship.

HK and CHINA

Day 1:

We arrived in Hong Kong after only two days of short and sweet sailing. Despite the fog, the soaring skyline was beyond impressive. It is a little daunting to think that man created the landscape I saw before me – miles and miles of lanky buildings poking at the sky. I only had one day to let loose in this massive city since I had a flight to Beijing leaving the very next day. My friend, Clare, and I took on the day together. I would have to say the majority of our morning was spent asking directions and luckily many people spoke English and were extremely helpful. We first had to find the Ferry Station where I could pick up a ticket for a ferry to the Shenzhen airport the next morning. For being in the same vicinity as our ship, it took us quite a while to make it to the right building and the right ticket booth after stopping every 5 minutes to make sure we were headed in the right direction. After finally purchasing my ticket we disembarked on another fun adventure of finding the subway station to take us to the Ladies Market! The subway was a hoot and a half! I have discovered I really enjoy various forms of public transportation – it’s confusing, yet easy and fun! I’m going to be riding those new buses in Bozeman when I come home!

Anyway, the Ladies Market was about 6 blocks of shops with Chinese trinkets, clothing, knock-off shoes, handbags, and watches, and occasionally lingerie (always strange to see in an open-air market). I made a couple amazing purchases – I can’t wait for gift giving when I get home. We basically spent the whole afternoon at the market, doddling around. That night we decided to go up to Victoria Peak where, on a clear day, you can see over the whole city. When we went up there we were lucky to see fifty feet in front of us, still we had a spectacular meal! By the time we got back to the ship it was 10 p.m. and time for bed!

Day 2:

A little background: ten of us had planned a while back to travel China independently with a tour group that allows you to sleep on the Great Wall, so roughly a month and a half ago we all booked a one way plane ticket to Beijing from Hong Kong. Time passes by quickly when you are jumping from country to country so we were all blindsided when we realized China was only a week away and none of us had paid the tour company yet. It was a bit of a conundrum when the tour company informed us we couldn’t pay by credit card and all of us are stuck in the middle of the ocean. It all worked out one day before arriving in Hong Kong thanks to good ol’ Pay Pal!

I woke up at 6:30 a.m. to pack, eat some breakfast, and meet our group at 8 to head to our Ferry. The earliest ferry leaving from Hong Kong to Shenzhen was at 8:45 and if we missed that then we were guaranteed to miss our flight. Everyone except for Teagan and I went out the night before so half of the group was running late. I had to pound on one of my friend’s doors to get him out of bed at 8:05 a.m. and my other friend lost her wallet so we had to leave her behind on the ship while the rest of us rushed to make the ferry. All ten of us ended up making the ferry that morning – the universe was working with us because it was somewhat of a miracle! The ferry to Shenzhen was definitely not what I had expected – it looked like a super wide airplane from the inside and dining service and safety videos. Teagan and I talked for the hour it took us to arrive at the airport. We had to go through customs in Shenzhen since we were now entering China – it was nice to get through customs there instead of at a busy airport. We then got on our 3 hour flight to Beijing.

Upon arriving in Beijing we got some delicious Starbucks (I have never enjoyed Starbucks as much as I have on this voyage) and grabbed 3 taxis for the ten of us. We anticipated the taxi drivers not speaking any English so we had the tour agency in the airport write out our hostel’s address in Chinese, even then the taxi drivers hadn’t the faintest idea where the place was. The three drivers stood there for about ten minutes bickering back in for in Chinese, waving their arms in all different directions, and finally one turned to us and said, “Okay.” We all piled in our taxis and hoped for the best! The drivers only stopped two times to get directions before we were dropped off on the street and were pointed down an alley way. There are two hostel buildings and we happened to find the wrong one, so a nice lady led us to the right one. The hostel was absolutely adorable – it had a cute balcony lined with bamboo, rooms of all different sizes and number of beds, a family room with a TV and computers, a communal shower, and Chinese decorations everywhere. I had pictured hostels to be dirty, crowded, and just plain unwelcoming, but I was once again proven wrong (how many times have I said that over the course of this voyage?) There were only a couple of other people staying there besides our group – one girl, from London, just moved to Beijing hoping to learn Mandarin and was looking to find work.

