Hello from Hong Kong (Bangkok Update)

Hello from Hong Kong!

I am now in Hong Kong - the last leg of my journey.   I'm happy to be out of communist controlled Viet Nam where they block access to FB as well as other sites.

I am so thankful for the freedom we have in Canada!

Not many days left in my ever so exciting Asian Adventure!  SIGH!!

As I write, I am in Kowloon and looking over the Victoria Harbour from the 21st floor my hotel.  It is dark and the view is stunning!  (Pics in a later post.)

But, now I must backtrack to Bangkok.  It's a busy, vibrant city.  The traffic is crazy but not as bad as Saigon and Hanoi where the bulk of the traffic is motor scooters.  And, don't even ask about the pollution!

Bangkok has many very important temples (Wats).  I visited five but will write about three which each house a statue of a Buddha.  I visited all of them in the stifling heat along with with hundreds/thousands of other tourists.  I had the foresight to hire a government licensed guide.  The cost was negligible.  She was delightful and knowledgeable.  The price included a private air conditioned car/driver who drove us from temple to temple and met us after every stop with cold towels and bottles of chilled water.

The first stop was at Wat Traimet to see the solid gold Buddha which is three metres tall and weighs 12,000 pounds.  It was discovered encased in a mud/stucco substance.  When it was moved in 1975, a crack appeared and voila - a solid gold Buddha!

Close up

How many bracelets can I make from this Buddha ??

Then, we visited the Emerald Buddha (which is actually jade) at Wat Phra Kaew.  I thought it would be very large but it is only 26 inches tall.  It's very revered.  You can enter the temple but can you can only take photos from one of the two doorways.  (My thanks to a someone who gave me expert camera advice.  The zoom lens is fabulous!) 

The Buddha's clothing is changed three times a year by the King. This is the winter season and the Buddha is covered in a cloak of solid gold mesh studded with diamonds and other precious jewels, as is his headdress.

Close up

Next we visited Wat Pho which is home to the reclining Buddha.  This one is massive 46 metres long and and 15 metres high.  It is covered in gold leaf.  The Buddha is lying on his left side which indicates that he has died and has passed into Nirvana.  If a Buddha is reclining on his right side, he is merely resting.

Mother of pearl inlay on one of the reclining Buddha's feet.

Demons guarding temple

Wat Pho apparently has the world's longest murals.  And, they are fabulous!  I've included a few below.  My guide explained in great detail the stories and myths they represent.  Quite fascinating!  

This is light mid-day traffic.  Don't even think of taking a taxi after 3:30 p.m.  Take the very efficient "Sky Train" instead!

Bangkok traffic

The Chao Phraya River runs through Bangkok.  On another day, I took the "regular water taxi" for miles up the river and then back again.  (I could have gone much further but I thought that two and a half hours was enough.)  It was wonderful to just "observe".  These boats run about every 20 minutes and transport everyone going about their daily routine.

Waiting for the water taxi

Coming home from school

"Long tail boats"

These are small narrow boats that carry 6 to 8 people.  They have very powerful engines which you can see in the photo.  The "long tail" refers to the long rod that extends from the engine to the propeller which sits just below the waterline to avoid being entangled in the water hyacinths that grow like weeds the river.

One of the many small "local" temples along the river.  And yes, Bangkok is filled with construction cranes!

Living on the river

Yes, everyone travels on these water taxis. 

Well, time to close out the chapter on Bankok.  There is so much more to tell about my wonderful adventure but that will have to wait.

There is Saigon (aka Ho Chi Minh City) and the "Killing Fields".  Our wonderful Vietnamese guide's parents were both killed in the "Killing Fields" just outside of Saigon.  His story is just too sad.  So, that will have to stay silent for now.  It is best told personally.  I cried when I heard about the plight of an eight year old boy all on his own.

Next post will be Hanoi, Halong Bay and Hong Kong ...

Hello from Hanoi

I'm now in Hanoi, just back from two days on a luxury junk on Halong Bay - that will have to wait for later.

Our sampan

But, I did promise pics from the market in Sa Dec, Vietnam. (We travelled from our big boat via small sampans for our many excursions to shore while in Vietnam.)


On one day, we wandered through this HUGE market which was located on a small river that fed into the Mekong.  


I am just going to post a lot photos and let you see some of the things that I saw (along with some captions.)  I'm sorry that I can't provide the sounds and smells.




As the saying goes - "a picture is worth a thousand words".  My trip to S/E Asia has been wonderful and exciting.  It's not exactly "a walk in the park". I am constantly reminded how fortunate we are to live in conditions where we have access to clean water right out of the many taps that we have in our homes! 

