This Week In Pictures

Saigon, Phnom Penh, and Siem Reap

Hello from Bangkok! We're moving at breakneck speed right now, so we haven't had time to put together much in the way of writing. We thought you'd like a sneak-peak at what we'll be writing about when we have time, however, so here are a few of our favorite scenes from the last week and a half in Saigon, Phnom Penh, and Siem Reap. Enjoy!

SAIGON (HCMC), VIETNAM

Our time in Saigon was emotionally draining. The city is a study in contrasts. The displays at the War Remnants Museum brought us to tears and filled us with frustration and anger. Amputees and people with horrific physical deformities are commonplace, and the stoic desperation in the eyes of the cyclo and moto drivers is, at times, absolutely heartbreaking. Yet the people are perpetually friendly, smiling broadly at the slightest provocation. Vietnam is a fascinating riddle of a country that we'll miss- perhaps more than any of the others we've visited on this trip.

A shrine above one entrance to the labyrinth of alleys in the Pham Ngu Lao area.

An amputee sells lottery tickets in front of our favorite restaurant.

The War Remnants Museum has a collection of American aircraft, including this F-5.

Notre Dame Cathedral, near the center of town.

Moto drivers rest in the shadow of Notre Dame Cathedral.

We join the crowd taking refuge inside the main post office while torrential rain pours outside.


We felt like celebrities on our ride- everyone we passed grinned and waved at us.

Our cyclo driver in front of one of Saigon's pagodas. He was goofy, but we loved him.

A scene from our cyclo ride through less-touristed parts of town.



PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA

Saigon was emotional- Phnom Penh was sensory overload. We only spent two days in Cambodia's capital city, but that was enough to leave us transfixed. The streets are abnormally quiet, the city at times feeling like a ghost town. In many ways, it is. So many of its residents perished during the homicidal reign of the Khmer Rouge, and the ghosts from that era of torture and murder are a constant presence. Landmine victims, most missing multiple arms and legs- some missing all four limbs- beg on street corners, while street children try their best to charm foreign visitors. The S-21 Museum, with its cells still stained by dried blood from its former occupants, is a spine-chilling glimpse at one of humanity's darkest moments. We were overcome by rage and sadness as we stared into the eyes of those who'd been detained at S-21, their black and white mugshots filling three rooms of the museum. From behind one of the stands, a beautiful young Khmer girl emerged. When she saw us, her face widened into one of the most genuine, gorgeous smiles we've ever seen. She put her hands together in prayer, bowed her head, and moved on. Cambodia in a nutshell- genuinely beautiful people, unfathomably horrifying past.

One of the cells at the S-21 Museum in Phnom Penh. Between 1975 and 1979, the Khmer Rouge used this facility as an interrogation and detention center.

Looking out from one of the S-21 cells.

The skull-filled stupa at the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek. Between one and three million Cambodians were indiscriminately murdered during the Pol Pot era.

An ox-cart on the road to Choeung Ek.

Wat Phnom, the highest point in town.

The wat is home to a clan of monkeys, who'll gladly take bananas from passerby.

They'll also take offerings from the altars at the wat. Cheeky monkeys.

Cambodian flags flap gently in the breeze above the roundabout at the city center. Like almost everything Cambodian, the flags proudly display the silhouette of Angkor Wat.

We had the opportunity to visit an orphanage in Phnom Penh. These girls were three of the over 120 kids who call the shelter home.

The scars of history are still incredibly visible in Phnom Penh, but the city itself is quite picturesque.

SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA

Siem Reap is quite possibly the luckiest city in Cambodia. It's the starting point for all expeditions to the famed temples of Angkor, and as such, is experiencing quite the economic boom. Downtown Siem Reap is dotted with trendy bars, expensive hotels, and touristy souvenir shops. Anxious tuk-tuk drivers wait for customers at the entrance to every guesthouse and on every street corner. The off-ramp at the bus station is absolute bedlam, with dozens of tuk-tuk drivers in virtual hand-to-hand combat vying for customers. It's the slow season, and tuk-tuk drivers are losing out to big, bus-driven tour groups from Northeast Asia. Siem Reap's economy is also losing out, as the money these tour groups generate is usually taken right back to the tour group's nation of origin. Still, the backpacker haunts on the outskirts of town, where rural Siem Reap meets the trendy city, are always full. It will be interesting to see how the city handles the incredible influx of tourists. It could be boom, it could be bust. Typically Southeast Asian.

Old tuk-tuks rest near our guesthouse in Siem Reap.

Sunset from the deck of our guesthouse.

One of Siem Reap's sidestreets, only blocks away from the trendy, bar-filled streets catering to backpackers and tourists.

Sunset near the trendy center of Siem Reap.

Tuk-tuk alley outside of our guesthouse. Tuk-tuks are the prefered method of transportation for backpackers in Siem Reap.



That's all for now! We'll have some photos from our three days at Angkor up soon, and full posts from these places as soon as we get home. Until then- laa kawn!