That night we went out for a family dinner at a nearby Chinese restaurant where English is not spoken – our friend Lindsey studied Chinese in college so we had her take care of the ordering. We had the most outstanding sweet and sour pork – you definitely can’t get that at any Chinese restaurant in Bozeman. After dinner Teagan, Lauren, Collyn, Gabe, and I decided to walk to Tiananmen Square, which, come to find out, is a lot farther than anyone wants to walk at 9 p.m. in a foreign city. About an hour an a half later we finally make it to the front of the Forbidden City. The boys ended up meeting these two Chinese girls rather abruptly and decided to go off with them for the night. We didn’t think much of it because this is something Collyn and Gabe would do. Us girl caught a taxi down the road to take us back to the hostel for the night. As we were sitting in our room later that night we read a page in “Bobby’s Advice Book” that went a little something like this, “Beware around Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City of hustlers. Young girls will claim to be college students and ask young men out for tea where they will proceed to teach them about the culture, feed them loads of tea, and charge them an absurd amount of money. When approached, please turn them away.” That is exactly what happened to our friends. If we had cell phone we would have texted them to get out of their, but thankfully the situation wasn’t a dangerous one…more comical than anything.

Day 3:

The next morning we met our tour guide, Hilda! We began our Beijing adventure by visiting the Summer Palace…can you say “tourists”?! There were Asian tour groups up the wazoo – they wore matching hats and moved like a flock of sheep following after the person holding a flag in the air. The ten of us stood out like a sore thumb. The place itself wasn’t too exciting; it was the place where the Emperor and his Empress went during the summer. We walked down the longest corridor ever built and massaged our feet on the stone walkway. We ate a decent Chinese-style lunch with some very-excited-to-be-there servers. They introduced each food with gusto, “Hello, this is RICE,” one would say. After lunch we went to Tiananmen Square (again) and toured through the inside of the Forbidden City. Both places turned out to serve more for people watching than anything else. You get an unbelievably wide range of outfits and hairstyles in China.

We then went to a humongous indoor market that was five-or-so stories tall. I was overwhelmed with the amount of knock-off shoes, bags, jewelry, coats, backpacks, and pretty much everything under the sun. I did the best I could to indulge myself in this market for the hour we were allotted. I wonder day after day why we do not have markets like these in the states where you can barter away your little heart until the sun goes down. I guess I’ll just have to keep traveling to be able to enjoy places like these. After the market we had an interesting Hot Pot dinner where you cook your own food in your personal pot. Sounds cool…but not really. None of us really knew what we were doing, so all of the little waitresses were laughing and making fun of us in their Chinese language.

We ended the night with a mind-blowing Kung Fu show! It was more of a play than anything – it had a story line outlining the development of Kung Fu and there was a main character and everything. The lighting, set, and sound were phenomenally done! For me it was more the fact that I was watching a play/performance in China than watching outrageous kung fu moves. There were little kids that did back handsprings on their hands! Being a former gymnast, I was pretty much flabbergasted.

Day 4:

We met up with Hilda again at 9:00 a.m. to go to the Mingh Tombs…another uneventful excursion, but we managed to have a good time riding on the stone elephant stools that were scattered around. We walked down the “Sacred Pathway” line with stone soldiers, elephants, horses, tortoises, and unidentifiable beings. It began raining on us, so we made it a rather brisk walk down the pathway. We had another Chinese style lunch (surprise surprise) then drove three hours to the Great Wall. When we arrived at the Wall a bunch of us had to “sing a song” (go to the bathroom). We took a short hike up the road to find quite the bathroom. It looked as if it were built the same time as the Great Wall and was meant to be on display in an Archaeological museum to show what people used to pee in. Did I pee in it? Yes, yes I did. Was it fun? No, no it wasn’t. We then had a cup of tea in the shop of the couple who was hosting us for the evening before ascending the Great Wall for the first time. The section of the wall we were climbing was completely deserted of tourists, the only people around was a film production crew working on a movie. We hiked the beaten wall to a nearby tower to watch the sun set behind a mountain in the distance. It was a peaceful gift to be able to sit on one of the Seven Wonders of the World and watch the sun set without one other tourist around. Once the sky turned a grayish-orange we made our way back down to the shop where we were served the most delicious Chinese food to date! We had a wide assortment of greens with pork and beef, and out-of-this-world dumplings! At dinner we were joined by an Australian couple, Russel and Simone, who would be joining us for the remainder of our Great Wall adventures.

