Half Yard of Tiger at the Elephant Bar

We waved goodbye to Liz & John today, as they headed up to Siem Reap in the bus.  It's been great having them to stay and exploring Vietnam with them over the holidays.  Here's a shot of us all at the Elephant Bar in Raffles Hotel - Em & Liz enjoyed the famous Jacqui Kennedy cocktail "Femme Fatale" but John couldn't resist the half yard of Tiger (foreground) and he did a decent job of finishing it off !

Chillin' in Sapa

For New Years Eve, we headed out of Hanoi and took a sleeper train to the hill town of Sapa in the Lao Cai province of North-West Vietnam, close to the Chinese border.  Although it's still in the Tropics, Sapa is nestled in a range of mountains which includes Vietnam's highest (Fan Si Pan at 3142m), the town itself is at 1600m so it's cold...well relatively cold coming from Cambodia.  At night and when the mist closed in it probably dipped to about 5 degrees which was bliss for me after a year of incessant heat although Em didn't like it as much.  The local population is made up of a number of ethnic minority tribes, each of which has a different language and traditional costume.  We hired a guide from the Black H'mong tribe to take us on a couple of day treks through the valley.  It was clear walking through the villages that a lot of people here are still living traditional rural lifestyles, subsistence farming rice, although many of the younger generation are getting work as tour guides, selling souvenirs etc.  There's no doubt that tourism and money is changing the place, which can't altogether be a bad thing for the local people who have a chance to make some money and live a different life, not tied to the land.  Our guide, Gi wore her traditional Hmong dress on the first day we saw her, but was just as happy in jeans & t-shirt the second day.  I really found this area to be beautiful, the people interesting and friendly, and it was probably the highlight of our Vietnam trip for me.  Here are some photo's from our day walks.

Hangin' in Hanoi

Hanoi is a wonderful city and a real assault on the senses.  In contrast to Phnom Penh, it seemed very developed and relatively wealthy.  The notorious traffic is confronting but really a lot safer than in Cambodia - although the volume of moto's is higher, there are less people running red lights and driving on the wrong side of the road which is what can make crossing the road in Phnom Penh so dangerous.  At this time of year, the weather is cool and it was mostly cloudy but after Phnom Penh's incessant heat it was a dream for Em & I.  Hanoi is only 1000km North or Phnom Penh and still in the tropics (just) and yet the climate seems to be so different, i'm sure this must have something to do with geography and not just latitude.  As well as checking out some of the cultural highlights (art gallery, museum etc) we paid a visit to Uncle Ho's mausoleum which is a very odd experience.  Ho Chi Minh was embalmed after his death, against his wishes and thousands of Vietnamese and tourists traipse past his corpse every day to pay their respects.  We also enjoyed plenty of first world living, a visit to the cinema, shopping mall and lots of nice restaurants (and Bia Hoi establishments ;-)  Anyway, here are a few random photo's from around town.

Bia Hoi !

Here it is, the inevitable Vietnamese beer post !  I'd have to say that after a year of drinking the stuff, Cambodian beer is not all that great - the generic lagers lack flavour, colour and body.  But after visiting Hanoi, the same is definitely not true of the Vietnamese drop.  The lagers seem more flavoursome here, with a stronger hop profile, distinctive malt flavours and more body.  Halida and Hanoi were both a good drop, but my favourite was Biere la Rue (Export).  If I could get this in Australia, i'd probably be buying it regularly (high praise from an English bitter drinker).  The crown jewels in Vietnam's beer heritage though has to be Bia Hoi.  If you like beer and find yourself in Vietnam, don't miss out on this experience.  Bia Hoi is brewed fresh daily by 3 big breweries in the city and distributed fresh to the hundreds of Bia Hoi outlets in 100 litre barrels.  With no additives or preservatives and no gas it spoils quickly and is intended to be drunk the same day it is brewed.  Apparently it was introduced in the early 1960's by the Czech's and it resembles a light pilsener but it is very drinkable.  Bia Hoi establishments are normally street-side and consist of small plastic chairs and tables although there are some larger places too.  The beer is poured straight from the barrel and it's very popular with the locals.  The shot below of John & I was taken after several hours at a local Bia Hoi one afternoon, this was a cracking spot to watch the world go by.  The best thing about Bia Hoi is the cost - 3000 Dong for a 330ml glass (about 16 US cents) - our afternoon session consisting of 8 beers came to a total of $1.30 !

