Journeys through Asia: Vietnam and Cambodia

The amazing Halong Bay

These cruise boats, AKA junks, tour around the bay

Chilling out on the deck

Sea kayaking in Halong Bay

Sunset on Halong Bay

Evening on the tranquil waters of Halong Bay

After year of amazing travels around Asia, our last and final trip was a tour of Vietnam and Cambodia. Situated only a 2 hour flight from Macau, the two countries seem like worlds away in development and infrastructure. Our first stop in our tour was Hanoi, the communist capital of the Vietnam government. There are two things that come to mind when you think of Vietnam - amazing delicious food and the war. On the first note, the food in Vietnam was probably some of the best food I've had in Asia at the cheapest possible price. Eating meals with 8 dishes for less than 10 USD...Now that's an amazing deal! I would go back to Vietnam just to eat.

Pho in Vietnam is the REAL deal

BBQ Vietnamese style

Vietnamese sandwiches off the street - amazing and only 50 cents

snake wine - didn't actually have the balls to try it though

On the second note, the war. In Hanoi, you can see how the communist government has taken care of its people. I was actually pleasantly surprised with all the development in the countryside and city. I didn't see anyone living in shacks or huts, which is a common site in the Philippines. Though the USA famously lost the war on communism in Vietnam, you can't say the communist government has not supported the people. They've provided an infrastructure of water, roads, and electricity to even remote parts of Vietnam. In addition, the people's party in Vietnam does not have the same choke hold that the Chinese government has on its people. The Internet is fully accessible in Vietnam, as well as media and books are not censored.

Overwhelming Hanoi traffic - there are no stop signs, you just go

At the Temple of Literature, 1000 year old university;
each turtle represents an ancient professor

Entrance to Temple of Literature

It is said that the two sides of Vietnam, though technically unified, will never forgive each other for what happened. The northern Vietnamese will not forgive the southerners for siding with the USA to fight their own people, and the southerners will never forgive all the brutality to impose communism in Vietnam. When visiting the former headquarters of the southern Vietnamese government in Saigon, you can understand how sad a moment it must have been to know that you have lost a war. The Vietkong tanks famously torn down the gates in April 1975 and stormed the palace where the president surrendered unconditionally to the Vietkong army. To know that everything you stood for is lost must have been a sad moment for the southern Vietnamese leaders and the American military. Sometimes you must wonder if all those American and Vietnamese soldiers died in vain?? I think there is also something to be said about the military of the Vietnamese. A relatively small army with minimal resources in a jungle can take down a military great, such as the USA, whose military budget is probably greater than the entire Vietnamese economy. Something must be said the strength of the Vietnamese people...

Replica of the Vietkong tanks that stormed the Democratic headquarters in 1975

The former headquarters is now called Reunification Palace

Taken inside the Palace - love the shadows in this pic

People's Committee Hall - Ho Chi Minh City

Cholon district is the Chinatown of Ho Chi Minh
Tat's Mom and Dad grew up in this neighborhood and spent most of their childhood on the streets of Cholon

The impacts of war can be seen in a different light, when you explore the recent history of Cambodia. Once one of the greatest civilizations in Southeast Asia, the Khmer empire reigned for over 1000 years. When Thailand was merely a small minority group, the Khmer people were already building cities, like Angkor Wat, dedicated to their Hindu gods. The greatness of this empire has over time crumbled to a country that is barely sustaining an existence for it's people. How can such a great nation fall? There are many factors to this, but one very recent event was the infamous Khmer Rouge. To be honest, my history of Cambodia is quite sparse to say the least. I actually didn't even know that America was involved with this country during the Vietnam War. It all started when the Northern Vietnamese decided to use parts of Cambodia to build bases for the Vietkong army. In reaction to this, the Americans decided to bomb the hell out of the Cambodian countryside to eliminate any possible communist bases. The result of this rampage was of course the loss of tens of thousands innocent Cambodian lives. Khmer Rouge, a guerrilla army promoting extreme communist beliefs, was able to gain power because of the angered Cambodian citizens who have lost their family to the American bombings. 20,000 strong, the Khmer Rouge, took over Phnom Penh, and began their genocide of the Cambodian people. They evacuated the ENTIRE city of Phnom Penh and took them to fields to work as peasants. These fields were later renamed the killing fields... Two million Cambodians died during the Khmer rouge.

After three long, arduous years, the Vietnamese were able to overtake the Khmer Rouge. What was left of Cambodia was nothing but destitution. A people who have lost way to much and gained much too little over the years. Justice is what the people of Cambodia deserve but probably will never get. The leaders of the Khmer Rouge have fled the country, but the ramifications of the reign are still felt to this day. Cambodia truly is a nation of survivors.

Cruising the Mekong Delta

The Cambodia that I experienced was truly incredible. The shear enormity of the temples of Angkor Wat will take your breathe away. It gives you only a glimpse of a great civilization. Siem Reap, the closest town to Angkor, is probably the exact opposite of the typical life of a Cambodian person. Everything in Siem Reap is tourist friendly. Air conditioned coffee shops and stores, beautifully designed restaurants, and streets full of pubs for the tourists to get their drink on. Nothing really about Siem Reap is actually Cambodian, except maybe the food. Tourists come to this town and stay in super posh hotels like the Sofitel. One night in the Sofitel is $340 USD. An average Cambodian makes 50 cents a day.

The children of Cambodia are simply beautiful

Remember when all you needed was a cardboard box to entertain you for hours and hours

Angkor Wat is not just a few temples. It truly is a large city, almost triple the size of the Siem Reap town. Angkor is not just home to the ancient Khmer empire, but also where many Cambodians continue to live. 80% of Cambodians are still farmers. They live an incredibly simple life. Most live in straw huts and they can only eat what they farm. The poverty of Cambodia makes the Philippines look like a first world country in development. When you see children wondering the streets naked and begging for money, you just feel saddened because you want to save them all, but at the same time you feel so grateful. Our lives in America are so disillusioned because this type of poverty is actually how most of the world lives, but we often forget that when we drive our air conditioned cars to our posh mall to buy 100USD jeans. Though Cambodia's poverty blows my mind, at least these people are still alive. Their resilience after the devastation of the Khmer Rouge is truly inspiring. The will to live can overcome all...