After dinner, we piled on every piece of clothing in our backpacks to prepare ourselves for the extreme cold we were about to face while sleeping on the Great Wall. We hiked up to the tower looking like a bunch of marshmallows, laid out the sleeping bags and mats provided by the company, and went on to sleep on the Wall. I actually had a warm, cozy, and substantial sleep that night, which is pretty impressive considering our tour guide said he only slept 2 hours because “we” were so noisy. Another thing Semester at Sea as taught me: how to sleep anywhere and everywhere.

Day 5:

We were woken up at 6:00 a.m. by what sounded like a military raid yelling, “Wake up! Let’s go! We must eat breakfast and climb the wall! We are already late! Get up!” It was intense, and pretty hilarious. Our hiking guide was named Max and Max liked to say things like this, “Watch every step you make because if you do not then you will never see your Momma or Poppa again,” or, “Always watch where you step, ladies, or you will fall and smash in your little faces”. He was really poetic. The hike turned out to be a heck of a lot more strenuous than I could have ever imagined. I have never climbed so many stairs in my life…total. We climbed up steps that were eighty degrees and maneuvered down towers where the stairs had collapsed. The fact that we were engulfed by fog made the first grueling hour and a half of the hike a little enchanting and easier to enjoy. The remainder of the hike was fairly easy - the fog had cleared so we could see the Wall stretch all across the land. The hike was supposed to take four hours, but our powerhouse group finished in three! At the end we all treated ourselves to ice cream sold by a vendor, then zip lined across the canyon to a boat that took us to our bus. It was an unbelievable, unforgettable morning!

We had another quick Chinese lunch before driving three hours back to Beijing. We ended up playing games on the bus I had learned from campers – Yay Camp Equinox! Upon arriving in Beijing we were treated to a 90 minute foot massage and pedicure (included in our trip cost!) which was just delightful! We had about an hour to kill before heading to the train station so we hit up the nearby market and Subway! We said our tearful goodbyes to Hilda as we boarded our sleeper train to Shanghai. I hadn’t been on a train since India so I was surprised by its luxuriousness. Each cabin had four beds, fluffy linens, two pillows, personal slippers, and a tea pot. I got the short end of the stick and ended up in a cabin with three Chinese men who didn’t speak a word of English – it wasn’t that big of a deal since I hung out in the dining car with my friends until I went to bed.

Day 6:

I was woken at 6:00 a.m. again by a loud voice; instead this time it was the lovely cabin steward announcing something clearly important…too bad I don’t speak any Chinese. I looked around and saw the men in my cabin gathering their things, so I figured I would do the same. The train was coming to a stop so I threw on my backpack and followed the crowd to the exit of the train. I showed the nice lady my ticket and she started shaking her head and saying words I do not know. Finally she said something I could recognize, “No Shanghai, Waso, no Shanghai!” We were definitely not at my stop yet. I did the walk of shame back to my cabin where I waited another hour to actually reach Shanghai.

We all made it off of the train in one piece, grabbed a couple of taxis, and went back to our home away from home. It was so nice to be back on the ship again. I ate a delicious western breakfast and took a nice, long shower before heading out into the city. Shanghai seemed cool, but I felt I didn’t have the time or energy to take it in. It was pouring rain outside so all I really did was get my Japan Railpass, buy some warm clothing, and call it a day.

A Little Vietnam and a Lotta Cambodia!