Walking through the market

Market ladies chatting

Eat your greens!

More vegetables!

Don't forget the garlic!!

Buying rice

Rice

More rice

Yes, even more!

OMG - eels!!

This one jumped out just in front of me.  I must have lept about two feet in the air.   All I could think of was snakes which terrify me!!!!!!!!!

Market vendor whose lunch was just delivered to her stall

Lunch

Fresh fish

Dried fish

Mother (with bike helmet) shopping for clothes for her  daughter. (I love the little girl's hair ornaments).  Seems that mothers all around the world are the same when it comes to their little girls.

Yes, you can buy everything at this market!

And, the bottoms also

Don't forget to leave without your lottery ticket!

Well, that's it for now.  Am very happy to be finally "ungrouped" and on my own again.  Will explore Hanoi for the next two days (already did a "group day") before some of us went to Halong Bay.

Then, on to Hong Kong for five days and back to Canada.  More in my next post.

Welcome to the Mekong Delta

Welcome to the Mekong Delta!

Vietnam is one of the worlds’s largest producers and exporters of rice.  The Mekong delta is known as the country’s “rice bowl”.

(I will write about Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City - which the Vietnamese still call Saigon later.)

I am now officially “grouped”.  It was a term that I read in the New York Times Travel section many years ago.  As I am sure you know, I travel on my my own and love it!  This “group thing” goes against all my principles ...

Right now I want to get to the river boat cruise on the Mekong.  Despite being “grouped”, I am having an amazing time!  (More about my fellow travelers later.)

We left Saigon and drove about an hour and a half through the Mekong delta to My Tho where we embarked on the “River Saigon”.  It’s a flat bottom boat which draws about 1.4 meters (for the sailors out there ) and is relatively small - 763 tonnes, 55 M. long and 10 M wide.  The river is shallow - often only 4 meters deep. 

River Saigon

We are split into 3 groups of less than 20 each - which I am managing to handle.  All land transportation and shore excursions are done in these small groups.  We are in the same group for the entire trip.  I thought it would be somewhat stifling, but it has worked out well - so far ... When we get back to our boat, people mix and mingle on the upper deck and in the dining room.

The boat accommodates 60 passengers but there are only 55 on this cruise. Much to my surprise, there are 19 Canadians.

Every day we take an excursion in the morning return for lunch and then take another in the afternoon.  Each group has its own tour guide.  They are Vietnamese and travelled with us from Saigon until we reached the border between Vietnam and Cambodia.  When we got to Phnom Penh we picked up our Cambodian guides who will stay with us until we leave Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Our Vietnamese Guide -  "Ha"

While in Vietnam we were transported from the boat to land by “Vietnamese Sampans”.  After our excursion, when we got back on our sampan, we were given cold wet towels, fruit, tea and of course water.

Refreshments on Sampan

We are about 10 degrees above the equator.  Last night the moon rose moon off the aft deck.  It was about one third full and “lying on its back”.  Since we are so far south, I could clearly see the “Southern Cross” constellation.

On one of our excursions we visited Sa Dec which is has a number of small narrow canals.  The novelist Marguerite Duras spent her teenage years here and in Phnom Penh.  (The film “L’Amant” - “The Lover” is a fictionalized account of part of her teenage live set here.  Do not confuse the film with “Les Amants” which is also set in Indochine.)

We visited an amazing market.  More later in another posting.

The beautiful server on our sampan

The main industry (even though it is all done by hand) is brick and tile.  Pics below.

As I drafted this, we were anchored in the middle of the Mekong on the border between Viet Nam and Cambodia waiting to clear Customs. The staff do all the paperwork for us.  Then, the Customs Personal come out in a boat pick up all the paper work take it back to the Vietnamese side, process it and bring it when back.  Then, the whole thing starts over again with the Cambodians.  We were there for nearly four hours!

They were showing the film “The Killing Fields” in the lounge.  UGH!  So, I was working on this draft.

So now I am in Siem Reap, Cambodia and have WiFi after a 7 day drought!!  We will spend the next 3 days visiting many of the temples nearby - Ankor Wat, Ankor Thom, etc.

By the way, I have never been so hot in my life!!  Over the last week it has been 36 C. and with the humidex factor 48 C.  I've never had 3 showers per day in my life.  But now, we are dripping and shower and change our clothes several times a day!!

So, now some pics ...

Brick Kilns

Before - mud from the Mekong River

Bricks after firing in kiln

I will leave you with a pic of the sunset on the Mekong taken at Chau Doc, Vietnam.

Next, I will send wonderful pics of the market that we visited.

My kind regards to all of you!

