Asia Steps

New Year’s Eve Party in Siem Reap!

Happy New Year! Our first day touring the temples of Angkor has been packed with incredibly beautiful ruins. We started at Ta Prohm and were taken away by the beauty of the gigantic roots enveloping the ruins. We continued to Angkor Thom right after passing through two small temples. We toured Angkor Thom until lunch. After a great lunch in a little alley in the city, we went to see Angkor Wat and stayed there to watch the sunset. Kevin got a Buddhist monk haircut and we joined the New Year’s street party for some dancing and good time here in Siem Reap. It was definitely the coolest New Year’s scene we’ve ever been to!

To continue the discussion about riding motorcycles in Vietnam, our recent daytrip outside of Hanoi and last week’s visit to Luang Prabang, here is a NY Times article about motorcycles in Laos which talks about the influx of Chinese motorcycles, toys and technology into this and other SE Asian countries.

After getting very little sleep last night we exited the bus and grabbed a coffee before being picked up by another bus on the way to Siem Reap, Cambodia. The journey lasted no less than 30 hours and we’ve just now arrived in Siem Reap. After trying some recommended hotels that were fully-booked we finally found a hotel for the next few nights. We also secured a tuk-tuk driver to take us around to Angkor Wat and other sites tomorrow and the next day. We’ve just finished our first real meal since breakfast at the guesthouse back in Laos and it was damn good!

We left Luang Prabang Tuesday evening and were about to catch a flight to Vientiane when the power went out at the airport. Now, call me petty, but I think but I like to have my airports all wired 24/7. While I was entertaining all the possible catastrophes of this little episode, all of the airport staff, vendors and tuk tuk drivers were leaving for the day. It was, after all, past 8pm already! After a small delay, we finally took off to Vientiane where we spent a short night in a deserted strange looking hotel. Very early the next morning, we caught a flight to Pakse, the main getaway to the south of Laos. This time there was no power failure at the airport but rather a HUGE airplane size roach walking around the “security check” area.
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One of the recommended activities in Luang Prabang is a visit to the Pak Ou caves. The two caves are located 25km north of Luang Prabang in the lower part of a limestone cliff. Inside those mystical caves are hundreds of little Buddha statues hiding in the walls of the cave or seated on a rock. The caves are accessible by boat or by tuk tuk and we of course chose the boat option. After a nice breakfast by the Mekong, 1 Dramamine pill (me) and quick negotiation with the boatman we were on our way! We chartered a boat to go up the Mekong River all the way to the Pak Ou caves and split the cost with another traveler instead of going on a group tour. The ride north was gorgeous taking us along villages, animals and other boats.

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Woke up very early this morning to pack our bags, eat breakfast at the guesthouse, settle our bill (Reasonable! $32 for 2 days of lodging, meals, laundry and bicycle rental), say goodbye to our hosts and take the family’s boat to the port town of Ban Nakasang. We then took a series of mini-buses and air-conditioned buses to cross into Cambodia on our way to Siem Reap. The journey included breakdowns of two different buses and ended up with the passengers doing an in-bus, roadside sleepover 50km north of Phnom Penh.

Today we decided to explore the island across from us, Don Det. For the price of $1 a day you can rent a bicycle which is the best way to explore this area. We rode to Don Det and took a tour to see the Khon Phaoheng Falls (largest waterfall is south East Asia by volume, not height) and the rare Irrawaddy dolphins. Watched another wonderful sunset and chilled on the veranda eating a wonderful Lao dinner.

We woke up super early, probably because of all the roosters around the island who simultaneously began screaming at 4am. We had breakfast and rented bicycles for the day and rode all around the island meeting people, water buffalo and chickens. We rode all the way to the southern tip of the island where we saw the beautiful Tat Somphamit Waterfall. Back at the bungalow we hung out on the balcony sleeping in the hammock and reading. It’s a tough routine.

So far we’ve stumbled upon two photography exhibitions while strolling around in Luang Prabang. The first was housed in a beautiful French villa showcasing photos of Lao life as part of the Biennale international de l’image. The second exhibition was right next to the Palace museum entitled “Floating Buddhas”. The photos were taken by a German photographer who was invited by the monks of Luang Prabang to document novices’ study and practice of meditation. The photos were all shot with an analog camera in black and white achieving a wonderful dramatic effect. I liked it so much I bought a poster of the exhibition and with some luck, it will actually make it all the way back to New York.

We arrived in Luang Prabang on Friday morning and did not have a hotel reservation. At the airport, we met a fellow traveler, Laura, who mentioned she was going to a guesthouse that may have another room available. We decided to share a tuk tuk to the city (about 4km away) and see if we could stay at that same place. After a short drive, we got into town and realized that Laura’s guesthouse did not have any available rooms but the guesthouse next door-Levady had a room. We quickly snatched that room and started our adventure.

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