Day 1:

We rolled into Ho Chi Minh City a little differently this time around – instead of just plopping our ship in the ocean as if we were a misplaced block in Tetris, we actually had to maneuver our way into the country by traveling up the Saigon River! I woke up at 6:30 to see our ship cruising down a chocolate milk colored river surrounded by mangroves, stilted homes, and miniature (compared to our vessel) wooden boats complete with a rower wearing a rice hat. What a peculiar feeling it was to be on a cruise ship heading down a river in Vietnam…

That morning I had a trip with SAS to the Cu Chi Tunnels leaving as soon as the ship was cleared. Before arriving at the Tunnels we stopped for a traditional Vietnamese lunch at a gorgeous restaurant overlooking a tiny river with the occasional fisherman floating by. The meal was full of no-name food, but it was all delicious. The Cu Chi Tunnels were created by the Vietnamese as an effective war tactic. The network runs deeply underground with several floors and rooms made for storage, cooking, meeting, preparing for battle, etc – some of them running up to 200 km in length. We were first taken to a miniscule hole in the ground meant to be an entrance way into the tunnels – the hole was probably 1 ½ feet by 2 feet, way too small for a normal person to fit in, right? The first girl to go in was definitely smaller than me, so it was no surprise that she slid in and out like butter. It wasn’t until our guide Mai convinced a guy in our group the size of a football player to squeeze himself in there that I knew I could probably fit. The trick wasn’t getting in, however, it was getting out .

We saw some pretty insane, elaborate traps set up to, you know, kill Americans. It was a little strange to have her say things like, “this one was used to kill you by puncturing your foot and trapping your leg”. After seeing that joyous display of artifacts, we shot off some guns! Yes, I shot an M60 machine gun! Another strange feeling to be shooting off M60s and AK47s with huge smiles on our faces while realizing these guns were probably used to kill American soldiers a few decades back. I kept my casings, so hopefully I will be able to get back into the states with them. Lastly, we actually went into a tunnel. Now, here I go again make presumptions and having expectations. I envisioned the tunnels being quite spacious, at least with enough room to walk upright. Oh, it makes me laugh inside at how mistaken I was. The tunnels were tall enough to crawl and wide enough to touch your elbows to each side. Wearing shorts, flip flows, and having to hold a flashlight while trying to inch my way through the bat and rat infested tunnel was a challenge, to say the least. 50 of us squeezing through a 20 meter tunnel meant there was no turning back once you were inside. I had a brief feeling of Closter phobic nervousness…so I couldn’t imagine how the Vietnamese felt crawling through tunnels 200 km long! It was definitely something to experience. We arrived back at the ship around dinner time – I chose to stay in to rest up for the next few days.

Day 2:

I had another SAS trip to the Mekong Delta leaving at 8 a.m.. A few of my good friends were on this trip so it proved to be a darn good day, despite its failure to meet a few of our expectations. We drove 2 hours and stopped at a market for about ten minutes and a random temple with a gigantic Buddha. They like their Buddhas big in Vietnam. We finally reached the river and climbed into a large river boat meant for tours. I had pictured the river to be lined with wooden stilted houses and bustling with small boats selling various fruits and veggies, but it was more like a highway for big boats like ours. Apparently you have to drive another 2 hours to get to that part of the river and wake up at 6 a.m. to see what I saw in my head. Oh well. Our boat stopped at a coconut-candy-making factory, and then we took burro-drawn carriages to smaller river boats made for 4 people. That was the authentic, relaxing experience I was looking for on the Mekong. We met back up with the big boats and floated off to lunch…which was amazing!! The first thing they brought out was a deep fried whole fish stood up on a stick complete with eyeballs and all! My initial thought was, “Holy crap, I can’t eat that”, but what would Semester at Sea be if I didn’t do those things that scare the poop out of me? The Vietnamese woman peeled the meat off of the fish and stuffed it in rice paper with noodles and greens. I have to say, it was quite good. We also had the most phenomenal shrimp I have ever tasted in my entire life! It was super fresh (she peeled it right in front of us) and you dipped it in a mixture of salt, pepper, and lemon. Dad, you would go crazy for this! The meal was complete with a trip to a fruit farm where we stuffed ourselves with mango, pineapple, and lychaes.