A Very Misty Halong Bay

Here are some shots from our two day cruise on Halong Bay.  As you can see it was misty which is normal for this time of year, but it did make the limestone karst scenery very atmospheric to cruise through.  We stayed overnight on the boat, there are countless cruise companies operating out of the very busy port - we used Phoenix Cruises http://www.halongphoenixcruiser.com , and I can recommend them.  Although it is incredibly beautiful here, the tour experience is fully realised.  From departing Hanoi, you join thousands of other tourists being herded through purpose built souvenir shops, an incredibly busy port, and finally sailing out through the bay on an identical course to every other tourist junk on the water to overnight in exactly the same bay.  This last I found particularly strange, although the site is a UNESCO world heritage site and there must be conservation concerns, the core bay area covers over 330km square and consists of 775 islets.  Surely, tour companies would have some flexibility to escape the crowds to better appreciate the incredible scenery in peace ?  As you can guess, i'm not much for tours, but overall I have to say this place is well worth visiting.

Christmas in Vietnam

It's been a hectic month.  Em & I were both busy working right up to Christmas, before we flew out to Vietnam on Christmas Eve to meet up with Em's mum Liz & John.  Christmas in this part of the world is a little strange, being predominantly a Buddhist country the holiday isn't celebrated at all in Cambodia, although the commercial side of Christmas is starting to make inroads in some shops.  Christmas trees in Cambodia look even more out of place than in the heat of an Australian summer to my Northern Hemisphere eyes.  We did go to a pantomime the week before Christmas which was great fun, and enjoyed a glass of bubbly in our hotel in Hanoi on Christmas morning.  Anyway, our trip to Vietnam this time was based around the North - Hanoi, Halong Bay & Sapa, and we had a fantastic time exploring with Liz & John.  I'll post some photo's shortly.

Angkor Wat Half Marathon

Here are some photo's from the Angkor Wat Bike Race & Half Marathon at the weekend.  Em competed in the 30km bike race on Saturday morning, and I ran in the half marathon on Sunday morning.  Both races were run around 6am to avoid the heat, and it was really cool first thing - we were shivering in the tuk tuk on the way out to the temples at 5am which is probably the first time i've been cold in Cambodia.  The atmosphere was brilliant on both days, around 3500 people competed in the various running events including many Cambodians.  The half marathon course was lined with spectators from the local villages who all wanted to high five as you ran past and shouted "hurry up" which is an odd encouragement but there you go.  The race went really well for me, the course was flat and the beautiful temples and crowds really kept you going.  My official time was 1:38:09 although my watch had 1:37, probably due to the time it took to cross the start line !  More importantly, thanks to all the generous sponsors out there, we raised $620 for Hearts of Gold who are using the money in their landmine victim and HIV/Aids education programs.  So, thank you if you sponsored us.

Pay Day

Well, I got paid today - $250 USD in cold hard cash.  It's quite a novel experience for me as most of the IT consultancy work i've done here for NGO's has been voluntary.  I really don't mind working for free in Cambodia, the IT industry is very immature and typically NGO's are crying out for help with their infrastructure with little or no IT budget available to them, and they truly do a wonderful job which is worth supporting.  But, getting paid did get me thinking about the vast disparity in wealth here.  I was paid $25 USD / day for my IT consultancy (IT is not valued very highly here).  Not much, I here you say, well my meagre $25 would be a very good Cambodian middle-class wage.  Here are a few comparisons, and remember that ~20% of Cambodians live on less than $1 USD per day ie: below the poverty line.

Policeman                         $1 / day (+ "traffic fines" bonus)
Tuk Tuk Driver                   $2 - $10 / day (depending on season)
NGO staff (Cambodian)    $10 - $100 / day (depending on experience)
NGO staff (International)   $100 - $1000 / day (depending on experience)

Although my rate has jumped to the lofty heights of $65 / day for my next 3 week contract, it's lucky that Em is able to support us both this year (there's no doubt that my sporadic paid foray's into IT wouldn't even pay the rent !)

Pete's Spirit Animal

Flicking through a nature book at the Rainbow Lodge I came across this incredible animal which is apparently indigenous to Cambodia and neighbouring countries - the Lesser Mouse Deer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesser_Mouse-deer).  It's the smallest hoofed mammal in the world and grows to a magnificent 45cm long, weighing approximately 2kg.  It looks like it would be scared of it's own shadow and as a result we didn't see any in the Cardamom's.  It's not really my spirit animal (i'm a tiger grrr), but I did find it really intriguing.

Rainbow Lodge, Koh Kong

Last weekend we visited the Cardamom Mountains in South-West Cambodia with Dave & Gaye.  This place was a complete surprise - lush, green, mountainous - a great change from the typical flat and dusty Cambodian interior and incredibly beautiful.  We spent 4 days at Rainbow Lodge http://www.rainbowlodgecambodia.com which is an eco-resort in the jungle.  We had a fantastic time thanks to the owner, Janet, and her staff.  The lodge runs on solar power resulting in occasional power cuts, and the cabins are fairly basic by 'resort' standards.  So, I can imagine the experience wouldn't be for everyone, but we loved it and you have to remember you're in the middle of the jungle.  Anyway, here is a selection of photo's, including our leech infested jungle trek, swimming at the waterfall, and kayaking on the river.