Greetings from Hong Kong, Chiang Mai and Bangkok

Greetings from S/E Asia!

I have actually had flown exactly halfway around the world.  Twelve time zones - maybe thirteen.  It was truly bizarre.  We were “chasing the sun” - full daylight all the way from to Toronto to Hong Kong!

It was a long trip.  Toronto - Vancouver - Hong Kong.  Nearly 19 hours in the air.  Even though I was flying in “Executive First”, with the “lie flat beds”, I found it difficult to sleep for more than an hour at a time.  Four hours out of Hong Kong, I was ready to get out and walk on the wings of the airplane!!

Welcome tea in Hong Kong Hotel

I arrived in Hong Kong  (about 4:45 p.m. local time).  I didn’t experience any “jet lag”.  I think it was because it was such a huge time shift.  I’ve been waking early - even before my “wake up calls”.  Go figure ...  So, an overnight in Hong Kong and back to the airport for my flight to Chiang Mai, Thailand.  (More on Hong Kong when I get back for five days starting March 15.)  Warning!  The Hong Kong Airport is huge!!  Allow yourself a lot of time to get from the taxi -  to check in - to the gate.  The signage is excellent but if it is your first trip, allow yourself at least an extra 45 mins.  Their security is brutal!

THAILAND - Chiang Mai

I am in love with Thailand!!  It all started when Thai Airways realized that I was held up somewhere in the Hong Kong Airport.  As soon as I got off the moving sidewalk, there was a beautiful young lady with a sign for my flight.  She confirmed everything and ran ahead to the gate to hold the flight.

It got even better when they served lunch.  I chose the roast duck with rice and vegetables.  YIKES!!  I was in economy and the food was 1000% better than Air Canada in Executive First.

Then, I arrived at the lovely Shangri-La Hotel with its beautiful pool and wonderful spa!

I spent most of my time in Chiang Mai getting used to being in a completely different world!

I learned how to say "thank you" and "hello" in Thai (along with the appropriate bow and hand gesture.  Now, that I have mastered the Thai version, I will have to learn the same in Vietnamese as I leave for Ho Chi Minh City tomorrow.)

In Chiang Mai, the first thing on my agenda was to find a fabulous silk emporium and get some clothes made.  Mission was accomplished with the help of the wonderful concierge staff!

Just one part of the selection.

The workmanship is unbelievable!  I took a silk top that was not a simple design and they copied it exactly.  And, the same with the pants.  I had casual jackets made also.  Everything was so inexpensive!  They made one of each and came to my hotel the next morning for a fitting.  Everything was done in 30 hours!!

Brought the shoe with me to get the right colors

Getting organized!

Shopping is hard work!  So. I returned to the hotel spa for a Thai “full body massage” (1.5 hours) and then a foot massage (1 hour).  Who knew that someone could spend a full hour on my tiny (size 4.5) feet?

Well, one can only relax for for so long ... !!

The next morning, I was off to a four hour Thai cooking class at a local restaurant  -  “A Taste From Heaven”.  (A special thank you to Nancy for the info!)

I was the only student that day.  So, under the supervision of the chef - I chopped, stirred, boiled and stir fried.   But, I drew the line at deep frying.  I’m just too afraid of all that boiling oil - especially in a wok.

Some of the ingredients

In total, I made six dishes.  You choose them ahead of time and when you arrive, they have made a recipe book for you to take home.

The Chef - my teacher

The finished product.   No, I did not eat it all!  But, check out the basket on the right.  Yes, kleenex because your nose is going to run after you eat all those wonderful hot chillies.

I will miss the Shangri-La Hotel and their very attentive concierge staff In the Horizon Club. 

Patchareeya and Taemasin

I cannot say enough about the Thai people.  They are so kind, patient, happy, friendly, helpful and welcoming!

A few notes ...

I'm not sure if this is particular to Asian hotels but the two hotels that I have stayed in are so civilized!  There is no "do not disturb sign".  Instead, there is a switch on the wall just inside the door.  Turn it "on or off".   There is a small light set into the recessed area outside your door that indicates "disturb or not".  And, no one knocks on you door.  There is a door bell also!

For those of you who live in Toronto and are enduring the "transit debate", we should look at Bangkok and just build an elevated rail system above our existing roads.  It works so well here.

Here is a pic of part of Bangkok by night.             

I am leaving tomorrow for Ho Chi Minh City.  It is hot beyond belief here today. It was 38 C. 
and with humidex 49 C.  I'm not going to check the weather anymore! 

Bangkok and all of the amazing temples and Buddhas will be in my next post.

I hope you are all well!  Anne