As soon as our bus got back to the ship, my friends and I freshened up and took the next shuttle back into the lively center of Ho Chi Minh City. We ate Vietnamese Pho (a traditional noodle bowl), went to the Night Market where I bought a duffle bag for 8 dollars to pack all of my gifts in! We topped the night off with some ice cream and a tip to the grocery store. I said goodnight to Vietnam as I was leaving the next morning for Cambodia.

Day 3:

I had a leisurely morning as our Cambodia trip didn’t leave until 10 a.m.. Despite the fact it took our bus two hours to drive to the airport, our flight was the fastest yet. I had barely finished my box lunch and we were already landing in Phnom Penh. As soon we arrived we piled into a stifling tour bus with air conditioning that had the power of a new born kitten. We went straight to the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda where we walked around, took some pictures, and sweated our way back to the States (China’s not half way around the world anymore!). We then visited a museum full of remnants from Angkor Wat, which was not too exciting seeing as we were visiting Angkor Wat the next day. We took a soothing, breezy sunset cruise on the Mekong Delta then headed to an orphanage. None of us were informed ahead of time that we would be visiting an orphanage and hadn’t brought any gifts with us, so we made a stop at a convenient store to buy candies, pens, and trinkets. Take a moment and imagine 60 students piling into a convenient store the size of a Mini Mart gas station (actually smaller) with no air conditioning trying to buy virtually the same thing! It was all worth it.

As we came up on the orphanage a young girl greeted us with a glowing smile saying, “I am so happy you are here. Welcome! Please, come in. We are so happy you come!” I knew immediately these kids were something special. The orphanage is called the Palm Tree Center – it was founded in 2002 by a man named Ouch Syphalla (Mr. Pole). The center serves both as a dormitory for kids orphaned by AIDS and a school. I was befriended by a 13 year old boy who gave me his personal guided tour. All of the kids spoke English very well, which was a bit ironic because many of the elders working there spoke very little English. He first showed me the girls dormitory. I saw an empty room with cubbies lining one side for the girls clothing. I asked the boy, “What do the girls sleep on?” and he replied, “I don’t know, I sleep in boys room.” So I asked him what he slept on and he told me he had a bed to sleep on – later I find out that a bed to him is a plank of wood propped up off the ground. The girls must sleep on the floor. He showed me the classrooms and some artwork he had done, and then he took me up to the music room. About 5 of us (SASers) watched as the students fiddled with cords and equipment. One strapped on a guitar, one grabbed a bass, one sat at the drums, and one got behind the keyboard. I was blown out of the water to hear such a sweet, harmonious, rockin’ sound come from these kids! They were brilliant! The evening ended with kids asking for our e-mails, hugging us goodbye. I even heard one girl saying to a SASer as we were leaving, “I will never forget you my sister, my sister”. If I ever adopt a kid, I know exactly where it will be from.

Day 4:

Our second day in Cambodia was just as crammed as the first. We woke at 6:30, had a pleasant breakfast, and made our first stop of the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. The Museum was originally a high school before it got taken over by the Pol Pot clan and transformed into a prison. The classrooms on the ground floor in Building A were individual cells where most of the torturing took place. The second floors comprised of either wood or brick cells used for mass detention. In each cell there was a tiny tin box to do you “business” in. The railings were blocked by barbed wire so that the residents weren’t able to commit suicide. One of the torturing devices was a tall pole where the victim was hung upside down until they lost consciousness, and then the head was dipped in a large pot of fertilizer water. The first floors of Building B and C were full of pictures of the genocide victims taken before they were taken to the killing fields to be killed. The victims were “suspects” of being a part of the CIA or KGB – they were students, doctors, monks, teachers, basically anyone thought to be a little too smart for their own good. They were told they were being taken to a reeducation camp. The pictures were the most gripping and heartbreaking aspect of the whole thing. Their faces communicate to you their feeling more than any statistic or piece of writing ever could. Some had the look of complete horror, some looked utterly exhausted, some looked as though they had just given up, some looked furious, and some looked torn to shreds.

Many died right in the prison from torture or starvation; the others were taken to the killing fields. They were blind folded and driven out to the fields where their heads were smashed in with whatever tool. The fields had a temple to honor the victims that was filled with thousands of skulls and piles of clothing found at this site. It was interesting to see a temple like this…I’m not quite sure how I felt about it. The whole area was a somber sink hole.

Later in the trip our guide talked to us about his childhood and it turns out that he was deeply affected by the Genocide. When he was nine years old his father was taken by the Pol Pot clan into the jungle – they assume he was murdered because they never saw him again after that. His mother took him and his 5 brothers to the country. They had to travel by foot – when they came to the river full of crocodiles his mother had to pass through one by one with each child. Many people died of malaria that way, but his brothers ended up dying of starvation. It was astounding to heard our regular Joe guide talking about this, but that is who the genocide affected – the regular Joe.

After the killing fields we hopped on a flight to Siem Reap, the home of the Angkor temples. We went straight to Angkor Wat, the most renowned religious site in the world. (Look it up on Wikipedia) The whole scene reminded me a lot of the Taj Mahal – lots of tourists snapping pictures and lots of hawkers. We explored for about 2 hours and spent the last half our looking at the vendors’ merchandise. I guess the temple was originally built to worship Shiva, the Hindu god, but somehow over the years it has become a Buddhist temple. We left just before sunset, had a delicious Vietnamese buffet with incredible spring rolls, and left before the cultural show to go to the night market. The market was definitely not what I’m used to – it was really clean, sheltered, and clearly catered to tourists; there was even a westernized bar inside of it. We then went to an internet café where I got to talk to my mom, dad, and sister. We took a tuk tuk, a motorbike attached to a carriage, back to the hotel for one dollar. It was a splendid evening.

Day 5:

I woke up at 4:00 a.m. to my roommate coming back from talking on Skype all night at an internet café. I had to get up at 4:30 anyway to watch the sunrise at Angkor Wat, so I lied in bed until then. There were very few people at the temple at this time making it an extremely calming and serene morning. We all lined the man made pool of water to take that perfect reflection picture as the sun rose through the pink sky behind the symmetrical temple. It happened all too quickly. After watching the sun rise we walked into the temple and enjoyed the cool air and vacant premises. We could already start to feel the heat at 6:45 when we left the temple to grab some breakfast.

At 8:00 a.m. we went to a different area of the temple complex to see Ta Prohm and Preah Khan. Ta Prohm was out of this world! This was the temple that appeared in Tomb Raider with the gigantic tree growing in and around it. There were heaps of stone that had fallen from the temple with signs saying, “Do Not Enter” or “Dangerous”. These signs, of course, were really trying to say, “Come climb on us, we are fun and we have great picture opportunities”. And so we did just that! We climbed all over those babies – we were real live tomb raiders! We were all wearing flip flops which proved to make the trekking rather difficult once the dirt combined with the sweat. It was a tid bit challenging and way too much fun. The second temple, Preah Khan, was similar to Ta Prohm, but not as cool. We happened to make it cool by climbing to the top where we got to overlook the whole temple. It was fantastic! We then went back to the hotel for lunch where I had the whole restaurant sing Happy Birthday to my friend Teagan who was celebrating her 21st birthday!

After lunch we checked out of the hotel and drove to the South Gate of Angkor Thom where the entrance is a symmetrical arch with faces on all four sides. Bayon was my second favorite temple with hundreds of faces peering at you from all different directions. I feel as if I could have enjoyed this place much more if I weren’t experiencing minor symptoms of heat exhaustion. Our last site to see was the unimpressive elephant terraces and we were off to the airport for our flight back to Ho Chi Minh City. Right as we were arriving at the airport it started pouring rain! Not only did we get to experience the refreshing rain, but there was also a Dairy Queen!! Could the day have gotten any better?
We arrived back at the ship just in time to watch a bunch of people get dock time! We were immune to dock time since we were on an SAS trip. It was pretty amusing.

All in all, Vietnam and Cambodia were equally phenomenal! I cannot wait to return and see more of the countries.